believe without any further knowledge that daily advantage they seek against thee by subtil conspiracies and secret plottings of maliciousnesse in their evil hearts seeking by all means if it be possible how to be avenged and not sliping any advantage how to revenge themselves and the cause of their King and of these scattered under thy Government is not a few but rather the greater number who thus stands in affections to thee with no better purpose of good towards thee then to destroy thee by any means if it were in their power and to take away thy Name in reproach such is the cruelty and desperatenesse of some of them their own lives are not dear unto them to take away thine I have felt the strength of their rage against thee which carries them above sence or fear to forego any danger that they might see their desired end of thee their malice towards thee is so seated in their wrathful hearts that it cannot easily be quenched I know the Lord hath cursed them and their endeavours to this day and thou hast had dominion and power given thee of God to bruise them and to break them to pieces and what thou hast done unto their King should not be reckoned against thee by the Lord if now thou wert faithful to what he requireth of thee for because of the wickednesse of that generation which was grown to the full did the Lord raise thee up as a plague upon them because of their unrighteousnesse oppression and tyranny and they were made as slaves and bondmen under thy power and without the Lord can they not at any time do any thing against thee but what and if for thy wickednesse in the sight of God he should make them instruments in his hand to accomplish his wrath upon thee even like as he made thee once his instrument to overthrow them and such hath been the Lords doings even to overthrow his enemies one by the other and to use the wicked as a rod in his hand to break them one against another like potsherds and by that which comes to passe in these Nations thou seems no lesse then to tread in their steps and in a measure already goes on in their way in oppressing through Tyranny or suffering it the people of God whose cause the Lord will assuredly plead against thee one day who now suffers under thee in patience and who can tell the purpose of the Lord or what he may bring to passe concerning this thing in raising up the wicked to be a plague to wickednesse and in suffering the oppressors to overthrow oppressions this is by me in love to thee in sencerity declared and by thee with soberness and in the fear of God it is to be considered Again there is another people scattered through all these Dominions who is not thy friends nor wishers well unto thee or thy Government who secretly murmures against thee and envies thee and even seekes God against thee and thy Government which they judge to be not according to God and bowes not to it in love though they are forced to submit for a time hoping continually if not hatching other wayes of Rule and Government to the overthrow of thee and thine and these are more honest and upright and just in the sight of the Lord then the former and indeed they are not nor their purposes accursed of the Lord for many of them have been sufferers and faithfully served their Nation with perfect purpose of freedom to the Lords People and they have at this day perfect zeal for God and for his wayes though not altogether according to knowledge yet some of them are not far from the Kingdom of God though they seek it not wholly in the right way nor looks onely with a single eye yet doth not the Lord hate them altogether because of their integrity towards him and zeal for him who some of them have suffered imprisonment for truth and righousness sake as they have wholly thought and their suffering hath not been altogether slighted by the Lord and these are they known by name of the fifth Monarchy of whom there is more then a few with them that wishes well unto them who will rise up for them rather then for thee many of whom propounds well in their minds though they have not power to effect it because their intent is not altogether according to the Lord yet are many of them free from that whereof thy self is guilty and some of them are cast out and wholly rejected without any just cause as they suppose and these things have grieved their spirits and not onely kindled their rage and envy but moved their sincerity and honesty against thee wherefore they are not thy friends but rather thy enemies and would not stand by thee or with thee in thy need but rather I suppose would arm themselves against thee and thy power who highly charges thee as they suppose justly too with unfaithfulness and such like for they see that is not accomplished which hath been promised by thee but the contrary even one finger is become as heavy as was once the loynes and their spirits are grieved against thee for such causes and who knowes but that the Lord may take the occasion to trie thee and prove thee by them for their hearts are high against thee and thy Government and that upon good ground as they sincerely think Again there is through thy Dominions a People gathered and gathering dayly by multitudes who are called and chosen of him and faithful to him who hath owned him above all things and whom he hath owned and will own in the sight of the whole world and will encrease them to a numberless number according to his promise and even those the Lord is making many who are redeeming out of the world into the Government and Kingdom of Jesus Christ and these thou knowest are great and grievous sufferers by many hard and cruel oppressions from those who are in authority in thy Government even unjust imprisonment and fines and burthensome taxations in many things hard to be expressed and they undergo grievous persecutions under thy Government and wholly unjustly in the sight of God and also are cast out of all power and place in it and almost out of all subjects priviledge too many of them being counted as vile amongst men though they are not so in the sight of the Lord Justice and righteousness and true Judgement they cannot have in all these Nations not from thy self nor subservant Judges of whom hardly can their cause be heard but are deprived of their proper right and of subjects freedom in Judicatories and exposed to all wrong that may be by unjust men through unjust Judgement and these things are not unknown to thee and therefore art thou inexcusable in the sight of the Lord and guiltie of their sufferings in his presence who hath power to prevent it but doth it not and these thus suffering in thy Government
when they are layed before you for you do not relieve the oppressed neither doth remove oppressors as you ought to do and as the Lord requireth of you what hath the abundance of this worlds glory and its treasure quite overcome and stollen away your hearts wholly from all sence and feeling of the unjust sufferings of your brethren who have in times past as faithfully as your selves served their Nation with their lives and estates to the purchasing of this peace and freedom out of the hands of tyrants and such may now justly claim the benefit of this peace and freedom and to have a part with you therein even by birth-right and by purchase and also by promise from some of your selves but alas while they have waited for it and thought peaceably to enjoy the same under you are many of them entrapped into as great bondage as ever if not more woful and unjust and they are unjustly imprisoned and unreasonably fined and every way oppressively dealt withall and are even spoiled in their persons and estates their lives often in danger being through great injustice become a prey to their very enemies who now takes occasion to revenge their former cause because of their faithfulness for the Commonwealth against them and all this is done while you look on and no way shewing your dislike to these things wch strengtheneth greatly the hands of evil doers to add to the bonds of the afflicted yet are you without excuse for you are not wholly ignorant of these things for the knowledge of them hath often been layed at your doors yea and the very cry of these oppressions and cruelties reacheth through the whole Land to the wounding deeply of all people that fears God to know so great injustice and oppression brought forth upon the innocent and faithful people by some so far entrusted as having the Law committed to them which they pervert and turns Judgement backwards and the greater is the wound because you who have power to stop and prevent these things should no more regard to set at liberty the unjust sufferers and to render Judgement upon those as thus perverts true Justice by whom the Land is filled with violence whereby the name of the Lord is greatly dishonoured and the Government greatly reproached in many parts of the world why because the faithful subjects cannot enjoy their birth-right priviledge as they ought according to the Law of God and man for their equals yea their inferiours have exalted themselves above and are become oppressors of the free born people divers ways doth these hainous oppressions cruelties abound upon the innocent and not for evil doing but for the exercise of their pure consciences towards God for many hath been taken travelling on the high way and some out of peaceable meetings and some out of their Innes and friends houses and by some wicked men in authority without shewing just cause therefore have just innocent men been whipped or stocked or imprisoned or other cruelties done unto them and yet the transgression of no just Law truely charged against them neither have been convicted of any evil doing but they have suffered wholly innocently onely through the malice and will and pleasure of their enemies who have taken occasion without any just offence at all to stock and whip and imprison many of the true and faithful subjects and this hath not been done in secret but openly in many parts of this Nation and you have had information of these things that you should have been awakened to true Justice Judgment and this the Lord requireth of you though the guiltless sufferers have born all these things without complaining yet ought you to have Judged justly according to their deeds such as caused such cruelty and unjust sufferings that for time to come the like might not have been brought forth but the free subjects might live in Peace and rejoice under the Government and all perverters of Judgment and Justice might stand in awe and be afraid so should you be a praise to ages after you and likewise many who are at this present remaining in prisons in divers parts of this land some upon one false accusation and evil surmizing and some upon another for a good conscience sake the cause of whom hath often bin laid before you which seemed for the present to have some entrance upon you yet little is brought forth by you as ought to be in that cause for though none of any such doth complain unto you who have and doth unjustly suffer yet the Lord doth require you to set the oppressed and falsely imprisoned at liberty and to bring true Judgment forth upon their persecutors also there is another suffering great and grievous growing upon many if it be not prevented many faithful and approved men are dispossessed of their freedom which truly belongeth to them by the law of God and man in divers Cities and corporations because for conscience sake they cannot swear by kissing the book and laying the hand upon it according to the vain tradition in such causes formerly used though to deal justly towards God and man in their craft and science they are bound by the Law of God yet because they will not swear and so break Christs Commands are they threatned and their windows shut up and dis-priviledged of their trading whereby they should maintain themselves and families in the Creation and this one thing tendeth to the destruction of many as in this world and no little hurt will thereby grow to the whole Nation in a generation of time and it is required of you by the Lord to prevent these sufferings though many can forgo their own freedom in this world and their lives also rather then break the least Command of Christ and thus are many faithful people made a very prey to their enemies and in divers manners it is brought forth upon them for many also suffers deeply in the house of correction for reproving sin and others are grievously spoil'd in their estates because for conscience sake they cannot pay to maintain a professed Minister or uphold a Steeple-house for it is a common thing for a Priest to take or have it done four or five times so much by distress as any way he can prove a pretended due and many other sufferings there are which are only for conscience sake as because some cannot put off a hat to a Magistrate or the like which gives an ill savour to the Government in which they are acted without reproof Ah my Friends be awakened to Justice and true Judgment to relieve such unjust sufferers and to throw down all such hainous oppressions and oppressors that the Lord may yet make you and your Government blessed after his long suffering to you which hath been great for Justice and true Judgement in a Government is the happiness thereof and the foundation for a long continuance and on the contrary cruelty and injustice and oppression being brought
travelling towards the Land of rest promised of the Lord to them to be obtained and enjoyed by them and they do and have sojourned strangers in these Nations over whom thou art called to Rule and appointed chief Governour this 7 years and greatly are and have they been afflicted and oppressed and even trodden down through unjust Judgment and unrighteous dealing by the Rulers and Inhabitants of the Land and all the dayes of thy Father the late Protector they were held in great captivity and bondage and unrighteous men made them a prey and layed heavy yoaks of cruel sufferings upon them and daily increased their task and something thy Father did for them in their journey of great distress yet but a little of what the Lord required of him and what the Lord looked for that he might have done for power was in his hands given him of the Lord but he was not fully obedient and therefore was the Lords hand stretched out somewhat against him and his Family and he was smitten of the Lord and suddenly taken away in Judgment for he hearkened not to the Counsel of the Lord concerning that people neither did fully relieve them from oppression but slighted many warnings from the Lord the day of his visitation passed over and death took him away in disobedience while this people were yet under great oppressions for he left above a hundred of them in prisons unjustly suffering for â—â—righteousness sake and not for evil-doing and in this he fulfilled not the Will of God but left his name and glory somewhat stained because of these things and though the Lord chose him and shewed love unto him and gave him power over his enemies and made him an Instrument in his hand to break down great oppressions yet he was not obedient to the end to do my will saith the Lord but left something undone which he was truly called unto Now this innumerable people that is come and coming up as aforesaid are them called Quakers and this Aegypts Land is that great darkness ignorance and wickedness and false ways and worships in the Apostacy and fleshly bondage to sin and death which all the world and kindreds and multitudes that are unconverted to God lives and walks in and that Land of rest promised to which they travel is the peaceable and quiet dwelling with the Lord free from the heavy oppression of sin and iniquity and cruelties of men and free in the exercise of their pure Consciences by the Spirit of the Lord as it shall move and lead them into all truth and their sojourning as strangers is their denying and despising the world and all its glories and walking in the daily Cross of Christ whereby they are crucified to the love and respect and renown and honours of the world and are come out of kindreds tongues and people counting the reproach for Christ great riches not respecting men but the Lord altogether in all things and also their suffering unrighteusly false imprisonment and spoiling of their goods for righteousness sake this is their sojourning as strangers And that something that thy Father did for them is he released many of them divers times out of prisons where they were unjustly cast and he signified sometimes his displeasure against them that made them suffer and shewed love to them in hearing their innocent cause with some respect thereunto and that which he did not which he might have done is he took not away Tithes that cause of great oppression to many nor the unrighteous laws wholly as he ought to have done and as the Lord required of him And know thou from the Lord that this same people are the people of the Lord and beloved of him and as dear to him as the apple of his eye and his presence is with them and he leads them as a flock by his Spirit into all truth and who shall bless them shall be blessed but he that acts against them shall not prosper but be smitten of the Lord for their cause will the Lord plead in his Judgments and avenge them of their enemies and the dread of the Lord God shall fall heavy upon the heads of their persecutors and though they are hated of all men and are under great afflictions yet are they a Just people and innocent seeking the good of all men and are peaceable towards all and receiving all manner of wrongs and evil and speakings against them by ungodly men but they render to no man evil for evil but bless them that curse and do good to their enemies and bears all things from all men in long suffering and patience for they are learned in the practices of doing and suffering of the holy Apostles and Prophets and are of the seed of Abraham who was the friend of God and they were thy fathers friends and are not enemies to thee nor to righteous Government but wishes well unto thee in the Lord and that thou may not be destroyed in wickedness but be established in righteousness and peace in thy Government to rule in Gods authority over all wicked men that may seek thy hurt and we desire for thee that the Lord may give thee wisdom a perfect understanding and the Spirit of just and sound Judgment to Judge righteously in all things and to settle the Government in true Judgment that the principle of God in every man may answer to it in defending and preserving and protecting all that walk in truth and righteousness and being a terrour to all evil-doers for for that end is rule and government ordained of God amongst men to be a praise to all that do well and a terrour to all that do evil and now the Lord having suffered it to be brought to pass that thou art set up in thy fathers stead to be chief Ruler amongst men this the Lord God Almighty requires of thee as thou hopes to prosper and be blessed in this life and to enjoy life Eternal when this world is passed away and this is the Word of the Lord God unto thee be humble meek and lowly in heart and exalt not thy own horn nor seek not this worlds honour but seek the Lord with thy whole heart and let Justice and true Judgment and righteous Government which is according to the Law of God be set up and exalted in the Nations and come to know in thy self the Dominion and Authority of the Lord God over sin and transgression and to keep down and condemn all that which is contrary to God in thy own heart and that will make thee a dread and a terrour to men and Nations and then the Lord will be thy Crown and his people will rejoice in thee and lift up their hearts to God for thee if thou throw down and abolish all unrighteous lawes and decrees which have been set up in the days of ignorance and yet stands wherereby the Lords dear Children are afflicted and oppressed at this day and establish such a Government
on in faithfulness to the end and in that day when thou was raised up when the fear of the Lord was before thy face and thy heart was towards him and thou was but little in thine own eyes then was it well with thee and the Lord blessed thee and made thee honourable and his people had love towards thee and desires for thee that thou might have been as a helper to the poor and a father to the faithful and a preserver of the upright from unreasonable men and an easer of the oppressed a taker away of every oppressive bond and it was not once thought concerning thee that the hands of the ungodly would have been strengthened against the righteous under thee or that such grievous and cruel burthens and oppressions would ever have been laid upon the Just and acted against them in thy name and under thy Dominion as unrighteously have come to passe in these three years as a large testimony might be given and this thy suffering of such things is thy transgression and thou hast not requited the Lord well for his goodness unto thee nor fulfilled his will in suffering that to be done under thee and in thy name which the Lord raised thee against to break down hadst thou been faithful to the end Again consider and let it move on thy heart not to exalt thy self nor to be high minded but to fear continally knowing that thou standest not by thy self but by another and that he is able to abase thee and give thee into the will of thy enemies when soever he will and how the Lord hath preserved thee sometimes wonderfully and doth unto this day from the murderous plots and crafty policie of evil men who seeks thy evil and would rejoyce in thy fall and in the desolation of thy family and countries how have they and do they lay snares for thy feet that thou may be cut off from amongst men and die unhappily and be accounted a curse and yet to this day he hath preserved thee and been near thee to keep thee though thou hast hardly known it and the Lords end is love to thee in all these things and yet a little longer to try thee and that thou might give him the glory O that thy heart were opened to see his hand that thou mayst live unto him and die in him in peace and beware least hardness of heart possesse thee if thou slight his love and so be shut up in darkness and given to the desires of thine enemies and left to the counsels of treacherous men who may seek to exalt thee by flattery that they might the better cast thee down and destroy thee and blot out thy name in reproach and make thy posterity a People miserable but now O consider and let it enter into thy heart for thou hast not answered the Lord but been wanting to him for all this and hast chosen thy own way and glory rather then his and not fulfilled his counsel in raising thee for the bonds of crueltie are not loosed by thee and the oppressed is not altogether set free neither is oppression taken off from the back of the poor nor the Laws regulated nor liberty of pure conscience altogether allowed but these Dominions are filled with cruel oppressors and the poor groans every where under their heavy hand of injustice the needy are troden down under foot and the oppressed cries for deliverance and are ready to faint for true Justice and Judgement the proud exalts himself against the poor and the high minded and Rebellious contemns the meek of the earth the horn of the ungodly is exalted over the Lords heritage and they that are departed from iniquity are become a prey to oppressors and the cruel hearted deals cruelly with the innocent in these Nations and such whom the Lord hath freed in their consciences from false worships and Teachers and from the wayes of sin and death are made slaves and greedily preyed upon by unjust men through casting into prisons and dungeons and unjust fines and Illegal proceedings and beatings and abusings and woundings and bruisings hard to be expressed and large to be declared even the hands of many of the people over whom thou art set to rule are full of blood merciless and cruel and neither fears God nor are subject to the just rule and Government of men and the mouth of many of thy subservant Rulers and Governours that have their power from thee are as the teeth of young Lions and the upright and harmless are devoured and made a spoil by them through policy and oppression both in their persons and estates if I perish I must speak the truth my life is not dear to me for the truth sake many who should have judged in true Justice and righteousness the cause of the poor have been as bryars and thorns to insnare and pierce the just man and have perverted Judgement and turned it backward equity have hardly had place to enter most of the prisons this day in all thy Juridictions have and doth testifie the unjust judgement and the great oppressions and cruelties of some in Authority who have used or rather abused thy name and made it a cloak for their hard-heartedness O my heart is troubled and my bowels pained at the remembrance of this how doth the poor cry under the heavy hand of oppession and the needy lament for want of true Judgement and the oppressed groan for want of deliverance and these things are thought upon by the Lord though not considered by thee as they ought to be and because of this will he arise to plead the cause of the innocent against him that is too strong for him and will dash to pieces his enemies and break the jawes of the devourers and the righteous shall not alwayes be a prey to the teeth of the ungodly O Friend when wilt thou consider the oppression of the poor and hearken to the cry of the oppressed within thee and without thee when shall it enter into thy heart this cause of the unjust sufferings of the Lords people from which thou canst not altogether be excused for it is acted in thy name though not by thee O let thy ear be opened unto the cryes of the oppressed in the prisons and let the cause of the innocent come before thee and let thy heart be pierced at the consideration of these things which are come to pass in thy dayes contrary to the expectation of many and see if it be not contrary to thy own promises sometimes vowed by thee let the light of Christ in thy own conscience answer and some of the multitude of the grievous oppressions of which the Land is full hath been laid at thy door and brought unto thee but scarcely found an entrance upon thee and this aggravates the crime of thy transgression in that thou knowest of these things wonderful is it to consider that even thou with whom the power of the Lord hath
in Authority under thee and let not evil and cruel hearted men bear any place for such renders thee and thy Government dishonourable and by such the Land is filled with violence and the just mourns whereby the blessing is kept far away the curse near ready to devour Now friend if thou come to be guided by the spirit and with the wisdom of the Father then thou wilt bring the Nations into good order whereby the inhabitants may live in peace and perfect freedom from all oppressions and vexations that now is a bondage upon the just and upright for there is great corruption entered into all places and sorts of men and when the Lord toucheth thy heart and makes thee rightly sencible of all things as now they stand then thou wilt see the Ministry as now it stands to be quite degenerated from what the Ministry of Christ was in the dayes of the Apostles before the Apostacie and as it now stands there is much of it which is to be thrown down to the ground and crushed to pieces for it s corrupted altogether even in the way of its setting up and of its Call and in the way of its maintenance and practice in all these things it is corrupted and degenerated from what the Ministry of Christ was before the Apostacy And this may be proved by the Scriptures and so it is not to be upholden by thee but to be corrected and thrown down the rather And likewise in Magistracy thou wilt see great corruption entered and abundance to be purged out for it is much degenerated from the state as it was ordained of God and in the Lawes there is much to regulate and correct when thou comes to the principle of God in thee if ever that arise in thee it will bring thee to thresh down and trample down all unjust men that handles the Law and all such that Judge for gifts and rewards and all such Lawyers that devours the innocent for gifts that will not plead the cause of the poor without great Fees and all the Priests that Preach for hire and the Teachers that teach for filthy lucere and to get gain all such men will be counted as bryers and thorns by thee to be plucked up by the roots and to be cut up as evil trees which cumbers the ground for such doth corrupt the Land and cumbers it and if ever the Lord doth arise in thee he will reward them by thee according to their wayes whose wayes are corrupt before the Lord And as concerning thy War and Armies abroad in Spain something there is in it known to the Lord seek not thy own honour in it but be faithful and leave the issue of all things to the Lord make no Covenant with Idolators but tread down their idol gods that they have set up and hew down their mountains in which their confidence stands and plow up their ground that the seed may be sowen after thee its honour enough to be the Lords plowman be thou faithful in what the Lord calls thee to and thou shalt have thy reward and seek his honour and he will honour thee and let thy mind be to the Lord in all things and feel his word and power and presence in thee to quench all that which is contrary and then thou wilt be blessed in this life and in the life to come but if thou continue in thy oppression the Lord will suddenly smite thee By a Friend unto thee in the Lord E. BURROUGH This was given to Oliver Cromwel his hands at Hampton Court in the 6 Mon. 1658. about a Moneth before his death For Oliver Cromwel FRIEND THe Lord hath visited thy house because thou hast suffered thy servants to smite the Servants of the Lord and Lambs of Christ and prisoned his Lambs and Sons and Daughters some until death Therefore thy sons and daughters and servants will I take away with death and visit thee and and thy house with sicknesse saith the Lord and thou shalt know that I am the Lord who reigns therefore spare my Sons and Daughters that I may spare thee and thy house and that thou mayest know that I am the Lord Oh! how art thou fallen under men and thy house will suffer as long as my Sons and Daughters and Servants suffers by thee and thy servants and die in prison and you not visiting them nor suffer their own friends to visit them therefore take heed least thou become as weak as water And Friend thou shouldest have invited all the Christians upon earth in all Nations that are against popery to thee to come in and joyn with thee against popery for thou hast had authority stand to it loose it not nor abuse it nor let any other take thy Crown and do not stand cumbering thy self about dirty Priests that flatter thee for means for thou hast had fair warnings and thou hast had power over Nations for Nations begins to be upon heaps and Nations and tongues and multitudes are waters and the beast hath power over them who hath long reigned and they begin to swell and the whore sits upon them neverthelesse do not thou heed nor fear them nor be of a doubtful mind neither fear their amazements but let thy heart be single to God and wait that the seed of God in thee may come until the top stone be layed and invite all them that professe against the Pope in all Nations to joyn with thee against him and do not loose thy Dominion nor authority nor the wisdom of God but with that thou may order all that will keep thee single in heart and mind to the Lord and let thy souldiers go forth with a free willing heart that thou may rock Nations as a cradle and keep thou in the fear of the Lord and all thy souldiers and them that be under thee this is a charge to thee in the presence of the Lord God that thou nor them may lose the dread of the Lord for that is it that strikes terror in the hearts of all people and set all the prison doors open for them to come forth that are imprisoned for Churches and Ministers maintenance and worship and learn the pacience for the Lords work is begun already in other Nations and the patient spirit remaines in the Lords work for that is it that tries stands and abides which gets the victory and obtains the Crown if any hurt come to thee it will be through thy disobedience to the Lord I am a lover of thy soul and Eternal good an establisher of righteousnesse G. FOX Written the tenth of the 6th month 1657. This is for the Protectors Kindred his Wife and Children to be read soberly by them in the fear of God FRIENDS REmember that by the Lord you were raised from a low state and when he will he can abase you and bring you down he gave you the Palace of Princes and threw out the high and mighty before you because of their
and Tythes but may reprove their evil and covetousness and wickedness Begging for Lawes against such and crying out against Error and Herefie because some may be moved to cry against their deceits and oppressions and for the like causes they will run about thee and seck their own advantage and this we know their nature and spirit is such and hath been for many ages But now friend do thou stand in Gods Authority out of and over all such Teachers and Sects and come not under any of them that have the form of godliness but want the Power who are in the Apostacy from the life and pure Religion that the Apostles were in nor believe them not that shall say loe Christ is here or loe he is there or who shall Ascend to fetch him from without or when shall he come from far to save his People go not thou after any of all these but hearken to the word of God in thy heart and know that Christ is within thee else thou art reprobate neither do thou take in hand to exalt any one of these Sects or some of them above others neither defend and maintain any of them against others of them nor tollerate not one of them above another for if thou do it will betray thee and the Nations Peace and set all spirits on fire about thee and while one is pleased and may pray for thee others will be vexed against thee and curse thee wherefore be not troubled about these things nor cumber not thy self about Religion how to establish it for it is in Gods hand onely to establish his worship and Religion it belongs to him as he will and not as man by his policy and wisdom but stand free from them all and neither establish any nor persecute any Sect whatsoever but let them all have their course and season they will fall and perish of themselves and the good old way and truth and the pure Religion only will remain and let them cry one against another and rebuke one another and meddle not thou with that but onely let thy Lawes and Authority preserve mens persons and estates from the wrong one of another that all men may live peaceably under thee and no man wrong his neighbours person or estate and that 's only thy place to rule in outward affairs but not to rule over any mans conscience to compell him to such a worship or to limit from such a worship in Religion that belongs not to thee but to the Lord who alone will be the Ruler and guide and exerciser of his peoples consciences and if thou do medle therein thou shalt not prosper nor be blessed in thy deed so leave the establishing of Religion to the Lord and let all these Sects manifest if any of them have the spirit Power of God in them with them let them shew their weapons of the spirit for onely such as hath the power and Spirit of God in them will overcome and such will be increased and grow and thou nor none can hinder and such that wants the Power and Spirit of God in and with them may flourish in their form for a while but they will be blasted and wither and it is vain for thee or any to uphold such or endeavour to establish them but if thou meddle on these accounts it will undo thee and confound thee therefore be wise and know what the Lord requires of thee perfectly for if thou leave that undone which God requires then shalt thou be condemned and if thou do that which he requires not then shalt thou not be free and this is written in love to thee to inform thy mind how to walk towards the Lord and the people over whom he hath set thee and as for the maintaining of Ministers let that aloue also and be not troubled about it for it was ever the false prophets and deceivers that preached for hire and went after gifts and rewards and sought money and gifts of people and they that do the same now were never sent of God nor are they such as shall convert people to God for who are true Ministers of Christ will not seek to thee nor to men for wages and Tithes and money but live of the Gospel and not compel great sums of money from people to maintain them in their families in pride in fulness and idleness such things are great oppressions in this Nation and a horrible filthy thing in the sight of God and because thereof will the Lords Judgements come upon the land if thou were but rightly sensible what casting into Goals and what suing at Law of poor people and what spoiling peoples goods by destraint and all for and about Tithes and Priests wages it would make thee admire the wickedness of that generation but do thou let them alone for they do shame themselves and undo themselves and loose the hearts of all good people by their own doings and stand over them all in Gods Authority and know a measure of the Spirit of God in thy own heart and thereby thou wilt discern and try and judge of the spirits of all men and their religion and the Spirit will lead thee in the pure Religion to worship God in Spirit and in truth so let not thy mind be cumbered at all about establishing Religion nor about maintaining the Ministers but be faithful to what the Lord requires of thee and learn his will and do it and then thou wilt be blessed and honoured in this world in the world to come And friend know thou that the Lord is doing of a great work in these Nations he is raising up a seed to serve him and to worship him aright and the God of heaven is setting up a Kingdom over the kingdoms of the world and he hath a controversy with all sorts of people in as much as corruption and degeneration is entered amongst all and all must be purged of all orders of men and the evil cast out the work of the Lord is great and mighty and he requires no help from thee nor any man whatsoever for his own arm will bring it to pass yet he would not have thee to gain-say his work and strive against it and seek to quench what the Lord is bringing forth if thou do it then shalt thou be condemned and the Lord will speedily execute his Judgements and remove thee and overthrow thy power and authority into destruction wherefore be passive in this matter and look thou at the Lord and protect and desend mens persons and estates from wrong but meddle not with their opinions and professions in Religions to exalt any of them nor yet to persecute them And as concerning the Armies abroad let faithful and just men that will not seek themselves be put in trust for the Army is of great concernment to thee to stand or fall through them as to mans account and the war against Spain be faithful to God in it and let trusty men have authority the Lord may accomplish something by it to his honour and to thine if thou be meek and humble and walk with the Lord and to say no more about it there is something in it known to the Lord and he may bring it to pass in his season And thus Friend according as it lay upon me from the Lord I have written this unto thee in dear and pure love God is witness and I have cleared my conscience to thee thus far and if thou fall by thy own transgression it will lie upon thy self I have warned thee and I am clear and if thy fall comes remember thou wast advised Who am a lover of Iustice and true Iudgement and a Friend of this Common-wealth and to thee wisheth well in the Lord EDW. BURROUGH London the 18th of of the 8th month 1658. This was delivered to him the 8th month 1658. * This was meant that he should deny to be made King that was in agitation when this letter was written
injustice against them whom the Lord is redeeming out of this World into subjection unto that Kingdom least thou be such a one as will not enter thy self nor suffer others to enter and so destruction come upon thee wherfore arise as out of sleep and slumber not in this worlds glory and honour come away and appear for the Lord rather then against him be not overcome by the pleasures of this World nor the flattering titles of men wink not at the cruelty and oppression acted by some who shelters under thee and makes thy name a cloak for mischief against the upright but let the Testimony of God in thee answer for his people this Law is not just by which many suffers because they cannot swear and because they cannot cease to declare against sin and iniquity let that of God in thee bear witnesse and thou and thy name being chief in the execution of this Law what will thy account be to the Lord in his day Consider I say consider and be thou changed in thy mind and heart least thou having forgotten God and his many deliverances be shut up and numbered for destruction and I say and desire the Lord give thee a more perfect understanding of his wayes and judgements and that the Crown Immortal thou mayest strive for by meeknesse and righteousnesse through relieving the oppressed and shewing mercy to the poor and removing every burthen which lies upon the innocent and this is the desire of him who is thy friend and would not have thee crowned with dishonour through suffering the people of God to be oppressed in thy name which will be thy overthrow absolutely if thou remove it not by returning and easing the oppressed EDWARD BURROUGH This was delivered to his hands about the begining of the 4th moneth 1657. For the hands of the Protector FRIEND THou oughtest to stand in the Coucel of God in all things and not to follow the Councel of thy own heart nor to act things in thine own will neither shouldest thou suffer others to act under thee and in thy name that which is unjust and unrighteous much unrighteousnesse and great oppression is acted in thy name by which the good name Protector is abused and subverted and instead of protection by it great unjustice is acted under it and covered with it and this one thing I am moved to lay before thee which hath been acted by thee or under thee not without thy knowledge in which thou hast done evil in the sight of the Lord and one day thou wilt know it several in these Nations Justices of the peace and other Officers who have been in trust under thee when they have owned the people of God in scorn called Quakers have been cast out of their places though they have not denied to serve thee and the Common-Wealth neither hath unfaithfulnesse to their trust been proved against them and also several Souldiers now of late in Scotland and elsewhere have been turned out of their places because of the same thing viz. for owning the people of God and these things are not right in the sight of the Lord that such who have been for many years faithful in the service and in their trust and hazzarded life and liberty for conscience sake to injoy liberty of conscience which they cannot now possess because of thee but are cast out for the exercise of their pure conscience this thing the Lord is grieved with and with thee because of it for thou didest not obtain this victory of peace and freedom by thy own sword then why should it be thus improved to thy own ends Consider of it for this makes the Nations more unhappie and lesse blessed when such who delight in true justice and judgement are cast out of their places and so deprived of giving their judgement among men and absolutely this will make thy army lesse prosperous and more unblessed when such who feareth the Lord and against whom thou cannot justly charge evil are cast out and despised and this in time thou mayest see to thy sorrow and as thy friend I lay this before thee and do in plainnes tell thee if thou thus utterly deny the people of God in the day of thy prosperity and thus wholy cast them out of thy service they cannot stand by thee nor own thee in the day of thy trouble and such as thou cleavest unto may be a broken staffe in thy time of need Ah friend these things do shew that thy heart is not right in the sight of the Lord and that justice and true judgement righteousnesse and truth is even despised in this Land and not encerely owned by thee when as such who feareth the Lord are thus cast out of Judicatories in thy Government and out of defence in thy armies what is this the end of that long travel in wars and of so many fair promises of liberty of conscience that just men should thus be dealt withal the Heathen Kingdoms may mock at this that while some have pretended liberty of conscience are become persecutors of such whose consciences are justly exercised and as I have some time said to thee much injustice and great oppressions and cruel persecutions continues daily to be acted in thy name which is numbred up against thee upon account because of hiding thy face from the cry of the poor as one without bowels of compassion unto such who have truely served with thee in a faithful service for the Common-Wealth who many of them now are grievious sufferers under thee Consider of these things and search what will be the end of them the Lord open thy understanding that more of the wisdom of God may guide thee and lesse of the Policie and wisdom of man which will betray thee of Gods Kingdom and may in the end cast thee down in this World also Edward Burrough The Original of this was delivered to his hands in the fifth moneth 1657. FRIEND IT is upon me and also I am pressed in spirit thereunto to give unto thee even unto thee Oliver Protector the perfect measure of thy dominions and how they stand in relation to thee as concerning the affections of the people towards thee whereby thou mayest understand thy own condition and the state of thy Government as I have viewed it in true judgment and marked it upon serious consideration and what I writ is in perfect love unto thee how ever thou mayest judge of it and of these things it will be well for thee to consider now while it is time ere it be too late Many Enemies thou hast which watches over thee for evil and not for good who would rejoyce in thy overthrow and first there is a people scattered through all these Nations who is full of wrath and ravening envy towards thee even of those known by the name of malignants party in whose hearts to this day there is continual hatred and evil surmising lodgeth against thee and all thy off-spring and I