Add to this, That the knowledge of God in all things must first be, before the knowledge of any creature or particular thing; so that no particular thing without this can be well known; and consequently is altogether incapable to come to know God by, or certainly to make known himself to man by.
Go to, then; without thyself, O man, thou hast no means to look for, by which thou mayest know God. Thou must abide within thyself, to the light that is in thee thou must turn thee, there thou wilt find it, and no where else.
God is, considered in himself, nearest unto thee, and every man. He that goeth forth of himself to any creature, thereby to know God, departs from God, and so much the further, as he comes more to admire the creature, and stand in contemplation thereof, to mistake himself by it. This thou must then shun, and the contrary mind, viz. Mind the light that is in thee, by it to work, unmoveably and faithfully to persevere.
APPENDIX.
The following narrative we have thought proper to insert in the very words of the sufferer, as taken from his own mouth. The candid reader will easily excuse the simplicity of its style, and the plainness of its expressions. It is the more like the man, and carries the greater evidence of the honesty and integrity of the relater, viz.
‘An account of the sufferings of Richard Seller, of Keinsey, a fisherman, who was prest in Scarborough-Piers, in the time of the two last engagements between the Dutch and English, in the year 1665.
‘I was pressed in Scarborough-Piers, and refusing to go on board the ketch, they beat me very sore on the sand, and I refusing to go on board, they hoised me in with a tackle, on board of the ketch that pressed for the ship called the Royal Prince, and they bunched me with their feet, that I fell into a tub, and was so maimed, that they were forced to swaddle me up with clothes: from thence we sailed into Bridlington bay, where Thomas Swales and Mary Stranger hearing of me, sent me victuals on board of the ketch; then we sailed to the Buoy and Nore, where they hauled me in at a gunport, on board of the ship called the Royal Prince. The 1st day of the third month they commanded me to go to work at the capstane; I refused, and told them, that ‘As I was not free to do the king’s work, I would not live at his charge for victuals;’ then the boatswain’s mate beat me sore, and thrusting me about with the capstane till he was weary. Then the captain sent for me upon the quarter deck, and asked me, ‘Why I refused to fight for the king, and why I refused to eat of his victuals?’ I told him, ‘I was afraid to offend God, for my warfare was spiritual, therefore I durst not fight with carnal weapons.’ Then he fell upon me and beat me with his small cane, then called for his great cane and beat me sore, and felled me down to the deck three or four times, and beat me as long as his strength continued. Then came one Thomas Horner, (who was brought up at Easington) and said, ‘I pray you, noble captain, be merciful, for I know him to be an honest man, and a good man.’ Then said the captain ‘He is a Quaker, I will beat his brains out;’ then falling on me again, he beat me till he was weary; then called some to help him; ‘for,’ said he, ‘I am not able to beat him enough to make him willing to do the king’s service.’ Then came out the commander’s jester, and told the captain, ‘He would lay a guinea with him that he would make me work, and haul the king’s ropes,’ and told the captain, ‘he was a fool;’ so two guineas were thrown down upon the deck: then the jester called for two seamen, and made them make two ropes fast to the wrists of my arms, and reeved the ropes through two blocks in the mizen-shrouds, on the starboard side, and hoised me up aloft, and made the ropes fast to the gunnel of the ship, and I hung some time. Then the jester called the ship’s company to ‘behold and bear him witness, that he made the Quaker haul the king’s ropes;’ so veering the ropes, they lowered me half way down, then made me fast again: ‘Now,’ said the jester, ‘Noble captain, you and the company see that the Quaker hauleth the king’s ropes,’ and with that he commanded them to ‘let fly the ropes loose,’ where I fell upon the deck. ‘Now,’ said the jester, ‘Noble captain, the wager is won, he hauled the ropes to the deck, and you can haul them no farther, nor any man else.’ Then the captain called the boatswain’s mate, and bid him take the Quakerly dog away, and put him to the capstane, and make him work, and beat him, and spare him not. So the boatswain’s mate had me down to the geer-capstane, and thrust me about with the men at the capstane, and beat me withal, when he could get time; then he went and sat him down upon a chest-lid, and I went and sat down upon another chest-lid beside him, then he fell on me and beat me again, then called his boy to bring his two seizings, and he seized my arms to the capstan’s bars, caused the men to heave the capstane about, and in three or four times passing about, the seizings were loosed, no man knew how, nor when, nor could they ever be found, although they sought them with lighted candles: then the boatswain’s mate, seeing what was done, caused all the men to come from the capstane, and took a bible, and commanded them all to swear, that they neither loosed me, nor knew how I came loose, (they all being willing to swear,) he then searched their pockets for the seizings, but could find none, so he let them go; then he called them all again to him, and said, ‘Hear what I shall say to you; you see this is a wonderful thing, which is done by an invisible hand, which loosed him, for none of you could see his hands loosed, that were so near him: I suppose this man,’ said he, ‘is called a Quaker, and for conscience sake refuseth to act, therefore I am afflicted, and do promise before God and man, that I will never beat, nor cause to be beaten, either Quaker, or any other man that doth refuse for conscience sake to act for the king; if I do, I wish I may lose my right hand.’
‘Then on the third-day came the admiral, sir Edward Spragg, on board of his own ship, called the Royal Prince, and hearing of a man that was pressed on board, that was called a Quaker; also hearing that the boatswain’s mate had beaten me much, and had given me over, and had denied to beat me any more, he was therefore called to come before the admiral, to answer for himself, why he would not beat the Quaker? He said, ‘I have beat him very sore, and I seized his arms to the capstane’s bars, and forced them to heave him about, and beat him, and then sat down, and in three or four times of the capstane’s going about, the seizings were loosed, and he came and sat down by me; then I called the men from the capstane, and took them sworn, whether they had loosed him or no, but they all denied that they either loosed him, or knew by what means he was loosed, neither could the seizings ever be found; therefore I did, and do believe that it was an invisible power that set him at liberty, and I did promise before God and the company, that I would never beat a Quaker again, nor any man else for conscience-sake.’ The admiral told him, ‘He must lose his cane:’ he willingly yielded it. And told him, ‘He must also lose his place:’ he was willing. He also told him, ‘He must lose his right hand:’ he held it out and said, ‘take it from me if you please.’ So they took his cane from him, and displaced him. So the commander gave order to the seven yeomen, to beat me wherever they met with me, for seven days and nights, and make me work. They being called to an account, what they had made me do? told the commander, that ‘They were weary, and could not make me work, so they desired to be excused.’ Then the eighth yeoman was called, who promised ‘he would beat me, and make me work;’ and he did beat me for a day and a night, when he met with me, and being weary, he desired to be excused. Then the commander sent for me upon the quarter-deck before him, and caused my clothes to be stript off, shirt and all, from my waist downward, then he took a view of my body to see what wounds and bruises I had, but he could find none, no not so much as a blue spot in my skin. Then the commander was angry with them for not beating me enough: then captain Fowler answered him, and said, ‘I have beat him myself, as much as would have killed an ox.’ The jester said, ‘He had me hung a great while by the arms up aloft in the shrouds.’ The men said, ‘They also had beat me very sore, and they might as well beat the main-mast,’ Then said the commander, ‘I will cause irons to be laid upon him, during the king’s pleasure and mine.’ Then the boatswain was called, and commanded to call the ship’s company together, and make ready the irons: the commander, sir Edward Spragg, said, ‘You gentlemen sailors and soldiers, whosoever serves here under me for the king, on board of his majesty’s ship called the Royal Prince, the admiral of the blue, you are to take notice, that there is a man on board called a Quaker, he is to be laid in irons during the king’s pleasure and mine, for refusing to fight, and eat the king’s victuals, therefore I charge you all and every man, that none of you give or sell him any victuals, meat, drink, or water, for if you do, you shall have the same punishment that he hath.’ So this being called three times over, he commanded the boatswain to take me away, and put me in irons. So I being kept in irons six days and nights, and falling sick of a fever, I grew very weak, insomuch that when I was set out to ease myself, (which was but once in twenty-four hours) I could neither stand nor go: so the officers that let me out, called some of my countrymen to carry me into the ship’s-head to ease myself, and bring me back again to the irons. Then the officer took pity of me, and bid me lay down upon the bilboes that night, and he would hap me with a coverlid, so I lay there that night, and next day till evening; then the officer desired me to go by the way a little, seeing all was quiet, and see if I could get a little rest: so I being lame of a leg with the irons, was creeping over the larboard-side of the ship, the lieutenant coming down, said, ‘Thou damned rogue, (and many other wicked words) hast thou broken the irons?’ and with that drew his rapier, and swore he would stab me, and so drove me back again to the irons, and called the yeoman, and would have known who let me out, and said he should be punished, and I would not tell him; but the same yeoman came in the crowd, and I put my hand out to him, and he locked it, and none knew how: I then being the king’s prisoner, I bid them ‘begone, they had nothing to do with me.’ So I remained in irons six days more, and recovered very well of my weakness: then on the seventh day at night, several, all seamen, fell to drinking of brandy, and playing at cards, and became very loud, the boatswain’s mate hearing of them, came down, and desired them to leave; they being full of drink would not, so a quarrel arose, and the boatswain’s mate cried out ‘murder,’ and immediately there came assistance to him, but the men ran away and hid themselves, only two were taken, and put in irons with me.