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
sometimes been should now suffer that people with whom the power of the Lord is to be persecuted and thy name to be a cloak for it how many in all parts of this Nation have been and are at this day grievous sufferers under cruel bondage concerning tythes that great abomination and idol and cause of heavy groanings the bodies of many just men violently surprized and cast into Goals and prisons unjustly and some illegally their cruelly suffering the loss of their liberties and the enjoyments of their families and honest Assemblies and others have their goods spoiled and made havock upon almost to the ruine of families by unreasonable men through unjust Judgement and cruel dealings of some in Authority for so much unjustly challenged by the Priest or impropriator it may be they distress five times so much to the great shame of the government of a Christian Nation as may appear in a Book called the cry of the oppressed and how many are ready even to faint under the hard oppression of maintaining hireling Teachers and idol Temples many for that cause also being unjust sufferers in bodies and estates by cruel imprisonment and spoiling of goods the very cry of this oppression reaches unto heaven against thee who suffers it and against the idol shepherds who are the ground of it who makes a prey upon Gods heritage and the Lord God will be avenged upon them and they and their staff shall utterly perish wo unto them and to the idol worships of which the Land is full which they uphold which causes the hearts of the righteous to mourn because of the seed of God which is in captivity under them again many are unjust and woful sufferers because they cannot swear on this or that occasion though in all causes they speak the truth and do obey Christs commands even such are trodden upon by unjust fines charged upon them and imposed oppressions the example of which never went before many parts of this Land is witness of this and this is by the corruptness of some that bear rule under thee who rules not for God as they ought but turns the sword of justice and doth unjustly thereby and grieves the Lord and dishonours thee Again some suffer long and tedious imprisonments and others cruel stripes and abuses and danger of life many times from wicked men for reproving sin and crying against the abomination of the times which the Scriptures also testifie against in streets or Temples or other places some having been sent to prison taken on the high way and no evil charged against them and others committed being taken out of peaceable meetings and whipped and sent to prison without transgression of any Law just or unjust wholly through the rage and envy of the Devil and such who have perverted Judgement and Justice and some in prisons have suffered superaboundantly from the hands of the cruel Gaolers and their servants by beatings and threatnings and putting irons on them and not suffering any of their friends to visit them with necessaries and some have died in the prisons whose lives was not dear to them whose blood will be reckoned on account against thee one day and many more other wayes have suffered grievous things as banishments out of Towns and whipping and stocking and grievous unjust abuses and none of these for evil doing but for good even because they cannot bow to the Devil but are redeemed out of the world and therefore the world hates them and some have suffered hard cruelties because they could not respect persons and bow with Hat or knee and from these cruelties canst thou not altogether be excused in the sight of God being brought forth in thy name and under thy power consider friend and be awakened to true Judgement let the Lord search thy heart and lay these things to mind that thou may be an instrument to remove every burthen and may at last fulfill the will of God are they nothing to thee that such things should be brought forth under thee O be awakened be awakened and now seek the Lords glory and not thine own least thou perish before the Lord and men nay if men would give thee * honour and high Titles and princely thrones take it not for that which would exalt and honour thee in the world would betray thee to the world and cast thee down in the sight of the world and this is Gods word to thee what shall the whole Nation be perjured men and thou the cause of it and wilt thou transgresse by building again that which thou hast destroyed then shall the Lord and his light in every conscience bear witness against thee let it not be but deny thy self and thou wilt find the Lord honouring thee give heed unto my words and understand my speech be not exalted by man least man betray thee the Lord give thee an understanding in this and guide thee in his Councel and the rather above all things let thy heart be stirred up in thee for the Lord for now is he setting up the dominion of his Son which never shall have an end and thy Dominion must bow under it and all the Dominions of the earth or else be confounded and broken to pieces the glory of the Lord is revealing and thine shall be vailed before it and the glory of all flesh shall fall therefore strive not openly nor secretly against his way for it shall prosper there is no enchantment against us nor any formed weapon that can prosper knowest thou not that the King of Righteousnesse might command thousands of his Saints to avenge him of his adversaries and to plead his cause against the rebellious all power is in his hand yea and the authority and dominion shall be in the hands of his Saints and every one that exalts himself against them shall be brought down not by an outward sword or might of man but by his out-stretched arm and all crowns that are mortal shall be troden down by him whose crown is immortal and never fades away therefore be wise and learned this is thy day as thou dealest or sufferest to be done with the Lords people so to thee it shall be done in that day when their Government shall outreach thine and be set a top of it as thou hopes for mercy from the Lord when his Kingdom conquers thee and thine Now deal favourably and relieve the oppressed boast not thy self though the Lord hath used thee in his hand but know that when he will he can cast thee a rod out of his hand into the fire for in his hand thou art if thou honour him he will honour thee otherwise he can yea and will confound thee and break thee and make thee weak as water before him his love through my heart breaths unto thee he would thy happinesse if thou wilfully contemn it not by exalting thy self and seeking thine own glory and hardening thy heart against the cry of the poor and this I was
moved in the bowels of pitty to lay before thee who am thy friend not in flattery but in an upright heart who wisheth well unto thee in the Lord A Friend to the Kingdom of Christ and not of this world but an heir of Immortality with the Son of God called EDWARD BURROUGH The Original of this was given to the hands of Oliver Cromwell then Protector in the third moneth of the Year 1657. For the hands of Oliver Cromwell called Protector FRIEND I am moved to write to thee from the occasion of being with thee yesterday and I take liberty from the true love and pitty stired up in my hart towards thee who am thy friend and wisheth well unto thee in the Lord even that salvation thou mayest receive and that thy way may be blessed upon earth and the fruits of the knowledge of God might more abound in thee and the fruits of ignorance lesse which doth appear which I wish might be cut off before they wholly over-grow thee and remove the blessing far from thee in this life and in the life to come and bring upon thee destruction for the fruits of all unrighteousnesse brings death sorrow and misery and the light of Christ in thee shall answer in all things to the justnesse of the judgements of the Lord Thou sayest in effect that thou wouldest not or thou desirest not our persecution or that we should be persecuted by cruelty or unjust imprisonment now consider what the cause is that what thou desirest not to be done yet is done thou having power in thy hand onely to prevent what thou wouldest not have done is it not thine own unfaithfulnesse to the principle of God in thee which beareth witnesse against the persecution of the innocent or is it that thou mayest please men and therefore rather suffers wickednesse to abound and injustice and oppression to be acted against the poor making it appear thou art willing to do the false teachers of this Nation and wicked men a pleasure then to own the people of God in relieving them and easing their cruel burthens and oppressions laid upon them by unjust men for a word of thy mouth or the shew of thy countenance in dislike of these many cruel and unjust persecutions would bind the hands of many blood-thirsty men and stop the mouths of many devourers and therefore because of thine own unfaithfulnesse doth that come to passe which thou desirest not and so I must needs say this appears to be evil in thee to say in effect thou approvest not or thou desirest not our persecution and yet it is done when the power is in thy hand to remove it and this in much love and great pains I declare unto thee in the fear and Councel of God Further thou sayest thou art not guilty of these persecutions acted unjustly upon us Again consider I say thou canst not be cleared in the sight of the Lord God from them being acted under thee and in thy name in the day of the Lord the light of Christ in thee shall answer this for there seemes to be rather a favouring of them in thee and by forbearance of the actors of cruelty by which their hands are strengthened then any dislike shewed by thee in bearing thy witnesse as thou oughtest to do against them for thou knowest of some in this City and elsewhere whom we know to be just men who suffers imprisonment and the losse of their liberties because for conscience sake they cannot swear and many others in this Nation furthering cruel things upon the like or same ground even for well doing and not for evil which oppression might be removed and their unjust sufferings taken off by thee by a word from thy mouth or pen and this makes it to appear that thou canst not be clear in the sight of God in these things because not helped by thee who hath the power to help it and this is true love I give thee to understand in the day of recompence shalt thou know the Lord will not clear thee except thou repent and ease the oppressed other things thou speakest about the light of Christ which lighteneth every man that cometh into the World with the light of life or with the light of condemnation and about the Ministry of this Nation with some other things which I had a desire to have answered if time had been seasonable and thou willing to have heard but thou shouldest not have appeared in such lightnesse especially when speaking of the things of God which did grieve the spirit of the Lord and vex the righteous soul which behaviour with some words which thou utteredst with the Light of Christ is to be condemned and which I do judge with the life of God and yet doth tender and preserve the measure of justnesse and honesty which is in thee but thou art high above the principle of God and cannot receive the teachings of the Father into that mind which is Light and unstable for the Councel of God is manifest to the meek and to the lowly but there is much in thee to be judged when thou comest to the witnesse of God in thee and as concerning the light of Christ at which thou stumblest by which every man that comes into the World is enlightened in short this I say the Light to thee is given of God and it must thou own to be thy onely teacher to receive by it from the Father and to be guided by it in all things if ever thou inherit Gods Kingdom of righteousnesse and peace and this is the word of the Lord to thee and as concerning the Ministry of England for which in part thou seems to plead thus I say in plainnesse generally it is not of God but of Anti-christ and the Lord is against it for it is the ground of the greatest oppression of the poor in its maintenance as any one particular abomination which this day is in the Nation and this is the truth from the Lord and if thou set thy self to uphold them by any law made or to make against such whom God hath raised to bear witnes against them their wayes and idolatries thou shalt fall with them into perdition and be overthrown amongst them in the just and righteous judgements and this is the word of the Lord to thee for God is risen of a truth to make war against the beast which long hath reigned and against the false prophets which hath long deceived the World and I warn thee with hold thy hand from helping them if thou mean to be preserved or blessed in thy person in thy family and in thy Armies for as I said to thee the Kingdom of Christ is setting up by his own power and all must bow and become subject thereunto he needs none of thy policie nor the strength of thy arm to advance him yet would he have thee nor to prove thy self an open enemy thereof by doing or suffering to be done cruelty and
yet like ravenous Wolves cast them into prison for bidding them repent and fear God and lay away their pride and their rings points and superfluities and tell them of their costly apparel wearing gold rings and costly apparel as said the Apostle it was not the wearing of gold or costly apparel and such it may be for speaking to them have been cast into prison and for telling them they be out of the Doctrine of Christ now to make all these put them out of Prison again and all those Justices likewise as have cast friends in prison for biding People fear God it may be moved of God to cry repentance through a Town or reprove sin in the gate they cast them into prison as sturdy beggars though men or women of sufficient estates now this gives an evil savour now to make them put them out again that will be for the convincing of People and be a sweet savour and the bringing and shewing the wisdom of the Lord God to thee And friend take heed of having any to compell another to maintain his meeting house or his Clark to say Amen but that every one maintain his own meeting house and if he will have a Clark to say Amen let him pay him his wages and every one if he will have a Minister to maintain his Minister for ther 's many thousands in the Nations that they need not to say unto them know the Lord that hath the Law of the Lord written in their hearts and put in their minds and are come under his Government and knowes Christ to be their Teacher and hears him as God said This is my beloved Son hear ye him and the Apostle said to the Hebrewes God spake to our Fathers by the Prophets and visions but now in these last dayes he hath spoken to us by his Son whom he hath made heir of all things and upholdeth all things by the word of his power And friend let no drunkard nor swearer or prophane man keep Innes Taverns or Alehouses but such as fears God whose houses are wholsom to lodge travellers that no young nor old People may be nursed up in such idle places to act wickedness and to keep Games and sports and things to play in their houses on purpose for people to spend and passe away their time in vanity now this is an ill savour to a Christian life and which is common in the Nations And friend let none that is called a Minister that comes and creepes under thee for maintenance Tythes and augmentations let him first go plant and plough and thresh and get a flock and then let him reap and eat for that is the Apostles counsel take it to thy side and then thou wilt not be cumbered with Ministers then thou wilt come to know the publick service that belongs to thy place which is to do Justice And friend let no officer whatsoever that is covetous after gifts or sums of mony rewards or Bribes let no man that is such bear office for the gifts rewards and Bribes blindes his eye and make him he cannot do Justice for because of such the helpless is not helped and the jawes of the wicked is not broken and for that cause the Lord brings Judgement upon a Land and men are blinded with earthly honours gifts rewards and high places and puffed up with honours and do not see it how the Lord brings Judgement upon them and overturns them with his hand yet they take not notice who are crying peace peace but sudden destruction comes upon them so thy time is now consider as thou stands in the Wisdom of God and lives in his fear counsel and dread and feels his hand and arm and stands in his Wisdom and power thou wilt prosper and reign but if any earthly honour blind thee the Lord will come upon thee when thou dost not see it and turn thee into the earth which the earthly honour comes to and where God layes it down in the dust but whose honour is from him that 's from above and hath his Wisdom and Power by which he made all the creatures they shall reign with the Lord God in his Power strength and arm And friend take heed how thou let any perverse peevish crosse malicious Justice or Magistrate whatsoever bear any office that will not do Justice except they have earthly honour but are in strife and peevish against them that cannot give it them such Magistrates have left the Counsel of Solomon but its honour for men to do justice and it will be an honour for thee to do Justice and see that Justice be done and the greatest comfort in the world to thee in that thou wilt have peace with God everlastingly and happiness for ever and his blessing and know a world that hath no end so the Lord God Almighty preserve thee in his Wisdom Counsel and strength over the heads of his enemies in thy self and in the world both that thou maist come to live in that which comprehends the world which was before the world was made in that and with that thou maist come to order the creatures by which Wisdom of God they was made and created to his glory And friend take heed of putting of honest godly men out of the Army or putting them out of place being Justices and such as fears God in so doing thou wilt blame thy self and weaken thy Authority and remove thy self out of the hearts of them that fears God From a lover of thy soul and thy eternal good and establishing of righteousness G. F. From the Church of Christ and Elect Assembly called of the Lord and gathered by his spirit and redeemed by his Power from amongst men out of all the many false Sects upon earth into fellowship with the Father and with the Son to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes and we are named in scorn and known in the Nations by the name of Quakers To thee Richard Cromwel chosen to be Protector and chief Magistrate Governour of these Nations of England Scotland and Ireland a faithful presentation and salutation by a servant of the Church WE are rightly and truly sencible in all things of the mighty hand of the Lord God who brings all things to pass by his own Power and according to his will and in heaven and earth and over the Kingdoms of men he ruleth and Reigneth he buildeth and breaketh down and planteth and plucketh up and he pulleth down one and setteth up another and who may say what doest thou or why dost thou it for he is a great God and a mighty and his Majesty is terrible and all things in heaven and earth and all the sons of men are at his disposure whose dominion is from everlasting to everlasting and he may be feared and had in reverence by all creatures that hath life and breath And in particular we are sencible of his great and mighty Power who hath of late years in these Nations