AN Epistle of Love AND Tender Advice, TO Friends and Brethren IN AMERICA, Or elsewhere; To live in the Truth, that they may show forth the Virtue and Effects of it in a Holy Life.  
By your Friend and Brother in the Truth, who Travels for Zion 's Prosperity,  
William Bingley.  
1 Pet. 5. 3. Being Ensamples to the Flock.  
Ephes. 5. 1, 2. And Be ye therefore Followers of God, as dear Children, and walk in Love, as Christ also hath loved us.  
Printed by Andrew Sowle: And sold at the Three-Keys in Nags-Head-Court in Grace-Church-Street, 1689.   

A TESTIMONY And wholesome Advice concerning MARRIAGE.  
MArriage is honourable in all, and the Bed undefiled, and it is God's Ordinance, and is not to be forbidden, and whom God joins together no Man is to put asunder; and this is the Marriage that hath a Blessing, that minds Gods Joining, and God's Ordinance; and the people of God were to practise it in all Ages, and the Faithful did observe and do it: As Abraham, the Father and Pattern of the Faithful, charged his chief Servant to go to his own People, and take a Wife for his Son Isaac; and said, the Lord God of Heaven and Earth shall send his Angel before thee; and his Servant (at God's appointment) took Rebekah, and Isaac brought Rebekah to his Mother's Tent, and took her to Wife, Gen. 24. So here was God's Ordinance and Gods Joining. And Isaac did not go contrary to God and his Father's mind to take a Wife of the Daughters of Canaan, nor had a Priest to marry them; and Isaac was blessed of God, and he gave him Jacob and Esau: And Esau despised his Birth right, and married of the Daughters of the Hittites, which grieved his Father and his Mother, Gen. 26. 35. So Esau went from Gods Joining, and grieved his Parents, and Rebekah said to Isaac, if Jacob take a Wife of the Daughters of the Land, such as these be, what good will my Life do me? Gen. 24. 46. So here you may see the great care of Rebekah to preserve her Son from the Snare that Esau was come into, in this of Joining in Marriage with other People; and Isaac called his Son Jacob and charged him, and said, thou shalt not take a Wife of the Daughters of Canaan, but shalt go to thy Mother's Kindred, and God Almighty bless thee and prosper thee, Gen. 28. And Jacob obeyed his Father and his Mother; and the Lord appeared to him in his Journey and blessed him, and said I will greatly multiply thee, and will be with thee: And Jacob said if God will bless me and prosper me in the way that I go, and bring me to my Father's house in Peace, then shall the Lord be my God, vers. 21. So here you may see Jacob minds the Lord, and obeyed his Parents in his choosing a Wife; and the Lord blessed him abundantly. And the Sons of Jacob could not suffer their Sister to marry with a Stranger though he was a great Prince. And the Jews which were the Offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were not to join in Marriage with other People; as it is written, thou shalt not take their Daughters to thy Sons, nor give thy Daughters to their Sons; for they will turn your Hearts from the Lord after other Gods, Deut. 7. 3. Jos. 13. 12. So here you may see, according to God's Ordinance, there is a power in Parents in giving their Daughters in Marriage, and in taking Daughters to their Sons; they have a part in their Children to give and take in case of Marriage. And when the Jews did mix in Marriage with other People, they corrupted them, and drew them from God, and kindled his Anger against them, as you may see, Numb. 25. where the young men took the Daughters of Moab, which kindled God's anger, and many of them died, and a great breach was made till Phinehas stood in the Gap, and stopped those proceed, and turned away God's Wrath; and these went from God's Ordinance and from Gods Joining, and went from the good example of their Fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And you may see that Solomon a wise King, his taking of Strangers turned his Heart to worship Idols, for which the Lord rend the Kingdom from him, only left him a Lamp in Israel for David his Father's sake: And you may see in all the Passages of the Jews revolting from God, for the most part, the chief reason was their matching in Marriage with other People, as in Nehemiah and Ezra, where you may see the Jews had taken Strangers of the Daughters of Ashdod, which grieved the Lord and his Servants Ezra and Nehemiah: So here you see they went from God's Ordinance and Gods Joining. And the Apostle saith to the Church, be not unequally yoked, a Believer with an Unbeliever, he accounts it as Light and Darkness, as Christ and Belial, as the Temple of God and Idols, 2 Cor. 6. for Believers in the Light of Christ Jesus are the Called of God, and the Seed of Abraham, and the Temple of God, and his Sons and Daughters, and are Heirs of the Promise in the New Covenant, and are Jews in Spirit, and have the Circumcision of the Spirit made without Hands, and are under the Law of the New Covenant which God hath written in their Hearts; and such cannot Join to give or take in Marriage, with any Sect or sort of Persons or People that believe not in the Light of Christ Jesus, with which he hath enlightened every Man that comes into the World; nor believe not in the Grace of God, but turn it into Wantonness; nor in the Law of the New Covenant which is written in the Heart according to Gods Promise: And do not worship God in Spirit, but in some form, without the Power of God; neither have received the Circumcision of the Spirit to circumcise their Hearts and Ears, such the Seed of Abraham must not Join with in Affinity of Marriage, nor take their Daughters to their Sons, nor give their Daughters to their Sons; for you see it is contrary to God's Ordinance, and contrary to the Spirit of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which were great Fathers and Patterns; and all the true Believers in Christ Jesus are to follow their steps in the New Covenant, and will charge their Sons and Daughters that they join not in Marriage with any, but amongst their own People, that are Worshippers of God in Spirit, and Children of such Believers as be of Faith and Society with them, in the Worship and Service of God; and such Children as fear God, and are reverend and obedient to Parents, which all are obliged to by the Law of the first Covenant, and by the Law of Christ Jesus, and by the Doctrine of the Apostles; I say such Children will keep their Parents Charge as Isaac and Jacob did, and not grieve and vex their Parents as Esau did his Father and his Mother, in marrying with the Daughters of Strangers: for such Parents as are of Isaac and Rebekah's Spirit are much concerned in this Case, and cannot but grieve when their Children join in Marriage with such as are before mentioned, and give away their believing Parents part that they have in them, to the World; which makes Confusion, and grieves God's good Spirit, and smites their Parents with Grief, and such as smote Father and Mother in the time of the Law were to die, Exod. 21. 15. for Parents have a great Power and part in their Children, as in Numb. 30. 3, 4, 5. If a Daughter in her Father's House unmarried make a Vow or Promise, her Father hath power to break it or establish it: and you may see, 1 Sam. 2. 3. & chap. old Eli did not use his Power to restrain his two Sons from their Wickedness, for which the Lord cut off the Arm of Eli, cut off his Family from the Priesthood; and Believers are a Royal Priesthood to offer to God spiritual Sacrifices. So they are to use their utmost Endeavours to restrain their Children from running into the World, which lies in Wickedness; or into their Fashions or Familiarity, which often doth great hurt, as Jacob's Daughter, in visiting the Daughters of the Land of Canaan, was defiled: So Friends are to be careful to watch over their Children, for their preservation from those things which Youth is prone to fall into to their great hurt; for we were but a few at the first when God called and chose us to be his People; and now there is a young Generation sprung up of young Men and Women, many of them sprung from the Loins of true Believers, and many of them runs into the Pride and Fashions of the World, and take Wives and Husbands of the World, and go to the Teachers of the World to be married; and so go from God's Ordinance and Gods Joining: And men of the World see that Friends are a thriving People in their outward Substance, which makes them seek after Friends Children to marry with them: And some Friends, when their Rebellious Children have so done, (through Indulgence and Affection to their Children, more than the public good) have given them Portions: And this encourageth the World to seek Friends Children in Marriage, and encourageth wanton Children to consent to them, by which means a breach is made upon our Youth, to the wounding and grieving the Spirits of the Faithful that are Abraham's Children, and are of the same mind with Isaac and Rebekah, and cannot give their Children in marriage to other People upon any account: But are willing to give their Children the same liberty as the Elders of Israel did to the Daughters of Zelophehad, who might marry to whom they pleased in their own Tribe. So Friends must use their godly endeavours, according to the utmost of their Power, to stop the gap of such proceed that their Arm be not cut off as old Eli's was. And you may see before the Flood, when the Sons of God married with the Daughters of Men, how it grieved God. And is it not all one when Friends marry with other People, and some Friends Children are surprised and hurt and spoiled, their Parents allowing them to go into the Finery and Fashions of the World, and to visit and company with proud People, as Jacob's Daughter did with the Daughters of Canaan, by which opportunity she was ensnared. So Friends are to prevent such things to the utmost of their Power, and stop the breach that is made upon us by these things, that you may inherit Phinehas' Portion, an everlasting Priesthood in Christ our Highpriest, and the Covenant of Peace in Christ Jesus, in whom there is Peace, which is the desire of your true Friend. W. E.  

The aforegoing Paper was read in the Men and women's Meetings, being assembled together in a weighty Sense of Truth, and Friends having good Unity with it, have added thereto the following Testimony.  
Dear Friends every where in this Nation, and elsewhere,  
WE being met together in the Name and Fear of the Lord, and his Presence and Power being with us; it was represented by several Friends, and that under a weight and burden of Spirit, that of late great hurt hath happened among Friends, through several young People going to the Priest to be married, and taking Husbands and Wives among the World, which hath been sometimes occasioned through too much Indulgence of Parents towards their Children, and sometimes through the stubbornness of Children towards their Parents, and not harkening to their Counsel.  
Now Friends, the Lord having established it as a Principle, that those that profess his everlasting Truth, should neither go to a Priest to be married, nor take Husbands or Wives from among the World, that are not of us; it fell weighty upon Friends to consider of some way according to the Truth, as much as in them lay, to endeavour to prevent such Practices for the future: And in order thereunto, after a serious debate and several weighty Testimonies in that case (both of Men and Women) Friends concluded on the following Advise and Counsel; desiring that Friends in their respective places and stations will in diligence put it in practice.  
First, That all Parents, both Men and Women, take care to educate their Children in the awe and fear of the Lord, according to the Principles of the blessed Truth, taking care to restrain them from such Company and Acquaintance that may allure them from the way of Truth, into the Vanity of the World; and likewise to restrain them in any other things that may have a tendency to draw their Minds from the fear of the Lord, and from the sense of his blessed Truth: That so through the sense of the Truth in themselves, it may so balance their natural Affections, that they may rightly see the states and conditions of their Children, as to give that wholesome Advice and Counsel that may answer the Witness of God in them.  
Secondly, If any Friends do perceive that their Children are under such a Temptation, as to go to a Priest to be married, or to take one of the World to Husband or Wife; if they will not hear that counsel and advice, which in the fear of the Lord they give them; then let them inform Friends, that they may deal with them in the order of the Gospel, that so, if possible, they may be preserved out of the snare, or the greater weight of Judgement may be laid on them by their Parents in particular, and Friends in general.  
Thirdly, If notwithstanding the advice and counsel of Parents and Friends, any young People do fall into the aforementioned evils; we desire and advise all Parents to keep very strictly to the principle of Truth in themselves, in their conduct towards their Children, which we believe will restrain them from passing by that act of great Disobedience unto themselves in particular, and the Lord and his Truth in general, until such time that Friends, through their true Repentance receive them into Unity again: And further, we believe that it will best answer the Truth, for parents' to withhold giving such disobedient Children any outward Portion, until such time they be reconciled to Truth and Friends as aforesaid; for the withholding that may be instrumental to cause them to enter into a consideration of their Disobedience to the Lord and their Parents, from whence true Repentance may spring, and not only so, but it may be an occasion to prevent others from falling into the same Snare, and may put a stop to some of the World in seeking after our Children on that account.  
Fourthly, We do desire that Friends in every place will have such a watchful Eye over one another in the fear of the Lord, that if they see any Parents negligent in their duty, by too much indulging their Children in those things that Truth doth not allow, that they admonish them of it in the Love of God, and Sense of Truth, that so things may be kept well amongst us.  
Fifthly, As in the weighty Sense of the blessed Truth we have given our advice and counsel in this particular. So in the same Sense we advise and counsel Friends in the general, that in all things they walk as becomes the Gospel, taking heed that in no respect they give way to any liberty which the Truth doth not allow of; for that is so far from the true Christian liberty that it hath a tendency to embodage the Soul again, as the Apostle said, Hold fast the Liberty wherewith Christ hath made you Free, and be no more entangled with the Yoke of Bondage. And as the Lord hath set Limits and Bounds in his Truth, our preservation doth consist in keeping within the bounds of it; in which we may expect the Blessings and Mercies of the Lord to rest upon us, and to be multiplied unto us and our Children, to the Praise of his Name for ever.  
Given forth at the National Men and women's Meetings, Assembled together in Dublin the 10th day of the Third Month, 1680.   
Signed in behalf of the said Meetings, By Alexander Se●●.  
THE END.   

AN EPISTLE FOR True Love, Unity AND ORDER IN THE Church of Christ. Against the Spirit of Discord, Disorder and Confusion, etc.  
Recommended to Friends in Truth, chief for the sake of the Weak and Unstable Minded, for Information and Encouragement in our Christian Unity and Society, held in the Spirit of Christ, both in Faith and Practice.  
By Two Servants of the Church, according to our Measures, Anne Whitehead, Mary Elson.  
But God hath tempered the Body together— that there should be No SCHISM in the Body, but that the Members should have the SAME CARE one for another, 1 Cor. 12.  
LONDON: Printed and Sold by Andrew Sowle at the Crooked-Billet in Holloway-Lane, near Shoreditch.   

in their own Wills, adventuring the Estates of others without their knowledge or consent; ●hen they themselves knows well enough 〈◊〉 if th●● Adventures fail, their Security must fail 〈…〉 how many Widows and Orphans, Old and 〈◊〉 are there oppressed and wronged by these things▪ Doth not such think and believe that the Want, Poverty, and Cry of these will bring down Vengeance 〈…〉 the Righteous God? or think they not, that God will vis●●●or these things for his precious Truth and Names ●●ke, and for the Cry of the Oppressed? yea, assuredly he will plead their Cause, and will disburden and clear his Truth and People of them, & their unrighteous Deeds together.  
Is it not our duty, both Old and Young, to set our Affairs in such a posture, as that we may be out of danger that any Body should suffer by us, while we in the mean time only aim at our own profit & advantage. Oh, let the Truth here be judge, and then I know the Elder Friends will labour to quit themselves in this matter, and so have power to put a stop and bridle to such young Ones as takes this course, or else the peril and reproach of both will lie at their Door in a great measure. Oh! that a holy Zeal may increase in many Hearts for the removing of this great Evil, and let go the eager desire of great profit; and every one to be content with his own, and serve the Lord and his Truth therewith according to his Ability. (and if he please, he will increase it) And take care of the younger sort, and become good Examples to them in this matter, that the stink of offences in this kind may be stopped, and the Truth of God may prosper and flourish more and more, Amen.  
Colchester the 29th of the 9th Mon. 1677. Geertruyd Derik Niesen.