Oh, ye rulers of the darkness of this world! whose end is come and the measure of your iniquity,-unto what shall I liken you? whereunto shall I compare you? Whither shall I go to fetch your judgment? unto what nation to condemn you?

Shall I take a view of the Indians near you? Their kindness to those people in entertaining them in their wigwams or tents, as their inns, upon their travels in the night, when otherwise nothing but the open wilderness must have lodged them, in cold and rain, in hunger and thirst, and weariness in their journeying to you and being banished from you; their readiness to take off, of themselves, the upper garments of those people, and hang them up about the fire when these came in wet; their making ready warm meat, such as they had, and good fires for them; their furnishing them with provisions, and freely too, and guiding them scores of miles in the woods, who otherwise, as to men, might have perished. For their travellings were harder than their sufferings, though their sufferings were very hard, as you will hear by and by and do know in part who inflicted it upon them; their lying in woods, the hardness to find the way, the fordings of rivers, yea, when somewhat frozen with the ice; the danger of falling into great rivers ere they were aware-in the moonlightthrough the thickets; with much more, too long to relate, which doth sufficiently speak it. Their discovering of the working of some of your priests, when they were got amongst them, to destroy them, and for the Indians to do it, which they refused; they commiserating the sufferings which those people received at your hands, and being glad of their deliverance; and their crying out against your cruelty exercised upon these servants of the Lord about the worship of their God, doth sufficiently condemn you.

Shall I pass from them over the globe, the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, the Equinoctial Line? Shall I return to Europe, to Ultima Thule, the utmost North, and make a search amongst those nations? There I shall find them passing quietly through Sweden and Denmark, bearing their testimony amongst Calvinists, so called, and Lutherans; yea, the King of Denmark himself friendly receiving books from one of them, John Hall, with

his own hand, at Copenhagen, his royal city, and suffering him, who gave them to him with his head covered, to pass in safety after some discourse together,-thus reproving you.

Shall I pass the Sound, and tread the weary steps of a traveller through Jutland, Gluckstadt, Hamburg, Embden, and other towns and countries in the East of Germany, and so to Heidelberg, the chief city of the Palatinate, and there stay a little: there I shall understand of a quiet passage in and through them all, and of the Prince Elector Palatine of the Rhine sending to William Ames, who first ministered and gathered a people in those parts, and of his own accord taking off the fine of twelve pounds laid by his chief magistrate on whosoever should entertain William, and giving him free liberty to declare against evil in his dominions. I shall there also understand of the said Prince Elector's forbidding him to go to the High Council of the Church, as it is called, they having summoned him to appear, saying, "that he would take him off." And when the said council, notwithstanding, summoned him again, the prince,-hearing that he was in the city, viz., at Heidelberg, where his palace was, and the convocation of the priests,—I shall find that he sent two of his servants, one after the other, for him to come and dine with him; and, when he came, that he told him, "That he knew not of his being in the city before; that the priests had no such power as to send for him, nor should have such power. That he had reproved the priests for what they had done; and bade him, if ever they sent for him again, not to obey, them." That he rebuked one of the chiefest of the priests of that council for saying, 'that they (viz., the priests) would give out queries in writing for him to answer;' and that he charged the said priests, in the presence of W. Ames, that they should give forth none; though William was as ready to answer as the priests to give forth. That the prince used much moderation, as did also his sister; that she received very friendly what was spoken by William in way of exhortation to her; that neither of them were offended at what was spoken by him to them, nor at the hat, nor with plain language, thou and thee. I shall there also understand that, when, about the space of a year

after, William Ames and another Friend, viz., John Higgins, came to visit the prince, that he very lovingly received them; that the captain of his life-guard told the said William, "That the prince was very glad that he was come into the country again; that he had given him order to supply them (though they neither wanted, nor asked, nor received) with whatever they wanted, either money or clothes," in which his love was seen and accepted. That he very friendly received divers books from them, both then and at times before. And that when, at another time, Samuel Fisher and John Stubbs were there from England, and had given notice to his secretary that they had something in writing to present the prince, that he sent for them into his presence-chamber, where was also his sister, and received it and a book enclosed gladly from them, their hats being on, expressing much desire after Friends' books, and receiving, at another time, a great book of George Fox's and a letter from William Ames by the hands of John Higgins; and charging him to thank William for his book. Moreover I shall find that he had much discourse with them; that he told them that he took their coming in love; that he believed they spoke in love to their souls, and that he gave them thanks for their love. That after a while, being called to supper, he took them with him; that he showed them his house, that he kept them by him whilst he did eat; that they had discourse with his chaplains and divers of his great men whilst they did eat; that neither the prince nor any of them, during all that time,-though it was a season of greater pomp and state than ordinary, the prince and his nobility being met about the choice of a new emperor,-manifested any offence at their discourse or at their being covered, though, according to their custom, the prince and his nobles sat with their hats off; but, on the contrary, the prince manifesting much satisfaction with what they said, and inquiring after William Ames and how he did, saying, "He was not well when he was last with him;" that in friendship and love they departed; that they had free liberty to meet in any part of his dominions,-in the very heart of which there is a Meeting of Friends, gathered into the Truth by the said William Ames aforesaid, who meet to

gether with the said prince's knowledge, and whose meeting; are peaceable.

Lastly, I shall there find, that when John Stubbs and Samuel Fisher were afterwards in Germany, that the Secretary of State, the next officer in power under the prince, and divers of their ministers sent to them, to give him and the said ministers a meeting; that Samuel Fisher met them alone, John Stubbs not being well; that he had much moderate discourse with them, and liberty a pretty time, and that he quietly passed away after that the Secretary of State and ministers had expressed much thankfulness to him for his love, who were not offended at his hat or plainness of speech, all which make ye manifest.

Shall I journey hence into Lower Germany, the United Provinces and the cities thereof, and make an inquisition through some of the principal of them, as Amsterdam, Schiedam, Leyden, Rotterdam, Zutphen, and Middleburgh? In Amsterdam I shall find a people gathered, meeting. in peace, and free liberty of passing up and down in those provinces for the declaring of Truth. And at Middleburgh, in Zealand, I shall find a Friend speaking in a steeple-house after the minister had done, and a quiet reasoning there, for the space of half an hour, in the presence of one of the Heers or lords of that place, who was very moderate and discoursed in English with that Friend for some space of time, without taking offence at his hat or the plain language; and then desired further discourse with him at the minister's house, whither they went together. There they had very moderate discourse in the presence of many persons of quality, who neither were offended at his being covered nor with his plain language, but were very courteous to him; and when they had done, sent two with him to accompany him to his lodgings. And in the same city of Middleburgh, another Friend, Christopher Birkhead by name, of Bristol, in England, being in prison, on information being given thereof by some Friends to Newport, the States-general Ambassador, then resident in England, I shall find that the said States-general Ambassador wrote to the magis

trates there, and the magistrates thereupon setting him at liberty, -thus condemning you.

Shall I take shipping from Flushing, and pass to Calais on the one hand, and return back to Holland, and so to Geneva and Switzerland on the other, and foot it through some of the chief cities in France, viz., Lyons, Paris, Valence, Orange, Rochelle, and Morlaix, to Tyrol in the Alps, and so into Italy, to Leghorn in Tuscany, to Venice, and to Rome?-time would fail me to instance all,-there I shall meet with Friends passing and repassing safely, continuing in divers cities sometimes, and passing through them, even in Italy, the most complimental of any, and returning to England, though they were examined before divers in authority in those complimental places, who neither scrupled at their passage nor at their hats. At Paris, one of them being in the Bastile, in prison, was served daily with the same provisions as was a nobleman of theirs in the same prison, at the king's charge, and afterwards set at liberty. At Morlaix, another of them, William Salt, being in prison for reproving their maskings, which were tolerated by law, and his life vehemently sought after by the bailiff of that town for so doing, I shall find the king, upon information thereof by the English Ambassador, Lockhart, by means of a merchant in that town, whom God stirred up in the thing, I say, I shall find the king sending a letter, under his hand and seal, to set William Salt presently at liberty, taking notice in the said letter that he was imprisoned for reproving of maskings, tolerated by law; and, when the king was informed that he was not set at liberty, I shall find him sending another letter to the Duke of Modena to see it effected; and that, upon its receipt, he was free, he having become, as it were, but as the shadow of a man through the hardship of his sufferings. At Rochelle, I shall find the judge of the criminals working the liberty of Christopher Birkhead, after he had been examined by the bishop, and continued a pretty space of time against the judge of the civil court, and discharging him, though he both spoke and wrote against the Popish religion. At Leghorn, in Tuscany, John Perrot and his companion, John Love, being had to the Inquisition, otherwise called the Pope's