A general epistle to Friends, and professors of the truth.
         Marshall, Charles, 1637-1698.
      
       
         
           1680
        
      
       Approx. 8 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-IV TIFF page image.
       
         Text Creation Partnership,
         Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) :
         2008-09 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).
         A89559
         Wing M740A
         ESTC R180381
         45789358
         ocm 45789358
         172669
         
           
            This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of
             Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal
            . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.
          
        
      
       
         Early English books online.
      
       
         (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A89559)
         Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 172669)
         Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English Books, 1641-1700 ; 2645:1)
      
       
         
           
             A general epistle to Friends, and professors of the truth.
             Marshall, Charles, 1637-1698.
          
           1 sheet ([1] p.)
           
             s.n.,
             [London :
             1680]
          
           
             Signed: Ch. Marshall. ... the 9th. of the 6th month, 1680.
             Place of publication suggested by Wing.
             Reproduction of original in: Friends' Library (London, England).
          
        
      
    
     
       
         Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford.
         Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors.
      
       
         EEBO-TCP is a partnership between the Universities of Michigan and Oxford and the publisher ProQuest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by ProQuest via their Early English Books Online (EEBO) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). The general aim of EEBO-TCP is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic English-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in EEBO.
         EEBO-TCP aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the Text Encoding Initiative (http://www.tei-c.org).
         The EEBO-TCP project was divided into two phases. The 25,363 texts created during Phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 January 2015. Anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source.
         Users should be aware of the process of creating the TCP texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data.
         Text selection was based on the New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature (NCBEL). If an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in NCBEL, then their works are eligible for inclusion. Selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. In general, first editions of a works in English were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably Latin and Welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so.
         Image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. Quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in Oxford and Michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet QA standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. After proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. Any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. Understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of TCP data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. Users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a TCP editor.
         The texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the TEI in Libraries guidelines.
         Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements).
         
          Keying and markup guidelines are available at the
           Text Creation Partnership web site
          .
        
      
       
         
         
      
    
     
       
         eng
      
       
         
           Society of Friends -- England -- Pastoral letters and charges -- Early works to 1800.
           Broadsides -- England -- 17th century.
        
      
    
     
        2007-07 TCP
        Assigned for keying and markup
      
        2007-08 Apex CoVantage
        Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images
      
        2007-09 Elspeth Healey
        Sampled and proofread
      
        2007-09 Elspeth Healey
        Text and markup reviewed and edited
      
        2008-02 pfs
        Batch review (QC) and XML conversion
      
    
  
   
     
       
         
         
           A
           General
           EPISTLE
           to
           Friends
           ,
           and
           Professors
           of
           the
           Truth
           .
        
         
           
             
               
                 DEAR
                 FRIENDS
                 ,
              
            
             
               
                 WHo
                 with
                 the
              
               morning
               light
               
                 of
                 the
              
               eternal
               day
               
                 have
                 been
                 visited
                 ,
                 and
                 by
                 the
              
               Heavenly
               Voice
               of
               Christ
               Jesus
               
                 called
                 out
                 of
                 the
                 world
                 :
                 I
                 am
                 to
                 say
                 unto
                 You
                 in
                 my
                 Fathers
                 Councel
                 ,
              
               see
               that
               all
               your
               minds
               be
               gather'd
               down
               unto
               the
               feeling
               of
               ,
               and
               cleaving
               unto
               the
               Immortal
               ,
               Incorruptible
               Seed
               which
               bruiseth
               the
               
                 Serpents
                 head
              
               ;
               of
               which
               Seed
               all
               must
               be
               born
               ,
               or
               they
               cannot
               see
               the
               
                 Kingdom
                 of
                 God
              
               ,
               which
               is
               excellent
               in
               
                 Celestial
                 brightness
              
               and
               sweetness
               ,
               full
               of
               
                 Glory
                 ,
                 Immortality
                 ,
                 Peace
                 ,
                 Joy
              
               and
               
                 eternal
                 life
              
               .
            
             
               Oh
               Friends
               ,
               
                 every
                 where
                 in
                 the
              
               Bowels
               of
               Christ
               Jesus
               ,
               
                 even
                 in
                 the
              
               earning
               of
               the
               Fathers
               love
               :
               
                 I
                 beseech
                 you
              
               read
               and
               feel
               
                 in
                 the
              
               deep
               
                 what
                 you
                 do
                 know
                 of
                 this
              
               Blessed
               Work
               
                 in
                 which
                 the
              
               happiness
               
                 of
                 the
              
               Immortal
               Soul
               
                 comes
                 ;
                 For
                 there
                 may
                 be
                 a
                 coming
                 out
                 of
              
               Aegypt
               ,
               
                 and
                 to
                 the
              
               Law
               
                 which
                 was
                 added
                 because
                 of
              
               Trans
               gression
               
                 until
                 the
              
               seed
               
                 should
                 come
                 ,
                 yea
                 ,
                 to
                 the
              
               Prophets
               ,
               who
               saw
               ,
               and
               Prophecy'd
               
                 of
                 his
              
               coming
               ,
               
                 in
                 which
                 states
                 there
                 may
                 be
              
               openings
               ,
               and
               heavenly
               tasts
               ,
               &c.
               
            
             
               
                 But
                 the
              
               earnest
               welfare
               
                 of
                 the
              
               Soul
               
                 is
                 inwardly
                 to
              
               experience
               
                 through
                 the
              
               working
               
                 of
                 the
              
               Divine
               hand
               of
               Him
               
                 who
                 is
                 the
              
               good
               Husband-man
               ,
               a
               cutting
               off
               
                 from
                 the
              
               wild
               Olive
               ,
               and
               planting
               
                 into
                 the
              
               Vine
               of
               life
               ,
               
                 translating
                 out
                 of
                 the
              
               nature
               and
               Kingdom
               of
               darkness
               ,
               
                 into
                 the
              
               divine
               nature
               and
               kingdom
               :
               
                 All
                 that
                 come
                 here
                 are
                 born
                 of
                 the
              
               quickning
               spirit
               
                 of
                 the
              
               second
               man
               
                 ADAM
                 ,
                 the
              
               Lord
               from
               Heaven
               ;
               
                 here
                 's
                 the
                 state
                 which
              
               truly
               avails
               ,
               
                 even
                 a
              
               new
               creature
               
                 which
                 in
              
               Christ
               Jesus
               hath
               right
               to
               enjoy
               the
               favour
               and
               presence
               of
               God
               the
               Father
               
                 for
                 ever
                 ,
                 and
                 for
                 evermore
                 .
              
            
             
               Now
               Friends
               ,
               all
               Professions
               of
               Religion
               
                 under
                 Heaven
                 ,
                 under
                 what
              
               name
               or
               denomination
               
                 soever
                 ,
                 without
              
               this
               work
               
                 in
                 some
                 measure
              
               experienced
               ,
               
                 will
                 do
                 the
                 Souls
                 of
              
               man-kind
               
                 no
                 good
              
               .
            
             
               
                 Wherefore
                 ,
                 all
              
               Friends
               ,
               and
               Professors
               of
               Truth
               
                 every
                 where
                 in
                 the
              
               fear
               ,
               dread
               and
               awe
               
                 of
                 the
              
               most
               high
               God
               ,
               
                 lie
                 low
                 before
                 him
                 ,
                 that
                 so
                 where
                 this
              
               inexpressible
               precious
               work
               
                 is
                 not
                 experienc'd
                 ,
                 there
                 might
                 be
                 a
              
               true
               waiting
               ,
               and
               travailing
               in
               
                 Spirit
                 ,
                 in
                 which
                 a
              
               living
               cry
               and
               supplication
               
                 will
                 arise
                 to
                 the
              
               living
               God
               
                 to
                 accomplish
                 it
                 .
                 And
                 now
                 unto
                 all
                 such
                 that
                 feel
              
               true
               longings
               ,
               living
               breathings
               ,
               and
               ardent
               desires
               
                 in
                 their
                 Souls
              
               this
               blessed
               work
               to
               know
               ;
               
                 I
                 say
                 unto
                 You
                 in
                 the
              
               name
               and
               power
               of
               the
               Lord
               in
               earning
               bowels
               of
               love
               ,
               
                 bow
                 down
                 in
              
               true
               tenderness
               of
               heart
               ,
               and
               sincerity
               of
               Spirit
               
                 to
                 this
              
               seed
               of
               the
               Kingdom
               ;
               
                 if
                 but
                 little
                 in
                 appearance
                 ,
                 even
                 as
                 a
              
               grain
               of
               Mustard-seed
               ,
               
                 be
                 in
                 love
                 with
                 it
                 ,
                 and
                 love
                 its
              
               inward
               discoveries
               
                 of
                 the
              
               seed
               of
               the
               Serpent
               ,
               its
               workings
               ,
               and
               bringings
               forth
               ;
               suffer
               with
               it
               ,
               sorrow
               and
               mourn
               with
               it
               ,
               
                 give
                 up
                 not
                 only
                 to
              
               its
               discoveries
               ,
               
                 but
                 also
                 to
                 it
              
               Judgement
               ,
               
                 that
                 both
                 the
              
               nature
               and
               works
               
                 of
                 the
              
               seed
               of
               the
               serpent
               
                 may
                 be
                 destroy'd
                 ,
                 and
                 the
              
               heart
               sanctified
               ,
               
                 for
                 the
                 Soul
                 can
                 never
                 come
                 into
              
               oneness
               
                 with
                 the
              
               seed
               Immortal
               
                 (
                 nor
                 be
                 born
                 of
                 it
                 )
                 in
                 which
                 all
                 the
              
               Promises
               are
               Yea
               ,
               and
               Amen
               ;
               
                 but
                 through
                 the
              
               wasting
               ,
               working
               under
               ,
               and
               dectroying
               
                 of
                 the
              
               nature
               and
               work
               
                 of
                 the
              
               seed
               of
               the
               serpent
               
                 which
                 have
                 been
                 as
                 a
              
               separating
               or
               partition-wall
               
                 between
                 the
              
               Soul
               and
               Christ
               Jesus
               ;
               
                 So
                 ,
                 through
                 becoming
              
               passive
               ,
               and
               subject
               to
               the
               power
               of
               the
               working
               of
               this
               Immortal
               seed
               
                 in
                 the
                 least
                 and
                 lowest
                 appearance
                 ,
                 it
                 will
                 bring
                 evere
                 one
                 that
                 is
                 acquainted
                 therewith
                 ,
                 very
              
               low
               and
               tender
               
                 in
                 Spirit
              
               ,
               possessing
               the
               heart
               and
               soul
               
                 with
                 the
              
               fear
               ,
               dread
               and
               awe
               of
               the
               most
               high
               ,
               and
               truly
               careful
               ,
               and
               inwardly
               diligent
               
                 to
                 attend
                 its
              
               tender
               secret
               motions
               ,
               and
               sweet
               powerful
               workings
               in
               the
               Soul.
               
                 Now
                 tender
                 People
                 that
                 come
                 here
                 ,
              
               diligently
               and
               constantly
               cleave
               with
               your
               souls
               unto
               it
               ,
               
                 and
                 you
                 shall
              
               see
               and
               feel
               
                 (
                 as
                 your
                 Faith
                 stands
                 in
                 it
                 ,
                 )
                 the
              
               working
               
                 of
                 it
                 as
              
               leaven
               to
               leaven
               
                 you
                 into
                 the
              
               divine
               nature
               ;
               
                 So
                 be
                 not
                 weary
                 of
              
               bearing
               the
               Cross
               ,
               
                 or
                 continuing
                 here
                 in
                 the
              
               deep
               expression
               of
               spirit
               ,
               but
               persevere
               daily
               
                 in
                 the
              
               love
               of
               this
               immortal
               seed
               ;
               
                 so
                 then
                 coming
                 to
                 be
              
               born
               again
               ,
               
                 and
                 brought
                 forth
                 by
                 the
              
               power
               of
               its
               workings
               in
               the
               Soul
               ,
               
                 ye
                 shall
                 be
                 tenderly
                 nursed
                 by
                 the
              
               sincere
               milk
               of
               the
               word
               ,
               
                 which
                 lives
                 and
                 abides
                 for
                 ever
                 ,
                 of
                 which
                 you
                 were
              
               begotten
               ,
               
                 and
                 so
              
               grow
               up
               
                 thereby
                 to
                 the
                 day
                 of
                 Espousals
                 in
                 the
              
               Marriage-chamber
               of
               divine
               love
               and
               life
               ,
               
                 where
                 the
                 Soul
                 is
                 safe
                 in
                 the
              
               enjoyment
               
                 of
                 the
              
               unutterable
               Joy
               of
               the
               Lord
               God
               ,
               
                 and
                 the
              
               lamb
               
                 for
                 ever
              
               .
            
             
               
                 God
                 Almighty
                 arise
                 in
                 in
                 his
                 great
                 Power
                 and
                 bright
                 Glory
                 every
                 where
                 for
                 the
              
               bringing
               forth
               the
               Birth
               of
               the
               morning
               
                 of
                 his
                 sweet
                 day
                 ,
                 and
              
               laying
               waste
               every
               false
               Birth
               ,
               
                 and
                 the
              
               works
               
                 of
                 it
                 ,
                 to
                 the
              
               magnifying
               and
               renowning
               his
               Blessed
               Name
               
                 for
                 ever
                 ,
                 which
                 is
                 the
              
               breathing
               and
               travail
               of
               Your
               Tribulated
               Brother
               ,
            
             
               
                 CH.
                 MARSHALL
                 .
              
            
             
               
                 POSTSCRIPT
                 .
              
               
                 
                   Dear
                   Friends
                   ;
                
              
               
                 Every
                 where
                 ,
                 feel
                 that
                 
                   Divine
                   Hand
                
                 ,
                 and
                 
                   Mighty
                   Arm
                
                 and
                 your
                 Subjection
                 thereunto
                 ,
                 that
                 gathers
                 out
                 of
                 the
                 rollings
                 and
                 tossings
                 of
                 the
                 Nations
                 and
                 People
                 into
                 the
                 goodly
                 Tents
                 of
                 Jacob
                 ,
                 and
                 
                   sweet
                   safe
                
                 Habitation
                 of
                 Israel
                 ,
                 where
                 you
                 may
                 dwell
                 alone
                 out
                 of
                 the
                 
                   Defilements
                   of
                   the
                   Nations
                
                 ,
                 wbere
                 the
                 hiding-place
                 will
                 be
                 known
                 ,
                 until
                 the
                 word
                 of
                 the
                 Lord
                 be
                 fulfilled
                 ,
                 and
                 his
                 Indignation
                 pass
                 over
                 to
                 accomplish
                 his
                 own
                 determination
                 in
                 the
                 Earth
                 ,
                 which
                 he
                 will
                 hasten
                 for
                 his
                 Elects
                 sake
                 ,
                 and
                 for
                 the
                 Honour
                 of
                 his
                 Great
                 and
                 Mighty
                 Name
                 ,
                 who
                 is
                 over
                 all
                 Heaven
                 and
                 Earth
                 ,
                 God
                 Almighty
                 ,
                 Blessed
                 for
                 ever
                 .
                 Amen
                 .
              
               
                 
                   Tetherton
                   in
                   the
                   County
                   of
                   Wilts
                   ,
                   
                     the
                     9th
                     .
                     of
                     the
                     6th
                     .
                     Month
                     ,
                     1680.
                     
                  
                
                 
                   Let
                   this
                   be
                
                 carefully
                 
                   Read
                   in
                   the
                
                 Meetings
                 and
                 Families
                 
                   of
                   the
                   Lords
                   People
                   in
                   the
                
                 Feeling
                 Sense
                 
                   of
                   Gods
                   Presence
                   and
                   Tendering
                   Powers
                   .