The journal of George Fox, vol. 1 of 2 : $b Being an historical account of his life, travels, sufferings, and Christian experiences.Fox, George
Religion
The journal of George Fox, vol. 1 of 2 : $b Being an historical account of his life, travels, sufferings, and Christian experiences.
Fox, George
Fox, George, 1624-1691
Though at this time the snow was very deep, I kept travelling; and going
through the country, came to a market-town, where I met with many
professors, with whom I had much reasoning. I asked them many questions,
which they were not able to answer; saying, they had never had such deep
questions put to them in all their lives.
From them I went to STAITHES, where also I met with many professors, and
some Ranters. I had large meetings amongst them, and a great
convincement there was. Many received the truth; amongst whom, one was a
man of an hundred years of age; another was a chief constable; and a
third was a priest, whose name was Philip Scafe. Him the Lord, by his
free Spirit, did afterwards make a free minister of his free gospel.
The priest of this town was a lofty one, who much oppressed the people
for his tithes. If they went a-fishing many leagues off, he would make
them pay the tithe-money of what they made of their fish, though they
caught them at a great distance, and carried them as far as Yarmouth to
sell. I was moved to go to the steeple-house there, to declare the
truth, and expose the priest. When I had spoken to him, and laid his
oppression of the people before him, he fled away. The chief of the
parish were very light and vain; so after I had spoken the word of life
to them, I turned away from them, because they did not receive it, and
left them. But the word of the Lord, which I had declared amongst them,
remained with some of them; so that at night some of the heads of the
parish came to me, and most of them were convinced and satisfied, and
confessed to the truth. Thus the truth began to spread in that country,
and great meetings we had; at which the priest began to rage, and the
Ranters to be stirred; and they sent word that they would have a dispute
with me, both the oppressing priest, and the leader of the Ranters. A
day was fixed, and the Ranter came with his company; and another priest,
a Scotchman, came; but not the oppressing priest of Staithes. Philip
Scafe, who had been a priest, and was convinced, was with me; and a
great number of people met. When we were settled, the Ranter, whose name
was T. Bushel, told me he had had a vision of me; that I was sitting in
a great chair, and that he was to come and put off his hat, and bow down
to the ground before me; and he did so; and many other flattering words
he spoke. I told him it was his own figure, and said unto him, “Repent,
thou beast.” He said it was jealousy in me to say so. Then I asked him
the ground of jealousy, and how it came to be bred in man? and the
nature of a beast, what made it, and how it was bred in man? For I saw
him directly in the nature of the beast; and therefore I wished to know
of him how that nature came to be bred in him? I told him he should give
me an account of the things done in the body, before we came to
discourse of things done out of the body. So I stopped his mouth, and
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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