A collection of many select and Christian epistles, letters and testimonies written on sundry occasions, by that ancient, eminent, faithful friend and minister of Christ Jesus, George Fox ; the second volume.

To Friends in Pensilvania, East and West-Jersey.

[unspec 1686] THE Lord God, who created Man and Woman in his Image, and after his Likeness, in Righteousness and Holiness, he blessed them, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the Earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the Fish of the Sea, and over the Fowl of the Air, and over all Cattle, and over all the Earth, and over every creeping thing upon the Earth, and over every living thing that moveth upon the Earth, Gen. I.

Now, here you may see the Power and Authority that God gave unto Man over all the Earth, and the Sea, and all things therein.

And now when Cain had done wickedly, and killed his Brother about Religion, the Lord told him, He was cursed from the Earth; and when thou tillest the Earth, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. And then C ain said, It shall come to puss, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. And then Cain went and built a City in the Land of Nod, Gen. 4.

Now, here you may see what was the Cause that the Earth should not yield her strength after it was tilled; and of Cain's fear of being killed; and of building the City.

And John saith in his Epistle. He that hateth his Brother, is a Murder∣er, or a Man-slayer; and no Murderer hath eternal Life abiding in them, 1 John 3.15.

Now, here you may see that Cain and such Murderers have not Eternal Life abiding in them; and then they are not like to have Do∣minion, but be in Fears and get into Cities. But Abraham who so∣journed in the Land of Promise, as in a strange Country, dwelt in Ta∣bernacles with Isanc and Jacob, as Heirs with him of the same Pro∣mise; for he looked for a City which hath Foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God.

So they looked above all the Cities that were built by Men in the Land of Promise; as in Heb. 11. 9,10. For Abraham was in the Faith, in which he pleased God, and had Victory.

And the Lord God blessed Noah and his Sons when they came out of the Ark, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and maltiply, and replenish the Earth; and the fear of you, and the dread of you, shall be upon every Beast of the Earth, and upon every Fowl of the Air, and upon all that mo∣veth upon the Earth, and upon all the Fish of the Sea, into your Hands are they delivered, Gen. 9.

Here again you may see that faithful Noah had Power over all the Creatures that God made upon the Earth and in the Sea, and they were delivered unto Noah and his Sons hands; and the Lord said un∣to the Children of Israel, in Levit. 26. If that they were obedient, and kept his Commandments, he would give them their Rain in due season, and the Land should yield her Increase, and the Trees of the Field should yield their Fruit, and their Threshing should reach to their Vintage, and their Vintage unto their sowing Time, and you shall eat your Bread unto the full, and shall dwell in your Land safely (mark, safely) and I will give Peace in the Land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid; and I will rid evil Beasts out of your Land, neither shall the Sword go through the Land: I will set my Tabernacle among you, and my Soulshall not abhor you; and I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my People: This is to all them that are faithful, and obey and serve the Lord; but if you be disobedient, then see what Fears, and Judgments, and Plagues, and Sorrows comes upon you; and the Curse will come upon you, both in City and Field, when thou goest out, and when thou comest in; and the Curse will be in thy Basket and in thy Store, and the Fruit of thy Body, and the Fruit of thy Land, and the Increase of tby Flocks; and the Lord will send his Vexations and Rebukes upon all that thou sets thy Hands unto; and the Lord will smite with Consumptions, and Feavers, and Blastings, and Mildews. &c. and the Heavens that is over their Heads shall be Iron; and the Earth that is under thee shall be as Brass; and the Lord shall make the Rain of the Land Powder and Dust; thou shalt carry much Seed into thy Field, and sbalt gather little; the Locusts shall consume it, and thou shalt plant Vineyards, and the Worms shall eat them, because thou hearkens not to the Voice of the Lord thy God to keep his Commandments, &c. And because thou servest not the Lord God with joyfulness, and with gladness of Heart, for the abundance of all things the Lord thy God giveth thee; and therefore shalt thou serve thine Enemies, which the Lord thy God shall send against thee in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things, and thine Enemy shall put a Yoke of Iron about thy neck, to yoke thee down: Who will not bear the Yoke of Christ, and doth not hearken to the Lord to serve and obey him; but they that diligently hearken to the Lord their God, and obey and serve him in Truth and Righte∣ousness, he blesses them in the City, and in the Field, and in their Basket, and in their Store-house, and in all they set their Hands to; and he blesses the Fruit of their Body, and the Fruit of their Ground, and the Cattle, and their Flocks; and the Lord shall open his good Treasure, the Heavens to give them Rain upon their Land in his sea∣son, and to bless all the Works of their Hands, that thou may lend to other Nations, and shalt not borrow: And these are the Blessings

of them that hearken to the Lord, and serve him, as you may see in Deut. 28. the Blessings that come upon the Faithful, and the Judg∣ments upon thd Disobedient and Unfaithful.

When God giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? &c. whether it be done against a Nation, or against a Man only, Job. 34.29.

The Lord shall save the humble Person; he shall deliver the Island of the Innocent; it is delivered by the Pureness of the Hands, Job 22.29, 30.

Read this in all your Assemblies, both in Pensilvania and West-Jersey.

Bednal-Green, near London: the 4th Month, 1686.

G. F.

Notes

• Epist. 408.
• The Authority God gaveMan in the begin∣ing.
• Great Blessings to the Obedient.
• Many Judg∣ments to Dis∣obedience.