A Wake, awake, O inhabitants of the earth, (high and low, rich and poor, noble and ignoble) and prepare to meet the Lord, your maker, by speedy repentance, and cast off all those filthy garments wherewith you have long been covered, even with the robes of darkness, Cains robes, and Ishmaels robes, and Hammons clothing, have your hearts been covered with, for all you Priests, Rulers, and people of all degrees that live in envy, and wrath, and cruelty, and op­pression; you in whom these things abound, you live in Cains nature, and with his robes you are covered, and even as he was a fugitive driven from [Page 3] [...] [Page 2]God, so are you fugitives, and alienated from the pure innocent life of God: and all you that live in scoffing and scorning, and in light-minded­ness, and in whom vanity and folly is found, you are of Ishmaels stock, and in his nature you are standing, and in his race you are swiftly running, and your end will be destruction, woe and misery except you speedily repent and turn to the Lord, and forsake the evil of your doings, for your sins have ascended upon high and the just is grieved with your wickedness! O how scorning, tearing, and reviling, and wickedness abounds, in all cities, towns, and streets in England, it is even grievous to behold! and the people both old and young delight in vanity, and their tongues talk of folly, and their lips and mouth utters forth perverse and foolish things, and their mindes are grievously corrupted through wicked devises, and their hearts are gone a whoring (from the pure fear of the Lord) after evil inventions! O how pride, and hautiness, and high mindedness abounds, and superabounds through all parts of the Nation, in all cities and towns, steeplehouses, and through all parts of the Nation, in all cities and towns, steeplehouses, and markers, it is even woful to behold, yea even as Lots righteous so I was grieved with the Sodomites wicked conversation; even so is the souls of the children of the Lord grieved at this day, to see and behold the wicked con­versation, of the people, who profess themselves to be Christians, but walk quite contrary to the life of a Christian; for they that are Christians they have received the spirit of Christ, and by it they are led and guided, and through the effectual working of the same spirit in them they are be­come new creatures. But with the Priests, and they that are under their discipline, and such as own the hirelings to be their Ministers it is not so, for among them the old sin of Sodom is found, yea all manner of unclean­ness is found among the Priests Congregations, in which they pray and sing: yea all people that are not bewitched and blinded with their sorce­ries may see the wickedness of the Priests, for their fruits do demonstrate what spirit they are of, and their covetous practises and their casting into prisons, and suing at the law, such as cannot put into their mouthes, doth plainly manifest that they are not of God, nor sent by him, neither is the people come to the knowledge of the truth by hearing them; and there­fore let all who have desires after God and his truth turn away from them, and not partake with them in their sins, lest you pertake with them in their plagues, for certainly they have a terrible cup to drink, yea the cup of the sore vengeance and fiery indignation of the Almighty God of heaven and earth is prepared for them to drink, and drink it you must priests as sure as God is true, yea the rod of God you shall feel assuredly, for by you have the souls of many been starved, and their blood will the Lord God re­quire [Page 3]at your hands, and your portion shall be in the lake that burnes for ever and ever, and your sorrowes shall greatly increase, and of your pain there shall be no end, and this shall surely come upon you, as surely as ever you were born into the world except you repent, and humble your selves before the Lord God of heaven and earth, whose name is greatly dishonoured by you, (both Priests and people) that take the name of the Lord into your mouthes, and live in wickedness, and in unrighteousness, in pride, and vanity, and in covetousness, envie, wrath, and bitterness, fraud and deceit, and all manner of wickedness; yea what sin was there in Sodom, but that there is the like in the Priests and their hearers? they are the spiritual Sodom and Egypt, in whom the Lord Jesus is crucified a fresh, and put to open shame, ye the pare witness of God in them they trample upon, and when it ariseth at any time to judge or to condemne them for any of their wickedness they kick against it, and call it a temptation, and so put light for darkness, and darkness for light, and bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter; but now is the pure day dawned unto many, and the true light shines, (glory be to the Lord for ever) and with it you are seen (Priests) and comprehended from whence you sprung and what stock you are of, and you and your father the Pope must go down into the pit from whence you did arise, for I bear forth my testimony before all people, that the hand of the Lord is against you, (and my testimony is true and shall stand for ever) and all your prayers you offer up from your corrupted hearts are an abomination unto the Lord, and all your singing in your steeplehouses and assemblies is an odious thing unto the Lord, it is even like the yelling of Draggons in the desert, and the Lords soul is burthened with it: and he is now arisen, and arising to take vengeance upon his ad­versaries that oppress his seed, and he will power forth his wrath and in­dignation upon all them that will not have his son Christ (the light of the world) to reign over them, but do still go on in the frowardness of their wayes, surely the Lord will be avenged on such a people as this.

And therefore all people high and low, rich and poor, men of all degrees return unto the Lord with speedy repentance, lest he suddenly break forth upon you in his wrath and fiery indignation and none be able to quench it, for verily, verily a great and terrible controversie hath the Lord God determined against the inhabitants of the whole earth, and woe, woe, will be unto all them whose hearts are fixed in the earth and erathly things, and take delight therein, more that in the Lord that made them and gave all men life and being, and therefore consider all people, and see what your hearts are taking delight in, whether in the Creator or in the creatures, which will fade as the grass and perish in one day, for all flesh is as grass, [Page 4]and all the glory of man is as the glory of the field, and suddenly vanish­eth away even as the smoke before the wind, and all the proud and haugh­ty ones, and all the careless ones, who are at ease in the flesh, whose hearts takes pleasure and delight in vanity, they shall all be as stubble ready dryed before a mighty and unquenchable fire in that great and notable day which now draweth nigh, wherein the Lord God will reveal himself from hea­ven in flames of fire, rendring vengeance upon the head of his enemies and upon all them that slight and neglect the day of their visitation, wherein the Lord waits to be gratious, and hath mercy for all those that return un­to him in the true integrity of their hearts, and do in meekness and in lowliness of mind, in the pure fear of the Lord waite upon him, them the Lord will deal gratiously with, he will take care for them, he will feed them with pure food, and he will water them with sweet & pleasant does, he will fight their battels for them & he will subdue their enemies, both within & fight their battels for them & he will subdue their enemies, both within & without; he will break down the mountains, and he will make the rough waies plain before them, and they shall not be hungry, neither shall they be thirsty, neither shall the heat smite them, nor the sun make them faint, for the Lord who hath compassion on them, he will lead them to the springs of water, where they shall drink and be refreshed, and their souls satisfied: and this is already witnessed by thousands of them who are re­turned (out of the darkness vanity, and pollutions of the world) unto the Lord, and are joyned unto him in the covenant of light, life, and peace, and are now become followers of the Lamb of God, (who is the light of the world) and do follow him through the suffering state, mockings and re­proches, and revilings of wicked and ungodly men, yea moreover cruel whippings, bonds and imprisonments, casting into dungeons and filthy noy­some holes; and in all this we feel the word of patience, which carryes us through all tribulations, and so are willing to suffer with him who is a man of sorrows, that with him we may also reign, and this I certainly know that none can reign with him but they that suffer with him, yet every one according to his own measure, and not all alike, but every one according to the proportion of the gift that God hath given unto them, so all (who are in the covenant of life joyned unto God) do feel and witness the mea­sure of the sufferings of Christ fulfilled in them, and as their sufferings doe abound, so they feel the joy and the peace much more to abound, and the pure love of God they feel wherewith they are relieved, and comforted in the time of great adversity when wicked and ungodly men rage and fret, and the enemy makes his assault both within and without, then the Lord he reveales his pure power (into his children who trust in him) and with it they are made bold and valient to the amazement and confounding of [Page 5]their enemies, and so it is not by their own strength that they get the victory but by the power of God onely, by which the Lord God keeps and preserves his children and servants, that diligently in his fear do wait upon him, (who by the world are called Quakers) to receive of his wis­dome, and to be filled with his power, which is the sword with which they make war in righteousness, and with it strong holds are broken down and principalities are spoyled, and with (this sword) the power of God they do prevail, and shall prevail, and no weapon formed against them shall prosper, for they are the seed which God hath blessed, and all that do or shall rise up against them shall be broken, and snared and confounded, for of a truth the Lord is with them, and his arm compasseth them about, and though all the powers of darkness be stirred up against them, (in the Priests & ungodly Rulers) yet they shall never be overcome, nor the gates of hell shall never be able to prevail against them, for the Lord he is with them who is greater then all and hath-power over death and hell and wo will be to all them that seek to quench the appearance of the Lord in his people, and therefore all people take heed how you strive against the Lord and against his truth, which is now made manifest and declared by his chil­dren, who are hated & reviled and evil spoken of, & all take heed how you joyn any longer with the Priests, and seek to hold them up, for all that strive to build up them, they strive to build up that which the Lord will throw down, ye this will the Lord do whether you can hear it or not, the thing shall certainly come to pass, and their downfal hastens, and the day draw­eth on wherein they shall fall, and shall never be able to rise any more.

And therefore all you rulers of the earth, and ye that are in the place of Magistrates, and men in authority, be you all warned that you all do that which is just & equal unto all men, even as you would that men should do unto you, for this is right, & this doth the Lord require of you all, & I warn you all in the fear of the Lord God, that you all take heed how you joyn your selves (& your power) with the Prince of darkness, (& the Priests whom the wrath of God is against) to persecute these innocent people (called quakers) that hath done you no harm, neither have they done any violence or wrong to any man but for the testimony of a good conscience, and for witnessing and declaring against the ungodliness of the Priests and people, and for testifying against that great abomination (Tithes) which was first instituted by the Popes authority, (among those called Christians) have we suffered all this grievous oppression and afflictions which have been inflicted upon many of us, by casting into prisons, and dungeons, and filthy places, not fit for good dogs (as the jayler of Eve­sham said to H. S. and I who were at that time in the dungeon, (which [Page 6]was not a fit place for a good dog he said) besides cruel whippings, stocke­ing and stoning, in your streets, and many have had their goods spoyled, and in all this the Priests have had a hand, and the Rulers have been very ready and attentive to the Priests, to help them with their assistance, as your steeple-houses, stocks, and prisons, will manifest to all sober people, that are honest hearted: but this do you all know assuredly that the Lord God who is just and righteous in all his wayes, (and will not suffer the op­pressour to go unpunished) he will call you to an account for these things, and will give unto every one of you a just reward, according to your do­ings, yea even as you have afflicted, and scourged the innocent lambs of Christ, so shall you be afflicted with a sore affliction, and shall be scourged with the rod of Gods wrath yea even as you have thirsted after blood, blood shall you drink and even as you have cast the members of Christ into dun­geons and filthy holes; so shall you that joyn with the Priests, and the old Dragon (their Master) against the Lords people be cast into the lake that burneth for ever, except you repent and turn from your wicked wayes, and own the light of Christ (in you) which reproves for sin and ungodliness, and will lead into soberness and meekness (if you obey it) and to do unto all men as you would they should do unto you, and to this pure light of Christ Jesus (in all your consciences) which judgeth and reproves you in secret, when you do that which is evil, unto this must you all bow and bend if ever you know peace with God, or salvation from sin: and in vain do any expect salvation who are not turned to the light of Christ (in them) which makes manifest sin in its first appearance, and it doth not onely discover sin, but it also leads out of sin all them that love it and obey it; and now all them that are not yet turned to the light, they are in the darkness and in the alienation, and are strangers to the light of righteousness; and these are them that hate, and persecute those that do walk in the light (unto which they themselves are not joyned) for dark­ness cannot have any communion with light, but they that walk in the light they have unity one with another, and they persecute none, neither envy they any man, for the children of light never persecuted any but they were alwayes in all ages persecuted by Cains generation; and out of the same nature that was in Cain (in which he slew his brother) doth all the persecution arise from the foundation of the world even unto this day; for there is but two generations (to wit) the children of light and the children of darkness, and the children of darkness alwaies persecuted the children of light, and therefore look back all ye persecutors, and see whose stock ye are of, and the witness of God in you, will tell you that you are of Cains generation, whose of-spring you are; you are of Hamons seed whose envy [Page 7]was almost as great against the poor scattered Jews, as yours is against the Quakers, yet the Lord he delivered them out of his hand, and brought destruction upon their enemies, and the Lord he is the same God as he was then, and as mighty in power as he was then, and he will deliver his peo­ple out of their enemies hands, and will assuredly bring his plagues and judgements upon all them that seek their ruine, as ever he did upon Ham­mon, and the more you strive to overcome them, the more shall they in­crease and flourish, for as the persecution doth abound, so much the more their consolation with Christ doth abound, and the more abundantly is the power of the Lord made manifest in them, and in it, they lie down in rest and peace, in a quiet habitation, into which the unclean cannot come, for the power of the Lord compasseth them about, and in it they rest in safety and none can make them afraid.