"Stand in the fear and dread of the Lord God; His power, life, light, seed and wisdom, by which ye may take away the occasion of wars, and so know a kingdom which hath no end, and fight for that with spiritual weapons, which takes away the occasion of the carnal; and there gather men to war, as many as ye can, and set up as many as ye can with these weapons. G. F."
[117] After leaving London, he had travelled extensively through the eastern and southern counties, revisiting Cornwall, where he had had such a long experience in Launceston jail in 1656.
[118] These great meetings were at this period held out of doors, in fields or orchards, or on some high hill.
[119] This meeting for the affairs of the Church, held at Skipton, in Yorkshire, in 1659, is generally considered to be the original yearly meeting.
[120] "Naked" means naked to the waist. There are a few other instances of similar actions in England and America.
[121] This is the beginning of what was later known as the "Meeting for Sufferings," which has been throughout its history a remarkable body. The minutes of the Meeting for Sufferings date from Fifth month 22d, 1675.
[122] This is the second time the striking character of his eyes has been commented on.
[123] This was just at the troublous time when Charles II. was coming to the throne, and the kingdom was being reorganized. Every traveller was suspected, and every gathering of people was watched.
[124] George Fox never admitted that the Quakers were a sect, nor did any Friend of the first fifty years. There was but one Church, composed of those who obeyed the Light and in whom Christ dwelt, and of this Church Fox and his followers claimed to be members. This position has been ably put in Thomas Hancock's "Peculium"—a Prize Essay.
[125] Margaret Fell was now the head of Swarthmore Hall, Judge Fell having died in 1658. As the arrest was made from her house she felt herself implicated in the false charge. She wrote a vigorous letter about the case to the proper magistrates.