I had a meeting or two in Warwickshire, and then went into Staffordshire, where I had several sweet and opening meetings, both for gathering into truth, and establishing therein. While I was in Staffordshire, I was moved to give forth the following paper:

'DEAR Friends of the Quarterly and Monthly Meetings every where: my desire is, that you may all strive to be of one mind in the Lord's power and truth, which is peaceable (into which strife and enmity cannot come) and also in the wisdom of God, which is pure, peaceable, and easy to be intreated (which is above that which is below, that is earthly, devilish, and sensual) and that in this heavenly wisdom that is peaceable, and easy to be intreated, you may be all ordered, and do what ye do to God's glory. And dear Friends, if there should happen at any time. any thing that tends to strife, dispute, or contention in your Monthly or Quarterly Meetings, let it be referred to half a dozen, or such a likenumber to debate and end out of your meetings, as it was at first, that all your Monthly and Quarterly Meetings may be kept peaceable. And then they may inform the meeting what they have done; that the weak and youth amongst you may not be hurt, through hearing of strife or contention in your meetings, where no strife or contention ought to be: but all to go on, and determine things in one mind, in the power of God, the gospel-order; in which gospel of peace ye will preserve the peace of all your meetings. If any man or woman have any thing against any one, let them speak to one another, and end it betwixt themselves; if they cannot so end it, let them take two or three to end it. In case these determine it not, let it be laid before the church; and let half a dozen, or a proper number out of your Monthly or Quarterly meeting hear it, and finally end it, without respect of persons. Let all prejudice be laid aside and buried; also all shortness one towards another; and let love, which is not puffed up, envies not, seeks not her own, but bears all things, have the dominion in all your meetings; for that doth edify the body which Christ is the head of, and this will rule over all sounding brass and tinkling cymbals. This love will suffer long, and is kind; will keep down that which would vaunt itself, be puffed up, behave itself unseemly, or is easily provoked: it hath a sway over all such fruits which are not of the spirit, the fruit of which is love, &c. And that with this holy spirit ye may all be baptized into one body, and be made to drink into one spirit; in which spirit ye will have unity, in which is the bond of the King of kings and the Lord of lords, his peace. They that dwell in love, dwell in God,for God is love: therefore let every one keep his habitation. My love to you in Christ Jesus, the everlasting, seed, which is over all. G. F.

"Staffordshire, the 20th of the 6th month, 1678.'

Out of Staffordshire I went to visit John Gratton at Moniash in Derbyshire, with whom I tarried one night, and went next day to William Shaw's, of the hill in Yorkshire, where I appointed a meeting to be on first-day following. Many Friends out of Derbyshire, and from several meetings in Yorkshire came, and a precious, comfortable meeting it was; wherein was opened the blessed estate that man was in before he fell; the means by which he fell, the miserable condition into which he fell, and the right way of coming out of it into a happy state again by Christ, the promised seed.

I spent about two weeks in Yorkshire, and many heavenly meetings I had in that county. Then visiting Robert Widders at Kellet in Lancashire, I passed to Arnside in Westmoreland, where I had a precious living meeting in the Lord's blessed power, to the great satisfaction and comfort of Friends, who came from divers parts to it. The next day I went to Swarthmore: and it being the meeting-day there, I had a sweet opportunity with Friends; our hearts being opened in the love of God, and his blessed life flowing amongst us.

I had not been long at Swarthmore ere a concern came upon me to visit the churches of Christ, by an epistle as followeth:

DEAR FRIENDS,-To you is my love in the heavenly seed, in whom all nations are blessed. Oh, keep all in this seed, in which ye are blessed, and in which Abraham and all the faithful were blessed, without the deeds of the law: for the promise was and is to and with the seed, and not with the law of the first covenant. In this seed all nations and ye are blessed, which bruiseth the head of the seed that brought the curse, and separated man from God. This is the seed which reconciles you to God; and this is the seed in which ye are blessed both in temporals and spirituals; through which ye have an inheritance among the sanctified, cannot be defiled, neither can any defiled thing enter into its possession; for all defilements are out of his seed. This is that which leavens into a new lump, and bruiseth the head of the wicked seed that leavens into the old lump, upon whom the sun of righteousness goes down and sets, but never goes down and sets to them that walk in the seed in which all nations are blessed; by which seed they are brought up to God, which puts down that seed which separated them from God, so that there comes to be nothing betwixt them and God. Now all my dear Friends, my desires are, that ye may all be valiant in this heavenly seed for God and his truth upon the earth, and spread it abroad, answering that of God in all; that with it the minds of people may be turned towards the Lord, that he may come to be known, served, and worshipped, and that ye may all be as the salt of the earth, to make the unseasoned savoury. And in the name of Jesus keep your meetings, who

are gathered into it, in whose name ye have salvation; he being in the midst of you, whose name is above every name under the whole heaven. So ye have a prophet, bishop, shepherd, priest, and counsellor (above all the counsellors, priests, bishops, prophets, and shepherds under the whole heaven,) to exercise his offices among you, in your meetings, gathered in his name. For Christ's meeting and gathering is above all the meetings and gatherings under the whole heaven; and his body, his church, and he the head of it, is above all the bodies, churches, and heads under the whole heaven. And the faith that Christ is the author of, and the worship that he hath set up, and his fellowship in the gospel, is above all historical faiths, and the faiths that men have made, together with their worships and fellowships under the whole heaven. And now dear friends, keep your men's and women's meetings in the power of God, the gospel, the authority of them, which brings life and immortality to light in you; and this gospel, the power of God, will preserve you in life and in immortality (which hath brought it to light in you,) that ye may see over him that hath darkened and kept from the knowledge of the things of God: for it is he and his instruments (which hath darkened you from life and immortality,) that would throw down your men's and women's meetings (which were set up in the power of God, the gospel,) and would darken you again from this life and immortality which the gospel hath brought to light, and will preserve you therein, as your faith stands in this power of God, the gospel, in which every one sees your work and service for God. Every heir in the power of God, the gospel, hath right to this authority, which is not of man nor by man; which gospel the power of God, is everlasting, an everlasting order, an everlasting fellowship and in the gospel is everlasting joy, comfort, and peace, which will outlast all those joys, comforts, and peaces that will have an end, and that spirit also that opposes its order and glorious fellowship, peace and comfort in it. And my dear friends, my desire is, that ye may keep in the unity of the spirit, that baptizes you all into one body, which Christ is the heavenly and spiritual head of, so that ye may see and bear witness to your heavenly and spiritual head, and so all drink into the one spirit, which all people on the earth are not like to do, while they grieve, quench, and rebel against it, nor to be baptized into one body, and to keep the unity of the spirit, which is the bond of peace, yea the King of kings and Lord of lords' peace; which is the duty of all true christians to keep, who are inwardly united to Christ. My love to you all in the everlasting seed. G. F.

'Swarthmore, the 26th of the 7th month, 1678.'

There were about this time several Friends in prison for bearing testimony to the truth; to whom I was moved to write a few lines to comVOL II.

29

fort, strengthen, and encourage them; having a true sense of their sufferings upon my spirit, and a sympathizing with them therein. That which I wrote was after this manner:

'MY DEAR FRIENDS,-Who are sufferers for the Lord Jesus' sake, and for the testimony of his truth, the Lord God Almighty with his power uphold and support you in all your trials and sufferings, and give you patience and content in his will that ye may stand valiant for Christ and his truth upon the earth, over the persecuting destroying spirit, which makes to suffer in Christ, (who bruises the head,) in whom ye have both election and salvation. For his elect's sake the Lord hath done much from the foundation of the world, as may be seen throughout the scriptures of truth. They that touch them touch the apple of God's eye, they are so tender to him; and therefore it is good for his suffering children to trust in the Lord, and to wait upon him; for they shall be as mount Sion, that cannot be removed from Christ their rock and salvation, the foundation of all the elect of God, of the prophets and apostles, and of God's people now and to the end; glory to the Lord and the Lamb over all! remember my dear love to all Friends, and do not think the time long; for all time is in the Father's hand, his power. Therefore keep the word of patience, and exercise that gift. The Lord strengthen you in your sufferings, in his holy spirit of faith. Amen. G. F. 'Swarthmore, the 5th of the 12th month, 1678.'

I abode in the north above a year, having service for the Lord amongst Friends there, and being much taken up in writing in answer to books published by adversaries; and for opening the principles and doctrines of truth to the world, that they might come to have a right understanding thereof, and be gathered thereunto. Several epistles also I wrote to Friends in this time. One was to the Yearly Meeting held in London this year, 1679; a copy of which here follows:

'MY DEAR FRIENDS AND BRETHREN,-Who are assembled together in the name and power of the Lord Jesus Christ, grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, fill all your hearts, and establish you in his grace, mercy, and peace upon Christ, the holy living rock and foundation, who is the first and last, and over all the foundations and rocks in the whole world; a rock and foundation of life for all the living to build upon, which stands sure in his heavenly divine light, which is the life in him; by whom all things were made, who is the precious stone laid in Sion, (and not in the world,) which all the wise master-builders rejected, who pretended to build people up to heaven with the words of the prophets, and the law from mount Sinai, but out

of the life of both: therefore such builders could not receive the law of life from Christ, the precious stone laid in Sion, nor the word from heavenly Jerusalem. But you, my dear friends, that have received this law from heavenly Sion, and the word from heavenly Jerusalem, in the new covenant, where the life and substance is enjoyed, you see the end and abolishing of the Jews' law and ceremonies from mount Sinai. And therefore, my desire is, that you may all keep in the law of life and love, which ye have in Christ Jesus, by which love the body is edified, knit, and united together to Christ Jesus, the head. Which love doth bear all things, fulfils the law, will preserve all in humility, and in it to be of one mind, heart, and soul. So all may come to drink into that one spirit, that doth baptize them and circumcise them, plunging down and cutting off the body of the sins of the flesh, that is got up in man and woman by their transgressing of God's commands. So that in this holy pure spirit all may serve and worship the pure God in spirit and in truth, which is over all the worships that are out of God's spirit and his truth. In this spirit ye will all have a spiritual unity and fellowship over all the fellowships of the unclean spirits, which are out of truth in the world. By this holy spirit all your hearts, minds, and souls may be knit together to Christ, from whence it comes; and by the grace and truth, which is come by Jesus Christ, which all should be under the teachings of in the new covenant, and not under the law, as the outward Jews were in the old covenant. By this grace and truth in the new covenant, all may be made God's free men and women, to serve God in the new life, the new and living way; showing forth the fruits of the new heart and new spirit, in the new covenant, over death and darkness. Glory be to the Lord for ever! in this grace and truth is heavenly, gracious, and true liberty to every spiritual mind, which makes you free from him that is out of truth, where your bondage was. Also your liberty in the holy, divine, and precious faith, which gives you victory over that which once separated you from God and Christ, by which faith ye have access to God again through Jesus Christ. So in this divine and holy faith, ye have divine, holy, and precious liberty, yea and victory over him that separated you from God; and this faith is held in a pure conscience. So the liberty in the spirit of God is in that which baptizes and plunges down sin and iniquity, and puts off the body of death and sins of the flesh, that are got up by transgressing God's command. And also the liberty of the gospel, which is sent from heaven by the holy ghost, which is the power of God, which was and is again to be preached to all nations; in this gospel is the true liberty, and the gospel-fellowship and order. So that the evil spirit or conscience, or false dead faith, that which is ungracious, out of truth, and not in the spirit of God, nor in his gospel, nor in the divine faith, its liberty is in the darkness; for