Groanings of the Oppressed hath entered into his Ears And the Lord God is arisen in his mighty Power to plead the Cause of the afflicted and will call all to an Account who are guilty both for their Sins against him and also for their Oppressing of his innocent People and will render a Recompence of Reward into every ones bosom according to their doings Therefore a WARNING is in my heart to you all whose day of Mercy is not yet ended Forsake your evil Courses break off from your Sins by true Repentance and fear before the dreadful God of Heaven and Earth before whose Bar of divine Justice you must all stand and receive a Sentence from him the true and equal Judge And cease from oppressing and persecuting the People of the Lord who seek nothing more than the Honour and Glory of his great Name And set up Judgment and Justice in the Earth and incourage Truth and Righteousness and take the Rod of the Wicked from off the back of the Righteous which hath lain heavy upon them long And punish Wickedness and Debauchery Swearing and Cursing Drunkenness and Whoredom all which abound to the grief and sorrow of many You may hear it every day in your Ears and behold it with your Eyes not only many in Authority who should have been better examples but also the very Boys and Children in the Streets their Mouths are full of Cursing and Damning which is dreadful to think off it s grown so common and so much incouraged by the bad examples of many of those that should have been a terror to evil doers Therefore punish these Wickednesses which run down like a flood and indeavour to stop the Current of Iniquity which at this day encreases in a dreadful manner And be good Examples your selves in Holiness of Life and Conversation Or else God will pour out Shame and everlasting Contempt upon you and will plead with you in his firce Wrath and in his sore Displeasure and his Indignation will break forth like devouring fire and ye shall be who are guilty of those Evils like Hay and Stubble before him who will consume you both Root and Branch of you Repent not and that speedily And Oh that you would fear before the living God and dread his holy Name and seek the Lord while he may be found Call upon him while he is near Lest that day come upon you wherein you may seek him and he will not be found of you because you have rejected his Reproofs and would have none of his Counsel Therefore if a day yet remain to you mind the Honour of God and the good of your own Souls and the propagating of Truth and Holiness more than your own Interest Friendship or Favour of men or your Pride Pomp and vain Glory which God will stain and blast by the breath of his mouth and will blow it away with the Whirlwind of his Wrath like the Chaff of the Summer threshing floor forever But that you may have a habitation in the Kingdom of eternal Glory which God hath prepared as a dwelling place for the Righteous is the desire of my Soul Who am a Lover of Truth and Righteousness W. B. An Expostulation with the CLERGY And a WARNING to those among them whose Day of Mercy is not over c. ANd now all you Priests who have taken upon you to be the Leaders and Guiders of the People and also to take the Care and Oversight of them and to instruct them and to be their Shepherds and to feed them as you pretend with Spiritual Food The Controversie of the great God of Heaven and Earth is with you and the day wherein he will plead with you in his sore Displeasure makes haste upon you because you have neither fed the People with the Food you pretended nor taken such care of their Souls as to have led and guided them in the way of Truth and Righteousness as you ought to have done For have you not made the People to err by your Lyes and by your Lightness For according to what ye have taken upon you ye should have been good Examples to all in Holiness in Purity of Life and Conversation You have been Examples to the People I grant but in what Hath it not been with many of you in Pride Lightness Prophaneness Covetousness Oppression and Debauchery as Drunkenness Cursing Swearing and Whoredoms with many great and Crying Sins Do not these Abominations abound amongst many of you upheld and encouraged by your bad Examples of the Clergy of England and the Dominions thereunto belonging I shall leave to all sober People that observe your Lives and Conversations to judge And so instead of leading People in the Way of the Lord which is a pure Way sorever and into Righteousness and Holiness without which none can see the Lord have you not been Instrumental in the hand of the Enemy of all Righteousness to lead them into the Liberty and Looseness of the World and into Darkness and Ignorance of the Lord and of his holy Spirit and Grace which was the Teacher and Leader of the Saints of Old by your Ungodly and Unrighteous Lives Do not your Practices bespeak you to be blind Guides leading the Blind though its willful Blindness and so have fallen together into the Ditch of Uncleanness which the abounding of Wickedness that at this day increases among many of you and your Hearers also do plainly shew and are ready to fall into the Pit of eternal Misery and Lake of Perdition if you Repent not which will be your Portion at the Hand of the Just God who will render a Recompence of Reward unto all according to their doings And are you not with many of your Hearers in the steps of those the Prophet of the Lord cryed out against saying A wonderful and a hurrible thing is committed in the Land the Prophets thereof prophecy falsly and the Priests bear Rule by their Means and my People love to have it so And what will you do in the end thereof Jer. 5. 30 31. Again another Prophet cryeth out in these Words Thus saith the Lord God Wo unto the false Prophets that follow their own Spirit and have seen nothing Oh Israel thy Prophets are like the Foxes in the Desart c. They have seen Vanity and Lying Divination saying The Lord saith and the Lord hath not sent them and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the Word Have you not seen a vain Vision And have you not spoken a Lying Divination Whereas you say The Lord saith it Albeit I have not spoken Therefore thus saith the Lord God Because you have spoken Vanity and seen Lyes therefore behold I am against you saith the Lord God and my Hand shall be upon the Prophets that see Vanity and divine Lyes They shall not be in the Assembly of my People neither shall they be written in the Writing of the House of Israel neither shall they enter into
7 8 14 15. And have not many or most of these Wickednesses been acted amongst many of you the Rulers Magistrates of ENGLAND and the Dominions thereunto belonging And have not many devised Mischief and Oppression against an Innocent People that have done no wrong nor harm to any of you nor to the Nation in general but have sought the good and everlasting Wellfare of the Sons and Daughters of Men every where And have not cruel Laws been made against them And have they not been with many other Laws which were never made or intended against us executed upon us with Cruelty and Severity though the breach of no just Law can be charged upon us to the Ruin Spoiling and exposing many Families to Poverty which were capable of relieving and assisting others And are not these Cruelties and Unrighteous Practices upheld and continued So that at this very day many undergo great Hardships Abuses and cruel Usages for no other Cause that can justly be laid to their Charge than for keeping their Consciences clear in the sight of God for Worshipping him according to his holy Requirings and for reproving sin in the Gate and crying to People To leave off their Wickedness Pride Drunkenness Whoredoms Cursing and Swearing with many other gross Abominations which abound too much among many both Rulers Priests and People for which God Almighty is angry with this Nation and will bring his dreadful Judgments on all those that continue therein And the Cry that hath run through many in this day to Rulers Priests and People hath been To break off from the above-mentioned Evils by true Repentance and by Amendment of their Lives and Conversations while the day of Mercy lasteth to them and to fear the living God that they might serve him in Truth and Righteousness And this is that which we have sought or desired even to see this Change wrought in all in our Labours and Travails for which we have this Reward of Oppression Cruelty Spoiling of Goods and Imprisonments with many other great Inhumane and Unchristian-like Abuses which our innocent Sufferings for many years and unto this very day which at this time is very great may plainly shew Though alwayes without any Just cause given on our parts for none can justly charge us with Plotting and Contriving Rebellion or Insurrections against the KING or the GOVERNMENT or Peace of the Nation But we have always sought the good and everlasting Happiness of all yea of our Enemies themselves though many times Shamefully abused by them both in Body and Goods and the good and wellfare of the Rulers and Magistrates of England though many of you have imprisoned many of us time after time some in Nasty Holes till Death and others to the Ruining of their Familes as to outward things because they could not wrong nor offer violence to their own Consciences And when Authority hath been given to Wicked Ungodly Prophane and Unreasonable men to make Spoil of their â—oods who were sure to have one part of the Spoil themselves they have not only made Havock and great Spoil thereof but have taken liberty if they had not Power given them grosly to abuse their Bodies also by hailing and beating them c. And all these Vnrighteous Vnjust Dealings and Proceedings have been patiently born only a cry hath been in our hearts to the Lord That he would open their Vnderstandings and let them see what they were doing that so they might repent and â—ind mercy with God without seeking Revenge as knowing Vengeance is the Lords and he will repay committing our Cause to God who will plead the Cause of the innocent And that this has been our Practice it is not unknown to many of you So I desire you Magistrates who have been most concerned in persecuting of us may consider those Cruelties and Oppressions which have been inflicted upon us and how there hath been no just Cause on our parts for it For what PLOTS have we contrived What Disturbance have we made to the Government Have we not always been an innocent suffering People Look back at our Lives and Conversations ever since we were a People in scorn called Quakers and at our Carriage and Behaviour towards all men And also take a view of your dealings with us and what hath been inflicted upon us and you may see whether we have justly deserved it by any Evil that we have done I am sure if some look back with an impartial Eye they will have cause to be ashamed of their Dealings and Proceedings against us who have made us as objects on whom they have executed their Cruelty and Oppression And also take a view of your doings and see whether many of you are not found too much in the steps of those of old whom the Prophet of the Lord cryed out against saying Hear I pray you O Heads of Jacob and ye Princes of the House of Israel Is it not for you to know Judgment who hate the good and love the evil who pluck off their skins from off them and their flesh from off their Bones Who also eat the flesh of my People and flay their skins from off them and they broak their Bones and chop them in pieces as flesh for the Caldron Micah 3. 1 2 3. And the Judgment threatned which was just upon them for their Wickedness Cruelty and Oppression which was inflicted on his People by them without any bowels of mercy was on this wise Then shall they Cry unto the Lord but he will not hear them he will even hide his face from them at that time as they behaved themselves ill in their doings vers 4. Again the Prophet saith But truly I am full of Power by the Spirit of the Lord and of Judgment and of Might to declare unto Jacob his Transgressions and to Israel his sins Hear this I pray you ye Heads of the house of Jacob and ye Princes of the House of Israel that abhor Judgment and pervert all Equity that build up Zion with Blood and Jerusalem with Iniquity The Heads thereof judge for Reward and the Priests teach for Hire c yet will they lean upon the Lord and say as many are saying now is not the Lord amongst us No Evil can come upon us Therefore shall Zion for your sakes be plowed as a Field and Jerusalem shall become heaps and the mountain of the house as the high places of the Forrest vers 8 9 10 11 12. And as the Lord was angry with that Generation for those Evils that abounded amongst them even so is he angry with this Nation because Iniquity and Transgression abounds and love to Righteousness Equity and Justice and to them that live therein waxeth cold in many who make a Profession of God and Godliness But behold the Lord hath looked down from Heaven and hath beheld the Iniquities of many to be of a Scarlet and Crimson dye and hath also beheld the great Oppression of his People and the
fed your selves with the Fat and clothed your selves with the Wool and have preyed upon the People and by your Oppression and Cruelty have scattered the Flock instead of gathering them or turning them to God who is become the Shepherd and Teacher of his People himself according to his Promise of old That he would gather his Sheep from the Mouthes of those Shepherds that made a Prey upon them Which Promise many have witnessed to be fulfilled in this our day blessed be his Name forever And are you not biting with your Teeth like the false Prophets of old and crying Peace to them that put into your Mouthes though never so Unchristian-like in their Conversations But they that cannot for Conscience-sake put into your Mouthes to maintain your Pride High-mindedness and Oppression have you not and yet are preparing War against them Let the great Spoil and Havock you have made of many sober and conscientious Peoples Goods bear witness against you And the many Prisons in England and else-where in which you have imprisoned some unto Death and many others to the Ruining of them and their Families because they could not for Conscience sake pay you your Unjust and Unchristian Demands as Tythes and many other things which never were demanded nor paid in the primitive Christian Times as Gospel-Maintenance neither is there any ground in the Scriptures for them to be demanded by the Ministers of the Gospel and seeing they were neither demanded nor paid by the Apostles or their Successors while they kept in the primitive Purity nor any Prescription given forth by the Apostles that they to wit Tythes should ever be paid or received by the Christians in future Ages And also seeing they were denyed and testified against by several of the first Reformed Protestants as Walter Brute c. Therefore for you to demand them and to cast men into Prison for the Non-Payment of them manifests you to be such as the holy Apostle cryed out against Who beguile unstable Souls an heart they have exercised with Covetous Practices Cursed Children which have forsaken the Right Way and are gone astay following the Way of Balaam the Son of Bosor who loved the Wages of Vnrighteousness 2 Pet. 2. 14 15. And these your Cruelties Persecutions and Oppressions testifie to your faces and to all People that are willing to see you that you are out of the Steps Life and Spirit of the Messengers and Ministers of Christ Jesus neither have you any Example for these your Wicked Practices and Ungodly Lives neither from the Priests under the Law nor from the true Ministers of Christ and Preachers of the holy Gospel in the primitive Times and in several Ages since the Apostles dayes but from Balaam false Prophets false Teachers c. such as the Prophets of the Lord testified against And all these your Practices of Oppression Cruelty and Persecution and your Unholy Lives and Conversations are sufficient Evidence and Ground for us had we no more not to believe that you are the Ministers and Messengers of Christ but of Antichrist for we don't read that ever the true Ministers of Christ did oppress or persecute others or leave any President for any such Practice but the contrary for it was many times their Lots to be persecuted shamefully abused and cast into Prison by others both in the primitive Times and in the Reformation and almost in every Age until this very day And so the words of the Apostle have been and yet are fulfilled to wit Yea and all that will live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer Persecution 2 Tim. 3. 12. And it was the Portion that Christ our Lord said that such who lived in and followed him should meet withal viz. That they should be hated of all Nations for his Names sake And that they should hale them before Rulers and their Councils And that they should cast them into Prison and Kill them He did not say The Believers should cast their Enemies into Prison and persecute them but commanded To love their Enemies and to pray for them that despightfully used them and persecuted them that they might be the Children of their Father in Heaven who sends the Rain on the just and unjust c. But you have been so far from obeying Christ's command to love your Enemies that you have and yet are doing despight to those that never did you any harm but have sought and yet are seeking your Everlasting Peace and Well-beeing both of Soul and Body So that Persecution and Cruelty is not a Mark of true Believers that obey Christ neither of his Messengers and Ministers whom he sends forth to preach the Everlasting Gospel but a Mark of the Whore false Prophets and Antichrist Notwithstanding all their fair Pretences for Christ yet they have been persecuting the Saints and drinking the Blood of the Martyrs and Servants of Christ For which the Anger of the Lord is breaking forth and he is arising in his Mighty Power to plead the Cause of his Suffering People and will give the Whore Blood to drink and the Cup of his Indignation and Fury which she shall not escape from his hand shall be her Portion and the Portion of all that joyn with her except they Repent And that you are in the same Steps your own Practices in persecuting and oppressing an innocent People are Evidence and Proof sufficient against you And therefore all you whose Day of Mercy is not yet over and are guilty of these things Repent of and cease from these your Wicked and Unchristian-like Practices of Cruelty Oppression and Persecution and also from your Wicked Unclean Lives and Conversations and humble your selves under the Mighty Hand of God submit to lie under his Righteous Judgments and bear his Indignation and Wrath which is just upon you for your Nickedness Cruelty and Oppression and for your Pride and Ungodliness which abound amongst many of you that thereby you may learn Righteousness and to dread and fear before the living God and to serve him in Truth and Righteousness who over all is worthy to be served honoured and obeyed forever And mind the teachings of his holy Grace and Spirit a measure whereof is given to every man to profit withal which teacheth to deny Vngodliness and worldly Lusts and to live a Sober a Righteous and a Godly Life in this present evil World And be ye Examples of Meekness and Lowliness of Mind and Spirit and of Purity Righteousness and Holiness in your Conversations Or else the Dreadful God of Heaven and Earth will pour out his Fury like Fire upon you and ye shall be as Hay and as Stubble before his Fiery Indignation which shall burn you up and none shall be able to quench it and your Portion shall be with the Beast and false Prophets who shall be taken alive and cast into the Lake of Fire that burns as with Brimstone to be Tormented forever and for evermore Moreover God Almighty whose Righteous Soul has been grieved by your Cruelty and Oppression against his People and whose holy Name has been and yet is dishonoured by your Ungodly Lives will pour out Shame and Everlasting Contempt upon you and ye shall be like Chaff before the Breath of the Almighty who will drive you away like Smoak before the Wind never to be found any more And your Names shall Rot in the Earth and your Stink shall come up And as the Remembrance of the Wicked and false Prophets are an evil Savour to this day so shall the Remembrance of you be to the Generations that are yet to come if ye Repent not speedily But that you may all escape these Judgments of the Lord and Eternal Sorrows which are prepared as a Portion for the Wicked in returning to the Lord by true Repentance and Amendment of your Lives and that you may find Mercy with God to your Immortal Souls both in this World and in that which is to come is the Desire of him who is concerned to give forth this Testimony as a Warning to all whose day is not yet over Who am a Hater of Deceit and Hypocrisie but a Lover of Truth and Righteousness and a Well-wisher of the Souls of all the Sons and Daughters of Men William Bingley THE END