| OCR Text |
Show 87S The Rife altd Progrefs VoL. I, . On the other Hand, they equally dillike a~ Ind<p<ndcncy in Society. An ~ Unaccountahlenrfs in PraOice and Converfanon to the Ruler and. Termr of their own Communion, and ro thofe t~at are r_he Me.mbers of u. Th.ey • diil:in ui!h between Jmpofing any Praa1ce that JmmedJatel~ regards Faub W,g:fh. (which is never to be done or fuffered, or fubmttred unto) and or .0~ 'P Chr!llian Compliance with rhofe Methods that only refpea: C~~~~~-\ufinefs in it's more Civil Pan and Concern ; and th.at regard the Di rcreer and Orderly Maintetrdnce of the <;h:uaEler of the S~ctety as a ~ober 'J'Reli ioiii Community. In fhort, what IS for the Prom.otton of H~lmefr :~~ Cba;ity, that Men may. PraOict w_hat they profefs, lr?e up to tberr own p · · l d not be at L1berry to g1ve the Lye to thetr own Profeffion ~~~~~tli.c:ke, is their UJe and Limit of Church Power: _They compel none to them, but oblige th?fe that are .of them to walk Srurable, or they d · J by them · That ts all the Jl1ark thev fet upon them, and the ~~e/:h~y Exercife, ·or J~dge a Chriftian Socie.ty can Exercife, upon thofe that are the Members of It. . . · T The Way of their Proceedmg 3gamll fuch as have Lapfed or ranfgre.f. fed is this. He is vifited by fome ?f the~, and the Matter of Fa~ laiCi Ho~e to him. be it any Evil Pra8:1ce .agamft kn~wn and. general Vtrtue, B anch of their particular Tefttmony, whtch he, 1n common, pro-. f!tfe~h wfth them. They )a hour with him in much Lo~e and ~1, for the good of his Soul, the Honour of. G~d, and Reputatzon of the1r Pr?fi ffi to own his Fault and condemn lt, m as ample a Manner as the Evtl 0~ S~~~dal was gi\'en by him; wnich for. the molt Part, _is .perform'd by feme Written Teftimony under the _Parnes .H.and : And tf 1t fo happen, that the Party prove RefraOory, and IS not Wlll~ng to _clear the T~th, they · [i [! fr m the Reproach of his or her Evtl Domg or Unfauhfulnefs, p~o e ifte~ repeated Entreaties and due waiting for a Token of. Repentance, t i~~'forth a P:iper to difown fpch a. Faft, and the Par~_y offendmg: RecordTnt the f:~me as a Teftimony of thetr Care for the Honour of the Truth tb~nr~~e~~ or !he (ball clear rheir Proftffion, and themfelves, .bY fincere Acknowled ment 0 ( their Fault, and Godly Sorrow for fo dom~, they are reuived~nd looked upon agai~ as Members of thetr Commumon. For as GOd, fo his uue People Upbraid no Man after Repentance. Tbis i.r the Jlccltunt I bad tlt give of the Peop!t of Gr1~ tall'~ Quakers, ttr 10 their Rife, Appearance, Principl~s and Praflt~es m. t~x .Age of the World, both with ReJpeO to their Fatth_ and.Worflup, DtfClJ?h~e tmd Con- "} · And I judge it vtry proper m tbx Plate, buaufe zt u to Preface ~t; j~~r~·al of the Firfi Bleffed and Glorio11_r lnf!rument Of th,ir W~rk, a'!rl. for a Teflimony to Him, in bit fin gular !fl..ualificattonr and Strvues, 111 OJbub be abundantly excelled in this Day, and are worthy to be Je! forth tU an Exam le to alJ fuccuding Ttmes, to the Glory of the Moft. H1gh. God, and for a ~uft Memorial !o that Wo~tby and Excellent Man, bu Fattbfui S<rvant and .Apofilt: to th1s Generatton of the World. CHAP. V. Of tb< Fir!! lnllrument or P<rJon by wbom God wm pkald to gatb<r tbi< People into the Way they profefr. His Name G. Fox: lin many ;xu~eJtt !<._ulflifiutions; {hewinl a Divine, and not an ljuman Power to. ttve t'ed their Original in Hi111. His Troubles tzntl Slijfermgt both /rtJm umbollt 411 within. His·End ttnd Triu11tpb. I Am now come to the Thitd Head or Branch of.my Preface, vi&. T~e In; f!.rumental .Author. For it is Natanl for feme to fay, Well, ~gre IS th~ the People and Work, but where and who was the .tll«n, the lnJ'rumenH~ VoL. I. Of tbe 'People' call'd Quakers. He that in this Age was fent to begin this Work and People ? I fhcill, as God fha1l enable me, declare who and wha~ he was; not only by Report of others, but f~om my O~fl long and moll mward Converfe, and inrim:.tte Knowledge of htm; for whJch my Soul b!e.ffcrb God, as it hath often done. And I doubt nor, but by that Time ( have difcharged my felf of this Par~ of my Prt:}iiCt, my ferious Readers will belie\'e I had good Caufe fo to do· The blelfed lnll.rumenr of, and in this Day of God, and of whom 1 ,;, now about to wme, was Geqrge Fox, diftingui(hed from another of that Name, by that Others Addition of Younger to his Name, .in all his Wri· tings ~ not that he was fo in ~ears, but that he was fo in the Truth: But he was al~o a worthy Man, Wttnefs and Servant of God in hia !J'ime. But thts George Fo.x was Born in Leiujlerjhire, a.botJt the Year r624o . ~e defcended of Honeft and Sufficient Parents, who endea\'our'd to bring h1m u_p, .as they did.tbe re~ of their Children, in the \Vay and l:Vorl'hip of the }Hztzon: Efpectally hiS Mother, who was a Woman accompli{h'd above moll of her Degree in the Place where the liv'd. But from a Child he appear'd ?~ a11other Frame_ of ~ind than the reft ~of his Brethren i being more &bgiO!ft, lnw11rd, .Sull, So!tJ, and O~{ervint heyond bH Yean, as the the Anfw~rs he would gtve, a~d the Qpe(fions he would put, upon Occafion, mamfefted, to the Aftomfhment of thofe that heard him, efpecially i~ Divixe Tbing1. His Mor~er taking Notfce of h~ Si,gulllrTemper, and the Gravity, Wifilom and Ptety, th:u very early finn~ through him, refufing Cbi!difo and Vain Sport1 and Company, when Very Young, She was Tender and Indulgent over him, fo that from her he met with little Difficulty. As to hisEmploJ• men~! he was brought up In Country Bufinefs, and as ht took moft Delight jn SOeep, fo he was very Skilful in them~ an Employment that very well fuited hjs Mind in feveral RefpeCb, bot-h for it's lnnltcency and Solit11de i and wa• a juft Emblem of his after Miniftry and Service. J fhall not break in upon his own Account, which is by much the heft that can be given, and therefore defire, what I can, to avoid faying any Thing of what is faid already, as to the particular Palfages of his coming forth: But, in general, When he was fomewhat aboVe Twenty, he left his Friends, and vifited the rnoft Retired and Religiom People in thofe Pans ; And feme there were, fhort of few. if any, in this NatiOn, who W11iUd for the Conjolation of lfr6t/ Night and DttJ; as ZacbttritU, Anna, and good Old Simeon did of Old 'time. To thefe he was fent, and thcfe he fought out in the Neighbouring Counties, --and among them he fojourn'd 'till his more ample Miniftry came upon hlm. ·At this Time he taught, and was an Example .of Silence, endeavouring to bring them from Self-performances: Tefiifying of, ar.d turnin~ them to, the Ligbt of Cbrifl mitbin them. and encouraging them to wait m Plti~nce, ·and to feel rhe Power of it to fiir in their Hearts, that their Knowledge and Wodhip of God might ftand in the Power of an EnJ!efi Life, which' was to be found in the Light, as it was obey'd in the Mariifeftatibn of ir in Man. Fer intbt Word OJtU Life, and t hat Life is the Light of .A<Jen. Life in the Word, L~bt in Men J and Life in M<n too, as the Light Is obey'd: The Children of the Light living by the Life of the Word,. by which the Word begets them again to God, which is the R~.fener11tion and New Birth, without which there i~ no com· ing into the K1ngdom of God : 4nd to which, whoever comes. IS greatfl than John J that is,. than ;tchn's Difpenfation, which was not that of tilt Kingdom, but the Cohfummation of the Legal, and Fore·running of the Gofpei-Times, the Time of the Kingtlom. Accordingly feveral ~eeti~ ·were gather'd in thOfe Parts ; and thu~ his Time was employ'd for fomc Yeau. , . In r6)2, he being in his ufl1al Retirement, his Mind exercifed ; towards the Lord\ upon a verY High Mountain, in fome Qf the hither Parts o~ Yqrtf:· jhire, as I take it he had a Vifitarion of the &rear Wor.k of God tn the Earth, and of the Way that he was to go forth m a Publiek Mini.ftry~ tO' l>e.oin it. Hofaw Peop·Je as thick as Alms m thtSNn, that lbould •nlf•me ' ~ |
