from home about five months. The Friends of Barbadoes were so well satisfied with this labour of love, that they certified the same by way of certificate, more than is proper for me to mention. But though they thought so well of me, yet I had' occasion to think very meanly of myself, for I was emptied to exceeding great spiritual poverty at times.

After I came home from Barbadoes and Bermudas, 1 followed my calling, and kept to meetings diligently; for I was not easy to be idle either in my spiritual or temporal callings; and at times travelled in the work of the ministry in our own province, in which there are many large meetings of Friends, and they increase and multiply from time to time. Since my settling in this province, which is now about a year, some hundreds of people are come here to settle, and divers meeting-houses are built; and 1 do certainly know from above, that this province of Pennsylvania, and city of Philadelphia, will flourish both spiritually and temporally, if the inhabitants will love, and live in, righteousness, and in the fear of God; otherwise the hand that planted them can soon pluck them up. After some time I was drawn forth to visit Friends in · Maryland, Virginia, and North-Carolina, and went with the unity of Friends, having their certificate; according to the good order established among us. So about the 26th of the first month, 1703, I went through Maryland, and visited

Friends in Virginia and North-Carolina, to the river Pamphlico, where no travelling public Friends, that ever I heard of, were before; and we had several meetings there on each side of the river. One day going out of our canoe through a marsh, I trod on a rattle-snake, (which is accounted one of the most poisonous snakes,) but it only hissed at me, and did no harm. This was one deliverance, among many, the Lord by his providence wrought for me; and I bless his holy name for all his mercies. In going to, and coming from this place, we lay two nights in the woods, and I think I never slept better in my life. It was the eighth hour in the evening when I laid down on the ground one night (my saddle being my pillow) at the root of a tree, and it was four o'clock in the morning when they called me. When I awoke, I thought of good Jacob's lodging he had on his way to Padanaram, when he saw the holy vision of ange's, with the ladder, whose top reached to heaven. Very sweet was the love of God to my soul that morning, and the dew of the everlasting hills refreshed me; and I went on my way praising the Lord, and magnifying the God of my salvation. In this journey I met with another remarkable deliverance: going over a river eight miles broad, we put our horses, we being eight men and seven horses, into two canoes tied together, and our horses stood with their fore-feet in one, and their hind feet in the other. It was calm when we set out, but when we were

about the middle of the river the wind arose, and the seas ran high, and split one of our canoes, so that with our hats we were obliged to cast out the water; and with much difficulty, at last, all of us, with our horses, got safe on shore, through the good providence of God. And on return through North-Carolina, we had several large meetings, and an open time it was; as also at Nansimund and Chuckatue, and several other places in Virginia; and when my service was over in those two provinces, I went back to Maryland, and visited meetings there, and then went home. As near as I can compute it, I rode about a thousand miles on this journey. After which I staid at home, following my business, in order to the maintenance of my family, being blessed with wife, children, and servants, and with other things; for which I am truly thankful.

While I was at home, I visited the neighbouring meetings as I found a concern on my mind; and on the 6th day of the third month, 1704, I laid before our quarterly-meeting of ministers and elders an exercise that was upon my mind, to visit our Friends' meetings on Long-Island, Rhode-Island, and in New-England, and the places adjacent; from which quarterly-meeting I had a good certificate which I thought it to endeavour to live up unto; and being accompanied with several Friends to Burlington and Croswicks, Joseph Glaster being my fellowlabourer in the work of the gospel; at the two

my

duty

aforesaid places we had meetings, and then we travelled to New-York and Long-Island, where we had divers meetings; as at Flushing, Westbury, Jerusalem, Jericho, Bethphage, Matinicock, and also at West-Chester, on the main; and from thence we travelled to Rhode-Island yearly meeting, which was large and serviceable to many. From hence Joseph Glaster went towards Boston, the inland way, and I went by the sea-side, and we met together, after I had been at meetings at divers places, viz. Dartmouth and Nantucket island, at which island there are large meetings, people there being mostly Friends, and a sober growing people in the best things; though not of our society when they first received the truth, yet they received it with gladness; and although divers of the people called Presbyterians were very cruel in their expressions, and bitter in their spirits against us, yet there were some who went under that name, who were more open and charitable towards us, and received us gladly with tenderness; and at some places we had meetings at their houses to our mutual satisfaction. We likewise had meetings at Suckanuset, Scituate, and Sandwich. About this time the Indians were very barbarous in the destruction of the English inhabitants, scalping some, and knocking out the brains of others, men, women, and children, by which the country was greatly alarmed, both by night and day; but the great Lord of all was

pleased wonderfully to preserve our Friends, especially those who kept faithful to their peaceable principle, according to the doctrine of Christ in the holy Scriptures, as recorded in his excellent sermon which he preached on the mount, in the 5th, 6th, and 7th chapters of Matthew, which is quite opposite to killing, revenge, and destruction, even of our enemies and because our Friends could not join with those of fighting principles and practices, some of them were put into prison; divers people railing and speaking very bitterly against their peaceable neighbours, and wishing the Quakers might be cut off. Some of the New-England priests and professors were so bitter against Friends that instead of being hum. bled, under the mighty hand of God upon them, in suffering the Indians to destroy them, they expressed their enmity against the poor Quakers, on a day appointed for humiliation and a fast; and particularly in a sermon preached by one of their priests, which he divided into three heads, viz. First, That the judgments of God were upon them, in letting loose the savage Indians to destroy them. Secondly, In that he withheld the fruits of the earth from them (for there was great scarcity.) Thirdly, That the Quakers prevailed, and were suffered to increase so much among them; which, he said, was worse than the Indian's destroying of them, and gave this absurd reason for it, the Indians destroy our bodies, but the