character of the Beast viz. 666. and several Queries in all the points I herein handle and Cases to be resolv'd which I may say some scores of Saints sent or brought unto me whereby I saw an evident call to give an account of those Cases and Resolves in this Treatise which others have experienced and put their Probatum est for the publike benefit of other Patients But if these Physical ingredients work well they must be content to be sick of the world and of all sublunary affairs as they are and to be redeem'd fully from the earth for the service of the Lamb who would be well A good Conscience and a good Cause are like two bladders under the arm-holes which keep the poor heart from sinking and the head above water do what men or devils can as we in prison can tell by experience while Rich-men poormen in the midst of their Honours or ill-gotten Greatness will finde at last for all their Arts Equivocations and Policie to put off their Consciences with That they have but stuffed a pitcher in stead of a pillow with feathers to lie down upon And indeed a Court-conscience as things are now is worse then a common Goal as the Apostates of the times will finde at the General Assizes for thither the Lord chief Justice of all the world sends his Malefactors he makes his Warrants to have them bound with the cords of their own sins and ere long O lamentable they shall lie in Little-Ease without Bayl or Mainprise deprived of the present Light and laid as it were upon the Rack in examination for their Apostacie Perjury Hypocrisie Persecution Self-seeking c. till all their Villainy come out O it will be a terrible time to them and this I look for to light upon them whom the Law must and will judge Now because many poor souls whose consciences like candle-snuffs in the socket flame up now and then and then leave them in the dark again so that although by such a light a man may see his book yet he cannot see how to read it or he may know where it is but not what it is so he may see his pen and ink but not see how to write with it so a woman may see her needle and work but cannot thred her needle or see to work by such a light So I say are some mens consciences sometimes in a little light and then in the dark again they can see the commands but not their duty they can see Religion but not the work of the generation they can hear of the downfal of Babylon and of the Beast's whole Government but not bear it at home or act in the ruine of it in the general they can close with the Truth and present Testimony but are not able to come to particulars Such as these among others have brought me their Cases of conscience to whom I must minister my light in the ensuing Treatise having a sufficient Call whatever it should cost me in my place as a Minister of the Gospel to answer All Cases of conscience that I may be made manifest as the Apostle says in the consciences of all 2 Cor. 11.5 My Lord and Master received all that came unto him so did the Apostle of the Gentiles and all the faithful Ministers all along yea if the answer to such Cases or Queries were ever so high against the Powers or Laws of Men then uppermost as Luther did in that grand Case of Conscience sent him by the people of God at Miltenberg when they were forbidden by the Powers upon pain of death to appear publikely about matters of Faith But so far for the fifth Cause or Call 6. The Doubts which are occasion'd by contradiction of Doctrine in our absence 6. The frequent News brought us of that unsteadiness darkness and indeed malignity and contradiction of doctrine which is delivered at London tending to perplex unsettle grieve and stagger many precious souls whose eyes and hearts are upon the present Truths Work and Testimony with us in Prison for the Kingdom of Christ viz. the little Stone or striking part of that Kingdom in the first place sometimes asserting there is no such Kingdom sometimes that the Stone began to strike at or before the Incarnation of Christ sometimes that the Witnesses were slain long since in the Martyrs that were burnt beheaded or the like sometimes that they are not yet slain affirming the Place to be in other Dominions in Germany or France Savoy or Rome or some other Popish Dominion and not in England and making the two Witnesses to be two persons or else the suffering Saints together who are the remnant of the Womans seed and not the Magistracie and Ministery of the Witness some pretending the time of the slaying and the end of the 42 m. to be afar off and wishing the Prisoners were not under a Delusion in looking for Christ and his Kingdom and coming too soon sometimes telling them that the mark of the Beast is not yet taken and that none of the Vials are yet poured out and the like Whereby abundance of precious hearts have told me they are so confounded that they know not what to say and can see no light in their Doctrine which makes them take so long journeys to the Prison for information and would more and oftener could they have admittance for that some of our brethren in stead of snuffing the Candle put it quite out and so leave our wonted hearers in the dark especially since the death of Mr. Tillinghast that Lanthorn of light that choice Saint who dying in the Testimony became a Martyr to the Truth and Cause we are in prison for as if he had died on the Scaffold during whose life in so short a space so much Light was ministred as was marvelous in London he being of a more winning humble sweet attracting and meek temper which was very needful for that season according to the Italian Proverb Hard without Soft the Building is naught for there must be soft Mortar well tread an humble spirit well mortified to hard stone or brick well laid or as well as a zealous resolute spirit well grounded i. e. upon sound knowledge to make up the Bulding that must stand But I say since the gathering in of that ripe and rare first-fruit or setting of that Morning-star that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for he was full of light yea that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for he was a light whiles it was yet dark they are left in the more dark for the present but it being a Morning-Matutine darkness it does argue to me the Sun is next to arise or the enunciation of such light and beams at first as shall enlighten the whole Land Rev. 18.1 But now because we are bid Isai 35.3 4. to strengthen the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees and to say to them that are of a fearful heart Be strong fear not c. and because the
forth the CORNER out of HIM the Nail out of HIM the Battle-bow and they shal be as mighty men which tread down their enemies as mire in the streets in the battle and they shal fight because the Kord is with them Zach 10.5 Wherefore I be sure ye begin-your Muster or to mount your horses Zach 1.8 upon a Mount Sion ground or in a New-Covenant principle that is purely for or rather with Christ and his Kingdom and for no earthly Persons things or Interests of Men whatsoever such a War was never yet in the four Monarchieâ—s And 2. Be sure that you be fully seperate from the Beasts dominion in all things and in every ministration as wel civil and Military as Ecclesiastick for the BLESSING shal be upon the head of him that is SEPERATED from his brethren Deut 33.16 and it is an Ordinance yea obedience to an indispensable command Rev 18.4 Jer 50.28 The voice of them that FLEE and ESCAPE out of the Land of Babylon to DECLAE IN SYON the vengeance of the Lord our God the vengeance of his Temple for such only are to come out of the Tabernacle of the Testimony and to pour out the Viols in pure linnen and not at all in defiled Garments Rev 15. But furthermore 3. Be sure you loose not the least opportunity or nick of time put into your hands to do the Work when the END comes And 4. Be sure you set not upon it with your own spirits nor pour out in it your own wrath or revenge but Gods only and upon such subjects too as the VVord reveals Yea 5 Lastly Be sure that you in your actings executings and sufferings be upon no other bottom being or foundation but the Lord Jesus 1 Cor. 3.11 whereon if you overcome you are sure to walk with him in VVhite Rev 3.4 Rev 7.9 14. amongst his WORTHIES yea and be as pillars in the Temple Rev 3.12 Rulers over the Nations Rev 2.26 27. and Heirs of the New Jerusalem glory the tree of Life the new name and the Throne Rev 2 7 17 and 3.12 21. Therefore up O ye Saints to take the Kingdom Dan. 7 â—8 and to possess it for ever for the GENTILES Christiani qui gentiliter vivunt have posses'd the outward Court this 42 moneths but We singers have the inner Court Ezek 40.44 and 't is now time to arise yea high time to deliver thy self O Syon Isai 52.1 2. and shake off thy dust to lay wast the land of Nimrod with the Sword Mica 5.6 7. And the Remnant of Jacob the VVorm shal be in the midst of many people as a DEW from the Lord as the showers upon the grass that TARRIETH not for MAN yea among the GENTILES as a Lion who if he go through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces and none can deliver Numb 23.24 the Holy City is the holy Camp in the outward Court of the Tabernacle that is to arise with the Two VVitnesses and root the Beast that trod it under foot Therefore for the Lords sake Sirs be valiant like Davids worthies yea King Sclomons men Cant 3 7 8. Who all hold swords being expert in VVar. It is said of Sadeel that with Gener a Citizen he fought so furiously for the then cause of God that he himself put a thousand Spaniards to flight and shal we fear Non de vita sed de scuto solliciti estoti regard not your lives for the work of Christ when called to it It is said that Sceva at the siege of Dyrrachium so long alone resisted Pompeys Army that he had two hundred twenty darts sticking in his shield and lost one of his eyes and yet gave not over til Caesar came into his Rescue is it possible my Brethren that this could be for the carnal interest of a man in a fourth Kingdom spirit and shal not as noble a spirit and as high a love be found in a Fifth Kingdom man for the most excellent cause anâ— King that ever was on earth viz Jesus Christ and him onely Blessed Lord when wilt thou raise us up with thy spirit of life or how long shal all lye dead O what cowards are we now to run into holes and corners for fear of sufferings surely Lord Jesus had al thy Disciples dealt thus with thee in their Generations there would have been but few Martyrs or followers of the Lamb O I blush for shame when I behold them that are gone before with these that now follow IGNATIVS said he had rather be a Martir then a Monarch but now men had rather be Monsters then Martirs when the Dragon Emperors gave Orders to put al to death that would confess themselves christians they came in of themselves by whole flocks confessing themselves christians and defying the Heathens as in Arrius Antoninus's dayes they ran in voluntarily to dye and to be tormented as did Romanus Gerdius Menas and a many others in Dioclesians dayes but ah where be they that run in flocks to White Hal now saying we are Fift Monarchy men or for the Kingdom of Christ and wil live and dye with our brethren together see 1 John 3.16 Hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us and we ought to LAY DOWN our lives sor the BRETHREN But ah how iniquity abounds and the love of many waxeth cold as Gui de Brez Martir in Flanders so Mr Burroughs tels us of the Woman we heard of before who ran for Martirdom with the Saints for fear she should loose it and do we sit stil for fear of sufferings which were such Jocularia ludicra as Vincentius called them to the Saints in primitive times Rejoyce and leap for joy as the word is to suffer for Christ or be found doing for him when he comes Now I beseech the Lord awaken you if you be of that race and rouze you up and set you all awork as upon life and death with all speed to overceme the beast and his followers with as lively a spirit as high a zeal and readiness to dye in the service of Christ and this his most comprehensive Cause at this day as they were in theirs through the are greatest strife and so to overcome with the Word of the Testimonie and blood of the Lamb not loving your lives Rev 12.11 Bate me nothing of my sufferings saies Gordius to the Tormentors for it is to my loss then Majora certamina majora sequuntur praemia VVherefore because I must break off with these few words to you as to OVERCOMMERS for so I trust you are or wil be in CHRIST Jesus and close Followers of he Lamb I shal leave you with that blessed man Mr Hollands Legacy bequeathed to his Friends at his death against Popery Commendo vos dilectioni Dei odio Papatus c. So against this Apostate-Generation I commend you my Brethren to the dearest lovo of God and to the deadtiest hatred of these Hipocrites and Apostates AMEN for Heb 10
further of his Nimrodian tyranny and trading in this Dominion since the late Apostacy That which I have seen and felt of his fury at Lambeth for sa many months among Monsters rather than men so greedy of my blood I omit here as being mentioned in my Preface to Prison-born but that men if they will may see what an unreasonable beastlike Monster this is that rends tears and devours us so I have added this History of some passages since Lambeth which I have suffered for the sake of my deare Master Jesus Christ in this his Cause all which put together will clear it I think to any capacity reason honesty or modest of man that it is a persecution and no other which we groan under in these Coals and Exiles having no other law sentence judgement or execution but the barbarous Sword over us or Thief-law For as Tacitus said non utendum est imperio ubi legibus uti possit such power is not to be used where good laws have any great force And that men may see how dangerous yea deadly this Relapse is it spares the evill and malignant humours to fall upon the Vitals Fifth-kingdommen and animals upright Common-wealths-men in this Nation as the Papists that would imprison for eating an Egg qui autem totam dominicam diem vacat temulentiae scortis al ae audit bellut homo as Erasmus said whiles he is a brave fellow amongst them that will spend the Lords-dayes in drinking and drabbing whoring and roguing and at this day we see it especially in Carisbrook that if a man draw but near on the Lords dayes or listen to hear us pray c. he is presently sent for dealt with and threatned if not driven out of the Castle and charge given that not any one do show a kind look or word to me upon pain of casting out But they may sit the Lords dayes with the doores I would not say Whores open for all to see them in the Ale-house drinkings swilling drabbing and smoaking tobacco as they do excessively yet none dare reprove them for it Mr. S. the Chaplain being turned out for reproving chiefly I hear and my self beaten buffitted and abused for an accasional reproving of blasphemie Blessed be my God who hath given me a back and breast to bear it Yea who sees not that men of very vain and corrupt conversations flagitious and infamous for notorious sins and crimes are taken into favour yea hoised up into high-places and at least allowed to have their liberty Whiles such as unfainedly fear the Lord and dare not willingly commit any sin but make a most tender conscience of all their wayes are very wickedly and irrationally imprisoned exiled hardly handled and almost hindred to breath in the ayre Now I do declare it as before the most righteous and holy judge of heaven and earth should any one ask me why I have been that is as some say upon the civill account so long in prison hard bonds and banishment year after year which long imprisonment the Martyrs accounted worse then death I must acknowledge an absolute ignorance in my own Conscience before God Angels and Men let some Time servers say what they please for themselves without this be it that I cannot in Conscience turn with the Dog to the Vomit and in plain English lye dissemble for swear and play the Traitor to Christ the Hypocrite to God and the Knave with men as others have done but thanks be to God for it for this is a Cordial to us that wheras by a just Law others are or ought to be imprison'd for iniquity we are imprison'd banish'd against all law but the arbitrary lawless sword because we cannot we will not we dare not though we die for 't fall in with iniquity But so be it O Lord thou Lord of Righteousness for as one saâ—es has epulas semper desideravi I will not deny but my infirmities been very many which I think I could weep over the feet of any that shall reprove me for them and indeed my temptations here in close bonds in banishment would be more were it not in an inclosed garden to me in Christ being as a man dead and out of mind but what I have done worthy of imprisonment and banishment them excepted I know not This I can say from my soule that I think as I preached so I sought nothing but Christ and his Kingdome and as to the World I have formerly said it with Sohinus to D. Casimire that I am boâ—n rather for labours than for honours and so I told O. C. in my Epist of Ch. Discipline before these times p. 10. I do professe it from my heart the greatest temptations I fear are falling into honour place preferment esteem or estate to much for me being best when poorest highest when lowest most when least and when I have nothing as possessing all things 2 Cor. 6.10 Yea if as Jerome saies that Woman is proved chaste that hath liberty and opportunities to sin and yet will not I may say it without oftentation as Heb. 11.15 16. that we might have had our opportunities to have returned to them had we not sought a far better Country and I think I may say too somewhat like Thomas Aquin. when preferment was offered him Chrysostomi in Matthaeum Commentarium mallem For I would say I had rather have one chapter I could name in the Revelation then the greatest relation I could name to any crown in Christendome so that these things I thank the Lord I think I am above in him who hath said as Jo. 16.33 Be of good cheer I have overcome the world But it may be my reproving the rank sins of these rude times have provoked the rough hands of Esau upon me and Nimrod to hunt me but if so it is no new suffering for such a Cause if we ask the Prophets and Apostles as wâ—ll as our Saviour and such have the two Witnesses been in all ages Zuinglius preached against the sins of the times and the mercenary pensions of them that served the Princes of the earth in my judgment more clearly then Luther and so did Bucer very freely but the last were never so hardly handled as we are for it besides Corolestadius went further for he reproved the very constitutions of their Government and the very colour which Luther had to oppose him was about Civill Laws saying he would have all Magistrates to rule by the Judicials of Moses as these men say of us vide Speech to Parl. Sept. 4 16. p. 16. so that it is no new Doctrine though they so menstrously misreport of us and our principles Canutus King of England in those thick times of Popery did confesse to all his Lords about him no mortal worthy the name of a King save he to whose back heaven earth and Sea by his laws eternall are obedient Hen. Huntington and shall we in these dayes after such solemn engagements for a Theocracy as I
high against me threatning my removal and as his Warrant intimates restless and unquiet till he had done somewhat or other against me and all that he can speak to his Masters at White-hall being sure to be taken for granted till which he could not be quiet as he saies seeming so much offended too for that his Orders were not executed as before to tear away the Bed when the child was dying and now also when the other weak Child was dying which wanted Romane ingenuity and reason after I had made my complaints known to my Heavenly Father I put Pen to Paper and wrote him these ensuing lines Couzen DENDY I have received several Messages from you which have been very harsh unexpected and indeed I think undeserv'd I had wrote unto you long before had not my Wife desired to come to you as she did late last night and had done it long before had not my Children been so ill one of whom is dead and another very weak and having but two left alive I did hope for more Mercy I beseech you Couzen be not too ready to receive false and unworthy reports which some I perceive now of malice invent and vent against me The only cause as I know of is I cannot I dare not approve or joyn with the Drinking Swearing Cursing Roaring and Ranting day and night here in Prison which I know you your self would be ashamed of Preaching Praying and reproving of Sin being the ground of all that malice which the Devil forgeth so many lies upon against me As for Civility it is sufficiently known whether I am so or no yea let mine Adversaries judge For I have not till last night Harding gave me your two Notes so much as spoke to him or any of them I think this six weeks nor been below the Stairs this three weeks purposely to avoid tâ—em and their malice I told Harding I have but the same Room for my Family that are here which Mr. Brown the Prisoner for Plotting had before me and if they please to let me I would have the use of my own Goods and Beds but I never refused to pay for them as your Letter mentions Sir I could wish I were not so exploded but that I might have liberty once in my dayes to speak with you face to face or else to let me hear all Informations against me that I might answer to their Les which I am sure are very many and God will one day judge But if they be received as men infallible and none be heard but them none believed but them none worthy of Favor but them I can Appeal to the Righteous Judge of Heaven and Earth who I am sure will Hear and none can hinder It is a comfort to a Sea-man in a Storm that he hath a Haven to put in at and I bless my God I have This is a time for me and mine to be trampled upon and abused but the Lord who Bottles up our Tears will hear our Sighs and Groans at last Therefore good Couzen as Christians that wait for one Redemption let us walk by Rule And put not thine hand with the wicked saith the Lord to an unrighteous Witness Exod. 23. Time was you had I believe other manner of Thoughts of me Yet if nothing will do I will rest quietly and patiently in the Dispensation of God for his Rod and his Staff do both comfort me and there is no sending me from him who will anoint my head with fresh Oyl Sure I am of this that the Comforter doth and shall abide with me and therefore I fear not what Flesh can do unto me With our real and true respects to my Couzen your Wife and All our Friends with you I wish you all the same Glory and Happiness at the Day of Christ's Appearance as my own Soul which I await for These troubles of ours being bâ—â—â—he praeludia triumphi in these blessed Chains fit only for Christs Nobility for our Royal Master the Lord Jesus with whom I hope to come or to meet in the clouds and to sit with him on the Throne I am Your unfeignedly loving though afflicted and oppressed Kinsman Jo. Rogers Lamb i th' Prison viz. Christ in this Mount with me Octob. 21. Postscript Here Harding denies that ever I or any of us Domineer'd or said any thing of the Prisoners about other rooms or Lodgings Dear Couzen there be many untruths as ever were spoken I hear you have received of me by some or other now all I desire is That they may but appear Truths or as they are or else that I be not so abused by them as I am You remember Christ's Golden Rule As you would have others do to you so c. Mr. Mesey also denies that ever he told you I said Mr. Feak paid nothing I confess I wrote brokenly my minde being so distracted but not so as might minister any just occasion to use me and my poor Family as they did afterward insulting over us and adding afflictions to our bonds daily but we leave that to the Lord the righteous Judge Many Tales the Under-Goaler and Keepers carried they would deny again and sometimes say as if their Master made them being themselves asham'd to own them And when any untruths were found and proved to their faces their only evasion was this That they had Orders to bring to White-hall whatever they heard any say of me and they were not to regard whether it were true or false but saith Harding I must tell what I hear to Mesey and saith old Mesey If Harding tells me thus I must tell it whether it be true or no to the Sergeant and I am here for the same purpose So that he sometimes went twice or thrice a day to White-hall to carry Tales which were received forthwith whereby Truth so anticipated could have no entrance nor entertainment nor would Serg. Dendy so much as put them to the proof or see me speak â—o me or come at me when he came to see the Prisoners of Complement the Cavaleers A while after this Letter which I heard nothing of old Mesey came again for Money who had 5 l. of us being all that we could then get him which bought our quiet for a few dayes but then finding us unable to lay down the whole price for it as other Prisoners perhaps did we lost the Mansion And besides we bought our Provision and had our Drink at the best hand from abroad which made our Goalers upper and under more enemies to us than before it seems for the gain which Harding had and which it is said he paies out of every Barrel of Beer to his Master is great from Prisoners putting off what is bad at the highest and unreasonable rates so that now nothing but evaporating wrath Cursing and Swearing to be reveng'd we heard of setting all the wicked Prisoners upon us who put their wits upon the tenter-hooks to that purpose inventing and coyning new wayes
seeing I am out at the King's the Lord Christ's charges and not at mine own 1 Cor. 9.7 For who goeth to warfare at his own charges Praefat. in 3 Serm. 4 Tom. Hieron p. 408. I have been a little tedious which I confess with Erasmus is my fault as well as others multi mei similes hoc morbo laborant ut cum scribere nesciant tamen a scribendo temperare non possint and this is a disease then they are apt to fall into that think they shall never write more to write much as once for all especially since this TREATISE will be so large and the matter of it so lively and important and seeing the opposition of our Persecutors and of those that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are Cromwell fied have necessitated so much for an INTRODUCTION Now in the name of JEHOVAH-TSADEK our JEHOVAH-JIREH who will be seen in the Mount am I ready to present and publish these Apocaliptick Accounts Documents and Prophesies to all the True yet few NATHANIELS of our Times that wait with a high Faith and holy Patience in all wel-doing and wel-suffering for the approaching Day of Christ and his Kingdom work especially to the spiritually enlightned Churches and Saints those of them that are left and kept faithfull Pastors and others of the same hope with us separate from Babylon whole Babylon as well Civill Military as Ecclesiastick and so growing up together into ONE a one Body a Temple-state or the Tabernacle open'd in heaven where the Viols or Vengeance of the Lord of the Lamb of the Martyrs of his Saints and of his Temple must Issue out shortly and upon whom the Day of the Lord is come I see from Mount Pisgah it is begun yea already begun as 1 Pet. 4.17 by purging sifting trying separating discovering quickning afflicting and refining I say to those DEAR ONES or Jewels of the Lord and the Lamb with all the Love Life and Light which I received from above with the abnegation of all that I am from below and so with the grace and humility of both I most heartily offer a few yeers pains search and teachings from the Holy one unto them and lay my judgement at their feet in these weighty matters of Christ if I may but get them published in all the blessed properties principles and prophecies of the Kingdom to be revealed on earth in these last daies for which we now contend and trust shall unto the END with Triumph and Rejoycing Even so Amen Rouz up O Remnant setch a shout O Saints O Churches sing For such a Light is breaking out Will make your ears to ring O Glorious Ray ah Blessed Day Which the Anointing sheweth For thus the Saint in Covenant Shall have the Present Truth From a Friend to a Friend THe BOOKS mentioned by the Author of those publique Prophecies out of Daniel Revelation Prophets and Apostles of old and New Test the fifth Kingdom prepared in Pathmos or in Prison and Exile Teavels among â—is sweetest visits and visions of God and in the still voice are very strangely it seems miscarried without Time and Providence do recover them and so discover him or them that had a hand in hindring or stifling of them Only the Introductory part to the first Treatise or Prison-born Morning-beams are preserved and gotten together as the occasion of his falling upon so large a Systeme so some part of his suffâ—rings at Lambeth untill Winsor which therefore we have added unto his Heart-appeale having been hardly kept and collected that the view of present persecution mâ—y be the more clear and this History the more complent though to my knowledge many things are omitted passages left out fleeced and sheered round as they lifted that had them to do before we could bring it to this passe in publique besides much more which in time may be added if need be as some of us hear of severall reasonings between him and O. P. him and Souldiers him and Ministers him and many Adversaries upon the matters of our faith in the things of Christ this his betrayed cause and Kingdom-work besides what sufferings have been added since these Papers came from him to this CHAINE But in the mean time it may appear by this what the servants of the Lord do pass through at this Day by these powers of the Beast such fore trials remarkable passages and experiences of Persecution as may make them that have said it is no Persecution now very Mutes for very shame and their eares tingle to hear of such a height of tyranny profaneness and impiety among them as may awaken our Friends and favourers of Sion to their Work and Watch and as may revive once more amongst us the blessed memory of the yet bleeding MARTYRS and the Cloud of Witnesses whose examples are before as in this Cause that we also may be made FAITHFUL unto death therein His cup of Affliction hath been deep for this Day and Nation but yet sweet and if so be the report of ONES suffering do sound so what would the WHOLE do of all the suffering ones this day in England for the good Cause a good Christ a good Conscience but another a new Book of Martyrs a fair Garden full of purple Roses and pure Lillies which the Beloved is gone down to gather Cant. 6.2 But the Cain-like cruelty keeps off the report at present till the blood of Abel be heard out of the earth I mean them of whom the World is not worthy that have witnessed with such boldness to the Kingdom Work Cause and Principles of Righteousness Now upon these Papers at last produced and extraordinarily preserved out of the Catch-pole Clutches can we now be thankeful to our heavenly Lord and Father for them and for that some are yet kept constant and faithful through Christ in sufferings for to you it is given saies the Apostle every one in his place as he is called to contest against this the last Beast Rev. 13. Some tried some tempted some plundered some prisoned some barbarously used and set upon by the enemy some hurt and some maimed and many immur'd and injur'd yet others ready to succeed them and to bring up what is behind the Lord assisting supporting and sweetning all unto them Yea methinks the most High saies to each one of those Sufferers Well done thou good and faithful Servant and as Mat. 24.46 Blessed is the Servant who when his Lord cometh he shall find so doing for now I have proved thee I have tried thee I have fifted and shifted thee now I know that thou lovest me and fearest God! Wherefore I have sworn by my self that in blessing I will blesse thee and in multiplying I will multiply thee c. And mine oaths are not like Mens It may be these sufferings may work upon some that hear them they have on some that saw them yea even amongst the Souldiers for we hear that one of them formerly busie is now wounded and touched in
as Acts 21.36 and John 19.15 Away with him away with him Ah said I So did the Souldiers deal with my Lord Jesus and the servant is not greater than his Lord. But O thou Hypocrite doest thou professe the Word or read it and yet contrary to the word of God Law or Reason biâ—st thy men to abuse mee thus without any cause the Lord will judge the for thy Hypocrisie and contempt doth not the Word say to Souldiers do violence to no man Luke 3.14 c. but this renewed their rage and roughnesse and then this Serjeant King as if he had been at Cuffs for his life fell on a fresh with his fists doubled his blows about my head neck and shoulders so unreasonably that some of their Creatures cryed to him hold your hand stay your hands hold your hands but I said Ah! Lord my God look thou downe but do you strike on Sirs strike strike strike for my Lord Jesus Christ takes these blows for his sake well at my hands though I am sure not at yours O it is sweet to be buffeted for Christ c. But as they had often done before they mocked at Jesus pish Christ saies the Captain Haddyway what talk you of Christ O said I that you would talke of him and walk in him more too yea and yet I will talk of him who is my most sweet Jesus and this is Christianity thus to suffer for him But they some hawling some thumping and some beating had gotten mee up a wrong pair of stairs and when they knew that they never staid to let mee come down nor offer'd it but some at my back thrusting some at each side and S. King at my hands pull'd me out at length with the Corporall all at once pulled mee down at one pluck the stairs as if they had rent mine arm from my shoulders but falling upon other Souldiers by the gracious providence of my most dear Father I was preserved my poor wife beeing by and the maid schreching and crying and then they hawled mee almost spent out of breath the other pair of stairs and at the doore of the room wherein they with such cruelty carri'd me where I now am They renewd their violence with such redoubl'd strength atrocity that several of them laying hold on mee some at my back some on shoulders and some at sides cast mee headlong who not knowing their design could not prevent it with such an united force fiercenesse fury and wrath as if they meant no longer to dally but dash mee in pieces so that the least they could have conceived thereon was to have broken my bones or put them out of joint imitating those Savage Spirits filled with wrath which carried my most blessed Saviour to the brow of the hill Luke 4.28 29. That they might cast him down headlong but the same God that delivered him delivered also me a poore wretch not worthy to be named much lesse honoured thus and that by a very marvellous appearance for in the fall my head and face were preserved from the battery of the ground by lighting upon the armes and shoulders of the maid and one of my children the blow of which threw both them also to the ground but my face was so-preserved though my body bruised with the fall which fall I perceived rejoyced the bloody spectators at their hearts and if otherwise it was I think that I was not quiet killed with the fall as Tully saies Quia totum telum in corpore non recepisset to whom I turned with these words passing thorough tears unto them Well Sirs now you have done thus O that I could entreat you but to search into the Scriptures and see if you finde any warrant there for this practise if you do then the Lord give you the blessing of it but it not then the most righteous God convince you of it or judge you for it and this was all I said to them knowing they were heardened and at these few wordes and tears they fell a scoffing and there left mee where I now am at the writing of this with very great consolation and joy thorough believing for as much as these verbera were ubera full duggs for my soule to suck out of And 1. Methinks I now may say I begin to be the Minister of Christ who is indeed a Theologus Crucis and the Servant of Christ Jesus and companion with Christ in the world as Ignatins when he came to the Wilde Beasts to be devoured his bones broken his blood sucked and his whole body crushed with them Now saies he now I begin to be a Christian It is nothing to be accounted and go for currant Christians as all are almost in England with ease pleasure delights estates and worldly enjoyments so to become Ministers of Christ with out the Crosse or Tryalls but for all that they will not stand for such before the Lord who fall not in with the Crosse of Christ in the Generation-suffering for the witnesse of Jesus your dainty mincing Professors who are afraid of sufferings at this day shall be shut out in that day when the Bridegroom comes for Christianus is Crucianus and Lucianus saith Luther Obj. But we live not under such Persecutors as the former Saints did who were headed hanged burned fleaed braten broken on racks tossed on Bulls horns rent and torne of Wild-Beasts broyled on Gridyrons starved stoned c. Answ 1. No! if you did I do wonder where we should finde a Christian then or them that would come running to the tortures as those Martyrs wearying the Tyrants with their faith courage and constancy to their teeth as they did when indeed ye are afraid of and faint at a little plundering prisonment banishment soft beatings and easy deaths for the Testimony of our dear Jesus who now suffers 2. Yet we have such persecutors of Christ and his cause at this day as would not spare us were we as high as resolute and of as noble a spirit for Christ as the former Martyrs who had not learned the State-policy of Professors now adays to spare themselves and comply a little and not to run themselves into sufferings for so they call it but they rather can to them accounting it their glory challenged and provoked in a manner the Tyrants Now it is not so much because our present Nimrods and Oppressors are better than the former Tyrants as because we poore low Spirited Christians and white liverd milgsops are worser and indeed a shame to the Saints and Martyrs of former dayes that we suffer so little for Christ our Lord Ah a las we love indulge ease and pamper the flesh more than the former Saints ever did or durst 3. To answer this objection with Mr. Burroughs out of Salvian I must say to them then the lesse they have to show of passive obedience the more they are to show of active plus ei fides devotio nostra debet quia minora a
one bed and if nothing else would move them my Wives present illness and sickness should importune a littâ—e a little compassion of them if they were men but they would not hear in they went tore al the things off the bed and carried away to the very bolster and pillow where they now lye in the aforesaid Lieutenants chamber And I was answered that in no prisons were Fellons or Murtherers allowed a bed to lye on ranking us with them yea they had taken away the very sheets My poor Wife was this while ready to faint very il and falling into her fits again through frights which for present vvere prevented by meanes my fellow prisoner also using a I endeavours to comfort her but afterwards she fel il again as she used to be before this last cruelty renewing her sickness so as al her flesh would fal a trembling her whole body be as in an agony but especially her head which doth swel and the humors settle in her face c. so that for want of the meanes here and because they seem resolved to give no rest as we think until they have murthered her or been her death she must now be forced to leave me in their clutches and if the Lord make her able to get to London for the preservation of her life which the Lord in mercy grant me Amen! But I shal abruptly break off here by reason my poor weak Wife is now leaving me and creeping out of this Castle-Goal yet Rehoboth where is room for me and my soul is left at a fresh spring O blessed be my God! but I must confess it is grievous to the flesh to be left in the hands of such as have threatned and seem to thirst for my blood as greedily as the Dogg for the sheeps but yet by Gods grace they shal leap above ground for it and not get it by gaping that I think Psal 37.32 33 34. The wicked WATCHETH the Righteeous and seeketh to slay him But the Lord wil not leave him in his hand WAITON THE LORD and keep his WAY and he shal exalt thee to inherit the Land this is a sure Word and in season here where I hope to wait and wait in hope that wil never make me ashamed notwithstanding the violence done to my flesh the afflictions of my body and relations and the danger of death in this Dungeon-like-hole which I hope in Christ we dare sometimes look ful-face upon and meet though many times I must needs say with Bishop Ridley Martyr I think I could creep into a mouse-hole and that is when through these late out-ragious exercises I have fits of sudden fear and am so subject to frightings But O pray pray pray for us incessantly with Faith Al ye that shal hear these tidings that he may alwaies stand by us who stood by Paul against the beasts of Ephesus and before Nero not knowing which way our most dear Deliverer wil come whether by life or death to free us from fierce and unreasonable creatures though for my own part I rather expect the latter in this place ere long desiring to be found faithful unto Death in this most glorious Cause of Christ Jesus my Lord King and Master nor do I think if I dye that you wil hear the perioding passages of their Tyranny or this Tragedy upon my body or that I shal write more to get it out my papers lying hid under-ground where I fear they wil rot but the Lord wil raise up the truth from the dead I do know assuredly By these things you may learn thus much more 1 That the persecution is at principles of truth let them say what they wil for they sal upon us for Christ the Words and Spirits and Saints sake we see nor can they so much as pretend a danger to their Castle as they had formerly done by a few feeble Women to stand in the High-way and not so much as in the out-works of the Castle but meer malice to the word of truth 2. That they would not end with out persons or lives if they had them but what they do unto us they would fain be doing to al the Saints and Churches who wait or call for the Kingdome of Christ and so they have said that they could have our Arms up to the elboes in their bloudâ— as appears by their fowl falling upon the Messengers of the Churches with blows without any occasion glving them but standing stil and hearing me so that therein they also fel upon them that sent them so also upon their dragging the poor lame MAID about the yard 3. That this hindring the Word with sword-violence is a high robbery to poor Souls in a scripture-sence yea and to God whom they openly scoff and mock at to hear him named Mal 3.8 Joh. 10.8 and God wil deal with them accordingly yea were Dr. Taylor now alive and going to be burnt for this cause he would burst out with his words in Fox vol p 179. against these Brtites and much more in these dayes of Apostacy ah horsen Theeves whoresen Theeves rob God of his honour rob God of his honour for as Mat 23.13 Wo to them for they neither go in themselves nor suffer them that are entring but blessed be the Lord for that promise in Isai 18.7 The PRESENT shal be brought to the Lord of a people scattered and PEELED with ch 42.22 This is the people robbed and spoiled they are all of them suared in holes and hid in prison-houses 4. This swordsilencing of the Ministers of Christ is a far more cruel and cutting way of silencing then the Bishops High-Commission-Courts or the Star-chamber Amos 5.13 Theresore is it the prudent shal keep silence in that time for it is an evil time not that the Lord approves the practise but reproves their prudence 5. The Sword-preaching or such preaching as the Sword only allows is the worlds the Devils and Antichrists 1 Joh 4.5 and such a way of converting as the Turks use and the Saracens and so the Spaniards have it in the Indies under pain of confiscation of Lands liberties life c. to acknowledg God and the Spanish King of whom the Indians had never heard So is the Sword-preaching in these dayes in this Isle as Bul confessed to keep them in subjection that is in slavery to his Lord Protector whom they never saw but to preach up the Lord Protector of Heaven and Earth or the Lord Jesus Christ our King this is crushed by the Sword for sedition and dangerous Doctrine so that ELIAH is persecuted Micaiah mured up in close prison and kept with bread and water of affliction whiles al the States Priests or Kings Clergy who say Go up and prosper yea 400 false Prophets feed every day at Jezabels Table but yet we are upon Charmel-Mount and our enemies shal know that we are not here a fishing for Gudgeons Much more I have to say of their tyranny and cruelty and in many
rejected must fal flat before the house of David the little stripling And all this Apostative interest of Councils Courts Triers Clergy Academies and Armies whom the Lord is departed from or rather who have no foundation at all in the Covenant of Grace or Kingdom which the God of Heaven hath set up over all Nations must worse then tumble but our cause cannot miscarry my Friends it cannot fail us who are Heirs of the Promise because every jota of it as we contend for it is founded in the New and everlasting Covenant blessed be the Lord the Holy one of Israel who hath already given us so many gracious and specifying prison prognosticks of the great day of Jezreel at hand 1. In that We and the CAUSE we are in are found and founded in Covenant of Grace vvhereby the Father stands ingaged to his Son by his Son to us in an inseperable union and tye Isai 53.11 Jer. 33.25 26. Acts 2.30 Gal 3.16 So that as Rom 4.16 It is of Faith that it might be by GRACE to the end the PROMISE might be sure to AL THE SEED 2 Sam 23.5 and our infirmities though many cannot hinder the most excellent glory and Resurrection of this most blessed Cause of Christ against Antichrist of the Lamb against the Beast in England Psal 89.33 34 Ezek 16.60 nor deprive us of our weight in that glory which is a coming by how much the Lord of this cause is the Lord of that covenant which is established upon so clear sweet and sure New-Testament promises Heb 86 12. Isai 43.25 yea Jer 50.20 saies the Lord In those dayes their iniquity shal be sought for but not found for I wil pardon whom I RESERVE the little REMNANT that overcome with the blood of the Lamb and the word of the Testimony Rev 12.11 O my brethren do not our heart even burn with us by a New Covenant communion with the Lord in this Cause having the pardon of sins the seale of his Love the assurance of his favour and boldness in his sight through the blood of Grace yea can we not run into the inner Court vvith the blood and the Fat of Lords Offerings and have as free and frequent an access into the Holy of holies where our High Priest is as vve vvil what should hinder us or who should let us and do not the Lords fats overflow with new Wine and Oyl unto our souls O my most precious Friends shal we or can we ever forget our prisons and Exiles so exceedingly lined warmed refreshed renewed and followed vvith such ful plentiful and ravishing mercies and let men say what they vvil it is marvelous sweet to our souls and our Consciences do witness it daily that our sufferings are New-Testament sufferings our vvitnessings New-Testament testimonies our comforts and hopes pure New-Testament hopes and consolations so are our priviledges principles and Spirits as odious as our enemies make them by their false reports New-Testament spirits and principles O that they vvere tryed yet more and more yea and our actings thereupon are New-Testament actings upon and in the Covenant of grace which the blood of Christ haâ—h sealed yea the Decree of God which to put an end of all strife Heb 6.16 17 18. God himself hath SWORN to that VVE poor prisoners of hope might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the HOPE set before us and herein lyeth the whole controversie between us and our persecutors blessed be our most Heauenly Father for these prison companions and comforts of Christ for these fresh springs vvhich cannot fail us nor can vve fal the subjects of Gods wrath let them prison hang or head us banish or burn us for the Covenant standeth sure and is wel ordered in all things 2. The EARNEST PRESENCE of Immanuel or GOD WITH Us in our Prisons and Exiles is a most excellent PREFACE to the matter in hand yea a sure token for good unto us and a certain testimony of the Cause of Christ with us which we suffer so sweetly and satisfactorily in and for in the race of those righteous ones in all Ages that have freely parted with all to follow Christ for although a many profess him talk of him and pretend to do it very highly yet they turn it off to the affections not actions as if it were only to fix the heart upon him and not upon the vvorld or sublunary things and those have thereby condemned themselves as unworthy of him nor indeed are they the true Disciples of Jesus Christ but onely at larges as the young man vvho had great possessions Mat 19.22 and so the Martyrs and primitive Saints as I could prove have all along lookd upon them at a distance as vve shal see in the day of Christ but now I say vve see the bredth of the Land of Immanuel much more then formerly in these prison prospects and do men or Devils their vvorst vve may expect a most eminent reviving of the spirit of life upon us yea on our heads in an Oecomenical dispensation as is rested on Christ 1 Pet 4.14 the blessing shal be upon the head of Joseph whom no man remembreth in the prison Deut 33.16 yea and Joseph shal have the first lot among Davids singers 1 Chron 25.9 or Christs VVorthies that have victory over the Beast Rev 15.2 vvho have your chambers in the inner Court and a clear prospect Ezek 40.44 and sing the song of Moses and the Lamb Rev 14.2 JOSEPH being one of the free Woman that stands upon the Mount of blessing and not on the Mount of Cursing Peut 27.12 Besides as MANOAHS WIFE said if he would have killed us he would not have received our Offerings nor would he have shewed us all these things that are to come at this time Judg 13.23 and in the prison too and in a strange Land had vve been such evil doers as our enemies for their own sakes vvould make men believe us to be But O my happy Brethren in Christ doth not our God give us most remarkeable ful and frequent visits yea reveale his minde unto us and foreshew us things to come and accept of us in his dearest Son vvhat mean vve then to fear vvhat flesh can do unto us Psal 27.1 2. Psal 1â—8 Verily verily I say it and see it and by the authority vvhich the Lord hath given me I speak it that not ONE no not one soul in prison upon this pure and single account for the King of Saints but shal say it and if they persevere yet much much more injoy it that they have had such a presence of the Lord with them as is not usual no! not to Saints but I leave the further evidence of this tasted truth to TIME to declare at our next Hallelujatick triumph altogether over the beast and his Image for our God is gone up with a SHOVT and we shal sing praises together sing praises to the Lord sing praises
teeth of the proudest Tyrants on earth that we are above them and their rage do their worst because greater is he that is in us then HE that is in the world 1 Joh 4.4 and in our prison is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Power of the Witnesses a coming upon us through the strength of Christ to do marvelous things yea as Hag 2.7 8. According to the WORD that I have COVENATTED with you So my SPIRIT remaineth among you FEAR YE NOT for thus saith JEHOVAH yet a little while and I wil shake c. I will make the earth to tremble before you Joel 2.10 yea this pittiful pâ—dlie filthy mieryclay-Government that is gotten up in Great Brittany which is the first that must be struck through by the Stone Dan 2. Wherefore O my Friends we must and wil rejoyce yet more abundantly in this so blessed sweet temporate New-Testament Zone which we are under in prisons and Exiles for all the fierceness of this last Beast who hath made the torrid Zone of his tyranny inhabitable and insupportable and in truth if I know my heart in this matter I would say for one like Jerome of Prague when the flames were kindling behind him saith he with courage to the Executioner Come come Kindle me the fire before my face for if I had been afraid I had never come hither nor are we such lively members of Christs body if we cannot when called to it sweat a bloody sweat â—â—fr his sake Wherefore as the Dutch Martyr said Christo submittemus sexcenta si nobis essent Colla c. had we six hundred heads for one they should all off for Christ in this most blessed cause for Quas non oportet mortes praeeligere c What Deaths had we not better choose yea what Hels not endure then to decline one step so blessed so certain and so glorious a Cause as this is for which we are in bonds Wherefore O my most honorably beloved hearts the spirit of life rest upon you and of the two Witnesses to make you as stable and as able as Mount Sion Psal 125.1 yea as those Mountains of Brass from whence the Chariots of King Jesuâ— come they are a coming Zach 6.1 so that all the Devils of Hell may not be able to remove you then one inch of ground but that those who have gone before us from the dayes of Abel to this day and vvho have led up the VAN with valour with all the Elect Angels our fellow-servants in this Cause may exceedingly rejoyce to see our Faith and Faithfulness vigor constancy and courage in carrying up this finishing Rev 11 7. this Rear-testimony Mat 24.14 Rev 17.14 according to the Spirit of the Fifth Kingdom against the BEAST like the children of the captivity now to be returned like the children of the promise and of the Free-woman Gal 4. yea like the children of the Kingdom Mat. 13. that good seed that must sow the whole earth and the children of the Resurrection Luke 20. which are to have their lot in the next world upon the Earth and to reign with Christ a thousand years as I have proved at large in prison-born morning beams Lib 3. and 4. For Jehovah onely is the Lord Patron of al our preferments and whiles we are in the prison as I said we are not fishing for Gudgeons for We pre-possess several sweet tenures both free and copy-hold which we cannot part with no more then Nabaoth could with his Vineyard though we loose our lives for it and to conclude I woul'd leave tâ— is one word with you that the same Lord of Hosts and Captain of the Hoasts of Israel that went before them in the Van is now with us in the Rear where the enemy hath fallen on for that is now the Captains place so that we may confidently and undoubtedly expect as much of his prowess power wonderful appearances and presence with us in this Reare as ever any of the Saints or Martyrs among Jews or Christians found in the Van or in former dayes when the enemies fel upon them for this is clear in Isai 52.12 For ye shal not go out with hast nor go by flight for JEHOVAH wil go before you yea the God of Israel wil be your RERE-WARD Isai 58.8 Thy righteousness shal go before thee the glory of the Lord shall be thy RERE WARD then shalt thou cal and the Lord shal answer thou shalt cry and he shal say HERE I AM if you take away from the midst of thee the yoak c. I am prevented in my Word to the little Remnant I mean the Lambs faithful followers of the Womans seed that keep the Commandements of God and testimony of Jesus but in my Banish-born-Treatise lib last I write at large to them and of their Work if it ever come to light though I confess my Bucer-like hand which writes but bad may be some let or at least delay therein yet at present I am to bid them BEWARE and PREPARE beware of running before Orders come from Jehovah of Armies and prepare for them when they come yea to make all their Arrows ready against Babylon for the time to visit her is now come the set time to thresh her the Harvest is come Jer 50.51 Rev 4. and to favour Sion Psal 102.15 16. yea the set time is come and it is easie to see the SIGNS of Times come upon us yea the signes compleat them this little born this last B this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the learned read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this last limb of the Beasts Government and the man that maketh up his number six thousand six hundred six as we have proved in Prison Morn He is now come O up and be ready then like Roaring Lions against the end of the time times divident with your Ahud Chereb not Pe Chereb two mouthed swords like Christs men of War Pe Chareb or sword with one mouth only as hath been but Joel 2.2.7 9 11. to run climb the wal like mighty men and JEHOVAH shal utter his voice before you his Dread shal be upon your enemies who have insulted over you but shal fal before you Josh 2.9 Rev 11.11 yea they shal tremble and fear and wax feeble as Women Jer 51.30 Nahum 3.13 and become bread for your swords to eat as in Jeremy Acheleh Cherbechem Ne biechem because their defence is departed from them Numb 14.9 nor are the most godly amongst them that have Apostatized these times any more to be reckoned amongst the Lambs number then Dan and Ephraim because of their Apostacy Judg 17 18. were reckoned among the sealed ones of the 144000 Rev 7 5 6 7 8. Wherefore up O my dear â—arts who are of that number that stand before the Throne Rev 7.9 or with the Lamb in Mount Sion Rev 14.1 up and be ready with your Ahod weapon awake arise O English Shearjashub for out of JUDAH Christ with us Gentiles of Lea comes