O England, England, thy case is sore lamented, that there should be found in thee so much wickedness and ungodliness that hath so provoked the Lord to anger against thee; and hath stired up his wrath, that so unless speedy repentance and a returning unto him that hath smitten, and doth smite daily, there is no hope of recovering nor escaping his hand: But his Judgments will surely find you all out, and come upon you, if you continue in your wickedness, and in provoking the Lord of Hosts to jealousie, in your pride, drunkenness, and whoredom, and all manner of sin, against the Living God; contrary to the Light and spirit of Jesus; made manifest in your mortal flesh; ye shall perish eternally, for there is no other way for Mankind to come out of thraldom, and the bondage of corruption, (as all men by nature are involved in Adam in the fall) but by coming to the true Jesus the Light of the World, which is the Salvation in which the Nations of them that are saved must walk, which leads out of all sin and persecution,Revel. 21.24. and envy, which is the cause of the wrath of God to come upon a Nation, and this cause is come upon thee O England.

And wo and alass, for thee O England, the Land of my Nativi­ty; what art thou become a by-word to other Neighbour Nations; for thy wickedness and over and above all this, there is one sin over and above all the forementioned, and that is persecuting men for good Conscience sake towards God, thou O England which should be the wisest and the most Christian Nation in the World, how foul art thou become guilty of this hainous offence which hath caused the jealousie of God to burn like fire against thee; and in this thou exceedest all other Nations for wickedness; yea, I be­lieve even amongst the Turks and Heathens one might have more free liberty to exercise their Conscience towards God, then in thee O England; and they shall be brought in to condemn thee: Oh what cruelty hath been acted by thee against thy Inhabitants; Oh what spoiling of Goods and Estates; Oh what hailing into Prisons, and before Magistrates and Rulers, for the Testomony of [Page 2] a good Conscience, and because we could not pay Tyths, contrary to Gospel times,Hebr. 7.12. and the Administration thereof: And Oh how hath the false Prophet for his greedy gain made havock of the people, and even eaten them up, as a man doth eat up bread, and yet the long suffering of God hath borne this long, that so many people might think that God was not angry with them, or did not regard it at all; for because Judgment is not speedily executed, therefore is the heart of the wicked set to do wickedly; and therefore because of this is the Judgments of God in the earth: But wo and alass for thee O England, this sin is not only found in thee in this particular, but many more, especially one, against the Saints of the most High, whom God hath loved with an everlasting love, and whom he will be with, in fire and in water, and will never for­sake; and wo be to them from God that hurteth them: And that is this O England, persecuting peaceable People for Meeting toge­ther peaceably to Worship and serve the Living God, which is both according to Scripture, and the Liturgy,Read in the Com­munion. which saith, It is our aboundant duty at all times, & in all places (mark that) to call upon God, &c. and the Scripture is so full and pregnant in that behalf, that I need say little to the proofe of it; for all wise men know how that the Saints,Mat. 5.1. Acts 20.20. Act. 5.42. Apostles, and Christ Jesus our Lord himself, used Prayer or Preaching, sometime by the Sea side, and some­time on the Mountain; and the Apostles 'tis evident that they Preach'd the Gospel in the Temple, and in every House; what is that lawful now to preach the Gospel in a House? Nay, say they; Yes saith we, 'tis both agreeable to the Apostles Spirit and practise and the Liturgy also.

But wo and alass, what shall I say, my heart is even troubled within me, and my Bowels is even pained to see what persecution of late hath attended the people of God, for this very thing it would fill up a Chronicle, and deserves to be Chronicled, and is in the Book of Life; Oh what treadings and what stampings there hath been, and daily is, of the people of God; and oh what knock­ings and beating down the peaceable people of the most High, for Worshipping the Lord; no wonder if the Plague be begun, and Gods wrath be gone out against his Adversaries, who hath grum­bled at us, as you say in your Prayer-book, and hath despised our peaceable Meetings, and worship of God it self, no wonder if God smite the Nation. And oh what calls and crys hath been from us [Page 3] the peaceable people of God, even with our lives in our hands, that thou oh England might be reconciled to God; but oh how stiffe hath thy neck been, and how dull thy ear, and how hard thy heart against all reproofe, that even so many of thy Inhabitants hath chosen the worse way, and hath refused to be reproved, and would have none of his Councel, when his Messengers hath rose early, and gone late to bed I know to this very end, that thou mightest be re­claimed, who have preached the Gospel freely unto thee; Oh but many of thy Nation O Engl. hath refused, and hath hearkned to the dumb hireling that neither can nor never will gather you to God,Isa. 56.10, 11. but to themselves, that they might have their bellies filled; & this is the way of them O England, and they have made the World like a Wilderness, full of briers and thorns, that so the Lambs of Christ (who only hears him Christ the true Shepherd) can scarce go up and down now for the Wolves, though in sheeps cloathing the Scriptures, which were not given to be made a trade of, but to be fulfilled, which the Saints lives in the life of; for which life sake in us, we are a suffering people at this day.

But woe, and alass beside all these aforementioned evils inflict­ed upon our Estates and Bodies, not only in treding upon and knocking down, in our peaceable Meetings, but also to adde un­to these grievous sins against the Lord, they have not only done so, but they have taken the peaceable people of God, and thrown them in Holes and Dungeons, and all this for practising that which is as I said before, both according and agreeable to Liturgy and Scripture, 'tis no wonder if the Lord send a Plague into the Land, who resists the spirit of truth which is according to Scrip­ture, the justest Authority, which is to be obeyed above all Au­thorities; for mark, Christ is to be the head of the Church,Col. 1.18. that in all things relating thereunto, he may have the preheminence, as the Husband is to be the head of the Wife, so 'tis a vain thing to cause people to worship contrary to their Consciences, 'tis but to make people hypocrites, to make people to Worship or not to Worship, contrary to the work of God and spirit of truth in our hearts, who leads us only to Worship God in his own way: I say unto you all, and that in the name of the Lord, you that are found opposers heerin, you shall be broken to pieces, for God will have his own way, and not his way set out by you, who are in the fallen estate, who are miserable sinners, as you say, how are you [Page 4] like to prescribe the way of the pure God, and limit the Holy one to your forme and none else; methinks you might see your selves blind in this thing, for there is a way which no Fowl knoweth, nor which no Vulturs eye hath seen, nor Lions Whelp trod in, who are in the uncircumcised nature, who are miserable offenders, and doth those things you ought not, &c. and those have never seen the way of God, nor know it; what Vulturous eyes hath been in this Nation, that they can scarce let a Man go on the street but they will have a by-word for him; people is so full of the venome of Aspes, even under their tongue, and these are not like to pre­scribe wayes for God to be Worshipped, who are so like the Lions Whelp, tearing and rending, and puting people out of the Church before they be got in; nay, but these are like the Beast and his Followers,Rev. 13.15. who would compell all both small and great to worship him, into the wrong way from the right, this is the Beast indeed.

And oh what killing hath been this day about Religion and Worship, and forcing to or fro to the false from the true, and what killing and knocking down in the very streets, as I said before quite contrary and opposite to the Apostles Doctrine, who saith touching Religion,Phil. 2.3. saith he, do nothing by strife but in love and gentleness instruct, &c. If God will give them repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth,2 Tim. 2.25. mark that, ye Heads and Rulers of England, for God, yea even our God, hath a controversie with you; and be not proud, for the Lord hath spoken, for he can bring down the high and the mighty, and raise them of low degree, for them he will exalt, for we have seen the mighty abased, and the loftiness of the lofty laid low; and what was the cause of this? to wit, sin and transgression, and afflicting the just, and limiting the Holy One to their own wayes, which was not Gods way, for Gods wayes is to love enemies, which is the badg and true Cognisance as you say of a Christian, and have you not manifested this love of yours what it is, that it is but in word and in tongue, not in deed; for love thinks no evil, love kills not about Religion, and Worship, Church and Faith, but your love as I said before, is manifest, and the Nations have seen it, and the blood of many Martyrs & Saints shall be required at your hands, even you the Heads and Rulers of this Nation, who hath drunk the blood of the Saints, and now God is giving you something else to drink, and will do even the reward of unrighteousness which you have purchased unto your selves, who hath despised both warning and reproofe.

[Page 5]Oh England, England, that thou wouldst see the cause of the Judgment of God in the Earth, and remove the same thou migh­test yet be happy, for I know God is as yet striving as I may say, with some of thy Inhabitants, that if by any means they may re­turn. Oh I have a word from God in my heart, oh that the King and the Councel might lay it to heart, and that is this, that if any would perswade thee and thy Nobles, that we who are called Quakers, is the cause of the Judgment of God in the Earth; I say unto thee (in the name of the Lord) believe them not, & so to stir thee up against us to afflict us, the Lord hath not spoken by them, for that spirit (mark that) in all ages which stirred up to persecute even from Cain to this day, was not the spirit of Christ, but the spirit of enmity which God will overthrow.

So King Charles hearken not to their spirit, but to the spirit of God in thy heart, which will tell thee if thou be serious, thou should love enemies, and not kill them in this cause; but we are thy friends and seeks thy peace and welfare in that which is ever­lasting, and shews thee and all the World the cause and the way how to remove Gods hand and sore Visitation off thee and the Land, that is to say, to loose the bands of wickedness,Isa. 58.6. and to let the oppressed go free; this were the only way for thee O King, and all thy subordinate Ministers to obtain to perfect peace with God, and to curb all sin, and licentiousness, lying, swearing, pride, drunkenness, and adultery, with many more before named; because of which the Land mourns.

But wo and alass, there is one thing that we must require of thee and the Nation, and that will tend to thy peace, and the peace of all men, and that is, Liberty of Conscience towards God, in matters of Religion, or relating thereunto; how canst thou and the Nation O King deny us of this superlative privilege which is allowed by Christ, and the Apostle who said in matters of Reli­gion,Rom. 14.5. as every one was perswaded in his own heart so to walk, and did not preach up persecution and to kill mens lives, that's of an­other spirit, then of Christs, who came to save mens lives, but left it to the Lord that he might perswade them that were in er­ror, the error of their wayes, &c. and so we request it of thee O King, and the Heads of this Nation, as you will all answer it at the dreadful day of Gods Judgments, to reverse that law of yours, which you have made for the persecution of them of tender Con­sciences, [Page 6] and for banishing those whom God hath loved, with an everlasting love, who cannot deny their God for the wrath of men, and for meeting together in the publick Worship, to worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness,Joh. 1.21, 22, 23, 24 for the which so many and hainous offences have been committed against us, & charged upon us; yet I say the God of Heaven bears us witness, and the Testi­mony of God in all hearts, that we are clear and innocent, and we contain'd for nought but the truth; and we are subject to Magi­stracy, which would be charged against us, for not being subject, but we are either in doing or in suffering, and I never knew a Quaker that lifted up his hand against any man; though as I said before, we have been stamped upon as the mire in the streets; and so let none say we are not subject, for in that we cannot do what man requires of us; I say we are subject in suffering the wrath of the wicked, and the Angel of Gods Heavenly presence hath been and still is with us, to carry his chosen on in all sufferings for his names sake, untill the suffering of his seed be full, and then we know that God will plead our cause, and it is at hand; and so I say to make laws to banish men for Worshipping of God in the Spirit, and praying and singing in the Spirit, which is the publick Worship set up by Christ himself,John 4. and to pretend the same your selves, and to kill and banish them who are in the life of the Scrip­tures, & of the Saints that spoke them forth, this is an error indeed.

And hear O ye Nations this thing, and especially thee O Eng­land, who should have been the glory of them all, how unmerciful­ly hast thou used the Messengers of the most High, and what laws hath come out of thee against my people saith the Lord; so that God is beginning to plead with thee O England, even above all other Nations, because of thy wicked laws against the servants of the most High, whom God hath loved with an everlasting love, and on whom his Heavenly Countenance shines, and is his onely Jewels, and as dear to him as the apple of his eye: And is this your end and purpose, and to throw Men and Women even into infected Prisons for Meeting together in the fear of God, and to worship him; oh shame and hard heartedness, was ever the like in any Nation, hath the like been heard of, surely God will require it at your hands; Oh consider these things and weighty causes, for God will judge righteously, and in the day of Gods Righteous Judgments we shall be clear; and this in short, in a word, from [Page 7] God unto you, If you persist on to do your work of persecution, and do not desist from, nor change that law which you have made against us, you shall utterly fall, the Lord hath spoken it; and thus the cause is truly stated, why the Judgments of the Lord is in the Earth; and if you O ye Heads and Rulers would remove the cause, the effect might cease, which sin and persecution▪ for good Conscience sake is the great cause, not only naturally in puting people where the Plague is, but supernaturally to remove the wrath of the Almighty; Oh therefore be wise O ye Kings,Psal. 2.10, 11, 12. and be ye instructed O ye Judges of the Earth, serve the Lord with fear and rejoyce with trembling; kiss the Son least he be angry with you, and you perish from the right way; for if his wrath be but kindled a little, blessed are all they that put their trust in him: And oh call in that unrighteous Decree that it may never be heard of in other Nations, (that a Christian Magistrate should perse­cute and banish, and as it were kill his subjects, for their Consci­ence sake towards the Lord) and this of a truth from the Lord, is the way to procure the blessing and remove the curse, which so long as the contrary is lived in, no blessing can surely attend the Nation, but God will find all the evil doers out of the earth; and so God almighty keep and preserve all his people pure and holy before him, that you may all be cloathed in white, and have on the Wedding Garment, and be kept innocent and harmless before him, sacrificed up in a clear Conscience, waiting for his Son from Heaven, who will refresh all his Children with his Heavenly pre­sence, and water them with the dew of Heaven, and your Souls shall be satisfied as with fatness, for the visitation of the Lord of Hosts is gone over the Nation, and they who receives not his call, and visitation of his tender love towards them, but hardens their own hearts; well we must leave them to the Lord, only to dis­charge my duty towards God and all Mankind, I rest and remain a friend to you all in the bonds of the Covenant of God, waiting for the restauration of the Creature out of the bondage of cor­ruption and slavery of sin into the glorious liberty of the Sons of God, in which I rest. S. H.

The occasion of this was partly in Answer to a Book which I have seen, wherein they would seem to lay the blame or the guilt of the judgment of God upon the innocent, and to let the guilty go free, which may serve for an Answer to the same, and the cause more truly and rightly stated then they have stated it.

[Page 8]But if any object and say if we be the cause of this heavy Judg­ment of the Lord in this Nation, how is it then that you do suffer so deeply, and many of you are taken away in it?

I answer, first for these reasons.

First, because we did believe, and do believe always that in a common calamity such a one as this is, that the Just may suffer as well as the unjust, though the unjust be the instrumental cause of the suffering of the just, & God may and doth undoubtedly take the one to himself in love, & the other is separated from him in wrath.

2ly. Because Solomon saith, God taketh away the Righteous with the wicked; and as the one dieth, so dieth the other, though as I said be­fore, the one in love, the other in wrath.

3ly. Because God hath visited the Nation many years, and hath sent his Prophets and Messengers amongst them crying, turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; thus Gods Visitation hath gone over the Nation, and they who have not received this love of God, but hardned their hearts against all reproofe, that so it is just with the Lord to take away the Righteous with the wicked, that so and for this very reason, that they might be blinded, and that they might not discern the Righteous from the ungodly.

4ly. And lastly we may see and 'tis evident that that in David where he caused Joab to number the people, contrary to the com­mand of God, and there died 70000. and said he, what hath these sheep done? He knew the guilt was in him, for his heart did smite him; but said he, let thy hand be upon me and my Fathers House: Thus you may plainly see, how that the innocent or sheep may suffer for the transgression of others. Thus with many more rea­sons which might be given as to that Objection, why we suffer in this affliction, or in any common calamity.

Though I say and do still believe that God hath a remnant that he will preserve through it to bear witness to his name in a greater tryal if it come: And doubtless there is yet a Remnant that God will gather to himself, out of all the false ways of the World, and sandy foundations into the true way of God, and to the true foundation, Christ the Rock, the true Light of the World, which abideth one and the same for ever.