
The Life of William Dewsbury
Continued
CHAPTER XI
1658. William Dewsbury in Scotland – Epistle – Trials from false brethren – John Perrot’s case – William Dewsbury’s labors with these – Restoration of many – Self-renunciation required of Friends – William Dewsbury at a meeting in Warwickshire – Disturbance and violent treatment of Friends – His is imprisoned in York Castle, with five hundred more, where five die – He is released – Writes Epistles of Encouragement to Friends.
By the date of William Dewsbury's next
epistle, we trace him to Scotland.
From the few scattered notices which were preserved of his labors in that nation, it appears
that they were eminently blessed to the
religious establishment of many persons, in
whose hearts the work of preparation had
been going on for several years. When
Friends in the capacity of ministers had their
steps first directed among the people of that
nation, the word preached was truly glad
tidings to their souls. We are informed by
John Barclay, in his Memoirs of Friends in
Scotland, that "in the south of Scotland, as
in the north, there were individuals, whose
minds had been for some years weary and
heavy laden, under a sense of their manifold
short-comings, yet who believed there was to
be known, a more purely spiritual way of
worship, and of life and conduct, than that
which they, or any with whose profession
they were acquainted, had arrived at. Deeply
burdened with the formality, superstition, and
will-worship prevalent around them, and under
which the various public preachers too generally
detained their hearers, these serious inquirers
had separated from the several congregations
of the people; and at length some
of them began to meet together by themselves,
waiting upon God in a holy silence and awful
humility of soul, for ability to draw near unto
him in true spiritual worship. On these occasions,
they were at times made sensible of
the quickening virtue, power, and life of the
holy Spirit, enabling some of them to speak
forth the praises of the Almighty, and from
an inward experience of his goodness, to extend
instrumentally a hand of help to others."
To a people thus situated, it appeared to
be consistent with the mind of the great and
good Shepherd to extend his merciful regard;
and between the years 1653 and 1658, when
William Dewsbury paid them his first visit,
the feet of many Gospel messengers were
turned in that direction. We are further informed
in the Memoirs, that the Gospel messages
of these, and other zealous witnesses,
[who had already occupied the ground] reached
the consciences of many who heard them; yet,
with regard to Aberdeen and the district thereabouts,
no open espousal of the tenets of the
people called Quakers took place, until towards
the end of the year 1662; when William
Dewsbury was drawn in love to these
prepared and panting souls, to proclaim among
them the acceptable year of the Lord, even
deliverance from the bondage of corruption, by the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
Thus was the remarkable work of convincement,
which had been secretly going on in
some of their hearts for several years, through
many deep conflicts of spirit, helped forward
to such a point, that they were made willing,
even in all things, to take up the daily cross,
though in various respects as bitter as death,
and to follow the guidance of Christ by his
spirit within them, wherever he should be
pleased to lead.
Thus much is known of William Dewsbury's
labors as regards Aberdeen. But the above referred to is dated Leith, at an
earlier period, namely, the 24th of the seventh
month, 1658, and refers to his first visit to
Scotland, respecting which I have not been
able to discover particulars from any other
source than the epistle itself. On this account,
and because of its intrinsic worth, I
have concluded to lay it before the reader. It
is as follows.
Dear Friends,
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
walk, so as to reign over all that is contrary
to the light; that, in the light and glory of
God, you may all shine forth, living witnesses of the name of the everlasting, holy, pure
God, who has looked upon you in his tender
love, to gather you to stand against all deceit,
in his everlasting power. Blessed are you
who are faithful in obeying the light of Christ,
who follow him in the cross and the straight
way of self-denial, You are my brethren and
sisters in the Lord Jesus, our Captain. He
will crown you with his mighty power to stand
over all [temptations] to follow him in faith and
patience, until every tongue that lifts up
itself against you, shall fall in judgment, together with all who stumble at Christ Jesus,
our light and life, who will gather a large
people to himself. In that country, many
shall come in, who are yet wandering upon
the mountains, where they find no rest. Blessed
are all you that abide and walk faithfully
with the Lord, whom he has called and chosen
to be the first fruits. Whatever arises
contrary to the light, within or without, watching
in the light, you will discern; stay your
hearts upon the Lord, holding fast your confidence
in him. He will deliver you out of
all that is contrary to the light, and cause you
to rejoice in the daily cross, crucifying you
to the world and the world to you. Over the
world He will cause you to rejoice, and you
shall stand over it in the power of God, with
all its pomp and glory and the evil therein,
to his praise and glory. Even so be it with
you all, in the mighty power of God, in which
my soul salutes you that faithfully and humbly
walk before the Lord, in obedience to his
counsel.
Dear lambs, called to lie down in the safe
fold of rest, in Christ our life, in tender love
beseech you, that you are faithful in meeting
together in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ;
and diligently watch to know your own measure
of grace in Christ, to feel him in you to
judge your thoughts, and every vain imagination,
that you may reign over them, and delight
in the refreshing of his presence. And
all take heed of many words; at all times let
them be few, and from the savory spirit of
life, in Christ. In him, the blessing of the
Lord rest on you all forevermore; there to
farewell with me in the everlasting love of the
Father in Christ, Amen.
William Dewsbury
Let copies of this be carefully written and
sent to the churches, to be read among them,
when they are met together in the fear of God.
Another letter from Leith addressed
to Margaret Fell is as follows.
In the everlasting power and life in Christ,
the light and righteousness, over all God
blessed forever. In his power, which keeps
the faithful, dear sister, I have been and am
refreshed in my travails, which in measure
you know what they are, for the Seed's
sake. Dwell in the power, in which the
Lord has chosen you to bear his Name in
righteousness; even so the Almighty God keep
you, your tender children and family a refreshing to the Israel of God. My dear sister,
your care I have often felt, bearing the burden
for the Seed's sake, and much for the poor
oppressed seed in Scotland; the care of
which has been much upon me. My tender
Father, after six years' travel in England,
has freed me to come into Scotland, which
was on the 13th day of the sixth month. At
Berwick I left my horse, and Samuel
Thornton was moved to come with me. I
bought shoes at Berwick, and came on foot into
Scotland with great joy.
On the first day's
journey, I met with hundreds of people. It
was harvest time and the people in the fields and
highways heard the truth in much tenderness. The 15th, being the first-day of the
week, I was at the meeting at Edinburgh. I stayed
for three meetings, and God appeared greatly to
his own glory. The 19th day, I journeyed towards
the west; the 22nd day, being the
first-day of the week, I was with Friends at Badcow,
through the country to the garrison
of Air; the 29th I came to the meeting of Friends
at Heads; Friends in measure have
come into the simplicity of the Truth. Then
journeyed to Hamilton, Glasgow, Stirling, and
to the castle of Bandallo. In the fields and
highways, many hundreds heard the word of
eternal life, many being very tender where I
have been led. The 12th of the seventh
month, being first-day, I returned to Edinburgh, where I have had many meetings and
pretty many came. Here has been as yet no opposition, the Lord has much appeared, many
clearly convinced of the Truth; Carttan is resolved to follow the Lord in obedience; he is
of the baptized people.
Dear sister, in a short time, the Lord led
me on foot, some hundreds of miles with much
joy, for the Seed's sake; my bread I am casting on the waters, assured I am, I shall find it
in the time appointed.
The everlasting God keep all in his power
and wisdom, everyone in their places, to his
praise and glory, Amen!
Farewell! your dear brother
William Dewsbury
From the date of another of his epistles, we
learn that William Dewsbury was in London
in the eleventh month, 1659. This year was one
of cruel persecution to the Society of
Friends, then, rising into considerable importance, through the diligence of the numerous laborers
engaged in testifying the Gospel of
the grace of God. The boldness with which
they asserted their peculiar belief, together
with the power which attended their preaching,
tended greatly to add to their numbers, notwithstanding
their suffering lot, and the
persecutions which awaited them. It is however evident, from some of the epistles of this
Friend, both of early and later date, that all
who were convinced of the truth, did not abide
faithful to their testimony.
Despite the address, which William
Dewsbury with so much wisdom made to the
Society as early as 1653, on the subject a
discipline, no regular system appears to have
been organized previous to the year 1688.
It was then accomplished under the zealous,
enlightened, and judicious exertions of George
Fox, who had a special call to proceed with that work. In
the meantime, as already related, some attempts were made to meet the exigencies that
arose; and it does appear from an answer
which William Dewsbury returns to an adversary, who had opposed him in some of his
writings, that the address in question had subsequently been followed up, either by the regular
appointment of overseers, or by the exercise of that office. It was however too much
to expect, without something more than ordinary to account for it, that a society so numerous and so extensive that Friends had now become, should conduct
their affairs in all respects harmoniously, or remain
wholly free from the incursions of that Spirit,
which by means of his agents takes pleasure in
sowing discord among brethren.
Accordingly,
about this time, one John Perrot became the
author of much confusion in this Society; more
especially among those, who, having recently joined
it, were weak in the faith. Of this number,
I find the truly honorable name of Thomas
Ellwood; and from whose Journal, such information
may be gathered on the subject, as is proper
to precede the relation of some facts, which William
Dewsbury has left us in one of his epistles
relative to the part he took in the affair.
John Perrot joined the people called Quakers
about the year 1658, and being of a forward, conceited,
and what may be truly called a fanatical
spirit, he soon took upon himself the ministerial
office; and being great in opinion of himself,
nothing less would serve him than to attempt the
conversion of the Pope. But soon after his arrival
at Rome, he was cast into Bedlam, and his
companion Luff, (or Love, as George Fox writes
his name), into the Inquisition. The reputed madman,
though not the best man, had the better
chance, as it turned out, for he lived, and succeeded
in returning to England, while the other died in
prison, not without well-grounded suspicions of
having been murdered.
On his return to England, Perrot, by magnifying
his sufferings and putting on the appearance
of great sanctity, so won upon the tender and
compassionate feelings of Friends, as to procure
for him a place in their affection and esteem which he in no wise deserved. This made way for his
propagating his peculiar error, of keeping on the
hat during public or private prayer. Improbable
as it may appear at this day, many sincere minds
were taken with the bait, and very great confusion
was the result. Ellwood, with all the ingenuousness
of a man of real worth, relates his own case
with full confessions of his error, which he publicly
condemned.
Site Editor’s Comments: Perrot pleaded that the hat removal was a form of outward observance, and as such should be discontinued. The society believed the hat removal before prayer, was a sign of respect and honor to God – the honor that man had demanded, which the Quakers refused to grant. Sermons in all the other sects were preached with the minister’s hat on his head. So the Quakers reversed the hat honor of man, to become only the hat honor to God. Perrot later wrote two very critical pamphlets against the Quakers, and was caught forging a document as to have originated by Edward Burrough. Later Perrot went to America, became a magistrate, and severely persecuted Quakers for not taking oaths.
The problem of Perrot appears to have started when "he took on the ministerial office himself." One wonders why a spiritually mature member did not simply reprove him for still being in the flesh. If someone claimed authority to preach, it appears there was no formal method to submit them to approval. Once he had been accepted as qualified to preach, he was in a position to lead a group astray, as it happened.
In an epistle addressed by William Dewsbury, "to all the faithful in Christ," bearing the
date of 1663, he thus describes the progress of
this error, as it took possession of the minds of
those who were the leaders in its propagation:
In that which tries and weighs your own spirits, in
coolness and singleness of heart, try and taste
what spirit they are of who come among you at
this day; where many come forth with us as to
the owning of Truth in their judgments, who regulate
the outward man in some gestures like to the
children of Truth. Some of them have felt the
stroke of the judgment of the Lord [for sin,]
which has caused them to forsake some things
which formerly they delighted in; and in some
measure of zeal they have borne a testimony to
the light, enduring stripes and imprisonments, both
in this nation, and some beyond the seas. While
they stood in the fear of the Lord, he for his name's
sake delivered them from the winter storms they
suffered under; yet for want of watchfulness, the
mystery of iniquity has wrought and drawn them
from the light into the pride of their hearts, to
deck themselves with the jewels and gifts, which
the Spirit of God gave unto them when they were
humbled before him.
But, departing from the redeeming
judgment of God, the deadly wound was
healed again, and instead of giving glory to
God for their deliverance, they in this time of
rest, took their flight as on the Sabbath day,
upon the mountains of high-imagination, and
did sacrifice on the high places. Having gone from the light, they neither regarded the glory of God nor the good of his
people.
Such as these became a source of much trouble
and concern to their brethren; and
after having succeeded in unsettling the minds of many, fell off from the body, drawing away
their adherents after them. Further
on, in the same epistle, the author writes as
follows:
Oh! how did my bowels yearn for the
presentation of John Perrot, in doing what could,
to draw and separate him from that
spirit which gave forth the paper that propagated
the keeping on of the hat in prayer,
and reflected upon those that called upon the
name of the Lord with their heads uncovered.
But after much counseling of him in tender
love, to stop that paper from going abroad,
he would not be separated from that spirit
that gave it forth; so I cleared my conscience in
the word of the Lord. And now, in my freedom in God, I declare to the children of Zion,
what the judgment is that did arise in my
heart, to this purpose:
John, if you propagate what you have written in this paper, you
will wound more hearts, and cause more trouble of spirit among the tender-hearted people of the Lord, than when the temptation entered
James Naylor; who deeply suffered, but the
Lord restored him again by true repentance.
As to my particular, it is not my nature
be found striving with you or any upon the
earth; but having declared the truth to you,
I will return to my rest in the Lord; and let
every birth live out the length of its day, and
let time manifest what is born of God. For
that spirit that stands up in self-striving, will
weary itself, and die, and end in the earth.
And this will certainly come to pass upon all
those that do not diligently wait in the light,
judge the outgoings of their minds, [yielding] in true self-denial to be lad in the footsteps, where the flocks of Christ's companions
delight to walk, serving one another in love,
and everyone with the spirit of love and
meekness, seeking to restore another out of
what any have done, through the violence of
temptation or weakness.
William Dewsbury
Such was the amiable, and discriminating
line of conduct which William Dewsbury pursued, in the wisdom that was given him to rule
the church of God, and such the harmless
and lowly authority which he exercised. Although, at this period, trials and afflictions
sorely proved the Society from within, as did
persecutions from without, there was from
time to time a degree of faith administered to
such steadfast spirits, as were numerous among
Friends who were the laborers and sufferers
of that day, which made them a match for every occasion where they were called to
exercise it. In this faith, which is the saints'
victory, the same writer, in his address, proceeds to hand them the word of encouragements.
Dear brethren, though the
wrath for what withstands the work of our God is great,
which wrath works openly and mysteriously, to lay burdens upon the innocent, and
add afflictions to the afflicted;- in the word
of the Lord that arises in my heart, I declare, they shall but weary themselves, and all
their hopes shall fail them, and their expectations
shall come to nothing; who wait for evil, which relates to
you who love the Lord better than your lives,
and delight in waiting to feel his power at all
times, leading and ordering you in the bonds and
within the limits of his Spirit.
This subject must not be concluded, without
presenting the reader with some further information,
relative to the manner in which a very large
proportion of those persons became disentangled,
who had thus been taken in "the snare of the
fowler."—"A meeting was appointed to be held
in London, through a divine opening in the motion
of life, in that eminent servant and minister
of Christ, George Fox; for the restoring and bringing
in again those who had gone out from Truth
and the holy unity of Friends therein by the
means and ministry of John Perrot." This meeting,
or rather meetings, lasted whole days, and
some who had run out from the Truth and clashed
with Friends were reached by the power of
the Lord; which came wonderfully over them,
and made them condemn themselves, and tear
their papers of controversies to pieces. George
Fox, who relates the circumstance, had several
meetings with them, and "the Lord's everlasting
power," as he declares, "was over all, and set
judgment on the head of that Spirit in which they
had run out. Some acknowledged, that these Friends
were more righteous than they; and that if their Friends
had not stood, they would have been lost, and had fallen
into perdition. And thus, the Lord's power was
wonderfully manifested, and came over all."
Thomas Ellwood, himself at first deceived by Perrot, writes:
In this manner, in the motion of life, were the healing waters stirred; and
many through the virtue and power thereof were
restored to soundness; and indeed, not many
lost. And though most of these, who thus returned
were such as, with myself, had before renounced
the error, and forsaken the practice; yet
we did sensibly find that forsaking without confessing,
in case of public scandal, was not sufficient;
but that an open acknowledgment of open
offences, as well as forsaking them, was necessary
to the obtaining complete remission.
Besides an abatement of numbers in the Society,
from such a cause as the one now described, it
will not be difficult to believe, that while persecution
did to a certain extent prevent its increase,
there were those also to whom the way proved too
narrow, as it involved greater sacrifices than they
could submit to. Without an unreserved dedication
of soul, such as these would be not unlike the
children of Ephraim, who carrying bows, turned
their backs in the day of battle. Although they
might be said to have the weapons, the knowledge
and the profession; yet wanting that living faith
which could alone fortify them with courage and
endurance, they were unable to stand the
brunt of that fiery trial, which inevitably awaited
the faithful servants of Christ. As our Lord said
to his immediate followers, "If any man comes to
me, and hates not his father, and mother, and wife,
and children, and brethren, and sisters, yes, and
his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." So it
was with Friends in that day; there could be no
reservations. Those who were not prepared to part with
all, even to the renunciation of lawful enjoyments, for the testimony of a pure conscience, in which
the faith is preserved, could not abide the fiery
trial of that time, but must fall back. William Dewsbury was not numbered among such deficients. He was ready
at all times to "endure hardness, as a good soldier
of Jesus Christ." Such indeed was the deep and
abiding effect on his mind, of that sweet evidence
of the love of God in Christ Jesus to his soul,
with which the Lord was pleased to favor him
previous to his venturing upon the work of the
ministry, and such the evidences testified of the
heavenly power that attended him and Friends,
that according to a testimony which he bore on his death-bed, he never afterward played the
coward, but joyfully entered prisons as palaces, telling
his enemies to hold him there as long as they could.
In prisons he sang praises to his God, and esteemed
the bolts and locks put upon him, as jewels. He said "and in the name of the eternal God,
I always had the victory; for they could keep me
no longer than the determined time of my God."
Accordingly, when at liberty, he was an indefatigable
laborer in the cause which he had espoused
with so much sincerity and zeal.
On one occasion, about this time, we find from Besse's Collection of the Sufferings of Friends,
that he was at a meeting in Warwickshire, at the
house of one William Reynolds, which was disturbed
by a constable accompanied and assisted
by a rude multitude, armed with swords and
staves, who pulled the Friends out of the house,
and having beat and abused some of them, they
fell to breaking the windows of the house in the
constable's presence. But these were the everyday
occurrences of those lawless and intolerant times.
Towards the close of the year 1660, William
Dewsbury is to be traced to Ousebridge prison in
the city of York, to which he was committed in
company with eleven others, among whom I find
the name of William Tuke, for refusing to take the
oaths (no doubt) of allegiance and supremacy. It
may be here remarked, that the practice of that
day, by which the dominant party forced these
oaths upon the people, and thus through the frequent
changes in the government made them to
swear and then break their oaths. This was evidence of why Friends refused to take them, independent of
those strong objections which they entertained, on
scriptural grounds, to all oaths, as unlawful under
the gospel dispensation. For the Truth had made
them free from the necessity of oaths; they were
an upright people; and as such, for conscience-sake,
conducted themselves both privately and to the
government, so far as the laws of man did not infringe
upon the paramount obligations of religious
duty. And their words of promise were more binding
to them than the oaths of most other people.
From Ousebridge prison he was shortly after
removed to York Tower. From there he went to the
Castle, where, by the date of one of his epistles, I
find him in the 3rd month, 1661. Besse, from
whom these particulars have been obtained, informs
us, that the whole number of Friends imprisoned
at one time in York Castle, and other prisons
in the county, in the two months of which he
had been writing, was 536, of whom 505 were in
the Castle itself; where five died through the unhealthiness of the place.
It is not the Editor's purpose here to enlarge on the subject
of these lamentable facts, or he might readily produce a mass of
evidence, in illustration of the cruelty and wrong inflicted upon
the early Quakers in general during this period. But an original letter
of a Friend, addressed to George Fox, having come to his hand,
dated from the place of William Dewsbury's frequent allotment, the dungeon of Warwick jail, an extract may serve to show,
that other places were not behind York, in the harsh conditions
inflicted upon these suffering people:
Dear George Fox,
My love flows forth unto you in the pure, holy, immortal life; and Friends
here, their dear love is to you, and our love to all faithful
Friends in and about London. There are many of us here
imprisoned in Warwick, to the number of one hundred and
twenty, as near as we can judge of it, and among us some
women Friends. Our persecutors continue
still, for there were several more brought to prison this morning We do not have certain knowledge of the number of prisoners in Coventry and in another place in
this county,
but we heard that there is above a hundred besides ourselves
at Warwick. We here are kept confined from visiting one
another. There were some of our Friends here, a little time
since, put into a close cellar, where they did not have room to lie one
by another. One of them almost died for want of room
and air and was brought forth very weak; and he is still sick and weak. This cruelty of the persecutors has caused a great
cry against them from many in Warwick; since which time,
they have removed the prisoners to a more convenient place; but
they are there kept close, and there is little coming to them for
us many times, but with much difficulty to bring us necessary
things. But occasionally it is otherwise.
William Dewsbury
6th of 12th month, 1660
William Dewsbury was
not long detained in confinement after 1660; for in the postscript to an address, altogether
worthy of a Christian minister, dated the 20th,
which he wrote and found means of presenting to
King Charles II, then newly seated on the throne;
he informs the King, that before the document
could be sent to him by a private and safe hand,
he was set at liberty, with some others of his brethren,
"by the late proclamation, which we own as
an act of justice." These latter are his own words.
The act just referred to, appears to have originated
in the circumstance of Margaret Fell, the
wife of Judge Fell of Swarthmore Hall, appearing
twice before the king, with a view to lay before him
the grievous sufferings of Friends. This was
about the time of the rising of the Fifth Monarchy
men, in whose absurd views Friends, to their cost,
were unjustly supposed to have participated. Margaret Fell's pleas were aided by
an act of justice performed towards the Society by
the Fifth Monarch men testifying that Quakers had no part or knowledge in the rebellion before they were sentenced in court.
George Fox with several prominent Friends also published
a this time a declaration against all sedition, plotters,
and fighters, which asserted Friends to be a harmless
people, whose principles were against wars
and fightings. This timely act of Fox, appears to
have had considerable weight with both the King and
council in procuring the desired relief.
William
Dewsbury's address to the King, together with
that to Cromwell is in the Appendix; they are both recommended to the
notice of the reader, as specimens of the spiritual authority with which Dewsbury spoke, as well as his marvelous measure of Christ.
It has already been intimated, that while he was
under confinement at York, William Dewsbury wrote several epistles of encouragement to
the dispersed among Friends, exhorting them to
steadfastness and faithful adherence to the testimonies
which had been given them to bear, despite
the trials and sufferings to which
they were subjected. Among these, the following
will serve as a specimen of his spirit at this juncture.
Dear brethren and sisters in the church of the
first-born, of the royal seed of the Most High God, —
Grace, mercy, and peace be multiplied in and
among you, to whom God revealed what he determined,
and is now manifesting, that every one
in the light and life of God might stand single,
out of and over the snares of those whom God
lays aside as the broken reeds of Egypt; that his
own name might be trusted in, and his mighty arm
alone seen and felt, in leading and preserving his
people to his glory, as witnessed this day, blessed
be the God of our strength and safety.
All dear and chosen vessels of God, whether
in bonds or out of bonds, this is to you the word of
the everlasting God:—in the everlasting light and
life stay your minds, and lift up your heads, and
be strong in the name of the Lord. And fear not
the wrath of man, for it is limited and shall turn
to the praise of God forever; who is making up
his jewels this day, and gathering his wheat into
his garner, and the sheep of his pasture into the
safety of his power, that he may lead them and
save them with his outstretched arm, to the confounding
of the heathen that know not God.
Dear Friends, gird up the loins of your minds,
and in the faith and patience of Jesus stand still
in the light, and see the salvation of God this
day; who has caused the mountains and hills
that withstood his glorious arising, to melt like
wax, and to vanish as the untimely fruit. He
has divided the waters and turned them on
heaps, and has made a way through them for
the ransomed ones to walk in his service, to where he has called them. He has made the
weak as strong as David, before whom have fallen the uncircumcised, who resisted the God
of Israel.
Dear Friends, let the love of God constrain
you to trust in him; and feel the birth of the seed of
God borne up over all, to eat and feed on the bread
of life; that, out of time and place and over all visibles, you may live, and rejoice over all hardships
that would appear and over all wrath that arises.
All, keep the word of faith in the power of God.
The mountains shall fall before you more and
more, and you shall tread down the pride of the
perverse and forward generation, in the patience
and dominion of God forever. Let the strong
bear the burden of the weak so that all in the unity
of the Spirit, in the power of the love of God, may
grow up a holy priesthood, offering up souls and
bodies a living sacrifice, in faithful obedience to do
the will of God. In his name, it is declared unto you, dear
Friends, that it is in vain for man to strive to limit the
Holy One of Israel, or his Spirit in his people.
For if those who that seek to oppress and destroy you, (who love God more than anything in the world, yes, than life itself), were as the sand that is on the
sea-shore, fear not; comfort yourselves in the light
of his countenance. For he will arise, and scatter
in his wrath all those that resist his Spirit as dust
before the wind, and his righteousness will he
establish in the earth forever. Oh Zion, your God reigns! You
shall see your enemies come bending to the soles
of your feet. Your renown shall go forth more and
more over the earth, your leaves shall heal the nations
that shall walk in your light; and you shall
be known in all the earth to be the city of the most high God, yes, the righteous seed, when the faces
of your enemies shall be covered with shame,—
the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken it.
Let this be sent abroad among Friends with
understanding in the fear of God.
William Dewsbury
York Tower,
19th of 12th month, 1660.
Thus was this dedicated servant of Christ, himself
at the time a prisoner for his testimony, enabled "in the spirit of power and of love and of
a sound mind," to encourage the suffering flock.
This was a time, when it may be said with much
truth, that Friends were accounted as little better
than sheep for the slaughter, and when their enemies
seemed ready to swallow them up quickly.
We who live in this day of ease, have little conception
of the amount and extremity of their sufferings,
have need to be cautioned against indifference.
We should never forget, it was through the endurance
of such wrongs as have now been related,
though to a far greater extent, that our present degree
of religious freedom has been purchased.
Site Editors Comments: The 19th Century Quakers are thankful to be free from persecution, but they were free only because they were not in the Spirit, sufficient to be directed by Christ in thought, word, and deed; and so were not sent by Christ into the houses of Christendom to warn their occupants of their false salvation? Thinking themselves saved by grace, instead of saved from all their sins with their carnal mind destroyed, they were not persecuted. If they had been in the same Spirit as the Apostles and early Quakers, they would not have had freedom of religion. Then or now, those born of the flesh will always persecute those born of the Spirit; and such persecution would include going to the civil authorities to imprison those who "disturbed their meetings."
CHAPTER XII
1660. Epistles—William Dewsbury little known in
his domestic character—He is apprehended at an
inn in Warwick, for giving thanks after supper,
and imprisoned, but shortly after liberated—Arrives
in London, and is imprisoned in Newgate.
IT is thought, that as the four following epistles
illustrate in a beautiful manner, the kind of care
William Dewsbury exercised over the flock, no
apology will be required for introducing them
here. They show, how he endeavored to build
them up in our most holy faith, the faith of the
gospel of Jesus Christ, which is according to godliness;
what the groundwork was, which he sought
to lay for those works of righteousness which
alone are acceptable to the Lord; powerfully turning
the minds of his readers, at the same time,
to the eternal and unfailing source of all saving
help, deliverance and consolation in the hour of inward
conflict and temptation. They are laid before
the reader, under the conviction, that they
will not only be interesting as illustrative documents,
but eminently calculated to comfort, help,
and edify many within the borders of our own Society.
It is also possible, they may prove strengthening
to many a wayfaring man, who in all respects
may not walk with us; but who nevertheless
may be suffering the day of Jacob's trouble.
They may be the means of encouraging him to
persevere in that act of wrestling, which in the
end shall purchase for him a new name, even that
of Israel.
The first in order, which bears chiefly on the
subject of exercising spiritual gifts in the church,
is dated the 10th of the 12th month, 1660.
Dear Friends and Brethren, called and chosen
of God, to wait upon him in his light:—every one
in particular, feel the power and life of God, exercising
you in his service, whatever he calls you
unto. When the Lord fills the heart of any one of
you with his presence, and his life moves in you,
quench not the Spirit, I am commanded to lay it
upon you, whosoever you are, from the least to
the highest growth.
All, dear Friends, wait to be kept in the bond
of the Spirit, obedient to its motions:—to cease
and stay when it moves not, as well as to begin
any exercise when it moves. And, dear and tender
little babes, as well as you strong men, retain the
pure* in every particular, and let not anything
straiten you when God moves. You faithful
babe, though you flutter and stammer forth a
few words in the dread of the Lord, they are accepted.
All who are strong, serve the weak in
strengthening them; and wait in wisdom, to give
place to the motion of the Spirit in them, that it
may have time to bring forth what God has given.
Dear brethren, feed the lambs; and loose the
tongue of the dumb, that praises may arise in
and among you all, to the glory of God; that in
him you may be a well-spring of life one to another,
in the power of the endless love of God, in which
the Lord God keep you all.
William Dewsbury
*The wisdom which is from above is first pure. The
meaning of the Dewsbury doubtless is, “preserve a pure conscience
by obedience to that in the soul which leads into purity of life,
which is not of man, but from above; for disobedience causes straitness (or confinement to the flesh);”
this is what the writer cautions the church against.
Dear faithful Friends in God, who in your
travels have known the day when nothing has
been dear to you, not life itself, that you might enjoy
the light of the countenance of God, which he
has now manifested in the everlasting covenant
of his light in Christ; and which now constrains
to stand out, over, and above all flattering tongues, and all threats and wrath of men. This will
be more and more manifest, before this day of
trial is over; and whatever wrath the Lord
allows to arise in the powers of the earth, without
He moves, do not any seek to stop it. Let God
have the glory; the wrath of man turns to his
praise, and the remainder he will restrain, while
the royal babes in meekness and patience stand
still, and give glory to God in faithful obedience,
with life to death, if the Lord call for it. He has
blessed the labor of all whom he called into the
vineyard, in whom my bowels are enlarged, in the
strength of the life I have received of the Father.
Oh! feel me, for I am with you, filled with
joy in the Lord, that his royal birth is brought
forth and the captive set free, the tongue of the
dumb loosed and the living power of God raised,
to offer up living praises on the holy altar of God,
in the assemblies of his saints.
Oh! lift up your heads, be glad in the strength
of the Lord, in this his day of gathering in the
good ripe fruit in the vineyard of the Lord. Now
do the vines abound with virtue, laden with clusters
of the purest grapes full ripe, which drop
abundantly with wine, renewed in the kingdom of
the Father. Oh! fill your cups, be not straitened
in your spirits to receive of the fullness of God. In
whom I am constrained to say unto you in the
light,—drink, drink abundantly; let the thirst of
the immortal birth reach forth itself earnestly, in
the light, to draw more and more of the infinite
life, that it may comprehend you in the power of
itself. That in its strength your hearts may be set
free over all below, and your spirit in the light of
life, raised in the heavenly harmony, to praise and
glorify the name of the Lord, in eternal unity, to
the astonishment of all that know not God, whose
hearts shall fail before the life of God. This, with
whatever he gives, keeps all that abide in it low in
his fear, so that neither heights nor depths, tribulation
nor distress, persecution nor famine, nakedness,
peril, or sword, life nor death, things present
nor things to come, can ever separate the royal
birth from its faithful obedience to Christ Jesus,
the Light.
And, dwell out of time and place, and over all
created enjoyments, in the unlimited power, to
guide you, whether in bonds or out of bonds, so
that your words be few and savory at all times
and minister grace to the hearers. And be tenderly
affectionate to one another in the pure chaste
love of God; all to lie down together in the eternal
unity in the most high God, one in the fullness,
blessed forever! Farewell.
Your brother,
William Dewsbury
From the Tower in York,
25th of 1st month, 1661
The third epistle is thus prefaced:
Let this go abroad among all the
afflicted and wounded in spirit. With care send
this to them.
Dear child, who cries, over all the world, and
beyond all the pleasure, pomp, and vanity therein,
for the enjoyment of the light and countenance of
God;—fear not, neither be discouraged,
because of the violent assaults of the enemy, who
seeks to draw you into the carnal reasonings of
your spirit, and in it to kindle a fire to yourself, and
causes you to walk in the light of the sparks that
you have kindled;—and this you have at the hand
of the Lord, in going from his counsel, you lie
down in sorrow. Few know your great distress;
but, to the Lord it is known, and to those who
have walked in the same paths.
Oh, you dear and afflicted soul, who live in
the deep sense of the working of the evil one in
your mind, and many times are ready to say,—
Never was any like unto me, nor any sorrow like
unto my sorrow:—and in this languishing, despairing,
mourning of your soul, all things are made
bitter to you as the waters of Marah. Thus are
you driven from all comfort, as a child without a
father, a desolate widow without a husband and
as a stranger whom no eye pities, in your apprehension;
sometimes saying in your heart, in the
heat of the temptation, and the fire you have kindled,
Oh, that I had been any creature but what
I am! or, if it were the will of the Lord, that he
might shorten my days, that I might not be any
longer on earth to sin against him! For in your own sense and feeling, you, walking in the sparks you have kindled, in carnal reasonings, discerns
not anything but wrath, on every side, horror,
misery, and distress, and great languishes; secretly
crying out in your heart,—Oh, that I were
alone in the wilderness, or in a cave, or den of the
earth, that I might never see nor hear any of the
sons of men any more, but in secret retire,
even roar and mourn out my days until I die.
Oh, you child of the morning of the pure
eternal day of the God of Israel, hearken no longer
to the enemy, who said, there has none traveled
where you are [traveling,] neither drunk of the
cup that you are drinking. He is a liar, who goes
about to destroy your precious soul. In the word
of the Lord God, I declare unto you, I drank the
same cup, with my faithful friends, who are born
of the royal seed, every one in their measure have
traveled in the same path, and have endured the
same temptations, and walked in the light of the
same sparks, and lain down in sorrow, in the sense
of the same misery as you mourn under this
day.
No longer lend an ear unto the enemy, and to
the thoughts of your heart. Arise, arise, in the
light of the covenant, and stay your heart; and the
Lord God, he will throw down the enemy of your
peace, destroy the carnal reasonings of your mind,
and put out the fire that you have kindled. He
will deliver you forth of the horrible pit, and set
your feet upon the Rock of Ages. You shall tread
down the enemy of your soul, in the sensible feeling
of the bowels of the love of the Father, who will
manifest himself to be a father to the fatherless in
you, and a husband to that mournful widow, and a comfort to that immortal babe that mourned in
you, in the uprightness of your heart, to do the will
of the living God. So, in the power of his might,
stay your heart; and tread upon all doubts, fears,
despairing thoughts, questionings, reasonings, musings,
imaginations, and consultings. Arise over
them all in the light of Christ. He will lead you
into the banqueting-house of the pleasure of our
God, where you shall sit down with me and all
the redeemed of my Father, who are born of the
immortal seed, and have passed through great tribulations,
and have washed our garments and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore do we now stand before the throne of
God, praising him day and night in his holy
temple. And this shall be the portion of your cup,
if you diligently hearken to the counsel of the
Lord, which calls you to trust in him. He will
embrace you in the arm of his love, and you shall
praise his name forever!
God Almighty, in his light and life, raise up
your soul, and establish your heart in his counsel,
steadfastly to wait for his power to lead you, in
the cross, out of all unbelief, and cause you to lie
down at rest in obedience to his will: where you
shall drink the cup of the salvation of God forever.
Farewell!
From the Spirit of the Lord,
William Dewsbury
given forth in York Castle,
the 23rd of 3rd month, 1661
It would be gratifying to our natural feelings, to
be able to contemplate the character of such a man as
William Dewsbury, under other circumstances beside those in which we have thus found him. We
have been incidentally informed, that his home
was at Wakefield, that he was a married man, and
was blessed with a family of children. On each
of those occasions, when he is permitted to escape
from the hands of his persecutors, and to enjoy his
liberty again, the mind is involuntarily carried to
the scenes of domestic life, prepared to participate
in that enjoyment which all parties must feel on so
happy an event. It would be interesting to us
further, to contemplate this zealous servant and
minister of Christ, like Paul the tent-maker, employed
in the pursuit of his trade, and to be
able to state his success, and how far the Lord had
blessed him in these his outward affairs, agreeable
to the gracious promise made to him on his setting
out in life. But, though there is no reason to
doubt the Lord's faithfulness, such was the devotion of his servant to the cause of Truth, the
testimony of Jesus, that little or no mention is
made by him of these things; so much so, that we
are at a loss to know, how a man so totally deprived
as he was of the opportunity of enriching
himself by his own exertions in business, was preserved
from having his wife and family reduced to
poverty and distress. We are not even informed,
that on his liberation from confinement at York,
he visited his home, however probable it is that
such was the case. So fully engrossed were the
minds of Friends in that day, in the pursuit of the
one great object that was before them, that with them
worldly affairs appear to have had but very little
place. They felt and saw that the time was short,
and that the fashion of this world passes away, so
they were without carefulness; they that had wives
were as though they had none, they that wept as
though they wept not, they that rejoiced as though
they rejoiced not, they that bought, as though they
possessed not:—they used this world, as not abusing
it. One single document, however, has come to
hand, since the above lines were penned, which
affords in a few words a striking illustration of the
above remarks as regards William Dewsbury.
Under date of the 10th of 4th month of this year,
he makes a request to his correspondent, Margaret
Fell, "a mother in Israel," to write to "my tender
children and family." He adds, "In the life of my
God, I have given them up, with my own life when
he will call for it, a free sacrifice: in his will it is
offered up, for him to do what is good in his eyes."—
Editor.]
The following beautiful sentence, which closes
one of his epistles about this period, may also
be added:—
Watch over one another with a
single eye, building up one another in the holy
faith, opening your hearts in the free Spirit of
God to them that are in need, that you may bear
the image of your heavenly Father, who relieves
the hungry, and eases the burdened, and makes
glad in refreshing his, in the time of need;
giving liberally and upbraiding not. Even so be
it with you, in the name of the Lord, said your brother and companion in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Farewell!
In such instances of devotedness as
that of William Dewsbury and many of the early
Friends, and others the servants of Christ, we are
strongly reminded of the words of our Lord to his
disciples, "My meat is to do the will of him that
sent me, and to finish his work." And there is no
reason to doubt, that a measure of living support
is often, in gracious condescension, administered
under such circumstances, so as even to render the
creature for the time indifferent and inattentive to
the body and its various necessities.
It was about the beginning of the 4th month,
1661, that William Dewsbury was liberated from
York Castle, as has been stated, by proclamation
of Charles II, as secured by George Whitehead, the increasingly influential Quaker spokesman who pleaded with the kings and parliaments. In the 6th month we meet with him
in Bedfordshire, at Buckrin's Park, the residence
of James Nagill, who with Justice Crutt had been
already convinced of the Truth by his powerful
ministry. These were the two mighty men alluded
to by Francis Ellington in his letter, who with their
families had been thus slain by him. Between this
visit and his being in London, where he was confined
four months in Newgate, we find him suffering
among other Friends at Warwick, for giving thanks
after supper at an inn, which was called preaching
at a conventicle. This latter act of preaching
under certain circumstances, had been recently
made illegal by the government. On the present
occasion, the Friends were taken before a magistrate
at an inn, who tendered them the oaths, and
because they for conscience sake refused to swear,
they were sent to prison under sentence of premunire; where, shameful to relate, some of them were detained for as long a period as TEN YEARS, and
were never brought to any further trial. Such
was the exercise of arbitrary power, under which
Friends so grievously, yet so patiently suffered.
It appears from Besse's relation of the circumstance,
to have been about the 8th month of the
year, when this occurrence took place; and as, in
the same month, Dewsbury dates an epistle from
Newgate prison, London, it is evident that he obtained
his liberty at Warwick, and proceeded
pretty directly on his journey to that city.
CHAPTER XIII
1661. Act against conventicles, under which Friends
suffered Banishment—Epistles of encouragement—
William Dewsbury is imprisoned in York Castle—
General Epistle to the Church.
How, and under what particular circumstances,
this meek and constant sufferer came to be cast
into Newgate, I have not been able to discover.
But it was in this year, that the cruel and intolerant
act against conventicles, which was framed as
an instrument of persecution against Friends,
first came into force. By this act it was decreed,
that "if any person should refuse to take an oath
when by law required, or should maintain the
taking of any oath to be unlawful, or if the persons
called Quakers should meet for religious exercise after the 24th of March 1661, being thereof convicted,
they should forfeit for the first offence, £5,
for the second, £10, to be levied by distress; and,
for want of possessions to allow of such distress,
to be imprisoned, for the first offence three months,
for the second six months; and upon conviction
for the third offence, he or she should abjure the
realm, or otherwise the king and council might
cause him or them to be transported to any of the
king's plantations beyond the seas." These were
the acts, by which the blessed Truth was attempted
to be crushed in those days; and under the
mayoralty of one Richard Brown, the leading features
of whose character were pride, intolerance,
and cruelty, in which he appears to have delighted, (for, says Sewel, "he would commit cruelty with
a smiling countenance"), the government had a fit
executor in London of this their new and barbarous
law; some of the consequences of which will be seen
hereafter. I apprehend however, that it was under
a first offence of meeting for religious worship contrary
to this act, that Dewsbury with a multitude
of others was cast into Newgate.
Among the epistles which he wrote while confined
there, for the edification and encouragement
of the church and of individuals under various
circumstances, is the following:
To my
dear suffering brethren and companions, in the
tribulations and kingdom of patience in Christ
Jesus.
In him watch and pray, and believe in his name
that you may keep the word of his patience, and in
the will of God, quietly lie down in your present
sufferings for the word of God and testimony of
Jesus Christ, who numbers the days of your sufferings; and when they are accomplished, will
plead the cause of his people in the day in which
he will be revealed in flames of fire, rendering
vengeance upon all that know him not, and obey
not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then
shall your innocence with all the elect be cleared,
in the sight of all people, and you shall shine as
the morning stars in the power of God, to enlighten
the people of the nations, through the brightness
of the glory of God that shall rest upon you, to
the gathering of the brethren from far, and the
sisters from the ends of the earth; who shall bless
the name of the Lord for you that endure in faithfulness
unto the end,—the crown of glory shall
rest upon you forever.
The eternal God in his everlasting power keep
you in the deep life of his Son, in unity, to finish
your testimony to his glory.
Farewell!
William Dewsbury
Given forth in Newgate Prison,
London,
the 13th day of the 12th
month, 1661
P. S. Dear lambs, keep in the unity, in the
life and power of God; and let your words be few.
We have also from his pen, during this imprisonment,
the following animated address to his
suffering friends.
Dear Friends,
All in their measure abide in God, that in the
unlimited power and life in his kingdom you
stand, so as to keep your dominion in his heavenly
authority these trying days, where husband
is called to forsake wife, and wife husband, parents children and children parents, and other
created enjoyments, for the testimony of the name
of the Lord. All you families of God, who
are or shall be called to bear your testimony, prize
the mercy of the Lord, who has made you his
chosen jewels and the first fruits among many brethren,
to fill up the measure of the sufferings that
are yet behind. In the name and power of the
Lord Jesus arise, whether husband, wife, parents,
or children, in bonds or out of bonds, and take to
you the sharp threshing instrument, which is the
power of God, that you may thresh inwardly all
the mountains of thoughts, fears, or unbelief, representations
of hardships, and every desire and
imagination that would draw from a peaceable
rest in God.
In the name of the Lord, I lay it upon you,
be valiant for your freedom; and with the powerful
instrument of God, thresh and bruise down
the mountains as chaff and dust. Thresh
upon the head of the great red dragon, the old
serpent, the devil, spare him not, and be not afraid
of encountering him. For mighty is the Lord, who
has called you to conquer him. So keep his
head under; with the threshing instrument bruise
down and keep under all that would disquiet you,
or draw you from your rest. That so, in peace in
Christ you may all abide, in a pure resignation to
the will of the Father. That, in the habitation of
peace in his kingdom, you in his dominion reign
over, above, and atop of all below the light. So
will your joy flow as a river, and your triumph
and dominion be in the authority of God, over all
the mountains of this world within and without,
to reign in the mountain of the holy life with Christ. In the lowly mind and holy fear, admire
and sound out the new song with triumph, over
the devil and his angels and the accuser of the
brethren; whom you will see cast down; and
you shall tread upon him; and bruise him under,
and all that would join with him, with the sharp
threshing instrument, the mighty power of God,
which you have received in Christ the Light.
In all things you do one for another, let
love abound in the innocent life, doing as you
would be done unto in the sight of God. You who are servants in families, who are in sufferings,
lay it upon you, be faithful, that the
good savor of God is found among you, to the
praise of the Lord. You who are out of bonds,
in what you may as the wisdom of God leads, be
of assistance in every way, bearing one another's burdens
to fulfill the law of Christ, who is taking to him
his great power to reign forever.
The strength even of the mighty God be with
you, and lift up all your heads. Stand in his authority
and keep the word of his patience, to
finish your testimony to the praise and glory of
his name, over all, blessed forever. Of his dominion
there is no end; in which you, dear lambs,
may feel me and read me in the life that is hidden from the world, but known to you in the secret of
God, where our eternal joy and triumph are.
Whatever becomes of the outward man, is the
will of God, farewell!—yes, farewell, in the name
of the Lord!
William Dewsbury
Given forth in Newgate Prison,
the 3rd day of the 1st month,
1661—2
With a few exceptions as regards some insulated
facts, all that is known of the last twenty-
five years of the life of William Dewsbury might
be comprised in a small compass; and this will
necessarily be the case with considerable portions
of it. He was delivered from Newgate prison
in London early in the year 1662, and proceeded
homewards, where it is probable that he continued
a few months. But we are informed by Besse, that
persecution pursued him there also. He says,
that on the 29th of the 5th month of that year, he
was taken from his own house at Durteen, in the
West Riding of Yorkshire, and committed to
York Castle, his old residence, as a ringleader and
preacher among the Quakers.
[A letter under his hand, dated York Castle,
the 3rd of the 8th month, states, that there are
upwards of one hundred Friends his fellow-prisoners,
that they meet daily for the purpose of waiting upon and worshipping Almighty God, and that his presence
covers their assemblies, to their great comfort
and the astonishment of their enemies.—Editor.]
Here he was not idle, but still continued to visit
the church by his epistles. Among those which
he wrote during this confinement at York; the
following is one which I should not feel myself
excused in withholding from the reader. It is addressed
as follows:
The word of the Lord to
his beloved city, New Jerusalem, come from God,
clothed with the excellence of the glory of his
love, and is the Bride, the Lamb's wife; in the
flowings of the tender compassionate bowels of
the Lord Jesus, to all the mourners in Zion; and
the afflicted, desolate people, who wait for his
coming, as for the morning, and have no satisfaction in anything but in the enjoyment of his sweet
and comfortable presence.
Oh Jerusalem! You beloved among the
people, who have become the beautiful Bride, the
Lamb's wife:—Oh, how did he seek you in the
day of your divorcement, when you were weeping
in the barren wilderness, as a desolate widow, who
had not any to comfort her; then your greatest
mournings and breakings of heart were your greatest
comfort! The more your tears were shed for
want of him, the greater was your satisfaction.
Oh, the weary days you had upon the earth because your languishing soul did not know where to
meet with your Beloved, neither did you know
how to walk in the steps of the flock of your companions; who were comforted with His presence
whom your soul lacked. Then, though you knew
it not, he was near to you, enlivening the desires
that were towards his name. In the accepted
time he sent forth whom he had ordained, to declare
unto you the glory of his love, in the light
of his own life, in which he has covered you this
day as with a wedding garment, and in it you
appeared comely in his sight, and acceptable in
his presence.
For your sake, Oh Jerusalem, you city
of the living God, what has been endured? How
many innocent lambs have suffered for bringing glad
tidings to you of Him whom your soul thirsted
after, is hard to be expressed. How, in God's authority,
have the striplings run to and fro on the
earth, willing to spend and be spent in all services
of love, to persuade you to forsake all that has
entangled your mind, and hindered you from enjoying
the innocent life of your Beloved. Your
mighty men, with many of the sons and daughters
of glory, have sealed their living testimony with
their blood, in the patience and sufferings of the
Lamb of God, that you may be affected with
the excellence of the glory of Him whom your soul
desires.
Now the Lord God requires of every
particular son and daughter of Zion, to watch and
pray that none enter into temptation; and all that
have any stain upon their garments, to come to
the fountain which is opened for Judah and Jerusalem
to wash in, which is the heart-breaking love of
God manifested in the light of his covenant, and
sealed up to the soul in the blood of Jesus.
Oh, come away, come away, out of all your
thoughts, desires, doubts, and unbelief, which
would turn you aside from the enjoyment of the
love of God in Christ Jesus. Let none stand afar off
because of your littleness, lameness, blindness,
weakness, or infirmities, who cannot live at peace
until you are healed by the blood of the Lamb.
Arise, arise, you necessitated people, in the
light of the Lord. Give up to the drawing spirit
of life in the light of Jesus Christ. He will carry
you, who cannot go, in the arms of his compassions;
he will cause the lame to walk; and you, who are sensible of your blindness, to recover your
sight; yes, he will heal you of all your infirmities,
who wait in the light, to be ordered and guided
as a little child by the washing and sanctifying
Spirit of the Lord Jesus; who has become a husband
to the desolate widow, a repairer of the
breaches, and a restorer of the desolate places;
in whom the fatherless have found mercy this day,
for his name's sake.
Oh! What shall I say of the unspeakable love
of God in Christ Jesus, the Husband of the Bride.
Oh! You sons of the glorious day, read, and feel in
the deep tastes of the unsearchable love; and you
handmaids of glory, drink of the inexhaustible
ocean, which in the light flows over all opposition.
This is the Son of the Father's love, who
has been "a man of sorrows, and acquainted
with grief." "He was wounded for our transgressions,
and by his stripes are we healed;" and this is
the work of the Lord.—Let all crowns be thrown
down before him, he alone shall have the glory,
for besides him there is no other. Therefore in the measure of him, let every
son, daughter, and servant of God, watch and diligently
hearken to his counsel; and whatever the
natural man most inclines to, when the temptation
besets you, judge yourselves, look up to the Lord,
and resist the devil with boldness in the first assault,
and the Lord God will give you dominion
over them, and the bond of iniquity shall not have
power over you. In his holy authority, every one
stand in dominion upon the head of the first man,
with all his excellence and glory; that in the perfect
freedom every particular individual may reign,
in the measure of the light, over every thought
and desire that is contrary to the will of God;
that, in his eternal will, you sons and daughters of
the Most High, you all dwell in the holy faith,
which will evidence to you beyond sight, and will
arm against all the fiery darts of the devil. You
shall break down Satan under your feet, and shall
overcome in the triumphing dominion, through
the blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony; and continually drink of the rivers of pleasure, the presence of the Lord Jesus, our
Light, Life, and Righteousness forever. For he
is become our Husband, and we are as the wife
of his bosom, in the delight of his glorious love.
Let the mourners in Zion rejoice, and the
afflicted among the people be glad, and fear the
Lord. Let not any who desires salvation in
uprightness of heart, say, "The Lord regards me
not;" for whatever you hunger and thirst for
in his life, you are the heir of it, and the Lord will
satisfy your hunger with his refreshings for his
name's sake. This is the portion of those who are least in their own eyes among the people; the Lord has spoken it.
All you, inhabitants of the city of the
great God, whom the Lord has prospered in your
living testimony, in what he has called unto,—
Blessed be the Lord God for you who retain the
sensibility of your nothingness in self, and so become
poor with the poorest, and weak with the
weakest, and truly make self of no reputation,
but humble it to the cross, and do not serve self
but God and his people, with all his gifts and ornaments,
with which he has adorned you;—because
of the savor of this ointment that you
have in Christ, the souls of all the upright in
heart do praise the Lord for you. Oh! Your steadfast,
valiant, unwearied travails, labors, and sufferings
for the Lord, cause the hearts of his people
to be enlarged with hallelujahs and high praises
in the holy assemblies of his saints. You know
that your reward is with you; and woe to them
that devise mischief against you, whom the Lord
has blessed.
Oh, Zion's children, from the least to the greatest, love the Lord Jesus Christ. Let
not a thought of the heart have any power to draw
from the light, life, and love of the Lord Jesus.
Let the day of the resurrection arise upon you,
which will set your souls in perfect love, above all
infidelity and unbelief. Oh! Drink, drink, drink
to the full satisfaction of your souls, of the cup
of his salvation, for it is freely handed to all that
love him, that thirst for his mercies, and trample
and tread down the self-working spirit; so that
all is bound down in silence, and kept in the
death, that would move in any exercise to utter
words rashly before the Lord. But in the resurrection,
light, power, life, and innocent birth,
enter the kingdom and reign in the dominion
thereof.
Oh! Here, my dear Friends, let us comfort and
console our souls together for this is our Beloved; we have waited for him, and now he is come with
power and great glory to deliver his captives, and
to establish them in his glorious freedom, where
the evil one shall not prevail against them; and to marry unto himself the soul that has waited for him as for the morning. All, in the marriage
union, feel his power to lead into the daily cross
abounding in you, and to stand over all that would
draw from the sweet unity, that is in the footsteps
of the flock of his companions that walk in the
light. Stir up the gift of God in you, in all
faithful obedience. As your hearts are filled
with the heavenly power of the Lord, and broken
in the sense of the overcomings of his life, and
moved in the forcible strength thereof, in any exercise
in your families, or in the assemblies of his
people,—quench not the Spirit of the Lord, but be obedient, and keep within the bounds of a broken
heart and a contrite spirit, which sacrifice is acceptable
in his presence. All feel the love of God
enlarging your hearts one to another, that the strong
may bear the burdens of the weak, and in the pure
life of love all may grow fruitful plants in the
vineyard which God's right hand has planted.
As for our little sister, scattered among
the people of the nations, who has no breasts of
consolation, her broken cisterns have failed her;
what shall we do for her? In this day which is
come upon us, she shall be spoken for, though at
present she cannot draw near, but mourns at a distance,
and cries in secret for want of the enjoyment
of the God of our salvation. Oh! Let your bowels
open to her, and let your hearts breathe unto the
Lord, that he may seal his counsel to her, and
cause her to walk with us in the light of the Lord;
with us, whom he has raised to be the first fruits
among many brethren, to bear his glorious testimony
over the heads of the children of men and
above all their wrath, who withstand the appearance
of God; who will cause them to bow before
his glory, in the day in which he will clear the innocence
of his beloved people. Neither by sword,
nor spear, nor by the arm of flesh, but with the
breath of his mouth, shall he strike the hearts of
them that know him not, and by the brightness of
his coming, who shall spread his fame over all nations,
to gather our brethren from afar, and sisters
from the ends of the earth. Yes, the mighty shall
bow to his scepter, and the nations that are saved shall walk in his light, with us, whom he has
made as dear unto himself as the apple of his eye.
Though a woman may forget her sucking child, yet the Lord will not forget any that fear him.
But he will lead them through all tribulations,
with joy in his heavenly power, until we have
finished our course with gladness, to the glory of
his name forever.
This is the portion of the lot of your inheritance,
you beautiful Bride, the Lamb's wife,
against whom every tongue that is lifted up shall
fall in judgment, neither shall the weapons that
are formed against you prosper. For the Lord
has made you to be a burdensome stone to the
nations, and the praise of the whole earth. The
desires of the people shall be to the Most High
God, who dwells in the midst of you; who has
displayed his banner of love over you, and has
turned away the fury of his wrath from you.
You, who love the light, and bathe your soul in
the ocean of his inexpressible mercies, shall never
more lack the fresh springs of life. The Lord will
keep you in the safety of his power,— and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against any of the sons
and daughters who walk in the light of your city,
O Jerusalem, in whom there is no more curse; but
the throne of God and of the Lamb is in you, and
his servants do serve you, and they behold his
face, and his name is written in their foreheads. There is no night there, neither need of candle,
nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them
light, and they do reign forever,— as the Lord
has spoken through your brother and companion
in the tribulation and kingdom of patience in the
Lord Jesus.
William Dewsbury
Given forth in York Castle,
the 19th of 1st month, 1663
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This web site's purpose is to show how to become
free from sin
by benefiting from the changing power of God through the cross,
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