SEVERAL EPISTLES Given forth by Two of the LORDS Faithful Servants, Whom he sent to NEW-ENGLAND, TO Bear Witness to his Everlasting Truth.

And were there (by the Priests, Rulers, and Professors) after cruel and long Imprisonment, and inhumane Whippings and Banishment, put to death; for no other Cause, but for keeping the Commandments of God, and Testimony of Jesus.

  • William Robinson.
  • William Leddra.

Here is also perfixed W. R. his Testimony of his Call to that Service, for obedience unto which, he under­went the wrath of Men, but hath obtained Everlasting Peace and Rest with God.

And they overcame by the bloud of the Lamb, and the word of their Testimony, who loved not their lives unto the the death.

London, Printed in the Year, 1669.

W. Robinson his Testimony of his Call to that Service, for obedience un­to which he was by the Professors of New-England put to Death.

ON the 8th of the 4th month, 1659. in the after-part of the day, in travelling betwixt Newport on Road-Island, and the house of Daniel Gold on the same Island, with my dear Brother Christopher Holder; The Word of the Lord came expresly unto me, which did fill me immediately with Life and Power, and heavenly Love, by which he constrained me, and com­manded me to pass to Boston, my life to lay down into his Will, for the accomplishing his Service that he had there to perform, at the day appointed. To which heavenly Voice I presently yielded obedience, not questioning the Lord how he would bring the thing to pass, being I was a Child; and obedience was commanded of me by the Lord, who filled me with living strength and power from his heavenly presence, which at that time did mightily over-shad­dow me, and my Life did say Amen to what the Lord required of me, and had commanded me to do, and willingly was I given up from that time to this day, the will of the Lord God to do and to perform, whatever become of my body: for the Lord hath said un­to me, My Soul shall rest in eternal Peace, and my Life shall en­ter into Rest for being obedient to the God of my Life; I being a Child, and durst not question the Lord in the least, but rather wil­ling to lay down my life than to bring dishonour to the Lord; and as the Lord made me willing, dealing kindly with me, as a tender Father doth towards a faithful Child whom he dearly loves, so did the Lord deal with me, in ministring his Life unto me, which gave and giveth me strength to perform what the Lord required of [Page 4]me, and still as I did and do stand in need, he ministred and mini­streth more vertue and heavenly power and wisdom, whereby I was and am made strong in God, not fearing what Man shall be suffer­ed to do unto me, being filled with heavenly Courage, which is Meekness and innocency; for the Cause is the Lords that we go in, and the Battel is the Lords; and thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the mighty and terrible God, Not by might, nor by strength, nor by power of mind, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Host, will I perform what my mouth hath spoken through my Servants whom I have chosen, mize Elect in whom my Soul delighteth. Friends, the God of my Life, and the God of the whole Earth did lay this thing upon me, for which I now suffer bonds near unto death; He by his Almigh­ty Power and everlasting Love, constrained me and laid this thing upon me, and truly I could not deny the Lord, much less resist the Holy One of Israel. Therefore all People who are ignorant of the motion of the Lord in the inward parts, be not hasty in judg­ing in this matter, before you hear the truth of the matter, lest you speak evil of the things you know not: for of a truth the Lord God of the whole Earth commanded me by his Spirit, and spoke unto me by his Son, whom he hath made Heir of all things, and in his Life I live, and in it I shall depart this earthy tabernacle, if unmerciful men be suffered to take it from me; and herein I re­joyce that the Lord is with me, the Ancient of dayes, the Life of the suffering Seed, for which I am freely given up, and singly do I stand in the will of God; for me to live is Christ, but to die is gain: And truly, I have a great desire and will to die herein, knowing that the Lord is with me, whatever ignorant men shall be able to say against me, for the witness of the Spirit I have recei­ved, and the presence of the Lord and his heavenly Life, who hath accounted me worthy, and called me hereunto, to bear my Testimony against ungodly and unrighteous men, who seek to take away the life of the Upright without a cause, as the Rulers of the Massathuss Bay doth intend, if the Lord stop them not from their unrighteous intent. — Oh! hear ye Rulers, and give ear and listen all you that have any hand herein, to put the Innocent to death! for in the Name, and Fear, and Dread of the Lord God, I here declare the cause of my staying here amongst you, and con­tinuing [Page 5]in your Jurisdiction after there was a Sentence of death (as ye said) pronounced against me, without a just cause, as you well know; that we who are banished, committed nothing worthy of banishment, not of any punishment, much less banishment upon death: And now, ye Rulers, ye do intend to put me to death with my Companion, unto whom the Word of the Lord God came say­ing, Go to Boston with thy Brother William Robinson: unto which Command he was obedient, who had said unto him, that he had a great work for him to do: which thing is now seen, and the Lord is now doing of it, and it is in obedience to the Lord God of the whole Earth, that we continue amongst you; and that we came to this Town of Boston again in obedience to the Lord, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, in whose hand your breath is, and will ye put us to death for obeying the Lord God of the whole Earth? Well, if you do this act, and put us to death, know this, and be it known unto you all, ye Rulers and People within this Jurisdiction, whosoever hath a hand herein, will be guilty of innocent bloud, not only upon your selves will you bring innocent bloud, but up­on this Town and the Inhabitants thereof, and elsewhere within your Jurisdiction that hath the least hand herein; therefore be instructed ye Rulers of this Land, and take warning betimes, and learn wisdom before it be hid from your eyes; And know this, if you put us to death, the Lord will arise in his fierce wrath against you, ye Rulers in this Land, ye shall not escape the judgments of the God of Israel, who will consume you root and branch if you put us to death.

Written by one who feareth the Lord, who is by ignorant People called, A Quaker; and unto such am I only known by the Name William Robinson; yet a new Name I have recei­ved, which such knows not.

Several Epistles given forth by Two of the Lords faithful Servants, whom he sent to New-England, &c.

THe streams of my Fathers Love runs daily through me from the holy Fountain of Life, to the Seed throughout the whole Creation, I am overcome with love, for it is my life and the length of my dayes, it's my glory and my daily strength, I am swallowed up with love, and in love I live, with it I am overcome, and in it I dwell with the holy Seed, to which the blessing of love is given from God who is Love, who hath shed it abroad in my heart, which daily fills me with living joy from the Life from whence it comes: Ye Children of the Living God, feel me when you are travelling in it, feel me when it runs from the Fountain into your Vessels, when it issues gently like new Wine into your bosoms, when the strength and power of it you feel, when you are overcome with the strength of the Life, which is God, then feel me present in the Fountain of Love, the House of Heaven, where is many Mansi­ons; ye Children of the Lord, feel me wrapt up with you in that pure Love which destroyes the love which is at emnity with God, which wars against the Seed; which pure Love proceeds from the Father of Love, the God of Truth, let nothing separate you from this Love which is my Life; let neither words nor thoughts enter betwixt which is contrary to it, for it will stain the place of its a­bode. So dear Children, who are begotten by love into the Cove­nant of Life and Love, keep daily in it; this is the portion that God hath given unto his Children, to continue in his Love, which is the life of the Seed which is raised by the power of the endless Love of God in the Creature. I am full of the quickning power of the Lord Jesus Christ, and my Lamp is filled with pure Oyl, [Page 7]so that it gives a clear light and pleasant smell, and I shall ente [...] with my Beloved into Eternal Peace and Rest, wherein I am swal­lowed up, with the Life of it I am filled, and in it I shall depart with everlasting joy and praises in my mouth, singing Hallalujahs unto the Lord who hath Redeemed me by his Living Power from amongst Kindreds, Tongues, and Nations. And now the day of my departure draweth near, I have fought a good Fight, I have kept the holy Faith, I have near finished my Course, my travel­ling is near at an End, and my Testimony is near to be finished, and an Eternal Crown is laid up for me, and for all whose feet are shod with Righteousness and the preparation of Peace, even such whose Names are written in the Book of Life, wherein I live and remain with all the faithful Seed for ever and ever, Amen.

Written by a Servant of Jesus Christ. William Robinson.

William Robinson, a faithful Martyr, who was banished upon pain of Death, and robbed and tortured with cruel Whipping, and after­wards Condemned to die with his fellow Sufferers, Marmaduke Stephenson and Mary Dier, who, all three, hand in hand like innocent Lambs were led away, with the Souldiers guarding, and the Drums beating (that the People might not hear them speak) to the place of Execution; where, by the Priests, Rulers, and Pro­fessors they were cruelly murdered for the Word of God, and the Testimony of Jesus: Two dayes before their death, this Salutation of his Love to his fellow Prisoners, proceeded from him as followeth:

MY dear Brethren and Sisters, to whom my love abounds, I am filled with pure love unto you all, dear Lambs, feel it in your own lives, and receive it into your own hearts as new O [...]l; for truly the fear of the Lord is our strength, and the blessing of the Lord is our portion, which the Lord doth daily give unto us, blessed be his Name for ever. Oh! let us all keep in Lowliness, [Page 8]and Holiness, and Meekness, and tender Love one towards ano­ther, which is the Seal and Witness that the Lord is with us; where the Lord for ever keep us staid on him to receive our daily bread, which satisfieth the hungry Soul. Dear Friends, Brethren and Sisters, this I am constrained to let you know how mightily the Love of the Lord our God abounds in my heart, and from my Life towards you all; it runs forth as a living stream, refreshing the Spirit and Life within us all, and every one as you feel it, and according to your measures receive it into your hearts, to the re­freshing and strengthning of one another. Dear Lambs, I was the first that the Lord God our heavenly Father did lay this thing upon, for which I now suffer bonds near to death, from the first day until now, the weight of the thing was laid upon me from the Lord God, in obedience to his holy Will and Command, I gave up, in which obedience the Arm and Power of the Lord hath been and is with me to this day, and the thing which the Lord hath said unto me from the beginning of it to this day, which still remains with me, that my Life must accomplish the thing, and by it must the powers of Darkness fall, and yet will they seek and labour to take it from me, and through much difficulty and bustling will they be suffered, to the glory of our God, and to the rejoycing of the Elect. So my dear Brethren and Sisters, my Love and Life feel in your own hearts, for I am full unto you all in Heavenly Love, and my Life is ever with you; the Lord for ever keep us all as we are now, to the glory of his Name, Amen. This was I mo­ved to write unto you all, my dear Brethren and Sisters, my fellow Prisoners, that have any part or do partake with me herein. Your dear Brother, in Holy and Heavenly Joy, and true Love and Peace.

William Robinson.

William Leddra, the last of the Four Martyrs that were murdered in Boston: He for the Truths sake was Prisoner under the hands of the cruel Professors of New-Plimouth near a year, to the admiration of tender People, in a very open Prison, where he lay, in an extream cold Winter without any fire, by which he might have been frozen to death, had not the Lord upheld: He after­wards coming to Boston in New-England, where for being called a Quaker, he was by Priests and Rulers torn and tortured with cruel Whipping, and banished on pain of Death, and kept close Pri­soner almost a year, fast chained to a Logg of Timber, from the hour of his coming into Prison, till the very moment they led him forth to be murdered; and when they called him before the Judg­ment Seat to receive the Sentence of Death, the cruel Jaylor who would drag him by the hair of the head, sometime lead him along through part of the Town, who in the silent Lamb-like patience followed him in Chains, bearing the Logg into their Judgment-Hall; this Lamb of Jesus the very day before the Priests, Rulers, and Professors murdered him, gave forth to all the Faithful, this ensuing Testimony for the Lord,
To the society of the little Flock, Grace and Peace be multiplied.

MOst dear and inwardly beloved, The sweet influence of the Morning Star, like a Floud, distilling into my innocent Habitation, hath so filled me with the joy of the Lord in the beau­ty of Holiness, that my Spirit is as if it did not inhabit a Taber­nacle of Clay, but is wholly swallowed up in the bosom of E­ternity from whence it had its being; Alas, alas, what can the wrath and spirit of man that lusteth to Envy, aggravated by the heat and strength of the King of the Locusts which came out of the Pit, do unto one that is hid in the Secret place of the Al­mighty, or unto them that are gathered under the healing wings of the Prince of Peace, under whose Armour of Life they shall be able to stand in the day of tryal, having on the Breastplate of Righteousness, and the Sword of the Spirit, which is their wea­pon of War against Spiritual Wickedness, Principalities, and [Page 10]Powers, and the Rulers of the Darkness of this World, both within and without? Oh! my beloved, I have waited as a Dove at the window of the Ark, and have stood still in that Watch, which the Master of the House did at his coming (without whom I could do nothing) reward with the fulness of his Love, wherein my heart did rejoyce, that I might in the Love and Life of God, speak a few words unto you, sealed with the Spirit of Promise, that the taste thereof might be a savour of Life to your life, and a Testimony in you of my innocent death. And if I had been altogether silent, and the Lord had not opened my mouth unto you, yet he would have opened your hearts, and there have sealed my Innocency with the streams of Life, by which we are baptized into that body which is in God, with whom and in whose Pre­sence there is Life, in which as you abide, you stand upon the pillar and ground of Truth; for the Life being the Truth, and the Way, go not one step without it, lest you should compass a Mountain of sin in the Wilderness: For unto every thing there is a season, as the flowing of the Ocean doth fill every Creek and Branch thereof, and then retires again towards its own be­ing and sulness, and leaves a savour behind it; So doth the Life and Virtue of God flow into every one of your hearts, whom he hath made partaker of his Divine Nature; and when it with­draws but a little, it leaves a sweet savour behind it, that many can say, they are made clean through the Word that he hath spo­ken to them, in which innocent condition you may see what you are in the Presence of God, and what you are without him. Therefore, my dear hearts, let the injoyment of the Life alone be your Hope, your Joy, and Consolation; and let the Man of God flee those things that would lead the Mind out of the Cross, for then the savour of Life will be buried; And although that some may speak of things that they received in the Life (as ex­periences) yet the Life being vailed, and the savour that it left behind, washed away by the fresh flouds of Temptations; the Condition that they did injoy in the Life, boasted of by the Aiery thing, will be but as the Mauna that was gathered yesterday, with­out either scent or savour: for it was only well with the Man while be was in the Life of Innocency; but being driven from the Presence of the Lord into the Earth, what can he boast of? And [Page 11]although you know these things, and many of you much more than I can say, yet for the Love and Zeal that I bear to the Truth and Honour of God, and the tender Desires of my Soul to those that are young, that they might read me in that from which I write, to strengthen them against the Wiles of the subtile Ser­pent that b [...] guiled Eve; I say, stand in the Watch within, in the fear of the Lord, which is the very entrance of Wisdom, and the state where you are ready to receive the secrets of the Lord; hun­ger and thirst patiently, be not weary, neither doubt; stand still, and cease from thy own working, and in due time thou shalt enter into thy Rest, and thy Eyes shall behold thy Salvation, whose Testimonies are sure and righteous altogether; let them be as a feal upon thy arm, and as jewels about thy neck, that o­thers may see what the Lord hath done for your Souls, confess him before men, yea, before the greatest of his enemies, fear not what they can do to you; greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the World; for He will cloath you with Humility, and in the power of his Meekness you shall reign over all the rage of your Enemies in the favour of God, wherein as you stand in Faith, ye are the Salt of the Earth; for many seeing your good works may glorifie God in the day of their visitation. Take heed of receiving that which you saw not in your Life, lest you give ear to the Enemy; bring all to the Life, that they may be proved whether they are wrought in God. The love of the World, the lust of the Flesh, the lust of the Eye, is without the Light, in the World; therefore possess your Vessels in all Sanctification and Honour, and let your Eye look at the mark, He that hath called you, who is Holy; And if there be an eye that offends, pluck it out, and cast it from you; let not the Temptation take hold, for if you do, it will keep from the favour of God, and that will be a sad state; for without Grace possess it, there is no assurance of Salvation: By Grace you are saved, and the witnessing of it is sufficient for you; To which I commend you all, my dear Friends, and in it remain,

Your Brother, William Leddra.
THE END.

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