Clothe the waste with dreams of grain,
And, on midnight's sky of rain
Paint the golden morrow."
[107] There were few novel experiences on the way from Scotland to Bedfordshire. At Nottingham he had a controversy with Rice Jones, an opposer of the earlier visit. He pointed out that many of Rice Jones's followers "were become the greatest foot-ball players and wrestlers in the whole country," which is an interesting comment on the ministry of Rice Jones!
[108] "John Crook's House" was at Luton, in Bedfordshire. This is among the first of the great national general meetings out of which came in course of development the present London Yearly Meeting of Friends. The first general meeting was held at Swannington in Leicestershire in 1654. Isaac Penington was convinced at this meeting. He tells us that he "felt the healings drop upon his soul from under His wings."
[AI] The sentence means: "I felt called to set forth the significance of various religious states and the things to which they lead."
[109] Here is a long extract from the letter to Lady Claypole, Cromwell's daughter, who died soon after this time:
"Keep in the fear of the Lord God; that is the Word of the Lord unto thee. For all these things happen to thee for thy good, and for the good of those concerned for thee, to make you know yourselves and your own weakness, that ye may know the Lord's strength and power, and may trust in Him. Let the time past be sufficient to every one, who in any thing hath been lifted up in transgression out of the power of the Lord; for He can bring down and abase the mighty, and lay them in the dust of the earth. Therefore, all keep low in His fear, that thereby ye may receive the secrets of God and His wisdom, may know the shadow of the Almighty, and sit under it in all tempests, storms, and heats. For God is a God at hand, and the Most High rules in the children of men. This is the word of the Lord God unto you all; what the Light doth make manifest and discover, as temptations, distractions, confusions; do not look at these temptations, confusions, corruptions, but at the Light which discovers them and makes them manifest; and with the same Light you may feel over them, to receive power to stand against them. The same Light which lets you see sin and transgression, will let you see the covenant of God, which blots out your sin and transgression, which gives victory and dominion over it, and brings into covenant with God. For looking down at sin, corruption, and distraction, ye are swallowed up in it; but looking at the Light, which discovers them, ye will see over them. That will give victory, and ye will find grace and strength; there is the first step to peace. That will bring salvation; by it ye may see to the beginning, and the 'Glory that was with the Father before the world began'; and come to know the Seed of God, which is the heir of the promise of God, and of the world which hath no end; and which bruises the head of the serpent, who stops people from coming to God. That ye may feel the power of an endless life, the power of God which is immortal, which brings the immortal soul up to the immortal God, in whom it doth rejoice. So in the name and power of the Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty strengthen thee.
"G. F."
This note follows the letter:
"When the foregoing paper was read to Lady Claypole, she said, it stayed her mind for the present. Afterwards many Friends got copies of it, both in England and Ireland, and read it to people that were troubled in mind; and it was made useful for the settling of the minds of several."