It now remains that I say something of G.F’s Departure out of the Meeting at Broad Mead, within the City of Bristol in time of Persecution, since a part of his words in {Fifth Part 56} Answer thereto are on this wise: “Oh William! I am sorry thou shouldst affirm this Untruth, and father it upon sight of thine own Eye, which I say is utterly False; But I do remember many years again, I was sitting in a Meeting at Bristol, when another was speaking, and some Officers came up, and took him away; and when he was gone, I kept the Meeting, and none meddled with me, nor as much as askt for my name then, that I heard, or could understand by other, and I believe there are many in Bristol, that have not let in Prejudice and Enmity against me, that will witness against this false Charge, and for thee to term this a distrustful and despairing Spirit, &c. this is not well.” This is the substance of what G.F. saith in his Answer to me, as a Vindication of himself, but forasmuch as before I recieved his Answer, he was offended at my discourse, touching this mater amongst Friends (which by the way was occasioned through his Reflections of John Story as a Fleer in time of Persecution (which never yet was convincingly proved to me) and therefore for the clearing himself, that best he could, gave forth a Paper; I think it needful to add that also, that so the Reader may know the most that G.F. can say for himself: but first the Reader may observe, that though G.F. saith, for thee to term this a distrustful and despairing Spirit; yet his so saying is groundless; my own words were these, which some may term distrustful and despairing: So the Reader may consider, whether this adds to the Account of his Lyes or no. I shall now proceed to cite G.F’s Paper:
{Fifth Part 57} Whereas William Rogers hath falsely charged me, that I should Flee in time of Persecuation; and it is spread up and down City and Country, and brought to ballance John Story and his Company’s Fleeing in time of Persecution, who had a boy set on a Hill to wave his hat to Friends when they met in Holes and Gills in Westmoreland, which brought a Dishonour to God’s Truth and People over a great Part of the Nation; and several went to admonish him and others of it, but never did any of these these fourteen Years come to me, and admonish me concerning Ringwood Meeting, or Bristol Meeting, where I am reported to Flee (as they say) in Persecution; which are all horrid Lyes. As for Ringwood Meeting, there is a Certificate to the contrary, that clears the thing: As for the Meeting at Bristol, there came no Souldiers nor Officers while I was in the Meeting, neither before nor after. Now at that time, I lay at Edward Pyotts, and several Friends came from Bristol to me, and desired me not to come to the Meeting, and said, What were they? and thou are more than a thousand of us; if they were taken (they said) it was no great Letter; but they would not have me to come unless I was Eternally Moved; I reserved my Mind to my self, and bid them go, Go their way, and did not say I would or I would not; and afterwards I said to Edward Pyott, I shall go to the Meeting, and one may stay to guide me through the Fields; and Edward Pyott said, his Son Edward might go with me: so walking through the Fields, I met Dennis Hollister and Thomas Gouldney, and Dennis Hollister said, What! would I go in the mouth of the Beast? and Thomas Gouldney {Fifth Part 58} smil’d at me, and I bid them Walk by, because many People were walking there; and I met George Bishop after, and he said, What! would I go into the mouth of the Dragon? and I bad him Walk by. Now they did all that ever they could to stop me; so I past up the Meeting, and Margret Thomas was speaking, but had quickly done, and the Fear was upon the People concerning me, but after, the Power of God struck the Fear out of them, and Life sprang, and a precious Meeting we had; and what I was cleared, I was moved to Pray, and when I had stept down about three or four steps, I was moved to turn back again, and stood up, and told them: Now they might see there was a God in Israel, that could deliver: and so I stept down and went away, and Friends began to busle out, and I said, Why do they busle and make such a throng? and George Bishop said, ‘twas time to break up the Meeting; so I came down the Stairs, and there was neither Officer nor Souldier, not nothing like any such thing, and many Friends and People were in the Street. Now if I had been persuaded, and had hearkned to them that would not have had me come to the Meeting, what would would these evil Spirits have made above fourteen Years afterward! and for any to say, I went up the Back-Stairs; I did not know which was Fore-Stairs, and which was Back-Stairs, but went as I was guided, and Friends say since, The one was as common as the other. This is a Malicious Charge above Fourteen Years afterwords, and never come to my Face till now; to justifie John Story, they accuse me.
Now something I shall say concerning Ringwood Meeting, or about a Mile and an Half thence; I came there overnight, and in the Morning about the sixth hour there came about ten or twelve Women from Pool, and I was sitting within the house till towards the eight hour and it being summer time, and hot, I walked out with a Young Man {Fifth Part 59} into the Orchard and after I had walked a while with him, and asked him of the Affairs of Truth (for there had been many of them convinced by me before I was Prisoner in Cornwal) and there came another Young Man to us, and told us, The trained bands were rising, and he heard, they would come and break up the Meeting; so one desired me to walk over the Stile, it being as I judged about the eight hour, so I walked into the corn fields, on the out side of the hedge, and one of the Young Men went from me, and of the Women, some walked in the Orchard, and some went to refresh themselves; and I asked the Young Man, What time of the day it was? and he said, Betwixt Eight and Nine: and I asked him, What time the Meeting would come in? and he said, about Eleven or Twelve of the Clock: and I said, If the Souldiers should come before that time, we might happen to get a good Meeting afterward: and the Man said, They are Neighbors and Civil People; if they should come, they would hardly meddle: But after the Young Man went from me a matter of two Bow shots, he stood under the Hedge, waving his Hat to me, so I bid the other Young Man see what ailed him; and as I turned back to go round about the Orchard, there was a place I could see over the Hedge, the Souldiers were all over the Orchard; I heard say, some of the Souldiers did see me, but they were loath to meddle; so I being out in the open Fields, where they might easily see me, truly I did not go in among them, for it was between nine or ten a Clock and they swept the Barn, and got in Stools and Blocks, and we had a very large and blessed Meeting, till about Three of the Clock, and broke up our Meeting in the Power of God and in Peace; and afterwards the Woman of the House being Dead, some desired me to walk up to a Friends house about two Bowshots off in our way, and {Fifth Part 60} Friends went along with us, and I bad them bring up my Horse thither, for I was to ride twenty Miles to one Fries house that Night, and so I went up to that house, and Friends went generally with me, and after we had refreshed our selves, we past away in Peace and Quietness, and no Souldiers at all came. And how can this be called a Fleeing in time of Persecution? and that was a horrid Lye, that I hid my self in a Ditch; there was (as I saw) but a Bank cast up from a Lane and I think it was a Market High-Way; and at this Fries House, I had a Meeting, and there the Constables came to the Meeting; but News was brought, That their house was broke up; so they let us alone; and also I heard, that the Souldiers came after from Ringwood to the House, when our Meeting was broke up, but we knew nothing of them, being gone before, and they never spake to me none of them about these things, these fourteen years; and in these Meetings the Glory of God was seen, and Fleeing in time of Persecution, it was abhorred.
And as for their saying, Some body spoke in Bristol Meeting after I was gone down; I know nothing of that, but I came down to Joan Hilyes, and Friends were in the street, and came down to me there and I knew nothing, but they all came down: and if I had fled in time of Persecution, I had not been in so many Goals and Prisons, but might have kept out of them; and yet this they say, John Story, he hath born the heat of the Day; and George Fox he hath fled in time of Persecution.
G.F.
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