THe Magnificency of the Moſt Mighty, and his Supremacy ſtands on high in Dominion over all things; So Omnipotent is his Eſſence in all his Purpoſes and Paſſages, that if he but thinketh of Viſitations, Nations are ſcattered before him; or, if He but ſteppeth among Kings and Princes in the Jealouſie of his Diſpleaſure, and ſpurneth with his foot at their Thrones, As the ſtorms of the Eaſt wind rooteth up the lofty trees of the Mountain of the Foreſt, even ſo of a ſudden becomes their Seats, beſides the foundation of their Palaces ſinks down as a Wall which the openings of an Earthquake hath ſwallowed in her hungry womb, who reduceth the banks of Pride and Munitions of Arrogancy unto the deſtiny of a fall, into the gaping Gulf of the mouth of exceeding Miſery.

And now the countenances of an illuſtrious Off-ſpring, and comlineſs of a numberleſs train of the moſt enamoured beautiful Virgins, doth compaſs my waſte, as with the girdings of a cincture of raviſhment; to whom (though I have but the weakneſs of utterance, and feebleneſs of ſtammering expreſſions, yet with the ſincerity of a ſimple ſoul, and fervency of a burning ſpirit) I am impulſively conſtrained to vocifie, although but through the ſmalleſt Organ of the Quire, ſaying to my beloved, O ye enamoured Daughters of Jeruſalem, and Sons of Sions King! in whom the Righteouſneſs of his Majeſty is revealed, and the Wiſdom of his Holineſs from above, to ſeek an entrance of utterance towards you; I may wiſely firſt interrogate, ſaying, How may I utter? or, in what manner may I paraphraſe to render you an ample proportioned Remonſtrance of that Love of our only Father, which is locked up (as mine everlaſting debt, and your peculiar treaſure) in the moſt ſecret Cabbinet of my inner Cloſer, reſerved for the day of your ſervice: Verily nothing can open it, as it is, beſides the Key of the Kingdom within you, nor declare it, as it ought to be ſpoken, but the tongue of the Learned which is given you; and being declared, not an ear can hear it, ſave that of the Lamb without ſpot; or, if it were printed on Parchment, or engraven on Braſs, not an eye could diſcern the perſpicuity of the Characters, ſo as to give a voice of fluentneſs of the liberal ſound thereof, except the tender Eye of the Turtle-Dove, whoſe Sight is a ſearcher into ſecrets; in all which you are known unto me; by whom I am perfectly received, and manifeſtly underſtood, as the Savory Voice of your Beloved, inſtantly and intimately with you, in the deareſt conjunction of Eternity, which muſt never end: for as fuel which is caſt into flames, yeeldeth but the ſame natural effect of fervour; and as Gold that is melted with Gold, imbodies in an entire weight, ſo am I in Unity with you: And as the Rivers of Canaan are four everlaſting. Witneſſes of conjunction, the one of Milk, the other of Honey, another of Wine, and the other of Oyl, imbodying in one Pond, and from thence running forth in one entire and irreſiſtable current, which no man can ſtop to extract the ſweetneſs thereof; Such, even ſuch, is the individual relation of my contract and betrothing with you; Yea, and as a buſhel of Salt which is caſt into the Sea, and diſſolved in her womb in the Weſtern part, and a Voice ſaith unto the Son of Man in the Eaſt, Ariſe, and go to the Weſt, and by juſt ſeparation, gather me the diſtinct drops of them corns of Salt which are diſſolv'd in the utmoſt quarter of the Weſtern Oceans: And he anſwereth him, ſaying, It is a thing altogether impoſſible for me to do. Such is my entrance in the bowels of your body, as a drop of Savour and a dram of Sweetneſs within you, in the Union, as blood to blood in your veins, and marrow to marrow in your bones: Yea, greater than this is my Covenant with you, with you, with you, O ye Seed of the Lord of lords! O ye Daughters of the King of kings, & Sons of the moſt high God of gods, wherein I can never be ſeparated from you: For as the government of the night is given in contract to the the Moon, and as light is joyned to the Morning-Star, yea, and as the brightneſs of the day is imbodied in the Sun, ſo even ſo are your raviſhing breaſts my bed, where I frequently reſt without travels, and repoſe without ſenſe of ſorrows. And after all this, though I dwell in the Banqueting-houſe where the Dainties are ſpread before me, and am ſealed with the ſignet of Love, and have ſwallowed up the ſtreams of the Fountain of Charity and Affection, like forcible flouds; nevertheleſs, I find an inſufficiency in my ſelf, to tell you the greateſt things of the indiſſolvable Bonds of mine everlaſting Relation unto you, which verily is exceeding good both for you and for me, that we all as one may alwayes and evermore know our God alone, to be the wiſeſt of all Counſelors and Inſtructors, ſpeaking to us and teaching us his Oracles in the ſecrets, when the external Voice neither foundeth nor reacheth unto us.

And Oh! Oh thou Jeruſalem! the holy City of the Lord thy God, This is the Word of thy Creator unto thee, who hath raiſed thee of a little ſtone, unto the proportion of the moſt immovable Mountain in the Globe of the whole Earth, and made thy Walls an everlaſting ſafety, and thy Gates the entrance of joyfulneſs: I the Lord, the Moſt Mighty, will yet make the Coverings of thy Habitations, as a Glory of the greateſt Dignity, and Crowns of the higheſt Royalty; for they ſhall be a reſplendency of a tranſcending Light, reaching into the Chambers of the ſeventh Heavens; and the glitterings of the very Pavements of thy Streets, ſhall be as torches like flaming Hills, giving a thorow light unto the profoundeſt deeps of the Oceans: For loe, there ſhall be no more Earth between thee & the Chryſtal Seas, nor yet an Element between thee and the upper Heavens: Moreover the day cometh unto the fruits of thy bleſſed Womb, that among them the walls of thy reach ſhall be no more counted nor called a confine; for they ſhall infinitely run over the utmoſt limitation of the ſpace of place; and it ſhall be unto them which walk in thy ſtreets, that they ſhall but look thereon, and though running as in a race, yet ſhall read, perceive, and underſtand the wonders of thy Creator, which are hid in the deeps; and through the brightneſs of them which have an everlaſting ſcituation over all waters, they ſhall ſee the playes of the Fiſhes, and the rejoycings of their ſcooles in a ſmooth Sea without ſtorms: For the Winds of the Winter ſhall ceaſe for ever, and a tranquility of the entire Body of all the Conſtellations, ſhal cover her face without end; and the dwellers of thy habitations ſhall call the name of thy ſtreets, The Proſpective-Glaſs of the Counſels of the Omnipotent Majeſty, which ſhews a perfection of fulneſs without the reſemblance or form of figures.

Ah! thou Beauty of Beauties, on whoſe face the moſt illuſtrious Splendor of Splendors is ſpread; the very twinkling of thine eye, as the glimpſe of a countenance caſt over me, catches away my ſoul, as in the talants of Rapture, bearing me in a fiery Cloud. O God, let therefore the Raviſhments, wherewith She hath raviſhed me, become Raptures of Rentings of the ſouls of her Seed, in the ſuperabundant ſolace of my ſpirit; and if my pleaſures be not of a ſufficiency equivolent to their ſtatures, then let my body be broken as bread, and my bowels powred out as brooks, and let me walk hungry for the better things, and return as an empty pitcher to the Fountain of Waters, that yet in a little I may be a help to the leaſt, which are the dearling Children of her Womb.

Now, Oh ye Babes of the early Day! this I have to ſay unto you, in the life and ſpringing of the Light from on High, in which, through the bleſſed Birth, under the tediouſneſs of the travel thereof, you have obtained a nearer and dearer Calling of Childſhip, than that of an Adoption unto Heirſhip: Think ye (my dear and tender Siſters and Brethren) and gather the Ponders in your ſelves of the ſweeteſt Banquets and choiceſt Wine, of the moſt mellodious Muſick, delightſomeſt Pleaſures, and greateſt Joyes, yea, wind your ſelves by Inſtruments, and line unto the deepeſt bottoms, and aſcend by the higheſt ladder of your choiceſt Contemplations, in the utmoſt ſtrength of every ſenſe of Joyes, And when you have ſaid to your ſelves, thou canſt not deſcend a degree lower, nor aſcend a ſtep higher, then read in your ſelves the anſwer of your Beloved, which teſtifieth to the face of faithfulneſs of every holy Life, As the firſt Heavens is above the loweſt earth, and the third Heavens above the firmament of the firſt, even ſo ſhall the ſenſe be, exceeding every ſenſe of that which now is, and all ſhall be enjoyed in the perfect joy of the poſſeſſion of Perpetuity for ever.

And therefore run my Darlings in the Race of Righteouſneſs, ſo as to reach the Mark with the Recompence, and comfort your ſelves and one another with theſe ſayings.

Come ye leaſt of Babes, and leap up into the tenderneſs of my boſome, that I may bear you up into the Mountain of Zion, which is waxed exceeding mighty in the midſt of your Mother, where you may turn on the top thereof, and behold the Rayes of her glory compaſſing you: Ah roul your eye at the Motion of my finger, which pointeth at the emphaſis of a Remnant of her Ornaments and Features, that you may be refreſhed with a gracious gladneſs in her Glory: For her hair is the Rain of the Clouds which watereth the Plants in Spring, and maketh the buds of the Garden ſhoot forth into flowers, and gives the Roſes the fragrant odours; the beds of Spices have Myrrh in their dropings, and the ground of their plantation gives the fruits of her goodneſs, as a congratulating preſent to the Gardner; when ſhe combs her head, the Dews do fall, which refreſh the graſs of the field, and make the Earth to ſmile with Rejoycings, whilſt ſhe arrayes her with the Garments of green, trimming her with the Bloſſoms of fruitful trees, and attiring her with the Ornaments of Jewels, and Pendencies on Vine-branches: Her Face is as the Meridian Sun, which giveth light unto the ends of the Earth: Her Eye is as the Beams of the riſing of Orion, which pierceth thorow the crevices of the doors of obſcurity and darkneſs; Her Mouth is the door of the treaſures of Counſel, where Wiſdom and Life is conconſerved; Her Tongue is the Key which unlocks the Graves, and opens the jaws of the Seas; She calleth with her Voice from the ſcituation of her Reſt, and they vomit up their dead before her; She breatheth on bones and ſculls, and they riſe upon their feet and walk in the ſtrength of revived men; Her Hands are the bountifulneſs of Bleſſings, which fill up the baskets of the Obedient; Her Arms are an endleſs compaſs of Compaſſions, which reach to the ranſomed with refreſhments; to the Sores of the wounded ſhe is a Salve of Salvation, for her Medicine is the multitude of Mercies; Her Breaſts are like Hills of refined Gold, which as fountains of unemptible fulneſs, are an everlaſting ſtreaming of the the moſt precious Vertue of Life; he which layeth his head in her boſome, his hair becomes as a Wood of Pomegranate Trees, which are laden in a fruitful year, and the leaves of his boughs become dropping with Myrrh, as with ſhowers of the early Rain; She is cloathed with the ſpreadings of the Heavens, which have not a confine of ſpace; Her Mantle is wrought with all the Conſtellations, as with a needle by the hand of Art: She is girded with the Rainbow of God, as the Child which is wrapped in ſwadling; She is laced with the cord of the Covenant, which is called the Meridian Line; Her Skirts are trimmed with the ſpangles of Lightenings, which aſtoniſheth the Beaſts of the field; Ah! how amiable is her Countenance, and her Attirements, wherewith ſhe hath decked her ſelf! verily, of ſuch a tranſparent nature of the excellency of illuſtrious Glory are they, that it's altogether unfathomable by the longeſt line of every comprehenſible capacity, to reach in the Currents of his Conceptions; and notwithſtanding her unparallel'd reſplendency, yet is ſhe totally vailed from the vultrous eye, as with Pillars of the blackeſt Clouds of moſt hiddeous darkneſs, and fire which burns within them.

But, O ye her firſt-fruits unto God! look, look into her ſuperabounding Basket, and behold the Crop of her Cluſters of her Vineyard, which are gathered in the firſt year of the Vintage, and caſt your eye into the houſe of her Winepreſs, that you may ſee the multitude and bleſſings of her increaſe, where the Fats are overruning as floods, and the influences of Oyl as Rivers: And then after all this, yea, and much more than all this, which I have ſpread but as a napkin before you, ſay unto your ſouls within you, If the Glory of our Mother be ſo illuſtrious in her externals, and outer parts, Ah! What is her reſplendency within? If ſuch is her Hand, what is her heart? if ſuch is her boſome, what are her Bowels? if ſuch is her Viſage, what are her Vitals? if ſuch be the Sound of her Voice, Ah, what is the Solace of her Soul? and if ſuch is the radiancy of her Eye, what is the glory of her Spirit? Verily, though I ſee in the Vertue of her dignity an excellency and magnificency, yea, and glory potential, covered with all ſupremacy, which in the Spirit alſo is utterable within me, tranſcending all (as far as the Eaſt is from the Weſt) what ever my pen hath characterized, even in ſuch an ample, ſpatious, vaſt and infinitely unequalled manner, exceeding all Orations of the wiſeſt Orators, and Poems of the profoundeſt Poets, which are Sons of Achitophel's Seed; yet muſt I ceaſe for a ſeaſon, that the Lambs may learn and read the beauty of her raviſhing Viſiognomy within them; aſſuredly knowing that herewith the very life of my ſpirit (as a key of Oracles) ſhall fly hence (as with the Wings of Lightening) and pitch upon many, as the Dove of the Ark on the Olive Tree, and reſt in them as the Lord of an everlaſting Sabbath of Joy, which ſhall reveal unto them the riches of her Glory, yea, and draw them alſo (as it hath my tender Soul) into an endleſs and unſearchable labrynth of loſs, amidſt the numberleſs odoriferous Flowers of the over-ſpreading Pleaſures of her Life.

Yet thus may I interrogate my ſoul within me, ſaying, Canſt thou waſte thy fulneſs, or count the drops of thy bottle prodigally ſpent (as water that is ſpilt on a ſtone) which is poured out upon ſo bleſſed a Seed?

And ſhe reſponſively reſolves with a Nay, ſaying,

And all dear Plants of God, we muſt be all very low and humble before our Father, and honour Him with fear & trembling, and thankſgiving, in all ſtates and conditions, and be very ſingle, ſimple and innocent in his pure Eye, and exceeding tender to one another in the Pitties wherewith he hath been merciful unto us, and covered us with his own Compaſſions; and take occaſions in the Life of Love to ſpeak to one another, and viſit one another in the holy Bowels with the Greeting and Salutation of the holy Kiſs, where the World reacheth not; for in this Spirit, we know that we are of God, and the whole World lyeth in Wickedneſs, which ſtand in the enmity to this Love, which is the manifeſt Power of God revealed in us, which delivereth us from all evil; for in the Love we witneſs the Strength which takes up and bears the Croſs, to the crucifying of the Old Man with all his luſts and affections, whereby we receive the Teſtimony of the true Faith and in it do alſo witneſs, in our own ſpirits, the taking up of a Life in the Heavenly Places of the immortal Joy, which nothing is able to bereave us of, having (by abundant bleſſed Experiences) the aſſured knowledge, That the more our Adverſaries wreſtle to deprive us of the Bleſſing and Inheritance (for the Revelation of the moſt exceeding Mercies of our Father to us, through the proſperity of the Life and Glory of his Power in us) the more are we ſtrengthned in Him; that alſo by it, if happily our enemies may come to ſee the certainty of the Lord on our ſide, and thereby be converted unto the Grace of his Goodneſs, and ſaved by the incomprehenſible Work of his Wiſdom, in the pitties of the boſome of his Mercies.

Ah my Beloved! This is the Love indeed wherewith you are beloved of the Father, and of me his poor, needy, hungry and thirſty Servant, which opens unto you and in you the Doors of the twelve Houſes of the Heavens which you know; The firſt is Judgment and Fearfulneſs; the ſecond, Humility and Lowlineſs; the third, Meekneſs and Mercifulneſs; the fourth, Temperance and Savourineſs; the fifth, Patience and Setledneſs; the ſixth, Hope and Reſolvedneſs; the ſeventh, Faith and Perſeverance; the eighth, Peace and Quietneſs; the ninth, Thanksgiving and Remembrance; the tenth, Prayer and Watchfulneſs; the eleventh, Glorification and Praiſes; and the twelfth, Content and Fulneſs.

Now therefore all ye Lambs of the Flock of the Shepherd's Paſture, look well into that houſe in which you are made inhabitants, and by the Virtue of Covenant is yours, as a proper poſſeſſion, that you may ſee the glory of the ſign thereof, which ſhews you the perfect Signs of the Times; yea, and look again and again, and lo the Canopy of Gladneſs, together with the Curtains of Joyes, and Bed of Pleaſures, in each of them is an immenſity too vaſt for your aſpect to reach the utmoſt thereof, whereby you may perceive ſomething of the incomprehenſible Renown; (Viz.) What an honour of honours is it to be one (though but as the leaſt) in the Houſe of the Lord, wherein the World with its fulneſs ſtands intirely in ſubjection to a thought!

Ah! the Dominion, yea the glorious Dominion of Love which is obtained in the Acts of his Championiſm! Surely the ſence of his Strength is able to catch you into Raptures, and overcome your ſouls in the Heavens of his Supream Authority, and through the conſtriction and violence of Raviſhments to make you cry out with the loudeſt lift-up voices, ſaying, Hail, O Jeruſalem, and Help, O ye Inhabitants of her City, for the forcibleneſs of Love is upon me. Oh! Oh! Oh! Love is the ſtrongeſt, Love is the powerfuleſt even of all the Supernal Hoſts; yet my Beloved, you ſhall all remember in the dayes of the Floods, when the Banks of your Rivers are filled up to the brims, that then even in them dayes you ſhall in no wiſe ſay, How can my Love be greater, ſeeing my Current runs brim-full? but rather contain the recordance as the Memorial of a Covenant in you, that the ſtreams of your Rivers have the paſſage of their influences in the Valleys beneath the riſings of the Hills, and therefore ſhall thirſtily wait for your Floods (through the rentings open of the Fountains of the greateſt Deeps) to ſurmount, until they have covered the Hills above you; yea procelſively to aſcend as in the higheſt heaps over the loftieſt Mountains of the Earth, that the Ark of Salvation may ſwim on tops of all, without danger of ſhipwrack by bulgings; and yet wait without weariſomneſs in the ſenſibleneſs of their Movings, until they are mounted from a ſtream in the Valleys, to have reached the Upper Waters which are lockt within the Windows of the Heavens, that the Ark of your Reſt may ſafely arrive to anchor in the Haven of Zebulon; And ſo let this caſt you into the boſoms of Affection, and become a Covenant of Unity in the vertue of an eternal Oath in the bottoms of the bowels of each other. And ſo the everlaſting God of Heaven and Earth enrich you with the Treaſures of the Love of his own Life, which is Incomprehenſible and Infinite, and ſeal you in ſuch a nearneſs of relation and dearneſs of affinity in the holy Unity in ſuch an inward manner, as that always you may ſtand at the motion of a moment, prepared as ready Sacrifices to offer your lives for the Brethren; and the Crown of Immortal Glory of the Father be your recompence in his Kingdom of Life, Amen.

Daily are my Prayers encreaſed for you, in all quarters of the Earth, and the abundance of my Spirit doth often miniſter amongſt many.

Finally, dear Lambs, Wait all to receive the Spirit of Supplication, and of Prayer, and in that ſame holy Spirit preſent me in your living breathings to the pittiful God of all our Mercies: for his eternal Eye doth well know that I am weak and poor, having no ſtrength but from him, nor wiſdom without him, but in him: And therefore again, I ſay (in the importunity of a beſeeching ſoul) pray without ceaſing for your poor bruiſed and often oppreſſed Brother. And O ye holy Witneſſes of the Lord our Righteouſneſs, my pure and living Brethren and Siſters, the dear ſympathized ſuffering Priſoners! my reins are a current and ſtream running forth with willingneſs towards you, in the tendereſt compaſſions of God's Life of Love, which melts my bowels, caſting mine eye of remembrance upon you: Ah! it is your Faithfulneſs, yea, it is your Integrity in the Covenant of Righteouſneſs that is the Vertue which reacheth me at this diſtance, renting my ſoul for your ſakes, to whom it is not onely given to believe, but alſo to ſuffer for the Witneſs of the Power of the moſt High: Verily your Crown muſt be certain on your head, and a Fountain of the Treaſures of Life muſt aſſuredly compaſs you as an everlaſting Reward of your Service. For he is infallibly juſt and righteous, and his Covenant is Faithfulneſs, Amen, who hath called and drawn you to glorifie him in the vertuous ſanctified Life of your bleſſed Tryals and Tribulations: for no man can ſuffer for God for naught; but his Righteouſneſs will be a Recompence unto him.

O my deareſt Companions, I am moſt inwardly in the neareſt feeling with you, and am made a true partaker of your conflicts: beſides, the God of our ſuſtentation knoweth with how many tears, ſighs and groans, with numberleſs prayers, and holy fervent requeſts and ſpiritual deſires I have remembred you, and ſtill do ſupplicate that in the Faithfulneſs you may all be kept to the end, and continually exerciſed in the ſpirit of thankſgiving and praiſe to God for all things, and to dwell in the life and power of Contentation, which is a Manſion of moſt infinite latitude, where a perfect fulneſs of ſtrength is partaked of and poſſeſſed, which gives victory over all the world.

Summarily, The ſound of New-England Sufferers, and the fame of the Indian Martyrs in the Continent of Virginia, hath pierced to my bottoms within me: O let it be as a Razor's edge to our deſires, and as a Spur like a Spear in our ſides, pricking us on in the eagerneſs and ſwiftneſs of our race, that we who have ſtarted and put on at firſt and ran in the courſe before them, may not in the end fall ſhort of the Glory of their Crown, which is great in the Kingdom upon them.

So all dear Plants of God's Renown in all Quarters of the Earth, the moſt Mighty be alwayes on your ſide, and his Supremacy at your right hand, and his eternal Omnipotency ſave you from all evil, Amen.