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
of his hearers, that I had broken them and overthrown them.
After this I went to a village, and many people accompanied me. As I was
sitting in a house full of people, declaring the word of life unto them,
I cast mine eye upon a woman, and discerned an unclean spirit in her.
And I was moved of the Lord to speak sharply to her, and told her she
was a witch [under the influence of an unclean spirit]; whereupon she
went out of the room. Now, I being a stranger there, and knowing nothing
of the woman outwardly, the people wondered at it, and told me
afterwards that I had discovered a great thing; for all the country
looked upon her to be a witch. The Lord had given me a spirit of
discerning, by which I many times saw the states and conditions of
people, and could try their spirits. For not long before, as I was going
to a meeting, I saw some women in a field, and I discerned them to be
witches; and I was moved to go out of my way into the field to them, and
declare unto them their conditions. At another time there came such an
one into Swarthmore-hall in the meeting time; and I was moved to speak
sharply to her, and told her she was a witch [under the power of an evil
spirit]; and the people said afterwards she was generally accounted so.
There came also at another time another woman, and stood at a distance
from me, and I cast mine eye upon her, and said, “thou hast been a
harlot;” for I perfectly saw the condition and life of the woman. The
woman answered and said, many could tell her of her outward sins, but
none could tell her of her inward. Then I told her her heart was not
right before the Lord, and that from the inward came the outward. This
woman came afterwards to be convinced of God’s truth, and became a
Friend.
From the aforesaid village we came up to Thomas Bewley’s, near CALDBECK;
and from thence, having had some service for the Lord there, I passed to
a town, where I had a meeting at the Cross; and all was pretty quiet.
When I had declared the truth unto them, and directed them to Christ
their teacher, some received the truth. We had another meeting upon the
borders, in a steeple-house yard, to which many professors and
contenders came; but the Lord’s power was over all; and when the word of
life had been declared amongst them, some received the truth there also.
From thence we came to CARLISLE, and the pastor of the Baptists, with
most of his hearers, came to me to the abbey, where I had a meeting, and
declared the word of life amongst them; and many of the Baptists, and of
the soldiers, were convinced. After the meeting, the pastor of the
Baptists, a high notionist, and a flashy man, came to me, and asked me,
“what must be damned;” I was moved immediately to tell him, “that which
spoke in him was to be damned.” This stopped his mouth; and the witness
of God was raised up in him. I opened to him the states of election and
reprobation, so that he said he never heard the like in his life. He
also came afterwards to be convinced.
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