Righteousness The Faithful City William Ellis London the 20th of the 6th Month 1697. A Short Plain and True Testimony for and in the behalf of 〈◊〉 â—ceased Friend Roger Haydock ALthough I heard that some Friends had Intentions to Write something by way of Testimony as a Memorial of this Servant of Christ above named yet upon Consideration I did not find my self clear and easie though delayed for a time except I did cast in my Mite amongst the rest having had knowledge of him since he was convinced and received the Truth which was in the Year 1667 since which time I observed that he was still in a growing Condition in the Truth to his last End as a Tree planted near the River of Life in God's Garden which was always Green whose Branch withered not but spread over the Wall that they without might be induced to come in to be made partakers of the Fruit of the blessed Vine Christ in due season as faithfulness to the Call and Gift of God was lived in He was a Man that had good Will for all and true Love especially to the Household of Faith Poor or Rich was no Respecter of Persons in those Cases but had an Eye to the Inward State and Condition so that as Truth did encrease and prosper in any his Love encreased for it was his great delight to see Truth prosper and Friends in it for he loved Friends for Truth 's sake God endued him with Wisdom from above that he had a sense of Inward States so that he could divide the Word aright Bread and sweet Wine for Obedient Children and Judgment for the Rebellious But with such Wisdom and Moderation that gained upon many of them so as to consider what it was they rebelled against even the Light of Jesus Inwardly discovering that which is Evil. He certainly learn'd of Christ to be Meek and Low in Heart very clear from an exalted Spirit but ready to be a Servant to the least Child I believe it was pleasant to him to be doing Good he was a Man given to Hospitality himself and very Careful of the Poor I heard him once say in a Meeting upon occasion We have enough let not the Poor want He was a Man of good Utterance in his Declaration and the Gospel he preached he lived in and preached it Freely as he had Freely received it from God it was the Power of God that comes over the Power of Satan in Man His Doctrine dropped as the Dew and small Rain to the refreshing of the tender Buds and Branches in the Vine Christ and comforting the stronger that did abide therein he was an Help and Support to the Cast-down of which I have some Experience and although he was younger than I yet I had a great esteem of him for Truth 's sake and did honour him as an Elder yea with double honour for he was worthy who ruled his own House well and took care of the Church of Christ I have been often upon occasion in his Family and never law better Government in any Family wheresoever I came than there He hath left a good Example behind him to his dear Wife who observeth it diligently He was faithful in that Work God caled him unto which many are Witnesses of in his own Native Country besides his Services in other Nations as Scotland Ireland Holland and Germany He hath been several times a Sufferer for Truth but never daunted but reign'd in Authority in the Power of God as a King over the Power of Darkness and Persecution which was no more to him than a little Dust under his Feet I was with him in a Meeting where some in Office as was said assisted with a great Company of Rude Fellows with great Staves making a noise like Mad Men finding him at Prayer had like to have pulled him off his Knees but were something restrained of which he tooâ— no notice but when he did rise they laid hold on him and hurried him away out of the Meeting with an howling noise like a Company of Wolves that had made a Prey upon a Lamb for so he behaved himself all which did not so much touch nor hurt him as to alter his Countenance as I perceived But after the Rude People were gone Friends continued their Meeting and there being some from several Meetings we had a good Meeting for the Power of Darkness was driven away and the Enemies blinded And this was at Freckleton in the Fylde where there is now a settled Meeting and hath been for several Years He was also Prisoner for the Truth at Lancaster-Castle several times Now in as much as I am fully satisfied that his Spirit is Crowned with Life Eternal in Heaven where my Spirit in some Measure hath unity with him as he is brought to my Remembrance Why should not his Name which is precious be kept in a living Remembrance from one Generation to another for the stirring up others to follow him as he followed Christ That over all God may have all the Honour the Glory and the Praise who alone is worthy for this my Friend in his Life time never sought it to himself but sought the Honour of God only He was of excellent Service in these parts where he lived upon Truth 's Account but what he did it was by the Assistance of God's Holy Spirit and Grace given unto him so nothing to be attributed to Man tho' he was a good Man for out of the good Treasure of his Heart he brought forth good things He was of a Noble Spirit a Person Prudent in Matters and the Lord was with him his Company was Pleasant and his Discourse Profitable I may hope that none will be offended with me that I give so much Commendations to God's Workmanship both Inward and Outward that God may have the Honour and Praise of his own Work And when he according to the Will of God had finished his Course the Lord was pleased to favour him with but a short Sickness He had his Accounts ready he laid down his Head in Peace and dyed in the Faith the 11th day of the 3d Month 1696. Isaac Ashton Sen. Given forth the 21st of the 7th Month 1697. James Laithwait 's Testimony concerning Roger Haydock deceased OUR Faithful and Well-beloved Friend Roger Haydock was Born of honest Parents who were of good Repute in the World and concerning him I have this Testimony to bear from a certain Knowledge I had of him for I knew him soon after he was Convinced and received the Knowledge of the Truth and I then took great notice of him he appearing in great Humility and under a great Inward Exercise and Travel of Spirit before he appeared in a publick Testimony for the Truth which was about the Year 1669. At which time a great Power and clear Life was shewn forth in him in the beginning of his day it being a day of the Revelation of the great Power of God and of his Powerful
pour out a double Portion of his Spirit upon us lest behind and raise up many more that so his Work may become Prosperous in the Earth Amen Oh how Comfortable is the Remembrance of that perfect Love Nearness and Unity that we enjoyed together without the least Jarr which made our Service and Labour together very easie and pleasant and our Conversation together very sweet And know that he was Open-hearted Free and Faithful to his Friend a great Lover as well as Promoter of Love Peace and Concord amongst Brethren able in Advice sound in Judgment tender and kind to the Weak every way ready to serve and help the Needful in every respect of a truly Humble and Lowly Spirit giving Preference to others especially Elders although a Man that had a kind of Greatness or Presence in a Manly Carriage or Deportment from which some might mistake him that knew him not in the Root of Life and Truth Fervent in Spirit Zealous for the Promotion of the Interest of Truth in a Godly-Discipline and Gospel-Order amongst all Friends and his Care and Labour that all might be found in the Practice of the pure Religion professed That so Zion might become Glorious the Praise of the whole Earth and the Church and Family of God be kept Pure and Chaste to shine forth in her Splendor the Eclipsing whereof in any respect I know was ever his Exercise and under the Exercise thereof have simpathized with him in Sorrow and Mourning whom I knew esteemed of and preferred the Peace Prosperity Wellfare and Increase of the Glory of Zion God's People far above his own His Natural Parts were great and augmented by a good and liberal Education All which being Sanctified as well as Inlarged by the Power of Truth made him both Honourable and Serviceable in the Church of Christ in many respects And tho' he be Dead yet Lives and Speaks amongst us and is Enjoyed in that Life which never Ends. And as he has turned many to Righteousness he now shines as a bright Star in the Firmament of God's Power and his Name will be of Lasting Remembrance amongst the Living T. Camm H. M's Testimony concerning our dear and faithful Friend Roger Haydock Deceased AMongst many of the Lord's Worthies whom in this our Day Age and Generation he hath endued with Wisdom Courage Valour and Prevalency in Innocency and Righteousness to make War without Carnal Weapons against the Spiritual Enemies of God and of his Son Christ Jesus the Lamb without Blemish that taketh away the Sin of the World this our dear Friend Roger Haydock was not one of the least who before I knew him was at the Challenges of Priests that opposed the Truth to which he bore Testimony several times engaged in Disputations as Defendant for the Truth professed and lived in by him and the People called Quakers against the false Charges of the Priests One Passage whereof being related to me by one of the party adverse to him when I was a Stranger to the Truth and to Roger Haydock tended to my Convincement and in hopes it may likewise be of good effect to others I shall here insert it viz. My Neighbour told me he had been at a Dispute between Mr. Cheyney as he called him and a Quaker whom I have since known to be Roger Haydock and and that Cheyney among other things charged the Quakers for not using Baptism of Infants Then I asked him how the Quaker answered to that He said Indeed the Quaker behaved himself very moderately and civilly in his way and answered That there was no Proof in the Scriptures of Truth for it and that it was only Men's Invention and by Man's Tradition that they held it and considering how they used it who professed the Scriptures to be their Rule which did not warrant them therein it appeared in them to be ridiculous both before God and Man Then I asked him What Proof Cheyney brought for it He answered to this effect That he did not understand that Cheyney brought any Proof for it This Relation induced me to seek for what Proof could be found for it because I had been taught that my Infant-Baptism was the Foundation of my Christianity thereupon diligently searching the Scriptures and after that reasoning with my Teachers I plainly saw there was no Proof from the Scriptures nor Authority from Christ to be found for it and that therefore my Foundation was unsound and the Building upon it dangerous and ruinous Therefore in a deep Sense of my want of a Foundation that could not be moved I left the Builders upon Infant-Baptism and earnestly sought unto the Lord who in his own time Revealed in me that Foundation which standeth sure even the Rock of Ages the Foundation of all the Generations of the Righteous that great Mystery hid from many Professors which is Christ in Believers the Hope of their Glory who Baptizeth them with Spiritual Water and Fire a Manifestation of whose Spirit is given to every Man to profit withal which inwardly Reproveth the Disobedient but Comforteth the Faithful who in it have true Unity and Fellowship one with another And in this I was in the Lord's time acquainted with this my aforesaid dear Friend and faithful Servant of Christ whose Service the Lord made of good effect to me by the aforesaid Relation of one that was as an Adversary to him and that a considerable time before I knew him for about the time that I left the aforesaid Builders my Teachers he was concerned in the Lord's Service in Ireland in the Year 1680. He was Laborious in the Service to which the Lord by his Grace had called him and for which he had fitted him in giving him largely to know and understand the deep Mysteries of his Kingdom and filling his Treasure with the durable Riches and Righteousness thereof And as he plenteously and freely received of the Lord so it was his delight and great Concern in the Counsel of God freely to give and impart Spiritual Gifts to others that many might be enriched with the same And therefore through great Travels Sufferings and Exercises he cheerfully went in the Lord's Service who blessed his Labours so that he was Instrumental in the Lord's Hand for the turning of many from Darkness to Light and from Satan's Power to God He was neither sparing of Himself nor his Substance to serve the Lord the Giver who blessed him as well with Temporal as Spiritual Blessings of both which he was very free in the Love of God to communicate having an especial Care over the Poor that none might want and a tender respect to the least appearance of Good in any that it might be incouraged He was concerned for the general Good of all but especially Serviceable in the Church of Christ being as a Pillar in the House of God firm and stable supporting the Weak and edifying the Houshold in Love His Ministry attended by the Lord's Power hath often hit my Condition
often express it and truly so was he to me every Day every Way and in every Respect no Tongue nor Pen can relate the full of that Comfort and Joy we had in God and one in another Yet we find such hath been the Pleasure of God concerning them he hath loved to try them in the most near and dear Enjoyments that it might be manifest he was loved above all that no Gift or Gifts may be preferred above the Giver but that he may be all in all and over all who is and is to come God blessed for ever and ever And truly there hath been great Care and Watchfulness one over another and over our own Spirits to see that our Love though great was bounded and kept within its Compass the Truth being its Original the Alpha and Omega also Although it hath been the Pleasure of God to try me in the removal of so great a Blessing from me sure it is that I may be the more inward to him and have his Love always in my Remembrance who gives and takes away and in all Bless his Name My Soul travels that I may always follow his footsteps of Self-denial in all things that I may finish my Course in this World to the Glory of God as he did and have my part in that Mansion of Glory with him eternal in the Heavens though it be my Lot to stay for a time in this World of Troubles yet I have hope in Immortality and Eternal Blessedness when time in this World shall be no more My dear Husband was a Man very Laborious in his time though he had several long weak Fits of Feavers and Agues yet when a little well regarded the Lord's Business above all Besides his Travels about home and here in England he travelled through Scotland and twice in Holland and Germany since we were Married and had great Services for the Lord in many Places as I doubt not but Accounts may be given and through Mercy for two Years last had his Health well and is gathered to his place like a Shock of Corn in its due Season and rests with the Lord for ever I have sometimes considered the suddenness and manner of his Removal although it was ordered by Providence that I was far remote at that Time in in the Service of Truth which was with his free Consent and Approbation being brought on my Way by him so far as Talk-Hill in Staffordshire where we parted in great Love and Sweetness the Glory of the Lord resting upon our Spirits in which Breathings ascended up to the Lord for each other And though I saw not his going away yet have seen in what he went that it was full of Zeal and Fervency in the Love of God and Life of Righteousness So in pure Submission to the Will of God I conclude this short but true Relation of my Worthy Dear Husband whose Name and Memorial is blessed and will live and be of a sweet Savour in the Hearts of the Righteous through Ages I am Truths Friend and a well-wisher to the Souls of all People Eleanor Haydock Penketh the 15th of the 3d Month 1697. Ashort Testimony to the Lord's Kindness and to the Life Ministry Sufferings Services and Death of our Worthy Friend Roger Haydock who departed this Life the 11th Day of the 3d Month 1696. WE are deeply affected and bowed in Soul in a sense of the Lord 's free Love and Goodness unto us in looking upon and visiting us in the time of our Uncleanness when we were unworthy of the least of his Mercies Oh! then was his Arm revealed for our Help Redemption and Salvation a Work of so great Kindness as ought ever to be had in Remembrance in that neither we noâ— any of the Children of Men can sufficiently set forth so great a Favour the Concern is of great Moment the only begotten Son of God laid down his Life to effect it We Travel in our several Measures that we and all the Lord 's gathered People may ever dwell in a Worthiness that we may be in the Lords hand Instruments to work the appointed work of our Day And under this tender sense we found our Hearts open to give the Salutation of unseigned Love to all our dear Friends where these may come with this brotherly Exhortation That you may all stir up one another to the Duty you owe unto the Lord that as a Church and People of our God's peculiar gathering you and we may be presented to him without Spot or Wrinkle And dear Brethren the dealings of the Lord with his Instruments and faithful Servants and the removing of them from us hath considerable Weight upon our Spirits and raiseth a holy Desire in us that we and you may not abate but encrease our Zeal Diligence and Labour that the Lords good Work begun may not stop but go on and prosper and that the great Lord of the Harvest may never want faithful Workmen Next hereunto O Reader We recommend to thy perusal this following Account of our said Friend Roger Haydock First As touching the manner of his Life we having several of us known and conversed with him from the time of his Convincement can say of it His Conversation was without Covetousness of Self-denial he was a good Pattern in Habit Plain in Meats and Drinks very Temperate and in his Actions and Concerns Careful that what he did might answer the better Part in all and justly offend none Walking he would often say he preferred before Talking and laboured that others might walk as they had Christ for an Example Secondly As to his Ministry though we need say little because it was known in most places where these may come We have from good Experience this Account to give That he preached the Gospel freely both in this and other Nations always possessed with a Care that Life and Vertue might put him forth and manifest him to his Auditors very weighty and deep things did often drop from his Mouth and although he had sometimes sharp Arrows to shoot at Babylon and against all Hypocrites and Double-Minded yet many times a Living Sweet Consolating Stream was conveyed through him to water the tender Plants and very often a Morsel to the Poor and Needy Very tender and kind to his Fellow-Labourers yea to the least Child that from a right Concern opened a Mouth for the Lord and for the sakes of such did many times sit whole Meetings through in Silence very kind in that Respect to Strangers yea such was the Care of this good Man that Friends might truly reap benefit in their Meetings that in many of our Week-day Meetings he used to wait amongst us in Silence that none might too much depend upon Words or be surfeited through the multitude thereof And when at any time he had upon him a Concern to visit Churches in remote Parts his manner was to lay before and wait for the Concurrence of this our Meeting which many times occasioned
Life who with those many more that were greatly supported and strengthened by his Labours as Living Epistles can set to their Seals to the Truth of his Apostleship Now our County being thus alarmed and stirred up and the beauty of many pleasant Pictures fading and Truth prospering and inlarging it self in many places The Men of the Long Robe begun to be angry for now some Member or Members withdrew from their Assemblies and joyned themselves to the poor despised Quakers This so inraged them that they made their Pulpits ring with the Noise of the Danger of the Growth and Infection of Quakerism and Exhibited their Black Charges against us and our Principles at random to frighten poor People from receiving the Truth of God Some of which being taken notice of occasioned several Publick Disputes in this County And in Vindicating of our Holy Profession against these our Opposers this our Friend of whom we are writing did more particularly appear And truly the Lord's Presence and Power appeared with and so enabled him that he not only clear'd up those Truths clouded through their Envy but so manifestly returned their Charges upon themselves that some were Convinced by those opportunities and several Confirmed In all which he behaved himself as a Man for God The Remembrance whereof is very sweet to many of us to this moment And indeed all along to his end he forgot not his Fatherly Care over us so that above many others we are really indebted to his Memory who hath been greatly Serviceable to us and hath done Valiantly His Travels have been considerable in this and foreign Nations of which we might inlarge but shall leave it to other Pens as also to speak of his Parts and Accomplishments which were very considerable And not to be tedious shall only add He Lived well and so he Died and his Work being finished was taken from us in the strength of his Age of whom the World was not worthy And was attended to his Grave by some Hundreds and many good and publick Testimonies were born to the Praise of that Power that had raised him up to be so serviceable to the Churches of Christ to the great Comfort of those many Mourners present at his Interment and he being Dead yet Speaketh Sign'd at our Quarterly-Meeting at Nulon-juxta Middlewich the 14th of September 1697 on the behalf of the Friends of this County By us Thomas Welch Sen. John Crosbey Thomas Rowland Richard Yarwood William Janney John Kennerly John Bradley John Bancroft Ralph Brock Thomas Buckley John Hobson Henry Murrey Joseph Maddock John Finnerley John Lamb Thomas Hyld Thomas Pott John Walker John Hough Shadrach Welch William Harrison John Merrick William Crames John Jarvis Thomas Butter Samuel Traford Thomas Welch Jun. Joseph Towers Peter Pricksley John Lorrance William Hancock Richard Davis Jacob Lawrance Hugh Buttler Esther Hall Mary Gandy Mary Hall Mary Bangs Eliz. Maddock Elinor Hyde Hannah Ashton Eliz. Williamson Elin Fornelly Ann Welch Mary Merrick Esther Crosbey Rachel Butter Rebekah Traford Ann Davis Katharine Lamb Martha Lamb Samuel Rilence Joseph Endon Hugh Burgis Tho. Williamson Roger Roe John Dutton William Hyde Richard Parkey Henry Maddock Benjamin Bangs Mary Peacock Maible Hancock Rebekah Pritchley Tabitha Ardern Rebekah Backley Ann Eaton Eliz. Ashbrook Eliz. Lawrance Martha Broadhurst Eleanor Cooke Esther Merrick Nehemy Bradley Hann. Littlemore Mary Worthington Margaret Garsell Elizabeth Welch Alice Rowland The Testimony of Thomas Camm concerning our dear Deceased Brother and Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ Roger Haydock IT is such as Die in the Lord who are Blessed being gathered to their Eternal Rest with the Spirits of Just Men made perfect and freed from Tears and Sorrows and manifold Sufferings Travels and Labours and whose Works follow them whose Names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life amongst the Living and is a sweet Savour and blessed Memorial to after-Ages And though we that are yet left behind may have loss in that they are outwardly removed from us yet ought therein to be content since it 's the good pleasure of the Almighty and the great Gain of them who are swallowed up in the Joy of the Lord unspeakable of which number it 's my present Sense and Testimony our dear Friend and Brother R. H. is one and has finished his Course here with Joy who in his day was a Man of God a faithful Man for the promoting the Interest of God his Truth and Righteousness given up to spend and be spent in the Service of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in all Faithfulness and Sincerity as well as plentifully Furnished thereto by him that hath the Infinite Treasures of Wisdom and Divine Knowledge and gives freely thereof to the Humble and Sincere in Heart and richly was this dear Man of God furnished for the Work of the Ministry which he was called to and found Faithful in for many Years to the finishing of his Course here and a Blessed Effect his Living and Powerful Ministry had upon the Hearts of many not only in turning them to the Lord's Way and Truth but also in Confirming Building up and Establishing many therein Being one of those Scribes commended by our Lord who are well instructed unto the Kingdom of Heaven and bringeth forth out of his Treasure things New and Old for the Instruction and Building up others many in this Nation and many others where he Travelled can Testifie and bear Witness unto Who are the Living Seals of his Ministry having good cause with thankful Hearts to bless the Lord on the behalf thereof It 's not with me to inlarge into the particular Travels and Labours of this Faithful Servant of the Lord in this and several other Nations supposing that may be the Work of others But as I well knew him and had an intimate and inward Acquaintance with him from the time that it pleased the great God of Eternal Glory to call sanctifie fit and furnish him to the Work of the Ministry which is most of Thirty Years by our often and frequent Travels together in that Work and Service in most parts of this Nation So that which I have in short to say and testifie herein with respect to God's Glory Service of his Truth and People and Discharge of Duty to and on the account of so Dear so Faithful and so greatly Beloved a Friend Brother and Companion is from Tried and long Experience and certain Knowledge as I felt it to spring and live upon my Mind in that Love and Life in which my Heart was firmly United to him as was Jonathan's to David Very shortly after I had the Heavy Tidings and Sorrowful Account of his being taken out of the Body and so removed from us as to outward Appearance under which Exercise I could not but mourn and say Ah my Brother I have a Loss of thee the Flock and Family of God has a Loss of thee and other Worthies at this time removed The Lord be intreated to
Word of Eternal Life of which this our faithful Friend was a Minister to which work the Lord by his Grace had called him and he freely gave up and devoted himself to that Service for which the Lord had well fitted and qualified him and made him of great Ability through the Spirit giving him sound Knowledge and deep Discerning to find out the Mysterious Workings of the Enemy of Mankind so that he was very skillful to divide the Word of Truth aright And at that time there was great Service to be done for the Lord for then many had tender Desires after the Knowledge of God and were Seeking and Enquiring after the way of Truth which leadeth to Eternal Life and to such he was an Helper and faithful Instructor in the Lord Jesus and being zealously Careful that he might compleat the Work and Service that the Lord had called him unto and promote the Interest and Honour of God and be Instrumental for the good of many of the Children of Men He went under a great Concern and Exercise of Spirit through great Travels Sufferings and Labour of Body preaching the Gospel of Christ freely that many might be turned to God and gain the Knowledge of him and be gathered into the one Fold and Pasture of Eternal Life out of the By-Ways and Dark Paths and Vain Religions of the worldly-minded and so might know a coming out of Darkness and a walking in the true Light and way of Life and Righteousness that they might please their Creator and answer the end of his Love revealed in his Son and manifested in the Light And the Lord who imployed him in his Service blessed his endeavours therein for many received his Testimony and thereby were turned from Darkness to Light and out of the Paths of Error into the Way of Righteousness His Labours and Travels are in part declared by his Journal which sheweth his Travels in several Countries and Nations and sometimes amongst People of a strange Language A blessed work he went through in faithfulness unto the End He was a great Helper and of great Service in the Church of Christ and his Labours and Ministry therein were very successful he was often prevalent to end Differences and Discord where the Enemy had sown any amongst Brethren His Doctrine received of the Lord was sound and deep Matters were often opened by him and it was his delight to do Service for God and to help the good Work forward in any he being earnestly concerned that all that knew God might Glorifie him as God And the Lord blessed him whilst here with such Mercies as appertain to the making of a Man's Life Comfortable in this World which the Lord saw no doubt he was worthy of who richlâ— recompenseth all those that Love him and Seek his Honour and the Welfare of his Church as this our faithful Friend did and his Memorial will be long upon the Earth amongst the Generations of the Righteous I might write much concerning him and his Vertuous Life which was Comely and Honourable and of a loving and friendly Behaviour amongst Men His Company was Pleasant and Profitable and many were sorry to part with him But though his Removal hence be a loss to many yet I am well assured that he hath gained thereby and is in the enjoyment of Peace and of an endless Treasure in Heaven amongst the number of the Blessed with Christ in his Kingdom and being at rest from his Labours his Works follow him And it is my earnest desire that we who are left behind which is but for a little space may so improve our Time and Gifts that in the end we may have a Share of the same Reward that is laid up for all the Faithful James Laithwait A Brief Account c. An EPISTLE to FRIENDS of Blackrod Meeting IN Love unfained do I Salute you and in the Fear of God Exhort you to Faithfulness and in the Word of the Lord Counsel you To be Watchful in your Meetings that the weighty Work and Service of God which he hath concerned you in be not slighted by any of you through Unfaithfulness and want of Watchfulness Friends The Seed which God hath sown is good if you be watchful it will grow and prosper and cover the Ground and the Earth will be blessed But if you sleep the Enemy will sow Tares which will grow up with it and choke it so the Ground that affords them nourishment will be cursed This is the Word of Truth unto you so as in Love to the Seed which is good and in Bowels of Compassion to your Immortal Souls which are of great Price in the sight of God desiring the Seed's Prosperity and your Souls Good in the sense of its Suffering and of the Deprivation of God's Love unto you who in this Incumbent Duty of Watchfulness have been negligent it hath been upon me many times in the Motion of God's Spirit to Reprove your Negligence and likewise Exhort and Admonish you to Faithfulness in that Duty whilst conversant with you even so since remote from you outwardly separated and under Bonds restrained the sence of the Non-performance of that so weighty a Duty on your behalf who are herein concerned whereby God's Righteous Soul hath been vexed and the Spirit of the Upright and Sincere-hearted to God amongst you have been made sad hath sometimes come before me to my grief and yet remaineth in my view to the saddening of my Spirit who am truly a well-wisher of Zion and one though outwardly confined yet travels for the Prosperity of Jerusalem in Spirit which is at liberty which Man cannot confine Therefore it entered my Heart in the Word of Truth to signifie God's Counsel unto you That ye be watchful that the good Seed which God hath sown may grow deeply having depth of Earth even room in the honest Heart that it may bring forth in some Thirty in some Sixty in some an Hundred fold but in all of you some to his Praise lest the Enemy sow his Seed and it grow and the Ground be nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burned And Friends another word hath often run thorough me when present with you That you Love one another and the same word is in me though I be from you whereby I know the Cause yet remains in you And truly I may take up a Lamentation for you who are concerned who will not be counselled How often hath the Lord striven with you How often hath his Word been spoken unto you And how often hath his Servants laboured amongst you And do you yet live in Strife and Contention Truly I am sorry for you and that the precious Truth is dishonoured by you it is a grief upon my Spirit and upon the Spirits of the Upright-hearted among you If therefore you have an Ear to hear hear put away Strife Envy and Contention and labour a Reconciliation in the Love if so be the Lord's Anger may be appealed
divided but remains indivisible over all through all and in you all as saith the Apostle And that every Man is enlightned with the Light of Christ and that the Light of Christ in every Man is perfect not liable to mutation or alteration And although every Man be lighted with the Light of Christ which is perfect yet every Man loves not the Light neither believes in the Light and because every Man hath not Faith in the Light every Man cannot please God for without Faith it is impossible to please God and every unbelieving Man who loveth his evil Deeds hateth the Light because it manifesteth his evil Deeds and he that hateth the Light can neither speak nor write by the Inspiration of God and he that speaketh or writeth and not by the Inspiration of God can neither speak forth nor write better or so well as the Prophets and Apostles of God and Christ who gave forth the Scripture of Truth as they were moved by the Holy Ghost So then every Man cannot make so good much less a better Bible than that which we already have This the Quakers affirm and so J. C's Slanders and Lyes are turned upon his own Head and he noted for a gross Lyar. The Light and Spirit of God and Christ wherein the Quakers walk and by which they are taught and led leads and teaches them to practise that Doctrine maintained by them and to do unto all Men as they would all Men should do unto them and to love God and Christ who is Light with a sincere Heart fully and to love their Neighbours as themselves and one by one and every one of them called Quakers who stedfastly walk in the Light and Spirit of God and Christ do practise that Doctrine maintained by them and shew it forth in Life and Conversation as well as Word and yet are clear and in the Light ever shall be clear of J. C's wicked Slander viz. That if the Quakers should practice their own Doctrine they would pass all that ever have been before them in Wickedness And in the Light which hath manifested and yet will further manifest J. C. and all such lurking Hypocrites the Quakers shall shine forth in Doctrine and Practice to the Praise and Glory of God who is in them and over Heaven and Earth blessed for ever Again J. C. in pag. 14. saith Supernatural Verities and Mysteries are punctually set down in the Scripture and no where else and that there is nothing within us or without us that doth or can make known to us such Supernatural Verities without the Scriptures and what is derived from them Reply To say That supernatural Verities and Mysteries are punctually set down in Scripture and no where else is contrary to the Scriptures for God hath put his Law in his Peoples Inward Parts and writ it in their Hearts according to his Promise Jer 31.33 Supernatural Verities are written upon the Table of Man's Heart 2 Cor. 3.3 And the Mystery of Faith is held in a pure Conscience 1 Tim. 3.9 And whatsoever is to be known of God is manifest in Man Rom. 1.19 So was before the Scriptures were written and after part of the Scriptures were written yet unknown Rom. 2.14 15. For when the Gentiles which have not the Law do by Nature the things contained in the Law these having not the Law are a Law unto themselves which shews the Work of the Law written in their Hearts Now the Gentiles who had not the Law doing the things contashed in the Law doth hold forth and prove that they knew something of God manifest in them and plainly shew forth the Works of the Law written in their Hearts And so then it is clear that supernatural Verities are punctually set down else-where than in the Scriptures and that the Mystery of Faith is held in a pure Conscience But J. C. affirms without any limitation That supernatural Verities and Mysteries are punctually set down in the Scriptures and no where else and this is false Doctrine And yet J. C. hath in another place contradicted it and given himself the Lye for in pag. 8. of his Skirmish he speaks of Precepts contained in Nature and else where in his Books of the Law of God being writ in Mens Hearts which is somewhere else besides the Scriptures But Contradictions Lyes and false Doctrine are so frequent in his Books and the strength and substance of them answered and laid open in several Books lately printed in answer to seven of his confused self-contradictory and Blasphemous Pamphlets this cuts my Work the shorter to the said Answers I refer the Reader for further satisfaction to one entituled The Life of God which is the Light and Salvation of Men Exalted another Skirmisher defeared and shall yet further reply to the remaining part of this Position which is as followeth J. C. saith There is nothing within or without us that doth or can make known to us such Supernatural Verities without the Scriptures and what is derived from them Reply That the Scriptures much less any thing derived from them are God who is Omnipresent and Omnipotent which the Scriptures are not I deny For God is a Spirit an Infinite Substance an independent Being whose Being is of himself who was God Omnipresent before the Scriptures were written and is God Omnipotent who without the Scriptures can do of himself whatsoever he pleases and who shall say unto him What dost thou Now God being a Spirit Omnipresent present every where Omnipotent he can make known supernatural Verities without the Scriptures and what is derived from them But J. C. hath affirmed the contrary in his Position Whereupon I thus argue He that affirms That there is nothing within or without us that doth or can make known to us such Supernatural Verities without the Scriptures and what is derived from them denies God who is Omnipresent to be Omnipotent and is a Blasphemer But J. C. hath affirmed That there is nothing within or without us that doth or can make known to us such Supernatural Verities without the Scriptures and what is derived from them Therefore J. C. denies God who is Omnipresent to be Omnipotent and is a Blasphemer J. C. saith p. 24. Because I have some Portion of the Genuine and Catholick Spirit of Holiness I am mortally Hated by them and yet I am as ill or more if more can be Hated of many of mine own way who agree with me in Opinion Reply Hypocrites formerly had high Conceits of themselves Luke 18. verse 9. to 13. of whose Generation this J. C. both by Disputation and Writing hath been and is manifested to be one and his Fruits plainly shew of what spirit he is For in his Prayer-Book in pag. 139 141 143 145. he saith I Tremble to have my Luke-warm Prayers abhorred by God c. Alas My Hands are feeble in Prayer often do I compel my self unto it I am Distracted in it I am soon weary I come poorly off I
am compelled to pray Hypocritically and Dissemble with God and utter Untruths unto him I shall not be able to cover or conceal my Wickedness from the World if I get to Heaven it must be by this Trade of Begging Here observe Dissembling with God and uttering Untruths unto him praying Hypocritically Luke-warm Prayers Distraction in Prayer Compelling himself to Pray that he might conceal his Wickedness from the World hath been J. C's Practice whereby it is apparent J. C. was not partaker of the Spirit of Holiness nor acted by it in such services but is of another spirit than the Spirit of God That the Quakers mortally hate J. C. is a false slander for the Light in which the Quakers have believed and walk hath taught them to have true Love to God and good Will to all Men but to oppose wicked spirits and deny all Wickedness Now that spirit whereby J. C. hath been acted in Dissembling with God and uttering Untruths unto him in Dissembling with God and uttering Untruths unto him in belying the Light and the Children of it together with their pure and undefiled Religion in Blaspheming the Light of Christ the Spirit of God calling it Diana Dagon a Dumb Idol comparing it to a Drunken Coash-man c. is a wicked spirit which together with J. C's Wickedness viz. his Lyes Slanders Hpocrisie Confusion Blasphemy c. The Fruits thereof the Light which shineth in Man hath shined in and through the Quakers the Children of Light plentifully to discover and â—lay them open to the Readers view which wicked Spirit together with its Fruits the Quakers are Enemies to and perfected ly hate And that many of J. C's own Way who agree with him in Opinion Hate him is no new thing for formerly the Lord set the Enemies of his People one against another and one helped to destroy another 2 Chron. 20.22 23. And the Lord is the same who for his Israel's sake is dashing the Potsherds of the Earth one against another and hath appeared and is appearing against this J. C. who hath hardened his Heart as Pharaoh and the Egyptians hardened their Hearts and set himself against the Light and Children of Light to close again the Flood which hath been divided by the mighty Power of God for the Children of Light to pass through and overwhelm J. C. that as he doth appear to many to be a Minister of Death he may likewise so appear to all People For the Truth 's sake that no Lye may rest upon it and for the sakes of the simple-hearted where this may come is this written that such who can see may see that John Cheyney's Tongue hath risen up in Judgment against Israel and God hath confounded him And what I have written I do do commend to every Man's Conscience in the sight of God And concerning this J. C. do thus conclude That in him these Scriptures are fulfilled Psal 7.15.16 He made a Pit and digged it and is fallen into the Ditch which he made his Mischief shall return upon his own Head And to God who is on our side who hath taken the Wicked in his own Craftiness and fettered him in his own Net my Soul ascribes all the Praise to whom be Glory for ever and ever A Salutation to Friends of the Men and Womens Meetings DEarly beloved Friends Brethren and Sisters with whom my Soul hath precious Unity in the Seed of God and pure Fellowship in the Life of Righteousness unto you all beloved of God and right well beloved of my Soul In the abiding Love of God am I your dear Brother in the Tribulation and Patience of the Lamb in Life drawn forth to write unto you and express something of that Life and Love that is upon my Heart in a living as well as fresh remembrance of you to whom I give the endeared and truly cordial Salutation of right brotherly Love My very Heart is knit to you and in Spirit I am present with you beholding your comely Order I am verily refreshed in your Life and abundantly comforted in abiding Love my Soul honours you in the Lord you Elders of Israel and for your Humility my spirit saith That you are worthy of Praise Your Condescention one unto another in the Truth and to the Truth in whomsoever it appeared your giving way hath been and is clear demonstration to me you have sought Truth 's Honour and not your own and therefore my Soul praises God let it be so for ever the greatest amongst you serving the least the younger submitting to the elder submitting also one unto another Indeed your remembrance hath lived much upon me since I parted with you and Breathings to the God of my Life have run thorough me for your preservation and increase in Unity with the Lord God and one another And my dearly beloved a consideration of your preferring one another in the Truth whereby the Truth hath gained the Preheminence hath even melted my Heart into tenderness of Spirit I have said Let it be so for ever Of a truth I can say to the Praise of God who hath honoured you The good Order of the Gospel is amongst you and where ever yet I have Travelled and what Methods soever I have veiwed in the midst of all I on your behalf have blessed God for his Wisdom wherewith he hath endowed you I hope finding you praise worthy without offence I may speak thus much of you I can bear my Reccord you having Wisdom have done justly and having Mercy obtained have Mercy shewed and that which is a Pearl indeed you have walked humbly with your God If I may live again to see you and in a measure of the fulness of the Gospel come unto you in the full performance of the same Duty let my Soul find you In the mean while dearly beloved in humility dwell and the Grace and Peace of God be daily multiplied upon you and let your fervent breathings and earning desires be for one another and in a tender healing Spirit be you always found and evermore live together in Love and for me your younger Brother who am outwardly separated from you and bound in Spirit for Travel in the labour of the Gospel Let your breathings in Life to the God of Life be That God will be pleased to give me a door of Utterance and prosper the work in his hand He hath called and yet is calling into to the Praise of his own Glory Dear Friends a long Epistle I intend not you are Elders ruling well to whom double honour for the Works sake I can freely give Having eased my Heart a little not questioning but to be rightly understood by you and in Life's Record more fully so be read by you My Life greets you all together and my Soul salutes you one by one with a Kiss of Love the God of Israel overshadow you with his Glory for ever My dear Companion salutes you all And by this you may know that in a few
Days we intend to leave this City and pass to Graves-end where we purpose to take Shipping for Holland having a Concern upon us to visit the Low-Countries c. Things here at London are pretty well William Rogers and his Party are here we had a Meeting with them Yesterday which lasted nigh 12 Hours and about 7 this Morning begins again the Lord's Power was over all Glory to his Name for ever So with my cordial Love once more Saluting you all I am your Faithful Brother Roger Haydock London 28th of the 2d Month 1682. DEar P. H. J. A. C. M. C. J. K. E. K. and all my Beloved Friends in Holland To you all in the Covenant of Light who are Called and Chosen of God to be Heirs of Salvation and Life is the tender Salutation of my Love ever to you who are the Circumcision to whom the Adoption and Covenant appertains who are bound to keep the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus your Circumcision being that of the Heart and of the Ear that you may hear and do the Law of God which is written upon the Tables of your Hearts and be Witnesses of the bringing in of the better Hope which makes perfect as appertaining to the Consciences upon each of you Beloved in God and Christ my Love opens freely my Life greets you often your Remembrance lives with me you are near me in Life and in abiding Love is your Remembrance refreshing to me As a Brother my Heart is open to you the Breathings of my Life are for you that the Circumcised Adopted and Chosen amongst you may keep the Everlasting Covenant God hath made with you that you may not only be the Called but also the Chosen Faithful and True who continue to the end and be saved through the Effects of the Hope brought in which whosoever hath it purifieth himself even as he the Author of the Hope and Salvation is pure For my Beloved Friends we are not ignorant how that many have made their Circumcision Uncircumcision being turned with the Dogg to their vomit and with the Sow that was washed to the wallowing in the Mire and that too too many have broken Covenant with the Lord and cast his divine Law behind their backs being turned from the Grace of God into Lasciviousness and from Truth into a Lye and in the Lasciviousness and Lye have stood up to oppose the Grace and gainsay the Truth their end will be Destruction their Damnation slumbereth not We think it not strange that we meet sometimes with Exercises of this kind to wit Perils amongst false Brethren Satan's Transformings and the falling away of some who are gone out from us For the Apostle speaks of a Falling away that the Son of Perdition should be made manifest and again it 's said They went but from us that they might be made manifest that they were not of us When Eve and Adam fell away from God they died the Death the Devil and Satan was made manifest When Man went or fell from Truth to the Lye the Lyar was made manifest when Judas fell away the Son of Perdition was made manifest And there hath been a falling away from Truth to the Lye from God to the Devil from Christ to Belial and through the falling away is the Lye Devil and Belial made manifest in their Flesh whose Spirits fall away Now as through their falling away the Son of Perdition is made manifest so are they made manifest to us to be Sons of Belial who are in the Gall of Bitterness and Band of Iniquity and from the Gall which they are in bitter Fruits are brought forth by them being Men of corrupt Minds as to the Faith Reprobates And as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses so do these Men resist the Truth they are Enemies to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ I doubt not my Friends but that you have had your share of Exercise with some who are gone out from you or from the Truth which is your Life who probably may yet for some time have Assembled with you that they might give you the greater Exercise who themselves being of corrupt Minds have endeavoured to corrupt others and Judas like with a Kiss betray Truth into the Hands of Sinners and draw the weak and unstable into the Snare with them making the Weak to err and turning the Feeble out of the way which is a grief to the Upright-hearted Not but that they see that as Judas's Kiss could not cover his Treachery no more can their Kisses cover their Treachery for of all the Faithful whose Eyes are in their Head Christ they are seen and judged But for the sakes of the Weak and Feeble deluded by them and of the place it gives to the Devil and great occasion to the World to Blaspheme God his Truth and People it hath made sad the Heart which God hath not made sad However my Friends in and through these and all other your Exercises God hath been with you sanctifying Tribulations to you and confounding those that have set themselves against you on the one hand and on the other have they fallen that troubled you To God who is on your side be all the Praise What now remains to us who know the Righteous God pleads our Innocent Cause and that our Righteousness is of the Lord but that each of us who stand take heed lest we fall and that we use all diligence to make our Calling and Election sure before we go hence and be no more seen Let the feeble Knees amongst you be made strong that not one that is halting may be turned out of the way and let the strong of you be more strong You Fathers and Elders that know him that was from the beginning and you young Men and Brethren who are strong who have overcome the wicked One in you the Word of God abiding Being as the Watch-Men in Israel amongst the Circumcision and as Saviours upon Mount Zion unto the hindermost of them who worship God in Spirit And all of you who are Abraham's Children to whom Circumcision was given who was to Circumcise himself the Males in his House his Sons and his Servants bought with his Money Be you all Circumcised and when all Filthiness of Flesh and Spirit is done away then keep you Covenant with God whose the Circumcision is who hath given you the answer of a good Conscience For as Circumcision in the Flesh appertained to the First Covenant and they that were Circumcised were bound to keep the Law of the First Tables so Circumcision in the Spirit appertains to the Second Covenant and the Circumcised are bound to keep the Law of the Second Table And those that will lose their Life they through Death shall come to have Life And such are Witnesses that the New Creature avails so that all the Circumcision may have that which avails the New Creature which is Created after God in Righteousness and perfect Holiness for
as it was said Neither Circumcision nor Vncircumcision availeth but a New Creature Now where this New Creature is known the Old Man with his Deeds is put off the Old Man and Old Creature put off and changed the New Man is put on and the New Creature which bears the Image of the Heavenly comes up Now where any have a foolish pity to the First Birth being bent to save its Life there is in them an averseness to the cutting off of the fore-skin of the Heart for the sake of your Blood these are like him that pitied Agag whose Life God had required they spare that which God would have cut off Therefore let no ones Eye pity not Hand spare but let the fore skin of all Hearts be cut off that all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit may be done away and that not only in the Fathers Elders young Men Brethren but in them of younger Years and less growth And concerning this let the Elders Fathers and Brethren be careful that all the fore-skins of the Hearts of Abraham's House-hold of his Children who are of the House-hold of Faith be cut off that they may all know the Circumcision And in Heart and Ear being circumcised may all keep the Law of God in keeping of which Law there is a great Reward And the more set them be careful that all be Circumcised and that the Circumcision be kept lest it becoming Uncircumcision in any and being winked at it becomes like a spreading Leprosie upon them that have been Circumcised drawing a fore-skin over their Hearts again as a covering to their Filthiness whereby their Circumcision is made Uncircumcision and their latter end worse than the beginning For it had been better saith the Apostle they had never known the way of Truth than after they had known to turn from it And Dear Friends provoke you one another and be provoked one by another to Love and to good Works Be all stedfast in the Faith speak all by one Spirit and you will speak one thing be Encouragers in what is Good a Praise to them that do Well but a Terror to Evil Doers If there be Tatlers Busy-bodies amongst you Mark such and reprove them Let none strengthen Evil Doers but appear in Judgment against their Evil Deeds for that is the way to do them Good If any hath done Evil let such Repent and do so no more but come and do their first Work lest God smite them with a Curse If any Friend be overtaken with Weakness restore such an one in the Spirit of Meekness and Love and let such a one be easie to be entreated for why should any Man despise his own Mercies It 's a Mercy from God to Offenders that Men fearing God come to them in the Love of God to tell them their Sin This Mercy David though a King rejected not when Nathan said Thou hast slain Uriah the Hittite and taken his Wife but acknowledged saying I have Sinned Nathan replied God hath taken away thy Sin thou shalt not Dye But Alas how few are of David's Mind when for their Offences they are spoken to Let all Dear Friends be Watchful and let your Light shine put not your Candle under either Bed or Bushel let not your Sleep be over it nor your Merchandizing be above it but let your Candle stand in the Candlestick and Shine giving Light over all You are Light in that part of the World so Shine that Men seeing your good Works may be occasioned to bless God on your behalf You are a City upon that Continent you cannot be hid you are the Salt of that Earth therefore season you that part of the Creation They have Eyes upon you looking for good from you their Ears are sometimes attentive to you to reap of the Good proceeding from you Good is with you for God is with you and for the Good proceeding from you they shall glorifie God Preach you Righteousness to them in a holy Life and be before them Patterns of Piety in a Godly Conversation Christ your Life your Light shining in you and through you being both your Righteousness and exceeding great Reward so do that you may convince them of their Righteousness which is a Righteousness of their own which they are going about to establish which is but as filthy Rags and as a menstruous Cloth in Comparison of Christ's Righteousness which they have rejected that so they may see and be ashamed Repent and find Mercy with the Lord that they may be healed Finally my Brethren and all Dear Friends live in Love that God who is Love may dwell in you that Grace Peace and all spiritual Blessings in heavenly things may be multiplied upon you from God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Amen As opportunity offers give the Salutation of my Dear Love to all Dear Friends in Frizeland at Frederickstadt Hambrough and other places upon your Continent where I have travelled and the God of my Life who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve the Gathered every where in Faithfulness and of his Infinite Love build them all up in the most holy Faith which gives Victory over the World that they may be a People to his Praise And I pray God encrease his chosen amongst you and add to your small number every where even daily such as shall be saved My love flows to the Seed in those parts my life tenderly greets God's Off-spring the Blessing of Jacob of Jesus of God the Father of Christ be upon you all and upon God's Heritage every where Amen I am your Brother Roger Haydock Warrington the 25th of the 11th Month 1686. Concerning Roger Haydock's two Imprisonments in Lancaster Goal ROgen Haydock of Coppal three Miles from Wigan in the County of Lancaster Yeoman was sued in the Bishop's Court at Chester by Ralph Briddock Priest of Standish and Bishop of Chichester He was cited as they say in the Steeple-House at Standish to appear at Chester because he appeared not having not certain knowledge of it he was judged a Contemner of the Law was apprehended the 3d day of the 3d Month 1674. committed to the Goal at Lancaster remained Prisoner until the 12th of the 11th Month following then released through an Appeal to York grounded upon the unlawfulness of their Proceedings but for want of appearing in the said Court personally when he had appealed thither was again committed to the common Goal at Lancaster and was apprehended the 2d of the 8th Month 1675. by James Worthington Constable of Coppal where he remains a Prisoner still The name of the Judge for the Bishop's Court was John Wainwright The pretended Cause was for 10 Thrave of Oates not of his own but of his Brother's John Haydock worth about 30 s. by them valued to 3 l. and something for smoak-Penny and Tithe of Hen and Geese which they pretend to be due for his Brother's Estate The said Roger Haydock is an unmarried Man and as a