,,progress ,,of ,,the ,,people ,,called 
,,quakers999999            ,transcribed 
from the #ahcd ,harrison and ,crosfield 
edition by ,david ,price1  email        
ccx#jgdpglaf4org                        
,a ,,brief ,,account                    
,,of ,,the                              
,,rise ,,and ,,progress                 
,,of ,,the ,,people                     
,,called ,,quakers1                     
,,in ,,which ,,their   ,,fundamental    
,,principle1 ,,doctrines1 ,,worship1    
,,ministry1 ,,and ,,discipline1 ,,are   
,,plainly ,,declared4       ,,with ,a   
,,summary ,,relation ,,of ,,the ,,former
 ,,dispensations ,,of ,,god ,,in ,,the  
,,world2                           ,,by 
,,way ,,of ,,introduction4              
,,by ,,william ,,penn4        ,,as      
,,unknown1 ,,and ,,yet ,,well ,,known4  
#b ,,cor4 ,,vi4 #i4                     
,,twelfth ,,edition4                    
,,manchester3              ,printed by  
,harrison and ,crosfield1 ,market       
,street4                                

,,sold ,,by                   ,,harvey  
,,darton1 ,,gracechurch ,,street1       
,,london4                               
#ahcd4          ,,an ,,epistle ,,to     
,,the ,,reader4      ,reader1 this      
following account of the people called  
,quakers1 c4 was  written in the fear   
and love of ,god3 first1 as a standing  
testimony to  that ever blessed truth in
 the inward parts1 with which ,god1 in  
my  youthful time1 visited my soul1 and 
for the sense and love of which ,i was  
made willing1 in no ordinary way1 to    
relinquish the honours and interests  of
 the world4  ,secondly1 as a testimony  
for that despised people1 that  ,god has
 in his great mercy gathered and united 
by his own blessed ,spirit  in the holy 
profession of it2 whose fellowship ,i   
value above all worldly  greatness4     
,thirdly1 in love and honour to the     
memory of that worthy  servant of ,god1 
,george ,fox1 the first instrument      
thereof1 and therefore  styled by       
me--,the great and blessed apostle of   

our day4  ,as this gave  birth to what  
is here presented to thy view1 in the   
first edition of it1  by way of preface 
to ,george ,fox's excellent ,journal2 so
 the consideration  of the present      
usefulness of the following account of  
the people called  ,quakers1 by reason  
of the unjust reflections of some       
adversaries that  once walked under the 
profession of ,friends1 and the         
exhortations that  conclude it1         
prevailed with me to consent that it    
should be republished  in a smaller     
volume2 knowing also full well1 that    
great books1 especially  in these days1 
grow burthensome1 both to the pockets   
and minds of too  many2 and that there  
are not a few that desire1 so it be at  
an easy rate1  to be informed about this
 people1 that have been so much every   
where  spoken against3 but blessed be   
the ,god and ,father of our ,lord ,jesus
  ,christ1 it is upon no worse grounds  
than it was said of old time of the     
primitive ,christians1 as ,i hope will  

appear to every sober and  considerate  
reader4  ,our business1 after all the   
ill usage we have met  with1 being the  
realities of religion1 an effectual     
change before our  last and great       
change3 that all may come to an inward1 
sensible1 and  experimental knowledge of
 ,god1 through the convictions and      
operations of  the light and spirit of  
,christ in themselves2 the sufficient   
and blessed  means given to all1 that   
thereby all may come savingly to know   
the only  true ,god1 and ,jesus ,christ 
whom he hath sent to enlighten and      
redeem the  world3 which knowledge is   
indeed eternal life4  ,and that thou1   
reader1  mayst obtain it1 is the earnest
 desire of him that is ever thine in so 
good a work4    ,,william ,,penn4       
,,chap4 ,i4      ,containing a brief    
account of divers dispensations of ,god 
in the world1  to the time he was       
pleased to raise this despised people1  
called  ,quakers4    ,divers have been  
the dispensations of ,god since the     

creation of the  world1 unto the sons of
 men2 but the great end of all of them1 
has been  the renown of his own         
excellent name in the creation and      
restoration of  man3 man1 the emblem of 
himself1 as a ,god on earth1 and the    
glory of all  his works4  ,the world    
began with innocency2 all was then good 
that the  good ,god had made3 and as he 
blessed the works of his hands1 so their
  natures and harmony magnified him     
their ,creator4  ,then the morning stars
  sang together for joy1 and all parts  
of his work said ,amen to his law4  ,not
 a jar in the whole frame2 but man in   
paradise1 the beasts in the  field1 the 
fowl in the air1 the fish in the sea1   
the lights in the  heavens1 the fruits  
of the earth2 yea1 the air1 the earth1  
the water1 and  fire1 worshipped1       
praised1 and exalted his power1 wisdom1 
and goodness4  ,o holy sabbath6  ,o holy
 day to the ,lord6    ,but this happy   
state lasted not long2 for man1 the     
crown and glory of the  whole1 being    

tempted to aspire above his place1      
unhappily yielded1  against command and 
duty1 as well as interest and felicity1 
and so fell  below it2 lost the divine  
image1 the wisdom1 power1 and purity he 
was  made in2 by which1 being no longer 
fit for paradise1 he was expelled that  
garden of ,god1 his proper dwelling and 
residence1 and was driven out1 as  a    
poor vagabond1 from the presence of the 
,lord1 to wander in the earth1  the     
habitation of beasts4    ,yet ,god that 
made him had pity on him2 for he1 seeing
 man was deceived1  and that it was not 
of malice1 or an original presumption in
 him1 but  through the subtilty of the  
serpent1 who had first fallen from his  
own  state1 and by the mediation of the 
woman1 man's own nature and companion1  
whom the serpent had first deluded1 in  
his infinite goodness and wisdom        
provided a way to repair the breach1    
recover the loss1 and restore fallen    
man again by a nobler and more excellent
 ,adam1 promised to be born of a  woman2

 that as by means of a woman the evil   
one had prevailed upon man1  by a woman 
also he should come into the world1 who 
would prevail against  him1 and bruise  
his head1 and deliver man from his      
power3 and which1 in a  signal manner1  
by the dispensation of the ,son of ,god 
in the flesh1 in the  fulness of time   
was personally and fully accomplished by
 him1 and in him1  as man's ,saviour and
 ,redeemer4    ,but his power was not   
limited1 in the manifestation of it to  
that time2  for both before and since   
his blessed manifestation in the flesh1 
he has  been the light and life1 the    
rock and strength of all that ever      
feared  ,god2 was present with them in  
their temptations1 followed them in     
their  travels and afflictions1 and     
supported and carried them through and  
over  the difficulties that have        
attended them in their earthly          
pilgrimage4  ,by  this1 ,abel's heart   
excelled ,cain's1 and ,seth obtained the
 pre-eminence1  and ,enoch walked with  

,god4  ,it was this that strove with the
 old world1  and which they rebelled    
against1 and which sanctified and       
instructed ,noah  to salvation4    ,but 
the outward dispensation that followed  
the benighted state of man1  after his  
fall1 especially among the patriarchs1  
was generally that of  angels2 as the   
scriptures of the ,old ,testament do in 
many places express1  as to ,abraham1   
,jacob1 c4  ,the next was that of the   
law by ,moses1 which  was also delivered
 by angels1 as the apostle tells us4    
,this dispensation  was much outward1   
and suited to a low and servile state2  
called  therefore1 by the apostle ,paul1
 that of a schoolmaster1 which was to   
point out and prepare that people to    
look and long for the ,messiah1 who     
would deliver them from the servitude of
 a ceremonious and imperfect            
dispensation1 by knowing the realities  
of those mysterious  representations in 
themselves4  ,in this time the law was  
written on  stone1 the temple built with

 hands1 attended with an outward        
priesthood1  and external rites and     
ceremonies1 that were shadows of the    
good things  that were to come1 and were
 only to serve till the seed came1 or   
the more  excellent and general         
manifestation of ,christ1 to whom was   
the promise1  and to all men only in    
him1 in whom it was yea and amen1 even  
life from  death1 immortality and       
eternal life4    ,this the prophets     
foresaw1 and comforted the believing    
,jews in the  certainty of it2 which was
 the top of the ,mosaical dispensation1 
which  ended in ,john's ministry1 the   
forerunner of the ,messiah1 as ,john's  
was  finished in him1 the fulness of    
all4  ,and then ,god1 that at sundry    
times1  and in divers manners1 had      
spoken to the fathers by his servants   
the  prophets1 spoke to men by his ,son 
,christ ,jesus1 who is heir of all      
things1 being the gospel-day1 which is  
the dispensation of sonship3  bringing  
in thereby a nearer testament1 and a    

better hope2 even the  beginning of the 
glory of the latter days1 and of the    
restitution of all  things2 yea1 the    
restoration of the kingdom unto ,israel4
    ,now the spirit1 that was more      
sparingly communicated in former        
dispensations1 began to be poured forth 
upon all flesh1 according to the        
prophet ,joel2 and the light that shined
 in darkness1 or but dimly before1  the 
most gracious ,god caused to shine out  
of darkness1 and the day-star  began to 
rise in the hearts of believers1 giving 
unto them the knowledge  of ,god in the 
face1 or appearance1 of his ,son ,christ
 ,jesus4    ,now the poor in spirit1 the
 meek1 the true mourners1 the hungry and
  thirsty after righteousness1 the      
peacemakers1 the pure in heart1 the     
merciful and persecuted1 came more      
especially in remembrance before the    
,lord1 and were sought out and blessed  
by ,israel's true ,shepherd4  ,old      
,jerusalem with her children grew out of
 date1 and the new ,jerusalem into      

request1 the mother of the sons of the  
gospel-day4  ,wherefore1 no more at  old
 ,jerusalem1 nor at the mountain of     
,samaria1 will ,god be worshipped  above
 other places2 for1 behold1 he is1 by   
his own ,son1 declared and  preached a  
,spirit1 and that he will be known as   
such1 and worshipped in  the spirit and 
in the truth4  ,he will now come nearer 
than of old time1  and he will write his
 law in the heart1 and put his fear and 
spirit in  the inward parts1 according  
to his promise4  ,then signs1 types1 and
  shadows flew away1 the day having     
discovered their insufficiency in not   
reaching to the inside of the cup1 to   
the cleansing of the conscience2  and   
all elementary services expired in and  
by him1 that is the substance  of all4  
,and to this great and blessed end of   
the dispensation of the ,son of ,god1   
did the apostles testify1 whom he had   
chosen and anointed by his spirit1  to  
turn the ,jews from their prejudice and 
superstition1 and the ,gentiles  from   

their vanity and idolatry1 to ,christ's 
light and spirit that shined  in them2  
that they might be quickened from the   
sins and trespasses in  which they were 
dead1 to serve the living ,god1 in the  
newness of the  spirit of life1 and walk
 as children of the light1 and of the   
day1 even  the day of holiness3 for such
 put on ,christ1 the light of the world1
 and  make no more provision for the    
flesh1 to fulfil the lusts thereof4  ,so
  that the light1 spirit1 and grace1    
that come by ,christ1 and appear in     
man1 were that divine principle the     
apostles ministered from1 and turned    
people's minds unto1 and in which they  
gathered and built up the church  of    
,christ in their day4  ,for which cause 
they advise them not to quench  the     
spirit1 but to wait for the spirit1 and 
speak by the spirit1 and pray  by the   
spirit1 and walk in the spirit too1 as  
that which approved them  the truly     
begotten children of ,god1 born not of  
flesh and blood1 or of  the will of man1

 but of the will of ,god2 by doing his  
will1 and denying  their own2 by        
drinking of ,christ's cup1 and being    
baptized with his  baptism of           
self-denial2 the way and path that all  
the heirs of life have  ever trod to    
blessedness4    ,but alas6 even in the  
apostles' days1 those bright stars of   
the first  magnitude of the gospel      
light1 some clouds1 foretelling an      
eclipse of  this primitive glory1 began 
to appear2 and several of them gave     
early  caution of it to the ,christians 
of their time1 that even then there was1
  and yet would be more and more1 a     
falling away from the power of          
godliness1 and the purity of that       
spiritual dispensation1 by such as      
sought to make a fair show in the flesh1
 but with whom the offence of the  cross
 ceased4  ,yet with this comfortable    
conclusion1 that they saw beyond  it a  
more glorious time than ever to the true
 church4  ,their sight was  true2 and   
what they foretold to the churches1     

gathered by them in the  name and power 
of ,jesus1 came to pass3 for ,christians
 degenerated apace  into outsides1 as   
days1 and meats1 and divers other       
ceremonies4  ,and1  which was worse1    
they fell into strife and contention    
about them2  separating one from        
another1 then envying1 and1 as they had 
power1  persecuting one another1 to the 
shame and scandal of their common       
,christianity1 and grievous stumbling   
and offence of the heathen2 among  whom 
the ,lord had so long and so            
marvellously preserved them4  ,and      
having  got at last the worldly power   
into their hands1 by kings and emperors 
embracing the ,christian profession1    
they changed1 what they could1 the      
kingdom of ,christ1 which is not of this
 world1 into a worldly kingdom2  or1 at 
least1 styled the worldly kingdom that  
was in their hands1 the  kingdom of     
,christ1 and so they became worldly and 
not true ,christians4  ,then human      
inventions and novelties1 both in       

doctrine and worship1  crowded fast into
 the church2 a door opened thereunto1 by
 the grossness  and carnality that      
appeared then among the generality of   
,christians1 who  had long since left   
the guidance of ,god's meek and heavenly
 spirit1 and  given themselves up to    
superstition1 will-worship1 and         
voluntary  humility4  ,and as           
superstition is blind1 so it is heady   
and furious1 for  all must stoop to its 
blind and boundless zeal1 or perish by  
it3 in the  name of the spirit1         
persecuting the very appearance of the  
spirit of ,god  in others1 and opposing 
that in others1 which they resisted in  
themselves1 viz4 the light1 grace1 and  
spirit of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ2  but
 always under the notion of innovation1 
heresy1 schism1 or some such  plausible 
name2 though ,christianity allows of no 
name1 or pretence  whatever1 for        
persecuting of any man for matters of   
mere religion1 being  in its very nature
 meek1 gentle1 and forbearing2 and      

consists of faith1  hope1 and charity1  
which no persecutor can have1 whilst he 
remains a  persecutor2 in that a man    
cannot believe well1 or hope well1 or   
have a  charitable or tender regard to  
another1 whilst he would violate his    
mind1  or persecute his body1 for       
matters of faith or worship towards his 
,god4    ,thus the false church sprang  
up1 and mounted the chair2 but1 though  
she  lost her nature1 she would needs   
keep her good name of the ,lamb's bride1
  the true church1 and mother of the    
faithful3 constraining all to receive   
her mark1 either in their forehead1 or  
right-hand2 that is1 publicly1 or       
privately4  ,but1 in deed and in truth1 
she was mystery ,babylon1 the  mother of
 harlots1 mother of those that1 with all
 their show and outside  of religion1   
were adulterated and gone from the      
spirit1 nature1 and life  of ,christ1   
and grown vain1 worldly1 ambitious1     
covetous1 cruel1 c4 which  are the      
fruits of the flesh1 and not of the     

spirit4    ,now it was1 that the true   
church fled into the wilderness1 that   
is1 from  superstition and violence1 to 
a retired1 solitary1 and lonely state3  
hidden1 and as it were1 out of sight of 
men1 though not out of the world4       
,which shows1 that her wonted visibility
 was not essential to the being of  a   
true church in the judgment of the ,holy
 ,ghost2 she being as true a  church in 
the wilderness1 though not as visible   
and lustrous1 as when she  was in her   
former splendor of profession4  ,in this
 state many attempts  she made to       
return1 but the waters were yet too     
high1 and her way blocked  up2 and many 
of her excellent children1 in several   
nations and centuries1  fell by the     
cruelty of superstition1 because they   
would not fall from  their faithfulness 
to the truth4    ,the last age did set  
some steps towards it1 both as to       
doctrine1 worship1  and practice4  ,but 
practice quickly failed3 for wickedness 
flowed1 in a  little time1 as well among

 the professors of the reformation1 as  
those  they reformed from2 so that by   
the fruits of conversation they were not
  to be distinguished4  ,and the        
children of the reformers1 if not the   
reformers themselves1 betook themselves1
 very early1 to earthly policy  and     
power1 to uphold and carry on their     
reformation that had been begun  with   
spiritual weapons2 which ,i have often  
thought has been one of the  greatest   
reasons the reformation made no better  
progress1 as to the life  and soul of   
religion4  ,for whilst the reformers    
were lowly and  spiritually minded1 and 
trusted in ,god1 and looked to him1 and 
lived in  his fear1 and consulted not   
with flesh and blood1 nor sought        
deliverance  in their own way1 there    
were daily added to the church such as1 
one might  reasonably say1 should be    
saved3 for they were not so careful to  
be safe  from persecution1 as to be     
faithful and inoffensive under it3 being
 more  concerned to spread the truth by 

their faith and patience in tribulation1
  than to get the worldly power out of  
their hands that inflicted those        
sufferings upon them3 and it will be    
well if the ,lord suffer them not to    
fall1 by the very same way they took to 
stand4    ,in doctrine they were in some
 things short2 in other things1 to avoid
 one  extreme1 they ran into another3   
and for worship1 there was1 for the     
generality1 more of man in it than of   
,god4  ,they owned the spirit1          
inspiration1 and revelation1 indeed1 and
 grounded their separation and          
reformation upon the sense and          
understanding they received from it1 in 
the reading of the scriptures of truth4 
,and this was their plea2 the  scripture
 is the text1 the spirit the            
interpreter1 and that to every one  for 
himself4  ,but yet there was too much of
 human invention1 tradition1  and art1  
that remained both in praying and       
preaching2 and of worldly  authority1   
and worldly greatness in their          

ministers2 especially in this  kingdom1 
,sweden1 ,denmark1 and some parts of    
,germany4  ,god was therefore  pleased  
in ,england to shift us from vessel to  
vessel2 and the next remove  humbled the
 ministry1 so that they were more strict
 in preaching1 devout  in praying1 and  
zealous for keeping the ,lord's day1 and
 catechising of  children and servants1 
and repeating at home in their families 
what they  had heard in public4  ,but   
even as these grew into power1 they were
 not  only for whipping some out1 but   
others into the temple3 and they        
appeared  rigid in their spirits1 rather
 than severe in their lives1 and more   
for a  party than for piety3 which      
brought forth another people1 that were 
yet  more retired and select4    ,they  
would not communicate at large1 or in   
common with others2 but formed  churches
 among themselves of such as could give 
some account of their  conversion1 at   
least of very promising experiences of  
the work of ,god's  grace upon their    

hearts1 and under mutual agreements and 
covenants of  fellowship1 they kept     
together4  ,these people were somewhat  
of a softer  temper1 and seemed to      
recommend religion by the charms of its 
love1  mercy1 and goodness1 rather than 
by the terrors of its judgments and     
punishments2 by which the former party  
would have awed people into  religion4  
,they also allowed greater liberty to   
prophesy than those before them2 for    
they admitted any member to speak or    
pray1 as well as their pastor1 whom     
they always chose1 and not the civil    
magistrate4  ,if such found anything    
pressing upon them to either duty1 even 
without the distinction of clergy  or   
laity1 persons of any trade had their   
liberty1 be it never so low and         
mechanical4  ,but alas6 even these      
people suffered great loss3 for tasting 
of worldly empire1 and the favour of    
princes1 and the gain that ensued1  they
 degenerated but too much4  ,for though 
they had cried down national  churches  

and ministry1 and maintenance too1 some 
of them1 when it was  their own turn to 
be tried1 fell under the weight of      
worldly honour and  advantage1 got into 
profitable parsonages too much1 and     
outlived and  contradicted their own    
principles2 and1 which was yet worse1   
turned1 some  of them1 absolute         
persecutors of other men for ,god's     
sake1 that but so  lately came          
themselves out of the furnace2 which    
drove many a step  further1 and that was
 into the water3 another baptism1 as    
believing they  were not scripturally   
baptized3 and hoping to find that       
presence and  power of ,god1 in         
submitting to this watery ordinance1    
which they desired  and wanted4         
,these people also made profession of   
neglecting1 if not renouncing and       
censuring not only the necessity1 but   
use1 of all human learning1 as to  the  
ministry2 and all other qualifications  
to it1 besides the helps and  gifts of  
the spirit of ,god1 and those natural   

and common to men4  ,and for  a time    
they seemed1 like ,john of old1 a       
burning and a shining light to  other   
societies4    ,they were very diligent1 
plain1 and serious2 strong in scripture1
 and  bold in profession2 bearing much  
reproach and contradiction4  ,but that  
which others fell by1 proved their      
snare4  ,for worldly power spoiled them 
too2 who had enough of it to try them   
what they would do if they had  more3   
and they rested also too much upon their
 watery dispensation1  instead of       
passing on more fully to that of the    
fire and ,holy ,ghost1  which was his   
baptism1 who came with a fan in his     
hand1 that he might  thoroughly1 and not
 in part only1 purge his floor1 and take
 away the  dross and the tin of his     
people1 and make a man finer than gold4 
,withal1  they grew high1 rough1 and    
self-righteous2 opposing further        
attainment2  too much forgetting the day
 of their infancy and littleness1 which 
gave  them something of a real beauty2  

insomuch that many left them1 and all   
visible churches and societies1 and     
wandered up and down as sheep without  a
 shepherd1 and as doves without their   
mates2 seeking their beloved1 but  could
 not find him1 as their souls desired to
 know him1 whom their souls  loved above
 their chiefest joy4    ,these people   
were called ,seekers by some1 and the   
,family of ,love by  others2 because1 as
 they came to the knowledge of one      
another1 they  sometimes met together1  
not formally to pray or preach at       
appointed times  or places1 in their own
 wills1 as in times past they were      
accustomed to  do1 but waited together  
in silence2 and as anything rose in any 
one of  their minds1 that they thought  
savoured of a divine spring1 they       
sometimes spoke4  ,but so it was1 that  
some of them not keeping in  humility1  
and in the fear of ,god1 after the      
abundance of revelation1 were  exalted  
above measure2 and for want of staying  
their minds in an humble  dependance    

upon him that opened their              
understandings1 to see great things  in 
his law1 they ran out in their own      
imaginations1 and mixing them with      
those divine openings1 brought forth a  
monstrous birth1 to the scandal of      
those that feared ,god1 and waited daily
 in the temple not made with  hands1 for
 the consolation of ,israel2 the ,jew   
inward1 and circumcision in  spirit4    
,this people obtained the name of       
,ranters1 from their extravagant        
discourses and practices4  ,for they    
interpreted ,christ's fulfilling of  the
 law for us1 to be a discharging of us  
from any obligation and duty  the law   
required of us1 instead of the          
condemnation of the law for sins  past1 
upon faith and repentance3 and that now 
it was no sin to do that  which before  
it was a sin to commit2 the slavish fear
 of the law being  taken off by ,christ1
 and all things good that man did1 if he
 did but do  them with the mind and     
persuasion that it was so4  ,insomuch   

that divers  fell into gross and        
enormous practices2 pretending in excuse
 thereof1  that they could1 without     
evil1 commit the same act which was sin 
in  another to do3 thereby              
distinguishing between the action and   
the evil of  it1 by the direction of the
 mind1 and intention in the doing of it4
  ,which was to make sin super-abound by
 the aboundings of grace1 and to  turn  
from the grace of ,god into wantonness2 
a securer way of sinning than  before3  
as if ,christ came not to save us from  
our sins1 but in our sins2  not to take 
away sin1 but that we might sin more    
freely at his cost1 and  with less      
danger to ourselves4  ,i say1 this      
ensnared divers1 and brought  them to an
 utter and lamentable loss as to their  
eternal state2 and they  grew very      
troublesome to the better sort of       
people1 and furnished the  looser with  
an occasion to profane4          ,,chap4
 ,,ii4      ,of the rise of this        
,people1 their fundamental principle1   

and  doctrine1 and practice1 in twelve  
points resulting from it3 their         
progress and sufferings3 an             
expostulation with ,england thereupon4  
,at was about that very time1 as you may
 see in ,george ,fox's annals1 that  the
 eternal1 wise1 and good ,god1 was      
pleased1 in his infinite love1 to       
honour and visit this benighted and     
bewildered nation1 with his glorious    
day-spring from on high2 yea1 with a    
more sure and certain sound of the  word
 of light and life1 through the         
testimony of a chosen vessel1 to an     
effectual and blessed purpose1 can many 
thousands say1 glory be to the  name of 
the ,lord for ever6    ,for as it       
reached the conscience1 and broke the   
heart1 and brought many  to a sense and 
search1 so that which people had been   
vainly seeking  without1 with much pains
 and cost1 they1 by this ministry1 found
 within1  where it was they wanted what 
they sought for1 viz4 the right way to  
peace with ,god4  ,for they were        

directed to the light of ,jesus ,christ 
within them1 as the seed and leaven of  
the kingdom of ,god2 near all1  because 
in all1 and ,god's talent to all3 a     
faithful and true witness1 and  just    
monitor in every bosom4  ,the gift and  
grace of ,god to life and  salvation1   
that appears to all1 though few regard  
it4  ,this the  traditional ,christian1 
conceited of himself1 and strong in his 
own will  and righteousness1 overcome   
with blind zeal and passion1 either     
despised  as a low and common thing1 or 
opposed as a novelty1 under many hard   
names  and opprobrious terms2 denying1  
in his ignorant and angry mind1 any     
fresh  manifestations of ,god's power   
and spirit in man1 in these days1 though
  never more needed to make true        
,christians4  ,not unlike those ,jews of
 old1  that rejected the ,son of ,god1  
at the very same time that they blindly 
professed to wait for the ,messiah to   
come2 because1 alas6 he appeared not    
among them according to their carnal    

mind and expectation4    ,this brought  
forth many abusive books1 which filled  
the greater sort with  envy1 and lesser 
with rage2 and made the way and progress
 of this blessed  testimony strait and  
narrow1 indeed1 to those that received  
it4  ,however1  ,god owned his own work1
 and this testimony did effectually     
reach1 gather1  comfort1 and establish  
the weary and heavy-laden1 the hungry   
and thirsty1  the poor and needy1 the   
mournful and sick of many maladies1 that
 had  spent all upon physicians of no   
value1 and waited for relief from       
heaven1  help only from above2 seeing1  
upon a serious trial of all things1     
nothing  else would do but ,christ      
himself2 the light of his countenance1 a
 touch  of his garment1 and help from   
his hand1 who cured the poor woman's    
issue1  raised the centurion's servant1 
the widow's son1 the ruler's daughter1  
and ,peter's mother3 and like her they  
no sooner felt his power and  efficacy  
upon their souls1 but they gave up to   

obey him in a testimony to  his power3  
and that with resigned wills and        
faithful hearts1 through all  mockings1 
contradictions1 confiscations1 beatings1
 prisons1 and many  other jeopardies    
that attended them for his blessed      
name's sake4    ,and1 truly1 they were  
very many1 and very great2 so that in   
all human  probability they must have   
been swallowed up quick of the proud and
  boisterous waves that swelled and beat
 against them1 but that the ,god of  all
 their tender mercies was with them in  
his glorious authority2 so that  the    
hills often fled1 and the mountains     
melted before the power that  filled    
them2 working mightily for them1 as well
 as in them2 one ever  following the    
other4  ,by which they saw plainly1 to  
their exceeding great  confirmation and 
comfort1 that all things were possible  
with him with  whom they had to do4     
,and that the more that which ,god      
required seemed to  cross man's wisdom1 
and expose them to man's wrath1 the more

 ,god appeared  to help and carry them  
through all to his glory4    ,insomuch1 
that if ever any people could say in    
truth1 ,thou art our sun  and our       
shield1 our rock and sanctuary2 and by  
thee we have leaped over a  wall1 and by
 thee we have run through a troop1 and  
by thee we have put  the armies of the  
aliens to flight2 these people had a    
right to say it4  ,and as ,god had      
delivered their souls of the wearisome  
burdens of sin and  vanity1 and enriched
 their poverty of spirit1 and satisfied 
their great  hunger and thirst after    
eternal righteousness1 and filled them  
with the  good things of his own house1 
and made them stewards of his manifold  
gifts2 so they went forth to all        
quarters of these nations1 to declare to
  the inhabitants thereof1 what ,god had
 done for them2 what they had found1    
and where and how they had found it1    
viz4--,the way to peace with ,god3      
inviting all to come and see1 and taste 
for themselves1 the truth of what  they 

declared unto them4    ,and as their    
testimony was to the principle of ,god  
in man1 the precious  pearl and leaven  
of the kingdom1 as the only blessed     
means appointed of  ,god to quicken1    
convince1 and sanctify man2 so they     
opened to them what  it was in itself1  
and what it was given to them for2 how  
they might know  it from their own      
spirit1 and that of the subtle          
appearance of the evil  one3 and what it
 would do for all those whose minds     
should be turned off  from the vanity of
 the world1 and its lifeless ways and   
teachers1 and  adhere to his blessed    
light in themselves1 which discovers and
 condemns  sin in all its appearances1  
and shows how to overcome it1 if minded 
and  obeyed in its holy manifestations  
and convictions3 giving power to such1  
to avoid and resist those things that do
 not please ,god1 and to grow  strong in
 love1 faith1 and good works4  ,that so 
man1 whom sin hath made  as a           
wilderness1 over-run with briers and    

thorns1 might become as the  garden of  
,god1 cultivated by his divine power1   
and replenished with the  most virtuous 
and beautiful plants of ,god's own      
right-hand planting1 to  his eternal    
praise4    ,but these experimental      
preachers of glad tidings of ,god's     
truth and  kingdom could not run when   
they list1 or pray or preach when they  
pleased1 but as ,christ their ,redeemer 
prepared and moved them by his own      
blessed ,spirit1 for which they waited  
in their services and meetings1 and     
spoke as that gave them utterance2 and  
which was as those having  authority1   
and not like the dry1 and formal        
,pharisees4  ,and so it plainly         
appeared to the serious-minded1 whose   
spiritual eye the ,lord ,jesus had in   
any measure opened3 so that to one was  
given the word of exhortation1 to       
another the word of reproof1 to another 
the word of consolation1 and all  by the
 same ,spirit1 and in the good order    
thereof1 to the convincing and  edifying

 of many4    ,and1 truly1 they waxed    
strong and bold through faithfulness2   
and by the  power and ,spirit of the    
,lord ,jesus became very fruitful2      
thousands1 in a  short time1 being      
turned to the truth in the inward parts1
 through their  testimony in ministry   
and sufferings3 insomuch as1 in most    
counties1 and  many of the considerable 
towns of ,england1 meetings were        
settled2 and  daily there were added    
such as should be saved4  ,for they were
 diligent  to plant and to water1 and   
the ,lord blessed their labours with an 
exceeding great increase2               
notwithstanding all the opposition made 
to  their blessed progress1 by false    
rumours1 calumnies1 and bitter          
persecutions2 not only from the powers  
of the earth1 but from every one  that  
listed to injure and abuse them3 so that
 they seemed1 indeed1 to be  as poor    
sheep appointed to the slaughter1 and as
 a people killed all the  day long4     
,it were fitter for a volume than a     

preface1 but so much as to repeat the   
contents of their cruel sufferings2 from
 professors as well as from  profane1   
and from magistrates as well as the     
rabble3 that it may be said  of this    
abused and despised people1 they went   
forth weeping1 and sowed in  tears1     
bearing testimony to the precious seed1 
even the seed of the  kingdom1 which    
stands not in words1 the finest1 the    
highest that man's  wit can use2 but in 
power1 the power of ,christ ,jesus1 to  
whom ,god the  ,father hath given all   
power in heaven and in earth1 that he   
might rule  angels above1 and men below4
  ,who empowered them1 as their work    
witnesseth1 by the many that were turned
 through their ministry1 from  darkness 
to light1 and out of the broad into the 
narrow way of life and  peace3 bringing 
people to a weighty1 serious1 and       
,god-like conversation2  the practice of
 that doctrine which they taught4       
,and as without this secret divine      
power1 there is no quickening and       

regenerating of dead souls1 so the want 
of this generating and begetting  power 
and life1 is the cause of the little    
fruit that the many  ministries1 that   
have been and are in the world1 bring   
forth4  ,o that  both ministers and     
people were sensible of this6  ,my soul 
is often  troubled for them1 and sorrow 
and mourning compass me about for their 
sakes4  ,o that they were wise6  ,o that
 they would consider1 and lay to  heart 
the things that truly and substantially 
make for their lasting  peace6    ,two  
things are to be considered2 the        
doctrine they taught1 and the  example  
they led among all people4  ,i have     
already touched upon their  fundamental 
principle1 which is as the corner-stone 
of their fabric3 and1  indeed1 to speak 
eminently and properly1 their           
characteristic1 or main  distinguishing 
point or principle1 viz4 the light of   
,christ within1 as  ,god's gift for     
man's salvation4  ,this1 ,i say1 is as  
the root of the  goodly tree of         

doctrines that grew and branched out    
from it1 which ,i  shall now mention in 
their natural and experimental order4   
,first1 repentance from dead works to   
serve the living ,god4  ,which          
comprehends three operations4  ,first1 a
 sight of sin4  ,secondly1 a sense  and 
godly sorrow for sin4  ,thirdly1 an     
amendment for the time to come4  ,this  
was the repentance they preached and    
pressed1 and a natural result  from the 
principle they turned all people unto4  
,for of light came sight2  and of sight 
came sense and sorrow2 and of sense and 
sorrow came  amendment of life4  ,which 
doctrine of repentance leads to         
justification2  that is1 forgiveness of 
the sins that are past1 through ,christ 
the alone  propitiation1 and the        
sanctification or purgation1 of the soul
 from the  defiling nature and habits of
 sin present1 by the ,spirit of ,christ 
in the  soul2 which is justification in 
the complete sense of that word3        
comprehending both justification from   

the guilt of the sins that are  past1 as
 if they had never been committed1      
through the love and mercy of  ,god in  
,christ ,jesus2 and the creature's being
 made inwardly just1 through  the       
cleansing and sanctifying power and     
,spirit of ,christ revealed in the      
soul2 which is commonly called          
sanctification4  ,but none can come to  
know  ,christ to be their sacrifice1    
that reject him as their sanctifier3 the
  end of his coming being to save his   
people from the nature and  defilement1 
as well as guilt of sin2 and1 therefore1
 those that resist  his light and       
,spirit1 make his coming and offering of
 none effect to  them4    ,from hence   
sprang a second doctrine they were led  
to declare1 as the mark  of the prize of
 the high calling to all true           
,christians1 viz4 ,perfection  from sin1
 according to the scriptures of truth2  
which testify it to be  the end of      
,christ's coming1 and the nature of his 
kingdom1 and for which  his ,spirit was 

and is given1 viz4 to be perfect as our 
,heavenly ,father is  perfect1 and holy1
 because ,god is holy4  ,and this the   
apostles laboured  for1 that the        
,christians should be sanctified        
throughout in body1 soul1  and spirit2  
but they never held a perfection in     
wisdom and glory in this  life1 or from 
natural infirmities1 or death1 as some  
have1 with a weak or  ill mind1 imagined
 and insinuated against them4    ,this  
they called a redeemed state1           
regeneration1 or the new birth3         
teaching everywhere1 according to their 
foundation1 that unless this work  was  
known1 there was no inheriting of the   
kingdom of ,god4    ,thirdly1 this leads
 to an acknowledgment of eternal rewards
 and  punishments1 as they have good    
reason2 for else1 of all people1        
certainly  they must be most miserable1 
who1 for above forty years1 have been   
exceeding great sufferers for their     
profession2 and1 in some cases1  treated
 worse than the worst of men2 yea1 as   

the refuse and off-scouring  of all     
things4    ,this was the purport of     
their doctrine and ministry2 which for  
the most  part1 is what other professors
 of ,christianity pretend to hold in    
words  and forms1 but not in the power  
of godliness2 which1 generally speaking1
  has been long lost by men's departing 
from that principle and seed of  life   
that is in man1 and which man has not   
regarded1 but lost the sense  of2 and in
 and by which he can only be quickened  
in his mind to serve the  living ,god in
 newness of life4  ,for as the life of  
religion was lost1 and  the generality  
lived and worshipped ,god after their   
own wills1 and not  after the will of   
,god1 nor the mind of ,christ1 which    
stood in the works  and fruits of the   
,holy ,spirit2 so that which these      
pressed1 was not  notion1 but           
experience2 not formality1 but          
godliness2 as being sensible  in        
themselves1 through the work of ,god's  
righteous judgments1 that  without      

holiness no man shall ever see the ,lord
 with comfort4    ,besides these general
 doctrines1 as the larger branches1     
there sprang  forth several particular  
doctrines1 that did exemplify and       
farther  explain the truth and efficacy 
of the general doctrine before observed1
  in their lives and examples4  ,as1    
,i4  ,communion and loving one another4 
,this is a noted mark in the mouths  of 
all sorts of people concerning them3    
they will meet1 they will help  and     
stick one to another3 whence it is      
common to hear some say1 ,look how  the 
,quakers love and take care of one      
another4  ,others1 less moderate1  will 
say1 ,the ,quakers love none but        
themselves3 and if loving one  another1 
and having an intimate communion in     
religion1 and constant care  to meet to 
worship ,god1 and help one another1 be  
any mark of primitive  ,christianity1   
they had it1 blessed be the ,lord1 in an
 ample manner4    ,,ii4  ,to love       
enemies4  ,this they both taught and    

practised4  ,for they did  not only     
refuse to be revenged for injuries done 
them1 and condemned it  as of an        
unchristian spirit2 but they did freely 
forgive1 yea1 help and  relieve those   
that had been cruel to them1 when it was
 in their power to  have been even with 
them3 of which many and singular        
instances might be  given3 endeavouring1
 through faith and patience1 to overcome
 all  injustice and oppression1 and     
preaching this doctrine as ,christian1  
for  others to follow4    ,,iii4        
,another was1 the sufficiency of        
truth-speaking1 according to  ,christ's 
own form of sound words1 of yea1 yea1   
and nay1 nay1 among  ,christians1       
without swearing1 both from ,christ's   
express prohibition to  swear at all2   
7,mat4 v47 and for that1 they being     
under the tie and bond  of truth in     
themselves1 there was no necessity for  
an oath2 and it would  be a reproach to 
their ,christian veracity to assure     
their truth by such  an extraordinary   

way of speaking2 simple and uncompounded
 answers1 as yea  and nay1 without      
asseveration1 attestation1 or           
supernatural vouchers1  being most      
suitable to evangelical righteousness4  
,but offering1 at the  same time1 to be 
punished to the full for false-speaking1
 as others for  perjury1 if ever guilty 
of it3 and hereby they exclude with all 
true1 all  false and profane swearing2  
for which the land did and doth mourn1  
and  the great ,god was1 and is1 not a  
little offended with it4    ,,iv4  ,not 
fighting1 but suffering1 is another     
testimony peculiar to this  people3 they
 affirm that ,christianity teacheth     
people to beat their  swords into       
plough-shares1 and their spears into    
pruning-hooks1 and to  learn war no     
more2 that so the wolf may lie down with
 the lamb1 and the  lion with the calf1 
and nothing that destroys be entertained
 in the  hearts of people3 exhorting    
them to employ their zeal against sin1  
and  turn their anger against ,satan1   

and no longer war one against another2  
because all wars and fightings come of  
men's own hearts' lusts1 according  to  
the apostle ,james1 and not of the meek 
,spirit of ,christ ,jesus1 who is       
captain of another warfare1 and which is
 carried on with other weapons4  ,thus1 
as truth-speaking succeeded swearing1 so
 faith and patience  succeeded fighting1
 in the doctrine and practice of this   
people4  ,nor  ought they for this to be
 obnoxious to civil government1 since1  
if they  cannot fight for it1 neither   
can they fight against it2 which is no  
mean  security to any state4  ,nor is it
 reasonable1 that people should be      
blamed for not doing more for others    
than they can do for themselves4  ,and1 
,christianity set aside1 if the costs   
and fruits of war were well  considered1
 peace1 with all its inconveniencies1 is
 generally preferable4  ,but though they
 were not for fighting1 they were for   
submitting to  government1 and that1 not
 only for fear1 but for conscience-sake1

 where  government doth not interfere   
with conscience2 believing it to be an  
ordinance of ,god1 and where it is      
justly administered1 a great benefit to 
mankind4  ,though it has been their lot1
 through blind zeal in some1 and        
interest in others1 to have felt the    
strokes of it with greater weight  and  
rigour than any other persuasion in this
 age2 whilst they of all  others1       
religion set aside1 have given the civil
 magistrate the least  occasion of      
trouble in the discharge of his office4 
,v4  ,another part of the character of  
this people was1 and is1 they refuse  to
 pay tithes or maintenance to a national
 ministry2 and that for two  reasons3   
the one is1 they believe all compelled  
maintenance1 even to  gospel-ministers1 
to be unlawful1 because expressly       
contrary to ,christ's  command1 who     
said1 ,freely you have received1 freely 
give3 at least1  that the maintenance of
 gospel-ministers should be free1 and   
not forced4  ,the other reason of their 

refusal is1 because these ministers are 
not  gospel ones1 in that the ,holy     
,ghost is not their foundation1 but     
human  arts and parts4  ,so that it is  
not matter of humour or sullenness1 but 
pure conscience towards ,god1 that they 
cannot help to support national         
ministries where they dwell1 which are  
but too much and too visibly  become    
ways of worldly advantage and           
preferment4    ,,vi4  ,not to respect   
persons1 was1 and is1 another of their  
doctrines and  practices1 for which they
 were often buffeted and abused4  ,they 
affirmed  it to be sinful to give       
flattering titles1 or to use vain       
gestures and  compliments of respect4   
,though to virtue and authority they    
ever made a  deference2 but after their 
plain and homely manner1 yet sincere and
  substantial way3 well remembering the 
examples of ,mordecai and ,elihu2 but   
more especially the command of their    
,lord and ,master ,jesus ,christ1 who   
forbade his followers to call men       

,rabbi1 which implies ,lord or ,master2 
also the fashionable greetings and      
salutations of those times2 that so     
self-love and honour1 to which the proud
 mind of man is incident1 in his  fallen
 state1 might not be indulged1 but      
rebuked4  ,and though this  rendered    
their conversation disagreeable1 yet    
they that will remember  what ,christ   
said to the ,jews1 ,how can you believe 
which receive honour  one of another8   
will abate of their resentment1 if his  
doctrine has any  credit with them4     
,,vii4  ,they also used the plain       
language of ,thee and ,thou1 to a single
  person1 whatever was his degree among 
men4  ,and1 indeed1 the wisdom of  ,god 
was much seen in bringing forth this    
people in so plain an  appearance4  ,for
 it was a close and distinguishing test 
upon the spirits  of those they came    
among2 showing their insides1 and what  
predominated1  notwithstanding their    
high and great profession of religion4  
,this among  the rest sounded harsh to  

many of them1 and they took it ill1     
forgetting  the language they use to    
,god in their own prayers1 and the      
common style  of the scriptures1 and    
that it is an absolute and essential    
propriety of  speech4  ,and what good1  
alas6 had their religion done them1 who 
were so  sensibly touched with          
indignation for the use of this plain1  
honest1 and  true speech8    ,,viii4    
,they recommended silence by their      
example1 having very few words  upon all
 occasions4  ,they were at a word in    
dealing3 nor could their  customers1    
with many words1 tempt them from it1    
having more regard to  truth than       
custom1 to example than gain4  ,they    
sought solitude3 but when  in company1  
they would neither use1 nor willingly   
hear unnecessary or  unlawful           
discourses3 whereby they preserved their
 minds pure and  undisturbed from       
unprofitable thoughts1 and diversions4  
,nor could they  humour the custom of   
,good ,night1 ,good ,morrow1 ,god       

,speed2 for they knew  the night was    
good1 and the day was good1 without     
wishing of either2 and  that in the     
other expression1 the holy name of ,god 
was too lightly and  unthankfully used1 
and therefore taken in vain4  ,besides1 
they were words  and wishes of course1  
and are usually as little meant1 as are 
love and  service in the custom of cap  
and knee2 and superfluity in those1 as  
well  as in other things1 was           
burthensome to them2 and therefore1 they
 did not  only decline to use them1 but 
found themselves often pressed to       
reprove  the practice4    ,,ix4  ,for   
the same reason they forbore drinking to
 people1 or pledging of  them1 as the   
manner of the world is3 a practice that 
is not only  unnecessary1 but they      
thought evil in the tendencies of it1   
being a  provocation to drink more than 
did people good1 as well as that it was 
in  itself vain and heathenish4    ,x4  
,their way of marriage is peculiar to   
them2 and shows a distinguishing  care  

above other societies professing        
,christianity4  ,they say1 that         
marriage is an ordinance of ,god1 and   
that ,god only can rightly join man  and
 woman in marriage4  ,therefore1 they   
use neither priest nor  magistrate2 but 
the man and woman concerned take each   
other as husband  and wife1 in the      
presence of divers credible witnesses1  
promising to each  other1 with ,god's   
assistance1 to be loving and faithful in
 that relation1  till death shall       
separate them4  ,but antecedent to this1
 they first  present themselves to the  
monthly meeting for the affairs of the  
church  where they reside2 there        
declaring their intentions to take one  
another  as husband and wife1 if the    
said meeting have nothing material to   
object  against it4  ,they are          
constantly asked the necessary          
questions1 #be as  in case of parents or
 guardians1 if they have acquainted them
 with their  intention1 and have their  
consent1 c4  ,the method of the meeting 

is1 to  take a minute thereof1 and to   
appoint proper persons to inquire of    
their  conversation and clearness from  
all others1 and whether they have       
discharged their duty to their parents  
or guardians2 and to make report        
thereof to the next monthly meeting1    
where the same parties are desired  to  
give their attendance4 #bf  ,in case it 
appears they have proceeded  orderly1   
the meeting passes their proposal1 and  
so records it in their  meeting book4   
,and in case the woman be a widow1 and  
hath children1 due  care is there taken 
that provision also be made by her for  
the orphans1  before the meeting pass   
the proposals of marriage3 advising the 
parties  concerned1 to appoint a        
convenient time and place1 and to give  
fitting  notice to their relations1 and 
such friends and neighbours1 as they    
desire should be the witnesses of their 
marriage3 where they take one  another  
by the hand1 and by name promise        
reciprocally1 love and fidelity1  after 

the manner before expressed4  ,of all   
which proceedings1 a narrative  in way  
of certificate is made1 to which the    
said parties first set their  hands1    
thereby confirming it as their act and  
deed2 and then divers  relations1       
spectators1 and auditors1 set their     
names as witnesses of what  they said   
and signed4  ,and this certificate is   
afterward registered in  the record     
belonging to the meeting1 where the     
marriage is solemnized4  ,which regular 
method has been1 as it deserves1        
adjudged in courts of law  a good       
marriage1 where it has been by cross and
 ill people disputed and  contested1 for
 want of the accustomed formalities of  
priest and ring1  c4--ceremonies they   
have refused1 not out of humour1 but    
conscience  reasonably grounded2        
inasmuch as no scripture example tells  
us1 that the  priest had any other part1
 of old time1 than that of a witness    
among the  rest1 before whom the ,jews  
used to take one another3 and1          

therefore1 this  people look upon it as 
an imposition1 to advance the power and 
profits of  the clergy3 and for the use 
of the ring1 it is enough to say1 that  
it was  a heathenish and vain custom1   
and never in practice among the people  
of  ,god1 ,jews1 or primitive           
,christians4  ,the words of the usual   
form1 as  with my body ,i thee worship1 
c4 are hardly defensible4  ,in short1   
they  are more careful1 exact1 and      
regular1 than any form now used2 and it 
is  free of the inconveniences1 with    
which other methods are attended2 their 
care and checks being so many1 and such1
 as that no clandestine marriages  can  
be performed among them4    ,,xi4  ,it  
may not be unfit to say something here  
of their births and  burials1 which make
 up so much of the pomp of too many     
called ,christians4  ,for births1 the   
parents name their own children2 which  
is usually some  days after they are    
born1 in the presence of the midwife1 if
 she can be  there1 and those that were 

at the birth1 who afterwards sign a     
certificate for that purpose prepared1  
of the birth and name of the child  or  
children2 which is recorded in a proper 
book1 in the monthly-meeting  to which  
the parents belong2 avoiding the        
accustomed ceremonies and  festivals4   
,,xii4  ,their burials are performed    
with the same simplicity4  ,if the body 
of the deceased be near any public      
meeting-place1 it is usually carried    
thither1 for the more convenient        
reception of those that accompany it to 
the burying-ground4  ,and it so falls   
out sometimes1 that while the  meeting  
is gathering for the burial1 #bg some or
 other has a word of  exhortation1 for  
the sake of the people there met        
together4  ,after which  the body is    
borne away by young men1 or else those  
that are of their  neighbourhood1 or    
those that were most of the intimacy of 
the deceased  party3 the corpse being in
 a plain coffin1 without any covering or
  furniture upon it4  ,at the ground    

they pause some time before they put    
the body into its grave1 that if any    
there should have anything upon them  to
 exhort the people1 they may not be     
disappointed2 and that the  relations   
may the more retiredly and solemnly take
 the last leave of the  body of their   
departed kindred1 and the spectators    
have a sense of  mortality1 by the      
occasion then given them1 to reflect    
upon their own  latter end4  ,otherwise1
 they have no set rites or ceremonies on
 those  occasions4  ,neither do the     
kindred of the deceased ever wear       
mourning2  #bh they looking upon it as a
 worldly ceremony and piece of pomp2 and
  that what mourning is fit for a       
,christian to have1 at the departure of 
a  beloved relation or friend1 should be
 worn in the mind1 which is only        
sensible of the loss3 and the love they 
had to them1 and remembrance of  them1  
to be outwardly expressed by a respect  
to their advice1 and care of  those they
 have left behind them1 and their love  

of that they loved4  ,which conduct of  
theirs1 though unmodish or              
unfashionable1 leaves nothing  of the   
substance of things neglected or undone2
 and as they aim at no  more1 so that   
simplicity of life is what they observe 
with great  satisfaction2 though it     
sometimes happens not to be without the 
mockeries  of the vain world they live  
in4    ,these things gave them a rough  
and disagreeable appearance with the    
generality2 who thought them turners of 
the world upside down1 as1  indeed1 in  
some sense they were3 but in no other   
than that wherein ,paul  was so charged1
 viz4 ,to bring things back into their  
primitive and right  order again4  ,for 
these and such like practices of theirs 
were not the  result of humour1 or for  
civil distinction1 as some have fancied2
 but a  fruit of inward sense1 which    
,god through his holy fear1 had begotten
 in  them4  ,they did not consider how  
to contradict the world1 or distinguish 
themselves as a party from others2 it   

being none of their business1 as it  was
 not their interest2 no1 it was not the 
result of consultation1 or a  framed    
design1 by which to declare or recommend
 schism or novelty4  ,but  ,god having  
given them a sight of themselves1 they  
saw the whole world in  the same glass  
of truth2 and sensibly discerned the    
affections and  passions of men1 and the
 rise and tendency of things2 what it   
was that  gratified the lust of the     
flesh1 the lust of the eye1 and the     
pride of  life1 which are not of the    
,father1 but of the world4  ,and from   
thence  sprang1 in the night of darkness
 and apostacy1 which hath been over     
people through their degeneration from  
the light and ,spirit of ,god1 these    
and many other vain customs1 which are  
seen1 by the heavenly day of  ,christ   
that dawns in the soul1 to be either    
wrong in their original1 or1  by time   
and abuse1 hurtful in their practice4   
,and though these things  seemed trivial
 to some1 and rendered these people     

stingy and conceited in  such persons'  
opinion2 there was and is more in them1 
than they were1 or  are1 aware of4      
,it was not very easy to our primitive  
friends to make themselves sights  and  
spectacles1 and the scorn and derision  
of the world2 which they  easily foresaw
 must be the consequence of so          
unfashionable a conversation  in it3 but
 here was the wisdom of ,god seen in the
 foolishness of these  things2 first1   
that they discovered the satisfaction   
and concern that  people had in and for 
the fashions of this world1             
notwithstanding their  high pretences to
 another3 in that any disappointment    
about them came so  very near them1 as  
that the greatest honesty1 virtue1      
wisdom1 and  ability1 were unwelcome    
without them4  ,secondly1 it seasonably 
and  profitably divided conversation2   
for this making their society uneasy to 
their relations and acquaintance1 it    
gave them the opportunity of more       
retirement and solitude2 wherein they   

met with better company1 even the  ,lord
 ,god their ,redeemer2 and grew strong  
in his love1 power1 and wisdom2  and    
were thereby better qualified for his   
service4  ,and the success  abundantly  
showed it1 blessed be the name of the   
,lord4    ,and though they were not     
great and learned in the esteem of this 
world1  7for then they had not wanted   
followers upon their own credit and     
authority17 yet they were generally of  
the most sober of the several           
persuasions they were in1 and of the    
most repute for religion2 and many  of  
them of good capacity1 substance1 and   
account among men4    ,and also some    
among them wanted not for parts1        
learning1 or estate2  though then as of 
old1 not many wise1 or noble1 c1 were   
called2 or1 at  least1 received the     
heavenly call1 because of the cross that
 attended the  profession of it in      
sincerity4  ,but neither do parts or    
learning make men  the better           
,christians1 though the better orators  

and disputants2 and it  is the ignorance
 of people about the divine gift1 that  
causes that vulgar  and mischievous     
mistake4  ,theory and practice1         
speculation and enjoyment1  words and   
life1 are two things4  ,o6 it is the    
penitent1 the reformed1 the  lowly1 the 
watchful1 the self-denying1 and holy    
soul1 that is the  ,christian6  ,and    
that frame is the fruit and work of the 
,spirit1 which is  the life of ,jesus2  
whose life1 though hid in the fulness of
 it in ,god the  ,father1 is shed abroad
 in the hearts of them that truly       
believe1  according to their capacity4  
,o that people did but know this to     
cleanse  them1 to circumcise them1 to   
quicken them1 and to make them new      
creatures  indeed6 recreated1 or        
regenerated1 after ,christ ,jesus unto  
good works2  that they might live to    
,god1 and not to themselves2 and offer  
up living  prayers and living praises to
 the living ,god1 through his own living
  ,spirit1 in which he is only to be    

worshipped in this gospel day4    ,o    
that they that read me could but feel   
me6 for my heart is affected with  this 
merciful visitation of the ,father of   
lights and spirits to this poor  nation1
 and the whole world through the same   
testimony4  ,why should the  inhabitants
 thereof reject it8  ,why should they   
lose the blessed benefit  of it8  ,why  
should they not turn to the ,lord with  
all their hearts1 and  say from the     
heart1 ,speak ,lord1 for now thy poor   
servants hear3 ,o that  thy will may be 
done1 thy great1 thy good1 and holy     
will1 in earth as it  is in heaven6 do  
it in us1 do it upon us1 do what thou   
wilt with us2 for  we are thine1 and    
desire to glorify thee our ,creator1    
both for that1 and  because thou art our
 ,redeemer2 for thou art redeeming us   
from the earth1  from the vanities and  
pollutions of it1 to be a peculiar      
people unto  thee4  ,o6 this were a     
brave day for ,england1 if so she could 
say in  truth6 but alas1 the case is    

otherwise6 for which some of thine      
inhabitants1 ,o land of my nativity6    
have mourned over thee with bitter      
wailing and lamentation4  ,their heads  
have been1 indeed1 as waters1 and  their
 eyes as fountains of tears1 because of 
thy transgression and  stiffneckedness2 
because thou wilt not hear1 and fear1   
and return to the  ,rock1 even thy      
,rock1 ,o ,england6 from whence thou art
 hewn4  ,but be thou  warned1 ,o land of
 great profession1 to receive him into  
thy heart4  ,behold1 at that door it is 
he hath stood so long knocking2 but thou
 wilt  yet have none of him4  ,o6 be    
thou awakened6 lest ,jerusalem's        
judgments do  swiftly overtake thee1    
because of ,jerusalem's sins that abound
 in thee4  ,for she abounded in         
formality1 but made void the weighty    
things of ,god's  law1 as thou daily    
dost4    ,she withstood the ,son of ,god
 in the flesh1 and thou resistest the   
,son of  ,god in the ,spirit4  ,he would
 have gathered her1 as a hen gathereth  

her  chickens under her wings1 and she  
would not2 so would he have gathered    
thee out of thy lifeless profession1 and
 have brought thee to inherit           
substance2 to have known his power and  
kingdom3 for which he often  knocked    
within1 by his grace and ,spirit2 and   
without1 by his servants and  witnesses3
 but1 on the contrary1 as ,jerusalem of 
old persecuted the  manifestation of the
 ,son of ,god in the flesh1 and         
crucified him1 and  whipped and         
imprisoned his servants2 so hast thou1  
,o land6 crucified to  thyself afresh   
the ,lord of life and glory1 and done   
despite to his ,spirit  of grace2       
slighting the fatherly visitation1 and  
persecuting the blessed  dispensers of  
it by thy laws and magistrates3 though  
they have early and  late pleaded with  
thee in the power and ,spirit of the    
,lord2 in love and  meekness1 that thou 
mightest know the ,lord1 and serve him1 
and become the  glory of all lands4     
,but thou hast evilly entreated and     

requited them1 thou hast set at nought  
all their counsel1 and wouldst have none
 of their reproof1 as thou  shouldst    
have had4  ,their appearance was too    
straight1 and their  qualifications were
 too mean for thee to receive them2 like
 the ,jews of  old1 that cried1 ,is not 
this the ,carpenter's ,son1 and are not 
his  brethren among us2 which of the    
scribes1 of the learned 7the orthodox7  
believe in him8  ,prophesying their fall
 in a year or two1 and making and       
executing of severe laws to bring it to 
pass3 endeavouring to terrify  them out 
of their holy way1 or destroy them for  
abiding faithful to it4  ,but thou hast 
seen how many governments that rose     
against them1 and  determined their     
downfall1 have been overturned and      
extinguished1 and  that they are still  
preserved1 and become a great and a     
considerable  people1 among the middle  
sort of thy numerous inhabitants4  ,and 
notwithstanding the many difficulties   
without and within1 which they have     

laboured under1 since the ,lord ,god    
eternal first gathered them1 they are   
an increasing people2 the ,lord still   
adding unto them1 in divers parts1  such
 as shall be saved1 if they persevere to
 the end4  ,and to thee1 ,o  ,england6  
were they1 and are they lifted up as a  
standard1 and as a city  set upon a     
hill1 and to the nations round about    
thee1 that in their light  thou mayst   
come to see light1 even in ,christ      
,jesus the light of the  world1 and1    
therefore1 thy light and life too1 if   
thou wouldst but turn  from thy many    
evil ways1 and receive and obey it4     
,for in the light of  the ,lamb must the
 nations of them that are saved walk1 as
 the scripture  testifies4    ,remember1
 ,o nation of great profession6 how the 
,lord has waited upon thee  since the   
dawning reformation1 and the many       
mercies and judgments by  which he has  
pleaded with thee2 and awake and arise  
out of thy deep  sleep1 and yet hear his
 word in thy heart1 that thou mayst     

live4    ,let not this thy day of       
visitation pass over thy head1 nor      
neglect thou  so great salvation as is  
this which is come to thy house1 ,o     
,england6 for  why shouldst thou die8   
,o land that ,god desires to bless1 be  
assured it  is he that has been in the  
midst of this people1 in the midst of   
thee1  and not a delusion1 as thy       
mistaken teachers have made thee        
believe4  ,and  this thou shalt find by 
their marks and fruits1 if thou wilt    
consider  them in the spirit of         
moderation4        ,,chap4  ,,iii4      
,of the ,qualifications of their        
,ministry4  ,eleven marks that it is    
,christian4    ,i4  ,they were changed  
men themselves1 before they went about  
to change  others4  ,their hearts were  
rent1 as well as their garments2 and    
they knew  the power and work of ,god   
upon them4  ,and this was seen by the   
great  alteration it made1 and their    
stricter course of life1 and more godly 
conversation that immediately followed  

upon it4    ,,ii4  ,they went not forth1
 or preached1 in their own time or will1
 but in  the will of ,god2 and spoke not
 their own studied matters1 but as they 
were opened and moved of his ,spirit1   
with which they were well acquainted  in
 their own conversion3 which cannot be  
expressed to carnal men1 so as  to give 
them any intelligible account2 for to   
such it is1 as ,christ said1  like the  
blowing of the wind1 which no man knows 
whence it cometh1 or  whither it goeth4 
,yet this proof and seal went along with
 their  ministry1 that many were turned 
from their lifeless professions1 and the
  evil of their ways1 to an inward and  
experimental knowledge of ,god1 and a   
holy life1 as thousands can witness4    
,and as they freely received what  they 
had to say from the ,lord1 so they      
freely administered it to others4       
,,iii4  ,the bent and stress of their   
ministry was conversion to ,god2        
regeneration and holiness4  ,not schemes
 of doctrines and verbal creeds1  or new

 forms of worship3 but a leaving off in 
religion the superfluous1  and reducing 
the ceremonious and formal part1 and    
pressing earnestly the  substantial1 the
 necessary and profitable part to the   
soul2 as all1 upon  a serious           
reflection1 must and do acknowledge4    
,,iv4  ,they directed people to a       
principle in themselves1 though not of  
themselves1 by which all that they      
asserted1 preached1 and exhorted  others
 to1 might be wrought in them1 and known
 to them1 through  experience1 to be    
true2 which is a high and distinguishing
 mark of the  truth of their ministry1  
both that they knew what they said1 and 
were not  afraid of coming to the test4 
,for as they were bold from certainty1  
so  they required conformity upon no    
human authority1 but upon conviction1   
and the conviction of this principle1   
which they asserted was in them  that   
they preached unto3 and unto that they  
directed them1 that they  might examine 
and prove the reality of those things   

which they had  affirmed of it1 as to   
its manifestation and work in man4  ,and
 this is  more than the many ministers  
in the world pretended to4  ,they       
declare of  religion1 say many things   
true1 in words1 of ,god1 ,christ1 and   
the ,spirit2  of holiness and heaven2   
that all men should repent and amend    
their lives1  or they will go to hell1  
c4  ,but which of them all pretend to   
speak of  their own knowledge and       
experience2 or ever directed to a divine
  principle1 or agent1 placed of ,god in
 man1 to help him2 and how to know  it1 
and wait to feel its power to work that 
good and acceptable will of  ,god in    
them8    ,some of them1 indeed1 have    
spoken of the spirit1 and the operations
 of it  to sanctification1 and          
performance of worship to ,god2 but     
where and how  to find it1 and wait in  
it1 to perform our duty to ,god1 was yet
 as a  mystery to be declared by this   
farther degree of reformation4  ,so that
  this people did not only in words1    

more than equally press repentance1     
conversion1 and holiness1 but did it    
knowingly and experimentally2 and       
directed those1 to whom they preached1  
to a sufficient principle2 and  told    
them where it was1 and by what tokens   
they might know it1 and which  way they 
might experience the power and efficacy 
of it to their souls'  happiness4       
,which is more than theory and          
speculation1 upon which most  other     
ministers depend3 for here is certainty2
 a bottom upon which man  may boldly    
appear before ,god in the great day of  
account4    ,v4  ,they reached to the   
inward state and condition of people2   
which is an  evidence of the virtue of  
their principle1 and of their           
ministering from  it1 and not from their
 own imaginations1 glosses1 or comments 
upon  scripture4  ,for nothing reaches  
the heart1 but what is from the heart2  
or  pierces the conscience1 but what    
comes from a living conscience2 insomuch
  as it hath often happened1 where      

people have under secrecy revealed their
  state or condition to some choice     
friends1 for advice or ease1 they have  
been so particularly directed in the    
ministry of this people1 that they  have
 challenged their friends with          
discovering their secrets1 and telling  
their preachers their cases1 to whom a  
word hath not been spoken4  ,yea1  the  
very thoughts and purposes of the hearts
 of many have been so plainly  detected1
 that they have1 like ,nathaniel1 cried 
out1 of this inward  appearance of      
,christ1 ,thou art the ,son of ,god1    
thou art the ,king of  ,israel4  ,and   
those that have embraced this divine    
principle1 have found  this mark of its 
truth and divinity1 that the woman of   
,samaria did of  ,christ when in the    
flesh1 to be the ,messiah1 viz4 ,it had 
told them all  that ever they had done2 
shown them their insides1 the most      
inward  secrets of their hearts1 and    
laid judgment to the line1 and          
righteousness  to the plummet2 of which 

thousands can at this day give in their 
witness4  ,so that nothing has been     
affirmed by this people1 of the power   
and virtue  of this heavenly principle1 
that such as have turned to it have not 
found  true1 and more2 and that one half
 had not been told to them of what they 
have seen of the power1 purity1 wisdom1 
and goodness of ,god therein4    ,,vi4  
,the accomplishments1 with which this   
principle fitted even some of  the      
meanest of this people for their work   
and service1 furnishing some of  them   
with an extraordinary understanding in  
divine things1 and an  admirable1       
fluency1 and taking-way of expression1  
gave occasion to some  to wonder1 saying
 of them1 as of their ,master1 ,is not  
this such a  mechanic's son1 how came he
 by this learning8  ,as from thence     
others  took occasion to suspect and    
insinuate they were ,jesuits in         
disguise1 who  had the reputation of    
learned men for an age past2 though     
there was not  the least ground of truth

 for any such reflection2 in that their 
ministers are known1 the places of their
 abode1 their kindred and  education4   
,,vii4  ,that they came forth low1 and  
despised1 and hated1 as the primitive   
,christians did2 and not by the help of 
worldly wisdom or power1 as former      
reformations in part have done3 but in  
all things it may be said1 this  people 
were brought forth in the cross2 in a   
contradiction to the ways1  worships1   
fashions1 and customs of this world2    
yea1 against wind and  tide1 that so no 
flesh might glory before ,god4          
,,viii4  ,they could have no design to  
themselves in this work1 thus to  expose
 themselves to scorn and abuse2 to spend
 and be spent2 leaving wife  and        
children1 house and land1 and all that  
can be accounted dear to men1  with     
their lives in their hands1 being daily 
in jeopardy1 to declare this  primitive 
message revived in their spirits1 by the
 good ,spirit and power  of ,god1 viz4  
,that ,god is light1 and in him is no   

darkness at all2 and that he has sent   
his ,son a light into the world1 to     
enlighten all men in order to           
salvation2 and that they that say they  
have fellowship with ,god1 and are  his 
children and people1 and yet walk in    
darkness1 viz4 in disobedience  to the  
light in their consciences1 and after   
the vanity of this world1  lie and do   
not the truth4  ,but that all such as   
love the light1 and bring  their deeds  
to it1 and walk in the light1 as ,god is
 light1 the blood of  ,jesus ,christ his
 ,son should cleanse them from all sin4 
,thus ,john i4 #d4  #ai4  ,chap4 iii4   
#bj1 #ba4  #a ,john i4 #e1 #f1 #g4      
,,ix4  ,their known great constancy and 
patience in suffering for their         
testimony in all the branches of it2 and
 that sometimes unto death1 by          
beatings1 bruisings1 long and crowded   
imprisonments1 and noisome  dungeons3   
four of them in ,new ,england dying by  
the hands of the  executioner1 purely   
for preaching amongst that people3      

besides  banishments1 and excessive     
plunders and sequestrations of their    
goods and  estates1 almost in all parts1
 not easily to be expressed1 and less to
  have been endured1 but by those that  
have the support of a good and  glorious
 cause2 refusing deliverance by any     
indirect ways or means1 as  often as it 
was offered unto them4    ,x4  ,that    
they did not only not show any          
disposition to revenge1 when it  was at 
any time in their power1 but forgave    
their cruel enemies2 showing  mercy to  
those that had none for them4    ,,xi4  
,their plainness with those in          
authority1 like the ancient prophets1   
not fearing to tell them to their faces1
 of their private and public  sins2 and 
their prophesies to them of their       
afflictions and downfal1 when  in the   
top of their glory3 also of some        
national judgments1 as of the  plague1  
and fire of ,london1 in express terms2  
and likewise particular  ones to divers 
persecutors1 which accordingly overtook 

them2 and were  very remarkable in the  
places where they dwelt1 which in time  
may be made  public for the glory of    
,god4    ,thus1 reader1 thou seest this 
people in their rise1 principles1       
ministry1  and progress1 both their     
general and particular testimony2 by    
which thou  mayst be informed how1 and  
upon what foot1 they sprang1 and became 
so  considerable a people4  ,it remains 
next1 that ,i show also their care1     
conduct1 and discipline as a ,christian 
and reformed society1 that they  might  
be found living up to their own         
principles and profession4  ,and  this  
the rather1 because they have hardly    
suffered more in their  character from  
the unjust charge of error1 than by the 
false imputation  of disorder3 which    
calumny1 indeed1 has not failed to      
follow all the true  steps that were    
ever made to reformation1 and under     
which reproach none  suffered more than 
the primitive ,christians themselves1   
that were the  honour of ,christianity1 

and the great lights and examples of    
their own  and succeeding ages4         
,,chap4 ,,iv4      ,of the discipline   
and practice of this people1 as a       
religious  society4  ,the church power  
they own and exercise1 and that which   
they  reject and condemn3 with the      
method of their proceedings against     
erring  and disorderly persons4    ,this
 people increasing daily both in town   
and country1 a holy care fell  upon some
 of the elders among them1 for the      
benefit and service of the  church4     
,and the first business in their view1  
after the example of the  primitive     
saints1 was the exercise of charity2 to 
supply the necessities  of the poor1 and
 answer the like occasions4  ,wherefore 
collections were  early and liberally   
made for that and divers other services 
in the  church1 and intrusted with      
faithful men1 fearing ,god1 and of good 
report1  who were not weary in well     
doing2 adding often of their own in     
large  proportions1 which they never    

brought to account1 or desired should be
  known1 much less restored to them1    
that none might want1 nor any service   
be retarded or disappointed4    ,they   
were also very careful1 that every one  
that belonged to them1  answered their  
profession in their behaviour among men1
 upon all  occasions2 that they lived   
peaceably1 and were in all things good  
examples4  ,they found themselves       
engaged to record their sufferings and  
services3 and in the case of marriage1  
which they could not perform in  the    
usual methods of the nation1 but among  
themselves1 they took care  that all    
things were clear between the parties   
and all others3 and it was  then rare1  
that any one entertained an inclination 
to a person on that  account1 till he or
 she had communicated it secretly to    
some very weighty  and eminent friends  
among them1 that they might have a sense
 of the  matter2 looking to the counsel 
and unity of their brethren as of great 
moment to them4  ,but because the charge

 of the poor1 the number of  orphans1   
marriages1 sufferings1 and other        
matters1 multiplied2 and that  it was   
good that the churches were in some way 
and method of proceeding  in such       
affairs among them1 to the end they     
might the better correspond  upon       
occasion1 where a member of one meeting 
might have to do with one of  another2  
it pleased the ,lord1 in his wisdom and 
goodness1 to open the  understanding of 
the first instrument of this            
dispensation of life1 about  a good and 
orderly way of proceeding2 who felt a   
holy concern to visit  the churches in  
person throughout this nation1 to begin 
and establish it  among them3 and by his
 epistles1 the like was done in other   
nations and  provinces abroad2 which he 
also afterwards visited1 and helped in  
that  service1 as shall be observed when
 ,i come to speak of him4    ,now the   
care1 conduct1 and discipline1 ,i have  
been speaking of1 and which  are now    
practised among this people1 is as      

followeth4    ,this godly elder1 in     
every county where he travelled1        
exhorted them that  some1 out of every  
meeting of worship1 should meet together
 once in the  month1 to confer about the
 wants and occasions of the church4     
,and1 as  the case required1 so those   
monthly meetings were fewer or more in  
number  in every respective county2 four
 or six meetings of worship1 usually    
making one monthly meeting of business4 
,and accordingly1 the brethren  met him 
from place to place1 and began the said 
meetings1 viz4 ,for the  poor1 orphans1 
orderly walking1 integrity to their     
profession1 births1  marriages1 burials1
 sufferings1 c4  ,and that these monthly
 meetings  should1 in each county1 make 
up one quarterly meeting1 where the most
  zealous and eminent friends of the    
county should assemble to communicate1  
advise1 and help one another1 especially
 when any business seemed  difficult1 or
 a monthly meeting was tender of        
determining a matter4    ,also that     

these several quarterly meetings should 
digest the reports of  their monthly    
meetings1 and prepare one for each      
respective county1  against the yearly  
meeting1 in which all quarterly meetings
 resolve2  which is held in ,london3    
where the churches in this nation1 and  
other  nations #dc;a and provinces1 meet
 by chosen members of their respective  
counties1 both mutually to communicate  
their church affairs1 and to  advise1   
and be advised in any depending case1 to
 edification4  ,also to  provide a      
requisite stock for the discharge of    
general expenses for  general services  
in the church1 not needful to be here   
particularized4  #dc;b    ,at these     
meetings any of the members of the      
churches may come1 if they  please1 and 
speak their minds freely1 in the fear of
 ,god1 to any matter2  but the mind of  
each quarterly meeting1 therein         
represented1 is chiefly  understood1 as 
to particular cases1 in the sense       
delivered by the persons  deputed1 or   

chosen for that service by the said     
meeting4    ,during their yearly        
meeting1 to which their other meetings  
refer in their  order1 and naturally    
resolve themselves1 care is taken by a  
select  number1 for that service chosen 
by the general assembly1 to draw up the 
minutes #dd of the said meeting1 upon   
the several matters that have been      
under consideration therein1 to the end 
that the respective quarterly and       
monthly meetings may be informed of all 
proceedings2 together with a  general   
exhortation to holiness1 unity1 and     
charity4  ,of all which  proceedings in 
yearly1 monthly1 and quarterly meetings1
 due record is  kept by some one        
appointed for that service1 or that hath
 voluntarily  undertaken it4  ,these    
meetings are opened and usually         
concluded in their  solemn waiting upon 
,god1 who is sometimes graciously       
pleased to answer  them with as signal  
evidences of his love and presence1 as  
in any of  their meetings of worship4   

,it is further to be noted1 that in     
these solemn assemblies for the         
churches' service1 there is no one      
presides among them after the manner  of
 the assemblies of other people2 ,christ
 only being their ,president1 as  he is 
pleased to appear in life and wisdom in 
any one or more of them1 to  whom1      
whatever be their capacity or degree1   
the rest adhere with a firm  unity1 not 
of authority1 but conviction1 which is  
the divine authority  and way of        
,christ's power and ,spirit in his      
people3 making good his  blessed        
promise1 that he would be in the midst  
of his1 where and  whenever they were   
met together in his name1 even to the   
end of the  world4  ,so be it4    ,now  
it may be expected1 ,i should here set  
down what sort of authority is          
exercised by this people1 upon such     
members of their society as  correspond 
not in their lives with their           
profession1 and that are  refractory to 
this good and wholesome order settled   

among them3 and the  rather1 because    
they have not wanted their reproach and 
sufferings from  some tongues and pens1 
upon this occasion1 in a plentiful      
manner4    ,the power they exercise1 is 
such as ,christ has given to his own    
people1  to the end of the world1 in the
 persons of his disciples1 viz4 ,to     
oversee1 exhort1 reprove1 and1 after    
long suffering and waiting upon the     
disobedient and refractory1 to disown   
them1 as any longer of their  communion1
 or that they will stand charged with   
the behaviour of such  transgressors1 or
 their conversation1 until they repent4 
,the subject  matter about which this   
authority1 in any of the foregoing      
branches of  it1 is exercised1 is1      
first1 in relation to common and general
 practice4  ,and1 secondly1 about those 
things that more strictly refer to their
 own  character and profession1 and     
which distinguish them from all other   
professors of ,christianity2 avoiding   
two extremes upon which many split1     

viz4 persecution and libertinism1 that  
is1 a coercive power to whip  people    
into the temple2 that such as will not  
conform1 though against  faith and      
conscience1 shall be punished in their  
persons or estates2 or  leaving all     
loose and at large1 as to practice2 and 
so unaccountable to  all but ,god and   
the magistrate4   ,to which hurtful     
extreme1 nothing has  more contributed  
than the abuse of church power1 by such 
as suffer their  passion and private    
interests to prevail with them1 to carry
 it to  outward force and corporal      
punishment3 a practice they have been   
taught  to dislike1 by their extreme    
sufferings1 as well as their known      
principle  for a universal liberty of   
conscience4    ,on the other hand1 they 
equally dislike an independency in      
society3--an  unaccountableness1 in     
practice and conversation1 to the rules 
and terms  of their own communion1 and  
to those that are the members of it4    
,they  distinguish between imposing any 

practice that immediately regards faith 
or worship1 which is never to be done or
 suffered1 or submitted unto2 and       
requiring ,christian compliance with    
those methods that only respect         
church-business in its more civil part  
and concern2 and that regard the        
discreet and orderly maintenance of the 
character of the society as a  sober and
 religious community4  ,in short1 what  
is for the promotion of  holiness and   
charity1 that men may practise what they
 profess1 live up to  their own         
principles1 and not be at liberty to    
give the lie to their own  profession   
without rebuke1 is their use and limit  
of church power4  ,they  compel none to 
them1 but oblige those that are of them 
to walk suitably1  or they are denied by
 them3 that is all the mark they set    
upon them1 and  the power they exercise1
 or judge a ,christian society can      
exercise1 upon  those that are members  
of it4    ,the way of their proceeding  
against such as have lapsed or          

transgressed1  is this4  ,he is visited 
by some of them1 and the matter of fact 
laid home  to him1 be it any evil       
practice against known and general      
virtue1 or any  branch of their         
particular testimony1 which he1 in      
common1 professeth  with them4  ,they   
labour with him in much love and zeal1  
for the good of  his soul1 the honour of
 ,god1 and reputation of their          
profession1 to own  his fault and       
condemn it1 in as ample a manner as the 
evil or scandal was  given by him2      
which1 for the most part1 is performed  
by some written  testimony under the    
party's hand3 and if it so happen1 that 
the party  prove refractory1 and is not 
willing to clear the truth they profess1
  from the reproach of his or her evil  
doing or unfaithfulness1 they1 after    
repeated entreaties and due waiting for 
a token of repentance1 give forth  a    
paper to disown such a fact1 and the    
party offending3 recording the  same as 
a testimony of their care for the honour

 of the truth they  profess4    ,and if 
he or she shall clear their profession  
and themselves1 by sincere              
acknowledgment of their fault1 and godly
 sorrow for so doing1 they are  received
 and looked upon again as members of    
their communion4  ,for as  ,god1 so his 
true people1 upbraid no man after       
repentance4    ,this is the account ,i  
had to give of the people of ,god called
 ,quakers1 as  to their rise1           
appearance1 principles1 and practices1  
in this age of the  world1 both with    
respect to their faith and worship1     
discipline and  conversation4  ,and ,i  
judge it very proper in this place1     
because it is to  preface the journal of
 the first1 blessed1 and glorious       
instrument of  this work1 and for a     
testimony to him in his singular        
qualifications and  services1 in which  
he abundantly excelled in this day1 and 
which are  worthy to be set forth as an 
example to all succeeding times1 to the 
glory of the most high ,god1 and for a  

just memorial to that worthy and        
excellent man1 his faithful servant and 
apostle to this generation of the       
world4          ,,chap4 ,v4      ,of the
 first instrument or person by whom ,god
 was pleased to gather this  people into
 the way they profess4  ,his name       
,george ,fox3 his many  excellent       
qualifications2 showing a divine1 and   
not a human power to  have been their   
original in him4  ,his troubles and     
sufferings both from  without and       
within4  ,his end and triumph4    ,i am 
now come to the third head or branch of 
my preface1 viz4 the  instrumental      
author4  ,for it is natural for some to 
say1 ,well1 here is  the people and     
work1 but where and who was the man1 the
 instrument8  ,he  that in this age was 
sent to begin this work and people8  ,i 
shall1 as ,god  shall enable me1 declare
 who and what he was2 not only by report
 of  others1 but from my own long and   
most inward converse1 and intimate      
knowledge of him2 for which my soul     

blesseth ,god1 as it hath often done3   
and ,i doubt not1 but by that time ,i   
have discharged myself of this part  of 
my preface1 my serious readers will     
believe ,i had good cause so to do4     
,the blessed instrument of1 and in this 
day of ,god1 and of whom ,i am now      
about to write1 was ,george ,fox1       
distinguished from another of that name1
  by that other's addition of younger to
 his name1 in all his writings2 not     
that he was so in years1 but that he was
 so in the truth3 but he was also  a    
worthy man1 witness1 and servant of ,god
 in his time4    ,but this ,george ,fox 
was born in ,leicestershire1 about the  
year #afbd4  ,he  descended of honest   
and sufficient parents1 who endeavoured 
to bring him  up1 as they did the rest  
of their children1 in the way and       
worship of the  nation3 especially his  
mother1 who was a woman accomplished    
above most of  her degree in the place  
where she lived4  ,but from a child he  
appeared of  another frame of mind than 

the rest of his brethren2 being more    
religious1 inward1 still1 solid1 and    
observing beyond his years1 as the      
answers he would give1 and the questions
 he would put1 upon occasion1           
manifested1 to the astonishment of those
 that heard him1 especially in  divine  
things4    ,his mother1 taking notice of
 his singular temper1 and the gravity1  
wisdom1 and piety1 that very early      
shined through him1 refusing childish   
and vain sports1 and company1 when very 
young1 was tender and indulgent  over   
him1 so that from her he met with little
 difficulty4  ,as to his  employment1 he
 was brought up in country business1 and
 as he took most  delight in sheep1 so  
he was very skilful in them2 an         
employment that very  well suited his   
mind in several respects1 both for its  
innocency and  solitude2 and was a just 
emblem of his after ministry and        
service4    ,i shall not break in upon  
his own account1 which is by much the   
best that  can be given1 and therefore  

desire what ,i can1 to avoid saying     
anything  of what is said already1 as to
 the particular passages of his coming  
forth3 but1 in general1 when he was     
somewhat above twenty1 he left his      
friends1 and visited the most retired   
and religious people in those  parts2   
and some there were in this nation1 who 
waited for the consolation  of ,israel1 
night and day2 as ,zacharias1 ,anna1 and
 good old ,simeon did of  old time4  ,to
 these he was sent1 and these he sought 
out in the  neighbouring counties1 and  
among them he sojourned till his more   
ample  ministry came upon him4  ,at this
 time he taught1 and was an example of1 
silence1 endeavouring to bring them from
 self-performances2 testifying  of1 and 
turning them to1 the light of ,christ   
within them1 and encouraging  them to   
wait in patience1 and to feel the power 
of it to stir in their  hearts1 that    
their knowledge and worship of ,god     
might stand in the power  of an endless 
life1 which was to be found in the      

light1 as it was obeyed  in the         
manifestation of it in man4  ,for in the
 word was life1 and that  life is the   
light of men3 life in the word1 light in
 men2 and life in men  too1 as the light
 is obeyed3 the children of the light   
living by the life  of the word1 by     
which the word begets them again to     
,god1 which is the  regeneration and new
 birth1 without which there is no coming
 into the  kingdom of ,god3 and to which
 whoever comes1 is greater than ,john2  
that  is1 than ,john's dispensation1    
which was not that of the kingdom1 but  
the  consummation of the legal1 and     
fore-running of the gospel-times1 the   
time  of the kingdom4  ,accordingly     
several meetings were gathered in those 
parts2 and thus his time was employed   
for some years4    ,in #afeb1 he being  
in his usual retirement1 his mind       
exercised towards the  ,lord1 upon a    
very high mountain in some of the higher
 parts of ,yorkshire1  as ,i take it1 he
 had a vision of the great work of ,god 

in the earth1 and  of the way that he   
was to go forth in a public ministry1 to
 begin it4  ,he  saw people as thick as 
motes in the sun1 that should in time be
 brought  home to the ,lord1 that there 
might be but one shepherd and one       
sheepfold  in all the earth4  ,there his
 eye was directed northward1 beholding a
  great people that should receive him  
and his message in those parts4  ,upon  
this mountain he was moved of the ,lord 
to sound out his great and  notable day1
 as if he had been in a great auditory2 
and from thence went  north1 as the     
,lord had shown him4  ,and in every     
place where he came1 if  not before he  
came to it1 he had his particular       
exercise and service  shown to him1 so  
that the ,lord was his leader indeed4   
,for it was not in  vain that he        
travelled2 ,god in most places sealing  
his commission with  the convincement of
 some of all sorts1 as well publicans as
 sober  professors of religion4  ,some  
of the first and most eminent of those  

that  came forth in a public ministry1  
and who are now at rest1 were ,richard  
,farnsworth1 ,james ,nayler1 ,william   
,dewsberry1 ,thomas ,aldam1 ,francis    
,howgil1 ,edward ,burroughs1 ,john      
,camm1 ,john ,audland1 ,richard         
,hubberthorn1  ,t4 ,taylor1 ,t4 ,holmes1
 ,alexander ,parker1 ,wm4  ,simson1     
,william ,caton1 ,john  ,stubbs1 ,robert
 ,withers1 ,thomas ,low1 ,josiah ,coale1
 ,john ,burnyeat1 ,robert  ,lodge1      
,thomas ,salthouse1 and many more       
worthies1 that cannot well be here      
named2 together with divers yet living  
of the first and great  convincement2   
who1 after the knowledge of ,god's      
purging judgment in  themselves1 and    
some time of waiting in silence upon    
him1 to feel and  receive power from on 
high to speak in his name1 7which none  
else rightly  can1 though they may use  
the same words17 felt its divine        
motions1 and  were frequently drawn     
forth1 especially to visit the public   
assemblies1  to reprove1 inform1 and    

exhort them3 sometimes in markets1      
fairs1  streets1 and by the             
highway-side3 calling people to         
repentance1 and to  turn to the ,lord   
with their hearts as well as their      
mouths2 directing  them to the light of 
,christ within them1 to see1 examine1   
and consider  their ways by1 and to     
eschew the evil1 and do the good and    
acceptable  will of ,god4  ,and they    
suffered great hardships for this their 
love and  good-will2 being often        
stocked1 stoned1 beaten1 whipped1 and   
imprisoned1  though honest men1 and of  
good report where they lived2 that had  
left  wives1 children1 and houses and   
lands to visit them with a living call  
to  repentance4  ,and though the priests
 generally set themselves to oppose     
them1 and wrote against them1 and       
insinuated most false and scandalous    
stories to defame them1 stirring up the 
magistrates to suppress them1           
especially in those northern parts2 yet 
,god was pleased to fill them with  his 

living power1 and give them such an open
 door of utterance in his  service1 that
 there was a mighty convincement over   
those parts4    ,and through the tender 
and singular indulgence of judge        
,bradshaw1 and  judge ,fell1 and colonel
 ,west1 in the infancy of things1 the   
priests were  never able to gain the    
point they laboured for1 which was to   
have  proceeded to blood2 and1 if       
possible1 ,herod-like1 by a cruel       
exercise of  the civil power1 to have   
cut them off1 and rooted them out of the
  country4  ,but especially judge ,fell1
 who was not only a check to their  rage
 in the course of legal proceedings1 but
 otherwise upon occasion2 and  finally  
countenanced this people4  ,for1 his    
wife receiving the truth with  the      
first1 it had that influence upon his   
spirit1 being a just and wise  man1 and 
seeing in his own wife and family a full
 confutation of all the  popular        
clamours against the way of truth1 that 
he covered them what he  could1 and     

freely opened his doors1 and gave up his
 house to his wife and  her friends2 not
 valuing the reproach of ignorant or    
evil-minded people3  which ,i here      
mention to his and her honour1 and which
 will be1 ,i believe1  an honour and a  
blessing to such of their name and      
family1 as shall be  found in that      
tenderness1 humility1 love1 and zeal for
 the truth and  people of the ,lord4    
,that house was for some years1 at first
 especially1 until the truth had  opened
 its way into the southern parts of this
 island1 an eminent  receptacle of this 
people4  ,others1 of good note and      
substance in those  northern countries1 
had also opened their houses1 together  
with their  hearts1 to the many         
publishers1 that1 in a short time1 the  
,lord had  raised to declare his        
salvation to the people2 and where      
meetings of the  ,lord's messengers were
 frequently held1 to communicate their  
services and  exercises1 and comfort and
 edify one another in their blessed     

ministry4    ,but lest this may be      
thought a digression1 having touched    
upon this  before1 ,i return to this    
excellent man2 and for his personal     
qualities1  both natural1 moral1 and    
divine1 as they appeared in his converse
 with  the brethren1 and in the church  
of ,god1 take as follows3    ,i4  ,he   
was a man that ,god endued with a clear 
and wonderful depth3 a  discerner of    
others' spirits1 and very much a master 
of his own4  ,and  though that side of  
his understanding which lay next to the 
world1 and  especially the expression of
 it1 might sound uncouth and            
unfashionable to  nice ears1 his matter 
was nevertheless very profound2 and     
would not only  bear to be often        
considered1 but the more it was so1 the 
more weighty and  instructing it        
appeared4  ,and as abruptly and brokenly
 as sometimes his  sentences would seem 
to fall from him1 about divine things1  
it is well  known they were often as    
texts to many fairer declarations4      

,and indeed it showed1 beyond all       
contradiction1 that ,god sent him1 in   
that no arts or parts had any share in  
the matter or manner of his  ministry2  
and that so many great1 excellent1 and  
necessary truths1 as he  came forth to  
preach to mankind1 had therefore nothing
 of man's wit or  wisdom to recommend   
them4  ,so that as to man he was an     
original1 being no  man's copy2 and his 
ministry and writings show they are from
 one that was  not taught of man1 nor   
had learned what he said by study4  ,nor
 were they  notional or speculative1 but
 sensible and practical truths1 tending 
to  conversion and regeneration1 and the
 setting up of the kingdom of ,god in   
the hearts of men3 and the way of it was
 his work4  ,so that ,i have many  times
 been overcome in myself1 and been made 
to say1 with my ,lord and  ,master1 upon
 the like occasion1 ,i thank thee1 ,o   
,father1 ,lord of heaven  and earth1    
that thou hast hid these things from the
 wise and prudent of  this world1 and   

revealed them to babes3 for1 many times 
hath my soul  bowed in an humble        
thankfulness to the ,lord1 that he did  
not choose any  of the wise and learned 
of this world to be the first messenger 
in our  age1 of his blessed truth to    
men2 but that he took one that was not  
of  high degree1 or elegant speech1 or  
learned after the way of this world1    
that his message and work he sent him to
 do might come with less  suspicion1 or 
jealousy of human wisdom and interest1  
and with more force  and clearness upon 
the consciences of those that sincerely 
sought the way  of truth in the love of 
it4  ,i say1 beholding with the eye of  
my mind1  which the ,god of heaven had  
opened in me1 the marks of ,god's finger
 and  hand visibly in this testimony1   
from the clearness of the principle1 the
  power and efficacy of it1 in the      
exemplary sobriety1 plainness1 zeal1    
steadiness1 humility1 gravity1          
punctuality1 charity1 and circumspect   
care  in the government of              

church-affairs1 which shined in his and 
their life  and testimony1 that ,god    
employed in this work1 it greatly       
confirmed me  that it was of ,god1 and  
engaged my soul in a deep love1 fear1   
reverence1  and thankfulness for his    
love and mercy therein to mankind3 in   
which mind  ,i remain1 and shall1 ,i    
hope1 through the ,lord's strength1 to  
the end of  my days4    ,,ii4  ,in his  
testimony or ministry1 he much laboured 
to open truth to the  people's          
understandings1 and to bottom them upon 
the principle and  principal1 ,christ   
,jesus the light of the world2 that by  
bringing them to  something that was    
from ,god in themselves1 they might the 
better know and  judge of him and       
themselves4    ,,iii4  ,he had an       
extraordinary gift in opening the       
scriptures4  ,he would  go to the marrow
 of things1 and show the mind1 harmony1 
and fulfilling of  them1 with much      
plainness1 and to great comfort and     
edification4    ,,iv4  ,the mystery of  

the first and second ,adam1 of the fall 
and  restoration1 of the law and gospel1
 of shadows and substance1 of the       
servant's and ,son's state1 and the     
fulfilling of the scriptures in ,christ 
and by ,christ the true light1 in all   
that are his1 through the obedience  of 
faith1 were much of the substance and   
drift of his testimonies3 in all  which 
he was witnessed to be of ,god3 being   
sensibly felt to speak that  which he   
had received of ,christ1 and was his own
 experience1 in that  which never errs  
nor fails4    ,v4  ,but1 above all1 he  
excelled in prayer4  ,the inwardness and
 weight of  his spirit1 the reverence   
and solemnity of his address and        
behaviour1 and  the fewness and fulness 
of his words1 have often struck even    
strangers  with admiration1 as they used
 to reach others with consolation4  ,the
 most  awful1 living1 reverent frame ,i 
ever felt or beheld1 ,i must say1 was   
his  in prayer4  ,and truly it was a    
testimony he knew and lived nearer to   

the  ,lord than other men2 for they that
 know ,him most1 will see most reason to
  approach him with reverence and fear4 
,,vi4  ,he was of an innocent life1 no  
busy-body1 nor self-seeker3 neither     
touchy nor critical3 what fell from him 
was very inoffensive1 if not very       
edifying4  ,so meek1 contented1 modest1 
easy1 steady1 tender1 it was a  pleasure
 to be in his company4  ,he exercised no
 authority but over evil1  and that     
everywhere1 and in all2 but with love1  
compassion1 and  long-suffering4  ,a    
most merciful man1 as ready to forgive1 
as unapt to  take or give an offence4   
,thousands can truly say1 he was of an  
excellent  spirit and savour among them1
 and because thereof1 the most excellent
  spirits loved him with an unfeigned   
and unfading love4    ,,vii4  ,he was an
 incessant labourer3 for in his younger 
time1 before his  many1 great1 and deep 
sufferings and travels had enfeebled his
 body for  itinerant services1 he       
laboured much in the word and doctrine1 

and  discipline1 in ,england1 ,scotland1
 and ,ireland1 turning many to ,god1 and
  confirming those that were convinced  
of the truth1 and settling good  order1 
as to church affairs1 among them4  ,and 
towards the conclusion of  his          
travelling service1 between the years   
#afga1 and #afgg1 he visited the        
churches of ,christ in the plantations  
of ,america1 and in the ,united         
,provinces1 and ,germany1 as his journal
 relates2 to the convincement and       
consolation of many4  ,after that time  
he chiefly resided in and about the     
city of ,london2 and1 besides his labour
 in the ministry1 which was  frequent   
and serviceable1 he wrote much1 both to 
them that are within1  and those that   
are without1 the communion4    ,but the 
care he took of the affairs of the      
church in general was very  great4      
,,viii4  ,he was often where the records
 of the business of the church are      
kept1 and where the letters from the    
many meetings of ,god's people over  all

 the world use to come3 which letters he
 had read to him1 and  communicated them
 to the meeting1 that is weekly #eg held
 for such  services2 and he would be    
sure to stir them up to answer them1    
especially  in suffering cases1 showing 
great sympathy and compassion upon all  
such  occasions2 carefully looking into 
the respective cases1 and endeavouring  
speedy relief1 according to the nature  
of them4  ,so that the churches1 or  any
 of the suffering members thereof1 were 
sure not to be forgotten1 or  delayed in
 their desires1 if he was there4        
,,ix4  ,as he was unwearied1 so he was  
undaunted in his services for ,god and  
his people2 he was no more to be moved  
to fear than to wrath4  ,his  behaviour 
at ,derby1 ,lichfield1 ,appleby1 before 
,oliver ,cromwell1 at  ,launceston1     
,scarborough1 ,worcester1 and           
,westminster ,hall1 with many other     
places and exercises1 did abundantly    
evidence it1 to his enemies as well  as 
his friends4    ,but as1 in the         

primitive times1 some rose up against   
the blessed apostles  of our ,lord      
,jesus ,christ1 even from among those   
that they had turned to  the hope of the
 gospel1 and became their greatest      
trouble2 so this man of  ,god had his   
share of suffering from some that were  
convinced by him2 who1  through         
prejudice or mistake1 ran against him1  
as one that sought  dominion over       
conscience1 because he pressed1 by his  
presence or  epistles1 a ready and      
zealous compliance with such good and   
wholesome  things1 as tended to an      
orderly conversation about the affairs  
of the  church1 and in their walking    
before men4  ,that which contributed    
much to  this ill work1 was1 in some1 a 
begrudging of this meek man the love and
  esteem he had and deserved in the     
hearts of the people2 and weakness in   
others1 that were taken with their      
groundless suggestions of imposition    
and blind obedience4    ,they would have
 had every man independent1 that as he  

had the principle  in himself1 he should
 only stand and fall to that1 and nobody
 else3 not  considering that the        
principle is one in all2 and though the 
measure of  light or grace might differ1
 yet the nature of it was the same2 and 
being  so1 they struck at the spiritual 
unity which a people1 guided by the same
  principle1 are naturally led into3 so 
that what is an evil to one1 is so  to  
all2 and what is virtuous1 honest1 and  
of good repute to one1 is so to  all1   
from the sense and savour of the one    
universal principle which is  common to 
all1 and which the disaffected also     
profess to be the root of  all true     
,christian fellowship1 and that spirit  
into which the people of  ,god drink1   
and come to be spiritually-minded1 and  
of one heart and one  soul4    ,some    
weakly mistook good order in the        
government of church affairs1 for       
discipline in worship1 and that it was  
so pressed or recommended by him  and   
other brethren4  ,and thereupon they    

were ready to reflect the same  things  
that dissenters had very reasonably     
objected upon the national  churches1   
that have coercively pressed conformity 
to their respective  creeds and         
worships4  ,whereas these things related
 wholly to  conversation1 and the       
outward1 and1 as ,i may say1 civil part 
of the  church2 that men should walk up 
to the principles of their belief1 and  
not be wanting in care and charity4     
,but though some have stumbled and      
fallen through mistakes1 and an         
unreasonable obstinacy even to a        
prejudice2 yet1 blessed be ,god1 the    
generality have returned to their  first
 love1 and seen the work of the enemy1  
that loses no opportunity or  advantage 
by which he may check or hinder the work
 of ,god1 and disquiet  the peace of his
 church1 and chill the love of his      
people to the truth1  and one to        
another2 and there is hope of divers of 
the few that yet are  at a distance4    
,in all these occasions1 though there   

was no person the discontented  struck  
so sharply at1 as this good man1 he bore
 all their weakness and  prejudice1 and 
returned not reflection for reflection2 
but forgave them  their weak and bitter 
speeches1 praying for them1 that they   
might have a  sense of their hurt1 and  
see the subtilty of the enemy to rend   
and  divide1 and return into their first
 love that thought no ill4    ,and      
truly1 ,i must say1 that though ,god had
 visibly clothed him with a  divine     
preference and authority1 yet he never  
abused it2 but held his  place in the   
church of ,god with great meekness1 and 
a most engaging  humility and           
moderation4  ,for upon all occasions1   
like his blessed  ,master1 he was a     
servant to all2 holding and exercising  
his eldership in  the invisible power   
that had gathered them1 with reverence  
to the ,head1  and care over the body3  
and was received1 only in that ,spirit  
and power  of ,christ1 as the first and 
chief elder in this age3 who1 as he was 

therefore worthy of double honour1 so   
for the same reason it was given by  the
 faithful of this day2 because his      
authority was inward and not  outward1  
and that he got it and kept it by the   
love of ,god1 and power of  an endless  
life4  ,i write my knowledge1 and not   
report2 and my witness is  true2 having 
been with him for weeks and months      
together on divers  occasions1 and those
 of the nearest1 and most exercising    
nature2 and that  by night and by day1  
by sea and by land2 in this and in      
foreign  countries2 and ,i can say1 ,i  
never saw him out of his place1 or not a
  match for every service or occasion4  
,for in all things he acquitted  himself
 like a man1 yea1 a strong man1 a new   
and heavenly-minded man1 a  divine and a
 naturalist1 and all of ,god ,almighty's
 making4  ,i have been  surprised at his
 questions and answers in natural       
things3 that whilst he  was ignorant of 
useless and sophistical science1 he had 
in him the  grounds of useful and       

commendable knowledge1 and cherished it 
every  where4  ,civil1 beyond all forms 
of breeding1 in his behaviour3 very     
temperate1 eating little1 and sleeping  
less1 though a bulky person4    ,thus he
 lived and sojourned among us3 and1 as  
he lived1 so he died2  feeling the same 
eternal power1 that had raised and      
preserved him1 in his  last moments4    
,so full of assurance was he1 that he   
triumphed over death2  and so even in   
his spirit to the last1 as if death were
 hardly worth  notice1 or a mention3    
recommending to some of us with him1 the
 despatch  and dispersion of an epistle 
just before given forth by him to the   
churches of ,christ throughout the      
world1 and his own books3 but1 above    
all1 ,friends2 and of all ,friends1     
those in ,ireland and ,america1 twice   
over1 saying1 ,mind poor ,friends in    
,ireland and ,america4    ,and to some  
that came in and inquired how he found  
himself1 he answered1  ,never heed1 the 
,lord's power is over all weakness and  

death2 the seed  reigns1 blessed be the 
,lord3 which was about four or five     
hours before  his departure out of this 
world4  ,he was at the great meeting    
near  ,lombard-street1 on the first day 
of the week1 and it was the third       
following about ten at night when he    
left us2 being at the house of ,henry   
,goldney1 in the same court4  ,in a good
 old age he went1 after having  lived to
 see his children's children in the     
truth to many generations4  ,he had the 
comfort of a short illness1 and the     
blessing of a clear sense  to the last3 
and we may truly say1 with a man of ,god
 of old1 that being  dead1 he yet       
speaketh3 and though now absent in body1
 he is present in  spirit2 neither time 
nor place being able to interrupt the   
communion of  saints1 or dissolve the   
fellowship of the spirits of the just4  
,his works  praise him1 because they are
 to the praise of ,him that wrought by  
him2  for which his memorial is and     
shall be blessed4  ,i have done1 as to  

this  part of my preface1 when ,i have  
left this short epitaph to his          
name1--,many sons have done virtuously  
in this day2 but1 dear ,george1 thou    
excellest them all4          ,,chap4    
,,vi4      ,containing five several     
exhortations3 first1 general1 reminding 
this people of their primitive integrity
 and simplicity4  ,secondly1  in        
particular1 to the ministry4  ,thirdly1 
to the young convinced4  ,fourthly1 to  
the children of ,friends4  ,fifthly1 to 
those that are  yet strangers to this   
people and way1 to whom this book1 and  
that  which it was preface to1 in its   
former edition1 may come4  ,all the     
several exhortations accommodated to    
their several states and  conditions3   
that all may answer the end of ,god's   
glory1 and their own  salvation4    ,and
 now1 ,friends1 you that profess to walk
 in the way that this blessed  man was  
sent of ,god to turn us into1 suffer1 ,i
 beseech you1 the word of  exhortation1 
as well fathers as children1 and elders 

as young men4  ,the  glory of this day1 
and foundation of the hope that has not 
made us  ashamed since we were a people1
 you know1 is that blessed principle of 
light and life of ,christ which we      
profess1 and direct all people to1 as   
the great and divine instrument and     
agent of man's conversion to ,god4  ,it 
was by this that we were first touched1 
and effectually enlightened1 as  to our 
inward state2 which put us upon the     
consideration of our latter  end1       
causing us to set the ,lord before our  
eyes1 and to number our days1  that we  
might apply our hearts to wisdom4  ,in  
that day we judged not  after the sight 
of the eye1 or after the hearing of the 
ear2 but  according to the light and    
sense this blessed principle gave us1 so
 we  judged and acted1 in reference to  
things and persons1 ourselves and       
others2 yea1 towards ,god our ,maker4   
,for being quickened by it in our       
inward man1 we could easily discern the 
difference of things1 and feel  what was

 right and what was wrong1 and what was 
fit1 and what not1 both  in reference to
 religion and civil concerns4  ,that    
being the ground of  the fellowship of  
all saints1 it was in that our          
fellowship stood4  ,in  this we desired 
to have a sense of one another1 acted   
towards one  another1 and all men2 in   
love1 faithfulness1 and fear4    ,in    
feeling of the stirrings and motions of 
this principle in our hearts1  we drew  
near to the ,lord1 and waited to be     
prepared by it1 that we might  feel     
drawings and movings before we          
approached the ,lord in prayer1 or      
opened our mouths in ministry4  ,and in 
our beginning and ending with  this1    
stood our comfort1 service1 and         
edification4  ,and as we ran faster1  or
 fell short in our services1 we made    
burdens for ourselves to bear2  finding 
in ourselves a rebuke instead of an     
acceptance2 and1 in lieu of  ,well-done1
 ,who has required this at your hands8  
,in that day we were  an exercised      

people1 our very countenances and       
deportment declared it4    ,care for    
others was then much upon us1 as well as
 for ourselves2  especially of the young
 convinced4  ,often had we the burden of
 the word  of the ,lord to our          
neighbours1 relations1 and acquaintance2
 and sometimes  strangers also4  ,we    
were in travail likewise for one        
another's  preservation2 not seeking1   
but shunning1 occasions of any coldness 
or  misunderstanding2 treating one      
another as those that believed and felt 
,god present2 which kept our            
conversation innocent1 serious1 and     
weighty2  guarding ourselves against the
 cares and friendships of the world4    
,we  held the truth in the ,spirit of   
it1 and not in our own spirits1 or after
  our own wills and affections4    ,we  
were bowed and brought into subjection1 
insomuch that it was visible  to them   
that knew us4  ,we did not think        
ourselves at our own disposal1 to  go   
where we list1 or say or do what we     

list1 or when we list4  ,our  liberty   
stood in the liberty of the ,spirit of  
truth2 and no pleasure1 no  profit1 no  
fear1 no favour1 could draw us from this
 retired1 strict1 and  watchful frame4  
,we were so far from seeking occasions  
of company1 that  we avoided them what  
we could2 pursuing our own business with
 moderation1  instead of meddling with  
other people's unnecessarily4    ,our   
words were few and savoury1 our looks   
composed and weighty1 and our  whole    
deportment very observable4  ,true it   
is1 that this retired and  strict sort  
of life1 from the liberty of the        
conversation of the world1  exposed us  
to the censures of many1 as humourists1 
conceited and  self-righteous persons1  
c42 but it was our preservation from    
many  snares1 to which others were      
continually exposed1 by the prevalency  
of  the lust of the eye1 the lust of the
 flesh1 and the pride of life1 that     
wanted no occasions or temptations to   
excite them abroad in the converse  of  

the world4    ,i cannot forget the      
humility and chaste zeal of that day4   
,o6 how  constant at meetings1 how      
retired in them2 how firm to truth's    
life1 as  well as truth's principles2   
and how entire and united in our        
communion1  as1 indeed1 became those    
that profess one head1 even ,christ     
,jesus the  ,lord4    ,this being the   
testimony and example the man of ,god   
before mentioned was  sent to declare   
and leave amongst us1 and we having     
embraced the same1 as  the merciful     
visitation of ,god to us1 the word of   
exhortation1 at this  time1 is that we  
continue to be found in the way of this 
testimony1 with  all zeal and integrity1
 and so much the more1 by how much the  
day draweth  near4  ,and first1 as to   
you my beloved and much honoured        
brethren in  ,christ1 that are in the   
exercise of the ministry3 ,o6 feel life 
in your  ministry4  ,let life be your   
commission1 your well-spring and        
treasury on  all such occasions2 else1  

you well know1 there can be no begetting
 to  ,god3 since nothing can quicken or 
make people alive to ,god1 but the life 
of ,god2 and it must be a ministry in   
and from life1 that enlivens any  people
 to ,god4  ,we have seen the fruit of   
all other ministries1 by the  few that  
are turned from the evil of their ways4 
,it is not our parts1 or  memory1 the   
repetition of former openings1 in our   
own will and time1 that  will do ,god's 
work4  ,a dry doctrinal ministry1       
however sound in words1  can reach but  
the ears1 and is but a dream at the     
best4  ,there is another  soundness that
 is soundest of all1 viz4 ,christ the   
power of ,god4  ,this is  the key of    
,david1 that opens1 and none shuts2 and 
shuts and none can  open3 as the oil to 
the lamp1 and the soul to the body1 so  
is that to the  best of words3 which    
made ,christ to say1 ,my words1 they are
 ,spirit1 and  they are life2 that is1  
they are from life1 and therefore they  
make you  alive1 that receive them4  ,if

 the disciples that had lived with      
,jesus1  were to stay at ,jerusalem till
 they received it2 much more must we    
wait  to receive before we minister1 if 
we will turn people from darkness to    
light1 and from satan's power to ,god4  
,i fervently bow my knees to the ,god   
and ,father of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1
  that you may always be like-minded2   
that you may ever wait reverently for   
the coming and opening of the word of   
life1 and attend upon it in your        
ministry and service1 that you may serve
 ,god in his ,spirit4  ,and be it       
little1 or be it much1 it is well2 for  
much is not too much1 and the  least is 
enough1 if from the motion of ,god's    
,spirit2 and without it1  verily1 never 
so little is too much1 because to no    
profit4    ,for it is the ,spirit of the
 ,lord immediately1 or through the      
ministry of  his servants1 that teacheth
 his people to profit2 and to be sure1  
so far  as we take him along with us in 
our services1 so far we are profitable1 

and no further4  ,for if it be the ,lord
 that must work all things in us  for   
our salvation1 much more is it the ,lord
 that must work in us for the           
conversion of others4  ,if therefore it 
was once a cross to us to speak1  though
 the ,lord required it at our hands1 let
 it never be so to be  silent1 when he  
does not4    ,it is one of the most     
dreadful sayings in the book of ,god1   
,that he that  adds to the words of the 
prophecy of this book1 ,god will add to 
him the  plagues written in this book4  
,to keep back the counsel of ,god1 is as
  terrible2 ,for he that takes away from
 the words of the book of this          
prophecy1 ,god shall take away his part 
out of the book of life4  ,and  truly1  
it has great caution in it1 to those    
that use the name of the  ,lord1 to be  
well assured the ,lord speaks2 that they
 may not be found of  the number of     
those that add to the words of the      
testimony of prophecy1  which the ,lord 
giveth them to bear2 nor yet to mince or

 diminish the  same1 both being so very 
offensive to ,god4    ,wherefore1       
,brethren1 let us be careful1 neither to
 out-go our guide1 nor  yet loiter      
behind him2 since he that makes haste   
may miss his way1 and he  that stays    
behind lose his guide4  ,for even those 
that have received the  word of the     
,lord1 had need wait for wisdom1 that   
they may see how to  divide the word    
aright3 which plainly implieth1 that it 
is possible for  one that hath received 
the word of the ,lord1 to miss in the   
dividing and  application of it2 which  
must come from an impatiency of spirit1 
and a  self-working1 which makes an     
unsound and dangerous mixture1 and will 
hardly beget a right-minded living      
people to ,god4    ,i am earnest in     
this1 above all other considerations1 as
 to brethren in  the ministry1 7well    
knowing how much it concerns the present
 and future  state and preservation of  
the church of ,christ ,jesus1 that has  
been  gathered and built up by a living 

and powerful ministry17 that the        
ministry be held1 preserved1 and        
continued in the manifestations1        
motions1 and supplies of the same life  
and power1 from time to time4    ,and   
wherever it is observed1 that any do    
minister more from gifts and  parts1    
than life and power1 though they have an
 enlightened and doctrinal              
understanding1 let them in time be      
advised and admonished for their        
preservation1 because insensibly such   
will come to depend upon a              
self-sufficiency2 to forsake ,christ the
 living ,fountain1 and hew out unto     
themselves cisterns1 that will hold no  
living waters3 and1 by degrees1  such   
will come to draw others from waiting   
upon the gift of ,god in  themselves1   
and to feel it in others1 in order to   
their strength and  refreshment1 to wait
 upon them1 and to turn from ,god to man
 again1 and so  make shipwreck of the   
faith once delivered to the saints1 and 
of a good  conscience towards ,god3     

which are only kept by that divine gift 
of life  that begat the one1 and        
awakened and sanctified the other in the
  beginning4    ,nor is it enough1 that 
we have known the divine gift1 and in it
 have  reached to the spirits in prison1
 and been the instruments of the        
convincing of others of the way of ,god1
 if we keep not as low and poor in      
ourselves1 and as depending upon the    
,lord1 as ever3 since no memory1 no     
repetitions of former openings1         
revelations1 or enjoyments1 will bring a
  soul to ,god1 or afford bread to the  
hungry1 or water to the thirsty1  unless
 life go with what we say1 and that must
 be waited for4    ,o that we may have  
no other fountain1 treasure1 or         
dependence6  ,that none  may presume at 
any rate to act of themselves for ,god1 
because they have  long acted from ,god2
 that we may not supply want of waiting1
 with our own  wisdom1 or think that we 
may take less care and more liberty in  
speaking  than formerly2 and that where 

we do not feel the ,lord by his power1  
to  open us and enlarge us1 whatever be 
the expectation of the people1 or has   
been our customary supply and character1
 we may not exceed or fill up the  time 
with our own4    ,i hope we shall ever  
remember1 who it was that said1 ,of     
yourselves you  can do nothing2 our     
sufficiency is in him4  ,and if we are  
not to speak  our own words1 or take    
thought what we should say to men in our
 defence1  when exposed for our         
testimony2 surely1 we ought to speak    
none of our own  words1 or take thought 
what we shall say in our testimony and  
ministry1  in the name of the ,lord1 to 
the souls of the people3 for then1 of   
all  times1 and of all other occasions1 
should it be fulfilled in us1 ,for it   
is not you that speak1 but the ,spirit  
of my ,father that speaketh in you4     
,and1 indeed1 the ministry of the       
,spirit must and does keep its analogy  
and agreement with the birth of the     
,spirit3 that as no man can inherit  the

 kingdom of ,god1 unless he be born of  
the ,spirit2 so no ministry can  beget a
 soul to ,god1 but that which is from   
the ,spirit4  ,for this1 as ,i  said    
before1 the disciples waited before they
 went forth2 and in this our  elder     
brethren and messengers of ,god in our  
day1 waited1 visited1 and  reached to   
us2 and having begun in the ,spirit1 let
 none ever hope or seek  to be made     
perfect in the flesh3 for what is the   
flesh to the ,spirit1 or  the chaff to  
the wheat8  ,and if we keep in the      
,spirit1 we shall keep in  the unity of 
it1 which is the ground of true         
fellowship4  ,for by drinking  into that
 one ,spirit1 we are made one people to 
,god1 and by it we are  continued in the
 unity of the faith1 and the bond of    
peace4  ,no envying1  no bitterness1 no 
strife1 can have place with us4  ,we    
shall watch always  for good1 and not   
for evil1 one over another2 and rejoice 
exceedingly1  and not begrudge at one   
another's increase in the riches of the 

grace  with which ,god replenisheth his 
faithful servants4    ,and ,brethren1 as
 to you is committed the dispensation of
 the oracles of  ,god1 which give you   
frequent opportunities1 and great place 
with the  people among whom you travel1 
,i beseech you1 that you would not think
 it  sufficient to declare the word of  
life in their assemblies1 however       
edifying and comfortable such           
opportunities may be to you and them3   
but1  as was the practice of the man of 
,god before mentioned1 in great measure1
  when among us1 inquire the state of   
the several churches you visit2 who     
among them are afflicted or sick1 who   
are tempted1 and if any are  unfaithful 
or obstinate2 and endeavour to issue    
those things in the  wisdom and power of
 ,god1 which will be a glorious crown   
upon your  ministry4  ,as that prepares 
your way in the hearts of the people1 to
  receive you as men of ,god1 so it     
gives you credit with them to do them   
good by your advice in other respects2  

the afflicted will be comforted by  you1
 the tempted strengthened1 the sick     
refreshed1 the unfaithful  convicted and
 restored1 and such as are obstinate1   
softened and fitted  for reconciliation2
 which is clinching the nail1 and       
applying and  fastening the general     
testimony1 by this particular care of   
the several  branches of it1 in         
reference to them more immediately      
concerned in it4    ,for though good and
 wise men1 and elders too1 may reside in
 such places1  who are of worth and     
importance in the general1 and in other 
places2 yet  it does not always follow1 
that they may have the room they deserve
 in  the hearts of the people they live 
among2 or some particular occasion may  
make it unfit for him or them to use    
that authority4  ,but you that travel   
as ,god's messengers1 if they receive   
you in the greater1 shall they  refuse  
you in the less8  ,and if they own the  
general testimony1 can they  withstand  
the particular application of it in     

their own cases8  ,thus ye  will show   
yourselves workmen indeed1 and carry    
your business before you1  to the praise
 of his name that hath called you from  
darkness to light1  that you might turn 
others from satan's power unto ,god and 
his kingdom1  which is within4  ,and ,o 
that there were more of such faithful   
labourers  in the vineyard of the       
,lord6--,never more need since the day  
of ,god4    ,wherefore ,i cannot but cry
 and call aloud to you1 that have been  
long  professors of the truth1 and know 
the truth in the convincing power of    
it1 and have had a sober conversation   
among men2 yet content yourselves  only 
to know truth for yourselves1 to go to  
meetings1 and exercise an  ordinary     
charity in the church1 and an honest    
behaviour in the world1 and  limit      
yourselves within those bounds2 feeling 
little or no concern upon  your spirits1
 for the glory of the ,lord in the      
prosperity of his truth in  the earth1  
more than to be glad that others succeed

 in such service4  ,arise ye in the name
 and power of the ,lord ,jesus6  ,behold
 how white the  fields are unto harvest1
 in this and other nations1 and how few 
able and  faithful labourers there are  
to work therein6  ,your country-folks1  
neighbours1 and kindred1 want to know   
the ,lord and his truth1 and to walk  in
 it4  ,does nothing lie at your door    
upon their account6  ,search and  see1  
and lose no time1 ,i beseech you1 for   
the ,lord is at hand4    ,i do not judge
 you2 there is one that judgeth all men1
 and his judgment  is true4  ,you have  
mightily increased in your outward      
substance1 may you  equally increase in 
your inward riches1 and do good with    
both1 while you  have a day to do good4 
,your enemies would once have taken what
 you had1  from you1 for his name's sake
 in whom you have believed2 wherefore he
 has  given you much of the world1 in   
the face of your enemies4  ,but ,o1 let 
it  be your servant1 and not your       
master6 your diversion rather than your 

business6 let the ,lord be chiefly in   
your eye1 and ponder your ways1 and  see
 if ,god has nothing more for you to do3
 and if you find yourselves  short in   
your account with him1 then wait for his
 preparation1 and be  ready to receive  
the word of command1 and be not weary of
 well-doing1  when you have put your    
hand to the plough2 and1 assuredly1 you 
shall  reap1 if you faint not1 the fruit
 of your heavenly labour in ,god's      
everlasting kingdom4    ,and you1 young 
convinced ones1 be you entreated and    
exhorted to a  diligent and chaste      
waiting upon ,god1 in the way of his    
blessed  manifestation and appearance of
 himself to you4  ,look not out1 but    
within3 let not another's liberty be    
your snare3 neither act by  imitation1  
but by sense and feeling of ,god's power
 in yourselves3 crush  not the tender   
buddings of it in your souls1 nor       
over-run1 in your  desires and warmness 
of affections1 the holy and gentle      
motions of it4  ,remember it is a still 

voice that speaks to us in this day1 and
 that it  is not to be heard in the     
noises and hurries of the mind2 but is  
distinctly understood in a retired      
frame4  ,jesus loved and chose          
solitudes1 often going to mountains1    
gardens1 and sea sides1 to avoid  crowds
 and hurries3 to show his disciples it  
was good to be solitary1 and  sit loose 
to the world4  ,two enemies lie near    
your states1 imagination  and liberty2  
but the plain1 practical1 living1 holy  
truth1 that has  convinced you1 will    
preserve you1 if you mind it in         
yourselves1 and bring  all thoughts1    
inclinations1 and affections1 to the    
test of it1 to see if  they are wrought 
in ,god1 or of the enemy1 or of your    
ownselves3 so will a  true taste1       
discerning1 and judgment1 be preserved  
to you1 of what you  should do and leave
 undone4  ,and in your diligence and    
faithfulness in  this way1 you will come
 to inherit substance2 and ,christ1 the 
eternal  wisdom1 will fill your         

treasury4  ,and when you are converted1 
as well as  convinced1 then confirm your
 brethren2 and be ready to every good   
word  and work1 that the ,lord shall    
call you to3 that you may be to his     
praise1  who has chosen you to be       
partakers1 with the saints in light1 of 
a  kingdom that cannot be shaken1 an    
inheritance incorruptible in eternal    
habitations4    ,and now1 as for you    
that are the children of ,god's people1 
a great  concern is upon my spirit for  
your good and often are my knees bowed  
to  the ,god of your fathers for you1   
that you may come to be partakers of the
  same divine life and power1 that have 
been the glory of this day3 that a      
generation you may be to ,god1 a holy   
nation1 and a peculiar people1  zealous 
of good works1 when all our heads are   
laid in the dust4  ,o6 you  young men   
and women1 let it not suffice you1 that 
you are the children of  the people of  
the ,lord2 you must also be born again1 
if you will inherit  the kingdom of     

,god4  ,your fathers are but such after 
the flesh1 and could  but beget you into
 the likeness of the first ,adam2 but   
you must be  begotten into the likeness 
of the second ,adam1 by a spiritual     
generation1  or you will not1 you       
cannot1 be of his children or offspring4
  ,and  therefore look carefully about  
you1 ,o ye children of the children of  
,god2  consider your standing1 and see  
what you are in relation to this divine 
kindred1 family1 and birth4  ,have you  
obeyed the light1 and received and      
walked in the ,spirit1 which is the     
incorruptible seed of the word and      
kingdom of ,god1 of which you must be   
born again8  ,god is no respecter of    
persons4  ,the father cannot save or    
answer for the child1 or the child  for 
the father2 but in the sin thou sinnest 
thou shalt die2 and in the              
righteousness thou doest1 through       
,christ ,jesus1 thou shalt live3 for it 
is the willing and obedient that shall  
eat the good of the land4  ,be not      

deceived1 ,god is mocked4  ,such as all 
nations and people sow1 such they  shall
 reap at the hand of the just ,god4     
,and then your many and great           
privileges1 above the children of other 
people1 will add weight in the  scale   
against you1 if you choose not the way  
of the ,lord4  ,for you have  had line  
upon line1 and precept upon precept1 and
 not only good doctrine  but good       
example2 and which is more1 you have    
been turned to1 and  acquainted with1 a 
principle in yourselves1 which others   
too generally  have been ignorant of3   
and you know you may be as good as you  
please1  without the fear of frowns and 
blows1 or being turned out of doors1 and
  forsaken of father and mother1 for    
,god's sake and his holy religion2 as   
has been the case of some of your       
fathers in the day they first entered   
into this holy path4  ,and if you1 after
 hearing and seeing the wonders  that   
,god has wrought in the deliverance and 
preservation of them1 through  a sea of 

troubles1 and the manifold temporal1 as 
well as spiritual1  blessings that he   
has filled them with1 in the sight of   
their enemies1  should neglect and turn 
your backs upon so great and near a     
salvation1  you would not only be most  
ungrateful children to ,god and them1   
but must  expect that ,god will call the
 children of those that knew him not1 to
  take the crown out of your hands1 and 
that your lot will be a dreadful        
judgment at the hand of the ,lord3 but1 
,o that it may never be so with any  of 
you6  ,the ,lord forbid1 saith my soul4 
,wherefore1 ,o ye young men and women6  
look to the rock of your fathers3  there
 is no other ,god but him1 no other     
light but his1 no other grace but  his1 
nor spirit but his1 to convince you1    
quicken1 and comfort you2 to  lead1     
guide1 and preserve you to ,god's       
everlasting kingdom4  ,so will you  be  
possessors as well as professors of the 
truth1 embracing it1 not only  by       
education1 but judgment and conviction2 

from a sense begotten in your  souls1   
through the operation of the eternal    
,spirit and power of ,god2 by  which you
 may come to be the seed of ,abraham1   
through faith1 and the  circumcision not
 made with hands2 and so heirs of the   
promise made to the  fathers1 of an     
incorruptible crown4  ,that1 as ,i said 
before1 a generation  you may be to     
,god1 holding up the profession of the  
blessed truth in the  life and power of 
it4  ,for formality in religion is      
nauseous to ,god and  good men2 and the 
more so1 where any form or appearance   
has been new and  peculiar1 and begun   
and practised1 upon a principle1 with an
 uncommon  zeal and strictness4         
,therefore ,i say1 for you to fall flat 
and formal1  and continue the           
profession1 without that salt and savour
 by which it is  come to obtain a good  
report among men1 is not to answer      
,god's love1 or  your parents' care1 or 
the mind of truth in yourselves1 or in  
those that  are without3 who1 though    

they will not obey the truth1 have sight
 and  sense enough to see if they do    
that make a profession of it4  ,for     
where  the divine virtue of it is not   
felt in the soul1 and waited for and    
lived  in1 imperfections will quickly   
break out1 and show themselves1 and     
detect  the unfaithfulness of such      
persons2 and that their insides are not 
seasoned with the nature of that holy   
principle which they profess4           
,wherefore1 dear children1 let me       
entreat you to shut your eyes at the    
temptations and allurements of this low 
and perishing world1 and not  suffer    
your affections to be captivated by     
those lusts and vanities that  your     
fathers1 for the truth's sake1 long     
since turned their backs upon3  but as  
you believe it to be the truth1 receive 
it into your hearts1 that  you may      
become the children of ,god3 so that it 
may never be said of you1  as the       
evangelist writes of the ,jews in his   
time1 that ,christ1 the true  light1    

came to his own1 but his own received   
him not2 but to as many as  received    
him1 to them he gave power to become the
 children of ,god2 which  were born1 not
 of blood1 nor of the will of the flesh1
 nor of the will of  man1 but of ,god2 a
 most close and comprehensive passage to
 this  occasion4  ,you exactly and      
peculiarly answer to those professing   
,jews1 in  that you bear the name of    
,god's people1 by being the children1   
and  wearing of the form of ,god's      
people3 and he1 by his light in you1 may
 be  very well said to come to his own1 
and if you obey it not1 but turn your   
backs upon it1 and walk after the       
vanities of your minds1 you will be of  
those that received him not2 which ,i   
pray ,god may never be your case and    
judgment4  ,but that you may be         
thoroughly sensible of the many and     
great  obligations you lie under to the 
,lord for his love1 and to your parents 
for their care3 and with all your heart1
 and all your soul1 and all your        

strength1 turn to the ,lord1 to his gift
 and ,spirit in you2 and hear his       
voice1 and obey it1 that you may seal to
 the testimony of your fathers1  by the 
truth and evidence of your own          
experience3 that your children's        
children may bless you1 and the ,lord   
for you1 as those that delivered a      
faithful example1 as well as record of  
the truth of ,god unto them4  ,so  will 
the grey hairs of your dear parents1 yet
 alive1 go down to the grave  with joy1 
to see you the posterity of truth1 as   
well as theirs3 and that  not only their
 nature1 but spirit1 shall live in you  
when they are gone4    99 99 99 99 99   
,i shall conclude this account with a   
few words to those who are not of  our  
communion1 into whose hands this may    
come2 especially those of our  own      
nation4    99 99 99 99 99    ,friends1  
as you are the sons and daughters of    
,adam1 and my brethren after  the flesh1
 often and earnest have been my desires 
and prayers to ,god on  your behalf1    

that you may come to know your ,creator 
to be your ,redeemer1  and ,restorer to 
the holy image that through sin you have
 lost1 by the  power and ,spirit of his 
,son ,jesus ,christ1 whom he hath given 
for the  light and life of the world4   
,and ,o that you1 who are called        
,christians1  would receive him into    
your hearts6 for there it is you want   
him1 and at  that door he stands        
knocking1 that you might let him in2 but
 you do not  open to him2 you are full  
of other guests1 so that a manger is his
 lot  among you now as well as of old4  
,yet you are full of profession1 as were
  the ,jews when he came among them1 who
 knew him not1 but rejected and  evily  
entreated him4  ,so that if you come not
 to the possession and  experience of   
what you profess1 all your formality and
 religion will  stand you in no stead in
 the day of ,god's judgment4    ,i      
beseech you ponder with yourselves your 
eternal condition1 and see what  title1 
what ground and foundation you have for 

your ,christianity3 if more  than a     
profession1 and an historical belief of 
the gospel4  ,have you  known the       
baptism of fire1 and the ,holy ,ghost1  
and the fan of ,christ that  winnows    
away the chaff in your minds1 the carnal
 lusts1 and affections2  that divine    
leaven of the kingdom1 that1 being      
received1 leavens the  whole lump of    
man1 sanctifying him throughout in body1
 soul1 and spirit8  ,if this be not the 
ground of your confidence1 you are in a 
miserable  state4    ,you will say1     
perhaps1 that though you are sinners1   
and live in daily  commission of sin1   
and are not sanctified1 as ,i have been 
speaking1 yet  you have faith in        
,christ1 who has borne the curse for    
you1 and in him you  are complete by    
faith1 his righteousness being imputed  
to you4    ,but1 my friends1 let me     
entreat you not to deceive yourselves1  
in so  important a point1 as is that of 
your immortal souls4  ,if you have true 
faith in ,christ1 your faith will make  

you clean2 it will sanctify you3  for   
the saints' faith was their victory of  
old3 by this they overcame sin  within1 
and sinful man without4  ,and if thou   
art in ,christ1 thou walkest  not after 
the flesh1 but after the ,spirit1 whose 
fruits are manifest4  ,yea1 thou art a  
new creature3 new made1 new fashioned1  
after ,god's will  and mould4  ,old     
things are done away1 and1 behold1 all  
things are become  new3 new love1       
desires1 will1 affections1 and          
practices4  ,it is not any  longer thou 
that livest2 7thou disobedient1 carnal1 
worldly one27 but it  is ,christ that   
liveth in thee2 and to live is ,christ1 
and to die is thy  eternal gain3 because
 thou art assured1 that thy corruptible 
shall put on  incorruption1 and thy     
mortal1 immortality1 and that thou hast 
a glorious  house1 eternal in the       
heavens1 that will never wax old or pass
 away4  ,all  this follows being in     
,christ1 as heat follows fire1 and light
 the sun4    ,therefore have a care how 

you presume to rely upon such a notion1 
as that  you are in ,christ1 whilst in  
your old fallen nature4  ,for what      
communion  hath light with darkness1 or 
,christ with ,belial8  ,hear what the   
beloved  disciple tells you3 ,if we say 
we have fellowship with ,god1 and walk  
in  darkness1 we lie1 and do not the    
truth4  ,that is1 if we go on in a      
sinful way1 are captivated by our carnal
 affections1 and are not  converted to  
,god1 we walk in darkness1 and cannot   
possibly in that state  have any        
fellowship with ,god4  ,christ clothes  
them with his  righteousness1 that      
receive his grace in their hearts1 and  
deny  themselves1 and take up his cross 
daily1 and follow him4  ,christ's       
righteousness makes men inwardly holy2  
of holy minds1 wills1 and  practices4   
,it is not the less ,christ's1 because  
we have it2 for it is  ours1 not by     
nature1 but by faith and adoption3 it is
 the gift of ,god4  ,but1 still1 though 
not ours1 as of or from ourselves1 7for 

in that sense  it is ,christ's1 for it  
is of and from him17 yet it is ours1 and
 must be  ours1 in possession1 efficacy1
 and enjoyment1 to do us any good2 or   
,christ's righteousness will profit us  
nothing4  ,it was after this manner     
that he was made to the primitive       
,christians1 righteousness1             
sanctification1 justification1 and      
redemption2 and if ever you will have   
the comfort1 kernel1 and marrow of the  
,christian religion1 thus you must  come
 to learn and obtain it4    ,now1 my    
friends1 by what you have read1 you may 
perceive that ,god has  visited a poor  
people among you1 with this saving      
knowledge and  testimony1 whom he has   
upheld and increased to this day1       
notwithstanding  the fierce opposition  
they have met withal4  ,despise not the 
meanness of  this appearance3 it was1   
and yet is1 we know1 a day of small     
things and  of small account with too   
many2 and many hard and ill names are   
given to  it2 but it is of ,god1 it came

 from him1 because it leads to him4     
,this we  know1 but we cannot make      
another to know it1 unless he will take 
the same  way to know it that we took4  
,the world talks of ,god1 but what do   
they  do8  ,they pray for power1 but    
reject the principle in which it is4    
,if  you would know ,god1 and worship   
and serve ,god as you should do1 you    
must  come to the means he has ordained 
and given for that purpose4  ,some seek 
it in books1 some in learned men2 but   
what they look for is in  themselves1   
7though not of themselves17 but they    
overlook it4  ,the voice  is too still1 
the seed too small1 and the light       
shineth in darkness2 they  are abroad1  
and so cannot divide the spoil3 but the 
woman that lost her  silver1 found it at
 home1 after she had lighted her candle1
 and swept her  house4  ,do you so too1 
and you shall find what ,pilate wanted  
to know1  viz4 ,truth4  ,truth in the   
inward parts1 so valuable in the sight  
of ,god4    ,the light of ,christ       

within1 who is the light of the world1  
and so a light  to you1 that tells you  
the truth of your condition1 leads all1 
that take  heed unto it1 out of darkness
 into ,god's marvellous light4  ,for    
light  grows upon the obedient2 it is   
sown for the righteous1 and their way is
 a  shining light1 that shines forth    
more and more to the perfect day4       
,wherefore1 ,o friends1 turn in1 turn   
in1 ,i beseech you3 where is the        
poison1 there is the antidote4  ,there  
you want ,christ1 and there you must    
find him2 and blessed be ,god1 there you
 may find him4  ,seek and you shall     
find1 ,i testify for ,god4  ,but then   
you must seek aright1 with your whole   
heart1 as men that seek for their lives1
 yea for their eternal lives3           
diligently1 humbly1 patiently1 as those 
that can taste no pleasure1  comfort1 or
 satisfaction in any thing else1 unless 
you find him whom your  souls want to   
know and love above all4  ,o it is a    
travail1 a spiritual  travail6 let the  

carnal1 profane world1 think and say as 
it will4  ,and  through this path you   
must walk to the city of ,god1 that has 
eternal  foundations1 if ever you will  
come there4    ,well6 and what doth this
 blessed light do for you8  ,why1 first1
 it sets  all your sins in order before 
you3 it detects the spirit of this world
 in  all its baits and allurements1 and 
shows how man came to fall from ,god1   
and the fallen state he is in4          
,secondly1 it begets a sense and sorrow1
  in such as believe in it1 for this    
fearful lapse4  ,you will then see him  
distinctly whom you have pierced1 and   
all the blows and wounds you have  given
 him by your disobedience1 and how you  
have made him to serve with  your sins2 
and you will weep and mourn for it1 and 
your sorrow will be a  godly sorrow4    
,thirdly1 after this it will bring you  
to the holy watch1  to take care that   
you do so no more1 and that the enemy   
surprise you not  again4  ,then         
thoughts1 as well as words and works1   

will come to judgment1  which is the way
 of holiness1 in which the redeemed of  
the ,lord do walk4  ,here you will come 
to love ,god above all1 and your        
neighbours as  yourselves4  ,nothing    
hurts1 nothing harms1 nothing makes     
afraid on this  holy mountain4  ,now you
 come to be ,christ's indeed2 for you   
are his in  nature and spirit1 and not  
your own4  ,and when you are thus       
,christ's1  then ,christ is yours1 and  
not before4  ,and here you will know    
communion  with the ,father and with the
 ,son1 and the efficacy of the blood of 
cleansing1 even the blood of ,jesus     
,christ1 that immaculate ,lamb1 which   
speaks better things than the blood of  
,abel2 and which cleanseth from all     
sin1 the consciences of those that1     
through the living faith1 come to be    
sprinkled with it1 from dead works to   
serve the living ,god4    99 99 99 99 99
    ,to conclude2 behold the testimony  
and doctrine of the people called       
,quakers2 behold their practice and     

discipline2 and behold the blessed man  
and men1 at least many of them1 that    
were sent of ,god in this excellent     
work and service2 all which is more     
particularly expressed in the annals  of
 that man of ,god1 which ,i do heartily 
recommend to my reader's most  serious  
perusal2 and beseech ,almighty ,god1    
that his blessing may go along  with    
both1 to the convincement of many1 as   
yet strangers to this holy              
dispensation1 and also to the           
edification of ,god's church in general3
 who  for his manifold and repeated     
mercies and blessings to his people1 in 
this day of his great love1 is worthy   
ever to have the glory1 honour1         
thanksgiving1 and renown2 and be it     
rendered and ascribed1 with fear and    
reverence1 through him in whom he is    
well pleased1 his beloved ,son and      
,lamb1 our light and life1 that sits    
with him upon the throne1 world  without
 end4  ,amen4    ,says one that ,god has
 long since mercifully favoured with his

 fatherly  visitation1 and who was not  
disobedient to the heavenly vision and  
call2  to whom the way of truth is more 
lovely and precious than ever1 and that 
knowing the beauty and benefit of it    
above all worldly treasures1 has  chosen
 it for his chiefest joy1 and therefore 
recommends it to thy love  and choice1  
because he is with great sincerity and  
affection1    ,thy soul's friend1       
,,william ,,penn4                       
,,finis4                  ,,printed ,,by
 ,,harrison ,,and ,,crosfield1          
,,manchester4          ,,books1 c4      
,on sale1 at reduced prices2 the        
property of the ,society3 to be had  of 
,william ,manley1 #hf1 ,houndsditch1    
,london2 and at the ,manchester  and    
,stockport ,tract ,depository1 7for     
particulars of which see its  annexed   
,list47                                 
,pounds4 s4 d4  ,robert ,barclay's      
,apology for the    #j #d #f  ,true     
,christian ,divinity1 octavo            
,universal ,love                   #j #j

 #c     ,discipline                     
#j #j #f     ,theses                    
#j #j #b  ,e4 ,bates on the ,doctrines  
of        #j #d #j  ,friends  ,elizabeth
 ,bathurst's ,truth          #j #a #f   
,vindicated  ,w4 ,shewen's ,true        
,christian's        #j #a #c  ,faith    
briefly stated     ,counsel to the      
,christian         #j #j #c  ,traveller 
,e4 ,pugh's ,salutation or ,call1       
#j #a #f  from the ,many ,things to the 
,one  ,thing ,needful4  #abmo4  bound   
,h4 ,turford's ,grounds of a ,holy      
#j #a #j  ,life4  #aith edit4  ,william 
,penn's ,fruits of a          #j #j #d  
,father's ,love     ,key to distinguish 
the           #j #j #c  ,religion       
professed by ,friends  from perversion  
misrepresentation  ,b4 ,holme's ,serious
 ,call1 in         #j #j #f  ,christian 
,love to all ,people4  #agth edition    
,c4 ,marshall's ,way of ,life           
#j #j #c  revealed  ,m4 ,brook on       
,silent ,waiting          #j #j #c  ,j4 
,crook's ,truth's ,principles on    #j  

#j #b  ,doctrine1 c4  ,g4 ,whitehead's  
,epistle on ,true      #j #j #a         
,christian ,love  ,j4 ,griffith's       
,remarks on            #j #j #f         
,important ,subjects  ,m4 ,leadbeater's 
,biographical        #j #c #j  ,notices 
of ,friends who were  resident in       
,ireland  ,g4 ,fox's ,journal of        
,travels1        #j #ab #j  ,sufferings1
 and ,labours of ,love1  in the ,work of
 the ,ministry4  #b  vols4  #hvo4       
boards  ,william ,edmundson's ,journal  
of      #j #c #j  his ,life1 ,travels1  
c4  ,i4 ,pennington's ,memoirs1 and     
#j #b #f  ,review of his ,writings1 by  
,j4 ,g4  ,bevan1 #abmo4  boards  ,t4    
,ellwood's ,life                   #j #c
 #j  ,t4 ,chalkley's ,journal and ,works
     #j #c #j  ,j4 ,woolman's ,journal  
and ,works      #j #d #j     ,serious   
,considerations           #j #a #j  ,j4 
,churchman's ,journal1 #abmo4       #j  
#c #j  cloth  ,s4 ,crisp1 ,memoirs of1  
by ,s4 ,tuke    #j #c #j  ,j4 ,gratton's
 ,journal                #j #a #j       

,james ,gough's ,memoirs1 ,religious    
#j #a #f  ,experience1 c4  ,d4 ,hall's  
,life and ,epistles         #j #a #f    
,r4 ,jordan's ,life                     
#j #a #f  ,g4 ,latey's ,life            
#j #a #j  ,jane ,pearson1 ,memoirs of   
#j #a #j  ,c4 ,story's ,life            
#j #j #f  ,john ,alderson1 ,memoirs of  
#j #j #b  ,abiah ,darby's ,catechism    
#j #j #d  ,t4 ,carrington's ,exhortation
         #j #j #b  ,selection of ,g4    
,fox's ,epistles1     #j #c #f  by ,s4  
,tuke  ,yearly ,epistles to #ahag1 calf 
#j #g #j  ,selection of ,advices        
#j #a #f  ,,sewel',s ,,history ,,of     
,,friends1 7new  edition47  ,rules and  
,advices of the ,yearly  ,meeting1 just 
published4  ,penn's ,rise and ,progress 
of the     #j #j #h  ,people called     
,quakers1 in which  their ,fundamental  
,principle1  ,doctrines1 ,worship1      
,ministry1 and  ,discipline1 are plainly
 declared4  ,stiff cover     ,cloth     
#j #a #j      ,there is an ,association 
of ,friends in ,london1 for the printing

 and  distribution of ,,tracts on ,moral
 and ,religious ,subjects1 chiefly such 
as  have a tendency to elucidate and    
support the ,principles of ,christianity
  as held by the ,society of ,friends2  
in which there are sixty two  different 
,tracts1 price from #c;d4 to #bs4 #f;d4 
per doz4  ,sold by  ,,edmund ,,fry1 #gc1
 ,houndsditch2 and by ,,harvey and      
,,darton1 #ee1 ,gracechurch  ,street1   
,london3 also at the ,manchester and    
,stockport ,,tract ,,depository4        
,footnotes      #be  ,instead of being  
asked those questions1 the present      
practice is to  produce the needful     
certificates of consent4    #bf  ,this  
second attendance is not now required4  
#bg  ,this hardly describes the present 
practice4  ,it is not during the        
gathering only1 if at all1 that         
exhortation takes place4  ,if the corpse
  be conveyed to a meeting-house1 the   
meeting is held like any other2 and     
what is here called ',exhortation1'     
takes place or not1 as any minister     

present believes him or herself         
influenced4  ,the usage at the burial   
ground is still as here described4      
,interments often take place without    
any previous meeting4    #bh  ,the      
collective sense and judgment of the    
church1 herein1 remains  the same1 as is
 manifest by the frequent advices given 
forth from their  yearly and other      
meetings4    #dc;a  ,at present 7#ahcd7 
there are eight yearly meetings on the  
,american  continent1 which correspond  
with the yearly meeting in ,london1 and 
mutually with each other2 they are      
united in doctrine1 and their           
discipline is similar4    #dc;b  ,they  
are thus particularized in a more recent
 publication of the  society3--,this is 
an occasional voluntary contribution1   
expended in  printing books2 house-rent 
for a clerk1 and his wages for keeping  
records2 the passage of ministers who   
visit their brethren beyond sea2  and   
some small incidental charges2 but not1 
as has been falsely supposed1  the      

reimbursement of those who suffer       
distraint for tithes1 and other         
demands1 with which they scruple to     
comply4    #dd  ,this is not now quite  
correct4  ,a committee still draws up   
the  ,general ,epistle2 but the minutes 
of the transactions of the meeting are  
made as matters occur during its several
 sittings4    #eg  ,called the ,meeting 
for ,sufferings1 and now held monthly1  
except  exigencies require more frequent
 sittings4