Copy of a Letter from T A to M W
Dear Friend Edinburgh 6th mo 26th 1749
As I am glad to hear of the Prosperity of Truth in every Person where it has had any Place, so was pleased to hear by our Friend E Hudson a good Account of thee and all who are acquainted with the Goodness of God to their Souls, may it ever encrease and grow by keeping Their hearts close to the Root of Divine Life in us. That so we may be neither barren nor unfruitful in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, but kept fresh and green in ourselves by his holy Spirit dwelling in us, and we in him, That Thus abiding always in him we may be as Branches of the true Vine, knowing his Sap and Virtue to spring up in us, and we thro it into Eternal Life, and never put on Satisfy ourselves with any Forms, even The best of Forms, but let our Life, our Rest, and confidence, be in him alone, and then because he lives, we shall live also in that which abides forever, herein we find perpetual Rest, and Newness in Spirit, and in Truth. Here we draw Water from That Fountain which is ever new and ever flows forth freshness. Lo let our Religion & Righteousness be that which is perpetual, living in, and drinking of the fresh Stream of Life as it flows from him the Fountain, according to the Measure and degree he causes it to flow in the Time, Neither murmuring at want or Smallness thereof, nor negligent in depending on & waiting for that alone which is the true Life & Breath of God in the Soul, for the Truth and Essence of all true and Acceptable Religion (and what makes as truly agreeable and acceptable to our Maker and Saviour) in looking Singly to him alone, resigning to him our Hearts and depending daily on him, if we abide in this Life, and Faith and Dependance. Tho we pass thro Poverty of Spirit and hardly beset some Times, and various States and Conditions in our Minds, yet the Lord is our Rock at the Bottom and will be our Saviour and Salvation to the last, So let us always trust in The Lord from whence comes our help, and not Despise the Day of small Things, if ever so small yet what comes from him is still good and of saving Virtue and Help, but if we neglect that Root and Faith of Dependance, and desiring after and looking at him alone for Life and Righteousness, Then whatever Forms or likeness we are of, or has been produced in us, we lose our Greenness and Freshness in Spirit, and are as Withered Branches because we abide not in him which alone is Sufficient and only the one Thing needful, for all Forms Tho ever so different are alike dead, and we are dead to him, in them, except he be These, who is the true Life in all, and thro all, and must Reign and have the Preheminence if we be Blessed for let us remember the Name of the City is the Lord and it never was, nor never can be found in another Name, but his Name doth make us all meet to be Inheritors with Saints in Light, and herein doth stand the Fellowship of all the Servants of the Living God. The Lord gather us and keep us all in this Holy City, That we may have the Name of God, and the Name of the City of our God, work on us livingly by his holy Spirit impressed within That so whether far off, or nigh in Person, we may be thro one Spirit, as Epistles in each others Hearts, to be seen and read there My Hearts Desire & Love freshly opens and extends to Friends and all People with you, and even to the whole World, that Gods Free Grace, Love and saving Health may be more and more known and received by all Nations, that God may be Glorified by them in Righteousness and in the Possession of the true Spirit of Happiness forever, Thro his Power who made us and only can Redeem us from all Evil and establish us in Righteousness and Happiness for ever This is the Prayer of my Heart for the whole World, that this Blessedness may spread and increase and abound everywhere I am with Sincere Love and earnest Desires for Thy Welfare every way Thy real Friend
T. Areskine
PS
We have had the Company and publick Service of our Friend & Hudson here, very much to our Satisfaction Oh that God may raise the very Root of Evil out of Mens Hearts, that they may be made willing to receive and adhere to the good Spirit in themselves, and so led and Directed by the Same, That they may walk in Singleness of Heart, in that strait Way of Righteousness so as to obtain feelingly and experimentally for themselves the Happiness thereof forever, for there is but one true Religion, one Catholick, and Apostolick Church, which all adhere to who are Sanctified by the Spirit of Christ Jesus, and The Way for all to enter one Fold of Life is to begin where God begins with us, That is all, both Christians and Heathens begin to avoid and come out of what they themselves see to be wrong and Evil and cleave to, and do what at present They see to be right and good, neither staying behind nor going Before, then they follow the Word according to his Counsel, They are led and taught truly by him, and led into all Truth according to their present State and need this Day and Time, thus we should begin and Persevere ourselves. Thus we should teach others to do. Then we correspond with Gods teachings in the Heart, and If we teach after This Manner, and this kind of Religion and Righteousness only, God Justifies us and it, And who can deny it, Whether Jew or Gentile, or Christian, They must confess to and own Gods Righteousness and the Righteousness he gives to us and Requires of all Men to the Salvation of Their Souls, whether they be found in it and follow it or not, we need not puzzle or Cloak People with our Opinions, only let every Man Obey Gods Voice as far as it appears and is known to him, Love God (the chiefest good) with our whole Heart, And love each other avoiding every Thing that is Evil or tendeth to the heart of each other in Relation to Body or Mind, do every Thing that tends to Good, to ourselves and each other in every Respect, and count all The World as our Neighbours in one common Bond and Nature, and act towards them accordingly, then we fulfil a true and essential Righteousness both in Relation to God and Man, there we are justified and saved from the Wrath to come. This kind of continued Righteousness answers the Witness of God in all Men, and is The one Universal Love of God to all Men The World over My Heart would abound if I were to follow what appears, but in Singleness of Spirit, read and see for yourselves every one, I little thought when I began to write so largely, but I can say I neither make or take to myself, but as it freely flows from me, I let it pass without hindrance as it appears in Truth, and flows forth in the Sense of Life. The poor Indians are in my Mind in what I write, as well as ourselves and others, for all my Fellow Creatures are my Friends, my Brethren and my Neighbors in the free good Will of God manifest in me thro his Goodness Many Men are as Evil Spirits to each other, whereas we ought not only to be as good Angels in ourselves thro the Grace of God, and as guarding Angels in our Measure and Opportunity, and Capacity to call each other from Evil, and to guard one another in what is Good Let me follow The Religion of Righteousness Manifested in and unto all Men, if Minded and adhered to, This is the Religion and Righteousness taught by all the Law and Prophets, what Christ taught and suffered to save us from Evil, and to bring us to the Law of the Spirit of Rectitude and Righteousness in our Hearts, consistant with our Original Nature, Make, and the order of Being wherein we were made and for which we were Designed by the Father of all Spirits
T A
Margaret Elliss Journal, concerning my Experience of the dealings of the Lord with me from my Youth At fourteen years of Age, the Call of the Lord was to me, when seeing some of my Companions carried to Their Graves, a Concern came over my Mind,, with a Consideration whether Their Souls were gone, and where mine would be if I should then be taken away And That followed me and remained on my Mind for many Days, Till my Parents observed something more than ordinary in my Countenance, there upon They sent for a Priest, to examine the Cause, which he did, and my Answer was, That I was afraid of Dying, least I should not be saved, and then he enquired of me concerning The Catechism and Sacrament which I could readily Answer to, having learnt them several years before, upon which the poor Priest was at a Stand, and could not well direct me what I should do. But at last he would have me to come and take the Bread and Wine, called the Sacrament, and when I came to their Church, so called, for That Purpose, I received upon my Knees, The Bread out of his Hand, at that Instant There came a Voice clearly speaking to me in my Heart, That, That would not do to save the Soul, and the same also as to the Wine, and self Pleaded within me, why should not That do, when the Priest said it would do, and my Father, Mother, and Good Neighbors said it would do, which pleading followed me several Days, till at Length The Inclination of Self, and being Willing to have an easy Way, the Witness of God in my Heart was Suppressd and overcome in me making choice of the Broad Way which leads to Destruction, thro Vanity and Diversions of the World, forgetting the Lord Days without Number, yet he did not forget me, for in less than seven years afterwards, his Call was inwardly to me again in my Soul as before, concerning Eternity, and how it might be with me hereafter, and then I returned in Earnest to look Within to my own State and Condition and to The Anointing mentioned by the Apostle John which opened clearly in my Mind, to wit, But the Anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not That any Man teach you, but as the same anointing teacheth you all Things and is Truth and is no lye Upon which I concluded not to make known, or discover my inward Exercise of Mind to any Man, in as much as that the Teaching of the Lord was so Near as in the Heart, That there was need of Seeking after Christ not by adhering to Men, when They should say, lo here, or lo there is Christ, when the Kingdom of Heaven is within, and Then about that Time I was under a close Exercise of Mind often in secret Prayer to the Lord, That he would be pleased to Manifest to me my Duty to him, what way I should Walk in, so as to please him, what I should do and what leave undone, still being Willing to continue among the People of the Church of England with whom my Hearts delight was At the same Time a Voice run thro my Soul that I was seeking The Living amongst the Dead, and Life where it was not, and also The Call of The Lord to Samuel before he was Acquainted with the Word of the Lord came fresh into my Mind that he went to the Priest to enquire what the Voice was, (supposing he had called him) who directed Samuel to The Lord himself, but when I went to the Priest he did not do as Eli did, but directed me to the Outward Elements of Bread and Wine where no Comfort at all was to found, about That time a Certain Woman, one of our Neighbours being Sick, sent for me, when I was gone to Church and they called me in as I was going Home and desired me to pray by her, but I was at a Loss for want of my common Prayer Book, which at That Time I had forgot to take with me. Yet thought I might pray without it, being so often used to it and ventured to kneel down with other People by the Bedside of the Sick Person. But all manner of Prayer was taken from me, so that I could not express one Word of the common Prayer, and remaining so a little while was unexpectedly endued with such a Power and Fervency of Spirit as I never felt before, and, Prayed for a long Time, to the great Admiration of the People present, who were under great Tenderness as I understood afterwards, scarce knowing whether I was in the Body, or out of it, and I saw one arrayed in White Cloathing coming to tell me That, That Woman would die soon whereupon I was just like one coming out of a Trance; and I acquainted the Sick Womans Daughter of it, and that she should make Preparations for her Mothers Burial, accordingly she did dye in a short Time. Afterwards The report of this was carried to my Fathers House, and my Mother was very Inquisitive to know in what Book I met with such Prayers as the People said They never had heard the like before. I answered that I learned it out of no Book at all (as indeed it was thro the Inspiration of the Holy and Divine Spirit a while after this I went to a Place of Merriment among my Companions, whereat I was used to Sing, Dance and play at Cards with them, but at length when on a certain Time I went about such things, I could not do any Thing about them, The Call of the Lord being expressly to me to depart from them. And when I gave up in Obedience Thereto, and had told them of my Uneasiness, They would fain have persuaded me to Stay longer, but I signified I had tarried long enough among them to my Sorrow, and that I would not come among them any more, where upon three of my Companions accompanied me Home and in the Way I told them that it opened in my Mind to tell them, it were well if the Lord did not open the Earth and Swallow us up for our Vanity, with more to the like Effect, that I had to say to them, at which they greatly admired and were broken into Tenderness still the same Thing as before mentioned remained very much on my Mind, concerning Outward and Formal Worship and of seeking The Living amongst the Dead, and Life where it was not. And as my Brother had been among Friends a little before, he living then at a place called Deloberan where was a Meeting | I had a mind to pay him a Visit, and asked leave of my Parents to go to see my Brother, when I came There I went with him to the Meeting, which was the first I was at among Friends In this Meeting Robert Griffiths, a worthy Minister being there, Preached the Gospel, and in his Testimony very much affected my Mind with great Tenderness, opening to me my State and Condition declaring the very Matter and Things that had rested upon my mind for a considerable Time before, as if he had known them. but I hid my Exercise as much as I could, being unwilling that any should discover the Tenderness of Spirit I was under After Meeting my Brother asked me what I thought of their Preacher (in my answering him as I was unwilling he should know how effectually I was reached, I lightly told him the Friend was either a Witch or a Prophet, and when I returned Home, my Mother acquainted me a little before I went to Sleep, That one of the Neighbors had spoke to her that she should not let me go to see my Brother, least I should also become a Quaker, where upon I was so greatly enraged with Anger against That Neighbour That I could have found in my Heart to be revenged of her for supposing I should turn Quaker which at that time I seemed to scorn, and was in such a Passion that I was very unfit to say my Prayers as usual, when I went to Bed omitting them at that Time. And when I was in Bed that Night (my Mother setting up longer after me by the Fire) I was I thought in something of a Trance wherein I heard as it were the sound of a Trumpet with a Call to all the Ends of the Earth, and then There appeared to me a Fire Surrounding the Bed I was in, as if the Curtains had been all of a light Fire, and I called out to my Mother to know if the House was on Fire, upon her coming up to me, I told her what I had heard and seen, at which she seemed greatly surprised and said it was the Devil had come to me because I went to Bed without Praying but I was so terrified that almost all those Things which were upon my Mind before came into my View with a very heavy Exercise, That I was ready to conclude the Call of the Trumpet to The Ends of the Earth was directly to me, as well as Others, and that to find Peace of Mind, I was willing to be a Quaker or any Thing else as the Lord should be pleased to Manifest what was my Duty to do After that I went to Friends Meetings, about fourteen Miles or more, from Home, as privately and hiddenly as possible I could My Father perceiving my Zeal in going to Meetings was willing to have me to Their Church, to meet Three or four Priests there to Discourse with them, to try how They could prevail with me to bring me off from the Quakers, before he would give me his Blessing, accordingly I went, but in that conference Their Deceit and Formality was Manifested to me, that I very clearly saw their emptiness, upon which I acquainted my Father That I would never more come to their Church, unless it should be to his or my Mothers Burial This Resolution was so displeasing to him that ever after he carried himself severe, and hard towards me but my Mother on the contrary Commisserated my case and seeing me resolved to continue to attend Friends Meetings encouraged me to go and live in the Neighbourhood of Deloberan where the meeting was, and furnished me with good Cloaths and some Wool to keep myself employed with, and Money to pay for my Board, which I gratefully accepted, and took up my abode there, with a Widow Woman accordingly At that time there was a young Man near Deloberan, that had been lately convinced, with whom sometimes I had Religious Conversation, and there being in the Neighbourhood Sickness which raged among the People, this Young Man was taken very Ill with it and in all Appearance likely to die. I went sometimes to visit him, when asking him how it was with him as to his future State, and what he thought of it, he told me he was afraid it would not be well with him, and seemed very Unwilling to die, desiring I would pray for him, which indeed brought a heavy Exercise on my Mind in Consideration of his being Convinced and joined with Friends, That yet he should be so Unprovided for his Change, that there upon I was constrained to pray to the Lord, for him, that he would heal him of his Sickness, so as to recover, if it should stand good with his Blessed Will, and then it was queried with me what would I give if he should be made whole, To which my Answer was, Lord I would give all that I was worth in the World, Whilst I was thus attending the Young Man, a Fire happened to the Widow Womans House where I lodged, and the Neighbours coming in to her Assistance carried her Goods entirely out of the House. That she lost not so much as the Value of five Shillings, whereas not the least Thing was saved of my Cloaths, or any Thing else I had in the House except one Petticoat, and was now stript of all I had in the House but that, and the Cloaths on my Back which I had used to wear every day The Young Man aforesaid recovered after This Illness, and grew well in a Short Time Being left thus destitute I had no way left for Subsistance but to return to my Fathers House again, where I was received, and after some Time was taken ill myself, with a severe Ague and Fever likely to carry me off, which held me about two Months. My Father thereupon expressed himself to my Mother Thus, or something after This sort, to wit, That there seemed to be a Judgment from the Lord upon me for turning my Back on the Catholick Church, and that he should not be sorry if I should die with that Illness, That he might give me a Christian Burial. But I prayed to the Lord, if I had found Favour in his Light, that I might recover, desiring not to be Buried after Their Form, and as I was musing at a Certain Time whilst in my Bed, it came fresh in my Mind, that if I would rise early at break of Day, and take a turn out of Doors abroad, I should be well, and accordingly in the Faith of that I did arise early in the Morning and went to walk, but my Mother hearing me up, followed me in again, and there upon the Ague quite left me, and I was healed at that very Hour, as the Centurions Servant who was Sick of the Palsy was healed upon his applying to our Saviour, who said to him, as Thou hast believed, so be it done to thee, and his Servant was healed in the self same Hour, but after my Sickness had left me there remained in my Breast a hard lump attended with sore pain, upon which going into the Garden and seeing certain Herbs that grew there, it sprang in my Mind, that if I would cut some of them and eat them, it would cure me, which I cut accordingly and desired my Mother to prepare them for me, (and after she had objected to me, that such herbs were not used to be eaten) but yet as I insisted upon it she got them ready for me, and quickly after I had eat Them I was entirely cured of this Malady and have never had since any Thing of That Illness to This day I continued then to keep to Meetings, walking to them on Foot, and frequently as I went Ive felt the Bedewings of our Heavenly Father on my Soul to my great Comfort and Encouragement and altho my Dependance was on the Powerful Arm of the Lord, which had Redeemed me and often wonderfully supported me in various Trials and Afflictions, yet through the Whisperings of the Enemy I was ready to let in Fears, Doubts and Reasonings, and wanted Still a further Confirmation from the Lord as to the Way I was in, humbly desiring, if it pleased him, that he would shew me a Sign for my Assurance That I might see a Light from Heaven, in my Walking one Night from a Meeting and then answerable to my Petition, there was in the Pathway as I passed along a great Brightness, in my View very wonderful to behold, at which I was not in the least Surprized, or afraid, but at That Instant was filled with a Sense of Divine and Heavenly Enjoyment, to the great Consolation of my Soul. Blessed be the Name of the Lord for his great Favour of Love and Mercy to me, that He should so condescend and hearken to my humble request, which has been a great Comfort, Strength, and Confirmation to me ever since, when I consider his tender Dealings with me in the early Days of my Convincement After a few Years I began to be concerned to open my Mouth in Friends Meetings, and on a certain Time, was drawn in my Mind to go to a little Meeting of Friends held on First Days at a Friends House at a Considerable Distance from Home, and waiting for a Horse was at Last Disappointed, that it was late in the Day before I set out, which was on Foot, but some would fain have persuaded me it was too late, notwithstanding the Concern remained on me to go, so that I could not be easy without going, and even when I came to a Friends House within a Mile of the Meeting, it was again assured me by a Friend that Friends of the Meeting would be coming back, however as the Concern abode with me, I went forward, and when I came to the Meeting Friends were setting Quietly together, save that some Persons, Strangers of Note were there, who came out of Curiosity and gave some Disturbance before I came, in making a Mock of and deriding the Spirit, urging one and another of the Friends to preach, saying, what dont the Spirit move you yet, now that we come on purpose to hear and more to the like Effect In a short Time I was concerned in the Meeting to declare against Peoples Deriding of the Spirit, and making a Mock at it tho I was Ignorant of what had been done in the Meeting and said that what People made a Mock at, was really the Spirit of the Lord, more than at his People, and how Unworthy and Wicked it was to deride The Holy Spirit, with more to that Purpose, upon which the Principal of them being one called a Gentlewoman Signified, after Meeting, that she was sorry they had behaved as they did, and confessed that what I said must have been revealed by the Spirit of God, or else I could not have known what had been done, in the Meeting before I came in, and Friends were glad of my Appearance in Meetings, where with they sometimes expressed Their Unity, particularly at the aforesaid Meeting, but yet I thought The Way was too hard, and Narrow for me, to be exposed and under the Censure of every body. Thinking that I might do all the Good I possibly could otherwise, and be excused in that Service, That duly considering That each one ought to be Faithful in the Manifestation of their own gift, but I was for chusing and cutting out my own Way contrary to what the Lord seemed to appoint for me, and Thereupon Darkness surrounded me, and when I came to Meetings I was still under a Cloud and heaviness, and no Comfort at all could I meet with, in which Condition I continued for many Months to my great Distress and Anguish of Soul, no Light Appearing to me, nor any Concern for offering my Gift in all that Time And then my Mother was taken away out of this World, Which still added to my Sorrow, That I may well say Disobedience caused me a long Wilderness, but at her Burial, which I attended, I was highly favoured of the Lord, by the flowings in of his Blessed and Divine Power on my Soul, to my great Comfort, after a long Nipping Time, like a Winter Season, till it was observed by People of other Persuasions that I was endued with the Power from above After which my Father was for proposing an Agreement with me, to let me go twice a year only to the Quakers Meeting, and the rest of the Time either to go to Church, or stay at Home. This was a hard lesson to me, and was under my Consideration for a while, at That Time I had a great Burden upon me both in Meetings and out of Meetings, not being able to Discern The Meaning or Cause of it. But one Night in Bed laying between two Women Friends, I heard my Name called very distinctly, which awakened me out of my Sleep, and hereupon I was filled with Tenderness and brokenness of Spirit, to That degree that I could scarce contain myself without bursting into Tears, So got softly out of Bed, put on my Cloaths, and went out into a private place, in a Barn, to pour forth my Spirit before the Lord, and give vent to my Exercise which indeed was thro abundance of Tears, and then was I in a Vision, transported in my Mind, above all visible and Transitory things, and as it were a Book opened before me, wherein I saw Recorded all the Evils, I had done, and committed from my Youth even so much as the vain Words I had uttered, and my Undutiful Language and Behaviour to my Parents, at which I was greatly surprized, and whilst I was musing, and under This Spiritual Dispensation, I heard a Voice clearly speaking in my by way of Query, wouldst Thou forgive every body, or all Mankind their Offences against Thee on Condition that all Those Transgressions of Thine written in This Book should be forgiven Thee, and in that Case, and on thy not repeating the like They should all be blotted out of this Book, but if Thou shouldst afterward be found committing the same again, they would rise up against Thee in the Day of Judgment, to which I replied, Lord, I would Willingly pass by and forgive all if Thou wouldst forgive me and receive me into thy Rest, not knowing but I should have died at that Time. thereupon I saw that on Those Terms my Transgressions were blotted out, and never came again against me to this Day several Hours was I under This Exercise of Mind, wherein I was in great Tranquility of Soul, and about break of Day I saw I must live longer in this World, and then returned to the House, washed myself and went amongst the Friends, whereupon a Publick Friend who was there seemed to take more than ordinary Notice of me, and spoke, saying, where had Margaret been, for she looked so Innocent as if she had been newly born, after a while, on further Considering my Fathers Proposition, I asked if he would give me leave to go over to Pennsylvania, where I understood there were many Friends, and that I could work for my livelyhood, to which he answered if I choosed to live like a Fool, and be buried like a Dog, I might go where I would. This also was very hard for Flesh and Blood to bear from so near and dear a Relation, and to part from ones Native Land, but I presently heard a Voice within me, of the True Bishop, and Shepherd of Souls, saying, that if Thou goest, I will go along with Thee, which I found since to be true, and that he hath been with me hitherto, over Sea and Land. Blessed be his Name forever
In my Voyage on the wide Ocean, on Shipboard, going over to Pennsylvania, we had not three Days together of fair Weather, in a Passage of ten Weeks, and yet was I, thro the Goodness of God, preserved in great Calmness and Quietness of Mind, Throughout the whole Voyage, Tho the Seas were often Tempestuous, being entirely Resigned to the Lords Will, insomuch That I never wanted to see the Land, till it appeared, at my Landing at Philadelphia I soon became acquainted with Friends there, the first of whom that took Notice of me, and expressed Their Friendship were Thomas Chalkley, Hannah Hill, Samuel Preston and Samuel Powell, and afterwards many more who gave me good Counsel, and Advice, and were very tender over me, and thereupon I could not but be thankful to the Almighty, That he had raised me up such good Friends to be Fathers & Mothers in Israel, who were a great Comfort and Strength to me, in a Strange Land, some Time after this, I began again to be concerned to appear in Meetings by way of Testimony, but great Doubts and Reasonings filled my Mind about it, after this sort, viz, that now in this Land it would be harder and more difficult for me than before, seeing that I could not speak the English Language but brokenly, and that there were a great many Preachers there already, and so would fain have evaded, and suppressed my Concern being also ready with the Prophet to say that I would Speak no more in Thy Name for who hath believed our Report, but these Excuses did not serve my Turn, for The Lord Manifested it to me, by his Holy Spirit, that he would raise up more Ministers and Messengers, and send them over Sea and Land, to call to the Inhabitants of the World to come to Repentance and Amendment of Life, and whether They would hear, or forbear, he would get him Honour through his Servants and Messengers, and would be clear of the Blood of all, and then I clearly saw that Woe would be to me, if I Preached not the Gospel
After I had been some Time in This Country of Pennsylvania I was in a Dream or Vision, as I lay in my Bed, and saw as I really thought, a certain Kinsman of mine who had been dead in Wales several Years, come to my Bedside, to whom I spoke, and said how came thou hither, seeing Thou art but a Spirit, and has been dead some Time, and canst not speak till I speak to Thee first.~ which he acknowledged to be true. I then asked him how it was with him, and where he dwelt, meaning his Spirit, where it had a Being, he answered and said, come and see, I then followed him to a Certain Place, on the right Hand way as we went, into which Place he entered and left me on the Road, There I beheld a great Number who were the Spirits of just Men made perfect, whose Food was as it were of the most exquisite and delightful Dainties, suitable to Their Beings, on which they lived continually, wherein was such excellent Glory as was beyond Expression of Tongue, with which my Heart was greatly Ravished. I then told one of them, that should I be permitted to come therein, which I certainly Concluded to be Heaven, I would willingly leave my Body in the Bed to be Buried by whomsoever it might be, the Answer from thence was, not yet. Then I replied, I would gladly return again to the Body and suffer whatever The Lord should permit to come upon me, or to that Effect, For I thought all the Afflictions and Tribulations they could possibly meet with here, during their whole Life in this World would not be sufficient to purchase such exceeding Joy and heavenly Delight as was there to be met with, and I turned back as I thought to the Body again with a Song of Joy in my Mouth, crying out, with extacy in Words Expressive of The Enjoyment which I there beheld, till one of the Family was coming up to me, saying, what did I want; my Answer was, nothing at all, dont come to me now, Sometimes After this when I met with Afflictions and Troubles I was ready to think why should these Things come upon me, and presently I was rebuked in myself by remembering the former Promise I had made of my readiness to suffer, as aforesaid, and quickly saw that the Spirit was willing but the Flesh was Weak, a Sense of which hath been as a great Favour and Encouragement to me since, finding the same Peace of the Lord remaining in my Heart to this Day Blessed be his name forever
On a Certain Time There was a Debate at our Monthly Meeting, attended with a Difference concerning some Friends, who were Young People, but we could not discern which was right, and which was wrong, and Thereupon I was under an Exercise of Mind, and Prayed to the Lord to this Purpose That he would be pleased to manifest to me how the Matter really was, and that I might have Wisdom given me to be instrumental in reconciling the said Difference and that Night in a Dream, an elderly Man, with White Hair, and white Cloathing, seemed to appear and told me exactly how the Matter was, and that I should visit those Families in Order to set it right, and accordingly I did as well as I could And in the same Night, as far as we could understand a Woman Friend Dreamed that she saw at a Porch, in Friends Burying Ground, a Bed with white Linnen on it, and four Angels, standing by, whom she asked, if she should rest on that Bed, and they said, if her Cloaths were clean she might, and hearing Them Discoursing together, how that one of Them was sent to convey the Souls of the Righteous into Heaven, and that another of them said he was sent to Margaret Ellis, she Then enquired if Margaret was dead, for she knew her well, and he answered no, but that he was sent to acquaint her with what the Lord would have her to do, and it was conjectured that as both the Dreams happened in one Night, it seemed to be a Confirmation of the reality of the Matter, and some Endeavours being used thereupon, the Persons who were in Fault Confessed, and the whole Affair was clearly Manifested. The Thing set in a Clear Light, and put an end to And in the Course of my Life, I found it my Place among Friends, where I was Concerned to Transact the Affairs of Truth, with Plainness and Uprightness, without Partiality, particularly in Friends meetings of Business, and when on a sick Bed, I examined into the Account of my Life and how Things stood with me respecting my Soul, I had great Peace of Mind when I considered That I had endeavoured in Matters of Discipline to act therein without Favour or Affection, which Practice I would earnestly recommend to Friends to pursue, that they also may have Peace in such a trying Hour. I was in that Sickness also, which was very severe upon me, very desirous of knowing whether I should die with it or not, at which Time I saw as it were in a Vision, a Clock at the Feet of the Bed, the Weights of which were quite run down, and whilst I was musing on it, I saw a Hand come and wind up the Weights again, for the Clock to go a longer Season, which I took to be a just Representation of my Case, and accordingly from that time I mended and grew intirely well These things and many more too Tedious to enumerate the Lord hath been pleased to shew me, and if People will but be faithful and Obedient to what they know of the Will and Mind of the Lord, they shall see things clearer than they do, and know that Miracles are not ceased Margaret Ellis The Substance of the foregoing Relation of ME was taken down from her own Mouth in a journey from London into Wales, and wrote by Richard Partridge in the Year 1752
