“For the Duke of Holstein, whom I entreat, in the love of God, to read over this, which is sent in love to him.

“I understand that formerly, by some evil-minded persons, it was reported to thee, when Elizabeth Hendricks came to Frederickstadt to visit the people called Quakers, that it was a scandal to the Christian religion, that a woman should be suffered to preach in a public assembly religiously gathered together, &c. Upon which thou gave forth an order to the rulers of Frederickstadt, ‘to make the said people leave that place forthwith, or to send them away.’ But the said rulers being Arminians, and they, or their fathers, having come to live there, as a persecuted people in Holland, not much above threescore years ago, made answer to the duke, ‘they were not willing to persecute others for conscience’ sake, who had looked upon persecution on that account in their own case as antichristian,’ &c. But after that, the people of God, in scorn called Quakers, wrote unto thee, O duke, from Frederickstadt; and since that time they have had their liberty, and their meetings peaceable, to serve and worship God almost these twenty years at Frederickstadt, and thereabouts, freely without any molestation; which liberty they have acknowledged as a great favour and kindness from thee.

“And now, O duke, thou professing Christianity from the great and mighty name of Christ Jesus, who is King of kings and Lord of lords, and the Holy Scriptures of truth of the Old and New Testament, do not you use many women’s words in your service and worship out of the Old and New Testament? The apostle saith, ‘Let your women keep silence in the churches;’ and that, ‘he did not permit a woman to speak, but to be under obedience; and if she will learn anything, to ask her husband at home; for it is a shame for a woman to speak in the church.’ And 1 Tim. ii. 11, 12. ‘Women are to learn in silence and not suffered to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.’silence.’ 1 Cor. xiv. 34. Now, here the duke may see, what sort of women were to be in silence and in subjection, whom the law commands to be silent, and not to usurp authority over the man, nor to speak in the church; these were unruly women. In the same chapter he commands women ‘not to plait or broider their hair, nor to wear gold, pearls, or costly array.’ These things were forbidden by the apostle; and such women as wear such things, are to learn in silence and to be subject, and not to usurp authority over the men; for it is a shame for such to speak in the church. But do not such women as these, that wear gold and silver, and pearls and gaudy apparel, or costly array, and plait and broider their hair, speak in your church, when your priest sets them to sing psalms? Do they not speak when they sing psalms? Consider this, O duke! Yet you say, ‘your women must keep silence in the church, and must not speak in the church;’ but when they sing psalms in your churches, are they then silent? Though the apostle forbids such women before-mentioned to speak in the church, yet in another place the apostle encourages the good or holy women to be teachers of good things, as in Tit. ii. 3, 4. The apostle said, ‘I entreat thee, true yoke-fellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, and with other my fellow-labourers, whose names are written in the book of life.’ Here he owns these holy women, and encourages them, which laboured with him in the gospel, and did not forbid them; Phil. iv. 2, 3. He likewise commends Phœbe unto the church of the Romans, calls her ‘a servant unto the church of Cenchrea,’ sends his epistle by her to the Romans from Corinth, and desires the church at Rome ‘to receive her in the Lord as becometh saints:’ and to ‘assist her in whatsoever business she had need of; for she had been a succourer of many and of himself also.’ And he said, ‘Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus, who have for my life laid down their own necks; unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.’ Now here the duke may see these were good, holy women, whom the apostle did not forbid speaking, Rom. xvi. 1-4, but commended them. And Priscilla and Aquila instructed and expounded unto Apollos the way of God more perfectly, Acts xviii. 26. So here Priscilla was an instructor as well as Aquila; which holy women the apostle doth not forbid. Neither did the apostle forbid Philip’s four daughters, which were virgins, to prophesy. Women might pray and prophesy in the church, 1 Cor. xi. 5.

“The apostles showed to the Jews the fulfilling of Joel’s prophecy; that in the last days God would pour of his Spirit upon all flesh, and their sons and daughters, servants and handmaids, should prophesy with the Spirit of God.God. So the apostle encourages daughters and handmaids to prophesy as well as sons; and if they do prophesy, they must speak to the church or people, Joel ii. 28; Acts ii.Acts ii. 17, 18. Did not Miriam the prophetess sing unto the Lord, and all the women with her, when the Lord had delivered the children of Israel from Pharaoh? Did not she praise the Lord, and prophesy in the congregation of the children of Israel? and was not this in the church? Exod. xv. 21. Moses and Aaron did not forbid her prophesying or speaking; but Moses said, ‘would God all the Lord’s people were prophets!’ and the Lord’s people are women as well as men. Deborah was a judge and a prophetess; and do not you make use of Deborah’s and Miriam’s words in your service and worship? See (Judg. v. 1-31) Deborah’s large speech or song. Barak did not forbid her, nor any of the Jewish priests. Did not she make this speech or song in the congregation or church of Israel? In the book of Ruth there are good speeches of those good women, which were not forbidden. Hannah prayed in the temple before Eli, and the Lord answered her prayer. See what a speech Hannah makes, and a praising of God, before Eli the high-priest, who did not forbid her, 1 Sam. ii. 1-10. Josiah the king sent his priest with several others, to ask counsel of Huldah the prophetess, who dwelt at Jerusalem in the college, 2 Kings, xxii. 14; 2 Chron. xxxiv. 22. So here the king and his priests did not despise the counsel of this prophetess; and she prophesied to the congregation of Israel, as may be seen in these chapters.

“And in Luke i. 41-55, see what a godly speech Elizabeth made to Mary, and what a large godly speech Mary made also. Mary said, ‘that the Lord did regard the low estate of his handmaid,’ &c. And do you not make use in your worship and service of Mary’s and Elizabeth’s words from Luke i. 41-55, in your churches, and yet forbid women’s speaking in your churches? Yet all sorts of women speak in your churches, when they sing, and say Amen. In Luke ii. there was Anna the prophetess, a widow of about fourscore and four years; who departed not from the temple, but served God with fasting and prayer night and day. Did not she confess Christ Jesus in the temple, and give thanks to the Lord, and ‘speak of Christ to all that looked for redemption in Jerusalem?’ Luke ii. 36-38. So such holy women were not forbidden to speak in the church, neither in the law nor gospel. Was it not Mary Magdalene and other women that first preached Christ’s resurrection to the apostles? The woman indeed (namely, Eve) was first in transgression; and so they were women that first preached the resurrection of Christ Jesus; for Christ said to Mary, &c. ‘Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and to your Father, and to my God and to your God,’ John xx. 17. And Luke xxiv. 10, it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, who told the apostles, ‘that Christ was risen from the dead, and their words and these women’s words, were as idle tales to the apostles, and they believed them not,’ ibid. ver. 11. And ver. 22, ‘Certain women also of our company made us astonished,’ they said: so here it may be seen, that the women’s preaching the resurrection of Christ did astonish the apostles. Christ sent these women to preach his resurrection; so it is no shame for such women to preach Christ Jesus; neither are they to be silent when Christ sends them. The apostle says, ‘Every tongue shall confess to God,’ Rom. xiv. 11; and ‘Every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father,’ Phil. ii. 11. So here it is clear, that women must confess Christ as well as men, if every tongue must confess. And the apostle saith, ‘There is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus,’ Gal. iii. 28.

“And whereas it is said, ‘Women must ask their husbands at home,’ &c., the duke knows very well virgins have no husbands, nor widows; for Anna the prophetess was a widow; and if Christ be the husband, men must ask counsel of him at home as well as women, before they teach. And set the case, that a Turk’s wife should be a Christian, or a Papist’s wife should be a Lutheran, or a Calvinist, must they ask and learn of their husbands at home, before they confess Christ Jesus in the congregation of the Lord? Their counsel will be to them to turn Turks or Papists.

“I entreat the duke to consider these things. I entreat him to mind God’s grace and truth in his heart that is come by Jesus; that by his Spirit of grace and truth he may come to serve and worship God in his spirit and truth; so that he may serve the living eternal God that made him, in his generation, and have his peace in Christ, that the world cannot take away. And I do desire his good, peace, and prosperity in this world, and his eternal comfort and happiness in the world that is everlasting. Amen.”

London, 26th of the 8th Month, 1684.

“Friends and Brethren in the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom you have all life, peace, and salvation; walk in Him, who is your heavenly Rock and Foundation, that stands sure, who hath all power in heaven and earth given unto him. So his power is over all. Let your faith stand in his power, which is over all from everlasting to everlasting, over the devil and his power; that in the holy, heavenly wisdom of God, ye may be preserved and kept to God’s glory, out of all snares and temptations; so that God’s wisdom may be justified of all his children in this day of his power, and they all may be faithful, serving and worshipping God in his Spirit and truth, and valiant for it upon the earth.

“For, as the apostle saith, ‘They that believe are entered into their rest, and have ceased from their own works, as God did from his.’ Now this rest is an eternal rest in Christ, the eternal Son of God, in whom every true believer hath everlasting life in Christ Jesus, their rest and everlasting day. For Christ the Rest bruiseth the serpent’s head, and through death destroyeth death, and the devil, the power of death, and his works. He is the Eternal Rest, that giveth eternal life to his sheep. Christ fulfilleth the prophets, and all the figures, shadows, and ceremonies, as in the Old Testament; and all the promises are yea and amen in Christ, who was the Eternal Rest to all true believers in the apostles’ days, and ever since, and is so now. Christ is the beginning and the ending, the first and the last, who is ascended above all principalities, powers, thrones, and dominions, that he might fill all things. For ‘by Jesus Christ all things were made and created, whether they be things in heaven, or things in the earth;’ and he is the Eternal Rest. They that believe are entered into Christ, their Eternal Rest, in whom they have eternal life and peace with God. Wherefore I say again, in Him who is your Rest, live and abide; for in Him ye are happy, and his blessings will rest upon you. God Almighty keep and preserve you all, his true believers, in Christ your Rest and Peace this day. Amen.”

London, the 18th of the 12th Month, 1684-5.

“Dear Friends and Brethren,

“Whom the Lord hath called and chosen in Christ Jesus, your Life and Salvation, in whom ye have all rest and peace with God; the Lord God by his mighty power, which is over all, hath preserved and supported you to this day, to be a peculiar, holy people to himself, so that by his eternal Spirit and power ye might be all kept out of the world; for in the world is trouble. And now, in this great day of the Lord God Almighty, he is shaking the heavens and the earth of outward professions, their elements are in a heat, their sun and their moon are darkened, the stars falling, and the mountains and hills shaking and tottering, as it was among the Jews in the day of Christ’s appearing. Therefore, dear Friends and brethren, dwell in the Seed, Christ Jesus, the Rock and Foundation, that cannot be shaken; that ye may see with the light and Spirit of Christ, that ye are as fixed stars in the firmament of God’s power; and in this his power and light, you will see over all the wandering stars, the clouds without water, and trees without fruit. That which may be shaken, will be shaken; as will all they that are wandered from the firmament of God’s power.

“Dear Friends and brethren, you that are redeemed from the death and fall of Adam, by Christ the second Adam, in Him ye have life, rest, and peace; for Christ saith, ‘In me ye shall have peace; but in the world trouble.’ And the apostle saith, ‘They that believe are entered into their Rest,’ namely, Christ, who hath overcome the world, who bruiseth the serpent’s head, destroys the devil and his works, and fulfils the types, figures, and shadows of the Old Testament and the prophets; in whom the promises are yea and amen; who is the first and the last, the beginning and the ending—the Eternal Rest. So keep and walk in Christ, your Rest, every one that have received him.

“And now, dear Friends and brethren, whatever bustlings and trouble, tumults and outrages, quarrels and strife, arise in the world, keep out of them all; concern not yourselves with them: but keep in the Lord’s power and peaceable truth, that is over all such things; in which power ye seek the peace and good of all men. Live in the love which God hath shed abroad in your hearts through Christ Jesus; in which nothing is able to separate you from God and Christ, neither outward sufferings, persecutions, nor any outward thing, that is below and without; nor to hinder or break your heavenly fellowship in the light, gospel, and Spirit of Christ; nor your holy communion in the Holy Ghost, that proceeds from the Father and the Son, and which leads you into all truth. In this Holy Ghost, in which is your holy communion, that proceeds from the Father and the Son, you have fellowship with the Father and the Son, and one with another. This is it which links and joins Christ’s church or body together, to Him the heavenly and spiritual head, and in unity in his Spirit, which is the bond of peace, to all his church and living members, in whom they have eternal rest and peace in Christ, and with God everlasting, who is to be blessed and praised for ever. Amen.

“Dear Friends, forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, who are gathered in the name of Jesus, who is your prophet, whom God hath raised up in the New Testament, to be heard in all things; who opens to you, and no man can shut; and shuts, and no man can open; who is your Priest, made higher than the heavens by the power of an endless life, by whom you are made a royal priesthood, to offer up to God spiritual sacrifice; who is the Bishop of your souls, to oversee you, that ye do not go astray from God; who is the good Shepherd, that hath laid down his life for his sheep; and they hear his voice, and follow him, and he gives them eternal life.

“And now, dear Friends and brethren, abide in Christ, the vine, that ye may bring forth fruit to the glory of God. And as every one hath received Christ, walk in Him, who is not of the world, that lies in wickedness; so that ye may be preserved out of the vain fashions and customs of the world, which satisfy the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, which are not of the Father, but of the world that passes away. Whoever joins to that which is not of the Father, or encourages it, draws the mind from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore let Christ rule in your hearts, that your minds, souls, and spirits may be kept out of the vanities of the world, in their words, ways, and actions, that ye may be a peculiar people, zealous of good works, serving the Lord through Jesus Christ, to the praise and glory of God; that by the Word of his grace your words may be gracious, and in your lives and conversations ye may show forth righteousness, holiness, and godliness; that so God Almighty may be glorified in you all, and through you all, who is above all, blessed and praised for ever. Amen.”

London, the 11th of the 4th Month, 1685.

“The apostle Peter saith (in 1 Pet. iii.) of the women’s adorning; ‘Let it not be (mark, let it not be; this is a positive prohibition) that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price; for after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves.’

“Here ye may see what is the ornament of the holy women, which was in the sight of God of great price, and which the holy women, who trusted in God, adorned themselves with. But the unholy women, that trust not in God, their ornament is not a meek and a quiet spirit; they adorn themselves with plaiting the hair, putting on of apparel, and wearing of gold; which is forbidden by the apostle in his general epistle to the church of Christ, the true Christians.

“And the apostle saith (1 Tim. ii. 9, 10), ‘In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array, but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.’

“Here ye may see what the women were not to adorn themselves with, who professed godliness; they were not to adorn themselves with broidered hair, nor gold, nor pearls, nor costly array; for this was not looked upon to be modest apparel for holy women, that professed godliness and good works. But this adorning or apparel is for the immodest, unshamefaced, unsober women, that profess not godliness, neither follow those good works that God commands. Therefore it doth not become men and women who profess true Christianity and godliness to be adorned with gold, or chains, or pearls, or costly array; or with broidered hair; for these things are for the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, which are not of the Father. All holy men and women are to mind that which is more precious than gold; who are ‘redeemed not with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot. Therefore as obedient children to God, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts in your ignorance; but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation,’ 1 Pet. i. 14, 15.

“Christ saith, ‘The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment,’ Luke xii. 23.

“I read“I read of a “wise moral philosopher, who, meeting a woman with her neck and breast bare, laid his hand upon her, and said, ‘Woman, wilt thou sell this flesh?’ and she replying, No; ‘Then pray,’ said he, ‘shut up thy shop;’”shop;’” (meaning her bare breasts and neck). So they were looked upon as harlots, that went with their necks, breasts, and backs bare, and not modest people, even among the moral heathens. Therefore they that profess the knowledge of true Christianity, should be ashamed of such things. You may see a book written by the very Papists, and another by Richard Baxter the Presbyterian, against bare breasts and bare backs. They that were but in an outward profession, declared against such things; therefore they who are in the possession of truth and true Christianity, should be ashamed of such things. Read, I pray you, the third of Isaiah, and there see how that holy prophet was grieved with the foolish women’s vain attire, and how he was sent by the Lord to reprove them. Envious, persecuting Jezebel’s attired head and bravery, like a painted harlot out of the truth, did not keep her from the judgments of God, when the Lord stirred up Jehu against her. Doth not pride go before a fall, and a haughty mind before destruction? God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Solomon saith, ‘The Lord will destroy the house of the proud,’ Prov. xv. 25. ‘For the day of the Lord shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, &c., and he shall be brought low,’ Isa. ii. 12, and Mal. iv. Therefore take heed of calling the proud happy; for ‘the Lord will scatter the proud in the imaginations of their own hearts, and exalt them of low degree.’ And you may read in the Revelations (chap. xvii. 4, and xviii. 16), of the false church, how she was outwardly decked, but full of abomination, and came to a downfall at last. Therefore it is good for all that profess the truth, to use this world as not abusing it; for the fashion of this world passeth away; but the Word of the Lord endureth for ever. ‘The Lord taketh pleasure in his people, he will beautify the meek with salvation,’ Psa. cxlix. 4. All that know the truth as it is in Jesus, are to be beautified and clothed with this salvation, which salvation is a strong wall or a bulwark against that spirit, that would lead you further into the fall from God, into those things which the fallen man and woman delight in, and beautify or adorn themselves with. Therefore, all that profess the truth, be circumspect, sincere, and fervent, following the Lord Jesus Christ, who is not of this world; in whom ye have life and peace with God.”God.”

South-street, the 24th of the 4th Month, 1685.