{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_43031/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_43031","id":"gutenberg_43031","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43031","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Fox, George, 1624-1691"],"text":"GEORGE FOX\n\n  AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY\n\n  [Illustration: GEORGE FOX\n\n  FROM A PAINTING BY S. CHINN]\n\n\n\n\n  GEORGE FOX\n\n  An Autobiography\n\n  EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY\n  RUFUS M. JONES, M.A., LITT. D.\n  PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN HAVERFORD COLLEGE\n\n  [Illustration: printer's logo]\n\n  Philadelphia:\n  FERRIS & LEACH\n  29 SOUTH SEVENTH STREET\n  1909\n\n\nCOPYRIGHT, 1903, BY FERRIS & LEACH\n\n\n  Dedicated\n\n  TO THE SWEET AND SHINING MEMORY OF THE LITTLE\n  LAD WHOSE BEAUTIFUL LIFE WAS A VISIBLE\n  REVELATION TO ME OF THE TRUTH, WHICH\n  THIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY TEACHES, THAT\n  THE DIVINE AND THE HUMAN\n  ARE NOT FAR-SUNDERED.\n\n     \"_It_ (_George Fox's Journal_) _is one of the most extraordinary\n     and instructive narratives in the world; which no reader of\n     competent judgment can peruse without revering the virtue of the\n     writer._\"\n\n                                          --SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH.\n\n     \"_The basis of his_ [_George Fox's_] _teaching was the belief\n     that each soul is in religious matters answerable not to its\n     fellows, but to God alone, without priestly mediation, because\n     the Holy Spirit is immediately present in every soul and is thus\n     a direct cause of illumination. From this central belief flowed\n     two important practical consequences, both essentially modern;\n     one was complete toleration, the other was complete equality of\n     human beings before the law._\"\n\n                                                    --JOHN FISKE.\n\n     \"_To sum up in fewest possible words the impression made by his_\n     [_George Fox's_] _words and works upon one who studies them\n     across the level of two centuries: he was a man of lion-like\n     courage and adamantine strength of will, absolutely truthful,\n     devoted to the fulfillment of what he believed to be his\n     God-appointed mission, and without any of those side-long looks\n     at worldly promotion and aggrandizement which many sincere\n     leaders of church parties have cast at intervals of their\n     journey._\"\n\n                                                --THOMAS HODGKIN.\n\n     \"_I have read through the ponderous folio of George Fox. Pray,\n     how may I return it to Mr. Skewell at Ipswich? I fear to send\n     such a treasure by a stage-coach, not that I am afraid of the\n     coachman or the guard_ READING _it, but it might be lost. Can\n     you put me in a way of sending it safely? The kind-hearted owner\n     trusted it to me for six_ MONTHS; _I think I was about as many_\n     DAYS _in getting through it, and I do not think that I skipped a\n     word of it_.\"\n\n                  --CHARLES LAMB _to Bernard Barton, Feb., 1823_.\n\n     \"_Fox judged truly that the new Protestant scholasticism\n     had not reached to the heart of things in any image of past\n     experience, or in any printed book however sacred: that academic\n     learning was not in itself an adequate passport to the Christian\n     ministry; that the words of God should not supersede the Word\n     of God. He realized, as few men have ever realized, that we are\n     placed under the dispensation of the Spirit: that the power from\n     on high with which the risen Christ promised to endue His People\n     was no exceptional or transitory gift, but an Eternal Presence,\n     an unfailing spring of energy, answering to new wants and new\n     labours. He felt that the Spirit which had guided the fathers\n     was waiting still to lead forward their children: that He who\n     spoke through men of old was not withdrawn from the world like\n     the gods of Epicurus, but ready in all ages to enter into holy\n     souls and make them friends of God and prophets._\"\n\n                                   --Bishop BROOKE FOSS WESTCOTT.\n\n  [Illustration:\n\n             MAP\n            OF THE\n       ENGLISH COUNTIES\n            AND THE\n        PRINCIPAL TOWNS\n          VISITED BY\n          GEORGE FOX\n\n  _Towns in which he was imprisoned marked thus_ *\n\n  The maps of Lancashire and of Middlesex used by kind permission\n     of the Meeting for Sufferings of London Yearly Meeting]\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThe Journal of George Fox is one of the great religious\nautobiographies, and has its place with the \"Confessions\" of St.\nAugustine, Saint Teresa's \"Life,\" Bunyan's \"Grace Abounding to the\nChief of Sinners,\" the \"Life of Madam Guyon, Written by Herself,\"\nand John Wesley's \"Journal.\" The great interest which has developed\nin recent years in the Psychology of Religion, and in the study of\nmysticism, has most naturally given new interest and prominence to\nall autobiographical writings which lay bare the inward states and\nprocesses of the seeking, or the triumphant soul. Professor William\nJames has stated a well-known fact when he says that religion must\nbe studied in those individuals in whom it is manifested to an\nextra-normal degree. In other words, we must go to those individuals\nwho have a genius for religion--for whom religion has constituted\nwell nigh the whole of life. George Fox is eminently a character of\nthis sort, as nearly every recent student of personal religion has\nrecognized.\n\nThen, again, his Journal is one of the best sources in existence\nfor the historical study of the inner life of the Commonwealth and\nRestoration periods. There were few hamlets so obscure, few villages\nso remote that they did not have their streets traversed by this\nstrange man in leather who always travelled with his eyes open. He\nknew all the sects and shades of religion which flourished in these\nprolific times. He never rides far without having some experience\nwhich shows the spirit and tendencies of the epoch. He never writes\nfor effect, and he would have failed if he had tried, but he has,\nthough utterly unconscious of it himself, filled his pages with the\nhomely stuff out of which the common life of his England was made.\n\nThe world-events which moved rapidly across the stage during the\ncrowded years of his activity receive but scant description from his\npen. They are never told for themselves. They come in as by-products\nof a narrative, whose main purpose is the story of personal inward\nexperience. The camera is set for a definite object, but it catches\nthe whole background with it. So here we have the picture of a\nsensitive soul, bent singly and solely on following a Divine Voice,\nyet its tasks are done, not in a desert, but in the setting of great\nhistoric events. Here are the soldiers of Marston Moor and Dunbar;\nCromwell and his household; Desborough and Monk; the quartering of\nregicides and the \"new era\" under the second Charles. At every point\nwe have vivid scenes in courts, in prisons, in churches, and in inns.\nPeople of all classes and sorts talk in their natural tongue in these\npages. Fox has little dramatic power, but everything which furthers,\nor hinders his earthly mission interests him and gets caught in his\nnarrative. Pepys and Evelyn have readier pens, but Fox had many\npoints of contact with the England of those days which they lacked.\n\nIn its original, unabridged form, the Journal contains many epistles,\nand long, arid passages which are somewhat forbidding, and it has\nalways required a patient, faithful reader. It has, however, always\nhad a circle of readers outside the religious body which was founded\nby George Fox. This circle has been composed of those who were\nsomewhat kindred in spirit with him, and the circle has kept small,\nmainly owing to the inherent difficulties of the ponderous, unedited\nmass of material. Of the Journal, in its complete form, there have\nnevertheless been thirteen editions published--nine in England and\nfour in America.\n\nThe present editor has undertaken the task of abridging and editing\nit, in the belief that the time is ripe for such a work. The parts\nof the Journal which have been omitted--and they are many--have\ngone because they possess no living, present interest, or because\nthey were repetitions of what is left. The story, as it stands,\nis continuous, and in no way suffers by omissions. The writer of\nthe Journal lacked perspective. Everything that came was equally\nimportant, and his first editors, in 1694, looked upon these\nwritings as too precious and sacred to be tampered with or seriously\ncondensed. The original manuscript, which has never been published\n(now in the possession of Charles James Spence, of North Shields,\nEngland), shows us that the little group of early editors contented\nthemselves with improving the diction, introducing some system into\nthe spelling, and cutting out an occasional anecdote which they\nfeared might startle the sober reader. The original manuscript is a\nlittle livelier, fresher and more graphic than any published edition,\nthough in the main we have in the editions a faithful reproduction of\nwhat Fox wrote.\n\nThe notes which attend the text in this edition have seemed necessary\nfor a clear understanding of the passages to which they refer. They\nhave been made as brief and as few in number as the situation\nwould warrant. The Introduction is an attempt to put George Fox in\nhis historical setting, and to develop the central ideas which he\nexpounded, though all points of detail are postponed to the notes.\nThis estimate of his religious message is based on a study of the\nbody of his writings, which are voluminous, and on the writings of\nhis contemporaries and fellow-laborers. It is a pleasure for the\neditor to acknowledge the valuable assistance which he has received\nfrom his friends, Norman Penney, John Wilhelm Rowntree, Joshua\nRowntree and Prof. Allen C. Thomas.\n\nAmong recent writers the following have been appreciative students\nof George Fox: Thomas Hodgkin, in his \"George Fox\"; Spurgeon, in his\n\"George Fox\"; Bancroft, in his \"History of America\"; Barclay, in his\n\"Inner Life of the Religious Societies of the Commonwealth\"; Arthur\nGordon's Articles on George Fox in the _Theological Review_; and in\nthe \"Dictionary of National Biography\"; Frank Granger, in his \"The\nSoul of a Christian\"; Starbuck, author of \"Psychology of Religion\";\nWilliam James, in \"Varieties of Religious Experience\"; Josiah Royce,\nin \"The Mysticism of George Fox\"; Canon Curteis, \"Dissent in Its\nRelation to the English Church\" (see Chapter V., \"The Quakers\");\nWestcott \"Social Christianity\" (see pp. 119-133, \"The Quakers\"), and\nJohn Stephenson Rowntree, \"Two Lectures on George Fox.\"\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\nThere are mysterious moments in the early life of the individual\nwhich we call \"budding periods.\" They are incubation crises, when\nsome new power or function is coming into being. The budding tendency\nto creep, to walk, to imitate, or to speak, is an indication that the\npsychological moment has come for learning the special operation.\n\nThere are, too, similar periods in the history of the race,\nmysterious times of gestation, when something new is coming to be,\nhowever dimly the age itself comprehends the significance of its\ntravail. These racial \"budding periods,\" like those others, have\norganic connection with the past. They are life-events which the\nprevious history of humanity has made possible, and so they cannot be\nunderstood by themselves.\n\nThe most notable characteristic of such times is the simultaneous\noutbreaking of new aspects of truth in sundered places and through\ndiverse lives, as though the breath of a new Pentecost were abroad.\nThis dawning time is generally followed by the appearance of some\nperson who proves to be able to be the exponent of what others\nhave dimly or subconsciously felt, and yet could not explicitly set\nforth. Such a person becomes by a certain divine right the prophet\nof the period because he knows how to interpret its ideas with such\ncompelling force that he organizes men, either for action or for\nperpetuating the truth.\n\nIn the life history of the Anglo-Saxon people few periods are more\nsignificant than that which is commonly called the Commonwealth\nperiod, though the term must be used loosely to cover the span from\n1640 to 1660. It was in high degree one of these incubation epochs\nwhen something new came to consciousness, and things equally new came\nto deed. This is not the place to describe the political struggles\nwhich finally produced tremendous constitutional changes, nor to tell\nhow those who formed the pith and marrow of a nation rose against\nan antiquated conception of kingship and established principles of\nself-government. The civil and political commotion was the outcome\nof a still deeper commotion. For a century the burning questions had\nbeen religious questions. The Church of that time was the result of\ncompromise. It had inherited a large stock of medi\u00e6val thought, and\nhad absorbed a mass of medi\u00e6val traditions. The men of moral and\nreligious earnestness were bent on some measure of fresh reform. A\nspirit was abroad which could not be put down, and which would not\nbe quiet. The old idea of an authoritative Church was outgrown, and\nyet no religious system had come in its place which provided for a\nfree personal approach to God Himself. It has, in fact, always been\na peculiarly difficult problem to discover some form of organization\nwhich will conserve the inherited truth and guarantee the stability\nof the whole, while at the same time it promotes the personal freedom\nof the individual.\n\nThe long struggle for religious reforms in England followed two lines\nof development. There was on the one hand a well-defined movement\ntoward Presbyterianism, and on the other a somewhat chaotic search\nfor freer religious life--a movement towards Independency. The\nrapid spread of Presbyterianism increased rather than diminished\nthe general religious commotion. It soon became clear that this was\nanother form of ecclesiastical authority, as inflexible as the old,\nand lacking the sacred sanction of custom. Then, too, the Calvinistic\ntheology of the time did violence to human nature as a whole.\nIts linked logic might compel intellectual assent, but there is\nsomething in a man as real as his intellect, which is not satisfied\nwith this clamping of eternal truth into inflexible propositions.\nPersonal soul-hunger, and the necessity which many individuals feel\nfor spiritual quest, must always be reckoned with. It should not be\nforgotten that George Fox came to his spiritual crisis under this\ntheology.\n\nThus while theology was stiffening into fixed form with one group, it\nwas becoming ever more fluid among great masses of people throughout\nthe nation. Religious authority ceased to count as it had in the\npast. Existing religious conditions were no longer accepted as final.\nThere was a widespread restlessness which gradually produced a host\nof curious sects. Fox came directly in contact with at least four\nof the leading sectarian movements of the time and there can be no\nquestion that they exerted an influence upon him both positively\nand negatively. The first \"sect\" in importance, and the first to\ntouch the life of George Fox, was the Baptist--at that time often\ncalled Anabaptist. His uncle Pickering was a member of this sect,\nand, though George seems to have been rather afraid of the Baptists,\nhe must have learned something from them. They already had a long\nhistory, reaching back on the continent to the time of Luther, and\ntheir entire career had been marked by persecution and suffering.\nThey were \"Independents,\" i. e., they believed that Church and\nState should be separate, and that each local church should have\nits own independent life. They stoutly objected to infant baptism,\nmaintaining that no act could have a religious value unless it were\nan act of will and of faith. Edwards, in his \"Gangr\u00e6na,\" 1646,\nreports a doctrine then afloat to the intent that \"it is as lawful\nto baptize a cat, or a dog, or a chicken as to baptize an infant.\"\nTheir views on ministry were novel and must surely have interested\nFox. They encouraged a lay ministry, and they actually had cobblers,\nleather-sellers, tailors, weavers and at least one brewer, preaching\nin their meetings. John Bunyan, who was of them, proved to general\nsatisfaction that \"Oxford and Cambridge were not necessary to fit men\nto preach.\" Still stranger, they had what their enemies scornfully\ncalled \"She-preachers.\" Edwards has recorded this dreadful error in\nhis list of one hundred and ninety-nine \"distinct errors, heresies\nand blasphemies\": \"Some say that 'tis lawful for women to preach,\nthat they have gifts as well as men; and some of them do actually\npreach, having great resort to them\"!\n\nFurthermore, they held that all tithes and all set stipends were\nunlawful. They maintained that preachers should work with their\nown hands and not \"go in black clothes.\" This sad error appears\nin Edwards's chaotic list: \"It is said that all settled certain\nmaintenance for ministers of the gospel is unlawful.\" Finally many of\nthe Baptists opposed the use of \"steeple houses\" and held the view\nthat no person is fitted to preach or prophesy _unless the Spirit\nmoves him_.\n\nThe \"Seekers\" are occasionally mentioned in the Journal and were\nwidely scattered throughout England during the Commonwealth. They\nwere serious-minded people who saw nowhere in the world any adequate\nembodiment of religion. They held that there was no true Church, and\nthat there had been none since the days of the apostles. They did\nnot celebrate any sacraments, for they held that there was nobody\nin the world who possessed an anointing clearly, certainly and\ninfallibly enough to perform such rites. They had no \"heads\" to their\nassemblies, for they had none among them who had \"the power or the\ngift to go before one another in the way of eminency or authority.\"\nWilliam Penn says that they met together \"not in their own wills\"\nand \"waited together in silence, and as anything arose in one of\ntheir minds that they thought favored with a divine spring, so they\nsometimes spoke.\"\n\nWe are able to pick out a few of their characteristic \"errors\" from\nEdwards's list in the \"Gangr\u00e6na.\" \"That to read the Scriptures to a\nmixed congregation is dangerous.\" \"That we did look for great matters\nfrom One crucified in Jerusalem 1600 years ago, but that does no\ngood; it must be a Christ formed _in_ us.\" \"That men ought to preach\nand exercise their gifts without study and premeditation and not to\nthink what they are to say till they speak, because it shall be given\nthem in that hour and the Spirit shall teach them.\" \"That there is\nno need of human learning or reading of authors for preachers, but\nall books and learning must go down. It comes from want of the Spirit\nthat men write such great volumes.\"\n\nThe \"Seekers\" expected that the light was soon to break, the days of\napostasy would end and the Spirit would make new revelations. In the\nlight of this expectation a peculiar significance attaches to the\nfrequent assertion of Fox that he and his followers were living in\nthe same Spirit which gave forth the Scriptures, and received direct\ncommands as did the apostles. \"I told him,\" says Fox of a \"priest,\"\n\"that to receive and go with a message, and to have a word from\nthe Lord, as the prophets and apostles had and did, and as _I had\ndone_,\" was quite another thing from ordinary experience. A much\nmore chaotic \"sect\" was that of the \"Ranters.\" There was probably a\nsmall seed of truth in their doctrines, but under the excitement of\nreligious enthusiasm they went to wild and perilous extremes, and in\nsome cases even fell over the edge of sanity. They started with the\nbelief that God is in everything, that every man is a manifestation\nof God, and they ended with the conclusion which their bad logic gave\nthem that _therefore what the man does God does_. They were above\nall authority and actually said: \"Have not _we_ the Spirit, and why\nmay not _we_ write scriptures as well as Paul?\" They believed the\nScriptures \"not because such and such writ it,\" but because they\ncould affirm \"God saith so in me.\" What Christ did was for them only\na temporal figure, and nothing external was of consequence, since\nthey had God Himself in them. As the law had been fulfilled they held\nthat they were free from all law, and might without sin do what they\nwere prompted to do. Richard Baxter says that \"the horrid villainies\nof the sect did speedily extinguish it.\" Judge Hotham told Fox in\n1651 that \"if God had not raised up the principle of Light and life\nwhich he (Fox) preached, the nation had been overrun with Ranterism.\"\nMany of the Ranters became Friends, some of them becoming\nsubstantial persons in the new Society, though there were for a time\nsome serious Ranter influences at work within the Society, and a\nstrenuous opposition was made to the establishment of discipline,\norder and system. The uprising of the \"Fifth-monarchy men\" is the\nonly other movement which calls for special allusion. They were\nliteral interpreters of Scripture, and had discovered grounds for\nbelieving in the near approach of the millennium. By some system\nof calculation they had concluded that the last of the four world\nmonarchies--the Assyrian, Persian, Greek and Roman--was tottering\ntoward its fall, and the Fifth universal monarchy--Christ's--was\nabout to be set up. The saints were to reign. The new monarchy was\nso slow in coming that they thought they might hasten it with carnal\nweapons. Perhaps a miracle would be granted if they acted on their\nfaith. The miracle did not come, but the uprising brought serious\ntrouble to Fox, who had before told these visionaries in beautifully\nplain language that \"Christ _has_ come and has dashed to pieces the\nfour monarchies.\"\n\nThe person of genius discovers in the great mass of things about him\njust that which is vital and essential. He seizes the eternal in the\ntemporal, and all that he borrows, he fuses with creative power into\na new whole. This creative power belonged to George Fox. There was\nhardly a single truth in the Quaker message which had not been held\nby some one of the many sects of the time. He saw the spiritual and\neternal element which was almost lost in the chaos of half truths and\nerrors. In his message these scattered truths and ideas were fused\ninto a new whole and received new life from his living central idea.\n\nIt is a strange fact that, though England had been facing religious\nproblems of a most complex sort since the oncoming of the\nReformation, it had produced no religious genius. No one had appeared\nwho saw truth on a new level, or who possessed a personality and\na personal message which compelled the attention of the nation.\nThere had been long years of ingenious, patchwork compromise, but\nno distinct prophet. George Fox is the first real prophet of the\nEnglish Reformation, for he saw what was involved in this great\nreligious movement.[A] Perhaps the most convincing proof of this\nis not the remarkable immediate results of his labors, though these\nare significant enough, but rather the easily-verified fact that the\nprogress of religious truth during the last hundred years has been\ntoward the truth which he made central in his message.[B] However his\nage misunderstood him, he would to-day find a goodly fellowship of\nbelievers.\n\n  [A] \"But of 'prophets' there are very few. The good God does\n  not seem to need many. Centuries pass, as He orders history, in\n  which there are none. So we call them Dark Ages. Then comes some\n  John in the desert, and the world is wakened; some Wesley in the\n  Church of England, and there is a revival of religion.\n\n  \"For our English races, since there were English races, I\n  count three or four such prophets; for the world of Europe I\n  count perhaps eleven worthy of our gratitude to-day. I mean\n  the gratitude of all mankind. Saint Paul and Saint John are\n  two; Augustine of Hippo is three; Dante and Francis of Assisi\n  are two more; Thomas \u00e0 Kempis and Jacob B\u00f6hme, two more; and,\n  coming across to England, Wiclif, John Milton, George Fox, and\n  John Wesley.\"--_Edward Everett Hale, in an Address at the Wesley\n  Bicentennial Celebration in People's Temple, Boston._\n\n  \"The three most influential Englishmen of the last three\n  centuries were George Fox, John Wesley and John Henry Newman.\n  Those who wish really to understand those three centuries must\n  read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest Fox's Journal, Wesley's\n  Journal, and Newman's Apologia. The entire future of England and\n  the English Empire depends upon the answer to this question:\n  Will Newman defeat Fox and Wesley, or will Fox and Wesley defeat\n  Newman?\"\n                            _Editorial in \"The Methodist Times.\"_\n\n  [B] \"The Quaker religion which he (George Fox) founded is\n  something which it is impossible to overpraise. In a day of\n  shams, it was a religion of veracity rooted in spiritual\n  inwardness, and a return to something more like the original\n  gospel truth than men had ever known in England. So far as our\n  Christian sects to-day are evolving into liberality, they are\n  simply reverting in essence to the position which Fox and the\n  early Quakers so long ago assumed. No one can pretend for a\n  moment that in point of spiritual sagacity and capacity, Fox's\n  mind was unsound. Every one who confronted him personally, from\n  Oliver Cromwell down to county magistrates and jailers, seems to\n  have acknowledged his superior power.\"\n\n           _James's \"Varieties of Religious Experience,\" page 6._\n\nThe purpose of this book is to have him tell his own story,\nwhich in the main he knows how to do. It will, however, be of\nsome service to the reader to develop in advance the principle\nof which he was the exponent. The first period of his life is\noccupied with a most painful quest for something which would\nsatisfy his heart. His celebrated contemporary, Bunyan, possessed\nmuch greater power of describing inward states and experiences,\nbut one is led to believe on comparing the two autobiographical\npassages that the sufferings of Fox, in his years of spiritual\ndesolation, were even more severe than were those of Bunyan,\nthough it is to be noted that the former does not suffer from\nthe awful sense of personal sin as the latter does. \"When I came\nto eleven years of age, _I knew pureness and righteousness_,\"\nis Fox's report of his own early deliverance from the sense of\nsin. His \"despair,\" from which he could find no comfort, was\ncaused by the extreme sensitiveness of his soul. The discovery\nthat the world, and even the Church, was full of wickedness and\nsin crushed him. \"I looked upon the great professors of the city\n[London, 1643], and I saw all was dark and under the chain of\ndarkness.\" This settled upon him with a weight, deep almost as\ndeath. Nothing in the whole world seemed to him so real as the\nworld's wickedness. \"I could have wished,\" he cries out, \"I had\nnever been born, or that I had been born blind that I might\nnever have seen wickedness or vanity; and deaf that I might never\nhave heard vain and wicked words, or the Lord's name blasphemed.\"\n\nHe was overwhelmed, however, not merely because he discovered\nthat the world was wicked, but much more because he discovered\nthat priests were \"empty hollow casks,\" and that religion, as far\nas he could discover any in England, was weak and ineffective,\nwith no dynamic message which moved with the living power of God\nbehind it. He could find theology enough and theories enough,\nbut he missed everywhere the direct evidence that men about him\nhad found God. Religion seemed to him to be reduced to a system\nof clever substitutes for God, while his own soul could not rest\nuntil it found the Life itself.\n\nThe turning point of his life is the discovery--through what\nhe beautifully calls an \"opening\"--that Christ is not merely\nan historic person who once came to the world and then forever\nwithdrew, but that He is the continuous Divine Presence, God\nmanifested humanly, and that this Christ can \"speak to his\ncondition.\"\n\nAt first sight, there appears to be nothing epoch-making in these\nsimple words. But it soon develops that what he really means is\nthat he has discovered within the deeps of his own personality\na meeting place of the human spirit with the Divine Spirit. He\nhad never had any doubts about the historical Christ. All that\nthe Christians of his time believed _about_ Christ, he, too,\nbelieved. His long search had not been to find out something\n_about_ Christ, but to find _Him_. The Christ of the theological\nsystems was too remote and unreal to be dynamic for him. Assent\nto all the propositions about Him left one still in the power of\nsin. He emerges from the struggle with an absolute certainty in\nhis own mind that he has discovered a way by which his soul has\nimmediate dealings with the living God. The larger truth involved\nin his experience soon becomes plain to him, namely, that he\nhas found a universal principle, that the Spirit of God reaches\nevery man. He finds this divine-human relation taught everywhere\nin Scripture, but he challenges everybody to find the primary\nevidence of it in his own consciousness. He points out that every\nhunger of the heart, every dissatisfaction with self, every act\nof self-condemnation, every sense of shortcoming shows that the\nsoul is not unvisited by the Divine Spirit, To want God at all\nimplies some acquaintance with Him. The ability to appreciate\nthe right, to discriminate light from darkness, the possibility\nof being anything more than a creature of sense, living for the\nmoment, means that our personal life is in contact at some point\nwith the Infinite Life, and that all things are possible to him\nwho believes and obeys.\n\nTo all sorts and conditions of men, Fox continually makes\nappeal to \"that of God\" within them. At other times he calls it\nindiscriminately the \"Light,\" or the \"Seed,\" or the \"Principle\"\nof God within the man. Frequently it is the \"Christ within.\" In\nevery instance he means that the Divine Being operates directly\nupon the human life, and the new birth, the real spiritual life,\nbegins when the individual becomes aware of Him and sets himself\nto obey Him. He may have been living along with no more explicit\nconsciousness of a Divine presence than the bubble has of the\nocean on which it rests and out of which it came; but even so,\nGod is as near him as is the beating of his own heart, and only\nneeds to be found and obeyed.\n\nInstead of making him undervalue the historic revelations of God,\nthe discovery of this principle of truth gave him a new insight\ninto the revelations of the past and the supreme manifestations\nof the Divine Life and Love. He could interpret his own inward\nexperience in the light of the gathered revelation of the ages.\nHis contemporaries used to say that, though the Bible were lost,\nit might be found in the mouth of George Fox, and there is not\na line in the Journal to indicate that he undervalued either\nthe Holy Scriptures or the historic work of Christ for human\nsalvation. Entirely the contrary. As soon as he realized that the\nsame God who spoke directly to men in earlier ages still speaks\ndirectly, and that to be a man means to have a \"seed of God\"\nwithin, he saw that there were no limits to the possibilities\nof a human life. It becomes possible to live entirely in the\npower of the Spirit and to have one's life made a free and\nvictorious spiritual life. So to live is to be a \"man\"--for\nsin and disobedience reduce a man. The normal person, then, is\nthe one who has discovered the infinite Divine resources, and\nis turning them into the actual stuff of a human life. That it\nhappens now and then is no mystery; that it happens so seldom is\nthe real mystery. \"I asked them if they were living in the power\nof the Spirit that gave forth the Scriptures\" is his frequent and\nsomewhat na\u00efve question, as though everybody ought to be doing it.\n\nThe consciousness of the presence of God is the characteristic\nthing in George Fox's religious life. His own life is in\nimmediate contact with the Divine Life. It is this conviction\nwhich unifies and gives direction to all his activities. God has\nfound him and he has found God. It is this experience which puts\nhim among the mystics.\n\nBut here we must not overlook the distinction in types of\nmysticism. There is a great group of mystics who have painfully\nstriven to find God by a path of negation. They believe that\neverything finite is a shadow, an illusion--nothing real. To\nfind God, then, every vestige of the finite must be given up.\nThe infinite can be reached only by wiping out all marks of the\nfinite. The Absolute can be attained only when every \"thing\" and\nevery \"thought\" have been reduced to zero. But the difficulty\nis that this kind of an Absolute becomes absolutely unknowable.\nFrom the nature of the case He could not be _found_, for to have\nany consciousness of Him at all would be to have a finite and\nillusory thought.\n\nGeorge Fox belongs rather among the _positive_ mystics, who seek\nto realize the presence of God in this finite human life. That\nHe transcends all finite experiences they fully realize, but the\nreality of any finite experience lies just in this fact, that the\nliving God is in it and expresses some divine purpose through it,\nso that a man may, as George Fox's friend, Isaac Penington says,\n\"become an organ of the life and power of God,\" and \"progagate\nGod's life in the world.\" The mystic of this type may feel the\nlight break within him and know that God is there, or he may\nequally well discover Him as he performs some clear, plain duty\nwhich lies across his path. His whole mystical insight is in\nhis discovery that God is near, and not beyond the reach of the\nladders which He has given us.\n\nBut no one has found the true George Fox when he stops with an\nanalysis of the views which he held. Almost more remarkable than\nthe truth which he proclaimed was the fervor, the enthusiasm, the\nglowing passion of the man. He was of the genuine apostolic type.\nHe had come through years of despair over the wickedness of the\nworld, but as soon as the Light really broke, and he knew that\nhe had a message for the world in its sin and ignorance, there\nwas after that nothing but the grave itself which could keep him\nquiet. He preached in cathedrals, on hay stacks, on cliffs of\nrock, from hill tops, under apple trees and elm trees, in barns\nand in city squares, while he sent epistles from every prison in\nwhich he was shut up. Wherever he could find men who had souls to\nsave he told them of the life and Truth which he had found.\n\nWhether one is in sympathy with Fox's mystical view of life or\nnot, it is impossible not to be impressed with the practical\nway in which he wrought out his faith. After all, the view that\nGod and man are not isolated was not new; the really new thing\nwas the appearance of a man who genuinely practiced the Divine\npresence and lived _as though he knew_ that his life was in a\nDivine environment.\n\nWe have dwelt upon the fundamental religious principle of Fox at\nsome length, because his great work as a social reformer and as\nthe organizer of a new system of Church government proceeds from\nthis root principle. One central idea moves through all he did.\nHis originality lies, however, not so much in the discovery, or\nthe rediscovery, of the principle as in the fearless application\nof it. Other men had believed in Divine guidance; other\nChristians had proclaimed the impenetration of God in the lives\nof men. But George Fox had the courage to carry his conviction\nto its logical conclusions. He knew that there were difficulties\nentailed in calling men everywhere to trust the Light and to\nfollow the Voice, but he believed that there were more serious\ndifficulties to be faced by those who put some external authority\nin the place of the soul's own sight. He was ready for the\nconsequences and he proceeded to carry out both in the social\nand in the religious life of his time the experiment of obeying\nthe Light within. It is this courageous fidelity to his insight\nthat made him a social reformer and a religious organizer. He\nbelongs, in this respect, in the same list with St. Francis\nof Assisi. They both attempted the difficult task of bringing\nreligion from heaven to earth.\n\n1. In the light of his religious discovery Fox reinterpreted man\nas a member of society. If man _has_ direct intercourse with\nGod he is to be treated with noble respect. He met the doctrine\nof the divine right of kings with the conviction of the _divine\nright of man_. Every man is to be treated as a man. He was a\n_leveler_, but he leveled up, not down. Every man was to be\nread in terms of his possibilities--if not of royal descent,\ncertainly of royal destiny. This view made Fox an unparalleled\noptimist. He believed that a mighty transformation would come as\nsoon as men were made aware of this divine relationship which he\nhad discovered. They would go to living as he had done, in the\n_power_ of this conviction.\n\nHe began at once to put in practice his principle of\nequality--_i. e._, equality of privilege. He cut straight through\nthe elaborate web of social custom which hid man's true nature\nfrom himself. Human life had become sicklied o'er with a cast of\nsham, until man had half forgotten to act as _man_. Fox rejected\nfor himself every social custom which seemed to him to be hollow\nand to belittle man himself. The honor which belonged to God he\nwould give to no man, and the honor which belonged to any man\nhe gave to every man. This was the reason for his \"thee\" and\n\"thou.\" The plural form had been introduced to give distinction.\nHe would not use it. The Lord Protector and the humble cotter\nwere addressed alike. He had an eye for the person of great gifts\nand he never wished to reduce men to indistinguishable atoms of\nsociety, but he was resolved to guard the jewel of personality in\nevery individual--man or woman.\n\n2. His estimate of the worth of man made him a reformer. In\nsociety as he found it men were often treated more as things than\nas persons. For petty offenses they were hung,[C] and if they\nescaped this fate they were put into prisons, where no touch of\nman's humanity was in evidence. In the never-ending wars the\ncommon people were hardly more than human dice. Their worth as\nmen was well nigh forgotten. Trade was conducted on a system of\nsliding prices--high for this man, low for some other. Dealers\nwere honest where they had to be; dishonest where they could be.\nThe courts of justice were extremely uncertain and irregular, as\nthe pages of this journal continually show. Against every such\ncrooked system which failed to recognize the divine right of\nman George Fox set himself. He himself had large opportunities\nof observing the courts of justice and the inhuman pens which\nby courtesy were called jails. But he became a reformer, not\nto secure his own rights or to get a better jail to lie in,\nbut to establish the principle of human rights for all men. He\nwent calmly to work to carry an out-and-out honesty into all\ntrade relations, to establish a fixed price for goods of every\nsort, to make principles of business square with principles of\nreligion. By voice or by epistle he called every judge in the\nrealm to \"mind that of God\" within him. He refused ever to take\nan oath, because he was resolved to make a plain man's \"yea\"\nweigh as heavy as an oath. He was always in the lists against the\nbarbarity of the penal system, the iniquity of enslaving men, the\nwickedness of war, the wastefulness of fashion and the evils of\ndrunkenness, and by argument and deed he undertook to lead the\nway to a new heroism, better than the heroism of battlefields.\n\n  [C] At this epoch there were more than two hundred capital\n  offenses.\n\n3. The logic of his principle compelled him to value education. If\nall men are to count as men, it is a man's primal duty to be all\nhe can be. To be a poor organ of God when one was meant for a good\none belongs among the high sins.[D] If it was \"opened\" to him that\nOxford and Cambridge could not make men ministers, his own reason\ntaught him that it is not safe to call all men to obey the voice and\nfollow the light without broad-basing them at the same time in the\nestablished facts of history and nature. Fox himself very early set\nup schools for boys and girls alike in which \"everything civil and\nuseful in creation\" was to be taught. It is, however, quite possible\nthat he undervalued the \u00e6sthetic side of man, and that he suffered by\nhis attempt to starve it. In this particular he shared the puritan\ntendency, and had not learned how to hold all things in proportion,\nand to make the culture of the senses at the same time beautify the\ninner man.\n\n  [D] \"Dear friends and brethren that have gone into America and\n  the islands thereaway, stir up the gift of God in you and improve\n  your talents. Let your light shine among the Indians, the blacks\n  and the whites, that ye may answer the truth in them and _bring\n  them to the standard and ensign that God hath set up, Jesus\n  Christ_. _Grow in the faith and grace of Christ that ye be not\n  like dwarfs_, for a dwarf shall not come near to offer upon God's\n  altar.\"\n\n                 _From an Epistle of George Fox written in 1690._\n\n4. On the distinctively religious side his discovery of a direct\ndivine-human relationship led to a new interpretation of worship\nand ministry. God is not far off. He needs no vicar, no person\nof any sort between Himself and the worshipper. Grace no more\nneeds a special channel than the dew does. There is no special\nholy place, as though God were more _there_ than _here_. He does\nnot come from somewhere else. He is Spirit, and needs only a\nresponsive soul, an open heart, to be _found_. Worship properly\nbegins when the soul discovers Him and enjoys His presence--in\nthe simplest words it is the soul's appreciation of God. With his\nusual optimism, he believed that all men and women were capable\nof this stupendous attainment. He threw away all crutches at the\nstart and called upon everybody to walk in the Spirit, to live\nin the Light. His house of worship was bare of everything but\nseats. It had no shrine, for the shekinah was to be in the hearts\nof those who worshipped. It had no altar, for God needed no\nappeasing, seeing that He Himself had made the sacrifice for sin.\nIt had no baptismal font, for baptism was in his belief nothing\nshort of immersion into the life of the Father, Son and Holy\nSpirit--a going down into the significance of Christ's death and\na coming up in newness of life with Him. There was no communion\ntable, because he believed that the true communion consisted in\npartaking directly of the soul's spiritual bread--the living\nChrist. There were no confessionals, for in the silence, with\nthe noise and din of the outer life hushed, the soul was to\nunveil itself to its Maker and let His light lay bare its true\ncondition. There was no organ or choir, for each forgiven soul\nwas to give praise in the glad notes that were natural to it. No\ncenser was swung, for he believed God wanted only the fragrance\nof sincere and prayerful spirits. There was no priestly mitre,\nbecause each member of the true Church was to be a priest unto\nGod. No official robes were in evidence, because the entire\nbusiness of life, in meeting and outside, was to be the putting\non of the white garments of a saintly life. From beginning to\nend worship was the immediate appreciation of God, and the\nappropriate activity of the whole being in response to Him.\n\nWilliam Penn says of him: \"The most awful, living, reverent frame\nI ever felt or beheld was his in prayer.\" And this was because\nhe realized that he was in the presence of God when he prayed.\nHe believed that the ministry of truth is limited to no class of\nmen and to no sex. As fast and as far as any man discovers God it\nbecomes his business to make Him known to others. His ability to\ndo this effectively is a gift from God, and makes him a minister.\nThe only thing the Church does is to recognize the gift. This\nidea carried with it perfect freedom of utterance to all who felt\na _call_ to speak, a principle which has worked out better than\nthe reader would guess, though it has been often sorely tested.\n\nIn the Society which he founded there was no distinction of\nclergy and laity. He undertook the difficult task of organizing a\nChristian body on which the priesthood of believers should be an\nactual fact, and in which the ordinary religious exercises of the\nChurch should be under the directing and controlling power of the\nHoly Spirit manifesting itself through the congregation.\n\nNot the least service of Fox to his age was the important part\nwhich he took in breaking down the intolerable doctrine of\npredestination, which hung like an incubus over men's lives.\nIt threw a gloom upon every person who found himself forced by\nhis logic to believe it, and its effect upon sensitive souls\nwas simply dreadful. Fox met this doctrine with argument, but\nhe met it also with something better than argument--he set over\nagainst it two facts: that Divine grace and light are free,\nand that an inward certainty of God's favor and acceptance is\npossible for every believer. Wherever Quakerism went this inward\nassurance went with it. The shadow of dread uncertainty gave\nplace to sunlight and joy. This was the beginning of a spiritual\nemancipation which is still growing, and peaceful faces and\nfragrant lives are the result.\n\nNo reader of the Journal can fail to be impressed with the fact\nthat George Fox believed himself to be an instrument for the\nmanifestation of miraculous power. Diseases were cured through\nhim; he foretold coming events; he often penetrated states and\nconditions of mind and heart; he occasionally had a sense of what\nwas happening in distant parts, and he himself underwent on at\nleast three occasions striking bodily changes, so that he seemed,\nfor days at a time, like one dead, and was in one of these times\nincapable of being bled. These passages need trouble no one, nor\nneed their truthfulness be questioned. He possessed an unusual\npsychical nature, delicately organized, capable of experiences of\na novel sort, but such as are to-day very familiar to the student\nof psychical phenomena. The marvel is that with such a mental\norganization he was so sane and practical, and so steadily kept\nhis balance throughout a life which furnished numerous chances\nfor shipwreck.\n\nIt is very noticeable--rather more so in the complete Journal\nthan in this Autobiography--that \"judgments\" came upon almost\neverybody who was a malicious opposer of him or his work.\n\"God cut him off soon after,\" is a not infrequent phrase. It\nis manifestly impossible to investigate these cases now, and\nto verify the facts, but the well-tested honesty of the early\nFriends leaves little ground for doubting that the facts were\nsubstantially as they are reported. Fox's own inference that all\nthese persons had misfortune as a direct \"judgment\" for having\nharmed him and hindered his cause will naturally seem to us a too\nhasty conclusion. It is not at all strange that in this eventful\nperiod many persons who had dealings with him should have\nsuffered swift changes of fortune, and of course he failed to\nnote how many there were who did _not_ receive judgment in this\ndirect manner. One regrets, of course, that this kindly spiritual\nman should have come so near enjoying what seemed to him a divine\nvengeance upon his enemies, but we must remember that he believed\nin his soul that his work was God's work, and hence to frustrate\nit was serious business.\n\nHe founded a Society, as he called it, which he evidently hoped,\nand probably believed, would sometime become universal.[E]\nThe organization in every aspect recognized the fundamentally\nspiritual nature of man. Every individual was to be a vital,\norganic part of the whole; free, but possessed of a freedom\nwhich had always to be exercised with a view to the interests\nand edification of the whole. It was modelled exactly on the\nconception of Paul's universal Church of many members, made a\n_unity_ not from without, but by the living presence of the One\nSpirit. All this work of organization was effected while Fox\nhimself was in the saddle, carrying his message to town after\ntown, interrupted by long absences in jail and dungeon, and\nsteadily opposed by the fanatical antinomian elements which had\nflocked to his standard. It is not the least mark of his genius\nthat in the face of an almost unparalleled persecution he left\nhis fifty thousand followers in Great Britain and Ireland formed\ninto a working and growing body, with equally well-organized\nmeetings in Holland, New England, New York, Pennsylvania,\nMaryland, Virginia and the Carolinas. His personality and his\nmessage had won men from every station of life, and if the rank\nand file were from the humbler walks, there were also men and\nwomen of scholarship and fame. Robert Barclay, from the schools\nof Paris, gave the new faith its permanent expression in his\nApology. William Penn worked its principles out in a holy\nexperiment in a Christian Commonwealth, and Isaac Penington,\nin his brief essays, set forth in rich and varied phrase the\nmystical truth which was at the heart of the doctrine.\n\n  [E] \"In 1658 there was not a Quaker living who did not believe\n  Quakerism to be the one only true Church of the living God.\"\n\n                                  _Hancock's \"Peculium,\" page 8._\n\nThis is the place for exposition, not for criticism. It requires\nno searchlight to reveal in this man the limitations and\nimperfections which his age and his own personal peculiarities\nfixed upon him. He saw in part and he prophesied in part. But,\nlike his great contemporary, Cromwell, he had a brave sincerity,\na soul absolutely loyal to the highest he saw. The testimony\nof the Scarborough jailer is as true as it is unstudied--\"as\nstiff as a tree and as pure as a bell.\" It is fitting that this\nstudy of him should close with the words of the man who knew him\nbest--William Penn: \"I write my knowledge and not report, and\nmy witness is true, having been with him for weeks and months\ntogether on diverse occasions, and those of the nearest and\nmost exercising nature, by sea and land, in this country and\nin foreign countries; and I can say I never saw him out of his\nplace, or not a match for every service or occasion. For in all\nthings he acquitted himself like a man, yea, a strong man, a new\nand heavenly-minded man; a divine and a naturalist, and all of\nGod Almighty's making.\"[F]\n\n  [F] From William Penn's \"Preface to the Journal of George Fox.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM PENN CONCERNING THAT FAITHFUL SERVANT\n\nGEORGE FOX.\n\n\nThe blessed instrument of and in this day of God, and of whom I am\nnow about to write, was George Fox, distinguished from another of\nthat name, by that other's addition of younger to his name in all\nhis writings; not that he was so in years, but that he was so in the\ntruth; but he was also a worthy man, witness and servant of God in\nhis time.\n\nBut this George Fox was born in Leicestershire, about the year 1624.\nHe descended of honest and sufficient parents, who endeavoured to\nbring him up, as they did the rest of their children, in the way\nand worship of the nation; especially his mother, who was a woman\naccomplished above most of her degree in the place where she lived.\nBut from a child he appeared of another frame of mind than the rest\nof his brethren; being more religious, inward, still, solid, and\nobserving, beyond his years, as the answers he would give, and the\nquestions he would put upon occasion manifested, to the astonishment\nof those that heard him, especially in divine things.\n\nHis mother taking notice of his singular temper, and the gravity,\nwisdom, and piety that very early shone through him, refusing\nchildish and vain sports and company when very young, she was\ntender and indulgent over him, so that from her he met with little\ndifficulty. As to his employment, he was brought up in country\nbusiness; and as he took most delight in sheep, so he was very\nskilful in them; an employment that very well suited his mind in\nseveral respects, both for its innocency and solitude; and was a just\nfigure of his after ministry and service.\n\nI shall not break in upon his own account, which is by much the best\nthat can be given; and therefore desire, what I can, to avoid saying\nanything of what is said already, as to the particular passages of\nhis coming forth; but, in general, when he was somewhat above twenty,\nhe left his friends, and visited the most retired and religious\npeople, and some there were at that time in this nation, especially\nin those parts, who waited for the consolation of Israel night\nand day, as Zacharias, Anna, and good old Simeon did of old time.\nTo these he was sent, and these he sought out in the neighboring\ncountries, and among them he sojourned till his more ample ministry\ncame upon him.\n\nAt this time he taught and was an example of silence, endeavouring to\nbring people from self-performances, testifying and turning to the\nlight of Christ within them, and encouraging them to wait in patience\nto feel the power of it to stir in their hearts, that their knowledge\nand worship of God might stand in the power of an endless life, which\nwas to be found in the light, as it was obeyed in the manifestation\nof it in man. \"For in the Word was life, and that life was the light\nof men.\" Life in the Word, light in men, and life too, as the light\nis obeyed; the children of the light living by the life of the Word,\nby which the Word begets them again to God, which is the regeneration\nand new birth, without which there is no coming unto the kingdom of\nGod; and which, whoever comes to, is greater than John, that is,\nthan John's ministry, which was not that of the kingdom, but the\nconsummation of the legal, and opening of the gospel-dispensation.\nAccordingly, several meetings were gathered in those parts; and thus\nhis time was employed for some years.\n\nIn 1652, he being in his usual retirement to the Lord upon a very\nhigh mountain, in some of the hither parts of Yorkshire, as I take\nit, his mind exercised towards the Lord, he had a vision of the\ngreat work of God in the earth, and of the way that he was to go\nforth to begin it. He saw people as thick as motes in the sun, that\nshould in time be brought home to the Lord, that there might be but\none Shepherd and one sheepfold in all the earth. There his eye was\ndirected northward, beholding a great people that should receive him\nand his message in those parts. Upon this mountain he was moved of\nthe Lord to sound out his great and notable day, as if he had been in\na great auditory, and from thence went north, as the Lord had shewn\nhim: and in every place where he came, if not before he came to it,\nhe had his particular exercise and service shewn to him, so that the\nLord was his leader indeed; for it was not in vain that he travelled,\nGod in most places sealing his commission with the convincement of\nsome of all sorts, as well publicans as sober professors of religion.\nSome of the first and most eminent of them, which are at rest, were\nRichard Farnsworth, James Nayler, William Dewsberry, Francis Howgil,\nEdward Burrough, John Camm, John Audland, Richard Hubberthorn, T.\nTaylor, John Aldam, T. Holmes, Alexander Parker, William Simpson,\nWilliam Caton, John Stubbs, Robert Widders, John Burnyeat, Robert\nLodge, Thomas Salthouse, and many more worthies, that cannot be well\nhere named, together with divers yet living of the first and great\nconvincement, who after the knowledge of God's purging judgments in\nthemselves, and some time of waiting in silence upon him, to feel\nand receive power from on high to speak in his name (which none else\nrightly can, though they may use the same words), felt the divine\nmotions, and were frequently drawn forth, especially to visit the\npublick assemblies, to reprove, inform and exhort them, sometimes\nin markets, fairs, streets, and by the highway side, calling people\nto repentance, and to turn to the Lord with their hearts as well as\ntheir mouths; directing them to the light of Christ within them, to\nsee and examine and consider their ways by, and to eschew the evil\nand do the good and acceptable will of God. And they suffered great\nhardships for this their love and good-will, being often stocked,\nstoned, beaten, whipped and imprisoned, though honest men and of\ngood report where they lived, that had left wives and children, and\nhouses and lands, to visit them with a living call to repentance. And\nthough the priests generally set themselves to oppose them, and write\nagainst them, and insinuated most false and scandalous stories to\ndefame them, stirring up the magistrates to suppress them, especially\nin those northern parts, yet God was pleased so to fill them with his\nliving power, and give them such an open door of utterance in his\nservice, that there was a mighty convincement over those parts.\n\nAnd through the tender and singular indulgence of Judge Bradshaw and\nJudge Fell, in the infancy of things, the priests were never able\nto gain the point they laboured for, which was to have proceeded to\nblood, and if possible, Herod-like, by a cruel exercise of the civil\npower, to have cut them off and rooted them out of the country.\nEspecially Judge Fell, who was not only a check to their rage in the\ncourse of legal proceedings, but otherwise upon occasion, and finally\ncountenanced this people; for his wife receiving the truth with the\nfirst, it had that influence upon his spirit, being a just and wise\nman, and seeing in his own wife and family a full confutation of all\nthe popular clamours against the way of truth, that he covered them\nwhat he could, and freely opened his doors, and gave up his house to\nhis wife and her friends, not valuing the reproach of ignorant or\nevil-minded people, which I here mention to his and her honour, and\nwhich will be I believe an honour and a blessing to such of their\nname and family as shall be found in that tenderness, humility, love\nand zeal for the truth and people of the Lord.\n\nThat house was for some years at first, till the truth had opened\nits way in the southern parts of this island, an eminent receptacle\nof this people. Others of good note and substance in those northern\ncountries had also opened their houses with their hearts to the many\npublishers, that in a short time the Lord had raised to declare his\nsalvation to the people, and where meetings of the Lord's messengers\nwere frequently held, to communicate their services and exercises,\nand comfort and edify one another in their blessed ministry.\n\nBut lest this may be thought a digression, having touched upon\nthis before, I return to this excellent man: and for his personal\nqualities, both natural, moral, and divine, as they appeared in his\nconverse with his brethren and in the church of God, take as follows.\n\nI. He was a man that God endowed with a clear and wonderful depth,\na discerner of others' spirits, and very much a master of his own.\nAnd though the side of his understanding which lay next to the\nworld, and especially the expression of it, might sound uncouth\nand unfashionable to nice ears, his matter was nevertheless very\nprofound, and would not only bear to be often considered, but the\nmore it was so, the more weighty and instructing it appeared. And\nas abruptly and brokenly as sometimes his sentences would fall\nfrom him about divine things, it is well known they were often as\ntexts to many fairer declarations. And indeed it shewed beyond all\ncontradiction that God sent him, that no arts or parts had any\nshare in the matter or manner of his ministry, and that so many\ngreat, excellent, and necessary truths as he came forth to preach to\nmankind, had therefore nothing of man's wit or wisdom to recommend\nthem. So that as to man he was an original, being no man's copy.\nAnd his ministry and writings shew they are from one that was not\ntaught of man, nor had learned what he said by study. Nor were they\nnotional or speculative, but sensible and practical truths, tending\nto conversion and regeneration, and the setting up the kingdom of\nGod in the hearts of men, and the way of it was his work. So that I\nhave many times been overcome in myself, and been made to say with\nmy Lord and Master upon the like occasion, \"I thank thee, O Father,\nLord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the\nwise and prudent of this world, and revealed them to babes\"; for\nmany times hath my soul bowed in an humble thankfulness to the Lord,\nthat he did not choose any of the wise and learned of this world to\nbe the first messenger in our age of his blessed truth to men; but\nthat he took one that was not of high degree, or elegant speech,\nor learned after the way of this world, that his message and work\nHe sent him to do might come with less suspicion or jealousy of\nhuman wisdom and interest, and with more force and clearness upon\nthe consciences of those that sincerely sought the way of truth in\nthe love of it. I say, beholding with the eye of my mind, which the\nGod of heaven had opened in me, the marks of God's finger and hand\nvisibly in this testimony from the clearness of the principle, the\npower and efficacy of it in the exemplary sobriety, plainness, zeal,\nsteadiness, humility, gravity, punctuality, charity, and circumspect\ncare in the government of church affairs, which shined in his and\ntheir life and testimony that God employed in this work, it greatly\nconfirmed me that it was of God, and engaged my soul in a deep love,\nfear, reverence, and thankfulness for his love and mercy therein to\nmankind; in which mind I remain, and shall, I hope, to the end of my\ndays.\n\nII. In his testimony or ministry he much laboured to open truth to\nthe people's understandings, and to bottom them upon the principle\nand principal, Christ Jesus, the light of the world, that by bringing\nthem to something that was of God in themselves, they might the\nbetter know and judge of him and themselves.\n\nHe had an extraordinary gift in opening the Scriptures. He would go\nto the marrow of things, and shew the mind, harmony, and fulfilling\nof them with much plainness, and to great comfort and edification.\n\nThe mystery of the first and second Adam, of the fall and\nrestoration, of the law and gospel, of shadows and substance, of the\nservant and son's state, and the fulfilling of the Scriptures in\nChrist, and by Christ the true light, in all that are His, through\nthe obedience of faith, were much of the substance and drift of\nhis testimonies. In all which he was witnessed to be of God, being\nsensibly felt to speak that which he had received of Christ, and was\nhis own experience in that which never errs nor fails.\n\nBut above all he excelled in prayer. The inwardness and weight of his\nspirit, the reverence and solemnity of his address and behaviour,\nand the fewness and fullness of his words, have often struck even\nstrangers with admiration, as they used to reach others with\nconsolation. The most awful, living, reverent frame I ever felt or\nbeheld, I must say, was his in prayer. And truly it was a testimony\nhe knew, and lived nearer to the Lord than other men; for they that\nknow him most will see most reason to approach him with reverence and\nfear.\n\nHe was of an innocent life, no busy-body, nor self-seeker, neither\ntouchy nor critical: what fell from him was very inoffensive, if not\nvery edifying. So meek, contented, modest, easy, steady, tender, it\nwas a pleasure to be in his company. He exercised no authority but\nover evil, and that everywhere and in all; but with love, compassion,\nand long-suffering. A most merciful man, as ready to forgive as\nunapt to take or give offence. Thousands can truly say, he was of an\nexcellent spirit and savour among them, and because thereof the most\nexcellent spirits loved him with an unfeigned and unfading love.\n\nHe was an incessant labourer; for in his younger time, before his\nmany great and deep sufferings and travels had enfeebled his body\nfor itinerant services, he laboured much in the word and doctrine\nand discipline in England, Scotland, and Ireland, turning many to\nGod, and confirming those that were convinced of the truth, and\nsettling good order as to church affairs among them. And towards\nthe conclusion of his travelling services, between the years\nseventy-one and seventy-seven, he visited the churches of Christ in\nthe plantations in America, and in the United Provinces, and Germany,\nas his following Journal relates, to the convincement and consolation\nof many. After that time he chiefly resided in and about the city\nof London, and besides the services of his ministry, which were\nfrequent, he wrote much both to them that are within and those that\nare without the communion. But the care he took of the affairs of the\nchurch in general was very great.\n\nHe was often where the records of the affairs of the church are\nkept, and the letters from the many meetings of God's people over\nall the world, where settled, come upon occasions; which letters he\nhad read to him, and communicated them to the meeting that is weekly\nheld there for such services; he would be sure to stir them up to\ndischarge them, especially in suffering cases: showing great sympathy\nand compassion upon all such occasions, carefully looking into the\nrespective cases, and endeavouring speedy relief according to the\nnature of them; so that the churches and any of the suffering members\nthereof were sure not to be forgotten or delayed in their desires if\nhe were there.\n\nAs he was unwearied, so he was undaunted in his services for God and\nhis people; he was no more to be moved to fear than to wrath. His\nbehaviour at Derby, Litchfield, Appleby, before Oliver Cromwell at\nLaunceston, Scarborough, Worcester, and Westminster-hall, with many\nother places and exercises, did abundantly evidence it to his enemies\nas well as his friends.\n\nBut as in the primitive times some rose up against the blessed\napostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, even from among those that they\nhad turned to the hope of the gospel, and who became their greatest\ntrouble, so this man of God had his share of suffering from some that\nwere convinced by him, who through prejudice or mistake ran against\nhim as one that sought dominion over conscience; because he pressed,\nby his presence or epistles, a ready and zealous compliance with such\ngood and wholesome things as tended to an orderly conversation about\nthe affairs of the church, and in their walking before men. That\nwhich contributed much to this ill work, was in some a begrudging of\nthis meek man the love and esteem he had and deserved in the hearts\nof the people, and weakness in others that were taken with their\ngroundless suggestions of imposition and blind obedience.\n\nThey would have had every man independent, that as he had the\nprinciple in himself, he should only stand and fall to that and\nnobody else; not considering that the principle is one in all, and\nthough the measure of light or grace might differ, yet the nature of\nit was the same, and being so they struck at the spiritual unity,\nwhich a people guided by the same principle are naturally led into:\nso that what is evil to one is so to all, and what is virtuous,\nhonest, and of good report to one, is so to all, from the sense and\nsavour of the one universal principle which is common to all, and\n(which the disaffected profess to be) the root of all true Christian\nfellowship, and that spirit into which the people of God drink, and\ncome to be spiritually minded, and of one heart and one soul.\n\nSome weakly mistook good order in the government of church-affairs\nfor discipline in worship, and that it was so pressed or recommended\nby him and other brethren; and they were ready to reflect the\nsame things that dissenters had very reasonably objected upon the\nnational churches, that have coercively pressed conformity to their\nrespective creeds and worships: whereas these things related wholly\nto conversation, and the outward and (as I may say) civil part of the\nchurch, that men should walk up to the principles of their belief,\nand not be wanting in care and charity. But though some have stumbled\nand fallen through mistakes and an unreasonable obstinacy, even to a\nprejudice, yet blessed be God, the generality have returned to their\nfirst love, and seen the work of the enemy, that loses no opportunity\nor advantage by which he may check or hinder the work of God, and\ndisquiet the peace of His church, and chill the love of His people to\nthe truth, and one to another; and there is hope of divers that are\nyet at a distance.\n\nIn all these occasions, though there was no person the discontented\nstruck so sharply at as this good man, he bore all their weakness and\nprejudice, and returned not reflection for reflection; but forgave\nthem their weak and bitter speeches, praying for them that they might\nhave a sense of their hurt, and see the subtlety of the enemy to rend\nand divide, and return into their first love that thought no ill.\n\nAnd truly, I must say, that though God had visibly cloathed him with\na divine preference and authority, and indeed his very presence\nexpressed a religious majesty, yet he never abused it, but held his\nplace in the church of God with great meekness, and a most engaging\nhumility and moderation. For upon all occasions, like his blessed\nMaster, he was a servant to all, holding and exercising his eldership\nin the invisible power that had gathered them, with reverence to the\nhead and care over the body, and was received only in that spirit and\npower of Christ, as the first and chief elder in this age; who as he\nwas therefore worthy of double honour, so for the same reason it was\ngiven by the faithful of this day; because his authority was inward\nand not outward, and that he got it and kept it by the love of God\nand power of an endless life. I write my knowledge and not report,\nand my witness is true, having been with him for weeks and months\ntogether on divers occasions, and those of the nearest and most\nexercising nature, and that by night and by day, by sea and by land,\nin this and in foreign countries: and I can say I never saw him out\nof his place, or not a match for every service or occasion.\n\nFor in all things he acquitted himself like a man, yea a strong man,\na new and heavenly-minded man. A divine, and a naturalist, and all\nof God Almighty's making. I have been surprised at his questions and\nanswers in natural things, that whilst he was ignorant of useless\nand sophistical science, he had in him the foundation of useful and\ncommendable knowledge, and cherished it everywhere. Civil beyond all\nforms of breeding in his behaviour; very temperate, eating little and\nsleeping less, though a bulky person.\n\nThus he lived and sojourned among us, and as he lived so he died,\nfeeling the same eternal power that had raised and preserved him\nin his last moments. So full of assurance was he that he triumphed\nover death; and so even to the last, as if death were hardly worth\nnotice or a mention: recommending to some with him the dispatch and\ndispersion of an epistle, just before written to the churches of\nChrist, throughout the world, and his own books; but above all,\nfriends, and of all friends those in Ireland and America, twice over:\nsaying, Mind poor friends in Ireland and America.\n\nAnd to some that came in and inquired how he found himself, he\nanswered, \"Never heed, the Lord's power is over all weakness and\ndeath, the Seed reigns, blessed be the Lord\": which was about four\nor five hours before his departure out of this world. He was at the\ngreat meeting near Lombard Street on the first day of the week, and\nit was the third following about ten at night when he left us, being\nat the house of H. Goldney in the same court. In a good old age he\nwent, after having lived to see his children's children to several\ngenerations in the truth. He had the comfort of a short illness, and\nthe blessing of a clear sense to the last; and we may truly say with\na man of God of old, that \"being dead, he yet speaketh\"; and though\nabsent in body, he is present in Spirit; neither time nor place being\nable to interrupt the communion of saints, or dissolve the fellowship\nof the spirits of the just. His works praise him, because they are\nto the praise of Him that worked by him; for which his memorial is\nand shall be blessed. I have done, as to this part of my preface,\nwhen I have left this short epitaph to his name: \"Many sons have done\nvirtuously in this day, but, dear George, thou excellest them all.\"\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                                       PAGE\n\n  PREFACE,                                                9\n\n  INTRODUCTION,                                          15\n\n  THE TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM PENN CONCERNING THAT\n  FAITHFUL SERVANT, GEORGE FOX,                          46\n\n  I.--BOYHOOD--A SEEKER,                                 65\n  1624-1648.\n\n  II.--THE FIRST YEARS OF MINISTRY,                      90\n  1648-1649.\n\n  III.--THE CHALLENGE AND THE FIRST TASTE OF PRISON,    109\n  1648-1649.\n\n  IV.--A YEAR IN DERBY JAIL,                            118\n  1650-1651.\n\n  V.--ONE MAN MAY SHAKE THE COUNTRY FOR TEN\n  MILES,                                                132\n  1651-1652.\n\n  VI.--A NEW ERA BEGINS,                                150\n  1652.\n\n  VII.--IN PRISON AGAIN,                                179\n  1653.\n\n  VIII.--A VISIT TO OLIVER CROMWELL,                    197\n  1653-1654.\n\n  IX.--A VISIT TO THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES, WHICH ENDS\n  IN LAUNCESTON JAIL,                                   222\n  1655-1656.\n\n  X.--PLANTING THE SEED IN WALES,                       269\n  1656-1657.\n\n  XI.--IN THE HOME OF THE COVENANTERS,                  297\n  1657.\n\n  XII.--GREAT EVENTS IN LONDON,                         317\n  1658-1659.\n\n  XIII.--IN THE FIRST YEAR OF KING CHARLES,             331\n  1660.\n\n  XIV.--LABORS, DANGERS AND SUFFERINGS,                 363\n  1661-1662.\n\n  XV.--IN PRISON FOR NOT SWEARING,                      392\n  1662-1665.\n\n  XVI.--A YEAR IN SCARBOROUGH CASTLE,                   436\n  1665-1666.\n\n  XVII.--AT THE WORK OF ORGANIZING,                     459\n  1667-1670.\n\n  XVIII.--TWO YEARS IN AMERICA,                         482\n  1671-1673.\n\n  XIX.--THE LAST IMPRISONMENT,                          536\n  1673-1678.\n\n  XX.--THE SEED REIGNS OVER DEATH,                      562\n  1679-1691.\n\n\n  INDEX,                                                579\n\n[Illustration: Signature George Fox ]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nBoyhood--A Seeker.\n\n1624-1648.\n\n\nThat all may know the dealings of the Lord with me, and the various\nexercises, trials, and troubles through which He led me, in order\nto prepare and fit me for the work unto which He had appointed me,\nand may thereby be drawn to admire and glorify His infinite wisdom\nand goodness, I think fit (before I proceed to set forth my public\ntravels in the service of Truth) briefly to mention how it was with\nme in my youth, and how the work of the Lord was begun, and gradually\ncarried on in me, even from my childhood.\n\nI was born in the month called July, 1624, at Drayton-in-the-Clay,[1]\nin Leicestershire. My father's name was Christopher Fox; he was by\nprofession a weaver, an honest man; and there was a Seed of God in\nhim. The neighbours called him Righteous Christer. My mother was an\nupright woman; her maiden name was Mary Lago, of the family of the\nLagos, and of the stock of the martyrs.[2]\n\n  [1] Now called Fenny Drayton; a little hamlet about five miles\n  from Nuneaton, in a flat, though beautiful farming country. The\n  house in which George Fox was born has long since vanished,\n  and the few cottages which cluster here about the crossing of\n  two roads are of modern structure. An obelisk, with a long\n  inscription, stands within a hundred yards or so of the site of\n  the birthplace.\n\n  [2] This martyred ancestor of Mary Lago was probably a member of\n  the Glover family, of Mancetter, a few miles north of Drayton.\n  (See article on Fox in Dict. of Nat. Biog., which refers to\n  Riching's \"Mancetter Martyrs,\" 1860.)\n\nIn my very young years I had a gravity and stayedness of mind and\nspirit not usual in children; insomuch that when I saw old men behave\nlightly and wantonly towards each other, I had a dislike thereof\nraised in my heart, and said within myself, \"If ever I come to be a\nman, surely I shall not do so, nor be so wanton.\"\n\nWhen I came to eleven years of age I knew pureness and righteousness;\nfor while a child I was taught how to walk to be kept pure. The Lord\ntaught me to be faithful in all things, and to act faithfully two\nways, viz., inwardly, to God, and outwardly, to man; and to keep to\nYea and Nay in all things. For the Lord showed me that, though the\npeople of the world have mouths full of deceit, and changeable words,\nyet I was to keep to Yea and Nay in all things; and that my words\nshould be few and savoury, seasoned with grace; and that I might\nnot eat and drink to make myself wanton, but for health, using the\ncreatures[3] in their service, as servants in their places, to the\nglory of Him that created them.\n\n  [3] \"Creatures\" here and frequently means \"created things.\"\n\nAs I grew up, my relations thought to have made me a priest,[4] but\nothers persuaded to the contrary. Whereupon I was put to a man who\nwas a shoemaker[5] by trade, and dealt in wool. He also used grazing,\nand sold cattle; and a great deal went through my hands. While I was\nwith him he was blessed, but after I left him he broke and came to\nnothing.\n\n  [4] \"Priest\" here means clergyman in the established Church,\n  though the \"priests\" with whom he comes in contact in the early\n  years of his ministry are Presbyterian. The word is usually\n  employed for any minister who receives pay for preaching.\n\n  [5] This brief connection with shoemaking has been effectively\n  used by Carlyle in his famous characterization of George Fox.\n  (See \"Sartor Resartus,\" book iii., chapter 1: \"An Incident in\n  Modern History.\") There is, however, no historical foundation for\n  Carlyle's picture. Sewel denies that there was any connection\n  between Fox's suit of leather and \"his former leather-work.\"\n  Croese says the shoemaker and cattle grazer lived in Nottingham.\n\nI never wronged man or woman in all that time; for the Lord's\npower was with me and over me, to preserve me. While I was in that\nservice I used in my dealings the word Verily, and it was a common\nsaying among those that knew me, \"If George says verily, there is no\naltering him.\" When boys and rude persons would laugh at me, I let\nthem alone and went my way; but people had generally a love to me for\nmy innocency and honesty.\n\nWhen I came towards nineteen years of age, being upon business at\na fair, one of my cousins, whose name was Bradford, having another\nprofessor[6] with him, came and asked me to drink part of a jug of\nbeer with them. I, being thirsty, went in with them for I loved any\nwho had a sense of good, or that sought after the Lord.\n\n  [6] \"Professor\" means here and everywhere throughout this book a\n  nominal Christian. Our modern substitute for the expression would\n  be \"a church member.\"\n\nWhen we had drunk a glass apiece, they began to drink healths, and\ncalled for more drink, agreeing together that he that would not\ndrink should pay all. I was grieved that any who made profession of\nreligion should offer to do so. They grieved me very much, having\nnever had such a thing put to me before by any sort of people.\nWherefore I rose up, and, putting my hand in my pocket, took out a\ngroat, and laid it upon the table before them, saying, \"If it be so,\nI will leave you.\"\n\nSo I went away; and when I had done my business returned home; but\ndid not go to bed that night, nor could I sleep, but sometimes walked\nup and down, and sometimes prayed and cried to the Lord, who said\nunto me: \"Thou seest how young people go together into vanity, and\nold people into the earth; thou must forsake all, young and old, keep\nout of all, and be as a stranger unto all.\"\n\nThen, at the command of God, the ninth of the Seventh month, 1643,\nI left my relations, and broke off all familiarity or fellowship\nwith young or old. I passed to Lutterworth, where I stayed some time.\nFrom thence I went to Northampton, where also I made some stay; then\npassed to Newport-Pagnel, whence, after I had stayed awhile, I went\nto Barnet, in the Fourth month, called June,[7] in the year 1644.\n\n  [7] Until 1752 the English year began in March, so that by the\n  calendar then in use June was the fourth month. This method of\n  reckoning time runs through the entire book, and may be mentioned\n  here once for all.\n\nAs I thus traveled through the country, professors took notice of me,\nand sought to be acquainted with me; but I was afraid of them, for I\nwas sensible they did not possess what they professed.\n\nDuring the time I was at Barnet a strong temptation to despair came\nupon me. I then saw how Christ was tempted, and mighty troubles I was\nin. Sometimes I kept myself retired to my chamber, and often walked\nsolitary in the Chase to wait upon the Lord. I wondered why these\nthings should come to me. I looked upon myself, and said, \"Was I ever\nso before?\" Then I thought, because I had forsaken my relations I had\ndone amiss against them.\n\nSo I was brought to call to mind all my time that I had spent, and\nto consider whether I had wronged any; but temptations grew more and\nmore, and I was tempted almost to despair; and when Satan could not\neffect his design upon me that way, he laid snares and baits to draw\nme to commit some sin, whereof he might take advantage to bring me to\ndespair.\n\nI was about twenty years of age when these exercises came upon me;\nand some years I continued in that condition, in great trouble; and\nfain I would have put it from me. I went to many a priest to look for\ncomfort, but found no comfort from them.\n\nFrom Barnet I went to London, where I took a lodging, and was\nunder great misery and trouble there; for I looked upon the great\nprofessors of the city of London, and saw all was dark and under the\nchain of darkness. I had an uncle there, one Pickering, a Baptist;\nthe Baptists were tender[8] then; yet I could not impart my mind to\nhim, nor join with them; for I saw all, young and old, where they\nwere. Some tender people would have had me stay, but I was fearful,\nand returned homeward into Leicestershire, having a regard upon my\nmind to my parents and relations, lest I should grieve them, for I\nunderstood they were troubled at my absence.\n\n  [8] \"Tender\" is one of George Fox's favorite words. It will\n  come often. It means that the persons to whom it is applied are\n  religiously inclined, serious, and earnest in their search for\n  spiritual realities.\n\nBeing returned[9] into Leicestershire, my relations would have had me\nmarried; but I told them I was but a lad, and must get wisdom. Others\nwould have had me join the auxiliary band among the soldiery,[G] but\nI refused, and was grieved that they offered such things to me, being\na tender youth. Then I went to Coventry, where I took a chamber for\nawhile at a professor's house, till people began to be acquainted\nwith me, for there were many tender people in that town. After some\ntime I went into my own country again, and continued about a year, in\ngreat sorrow and trouble, and walked many nights by myself.\n\n  [9] From his return home in 1644, George Fox dates the beginning\n  of his religious society. (See _Epistles_, Vol. I., p. 10.\n  Philadelphia edition, 1831.)\n\n  [G] The Civil War was at its height.\n\nThen the priest of Drayton, the town of my birth, whose name was\nNathaniel Stephens, came often to me, and I went often to him; and\nanother priest sometimes came with him; and they would give place to\nme, to hear me; and I would ask them questions, and reason with them.\nThis priest, Stephens, asked me why Christ cried out upon the cross,\n\"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?\" and why He said, \"If it\nbe possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not my will, but thine,\nbe done\"? I told him that at that time the sins of all mankind were\nupon Him, and their iniquities and transgressions, with which He was\nwounded; which He was to bear, and to be an offering for, as He was\nman; but died not, as He was God; so, in that He died for all men,\ntasting death for every man, He was an offering for the sins of the\nwhole world.\n\nThis I spoke, being at that time in a measure sensible of Christ's\nsufferings. The priest said it was a very good, full answer, and\nsuch a one as he had not heard. At that time he would applaud and\nspeak highly of me to others; and what I said in discourse to him on\nweek-days, he would preach of on First-days,[10] which gave me a\ndislike to him. This priest afterwards became my great persecutor.\n\n  [10] It was a settled custom, in fact, a matter of conscience\n  with Fox, to avoid the names of the days and of the months. He\n  disliked them because they commemorated heathen divinities, and\n  he always makes a point of using numeral adjectives instead of\n  the names. It was not an original scruple with him, but a similar\n  position was taken by some of the leading \"Separatists\" before\n  the Commonwealth period. (See Barrow's \"False Churches,\" p. 204.)\n\nAfter this I went to another ancient priest[H] at Mancetter, in\nWarwickshire, and reasoned with him about the ground of despair and\ntemptations. But he was ignorant of my condition; he bade me take\ntobacco and sing psalms. Tobacco was a thing I did not love, and\npsalms I was not in a state to sing; I could not sing. He bade me\ncome again, and he would tell me many things; but when I came he was\nangry and pettish, for my former words had displeased him. He told\nmy troubles, sorrows, and griefs to his servants, so that it got out\namong the milk-lasses. It grieved me that I should have opened my\nmind to such a one. I saw they were all miserable comforters, and\nthis increased my troubles upon me. I heard of a priest living about\nTamworth, who was accounted an experienced man. I went seven miles to\nhim, but found him like an empty, hollow cask.\n\n  [H] Richard Abell.\n\nI heard also of one called Dr. Cradock, of Coventry, and went to\nhim. I asked him the ground of temptations and despair, and how\ntroubles came to be wrought in man? He asked me, \"Who were Christ's\nfather and mother?\" I told him, Mary was His mother, and that He was\nsupposed to be the Son of Joseph, but He was the Son of God.\n\nNow, as we were walking together in his garden, the alley being\nnarrow, I chanced, in turning, to set my foot on the side of a bed,\nat which the man was in a rage, as if his house had been on fire.\nThus all our discourse was lost, and I went away in sorrow, worse\nthan I was when I came. I thought them miserable comforters, and saw\nthey were all as nothing to me, for they could not reach my condition.\n\nAfter this I went to another, one Macham,[I] a priest in high\naccount. He would needs give me some physic, and I was to have been\nlet blood; but they could not get one drop of blood from me, either\nin arms or head (though they endeavoured to do so), my body being,\nas it were, dried up with sorrows, grief and troubles, which were\nso great upon me that I could have wished I had never been born, or\nthat I had been born blind, that I might never have seen wickedness\nor vanity; and deaf, that I might never have heard vain and wicked\nwords, or the Lord's name blasphemed.\n\n  [I] Of Atherstone.\n\nWhen the time called Christmas came, while others were feasting and\nsporting themselves I looked out poor widows from house to house,\nand gave them some money. When I was invited to marriages (as I\nsometimes was), I went to none at all; but the next day, or soon\nafter, I would go and visit them, and if they were poor I gave them\nsome money; for I had wherewith both to keep myself from being\nchargeable to others and to administer something to the necessities\nof those who were in need.[11]\n\n  [11] It is difficult to find out where George Fox's money came\n  from. He reports in the original MS. of the Journal, p. 17, a\n  remark his relatives made about him when he left home: \"When hee\n  went from us hee had a greate deale of gould and sillver about\n  him.\" He is always well supplied. He goes to inns, always has a\n  good horse, wears clean linen and frequently gives to charity. In\n  signed papers in the Spence collection he gives orders for the\n  disposal of money invested \"in ships and trade,\" as well as of\n  a thousand acres of land in Pennsylvania which William Penn had\n  assigned to him.\n\nAbout the beginning of the year 1646, as I was going to Coventry,\nand approaching towards the gate, a consideration arose in me, how\nit was said that \"All Christians are believers, both Protestants and\nPapists\"; and the Lord opened[12] to me that if all were believers,\nthen they were all born of God, and passed from death to life; and\nthat none were true believers but such; and, though others said they\nwere believers, yet they were not. At another time, as I was walking\nin a field on a First-day morning, the Lord opened unto me that\nbeing bred at Oxford or Cambridge was not enough to fit and qualify\nmen to be ministers of Christ; and I wondered at it, because it was\nthe common belief of people. But I saw it clearly as the Lord opened\nit unto me, and was satisfied, and admired the goodness of the Lord,\nwho had opened this thing unto me that morning. This struck at priest\nStephens's ministry, namely, that \"to be bred at Oxford or Cambridge\nwas not enough to make a man fit to be a minister of Christ.\" So that\nwhich opened in me I saw struck at the priest's ministry.\n\n  [12] This expression \"opened\" has a mystical import, and will\n  be of frequent occurrence. He means to say that it was directly\n  revealed in his soul so that he assuredly knew it to be true.\n  Often he uses the expression in reference to some truth which he\n  might easily have discovered in the Scriptures or have learned\n  from contemporary sources. But in this solemn way he announces\n  that this truth has now at length come to be a _living truth\n  for him_. It is no longer a mere statement of fact--it is a\n  principle, the truth of which he _sees_.\n\nBut my relations were much troubled that I would not go with them\nto hear the priest; for I would go into the orchard or the fields,\nwith my Bible, by myself. I asked them, \"Did not the Apostle say to\nbelievers that they needed no man to teach them, but as the anointing\nteacheth them?\" Though they knew this was Scripture, and that it was\ntrue, yet they were grieved because I could not be subject in this\nmatter, to go to hear the priest with them. I saw that to be a true\nbeliever was another thing than they looked upon it to be; and I saw\nthat being bred at Oxford or Cambridge did not qualify or fit a man\nto be a minister of Christ; what then should I follow such for? So\nneither them, nor any of the dissenting people, could I join with;\nbut was as a stranger to all, relying wholly upon the Lord Jesus\nChrist.\n\nAt another time it was opened in me that God, who made the world, did\nnot dwell in temples made with hands. This at first seemed a strange\nword, because both priests and people used to call their temples, or\nchurches, dreadful places, holy ground, and the temples of God. But\nthe Lord showed me clearly that He did not dwell in these temples\nwhich men had commanded and set up, but in people's hearts; for both\nStephen and the apostle Paul bore testimony that He did not dwell in\ntemples made with hands, not even in that which He had once commanded\nto be built, since He put an end to it; but that His people were His\ntemple, and He dwelt in them.\n\nThis opened in me as I walked in the fields to my relations' house.\nWhen I came there they told me that Nathaniel Stephens, the priest,\nhad been there, and told them he was afraid of me, for going after\nnew lights. I smiled in myself, knowing what the Lord had opened in\nme concerning him and his brethren; but I told not my relations,\nwho, though they saw beyond the priests, yet went to hear them,\nand were grieved because I would not go also. But I brought them\nScriptures,[J] and told them there was an anointing within man to\nteach him, and that the Lord would teach His people Himself.\n\n  [J] That is, gave them Scripture references.\n\nI had also great openings concerning the things written in the\nRevelations; and when I spoke of them the priests and professors\nwould say that was a sealed book, and would have kept me out of it.\nBut I told them Christ could open the seals, and that they were the\nnearest things to us; for the epistles were written to the saints\nthat lived in former ages, but the Revelations were written of things\nto come.\n\nAfter this I met with a sort of people that held women have no souls,\n(adding in a light manner), No more than a goose.[13] But I reproved\nthem, and told them that was not right; for Mary said, \"My soul doth\nmagnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.\"\n\n  [13] This was one of the many curious religious sects with which\n  the England of the Commonwealth was overrun. (See Edwards's\n  \"Gangr\u00e6na.\")\n\nRemoving to another place, I came among a people that relied much on\ndreams. I told them, except they could distinguish between dream and\ndream, they would confound all together; for there were three sorts\nof dreams; multitude of business sometimes caused dreams, and there\nwere whisperings of Satan in man in the night season; and there were\nspeakings of God to man in dreams. But these people came out of these\nthings, and at last became Friends.[14]\n\n  [14] \"Friends\" is here used for the first time in the Journal as\n  the name of the new denomination. It is not possible to determine\n  when the name was adopted or why it was chosen. When the Journal\n  was written the term had already become fixed and Fox uses it\n  without comment or explanation, referring it back to a period\n  before it came into use as the name of the Society. At first the\n  word \"friends\" was probably used in an untechnical sense for\n  those who were _friendly_, and little by little it hardened into\n  a name. At the very beginning they called themselves \"Children of\n  the Light.\"\n\nNow, though I had great openings, yet great trouble and temptation\ncame many times upon me; so that when it was day I wished for night,\nand when it was night I wished for day; and by reason of the openings\nI had in my troubles, I could say as David said, \"Day unto day\nuttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.\" When I had\nopenings they answered one another and answered the Scriptures; for I\nhad great openings of the Scriptures: and when I was in troubles, one\ntrouble also answered to another.\n\nAbout the beginning of the year 1647 I was moved of the Lord to go\ninto Derbyshire, where I met with some friendly people, and had\nmany discourses with them. Then, passing into the Peak country,[15]\nI met with more friendly people, and with some in empty high\nnotions.[16] Travelling through some parts of Leicestershire, and\ninto Nottinghamshire, I met with a tender people, and a very tender\nwoman, whose name was Elizabeth Hooton.[17] With these I had some\nmeetings and discourses; but my troubles continued, and I was often\nunder great temptations.\n\n  [15] In the northern part of Derbyshire.\n\n  [16] These were \"Ranters\" who will appear again and often. They\n  claimed to be perfect and above the possibility of sinning. Some\n  even went to the wild extreme of claiming to be Christ, or God.\n  They went on living for the most part much as they chose, and\n  justified their acts on the ground that it was God who was acting\n  in them. It is clearly apparent from this autobiography that such\n  persons were very numerous at the time. It will be noticed that\n  George Fox believes also in the possibility of freedom from sin,\n  but perfection as he holds it means something quite other than\n  this doctrine of the Ranters, as the Journal will show.\n\n  [17] Elizabeth Hooton was a woman of good standing, who was born\n  in Nottingham about the year 1600. She was the first person of\n  her sex to become a minister in the newly-gathered Society. The\n  preaching of women at this time was not entirely novel, as it\n  was allowed by several of the religious sects of the period.\n  Elizabeth Hooton had her faith severely tested by persecution and\n  long imprisonment. She performed two religious visits to America\n  and the West Indies and died in Jamaica in 1671.\n\nI fasted much, walked abroad in solitary places many days, and often\ntook my Bible, and sat in hollow trees and lonesome places till night\ncame on; and frequently in the night walked mournfully about by\nmyself; for I was a man of sorrows in the time of the first workings\nof the Lord in me.\n\nDuring all this time I was never joined in profession of religion\nwith any, but gave up myself to the Lord, having forsaken all evil\ncompany, taken leave of father and mother, and all other relations,\nand travelled up and down as a stranger in the earth, which way\nthe Lord inclined my heart; taking a chamber to myself in the town\nwhere I came, and tarrying, sometimes more, sometimes less, in a\nplace. For I durst not stay long in a place, being afraid both of\nprofessor and profane, lest, being a tender young man, I should be\nhurt by conversing much with either. For this reason I kept much as\na stranger, seeking heavenly wisdom and getting knowledge from the\nLord, and was brought off from outward things to rely on the Lord\nalone.\n\nThough my exercises and troubles were very great, yet were they not\nso continual but that I had some intermissions, and I was sometimes\nbrought into such an heavenly joy that I thought I had been in\nAbraham's bosom.\n\nAs I cannot declare the misery I was in, it was so great and heavy\nupon me, so neither can I set forth the mercies of God unto me in\nall my misery. O the everlasting love of God to my soul, when I was\nin great distress! When my troubles and torments were great, then\nwas His love exceeding great. Thou, Lord, makest a fruitful field a\nbarren wilderness, and a barren wilderness a fruitful field! Thou\nbringest down and settest up! Thou killest and makest alive! all\nhonour and glory be to thee, O Lord of Glory! The knowledge of Thee\nin the Spirit is life; but that knowledge which is fleshly works\ndeath.[18]\n\n  [18] All profound spiritual teachers contrast _wisdom_ and\n  _knowledge_--what is here called \"knowledge in the Spirit\" and\n  \"knowledge in the flesh,\" or, what is perhaps more frequently\n  called \"knowledge of the heart\" and \"knowledge of the head.\"\n  The latter expression means a knowledge of fact--the knowing\n  that a thing is so by evidence which satisfies the mind. The\n  former expression means the soul's immediate grasp of truth by\n  the test of practical experience. The goal in one case is the\n  establishment of some fact; the goal in the other case is the\n  production of positive life and character by the appreciation of\n  the truth.\n\nWhile there is this knowledge in the flesh, deceit and self will\nconform to anything, and will say Yes, Yes, to that it doth not know.\nThe knowledge which the world hath of what the prophets and apostles\nspake, is a fleshly knowledge; and the apostates from the life in\nwhich the prophets and apostles were have got their words, the Holy\nScriptures, in a form, but not in the life nor spirit that gave them\nforth. So they all lie in confusion; and are making provision for the\nflesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof, but not to fulfil the law and\ncommand of Christ in His power and Spirit. For that they say they\ncannot do; but to fulfil the lusts of the flesh, that they can do\nwith delight.\n\nNow, after I had received that opening from the Lord, that to be\nbred at Oxford or Cambridge was not sufficient to fit a man to be\na minister of Christ, I regarded the priests less, and looked more\nafter the Dissenting people.[K] Among them I saw there was some\ntenderness; and many of them came afterwards to be convinced, for\nthey had some openings.\n\n  [K] The \"Separatists\"--especially here the Congregationalists and\n  Baptists.\n\nBut as I had forsaken the priests, so I left the separate preachers\nalso, and those esteemed the most experienced people; for I saw there\nwas none among them all that could speak to my condition. When all\nmy hopes in them and in all men were gone, so that I had nothing\noutwardly to help me, nor could I tell what to do, then, oh, then, I\nheard a voice which said, \"There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can\nspeak to thy condition\";[19] and when I heard it, my heart did leap\nfor joy.\n\n  [19] Compare this great passage where George Fox describes his\n  conversion with Paul's account of the spiritual _fiat lux_ in\n  2 Cor. 4: 6, \"For God who commanded the light to shine out of\n  darkness [the first _fiat lux_] _hath shined in our hearts_ to\n  give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face\n  of Jesus Christ.\"\n\nThen the Lord let me see why there was none upon the earth that could\nspeak to my condition, namely, that I might give Him all the glory.\nFor all are concluded under sin, and shut up in unbelief, as I had\nbeen; that Jesus Christ might have the pre-eminence, who enlightens,\nand gives grace, and faith, and power. Thus when God doth work, who\nshall hinder it? and _this I knew experimentally_.\n\nMy desire after the Lord grew stronger, and zeal in the pure\nknowledge of God, and of Christ alone, without the help of any man,\nbook, or writing. For though I read the Scriptures that spoke of\nChrist and of God, yet I knew Him not, but by revelation, as He who\nhath the key did open, and as the Father of Life drew me to His Son\nby His Spirit. Then the Lord gently led me along, and let me see His\nlove, which was endless and eternal, surpassing all the knowledge\nthat men have in the natural state, or can obtain from history or\nbooks; and that love let me see myself, as I was without Him.\n\nI was afraid of all company, for I saw them perfectly where they\nwere, through the love of God, which let me see myself. I had not\nfellowship with any people, priests or professors, or any sort of\nseparated people, but with Christ, who hath the key, and opened the\ndoor of Light and Life unto me. I was afraid of all carnal talk and\ntalkers, for I could see nothing but corruptions, and the life lay\nunder the burthen of corruptions.\n\nWhen I myself was in the deep, shut up under all, I could not\nbelieve that I should ever overcome; my troubles, my sorrows, and my\ntemptations were so great that I thought many times I should have\ndespaired, I was so tempted. But when Christ opened to me how He was\ntempted by the same devil, and overcame him and bruised his head, and\nthat through Him and His power, light, grace, and Spirit, I should\novercome also, I had confidence in Him; so He it was that opened to\nme when I was shut up and had no hope nor faith. Christ, who had\nenlightened me, gave me His light to believe in; He gave me hope,\nwhich He Himself revealed in me, and He gave me His Spirit and grace,\nwhich I found sufficient in the deeps and in weakness.\n\nThus, in the deepest miseries, and in the greatest sorrows and\ntemptations, that many times beset me, the Lord in His mercy did keep\nme.\n\nI found that there were two thirsts in me--the one after the\ncreatures, to get help and strength there, and the other after\nthe Lord, the Creator, and His Son Jesus Christ. I saw all the\nworld could do me no good; if I had had a king's diet, palace, and\nattendance, all would have been as nothing; for nothing gave me\ncomfort but the Lord by His power. At another time I saw the great\nlove of God, and was filled with admiration at the infiniteness of it.\n\nOne day, when I had been walking solitarily abroad, and was come\nhome, I was taken up in the love of God, so that I could not but\nadmire the greatness of His love; and while I was in that condition,\nit was opened unto me by the eternal light and power, and I therein\nclearly saw that all was done and to be done in and by Christ, and\nhow He conquers and destroys this tempter the devil, and all his\nworks, and is atop of him; and that all these troubles were good for\nme, and temptations for the trial of my faith, which Christ had given\nme.\n\nThe Lord opened me, that I saw all through these troubles and\ntemptations. My living faith was raised, that I saw all was done by\nChrist the life, and my belief was in Him.\n\nWhen at any time my condition was veiled, my secret belief was stayed\nfirm, and hope underneath held me, as an anchor in the bottom of the\nsea, and anchored my immortal soul to its Bishop, causing it to swim\nabove the sea, the world, where all the raging waves, foul weather,\ntempests and temptations are. But O! then did I see my troubles,\ntrials, and temptations more clearly than ever I had done. As the\nlight appeared all appeared that is out of the light; darkness,\ndeath, temptations, the unrighteous, the ungodly; all was manifest\nand seen in the light.\n\nI heard of a woman in Lancashire that had fasted two and twenty days,\nand I travelled to see her; but when I came to her I saw that she\nwas under a temptation. When I had spoken to her what I had from the\nLord, I left her, her father being one high in profession.\n\nPassing on, I went among the professors at Duckingfield and\nManchester, where I stayed awhile, and declared truth among them.\nThere were some convinced who received the Lord's teaching, by which\nthey were confirmed and stood in the truth. But the professors\nwere in a rage, all pleading for sin and imperfection, and could\nnot endure to hear talk of perfection, and of a holy and sinless\nlife.[20] But the Lord's power was over all, though they were\nchained under darkness and sin, which they pleaded for, and quenched\nthe tender thing in them.\n\n  [20] At the very beginning of his ministry in 1647 George Fox\n  evidently preached the possibility of complete freedom from sin.\n  But he was very careful to avoid presenting the mere theory or\n  \"notion\" of perfection, which was common among all the types of\n  \"Ranters.\" He believed that Christ came to destroy sin, and he\n  stoutly held that when He ruled in a man sin and the dominion of\n  it were done away. Man could come into \"the condition Adam was\n  in before he fell,\" to use his own expression. One of his most\n  frequent challenges was to demand that modern Christians should\n  come into \"the same life and power which those were in who gave\n  forth the Scriptures.\" But George Fox's test of holiness was the\n  practical test of daily life. No man was to be accounted holy if\n  he were not _in fact_ holy.\n\nAbout this time there was a great meeting of the Baptists, at\nBroughton, in Leicestershire, with some that had separated from them,\nand people of other notions went thither, and I went also. Not many\nof the Baptists came, but many others were there. The Lord opened my\nmouth, and the everlasting truth was declared amongst them, and the\npower of the Lord was over them all. For in that day the Lord's power\nbegan to spring, and I had great openings in the Scriptures. Several\nwere convinced in those parts and were turned from darkness to light,\nfrom the power of Satan unto God, and many were raised up to praise\nGod. When I reasoned with professors and other people, some became\nconvinced.\n\nI went back into Nottinghamshire, and there the Lord showed me\nthat the natures of those things, which were hurtful without, were\nwithin, in the hearts and minds of wicked men. The natures of dogs,\nswine, vipers, of Sodom and Egypt, Pharaoh, Cain, Ishmael, Esau,\netc.; the natures of these I saw within, though people had been\nlooking without. I cried to the Lord, saying, \"Why should I be\nthus,[L] seeing I was never addicted to commit those evils?\" and\nthe Lord answered, \"That it was needful I should have a sense of all\nconditions, how else should I speak to all conditions!\" and in this I\nsaw the infinite love of God.\n\n  [L] That is, why should I have suffered such troubles and\n  temptations.\n\nI saw, also, that there was an ocean of darkness and death; but an\ninfinite ocean of light and love, which flowed over the ocean of\ndarkness. In that also I saw the infinite love of God, and I had\ngreat openings.\n\nThen came people from far and near to see me; but I was fearful of\nbeing drawn out by them; yet I was made to speak, and open things\nto them. There was one Brown, who had great prophecies and sights\nupon his death-bed of me. He spoke only of what I should be made\ninstrumental by the Lord to bring forth. And of others he spoke, that\nthey should come to nothing, which was fulfilled on some, who then\nwere something in show.\n\nWhen this man was buried a great work of the Lord fell upon me,\nto the admiration of many, who thought I had been dead, and many\ncame to see me for about fourteen days. I was very much altered\nin countenance and person, as if my body had been new moulded or\nchanged.[21] My sorrows and troubles began to wear off, and tears\nof joy dropped from me, so that I could have wept night and day with\ntears of joy to the Lord, in humility and brokenness of heart.\n\n  [21] For those who are interested in the psychology of George Fox\n  this is one of the most important passages in the Journal. These\n  sweeping psychical and physical changes are most significant.\n  On two other occasions of his life, which will be noted later,\n  he underwent similar, though perhaps profounder, changes. These\n  passages in the Journal reveal, to those who are familiar with\n  such phenomena, the fact that George Fox was subject to deep\n  subliminal transformations. The passage, too, throws much light\n  back upon his long travail through distress and darkness.\n\nI saw into that which was without end, things which cannot be\nuttered, and of the greatness and infinitude of the love of God,\nwhich cannot be expressed by words. For I had been brought through\nthe very ocean of darkness and death, and through and over the power\nof Satan, by the eternal, glorious power of Christ; even through that\ndarkness was I brought, which covered over all the world, and which\nchained down all and shut up all in death. The same eternal power of\nGod, which brought me through these things, was that which afterwards\nshook the nations, priests, professors and people.\n\nThen could I say I had been in spiritual Babylon, Sodom, Egypt, and\nthe grave; but by the eternal power of God I was come out of it, and\nwas brought over it, and the power of it, into the power of Christ. I\nsaw the harvest white, and the seed of God lying thick in the ground,\nas ever did wheat that was sown outwardly, and none to gather it; for\nthis I mourned with tears.\n\nA report went abroad of me, that I was a young man that had a\ndiscerning spirit; whereupon many came to me, from far and near,\nprofessors, priests, and people. The Lord's power broke forth, and I\nhad great openings and prophecies, and spoke unto them of the things\nof God, which they heard with attention and silence, and went away\nand spread the fame thereof.\n\nThen came the tempter and set upon me again, charging me that I had\nsinned against the Holy Ghost; but I could not tell in what. Then\nPaul's condition came before me, how after he had been taken up\ninto the third heaven, and seen things not lawful to be uttered,\na messenger of Satan was sent to buffet him. Thus by the power of\nChrist I got over that temptation also.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nThe First Years of Ministry\n\n1648-1649.\n\n\nAfter this[M] I went to Mansfield, where was a great meeting of\nprofessors and people. Here I was moved to pray; and the Lord's\npower was so great that the house seemed to be shaken. When I had\ndone, some of the professors said it was now as in the days of the\napostles, when the house was shaken where they were.[22] After I had\nprayed, one of the professors would pray, which brought deadness and\na veil over them; and others of the professors were grieved at him\nand told him it was a temptation upon him. Then he came to me, and\ndesired that I would pray again; but I could not pray in man's will.\n\n  [M] In the year 1648.\n\n  [22] William Penn gives the following testimony to Fox's power in\n  prayer:\n\n  \"But above all he excelled in prayer. The inwardness and weight\n  of his spirit, the reverence and solemnity of his address and\n  behaviour, and the fewness and fulness of his words, have often\n  struck, even strangers, with admiration, as they used to reach\n  others with consolation. The most awful, living, reverent frame I\n  ever felt or beheld, I must say, was his in prayer. And truly it\n  was a testimony he knew and lived nearer to the Lord than other\n  men.\"--Preface to George Fox's \"Journal.\"\n\nSoon after there was another great meeting of professors, and a\ncaptain, whose name was Amor Stoddard, came in. They were discoursing\nof the blood of Christ; and as they were discoursing of it, I saw,\nthrough the immediate opening of the invisible Spirit, the blood of\nChrist. And I cried out among them, and said, \"Do ye not see the\nblood of Christ? See it in your hearts, to sprinkle your hearts and\nconsciences from dead works, to serve the living God\"; for I saw it,\nthe blood of the New Covenant, how it came into the heart.[23]\n\n  [23] This is a characteristic illustration of the way Fox\n  passed beyond theories and doctrines, and demanded practical\n  _life-results_.\n\nThis startled the professors, who would have the blood only without\nthem, and not in them. But Captain Stoddard was reached, and said,\n\"Let the youth speak; hear the youth speak\"; when he saw they\nendeavoured to bear me down with many words.\n\nThere was also a company of priests, that were looked upon to be\ntender; one of their names was Kellett; and several people that were\ntender went to hear them. I was moved to go after them, and bid them\nmind the Lord's teaching in their inward parts. That priest Kellett\nwas against parsonages then; but afterwards he got a great one, and\nturned a persecutor.\n\nNow, after I had had some service in these parts, I went through\nDerbyshire into my own county. Leicestershire, again, and several\ntender people were convinced.\n\nPassing thence, I met with a great company of professors in\nWarwickshire, who were praying, and expounding the Scriptures in\nthe fields. They gave the Bible to me, and I opened it on the fifth\nof Matthew, where Christ expounded the law; and I opened the inward\nstate to them, and the outward state; upon which they fell into a\nfierce contention, and so parted; but the Lord's power got ground.\n\nThen I heard of a great meeting to be at Leicester, for a\ndispute, wherein Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists and\nCommon-prayer-men[N] were said to be all concerned. The meeting was\nin a steeple-house; and thither I was moved by the Lord God to go,\nand be amongst them. I heard their discourse and reasonings, some\nbeing in pews, and the priest in the pulpit; abundance of people\nbeing gathered together.\n\n  [N] That is, members of the English or Episcopal Church.\n\nAt last one woman asked a question out of Peter, What that birth\nwas, viz., a being born again of incorruptible seed, by the Word of\nGod, that liveth and abideth for ever? And the priest said to her,\n\"I permit not a woman to speak in the church\"; though he had before\ngiven liberty for any to speak. Whereupon I was wrapped up, as in a\nrapture, in the Lord's power; and I stepped up and asked the priest,\n\"Dost thou call this (the steeple-house) a church? Or dost thou call\nthis mixed multitude a church?\" For the woman asking a question, he\nought to have answered it, having given liberty for any to speak.\n\nBut, instead of answering me, he asked me what a church was? I told\nhim the church was the pillar and ground of truth, made up of living\nstones, living members, a spiritual household, which Christ was the\nhead of; but he was not the head of a mixed multitude, or of an old\nhouse made up of lime, stones and wood.[24]\n\n  [24] The Friends from the time of Fox until the present have\n  been careful to use the word \"church\" only for the community of\n  spiritual believers. The cathedrals and churches were called\n  \"steeple-houses,\" and their own places of worship were called\n  \"meeting-houses.\"\n\nThis set them all on fire. The priest came down from his pulpit, and\nothers out of their pews, and the dispute there was marred. I went\nto a great inn, and there disputed the thing with the priests and\nprofessors, who were all on fire. But I maintained the true church,\nand the true head thereof, over their heads, till they all gave out\nand fled away. One man seemed loving, and appeared for a while to\njoin with me; but he soon turned against me, and joined with a priest\nin pleading for infant-baptism, though himself had been a Baptist\nbefore; so he left me alone. Howbeit, there were several convinced\nthat day; the woman that asked the question was convinced, and her\nfamily; and the Lord's power and glory shone over all.\n\nAfter this I returned into Nottinghamshire again, and went into the\nVale of Beavor.[25] As I went, I preached repentance to the people.\nThere were many convinced in the Vale of Beavor, in many towns; for I\nstayed some weeks amongst them.\n\n  [25] A beautiful valley southwest of Nottingham, near the edge of\n  the counties of Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire, just west of\n  Bardon Hills.\n\nOne morning, as I was sitting by the fire, a great cloud came over\nme, and a temptation beset me; and I sat still. It was said, \"All\nthings come by nature\"; and the elements and stars came over me, so\nthat I was in a manner quite clouded with it. But as I sat still and\nsaid nothing, the people of the house perceived nothing. And as I sat\nstill under it and let it alone, a living hope and a true voice arose\nin me, which said, \"There is a living God who made all things.\"[26]\nImmediately the cloud and temptation vanished away, and life rose\nover it all; my heart was glad, and I praised the living God.\n\n  [26] See Whittier's poem, \"Revelation.\"\n\nAfter some time I met with some people who had a notion that there\nwas no God, but that all things come by nature. I had a great dispute\nwith them, and overturned them, and made some of them confess that\nthere is a living God. Then I saw that it was good that I had gone\nthrough that exercise.[O] We had great meetings in those parts;\nfor the power of the Lord broke through in that side of the country.\n\n  [O] He means experience.\n\nReturning into Nottinghamshire, I found there a company of shattered\nBaptists, and others. The Lord's power wrought mightily, and gathered\nmany of them. Afterwards I went to Mansfield and thereaway, where\nthe Lord's power was wonderfully manifested both at Mansfield and\nother towns thereabouts.\n\nIn Derbyshire the mighty power of God wrought in a wonderful manner.\nAt Eton, a town near Derby, there was a meeting of Friends,[27] where\nappeared such a mighty power of God that they were greatly shaken,\nand many mouths were opened in the power of the Lord God. Many were\nmoved by the Lord to go to steeple-houses, to the priests and people,\nto declare the everlasting truth unto them.\n\n  [27] There is no account of the origin of this meeting, which\n  seems to have been in existence before Fox came to Eton. There\n  seems to have been considerable definite work done which is\n  not detailed in the \"Journal.\" [See \"Epistles,\" Vol. I., page\n  2, \"Truth sprang up (to us as to be a people of the Lord) in\n  Derbyshire in 1647.\"] Eton is in Derbyshire.\n\nAt a certain time, when I was at Mansfield, there was a sitting of\nthe justices about hiring of servants; and it was upon me from the\nLord to go and speak to the justices, that they should not oppress\nthe servants in their wages. So I walked towards the inn where they\nsat; but finding a company of fiddlers there, I did not go in, but\nthought to come in the morning, when I might have a more serious\nopportunity to discourse with them.\n\nBut when I came in the morning, they were gone, and I was struck\neven blind, that I could not see. I inquired of the innkeeper where\nthe justices were to sit that day; and he told me, at a town eight\nmiles off. My sight began to come to me again; and I went and ran\nthitherward as fast as I could. When I was come to the house where\nthey were, and many servants with them, I exhorted the justices not\nto oppress the servants in their wages, but to do that which was\nright and just to them; and I exhorted the servants to do their\nduties, and serve honestly.[28] They all received my exhortation\nkindly; for I was moved of the Lord therein.\n\n  [28] This is an interesting illustration of Fox's sensitiveness\n  to wrong social conditions and of the practical character of his\n  religion.\n\nMoreover, I was moved to go to several courts and steeple-houses at\nMansfield, and other places, to warn them to leave off oppression\nand oaths, and to turn from deceit to the Lord, and to do justly.\nParticularly at Mansfield, after I had been at a court there, I\nwas moved to go and speak to one of the most wicked men in the\ncountry, one who was a common drunkard, a noted whore-master, and a\nrhyme-maker; and I reproved him in the dread of the mighty God, for\nhis evil courses.\n\nWhen I had done speaking, and left him, he came after me, and told me\nthat he was so smitten when I spoke to him, that he had scarcely any\nstrength left in him. So this man was convinced, and turned from his\nwickedness, and remained an honest, sober man, to the astonishment of\nthe people who had known him before.\n\nThus the work of the Lord went forward, and many were turned from\nthe darkness to the light, within the compass of these three years,\n1646, 1647 and 1648. Divers meetings of Friends, in several places,\nwere then gathered to God's teaching, by his light, Spirit, and\npower; for the Lord's power broke forth more and more wonderfully.\n\nNow I was come up in spirit through the flaming sword, into the\nparadise of God. All things were new; and all the creation gave unto\nme another smell than before, beyond what words can utter. I knew\nnothing but pureness, and innocency, and righteousness; being renewed\ninto the image of God by Christ Jesus, to the state of Adam, which\nhe was in before he fell. The creation was opened to me; and it was\nshowed me how all things had their names given them according to\ntheir nature and virtue.\n\nI was at a stand in my mind whether I should practise physic for the\ngood of mankind, seeing the nature and virtues of things were so\nopened to me by the Lord. But I was immediately taken up in spirit to\nsee into another or more steadfast state than Adam's innocency, even\ninto a state in Christ Jesus that should never fall. And the Lord\nshowed me that such as were faithful to Him, in the power and light\nof Christ, should come up into that state in which Adam was before he\nfell; in which the admirable works of the creation, and the virtues\nthereof, may be known, through the openings of that divine Word of\nwisdom and power by which they were made.\n\nGreat things did the Lord lead me into, and wonderful depths were\nopened unto me, beyond what can by words be declared; but as people\ncome into subjection to the Spirit of God, and grow up in the image\nand power of the Almighty, they may receive the Word of wisdom that\nopens all things, and come to know the hidden unity in the Eternal\nBeing.[29]\n\n  [29] This passage which records a striking personal experience is\n  undated. It is strangely like an experience of the great German\n  mystic, Jacob Boehme, whose works were published in England\n  about the time Fox was beginning his missionary labors. He, too,\n  had all nature opened to him, so that he says he saw the true\n  significance and essence of things. See Jacob Boehme, \"Signatura\n  Rerum,\" which was published in English in 1649. Muggleton, in his\n  \"Looking Glass for G. Fox\" (second edition, 1756, page 10), says\n  that the writings of Boehme are the \"chief books\" bought by the\n  followers of Fox.\n\nThus I travelled on in the Lord's service, as He led me. When I came\nto Nottingham, the mighty power of God was there among Friends.[30]\nFrom thence I went to Clawson, in Leicestershire, in the Vale of\nBeavor; and the mighty power of God appeared there also, in several\ntowns and villages where Friends were gathered.\n\n  [30] The name \"Friends\" is apparently used as formerly on page 77\n  to designate the gatherings of persons who sympathized with Fox's\n  message and who _afterwards_ were called \"Friends.\"\n\nWhile I was there the Lord opened to me three things relating to\nthose three great professions in the world,--law, physic, and\ndivinity (so called). He showed me that the physicians were out of\nthe wisdom of God, by which the creatures were made; and knew not\nthe virtues of the creatures, because they were out of the Word of\nwisdom, by which they were made. He showed me that the priests were\nout of the true faith, of which Christ is the author,--the faith\nwhich purifies, gives victory and brings people to have access to\nGod, by which they please God; the mystery of which faith is held in\na pure conscience. He showed me also that the lawyers were out of the\nequity, out of the true justice, and out of the law of God, which\nwent over the first transgression, and over all sin, and answered\nthe Spirit of God that was grieved and transgressed in man; and that\nthese three,--the physicians, the priests, and the lawyers,--ruled\nthe world out of the wisdom, out of the faith, and out of the equity\nand law of God; one pretending the cure of the body, another the cure\nof the soul, and the third the protection of the property of the\npeople. But I saw they were all out of the wisdom, out of the faith,\nout of the equity and perfect law of God.\n\nAnd as the Lord opened these things unto me I felt that His power\nwent forth over all, by which all might be reformed if they\nwould receive and bow unto it. The priests might be reformed and\nbrought into the true faith, which is the gift of God. The lawyers\nmight be reformed and brought into the law of God, which answers\nthat [indwelling Spirit] of God[31] which is [in every one, is]\ntransgressed in every one, and [which yet, if heeded] brings one to\nlove his neighbour as himself. This lets man see that if he wrongs\nhis neighbour, he wrongs himself; and teaches him to do unto others\nas he would they should do unto him. The physicians might be reformed\nand brought into the wisdom of God, by which all things were made and\ncreated; that they might receive a right knowledge of the creatures,\nand understand their virtues, which the Word of wisdom, by which they\nwere made and are upheld, hath given them.\n\n  [31] One could wish that this important account of Fox's\n  practical mission to the world were more clearly expressed than\n  is here done in his phraseology, which needs translation into\n  modern terms. There is, he means to say, a universal Divine\n  principle or law of life which finds expression or voice in every\n  soul. \"That of God\" in the individual \"answers\" or corresponds\n  with the universal Divine principle. But, unfortunately, this\n  Divine Light within is disobeyed, and thus men are astray--out of\n  their true life and function. Fox's mission is to call all such\n  to obedience to \"that of God\" within them.\n\nAbundance was opened concerning these things; how all lay out of the\nwisdom of God, and out of the righteousness and holiness that man at\nthe first was made in. But as all believe in the Light, and walk in\nthe Light,--that Light with which Christ hath enlightened every man\nthat cometh into the world,--and become children of the Light, and of\nthe day of Christ, all things, visible and invisible, are seen, by\nthe divine Light of Christ, the spiritual heavenly man, by whom all\nthings were created.\n\nMoreover, when I was brought up into His image in righteousness\nand holiness, and into the paradise of God He let me see how Adam\nwas made a living soul; and also the stature of Christ, the mystery\nthat had been hid from ages and generations: which things are\nhard to be uttered, and cannot be borne by many. For of all the\nsects in Christendom (so called) that I discoursed with, I found\nnone who could bear to be told that any should come to Adam's\nperfection,--into that image of God, that righteousness and holiness,\nthat Adam was in before he fell; to be clean and pure, without sin,\nas he was. Therefore how shall they be able to bear being told that\nany shall grow up to the measure of the stature of the fulness of\nChrist, when they cannot bear to hear that any shall come, whilst\nupon earth, into the same power and Spirit that the prophets and\napostles were in?--though it be a certain truth that none can\nunderstand their writings aright without the same Spirit by which\nthey were written.\n\nNow the Lord God opened to me by His invisible power that every man\nwas enlightened by the divine Light of Christ,[32] and I saw it\nshine through all; and that they that believed in it came out of\ncondemnation to the Light of life, and became the children of it;\nbut they that hated it, and did not believe in it, were condemned by\nit, though they made a profession of Christ. This I saw in the pure\nopenings of the Light without the help of any man; neither did I then\nknow where to find it in the Scriptures; though afterwards, searching\nthe Scriptures, I found it. For I saw, in that Light and Spirit which\nwas before the Scriptures were given forth, and which led the holy\nmen of God to give them forth, that all, if they would know God or\nChrist, or the Scriptures aright, must come to that Spirit by which\nthey that gave them forth were led and taught.\n\n  [32] This is the central teaching of George Fox. Everything else\n  comes out of this elemental truth. It is, as he says, clearly\n  enough taught in the Scriptures, but he now saw the truth as an\n  immediate revelation--as a primary fact of experience.\n\nOn a certain time, as I was walking in the fields, the Lord said unto\nme, \"Thy name is written in the Lamb's book of life, which was before\nthe foundation of the world\": and as the Lord spoke it, I believed,\nand saw in it the new birth. Some time after the Lord commanded me to\ngo abroad into the world, which was like a briery, thorny wilderness.\nWhen I came in the Lord's mighty power with the Word of life into\nthe world, the world swelled, and made a noise like the great raging\nwaves of the sea. Priests and professors, magistrates and people,\nwere all like a sea when I came to proclaim the day of the Lord\namongst them, and to preach repentance to them.\n\nI was sent to turn people from darkness to the Light, that they might\nreceive Christ Jesus; for to as many as should receive Him in His\nlight, I saw He would give power to become the sons of God; which\npower I had obtained by receiving Christ. I was to direct people to\nthe Spirit that gave forth the Scriptures, by which they might be led\ninto all truth, and up to Christ and God, as those had been who gave\nthem forth.\n\nYet I had no slight esteem of the holy Scriptures. They were very\nprecious to me; for I was in that Spirit by which they were given\nforth; and what the Lord opened in me I afterwards found was\nagreeable to them. I could speak much of these things, and many\nvolumes might be written upon them; but all would prove too short to\nset forth the infinite love, wisdom, and power of God, in preparing,\nfitting, and furnishing me for the service to which He had appointed\nme; letting me see the depths of Satan on the one hand, and opening\nto me, on the other hand, the divine mysteries of His own everlasting\nkingdom.\n\nWhen the Lord God and His Son Jesus Christ sent me forth into the\nworld to preach His everlasting gospel and kingdom, I was glad that I\nwas commanded to turn people to that inward Light, Spirit, and Grace,\nby which all might know their salvation and their way to God; even\nthat Divine Spirit which would lead them into all truth, and which I\ninfallibly knew would never deceive any.[33]\n\n  [33] The soul's own assurance of salvation was well proclaimed\n  by Luther, but the high and joyous experience was well-nigh lost\n  in Calvinistic England. Fox reaffirms the privilege of this\n  experience. He proclaims no man's infallibility, but rather the\n  infallibility of the Spirit, in union with which a man may know\n  that he pleases God.\n\nBut with and by this divine power and Spirit of God, and the Light of\nJesus, I was to bring people off from all their own ways, to Christ,\nthe new and living way; and from their churches, which men had made\nand gathered, to the Church in God, the general assembly written in\nheaven, of which Christ is the head. And I was to bring them off from\nthe world's teachers, made by men, to learn of Christ, who is the\nWay, the Truth, and the Life, of whom the Father said, \"This is my\nbeloved Son, hear ye Him\"; and off from all the world's worships, to\nknow the Spirit of Truth in the inward parts, and to be led thereby;\nthat in it they might worship the Father of spirits, who seeks such\nto worship Him. And I saw that they that worshipped not in the Spirit\nof Truth, knew not what they worshipped.\n\nAnd I was to bring people off from all the world's religions, which\nare vain, that they might know the pure religion; might visit the\nfatherless, the widows, and the strangers, and keep themselves from\nthe spots of the world. Then there would not be so many beggars,\nthe sight of whom often grieved my heart, as it denoted so much\nhard-heartedness amongst them that professed the name of Christ.\n\nI was to bring them off from all the world's fellowships, and\nprayings, and singings, which stood in forms without power; that\ntheir fellowship might be in the Holy Ghost, and in the Eternal\nSpirit of God; that they might pray in the Holy Ghost, and sing in\nthe Spirit and with the grace that comes by Jesus; making melody in\ntheir hearts to the Lord, who hath sent His beloved Son to be their\nSaviour, and hath caused His heavenly sun to shine upon all the\nworld, and His heavenly rain to fall upon the just and the unjust,\nas His outward rain doth, fall, and His outward sun doth shine on all.\n\nI was to bring people off from Jewish ceremonies, and from heathenish\nfables,[34] and from men's inventions and worldly doctrines, by which\nthey blew the people about this way and the other, from sect to\nsect; and from all their beggarly rudiments, with their schools and\ncolleges for making ministers of Christ,--who are indeed ministers\nof their own making, but not of Christ's; and from all their images,\nand crosses, and sprinkling of infants, with all their holy-days (so\ncalled), and all their vain traditions, which they had instituted\nsince the Apostles' days, against all of which the Lord's power was\nset: in the dread and authority of which power I was moved to declare\nagainst them all, and against all that preached and not freely, as\nbeing such as had not received freely from Christ.\n\n  [34] By a clear spiritual insight Fox saw how large a\n  contribution both Judaism and Paganism had made to the historic\n  church. He went to work to carry the reformation to its logical\n  conclusion. To re-instate primitive Christianity was his aim.\n\nMoreover, when the Lord sent me forth into the world, He forbade me\nto put off my hat to any, high or low; and I was required to Thee and\nThou all men and women, without any respect to rich or poor, great or\nsmall.[35] And as I travelled up and down I was not to bid people\nGood morrow, or Good evening; neither might I bow or scrape with my\nleg to any one; and this made the sects and professions to rage. But\nthe Lord's power carried me over all to His glory, and many came to\nbe turned to God in a little time; for the heavenly day of the Lord\nsprung from on high, and broke forth apace, by the light of which\nmany came to see where they were.\n\n  [35] The real principles here involved were simplicity of life,\n  equal respect for _all_ men alike, and strict sincerity. It must\n  be confessed that these principles have sometimes been lost sight\n  of, and dress and language have sometimes become a form to those\n  who opposed all forms.\n\nOh, the blows, punchings, beatings, and imprisonments that we\nunderwent for not putting off our hats to men! Some had their hats\nviolently plucked off and thrown away, so that they quite lost them.\nThe bad language and evil usage we received on this account are hard\nto be expressed, besides the danger we were sometimes in of losing\nour lives for this matter; and that by the great professors of\nChristianity, who thereby discovered they were not true believers.\n\nAnd though it was but a small thing in the eye of man, yet a\nwonderful confusion it brought among all professors and priests;\nbut, blessed be the Lord, many came to see the vanity of that custom\nof putting off the hat to men, and felt the weight of Truth's\ntestimony[P] against it.\n\n  [P] That is, the testimony of the Spirit.\n\nAbout this time I was sorely exercised in going to their courts to\ncry for justice, in speaking and writing to judges and justices to\ndo justly; in warning such as kept public houses for entertainment\nthat they should not let people have more drink than would do them\ngood; in testifying against wakes, feasts, May-games, sports, plays,\nand shows, which trained up people to vanity and looseness, and led\nthem from the fear of God; and the days set forth for holidays were\nusually the times wherein they most dishonoured God by these things.\n\nIn fairs, also, and in markets, I was made to declare against their\ndeceitful merchandise, cheating, and cozening; warning all to deal\njustly, to speak the truth, to let their yea be yea, and their nay be\nnay, and to do unto others as they would have others do unto them;\nforewarning them of the great and terrible day of the Lord, which\nwould come upon them all.\n\nI was moved, also, to cry against all sorts of music, and against\nthe mountebanks playing tricks on their stages; for they burthened\nthe pure life, and stirred up people's minds to vanity. I was\nmuch exercised, too, with school-masters and school-mistresses,\nwarning them to teach children sobriety in the fear of the Lord,\nthat they might not be nursed and trained up in lightness, vanity,\nand wantonness. I was made to warn masters and mistresses, fathers\nand mothers in private families, to take care that their children\nand servants might be trained up in the fear of the Lord, and that\nthemselves should be therein examples and patterns of sobriety and\nvirtue to them.\n\nThe earthly spirit of the priests wounded my life; and when I heard\nthe bell toll to call people together to the steeple-house, it struck\nat my life; for it was just like a market-bell, to gather people\ntogether, that the priest might set forth his ware for sale. Oh, the\nvast sums of money that are gotten by the trade they make of selling\nthe Scriptures, and by their preaching, from the highest bishop to\nthe lowest priest! What one trade else in the world is comparable\nto it? notwithstanding the Scriptures were given forth freely, and\nChrist commanded His ministers to preach freely, and the prophets\nand apostles denounced judgment against all covetous hirelings and\ndiviners for money.\n\nBut in this free Spirit of the Lord Jesus was I sent forth to declare\nthe Word of life and reconciliation freely, that all might come to\nChrist, who gives freely, and who renews up into the image of God,\nwhich man and woman were in before they fell, that they might sit\ndown in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nThe Challenge and the First Taste of Prison\n\n1648-1649.\n\n\nNow, as I went towards Nottingham, on a First-day, in the morning,\ngoing with Friends to a meeting there, when I came on the top of a\nhill in sight of the town, I espied the great steeple-house. And the\nLord said unto me, \"Thou must go cry against yonder great idol, and\nagainst the worshippers therein.\"\n\nI said nothing of this to the Friends that were with me, but went\non with them to the meeting, where the mighty power of the Lord was\namongst us; in which I left Friends sitting in the meeting, and went\naway to the steeple-house. When I came there, all the people looked\nlike fallow ground; and the priest (like a great lump of earth) stood\nin his pulpit above.\n\nHe took for his text these words of Peter, \"We have also a more sure\nWord of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto\na light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the\nday-star arise in your hearts.\" And he told the people that this was\nthe Scriptures, by which they were to try all doctrines, religions,\nand opinions.\n\nNow the Lord's power was so mighty upon me, and so strong in me, that\nI could not hold, but was made to cry out and say, \"Oh, no; it is\nnot the Scriptures!\" and I told them what it was, namely, the Holy\nSpirit, by which the holy men of God gave forth the Scriptures,\nwhereby opinions, religions, and judgments were to be tried; for\nit led into all truth, and so gave the knowledge of all truth.\nThe Jews had the Scriptures, and yet resisted the Holy Ghost, and\nrejected Christ, the bright morning star. They persecuted Christ\nand His apostles, and took upon them to try their doctrines by the\nScriptures; but they erred in judgment, and did not try them aright,\nbecause they tried without the Holy Ghost.\n\nAs I spoke thus amongst them, the officers came and took me away, and\nput me into a nasty, stinking prison;[36] the smell whereof got so\ninto my nose and throat that it very much annoyed me.\n\n  [36] This is one of the very few instances in his entire career\n  when Fox interrupted a minister. It was neither illegal nor\n  contrary to custom for any one to speak after the minister was\n  done--a privilege which Fox often used. On this particular\n  occasion, his feeling overmastered him, and he spoke before his\n  time.\n\nBut that day the Lord's power sounded so in their ears that they\nwere amazed at the voice, and could not get it out of their ears for\nsome time after, they were so reached by the Lord's power in the\nsteeple-house. At night they took me before the mayor, aldermen, and\nsheriffs of the town; and when I was brought before them, the mayor\nwas in a peevish, fretful temper, but the Lord's power allayed him.\nThey examined me at large; and I told them how the Lord had moved me\nto come. After some discourse between them and me, they sent me back\nto prison again. Some time after, the head sheriff, whose name was\nJohn Reckless, sent for me to his house. When I came in, his wife met\nme in the hall, and said, \"Salvation is come to our house.\" She took\nme by the hand, and was much wrought upon by the power of the Lord\nGod; and her husband, and children, and servants were much changed,\nfor the power of the Lord wrought upon them.\n\nI lodged at the sheriff's, and great meetings we had in his house.\nSome persons of considerable condition in the world came to them, and\nthe Lord's power appeared eminently amongst them.\n\nThis sheriff sent for the other sheriff, and for a woman they had\nhad dealings with in the way of trade; and he told her, before the\nother sheriff, that they had wronged her in their dealings with her\n(for the other sheriff and he were partners), and that they ought\nto make her restitution. This he spoke cheerfully; but the other\nsheriff denied it, and the woman said she knew nothing of it. But\nthe friendly sheriff said it was so, and that the other knew it well\nenough; and having discovered the matter, and acknowledged the wrong\ndone by them, he made restitution to the woman, and exhorted the\nother sheriff to do the like. The Lord's power was with this friendly\nsheriff, and wrought a mighty change in him; and great openings he\nhad.\n\nThe next market-day, as he was walking with me in the chamber, he\nsaid, \"I must go into the market, and preach repentance to the\npeople.\" Accordingly he went in his slippers into the market, and\ninto several streets, and preached repentance to the people. Several\nothers also in the town were moved to speak to the mayor and\nmagistrates, and to the people, exhorting them to repent. Hereupon\nthe magistrates grew very angry, sent for me from the sheriff's house\nand committed me to the common prison.\n\nWhen the assize came on, one person was moved to come and offer up\nhimself for me, body for body, yea, life also; but when I should have\nbeen brought before the judge, the sheriff's man being somewhat long\nin bringing me to the sessions-house, the judge was risen before I\ncame. At which I understood the judge was offended, and said, \"I\nwould have admonished the youth if he had been brought before me\":\nfor I was then imprisoned by the name of a youth. So I was returned\nto prison again, and put into the common jail.\n\nThe Lord's power was great among Friends; but the people began to be\nvery rude: wherefore the governor of the castle sent soldiers, and\ndispersed them. After that they were quiet. Both priests and people\nwere astonished at the wonderful power that broke forth. Several of\nthe priests were made tender, and some did confess to the power of\nthe Lord.\n\nAfter I was set at liberty from Nottingham jail, where I had been\nkept prisoner a pretty long time, I travelled as before, in the work\nof the Lord.\n\nComing to Mansfield-Woodhouse, I found there a distracted woman under\na doctor's hand, with her hair loose about her ears. He was about to\nlet her blood,[37] she being first bound, and many people about her,\nholding her by violence; but he could get no blood from her.\n\n  [37] This gives a glimpse at the medical practice of the\n  time. Fox frequently showed remarkable power in dealing\n  with cases of hysteria, such as the one here reported. He\n  evidently did not understand the nature of the disease. But his\n  commanding presence, his piercing eye (testified to by even\n  his persecutors), and the absolute assurance which his voice\n  gave that he was equal to the occasion, were worth a thousand\n  doctors with their lancets. Those who understand the psychology\n  of suggestion, and the effect of faith on certain diseases, will\n  hardly question the simple accounts given here and elsewhere.\n\nI desired them to unbind her and let her alone, for they could not\ntouch the spirit in her by which she was tormented. So they did\nunbind her; and I was moved to speak to her, and in the name of the\nLord to bid her be quiet; and she was so. The Lord's power settled\nher mind, and she mended. Afterwards she received the truth, and\ncontinued in it to her death; and the Lord's name was honoured.\n\nMany great and wonderful things were wrought by the heavenly power in\nthose days; for the Lord made bare His omnipotent arm, and manifested\nHis power, to the astonishment of many, by the healing virtue whereby\nmany have been delivered from great infirmities. And the devils were\nmade subject through His name; of which particular instances might be\ngiven, beyond what this unbelieving age is able to receive or bear.\n\nNow while I was at Mansfield-Woodhouse, I was moved to go to the\nsteeple-house there, and declare the truth to the priest and people;\nbut the people fell upon me in great rage, struck me down, and almost\nstifled and smothered me; and I was cruelly beaten and bruised by\nthem with their hands, and with Bibles and sticks. Then they haled me\nout, though I was hardly able to stand, and put me into the stocks,\nwhere I sat some hours; and they brought dog-whips and horse-whips,\nthreatening to whip me.\n\nAfter some time they had me before the magistrate, at a knight's\nhouse, where were many great persons; who, seeing how evilly I had\nbeen used, after much threatening, set me at liberty. But the rude\npeople stoned me out of the town, for preaching the Word of life to\nthem.\n\nI was scarcely able to move or stand by reason of the ill usage I\nhad received; yet with considerable effort I got about a mile from\nthe town, and then I met with some people who gave me something to\ncomfort me, because I was inwardly bruised; but the Lord's power soon\nhealed me again. That day some people were convinced of the Lord's\ntruth, and turned to His teaching, at which I rejoiced.\n\nThen I went into Leicestershire, several Friends accompanying me.\nThere were some Baptists in that country, whom I desired to see and\nspeak with, because they were separated from the public worship. So\none Oates, who was one of their chief teachers, and others of the\nheads of them, with several others of their company, came to meet us\nat Barrow; and there we discoursed with them.\n\nOne of them said that what was not of faith was sin, whereupon I\nasked them what faith was and how it was wrought in man. But they\nturned off from that, and spoke of their baptism in water. Then I\nasked them whether their mountain of sin was brought down and laid\nlow in them and their rough and crooked ways made smooth and straight\nin them,--for they looked upon the Scriptures as meaning outward\nmountains and ways.[38] But I told them they must find these things\nin their own hearts; at which they seemed to wonder.\n\n  [38] As everywhere, he is interested in the state of the person\n  himself, and in the real and vital things of religion. Many of\n  Fox's followers came from the Baptists.\n\nWe asked them who baptized John the Baptist, and who baptized Peter,\nJohn and the rest of the apostles, and put them to prove by Scripture\nthat these were baptized in water; but they were silent. Then I asked\nthem, \"Seeing Judas, who betrayed Christ, and was called the son of\nperdition, had hanged himself, what son of perdition was that of\nwhich Paul spoke, that sat in the temple of God, exalted above all\nthat is called God? and what temple of God was that in which this son\nof perdition sat?\" And I asked them whether he that betrays Christ\nwithin himself be not one in nature with that Judas that betrayed\nChrist without. But they could not tell what to make of this, nor\nwhat to say to it. So, after some discourse, we parted; and some of\nthem were loving to us.\n\nOn the First-day following we came to Bagworth, and went to a\nsteeple-house, where some Friends were got in, and the people locked\nthem in, and themselves, too, with the priest. But, after the priest\nhad done, they opened the door, and we went in also, and had service\nfor the Lord amongst them. Afterwards we had a meeting in the town,\namongst several that were in high notions.\n\nPassing thence, I heard of a people in prison at Coventry for\nreligion. As I walked towards the jail, the word of the Lord came to\nme, saying, \"My love was always to thee, and thou art in my love.\"\nAnd I was ravished with the sense of the love of God, and greatly\nstrengthened in my inward man. But when I came into the jail where\nthose prisoners were, a great power of darkness struck at me; and I\nsat still, having my spirit gathered into the love of God.\n\nAt last these prisoners began to rant, vapour, and blaspheme; at\nwhich my soul was greatly grieved. They said that they were God; but\nwe could not bear such things. When they were calm, I stood up and\nasked them whether they did such things by motion, or from Scripture.\nThey said, \"From Scripture.\" Then, a Bible lying by, I asked them for\nthat Scripture; and they showed me that place where the sheet was let\ndown to Peter; and it was said to him that what was sanctified he\nshould not call common or unclean. When I had showed them that that\nScripture made nothing for their purpose, they brought another, which\nspake of God's reconciling all things to Himself, things in heaven\nand things in earth. I told them I owned that Scripture also; but\nshowed them that it likewise was nothing to their purpose.\n\nThen, seeing they said that they were God, I asked them if they knew\nwhether it would rain to-morrow. They said they could not tell. I\ntold them God could tell. I asked them if they thought they should\nbe always in that condition, or should change. They answered that\nthey could not tell. \"Then,\" said I, \"God can tell, and He doth not\nchange. You say you are God, and yet you cannot tell whether you\nshall change or no.\" So they were confounded, and quite brought down\nfor the time.\n\nAfter I had reproved them for their blasphemous expressions, I went\naway; for I perceived they were Ranters. I had met with none before;\nand I admired the goodness of the Lord in appearing so unto me before\nI went amongst them. Not long after this one of these Ranters, whose\nname was Joseph Salmon, published a recantation; upon which they were\nset at liberty.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nA Year in Derby Jail\n\n1650-1651.\n\n\nAs I travelled through markets, fairs, and divers places, I saw\ndeath and darkness in all people where the power of the Lord God had\nnot shaken them. As I was passing on in Leicestershire I came to\nTwy-Cross, where there were excise-men. I was moved of the Lord to\ngo to them, and warn them to take heed of oppressing the poor; and\npeople were much affected with it.\n\nThere was in that town a great man that had long lain sick, and was\ngiven up by the physicians; and some Friends in the town desired me\nto go to see him. I went up to him in his chamber, and spoke the\nWord of life to him, and was moved to pray by him; and the Lord was\nentreated, and restored him to health. But when I was come down\nstairs, into a lower room, and was speaking to the servants, and to\nsome people that were there, a serving-man of his came raving out of\nanother room, with a naked rapier in his hand, and set it just to my\nside. I looked steadfastly on him, and said, \"Alack for thee, poor\ncreature! what wilt thou do with thy carnal weapon? It is no more\nto me than a straw.\" The bystanders were much troubled, and he went\naway in a rage and full of wrath. But when the news of it came to his\nmaster, he turned him out of his service.\n\nThus the Lord's power preserved me and raised up the weak man, who\nafterwards was very loving to Friends; and when I came to that town\nagain both he and his wife came to see me.\n\nAfter this I was moved to go into Derbyshire, where the mighty power\nof God was among Friends. And I went to Chesterfield, where one\nBritland was priest. He saw beyond the common sort of priests, for\nhe had been partly convinced, and had spoken much on behalf of Truth\nbefore he was priest there; but when the priest of that town died, he\ngot the parsonage, and choked himself with it. I was moved to speak\nto him and the people in the great love of God, that they might come\noff from all men's teaching unto God's teaching; and he was not able\nto gainsay.\n\nBut they had me before the mayor, and threatened to send me, with\nsome others, to the house of correction, and kept us in custody till\nit was late in the night. Then the officers, with the watchmen, put\nus out of the town, leaving us to shift as we could. So I bent my\ncourse towards Derby, having a friend or two with me. In our way we\nmet with many professors; and at Kidsey Park many were convinced.\n\nThen, coming to Derby, I lay at the house of a doctor, whose wife was\nconvinced; and so were several more in the town. As I was walking in\nmy chamber, the [steeple-house] bell rang, and it struck at my life\nat the very hearing of it; so I asked the woman of the house what\nthe bell rang for. She said there was to be a great lecture there\nthat day, and many of the officers of the army, and priests, and\npreachers were to be there, and a colonel, that was a preacher.\n\nThen was I moved of the Lord to go up to them; and when they had\ndone I spoke to them what the Lord commanded me, and they were\npretty quiet. But there came an officer and took me by the hand, and\nsaid that I and the other two that were with me must go before the\nmagistrates. It was about the first hour after noon that we came\nbefore them.\n\nThey asked me why we came thither. I said God moved us so to do; and\nI told them, \"God dwells not in temples made with hands.\" I told them\nalso that all their preaching, baptism and sacrifices would never\nsanctify them, and bade them look unto Christ within them, and not\nunto men; for it is Christ that sanctifies. Then they ran into many\nwords; but I told them they were not to dispute of God and Christ,\nbut to obey Him.[39]\n\n  [39] No single sentence better sums up George Fox's whole\n  theology than this: \"I told them they were not to dispute of God\n  and Christ, _but to obey Him_.\"\n\nThe power of God thundered among them, and they did fly like chaff\nbefore it. They put me in and out of the room often, hurrying me\nbackward and forward, for they were from the first hour till the\nninth at night in examining me. Sometimes they would tell me in a\nderiding manner that I was taken up in raptures.\n\nAt last they asked me whether I was sanctified. I answered, \"Yes; for\nI am in the paradise of God.\" Then they asked me if I had no sin. I\nanswered, \"Christ my Saviour has taken away my sin; and in Him there\nis no sin.\" They asked how we knew that Christ did abide in us. I\nsaid, \"By His Spirit, that He hath given us.\" They temptingly asked\nif any of us were Christ. I answered, \"Nay; we are nothing; Christ\nis all.\" They said, \"If a man steal, is it no sin?\" I answered, \"All\nunrighteousness is sin.\"[40]\n\n  [40] These answers sufficiently differentiate George Fox from the\n  \"Ranters.\"\n\nWhen they had wearied themselves in examining me, they committed me\nand one other man to the house of correction in Derby for six months,\nas blasphemers,[41] as may appear by the mittimus, a copy whereof\nhere followeth:\n\n  [41] Here begins Fox's first serious imprisonment. The charge\n  was direct and distinct. He was committed as a blasphemer. Under\n  the law passed by both Houses of Parliament, in 1648, Fox might\n  easily have been condemned to suffer a death penalty. It was an\n  offense, punishable by death, to deny that the Scriptures are the\n  Word of God, or that the bodies of men shall rise after they are\n  dead. It was blasphemy to say that the two sacraments of Baptism\n  and the Lord's Supper are not commanded by God. It was also\n  blasphemy to declare that man has by nature free will to turn to\n  God. It was, of course, not difficult to find a charge of the\n  violation of this drag-net act.\n\n  From Derby prison he wrote many letters, to the magistrates, to\n  the justices, to the \"priests,\" to the court at Derby, to the\n  mayor, to the individual justices, and to \"the ringers of bells\n  in steeple-houses.\" He calls them all to obedience to the light\n  within them. \"Mind that which is eternal and invisible.\" \"Keep in\n  the innocency and be obedient to the faith in Him.\"\n\n     \"To the master of the house of correction in Derby, greeting:\n\n     \"We have sent you herewithal the bodies of George Fox, late\n     of Mansfield, in the county of Nottingham, and John Fretwell,\n     late of Staniesby, in the county of Derby, husbandman, brought\n     before us this present day, and charged with the avowed uttering\n     and broaching of divers blasphemous opinions, contrary to the\n     late Act of Parliament; which, upon their examination before\n     us, they have confessed. These are therefore to require you\n     forthwith, upon sight hereof, to receive them, the said George\n     Fox and John Fretwell, into your custody, and them therein\n     safely to keep during the space of six months, without bail or\n     mainprize, or until they shall find sufficient security to be of\n     good behaviour, or be thence delivered by order from ourselves.\n     Hereof you are not to fail. Given under our hands and seals this\n     30th day of October, 1650.\n\n                                                 \"GERVASE BENNET,\n                                                 \"NATH. BARTON.\"\n\nWhile I was here in prison divers professors came to discourse with\nme. I had a sense, before they spoke, that they came to plead for\nsin and imperfection. I asked them whether they were believers and\nhad faith. They said, \"Yes.\" I asked them, \"In whom?\" They said, \"In\nChrist.\" I replied. \"If ye are true believers in Christ, you are\npassed from death to life; and if passed from death, then from sin\nthat bringeth death; and if your faith be true, it will give you\nvictory over sin and the devil, purify your hearts and consciences\n(for the true faith is held in a pure conscience), and bring you to\nplease God, and give you access to Him again.\"\n\nBut they could not endure to hear of purity, and of victory over sin\nand the devil. They said they could not believe any could be free\nfrom sin on this side of the grave. I bade them give over babbling\nabout the Scriptures, which were holy men's words, whilst they\npleaded for unholiness.\n\nAt another time a company of professors came, who also began to plead\nfor sin. I asked them whether they had hope. They said, \"Yes: God\nforbid but we should have hope.\" I asked them, \"What hope is it that\nyou have? Is Christ in you the hope of your glory? Doth it purify\nyou, as He is pure?\" But they could not abide to hear of being made\npure here. Then I bade them forbear talking of the Scriptures, which\nwere the holy men's words; \"for,\" said I, \"the holy men that wrote\nthe Scriptures pleaded for holiness in heart, life, and conversation\nhere; but since you plead for impurity and sin, which is of the\ndevil, what have you to do with the holy men's words?\"\n\nThe keeper of the prison, being a high professor, was greatly enraged\nagainst me, and spoke very wickedly of me; but it pleased the Lord\none day to strike him, so that he was in great trouble and under\nmuch terror of mind. And, as I was walking in my chamber I heard\na doleful noise, and, standing still, I heard him say to his wife,\n\"Wife, I have seen the day of judgment, and I saw George there; and I\nwas afraid of him, because I had done him so much wrong, and spoken\nso much against him to the ministers and professors, and to the\njustices, and in taverns and alehouses.\"\n\nAfter this, towards the evening, he came into my chamber, and said to\nme, \"I have been as a lion against you; but now I come like a lamb,\nand like the jailer that came to Paul and Silas trembling.\" And he\ndesired he might lodge with me. I told him I was in his power; he\nmight do what he would; but he said, \"Nay,\" that he would have my\nleave, and that he could desire to be always with me, but not to have\nme as a prisoner. He said he had been plagued, and his house had been\nplagued, for my sake. So I suffered him to lodge with me.\n\nThen he told me all his heart, and said that he believed what I had\nsaid of the true faith and hope to be true; and he wondered that the\nother man, who was put in prison with me, did not stand it; and said,\n\"That man was not right, but you are an honest man.\" He confessed\nalso to me that at those times when I had asked him to let me go\nforth to speak the word of the Lord to the people, when he refused\nto let me go, and I laid the weight thereof upon him, he used to be\nunder great trouble, amazed, and almost distracted for some time\nafter, and in such a condition that he had little strength left him.\n\nWhen the morning came he rose and went to the justices, and told\nthem that he and his house had been plagued for my sake. One of the\njustices replied (as he reported to me) that the plagues were upon\nthem, too, for keeping me. This was Justice Bennet, of Derby, who was\nthe first that called us Quakers, because I bade them tremble at the\nword of the Lord.[42] This was in the year 1650.\n\n  [42] This is the whole of our data for the origin of the name\n  \"Quaker.\" Fox told the Justice to tremble at the word of the\n  Lord, and the Justice thereupon fixed the name \"quaker\" upon him.\n  There is probably, however, something back of this particular\n  incident which helped give the name significance. The editors of\n  the New English Dictionary (see the word Quaker) have discovered\n  the fact that this name for a religious sect was not entirely\n  new at this time. Letter No. 2,624 of the Clarendon collection,\n  written in 1647, speaks of a sect from the continent possessed\n  of a remarkable capacity for trembling or quaking: \"I heare of a\n  sect of woemen (they are at Southworke) come from beyond the Sea,\n  called quakers, and these swell, shiver and shake, and when they\n  come to themselves (for in all this fitt Mahomett's holy-ghost\n  hath bin conversing with them) they begin to preach what hath\n  been delivered to them by the Spirit.\" It seems probable that\n  Justice Bennet merely employed a term of reproach already\n  familiar. It is, further, evident that the Friends themselves\n  were sometimes given to trembling, and that the name came into\n  general use because it fitted. (See Sewel's \"History of the\n  People Called Quakers,\" Vol. I., p. 63. Philadelphia, 1823.) The\n  name first appears in the records of Parliament, in the Journals\n  of the House of Commons, in 1654.\n\nAfter this the justices gave leave that I should have liberty to walk\na mile. I perceived their end, and told the jailer, that if they\nwould set down to me how far a mile was, I might take the liberty of\nwalking it sometimes. For I had a sense that they thought I would\ngo away. And the jailer confessed afterwards they did it with that\nintent, to have me go away, to ease them of their plague; but I told\nhim I was not of that spirit.\n\nWhile I was in the house of correction my relations came to see me;\nand, being troubled for my imprisonment, they went to the justices\nthat cast me into prison and desired to have me home with them,\noffering to be bound in one hundred pounds, and others of Derby in\nfifty pounds apiece with them, that I should come no more thither to\ndeclare against the priests.\n\nSo I was taken up before the justices; and because I would not\nconsent that they or any should be bound for me (for I was innocent\nof any ill behaviour, and had spoken the Word of life and truth unto\nthem), Justice Bennet rose up in a rage; and, as I was kneeling down\nto pray to the Lord to forgive him, he ran upon me, and struck me\nwith both his hands, crying, \"Away with him, jailer; take him away,\njailer.\" Whereupon I was taken again to prison, and there kept till\nthe time of my commitment for six months was expired.\n\nBut I had now the liberty of walking a mile by myself, which I made\nuse of as I felt freedom. Sometimes I went into the market and\nstreets, and warned the people to repent of their wickedness, and\nreturned to prison again. And there being persons of several sorts\nof religion in the prison, I sometimes visited them in their meetings\non First-days.\n\nWhile I was yet in the house of correction there came unto me a\ntrooper, and said that as he was sitting in the steeple-house,\nhearing the priest, exceeding great trouble fell upon him; and the\nvoice of the Lord came to him, saying, \"Dost thou not know that my\nservant is in prison? Go to him for direction.\" So I spake to his\ncondition, and his understanding was opened. I told him that that\nwhich showed him his sins, and troubled him for them, would show him\nhis salvation; for He that shows a man his sin is the same that takes\nit away.\n\nWhile I was speaking to him the Lord's power opened his mind, so that\nhe began to have a good understanding in the Lord's truth, and to be\nsensible of God's mercies. He spoke boldly in his quarters amongst\nthe soldiers, and to others, concerning truth (for the Scriptures\nwere very much opened to him), insomuch that he said that his colonel\nwas \"as blind as Nebuchadnezzar, to cast the servant of the Lord into\nprison.\"\n\nUpon this his colonel conceived a spite against him, and at Worcester\nfight, the year after, when the two armies lay near one another,\nand two came out from the king's army and challenged any two of\nthe Parliament army to fight with them, his colonel made choice of\nhim and another to answer the challenge. When in the encounter his\ncompanion was slain, he drove both his enemies within musket-shot of\nthe town without firing a pistol at them. This, when he returned,\nhe told me with his own mouth. But when the fight was over he saw\nthe deceit and hypocrisy of the officers, and, being sensible how\nwonderfully the Lord had preserved him, and seeing also to the end of\nfighting, he laid down his arms.\n\nThe time of my commitment to the house of correction being very\nnearly ended, and there being many new soldiers raised, the\ncommissioners would have made me captain over them; and the\nsoldiers cried out that they would have none but me. So the keeper\nof the house of correction was commanded to bring me before the\ncommissioners and soldiers in the market-place, where they offered\nme that preferment, as they called it, asking me if I would not take\nup arms for the Commonwealth against Charles Stuart. I told them I\nknew whence all wars arose, even from the lusts, according to James'\ndoctrine; and that I lived in the virtue of that life and power that\ntook away the occasion of all wars.[43]\n\n  [43] This is the true ground of opposition to war, namely, that\n  a Christian is to live a life that does away with the _occasion_\n  for war.\n\nYet they courted me to accept of their offer, and thought I did but\ncompliment them. But I told them I was come into the covenant of\npeace, which was before wars and strifes were. They said they offered\nit in love and kindness to me because of my virtue; and such-like\nflattering words they used. But I told them, if that was their love\nand kindness, I trampled it under my feet.\n\nThen their rage got up, and they said, \"Take him away, jailer, and\nput him into the prison amongst the rogues and felons.\" So I was put\ninto a lousy, stinking place, without any bed, amongst thirty felons,\nwhere I was kept almost half a year;[44] yet at times they would let\nme walk to the garden, believing I would not go away.\n\n  [44] He was imprisoned on a definite charge for six months, and\n  then, without any further trial, apparently because he would not\n  join Cromwell's army, he was held in close confinement for nearly\n  six months more.\n\nWhen they had got me into Derby prison, it was the saying of people\nthat I would never come out; but I had faith in God that I should\nbe delivered in His time; for the Lord had given me to believe that\nI was not to be removed from that place yet, being set there for a\nservice which He had for me to do.\n\nWhile I was here in prison there was a young woman in the jail for\nrobbing her master. When she was to be tried for her life I wrote to\nthe judge and jury, showing them how contrary it was to the law of\nGod in old time to put people to death for stealing, and moving them\nto show mercy. Yet she was condemned to die, and a grave was made for\nher, and at the time appointed she was carried forth to execution.\nThen I wrote a few words, warning all to beware of greediness or\ncovetousness, for it leads from God; and that all should fear the\nLord, avoid earthly lusts, and prize their time while they have\nit; this I gave to be read at the gallows. And, though they had\nher upon the ladder, with a cloth bound over her face, ready to\nbe turned off, yet they did not put her to death, but brought her\nback to prison, where she afterwards came to be convinced of God's\neverlasting truth.\n\nThere was also in the jail, while I was there, a wicked, ungodly man,\nwho was reputed a conjurer. He threatened that he would talk with\nme, and boasted of what he would do; but he never had power to open\nhis mouth to me. And the jailer and he falling out, he threatened\nto raise the devil and break his house down; so that he made the\njailer afraid. I was moved of the Lord to go in His power and rebuke\nhim, and to say to him, \"Come, let us see what thou canst do; do\nthy worst.\" I told him that the devil was raised high enough in him\nalready; but the power of God chained him down, so he slunk away from\nme.\n\nThe time of Worcester fight coming on, Justice Bennet sent constables\nto press me for a soldier, seeing I would not voluntarily accept of a\ncommand. I told them that I was brought off from outward wars. They\ncame again to give me press-money; but I would take none. Then I\nwas brought up to Sergeant Holes, kept there awhile, and taken down\nagain. Afterwards the constables brought me a second time before the\ncommissioners, who said I should go for a soldier; but I told them I\nwas dead to it. They said I was alive. I told them that where envy\nand hatred is there is confusion. They offered me money twice, but\nI refused it. Being disappointed, they were angry, and committed me\nclose prisoner, without bail or mainprize.\n\nGreat was the exercise and travail in spirit that I underwent during\nmy imprisonment here, because of the wickedness that was in this\ntown; for though some were convinced, yet the generality were a\nhardened people. I saw the visitation of God's love pass away from\nthem. I mourned over them.\n\nThere was a great judgment upon the town, and the magistrates were\nuneasy about me; but they could not agree what to do with me. One\nwhile they would have sent me up to the Parliament; another while\nthey would have banished me to Ireland. At first they called me\na deceiver, a seducer and a blasphemer. Afterwards, when God had\nbrought his plagues upon them, they styled me an honest, virtuous\nman. But their good report and bad report were nothing to me; for\nthe one did not lift me up, nor the other cast me down; praised be\nthe Lord! At length they were made to turn me out of jail, about the\nbeginning of winter, in the year 1651, after I had been a prisoner in\nDerby almost a year,--six months in the house of correction, and the\nrest of the time in the common jail.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nOne Man May Shake the Country for Ten Miles\n\n1651-1652.\n\n\nBeing again at liberty, I went on, as before, in the work of the\nLord, passing through the country into Leicestershire, having\nmeetings as I went; and the Lord's Spirit and power accompanied me.\n\nAs I was walking with several Friends, I lifted up my head and saw\nthree steeple-house spires, and they struck at my life. I asked them\nwhat place that was. They said, \"Lichfield.\" Immediately the Word of\nthe Lord came to me that I must go thither. Being come to the house\nwe were going to, I wished the Friends to walk into the house, saying\nnothing to them of whither I was to go. As soon as they were gone I\nstepped away, and went by my eye over hedge and ditch till I came\nwithin a mile of Lichfield, where, in a great field, shepherds were\nkeeping their sheep.\n\nThen was I commanded by the Lord to pull off my shoes. I stood\nstill, for it was winter; and the Word of the Lord was like a fire\nin me. So I put off my shoes, and left them with the shepherds; and\nthe poor shepherds trembled, and were astonished. Then I walked on\nabout a mile, and as soon as I was got within the city, the Word of\nthe Lord came to me again, saying, \"Cry, 'Woe to the bloody city of\nLichfield!'\" So I went up and down the streets, crying with a loud\nvoice, \"Woe to the bloody city of Lichfield!\" It being market-day, I\nwent into the market-place, and to and fro in the several parts of\nit, and made stands, crying as before, \"Woe to the bloody city of\nLichfield!\" And no one laid hands on me.\n\nAs I went thus crying through the streets, there seemed to me to be\na channel of blood running down the streets, and the market-place\nappeared like a pool of blood.\n\nWhen I had declared what was upon me, and felt myself clear, I went\nout of the town in peace, and, returning to the shepherds, I gave\nthem some money, and took my shoes of them again. But the fire of the\nLord was so in my feet, and all over me, that I did not matter to put\non my shoes again, and was at a stand whether I should or no, till\nI felt freedom from the Lord so to do; then, after I had washed my\nfeet, I put on my shoes again.\n\nAfter this a deep consideration came upon me, for what reason I\nshould be sent to cry against that city, and call it the bloody\ncity! For, though the Parliament had had the minster one while, and\nthe King another, and much blood had been shed in the town during\nthe wars between them, yet that was no more than had befallen many\nother places. But afterwards I came to understand, that in the\nEmperor Diocletian's time a thousand Christians were martyred in\nLichfield.[45]\n\n  [45] It must be remembered that this act of George Fox occurred\n  at the close of a year of imprisonment, part of which had been\n  in a horrible jail. He was throughout his life restless and\n  active to an extreme degree. For an entire year, just as his\n  work was getting well begun, he had been forced to live in this\n  nut-shell of a prison--day after day inactive. Now he was free\n  again, and the old restlessness to be doing something came upon\n  him with irresistible force. He was in no condition to inhibit\n  suggestions. It is quite possible that some subconscious memory\n  here gave the suggestion. In 1612 one Wightman was burned at the\n  stake in Lichfield, and the deed was fresh in the minds of men at\n  this time. Then the name Lichfield means \"field of dead bodies,\"\n  a name which doubtless had its origin in some baptism of blood,\n  and George in his boyhood may have heard some tale of those\n  bloody times.\n\nPassing on, I was moved of the Lord to go to Beverley steeple-house,\nwhich was then a place of high profession; and being very wet with\nrain, I went first to an inn. As soon as I came to the door, a young\nwoman of the house came to the door, and said, \"What, is it you? come\nin,\" as if she had known me before; for the Lord's power bowed their\nhearts. So I refreshed myself and went to bed; and in the morning,\nmy clothes being still wet, I got ready, and having paid for what I\nhad had in the inn, I went up to the steeple-house, where was a man\npreaching. When he had done, I was moved to speak to him, and to\nthe people, in the mighty power of God, and to turn them to their\nteacher, Christ Jesus. The power of the Lord was so strong, that it\nstruck a mighty dread amongst the people. The mayor came and spoke a\nfew words to me; but none of them had any power to meddle with me.\n\nSo I passed away out of the town, and in the afternoon went to\nanother steeple-house about two miles off. When the priest had\ndone, I was moved to speak to him, and to the people very largely,\nshowing them the way of life and truth, and the ground of election\nand reprobation. The priest said he was but a child, and could not\ndispute with me. I told him I did not come to dispute, but to hold\nforth the Word of life and truth unto them, that they might all know\nthe one Seed, to which the promise of God was given, both in the\nmale and in the female. Here the people were very loving, and would\nhave had me come again on a week-day, and preach among them; but I\ndirected them to their teacher, Christ Jesus, and so passed away.\n\nThe next day I went to Cranswick, to Captain Pursloe's, who\naccompanied me to Justice Hotham's. This Justice Hotham was a tender\nman, one that had had some experience of God's workings in his heart.\nAfter some discourse with him of the things of God, he took me into\nhis closet, where, sitting with me, he told me he had known that\nprinciple[Q] these ten years, and was glad that the Lord did now\npublish it abroad to the people. After a while there came a priest\nto visit him, with whom also I had some discourse concerning the\nTruth. But his mouth was quickly stopped, for he was nothing but a\nnotionist, and not in possession of what he talked of.\n\n  [Q] The light of Christ working on the heart.\n\nWhile I was here, there came a great woman of Beverley to speak to\nJustice Hotham about some business; and in discourse she told him\nthat the last Sabbath-day (as she called it) there came an angel or\nspirit into the church at Beverley, and spoke the wonderful things\nof God, to the astonishment of all that were there; and when it\nhad done, it passed away, and they did not know whence it came,\nnor whither it went; but it astonished all,--priest, professors,\nand magistrates of the town. This relation Justice Hotham gave me\nafterwards, and then I gave him an account of how I had been that day\nat Beverley steeple-house, and had declared truth to the priest and\npeople there.\n\nI went to another steeple-house about three miles off, where preached\na great high-priest, called a doctor, one of them whom Justice Hotham\nwould have sent for to speak with me. I went into the steeple-house,\nand stayed till the priest had done. The words which he took for\nhis text were these, \"Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the\nwaters; and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat, yea come,\nbuy wine and milk without money and without price.\"\n\nThen was I moved of the Lord God to say unto him, \"Come down, thou\ndeceiver; dost thou bid people come freely, and take of the water\nof life freely, and yet thou takest three hundred pounds a year of\nthem for preaching the Scriptures to them. Mayest thou not blush for\nshame? Did the prophet Isaiah, and Christ do so, who spoke the words,\nand gave them forth freely? Did not Christ say to His ministers, whom\nHe sent to preach, 'Freely ye have received, freely give'?\"\n\nThe priest, like a man amazed, hastened away. After he had left his\nflock, I had as much time as I could desire to speak to the people;\nand I directed them from the darkness to the Light, and to the grace\nof God, that would teach them, and bring them salvation; to the\nSpirit of God in their inward parts, which would be a free teacher\nunto them.\n\nHaving cleared myself amongst the people, I returned to Justice\nHotham's house that night. When I came in he took me in his arms, and\nsaid his house was my house; for he was exceedingly glad of the work\nof the Lord, and that His power was revealed.\n\nThence I passed on through the country, and came at night to an inn\nwhere was a company of rude people. I bade the woman of the house, if\nshe had any meat, to bring me some; but because I said Thee and Thou\nto her, she looked strangely on me. I asked her if she had any milk.\nShe said, No. I was sensible she spake falsely; and, being willing to\ntry her further, I asked her if she had any cream? She denied that\nshe had any.\n\nThere stood a churn in the room, and a little boy, playing about, put\nhis hands into it and pulled it down, and threw all the cream on the\nfloor before my eyes. Thus was the woman manifested to be a liar.\nShe was amazed, blessed herself, took up the child, and whipped it\nsorely: but I reproved her for her lying and deceit. After the Lord\nhad thus discovered her deceit and perverseness, I walked out of the\nhouse, and went away till I came to a stack of hay, and lay in the\nhay-stack that night, in rain and snow, it being but three days\nbefore the time called Christmas.\n\nThe next day I came into York, where were several very tender people.\nUpon the First-day following, I was commanded of the Lord to go and\nspeak to priest Bowles and his hearers in their great cathedral.\nAccordingly I went. When the priest had done, I told them I had\nsomething from the Lord God to speak to the priest and people. \"Then\nsay on quickly,\" said a professor, for there was frost and snow, and\nit was very cold weather. Then I told them that this was the Word of\nthe Lord God unto them,--that they lived in words, but God Almighty\nlooked for fruits amongst them.\n\nAs soon as the words were out of my mouth, they hurried me out, and\nthrew me down the steps. But I got up again without hurt, and went to\nmy lodging, and several were convinced there. For that which arose\nfrom the weight and oppression that was upon the Spirit of God in\nme, would open people, strike them, and make them confess that the\ngroans which broke forth through me did reach them, for my life was\nburthened with their profession without possession, and their words\nwithout fruit.\n\n     [After being thus violently tumbled down the steps of the great\n     minster, George Fox found his next few days crowded with hot\n     discussion. Papists and Ranters and Scotch \"priests\" made him\n     stand forth for the hope that was in him. The Ranters, he says,\n     \"had spent their portions, and not living in that which they\n     spake of, were now become dry. They had some kind of meetings,\n     but they took tobacco and drank ale in their meetings and were\n     grown light and loose.\" After the narrative of an attempt to\n     push him over the cliffs the account continues.]\n\nAnother priest sent to have a dispute with me, and Friends went with\nme to the house where he was; but when he understood we were come, he\nslipped out of the house, and hid himself under an hedge. The people\nwent and found him, but could not get him to come to us.\n\nThen I went to a steeple-house hard by, where the priest and people\nwere in a great rage. This priest had threatened Friends what he\nwould do; but when I came he fled; for the Lord's power came over him\nand them. Yea, the Lord's everlasting power was over the world, and\nreached to the hearts of people, and made both priests and professors\ntremble. It shook the earthly and airy spirit in which they held\ntheir profession of religion and worship; so that it was a dreadful\nthing to them when it was told them, \"The man in leathern breeches is\ncome.\"[46] At the hearing thereof the priests in many places got out\nof the way, they were so struck with the dread of the eternal power\nof God; and fear surprised the hypocrites.\n\n  [46] This is the foundation for the famous passage on George\n  Fox, in Carlyle's \"Sartor Resartus,\" Book III., Chap. 1. There\n  is, however, no foundation for Carlyle's picture of Fox cutting\n  and stitching his own leather suit. Sewel distinctly says that\n  these leather breeches had no connection with \"his former leather\n  work.\" Croese says that his entire suit was leather. This form of\n  dress was not very unusual at the time, and was probably chosen\n  for its durability.\n\n     [At Pickering he stood in \"the steeple-house yard\" and told the\n     people what his mission was, with as clear a claim to a divine\n     commission as a Hebrew prophet would have made.]\n\nI was sent of the Lord God of heaven and earth to preach freely, and\nto bring people off from these outward temples made with hands, which\nGod dwelleth not in; that they might know their bodies to become the\ntemples of God and of Christ; and to draw people off from all their\nsuperstitious ceremonies, Jewish and heathenish customs, traditions,\nand doctrines of men; and from all the world's hireling teachers,\nthat take tithes and great wages, preaching for hire, and divining\nfor money, whom God and Christ never sent, as themselves confess when\nthey say that they never heard God's nor Christ's voice. I exhorted\nthe people to come off from all these things, directing them to the\nSpirit and grace of God in themselves, and to the Light of Jesus in\ntheir own hearts; that they might come to know Christ, their free\nteacher, to bring them salvation, and to open the Scriptures to them.\n\nThus the Lord gave me a good opportunity to open things largely unto\nthem. All was quiet, and many were convinced; blessed be the Lord.\n\nI passed to another town, where was another great meeting, the old\npriest being with me; and there came professors of several sorts to\nit. I sat on a hay-stack, and spoke nothing for some hours; for I\nwas to famish them from words. The professors would ever and anon be\nspeaking to the old priest, and asking him when I would begin, and\nwhen I would speak? He bade them wait; and told them that the people\nwaited upon Christ a long while before He spoke.\n\nAt last I was moved of the Lord to speak; and they were struck by\nthe Lord's power. The Word of life reached to them, and there was a\ngeneral convincement amongst them.\n\nNow I came towards Cranswick, to Captain Pursloe's and Justice\nHotham's, who received me kindly, being glad that the Lord's power\nhad so appeared; that truth was spread, and so many had received it.\nJustice Hotham said that if God had not raised up this principle of\nLight and life which I preached, the nation would have been overrun\nwith Ranterism,[47] and all the justices in the nation could not\nhave stopped it with all their laws; \"Because,\" said he, \"they would\nhave said as we said, and done as we commanded, and yet have kept\ntheir own principle still. But this principle of truth,\" said he,\n\"overthrows their principle, and the root and ground thereof\"; and\ntherefore he was glad the Lord had raised up this principle of life\nand truth.\n\n  [47] This remark of Justice Hotham is an observation of\n  considerable historical significance.\n\nThe next day Friends and friendly people having left me, I travelled\nalone, declaring the day of the Lord amongst people in the towns\nwhere I came, and warning them to repent. I came towards night into\na town called Patrington. As I walked along the town, I warned both\npriest and people (for the priest was in the street) to repent and\nturn to the Lord. It grew dark before I came to the end of the town,\nand a multitude of people gathered about me, to whom I declared the\nWord of life.\n\nWhen I had cleared myself I went to an inn, and desired them to let\nme have a lodging; but they would not. I desired a little meat or\nmilk, and said I would pay for it; but they refused. So I walked out\nof the town, and a company of fellows followed, and asked me, \"What\nnews?\" I bade them repent, and fear the Lord.\n\nAfter I was gone a pretty way, I came to another house, and desired\nthe people to let me have a little meat, drink, and lodging for my\nmoney; but they denied me. I went to another house, and desired the\nsame; but they refused me also. By this time it was grown so dark\nthat I could not see the highway; but I discerned a ditch, and got a\nlittle water, and refreshed myself. Then I got over the ditch; and,\nbeing weary with travelling, I sat down amongst the furze bushes till\nit was day.\n\nAbout break of day I got up, and passed on over the fields. A man\ncame after me with a great pike-staff and went along with me to a\ntown; and he raised the town upon me, with the constable and chief\nconstable, before the sun was up. I declared God's everlasting\ntruth amongst them, warning them of the day of the Lord, that was\ncoming upon all sin and wickedness; and exhorted them to repent. But\nthey seized me, and had me back to Patrington, about three miles,\nguarding me with watch-bills, pikes, staves, and halberds.\n\nWhen I was come to Patrington, all the town was in an uproar, and\nthe priest and constables were consulting together; so I had another\nopportunity to declare the Word of life amongst them, and warn them\nto repent. At last a professor, a tender man, called me into his\nhouse, and there I took a little milk and bread, having not eaten for\nsome days before. Then they guarded me about nine miles to a justice.\n\nWhen I was come near his house, a man came riding after us, and asked\nme whether I was the man that was apprehended. I asked him wherefore\nhe asked. He said, \"For no hurt.\" I told him I was: so he rode away\nto the justice before us. The men that guarded me said it would be\nwell if the justice were not drunk before we got to him; for he used\nto get drunk early.\n\nWhen I was brought in before him, because I did not put off my hat,\nand because I said Thou to him, he asked the man that rode thither\nbefore me whether I was not mazed or fond.[R] The man told him, No;\nit was my principle.\n\n  [R] Foolish.\n\nI warned him to repent, and come to the light with which Christ had\nenlightened him; that by it he might see all his evil words and\nactions, and turn to Christ Jesus whilst he had time; and that whilst\nhe had time he should prize it. \"Ay, ay,\" said he, \"the Light that is\nspoken of in the third of John.\" I desired he would mind it, and obey\nit.\n\nAs I admonished him, I laid my hand upon him, and he was brought down\nby the power of the Lord; and all the watchmen stood amazed. Then\nhe took me into a little parlour with the other man, and desired to\nsee what I had in my pockets of letters or intelligence. I plucked\nout my linen, and showed him I had no letters. He said, \"He is not a\nvagrant, by his linen\"; then he set me at liberty.\n\nI went back to Patrington with the man that had rode before me to\nthe justice: for he lived at Patrington. When I came there, he would\nhave had me have a meeting at the Cross; but I said it was no matter;\nhis house would serve. He desired me to go to bed, or lie down upon\na bed; which he did, that they might say they had seen me in a bed,\nor upon a bed; for a report had been raised that I would not lie on\nany bed, because at that time I lay many times out of doors.[48] Now\nwhen the First-day of the week was come, I went to the steeple-house,\nand declared the truth to the priest and people; and the people did\nnot molest me, for the power of God was come over them. Presently\nafter I had a great meeting at the man's house where I lay, and many\nwere convinced of the Lord's everlasting truth, who stand faithful\nwitnesses of it to this day. They were exceedingly grieved that they\nhad not received me, nor given me lodging, when I was there before.\n\n  [48] Fox's power of endurance will be noticed in every part of\n  this autobiography. He sleeps under hedges, fences or haystacks.\n  He goes days without suitable food. He speaks in difficult places\n  as often as occasion presents, and goes through the attacks of\n  hostile crowds with an endurance which is astonishing. This iron\n  constitution carried him through the long imprisonments which\n  thinned the ranks of his co-laborers.\n\nThence I travelled through the country, even to the furthest part\nthereof, warning people, in towns and villages, to repent, and\ndirecting them to Christ Jesus, their teacher.\n\nOn the First-day of the week I came to one Colonel Overton's house,\nand had a great meeting of the prime of the people of that country;\nwhere many things were opened out of the Scriptures which they had\nnever heard before. Many were convinced, and received the Word of\nlife, and were settled in the truth of God.\n\nThen I returned to Patrington again, and visited those Friends that\nwere convinced there; by whom I understood that a tailor, and some\nwild blades in that town, had occasioned my being carried before\nthe justice. The tailor came to ask my forgiveness, fearing I would\ncomplain of him. The constables also were afraid, lest I should\ntrouble them. But I forgave them all, and warned them to turn to the\nLord, and to amend their lives.\n\nNow that which made them the more afraid was this: when I was in\nthe steeple-house at Oram, not long before, there came a professor,\nwho gave me a push on the breast in the steeple-house, and bade me\nget out of the church. \"Alas, poor man!\" said I, \"dost thou call\nthe steeple-house the Church? The Church is the people, whom God\nhath purchased with His blood, and not the house.\" It happened that\nJustice Hotham came to hear of this man's abuse, sent his warrant\nfor him, and bound him over to the sessions; so affected was he with\nthe Truth and so zealous to keep the peace. And indeed this Justice\nHotham had asked me before whether any people had meddled with me,\nor abused me; but I was not at liberty to tell him anything of that\nkind, but was to forgive all.\n\nThe next First-day I went to Tickhill, whither the Friends of that\nside gathered together, and a mighty brokenness by the power of God\nthere was amongst the people. I went out of the meeting, being moved\nof God to go to the steeple-house. When I came there, I found the\npriest and most of the chief of the parish together in the chancel.\n\nI went up to them, and began to speak; but they immediately fell\nupon me; the clerk up with his Bible, as I was speaking, and struck\nme on the face with it, so that my face gushed out with blood; and\nI bled exceedingly in the steeple-house. The people cried, \"Let us\nhave him out of the church.\" When they had got me out, they beat\nme exceedingly, threw me down, and turned me over a hedge. They\nafterwards dragged me through a house into the street, stoning and\nbeating me as they dragged me along; so that I was all over besmeared\nwith blood and dirt. They got my hat from me, which I never had\nagain. Yet when I was got upon my legs, I declared the Word of life,\nshowed them the fruits of their teacher, and how they dishonored\nChristianity.\n\nAfter awhile I got into the meeting again amongst Friends, and the\npriest and people coming by the house, I went with Friends into the\nyard, and there spoke to the priest and people. The priest scoffed at\nus, and called us Quakers. But the Lord's power was so over them, and\nthe Word of life was declared in such authority and dread to them,\nthat the priest fell a-trembling himself; and one of the people said,\n\"Look how the priest trembles and shakes; he is turned a Quaker also.\"\n\nWhen the meeting was over, Friends departed; and I went without my\nhat to Balby, about seven or eight miles. Friends were much abused\nthat day by the priest and his people: insomuch that some moderate\njustices hearing of it, two or three of them came and sat at the town\nto examine the business. He that had shed my blood was afraid of\nhaving his hand cut off for striking me in the church, as they called\nit; but I forgave him, and would not appear against him.\n\nThence I went to Wakefield; and on the First-day after, I went\nto a steeple-house where James Nayler[49] had been a member of\nan Independent church; but upon his receiving truth, he was\nexcommunicated. When I came in, and the priest had done, the people\ncalled upon me to come up to the priest, which I did; but when I\nbegan to declare the Word of life to them, and to lay open the deceit\nof the priest, they rushed upon me suddenly, thrust me out at the\nother door, punching and beating me, and cried, \"Let us have him to\nthe stocks.\" But the Lord's power restrained them, that they were not\nsuffered to put me in.\n\n  [49] This James Nayler, who left his Independent church to become\n  a Quaker had a future history of pathetic interest. He was a\n  powerful minister, and his very success led to his downfall,\n  which will be recorded in the proper place later on.\n\nSo I passed away to the meeting, where were a great many professors\nand friendly people gathered, and a great convincement there was that\nday; for the people were mightily satisfied that they were directed\nto the Lord's teaching _in themselves_. Here we got some lodging; for\nfour of us had lain under a hedge the night before, there being then\nfew Friends in that place.\n\nThe priest of that church, of which James Nayler had been a member,\nwhose name was Marshall, raised many wicked slanders about me, as\nthat I carried bottles with me, and made people drink of them, which\nmade them follow me; and that I rode upon a great black horse, and\nwas seen in one country upon it in one hour, and at the same hour in\nanother country threescore miles off; and that I would give a fellow\nmoney to follow me, when I was on my black horse. With these lies\nhe fed his people, to make them think evil of the truth which I had\ndeclared amongst them. But by these lies he preached many of his\nhearers away from him; for I was then travelling on foot, and had no\nhorse at that time; which the people generally knew.\n\nAs we travelled through the country, preaching repentance to the\npeople, we came into a market-town, where a lecture was held that\nday. I went into the steeple-house, where many priests, professors\nand people were. The priest that preached took for his text those\nwords of Jeremiah 5:31, \"My people love to have it so\": leaving out\nthe foregoing words, viz.: \"The prophets prophesy falsely, and the\npriests bear rule by their means.\" I showed the people his deceit;\nand directed them to Christ, the true teacher within; declaring that\nGod was come to teach His people himself, and to bring them off\nfrom all the world's teachers and hirelings; that they might come\nto receive freely from Him. Then, warning them of the day of the\nLord that was coming upon all flesh, I passed thence without much\nopposition.\n\nAt night we came to a country place, where there was no public house\nnear. The people desired us to stay all night; which we did, and had\ngood service for the Lord, declaring His truth amongst them.\n\nThe Lord had said unto me that if but one man or woman were raised\nby His power to stand and live in the same Spirit that the prophets\nand apostles were in who gave forth the Scriptures, that man or woman\nshould shake all the country in their profession[S] for ten miles\nround. For people had the Scriptures, but were not in the same Light,\npower, and Spirit which those were in who gave forth the Scriptures;\nso they neither knew God, Christ, nor the Scriptures aright; nor had\nthey unity one with another, being out of the power and Spirit of\nGod. Therefore we warned all, wherever we met them, of the day of the\nLord that was coming upon them.\n\n  [S] \"All the country in their profession\" means \"all the people\n  throughout the country who are mere nominal Christians.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nA New Era Begins\n\n1652.\n\n\nAs we travelled we came near a very great hill, called Pendle Hill,\nand I was moved of the Lord to go up to the top of it; which I did\nwith difficulty, it was so very steep and high. When I was come to\nthe top, I saw the sea bordering upon Lancashire. From the top of\nthis hill the Lord let me see in what places he had a great people to\nbe gathered. As I went down, I found a spring of water in the side of\nthe hill, with which I refreshed myself, having eaten or drunk but\nlittle for several days before.[50]\n\n  [50] This spring is still called \"George Fox's well.\"\n\nAt night we came to an inn, and declared truth to the man of the\nhouse, and wrote a paper to the priests and professors, declaring the\nday of the Lord, and that Christ was come to teach people Himself, by\nHis power and Spirit in their hearts, and to bring people off from\nall the world's ways and teachers, to His own free teaching, who\nhad bought them, and was the Saviour of all them that believed in\nHim. The man of the house spread the paper abroad, and was mightily\naffected with the truth. Here the Lord opened unto me, and let me\nsee a great people in white raiment by a river side, coming to the\nLord; and the place that I saw them in was about Wensleydale and\nSedbergh.[51]\n\n  [51] No part of Fox's life is more remarkable than these few\n  months of service that follow in Westmoreland--\"in and about\n  Wensleydale and Sedbergh.\" Here he gathers about himself a band\n  of preachers only slightly less gifted than himself. He wins\n  the support of the Fells of Swarthmore Hall, which becomes\n  henceforth a sort of headquarters to the movement, and he gains\n  the incalculable assistance of Margaret Fell,--for many years a\n  wise and faithful friend, and finally his wife.\n\nThe next day we travelled on, and at night got a little fern or\nbracken to put under us, and lay upon a common. Next morning we\nreached a town, where Richard Farnsworth[52] parted from me; and\nthen I travelled alone again. I came up Wensleydale, and at the\nmarket-town in that Dale, there was a lecture on the market-day.\nI went into the steeple-house; and after the priest had done I\nproclaimed the day of the Lord to the priest and people, warning\nthem to turn from darkness to the Light, and from the power of Satan\nunto God, that they might come to know God and Christ aright, and to\nreceive His teaching, who teacheth freely. Largely and freely did\nI declare the Word of life unto them, and had not much persecution\nthere.\n\n  [52] Richard Farnsworth was \"convinced\" at Balby in 1651, and\n  became one of George Fox's most valuable helpers.\n\nAfterwards I passed up the Dales, warning people to fear God, and\npreaching the everlasting gospel to them. In my way I came to a great\nhouse, where was a schoolmaster; and they got me into the house. I\nasked them questions about their religion and worship; and afterwards\nI declared the truth to them. They had me into a parlour, and locked\nme in, pretending that I was a young man that was mad, and had run\naway from my relations; and that they would keep me till they could\nsend to them. But I soon convinced them of their mistake, and they\nlet me forth, and would have had me to stay; but I was not to stay\nthere.\n\nThen having exhorted them to repentance, and directed them to the\nLight of Christ Jesus, that through it they might come unto Him and\nbe saved, I passed from them, and came in the night to a little\nale-house on a common, where there was a company of rude fellows\ndrinking. Because I would not drink with them, they struck me with\ntheir clubs; but I reproved them, and brought them to be somewhat\ncooler; and then I walked out of the house upon the common in the\nnight.\n\nAfter some time one of these drunken fellows came out, and would have\ncome close up to me, pretending to whisper to me; but I perceived he\nhad a knife; and therefore I kept off him, and bade him repent, and\nfear God. So the Lord by His power preserved me from this wicked man;\nand he went into the house again. The next morning I went on through\nother Dales, warning and exhorting people everywhere as I passed,\nto repent and turn to the Lord: and several were convinced. At one\nhouse that I came to, the man of the house (whom I afterwards found\nto be a kinsman of John Blakelin's) would have given me money, but I\nwould not receive it.\n\nThe next day I went to a meeting at Justice Benson's, where I met\na people that were separated from the public worship. This was the\nplace I had seen, where a people came forth in white raiment. A large\nmeeting it was, and the people were generally convinced; and they\ncontinue still a large meeting of Friends near Sedbergh; which was\nthen first gathered through my ministry in the name of Jesus.\n\nIn the same week there was a great fair, at which servants used to\nbe hired; and I declared the day of the Lord through the fair. After\nI had done so, I went into the steeple-house yard, and many of the\npeople of the fair came thither to me, and abundance of priests and\nprofessors. There I declared the everlasting truth of the Lord and\nthe Word of life for several hours, showing that the Lord was come to\nteach His people Himself, and to bring them off from all the world's\nways and teachers, to Christ, the true teacher, and the true way to\nGod. I laid open their teachers, showing that they were like them\nthat were of old condemned by the prophets, and by Christ, and by the\napostles. I exhorted the people to come off from the temples made\nwith hands; and wait to receive the Spirit of the Lord, that they\nmight know themselves to be the temples of God.\n\nNot one of the priests had power to open his mouth against what I\ndeclared: but at last a captain said, \"Why will you not go into the\nchurch? this is not a fit place to preach in.\" I told him I denied\ntheir church. Then stood up Francis Howgill, who was preacher to a\ncongregation. He had not seen me before; yet he undertook to answer\nthat captain; and he soon put him to silence. Then said Francis\nHowgill of me, \"This man speaks with authority, and not as the\nscribes.\"\n\nAfter this, I opened to the people that that ground and house were no\nholier than another place; and that the house is not the Church, but\nthe people, of whom Christ is the head. After awhile the priests came\nup to me, and I warned them to repent. One of them said I was mad; so\nthey turned away. But many were convinced there that day, who were\nglad to hear the truth declared, and received it with joy. Amongst\nthese was Captain Ward, who received the truth in the love of it, and\nlived and died in it.\n\nThe next First-day I came to Firbank chapel in Westmoreland, where\nFrancis Howgill and John Audland[53] had been preaching in the\nmorning. The chapel was full of people, so that many could not get\nin. Francis said he thought I looked into the chapel, and his spirit\nwas ready to fail, the Lord's power did so surprise him: but I did\nnot look in. They made haste, and had quickly done, and they and some\nof the people went to dinner; but abundance stayed till they came\nagain. John Blakelin and others came to me, and desired me not to\nreprove them publicly; for they were not parish-teachers, but pretty\ntender men. I could not tell them whether I should or no, though I\nhad not at that time any drawings to declare publicly against them;\nbut I said they must leave me to the Lord's movings.\n\n  [53] Howgill and Audland became two of the little band of\n  powerful ministers who gave their lives to the proclamation of\n  the truth as Fox interpreted it.\n\nWhile others were gone to dinner, I went to a brook, got a little\nwater, and then came and sat down on the top of a rock hard by the\nchapel. In the afternoon the people gathered about me, with several\nof their preachers. It was judged there were above a thousand people;\nto whom I declared God's everlasting truth and Word of life freely\nand largely for about the space of three hours. I directed all to the\nSpirit of God in themselves; that they might be turned from darkness\nto Light, and believe in it; that they might become the children of\nit, and might be turned from the power of Satan unto God; and by the\nSpirit of truth might be led into all truth, and sensibly understand\nthe words of the prophets, of Christ, and of the apostles; and might\nall come to know Christ to be their teacher to instruct them, their\ncounsellor to direct them, their shepherd to feed them, their bishop\nto oversee them, and their prophet to open divine mysteries to them;\nand might know their bodies to be prepared, sanctified, and made fit\ntemples for God and Christ to dwell in. In the openings of heavenly\nlife I explained unto them the prophets, and the figures and shadows,\nand directed them to Christ, the substance. Then I opened the\nparables and sayings of Christ, and things that had been long hid.\n\nNow there were many old people who went into the chapel and looked\nout at the windows, thinking it a strange thing to see a man preach\non a hill, and not in their church, as they called it; whereupon\nI was moved to open to the people that the steeple-house, and the\nground whereon it stood were no more holy than that mountain; and\nthat those temples, which they called the dreadful houses of God were\nnot set up by the command of God and of Christ; nor their priests\ncalled, as Aaron's priesthood was; nor their tithes appointed by God,\nas those amongst the Jews were; but that Christ was come, who ended\nboth the temple and its worship, and the priests and their tithes;\nand that all should now hearken unto Him; for He said, \"Learn of\nme\"; and God said of Him, \"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well\npleased; hear ye Him.\"\n\nI declared unto them that the Lord God had sent me to preach the\neverlasting gospel and Word of life amongst them, and to bring\nthem off from all these temples, tithes, priests, and rudiments of\nthe world, which had been instituted since the apostles' days, and\nhad been set up by such as had erred from the Spirit and power the\napostles were in. Very largely was I opened at this meeting, and\nthe Lord's convincing power accompanied my ministry, and reached\nthe hearts of the people, whereby many were convinced; and all the\nteachers of that congregation (who were many) were convinced of God's\neverlasting truth.\n\nAt Kendal a meeting was held in the Town-hall. Several were convinced\nand many were loving. One whose name was Cock met me in the street\nand would have given me a roll of tobacco, for people were then\nmuch given to smoking. I accepted his love, but did not receive his\ntobacco.\n\nThence I went to Underbarrow, and several people going along with me,\ngreat reasonings I had with them, especially with Edward Burrough.[54]\n\n  [54] Edward Burrough has been called the Whitefield of Quakerism.\n  He possessed a trained mind and unusual original power. He was\n  a vigorous writer, and his ministry was remarkably effective.\n  \"Son of thunder and consolation,\" he was named. He was one of the\n  early martyrs to the truth, dying in a London prison in 1662.\n  Just before his death he said: \"Now my soul and spirit is entered\n  into its own being with God, and this form of person must return\n  whence it was taken.\"\n\nAt night the priest and many professors came to the house; and a\ngreat deal of disputing I had with them. Supper being provided for\nthe priest and the rest of the company, I had not freedom to eat with\nthem; but told them that if they would appoint a meeting for the next\nday at the steeple-house, and acquaint the people with it, I might\nmeet them. They had a great deal of reasoning about it; some being\nfor, and some against it.\n\nIn the morning, after I had spoken to them again concerning the\nmeeting, as I walked upon a bank by the house, there came several\npoor travellers, asking relief, who I saw were in necessity; and\nthey gave them nothing, but said they were cheats. It grieved me to\nsee such hard-heartedness amongst professors; whereupon, when they\nwere gone in to their breakfast, I ran after the poor people about a\nquarter of a mile, and gave them some money.\n\nMeanwhile some that were in the house, coming out, and seeing me a\nquarter of a mile off, said I could not have gone so far in such an\ninstant, if I had not had wings. Hereupon the meeting was like to\nhave been put by; for they were filled with such strange thoughts\nconcerning me that many of them were against having a meeting with\nme.[T]\n\n  [T] The superstitions everywhere existent among the people should\n  be noted.\n\nI told them that I had run after those poor people to give them some\nmoney; being grieved at the hard-heartedness of those who gave them\nnothing.\n\nThen came Miles and Stephen Hubbersty, who, being more simple-hearted\nmen, would have the meeting held. So to the chapel I went, and the\npriest came.\n\nA great meeting there was, and the way of life and salvation was\nopened; and after awhile the priest fled away. Many of Crook and\nUnderbarrow were convinced that day, received the Word of life, and\nstood fast in it under the teaching of Christ Jesus.\n\nAfter I had declared the truth to them for some hours, and the\nmeeting was ended, the chief constable and some other professors fell\nto reasoning with me in the chapel yard. Whereupon I took a Bible and\nopened the Scriptures, and dealt tenderly with them, as one would do\nwith a child. They that were in the Light of Christ and Spirit of God\nknew when I spake Scripture, though I did not mention chapter and\nverse, after the priest's form, to them.\n\nThen I went to an ale-house, to which many resorted betwixt the time\nof their morning and afternoon preaching, and had a great deal of\nreasoning with the people, declaring to them that God was come to\nteach His people, and to bring them off from the false teachers,\nsuch as the prophets, Christ, and the apostles cried against. Many\nreceived the Word of life at that time, and abode in it.\n\nThence I went to Ulverstone, and so to Swarthmore[U] to Judge\nFell's; whither came up one Lampitt, a priest, who was a high\nnotionist. With him I had much reasoning; for he talked of high\nnotions and perfection, and thereby deceived the people. He would\nhave owned me, but I could not own nor join with him, he was so full\nof filth.[55] He said he was above John; and made as though he knew\nall things. But I told him that death reigned from Adam to Moses;\nthat he was under death, and knew not Moses, for Moses saw the\nparadise of God; but he knew neither Moses nor the prophets nor John;\nfor that crooked and rough nature stood in him, and the mountain of\nsin and corruption; and the way was not prepared in him for the Lord.\n\n  [U] In the Furness district.\n\n  [55] Of no other minister has Fox spoken so harshly as of this\n  man Lampitt. There is every reason for believing that the picture\n  which he gives of Lampitt is correct, though in Calamy's \"Ejected\n  Ministers\" he is spoken of as \"a warm and lively preacher.\"\n\nHe confessed he had been under a cross in things; but now he could\nsing psalms, and do anything. I told him that now he could see a\nthief, and join hand in hand with him; but he could not preach Moses,\nnor the prophets, nor John, nor Christ, except he were in the same\nSpirit that they were in.\n\nMargaret Fell had been absent in the day-time; and at night her\nchildren told her that priest Lampitt and I had disagreed, which\nsomewhat troubled her, because she was in profession with him; but he\nhid his dirty actions from them. At night we had much reasoning, and\nI declared the truth to her and her family. The next day Lampitt came\nagain, and I had much discourse with him before Margaret Fell, who\nthen clearly discerned the priest. A convincement of the Lord's truth\ncame upon her and her family.\n\nSoon after a day was to be observed for a humiliation, and Margaret\nFell asked me to go with her to the steeple-house at Ulverstone, for\nshe was not wholly come off from them. I replied, \"I must do as I am\nordered by the Lord.\" So I left her, and walked into the fields; and\nthe Word of the Lord came to me, saying, \"Go to the steeple-house\nafter them.\"\n\nWhen I came, Lampitt was singing with his people; but his spirit was\nso foul, and the matter they sung so unsuitable to their states, that\nafter they had done singing, I was moved of the Lord to speak to him\nand the people. The word of the Lord to them was, \"He is not a Jew\nthat is one outwardly, but he is a Jew that is one inwardly, whose\npraise is not of man, but of God.\"\n\nAs the Lord opened further, I showed them that God was come to teach\nHis people by His Spirit, and to bring them off from all their old\nways, religions, churches, and worships; for all their religions,\nworships, and ways were but talking with other men's words; but they\nwere out of the life and Spirit which they were in who gave them\nforth.\n\nThen cried out one, called Justice Sawrey, \"Take him away\"; but Judge\nFell's wife said to the officers, \"Let him alone; why may not he\nspeak as well as any other?\"[56] Lampitt also, the priest, in deceit\nsaid, \"Let him speak.\" So at length, when I had declared some time,\nJustice Sawrey caused the constable to put me out; and then I spoke\nto the people in the graveyard.\n\n  [56] During the Commonwealth period it was no violation of law or\n  custom for a person in the congregation to stand up and speak or\n  object after the minister had finished his sermon. In most cases,\n  where Fox spoke in the churches, he was exercising a right which\n  was well-established. Occasionally he interrupted, which was\n  contrary to good order, but he justified it by an appeal to the\n  call of the Spirit, which he could not resist. (See page 110.)\n  Justices of the Peace had authority to forbid any person to speak.\n\nFrom thence I went into the island of Walney; and after the priest\nhad done I spoke to him, but he got away. Then I declared the truth\nto the people, but they were something rude. I went to speak with the\npriest at his house, but he would not be seen. The people said he\nwent to hide himself in the hay-mow; and they looked for him there,\nbut could not find him. Then they said he was gone to hide himself in\nthe standing corn, but they could not find him there either. I went\nto James Lancaster's, in the island, who was convinced, and from\nthence returned to Swarthmore, where the Lord's power seized upon\nMargaret Fell, her daughter Sarah, and several others.\n\nThen I went to Baycliff, where Leonard Fell was convinced, and became\na minister of the everlasting gospel. Several others were convinced\nthere, and came into obedience to the truth. Here the people said\nthey could not dispute; and would fain have put some other to hold\ntalk with me; but I bade them fear the Lord, and not in a light way\nhold a talk of the Lord's words, but put the things in practice.[57]\n\n  [57] Most wholesome words these, for that period of endless\n  dispute, when religion too often meant the acceptance of some\n  verbal statement.\n\nI directed them to the Divine Light of Christ, and His Spirit in\ntheir hearts, which would let them see all the evil thoughts, words,\nand actions that they had thought, spoken, and acted; by which Light\nthey might see their sin, and also their Saviour Christ Jesus to\nsave them from their sins. This I told them was their first step to\npeace, even to stand still in the Light that showed them their sins\nand transgressions; by which they might come to see they were in the\nfall of old Adam, in darkness and death, strangers to the covenant\nof promise, and without God in the world; and by the same Light they\nmight see Christ that died for them to be their Redeemer and Saviour,\nand their way to God.\n\nSoon after, Judge Fell being come home, Margaret Fell, his wife,\nsent to me, desiring me to return thither; and feeling freedom from\nthe Lord so to do, I went back to Swarthmore. I found the priests\nand professors, and that envious Justice Sawrey, had much incensed\nJudge Fell and Captain Sands against the truth by their lies; but\nwhen I came to speak with him I answered all his objections, and so\nthoroughly satisfied him by the Scriptures that he was convinced in\nhis judgment. He asked me if I was that George Fox of whom Justice\nRobinson spoke so much in commendation amongst many of the Parliament\nmen? I told him I had been with Justice Robinson, and with Justice\nHotham in Yorkshire, who were very civil and loving to me; and that\nthey were convinced in their judgment by the Spirit of God that the\nprinciple to which I bore testimony was the truth; and they saw over\nand beyond the priests of the nation, so that they, and many others,\nwere now come to be wiser than their teachers.\n\nAfter we had discoursed some time together, Judge Fell himself was\nsatisfied also, and came to see, by the openings of the Spirit of God\nin his heart, over all the priests and teachers of the world, and did\nnot go to hear them for some years before he died; for he knew it was\nthe truth that I declared, and that Christ was the teacher of His\npeople, and their Saviour. He sometimes wished that I were a while\nwith Judge Bradshaw to discourse with him.\n\nThere came to Judge Fell's Captain Sands before-mentioned,\nendeavouring to incense the Judge against me, for he was an\nevil-minded man, and full of envy against me; and yet he could speak\nhigh things, and use the Scripture words, and say, \"Behold, I make\nall things new.\" But I told him, then he must have a new God, for his\nGod was his belly. Besides him came also that envious justice, John\nSawrey. I told him his heart was rotten, and he was full of hypocrisy\nto the brim. Several other people also came, of whose states the Lord\ngave me a discerning; and I spoke to their conditions.[V] While I was\nin those parts, Richard Farnsworth and James Nayler came to see me\nand the family; and Judge Fell, being satisfied that it was the way\nof truth, notwithstanding all their opposition, suffered the meeting\nto be kept at his house. A great meeting was settled there in the\nLord's power, which continued near forty years, until the year 1690,\nwhen a new meeting-house was erected near it.[58]\n\n  [V] \"Speaking to their conditions\" meant describing their inward\n  state.\n\n  [58] Justice Fell never became an avowed Friend. He, however,\n  had much sympathy with the movement, and used his influence and\n  authority to protect the Friends. He put no hindrance in the way\n  of his wife, who did join them. Swarthmore Hall was always open\n  to travelling ministers, and there is good reason to believe\n  that substantial assistance went from Swarthmore Hall to those\n  who were labouring throughout the kingdom. Margaret Fell was a\n  great-granddaughter of Anne Askew, who was burned at the stake in\n  1545. Judge Fell was member for Parliament in 1645.\n\n  This meeting-house, erected near Swarthmore Hall in 1690, the\n  gift of George Fox, is still standing, and contains many objects\n  of interest.\n\nOn the market-day I went to Lancaster, and spoke through the market\nin the dreadful power of God, declaring the day of the Lord to the\npeople, and crying out against all their deceitful merchandise. I\npreached righteousness and truth unto them, which all should follow\nafter, walk and live in, directing them how and where they might find\nand receive the Spirit of God to guide them thereinto.\n\nAfter I had cleared myself in the market, I went to my lodging,\nwhither several people came; and many were convinced who have since\nstood faithful to the truth.\n\nThe First-day following, in the forenoon, I had a great meeting in\nthe street at Lancaster, amongst the soldiers and people, to whom I\ndeclared the Word of life, and the everlasting truth. I opened unto\nthem that all the traditions they had lived in, all their worships\nand religions, and the profession they made of the Scriptures, were\ngood for nothing while they lived out of the life and power which\nthose were in who gave forth the Scriptures. I directed them to\nthe Light of Christ, the heavenly man, and to the Spirit of God in\ntheir own hearts, that they might come to be acquainted with God and\nChrist, receive Him for their teacher, and know His kingdom set up in\nthem.\n\nIn the afternoon I went to the steeple-house at Lancaster, and\ndeclared the truth to the priest and people, laying open before them\nthe deceit they lived in, and directing them to the power and Spirit\nof God which they wanted. But they haled me out, and stoned me along\nthe street till I came to John Lawson's house.\n\nAnother First-day I went to a steeple-house by the water-side, where\none Whitehead was priest. To him and to the people I declared the\ntruth in the dreadful power of God. There came a doctor so full of\nenvy that he said he could find it in his heart to run me through\nwith his rapier, though he were hanged for it the next day; yet this\nman came afterwards to be convinced of the truth so far as to be\nloving to Friends. Some were convinced thereabouts who willingly sat\ndown under the ministry of Christ, their teacher; and a meeting was\nsettled there in the power of God, which has continued to this day.\n\nAfter this I returned into Westmoreland, and spoke through Kendal on\na market-day. So dreadful was the power of God upon me, that people\nflew like chaff before me into their houses. I warned them of the\nmighty day of the Lord, and exhorted them to hearken to the voice\nof God in their own hearts, who was now come to teach His people\nHimself. When some opposed, many others took my part. At last some\nfell to fighting about me; but I went and spoke to them, and they\nparted again. Several were convinced.\n\nAfter I had travelled up and down in those countries, and had had\ngreat meetings, I came to Swarthmore again. And when I had visited\nFriends in those parts, I heard of a great meeting the priests were\nto have at Ulverstone, on a lecture-day. I went to it, and into the\nsteeple-house in the dread and power of the Lord. When the priest\nhad done, I spoke among them the Word of the Lord, which was as a\nhammer, and as a fire amongst them. And though Lampitt, the priest of\nthe place, had been at variance with most of the priests before, yet\nagainst the truth they all joined together. But the mighty power of\nthe Lord was over all; and so wonderful was the appearance thereof,\nthat priest Bennett said the church shook, insomuch that he was\nafraid and trembled. And when he had spoken a few confused words he\nhastened out for fear it should fall on his head. Many priests got\ntogether there; but they had no power as yet to persecute.\n\nWhen I had cleared my conscience towards them, I went up to\nSwarthmore again, whither came four or five of the priests. Coming to\ndiscourse, I asked them whether any one of them could say he had ever\nhad the word of the Lord to go and speak to such or such a people.\nNone of them durst say he had; but one of them burst out into a\npassion and said that he could speak his experiences as well as I.\n\nI told him experience was one thing; but to receive and go with\na message, and to have a Word from the Lord, as the prophets and\napostles had had and done, and as I had done to them, this was\nanother thing. And therefore I put it to them again, \"Can any of you\nsay you have ever had a command or word from the Lord immediately at\nany time?\" but none of them could say so.\n\nThen I told them that the false prophets, the false apostles, and\nthe antichrists, could use the words of the true prophets, the true\napostles, and of Christ, and would speak of other men's experiences,\nthough they themselves never knew or heard the voice of God or\nChrist; and that such as they might obtain the good words and\nexperiences of others. This puzzled them much, and laid them open.\n\nAt another time, when I was discoursing with several priests at Judge\nFell's house, and he was by, I asked them the same question,--whether\nany of them had ever heard the voice of God or Christ, to bid him\ngo to such and such a people, to declare His word or message unto\nthem. Any one, I told them, that could but read, might declare the\nexperiences of the prophets and apostles, which were recorded in\nthe Scriptures. Thereupon Thomas Taylor,[59] an ancient priest, did\ningenuously confess before Judge Fell that he had never heard the\nvoice of God, nor of Christ, to send him to any people; but that he\nspoke his experiences, and the experiences of the saints in former\nages, and that he preached. This very much confirmed Judge Fell in\nthe persuasion he had that the priests were wrong; for he had thought\nformerly, as the generality of people then did, that they were sent\nfrom God.\n\n  [59] This Thomas Taylor was educated at Oxford, and was a man\n  of profound insight. He became a valiant supporter of Fox and a\n  convincing minister.\n\nNow began the priests to rage more and more, and as much as they\ncould to stir up persecution. James Nayler and Francis Howgill were\ncast into prison in Appleby jail, at the instigation of the malicious\npriests, some of whom prophesied that within a month we should be\nall scattered again, and come to nothing. But, blessed for ever be\nthe worthy name of the Lord, His work went on and prospered; for\nabout this time John Audland, Francis Howgill, John Camm, Edward\nBurrough, Richard Hubberthorn, Miles Hubbersty, and Miles Halhead,\nwith several others, being endued with power from on high, came\nforth in the work of the ministry, and approved themselves faithful\nlabourers therein, travelling up and down, and preaching the gospel\nfreely; by means whereof multitudes were convinced, and many\neffectually turned to the Lord.\n\nOn a lecture-day I was moved to go to the steeple-house at\nUlverstone, where were abundance of professors, priests, and\npeople. I went near to priest Lampitt, who was blustering on in his\npreaching. After the Lord had opened my mouth to speak, John Sawrey,\nthe justice, came to me and said that if I would speak according\nto the Scriptures, I should speak. I admired him for speaking so\nto me, and told him I would speak according to the Scriptures, and\nbring the Scriptures to prove what I had to say; for I had something\nto speak to Lampitt and to them. Then he said I should not speak,\ncontradicting himself, for he had said just before that I should\nspeak if I would speak according to the Scriptures. The people were\nquiet, and heard me gladly, till this Justice Sawrey (who was the\nfirst stirrer-up of cruel persecution in the north) incensed them\nagainst me, and set them on to hale, beat, and bruise me. But now\non a sudden the people were in a rage, and fell upon me in the\nsteeple-house before his face, knocked me down, kicked me, and\ntrampled upon me. So great was the uproar, that some tumbled over\ntheir seats for fear.\n\nAt last he came and took me from the people, led me out of the\nsteeple-house, and put me into the hands of the constables and other\nofficers, bidding them whip me, and put me out of the town. They led\nme about a quarter of a mile, some taking hold by my collar, some by\nmy arms and shoulders; and they shook and dragged me along.\n\nMany friendly people being come to the market, and some to the\nsteeple-house to hear me, divers of these they knocked down also,\nand broke their heads, so that the blood ran down from several; and\nJudge Fell's son running after to see what they would do with me,\nthey threw him into a ditch of water, some of them crying, \"Knock the\nteeth out of his head.\"\n\nWhen they had haled me to the common moss-side, a multitude\nfollowing, the constables and other officers gave me some blows\nover my back with their willow rods, and thrust me among the\nrude multitude, who, having furnished themselves with staves,\nhedge-stakes, holm or holly bushes, fell upon me, and beat me on my\nhead, arms, and shoulders, till they had deprived me of sense; so\nthat I fell down upon the wet common.\n\nWhen I recovered again, and saw myself lying in a watery common, and\nthe people standing about me, I lay still a little while, and the\npower of the Lord sprang through me, and the eternal refreshings\nrevived me; so that I stood up again in the strengthening power of\nthe eternal God, and stretching out my arms toward them, I said,\nwith a loud voice, \"Strike again; here are my arms, my head, and my\ncheeks.\"\n\nThere was in the company a mason, a professor, but a rude fellow, who\nwith his walking rule-staff gave me a blow with all his might just\nover the back of my hand, as it was stretched out; with which blow my\nhand was so bruised, and my arm so benumbed, that I could not draw it\nto me again. Some of the people cried, \"He hath spoiled his hand for\never having the use of it any more.\" But I looked at it in the love\nof God (for I was in the love of God to all that persecuted me), and\nafter awhile the Lord's power sprang through me again, and through my\nhand and arm, so that in a moment I recovered strength in my hand and\narm in the sight of them all.\n\nThen they began to fall out among themselves. Some of them came\nto me, and said that if I would give them money they would secure\nme from the rest. But I was moved of the Lord to declare the Word\nof life, and showed them their false Christianity, and the fruits\nof their priest's ministry, telling them that they were more like\nheathens and Jews than true Christians.\n\nThen was I moved of the Lord to come up again through the midst of\nthe people, and go into Ulverstone market. As I went, there met me\na soldier, with his sword by his side. \"Sir,\" said he to me, \"I see\nyou are a man, and I am ashamed and grieved that you should be thus\nabused\"; and he offered to assist me in what he could. I told him\nthat the Lord's power was over all; and I walked through the people\nin the market, none of whom had power to touch me then. But some of\nthe market people abusing some Friends in the market, I turned about,\nand saw this soldier among them with his naked rapier; whereupon I\nran, and, catching hold of the hand his rapier was in, bid him put up\nhis sword again if he would go along with me.\n\nAbout two weeks after this I went into Walney island, and James\nNayler went with me. We stayed one night at a little town on this\nside, called Cockan, and had a meeting there, where one was convinced.\n\nAfter a while there came a man with a pistol, whereupon the people\nran out of doors. He called for me; and when I came out to him he\nsnapped his pistol at me, but it would not go off. This caused the\npeople to make a great bustle about him; and some of them took hold\nof him, to prevent his doing mischief. But I was moved in the Lord's\npower to speak to him; and he was so struck by the power of the\nLord that he trembled for fear, and went and hid himself. Thus the\nLord's power came over them all, though there was a great rage in the\ncountry.\n\nNext morning I went over in a boat to James Lancaster's. As soon as\nI came to land there rushed out about forty men with staves, clubs,\nand fishing-poles, who fell upon me, beating and punching me, and\nendeavouring to thrust me backward into the sea. When they had thrust\nme almost into the sea, and I saw they would knock me down in it,\nI went up into the midst of them; but they laid at me again, and\nknocked me down, and stunned me.\n\nWhen I came to myself, I looked up and saw James Lancaster's wife\nthrowing stones at my face, and her husband, James Lancaster, was\nlying over me, to keep the blows and the stones off me. For the\npeople had persuaded James Lancaster's wife that I had bewitched her\nhusband, and had promised her that if she would let them know when I\ncame thither they would be my death. And having got knowledge of my\ncoming, many of the town rose up in this manner with clubs and staves\nto kill me; but the Lord's power preserved me, that they could not\ntake away my life.\n\nAt length I got up on my feet, but they beat me down again into the\nboat; which James Lancaster observing, he presently came into it,\nand set me over the water from them; but while we were on the water\nwithin their reach they struck at us with long poles, and threw\nstones after us. By the time we were come to the other side, we saw\nthem beating James Nayler; for whilst they had been beating me, he\nwalked up into a field, and they never minded him till I was gone;\nthen they fell upon him, and all their cry was, \"Kill him, kill him.\"\n\nWhen I was come over to the town again, on the other side of the\nwater, the townsmen rose up with pitchforks, flails, and staves, to\nkeep me out of the town, crying, \"Kill him, knock him on the head,\nbring the cart, and carry him away to the churchyard.\" So after they\nhad abused me, they drove me some distance out of the town, and there\nleft me.\n\nThen James Lancaster went back to look after James Nayler; and I\nbeing now left alone, went to a ditch of water, and having washed\nmyself (for they had besmeared my face, hands, and clothes with miry\ndirt), I walked about three miles to Thomas Hutton's house, where\nlodged Thomas Lawson, the priest that was convinced.\n\nWhen I came in I could hardly speak to them, I was so bruised; only\nI told them where I left James Nayler. So they took each of them a\nhorse, and went and brought him thither that night. The next day\nMargaret Fell hearing of it, sent a horse for me; but I was so sore\nwith bruises, I was not able to bear the shaking of the horse without\nmuch pain.\n\nWhen I was come to Swarthmore, Justice Sawrey and one Justice\nThompson, of Lancaster, granted a warrant against me; but Judge Fell\ncoming home, it was not served upon me; for he was out of the country\nall this time that I was thus cruelly abused. When he came home he\nsent forth warrants into the isle of Walney, to apprehend all those\nriotous persons; whereupon some of them fled the country.\n\nJames Lancaster's wife was afterwards convinced of the truth, and\nrepented of the evils she had done me; and so did others of those\nbitter persecutors also; but the judgments of God fell upon some of\nthem, and destruction is come upon many of them since. Judge Fell\nasked me to give him a relation of my persecution; but I told him\nthey could do no otherwise in the spirit wherein they were, and that\nthey manifested the fruits of their priest's ministry, and their\nprofession and religion to be wrong. So he told his wife I made light\nof it, and that I spoke of it as a man that had not been concerned;\nfor, indeed, the Lord's power healed me again.\n\nThe time for the sessions at Lancaster being come, I went thither\nwith Judge Fell, who on the way told me he had never had such a\nmatter brought before him before, and he could not well tell what\nto do in the business. I told him, when Paul was brought before the\nrulers, and the Jews and priests came down to accuse him, and laid\nmany false things to his charge, Paul stood still all that while. And\nwhen they had done, Festus, the governor, and king Agrippa, beckoned\nto him to speak for himself; which Paul did, and cleared himself of\nall those false accusations; so he might do with me.\n\nBeing come to Lancaster, Justice Sawrey and Justice Thompson having\ngranted a warrant to apprehend me, though I was not apprehended\nby it, yet hearing of it, I appeared at the sessions, where there\nappeared against me about forty priests. These had chosen one\nMarshall, priest of Lancaster, to be their orator; and had provided\none young priest, and two priests' sons, to bear witness against me,\nwho had sworn beforehand that I had spoken blasphemy.\n\nWhen the justices were sat, they heard all that the priests and their\nwitnesses could say and charge against me, their orator Marshall\nsitting by, and explaining their sayings for them. But the witnesses\nwere so confounded that they discovered themselves to be false\nwitnesses; for when the court had examined one of them upon oath,\nand then began to examine another, he was at such loss he could not\nanswer directly, but said the other could say it. Which made the\njustices say to him, \"Have you sworn it, and given it in already upon\nyour oath, and now say that he can say it? It seems you did not hear\nthose words spoken yourself, though you have sworn it.\"\n\nThere were then in court several who had been at that meeting,\nwherein the witnesses swore I spoke those blasphemous words which\nthe priests accused me of; and these, being men of integrity and\nreputation in the country, did declare and affirm in court that the\noath which the witnesses had taken against me was altogether false;\nand that no such words as they had sworn against me were spoken by\nme at that meeting. Indeed, most of the serious men of that side of\nthe country, then at the sessions, had been at that meeting; and had\nheard me both at that and at other meetings also.\n\nThis was taken notice of by Colonel West, who, being a justice of the\npeace, was then upon the bench; and having long been weak in body,\nblessed the Lord and said that He had healed him that day; adding\nthat he never saw so many sober people and good faces together in all\nhis life. Then, turning himself to me, he said in the open sessions,\n\"George, if thou hast anything to say to the people, thou mayest\nfreely declare it.\"\n\nI was moved of the Lord to speak; and as soon as I began, priest\nMarshall, the orator for the rest of the priests, went his way. That\nwhich I was moved to declare was this: that the holy Scriptures were\ngiven forth by the Spirit of God; and that all people must come to\nthe Spirit of God in themselves in order to know God and Christ, of\nwhom the prophets and apostles learnt: and that by the same Spirit\nall men might know the holy Scriptures. For as the Spirit of God was\nin them that gave forth the Scriptures, so the same Spirit must be\nin all them that come to understand the Scriptures. By this Spirit\nthey might have fellowship with the Father, with the Son, with the\nScriptures, and with one another: and without this Spirit they can\nknow neither God, Christ, nor the Scriptures, nor have a right\nfellowship one with another.\n\nI had no sooner spoken these words than about half a dozen priests,\nthat stood behind me, burst into a passion. One of them, whose name\nwas Jackus, amongst other things that he spake against the Truth,\nsaid that the Spirit and the letter were inseparable. I replied,\n\"Then every one that hath the letter hath the Spirit; and they might\nbuy the Spirit with the letter of the Scriptures.\"\n\nThis plain discovery of darkness in the priest moved Judge Fell and\nColonel West to reprove them openly, and tell them that according\nto that position they might carry the Spirit in their pockets as\nthey did the Scriptures. Upon this the priests, being confounded and\nput to silence, rushed out in a rage against the justices, because\nthey could not have their bloody ends upon me. The justices, seeing\nthe witnesses did not agree, and perceiving that they were brought\nto answer the priests' envy, and finding that all their evidences\nwere not sufficient in law to make good their charge against me,\ndischarged me.\n\nAfter Judge Fell had spoken to Justice Sawrey and Justice Thompson\nconcerning the warrant they had given forth against me, and showing\nthem the errors thereof, he and Colonel West granted a supersedeas[W]\nof those lying accusations which the malicious priests had laid to my\ncharge: and multitudes of people praised God that day, for it was a\njoyful day to many. Justice Benson, of Westmoreland, was convinced;\nand Major Ripan, mayor of the town of Lancaster, also.\n\n  [W] A writ or order from the Court setting aside or staying the\n  execution of the original writ.\n\nIt was a day of everlasting salvation to hundreds of people: for\nthe Lord Jesus Christ, the way to the Father, the free Teacher, was\nexalted and set up; His everlasting gospel was preached, and the Word\nof eternal life was declared over the heads of the priests, and all\nsuch lucrative preachers. For the Lord opened many mouths that day\nto speak His Word to the priests, and several friendly people and\nprofessors reproved them in their inns, and in the streets, so that\nthey fell, like an old rotten house: and the cry was among the people\nthat the Quakers had got the day, and the priests were fallen.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nIn Prison Again\n\n1653.\n\n\nAbout the beginning of the year 1653 I returned to Swarthmore, and\ngoing to a meeting at Gleaston, a professor challenged to dispute\nwith me. I went to the house where he was, and called him to come\nforth; but the Lord's power was over him, so that he durst not meddle.\n\nI departed thence, visited the meetings of Friends in Lancashire, and\ncame back to Swarthmore. Great openings I had from the Lord, not only\nof divine and spiritual matters, but also of outward things relating\nto the civil government.\n\nBeing one day in Swarthmore Hall, when Judge Fell and Justice Benson\nwere talking of the news, and of the Parliament then sitting (called\nthe Long Parliament), I was moved to tell them that before that day\ntwo weeks the Parliament should be broken up, and the Speaker plucked\nout of his chair. That day two weeks Justice Benson told Judge Fell\nthat now he saw George was a true prophet; for Oliver had broken up\nthe Parliament.[60]\n\n  [60] Cromwell ejected the \"Rump\" Parliament April 20th, 1653.\n  There is no contemporary authentification of this prophecy, but\n  there is no reason to doubt the correctness of this account.\n  Such cases of specific fore-seeing have been common throughout\n  the entire history of Friends. They have received some\n  slight investigation by the London branch of the Society for\n  Psychical Research, though they have never received the careful\n  investigation which they deserve.\n\nAbout this time I was in a fast for about ten days, my spirit being\ngreatly exercised on Truth's behalf: for James Milner and Richard\nMyer went out into imaginations, and a company followed them. This\nJames Milner and some of his company had true openings at the first;\nbut getting up into pride and exaltation of spirit, they ran out from\nTruth. I was sent for to them, and was moved of the Lord to go and\nshow them their outgoings. They were brought to see their folly, and\ncondemned it; and came into the way of Truth again.\n\nAfter some time I went to a meeting at Arnside, where was Richard\nMyer, who had been long lame of one of his arms. I was moved of the\nLord to say unto him amongst all the people, \"Stand up upon thy\nlegs,\" for he was sitting down. And he stood up, and stretched out\nhis arm that had been lame a long time, and said, \"Be it known unto\nyou, all people, that this day I am healed.\"[61] Yet his parents\ncould hardly believe it; but after the meeting was done, they had him\naside, took off his doublet, and then saw it was true.\n\n  [61] This case of healing belongs in the inexhaustible list of\n  cases of healing by faith. There are many forms of mental healing\n  and of faith healing, and the researches of modern psychology\n  have given us a principle of explanation for all cures of this\n  sort. All such remarkable events seemed to George Fox to partake\n  of the miraculous and most naturally gave him the impression that\n  he was a peculiarly-chosen instrument of the Lord.\n\nHe came soon after to Swarthmore meeting, and there declared how the\nLord had healed him. Yet after this the Lord commanded him to go to\nYork with a message from Him, which he disobeyed; and the Lord struck\nhim again, so that he died about three-quarters of a year after.\n\nNow were great threatenings given forth in Cumberland that if ever I\ncame there they would take away my life. When I heard it I was drawn\nto go into Cumberland; and went to Miles Wennington's, in the same\nparish from which those threatenings came: but they had not power to\ntouch me.\n\nOn a First-day I went into the steeple-house at Bootle;[X] and when\nthe priest had done, I began to speak. But the people were exceeding\nrude, and struck and beat me in the yard; one gave me a very great\nblow over my wrist, so that the people thought he had broken my hand\nto pieces. The constable was very desirous to keep the peace, and\nwould have set some of them that struck me by the heels, if I would\nhave given way to it. After my service amongst them was over, I went\nto Joseph Nicholson's house, and the constable went a little way with\nus, to keep off the rude multitude.\n\n  [X] In Cumberland.\n\nIn the afternoon I went again. The priest had got to help him\nanother priest, that came from London, and was highly accounted\nof. Before I went into the steeple-house, I sat a little upon the\ncross, and Friends with me; but the Friends were moved to go into the\nsteeple-house, and I went in after them.\n\nThe London priest was preaching. He gathered up all the Scriptures\nhe could think of that spoke of false prophets, and antichrists, and\ndeceivers, and threw them upon us; but when he had done I recollected\nall those Scriptures, and brought them back upon himself. Then the\npeople fell upon me in a rude manner; but the constable charged them\nto keep the peace, and so made them quiet again. Then the priest\nbegan to rage, and said I must not speak there. I told him he had his\nhour-glass, by which he had preached; and he having done, the time\nwas free for me, as well as for him, for he was but a stranger there\nhimself.[62]\n\n  [62] This passage throws interesting light on the church customs\n  of the time. After the minister has preached his hour by the hour\n  glass there is then liberty for any one to speak. George Fox\n  himself evidently did not observe the hour glass.\n\nSo I opened the Scriptures to them, and let them see that those\nScriptures that spoke of the false prophets, and antichrists, and\ndeceivers, described them and their generation; and belonged to\nthem who were found walking in their steps, and bringing forth\ntheir fruits; and not unto us, who were not guilty of such things.\nI manifested to them that they were out of the steps of the true\nprophets and apostles; and showed them clearly, by the fruits and\nmarks, that it was they of whom those Scriptures spoke, and not we.\nAnd I declared the Truth, and the Word of life to the people; and\ndirected them to Christ their teacher.\n\nWhen I came down again to Joseph Nicholson's house, I saw a great\nhole in my coat, which was cut with a knife; but it was not cut\nthrough my doublet, for the Lord had prevented their mischief. The\nnext day there was a rude, wicked man who would have done violence to\na Friend, but the Lord's power stopped him.\n\nNow was I moved to send James Lancaster to appoint a meeting at the\nsteeple-house of John Wilkinson, near Cockermouth,--a preacher in\ngreat repute, who had three parishes under him. I stayed at Milholm,\nin Bootle, till James Lancaster came back again. In the meantime\nsome of the gentry of the country had formed a plot against me, and\nhad given a little boy a rapier, with which to do me mischief. They\ncame with the boy to Joseph Nicholson's to seek me; but the Lord had\nso ordered it that I was gone into the fields. They met with James\nLancaster, but did not much abuse him; and not finding me in the\nhouse, they went away again. So I walked up and down in the fields\nthat night, as very often I used to do, and did not go to bed.\n\nWe came the next day to the steeple-house where James Lancaster had\nappointed the meeting. There were at this meeting twelve soldiers and\ntheir wives, from Carlisle; and the country people came in, as if it\nwere to a fair. I lay at a house somewhat short of the place, so\nthat many Friends got thither before me. When I came I found James\nLancaster speaking under a yew tree which was so full of people that\nI feared they would break it down.\n\nI looked about for a place to stand upon, to speak unto the people,\nfor they lay all up and down, like people at a leaguer.[Y] After I\nwas discovered, a professor asked if I would not go into the church?\nI, seeing no place abroad convenient to speak to the people from,\ntold him, Yes; whereupon the people rushed in, so that when I came\nthe house and pulpit were so full I had much ado to get in. Those\nthat could not get in stood abroad about the walls.\n\n  [Y] This indicates that he had seen besieging armies during the\n  Civil War.\n\nWhen the people were settled I stood up on a seat, and the Lord\nopened my mouth to declare His everlasting Truth and His everlasting\nday. When I had largely declared the Word of life unto them for about\nthe space of three hours, I walked forth amongst the people, who\npassed away well satisfied. Among the rest a professor followed me,\npraising and commending me; but his words were like a thistle to me.\nMany hundreds were convinced that day, and received the Lord Jesus\nChrist and His free teaching, with gladness; of whom some have died\nin the Truth, and many stand faithful witnesses thereof. The soldiers\nalso were convinced, and their wives.\n\nAfter this I went to a village, and many people accompanied me. As\nI was sitting in a house full of people, declaring the Word of life\nunto them, I cast mine eye upon a woman, and discerned an unclean\nspirit in her. And I was moved of the Lord to speak sharply to her,\nand told her she was under the influence of an unclean spirit;[63]\nwhereupon she went out of the room. Now, I being a stranger there,\nand knowing nothing of the woman outwardly, the people wondered at\nit, and told me afterwards that I had discovered a great thing; for\nall the country looked upon her to be a wicked person.\n\n  [63] It must be remembered that Fox uses here the language and\n  the popular ideas of the time, as we should expect him to do.\n\nThe Lord had given me a spirit of discerning, by which I many times\nsaw the states and conditions of people, and could try their spirits.\nFor not long before, as I was going to a meeting, I saw some women in\na field, and I discerned an evil spirit in them; and I was moved to\ngo out of my way into the field to them, and declare unto them their\nconditions. At another time there came one into Swarthmore Hall in\nthe meeting time, and I was moved to speak sharply to her, and told\nher she was under the power of an evil spirit; and the people said\nafterwards she was generally accounted so. There came also at another\ntime another woman, and stood at a distance from me, and I cast mine\neye upon her, and said, \"Thou hast been an harlot\"; for I perfectly\nsaw the condition and life of the woman. The woman answered and said\nthat many could tell her of her outward sins, but none could tell her\nof her inward. Then I told her her heart was not right before the\nLord, and that from the inward came the outward. This woman came\nafterwards to be convinced of God's truth, and became a Friend.\n\nThence we travelled to Carlisle. The pastor of the Baptists, with\nmost of his hearers, came to the abbey, where I had a meeting; and\nI declared the Word of life amongst them. Many of the Baptists and\nof the soldiers were convinced. After the meeting the pastor of the\nBaptists, an high notionist and a flashy man, asked me what must be\ndamned. I was moved immediately to tell him that that which spoke\nin him was to be damned. This stopped his mouth; and the witness of\nGod was raised up in him. I opened to him the states of election and\nreprobation; so that he said he never heard the like in his life. He\ncame afterwards to be convinced.\n\nThen I went to the castle among the soldiers, who beat a drum and\ncalled the garrison together. I preached the Truth amongst them,\ndirecting them to the Lord Jesus Christ to be their teacher, and\nto the measure of His Spirit in themselves, by which they might be\nturned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God.\nI warned them all that they should do no violence to any man, but\nshould show forth a Christian life: telling them that He who was to\nbe their Teacher would be their condemner if they were disobedient to\nHim. So I left them, having no opposition from any of them, except\nthe sergeants, who afterwards came to be convinced.\n\nOn the market-day I went up into the market, to the market-cross.\nThe magistrates had both threatened, and sent their sergeants; and\nthe magistrates' wives had said that if I came there they would\npluck the hair off my head; and the sergeants should take me up.\nNevertheless I obeyed the Lord God, went up on the cross, and\ndeclared unto them that the day of the Lord was coming upon all their\ndeceitful ways and doings, and deceitful merchandise; that they\nshould put away all cozening and cheating, and keep to Yea and Nay,\nand speak the truth one to another. So the Truth and the power of God\nwas set over them.\n\nAfter I had declared the Word of life to the people, the throng being\nso great that the sergeants could not reach me, nor the magistrates'\nwives come at me, I passed away quietly. Many people and soldiers\ncame to me, and some Baptists, that were bitter contenders; amongst\nwhom one of their deacons, an envious man, finding that the Lord's\npower was over them, cried out for very anger. Whereupon I set my\neyes upon him, and spoke sharply to him in the power of the Lord:\nand he cried, \"Do not pierce me so with thy eyes; keep thy eyes off\nme.\"[64]\n\n  [64] This is an interesting testimony to the power of George\n  Fox's eyes. The same remark is made on several occasions during\n  his life. This power of the eye undoubtedly was a considerable\n  element in his commanding influence over others.\n\nThe First-day following I went into the steeple-house: and after the\npriest had done, I preached the Truth to the people, and declared the\nWord of life amongst them. The priest got away; and the magistrates\ndesired me to go out of the steeple-house. But I still declared the\nway of the Lord unto them, and told them I came to speak the Word of\nlife and salvation from the Lord amongst them. The power of the Lord\nwas dreadful amongst them, so that the people trembled and shook, and\nthey thought the steeple-house shook; some of them feared it would\nhave fallen down on their heads. The magistrates' wives were in a\nrage, and strove mightily to get at me: but the soldiers and friendly\npeople stood thick about me.\n\nAt length the rude people of the city rose, and came with staves and\nstones into the steeple-house, crying, \"Down with these round-headed\nrogues\"; and they threw stones. Whereupon the governor sent a file or\ntwo of musketeers into the steeple-house to appease the tumult, and\ncommanded all the other soldiers out. So those soldiers took me by\nthe hand in a friendly manner, and said they would have me along with\nthem.\n\nWhen we came into the street the city was in an uproar. The governor\ncame down; and some of the soldiers were put in prison for standing\nby me against the townspeople.\n\nA lieutenant, who had been convinced, came and brought me to his\nhouse, where there was a Baptist meeting, and thither came Friends\nalso. We had a very quiet meeting; they heard the Word of life\ngladly, and many received it.\n\nThe next day, the justices and magistrates of the town being\ngathered together in the town-hall, they granted a warrant against\nme, and sent for me before them. I was then gone to a Baptist's;\nbut hearing of it, I went up to the hall, where many rude people\nwere, some of whom had sworn false things against me. I had a great\ndeal of discourse with the magistrates, wherein I laid open the\nfruits of their priests' preaching, showed them how they were void\nof Christianity, and that, though they were such great professors\n(for they were Independents and Presbyterians) they were without the\npossession of that which they professed. After a large examination,\nthey committed me to prison as a blasphemer, a heretic, and a\nseducer,[65] though they could not justly charge any such thing\nagainst me.\n\n  [65] As in Derby, the charge is blasphemy, under the Act of 1648.\n  The report, spoken of later, that he would be put to death, was\n  not mere rumor, for it was a real possibility under this Act.\n\nThe jail at Carlisle had two jailers, an upper and an under, who\nlooked like two great bear-wards. When I was brought in the upper\njailer took me up into a great chamber, and told me I should have\nwhat I would in that room. But I told him he should not expect any\nmoney from me, for I would neither lie in any of his beds, nor eat\nany of his victuals. Then he put me into another room, where after\nawhile I got something to lie upon.\n\nThere I lay till the assizes came, and then all the talk was that I\nwas to be hanged. The high sheriff, Wilfred Lawson, stirred them much\nup to take away my life, and said he would guard me to my execution\nhimself. They were in a rage, and set three musketeers for guard upon\nme, one at my chamber-door, another at the stairs-foot, and a third\nat the street-door; and they would let none come at me, except one\nsometimes, to bring me some necessary things.\n\nAt night, sometimes as late as the tenth hour, they would bring up\npriests to me, who were exceeding rude and devilish. There were a\ncompany of bitter Scotch priests, Presbyterians, made up of envy and\nmalice, who were not fit to speak of the things of God, they were so\nfoul-mouthed. But the Lord, by His power, gave me dominion over them\nall, and I let them see both their fruits and their spirits. Great\nladies also (as they were called) came to see the man that they said\nwas to die. While the judge, justices, and sheriff were contriving\ntogether how they might put me to death, the Lord disappointed their\ndesign by an unexpected way.[66]\n\n  [66] Justice Anthony Pearson pointed out to the judges of the\n  Carlisle courts that there was no evidence to support the charges\n  against the prisoner, and that he was illegally held. He was\n  finally dismissed without formal trial. The release of Fox was,\n  however, hastened by an urgent letter from Parliament (the famous\n  Barebones Parliament), requesting that he be set free.\n\nThe next day, after the judges were gone out of town, an order\nwas sent to the jailer to put me down into the prison amongst the\nmoss-troopers,[Z] thieves, and murderers; which accordingly he did.\nA filthy, nasty place it was, where men and women were put together\nin a very uncivil manner, and never a house of office to it; and the\nprisoners were so lousy that one woman was almost eaten to death with\nlice. Yet bad as the place was, the prisoners were all made very\nloving and subject to me, and some of them were convinced of the\nTruth, as the publicans and harlots were of old; so that they were\nable to confound any priest that might come to the grates to dispute.\n\n  [Z] A kind of freebooter.\n\nBut the jailer was cruel, and the under-jailer very abusive both to\nme and to Friends that came to see me; for he would beat with a great\ncudgel Friends who did but come to the window to look in upon me.\nI could get up to the grate, where sometimes I took in my meat; at\nwhich the jailer was often offended. Once he came in a great rage and\nbeat me with his cudgel, though I was not at the grate at that time;\nand as he beat me, he cried, \"Come out of the window,\" though I was\nthen far from it. While he struck me, I was moved in the Lord's power\nto sing, which made him rage the more. Then he fetched a fiddler,\nand set him to play, thinking to vex me. But while he played, I was\nmoved in the everlasting power of the Lord God to sing; and my voice\ndrowned the noise of the fiddle, struck and confounded them, and made\nthem give over fiddling and go their way.\n\nWhilst I was in prison at Carlisle, James Parnell, a little lad\nabout sixteen years of age, came to see me, and was convinced. The\nLord quickly made him a powerful minister of the Word of life, and\nmany were turned to Christ by him, though he lived not long. For,\ntravelling into Essex in the work of the ministry, in the year 1655,\nhe was committed to Colchester castle, where he endured very great\nhardships and sufferings. He was put by the cruel jailer into a hole\nin the castle wall, called the oven, so high from the ground that\nhe went up to it by a ladder, which being six feet too short, he\nwas obliged to climb from the ladder to the hole by a rope that was\nfastened above. When Friends would have given him a cord and a basket\nin which to draw up his victuals, the inhuman jailer would not suffer\nthem, but forced him to go down and up by that short ladder and rope\nto fetch his victuals, which for a long time he did, or else he might\nhave famished in the hole.\n\nAt length his limbs became much benumbed with lying in that place;\nyet being still obliged to go down to take up some victuals, as he\ncame up the ladder again with his victuals in one hand, and caught\nat the rope with the other, he missed the rope, and fell down from a\nvery great height upon the stones; by which fall he was so wounded in\nthe head, arms, and body, that he died a short time after.[67]\n\n  [67] This is one of the saddest stories in the annals of Quaker\n  martyrology. James Parnell was well trained mentally, and held\n  successful discussions with the Cambridge students. The dungeon\n  in Colchester Castle, where this brief holy life came to an end,\n  is still visited by tourists.\n\nWhile I thus lay in the dungeon at Carlisle, the report raised at the\ntime of the assize that I should be put to death was gone far and\nnear; insomuch that the Parliament then sitting, which, I think, was\ncalled the Little Parliament, hearing that a young man at Carlisle\nwas to die for religion, caused a letter to be sent the sheriff and\nmagistrates concerning me.\n\nNot long after this the Lord's power came over the justices, and\nthey were made to set me at liberty. But some time previous the\ngovernor and Anthony Pearson came down into the dungeon, to see the\nplace where I was kept and understand what usage I had had. They\nfound the place so bad and the savour so ill, that they cried shame\non the magistrates for suffering the jailer to do such things. They\ncalled for the jailers into the dungeon, and required them to find\nsureties for their good behaviour; and the under-jailer, who had been\nsuch a cruel fellow, they put into the dungeon with me, amongst the\nmoss-troopers.\n\nNow I went into the country, and had mighty great meetings. The\neverlasting gospel and Word of life flourished, and thousands were\nturned to the Lord Jesus Christ, and to His teaching.\n\nThe priests and magistrates were in a great rage against me in\nWestmoreland, and had a warrant to apprehend me, which they renewed\nfrom time to time, for a long time; yet the Lord did not suffer them\nto serve it upon me. I travelled on amongst Friends, visiting the\nmeetings till I came to Swarthmore, where I heard that the Baptists\nand professors in Scotland had sent to have a dispute with me. I sent\nthem word that I would meet them in Cumberland, at Thomas Bewley's\nhouse, whither accordingly I went, but none of them came.\n\nSome dangers at this time I underwent in my travels; for at one time,\nas we were passing from a meeting, and going through Wigton on a\nmarket-day, the people of the town had set a guard with pitchforks;\nand although some of their own neighbours were with us, they kept\nus out of the town, and would not let us pass through it, under the\npretence of preventing the sickness; though there was no occasion\nfor any such thing. However, they fell upon us, and had like to have\nspoiled us and our horses; but the Lord restrained them, that they\ndid not much hurt; and we passed away.\n\nAnother time, as I was passing between two Friends' houses, some rude\nfellows lay in wait in a lane, and exceedingly stoned and abused us;\nbut at last, through the Lord's assistance, we got through them,\nand had not much hurt. But this showed the fruits of the priest's\nteaching, which shamed their profession of Christianity.\n\nAfter I had visited Friends in that county, I went through the county\ninto Durham, having large meetings by the way. A very large one I\nhad at Anthony Pearson's, where many were convinced. From thence I\npassed through Northumberland to Derwentwater, where there were great\nmeetings; and the priests threatened that they would come, but none\ncame. The everlasting Word of life was freely preached, and freely\nreceived; and many hundreds were turned to Christ, their teacher.\n\nIn Northumberland many came to dispute, of whom some pleaded against\nperfection. Unto these I declared that Adam and Eve were perfect\nbefore they fell; that all that God made was perfect; that the\nimperfection came by the devil, and the fall; but that Christ, who\ncame to destroy the devil, said, \"Be ye perfect.\"\n\nOne of the professors alleged that Job said, \"Shall mortal man be\nmore pure than his Maker? The heavens are not clean in His sight. God\ncharged His angels with folly.\" But I showed him his mistake, and\nlet him see that it was not Job that said so, but one of those that\ncontended against Job; for Job stood for perfection, and held his\nintegrity; and they were called miserable comforters.\n\nThen these professors said that the outward body was the body of\ndeath and sin. I showed them their mistake in that also; for Adam and\nEve had each of them an outward body, before the body of death and\nsin got into them; and that man and woman will have bodies when the\nbody of sin and death is put off again; when they are renewed again\ninto the image of God by Christ Jesus, in which they were before they\nfell. So they ceased at that time from opposing further; and glorious\nmeetings we had in the Lord's power.\n\nThen passed we to Hexam, where we had a great meeting on top of a\nhill. The priest threatened that he would come and oppose us, but\nhe came not; so all was quiet. And the everlasting day and renowned\nTruth of the everliving God was sounded over those dark countries,\nand His Son exalted over all. It was proclaimed amongst the people\nthat the day was now come wherein all that made a profession of the\nSon of God might receive Him; and that to as many as would receive\nHim He would give power to become the sons of God, as He had done to\nme.\n\nIt was further declared that he who had the Son of God, had life\neternal; but he that had not the Son of God, though he professed\nall the Scriptures from the first of Genesis to the last of the\nRevelation, had no life.\n\nSo after all were directed to the light of Christ, by which they\nmight see Him, receive Him, and know where their true teacher was,\nand the everlasting Truth had been largely declared amongst them, we\npassed through Hexam peaceably, and came into Gilsland, a country\nnoted for thieving.\n\nThe next day we came into Cumberland again, where we had a general\nmeeting of thousands of people on top of an hill near Langlands.\nA glorious and heavenly meeting it was; for the glory of the Lord\ndid shine over all; and there were as many as one could well speak\nover,[AA] the multitude was so great. Their eyes were turned to\nChrist, their teacher; and they came to sit under their own vine;\ninsomuch that Francis Howgill, coming afterwards to visit them, found\nthey had no need of words; for they were sitting under their teacher\nChrist Jesus; in the sense whereof He sat down amongst them, without\nspeaking anything.\n\n  [AA] That is, reach with the voice.\n\nA great convincement there was in Cumberland, Bishoprick,\nNorthumberland, Westmoreland, Lancashire, and Yorkshire; and the\nplants of God grew and flourished, the heavenly rain descending, and\nGod's glory shining upon them. Many mouths were opened by the Lord to\nHis praise; yea, to babes and sucklings he ordained strength.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nA Visit to Oliver Cromwell\n\n1653-1654.\n\n\nAbout this time the priests and professors fell to prophesying\nagainst us afresh. They had said long before that we should be\ndestroyed within a month; and after that, they prolonged the time\nto half a year. But that time being long expired, and we mightily\nincreased in number, they now gave forth that we would eat out one\nanother. For often after meetings many tender people, having a great\nway to go, tarried at Friends' houses by the way, and sometimes more\nthan there were beds to lodge in; so that some lay on the hay-mows.\nHereupon Cain's fear possessed the professors and world's people; for\nthey were afraid that when we had eaten one another out, we should\nall come to be maintained by the parishes, and be chargeable to them.\n\nBut after awhile, when they saw that the Lord blessed and increased\nFriends, as he did Abraham, both in the field and in the basket, at\ntheir goings forth and their comings in, at their risings up and\ntheir lyings down, and that all things prospered with them; then they\nsaw the falseness of all their prophecies against us, and that it was\nin vain to curse whom God had blessed.\n\nAt the first convincement, when Friends could not put off their hats\nto people, or say You to a single person, but Thou and Thee;--when\nthey could not bow, or use flattering words in salutation, or adopt\nthe fashions and customs of the world, many Friends, that were\ntradesmen of several sorts, lost their customers at first, for the\npeople were shy of them, and would not trade with them; so that for a\ntime some Friends could hardly get money enough to buy bread.\n\nBut afterwards, when people came to have experience of Friends'\nhonesty and faithfulness, and found that their yea was yea, and their\nnay was nay; that they kept to a word in their dealings, and would\nnot cozen and cheat, but that if a child were sent to their shops for\nanything, he was as well used as his parents would have been;--then\nthe lives and conversation of Friends did preach, and reached to the\nwitness of God in the people.\n\nThen things altered so, that all the inquiry was, \"Where is there\na draper, or shop-keeper, or tailor, or shoemaker, or any other\ntradesman, that is a Quaker?\" Insomuch that Friends had more trade\nthan many of their neighbours, and if there was any trading, they had\na great part of it. Then the envious professors altered their note,\nand began to cry out, \"If we let these Quakers alone, they will take\nthe trade of the nation out of our hands.\"[68]\n\n  [68] This record of the effect of Quaker honesty is supported by\n  impartial contemporary testimony. A curious confirmation of the\n  business successes of the Quaker traders is found in a satiric\n  ballad of the times, called \"Wickham Wakened; or, the Quakers\n  Madrigall in Rime Dogerell,\" published in Ebsworth's \"Choyce\n  Drollery.\" The Rhymster tells how the Quaker is settling down to\n  \"great thrift,\" his period of \"tipling being done,\" i.e., his\n  days of ranting being over, and those who come into competition\n  with him wish him back in the ranting stage.\n\n    \"O be drunk again, Quaker,\n    Take thy canniken and shake her,\n    For thou art the worse for thy mending.\"\n\nThis has been the Lord's doing to and for His people! which my\ndesire is that all who profess His holy truth may be kept truly\nsensible of, and that all may be preserved in and by His power\nand Spirit, faithful to God and man. Faithful first to God, in\nobeying Him in all things; and next in doing unto all men that\nwhich is just and righteous in all things, that the Lord God may\nbe glorified in their practising truth, holiness, godliness, and\nrighteousness amongst people in all their lives and conversation.\n\nWhile Friends abode in the northern parts, a priest of Wrexham,\nin Wales, named Morgan Floyd, having heard reports concerning\nus, sent two of his congregation into the north to inquire\nconcerning us, to try us, and bring him an account of us. When\nthese triers came amongst us, the power of the Lord seized on\nthem, and they were both convinced of the truth. So they stayed\nsome time with us, and then returned to Wales; where afterwards\none of them departed from his convincement; but the other, named\nJohn-ap-John, abode in the truth, and received a part in the\nministry, in which he continued faithful.[69]\n\n  [69] This was the beginning of the movement in Wales. In 1657,\n  George Fox travelled and laboured extensively in Wales, where\n  many followers were gathered.\n\nAbout this time the oath or engagement to Oliver Cromwell was\ntendered to the soldiers, many of whom were disbanded because, in\nobedience to Christ, they could not swear.[70] John Stubbs, for\none, who was convinced when I was in Carlisle prison, became a good\nsoldier in the Lamb's war, and a faithful minister of Christ Jesus;\ntravelling much in the service of the Lord in Holland, Ireland,\nScotland, Italy, Egypt, and America. And the Lord's power preserved\nhim from the hands of the papists, though many times he was in great\ndanger of the Inquisition. But some of the soldiers, who had been\nconvinced in their judgment, but had not come into obedience to\nthe Truth, took Oliver Cromwell's oath; and, going afterwards into\nScotland, and coming before a garrison there, the garrison, thinking\nthey had been enemies, fired at them, and killed divers of them,\nwhich was a sad event.\n\n  [70] Nothing caused Friends so much trouble as their absolute\n  refusal to take any kind of an oath.\n\nWhen the churches were settled in the north, and Friends were\nestablished under Christ's teaching, and the glory of the Lord shined\nover them, I passed from Swarthmore to Lancaster about the beginning\nof the year 1654, visiting Friends, till I came to Synder-hill\ngreen, where a meeting had been appointed three weeks before. We\npassed through Halifax, a rude town of professors, and came to\nThomas Taylor's, who had been a captain, where we met with some\njanglers;[AB] but the Lord's power was over all; for I travelled in\nthe motion of God's power.\n\n  [AB] Ranters.\n\nWhen I came to Synder-hill green, there was a mighty meeting.\nSome thousands of people, as it was judged, were there, and many\npersons of note, captains and other officers. There was a general\nconvincement; for the Lord's power and Truth was set over all, and\nthere was no opposition.\n\nAbout this time did the Lord move upon the spirits of many whom He\nhad raised up and sent forth to labour in His vineyard, to travel\nsouthwards, and spread themselves in the service of the gospel to the\neastern, southern, and western parts of the nation. Francis Howgill\nand Edward Burrough went to London; John Camm and John Audland to\nBristol; Richard Hubberthorn and George Whitehead towards Norwich;\nThomas Holmes into Wales; and many others different ways: for above\nsixty ministers had the Lord raised up, and did now send abroad out\nof the north country. The sense of their service was very weighty\nupon me.[71]\n\n  [71] At the end of six years of ministry these sixty ministers\n  had been gathered to the work which now absorbed George Fox. It\n  was a remarkable group of men,--young, vigorous, ready speakers,\n  eager for the hard service, welcoming persecution and undaunted\n  by any dangers or difficulties. They so completely caught the\n  idea of Fox that they practically all spoke the same religious\n  language.\n\n  To them George Fox addressed a quaint, but strikingly spiritual,\n  epistle of advice as they went out to begin their labours. Here\n  are a few sentences from it:\n\n  \"All Friends everywhere, Know the Seed of God, which bruiseth\n  the seed of the serpent, and is atop of the seed of the serpent:\n  which Seed sins not, but bruiseth the serpent's head that doth\n  sin, and that tempts to sin: to which Seed is God's promise and\n  blessing; and which Seed is one in the male and in the female....\n\n  \"This is the Word of the Lord to you all: Every one in the\n  measure of life wait, that with it all your minds may be guided\n  up to the Father of life, the Father of spirits: to receive power\n  from Him, and wisdom, that with it you may be ordered to His\n  glory: to whom be all glory forever! All keep in the Light and\n  Life, that judgeth down that which is contrary to the Light and\n  Life. So the Lord God Almighty be with you all....\n\n  \"All Friends that speak in public, see that it be in the life\n  of God; for that begets to God; the fruits of that shall never\n  wither. This sows to the Spirit which is in prison, and of the\n  Spirit reaps life; and the other sows to the flesh, and of the\n  flesh reaps corruption. This you may see all the world over\n  amongst these seeds-men,--that which may be reaped in the field,\n  that is the world. Therefore wait in the Spirit of the Lord,\n  which cuts down and casts out all this, the root and branches of\n  it. So in that wait to receive power, and the Lord God Almighty\n  preserve you in it; whereby you may come to feel the Light, that\n  comprehends time and the world, and fathoms it: which, believed\n  in, gives you victory over the world. Here the power of the Lord\n  is received, which subdues all the contrary, and puts off the\n  garments that will stain and pollute.\"\n\nAbout this time Rice Jones, of Nottingham, (who had been a Baptist,\nand was turned Ranter), and his company, began to prophesy against\nme; giving out that I was then at the highest, and that after that\ntime I should fall down as fast. He sent a bundle of railing papers\nfrom Nottingham to Mansfield, Clawson, and the towns thereabouts,\njudging Friends for declaring the Truth in the markets and in\nsteeple-houses; which papers I answered. But his and his company's\nprophecies came upon themselves; for soon after they fell to pieces,\nand many of his followers became Friends, and continued so.\n\nAnd through the Lord's blessed power, Truth and Friends have\nincreased, and do increase in the increase of God: and I, by the same\npower, have been and am preserved, and kept in the everlasting Seed,\nthat never fell, nor changes. But Rice Jones took the oaths that were\nput to him, and so disobeyed the command of Christ.\n\nMany such false prophets have risen up against me, but the Lord hath\nblasted them, and will blast all who rise against the blessed Seed,\nand me in that. My confidence is in the Lord; for I saw their end,\nand how the Lord would confound them, before He sent me forth.\n\nI travelled up and down in Yorkshire, as far as Holderness, and to\nthe land's end that way, visiting Friends and the churches of Christ;\nwhich were finely settled under Christ's teaching. At length I came\nto Captain Bradford's house, whither came many Ranters from York to\nwrangle; but they were confounded and stopped. Thither came also she\nwho was called the Lady Montague, who was then convinced, and lived\nand died in the Truth.\n\nThence I went to Drayton in Leicestershire to visit my relations. As\nsoon as I was come in, Nathaniel Stephens, the priest, having got\nanother priest, and given notice to the country, sent to me to come\nto them, for they could not do anything till I came. Having been\nthree years away from my relations, I knew nothing of their design.\nBut at last I went into the steeple-house yard, where the two priests\nwere; and they had gathered abundance of people.\n\nWhen I came there, they would have had me go into the steeple-house.\nI asked them what I should do there; and they said that Mr. Stephens\ncould not bear the cold. I told them he might bear it as well as I.\nAt last we went into a great hall, Richard Farnsworth being with\nme; and a great dispute we had with these priests concerning their\npractices, how contrary they were to Christ and His apostles.\n\nThe priests would know where tithes were forbidden or ended. I showed\nthem out of the seventh chapter to the Hebrews that not only tithes,\nbut the priesthood that took tithes, was ended; and the law by which\nthe priesthood was made, and tithes were commanded to be paid, was\nended and annulled. Then the priests stirred up the people to some\nlightness and rudeness.\n\nI had known Stephens from a child, therefore I laid open his\ncondition, and the manner of his preaching; and how he, like the rest\nof the priests, did apply the promises to the first birth, which must\ndie. But I showed that the promises were to the Seed, not to many\nseeds, but to one Seed, Christ; who was one in male and female; for\nall were to be born again before they could enter into the kingdom of\nGod.\n\nThen he said, I must not judge so; but I told him that He that was\nspiritual judged all things. Then he confessed that that was a full\nScripture; \"but, neighbours,\" said he, \"this is the business; George\nFox is come to the light of the sun, and now he thinks to put out my\nstar-light.\"\n\nI told him that I would not quench the least measure of God in any,\nmuch less put out his star-light, if it were true star-light--light\nfrom the Morning Star. But, I told him, if he had anything from\nChrist or God, he ought to speak it freely, and not take tithes from\nthe people for preaching, seeing that Christ commanded His ministers\nto give freely, as they had received freely. So I charged him to\npreach no more for tithes or any hire. But he said he would not yield\nto that.\n\nAfter a while the people began to be vain and rude, so we broke up;\nyet some were made loving to the Truth that day. Before we parted\nI told them that if the Lord would, I intended to be at the town\nagain that day week. In the interim I went into the country, and had\nmeetings, and came thither again that day week.\n\nAgainst that time this priest had got seven priests to help him;\nfor priest Stephens had given notice at a lecture on a market-day at\nAdderston, that such a day there would be a meeting and a dispute\nwith me. I knew nothing of it; but had only said I should be in\ntown that day week again. These eight priests had gathered several\nhundreds of people, even most of the country thereabouts, and they\nwould have had me go into the steeple-house; but I would not go in,\nbut got on a hill, and there spoke to them and the people.\n\nThere were with me Thomas Taylor, who had been a priest, James\nParnell, and several other Friends. The priests thought that day\nto trample down Truth; but the Truth overcame them. Then they grew\nlight, and the people rude; and the priests would not stand trial\nwith me; but would be contending here a little and there a little,\nwith one Friend or another. At last one of the priests brought his\nson to dispute with me; but his mouth was soon stopped. When he could\nnot tell how to answer, he would ask his father; and his father was\nconfounded also, when he came to answer for his son.\n\nSo, after they had toiled themselves, they went away in a rage to\npriest Stephens's house to drink. As they went away, I said, \"I never\ncame to a place where so many priests together would not stand the\ntrial with me.\" Thereupon they and some of their wives came about me,\nlaid hold of me, and fawningly said, \"What might you not have been,\nif it had not been for the Quakers!\"\n\nThen they began to push Friends to and fro, to thrust them from me,\nand to pluck me to themselves. After a while several lusty fellows\ncame, took me up in their arms, and carried me into the steeple-house\nporch, intending to carry me into the steeple-house by force; but the\ndoor being locked they fell down in a heap, having me under them.\nAs soon as I could, I got up from under them, and went to the hill\nagain. Then they took me from that place to the steeple-house wall,\nand set me on something like a stool; and all the priests being come\nback, stood under with the people.\n\nThe priests cried, \"Come, to argument, to argument.\" I said that I\ndenied all their voices, for they were the voices of hirelings and\nstrangers. They cried, \"Prove it, prove it.\" Then I directed them to\nthe tenth of John, where they might see what Christ said of such. He\ndeclared that He was the true Shepherd that laid down His life for\nHis sheep, and His sheep heard His voice and followed Him; but the\nhireling would fly when the wolf came, because he was a hireling.\nI offered to prove that they were such hirelings. Then the priests\nplucked me off the stool again; and they themselves got all upon\nstools under the steeple-house wall.\n\nThen I felt the mighty power of God arise over all, and I told them\nthat if they would but give audience, and hear me quietly, I would\nshow them by the Scriptures why I denied those eight priests, or\nteachers, that stood before me, and all the hireling teachers of\nthe world whatsoever; and I would give them Scriptures for what I\nsaid. Whereupon both priests and people consented. Then I showed\nthem out of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah, Malachi,\nand others, that they were in the steps of such as God sent His true\nprophets to cry against.\n\nWhen I appealed to that of God in their consciences, the Light of\nChrist Jesus in them, they could not abide to hear it. They had been\nall quiet before; but then a professor said, \"George, what! wilt thou\nnever have done?\" I told him I should have done shortly. I went on a\nlittle longer, and cleared myself of them in the Lord's power. When I\nhad done, all the priests and people stood silent for a time.\n\nAt last one of the priests said that they would read the Scriptures\nI had quoted. I told them I desired them to do so with all my heart.\nThey began to read the twenty-third of Jeremiah, where they saw the\nmarks of the false prophets that he cried against. When they had read\na verse or two I said, \"Take notice, people\"; but the priests said,\n\"Hold thy tongue, George.\" I bade them read the whole chapter, for it\nwas all against them. Then they stopped, and would read no further.\n\nMy father, though a hearer and follower of the priest, was so well\nsatisfied that he struck his cane upon the ground, and said, \"Truly,\nI see that he that will but stand to the truth, it will bear him\nout.\"[72]\n\n  [72] This is the only indication of the extent of \"Righteous\n  Christer's\" sympathy with his son's somewhat revolutionary\n  message.\n\nAfter this I went into the country, had several meetings, and came to\nSwannington, where the soldiers came; but the meeting was quiet, the\nLord's power was over all, and the soldiers did not meddle.\n\nThen I went to Leicester; and from Leicester to Whetstone. There\ncame about seventeen troopers of Colonel Hacker's regiment, with\nhis marshal, and took me up before the meeting, though Friends were\nbeginning to gather together; for there were several Friends from\ndivers parts.[73] I told the marshal he might let all the Friends go;\nthat I would answer for them all. Thereupon he took me, and let all\nthe Friends go; only Alexander Parker went along with me.\n\n  [73] Colonel Hacker and his regiment superintended the execution\n  of Charles I., and held back the threatening crowd of London\n  citizens. He apparently now suspected that Fox and the Quakers\n  were in a plot to bring in Charles II. Cromwell had for about\n  six months been Lord Protector. Gerard and Vowel's plot was\n  discovered about this time.\n\nAt night they had me before Colonel Hacker, his major, and captains,\na great company of them; and a great deal of discourse we had about\nthe priests, and about meetings; for at this time there was a noise\nof a plot against Oliver Cromwell. Much reasoning I had with them\nabout the Light of Christ, which enlighteneth every man that cometh\ninto the world. Colonel Hacker asked whether it was not this Light of\nChrist that made Judas betray his Master, and afterwards led him to\nhang himself? I told him, \"No; that was the spirit of darkness, which\nhated Christ and His Light.\"\n\nThen Colonel Hacker said I might go home, and keep at home, and not\ngo abroad to meetings. I told him I was an innocent man, free from\nplots, and denied all such work. His son Needham said, \"Father, this\nman hath reigned too long; it is time to have him cut off.\" I asked\nhim, \"For what? What have I done? Whom have I wronged? I was bred\nand born in this country, and who can accuse me of any evil, from\nchildhood up?\" Colonel Hacker asked me again if I would go home,\nand stay at home. I told him that if I should promise him this, it\nwould manifest that I was guilty of something, to make my home a\nprison; and if I went to meetings they would say I broke their order.\nTherefore I told them I should go to meetings as the Lord should\norder me, and could not submit to their requirings; but I said we\nwere a peaceable people.\n\n\"Well, then,\" said Colonel Hacker, \"I will send you to-morrow morning\nby six o'clock to my Lord Protector, by Captain Drury, one of his\nlife-guard.\"\n\nThat night I was kept prisoner at the Marshalsea; and the next\nmorning by the sixth hour I was delivered to Captain Drury. I desired\nthat he would let me speak with Colonel Hacker before I went; and\nhe took me to his bedside. Colonel Hacker again admonished me to go\nhome, and keep no more meetings. I told him I could not submit to\nthat; but must have my liberty to serve God, and to go to meetings.\n\"Then,\" said he, \"you must go before the Protector.\" Thereupon I\nkneeled at his bedside, and besought the Lord to forgive him; for\nhe was as Pilate, though he would wash his hands; and I bade him\nremember, when the day of his misery and trial should come upon\nhim, what I had said to him. But he was stirred up and set on by\nStephens,[74] and the other priests and professors, wherein their\nenvy and baseness was manifest. When they could not overcome me by\ndisputes and arguments, nor resist the Spirit of the Lord that was in\nme, they got soldiers to take me up.\n\n  [74] This is the minister of Drayton, who said \"there was never\n  such a plant bred in England\" as George Fox.\n\nAfterwards, when Colonel Hacker was imprisoned in London, a day or\ntwo before his execution, he was put in mind of what he had done\nagainst the innocent; and he remembered it, and confessed it to\nMargaret Fell, saying he knew well whom she meant; and he had trouble\nupon him for it.\n\nNow I was carried up a prisoner by Captain Drury from Leicester; and\nwhen we came to Harborough he asked me if I would go home and stay a\nfortnight? I should have my liberty, he said, if I would not go to,\nnor keep meetings. I told him I could not promise any such thing.\nSeveral times upon the road did he ask and try me after the same\nmanner, and still I gave him the same answers. So he brought me to\nLondon, and lodged me at the Mermaid[AC] over against the Mews at\nCharing-Cross.\n\n  [AC] This was not the famous \"Mermaid\" of Shakespeare and Ben\n  Jonson.\n\nAs we travelled I was moved of the Lord to warn people at the inns\nand places where I came of the day of the Lord that was coming\nupon them. William Dewsbury and Marmaduke Storr being in prison at\nNorthampton, Captain Drury let me go and visit them.\n\nAfter Captain Drury had lodged me at the Mermaid, he left me there,\nand went to give the Protector an account of me. When he came to\nme again, he told me that the Protector required that I should\npromise not to take up a carnal sword or weapon against him or the\ngovernment, as it then was, and that I should write it in what words\nI saw good, and set my hand to it. I said little in reply to Captain\nDrury.\n\nThe next morning I was moved of the Lord to write a paper to the\nProtector, Oliver Cromwell; wherein I did, in the presence of the\nLord God, declare that I denied the wearing or drawing of a carnal\nsword, or any other outward weapon, against him or any man; and\nthat I was sent of God to stand a witness against all violence, and\nagainst the works of darkness; and to turn people from darkness to\nlight; and to bring them from the causes of war and fighting, to the\npeaceable gospel. When I had written what the Lord had given me to\nwrite, I set my name to it, and gave it to Captain Drury to hand to\nOliver Cromwell, which he did.\n\nAfter some time Captain Drury brought me before the Protector himself\nat Whitehall.[75] It was in a morning, before he was dressed, and\none Harvey, who had come a little among Friends, but was disobedient,\nwaited upon him. When I came in I was moved to say, \"Peace be in this\nhouse\"; and I exhorted him to keep in the fear of God, that he might\nreceive wisdom from Him, that by it he might be directed, and order\nall things under his hand to God's glory.\n\n  [75] Cromwell and Fox were at this period the two most striking\n  men in England. Cromwell's greatest work was already done; Fox,\n  now thirty years old, was only getting well under way with\n  his earthly mission. He never comprehended the greatness of\n  Cromwell's work, nor did he appreciate the complex tangle which\n  the Protector had to unravel. He was so sun-clear and ingenuous\n  himself that he could not fathom a man who skillfully zigzagged\n  toward the ends which he could not reach by perfectly direct\n  steps. Carlyle gives a happy paraphrase of this passage in the\n  Journal: \"'I exhorted him,' writes George, 'to keep in the fear\n  of God,' whereby he might 'receive Wisdom from God,' which would\n  be a useful guidance for any sovereign person. In fact, I had\n  'much discourse' with him; explaining what I and Friends had\n  been led to think 'Concerning Christ and His Apostles' of old\n  time, and His Priests and Ministers of new; concerning Life\n  and concerning Death; concerning the Unfathomable Universe in\n  general, and the Light in it from Above and the Darkness in it\n  that is from Below: to all which the Protector 'carried himself\n  with much moderation.' Yes, George; this Protector has a sympathy\n  with the Perennial; and feels it across the Temporary: no hulls,\n  leathern or other, can entirely hide it from the sense of him.\"\n  Carlyle's \"Oliver Cromwell's Letters and Speeches.\" (Centenary\n  Edition.) Vol. III., p. 225.\n\nI spoke much to him of Truth, and much discourse I had with him about\nreligion; wherein he carried himself very moderately. But he said\nwe quarrelled with priests, whom he called ministers. I told him I\ndid not quarrel with them, but that they quarrelled with me and my\nfriends. \"But,\" said I, \"if we own the prophets, Christ, and the\napostles, we cannot hold up such teachers, prophets, and shepherds,\nas the prophets, Christ, and the apostles declared against; but we\nmust declare against them by the same power and Spirit.\"\n\nThen I showed him that the prophets, Christ, and the apostles\ndeclared freely, and against them that did not declare freely; such\nas preached for filthy lucre, and divined for money, and preached for\nhire, and were covetous and greedy, that could never have enough; and\nthat they that have the same spirit that Christ, and the prophets,\nand the apostles had, could not but declare against all such now, as\nthey did then. As I spoke, he several times said, it was very good,\nand it was truth. I told him that all Christendom (so called) had\nthe Scriptures, but they wanted the power and Spirit that those had\nwho gave forth the Scriptures; and that was the reason they were\nnot in fellowship with the Son, nor with the Father, nor with the\nScriptures, nor one with another.\n\nMany more words I had with him; but people coming in, I drew a little\nback. As I was turning, he caught me by the hand, and with tears in\nhis eyes said, \"Come again to my house; for if thou and I were but\nan hour of a day together, we should be nearer one to the other\";\nadding that he wished me no more ill than he did to his own soul. I\ntold him if he did he wronged his own soul; and admonished him to\nhearken to God's voice, that he might stand in his counsel, and obey\nit; and if he did so, that would keep him from hardness of heart; but\nif he did not hear God's voice, his heart would be hardened. He said\nit was true.\n\nThen I went out; and when Captain Drury came out after me he told me\nthe Lord Protector had said I was at liberty, and might go whither I\nwould.\n\nThen I was brought into a great hall, where the Protector's gentlemen\nwere to dine. I asked them what they brought me thither for. They\nsaid it was by the Protector's order, that I might dine with them. I\nbid them let the Protector know that I would not eat of his bread,\nnor drink of his drink. When he heard this he said, \"Now I see there\nis a people risen that I cannot win with gifts or honours, offices or\nplaces; but all other sects and people I can.\" It was told him again\nthat we had forsaken our own possessions; and were not like to look\nfor such things from him.\n\nBeing set at liberty, I went to the inn where Captain Drury at first\nlodged me. This captain, though he sometimes carried it fairly, was\nan enemy to me and to Truth, and opposed it. When professors came to\nme, while I was under his custody, and he was by, he would scoff at\ntrembling, and call us Quakers, as the Independents and Presbyterians\nhad nicknamed us before.[76] But afterwards he came and told me\nthat, as he was lying on his bed to rest himself in the daytime, a\nsudden trembling seized on him; that his joints knocked together,\nand his body shook so that he could not rise from his bed. He was so\nshaken that he had not strength enough left to rise. But he felt the\npower of the Lord was upon him; and he tumbled off his bed, and cried\nto the Lord, and said he would never speak more against the Quakers,\nsuch as trembled at the word of God.\n\n  [76] This implies that the nickname was given because the Friends\n  trembled when they spoke.\n\nDuring the time I was prisoner at Charing-Cross, there came abundance\nto see me, almost of all sorts, priests, professors, officers of the\narmy, etc. Once a company of officers, being with me, desired me to\npray with them. I sat still, with my mind retired to the Lord. At\nlast I felt the power and Spirit of God move in me; and the Lord's\npower did so shake and shatter them that they wondered, though they\ndid not live in it.\n\nAmong those that came was Colonel Packer, with several of his\nofficers. While they were with me, there came in one Cob, and a great\ncompany of Ranters with him. The Ranters began to call for drink and\ntobacco; but I desired them to forbear it in my room, telling them if\nthey had such a mind to it, they might go into another room. One of\nthem cried, \"All is ours\"; and another of them said, \"All is well.\"\nI replied, \"How is all well, while thou art so peevish, envious,\nand crabbed?\" for I saw he was of a peevish nature. I spake to\ntheir conditions, and they were sensible of it, and looked one upon\nanother, wondering.\n\nThen Colonel Packer began to talk with a light, chaffy mind,\nconcerning God, and Christ, and the Scriptures. It was a great grief\nto my soul and spirit when I heard him talk so lightly; so that I\ntold him he was too light to talk of the things of God, for he did\nnot know the solidity of a man. Thereupon the officers raged, and\nwere wroth that I should speak so of their colonel.\n\nThis Packer was a Baptist, and he and the Ranters bowed and scraped\nto one another very much; for it was the manner of the Ranters to\nbe exceedingly complimentary (as they call it), so that Packer bade\nthem give over their compliments. But I told them they were fit to go\ntogether, for they were both of one spirit.\n\nThis Colonel Packer lived at Theobald's, near Waltham, and was made\na justice of the peace. He set up a great meeting of the Baptists at\nTheobald's Park; for he and some other officers had purchased it.\nThey were exceedingly high, and railed against Friends and Truth, and\nthreatened to apprehend me with their warrants if ever I came there.\n\nYet after I was set at liberty, I was moved of the Lord God to go\ndown to Theobald's, and appoint a meeting hard by them; to which many\nof his people came, and divers of his hearers were convinced of the\nway of Truth, and received Christ, the free teacher, and came off\nfrom the Baptist; and that made him rage the more. But the Lord's\npower came over him, so that he had not power to meddle with me.\n\nThen I went to Waltham, close by him, and had a meeting there; but\nthe people were very rude, and gathered about the house and broke the\nwindows. Thereupon I went out to them, with the Bible in my hand,\nand desired them to come in; and told them that I would show them\nScripture both for our principles and practices. When I had done so,\nI showed them also that their teachers were in the steps of such as\nthe prophets, and Christ, and the apostles testified against. Then I\ndirected them to the Light of Christ and Spirit of God in their own\nhearts, that by it they might come to know their free teacher, the\nLord Jesus Christ.\n\nThe meeting being ended, they went away quieted and satisfied, and a\nmeeting hath since been settled in that town. But this was some time\nafter I was set at liberty by Oliver Cromwell.\n\nWhen I came from Whitehall to the Mermaid at Charing-Cross, I stayed\nnot long there, but went into the city of London, where we had great\nand powerful meetings. So great were the throngs of people that I\ncould hardly get to and from the meetings for the crowds; and the\nTruth spread exceedingly. Thomas Aldam, and Robert Craven, who had\nbeen sheriff of London, and many Friends, came up to London after me;\nbut Alexander Parker abode with me.[77]\n\n  [77] During this same year, 1654, a remarkable work was done in\n  London by Edward Burrough and Francis Howgill. It is estimated\n  that not less than 10,000 adherents were gathered in the city\n  during these early years of Friends' ministry.\n\nAfter a while I went to Whitehall again, and was moved to declare the\nday of the Lord amongst them, and that the Lord was come to teach His\npeople Himself. So I preached Truth, both to the officers, and to\nthem that were called Oliver's gentlemen, who were of his guard. But\na priest opposed while I was declaring the Word of the Lord amongst\nthem; for Oliver had several priests about him, of which this was his\nnewsmonger, an envious priest, and a light, scornful, chaffy man. I\nbade him repent, and he put it in his newspaper the next week that I\nhad been at Whitehall and had bidden a godly minister there to repent.\n\nWhen I went thither again I met with him; and abundance of people\ngathered about me. I manifested the priest to be a liar in several\nthings that he had affirmed; and he was put to silence. He put in\nthe news that I wore silver buttons; which was false, for they were\nbut alchemy.[78] Afterwards he put in the news that I hung ribands\non people's arms, which made them follow me. This was another of his\nlies, for I never used nor wore ribands in my life.\n\n  [78] A cheap metal made to imitate gold.\n\nThree Friends went to examine this priest, that gave forth this false\nintelligence, and to know of him where he had had that information.\nHe said it was a woman that told him so, and that if they would come\nagain he would tell them the woman's name. When they came again he\nsaid it was a man, but would not tell them his name then, but said\nthat if they would come again he would tell them his name and where\nhe lived.\n\nThey went the third time; and then he would not say who told him;\nbut offered, if I would give it under my hand that there was no such\nthing he would put that into the news. Thereupon the Friends carried\nit to him under my hand; but when they came he broke his promise, and\nwould not put it in: but was in a rage, and threatened them with the\nconstable.\n\nThis was the deceitful doing of this forger of lies; and these lies\nhe spread over the nation in the news, to render Truth odious and\nto put evil into people's minds against Friends and Truth; of which\na more large account may be seen in a book printed soon after this\ntime, for the clearing of Friends and Truth from the slanders and\nfalse reports raised and cast upon them.\n\nThese priests, the newsmongers, were of the Independent sect, like\nthem in Leicester; but the Lord's power came over all their lies,\nand swept them away; and many came to see the naughtiness of these\npriests. The God of heaven carried me over all in His power, and His\nblessed power went over the nation; insomuch that many Friends about\nthis time were moved to go up and down to sound forth the everlasting\ngospel in most parts of this nation, and also in Scotland; and the\nglory of the Lord was felt over all, to His everlasting praise.\n\nA great convincement there was in London; some in the Protector's\nhouse and family. I went to see him again, but could not get to him,\nthe officers were grown so rude.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nA Visit to the Southern Counties Which Ends in Launceston Jail\n\n1655-1656.\n\n\nIt came upon me about this time from the Lord to write a short paper\nand send it forth as an exhortation and warning to the Pope, and to\nall kings and rulers in Europe.\n\nBesides this I was moved to write a letter to the Protector (so\ncalled) to warn him of the mighty work the Lord hath to do in\nthe nations, and the shaking of them; and to beware of his own\nwit, craft, subtilty, and policy, and of seeking any by-ends to\nhimself.[79]\n\n  [79] This paper to the Protector was published in 1656. The\n  paper mentioned just before was \"A Warning from the Lord to\n  the Pope and to all his Train of Idolatries.\" Published \"at\n  the Black-Spread Eagle\" in 1656. He wrote many more letters at\n  this period. Among them was a long letter to all professors of\n  Christianity. Here is a characteristic passage from it:\n\n  \"Let us be glad, and rejoice for ever! Singleness of heart is\n  come; pureness of heart is come; joy and gladness is come. The\n  glorious God is exalting Himself; Truth hath been talked of, but\n  now it is possessed. Christ hath been talked of; but now He is\n  come and possessed. The glory hath been talked of; but now it\n  is possessed, and the glory of man is defacing. The Son of God\n  hath been talked of; but now He is come, and hath given us an\n  understanding. Unity hath been talked of; but now it is come.\n  Virgins have been talked of; but now they are come with oil in\n  their lamps.\"\n\nI travelled till I came to Reading, where I found a few that were\nconvinced of the way of the Lord. I stayed till the First-day, and\nhad a meeting in George Lamboll's orchard; and a great part of the\ntown came to it. A glorious meeting it proved; great convincement\nthere was, and the people were mightily satisfied. Thither came two\nof Judge Fell's daughters to me, and George Bishop, of Bristol, with\nhis sword by his side, for he was a captain.\n\nAfter the meeting many Baptists and Ranters came privately, reasoning\nand discoursing; but the Lord's power came over them. The Ranters\npleaded that God made the devil. I denied it, and told them I was\ncome into the power of God, the seed Christ, which was before the\ndevil was, and bruised his head; and he became a devil by going out\nof truth; and so became a murderer and a destroyer. I showed them\nthat God did not make him a devil; for God is a God of truth, and\nmade all things good, and blessed them; but God did not bless the\ndevil. And the devil is bad, and was a liar and a murderer from the\nbeginning, and spoke of himself, and not from God.\n\nSo the Truth stopped and bound them, and came over all the highest\nnotions in the nation, and confounded them. For by the power of the\nLord I was manifest, and sought to be made manifest to the Spirit\nof God in all, that by it they might be turned to God; as many were\nturned to the Lord Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit, and were come to\nsit under His teaching.\n\nAfter this I passed to London, where I stayed awhile, and had large\nmeetings; then went into Essex, and came to Cogshall, where was a\nmeeting of about two thousand people, as it was judged, which lasted\nseveral hours, and a glorious meeting it was. The Word of life was\nfreely declared, and people were turned to the Lord Jesus Christ\ntheir Teacher and Saviour, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.\n\nOn the Sixth-day I had a large meeting near Colchester, to which\nmany professors and the Independent teachers came. After I had done\nspeaking, and was stepped down from the place on which I stood,\none of the Independent teachers began to make a jangling; which\nAmor Stoddart perceiving, said, \"Stand up again, George\"; for I was\ngoing away, and did not at first hear them. But when I heard the\nIndependent, I stood up again, and after awhile the Lord's power came\nover him and his company; they were confounded and the Lord's Truth\nwent over all. A great flock of sheep hath the Lord in that country,\nthat feed in His pastures of life.\n\nOn the First-day following we had a very large meeting not far from\nColchester, wherein the Lord's power was eminently manifested, and\nthe people were very well satisfied; for, being turned to the Lord\nJesus Christ's free teaching, they received it gladly. Many of these\npeople were of the stock of the martyrs.\n\nAs I passed through Colchester, I went to visit James Parnell in\nprison; but the jailer would hardly let us come in or stay with him.\nVery cruel they were to him. The jailer's wife threatened to have his\nblood; and in that jail they did destroy him, as the reader may see\nin a book printed soon after his death, giving an account of his life\nand death; and also in an epistle printed with his collected books\nand writings.\n\nWe came to Yarmouth, where there was a Friend, Thomas Bond, in prison\nfor the Truth of Christ, and there stayed a while. There we had some\nservice; and some were turned to the Lord in that town.\n\nThence we rode to another town, about twenty miles off, where were\nmany tender people; and I was moved of the Lord to speak to them, as\nI sat on my horse, in several places as I passed along. We went to\nanother town about five miles beyond, and put up our horses at an\ninn, Richard Hubberthorn and I having travelled five and forty miles\nthat day. There were some Friendly people in the town; and we had a\ntender, broken meeting amongst them, in the Lord's power.\n\nWe bade the hostler have our horses ready by three in the morning;\nfor we intended to ride to Lynn, about three and thirty miles, next\nmorning. But when we were in bed at our inn, about eleven at night,\nthe constable and officers came, with a great rabble of people, into\nthe inn. They said they were come with a hue-and-cry from a justice\nof the peace that lived near the town, about five miles off, where I\nhad spoken to the people in the streets, as I rode along. They had\nbeen told to search for two horsemen, that rode upon gray horses, and\nin gray clothes; a house having been broken into the Seventh-day\nbefore at night. We told them we were honest, innocent men, and\nabhorred such things; yet they apprehended us, and set a guard with\nhalberts and pikes upon us that night, calling upon some of those\nFriendly people, with others, to watch us.\n\nNext morning we were up betimes, and the constable, with his guard,\ncarried us before a justice of the peace about five miles off. We\ntook with us two or three of the sufficient men of the town, who had\nbeen with us at the great meeting at Captain Lawrence's, and could\ntestify that we lay both the Seventh-day night and the First-day\nnight at Captain Lawrence's; and it was on the Seventh-day night that\nthey said the house was broken into.\n\nDuring the time that I was a prisoner at the Mermaid at\nCharing-Cross, this Captain Lawrence brought several Independent\njustices to see me there, with whom I had much discourse, at which\nthey took offence. For they pleaded for imperfection, and to sin as\nlong as they lived; but did not like to hear of Christ teaching His\npeople Himself, and making people as clear, whilst here upon the\nearth, as Adam and Eve were before they fell. These justices had\nplotted together this mischief against me in the country, pretending\nthat a house was broken into, that they might send their hue-and-cry\nafter me. They were vexed, also, and troubled, to hear of the great\nmeeting at John Lawrence's aforesaid; for a colonel was there\nconvinced that day who lived and died in the Truth.\n\nBut Providence so ordered that the constable carried us to a justice\nabout five miles onward in our way towards Lynn, who was not an\nIndependent, as the rest were. When we were brought before him he\nbegan to be angry because we did not put off our hats to him. I told\nhim I had been before the Protector, and he was not offended at my\nhat; and why should he be offended at it, who was but one of his\nservants? Then he read the hue-and-cry; and I told him that that\nnight wherein the house was said to have been broken into, we were\nat Captain Lawrence's house and that we had several men present who\ncould testify the truth thereof.\n\nThereupon the justice, having examined us and them, said he believed\nwe were not the men that had broken into the house; but he was sorry,\nhe said, that he had no more against us. We told him he ought not to\nbe sorry for not having evil against us, but ought rather to be glad;\nfor to rejoice when he got evil against people, as for housebreaking\nor the like, was not a good mind in him.\n\nIt was a good while, however, before he could resolve whether to let\nus go or send us to prison, and the wicked constable stirred him up\nagainst us, telling him we had good horses and that if it pleased him\nhe would carry us to Norwich jail. But we took hold of the justice's\nconfession that he believed we were not the men that had broken into\nthe house; and, after we had admonished him to fear the Lord in his\nday, the Lord's power came over him, so that he let us go; so their\nsnare was broken.\n\nA great people was afterwards gathered to the Lord in that town,\nwhere I was moved to speak to them in the street, and whence the\nhue-and-cry came.\n\nBeing set at liberty, we passed on to Cambridge. When I came into the\ntown the scholars, hearing of me, were up, and were exceeding rude. I\nkept on my horse's back, and rode through them in the Lord's power;\nbut they unhorsed Amor Stoddart before he could get to the inn.\nWhen we were in the inn they were so rude in the courts and in the\nstreets that the miners, colliers and carters could not be ruder. The\npeople of the house asked us what we would have for supper. \"Supper!\"\nsaid I, \"were it not that the Lord's power is over them, these rude\nscholars look as if they would pluck us in pieces and make a supper\nof us.\" They knew I was so against the trade of preaching, which they\nwere there as apprentices to learn, that they raged as greatly as\never Diana's craftsmen did against Paul.\n\nAt this place John Crook met us.[80] When it was night the mayor of\nthe town being friendly, came and fetched me to his house;[81] and as\nwe walked through the streets there was a bustle in the town; but\nthey did not know me, it being darkish. They were in a rage, not only\nagainst me, but against the mayor also; so that he was almost afraid\nto walk the streets with me for the tumult. We sent for the Friendly\npeople, and had a fine meeting in the power of God; and I stayed\nthere all night.\n\n  [80] John Crook was Justice of the Peace in Bedford County. He\n  became an eminent minister among the Friends and suffered many\n  imprisonments.\n\n  [81] The wife of this mayor of Cambridge had been to a great\n  meeting which Fox held the day before near the Isle of Ely. James\n  Parnell had already labored in Cambridge before this visit of\n  George Fox. One gets here an interesting glimpse at the students\n  of two hundred and fifty years ago. It is an interesting fact\n  that they failed to unhorse Fox. The struggle between Fox and the\n  students is the subject of one of Robert Spence's etchings.\n\nNext morning, having ordered our horses to be ready by the sixth\nhour, we passed peaceably out of town. The destroyers were\ndisappointed: for they thought I would have stayed longer in the\ntown, and intended to have done us mischief; but our passing away\nearly in the morning frustrated their evil purposes against us.\n\nAt Evesham I heard that the magistrates had cast several Friends into\ndivers prisons, and that, hearing of my coming, they made a pair of\nhigh stocks. I sent for Edward Pittaway, a Friend that lived near\nEvesham, and asked him the truth of the thing. He said it was so.\nI went that night with him to Evesham; and in the evening we had a\nlarge, precious meeting, wherein Friends and people were refreshed\nwith the Word of life, the power of the Lord.\n\nNext morning I rode to one of the prisons, and visited Friends there,\nand encouraged them. Then I rode to the other prison, where were\nseveral prisoners. Amongst them was Humphry Smith, who had been a\npriest, but was now become a free minister of Christ. When I had\nvisited Friends at both prisons, and was turned to go out of the\ntown, I espied the magistrates coming up the town, intending to seize\nme in prison. But the Lord frustrated their intent, the innocent\nescaped their snare, and God's blessed power came over them all. But\nexceeding rude and envious were the priests and professors about this\ntime in these parts.\n\nI went from Evesham to Worcester, and had a quiet and a precious\nmeeting there. From Worcester we went to Tewkesbury, where in the\nevening we had a great meeting, to which came the priest of the town\nwith a great rabble of rude people.\n\nLeaving Tewkesbury, we passed to Warwick, where in the evening we\nhad a meeting with many sober people at a widow-woman's house. A\nprecious meeting we had in the Lord's power; several were convinced\nand turned to the Lord. After the meeting a Baptist in the company\nbegan to jangle; and the bailiff of the town, with his officers, came\nin and said, \"What do these people here at this time of night?\" So he\nsecured John Crook, Amor Stoddart, Gerrard Roberts and me; but we had\nleave to go to our inn, and to be forthcoming in the morning.\n\nThe next morning many rude people came into the inn, and into our\nchambers, desperate fellows; but the Lord's power gave us dominion\nover them. Gerrard Roberts and John Crook went to the bailiff to know\nwhat he had to say to us. He said we might go our ways, for he had\nlittle to say to us. As we rode out of town it lay upon me to ride to\nhis house to let him know that, the Protector having given forth an\ninstrument of government in which liberty of conscience was granted,\nit was very strange that, contrary to that instrument of government,\nhe would trouble peaceable people that feared God.\n\nThe Friends went with me, but the rude people gathered about us with\nstones. One of them took hold of my horse's bridle and broke it; but\nthe horse, drawing back, threw him under him. Though the bailiff saw\nthis, yet he did not stop, nor so much as rebuke the rude multitude;\nso that it was strange we were not slain or hurt in the streets; for\nthe people threw stones and struck at us as we rode along the town.\n\nWhen we were quite out of the town I told Friends that it was upon\nme from the Lord that I must go back into the town again; and if any\none of them felt anything upon him from the Lord he might follow me;\nthe rest, that did not, might go on to Dun-Cow. So I passed through\nthe market in the dreadful power of God, declaring the Word of life\nto them; and John Crook followed me. Some struck at me; but the\nLord's power was over them, and gave me dominion over all. I showed\nthem their unworthiness to claim the name of Christians, and the\nunworthiness of their teachers, that had not brought them into more\nsobriety; and what a shame they were to Christianity.\n\nHaving cleared myself, I turned out of the town again, and passed\nto Coventry, where we found the people closed up with darkness. I\nwent to the house of a professor, where I had formerly been, and\nhe was drunk; which grieved my soul so that I did not go into any\nhouse in the town; but rode into some of the streets, and into the\nmarket-place. I felt that the power of the Lord was over the town.\n\nThen I went on to Dun-Cow, and had a meeting in the evening, and some\nwere turned to the Lord by His Spirit, as some also were at Warwick\nand at Tewkesbury. We lay at Dun-Cow that night; we met with John\nCamm, a faithful minister of the everlasting gospel. In the morning\nthere gathered a rude company of priests and people who behaved more\nlike beasts than men, for some of them came riding on horseback into\nthe room where we were; but the Lord gave us dominion over them.\n\nThence we passed into Leicestershire, and after that to Baddesley in\nWarwickshire. Here William Edmundson, who lived in Ireland, having\nsome drawings upon his spirit to come into England to see me, met\nwith me; by whom I wrote a few lines to Friends then convinced in the\nnorth of Ireland.[82]\n\n     Friends:\n\n     In that which convinced you, wait; that you may have that\n     removed you are convinced of. And all my dear Friends, dwell in\n     the life, and love, and power, and wisdom of God, in unity one\n     with another, and with God; and the peace and wisdom of God fill\n     all your hearts that nothing may rule in you but the life which\n     stands in the Lord God.\n\n                                                            G. F.\n\n  [82] This William Edmundson was one of the first persons to\n  espouse and proclaim the principles of the Quakers in Ireland.\n  He had been a soldier in Cromwell's army, and he carried the\n  spirit and courage of an Ironside into the new service. He had\n  strange and unspeakably difficult experiences to endure in those\n  trying days of unsettlement in Ireland, but he was enabled to do\n  a great work for the cause which he served. He also had large and\n  valuable service in America.\n\nWhen these few lines were read amongst the Friends in Ireland at\ntheir meeting, the power of the Lord came upon all in the room.\n\nFrom Baddesley we passed to Swannington and Higham, and so into\nNorthamptonshire and Bedfordshire, having great meetings; and many\nwere turned to the Lord by His power and Spirit.\n\nWhen we came to Baldock in Hertfordshire, I asked if there was\nnothing in that town, no profession; and it was answered me that\nthere were some Baptists, and a Baptist woman who was sick. John\nRush, of Bedfordshire, went with me to visit her.\n\nWhen we came in there were many tender people about her. They told me\nshe was not a woman for this world, but if I had anything that would\ncomfort her concerning the world to come, I might speak to her. I\nwas moved of the Lord God to speak to her; and the Lord raised her\nup again, to the astonishment of the town and country. This Baptist\nwoman and her husband, whose name was Baldock, came to be convinced,\nand many hundreds of people have met at their house since. Great\nmeetings and convincements were in those parts afterwards; many\nreceived the Word of life, and sat down under the teaching of Christ,\ntheir Saviour.\n\nWhen we had visited this sick woman we returned to our inn, where\nwere two desperate fellows fighting so furiously that none durst\ncome nigh to part them. But I was moved, in the Lord's power, to go\nto them; and when I had loosed their hands, I held one of them by\none hand and the other by the other, showed them the evil of their\ndoings, and reconciled them one to the other; and they were so\nloving and thankful to me that people marveled at it.[83]\n\n  [83] These cases are further illustration of Fox's power to\n  deal with sickness and with desperate persons. He always _felt_\n  himself equal to any emergency which confronted him.\n\nNow, after I had tarried some time in London, and had visited Friends\nin their meetings, I went out of town, leaving James Nayler in the\ncity. As I passed from him I cast my eyes upon him, and a fear struck\nme concerning him; but I went away and rode down to Ryegate, in\nSurrey, where I had a little meeting.[84] There the Friends told me\nof one Thomas Moore, a justice of the peace, that lived not far from\nRyegate, a Friendly, moderate man. I went to visit him at his house,\nand he came to be a serviceable man in Truth.\n\n  [84] James Nayler's fall, which is here felt in dim forecast,\n  became very soon only too sadly real.\n\nThence we went to Dorchester, and alighted at an inn, a Baptist's\nhouse. We sent into the town to the Baptists, to ask them to let us\nhave their meeting-house to assemble in, and to invite the sober\npeople to the meeting; but they denied it us. We sent to them again,\nto know why they would deny us their meeting-house, so the thing was\nnoised about in the town. Then we sent them word that if they would\nnot let us come to their house, they, or any people that feared God,\nmight come to our inn, if they pleased; but they were in a great\nrage. Their teacher and many of them came up, and slapped their\nBibles on the table.\n\nI asked them why they were so angry,--\"Were they angry with the\nBible?\" But they fell into a discourse about their water-baptism. I\nasked them whether they could say they were sent of God to baptize\npeople, as John was, and whether they had the same Spirit and power\nthat the apostles had? They said they had not.\n\nThen I asked them how many powers there are,--whether there are any\nmore than the power of God and the power of the devil. They said\nthere was not any other power than those two. Then said I, \"If you\nhave not the power of God that the apostles had, you act by the\npower of the devil.\" Many sober people were present, who said they\nhave thrown themselves on their backs. Many substantial people were\nconvinced that night; a precious service we had there for the Lord,\nand His power came over all.\n\nNext morning, as we were passing away, the Baptists, being in a rage,\nbegan to shake the dust off their feet after us. \"What,\" said I, \"in\nthe power of darkness! We, who are in the power of God, shake off the\ndust of our feet against you.\"\n\nLeaving Dorchester, we came to Weymouth; where also we inquired\nafter sober people; and about fourscore of them gathered together at\na priest's house. Most of them received the Word of life and were\nturned to their teacher, Christ Jesus, who had enlightened them\nwith His divine Light, by which they might see their sins, and Him\nwho saveth from sin. A blessed meeting we had with them, and they\nreceived the Truth in the love of it, with gladness of heart.\n\nThe meeting held several hours. The state of their teachers, and\ntheir apostasy was opened to them; and the state of the apostles,\nand of the Church in their days; and the state of the law and of the\nprophets before Christ, and how Christ came to fulfill them; that He\nwas their teacher in the apostles' days; and that He was come now\nto teach His people Himself by His power and spirit. All was quiet,\nthe meeting broke up peaceably, the people were very loving; and a\nmeeting is continued in that town to this day. Many are added to\nthem; and some who had been Ranters came to own the Truth, and to\nlive very soberly.\n\nThere was a captain of horse in the town, who sent to me, and would\nfain have had me stay longer; but I was not to stay. He and his man\nrode out of town with me about seven miles; Edward Pyot also being\nwith me. This captain was the fattest, merriest, cheerfullest man,\nand the most given to laughter, that ever I met with: insomuch that\nI was several times moved to speak in the dreadful power of the Lord\nto him; yet it was become so customary to him that he would presently\nlaugh at anything he saw. But I still admonished him to come to\nsobriety, and the fear of the Lord and sincerity.\n\nWe lay at an inn that night, and the next morning I was moved to\nspeak to him again, when he parted from us. The next time I saw him\nhe told me that when I spoke to him at parting, the power of the Lord\nso struck him that before he got home he was serious enough, and\ndiscontinued his laughing. He afterwards was convinced, and became a\nserious and good man, and died in the Truth.\n\nAfter this we passed to Totness, a dark town. We lodged there at\nan inn; and that night Edward Pyot was sick, but the Lord's power\nhealed him, so that the next day we got to Kingsbridge, and at\nour inn inquired for the sober people of the town. They directed\nus to Nicholas Tripe and his wife; and we went to their house.\nThey sent for the priest, with whom we had some discourse; but he,\nbeing confounded, quickly left us. Nicholas Tripe and his wife were\nconvinced; and since that time there has been a good meeting of\nFriends in that country.\n\nIn the evening we returned to our inn. There being many people\ndrinking in the house, I was moved of the Lord to go amongst them,\nand to direct them to the Light with which Christ, the heavenly man,\nhad enlightened them; by which they might see all their evil ways,\nwords, and deeds, and by the same Light might also see Christ Jesus\ntheir Saviour.\n\nThe innkeeper stood uneasy, seeing it hindered his guests from\ndrinking; and as soon as the last words were out of my mouth he\nsnatched up the candle, and said, \"Come, here is a light for you to\ngo into your chamber.\" Next morning, when he was cool, I represented\nto him what an uncivil thing it was for him so to do; then, warning\nhim of the day of the Lord, we got ready and passed away.\n\nWe came next day to Plymouth, refreshed ourselves at our inn, and\nwent to Robert Cary's, where we had a very precious meeting. At this\nmeeting was Elizabeth Trelawny, daughter to a baronet. She being\nsomewhat thick of hearing, came close up to me, and clapped her\near very nigh me while I spake; and she was convinced. After this\nmeeting came in some jangling Baptists; but the Lord's power came\nover them, and Elizabeth Trelawny gave testimony thereto. A fine\nmeeting was settled there in the Lord's power, which hath continued\never since, where many faithful Friends have been convinced.\n\nThence we passed into Cornwall, and came to an inn in the parish of\nMenheriot. At night we had a meeting at Edward Hancock's, to which\ncame Thomas Mounce and a priest, with many people. We brought the\npriest to confess that he was a minister made by the state, and\nmaintained by the state; and he was confounded and went his way; but\nmany of the people stayed.\n\nI directed them to the Light of Christ, by which they might see their\nsins; and their Saviour Christ Jesus, the way to God, their Mediator,\nto make peace betwixt God and them; their Shepherd to feed them, and\ntheir Prophet to teach them. I directed them to the Spirit of God in\nthemselves, by which they might know the Scriptures, and be led into\nall Truth; and by the Spirit might know God, and in it have unity\none with another. Many were convinced at that time, and came under\nChrist's teaching; and there are fine gatherings in the name of Jesus\nin those parts at this day.\n\nWhen we came to Ives, Edward Pyot's horse having cast a shoe, we\nstayed to have it set; and while he was getting his horse shod, I\nwalked down to the seaside. When I returned I found the town in an\nuproar. They were haling Edward Pyot and the other Friend before\nMajor Peter Ceely, a major in the army and a justice of the peace. I\nfollowed them into the justice's house, though they did not lay hands\nupon me.\n\nWhen we came in, the house was full of rude people; whereupon I asked\nif there were not an officer among them to keep the people civil.\nMajor Ceely said that he was a magistrate. I told him that he should\nthen show forth gravity and sobriety, and use his authority to keep\nthe people civil; for I never saw any people ruder; the Indians were\nmore like Christians than they.\n\nAfter a while they brought forth a paper, and asked whether I would\nown it.[AD] I said, Yes. Then he tendered the oath of abjuration to\nus; whereupon I put my hand in my pocket and drew forth the answer to\nit which I had given to the Protector. After I had given him that,\nhe examined us severally, one by one. He had with him a silly young\npriest, who asked us many frivolous questions; and amongst the rest\nhe desired to cut my hair, which was then pretty long; but I was not\nto cut it, though many times many were offended at it. I told them I\nhad no pride in it, and it was not of my own putting on.\n\n  [AD] A paper which George Fox had written to the seven parishes\n  of Land's End.\n\nAt length the justice put us under a guard of soldiers, who were hard\nand wild, like the justice himself; nevertheless we warned the people\nof the day of the Lord, and declared the Truth to them. The next day\nhe sent us, guarded by a party of horse with swords and pistols, to\nRedruth. On First-day the soldiers would have taken us away; but we\ntold them it was their Sabbath, and it was not usual to travel on\nthat day.\n\nSeveral of the townspeople gathered about us, and whilst I held\nthe soldiers in discourse, Edward Pyot spoke to the people; and\nafterwards he held the soldiers in discourse, whilst I spoke to the\npeople. In the meantime the other Friend got out the back way, and\nwent to the steeple-house to speak to the priest and people. The\npeople were exceedingly desperate, in a mighty rage against him, and\nthey sorely abused him. The soldiers also, missing him, were in a\ngreat rage, ready to kill us; but I declared the day of the Lord and\nthe Word of eternal life to the people that gathered about us.\n\nIn the afternoon the soldiers were resolved to take us away, so we\ntook horse. When we were come to the town's end I was moved of the\nLord to go back again, to speak to the old man of the house. The\nsoldiers drew out their pistols, and swore I should not go back. I\nheeded them not, but rode back, and they rode after me. I cleared\nmyself to the old man and the people, and then returned with them,\nand reproved them for being so rude and violent.\n\nAt night we were brought to a town then called Smethick, but since\nknown as Falmouth. It being the evening of the First-day, there came\nto our inn the chief constable of the place, and many sober people,\nsome of whom began to inquire concerning us. We told them we were\nprisoners for Truth's sake; and much discourse we had with them\nconcerning the things of God. They were very sober and loving to us.\nSome were convinced, and stood faithful ever after.\n\nWhen the constable and these people were gone, others came in, who\nwere also very civil, and went away very loving. When all were gone,\nwe went to our chamber to go to bed; and about the eleventh hour\nEdward Pyot said, \"I will shut the door; it may be some may come to\ndo us mischief.\" Afterwards we understood that Captain Keat, who\ncommanded the party, had intended to do us some injury that night;\nbut the door being bolted, he missed his design.\n\nNext morning Captain Keat brought a kinsman of his, a rude, wicked\nman, and put him into the room; himself standing without. This\nevil-minded man walked huffing up and down the room; I bade him fear\nthe Lord. Thereupon he ran upon me, struck me with both his hands,\nand, clapping his leg behind me, would have thrown me down if he\ncould; but he was not able, for I stood stiff and still, and let him\nstrike.\n\nAs I looked towards the door, I saw Captain Keat look on, and see his\nkinsman thus beat and abuse me. I said to him, \"Keat, dost thou allow\nthis?\" He said he did. \"Is this manly or civil,\" said I, \"to have\nus under a guard, and then put a man to abuse and beat us? Is this\nmanly, civil, or Christian?\" I desired one of our friends to send for\nthe constables, and they came.\n\nThen I desired the Captain to let the constables see his warrant or\norder, by which he was to carry us; which he did. His warrant was to\nconduct us safe to Captain Fox, governor of Pendennis Castle; and if\nthe governor should not be at home, he was to convey us to Launceston\njail. I told him he had broken his order concerning us; for we, who\nwere his prisoners, were to be safely conducted; but he had brought\na man to beat and abuse us; so he having broken his order, I wished\nthe constable to keep the warrant. Accordingly he did, and told the\nsoldiers they might go their ways, for he would take charge of the\nprisoners; and if it cost twenty shillings in charges to carry us up,\nthey should not have the warrant again. I showed the soldiers the\nbaseness of their carriage towards us; and they walked up and down\nthe house, pitifully blank and down.\n\nThe constables went to the castle, and told the officers what they\nhad done. The officers showed great dislike of Captain Keat's base\ncarriage towards us; and told the constables that Major-General\nDesborough was coming to Bodmin, and that we should meet him; and it\nwas likely he would free us. Meanwhile our old guard of soldiers came\nby way of entreaty to us, and promised that they would be civil to us\nif we would go with them.\n\nThus the morning was spent till about the eleventh hour; and then,\nupon the soldiers' entreaty, and their promise to be more civil, the\nconstables gave them the order again; and we went with them.\n\nGreat was the civility and courtesy of the constables and people\nof that town towards us. They kindly entertained us, and the Lord\nrewarded them with His truth; for many of them have since been\nconvinced thereof, and are gathered into the name of Jesus, and sit\nunder Christ, their Teacher and Saviour.\n\nCaptain Keat, who commanded our guard, understanding that Captain\nFox, who was governor of Pendennis Castle, was gone to meet\nMajor-General Desborough,[85] did not carry us thither; but took us\ndirectly to Bodmin, in the way to Launceston. We met Major-General\nDesborough on the way. The captain of his troop, who rode before him,\nknew me, and said, \"Oh, Mr. Fox, what do you here?\" I replied, \"I am\na prisoner.\" \"Alack,\" he said, \"for what?\" I told him I was taken up\nas I was travelling. \"Then,\" said he, \"I will speak to my lord, and\nhe will set you at liberty.\"\n\n  [85] Major-General Desborough was one of Cromwell's favorite\n  generals, who received many places of honour from the Protector.\n  In 1655 he received his commission as major-general, in charge\n  of Wiltshire, Somersetshire, Devonshire and Cornwall, and in the\n  main he proved an able administrator in this office.\n\nSo he came from the head of his troop, and rode up to the coach, and\nspoke to the Major-General. We also gave him an account of how we\nwere taken. He began to speak against the Light of Christ; against\nwhich I exhorted him. Then he told the soldiers that they might carry\nus to Launceston; for he could not stay to talk with us, lest his\nhorses should take cold.\n\nTo Bodmin we were taken that night; and when we came to our inn\nCaptain Keat, who was in before us, put me into a room and went his\nway. When I was come in, there stood a man with a naked rapier in\nhis hand. Whereupon I turned out again, called for Captain Keat, and\nsaid, \"What now, Keat; what trick hast thou played now, to put me\ninto a room where there is a man with his naked rapier? What is thy\nend in this?\" \"Oh,\" said he, \"pray hold your tongue; for if you speak\nto this man, we cannot rule him, he is so devilish.\" \"Then,\" said\nI, \"dost thou put me into a room where there is such a man with a\nnaked rapier that thou sayest you cannot rule him? What an unworthy,\nbase trick is this? and to put me single into this room, away from\nmy friends that were fellow-prisoners with me?\" Thus his plot was\ndiscovered and the mischief they intended was prevented.\n\nAfterward we got another room, where we were together all night; and\nin the evening we declared the Truth to the people; but they were\ndark and hardened. The soldiers, notwithstanding their fair promises,\nwere very rude and wicked to us again, and sat up drinking and\nroaring all night.\n\nNext day we were brought to Launceston, where Captain Keat delivered\nus to the jailer. Now was there no Friend, nor Friendly people,\nnear us; and the people of the town were a dark, hardened people.\nThe jailer required us to pay seven shillings a week for our\nhorse-meat,[AE] and seven shillings a week apiece for our diet. After\nsome time several sober persons came to see us, and some people of\nthe town were convinced, and many friendly people out of several\nparts of the country came to visit us, and were convinced.\n\n  [AE] Provender for their horses.\n\nThen got up a great rage among the professors and priests against us.\nThey said, \"This people 'Thou' and 'Thee' all men without respect\nand will not put off their hats, nor bow the knee to any man; but we\nshall see, when the assize comes, whether they will dare to 'Thou'\nand 'Thee' the judge, and keep on their hats before him.\" They\nexpected we should be hanged at the assize.\n\nBut all this was little to us; for we saw how God would stain the\nworld's honour and glory; and were commanded not to seek that honour,\nnor give it; but knew the honour that cometh from God only, and\nsought that.\n\nIt was nine weeks from the time of our commitment to the time of the\nassizes, to which abundance of people came from far and near to hear\nthe trial of the Quakers. Captain Bradden lay there with his troop\nof horse. His soldiers and the sheriff's men guarded us to the court\nthrough the multitude that filled the streets; and much ado they had\nto get us through. Besides, the doors and windows were filled with\npeople looking upon us.\n\nWhen we were brought into the court, we stood a while with our hats\non, and all was quiet. I was moved to say, \"Peace be amongst you.\"\n\nJudge Glynne, a Welshman, then Chief-Justice of England, said to\nthe jailer, \"What be these you have brought here into the court?\"\n\"Prisoners, my lord,\" said he.\n\n\"Why do you not put off your hats?\" said the Judge to us. We said\nnothing.\n\n\"Put off your hats,\" said the Judge again. Still we said nothing.\nThen said the Judge, \"The Court commands you to put off your hats.\"\n\nThen I spoke, and said, \"Where did ever any magistrate, king, or\njudge, from Moses to Daniel, command any to put off their hats, when\nthey came before him in his court, either amongst the Jews, the\npeople of God, or amongst the heathen?[86] and if the law of England\ndoth command any such thing, show me that law either written or\nprinted.\"\n\n  [86] This was Puritan England, and an appeal to Old Testament\n  precedents was not out of place.\n\nThen the Judge grew very angry, and said, \"I do not carry my\nlaw-books on my back.\" \"But,\" said I, \"tell me where it is printed in\nany statute-book, that I may read it.\"\n\nThen said the Judge, \"Take him away, prevaricator! I'll _ferk_ him.\"\nSo they took us away, and put us among the thieves.\n\nPresently after he calls to the jailer, \"Bring them up again.\"\n\"Come,\" said he, \"where had they hats, from Moses to Daniel; come,\nanswer me: I have you fast now.\"\n\nI replied, \"Thou mayest read in the third of Daniel, that the three\nchildren were cast into the fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar's\ncommand, with their coats, their hose, and their hats on.\"\n\nThis plain instance stopped him: so that, not having anything else\nto say to the point, he cried again, \"Take them away, jailer.\"\n\nAccordingly we were taken away, and thrust in among the thieves,\nwhere we were kept a great while; and then, without being called\nagain, the sheriff's men and the troopers made way for us (but we\nwere almost spent) to get through the crowd of people, and guarded us\nto the prison again, a multitude of people following us, with whom we\nhad much discourse and reasoning at the jail.\n\nWe had some good books to set forth our principles, and to inform\npeople of the Truth. The Judge and justices hearing of this, they\nsent Captain Bradden for them. He came into the jail to us, and\nviolently took our books from us, some out of Edward Pyot's hands,\nand carried them away; so we never got them again.\n\n     [While in the jail Fox addressed a paper \"against swearing\" to\n     the grand and petty juries.]\n\nThis paper passing among them from the jury to the justices, they\npresented it to the Judge; so that when we were called before the\nJudge, he bade the clerk give me that paper, and then asked me\nwhether that seditious paper was mine. I said to him, \"If they will\nread it out in open court, that I may hear it, if it is mine I will\nown it, and stand by it.\" He would have had me take it and look\nupon it in my own hand; but I again desired that it might be read,\nthat all the country might hear it, and judge whether there was any\nsedition in it or not; for if there were, I was willing to suffer for\nit.\n\nAt last the clerk of the assize read it, with an audible voice, that\nall the people might hear it. When he had done I told them it was\nmy paper; that I would own it, and so might they too, unless they\nwould deny the Scripture: for was not this Scripture language, and\nthe words and commands of Christ, and the Apostle, which all true\nChristians ought to obey?\n\nThen they let fall that subject; and the Judge fell upon us about our\nhats again, bidding the jailer take them off; which he did, and gave\nthem to us; and we put them on again. Then we asked the Judge and\nthe justices, for what cause we had lain in prison these nine weeks,\nseeing they now objected to nothing but our hats. And as for putting\noff our hats, I told them that that was the honour which God would\nlay in the dust, though they made so much ado about it; the honour\nwhich is of men, and which men seek one of another, and is a mark of\nunbelievers. For \"How can ye believe,\" saith Christ, \"who receive\nhonour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God\nonly?\" Christ saith, \"I receive not honour from men\"; and all true\nChristians should be of His mind.\n\nThen the Judge began to make a pompous speech, how he represented the\nLord Protector's person, who made him Lord Chief-Justice of England,\nand sent him to come that circuit, etc. We desired him, then, that\nhe would do us justice for our false imprisonment which we had\nsuffered nine weeks wrongfully. But instead of that, they brought\nan indictment framed against us; so full of lies that I thought it\nhad been against some of the thieves,--\"that we came by force and\narms, and in a hostile manner, into the court\"; who were brought\nas aforesaid. I told them it was all false; and still we cried for\njustice for our false imprisonment, being taken up in our journey\nwithout cause by Major Ceely.\n\nThen Peter Ceely said to the Judge, \"May it please you, my lord, this\nman (pointing to me) went aside with me, and told me how serviceable\nI might be for his design; that he could raise forty thousand men at\nan hour's warning, involve the nation in blood, and so bring in King\nCharles. I would have aided him out of the country, but he would not\ngo. If it please you, my lord, I have a witness to swear it.\"\n\nSo he called upon his witness; but the Judge not being forward to\nexamine the witness, I desired that he would be pleased to let my\nmittimus be read in the face of the court and the country, in which\nthe crime was signified for which I was sent to prison. The Judge\nsaid it should not be read. I said, \"It ought to be, seeing it\nconcerned my liberty and my life.\" The Judge said again, \"It shall\nnot be read.\" I said, \"It ought to be read; for if I have done\nanything worthy of death, or of bonds, let all the country know it.\"\n\nThen seeing they would not read it, I spoke to one of my\nfellow-prisoners: \"Thou hast a copy of it; read it up.\" \"It shall not\nbe read,\" said the Judge; \"jailer, take him away. I'll see whether he\nor I shall be master.\"\n\nSo I was taken away, and awhile after called for again. I still\ncalled to have the mittimus read; for that signified the cause of my\ncommitment. I again spoke to the Friend, my fellow-prisoner, to read\nit up; which he did. The Judge, justices, and the whole court were\nsilent; for the people were eager to hear it. It was as followeth:\n\n    \"Peter Ceely, one of the justices of\n      the peace of this county, to the keeper of His Highness's jail\n      at Launceston, or his lawful deputy in that behalf, greeting:\n\n    \"I send you here withal by the bearers hereof, the bodies of Edward\n    Pyot, of Bristol, and George Fox, of Drayton-in-the-Clay, in\n    Leicestershire, and William Salt, of London, which they pretend to be\n    the places of their habitations, who go under the notion of Quakers,\n    and acknowledge themselves to be such; who have spread several papers\n    tending to the disturbance of the public peace, and cannot render any\n    lawful cause of coming into those parts, being persons altogether\n    unknown, having no pass for travelling up and down the country, and\n    refusing to give sureties for their good behaviour, according to the\n    law in that behalf provided; and refuse to take oath of abjuration,\n    etc. These are, therefore, in the name of his highness the Lord\n    Protector, to will and command you, that when the bodies of the said\n    Edward Pyot, George Fox, and William Salt, shall be unto you brought,\n    you them receive, and in His Highness's prison aforesaid you safely\n    keep them, until by due course of law they shall be delivered.\n    Hereof fail you not, as you will answer the contrary at your perils.\n    Given under my hand and seal, at St. Ives, the 18th day of January,\n    1655.\n\n                                                      \"P. CEELY.\"\n\nWhen it was read I spoke thus to the Judge and justices:\n\n\"Thou that sayest thou art Chief-Justice of England, and you\njustices, know that, if I had put in sureties, I might have gone\nwhither I pleased, and have carried on the design (if I had had one)\nwith which Major Ceely hath charged me. And if I had spoken those\nwords to him, which he hath here declared, judge ye whether bail or\nmainprize could have been taken in that case.\"\n\nThen, turning my speech to Major Ceely, I said:\n\n\"When or where did I take thee aside? Was not thy house full of rude\npeople, and thou as rude as any of them, at our examination; so that\nI asked for a constable or some other officer to keep the people\ncivil? But if thou art my accuser, why sittest thou on the bench? It\nis not the place of accusers to sit with the judge. Thou oughtest to\ncome down and stand by me, and look me in the face.\n\n\"Besides, I would ask the Judge and justices whether Major Ceely\nis not guilty of this treason, which he charges against me, in\nconcealing it so long as he hath done? Does he understand his place,\neither as a soldier or a justice of the peace? For he tells you here\nthat I went aside with him, and told him what a design I had in hand,\nand how serviceable he might be for my design: that I could raise\nforty thousand men in an hour's time, bring in King Charles, and\ninvolve the nation in blood. He saith, moreover, that he would have\naided me out of the country, but I would not go; and therefore he\ncommitted me to prison for want of sureties for the good behaviour,\nas the mittimus declares.\n\n\"Now, do you not see plainly that Major Ceely is guilty of this plot\nand treason he talks of, and hath made himself a party to it by\ndesiring me to go out of the country, demanding bail of me, and not\ncharging me with this pretended treason till now, nor discovering\nit? But I deny and abhor his words, and am innocent of his devilish\ndesign.\"\n\nSo that business was let fall; for the Judge saw clearly enough that\ninstead of ensnaring me, Major Ceely had ensnared himself.\n\nMajor Ceely got up again, and said, \"If it please you, my lord, to\nhear me: this man struck me, and gave me such a blow as I never had\nin my life.\" At this I smiled in my heart, and said, \"Major Ceely,\nart thou a justice of the peace, and a major of a troop of horse, and\ntellest the Judge, in the face of the court and country, that I, a\nprisoner, struck thee and gave thee such a blow as thou never hadst\nthe like in thy life? What! art thou not ashamed? Prithee, Major\nCeely,\" said I, \"where did I strike thee? and who is thy witness for\nthat? who was by?\"\n\nHe said it was in the Castle-Green, and Captain Bradden was standing\nby when I struck him. I desired the Judge to let him produce his\nwitness for that; and called again upon Major Ceely to come down\nfrom the bench, telling him that it was not fit that the accuser\nshould sit as judge over the accused. When I called again for his\nwitness he said that Captain Bradden was his witness.\n\nThen I said, \"Speak, Captain Bradden, didst thou see me give him such\na blow, and strike him as he saith?\" Captain Bradden made no answer;\nbut bowed his head towards me. I desired him to speak up, if he knew\nany such thing; but he only bowed his head again. \"Nay,\" said I,\n\"speak up, and let the court and country hear, and let not bowing of\nthe head serve the turn. If I have done so, let the law be inflicted\non me; I fear not sufferings, nor death itself, for I am an innocent\nman concerning all this charge.\"\n\nBut Captain Bradden never testified to it; and the Judge, finding\nthose snares would not hold, cried, \"Take him away, jailer;\" and\nthen, when we were taken away, he fined us twenty marks apiece for\nnot putting off our hats; and sentenced us to be kept in prison till\nwe paid it; so he sent us back to the jail.\n\nAt night Captain Bradden came to see us, and seven or eight justices\nwith him, who were very civil to us, and told us they believed\nneither the Judge nor any in the court gave credit to the charges\nwhich Major Ceely had brought forward against me in the face of the\ncountry. And Captain Bradden said that Major Ceely had an intent to\ntake away my life if he could have got another witness.\n\n\"But,\" said I, \"Captain Bradden, why didst not thou witness for me,\nor against me, seeing Major Ceely produced thee for a witness, that\nthou saw me strike him? and when I desired thee to speak either for\nme or against me, according to what thou saw or knew, thou wouldst\nnot speak.\"\n\n\"Why,\" said he, \"when Major Ceely and I came by you, as you were\nwalking in the Castle-Green, he put off his hat to you, and said,\n'How do you do, Mr. Fox? Your servant, Sir.' Then you said to him,\n'Major Ceely, take heed of hypocrisy, and of a rotten heart: for when\ncame I to be thy master, and thou my servant? Do servants cast their\nmasters into prison?' This was the great blow he meant you gave him.\"\n\nThen I called to mind that they walked by us, and that he spoke\nso to me, and I to him; which hypocrisy and rotten-heartedness he\nmanifested openly, when he complained of this to the Judge in open\ncourt, and in the face of the country; and would have made them all\nbelieve that I struck him outwardly with my hand.\n\nThere came also to see us one Colonel Rouse a justice of the peace,\nand a great company with him. He was as full of words and talk as\never I heard any man in my life, so that there was no speaking to\nhim. At length I asked him whether he had ever been at school, and\nknew what belonged to questions and answers; (this I said to stop\nhim).\n\n\"At school!\" said he, \"Yes.\"\n\n\"At school!\" said the soldiers; \"doth he say so to our colonel, that\nis a scholar?\"\n\n\"Then,\" said I, \"if he be so, let him be still and receive answers to\nwhat he hath said.\"\n\nThen I was moved to speak the Word of life to him in God's dreadful\npower; which came so over him that he could not open his mouth. His\nface swelled, and was red like a turkey; his lips moved, and he\nmumbled something; but the people thought he would have fallen down.\nI stepped up to him, and he said he was never so in his life before:\nfor the Lord's power stopped the evil power in him; so that he was\nalmost choked.\n\nThe man was ever after very loving to Friends, and not so full of\nairy words to us; though he was full of pride; but the Lord's power\ncame over him, and the rest that were with him.\n\nAnother time there came an officer of the army, a very malicious,\nbitter professor whom I had known in London. He was full of his airy\ntalk also, and spoke slightingly of the Light of Christ, and against\nthe Truth, and against the Spirit of God being in men, as it was in\nthe apostles' days; till the power of God, that bound the evil in\nhim, had almost choked him as it did Colonel Rouse: for he was so\nfull of evil that he could not speak, but blubbered and stuttered.\nBut from the time that the Lord's power struck him and came over him,\nhe was ever after more loving to us.\n\nThe assizes being over, and we settled in prison upon such a\ncommitment that we were not likely to be soon released, we broke off\nfrom giving the jailer seven shillings a week apiece for our horses,\nand seven shillings a week for ourselves, and sent our horses into\nthe country. Upon which he grew very wicked and devilish, and put us\ndown into Doomsdale, a nasty, stinking place, where they used to put\nmurderers after they were condemned.[87]\n\n  [87] This description of Doomsdale is far from pleasant reading,\n  but it is a true and faithful picture of a dungeon in the\n  seventeenth century, and because of its historic importance it\n  is left exactly as it was written. It is no wonder the Quakers\n  became prison reformers.\n\nThe place was so noisome that it was observed few that went in did\never come out again in health. There was no house of office in it;\nand the excrement of the prisoners that from time to time had been\nput there had not been carried out (as we were told) for many years.\nSo that it was all like mire, and in some places to the tops of the\nshoes in water and urine; and he would not let us cleanse it, nor\nsuffer us to have beds or straw to lie on.\n\nAt night some friendly people of the town brought us a candle and a\nlittle straw; and we burned a little of our straw to take away the\nstink. The thieves lay over our heads, and the head jailer in a room\nby them, over our heads also. It seems the smoke went up into the\nroom where the jailer lay; which put him into such a rage that he\ntook the pots of excrement from the thieves and poured them through\na hole upon our heads in Doomsdale, till we were so bespattered that\nwe could not touch ourselves nor one another. And the stink increased\nupon us; so that what with stink, and what with smoke, we were almost\nchoked and smothered. We had the stink under our feet before, but\nnow we had it on our heads and backs also; and he having quenched\nour straw with the filth he poured down, had made a great smother\nin the place. Moreover, he railed at us most hideously, calling us\nhatchet-faced dogs, and such strange names as we had never heard of.\nIn this manner we were obliged to stand all night, for we could not\nsit down, the place was so full of filthy excrement.\n\nA great while he kept us after this manner before he would let us\ncleanse it, or suffer us to have any victuals brought in but what\nwe got through the grate. One time a girl brought us a little meat;\nand he arrested her for breaking his house, and sued her in the\ntown-court for breaking the prison. A great deal of trouble he put\nthe young woman to; whereby others were so discouraged that we had\nmuch ado to get water, drink, or victuals. Near this time we sent\nfor a young woman, Ann Downer, from London, who could write and take\nthings well in short-hand, to buy and dress our meat for us; which\nshe was very willing to do, it being also upon her spirit to come to\nus in the love of God; and she was very serviceable to us.\n\nThe head-jailer, we were informed, had been a thief, and was burnt\nboth in the hand and in the shoulder; his wife, too, had been burnt\nin the hand. The under-jailer had been burnt both in the hand and\nin the shoulder: his wife had been burnt in the hand also. Colonel\nBennet, a Baptist teacher, having purchased the jail and lands\nbelonging to the castle, had placed this head-jailer there. The\nprisoners and some wild people would be talking of spirits that\nhaunted Doomsdale, and how many had died in it, thinking perhaps\nto terrify us therewith. But I told them that if all the spirits\nand devils in hell were there, I was over them in the power of God,\nand feared no such thing; for Christ, our Priest, would sanctify\nthe walls of the house to us, He who had bruised the head of the\ndevil.[88] The priest was to cleanse the plague out of the walls of\nthe house under the law, which had been ended by Christ, our Priest,\nwho sanctifies both inwardly and outwardly the walls of the house,\nthe walls of the heart, and all things to his people.\n\n  [88] This has the ring of one of Luther's utterances.\n\nBy this time the general quarter-sessions drew nigh; and the jailer\nstill carrying himself basely and wickedly towards us, we drew up\nour suffering case, and sent it to the sessions at Bodmin. On the\nreading thereof, the justices gave order that Doomsdale door should\nbe opened, and that we should have liberty to cleanse it, and to\nbuy our meat in the town. We also sent a copy of our sufferings to\nthe Protector, setting forth how we had been taken and committed by\nMajor Ceely; and abused by Captain Keat as aforesaid, and the rest in\norder. The Protector sent down an order to Captain Fox, governor of\nPendennis Castle, to examine the matter about the soldiers abusing\nus, and striking me.\n\nThere were at that time many of the gentry of the country at the\nCastle; and Captain Keat's kinsman, that struck me, was sent for\nbefore them, and much threatened. They told him that if I should\nchange my principles, I might take the extremity of the law against\nhim, and might recover sound damages of him. Captain Keat also was\nchecked, for suffering the prisoners under his charge to be abused.\n\nThis was of great service in the country; for afterwards Friends\nmight speak in any market or steeple-house thereabouts, and none\nwould meddle with them. I understood that Hugh Peters, one of the\nProtector's chaplains, told him they could not do George Fox a\ngreater service for the spreading of his principles in Cornwall, than\nto imprison him there.\n\nAnd indeed my imprisonment there was of the Lord, and for His service\nin those parts; for after the assizes were over, and it was known\nthat we were likely to continue prisoners, several Friends from most\nparts of the nation came in to the country to visit us. Those parts\nof the west were very dark countries at that time; but the Lord's\nlight and truth broke forth, shone over all, and many were turned\nfrom darkness to light, and from Satan's power unto God. Many were\nmoved to go to the steeple-houses; and several were sent to prison\nto us; and a great convincement began in the country. For now we had\nliberty to come out, and to walk in the Castle-Green; and many came\nto us on First-days, to whom we declared the Word of life.\n\nGreat service we had among them, and many were turned to God, up and\ndown the country; but great rage possessed the priests and professors\nagainst the Truth and us. One of the envious professors had collected\nmany Scripture sentences to prove that we ought to put off our hats\nto the people; and he invited the town of Launceston to come into\nthe castle-yard to hear him read them. Amongst other instances that\nhe there brought, one was that Saul bowed to the witch of Endor. When\nhe had done, we got a little liberty to speak; and we showed both him\nand the people that Saul was gone from God, and had disobeyed God\nwhen he went to the witch of Endor: that neither the prophets, nor\nChrist, nor the apostles ever taught people to bow to a witch.\n\nAnother time, about eleven at night, the jailer, being half drunk,\ncame and told me that he had got a man now to dispute with me: (this\nwas when we had leave to go a little into the town). As soon as he\nspoke these words I felt there was mischief intended to my body. All\nthat night and the next day I lay down on a grass-plot to slumber,\nand felt something still about my body: I started up, and struck at\nit in the power of the Lord, and still it was about my body.\n\nThen I rose and walked into the Castle-Green, and the under-keeper\ncame and told me that there was a maid would speak with me in the\nprison. I felt a snare in his words, too, therefore I went not into\nthe prison, but to the grate; and looking in, I saw a man that was\nlately brought to prison for being a conjurer, who had a naked knife\nin his hand. I spoke to him, and he threatened to cut my chaps; but,\nbeing within the jail he could not come at me. This was the jailer's\ngreat disputant.\n\nI went soon after into the jailer's house, and found him at\nbreakfast; he had then got his conjurer out with him. I told the\njailer his plot was discovered. Then he got up from the table, and\ncast his napkin away in a rage; and I left them, and went to my\nchamber; for at this time we were out of Doomsdale.\n\nAt the time the jailer had said the dispute should be, I went down\nand walked in the court (the place appointed) till about the eleventh\nhour; but nobody came. Then I went up to my chamber again; and after\nawhile heard one call for me. I stepped to the stairshead, where I\nsaw the jailer's wife upon the stairs, and the conjurer at the bottom\nof the stairs, holding his hand behind his back, and in a great rage.\n\nI asked him, \"Man, what hast thou in thy hand behind thy back? Pluck\nthy hand before thee,\" said I; \"let's see thy hand, and what thou\nhast in it.\"\n\nThen he angrily plucked forth his hand, with a naked knife in it. I\nshowed the jailer's wife their wicked design against me; for this was\nthe man they brought to dispute of the things of God. But the Lord\ndiscovered their plot, and prevented their evil design; and they both\nraged, and the conjurer threatened.\n\nThen I was moved of the Lord to speak sharply to him in the dreadful\npower of the Lord; and the Lord's power came over him, and bound him\ndown; so that he never after durst appear before me, to speak to me.\nI saw it was the Lord alone that had preserved me out of their bloody\nhands; for the devil had a great enmity to me, and stirred up his\ninstruments to seek my hurt. But the Lord prevented them; and my\nheart was filled with thanksgivings and praises to him.[89]\n\n  [89] The 14th of May, 1656, Edward Pyot, Fox's fellow prisoner,\n  wrote a long letter to John Glyn, Chief Justice of England,\n  in which he showed that they were suffering contrary to law.\n  George Fox himself, as his custom was, spent much of his time of\n  imprisonment writing letters and religious epistles. Here is a\n  sound word of advice from his Epistle to \"Friends\": \"Be patterns,\n  be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever\n  you come, that your life and conduct may preach among all sorts\n  of people and to them.\"\n\nIn Cornwall, Devonshire, Dorsetshire, and Somersetshire, Truth\nbegan mightily to spread. Many were turned to Christ Jesus and His\nfree teaching: for many Friends that came to visit us were drawn\nto declare the Truth in those counties. This made the priests and\nprofessors rage, and they stirred up the magistrates to ensnare\nFriends. They set up watches in the streets and highways, on pretence\nof taking up suspicious persons, under which colour they stopped and\ntook up Friends coming to visit us in prison; which was done that\nthese Friends might not pass up and down in the Lord's service.\n\nBut that by which they thought to have stopped the Truth was the\nmeans of spreading it so much the more; for then Friends were\nfrequently moved to speak to one constable and to another officer,\nand to the justices before whom they were brought; which caused the\nTruth to spread the more in all their parishes. And when Friends were\ngot among the watches, it would be a fortnight or three weeks before\nthey could get out of them again; for no sooner had one constable\ntaken and carried them before the justices, and these had discharged\nthem, but another would take them up and carry them before other\njustices: which put the country to a great deal of needless trouble\nand charges.\n\nAs Thomas Rawlinson was coming out of the north to visit us, a\nconstable in Devonshire took him up, and at night took twenty\nshillings out of his pocket: and after being thus robbed he was cast\ninto Exeter jail. They cast into prison in Devonshire, under pretence\nof his being a Jesuit, Henry Pollexfen, who had been a justice of\nthe peace for almost forty years. Many Friends were cruelly beaten\nby them; nay, some clothiers that were but going to mill with their\ncloth, and others about their outward occasions, they took up and\nwhipped; though men of about eighty or an hundred pounds by the year,\nand not above four or five miles from their families.\n\nThe mayor of Launceston took up all he could, and cast them into\nprison. He would search substantial, grave women, their petticoats\nand their head-cloths. A young man coming to see us, I drew up all\nthe gross, inhuman, and unchristian actions of the mayor, gave it\nhim, and bade him seal it up, and go out again the back way; and\nthen come into the town through the gates. He did so, and the watch\ntook him up and carried him before the mayor; who presently searched\nhis pockets and found the letter. Therein he saw all his actions\ncharacterized; which shamed him so that from that time he meddled\nlittle with the Lord's servants.\n\nWhile I was in prison here, the Baptists and Fifth-monarchy men\nprophesied that this year Christ should come, and reign upon earth\na thousand years. And they looked upon this reign to be outward:\nwhen He was come inwardly in the hearts of His people, to reign and\nrule; where these professors would not receive Him. So they failed\nin their prophecy and expectation, and had not the possession of\nHim. But Christ is come, and doth dwell and reign in the hearts of\nHis people.[90] Thousands, at the door of whose hearts He hath been\nknocking, have opened to Him, and He is come in, and doth sup with\nthem, and they with Him; the heavenly supper with the heavenly and\nspiritual man. So many of these Baptists and Monarchy-people turned\nthe greatest enemies to the followers of Christ; but He reigns in the\nhearts of His saints over all their envy.\n\n  [90] It will be found interesting to compare this brief comment\n  on the views of the \"Fifth-monarchy men\" with Cromwell's\n  treatment of them. See Speech II., in First Parliament. Carlyle's\n  \"Oliver Cromwell,\" Centenary Edition, Vol. III., p. 113. The\n  modern reader will also find it interesting to compare this\n  passage with the present-day teachings of the \"Second Coming.\"\n\nAt the assize divers justices came to us, and were pretty civil,\nand reasoned of the things of God soberly; expressing a pity to us.\nCaptain Fox, governor of Pendennis Castle, came and looked me in the\nface, and said never a word; but went to his company and told them he\nnever saw a simpler man in his life. I called after him, and said,\n\"Stay, man; we will see who is the simpler man.\" But he went his way.\nA light, chaffy person.\n\nThomas Lower[91] also came to visit us, and offered us money, which\nwe refused; accepting nevertheless of his love. He asked us many\nquestions concerning our denying the Scriptures to be the Word of\nGod; concerning the sacraments, and such like: to all which he\nreceived satisfaction. I spoke particularly to him; and he afterwards\nsaid my words were as a flash of lightning, they ran so through him.\nHe said he had never met with such men in his life, for they knew\nthe thoughts of his heart; and were as the wise master-builders of\nthe assemblies that fastened their words like nails. He came to be\nconvinced of the truth, and remains a Friend to this day.\n\n  [91] This Thomas Lower married Judge Fell's daughter, Mary.\n\nWhen he came home to his aunt Hambley's, where he then lived, and\nmade report to her concerning us, she, with her sister Grace Billing,\nhearing the report of Truth, came to visit us in prison, and was\nconvinced also. Great sufferings and spoiling of goods both he and\nhis aunt have undergone for the Truth's sake.\n\nAfter the assizes, the sheriff, with some soldiers, came to guard\nto execution a woman that was sentenced to die; and we had much\ndiscourse with them. One of them wickedly said, \"Christ was as\npassionate a man as any that lived upon the earth;\" for which we\nrebuked him. Another time we asked the jailer what doings there were\nat the sessions; and he said, \"Small matters; only about thirty\nfor bastardy.\" We thought it very strange that they who professed\nthemselves Christians should make small matters of such things.\n\nBut this jailer was very bad himself; I often admonished him to\nsobriety; but he abused people that came to visit us. Edward Pyot had\na cheese sent him from Bristol by his wife; and the jailer took it\nfrom him, and carried it to the mayor, to search it for treasonable\nletters, as he said; and though they found no treason in the cheese,\nthey kept it from us.[92] This jailer might have been rich--if he had\ncarried himself civilly; but he sought his own ruin, which soon after\ncame upon him.\n\n  [92] This, however, was not the last of the cheese. After their\n  release they revisited Launceston, as this extract will show:\n\n  \"From Thomas Mounce's we passed to Launceston again, and visited\n  that little remnant of Friends that had been raised up there\n  while we were in prison. The Lord's plants grew finely, and were\n  established on Christ, their rock and foundation. As we were\n  going out of town again, the constable of Launceston came running\n  to us with the cheese that had been taken from Edward Pyot; which\n  they had kept from us all this while, and were tormented with it.\n  But being now set at liberty, we would not receive it.\"\n\nThe next year he was turned out of his place, and for some\nwickedness cast into the jail himself; and there begged of our\nFriends. And for some unruliness in his conduct he was, by the\nsucceeding jailer, put into Doomsdale, locked in irons, and beaten,\nand bidden to remember how he had abused those good men whom he had\nwickedly, without any cause, cast into that nasty dungeon; and told\nthat now he deservedly should suffer for his wickedness; and the same\nmeasure he had meted to others, should be meted out to himself. He\nbecame very poor, and died in prison; and his wife and family came to\nmisery.\n\nWhile I was in prison in Launceston, a Friend went to Oliver\nCromwell, and offered himself, body for body, to lie in Doomsdale in\nmy stead; if he would take him, and let me have liberty. Which thing\nso struck him, that he said to his great men and council, \"Which of\nyou would do as much for me if I were in the same condition?\" And\nthough he did not accept of the Friend's offer, but said he could not\ndo it, for that it was contrary to law, yet the Truth thereby came\nmightily over him. A good while after this he sent down Major-General\nDesborough, pretending to set us at liberty. When he came, he offered\nus our liberty if we would say we would go home and preach no more;\nbut we could not promise him. Then he urged that we should promise to\ngo home, if the Lord permitted.\n\nAfter this[93] Major-General Desborough came to the Castle-Green,\nand played at bowls with the justices and others. Several Friends\nwere moved to go and admonish them not to spend their time so vainly,\ndesiring them to consider, that though they professed themselves to\nbe Christians, yet they gave themselves up to their pleasures, and\nkept the servants of God meanwhile in prison; and telling them that\nthe Lord would plead with them and visit them for such things. But\nnotwithstanding what was written or said to him, he went away, and\nleft us in prison.\n\n  [93] Both Edward Pyot and George Fox had written letters to\n  Major-General Desborough, showing that they were innocent,\n  law-abiding men, doing the Lord's work in the world, and that\n  they could not promise to go home, it being the free right of an\n  Englishman to go where his duty or his business carried him.\n\nWe understood afterwards that he left the business to Colonel Bennet,\nwho had the command of the jail. For some time after Bennet would\nhave set us at liberty if we would have paid his jailer's fees. But\nwe told him we could give the jailer no fees, for we were innocent\nsufferers; and how could they expect fees of us, who had suffered so\nlong wrongfully? After a while Colonel Bennet coming to town, sent\nfor us to an inn, and insisted again upon fees, which we refused. At\nlast the power of the Lord came so over him, that he freely set us\nat liberty on the 13th day of the Seventh month, 1656. We had been\nprisoners nine weeks at the first assize, called the Lent-assize,\nwhich was in the spring of the year.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nPanting the Seed in Wales.\n\n1656-1657.\n\n\nBeing released from our imprisonment, we got horses, rode towards\nHumphrey Lower's, and met him upon the road. He told us he was much\ntroubled in his mind concerning us, and could not rest at home, but\nwas going to Colonel Bennet to seek our liberty. When we told him we\nwere set at liberty, and were going to his house, he was exceeding\nglad. To his house we went, and had a fine, precious meeting; many\nwere convinced, and turned by the Spirit of the Lord to the Lord\nJesus Christ's teaching.\n\nSoon after we came to Exeter, where many Friends were in prison;\nand amongst the rest James Nayler. For a little before we were set\nat liberty, James had run out into imaginations, and a company with\nhim, who raised a great darkness in the nation. He came to Bristol,\nand made a disturbance there.[94] From thence he was coming to\nLaunceston to see me; but was stopped by the way, and imprisoned at\nExeter; as were several others, one of whom, an honest, tender man,\ndied in prison there. His blood lieth on the heads of his persecutors.\n\n  [94] Poor James Nayler proved unable to stand the strain of this\n  strenuous work. A fanatical group got about him and in a period\n  of evident aberration he allowed these flattering followers to\n  give him a Triumphal Entry into Bristol, as Christ, returned in\n  the flesh. Here is Carlyle's account: \"In the month of October,\n  1655, there was seen a strange sight at Bristol in the West.\n  A procession of eight persons: one a man on horseback, riding\n  single; the others, men and women, partly riding double, partly\n  on foot, in the muddiest highway, in the wettest weather;\n  singing, all but the single-rider, at whose bridle splash and\n  walk two women: 'Hosannah! Holy, holy! Lord God of Sabaoth!'...\n  The single-rider is a raw-boned male figure, 'with lank hair\n  reaching below his cheeks'; hat drawn close over his brows; of\n  abstruse 'down look' and large, dangerous jaws, strictly closed;\n  he sings not; sits there covered, and is sung to by the others,\n  bare. Amid pouring deluges and mud knee-deep: 'so that the rain\n  ran in at their necks, and they vented it at their hose and\n  breeches,' a spectacle to the west of England and posterity!\n  Singing as above; answering no questions except in song. At\n  the High Cross, they are laid hold of by the Authorities;\n  turn out to be James Nayler and Company.\" (Carlyle's \"Oliver\n  Cromwell's Letters and Speeches.\" Vol. III., pp. 223, 224.)\n  What he needed was mental treatment. What he received was the\n  harshest punishment Parliament could devise. He missed the death\n  penalty by a vote of 82 to 96. His sentence, passed by Parliament\n  December 16th, 1656, was to be pilloried for two hours, to be\n  whipped by the hangman through the streets from Westminster to\n  the Old Exchange in the city, to be pilloried again after two\n  days for two hours more, to have his tongue bored through with a\n  red-hot iron, and to be branded in the forehead with the letter\n  B, to be again flogged through the streets of Bristol, and then\n  to be committed to prison with solitary confinement and hard\n  labor during the pleasure of Parliament. Poor James Nayler!\n  His fall did the Quakers almost irreparable injury in public\n  estimation. Fox had already had an intimation of this trouble. As\n  he left James Nayler in London he wrote: \"As I passed him I cast\n  my eye upon him and a fear struck me concerning him.\"\n\nThe night that we came to Exeter I spoke with James Nayler: for I saw\nhe was out, and wrong, and so was his company. The next day, being\nFirst-day, we went to visit the prisoners, and had a meeting with\nthem in the prison; but James Nayler, and some of them, could not\nstay the meeting. There came a corporal of horse into the meeting,\nwho was convinced, and remained a very good Friend.\n\nThe next day I spoke to James Nayler again; and he slighted what I\nsaid, was dark, and much out; yet he would have come and kissed me.\nBut I said that since he had turned against the power of God, I could\nnot receive his show of kindness. The Lord moved me to slight him,\nand to set the power of God over him. So after I had been warring\nwith the world, there was now a wicked spirit risen amongst Friends\nto war against. I admonished him and his company.\n\nWhen he was come to London, his resisting the power of God in me, and\nthe Truth that was declared to him by me, became one of his greatest\nburdens. But he came to see his out-going, and to condemn it; and\nafter some time he returned to Truth again;[95] as in the printed\nrelation of his repentance, condemnation, and recovery may be more\nfully seen.\n\n  [95] His death came not long after his awful punishment, and just\n  before the end of life he wrote these words:\n\n  \"There is a spirit which I feel, which delights to do no evil,\n  nor to revenge any wrong; but delights to endure all things,\n  in hope to enjoy its own in the end. Its hope is to outlive\n  all wrath and contention, and to weary out all exaltation and\n  cruelty, or whatever is of a nature contrary to itself. It sees\n  to the end of all temptations; as it bears no evil in itself, so\n  it conceives none in thought to any other. If it be betrayed, it\n  bears it; for its ground and spring is the mercy and forgiveness\n  of God. Its crown is meekness; its life is everlasting love\n  unfeigned. It takes its kingdom with entreaty, and not with\n  contention, and keeps it by lowliness of mind. In God alone it\n  can rejoice, though none else regard it, or can own its life. It\n  is conceived in sorrow, and brought forth without any to pity it;\n  nor doth it murmur at grief and oppression. It never rejoiceth,\n  but through sufferings; for with the world's joy it is murdered.\n  I found it alone; being forsaken. I have fellowship therein, with\n  those who lived in dens and desolate places in the earth; who\n  through death obtained this resurrection, and eternal, holy life!\"\n\n  See also \"James Nayler's answer to the Fanatick History as far as\n  it relates to him.\"\n\n  The wild extreme to which Nayler went had a very sobering effect\n  on the Friends themselves.\n\nOn First-day morning I went to the meeting in Broadmead at Bristol,\nwhich was large and quiet. Notice was given of a meeting to be in the\nafternoon in the orchard.\n\nThere was at Bristol a rude Baptist, named Paul Gwin, who had before\nmade great disturbance in our meetings, being encouraged and set on\nby the mayor, who, it was reported, would sometimes give him his\ndinner to encourage him. Such multitudes of rude people he gathered\nafter him, that it was thought there had been sometimes ten thousand\npeople at our meeting in the orchard.\n\nAs I was going into the orchard, the people told me that Paul Gwin\nwas going to the meeting. I bade them never heed, for it was nothing\nto me who went to it.\n\nWhen I was come into the orchard, I stood upon the stone that Friends\nused to stand on when they spoke; and I was moved of the Lord to put\noff my hat, and to stand a while, and let the people look at me; for\nsome thousands of people were there. While I thus stood silent, this\nrude Baptist began to find fault with my hair; but I said nothing\nto him. Then he ran on into words; and at last, \"Ye wise men of\nBristol,\" said he, \"I marvel at you, that you will stand here, and\nhear a man speak and affirm that which he cannot make good.\"\n\nThen the Lord opened my mouth (for as yet I had not spoken a word),\nand I asked the people whether they had ever heard me speak, or had\never seen me before; and I bade them take notice what kind of man\nthis was amongst them that should so impudently say that I spoke and\naffirmed that which I could not make good; and yet neither he nor\nthey had ever heard me or seen me before. Therefore that was a lying,\nenvious, malicious spirit that spoke in him; and it was of the devil,\nand not of God. I charged him in the dread and power of the Lord to\nbe silent: and the mighty power of God came over him, and all his\ncompany.\n\nThen a glorious, peaceable meeting we had, and the Word of life was\ndivided amongst them; and they were turned from darkness to the\nLight,--to Jesus their Saviour. The Scriptures were largely opened to\nthem; and the traditions, rudiments, ways, and doctrines of men were\nlaid open before the people; and they were turned to the Light of\nChrist, that with it they might see these things, and see Him to lead\nthem out of them.\n\nI opened also to them the types, figures, and shadows of Christ in\nthe time of the law; and showed them that Christ was come, and had\nended the types, shadows, tithes, and oaths, and put down swearing;\nand had set up yea and nay instead of it, and a free ministry. For He\nwas now come to teach the people Himself, and His heavenly day was\nspringing from on high.\n\nFor many hours did I declare the Word of life amongst them in the\neternal power of God, that by Him they might come up into the\nbeginning, and be reconciled to Him. And having turned them to the\nSpirit of God in themselves, that would lead into all Truth, I was\nmoved to pray in the mighty power of God; and the Lord's power came\nover all. When I had done, this fellow began to babble again; and\nJohn Audland was moved to bid him repent, and fear God. So his own\npeople and followers being ashamed of him, he passed away, and never\ncame again to disturb the meeting. The meeting broke up quietly, and\nthe Lord's power and glory shone over all: a blessed day it was, and\nthe Lord had the praise. After a while this Paul Gwin went beyond the\nseas; and many years after I met him in Barbadoes.\n\nSoon after we rode to London. When we came near Hyde Park we saw a\ngreat concourse of people, and, looking towards them, espied the\nProtector coming in his coach. Whereupon I rode to his coach side.\nSome of his life-guard would have put me away; but he forbade them.\nSo I rode by his coach side with him, declaring what the Lord gave\nme to say to him, of his condition, and of the sufferings of Friends\nin the nation, showing him how contrary this persecution was to the\nwords of Christ and His apostles, and to Christianity.\n\nWhen we were come to James's Park Gate, I left him; and at parting\nhe desired me to come to his house. The next day one of his wife's\nmaids, whose name was Mary Sanders, came to me at my lodging, and\ntold me that her master came to her, and said he would tell her some\ngood news. When she asked him what it was, he told her, \"George Fox\nis come to town.\" She replied \"That is good news indeed\" (for she had\nreceived Truth), but she said she could hardly believe him till he\ntold her how I met him, and rode from Hyde Park to James's Park with\nhim.\n\nAfter a little time Edward Pyot and I went to Whitehall to\nsee Oliver Cromwell; and when we came before him, Dr. Owen,\nvice-chancellor of Oxford, was with him. We were moved to speak to\nhim concerning the sufferings of Friends, and laid them before him:\nand we directed him to the Light of Christ, who had enlightened every\nman that cometh into the world. He said it was a natural light;\nbut we showed him the contrary; and proved that it was divine and\nspiritual, proceeding from Christ the spiritual and heavenly man; and\nthat that which was called the life in Christ the Word, was called\nthe Light in us.\n\nThe power of the Lord God arose in me, and I was moved in it to bid\nhim lay down his crown at the feet of Jesus. Several times I spoke to\nhim to the same effect. I was standing by the table, and he came and\nsat upon the table's side by me, saying he would be as high as I was.\nSo he continued speaking against the Light of Christ Jesus; and went\nhis way in a light manner. But the Lord's power came over him so that\nwhen he came to his wife and other company, he said, \"I never parted\nso from them before\"; for he was judged in himself.\n\nAfter this I travelled into Yorkshire, and returned out of\nHolderness, over Humber, visiting Friends; and then returning into\nLeicestershire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, and Warwickshire,\namong Friends, I had a meeting at Edge-Hill. There came to it\nRanters, Baptists, and several sorts of rude people; for I had sent\nword about three weeks before to have a meeting there, so that\nhundreds of people were gathered thither, and many Friends came to\nit from afar. The Lord's everlasting Truth and Word of life reached\nover all; the rude and unruly spirits were chained down; and many\nthat day were turned to the Lord Jesus Christ, by His power and\nSpirit, and came to sit under His blessed, free teaching, and to be\nfed with His eternal, heavenly food. All was peaceable; the people\npassed quietly away, and some of them said it was a mighty, powerful\nmeeting; for the presence of the Lord was felt, and His power and\nSpirit was amongst them.\n\nThence I passed to Warwick and to Bagley, having precious meetings;\nand then into Gloucestershire, and so to Oxford, where the scholars\nwere very rude; but the Lord's power came over them. Great meetings\nwe had as we travelled up and down.\n\nThus having travelled over most of the nation, I returned to London\nagain, having cleared myself of that which lay upon me from the\nLord. For after I was released out of Launceston jail, I was moved\nof the Lord to travel over the nation, the Truth being now spread in\nmost places, that I might answer, and remove out of the minds of the\npeople, some objections which the envious priests and professors had\nraised and spread abroad concerning us.\n\nIn this year the Lord's Truth was finely planted over the nation,\nand many thousands were turned to the Lord; insomuch that there were\nseldom fewer than one thousand in prison in this nation for Truth's\ntestimony; some for tithes, some for going to the steeple-houses,\nsome for contempts (as they called them), some for not swearing, and\nothers for not putting off their hats.\n\nHaving stayed some time in London, and visited the meetings of\nFriends in and about the city, and cleared myself of what services\nthe Lord had at that time laid upon me there, I left the town and\ntravelled into Kent, Sussex, and Surrey, visiting Friends. I had\ngreat meetings, and often met with opposition from Baptists and other\njangling professors; but the Lord's power went over them.\n\nWe lay one night at Farnham, where we had a little meeting. The\npeople were exceeding rude; but at last the Lord's power came over\nthem. After meeting we went to our inn, and gave notice that any who\nfeared God might come to our inn to us. There came abundance of rude\npeople, the magistrates of the town, and some professors. I declared\nthe Truth to them; and those people that behaved themselves rudely,\nthe magistrates put out of the room.\n\nWhen they were gone, another rude company of professors came up, and\nsome of the chief of the town. They called for faggots and drink,\nthough we forbade them, and were as rude a people as ever I met.\nThe Lord's power chained them, that they had not power to do us any\nmischief; but when they went away they left all the faggots and beer,\nfor which they had called, in the room, for us to pay for in the\nmorning. We showed the innkeeper what an unworthy thing it was; but\nhe told us we must pay it; and pay it we did.\n\nBefore we left the town I wrote to the magistrates and heads of the\ntown, and to the priest, showing them how he had taught his people,\nand laying before them their rude and uncivil carriage to strangers\nthat sought their good.\n\nLeaving that place we came to Basingstoke, a very rude town; where\nthey had formerly very much abused Friends. There I had a meeting\nin the evening, which was quiet; for the Lord's power chained the\nunruly. At the close of the meeting I was moved to put off my hat and\nto pray to the Lord to open their understandings; upon which they\nraised a report that I put off my hat to them and bade them good\nnight, which was never in my heart.\n\nAfter the meeting, when we came to our inn, I sent for the innkeeper,\nas I was used to do; and he came into the room to us, and showed\nhimself a very rude man. I admonished him to be sober, and fear the\nLord; but he called for faggots and a pint of wine, and drank it off\nhimself; then called for another, and called up half a dozen men into\nour chamber. Thereupon I bade him go out of the chamber, and told\nhim he should not drink there; for we called him up to speak to him\nconcerning his eternal good.\n\nHe was exceeding mad, rude, and drunk. When he continued his rudeness\nand would not be gone, I told him that the chamber was mine for the\ntime I lodged in it; and called for the key. Then he went away in a\nrage. In the morning he would not be seen; but I told his wife of his\nunchristian carriage towards us.\n\nWe then travelled to Exeter; and at the sign of the Seven Stars,\nan inn at the bridge foot, had a general meeting of Friends out of\nCornwall and Devonshire; to which came Humphrey Lower, Thomas Lower,\nand John Ellis from the Land's End; Henry Pollexfen, and Friends from\nPlymouth; Elizabeth Trelawny, and divers other Friends. A blessed\nheavenly meeting we had, and the Lord's everlasting power came over\nall, in which I saw and said that the Lord's power had surrounded\nthis nation round about as with a wall and bulwark, and His seed\nreached from sea to sea. Friends were established in the everlasting\nSeed of life, Christ Jesus, their Life, Rock, Teacher, and Shepherd.\n\nNext morning Major Blackmore sent soldiers to apprehend me; but I\nwas gone before they came. As I was riding up the street I saw the\nofficers going down; so the Lord crossed them in their design, and\nFriends passed away peaceably and quietly. The soldiers examined some\nFriends after I was gone, asking them what they did there; but when\nthey told them that they were in their inn, and had business in the\ncity, they went away without meddling any further with them.\n\nWe passed through the countries,[AF] having meetings, and gathering\npeople in the name of Christ, their heavenly teacher, till we came to\nBrecknock, where we put up our horses at an inn. There went with me\nThomas Holmes and John ap-John, who was moved of the Lord to speak in\nthe streets. I walked out but a little into the fields; and when I\nreturned the town was in an uproar. When I came into the chamber in\nthe inn, it was full of people, and they were speaking in Welsh. I\ndesired them to speak in English, which they did; and much discourse\nwe had. After a while they went away.\n\n  [AF] In Wales.\n\nTowards night the magistrates gathered in the streets with a\nmultitude of people, and they bade them shout, and gathered up the\ntown; so that, for about two hours together, there was a noise the\nlike of which we had not heard; and the magistrates set them on to\nshout again when they had given over. We thought it looked like the\nuproar amongst Diana's craftsmen. This tumult continued till night,\nand if the Lord's power had not limited them, they would likely have\npulled down the house, and torn us to pieces.\n\nAt night the woman of the house would have had us go to supper in\nanother room; but we, discerning her plot, refused. Then she would\nhave had half a dozen men come into the room to us, under the\npretence of discoursing with us. We told her, \"No person shall come\ninto our room this night, neither will we go to them.\" Then she said\nwe should sup in another room; but we told her we would have no\nsupper if we had it not in our own room. At length, when she saw she\ncould not get us out, she brought up our supper.\n\nSo she and they were crossed in their design; for they had an intent\nto do us mischief, but the Lord prevented them. Next morning I wrote\na paper to the town concerning their unchristian carriage, showing\nthe fruits of their priests and magistrates; and as I passed out\nof town I spoke to the people, and told them they were a shame to\nChristianity and religion.\n\nAfter this we returned to England, and came to Shrewsbury, where we\nhad a great meeting, and visited Friends all over the countries in\ntheir meetings, till we came to William Gandy's, in Cheshire, where\nwe had a meeting of between two and three thousand people, as it\nwas thought; and the everlasting Word of life was held forth, and\nreceived that day. A blessed meeting it was, for Friends were settled\nby the power of God upon Christ Jesus, the Rock and Foundation.\n\nAt this time there was a great drought; and after this general\nmeeting was ended, there fell so great a rain that Friends said they\nthought we could not travel, the waters would be so risen. But I\nbelieved the rain had not extended as far as they had come that day\nto the meeting. Next day, in the afternoon, when we turned back into\nsome parts of Wales again, the roads were dusty, and no rain had\nfallen there.\n\nWhen Oliver Cromwell sent forth a proclamation for a fast throughout\nthe nation, for rain, when there was a very great drought, it was\nobserved that as far as Truth had spread in the north, there were\npleasant showers and rain enough, while in the south, in many places,\nthe fields were almost spoiled for want of rain. At that time I was\nmoved to write an answer to the Protector's proclamation, wherein I\ntold him that if he had come to own God's Truth, he should have had\nrain; and that the drought was a sign unto them of their barrenness,\nand their want of the water of life.\n\nWe passed through Montgomeryshire into Wales, and so into\nRadnorshire, where there was a meeting like a leaguer,[AG] for\nmultitudes. I walked a little aside whilst the people were gathering:\nand there came to me John ap-John, a Welshman, whom I asked to go to\nthe people; and if he had anything upon him from the Lord to them,\nhe might speak in Welsh, and thereby gather more together. Then came\nMorgan Watkins to me, who was become loving to Friends, and said,\n\"The people lie like a leaguer, and the gentry of the country are\ncome in.\" I bade him go up also, and leave me; for I had a great\ntravail upon me for the salvation of the people.\n\n  [AG] A besieging army.\n\nWhen they were well gathered, I went into the meeting, and stood upon\na chair about three hours. I stood a pretty while before I began\nto speak. After some time I felt the power of the Lord over the\nwhole assembly: and His everlasting life and Truth shone over all.\nThe Scriptures were opened to them, and the objections they had in\ntheir minds answered. They were directed to the Light of Christ, the\nheavenly man; that by it they might see their sins, and Christ Jesus\nto be their Saviour, their Redeemer, their Mediator; and come to feed\nupon Him, the bread of life from heaven.\n\nMany were turned to the Lord Jesus Christ, and to His free teaching\nthat day; and all were bowed down under the power of God; so that\nthough the multitude was so great that many sat on horseback to hear,\nthere was no opposition. A priest sat with his wife on horseback,\nheard attentively, and made no objection.\n\nThe people parted peaceably, with great satisfaction; many of them\nsaying they had never heard such a sermon before, nor the Scriptures\nso opened. For the new covenant was opened, and the old, and the\nnature and terms of each; and the parables were explained. The state\nof the Church in the apostles' days was set forth, and the apostasy\nsince was laid open; the free teaching of Christ and the apostles was\nset atop of all the hireling teachers; and the Lord had the praise of\nall, for many were turned to Him that day.[96]\n\n  [96] Great numbers of these Welsh Friends migrated to\n  Pennsylvania and settled Montgomery County. Haverford, Bryn Mawr,\n  Merion and Radnor are some of the historic townships whose names\n  were transferred to the new world by these followers of Fox.\n\nI went thence to Leominster, where was a great meeting in a close,\nmany hundreds of people being gathered together. There were about six\ncongregational preachers and priests amongst the people; and Thomas\nTaylor, who had been a priest, but was now become a minister of\nChrist Jesus, was with me. I stood up and declared about three hours;\nand none of the priests were able to open their mouths in opposition;\nthe Lord's power and Truth so reached and bound them.\n\nAt length one priest went off about a bow-shot from me, drew several\nof the people after him, and began to preach to them. So I kept our\nmeeting, and he kept his. After awhile Thomas Taylor was moved to go\nand speak to him, upon which he gave over: and he, with the people he\nhad drawn off, came to us again; and the Lord's power went over all.\n\nFrom this place I travelled on in Wales, having several meetings,\ntill I came to Tenby, where, as I rode up the street, a justice of\nthe peace came out to me, asked me to alight, and desired that I\nwould stay at his house, which I did. On First-day the mayor, with\nhis wife, and several others of the chief people of the town, came\nin about the tenth hour, and stayed all the time of the meeting. A\nglorious meeting it was.\n\nJohn ap-John being then with me, left the meeting, and went to the\nsteeple-house; and the governor cast him into prison. On Second-day\nmorning the governor sent one of his officers to the justice's to\nfetch me; which grieved the mayor and the justice; for they were both\nwith me in the justice's house when the officer came. The mayor and\nthe justice went to the governor before me; and awhile after I went\nwith the officer. When I came in I said, \"Peace be unto this house,\"\nand before the governor could examine me I asked him why he cast my\nfriend into prison. He said, \"For standing with his hat on in the\nchurch.\"\n\nI said, \"Had not the priest two caps on his head, a black one and a\nwhite one? Cut off the brims of the hat, and then my friend would\nhave but one: and the brims of the hat were but to defend him from\nweather.\"\n\n\"These are frivolous things,\" said the governor.\n\n\"Why, then,\" said I, \"dost thou cast my friend into prison for such\nfrivolous things?\"\n\nHe asked me whether I owned election and reprobation. \"Yes,\" said I,\n\"and thou art in the reprobation.\"\n\nAt that he was in a rage and said he would send me to prison till I\nproved it. I told him I would prove that quickly if he would confess\nTruth. I asked him whether wrath, fury, rage and persecution were not\nmarks of reprobation; for he that was born of the flesh persecuted\nhim that was born of the Spirit; but Christ and His disciples never\npersecuted nor imprisoned any.\n\nHe fairly confessed that he had too much wrath, haste and passion in\nhim. I told him that Esau was up in him, the first birth; not Jacob,\nthe second birth. The Lord's power so reached the man and came over\nhim that he confessed to Truth; and the other justice came and shook\nme kindly by the hand.\n\nAs I was passing away I was moved to speak to the governor again; and\nhe invited me to dinner with him, and set my friend at liberty. I\nwent back to the other justice's house; and after some time the mayor\nand his wife, and the justice and his wife, and divers other Friends\nof the town, went about half a mile out of town with us, to the\nwater-side, when we went away; and there, when we parted from them, I\nwas moved of the Lord to kneel down with them, and pray to the Lord\nto preserve them. So, after I had recommended them to the Lord Jesus\nChrist, their Saviour and free Teacher, we passed away in the Lord's\npower; and He had the glory.\n\nWe travelled to Pembrokeshire, and in Pembroke had some service for\nthe Lord. Thence we passed to Haverford West, where we had a great\nmeeting, and all was quiet. The Lord's power came over all, and\nmany were settled in the new covenant, Christ Jesus, and built upon\nHim, their Rock and Foundation; and they stand a precious meeting to\nthis day. Next day, being their fair-day, we passed through it, and\nsounded the day of the Lord, and His everlasting Truth, amongst them.\n\nAfter this we passed into another county, and at noon came into a\ngreat market-town, and went into several inns before we could get\nany meat for our horses. At last we came to one where we got some.\nThen John ap-John being with me, went and spoke through the town,\ndeclaring the Truth to the people; and when he came to me again, he\nsaid he thought all the town were as people asleep. After awhile he\nwas moved to go and declare Truth in the streets again; then the town\nwas all in an uproar, and they cast him into prison.\n\nPresently after several of the chief people of the town came, with\nothers, to the inn where I was, and said, \"They have cast your man\ninto prison.\"\n\n\"For what?\" said I.\n\n\"He preached in our streets,\" said they.\n\nThen I asked them, \"What did he say? Had he reproved some of the\ndrunkards and swearers, and warned them to repent, and leave off\ntheir evil doings, and turn to the Lord?\" I asked them who cast\nhim into prison. They said, the high-sheriff and justices, and the\nmayor. I asked their names, and whether they understood themselves;\nand whether that was their conduct to travellers that passed through\ntheir town, and strangers that admonished and exhorted them to fear\nthe Lord, and reproved sin in their gates.\n\nThese went back, and told the officers what I had said; and after\nawhile they brought down John ap-John, guarded with halberts, in\norder to put him out of the town. Being at the inn door, I bade the\nofficers take their hands off him. They said that the mayor and\njustices had commanded them to put him out of town. I told them I\nwould talk with their mayor and justices concerning their uncivil and\nunchristian carriage towards him.\n\nSo I spoke to John to go look after the horses, and get them ready,\nand charged the officers not to touch him. After I had declared the\nTruth to them, and showed them the fruits of their priests, and their\nincivility and unchristian carriage, they left us. They were a kind\nof Independents; a very wicked town, and false. We bade the innkeeper\ngive our horses a peck of oats; and no sooner had we turned our backs\nthan the oats were stolen from our horses.\n\nAfter we had refreshed ourselves a little, and were ready, we took\nhorse, and rode up to the inn, where the mayor, sheriff, and justices\nwere. I called to speak with them, and asked them why they had\nimprisoned John ap-John, and kept him in prison two or three hours.\nBut they would not answer me a word; they only looked out at the\nwindows upon me. So I showed them how unchristian was their carriage\nto strangers and travellers, and how it manifested the fruits of\ntheir teachers; and I declared the truth unto them, and warned them\nof the day of the Lord, that was coming upon all evil-doers; and the\nLord's power came over them, that they looked ashamed; but not a\nword could I get from them in answer.\n\nSo when I had warned them to repent, and turn to the Lord, we\npassed away. At night we came to a little inn, very poor, but very\ncheap; for our own provision and that for our two horses cost but\neight-pence; but the horses would not eat their oats. We declared the\nTruth to the people of the place, and sounded the day of the Lord\nthrough the countries.[AH]\n\n  [AH] Counties.\n\nPassing thence we came to a great town, and went to an inn. Edward\nEdwards went into the market, and declared the Truth amongst the\npeople; and they followed him to the inn, and filled the yard, and\nwere exceedingly rude. Yet good service we had for the Lord amongst\nthem; for the life of Christianity and the power of it tormented\ntheir chaffy spirits, and came over them, so that some were reached\nand convinced; and the Lord's power came over all. The magistrates\nwere bound; they had no power to meddle with us.\n\nAfter this we came to another great town on a market-day; and John\nap-John declared the everlasting Truth through the streets, and\nproclaimed the day of the Lord amongst them. In the evening many\npeople gathered about the inn; and some of them, being drunk, would\nfain have had us come into the street again. But seeing their design,\nI told them that if there were any that feared God and desired to\nhear the Truth, they might come into our inn; or else we might have a\nmeeting with them next morning.\n\nSome service for the Lord we had amongst them, both over night and\nin the morning; and though the people were slow to receive the\nTruth, yet the seed was sown; and thereabouts the Lord hath a people\ngathered to Himself.\n\nIn that inn, also, I but turned my back to the man that was giving\noats to my horse, and, looking round again, I observed he was filling\nhis pockets with the provender. A wicked, thievish people, to rob the\npoor, dumb creature of his food. I would rather they had robbed me.\n\nThence we went to Beaumaris, a town wherein John ap-John had formerly\nbeen a preacher. After we had put up our horses at an inn, John went\nand spoke through the street; and there being a garrison in the town,\nthey took him and put him into prison. The innkeeper's wife came and\ntold me that the governor and magistrates were sending for me, to\ncommit me to prison also. I told her that they had done more than\nthey could answer already; and had acted contrary to Christianity in\nimprisoning him for reproving sin in their streets and gates, and for\ndeclaring the Truth. Soon after came other friendly people, and told\nme that if I went into the street, the governor and magistrates would\nimprison me also; therefore they desired me to keep within the inn.\n\nUpon this I was moved to go and walk up and down in the streets.[97]\nAnd I told the people what an uncivil, unchristian thing they\nhad done in casting my friend into prison. And they being high\nprofessors, I asked them if this was the entertainment they had\nfor strangers; if they would willingly be so served themselves; and\nwhether they, who looked upon the Scriptures to be their rule, had\nany example in the Scriptures from Christ or His apostles, for what\nthey had done. So after awhile they set John ap-John at liberty.\n\n  [97] This was very characteristic of the man.\n\nNext day, being market-day, we were to cross a great water;[98]\nand not far from the place where we were to take boat, many of the\nmarket-people drew to us. Amongst these we had good service for the\nLord, declaring the Word of Life and everlasting Truth unto them,\nproclaiming amongst them the day of the Lord, which was coming upon\nall wickedness; and directing them to the Light of Christ, with which\nHe, the heavenly man, had enlightened them; by which they might see\nall their sins, and all their false ways, religions, worships and\nteachers; and by the same Light might see Christ Jesus, who was come\nto save them, and lead them to God.\n\n  [98] Beaumaris is in Anglesey, so that they were to cross\n  Beaumaris Bay to the mainland.\n\nAfter the Truth had been declared to them in the power of God, and\nChrist the free teacher set over all the hireling teachers, I made\nJohn ap-John get his horse into the boat, which was then ready. But\nthere being a company of wild \"gentlemen,\" as they were called,\ngotten into it (whom we found very rude, and far from gentleness),\nthey, with others, kept his horse out of the boat. I rode to the\nboat's side, and spoke to them, showing them what an unmanly and\nunchristian carriage it was; and told them that they showed an\nunworthy spirit, below Christianity or humanity.\n\nAs I spoke, I leaped my horse into the boat amongst them, thinking\nJohn's horse would follow when he had seen mine go in before him. But\nthe water being pretty deep, John could not get his horse into the\nboat. Therefore I leaped out again on horseback into the water, and\nstayed with John on that side till the boat returned.\n\nThere we tarried, from the eleventh hour of the forenoon to the\nsecond in the afternoon, before the boat came to fetch us; and then\nhad forty-two miles to ride that evening; and by the time we had paid\nfor our passage, we had but one groat left between us in money.\n\nWe rode about sixteen miles, and then got a little hay for our\nhorses. Setting forward again, we came in the night to a little\nale-house, where we thought to have stayed and baited. But, finding\nwe could have neither oats nor hay there, we travelled all night;\nand about the fifth hour in the morning got to a place within six\nmiles of Wrexham, where that day we met with many Friends, and had\na glorious meeting. The Lord's everlasting power and Truth was over\nall; and a meeting is continued there to this day.\n\nNext day we passed thence into Flintshire, sounding the day of the\nLord through the towns; and came into Wrexham at night. Here many\nof Floyd's people came to us; but very rude, wild, and airy they\nwere, and little sense of truth they had; yet some were convinced in\nthat town. Next morning one called a lady sent for me, who kept a\npreacher in her house. I went, but found both her and her preacher\nvery light and airy; too light to receive the weighty things of\nGod. In her lightness she came and asked me if she should cut my\nhair; but I was moved to reprove her, and bade her cut down the\ncorruptions in herself with the sword of the Spirit of God. So after\nI had admonished her to be more grave and sober, we passed away; and\nafterwards, in her frothy mind, she made her boast that she came\nbehind me and cut off the curl of my hair;[99] but she spoke falsely.\n\n  [99] This \"curl\" is two or three times mentioned. He always wore\n  his hair long and apparently had a long curling lock behind.\n\nFrom Wrexham we came to Chester; and it being the fair time, we\nstayed a while, and visited Friends. For I had travelled through\nevery county in Wales, preaching the everlasting gospel of Christ;\nand a brave people there is now, who have received it, and sit under\nChrist's teaching. But before I left Wales I wrote to the magistrates\nof Beaumaris concerning the imprisoning of John ap-John; letting them\nsee their conditions, and the fruits of their Christianity, and of\ntheir teachers. Afterwards I met with some of them near London; but,\noh, how ashamed they were of their action!\n\nSoon we came to Manchester, and the sessions being there that day\nmany rude people were come out of the country. In the meeting they\nthrew at me coals, clods, stones, and water; yet the Lord's power\nbore me up over them that they could not strike me down. At last,\nwhen they saw they could not prevail by throwing water, stones, and\ndirt at me, they went and informed the justices in the sessions, who\nthereupon sent officers to fetch me before them.\n\nThe officers came in while I was declaring the Word of life to the\npeople, plucked me down, and haled me into their court. When I came\nthere all the court was in a disorder and a noise. I asked, \"Where\nare the magistrates that they do not keep the people civil?\" Some of\nthe justices said that they were magistrates. I asked them why, then,\nthey did not appease the people, and keep them sober, for one cried,\n\"I'll swear,\" and another cried, \"I'll swear.\"\n\nI declared to the justices how we were abused in our meeting by the\nrude people, who threw stones, clods, dirt, and water; and how I\nwas haled out of the meeting and brought thither, contrary to the\ninstrument of government, which said that none should be molested in\ntheir meetings that professed God, and owned the Lord Jesus Christ;\nwhich I did. The Truth so came over them that when one of the rude\nfollowers cried, \"I'll swear,\" one of the justices checked him,\nsaying \"What will you swear? hold your tongue.\"\n\nAt last they bade the constable take me to my lodging, and there\nsecure me till they sent for me again to-morrow morning. So the\nconstable took me to my lodging.\n\nAs we went the people were exceedingly rude; but I let them see\nthe fruits of their teachers, how they shamed Christianity, and\ndishonored the name of Jesus which they professed.\n\nAt night we went to see a justice in the town who was pretty\nmoderate, and I had a great deal of discourse with him. Next morning\nwe sent to the constable to know if he had anything more to say to\nus. He sent us word that he had nothing to say to us; we might go\nwhither we would.\n\nThe Lord hath since raised up a people to stand for His name and\nTruth in that town over those chaffy professors.\n\nWe passed from Manchester, having many precious meetings in several\nplaces, till we came to Preston. Between Preston and Lancaster I had\na general meeting, from which I went to Lancaster. There at our inn I\nmet with Colonel West, who was very glad to see me, and meeting with\nJudge Fell he told him that I was mightily grown in the Truth; when,\nindeed, he was come nearer to the Truth, and so could better discern\nit.\n\nWe came from Lancaster to Robert Widders's. On the First-day after\nI had a general meeting of Friends of Westmoreland and Lancashire\nnear Sandside, when the Lord's everlasting power was over all. In\nthis meeting the Word of eternal life was declared, and Friends were\nsettled upon the foundation Christ Jesus, under His free teaching;\nand many were convinced, and turned to the Lord.\n\nNext day I came over the Sands to Swarthmore, where Friends were glad\nto see me. I stayed there two First-days, visiting Friends in their\nmeetings thereabouts. They rejoiced with me in the goodness of the\nLord, who by His eternal power had carried me through and over many\ndifficulties and dangers in His service; to Him be the praise for\never!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nIn the Home of the Covenanters.\n\n1657.\n\n\nAfter I had tarried two First-days at Swarthmore,[100] and had\nvisited Friends in their meetings thereabouts, I passed into\nWestmoreland, in the same work, till I came to John Audland's, where\nthere was a general meeting.\n\n  [100] While waiting at Swarthmore, between the labors in Wales\n  and the visit to Scotland, George Fox wrote several epistles.\n  Here is a beautiful little Postscript to his epistle \"to Friends\":\n\n  \"Postscript--And, Friends, be careful how ye set your feet among\n  the tender plants, that are springing up out of God's earth;\n  lest ye tread upon them, hurt, bruise, or crush them in God's\n  vineyard.\"\n\nThe night before I had had a vision of a desperate creature that was\ncoming to destroy me, but I got victory over it. And next day in\nmeeting-time came one Otway, with some rude fellows. He rode round\nabout the meeting with his sword or rapier, and would fain have\ngot in through the Friends to me; but the meeting being great, the\nFriends stood close, so that he could not easily come at me. When he\nhad ridden about several times raging, and found he could not get in,\nbeing limited by the Lord's power, he went away.\n\nIt was a glorious meeting, ended peaceably, and the Lord's\neverlasting power came over all. This wild man went home, became\ndistracted, and not long after died. I sent a paper to John Blakelin\nto read to him, while he lay ill, showing him his wickedness, and he\nacknowledged something of it.\n\nI had for some time felt drawings on my spirit to go into Scotland,\nand had sent to Colonel William Osburn of Scotland, desiring him\nto meet me; and he, with some others, came out of Scotland to this\nmeeting.[101] After it was over (which, he said, was the most\nglorious meeting that ever he saw in his life), I passed with him\nand his company into Scotland, having with me Robert Widders, a\nthundering man against hypocrisy, deceit, and the rottenness of the\npriests.\n\n  [101] This was a great general meeting at Langlands, in\n  Cumberland.\n\nThe first night we came into Scotland we lodged at an inn. The\ninnkeeper told us an earl lived about a quarter of a mile off, who\nhad a desire to see me; and had left word at the inn that if ever I\ncame into Scotland, he should be told of it. The innkeeper told us\nthere were three drawbridges to the earl's house; and that it would\nbe nine o'clock before the third bridge was drawn.\n\nFinding we had time in the evening, we walked to his house. He\nreceived us very lovingly, and said he would have gone with us on our\njourney, but that he was before engaged to go to a funeral. After we\nhad spent some time with him, we parted very friendly, and returned\nto our inn. Next morning we travelled on, and passing through\nDumfries, came to Douglas, where we met with some Friends. Thence we\npassed to the Heads, where we had a blessed meeting in the name of\nJesus, and felt Him in the midst.\n\nLeaving Heads, we went to Badcow, and had a meeting there, to which\nabundance of people came, and many were convinced. Amongst them was\none called a lady. From thence we passed towards the Highlands to\nWilliam Osburn's, where we gathered up the sufferings of Friends, and\nthe principles of the Scotch priests, which may be seen in a book\ncalled \"The Scotch Priests' Principles.\"\n\nAfterwards we returned to Heads, Badcow, and Garshore, where the said\nlady, Margaret Hambleton, was convinced; who afterwards went to warn\nOliver Cromwell and Charles Fleetwood of the day of the Lord that was\ncoming upon them.\n\nOn First-day we had a great meeting, and several professors came to\nit. Now, the priests had frightened the people with the doctrine of\nelection and reprobation, telling them that God had ordained the\ngreatest part of men and women for hell; and that, let them pray, or\npreach, or sing, or do what they would, it was all to no purpose,\nif they were ordained for hell. Also that God had a certain number\nelected for heaven, let them do what they would; as David was an\nadulterer, and Paul a persecutor, yet still they were elected vessels\nfor heaven. So the priests said the fault was not at all in the\ncreature, less or more, but that God had ordained it so.\n\nI was led to open to the people the falseness and folly of their\npriests' doctrines, and showed how they, the priests, had abused\nthose Scriptures they quoted. Now all that believe in the Light\nof Christ, as He commands, are in the election, and sit under the\nteaching of the grace of God, which brings their salvation. But such\nas turn this grace into wantonness, are in the reprobation; and such\nas hate the Light, are in the condemnation.\n\nSo I exhorted all the people to believe in the Light, as Christ\ncommands, and to own the grace of God, their free teacher; and it\nwould assuredly bring them their salvation; for it is sufficient.\nMany Scriptures were opened concerning reprobation,[102] and the eyes\nof the people were opened; and a spring of life rose up among them.\n\n  [102] In this discussion the Scripture arguments were gone over,\n  and George Fox offset the proof-texts on election with passages\n  showing man's responsibility.\n\nThese things soon came to the priest's ears; for the people that sat\nunder their dark teachings began to see light, and to come into the\ncovenant of light. The noise was spread over Scotland, amongst the\npriests, that I was come thither; and a great cry went up among them\nthat all would be spoiled; for, they said, I had spoiled all the\nhonest men and women in England already; so, according to their own\naccount, the worst were left to them.\n\nUpon this they gathered great assemblies of priests together,\nand drew up a number of curses to be read in their several\nsteeple-houses, that all the people might say \"Amen\" to them. Some\nfew of these I will here set down; the rest may be read in the book\nbefore mentioned, of \"The Scotch Priests' Principles.\"\n\nThe first was, \"Cursed is he that saith, Every man hath a light\nwithin him sufficient to lead him to salvation; and let all the\npeople say, Amen.\"\n\nThe second, \"Cursed is he that saith, Faith is without sin; and let\nall the people say, Amen.\"\n\nThe third, \"Cursed is he that denieth the Sabbath-day; and let all\nthe people say, Amen.\"\n\nIn this last they make the people curse themselves; for on the\nSabbath-day (which is the seventh day of the week, which the Jews\nkept by the command of God to them) they kept markets and fairs, and\nso brought the curse upon their own heads.[103]\n\n  [103] The Friends always refused to keep the First Day as though\n  it were a continuation of the Jewish Sabbath. For them it was a\n  day set apart for man's high spiritual use.\n\nNow were the priests in such a rage that they posted to Edinburgh to\nOliver Cromwell's Council there, with petitions against me. The noise\nwas that \"all was gone\"; for several Friends were come out of England\nand spread over Scotland, sounding the day of the Lord, preaching the\neverlasting gospel of salvation, and turning people to Christ Jesus,\nwho died for them, that they might receive His free teaching.\n\nAfter I had gathered the principles of the Scotch priests, and the\nsufferings of Friends, and had seen the Friends, in that part of\nScotland settled by the Lord's power, upon Christ their foundation,\nI went to Edinburgh, and in the way came to Linlithgow, where lodging\nat an inn, the innkeeper's wife, who was blind, received the Word of\nlife, and came under the teaching of Christ Jesus, her Saviour.\n\nAt night there came in abundance of soldiers and some officers, with\nwhom we had much discourse; and some were rude. One of the officers\nsaid he would obey the Turk's or Pilate's command, if they should\ncommand him to guard Christ to crucify Him. So far was he from all\ntenderness, or sense of the Spirit of Christ, that he would rather\ncrucify the just than suffer for or with them; whereas many officers\nand magistrates have lost their places before they would turn against\nthe Lord and His Just One.\n\nWhen I had stayed a while at Edinburgh, I went to Leith, where\nmany officers of the army came in with their wives, and many were\nconvinced. Among these Edward Billings's wife was one. She brought a\ngreat deal of coral in her hand, and threw it on the table before me,\nto see whether I would speak against it or not. I took no notice of\nit, but declared the Truth to her, and she was reached. There came\nin many Baptists, who were very rude; but the Lord's power came over\nthem, so that they went away confounded.\n\nThen there came in another sort, and one of them said he would\ndispute with me; and for argument's sake would deny there was a God.\nI told him he might be one of those fools that said in his heart,\n\"There is no God,\" but he would know Him in the day of His judgment.\nSo he went his way.\n\nA precious time we had afterwards with several people of account;\nand the Lord's power came over all. William Osburn was with me.\nColonel Lidcot's wife, and William Welch's wife, and several of the\nofficers themselves, were convinced. Edward Billings and his wife at\nthat time lived apart; and she being reached by Truth, and become\nloving to Friends, we sent for her husband, who came. The Lord's\npower reached unto them both, and they joined in it, and agreed to\nlive together in love and unity as man and wife.\n\nAfter this we returned to Edinburgh where many thousands were\ngathered together, with abundance of priests among them, about\nburning a witch, and I was moved to declare the day of the Lord\namongst them. When I had done, I went thence to our meeting, whither\ncame many rude people and Baptists.\n\nThe Baptists began to vaunt with their logic and syllogisms; but I\nwas moved in the Lord's power to thresh their chaffy, light minds.\nI showed the people that, after that fallacious way of discoursing,\nthey might make white seem black, and black seem white; as, that\nbecause a cock had two legs, and each of them had two legs,\ntherefore they were all cocks.[104] Thus they might turn anything\ninto lightness and vanity; but it was not the way of Christ, or His\napostles, to teach, speak, or reason after that manner.\n\n  [104] The reference is to the logical definition of man as \"an\n  unfeathered biped,\" which is as old as Plato.\n\nHereupon those Baptists went their way; and after they were gone we\nhad a blessed meeting in the Lord's power, which was over all.\n\nI mentioned before that many of the Scotch priests, being greatly\ndisturbed at the spreading of Truth, and the loss of their hearers\nthereby, were gone to Edinburgh to petition the Council against me.\nWhen I came from the meeting to the inn where I lodged, an officer\nbelonging to the Council brought me the following order:\n\n     \"Thursday, the 8th of October, 1657, at his Highness' Council in\n     Scotland:\n\n     \"Ordered, That George Fox do appear before the Council on\n     Tuesday, the 13th of October next, in the forenoon.\n\n                              \"E. DOWNING, Clerk of the Council.\"\n\nWhen he had delivered me the order, he asked me whether I would\nappear or not. I did not tell him; but asked him if he had not forged\nthe order. He said \"No\"; that it was a real order from the Council,\nand he was sent as their messenger with it.\n\nWhen the time came I appeared, and was taken into a great room, where\nmany persons came and looked at me. After awhile the doorkeeper took\nme into the council-chamber; and as I was going he took off my hat.\nI asked him why he did so, and who was there that I might not go in\nwith my hat on. I told him I had been before the Protector with my\nhat on. But he hung up my hat and took me in before them.\n\nWhen I had stood awhile, and they said nothing to me, I was moved of\nthe Lord to say, \"Peace be amongst you. Wait in the fear of God, that\nye may receive His wisdom from above, by which all things were made\nand created; that by it ye may all be ordered, and may order all\nthings under your hands to God's glory.\"\n\nThey asked me what was the occasion of my coming into that nation.\nI told them I came to visit the Seed of God, which had long lain in\nbondage under corruption, so that all in the nation who professed\nthe Scriptures, the words of Christ, of the prophets and apostles,\nmight come to the light, Spirit and power, which they were in who\ngave them forth. I told them that in and by the Spirit they might\nunderstand the Scriptures, and know Christ and God aright, and might\nhave fellowship with them, and one with another.\n\nThey asked me whether I had any outward business there. I said,\n\"Nay.\" Then they asked me how long I intended to stay in that\ncountry. I told them I should say little to that; my time was not to\nbe long; yet in my freedom in the Lord I stood, in the will of Him\nthat sent me.\n\nThen they bade me withdraw, and the doorkeeper took me by the hand\nand led me forth. In a little time they sent for me again, and told\nme that I must depart the nation of Scotland by that day sevennight.\nI asked them, \"Why? What have I done? What is my transgression that\nyou pass such a sentence upon me to depart out of the nation?\" They\ntold me they would not dispute with me. I desired them to hear what\nI had to say to them. They said they would not hear me. I told them,\n\"Pharaoh heard Moses and Aaron, yet he was an heathen; and Herod\nheard John the Baptist; and you should not be worse than these.\" But\nthey cried, \"Withdraw, withdraw.\" Thereupon the doorkeeper took me\nagain by the hand and led me out.\n\nI returned to my inn, and continued still in Edinburgh; visiting\nFriends there and thereabouts, and strengthening them in the Lord.\nAfter a little time I wrote a letter to the Council to lay before\nthem their unchristian dealings in banishing me, an innocent man,\nthat sought their salvation and eternal good.\n\nAfter I had spent some time among Friends at Edinburgh and\nthereabouts, I passed thence to Heads again, where Friends had been\nin great sufferings. For the Presbyterian priests had excommunicated\nthem, and given charge that none should buy or sell or eat or drink\nwith them. So they could neither sell their commodities nor buy what\nthey wanted; which made it go very hard with some of them; for if\nthey had bought bread or other victuals of any of their neighbors,\nthe priests threatened them so with curses that they would run and\nfetch it from them again. But Colonel Ashfield, being a justice of\nthe peace in that country, put a stop to the priests' proceedings.\nThis Colonel Ashfield was afterwards convinced himself, had a meeting\nsettled at his house, declared the Truth, and lived and died in it.\n\nAfter I had visited Friends at and about Heads, and encouraged them\nin the Lord, I went to Glasgow, where a meeting was appointed; but\nnot one of the town came to it. As I went into the city, the guard\nat the gates took me before the governor, who was a moderate man. A\ngreat deal of discourse I had with him. He was too light to receive\nthe Truth; yet he set me at liberty; so I passed to the meeting.\n\nSeeing none of the town's people came to the meeting, we declared\nTruth through the town; then passed away, visited Friends' meetings\nthereabouts, and returned towards Badcow. Several Friends declared\nTruth in the steeple-houses and the Lord's power was with them.\n\nOnce as I was going with William Osburn to his house there lay a\ncompany of rude fellows by the wayside, hid under the hedges and\nin bushes. Seeing them, I asked him what they were. \"Oh,\" said he,\n\"they are thieves.\" Robert Widders, being moved to go and speak to\na priest, was left behind, intending to come after. So I said to\nWilliam Osburn, \"I will stay here in this valley, and do thou go and\nlook after Robert Widders\"; but he was unwilling to go, being afraid\nto leave me there alone, because of those fellows, till I told him I\nfeared them not.\n\nThen I called to them, asking them what they lay lurking there for,\nand I bade them come to me; but they were loath to come. I charged\nthem to come up to me, or else it might be worse with them; then\nthey came trembling, for the dread of the Lord had struck them. I\nadmonished them to be honest, and directed them to the Light of\nChrist in their hearts, that by it they might see what an evil it was\nto follow after theft and robbery; and the power of the Lord came\nover them.\n\nI stayed there till William Osburn and Robert Widders came up, then\nwe passed on together. But it is likely that, if we two had gone away\nbefore, they would have robbed Robert Widders when he had come after\nalone, there being three or four of them.\n\nWe went to William Osburn's house, where we had a good opportunity to\ndeclare the Truth to several people that came in. Then we went among\nthe Highlanders, who were so devilish they were like to have spoiled\nus and our horses; for they ran at us with pitchforks. But through\nthe Lord's goodness we escaped them, being preserved by His power.\n\nThence we passed to Stirling, where the soldiers took us up, and had\nus to the main guard. After a few words with the officers, the Lord's\npower coming over them, we were set at liberty; but no meeting could\nwe get amongst them in the town, they were so closed up in darkness.\nNext morning there came a man with a horse that was to run a race,\nand most of the townspeople and officers went to see it. As they came\nback from the race, I had a brave opportunity to declare the day of\nthe Lord and His Word of life amongst them. Some confessed to it, and\nsome opposed; but the Lord's truth and power came over them all.\n\nLeaving Stirling, we came to Burntisland, where I had two meetings\nat one Captain Pool's house; one in the morning, the other in the\nafternoon. Whilst they went to dine I walked to the seaside, not\nhaving freedom to eat with them. Both he and his wife were convinced,\nand became good Friends afterward; and several officers of the army\ncame in and received the Truth.\n\nWe passed thence through several other places, till we came to\nJohnstons, where were several Baptists that were very bitter, and\ncame in a rage to dispute with us. Vain janglers and disputers indeed\nthey were. When they could not prevail by disputing they went and\ninformed the governor against us; and next morning he raised a whole\ncompany of foot, and banished me and Alexander Parker, also James\nLancaster and Robert Widders, out of the town.\n\nAs they guarded us through the town, James Lancaster was moved to\nsing with a melodious sound in the power of God; and I was moved to\nproclaim the day of the Lord, and preach the everlasting gospel to\nthe people. For the people generally came forth, so that the streets\nwere filled with them, and the soldiers were so ashamed that they\nsaid they would rather have gone to Jamaica than guarded us so.\n\nBut we were put into a boat with our horses, carried over the water,\nand there left. The Baptists, who were the cause of our being thus\nput out of this town, were themselves, not long after, turned out of\nthe army; and he that was then governor was discarded also when the\nking came in.\n\nBeing thus thrust out of Johnstons, we went to another market-town,\nwhere Edward Billings and many soldiers were quartered. We went to an\ninn, and desired to have a meeting in the town, that we might preach\nthe everlasting gospel amongst them. The officers and soldiers said\nwe should have it in the town-hall; but the Scotch magistrates in\nspite appointed a meeting there that day for the business of the town.\n\nWhen the officers of the soldiery understood this, and perceived that\nit was done in malice, they would have had us go into the town-hall\nnevertheless. But we told them, \"No; by no means; for then the\nmagistrates might inform the governor against us and say, 'They took\nthe town-hall from us by force, when we were to do our town-business\ntherein.'\" We told them we would go to the market-place. They said it\nwas market-day. We replied, \"It is so much the better; for we would\nhave all people to hear the Truth and know our principles.\"\n\nAlexander Parker went and stood upon the market-cross, with a\nBible in his hand, and declared the Truth amongst the soldiers and\nmarket-people; but the Scots, being a dark, carnal people, gave\nlittle heed, and hardly took notice what was said. After awhile I\nwas moved of the Lord to stand up at the cross, and to declare with\na loud voice the everlasting Truth, and the day of the Lord that was\ncoming upon all sin and wickedness. Thereupon the people came running\nout of the town-hall and gathered so together that at last we had a\nlarge meeting; for they only sat in the court for a colour to hinder\nus from having the hall to meet in.\n\nWhen the people were come away the magistrates followed them. Some\nwalked by, but some stayed and heard; and the Lord's power came over\nall and kept all quiet. The people were turned to the Lord Jesus\nChrist, who died for them, and had enlightened them, that with His\nLight they might see their evil deeds, be saved from their sins by\nHim, and might come to know Him to be their teacher. But if they\nwould not receive Christ, and own Him, it was told them that this\nLight which came from Him would be their condemnation.\n\nWe travelled from this town to Leith, warning and exhorting people,\nas we went, to turn to the Lord. At Leith the innkeeper told me that\nthe Council had granted warrants to apprehend me, because I was\nnot gone out of the nation after the seven days were expired that\nthey had ordered me to depart in. Several friendly people also came\nand told me the same; to whom I said, \"Why do ye tell me of their\nwarrants against me? If there were a cart-load of them I would not\nheed them, for the Lord's power is over them all.\"[105]\n\n  [105] Here is more of the Luther spirit. He is reported to have\n  said: \"I would go to Leipsic if it rained Duke Georges nine days\n  running.\"\n\nI went from Leith to Edinburgh again, where they said the warrants\nfrom the Council were out against me. I went to the inn where I had\nlodged before, and no man offered to meddle with me. After I had\nvisited Friends in the city, I desired those that travelled with me\nto get ready their horses in the morning, and we rode out of town\ntogether. There were with me at that time Thomas Rawlinson, Alexander\nParker, and Robert Widders.\n\nWhen we were out of town they asked me whither I would go. I told\nthem it was upon me from the Lord to go back again to Johnstons (the\ntown out of which we had been lately thrust), to set the power of God\nand His Truth over them also. Alexander Parker said he would go along\nwith me; and I wished the other two to stay at a town about three\nmiles from Edinburgh till we returned.\n\nThen Alexander and I got over the water, about three miles across,\nand rode through the country; but in the afternoon, his horse being\nweak and not able to hold up with mine, I rode on ahead and got into\nJohnstons just as they were drawing up the bridges, the officers\nand soldiers never questioning me. I rode up the street to Captain\nDavenport's house, from which we had been banished. There were many\nofficers with him; and when I came amongst them they lifted up their\nhands, wondering that I should come again. But I told them the Lord\nGod had sent me amongst them again; so they went their way.\n\nThe Baptists sent me a letter, by way of challenge, to discourse with\nme next day. I sent them word that I would meet them at such a house,\nabout half a mile out of the town, at such an hour. For I considered\nthat if I should stay in town to discourse with them they might,\nunder pretence of discoursing with me, raise men to put me out of the\ntown again, as they had done before.\n\nAt the time appointed I went to the place, Captain Davenport and his\nson accompanying me. There I stayed some hours, but not one of them\ncame. While I stayed there waiting for them, I saw Alexander Parker\ncoming. Not being able to reach the town, he had lain out the night\nbefore; and I was exceedingly glad that we were met again.\n\nThis Captain Davenport was then loving to Friends; and afterwards,\ncoming more into obedience to Truth, he was turned out of his place\nfor not putting off his hat, and for saying Thou and Thee to them.\n\nWhen we had waited beyond reasonable ground to expect any of them\ncoming, we departed; and Alexander Parker being moved to go again\nto the town, where we had the meeting at the market-cross, I passed\nalone to Lieutenant Foster's quarters, where I found several officers\nthat were convinced. Thence I went up to the town, where I had left\nthe other two Friends, and we went back to Edinburgh together.\n\nWhen we were come to the city, I bade Robert Widders follow me;\nand in the dread and power of the Lord we came up to the two first\nsentries. The Lord's power came so over them that we passed by\nthem without any examination. Then we rode up the street to the\nmarket-place and by the main-guard, out at the gate by the third\nsentry, and so clear out into the suburbs; and there we came to an\ninn and put up our horses, it being Seventh-day. I saw and felt that\nwe had ridden as it were against the cannon's mouth or the sword's\npoint; but the Lord's power and immediate hand carried us over the\nheads of them all.\n\nNext day I went to the meeting in the city, Friends having had notice\nthat I would attend it. There came many officers and soldiers to it,\nand a glorious meeting it was; the everlasting power of God was set\nover the nation, and His Son reigned in His glorious power. All was\nquiet, and no man offered to meddle with me.\n\nWhen the meeting was ended, and I had visited Friends, I came out\nof the city to my inn again. The next day, being Second-day, we set\nforward towards the borders of England.\n\nAs we travelled along the country I espied a steeple-house, and it\nstruck at my life. I asked what steeple-house it was, and was told\nthat it was Dunbar. When I came thither, and had put up at an inn, I\nwalked to the steeple-house, having a Friend or two with me.\n\nWhen we came to the steeple-house yard, one of the chief men of the\ntown was walking there. I asked one of the Friends that was with me\nto go to him and tell him that about the ninth hour next morning\nthere would be a meeting there of the people of God called Quakers;\nof which we desired he would give notice to the people of the town.\nHe sent me word that they were to have a lecture there by the ninth\nhour; but that we might have our meeting there by the eighth hour, if\nwe would. We concluded to do so, and desired him to give notice of it.\n\nAccordingly, in the morning both poor and rich came; and there being\na captain of horse quartered in the town, he and his troopers came\nalso, so that we had a large concourse; and a glorious meeting it\nwas, the Lord's power being over all. After some time the priest\ncame, and went into the steeple-house; but we being in the yard, most\nof the people stayed with us. Friends were so full and their voices\nso high in the power of God, that the priest could do little in the\nhouse, but quickly came out again, stood awhile, and then went his\nway.\n\nI opened to the people where they might find Christ Jesus, and\nturned them to the Light with which He had enlightened them, that\nin the Light they might see Christ who died for them, turn to Him,\nand know him to be their Saviour and Teacher. I let them see that\nthe teachers they had hitherto followed were hirelings, who made the\ngospel chargeable; showed them the wrong ways they had walked in the\nnight of apostasy; directed them to Christ, the new and living way\nto God, and manifested unto them how they had lost the religion and\nworship which Christ set up in spirit and truth, and had hitherto\nbeen in the religions and worships of men's making and setting up.\n\nAfter I had turned the people to the Spirit of God which led the holy\nmen of God to give forth the Scriptures, and showed them that they\nmust also come to receive and be led by the same Spirit in themselves\n(a measure of which was given unto every one of them) if ever\nthey would come to know God and Christ and the Scriptures aright,\nperceiving the other Friends to be full of power and the Word of the\nLord, I stepped down, giving way for them to declare what they had\nfrom the Lord to the people.\n\nTowards the latter end of the meeting some professors began to\njangle, whereupon I stood up again, and answered their questions, so\nthat they seemed to be satisfied, and our meeting ended in the Lord's\npower, quiet and peaceable.\n\nThis was the last meeting I had in Scotland; the Truth and the power\nof God was set over that nation, and many, by the power and Spirit\nof God, were turned to the Lord Jesus Christ, their Saviour and\nTeacher, whose blood was shed for them; and there is since a great\nincrease and great there will be in Scotland. For when first I set my\nhorse's feet upon Scottish ground I felt the Seed of God to sparkle\nabout me, like innumerable sparks of fire.\n\nNot but that there is abundance of the thick, cloddy earth of\nhypocrisy and falseness above, and a briery, brambly nature, which is\nto be burnt up with God's Word, and ploughed up with His spiritual\nplough, before God's Seed brings forth heavenly and spiritual fruit\nto His glory. But the husbandman is to wait in patience.[106]\n\n  [106] This passage has suggested the idea which finds beautiful\n  expression in the closing stanzas of Whittier's \"Barclay of Ury\":\n\n    \"Knowing this, that never yet\n    Share of truth was vainly set\n      In the world's wide fallow;\n    After hands shall sow the seed,\n    After hands from mill and mead\n      Reap the harvests yellow.\n\n    \"Thus with somewhat of the seer\n    Must the moral pioneer\n      From the future borrow;\n    Clothe the waste with dreams of grain,\n    And, on midnight's sky of rain\n      Paint the golden morrow.\"\n\n\n\n\n  CHAPTER XII.\n\n  Great Events in London.\n\n  1658-1659.\n\n\n  We came into Bedfordshire, where we had large gatherings in the\n  name of Jesus.[107] After some time we came to John Crook's,\n  where a general yearly meeting for the whole nation was appointed\n  to be held.[108] This meeting lasted three days, and many Friends\n  from most parts of the nation came to it; so that the inns and\n  towns round thereabouts were filled, for many thousands of people\n  were at it. And although there was some disturbance by some rude\n  people that had run out from Truth, yet the Lord's power came\n  over all, and a glorious meeting it was. The everlasting gospel\n  was preached, and many received it, which gospel brought life and\n  immortality to light in them, and shined over all.\n\n  [107] There were few novel experiences on the way from Scotland\n  to Bedfordshire. At Nottingham he had a controversy with Rice\n  Jones, an opposer of the earlier visit. He pointed out that many\n  of Rice Jones's followers \"were become the greatest foot-ball\n  players and wrestlers in the whole country,\" which is an\n  interesting comment on the ministry of Rice Jones!\n\n  [108] \"John Crook's House\" was at Luton, in Bedfordshire. This\n  is among the first of the great national general meetings out\n  of which came in course of development the present London\n  Yearly Meeting of Friends. The first general meeting was held\n  at Swannington in Leicestershire in 1654. Isaac Penington was\n  convinced at this meeting. He tells us that he \"felt the healings\n  drop upon his soul from under His wings.\"\n\nNow these things were upon me to open unto all, that they might mind\nand see what it is they sit down in.[AI]\n\n  [AI] The sentence means: \"I felt called to set forth the\n  significance of various religious states and the things to which\n  they lead.\"\n\n\"First, They that sit down in Adam in the fall, sit down in misery,\nin death, in darkness and corruption.\n\n\"Secondly, They that sit down in the types, figures, and shadows, and\nunder the first priesthood, law, and covenant, sit down in that which\nmust have an end, and which made nothing perfect.\n\n\"Thirdly, They that sit down in the apostasy that hath got up since\nthe Apostles' days, sit down in spiritual Sodom and Egypt; and are\ndrinking of the whore's cup, under the beast's and dragon's power.\n\n\"Fourthly, They that sit down in the state in which Adam was before\nhe fell, sit down in that which may be fallen from; for he fell from\nthat state, though it was perfect.\n\n\"Fifthly, They that sit down in the prophets, sit down in that which\nmust be fulfilled; and they that sit down in the fellowship of water,\nbread, and wine, these being temporal things, they sit down in that\nwhich is short of Christ, and of His baptism.\n\n\"Sixthly, To sit down in a profession of all the Scriptures, from\nGenesis to the Revelations, and not be in the power and Spirit which\nthose were in that gave them forth;--that was to be turned away from\nby them that came into the power and Spirit which those were in that\ngave forth the Scriptures.\n\n\"Seventhly, They that sit down in the heavenly places in Christ\nJesus, sit down in Him that never fell, nor ever changed.\"\n\nAfter this meeting was over, and most of the Friends gone away, as I\nwas walking in John Crook's garden, there came a party of horse, with\na constable, to seize me. I heard them ask, \"Who is in the house?\"\nSomebody made answer that I was there. They said that I was the man\nthey looked for; and went forthwith into the house, where they had\nmany words with John Crook and some few Friends that were with him.\nBut the Lord's power so confounded them that they came not into the\ngarden to look for me; but went their way in a rage.\n\nWhen I came into the house, Friends were very glad to see that\nI had escaped them. Next day I passed thence; and, after I had\nvisited Friends in several places, came to London, the Lord's power\naccompanying me, and bearing me up in His service.\n\nDuring the time I was at London I had many services laid upon me,\nfor it was a time of much suffering. I was moved to write to Oliver\nCromwell, and lay before him the sufferings of Friends both in this\nnation and in Ireland. There was also a talk about this time of\nmaking Cromwell king; whereupon I was moved to go to him and warn\nhim against accepting it; and of divers dangers which, if he did not\navoid them, would, I told him, bring shame and ruin upon himself and\nhis posterity. He seemed to take well what I said to him, and thanked\nme; yet afterwards I was moved to write to him more fully concerning\nthat matter.\n\nAbout this time the Lady Claypole (so called) was sick, and much\ntroubled in mind, and could receive no comfort from any that came to\nher. When I heard of this I was moved to write to her.[109]\n\n  [109] Here is a long extract from the letter to Lady Claypole,\n  Cromwell's daughter, who died soon after this time:\n\n     \"Keep in the fear of the Lord God; that is the Word of the Lord\n     unto thee. For all these things happen to thee for thy good,\n     and for the good of those concerned for thee, to make you know\n     yourselves and your own weakness, that ye may know the Lord's\n     strength and power, and may trust in Him. Let the time past be\n     sufficient to every one, who in any thing hath been lifted up\n     in transgression out of the power of the Lord; for He can bring\n     down and abase the mighty, and lay them in the dust of the\n     earth. Therefore, all keep low in His fear, that thereby ye may\n     receive the secrets of God and His wisdom, may know the shadow\n     of the Almighty, and sit under it in all tempests, storms, and\n     heats. For God is a God at hand, and the Most High rules in the\n     children of men. This is the word of the Lord God unto you all;\n     what the Light doth make manifest and discover, as temptations,\n     distractions, confusions; do not look at these temptations,\n     confusions, corruptions, but at the Light which discovers them\n     and makes them manifest; and with the same Light you may feel\n     over them, to receive power to stand against them. The same\n     Light which lets you see sin and transgression, will let you see\n     the covenant of God, which blots out your sin and transgression,\n     which gives victory and dominion over it, and brings into\n     covenant with God. For looking down at sin, corruption, and\n     distraction, ye are swallowed up in it; but looking at the\n     Light, which discovers them, ye will see over them. That will\n     give victory, and ye will find grace and strength; there is the\n     first step to peace. That will bring salvation; by it ye may see\n     to the beginning, and the 'Glory that was with the Father before\n     the world began'; and come to know the Seed of God, which is the\n     heir of the promise of God, and of the world which hath no end;\n     and which bruises the head of the serpent, who stops people from\n     coming to God. That ye may feel the power of an endless life,\n     the power of God which is immortal, which brings the immortal\n     soul up to the immortal God, in whom it doth rejoice. So in the\n     name and power of the Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty strengthen\n     thee.\n\n                                                          \"G. F.\"\n\nThis note follows the letter:\n\n     \"When the foregoing paper was read to Lady Claypole, she said,\n     it stayed her mind for the present. Afterwards many Friends got\n     copies of it, both in England and Ireland, and read it to people\n     that were troubled in mind; and it was made useful for the\n     settling of the minds of several.\"\n\nAbout this time came forth a declaration from Oliver Cromwell, the\nProtector, for a collection towards the relief of divers Protestant\nchurches, driven out of Poland; and of twenty Protestant families,\ndriven out of the confines of Bohemia. And there having been a like\ndeclaration published some time before, to invite the nation to a\nday of solemn fasting and humiliation, in order to a contribution\nbeing made for the suffering Protestants of the valleys of Lucerne,\nAngrona, etc., who were persecuted by the Duke of Savoy,[110] I\nwas moved to write to the Protector and chief magistrates on this\noccasion, both to show them the nature of a true fast (such as God\nrequires and accepts), and to make them sensible of their injustice\nand self-condemnation in blaming the Papists for persecuting the\nProtestants abroad, while they themselves, calling themselves\nProtestants, were at the same time persecuting their Protestant\nneighbours and friends at home.\n\n  [110] This was the persecution which called forth Milton's great\n  sonnet:\n\n    \"Avenge, O Lord! thy slaughtered saints whose bones\n    Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold.\"\n\nDivers times, both in the time of the Long Parliament and of the\nProtector (so called) and of the Committee of Safety, when they\nproclaimed fasts, I was moved to write to them, and tell them\ntheir fasts were like unto Jezebel's; for commonly, when they\nproclaimed fasts, there was some mischief contrived against us.\nI knew their fasts were for strife and debate, to smite with the\nfist of wickedness; as the New England professors soon after did;\nwho, before they put our Friends to death, proclaimed a fast also.\n\nNow it was a time of great suffering; and many Friends being in\nprisons, many other Friends were moved to go to the Parliament,\nto offer themselves up to lie in the same prisons where their\nfriends lay, that those in prison might go forth, and not perish\nin the stinking jails. This we did in love to God and our\nbrethren, that they might not die in prison; and in love to those\nthat cast them in, that they might not bring innocent blood upon\ntheir own heads, which we knew would cry to the Lord, and bring\nHis wrath, vengeance, and plagues upon them.\n\nBut little favour could we find from those professing\nParliaments; instead thereof, they would rage, and sometimes\nthreaten Friends that attended them, to whip and send them home.\nThen commonly soon after the Lord would turn them out, and send\nthem home; who had not an heart to do good in the day of their\npower. But they went not off without being forewarned; for I was\nmoved to write to them, in their several turns, as I did to the\nLong Parliament, unto whom I declared, before they were broken\nup, \"that thick darkness was coming over them all, even a day of\ndarkness that should be felt.\"\n\nAnd because the Parliament that now sat was made up mostly of\nhigh professors, who, pretending to be more religious than\nothers, were indeed greater persecutors of those that were truly\nreligious, I was moved to send them the following lines, as a\nreproof of their hypocrisy:[111]\n\n  [111] This was Cromwell's _Second Parliament_.\n\n     \"O friends, do not cloak and cover yourselves; there is a God\n     that knoweth your hearts, and that will uncover you. He seeth\n     your way. 'Wo be unto him that covereth, but not with my Spirit,\n     saith the Lord.' Do ye act contrary to the law, and then put\n     it from you! Mercy and true judgment ye neglect. Look, what was\n     spoken against such. My Saviour spoke against such; 'I was sick,\n     and ye visited me not; I was hungry, and ye fed me not; I was a\n     stranger, and ye took me not in; I was in prison, and ye visited\n     me not.' But they said, 'When saw we thee in prison, and did\n     not come to thee?' 'Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these\n     little ones, ye did it not unto me.' Friends, ye imprison them\n     that are in the life and power of Truth, and yet profess to be\n     the ministers of Christ; but if Christ had sent you, ye would\n     bring out of prison, out of bondage, and receive strangers.\n     Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye\n     have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter; ye have\n     condemned and killed the just, and he doth not resist you.\n\n                                                           G. F.\"\n\nAfter this, as I was going out of town, having two Friends with me,\nwhen we were little more than a mile out of the city, there met us\ntwo troopers belonging to Colonel Hacker's regiment, who took me, and\nthe Friends that were with me, and brought us back to the Mews, and\nthere kept us prisoners. But the Lord's power was so over them that\nthey did not take us before any officer; but shortly after set us at\nliberty again.\n\nThe same day, taking boat, I went to Kingston, and thence to Hampton\nCourt, to speak with the Protector about the sufferings of Friends.\nI met him riding in Hampton Court Park, and before I came to him,\nas he rode at the head of his life-guard, I saw and felt a waft [or\napparition] of death go forth against him; and when I came to him he\nlooked like a dead man.\n\nAfter I had laid the sufferings of Friends before him, and had warned\nhim, according as I was moved to speak to him, he bade me come to his\nhouse. So I returned to Kingston, and next day went to Hampton Court,\nto speak further with him. But when I came he was sick, and ----\nHarvey,[AJ] who was one that waited on him, told me the doctors were\nnot willing I should speak with him. So I passed away, and never saw\nhim more.[112]\n\n  [AJ] Harvey was \"groom of the bed chamber.\"\n\n  [112] This visit of Fox to Cromwell is treated in Carlyle's\n  Oliver Cromwell, Vol IV., pp. 199, 200. Oliver Cromwell died\n  September 3d, 1658. This \"waft\" or whiff of death which Fox felt\n  was not the only forewarning of his end which came to Friends.\n  A letter was delivered into Cromwell's hand a month before his\n  death, which contained these words: \"If thou continueth in thy\n  oppression, the Lord will suddenly smite thee.\" See Burrough's\n  \"Good Counsel and Advice Rejected by Disobedient Men.\"\n\nFrom Kingston I went to Isaac Penington's,[113] in Buckinghamshire,\nwhere I had appointed a meeting, and the Lord's Truth and power were\npreciously manifested amongst us. After I had visited Friends in\nthose parts, I returned to London, and soon after went into Essex,\nwhere I had not been long before I heard that the Protector was dead,\nand his son Richard made Protector in his room. Thereupon I came up\nto London again.\n\n  [113] Isaac Penington was one of the finest, richest spirits that\n  came under the influence of Fox. He was highest in social rank of\n  all the early Friends, and after Fox himself the best exponent of\n  the fundamental Quaker idea.\n\nBefore this time the church faith (so called) was given forth, which\nwas said to have been made at the Savoy in eleven days' time.[114] I\ngot a copy before it was published, and wrote an answer to it; and\nwhen their book of church faith was sold in the streets, my answer to\nit was sold also. This angered some of the Parliament men, so that\none of them told me, \"We must have you to Smithfield.\" I told him,\n\"I am above your fires, and fear them not.\" And, reasoning with him,\nI wished him to consider, had all people been without a faith these\nsixteen hundred years, that now the priests must make them one? Did\nnot the apostle say that Jesus was the author and finisher of their\nfaith? And since Christ Jesus was the author of the Apostles' faith,\nof the Church's faith in primitive times, and of the martyrs' faith,\nshould not all people look unto Him to be the author and finisher\nof their faith, and not to the priests? Much work we had about the\npriest-made faith.\n\n  [114] This \"Church-faith (so-called)\" was a \"Declaration of\n  the Faith and Order owned and practiced in the Congregational\n  Churches in England: Agreed upon and consented unto by their\n  Elders and messengers in their meeting at the Savoy, October\n  12th, 1658.\" Fox's reply has the following title: \"Something\n  in Answer to that Book called, The Church-Faith: Set forth by\n  Independants (sic) and others; agreed upon by Divine messengers\n  at the Savoy in London.\"\n\nThere was great persecution in many places, both by imprisoning,\nand by breaking up of meetings. At a meeting about seven miles from\nLondon, the rude people usually came out of several parishes round\nabout, to abuse Friends, and often beat and bruised them exceedingly.\nOne day they abused about eighty Friends that went to that meeting\nout of London, tearing their coats and cloaks from off their backs,\nand throwing them into ditches and ponds; and when they had besmeared\nthem with dirt, they said they looked like witches.\n\nThe next First-day I was moved of the Lord to go to that meeting,\nthough I was then very weak. When I came there I bade Friends bring\na table, and set it in the close, where they used to meet, to stand\nupon. According to their wonted course, the rude people came; and I,\nhaving a Bible in my hand, showed them theirs and their teachers'\nfruits; and the people became ashamed, and were quiet.\n\nBut it was a time of great sufferings; for, besides imprisonments,\nthrough which many died, our meetings were greatly disturbed. They\nhave thrown rotten eggs and wild-fire into our meetings, and brought\nin drums beating, and kettles to make noises with, that the Truth\nmight not be heard; and, among these, the priests were as rude as\nany, as may be seen in the book of the fighting priests, wherein a\nlist is given of some priests that had actually beaten and abused\nFriends.\n\nMany Friends were brought prisoners to London, to be tried before the\nCommittee; where Henry Vane, being chairman, would not suffer Friends\nto come in, except they would put off their hats.[115] But at last\nthe Lord's power came over him, so that, through the mediation of\nothers, they were admitted. Many of us having been imprisoned upon\ncontempts (as they called them) for not putting off our hats, it was\nnot a likely thing that Friends, who had suffered so long for it from\nothers, should put off their hats to him. But the Lord's power came\nover all, and wrought so that several were set at liberty by them.\n\n  [115] From being Cromwell's most intimate friend Sir Harry Vane\n  had become his most fearless opposer, and an advocate of extreme\n  republicanism. After the downfall of Richard Cromwell, Vane had\n  a brief return to influence and power. In September, 1659, he\n  was made President of the Council, and was in this position the\n  executive head of the nation in civil affairs. This episode must,\n  therefore, be dated in the autumn of 1659.\n\nI wrote to Oliver several times, and let him know that while he was\npersecuting God's people, they whom he accounted his enemies were\npreparing to come upon him. When some forward spirits that came\namongst us would have bought Somerset-House, that we might have\nmeetings in it, I forbade them to do so: for I then foresaw the\nKing's coming in again. Besides, there came a woman to me in the\nStrand, who had a prophecy concerning King Charles's coming in, three\nyears before he came: and she told me she must go to him to declare\nit. I advised her to wait upon the Lord, and keep it to herself; for\nif it should be known that she went on such a message, they would\nlook upon it to be treason: but she said she must go, and tell him\nthat he should be brought into England again.\n\nI saw her prophecy was true, and that a great stroke must come\nupon them in power; for they that had then got possession were so\nexceeding high, and such great persecution was acted by them, who\ncalled themselves saints, that they would take from Friends their\ncopyhold lands, because they could not swear in their courts.\n\nSometimes when we laid these sufferings before Oliver Cromwell, he\nwould not believe it. Therefore Thomas Aldam and Anthony Pearson\nwere moved to go through all the jails in England, and to get copies\nof Friends' commitments under the jailer's hands, that they might\nlay the weight of their sufferings upon Oliver Cromwell. And when\nhe would not give order for the releasing of them, Thomas Aldam was\nmoved to take his cap from off his head, and to rend it in pieces\nbefore him, and to say unto him, \"So shall thy government be rent\nfrom thee and thy house.\"\n\nAnother Friend also, a woman, was moved to go to the Parliament (that\nwas envious against Friends) with a pitcher in her hand, which she\nbroke into pieces before them, and told them that so should they be\nbroken to pieces: which came to pass shortly after.\n\nIn my great suffering and travail of spirit for the nation, being\ngrievously burdened with their hypocrisy, treachery, and falsehood,\nI saw God would bring that over them which they had been above; and\nthat all must be brought down to that which convinced them, before\nthey could get over that bad spirit within and without: for it is the\npure, invisible Spirit, that doth and only can work down all deceit\nin people.\n\nNow was there a great pother made about the image or effigy of Oliver\nCromwell lying in state; men standing and sounding with trumpets over\nhis image, after he was dead. At this my spirit was greatly grieved,\nand the Lord, I found, was highly offended.\n\nAbout this time great stirs were in the nation, the minds of people\nbeing unsettled. Much plotting and contriving there was by the\nseveral factions, to carry on their several interests. And a great\ncare being upon me, lest any young or ignorant people, that might\nsometimes come amongst us, should be drawn into that snare, I was\nmoved to give forth an epistle[116] as a warning unto all such.\n\n  [116] This epistle begins: \"All Friends everywhere keep out of\n  plots and bustling and the arm of flesh.\" A little later he\n  writes again:\n\n  \"Stand in the fear and dread of the Lord God; His power, life,\n  light, seed and wisdom, by which ye may take away the occasion\n  of wars, and so know a kingdom which hath no end, and fight for\n  that with spiritual weapons, which takes away the occasion of the\n  carnal; and there gather men to war, as many as ye can, and set\n  up as many as ye can with these weapons. G. F.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nIn the First Year of King Charles.\n\n1660.\n\n\nI entered Bristol on the Seventh day of the week.[117] The day\nbefore, the soldiers came with their muskets into the meeting, and\nwere exceedingly rude, beating and striking Friends with them, and\ndrove them out of the orchard in a great rage, threatening what\nthey would do if Friends came there again. For the mayor and the\ncommander of the soldiers had, it seems, combined together to make a\ndisturbance amongst Friends.\n\n  [117] After leaving London, he had travelled extensively through\n  the eastern and southern counties, revisiting Cornwall, where he\n  had had such a long experience in Launceston jail in 1656.\n\nWhen Friends told me what a rage there was in the town, how they were\nthreatened by the mayor and soldiers, and how unruly the soldiers had\nbeen the day before, I sent for several Friends, as George Bishop,\nThomas Gouldney, Thomas Speed, and Edward Pyot, and desired them to\ngo to the mayor and aldermen, and request them, seeing he and they\nhad broken up our meetings, to let Friends have the town-hall to meet\nin. For the use of it Friends would give them twenty pounds a-year,\nto be distributed amongst the poor and when the mayor and aldermen\nhad business to do in it, Friends would not meet in it, but only on\nFirst-days.\n\nThese Friends were astonished at this, and said the mayor and\naldermen would think that they were mad. I said, Nay; for this would\nbe a considerable benefit to the poor. And it was upon me from the\nLord to bid them go. At last they consented, and went, though in the\ncross to their own wills.\n\nWhen they had laid the thing before the mayor, he said, \"For my part\nI could consent to it, but I am but one\"; and he told Friends of\nanother great hall they might have; but that they did not accept, it\nbeing inconvenient.\n\nSo Friends came away, leaving the mayor in a very loving frame\ntowards them; for they felt the Lord's power had come over him.\nWhen they came back, I spoke to them to go also to the colonel that\ncommanded the soldiers, and lay before him the rude conduct of his\nsoldiers, how they came armed amongst innocent people, who were\nwaiting upon and worshipping the Lord; but they were backward to go\nto him.\n\nNext morning, being First-day, we went to the meeting in the orchard,\nwhere the soldiers had lately been so rude. After I had declared the\nTruth some time in the meeting, there came in many rude soldiers and\npeople, some with drawn swords. The innkeepers had made some of them\ndrunk; and one had bound himself with an oath to cut down and kill\nthe man that spoke. He came pressing in, through all the crowd of\npeople, to within two yards of me, and stopped at those four Friends\nbefore mentioned (who should have gone to the colonel as I would\nhave had them), and began jangling with them. Suddenly I saw his\nsword was put up and gone: for the Lord's power came over all, and\nchained him with the rest. We had a blessed meeting, and the Lord's\neverlasting power and presence were felt amongst us.\n\nOn the day following, the four Friends went and spoke with the\ncolonel, and he sent for the soldiers, and cut and slashed some of\nthem before the Friends' faces. When I heard of this I blamed the\nFriends for letting him do so, and also that they did not go on the\nSeventh-day, as I would have had them, which might have prevented\nthis cutting of the soldiers, and the trouble they gave at our\nmeeting. But thus the Lord's power came over all those persecuting,\nbloody minds, and the meeting there was held in peace for a good\nwhile after without disturbance.\n\nI had then also a general meeting at Edward Pyot's, near Bristol,\nat which it was judged were several thousands of people:[118] for\nbesides Friends from many parts thereabouts, some of the Baptists and\nIndependents, with their teachers, came to it, and many of the sober\npeople of Bristol; insomuch that the people who stayed behind said\nthe city looked naked, so many were gone out of it to this meeting.\nIt was very quiet, and many glorious truths were opened to the people.\n\n  [118] These great meetings were at this period held out of doors,\n  in fields or orchards, or on some high hill.\n\nAs we had much work with priests and professors who pleaded for\nimperfection, I was opened to declare and manifest to them that\nAdam and Eve were perfect before they fell, and all that God made He\nsaw was good, and He blessed it; but the imperfection came in by the\nfall, through man's and woman's hearkening to the devil who was out\nof Truth. And though the law made nothing perfect, yet it made way\nfor the bringing in of the better hope, which hope is Christ, who\ndestroys the devil and his works, which made man and woman imperfect.\n\nChrist saith to His disciples, \"Be ye perfect, even as your heavenly\nFather is perfect\": and He, who Himself was perfect, comes to make\nman and woman perfect again, and brings them again to the state in\nwhich God made them. So He is the maker-up of the breach, and the\npeace betwixt God and man.\n\nThat this might the better be understood by the lowest capacities, I\nused a comparison of two old people who had their house broken down\nby an enemy, so that they, with all their children, were liable to\nall storms and tempests. And there came to them some that pretended\nto be workmen, and offered to build up their house again, if they\nwould give them so much a year; but when they had got the money they\nleft the house as they found it.\n\nAfter this manner came a second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth,\neach with his several pretence to build up the old house, and each\ngot the people's money, and then cried that they could not rear\nup the house, the breach could not be made up; for there is no\nperfection here. They tell the old people that the house can never be\nperfectly built up again in this life, though they have taken the\npeople's money for doing it.\n\nSo all the sect-masters in Christendom (so called) have pretended\nto build up Adam's and Eve's fallen house; and when they have got\nthe people's money, they tell them the work cannot be perfectly done\nhere; so their house lies as it did. But I told the people Christ was\ncome to do it freely, who by one offering hath perfected for ever\nall them that are sanctified, and renews them up into the image of\nGod, which man and woman were in before they fell, and makes man's\nand woman's house as perfect again as God made them at the first;\nand this Christ, the heavenly Man, doth freely. Therefore all are to\nlook unto Him, and all that have received Him are to walk in Him, the\nLife, the Substance, the First, and the Last, the Rock of Ages, the\nFoundation of many Generations.\n\nAbout this time the soldiers under General Monk's command were\nrude and troublesome at Friends' meetings in many places, whereof\ncomplaint being made to him he gave forth the following order, which\nsomewhat restrained them:\n\n                            \"St. James's, the 9th of March, 1659.\n\n     \"I do require all officers and soldiers to forbear to disturb\n     the peaceable meetings of the Quakers, they doing nothing\n     prejudicial to the Parliament or Commonwealth of England.\n\n                                                    GEORGE MONK.\"\n\nWe passed thence to Tewkesbury and so to Worcester, visiting Friends\nin their meetings as we went. And in all my time I never saw such\ndrunkenness as in the towns, for they had been choosing Parliament\nmen. At Worcester the Lord's Truth was set over all, people were\nfinely settled therein, and Friends praised the Lord; nay, I saw the\nvery earth rejoiced.\n\nYet great fears and troubles were in many people, and a looking for\nthe King's coming in, and all things being altered. They would ask\nme what I thought of times and things. I told them the Lord's power\nwas over all, and His light shone over all; that fear would take hold\nonly on the hypocrites, such as had not been faithful to God, and on\nour persecutors.\n\nIn my travail and sufferings at Reading, when people were at a stand,\nand could not tell what might come in, and who might rule, I told\nthem the Lord's power was over all (for I had travelled through in\nit), and His day shined, whosoever should come in; and whether the\nKing came in or not, all would be well to them that loved the Lord,\nand were faithful to Him. Therefore I bade all Friends fear none but\nthe Lord, and keep in His power.\n\nFrom Worcester I visited Friends in their meetings, till I came to\nBadgley, and thence I went to Drayton, in Leicestershire, to visit my\nrelations. While there, one Burton, a justice, hearing I had a good\nhorse, sent a warrant to search for me and my horse; but I was gone\nbefore they came; and so he missed of his wicked end.\n\nI passed on to Twy-Cross, Swannington, and Derby, where I visited\nFriends, and found amongst them my old jailer, who had formerly kept\nme in the house of correction there, now convinced of the Truth\nwhich I then suffered under him for.\n\nPassing into Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, I came to\nSynderhill-Green, visiting Friends through all those parts in their\nmeetings, and so on to Balby in Yorkshire, where our Yearly Meeting\nat that time was held in a great orchard of John Killam's, where\nit was supposed some thousands of people and Friends were gathered\ntogether.\n\nIn the morning I heard that a troop of horse was sent from York to\nbreak up our meeting, and that the militia, newly raised, was to join\nthem. I went into the meeting, and stood up on a great stool, and\nafter I had spoken some time two trumpeters came up, sounding their\ntrumpets near me, and the captain of the troop cried, \"Divide to the\nright and left, and make way.\" Then they rode up to me.\n\nI was declaring the everlasting Truth and Word of life in the mighty\npower of the Lord. The captain bade me come down, for he was come to\ndisperse our meeting. After some time I told him they all knew we\nwere a peaceable people, and used to have such great meetings; but if\nhe apprehended that we met in a hostile way, I desired him to make\nsearch among us, and if he found either sword or pistol about any\nthere, let such suffer.\n\nHe told me he must see us dispersed, for he came all night on purpose\nto disperse us. I asked him what honour it would be to him to ride\nwith swords and pistols amongst so many unarmed men and women as\nthere were. If he would be still and quiet our meeting probably\nmight not continue above two or three hours; and when it was done, as\nwe came peaceably together, so we should part; for he might perceive\nthe meeting was so large, that all the country thereabouts could not\nentertain them, but that they intended to depart towards their homes\nat night.\n\nHe said he could not stay to see the meeting ended, but must disperse\nthem before he went. I desired him, then, if he himself could not\nstay, that he would let a dozen of his soldiers stay, and see the\norder and peaceableness of our meeting. He said he would permit us\nan hour's time, and left half a dozen soldiers with us. Then he went\naway with his troop, and Friends of the house gave the soldiers that\nstayed, and their horses, some meat.\n\nWhen the captain was gone the soldiers that were left told us we\nmight stay till night if we would. But we stayed but about three\nhours after, and had a glorious, powerful meeting; for the presence\nof the living God was manifest amongst us, and the Seed, Christ,\nwas set over all. Friends were built upon Him, the foundation, and\nsettled under His glorious, heavenly teaching.\n\nAfter the meeting Friends passed away in peace, greatly refreshed\nwith the presence of the Lord, and filled with joy and gladness\nthat the Lord's power had given them such dominion. Many of the\nmilitia-soldiers stayed also, much vexed that the captain and\ntroopers had not broken up our meeting; and cursed the captain and\nhis troopers. It was reported that they intended evil against us\nthat day; but the troopers, instead of assisting them, were rather\nassistant to us, in not joining them as they expected, but preventing\nthem from doing the mischief they designed.\n\nThis captain was a desperate man; for it was he that said to me in\nScotland that he would obey his superior's commands; if it were to\ncrucify Christ he would do it, or would execute the great Turk's\ncommands against the Christians if he were under him. So that it was\nan eminent power of the Lord which chained both him and his troopers,\nand those envious militia-soldiers also, who went away, not having\npower to hurt any of us, nor to break up our meeting.\n\nNext day we had an heavenly meeting at Warmsworth of Friends in the\nministry, with several others; and then Friends parted. As they\npassed through the country several were taken up; for on the day on\nwhich our first meeting was held, Lambert was routed, and it made\ngreat confusion in the country; but Friends were not kept long in\nprison at that time.\n\nAs I went to this meeting there came to me several at Skegby, in\nNottinghamshire, who were going to be soldiers under Lambert, and\nwould have bought my horse of me. Because I would not sell him, they\nwere in a great rage against me, using many threatening words: but I\ntold them that God would confound and scatter them; and within two or\nthree days after they were scattered indeed.\n\nFrom Warmsworth I passed, in the Lord's power, to Barton Abbey,\nwhere I had a great meeting; thence to Thomas Taylor's; and so on\nto Skipton, where was a general meeting of men Friends out of many\ncounties concerning the affairs of the Church.[119]\n\n  [119] This meeting for the affairs of the Church, held at\n  Skipton, in Yorkshire, in 1659, is generally considered to be the\n  original yearly meeting.\n\nA Friend went naked through the town, declaring Truth, and was much\nbeaten.[120] Some other Friends also came to me all bloody. As I\nwalked in the street, a desperate fellow had an intent to do me\nmischief; but he was prevented, and our meeting was quiet.\n\n  [120] \"Naked\" means naked to the waist. There are a few other\n  instances of similar actions in England and America.\n\nTo this meeting came many Friends out of most parts of the nation;\nfor it was about business relating to the Church both in this nation\nand beyond the seas. Several years before, when I was in the north, I\nwas moved to recommend to Friends the setting up of this meeting for\nthat service; for many Friends had suffered in divers parts of the\nnation, their goods were taken from them contrary to law, and they\nunderstood not how to help themselves, or where to seek redress.[121]\nBut after this meeting was set up, several Friends who had been\nmagistrates, and others that understood something of the law, came\nthither, and were able to inform Friends, and to assist them in\ngathering up the sufferings, that they might be laid before the\njustices, judges, or Parliament.\n\n  [121] This is the beginning of what was later known as the\n  \"Meeting for Sufferings,\" which has been throughout its history a\n  remarkable body. The minutes of the Meeting for Sufferings date\n  from Fifth month 22d, 1675.\n\nThis meeting had stood several years, and divers justices and\ncaptains had come to break it up, but when they understood the\nbusiness Friends met about, and saw their books and accounts of\ncollections for relief of the poor, how we took care one county to\nhelp another, and to help our Friends beyond the seas, and provide\nfor our poor, that none of them should be chargeable to their\nparishes, etc., the justices and officers confessed we did their\nwork, and passed away peaceably and lovingly, commending Friends'\npractice.\n\nSometimes there would come two hundred of the poor of other people,\nand wait there till the meeting was done (for all the country knew we\nmet about the poor), and after the meeting Friends would send to the\nbakers for bread, and give every one of these poor people a loaf, how\nmany soever there were of them; for we were taught to \"do good unto\nall; though especially to the household of faith.\"\n\nAfter this meeting I visited Friends in their meetings till I came to\nLancaster; whence I went to Robert Widders's, and so on to Arnside,\nwhere I had a general meeting for all the Friends in Westmoreland,\nCumberland, and Lancashire. It was quiet and peaceable, and the\nliving presence of the Lord was amongst us. I went back with Robert\nWidders; and Friends all passed away, fresh in the life and power\nof Christ, in which they had dominion, being settled upon Him, the\nheavenly Rock and Foundation.\n\nI went next day to Swarthmore, Francis Howgill and Thomas Curtis\nbeing with me. I had not been long there before Henry Porter, a\njustice, sent a warrant by the chief constable and three petty\nconstables to apprehend me. I had a sense of this beforehand; and\nbeing in the parlor with Richard Richardson and Margaret Fell, her\nservants came and told her there were some come to search the house\nfor arms; and they went up into the chambers under that pretence.\n\nIt came upon me to go out to them; and as I was going by some of them\nI spoke to them; whereupon they asked me my name. I readily told them\nmy name; and then they laid hold on me, saying that I was the man\nthey looked for, and led me away to Ulverstone.\n\nThey kept me all night at the constable's house, and set a guard of\nfifteen or sixteen men to watch me; some of whom sat in the chimney,\nfor fear I should go up it; such dark imaginations possessed them.\nThey were very rude and uncivil, and would neither suffer me to\nspeak to Friends, nor suffer them to bring me necessaries; but with\nviolence thrust them out, and kept a strong guard upon me. Very\nwicked and rude they were, and a great noise they made about me. One\nof the constables, whose name was Ashburnham, said he did not think\na thousand men could have taken me. Another of the constables, whose\nname was Mount, a very wicked man, said he would have served Judge\nFell himself so, if he had been alive, and he had had a warrant for\nhim.\n\nNext morning, about six, I was putting on my boots and spurs to go\nwith them before some justice; but they pulled off my spurs, took my\nknife out of my pocket, and hurried me away through the town, with a\nparty of horse and abundance of people, not suffering me to stay till\nmy own horse came down.\n\nWhen I was gone about a quarter of a mile with them, some Friends,\nwith Margaret Fell and her children, came towards me; and then a\ngreat party of horse gathered about me in a mad rage and fury, crying\nout, \"Will they rescue him? Will they rescue him?\" Thereupon I said\nunto them, \"Here is my hair; here is my back; here are my cheeks;\nstrike on!\" With these words their heat was a little assuaged.\n\nThen they brought a little horse, and two of them took up one of my\nlegs and put my foot in the stirrup, and two or three lifting over my\nother leg, set me upon it behind the saddle, and so led the horse by\nthe halter; but I had nothing to hold by. When they were come some\ndistance out of the town they beat the little horse, and made him\nkick and gallop. Thereupon I slipped off him. I told them they should\nnot abuse the creature. They were much enraged at my getting off, and\ntook me by the legs and feet, and set me upon the same horse, behind\nthe saddle again; and so led it about two miles till they came to a\ngreat water called the Carter-Ford.\n\nBy this time my own horse was come to us, and the water being deep,\nand their little horse scarcely able to carry me through, they let me\nget upon my own, through the persuasion of some of their own company,\nleading him through the water. One wicked fellow kneeled down, and,\nlifting up his hands, blessed God that I was taken.\n\nWhen I was come over the Sands, I told them that I heard I had\nliberty to choose what justice I would go before; but Mount and the\nother constables cried, \"No, you shall not.\" Then they led me to\nLancaster, about fourteen miles, and a great triumph they thought to\nhave had; but as they led me I was moved to sing praises to the Lord,\nin His power triumphing over all.\n\nWhen I was come to Lancaster, the spirits of the people being\nmightily up, I stood and looked earnestly upon them, and they cried,\n\"Look at his eyes!\"[122] After a while I spoke to them, and they\nwere pretty sober. Then came a young man who took me to his house,\nand after a little time the officers took me to the house of Major\nPorter, the justice who had sent the warrant against me, and who had\nseveral others with him.\n\n  [122] This is the second time the striking character of his eyes\n  has been commented on.\n\nWhen I came in, I said, \"Peace be amongst you.\" Porter asked me why\nI came into the country at that troublesome time.[123] I told him,\n\"To visit my brethren.\" \"But,\" said he, \"you have great meetings up\nand down.\" I told him that though we had, our meetings were known\nthroughout the nation to be peaceable, and we were a peaceable people.\n\n  [123] This was just at the troublous time when Charles II. was\n  coming to the throne, and the kingdom was being reorganized.\n  Every traveller was suspected, and every gathering of people was\n  watched.\n\nHe said that we saw the devil in people's faces. I told him that\nif I saw a drunkard, or a swearer, or a peevish heady man, I could\nnot say I saw the Spirit of God in him. And I asked him if he could\nsee the Spirit of God. He said we cried against their ministers. I\ntold him that while we were as Saul, sitting under the priests, and\nrunning up and down with their packets of letters, we were never\ncalled pestilent fellows nor makers of sects; but when we were come\nto exercise our consciences towards God and man, we were called\npestilent fellows, as Paul was.\n\nHe said we could express ourselves well enough, and he would not\ndispute with me; but he would restrain me. I desired to know for\nwhat, and by whose order he had sent his warrant for me; and I\ncomplained to him of the abuse of the constables and other officers\nafter they had taken me, and in their bringing me thither. He would\nnot take notice of that, but told me he had an order, but would\nnot let me see it; for he would not reveal the King's secrets;\nand besides, \"A prisoner,\" he said, \"is not to see for what he is\ncommitted.\" I told him that was not reason; for how, then, should he\nmake his defence? I said I ought to have a copy of it. But he said\nthere was a judge once that fined one for letting a prisoner have a\ncopy of his mittimus; \"and,\" said he, \"I have an old clerk, though I\nam a young justice.\"\n\nThen he called to his clerk, saying, \"Is it not ready yet? Bring\nit\"; meaning the mittimus. But it not being ready, he told me I\nwas a disturber of the nation. I told him I had been a blessing to\nthe nation, in and through the Lord's power and Truth; and that the\nSpirit of God in all consciences would answer it. Then he charged me\nas an enemy to the King, that I endeavoured to raise a new war, and\nimbrue the nation in blood again. I told him I had never learned the\npostures of war, but was clear and innocent as a child concerning\nthose things; and therefore was bold.\n\nThen came the clerk with the mittimus, and the jailer was sent for\nand commanded to take me, put me into the Dark-house, and let none\ncome at me, but to keep me there close prisoner till I should be\ndelivered by the King or Parliament. Then the justice asked the\nconstables where my horse was. \"For I hear,\" said he, \"he hath a good\nhorse; have ye brought his horse?\" I told him where my horse was, but\nhe did not meddle with him.\n\nAs they had me to the jail the constable gave me my knife again, and\nthen asked me to give it to him. I told him, Nay; he had not been\nso civil to me. So they put me into the jail, and the under-jailer,\none Hardy, a very wicked man, was exceeding rude and cruel, and many\ntimes would not let me have meat brought in but as I could get it\nunder the door. Many came to look at me, some in a rage, and very\nuncivil and rude.\n\nBeing now a close prisoner in the common jail at Lancaster, I desired\nThomas Cummins and Thomas Green to go to the jailer, and desire of\nhim a copy of my mittimus, that I might know what I stood committed\nfor. They went and the jailer answered that he could not give a\ncopy of it, for another had been fined for so doing; but he gave\nthem liberty to read it over. To the best of their remembrance the\nmatters therein charged against me were that I was a person generally\nsuspected to be a common disturber of the peace of the nation, an\nenemy to the King, and a chief upholder of the Quakers' sect; and\nthat, together with others of my fanatic opinion, I had of late\nendeavoured to raise insurrections in these parts of the country,\nand to embroil the whole kingdom in blood. Wherefore the jailer was\ncommanded to keep me in safe custody until I should be released by\norder of the King and Parliament.\n\nWhen I had thus got the heads of the charge contained in the\nmittimus, I wrote a plain answer in vindication of my innocency in\neach particular; as follows:\n\n     \"I am a prisoner at Lancaster, committed by Justice Porter.\n     A copy of the mittimus I cannot get, but such expressions I\n     am told are in it as are very untrue; as that I am generally\n     suspected to be a common disturber of the nation's peace, an\n     enemy to the King, and that I, with others, endeavour to raise\n     insurrections to embroil the nation in blood; all of which is\n     utterly false, and I do, in every part thereof, deny it.\n\n     \"For I am not a person generally suspected to be a disturber\n     of the nation's peace, nor have I given any cause for such\n     suspicion; for through the nation I have been tried for these\n     things formerly. In the days of Oliver I was taken up on\n     pretence of raising arms against him, which was also false; for\n     I meddled not with raising arms at all. Yet I was then carried\n     up a prisoner to London, and brought before him; when I cleared\n     myself, and denied the drawing of a carnal weapon against him,\n     or any man upon the earth; for my weapons are spiritual, which\n     take away the occasion of war, and lead into peace. Upon my\n     declaring this to Oliver, I was set at liberty by him.\n\n     \"After this I was taken and sent to prison by Major Ceely in\n     Cornwall, who, when I was brought before the judge, informed\n     against me that I took him aside, and told him that I could\n     raise forty thousand men in an hour's time, to involve the\n     nation in blood, and bring in King Charles. This also was\n     utterly false, and a lie of his own inventing, as was then\n     proved upon him for I never spoke any such word to him.\n\n     \"I never was found in any plot; I never took any engagement or\n     oath; nor have I ever learned war-postures. As those were false\n     charges against me then, so are these now which come from Major\n     Porter, who is lately appointed to be justice, but formerly\n     wanted power to exercise his cruelty against us; which is but\n     the wickedness of the old enemy. The peace of the nation I am\n     not a disturber of, nor ever was; but I seek the peace of it,\n     and of all men, and stand for all nations' peace, and all men's\n     peace upon the earth, and wish all knew my innocency in these\n     things.\n\n     \"And whereas Major Porter saith I am an enemy to the King, this\n     is false; for my love is to him and to all men, even though\n     they be enemies to God, to themselves, and to me. And I can say\n     it is of the Lord that the King is come in, to bring down many\n     unrighteously set up; of which I had a sight three years before\n     he came in. It is much Major Porter should say I am an enemy to\n     the King; for I have no reason so to be, he having done nothing\n     against me.\n\n     \"But I have been often imprisoned and persecuted these eleven or\n     twelve years by those that have been both against the King and\n     his father, even the party by whom Porter was made a major and\n     for whom he bore arms; but not by them that were for the King.\n     I was never an enemy to the King, nor to any man's person upon\n     the earth. I am in the love that fulfils the law, which thinks\n     no evil, but loves even enemies; and would have the King saved,\n     and come to the knowledge of the Truth, and be brought into the\n     fear of the Lord, to receive His wisdom from above, by which all\n     things were made and created; that with that wisdom he may order\n     all things to the glory of God.\n\n     \"Whereas he calleth me 'A chief upholder of the Quakers' sect,'\n     I answer: The Quakers are not a sect,[124] but are in the power\n     of God, which was before sects were, and witness the election\n     before the world began, and are come to live in the life in\n     which the prophets and apostles lived, who gave forth the\n     Scriptures; therefore are we hated by envious, wrathful, wicked,\n     persecuting men. But God is the upholder of us all by His mighty\n     power, and preserves us from the wrath of the wicked that would\n     swallow us up.\n\n  [124] George Fox never admitted that the Quakers were a sect,\n  nor did any Friend of the first fifty years. There was but one\n  Church, composed of those who obeyed the Light and in whom Christ\n  dwelt, and of this Church Fox and his followers claimed to be\n  members. This position has been ably put in Thomas Hancock's\n  \"Peculium\"--a Prize Essay.\n\n     \"And whereas he saith that I, together with others of my fanatic\n     opinion, as he calls it, have of late endeavoured to raise\n     insurrections, and to embroil the whole kingdom in blood, I answer,\n     This is altogether false. To these things I am as a child; I know\n     nothing of them. The postures of war I never learned; my weapons are\n     spiritual and not carnal, for with carnal weapons I do not fight. I\n     am a follower of Him who said, 'My kingdom is not of this world,' and\n     though these lies and slanders are raised upon me, I deny drawing\n     any carnal weapon against the King or Parliament, or any man upon\n     the earth. For I am come to the end of the Law, but am in that which\n     saves men's lives. A witness I am against all murderers, plotters,\n     and all such as would imbrue the nation in blood; for it is not in my\n     heart to have any man's life destroyed.\n\n     \"And as for the word fanatic, which signifies furious, foolish, mad,\n     etc., he might have considered himself before he had used that word,\n     and have learned the humility which goes before honour. We are not\n     furious, foolish, or mad; but through patience and meekness have\n     borne lies, slanders and persecutions many years, and have undergone\n     great sufferings. The spiritual man, that wrestles not with flesh\n     and blood, and the Spirit that reproves sin in the gate, which is the\n     Spirit of Truth, wisdom, and sound judgment, is not mad, foolish,\n     furious, which fanatic signifies; but all are of a mad, furious,\n     foolish spirit that in their furiousness, foolishness and rage\n     wrestle with flesh and blood, with carnal weapons. This is not the\n     Spirit of God, but of error, that persecutes in a mad, blind zeal,\n     like Nebuchadnezzar and Saul.\n\n     \"Inasmuch as I am ordered to be kept prisoner till I be delivered by\n     order from the King or Parliament, therefore I have written these\n     things to be laid before you, the King and Parliament, that ye may\n     consider of them before ye act anything therein; that ye may weigh,\n     in the wisdom of God, the intent and end of men's spirits, lest ye\n     act the thing that will bring the hand of the Lord upon you and\n     against you, as many who have been in authority have done before you,\n     whom God hath overthrown. In Him we trust whom we fear and cry unto\n     day and night, who hath heard us, doth hear us, and will hear us, and\n     avenge our cause. Much innocent blood hath been shed. Many have been\n     persecuted to death by such as were in authority before you, whom\n     God hath vomited out because they turned against the just. Therefore\n     consider your standing now that ye have the day, and receive this as\n     a warning of love to you.\n\n     \"From an innocent sufferer in bonds, and close prisoner in Lancaster\n     Castle, called\n\n                                                    \"GEORGE FOX.\"\n\nAfter this Margaret Fell determined to go to London, to speak with\nthe King about my being taken, and to show him the manner of it, and\nthe unjust dealing and evil usage I had received.[125] When Justice\nPorter heard of this, he vapoured that he would go and meet her in\nthe gap. But when he came before the King, having been a zealous man\nfor the Parliament against the King, several of the courtiers spoke\nto him concerning his plundering their houses; so that he quickly had\nenough of the court, and soon returned into the country.\n\n  [125] Margaret Fell was now the head of Swarthmore Hall, Judge\n  Fell having died in 1658. As the arrest was made from her house\n  she felt herself implicated in the false charge. She wrote a\n  vigorous letter about the case to the proper magistrates.\n\nMeanwhile the jailer seemed very fearful, and said he was afraid\nMajor Porter would hang him because he had not put me in the\ndark-house. But when the jailer waited on him after his return from\nLondon, he was very blank and down, and asked how I did, pretending\nhe would find a way to set me at liberty. But having overshot himself\nin his mittimus by ordering me \"to be kept a prisoner till I should\nbe delivered by the King or Parliament,\" he had put it out of his\npower to release me if he would.\n\nHe was the more down also upon reading a letter which I sent him; for\nwhen he was in the height of his rage and threats against me, and\nthought to ingratiate himself into the King's favour by imprisoning\nme, I was moved to write to him and put him in mind how fierce he had\nbeen against the King and his party, though now he would be thought\nzealous for the King.\n\nAmong other things in my letter I called to his remembrance that when\nhe held Lancaster Castle for the Parliament against the King, he was\nso rough and fierce against those that favoured the King that he said\nhe would leave them neither dog nor cat, if they did not bring him\nprovision to the Castle. I asked him also whose great buck's horns\nwere those that were in his house; and whence he had both them and\nthe wainscot with which he ceiled his house; had he them not from\nHornby Castle?\n\nAbout this time Ann Curtis, of Reading, came to see me; and\nunderstanding how I stood committed, it was upon her also to go to\nthe King about it. Her father, who had been sheriff of Bristol, was\nhanged near his own door for endeavouring to bring the King in; upon\nwhich consideration she had some hopes the King might hear her on my\nbehalf. Accordingly, when she returned to London, she and Margaret\nFell went to the King together; who, when he understood whose\ndaughter she was, received her kindly. Her request to him being to\nsend for me up, and hear the cause himself, he promised her he would;\nand he commanded his secretary to send an order for bringing me up.\n\nBut when they came to the secretary for the order he said it was not\nin his power; he must go according to law; and I must be brought\nup by a writ of habeas corpus before the judges. So he wrote to\nthe Judge of the King's Bench, signifying that it was the King's\npleasure I should be sent up by a writ of habeas corpus. Accordingly\na writ was sent and delivered to the sheriff; but because it was\ndirected to the chancellor of Lancaster the sheriff put it off to\nhim; on the other hand, the chancellor would not make the warrant\nupon it, but said the sheriff must do that.\n\nAt length both chancellor and sheriff were got together; but being\nboth enemies to Truth, they sought occasion for delay, and found an\nerror in the writ, which was that, being directed to the chancellor,\nit said, \"George Fox in prison under _your_ custody,\" whereas\nthe prison I was in was not in the chancellor's custody, but the\nsheriff's; so the word _your_ should have been _his_. Upon this they\nreturned the writ to London again, only to have that one word altered.\n\nWhen it was altered and brought down again, the sheriff refused to\ncarry me up unless I would seal a writing to him and become bound to\npay for the sealing and the charge of carrying me up: which I denied,\ntelling them I would not seal anything.\n\nI was moved also to write to the King to exhort him to exercise mercy\nand forgiveness towards his enemies and to warn him to restrain the\nprofaneness and looseness that was risen up in the nation upon his\nreturn.\n\n                                \"TO THE KING.\n\n     \"KING CHARLES:\n\n     \"Thou camest not into this nation by sword, nor by victory of\n     war, but by the power of the Lord. Now, if thou dost not live in\n     this power, thou wilt not prosper.\n\n     \"If the Lord hath showed thee mercy and forgiven thee, and thou\n     dost not show mercy and forgive, God will not hear thy prayers,\n     nor them that pray for thee. If thou dost not stop persecution\n     and persecutors, and take away all laws that hold up persecution\n     about religion; if thou persist in them, and uphold persecution,\n     that will make thee as blind as those that have gone before\n     thee: for persecution hath always blinded those that have gone\n     into it. Such God by his power overthrows, doeth His valiant\n     acts upon, and bringeth salvation to His oppressed ones.\n\n     \"If thou bear the sword in vain, and let drunkenness, oaths,\n     plays, May-games, as setting up of May-poles, with the image\n     of the crown atop of them, with such like abominations and\n     vanities, be encouraged or go unpunished, the nation will\n     quickly turn like Sodom and Gomorrah, and be as bad as those men\n     of the old world, who grieved the Lord till He overthrew them.\n     So He will overthrow you if these things be not suppressed.\n\n     \"Hardly ever before has there been so much wickedness at liberty\n     as there is at this day, as though there were no terror nor\n     sword of magistracy. Such looseness doth not grace a government,\n     nor please them that do well. Our prayers are for them that are\n     in authority, that under them we may live a godly life in peace,\n     and that we may not be brought into ungodliness by them. Hear\n     and consider, and do good in thy time, whilst thou hast power;\n     be merciful and forgive; that is the way to overcome and obtain\n     the kingdom of Christ.\n\n                                                           G. F.\"\n\nIt was long before the sheriff would yield to remove me to London\nunless I would seal a bond to him, and bear the charges; which I\nstill refused to do. Then they consulted how to convey me up, and\nfirst concluded to send up a party of horse with me. I told them, \"If\nI were such a man as you have represented me to be, you would have\nneed to send a troop or two of horse to guard me.\"\n\nWhen they considered what a charge it would be to them to send up a\nparty of horse with me, they altered their purpose, and concluded to\nsend me up guarded only by the jailer and some bailiffs. But upon\nfarther consideration they found that this also would be a great\ncharge to them, and therefore they sent for me to the jailer's house,\nand told me that if I would put in bail that I would be in London on\nsuch a day of the term, I should have leave to go up with some of my\nown friends.\n\nI told them I would neither put in bail, nor give one piece of silver\nto the jailer; for I was an innocent man,--that they had imprisoned\nme wrongfully, and laid a false charge upon me. Nevertheless, I said,\nif they would let me go up with one or two of my friends to bear me\ncompany, I might go up and be in London on such a day, if the Lord\nshould permit; and if they desired it, I or any of my friends that\nwent with me would carry up their charge against myself.\n\nWhen they saw they could do no otherwise with me, the sheriff\nconsented that I should come up with some of my friends, without any\nother engagement than my word, to appear before the judges at London\nsuch a day of the term, if the Lord should permit.\n\nThereupon I was let out of prison, and went to Swarthmore, where I\nstayed two or three days; and thence went to Lancaster, and so to\nPreston, having meetings amongst Friends till I came into Cheshire,\nto William Gandy's, where was a large meeting without doors, the\nhouse not being sufficient to contain it. That day the Lord's\neverlasting Seed, which is the heir of the promise, was set over all,\nand Friends were turned to it.\n\nThence I came into Staffordshire and Warwickshire, to Anthony\nBickliff's, and at Nuneaton,[AK] at a priest's widow's house, we\nhad a blessed meeting, wherein the everlasting Word of life was\npowerfully declared, and many were settled in it. Then, travelling\non, visiting Friends' meetings, in about three weeks' time from my\ncoming out of prison I reached London, Richard Hubberthorn and Robert\nWithers being with me.\n\n  [AK] Nuneaton was only two miles from his home at Drayton, but he\n  seems not to have stopped for a visit.\n\nWhen we came to Charing-Cross, multitudes of people were gathered\ntogether to see the burning of the bowels of some of the old King's\njudges, who had been hanged, drawn and quartered.\n\nWe went next morning to Judge Mallet's chamber. He was putting on his\nred gown to sit in judgment upon some more of the King's judges. He\nwas then very peevish and froward, and said I might come another time.\n\nWe went again to his chamber when there was with him Judge Foster,\nwho was called the Lord Chief-Justice of England. With me was one\ncalled Esquire Marsh, who was one of the bedchamber to the King.\nWhen we had delivered to the judges the charge that was against\nme, and they had read to those words, \"that I and my friends were\nembroiling the nation in blood,\" etc., they struck their hands on the\ntable. Whereupon I told them that I was the man whom that charge was\nagainst, but I was as innocent of any such thing as a new-born child,\nand had brought it up myself; and some of my friends came up with me,\nwithout any guard.\n\nAs yet they had not minded my hat, but now seeing it on, they said,\n\"What, do you stand with your hat on!\" I told them I did not so in\nany contempt of them. Then they commanded it to be taken off; and\nwhen they called for the marshal of the King's Bench, they said to\nhim, \"You must take this man and secure him; but let him have a\nchamber, and not be put amongst the prisoners.\"\n\n\"My lord,\" said the marshal, \"I have no chamber to put him into; my\nhouse is so full I cannot tell where to provide a room for him but\namongst the prisoners.\"\n\n\"Nay,\" said the judge, \"you must not put him amongst the prisoners.\"\n\nBut when the marshal still answered that he had no other\nplace wherein to put me, Judge Foster said to me, \"Will you\nappear to-morrow about ten o'clock at the King's Bench bar in\nWestminster-Hall?\"\n\nI said, \"Yes, if the Lord gives me strength.\"\n\nThen said Judge Foster to the other judge, \"If he says Yes, and\npromises it, you may take his word;\" so I was dismissed.\n\nNext day I appeared at the King's Bench bar at the hour appointed,\nRobert Widders, Richard Hubberthorn, and Esquire Marsh going with me.\nI was brought into the middle of the court; and as soon as I came in,\nwas moved to look round, and, turning to the people, say, \"Peace be\namong you.\" The power of the Lord spread over the court.\n\nThe charge against me was read openly. The people were moderate, and\nthe judges cool and loving; and the Lord's mercy was to them. But\nwhen they came to that part which said that I and my friends were\nembroiling the nation in blood, and raising a new war, and that I was\nan enemy to the King, etc., they lifted up their hands.\n\nThen, stretching out my arms, I said, \"I am the man whom that charge\nis against; but I am as innocent as a child concerning the charge,\nand have never learned any war-postures. And,\" said I, \"do ye think\nthat, if I and my friends had been such men as the charge declares,\nI would have brought it up myself against myself? Or that I should\nhave been suffered to come up with only one or two of my friends with\nme? Had I been such a man as this charge sets forth, I had need to be\nguarded with a troop or two of horse. But the sheriff and magistrates\nof Lancashire thought fit to let me and my friends come up with it\nourselves, nearly two hundred miles, without any guard at all; which,\nye may be sure, they would not have done, had they looked upon me to\nbe such a man.\"\n\nThen the Judge asked me whether it should be filed, or what I would\ndo with it. I answered, \"Ye are judges, and able, I hope, to judge\nin this matter; therefore, do with it what ye will; for I am the man\nthese charges are against, and here ye see I have brought them up\nmyself. Do ye what ye will with them; I leave it to you.\"\n\nThen, Judge Twisden beginning to speak some angry words, I appealed\nto Judge Foster and Judge Mallet, who had heard me over-night.\nThereupon they said they did not accuse me, for they had nothing\nagainst me. Then stood up Esquire Marsh, who was of the King's\nbedchamber, and told the judges it was the King's pleasure that I\nshould be set at liberty, seeing no accuser came up against me. They\nasked me whether I would put it to the King and Council. I said,\n\"Yes, with a good will.\"\n\nThereupon they sent the sheriff's return, which he had made to\nthe writ of habeas corpus, containing the matter charged against\nme in the mittimus, to the King, that he might see for what I was\ncommitted. The return of the sheriff of Lancaster was as follows:\n\n     \"By virtue of His Majesty's writ, to me directed, and hereunto\n     annexed, I certify that before the receipt of the said writ\n     George Fox, in the said writ mentioned, was committed to His\n     Majesty's jail at the Castle of Lancaster, in my custody, by a\n     warrant from Henry Porter, Esq., one of His Majesty's justices\n     of peace within the county palatine aforesaid, bearing date the\n     fifth of June now last past; for that he, the said George Fox,\n     was generally suspected to be a common disturber of the peace\n     of this nation, an enemy of our sovereign lord the King, and\n     a chief upholder of the Quakers' sect; and that he, together\n     with others of his fanatic opinion, have of late endeavoured to\n     make insurrections in these parts of the country, and to embroil\n     the whole kingdom in blood. And this is the cause of his taking\n     and detaining. Nevertheless, the body of the said George Fox I\n     have ready before Thomas Mallet, knight, one of His Majesty's\n     justices, assigned to hold pleas before His Majesty, at his\n     chamber in Sergeants' Inn, in Fleet Street, to do and receive\n     those things which his Majesty's said justice shall determine\n     concerning him in this behalf, as by the aforesaid writ is\n     required.\n\n                                 \"GEORGE CHETHAM, Esq., Sheriff.\"\n\nOn perusal of this, and consideration of the whole matter, the King,\nbeing satisfied of my innocency, commanded his secretary to send an\norder to Judge Mallet for my release, which he did thus:\n\n     \"It is his Majesty's pleasure that you give order for releasing,\n     and setting at full liberty the person of George Fox, late a\n     prisoner in Lancaster jail, and commanded hither by an habeas\n     corpus. And this signification of his Majesty's pleasure shall\n     be your sufficient warrant. Dated at Whitehall, the 24th of\n     October, 1660.\n\n                                                EDWARD NICHOLAS.\"\n\n     \"For Sir Thomas Mallet, knight, one\n      of the justices of the King's Bench.\"\n\nWhen this order was delivered to Judge Mallet, he forthwith sent his\nwarrant to the marshal of the King's Bench for my release; which\nwarrant was thus worded:\n\n     \"By virtue of a warrant which this morning I have received\n     from the Right Honorable Sir Edward Nicholas, knight, one of\n     his Majesty's principal secretaries, for the releasing and\n     setting at liberty of George Fox, late a prisoner in Lancaster\n     jail, and thence brought hither by habeas corpus, and yesterday\n     committed unto your custody; I do hereby require you accordingly\n     to release and set the said prisoner George Fox at liberty: for\n     which this shall be your warrant and discharge. Given under my\n     hand the 25th day of October, in the year of our Lord God 1660.\n\n                                                  THOMAS MALLET.\"\n\n     \"To Sir John Lenthal, knight,\n        marshal of the King's Bench,\n        or his deputy.\"\n\nThus, after I had been a prisoner somewhat more than twenty weeks,\nI was freely set at liberty by the King's command, the Lord's power\nhaving wonderfully wrought for the clearing of my innocency, and\nPorter, who committed me, not daring to appear to make good the\ncharge he had falsely suggested against me. But, after it was known I\nwas discharged, a company of envious, wicked spirits were troubled,\nand terror took hold of Justice Porter; for he was afraid I would\ntake the advantage of the law against him for my wrong imprisonment,\nand thereby undo him, his wife and children. And indeed I was pressed\nby some in authority to make him and the rest examples; but I said I\nshould leave them to the Lord; if the Lord forgave them I should not\ntrouble myself with them.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nLabors, Dangers and Sufferings.\n\n1661-1662.\n\n\nNow did I see the end of the travail which I had in my sore exercise\nat Reading;[126] for the everlasting power of the Lord was over all,\nand His blessed Truth, life, and light shined over the nation. Great\nand glorious meetings we had, and very quiet; and many flocked unto\nthe Truth. Richard Hubberthorn had been with the King, who said that\nnone should molest us so long as we lived peaceably, and promised\nthis upon the word of a king; telling Richard that we might make use\nof his promise.[127]\n\n  [126] In 1658 Fox had written: \"I went to Reading, where I was\n  under great exercises and sufferings, and in great travail\n  of spirit for about ten weeks.\" This was apparently over the\n  disturbed political situation, and he tells us that at this time\n  he \"had a sight and sense of the king's return.\"\n\n  [127] Poor George little realized how futile this promise was to\n  prove, or how soon the whips of Oliver were to become scorpions\n  under the new order of affairs.\n\nSome Friends were also admitted in the House of Lords, to declare\ntheir reasons why they could not pay tithes, swear, go to the\nsteeple-house worship, or join with others in worship; and the Lords\nheard them moderately. There being about seven hundred Friends\nin prison, who had been committed under Oliver's and Richard's\ngovernment, upon contempts (so called) when the King came in, he set\nthem all at liberty.\n\nThere seemed at that time an inclination and intention in the\ngovernment to grant Friends liberty, because those in authority\nwere sensible that we had suffered as well as they under the former\npowers. But still, when anything was going forward in order thereto,\nsome dirty spirits or other,[128] that would seem to be for us, threw\nsomething in the way to stop it. It was said there was an instrument\ndrawn up for confirming our liberty, and that it only wanted signing;\nwhen suddenly that wicked attempt of the Fifth-monarchy people\nbroke out, and put the city and nation in an uproar. This was on a\nFirst-day night, and very glorious meetings we had had that day,\nwherein the Lord's Truth shone over all, and His power was exalted\nabove all; but about midnight, or soon after, the drums beat, and the\ncry was, \"Arm, Arm!\"\n\n  [128] In this instance Fifth-monarchy men, whose insurrection\n  brought on the new persecution.\n\nI got up out of bed, and in the morning took boat, and, landing at\nWhitehall-stairs, walked through Whitehall. The people there looked\nstrangely at me, but I passed through them, and went to Pall-Mall,\nwhere divers Friends came to me, though it had now become dangerous\nto pass through the streets; for by this time the city and suburbs\nwere up in arms. Exceedingly rude the people and soldiers were.\nHenry Fell, going to a Friend's house, was knocked, down by the\nsoldiers, and he would have been killed had not the Duke of York come\nby.\n\nGreat mischief was done in the city this week; and when the next\nFirst-day came, as Friends went to their meetings, many were taken\nprisoners. I stayed at Pall-Mall, intending to be at the meeting\nthere; but on Seventh-day night a company of troopers came and\nknocked at the door. The servant let them in. They rushed into the\nhouse, and laid hold of me; and, there being amongst them one that\nhad served under the Parliament, he put his hand to my pocket and\nasked whether I had any pistol. I told him, \"You know I do not carry\npistols; why, therefore, ask such a question of me, whom you know to\nbe a peaceable man?\"\n\nOthers of the soldiers ran into the chambers, and there found in bed\nEsquire Marsh, who, though he was one of the King's bedchamber, out\nof his love to me came and lodged where I did. When they came down\nagain they said, \"Why should we take this man away with us. We will\nlet him alone.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" said the Parliament soldier, \"he is one of the heads, and a\nchief ringleader.\"\n\nUpon this the soldiers were taking me away, but Esquire Marsh,\nhearing of it, sent for him that commanded the party, and desired him\nto let me alone, for he would see me forthcoming in the morning.\n\nIn the morning, before they could fetch me, and before the meeting\nwas gathered, there came a company of foot soldiers to the house, and\none of them, drawing his sword, held it over my head. I asked him\nwhy he drew his sword at an unarmed man, at which his fellows, being\nashamed, bade him put up his sword.\n\nThese foot soldiers took me away to Whitehall before the troopers\ncame for me.\n\nAs I was going out several Friends were coming in to the meeting. I\ncommended their boldness and cheerfulness, and encouraged them to\npersevere therein.\n\nWhen I was brought to Whitehall, the soldiers and people were\nexceedingly rude, yet I declared Truth to them. But some great\npersons came by, who were very full of envy. \"Why,\" said they, \"do ye\nlet him preach? Put him into a place where he may not stir.\"\n\nSo into such a place they put me, and the soldiers watched over me. I\ntold them that, though they could confine my body and shut that up,\nyet they could not stop the Word of life. Some came and asked me what\nI was. I told them, \"A preacher of righteousness.\"\n\nAfter I had been kept there two or three hours, Esquire Marsh spoke\nto Lord Gerrard, and he came and bade them set me at liberty. The\nmarshal, when I was discharged, demanded fees. I told him I could not\ngive him any, neither was it our practice; and I asked him how he\ncould demand fees of me, who was innocent.\n\nThen I went through the guards, the Lord's power being over them;\nand, after I had declared Truth to the soldiers, I went up the\nstreets with two Irish colonels that came from Whitehall to an inn\nwhere many Friends were at that time prisoners under a guard. I\ndesired these colonels to speak to the guard to let me go in to visit\nmy friends that were prisoners there; but they would not. Then I\nstepped up to the sentry, and desired him to let me go up; and he did\nso.\n\nWhile I was there the soldiers went again to Pall-Mall to search for\nme; but not finding me they turned towards the inn, and bade all\ncome out that were not prisoners; so they went out. But I asked the\nsoldiers that were within whether I might not stay there a while with\nmy friends. They said, \"Yes.\" I stayed, and so escaped their hands\nagain. Towards night I went to Pall-Mall, to see how it was with the\nFriends there; and, after I had stayed a while, I went up into the\ncity.\n\nGreat rifling of houses there was at this time to search for people.\nI went to a private Friend's house, and Richard Hubberthorn was with\nme. There we drew up a declaration against plots and fightings, to\nbe presented to the King and Council; but when finished, and sent to\nprint, it was taken in the press.\n\nOn this insurrection of the Fifth-monarchy men, great havoc was made\nboth in city and country, so that it was dangerous for sober people\nto stir abroad for several weeks after. Men or women could hardly go\nup and down the streets to buy provisions for their families without\nbeing abused. In the country they dragged men and women out of their\nhouses, and some sick men out of their beds by the legs. Nay, one man\nin a fever, the soldiers dragged out of bed to prison, and when he\nwas brought there he died. His name was Thomas Pachyn.\n\nMargaret Fell went to the King and told him what sad work there was\nin the city and nation, and showed him we were an innocent, peaceable\npeople, and that we must keep our meetings as heretofore, whatever we\nsuffered; but that it concerned him to see that peace was kept, that\nno innocent blood might be shed.\n\nThe prisons were now everywhere filled with Friends and others, in\nthe city and country, and the posts were so laid for the searching\nof letters that none could pass unsearched. We heard of several\nthousands of our Friends that were cast into prison in several\nparts of the nation, and Margaret Fell carried an account of them\nto the King and Council. The next week we had an account of several\nthousands more that were cast into prison, and she went and laid them\nalso before the King and Council. They wondered how we could have\nsuch intelligence, seeing they had given such strict charge for the\nintercepting of all letters; but the Lord did so order it that we had\nan account notwithstanding all their stoppings.[129]\n\n  [129] Fox wrote a tender letter to the sufferers in prison, and\n  \"a Declaration from the harmless, innocent people of God called\n  Quakers\" was sent to the King.\n\nSoon after the King gave forth a proclamation that no soldiers should\nsearch any house without a constable. But the jails were still\nfull, many thousands of Friends being in prison; which mischief was\noccasioned by the wicked rising of the Fifth-monarchy men. But when\nthose that were taken came to be executed, they did us the justice to\nclear us openly from having any hand in or knowledge of their plot.\n\nAfter that, the King being continually importuned thereunto, issued\na declaration that Friends should be set at liberty without paying\nfees. But great labour, travail, and pains were taken before this was\nobtained; for Thomas Moore and Margaret Fell went often to the King\nabout it.\n\nMuch blood was shed this year, many of the old King's judges being\nhung, drawn and quartered. Amongst them that so suffered, Colonel\nHacker was one. He had sent me prisoner from Leicester to London in\nOliver's time, of which an account is given before. A sad day it\nwas, and a repaying of blood with blood. For in the time of Oliver\nCromwell, when several men were put to death by him, being hung,\ndrawn and quartered for pretended treasons, I felt from the Lord\nGod that their blood would be required; and I said as much then to\nseveral.\n\nAnd now, upon the King's return, several that had been against him\nwere put to death, as the others that were for him had been before by\nOliver. This was sad work, destroying people; contrary to the nature\nof Christians, who have the nature of lambs and sheep. But there was\na secret hand in bringing this day upon that hypocritical generation\nof professors, who, being got into power, grew proud, haughty, and\ncruel beyond others, and persecuted the people of God without pity.\n\nWhen Friends were under cruel persecutions and sufferings in the\nCommonwealth's time, I was moved of the Lord to write to Friends\nto draw up accounts of their sufferings, and lay them before the\njustices at their sessions; and if they would not do justice, then\nto lay them before the judges at the assize; and if they would not\ndo justice, then to lay them before the Parliament, the Protector\nand his Council, that they might all see what was done under their\ngovernment; and if they would not do justice, then to lay it before\nthe Lord, who would hear the cries of the oppressed, and of the\nwidows and fatherless whom they had made so.\n\nFor that for which we suffered, and for which our goods were spoiled,\nwas our obedience to the Lord in His Power and His Spirit. He was\nable to help and to succour, and we had no helper in the earth but\nHim. And He heard the cries of His people, and brought an overflowing\nscourge over the heads of all our persecutors, which brought a dread\nand a fear amongst and on them all. So that those who had nicknamed\nus (who are the children of Light) and in scorn called us Quakers,\nthe Lord made to quake; and many of them would have been glad to hide\nthemselves amongst us; and some of them, through the distress that\ncame upon them, did at length come to confess to the Truth.\n\nMany ways were these professors warned, by word, by writing, and by\nsigns; but they would believe none till it was too late. William\nSympson was moved of the Lord to go at several times for three years\nnaked and barefooted before them, as a sign to them, in markets,\ncourts, towns, cities, to priests' houses, and to great men's\nhouses, telling them, \"So shall ye be stripped naked as I am stripped\nnaked!\" And sometimes he was moved to put on hair-sackcloth, and to\nbesmear his face, and to tell them, \"So will the Lord God besmear all\nyour religion as I am besmeared.\"\n\nGreat sufferings did that poor man undergo, sore whippings with\nhorse-whips and coach-whips on his bare body, grievous stoning and\nimprisonments, in three years' time, before the King came in, that\nthey might have taken warning; but they would not, and rewarded his\nlove with cruel usage. Only the mayor of Cambridge did nobly to him,\nfor he put his gown about him and took him into his house.\n\nAnother Friend, Robert Huntingdon, was moved of the Lord to go into\nCarlisle steeple-house with a white sheet about him, amongst the\ngreat Presbyterians and Independents there, to show them that the\nsurplice was coming up again; and he put an halter about his neck to\nshow them that an halter was coming upon them; which was fulfilled\nupon some of our persecutors not long after.\n\nAnother, Richard Sale, living near Westchester, being constable of\nthe place where he lived, had sent to him with a pass a Friend whom\nthose wicked professors had taken up for a vagabond, because he\ntravelled up and down in the work of the ministry. This constable,\nbeing convinced by the Friend thus brought to him, gave him his pass\nand liberty, and was afterwards himself cast into prison.\n\nAfter this, on a lecture-day, Richard Sale was moved to go to the\nsteeple-house in the time of their worship, and to carry those\npersecuting priests and people a lantern and candle, as a figure of\ntheir darkness. But they cruelly abused him, and like dark professors\nas they were put him into their prison called Little Ease, and so\nsqueezed his body therein that not long after he died.[130]\n\n  [130] These Friends, in their use of signs and striking\n  symbolisms, were undoubtedly following in the steps of the Hebrew\n  prophets. Both William Sympson and Richard Sale were squeezed in\n  Little Ease, the latter, being very stout, came to his death as a\n  result. \"Little Ease\" was a hole hewed out of a rock; the breadth\n  across seventeen inches; from the back to the inside of the great\n  door at the top seven inches; at the shoulders, eight inches; at\n  the breast, nine and a half inches; from the top to the bottom,\n  one yard and a half, with a device to lessen the height for\n  purposes of torture.\n\nAlthough those Friends that had been imprisoned on the rising of the\nFifth-monarchy men were set at liberty, meetings were much disturbed,\nand great sufferings Friends underwent. For besides what was done by\nofficers and soldiers, many wild fellows and rude people often came\nin.\n\nOne time when I was at Pall-Mall there came an ambassador with a\ncompany of Irishmen and rude fellows. The meeting was over before\nthey came, and I was gone into a chamber, where I heard one of them\nsay that he would kill all the Quakers. I went down to him, and was\nmoved in the power of the Lord to speak to him. I told him, \"The\nlaw said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth'; but thou\nthreateneth to kill all the Quakers, though they have done thee no\nhurt. But,\" said I, \"here is gospel for thee: here is my hair, here\nis my cheek, and here is my shoulder,\" turning it to him.\n\nThis so overcame him that he and his companions stood as men amazed,\nand said that if that was our principle, and if we were as we said,\nthey never saw the like in their lives. I told them that what I was\nin words, I also was in my life. Then the ambassador, who stood\nwithout, came in; for he said that this Irish colonel was a desperate\nman that he durst not come in with him for fear he should do us some\nmischief. But Truth came over the Irish colonel, and he carried\nhimself lovingly towards us; as also did the ambassador; for the\nLord's power was over them all.\n\nAt Mile-End Friends were kept out of their meeting-place by soldiers,\nbut they stood nobly in the Truth, valiant for the Lord's name; and\nat last the Truth gave them dominion.\n\nAbout this time we had an account that John Love, a Friend that was\nmoved to go and bear testimony against the idolatry of the Papists,\nwas dead in prison at Rome; it was suspected he was privately put to\ndeath. Also before this time we received account from New England\nthat the government there had made a law to banish the Quakers out\nof their colonies, upon pain of death in case they returned; that\nseveral of our Friends, having been so banished and returning, were\nthereupon taken and actually hanged, and that divers more were in\nprison, in danger of the like sentence being executed upon them.\nWhen those were put to death I was in prison at Lancaster, and had a\nperfect sense of their sufferings as though it had been myself, and\nas though the halter had been put about my own neck, though we had\nnot at that time heard of it.[131]\n\n  [131] We have already seen how frequently George Fox had what\n  nowadays are called telepathic experiences.\n\nAs soon as we heard of it, Edward Burrough went to the King and told\nhim that there was a vein of innocent blood opened in his dominions\nwhich, if it were not stopped, would overrun all. To this the King\nreplied, \"But I will stop that vein.\" Edward Burrough said, \"Then\ndo it speedily, for we know not how many may soon be put to death.\"\nThe King answered, \"As speedily as ye will. Call,\" (said he to some\npresent) \"the secretary, and I will do it presently.\"\n\nThe secretary being called, a mandamus was forthwith granted. A day\nor two after, Edward Burrough going again to the King to desire\nthe matter might be expedited, the King said he had no occasion at\npresent to send a ship thither, but if we would send one we might do\nit as soon as we would. Edward then asked the King if it would please\nhim to grant his deputation to one called a Quaker to carry the\nmandamus to New England. He said, \"Yes, to whom ye will.\"\n\nWhereupon Edward Burrough named Samuel Shattuck, who, being an\ninhabitant of New England, was banished by their law, to be hanged if\nhe came again; and to him the deputation was granted. Then he sent\nfor Ralph Goldsmith, an honest Friend, who was master of a good ship,\nand agreed with him for three hundred pounds (goods or no goods) to\nsail in ten days. He forthwith prepared to set sail, and with a\nprosperous gale, in about six weeks' time, arrived before the town of\nBoston in New England, upon a First-day morning.\n\nWith him went many passengers, both of New and Old England, Friends,\nwhom the Lord moved to go to bear their testimony against those\nbloody persecutors, who had exceeded all the world in that age in\ntheir bloody persecutions.\n\nThe townsmen at Boston, seeing a ship come into the bay with English\ncolours, soon came on board and asked for the captain. Ralph\nGoldsmith told them he was the commander. They asked him if he had\nany letters. He said, \"Yes.\" They asked if he would deliver them. He\nsaid, \"No; not to-day.\"\n\nSo they went ashore and reported that there was a ship full of\nQuakers, and that Samuel Shattuck, who they knew was by their law to\nbe put to death if he came again after banishment, was among them,\nbut they knew not his errand nor his authority.\n\nSo all were kept close that day, and none of the ship's company\nsuffered to go on shore. Next morning Samuel Shattuck, the King's\ndeputy, and Ralph Goldsmith, went on shore, and, sending back to the\nship the men that landed them, they two went through the town to\nGovernor John Endicott's door, and knocked. He sent out a man to know\ntheir business. They sent him word that their business was from the\nKing of England, and that they would deliver their message to no one\nbut the Governor himself.\n\nThereupon they were admitted, and the Governor came to them; and\nhaving received the deputation and the mandamus, he put off his hat\nand looked upon them. Then, going out, he bade the Friends follow\nhim. He went to the deputy-governor, and after a short consultation\ncame out to the Friends, and said, \"We shall obey his majesty's\ncommands.\"\n\nAfter this the master gave liberty to the passengers to come on\nshore, and presently the noise of the business flew about the town;\nand the Friends of the town and the passengers of the ship met\ntogether to offer up their praises and thanksgivings to God, who had\nso wonderfully delivered them from the teeth of the devourer.\n\nWhile they were thus met, in came a poor Friend, who, being sentenced\nby their bloody law to die, had lain some time in irons expecting\nexecution. This added to their joy, and caused them to lift up their\nhearts in high praise to God, who is worthy for ever to have the\npraise, the glory, and the honour; for He only is able to deliver,\nto save, and support all that sincerely put their trust in Him. Here\nfollows a copy of the mandamus.\n\n\n                                \"CHARLES R.\n\n     \"Trusty and well-beloved, We greet you well. Having been\n     informed that several of our subjects amongst you, called\n     Quakers, have been and are imprisoned by you, whereof some have\n     been executed, and others (as hath been represented unto us) are\n     in danger to undergo the like, we have thought fit to signify\n     our pleasure in that behalf for the future; and do hereby\n     require that if there be any of those people called Quakers\n     amongst you, now already condemned to suffer death or other\n     corporal punishment, or that are imprisoned and obnoxious to the\n     like condemnation, you are to forbear to proceed any further\n     therein; but that you forthwith send the said persons (whether\n     condemned or imprisoned) over into this our kingdom of England,\n     together with the respective crimes or offences laid to their\n     charge, to the end that such course may be taken with them here\n     as shall be agreeable to our laws and their demerits. And for\n     so doing, these our letters shall be your sufficient warrant\n     and discharge. Given at our court at Whitehall the ninth day of\n     September, 1661, in the 13th year of our reign.\"\n\n     Subscribed: \"To our trusty and well-beloved John Endicott,\n     Esquire, and to all and every other the Governor or governors\n     of our plantations of New England, and of all the colonies\n     thereunto belonging, that now are or hereafter shall be, and to\n     all and every the ministers and officers of our plantations and\n     colonies whatsoever within the continent of New England.\n\n                                       \"By his majesty's command,\n                                           \"WILLIAM MORRIS.\"[132]\n\n  [132] Whittier has beautifully told the story of Samuel\n  Shattuck's mission in his poem, \"The King's Missive.\" Longfellow\n  has made the sufferings of the Quakers the subject of his\n  dramatic poem, \"New England Tragedies.\" The story of Quaker\n  sufferings is told in George Bishop's \"New England Judged.\" The\n  best modern book on the subject is Hallowell's \"Quaker Invasion\n  of Massachusetts.\" Four Friends were executed--William Robinson,\n  Marmaduke Stevenson, William Ledra and Mary Dyer.\n\nSome time after this several New England magistrates came over, with\none of their priests. We had several discourses with them concerning\ntheir murdering our Friends, the servants of the Lord; but they were\nashamed to stand to their bloody actions.\n\nOn one of these occasions I asked Simon Broadstreet, one of the\nNew England magistrates, whether he had not had a hand in putting\nto death those four servants of God, whom they hung only for being\nQuakers, as they had nicknamed them. He confessed that he had. I\nthen asked him and the rest of his associates that were present\nwhether they would acknowledge themselves to be subject to the laws\nof England; and if they did, by what laws they had put our Friends to\ndeath. They said they were subject to the laws of England, and had\nput our Friends to death by the same law that the Jesuits were put to\ndeath in England.\n\nI asked them then whether they believed those Friends of ours whom\nthey had put to death were Jesuits or jesuitically affected. They\nsaid, \"Nay.\" \"Then,\" said I, \"ye have murdered them, if ye have put\nthem to death by the law by which Jesuits are put to death here in\nEngland, and yet confess they were no Jesuits. By this it plainly\nappears ye have put them to death in your own wills, without any law.\"\n\nThen Simon Broadstreet, finding himself and his company ensnared by\ntheir own words, asked if we came to catch them. I told them they had\ncaught themselves, and might justly be questioned for their lives;\nand if the father of William Robinson, one of them that were put\nto death, were in town, it was probable he would question them, and\nbring their lives into jeopardy.\n\nHere they began to excuse themselves, saying, \"There is no\npersecution now amongst us.\" But next morning we had letters from New\nEngland telling us that our Friends were persecuted there afresh.\nWe went again and showed them our letters, which put them both to\nsilence and to shame; and in great fear they seemed to be lest some\none should call them to account and prosecute them for their lives.\nEspecially was Simon Broadstreet fearful; for he had before so\nmany witnesses confessed that he had a hand in putting our Friends\nto death, that he could not get off from it; though he afterwards\nthrough fear shuffled, and would have unsaid it again. After this, he\nand the rest soon returned to New England again.\n\nI went also to Governor Winthrop, and discoursed with him on these\nmatters. He assured me that he had no hand in putting our Friends\nto death, or in any way persecuting them; but was one of them that\nprotested against it.\n\nAbout this time I lost a very good book, being taken in the printer's\nhands; it was a useful teaching work, containing the signification\nand explanation of names, parables, types, and figures in the\nScriptures. They who took it were so affected with it, that they were\nloth to destroy it; but thinking to make a great advantage of it,\nthey would have let us have it again, if we would have given them a\ngreat sum of money for it; which we were not free to do.\n\nBefore this, while I was prisoner in Lancaster Castle, the book\ncalled the \"Battledore\" was published, which was written to show\nthat in all languages Thou and Thee is the proper and usual form of\nspeech to a single person; and You to more than one. This was set\nforth in examples or instances taken from the Scriptures, and books\nof teaching, in about thirty languages. J. Stubbs and Benjamin Furly\ntook great pains in compiling it, which I set them upon; and some\nthings I added to it.[133]\n\n  [133] Here is the title page to this curious old book which is\n  now very rare, and is much valued by collectors:\n\n      \"A Battle-Door for Teachers & Professors to learn Singular\n      and Plural; You to Many, and Thou to One: Singular One, Thou;\n      Plural Many, You, Wherein is shewed forth by Grammar, or\n      Scripture Examples, how several Nations and People have made\n      a distinction between Singular and Plural, And First. In the\n      former part of this Book, Called the English Battle-Door, may\n      be seen how several People have spoken Singular and Plural,\n      As the Apharsathkites, The Tarpelites, The Apharsites, The\n      Archevites, The Babylonians, The Susanchites, The Dehavites, The\n      Elamites, The Temanites, The Naomites, The Shuites, The Buzites,\n      The Moabites, The Hevites, The Edomites, The Philistines, The\n      Amalekites, The Sodomites, The Hittites, The Midianites, &c.\n      Also, in this Book is set forth Examples of the Singular and\n      Plural About Thou, and You in several Languages divided into\n      distinct Battle-Doors, or Forms, or Examples; English, Latine,\n      Italian, Greek, Hebrew, Caldec, Syriack, Arabick, Persiack,\n      Ethiopick, Samaritan, Coptick or Egyptick, Armenian, Saxon,\n      Welch, Mence, Cornish, French, Spanish, Portugal, High-Dutch,\n      Low Dutch, Danish, Bohemian, Slavonian, and how Emperors and\n      others have used the Singular Word to One; and how the Word You\n      (to one) came first from the Pope. Likewise some examples, in\n      the Polonian, Lithvanian, Irish and East-Indian, Together with\n      the Singular and Plural Words thou and you, in Swedish, Turkish,\n      Muscovian and Curlandian tongues,--In the latter part of this\n      Book are contained several bad unsavoury words gathered first for\n      certain School Books, which have been taught Boyes in England,\n      which is a Rod and a Whip to the School Masters in England and\n      elsewhere who teach such Books. Geo. Fox, Jno. Stubbs, Benjamin\n      Furley.\n\n      \"London: Printed for Robt. Wilson, and are to be sold at his Shop\n      at the Signe of the Black-Spread-Eagle and Wind-Mil in Martins le\n      Grand 1660.\"\n\nWhen it was finished, copies were presented to the King and his\nCouncil, to the Bishops of Canterbury and London, and to the two\nuniversities one each; and many purchased them. The King said it was\nthe proper language of all nations; and the Bishop of Canterbury,\nbeing asked what he thought of it, was at a stand, and could not tell\nwhat to say to it. For it did so inform and convince people, that few\nafterwards were so rugged toward us for saying Thou and Thee to a\nsingle person, for which before they were exceedingly fierce against\nus.\n\nThou and Thee was a sore cut to proud flesh, and them that sought\nself-honour, who, though they would say it to God and Christ, could\nnot endure to have it said to themselves. So that we were often\nbeaten and abused, and sometimes in danger of our lives, for using\nthose words to some proud men, who would say, \"What! you ill-bred\nclown, do you Thou me?\" as though Christian breeding consisted in\nsaying You to one; which is contrary to all their grammars and\nteaching books, by which they instructed their youth.\n\nAbout this time many Papists and Jesuits began to fawn upon Friends,\nand talked up and down where they came, that of all the sects the\nQuakers were the best and most self-denying people; and they said it\nwas great pity that they did not return to the Holy Mother Church.\nThus they made a buzz among the people, and said they would willingly\ndiscourse with Friends. But Friends were loth to meddle with them,\nbecause they were Jesuits, looking upon it to be both dangerous and\nscandalous.\n\nBut when I understood it, I said to Friends, \"Let us discourse with\nthem, be they what they will.\" So a time being appointed at Gerrard\nRoberts's, there came two of them like courtiers. They asked our\nnames, which we told them; but we did not ask their names, for we\nunderstood they were called Papists, and they knew we were called\nQuakers.\n\nI asked them the same question that I had formerly asked a Jesuit,\nnamely, whether the Church of Rome was not degenerated from the\nChurch in the primitive times, from the Spirit, power, and practice\nthat they were in in the Apostles' times? He to whom I put this\nquestion, being subtle, said he would not answer it. I asked him\nwhy. But he would show no reason. His companion said he would answer\nme; and said that they were not degenerated from the Church in the\nprimitive times. I asked the other whether he was of the same mind.\nHe said, \"Yes.\"\n\nThen I replied that, for the better understanding one of another, and\nthat there might be no mistake, I would repeat my question over again\nafter this manner: \"Is the Church of Rome now in the same purity,\npractice, power, and Spirit that the Church in the Apostles' time was\nin?\" When they saw we would be exact with them, they flew off and\ndenied that, saying it was presumption in any to say they had the\nsame power and Spirit which the Apostles had.\n\nI told them it was presumption in them to meddle with the words of\nChrist and His Apostles, and make people believe they succeeded the\nApostles, yet be forced to confess they were not in the same power\nand Spirit that the Apostles were in. \"This,\" said I, \"is a spirit of\npresumption, and rebuked by the Apostles' spirit.\"\n\nI showed them how different their fruits and practices were from the\nfruits and practices of the Apostles.\n\nThen got up one of them, and said, \"Ye are a company of dreamers.\"\n\"Nay,\" said I, \"ye are the filthy dreamers, who dream ye are the\nApostles' successors, and yet confess ye have not the same power and\nSpirit which the Apostles were in. And are not they defilers of the\nflesh who say it is presumption for any to say they have the same\npower and Spirit which the Apostles had? Now,\" said I, \"if ye have\nnot the same power and Spirit which the Apostles had, then it is\nmanifest that ye are led by another power and spirit than that by\nwhich the Apostles and Church in the primitive times were led.\"\n\nThen I began to tell them how that evil spirit by which they were led\nhad led them to pray by beads and to images, and to set up nunneries,\nfriaries, and monasteries, and to put people to death for religion;\nwhich practices I showed them were below the law, and far short of\nthe gospel, in which is liberty.\n\nThey were soon weary of this discourse, and went their way, and gave\na charge, as we heard, to the Papists, that they should not dispute\nwith us, nor read any of our books.\n\nSo we were rid of them; but we had reasonings with all the other\nsects, Presbyterians, Independents, Seekers, Baptists, Episcopal\nmen, Socinians, Brownists, Lutherans, Calvinists, Arminians,\nFifth-monarchy men, Familists, Muggletonians, and Ranters; none of\nwhich would affirm that they had the same power and Spirit that the\nApostles had and were in; so in that power and Spirit the Lord gave\nus dominion over them all.\n\nAs for the Fifth-monarchy men I was moved to give forth a paper, to\nmanifest their error to them; for they looked for Christ's personal\ncoming in an outward form and manner, and fixed the time to the\nyear 1666; at which time some of them prepared themselves when it\nthundered and rained, thinking Christ was then come to set up His\nkingdom, and they imagined they were to kill the whore without them.\n\nBut I told them that the whore was alive in them, and was not burned\nwith God's fire, nor judged in them with the same power and Spirit\nthe Apostles were in; and that their looking for Christ's coming\noutwardly to set up His kingdom was like the Pharisees' \"Lo here,\"\nand \"Lo there.\" But Christ was come, and had set up His kingdom above\nsixteen hundred years ago, according to Nebuchadnezzar's dream and\nDaniel's prophecy, and He had dashed to pieces the four monarchies,\nthe great image, with its head of gold, breast and arms of silver,\nbelly and thighs of brass, legs of iron, and its feet part of iron\npart of clay; and they were all blown away with God's wind, as the\nchaff in the summer threshing-floor.\n\nAnd I told them that when Christ was on earth, He said His kingdom\nwas not of this world; if it had been, His servants would have\nfought; but it was not, therefore His servants did not fight.\nTherefore all the Fifth-monarchy men that are fighters with carnal\nweapons are none of Christ's servants, but the beast's and the\nwhore's. Christ said, \"All power in heaven and in earth is given to\nme\"; so then His kingdom was set up above sixteen hundred years ago,\nand He reigns. \"And we see Jesus Christ reign,\" said the Apostle,\n\"and He shall reign till all things be put under His feet\"; though\nall things are not yet put under His feet, nor subdued.\n\nThis year several Friends were moved to go beyond the seas, to\npublish Truth in foreign countries. John Stubbs, and Henry Fell, and\nRichard Costrop were moved to go towards China and Prester John's\ncountry; but no masters of ships would carry them.[134] With much ado\nthey got a warrant from the King; but the East India Company found\nways to avoid it, and the masters of their ships would not carry them.\n\n  [134] These Friends undoubtedly believed that the principles of\n  truth which they had discovered would ultimately prevail over the\n  entire globe.\n\n  \"Prester John's Country\" was Abyssinia. Prester John was a\n  legendary Christian priest, who was believed in the early\n  Middle Ages to reign over this Eastern country. About this time\n  Catherine Evans and Sarah Chevers, in their travels, were put in\n  the inquisition-prison at Malta, from which Fox secured their\n  release, through the influence of Lord D'Aubeny, a Roman Catholic.\n\nThen they went into Holland, hoping to get passage there, but none\ncould they get there either. Then John Stubbs and Henry Fell took\nshipping for Alexandria, in Egypt, intending to go thence by the\ncaravans. Meanwhile Daniel Baker, being moved to go to Smyrna, drew\nRichard Costrop, contrary to his own freedom, to go along with him;\nand in the passage, Richard falling sick, Daniel Baker left him so in\nthe ship, where he died; but that hard-hearted man afterwards lost\nhis own condition.\n\nJohn Stubbs and Henry Fell reached Alexandria; but they had not been\nlong there before the English consul banished them; yet before they\ncame away, they dispersed many books and papers for opening the\nprinciples and way of Truth to the Turks and Grecians. They gave the\nbook called, \"The Pope's Strength Broken,\" to an old friar, for him\nto give or send to the Pope. When the friar had perused it he placed\nhis hand on his breast and confessed, \"What is written therein is\ntruth; but,\" said he, \"if I should confess it openly, they would burn\nme.\"\n\nJohn Stubbs and Henry Fell, not being suffered to go further,\nreturned to England, and came to London again. John had a vision that\nthe English and Dutch, who had joined together not to carry them,\nwould fall out one with the other; and so it came to pass.\n\nAmong the exercises and troubles that Friends had from without, one\nwas concerning Friends' marriages, which sometimes were called in\nquestion.[135] In this year there happened to be a cause tried at the\nassize at Nottingham concerning a Friend's marriage.\n\n  [135] Friends are married without clergyman or magistrate. The\n  bridal couple stand up in a religious assembly, and, taking each\n  other by the hand, promise to be husband and wife till death.\n\nThe case was thus: Some years before two Friends were joined together\nin marriage amongst Friends, and lived together as man and wife\nabout two years. Then the man died, leaving his wife with child,\nand leaving an estate in lands of copyhold. When the woman was\ndelivered, the jury presented the child heir to its father's lands,\nand accordingly the child was admitted; afterwards another Friend\nmarried the widow. After that a person near of kin to her former\nhusband brought his action against the Friend who had last married\nher, endeavoring to dispossess them, and deprive the child of the\ninheritance, and to possess himself thereof as next heir to the\nwoman's first husband. To effect this he endeavoured to prove the\nchild illegitimate, alleging that the marriage was not according to\nlaw.\n\nIn opening the cause the plaintiff's counsel used unseemly words\nconcerning Friends, saying that \"they went together like brute\nbeasts,\" with other ill expressions. After the counsel on both\nsides had pleaded, the Judge (viz., Judge Archer) took the matter\nin hand, and opened it to them, telling them, \"There was a marriage\nin paradise when Adam took Eve and Eve took Adam, and it was the\nconsent of the parties that made a marriage.\" And for the Quakers,\nhe said, he did not know their opinions; but he did not believe they\nwent together as brute beasts, as had been said of them, but as\nChristians; and therefore he did believe the marriage was lawful, and\nthe child lawful heir.\n\nThe better to satisfy the jury he brought them a case to this\npurpose: \"A man that was weak of body, and kept his bed, had a desire\nin that condition to marry, and did declare before witnesses that he\ndid take such a woman to be his wife, and the woman declared that she\ntook that man to be her husband. This marriage was afterwards called\nin question, and all the bishops did conclude it to be a lawful\nmarriage.\"\n\nHereupon the jury gave in their verdict for the Friend's child\nagainst the man that would have deprived it of its inheritance.\n\nNow, there being very many Friends in prison in the nation,[136]\nRichard Hubberthorn and I drew up a paper concerning them, and got\nit delivered to the King, that he might understand how we were dealt\nwith by his officers. It was directed thus:\n\n  [136] It is estimated that at this time there were not less than\n  4,500 Friends in the prisons of England and Wales. This letter to\n  the King is strikingly direct and straightforward.\n\n                           \"FOR THE KING:\n\n     \"FRIEND, Who art the chief ruler of these dominions, here is a\n     list of some of the sufferings of the people of God, in scorn\n     called Quakers, that have suffered under the changeable powers\n     before thee, by whom there have been imprisoned, and under\n     whom there have suffered for good conscience' sake, and for\n     bearing testimony to the truth as it is in Jesus, three thousand\n     one hundred and seventy-three persons; and there lie yet in\n     prison, in the name of the Commonwealth, seventy-three persons,\n     that we know of. And there died in prison in the time of the\n     Commonwealth, and of Oliver and Richard the Protectors, through\n     cruel and hard imprisonments, upon nasty straw and in dungeons,\n     thirty-two persons. There have been also imprisoned in thy name,\n     since thy arrival, by such as thought to ingratiate themselves\n     thereby with thee, three thousand sixty and eight persons.\n     Besides this our meetings are daily broken up by men with clubs\n     and arms, though we meet peaceably, according to the practice of\n     God's people in the primitive times, and our Friends are thrown\n     into waters, and trodden upon, till the very blood gushes out of\n     them; the number of which abuses can hardly be uttered.\n\n     \"Now this we would have of thee, to set them at liberty that\n     lie in prison in the names of the Commonwealth, and of the two\n     Protectors, and them that lie in thy own name, for speaking\n     the truth, and for good conscience' sake, who have not lifted\n     up a hand against thee or any man; and that the meetings of\n     our Friends, who meet peaceably together in the fear of God,\n     to worship Him, may not be broken up by rude people with their\n     clubs, swords, and staves. One of the greatest things that we\n     have suffered for formerly was, because we could not swear to\n     the Protectors and all the changeable governments; and now we\n     are imprisoned because we cannot take the oath of allegiance.\n     Now, if our yea be not yea, and nay, nay, to thee, and to all\n     men upon the earth, let us suffer as much for breaking that,\n     as others do for breaking an oath. We have suffered these\n     many years, both in lives and estates, under these changeable\n     governments, because we cannot swear, but obey Christ's\n     doctrine, who commands we should not 'swear at all,' and this we\n     seal with our lives and estates, with our yea and nay, according\n     to the doctrine of Christ.\n\n     \"Hearken to these things, and so consider them in the wisdom\n     of thy God that by it such actions may be stopped; thou that\n     hast the government, and mayst do it. We desire all that are in\n     prison may be set at liberty, and that for the time to come\n     they may not be imprisoned for conscience' and for the Truth's\n     sake. If thou question the innocency of their sufferings, let\n     them and their accusers be brought before thee, and we shall\n     produce a more particular and full account of their sufferings,\n     if required.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nIn Prison for not Swearing.\n\n1662-1665.\n\n\nAfter I had made some stay in London, and had cleared myself of\nthose services that at that time lay upon me there, I went into\nthe country, having with me Alexander Parker and John Stubbs. We\ntravelled through the country, visiting Friends' meetings, till we\ncame to Bristol.\n\nThere we understood the officers were likely to come and break up\nthe meeting; yet on First-day we went to the meeting at Broadmead,\nand Alexander Parker standing up first, while he was speaking the\nofficers came and took him away. After he was gone, I stood up and\ndeclared the everlasting Truth of the Lord God in His eternal power,\nwhich came over all; the meeting was quiet the rest of the time, and\nbroke up peaceably. I tarried till the First-day following, visiting\nFriends, and being visited by them.\n\nOn First-day morning several Friends came to Edward Pyot's house\n(where I lay the night before), and used great endeavours to persuade\nme not to go to the meeting that day, for the magistrates, they said,\nhad threatened to take me, and had raised the trained bands. I wished\nthem to go to the meeting, not telling them what I intended to do;\nbut I told Edward Pyot I intended to go, and he sent his son to show\nme the way from his house by the fields.\n\nAs I went I met divers Friends who were coming to me to prevent my\ngoing, and who did what they could to stop me. \"What!\" said one,\n\"wilt thou go into the mouth of the beast?\" \"Wilt thou go into the\nmouth of the dragon?\" said another. I put them by and went on.\n\nWhen I came to the meeting Margaret Thomas was speaking; and when she\nhad done I stood up. I saw a concern and fear upon Friends for me;\nbut the power of the Lord, in which I declared, soon struck the fear\nout of them; life sprang, and a glorious heavenly meeting we had.\n\nAfter I had cleared myself of what was upon me from the Lord to the\nmeeting, I was moved to pray; and after that to stand up again, and\ntell Friends how they might see there was a God in Israel that could\ndeliver.\n\nA very large meeting this was, and very hot; but Truth was over all,\nthe life was exalted, which carried through all, and the meeting\nbroke up in peace. The officers and soldiers had been breaking up\nanother meeting, which had taken up their time, so that our meeting\nwas ended before they came. But I understood afterwards they were in\ngreat rage because they had missed me; for they were heard to say one\nto another before, \"I'll warrant we shall have him;\" but the Lord\nprevented them.\n\nI went from the meeting to Joan Hily's, where many Friends came\nto see me, rejoicing and blessing God for our deliverance. In the\nevening I had a fine fresh meeting among Friends at a Friend's house\nover the water, where we were much refreshed in the Lord.\n\nFrom Barnet Hills we came to Swannington, in Leicestershire, where\nWilliam Smith and some other Friends visited me; but they went away\ntowards night, leaving me at a Friend's house in Swannington.\n\nAt night, as I was sitting in the hall speaking to a widow woman and\nher daughter, Lord Beaumont came with a company of soldiers, who,\nslapping their swords on the door, rushed into the house with swords\nand pistols in their hands, crying, \"Put out the candles and make\nfast the doors.\" Then they seized upon the Friends in the house, and\nasked if there were no more about the house. The Friends told them\nthere was one man more in the hall.\n\nThere being some Friends out of Derbyshire, one of whom was named\nThomas Fauks, Lord Beaumont, after he had asked all their names, bid\nhis man set down that man's name as Thomas Fox. The Friend said, Nay;\nthat his name was not Fox, but Fauks. In the mean time some of the\nsoldiers came, and fetched me out of the hall to him. He asked my\nname. I told him my name was George Fox, and that I was well known\nby that name. \"Aye,\" said he, \"you are known all the world over.\" I\nsaid, I was known for no hurt, but for good.\n\nThen he put his hands into my pockets to search them, and plucked out\nmy comb-case, and afterwards commanded one of his officers to search\nfurther for letters. I told him I was no letter-carrier, and asked\nhim why he came amongst a peaceable people with swords and pistols\nwithout a constable, contrary to the king's proclamation and to the\nlate act. For he could not say there was a meeting, I being only\ntalking with a poor widow-woman and her daughter.\n\nBy reasoning thus with him, he came somewhat down; yet, sending for\nthe constables, he gave them charge of us that night, and told them\nto bring us before him next morning. Accordingly the constables set a\nwatch of the townspeople upon us that night, and had us next morning\nto his house, about a mile from Swannington.\n\nWhen we came before him, he told us that we had met \"contrary to\nthe Act.\"[137] I desired him to show us the Act. \"Why,\" says he,\n\"you have it in your pocket.\" I told him he did not find us in a\nmeeting. Then he asked whether we would take the oaths of allegiance\nand supremacy. I told him I never took any oath in my life, nor\nengagement, nor the covenant. Yet still he would force the oath upon\nus. I desired him to show us the oath, that we might see whether we\nwere the persons it was to be tendered to, and whether it was not\nfor the discovery of popish recusants. At length he brought a little\nbook, but we called for the statute-book. He would not show us that,\nbut caused a mittimus to be made, which mentioned that we \"were\nto have had a meeting.\" With this mittimus he delivered us to the\nconstables to convey us to Leicester jail.\n\n  [137] This was an act passed in 1662, \"for preventing mischiefs\n  and dangers that may arise by certain persons called Quakers, and\n  others refusing to take oaths.\" The act declared it \"altogether\n  unlawful and contrary to the word of God\" to refuse to take\n  an oath, or to persuade another person to refuse to do so. It\n  further made it an offense for more than five persons, \"commonly\n  called Quakers,\" \"to assemble in any place under pretense of\n  joining in a religious worship not authorized by the laws of this\n  realm.\"\n\nBut when the constables had brought us back to Swannington, it being\nharvest-time, it was hard to get anybody to go with us. The people\nwere loth to take their neighbors to prison, especially in such a\nbusy time. They would have given us our mittimus to carry ourselves\nto the jail; for it had been usual for constables to give Friends\ntheir own mittimuses, and they have gone themselves with them to the\njailer. But we told them that, though our Friends had sometimes done\nso, we would not take this mittimus; but some of them should go with\nus to the jail.\n\nAt last they hired a poor labouring man, who was loth to go, though\nhired. So we rode to Leicester, being five in number; some carried\ntheir Bibles open in their hands, declaring Truth to the people as we\nrode in the fields and through the towns, and telling them we were\nprisoners of the Lord Jesus Christ, going to suffer bonds for His\nname and Truth. One woman Friend carried her wheel on her lap to spin\non in prison; and the people were mightily affected.\n\nAt Leicester we went to an inn. The master of the house seemed\ntroubled that we should go to the prison; and being himself in\ncommission, he sent for lawyers in the town to advise with, and would\nhave taken up the mittimus, kept us in his own house, and not have\nlet us go into the jail.\n\nBut I told Friends it would be a great charge to lie at an inn; and\nmany Friends and people would be coming to visit us, and it might\nbe hard for him to bear our having meetings in his house. Besides,\nwe had many Friends in the prison already, and we had rather be\nwith them. So we let the man know that we were sensible of his\nkindness, and to prison we went; the poor man that brought us thither\ndelivering both the mittimus and us to the jailer.\n\nThis jailer had been a very wicked, cruel man. Six or seven Friends\nbeing in prison before we came, he had taken some occasion to quarrel\nwith them, and had thrust them into the dungeon amongst the felons,\nwhere there was hardly room for them to lie down. We stayed all that\nday in the prison-yard, and desired the jailer to let us have some\nstraw. He surlily answered, \"You do not look like men that would lie\non straw.\"\n\nAfter a while William Smith, a Friend, came to me, and he being\nacquainted in the house, I asked him what rooms there were in it, and\nwhat rooms Friends had usually been put into before they were put\ninto the dungeon. I asked him also whether the jailer or his wife\nwas the master. He said that the wife was master; and that, though\nshe was lame, and sat mostly in her chair, being only able to go on\ncrutches, yet she would beat her husband when he came within her\nreach if he did not do as she would have him.\n\nI considered that probably many Friends might come to visit us, and\nthat if we had a room to ourselves, it would be better for them to\nspeak to me, and me to them, as there should be occasion. Wherefore\nI desired William Smith to go speak with the woman, and acquaint her\nthat if she would let us have a room, suffer our Friends to come out\nof the dungeon, and leave it to us to give her what we would, it\nmight be better for her.\n\nHe went, and after some reasoning with her, she consented; and we\nwere put into a room. Then we were told that the jailer would not\nsuffer us to have any drink out of the town brought into the prison,\nbut that what beer we drank we must take of him. I told them I would\nremedy that, for we would get a pail of water and a little wormwood\nonce a day, and that might serve us; so we should have none of his\nbeer, and the water he could not deny us.\n\nBefore we came, when the few Friends that were prisoners there met\ntogether on First-days, if any of them was moved to pray to the Lord,\nthe jailer would come up with his quarter-staff in his hand, and his\nmastiff dog at his heels, and pluck them down by the hair of the\nhead, and strike them with his staff; but when he struck Friends, the\nmastiff dog, instead of falling upon them, would take the staff out\nof his hand.\n\nWhen the First-day came, I spoke to one of my fellow-prisoners, to\ncarry a stool and set it in the yard, and give notice to the debtors\nand felons that there would be a meeting in the yard, and they that\nwould hear the Word of the Lord declared might come thither. So the\ndebtors and prisoners gathered in the yard, and we went down, and\nhad a very precious meeting, the jailer not meddling.\n\nThus every First-day we had a meeting as long as we stayed in prison;\nand several came in out of the town and country. Many were convinced,\nand some there received the Lord's Truth who have stood faithful\nwitnesses for it ever since.\n\nWhen the sessions came we were brought before the justices, with many\nmore Friends, sent to prison whilst we were there, to the number of\nabout twenty. The jailer put us into the place where the thieves\nwere put, and then some of the justices began to tender the oaths of\nallegiance and supremacy to us. I told them I never took any oath in\nmy life; and they knew we could not swear, because Christ and His\nApostle forbade it; therefore they but put it as a snare to us. We\ntold them that if they could prove that, after Christ and the Apostle\nhad forbidden swearing, they did ever command Christians to swear,\nthen we would take these oaths; otherwise we were resolved to obey\nChrist's command and the Apostle's exhortation.\n\nThey said we must take the oath that we might manifest our allegiance\nto the king. I told them I had been formerly sent up a prisoner by\nColonel Hacker, from that town to London, under pretence that I had\nheld meetings to plot to bring in King Charles. I also desired them\nto read our mittimus, which set forth the cause of our commitment\nto be that we \"were to have a meeting\"; and I said Lord Beaumont\ncould not by that act send us to jail unless we had been taken at\na meeting, and found to be such persons as the act speaks of;\ntherefore we desired that they would read the mittimus and see how\nwrongfully we were imprisoned.\n\nThey would not take notice of the mittimus, but called a jury\nand indicted us for refusing to take the oaths of allegiance and\nsupremacy. When the jury was sworn and instructed, as they were\ngoing out, one that had been an alderman of the city spoke to them,\nand bade them \"have a good conscience\"; and one of the jury, being\na peevish man, told the justices there was one affronted the jury;\nwhereupon they called him up, and tendered him the oath also, and he\ntook it.\n\nWhile we were standing where the thieves used to stand, a cut-purse\nhad his hand in several Friends' pockets. Friends declared it to\nthe justices, and showed them the man. They called him up before\nthem, and upon examination he could not deny it; yet they set him at\nliberty.\n\nIt was not long before the jury returned, and brought us in guilty;\nand after some words, the justices whispered together, and bid the\njailer take us to prison again; but the Lord's power was over them,\nand His everlasting Truth, which we declared boldly amongst them.\nThere being a great concourse of people, most of them followed us; so\nthat the crier and bailiffs were fain to call the people back again\nto the court.\n\nWe declared the Truth as we went along the streets, till we came to\nthe jail, the streets being full of people.\n\nWhen we were in our chamber again, after some time the jailer came\nto us and desired all to go forth that were not prisoners. When they\nwere gone he said, \"Gentlemen, it is the court's pleasure that ye\nshould be set at liberty, except those that are in for tithes; and\nyou know there are fees due to me; but I shall leave it to you to\ngive me what you will.\"\n\nThus we were all set at liberty on a sudden, and passed every one\ninto our services. Leonard Fell went with me again to Swannington.\n\nI had a letter from Lord Hastings, who, hearing of my imprisonment,\nhad written from London to the justices of the sessions to set me at\nliberty. I had not delivered this letter to the justices; whether\nany knowledge of his mind received through another hand made them\ndischarge us so suddenly, I know not. This letter I carried to Lord\nBeaumont, who had sent us to prison. When he had broken it open and\nread it, he seemed much troubled; but at last he came a little lower,\nyet threatened us that if we had any more meetings at Swannington, he\nwould break them up and send us to prison again.\n\nBut, notwithstanding his threats, we went to Swannington, and had a\nmeeting with Friends there, and he neither came nor sent to break it\nup.\n\n     [After travelling through Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and\n     Warwickshire, he came again to London.]\n\nI stayed not long in London, but went into Essex, and so to Norfolk,\nhaving great meetings. At Norwich, when I came to Captain Lawrence's,\nthere was a great threatening of disturbance; but the meeting was\nquiet. Passing thence to Sutton, and into Cambridgeshire, I heard\nof Edward Burrough's decease. Being sensible how great a grief\nand exercise it would be to Friends to part with him, I wrote the\nfollowing lines for the staying and settling of their minds:\n\n     \"FRIENDS:\n\n     \"Be still and quiet in your own conditions, and settled in the\n     Seed of God, that doth not change; that in that ye may feel dear\n     Edward Burrough among you in the Seed, in which and by which\n     he begat you to God, with whom he is; and that in the Seed ye\n     may all see and feel him, in which is the unity with him in the\n     life; and so enjoy him in the life that doth not change, which\n     is invisible.\n\n                                                GEORGE FOX.\"[138]\n\n  [138] This letter well illustrates the difficulties of George\n  Fox's style. The letter manifests a profound and beautiful\n  spirit, but the phraseology is none too clear. He means: \"Dear\n  Edward is living in God, who is invisible and unchangeable;\n  settle your own lives down into that same living God whose divine\n  presence manifested in Edward Burrough has begotten a spiritual\n  life in you, and you will feel yourselves united in spirit and\n  life with the dear departed one.\"\n\n[Hereupon extensive travels follow, throughout the eastern counties,\nthen through the southern as far as Land's End, and again through\nWales and the English Lake district. He finally reaches Swarthmore\nsome time in 1663, and finds that an offer of twenty-five pounds has\nbeen made to any man who would take him. Out of the experiences of\nthis long, though somewhat uneventful trip we give only the following\ndiscussion, which throws good light on Fox's \"principle of truth\":\n\n     \"Next morning, some of the chief of the town[AL] desired to\n     speak with me, amongst whom was Colonel Rouse. I went, and had a\n     great deal of discourse with them concerning the things of God.\n     In their reasoning they said, 'The gospel was the four books of\n     Matthew, Mark, Luke and John'; and they called it natural. I\n     told them, the gospel was the power of God, which was preached\n     before Matthew, Mark, Luke or John were written; and it was\n     preached to every creature, of which a great part might never\n     see nor hear of those four books, so that every creature was\n     to obey the power of God; for Christ, the Spiritual Man, would\n     judge the world according to the gospel, that is, according\n     to his invisible power. When they heard this, they could not\n     gainsay; for the Truth came over them. I directed them to their\n     Teacher, the grace of God, and showed them the sufficiency of\n     it, which would teach them how to live, and what to deny; and\n     being obeyed would bring them salvation. So to that grace I\n     recommended them, and left them.\"]\n\n  [AL] Truro.\n\nI came over the sands to Swarthmore. There they told me that Colonel\nKirby had sent his lieutenant, who had searched trunks and chests for\nme.\n\nThat night, as I was in bed, I was moved of the Lord to go next day\nto Kirby Hall, which was Colonel Kirby's house, about five miles off,\nto speak with him. When I came thither I found the Flemings, and\nseveral others of the gentry (so called) of the country, who were\ncome to take their leave of Colonel Kirby, he being then about to go\nup to London to the Parliament. I was taken into the parlour amongst\nthem; but Colonel Kirby was not then within, being gone out a little\nway. They said little to me, nor I much to them.\n\nAfter a little while Colonel Kirby came in, and I told him I came to\nvisit him (understanding he was desirous to see me) to know what he\nhad to say to me, and whether he had anything against me.\n\nHe said, before all the company, \"As I am a gentleman, I have nothing\nagainst you.\" \"But,\" said he, \"Mistress Fell must not keep great\nmeetings at her house, for they meet contrary to the Act.\"\n\nI told him that that Act did not take hold on us, but on such as \"met\nto plot and contrive, and to raise insurrections against the King\";\nwhereas we were no such people: for he knew that they that met at\nMargaret Fell's were his neighbours, and a peaceable people.\n\nAfter many words had passed, he shook me by the hand, and said again\nthat he had nothing against me; and others of them said I was a\ndeserving man. So we parted, and I returned to Swarthmore.\n\nShortly after, when Colonel Kirby was gone to London, there was a\nprivate meeting of the justices and deputy-lieutenants at Houlker\nHall, where Justice Preston lived, where they granted a warrant to\napprehend me. I heard over night both of their meeting and of the\nwarrant, and could have gone out of their reach if I would, for I had\nnot appointed any meeting at that time, and I had cleared myself of\nthe north, and the Lord's power was over all. But I considered that\nthere being a noise of a plot in the north, if I should go away they\nmight fall upon Friends; but if I gave myself up to be taken, it\nmight prevent them, and Friends should escape the better. So I gave\nmyself up to be taken, and prepared for their coming.\n\nNext day an officer came with his sword and pistols to take me. I\ntold him I knew his errand before, and had given myself to be taken;\nfor if I would have escaped their imprisonment I could have been\nforty miles off before he came; but I was an innocent man, and so it\nmattered not what they could do to me. He asked me how I heard of it,\nseeing the order was made privately in a parlour. I said it was no\nmatter for that; it was sufficient that I heard it.\n\nI asked him to let me see his order, whereupon he laid his hand on\nhis sword, and said I must go with him before the lieutenant to\nanswer such questions as they should propound to me. I told him it\nwas but civil and reasonable for him to let me see his order; but he\nwould not. Then said I, \"I am ready.\"\n\nSo I went along with him, and Margaret Fell accompanied us to Houlker\nHall. When we came thither there was one Rawlinson, a justice, and\none called Sir George Middleton, and many more that I did not know,\nbesides old Justice Preston, who lived there.\n\nThey brought Thomas Atkinson, a Friend, of Cartmel, as a witness\nagainst me for some words which he had told to one Knipe, who had\ninformed them, which words were that I said I had written against\nthe plotters and had knocked them down. These words they could not\nmake much of, for I told them I had heard of a plot, and had written\nagainst it.\n\nOld Preston asked me whether I had an hand in that script. I asked\nhim what he meant. He said, \"in the Battledore?\" I answered, \"Yes.\"\n\nThen he asked me whether I understood languages. I said, \"Sufficient\nfor myself,\" and that I knew no law that was transgressed by it. I\ntold them also that to understand outward languages was no matter of\nsalvation, for the many tongues began but at the confusion of Babel;\nand if I did understand anything of them, I judged and knocked them\ndown again for any matter of salvation that was in them.\n\nThereupon he turned away, and said, \"George Fox knocks down all the\nlanguages; come,\" said he, \"we will examine you of higher matters.\"\n\nThen said George Middleton, \"You deny God, and the Church, and the\nfaith.\"\n\nI replied, \"Nay, I own God and the true Church, and the true faith.\nBut what Church dost thou own?\" said I (for I understood he was a\nPapist).\n\nThen he turned again and said, \"You are a rebel and a traitor.\"\n\nI asked him to whom he spoke, or whom did he call rebel. He was so\nfull of envy that for a while he could not speak, but at last he\nsaid, \"I spoke it to you.\"\n\nWith that I struck my hand on the table, and told him, \"I have\nsuffered more than twenty such as thou; more than any that is here;\nfor I have been cast into Derby dungeon for six months together,\nand have suffered much because I would not take up arms against this\nKing before Worcester fight. I was sent up a prisoner out of my\nown country by Colonel Hacker to Oliver Cromwell, as a plotter to\nbring in King Charles in the year 1654. I have nothing but love and\ngood-will to the King, and desire the eternal good and welfare of him\nand all his subjects.\"\n\n\"Did you ever hear the like?\" said Middleton. \"Nay,\" said I. \"Ye may\nhear it again if ye will. For ye talk of the King, a company of you,\nbut where were ye in Oliver's days, and what did ye do then for him?\nBut I have more love to the King for his eternal good and welfare\nthan any of you have.\"\n\nThen they asked me whether I had heard of the plot. I said, \"Yes, I\nhave heard of it.\"\n\nThey asked me how I had heard of it, and whom I knew in it. I told\nthem I had heard of it through the high-sheriff of Yorkshire, who had\ntold Dr. Hodgson that there was a plot in the north. That was the\nway I had heard of it; but I had never heard of any such thing in\nthe south, nor till I came into the north. As for knowing any in the\nplot, I was as a child in that, for I knew none of them.\n\nThen said they, \"Why would you write against it if you did not know\nsome that were in it?\"\n\nI said, \"My reason was, because you are so forward to crush the\ninnocent and guilty together; therefore I wrote against it to clear\nthe Truth[AM] and to stop all forward, foolish spirits from running\ninto such things. I sent copies of it into Westmoreland, Cumberland,\nDurham, and Yorkshire, and to you here. I sent another copy of it to\nthe King and his council, and it is likely it may be in print by this\ntime.\"\n\n  [AM] \"Truth\" is used here and often in Friends' writings for the\n  CAUSE which Friends represented.\n\nOne of them said, \"This man hath great power!\"\n\nI said, \"Yes, I have power to write against plotters.\"\n\nThen said one of them, \"You are against the laws of the land.\"\n\nI answered, \"Nay, for I and my Friends direct all people to the\nSpirit of God in them, to mortify the deeds of the flesh. This brings\nthem into welldoing, and away from that which the magistrate's sword\nis against, which eases the magistrates, who are for the punishment\nof evil-doers. So people being turned to the Spirit of God, which\nbrings them to mortify the deeds of the flesh; this brings them from\nunder the occasion of the magistrate's sword; and this must needs be\none with magistracy, and one with the law, which was added because of\ntransgression, and is for the praise of them that do well. In this\nwe establish the law, are an ease to the magistrates, and are not\nagainst, but stand for all good government.\"\n\nThen George Middleton cried, \"Bring the book, and put the oaths of\nallegiance and supremacy to him.\"\n\nNow he himself being a Papist, I asked him whether he, who was a\nswearer, had taken the oath of supremacy. As for us, we could not\nswear at all, because Christ and the Apostle had forbidden it.\n\nSome of them would not have had the oath put to me, but would have\nset me at liberty. The rest would not agree to it, for this was their\nlast snare, and they had no other way to get me into prison, as all\nother things had been cleared to them. This was like the Papists'\nsacrament of the altar, by which they ensnared the martyrs.[139]\n\n  [139] Most of the Quakers who suffered in prison during the reign\n  of Charles were imprisoned for refusing to take the oath.\n\nSo they tendered me the oath, which I could not take; whereupon they\nwere about to make my mittimus to send me to Lancaster jail; but\nconsidering of it, they only engaged me to appear at the sessions,\nand for that time dismissed me.\n\nI went back with Margaret Fell to Swarthmore, and soon after Colonel\nWest, who was at that time a justice of the peace, came to see me. He\ntold us that he had acquainted some of the rest of the justices that\nhe would come and see Margaret Fell and me; \"but it may be,\" said he,\n\"some of you will take offence at it.\" I asked him, what he thought\nthey would do with me at the sessions? He said they would tender the\noath to me again.\n\nWhilst I was at Swarthmore, William Kirby came into Swarthmore\nmeeting, and brought the constables with him. I was sitting with\nFriends in the meeting, and he said to me, \"How now, Mr. Fox! you\nhave a fine company here.\" \"Yes,\" said I, \"we meet to wait upon the\nLord.\"\n\nSo he began to take the names of Friends, and those that did not\nreadily tell him their names he committed to the constables' hands,\nand sent some to prison. The constables were unwilling to take them\nwithout a warrant, whereupon he threatened to set them by the heels;\nbut the constable told him that he could keep them in his presence,\nbut after he was gone he could not keep them without a warrant.\n\nThe sessions coming on, I went to Lancaster, and appeared according\nto my engagement. There was upon the bench Justice Fleming, who had\nbid five pounds in Westmoreland to any man that would apprehend me,\nfor he was a justice both in Westmoreland and Lancashire. There were\nalso Justice Spencer, Colonel West and old Justice Rawlinson, the\nlawyer, who gave the charge, and was very sharp against Truth and\nFriends; but the Lord's power stopped them.\n\nThe session was large, the concourse of people great, and way being\nmade for me, I came up to the bar, and stood with my hat on, they\nlooking earnestly upon me and I upon them for a pretty space.\n\nProclamation being made for all to keep silence upon pain of\nimprisonment, and all being quiet, I said twice, \"Peace be among you.\"\n\nThe chairman asked if I knew where I was. I said, \"Yes, I do; but it\nmay be,\" said I, \"my hat offends you. That's a low thing; that's not\nthe honour that I give to magistrates, for the true honour is from\nabove; which,\" said I, \"I have received, and I hope it is not the hat\nwhich ye look upon to be the honour.\"\n\nThe chairman said they looked for the hat, too, and asked wherein\nI showed my respect to magistrates if I did not put off my hat. I\nreplied, \"In coming when they called me.\" Then they bade one take off\nmy hat.\n\nAfter this it was some time before they spoke to me, and I felt the\npower of the Lord to arise. After some pause old Justice Rawlinson,\nthe chairman, asked me if I knew of the plot. I told him I had heard\nof it in Yorkshire by a Friend, who had it from the high-sheriff.\nThey asked me whether I had declared it to the magistrates. I said,\n\"I sent papers abroad against plots and plotters, and also to you,\nas soon as I came into the country, to take all jealousies out of\nyour minds concerning me and my friends; for it is our principle to\ndeclare against such things.\"\n\nThey asked me if I knew not of an Act against meeting. I said I knew\nthere was an Act that took hold of such as met to the terrifying of\nthe King's subjects, were enemies to the King, and held dangerous\nprinciples; but I hoped they did not look upon us to be such men, for\nour meetings were not to terrify the King's subjects, neither are we\nenemies to him or any man.\n\nThen they tendered me the oaths of allegiance and supremacy. I told\nthem I could not take any oath at all, because Christ and His Apostle\nhad forbidden it; and they had sufficient experience of swearers,\nfirst one way, then another; but I had never taken any oath in my\nlife.\n\nThen Rawlinson asked me whether I held it was unlawful to swear. This\nquestion he put on purpose to ensnare me; for by an Act that was made\nthose were liable to banishment or a great fine that should say it\nwas unlawful to swear. But I, seeing the snare, avoided it, and told\nhim that \"in the time of the law amongst the Jews, before Christ\ncame, the law commanded them to swear; but Christ, who doth fulfil\nthe law in His gospel-time, commands not to swear at all; and the\napostle James forbids swearing, even to them that were Jews, and had\nthe law of God.\"\n\nAfter much discourse, they called for the jailer, and committed me to\nprison.\n\nI had about me the paper which I had written as a testimony against\nplots, which I desired they would read, or suffer to be read, in open\ncourt; but they would not. So, being committed for refusing to swear,\nI bade them and all the people take notice that I suffered for the\ndoctrine of Christ, and for my obedience to His command.\n\nAfterwards I understood that the justices said they had private\ninstructions from Colonel Kirby to prosecute me, notwithstanding his\nfair carriage and seeming kindness to me before, when he declared\nbefore many of them that he had nothing against me.\n\nSeveral other Friends were committed to prison, some for meeting\nto worship God, and some for not swearing; so that the prison was\nvery full. Many of them being poor men, that had nothing to maintain\ntheir families by but their labour, which now they were taken from,\nthe wives of several went to the justices who had committed their\nhusbands, and told them that if they kept their husbands in jail for\nnothing but the truth of Christ, and for good conscience' sake, they\nwould bring their children to them to be maintained.\n\nA mighty power of the Lord rose in Friends, and gave them great\nboldness, so that they spoke much to the justices. Friends also that\nwere prisoners wrote to the justices, laying the weight of their\nsufferings upon them, and showing them both their injustice and\nwant of compassion towards their poor neighbours, whom they knew to\nbe honest, conscientious, peaceable people, that in tenderness of\nconscience could not take any oath; yet they sent them to prison for\nrefusing to take the oath of allegiance.\n\nSeveral who were imprisoned on that account were known to be men that\nhad served the King in his wars, and had hazarded their lives in the\nfield in his cause, and had suffered great hardships, with the loss\nof much blood, for him, and had always stood faithful to him from\nfirst to last, and had never received any pay for their service. To\nbe thus requited for all their faithful services and sufferings,\nand that by them that pretended to be the King's friends, was hard,\nunkind, and ungrateful dealing.\n\nAt length the justices, being continually attended with complaints\nof grievances, released some of the Friends, but kept divers of them\nstill in prison.\n\nI was kept till the assize, and Judge Turner and Judge Twisden coming\nthat circuit, I was brought before Judge Twisden, the 14th of the\nmonth called March, the latter end of the year 1663.\n\nWhen I was brought to the bar, I said, \"Peace be amongst you all.\"\nThe Judge looked upon me, and said, \"What! do you come into the court\nwith your hat on!\" Upon which words, the jailer taking it off, I\nsaid, \"The hat is not the honour that comes from God.\"\n\nThen said the Judge to me, \"Will you take the oath of allegiance,\nGeorge Fox?\" I said, \"I never took any oath in my life, nor any\ncovenant or engagement.\" \"Well,\" said he, \"will you swear or no?\" I\nanswered, \"I am a Christian, and Christ commands me not to swear; so\ndoes the apostle James; and whether I should obey God or man, do thou\njudge.\"\n\n\"I ask you again,\" said he, \"whether you will swear or no.\" I\nanswered again, \"I am neither Turk, Jew, nor heathen, but a\nChristian, and should show forth Christianity.\"\n\nI asked him if he did not know that Christians in the primitive\ntimes, under the ten persecutions, and some also of the martyrs in\nQueen Mary's days, refused swearing, because Christ and the apostle\nhad forbidden it. I told him also that they had had experience\nenough, how many had first sworn for the King and then against him.\n\"But as for me,\" I said, \"I have never taken an oath in my life. My\nallegiance doth not lie in swearing, but in truth and faithfulness,\nfor I honour all men, much more the King. But Christ, who is the\nGreat Prophet, the King of kings, the Saviour and Judge of the whole\nworld, saith I must not swear. Now, must I obey Christ or thee? For\nit is because of tenderness of conscience, and in obedience to the\ncommand of Christ, that I do not swear and we have the word of a King\nfor tender consciences.\"\n\nThen I asked the Judge if he did own the King. \"Yes,\" said he, \"I do\nown the King.\"\n\n\"Why, then,\" said I, \"dost thou not observe his declaration from\nBreda, and his promises made since he came into England, that no\nman should be called in question for matters of religion so long\nas he lived peaceably? If thou ownest the King,\" said I, \"why dost\nthou call me in question, and put me upon taking an oath, which is\na matter of religion; seeing that neither thou nor any one else can\ncharge me with unpeaceable living?\"\n\nUpon this he was moved, and, looking angrily at me, said, \"Sirrah,\nwill you swear?\"\n\nI told him I was none of his Sirrahs; I was a Christian; and for him,\nan old man and a judge, to sit there and give nicknames to prisoners\ndid not become either his grey hairs or his office.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said he, \"I am a Christian, too.\"\n\n\"Then do Christian works,\" said I.\n\n\"Sirrah!\" said he, \"thou thinkest to frighten me with thy words.\"\nThen, catching himself, and looking aside, he said, \"Hark! I am using\nthe word sirrah again;\" and so checked himself.\n\nI said, \"I spoke to thee in love; for that language did not become\nthee, a judge. Thou oughtest to instruct a prisoner in the law, if he\nwere ignorant and out of the way.\"\n\n\"And I speak in love to thee, too,\" said he.\n\n\"But,\" said I, \"love gives no nicknames.\"\n\nThen he roused himself up, and said, \"I will not be afraid of thee,\nGeorge Fox; thou speakest so loud thy voice drowns mine and the\ncourt's; I must call for three or four criers to drown thy voice;\nthou hast good lungs.\"\n\n\"I am a prisoner here,\" said I, \"for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake;\nfor His sake do I suffer; for Him do I stand this day. If my voice\nwere five times louder, I should lift it up and sound it for Christ's\nsake. I stand this day before your judgment-seat in obedience to\nChrist, who commands not to swear; before whose judgment-seat you\nmust all be brought and must give an account.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the Judge, \"George Fox, say whether thou wilt take the\noath, yea or nay?\"\n\nI replied, \"I say, as I said before, judge thou whether I ought to\nobey God or man. If I could take any oath at all I should take this.\nI do not deny some oaths only, or on some occasions, but all oaths,\naccording to Christ's doctrine, who hath commanded His followers not\nto swear at all. Now if thou, or any of you, or your ministers or\npriests here, will prove that ever Christ or His apostles, after they\nhad forbidden all swearing, commanded Christians to swear, then I\nwill swear.\"\n\nI saw several priests there, but not one of them offered to speak.\n\n\"Then,\" said the Judge, \"I am a servant to the King, and the King\nsent me not to dispute with you, but to put the laws in execution;\ntherefore tender him the oath of allegiance.\"\n\n\"If thou love the King,\" said I, \"why dost thou break his word, and\nnot keep his declarations and speeches, wherein he promised liberty\nto tender consciences? I am a man of a tender conscience, and, in\nobedience to Christ's command, I cannot swear.\"\n\n\"Then you will not swear,\" said the Judge; \"take him away, jailer.\"\n\nI said, \"It is for Christ's sake that I cannot swear, and for\nobedience to His command I suffer; and so the Lord forgive you all.\"\n\nSo the jailer took me away; but I felt that the mighty power of the\nLord was over them all.\n\nThe sixteenth day of the same month I was again brought before Judge\nTwisden. He was somewhat offended at my hat; but it being the last\nmorning of the assize before he was to leave town, and not many\npeople there, he made the less of it.\n\nHe asked me whether I would \"traverse, stand mute, or submit.\" But he\nspoke so fast that it was hard to know what he said. However, I told\nhim I desired I might have liberty to traverse the indictment, and\ntry it.\n\nThen said he, \"Take him away; I will have nothing to do with him;\ntake him away.\"\n\nI said, \"Well, live in the fear of God, and do justice.\"\n\n\"Why,\" said he, \"have I not done you justice?\"\n\nI replied, \"That which thou hast done has been against the command of\nChrist.\"\n\nSo I was taken to the jail again, and kept prisoner till the next\nassizes.\n\nSome time before this assize Margaret Fell was sent prisoner to\nLancaster jail by Fleming, Kirby, and Preston, justices; and at\nthe assize the oath was tendered to her also, and she was again\ncommitted to prison.\n\nIn the Sixth month,[140] the assizes were again held at Lancaster,\nand the same judges, Twisden and Turner, again came that circuit. But\nJudge Turner then sat on the crown bench, and so I was brought before\nhim. Before I was called to the bar I was put among the murderers and\nfelons for about two hours, the people, the justices and also the\nJudge gazing upon me.\n\n  [140] This would be August of our calendar. Again the pen was\n  busy during these weeks in jail, and many epistles and documents\n  were written. A Baptist preacher, named Wiggan, who had been a\n  great opponent of Fox, was brought into straits over the oath\n  which he finally took. The episode furnishes this interesting\n  entry:\n\n     \"This Wiggan was poor, and while he was prisoner at Lancaster\n     he sent into the country, and got money gathered for relief of\n     the poor people of God in prison; and many people gave freely,\n     thinking it had been for us, when indeed it was for himself. But\n     when we heard of it, we laid it upon him, and wrote into the\n     country, that Friends might let the people know the truth of the\n     matter, that it was not our manner to have collections made for\n     us, and that those collections were only for Wiggan and another,\n     a drunken preacher of his society, who was so drunk, that once\n     he lost his breeches.\"\n\nAfter they had tried several others, they called me to the bar, and\nempanelled a jury. Then the Judge asked the justices whether they\nhad tendered me the oath at the sessions. They said that they had.\nThen he said, \"Give them the book, that they may swear they tendered\nhim the oath at the sessions.\" They said they had. Then he said,\n\"Give them the book, that they may swear they tendered him the oath\naccording to the indictment.\"\n\nSome of the justices refused to be sworn; but the Judge said he would\nhave it done, to take away all occasion of exception. When the jury\nwere sworn, and the justices had sworn that they had tendered me\nthe oath according to the indictment, the Judge asked me whether I\nhad not refused the oath at the last assizes. I said, \"I never took\nan oath in my life, and Christ, the Saviour and Judge of the world,\nsaid, 'Swear not at all.'\"\n\nThe Judge seemed not to take notice of my answer, but asked me\nwhether or not I had refused to take the oath at the last assizes.\n\nI said, \"The words that I then spoke to them were, that if they\ncould prove, either judge, justices, priest, or teacher, that after\nChrist and the Apostle had forbidden swearing, they commanded that\nChristians should swear, I would swear.\"\n\nThe Judge said he was not at that time to dispute whether it was\nlawful to swear, but to inquire whether I had refused to take the\noath.\n\nI told him, \"Those things mentioned in the oath, as plotting against\nthe King, and owning the Pope's, or any other foreign power, I\nutterly deny.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said he, \"you say well in that, but did you refuse to take\nthe oath? What say you?\"\n\n\"What wouldst thou have me to say?\" said I; \"I have told thee before\nwhat I did say.\"\n\nThen he asked me if I would have these men to swear that I had taken\nthe oath. I asked him if he would have those men to swear that I had\nrefused the oath, at which the court burst into laughter.\n\nI was grieved to see so much lightness in a court, where such solemn\nmatters are handled, and thereupon asked them, \"Is this court a\nplay-house? Where is gravity and sobriety,\" said I; \"this behaviour\ndoth not become you.\"\n\nThen the clerk read the indictment, and I told the Judge I had\nsomething to speak to it; for I had informed myself of the errors\nthat were in it. He told me he would hear afterwards any reasons that\nI could allege why he should not give judgment.\n\nThen I spoke to the jury, and told them that they could not bring me\nin guilty according to that indictment, for the indictment was wrong\nlaid, and had many gross errors in it.\n\nThe Judge said that I must not speak to the jury, but he would speak\nto them; and he told them I had refused to take the oath at the last\nassizes; \"and,\" said he, \"I can tender the oath to any man now, and\npr\u00e6munire him for not taking it;\" and he said they must bring me in\nguilty, seeing I refused to take the oath.\n\nThen said I, \"What do ye do with a form? Ye may throw away your form\nthen.\" And I told the jury it lay upon their consciences, as they\nwould answer it to the Lord God before His judgment-seat.\n\nThen the judge spoke again to the jury, and I called to him to \"do me\njustice.\"\n\nThe jury brought me in guilty. Thereupon I told them that both the\njustices and they had forsworn themselves, and therefore they had\nsmall cause to laugh, as they did a little before.\n\nOh, the envy, rage, and malice that appeared against me, and the\nlightness! But the Lord confounded them, and they were wonderfully\nstopped. So they set me aside, and called up Margaret Fell, who had\nmuch good service among them; and then the court broke up near the\nsecond hour.\n\nIn the afternoon we were brought in again to have sentence passed\nupon us. Margaret Fell desired that sentence might be deferred until\nthe next morning. I desired nothing but law and justice at his hands,\nfor the thieves had mercy; only I requested the Judge to send some to\nsee my prison, which was so bad they would put no creature they had\nin it; and I told him that Colonel Kirby, who was then on the bench,\nhad said I should be locked up, and no flesh alive should come to me.\nThe Judge shook his head, and said that when the sentence was given\nhe would leave me to the favor of the jailer.\n\nMost of the gentry of the country were gathered together, expecting\nto hear the sentence; and the noise amongst the people was that I\nshould be transported. But they were all crossed at that time; for\nthe sentence was deferred until the next morning, and I was taken to\nprison again.\n\nUpon my complaining of the badness of my prison, some of the\njustices, with Colonel Kirby, went up to see it. When they came they\nhardly durst go in, the floor was so bad and dangerous, and the\nplace so open to wind and rain. Some that came up said, \"Surely it\nis a Jakes-house.\" When Colonel Kirby saw it, and heard what others\nsaid of it, he excused the matter as well as he could, saying that I\nshould be removed ere long to some more convenient place.\n\nNext day, towards the eleventh hour, we were called again to hear the\nsentence; and Margaret Fell, being called first to the bar, she had\ncounsel to plead, who found many errors in her indictment. Thereupon,\nafter the Judge had acknowledged them, she was set by.\n\nThen the Judge asked what they could say to mine. I was not willing\nto let any man plead for me, but desired to speak to it myself; and\nindeed, though Margaret had some that pleaded for her, yet she spoke\nas much herself as she would. But before I came to the bar I was\nmoved in my spirit to pray that God would confound their wickedness\nand envy, set His truth over all, and exalt His seed. The Lord heard,\nand answered, and did confound them in their proceedings against me.\nAnd, though they had most envy against me, yet the most gross errors\nwere found in my indictment.\n\nI having put by others from pleading for me, the Judge asked me what\nI had to say why he should not pass sentence upon me. I told him I\nwas no lawyer; but I had much to say, if he would but have patience\nto hear. At that he laughed, and others laughed also, and said,\n\"Come, what have you to say? He can say nothing.\" \"Yes,\" said I, \"I\nhave much to say; have but the patience to hear me.\"\n\nI asked him whether the oath was to be tendered to the King's\nsubjects, or to the subjects of foreign princes. He said, \"To the\nsubjects of this realm.\" \"Then,\" said I, \"look into the indictment;\nye may see that ye have left out the word 'subject'; so not having\nnamed me in the indictment as a subject, ye cannot pr\u00e6munire me for\nnot taking an oath.\"\n\nThen they looked over the statute and the indictment, and saw it was\nas I said; and the Judge confessed it was an error.\n\nI told him I had something else to stop his judgment, and desired him\nto look what day the indictment said the oath was tendered to me at\nthe sessions there. They looked, and said it was the eleventh day of\nJanuary. \"What day of the week was the sessions held on?\" said I. \"On\na Tuesday,\" said they. \"Then,\" said I, \"look in your almanacs, and\nsee whether there was any sessions held at Lancaster on the eleventh\nday of January, so called.\"\n\nSo they looked, and found that the eleventh day was the day called\nMonday, and that the sessions was on the day called Tuesday, which\nwas the twelfth day of that month.\n\n\"Look now,\" said I, \"ye have indicted me for refusing the oath in the\nquarter-sessions held at Lancaster on the eleventh day of January\nlast, and the justices have sworn that they tendered me the oath in\nopen sessions here that day, and the jury upon their oaths have\nfound me guilty thereupon; and yet ye see there was no session held\nin Lancaster that day.\"\n\nThen the Judge, to cover the matter, asked whether the sessions did\nnot begin on the eleventh day. But some in the court answered, \"No;\nthe session held but one day, and that was the twelfth.\" Then the\nJudge said this was a great mistake and an error.\n\nSome of the justices were in a great rage at this, stamped, and said,\n\"Who hath done this? Somebody hath done this on purpose;\" and a great\nheat was amongst them.\n\nThen said I, \"Are not the justices here, that have sworn to this\nindictment, forsworn men in the face of the country? But this is not\nall,\" said I. \"I have more yet to offer why sentence should not be\ngiven against me.\" I asked, \"In what year of the King was the last\nassize here holden, which was in the month called March last?\" The\nJudge said it was in the sixteenth year of the King. \"But,\" said I,\n\"the indictment says it was in the fifteenth year.\" They looked, and\nfound it so. This also was acknowledged to be another error.\n\nThen they were all in a fret again, and could not tell what to say;\nfor the Judge had sworn the officers of the court that the oath was\ntendered to me at the assize mentioned in the indictment. \"Now,\" said\nI, \"is not the court here forsworn also, who have sworn that the oath\nwas tendered to me at the assize holden here in the fifteenth year of\nthe King, when it was in his sixteenth year, and so they have sworn\na year false?\"\n\nThe Judge bade them look whether Margaret Fell's indictment was so or\nno. They looked, and found it was not so.\n\nI told the Judge I had more yet to offer to stop sentence; and asked\nhim whether all the oath ought to be put into the indictment or no.\n\"Yes,\" said he, \"it ought to be all put in.\"\n\n\"Then,\" said I, \"compare the indictment with the oath, and there\nthou mayest see these words: viz., 'or by any authority derived, or\npretended to be derived from him or his see,' which is a principal\npart of the oath, left out of the indictment; and in another place\nthe words, 'heirs and successors,' are left out.\"\n\nThe Judge acknowledged these also to be great errors.\n\n\"But,\" said I, \"I have something further to allege.\"\n\n\"Nay,\" said the Judge, \"I have enough; you need say no more.\"\n\n\"If,\" said I, \"thou hast enough, I desire nothing but law and justice\nat thy hands; for I don't look for mercy.\"\n\n\"You must have justice,\" said he, \"and you shall have law.\"\n\nThen I asked, \"Am I at liberty, and free from all that ever hath been\ndone against me in this matter?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said the Judge, \"you are free from all that hath been done\nagainst you. But then,\" starting up in a rage, he said, \"I can put\nthe oath to any man here, and I will tender you the oath again.\"\n\nI told him he had had examples enough yesterday of swearing and false\nswearing, both in the justices and in the jury; for I saw before mine\neyes that both justices and jury had forsworn themselves.\n\nThe Judge asked me if I would take the oath. I bade him do me justice\nfor my false imprisonment all this while; for what had I been\nimprisoned so long for? and I told him I ought to be set at liberty.\n\n\"You are at liberty,\" said he, \"but I will put the oath to you again.\"\n\nThen I turned me about and said, \"All people, take notice; this is\na snare; for I ought to be set free from the jailer and from this\ncourt.\"\n\nBut the Judge cried, \"Give him the book;\" and the sheriff and the\njustices cried, \"Give him the book.\"\n\nThen the power of darkness rose up in them like a mountain, and a\nclerk lifted up a book to me. I stood still and said, \"If it be a\nBible, give it me into my hand.\"\n\n\"Yes, yes,\" said the Judge and justices, \"give it him into his hand.\"\nSo I took it and looked into it, and said, \"I see it is a Bible; I am\nglad of it.\"\n\nNow he had caused the jury to be called, and they stood by; for,\nafter they had brought in their former verdict, he would not dismiss\nthem, though they desired it; but told them he could not dismiss them\nyet, for he should have business for them, and therefore they must\nattend and be ready when they were called.\n\nWhen he said so I felt his intent, that if I were freed, he would\ncome on again. So I looked him in the face, and the witness of God\nstarted up in him, and made him blush when he looked at me again, for\nhe saw that I saw him.\n\nNevertheless, hardening himself, he caused the oath to be read to me,\nthe jury standing by; and when it was read, he asked me whether I\nwould take the oath or not.\n\nThen said I, \"Ye have given me a book here to kiss and to swear on,\nand this book which ye have given me to kiss says, 'Kiss the Son';\nand the Son says in this book, 'Swear not at all'; and so says also\nthe apostle James. Now, I say as the book says, and yet ye imprison\nme; why do ye not imprison the book for saying so? How comes it that\nthe book (which bids me not swear) is at liberty amongst you, and yet\nye imprison me for doing as the book bids me?\"\n\nAs I was speaking this to them, and held up the Bible open in my\nhand, to show them the place in the book where Christ forbids\nswearing, they plucked the book out of my hand again; and the Judge\nsaid, \"Nay, but we will imprison George Fox.\" Yet this got abroad\nover all the country as a by-word, that \"they gave me a book to swear\non that commanded me 'not to swear at all'; and that the Bible was at\nliberty, and I in prison for doing as the Bible said.\"\n\nNow, when the Judge still urged me to swear, I told him I had never\ntaken oath, covenant, or engagement in my life, but my yea or nay\nwas more binding to me than an oath was to many others; for had they\nnot had experience how little men regarded an oath; and how they\nhad sworn one way and then another; and how the justices and court\nhad forsworn themselves now? I told him I was a man of a tender\nconscience, and if they had any sense of a tender conscience they\nwould consider that it was in obedience to Christ's command that I\ncould not swear. \"But,\" said I, \"if any of you can convince me that\nafter Christ and the apostle had commanded not to swear, they altered\nthat command and commanded Christians to swear, then ye shall see I\nwill swear.\"\n\nThere being many priests by, I said, \"If ye cannot do it, let your\npriests stand up and do it.\" But not one of the priests made any\nanswer.\n\n\"Oh,\" said the Judge, \"all the world cannot convince you.\"\n\n\"No,\" said I, \"how is it likely the world should convince me; for\n'the whole world lies in wickedness'; but bring out your spiritual\nmen, as ye call them, to convince me.\"\n\nThen both the sheriff and the Judge said, \"The angel swore in the\nRevelations.\" I replied, \"When God bringeth His first-begotten Son\ninto the world, He saith, 'Let all the angels of God worship Him';\nand He saith, 'Swear not at all.'\"\n\n\"Nay,\" said the Judge, \"I will not dispute.\"\n\nThen I spoke to the jury, telling them it was for Christ's sake that\nI could not swear, and therefore I warned them not to act contrary to\nthe witness of God in their consciences, for before His judgment-seat\nthey must all be brought. And I told them that as for plots and\npersecution for religion and Popery, \"I do deny them in my heart;\nfor I am a Christian, and shall show forth Christianity amongst you\nthis day. It is for Christ's doctrine I stand.\" More words I had both\nwith the Judge and jury before the jailer took me away.\n\nIn the afternoon I was brought up again, and put among the thieves\nsome time, where I stood with my hat on till the jailer took it off.\nThen the jury having found this new indictment against me for not\ntaking the oath, I was called to the bar; and the Judge asked me what\nI would say for myself. I bade them read the indictment, for I would\nnot answer to that which I did not hear. The clerk read it, and as he\nread the Judge said \"Take heed it be not false again\"; but he read it\nin such a manner that I could hardly understand what he read.\n\nWhen he had done the Judge asked me what I said to the indictment. I\ntold him that hearing but once so large a writing read, and at such\na distance that I could not distinctly hear all the parts of it, I\ncould not well tell what to say to it; but if he would let me have a\ncopy, and give me time to consider it, I would answer it.\n\nThis put them to a little stand; but after a while the Judge asked\nme, \"What time would you have?\"\n\nI said, \"Until the next assize.\"\n\n\"But,\" said he, \"what plea will you now make? Are you guilty or not\nguilty?\"\n\nI said, \"I am not guilty at all of obstinately and wilfully refusing\nto swear; and as for those things mentioned in the oath, as\njesuitical plots and foreign powers, I utterly deny them in my heart;\nand if I could take any oath, I should take that; but I never took\nany oath in my life.\"\n\nThe Judge said, \"You speak well; but the King is sworn, the\nParliament is sworn, I am sworn, the justices are sworn, and the law\nis preserved by oaths.\"\n\nI told him that they had had sufficient experience of men's swearing,\nand he had seen how the justices and jury had sworn falsely the\nother day; and if he had read in the \"Book of Martyrs\" how many of\nthe martyrs had refused to swear, both within the time of the ten\npersecutions and in Bishop Bonner's days, he might see that to deny\nswearing in obedience to Christ's command was no new thing.\n\nHe said he wished the laws were otherwise.\n\nI said, \"Our Yea is yea, and our Nay is nay; and if we transgress our\nyea and our nay, let us suffer as they do, or should do, that swear\nfalsely.\" This, I told him, we had offered to the King; and the King\nsaid it was reasonable.\n\nAfter some further discourse they committed me to prison again, there\nto lie until the next assize; and Colonel Kirby gave order to the\njailer to keep me close, \"and suffer no flesh alive to come at me,\"\nfor I was not fit, he said, \"to be discoursed with by men.\" I was put\ninto a tower where the smoke of the other prisoners came up so thick\nit stood as dew upon the walls, and sometimes it was so thick that I\ncould hardly see the candle when it burned; and I being locked under\nthree locks, the under-jailer, when the smoke was great, would hardly\nbe persuaded to come up to unlock one of the uppermost doors for\nfear of the smoke, so that I was almost smothered.\n\nBesides, it rained in upon my bed, and many times, when I went to\nstop out the rain in the cold winter-season, my shirt was as wet as\nmuck with the rain that came in upon me while I was labouring to stop\nit out. And the place being high and open to the wind, sometimes as\nfast as I stopped it the wind blew it out again.\n\nIn this manner I lay all that long, cold winter till the next assize,\nin which time I was so starved, and so frozen with cold and wet with\nthe rain that my body was greatly swelled and my limbs much benumbed.\n\nThe assize began the sixteenth of the month called March, 1664-5.\nThe same Judges, Twisden and Turner, coming that circuit again,\nJudge Twisden sat this time on the crown-bench, and before him I was\nbrought.\n\nI had informed myself of the errors in this indictment also; for,\nthough at the assize before Judge Turner said to the officers in\ncourt, \"Pray, see that all the oath be in the indictment, and that\nthe word 'subject' be in, and that the day of the month and year\nof the King be put in right; for it is a shame that so many errors\nshould be seen and found in the face of the country;\" yet many\nerrors, and those great ones, were in this indictment, as well as in\nthe former. Surely the hand of the Lord was in it, to confound their\nmischievous work against me, and to blind them therein; insomuch\nthat, although, after the indictment was drawn at the former assize,\nthe Judge examined it himself, and tried it with the clerks, yet the\nword \"subject\" was left out of this indictment also, the day of the\nmonth was put in wrong, and several material words of the oath were\nleft out; yet they went on confidently against me, thinking all was\nsafe and well.\n\nWhen I was brought to the bar, and the jury called over to be sworn,\nthe clerk asked me, first, whether I had any objection to make to any\nof the jury. I told him I knew none of them. Then, having sworn the\njury, they swore three of the officers of the court to prove that\nthe oath was tendered to me at the last assizes, according to the\nindictment.\n\n\"Come, come,\" said the Judge, \"it was not done in a corner.\" Then he\nasked me what I had to say to it; or whether I had taken the oath at\nthe last assize.\n\nI told him what I had formerly said to them, as it now came to my\nremembrance.\n\nThereupon the Judge said, \"I will not dispute with you but in point\nof law.\"\n\n\"Then,\" said I, \"I have something to speak to the jury concerning the\nindictment.\"\n\nHe told me I must not speak to the jury; but if I had anything to\nsay, I must speak to him.\n\nI asked him whether the oath was to be tendered to the King's\nsubjects only, or to the subjects of foreign princes.\n\nHe replied, \"To the subjects of this realm.\"\n\n\"Then,\" said I, \"look in the indictment, and thou mayest see the word\n'subject' is left out of this indictment also. Therefore, seeing the\noath is not to be tendered to any but the subjects of this realm,\nand ye have not put me in as a subject, the court is to take no\nnotice of this indictment.\"\n\nI had no sooner spoken thus than the Judge cried, \"Take him away,\njailer, take him away.\" So I was presently hurried away.\n\nThe jailer and people expected that I should be called for again; but\nI was never brought to the court any more, though I had many other\ngreat errors to assign in the indictment.\n\nAfter I was gone, the Judge asked the jury if they were agreed. They\nsaid, \"Yes,\" and found for the King against me, as I was told. But I\nwas never called to hear sentence given, nor was any given against me\nthat I could hear of.\n\nI understood that when they had looked more narrowly into the\nindictment they saw it was not good; and the Judge having sworn\nthe officers of the court that the oath was tendered me at the\nassize before, such a day, as was set forth in the indictment, and\nthat being the wrong day, I should have proved the officers of the\ncourt forsworn men again, had the Judge suffered me to plead to the\nindictment, which was thought to be the reason he hurried me away so\nsoon.\n\nThe Judge had passed sentence of pr\u00e6munire upon Margaret Fell before\nI was brought in; and it seems that when I was hurried away they\nrecorded me as a pr\u00e6munired person,[141] though I was never brought\nto hear the sentence, or knew of it, which was very illegal. For they\nshould not only have had me present to hear the sentence given, but\nshould also have asked me first what I could say why sentence should\nnot be given against me. But they knew I had so much to say that they\ncould not give sentence if they heard it.\n\n  [141] \"A pr\u00e6munired person\" is one who has incurred the penalty\n  of being put out of the protection of the crown, of having\n  his lands, goods, and chattels forfeited to the crown and of\n  remaining in prison during the sovereign's pleasure.\n\nWhile I was prisoner in Lancaster Castle there was a great noise and\ntalk of the Turk's overspreading Christendom, and great fears entered\nmany. But one day, as I was walking in my prison chamber, I saw the\nLord's power turn against him, and that he was turning back again.\nAnd I declared to some what the Lord had let me see, when there were\nsuch fears of his overrunning Christendom; and within a month after,\nthe news came that they had given him a defeat.\n\nAnother time, as I was walking in my chamber, with my eye to the\nLord, I saw the angel of the Lord with a glittering drawn sword\nstretched southward, as though the court had been all on fire. Not\nlong after the wars broke out with Holland, the sickness broke forth,\nand afterwards the fire of London; so the Lord's sword was drawn\nindeed.\n\nBy reason of my long and close imprisonment in so bad a place I\nwas become very weak in body; but the Lord's power was over all,\nsupported me through all, and enabled me to do service for Him, and\nfor His truth and people, as the place would admit. For, while I\nwas in Lancaster prison, I answered several books, as the Mass, the\nCommon-Prayer, the Directory and the Church-Faith,[142] which are the\nfour chief religions that are got up since the apostles' days.\n\n  [142] These \"four chief religions which have been got up since\n  the apostles' days\" are respectively the Roman Catholic,\n  the Episcopalian, Presbyterian and Independent, i. e.,\n  Congregational.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nA Year in Scarborough Castle.\n\n1665-1666.\n\n\nAfter the assize, Colonel Kirby and other justices were very uneasy\nwith my being at Lancaster; for I had galled them sore at my trials\nthere, and they laboured much to get me removed thence to some remote\nplace. Colonel Kirby sometimes threatened that I should be sent\nbeyond sea.\n\nAbout six weeks after the assizes they got an order from the King\nand council to remove me from Lancaster; and with it they brought\na letter from the Earl of Anglesey, wherein it was written that if\nthose things with which I was charged were found true against me,\nI deserved no clemency nor mercy; yet the greatest matter they had\nagainst me was because I could not disobey the command of Christ, and\nswear.\n\nWhen they had prepared for my removal, the under-sheriff and the\nhead-sheriff's man, with some bailiffs, fetched me out of the castle,\nwhen I was so weak with lying in that cold, wet, and smoky prison,\nthat I could hardly go or stand. They led me into the jailer's house,\nwhere were William Kirby and several others, and they called for wine\nto give me. I told them I would have none of their wine. Then they\ncried, \"Bring out the horses.\"\n\nI desired them first to show me their order, or a copy of it, if\nthey intended to remove me; but they would show me none but their\nswords. I told them there was no sentence passed upon me, nor was I\npr\u00e6munired, that I knew of; and therefore I was not made the King's\nprisoner, but was the sheriff's; for they and all the country knew\nthat I was not fully heard at the last assize, nor suffered to show\nthe errors in the indictment, which were sufficient to quash it,\nthough they had kept me from one assize to another to the end they\nmight try me. But they all knew there was no sentence of pr\u00e6munire\npassed upon me; therefore I, not being the King's prisoner, but the\nsheriff's, did desire to see their order.\n\nInstead of showing me their order, they haled me out, and lifted me\nupon one of the sheriff's horses.\n\nWhen I was on horseback in the street the townspeople being gathered\nto gaze upon me, I told the officers I had received neither\nChristianity, civility, nor humanity from them.\n\nThey hurried me away about fourteen miles to Bentham, though I was so\nweak that I was hardly able to sit on horseback, and my clothes smelt\nso of smoke they were loathsome to myself. The wicked jailer, one\nHunter, a young fellow, would come behind and give the horse a lash\nwith his whip, and make him skip and leap; so that I, being weak, had\nmuch ado to sit on him; then he would come and look me in the face\nand say, \"How do you, Mr. Fox?\" I told him it was not civil in him to\ndo so. The Lord cut him off soon after.\n\nWhen we were come to Bentham, in Yorkshire, there met us many\ntroopers and a marshal; and many of the gentry of the country were\ncome in, and abundance of people to take a view of me. I being very\nweak and weary, desired them to let me lie down on a bed, which the\nsoldiers permitted; for those that brought me thither gave their\norder to the marshal, and he set a guard of his soldiers upon me.\n\nWhen they had stayed awhile they pressed horses, raised the\nbailiff of the hundred, the constables, and others, and bore me to\nGiggleswick that night; but exceeding weak I was. There, with their\nclog shoes, they raised the constables, who sat drinking all the\nnight in the room by me, so that I could not get much rest.\n\nThe next day we came to a market-town, where several Friends came to\nsee me. Robert Widders and divers Friends came to me upon the road.\n\nThe next night I asked the soldiers whither they intended to carry\nme, and whither I was to be sent. Some of them said, \"Beyond sea\";\nothers said, \"To Tynemouth Castle.\" A great fear there was amongst\nthem lest some one should rescue me out of their hands; but that fear\nwas needless.\n\nNext night we came to York, where the marshal put me into a great\nchamber, where most part of two troops came to see me. One of these\ntroopers, an envious man, hearing that I was pr\u00e6munired, asked me\nwhat estate I had, and whether it was copyhold or free land. I took\nno notice of his question, but was moved to declare the Word of life\nto the soldiers, and many of them were very loving.\n\nAt night the Lord Frecheville (so called), who commanded these horse,\ncame to me, and was very civil and loving. I gave him an account of\nmy imprisonment, and declared many things to him relating to Truth.\n\nThey kept me at York two days, and then the marshal and four or five\nsoldiers were sent to convey me to Scarborough Castle. These were\nvery civil men, and they carried themselves civilly and lovingly to\nme. On the way we baited at Malton, and they permitted Friends to\ncome and visit me.\n\nWhen we were come to Scarborough, they took me to an inn, and gave\nnotice to the governor, who sent six soldiers to be my guard that\nnight. Next day they conducted me into the castle, put me into a\nroom, and set a sentry on me. As I was very weak, and subject to\nfainting, they sometimes let me go out into the air with the sentry.\n\nThey soon removed me out of this room, and put me into an open one,\nwhere the rain came in, and which was exceedingly thick with smoke,\nwhich was very offensive to me.[143]\n\n  [143] Scarborough Castle is so nearly demolished that it is\n  now impossible to locate the rooms in which Fox was confined.\n  The room in which he was finally quartered was on the extreme\n  seaside of the castle and has been entirely destroyed. This year\n  of fearful imprisonment following the severe confinement at\n  Lancaster nearly broke down his wonderful constitution. He never\n  again had the same physical vigor and power. Note his healthy\n  humor in the little joke with the Papist.\n\nOne day the Governor, Sir John Crossland, came to see me, and brought\nwith him Sir Francis Cobb. I desired the Governor to go into my room,\nand see what a place I had. I had got a little fire made in it, and\nit was so filled with smoke that when they were in they could hardly\nfind their way out again; and he being a Papist, I told him that this\nwas his Purgatory which they had put me into. I was forced to lay out\nabout fifty shillings to stop out the rain, and keep the room from\nsmoking so much.\n\nWhen I had been at that charge, and made it tolerable, they removed\nme into a worse room, where I had neither chimney nor fire-hearth.\nThis being towards the sea-side and lying much open, the wind drove\nin the rain forcibly so that the water came over my bed, and ran so\nabout the room that I was fain to skim it up with a platter. When\nmy clothes were wet, I had no fire to dry them; so that my body was\nbenumbed with cold, and my fingers swelled so that one was grown as\nbig as two.\n\nThough I was at some charge in this room also, I could not keep out\nthe wind and rain. Besides, they would suffer few Friends to come to\nme, and many times not any; no, not so much as to bring me a little\nfood; but I was forced for the first quarter to hire one of another\nsociety to bring me necessaries. Sometimes the soldiers would take it\nfrom her, and she would scuffle with them for it.\n\nAfterwards I hired a soldier to fetch me water and bread, and\nsomething to make a fire of, when I was in a room where a fire\ncould be made. Commonly a threepenny loaf served me three weeks,\nand sometimes longer, and most of my drink was water with wormwood\nsteeped or bruised in it.\n\nOne time the weather was very sharp, and I had taken great cold, I\ngot a little elecampane beer. I heard one of the soldiers say to the\nother that they would play me a trick: they would send me up to the\ndeputy-governor, and in the meantime drink my strong beer; and so\nthey did. When I came back one of the soldiers came to me in a jeer,\nand asked me for some strong beer. I told him they had played their\npretty trick; and so I took no further notice of it.\n\nBut inasmuch as they kept me so very strait, not giving liberty for\nFriends to come to me, I spoke to the keepers of the Castle to this\neffect: \"I did not know till I was removed from Lancaster Castle, and\nbrought prisoner to this Castle of Scarborough, that I was convicted\nof a pr\u00e6munire; for the Judge did not give sentence upon me at the\nassizes in open court. But seeing I am now a prisoner here, if I may\nnot have my liberty, let my friends and acquaintances have their\nliberty to come and visit me, as Paul's friends had among the Romans,\nwho were not Christians, but heathen. For Paul's friends had their\nliberty; all that would, might come to him, and he had his liberty to\npreach to them in his hired house. But I cannot have liberty to go\ninto the town, nor for my friends to come to me here. So you that go\nunder the name of Christians, are worse in this respect than those\nheathen were.\"\n\nBut though they would not let Friends come to me, they would often\nbring others, either to gaze upon me, or to contend with me. One time\na great company of Papists came to discourse with me. They affirmed\nthat the Pope was infallible, and had stood infallible ever since\nPeter's time. But I showed them the contrary by history; for one\nof the bishops of Rome (Marcellinus by name), denied the faith and\nsacrificed to idols; therefore he was not infallible. I told them\nthat if they were in the infallible Spirit they need not have jails,\nswords, and staves, racks and tortures, fires and faggots, whips and\ngallows, to hold up their religion, and to destroy men's lives about\nit; for if they were in the infallible Spirit they would preserve\nmen's lives, and use none but spiritual weapons about religion.\n\nAnother Papist who came to discourse with me said, \"All the\npatriarchs were in hell from the creation till Christ came. When\nChrist suffered He went into hell, and the devil said to Him, What\ncomest thou hither for? to break open our strongholds? And Christ\nsaid, To fetch them all out. So Christ was three days and three\nnights in hell to bring them out.\"\n\nI told him that that was false; for Christ said to the thief, \"This\nday thou shalt be with me in paradise\"; and Enoch and Elijah were\ntranslated into heaven; and Abraham was in heaven, for the Scripture\nsaith that Lazarus was in his bosom; and Moses and Elias were with\nChrist upon the Mount, before He suffered.\n\nThese instances stopped the Papist's mouth, and put him to a stand.\n\nAnother time came Dr. Witty, who was esteemed a great doctor in\nphysic, with Lord Falconbridge, the governor of Tinmouth Castle, and\nseveral knights.\n\nI being called to them, Witty undertook to discourse with me, and\nasked me what I was in prison for. I told him, \"Because I would not\ndisobey the command of Christ, and swear.\" He said I ought to swear\nmy allegiance to the King.\n\nHe being a great Presbyterian, I asked him whether he had not sworn\nagainst the King and House of Lords, and taken the Scotch covenant?\nAnd had he not since sworn to the King? What, then, was his swearing\ngood for? But my allegiance, I told him, did not consist in swearing,\nbut in truth and faithfulness.\n\nAfter some further discourse I was taken away to my prison again; and\nafterwards Dr. Witty boasted in the town amongst his patients that\nhe had conquered me. When I heard of it, I told the Governor it was\na small boast in him to say he had conquered a bondman. I desired to\nbid him come to me again when he came to the Castle.\n\nHe came again awhile after, with about sixteen or seventeen great\npersons, and then he ran himself worse on ground than before. For he\naffirmed before them all that Christ had not enlightened every man\nthat cometh into the world; and that the grace of God, that bringeth\nsalvation, had not appeared unto all men, and that Christ had not\ndied for all men.\n\nI asked him what sort of men those were whom Christ had not\nenlightened? and whom His grace had not appeared to? and whom He had\nnot died for?\n\nHe said, \"Christ did not die for adulterers, and idolaters, and\nwicked men.\"\n\nI asked him whether adulterers and wicked men were not sinners.\n\nHe said, \"Yes.\"\n\n\"Did not Christ die for sinners?\" said I. \"Did He not come to call\nsinners to repentance?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said he.\n\n\"Then,\" said I, \"thou hast stopped thy own mouth.\"\n\nSo I proved that the grace of God had appeared unto all men, though\nsome turned from it into wantonness, and walked despitefully against\nit; and that Christ had enlightened all men, though some hated the\nlight.\n\nSeveral of the people confessed it was true; but he went away in a\ngreat rage, and came no more to me.\n\nAnother time the Governor brought a priest; but his mouth was soon\nstopped.\n\nNot long after he brought two or three Parliament-men, who asked me\nwhether I did own ministers and bishops.\n\nI told them, \"Yes, such as Christ sent; such as had freely received\nand would freely give; such as were qualified, and were in the\nsame power and Spirit the apostles were in. But such bishops and\nteachers as yours, that will go no farther than a great benefice, I\ndo not own; for they are not like the apostles. Christ saith to his\nministers, 'Go ye into all nations, and preach the gospel'; but ye\nParliament-men, who keep your priests and bishops in such great fat\nbenefices, have spoiled them all. For do ye think they will go into\nall nations to preach; or any farther than a great fat benefice?\nJudge yourselves whether they will or not.\"\n\nThere came another time the widow of old Lord Fairfax, and with her a\ngreat company, one of whom was a priest. I was moved to declare the\ntruth to them, and the priest asked me why we said Thou and Thee to\npeople, for he counted us but fools and idiots for speaking so.\n\nI asked him whether they that translated the Scriptures and that\nmade the grammar and accidence, were fools and idiots, seeing they\ntranslated the Scriptures so, and made the grammar so, Thou to\none, and You to more than one, and left it so to us. If they were\nfools and idiots, why had not he, and such as he, that looked upon\nthemselves as wise men, and that could not bear Thou and Thee to a\nsingular, altered the grammar, accidence, and Bible, and put the\nplural instead of the singular. But if they were wise men that had\nso translated the Bible, and had made the grammar and accidence so,\nI wished him to consider whether they were not fools and idiots\nthemselves, that did not speak as their grammars and Bibles taught\nthem; but were offended with us, and called us fools and idiots for\nspeaking so.\n\nThus the priest's mouth was stopped, and many of the company\nacknowledged the Truth, and were pretty loving and tender. Some of\nthem would have given me money, but I would not receive it.\n\nAfter this came Dr. Cradock, with three priests more, and the\nGovernor and his lady (so called), and another that was called a\nlady, and a great company with them.\n\nDr. Cradock asked me what I was in prison for. I told him, \"For\nobeying the command of Christ and the apostle, in not swearing.\"\nBut if he, I said, being both a doctor and a justice of peace,\ncould convince me that after Christ and the Apostle had forbidden\nswearing, they commanded Christians to swear, then I would swear.\n\"Here is the Bible,\" I told him, \"thou mayest, if thou canst, show me\nany such command.\"\n\nHe said, \"It is written, 'Ye shall swear in truth and righteousness.'\"\n\n\"Ay,\" said I, \"it was so written in Jeremiah's time; but that was\nmany ages before Christ commanded not to swear at all; but where is\nit written so, since Christ forbade all swearing? I could bring as\nmany instances out of the Old Testament for swearing as thou, and it\nmay be more; but of what force are they to prove swearing lawful in\nthe New Testament, since Christ and the Apostle forbade it? Besides,\"\nsaid I, \"in that text where it is written, Ye shall swear, what 'ye'\nwas this? Was it 'Ye Gentiles,' or 'Ye Jews'?\"\n\nTo this he would not answer. But one of the priests that were with\nhim answered, \"It was to the Jews that this was spoken.\" Then Dr.\nCradock confessed it was so.\n\n\"Very well,\" said I, \"but where did God ever give a command to the\nGentiles to swear? For thou knowest that we are Gentiles by nature.\"\n\n\"Indeed,\" said he, \"in the gospel times everything was to be\nestablished out of the mouths of two or three witnesses; but there\nwas to be no swearing then.\"\n\n\"Why, then,\" said I, \"dost thou force oaths upon Christians, contrary\nto thy own knowledge, in the gospel-times? And why dost thou\nexcommunicate my friends?\" for he had excommunicated abundance both\nin Yorkshire and Lancashire.\n\nHe said, \"For not coming to church.\" \"Why,\" said I, \"ye left us above\ntwenty years ago, when we were but young lads and lasses, to the\nPresbyterians, Independents, and Baptists, many of whom made spoil\nof our goods, and persecuted us because we would not follow them.\nWe, being but young, knew little then of your principles. If ye had\nintended to keep your principles alive, that we might have known\nthem, ye should either not have fled from us as ye did, or ye should\nhave sent us your epistles, collects, homilies, and evening songs;\nfor Paul wrote epistles to the saints, though he was in prison.\nBut they and we might have turned Turks or Jews for any collects,\nhomilies, or epistles we had from you all this while. And now thou\nhast excommunicated us, both young and old, and so have others of you\ndone; that is, ye have put us out of your church before ye have got\nus into it, and before ye have brought us to know your principles.\nIs not this madness in you, to put us out before we were brought in?\nIndeed, if ye had brought us into your church, and when we had been\nin, if we had done some bad thing, that had been something like a\nground for excommunication or putting out again. But,\" said I, \"What\ndost thou call the Church?\"\n\n\"Why,\" said he, \"that which you call the steeple-house.\"\n\nThen I asked him whether Christ shed His blood for the steeple-house,\nand purchased and sanctified the steeple-house with His blood. And\nseeing the Church is Christ's bride and wife, and that He is the\nHead of the Church, dost thou think the steeple-house is Christ's\nwife and bride, and that He is the head of that old house, or of His\npeople?\"\n\n\"No,\" said he, \"Christ is the head of His people, and they are the\nChurch.\"\n\n\"But,\" said I, \"You have given the title Church to an old house,\nwhich belongs to the people; and you have taught them to believe so.\"\n\nI asked him also why he persecuted Friends for not paying tithes;\nwhether God ever commanded the Gentiles to pay tithes; whether Christ\nhad not ended tithes when He ended the Levitical priesthood that took\ntithes; whether Christ, when He sent His disciples to preach, had\nnot commanded them to preach freely as He had given them freely; and\nwhether all the ministers of Christ are not bound to observe this\ncommand of Christ.\n\nHe said he would not dispute that.\n\nNeither did I find he was willing to stay on that subject; for he\npresently turned to another matter, and said, \"You marry, but I know\nnot how.\"\n\nI replied, \"It may be so; but why dost thou not come and see?\"\n\nThen he threatened that he would use his power against us, as he\nhad done. I bade him take heed; for he was an old man. I asked him\nalso where he read, from Genesis to Revelation, that ever any priest\ndid marry any. I wished him to show me some instance thereof, if he\nwould have us come to them to be married; \"for,\" said I, \"thou hast\nexcommunicated one of my friends two years after he was dead, about\nhis marriage. And why dost thou not excommunicate Isaac, and Jacob,\nand Boaz, and Ruth? for we do not read that they were ever married\nby the priests; but they took one another in the assemblies of the\nrighteous, in the presence of God and His people; and so do we. So\nthat we have all the holy men and women that the Scripture speaks of\nin this practice, on our side.\"\n\nMuch discourse we had, but when he found he could get no advantage\nover me, he went away with his company.\n\nWith such people I was much exercised while I was there; for most\nthat came to the Castle would desire to speak with me, and great\ndisputes I had with them. But as to Friends, I was as a man buried\nalive; for though many came far to see me, yet few were suffered to\ncome to me; and when any Friend came into the Castle about business,\nif he looked towards me they would rage at him.\n\nAt last the Governor came under some trouble himself; for he having\nsent a privateer to sea, they took some ships that were not enemies'\nships, but their friends'; whereupon he was brought into trouble;\nafter which he grew somewhat more friendly to me. For before I had\na marshal set over me, on purpose to get money out of me; but I was\nnot free to give him a farthing; and when they found they could get\nnothing off me, he was taken away again.\n\nThe officers often threatened that I should be hanged over the wall.\nNay, the deputy-governor told me once that the King, knowing I had\ngreat interest in the people, had sent me thither, that if there\nshould be any stirring in the nation, they should hang me over the\nwall to keep the people down.\n\nThere being, a while after, a marriage at a Baptist's house, upon\nwhich occasion a great many of them were met together, they talked\nmuch then of hanging me. But I told them that if that was what they\ndesired, and it was permitted them, I was ready, for I never feared\ndeath nor sufferings in my life; but I was known to be an innocent,\npeaceable man, free from all stirrings and plottings, and one that\nsought the good of all men.\n\nAfterwards, the Governor growing kinder, I spoke to him when he\nwas going to London to the Parliament, and desired him to speak to\nEsquire Marsh, Sir Francis Cobb, and some others; and let them know\nhow long I had lain in prison, and for what; and he did so. When\nhe came down again, he told me that Esquire Marsh said he would\ngo a hundred miles barefoot for my liberty, he knew me so well;\nand several others, he said, spoke well of me. From which time the\nGovernor was very loving to me.\n\nThere were, amongst the prisoners, two very bad men, that often sat\ndrinking with the officers and soldiers; and because I would not sit\nand drink with them too, it made them the worse against me. One time\nwhen these two prisoners were drunk, one of them (whose name was\nWilliam Wilkinson, a Presbyterian, who had been a captain), came to\nme and challenged me to fight with him.\n\nSeeing what condition he was in, I got out of his way; and next\nmorning, when he was more sober, showed him how unmanly it was in\nhim to challenge a man to fight, whose principles, he knew, it was\nnot to strike, but if he was stricken on one ear to turn the other. I\ntold him, if he had a mind to fight, he should have challenged some\nsoldiers that could have answered him in his own way.\n\nBut, however, seeing he had challenged me, I was now come to answer\nhim with my hands in my pockets; and (reaching my head towards him),\n\"Here,\" said I, \"here is my hair, here are my cheeks, here is my\nback.\"\n\nWith this he skipped away from me and went into another room; at\nwhich the soldiers fell a-laughing; and one of the officers said,\n\"You are a happy man that can bear such things.\" Thus he was\nconquered without a blow. After awhile he took the oath, gave bond,\ngot out of prison; and not long after the Lord cut him off.[144]\n\n  [144] George Fox had a very keen eye for \"judgments\" which came\n  upon persons who abused him or hindered his work. It accords\n  completely with the ideas of the time, and is one of the things\n  which he had not transcended.\n\nThere were great imprisonments in this and the former years, while\nI was prisoner at Lancaster and Scarborough. At London many Friends\nwere crowded into Newgate, and other prisons, where the sickness\nwas,[145] and many died in prison. Many also were banished, and\nseveral sent on ship-board by the King's order.\n\n  [145] This \"sickness\" was the London \"plague\" of 1665.\n\nSome masters of ships would not carry them, but set them on shore\nagain; yet some were sent to Barbadoes, Jamaica, and Nevis, and the\nLord blessed them there. One master of a ship was very wicked and\ncruel to Friends that were put on board his ship; for he kept them\ndown under decks, though the sickness was amongst them; so that many\ndied of it. But the Lord visited him for his wickedness; for he lost\nmost of his seamen by the plague, and lay several months crossed with\ncontrary winds, though other ships went on and made their voyages.\n\nAt last he came before Plymouth, where the Governor and magistrates\nwould not suffer him nor any of his men to come ashore, though he\nwanted necessaries for his voyage; but Thomas Lower, Arthur Cotton,\nJohn Light, and other Friends, went to the ship's side, and carried\nnecessaries for the Friends that were prisoners on board.\n\nThe master, being thus crossed and vexed, cursed them that put him\nupon this freight, and said he hoped he should not go far before he\nwas taken. And the vessel was but a little while gone out of sight of\nPlymouth before she was taken by a Dutch man-of-war, and carried into\nHolland.\n\nWhen they came into Holland, the States sent the banished Friends\nback to England, with a letter of passport, and a certificate that\nthey had not made an escape, but were sent back by them.\n\nIn time the Lord's power wrought over this storm, and many of our\npersecutors were confounded and put to shame.\n\nAfter I had lain prisoner above a year in Scarborough Castle, I\nsent a letter to the King, in which I gave him an account of my\nimprisonment, and the bad usage I had received in prison; and also\nthat I was informed no man could deliver me but him. After this,\nJohn Whitehead being at London, and having acquaintance also with\nEsquire Marsh, he went to visit him, and spoke to him about me; and\nhe undertook, if John Whitehead would get the state of my case drawn\nup, to deliver it to the master of requests, Sir John Birkenhead, who\nwould endeavor to get a release for me.\n\nSo John Whitehead and Ellis Hookes drew up a relation of my\nimprisonment and sufferings, and carried it to Marsh; and he went\nwith it to the master of requests, who procured an order from the\nKing for my release. The substance of the order was that \"the King,\nbeing certainly informed that I was a man principled against plotting\nand fighting, and had been ready at all times to discover plots,\nrather than to make any, etc., therefore his royal pleasure was that\nI should be discharged from my imprisonment,\" etc.\n\nAs soon as this order was obtained, John Whitehead came to\nScarborough with it, and delivered it to the Governor; who, upon\nreceipt thereof, gathered the officers together, and, without\nrequiring bond or sureties for my peaceable living, being satisfied\nthat I was a man of a peaceable life, he discharged me freely, and\ngave me the following passport:\n\n     \"Permit the bearer hereof, George Fox, late a prisoner here, and\n     now discharged by His Majesty's order, quietly to pass about his\n     lawful occasions, without any molestation. Given under my hand\n     at Scarborough Castle, this first day of September, 1666.\n\n                                               \"JORDAN CROSLANDS,\n                                \"Governor of Scarborough Castle.\"\n\nAfter I was released, I would have made the Governor a present for\nthe civility and kindness he had of late shown me; but he would not\nreceive anything; saying that whatever good he could do for me and my\nfriends he would do it, and never do them any hurt. And afterwards,\nif at any time the mayor of the town sent to him for soldiers to\nbreak up Friends' meetings, if he sent any down he would privately\ngive them a charge not to meddle. He continued loving to his dying\nday.\n\nThe officers also and the soldiers were mightily changed, and became\nvery respectful to me, and when they had occasion to speak of me they\nwould say, \"He is as stiff as a tree, and as pure as a bell; for we\ncould never bow him.\"\n\n     [Here is an interesting entry in the Journal in the year 1669:\n     \"I then visited friends at Whitby and Scarborough. When I was at\n     Scarborough, the governor, hearing I was come, sent to invite\n     me to his house, saying, 'Surely, you would not be so unkind as\n     not to come and see me and my wife.' After the meeting I went to\n     visit him, and he received me very courteously and lovingly.\"]\n\nThe very next day after my release, the fire broke out in London, and\nthe report of it came quickly down into the country. Then I saw the\nLord God was true and just in His Word, which he had shown me before\nin Lancaster jail, when I saw the angel of the Lord with a glittering\nsword drawn southward, as before expressed.\n\nThe people of London were forewarned of this fire; yet few laid to\nheart, or believed it; but rather grew more wicked, and higher in\npride. For a Friend was moved to come out of Huntingdonshire a little\nbefore the fire, to scatter his money, and turn his horse loose on\nthe streets, to untie the knees of his trousers, let his stockings\nfall down, and to unbutton his doublet, and tell the people that so\nshould they run up and down, scattering their money and their goods,\nhalf undressed, like mad people, as he was sign to them;[146] and so\nthey did, when the city was burning.\n\n  [146] This was Thomas Ibbett, of Huntingdonshire. He went\n  distracted a little later, and, standing in Cheapside during the\n  great fire, he tried to stop its progress with his outspread\n  arms, so that he nearly perished in the flames. For a remarkable\n  prophecy of the \"great plague\" see \"Writings of George Fox the\n  Younger,\" 1662, pages 219-221.\n\nThus hath the Lord exercised His prophets and servants by His power,\nshown them signs of His judgments, and sent them to forewarn the\npeople; but, instead of repenting, they have beaten and cruelly\nentreated some, and some they have imprisoned, both in the former\npower's days[AN] and since.\n\n  [AN] The days of Oliver Cromwell.\n\nBut the Lord is just, and happy are they that obey His word.\n\nSome have been moved to go naked in their streets, in the other\npower's days and since, as signs of their nakedness; and have\ndeclared amongst them that God would strip them of their hypocritical\nprofessions, and make them as bare and naked as they were. But\ninstead of considering it, they have many times whipped, or otherwise\nabused them, and sometimes imprisoned them.\n\nOthers have been moved to go in sackcloth, and to denounce the woes\nand vengeance of God against the pride and haughtiness of the people;\nbut few regarded it. And in the other power's days, the wicked,\nenvious, and professing priests, put up several petitions both to\nOliver and Richard, called Protectors, and to the Parliaments, judges\nand justices, against us, full of lies, vilifying words and slanders;\nbut we got copies of them, and, through the Lord's assistance,\nanswered them all, and cleared the Lord's truth and ourselves of them.\n\nBut oh! the body of darkness that rose against the Truth in them that\nmade lies their refuge! But the Lord swept them away; and in and\nwith His power, truth, light, and life, hedged his lambs about, and\npreserved them as on eagles' wings. Therefore we all had, and have,\ngreat encouragement to trust the Lord, who, we saw by His power and\nSpirit, overturned and brought to naught all the confederacies and\ncounsels that were hatched in darkness against His Truth and people;\nand by the same truth gave His people dominion, that therein they\nmight serve Him.\n\nIndeed, I could not but take notice how the hand of the Lord turned\nagainst the persecutors who had been the cause of my imprisonment, or\nhad been abusive or cruel to me in it. The officer that fetched me\nto Holker-Hall wasted his estate, and soon after fled into Ireland.\nMost of the justices that were upon the bench at the sessions when\nI was sent to prison, died in a while after; as old Thomas Preston,\nRawlinson, Porter, and Matthew West, of Borwick. Justice Fleming's\nwife died, and left him thirteen or fourteen motherless children.\nColonel Kirby never prospered after. The chief constable, Richard\nDodgson, died soon after, and Mount, the petty constable, and the\nwife of the other petty constable, John Ashburnham, who railed at\nme in her house, died soon after. William Knipe, the witness they\nbrought against me, died soon after also. Hunter, the jailer of\nLancaster, who was very wicked to me while I was his prisoner, was\ncut off in his young days; and the under-sheriff that carried me\nfrom Lancaster prison towards Scarborough, lived not long after. And\nJoblin, the jailer of Durham, who was prisoner with me in Scarborough\nCastle, and had often incensed the Governor and soldiers against\nme, though he got out of prison, yet the Lord cut him off in his\nwickedness soon after.\n\nWhen I came into that country again, most of those that dwelt in\nLancashire were dead, and others ruined in their estates; so that,\nthough I did not seek revenge upon them for their actings against me\ncontrary to the law, yet the Lord had executed His judgments upon\nmany of them.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nAt the Work of Organizing.\n\n1667-1670.\n\n\nI then visited Friends till I came to York, where we had a large\nmeeting. After this I went to visit Justice Robinson, an ancient\njustice of the peace, who had been very loving to me and Friends from\nthe beginning.\n\nThere was a priest with him, who told me that it was said of us, that\nwe loved none but ourselves. I told him that we loved all mankind, as\nthey were God's creation, and as they were children of Adam and Eve\nby generation; and that we loved the brotherhood in the Holy Ghost.\n\nThis stopped him. After some other discourse we parted friendly, and\npassed away.\n\nAbout this time I wrote a book, entitled, \"Fear God, and Honour the\nKing\"; in which I showed that none could rightly fear God and honour\nthe King but they that departed from sin and evil. This book greatly\naffected the soldiers, and most people.\n\nThen I was moved of the Lord to recommend the setting up of five\nmonthly meetings of men and women in the city of London (besides\nthe women's meetings and the quarterly meetings), to take care of\nGod's glory, and to admonish and exhort such as walked disorderly\nor carelessly, and not according to Truth. For whereas Friends had\nhad only quarterly meetings, now Truth was spread, and Friends\nwere grown more numerous, I was moved to recommend the setting up\nof monthly meetings throughout the nation.[147] And the Lord opened\nto me what I must do, and how the men's and women's monthly and\nquarterly meetings should be ordered and established in this and in\nother nations; and that I should write to those where I did not come,\nto do the same.\n\n  [147] In nothing did Fox show his originality and insight more\n  clearly than in his work of organizing the Society which his\n  ministry had drawn together. During his long imprisonment many\n  internal difficulties had arisen, which showed that the Society\n  was too loosely organized for a permanent work in the world. The\n  rest of his life--twenty-four years--was mainly devoted to this\n  work of perfecting the system of meetings and government, though\n  his _ministry_ meantime in no way slackened. The first system of\n  Discipline, printed in 1669 by his opponents, under the title,\n  \"Canons and Institutions,\" was drawn up soon after the release\n  from Scarborough Castle.\n\nAfter things were well settled at London, and the Lord's Truth,\npower, seed, and life reigned and shone over all in the city, I went\ninto Essex.\n\n     [Throughout the counties where he had preached, he now\n     went, setting up monthly meetings, i.e., local meetings for\n     transacting the business of the Church, and for ordering and\n     overseeing the moral and spiritual life of the membership.\n     We shall not follow his movements in detail, but it may here\n     be noted that the world's records show few instances of more\n     striking energy, and fidelity to a divine mission, than do the\n     entries of these twenty-four years. Here is one glimpse of him\n     as he is traveling through \"the frost and snow,\" during the\n     winter of 1667.]\n\nI was so exceeding weak, I was hardly able to get on or off my\nhorse's back; but my spirit being earnestly engaged in the work the\nLord had concerned me in and sent me forth about, I travelled on\ntherein, notwithstanding the weakness of my body, having confidence\nin the Lord, that He would carry me through, as He did by His power.\n\nWe came into Cheshire, where we had several blessed meetings, and\na general men's meeting; wherein all the monthly meetings for that\ncounty were settled, according to the gospel order, in and by the\npower of God.\n\nAfter the meeting I passed away. But when the justices heard of it,\nthey were very much troubled that they had not come and broken it up,\nand taken me; but the Lord prevented them.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThen, returning towards London by Waltham, I advised the setting up\nof a school there for teaching boys; and also a woman's school to be\nopened at Shacklewell, for instructing girls and young maidens in\nwhatsoever things were civil and useful in the creation.[148]\n\n  [148] On this broad principle, of _teaching everything useful and\n  civil in creation_, the work of Friends began in the cause of\n  education. The subsequent history of their educational work is\n  notable.\n\nThus were the men's monthly meetings settled through the nation.\n[1668.] The quarterly meetings were generally settled before.\n\nI wrote also into Ireland by faithful Friends, and into Scotland,\nHolland, Barbadoes, and several parts of America, advising Friends to\nsettle their men's monthly meetings in those countries. For they had\nhad their general quarterly meetings before; but now that Truth was\nincreased amongst them, it was needful that they should settle those\nmen's monthly meetings in the power and Spirit of God, that first\nconvinced them.\n\nSince these meetings have been settled, and all the faithful in the\npower of God, who are heirs of the gospel, have met together in\nthe power of God, which is their authority, to perform service to\nthe Lord, many mouths have been opened in thanksgiving and praise,\nand many have blessed the Lord God, that ever He sent me forth in\nthis service. For now all coming to have a concern and care for\nGod's honour and glory, and His name, which they profess, be not\nblasphemed; and to see that all who profess the Truth walk in the\nTruth, in righteousness and in holiness, as becomes the house of God,\nand that all order their conversation aright, that they may see the\nsalvation of God; they may all see and know, possess and partake of,\nthe government of Christ, of the increase of which there is to be no\nend.\n\nThus the Lord's everlasting renown and praise are set up in the heart\nof every one that is faithful; so that we can say the gospel order\nestablished amongst us is not of man, nor by man, but of and by Jesus\nChrist, in and through the Holy Ghost.\n\nThis order of the gospel, which is not of man nor by man, but from\nChrist, the heavenly man, is above all the orders of men in the fall,\nwhether Jews, Gentiles, or apostate Christians, and will remain when\nthey are gone. For the power of God, which is the everlasting gospel,\nwas before the devil was, and will be and remain forever. And as the\neverlasting gospel was preached in the apostles' days to all nations,\nthat all nations might, through the divine power which brings life\nand immortality to light, come into the order of it, so now the\neverlasting gospel is to be, and is, preached again, as John the\ndivine foresaw it should be, to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and\npeople.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nNow[AO] was I moved of the Lord to go over into Ireland, to visit the\nSeed of God in that nation. There went with me Robert Lodge, James\nLancaster, Thomas Briggs, and John Stubbs.\n\n  [AO] 1669.\n\nWe waited near Liverpool for shipping and wind. After waiting some\ndays, we sent James Lancaster to take passage, which he did, and\nbrought word the ship was ready, and would take us in at Black Rock.\nWe went thither on foot; and it being some distance, and the weather\nvery hot, I was much spent with walking.\n\nWhen we arrived, the ship was not there; so we were obliged to go to\nthe town and take shipping. When we were on board, I said to the rest\nof my company, \"Come, ye will triumph in the Lord, for we shall have\nfair wind and weather.\"\n\nMany passengers in the ship were sick, but not one of our company.\nThe captain and many of the passengers were very loving; and we being\nat sea on the first day of the week, I was moved to declare Truth\namong them; whereupon the captain said to the passengers, \"Here are\nthings that you never heard in your lives.\"\n\nWhen we came before Dublin, we took boat and went ashore; and the\nearth and air smelt, methought, of the corruption of the nation, so\nthat it yielded another smell to me than England did; which I imputed\nto the Popish massacres that had been committed, and the blood that\nhad been spilt in it, from which a foulness ascended.\n\nWe passed through among the officers of the custom four times, yet\nthey did not search us; for they perceived what we were: some of them\nwere so envious they did not care to look at us.\n\nWe did not soon find Friends; but went to an inn, and sent out to\ninquire for some. These, when they came to us, were exceedingly glad\nof our coming, and received us with great joy.\n\nWe stayed there the weekly meeting, which was a large one, and the\npower and life of God appeared greatly in it. Afterwards we passed to\na province meeting, which lasted two days, there being one about the\npoor, and another meeting more general; in which a mighty power of\nthe Lord appeared. Truth was livingly declared, and Friends were much\nrefreshed therein.\n\nPassing thence about four and twenty miles, we came to another place,\nwhere we had a very good, refreshing meeting; but after it some\nPapists that were there were angry, and raged very much. When I heard\nof it, I sent for one of them, who was a schoolmaster; but he would\nnot come.\n\nThereupon I sent a challenge to him, with all the friars and monks,\npriests and Jesuits, to come forth, and \"try their God and their\nChrist, which they had made of bread and wine,\" but no answer could I\nget from them. I told them they were worse than the priests of Baal;\nfor Baal's priests tried their wooden god, but these durst not try\ntheir god of bread and wine; and Baal's priests and people did not\neat their god as these did, and then make another.\n\nHe that was then mayor of Cork, being very envious against Truth and\nFriends, had many Friends in prison. Knowing I was in the country, he\nsent four warrants to take me; therefore Friends were desirous that I\nshould not ride through Cork. But, being at Bandon, there appeared to\nme in a vision a very ugly-visaged man, of a black and dark look. My\nspirit struck at him in the power of God, and it seemed to me that I\nrode over him with my horse, and my horse set his foot on the side of\nhis face.\n\nWhen I came down in the morning, I told a friend the command of the\nLord to me was to ride through Cork; but I bade him tell no man. So\nwe took horse, many Friends being with me.\n\nWhen we came near the town, Friends would have shown me a way through\nthe back side of it; but I told them my way was through the streets.\nTaking Paul Morrice to guide me through the town, I rode on.\n\nAs we rode through the market-place, and by the mayor's door, he,\nseeing me, said, \"There goes George Fox\"; but he had not power to\nstop me. When we had passed the sentinels, and were come over the\nbridge, we went to a Friend's house and alighted. There the Friends\ntold me what a rage was in the town, and how many warrants were\ngranted to take me.\n\nWhile I was sitting there I felt the evil spirit at work in the town,\nstirring up mischief against me; and I felt the power of the Lord\nstrike at that evil spirit.\n\nBy-and-by some other friends coming in, told me it was over the town,\nand amongst the magistrates that I was in the town. I said, \"Let the\ndevil do his worst.\" After we had refreshed ourselves, I called for\nmy horse, and having a Friend to guide me, we went on our way.\n\nGreat was the rage that the mayor and others of Cork were in that\nthey had missed me, and great pains they afterwards took to catch\nme, having their scouts abroad upon the roads, as I understood, to\nobserve which way I went. Scarce a public meeting I came to, but\nspies came to watch if I were there. The magistrates and priests sent\ninformations one to another concerning me, describing me by my hair,\nhat, clothes and horse; so that when I was near an hundred miles from\nCork they had an account concerning me and a description of me before\nI came amongst them.\n\nOne very envious magistrate, who was both a priest and a justice, got\na warrant from the judge of assize to apprehend me. The warrant was\nto go over all his circuit, which reached near an hundred miles. Yet\nthe Lord disappointed all their councils, defeated all their designs\nagainst me, and by His good hand of Providence preserved me out of\nall their snares, and gave us many sweet and blessed opportunities to\nvisit Friends, and spread Truth through that nation.\n\nFor meetings were very large, Friends coming to them from far and\nnear; and other people flocking in. The powerful presence of the\nLord was preciously felt amongst us. Many of the world were reached,\nconvinced, and gathered to the Truth; the Lord's flock was increased;\nand Friends were greatly refreshed and comforted in feeling the love\nof God. Oh the brokenness that was amongst them in the flowings of\nlife! so that, in the power and Spirit of the Lord, many together\nbroke out into singing, even with audible voices, making melody in\ntheir hearts.\n\nAfter I had travelled over Ireland, and visited Friends in their\nmeetings, as well for business as for worship, and had answered\nseveral papers and writings from monks, friars, and Protestant\npriests (for they were all in a rage against us, and endeavoured to\nstop the work of the Lord, and some Jesuits swore in our hearing that\nwe had come to spread our principles in that nation, but should not\ndo it), I returned to Dublin, in order to take passage for England.\nI stayed to the First-day's meeting there, which was very large and\nprecious.\n\nThere being a ship ready, and the wind serving, we took our leave of\nFriends; parting in much tenderness and brokenness, in the sense of\nthe heavenly life and power manifested amongst us. Having put our\nhorses and necessaries on board in the morning, we went ourselves in\nthe afternoon, many Friends accompanying us to the ship; and divers\nFriends and Friendly people followed us in boats when we were near a\nleague at sea, their love drawing them, though not without danger.\n\nA good, weighty, and true people there is in that nation, sensible of\nthe power of the Lord God, and tender of His truth. Very good order\nthey have in their meetings; for they stand up for righteousness and\nholiness, which dams up the way of wickedness. A precious visitation\nthey had, and there is an excellent spirit in them, worthy to be\nvisited. Many things more I could write of that nation, and of my\ntravels in it; but thus much I thought good to signify, that the\nrighteous may rejoice in the prosperity of truth.\n\nWe travelled till we came to Bristol, where I met with Margaret Fell,\nwho was come to visit her daughter Yeomans.\n\nI had seen from the Lord a considerable time before, that I should\ntake Margaret Fell to be my wife. And when I first mentioned it to\nher, she felt the answer of Life from God thereunto. But though the\nLord had opened this thing to me, yet I had not received a command\nfrom the Lord for the accomplishing of it then. Wherefore I let\nthe thing rest, and went on in the work and service of the Lord\nas before, according as he led me; travelling up and down in this\nnation, and through Ireland.\n\nBut now being at Bristol, and finding Margaret Fell there, it opened\nin me from the Lord that the thing should be accomplished. After\nwe had discoursed the matter together, I told her, if she also was\nsatisfied with the accomplishing of it now, she should first send\nfor her children; which she did. When the rest of her daughters were\ncome, I asked both them and her sons-in-law if they had anything\nagainst it, or for it; and they all severally expressed their\nsatisfaction therein.\n\nThen I asked Margaret if she had fulfilled and performed her\nhusband's will to her children. She replied, \"The children know\nthat.\" Whereupon I asked them whether, if their mother married, they\nwould lose by it. And I asked Margaret whether she had done anything\nin lieu of it, which might answer it to the children.\n\nThe children said she had answered it to them, and desired me to\nspeak no more of it. I told them I was plain, and would have all\nthings done plainly; for I sought not any outward advantage to myself.\n\nSo, after I had thus acquainted the children with it, our intention\nof marriage was laid before Friends, both privately and publicly,\nto their full satisfaction. Many of them gave testimony thereunto\nthat it was of God. Afterwards, a meeting being appointed for\nthe accomplishing thereof, in the meeting-house at Broad-Mead,\nin Bristol, we took each other, the Lord joining us together in\nhonourable marriage, in the everlasting covenant and immortal Seed of\nlife. In the sense thereof living and weighty testimonies were borne\nthereunto by Friends, in the movings of the heavenly power which\nunited us.[149] Then was a certificate, relating both the proceedings\nand the marriage, openly read, and signed by the relations, and by\nmost of the ancient Friends of that city, besides many others from\ndivers parts of the nation.\n\n  [149] The \"Bristol Register of Friends\" shows the date of the\n  marriage of George Fox to Margaret Fell to have been \"Eighth\n  month\" 27th, 1669.\n\nWe stayed about a week in Bristol, and then went together to\nOldstone: where, taking leave of each other in the Lord, we parted,\nbetaking ourselves each to our several service; Margaret returning\nhomewards to the north, and I passing on in the work of the Lord\nas before. I travelled through Wiltshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire,\nBuckinghamshire, and so to London, visiting Friends: in all of which\ncounties I had many large and precious meetings.[150]\n\n  [150] During the next four years George Fox and his wife were\n  almost continually separated from each other. About three months\n  after their marriage Margaret Fox was thrown into Lancaster\n  prison, where she was kept until a few weeks before her husband\n  sailed on his memorable trip to the West Indies and the American\n  colonies.\n\n     [In 1670 the so-called Conventicle Act, originally passed\n     in 1664, was renewed with increased vigor. The Act limited\n     religious gatherings, other than those of the Established\n     Church, to five persons, and brought all who refused to take an\n     oath under the penalties of the Act.]\n\nOn the First-day after the Act came in force, I went to the meeting\nat Gracechurch Street, where I expected the storm was most likely to\nbegin.\n\nWhen I came there, I found the street full of people, and a guard\nset to keep Friends out of their meeting-house. I went to the other\npassage out of Lombard street, where also I found a guard; but the\ncourt was full of people, and a Friend was speaking amongst them; but\nhe did not speak long.\n\nWhen he had done, I stood up, and was moved to say, \"Saul, Saul, why\npersecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against that which\npricks thee.\" Then I showed that it is Saul's nature that persecutes\nstill, and that they who persecute Christ in His members now, where\nHe is made manifest, kick against that which pricks them; that it was\nthe birth of the flesh that persecuted the birth born of the Spirit,\nand that it was the nature of dogs to tear and devour the sheep;\nbut that we suffered as sheep, that bite not again, for we were a\npeaceable people, and loved them that persecuted us.\n\nAfter I had spoken a while to this effect, the constable came with an\ninformer and soldiers; and as they pulled me down, I said, \"Blessed\nare the peacemakers.\"\n\nThe commander put me among the soldiers, and bade them secure me,\nsaying to me, \"You are the man I looked for.\" They took also John\nBurnyeat and another Friend, and led us away, first to the Exchange,\nand afterwards towards Moorfields. As we went along the streets the\npeople were very moderate; some of them laughed at the constable,\nand told him we would not run away.\n\nThe informer went with us unknown, till, falling into discourse with\none of the company, he said it would never be a good world till all\npeople came to the good old religion that was two hundred years ago.\nWhereupon I asked him, \"Art thou a Papist? What! a Papist informer;\nfor two hundred years ago there was no other religion but that of the\nPapists.\"\n\nHe saw he had ensnared himself, and was vexed at it; for as he went\nalong the streets I spoke often to him, and manifested what he was.\n\nWhen we were come to the mayor's house, and were in the courtyard,\nseveral of the people that stood about, asked me how and for what I\nwas taken. I desired them to ask the informer, and also what his name\nwas; but he refused to tell his name. Whereupon one of the mayor's\nofficers, looking out at a window, told him he should tell his name\nbefore he went away; for the lord mayor would know by what authority\nhe intruded himself with soldiers into the execution of those laws\nwhich belonged to the civil magistrate to execute, and not to the\nmilitary.\n\nAfter this, he was eager to be gone; and went to the porter to be let\nout. One of the officers called to him, saying, \"Have you brought\npeople here to inform against, and now will you go away before my\nlord mayor comes?\" Some called to the porter not to let him out;\nwhereupon he forcibly pulled open the door and slipped out.\n\nNo sooner was he come into the street than the people gave a shout\nthat made the street ring again, crying out, \"A Papist informer! a\nPapist informer!\" We desired the constable and soldiers to go and\nrescue him out of the people's hands, fearing lest they should do him\na mischief.\n\nThey went, and brought him into the mayor's entry, where they stayed\na while; but when he went out again, the people received him with\nanother shout. The soldiers were fain to go and rescue him once more,\nand they led him into a house in an alley, where they persuaded him\nto change his periwig, and so he got away unknown.\n\nWhen the mayor came, we were brought into the room where he was, and\nsome of his officers would have taken off our hats, perceiving which\nhe called to them, and bade them let us alone, and not meddle with\nour hats; \"for,\" said he, \"they are not yet brought before me in\njudicature.\" So we stood by while he examined some Presbyterian and\nBaptist teachers; with whom he was somewhat sharp, and convicted them.\n\nAfter he had done with them, I was brought up to the table where he\nsat; and then the officers took off my hat. The mayor said mildly\nto me, \"Mr. Fox, you are an eminent man amongst those of your\nprofession; pray, will you be instrumental to dissuade them from\nmeeting in such great numbers? for, seeing Christ hath promised that\nwhere two or three are met in His name, He will be in the midst of\nthem, and the King and Parliament are graciously pleased to allow\nfour to meet together to worship God; why will not you be content to\npartake both of Christ's promise to two or three, and the King's\nindulgence to four?\"[151]\n\n  [151] In a very keen letter Fox told the magistrates that this\n  act would have prevented the twelve apostles and the seventy\n  disciples from meeting!\n\nI answered to this purpose: \"Christ's promise was not to discourage\nmany from meeting together in His name, but to encourage the few,\nthat the fewest might not forbear to meet because of their fewness.\nBut if Christ hath promised to manifest His presence in the midst\nof so small an assembly, where but two or three are gathered in His\nname, how much more would His presence abound where two or three\nhundred are gathered in His name?\"\n\nI wished him to consider whether this Act, if it had been in their\ntime, would not have taken hold of Christ, with His twelve apostles\nand seventy disciples, who used to meet often together, and that with\ngreat numbers? However, I told him this Act did not concern us; for\nit was made against seditious meetings, of such as met under colour\nand pretence of religion \"to contrive insurrections, as [the Act\nsays] late experience had shown.\" But we had been sufficiently tried\nand proved, and always found peaceable, and therefore he would do\nwell to put a difference between the innocent and the guilty.\n\nHe said the Act was made against meetings, and a worship not\naccording to the liturgy.\n\nI told him \"according to\" was not the very same thing; and asked him\nwhether the liturgy was according to the Scriptures, and whether we\nmight not read Scriptures and speak Scriptures.\n\nHe said, \"Yes.\"\n\nI told him, \"This Act takes hold only of such as meet to plot and\ncontrive insurrections, as late experience hath shown; but they have\nnever experienced that by us. Because thieves are sometimes on the\nroad, must not honest men travel? And because plotters and contrivers\nhave met to do mischief, must not an honest, peaceable people meet\nto do good? If we had been a people that met to plot and contrive\ninsurrections, etc., we might have drawn ourselves into fours; for\nfour might do more mischief in plotting than if there were four\nhundred, because four might speak out their minds more freely to one\nanother than four hundred could. Therefore we, being innocent, and\nnot the people this Act concerns, keep our meetings as we used to do.\nI believe thou knowest in thy conscience that we are innocent.\"\n\nAfter some more discourse, he took our names, and the places where we\nlodged; and at length, as the informer was gone, he set us at liberty.\n\nThe Friends with me now asked, \"Whither wilt thou go?\" I told them,\n\"To Gracechurch street meeting again, if it is not over.\"\n\nWhen we came there, the people were generally gone; only some few\nstood at the gate. We went into Gerrard Roberts's. Thence I sent to\nknow how the other meetings in the city were. I found that at some of\nthe meeting-places Friends had been kept out; at others they had been\ntaken; but these were set at liberty again a few days after.\n\nA glorious time it was; for the Lord's power came over all, and His\neverlasting truth got renown. For in the meetings, as fast as some\nthat were speaking were taken down, others were moved of the Lord to\nstand up and speak, to the admiration of the people; and the more\nbecause many Baptists and other sectaries left their public meetings,\nand came to see how the Quakers would stand.\n\nAs for the informer aforesaid, he was so frightened that hardly any\ninformer dared to appear publicly in London for some time after. But\nthe mayor, whose name was Samuel Starling, though he carried himself\nsmoothly towards us, proved afterwards a very great persecutor of\nour Friends, many of whom he cast into prison, as may be seen in the\ntrials of William Penn, William Mead, and others, at the Old Bailey\nthis year.[152]\n\n  [152] This trial at the Old Bailey is reported in full in\n  the Preface to the Works of William Penn. It is one of the\n  most interesting episodes in his life, and, from a legal\n  point of view, it is one of the most important jury trials\n  of that century. William Penn had thrown in his lot with the\n  Quakers definitely in 1666, though he had been influenced by\n  the preaching of Thomas Loe while he was a student in Oxford\n  University in 1659.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAs I was walking down a hill,[AP] a great weight and oppression fell\nupon my spirit. I got on my horse again, but the weight remained so\nthat I was hardly able to ride.\n\n  [AP] Near Rochester.\n\nAt length we came to Rochester, but I was much spent, being so\nextremely laden and burthened with the world's spirits, that my life\nwas oppressed under them. I got with difficulty to Gravesend, and lay\nat an inn there; but could hardly either eat or sleep.\n\nThe next day John Rous and Alexander Parker went to London; and John\nStubbs being come to me, we went over the ferry into Essex. We came\nto Hornchurch, where there was a meeting on First-day. After it I\nrode with great uneasiness to Stratford, to a Friend's house, whose\nname was Williams, and who had formerly been a captain. Here I lay,\nexceedingly weak, and at last lost both hearing and sight. Several\nFriends came to me from London: and I told them that I should be\na sign to such as would not see, and such as would not hear the\nTruth.[153]\n\n  [153] This is another of the times in Fox's life when he\n  underwent serious physical changes as a result of psychical\n  disturbance.\n\nIn this condition I continued some time. Several came about me;\nand though I could not see their persons, I felt and discerned\ntheir spirits, who were honest-hearted, and who were not. Divers\nFriends who practised physic came to see me, and would have given me\nmedicines, but I was not to meddle with any; for I was sensible I\nhad a travail to go through; and therefore desired none but solid,\nweighty Friends might be about me.\n\nUnder great sufferings and travails, sorrows and oppressions, I lay\nfor several weeks, whereby I was brought so low and weak in body that\nfew thought I could live. Some that were with me went away, saying\nthey would not see me die; and it was reported both in London and in\nthe country that I was deceased; but I felt the Lord's power inwardly\nsupporting me.\n\nWhen they that were about me had given me up to die, I spoke to them\nto get a coach to carry me to Gerrard Roberts's, about twelve miles\noff, for I found it was my place to go thither. I had now recovered\na little glimmering of sight, so that I could discern the people and\nfields as I went, and that was all.\n\nWhen I came to Gerrard's, he was very weak, and I was moved to speak\nto him, and encourage him. After I had stayed about three weeks\nthere, it was with me to go to Enfield. Friends were afraid of my\nremoving; but I told them I might safely go.\n\nWhen I had taken my leave of Gerrard, and was come to Enfield, I\nwent first to visit Amor Stoddart, who lay very weak and almost\nspeechless. I was moved to tell him that he had been faithful as a\nman, and faithful to God, and that the immortal Seed of life was his\ncrown. Many more words I was moved to speak to him, though I was then\nso weak I was hardly able to stand; and within a few days after, Amor\ndied.\n\nI went to the widow Dry's, at Enfield, where I lay all that winter,\nwarring in spirit with the evil spirits of the world, that warred\nagainst Truth and Friends. For there were great persecutions at this\ntime; some meeting-houses were pulled down, and many were broken up\nby soldiers. Sometimes a troop of horse, or a company of foot came;\nand some broke their swords, carbines, muskets, and pikes, with\nbeating Friends; and many they wounded, so that their blood lay in\nthe streets.\n\nAmongst others that were active in this cruel persecution at London,\nmy old adversary, Colonel Kirby, was one. With a company of foot, he\nwent to break up several meetings; and he would often inquire for\nme at the meetings he broke up. One time as he went over the water\nto Horsleydown, there happening some scuffle between some of his\nsoldiers and some of the watermen, he bade his men fire at them. They\ndid so, and killed some.\n\nI was under great sufferings at this time, beyond what I have\nwords to declare. For I was brought into the deep, and saw all the\nreligions of the world, and people that lived in them. And I saw\nthe priests that held them up; who were as a company of men-eaters,\neating up the people like bread, and gnawing the flesh from off their\nbones. But as for true religion, and worship, and ministers of God,\nalack! I saw there was none amongst those of the world that pretended\nto it.\n\nThough it was a cruel, bloody, persecuting time, yet the Lord's power\nwent over all, His everlasting Seed prevailed; and Friends were made\nto stand firm and faithful in the Lord's power. Some sober people of\nother professions would say, \"If Friends did not stand, the nation\nwould run into debauchery.\"\n\nThough by reason of my weakness I could not travel amongst Friends as\nI had been used to do, yet in the motion of life I sent the following\nlines as an encouraging testimony to them:\n\n     \"My dear Friends:\n\n     \"The Seed is above all. In it walk; in which ye all have life.\n\n     \"Be not amazed at the weather; for always the just suffered by\n     the unjust, but the just had the dominion.\n\n     \"All along ye may see, by faith the mountains were subdued; and\n     the rage of the wicked, with his fiery darts, was quenched.\n     Though the waves and storms be high, yet your faith will keep\n     you, so as to swim above them; for they are but for a time, and\n     the Truth is without time. Therefore keep on the mountain of\n     holiness, ye who are led to it by the Light.\n\n     \"Do not think that anything will outlast the Truth. For the\n     Truth standeth sure; and is over that which is out of the Truth.\n     For the good will overcome the evil; the light, darkness; the\n     life, death; virtue, vice; and righteousness, unrighteousness.\n     The false prophet cannot overcome the true; but the true\n     prophet, Christ, will overcome all the false.\n\n     \"So be faithful, and live in that which doth not think the time\n     long.\n\n                                                           G. F.\"\n\nAfter some time it pleased the Lord to allay the heat of this violent\npersecution; and I felt in spirit an overcoming of the spirits of\nthose men-eaters that had stirred it up and carried it on to that\nheight of cruelty. I was outwardly very weak; and I plainly felt,\nand those Friends that were with me, and that came to visit me,\ntook notice, that as the persecution ceased I came from under the\ntravails and sufferings that had lain with such weight upon me; so\nthat towards the spring I began to recover, and to walk up and down,\nbeyond the expectation of many, who did not think I could ever have\ngone abroad again.\n\nWhilst I was under this spiritual suffering the state of the New\nJerusalem which comes down out of heaven was opened to me; which\nsome carnal-minded people had looked upon to be like an outward\ncity dropped out of the elements. I saw the beauty and glory of it,\nthe length, the breadth, and the height thereof, all in complete\nproportion. I saw that all who are within the Light of Christ, and\nin His faith, of which He is the author; and in the Spirit, the Holy\nGhost, which Christ and the holy prophets and apostles were in; and\nwithin the grace, and truth, and power of God, which are the walls of\nthe city;--I saw that such are within the city, are members of it,\nand have right to eat of the Tree of Life, which yields her fruit\nevery month, and whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.\n\nMany things more did I see concerning the heavenly city, the New\nJerusalem, which are hard to be uttered, and would be hard to be\nreceived. But, in short, this holy city is within the Light, and all\nthat are within the Light, are within the city: the gates whereof\nstand open all the day (for there is no night there), that all may\ncome in.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nTwo Years in America.\n\n1671-1673.\n\n\nWhen I received notice of my wife's being taken to prison again,[154]\nI sent two of her daughters to the King, and they procured his\norder to the sheriff of Lancashire for her discharge. But though I\nexpected she would have been set at liberty, yet this violent storm\nof persecution coming suddenly on, the persecutors there found means\nto hold her still in prison.\n\n  [154] This was in 1669, about three months after their marriage.\n  The sentence of _pr\u00e6munire_ was passed against Margaret Fell in\n  1663, so that for about seven (Fox says ten) years she was the\n  King's prisoner, and her estate was in jeopardy.\n\nBut now the persecution a little ceasing, I was moved to speak to\nMartha Fisher, and another woman Friend, to go to the King about her\nliberty. They went in the faith, and in the Lord's power; and He gave\nthem favour with the King, so that he granted a discharge under the\nbroad seal, to clear both her and her estate, after she had been ten\nyears a prisoner, and pr\u00e6munired; the like whereof was scarce to be\nheard in England.\n\nI sent down the discharge forthwith by a Friend; by whom also I wrote\nto her, to inform her how to get it delivered to the justices, and\nalso to acquaint her that it was upon me from the Lord to go beyond\nsea, to visit the plantations in America; and therefore I desired\nher to hasten to London, as soon as she could conveniently after she\nhad obtained her liberty, because the ship was then fitting for the\nvoyage.\n\nIn the meantime I got to Kingston, and stayed at John Rous's till my\nwife came up, and then I began to prepare for the voyage. But the\nyearly meeting[155] being near at hand, I tarried till that was over.\nMany Friends came up to it from all parts of the nation, and a very\nlarge and precious meeting it was; for the Lord's power was over all,\nand His glorious, everlastingly-renowned Seed of Life was exalted\nabove all.\n\n  [155] He speaks of \"the yearly meeting\" as though it were\n  a well-established institution. Norman Penney has sent me\n  an interesting extract from Barclay's \"Letters of the Early\n  Friends,\" which traces the development of the yearly meeting:\n\n  \"There was a yearly meeting settled at Skipton in Yorkshire\n  for all the northern and southern countries, ... and then the\n  yearly meeting was removed to John Crooks, ... and afterwards the\n  yearly meeting was kept at Bailey, in Yorkshire, and likewise at\n  Skipton, in the year 1660. And from thence it was moved to London\n  the next year, where it hath been kept ever since,\" p. 312 from a\n  document said to have been by George Fox, but only since 1672 has\n  it been held in London without intermission. The series of yearly\n  meeting minutes commences 23d of Third month, 1671.\n\nAfter this meeting was over, and I had finished my services for the\nLord in England, the ship and the Friends that intended to go with\nme being ready, I went to Gravesend on the 12th of Sixth month,[156]\nmy wife and several Friends accompanying me to the Downs.\n\n  [156] Which would be August by the unreformed calendar.\n\nWe went from Wapping in a barge to the ship, which lay a little below\nGravesend, and there we found the Friends that were bound for the\nvoyage with me, who had gone down to the ship the night before. Their\nnames were Thomas Briggs, William Edmundson, John Rous, John Stubbs,\nSolomon Eccles, James Lancaster, John Cartwright, Robert Widders,\nGeorge Pattison, John Hull, Elizabeth Hooton, and Elizabeth Miers.\nThe vessel was a yacht, called the _Industry_; the captain's name\nThomas Forster, and the number of passengers about fifty.\n\nI lay that night on board, but most of the Friends at Gravesend.\nEarly next morning the passengers, and those Friends that intended to\naccompany us to the Downs, being come on board, we took our leave in\ngreat tenderness of those that came with us to Gravesend only, and\nset sail about six in the morning for the Downs.\n\nHaving a fair wind, we out-sailed all the ships that were\noutward-bound, and got thither by evening. Some of us went ashore\nthat night, and lodged at Deal, where, we understood, an officer had\norders from the governor to take our names in writing, which he did\nnext morning, though we told him they had been taken at Gravesend.\n\nIn the afternoon, the wind serving, I took leave of my wife and other\nFriends, and went on board. Before we could sail, there being two of\nthe King's frigates riding in the Downs, the captain of one of them\nsent his press-master on board us, who took three of our seamen. This\nwould certainly have delayed, if not wholly prevented, our voyage,\nhad not the captain of the other frigate, being informed of the\nleakiness of our vessel, and the length of our voyage, in compassion\nand much civility, spared us two of his own men.\n\nBefore this was over, a custom-house officer came on board to peruse\npackets and get fees; so that we were kept from sailing till about\nsunset; during which delay a very considerable number of merchantmen,\noutward-bound, were several leagues before us.\n\nBeing clear, we set sail in the evening, and next morning overtook\npart of that fleet about the height of Dover. We soon reached the\nrest, and in a little time left them all behind; for our yacht was\ncounted a very swift sailer. But she was very leaky, so that the\nseamen and some of the passengers did, for the most part, pump day\nand night. One day they observed that in two hours' time she sucked\nin sixteen inches of water in the well.\n\nWhen we had been about three weeks at sea, one afternoon we spied\na vessel about four leagues astern of us. Our master said it was\na Sallee[157] man-of-war, that seemed to give us chase. He said,\n\"Come, let us go to supper, and when it grows dark we shall lose\nhim.\" This he spoke to please and pacify the passengers, some of whom\nbegan to be very apprehensive of the danger. But Friends were well\nsatisfied in themselves, having faith in God, and no fear upon their\nspirits.\n\n  [157] A Moorish pirate ship, named from Sallee, a seaport of\n  Morocco. This incident not only indicates Fox's simple faith in\n  God, but it also is a good illustration of the way in which he\n  inspired confidence in others. The captain believes in him.\n\nWhen the sun was gone down, I saw out of my cabin the ship making\ntowards us. When it grew dark, we altered our course to miss her; but\nshe altered also, and gained upon us.\n\nAt night the master and others came into my cabin, and asked me what\nthey should do. I told them I was no mariner; and I asked them what\nthey thought was best to do. They said there were but two ways,\neither to outrun him, or to tack about, and hold the same course we\nwere going before. I told them that if he were a thief, they might be\nsure he would tack about too; and as for outrunning him, it was to\nno purpose to talk of that, for they saw he sailed faster than we.\nThey asked me again what they should do, \"for,\" they said, \"if the\nmariners had taken Paul's counsel, they had not come to the damage\nthey did.\" I answered that it was a trial of faith, and therefore the\nLord was to be waited on for counsel.\n\nSo, retiring in spirit, the Lord showed me that His life and power\nwere placed between us and the ship that pursued us. I told this to\nthe master and the rest, and that the best way was to tack about\nand steer our right course. I desired them also to put out all\ntheir candles but the one they steered by, and to speak to all the\npassengers to be still and quiet.\n\nAbout eleven at night the watch called and said they were just upon\nus. This disquieted some of the passengers. I sat up in my cabin,\nand, looking through the port-hole, the moon being not quite down, I\nsaw them very near us. I was getting up to go out of the cabin; but\nremembering the word of the Lord, that His life and power were placed\nbetween us and them, I lay down again.\n\nThe master and some of the seamen came again, and asked me if they\nmight not steer such a point. I told them they might do as they would.\n\nBy this time the moon was quite down. A fresh gale arose, and the\nLord hid us from them; we sailed briskly on and saw them no more.\n\nThe next day, being the first day of the week, we had a public\nmeeting in the ship, as we usually had on that day throughout the\nvoyage, and the Lord's presence was greatly among us. I desired the\npeople to remember the mercies of the Lord, who had delivered them;\nfor they might have been all in the Turks' hands by that time, had\nnot the Lord's hand saved them.\n\nAbout a week after, the master and some of the seamen endeavoured to\npersuade the passengers that it was not a Turkish pirate that had\nchased us, but a merchantman going to the Canaries. When I heard\nof it I asked them, \"Why then did you speak so to me? Why did you\ntrouble the passengers? and why did you tack about from him and\nalter your course?\" I told them they should take heed of slighting\nthe mercies of God.\n\nAfterwards, while we were at Barbadoes, there came in a merchant\nfrom Sallee, and told the people that one of the Sallee men-of-war\nsaw a monstrous yacht at sea, the greatest that ever he saw, and had\nher in chase, and was just upon her, but that there was a spirit in\nher that he could not take. This confirmed us in the belief that it\nwas a Sallee-man we saw make after us, and that it was the Lord that\ndelivered us out of his hands.\n\nThe third of the Eighth month, early in the morning, we discovered\nthe island of Barbadoes; but it was between nine and ten at night ere\nwe came to anchor in Carlisle bay.\n\nWe got on shore as soon as we could, and I with some others walked to\nthe house of a Friend, a merchant, whose name was Richard Forstall,\nabove a quarter of a mile from the bridge. But being very ill and\nweak, I was so tired, that I was in a manner spent by the time I got\nthither. There I abode very ill several days, and though they several\ntimes gave me things to make me sweat, they could not effect it.\nWhat they gave me did rather parch and dry up my body, and made me\nprobably worse than otherwise I might have been.\n\nThus I continued about three weeks after I landed, having much pain\nin my bones, joints, and whole body, so that I could hardly get any\nrest; yet I was pretty cheery, and my spirit kept above it all.\nNeither did my illness take me off from the service of Truth; but\nboth while I was at sea, and after I came to Barbadoes, before I was\nable to travel about, I gave forth several papers (having a Friend\nto write for me), some of which I sent by the first conveyance for\nEngland to be printed.\n\nSoon after I came into the island, I was informed of a remarkable\npassage, wherein the justice of God did eminently appear. It was\nthus. There was a young man of Barbadoes whose name was John Drakes,\na person of some note in the world's account, but a common swearer\nand a bad man, who, when he was in London, had a mind to marry a\nFriend's daughter, left by her mother very young, with a considerable\nportion, to the care and government of several Friends, whereof I was\none. He made application to me that he might have my consent to marry\nthis young maid.\n\nI told him I was one of her overseers, appointed by her mother, who\nwas a widow, to take care of her; that if her mother had intended her\nfor a match to any man of another profession, she would have disposed\nher accordingly; but she committed her to us, that she might be\ntrained up in the fear of the Lord; and therefore I should betray the\ntrust reposed in me if I should consent that he, who was out of the\nfear of God, should marry her; and this I would not do.\n\nWhen he saw that he could not obtain his desire, he returned to\nBarbadoes with great offence of mind against me, but without a just\ncause. Afterwards, when he heard I was coming to Barbadoes, he swore\ndesperately, and threatened that if he could possibly procure it, he\nwould have me burned to death when I came there. A Friend hearing of\nthis, asked him what I had done to him that he was so violent against\nme. He would not answer, but said again, \"I'll have him burned.\"\nWhereupon the Friend replied, \"Do not march on too furiously, lest\nthou come too soon to thy journey's end.\"\n\nAbout ten days after he was struck with a violent, burning fever, of\nwhich he died; by which his body was so scorched that the people said\nit was as black as a coal; and three days before I landed his body\nwas laid in the dust. This was taken notice of as a sad example.\n\nWhile I continued so weak that I could not go abroad to meetings,\nthe other Friends that came over with me bestirred themselves in the\nLord's work. The next day but one after we came on shore, they had\na great meeting at the Bridge, and after that several meetings in\ndifferent parts of the island; which alarmed the people of all sorts,\nso that many came to our meetings, and some of the chiefest rank. For\nthey had got my name, understanding I was come upon the island, and\nexpected to see me, not knowing I was unable to go abroad.\n\nAnd indeed my weakness continued the longer on me, because my spirit\nwas much pressed down at the first with the filth and dirt, and with\nthe unrighteousness of the people, which lay as an heavy weight and\nload upon me. But after I had been above a month upon the island my\nspirit became somewhat easier; I began to recover my health and\nstrength, and to get abroad among Friends.[158]\n\n  [158] As George Fox was too ill to travel, the meetings for\n  worship and for business were held at the house where he was\n  staying. At these meetings he gave much valuable counsel. Here he\n  first met with slavery and dealt with it. \"I desired them also\n  that they would cause their overseers to deal mildly and gently\n  with their negroes, and not use cruelty towards them, as the\n  manner of some hath been and is; and that after certain years of\n  servitude, they would make them free.\"\n\nAfter I was able to go about, and had been a little amongst Friends,\nI went to visit the Governor, Lewis Morice, Thomas Rous, and some\nother Friends being with me. He received us very civilly, and treated\nus very kindly, making us dine with him, and keeping us the greater\npart of the day before he let us go away.\n\nThe same week I went to Bridgetown. There was to be a general meeting\nof Friends that week; and the visit I had made to the Governor, and\nthe kind reception I had with him, being generally known to the\nofficers, civil and military, many came to this meeting from most\nparts of the island, and those not of the meanest rank; several\nbeing judges or justices, colonels or captains; so that a very great\nmeeting we had, both of Friends and others.\n\nThe Lord's blessed power was plentifully with us; and although I\nwas somewhat straitened for time, three other Friends having spoken\nbefore me, yet the Lord opened things through me to the general and\ngreat satisfaction of them that were present. Colonel Lewis Morice\ncame to this meeting, and with him a neighbour of his, a judge in the\ncountry, whose name was Ralph Fretwell, who was very well satisfied,\nand received the Truth.\n\nPaul Gwin, a jangling Baptist, came into the meeting, and asked me\nhow I spelt Cain, and whether I had the same spirit as the apostles\nhad. I told him, \"Yes.\" And he bade the judge take notice of it.\n\nI told him, \"He that hath not a measure of the same Holy Ghost as the\napostles had, is possessed with an unclean spirit.\" And then he went\nhis way.\n\nWe had many great and precious meetings, both for worship and for the\naffairs of the Church; to the former of which many of other societies\ncame. At one of these meetings Colonel Lyne, a sober person, was so\nwell satisfied with what I declared that he said, \"Now I can gainsay\nsuch as I have heard speak evil of you; who say, you do not own\nChrist, nor that He died; whereas I perceive you exalt Christ in all\nHis offices beyond what I have ever heard before.\"[159]\n\n  [159] In order that it might be positively clear that he \"exalted\n  Christ in all His offices,\" he wrote an extended Letter to the\n  Governor of Barbadoes. The Letter takes the form of a declaration\n  of faith and is often referred to as an authoritative statement\n  of the belief of Friends. It was, however, not written for that\n  purpose, and it is not by any means a full statement of their\n  belief. It does not even mention the principle which held the\n  leading place in all Fox's teaching and preaching. The Letter to\n  the Governor was written to clear Friends from false charges,\n  and it dwells solely on the points on which Fox is rumored to\n  be unsound, or charged with dangerous teaching. The earliest\n  \"declaration of faith\" of the Quakers was issued by Christopher\n  Holder, John Copeland and Richard Doudney, from Boston prison\n  in 1657. The earliest statement issued in England was Richard\n  Farnsworth's \"Confession and Profession of Faith in God,\" London,\n  1658.\n\nAs I had been to visit the Governor as soon as I was well able, after\nI came thither, so, when I was at Thomas Rous's, the Governor came to\nsee me, carrying himself very courteously.\n\nHaving been three months or more in Barbadoes, and having visited\nFriends, thoroughly settled meetings, and despatched the service\nfor which the Lord brought me thither, I felt my spirit clear of\nthat island, and found drawings to Jamaica. When I had communicated\nthis to Friends, I acquainted the Governor also, and divers of his\ncouncil, that I intended shortly to leave the island, and go to\nJamaica. This I did that, as my coming thither was open and public,\nso my departure also might be. Before I left the island I wrote the\nfollowing letter to my wife, that she might understand both how it\nwas with me, and how I proceeded in my travels:--\n\n     \"MY DEAR HEART,\n\n     \"To whom is my love, and to all the children, in the Seed of\n     Life that changeth not, but is over all; blessed be the Lord\n     forever. I have undergone great sufferings in my body and\n     spirit, beyond words; but the God of heaven be praised, His\n     Truth is over all. I am now well; and, if the Lord permit,\n     within a few days I pass from Barbadoes towards Jamaica; and I\n     think to stay but little there. I desire that ye may be all kept\n     free in the Seed of Life, out of all cumbrances. Friends are\n     generally well. Remember me to Friends that inquire after me. So\n     no more, but my love in the Seed and Life that changeth not.\n\n                                                           \"G. F.\n\n     \"Barbadoes, 6th of 11th Month, 1671.\"\n\nI set sail from Barbadoes to Jamaica on the 8th of the Eleventh\nmonth, 1671; Robert Widders, William Edmundson, Solomon Eccles\nand Elizabeth Hooton going with me. Thomas Briggs and John Stubbs\nremained in Barbadoes, with whom were John Rous and William Bailey.\n\nWe had a quick and easy passage to Jamaica, where we met again with\nour Friends James Lancaster, John Cartwright, and George Pattison,\nwho had been labouring there in the service of Truth; into which\nwe forthwith entered with them, travelling up and down through the\nisland, which is large; and a brave country it is, though the people\nare, many of them, debauched and wicked.\n\n[Illustration: SETTLEMENTS IN AMERICA VISITED BY GEORGE FOX]\n\nWe had much service. There was a great convincement, and many\nreceived the Truth, some of whom were people of account in the world.\nWe had many meetings there, which were large, and very quiet. The\npeople were civil to us, so that not a mouth was opened against us. I\nwas twice with the Governor, and some other magistrates, who all\ncarried themselves kindly towards me.\n\nAbout a week after we landed in Jamaica, Elizabeth Hooton, a woman of\ngreat age, who had travelled much in Truth's service, and suffered\nmuch for it, departed this life. She was well the day before she\ndied, and departed in peace, like a lamb, bearing testimony to Truth\nat her departure.\n\nWhen we had been about seven weeks in Jamaica, had brought Friends\ninto pretty good order, and settled several meetings amongst them,\nwe left Solomon Eccles there; the rest of us embarked for Maryland,\nleaving Friends and Truth prosperous in Jamaica, the Lord's power\nbeing over all, and His blessed Seed reigning.\n\nBefore I left Jamaica I wrote another letter to my wife, as follows:\n\n     \"MY DEAR HEART,\n\n     \"To whom is my love, and to the children, in that which changeth\n     not, but is over all; and to all Friends in those parts. I have\n     been in Jamaica about five weeks. Friends here are generally\n     well, and there is a convincement: but things would be too\n     large to write of. Sufferings in every place attend me; but the\n     blessed Seed is over all; the great Lord be praised, who is Lord\n     of sea and land, and of all things therein. We intend to pass\n     from hence about the beginning of next month, towards Maryland,\n     if the Lord please. Dwell all of you in the Seed of God; in His\n     Truth I rest in love to you all.\n\n                                                            G. F.\n\n     \"Jamaica, 23d of 12th Month, 1671.\"\n\nWe went on board on the 8th of First month,[AQ] 1671-2, and,\nhaving contrary winds, were a full week sailing forwards and\nbackwards before we could get out of sight of Jamaica.\n\n  [AQ] March 8th, 1672.\n\nA difficult voyage this proved, and dangerous, especially in passing\nthrough the Gulf of Florida, where we met with many trials by winds\nand storms.\n\nBut the great God, who is Lord of the sea and land, and who rideth\nupon the wings of the wind, did by His power preserve us through many\nand great dangers, when by extreme stress of weather our vessel was\nmany times likely to be upset, and much of her tackling broken. And\nindeed we were sensible that the Lord was a God at hand, and that His\near was open to the supplications of His people.\n\nFor when the winds were so strong and boisterous, and the storms\nand tempests so great that the sailors knew not what to do, but let\nthe ship go which way she would, then did we pray unto the Lord,\nwho graciously heard us, calmed the winds and the seas, gave us\nseasonable weather, and made us to rejoice in His salvation. Blessed\nand praised be the holy name of the Lord, whose power hath dominion\nover all, whom the winds and the seas obey.\n\nWe were between six and seven weeks in this passage from Jamaica to\nMaryland. Some days before we came to land, after we had entered the\nbay of Patuxent River, a great storm arose, which cast a boat upon us\nfor shelter, in which were several people of account in the world. We\ntook them in; but the boat was lost, with five hundred pounds' worth\nof goods in it, as they said. They continued on board several days,\nnot having any means to get off; and we had a very good meeting with\nthem in the ship.\n\nBut provisions grew short, for they brought none in with them; and\nours, by reason of the length of our voyage, were well-nigh spent\nwhen they came to us; so that with their living with us too, we had\nnow little or none left. Whereupon George Pattison took a boat, and\nventured his life to get to shore; the hazard was so great that all\nbut Friends concluded he would be cast away. Yet it pleased the Lord\nto bring him safe to land, and in a short time after the Friends of\nthe place came to fetch us to land also, in a seasonable time, for\nour provisions were quite spent.\n\nWe partook also of another great deliverance in this voyage, through\nthe good providence of the Lord, which we came to understand\nafterwards. For when we were determined to come from Jamaica, we had\nour choice of two vessels, that were both bound for the same coast.\nOne of these was a frigate, the other a yacht. The master of the\nfrigate, we thought, asked unreasonably for our passage, which made\nus agree with the master of the yacht, who offered to carry us ten\nshillings a-piece cheaper than the other.\n\nWe went on board the yacht, and the frigate came out together with\nus, intending to be consorts during the voyage. For several days we\nsailed together; but, with calms and contrary winds, we were soon\nseparated. After that the frigate, losing her way, fell among the\nSpaniards, by whom she was taken and plundered, and the master and\nmate made prisoners. Afterwards, being retaken by the English, she\nwas sent home to her owners in Virginia. When we came to understand\nthis we saw and admired the providence of God, who preserved us\nout of our enemies' hands; and he that was covetous fell among the\ncovetous.\n\nHere we found John Burnyeat,[160] intending shortly to sail for\nEngland; but on our arrival he altered his purpose, and joined us in\nthe Lord's service. He had appointed a general meeting for all the\nFriends in the province of Maryland, that he might see them together,\nand take his leave of them before he departed out of the country. It\nwas so ordered by the good providence of God that we landed just in\ntime to reach that meeting, by which means we had a very seasonable\nopportunity of taking the Friends of the province together.\n\n  [160] John Burnyeat travelled extensively and did much valuable\n  work in America. See the Journal of John Burnyeat, reprinted in\n  Volume II. of Friends' Library.\n\nA very large meeting this was, and it held four days, to which,\nbesides Friends, came many other people, several of whom were of\nconsiderable quality in the world's account. There were five or six\njustices of the peace, the speaker of their assembly, one of their\ncouncil, and others of note, who seemed well satisfied with the\nmeeting. After the public meetings were over, the men's and women's\nmeetings began, wherein I opened to Friends the service thereof, to\ntheir great satisfaction.\n\nAfter this we went to the Cliffs, where another general meeting was\nappointed. We went some of the way by land, the rest by water, and, a\nstorm arising, our boat was run aground, in danger of being beaten to\npieces, and the water came in upon us. I was in a great sweat, having\ncome very hot out of a meeting before, and now was wet with the water\nbesides; yet, having faith in the divine power, I was preserved from\ntaking hurt, blessed be the Lord!\n\nTo this meeting came many who received the Truth with reverence.\nWe had also a men's meeting and a women's meeting. Most of the\nbacksliders came in again; and several meetings were established for\ntaking care of the affairs of the Church.\n\nAfter these two general meetings, we parted company, dividing\nourselves unto several coasts, for the service of Truth. James\nLancaster and John Cartwright went by sea for New England; William\nEdmundson and three Friends more sailed for Virginia, where things\nwere much out of order; John Burnyeat, Robert Widders, George\nPattison, and I, with several Friends of the province, went over\nby boat to the Eastern Shore,[AR] and had a meeting there on the\nFirst-day.\n\n  [AR] Eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay.\n\nThere many people received the Truth with gladness, and Friends were\ngreatly refreshed. A very large and heavenly meeting it was. Several\npersons of quality in that country were at it, two of whom were\njustices of the peace. It was upon me from the Lord to send to the\nIndian emperor and his kings to come to that meeting. The emperor\ncame and was at the meeting. His kings, lying further off, could\nnot reach the place in time. Yet they came soon after, with their\ncockarooses.[161]\n\n  [161] Local word for Indian chief or headman.\n\nI had in the evening two good opportunities with them; they heard\nthe Word of the Lord willingly, and confessed to it. What I spoke\nto them I desired them to speak to their people, and to let them\nknow that God was raising up His tabernacle of witness in their\nwilderness-country, and was setting up His standard and glorious\nensign of righteousness. They carried themselves very courteously and\nlovingly, and inquired where the next meeting would be, saying that\nthey would come to it. Yet they said they had had a great debate with\ntheir council about their coming, before they came.\n\nThe next day we began our journey by land to New England; a tedious\njourney through the woods and wilderness, over bogs and great rivers.\n\nWe took horse at the head of Tredhaven creek, and travelled through\nthe woods till we came a little above the head of Miles river, by\nwhich we passed, and rode to the head of Wye river, and so to the\nhead of Chester river, where, making a fire, we took up our lodging\nin the woods. Next morning we travelled the woods till we came to\nSassafras river, which we went over in canoes, causing our horses to\nswim beside us.\n\nThen we rode to Bohemia river, where, in like manner swimming our\nhorses, we ourselves went over in canoes. We rested a little at a\nplantation by the way, but not long, for we had thirty miles to\nride that afternoon if we would reach a town, which we were willing\nto do, and therefore rode hard for it. I, with some others, whose\nhorses were strong, got to the town that night, exceedingly tired,\nand wet to the skin; but George Pattison and Robert Widders, being\nweaker-horsed, were obliged to lie in the woods that night also.\n\nThe town we went to was a Dutch town, called New Castle,[AS] whither\nRobert Widders and George Pattison came to us next morning.\n\n  [AS] In Delaware.\n\nWe departed thence, and got over the river Delaware, not without\ngreat danger of some of our lives. When we were over we were troubled\nto procure guides, which were hard to get, and very chargeable.\nThen had we that wilderness country, since called West Jersey, to\npass through, not then inhabited by English; so that we sometimes\ntravelled a whole day together without seeing man or woman, house\nor dwelling-place. Sometimes we lay in the woods by a fire, and\nsometimes in the Indians' wigwams or houses.\n\nWe came one night to an Indian town, and lay at the house of the\nking, who was a very pretty[AT] man. Both he and his wife received\nus very lovingly, and his attendants (such as they were) were very\nrespectful to us. They gave us mats to lie on; but provision was very\nshort with them, they having caught but little that day. At another\nIndian town where we stayed the king came to us, and he could speak\nsome English. I spoke to him much, and also to his people; and they\nwere very loving to us.\n\n  [AT] That is, kindly-spirited.\n\nAt length we came to Middletown, an English plantation in East\nJersey, and there we found some Friends; but we could not stay to\nhave a meeting at that time, being earnestly pressed in our spirits\nto get to the half-year's meeting of Friends at Oyster Bay, in Long\nIsland, which was very near at hand.\n\nWe went with a Friend, Richard Hartshorn, brother of Hugh Hartshorn,\nthe upholsterer, in London, who received us gladly at his house,\nwhere we refreshed ourselves; and then he carried us and our horses\nin his own boat over a great water, which occupied most part of the\nday getting over, and set us upon Long Island. We got that evening to\nFriends at Gravesend, with whom we tarried that night, and next day\ngot to Flushing, and the day following reached Oyster Bay; several\nFriends of Gravesend and Flushing accompanied us.\n\nThe half-year's meeting began next day, which was the first day of\nthe week, and lasted four days. The first and second days we had\npublic meetings for worship, to which people of all sorts came;\non the third day were the men's and women's meetings, wherein the\naffairs of the Church were taken care of. Here we met with some bad\nspirits, who had run out from Truth into prejudice, contention, and\nopposition to the order of Truth, and to Friends therein.\n\nThese had been very troublesome to Friends in their meetings there\nand thereabouts formerly, and likely would have been so now; but I\nwould not suffer the service of our men's and women's meetings to\nbe interrupted and hindered by their cavils. I let them know that if\nthey had anything to object against the order of Truth which we were\nin, we would give them a meeting another day on purpose. And indeed I\nlaboured the more, and travelled the harder to get to this meeting,\nwhere it was expected many of these contentious people would be;\nbecause I understood they had reflected much upon me, when. I was far\nfrom them.\n\nThe men's and women's meetings being over, on the fourth day we had\na meeting with these discontented people, to which as many of them\nas chose came, and as many Friends as desired were present also; and\nthe Lord's power broke forth gloriously to the confounding of the\ngainsayers. Then some of those that had been chief in the mischievous\nwork of contention and opposition against the Truth began to fawn\nupon me, and to cast the blame upon others; but the deceitful spirit\nwas judged down and condemned, and the glorious Truth of God was\nexalted and set over all; and they were all brought down and bowed\nunder. Which was of great service to Truth, and to the satisfaction\nand comfort of Friends; glory to the Lord for ever!\n\nAfter Friends were gone to their several habitations, we stayed\nsome days upon the island; had meetings in several parts thereof,\nand good service for the Lord. When we were clear of the island,\nwe returned to Oyster Bay, waiting for a wind to carry us to Rhode\nIsland, which was computed to be about two hundred miles. As soon as\nthe wind served, we set sail. We arrived there on the thirtieth day\nof the Third month, and were gladly received by Friends. We went to\nthe house of Nicholas Easton, who at that time was governor of the\nisland; where we rested, being very weary with travelling.\n\nOn First-day following we had a large meeting, to which came the\ndeputy-governor and several justices, who were mightily affected with\nthe Truth. The week following, the Yearly Meeting for all the Friends\nof New England and the other colonies adjacent, was held in this\nisland;[162] to which, besides very many Friends who lived in those\nparts, came John Stubbs from Barbadoes, and James Lancaster and John\nCartwright from another way.\n\n  [162] George Bishop, in \"New England Judged,\" p. 351, says that\n  New England Yearly Meeting was set up in 1661. John Burnyeat, who\n  had attended it in 1671, says in his Journal, \"It begins in the\n  ninth of the Fourth month _every year_; and continues for much of\n  a week, and is a general meeting once a year for all Friends in\n  New England.\" The records for several years after its origin were\n  destroyed by fire. They are, however, complete from 1683 to date.\n\nThis meeting lasted six days, the first four days being general\npublic meetings for worship, to which abundance of other people came.\nFor they having no priest in the island, and so no restriction to any\nparticular way of worship; and both the governor and deputy-governor,\nwith several justices of the peace, daily frequenting the meetings;\nthis so encouraged the people that they flocked in from all parts of\nthe island. Very good service we had amongst them, and Truth had\ngood reception.\n\nI have rarely observed a people, in the state wherein they stood, to\nhear with more attention, diligence, and affection, than generally\nthey did, during the four days; which was also taken notice of by\nother Friends.\n\nThese public meetings over, the men's meeting began, which was large,\nprecious, and weighty. The day following was the women's meeting,\nwhich also was large and very solemn.\n\nThese two meetings being for ordering the affairs of the Church,\nmany weighty things were opened, and communicated to them, by way\nof advice, information, and instruction in the services relating\nthereunto; that all might be kept clean, sweet and savoury amongst\nthem. In these, several men's and women's meetings for other parts\nwere agreed and settled, to take care of the poor, and other affairs\nof the Church, and to see that all who profess Truth walk according\nto the glorious gospel of God.\n\nWhen this great general meeting was ended, it was somewhat hard for\nFriends to part; for the glorious power of the Lord, which was over\nall, and His blessed Truth and life flowing amongst them, had so knit\nand united them together, that they spent two days in taking leave\none of another, and of the Friends of the island; and then, being\nmightily filled with the presence and power of the Lord, they went\naway with joyful hearts to their several habitations, in the several\ncolonies where they lived.\n\nWhen Friends had taken their leave one of another, we, who travelled\namongst them, dispersed ourselves into our several services, as the\nLord ordered us. John Burnyeat, John Cartwright, and George Pattison\nwent into the eastern parts of New England, in company with the\nFriends that came from thence, to visit the particular meetings\nthere; whom John Stubbs and James Lancaster intended to follow awhile\nafter, in the same service; but they were not yet clear of this\nisland. Robert Widders and I stayed longer upon this island; finding\nservice still here for the Lord, through the great openness and the\ndaily coming in of fresh people from other colonies, for some time\nafter the general meeting; so that we had many large and serviceable\nmeetings amongst them.\n\nDuring this time, a marriage was celebrated amongst Friends in this\nisland, and we were present. It was at the house of a Friend who had\nformerly been governor of the island: and there were present three\njustices of the peace, with many others not in profession with us.\nFriends said they had never seen such a solemn assembly on such an\noccasion, or so weighty a marriage and so comely an order. Thus Truth\nwas set over all. This might serve for an example to others; for\nthere were some present from many other places.\n\nAfter this I had a great travail in spirit concerning the Ranters\nin those parts, who had been rude at a meeting at which I was not\npresent. Wherefore I appointed a meeting amongst them, believing the\nLord would give me power over them; which He did, to His praise and\nglory; blessed be His name for ever! There were at this meeting many\nFriends, and divers other people; some of whom were justices of the\npeace, and officers, who were generally well affected with the Truth.\nOne, who had been a justice twenty years, was convinced, spoke highly\nof the Truth, and more highly of me than is fit for me to mention or\ntake notice of.\n\nThen we had a meeting at Providence, which was very large, consisting\nof many sorts of people. I had a great travail upon my spirit, that\nit might be preserved quiet, and that Truth might be brought over\nthe people, might gain entrance, and have a place in them; for they\nwere generally above the priest in high notions; and some of them\ncame on purpose to dispute. But the Lord, whom we waited upon, was\nwith us, and His power went over them all; and His blessed Seed was\nexalted and set above all. The disputers were silent, and the meeting\nwas quiet and ended well; praised be the Lord! The people went away\nmightily satisfied, much desiring another meeting.\n\nThis place (called Providence) was about thirty miles from Rhode\nIsland; and we went to it by water. The Governor of Rhode Island, and\nmany others, went with me thither; and we had the meeting in a great\nbarn, which was thronged with people, so that I was exceedingly hot,\nand in a great sweat; but all was well; the glorious power of the\nLord shone over all; glory to the great God for ever![163]\n\n  [163] For an account of Fox's relations with Roger Williams see\n  note in next chapter.\n\nAfter this we went to Narragansett, about twenty miles from Rhode\nIsland; and the Governor went with us. We had a meeting at a\njustice's house, where Friends had never had any before. It was very\nlarge, for the country generally came in; and people came also from\nConnecticut, and other parts round about, amongst whom were four\njustices of the peace. Most of these people had never heard Friends\nbefore; but they were mightily affected with the meeting, and a great\ndesire there is after the Truth amongst them; so that our meeting was\nof very good service, blessed be the Lord for ever!\n\nThe justice at whose house the meeting was, and another justice of\nthat country, invited me to come again; but I was then clear of those\nparts, and going towards Shelter Island. But John Burnyeat and John\nCartwright, being come out of New England into Rhode Island, before\nI was gone, I laid this place before them; and they felt drawings\nthither, and went to visit them.\n\nAt another place, I heard some of the magistrates say among\nthemselves that if they had money enough, they would hire me to be\ntheir minister. This was where they did not well understand us, and\nour principles; but when I heard of it, I said, \"It is time for me\nto be gone; for if their eye were so much on me, or on any of us,\nthey would not come to their own Teacher.\" For this thing (hiring\nministers) had spoiled many, by hindering them from improving their\nown talents; whereas our labour is to bring every one to his own\nTeacher _in_ himself.\n\nI went thence towards Shelter Island,[164] having with me Robert\nWidders, James Lancaster, George Pattison, and John Jay, a planter of\nBarbadoes.\n\n  [164] \"Shelter Island\" lies at the Eastern end of Long Island,\n  between Gardiner's Bay and Little Peconic Bay. Nathaniel\n  Sylvester was the sole proprietor of the island, and he made it a\n  shelter for persecuted Friends from New England.\n\nWe went in a sloop; and passing by Point Juda[AU] and Block\nIsland, we came to Fisher's Island, where at night we went on shore;\nbut were not able to stay for the mosquitoes which abound there, and\nare very troublesome. Wherefore we went into our sloop again, put off\nfor the shore, and cast anchor; and so lay in our sloop that night.\n\n  [AU] Point Judith.\n\nNext day we went into the Sound, but finding our sloop was not able\nto live in that water, we returned again, and came to anchor before\nFisher's Island, where we lay in our sloop that night also. There\nfell abundance of rain, and our sloop being open, we were exceedingly\nwet.\n\nNext day we passed over the waters called the Two Horse Races, and\nthen by Gardner's Island; after which we passed by the Gull's Island,\nand so got at length to Shelter Island. Though it was but about\ntwenty-seven leagues from Rhode Island, yet through the difficulty of\npassage we were three days in reaching it.\n\nThe day after, being First-day, we had a meeting there. In the same\nweek I had another among the Indians; at which were their king,\nhis council, and about a hundred Indians more. They sat down like\nFriends, and heard very attentively while I spoke to them by an\ninterpreter, an Indian that could speak English well. After the\nmeeting they appeared very loving, and confessed that what was said\nto them was Truth.\n\nNext First-day we had a great meeting on the island, to which came\nmany people who had never heard Friends before. They were very well\nsatisfied with it, and when it was over would not go away till they\nhad spoken with me. Wherefore I went amongst them, and found they\nwere much taken with the Truth; good desires were raised in them, and\ngreat love. Blessed be the Lord; His name spreads, and will be great\namong the nations, and dreadful among the heathen.\n\nWhile we were in Shelter Island, William Edmundson, who had been\nlabouring in the work of the Lord in Virginia, came to us. From\nthence he had travelled through the desert-country, through\ndifficulties and many trials, till he came to Roanoke, where he met\nwith a tender people. After seven weeks' service in those parts,\nsailing over to Maryland, and so to New York, he came to Long Island,\nand so to Shelter Island; where we met with him, and were very glad\nto hear from him the good service he had had for the Lord, in the\nseveral places where he had travelled since he parted from us.\n\nWe stayed not long in Shelter Island, but entering our sloop again\nput to sea for Long Island. We had a very rough passage, for the tide\nran so strong for several hours that I have not seen the like; and\nbeing against us, we could hardly get forwards, though we had a gale.\n\nWe were upon the water all that day and the night following; but\nfound ourselves next day driven back near to Fisher's Island. For\nthere was a great fog, and towards day it was very dark, so that we\ncould not see what way we made. Besides, it rained much in the night,\nwhich in our open sloop made us very wet.\n\nNext day a great storm arose, so that we were fain to go over the\nSound, and got over with much difficulty. When we left Fisher's\nIsland, we passed by Falkner Island, and came to the main, where we\ncast anchor till the storm was over.\n\nThen we crossed the Sound, being all very wet; and much difficulty we\nhad to get to land, the wind being strong against us. But blessed be\nthe Lord God of heaven and earth, and of the seas and waters, all was\nwell.\n\nWe got safe to Oyster Bay, in Long Island, which, they say, is about\ntwo hundred miles from Rhode Island, the seventh of the Sixth month,\nvery early in the morning.\n\nAt Oyster Bay we had a very large meeting. The same day James\nLancaster and Christopher Holder went over the bay to Rye,[165] on\nthe continent, in Governor Winthrop's government, and had a meeting\nthere.\n\n  [165] Rye is now in New York State. The boundary between New York\n  and Connecticut was long in dispute. At this time it seems Rye\n  was in Governor Winthrop's territory.\n\nFrom Oyster Bay, we passed about thirty miles to Flushing, where\nwe had a very large meeting, many hundreds of people being there;\nsome of whom came about thirty miles to it. A glorious and heavenly\nmeeting it was (praised be the Lord God!), and the people were much\nsatisfied.\n\nMeanwhile Christopher Holder and some other Friends went to a town in\nLong Island, called Jamaica, and had a meeting there.\n\nWe passed from Flushing to Gravesend, about twenty miles, and there\nhad three precious meetings; to which many would have come from New\nYork, but that the weather hindered them.\n\nBeing clear of this place, we hired a sloop, and, the wind serving,\nset out for the new country now called Jersey. Passing down the bay\nby Coney Island, Natton Island,[AV] and Staten Island, we came to\nRichard Hartshorn's at Middletown harbour,[AW] about break of day,\nthe twenty-seventh of the Sixth month.\n\n  [AV] Now Governor's Island.\n\n  [AW] In New Jersey.\n\nNext day we rode about thirty miles into that country, through the\nwoods, and over very bad bogs, one worse than all the rest; the\ndescent into which was so steep that we were fain to slide down with\nour horses, and then let them lie and breathe themselves before they\ncould go on. This place the people of the country called Purgatory.\n\nWe got at length to Shrewsbury, in East Jersey, and on First-day had\na precious meeting there, to which Friends and other people came\nfrom afar, and the blessed presence of the Lord was with us. The same\nweek we had a men's and women's meeting out of most parts of New\nJersey.\n\nThey are building a meeting place in the midst of them and there is a\nmonthly and general meeting set up which will be of great service in\nthose parts in keeping up the gospel order and government of Christ\nJesus, of the increase of which there is no end, that they who are\nfaithful may see that all who profess the holy Truth live in the pure\nreligion, and walk as becometh the gospel.\n\nWhile we were at Shrewsbury, an accident befel, which for the time\nwas a great exercise to us. John Jay, a Friend of Barbadoes, who had\ncome with us from Rhode Island, and intended to accompany us through\nthe woods to Maryland, being to try a horse, got upon his back, and\nthe horse fell a-running, cast him down upon his head, and broke his\nneck, as the people said. Those that were near him took him up as\ndead, carried him a good way, and laid him on a tree.\n\nI got to him as soon as I could; and, feeling him, concluded he was\ndead. As I stood pitying him and his family, I took hold of his hair,\nand his head turned any way, his neck was so limber. Whereupon I took\nhis head in both my hands, and, setting my knees against the tree, I\nraised his head, and perceived there was nothing out or broken that\nway.\n\nThen I put one hand under his chin, and the other behind his head,\nand raised his head two or three times with all my strength, and\nbrought it in. I soon perceived his neck began to grow stiff again,\nand then he began to rattle in his throat, and quickly after to\nbreathe.\n\nThe people were amazed; but I bade them have a good heart, be of good\nfaith, and carry him into the house. They did so, and set him by the\nfire. I bade them get him something warm to drink, and put him to\nbed. After he had been in the house a while he began to speak; but\ndid not know where he had been.\n\nThe next day we passed away (and he with us, pretty well) about\nsixteen miles to a meeting at Middletown, through woods and bogs, and\nover a river; where we swam our horses, and got over ourselves upon a\nhollow tree. Many hundred miles did he travel with us after this.[166]\n\n  [166] This narrative has sometimes been questioned and sometimes\n  been taken to prove that Fox was an instrument in working\n  miracles. Neither solution is satisfactory, or necessary. Recent\n  medical annals give similar cases. A dislocated neck is not\n  necessarily fatal. The incident shows again Fox's readiness in\n  dealing coolly and skillfully with hard situations. He endeavors\n  to do what _can_ be done.\n\nTo this meeting came most of the people of the town. A glorious\nmeeting we had, and the Truth was over all; blessed be the great Lord\nGod for ever! After the meeting we went to Middletown Harbor, about\nfive miles, in order to take our long journey next morning, through\nthe woods towards Maryland; having hired Indians for our guides.\n\nI determined to pass through the woods on the other side of Delaware\nbay, that we might head the creeks and rivers as much as possible. On\nthe 9th of the Seventh month we set forwards, and passed through many\nIndian towns, and over some rivers and bogs; and when we had ridden\nabout forty miles, we made a fire at night, and lay down by it. As we\ncame among the Indians, we declared the day of the Lord to them.\n\nNext day we travelled fifty miles, as we computed; and at night,\nfinding an old house, which the Indians had forced the people to\nleave, we made a fire and stayed there, at the head of Delaware\nBay.[167]\n\n  [167] It is not easy to follow Fox's scanty itinerary. There are\n  two Tinicum islands in the Delaware (it is called \"Dinidock\" in\n  the first edition of the Journal). The crossing was probably made\n  at the upper island, which is just in front of what is now the\n  city of Burlington, though this would be hardly ninety miles from\n  Middletown Harbour, as he estimates. He then travels down across\n  the very country which Friends afterwards settled under the\n  leadership of William Penn. There is evidence to show that the\n  idea of forming in America a colony of Friends originated with\n  George Fox. We learn from a letter of Josiah Coale, a Friend who\n  had travelled extensively among the Indians, that George Fox had\n  commissioned him to treat with the Susquehanna Indians for the\n  purchase of a strip of territory. Fox's letter is not preserved,\n  but Josiah Coale's answer is among the Swarthmore MSS., and is\n  as follows: \"Dear George,--As concerning Friends buying a piece\n  of land of the Susquehanna Indians, I have spoken of it to them\n  and told them what _thou said_ concerning it, but their answer\n  was that there is no land that is habitable or fit for situation\n  beyond Baltimore's liberty [i. e., beyond the domain of Lord\n  Baltimore,] till they come to or near the Susquehanna fort, and\n  besides William Fuller, who was the chief man amongst Friends\n  with the Indians ... is withdrawn at present, ... so that without\n  him little can be done at present with the Indians; and besides,\n  these Indians are at war with another nation of Indians, who are\n  very numerous, and it is doubted by some that in a little space\n  they will be so destroyed that they will not be a people. Thine\n  in the truth,\n\n                                                   JOSIAH COALE.\"\n\n  This letter was written in 1660, twelve years before this\n  American visit. About the same time William Penn's thoughts were\n  turning in the same direction. Writing about Pennsylvania in\n  1681, he says: \"This I can say, that I had an _opening of joy_ as\n  to these parts in the year 1661, at Oxford twenty years since.\"\n  By a purchase made through John Fenwick and Edward Byllynge,\n  Friends obtained possession of a great section of New Jersey in\n  1674, the year after George Fox arrived in England. There can be\n  no doubt that his thoughts were on future settlements here as he\n  travelled through what is now Pennsylvania and New Jersey.\n\nNext day we swam our horses over a river about a mile wide, first\nto an island called Upper Tinicum, and then to the mainland; having\nhired Indians to help us over in their canoes. This day we rode but\nabout thirty miles, and came at night to a Swede's house, where we\ngot a little straw, and stayed that night.\n\nNext day, having hired another guide, we travelled about forty miles\nthrough the woods, and made a fire at night, by which we lay, and\ndried ourselves; for we were often wet in our travels.\n\nThe next day we passed over a desperate river,[168] which had in it\nmany rocks and broad stones, very hazardous to us and our horses.\nThence we came to Christiana River, where we swam over our horses,\nand went over ourselves in canoes; but the sides of this river were\nso bad and miry, that some of the horses were almost laid up.\n\n  [168] The \"desperate river\" was probably the Brandywine, and the\n  Christiana \"River\" is Christiana Creek, formed from a junction\n  of Red Clay and White Clay Creeks. It finds the Delaware about\n  two miles below Wilmington. The Bohemia and Sassafras Rivers are\n  two of the many arms of Chesapeake Bay. The \"Kentish Shore\" is\n  the shore of Kent County, Maryland. Tredhaven (or Thirdhaven) is\n  farther down the Bay, where the boats were so thick it seemed\n  like the Thames! A meeting was established here which remains\n  until the present time.\n\nThence we came to New Castle,[AX] heretofore called New Amsterdam;\nand being very weary, and inquiring in the town where we might buy\nsome corn for our horses, the governor came and invited me to his\nhouse, and afterwards desired me to lodge there; telling me he had a\nbed for me, and I should be welcome. So I stayed, the other Friends\nbeing taken care of also.\n\n  [AX] In Delaware.\n\nThis was on a Seventh-day; and he offering his house for a meeting,\nwe had the next day a pretty large one; for most of the town were at\nit. Here had never been a meeting before, nor any within a great way;\nbut this was a very precious one. Many were tender, and confessed to\nthe Truth, and some received it; blessed be the Lord for ever!\n\nThe 16th of the Seventh month we set forward, and travelled, as near\nas we could compute, about fifty miles, through the woods and over\nthe bogs, heading Bohemia River and Sassafras River. At night we made\na fire in the woods, and lay there all night. It being rainy weather,\nwe got under some thick trees for shelter, and afterwards dried\nourselves again by the fire.\n\nNext day we waded through Chester River, a very broad water, and\nafterwards passing through many bad bogs, lay that night also in the\nwoods by a fire, not having gone above thirty miles that day. The day\nfollowing we travelled hard, though we had some troublesome bogs in\nour way; we rode about fifty miles, and got safe that night to Robert\nHarwood's, at Miles River,[AY] in Maryland.\n\n  [AY] Now St. Michael's.\n\nThis was the 18th of the Seventh month; and though we were very\nweary, and much dirtied with the bogs, yet hearing of a meeting next\nday, we went to it, and from it to John Edmundson's. Thence we went\nthree or four miles by water to a meeting on the First-day following.\n\nAt this meeting a judge's wife, who had never been at any of our\nmeetings before, was reached. She said after the meeting that she\nwould rather hear us once than the priests a thousand times. Many\nothers also were well satisfied; for the power of the Lord was\neminently with us. Blessed for ever be His holy name!\n\nWe passed thence about twenty-two miles, and had a good meeting upon\nthe Kentish shore, to which one of the judges came. After another\ngood meeting hard-by, at William Wilcock's, where we had good service\nfor the Lord, we went by water about twenty miles to a very large\nmeeting, where were some hundreds of people, four justices of peace,\nthe high sheriff of Delaware, and others. There were also an Indian\nemperor or governor, and two others of the chief men among the\nIndians.\n\nWith these Indians I had a good opportunity. I spoke to them by an\ninterpreter: they heard the Truth attentively, and were very loving.\nA blessed meeting this was, of great service both for convincing\nand for establishing in the Truth those that were convinced of it.\nBlessed be the Lord, who causeth His blessed Truth to spread!\n\nAfter the meeting there came to me a woman whose husband was one of\nthe judges of that country, and a member of the assembly there. She\ntold me that her husband was sick, not likely to live; and desired\nme to go home with her to see him. It was three miles to her house,\nand I being just come hot out of the meeting, it was hard for me then\nto go; yet considering the service, I got a horse, went with her,\nvisited her husband, and spoke to him what the Lord gave me. The man\nwas much refreshed, and finely raised up by the power of the Lord;\nand afterwards came to our meetings.\n\nI went back to the Friends that night, and next day we departed\nthence about nineteen or twenty miles to Tredhaven creek, to John\nEdmundson's again; whence, the 3d of Eighth month, we went to the\nGeneral Meeting for all Maryland Friends.[169]\n\n  [169] What is now called Baltimore Yearly Meeting was established\n  in 1672.\n\nThis held five days. The first three meetings were for public\nworship, to which people of all sorts came; the other two were men's\nand women's meetings. To the public meetings came many Protestants\nof divers sorts, and some Papists. Amongst these were several\nmagistrates and their wives, and other persons of chief account in\nthe country. There were so many besides Friends that it was thought\nthere were sometimes a thousand people at one of these meetings; so\nthat, though they had not long before enlarged their meeting-place,\nand made it as large again as it was before, it could not contain the\npeople.\n\nI went by boat every day four or five miles to it, and there were so\nmany boats at that time passing upon the river that it was almost\nlike the Thames. The people said there were never so many boats seen\nthere together before, and one of the justices said he had never\nseen so many people together in that country before. It was a very\nheavenly meeting, wherein the presence of the Lord was gloriously\nmanifested. Friends were sweetly refreshed, the people generally\nsatisfied, and many convinced; for the blessed power of the Lord was\nover all; everlasting praises to His holy name for ever!\n\nAfter the public meetings were over, the men's and women's meetings\nbegan, and were held the other two days; for I had something to\nimpart to them which concerned the glory of God, the order of the\ngospel, and the government of Christ Jesus.\n\nWhen these meetings were over, we took our leave of Friends in those\nparts, whom we left well established in the Truth.\n\nOn the 10th of the Eighth month we went thence about thirty miles by\nwater, passing by Crane's Island, Swan Island, and Kent Island, in\nvery foul weather and much rain. Our boat being open, we were not\nonly very much wet, but in great danger of being overset; insomuch\nthat some thought we could not escape being cast away. But, blessed\nbe God, we fared very well, and came safely to shore next morning.\n\nHaving got to a little house, dried our clothes by the fire, and\nrefreshed ourselves a little, we took to our boat again; and put\noff from land, sometimes sailing and sometimes rowing; but having\nvery foul weather that day too, we could not get above twelve miles\nforward. At night we got to land, and made a fire; some lay by that,\nand some by a fire at a house a little way off.\n\nNext morning we passed over the Great Bay, and sailed about forty\nmiles that day. Making to shore at night, we lay there, some in the\nboat, and some at an ale-house.\n\nNext morning being First-day, we went six or seven miles to the house\nof a Friend who was a justice of the peace, where we had a meeting.\nThis was a little above the head of the Great Bay. We had been almost\nfour days on the water, and were weary with rowing, yet all was very\nwell; blessed and praised be the Lord!\n\nWe went next day to another Friend's house, near the head of Hatton's\nIsland, where we had good service amongst Friends and others; as we\nhad also the day following at the house of George Wilson, a Friend\nthat lived about three miles further, where we had a very precious\nmeeting, there being great tenderness amongst the people.\n\nAfter this meeting we sailed about ten miles to the house of James\nFrizby, a justice of the peace, where, the 16th of the Eighth month,\nwe had a very large meeting, at which, besides Friends, were some\nhundreds of people, it was supposed. Amongst them were several\njustices, captains, and the sheriff, with other persons of note.\n\nA blessed heavenly meeting this was; a powerful, thundering testimony\nfor Truth was borne therein; a great sense there was upon the people,\nand much brokenness and tenderness amongst them.\n\nWe stayed till about the eleventh hour in the night, when the tide\nturned for us; then, taking boat, we passed that night and the next\nday about fifty miles to another Friend's house. The next two days we\nmade short journeys visiting Friends.\n\nThe 20th of the month we had a great meeting at a place called\nSevern, where there was a meeting-place, but not large enough to\nhold the people. Divers chief magistrates were at it, with many other\nconsiderable people, and it gave them generally great satisfaction.\n\nTwo days after we had a meeting with some that walked disorderly,\nand had good service in it. Then, spending a day or two in visiting\nFriends, we passed to the Western Shore, and on the 25th had a large\nand precious meeting at William Coale's, where the speaker of their\nassembly, with his wife, a justice of peace, and several people of\nquality, were present.\n\nNext day we had a meeting, six or seven miles further, at Abraham\nBirkhead's, where were many of the magistrates and upper sort; and\nthe speaker of the assembly for that country was convinced. A blessed\nmeeting it was; praised be the Lord!\n\nWe travelled the next day; and the day following, the 28th of\nthe Eighth month, had a large and very precious meeting at Peter\nSharp's, on the Cliffs, between thirty and forty miles distant from\nthe former. Many of the magistrates and upper rank of people were\npresent, and a heavenly meeting it was. The wife of one of the\nGovernor's council was convinced; and her husband was very loving to\nFriends. A justice of the peace from Virginia was convinced, and hath\nhad a meeting since at his house.\n\nSome Papists were at this meeting, one of whom, before he came,\nthreatened to dispute with me; but he was reached and could not\noppose. Blessed be the Lord, the Truth reached into the hearts of\npeople beyond words, and it is of a good savour amongst them!\n\nAfter the meeting we went about eighteen miles to the house of James\nPreston, a Friend that lived on Patuxent River. Thither came to us\nan Indian king, with his brother, to whom I spoke, and found they\nunderstood what I spoke of.\n\nHaving finished our service in Maryland, and intending to go to\nVirginia, we had a meeting at Patuxent on the 4th of the Ninth month,\nto take our leave of Friends. Many people of all sorts were at it,\nand a powerful meeting it was.\n\nOn the 5th we set sail for Virginia, and in three days came to a\nplace called Nancemond, about two hundred miles from Maryland. In\nthis voyage we met with foul weather, storms, and rain, and lay in\nthe woods by a fire in the night.\n\nAt Nancemond lived a Friend called the widow Wright. Next day we\nhad a great meeting there, of Friends and others. There came to it\nColonel Dewes, with several other officers and magistrates, who were\nmuch taken with the Truth declared.\n\nAfter this, we hastened towards Carolina; yet had several meetings\nby the way, wherein we had good service for the Lord; one about four\nmiles from Nancemond Water, which was very precious; and there was a\nmen's and women's meeting settled, for taking care of the affairs of\nthe Church.\n\nAnother very good one also we had at William Yarrow's, at Pagan\nCreek, which was so large, that we were fain to be abroad, the house\nnot being large enough to contain the people. A great openness there\nwas; the sound of Truth spread abroad, and had a good savour in the\nhearts of people; the Lord have the glory for ever!\n\nAfter this our way to Carolina grew worse, being much of it plashy,\nand pretty full of great bogs and swamps; so that we were commonly\nwet to the knees, and lay abroad at nights in the woods by a fire.\n\nOne night we got to a poor house at Sommertown,[AZ] and lay by the\nfire. The woman of the house had a sense of God upon her. The report\nof our travel had reached thither, and drawn some that lived beyond\nSommertown to that house, in expectation to see and hear us (so\nacceptable was the sound of Truth in that wilderness country); but\nthey missed us.\n\n  [AZ] Now Somerton.\n\nThe next day, the 21st of the Ninth month, having travelled hard\nthrough the woods and over many bogs and swamps, we reached Bonner's\nCreek; and there we lay that night by the fireside, the woman lending\nus a mat to lie on.\n\nThis was the first house we came to in Carolina. Here we left our\nhorses, over-wearied with travel. Thence we went down the creek in\na canoe, to Macocomocock River,[BA] and came to Hugh Smith's house,\nwhere the people of other professions came to see us (for there were\nno Friends in that part of the country), and many of them received us\ngladly.\n\n  [BA] Now Chowan.\n\nAmongst others came Nathaniel Batts, who had been Governor of\nRoanoke; he went by the name of Captain Batts, and had been a rude,\ndesperate man. He asked me about a woman in Cumberland, who, he said\nhe had been told, had been healed by our prayers, and by laying\non of hands, after she had been long sick, and given over by the\nphysicians; and he desired to know the certainty of it. I told him we\ndid not glory in such things, but many such things had been done by\nthe power of Christ.\n\nNot far from here we had a meeting among the people, and they were\ntaken with the Truth; blessed be the Lord! Then passing down the\nriver Maratick[BB] in a canoe, we went down the bay Coney-Hoe, and\ncame to the house of a captain, who was very loving, and lent us his\nboat, for we were much wet in the canoe, the water splashing in upon\nus. With this boat we went to the Governor's house; but the water\nin some places was so shallow that the boat, being laden, could not\nswim; so we were fain to put off our shoes and stockings, and wade\nthrough the water some distance.\n\n  [BB] Now Roanoke.\n\nThe Governor, with his wife, received us lovingly; but a doctor there\nwould needs dispute with us. And truly his opposing us was of good\nservice, giving occasion for the opening of many things to the people\nconcerning the Light and Spirit of God, which he denied to be in\neveryone; and affirmed that it was not in the Indians.\n\nWhereupon I called an Indian to us, and asked him whether when he\nlied, or did wrong to any one, there was not something in him that\nreproved him for it. He said there was such a thing in him, that did\nso reprove him; and he was ashamed when he had done wrong, or spoken\nwrong. So we shamed the doctor before the Governor and the people;\ninsomuch that the poor man ran out so far that at length he would\nnot own the Scriptures.\n\nWe tarried at the Governor's that night; and next morning he very\ncourteously walked with us himself about two miles through the woods,\nto a place whither he had sent our boat about to meet us. Taking\nleave of him, we entered our boat, and went that day about thirty\nmiles to the house of Joseph Scott, one of the representatives of the\ncountry.\n\nThere we had a sound, precious meeting; the people were tender, and\nmuch desired after meetings. At a house about four miles further, we\nhad another meeting, to which came the Governor's secretary, who was\nchief secretary of the province, and had been formerly convinced.\n\nHaving visited the north part of Carolina, and made a little entrance\nfor Truth upon the people there, we began to return towards Virginia,\nhaving several meetings in our way, wherein we had very good service\nfor the Lord, the people being generally tender and open; blessed be\nthe Lord!\n\nWe lay one night at the house of the secretary, to get to which gave\nus much trouble; for the water being shallow, we could not bring our\nboat to shore; but the secretary's wife, seeing our strait, came\nherself in a canoe (her husband being from home) and brought us to\nland.\n\nNext morning our boat was sunk; but we got her up, mended her, and\nwent away in her that day about twenty-four miles, the water being\nrough, and the winds high; but the great power of God was seen, in\ncarrying us safe in that rotten boat.\n\nUpon our return we had a very precious meeting at Hugh Smith's;\npraised be the Lord for ever! The people were very tender, and very\ngood service we had amongst them. There was at this meeting an Indian\ncaptain, who was very loving; and acknowledged it to be Truth that\nwas spoken. There was also one of the Indian priests, whom they\ncalled a Pawaw, who sat soberly among the people.\n\nThe 9th of the Tenth month we got back to Bonner's Creek, where we\nhad left our horses, having spent about eighteen days in the north of\nCarolina.\n\nOur horses having rested, we set forward for Virginia again,\ntravelling through the woods and bogs as far as we could well reach\nthat day, and at night lying by a fire in the woods. Next day we had\na tedious journey through bogs and swamps, and were exceedingly wet\nand dirty all the day, but dried ourselves at night by a fire.\n\nWe got that night to Sommertown. As we came near, the woman of the\nhouse, seeing us, spoke to her son to keep up their dogs; for both\nin Virginia and Carolina (living lonely in the woods) they generally\nkeep great dogs to guard their houses. But the son said, \"There is\nno need; our dogs will not meddle with these people.\" When we were\ncome into the house, she told us we were like the children of Israel,\nagainst whom the dogs did not move their tongues. Here we lay in our\nclothes by the fire, as we had done many a night before.\n\nNext day we had a meeting; for the people, having been informed of\nus, had a great desire to hear us; and a very good meeting we had\namong them, where we never had had one before; praised be the Lord\nfor ever! After the meeting we hastened away.\n\nWhen we had ridden about twenty miles, calling at a house to inquire\nthe way, the people desired us to tarry all night with them; which we\ndid.\n\nNext day we came among Friends, after we had travelled about an\nhundred miles from Carolina into Virginia: in which time we observed\ngreat variety of climates, having passed in a few days from a very\ncold to a warm and spring-like country. But the power of the Lord is\nthe same in all, is over all, and doth reach the good in all; praised\nbe the Lord for ever!\n\nWe spent about three weeks in travelling through Virginia, mostly\namongst Friends, having large and precious meetings in several\nparts of the country; as at the widow Wright's, where many of the\nmagistrates, officers, and other high people came. A most heavenly\nmeeting we had; wherein the power of the Lord was so great that it\nstruck a dread upon the assembly, chained all down, and brought\nreverence upon the people's minds.\n\nAmong the officers was a major, kinsman to the priest, who told me\nthat the priest had threatened to come and oppose us. But the Lord's\npower was too strong for him, and stopped him; and we were quiet and\npeaceable. The people were wonderfully affected with the testimony of\nTruth; blessed be the Lord for ever!\n\nHaving finished what service lay upon us in Virginia, on the 30th we\nset sail in an open sloop for Maryland. But having a great storm,\nand being much wet, we were glad to get to shore before night; and,\nwalking to a house at Willoughby Point, we got lodging there that\nnight. The woman of the house was a widow, and a very tender person;\nshe had never received Friends before; but she received us very\nkindly, and with tears in her eyes.\n\nWe returned to our boat in the morning, and hoisted our sail, getting\nforward as fast as we could. But towards evening, a storm rising,\nwe had much ado to get to shore; and our boat being open, the water\nsplashed often in, and sometimes over us, so that we were completely\nwet. Being got to land, we made a fire in the woods to warm and dry\nus, and there we lay all night, the wolves howling about us.\n\nOn the 1st of the Eleventh month we sailed again. The wind being\nagainst us, we made but little headway, and were fain to get to shore\nat Point Comfort, where yet we found but small comfort. For the\nweather was so cold that though we made a good fire in the woods to\nlie by, the water that we had brought for our use was frozen near the\nfireside. We made to sea again next day; but the wind being strong\nand against us, we advanced but little. We were glad to get to land\nagain, and travelled about to find some house where we might buy\nprovisions, for our store was spent.\n\nThat night, also, we lay in the woods; and so extremely cold was the\nweather, the wind blowing high, and the frost and snow being great,\nthat it was hard for some of us to abide it.\n\nOn the 3d, the wind setting pretty fair, we fetched it up by sailing\nand rowing, and got that night to Milford Haven, where we lay at\nRichard Long's, near Quince's Island.\n\nNext day we passed by Rappahannock River, where dwell many people;\nand Friends had a meeting there at the house of a justice, who had\nformerly been at a meeting where I was.\n\nWe passed over Potomac River also, the winds being high, the water\nvery rough, our sloop open, and the weather extremely cold; and had a\nmeeting there also, where some people were convinced. When we parted\nthence, some of our company went amongst them. We next steered our\ncourse for Patuxent River. I sat at the helm the greater part of the\nday, and some of the night. About the first hour in the morning we\nreached James Preston's house, on Patuxent River, which is about two\nhundred miles from Nancemond in Virginia.\n\nWe were very weary; yet the next day being the first of the week, we\nwent to the meeting not far from there. The same week we went to an\nIndian king's cabin, where were several of the Indians, with whom we\nhad a good opportunity to discourse; and they carried themselves very\nlovingly. We went also that week to a general meeting; then about\neighteen miles further to John Geary's, where we had a very precious\nmeeting; praised be the Lord God for ever!\n\nAfter this the cold grew so exceedingly sharp, the frost and snow so\nextreme, beyond what was usual in that country, that we could hardly\nendure it. Neither was it easy or safe to stir out; yet we got, with\nsome difficulty, six miles through the snow to John Mayor's, where\nwe met with some Friends come from New England, whom we had left\nthere when we came away; and glad we were to see each other, after so\nlong and tedious travels.\n\nBy these Friends we understood that William Edmundson, having been\nat Rhode Island and New England, was gone thence for Ireland; that\nSolomon Eccles, coming from Jamaica and landing at Boston in New\nEngland, was taken at a meeting there, and banished to Barbadoes;\nthat John Stubbs and another Friend were gone into New Jersey, and\nseveral other Friends to Barbadoes, Jamaica, and the Leeward Islands.\nIt was matter of joy to us to understand that the work of the Lord\nwent on and prospered, and that Friends were unwearied and diligent\nin the service.\n\nThe 27th of the Eleventh month we had a very precious meeting in a\ntobacco-house. The next day we returned to James Preston's, about\neighteen miles distant. When we came there, we found his house had\nbeen burnt to the ground the night before, through the carelessness\nof a maid-servant; so we lay three nights on the ground by the fire,\nthe weather being very cold.\n\nWe made an observation which was somewhat strange, but certainly\ntrue; that one day, in the midst of this cold weather, the wind\nturning into the south, it grew so hot that we could hardly bear the\nheat; and the next day and night, the wind chopping back into the\nnorth, we could hardly endure the cold.\n\nHaving travelled through most parts of that country, and visited\nmost of the plantations, and having sounded the alarm to all people\nwhere we came, and proclaimed the day of God's salvation amongst\nthem, we found our spirits began to be clear of these parts of the\nworld, and draw towards Old England again. Yet we were desirous, and\nfelt freedom from the Lord, to stay over the general meeting for the\nprovince of Maryland, which drew nigh; that we might see Friends\ngenerally together before we departed.\n\nSpending our time in the interim in visiting Friends and Friendly\npeople, in attending meetings about the Cliffs and Patuxent, and\nin writing answers to cavilling objections which some of Truth's\nadversaries had raised and spread abroad to hinder people from\nreceiving the Truth, we were not idle, but laboured in the work of\nthe Lord until that general provincial meeting came on, which began\non the 17th of the Third month, and lasted four days. On the first of\nthese the men and women had their meetings for business, wherein the\naffairs of the Church were taken care of, and many things relating\nthereto were opened unto them, to their edification and comfort.\n\nThe other three days were spent in public meetings for the worship of\nGod, at which divers of considerable account in the government, and\nmany others, were present. These were generally satisfied, and many\nof them reached; for it was a wonderful, glorious meeting, and the\nmighty presence of the Lord was seen and felt over all; blessed and\npraised for ever be His holy name, who over all giveth dominion!\n\nAfter this meeting we took our leave of Friends, parting in great\ntenderness, in the sense of the heavenly life and virtuous power of\nthe Lord that was livingly felt amongst us; and went by water to the\nplace where we were to take shipping, many Friends accompanying us\nthither and tarrying with us that night.\n\nNext day, the 21st of the Third month, 1673, we set sail for England;\nthe same day Richard Covell came on board our ship, having had his\nown taken from him by the Dutch.\n\nWe had foul weather and contrary winds, which caused us to cast\nanchor often, so that we were till the 31st ere we could get past the\ncapes of Virginia and out into the main sea. But after this we made\ngood speed, and on the 28th of the Fourth month cast anchor at King's\nRoad, which is the harbour for Bristol.\n\nWe had on our passage very high winds and tempestuous weather, which\nmade the sea exceedingly rough, the waves rising like mountains; so\nthat the masters and sailors wondered at it, and said they had never\nseen the like before. But though the wind was strong it set for the\nmost part with us, so that we sailed before it; and the great God\nwho commands the winds, who is Lord of heaven, of earth, and the\nseas, and whose wonders are seen in the deep, steered our course\nand preserved us from many imminent dangers. The same good hand of\nProvidence that went with us, and carried us safely over, watched\nover us in our return, and brought us safely back again; thanksgiving\nand praises be to his holy name for ever!\n\nMany sweet and precious meetings we had on board the ship during this\nvoyage (commonly two a week), wherein the blessed presence of the\nLord did greatly refresh us, and often break in upon and tender the\ncompany.\n\nWhen we came into Bristol harbour, there lay a man-of-war, and the\npress-master came on board to impress our men. We had a meeting at\nthat time in the ship with the seamen, before we went to shore; and\nthe press-master sat down with us, stayed the meeting, and was well\nsatisfied with it. After the meeting I spoke to him to leave in our\nship two of the men he had impressed, for he had impressed four, one\nof whom was a lame man. He said, \"At your request I will.\"\n\nWe went on shore that afternoon, and got to Shirehampton. We procured\nhorses and rode to Bristol that night, where Friends received us with\ngreat joy. In the evening I wrote a letter to my wife, to give her\nnotice of my landing.[170]\n\n  [170] The letter began as follows:\n\n     \"Dear heart,\n\n     \"This day we came into Bristol, near night, from the sea; glory\n     to the Lord God over all for ever, who was our convoy, and\n     steered our course! who is the God of the whole earth, of the\n     seas and winds, and made the clouds His chariots, beyond all\n     words, blessed be His name for ever! He is over all in His great\n     power and wisdom. Amen.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nThe Last Imprisonment.\n\n1673-1678.\n\n\nBetween this and the fair, my wife came out of the North to\nBristol to me, and her son-in-law, Thomas Lower, with two of her\ndaughters,[171] came with her. Her other son-in-law, John Rous,\nWilliam Penn and his wife, and Gerrard Roberts, came from London,\nand many Friends from several parts of the nation, to the fair; and\nglorious, powerful meetings we had at that time, for the Lord's\ninfinite power and life was over all.\n\n  [171] When George Fox married Margaret Fell she had one son,\n  George, and seven daughters, as follows: Margaret, who married\n  John Rous; Bridget, who married John Draper; Isabel, twice\n  married, first to William Yeomans, and then to Abraham Morrice;\n  Sarah, who married William Mead (Penn's companion in the famous\n  trial), Mary, who married Thomas Lower; Susanna, who married\n  William Ingram, and Rachel, who married Daniel Abraham.\n\nI passed into Wiltshire, where also we had many blessed meetings. At\nSlattenford, in Wiltshire, we had a very good meeting, though we met\nthere with much opposition from some who had set themselves against\nwomen's meetings; which I was moved of the Lord to recommend to\nFriends, for the benefit and advantage of the Church of Christ,[172]\n\"that faithful women, who were called to the belief of the Truth,\nbeing made partakers of the same precious faith, and heirs of the\nsame everlasting gospel of life and salvation with the men, might\nin like manner come into the possession and practice of the gospel\norder, and therein be helpmeets unto the men in the restoration,[BC]\nare outwardly in civil, or temporal things; that so all the family\nof God, women as well as men, might know, possess, perform, and\ndischarge their offices and services in the house of God, whereby the\npoor might be better taken care of, the younger instructed, informed,\nand taught in the way of God; the loose and disorderly reproved\nand admonished in the fear of the Lord; the clearness of persons\nproposing marriage more closely and strictly inquired into in the\nwisdom of God; and all the members of the spiritual body, the Church,\nmight watch over and be helpful to each other in love.\"\n\n  [172] This is the beginning of a serious opposition to Fox's\n  system of government, which finally grew to an open schism. It\n  was headed by John Wilkinson and John Story. It was one of the\n  most trying struggles of Fox's life.\n\n  [BC] That is, in reclaiming those who have gone astray.\n\nAfter a visit at Kingston, I went to London, where I found the\nBaptists and Socinians, with some old apostates, grown very rude,\nhaving printed many books against us; so that I had a great travail\nin the Lord's power, before I could get clear of that city. But\nblessed be the Lord, his power came over them, and all their lying,\nwicked, scandalous books were answered.\n\n     [After a visit with William Penn at the latter's home at\n     Rickmansworth, he started on his journey north towards\n     Swarthmore, accompanied by his wife, two of her daughters and\n     his son-in-law, Thomas Lower, a journey which led to more than a\n     year's imprisonment--his last imprisonment, as it proved.]\n\nAt night, as I was sitting at supper, I felt I was taken; yet I\nsaid nothing then to any one of it. But getting out next morning,\nwe travelled into Worcestershire, and went to John Halford's, at\nArmscott, where we had a very large and precious meeting in his barn,\nthe Lord's powerful presence being eminently with and amongst us.\n\nAfter the meeting, Friends being most of them gone, as I was sitting\nin the parlour, discoursing with some Friends, Henry Parker, a\njustice, came to the house, and with him one Rowland Hains, a priest\nof Hunniton, in Warwickshire. This justice heard of the meeting\nby means of a woman Friend, who, being nurse to a child of his,\nasked leave of her mistress to go to the meeting to see me; and she\nspeaking of it to her husband, he and the priest plotted together to\ncome and break it up and apprehend me.\n\nBut from their sitting long at dinner, it being the day on which his\nchild was sprinkled, they did not come till the meeting was over, and\nFriends mostly gone. But though there was no meeting when they came,\nyet I, who was the person they aimed at, being in the house, Henry\nParker took me, and Thomas Lower for company with me; and though he\nhad nothing to lay to our charge, sent us both to Worcester jail, by\na strange sort of mittimus.\n\nBeing thus made prisoners, without any probable appearance of being\nreleased before the quarter-sessions at soonest, we got some Friends\nto accompany my wife and her daughter into the north, and we were\nconveyed to Worcester. Thence, by the time I thought my wife would\nreach home, I wrote her the following letter:\n\n     \"DEAR HEART:\n\n     \"Thou seemedst to be a little grieved when I was speaking of\n     prisons, and when I was taken. Be content with the will of the\n     Lord God. For when I was at John Rous's, at Kingston, I had\n     a sight of my being taken prisoner; and when I was at Bray\n     Doily's, in Oxfordshire, as I sat at supper, I saw I was taken,\n     and I saw I had a suffering to undergo. But the Lord's power is\n     over all; blessed be His holy name forever!\n\n                                                      G. F.\"[173]\n\n  [173] Margaret Fox and her daughter were sent on under the escort\n  of a Friend, a merchant from Bristol, who, Fox says, \"seemed to\n  have met us providentially to assist my wife and her daughter\n  in their journey homewards, when by our imprisonment they were\n  deprived of our company and help.\" Fox had just received a\n  message that his mother was in her last illness, and it had been\n  his intention to part from his wife in Warwickshire and have a\n  last visit with his aged mother. This privilege never came, for\n  Mary Fox, of Fenny Drayton, died while her son was in Worcester\n  prison.\n\n     [This imprisonment began December 17th, 1673. The case was\n     brought before the sessions on the 21st of January, 1674. \"When\n     we came in,\" he writes, \"they were stricken with paleness in\n     their faces, and it was some time before anything was spoken;\n     insomuch that a butcher in the hall said, 'What, are they\n     afraid? Dare not the justices speak to them?'\" There was\n     manifestly no case against them on the _mittimus_, but the\n     judge, at the suggestion of the \"priest,\" took the easy way to\n     catch them. \"You, Mr. Fox, are a famous man, and all this may\n     be true which you have said; but, that we may be the better\n     satisfied, will you take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy?\"\n     The usual refusal was given, followed with the penalty of\n     _pr\u00e6munire_. During this long imprisonment he had the promise of\n     a pardon from the king, but he refused to get his liberty by any\n     method which implied that he had done wrong and needed pardon.\n     At the next sessions, in April, he got a temporary liberty,\n     so that he went to London and attended yearly meeting, after\n     which he returned to Worcester for a new trial, which ended in\n     the same old way. Meantime the strong man's constitution was\n     yielding to the incessant strain upon it.]\n\nAbout this time I had a fit of sickness, which brought me very low\nand weak in my body; and I continued so a pretty while, insomuch that\nsome Friends began to doubt of my recovery. I seemed to myself to\nbe amongst the graves and dead corpses; yet the invisible power did\nsecretly support me, and conveyed refreshing strength into me, even\nwhen I was so weak that I was almost speechless. One night, as I was\nlying awake upon my bed in the glory of the Lord which was over all,\nit was said unto me that the Lord had a great deal more work for me\nto do for Him before He took me to Himself.\n\nAfter this [about October 1st, 1674] my wife went to London, and\nspoke to the King, laying before him my long and unjust imprisonment,\nwith the manner of my being taken, and the justices' proceedings\nagainst me, in tendering me the oath as a snare, whereby they had\npr\u00e6munired me; so that I being now his prisoner, it was in his power,\nand at his pleasure, to release me, which she desired.\n\nThe King spoke kindly to her, and referred her to the Lord-Keeper; to\nwhom she went; but she could not obtain what she desired, for he said\nthe King could not release me otherwise than by a pardon, and I was\nnot free to receive a pardon, knowing I had not done evil. If I would\nhave been freed by a pardon, I need not have lain so long, for the\nKing was willing to give me pardon long before, and told Thomas Moore\nthat I need not scruple, being released by a pardon, for many a man\nthat was as innocent as a child had had a pardon granted him; yet I\ncould not consent to have one. For I would rather have lain in prison\nall my days, than have come out in any way dishonourable to Truth;\ntherefore I chose to have the validity of my indictment tried before\nthe judges.\n\nThereupon, having first had the opinion of a counsellor upon it\n(Thomas Corbet, of London, with whom Richard Davis, of Welchpool, was\nwell acquainted, and whom he recommended to me), an habeas corpus was\nsent down to Worcester to bring me up once more to the King's Bench\nbar, for the trial of the errors in my indictment. The under-sheriff\nset forward with me the 4th of the Twelfth month.\n\nWe came to London on the 8th, and on the 11th I was brought before\nthe four judges at the King's Bench, where Counsellor Corbet pleaded\nmy cause. He started a new plea; for he told the judges that they\ncould not imprison any man upon a pr\u00e6munire.\n\nChief-Justice Hale said, \"Mr. Corbet, you should have come sooner, at\nthe beginning of the term, with this plea.\"\n\nHe answered, \"We could not get a copy of the return and the\nindictment.\"\n\nThe Judge replied, \"You should have told us, and we would have forced\nthem to make a return sooner.\"\n\nThen said Judge Wild, \"Mr. Corbet, you go upon general terms; and if\nit be as you say, we have committed many errors at the Old Bailey,\nand in other courts.\"\n\nCorbet was positive that by law they could not imprison upon a\npr\u00e6munire.\n\nThe Judge said, \"There is summons in the statute.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said Corbet, \"but summons is not imprisonment; for summons is\nin order to a trial.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the Judge, \"we must have time to look in our books and\nconsult the statutes.\" So the hearing was put off till the next day.\n\nThe next day they chose rather to let this plea fall and begin with\nthe errors of the indictment; and when they came to be opened, they\nwere so many and gross that the judges were all of opinion that the\nindictment was quashed and void, and that I ought to have my liberty.\n\nThere were that day several great men, lords and others, who had the\noaths of allegiance and supremacy tendered to them in open court,\njust before my trial came on; and some of my adversaries moved the\njudges that the oaths might be tendered again to me, telling them I\nwas a dangerous man to be at liberty.\n\nBut Chief-Justice Hale[174] said that he had indeed heard some such\nreports, but he had also heard many more good reports of me; and so\nhe and the rest of the judges ordered me to be freed by proclamation.\n\n  [174] This is Chief Justice Sir Matthew Hale.\n\nThus after I had suffered imprisonment a year and almost two months\nfor nothing, I was fairly set at liberty upon a trial of the errors\nin my indictment, without receiving any pardon, or coming under any\nobligation or engagement at all; and the Lord's everlasting power\nwent over all, to His glory and praise.\n\nCounsellor Corbet, who pleaded for me, obtained great fame by it,\nfor many of the lawyers came to him and told him he had brought that\nto light which had not been known before, as to the not imprisoning\nupon a pr\u00e6munire; and after the trial a judge said to him, \"You have\nattained a great deal of honour by pleading George Fox's cause so in\ncourt.\"[175]\n\n  [175] It will be noticed that Fox is set at liberty on the errors\n  in his indictment, and not on a judicial decision that it is\n  illegal to imprison on a _pr\u00e6munire_.\n\nBeing at liberty, I visited Friends in London; and having been very\nweak, and not yet well recovered, I went to Kingston; and having\nvisited Friends there, returned to London, wrote a paper to the\nParliament, and sent several books to them.\n\nA great book against swearing had been delivered to them a little\nbefore; the reasonableness whereof had so much influence, that it was\nthought they would have done something towards our relief if they\nhad sat longer. I stayed in and near London till the yearly meeting,\nto which Friends came from most parts of the nation, and some from\nbeyond sea. A glorious meeting we had in the everlasting power of God.\n\nThe illness I got in my imprisonment at Worcester had so much\nweakened me that it was long before I recovered my natural strength\nagain. For which reason, and as many things lay upon me to write,\nboth for public and private service, I did not stir much abroad\nduring the time that I now stayed in the north; but when Friends were\nnot with me, I spent much time in writing for Truth's service. While\nI was at Swarthmore, I gave several books to be printed.[176]\n\n  [176] George Fox was now only fifty-one years old, but he was\n  prematurely broken by the sufferings and exposures which only\n  such an iron constitution as he possessed could have endured for\n  thirty years. He still had fourteen years to live, but from now\n  on a decided change appears. There is no cessation of activity,\n  but it is activity of a quieter sort. Only one important mission\n  journey falls in these years--the visit to Holyland and Germany.\n  Henceforth he makes his pen speak for him. Epistles and books are\n  the main results of these fourteen years. The Journal grows dry\n  and devoid of dramatic interest, and our gleanings from it will\n  be few. He is much at Swarthmore or at Kingston, near London,\n  where Margaret Rous, a daughter of his wife, lived.\n\n     [This letter to his \"Dear Heart\" from York during the winter of\n     1677 shows that he still had some power of endurance left.]\n\n     \"DEAR HEART:\n\n     \"To whom is my love, and to thy daughters, and to all Friends\n     that inquire after me. My desires are that ye all may be\n     preserved in the Lord's everlasting Seed, in whom ye will have\n     life and peace, dominion and settlement, in the everlasting home\n     or dwelling in the house built upon the foundation of God.\n\n     \"In the power of the Lord I am brought to York, having had many\n     meetings in the way. The road was many times deep and bad with\n     snow, our horses sometimes were down, and we were not able to\n     ride; and sometimes we had great storms and rain; but by the\n     power of the Lord I went through all.\n\n     \"At Scarhouse there was a very large meeting, and at Burrowby\n     another, to which Friends came out of Cleveland and Durham; and\n     many other meetings we have had. At York, yesterday, we had a\n     very large meeting, exceedingly thronged, Friends being at it\n     from many parts, and all quiet, and well satisfied. Oh the glory\n     of the Lord that shone over all!\n\n     \"This day we have had a large men's and women's meeting, many\n     Friends, both men and women, being come out of the country, and\n     all was quiet. This evening we are to have the men's and women's\n     meeting of the Friends of the city.\n\n     \"John Whitehead is here, with Robert Lodge and others; Friends\n     are mighty glad, above measure. So I am in my holy element and\n     holy work in the Lord; glory to His name for ever! To-morrow I\n     intend to go out of the city towards Tadcaster, though I cannot\n     ride as in days past; yet praised be the Lord that I can travel\n     as well as I do!\n\n     \"So with my love in the fountain of life, in which as ye all\n     abide ye will have refreshment of life, that by it we may grow\n     and gather eternal strength to serve the Lord, and be satisfied,\n     to the God of all power, who is all-sufficient to preserve you,\n     I commit you all.\n\n                                                            G. F.\n\n     \"York, the 16th of the Second month [April] 1677.\"\n\n     [After much service in several counties, he returns to London.\n     The Journal proceeds:]\n\nIt pleased the Lord to bring me safe to London, though much wearied;\nfor though I rode not very far in a day, yet, through weakness\nof body, continual travelling was hard to me. Besides, I had not\nmuch rest at night to refresh nature; for I often sat up late with\nFriends, where I lodged, to inform and advise them in things wherein\nthey were wanting; and when in bed I was often hindered of sleep by\ngreat pains in my head and teeth, occasioned, as I thought, from\ncold taken by riding often in the rain. But the Lord's power was over\nall, and carried me through all, to His praise.\n\nTo the London Yearly Meeting[BD] many Friends came from most parts\nof the nation; and some out of Scotland, Holland, etc. Very glorious\nmeetings we had, wherein the Lord's powerful presence was very\nlargely felt; and the affairs of Truth were sweetly carried on in\nthe unity of the Spirit, to the satisfaction and comfort of the\nupright-hearted; blessed be the Lord for ever!\n\n  [BD] 1677.\n\nAfter the yearly meeting, having stayed a week or two with Friends\nin London, I went down with William Penn to his house in Sussex,[BE]\nJohn Burnyeat and some other Friends being with us. As we passed\nthrough Surrey, hearing the quarterly meeting was that day, William\nPenn, John Burnyeat, and I, went from the road to it; and after the\nmeeting returning to our other company, went with them to William\nPenn's that night; which is forty miles from London.\n\n  [BE] Worminghurst.\n\nI stayed at Worminghurst about three weeks; in which time John\nBurnyeat and I answered a very envious and wicked book, which Roger\nWilliams, a priest of New England (or some colony thereabouts) had\nwritten against Truth and Friends.[177]\n\n  [177] Fox did not see Roger Williams in Providence, though the\n  latter had a personal tilt with John Burnyeat at Newport in\n  1671. After George Fox had left Providence and had gone back\n  down the Bay with his companion, Nicholas Easton, governor of\n  Rhode Island, Roger Williams rowed to Newport with a challenge\n  to a debate. Fox, however, had already left the island, and was\n  well on his way toward Long Island. Williams then wrote, what\n  Fox elsewhere calls \"Roger Williams's 'Book of Lyes,'\" a book\n  bearing the grimly humorous title, \"George Fox digged out of his\n  Burrows,\" Boston, 1676. (See Publications of the Narragansett\n  Club, Vol. V., pp. xx.-xlv., Providence, 1872.) Fox and Burnyeat\n  reply to this \"slanderous book\" in a sixty-five-page pamphlet\n  entitled, \"A New England Fire Brand Quenched.\" Fox seemed not to\n  know just where the famous \"apostle of soul liberty\" lived, as he\n  says, \"a priest of New England (or some colony thereabouts!)\"\n\nWhen we had finished that service, we went with Stephen Smith to his\nhouse at Warpledon in Surrey, where we had a large meeting. Friends\nthereaway had been exceedingly plundered about two months before on\nthe priest's account; for they took from Stephen Smith five kine\n(being all he had) for about fifty shillings tithes.\n\nThence we went to Kingston, and so to London, where I stayed not\nlong; for it was upon me from the Lord to go into Holland, to visit\nFriends and to preach the gospel there, and in some parts of Germany.\nWherefore, setting things in order for my journey as fast as I could,\nI took leave of Friends at London; and with several other Friends\nwent down to Colchester, in order to my passage for Holland.\n\nNext day, being First-day, I was at the public meeting of Friends\nthere, which was very large and peaceable. In the evening I had\nanother large one, but not so public, at John Furly's house, where I\nlodged. The day following I was at the women's meeting there, which\nalso was very large.\n\nThence next day we passed to Harwich, where Robert Duncan, and\nseveral other Friends out of the country, came to see us; and some\nfrom London came to us there, that intended to go over with me.\n\nThe packet in which we were to go not being ready, we went to the\nmeeting in the town, and a precious opportunity we had together;\nfor the Lord, according to His wonted goodness, by His overcoming,\nrefreshing power, opened many mouths to declare His everlasting\nTruth, to praise and glorify Him.\n\nAfter the meeting at Harwich we returned to John Vandewall's, where I\nhad lodged; and when the boat was ready, taking leave of Friends, we\nthat were bound for Holland went on board about nine in the evening,\non the 25th of the Fifth month, 1677. The Friends that went over\nwith me, were William Penn, Robert Barclay, George Keith and his\nwife, John Furly and his brother, William Tallcoat, George Watts, and\nIsabel Yeomans, one of my wife's daughters.\n\nAbout one in the morning we weighed anchor, having a fair brisk wind,\nwhich by next morning brought us within sight of Holland. But that\nday proving very clear and calm we got forward little, till about\nfour in the afternoon, when a fresh gale arose which carried us\nwithin a league of land. Then being becalmed again, we cast anchor\nfor that night, it being between the hours of nine and ten in the\nevening.\n\nWilliam Penn and Robert Barclay, understanding that Benjamin Furly\nwas come from Rotterdam to the Briel to meet us, got two of the\nboatmen to let down a small boat that belonged to the packet, and row\nthem to shore; but before they could reach it the gates were shut;\nand there being no house without the gates, they lay in a fisherman's\nboat all night.\n\nAs soon as the gates were opened in the morning, they went in, and\nfound Benjamin Furly, with other Friends of Rotterdam, that were come\nthither to receive us; and they sent a boat, with three young men\nin it, that lived with Benjamin Furly, who brought us to the Briel,\nwhere the Friends received us with great gladness.\n\nWe stayed about two hours to refresh ourselves, and then took boat,\nwith the Holland Friends, for Rotterdam, where we arrived about\neleven that day, the 28th of the month. I was very well this voyage,\nbut some of the Friends were sea-sick. A fine passage we had, and all\ncame safe and well to land; blessed and praised be the name of the\nLord for ever!\n\nNext day, being First-day, we had two meetings at Benjamin Furly's,\nwhere many of the townspeople and some officers came in, and all\nwere civil. Benjamin Furly, or John Claus, a Friend of Amsterdam,\ninterpreted, when any Friend declared. I spent the next day in\nvisiting Friends there.\n\nThe day following, William Penn and I, with other Friends, went\ntowards Amsterdam with some Friends of that city, who came to\nRotterdam to conduct us thither. We took boat in the afternoon, and,\npassing by Overkirk, came to Delft, through which we walked on foot.\n\nWe then took boat again to Leyden, where we lodged that night at\nan inn. This is six Dutch miles from Rotterdam, which are eighteen\nEnglish miles, and five hours' sail or travelling; for our boat was\ndrawn by a horse that went on the shore.\n\nNext day, taking boat again, we went to Haarlem, fourteen miles from\nLeyden, where we had appointed a meeting, which proved very large;\nfor many of the townspeople came in, and two of their preachers. The\nLord gave us a blessed opportunity, not only with respect to Friends,\nbut to other sober people, and the meeting ended peaceably and well.\nAfter it we passed to Amsterdam.\n\n     [After a conference, the following meetings were established or\n     \"settled.\"]\n\nA monthly, a quarterly, and a yearly meeting, to be held at Amsterdam\nfor Friends in all the United Provinces of Holland, and in Embden,\nthe Palatinate, Hamburg, Frederickstadt, Dantzic, and other places\nin and about Germany; which Friends were glad of, and it has been of\ngreat service to Truth.\n\n     [One of the most interesting episodes of this journey was the\n     visit paid by George Keith's wife and Fox's step-daughter,\n     Isabel Yeomans, to the Princess Elizabeth, to whom Fox sent a\n     personal letter. \"Princess Elizabeth\" was the daughter of the\n     unfortunate Frederick, Elector Palatine, and granddaughter of\n     James the first of England. She was a woman of great spiritual\n     gifts and of considerable intellectual power. She was the friend\n     and correspondent of the philosopher Des Cartes. She had,\n     previous to this visit, made the acquaintance (which developed\n     into close friendship) of William Penn and Robert Barclay. She\n     frequently used her influence upon her uncle, King Charles, and\n     her brother, Prince Rupert, to secure the release of Friends\n     from the prisons of England and Scotland. Her answer to George\n     Fox's letter is as follows:]\n\n     \"DEAR FRIEND:\n\n     \"I cannot but have a tender love to those that love the Lord\n     Jesus Christ, and to whom it is given, not only to believe in\n     Him, but also to suffer for Him; therefore your letter and your\n     Friends' visit have been both very welcome to me. I shall follow\n     their and your counsel as far as God will afford me light and\n     unction; remaining still your loving friend,\n\n                                                      \"ELIZABETH.\n\n     \"Hertford [Westphalia], the 30th of August, 1677.\"\n\n     [Twice we get glimpses of the great world movements which just\n     then had these Low Countries for their stage. In the great\n     struggle with Louis XIV. the dykes had been cut and much of\n     the country was under water. Here is an experience in East\n     Friesland:]\n\nOne of the magistrates of that city [Groningen] came with us from\nLeeuwarden, with whom I had some discourse on the way, and he was\nvery loving. We walked nearly two miles through the city, and then\ntook boat for Delfziel; and passing in the evening through a town\ncalled Appingdalem, where had been a great horse-fair that day,\nthere came many officers rushing into the boat, and being somewhat\nin drink, they were very rude. I spoke to them, exhorting them to\nfear the Lord, and beware of Solomon's vanities. They were boisterous\nfellows; yet somewhat more civil afterwards.\n\n     [The other circumstance which connects Fox here with history\n     is his epistle written to the Peace Ambassadors in the city of\n     Nimeguen. The entry in the Journal says: \"I wrote an epistle to\n     the ambassadors who were treating for a peace at Nimeguen.\" This\n     is dated Amsterdam, the 21st of 7th mo. (September), 1677. It\n     concludes with these words:]\n\n\"From him who is a lover of Truth, righteousness, and peace, who\ndesires your temporal and eternal good; and that in the wisdom of God\nthat is from above, pure, gentle, and peaceable, you may be ordered,\nand order all things, that God hath committed to you, to His glory;\nand stop those things among Christians, so far as you have power,\nwhich dishonour God, Christ, and Christianity!\n\n                                                          \"G. F.\"\n\n     [Here is an incident of travel in Germany.]\n\nBeing clear of Hamburg, we took leave of Friends there, whom we left\nwell; and taking John Hill with us, passed by boat to a city in the\nDuke of Luneburg's country; where, after we were examined by the\nguards, we were taken to the main-guard, and there examined more\nstrictly; but after they found we were not soldiers, they were civil,\nand let us pass.\n\nIn the afternoon we travelled by wagon, and the waters being much\nout, by reason of heavy rains, when it drew towards night we hired a\nboy on the way to guide us through a great water we had to pass. When\nwe came to it, the water was so deep, before we could come at the\nbridge, that the wagoner had to wade, and I drove the wagon.\n\nWhen we were come on the bridge, the horses broke part of it down,\nand one of them fell into the water, the wagon standing upon that\npart of the bridge which remained unbroken; and it was the Lord's\nmercy to us that the wagon did not run into the brook. When they had\ngot the horse out, he lay a while as if dead; but at length they got\nhim up, put him to the wagon again, and laid the planks right; and\nthen, through the goodness of the Lord to us, we got safe over.\n\nAfter this we came to another water. Finding it to be very deep, and\nit being in the night, we hired two men to help us through, who put\ncords to the wagon to hold it by, that the force of the water might\nnot drive it from the way. But when we came into it, the stream\nwas so strong that it took one of the horses off his legs, and was\ncarrying him down the stream. I called to the wagoner to pluck him to\nhim by his reins, which he did, and the horse recovered his legs; and\nwith much difficulty we got over the bridge, and went to Bremerhaven,\nthe town where the wagoner lived.\n\nIt was the last day of the Sixth month that we escaped these\ndangers; and it being about eleven at night when we came in here,\nwe got some fresh straw, and lay upon it until about four in the\nmorning. Then, getting up, we set forward again towards Bremen, by\nwagon and boat.\n\nOn the way I had good opportunities to publish Truth among the\npeople, especially at a market-town, where we stayed to change our\npassage. Here I declared the Truth to the people, warning them of the\nday of the Lord, that was coming upon all flesh; and exhorting them\nto righteousness, telling them that God was come to teach His people\nHimself, and that they should turn to the Lord, and hearken to the\nteachings of His Spirit in their own hearts.\n\n     [While the work was going forward in these fresh fields, trouble\n     was increasing at home, as this brief letter shows:]\n\nNext day, feeling a concern upon my mind with relation to those\nseducing spirits that made division among Friends, and being sensible\nthat they endeavoured to insinuate themselves into the affectionate\npart, I was moved to write a few lines to Friends concerning them, as\nfollows:\n\n    \"All these that set up themselves in the affections of the people,\n    set up themselves, and the affections of the people, and not\n    Christ. But Friends, your peaceable habitation in the Truth, which\n    is everlasting, and changes not, will outlast all the habitations\n    of those that are out of the Truth, be they ever so full of words.\n    So they that are so keen for John Story and John Wilkinson, let\n    them take them, and the separation; and you that have given your\n    testimony against that spirit, stand in your testimony, till they\n    answer by condemnation. Do not strive, nor make bargains with that\n    which is out of the Truth; nor save that alive to be a sacrifice for\n    God, which should be slain, lest you lose your kingdom.\n\n                                                           \"G. F.\n\n    \"Amsterdam, the 14th of the Seventh month, 1677.\"\n\nAfter some time George Keith and William Penn came back from\nGermany[BF] to Amsterdam, and had a dispute with one Galenus Abrahams\n(one of the most noted Baptists in Holland), at which many professors\nwere present; but not having time to finish the dispute then, they\nmet again, two days after, and the Baptist was much confounded, and\nTruth gained ground.[178]\n\n  [BF] Whither they had gone for some religious service.\n\n  [178] This Galenus Abrahams was a Mennonite and a man of\n  considerable note. Sewell, the Quaker historian, who had himself\n  been a disciple of Abrahams, tells us that in this discussion,\n  which lasted five hours, the latter maintained the position\n  that \"nobody nowadays could be accepted as a messenger of God\n  unless he confirmed the same by miracle.\" (See Sewell's \"History\n  of Friends,\" Vol. II., page 368, edition of 1823. See, also,\n  Barclay's \"Religious Societies of the Commonwealth,\" pages\n  174, 251.) During his second visit to Holland, Fox had another\n  interview with the famous Mennonite which gives an interesting\n  side light on the penetrating power of Fox's eyes, already\n  noticed. \"Before I left I went to visit one Galenus Abrahams, a\n  teacher of chief note among the Mennonites, or Baptists. I had\n  been with him when I was in Holland about seven years before\n  and William Penn and George Keith had disputes with him. He was\n  then very high and shy, so that he would not let me touch him,\n  nor look upon him (by his good will), but bid me 'Keep my eyes\n  off him, for,' he said, 'they pierced him.' But now he was very\n  loving and tender, and confessed in some measure to truth; his\n  wife also and daughter were tender and kind, and we parted from\n  them very lovingly.\"\n\nFinding our spirits clear of the service which the Lord had given us\nto do in Holland, we took leave of Friends of Rotterdam, and passed\nby boat to the Briel, in order to take passage that day for England.\nSeveral Friends of Rotterdam accompanied us, and some of Amsterdam,\nwho were come to see us again before we left Holland. But the packet\nnot coming in till night, we lodged that night at the Briel; and next\nday, being the 21st of the Eighth month, and the first day of the\nweek, we went on board, and set sail about ten, viz., William Penn,\nGeorge Keith, and I, and Gertrude Dirick Nieson, with her children.\n\nWe were in all about sixty passengers, and had a long and hazardous\npassage; for the winds were contrary and the weather stormy. The\nboat also was very leaky, insomuch that we had to have two pumps\ncontinually going, day and night; so that it was thought there was\nquite as much water pumped out as the vessel would have held. But\nthe Lord, who is able to make the stormy winds to cease, and the\nraging waves of the sea calm, yea, to raise them and stop them at\nHis pleasure, He alone did preserve us; praised be His name for ever!\n\nThough our passage was hard, yet we had a fine time, and good service\nfor Truth on board among the passengers, some of whom were great\nfolks, and were very kind and loving. We arrived at Harwich on the\n23d, at night, having been two nights and almost three days at sea.\n\nNext morning William Penn and George Keith took horse for Colchester;\nbut I stayed, and had a meeting at Harwich. There being no Colchester\ncoach there, and the postmaster's wife being unreasonable in her\ndemands for a coach, and deceiving us of it also after we had hired\nit, we went to a Friend's house about a mile and a half in the\ncountry, and hired his wagon, which we bedded well with straw, and\nrode in it to Colchester.\n\nI stayed there till First-day, having a desire to be at Friends'\nmeeting that day; and a very large and weighty one it was; for\nFriends, hearing of my return from Holland, flocked from several\nparts of the country, and many of the townspeople coming in also, it\nwas thought there were about a thousand people at it; and all was\npeaceable.\n\nI stayed at Bristol all the time of the fair, and some time after.\nMany sweet and precious meetings we had; many Friends being there\nfrom several parts of the nation, some on account of trade, and some\nin the service of Truth. Great was the love and unity of Friends that\nabode faithful in the Truth, though some who were gone out of the\nholy unity, and were run into strife, division, and enmity, were\nrude and abusive, and behaved themselves in a very unchristian manner\ntowards me.[179]\n\n  [179] He had previously had a trying time with opponents who were\n  \"very unruly and troublesome\" in some meetings held at the home\n  of his friend Thomas Ellwood, at Hunger Hill, near London.\n\nBut the Lord's power was over all; by which being preserved in\nheavenly patience, which can bear injuries for His name's sake, I\nfelt dominion therein over the rough, rude, and unruly spirits; and\nleft them to the Lord, who knew my innocency, and would plead my\ncause. The more these laboured to reproach and vilify me, the more\ndid the love of Friends that were sincere and upright-hearted, abound\ntowards me; and some that had been betrayed by the adversaries,\nseeing their envy and rude behaviour, broke off from them.\n\nAbout two weeks after I came to London, the yearly meeting began,\nto which Friends came up out of most parts of the nation, and a\nglorious, heavenly meeting we had. Oh, the glory, majesty, love,\nlife, wisdom, and unity, that were amongst us! The power reigned over\nall, and many testimonies were borne therein against that ungodly\nspirit which sought to make rents and divisions amongst the Lord's\npeople; but not one mouth was opened amongst us in its defence, or on\nits behalf.\n\nGood and comfortable accounts also we had, for the most part, from\nFriends in other countries; of which I find a brief account in a\nletter which soon after I wrote to my wife, the copy whereof here\nfollows:\n\n     \"DEAR HEART:\n\n     \"To whom is my love in the everlasting Seed of life that reigns\n     over all. Great meetings here have been, and the Lord's power\n     hath been stirring through all. The Lord hath in His power knit\n     Friends wonderfully together, and His glorious presence did\n     appear among them. And now the meetings are over, blessed be the\n     Lord! in quietness and peace.\n\n     \"From Holland I hear things are well there: some Friends are\n     gone that way, to be at their Yearly Meeting at Amsterdam. At\n     Embden, Friends that were banished are got into the city again.\n\n     \"At Dantzic, Friends are in prison, and the magistrates\n     threatened them with harder imprisonment; but the next day\n     the Lutherans rose, and plucked down (or defaced) the Popish\n     monastery; so they have work enough among themselves.\n\n     \"The King of Poland received my letter, and read it himself; and\n     Friends have since printed it in High Dutch.[180] By letters\n     from the Half-Yearly Meeting in Ireland, I hear that they are\n     all in love there.\n\n     \"At Barbadoes, Friends are in quietness, and their meetings\n     settled in peace. At Antigua also, and Nevis, Truth prospers,\n     and Friends have their meetings orderly and well. Likewise\n     in New England and other places, things concerning Truth and\n     Friends are well; and in those places the men's and women's\n     meetings are settled; blessed be the Lord!\n\n     \"So keep in God's power and Seed, that is over all, in whom ye\n     all have life and salvation; for the Lord reigns over all in His\n     glory, and in His kingdom; glory to His name forever, Amen.\n\n     \"In haste, with my love to you all, and to all Friends.\n\n                                                            G. F.\n\n    \"London, the 26th of the Third month, 1678.\"\n\n  [180] This is an interesting letter to John III. of Poland, in\n  which are given many passages from the words of sovereigns, both\n  ancient and modern, in behalf of liberty of conscience. The\n  letter is an able and valuable document, written, as the writer\n  says, \"in love to thy immortal soul and for thy eternal good.\" It\n  closes with this postscript:\n\n  \"Postscript.--'Blessed be the merciful, for they shall obtain\n  mercy.' And remember, O king, Justin Martyr's two Apologies to\n  the Roman emperors, in the defence of the persecuted Christians;\n  and that notable Apology, which was written by Tertullian, upon\n  the same subject; which are not only for the Christian religion,\n  but against all persecution for religion.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\n\"The Seed Reigns over Death.\"\n\n1679-1691.\n\n\n     [The year 1679 was spent almost entirely in retirement at\n     Swarthmore, but in 1680 the activity and travels begin again.\n     This last decade of Fox's life finds him much of the time in or\n     about London, for there are new storms to be met, and he could\n     not lie at ease in the \"North.\" The Wilkinson-Story movement in\n     opposition to a settled system of government and discipline made\n     his presence in the \"South\" necessary. But even more than for\n     this was he concerned over the fresh spasm of persecution which\n     during the closing years of Charles' reign filled the prisons\n     and jails with Quakers. Whenever or wherever the \"Conventicle\n     Act\" was enforced Friends were sure to have the large end of the\n     suffering to bear.]\n\nAfter this I was moved of the Lord to visit Friends in some parts of\nSurrey and Sussex. I went to Kingston by water, and tarried certain\ndays; for while I was there, the Lord laid it upon me to write both\nto the great Turk, and the Dey of Algiers, severally, to warn them,\nand the people under them, to turn from their wickedness, fear the\nLord, and do justly; lest the judgments of God should come upon\nthem, and destroy them without remedy. To the Algerines I wrote more\nparticularly concerning the cruelty they exercised towards Friends\nand others, whom they held captives in Algiers.\n\nAt Hertford I met with John Story, and some others of his party; but\nthe testimony of Truth went over them, and kept them down, so that\nthe meeting was quiet.\n\nIt was on a First-day; and the next day being the men's and women's\nmeeting for business, I visited them also, and the rather because\nsome in that place had let in a disesteem of them. Wherefore I was\nmoved to open the service of those meetings, and the usefulness and\nbenefit thereof to the Church of Christ, as the Lord opened the thing\nin me; and it was of good service to Friends.\n\nI had a meeting also with some of those that were gone into strife\nand contention, to show them wherein they were wrong; and having\ncleared myself of them, I left them to the Lord.\n\nI abode at London most part of this winter,[BG] having much service\nfor the Lord there, both in and out of meetings: for as it was a time\nof great suffering among Friends, I was drawn in spirit to visit\nFriends' meetings more frequently; to encourage and strengthen them\nboth by exhortation and example. The Parliament also was sitting, and\nFriends were diligent in waiting upon them, to lay their grievances\nbefore them.\n\n  [BG] 1680.\n\nWe received fresh accounts almost every day of the sad sufferings\nFriends underwent in many parts of the nation. In seeking relief\nfor my suffering brethren I spent much time; together with other\nFriends, who were freely given up to that service, attending at\nthe Parliament-House for many days together, and watching all\nopportunities to speak with such members of either House as would\nhear our just complaints.\n\nIndeed, some of these were very courteous to us, and appeared willing\nto help us if they could; but the Parliament being then earnest in\nexamining the Popish plot, and contriving ways to discover such as\nwere Popishly affected, our adversaries took advantage against us\n(because they knew we could not swear nor fight) to expose us to\nthose penalties that were made against Papists; though they knew in\ntheir consciences that we were no Papists, and had had experience of\nus, that we were no plotters.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSufferings continuing severe upon Friends at London,[BH] I found\nmy service lay mostly there; wherefore I went but little out of town,\nand not far; being frequent at the most public meetings, to encourage\nFriends, both by word and example, to stand fast in the testimony to\nwhich God had called them.\n\n  [BH] 1682.\n\nAt other times I went about from house to house, visiting Friends\nthat had their goods taken away for their testimony to Truth; because\nthe wicked informers were grown very audacious, by reason that they\nhad too much countenance and encouragement from some justices, who,\ntrusting wholly to their information, proceeded against Friends\nwithout hearing them; whereby many were made to suffer, not only\ncontrary to right, but even contrary to law also.[181]\n\n  [181] Here is a beautiful letter to those who are suffering:\n\n  \"Dear, suffering lambs, for the name and command of Jesus;\n  be valiant for His truth, and faithful, and ye will feel the\n  presence of Christ with you. Look at Him who suffered for you,\n  who hath bought you, and will feed you; who saith, 'Be of good\n  comfort, I have overcome the world'; who destroys the devil\n  and his works, and bruises the serpent's head. I say, look to\n  Christ, your sanctuary, in whom ye have rest and peace. To you\n  it is given not only to believe, but to suffer for His name's\n  sake. They that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer\n  persecution by the ungodly professors of Christ Jesus, who live\n  out of Him. Therefore be valiant for God's truth upon the earth,\n  and look above that spirit that makes you suffer, up to Christ,\n  who was before it was, and will be when it is gone.\"\n\nNow I had some inclination to go into the country to a meeting, but\nhearing that there would be a bustle at our meetings, and feeling a\ngreat disquietness in people's spirits in the city about choosing\nsheriffs, it was upon me to stay in the city, and go to the meeting\nin Gracechurch street upon the first day of the week. William Penn\nwent with me, and spoke; and while he was declaring the Truth to the\npeople, a constable came in with his great staff, and bade him give\nover, and come down; but he continued, declaring Truth in the power\nof God.\n\nAfter a while the constable drew back, and when William Penn had\ndone, I stood up, and declared to the people the everlasting gospel,\nwhich was preached in the apostles' days, and to Abraham; and which\nthe Church in the apostles' days received, and came to be heirs of.\n\nAs I was thus speaking, two constables came in with their great\nstaves, and bade me give over speaking, and come down; but, feeling\nthe power of the Lord with me, I spoke on therein, both to the\nconstables and to the people. To the constables I declared that we\nwere a peaceable people, who meet to wait upon God, and worship Him\nin spirit and in truth; and therefore they needed not to come with\ntheir staves amongst us, who were met in a peaceable manner, desiring\nand seeking the good and salvation of all people.\n\nThen turning my speech to the people again, I declared what further\nwas upon me to them; and while I was speaking, the constables drew\nout towards the door; and the soldiers stood with their muskets in\nthe yard.\n\nWhen I had done speaking, I kneeled down and prayed, desiring the\nLord to open the eyes and hearts of all people, both high and low,\nthat their minds might be turned to God by His Holy Spirit; that He\nmight be glorified in all and over all. After prayer the meeting\nrose, and Friends passed away; the constables being come in again,\nbut without the soldiers; and indeed, both they and the soldiers\ncarried themselves civilly.\n\nWilliam Penn and I went into a room hard by, as we used to do, and\nmany Friends went with us; and lest the constables should think we\nwould shun them, a Friend went down and told them that if they would\nhave anything with us, they might come where we were, if they pleased.\n\nOn First-day it was upon me to go to Devonshire-House meeting in the\nafternoon; and because I had heard Friends were kept out there that\nmorning (as they were that day at most meetings about the city), I\nwent sooner, and got into the yard before the soldiers came to guard\nthe passages. But the constables were there before me, and stood in\nthe doorway with their staves.\n\nI asked them to let me go in. They said they could not, durst not;\nfor they were commanded the contrary, and were sorry for it.\n\nI told them I would not press upon them; so I stood by, and they were\nvery civil.\n\nI stood till I was weary, and then one gave me a stool to sit down\non; and after a while the power of the Lord began to spring up among\nFriends, and one began to speak.\n\nThe constables soon forbade him, and said he should not speak; and\nhe not stopping, they began to be wroth. But I gently laid my hand\nupon one of the constables, and wished him to let the Friend alone.\nThe constable did so, and was quiet; and the man did not speak long.\nAfter he had done, I was moved to stand up and speak.\n\nI then sat down; and after a while I was moved to pray. The power of\nthe Lord was over all; and the people, the constables and soldiers\nput off their hats.\n\nWhen the meeting was done, and Friends began to pass away, the\nconstable put off his hat, and desired the Lord to bless us; for the\npower of the Lord was over him and the people, and kept them under.\n\nI tarried in and near London, visiting Friends' meetings, and\nlabouring in the service of the gospel, till the yearly meeting came\non, which began on the 28th of the Third month. It was a time of\ngreat sufferings; and much concerned I was lest Friends that came\nup out of the country on the Church's service, should be taken and\nimprisoned at London. But the Lord was with us; His power preserved\nus, and gave us a sweet and blessed opportunity to wait upon Him, to\nbe refreshed together in Him, and to perform His services for His\ntruth and people for which we met.\n\nAs it was a time of great persecution, and we understood that in most\ncounties Friends were under great sufferings, either by imprisonments\nor spoiling of goods, or both, a concern was weightily upon me lest\nany Friends that were sufferers, especially such as were traders and\ndealers in the world, should hazard the losing of other men's goods\nor estates through their sufferings.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOn the First-day following[BI] I went to the meeting at Gracechurch\nstreet. When I came there, I found three constables in the\nmeeting-house, who kept Friends out; so we met in the court.\n\n  [BI] In 1683.\n\nAfter I had been some time there, I stood up and spoke to the people,\nand continued speaking some time. Then one of the constables came,\nand took hold of my hand, and said, \"You must come down.\" I desired\nhim to be patient, and went on speaking to the people; but after a\nlittle time he pulled me down, and took me into the meeting-house.\n\nI asked them if they were not weary of this work. One of them said,\n\"Indeed we are.\" They let me go into the widow Foster's house, which\njoined the meeting-house, where I stayed, being hot.\n\nWhen the meeting was ended, for one prayed after I was taken away,\nthe constables asked some Friends which of them would pass their\nwords that I should appear, if they should be questioned about me.\nBut the Friends told them they need not require that, for I was a man\nwell known in the city to be one that would neither fly nor shrink.\nSo they went away, and I heard no further of it.\n\nI continued yet at London, labouring in the work and service of\nthe Lord, both in and out of meetings; sometimes visiting Friends\nin prison for the testimony of Jesus, encouraging them in their\nsufferings, and exhorting them to stand faithful and steadfast in the\ntestimony, which the Lord had committed to them to bear. Sometimes\nalso I visited those that were sick and weak in body, or troubled\nin mind, helping to bear up their spirits from sinking under their\ninfirmities. Sometimes our meetings were quiet and peaceable;\nsometimes they were disturbed and broken up by the officers.\n\nAs I was speaking in the power of the Lord,[BJ] and the people were\ngreatly affected therewith, suddenly the constables, with the rude\npeople, came in like a sea.\n\n  [BJ] On First-day at the Savoy.\n\nOne of the constables said to me, \"Come down\"; and he laid hands on\nme.\n\nI asked him, \"Art thou a Christian? We are Christians.\"\n\nHe had hold of my hand, and was very fierce to pluck me down; but I\nstood still, and spoke a few words to the people; desiring of the\nLord that the blessings of God might rest upon them all.\n\nThe constable still called upon me to come down, and at length\nplucked me down, and bade another man with a staff take me and carry\nme to prison. That man led me to the house of another officer, who\nwas more civil; and after a while they brought in four Friends more,\nwhom they had taken.\n\nI was very weary, and in a great perspiration; and several Friends,\nhearing where I was, came to me in the constable's house; but I bade\nthem all go their ways, lest the constables and informers should stop\nthem.\n\nAfter a while the constables led us almost a mile to a justice, who\nwas a fierce, passionate man. After he had asked me my name, and his\nclerk had taken it in writing, upon the constable's informing him\nthat I had preached in the meeting, he said in an angry manner, \"Do\nnot you know that it is contrary to the King's laws to preach in such\nconventicles, contrary to the Liturgy of the Church of England?\"\n\nThere was present one ---- Shad (a wicked informer, who was said to\nhave broken jail at Coventry, and to have been burned in the hand at\nLondon), who, hearing the justice speak so to me, stepped up to him\nand told him that he had convicted them on the Act of the 22d of King\nCharles the Second.\n\n\"What! you convict them?\" said the justice.\n\n\"Yes,\" said Shad, \"I have convicted them, and you must convict them\ntoo upon that Act.\"\n\nWith that the justice was angry with him, and said, \"You teach me!\nwhat are you? I'll convict them of a riot.\"\n\nThe informer hearing that and seeing the justice angry, went away in\na fret; so he was disappointed of his purpose.\n\nNow had I drawings in Spirit to go into Holland, to visit the Seed of\nGod there.[BK] And as soon as the yearly meeting was over I prepared\nfor my journey. There went with me from London Alexander Parker,\nGeorge Watts, and Nathaniel Brassey, who also had drawings into that\ncountry.\n\n  [BK] Spring of 1684.\n\nWe took coach the 31st of the Third month, 1684, and got to\nColchester that night. Next day being First-day, we went to the\nmeeting there; and though there was no notice given of my coming, yet\nour being there was presently spread over the town, and in several\nplaces in the country at seven and ten miles distance; so that\nabundance of Friends came in double-horsed, which made the meeting\nvery large.\n\nI had a concern and travail in my mind, lest this great gathering\nshould stir up the town, and be more than the magistrates could well\nbear. But it was very quiet and peaceable, and a glorious meeting we\nhad, to the settling and establishing of Friends both in town and\ncountry; for the Lord's power was over all; blessed be His name for\never!\n\nTruly the Lord's power and presence was beyond words; for I was but\nweak to go into a meeting, and my face (by reason of a cold I had\ntaken) was sore; but God manifested His strength in us and with us,\nand all was well. The Lord have the glory for evermore, for His\nsupporting power![182]\n\n  [182] The journal of the second visit to Holland gives little\n  matter of fresh interest. The visit lasted from the 31st of May\n  to the 16th of July, 1684.\n\nIt was the latter end of the summer when I came to London, where I\nstayed the winter following; saving that once or twice, my wife being\nin town with me, I went with her to her son Rous's at Kingston. And\nthough my body was very weak, yet I was in continual service, either\nin public meetings, when I was able to bear them, or in particular\nbusiness amongst Friends, and visiting those that were sufferers for\nTruth, either by imprisonment or loss of goods.\n\nMany things also in this time I wrote, some for the press, and\nsome for particular service; as letters to the King of Denmark and\nDuke of Holstein on behalf of Friends that were sufferers in their\ndominions.[183]\n\n  [183] This letter to the Duke of Holstein ends as follows:\n\n  \"I entreat the duke to consider these things. I entreat him to\n  mind God's grace and truth in his heart that is come by Jesus;\n  that by his Spirit of Grace and truth he may come to serve and\n  worship God in his Spirit and truth; so that he may serve the\n  living eternal God that made him, in his generation, and have his\n  peace in Christ, that the world cannot take away. And I do desire\n  his good, peace, and prosperity in this world, and his eternal\n  comfort and happiness in the world that is everlasting. Amen.\n\n                                                           G. F.\n\n  \"London, 26th of the 8th Month, 1684.\"\n\nThe yearly meeting coming on, I was much concerned for Friends\nthat came up to it out of the country, lest they should meet with\nany trouble or disturbance in their passage up or down; and the\nrather because about that time a great bustle arose in the nation\nupon the Duke of Monmouth's landing in the West.[184] But the\nLord, according to His wonted goodness, was graciously pleased to\npreserve Friends in safety, and gave us a blessed opportunity to\nmeet together in peace and quietness, and accompanied our meeting\nwith His living, refreshing presence: blessed for ever be His\nholy name!\n\n  [184] The Duke of Monmouth, illegitimate son of Charles II.,\n  landed in Lyme, in Devonshire, hoping to secure the throne, but\n  he was defeated at Sedgemoor and captured July 6th, 1685.\n\nConsidering the hurries that were in the nation, it came upon me at\nthe close of this meeting to write a few lines to Friends, to caution\nall to keep out of the spirit of the world, in which trouble is, and\nto dwell in the peaceable Truth.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nI came back to London in the First month, 1686, and set myself with\nall diligence to look after Friends' sufferings, from which we had\nnow some hopes of getting relief. The sessions came on in the Second\nmonth at Hicks's-Hall, where many Friends had appeals to be tried.\nI was with these from day to day, to advise them, and to see that\nno opportunity was slipped nor advantage lost; and they generally\nsucceeded well.\n\nSoon after the King was pleased, upon our often laying our sufferings\nbefore him, to give order for the releasing of all prisoners for\nconscience' sake that were in his power to discharge. Thereby the\nprison-doors were opened, and many hundreds of Friends, some of whom\nhad been long in prison, were set at liberty.[185]\n\n  [185] On the 16th of May James II. issued a warrant commanding\n  that all Quakers who had been convicted on charges of\n  _pr\u00e6munire_, or for not swearing, or for not going to church,\n  should be released. By the execution of this warrant about\n  fifteen hundred Quakers were set free. Naturally the yearly\n  meeting which followed was a happy time. This \"Order of Release\"\n  is preserved in the Archives in Devonshire House in London. It is\n  written on eleven skins of vellum, with the king's portrait at\n  the top. In the list is the name of John Bunyan, who got included\n  in this Royal Pardon.\n\nSome of those who had for many years been restrained in bonds, came\nnow up to the yearly meeting, which was in the Third month this\nyear. This caused great joy to Friends, to see our ancient, faithful\nbrethren again at liberty in the Lord's work, after their long\nconfinement. And indeed a precious meeting we had; the refreshing\npresence of the Lord appearing plentifully with us and amongst us.\n\n     [Gradually Fox was growing physically weaker, and, though his\n     pen was busy with documents and letters, he records almost\n     nothing in his Journal.]\n\nIn the Seventh month[BL] I returned to London, having been near three\nmonths in the country for my health's sake, which was very much\nimpaired; so that I was hardly able to stay in a meeting the whole\ntime; and often after a meeting had to lie down on a bed. Yet did not\nmy weakness of body take me off from the service of the Lord, but I\ncontinued to labour in and out of meetings, in His work, as He gave\nme opportunity and ability.\n\n  [BL] September, 1688.\n\nI had not been long in London before a great weight came upon me,\nand the Lord gave me a sight of the great bustles and troubles,\nrevolution and change, which soon after came to pass. In the sense\nthereof, and in the movings of the Spirit of the Lord, I wrote \"A\ngeneral epistle to Friends, to forewarn them of the approaching\nstorm, that they might all retire to the Lord, in whom is\nsafety.\"[186]\n\n  [186] This letter was written October 17th, 1688. William landed\n  in England November 5th, 1688.\n\nAbout this time great exercises and weights came upon me (as they had\nusually done before the great revolutions and changes of government),\nand my strength departed from me; so that I reeled, and was ready to\nfall, as I went along the streets. At length I could not go abroad\nat all, I was so weak, for some time, till I felt the power of the\nLord to spring over all, and had received an assurance from Him, that\nHe would preserve His faithful people to Himself through all.\n\nAbout the middle of the First month, 1688-9,[BM] I went to London,\nthe Parliament then sitting, and engaged about the bill for\nindulgence. Though I was weak in body, and not well able to stir\nabout, yet so great a concern was upon my spirit on behalf of Truth\nand Friends, that I attended continually for many days, with other\nFriends, at the Parliament-House, labouring with the members, that\nthe thing might be done comprehensively and effectually.\n\n  [BM] March, 1689.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nI remained at London till the beginning of the Ninth month,[BN] being\ncontinually exercised in the work of the Lord, either in public\nmeetings, opening the way of Truth to people, and building up and\nestablishing Friends therein, or in other services relating to the\nChurch of God. For the Parliament now sitting, and having a bill\nbefore them concerning oaths, and another concerning clandestine\nmarriages, several Friends attended the House, to get those bills so\nworded that they might not be hurtful to Friends. In this service\nI also assisted, attending on the Parliament, and discoursing the\nmatter with several of the members.\n\n  [BN] November, 1690.\n\n     [Here follows (January 10th, 1691) the last entry in the\n     Journal, with the letter written to the Irish Friends who were\n     enduring almost indescribable sufferings, occasioned by the\n     civil war in Ireland.]\n\nNot long after I returned to London, and was almost daily with\nFriends at meetings. When I had been near two weeks in town, the\nsense of the great hardships and sore sufferings that Friends had\nbeen and were under in Ireland, coming with great weight upon me,\nI was moved to write an epistle, as a word of consolation unto\nthem.[187]\n\n  [187] This epistle, the last he ever wrote, closes with a\n  triumphant note and an optimistic outlook on the world:\n\n  \"Christ the Seed reigns; and His power is over all, who bruises\n  the serpent's head, and destroys the devil and his works, and was\n  before he was. So all of you live and walk in Christ Jesus; that\n  nothing may be between you and God, but Christ, in whom ye have\n  salvation, life, rest and peace with God.\n\n     \"As for the affairs of truth in this land and abroad, I hear\n     that in Holland and Germany, and thereaway, Friends are in love,\n     unity, and peace: and in Jamaica, Barbadoes, Nevis, Antigua,\n     Maryland, and New-England, I hear nothing, but Friends are in\n     unity and peace. The Lord preserve them all out of the world (in\n     which there is trouble) in Christ Jesus, in whom there is peace,\n     life, love, and unity. Amen. My love in the Lord Jesus Christ to\n     all Friends everywhere in your land, as though I named them.\n\n                                                            G. F.\n\n    \"London, the 10th of the 11th month, 1690\" (January 10th, 1691).\n\n[The next day he went to Gracechurch Street Meeting, which was\nlarge and in which he preached a long and powerful sermon,\n\"opening many deep and weighty things.\" He then offered prayer,\nand the meeting closed. When some Friends came to his room in\nWhite-Hart-Court, later in the day, he told them he had \"felt\nthe cold strike to his heart, as he came out of meeting\"; \"yet,\"\nhe added, \"I am glad I was here (i. e., in the meeting). Now I\nam clear, I am fully clear!\" Later, when Friends were visiting\nhim, he said: \"All is well; the Seed of God reigns over all and\nover death itself. And though I am weak in body, yet the power\nof God is over all, and the Seed reigns over all disorderly\nspirits.\" \"Lying thus in a heavenly frame of mind, his spirit\nwholly exercised towards the Lord,\" he fell asleep in peace on\nthe evening of January 13th, 1691. The funeral was attended\nby a very large concourse of people, and the body was laid in\nthe burying-ground near Bunhill Fields, where the grave is now\nmarked with a modest stone. Few men in the dying hour could say\nmore truly, \"I am clear.\"]\n\n\n\n\nINDEX.\n\n\n  Abrahams, Galenus, 556\n\n  Amsterdam, 551\n\n  Audland, John, 154\n\n\n  Baltimore Yearly Meeting, see Maryland Yearly Meeting.\n\n  Baptists, 18-20\n\n  Barbadoes, 488-492\n\n  Barclay, Robert, 549\n\n  Barnet, 69\n\n  \"Battledore, The,\" 386, 406\n\n  Beavor, Vale of, 94, 98\n\n  Believers, true, 74\n\n  Bennet, Justice, 125, 126\n\n  Beverley, 136\n\n  Bishop, George, 223\n\n  Blood of Christ, 91\n\n  Bradstreet, Simon, 378\n\n  Bristol, 272, 331, 392, 468, 535\n\n  Bunyan, John, 19, 26\n\n  Burnyeat, John, 498, 508, 547\n\n  Burrough, Edward, 157, 374, 402\n\n\n  Cambridge, 228\n\n  Carlisle, 186-191\n\n  Carlyle, his characterization of Fox, 67n, 139n\n\n  Carolina, 525-528\n\n  Charles II., Fox's letter to, 354\n\n  Church, The, what it is, 92, 145, 447\n\n  Claypole, Lady (Cromwell's daughter), 320\n\n  Clergy, 40\n\n  Coale, Josiah, 515n\n\n  Colchester, 224\n\n  Commonwealth Period, its importance, 16\n\n  Conventicle Act, 470, 474\n\n  Cork, 465\n\n  Cornwall, 238\n\n  Craddock, Dr. (of Coventry), 72\n\n  Cradock, Dr., an Episcopalian, 445ff\n\n  Cromwell, 212-215, 267, 275, 276, 319, 324, 325\n\n  Crook, John, 228, 317\n\n  Croslands, Jordan, 454\n\n  Cumberland, 181\n\n\n  Dales, The, 151\n\n  Dates, given in \"old style,\" 69n\n\n  Delaware River, 501\n\n  Derby, 119ff;\n    Fox imprisoned a year, 121n, 131, 336\n\n  Desborough, General, 243\n\n  Doomsdale in Launceston Jail, 255\n\n  Drayton-in-the-Clay, 65, 203\n\n  Dunbar, 314\n\n\n  Edinburgh, 302-306, 313\n\n  Edmundson, William, 232, 494, 499, 510, 532\n\n  Education, views on, 37, 461\n\n  Edwards, Thomas, his \"Gangr\u00e6na,\" 19, 20, 21\n\n  Elizabeth, the Princess, 551\n\n  Endicott, Governor John, 375\n\n  Eton in Derbyshire, 95\n\n  Exeter, 269, 279\n\n\n  Falmouth (Smethick), 240\n\n  Farnsworth, Richard, 151, 164\n\n  Fell, Judge, 162ff, 164n, 168, 174ff, 295\n\n  Fell, Leonard, 162\n\n  Fell, Margaret (afterwards Margaret Fox), 160, 162,\n        351, 352n, 353, 368, 404, 405, 409;\n    a prisoner, 417, 421ff, 433;\n    marries George Fox, 468ff, 482;\n    her children, 536n\n\n  Fenny-Drayton, 65n, 203\n\n  Fifth-monarchy men, 23, 364, 367, 384\n\n  Flushing, 502\n\n  Foreign mission work, early, 385\n\n  Fox, Christopher, 65, 208\n\n  Fox, George, his creative power, 24;\n    the prophet of English Reformation, 24;\n    his \"despair,\" 26;\n    turning point in his life, 27;\n    views of the Bible, 29;\n    his mysticism, 31;\n    enthusiasm, 32;\n    Divine Guidance, 33;\n    his view of man, 34;\n    a reformer, 35;\n    views of Education, 37;\n    on Predestination, 40;\n    his cures, 41;\n    his \"Society,\" 42;\n    his fellow-workers, 43;\n    parentage, birth, early life, 65-67;\n    \"leather suit,\" 67, 139;\n    leaves home, 68;\n    \"despair,\" 69;\n    his experiences, 72-82;\n    his financial means, 74;\n    conversion, 82-85;\n    his sense of conditions, 87;\n    psychical change, 87;\n    the \"flaming sword,\" 97;\n    new view of creation, 97;\n    his central teaching, 101;\n    his message, 101-105, 140, 155, 162;\n    first imprisonment, 110;\n    cures an hysteric woman, 112;\n    in Derby jail, 121ff;\n    at Lichfield, 132-134;\n    value of his preaching, 141;\n    his iron constitution, 144n;\n    beaten and stoned, 146;\n    Swarthmore, 159;\n    beaten at Ulverstone, 169ff;\n    beaten at Walney, 172ff;\n    how he bore persecution, 174;\n    his cures, 180n;\n    his discerning, 184;\n    sings in prison, 191;\n    visits Cromwell, 212-215 (see also Cromwell);\n    in Launceston jail and his trial, 244-268;\n    moved to travel over the nation, 277;\n    preaches three hours, 284 (see also 155, 184, 274);\n    long hair, 293;\n    his brave spirit, 311;\n    use of the Bible, 327;\n    his eyes, 344 (see also 187, 557);\n    imprisoned at Lancaster, 430ff;\n    in Scarborough, 439;\n    set free, 453;\n    power of organizing, 459;\n    marries Margaret Fell, 468ff;\n    ill at Stratford (Essex), 477;\n    sails for America, 484;\n    sails for England, 531;\n    last imprisonment, 540ff;\n    death, 578\n\n  Fox, Mary, 66, 539\n\n  Friends, beginning of the, 70n;\n    name, 77n\n\n  Friends set at liberty, 574\n\n  Furly, Benj., 550\n\n\n  Glasgow, 306\n\n  Glynne, Justice, 245\n\n  Goldsmith, Ralph, 374\n\n  Gospel, what is the, 403\n\n\n  Hacker, Colonel, 209, 369\n\n  Hale, Edward Everett, on \"prophets,\" 24n\n\n  \"Hat honor,\" 105ff, 197, 245, 248, 410\n\n  Holder, Christopher, 511, 512\n\n  Holiness, a life of (see Perfection, Christian), 85, 120ff\n\n  Holland, 548-553, 571\n\n  Hooton, Elizabeth, 79n, 494, 495\n\n  Hotham, Justice, 22, 135-137, 141, 146\n\n  Howgill, Francis, 154, 168\n\n  Huntingdon, Robert, at Carlisle, 371\n\n\n  Imprisonments of Friends, 277\n\n  Independency, 17\n\n  Indians, 499, 501, 510, 515, 519\n\n  Inward Light (see Light, the).\n\n  Ireland, 463-467\n\n\n  Jails, condition of, 192, 193, 256, 372, 430\n\n  Jamaica, 494\n\n  James, William, on the \"Quaker Religion,\" 25n\n\n  Jersey, East, 512\n\n  Jersey, West, 501\n\n  John ap-John, 199, 280, 283, 285, 287ff, 293\n\n\n  Keith, George, 549, 556-558\n\n  Kendal, 156, 166\n\n  \"King's Missive\" (mandamus sent to Boston), 374-377\n\n  Kirby, Colonel, 403, 409, 412\n\n\n  Lampitt, \"a priest,\" 159-161, 169\n\n  Lancaster, 164ff, 344-356, 410\n\n  Lancaster, James, 172ff, 183ff;\n    sings, 399, 499, 504\n\n  Launceston, 244-268\n\n  \"Leathern breeches,\" 139\n\n  Leicester, a dispute at, 92, 396\n\n  Lichfield, 132-134\n\n  Light, the, 29, 100-104, 162, 196, 238, 283, 310, 315\n\n  \"Little Ease,\" 372n\n\n  London, 70, 275, 277 et seq., 319-325, 471-476, 559, 564, 568, 575-578\n\n  Lower, Thomas, 265, 536, 538\n\n\n  Mancetter, 72\n\n  Manchester, 293\n\n  Mansfield, 95\n\n  Marriage, Friends' ceremony upheld by the courts, 387\n\n  Maryland, 498-501, 531-533\n\n  Maryland (Baltimore) Yearly Meeting begun, 98, 499, 520\n\n  \"Meeting for Sufferings,\" 340\n\n  Meetings, setting up of Monthly, 459, 461\n\n  Ministers (Friends that speak in public), advice to, 203n\n\n  Ministry, 38\n\n  Monk, General, his order, 355\n\n\n  Nancemond, 524\n\n  Narragansett, 508\n\n  Nayler, James, 147, 164, 168, 172-174, 234, 269-271\n\n  New Castle, 501, 517\n\n  New England, Quakers in, 373\n\n  New England Yearly Meeting, 504\n\n  New York Half-Year's Meeting, 502\n\n  Nottingham, 109\n\n\n  Oaths, Act in regard to refusing to take oaths, 395\n\n  \"Opened,\" meaning of the term, 74n\n\n  Ordinances, 39\n\n  Owen, Dr. John, 276\n\n  Oxford and Cambridge education not enough to qualify men\n        to be ministers, 75\n\n  Oyster Bay, 511\n\n\n  Packer, Colonel, 216ff\n\n  Parker, Alexander, 309, 310ff, 571\n\n  Parnell, James, 191, 192, 224\n\n  Patrington, 142-144\n\n  Pendle Hill, 150\n\n  Penington, Isaac, 317n, 325\n\n  Penn, William, on Fox, 44, 516n, 536, 547, 540, 556-558, 565\n\n  Perfection, Christian (see Holiness), 97, 101, 120ff, 333\n\n  Persecution of Friends in New England, 373, 379\n\n  Poland, letter to King of, 560\n\n  Presbyterianism, 17\n\n  \"Priest,\" meaning of the word, 67n\n\n  Prison, number of Friends in, 389\n\n  \"Professor,\" meaning of the word, 68n\n\n  Pronouns, use of plural, 197, 380ff\n\n  Providence, 507\n\n\n  Quaker, origin of the name, 125, 125n\n\n  Quaker honesty, 198\n\n\n  Ranters, 22, 78n, 116-117\n\n  Ranters in New England, 506\n\n  Reading, 223ff\n\n  Reckless, John, 110\n\n  Religious states, various, 318\n\n  Rhode Island, 504-09\n\n  Rotterdam, 550\n\n\n  Sale, Richard, 371\n\n  Sawrey, Justice, 161, 163, 169, 175\n\n  Scarborough, 439ff\n\n  Schools, establishing, 37, 461\n\n  Scotland, 298-316\n\n  Scriptures, the, 103, 109, 176\n\n  Sect, Quakers not a, 349n\n\n  \"Seekers, The,\" 20-22\n\n  \"Shake the country ten miles round,\" who could, 149\n\n  Shattuck, Samuel, 374\n\n  Shelter Island, 509\n\n  Shrewsbury, N. J., 513\n\n  Sixty ministers sent out, 201\n\n  Smethick (Falmouth), 240\n\n  Smith, William, 397\n\n  Sommerton, 525, 528\n\n  Speaking in a house of worship, 161n, 182n\n\n  Stephens, Nathaniel, a \"priest,\" 71, 76, 203-206, 211\n\n  Stoddard, Amor, 90\n\n  Sufferings of Friends, 369; in New England, 373-379, 389;\n    petition to the king, 389\n\n  Swannington, 394\n\n  Swarthmore, 159, 166ff, 179, 295, 297, 342, 403\n\n  Swarthmore Meeting House, 164\n\n\n  Taylor, Thomas, 168, 200, 284\n\n  \"Thou and Thee,\" 380-382\n\n  \"Truth,\" meaning of, 407n\n\n\n  Ulverstone, 166, 169ff\n\n\n  Vane, Sir Henry, 328\n\n  Virginia, 524, 529\n\n\n  Wales, 199, 280, 282-293\n\n  Walney, 172\n\n  War, Fox's view of, 128, 130\n\n  Warwick, 230\n\n  Wensleydale, 151\n\n  West, Justice, 176ff, 295\n\n  Westmoreland, 154\n\n  Widders, Robert, 298, 307, 309, 311, 313, 341, 494, 499\n\n  Wilkinson and Story, 537n, 555\n\n  Williams, Roger, 547\n\n  Women, their position in the church, 19, 537\n\n  Women preachers, 19\n\n  Worcester, 539\n\n  Worship, 38\n\n\n  Yearly Meetings, at Luton (1658), 317;\n    Balby, 337;\n    Skipton (1659), 340, 483\n\n  York, 138\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\nText enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).\n\nSmall capital text has been replaced with all capitals.\n\nVariations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been\nretained except in obvious cases of typographical error.\n\nPage 429 The transcriber has supplied the opening double quote mark\nin the following sentence: \"I do deny them in my heart; for I am a\nChristian, and shall show forth Christianity amongst you this day. It\nis for Christ's doctrine I stand.\"\n\nPage 575 The transcriber has supplied the closing double quote mark\nin the following sentence: \"A general epistle to Friends, to forewarn\nthem of the approaching storm, that they might all retire to the\nLord, in whom is safety.\"","title":"George Fox: An Autobiography","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":155387}