was before the beast, whore, false prophet, and devil were, and will be, when they are all gone and cast into the lake of fire. And they that are heirs of this power and of this gospel, inherit the power which is the authority of this order, and of our meetings. These come to possess the joyful order of the joyful gospel, the comfortable order of the comfortable gospel, the glorious order of the glorious gospel, and the everlasting order of the everlasting gospel, the power of God, which will last for ever, and will out-last all the orders of the devil, and that which is of men or by men. These shall see the government of Christ, who hath all power in heaven and earth given to him; and of the increase of his glorious, righteous, holy, just government, there is no end; but his government and his order will remain; for he who is the author of it, is the first and the last, the beginning and ending, the foundation of God, which over all stands sure, Christ Jesus, the Amen.

Being returned to LONDON, I stayed some time there, visiting Friends' meetings in and about the city. While I was in London, I went one day to visit Esquire Marsh, who had showed much kindness both to me and to Friends; I happened to go when he was at dinner. He no sooner heard my name, than he sent for me up, and would have had me sit down with him to dinner; but I had not freedom to do so. Several great persons were at dinner with him; and he said to one of them who was a great Papist, "Here is a Quaker, whom you have not seen before." The Papist asked me, "whether I owned the christening of children?" I told him, "there was no Scripture for any such practice." What," said he, "not for christening children?" I said, "nay." I told him, "the one baptism by the one Spirit into one body we owned; but to throw a little water on a child's face, and say that was baptizing and christening it, there was no Scripture for that." Then he asked me, "whether I owned the Catholic faith?" I said, "yes," but added, that "neither the Pope nor the Papists were in that Catholic faith; for the true faith works by love, and purifies the heart, and if they were in that faith that gives victory, by which they might have access to God, they would not tell the people of a purgatory after they were dead." So I undertook to prove that "neither Pope nor Papists that held a purgatory hereafter, were in the true faith; for the true, precious, divine faith, which Christ is the author of, gives victory over the devil and sin, that had separated man and woman from God. And if they, the Papists, were in the true faith, they would never use racks, prisons, and fines, to persecute and force others to their religion, that were not of their faith. This was not the practice of the apostles and primitive Christians, who witnessed and enjoyed the true faith of Christ; but it was the practice of the faithless Jews and Heathens so to do. But," said I, "seeing thou art a great and leading man among the Papists, and hast been taught and bred up under the Pope, and seeing thou sayest, 'there is no salvation but in your church,' I desire to know of thee, what it is that doth bring salvation in your church ?" He answered, "a good life." "And nothing else," said I. "Yes," he said, "good works.” "And is this it that brings salvation in your church,

a good life and good works? Is this your doctrine and principle ?" said I. Yes," said he. Then," said I, "neither thou, nor the Pope, nor any of the Papists know what it is that brings salvation." Then he asked me, what brought salvation in our church? I told him, "that which brought salvation to the church in the apostles' days, the same brought salvation to us, and not another; namely, 'the Grace of God, which, the Scripture says, brings salvation, and hath appeared to all men, which taught the saints then, and teaches us now. This Grace which brings salvation, teaches to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly. So it is not the good works nor the good life that brings salvation, but the Grace?" "What!" said the Papist, "doth this Grace that brings salvation, appcar unto all men ?" Yes," said I. "Then," said he, "I deny that. I replied, "all that deny that, are scct-makers, and are not in the universal faith, grace, and truth, which the apostles were in.”

Then he spoke to me about the mother-church. I told him, "the several sects in Christendom had accused us, and said, 'we forsook our mother-church.' The Papists charged us with forsaking their church, saying, 'Rome was the only mother-church.' The Episcopalians taxed us with forsaking the old Protestant religion, alleging, theirs was the reformed mother-church.' The Presbyterians and Independents blamed us for leaving them, each of them pretending, 'theirs was the right reformed church.'" But, I said, "if we could own any outward city or place to be the mother-church, we should own Jerusalem, where the gospel was first preached by Christ himself and his apostles, where Christ suffered, where the great conversion to Christianity by Peter was, where the types, figures, and shadows, which Christ ended, and where Christ commanded his disciples to 'wait until they were endued with power from on high.' If any outward place deserved to be called the mother, that was the place where the first great conversion to Christianity was. But the apostle saith, Gal. iv. 25-27, Jerusalem, which now is, is in bondage with her children; but Jerusalem which is above, is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren, that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not; for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.' The apostle does not say, outward Jerusalem was the mother, though the first and great conversion to Christianity was there. And there is less reason for the title [mother] to be given to Rome, or to any other outward place or city, by the children of Jerusalem, that is above and free; neither are they Jerusalem's children that is above and free, who give the title of mother either to outward Jerusalem, to Rome, or to any other place or sect of people. And though this title [mother] hath been given to places and sects amongst and by the degenerate Christians, yet still we say, as the apostle said of old, Jerusalem that is above, is the mother of us all.' And we can own no other, neither outward Jerusalem nor Rome, nor any sect of people for our mother, but Jerusalem which is above, which is free, the mother of all that are born again, and are become true believers in the light, grafted in Christ, the

heavenly Vine. For all who are born again of the immortal Seed, by the Word of God, which lives and abides for ever, feed upon the milk of the Word, the breast of life, and grow by it in life, and cannot acknowledge any other to be their mother but Jerusalem which is above." "O,” said Esquire Marsh to the Papist, "You do not know this man, if he would but come to church now and then, he would be a brave man."

After some other discourse, I went aside with Justice Marsh into another room, to speak with him concerning Friends; for he was a justice of peace for Middlesex, and being a courtier, the other justices put much of the management of affairs upon him. He told me "he was in a strait how to act between us and some other Dissenters. For," said he, "you cannot swear, and the Independents, Baptists, and Fifth-monarchy people say also they cannot swear; therefore," said he, "how shall I know how to distinguish betwixt you and them, seeing they and you all say it is for conscience' sake that you cannot swear ?" I answered, "I will show thee how to distinguish. They, or most of them, thou speakest of, can and do swear in some cases, but we cannot swear in any case. If a man should steal their cows or horses, and thou shouldst ask them whether they would swear they were theirs; many of them would readily do it. But if thou try our Friends, they cannot swear for their own goods. Therefore, when thou puttest the oath of allegiance to any of them, ask them, whether they can swear in any other case, as for their cow or horse; which, if they be really of us, they cannot do, though they can bear witness to the truth." " Hereupon I gave him a relation of a trial in Berkshire, which was thus: A thief stole two beasts from a Friend of ours, the thief was taken and cast into prison, and the Friend appeared against him at the assizes. But somebody having informed the judge, that the prosecutor was a Quaker, and could not swear, the judge, before he heard what the Friend could say, said, "Is he a Quaker? and will he not swear? Then tender him the oaths of allegiance and supremacy." So he cast the Friend into prison, and premunired him, and set the thief at liberty that had stolen his goods. Justice Marsh, said, "that judge was a wicked man.” "But," said I, "if we could swear in any case, we would take the oath of allegiance to the king, who is to preserve the laws that are to support every man in his estate. Whereas others, that can swear in some cases to preserve a part of their estates, if they be robbed, will not take this cath to the king, who is to preserve them in their whole estates and bodies also. So that thou mayest easily distinguish, and put a difference between us and those people. Justice Marsh was afterwards very serviceable to Friends in this and other cases; for he kept several, both Friends and others, from being premunired. When Friends were brought before him in time of persecution, he set many of them at liberty; and when he could not avoid sending to prison, he sent some for a few hours, or for a night. At length he went to the king, and told him, "he had sent some of us to prison contrary to his conscience, and he could not do so any more." Wherefore he removed his family from Limehouse, where he lived, and took lodgings near St. James's Park. He told the king that "if he would be pleased to give liberty of conscience,

that would quiet and settle all; for then none could have any pretence to be uneasy." And indeed he was a very serviceable man to truth and Friends in his day.

We had great service at London this year; the Lord's truth came over all, and many that had gone out from truth came in again, confessing and condemning their outgoings. After I had stayed some time in London, I visited Friends in SURREY and SUSSEX, and in other places that way, and afterwards travelled northward, having Leonard Fell with me. We visited Friends till we came to WARWICK, where many were in prison; and we had a meeting in the town. I passed thence to BIRMINGHAM and Badgley. At BADGLEY I had a large meeting; after which I came to NOTTINGHAM, where on First-day we had a precious meeting, but not without danger of being apprehended, the constables having threatened to take up Friends.

I passed thence, visiting Friends, till I came to BALBY, and so to YORK, to the quarterly meeting; and a blessed time we had. Friends in Yorkshire had seven monthly meetings before; and they were so sensible of the service of them, that they desired to have seven more added to them, for truth was much spread in that county. So they were established; and now they have fourteen monthly meetings in that county.*

It being the assizes at York, I met with Justice Hotham, a well-wisher to Friends, who had been tender, and very kind to me from the first.

After I had finished my service for the Lord in York, I passed into the country. As I went a great burthen fell upon me, but I did not presently know the reason of it. I came to a meeting on First-day at Richard Shipton's, which was very large, but there being one the same day at another place also, the priest of that place, being misinformed that I was to be there, got a warrant, and made great disturbance at that meeting; of which Isaac Lindley, who was there, gave me an account in the following letter:

"G. F.

"When thou went from York, the First-day after thou wast at Richard Shipton's, that day I had appointed a meeting ten miles from York, where there had not been one before. But the priest and the constable got a warrant on the seventh day, and put thy name only in the warrant, for they had heard that thou wast to be there. They came with weapons and staves, and cried, 'Where is Mr. Fox?' over and over; many Friends being there, they concluded thou wast among them. But those raveners, being disappointed, plucked me down and abused me, and beat some Friends, and then took me before a magistrate, but he set me at liberty."

ISAAC LINDLEY.

Then I visited Friends at WHITBY and SCARBRO'. When at Scarbro', the governor hearing I was come, sent to invite me to his house, saying, "surely I would not be so unkind as not to come and see him and his

*The fourteen monthly meetings mentioned above as settled in Yorkshire so early as 1669, were York, Balby, Pontefract, Brighouse, Knaresbro', Settle, Malton, Thirsk, Richmond, Gisbro', Scarbro', Kelke, Oustwick, and Elloughton.

wife." After the meeting I went up to visit him, and he received me very courteously and lovingly.

Having visited most of the meetings in Yorkshire, the WOLDS, and HOLDERNESS, I came to Henry Jackson's, where I had a great meeting. Thence to Thomas Taylor's, and so to John Moor's at ELDRETH, where we had a very large meeting; the Lord's power and presence were eminently amongst us. Not far from this place lay Colonel Kirby, lame of the gout, who had threatened that "if ever I came near, he would send me to prison again; and had bid forty pounds to any man that could take me;" as I was credibly informed.

After this I came into STAFFORDSHIRE, and CHESHIRE, where we had many large and precious meetings. I had a very large one at William Barnes's house, about two miles from WARRINGTON; and though Colonel Kirby was out again, as violent in breaking up meetings as before, and was then at Warrington, the Lord did not suffer him to come to this meeting; and so we were preserved out of his hands.