Laws and weapons of Cruelty which God will break therefore are the Wicked angry and rage like the swelling of the Seas and send out their own shame and execute their cruelty on the People whom the Lord hath blessed and united to himself in a perpetual Covenant and firm Decree that can never be broken All this is done that Wrath may come upon you to the uttermost Yet the Lord hath said Though all the Powers of Hell do rise as Mountains of darkness and Gog and Magog gather all their host together whose number is numberless and their weapons the same the Dragon Beast and false Prophets used in all Ages All this is nothing with the Lord in whom we have believed he will go through them as an Arrow shot through the Air he will save his Children and not one of them shall be desolate that trust in him though they walk in the midst of the stones of fire and through the deeps of the Seas he will save them and be with them there he will be ever mindful of his Covenant and of his Oath to a thousand Generations he will come unto them and will not leave them comfortless there O that all that have known the living and powerful Arm of the Lord would believe and trust in it for ever in which is Salvation and Deliverance from all fears of destruction when it cometh which Arm is revealed in which we have believed and in which Faith we stand and witness Peace and Truth the stability of our times and God is become our God our Lord our Law-giver and our Judge and of his Name will we make mention and we will walk in the light of his Law for ever and ever and are resolved to keep his righteous Judgments at all times and therefore do our Enemies hate us The Lord is our Judge and our Justifier in this day when men condemn us he hath restored us into the liberty and brought us unto the beginning of that Day which shall never end and for which our souls have groaned and travelled long pure Praises be unto him that lives for ever and ever The Lord hath brought us into his Rest which remains for ever even we that have and do believe in the Light that shines in our hearts have by this Light walked through all Darkness unto Him with whom there is no darkness nor shadow of turning so that the shadow of death is become as the eye-lids of the morning and we through the tender Mercies of our God are entred into the Rest where the Prisoners rest together and where the weary be at rest Glory glory and praise be unto the Lord of Sabbath the inner Gate of the Temple is opened in this Rest which hath been shut the six working dayes Praises to our God that openeth and none shutteth Bless the Lord O my Soul and praise him whilst thou hast a being in the Land of the living The dead praise not the Lord there 's not a Persecutor giveth him thanks their singing is no better than the howling of Dogs they that lie in the grave and wallow in their own filth over whom Death and Darkness hath dominion they celebrate not the loving kindness of the Lord their Songs are over the Dead they rejoyce over the slain Witnesses of God in themselves the Songs of the Temple must be turned into howling the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it Come down O thou Virgin Daughter of Caldea weep bitterly saith the Lord who knows thy out-goings and thy rage against the precious Sons of Sion and Virgin Daughter of Jerusalem the time of whose Controversie is already come into my heart wherefore look upon Sion the City of thy Solemnity thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation O thou Mourner a Tabernacle that shall not be taken down nor one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed nor any of the cords thereof broken thine eyes shall behold the King in his beauty thou shalt dwell in the Land that is yet far off O thou that art afflicted and tossed with tempests but not comforted tempests within and tempests without in the Name of the Lord I say unto thee thine is the Kingdom and the righteousness thereof the Power and the Glory belongs unto thee and she that is thy enemy shall be trodden down as the mire in the streets for the Indignation of the Lord is kindled against Babylon which shall not be quenched night nor day the smoak thereof shall go up for ever from Generation to Generation shall it lie waste no one shall pass through it for ever and ever They shall call the Nobles thereof to the Kingdom but none shall be there and all her Princes shall be nothing Seek ye out of the Book of the Lord and reade nothing of all this shall fail And the line of confusion shall be stretched over it and stones of emptiness and all thy Merchants shall mourn and they that are made rich by Seas shall weep bitterly for thy Tacklings are loosed they cannot well strengthen thy Masts they cannot well spread thy Sails But the Inhabitants of Zion shall not say I am sick the People that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity Our God is the living and true God his habitation is in the holy Mountain he hath chosen Sion to dwell in let all the Idols of the Heathen that know him not but would limit him that doth teach and lead his People in the Way Everlasting be confounded for ever and all the Idol-makers which are like unto them be broken and let not their hands perform their Enterprizes for the Breath of my God scatter them as the Dust of the Mountains in the Desart and as the Chaff before the Whirlwind fling them out of their place Amen saith my heart and soul for ever The Lord our God is rising against all Persecutors wo be to them if they be not warned yea he is risen already in the persecuted he will shake Mountains to pieces he will rent all Hills before him and there is no darkness so thick where the worker of Iniquity can hide himself from the fierce anger of the Lord though he make his nest in Hell and hide himself under the Mountains of the Earth yet the breath of the Lord shall breath upon him and his Spirit which created him shall rend him to pieces as a rotten rag until he make a way for him who Rules in Peace whose Scepter is a right Scepter he it is that must Reign the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it And he will cause them to remain even them which have suffered with him who hath been a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief hated and rejected of men them will he cause to reign with him upon the Earth yea they shall have dominion over the Mighty the Lion is come out of his thicket the Destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way he will not fail nor be discouraged he is risen as a valiant man and as a Gyant refreshed with new Wine his hand will not spare his Enemies his eye will not pity his Persecutors but the Lord will spare them that serve him both small and great Blessed are they that hear and believe unto the end of sin and transgression which God is finishing and putting an end unto they shall have dominion over the Mighty But wo be to all Hypocrites and wo be to all double-minded and them that forsake the Lord the living Fountain in whom all fresh springs are and wo be to all persecuting Magistrates and Law-makers against the Innocent Temporal and Spiritual a day of wasting and destruction wherein your stink shall be great and wherein you shall not find a hiding place to hide you from the furious vengeance of the Lord who is risen to shake terribly the Earth and plead the Cause of the Oppressed and Innocent by you persecuted wherefore this I say unto you all in the Name of the Lord Repent and humble your selves you Magitrates spiritual and temporal and every inferiour Officer even from him that sitteth on the Throne to him that openeth and shutteth your Prison-doors Repent both you and your King and persecute the Innocent no longer imprison and spoil their Goods no longer because they cannot worship as you do even you that mingle your Sacrifices with blood that it may be a lengthning of your tranquility but if otherwise you go on Persecution will undo you the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it for whose sake I am a witness against your persecuting power HUMFRY WOOLDRIDGE For which Cause I am close Prisoner in Chester Castle which I shall here relate and of which I have no cause at all to repent or be ashamed for ever Upon the second day of the 10th Month I came to Chester it being the end of the Assize and many of the Lord's People being close Prisoners taken from their own peaceable Meeting but were not called at all before the Judges upon the First day it was moved in my heart by the Lord that made me to go to their Church called the Cathederal the Judges and Magistrates which should do Justice and loose the Oppressed and open the doors of the Prisoners being there to cry out against Persecution I came in in the Peace and Power of the Living God where I found the Organs playing the Men and Boyes singing which songs the Lord will turn into mourning but David's Harp was not amongst them nor the Living Spirit which only praiseth the Lord but the persecuting spirit of Saul which was ever an Enemy to the Spirit of the Father when their Song was ended I came into their inward place of Worship the Word of the Lord being in my heart as a spring shut up and a fountain sealed I said Let me speak that I may be refreshed let come on me what will it is better to die than to live in rebellion against the Lord So I stepped upon the side of a Pew and bid them hear the Word of the Living God to them all but before I had spoken all that was in my heart they violently pulled me down as if they would have torn me to pieces but an Officer with a Silver Mace whose heart the Lord touched saved me from the rude multitude so I was carried away towards the Castle where I remain to this day THE END
the Earth give you unto the Lord the honour due unto his Name do not you limit the Lords pure eternal Spirit by making Laws how he should be served and worshipped in this thing you rob the Lord of his honour who is a Spirit and doth teach his People in Spirit how to worship him therefore limit ye not the Holy One of Israel for he is a great King above all kings and a God of gods which saith My Glory will I not give to another And unto all you Magistrates and Governours and all the rest of your inferior Officers in England high and low from him that sitteth upon the Throne to him that openeth and shutteth the Prison doors this is the Word of the living and true God Persecution will break you all to pieces but if you honour me and give unto me that which alone to me doth belong which is to â—ule in the hearts of my People let me be Lord Judge and â—aw giver in all spiritual things and let me be heard of all my Saines in all matters of Worship and spiritual Service then will I honour you and all my Children whom I â—â—â—ch my self they shall honour you also for my Names sake and if your Souls be subject unto the higher Power thâ—â—ight of the World Christ unto whom I the Lord have committed all Power in Spiritual matters then shall all the Souls whom I have begotten into my Power and gathered from all the false wayes and worships that they should not be 〈◊〉 prey any longer to the teeth of the greedy Wolves unto the chief Bishop and Shepherd of their Souls be subject unto you and all your righteous Commands for Conscience sake but if otherwise ye will still exalt your sâ—lves above sâ—y Throne which is the lowly and contrite Spirit ye shall be lightly esteemed by me and all my Saints and Children also they shall bear their Testimony against you and your unrighteous Laws whereby you would force them to worship God contrary to God's Witness which I the Lord have placed iâ— their Consciences to be their teacher and guide in â—ll things And though you seed them for these things with Bread of Affliction and givâ— them Water of Adversity to drink and are killed â—ll the 〈◊〉 long by you yet their Teacher shall never be râ—moved into a corner any more I the Lord who will not leave thâ—â—â— comfortless in a Prison but will rend through Rockâ— and Wâ—lls of stone to comfort and consolate the lowly heart 〈◊〉 spoken it And all the while ye are causing them to suffer and filling up the meâ—sure of your sin even in going beyond your Commission as they did whom God overthrew before you for ye have a time set with the Lord and a work for him ye have to do which is to make manifest Hypocrites and that the thoughts of many deceitful hearts who have made a Profession of God but are enemies to his Life may be revealed and their work 〈◊〉 manifest of what sort it is and all Coverings râ—nt but only that of the Spirit of the Lord which his Children and Lambs are covered withal this ye cannot rent though ye are pulling hard at it And all Foundations may ye overturn which are not upon the Rock break al Gatherings and Assemblies which are not gathered into the Name of the Lord and every Church which hath seemed but hath not been the true House of God may ye dash to pieces and all may be made to change their Religion and Conform to any thing and lick up their own Vomit again but only those who are translated by the Power of the Lord out of Darkness into Light and gathered out of all the false Churches in England which are many into the true Church in God which is but one the pillar and ground of Truth these things before mentioned may ye do and yet stand but ye have not to do with the Lords Anointed which are covered with his living Spirit which is eternal and pure Wo be to them which touch these that have no help but what standeth in the Name of the Lord neither any foundation have they but that of God which all the Prophets and Apostles who as a cloud of Witnesses against this Generation suffered Persecution which is Christ in them the hope of Glory yea Glory it self Righteousness Peace and Joy which is full of glory which blessed be the Lord the World cannot take from us if ye touch these and number these with Transgressors ye touch the Apple of God's Eye and ye your selves will be found Trangressors if ye persecute and spoil these O ye Magistrates and Bishops the Lord will break you with breach upon breach yea you have persecuted spoiled many of them already and it will be your ruine unless ye speedily repent it is the eternal Word of the Lord God unto this Generation Persecution will undo you Yet thus is it written by the Prophet Jeremy 18. At what time I speak concerning a Nation and concerning a Kingdom to pluck up and to pull down and to destroy it if that Nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil I also will repent of the evil I thought to do unto them O that there were but such a heart in you to consider this before it be too late and the Lord destroy you with double destruction And thiâ— doth â—y Soul believe and it is established in my heart for eveâ— thâ—t all your Weapons of Cruelty your grievous and unjust â—â—ws which ye have made with the Consent of your Lords Spiritual to waste and destroy Families and banish the innoâ—â—â—â—t People of the Lord called Quakers shall all work together in the end for their good and drive them even the Chilâ—â—â—â— and Pâ—ople whom he hath blessed so much neaâ—â—â— unto himself and the more they are oppressed so much the greater will be the Cry of the Oppressed against you and it will be with the oppressed Seed of God as with Israel in the â—and of Egypâ— the more they were Oppressed the more they Multiplied and all the wisdom of this World and the persecuting Poâ—â—â—s of Hell and Death shall never hinder it nor stop the Work which God is working nor quench the Light and Spark which â—ust become a strong Nation the Holy One of Israel hath spokâ—n it Neverthelâ—ss ye are doing your endeavour and taking wise Counsel and Advice as Pharaoh did with the Magicians of Egypâ— how â—o â—oot out the Name of Israel from under Heaven and to that â—nd yâ— have established your cruel Commandments and sâ—â—lâ—d your Decrees of Oppression against them and all this will but opâ—n the ears of the Lord to hear them and cause hiâ—â—o stâ—â—tâ—h out his Arm to save them in your destruction for thâ— Lord heareth the cry of the Afflicted the Lord loâ—sâ—â—h â—hâ—â—onds of the Prisoners and ill will it be with you whâ—â— thâ— Souls of the wounded cry out This madâ— Jâ—â—â—â—â—iâ—h cry unto the
Garden whom the Lord watereth with the dew of the everlasting Hills as a Vineyard with pleasant Plants the planting of the Lord that he may be glorified He is pouring his Waters out of his Buckets and his Seed shall be in many Nations His King shall be higher than Agag and his Kingdom shall be exalted The Lord hath spoken in his Holiness he will not lie unto David and his Seed for evermore He will rejoyce over Palestina over Ethiopia Egypt and Edom will he rejoyce He will reveal his Glory which shall cover the Earth as a morning without Clouds and as the Sun at noon-day so will he shine out of Zion many shall be gathered into his Rest and he will beautifie the place of his Holiness And this is a Charge to all you Magistrares in the Name of the Lord of Host take heed what you do against Israel they are a People whom he hath blessed and whom he will honour with a Crown that is immortal and with the right-hand of his Power will he savâ— them throughout Generations and he will break their Enemies and they shall never prosper but shall be confounded for ever that oweth ill will to Jerusalem The daughter of Zion hath laughed you to scorn the daughter of Jerusalem shall rejoyce in her God for ever â—nd ever who hath fâ—rmed Jacob he will preserâ—â— and save the distressed of Israel The Lord liveth and blessed be our Rock and magnified for ever be the God of our Salvation who hides us in the hollow of his hand and in whose Name and Might we who know the Lord are confident that he will never leave us nor forsake us utterly nor give us as a prey into the hands of the wicked and though he suffer you to plow long furrows upon our backs as it was with the same Seed in all Generations yet cannot we forget the Lord because we love him who is a present help in all times of trouble We are perswaded and that by the Love which he hath shed abroad in our hearts that all your Cruelty whatsoever your spoyling of Goods and Banishments and whatsoever more he who limits all shall suffer you to do shall never be able to separate us from the Love of God who hath united our souls in a perpetual Covenant which can not be broken unto himself The Lord our God whom we serve will break all unrighteous Laws and the Yoke of Oppression as in the day of Middian so will he rise up for our help and Wo be unto them which stand in his way when he riseth he will roar out of Sion even as the Seas for the indignation of the Lord is upon all Nations and his Fury upon all their Armies He will utterly destroy them and deliver them to the slaughter for it is the day of the Lord's Vengeance and the Year of Recompences for the Controverfie of Sion which hath long sate solitary in a Wilderness which hath been black as the tents of Kedâ—â— because of the clouds of the night the rain and storms of the Winter have all passed over her the Seâ—s and the waves thereof have covered her and the reeds have been about her head she hath mourned sore in the night because of the oppression because of the rage of the Dragon hath she been hid in the wilderness and sitten desolate in a Desart as they that are dead of old covered hath she been with the robe of unrighteousness and rapt up as in a mantle of violence great hath been her wrong and grievous the violence done unto my flesh do the Inhabitants of Sion say and great will be the deliverance and the glory that is to 〈◊〉 upon thy head for evermore Arise and shine forth for 〈◊〉 â—ight is come the Glory of thy God is risen upon thee which shall dazle the eyes of all that hate thee and persecute thee without a cause the Lord will cover thee in the hollow of his hand and make thee a sharp threshing instrument wherewith he will thresh the Mountains and beat the Hills to pieces With thee will he plant Nations and pluck up Nations With thee will he strike the Horse and his Rider With thee will he break the Chariot and his Driver With thee will he break the Scepter and fling the Crown to the ground He hath made thee as a polished Shaft in his Quiver wherewith he will strike through the reins of his Enemâ—es With thee will he bind the Dragon and cast the Beast and the false Prophets which deceive the Nations into the Lake of Fire For the Wrath of the Lord is come and the time of the Dead that they should be judged and thou shouldst give reward unto thy Servants the Prophets and to the Saints and them that fear thy Name small and great and shouldest destroy them which destroy the Earth and though the Woman with the Man-child have been in the Wilderness long hidden in a place prepared them of God yet is the time come wherein she is come forth again even out of the Wilderness fair as the Moon clear as the Sun at noon-day and terrible as an Army with Banners will she be to her Persecuters the everlasting Gospel is preached again the Angel that hath it is come and he will have the Victory and break his Enemies as a Potter's vessel Now is come Salvation and Strength and the Kingdom of our God and the Power of his Christ for the Persecuter and Accuser of the Saints must be cast down and they shall overcome him by the Blood of the Lamb and by the Word of their Testimony which they hold who love not their lives unto the death shall have domininion over the Mighty But all you Persecuters you are they which Christ prophesied of should come Matth. 7. and Mat. 24. You are known by your fruits to be the corrupt trees of whom men do not gather figs for we find that saying fulfilled even amongst you Bishops and Spiritual men the most upright amongst you is but as a thoâ—â—-hedge scratching and tearing the wool and devouring 〈◊〉 â—â—eep of God's Pasture which are men with your Spiritual Courts your Weapons also we are sure are not the same Christ and the Apostles warred withal when they warred against Spiritual wickedness in high places mark Spiritual wickedness was against the true Apostles Paul himself was a Bishop and Timothy but we do not reade that ever they had such Councils and Decrees as are now made to banish and destroy them that will not conform in matters of Conscience Reade Act. 15.6 when the Apostles and Elders were come together to confider and determine concerning them which troubled the Church and we know they had the mind of the Lord I believe you will not deny it vers 28. it is written It seemeth good to the holy Ghost c. Mark what they did seemed good to the holy Ghost But in their Decrees we reade not of any banishing or imprisoning or of any such