light, disobey the gospel, turn the grace of God into wantonness, walk despitefully against the Spirit of Grace, turn from the truth, crucify to themselves Christ afresh, and put him to open shame; these were they, that let in the spirit of the world; who held the form of godliness, but denied the power thereof; and troubled the churches in the apostles' days. When the spirit of Satan had got into such, they were more troublesome to the church than the open persecutors that were without: these got into the assemblies to deceive the hearts of the simple, having the good words, fair speeches, and sheep's clothing. Paul, Peter, John, Jude, and James had much to do with such, to keep them from troubling the church of Christ; for they are out of the light, power, and Spirit; therefore the apostles of Christ exhorted the saints to keep to the Word of life within; to the anointing; to the grace, truth, and Holy Spirit in their hearts. This foul spirit will profess all the Scriptures in words; but by the Spirit of God, which is holy, this spirit is tried, and its fruits. So the apostates went from the power and Spirit of God, and turned against the prophets, and the martyrs of Jesus; and became the whore, whose cup all nations drank of. The dragon with his tail threw down many of the stars, and would have devoured the woman with his flood; but the woman, the true church, was preserved; for the gates of hell cannot prevail against her; and then the dragon made war with her seed. So the dragon, the whore, the beast, and false prophets, all made war against the Lamb and the saints; but the Lamb and the saints will overcome them all, and will have the victory. And now the everlasting gospel is preached again to all nations, tongues, and peoples; and many are gathered into the gospel, the power of God, are turned to the light, which is the life in Christ, are grafted into him, and are come to walk in the order of the new covenant of light and life, in the gospel of peace and salvation. The same spirit that opposed the apostles and the churches in their days, opposes now; yea, it is the same that opposed Christ, and disdained him, that disdaineth God's servants . now. The same that opposed the prophets, and rebelled against Moses, opposes and rebels against God's servants and people now. dark, blind, disobedient, faithless, wilful, jealous spirit, that persecutes some with the hands, and others with the tongue. It is the same spirit of enmity, the adversary and destroyer, that tempted Adam and Eve to disobey God, and deceived them; which deceived the Jews and tempted them, and deceived all those that went from the church in the apostles' days. And it is the same spirit that is now going about sometimes like a roaring lion, sometimes like a twisting serpent to tempt, to deceive, and to devour, in those who have fair speeches, good words, and sheep's clothing, in a form of godliness, and under pretence of light and liberty, but who deny the power thereof, and inwardly are ravening wolves; and if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect. But the elect are in the covenant of light and life, and in the power of God over them, and in Christ, who will grind them to pieces; and will slay all his enemies with his spiritual sword, who will not have him to rule over, or in them. In Christ all his people have rest and peace, who is their sanctuary over all storms and tempests. In Christ, the sanctuary, no deceiver nor destroyer can come; for he is a

It is the same

place of sweet rest and safety. Hallelujah! praise the Lord for his sanctuary. Amen."

G. F.

Sufferings continuing severe upon Friends at LONDON, I found my service lay mostly there; wherefore I went but little out of town, and not far; being frequent at the most public meetings, to encourage Friends, both by word and example, to stand fast in the testimony to which God had called them. At other times I went about from house to house, visiting Friends that had their goods taken away for their testimony to truth. And because the wicked informers were grown very audacious, by reason that they had too much countenance and encouragement from some justices, who, trusting wholly to their information, proceeded against Friends without hearing them; whereby many were made to suffer, not only contrary to right, but even contrary to law also; I advised with some Friends about it; and we drew up a paper, which was delivered to most of the magistrates in and about the city; which was as follows:

"WHEREAS informers have obtained warrants of some justices of peace, who have convicted many of us without a hearing, or once summoning us to appear before them; by which proceedings many have had their goods seized and taken away, being generally fined ten pounds each for an unknown speaker: and some of those persons so fined, have not been at the meetings they were fined for; and the speaker notwithstanding has himself been fined for the same meeting, the same day the others were fined for the unknown speaker. By this the justices may see the wickedness of these informers, by whose false oaths we have been convicted for an unknown preacher, when the preacher has been both known and fined. Also in their swearing such persons to have been at such a meeting such a day, when indeed they, whom they have so sworn against, have not been at that meeting. By which proceedings several families of the king's peaceable subjects are likely to be ruined, if a speedy stop be not put thereunto. Therefore we hope and desire, that you, the king's justices, for the time to come, when any informers shall come to any of you with information against any of us, will summon such as are accused to appear before you, and hear us and our accusers face to face; that none for the time to come may suffer for that they are not guilty of. For Pilate the governor heard Christ and his accusers, face to face, before he condemned him, John xix. The council and chief priests heard Stephen and his accusers, with the witnesses that were brought against him, face to face, before they condemned him, Acts vii. The Roman captain heard Paul and his accusers face to face, Acts xxiii. Felix the governor heard Paul, and Ananias the high priest, and the elders that accused Paul, face to face, Acts xxiv. And when the high priests and chief of the Jews accused Paul to Festus, he heard Paul and his accusers, and them that witnessed against him, face to face, Acts xxv. Doth the law of God, or did the Roman law, or doth the law of the land judge any man, before he and his accusers, and they that witness against him, be heard face to face ?"

This somewhat moderated the justices; and after this several Friends, that had been illegally prosecuted and fined, entered their appeals; and

upon trial were acquitted, and the informers cast: which was a great discouragement to the informers, and some relief to Friends.

A little before the time for choosing new sheriffs for the city, they who put up to be chosen desiring our Friends to give their voices for them, I wrote a few lines, tending to discover what spirit they were of, and how they stood affected to true liberty; and it was by way of inquiry, thus :

"Do any here in London, who stand to be chosen sheriffs, own that Christ, that was crucified without the gates of Jerusalem, to be the light of the world, that 'enlightens every man that cometh into the world,' who saith, Believe in the light, that ye may become children of light ?' Are any of you against persecuting people for their religion and worship of God in Spirit and in truth, as Christ commandeth ? For Christ said, 'I am not of this world, nor my kingdom;' therefore he doth not uphold his spiritual worship and pure religion with worldly and carnal weapons. Christ said, 'Swear not at all;' and his apostle James saith the same; but will not you force us to swear, and so to break Christ's and his apostle's commands, in putting oaths to us? Christ saith to his apostles, Freely ye have received, freely give.' Will not you force us to give tithes and maintenance to such teachers as we know God hath not sent? Shall we be free to serve and worship God, and keep his and his Son's commands, if we give our voices freely for you? For we are unwilling to give our voices for such as will imprison and persecute us, and spoil our goods.”

But whatever they were that stood to be chosen, I observed heat and strife in the spirits of the people that were to choose; wherefore I wrote a few lines to be spread amongst them, directed thus:—

"To the People who are choosing Sheriffs in London.

"PEOPLE,-All keep in the gentle and peaceable wisdom of God, which is above all that which is earthly, sensual, and devilish; and live in that love of God that is not puffed up, nor is unseemly; which envieth not, but beareth and endureth all things. In this love ye will seek the good and peace of all, and the hurt of no man. Keep out of all heats, and be not hot-headed; but be cool and gentle, that your Christian moderation may appear to all men; for the Lord is at hand, who beholds all men's words, thoughts, and actions, and will reward every one according to his works; and what every man soweth, that shall he reap.'

Now I had some inclination to go into the country to a meeting, but hearing that there would be a bustle at our meetings, and feeling a great disquietness in people's spirits in the city about choosing sheriffs, it was upon me to stay in the city, and go to the meeting in Gracechurch Street upon the First-day of the week. William Penn went with me, and spoke; and while he was declaring the truth to the people, a constable came in with his great staff, and bid him give over, and come down; but he continued, declaring truth in the power of God. After a while the constable drew back, and when William Penn had done, I stood up, and declared

to the people "the everlasting gospel, which was preached in the apostles' days, and to Abraham; and which the church in the apostles' days received, and came to be heirs of. This gospel, I declared, was sent from heaven by the Holy Ghost in the apostles' days, and is so now; and was not of man, neither by man; but by the revelation of the Holy Ghost. And now this gospel is preached again (as John saw, and said it should be) to all nations, tongues, and people; and all people now are to hear Christ the prophet, in this his gospel of the new covenant. For as Moses said, 'Like unto me will God raise up a prophet, and Him shall ye bear in all things;* so, said I, this prophet, Christ, is come, and all the Jews in spirit, the true believing Christians in the light, who have the law of God written in their hearts, and put into their minds, are to hear Christ in his gospel, new testament, and new covenant, which is the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, who bruises the serpent's head (which is the head of enmity), and makes free from the law of sin and death. I showed, that all whom Christ quickens and makes alive, he makes to sit together in the heavenly places in himself. So that they do not wander up and down, like the fool's eye, in the corners of the earth; nor are their eyes abroad in the world, to sit down in the world's invented seats of religion; but they sit together in Him, as the saints did in the apostles' days. So Christ was and is their treasure of wisdom, life, knowledge, and salvation." As I was thus speaking, two constables came in with their great staves, and bid me give over speaking, and come down; but, feeling the power of the Lord with me, I spoke on therein, both to the constables and to the people. To the constables I declared, "that we were a peaceable people, who meet to wait upon God, and worship him in Spirit and in truth; and therefore they needed not to come with their staves amongst us, who were met in a peaceable manner, desiring and seeking the good and salvation of all people." Then turning my speech to the people again, I declared what further was upon me to them; and while I was speaking, the constables drew out towards the door; and the soldiers stood with their muskets in the yard. When I had done speaking, I kneeled down and prayed, desiring the Lord to open the eyes and hearts of all people, both high and low, that their minds might be turned to God by his Holy Spirit; that he might be glorified in all and over all. After prayer the meeting rose, and Friends passed away; the constables being come in again, but without the soldiers; and indeed, both they and the soldiers carried themselves civilly. William Penn and I went into a room hard by, as we used to do, and many Friends went with us; and lest the constables should think we would shun them, a Friend went down and told them, that if they would have anything with us, they might come where we were, if they pleased. One of them came to us soon after, but without his staff; which he chose to do, that he might not be observed; for he said, the people told him he busied himself more than he needed. We desired to see his warrant; and therein we found, that the informer was one Hilton, a North-countryman, who was reputed to be a Baptist. The constable was asked, whether he would arrest us by his warrant on that day; it being the First-day of the week, which in their law was called the Lord's day; he said, he thought he could not. He told

us also, that he had charged the informer to come along with him to the meeting, but he had run away from him. We showed the constable that both he and we were clear; yet to free him from all fear of danger, we were free to go to the alderman that granted the warrant. Then a Friend that was present said, he would go with the constable to speak with the alderman; which they did, and came presently back again, the alderman being gone from home. Seeing the constable in a strait, and finding him to be a tender man, we bid him fix an hour to come to us again, or send for us, and we would come to him. So he appointed five in the afternoon; but neither came, nor sent for us; and a Friend meeting him afterwards in the evening, the constable told him, he thought it would come to nothing, and therefore did not look after us. So the Lord's power was over all; to him be the glory!

On the Fourth-day following, it was upon me to go to Gracechurch Street meeting again; for I had heard that they would come to break it up that day. The neighbours, it seems, were informed so; a justice had granted a warrant for that purpose, and the constable told a Friend, that Hilton the informer had been with him about it. The constable would have had the informer to go with him to the meeting, but he would not; but would have the constable to go without him; whether that put the constable by, I know not; but he did not come. I was in a travail of spirit in the power of God, and was moved in it to go to the meeting; and the Lord's power chained all down. Though they threatened to bring the red coats, none came, nor was there any disturbance; but a glorious, powerful meeting it was, and very peaceable. Glory, honour, and praises be to the Lord over all for ever. Amen!

Of

During the time I thus abode at London, as I had leisure between meetings, and from other public services, I wrote divers books and papers, some of which were printed, and others spread about in manuscript. these, one was directed "To the bishops and others, that stirred up persecution; to show them from the Holy Scriptures that they did not walk therein according to the royal law, 'to love their neighbour as themselves, and to do to others as they would be done unto.' Another was, "To all

the several sorts of professed Christians, as well Protestants as Papists, whose religion and worship stand in outward observances and ceremonies; pressing them from those words of the apostle Paul to the Galatians, chap. v. ver. 2-4, ‘Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace,' to consider whether they, being gone back into legal observations and shadowy ceremonies (in upholding tithes, offerings, first-fruits, priests' garments, outward altars, temples, lamps, lights, &c., and in observing days, months, times, years, with many other things commanded by the law), were not gone into the same state that the Galatians were running into; and so were fallen from grace, and become debtors to do the whole law." Another was, "To direct and turn all people to the Spirit of God, that they might thereby receive a right understanding, and