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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A77940	A declaration of the present sufferings of above 140. persons of the people of God (who are now in prison,) called Quakers: with a briefe accompt of about 1900. more ... Together with the number of 21. persons who were imprisoned and persecuted until death. All which was delivered to Tho. Bampfield, then Speaker of the Parliament, on the sixth day of the second month, 1659 ... As also an accompt of some grounds and reasons, why for conscience sake we bear our testimony against divers customes and practices at this day in use amongst men. Also a cry of great jndgement [sic] at hand upon the oppressors of the Lords heritage, as received from him on the 18. day of the first month called March. With an offer to the Parliament of our bodies, person for person to be imprisoned, for the redemption of our brethren, who are now in bonds for the testimony of Jesus.	Burrough, Edward, 1634-1662.	1659 (1659)	Wing B5993; Thomason E977_7; ESTC R203719	28,651	48

nor to revile the Government it self nor as a complaint against our oppressors but that you may see the ground and true cause of all our sufferings and of the sufferings of the Saints in all Ages and Generations and in all nations of the World this day and we leave it to that of God in you all to weigh and consider whether it be not time to reforme both Laws Courts and Officers From your Friends who are lovers of peace and truth who wait for the comming of the Lord to establish Justice and righteousnesse 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 meetings 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 newes 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 with but 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 thing they will destroy themselves undoe 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 newes and it makes their hearts sad whose conscience and the witnesse therein doth answer that we are the Lords people and it ought not thus to be done concerning us as the newes reports so that by this newes of the intended purpose to break the Lords peoples meetings the ungodly and prophane are gratified and strengthened in their wickednesse 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 hath 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 Lords 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 intention of evil against us yet the Lord stoppeth the purpose of his enemies and turnes 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 ere ever it spring out of your bowels it will be too heavy a burthen 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 snare to catch you and if any such thing proceed from you it will break you and your own wickednesse 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 wil 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 the spirit of the Lord and I say the Saints of the most High can not 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 Judgement upon you and when he sets his Kingdom over you all and that comes to reign over the Nations which now is a sufferer And when I first heard the newes 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 Lords people for these many years be finished by these that all the unjust dealings 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 from destruction and is this their begining in Parliament

to destroy Gods heritage The Lord nor the people of this Nation that fear God have not intrusted them therein but if it be so said I in my heart if this wickedness be intended and if they do so greatly abuse their power they shall leave their names as a reproach to after ages and their memories shall rot and their wickedness shall lie upon them for evermore but I considered that we having given our power to the Lord from him we have found to this day and do alwayes seek defence and to be carried on and by him we stand and to him we fall not to mortal men who are as clay in the hand of the potter wherefore let the wise in heart consider these things and lay them to mind for if they shall proceed to that wickedness the nations shall they never settle in peace nor shall their Rulers receive a blessing but they shall be a curse unto themselves to all under their authority and this is a Testimony to all sober people shewing unto them all where our confidence is and in what it remaines And nevertheless if the heart of the wicked be strengthened against us and their hands made strong to deal violently yet shall the righteous rejoyce and be exceeding glad for the day of redemption and everlasting peace is come unto his people that do and have waited for him and all under him shall bow and bend and he will make his peoples cup overflow and spread their table even in the fight of their enemies and they shall fear and the terror of the Lord shall lie upon them and when they have executed their violence then shall the Lord deal violently with them E. B. A Cry of great Judgement and vengeance upon the Wicked near to be executed as it was received from the Lord into his servant ON the eighteenth day of the first month as I was travelling in Warwick-Shire my Meditations being upon the Lord and upon the cause of his people in this Nation and how unjust and unrighteous their woful sufferings have been executed upon them within these few years even when I was pondering of these things in the deep consideration thereof it came upon me from the Lord and the cry went through me the Lord will be avenged the Lord will be avenged upon his enemies and he will avenge the cause of his people and this cry stuck close upon me for some hours that the Lord would surely execute his judgments upon the oppressors of his heritage who have spoiled and troden it down and sought to destroy it And I considered and took into full view in my Spirit how grievous how sad and how unjust the sufferings of Gods people have been within these few years and my heart was even broken therewith and my Spirit even melted and it came upon me from the Lord saying Write unto the Rulers and yet once more warn them of that recompence and of that indignation which is at hand upon them even a just recompence for all their deeds and as they have done even so shall it be done to them as they have sought to destroy the generation of the righteous even so shall they be destroyed from off the face of the earth and as they hav● unjustly judged and condemned the innocent so shall they be condemned and justly judged of the Lord and as they have cast the bodies of the poor Lamb● of Christ into Prison and been a snare upon them even so shall they be insnared and into captivity shall they go and as they have caused the goods and possessions of the innocent to be spoiled and made a prey even so in like manner shall the curse of the Lord spoil their substance and as they have done so shall it be done unto them and as they have mete to others so shall it be mete to them again And I saw a great misery and desolation nigh at hand even the Sword of the Lord and it should slay them and I beheld it was made ready for the slaughter and in the sense of these things a sadness fell upon my Spirit considering the desolation and the judgment that is at hand to be executed upon the cruel oppessors Wherefore all ye Rulers and all ye that have troden down the heritage of God and ye that have disregarded those many warnings that ye have had I say unto you all in the power of the Lord God in his Dominion and by his Spirit this is once more a warning to you from the Lord that these things must surely come to pass and be fulfilled in their season and no man shall be able to deliver his brother but every man shall bear his own burthen and drink his own cup prepared for him and though it hath been counted a light thing amongst you and you have dispised the reproof and gone on without fear yet in as much as the Lord hath spared you and not speedily executed judgment upon you but rather waited for your return yet the dealing of the Lord towards you in sparing of you you have not accepted and therefore shall his judgments be the greater upon you For if you do now come to the witness in your own consciences What evil hath this people done Whose Ox have they taken or what have they desired of you or what have they sought from you or wherein have they been a burthen to you Saving that they have reproved you for your iniquities and desired your Repentance Would you but now at last come to consider this and confess the truth in your consciences will not that tell you that they have suffered patiently all things that you have cruelly imposed upon them and have not they walked peaceably towards you humbly meekly justly among their Neighbours and have they not been meek innocent even as Lambs and as the sheep before the Sbearers and have they wrought offences towards any have they sought the overthrow of the Government or have they sought vengeance against their enemies or what injury have they done to any mans person or estate saving to Satan and his kingdom Have they not sought to reform and reclaim the ungodly from their wayes and have they not pittied and prayed for their enemies and have they not in all things walked in good conscience towards the Lord and towards all men Yea my friends in the day of the Lord when the witness in your consciences shall not be limitted but shall speak plainly and when the impartial Judge shall appear upon his Throne then shall you acknowledge these things Wherefore I say unto you receive the judgment of the Lord to purifie you otherwise the judgment shall destroy you and now come to be more wise that some of you may be as a brand pluckt out of the fire and be reserved from being consumed for the visitation of the Lord is near an end when his loving kindness will be shut from you and his long suffering

now be an offence not to put off the Hat or give respect to the Person of him that hath a gold Ring and fine Apparel Hath not all the earthly Lordship Tyranny and oppression sprung from this Ground by which creatures have been exalted and set up one above another trampling under foot and despising the poor And is it not easy to see that power and authority without contempt may be preserved the power honoured obeyed and submitted unto and the Person respected Hath not the great and heavy oppressions of the Law been long felt and cryed out against the long delayes in Courts the great Fees of Officers which causeth many to be excessively rich out of the Ruines of the Poor which hath brought an Odium upon the Law it it self for to the Poor the remedy is frequently worse then the desease and while people are free to feed this deceipt there is little hope to have it amended And how full of lyes deceipt pretences and needless circumstances are all your pleadings and proceedings to the burthen of many mens Consciences and ruine of their Estates and how vile and wic●●● are the greatest of Lawyers that will plead any thing for money and by their subtilties do most commonly hide cover the truth And when do the Judges reprove it And how treacherous and deceitful are the Solicitors and Attorneys that truth or honesty can scarce be found amongst them And how do those eat up the people as it were Bread and grow great and rich by raising and increasing suites troubles strife and debates amongst their Neighbours and we seeing these oppressions are made to bear our witness against them and cannot uphold them and our Testimony shall not be in vain And how is the power given to Justices and Judges to bind to the Peace and good behaviour being left to their discretion turned against the most peaceable and best behaved Persons amongst men meerly because they cannot bow to their wills and hold their tongues when the Lord God requires them to speak Do you commend Christ Jesus his Apostles and Saints who were sent to preach the Gospel and travelled from City to City from Nation to Nation from Countrey to Countrey that the ends of the Earth might hear the glad tidings of Salvation and do you commend those they called Puritans for going many miles to worship the Lord and do you now condemn those that practise the same thing would not your Law against Vagabonds have taken hold on Christ and his Ministers and hindred their work by it have many honest and good people suffered most shameful whippings and imprisonments who were travelling in their own Countrey about their outward and lawful occasions that were of considerable Estates and could not be counted Vagabonds and what use is made of this Law throughout the Nation you cannot but hear Are not these things like the sayings of those who said Had they lived in the dayes of the Prophets they would not have persecuted and put them to death and yet they Crucified Christ and so the cry at this day is against the Jews for their cruelty when themselves are found exercising the same things against his Saints and Members Long hath the Beast reigned who usurped power in these things and the false prophets who have over-spread the Earth the great Whore who have made all Nations drunk with their abhominations and the Wine of their fornications with whom the Kings of the Earth have committed Adultery whom Christ said should come and before the Apostles decease did come who went cut from the Apostles and put on their cloathing but inwardly were distroyers ravening Wolves which the whole World went after who turned against the Saints who kept to the Spirit the life which they went from and made War with the Saints till they overcame and their power reached over the whole Earth But now is the Life risen and is again made manifest which they went from which gives to see before the Apostacy was Now is the Lamb risen and rising to make War with the great Dragon the Beast and false Prophets and now shall the great Whore be taken and her flesh shall be burnt with fire and the Saints shall have the Vict●●● Therefore Let all Kings Princes Rulers Magi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be warned not to take part with the Beast nor to up●●●● 〈…〉 their power the false prophets who have long de●●●ved the Nations but in their place stand to keep the out 〈…〉 that none may offer violence and destroy another ●●ich 〈◊〉 been the way of the beast false prophets the 〈…〉 support of their kingdom but leave Christ Jesus in his Saints to manage the War whose Warfare is not carnal whose Weapons are not carnal yet are they mighty through God to the pulling down of the strong-holds and overturning the foundation of Satans kingdom and they shall soon see what is truth and what is errour for great is the truth and will prevail they shall not need to cry out for want of Ministers or that Christ Jesus is not able to send forth Labourers nor will those he sends forth trouble them for maintenance and here is the Magistrates true place to keep Peace amongst all men to punish him that doth evil and to encourage him that doth well to Rule the Kingdoms of the Earth in Righteousness that justice and equity may be exalted that way may be made for the Lord Jesus Christ who is coming to Reign and to take the Dominion to himself and we are Witnesses in our Measures of his coming and of the working of his mighty power by which he is able to subdue all things to himself and this is the Testimony unto which we are called and many thousands with us in the Unity of the same Spirit And Witnesses we stand against Priests Tithes Temples Swearing and all the carnal way of worship set up and upholden by outward Laws and powers which would limit and restrain the Spirit of the Lord which is grieved and daily cryes out against these abhominations Witnesses we stand against Parliaments Councels Judges Justices who make or execute Laws in their Wills over the Consciences of men or punish for Conscience sake and to such Laws Customes Courts or Arbitrary usurped Dominion we cannot yield our obedience Yet we do declare as it is testified in all Counties Cities Goals and Prisons to Judges Justices and others that as we preach Christ Jesus alone in the things of God to be our Law ●●ver so do we own him to be our King and own Magist●●●● in things Civil not resisting the evil but following his Example who was made perfect through suffering and for his Salvation we wait till he alone shall plead our Cause and therefore for Conscience sake we have joyfully born and do be●● so many and great sufferings since the day we were convinced of the Everlasting Truth These things we have declared not to upbraid you with the injustice of others

turned into fury and he will make you know that we are his people with whom you have thus dealt yea you shall suddenly know it the time is not long till he will crown his people in the sight of his enemies he will crown them with praise and with righteousness with honour and majesty and he will keep them in safety even when sorrow compasses you about his mercy and loving kindness shall extend towards them even when his wrath and judgements doth smite you and confound you O what shall I say unto you for the deep sence thereof remains upon my heart for when I consider how that in all ages the Lord did avenge his peoples cause when the time of their suffering was expired he brake the bonds of iniquity and set them free thus did he with his people Israel of old and many times it was his way with his people to bring them low by suffering and then to raise them up again in glory and he suffered their enemies for a season to glory over them that he might bring them down and thus he did in England in the case between the Bishops and their crew of persecutors and the poor people at that day called Puritans Did not he confound that persecuting crew and deliver his people And is not he the same to effect the same work at this very day Yea doubtless and much more will he do it in as much as the manifestation of truth is more clear then it was in their dayes and in as much as the Rulers and people of this Nation have rejected a more clear Testimony then either the Papists in Queen Maries dayes or the Bishops and Prelates in their dayes even so much the more will the Lord God execute his vengeance with more violence in a more manifest way and all shall know that it is he that doth it and he will set his people free for he hath regarded their suffering and he hath said it is enough for he hath tried them and found them faithful and all this hath been suffered to prove them and not to destroy them and like as he hath preserved them in patience and peace through it all even so will he give them hearts to walk answerably to their deliverance and as they have abounded in patience in their sufferings so shall they abound in praises everlasting in the day of their Freedom and the earth shall be glad and shall yield the increase and blessing the Heaven and the Earth shall rejoice and the heart of the Righteous shall leap for joy when the Lord hath broken the yoke of the oppressed and set his people free inwardly and outwardly and then shall they sing unto the Lord over all their enemies who shall be tormented and vexed in the Lords sore displeasure for their reward cometh and their recompence shall be even as their work and he will give unto them sorrow and anguish in stead of rejoycing But again when I considered the long suffering and patience and forbearance of the Lords innocent people under all their sufferings and when I looked at their innocency and at their Righteousness and Spirit of Holiness with which the Lord hath blessed them my heart was made glad in the consideration of this and the more was my joy the more that I beheld their innocency and the guiltlesness of their cause whereby the unjustness of their suffering did the more appear and withal when I looked and beheld their increase under all their sufferings and how that the Lord had turned all these things to their good and to the overthrow of all their enemies how that by that way wherein their enemies intended to destroy them from being a people even thereby did the Lord most wonderfully increase them to be a great people for through all have they grown in life and power in strength and in number and through it all have they been incouraged to follow the Lord with more zeal and boldness and in the consideration of this I did rejoyce with magnifying the Lord for ever that he had brought forth his praise even through the wickedness of the wicked and he had increased his people and exalted them through the cruelty of all their enemies and that through all opposition they were attained to a happy rest and through all the tempests of great trials they were arrived into the harbour of renown and great glory and when I considered this how that the Lord had given them dominion and brought their life to reign over all their enemies these things were a joy unto me and looking back into ages seeing there was nothing nor any people for generations that had grown and risen through all opposition like unto these wherefore it is a sign and a Testimony that we are the Lords and that these things are of him and from him and by him alone that he might be praised for ever Again when I do consider how that the Lord hath raised this people even out of the dust and them that were not a people are become a people and the Lord hath provoked Nations by them that were not a people within these few years and the Lord hath carried on this work amongst his people not by any thing of man nor by the arm of flesh but in pure innocency and simplicity hath it been accomplished not by the wisdom of this World nor by men in places of honour and of power in the Nations for all that has been wanting to them and what they are it is through the opposition of all this for they have had none of the great men of the Earth on their side to defend them and establish them but all hath been against them and even oppression and tyranny executed upon them rather then any approbation or justification from men in outward authority so that truly it may be said that there hath been nothing of man in this work but all of the Lord by his own power and in a contrary way to all the false sects and false churches hath the beginning and carrying on of these things been for we know that all the false sects in this Nation hath risen been established through the countenance of men in place and power and upon man and the wisdom of this World and authority of the powers of the earth hath the rise and fall of all false churches depended and as the powers of the earth hath sided with them so have they been set up and at the displeasure of authority have been cast down But as for this people they are raised of the Lord and established by him even contrary to all men and they have given their power only to God and they cannot give their power to any mortal men to stand or fall by any outward authority and to that they cannot seek but to the Lord alone who heareth their cry and will avenge their cause Wherefore let all the persecutors bow before the Lord and let all the Saints