To which G. Whitehead replied, ‘We thankfully acknowledge, that God by his power and special providence, hath preserved and defended the queen against the evil designs of her enemies, having made the queen an eminent instrument for the good of this nation and realm of Great Britain, in maintaining the toleration, the liberty we enjoy in respect to our consciences against persecution. Which liberty being grounded upon this reason in the late king’s reign, for the uniting the Protestant subjects in interest and affection, the union of Great Britain now settled tends to the strength and safety thereof; for in union is the strength and stability of a nation, or kingdom; and without union, no nation or people can be safe; but are weak and unstable. The succession of the crown being settled and established in the Protestant line, must needs be very acceptable to all true Protestant subjects.
‘And now, O queen, that the Lord may preserve and defend thee for the future, the remainder of thy days, and support thee under all thy great care and concern for the safety and good of this nation and kingdom of Great Britain, and that the Lord may bless and preserve thee to the end, is our sincere desire.’
To this the queen returned, ‘I thank you for your speech, and for your address; and ye may be assured I will take care to protect you.’
And G. Whitehead replied, ‘The Lord bless and prosper the queen and all her good intentions.’ And thereupon he and his friends withdrew.
The most remarkable occurrences the Quakers in England now met with, were that they enjoying the liberty to perform their religious worship publicly, without disturbance, were afterward encountered by the writings of their enemies from ignorance or envy, and represented as maintainers of heterodox sentiments; but they not failing of answers, the eyes of many were opened, and some came over to them. And though sometimes those of the public church had the success to draw over one that was born and educated among the Quakers, but inclined to more liberty, and to be esteemed by the world, yet there have been others of the episcopal church, who not from any earthly consideration, but merely by a convincement of their mind, have entered into society with the Quakers; not fearing to make public profession of their religion, as may appear by two letters which I will insert here; the one of Samuel Crisp, a clergyman of the episcopal church, who gave the following account of his change to one of his near relations:
‘My dear Friend,
‘I received a letter from thee, the week before last, which was sent by thy uncle Bolton: there were a great many kind expressions in it, and in thy sister Clopton’s likewise; I acknowledge myself much obliged to you both, and to the whole family, for many repeated kindnesses, and if my school had not engrossed so much of my time, I would have taken opportunity to answer my dear friend’s letter now, and upon that account my delay will be more excusable.
‘The news thou hast heard of my late change is really true, I cannot conceal it, for it is what I glory in; neither was it any prospect of temporal advantage that induced me to it, but a sincere love to the truth, and pure regard to my own soul: neither can I be sufficiently thankful to God, that he hath let me live to this glorious day, and not cut me off in the midst of my sins and provocations against him; he is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance: he hath brought me off from the forms and shadows of religion, and let me see in a more illustrious manner what is the life and substance of it, as he found me in some degree faithful to that measure of light and knowledge he had bestowed on me, whilst I was in the communion of the church of England; therefore he was pleased of late, as I humbly waited upon him to make known to me greater and deeper mysteries of his kingdom; and I can truly say, that I find by daily experience, as I keep low and retired into that pure gift which he hath planted within me, things are every day more and more cleared up to me, and the truth shines and prevails greatly over the kingdom of darkness; and if I should now turn my back upon such manifestations as these, and entangle myself again with the yoke of bondage, surely I should grieve the Holy Spirit, so that he might justly withdraw his kind operations, and never return more to assist and comfort me; for God is not mocked; religion is a very serious and weighty thing; repentance and salvation are not to be trifled with, nor is turning to God, to be put off till our own time, leisure or conveniency, but we must love and cherish the least appearance of Christ, not slighting or despising the day of small things, but embrace the first opportunity of following Christ in any of his commands: when he speaks, there is such force and authority in it, that we cannot stand to cavil, dispute, or ask questions; for unless we will be so obstinate as to shut our eyes against the sun, we must needs confess to the truth of his doctrine, and presently strike in with it; and therefore when for several weeks I had lived more privately and retiredly in London, than was usual, fasting twice or thrice in a week, or sometimes more, spending my time in reading the Scriptures, and in prayer to God, this was a good preparation of my mind, to receive the truth which he was then about to make known to me. I lamented the errors of my past life, and was desirous to attain a more excellent degree of holiness than I had discovered in the church of England. In this religious retirement God knew the breathings of my soul, how sincere I was, and resigned to him when alone. I wanted him to set me free, and to speak peace and comfort to my soul, which was grieved and wearied with the burden of my sin: for though I had strictly conformed myself to the orders and ceremonies of the church of England, and had kept myself from running into any great or scandalous enormities, the fear of the Almighty preserving me, yet still I had not that rest and satisfaction in myself which I desired, and greatly longed for. I found when I had examined my state and condition to God-ward, that things were not right with me.
‘As for a sober and plausible conversation in the eye of the world, I knew that was a very easy attainment. A good natural temper, with the advantage of a liberal education, will quickly furnish a man with abilities for that, so that he shall be looked upon as a saint, and very spiritual; when perhaps in chains of darkness, in the gall of bitterness, and in the very bond of iniquity. If this sort of righteousness would have done, perhaps I might make as fair pretensions that way as some others; but alas, I quickly saw the emptiness and unsatisfactoriness of those things: this is a covering that will not protect or hide us from the wrath of the Almighty, when he comes to judgment. It is not a man’s natural temper, or his education, that makes him a good Christian; this is not the righteousness which the gospel calls for, nor is this the truth in the inward parts which God requires. The heart and affections must be cleansed and purified before we can be acceptable to God; therefore it was death to me to think of taking up my rest in a formal pretence of holiness, wherein yet I saw to my grief, abundance of people wrapped themselves, slept securely and quietly; dreaming of the felicity of paradise, as if heaven were now their own, and they needed not trouble themselves any more about religion. I could not entertain so dangerous an opinion as this, for then I should be tempted to take up my rest by the way, whilst I was travelling towards the promised land. I think I made a little progress in a holy life, and through God’s assistance I weakened some of my spiritual enemies, whilst I lived in the communion of the national church. I thank my God, I can truly say, whilst I used those prayers, I did it with zeal and sincerity, in his fear and dread; but still I ceased not my earnest supplication to him in private, that he would show me something more excellent; that I might get a complete victory over all my lusts and passions, and might perfect righteousness before him; for I found a great many sins and weaknesses daily attending me: and though I made frequent resolutions to forsake those sins, yet still the temptation was too strong for me; so that often I had cause to complain with the apostle in the bitterness of my soul, “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Who shall set me free, and give me strength to triumph over sin, the world, and the devil: that I may in every thing please God, and there may not be the least thought, word, or motion, gesture or action, but what is exactly agreeable to his most holy will, as if I saw him standing before me, and as if I were to be judged by him for the thought of my heart next moment? O divine life! O seraphic soul! O that I could always stand here; for here is no reflection, no sorrow, no repentance: but at God’s right hand there is perfect peace, and a river of unspeakable joy. O that we might imitate the life of Jesus, and be thoroughly furnished unto every good word and work. This was the frequent breathing of my soul to God when I was in the country, but more especially after I had left my new preferment of a chaplain, and took private lodgings in London. In this retirement I hope I may say without boasting, that I was very devout and religious, and I found great comfort and refreshment in it from the Lord, who let me see the beauty of holiness; and the sweetness that arises from an humbled, mortified life, was then very pleasant to my taste, and I rejoiced in it more than in all the delights and pleasures of the world.