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and where he had both them and the wainscot that he cieled his house withal; had he them not from Hornby castle?

About this time Ann Curtis, of Reading, came to see me, and understanding how I stood committed, it was upon her also to go to the king about it; for her father, who had been sheriff of Bristol, had been hanged near his own door for endeavouring to bring the king in; upon which consideration she had some hopes that the king might hear her on my behalf: accordingly, when she returned to London, she and Margaret Fell went to the king together, who, when he understood whose daughter she was, received her kindly and her request to him being to send for me up, and hear the cause himself, he promised her he would, and commanded his secretary to send down an order for the bringing me up: but when they came to the secretary for the order, he (being no friend to us) said it was not in his power, but that he must go according to law, and I must be brought up by an habeas corpus before the judges. So he wrote to the judge of the king's bench, signifying that it was the king's pleasure that I should be sent up by an habeas corpus: accordingly a writ was sent down, and delivered to the sheriff; but because it was directed to the chancellor of Lancaster, the sheriff put it off to him; on the other hand, the chancellor would not make the warrant upon it, but said the sheriff must do that. At length both chancellor and sheriff were got together; but being both enemies to truth, they sought occasion for deJay, and found (they said) an error in the writ, which was, that being directed to the chancellor, it said, 'George Fox in prison under your custody,' whereas the prison I was in was not (they said) in the chancellor's custody, but in the sheriff's; so the word your should have been his upon this they returned the writ to London again, only to have that one word altered: when it was altered, and came down again, the sheriff refused to carry me up, unless I would seal a writing to him, and become bound, and pay for the sealing, and the charge of carrying me up; which I denied, telling them I would not seal any thing to them, nor be bound: so the matter rested a while, and I continued in prison. Mean while the assize came on; but inasmuch as there was a writ come down for removing me up, I was not brought before the judge. At the assize many people came to see me, and I was moved to speak out at the jail window to them, and shew them how uncertain their religion was, and that every sort that had been uppermost persecuted the rest; for when popery was uppermost people had been persecuted for not following the mass; and they

that did hold up the mass cried, then it was the higher power, and people must be subject to the higher power. Afterwards, they that held up the common prayer, persecuted others for not following that, and they said it was the higher power then also, and we must be subject to that. Since that the Presbyterians and Independents cried each of them, 'We must be subject to the higher power, and submit to the directory of the one, and the church faith of the other.' Thus all, like the apostate Jews, have cried, Help, men of Israel,' against the true Christians: so people might see how uncertain they are of their religions. But I directed them to Christ Jesus, that they might be built upon him, the rock and foundation, that changeth not. Much on this wise I declared to them, and they were quiet and very attentive. Afterwards I gave forth a little paper concerning true religion, as followeth :

:

True religion is the true rule, and right way of serving God and religion is a pure stream of righteousness, flowing from the image of God, and is the life and power of God planted in the heart and mind by the law of life in the heart, which bringeth the soul, mind, spirit, and body, to be conformable to God, the Father of spirits, and to Christ, so that they come to have fellowship with the Father and the Son, and with all his holy angels and saints. And this religion is pure, from above, undefiled before God, and is to visit the fatherless and widows and strangers, and keeps from the spots of the world. So this religion is above all the defiled spotted religions in the world, that keep not themselves from defilement and spots, but are impure, and below, and spotted, whose fatherless; and widows, and strangers do beg up and down the streets.'

G. F.

Soon after this I gave forth another paper against persecution, as followeth :

The papists, common-prayer men, presbyterians, independents, and baptists, persecute one another about their inventions which they have invented, their mass, their common-prayer, their directory, their church faith, which they have made and framed; their inventions and handy works, and not for the truth; for they know not what spirit they be of who persecute, and would make men's lives destroyed about church-worship and religion, as saith Christ; who also said he came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them. Now they that know not what spirit they be of, but will persecute and destroy men's lives, and not save them, we cannot trust our bodies, souls, nor spirits, into their

hands; they know not what spirit they be of themselves, and therefore they are not fit to be trusted with others. They would destroy by a law, as the disciples once would have done by prayer, who would have commanded fire to come down from heaven to destroy them that would not receive Christ: but Christ rebukes them, and tells them they did not know what spirit they were of; and if they did not know what spirit they were of, do these who have persecuted about church and religion since the apostles' days, who would compel men's bodies, goods, lives, souls, and estates, into their hands by a law, or make them suffer else? Those that destroy men's lives are not the ministers of Christ, the Saviour: and seeing they know not what spirit they be of, the lives, bodies, and souls of men are not to be trusted in their hands: and ye that do persecute shall have no resurrection to life with God except ye repent but they that do know what spirit they are of themselves, they are in the unrebukable zeal, and by the Spirit of God they offer up their spirits, souls, and bodies to the Lord, which are his, to keep them.'

G. F.

Whilst yet I was kept in Lancaster jail, I was moved to give forth the following paper, for the staying the minds of any such as might be hurried or troubled about the change of government.

All Friends, let the dread and majesty of God fill you! and as concerning the changing of times and governments, let not that trouble any of you, for God hath a mighty work and hand therein and he will yet change again, until that come up which must reign; and in vain shall all powers and armies withstand the Lord, for his determined work shall come to pass: but what is now come up, it is just with the Lord that it should be so, and he will be served by it: therefore let none murmur nor distrust God, for God will provoke many to zeal against unrighteousness, and for righteousness, through things which are suffered now to work for a season: yea many whose zeal was even dead shall revive again, and they shall see their backslidings, and bewail them bitterly: for God shall thunder down from heaven, and break forth in a mighty noise, and his enemies shall be astonished, and the workers of iniquity confounded; and all that have not the garment of righteousness shall be amazed at the mighty and strange work of the Lord, which shall be certainly brought to pass. But, my babes, look ye not out, but be still in the light of the Lamb, and he shall fight for you: so the Almighty Hand, which

must break and split and divide your enemies, and take away peace from them, preserve and keep you whole, and in unity and peace with itself, and one with another. Amen.' G. F.

I was moved also to write to the king, both to exhort him to exercise mercy and forgiveness towards his enemies, and to warn him to restrain the prophaneness and looseness that was gotten up in the nation upon his return. It was thus:

To the KING.

King Charles, thou camest not into this nation by sword, nor by victory of war, but by the power of the Lord: now if thou dost not live in it thou wilt not prosper; and if the Lord hath shewed thee mercy and forgiven thee, and thou dost not shew mercy and forgiveness, the Lord God will not hear thy prayers, nor them that pray for thee: and if thou do not stop persecution and persecutors, and take away all laws that do hold up persecution about religion; but if thou do persist in them, and uphold persecution, that will make thee as blind as them that have gone before thee; for persecution hath alwaye blinded those that have gone into it; and such God by his power overthrows, and doth his valiant acts upon, and bringeth salvation to his oppressed ones. And if thou dost bear the sword in vain, and let drunkenness, oaths, plays, may-games (with fiddlers, drums, trumpets, to play at them) with such like abominations and vanities be encouraged, or go unpunished, as setting up of may-poles, with the image of the crown a top of them, &c. the nations will quickly turn like Sodom and Gomorrah, and be as bad as the old world, who grieved the Lord until he overthrew them; and so he will you, if these things be not suddenly prevented. Hardly was there so much wickedness at liberty before now, as there is now at this day; as though there was no terror nor sword of magistracy; which doth not grace a government, nor is a praise to them that do well. Our prayers are for them that are in authority, that under them we may live a godly life, in which we have peace, and that we may not be brought into ungodliness by them. So hear, and consider, and do good in thy time, whilst thou hast power, and be merciful and forgive: this is the way to overcome, and obtain the kingdom of Christ.'

G. F.

It was long before the sheriff would yield to remove me to London unless I would seal a bond to him and bear their charges, which I still refused to do. Then they consulted how to convey me up, and at first concluded to send up a party of horse with me and I told them if I were such a man as they had represented me to be, they had need send a troop or two of horse to guard me. When they considered what a charge it would be to them to send up a party of horse with me, they altered their purpose, and concluded to send me up guarded only by the jailor and some bailiffs: but, upon further consideration, they found that would be a great charge to them also, and thereupon sent for me down from the prison unto the jailer's house, and told me if I would put in bail, that I would be in London such a day of the term, I should have leave to go up with some of my own friends: I told them I would neither put in any bail, nor give one piece of silver to the jailer, for I was an innocent man, and they had imprisoned me wrongfully, and laid a false charge upon me: nevertheless, 1 said, if they would let me go up with one or two of my friends to bear me company, I might go up, and be in London such a day, if the Lord did permit; and if they desired it, I, or any of my friends that went with me, would carry up the charge against myself. So at last, when they saw they could do no otherwise with me, the sheriff yielded, and came under, consenting that I should come up with some of my friends, without any other engagement than my word, as aforesaid, to appear before the judges at London such a day of the term, if the Lord did permit. Whereupon I was set out of prison, and went to Swarthmore, where I staid two or three days, and from thence went to Lancaster again, and so to Preston, having meetings amongst friends in the way, till I came into Cheshire to William Gandy's, where was a large meeting without doors, the house not being sufficient to contain it. That day the Lord's everlasting seed was set over all, and friends were turned to it, who is the Heir of the Promise. Thence passing on I came into Staffordshire and Warwickshire, till I came to Anthony Bickliff's; and at Non-Eaton at a priest's widow's house, we had a blessed meeting, wherein the everlasting Word of Life was powerfully declared, and many settled in it. Then travelling on again through the countries, visiting friends' meetings as I went, in about three weeks time from my coming out of prison, I came to London, Richard Huberthorn and Robert Withers being with me.

When we came to Charing-cross, there were multitudes

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