OCR Text |
Show 12, 6. J, '!'he AuT a oR's LIFE. VoL. I. . h ·A d (as we have Reafon to believe) he ftay• nitics of Conference Wit. us: 0 . Account. We opened to him ed Twenty Four Hours m that Cny ~~a~ui~ any one Thing he contradicted the Teftimony of Tr~t1: J.~now :1'himfelf unto us to be a Follower of a us. At 1~~ he l>lam y t covere . even b his F;llow·Minifrers and Pro-certain Mmtfter m Bre.men, that lS e of ~unker bec:mfe of his fingular teflants, reproa~ed f'"h tri,.J'faf, Miniflers and Chriftians in the World. Sharpne~s a~am the ormah. 1 e d s sk'd him in Cafe any of us thould vi· fit~hea~a~i!~~ i~o~~ ~0°~~ ~~~eanus \he Opp~rtunity of a Meeting at his Houfe? Which. he ;,eadt~ gknted "~mending him to the True and B!ef-fedS~ eft~~~~~~fmc~~~esT 0JE!~!:c~he ~igh~ and. Judge Oi~~e\V~:::J and Life of. them thatbre~~iT~~!~~ ~~~ ~e/::::o~~~~~; ,:::t to th! Princ~fs's, ~t be~~ no~~e o after fome little Time, the Princefs and Countefs pur :e ei~ Re~~mbran~e of a Promife I made them in one of my Letters ou.t o! ~f~~)J~t~~c~!r~hC:n1v~~~~~;;,v~~~e~r a;h~fecT~r~Kuf::ii~sma~~:c~~n~s tions, which I had met withal in this Way of the 10g om, w tc 1'a~ft~~ul~~e"/>~~f;, I found my felf very free and prepafred r ths\01~; Love and Fear to comply with their Requeft. And f~, a tel' orne 1• en , began But before I had Half done, it was Supper-ume, and the Pnnc~(s would b no Means let us go, we muft Sup with her: Which If!JpOrtunay not bein~ well able to avoid, we yielded to, and fat down wtth her to Su1~~ng the reft, prefent at thefe Opportunities, it mufl: not be forgott~n; that there was a Countefs Sifter to the Countefs, then come m to vtfit her and a French Woman, of Quality; the firft behaving herfelf v~ry ~e· ccn;ly, and the !all often deeply broken : And from a l1ght and ~tghttng Carria e towa.rds the very Name of a !l._11aker, !he becam.e very toumately and a~e£\ionately kind and refpellful to us. Supper betng endded, weaUh returned to the PrinceiS's Chamber;' where makmg us all to fit own w~t h fhe with both the Counteffes and the French Woman, preft fro~ me t~~, Con~inuance of my Relation; but none more than t~e Countefs's Sifter. \Vhich (tho' late) I was not unwilling to oblige theiJ_l w1th, becaufe I knew not when the Lord would give me fuch an Opportumty. . And I found them affe£\ed: It continued till about Ten at Ntgbt, yet many Particulars omitted, partly through Forgetfulnefs, a_.t;~d plrtly for want ef Time. Howbeit, I muft needs fay, they heard me wtth an ~arneft and Tender Attention: And I hope and believe, the Lord hath made lt pro: fitable unto them, . This done, fome Difcourfe they ha~ upon it,_ and afterwards we fpoke a .. bout a Meeting for the next Day, bemg the Ftrft Day ~f the Week_: And that we might have not tlnly as many of her own Fam1l~, but as ma~y of her Town as would willingly be there: She yielded to .H, an~ appomted the Meeting to begin at the Second Hour. So we p:utcd, bemg near the 'Eleventh Hour at Night. . . , The next Morning we had a Meetmg among our felves m o_ur Chamber, wherein the Lord refre(h'd us: And there was a great Trav~1l upon OU;t Spirits, that the Lord would ftand by us that Day, and !"agntfy the Telh· many of His own Trmb by us; that he m1ghr have a Seed and People JO that Place, to lift up a Standard for His Name. At Dinner there were feveral Strangers that came by the Po~ Waggon that Day: Among whom there was a Young Man of Br6men, bemg a S.tu· dent at the Colledge at Duyjburgb, who informed us of a faber and feekmg Man of great Note in the City of Duyjburgh; to him we gave fome Books. There was one more who was tender and inquiling, to whom alfo we, gave fome Books. The YoL . . J. The A.lr 1' .H D .n 'w ,L I FE, The Second Hour being at Hand, we \ilerlt to the Meeling 1 whete Were , }6J.}< .• feveral as well of the Town ::ts of !Jhe Family. The Meeting began wfth 'a ~ weighty Exercife wl. Travail in, l?r~yer,.hat the Lord would Glorify ll'l$ own Name that Day. And by His own "Power he made Way to their Con• · :lciences, and founded His Wakening Trumpet in their' Ettrs; thlt theJ might know that fie was God, ::tncl that there is none like unto- Him. Oh~ the Day of the Lord Ljyingly:Qawned upon us, and the Seorchlng Life of JESUS was in the Midft of us I Oh ! the Word that never faileth tb,ettl that wait for it, and abide in lt, .Of'encd t_he W3y, and unfealed the Bodk ~ t '1 Life, Yea, the <htickning Power and Lif< of ]efta wrought and reacH'tl to them' And Virtue from Him in whdm dwe\feth the Godhead Bodily went forth, and bleff'edly difiilled upon us His own Heavenly Life, fweetef than -the Pure Frankincenfe; yea" than thC fweet fmelling Myrrh th;~~ cpm· eth from a far Gountry. And as it began, fo it Was carried on, and fa it ended : Blefi'ed be the Name of the Lord, and confided in be our Gdd for e\'er. , As foon as the Meeting was done, the Princefs came to me, and i-ook nj6 by the Hand (which fhe ufually did to us all coming and going) dnd went to fpeak to me of the Senfe fhe Md of that Power and Prefence of God tha! w::ts amongft us, but was !top' d. And ttirnirlg herfelf to the Window, brake forth in an extramdinary PaOion, ctying out, I cnnnot fpenk to you, mj Henrt U full; clapping her Hands u~on her Breaft. Ir melted me inro a deep and calm Tendernefs, in which I was moved tO Miniftera few Words foftly to her, and afrer fome Time of Silence the fe· .A{rer fo•~ covered herfelf; a uti as I was taking my Leave of her, fhe interrupted fne Time of Si·. ihus: Wi/J ye not {ome hither again~ PrtlJ, caD here a1 }'e return o11t of le~Ue/£:J{if, Germany. I toJd her, We were. in tbe Hand of the Lord, and being His, 'Utu '' ~ could not d;jpofe of ourSelves. But the Lord bad taken Ct~re, tbat we j!nuld not fort,u her, antltbife with her: For be bod raifed and hegotttn an Hea· vcnly Conurmncnt in our Souls for ber ttnd tbem; and we loved tbtm all fl)itfj tbat Love wherewith God had /01.1ed 11!; with much more to that Purpofe. She then turned to the refl of the Friends, and would have had us .all gone to Supper With her. B"u~ we chafe rather to he excufed; we fhoUld Eat a Bit of her Bread, and drink a Ghfs of her Wine if fhe pleafed, in the Chamber where we were . . At !aft we prevailed with her to leave us. The Countefs, the French Wotnatt, and the Countefs's Waiting· Woman; ftay'd with us, and we had a vety Jetir'd and Seafonable Opportunity with them. . , After the Princefs had Supp'd, we went all down, and took our Solemn Leave of her, the Coumefs, her Sifter, the Frencb Woman, with the reft of the Family, whofe Hearts were reach'd and opened by 011r Tejlimonies; recommending unto them Holy Silence from a!J Will·wor!hip, and the Workings, Strivings, ::~nd Images of their OWR Mind and Spirit: That JESUS might be fel.tt&f them in their Hearts His Holy Teachingswitne! fed, and followed in the Way of His Bleff'ed Crofs, that would Crucifie them unto the World, and the World unto them : That their Fairh, Hope and Joy might ftand in Chrift in them, the H'eavenly Prophet, Shepherd and Bifhop; whofe Voice all that are truly Sheep will hbr and foHow, and not the Voice of any Stranger whatever. So we left them in the Love and Peace of God, Praying that they ri'light be kept from the Evil of thls World. So we returned to our Lodging, having our Hearts fi11ed with a weighty Senfe of the Lord's Appearance with us in that Place: And being late (towards the Ninth Hour) we prepared to go to Reft. The next Morning (being the Second Day of the Week) G. K B. F. and ''' 6• •· my felf, got ready to begin our journey towards Franckfort, which by .the Way of Gif!e/, is about Two Hundred t.'lrgli/h Miles. R. B. prepared hlm-f(: lf to return by the Way we came, diretlly to ..Am/lerdmn. But before we parted, we had a litde Time' togerher in the Morning in our Chamber, whither came one of the PrinCefs1S Family, and one of the Town. L~~~ |