Catharine afterwards related, that when, (in the inquisition,) she was for many days together in expectation that they should be burnt, she saw in a dream in the night, a large room, and a great wood fire in the chimney, and she beheld one sitting in the chair by the fire, in the form of a servant, whom she took to be the Eternal Son of God: likewise she saw a very amiable well-favoured man-child, sitting in a hollow chair over the fire, (not appearing to be above three-quarters of a year old, and having no clothes on but a little fine linen about the upper parts,) and the fire flamed about it; yet the child played, and was merry. She would then have taken it up, for fear it should have been burnt; but he that sat in the chair bid her let it alone. Then turning about she saw an angel, and he that sat in the chair bid her take up the child, which she did, and found it had no harm; and then awaking, she told her dream to Sarah, and desired her not to fear, since the heavenly host thus followed them.
I have collected this relation of the occurrences of these women at Malta, from several papers and letters, which not long after their return home were published in print. And since no due order was observed there, and many things mentioned, which to avoid prolixity I have passed by, as not very material, I may have haply missed in some case or other, as to the order or series of time, but yet I think the matters of fact are not mutilated. Now to give the reader an idea of the frame of these women’s minds, and their sufferings, I will insert some of their letters: among those which they wrote to their friends in England was this following:
‘O dearly beloved friends, fathers, and elders, and pillars of God’s spiritual house, and brethren and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the measure of love and life of our God, do we salute you all, and do embrace you in that which is eternal, and we do greatly rejoice, and glorify the name of our heavenly Father, that he hath counted us worthy to be partakers of the death and sufferings of his blessed Son with you; though we be the least of God’s flock, yet we are of the true fold, whereof Christ Jesus is shepherd; and he hath had as tender a care over us, as he hath had of any of his lambs which he hath called forth in this the day of his power, and hath carried us through and over as great afflictions as most of our brethren and sufferers for his name, both in mockings, scoffings, scornings, reproaches, stripes, contradictions, perils at land, perils at sea, fiery trials, cruel threatenings, grief of heart, sorrow of soul, heats and colds, fastings, and watchings, fears within, and fightings without; terrible temptations and persecutions, and dreadful imprisonments, and buffetings of Satan; yet in all these our trials, the Lord was very gracious unto us, and did not absent himself from us, neither suffered his faithfulness to fail us, but did bear us up, and keep us from fainting in the midst of our extremity. We had not another to make our moan to, but the Lord alone; neither could we expect a drop of mercy, favour, or refreshments, but what he did distil from his living presence, and work by his own strength; for we sat one in one room, and the other in another, near a year; as owls in deserts, and as people forsaken in solitary places. Then did we enjoy the presence of the Lord, and did behold the brightness of his glory, and we did see you, our dear friends, in the light of Jesus, and did behold your order and steadfastness of your faith and love to all saints, and were refreshed in all the faithful-hearted, and felt the issues of love and life which did stream from the hearts of those that were wholly joined to the fountain, and were made sensible of the benefit of your prayers.
‘O the sorrows, the mournings, the tears! “But those that sow in tears, shall reap in joy.” A true sorrow begets a true joy; and a true cross a true crown: for when our sorrows did abound, the love of God did abound much more: the deeper the sorrows, the greater the joys; the greater the cross, the weightier the crown.
‘Dear friends and brethren, marvel not that Israel is not gathered, our judgment remains with the Lord, and so do our labours; for it was not for want of travail, nor pain, nor love to their souls; for we could have been contented to have fed upon the grass on the ground, so we might have had our freedom amongst them: for, had it not been for the great opposition, they would have followed after us, as chickens after a hen, both great and small. But oh! the swelling seas, the raging and foaming waves, stormy winds and floods, and deep waters, and high mountains and hills, hard rocks, rough ways, and crooked paths, tall cedars, strong oaks, fruitless trees, and corrupted ones, that cumber the ground, and hinder the righteous seed to be sown, and the noble plants from being planted. Oh! they shut up the kingdom against the simple-hearted, and hide the key of knowledge from the innocent ones, and will not enter into the kingdom themselves, nor suffer them that would enter, but stir up the magistrates to form carnal weapons, thinking to prevent the Lord of taking to him his inheritance, and to dispossess his Son, who is heir of all, that he might not have a dwelling-place among them, nor a habitation nigh them; because that his light will discover their darkness, and his brightness will burn up all their abominations, and mar their beauty, and stain their glory, their pomp, and their pride, that it may perish as the untimely figs, and fall as the flower of the field, and wither as the grass upon the house-top. Oh! the belly of hell, the jaws of Satan, the whole mystery of iniquity is at the height, and all manner of abomination that makes desolate, stands where it ought not, and is upholden by a law, that upon pain of death none must speak against it, nor walk contrary to it. But praises to our God, he carried us forth to declare against it daily. Oh! the blind guides, the seducing spirits, that do cause the people to err, and compel them to worship the beast and his image, and have his mark in their foreheads, and in their hands, and to bow to pictures and painted walls, and to worship the things of their own hands, and to fall down to that which their own fingers have fashioned, and will not suffer them to look towards Sion upon pain of death, nor to walk towards Jerusalem upon pain of faggot and fire, but must abide in Babel, and believe whatsoever they speak or do to be truth. But oh! the ways, the worships, the fashions, forms, customs, traditions, observations, and imaginations, which they have drawn in by their dark divinations, to keep the poor people in blindness and ignorance, so that they perish for want of knowledge, and are corrupted, because the way of Truth is not made known among them; they are all in the many ways, out of the one true living way, and their ways be so many and so monstrous, that they are unrehearsable; but the Lord our God hath kindled a fire in the midst of them, that will consume all forms, fashions, customs, and traditions of men, and will burn up the briers, thorns, and tares, stubble, and fruitless trees, and corrupted ones; and will blast all the fruits, works, and labours of wicked and ungodly men, with the mildews of his wrathful indignation, and will scatter all his enemies with the whirlwinds of his displeasure. They do not know the Scriptures: their bibles would grieve any honest heart to behold them, because of the corruption.’
This letter was signed by both of them, though perhaps Catharine was the writer, who also wrote a letter of exhortation to the popish inquisitor at Malta, and another to friar Malachy. Among the letters she wrote to her husband and children, I count the following really worthy to be delivered to posterity:
‘For the hands of John Evans, my right dear, and precious husband, with my tender-hearted children, who are more dear and precious to me than the apple of my eye.
‘Most dear and faithful husband, friend, and brother, begotten of my eternal Father, of the immortal seed of the covenant of light, life, and blessedness, I have unity and fellowship with thee day and night, to my great refreshment, and continual comfort. Praises, praises be given to our God for evermore, who hath joined us together in that which neither sea nor land can separate or divide.
‘My dear heart, my soul doth dearly salute thee, with my dear and precious children, who are dear and precious in the light of the Lord, to thy endless joy, and my everlasting comfort; glory be to our Lord God eternally, who hath called you with a holy calling, and hath caused his beauty to shine upon you in this the day of his power, wherein he is making up of his jewels, and binding up of his faithful ones in the bond of everlasting love and salvation, among whom he hath numbered you of his own free grace; in which I beseech you, dear hearts, in the fear of the Lord, to abide in your measures, according to the manifestation of the revelation of the Son of God in you. Keep a diligent watch over every thought, word, and action, and let your minds be staid continually in the light, where you will find out the snares and baits of Satan, and be preserved out of his traps, nets, and pits, that you may not be captivated by him at his will. Oh, my dear husband and children, how often have I poured out my soul to the everlasting Father for you, with rivers of tears night and day, that you might be kept pure and single in the sight of our God, improving your talents as wise virgins, having oil in your vessels; and your lamps burning, and clothed with the long white robe of righteousness, ready to enter the bed-chamber, and to sup with the Lamb, and to feed at the feast of fat things, where your souls may be nourished, refreshed, comforted, and satisfied, never to hunger again.
‘My dear hearts, you do not want teaching; you are in a land of blessedness, which floweth with milk and honey, among the faithful stewards, whose mouths are open wide to righteousness, to declare the eternal mysteries of the everlasting kingdom, of the endless joys and eternal glory; whereunto all the willing and obedient shall enter and be blessed for ever.