doubt and cannot receive these things and believe that these particulars are damnable Doctrine and Error as they are laid down in themselves and if what is spoken already be not sufficient I may upon any just Opportunity prove unto you and unto all men in the sight of my Enemies That these particulars held forth by Richard Mayo and alledged by me before you are damnable Doctrine and Error And if I could be convinced to the contrary by him or any man in sober Arguments according to the Scriptures and if he shall be able to prove that these things are true and found and saving Doctrines then may I confess That I have wronged him which never can be done Therefore can I never confess without lying against my Conscience that I have wronged him but God justifies me and just Men and my own Conscience excuses me from all wrong in this matter and here or hereafter shall you and he know it also that I am without Offence to him in this Cause And if I suffer be it upon you that are my Judges and the Guilt of my Sufferings will be upon you one day For for the Truth 's sake am I not afraid nor ashamed to suffer whatsoever you lay upon me And whereas it is chiefly pleaded by my Adversary and his Council That he is damnified and much endangered by the speaking of my words And because I said He held forth damnable Doctrine Therefore say they he is in danger to lose his Place and so He and his Wife and Family cannot tell how to live c. These things they plead and upon this account beg Judgment against me because he is or may be in danger to be damnified To this I reply and Friends I would have you to consider He hath not yet proved to you the Dammage of the value of Two Pence nor is he in any outward Estate worse by loss of any thing outwardly by any thing that I have spoken and it is unjust to condemn me in an 100 l. upon supposed Danger and Dammage which may come while as he hath sustained none at present And further I say unto you I have had no Intentions of Evil against him nor Purpose in my heart to endanger or damnifie him in any outward thing God is my Witness but that nakedly and simply I spoke the Truth of him And if speaking the Truth to him doth endanger him and damnifie him according as they plead then is he a bad man and an evil person and not well worthy of your taking part with him if you be just Men as yet I kâ—…w nothing to the contrary nor worthy of giving your Judgment against me for him If the speaking Truth to him can so endanger him then consider you what a man he is for speaking of the Truth can never hurt an honest Man nor damnifie a good Man for honest Men rejoyce in the Truth and the speaking of it is an Honour to them But the speaking the truth may indeed damnifie a bad Person as to discover his Wickedness and to prevent him of more Wickedness which he may intend but speaking the truth cannot damnifie a good Man And if it be so that Richard Mayo because of his badness be damnified by my speaking the Truth to him must I therefore be condemned for speaking Truth or ought you to do it Let that of God in you answer Will you justifie his false doctrines and condemn me for reproving him Did ever any good Men or just Iudges of old condemn any man for speaking the Truth Or will you shame your selves in the sight of Wise-men by acting contrary to a good Conscience Which if you do condemn me for speaking the truth I do and must tell you while I live That your Iudgment is Unjust and you act contrary to a good Conscience and are Unrighteous Iudges and that you commit the great Abomination in justifying the Wicked and condemning the Righteous And is it not a Shame to him that professeth himself to be a Minister of Christ to plead The Loss of his Livelihood and of his Calling and the Poverty of his Wife and Family c. because of my speaking the Truth to him Never any of Christ's Ministers pleaded any such thing Were not they reproached and much spoken against And they were called Deceivers and Seditious Men and such like And did they proceed on this manner as he hath done against me Nay They forgave their Enemies And if I had spoken falsly of him as I have not he ought not to have done thus if he had been a Minister of Christ as he professeth And doth his Livelihood and his Place and his Maintenance of himself and his Family depend upon my forbearing to speak the Truth For he pleads That he is damnified and endangered in all these by what I have spoken And I still testifie and all good Men know that I have given no Offence saving then speaking the Truth And rather then he shall be damnified by my speaking the truth of him will you unjustly damnifie me for speaking the truth Is this the Way of JUSTICE to condemn the Truth that I have spoken to save the Guilty from supposed Danger Consider of this and save your selves from Unjust Iudgment lest the Lord justly judge you and condemn you This I shew in short and much more I might as to the Unjustness of the Action prosecuted against me and now I come to shew something of the unjust Proceedings in this matter against me in the time of my Tryals and other times and some part thereof I here lay before you that you and all may see I have had as unjust Proceedings against me in the matter as an unjust Action at first brought upon me At my first appearance in my first Answer I demurred to the jurisdiction of your Court and shewed That your Court and Judicatory being Temporal you could not in that Court take Cognizance of this Cause being of a Spiritual Dependancy and ought only to be try'd in spiritual Jurisdiction by spiritual Judges if there were any such and shewed out of the Laws of England reasonably that your Court had no power to try this matter But one of the Bailiffs Iohn Forth said which should have been my equal Judge They would over-rule that and they would try the matter without shewing any just Reason out of the Laws against my Argument grounded upon the Laws and they did over-rule me in that And the Court-day before the Tryal when the Jury-men were to be chosen and nominated I told them That the Jury-men should be such as had the Gift of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Ghost in them or else they could not try the Matter because it was Doctrine that was to be try'd which none could try but by the Spirit of God neither could I cast my self into the Determination of any in this Cause but such And the Bailiffs Obadiah Wicks and Iohn Forth answered If they were men that
the contrary that I have no malice in me against any man and I love your Souls better then that you should endanger them to destruction and to everlasting burning by giving Iudgment upon your Oaths against me upon this Verdict in this Cause which is thus unjust and unequal in it self and in its Proceeding also for if the Jury had tryed whether I had spoken the truth or whether I belyed Richard Mayo then it would easily have been known whether I spoke maliciously for if I belyed him and if his Doctrine be true and sound and not Error then may it be easily judged that I spoke maliciously because I spoke not the truth but if his Doctrines alleadged by me be not true and sound Doctrine but damnable Doctrine and Error then I have not belyed him but spoken the truth in love and not maliciously for Truth and Malice goes not together and till this be tryed to wit whether I have spoken truly or falsly who shall be able upon their Oathes without forswearing themselves to give it upon their Oathes that I spoke maliciously nay how shall any men lawfully swear that one speaks malitiously it is a hard cause to swear that any man speaks in malice for who enters into the heart of another man to know the thoughts save God and his Spirit And this I say at least and safely too that that Jury which gave into the Court upon their Oaths that I spoke my words maliciously against Richard Mayo have greatly endangered the forswearing themselves and the breach of their own Oaths and some of them know before this day that they did transgress therein against God whom God suddenly after cut off with Judgment and took off the Earth by death and though they that are yet living may be insensible of their own wickedness yet let all good men fear to dye out of this Body with that burden upon their Consciences as some have and others of them may have in this particular for breach of Oaths and though they have given it to you upon their Oaths that I spoke maliciously yet â—wo will be unto you if you shall upon your Oaths justifie they have done well and condemn me falsly upon their false Verdict and if you do condemn me it is upon their false Verdict because I spoke maâ—iciously against Richard Mayo and you cannot do that but you forâ—wear your selves and act contrary to your trust who are set in place to â—udge justly by what doth appear to your view and cannot nor dare not I know upon your Oaths say that I have spoken falsly and maliciously against Richard Mayo but and if you do one day you will feel that you have spoken against your own Oaths and Consciences and against God and against your own Souls And this is all that I can lay before you as to this Particular to warn you that you do judge justly and that you condemn not the innocent and just Cause of the Upright but that you may save your selves from the anger of the Lord who will be avenged upon all false Swearers and Unrighteous Judges that judges not in righteousness the Cause of the Poor and of the Stranger and the Cause yet remains before you to shew your selves just or Unjust Righteous or Unrighteous Judges in this Matter And whereas Richard Mayo and some of your selves spake to me to confess I have wronged him and would have me to acknowledge that I am in a fault and that I have spoken wrong of him yea it was said to me if I had not wronged him could I not confess that I had to preserve my self c To this I must answer Nay I cannot confess contrary to a good Conscience and contrary to Truth that I have wronged him if my life stood upon it as it is but my liberty at most for God hath given me to make Conscience of my words and to keep it void of offence towards him and all men and to confess that which is false to be true would stain a good Conscience in the sight of God and his People and that I may not do no not for my own preservation and the Lord deliver me from the Judgment of such who would have me confess that which I am not guilty of for that is all one to say I am clear when I am guilty as to say I am guilty when I am clear and I rather chuse to suffer what may be imposed upon me then to transgress the Truth in my own Heart and if I should say his Doctrine were sound and true Doâ—â—rine and not Damnable and Error I do believe the Witness in your own Consciences would rise against me and many more would say I then spoke falsly then doth now for I hardly ever heard any no not your own selves say that his Doctrines alledged by me against him are sound and true Doctrine neither can you in good Conscience say it So I say I cannot lye against my Conscience what ever comeâ— of it for to walk with the Lord and to have his Peace and not to lose his Presence is of more worth to my Soul that is immortal theâ— all the Sufferings that you can lay upon me can be dammage to my mortal Body for my life and soul you cannot touch but therein am I free though outwardly entangled amongst Bryars and Thorns which woâ—… pierce me and seek to catch me and if there be no other way for me to be preserved but by confessing contrary to my Conscience that I have wronged Richard Mayo I freely give up my self to suffer rather then to be preserved by such means and you do evil in putting such a thing upon me and expecting it from me which I cannot give bâ—… transgress the Law of God and offend him and my own Conscience and if you defer the determination of the Matter upon such hopes that I may confess that I have wronged Richard Mayo I desire you would not defer it one moment longer but let me be quitted of your Temptation for it is your Temptation and not true love for I cannot confess any such thing though I do acknowledge it hath now depended in your Court and at your door near two years and I should be glad that it were ended justly because I am not a man given to Suits of Law neither do I love it though it be so that I am fallen into it to offend any man or be offended in that way by any yet may I not use any unlawful means or any indirect way to obtain an end of this business but the rather I am content with what the Lord suffereth to come to pass though it be the very greatest Malice of my very devouring Enemies and because I would have Peace with all men and have all men reconciled to God and one to another to live in love and unity one with another upon that account I would this business were ended and though I do not doubt my Cause nor am
revile the Government it self but that you may see the Ground and true Cause of all our Sufferings and of the Suffering of the Saints in all Ages and Generations and in all Nations of the World at this day And we leave it to that of God in you all to weigh and consider whether it be not time to reform both Laws Courts and Officers From your Friends who are Lovers of Peace and Truth who wait for the coming of the Lord to establish Iustice and Righteousness in the Earth whom he hath raised up as Witnesses of his appearing and of the dawning of the Mighty and Dreadful Day of God in Life Light and Power who are hated of Men and reproached under the Name of Quakers And whereas there is a Great Cry up and down the Nation That the Quakers Meetinge must be Broken and Suppressed and that this present Parliament intends to do it And of this I have heard in divers Parts of the Nation NOw to this I shall say and answer First As I have observed the spirits of People concerning this Cry all the Rude and Ungodly People as Drunkards and the prophanest of men they glory apace at this News and rejoyce at this mightily as if some great Prize were befallen unto them and it makes them rude and violent enough to the breaking of the Peace in the Nation but thus it is but with the worst sort of People in the Nation who are rejoyced with these Tidings That the Quakers Meetings must be broken But as for the Honest People such as be sober and sincere Thousands that had a hand in chusing this present Parliament never intended to send them up to London for such a Work and the Cry is by many of the sober People If they go about such a Work they will destroy themselves undo themselves and leave their Names a Reproach why say the people we have a Testimony before us hath it not been upon that Rock of limiting tender Consciences in former dayes that hath broken many before these which might be Examples to these not to do the same things And many sober people are offended at such News and it makes their hearts sad whose Consciences and the Witness therein doth answer That we are the Lord's People and it ought not thus to be done concerning us as the News reports So that by this News of the intended Purpose to break the Lord's Peoples Meetings the Ungodly and Prophane are gratified and strengthened in their Wickedness and the Righteous are made sad And further as for us We have been trodden down and made a Prey unto our Enemies and the Gates of Death and Hell have stroven against us already but have not prevailed unto this day for the Lord is with us and who is it that shall prevail against us and I may say What is this that is reported to be done what shall Dust and Ashes do and man whose Breath is in his Nostrils And who are they that shall break down that which the Lord hath a purpose to build Who shall be able to prosper in going about it or what success shall God give to that Work I tell you nay it is the Lord that has raised us up and we have given our power to him to stand by him and to be protected defended and upheld by him alone and we cannot give our Power to any Mortal Men to seek that from them which is not in their hands to give The Power of the Lord God is over you he that is our Keeper and Preserver in whose Hands is your Breath to destroy it utterly if you do that which doth offend him for you shall know that we are the Lord's People by whom we shall stand and grow in Dominion and Authority in his Life and the Dread of the Lord shall be upon our Enemies though they one gratifie another with Intentions of Evil against us yet the Lord stoppeth the purpose of his Enâ—â—ies and turns it backwards upon their own heads And this I say from the Lord If such a thing be in your Hearts conceiving to be brought forth by you it is a Birth that will devour you erâ— ever it spring out of your Bowelâ— it will be too heavy a Burden and you shall never have strength to deliver it This is the Word of the Lord to you It shall be a Rock to overthrow you and it will be a Sâ—are to catch you and if any such thing proceeds from you it will break you and your own Wickedness will destroy you Alas Do not you see evidently the Hand of the Lord fight for us Yea we have evident Testimony of his Presence that he is and will be with us unto the end And if any will be blind let them be blind for these Tidings do not trouble us neither are we thereby moved no not to beg of any man the contrary for we cannot give our Power unto you nor come under the power of this World no not to beg of you contrary to a good Conscience that you should forbear the fulfilling your intents But this it is in the Name and Power of the Lord though he requires nothing of you to exalt his Kingdom by your power nor to prescribe him a Way how he must be worshipped yet he requires That you should do nothing against him nor his People by limiting he Spirit of the Lord. And I say The Saints of the Most High cannot give their Power to you to stand or fall thereby nor to go by the Authority thereof to exalt the Kingdom of God thereby they can beg no such thing nor desire it of you for it is not in your hands to give his Work of Salvation unto the Nations you cannot give nor lay one Stone in the building of his blessed Temple but he alone will do it and not by the Arm of Flesh Yet doth he require That you should do nothing against him nor abuse your power but and if you do he will reward you according to your Deeds and this you will find and feel in the Day of God when he brings Vengeance and Judgment upon you and when he sets his Kingdom over you all and that comes to raign over the Nations which how is a Sufferer And when I first heard the News sent abroad in the Nation of such Intentions to break the Quakers Meetings many Considerations passed through me Will these go said I in the same way that many have been destroyed in before them Will these run upon the same Rock Will these take in hand to limit God and to set him a Way And shall all these Sufferings of the Lord's People for these many years be finished by these that all the Unjust Dealingâ— and Oppressions of the Saints may be upon them Is there no Wise Man among them nor none that feareth the Lord that he may be preserved â—om â—estruction And is this their beginning in Parliament to destroy God's Heritage The Lord nor the People of
nought and let it be left off to cry out Deceivers and Heresie c. and causing any to suffer upon suspition thereupon but bring all things to light and true Judgment that what is proved to be the Truth may be owned and not persecuted any more for we are willing to be made manifest to all men and if any thing be objected against us which may not be sufficiently answered and resolved to sober men then our Enemies are more free and hath whereof to glory in against us but and if all occasion of stumbling be removed by Answers according to the Scriptures and our Principles Practices and Doctrines thereby vindicated then let all the Teachers and all our Adversaries shut their Mouthes from biting at us and railing against us and accusing of us to thee and let thy Ear be shut from believing Lyes against the Innocent and let none suffer in thy Dominion under the cruelty of men upon such a ground And hereof I shall be glad to receive an answer and to joyn issue in this Cause and in the mean time and alwayes am a Lover of thy Soul but a witness against all Oppression E. B. This was delivered to his hands at Hampton Court in the 4th Moneth 1658. For the Protector Friends Know that there is a God that doth whatsoever he will all power is in his hand and he bringeth to pass the Counsel of his own heart and he rules in the kingdoms of men and bringeth down and setteth up he killeth and maketh alive and he changeth times and seasons and Governments and bringeth to nought the counsels of men for all power in Earth and in Heaven is in him and all his doings are right and his wayes are equal and thou and all Mankind are as Clay in the hand of the Potter he can honour and exalt as he pleaseth and he can mar and break to pieces and dishonour whensoever he will wherefore be humble and low in heart before him for he is the highest power that subdueth all things under his feet if he wound who can heal and if he kill there is none can make alive and know thou it is the Lord God Almighty that doth this in whose hands are the Issues of life and death and he it is who can break thee down and build thee up who can wound thee and restore thee and bring thee to destruction and say unto thee return and to know him that doth this belongs to thy eternal peace Wherefore hearken thou to the Word of the Lord that thy soul may come out of death and live and fear the Lord God before whom thy heart is naked and bare who can mould thee and change thee and fulfill his pleasure upon thee even according to his own will and who shall say what doth he and now come to consideration and let thy heart be more upright before him and chuse his way and counsel that he may bless thee and seek his face to behold his countenance that thy soul may be satisfied by his Word and the Milk of the Word may nourish thee unto life Immortal and mind his pure presence which is life even God with thee Christ the Emmanuel to dwell with and walk in thee which is the promise of the Father and first come to the Principle of God and feel the Word of God in thy heart that will beat down the nature into which Temptations enter and the Word will bring thee to war against and overcome all thy Enemies which would defile thee or betray thee and it will bring thee to know a Birth Immortal born in thee and a Crown Immortal received from God that dies not nor fades not away and then he that rules over Heaven and Earth will be thy Shepherd to feed thee and thy Teacher to guide thee and thy Counsellor to direct thee in all things and thy immortal Soul will be satisfied with the Bread that cometh down from Heaven which the Father giveth and the Covenant of God and the Mercies of David that are sure will be revealed and his Promise fulfilled in thee and Life and Immortality brought to Light through the Gospel which is the Power of God which destroyes and puts off and confounds the first man and his knowledge and wisdom and his sin and righteousness all which is in Transgression against the Life of God and the Gospel the Power of God being received it will raise up the Seed of God in thee and bring thee to know the second Adam the Image of the Father which the Devil hath nothing in but he overcomes the Devil who hath been the Lamb Slain by Transgression since the Foundation of the World and he it is that comes out of death that must take away thy sin and destroy it and cover thy nakedness and create thee anew and give thee acceptance in the Father whereby thy soul in him may be refreshed and a habitation in him thou mayst have when this World is no more and for this thou oughtest to wait above all things And Friend thou hast need of the Wisdom of God which is from Heaven to guide thee in all thy affairs that by it thou may be preserved from the will of thine Enemies and from all that hate thee that their Eye may be blinded that watch for Evil and their Wisdom and Policy confounded and brought to nought that hatch Mischief against thee So feel a Measure of the Wisdom of God in thee to guide thee in Dread and Authority and thy Enemies will be afraid for to walk in the Fear of the Lord and in his Wisdom and Authority in Justice Truth and Righteousness that will make thee a greater Terror unto thy Enemies then all Worldly Policy and Craft the Nations will over-reach thee if thy strength be there and if Judgment Justice and Righteousness be neglected by thee how should the Lord Honour thee and Defend thee Nay he will bring Dishonour and give thee into the Will of thy Enemies For want of Truth and just Judgment causeth the Land to Mourn and her People to sit as a Widdow comfortless wherefore love Judgment Truth and Righteousness and walk therein and thou wilt leave a Praise behind thee and a Witness to other Ages that thou hast served the Lord in thy Generation and then thy Memorial shall never dye nor thy Name come into Reproach among the Heathen Wherefore let all Oppression be removed and let the Just go free and let Judgment and Righteousness run down and be thou a Praise and a Blessing to all that do Well and a Terror and a Dread to all the contrary Arise and stand up for the Lord and he will give thee Strength and Victory and will make thy Horn as Iron and thy Hoof as Brass to push down and tread under the high places of Idolatry in all the apostatized Churches both Papist and others out of the Life of the Apostles and as thou comest into the Life the Apostles were in
it would win his Enemies or be a good means towards it if he do forgive all Enemies and it will be a good beginning of his Government to remit Offences though yet in his heart he may be perswaded that he and his Father have been much injured yet I say justly he 〈◊〉 forgive all in the sight of God and also in the sight of men as many wayes may appear even in asmuch as his Father and he did flee to the Sword to determine their Controversie in this Nation and the Sword went against them and did determine the controversie even against them and that whereby they thought to stand they did fall and that which they chused for their defence did destroy them and who then shall they blame for that which befel them seeing the Sword destroyed them which themselves did chuse and thought thereby to stand but it determined the Controversie against them and if you cannot own it as that the Hand of the Lord went against you in Battel yet you must confess that the fortune of War as some call it went against you and must such now suffer because hereof nay they ought not but may rather be spared by the King and inasmuch as he is restored again without blood or loss of lives it may be very just for him not to take away any mens lives but it will be more just to pass by all old things and if he have a deliverance let him turn it into the praise of the Lâ—â—d in holiness not into the shedding of blood in the way of a fierce revenge and let him leave it to the Lord to avenge himself upon such as have been his Enemies and upon such as â—â—ve cast out King and Kingly Government and pretended to a better Government 〈◊〉 to Govern more Righteously and yet have been Oppressors and not answered their pretences pretences and engagements but broken them and acted contrary by their Unfaithfulness and Hypocrisie and in that doth lie the justness of punishment if it come upon them and if they be punished with death or otherwise if they suffer on that account I say because they destroyed Kingly Goverment in Name and Title and pretended better things and to Govern better and did not make Reformation but were Oppressors as I hav◠〈◊〉 Suffering for that cause cannot be called Persecution nor is it for good Conscience nor Righteousness sake that such do Suffer But none of us can Suffer for that cause as not being guilty thereof as in the Answer to the next Query I shall have full occasion to shew you but and if we Suffer in your Government it is for the Name of Christ and we shall have Peace with God in it because nothing can be charged against us in this Capacity as we now stand and in this State into which we are now gathered and changed not in any matter of Action or Rebellion against him nor his Father nor any thing but concerning the Law and Worship of our God and the matters of his Kingdom and our pure Consciences and if upon this account we are made to suffer by him and for this cause the reward will be Sad and Heavy upon him in the day of the Lord And if any that are now amongst us were any way engaged in the Parliament Service in the Wars it was not in Rebellion against him or his Father as that we sought their destruction as men but upon Sober and Reasonable Principles and not for corrupted ends nor to get Honour and Riches to our selves as some others might do who went in the War for self-ends and continued in action after the cause which was once engaged for was utterly lost as we have long seen it and that principle which some time led some in action to oppose Oppression and seek after Reformation we never have nor shall deny but that Principle is still justified though we are now better informed than once we were for though we do now more than ever oppose Oppression and seek after Reformation yet we do it not in that way of outward Waring and Fighting with Carnal Weapons and Swords and YOU and the KING ought to put a difference both in their guilt and suffering between such as some time acted in the Wars against you in and upon Sober and Reasonable Principles and that did not make themselves Rich and High in this World through your Sufferings and between such as have acted against you for self ends and have insulted over you and have made themselves Great and Rich in this World thorow your Afflictions and Sufferings for they who have walked in that way and are hereof guilty they have not acted Righteously nor walked in good Conscience and if such Suffer by you for that cause it cannot be called Persecution nor is it for the Name of Christ nor can such have Peace with God But we being clear from the sin of such we cannot suffer as such but if we suffer by you it is Persecution and our sufferings will be upon you Quer. 5. Whether the great Afflictions and Sufferings sustained by him these divers years from the Subjects of his own Nation and the guilt thereof do lie upon all the Subjects in general Or whether upon any or some particular Sects and Sorts of People many which now are arisen and if upon any particular Sect and Sort who are such more then others distinguish them from others and clear your selves if you can from thâ— guilt of his Sufferings Answ. As for the Afflictions and Sufferings sustained by him so far as they were just and righteous Judgments from God because of Iniquity can no man be charged with but that is on God's account who was pleased to chastize with Afflictions and Sufferings and no man can be blamed with Injustice for that Affliction which cometh from the Hand of God upon whom Injustice may not be charged by any one whatsoever and so far as his Sufferings were unjust the guilt thereof doth not lie upon all the Subjects in general nor upon every particular sort of People alike but upon some more then others and such are easie to be distinguished from others if it be considered who they are that first raised the War in this Nation against the King and who was it that first preached and prayed up the War and prosecuted it against his Father And who is it that cast out the Bishops and Prelates from their Places and took their Revenues and Benefices and are become men as corrupted as covetous and self-seeking as proud and ambitious as unjust Persecutors as ever the men were which they cast out and the guilt is partly upon such who cast out others in pretence of Reformation but did it noâ— Aâ—â— who is it that hath gotten great Estates in this Nation and Worldly Honour and raised themselves from nothing by the Wars and by your Suffering and became ambitious and insulting over others though they first began the War in
there was any thing of the Purpose and Hand of the Lord by intending and bringing these things about without expectation by you and contrary to the great strength of your Enemies who are suddenly of a great and high Mountain made a low Valley and you of a low and trodden down Valley suddenly raised up into a great Mountain And to what do you attribute this Changing and overturning of Power and Authority and Rulers even them that have been as Princes and Potentates to be Rebels and them that have been accounted as Rebels and Traytors to be Rulers and Governours I say To what do you attribute these things on their first Cause whether to the Pollicy of some or to Accident or to good Fortune as some call it Or whether you believe in your Consciences that the Lord God by his secret Power hath purposed and suffered the effecting and accomplishing of these things Quer. 2. And if you believe that there is any thing of the Hand and Purpose of the Lord in doing or suffering these trans actions then wherefore and for what Cause do you believe hath he done these things Is it because you are more righteous in the sight of God than they who are cast out before you and because he loveth you and hateth them Or whether it is not because they have proved Treacherous and Deceitful and not answered unto the Lord what he required of them but sought themselves and forgot the Lord and took your Estates and Titles of Honour upon them and pretended a better Government and to govern better than that way of Monarchical Government but did not but were Oppressors even as others before them And is not this the Iust Cause wherefore the Lord hath suffered these Overturnings May not we justly that are neither of you Attribute this to be the very Cause wherefore the Lord hath brought them down and raised up you over them whereas if they had repented of their Sins and been faithful to what the Lord required of them and to what themselves pretended to and had indeed Governed Iustly and Righteously and freed the Oppressed and answered unto the Lord in an equal Government according to his Law whether may it not be believed that these things had never thus been brought to pass Quer. 3. Whether or no you believe that there is a GOD so mighty in Power and so wise in Counsel and Purpose that can Turn and Overturn you and your Power and lay you low even as others and raise up others who are now as low as you have been for divers years Whether you believe there is a GOD that by his Power can effect such a thing and accomplish it in his Wisdom And whether do you not believe in your Consciences that he will do it if you do not please him and fear his Name and forsake all Wickedness and if you be Oppressors and Cruel-hearted as others have been and do not rule in Righteousness and Equity And whether you believe not that the Lord doth watch over you with his Eye that sees you and marks all your wayes Whether do you consider that the Lord looks for good fruit from you and that you should free the Land from Oppression which if you answer not the Will of the Lord in what he requires Whether do not you believe that he is so wise in Counsel and mighty in Power that he can and will whether by Means or without Means overturn and confound you and your Government Quer. 4. Whether you believe in your Consciences and do acknowledge unto God that there was any thing of his IUSTICE in your late Sufferings for these divers years Or whether all of them or no part of that Suffering which hath been upon you were any whit Iust as from the Lord And whether there was not a great Measure of Iniquity filled up in Monarchical Government and a great Measure of Oppression upon the poor People of this Nation by their Lords and great Men And whether this Rebuke and Reproof that you have had in this measure of Suffering that hath been upon you was not in some measure Iust as from the Lord that you might be humbled before him though it is by me acknowledged That your Enemies these I mean who are now cast out before you brought great guilt upon themselves in executing wrath upon you in that and because they proceeded further and into more Bitterness and Cruelty towards you then they had either Commission or Authority from God But whether there was not a Iustice as from the Lord in that which partly befel you And was not his Hand many times against you in Battel though Number nor Valour was not wanting on your part yet are not you sensible how by a secret Hand you were often defeated and Victory given to your Enemies though the less in Number And were not these things in the Iustice of the Lord's Hand Whether do you not believe it and acknowledge it Quer. 5. Whether or no you do intend any Reformation from OLD Oppressions Or whether you intend to tread in the very steps and to walk in the very Path in every Particular of Government as it stood and was carried on in the beginning of CHARLES the first his days And whether you ought not in the sight of God and before him to consider how to relieve the Oppressed and break off all cruel Bonds of Injustice and how a Government may be set up which may be answerable to the Lord and not unto your own and other corrupted mens ends but if you shall do so Whether do you answer the End or deny the End wherefore the Lord hath thus dealt with you in giving of you this Day unexpected and contrary to all your Enemies And whether do you not believe that God hath set you between Good and Evil between Right and Wrong between doing of his Will and the will of the Devil in the doing and fulfilling one or the other by you whether doth not depend Happiness and Blessedness upon you or the Wo and the Curse your Standing or your Fall your Renown or your Dishonour perpetually Quer. 6. Whether or on you do not believe in your Consciences that the Prosperity and Continuance and Happiness of this your Government to your selves the King and Kingdoms or the Unhappiness Overthrow Misery and Confusion of the Government it self the King and these Nations doth not stand and wholly depend upon the Government and Authority as it proceedeth in Iustice Righteousness and Equity or as it is and proceedeth contrary and is Injustice Oppression and Unrighteousness and if therein it stand whether do you believe in your Consciences that God shall Bless it and Prosper it or he shall Destroy it and Confound it For is not the Hand of the Lord stretched forth in Mercy or in Iudgment according as Men walk in his Fear or without his Fear And whether if your CAUSE be Iust in it self yet if you walk in Unrighteousness
extream Reproaches as I have said in Contempt and Derision of that People and all this as if those People were guilty of heinous Crimes that it might appear to thee as if these Petitioners had done nothing but Iustice in what they have done and they seek to cover themselves and to hide their Wickedness before thee in what they have unjustly acted and this seems to be the Current of some part of the same Petition already presented unto thee like as if they had done no Evil though they have Unjustly Banished 〈◊〉 off Ears Whipped inhumanly and taken away lives as aforesaid And they would have thee believe they are Innocent towards thee and towards us whenas it is evident as the Sun at Noon-day that they are our Persecuters and that they have â—â—justly persecuted us unto Death for the Name of Christ and that also they are not unto thee as they Hypocritically feign themselves And therefore O King for the clearing of our selves and the Name of the Lord which we profess and for reproving of their bold impudent Insolencies both in what they have already done to us and now in seeking to cover themselves unto thee And also if there be any doubtfulness in thy Heart of these Matters for these Ends and Causes with Respect to the Fear of God and Honour 〈◊〉 the King I hereby presume to pursue their said Petition even unto thy Court and to wipe away the Slanders and Reproaches of Ungodly Men as much as possible hoping thereby thou wilt receive due and just Information in this matter of proceeding between us and them that thy just Judgment may be given accordingly And I shall transcribe some few of their own words presented to thee and thereupon spread some few Considerations before thee also and I pray God give thee an Understanding to judge justly in this and all other cases The first thing that I note is whereas they say That they have chosen rather the pure Scripture-Worship with a good Conscience in this poor remote Wilderness to â—it New-England among the Heathens than the Pleasures of England with subjection to the Imposition of the then so disposed and so far prevailing Hierarchy which we could not do without an evil Conscience c. say they The Considerations presented unto the King upon these words are divers 1. The Worship Doctrine Discpiline and Constitution of the Church of New-England is different and contrary and not purely according unto the Scriptures in the Administration of the Gospel nor in a pure Conscience purely guided by the Spirit of God though they seem to justifie their own Way and Case before the King and this may justly be made appear in his Presence upon good Occasion only at this time I assert the Case and if ever God gives oportunity I may prosecute it with Proofs and Evidences and that to the great Reproof of the Church so called of New-England who are not only in Doctrine Worship and Conversation contrary to the Scriptures but impudent and too presumptious to affirm their own Self-justification and Innocencâ— before the King when as it is manifest as the Day is from the Night that the Pastors and Members of the Church of New-England want the Spirit of God that gave forth the Scriptures and follow the spirit of Persecution Violence and Cruelty and are void of a Good Conscience both towards God and Men. To prove this there needs no greater Evidence than their own Deportâ—…nt towards the Harmless Quakers for these five years time who as I have said have spoiled their Goods and imprisoned their Persons cut off their Ears Banished them and inhumanely put them to Death and all this because of difference in Iudgment and Practice in Religious Matters when as no manner of Evil could be charged upon them in the things between man and man And if these be not works contrary to the Scriptures and the Spirit that gave them forth and contrary to a Good Conscience I am yet ignorant and must leave it to the Judgment of the King before whom this Matter is brought to receive his Judgment 2. Let the King consider how they have ignorantly condemned themselves in the same things for whith they have judged others for while they seem to complain of the Impositions of the Bishops which they stile prevailing Hierarchy if it was Transgression in the Bishops in dayes past to impose upon these Petitioners and to Persecute them for Non-conformists how much more are these men guilty of Imposition and Persecution of tender Consciences Nay they have exceeded in the same Transgression and become seven-fold guilty of the sins themselves which they complain against in others for they have gone further in Cruelty and Persecution towards the Innocent Quakers than ever the Bishops proceeded against them even so far further as the murdering of a man is more than cutting off his Ear And the Cause of the Quakers towards these Petitioners hath been as Innocent as ever theirs was towards the Bishops Oh hypocritical Generation who are condemning of others for that whereof themselves are guilty and imposing upon others in a far higher degree than ever the Bishops imposed on them witness their Law in New-England which judgeth every man to pay 5s per day who come not to their Assembly and imposing Fines of 40s and 50s apiece on such as meet together to worship the Lord which are evident signs of an evil Conscience as themselves speak The next thing that I note upon which the King ought to consider the Petitioners say concerning the Quakers Open Capital Blasphemers open Seducers from the Glorious Trinity the Lord 's Christ the Blessed Gospel and from the holy Scriptures as the Rule of Life open Enemies to the Government it self as established in the hand of any but men of their own Principles malignant Promoters of Doctrines directly tending to subvert both our Church and State By way of Answer to this let the King consider 1. The envious and detestable spirit of maliciousness of these Accusers and how vehement and fervent their persecuting spirit is drawn forth with reproachful Tearms in the highest degree like as if they could not utter sufficiently the Envy of their Hearts or as if they wanted words to demonstrate their Malignity and devouring Malice against that People whom they in scorn call Quakers and all this to present us Odious and Abominable before thee O King I say but this of them unto thee The Lord forgive them if they have not sinned unto Death and Unpardonably I have no desire of Revenge towards them but I leave Vengeance to the Lord who will recompence in his season neither do I desire to provoke or incense the King against them only Duty to God and the King teacheth me and Love Constraineth me and an absolute Necessity presseth much upon me to spread our Denyal of their Bitter and Malicious Accusations against us before the King unto whom we are thus foully accused And I say I
to say Occasion is Wrongfully taken against us to destroy us and we are proceeded against contrary to the End of Just Government which is To preserve the Peaceable and not to destroy them and contrary to the KING 's former Promises who hath said We should not suffer for Matters of our Religion and Conscience living Peaceably in the Land And if we suffer because we cannot Swear at all such our suffering is for our Conscience sake and we are therein Persecuted Unrighteously as Innocent People and without just Cause And we must commit this our Cause to God who regardeth the Oppressions of his People and will avenge their Cause in his season And for the present this is all I have to say and present concerning this Case of Swearing and concerning the Oath of Allegiance CHAP. II. The Case Stated and Pleaded concerning our Meeting together to Worship God 1. WE do Meet together in the Name of Jesus Christ and in his Power and Spirit and we do come together in the Fear of God to wait upon him and to receive the Teachings of his Holy Spirit and his Council to direct us in all our Wayes how to walk Righteously towards God and Men and in our Meetings we practice our Hearts and Minds in Godliness and speak of the Things of the Kingdom of God in Preaching the Word of God and in Prayer to Him according as his Holy Spirit guideth us which is given us of God to lead us into all Truth according to his Promise Iohn 16. 13. and that we may edifie one another in the Wayes of Holiness and Truth for the benefit of our souls and this is according to the Scriptures For they that feared the Lord met often together and spake one to another and edified one another And this is our Principle That it is our Duty to God-wards to meet together and that he requires it of us and for the exercise of our Consciences to him it hath been alwayes and is our Practice to meet together in the Exercise of the worship of God as aforesaid and not for any other End as in Contempt of Authority or to Plot or Contrive or to Meditate Evil against the King or his Government or any of his Subjects we have no such end I say in meeting together But our alone only and absolute End in our Meeting is to worship the Lord our God and to serve him and to wait upon him in obedience to his Will and for good Conscience sake as our Duty towards him 2. And this our Practice of Meeting together for the End and Cause mentioned if it be in publick Houses or more private in Upper Chambers or in the open Fields on what day soever is Lawful and Just in the sight of God and is according to the Example of the Primitive Saints and provable by the Scriptures as in Acts 1. 13 14. And when the Disciples and Saints returned from Jerusalem they went up into an upper Chamber both Men and Women and Waited upon the Lord and continued with one accord in Prayer and in Supplication And in Acts 20. 7. 8. The first day of the â—…k the Saints met together and Paul preached unto them and continued his Sermon till Midnight holding forth the Matters of the Kingdom of God And they were met in an upper Chamber from whence Eutychus fell down And Acts 28. 30 31. And Paul remained two full Years preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God in his own hired House in Rome and he exhorted the Saints Not to neglect meeting together as the manner of some was whom he reproved Heb. 10. 25. By which Testimonies with divers others that might be given it is manifest that the Saints of God in former Ages did meet together to worship God and to wait upon him in Prayer and Preaching as the Spirit of the Father taught them that dwelt in them And sometime they met publickly and sometime more private and sometime on the day time and some in the night season and they met separate from the Synagogues and wayes of publick Worship among the Iews according to the Will of God and as it was ordered amongst them And thus it is manifest That our Meeting for the Worship of GOD at this Day though they are separate from the Way of Publick Worship of the Kingdom and are in more private Houses are justifiable being after the Example of the Saints and according to the Scriptures of Truth and therefore our Meetings are according to the LAW of GOD Just and Lawful 3. And forasmuch as by Reason of the late Insurrection of some few Persons in London our Lawful Assembling of our selves together in the Worship of God is under present Restraint and Prohibition and by Proclamation forbidden under the Denomination of Seditious and Unlawful Meetings and our Friends Imprisoned and persecuted for that Cause of Assembling themselves to wait upon God Now in this Case this I plead unto the King That we are no manner of way guilty of that Insurrection upon which the Proclamation of forbidding our Meetings was grounded and therefore ought not to suffer with the guilty being Innocent from the very Occasion of that Proclamation And for the King to prohibit our Meetings for and because of the ill Use that others made of theirs this seems a Condemning of the Innocent with the Guilty which is no way just in the sight of God nor men but altogether unequal that we should suffer for other mens Fault though such did abuse their Liberty and pervert the End of their Meetings into rising up with Carnal Weapons against the King so did not we neither in Intent nor Action and therefore our Meetings ought not to be prohibited for the Cause of other mens Faults and Miscarriages in that Case And also We have the King's Promise divers times That we should not suffer for our Religion while we acted nothing against the Peace of the Kingdom and Government which yet we never have done nor made any ill use of our Meetings nor of the King's Promises nor forfeited them and therefore according to his own Promises we ought to have our Meetings and enjoy them without Restraint because we have not forfeited the benefit of his former Promises in that behalf nor ever made use of our Meetings to Plot or Conspire against the Government to its Harm or Detriment and because of our Innocency herein the Benefit of his former Promises are yet in force unto us to protect our lawful Meetings and not to prohibit them And though upon Suspition only our Meetings have been Restrained and our Friends Imprisoned by the late Proclamation yet we being proved Innocent and without Guilt of that which occasioned it the KING and Council may and ought in Justice and good Reason to Reverse and Revoke that part of the Proclamation related to us as being Innocent that we may enjoy our lawful Meetings according to the Scriptures and Example of Saints and according to
faint of it but can freely receive the determination thereof in the Court be it for me or against me yet I would have it ended and have sought it in justice and once did to my Adversary say I could refer it to any sober men and another Friend being with me Oliver then Protector or Charles Fleetwood or Col. Pride all these were mentioned and to any of these I could have referred my Cause and though before he seemed willing and said That if any sober man in the Nation that was no Quaker would say that his Doctrine was not sound and that he had not wrong c. But when these men were mentioned he was unfaithful to his word and would not refer it And also not long ago a day and time was appointed by his own advice and consent by a Friend of his own to bring the Cause before Alderman Tichburn to which I was willing and that he with some other man might hear determine the Matter and the time appointed we met at the Alderman's House and the Alderman with some more of us waited for Mayo's coming till near the 9th hour in the evening and he never came so ungaretful and unjust was he to his own Friend to Alderman Tichburn and to me that we waited all for him some hours and he came not at all though his own Friend by his own consent and desire did bring that appointment about and thus I would have you to know that I seek peace with all men and with him upon just and equal means and can refer it to honest men to hear and determine for who are truly just towards God cannot condemn me nor my Cause and likewise ye may see how unwilling my Adversary is to bring his Business to hearing and determining by wise and discreet men and how unfaithfull he is to his own words and desires only he thinks he hath gotten a Verdict that will do something for him and upon that he depends waiting also for your unjust Judgment and because he hopes alwayes for your Judgment which I say is unjust if you condemn me in this matter Therefore he will not bring his cause to be heard and determined by any other because he supposes you will proceed according to that unjust Verdict which if you do not you offend him and lose his unjust cause and if you do you offend God and condemn the guiltless cause of the Just and whatever ye do this follows upon ye and if you offend God and despise the cause of the Innocent and the Truth ye must bear your own burthen in the sight of God and Just men And if his cause were good he need nor thus shrink and faulter to let any man hear the matter but his hope of your unjust Judgement nourisheth his heart in his unrighteous cause And these things were in me to lay before you that it may not be said by you we know not these things for I would have you to know them and take notice of them and to compare all things in equality and to Judge according to the Law of God and the good Law of this Land I am not careful at present to answer or say more to you about this matter onely this remains with me the Lord God can deliver me from the Teeth of the wicked if he will but if he will not I cannot bow to the Devil but hath given up my life to live to him or to suffer for him and this Testimony remains for ever not as I will but as he will who brings all things to pass according to his pleasure I am a Lover of your Souls and a Sufferer for the Elect seeds sake and a witness against the malice and injustice of evil men E B To all that are Moved to go into other Nations ALl ye my Brethren and Companions in the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ unto whom the Word of the Lord is come who have received power from on high even from the Father to bear witness of his Name and of his Kingdom in the Earth unto Peoples and Nations and all ye that are Anointed with the Holy Ghost and that are moved with the Power of the Lord to go into other Nations to manifest the Way of Life and the Word of the Kingdom of God which you have handled tasted seen and felt in the Name and Power of the Lord God Almighty go ye on in faithfulness to preach the Power of God the Gospel of Peace and Reconciliation to every Creature under Heaven without exception of Nations or Peoples that Sinners may be converted unto him from the power of Satan to the Power of God the Creator of all things and that such as are lost from his Presence may be brought home into the Covenant of Life and that such as are out of the way may be turned into the Way of Peace and Salvation In the dread and fear of the Lord God go ye on and prosper in your way proclaim the Name of the Lord and declare his Majesty unto all People sound forth the Word of his Power in the Ears of all Nations shew forth the Light of the Glorious Gospel in the whole Earth preach Christ and hold him forth unto all the Children of Adam who is given of the Father into all the World and he hath lighted all Mankind without exception that cometh into the World and is given for a Covenant and for a Light unto all people that he may be Salvation unto the Ends of the Earth and may bring Salvation and Life Eternal unto as many as do receive him Cry aloud and spare not and shew this unto all people set the Way of Life and the Way of Death before them cause the Deaf to hear and the Blind to see and the Dead to arise lift up your Voice and spare not that all Nations may know the Salvation of our God which to us is come and may be Witnesses of the same Power and Deliverance of which we partake ye are sent forth as Lambs amongst Wolves and as Birds among Fowlers Snares be ye therefore wise and innocent And I charge you all dwell in the secret Counsel of God and enquire of him in all things that his Wisdom may defend you from the subtilty of men and his Power and Authority thorow you may bind and chain the Uncircumcised and reach to the Witness of God in every Creature and to it in all people you may be made manifest that you are the Servants of the Lord be bold and valiant to give your Testimony unto all Nations fear not man whose Breath is in his Nostrils nor be afraid of high looks but lay your Sword on the Neck of the Uncircumcised and spare not the Proud nor pity not the Children of Babylon and lay the true Measure upon all People that they may see themselves how they are all drove from God and in Transgression and Enmity against him Children of Wrath and Heirs of Destruction