who will be avenged on them; for the wounded they have not healed, nor comforted those who were sick, neither have they brought back again that which was driven away, but with force and cruelty have they ruled; but the Lord God is now come in His mighty power to take their power from them, and deliver His people out of their hands, which have long been made a prey upon by them, and reward them double for their doings. So you, my dear neighbours, do not uphold them any longer in their sin, in satisfying their greedy desires, lest you partake with them of their plagues, and of the wrath of God that is coming upon them, from which they cannot escape; for they have grieved the Spirit of the Lord from day to day, to see what havoc they have made in the nation of England, by spoiling, and causing spoil to be made, of people's goods and estates. Oh, their sin is great, and grievous to be borne, and the cry of their oppression and their iniquity is entered into the ears of the Lord, that He is even grieved and sore vexed at them; for they have trampled upon His witness in them, and have pressed Him with their sin, as a cart is pressed with sheaves, so that He can bear no longer with them, because their iniquity doth abound. Oh, search the Scriptures, and see if they do not go beyond and exceed the false prophets of old, in deceit and subtle hypocrisy. Oh, they might even blush for shame, to consider what they have done, and caused to be done, which will fall sad and heavy upon them, when the Lord calls them to an account, and requires His flock at their hands; then shall they roar and weep bitterly, and wish they had never been born, when calamity and anguish of spirit overtake them, which they will certainly meet withal, for the Lord hath spoken it, who will perform His promise, that the beast and the false prophet shall go into the lake together, and forever be tormented with the devil and his angels. For thither must they go, and all that join with them must partake of their punishment. So, dear friends and people, take heed what you do, in joining with such who lead you to destruction, for they are walking in the broad way themselves, and will lead you after them into the pit of perdition, where they must remain forever; for they will not enter

into the kingdom themselves, nor suffer you, if they can hinder. And will not the Lord arise for the redemption of His seed? Yea, surely, He is arisen already, to shake the nations that resist Him; and hath given the power to His Son, who shall rule the nations with a rod of iron, and they that will not bow to His government must be destroyed and broken to pieces; the mouth of the Lord of Hosts hath spoken it.

So, dear friends and people, young and old, mind well what is written, and ponder it in your hearts, for in love to you all do I speak; the Lord is my witness that this is not written in any prejudice of mind to any man's person, neither in prejudice or envy against the priests or the false prophets, but against their evil actions which we see in them, which we loathe and detest; for never did the true prophets of the Lord seek their gain from their quarter, as these priests now do in this generation; nor did they ever sue men at law for tithes, as these priests do now; neither did they that the Lord sent forth to declare His mind and will, make bargains with people for so much a year, or abide in one town for many years together, as these priests do now; nay, they went from one place to another, from city to city, and from country to country, in obedience to the command of the Lord, as Jeremiah and the rest of the true ministers did, to whom the Word of the Lord came, saying, "I have ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." Mark, not to a town or a city, to remain in for many years together, but to the nations; and in obedience to the living God, he testified against the world, that their deeds were evil; but they could not bear his words, but said, he was worthy to die; and so the priests and false prophets joined with the princes and rulers of the people, and cast him into prison, and into the dungeon, where he did sink amongst the mire that was in it. Read in his prophecy, and you will find it so; and this was that which the true prophets and ministers of Christ received from the world where they went, putting in stocks, whipping, and imprisonments; thus were they requited evil for good in all ages, for their love which they did bear to the souls of the sons of men; and the same must we expect from this generation

wherein we live; we whom the Lord hath called to place His name in, and hath sent us forth in this day of His love, to preach His everlasting gospel to them which dwell upon the earth, in love and pity to their souls; but they regard it not, though we go thousands of miles for the seed's sake, which lies in death; yet the reward of our labour from them is prisons, and whips to scourge us withal, and knives prepared to cut off ears, and irons hot, to burn in the hand; thus are we requited evil for good, for testifying against the world that their deeds are evil; and therefore do they hate us, as they did Christ and His apostles, and call us deceivers, fools and heretics, Jesuits, and the like, because we speak the Truth to them, and cannot join with them in their abominations, but stand as witnesses for the Lord God against them. Therefore do the priests and rulers join hand in hand together against us, as they did against the true prophets, Christ and His apostles, as you may read in the Scriptures of Truth, which bear testimony to these things. So, dear neighbours and people where this may come, consider my end in writing this unto you. The Lord is my witness that this is not written to set up ourselves and pull down others; but it is written for your sakes, that you might come to see the deceit of your own hearts, which hath long lodged in you, and also the deceit of the priests in this generation, that seek their gain from their quarter, and keep you captive in Babylon and Egypt, where our Lord is crucified, as they did many of us in time past, where we were bewitched by their sorceries and their smooth words, in speaking peace to us, when our souls lay in death, unconverted in our fallen estates, as they are at this day, so they could not help us out of it, being in it themselves. Thus were we led by them in blindness for many years together, ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth by them. If the Lord had not looked upon us with an eye of pity, we had surely perished under their teaching, because they are out of the doctrine of Christ and His apostles, who were sent to open blind eyes, and turn people from darkness to the Light of Christ in them, and from the power of Satan to God. But these priests

labour in this generation to keep people in darkness, in blindness, and in ignorance; in death, in their unconverted estate, that so they might not see their deceit, as we do. The Lord open your eyes, that you may see how you have been led astray out of the true way which leads unto eternal life. Oh, my love in tenderness runs out to you all, my dear neighbours and acquaintance, in bowels of compassion and pity to your souls, which lie in death, as mine hath done; but the Lord, in His eternal love and pity to my soul, hath redeemed me from my fallen estate, and raised my soul from death to life, and out of the pit, wherein it lay dead in trespasses and sins; and seeing the Lord hath done this for me, I cannot but declare it to the sons of men, and praise His name in the land of the living, who hath done great things for me; and when I consider, and ponder it in my heart, my soul is ravished with His love, and broken into tears, to consider His kindness toward me, who was by nature a child of wrath, as well as others. Oh, the consideration of His love hath constrained me to follow Him, and to give up all for His sake, if it be for the laying down of my life; for none are the disciples of Christ but they who follow Him in the cross and through sufferings; and they who love anything more than Him are not worthy of Him. Now, mind well, and consider what I say: the true, unfeigned love to God doth not break the love from one another; but it breaks the bands of wickedness, as strife, debate, anger, and envy, that have lodged in the mind, one against another; and when these things are destroyed in men and women, then comes the love of God to abound in them, and increase one to another; and this I witness, and the Lord beareth me testimony to what I speak, that my love is dearer and nearer to those in relation to me than ever it was before; and I know some of them feel it so. Yea, the Lord whom I serve, knows my heart, that I lie not, but speak the truth to you all, that so you might not stumble, nor have any prejudice in your minds against me without a cause, who am a lover of all your souls, and for that cause is this written to you, that you may know it is so; for the Lord knows I do not forget you, though I be thousands of

miles from you, because of the simplicity that was in some of you, who were my neighbours and acquaintance, for I am one who has obtained mercy from the Lord, through judgment and great tribulation, which all must pass through, before they come into the land of Canaan; they must be regenerated and born again, and know a dying to sin and that which they have delighted in, before they witness a living to righteousness; the old man must be put off, with his deeds, before the new man be put on, Christ Jesus, the Son of the living God, who is the express image of His Father's glory, who is taking His people to Himself out of the jaws of the beast and false prophets, who have long made a prey upon them. But the day is come, and coming, that they shall no longer make a prey upon them, for the Lord hath said it, that He will teach His people Himself, and under His government shall they dwell safely from the devourer and venomous beast, which hath long had his seat in the earth amongst the sons of men; and by him they have been led captive at his will, to do his work and service, for it was pleasing to them; thus hath the devil's work been done for a long time together, and the Lord's work neglected, which should have been done; thus have men and women been growing, as trees of unrighteousness, bringing forth fruit to the unrighteous one, the prince of darkness, which hath long reigned, and had possession in the heart of man. So, all dear people, consider well of your conditions, that you may see what trees you are, and to whom you bring forth fruit; and this concerns you all to know, from the least of you to the greatest; for the Lord is no respecter of persons, but in every nation, he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, is accepted of Him; who is our hiding-place, and rock of sure defence, for us to flee unto, where we are kept safe in the hollow of His hand. So, dear neighbours and people, consider that you have long been labouring for the meat that must perish and come to an end; now it stands you all in hand, to seek after the living bread and hidden manna that comes down from above, and is given to feed the hungry and strengthen the feeble-minded; and verily it is so, in love and plainness to you