His enemies now began to rejoice, for they seemed to imagine that the progress of that doctrine, which he so powerfully and successfully had preached, by his decease would have been stopped or retarded: but they made a wrong reckoning. Francis Howgill then gave forth a kind of epicedium, which though in prose, yet was not void of poetical expressions, and was as followeth.
‘Shall days, or months, or years, wear out thy name, as though thou hadst no being? Oh nay! Shall not thy noble and valiant acts, and mighty works which thou hast wrought through the power of him that separated thee from the womb, live in generations to come? O yes! The children that are yet unborn, shall have thee in their mouths, and thy works shall testify of thee in generations, who yet have not a being, and shall count thee blessed. Did thy life go out as the snuff of a candle? O nay! Thou hast penetrated the hearts of many, and the memorial of the just shall live for ever; and be had in renown among the children of men: for thou hast turned many to righteousness, and shalt shine as a star of God in the firmament of God’s power, for ever and ever; and they that are in that, shall see thee there, and enjoy thee there, though thou be gone away hence, and can no more be seen in mutability; yet thy life and thy spirit shall run parallel with immortality. Oh Edward Burrough! I cannot but mourn for thee, yet not as one without hope or faith, knowing and having a perfect testimony of thy well-being in my heart, by the Spirit of the Lord; yet thy absence is great, and years to come shall know the want of thee. Shall I not lament as David did for a worse man than thee, even for Abner; when in wrath he perished by the hand of Joab, without any just cause, though he was a valiant man? David lamented over Abner, and said, died Abner as a fool dieth? (Oh nay! He was betrayed of his life.) Even so hast thou been bereaved of thy life by the hand of the oppressor, whose habitations are full of cruelty. Oh my soul, come not thou within their secret, for thy blood shall be required at the hands of them who thirsted after thy life; and it shall cry as Abel’s who was in the faith; even so wert thou, it shall weigh as a ponderous millstone upon their necks, and shall crush them under, and be as a worm that gnaweth, and shall not die. When I think upon thee, I am melted into tears of true sorrow; and because of the want that the inheritance of the Lord hath of thee, my substance is even as dissolved. Shall I not say as David did of Saul and Jonathan, when they were slain in mount Gilboa, the beauty of Israel is slain upon the high places: even so wast thou stifled in nasty holes, and prisons, and many more who were precious in the eyes of the Lord: and surely precious wast thou to me, oh dear Edward, I am distressed for thee my brother, very pleasant hast thou been to me, and my love to thee was wonderful, passing the love of woman: Oh thou whose bow never turned back, nor sword empty from the blood of the slain, from the slaughter of the mighty; who made nations and multitudes shake with the word of life in thy mouth, and wast very dreadful to the enemies of the Lord; for thou didst cut like a razor, and yet to the seed of God brought forth, thy words dropped like oil, and thy lips as the honeycomb. Thou shalt be recorded amongst the valiants of Israel, who attained to the first degree, through the power of the Lord, that wrought mightily in thee in thy day, and wast worthy of double honour, because of thy works. Thou wast expert to handle thy weapon, and by thee the mighty have fallen, and the slain of the Lord have been many; many have been pricked to the heart through the power of the word of life; and coals of fire from thy life came forth of thy mouth, that in many a thicket, and among many briers and thorns it came to be kindled, and did devour much stubble that cumbered the ground, and stained the earth. Oh how certain a sound did thy trumpet give! And how great an alarm didst thou give in thy day, that made the host of the uncircumcised greatly distressed! What man so valiant, though as Goliath of Gath, would not thy valour have encountered with, while many despised thy youth? And how have I seen thee with thy sling and thy stone, (despised weapons to war with,) wound the mighty! And that which hath seemed contemptible to the dragon’s party, even as the jaw bone of an ass, with it thou hast slain the Philistines heaps upon heaps, as Samson. Thou hast put thy hand to the hammer of the Lord, and hast often fastened nails in the heads of the Lamb’s enemies, as Jael did to Sisera; and many a rough stone hast thou polished and squared, and made it fit for the buildings of God; and much knotty wood hast thou hewed in thy day, which was not fit for the building of God’s house. Oh thou prophet of the Lord, thou shalt for ever be recorded in the Lamb’s book of life, among the Lord’s worthies, who have followed the Lamb through great tribulations, as many can witness for thee from the beginning; and at last hast overcome, and been found worthy to stand with the Lamb upon Mount Sion, the hill of God; as I have often seen thee, and thy heart well tuned as a harp, to praise the Lord, and to sound forth his great salvation; which many a time hath made glad the hearts of them that did believe, and strengthened their faith and hope. Well, thou art at rest, and bound up in the bundle of life; and I know tears were wiped away from thy eyes, because there was no cause of sorrow in thee: for I know thou witnessedst the old things done away, and there was no curse, but blessings were poured upon thy head as rain, and peace as a mighty shower, and trouble was far from thy dwelling; though in the outward man trouble on every side, and hast had a greater share in that, for the gospel-sake, (though a youth,) in thy time, than many besides: but now thou art freed from that, and hast obtained a name through faith, with the saints in light. Well, hadst thou more to give up than thy life for the name of Jesus in this world? Nay: and to seal the testimony committed unto thee with thy blood, as thou hast often said in thy day, which shall remain as a crown upon thee for ever and ever. And now thou art freed from the temptations of him who had the power of death; and from thy outward enemies, who hated thee because of the love that dwelt in thee; and remainest at the right hand of God, where there is joy and pleasure for evermore in the everlasting light; which thou hast often testified unto, according to the word of prophecy in thy heart, which was given unto thee by the Holy Ghost; and art at rest in the perfection thereof, in the beauty of holiness; yet thy life and thy spirit I feel as present, and have unity with it, and in it, beyond all created and visible things, which are subject to mutation and change; and thy life shall enter into others, to testify unto the same Truth, which is from everlasting to everlasting; for God hath raised, and will raise up children unto Abraham, of them that have been as dead stones; his power is Almighty, great in his people in the midst of their enemies.’
With these sublime expressions F. Howgill lamented his endeared friend E. Burrough.
In the latter end of this year, William Ames also deceased at Amsterdam, being come from England in a weak condition, for he had suffered so much hardship in Bridewell, London, that his health was much impaired when he came into Holland. In his sickness, which was a lingering disease, he was told, that among the Baptists and Collegians, it was said of him, that he had changed his judgment, and was grieved for having judged them wrongfully. But to this he said, ‘It was not so; but that he still judged their way of worship, especially their disputations and will worship, to be out of the way of the Lord.’ And in this belief he died in peace.
In his youth he was of a cheerful temper, and a lover of such company; but being in that condition often disquieted in his mind, he became a close follower of the priests and teachers, and exercised himself diligently in reading the holy scriptures, which, though good in itself, yet did not bring him to true peace with God; but being of a quick understanding, he could talk much out of them, insomuch, that entering into society with the Baptists, he became a teacher among them. Now, though he was more precise, and endeavoured to avoid the committing of sins, yet he found that root from whence they sprang remained alive in him; for when he met with something that was contrary to his own will, or mind, anger soon prevailed: nevertheless, in that state he would speak of justification, sanctification, and cleansing by the blood of Christ, though he himself was not come to that pure washing. In this state he perceived that he was no true member of Christ, because regeneration was still wanting. Thus he saw that a high profession would not avail, and that something more was required to obtain a happy state; but as yet, he knew not what it was that thus disquieted him; though sometimes, on the committing of any sin, he felt something that struck him with terror. At length it pleased the Lord, that hearing one of the Quakers, so called, preach, that that which convinceth man of sin, was the light of Christ, which enlightens every man coming into the world, this doctrine entered so deep with him, that he embraced it as wholesome; and thus walking with great circumspection and fear before the Lord, he found that by giving diligent heed to that which inwardly reproved and condemned him from evil, he came to be delivered therefrom, and to witness sanctification. And thus advancing in godliness he himself became a zealous preacher of that doctrine, which had struck him so to the heart. He was indeed a zealous man, and though some were ready to think him too zealous, yet he was discreet; and I know that he was condescending in indifferent matters, thinking that there were customs, which though not followed in one country, were yet tolerable in another. He was also generous, and lest he might seem to be burdensome to any, he rather choose to work with his hands.
1663.
Now I return again to the occurrences of G. Fox, whom we left at London, where, having spent some time, he went about the beginning of the year 1663, to Norwich, and from thence to Cambridgeshire, where he heard of E. Burrough’s decease, and, being sensible how great a grief this loss would be to his friends, wrote the following lines to them.
‘Friends,
‘Be still and quiet in your own conditions, and settled in the seed of God, that doth not change; that in that ye may feel dear E. B. among you, in the seed, in which, and by which, he begot you to God, with whom he is; and that in the seed ye may all see and feel him, in which is the unity with him in the life; and to enjoy him in the life that doth not change, which is invisible.