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Show S8::1 The Rife and Progrefs VoL. I. much of the Subjlance and Drift of his Te!limonies. In all ':"hich he was witne!fed to be of God; being fenfibly fel~ to fpe_ak that which he had re· ceived of Chrift, and was his own Expenence, m that whlch never Ern !l()v:a~~·t above all, he excelled in Prayer. The In,.,rdnifs a ncr ~eight of his Spirit the Reverence and Solemnity of h1s Add refs ~nd Behaviour, and the Few/if.r and Fulnefs of his Words, have <>!"ten !truck ~ven Strtmgerr with .Admiration, as they ufed to reach others wuh Confo!ation. The mo~ .Awful; Living, Reverent Frame I ever _Felt or Beheld, l· mu~ fay, was H1s: in Prayer. And truly it was a Teihmony he. knew and _hved neater to the Lord than other Men; for they that know h1m molt, will fee moft &ea .. 'fan to approach Him with Reverence and Fear. . VI. He was of an Innocent Life, no !Jufie·body, nor Self-j'ede!; neuher Touch! nor Critical: What fell from him was \'ery lnoffenjive, If .not very Edifymg. So Meek, Contented, Modeft, ~fie, Steady, T~nder 1 It was. a Pleafure (o be in his Company. He exerc1fed no Authonty but over Ev1l, and that every where, and in all ; but with Love, ~mpaffion, and Long~ Juffering. A moft Merciful Man, as teady to Forgtve, as unapt to t~k.e or give an Offence. Thoufands can truly fay he was of an ExccUenr S~z~zt and Savour among thett:J, and becaufe t.hereof, the moft Excellent Spmts loved him with an Vnfctgned and Unfadmg .Lo~e. . • VII. He was an Inccfftmt Labourer: Form. his Younger Ttme! before h1s many great and deep Sufferings and Travails had enfeehl~ hiS Body.fo~ ltine:ant Sctvices, he laboured much in the ryord and DoOrzne, and Difn~ pline, in England, Scotland and Ireltmd; tunrtng man~ to God, and confirm· ing thofe that were convinced of the Truth, andfetltng Good ~rder, as. to Church Affairs, among them. And rewards the Conclufion of his T.ravelling Services between the Years Seventy One and Se.vemy Seyen, he VI~ted the Church~ of Chrift in the Plantations in Amerrca, and m th~ Umted Pro· vinces, and Germany, as his Journal Relates? to the C~nvmcement and Confolation of many. .'\fter that Time ~e chiefly. r~fided m ~nd about the City of London: and befides his Labour m the Mmtftry, whtch. w~s Fre~ uent and Serviceable, He writ mu&b, both fo them that are wnhtn, and ~ofe that are without the Communion. But the care he took Qf the Af· fairs of the Church in General was very gre;tt. VIII He was often where the Records of the Bufinefs of the Church are kept a'nd where the Letters from the many Meetings of ~ad's People over aU the World ufe to come: Which Letters he had read to him, an~ commu· riicated them to the Meeting, that is Weekly held, for f?ch Se_rvicesj ~nd he would be fure to fiir them up to anfwet them, efpec1ally In futtenng Cafes: Showing grea.t Sympathy, and Compaj]ion upon all fuch Occafions; carefully looking into the Refpee\'ive Cafes, and endeavounng Speedy Re· lief, according to the Nature of them. So that the Churches, or any ?f the fuffering Members thereof, were fure not to be forgotten or delayed In thJi.D~~'h!• ~~:~n':::rf:d~rfo he was undnunteil in his Services for Go~ and his People; He was no more to be moved to fe~r than ~o Wrath. H1s Behaviour at Derby, Litchfield, .Appleby, before 0/zve~ CromweU, at Laun· fton, &arborougb, Worujler, and Weflminfler:-Hall, ~nh ma~y other Pla· us and Exercifes, did abundantly evidence tt, to h1s Enemies as well aa hiB~~~~~~·n the Primiti. e TimeS, fom.e rofe up againft the b!elftd .A poP let of our Lord Jefus Chrift, even from among th~fe that they had turned t.o the Hope of the Gofpel, and they became thetr greateft T.roublc j fo thiS Man of God h;~d his Share of Suffering from fo.me t~at were convmced bJ him, who, tluo' Prejudice or Miftake, ran agaml! btm, as one th3~ fought Dominion over Confcience, becaufe he prc:ft, by h1s Prefence or Ep1JHe~, a ready and zealous Compliance with fuch good a_nd wholefome Thmgs as tended to an Orderly Converfation ibout the Affairs of the Church,. a~d in their walking before Men. That which contributed much to thls 11l work. VoL. I. Of the 'People cali'd Quakers. work, was, in fame, a begrudging of this Meek Man the love and efteem he had and deferv~ in th~ Hearts of the People, and weaknefs in others, that !"ere taken Wtth theu groundlefs Suggcftions of Impofirion and hlznd Obedtcnce. They would have had every Man Independent, that as he had the Principle in himfe~f, he lhould o~lY. ftan.d and fall to that, and no Body clfe: Not confidcnng that the Pnnc1ple IS One in all; and though the Meafure of. Light or Grace might diB:C:r, yet the Nature of it was the fame. and bemg fo: t~ey {huck at the Spirir11al Unit}, which a People, guided by the fame Pnnc1ple, a~e n~turally led into: So that what js an Evil to One, is fo to All, and what IS Vmu.ous, HoneR, and of good Repute to One, is fo to AU, from the Senfe and Savour of theO,u Univer:fill Printiple which is com~ man to all, and which the Difaffed:ed alfo profefs robe the Root of all True Chrifiian Fellowlhip, and that Spiric into which the People of God drink and come to be Spimually-minded, and of one liettrt ,md one Soul. ' Some weakly miftook good Order in the Government of Church Affairs for Dijcipline in Worjhip, and that it was fo preft or recommended by Him and other Brethren. And thereupon they were ready to reflell: the fame Things that Dilfenters had very reafonably objefied upon the Natio· nal Churches. rha: have coercively ~retre.d Conformity to their refpective Creeds and Worfhtps. Whereas rhefe Thtngs related wb"Df w r.onverj.11ion and the Outward (and as I may fay) Civil P~trt of the Church i that Me~ fhould walk up to the Principles of their Belief, and not be wanrjng in Care and Charity. Bur though fame have Humbled and fallen throu$h Miftakes, and an unrcafonable Obftinacy, even to a Prejudice; yet blefled be God, the Generality have returned to their F.irlt Love, and feen the Work of the Enemy, that lofes no Opportunity or Advantage by which he may check or hinder the Work of God, and difquiet the Peace of his Church, and chiiJ the Love of his People to the Truth, and one to another. and there is hope of divers of the few that yet are at a Diftance. ' In all thefe Occafion!, though there was no Perfon the DiTcontenred ftruck fo fharply at, as this Good Man, he bore all their Weaknefs and Prejudice, and returned not Retle8:ion for Reftetlion; but forgave them thcu weak and bitter Speeches, praying for them that they might have a Senfe of their hurt, and fee the Subtilty of the Enemy to Rend and Di· vide, and return into their Firft Love that thought no ill. And truly I muft fay thn though God had vifibly clothed him with a Divine Preference and Authority, and indeed his very Prefence expreft a Religious Majefty; yer he never abufed it ; but held his Place in the Church Qf God with great Mednifs, and a mofl engtJging HJJmiliry and Moderation. For upon all Occafions, like his blelfed MaUer, he was a Servant' to aq ; holding and e~ercifing his Elderrbip in the lnvilible Power that had gather~ ed them, with Reverence to the Head and Care over the Body: And was received, only in that Spirit and Power of Chrift, as the Firft and Chief Elder in this Age: Who, as he was therefore worthy of double Honour, fo for the fame Reafon it was given by the Faithful of this Day; becaufe his Authority was inward and not outward, and that he got it and kept it by the Love of God, and Power of an Endlefs Life. I write my Knowledge, and nut Report, and my Witnifs is Tr11e ~ having been with. him for Weeks and Months together .on divers Occalions, and thofe of the neareft and mofl exercifing Nature; and that by Night and by Day, by Sea and by Land; in thia and in Foreign Countries: And I can fay, I never faw him out of his Place, or nor a March for every Service or Occalion. For in all Things he acquitted himfelf like a Man, yeJ, :1 ftrong Man, a J.lcw and Heaven{Y~MinJed Man, a Divine and a Natllralifl, :1nd all of God Almighty's making. I have been furprifed at his Queftions :1nd Anf~e~ jn Natural Things: That whilft he was Ignorant of ufelefs and SophJfii~ cal Science, he had in him the Grounds of Ufeful and Commendable Know· ledge, and cherifht it every where. Civil, beyond q!J F"!'ms of Breeding, i!J 5 u 2 hli |