we being met together in the fear of the Lord to wait upon him, for his Antient power; to order and guide us in his Work and Service; Relating to our Church af­fairs: He hath been pleased in his wonted Kindness, to break in upon Us, and hath opened the fountain of his Love unto us, and the streams thereof hath freely run from Vessel to Vessel, praises be given to him for ever. And many living Testimonies by our Brethren and Sisters have been born amongst us: Also, we have received many good and comfortable Epistles in writing from severall Monthly meetings within our County, to our great satisfaction, of the care and concern of Friends in their respective places for the honour of God and prosperity of his Truth; for great and large hath been the love of God unto us and amongst us, to our great encouragement, that we can do no less but Invite you our dear Friends and Sisters, who profess the Honourable Name of God and his blessed Truth, unto whom this is the Salutation of our endeared Love to you all, who have passed through many slanderous reproaches for your live­ing obedience to it: Oh! Friends let it be as wieghty on your hearts and minds as ever it was, and let your care and circumspection be as great as ever, (in every respect;) for the way is the same, the Lord is the same, and his Truth is the same; And all that abides in it finds as great necessity as ever to keep to the daily Cross, that thereby they may be Crucified to the World, and the World unto them, that so they may stand clear and unspotted or defiled by the evill of it, or the vain Customs, Fashions and Traditions therein, and more particularly that you have a diligent care in respect to Truths honour, and the unity and Fellowship with those many wholsome Exhortations and Admonitions which from time to time have been [Page 2] recommended to you and us, by our Brethren and Sisters, whose Labours and Exercise is in the Word and Doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ: So that in order thereto, we who are of the Fe­male Sex, answer our places; and ye that are Mothers of Chil­dren, and have the Ordering and Governing of them (it may be more then Fathers, because they may be more absent) we do advise and exhort you all, to be very dilligent to answer your places to your Children in a Holy care and watchfullness over them▪ and that you Restrain them while they are young, from all foolish and unnecessary things; Either in Apparell which lyes more parti­cularly upon Mothers to put a stop to, as also the new Changable un­necessary Fashons of high dressed Heads, which is so extreamely run into by the People of the World, and too many professing truth, a Fashon not becoming modesty, much less Women professing God­lyness; Therefore we desire that yon Restrain your Children from the practise of it; as also from needless Dresses about your Meat, which Youth in our day is too prone unto in some places: These with any other that may be unnecessesary, we lay it as a conscern upon you elder Women. That as the Holy Women in Antient times ye may be good patterns, and train up the Young-ones in the days of their Youth, in the way which they should walk: And then if they come to maturity of Years, and understanding, they will not forget, but as truth is Planted in them, and they growing in it, will bless God on your behalf: That you restrained them from the Vanities of this World, and will be a blessing unto you in your Old age, even as faithfull Plants about your Tables, and you may be as Mothers in Israel; Nursing up the Young Women in that which is good, that so when you grow in Years they may be willing and fit to bear part with you, not only in your outward concerns and business, but also in relation to truth and the concerns of it, in your Monthly and Womens meetings, that they may be in readiness to put to their Shoulders to bear, and their Hands to Labour in their Day and time, and not to bring them up as strangers and unaquainted with the way of truth, as if you never intended them to be of the number amongst you, and they willing to be unconcerned and at liberty, not comeing [Page 3] into the sence of the service, and great necessity there is of it, by your not answering your places and puting them on therein; such in process of time may be ready to judg others and say, that th [...]y know no need of Womens meetings, nor they know no service in them [...] yea it may be (which would be cause of sadness) the Children of such Parents as have borne a Living Testimony for the same: And therefore we do advise and warn all such in the fear of the Lord God: Keep low out of all exal [...]edness of mind, and do not think because ye are Children of believing Parents, you are well enough; but come learn to tread in the Path of true self denial, and to bear the Yoak in the dayes of your Youth, that so it may become natural to you to follow the footsteps of your faithfull Parents, and in true subjection to the Elders, haveing them in estimation as worthy of double Ho­nour for their Faithfulness to the Truth, and as those that have borne the burthen and heat of the day, and yet are willing to labour with you, that have come in as at the Eleventh hour; that so you may receive your Peny, and reap of the fruits of their Labours, and walk in the path which they have troden out with much hardship, difficul­ty and great excercise, that so you may know your places and service in this latter time of the day, which according to its season the Lord calls for, for there is still work to be done in his Vineyard, tho it be planted and hedged about in a good measure; yet there must be a d [...] ­ligent care that the Hedg be not broken down and that the li [...]tle Fox­es or the wild Boars, do not get in to spoile or lay waste the Lords Vinyard, and also that care be taken to pluck up any noysom Weeds, which ma [...] be seen to spring up again that may hinder the grouth of the Righteous Plant of Renown, so dear Friends and Sisters, both Old and Young, it is our advice unto you, be willing to labour; And be diligent in keeping your Womens Meetings, and where any neglect hath been, that for the time to come you may be more dili­gent, and tho some that are of a quareling and seperating spirit, and cannot abide to come under reproof or judgment of the Men or Womens Meetings, and is ready to say there is no business not need for Women to be concerned in the Church: We say, that Wo­men ought to have a care, and concern as well as the Men, being [Page 4] members of the Church [...]s and every Member hath its Office in the Body, he who promised to power out his Spirit on Daugh­ters as on Sons: Surely hath concerned us in the Church, yea we have a Garden to weed, a House to keep clean, inward as well as outward, which is a work necessary to be done, in this latter time or day, which calls for Fruits to be brought forth to the praise of him who hath bestowed much Labour on us, and given us many fruitfull seasons: So recommending you dear [...]isters unto the Lord, and the guidance of his good Spirit in all your concerns, Referring you for a further account of the good Service of this Meeting, to such Friends as were here present, where the Lords Love and goodness was plentifully manifested amongst us, Blessed be his glorious Name▪ and power for Ever, and Ever,