A Brief RELATION of some of the unjust Sufferings of RICHARD SIMPSON, by a False Brother and his Accomplices.
Whose Letter or Libel let the Reader observe as followeth.
Printed for the pure innocent Truths sake, which with the pure holy Seed suffereth, being burthened and oppressed by the wicked, and much reviled and reproached by lying tongues, and slanderous mouths.
Given forth by one who is a daily mourner in SION, and who hath given him to eat Manna which is hid, wherein is a white stone, and a new name written which no man can read, neither any man know, saving he that gives it and he that receives it; And he which hath received this, his name is written with R. S.
Printed in the year, 1661
OF letters from the which ar Raileings I have hard of many: so that in the hee halfe of my Frend [...] and naibores her to the is an answer thou foel why dost thou Judg others and art sene with great okes in thin onn eyes and weell mayest thou complain of dimnes of sight and of being so burdened whenn foner great okes thou hast puled donn upon thy self at ones bee sides other horabele Crines Remember the fatherles Children that thou hadest goott into thy lionns pans but thy hould one them was of no morvallon to the then tow strans seas wrigting with thy pekockes quiles for thou art senn writing in thm onne will o that thou wouldest look donn upon thy leges and be as much a shamed as the peCook is when hee see his a Word to the wise is a nofe the rod is for thy fonles back thy stripes thou canest not hid All though thou starest never so wide thou profese thy selef to have mor knowleg then other mean and yeet thou dged apitt and fell ento it thy selfe and when thou artt holppen outt thou artt stille proud and stoutt and Cales thy frendes thy focs bee for thou Railst a nie more take thy selfe by the nos thou artt nott soe wise as the Cravin Cooke for bee fore hee Chantes his nottes to others hee beeatts well uppon himself O whatt Counsele shall thou have geven thee thoue dron that by desaitt wouldest gaine the honie frome the bee o fle fle en to sum kane whear thou maist not hear all mean Call the vaagbone or k k. at this letter it may bee thou maist laff and vaper if thou doste lett it not make the kapper I have writt this to the ought of good will so that thou maist not no mor com at the Castel hill I would have the know thou ar a tresper to me everi daye and take your [Page 4]turkies a way and learn to Fell okes in the month called may and n more lous the bodies and the barke
To the Mouth of Richard Simpson let thes be givene for to bee swallowed donne if it may may doe him good it shall make me glad if not I thinke if hee mend not it will bee a great whille ear hee bee for goott R. S. k k.
I do appoint my Tenant Richard Simpson to come to the Court and pay the rent for the half year, I being not in health to come my self, I desire that I may be remembred, according to that promise that was made me when I paid so great a Fine, that it should be considered me in the selling of the Timber, and that this my Tenant Richard Simpson may have the lowest price, my self considered therein for what I shall be allowed, and I appoint him in my stead, and what agreement you make with him I shall allow of it.
IN consideration of 4. pounds to me paid by Richard Simpson, and of 2. pounds which he promises to pay to my Copy hold Tenant John Barber, I do at the request of the said Iohn Barber License the said Richard Simpson to cut down three oaks and one small shrub oak now growing upon the Copy hold Land of the manner of Shelton, and do give him one whole years time for the converting of them.
This is the License both of him called the Lord of the Mannner, and the owner of the Land, whose [Page 5]words were masters of both the acts of their hands; but my word is not yet my master, and though it be thine I. B. nor I hope never shall so long as I abide faithful to the Lord in my measure; but that I shall be alwayes master of my word whether it be yea or nay,
VVOe, woe, woe be unto thee W. B. for acting so much cruelty against me which never did any evil unto thee, for it was thy abominable letter and thy cursed Baily that abominable branch which bare the greatest false Testimony against me, and which hath made me to suffer so much both in body, goods & good name; For I was imprisoned both in the Country Goal, and Castle of Norwich, in that I was arrested again at Barbers suit, but had not freedom to answer it, and so was imprisoned above four weeks, where I suffered more then a little, and had a beast stroyed prized at 7 l. which was upon that occasion, and a Cow taken away from me which was prized at 4 l. 10 s. besides money out of my purse, which was to satisfie one of thy brethren in evil I. B. and so I being departed from iniquity, and refrain my self from evil is become a prey to the wicked, so that upon the account of the 4 Trees which I bought of thee at the first for 6 l. hath now cost me about 22 l. and I had suffered much more if some Friends in the City had not been more then ordinary kind to me; but the Truth of God is like to suffer much more then I or me, in that the gap is made wider and bigger then it was before; for the wilde Boars and the wilde beasts of the wilde forest, which is this wilde & rude World, to come in and wrett & root up, and root out too (if it were possible) the Lords new Plantation, for the wch [Page 6]thing the curse of God hangs over thy head, and over the head of J.B. who hath acted his cruelty over me ever since he began with me, under, or with a pretence to have authority from thee, & the curse of God hangs over the head of his cursed Lawyer, which was the cursed ring-leader of this great mischief, and Souls misery, and upon bodies too, and the curse of God hangs over the heads of all his false witnesses, which bear false witness, and gave false Testimony against me, of whom there was not a few; And the curse of God shall rest upon thee and all that thou hast, and upon I. B. and all that he hath, until you repent and confess your sins to God, and make restitution to me R. S. whom you hath most wickedly wronged; For cursed is be that smiteth his neighbour secretly, and let all the people say, Amen; And cursed is he that hindreth the right of the stranger, and let all the people say, Amen; And cursed is he that taketh away the right of the innocent, and let all the people say, Amen; And vengeance of flames of fire is prepared for you, where both your torments shall be, if you do not speedily repent, and make your peace with God, and come and satisfie me who am innocent in the sight of God, even in this thing wherein or whereof both you two and many more hath so much slandered and accused me, my own conscience not condemning me, and Blessed is he that is not condemned of or in his own conscience, nor fallen from his hope in the Lord; Then cursed is he that is condemned in his own conscience, and whose hope is not in the Lord, and this is your condition W. B. and I. B; And much more I cold say, but the time is short, and I have now no Beast to ride upon to come unto thee; And wo be unto them which gave away the right of the innocent, through the false Testimony of them [Page 7]that bear false witness against me, unjustly and falsely accusing of me, contrary to the light of God in their own consciences; And now I say that God hath warned you both again by me, as you have been often warned before both of God and me, and repent and prize the time whilest you have it, for the time is but short before time shall be no more; And now I am clear of both your bloods, but I spare thee a little; And every letter which I have sent to thee shal be as so many Characters engraven in thy conscience with a red sear hot iron pen, which shall much encrease thy torments in hell, if thou doest not now repent. And now I wish thee a good farewel who art out of the farewell; For there is no well-fare nor well being neither, out of Christ Jesus, who is both the Fountain and Wel-spring of every good thing, and of life, light and of glory, and the fear of the Lord is the glory aswel of the rich and the noble as of the poor Ecles. 10.23, and pride was not created in men neither wrath in the generation of women, ver. 19. And the fear of the Lord is an holy knowledge, chap. 1. ver. 16. And now I could be a friend to thy soul, if thou wouldest live a heavenly life with me.
This is the Coppy of a Letter sent to him called the Lord of the Mannor, but the manner of the Lords actings are no way like the actings of these Lords of Mannors; Some of them threatning to seaze mens lands, because they cannot swear at their Courts to maintain their Diana, I being one of the men: Others taking away mens Timber off their Ground, and grudges to allow the owner thereof either the old rotten poullings or the tops of their own Timber Okes, I being one concerned in this thing; But this was the worst Act of all of him who took my money for four oakes, and then afterwards sent his letter to the owner of the Land to encourage him to carry them away off the Ground, after much of them were converted, and that much within the Cumpass of the time which I had under both their hands for the converting of them; And now if this be fair-play, then let both Rooks and Cheats play the same game. But in the mean time, let all such as have thus dishonoured God, and abused both themselves and me henceforth cover their faces with shame, as saith, R. S.
And as some Lords of Mannors have made havock and spoyle of our Lands, even so have many of Baals blind guids made havock and spoyle of our goods and bodies, under a pretence of recovering their petty Tythes, which are now no better then bribes, though Baal by them pleads for Baal, so that Baal is daily pleading for himself: Therefore let the looser have leave to plead for himself who is now at London, being buffited up thither by Satan, and by a Subpena is to appear there at Westminster the twenty fifth day of the ninth month called November, about Baals bribes, one of Baal and Molechs Chamarims who wears black, having both his hands stretched forth to receive bribes, and his mouth opened for me to put therein; but the mark which I am now pressing so hard too, is not the mark in the mouth.
THine own wicked heart will not let thee Conseal thine own wickedness, but thine own hand must make it manifest, as by thine own Confession, I have lost both the bodies and the barks of the four Oakes, which I bought honestly both of W. B and thee, and paid for them too, four or five months before I feld them; So that the loss of the bodies without the bark, will be heavy enough to weigh thee down to the depth of the Pit of Hell, if thou doest not repent, and cause hell to vomit them up again to me, and thou and he of whom I bought them, will both make an equall ballance, yet it is like thy scoale will go down; First, because thou caused him, through thy lying tongue, to commit this horrible sin, and could neither thy Master nor thy Lawyer help thee to indite thy letter no wiselier, nor no truer, nor with no better sence then ryme and riddle? but take heed how thou and thy Lawyer goes to him again for Counsel, who is thy Father, as cursed Cain did thy elder brother, for sure I am that he was the first man of strife; I say again take heed how thou and thy Lawyer goes any more to him for Counsel, who is both your Father and Grandfather, I mean he that is the father of lyes, least he that is now both your Father, Master and Counseller, ere long become your greatest tormenter; And though thou callest me foell in stead of fool, and so threatens hell fire unto thy self; and thou sayest that a woord to the wise is a nofe, in stead of a enough; So that I say a word to the wise from the wise is enough, and ought to be received, but the word or words of a fool from a fool, ought not to be regarded; And thou sayest that the rod is for the fondless back, in stead of, for the fools back, then the rod is prepared for the back of thee, who art not only fondless or a fool, but a clown also, (according to the worlds language; And there shall need no other Testimony then thy head and [Page 10]own hand writing; and thou puts k. k. for knave, knave upon me, as it was interpreted by thine own messenger; But not to answer a fool in his folly, least I should be like unto him, in calling him either knave or fool, as he did me; Yet I will answer a fool according to his foolishness, and a knave according to his deceit and wickedness, least he be wise in his own conceit, and boast himself in his knavery, as J. B. hath done already; But to be short, the much muck which thou hast got of late, as it hath made thy soyle fat, so it hath made thy Soul lean; and thy wallowing so much in the mire and durt, hath so much polluted both thy body and thy Soul, that all the water in the Sea will not wash thee clean; And that libel or pamphet which thou sent me of thine own hand writing, the which thou directs to my mouth, and no marvel because thou hadest it from the Devils mouth, for if thou hadest had any thing from the mouth of God, then thou wouldest have directed it to the hands of me as a letter of love; but he that guided both thy heart and hand, so blinded both thy eyes without and the eye within, that thou couldest not see to write but little either of truth or true English. And as for the fatherless Children which thou upbraidest me with, if it had not been for such unclean spirits as that which possesseth thee, that raised an evil report of me, I had by this time been as a Father unto them. And Much more I might write to answer thy foolish Libel or Pamphlet, but it is such stinking nasty stuff that it is not worth the looking on, then much less the answering, but thou hast writ enough to render thy self odious to all sober and Godly men, who are but able to discern a hypocrite from an honest man; but in that thou hast laid open thy deceit and wicked heart thy self both to me and Friends, and to some of the wise men of the world besides, I shall not need to answer a deceiver any more; yet I am a friend to thy soul, but a bitter enemy to thy deceit, and to him that Rules and Reigns in thee, I mean the Father of Perdition, thou being one of his Sons or Bastards, which hath not yet received chastizements of my Father, to make thee become a child; And as one scabbed sheep is enough to infect a flock, if it be not turned out in time, even so must I.B. be turned out of the flock
[Page 15] And now let all wise and sober people take notice of this one foolish passage among many more in his Libel, ‘For’ saith he, ‘I would have thee know thou art a trespar to me every day, and take your Turkies away, and learn to fell Oakes in the month called May, and no more lons, meaning lose the bodies and the bark. The 8 mth 20 day, J.B.’ The which Turkies were but 7, for the which I was much threatned to be sued at the Law, until my wife put one of them into his own hands, both to stop his mouth and fill his belly, for he said they eat up his grass, and yet I made it appear that I lost near 20 s. by his grass, besides the loss of my Timber; but most of the grass that the Turkies left, he covered thick with muck; and now I shall leave him even as I have found him, a bitter envious spiteful enemy, and a fearful, and abominable lyar and an hypocrite, out of the hands of whom I pray to be delivered,
ANd now J. B. I shall leave a short lesson with thee, which both Christ Jesus and other wise, and godly men have left for thee, And first hear the words of Solomon, who saith, he that hideth his sins shall not prosper, then how dost thou think to prosper, which hath not only hidden thy sins, but hath also Fathered them upon me, who is innocent in the sight of God, even in this thing whereof thou hast accused me, and so much slandered and reproached me; And hear the words of Christ himself, who is the true Solomon, which saith, if thy Brother sin against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again and say it repenteth me, thou shalt forgive him; And hear the words of the Apostle James also, who saith, confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another; but unlesse thou confesse thy faults to me, I can neither freely forgive thee, nor yet pray h [...]artily for thee; And blessed is he that is not condemned in his own conscience, nor fallen from his hope in the Lord, and I am he; Then cursed is he that is condemned in his own conscience, and whose hope is not in the Lord, and [Page 10] [...] [Page 11] [...] [Page 10] [...] [Page 15] [...] [Page 16]thou art he J. B. except thou repent; and what I say unto thee, I say unto all those false witnesses which thou produced against me, except they repent.
Omne bene quod finet bene, All is well that doth end well, But he that never begins well, can never end well, as saith,
TO the ears of John Barber who is of a Barbarous nature, but not to his hands, least he burn it, as it is like he din a writing of mine, by which he bound me, and witness to it, to take the Trees at the same price as I bought them at, and not to turn them into his hands, the wch writing he confessed, but not produced, the more shame for the wards-men which made the Cause pass on his side, which altered if not forged one writing, and fordid another; but what his sweet wine in their mouth, and his sweet words which he stingled in their ears, which my sel did see in private; he like a cunning Colt, and not like a craven Cooke, instead of a craven Cook, as he writ to me in his libel, so chanted (that he made them quite forget) both truth and true judgment, and justice too that day, so that truth was let fall, and equity could not enter through the malice of the Tempter.