HAving something in my Heart to leave upon Record, as a Testimony unto the Memory of my Honoured Mother, and [Page 2] of the Goodness of our God unto her, I could not well be clear until I had put Pen to Pa­per, as followeth.

She was born in Loughbor­ough in the County of Leicester of honest Parents; who gave her a Sober Education, being aged near 83. She was a Woman who in the Course of her Life was deeply exercised with many Difficulties and great Tribulations, so that it may be truly said of her, That she was a Woman of Sorrows, and well acquainted with Griefs, But through all her Tryals in­ward and outward, her Rely­ance was upon the Lord her God: Who in his infi­nite Mercy, in his own due [Page 3] time delivered her out of all her Troubles, for which she often praised and magnified his holy, excellent and great Name.

She sought the Lord earn­estly and sincerely in her ten­der years, using to frequent the Assemblies of the soberest People in that Day, which were called Separates or Puritans, &c. And when the People called Baptists appeared, she search'd into their Principles, even as the Noble Bereans did, with real purpose to find that way to walk in, in which she might have Peace with God, and Salvation for her weary and mournful Soul; and with them she joyned several Years, walking so inoffensively, that [Page] [Page 2] [...] [Page 3] [...] [Page 4] she gained a good Esteem a­mong them. During which Communion she often receiv'd the Publick Members of that Society, duly administring her Charity as occasion. But in the fulness of Time God having fitted and prepared a People in the Northern Parts of this Nation, whom the World in Scorn call'd Qua­kers, to whom the Lord had reveal'd his Holy Will and Way of Life and Salvation, and given them Commission to publish his Everlasting Go­spel-day. When they came she received them and their Testimony with great Joy and Thankfulness unto the Lord, and became as a Nursing-Mother among them: And [Page 5] my dear Father, at her request gave up his House for her Friends to keep Meetings in, even in the Morning of that Blessed Day, she account­ing nothing too dear to part with for the Truth's Sake. She walked so lovingly, sober­ly and humbly with them, and so inoffensively, that she had the Love of all good Friends that were acquainted with her being a good Example of Tem­perance, Meekness and Cha­rity, towards those with whom she was concerned. She was dutiful to her Parents in their time, a true and loving Wife to her Husband in his Day, even unspotted of the World. She was a tender Mother to me and mine, living with us [Page 6] near twenty Years, in her Widowhood. She truly lov­ed all her Relations, and was a good Neighbour and firm Friend, having a Word of Comfort in due Season to ma­ny, when in Afflictions; and often exhorted her Offspring to fear God, and to remember their Creator in the Days of their Youth, and to do their Duty both to God and Man; telling them, That then the Lord would bless them.

She was taken in the Night-Season (with a violent Pain in her Legs) on the 6th Day of the Week, and deceased the next 5th Day. I was imme­diately called to her, she de­siring the Lord to mitigate the Violence of her Pain, and to [Page 7] give her Strength to bear his Hand with Patience.

I was much grieved for her▪ which she perceiving, said Child, do not do so, rejoyce and be glad, for thou hast no other cause: Thou hast been a dutiful and loving Son to me, even un­to the full. And the Lord vi­sited my Soul with his heaven­ly Power and Divine Presence, and gave me a living Sense of his everlasting Love unto her, and made me willing to give her up into his good Hand, to do with her, as to Life or Death, as he pleased; the which I was never able to do before; for which my Soul hath cause to bless his holy Name. And the Lord had regard unto her, when she cryed unto him, and [Page 8] in a short Time took away the Violence of her Pain, and she magnified his Mercy and Goodness unto her; speaking of his great Mercy and Favour to her all her Life long, to the great and mutual Comfort of me, my dear Wife and Chil­dren, who were exercised du­ring the time of her Weak­ness with great Care, Tender­ness and Dutiful Affections towards her: Which she perceived and was well plea­sed with, saying: The Lord bless thee and thine for thy Love and Duty unto me, for I do rejoyce that thou wast born unto me. She particularly took no­tice of my dear Wife's Dili­gence, Duty and tender Care towards her in the time of her [Page 9] Weakness, saying; Daughter, thou promisedst to take Care of me when Weakness should ap­proach, and now thou art as good as thy Word: The Lord bless thee and thine for all your love to me.

And her sweetness of Tem­per and Gratitude was such, that she returned her Thank­fulness to my honest Servant, Joseph Hardy, for his Kindness and Readiness to serve her at all times. And in a deep Sense of the Love of the Lord to her, she uttered these Words, O Lord guide thy poor Hand­maid by thy pure Eye into thy everlasting Kingdom, where I may sing Allelujas to thee for ever.

She designed her Interment at Barrough upon Sore; but 2 Days before her Departure gave Orders to me to lay her Body in our Burying Place in Leicester by her Grand-Chil­dren; which was done ac­cordingly upon the first of the 10th Month, 1693.

And now what shall I say of thee my dear Mother? thou art taken from me, even in a good old Age: Thy Me­mory is sweet unto me, thou wast one that in thy Day didst truly love thy God and his People, highly esteeming them that walked wisely, who loved the Prosperity of Sion; and thou pitiedst them who were Enemies to their own Happi­ness: Thou lovedst to visit the [Page 11] Widow and Fatherless, the Prisoners and the House of Mourning, to Feed the Hun­gry, Cloath the Naked, and wash the Saints Feet; and of­ten lamentedst the Calamities of Mankind, and wert for preferring others before thy self: Thou gavest thy Body to the Prison, and thy Goods to the Spoiler, counting all as Dross and Dung, that thou mightest win Christ. Thou wast a diligent frequenter of the Meetings of Friends in thy Day, and lovedst the good Order of Truth among them. Thou receivedst the Messenger of Death with contentedness, committing thy self to the Lord thy God, being sweet­ly given up to his good Will [Page 12] and Pleasure, thou finishedst thy Course with Joy, and rest­est from thy Labours, and art entred into everlasting Happi­ness and thy Works follow thee; for which my Soul doth magnifie the holy Name of the Lord my God for ever­more.

Amen.

THis I have to say of my dear Mother; She was a Woman of great Tempe­rance, full of Love, without Dissimulation; no Whisperer nor Backbiter; and as she lov­ed the Lord, and desired to live in his Fear from her Youth, so he honoured her with his heavenly Presence and stood by her in the Hour of Death: Which, blessed be the Lord, I had a sense of, and of her eternal Happiness, to my great Comfort; which caused my Soul and Spirit to Rejoyce in the God of our Salvation, and I believe has received the An­swer of Well done thou good and [Page 14] faithful Servant, and is entred into the Joy of the Lord, and according to her Desires, will sound high Praises and Alle­lujahs to him for ever and ever­more.

THe Name of the Righte­ous shall be had in ever­lasting Remembrance, but the Name of the Wicked shall rot. [Page 15] And this hath often been the Word of the Lord in my Heart, say unto the Righ­teous, It shall go well with them; but unto the Wicked, it shall go ill: And this I have seen in my Day, that when the Lord hath sent his Messen­ger of Death to lay hold upon the Wicked and upon the Hy­pocrite, what Fear and Amaze­ment, Anguish and Tribula­tion hath been upon their Souls and Spirits? And again, on the other Hand, those that have feared the Lord in their Day, and have wrought Righ­teousness, they have been ac­cepted of the Lord, for behold the latter End of that Man is Peace; as it was with this our dear Friend Sarah Browne: [Page 16] For when I was sent for unto her, I said unto her, The Lord hath sent his Messenger; she made Answer, He was come: and I can truly say, She had U­nity with Death, for she had nothing to do but to die, and the Cry of her Soul was, Lord give me an easie Passage; and the Lord heard her Cry, and answered the Desires of her Soul, and sweetned her Pas­sage with his blessed Presence, that in a living Sense thereof she many times praised the Lord, and blest his Name for his Mercies, for they endure for ever. I need not say any thing of her Birth and Educa­tion, and Convincement, and Sufferings, because her loving and dutiful Son hath already [Page 17] touched upon those things: But this I have to say, Ever since I have had Knowledge of of her, which is about 15 Years, I have had good Unity with her; She was a tender Woman, and like a Mother to me and mine: She always [...]ook Care of my dear Wife, in all her Extremity, as if she had been her own Child (and I have this to say of my dear Wife, She well deserved it, who lived and died as one of [...]he Lord's Worthies, and had gained a good Report, as a sweet Savour in the Hearts of Friends and others) to the great Joy and Comfort of my Soul. O the Victory that they [...]btain that be faithful unto God in their Day and Genera­tion, [Page 18] as it is written, 1 Cor. 15. Death is swallowed up in Victory; O Death where is thy Sting, O Grave where is thy Vi­ctory? the Sting of Death is Sin, and the Strength of Sin is the Law; but Thanks be to God who hath given us the Victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ: And this is that Crown that they enjoy that be faithful un­to God.

O my dear Friends that be convinced of God's blessed Truth, this is the Exhortation that springs in my Heart unto you: O live in the Truth and be inwardly exercised before the Lord in Living Desires, to enjoy the Presence of the Liv­ing God; for it is not a bare Profession that will stand us in [Page 19] stead, when Death looks us in the Face; but the inward Enjoyment of divine Refresh­ments and inward Comforts from the presence of the living God. This is that my Soul desires above all other things, who truly desires the everlast­ing Happiness and well-being of the Souls of all People.