A Salutation AND Seasonable Exhortation TO CHILDREN.  
By Dorcas Dole.  
LONDON, Printed and Sold by T. Sowle, in White-Hart-Court, in Gracious-Street, 1700.   

A Salutation TO CHILDREN.  
Dear and Tender Children,  
WHO are of the Seed and Offspring of the Righteous, a Salutation of my endeared Love is to you; and my Prayers to the God of Love, and Father of Mercy, are for you, that he may raise you up as living Monuments of his Mercies: And as you have been brought up in the Way of Truth, by your Parents or Friends (that have a Godly Care over you, to discharge their Duty, in Love to God, and to your Immortal Souls) you may come into the Truth and Fear of God, that they may have cause to sound out living Praises to the God of our Lives, on your behalf, for the Cry of the Righteous is to the Lord for their Children, as for their own Souls; and as they are near and dear unto them, so their Desire to the Lord is, That they may be near and dear unto him, and that he would give them an Inheritance amongst them that are Sanctified; which is far better than any outward Portion or Inheritance that they can leave you, and will stand by you when all outward Riches will fail you; for tho' you are Young and Tender in Years, you know not how soon the Messenger of Death may come to call you; then there can be no resisting of that Power that Summoneth you in, and to Judgement calls you. Oh! therefore whilst you have a Day, prise it, for Time is very precious to Old and Young; and the Redemption of the Soul is also precious. Oh! therefore, dear Children, Remember your Creator in the days of your Youth, and answer the End of the Lord, for which he made you, which was to Serve and Worship Him; for your Believing Parents, that have born you, and suckled you, can have no greater Joy in you, than as Samuel's Mother had, That she had born and suckled a Child for the Lord; and as the Lord had freely given him unto her, she freely gave him up to serve the Lord, in his Temple, all the days of his Life.  
So dear Children, wait upon the Lord, that your Strength may be renewed in Him, and that you may feel the same Power at work in you, as sanctified Samuel, that you may be sanctified Vessels to the Lord, and that your Bodies may be Temples for the Holy Ghost to dwell in.  
So the Desire of my Soul to the Lord for you is, That as you have begun a Testimony for the Lord, in keeping up the Meeting, that you may hold out to the end, and not fear what Man can do unto you; for the Lord's Care is over you: And as you Meet in his Fear, his over-shadowing Power will be amongst you, tho' you are but little Children; he will suffer you to come unto Him, that out of the Mouths of Babes and Sucklings he ordains Strength, that he may perfect his Praise; and he will carry his Lambs in his Arms, and gently lead those that are Young.  
So, dear Children, keep to the God of Strength, and he will be your Strength; tho' you are Weak, he is Strong, and able to make you more than Conquerors, through him that hath loved you: And as you keep to the Lord, and your Faith stands in his Power, the Enemy within nor without shall never conquer you; but ye shall be like the little Children in the Temple, who cried Hosanna to the Son of David; and they feared not, tho' the Chief Priests and Scribes were sore offended with them: And as it was in that day, so it is now, not many Mighty, nor of the Noble Men of the Earth, that believed in his low Appearance, because he came too low for them; they despised him as the Carpenter's Son, and said, That he was one that they knew from whence he came; but they did not; for to them his Visage was more marred than any Man's, and they could see no Comeliness in him, who said to them, If they died in their Sins, whither he went, they could not come.  
So blessed be the Name of the Lord for evermore, that hath hid these things from the Wise and Prudent, and hath revealed them unto Babes. So, dear Hearts, let us forever wait upon the Lord, and hearken to Wisdom's Voice, that we may be kept low in his Fear; for, The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom; and to departed from Evil, that is a good Understanding.  
So, Dear and Wellbeloved, the desire of my Soul is, That we may pass the Time of our sojourning here with Fear, and that we may keep to the Unerring Way, that a Wayfaring Man, tho' a Fool, cannot Err therein: And as we keep to the Light, and bring our Deeds to it, they shall be made manifest whether they are wrought in God or no; and so we shall come to know that living Faith that gives Victory over the World; for, Without Faith it is impossible to please God; for the Just lives by Faith. So keep to the just Principle of Life, that God hath placed in you, to Redeem your Souls from Death, that so whilst you are in the World, you may know the preserving Power, that keeps his Children from the Evil of the World.  
And there is one thing more that lies upon me to you Disobedient Children, that live not in an heavenly Subjection to the Lord, and to your Parents; Cease to grieve the Spirit of the Lord, which is given to you to profit withal: And cease to grieve your honest Parents, and do not do as Absalon did, who caused his Father to lament over him with a sad Lamentation, because he died in Disobedience against the Lord and his Father; and he could not be Comforted in his Death, as he was in his other Son; When he heard of his Death, he arose, and washed, and anointed himself, and eat Bread, and satisfied himself, in that he should go to the Innocent Child, tho' it should never return to him.  
So dear Children, Watch against that disobedient Nature, which keeps you in Disobedience to the Lord, and to your Parents; and as you wait upon the Lord in his Fear, you shall know the mighty Power of the Lord to work out that Nature in you that is subject to Vanity, and to set up his Heavenly Government in you, that you may order your Conversations aright in the sight of God, and all Men: And then, when you are gathered together to wait upon the Lord, and cannot be content with the Form of Godliness without the Power, nor with a bare Formality of coming to Meeting, the God of Power and Life will appear amongst you, and his Presence will be in the midst of you; and tho' there be no Words spoken amongst you, yet keep to the Word of God, which is Quick and Powerful, that That may dwell plentifully amongst you, and for ever preserve you.  
So dear Children, press forward, that you may be Confirmed and Established in the Faith that once was delivered to the Saints, and that you may be made able to contend earnestly for it, and then nothing shall move you; yea, tho' the Earth may be moved, and the Powers of Darkness shaken, yet you shall have a sure Habitation in the Lord, and be gathered into the Ark of the Covenant, where you shall be hid with the Lord, while he is raining down in his Displeasure, Plagues upon the Wicked; and tho' they may call to the Mountains and Rocks to fall on them, to hid them from the Fierceness of the Wrath of God, yet they shall not save them, nor shelter them from what he hath Decreed to bring upon them: But those that have an Interest in Christ, have no need to fear whether they Dye or Live, as to this outward Tabernacle; for, to Dye is Gain, and to Live is Christ; so whether we Live or Dye, we are the Lord's.  
So dear Children, I commit you to God, with my own Soul, desiring him, that he would bring you, and establish, and preserve you, and me, in his Unchangeable Truth, which never altars.  
From Bridewell, the Place of my Confinement for the Testimony of Truth, as it is in Jesus, the 30th of the 4th Month, 1682. Your Loving Friend, Dorcas Dole.   

Postscript.  
THis was Written to the Children who kept up the Meeting, at the Meeting-House-Door, in the open Streets, in Bristol, at that time when Friends there was generally in Prison for their Testimony to Truth; and now reprinted for an Encouragement to them to live in Faithfulness, and in the Fear of God.  
FINIS.