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ition, and fat down by the me. We had not fat down 1706. long before I ftood up, and spoke to the People fome confiderable Time; and the Lawyer fat oppofite to me, and took what I faid in Short-Hand, for about Half an Hour; but growing weary, he laid down his Pen, and took out of his Pocket a Bottle of Liquor, or Spirits, and faid, Come Friend, bere is to thee, (or you) you have spoke a great while, you need fomething to refresh you. So I made a Stop, and faid to the People, here is your Minifter, and here is fome of the Fruits of his Ministry, of which he and all fober People may be ashamed. And then I went on again without any Oppofition till I had done; but afterwards they were in a Rage, and threatened what they would do to me, if ever I came to have a Meeting any more there. But I told 'em if they had Power to take our Lives from us, they were not dear to us for the Sake of Chrift and his Gofpel; and that we did not matter their Threatenings. I defired the Lawyer to give me a Copy of what he had written: He went about it, but did not do it; neither was he candid in penning my Words; for feveral of the People then prefent did bear Witnefs he had not writ it Verbatim, nor truly taken the Sense of what I fpoke, wherefore I charged him to be Juft, otherwife he had many Witneffes against him; at which the Prieft bent his Fift, and held it up to me, but did not ftrike me, and away they went in a Fret. Soon after we had another Meeting at the fame Place, which was large and quiet. The Man of the Houfe being an Attorney at Law, had got his Houfe licensed, and tho' the Priest and Lawyer threatened hard, they came not.

Aquila Pica, High Sheriff for the County, living at the Head of Bush River, near the main Road, built a Meeting houfe at his own Charge, and had it licenfed, at which we had many good Meetings. About this Time alfo was built a Meeting-houfe at a Place called Nottingham, which is a large Meeting, and greatly increases,

When

1706. When I was travelling in thofe Parts I had a Concern on my Mind to vifit the Indians living near SufConestogo quehannab, at Coneftogoe; I laid it before the Elders of Nottingham Meeting, with which they expreffed their Unity, and promoted my vifiting them. We got an Interpreter, and thirteen or fourteen of us travelled through the Woods about fifty Miles, carrying our Provifions with us, and on the Journey fat down by a River, and fpread our Food on the Grafs, and refreshed ourselves and Horfes, and then went on chearfully, and with good Will, and much Love to the poor Indians; and when we came, they received us kindly, treating us civilly in their Way. We treated about having a Meeting with them in a religious Way, upon which they called a Council, in which they were very grave, and fpoke one after another without any Heat or Jarring; (and fome of the most esteemed of their Women do sometimes fpeak in their Councils.) I asked our Interpreter, Why they fuffered or permitted the Women to fpeak in their Councils? His Anfwer was, That fome Women were wifer than fome Men. Our Interpreter told me, That they had not done any Thing for many Years without the Counsel of an ancient grave Woman; who, I obferved spoke much in their Council; for I was permitted to be prefent at it; and I afked, What it was the Woman faid? He told me fhe was an Emprefs; and they gave much Heed to what fhe faid amongst them; and that fhe then faid to them, She looked upon our Coming to be more than natural, because we did not come to buy, or fell, or get Gain, but came in Love and Refpect to them, and defired their Well-doing both here and hereafter; and further continued, That our Meetings among them might be very beneficial to their young People, and related a Dream which the had three Days before, and interpreted it, viz. "That fhe was in London, "and that London was the finest Place fhe ever faw (it "was like to Philadelphia, but much bigger) and the "went acrofs fix Streets, and in the feventh fhe faw "William

« William Penn preaching to the People, which was 1706. "a great Multitude, and both fhe and William Penn "rejoiced to fee one another; and after Meeting fhe "went to him, and he told her, That in a little Time " he would come over and preach to them also, of "which fhe was very glad. And now fhe faid her "Dream was fulfilled, for one of his Friends was "come to preach to them." And fhe advised them to hear us, and entertain us kindly; and accordingly they did. Here were two Nations of them, the Seneca's and the Shawnefe. We had firft a Meeting with the Seneca's, with which they were much affected; and they called the other Nation (viz. the Shawnefe) and interpreted to them what we had spoke in their Meeting, and the poor Indians (particularly fome of the Young Men and Women) were under a folid Exercise, and Concern. We had also a Meeting with the other Nation, and they were all very kind to us, and defired more fuch Opportunities; the which, I hope Divine Providence will order them, if they are worthy thereof. The Gospel of Jefus Chrift was preached freely to them, and Faith in Chrift, who was put to Death at Jerufalem, by the unbelieving Jews; and that this fame Jefus came to fave People from their Sins, and by his Grace and Light in the Soul, fhews to Man his Sins, and convinceth him thereof, delivering him out of them, and gives inward Peace and Comfort to the Soul for Well-doing, and Sorrow and Trouble for Evil-doing; to all which, as their Manner is, they gave publick Affents; and to that of the Light in the Soul, they gave a double Affent, and feem'd much affected with the Doctrine of Truth; alfo the Benefit of the holy Scriptures was largely opened to After

them *.

'Tis worthy of Notice, that at at the firft settling of Penfylvania, William Penn took great Care to do Juftice to the Indians, and bought his Land of them to their Satisfaction, and fettled a Trade with them; fo that whereas the Indians were deftructive to other Colonies, they were helpful to Pensylvanias and to this Day they love to hear the Name of WILLIAM PENN.

1706.

bour.

After this we returned to our refpective Habitations, thankful in our Hearts to the God and Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift. Several of the Friends that went with me exprefs'd their Satisfaction in this Vifit, and offered themselves freely to go again on the like Ser

vice.

Egg-Har- I also was concerned foon after to vifit the People about Egg Harbour and Cape-May, and had divers Meetings amongst them, and feveral Meetings were fettled in thofe Parts, and the People fomewhat reformed from what they had been before they were vifited by Friends, as themfelves told me (after a Meeting we had with them) that they used to spend the Sabbath Days in Sporting and Vanity until Friends came among them, and now they met together to worship God, and his Son Jefus Chrift. At our coming amongst them fome Backfliders and Apoftates were displeased. One (in a very bitter Spirit) called us, Curfed and cruel Devils. Another wrote against us. To him I fent an Answer, for which he fcandalized me in one of his Almanacks, and publickly belied me in Print; which Lies I fwept away with a Small Broom, printed in this Year 1706, to which I never understood that he return'd any Anfwer, nor that he wrote against Friends afterwards, tho' he had made it his Practice before for feveral Years.

At Little Egg-Harbour liv'd a Friend whofe Name was Edward Andrews, who, as he himself told me, had been a Leader of the People into Vanity and Folly, as Mufick, Dancing, & But the good Hand of the Lord being upon him, wrought a wonderful Reformation in him, and made him an Inftrument to lead People into Truth and Righteousness, and gave him an excellent Gift of the Ministry of the Gospel of Chrift; fo that he was made inftrumental in the gathering of a large and growing Meeting, most of the People thereabouts being convinced, and a great Reformation and Change wrought in their Converfa

tions. This Friend told me, That when he was very 1707. rude and wild, he was mightily reached unto at the Meeting we had under the Trees at Crofwicks*, so that he could not go on with his Vanity as before, after which he had ftrong Convictions on him, which wrought Converfion in the Lord's Time, after he had gone thro' many and deep inward Exercises.

After these several Journies were over, and I had Philadel cleared myself, I was fome Time at Home, and fol- phia. lowed my Business with Diligence and Industry, and throve in the Things of the World, the Lord adding a Bleffing to my Labour. Some People would tell me that I got Money for Preaching, and grew Rich by it; which, being a common Calumny caft upon our publick Friends that are Travellers, I fhall take a little Notice of it, and leave it to Pofterity. That it is against our Principle, and contrary to our known Practice and Rule, to take Money for our Preaching the Gospel of Chrift, and the publishing of Salvation through his Name unto the People; for according to Chrift's Command, We, Receiving it freely, are to give it forth freely: And I can fay without Vanity or Boafting, I have spent many Pounds in that Service, befides my Time, which was, and is, as precious to me, as to other People: And rifing early, and laying down late; many. Days riding 40, 50, and 60 Miles a Day, which was very laborious and hard for my Flesh to endure (being corpulent and heavy from the 27th Year of my Age;) and I can truly fay, that I never received any Money or Confideration on Account of thefe Services, either directly or indirectly; and yet if any of our Ministers are Neceffitous or Poor, we relieve them freely, not because they are Preachers, but because they are Needy; and when we have done thofe Things, we have done but our Duty: And well will

ic

*See Page 17.

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