GOD, who at sundry times, and in divers manners, in the dayes of old, spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets, hath now in these latter dayes spoken unto us by the Revelation of his Son, the LORD from Heaven; who in the fulness of the dispen­sation of time, came a Light into the world to be the manifest Salvation of GOD unto the ends of the Earth; as was spoken by the Word unto Isaiah his Prophet, in whose face expresly we have the Revela­tion of the Father, in whom we behold the Glory of the Son, as the Glory of the only begotton of GOD, full of Power and Wis­dom; hereby knowing what we Worship, whom the whole world alienated from the Power, Life, Wisdom, and Holiness of GOD, do ignorantly Worship in the imaginations of their own hearts, which before the Lord are only evil continually; Him there­fore declare I unto you, GOD, the Eternal (and unto every mortal) Invisible, and [Page 2] Incomprehensible Spirit, who is not likened unto the Creation, which by the Power of his Eternal Word was made to glorifie hi [...] Name, by the Spirit; sheweth, That he dwelleth not in Temples made with hands, neither is he worshipped by the Works of mens hands, as if he needed any thing; who from the beginning determined the times ap­pointed, and made all mankind of one mould, and gave unto them Life, and Breath, and added thereunto of the Grace of his Mercy, a measure of the Divine Na­ture, if haply that thereby they might seek and feel after him, the LORD their Crea­tor: But Man, whom the LORD made little lower than the Angels, and gave him the fulness of the Earth to possess, re­belled at all times against his GOD; he departed from the beginning, from the li­ving Way, and made Invention the joy of his Heart, and made his Inventions a fence against God, and his Imaginations a Bull­wark of defence; and in all Ages and Ge­nerations, though the LORD visited with Judgements, Destruction, Mercies, and wonderful Deliverances, and sent his Ser­vants the Prophets, arising up early, and lying down late, with Precept upon Pre­cept, [Page 3] and Line upon Line, speaking as afar off, by Signes, and Figures, and Parables; and as at hand, by Iudgement and Mercy: And always shewed how that he is GOD, and altogether unlimited, nei­ther bound unto Words, nor Wonders, nor limited in Sea or in Land; but still Man made marks for GOD, and set bounds for the Arm of his Power, who in no wise is measured as the waters in the Wells, nor contained as the Rivers with the banks, who was not conceived as the Seed of Man, nor born as the Babe of the Womb; who is not comprehended as the grass with the ground, nor as the wide swelling Seas with the sands of the shores; who is not known as he knoweth all fowls, and calleth the Stars by name; who is not measured as the Earth with the Moon, nor as the Heavens with the course of the Sun; and therefore Man alwayes lost the knowledge of the eternal Power of the God-head, and still settled in his own will, which at first rebel­led against GOD, and in the same Will made Laws, and Statutes, and Ordinances for Government, for Worship, and for punish­ment; though even from the dayes of the first man Adam, unto this day, the hand of [Page 4] the LORD GOD was turned against that work, as witness the preaching of the Spi­rit of Abel, Enoch, and Noah, he who hath an ear let him hear; witness also Abra­ham, Isaac, and Jacob, among the Hea­then, and Moses among the Egyptians; yea, witness the Spirit of Moses among Is­rael, by Preaching, by Power, by Judge­ment and Deliverance. What may I more say? They would build a Tower to reach unto Heaven, and Arks, and Cities, and Tabernacles, and Temple; And all for GOD to be constrained in their Works, and when they had Commandments and Sacrifices, as appointed by the Word of the LORD, the Spirit sheweth, when in all these things, they would have forced the Rest of GOD, the LORD arose alwayes against them, and sent his Servants the Prophets to cry against those things, with the same Word which commanded them, whom they did beat, imprison, wound and torture, yea, and put to death. And thus it alwayes was, He that was born after the flesh, persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even as it is now; and in like manner, it hath been from the dayes of Abel, until the Heir came, and him they shamefully slew to possess the Vineyard.

[Page 5]Moreover, of his dayes I may also speak, even in the dayes of the LORD CHRIST, when he was transfigured be­fore his Disciples, at the glorious appea­rance of Moses, Eliah, and the LORD, the Disciples would build them Taberna­cles; but mercy appeared unto them in a Rebuke, and they were instructed in the Way of GOD; but yet (and notwithstan­ding also, that Paul the Apostle taught a pressing on from one degree of Faith unto another, until all should be perfected unto the fulness of the measure, of a compleat stature, shewing also in the Resurrection, [who himself was risen with Christ] the di­versities of the measures of the Glories which were revealed, and every measure as gathered into God in his fulness, were respectively full, shewing it by the figure of the Glories, of the Lights, of the Sun, Moon and Stars; and wrote to the Church, how that he was caught up into the third Heaven, and saw things which were un­lawful to be uttered. And John, in the LORD'S Day, [in the Revelation of the Lord from Heaven] saw the great things of GOD, yet said the Angel unto him, Come up hither: I say, notwithstanding all [Page 6] this, the doctrine of GOD, that he might be known to be GOD, and not in any wise to be limited) Man in his wilfulness and presumption unto this day, hath set marks against him, and made measures of words in their Wills, as Cords of restraint to bind him; yea, the Heavens and the Earth, and the depth of the Seas, and all the increase of the Plant of the field, and her seeding Seed, the Sun, Moon and Stars, the Clouds, the Winds, the Hail, and the Rain-bow of GOD, shall witness against the Nations of the world in this matter; They limit not God in their pleasure; but do bow in subjection to his Will: but the Nations of the Earth, in the crookedness of their hearts, have made walls against the pas­sage of GOD.

O Man, lift up thine head, and look, and behold, how the People and Inhabi­tants of the Earth do limit the LORD to their lusts: O open thine Eye, and see how they make GOD as a Transgressor in the Earth, even as the Cattle of a Stranger, which have fed in the fields of their Pa­sture, and as the hand of a Thief and Rob­ber, which hath stolen the labour of ano­ther. Look thorow the Earth among the [Page 7] Nations thereof, and thou mayest read all their Professions as Prisons; for the Reign of of GOD in the Conscience is limited by the forms of their Words; and one cryeth Here, and another saith There; and another saith these are the Laws and the Precepts, and he that will not Rest in this, he is out of the Way of GOD, and he that speaks against our Law, and the Manners of our Worship, he must bear the punishment thereof. Concern­ing all which, if the Conscience of GOD should demand, Are your Words GOD? or, Are your Customs the Arm of GOD? yea, I say, if that Conscience in whom GOD liveth and reigneth, should ask of them all, Are your Words, or Customs, or Forms of Worship, the immediate Commandment of the LORD GOD from Heaven, which shall endure for ever? not one of a thou­sand either could, or would give a ready An­swer thereunto; which if they would ho­nestly answer negatively, concluding their words not to be GOD, nor their Customs the Arm of GOD, why then do they set their Words above GOD, as a limit and bound to the Spirit of GOD? And, why set they their Customs and Forms of Worship in the Seat of GOD, to judge in more Power than [Page 8] the Arm of GOD? To the sons of men it may be fully said, To whom is the Living GOD known, and the Arm of the LORD revealed? For, if GOD be a Spirit, and is only known in Spirit, to live in Spirit, and to dwell with men in the Spirit, How remaineth the knowledge of this true GOD among the sons of men, who by the limita­tions of their Customs and Forms of Worship, and Words in the Will, out of the unlimited Spirit, do thrust him the unlimited Spirit out of his true habitation?

To all the sons of men upon the face of the Earth, who have reached as far as the Tradition, but want the Life, even unto all Sects, and among you all, I might largely and plentifully declare your Judgments of others, and not with that of GOD in the Conscience, answers not that of GOD in the Conscience of any man, and GOD hath no Unity with your Judgment, but his hand he turneth against it, even as in all Gene­rations past; The Customs of your Worships, and not in the Spirit, the Spirit turneth against you, and the Spirit will have glory over you; for, be you not ignorant, how that the Spirit created the Times, and in time Tradition and Custom came forth; And [Page 9] the Spirit which changeth the Times, will change the Customs and Forms; and when GOD hath put all these things under foot, he will be known to be All in All, in the Conscience, his own proper Seat and Do­minion. What art thou O corruptible man [in whom God created a Conscience] that sits above GOD in thy Will, making a Law against GOD in the Conscience of another? Knowst thou not that GOD hath the whole Dominion there? Knowest thou not that GOD hath granted a Law against all Sin, and written it in the Conscience [his own seat] where he cometh to Judgment of the whole World of Mankind, as well in it the Hea­then who have not the Letter of the Law, by the same which he will judge both Jew and Gentile, who have the Law, and in the Life are found transgressors of the Law; And makest thou a Law against the Light of the Throne of GOD? against that which thou makest and settest a bound-mark, li­mitation, and Law, which is in another; in, and by the self same thing in thy self, shalt thou be judged of GOD, because of thy Law; and the LORD GOD will be known to be the Lord of Spirits, and Father of Lights, whose Spirit and Light by all the Customs, [Page 10] Traditions, Laws, and Forms of Wor­ship in the World, is not in any measure comprehended to be equally judged, or made in Righteousness subordinate unto in the Conscience of another; and that of GOD in you all shall witness this for ever, and bear its everlasting Testimony against your com­prehensible corrupt wills, which make Laws, and constrain Customs and Traditions by Laws, against the incomprehensible mea­sure of GOD in another.

Wherefore a Warning from the LORD GOD, the Father of Spirits and Lights, to you all is come, to give you to take heed in due season, lest you be found fighters against GOD your Creator, in the day that he cal­leth to Account, and draweth near unto Judgment in the Land; And lay it to heart with understanding, that for this cause only that he was fought against in the Consci­ence, by Customs, by Laws, by Judgment, by Life, by Traditions, by Forms of Worship, by Sinners, by Rebellion against the Power in the Conscience, by Jews and by Gentiles, all the Overtures, Desolations, Confu­sions, Destructions, Captivities, and Re­velation of the Wrath, Indignation and Vengeance of GOD, from Age to Age, [Page 11] reaching unto this present Age, came to passe in the Earth; Witness the Flood; wit­ness Sodom and Gomorrah; witness the Red Sea; witness the Walls of Iericho; witness the Mulberry-trees; witness the Battels of Israel, and the Captivity of his Children; witness the Worms that ate Herod; witness the Destruction of Ie­rusalem, and the scattering of the Iews in the Earth; witness Greece, Germany, Scotland, England, and Ireland; and yet the LORD will call the whole Earth to witness, and bring heap upon heap, and destruction upon destruction, and desolation upon desolation, by Fire and Sword in every Land, that standeth against the Word of the LORD GOD.

But blessed is he that cometh to know the ground and root of a matter in him, to know the end of the Desolations determined to be in the Earth.

I might say unto you, how that in the dayes of Luther, GOD moved in the Darkness upon the face of the deeps there­of; but they which made him their Rest are confounded, and their head is broken as Clay. He appeared brighter by Behman and Brown; but they which built their Travels [Page 12] as Towers, the LORD confounded with many Languages, and even running up to the height, Baptists, Seekers and Ranters, some made bounds for the pure, and others in their lusts revolted; wherefore GOD hath laid them one upon the other, as a heap of confusion together: And thus he hath begun the work of his hand, decreed to per­fect his purpose.

And the LORD GOD will make the Nations to know, That he hath not sent down his Word in the Earth, to be likened unto a breath of Vanity in the Air, and that he caused not his Prophets to run in vain, as him which comes short of the mark; but that his Law which he wrote upon the Ta­bles of Stone, he writeth upon the Table of he Heart; and both the Law and the Pro­hets, no more as in the dayes of continual ransgression, shall be told as a tale of tatlers, and as a history of vain bablers, pointed up­on the tongue of a deceitful mouth; but that they shal be fulfilled and witnessed, yea, and perfected in the Spirit, in Life and in Power, as by the Spirit in Life and in Power they were revealed, and given forth to this only end of GOD in his Creature: For which cause (lastly) JESUS the Sa­viour [Page 13] was revealed, to perfect that which was lacking, and to compleat the Redempti­on in fulness.

Therefore all you dwellers in the Monu­ments of the Earth, Awake from the dead­ness of your Forms and Worships, and draw near unto the quickning Power of the Righ­teousness of GOD, which leads to Life in the Truth, and Salvation from all Sin: To which end, GOD sent the Immanuel, a LIGHT unto the World, that all men through belief in the LIGHT might have Everlasting Life.

You that are in the Profession and Con­fession of a dead hope in a Saviour without you, and are not in the Life of the Faith of the Substance, CHRIST the living hope in you, which clenseth the Soul from Sin, and washeth the Heart from Iniquity; Wait in the Silence for the Revelation of the LORD from Heaven [who unto us is come] that [in you also] he may be known and witnessed, and testified to be come, (according to the Promise) the second time without sin unto Salvation. Wait for his Appearance in the Clouds, to come breaking thorow the thickness of the blackness of the long night; to come down in the Earth as a burning fire, [Page 14] and to darken the Air with the smoak; to set the Heavens in fire, and to melt the Earth before him; that you may come to know the Wonders of GOD fulfilled; the Sun to be darkned, and to become black as sack­cloath of hair, the Moon turned into blood, and the Stars to fall from Heaven, in the same substance to see and know these things come to passe, and with the same eye by which the Glories of the Heavens were created, and saw that it was good; I say with the same Spirit and Life which spake forth the Prophecy (which unto learned and unlearned, is become as a Book that is sea­led, and hid from the Vultrous eye) to witness the Prophesie fulfilled. Wait for the Revelation of GOD's Plough in the Earth, for the tearing up of the Ground, and breaking the Clods thereof; for a due pre­paration to receive the Seed of the Kingdom, that you may become as GOD's Husban­dry in the Earth, and no longer remain as the barren Mountains thereof, which never bear Plough thereon, nor yeelded increase of good; nor as the Woods of the Forrests, whose Trees were never pruned, which spread their unfruitful branches as thickets that cumber the ground. Settle not your selves in the [Page 15] sluggards Rest, nor as a wounded Fool with his putrified flesh, who is rather willing to perish in death, than to cut off his Corrup­tion for life: Be ye not alwayes as Moab, setled upon the scent of the old lees, for it stinks in the nostrils of GOD; but wait for the Remove of the Ground, and yeeld unto the hewings of GOD; the Ax to be laid to the Root of the Tree, and the Sword to the Soul that sinneth, to know Judgment be­gin at the House of the LORD, to cut off the Wicked in the Land. And seek not to escape the day of GOD's Wrath, but bear his Indignation within you, as the just Re­ward of your sins, which are called up unto Judgment against you; And wait in pati­ence until it be over and past, that you may know his acceptable year to be come: And when these things you know, and witness fulfilled within you, even as they are known and testified in the Life of GOD's Heritage, you shall bear me Testimony in the Holy Ghost, That although the Judgement be weighty, the Ax burthensom, and the flaming Sword of the LORD a most grie­vous thing; all the burden, the weight, the grief, and the travel is but of the carnal and sinful part; And to it only is the irkesom­ness [Page 16] thereof, until it be utterly cut off and slain upon the Crosse, even of that part which is this day the cause of the cry of the Just in the Land; and then you shall be one with the Judgement, one with the Sword, one with the Ax, one with the Ever­lasting Burning of GOD, to dwell in its glory for ever. Here the true Purgatory is come, and the sin is washed away, thorow which the entrance is made into the habita­tion of the Peace of GOD, and there is no true Rest without it: Then there is no more sin, no more transgression in the Land, the cursed Earth is consumed with all her en­crease, the evil Ground, and the Works which were wrought therein are burnt up together, the New-Creation is come, Jeru­salem is created anew, the old Heavens, and the old Earth is passed away, there is no more remembrance of them, and Jerusa­lem is created an habitation of Peace, the Glory of the LORD is in her; and this is the holy City, into which the Hebrews were entered, which John prophesied should in these latter dayes come down from Hea­ven [without whose gates are the Dogs, Sor­cerers, Witches, Whoremongers, Murderers, and whatsoever loveth or maketh a Lye] in­to [Page 17] which we in the Kingdom are entered; whose Kingdom is not of this World; and you coming hither will enter into the way of the Wisdom and Counsel of the Most High, to see all things, purposes, Statutes and Judgments, by that of GOD ordered and brought forth, in the Wisdom and Counsel of GOD, and your own cast under foot as a corruptible thing for ever: Then the whole Creation of GOD which travel­leth in pain until the Redemption cometh, will joy in the approach of Wisdom; for then shal you use the Creatures singly to the proper end, in the same Wisdom, by the which they were created: The burning desire of Lust shall dye, and the evil appetite be taken away; Increase shall fill the house, and Blessing overflow the heart; the Land shall be preserved in Peace, and the City become a Sanctuary of safety; Invasion shall never prosper; For Wisdom shall confound the work of the Wicked, and bring to nought the counsel of the Ungodly.

The eye of GOD is his Wisdom, which pierceth the Depths of the Earth; to be in his Wisdom, is safety, true safety, sure pre­servation from all Snares, Plots, Conspiracies, Designs and Intentions of the VVorld, Hell, [Page 18] and the Devil; For by the Wisdom all flesh was made, and that which warreth agains [...] its Maker, by the Wisdom it shall be con­founded: Wherefore all [for everlasting safety] draw near unto Wisdom's gates, and wait for the Counsel and Wisdom of GOD▪ to receive VVisdom in the Counsel of GOD▪ and growing in the Wisdom, and dwelling in the Wisdom and Counsel of GOD, his eye comes to be with you, as manifestly revealed in you, which searcheth and seeth into the depths of a matter: This is that Spirit of a man that knoweth the mind of a man; and by the same the way of the wic­ked comes to be manifest, and is a true de­fence against a thousand Armies. Remem­ber the poor man which was in the City, who by Wisdom delivered it from the De­struction of the Enemy; And make not the seat of Treachery your Trust, nor pollished subtilty upon the head of Iniquity, your Fort of Refuge for safety; For it shall be as a rotten string in your right hand, which shall break with the bent of the Bow; For delive­rance is only of GOD; And the purpose of the perverse shall perish.

These things I have written, if haply you may get hear to be led unto the en­trance [Page 19] of the Knowledge of GOD, to partake of his Treasure of Wisdom, and whilst the poor man moves you, to listen unto Counsel; if you resist and will not, beware: Beware, lest in the time of di­stress, you cry, and gladly would, and then he be not to answer.

MY Message is not unto any part of the natural, either Wit, Will, or Wisdom; it is neither meat for Serpents, nor air for Camelions; But the Word of the Lord God is to the Seed, which shall be witnessed by the next Generation, whether this which now is will hear or forbear.

This is the Message which I have heard and received, and do declare unto thee: GOD is Light, and in him is no darkness at all, who hath sent his Son a Light into the World, that all that believe in him who [Page 20] is the Light of the World, may have ever­lasting life; unto which Light thou must bow, and oughtest to lay down thy Crown, at the feet of him who cometh in the Cloud [...] thorow the thickness of the Night, and breaking thorow the blackness and darkness of the black and gloomy day.

That which Daniel [the greatly beloved of GOD] saw afar off, I see at hand; the little stone is cut out of the Mountain with­out a hand, and is already become a Moun­tain, which the whole Earth is not able to remove, and will become a Mountain which shall fill the whole Earth, which shall throw down every Image before him, as saith the Prophet; GOD will confound the Image and the Image-maker, and him which boweth before it: Behold! Overturn co­meth, and Overturn followeth, until the last Overture be fulfilled, and He come whose Right it is to Reign, and his Go­vernment, which is an Everlasting Govern­ment, be set up, and his Dominion unto the utmost Ends of the Earth, of which there shall never be end.

GOD hath looked over the Government of the Land, and hath heard the Blasphe­mies thereof; They profess my Name (saith [Page 21] the Lord) of whom I am made but as a curse in their mouth: And my Name is but made the grievous Oath of the Land, saith the Jealous God: And from the head to the tayl, there is none amongst them that have made the Separation betwixt the Just and the Vile; but as a Cage of unclean Birds, they are all common, as in Confession, so also in their Iniquity and Transgression; for which things I will visit saith the Lord of Hosts. As David complained, I am made the song of Drunkards; Even so now is Mary the Mother of Jesus, by every unclean tongue in the corners of the streets, in the Temples, and in the High-ways of this Land of Whoredoms.

Thus saith the Lord, Pull down the High-way marks of Idolatry, that the stranger may not stumble before me. Ex­ercise thy Power for me, and not against me, saith the Lord; And throw down the great Image and Idol of the Land, lest I quickly tumble down two at once, saith the Lord of Hosts. Plant not Bryars in the Way, neither set Thorns in the Gap; For lo, I am arisen to smite the whole Earth, and to make breaches in the fenced places thereof; For now, even now, for mine [Page 22] holy Name sake, and my Seeds sake, I am jealous saith the Lord of Hosts; Righte­ousness shall run down like a Stream, and the Knowledge of the Lord shall cover the Earth, as waters cover the Seas; which is found scant in thy Land. Be thou henceforth no more called POPE, for that was never pro­mised nor prophesied of by the Word of the Lord; I am Peter's Successor who am of his Spirit, whose Kingdom is not of this World, and so are we all who are made par­takers of the Divine Nature, which was ful­ly in Christ, who when the Jews would take him by force, and make him a King, he departed into a Mountain alone, and was hid from them all; but thou maiest keep the name of one of the Princes of this World, and in thy place as a Ruler, rule with the Judgment of Truth and Righte­ousness, not turning the stranger out of his way, nor condemning the Just by a Law, which David in his day complained of.

Rob not God of his Glory, For he for­giveth Sin; Repent, for thy Sin is not yet forgiven; Neither watch for any man's halting, for that is Iniquity; but cherish all that cry against Idolatry, and lift thou up thy voice with them that are redeemed out [Page 23] of the nature of Transgression and Sin, that bear witness and cry against all Sin; and al­wayes wash thy hands, and keep thy heart clean from their blood, and the innocency of their sufferings. Say not, that I came to deceive the People of thy Nation, whose life is as a Sea of Sin and Transgression, who have not anything to be deceived of in that nature, but Prophaness, Sin, and Unclean­ness. I came to declare the Message of GOD unto thee, and so to pass as a Pil­grim and a Stranger out of thy Land. I came not with any thing in my Vessel unto thee, or any of this City, which is new, save only as it is new unto the old nature of all Transgressors and seed of Corrupters, which is the new Wine of the Kingdom of GOD. Do not ask, how thou shalt know? For in Judgment thou shalt know, that this is the Message of the LORD GOD of Heaven and Earth unto thee.

I have born a burden for thee, and now I bear thy yoak under thee; Yet much more could I suffer in the exercise of the long patience of the LORD, That this Nation might drink of the Cup of the Everlasting Blessing of the LORD, and the Curse re­moved from their head, to eat the bread of peace and gladness for ever.

[Page 24]So having thus far cleared my self unto thee, did it stand in my own freedom I should depart thy Coasts; but being not mine own, but the LORD's Witness against all Ungodliness; For this Testimony, with gladness I wear the yoak of bonds; and not only yet, but what else may follow, in his content and patience that hath called me:

Who by the sons of men am called

COme to know the Higher Power, the Power of GOD to be highest in thee, and let that be the Judge of all mat­ters and causes which shall come before thee; Let the Sword of the Judgment of GOD be set up in thy house within, that the Transgressor may be slain within; then the [Page 25] Eye will be opened, the Ear will be unstopt, the grossness of the Heart will be taken away, and thou wilt have the understand­ing of the root of a matter in thee, and wilt alway judge for GOD, and every end will be shaken off; No man shall at any time see his end over thee, by gifts or presents, deceitful speeches or flattering titles of that honour which comes from man; but so thou wilt stand in the state of Honour which comes from GOD only, which is the be­lieving state; but the seeking of the other is the unbelieving, saith Christ.

Wherefore come to the Light, and dwell in the Light, with thy mind and heart sta­blished and fixed in it, which shews thy own transgression within, to have feeling of the Judgment of GOD upon the transgres­sor in thee: And come to the love of the Light, and follow the Light, by it to be led out of sin and transgression, and then with the Light, by which all things are made manifest, in all matters of Judgment, thou wilt reach that of GOD in all, which in all will justifie thee in the sight of GOD; and so thou wilt stand girded with Justice in the seat of Equity and Truth, a terror to evil-doers, and a praise to them that do well.

[Page 26] GOD is coming to search the whole Earth, who looketh for the fruit of Judge­ment from all that sit in the seat thereof: Mercy to the Poor, Relief of the Oppres­sed; The Poor hath cryed, and the Oppressed hath groaned, and GOD hath heard it, and he who heareth will answer.

Answer thou alwayes in thy place for the LORD, lest the LORD GOD make thee to answer for thy self before Him. Though I am but as a suckling of the Lords Flock, nevertheless in the simplicity and tenderness of my life, as one that hath re­ceived Mercy at the Judgment seat of God, according to the lowliness of my measure, I counsel thee in his pure fear, That thou dost look over the Books of the Registers of the Law of thy Nation, and see if any one Statute be there written, which may stand as a Law to condemn the Just▪ David com­plained of that in his day; for he saw the issue of what came to passe, though it was afar off from his dayes: We have a Law (said the Jews) and by our Law he ought to dye; by which they in their wilfulness put the LORD CHRIST to death. And so it was in all Ages, that transgressors (for whom, saith Paul, the Law was made) did [Page 27] make such to suffer under the Law, and put them to death by a Law, in whose mouth guile was not found, which was the un­righteous Judgment. Friend, Draw thou thy hand from that; And though the people do cry, even as it was complained of in Ju­dah concerning the Prophet, The Land is not able to bear all his words, yet of a truth the Word of the LORD will come to passe and be fulfilled. And truly I say unto thee, as Jeremy said unto the Elders of Israel, with the life of that Prophet: Do with me as seemeth good in thy sight; but assuredly know I am of God. And I also desire, that the LORD GOD in Mercy, may not lay this thing to your charge in the day of his Judgments, forasmuch as you do you know not what. I sit not in the seat of the un­righteous, in any measure apt to judge any thing before the true time; wherefore un­less the fruit in this matter did shew the Tree, I shall not at the present accuse the Romans with our detainment under their Yoak of Captivity, to provoke words from us, whereby the Prophet's words might become fulfilled upon your heads, in this your Age, in making a man an offender for a word; but I am rather in expectation of the [Page 28] Appearance of the Nobility, of that which hath been reported and written concerning the Romans; If we have transgressed the Law of GOD, Try us by the Law, and give us our punishment according to the Law; For the LORD GOD knows I delight in Righteous Judgment: If we are not found transgressors, why are we innocent strangers and pilgrims stopped of our Voyage? if our Bonds hold us by you, onely upon the ac­count of suspition, we blame you not; but prove us, and satisfie your selves con­cerning us; only if we have found the fa­vour of Justice before you, which the living God requires of you, shew us the Cause in truth why we are detained, that according to Law and Equity before your seat [...] Judgment, we may make our open Defence.

MEn fearing GOD are not rash nor heady, neither will they judge a mat­ter before the time: Wherefore for the better information of your selves, concern­ing the Truth and Life, the Way of GOD and Church of CHRIST, I have in plain-heartedness queried, for you (in the honesty of sober minds) to give me your Answer in writing, plainly and pertinently to each of them, without renting any part of my words; For which, in expectation, I shall wait in Rome whilst these Bonds hold me, until it come to my hands; which you ought to answer, as you profess the name of Chri­stianity among the sons of men, for the sake of souls.

Query 1. What is that one thing need­ful unto Salvation, which with the posses­sion thereof a man possesseth all things? And, whether can a man possess it, and not know it, yea or nay?

[Page 30]Que. 2. What is that by which Paul ex­horted the Brethren to, to try the spirits, whether they were of God, yea or nay?

Que. 3. Whether are any of you now cal­led by CHRIST to a further estate of Know­ledge than the Disciples were then when Christ said unto them, You know not of what spirits you are, yea or nay?

Que. 4. If by Christ you are called further, shew me how? And, whether you have really heard the Voice of Christ? but if not called unto, or beyond that estate which they were then in, not knowing your own spirits, by what spirit would you truly judge of my Spirit who am of God?

Concerning the Way of God.

Que. 5. Whether are you in the way of God, which is but one? and, How was that one unto Enoch, and now but one and the same unto you?

Que. 6. Whether is not CHRIST the Light of the World, that one way, yea or nay?

Que. 7. Whether are sinners in CHRIST, who is the narrow way? or, are they under the power of Satan in the broad way, yea or nay?

Que. 8. Whether are you in that way which was prophefied of, and is now manifest, [Page 31] which the way-faring men, though fools, cannot erre therein, yea or nay?

Que. 9. Whether are you in any other way, but in that in which an Hypocrite can walk? and, whether can an Hypocrite walk in CHRIST, yea or nay?

Que. 10. Whether are not all that are in the Church of Christ, in the true way of God, where the way-faring men, though fools, cannot erre therein?

Que. 11. Whether is the Spirit of Truth come unto you, which leadeth the Members of Christ's Church into all Truth? But if you have not a Member that in life is led out of all Error into all Truth, How can you say that you have the Spirit of Truth?

Que. 12. If all be in Sin and Error in the Life, How shall I conclude any one to be of the true Faith, seeing the Apostle saith, Shew me thy Faith by thy Works? Can the Faith be perfect, except the Works be perfect, yea or nay?

Que. 13. Whether had not the Jews all the words of the Prophets, and yet when Christ came slew Him, who was the Virtue, Sum, Substance, the Beginning and End of the life of the Prophets? And, whether you, be­ing out of the Spirit of Christ, are not under [Page 32] the judgement of Jeremiah's words, viz Though they say, the LORD liveth, surely they swear falsly?

Que. 14. Whether did Adam lose mor [...] in his life, than CHRIST came to restor [...] unto Man in this life? Which is the greater the living soul, or the quickning spirit And, whether is any one or more of you Members restored unto either, or not in the life of either of these two states, yea or nay?

Que. 15. Whether is not all Sin of the Devil, and he that commits Sin, of the De­vil, yea or nay?

Concerning the true Church.

Query 16. Whether is not the Trut [...] Church the Body of CHRIST which is in GOD? And, when Paul spake of Christ and the Church, whether did he not speak of a Mystery, yea or nay?

Que. 17. Whether are the Members of Christ's Body evil? And if sinners be Mem­bers of Christs Body, tell me if any other spirit be the sinnews of that body, besides the spirit of the Devil, which leads into sin and evil, yea or nay?

Que. 18. Whether is not the perfection [Page 33] of the Glory of GOD in his Church? And whether doth that remain among sinners, yea or nay?

Que. 19. Whether hath not Christ, said, Without exception God heareth not sin­ners? and therefore saith James, You ask, and have not. And, whether doth not God hear the Prayers of his Church, yea or nay?

Que. 20. Whether doth not Paul say, That Christ's Church is without spot or wrinkle? to bring it into which state, he purged every branch, and the unfruitful he cut off; And tell me since the last two hundred years, whe­ther your Members have encreased, in more Sin, or in more Holiness, in outward shew and practice in their conversation?

Que. 21. Whether all that commit Sin are not in the Apostacy from the Spirit, which is the life of the Church, and leads out of all sin, yea or nay?

Que. 22. Whether is not Christ the Pro­mise of the Father? [The Seed of the Wo­man shall bruise the Serpent's head.] And did he come to do lesse than was promised? Now search you the Prophets, and see what was promised, and also answer me: When the Serpents head is bruised, is not Man as he was in the day that he was created, yea or nay?

[Page 34]Que. 23. What is Salvation and R [...] ­demption, and Restauration, and from wh [...] and unto what, and when?

Que. 24. Whether the evil works all men, is not Testimony of the false fa [...] of all such men? And if Adam for one [...] lost so glorious an Estate, How think you wi [...] your so many sins shall you be made Inheritors of his first state?

Que. 25. Whether can any of you just say, That Christ is the end of the Law f [...] Righteousness unto you, who never came [...] the beginning of the Righteousness thereof Did Christ come to destroy the Law, or [...] fulfil the Law? Do you believe Paul's Testimony of Christ (in whom he was reveale [...] who therefore testified) That the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in them that walk nor after the flesh, but after the Spirit? And, whether is any one of you, s [...] entred into the Spirit, yea or nay?

Que. 26. Is any one or more of you truly in the Faith to witness unto John's Testimo­ny, who said, As Christ is, so are we in this present world; and whether were they the [...] in sin, yea or nay?

Que. 27. Whether did not Christ rebuke Hypocrites, when he said, Why call you me, [Page 35] Lord, and do not the things which I say? And, Did not Christ say unto his Disbiples, Be ye perfect, as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect? And, Whether do you think that he was an unequal Lord, and his Commandments grievous, which could not be born, yea or nay?

Que. 28. What are the Clouds, and the time of the Night, and the cause of the Darkness, Blindness and Ignorance? And what are the Vails which cover the Heart, and the understanding part? And how is the World set in man's heart, where­by man cannot find out the Work which GOD maketh, from the beginning to the end there­of?

Que. 29. What is that which removes the Darkness, breaks thorow the Clouds, rents the Vails, and drives back the mist and thickness of the Night? And, whether is not that which is the Cause, and that which removes the Cause, these two still the same since the Fall, unto this day of man's remaining under the Curse in the Fall? And whether any thing redeems out of the Curse, but that which redeems out of the Fall? and is not every sinner in the Fall, yea or nay?

Que. 30. What is that which takes away [Page] [Page 34] [...] [Page 35] [...] [Page 36] the Original of Sin? and if the Original which is the root and off-spring, be take away, the root not left in ground, how ca [...] a branch grow, or fruit be brought forth GOD saith, the soul that sinneth shall die And, Whether do you otherwise believe, Tha [...] if you live in sin until death, but you sha [...] receive (as Paul saith) the wages of sin, whic [...] is death, yea or nay?

These things are but that, which ma [...] lead unto an entrance of somewhat mor [...] to follow, which I offer (as hereby directe [...] in the Substance) to all such as desire to know the new birth; And when the Learne [...] have answered them, as the liberty of Pen, Ink and Paper is afforded me, I may expli­cate your Replications, and shew the groun [...] thereof, and withall try, if the key of the understanding all Mysteries is among you, which is in the Church of Christ, and any thing concerning the Kingdom of God; Call your Councils together, I am an alone Child; propound your Queries, and let me answer them; for in GOD is my trust, and not in self, who am his Servant,

THe Church of Christ this day stands in the Doctrine of Christ. They are in the Life which cannot recompence unto any man evil for evil, but good for evil: but you I find recompencing evil for good, which is contrary to all good. You are in the na­ture and practice of the Scribes, Pharisees and Hypocrites, which Christ cryed Wo against; You call men Lords and Masters, and are called of men Lords and Masters; You love Greetings and Salutations in the Market-places, and in these things love to be seen of men; And you are in the delight of the uppermost Rooms and Places at Feasts, and love the honour which comes from men: All which is contrary to the Doctrine of Christ: But the Church of Christ, speaks not more of Christ, than as they live and walk in the Doctrine of Christ.

Number over your Traditions, and com­pare them with what Christ and his holy Apostles delivered, that you may see in how much you are short on the one hand, and in how much you have spun a thrid beyond the staple on the other, that you may see how you have lost the end, your line not [Page 38] leading to Perfection, nor your life out of sin and corruption; Preach, write and speak to the end of your dayes and time, you shall never beget, but by your own seed none other likeness, but of your own nature▪ You may come as far as the shadow, shell, and husk; You may have the words, but your nature cannot receive the Life and Power; the Crosse of Christ, which is the Power of GOD to Salvation, is too hard a thing for you to bear: You have the Image which is the loss of the Substance; for where CHRIST, who is the Substance, is come, there the end is come, unto all Shadows, Types and Figures, which shadowed and fi­gured out the Substance before it came.

Concerning Opinions, I blow over them all as Chaff, in as many as are in dissem­bling, lyes, hypocrisie, swearing or cursed speaking. Repent, God's day is at hand.

I Could say many things unto you, but you are not able to bear a little (as the Priest concerning the Prophet complained, [Page 39] saying, The Land is not able to bear all his words) you being not yet come unto the Charity (which is in the Church of Christ) which can bear all things, and endure all things; Wherefore at present I query a little further; expecting first an Answer of the former, and after that, of these.

Concerning the Kingdom.

Query 1. What is the lost groat, and the sweeping of the house to find it? And whe­ther have you found it, yea or nay?

Que. 2. What is a Virgin's-state, and, are you in it? and, In which of the two, the wise or the foolish? What is the Lamp, and the Oyl in the Lamp, and do you possess it, yea or nay?

Que. 3. Whether is not the Kingdom of Heaven as really in you, as it was in the Scribes and Pharisees? And, whether are you in the Kingdom, yea or nay?

Que. 4. Whether is any one of you a grea­ter Prophet than John Baptist, who was the greatest Prophet born of Women, which went before him; seeing he that is least in the Kingdom, is greater than he?

Que. 5. If not one of you be in the [Page 40] Kingdom of God; Are not all in the kingdom of Satan; which are not in the Kingdom of God, yea or nay?

Que. 6. What is the first Principle which leads to the understanding and know­ledge of the Oracles of GOD? And, whe­ther are you in it, and doth your life answer it, yea or nay?

Que. 7. What is the Key of David, an [...] who keeps it, and whether is any thing open­ed or shut in Heaven or in Earth without it yea or nay?

Que. 8. What is the Book which is sea­led with seven Seals, and what are th [...] Seals thereon which John said no man i [...] Heaven, nor in Earth, was found worth [...] to open? Whether was Peter then in Hea­ven or in Earth, or neither in Heaven nor i [...] Earth? And, whether any now in your day is found worthy in Earth to do that, which John in the Lord's day saw no man in Hea­ven or Earth was found worthy to do, ye [...] or nay?

Que. 9. VVhether is not the Prison an [...] the Prison-house, the seat of Sin, and habi­tation of Corruption? Or, Is darkness an [...] the shadow of death the Purgation from Sin, for the Redemption out of Death? Do [Page 41] you not know that the Seed is in Prison under the Clouds of darkness, through Sin and Cor­ruption, in each one of you, yea or nay?

Que. 10. VVhether have you Salt and Savour in your selves? If you know not that it is in you, are you otherwise fit but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men?

Que. 11. VVhat are the two Witnes­ses, of whom it was said, That they should again prophesie? Whether are they not yet come, or, how know you but they be come?

Que. 12. VVhether is the Creation of Jerusalem anew unto you in Rome, in the old Age of your sins, which the Hebrews shall enter into, according to Isaiah's Prophecy, and which the Saints of the Most High are now entred into, according to John's Pro­phecy, where nothing that defiles can en­ter? And, whether is this any other than that which the Apostle said, the Hebrews were entred into, who were come unto the spirits of just men made perfect, yea or nay?

The Prophecy is become unto all (saith Isaiah) as a Book that is sealed. Friends, spur up your Colledges to answer me; For, if once your Chariot wheels are clogged in the sand, and your Host troubled, know, that [Page 42] Judgment is nigh, and the Floods will soon close and joyn hands over your heads.

THat which is done in secret, shall be preached upon the house top; For the Bed is too short, the Covering is too narrow, the Nakedness is seen; strip off the Fig-leaves, they hide not; the Line is stretched, but yet the Stone is sealed. Nevertheless, if you will come forth, come forth; if you will enter, enter; come and be as a Roe and Hart upon the Mountains, to run and read me, to grow to the understanding of a Proverb, and the Interpretation thereof; the words of the Wise, and their dark sayings: For behold, there cometh a Nation of a deep­er speech than ye can perceive, of a stammer­ing tongue, that you cannot understand; they shall break over Walls, and climb upon the tops of Houses, and enter in at the Windows of the Closets; A fiercer People hath not been, saith the Spirit of the Prophet.

[Page 43] The Trumpet of the Lord of Hosts is sounding the Alarm; his dreadful day is at hand; the dead in Christ have heard, and are partakers of the first Resurrection: He that hath an Ear to hear, let him hear, and Repent.

IN your places it is necessary, that you consider that which is indeed above all things honourable. I crave not the break­ing off the yoke of my bonds at your hands, as being assured, that your hands were bound of the Lord, thus far unto my Imprisonment, that you by the means thereof might have knowledge how you are bound with the Chain of Satan, under the Curse through Sin and Transgression; the LIGHT being come, declared and [Page 44] testified unto you; henceforth you have no more cloak for your sin. This I desire, not of you, but concerning you of Him, which openeth, and no man shutteth, that the Prisoner in you, in the Prison-house with­in, which sits in darkness, under the shadow of death, may be set at liberty, and come forth with the high praise of GOD in his mouth; This I offer unto you, that I migh [...] know either by your willing, or nilling, whe­ther you exceed, or fall short of the Nobility of the Bereans, who searched the Scriptures to know the truth of the matter; and the Athenians in hearing Paul, though first they called him babler? either to let your Col­ledges give me a Publick Dispute, or to give me a Meeting by way of audience, of the Ut­terance which GOD may give me; or at least, to provoke them to answer the 31, and the 12 other last Queries, which I gave forth of this Prison, else you may be assu­red, as truly as I know, although all the former were granted, that this is the prick which was too hard for Paul to kick against, and so is now unto all Nations, you, as well as others; But of a truth I tell you, though you may say that you will not hear, the next Generation shall preach my Testimony in [Page 45] the Streets, and not withhold their Cry in the Gates of the High places. And this is the Word of the Lord God to you all.

THe Outstretched Arm, and exercise of the Hand of Cruelty unto Death, is not able to make me to daub a dirty Wall with untempered Mortar. The impudent wicked carriages of the Priests Instruments under thee, which are set to watch over me, do not in the least move me, save only to tell thee, therein they are not an honour unto thee; but on them I may not altogether lay the weight of the matter, as knowing, that they are but as saudred Pipes of Lead, pre­pared for the Vent and running forth of the stinking corrupted waters, of the Priests malice, wrath and envy, forasmuch as the Truth hath reproved their Iniquity; And as for the others, they are not worth the [Page 46] naming. But as touching thy Priests, some I have found in swearing, others in lying and dissembling, flatteries and hypocrisie, which all are sheltred under the shadow of thy skirt.

Now consider what thy Power doth up­hold, a Lyar and a Priest, a Priest and a Lyar; a Dissembler, a Flatterer, a Hypo­crite, and a Priest. Doth thy Law preserve such in liberty and out of Prison (who are in Death's Prison) to watch over the Just, which cannot lye unto thee, nor dissemble, nor flatter with thee, though in Prison? If thou be Peter's Successor, shew me Christ's Command unto him for such a practice? else be thou ashamed of it, and deny thy Priests in their wicked practices: For Truth is ashamed of all rottenness and wickedness, deceit, lyes, and corruption; but it is not ashamed to stand before thy face, neither doth it fear the frowns of all the wicked Powers and Princes of the whole Earth; but in Prisons, Persecutions, Tortures, Ba­nishments, or Death, it stands over them all, and rejoyceth over them all, and treads upon the head of the Serpent, which seeks to bring to passe his vain imagination in or by them all. Wherefore I would not that [Page 47] thou shouldst be a Fool, to sit in the Coun­cil of the number of the Crafty and VVise; but rather be wise, and bow to the innocen­cy of Fools, and then thou wilt discover the ground of the works of the others mat­ter.

Now let me reason with thee concern­ing my Imprisonment, which if thou an­swerest Nay; saying, VVe have it under thy Hand, and it is enough unto us.

I reply, It's true, I have given under my hand the Declaration of a VVitness and Testimony for GOD against Iniquity; for which cause, if God hath foreseen it, that the perishing of this Tabernacle under thy Bonds of Cruelty shall be my Crown, when the day comes that Inquisition shal be made after my innocent blood, let this, with the rest, be produced, that the Action may be openly remonstrated. Truth, Honesty, and Wisdom would implead, act, judge, and execute the Judgment of the Law of God, in Form, Manner and Order, and to the proper end that it was given forth; and not in blind holes and corners, and dark Cells, as are wrought the works and deeds of the Devil; but openly and manifestly unto, and before all, as in the Righteousness of [Page 48] Him, which rippeth open the secrets of al [...] hearts, and bringeth every man's actions to be discovered by the Light, in which the Magistrate, Judge and Ruler, which judg­eth and ruleth for GOD, standeth in the honour of the true Dominion, a Praise unto the living GOD, and openly to the Glory of GOD, reigneth in the Righteousness of GOD, in dealing and executing his Sen­tence of just Judgment, through the con­vincement of the Transgressor, openly by the Law; and so he stands a terror to evil-do­ers, and a praise to them that do well.

If I have written, or spoken any thing, which I cannot sufficiently prove (openly in the Court of Justice, where Truth reigns) to that of GOD in every man's Conscience, then (as I have said) as the Law of GOD was given forth for due and publick im­pleading and execution, through open Con­vincement) let me bear the everlasting open shame, and spare not by due punishment, to make me a publick Example in the face of this Nation, as a slanderer.

For again, I say, I delight in the exe­cution of the Righteousness of true Judge­ment, but if thou wilt not in Equity hear this, Then hear thou moreover the VVord [Page 49] of the LORD GOD; GOD by the execution of his Justice upon thee, will shorten thy dayes upon the face of the Earth, and give thee for an example of his Wrath before men. Therefore whilst thou hast time, Repent. This is the day of thy Visitation.

And forasmuch as at several times I have given forth Fourty two Queries, or more, to be answered by the Members of the Colledges in Rome, or others; And having sufficiently expected, forasmuch as considerable time since that hath passed away, which in lesse time, yea, much less, Truth would have answered so plain a matter; but having not received answer from any of them, I now query to thee, who art reputed as the Angel over them, as him which hath the Keys of the Kingdom, which I would first try (because of the diversity of Voices in the Earth, crying, Lo here, and lo there) and in spirit be convinced of the same, before I would (as a foolish rash hy­pocrite) confe [...]s without knowledge or un­derstanding; as knowing that when Truth hath convinced, the mouth of the Gain-sayer is stopped, and that of God in the Conscience is answered, and the measure [Page 50] of the Manifestation of the Spirit of Tru [...] beareth witness within unto the Truth, b [...] which all are left without excuse; an [...] therefore in thy thoughts, by thy Answers leave me without excuse; or else know That hereby thou art left (even as all th [...] rest that will not answer Truth, for Trut [...] and the Lord's sake, are) without excuse.

Query 1. What is the Gospel of th [...] Lord Iesus Christ, and the Light of th [...] glorious Gospel, which giveth the Ligh [...] of the Knowledge of the Glory of GOD in the face of Jesus Christ? And, what i [...] the everlasting Gospel of God, which shall be preached to all Nations of the Earth▪ And, whether hast thou immediate Autho­rity from God, to send forth any to preach it; or, if knowing what the Gospel is, Is it any thing lesse than thy duty to go forth and preach it, yea or nay?

Que. 2. What is that flaming Sword which is set at Edens Gate, to keep the Way of the Tree of Life, that not any in the state of Transgression, and nature of Corruption may taste thereof; which he that eateth not there­of in this Life, shall perish unto everlasting Death, at the end of his Life? And declare, [Page 51] whether there is no difference, or, what is the difference in the nature, ground, and substance between that Sword, the Blood of the Lamb, the Crosse of Christ, Purgatory, and the Fountain which is set open for Ju­dah and Jerusalem to bath and to wash in?

Que. 3. Whether they who have bathed in the Fountain of God, and washed in the Blood of the Lamb, that have born the Cross of Christ, unto the crucifying of the nature of the Corruptible and Mortal, and that have passed thorow the flaming Sword, shall enter into any other Purgatory? And what did Enoch passe thorow, to attain to the perfection of living and walking with God? And, whether was, or is Salvation more than one since the Fall; seeing the matter thereof is but one, and God the All, but one, and his Promise one, and unchangeable to save out of the Fall, yea or nay?

Que. 4. Whether did Christ come to work Salvation for Souls, through the imprison­ing the Just, or captivating Souls; seeing the Scriptures say, that he came to open the Prison doors, and to bring forth the Pri­soner? How may it honestly be said that thou art Peter's Successor, in the Truth, or the Vicegerent of Christ; who contrary to the [Page 52] end of the Coming of Christ, the Life, Pra­ctice and Example of Christ, dost profess and practise that which brings dishonour to the Name of CHRIST? And, answer, By what wouldst thou have me to know a Vine branch from a Thorn-tree?

Que. 5. VVhether is thy Nation grow [...] in Righteousness unto the Age of the Beaut [...] of Holiness? or, Are they even ripe unt [...] Judgment, in the multitude of their Oaths Curses and Blasphemies, Pride, Whoredoms and Adulteries, Lyes, Envy an [...] Hypocrisies, in the full growth of all manne [...] of Abominations and Iniquity? Canst tho [...] shew me one Member of thy whole Bod [...] which now is as Nehemiah the Captain of th [...] Lord's People, and as Nathaniel, the tru [...] Israelite, was, that I may have unity wit [...] him? else, who, what, and where thinkest thou is the Church of Christ?

Que. 6. Whether, and in what manne [...] hast thou passed from under the Reign an [...] Dominion of Death, unto Moses's house▪ And, shew me the testimony of thy Steward­ship in his house, and the seal of thy passage thorow his house into the way of the Prophet [...] life, and the mark of the way, and signet of the Prophets life leading to John Baptist's [Page 53] cry in the Wilderness, and the Record of his Baptism to be of God in thee; and how thou hast been emptied from Vessel to Vessel, unto the perfect losse of the scent of the old lees? which if thou canst not shew me the true effect of this work in thy life, whether in thy best profession of all the writings of thy dead fathers, and the confession of the Scriptures of the holy Prophets and Apostles, Art thou any other than (as Paul saith) a boaster in ano­ther man's line, made ready to thy hand, yea or nay?

Que. 7. Whether hast thou the true Eye of discerning, to trace the way of a Serpent over a Rock? Dost thou know the course of a Dolphin in the Deeps, or the path of a young Dolphin in the shallow Waters? And, by what line wouldst thou measure their way? And, with what Instrument canst thou measure the path of the first flight of a young Dove thorow the Air and shadow of the Hea­vens? If thou knowest not this, how knowest thou to take the Wings of the Morning, to meet the Sun in the South, to be at rest with the Children of the Day, where the light of the Moon is as the light of the Sun, and the light of the Sun as the light of seven dayes, the everlasting Sabbath of God?

[Page 54]Answer these with the Life of Truth, if thou wilt have me believe that thou art Peter's Successor in the true Faith; But wherein thou art unable, honestly confess it, hear me, and come out of Prison and I will instruct thee in the way of God more per­fectly. Let all thy men of Learning take heed of high obstinate perverse wills and froward hearts; And take you all heed, lest a root of bitterness, and spirit of envy be in you; and learn this, Where-ever you see a persecuting spirit, know alwayes that that spirit is not of God.

TO all in ROME, from the highest to the lowest, that are setled in sin, and will not hear to come out of the way and nature thereof, who walk in the path of Ini­quity, in the love of Transgression, and say in your hearts, Who is of God that we should hear him? whose liberty is in the lust and pleasure, in persecuting the Just, walking in the broad way, which leads to endless destru­ction, [Page 55] under the seal of everlasting wrath; and will not hear to know and enter into the strait path of life, in which the way­faring men, though fools, cannot erre therein; And in your hardness against GOD you think that you are above all men, wise in your sinful wayes; you are wise unto evil, but not in the good which cometh from God; who will not hear, to be turned from all evil; but shut your eyes, and stop your ears, and make Vows as sealed Bonds together, crying, Away with it, Away with it, We will have none of it; not considering the dayes of old, how the Messiah came accor­ding to the Prophets, yet contrary to the Jews expectations, and in cross to all their Lusts and Inquities; Wherefore they took counsel of their own Wills, and slew Him. And now I do but in the Substance testifie unto you, That CHRIST the Light of the World is come and coming (according to the Apostles Testimony of Him) the second time without sin unto Salvation, which is contrary to your Expectations, under the blackness and darkness of the clouds of your sins and transgressions, under which you cry, We will not, We will not; And every man in his hardness utters his sentence [Page 56] saying, Persecute, persecute, Imprison, imprison; as it was in all Ages, He that was born after the flesh, persecuted him that wa [...] born after the Spirit, even so it is now; and thus rendring evil for good, you plat the Crown of the Thorns of the cruelty of you [...] hearts upon the head of the Innocent an [...] Just.

This therefore is your Condemnation LIGHT is come into the World; but ye ha [...] the Light, and love Darkness rather tha [...] Light, because your deeds are evil: For whosoever loves the LIGHT, brings his deed to the LIGHT, that by the LIGHT the may be made manifest. The LIGHT is all your Consciences is your Condemnation within, who hate the Light, and will no [...] come to the Light, by the Light which convinceth of sin, to be led out of all sin: Verily I say unto you, neither Wit, Craft no [...] Guile, the Horse nor his Rider, Sword, Bo [...] nor Battle, nor Angels, nor any othe [...] creatures, but the Light (which you hate and persecute the Witness of it) shall de­liver in the day of Wrath which is near you And this is the Word of the LORD GOD to you all, Remember you are warned Therefore whilst you have time, Repent [Page 57] and henceforth blot out the vain imagina­tions of your minds, and let it be written upon the table of your hearts. If God's Everlasting Covenant be changeable, then may our cruelty change them from the Lord their God.

THese are to this blind-hearted Gene­ration, which are smooth to the rough, and rough to the smooth; and cannot dis­cern the rough from the smooth, the crooked from the streight, the right from the left; Your love, the love of the everlasting Fa­ther holdeth in an irreconcileable hatred; for ye love the smooth words of the men of this world, which stand in the rough places of the Earth; Ye love their Titles, Daubings, Flatteries, Dissimulations and Hy­pocrisies, and your selves smooth in the same nature, unto this their nature of roughness; But ye are rough to the smooth, which deal with you in honesty and plainess, [Page 58] which are not smooth to your rough nature of dissimulations; Wherefore you are rough in your consultations, secret reports and acti­ons, and bend your selves in crookedness, against the streightness of the smooth things of Gods Kingdom; Your hatred the LORD despiseth, even as your love he hateth; For the thing which you hate, is the seal of the love of the Father, to be holden in love un­to death, as a testimony against the rough­ness and crookedness both of the love and ha­tred of your Life; you love not to come unto the smooth stone of David, which sank into the forehead of the Philistine; The Philistine liveth in you, and curseth the Do­minion of the GOD of David; he spake roughly to the smooth thing in the Stripling; but the smooth did smite his roughness: even so must it be by the Philistine in you, ere the GOD of David be known, to be God among you. And this is to you all, that the smooth, which is rough to the smooth thing of God, may dye in you, that the Lord's smooth thing may live, in domi­nion over the rough things of the Earth.

THou hast desired something from me, that thou mayest answer it; And I hereby proposing, let thy own words stand thy own obligation, to be as faithful in an­swering, as thou wert forward in promising. I have sometimes born witness unto divers of you Priests of the Roman Catholick As­semblies, manifestly shewing unto you, how that CHRIST is the LIGHT of the World, which lighteth every man that cometh into the World; and unto that LIGHT in all your Consciences, approving my Message, and the Testimony of the Faith of JESUS (which I hold in a pure Conscience) to be of GOD, which in you all shall stand a Witness for me everlastingly unto Judge­ment, though now you rise up as false witnesses against it; and so bear false wit­ness against me, and will not come unto the Light, that you may have Life; but do chuse to your selves the antient path of the Serpent's way, setling your selves in the inventions of your own hearts, lurking in [Page 60] the secret dens of craft and subtilty, stretching out your hands in the corrupted fallen, apostatized Policy, and so what­ever is brought forth by you, is but the birth or age of Iniquity. Divers of you have confessed unto me, and lastly, as next unto this present time, Thou didst ac­knowledge that there is not one of all your Catholick Church, which is restored unto Innocency, or redeemed from sin, and the daily act of transgression; and then I shewed thee, if not one in Innocency, then all in the contrary, which is Iniquity; If all in the daily act of transgression, then all wal­lowing in the miry place in the apostatized ground, fallen from the Life of the Lord Jesus, who leads out of sin.

Now therefore understand, you who are setled in the obstinacy and perversness, and hardness of heart; Read your unbelief and the desperate end thereof, who will not that the Devil's kingdom should come to an end in you; you may have all the words of Christ and the Apostles, as the Jews had Moses and the Prophets, and yet perish in the same desperation, through re­fusing to come unto Him, who is the Life; You may say, The Lord liveth, and yet [Page 61] therein be false swearers, as said Jeremiah; You may have all tongues and many gifts, you may give all your goods to the Poor, and your bodies to be burnt, and yet want the Charity, saith Paul: You may (as the Ma­gicians of Egypt) shew many Signs, yea, and in the Name of CHRIST, Preach in the Streets, do many wonderful things, and cast out Devils, and at the last day say, Lord, these things have we done in thy Name: But not coming unto the LIGHT and LIFE of CHRIST, which leads out of Iniquity, and to dwell in the LIGHT unto the End, above Iniquity; Unto such I will profess unto them, I know you not, depart from me ye cursed workers of Iniquity, saith Christ: What therefore availeth your Doctrine? what also hath it profited any of you, in confessing so much of Truth un­to me, saying that my words are true and just, and are as Jewels and Diadems, and Precious Stones, and ought exceedingly to be owned and honoured, Except you come to the Life and Truth of the Substance from which they were offered unto you? not that you should catch at the shadow and shell, as the Hypocrites in the whole Earth, who are smooth in confessing and saying, but [Page 62] cursed in doing; for know ye, that it is one thing to be enlightned, and to walk contra­ry to the Light, in such the Light is their condemnation; and another thing to dwell and walk in the Light, in which God dwel­leth, in such the Light is their justification: You may read the declaration of another man's state without you, but cannot read more than your own states, with a true witness within you; you may dream of sweet Wine, but be awakened unto a potion of Wormwood. There cannot be plainer proof than the Witness of your own Con­fessions, to conclude your Professions of God vanity; your wicked sinful life, a scandal to Honesty and all Truth, and of Christ, but an occasion of the contempt of the reproach­ful shame and ignomy, which sometime past I have in my understanding read among the Turks and Jews. Ponder these things, and be awakened, and in spirit be provoked unto Holiness, which stands not in the wil­ful afflictions and penance, heaped upon the vessel of the creature, Man, or by hanging down the head like a Bulrush for a day, but by a due and diligent search of the hidden man, coming unto the Judgment of Truth, and revelation of the Indignation and Wrath [Page 63] of the Lamb, which is slaughtered in the streets of Mystery Sodom, That you may come to the Testimony of the DAY of Vengeance, and the acceptable Year of the LORD; until which, the works of your wills in all your daily services, are but as the offering of the sacrifice of Cain, who killed the Just.

And furthermore, hereby I give you to understand, That there are but two Seeds known unto all in the Substance, two Wills, two Natures, two Spirits, and each of them the ground and root which yeelds the fruit of good or evil in all, whether Prayers, Preaching, Plowing or Planting, even all which is brought forth within, or without, by either of them; the one, the Redemption out of the Fall, and from the ground of the first Apostacy in lost Adam, and the Restau­ration unto the first state of Innocency; the other, the Plant of Perdition, which holds in the Captivity, even all the Professors of the Name of Christ, who are alienated from the Life of Christ in the ground of the se­cond Apostacy, under which you have con­cluded your selves, as Christ said, The Tree is known by the fruits; which thing well understood by you in heart, and faith­fully [Page 64] owned in life, would put a stop to all your vanity of enquiring after more things, until first you have found, and do come to live in the one thing, which is only needful unto Salvation, with which all things else come to be possessed.

Nevertheless, to thee I query a little concerning your Doctrine, Practice, and Example, to be plainly and particularly answered in writing, by the words of the Declaration of the Doctrine, Life, and Ex­ample of Christ, or any of his holy Apostles, as written in the Record of their Scrip­tures, of which some were given forth be­fore the Apostacy came in, and others be­fore it fully entred and came in, prophe­sying the full succession thereof: What since them is brought forth among you, thou mayest omit to mention in thy Repli­cation: for I know your spirit, and do also know what you can, and do live unto; and this (as the former to your Body) for the Truth's sake simply I give forth, that if haply, thou and the rest may come down from your Mountain into the Valley of Jehosaphat, unto the Righteousness of the Judgments of the LORD of the whole Earth, who else with Vengeance will dash [Page 65] you in pieces as a Potter's Vessel. Re­member you are warned to prize your time, and Repent.

Query 1. Why call ye Christ, LORD, and do not the things which he saith?

Que. 2. Why delight ye Priests to wear long Robes, like as the Scribes and Pha­risees?

Que. 3. Why delight ye in Salutations, and Greetings in the Market-places, and love the Uppermost Rooms at Feasts?

Que. 4. Why love ye to be called of men Lords and Masters, or to call men Lords and Masters?

Que. 5. How can ye believe in Christ, who seek the honour which comes from man?

Que. 6. Why teach ye for Doctrine the Traditions of men?

Que. 7. What Precept of CHRIST, or President of the Apostles, have you to warrant your worshiping before graven Ima­ges, or painted Figures?

Que. 8. What Precept of CHRIST, or President of the Apostles, have you to warrant the owning and conf [...]ssing of more than ONE Intercessor, Advocate, and Mediator?

[Page 66]Que. 9. By whom was it prophesied or practised, as in the Declaration of Truth, and Record of the Scriptures, That, besides Prayers for all Saints in the Churches, Prayers should be made unto any Saints in Heaven, seeing CHSIST taught, Not unto Himself henceforth, but only to the Father in his Name?

Que. 10. VVhat Precept of CHRIST, or President of the Apostles, have you to warrant often Repetitions, and vain Bab­lings? and to yeeld unto God in your manner, but one Prayer of eleven? that is to say, Ten Ave Maries, and but One Pater No­ster.

Que. 11. What Precept of CHRIST, or President of the Apostles, have you to keep count of the tale of your Prayers, by Bracelets, or Beads upon strings?

Que. 12. VVhat Word of the Record of Truth have you to warrant a place of Pur­gatory for Sin after this life, under that cloak granting liberty to your selves to sin un­to death?

Que. 13. VVhat Word of GOD, or Precept of CHRIST, have you to warrant unto any soul which requireth a reason of you, to shew how possibly can any one of you sanctifie [Page 67] Bread and Wine, to dispense it under the de­nomination of a Sacrament; seeing you are all confessed to be of corrupt hearts and un­clean hands, which never could touch the holy thing?

Que. 14. VVhat Precept or President recorded in the Scriptures of Truth, have you to warrant the Administration of Water, sprinkled upon Infants with unclean hands, in the corruption of your hearts, to be the Baptism which taketh away the Original Sin? How is the Original taken away from any one, whilst the life of you all is a continual issue, and open fountain of all sin?

Que. 15. How can an evil heart blesse any thing? or the spirit of Satan make Holy Water? Which of you being daily washed in that Water, will it clense from the Corruption and rottenness of his heart?

Que. 16. VVhat Precept of CHRIST, or Doctrine of the Apostles, is your Warrant to deny the general use of the Scriptures of Truth among your Church-members; and to allow Books of lying Stories, and Tales, and beastly Songs, and bewitching Playes and Sports, and such abominable beastly things openly in the Streets, and in Houses, as are not meet to be named?

[Page 68]Que. 17. What Precept of CHRIST have you to call men Fathers upon Earth?

Que. 18. What Prophecy is there recorded in the Scriptures of Truth, for the succession of Popes, Cardinals, Chaplains, White-Fryars, Black-Fryars, Gray-Fryars, Iesuites, Nuns, and Queristers, to come in the Truth?

Que. 19. What Precept or President have you in the Scriptures of Truth, to wor­ship in Idols Temples, made with hands, there seeking GOD, where GOD dwelleth not?

Que. 20. What Scripture is it, that war­rants your going Processions?

Que. 21. What Scripture-Example have you for your Begging Brothers going about (hood-wink'd and disguis'd, with Money-Boxes, and others with great Wallets and Wine-bottles) from house to house a beg­ging?

Que. 22. What Example in Scripture have you, which sheweth that the Saints and Apostles in the Primitive times did live in the observation of the Dayes or Times of CHRIST's Conception, and with his, also of one another's Day yearly of Births or Deaths?

[Page 69]Que. 23. What Commandment of GOD have you, for the time called Lent, and in it the abstinence from flesh; and so in like manner sixth and seventh dayes of the Week alwayes besides, commanding it under the Judgment of Penalty?

To be brief, I would draw to the un­derstanding of the Root of a Matter, which ought in Wisdom principally to be known in you all, that you may know your Root, of which I have seen much, as ye daily bring forth the fruit thereof.

Que. 24. Whether the spirit of Oaths, Envy, Lust, and Lyes, is not of the ground and original root of Heresie, yea or nay?

Que. 25. Whether that Spirit hath not an absolute and instant Ground, and Root uni­versally (according to Confession) in your Body, yea or nay?

Que. 26. Whether is not all things, which are contrary to the Doctrine and Life of CHRIST and his Apostles, absolutely and undeniably Heresie, and that (assuredly) Opinion, which is the lesser, as practice, which makes it greater, and they both but one in the Ground and Nature, yea or nay?

Que. 27. What Rule of Truth, or Pre­cept in the Scriptures of Truth, have you to [Page 70] condemn any man as an Heretick, which de­nieth your evil spirit, and in the Life utterly abhorreth all your beastly works, and wicked words, brought forth by the spirit of Heresie? And, to what purpose, think you, standeth the judgment of your spirit?

Do thou mind thy blind-hearted brother, Thomas Courtney, of these things, who told me, that Heresie (speaking of some Opi­nion) was a worser sin than Murder; which weighed in the deeps, lets to see, that it breaks a gap for more evil than a thousand of the like his lines is able to reconcile: the which was his ignorance; as if Murder were not the most abominable desperate act of wilfulness against GOD, and a man's Neigh­bour, brought forth by the spirit of Heresie? which spirit abounds in all your Coasts, which is the real cause of all the Oaths, Curses, Lyes, Dissimulations, Hypocrisies, Drunkenness, Gluttony, Adulteries, Pride, Covetousness, Envy, all Uncleaness, and Mur­ders, brought forth innumerably in your Land; For which cause, if you had all Words, and understood all Mysteries, yet the Saints, interested in the simplicity of Truth, dwelling in GOD, cannot joyn hands with [Page 71] you, to partake of your spirit, and so of your evil deeds, and lastly of the Wrath to be revealed, which the Lord God in his Counsel hath determined shall sweep a se­cure Land.

When lastly thou wert with me, I saw that thy visage was none of thine own, as always unto thy own, I desire not to judge thee rashly; but let me exhort thee, say­ing, Carry not a Bears Paw under thy long Gown, nor a Lion's Tooth within thy mincing Lips; thy words, many of them, were as smooth as sweet Butter and fresh Oyl, but see thou that under thy tongue there be not hid the poyson of Asps, in such things, as in the rest of the dead works, signs, shews, and noises, as the Magicians of Egypt, about the Walls of the Prison, and elswhere; you may (as they themselves did) deceive your selves also, but by all these things, neither in my self, nor in you, am I at all deceived. Settle your selves in Council, I am bound within Walls, yet, blessed be the LORD GOD, I savour the deeds of darkness, and many of them would not be of good report to be told among your selves: You know that I bear all the folly, as being [...] your V [...]ssal to that end; but you know [Page 70] [...] [Page 71] [...] [Page 72] not how I trample upon the fruit, and the spirit which yeelds it.

REad the Declaration of the Righteous­ness of this Cause, let it be spread in an open Parchment upon the Standard of your Host, and let it be marked in your Ensign, as a perpetual shame in the face of your Camp.

There was a certain Message sent by the hand of a Servant, by the LORD of a strong Army, who treated for the Surren­der of the City: He came not as a Coward to hide in a hole, nor as treacherous to slay in secret; but to deliver his service to the Chief, to depart with the Answer of the Head of the Land. He was foolishly en­treated by the hands of the jealous, and il [...] handled by the doubtful and timerous hearted; [Page 73] they bound a Man of War in Chains, and rejoyced often to smite him with rotten sticks; they chused not to plead with him in open field, nor to deal with him, as do the Vali­ant and Honourable; they bound him in their seat of contempt, and sent Scorners to view him in secret; he looked at the works of their hands, and wrote them in the soals of his feet; he setled his heart in the righ­teousness of the Message of his LORD, and rather chose the Chain of his Enemies Yoak, than to yeeld unto Cruelty and Flattery; he was faithful to his Enemy in what he was sent, as he was to his LORD that sent him; he washed his hands of the Blood of the City, and possessed the Peace of his LORD.

What will you say for your selves when this Servant's Cause shall be publickly pleaded to your faces? I know your pur­pose concerning the Heir, and the purpose also of the LORD of the Vineyard, as the Reward of your wilful works: You have been well warned, but you have not well re­ceived, but have ill rewarded and requited: Yet in all I desire not that God may requite you, as ye have requited me; and therefore I have Consolation, and you know not my [Page 74] Crown. The putrified head of the corrupted body and rotten tayl, yea, the whole body, even from head to tayl, I tread upon for ever.

ARise, arise, It is high time to Awake and Arise from the Seat of Blood; For the LORD GOD is arisen to make Inquisition for the Blood of every Innocent Soul, which hath been starved and slaugh­tered upon the face of the whole Earth; Indignation flyeth with him as a pointed Arrow; Vengeance is in his Right hand as a Spear for the Battel, and Wrath as a Dart to pierce the Liver of the Wicked; The LAMB is arisen for Slaughter, as a Lion to devour the Prey; a Burning fire [Page 75] proceedeth out of his mouth, The Ungodly shall be consumed before him; and because Iniquity is plentiful in the Land, he hasteth the Iudgment of the Day; neither Cover­ing nor Cloud shall hide the Wicked; nay, nor the Clifts of the craggy Rocks from the fierceness of his provoked Fury; He will smite suddenly, even in a moment, in the Land, and bereave the habitation of the Dweller; He will catch, as a snare in the night, and none shall deliver from his Wrath; He will abide as burnings in the Earth, Corruption shall not dwell in his Presence; the Evil-doer is for the Wine-press of his Wrath, but the Just shall dwell in his Pleasures: It is at hand, It is at hand, the Day of Vengeance of the LORD, according to the Prophecy: The abundance of Iniquity in the Land, yea, the fulness of the measure of Sin, hath dragged the fulness of the determination of Time, for the Revelation of Woe in the Earth, and Vengeance upon the Inhabitants there­of.

Long have you made Inquisition after evil for evil, & banished the good from your Presence, and shut it up in the Dens of Dragons. Arise and draw out of the ground of [Page 76] the Curse, where the righteous Blood of Abel was spilt; For your sin is as Sodom, and your transgression as the evil of Gomorrah. Your Glory is the Kingdom of this World; your Seats are as the dwellings of Princes: You have fulness and ease in your houses, you eat not the bread of carefulness. You make the miseries of others your mirth, and their mourning your song of rejoycing. You stretch your Carcasses upon the burden of their sorrows, and take pleasure to heap weight upon weight: You make the simple to bend at your Bow, and the wayfaring man to bow at your beck. You stretch forth your necks in pride, and bend your brows in presumpti­on. You have slain the Lamb in your streets, and trampled on his blood in your secret habitations. You crucifie the Lord afresh, and put him to open shame. You are not ashamed to say, Lord, though your lyes and your lightness abound. You have provoked the LORD unto Jealousie, and raised his Anger by constraint. And there­fore, behold, he cometh, as with Voices and Lightning, and will search your dark cor­ners as with Candles: He will rent the Co­verings of your body, and set you as in the day wherein you were born, and place you [Page 77] as Butts for his Shafts; even as you made the Innocent your mark to shoot your Ar­rows at in secret: You are planted the Judges of the Citadels, as the Chief of the Munitions in the Land, and as the princi­pal Castle of Refuge among all the Forts of the City: But the LORD will make the Staff of your Trust as for a shout in Battel against you; your Wallings he will make as a Wilderness, and your houses as an habita­tion of Bitterness; your pleasant Dreams shall have their end in sorrows, and your Divinations of gladness be finished with the compass of trouble; Vnbelief hasteth the Wo, because Iniquity waxeth ripe in the Land. And the LORD said unto Jonah, Go down unto Niniveh, and preach: And Jonah cryed in the City, Yet forty dayes, and Niniveh shall be destroyed: And when Ty­dings came to the King, he questioned not the matter, but considered the sins of the Land, and through Faith there was Repen­tance found among them, and the Lord turned back his Anger, and spared the City.

Remember your Visitation which is come from the LORD, in the day that you cry, Peace, peace in the Land, saying, none evil shall happen unto us; had I turned to another [Page 78] Land, the Lord would have had followed me with Storms, even as he did Jonah with displeasure; And God, who said, Go unto Rome, said also, Thus shalt thou say: which things I have given forth among you, and am clear from your works of Iniquity, and from the Blood of the Land and City, which else, as the Lord liveth in Judgment and Righteousness, he would have required the thing at my hand.

Concerning your Judgment I have this at least-wise to say: You sit as Lords in the Land, and your Wills are the Precepts of the People; You constrain your words for a Law, and make Envy the Judge thereof; The mouth of Malice dealeth the Sentence, for the instruments of Cruelty to execute your Wrath; You will not that your Judgment be judged, for you deal it in craft among the simple: but this the LORD willeth, although you will not; I say the Lord willeth it, and it shall come to passe: For the LORD GOD will enquire after Judgement, and bring Judge­ment as a spoyler of your Seat; You will seek to escape the Day, which cometh as a Thief in the night; But the LORD will compass you as Fish in the Net, and entrap [Page 79] you as Birds in the snare; and you that have digged a Pit for another, shall fall your selves therein: Iudge, judge the sin of your own hearts, and the liberties of your own lusts, and make inquisition after Judg­ment, for the sake of the Righteousness of the Judgement of Truth, which standeth against the Iniquities of your life; and un­til it be perfected in you, Judge not, lest you be judged; For ye have not received the measure in love, for Judgment to justifie you in the sight of GOD; and wanting the measure in your selves, you heap up Op­pression upon the head of another; and, wherein you judge another, you are left in­excusable your selves; for, wherein you judge another, you stand guilty of trans­gression in the self-same nature; yea, you judge as the Jews judged Jesus, whom they blindly accused for Blasphemy, and per­versly condemned his Innocency, to cover their Seat of Iniquity. O man, Judgest thou another as an Heretick, and hast thou Oaths and Curses in thy mouth? Judgest thou another for Heresie, and thou an Hy­pocrite and Lyar in thy life? Thou shalt bear the burden of thy Judgment, for thy own spirit gave the entrance, and yeelded [Page] [Page 78] [...] [Page 79] [...] [Page 80] the encrease of Heresie in the Earth, and thou shalt not be excused in the sight of the LORD GOD; And you shall all know, That the Judgment of GOD is according to Truth, against every one that doth evil.

Concerning your Restraints, let me shew you the general Issues and Effects thereof: A man that breaks the Covenant of your Wills, as having eaten Flesh upon a sixth day of the week (which you call Ve­nus day, after the manner of ascribing glory to a Heathen Goddess) for so doing, or otherwise you offending, though not against GOD transgressing, he is judged by you as a sinner against your Church, and therefore receives the sentence for restraint in your Inquisition-Prison-house; and then he is yours, as the wild Ass that is caught in the Coller; and knowing the nature of your own lusts, you work upon the strength of the same in another; you are experienced to deal with your own, as the Falkoner to bring Hawks to the waving of the Leuer. Man in the Fall (as your Members have said, not one of you restored unto the first Adam's estate in Paradise) dwells in the cursed ground of Corruption, Lust standing [Page 81] head over the whole Life, which being a little curbed with your bridle of Restraint, quickly languisheth in the Creature, and with it also the mind of the Creature, unto the bereaving and robbing the false Rest; which, through the subtilty of the Serpent, was planted in the Creature. A Sea of misery then floweth into the heart, and the mind gathers up the remembrance of the delight of every pleasure that is past, and painfully pleadeth in it self; I have lost the fulness and choice of the Bread and Wine, which I had in my liberty; here is no vent for the performing of what my heart desireth, either fulness or want doth but heap Wo upon Wo, in the Creature, which knoweth not a stay to the heart, nor a guide to the affection of the mind; and then there is an out-cry, according to the Writings in the Walls, O Liberty, Liberty, without Liberty all is nothing; yea, the fulness of all without Liberty, is but the Addition of Fuel to the Flame of the Misery; Wherefore, saith the Serpent, Thou knowest the Redemption, do this, and thou reapest thy Freedom; for it is better to passe under the Confession and Penance, which is but as it were for a moment, than to languish in this [Page 82] Gulph of Affliction for ever: And then the Hypocrite ariseth in the heart, and cometh to the Confession of deceit, with watry eyes, and wringing hands, and strong supplications to the Priests, and makes the moan of a burdened and troubled Conscience and wound­ed Spirit, because of the Transgressions; and then it saith, Yea, with all my heart, Saint Mary, St. Ioseph, and St. Anthony, St. Francis, St. Dominick, and the rest of the Saints, which are written in the Pri­son-walls, I will take for my Advocates, and holy Purgatory, and all the rest; I believe as the Church believes, and gladly will I bear my Penance, that my Conscience may be eased. Whilst all this is but the out-cry of the Devil, even of that wicked one, for the purchase of Liberty; I say, to purchase liberty for the full exercise of the Lust; and when the Liberty is come, and the Lust fulfilled therein, in Meats, and Musick, and Wine, and Women, and Pride, and Covetous­ness, and Lyes, and vain Jesting, and Idle-talking, and cheating, and double-dealing, and swearing, and cursing, and all manner of mischief and abominations; then the plea­sure is full, and the peace is possessed, the delights are fulfilled, no sorrow remains, no [Page 83] conscience laden, nor spirit burdened with affliction, because of transgression, but all is accounted well, and he reckoned a good Roman Catholick: And then, what com­mendations of the good of the Priests? and what commendations do the Priests give of that Convert? Thus all rottenness is daubed up with dirt, and this is the sum and fruit of the whole work; which things the LORD GOD will assuredly and that most strongly plead, in the faces both of Priests and People, unto the utter confusion of all hands, and deceitfulness of all corrupt hearts; who knoweth how to deal with his own, and to deliver from the snare of the wicked, whom you know not how to handle, to bring under the bent of your Bow: You are warned of Gods mighty day, wherefore prize your time, and repent.

I also propound a few Queries unto you, to the end that you may give me some plain and distinct Answer to each of them particularly, under your hand-writing.

Que. 1. Whether are there more grounds in the nature, than two in the Earth (that is to say) the good and the evil, the blessed and the cursed? And whether the fruits of each [Page 84] ground, according to their nature, are not bles­sed or cursed in the sight of God, yea or nay?

Que. 2. In what ground were your In­quisition Offices and Prisons, and the Of­ficers thereunto belonging, brought forth? and in which do they stand; whether in the ground, as the fruit of the ground of the many inventions, which brought the flood of destru­ction in the dayes of the generation of Noah, or absolutely in the righteousness of the ground of God's Law, as given by the Lord from Heaven, yea or nay?

Que. 3. In what ground is Persecution brought forth, which any man suffereth for the real sake of a conscience of God?

Que. 4. Whether can any such Persecu­tor truly discern, and consequently judge the real conscience of God which is in another, yea or nay?

Que. 5. By what testimony of Truth, can you shew me, That your Penance or Prisons do mortifie the flesh without Murder, or quic­ken the mind from every motion of corruption, as freedom from the lusts of transgression?

Que. 6. Whether have you made inquisi­tion after the Hypocrite and Heretick with­in you? and shew me how you have laid his [Page 85] Life unto the suffering of the Penance of Christ's Cross, with the testimony of the effects thereof?

Que. 7. What was the Inquisition which CHRIST made after the Offence of the accused Harlot, and the Judgement of the Harlot's Transgression? and, whether do you judge with that, or contrary to that Judgment in your Inquisitions?

Que. 8. With what confidence can you judg the pure conscience of another in the presence of the Lord, yea, or cast a stone at a trans­gressor, whilst you your selves are found sin­ners?

Que. 9. What is that Vnjust, in whose Eye is the Beam? and what is the Beam in the Eye? and whether is not the Beam in your Eye, yea or nay?

Que. 10. What is the cause that a mote is judged by the Eye that is beamed? And, what is the ground, root, original and prin­cipal cause of mens calling good evil, and evil good? And, whether is not your fruit in the general a testimony that you are in that ground, and that root in you in the ground which yeelds the fruit of calling good evil, and evil good, in the particular, yea or nay?

[Page 86]I love the Truth and Souls; but do hate a Lye and Deceit, with every evil way.

TO the Seed of that Woman which the Dragon drove into the Wilderness, over whose sufferings many Generations have passed, which viewed them with an eye of contempt. O Seed, I see thy travel of sorrows, and the sighings that compass thee in the deeps; thou art swadled in the womb of affliction, and bound in the belly of trou­ble; thou lyest in the deeps of the raging Seas, the weeds are wrapt about thy head; thou art as the blood-shed of Abel in the Earth, and groanest in her bowels to the LORD thy Creator; thou dwellest in the solitary places, as hid in the hole of the Asp; thou art constrained in the Den of the Dra­gon, and forced in the Cockatrice's dwel­ling; thou art as a Pelican in the Wilder­ness, [Page 87] and an alone Sparrow sitting on the house top; thou art as a Bee in the holes of the Rocks, driven from the Hive of the Swarm; thou lyest as a Lark in the heaths of the Mountains, and as a Quail in the Stubble-fields; thou art as a Wren in a Bush of Thorns, the Vulture soars over thee to devour; when thou liftest up thine head for a flight the Kite doth strike at thy life, the Hawk doth watch for thy rising, and the Gier-Eagle to devour the prey; Wo! wo! wo is me for thee in this thy hour of Tribulation! for I bear thy wound in my body, my soul is pained with thy grief; my belly is as a bro [...]k of bitterness, thou art laden with the Hills of the Earth, and pres­sed with the Mountains of the Wilderness; heaps of stones are laid for thy weight, and Rocks for the weight of thy burden; thou art shut up in Prison, in the Prison-house, and sittest solitary in darkness, in the sha­dow of death; the bonds of death have bound thee, and the Covenant with Hell hath capti­vated thee; many do look at thee with the countenance of mirth, and wag their heads at thy mourning; thou art as a Lamb among Lions, and as a prey to the devouring beasts; thou art as a spoyl to the mouth of the Fox, [Page 86] [...] [Page 87] [...] [Page 88] and as a destruction to the teeth of the Wolf, the wild Asse is offended at thy moving, and snuffeth up the wind in scorn of thy breathing; the Bulls of Bashan do pursue thee with roaring, and push with their horns at thy dwelling; thou art cast in the side of the way, and the Chariot wheels run over thee; thou art placed as a But in the field, for the Arrows and Darts to pierce thee; thou art the despised in the Earth, and mocked of men of the World; thou art sold as a Slave into Egypt, and counted the out­casts of Israel: though I have heard thy cry in the Land, and bear marks of the bleeding of thy grief in my bosome, yet I want the greatness of the weight of Wisdom, to measure the depths of thy misery; thou mournest as a Dove in the Deserts, which hath lost her only mate; thou weepest as the wayling of a Widow, and Mother bereaved of her Children; thou cryest with the grief of the fatherless and comfortless Child with­out Mother; thy mourning is as the cry of the Voice of the Orphan, left without help in the Land; thy groans are as the lan­guishing of the Poor in the Earth, which wanteth the daily bread; thou lyest in the fields like a yeaned Lamb, by the side of a [Page 89] dead Sheep; sore are thy cryes, as a strugling Babe at the breasts of a dead Mother: Eye hath not seen, neither hath ear heard, nei­ther hath it entred into the heart of vain man to conceive the weight of thy Wo and Passions, in all the dayes of thy Wrest­lings.

VVherefore, O Seed, because thou hast born the Indignation of the LORD for a season, and waitest until it be over and past, and hast not slipt thy shoulder in the heat of the day, nor thy neck from the yoak in the stormy time; Therefore hath thy GOD, thy Creator determined the good of thy travel in the Earth; He hath said, Thou shalt not always be as barren in the Land, but shalt yeeld thy increase in the Nations. O thou afflicted with the troubles of the deeps which tempests have rouled to the bottoms! lift up thy head in the Joy of the LORD, and be strong in the Power of his Might; for the Word of the LORD is come down in the Earth, which was spoken by the Pro­phets of GOD; the LORD of the Heavens hath restored thy Mother, and pitched her as a Sanctuary in the Earth; the Daughter of Sion is her Name, the Glory of GOD is with her; He hath given her a new thresh­ing [Page 90] Instrument with Teeth, to thresh the Mountains to dust, and to beat the Hills to powder; to seive the Vanity of the Nations, and to fan the Earth with her strength; to be as a wound to every Wild-beast, and de­struction to the life of the Destroyer; to be a snare to the Fowls of the Air, and a fire to devour the Devourer; to find out the Dens of the Earth, and to open the holes of thy hiding; to break the bolts of the Prison-doors, and the Chains of Death and Dark­ness; to make thee as free-born in the Land of the Living, to possess an Inheritance therein: And it shall be no more with thee, as in the dayes that all men sought after thee for evil, and hunted thee for a purpose of mischief and cruel end; for the LORD hath sworn thy Salvation, and co­venanted thy Peace for ever; sighing and sorrow shall fly away from thee, and thy tears shall be wiped from thine eyes, and the LORD will possess thee with the Joy of Consolation, and thou shalt reap Re­joycing as ripe Corn in the Harvest; He will give thee Beauty for Ashes, the Oyl of joy for mourning, and the garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness; he will stay thee with Flaggons, and comfort thee with Wine, [Page 91] and fill thee with the greatness o [...] his Love; thy habitation he wil compass with encrease, thy basket and thy store shall abound; thou shalt eat the food of the Angels of God, and be reckoned as a Leader in the Land; thou shalt spring up as a plant in a fruitful ground, and thy branches shall over-spread the Nations; thou shalt be at the calling of the Assemblies in the East, and the gathering of the People in the West; the Lord will enlarge thy borders, and make thy dwellings as the fulness of the Cities in the Earth; thou shalt be as the Lord of an Host, and as the Captain of the Army of GOD; Bat­tels shall bend to thy Bow, and Hosts shall tremble at the shout of thy Voice; thou shalt stand as a dread in the Land, and a sign of astonishment in the Earth; Princes shall tremble in thy presence, and the faces of Kings gather paleness; the dread of thy Countenance shall fill all with fear, the Heavens shall tremble before thee.

Arise, Arise my Love, why sittest thou as dead in the night of slumber? And as a­sleep amongst the Monuments of the Earth? Why shall Death be thy dwelling, and the Night a Watch unto thee? Why shall thy face be vailed, and the Clouds thus cover [Page 92] thy Glory? Though thou art but that small worm Jacob, and the Voice cryeth, Who shall raise him? Yet, Arise, Arise my Love, and being rais'd, thou art stronger than Armies, thou art more than the Camps of ten thousand Hosts prepared in order for the battel. O arise and spread forth thy Com­liness, and ravish the Virgins with thy Beauty, and fill their Lamps with the droppings of thy Locks, which wait until the morning for thee; thy Presence is an Odor of Perfumes, thy Word as a stream of Honey. O whereunto, whereunto shall I liken thee, thou fairest of ten thousands! filled with the Glory of thy GOD? thy Feet are the Foundations of the Earth, and thy Legs the Pillars of the Heavens; thy Bowels, as a Cistern, hold the Waters of the Earth, and the Waters of the Heavens as a Well: Thou sendest them forth as a run­ning brook, and as streams to refresh the Plant; Thy Reins are as the Virtue of God, which made man in the glory of his Image; thy Belly is the Fountain of Ju­dah, to wash away Sin and Uncleanness; thy Thighs are as the Bats of the Fountains, and thine Arms as the strength of GOD; thy Back is the Tower of Zion, and thy [Page 93] Breasts, the nourishment of her Children; thy Body is the Temple of GOD, and thine Head the Crown of his Saints; thy Hairs are as the Stars of Heaven for glory, and thy Beard as the bright Clouds thereof; at thy neesing the Earth is in fire, and the Heavens in a flame before thee; thy Soul is the Substance of the Creation of GOD, and thine Eyes the Light of the Day; thy Teeth are as the Angels of GOD in the Heavens, to fight thy Battel on Earth; thy [...]outh is the Door of the Counsel of GOD, and thy Tongue the Teacher there­of. O! the Earth, the Earth is confounded before thee. I am as a Wren in the Earth, lost under the stretching of thy Wing; I began in the shallow places, but am over­whelmed as a Worm in the deeps of GOD; no man hath comprehended thy Glory; where­fore let him bear his Judgement for ever, that fashions thee like unto a graven thing, or that makes an Image of thy CHRIST; Let him bear the perpetual shame of his folly, and the judgment of thy dreadful Word; Let his own soul eat his confusion, and drink up the dregs of his condemnation; for Glory is thine in the highest, who art only known to the pure in heart, and remembred of the [Page 94] Upright in the Earth. An Image is a mark of the unmindfulness of thy Name, and a sign of the forgetfulness of thy Presence.

O Seed, stand up as a Sign to the Peo­ple, and as an Ensign to the Nations of the Earth, that they may be gathered to the Knowledge of the LORD thy GOD, to remember Him as a God that is present, even at hand, for Iudgment to the Wic­ked, and Salvation of his own Elect.

Call, call for thy Courage, and cry aloud for thy Strength, and cloath thy self there­with, as in the dayes of old; stretch forth thine Hand in thy Power, and draw back the Clouds of the Night; Appear thou Sun of the Morning, as setled in the Heavens above, that the Nations may flow to thy Light, and Kings to the brightness of thy Rising; that the Isles may be gathered in one, to wait for the Law at thy Mouth; that the tongue of the Egyptian Sea may be dryed up, and but One pure Language re­main in the Earth; and that the Earth be filled with the Knowledge of GOD, as Waters cover the Seas.

It was once said, and the Voice answer­ed, Until how long? And the Spirit said, Until the determination of the time appointed, [Page 95] even until the fulfilling of the Abomination of Desolation in the Earth, and it seen to stand in the Holy Place. Then said the Angel, The mighty Dreadful Day of GOD is at hand. Awake, awake to the Judgment of the Ter­rible Day of the LORD. Fear GOD, and give Honour and Glory to his Name. O that thine Innocency were known in the Land, & thy Love received in the Earth! Thou art as the Innocent Lamb of the Flocks, and as the New-born Babe at the Breast; thou art as the Turtle which flyeth in fear, and as her young in the Nest without guile; thy Love is as the Mother to her comly Daugh­ter, and as the Father to his only Son; thy Love is as the Spouse to her Welbeloved, and as the Bridegroom wedded to his beautiful Virgin; it passeth the love of Women, thy Bonds are stronger than Death; thou bea­rest the greif of thy Love, for because of thy Love thou art hated: I love the love of thy Love, and do bear the burden thereof; I love the bonds of thy Love, for because of thy Love thou art bound; O make thy Love thy Battel, and the bent of thy Bow in the Earth, that he which hath pierced thee may mourn, and be broken in the bowels of Love; that the Mountains may be melted before [Page 96] thee, and the Hils drop down like Wax; and gather to the Body of Love, where neither Envy nor Lyes have life: Spread forth thy Arms in love, that thy measure be filled in the Earth; For Scorners do hiss at the kind­ness of thine heart, and mock at the meek­ness of thy mind; thine Arrows of Love be their wound, to pierce them to the heart in their seat; Overcome with the Love which created, and perfect the Glory of GOD; Make known thy Self as thou art, a Leader in the Righteousness of GOD: Instruct the simple thy way, and confound the Pru­dent thereby: Thy Way is the path of the Just, the sinner cannot walk therein; it is a Guide to the Wayfaring-man, the Fools cannot erre therein; The Wise do stumble in their sight, and the Subtil do fall before them; which maketh the Heathen rage, and all the Diviners mad: Open, open thy Bo­som to thy lovers, and thy Treasure to the soul which seeks thee; which spareth not Life from the Crosse, nor Lust from the flaming Sword, but layeth the Neck at the Yoak, to yeeld the First-born unto Death: Thy Treasure is the body of Wisdom, more pure than refined Gold: Thy Wisdom is as the Oracles of GOD, and Counsel of the Most [Page 97] High: Thou feedest thy own with the Life, with Wisdom the substance of Life: The Swine feed on husks as a prey, and run to a shadow for shelter: In Winter they wander in the Woods, and in Summer they wallow in the Mire: The Serpent licks up the dust of the ground, and hideth in a hole of the Earth; But thou buildest a Nursery for Babes, and a Dwelling for the Sons of God; Thou makest a Bed for the Virgin, and she is kept as a Bride for the Lamb: Thou makest the simple as an Host, to battle with the Armies of Gog; thou givest thy Coun­sel in the Day, and the weak is made strong for the War: The Philistine flourisheth his Sword, but it is kept for the wound of his body: The weak turneth back the force of the Giant, and slayeth him with his own Sword; he takes not Glory to his hand, but yeeldeth his heart to his GOD: By Wis­dom the Kingdom is created, and folded in secret from the Wicked; he which casteth his Crown at thy feet, thy Glory shall cover his head.

This is without respect to any man's per­son, whether Jew or Gentile in Rome, A Visitation of the Love of GOD to the [Page 98] Seed; And be it his Woe for ever and ever that keeps it back.

ROME being called of her Inhabitants, The Head of the World, and Holy City; and her Church, the Mother of many Na­tions, cryed up as the most famous (in Faith, Doctrine, Life, and practice of Righteous­ness, of the Lord Jesus) of all Peoples upon the face of the Earth; To her Heads and Rulers therefore I am willing to offer this entrance of the Remonstrance of my Cause, in a compendious Tract, by the representation of Reason, the Rule of the Law and Pro­phets, the Judgment of wise and holy Judges, the Commandments, Doctrine and Example [Page 99] of the LORD JESUS, with what else occasionally may be intervenially inserted in the same; to be placed as a Looking-glasse of Equity in all the Courts of Judi­catory in her City.

I John the Servant of JESUS [in the holy and blessed Calling of the Quaking and Trembling at the Word of the LORD GOD] upon the sixth day of the fourth moneth, in the year, 1658, arrived in the City of Rome, with humble desire of attain­ing sight and speech with the Pope; the which not foolishly, or presumptuously did I seek; but in all sobriety and modesty, made orderly proceed, in as many steps as I trod in the path of this progress; the which is well known unto divers of Eminent Re­port of your own Sect, within your City Walls.

Forasmuch as first of all, I opened my desired Purpose, and said End, unto Thomas Courtney, Jesuite, and English Confessor of Peters, from whom I received Advice, and, in due order thereunto, made exact progress, by passing, next and immediately from him, to John Crey, Irishman, and Chaplain to the Pope; before whom in like manner I spread my said Desire, as an un­folded [Page 100] sheet upon a smooth floor. At which time several words passed between us, of which I retain a full remembrance, though not esteemed of such weight, but may be waved at present, to the end, Lines of more consequence, and more properly pertinent to the instant purpose, may rule the side of my Paper; and therefore do proceed, shew­ing;

That upon the eighth of the said month and year, I was (by the Chief Marshal of the City, and his Guard) taken out of Bed, in my Lodging, at the sign of the Cock in Piazza Fornase, stripped of all things, ex­cept the Apparrel which I wore; and so at a late hour of the night was led bound to one of the New Prisons, where the second day I was briefly interrogated by the Gover­nour of the City, who at the same time, verbally conceaded me consent to my De­mand, of a sudden, fair and publick Tryal at Tribunal of Law; the which Equal deed mine Eye never saw put in execution and practice, unto this instant day of my Re­striction.

And it came to pass, that before six days were expired, with a second Guard I was taken from thence, bound in a Coach, and [Page 101] transported to the Inquisition-Prison; at which Office and Prison, divers of your Ecclesiastical Orders came to seek, and re­ceived full and plain speech from me: And after that a short space of time had va­nished, there was adhibited me a free and lawful Priviledge, (viz.) The solid, clear, and incontradicted Licence, to write my mind in whatsoever thing I would; to which purpose, and as an Authentick te­stimony of the same, him called the Fa­ther Commissary of the said Inquisition, al­lowed me Pen, Ink, and Paper; with the use whereof I faithfully forwarded the matter of clearing my Conscience, tho­row a naked Explication of the words of Righteousness, in sundry Manuscrips, and an Epistle general to the Romans.

Moreover it came to pass, that I ha­ving been about 18. weeks close Prisoner, in the said Inquisition, was the third time bound, and again in a Coach transported from thence unto this Prison of Mad-men; where I have rested (in the Peace and Pa­tience of the Lord Jesus, as one of his Innocent Lambs) under much hardship and severity; the which I over-pass, pres­sing on in the Progress, and succedently to shew forth, (viz.)

[Page 102]Concerning my more than two years Persecution, under Authority of your ju­risdiction.

Known be it unto you, O all ye Heads, Rulers, and Judges of Rome, That there was not an act done by me in your City (for which I am persecuted) which any Law of God, or Precept of his Son Jesus Christ, doth condemn; and am sure, where Righteous Judges perspicuously under­standing the matter, from no righteous ra­tional Law could judge, either worthy of Bonds or of blame; for the things which your Sect do call Heresies, which were the Writings that were found with me, though of a truth my Intention was naked to God (the which (when apprehended) I hid not from you) to dispense them, as they were directed to you, some folded, and others sealed; yet not any of the said Papers, being actually dispensed in this your City, before I was Apprehended; consequently not matter of Fact to be charged upon me, as transgression of a Law, and so not wor­thy of these Bonds; the which you may plainly perceive also by the succeeding il­lustrations.

First, From the word of Affirmation [Page 103] of one of your Fathers (a Confessor) unto me, shewing the Erection of the Inquisi­tion by a Law, was not to persecute, but purposely and properly to stop the in-cour­ses of such things, as the said my Writings, (which he reputed none other, but as a dangerous Impress of Heresies,) the which when stopt, the Law was fulfill'd, and in Equity, had its uttermost end; and so much the clearer, because the matter was not a Fact actual, but a purpose Intentional, the which no Righteous Law calleth criminal, seeing not any word therein was carnally evil, or, relating to any mans person, men­tally treasonable.

Secondly, Because that whereas in the Inquisition-Office (declared to be erected for the prevention of the influences of Heretical and Schismatical Opinions) was adhibited me, the free and lawful Licence and Priviledge to Write whatsoever things I would; the Righteous Judge in his Wis­dom, will not impute that thing unto me, as Transgression of the Law, in the City, which is a licenced Priviledge adhibited me, by the Ruling Power over the City.

Thirdly, Because it is well known, that not in any of my Papers, (which were ta­ken [Page 104] from me) there were words, (which your particular Judgements do esteem Heresies) which you could call more dan­gerous Heresies, than in them which I had free and lawful admission of Writing; whence the palpability of Reason, infer­reth the infallibility of Conclusion, not wor­thy (as precited) either of Bonds, or of Blame; for before an entrance of the Sen­tence of Condemnation might judiciously approach me herein, it would first take its proper Stage rationally, to reach your own Members; and thereby, if the Law could implead any at the Bar as a Transgressor, me, in mine Innocency, it would acquit, and charge the guilt on the heads of them Heads, which at the last adhibited me the free Liberty to Write, and so to dispence to you whatsoever I would; without which I the Prisoner could not have done the thing acted.

Fourthly, Because the said later Wri­tings, whilst I was a Prisoner, being pri­viledged, do in the perspicuity of Reason hold forth, That the former, written whilst I was at Liberty, do stand with suitable assent of one of these three, (viz.) first, Either according to your Law; or secondly, [Page 105] Not contrary to the rule of your Law (that is to say) a Law not standing in potential record against them; and to that, saith the Apostle, Where there is no Law, there is no Trans­gression; or otherwise, at utmost, you constantly avouching that they were against your Law. Finally, the Rule of Equity standeth to test, that of a truth, it was your selves, which by the Act of Assent, first nul­led that Law, and so no more stands in force of a Law, to judge me now as a trans­gressour; for, except that it were not against a Law, or that you had made void and null that Law, which you may say, that my Writings were against; then, as afore­said, could not I have written the things which I have written in your Inquisition-Prison?

Fifthly, Because that all Righteous Laws of GOD in Nations, touching Facts Cri­minal, and Crimes Capital, are no more to one person particular, than unto all men in general; And therefore my adhibition at last, to write things of the same nature and purpose in Prison, which at first I did in the fruition of Liberty, demonstrates, that your said self-nulled Law, (Under which (con­trary to the tenure of GOD's righteous [Page 106] Law) I am yet irrationally and compulsively held in your house of Captivity) was not at first so much a stable Law, as an aiery vari­able nicity; for that which (in such cases) adhibits to one, and prohibits the same to another, is rather like a wind of vanity, than a body or pillar of solidity, seeing that it will admit of the respect of persons in Judgement, and consequently what equa­lity there is, in restraining of persons, more than two years, upon the account of a chan­geable curiosity, and aiery nicity; judge thee, O thou righteous Iudge, in the high seat of superiority.

Sixthly, Because the Eternal Spirit of Righteousness, my Maker, which searcheth all hearts, and tryeth all reins; which is the greatest Witness of all Witnesses, beareth testimony in my spirit, that in all which I have written, have stood, and do stand in my Conscience, clear, naked and void of all and every part of a prejudicial mind, or con­ception of Envy, Wrath, Malice, Scorn, or despightful Contempt of any man's person; neither have I thereby wronged any man whatsoever; for all that is therein inserted, is none other, but wholsom Admonitions, exciting to a more peculiar, holy, and blessed [Page 107] life, towards GOD and a man's Neigh­bour; with certain solid, sober Interroga­tions, which tend not to the custom of hea­thenish strifes and contests in the envious and malicious spirit of bitterness; but purely, sin­cerely and reverently in the humble spirit of fear of the LORD GOD, to the pro­per and sole end of the Glory of GOD, through the Salvation of Souls, by his heavenly enlightning of Understandings, with the Glory of his holy Spirit; And savoury reprehensions of that spirit which sinneth, and testimony against the Evils of the Land, and the insertion of sundry spiritual My­steries of the heavenly Kingdom, with the spiritual Witness of the Father, Son, and holy Ghost; and nothing therein contrary to the New Testament of GOD, the Blood of the Covenant, and immaculate Life of the Lamb, nor any thing in opposition to that chast Spirit of Sanctity, which was in Ma­ry, or any which was, or is, as that blessed Virgin was, which (upon further and due tryal) I am able (in the grace and power of GOD, and the Life of our Lord Jesus) to make appear unto that of God in you, and all men whatsoever (which my Lan­guage can understand) upon the face of the [Page 108] Earth; In which thing being justified, First, by GOD which sent me. Secondly, By example of the holy Prophets of old. Third­ly, By the practice of CHRIST and his Apostles, which at large (through the Mercy of the Lord God Almighty) I am also able to hold forth unto you (in the day of due tryal) according to the undeniable Record, and Witness of the holy Scriptures of Truth; And therfore Righteousness saith, Because that the nature of the matter was of a pure purpose, should rationally have been recom­penced by you with none other than a pure and Christian-like practice.

Seventhly, Because the sweet savour and good report of our Innocency came to your City before us, which God made divers of your Ecclesiastical Members to confess in plainness of speech to my face.

Eighthly, Because the Witness of GOD, which is greater than the Witness of Man, testified in my spirit, That all my honest Queries, sweet and holy Admonitions, pure Advertisments, & godly Reprehensions, pro­ceeded from no other, but as Crystal streams from the fountain of the Father's Love, which he hath made as a Well of Waters in my bowels; And principally, because that [Page 109] Reprehension is an infallible token of the Fa­ther's Love to his Seed in all Nations and Lands, testified by the Spirit to John the Apostle, saying, Whom I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore and repent.

Ninthly, Because it is the undeniable Duty of all men upon the face of the Earth, to love the Rebukes of the LORD; as it is purely the LORD's Mercy, and of his infi­nite Love, to send them as Visitations of his Love unto all Nations.

Tenthly, Because the resisting of the Re­buke, is the resisting of the token of the Fa­vour and Love of GOD; which renders men unworthy of the Love and Mercies of GOD their Maker: And because it vails the heart from the life of the true Zeal in spirit, and hardens the heart in the Wrath of Cain towards Abel, of Esau to Jacob, and of the Jews to Jesus.

11. Because the Righteous Law of God is of the same nature, full of Judgment and Reprehension of every Evil, not respecting the Person of any man, and is at unity with every such spirit of its own nature in so good a work; for the which cause it was righte­ously added of GOD: for if there were no bridle, how should the Beast be tamed? [Page 110] if no Helm, how should the Ship be sailed? And without Correction, there is no perfect Instruction.

12. Because the Rebuke of Life is as a Steel which smiteth at the Flint of man's heart, and kindleth in his Internals, the fire of the fear of his Creator, which is the beginning of Wisdom, which reveals the knowledge of the countenance of the Father, whom to know, is Life eternal: and because of Solomon's proverbial commendation of the work of Reprehension, saying, The Re­proof of the Righteous, is like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver.

13. Because, as the matter of my said Writings is manifestly composed of Righ­teousness, and covered with the Countenance of the Word of GOD; so the manner there­of stands in unity with the Scriptures of the Prophets and Apostles, which were in the nature of Divinity, which covereth not Ini­quity with daubing Iniquity.

14. Because Moses the Messenger of GOD, justified him which prophesied in the Camp, (whom the People complained against) thus answering and saying, Would God all the Lords People were Prophets. And because GOD Almighty is unchangeably [Page 111] the same, as yesterday, so this day, and for ever; of these stones able to raise a Seed un­to Abraham.

15. Because of the amiable Example of the gesture of David the King under the sharp Reprehension of Nathan the Prophet; who persecuted not the Prophet, but with a contrite spirit repented of his own sin. And the like of the King and People of Niniveh, who persecuted not Jonah, though he cry­ed their Destruction in the Streets.

16. Because the Prophet Isaiah prophe­sied it, as the great Evil of such a People, which would make a man an Offender for a Word.

17. Because that for the same things, (like unto them, my said Writings in life and nature) the Prophets, CHRIST, and the Apostles (by ungodly and unrighteous Rulers) were persecuted and made sufferers in the world; And because from the day of Cain's Cruelty, even unto this moment, there was never any other spirit in the world, which did or doth persecute any soul for his pure Conscience of GOD, besides the thick spirit of darkness, which is of the old Serpent the Devil, to which the Apostle in his day held his Testimony, saying, As it [Page 112] was then, he that was born after the flesh, per­secuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

18. Because the Doctrine and Life of CHRIST teacheth his Church, to recom­pence all men good for evil, and not any man evil for evil; seeing the recompence of evil for evil rendreth men manifestly as children of the Devil; and much more the rendring evil actual, for the work of good sincerely intentional. And because that Christ reprehended that spirit of Revenge in the youth of his Disciples, which would have had Fire come down from Heaven to de­stroy his Persecutors, saying, You know not of what spirit you are. Who, though the glo­rious Power of the Father was with Him, (which could do all things) yet persecuted no man, but suffered all things. And be­cause we do not persecute you, nor any other Sect beside you.

19. Because that when CHRIST so sharply reprehended Peter, saying, Get thee behind me Satan: And when he said also to the Jews, You are of your father the Devil, and the lust of your father you will do, and he was a lyar from the beginning: Neither his friend nor his foes persecuted [Page 113] Him with that bitterness, wherewith you have persecuted me. I might moreover instance Jeremiah's crying against the Temple, which once GOD commanded; Paul's Reprehension of the High Priest; Peter's of Simon Magus; Paul's Declara­tion of Reproof to the Athenians, in the open Court of the Arreopageans; with many other Acts of CHRIST and his Apostles; yea, and a Cloud of Witnesses, re­served to the day of Judgement, and to testifie the Innocency of the Just at the open Bar of Tribunal.

20. Because the Kingdom, Weapons, and Warfare of the LORD JESUS and his Apostles and Church, were not, nor are not carnal, but spiritual; and also because my Writings, Sayings, and Speeches are not carnal, nor tending to a carnal end, but spi­ritual, tending to a spiritual life, without end; The which spiritual Holiness, if you call spiritual Wickedness, yet professing your selves to be the Church, which is the Body, should consequently in the Channel and clear Course of the running River of Righteous REASON, be subject unto CHRIST, whom you confess to be the Head of the Body, and so the Body to be [Page 114] subject to the Law of the Head, and not to make the Head subject to the lust of your body; and then you would do as CHRIST did, and as the Apostles practised, cut down the spiritual Wickedness with spiritual Wea­pons: For when the Jews said unto Jesus, Thou hast a Devil, and in the name of Beel­zebub dost cast out Devils: the LORD (then, whom you are not greater, in whose hand all Power was) persecuted not their persons, but fought with them with the spiritual Weapons, and said, If I in the name of the Prince of Devils do cast out Devils, then is his Kingdom divided; and so with the spiritual Weapons cut down the spiritual Wickedness.

These are the things which I call Righ­teous Reason to every righteous rational man living.

Forasmuch also as for more than two years space (as precited) and in like man­ner in the interval of the said time, as op­portunities, sundry and divers, were pre­sented, I having in the spirit of sobriety moved, and modestly urged for an open, fair and legal Tryal, according to the holy Law of GOD, and of his Son JESUS CHRIST, which righteously regulateth [Page 115] among his Church, the which was many times promised, but being hitherto never performed, may give just occasion unto every person of prudent understanding, which hath, or may hear thereof, to conceive that my continued Restriction, thus debarred from the Judgment of the Law of Equity, is of the nature of Apostacy from, and consequently in Antipathy unto the sage, moral Ty of hu­manity, and all things which are of the Vir­tuous Substance heavenly; And that from the consideration of the subsequent causes, which I the rather intimate, from the cogi­tation that they may be rationally as an In­ducement and Instigation of you, to expediate my hitherto detarded Tryal at open Tribunal of Law, where I may justly find ample Au­dience to illustrate (unto all attending Ap­prehensions) the perspicuity of the Defence of mine Innocency; In due progress where­unto, therefore, from this Spirit of meek­nesse, O ye Rulers of ROME, con­ceive, &c.

First, Because the simple, proper, pure, solid, and sole end of the Law of GOD, and all Righteous Laws of Nations, is really, righteously, and equally, for the expedition of Judgment on every Transgressor, for the fact [Page 116] of his Transgression, without respect of per­sons, for the perfecting Righteousness in the Earth: and where the end of the Law is made void, there the substance of the whole Law is destroyed.

Secondly, Because punishment inflicted upon any man by any Judge or Magistrate, which hath a Law without Judgment, and open Conviction by the Law, is not, accord­ing to Righteousness, so much an act of Equity, as directly contrary to all Law, and unreasonable constriction of the cruelty of Tyranny; and such an Act stains the glory of his Tribunal of Authority: For by a Law he holdeth the Seat of his Superiority, and the Righteousness of Judgement, by the Law being the Glory of the Chair of his Magistracy; Judgment being pervert­ed, the Just Tribunal is overturned, and thereby the Glory thereof rendred as a stage of Infamy: And thus the Law being vio­lated, mark what follows, The Land by un­righteousness ruined.

Thirdly, Because the constriction, and continuation of Bonds through suspence of Judgment, and Punishment of a Person with­out Judgment and open Conviction by the Law, stands in contrariety to the pure [Page 117] practice and life of true Christianity, which actually leadeth to the doing unto all men, as a man would that another should do unto him; in which also consists both the Law and the Prophets. And because it is but of the same, which the Proverb rendreth most infamous, saying, Hang a man first, and Judge him afterwards.

Fourthly, Because it is expresly in oppo­sition to the pure Nature of GOD your Cre­ator, who looketh for the work of Judgment in the Land, and sent Judgment into that Land, in which the Righteousness thereof was scanted; and where against the end of the Law, the Judgment thereof is found delayed and suspended, there the measure is scanted, and the ballance falsified upon the Stall; and there the presumptuous Lust of irrational and unsatiable Will ruleth in the Seat of wrongful Revenge, in the enmity to the Righteousness of the Law it self, which was added of Christ for the regulating of that gluttonous Lust of the spirit of Revenge; and, so where the Judgment of Truth is al­wayes suspended, there the wrongs and in­juries heaped upon the Innocent, never come (by the Magistrate) to be removed and ended.

[Page 118] Fifthly, Because that in the Land where Judgment is not equally practised, but un­righteously detarded, and tediously suspen­ded, the fame thereof breaks an inlet in that Land, unto all Assaults, Deceits, Wrongs, Robberies, Riots, Rapes and Mur­ders; For there the Judge's Insolencies is made the president of the Subjects Villanies; and there the two can sup of one cup in the communication, saying, Give me of thy Broth, and lo, thou shalt partake of my Bread: And thus the Just is violently led to languish in the Land.

Sixthly, Because through the suspense of the Just Judgment of the Law (which was added because of Transgression, and provided as God's Ordinance, for the removal of Oppression) as the Innocent is thereby on the one hand oppressed, and his Yoak not broken, but strengthened; so by the same, on the other hand, the Trans­gressor also receives not his due, but a wrong; and so no man hath right by the Law which God hath appointed for every man's right, either of Condemnation or Ju­stification by due and open Tryal at Tribunal of Law; but thus the Law, which GOD hath ordained for the removal of Oppression [Page 119] from all, through violation is converted, and made as an Instrument of Oppression unto all.

Seventhly, Because the suspense of Judg­ment is contrary to the good Examples, pra­ctised of God's holy men of old; Witness Moses, and his true Successors in the same seat; and Solomon the wise King, who when the cause of contest between the two women (concerning the living Child) came before him, delayed it not, but instantly called for a Sword, and thereby in the Righteousness finding the true Mother, immediatly gave her her due: Likewise CHRIST, who suspended not the Judgment of the Cause of the Harlot, but quickly judged, Whoso­ever is free from sin, let him cast the first stone.

Eighthly, Because the righteous Son of GOD, marked out that unjust Judge, (by the name of a man that feared not God, nor regarded man) who suspended the Cause of the oppressed and wronged Widow, and judged it not for the sake of Justice and Equity, but detarded it, until he found himself wearied with the Widows importunity.

Ninthly, Because the very Jews hard-heartedness suspended not the Tryal of the [Page 120] Just Man JESUS, by keeping him Two years, or more, under the temptation of the severity of Bonds, to make him deny his Calling, and consequently the Father which sent him, but quickly and publickly (though unrighteously and against Law) judging Him worthy of Death, exposed him to the pangs of the same; and because also the Jews in the same unbelief and hardness of heart, and the Gentiles in the Heathenism and Paganism, divers times gave Audience, to the open Declaration of Paul the Apostle in defence of his Righteous Cause. More­over, though it might have been appre­hended as an Affront to his Country-men, when he the said Apostle, in the day of his Tryal in the Court of Judicature, appealed [from them] unto Caesar, yet because of the Law, had his Appeal assented him.

Tenthly, Because That Person whoso­ever, that under pretence of a Law, violates the Righteousness of the Law, by perverting the Law (as the Jews did in the Judgment of Jesus) or by unequal suspending of the Law, which is given into his hands, as a Stewardship, to handle, in equal admini­stration of just Judgment unto all, without suspense or respect of persons, thus wilfully [Page 121] acting in contrariety to all true humanity, the pure practice of Christianity, the holy Law of GOD, and Prophets, and nature of the true GOD, appears manifestly (in the Chrystal glass of the Law of Equity) but as a beastly, lustful, lawless fighter with his horns of Superiority, upon the high moun­tain of Arrogancy, an Oppressor of the Poor and Simple in his Innocency; and so warreth not only against Moses and the Prophets purity, and Christ's sanctity, but also against GOD Almighty his Creator's Divinity; and thus renders himself but as one in the Pa­ganism and cursed Atheism, a subject of the Vengeance of GOD's Just Judgments in the actual work of despairation, which shuts from the true hope of the least drop of the Mercy of the LORD GOD.

These things I call Silver (seven times) refined, Drops of the Representation of Righteous Reason, which in the substantial, practical, and living chanels, run down like streams from the top of the Mountain of Sion, which stands in the midst of the holy City of GOD; the which, if no man can confidently stand to oppose openly to my face, yet if any man will wilfully with­stand in secret behind my back, let him [Page 122] send me in writing the strength of his Op­position; and with further priviledge, I in the only strength of GOD, may haply shew his confusion, that so the work of Righteous­ness may prosper in the Land, the which is sincerely desired. But finally, if approved, and not opposed, then in Justice, without further suspense, let them serve to the ef­fect of one of the ensuing Propositions.

1. Either for my fair, open, cleer, pub­lick and legal Tryal at Tribunal of Law, if any man hath justly to charge me as a Transgressor.

2. Or, if not a Trnsgressor, then to be righteously acquitted of these Bonds.

In a word, Consider in soberness, O ye Heads and Rulers of ROME, that if by any man's means I stand wrongfully repre­sented before you, as a transgressor; whether more than Two years Imprisonment, doth not equivolently answer such a Law, as counteth not the represented Fact to be so criminal, as that it is worthy of the cogni­zance of Judgment at the Bar of Tribunal: For my God weigheth all things in an equal ballance.

Summarily, if the strong will of causless irrational Revenge, hath not glutted her [Page 123] appetite on me, I am still the same, in the same Kingdom of the Content and Pa­tience; as yesterday, so also to day, even un­to the last day, until her greedy mouth hath sucked my last blood and breath, and so this very Prison to be made the Ax of Execu­tion of a Martyr of Jesus. And know ye to the utmost, that I am of the Spirit of Stephen, and Life of the Lord, which pray­ed, and despited not.

THis City hath ill requited the simpli­city of my bowels of the Eternal Love (as well towards her Inhabitants) as they have been largely manifested to thy Chil­dren in Ireland, in the time of their most grievous distress; Once, when about 120 persons were imprisoned in the City of Kil­kenny, to be sent as Captives to the Barba­does, & but one man more besides me in all that Land, either English or Irish, that durst to appear in their behalfs to plead their [Page 124] cause for them; which the God of Heaven knows that I did (without an Earthly Re­ward) with the then Governor of that City; (who sometime before that, sent me up Pri­soner to Dublin, prosecuting my Life, be­cause I had written about three sheets of Paper, that represented the sore Grievances and heavy Oppressions of all thy Children in that Land, which none of them instigated me unto, but was only carried forth there­unto in the Mercies, Pities and Compassions that God had put into my soul, beholding them a bleeding People) With the said Go­vernour I pleaded (for the said persons) first, in his private house, and next, with him, and all the Commissioners, in the open Court of Justice, and obtained a War­rant for the delivery of the said Prisoners, which I went personally to see executed; but the Marshal, hoping to gain Moneys, disobeyed it; which made me go a second time to the Court, and open the Cause afresh, whereby I obtained my Desire as full as I could possibly expect; for with a second Or­der I returned to the Prison (not giving trust to any humane eye besides my own) and saw them all delivered; at which time many fell down upon their knees to me in [Page 125] the open street, worshiping me as if I were a God, and not a man; which I then de­nied, remembring the words of Christ, and of the Angel, that said, thou shalt worship GOD, and Him only shalt thou worship.

Besides, other times I have appeared for some poor Widows, being formerly of eminency and repute in the World, and thy Children, and many other Roman Catholicks in their distresses; and GOD Almighty knows that the Pitties of my soul were such to them all, that I was so far from expecting a Gift for all that I did for them, that besides my Expences in several Jour­nies to serve their needs, my hand was open to all, and not one of thy Children can say that he came to my Door for an Alms, and went away empty-handed. Besides all this, the GOD of Knowledge remembers that I have stript off the Apparrel imme­diatly from my body to cloath thy Children that I saw in need and want.

Therefore consider thee this Case, as thou wilt appear to be a natural Father: And because I have not found Mercy in this City answerable to the least part of my Bowels to thy Children in their woful di­stresses; yet shew me Justice but to plead my [Page 126] own Cause in a publick Court of Judicature, as I have openly pleaded the Cause of thy Children in a publick Court of Judicature in time of their misery, when they could not plead it themselves, nor durst others do it for them, and it shal satisfie my soul; which spirituality, nay nor humanity it self will deny me: the which I seek in the Spirit of meekness, as one that is delighted in the Order of Truth, loving and praying for Enemies, and watching to recompence good for evil, that the Light of the Lamb in me may appear as a City set on a Hill.

And though something was (a long while before) desired, and earnestly besought by divers of the Pope's Priests and other Offi­cers, for me to write unto the Pope, even in this wise, yet after I had sent and heard of its delivery to the Pope at his Palace, the Answer which I received was, this, (viz.) That I should have no hearing; and withal, I was stript of all my Writings which could be found, together with Pen, Ink and Pa­per, [Page 127] and threatned to have my Door walled up, and half, or more, of the Window also walled up; and scarcely Water to be brought unto me for my necessary use: Whereby the very worst of men may discern that the spirit which ruleth in Rome is not of Christ, but of Antichrist.