And dear friends & fellow creatures, there seems a call in my heart unto you that carefully mind the visitation of the love of God, which is set forth by our Blessed Saviour in the parable concerning the prodigal son, setting forth the great love of God to mankind, and his readiness to receive those that repent of their evil ways and willingly return to him. And I warn the earthly minded that they may be stirred up to give due heed to the witness of God in their hearts, which, being joined with, will remove the clods of the earth that have long buried the Seed that God hath sown there, and so have been benumbed as to the sense of the great end of their creation, and that which ought to be of the greatest concern have but little place in the mind, to wit the honour of God, and the well-being of the soul, which is a cause of sorrow to those that are truly concerned for the prosperity of Sion.
And in fear & reverence am I thus concerned to expose my self at this time, and in that love that wishes well to all mankind, am enabled to bear the censure of them whose hearts are not seasoned by the virtue of Truth, blessed be the name of God, who is ready at every needful time to make hard things easy & bitter things sweet. I am concerned at this time to call to the professors of the holy Truth, that they may be still and wait upon God, that by virtue of his holy gift in the heart we may be sensible what our works have been, and what foundation we are building upon, and if upon a narrow search we find we are building upon that foundation our blessed Saviour spoke of to Peter (to wit) the revelation of the will of God from heaven, which the church of Christ is built upon then the appearance of the holy Spirit will be with comfort & consolation, tho' the Lord may try the faith of these sometimes for the fitting of them for service in his church when those who are resting in a profession will certainly suffer loss. My desire is that none may slight the day of their visitation until it be over, and have to say, when it is too late, "the summer is ended, & I am not gathered," for the Lord will be clear of the blood of all men and his faithful servants will be clear and have peace in the discharge of their duty.
And dear friends I now mention that which hath lay as a burden on my mind, and have been distressed under the consideration of it (at times,) not expecting to publish it after this manner till of late, which is the unnecessary & too frequent use of spirituous liquors in general, and particularly the custom of taking it into the harvest field, which is a means to draw those whose inclination is after it into a snare and thereby elevate their minds, and raise their spirits above the pure witness of God, which is certainly a great evil, being thereby put out of a capacity solidly to consider how thankful we ought to be in the time of gathering in the mercies & favours of God. And it would be well to consider whether they are clear that put it in the way of such poor creatures, whereby they are rendered unfit for proper labour, and often are not only disturbers of others that desire to be better disposed, but sometimes have overcome some & been their end. Such are the sorrowful effects of making to free with strong liquors, tho' there may be some who have gone into the above practice who have been careful to keep things in the best order they could. But if those whose desire is after it should come under their care, they will find it difficult to keep such in good order, as I have found by experience when we were in the practice of it; and a fear hath seized my mind that some masters of fields, who make profession of the Truth, are too easily drawn into the excessive use of strong spirits, and thereby rendered very unfit to guide others, which conduct is a reproach to the Truth they profess, and displeasing to God, the fountain of all our mercies.
There is another case wherein this custom is of pernicious consequence, & I have to mention it in fear before the Lord, that is concerning boys and girls, many of them trained up too much in the use of strong liquors, which may in time increase their desires after it, that as they grow up, instead of growing in grace and true religion they will grow in drunkenness. This must need be a sorrowful consideration, that the children of any people should be trained after this manner, and I believe I am not alone, but that others are burdened with that practice as well as other prevailing excesses; and desire those who see the evils that may attend it, and bear a faithful testimony against it by example as well as precept.
I have sometimes admired that trading in rum & other strong liquors did not prove too heavy for these professors of the holy Truth (now in this day of tryal & great commotions, a day of sifting indeed) considering the destruction it makes on some, and oppression on others. This thing, I desire may be considered: 'tis most likely most concerned in that trade account drunkenness an odious evil, and it may be well for those to consider whether importing & selling such great quantities of that which ought to be taken only as physick in the right use of it is not encouragement thereto.
Oh the great consumption of strong spirits in that little time of harvest, the greatest part of which I fear is spent to the hurt of both soul & body, and a dishonour to God the fountain of all our mercies, which ought to be a time of prayer and humble thankfulness to him that he may continue his blessings and favour to us. I desire, friends, we may not forget the labour & exercises of our worthy elders who had a testimony to bear against those things that were dishonourable to God, and that nothing was too near to part with to win Christ. They gave up life and all rather than displease the Lord, or be any hindrance to the spreading of the Truth in the earth, that the children of men might believe in it, and be delivered from evils, and were this the general concern of the professors of Truth, I believe the Lord would yet favour and withhold his judgments that it seems to me we have been threatened with, and I believe we may expect without a reformation in the land.
It is in fear before the Lord I have to mention these things and press it home to the consideration of the people. Let us not forget the shaking of the rod over us, it has seemed to me very close, threatening to withhold the produce of the land from us, and if the Lord should thus visit us in his great displeasure, what will become of those that have spent their time in forgetfulness of him? It has often seized my mind that if the Lord should send scarcity of bread among us, that the aforementioned excesses may be one great cause thereof, it making that noble creature man lower than the beasts of the field.
And let those that are concerned how they can be clear of that evil of drunkenness when it is well known if there was no more used then what is really necessary it could not be made a trade of in that manner, for I believe it is putting those things to another use then was intended by the giver thereof, and it has fixed on my mind it very displeasing to him, and has been one cause of the blast on the fruit. Oh the need there is for all ranks to be concerned to use the good things the Lord bestows on us with moderation, & the people to humble themselves before him as the Ninevites did, for I believe that nothing but true repentance will stay the judgments that seems to hang over us. Oh remember the day of accounts hastens, and to those that will not run to the Lord in the day of his mercy, but are pursuing the gain or pleasures & delights of this world it will be a dreadful day, and there is need for the elders to breath to God, that the camp may be searched, the hidden things brought to Light that hinders the prosperity of truth, and that being thoroughly washed pure charity one towards another may abound, and thereby we shall be good way marks to others. And when a thing appears that is reproachful to truth, a concern will arise to lay a hand on it in order for a reformation. I believe there are faithful elders who go mourning on their way because of the evils that prevail in the churches, and also many young ones who lie as hid from man, that are further on their journey heavenwards then some who make a great appearance, & those hidden ones the Lord beholds, tho' they may have to mourn in secret and say, "How shall I get along, when some are falling on one hand & some on the other, which ought to be way marks to others." My desire is that no tender breathing babe may be discouraged, for the Lord is on their side that walk in fear before him of what age or station soever.
And I now being eased of that which lay as a burden on my mind, and has at times been as a fire
in my bosom that wanted vent, but when I beheld something after this manner would be required
of me, and looking at my own weakness, the cross seemed to heavy to bear, that I reasoned, oh
that the Lord would choose one better qualified, that the people may hear, forgetting that he
works sometimes by mean instruments, thereby setting forth his great power, to the pulling down
that which is an abomination to him. Thus I reasoned and shrunk under the cross until the divine
presence departed from me, and he by his judgments made me willing to give up to his requiring.
Having been drawn forth into things beyond my expectation, I conclude with desires that all who
profess Christianity may search their own hearts & see how they follow Christ and submit to his
will in all things, and if any receive benefit by these lines, let the praise be given to God to whom
it belongs, who is the author of all good, and is worthy of all honour and praise with his dear Son
the Lamb, now and for ever.
Kennit in Chester County
the 9th of the 5th mo. 1761
Elizabeth Levis