A collection of certain espistles & testimonies of divine consolation, experience and doctrine written by that faithful, patient and long-suffering servant of Christ, William Bennit.

For Friends of Truth in the Town of Yar••outh.

DEar Friends, whom the Lord God Almighty hath visi∣ted in his endless unchangeable Love; even in his making known, and manifesting in and unto your souls his pure pretious Truth, whereof he hath in measure made you pertakers, with his dear Children and Witnesses of, in your measures, blessed be his Name, who hath raised you up to bear a Testimony for him and his Truth which you profess; who also hath inabled you through the power of his Love thereunto, in this the day of your tryal in that great Town. And my dear Friends, my soul earnestly desires that you all may dwell and abide, in the remembrance and living sence of the loving-kindness of the Lord towards you, in his freely making known his Truth unto you, that indeed the sence of his Love, may bind your hearts and souls to be faith∣full unto the Lord, and his truth which you profess, in still bearing your Testimony for the same, in this the day of tryal, standing as noble faithfull witnesses for the Truth, every one of you in your measures, amongst that hard hearted and crooked Generation, in the midst of whom my dear friends, you in the Light may shine as Lights, in the blamless Life, and unreproveable Conversation, even to the praise of the Lord God, and to the honour of his truth which you pro∣fess.

Now, dear friends, the Lord hath caused you hitherto, to bear a testimony for him, and against that wicked spirit of Persecution, which would limit the Lord in his people; in this particuler fix in your meeting and assembling your selves together in his fear, to wait upon him, and to worship him

in spirit and in truth, though it hath been though Sufferings. And dear friends, in the meekness of love unfeigned; I Cry unto you, saying, oh, do not grow faint, nor weary of bearing your testimony still for the truth and worship of God, in your meeting together in his name; for dear Friends, wherein can we (in one particular exercise of the spirit of truth) bear a larger testimony for the truth, then in our meeting and assembling our selves together in the truth, to worship the God of truth, in the spirit of truth, seeing that this is the thing (above many) which the wicked spirit of persecution, doth so eagerly, and so highly oppose, and so eanestly seek, and so greatly indeavour, to deprive us of, and confine us from; wherefore dear Friends, I cannot but in the Love and Zeal of the truth, exhort you all, not to neglect meeting toge∣ther in the fear of God, so long as the Lord permit you Li∣berty so to do.

And oh, let not the smalness of your number (you little Flock, who are hated and rejected by the world) be any dis∣couragement to you in this matter; but oh, rather be you incouraged thereby, in the strength of the Lord, in love to his truth, to bear up your testimony, (in that great Town, in the midst of so many Persecutors) faithfully in your measures, even to the honour of the Lord & his truth. My dear friends, let me say again, neglect not meeting together, through gi∣ving way to the sloth••ul careless spirit, or through letting in the fear of man into your hearts, for indeed, my dear friends, although you be a poor small Remnant, for whom my soul travelleth with the Lord for your preservation, yet behold, as you keep your meetings in the fear and name of the Lord, you will feel and injoy his living presence in and amongst you, which will make your meetings profitable unto you.

And dear Babes, in stillness, quietness, in peace, pati••nce, and contentedness possess your souls, in the dominion of

truth to reign over all those thoughts, reasonings and con∣sultings, which the Enemy of your souls would infuse into your minds, whereby he would raise trouble and tumult in your hearts, and bring faintness and weakness upon you. And dear Friends, lend not an ear to listen after the rumours and reports of the world, nor heed not the boasting of the wicked, neither regard the threatning of truths Enemies; but dear Babes, continually lend an ear unto the Lord, and hear∣ken you unto his Counsel, and have continual regard unto him in your hearts, and wait to feel his presence with you continually, and know your unity with him; and every per∣ticular one feel and find in your selves, that the Lord God al∣mighty is on your sides; and then, my dear Friends, you need not matter who are against you, if the Lord be for you; so dear Lambs, be faithful to the Lord, and to his truth in your measures; and be not D••scouraged nor Danted, (through the sence of the rage, wroth and bitterness of your Enemies, and through the feeling of your own weakness and feebleness) but trust ye in the Lord, and hope ye in his tender bowels, which are opened with groanings of compassion towards his poor afflicted suffering people, who is, and yet will be, a strength to the poor and needy, a refuge unto them from the storm, and a shadow unto them from the heat, a helper in the time of need, a Deliverer out of trouble in the greatest straits; who will appear to help his helpless ones, wh•• have no other helper but the Lord.

So, the Lord God almighty be with you, and gird up your loins with Courage, Boldness, Strength and Valour, and spread upon you the mantle of faithfulness, and cause you to persevere on in the perpetual patience, and to abide in the continual content, therein to run the race that is set before you, which you have begun: And the Lord almighty of hea∣ven and of earth, for his own seeds sake, keep you from faint∣ing

by the way, and carry you through all whatever either outwardly or inwardly you do, or may meet withal, and keep you, and preserve you unto the end, that in the end, dear Lambs, we may lay down our heads together, in the sweet bosom of the Lord God of everlasting rest, peace and quiet∣ness, in whose sweet, meek, heavenly, humbling, melting love, my soul dearly salutes you all, and commits you all unto the Lord God almighty. Farewell, dear Friends, Dwell toge∣ther in that love which thinks no evil, therein forgiving and forbearing one another, even as the tender God of bowels hath forgiven you, and born with you day after day, and time after time; and dwell all in the meek spirit of self-denial, keeping the unity in the spirit, in the bond of peace.

Norwich-Castle the 3d Moneth, 1664.

Your tender Friend and Brother, WILLIAM BENNIT.