to live in their native Country as their Brethren the ancient Christians were in Ages and Generations past I say as they suffer for Righteousness sake in Conscience to God not as Evil doers they shall have the Answer of a good Conscience and enjoy the Presence of the Lord which is better then Life and all those things you threaten to deprive them of and they shall live the Life and dye the Death of the Righteous and enter in and inherit the Crown of Life when you that are of a bitter spirit a persecuting envious spirit against your Neighbours who have done you no Wrong and yet profess Christ and Christianity shall see your selves shut out and when trouble anguish sorrow pain perplexity of spirit and horror of conscience shall attend you in your Houses and upon your Beds for the Hand of God will lie heavy upon the Evil-doer and Cruel Men and Vengeance is the Lord's and he will repay it and to him they can commit their Cause and appeal to for Justice seeing their Importunity though like the poor Widow's to the Unjust Judge cannot prevail with men They are known viz. the people called Quakers to be a quiet peaceable people among their Neighbours in all parishes Towns Cities and Countries where they dwell throughout England and great Observers and Honourers of the End of Magistracy and true Christian-Government which is a praise to them that do well and a terror to them that do evil and are true Subjects to the King and obedient to all the good and wholsom Laws of their native Country which tend to preserve men Liberties Properties Persons and Estates not for fear of Punishment but for Conscience sake and they are ready to obey every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's sake in all things relating to the Things of a Man giving Caesar his due and readily paying all Rates and Taxes that tend to the Good and Service and Preservation of their Neighbours and Country-men which is proper for any Christian men to do but in things relating to God and his Worship and Conscience they cannot endure to be imposed upon they rather chuse to obey God then Man in all such Matters and rather chuse to suffer the spoiling of their Goods imprisonment of their Bodies and give up their Lives also then submit to the Wills and Commands of men in Matters of Religion Church and Worship contrary to their Consciences and the perswasions of the Spirit of God in their own Hearts knowing it is a grievous thing to fall into the Hands of the living God and to sin against Light and Knowledge for fear of suffering therein they would not only be like the Common Sinners of the Times but worse who in their common Service daily confess They do that which they should not do and leave undone that which they should do who confess they have no Health in them but are full of putrified Sores from the crown of the Head to the sole of the Foot I say they would be worse then these if worse can be and would be Abomination in the sight of the Lord and a Stink in his Nostrils and his Righteous Soul would be vexed with them from day to day and they would not enjoy the Light of his Countenance which to them is better then the encrease of Corn Wine and Oyl They can say and that truly in the sight of God That they desire the good of all men and have Love and Good-wil to all their Neighbours and country-men and can truly pray for their enemies though they use them despightfully and do desire they may see the evil of their wayes and repent that they may enjoy Blessings and Peace temporal and eternal And if any thing to the contrary as Evil Thoughts Evil Will Prejudice or Enmity arise in them or among them against any they judge it with the Light and Spirit of God as an Evil inconsistent with their Profession of Christianity and directly contrary to the Life and Nature thereof for they have do declare own it their duty to live walk according to the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus and to know the same written in their Hearts and this Law was the Guide of Man-kind before Sin entred the World before outward Laws were written in Tables of Stone or in a Book And those that are led by this Law of the Spirit of Life are the righteous Men and righteous Women against whom there is no Law being living Witnesses of its power and vertue making them free from that and giving them Victory and Dominion over that because of which the outward Law was added viz. Sin And these own all good Laws outwardly and will not transgress against them And the Law as saith Paul Is not made for the Righteous but for the Wicked 1 Tim. 1.9 10. or Lawless and Disobedient for the Vngodly and for Sinners for Vnholy and prophane for murtherers of Fathers and murtherers of Mothers for man-slayers for Whoremongers for them that defile themselves with mankind for men-stealers for Lyars for perjured Persons and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound Doctrine c. And whoever talks and professes the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus and lives under the power of Sin and Death or continues in evil-doing they are no true Subjects to it nor lovers of it nor walkers in it but a shame and a Scandal to the Christian Religion and Strangers and Alians from the Common-Wealth of Israel and the Law of Sin and Death rules in their Minds and Members and leads them Captive into Evil and these are in great Bondage to the Lust of the Eye the Lust of the Flesh and the Pride of Life And these are the Children of disobedience in whose Hearts the Prince of the Air the Prince of Darkness Rules and leads them to Envy Hate and Persecute their Neighbours about Religion which was never the work of a true Christian For he that hateth his Brother is a man-slayer 1 John 3.15 He that loveth not his Brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen 1 John 4.20 Be Serious consider your Work and Condition and see how you stand in the sight of God and mind God's witness in your own Consciences and hearken to the Voice thereof and it will Infallibly inform and shew you whether the Spirit of Christ and Christianity which is the Spirit of Meckness Gentleness Kindness and Brotherly love rules in your Hearts or the contrary and the Voice of this whether it be with you or against you is as a Thousand Witnesses and all that sleight and disregard its Voice and stop their Ears at the Reproof thereof while the day of their Visitation lasts Time will come upon them and the Night will overtake them wherein they shall hear its Voice whether they will or no and be judged according thereto Conscience is compared to a Book and the
and did and do freely give and they were and are Ministers of the manifold Grace of God But these Hirelings or Preachers for Money have not received freely neither from God nor Man but have purchased their Ministry with Money and are made by Men at Schools and Colledges and are sent and ordained by Men and not by the Lord therefore they did not profit us when we were their Hearers and Disciples neither do they profit the people at all but rather cause them to err as the False Prophets and Teachers did in the Prophet Jeremiah's time recorded in the 23d chapter of his Prophecy read from the 11th verse to the 32d verse and what thou findest testified against the False Prophets in that day is true against all that are found in the same spirit and practices at this day the Priesthood of England now as the Prophets then speak a Vision of their own Heart and not out of the Mouth of the Lord they fill peoples Ears with a Noise of Words and with fair Speeches or eloquent Discourses deceive the Hearts of the Simple talking much of the Righteous Holy Men's Words but not living their Life speaking and smiting against Sin with that Weapon which can never destroy it in themselves nor others their Preaching is like that of the Scribes and Pharisees and not as one having Authority they say Hear the Word of the Lord but speak their own words conceivings and Inventions they are of those that steal the Word from their Neighbour and boast in other mens Lines c. In Christendom so called what a great Trade do these Schoolmen Rabbies Doctors Bishops and Hireling Priests make of the poor honest plain Tradesmen's Words who were some Plough-men Herds-men Shepherds and Fisher-men ome of whom it 's said knew not a Letter And how is this part of the World called Europ filled with Books and Commentaries of Papists Prelates Presbyters and other Sects under Pretence of opening and giving the right Meaning of their Words whereby indeed people are divided and confused and various in their Understandings and know not well what to do nor whom to believe nor which to follow so instead of gathering people into Unity they divide and scatter them and lead them into Sects and Opinions instead of Repairing the Breaches of the Walls of Jerusalem they Build up the Tower of Babylon instead of communicating to people the Key of Knowledge they shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men and neither enter themselves nor suffer those that would These things we have by sad and woful Experience known while we were seeking the Living among the Dead and wandring from Mountain to Hill from one Priest and Profession to another changing from one sort and fashion of Worship unto another from one Sect and Opinion to another but not from Sin to Righteousness not from Evil to Good nor from Death to Life neither through them all did we witness a Translation from the kingdom of Darkness into the Kingdom of Christ as the Primitive Christians did but remained in Sin and Corruption in Death and Darkness talking of the Fame of Wisdom and professing the holy Scriptures the Words of holy righteous wise Men the Words of sanctified justified and redeemed Men but not living the Life of Righteousness Wisdom Sanctification Justification and Redemption nay we were so far from it that we did not believe it was possible so to do while on this side the Grave our Teachers caused us to err teaching for Doctrine the Precepts of Men and the Thoughts and Conceivings of their own corrupt Hearts instead of the Word of the Lord so we were as Blind led by the Blind and walked in Darkness and in the Shadow of Death and knew not whither we went we stumbled and knew not at what and grouped like blind men for the Wall following the divers uncertain fallible Voices that are in the World which say Lo here is Christ Lo there is Christ others Behold he is in the secret Chamber and we were going forth and wandring after them and wearying our selves for a very Vanity spending our Money for that which was not Bread and our Labour for that which did not satisfie This was our state and condition in the day of our Ignorance in the day of our Captivity and Bondage to the lust of the eye the lust of the flesh and the pride of life But now we can say as the primitive Christians did 1 Joh. 5.19 20. We know that the Son of God is come not only that he Did come above Sixteen Hundred Years ago but Is come and hath given us a good Vnderstanding whereby we may know him that is true and we are in him that 's true even in his Son Jesus Christ this is the true God and eternal Life And God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into our Hearts whereby we can call God Father and whereby we are led and guided out of all false wayes and false worships out of the crooked wayes and by-pathes of our own finding out into the one true and living Way and everlasting Worship which is in the Spirit and in the Truth which was before all the false Wayes and invented Worships upon the Face of the Earth and will remain when they all vanish away So it is no new Sect or Opinion that we are now come unto but the ancient Way wherein the holy Fathers Prophets Apostles and all the Righteous walked in all Ages and Generations past from Abel and Enoch unto this day which is Christ the Lamb of God that taketh away the Sin which is Christ the true Light that lighteth every man coming into the World who is indeed the Way the Truth and the Life the Saviour of his People not in their Sins but from their Sins And the true Light now shines out of Darkness in thousands in this our Native Country and makes manifest reproves and condemns every appearance of evil and leads the Children of it out of the same this is the Vniversal Way of God wherein he is known worshipped and served acceptably this is his Son in whom he is well pleased and with all that are in him Therefore in this Light must all the Nations that are saved walk and all that walk in it witness Safety from and Power and Victory over the Evil One and Blessings Peace and Consolation abound in their inward man But all that Reject and Despise Sleight and Contemn the Light and Grace of God teaching and shining within and the leading guiding and moving of the Spirit of God within they reject and despise the Way and Means of Salvation and have no Strength against Sin nor Victory over their Enemy the Prince of Darkness which rules within in their Hearts but remain Slaves and Captives to him under the Chains of darkness let their Talk and Profession of Christ and Christianity be what it will this is the Word of Truth to all our Neighbours and Country-men whether they
Deeds done in the Body are written therein And the time will come upon them when this Book shall be opened and Men shall be judged according to what is written therein And remember the Testimony of a good Conscience both in the day of Health and Prosperity and in the day of Sickness and Adversity in Life and Death is of more vallue then all the World And in any of these States and Conditions a guilty defiled Conscience or a Conscience that through custom of doing Evil becomes as Seared with a hot Iron and a hard Heart is a grievous Plague and sore Judgment from God and an inevitable sign and forerunner of Everlasting Vengeance and is indeed the Fruit and Effect of Evil or of sleighting and despising the voice of God's Witness and the striving of his Spirit in Peoples Hearts and Consciences But the answer and Testimony of a good Conscience is of God and is as a Well-spring of Life to those that have it where Blessings and Peace are enjoyed in the inward Man amidst of all Adversity Exercises and Tryals that may attend both the outward and the inward and such can lie down in Peace notwithstanding all the Spirit of Enmity and Cruelty can work against them whether it arise from an ignorant blind Zeal about Religion Church and Worship as very much doth in Christendom not only against those called Quakers but one Sect against another Some of them being so full of Zeal and so empty of Knowledge that they think they do God Service to accomplish the Ruin of such as are not of their Church c. Or whether it arise from corrupt Interest Prejudice and Evil will the ground is one though the end be various The Lord give all People Wisdom to see their way out of the same that they may be not only Christians in Name and Profession but in Life and Nature Then all Enmity Cruelty and Violence would cease and Love and Brotherly-kindness would abound And then People would lie down like Lambs together in that holy Mountain or Mountain of Holiness where no destroyer is where no Violence Cruelty and Oppression is And this is the hearty desire of every true Christian for their Neighbours and all People who never were nor ever will be found seeking the hurt or ruin of any man threatning nor envying any because they conform not to the same sort of Religion and Ceremonies that they are of Whoever are found in this Spirit of Envy and Evil against their Neighbours and Country-men about matters of Faith Sacrifice and Worship are of the Generation of Cain the first Envyer and Murtherer about Religion and such are not Christians indeed neither doth the Law of God nor their Neighbours dwell in their Hearts nor the Fruits of the Spirit appear and grow amongst them which Fruits are Love Joy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Temperance against whom there is no Law for the whole Law and the Prophets is fulfilled in this Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and thy Neighbour as thy self read Matth. 22.37 38 39 40. and Gal. 5.14 to the end of the Chapter and the Lord prepare your Hearts to consider what you read that you may not only profess the holy Scriptures but love and obey them and receive that grace of which they testifie which taught and enabled the Primitive Christians to live the Life of Holiness they call for and to avoid the contrary that you may not alwayes be like silly Women laden with Sin and led about with divers lusts ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth which makes free but that you may know deliverance from the burthen of Sin and bondage of Iniquity and from the Lusts that lead aside and come to be made wise unto Salvation and to feel the love of God spring in your Hearts and Blessings and Peace attend you in your comings in goings out lyings down and risings up even that Blessing and Peace which the World cannot give nor take away And that you and all people may come to inherit possess and enjoy inward Peace with the Lord and heavenly Consolation in the Spirit and Life everlasting is the hearty Desire of your Friends and Neighbours in Derision called Quakers who are redeemed from the spirit of Envy hatred and Evil-will from the spirit of Cruelty Violence and Revenge into that Love which desires that Peace on Earth and Good-will to Men may more and more encrease and abound and so far as it is possible make it their daily Practice and Endeavour to live in Peace and to follow Peace and Quietness with all men according to the Doctrine of the Christian Religion which whosoever obeys and walks according thereto are preserved out of all Strife Contention and Evil-Will Prejudice Enmity Cruelty and Violence and who ever are found bringing forth these Fruits let their Talk and Pretence to Religion and Christianity be never so great they are certainly corrupt Trees and disobedient Children in whose Hearts the Enemy of God and Man rules and they have not the Love of God and their Neighbour abiding in them nor the Answer of a good Conscience neither are they Christian indeed though they profess the Name which will stand none in stead in the Day of Account Let all such to whom this may come remember they have been told so and it is the Word of Truth to them whether they will hear or forbear Now we the Quakers so called do solemnly testifie in the sight of God Angels and Men That we do not refuse to pay Tythes to Repair old Mass-Houses commonly and ignorantly called Churches or to pay Priests and Clarks Wages Easter-Reckonings Midsummer-Dues and such like out of Wilfulness or Stubbornness or out of any Enmity Prejudice or Evil-will against any man's person whatsoever but really and truly upon the Account of Conscience to God knowing and believing that we should sin against God and the Light of his Spirit in our Hearts and wound our own Consciences in so doing And we do upon the same account refuse to come to those old Mass-houses vulgarly called Churches to hear a man of unclean lips and corrupt heart Say common Service to God but Do none read over common Prayer formally and customarily without the Spirit of Prayer sing David's Psalms turned into Meeter by Queen Elizabeth's Fidlers or Musicians but not with the Spirit nor good Understanding hear studied invented Sermons of an Hour long composed in the Wisdom which this World teacheth and so not profitable to Salvation being only a profitable Livelihood to men of that Trade who preach for Hire and divine for Money and seek for their Gain from their Quarter and would exact and compel Money and Goods from such as like not their Merchandize if they dwell within their Quarter or Parish Those Prayers Singers and Preachers for Money and Hire are not like Christ's Ministers who received and do receive freely