where De Labadie's Company resideth it being strong upon my Spirit to give them a Visit We got thither about 5 and as we were walking over a Field to the House we met a young Man of that Company who conducted us in I askt for Ivon the Pastor and Anna Maria Schurmans Ivon presently came with his Co-pastor who received us very civilly however they seemed shy of letting me speak with A. M. S. objecting her Weakness Age taking Physick c. but putting them in mind how unhandsomely I was used at Herwerden six Years a-go by de Labadie their Father who though I came a great Journy to visit him and his People suffered me not to speak with them they presently complied and went in to let her know that such a Person desired to speak with her and quickly returned desiring me to come in But fore-seeing my time would be too short for my Message the Sun being near setting and having 2 English Miles of unknown way to our Lodging on foot desired them that they would give an Opportunity the next Morning which they readily complied with So I took my leave of them who in a Friendly manner brought us a little on our way That night a great weight was upon my Spirit and especially the next Morning yet my Faith was in the power of God and I had a plain sight that I should have a good service among them however I should clear my Conscience and my Peace should rest with me The next Morning I returned to them and John Claus along with me so soon as we came we were brought into A.M. Shurman's Chamber where also was with her one of the three Somerdikes This A. M. S. aforesaid is an ancient Maid above 60 Years of Age of great Note and Fame for Learning in Languages and Philosophy and hath obtained a considerable place among the most learned Men of this Age. The Somerdikes are Daughters to a Noble-man of the Hague people of great Breeding and Inheâ—â—â—ances These with several other Persons being affected with the zealous Declamation of de Labadie against the dead and formal Churches of the World and awakened to seek after a more spiritual Fellowship and Society separated themselves from the common Calvinist Churches and followed him in the way of a refined Independency They are a serious plain People and are come nearer to Friends as in Silence in Meetings Women-speaking Preaching by the Spirit Plainness in Garb and Furniture in their Houses than formerly and more than any other People I know With these two we had the Company of the two Pastors and a Doctor of Physick After some silence I proposed this Question to them What was it that induced them to separate from the common Way they formerly lived in I desired them that they would be pleased to be plain and open with me as to the ground of their separation for I came not to cavil but in the Christian Spirit to be informed Upon this Ivon the chief Pastoâ— gave us the History of de Labadie'â— Education how he was bred among the Jesuites and Deserted them and embraced the Protestant Religion and finally of his great Satisfaction with the Protestant Churches of France and that if God would not give them a purer Church they three would set down by themselves resolving never more to mix themselves among the Babylonish Assemblies of the World adding several solemn Appeals concerning the Simplicity and Integrity of their Hearts in these things Ivon having done A. M. Shurmans began in this manner I find my self constrained to add a short Testimony She told us of her former life of her pleasure in Learning and her love to the Religion she was brought up in but she confessed she knew not God or Christ all that while and though from a Child God had visited her at times yet she never felt such a powâ—rful Stroke as by the Ministry of de Labadie She saw her learning to be vanity and her Religion like a Body of Death she resolved to despise the Shame desert her former way of Living and Acquaintance and to join her self with this little Family that was retired out of the World among whom she desired to be found a living Sacrifice offer'd up entirely to the Lord. She spoke in a very serious and broken Sense not without some trembling These are but short hints of what she said After she had done One of the Somerdikes began in a very reverent and weighty frame of Mind and in a Sense that very well suited her Contempt of the World She told us how often she had mourned from her young Years because she did not know the Lord as she desired often saying within her self If God would make known to me his Way I would trample upon all the Pride and Glory of the World She earnestly exprest the frequent Anguish of Spirit she had because of the Deadness and Formality of the Christians she was bred among saying to her self O the Pride O the Lusts O the vain pleasures in which Christians live Can thiâ— be the way to Heaven Is this the way to Glory Are these followers of Christ O no! O God Where is thy little Flock Where is thy little Family that will live intirely to thee that will follow thee Make me one of that number and when the Servant of the Lord de Labadie came into Holland I among others had a curiosity to hear him and among several others was deeply affected by him He spoke the very Thoughts of my heart me-thought my heart was pricked when I heard him and I resolved by the grace of God to abandon all the Glory and Pride of this World to be one of those that should set down with him in a separation from the vain and dead Worships of this World I count my self happy that I ever met with him and these Pastors who seek not themselves but the Lord and we are a Family that live together in love of one Soul and one Spirit intirely given up to serve the Lord and this is the greatest Joy in the World After her du Lignon the other Pastor gave us also an account of his Inducement to embrace J. de Labadie but not so lively After him the Doctor of Physick that had been bred for a Priest but voluntarily refused that Calling exprest himself after this manner I can also bear my Testimony in the presence of God that tho I lived in as much Reputation at the University as any of my Collegues or Companions and was well reputed for Sobriety and Honesty yet I never felt such a living sense of God as when I heard the Servant of the Lord de Labadie adding The first Day I heard him I was so struck and affected that I can truly say through the good Grace of God and the Conduct of the Holy Spirit it was to me as the Day of my Salvation he did so lovingly touch my heart with the sense of the true
Minister of the Gospel be at the beck of any Mortal living or give his Soul and Conscience to the time and appointment of another the thing in it self is utterly wrong and against the very Nature and Worship of the new and everlasting Covenant You had better meet to read the Scriptures the Book of Martyrs c. if you cannot sit and wait in silence upon the Lord till his Angel move upon your Hearts than to uphold such a formal limited and ceremonious Worship this is not the Way out of Babylon And I have a deep sense upon my Soul that if the Young Man strive beyond the talent God hath given him to answer his Office and fill up his Place and wait not for the pure and living Word of God in his Heart to open his Mouth but either studieth for his Sermons or speaketh his own Words he will be utterly ruined Wherefore O Dear Friend have a care thou art no Snare to him nor he to thee Man's Works smother and stifle the true life of Christ what have you to do but to look to Jesus the Author of the holy desires that are in you who himself hath visited you tempt not the Lord provoke not God what should any Man Preach from but Christ and what should he Preach people too but Christ in them the hope of Glory Consider nothing feedeth that which is born of God but that which cometh down from God even the Bread of God which is the Son of God which giveth his life for the World feel it and feed on it let none mock God nor grieve his eternal Spirit that is come to seal them up from the mouth of Man that hath deceived them that Jesus the anointing may teach them and abide with them for ever Be stedfast and immoveable and this will draw the Young Man near to the Lord and empty him of himself and purge away mixtures and then you will all come to the Divine Silence and when all Flesh is silent before the Lord then is it the Lord's time to Speak and if you will hear your Souls shall live O my Soul is in great pain that you may be all chastly preserved in that divine Sense begotten in your Hearts by the eternal Word of God that abideth for ever that nothing may ever be able to extinguish it But more especially thou my Dear Friend mayest be kept in faithfulness for the Lord is come very near to thee and thou must begin the Work the Lord God expecteth it at thy hand if one Sheep break through the rest will follow wherefore watch O watch that thou may'st be strengthned and confirmed and strengthen all that is begotten of God in that Family by thy weighty savoury and circumspect life O how is my Soul affected with thy present condition it is the fervent Supplication of my heart that thou may'st through the daily obedience of the Cross of Jesus conquer and shine as a bright and glorious Star in the Firmament of God's eternal Kingdom So let it be Lord Jesus Amen We tenderly yet freely spoke ouâ— hearts to him before we parted which done in God's love we tooâ— our leave of him and Dusseldorp and got that Night to Duysburgh being the third Day of the Week We first visited Dr. Mastricht a Maâ— of a good natural Temper but a rigid Calvinist I perceived by him that they held a Consultation about seeing us at Bruch but they all concluded it was best to decline meeting with us because of the Graef he being ready to fling our Name in reproach upon them in his displeasure and this would confirm him in his Jealousies of them This might excuse the Countess but by no means Kuper and if I had any sense Mastricht was there with them upon design to frustrate the hopes we had conceived of meeting with her We from thaâ— descended to other things of weightâ— and in love and peace parted From his House we returned to our Inn and after Supper we visited the Schult who with much civility and some tenderness received us his Sister also came to us and we had a good little Meeting with them and our God was with us and his pure and tender life appeared for our Justification and pleaded our innocent Cause in their Consciences and so we parted with them leaving our Master's Peace amongst them The next day we came to Wesel being the 4th day where we understood by Dr. Schuler that thy Sister desired that we would be so kind as to see her when we returned upon that we went and visited her she received us very kindly Thy Brother in Law 's two Sisters were present we stayed with them at least two Hours Many Questions she put to me which I was glad to have an Opportunity to Answer for it made way for a Meeting she intreated us to come again if we stayed and told us our Visit was very grateful to her adding That because we past 〈◊〉 by the last time she concluded wiâ—â— herself we had no hopes of her with more to that effect From thence we went to Dr. Schuler's who freely offered us his House for a Meeting next day and indeed the Man is bold after his manner The next day about Seven I writ a Billiet in French to thy Sister to inform her of the Meeting to begin about Eight She came and her two Sisters with her there was Rosendale Colonel Copius and his Wife and about three or four more and to our great Joy the Lord Almighty was with us and his holy Power reached their Hearts and the Doctor and Copius confessed to our Testimony The Meeting lasted about three Hours being done we took our leave of them in the Spirit of Jesus and so returned to our Inn. The Taylor all this while afraid of coming to our Inn or to the Doctor 's to the Meeting great Fears have overtaken him and the poor Man liveth but in a dry Land After Dinner we visited Copius and Rosendale and at Copius's we had a blessed broken Meeting he his Wife Rosendale his Wife and another Woman Wife to one Dr. Willick's Brother present they were extreamly affected and overcome by the Power of the Lord 't was like one of our Herwerden Meetings indeed much Tenderness was upon all their Spirits This done and having left Books both there and with thy Sister we left Wesel with Hearts full of Joy and Peace and let me say this That more kindness more openness we have scarcely found in all our Travels O that this blessed Sense may dwell with them A Seed there is in that place God will gather yea a noble People he will find out And I doubt not but there will be a good Meeting of Friends in that City before many Years go about my love is great to that place O how God is our dear Lord to us who helpeth our Infirmities and carrieth through all Opposition and feedeth us with his Divine Presence
AN ACCOUNT OF W. Penn ' s TRAVAILS IN HOLLAND and GERMANY Anno MDCLXXVII For the Service of the Gospel of Christ by way of Journal Containing also Divers Letters and Epistles writ to several Great and Eminent Persons whilst there London Printed and Sold by T. Sowle near the Meeting-House in White-Hart-Court in Grace-Church-Street and at the Croked-Billet in Holy-well-lane near Shoreditch 1694. THE Preface to the Reader THis Ensuing Journal of my Travils in Holland and Germany in the Service of the Gospel of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was written for my own and some Relations and perticular Friends Satisfaction as the long time it hath lain silent doth show But a Copy that was found amongst the late Countess of Connaway's Papers falling into the Hands of a Person that much frequented that Family he was earnest with me both by himself and others to have leave to Publish it for a Common Good Which upon perusal I have found a willingness to comply with hoping that the Lord will make the Reading of it Effectual to some into whose Hands it may Fall as well those who have received a Dispensation of the same Ministry for Their Encouragement in their Publick Service for God as those who are under the same Ministry unto Zeal and Faithfulness For it is the Glorious Gospel-Day in which God is Exalting his Dear Son as Prophet Priest and King in the Hearts of his People Oh that the Nations would hear him their only Saving Health and Israels great Shepherd who takes care of his Sheep that hear his Voice and gives unto them that follow him in the daily Cross unto Regeneration Eternal Life And who hath sent and is sending forth his Servants to gather home the Sheep that are gone astray in all Nations that so there may be but One Shepherd and One Sheepfold according to the Glorious Promise made to these latter Times In which he would be the Teacher of his People himself For he is Teaching thousands by the Light Spirit and Grace of his Son Christ in whom he is well pleased To this God hath sent forth his Servants in this Day to turn all People as God's Call and Visitation to the Nations And blessed are all those that Hearken to this Testimony both Mediately and Immediately For God is awakening Men to the Knowledge of his Glory in the Face or Appearance of Christ by his Spirit in their Hearts and Consciences which reveal to Men the Father yea the deep things of God Oh that they would Hear and Fear and Learn the things that make for their Eternal Peace For if the Righteous scarcely are saved where O where shall they appear that neglect so great Salvation A Salvation that comes so neer them as to knock at the door of their Hearts that teaches them and trys their Reins and tells unto them their most inward Thoughts and brings a Time of Judgment over all their Words and Works This is Christ Jesus the Light of the World that was given of God for Salvation to the ends of the Earth He has Enlightned all and Shines to all and Calls all that they should see their Sins and be sorry for them and forsake them and take up his dayly Cross and follow him whom God hath given for an Example as well as a Propitiation for our Sins And none can know him to be their Propitiation that rejest him as their Example and Leader in their Lives and Conversations Wherefore Reader be Serious Inward and Inquisitive for thy Souls Sake What Faith hast thou One that over-comes the World or one that the Spirit of the World over-comes which is not the Faith of God's Elect without which we cannot please God For that Faith works by love Such a love to God as will not affend him but seeks his Glory through a most willing Obedience to his Holy Will Blessed are the Souls in which this love dwells For such have none in Heaven but God nor in the Earth in comparison of him As they receive all good from him so they resign all up to him and tho' it be through many Tribulations that they must attain the rest of God yet as nothing can seperate them from his love so neither can anything deprive them of their Reward in the End Wherefore Reader be thou perswaded to take thy Lot among that blessed Number if thou art not yet one of them Thou seest the way to that Divine Priviledge walk in it for the End Crowns all If one of that number that have chosen God for their Portion be Diligent Zealous and fervent in the Work and Service of God Redeem thy Time and Run thy Race with care and constancy looking to Jesus the Author that he may be the Finisher of thy Faith Remember who said there are many Mansions prepared for the Faithful Do we beleive and look for another World Let us not then live in this as if there were no other Let our Eyes be upon our better World and live here as Strangers that are but on our way to our Eternal Home that so we may Answer the End of God's Love by working out the Salvation of our own Souls by his Power with fear and Trembling knowing God will Judge all by Christ Jesus according to the Deeds done in the Body Reader this Journal is of a Religious Voyage and has some passages in it that may Engage thy Soul to Seriousness and let the see how Good God is to those that go of his Holy Errands May'st thou be heartily affected with this Testimony of his Love and Presence with his People and feel good desires raised in thee to serve the Lord also according to his blessed will in thy day that Peace thou may'st know to thy Soul when time here shall be no more I am Thy assured Friend in the best Things W. Penn. AN ACCOUNT OF MY JOURNEY INTO Holland and Germany BEING the First Day of the Week I left my Dear Wife and Family at Worminghurst in Sussex in the Fear and Love of God and came well to London that Night The next day I Emploied my self on Friends behalf that were in Sufferings till the Evening and then went to my own Mothers in Essex The next Morning I took my Journey to Colchester and met George Wats of London upon the Way who returned with me and came well to that Town that Evening We lodged at John Furly's the Elder but had a Blessed Meeting at Jonathan Furly's House that Night The next Morning early I left Colchester and came to Harwich about Nine accompanied with George Wats and John Furly the Elder William Tallcoat and J. Whiterly of Colchester where we found dear G. F. at J. Vanderwall's House with many more Friends After Dinner we went all to the Meeting where the Lord gave us a Blessed Earnest of his Love ' and Presence that should be with us in this Voyage for his overcoming refreshing Power did open all
of the Glory of this blessed Mystery in the Gentiles which is Christ Jesus the Light of the World in you the Hope of Glory For this I have to tell you in the Vision of the Almighty that the Day of the breaking up of the Nations about you and of the sounding of the Gospel-Trumpet unto the Inhabitants of the Earth is just at the Door And they that are worthy who have kept their Habitation from the beginning and have dwelt in the Unity of the Faith that overcometh the World and have kept the Bond of Peace The Lord God will impower and spirit you to go forth with his Everlasting Word and Testament to awaken and gather Kindreds Languages and People to the Glory of the rising of the Gentiles Light who is God's Salvation unto the Ends of the Earth And I must tell you that there is a Breathing Hungering Seeking People solitarily scattered up and down this great Land of Germany where the Lord hath sent me and â— believe it is the like in other Nations And as the Lord hath laid it upon me with my Companions to seeâ— some of them out so have we founâ— several in divers Places And wâ— have had many blessed Opportunities amongst them wherein our Hearts have greatly rejoiced having been made deeply sensible of the Love of God towards them and of the great openness and tenderness of Spirit in them to receive the Testimony of Light and Life through us And we have a stedfast belief that the Lord will carry on his Work in this Land effectually and that he will raise up those that shall be as Ministers of his eternal Testament amongst them And O! our desire is that God would put it into the Hearts of many of his faithful Witnesses to visit the Inhabitants of this Country where God hath a great Seed of People to be gathered that his Work may go on in the Earth till the whole Earth be filled with his Glory And it is under the deep and weighty Sense of this approaching Work that the Lord God hath laid it upon me to write to you to wait for the farther pourings out of the Power and Spirit of the Lord that nothing that is Careless Sleepy Earthly or Exalted may get up whereby to displease the Lord and cause him to withdraw his sweet and preserving Presence from any that know him But let all keep the King of Righteousness his Peace and walk in the Steps of the Flocks of the Companions For Withering and Destruction shall come upon all such as desert the Camp of the Lord or with their murmuring Spirit disquiet the Heritage of God for they are greater Enemies to Sion's Glory and Jerusalem's Peace than the open Armies of the Aliens And it is a Warning to all that make mention of the Name of the Lord in this Dispensation he hath brought us to That they have a care how they let out their Minds in any wise to please the Lusts of the Eye the Lusts of the Flesh and the Pride of Life which are not of the Father but of this World lest any be exalted in a Liberty that maketh the Cross of Jesus of none effect and the Offence thereof to cease for such will become as Salt that hath lost its Savour and at last will be trod under the Feet of God and Men. For the Lord will withdraw his daily Presence and the Fountain will come to be sealed up and the Well of Salvation be stopped again Therefore as all would rejoice in the Joy of God's Salvation let them wait for the saving Power and dwell in it that knowing the Mystery of the Work of Regeneration Christ formed in them the Hope of their Glory they may be able in the motion of him that hath begotten them through Death to Life to go forth and declare the Way of Life and Salvation And all you that are young convinced of the Eternal Truth come into it and then you will feel the Virtue of it And so you will be Witnesses otherwise Vain Talkers Wells without Water Clouds without Rain for which State is reserved the Blackness of Darkness for ever Wherefore gird up the Loins of your Minds and be sober and tempt not God but receive the Day of your Visitation and walk worthy of so great Love and delight to retain God in your Knowledg and grieve not his Holy Spirit but join to it and be led by it that it may be an Earnest to you of an Eternal Inheritance And take up your daily Cross and follow Christ and not the Spirit of this World He was meek and lowly he was humble and plain he was few in Words but mighty in Deeds He loved not his Life unto Death even the reproachful Death of the Cross but laid down his Life and became of no Reputation and that for the Rebellious O the Height and the Depth the Length and the Breadth yea the Vnsearchableness of the Love of God in Christ Jesus Wherefore while it is to Day hearken to his Voice and harden not your Hearts and make no Bargains for your Self neither consult with Flesh and Blood But let the Lord be your Light and your Salvation let him be the Strength of your Life and the Length of your Days And this know assuredly that none ever trusted to the Lord and were confounded Wherefore hold up your Testimony for God as ye would enjoy the Increasings of his Life and Love And let your Light shine and confess him before the whole World Smother not his Appearance neither hide thy Candle God hath lighted in thee under a Bushel for Christ walketh among his Candlesticks of pure and tried Gold Wherefore set thy Light upon a Candlestick and shew forth thy good Conversation in Meekness and godly Fear that thou mayest become a good Example and others beholding thy good Works may glorify God But for the Rebellious the Fearful and the Unbelieving the Day hastens upon such that the things that belong to their Eternal Peace shall be hid from their Eyes for ever And all you my dear Friends and Brethren who are in Sufferings for the Testimony of Jesus and a good Conscience look up to Jesus the Author and Finisher of your Faith who for the Joy that was set before him endured the Cross and despised the Shame and is sat down at the Right Hand of the Father in the heavenly Place into which if you faint not you shall all be received after the Days of your Pilgrimage shall be at an End with a Well done good and faithful Servant And though these Afflictions seem not joyous but grievous for the present yet a far more exceeding weight of Glory stands at the Door Wherefore count it all Joy you fall into these Trials and persevere to the End knowing that he that shall come will come and will not tarry and that his Reward is with him Remember the Martyrs of Jesus that loved not their Lives to the Death for his
Name's-sake that had called them And Jesus himself that made a good Confession before Pontius Pilate who hath consecrated through his Blood a new and living Way for all that come unto God by him who is made a high Priest higher than the Heavens one that can be touched and moved and is daily touched and moved with our Weakness and Infirmity that through him we may be made strong in the Lord and more than Conquerors through him that hath loved us Wherefore let it not seem as if some strange thing had happened to you for all these things are for the Trial of your Faith which is more precious than the Gold that perisheth 'T is the old Quarrel Children of this World against the Children of the Lord those that are born after the Flesh warring against those that are born after the Spirit Cain against Abel the Old World against Noah Sodomites against Lot Hagar against Sarah Ishmael against Isaac Esau against Jacob Egyptians against Israelites the false Prophets against the true Prophets as Isaiah Jeremiah c. the Jews under the Profession of the Letter of the Law against Christ that came to fulfil the Law and all his spiritual Followers and Disciples And all the false Apostate Christians against the true and Spiriritual Christians and Martyrs of Jesus So your Conflict is for the Spiritual Appearance of Christ Jesus against those that profess him in Words but in Works and Conversations every day deny him doing Despight to the Spirit of Grace in themselves and those that are led by it But though Gog and Magog shall gather themselves together to lay waste the City of God yet the Lord hath determined their Destruction and he will bring it to pass Wherefore rejoyce O thou little Hill of God and clap thy Hands for Joy for he that is Faithful and True Just and Righteous and able to deliver thee dwells in the midst of thee Who will cause thee to grow and increase till thou becomest a great Mountain till thou becomest the Praise of the whole Earth and the whole Earth be filled with thy Glory And to you all who are the followers of the Lamb of God who was dead but is alive and lives for evermore who is risen in your Hearts as a bright shining Light and is leading you out of the Nature and Spirit of this World in the Path of Regeneration I have this to say by way of holy Encouragement unto you all the Lord God Eternal that was and is and is to come hath reserved for you the Glories of the last Days and if so be that the Followers and Martyrs of Jesus in Ages past when the Church was going into the Wilderness and his Witnesses into Sackcloth were notwithstanding so Noble and Valiant for the Truth on Earth that they loved not their Lives unto the Death and suffered joyfully the Spoiling of their Goods for the Testimony of Jesus how much more ought you all to be encouraged unto Faithfulness who are come to the Resurrection of the Day which shall never more be eclipsed in which the Bride-groom is to come to fetch you his Spouse out of the WILDERNESS to give you Beauty for Ashes and the Garment of Praise for the SPIRIT of HEAVINESS who will cover you with his Spirit and adorn you with his fine Linen the Righteousness of the Saints Lean upon his Breast for ever and know your joyning in an Everlasting Covenant with him that he may lift up the Light of his Countenance upon you and delight to do you Good that in blessing he may bless you increase you and multiply you in all spiritual Blessings now and for ever that to God through him you may live all the Days of your appointed Time to whom be Glory and Honour Praises and Thanksgivings in the Church throughout all Ages and for ever I am In the Faith Patience Tribulation and Hope of the Kingdom of Jesus your Friend and Brother William Penn. My Companions in the Labour and Travel of the Testimony of Jesus G. Keith and B. Furley salute you all in the Love of our God We have passed through several Cities of Germany and are now at Franckfort where the Lord hath given us Three blessed Opportunities with a serious and seeking People whereof as in other places of this Country many of them are Persons of great Worldly Quality Blessed be the Name of the Lord to whom be Glory be for ever W.P. Franckfort the 22d of the 6th Month 1677. The fifth Day we arrived by the way of Worms at Crisheim in the Paltzgrave's Country where we found to our great Joy a Meeting of tender and faithful People But it seems the Inspector of the Calvinists hath injoined the Vooght or chief Officer not to suffer any preaching to be among our Friends who poor Man fearing the Indignation of the Clergy came next Day to desire Friends not to suffer any preaching to be amongst them lest he should be turned out of his Place To whom we desired Friends to say that if he pleased he might apprehend us and carry us to the Prince before whom we should give an Account of our Testimony But blessed be the Lord we enjoyed our Meeting quietly and comfortably of which a Coachful from Worms made a part amongst whom was a Governour of the Country and one of the chief Lutheran Priests It came upon me in this Place to salute the Princess and Countess with this following Epistle A Salutation to Elizabeth Princess Palatine and Anna Maria dâ— Hornes Countess of Hornes at Herwerden in Germany My worthy Friends SUCH as I have such I give unto you the dear and tender Salutation of Light Life Peace and Salvation by Jesus Christ the blessed Lamb of God with the unspeakable Joy of which he hath replenished my Soul at this time that my Cup overfloweth which is the Reward of them that chearfully drink his Cup of Tribulations that love the Cross and triumph in all the Shame Reproaches and Contradictions of the World that do attend it My God take you by the Hand and gently lead you through all the Difficulties of Regeneration and as you have begun to know and love his sweet and tender Drawings so resign the whole Conduct of your Lives to him dispute not away the precious Sense that you have of him be it as small as a Grain of Mustard-seed which is the least of all Seeds there is Power in it if you do but believe to remove the greatest Mountains of Opposition O pretious is this Faith yea more pretious than the Glory and Honour of this World that perish It will give Courage go with Christ before Caiaphas and Pilate yea to bear his Cross without the Camp and to be crucified with him knowing that the Spirit of God and of Glory shall rest upon them to the Inheritors of this Faith is reserved the eternal Kingdom of Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost O be you of that little Flock unto whom
Jesus said Fear not for it is my Father's good pleasure to give you a Kingdom And to be of this Flock you must become as Sheep and to be as Sheep you must become harmless and to become harmless you must hear and follow the Lamb of God as he is that blessed Light which discovereth and condemneth all the unfruitful Works of Darkness and maketh harmless as a Dove which word All leaveth not one Piccadillo or Circumstance undiscovered or unjudged and the word Darkness taketh in the whole Night of Apostacy and the word Vnfruitful is a plain Judgment against all those dark Works Wherefore out of them all come and be you separated and God will give you a Crown of Life which shall never fade away O! the lowness and meanness of those Spirits that despise or neglect the Joys and Glories of Immortality for the sake of the things which are â—een that are but Temporal debasing â—he Nobility of their Souls abandoning the Government of the Divine Spirit and embracing with all ardency of Affection the sensual Pleasures of this Life but such as persevere therein shall not enter into God's Rest for ever But this is not all that hindereth and obstructeth in the holy Way of Blessedness for there is the World's Fear as well as the World's Joy that obstructeth many or else Christ had not said Fear not to his little Flock The Shame of the Cross is a Yoke too uneasy and a Burden too heavy for Flesh and Blood to bear 't is true but therefore shall Flesh and Blood never enter into the Kingdom of God And not to them that are born of the Flesh but to those that are born of the Spirit through the Word of Regeneration is appointed the Kingdom and that Throne which shall judg the twelve Tribes of Israel and all the World The Lord perfect what he hath begun in you and give you Dominion over the Love and Fear of this World And my Friends if you would profit in the Way of God despise noâ— the Day of small things in youâ— selves Know this that to desire anâ— sincerely to breathe after the Lord iâ— a blessed State you must seek beforâ— you find Do you believe make noâ— haste extinguish not those small Beginnings by an over-earnest or impatient desire of Victory God's time is the best time be you faithful and your Conflict shall end with Glory to God and the Reward of Peace to your own Souls Therefore love the Judgment and love the Fire start not aside neither flinch from the scorchings of it for it will purify and refine you as Gold seven times tried then cometh the Stamp and Seal of the Lord upon his own Vessel Holiness to him for ever which he never gave nor will give to reprobate Silver the state of the Religious Worshippers of the World And herein be comforted that Sion shall be redeemed through Judgment and her Converts through Righteousness and after the appointed time of Mourning is over the Lord will give Beauty for Ashes the Oil of Joy for Mourning and the Garment of Praise for the Spirit of Heaviness then shall you be able to say Who is he that condemneth us God hath justified us there is no Condemnation to us that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Wherefore my dear Friends walk not only not after the fleshly Lusts but also not after the fleshly Religions and Worships of the World for that that is not born of the Spirit is Flesh and all Flesh shall wither as the Grass and the Beauty of it shall fade away as the Flower of the Field before God's Sun that is risen and rising but the Word of the Lord in which is Life and that Life the Light of Men shall endure for ever and give Life Eternal to them that love and walk in the Light And I entreat you by the Love you have for Jesus have a care how you touch with fleshly Births or say Amen by Word or Practice to that which is not born of the Spirit for God is not to be found of that in your selves or others that calleth him Father and he hath never begotten it in them that Latitude and Conformity is not of God but secretly grieveth his Spirit and obstructeth the growth of the Soul in its Acquaintance and intimate Communion with the Lord. Without me saith Jesus you can do nothing and all that came before me are Thieves and Robbers If so O what are they that Pray Preach and Sing without Jesus and follow not him in those Duties but even in them crucify him O that I may find in you an Ear to hear and an Heart to perceive and embrace these Truths of Jesus And I can say I have great cause to hope and patiently to wait till the Salvation of God be further revealed to you and the whole Family with whom I must acknowledg I was abundantly refreshed and comforted in that God in measure made known the Riches of his Grace and Operation of his Celestial Power to you and his Witness shall dwell with you if we never see you more that God magnified his own Strength in our Weakness With him we leave our Travels affectionately recommending you to his holy Spirit of Grace that you may be conformed to the Image of his own dear Son who is able and ready to preserve you O stay your Minds upon him and he will keep you in perfect Peace and abide with you for ever The Almighty take you into his holy Protection now and for ever I am Your true Friend ready to serve you with fervent Love in the Will of God William Penn. My dear Companions G. K. and B.F. do with me give you the dear Salutation of unfeigned Love and those in the Family that love and desire to follow the Lord Jesus in Sincerity and Truth without wavering P. S. We are this Evening bound towards Manheim the Court of the Prince Palatine and travell'd about twelve English Miles on foot That Night we lodged at Franckenthall and goâ— the next Morning being the seventh Day of the Week to Manheim but were disappointed of our Design which was to speak with the Prince for he was gone the Day before to Heydelbâ—rgh his chief City about fifteen English Miles from that Place and considering that by reason of the Meeting next Day with Friends at Crisheim already appointed we could neither go forward nor stay till he returned and yet being not clear to come away as if we had never endeavoured to visit him it was upon me to write him this following Letter to let him know we had been there and briefly our End in coming To the Prince Elector Palatine of Heydelbergh Great Prince IT would seem strange that I both a Stranger and a Subject should use this freedom of Address to a Prince were he not one whose Actions shew him to be of a free Disposition and easy Access to all
with the Joy of his Salvation giving us to remember and to speak one unto another of his blessed Witnesses in the Days past who wandred up and down like poor Pilgrims and Strangers on the Earth their Eye being to a City in the Heavens whose Builder and Maker is God Betwixt nine and ten we reached the Walls of Duysburgh but the Gates were shut and there being no Houses without the Walls we laid us down together in a Field receiving both natural and spiritual Refreshment blessed be the Lord. About three in the Morning we rose sanctifying God in our hearts that had kept us that Night and walked till five often speaking one to another of the great and notable Day of the Lord dawning upon Germany and of several Places of that Land that were almost ripe unto Harvest Soon after the Clock had struck five they opened the Gates of the City and we had not long got to our Inn but it came upon me with a sweet yet fervent Power to visit this prosecuted Countess with a Salutation from the Love and Life of Jesus and to open unto her more plainly the Way of the Lord which I did in this following Epistle And then followeth a Letter to her Father the Graef of Bruch and Falckensteyn To the Countess of Falckensteyn and Bruch at Mulheim My dear Friend JESUS the Immaculate Lamb of God grieved and crucified by all the Workers of Iniquity illuminate thy Understanding bless and be with thy Spirit for ever Tho unknown yet art thou much beloved for the sake of thy Desires and Breathings of Soul after the living God The Report whereof from some in the same State hath made deep impressions of true Kindness upon my Spirit and raised in me a very singular and fervent inclination to visit thee and the rather because of that Suffering and Tribulation thou hast begun to endure for the sake of thy Zeal towards God my self having from my Childhood been both a Seeker after the Lord and a great Sufferer for that Cause from Parents Relations Companions and the Magistrates of this World the remembrance whereof hath so much the more endeared thy Condition unto me and my Soul hath often in the sweet Sense and Feeling of the holy Presence of God and the precious Life of his dear Son in my Heart with great tenderness implored his Divine Assistance unto thee that thou mayst both be illuminated to do and made willing to suffer for his Name 's sake that the Spirit of God and of Glory may rest upon thy Soul And truly I can say I felt the good Will of God his holy Care and heavenly Visitations of Love to extend unto thee But one thing more especially lay upon my Spirit to have communicated unto thee which made me the more pressing for an Opportunity to speak with thee and that was this That thou shouldest have a true right and distinct Knowledg of thy own State and what that is which hath visited thee and in what thy Faith Patience Hope and Salvation stand where to wait and how to find the Lord and distinguish between that which is born of God and that which is not both with respect to thy self in all the Motions and Conceptions of thy Heart and with respect to others in their Religious Worships and Performances to the end that thou mayest not be deceived about the things relating to God's Kingdom and thy Eternal Peace this is of greatest weight Now know certainly that which hath discovered unto thee the Vanities of this World the Emptiness and the Fading of all earthly Glory the Blessedness of the Righteous and the Joy of the World that is to come is the Light of Christ Jesus wherewith he hath enlightned thy Soul for in him was Life and that Life is the Light of Mankind John 1.4 9. Thus God promiseth by the Prophet Isaiah to give him viz. for a Light to lighten the Gentiles and for his Salvation to the ends of the Earth So that Christ the Light is God's Gift and eternal Life is hid in him yea all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledg who is the Light of the Gospel-Temple true Believers Rev. 21. And all that receive this Light into their Hearts and bring their Deed to it to see in what ground they are wrought whether in God or in the evil One and make this Blessed Light the Guide of their Life fearing with a holy Fear to do any thing that this Light manifests to be evil waiting and watching with a godly Care to be preserved blameless before the Lord I say all such become Children of Light and Witnesses of the Life of Jesus O blessed wilt thou be for ever if in the way of this Holy Light thy Mind walks to the end Let this that hath visited thee lead thee this Seed of Light and Life which is the Seed of the Kingdom yea 't is Christ the true and only Seed of God that visited my Soul even in my young Years that spread my Sins in order before me reproved me and brought godly Sorrow upon me making me often to weep in solitary Places saying within my Soul O that I knew the Lord as I ought to know him O that I served him as I ought to serve him yea often was there a great Concern upon my Spirit about my eternal State mournfully desiring that the Lord would give my Soul rest in the great Day of Trouble Now was all the Glory of the World as a Bubble yea nothing was dear to me that I might win Christ for the Love Friendship and Pleasure of this World was a Burden unto my Soul And in this seeking-state I was directed to the Testimony of Jesus in my own Conscience as the true shining Light giving me to discern the Thoughts and Intents of my own Heart and no fooner was I turned unto it but I found it to be that which from my Childhood had visited me though I distinctly knew it not and when I received it in the Love of it it shewed me all that ever I did and reproved all the unfruitful Works of Darkness judging me as a Man in the Flesh and laying Judgment to the Line and Righteousness to the Plummet in me And as by the brightness of his coming into my Soul he discovered the Man of Sin there upon his Throne so by the Breath of his Mouth which is the two-edged Sword of his Spirit he destroyeth his Power and Kingdom and having made me a Witness of that Death of the Cross he hath also made me Witness of his Resurrection So that in good measure my Soul can now say I am justified in the Spirit and though the State of Condemnation unto Death was glorious yet Justification unto Life was and is more glorious In this state of the new Man all is new behold new Heavens and a new Earth old things come to be done away the old Man with his Deeds put off Now new Thoughts new
Desires new Affections new Love new Friendship new Society new Kindred new Faith even that which overcometh this World through many Tribulations and new Hope even that living Hope that is founded upon true Experience which holds out all Storms and can see to the Glory that is invisible to carnal Eyes in the midst of the greatest Tempest Now 't is the same blessed Seed of Light Life and Grace that from God the Father is sown in thy Heart and hath moved and wrought there that Change which thou hast witnessed from the Spirit of this World turn to it watch in it that by it thou mayest be kept from all that it discovers to be contrary to God especially from thy self from thy own runnings willings and strivings for whatsoever is not born of the Spirit is Flesh and that inherits not the Kingdom of God and all that sow to it shall inherit Corruption By this thou wilt come to feel not only all Sin to be a Burden but all thy own Righteousness yea all Man's Righteousness to be a Burden Thou wilt see the difference betwixt the Duties and Prayers which thou begettest and the Duties and Prayers which in thy true silence from all self-activity of Mind the Lord begets in thee O that thou mightest know the Mystery of the new Birth and what that is that can truly call God Father even that that is begotten of him which liveth and breatheth and hath its Beginning and Being in that Life which is hid with Christ in God and by which it hath been quickened to the Knowledg and Worship of Christ and God and this thou shalt not fail to know and enjoy as thou patiently sufferest the Lord to work his own Work in thee by his own blessed Spirit And that which will give thee to savour and discern the right Motions and Conceptions Duties and Performances in thy self from the false will give thee to savour and discern that which is right in others from that which is false that which is of God from that which is of Man Have a Care of gathering of Sticks and kindling a Fire of thy own and then compassing thy self about the Sparks of the Fire which thou hast kindled for the end of this State is to lie down in Sorrow because the heavenly Fire is absent which maketh the Sacrifice acceptable yea the Lord may stir in thy Heart and thou mayest bring forth but he that gives to conceive he brings to the Birth and he giveth Power to bring forth for without Christ we can do nothing and blessed are they that stir not before the Angel moveth the Waters and go not before Christ but are led by him and that awaken not their Beloved till he please in whose Hand the Times and the Seasons are O blessed are they whose Eyes are opened to see him always present a God always nigh at Hand whose Hearts are stayed upon his holy Appearance in them and they are thereby translated into his Likeness whose Faith and Hope is in Christ in them the Hope of Glory My dear Friend weigh these Things with a serious retired sweet and tender frame of Spirit and the God that hath called me and thee by the Light of his dear Son open thy Understanding to perceive the Truth as it is in Jesus and what is the Mystery of the Fellowship of the Saints in Light So to the Lord I recommend thee the Watchman and Keeper of Israel the Lord be thy Strength and holy Comfort and speak Peace to thee and never leave thee nor forsake thee till he hath conducted thee through all Tribulations to his everlasting Kingdom of Rest and Glory O dear Heart be valiant and stay thy self upon Christ Jesus the Everlasting Rock and feel him a Fountain in thy Soul feel his Blood to cleanse and his Blood to drink and his Flesh to eat feed upon him for God hath given him for the Life of the World I had seen thee had not thy Father 's strange sort of severity hindred I confess I do not use to be so treated in my own Country where the Lord hath raised up many hundreds of Witnesses that he hath gathered out of all Sects and Professions to worship him not in their Spirits or Wills but in his Will Spirit and Truth and we are generally after much Affliction and Suffering in good Esteem even with the great Ones of this World And this let me add for thy particular Comfort that though I have been a Man of great Anguish and Sorrow because of the Scorn and Reproach that hath attended my separation from the World having been taught of Jesus to turn my back upon all the sake of that Glory that shall revealed yet to God's Honour I 〈◊〉 say it I have an hundred friends one yea God hath turned 〈◊〉 Hearts of my Enemies towarâ— me he hath fulfilled his Promiâ—â— to turn the Hearts of the Parenâ— unto the Children For my Parenâ— that once disowned me for this bleâ—sed Testimony 's sake of the Jewâ—â— Christian Circumcision and Baâ—tism inward against the fleshly Chrâ—stian have come to love me abovâ— all and have left me all thinkinâ— they could never do and leave enougâ— for me O how good is the Lorâ— yea the Ways of his Mercy aâ—â— even past finding out Wheresore my dear Friend truâ—â— in the Lord for ever and the Goâ— of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the Goâ— of the Prophets and of the Apostles the God of all the Holy Martyrs oâ— Jesus illuminate fortify and preservâ— thee stedfast that in the end thou mayest receive the Reward of Life and Eternal Salvation to whoâ— be Glory and to the Lamb thaâ— sits upon the Throne one God and one Lord blessed and magnified for ever and ever Amen Thy great and faithful Love for the blessed and holy Truth 's sake W. Penn. Duysburgh 13 th of 7 th Month S.N. 1677. P.S. My dear Brethren and Companions G K. and B F. with me salute thee in the dear Loâ—e of God The enclosed I received from a religious young Woman at Franckfort We have a blessed Opportunity in this Town with some that have a desire after the Lord in which we are abundantly comforted We have just now received thy Message and Salutation from H.S. which hath exceedingly refreshed and reviveâ— us for our trouble waâ— not foâ— our selves but for thee and wâ— hope our Love will not turn 〈◊〉 thy Disadvantage for we menâ—â—â—ned nothing of thy Name nor thâ— Name of any other Person onelâ— that we desired to speak with the Minister of Mulheim and that waâ— only to the Souldier The Lord made us a good Bed in the Fields and we were very well satisfâ—â—â— We are going this Afternoon out of the Town towards Wesel from thence to Cleve and thence to Herwerden the Lord willâ—â—â— sâ— farewell in the Lord. To the Graef or Earl of Bruck and Falckensteyn Friend I Wish thy Salvation and the Lord reward thee Good for the Evil that thou shewedst unto
places you may dwell and witness with the Saints of old this heavenly Treasure in earthen vessels O stay your minds upon the appearance of Jesus in you in whose light you shall see light it will make you of a weighty considering spirit more and more that you may see how the mystery of iniquity hath wrought and how mankind is corrupted in all things and what part you yet have that belongeth not to the paradise of God that you may lay it all down at the feet of Jesus and follow him who is going up and down doing good to all that believe in his Name So possess your Souls in the sensible feeling of his daily divine visits shinings and breathings upon your spirits and wait diligently and watch circumspectly lest the enemy surprize you or your Lord come at unawares upon you and you be unprepared to receive his sweet and precious visitations that so those holy beginnings which thou art a witness of with thy companions may not be lost or as if they had never been but that you may from day to day feel the growth of his light life power and kingdom in your souls that you may be able to say the kingdom of God is come yea it is given to the Saints And what I say unto one I say unto all that received our Testimony in that City to whom thou mayest give if thou pleasest the remembrance of my dear Love who travel in the Spirit for their redemption that they may be brought into the glorious liberty of the Sons of God particularly salute me the young Woman that met with us at thy Lodging The Lord Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace dwell amongst you keep your hearts steadfast in his holy Light without wavering all the days of your appointed time until your great and last change shall come when he will receive his own Sheep into his own everlasting Kingdom from the power of the Foxes aiâ—d Wolves and all the devouring Beasts and Birds of prey when he will wipe away all tears from their eyes and sighing and sorrowing shall be no more and when it shall be said There is no more death no more night no more time So dear I. E. M. know that the Lord hath brought us well to Amsterdam not without good service by the way for at Cullen we had a pretious Meeting and were received with much gladness of heart We also went to Duysburg and from thence towards Mullheim being the first day of the week hoping to get an opportunity with the Countess of Bruch and to deliver thy Letter but her Father who is a cruel and severe Man meeting us near his Castle stopt us and after some little time finding what we were said There wanted no Quakers there and sent us with some of his Souldiers out of his Territory it was about Sun-set so that we were forced to return towards Duysburg but the Gates of the City being shut and there being no Houses without it we were forced to lye in the Fields all night where the Lord made us a good and comfortable Bed we told the Graef at parting we were Men that feared the Almighty God we desired the good of all Men and we came not thither for any evil design but he would not hear the Lord if he pleaseth forgive him Nevertheless we had a good Meeting at Duysburg where we had our heart's desire the blessed power and life of God making its own way in the hearts of those that heard our Testimony I also writ a large and tender Letter to the Countess and received a sweet and loving Message from her and I have great hopes that all things will work for the best From Duysburg we went to Wesel where we inquired out who was worthy where we found four or five separated from all Congregations waiting for the Consolation of Israel with whom we had two precious Meetings and leaving the peace of Jesus with them went to Emrick where we visited the chief Baptist-teacher who confessed to our Testimony and received us lovingly We directed him to that gift of God in himself that pure and eternal Word in the heart that he might know the pure Ministry of that from the Ministry of Man's Spirit which cannot profit or give life to the Soul From thence we went to Cleve where at a Lady's House belonging to the Court we had a precious Meeting and we found some that had deserted the publick Ministry as not being anointed of God to preach neither knowing by a true experience the way and travel of the new birth but are made and maintained by Men we sounded the joyfull Gospel amongst them And from thence by the way of Nimmegen and Utrecht we came the last sixt day to Amsterdam which was the 7 th of the 7 th Month. This last first day I had a great and blessed Meeting at Amsterdam almost of every Quality and Religion the Lord 's heavenly Power that is quickning People into a living sense of him that they may say the Lord liveth and he liveth in me reigned that day over all In the Evening I took Boat for Horn and from thence came last night being the second day of the Week to this City of Harlingen where we met with some of our Brethren that had been up at Hamburgh and Frederickstadt and this day we are to have two Meetings in this City the one among our Friends the other publick for the Town It is upon me to visit de Labadie 's People that they might know him in themselves in whom their Salvation standeth for these simple people are to be pittied From thence I think to visit Leeuwaerden Groningen Embden Bremen Herwerden Wesel Emrick Cleve Utrecht and so to return to Amsterdam the Lord enabling me by his Power This ariseth in my Heart to thee give not thy Bread to Dogs spend not thy Portion feed not the Serpent neither hearken to him abide with Jesus and he will abide with thee that thou mayest grow in Wisdom and in Righteousness through the Cross that crucifieth thee to the World and the World to thee So in the Love which over-cometh the World that is divine and from above and leadeth all thither that receive it into their hearts I take my leave of thee with thy Companions and all the rest of that City known to us remaining Thy faithful Friend and the Lord's Day-labourer W.P. Harlingen 11. 7th Month 1677. Next Morning about the 4th hour I took Boat for Leeuwaerden J. Claus who had been at Frederickstadt with G.F. went with me G.F. J.Y. and T.R. with P. Hendricks returned that day towards Amsterdam At Leeuwaerden we came about 9 and began the Meeting about 10 which we enjoyed with peace and refreshment several being there as in other places that were never at a Meeting before The Meeting being done and having refresht our selves with food we took Waggon for Wiewart the Mansion-house of the Family of the Somerdykes
Christian Worship Upon which I forsook the University and resolved to be one of this Family and this I can say in the fear of the Lord. P. Ivon concludeth This is what we have to say concerning the Work of God amongst us All this while I minded not so much their Words as I felt and had Unity with a measure of divine Sense that was upon them Certainly the Lord hath been amongst them yea I had a living Sense in my heart that somewhat of the Breath of Life had breathed upon them and though they were in great mixtures yet that God's love was towards them After some silence I began on this wise I come not to judge you but to visit you not to quarrel or dispute but to speak of the things of God's Kingdom and I have no prejudice but great love and regard in my heart towards you Wherefore hear me with Christian patience and tenderness I do confess and believe that God hath touched your hearts with his divine finger and that his work is amongst you that it was his Spirit that gave you a sight of the vanity and folly of this World and that hath made you sensible of the dead Religions that are in it 'T is this Sense I love and honour and I am so far from undervaluing or opposing this tender sense I feel upon you that this is it I am come to visit and you for the love of it And as for the reproaches that may attend you on the score of your separation with all the Reports that therefore go concerning you they are what I respect you for being well acquainted with the nature and practise of this World towards those that retire out of it Now since I have with patience and I can truly say with great satisfaction heard your account of your Experiences give me the like Christian freedome to tell you mine to the end you may have some sense of the Work of God in me For those who are come to any measure of a divine Sense they are as looking-glasses to each other seeing themselves in each other as face answereth face in a glass Here I began to let them know how and when the Lord first appeared unto me which was about the 12th Year of my Age Anno 1656. How at times betwixt that and 15 the Lord visited me and the divine Impressions he gave me of himself Of my Persecution at Oxford how the Lord sustained me in the midst of that hellish darkness and debauchery of my being banisht the College the bitter Usage I underwent when I returned to my Father whipping beating and turning out of doors in 1662 of the Lord's dealings with me in France and in the time of the great Plague in London In fine the deep sense he gave me of the Vanity of this World of the Irreligiousness of the Religions of it Then of my Mournful and Bitter Cries to him that he would show me his own way of Life and Salvation and my Resolutions to follow him whatever Reproaches or Sufferings should attend me and that with great reverence and brokenness of Spirit How after all this the glory of the world over-took me and I was even ready to give up my self unto it seeing no such thing as the Primitive Spirit and Church on the Earth and being ready to faint concerning my hope of the restitution of all things and that it was at this time that the Lord visited me with a certain sound and testimony of his eternal Word through one of those the World calls a Quaker I related to them the bitter Mockings and Scornings that fell upon me the Displeasure of my Parents the Invectiveness and Cruelty of the Priests the strangeness of all my Companions what a Sign and Wonder they made of me but above all that great Cross of resisting and watching against my own Inward vain Affections and Thoughts Here I had a fine opportunity to speak of the Mystery of Iniquity and Ungodliness in the Root and ground and to give them an account of the Power and Presence of God which attended us in our publick Testimonies and Sufferings after an indirect manner censuring their Weaknesses by declaring and commending the contrary practises among Friends too large to be here related And notwithstanding all my Sufferings and Tryals by Magistrates Parents Companions and above all from the Priests of the false Religions in the World the Lord hath preserved me to this day and hath given me an hundred fold in this World as well as the assurance of Life everlasting Informing them of the tenderness of my Father to me before and at his death and how through patience and long-suffering all opposition was conquered Then beginning my Exhortation unto them which was on this wise That therefore since God had given me and them a divine Sense of him our Eye might be to him and not to Man that we might come more into a silence of our selves and a growth into that heavenly Sense That this was the Work of the true Ministry not to keep People to themselves ever teaching them but to turn them to God the new Covenant-teacher and to Christ the great Gospel-teacher Thus John did and thought it no dishonour that they left him to go to Christ Behold the Lamb of God saith he that taketh away the Sins of the World And even John's Disciples left him to follow Christ Nay John testifies of himself That he was to decrease and Christ was to encrease Wherefore I prest them to have their eye to Christ that taketh away the Sin that is from Heaven heavenly to see that he increase in them Yea that henceforward they should know no Man after the Flesh no not Christ himself That their knowledge of and regard and fellowship one with another would stand in the Revelation of the Son of God in them which is God's great Prophet by whom God speaketh in these latter days And if their Ministers be true Ministers they will count it their glory to give way to Christ and that they decrease and Christ encrease that the instrument giveth way to him that useth it the Servant to the Lord which though it seemeth to detract from the Ministers yet it was and is the glory of a true Minister that God and Christ should be all in all and that his Will should be fulfilled For the day of the Lord God was come and all People must look to him for Salvation That all People must now come to keep God's great Sabbath to rest from meer Man and the Spirit of Man and all Men's thoughts words and works and that if they were true Believers they were at least entring into their rest I closely recommended that to them that they might not be of those that begin in the Spirit and end in the Flesh for that those that should do so and thereby break God's Sabbath-day should be stoned to death by the Stone which is cut out of the Mountain without hands yea
that Night at Rotterdam and having the Hague to Visit by the way made our return at that time unpracticable however the Relation of the German concerning the good Inclinations of the great Man and his Wife their disdain of the World voluntary retreat from the Greatness and Glory of it rested strongly upon our Spirits This Person presently conducted us to the House of one who had formerly been a Doctor in the University and there left us To this Person both G. F. and my self were more than ordinarily open he was of a sweet yet quick wise yet very loving and tender Spirit there were few Strangers we felt greater love to He assented to every thing we said and truly his Understanding was very clear and open to the things that lay upon us to declare and express'd his firm Belief of great Revolutions at hand and that they should terminate in the setting up of the glorious Kingdom of Christ in the World What shall I say the Man felt our Spirits and therefore loved us and in the fresh sense of that love writ a Letter by us to a retired Pâ—rson at the Hague like himself which in several places of Germany was the way whereby we found out several of the retired People we visited After near two Hours time with him we took Waggon for the Hague leaving the Peace of God upon him The first thing we did there was to enquire out the Lady Overkirk a Person of a retired and religious Character separated from the publick Worship of that Country She was a home but her Husband with her being a great Man of the Army of another Disposition and Way of Living hindred our Access at that time The next Person we went to was a Judge at the Law of Chief Court of Justice in that Republick he received us with great Respect and a more than ordinary desire to know the truth of our Faith and Principles We declared of the things most surely believed amongst us in the Power and Love of God He made his Observations Objections and Queries upon several things we spake to whom we replied and explained all Mattters in question insomuch that he declared himself satisfied in our Confessions and his good Belief of us and our Principles We took a solemn and sensible leave of him and we felt the Witness reacht and his Spirit tendred which filled our hearts with dear love to him he brought us to his Street-door and there we parted From him we went to visit that Person for whom we had a Letter from the Dr. at Leyden but he was not at home We immediately took Waggon for Delft and from thence an Express-Boat for Rotterdam where we arrived well about Eight at Night The next day was mostly spent in visiting of Friends and the friendly People in that place which consisted of several Persons of worldly Note The next day being the first Day of the Week we had a large and blessed Meeting wherein the deep Mysteries of the Kingdom of Christ and Antichrist were declared in the power of an endless Life Several of divers Religions were there but no Disturbance and Contradiction but a profound Silence and reverent Attention were over the Meeting That Night I had a blessed Meeting at my Lodging with those Persons of Note that at sometimes visited our publick Meetings as at that day and have a Convincement upon them The Lord's Love Truth and Life preciously reached towards them and they were very sweetly affected Next day I bestowed in perfecting and correcting several publick Letters which I was moved to write both in my first and second Journey in Germany and after my return to these Low-Countries They are left behind to be Translated and Printed they are omitted here because they are large and likely to be â—ereafter printed in English The Titles whereof follow I. A Summons to Christendom in an earnest Expostulation with her to prepare for the great and notable Day of the Lord that is at the door II. To all those who are sensible of the Day of their Visitation and who have received the Call of the LORD by the Light and Spirit of his Son in their Hearts to partake of the great Salvation where-ever scattered throughout the World but more especially in the High and Low-Dutch Nations Faith Hope and Charity which over-come the World be multiplied among you III. To all those Professors of Christianity that are Externally separated from the visible Sects and Fellowships in the Christian World so called wherever hidden or scattered true Knowledge which is Life Eternal from God the Father by Christ Jesus IV. A tender Visitation in the Love of God that over-cometh the World to all People in the High and Low-Dutch Nations who hunger and thirst after Righteousness and desire to know and worship God in Truth and in Sincerity containing a plain Testimony to the Ancient and Apostolical Life Way and Worship that God is reviving and exalting in the Earth in his Spirit and Truth The sense of the serious retreat of this great Man we heard of at Leiden was so strong upon me that I could not see my self clear to leave the Country before I had given him a Visit I purposed therefore the next Morning to set forward to the Hague from thence to Leiden and so to Nortwyck I arrived there in the Evening with B F. A Sonnemans and M Sonnemans and immediately made known our coming and the end of it to him and his Wife by the means of the young German who was got thither before us to visit them An Invitation came to us all at our Inn and immediately we repaired to his House which was very stately and yet plain he presently came to us took us by the hand and bid us heartily welcome We immediately sate down and after some time of retirement I spoke something of what was upon me yet not before he had given us a sober and pathetical Account of his Life and of the present frame and disposition of his Spirit All this was in the absence of his Wife but so soon as I had finisht what was then upon me to speak of the Witness of God and of its Work in Man upon the occasion of the History he gave us of his 〈◊〉 he led us into another Room 〈◊〉 his Wife was he told her here were â—omâ— Christian Friends come to visâ—t her she saluted us very kindly We all sat down and after some â—â—â—ence the heavenly Power of God did in a living and tender manner open their States and Conditions to me and opened my Mouth to them the substance of my Testimony was to this purpose That Death reigned from Adam to Moses Moses was till the Prophets the Prophets till John and John till Christ What Christ's day was how few see this day and whilst People are talking of being in Christ under Grace and not under the Law Death reigneth over them and they are
not only long beheld with a grieved Eye the many Abominations and gross Impieties that reign therein the Lusts Pleasures Wantonness Drunkenness Whoredoms Oaths Blasphemies Envy Treachery and Persecution of the Just but for some time I have had a deep Sense that the Overflowing Scourge of God's Wrath and Indignation was just ready to break out upon the People Confusion Amazement and Misery The Weight of which hath caused me to Cry within my self Who shall Save us Who shall Deliver us Is there none to stay the Stroke to blunt the Edge to stop the Fury and intercede for the People and mediate for this poor Land that the Lord may not utterly depart and take his Glory and his Name from it and make it a Desolation for the Wild Beasts of the Field and Fowls of the Air a Land of Judgment and not of Promise of Curses and not of Blessings My Friends whilst the Sense of this Distress that is coming as a Dreadful Visitation from the Hand of the Displeased God upon this Ungodly Land to Stain its Glory Bring down its Pride and Punish its Forgetfulness of the Lord and his many Deliverances lay so Heavy upon my Spirit the Lord presented before me all the Truly Conscientious and Well-inclined People in these Nations and more especially You his Despised but Chosen Generation for whose sake he would yet have Mercy And in the midst of his Judgments This I received for you from the Lord as his Holy Will and Counsel and it often sprung in my Heart with a very Fresh and Strong Life TO THY TENTS O ISRAEL TO THY TENTS O ISRAEL God is thy TENT To thy God O Israel PREPARE O Friends to stand in this Day before the LORD that is in the first place for ye shall also have your Exercise Yea Great is that Work which we have to do for the Lord by his Powerful but very Peaceable Spirit for God will by all these Hurries Confusions and Vexations that are at the Door drive People from their False Gods and bring them home to HIMSELF He will throw down Wickedness and establish Righteousness he will waste Sin but Truth shall grow He will debase the Mountain of Empty Profession but the Mountain of his Holiness shall be Exalted He hath determined to raise up and renown the Seed of Light Life and Truth in the Hearts of People Holy Patience Meekness Wisdom Love Faith Purity and Perseverance so much wanting in the World shall be seen to dwell in it and only to come from it And my witness is that ye are the People through whom this Heavenly Seed of Righteousness must Clearly and Stedfastly so shine unto others in these Uneven and Rough Times that are Come and Coming as that your Heavenly Father may be Glorified by you Wherefore in the Name of the Lord be ye all dis-incumbred of the World and discharged of the Cares of it Fly as for your Lives from the Snares therein and get you into your Watch-Tower the NAME of the LORD Which is not a Dead Name or a meer Literal Name but a Living Spiritual and very Powerful Name A Strong Tower indeed yea an Invincible Fortress where dwell ye with God and in him who speaketh Peace to his Children and ordains Quietness for them that trust in him He will make you to lie down Safely even then when Darkness and Confusion shall be thick about you yea ye shall live in the Fire that will Consume the Stubble of the World and your Garments shall not be so much as Singed for the Son of God whom the Flames as well as Winds and Seas obey will be in the Midst of you Next Friends this know We are the People above all others that must stand in the Gap and Pray for the putting away of the Wrath so as that this Land be not made an Utter Desolation and God expects it at our Hands PREPARE ye therefore to Meet and Sanctifie the Lord in his Coming and Judgments Why stand any of you Gazing Let none Gaze or Look out I beseech you that is the Enemy's Work to weaken you within but be ye Retired be ye Centered in the Eternal One and Meditate upon the Lord and his Living Pure Law that ye may be Wise in Heart and travel in Spirit for this Poor Land and that for Enemies as well as Friends The Lord is ready to hear you for this people when ye are ready to Intercede and I testifie Abraham is amongst you God's Friend and his Just Lot too yea Jacob that Prevailed and One that is Greater than them all JESUS the Lamb of God whose Blood speaketh better things than that of Abel in whom is the Mediation and Attonement Be therefore encouraged to wait upon the Lord and to bow before him and humbly to Meditate in the Life of JESUS with him I know he will put it into your Hearts so to do if ye wait upon him For he will not cast off this Land as he did Sodom he hath a Right Seed a Noble People in it that he hath and yet will gather many Sheep there be not yet of our Fold whom he will bring in and the foul Weather and the Storms will but help to drive them Home to JESUS the Living and True Witness and Light within that he whom God hath ordained to Reign may be Great in them And Lastly my Dear Friends and Brethren by how much this Day draws Nigh by so much the more do ye Stand loose in your Affections to the World but faâ—t in the Faith And Assemble your selves together and let God Arise in you and his Power and Spirit of Life among you that ye may not only Wrestle but in the End Prevail That it may be seen that SALVATION is of the Jews the Jews Inward in Spirit and in Truth And truly the time hastens that Ten shall take hold of the Skirt of such a Jew and they shall be saved But Wo to the Hypocrite in that Day the Formalist the Jew Outward the Circumcision in the Flesh and Fleshly Christian that cannot Resist the Temptations of this World the Temporizer one that Runs with the Tide he will be Divided For there will be more Tides more Interests on Foot at once than One wherefore Perplexity will take hold on him his Policy will be Confounded He will not know what to do to be Safe nor what to Joyn with this Double-minded Man will be Unstable in his Counsels and in his Actions his Sandy Foundation will be Shaken Therefore as I said Wo to the Hypocrite and to the Covetous Man too for his Gods will fail him the Thief the Moth and Rust will invade his Baggs and surprise his Treasure his Anguish will be Great in this Day But my Dear Brethren as the Power and Spirit of our Lord God will Preserve and Establish us if we Sincerely and Entirely confide therein and that above our Sollicitation or Need of Carnal Consultations or Contrivances which we have