enlarge your border And the eternal God of power be with you chosen ones for the Lords work you shall have your reward Nay he is come and his reward is with him I know you have it and witness his power and his presence with you so my dear ones in that which limits all and chains all and keeps under all deceit dwell and abide for ever in the living power which makes the strong man bow down and the Devils tremble and the unclean spirits roar and the power you know where is your life that all the powers of death cannot reach and therefore doth the potsheards of the earth strive in vain to set briars and thorns in battel against him in vain do they rage for notwithstanding all that God hath set and will set his own Son upon the holy hill of Sion glory unto him for ever shout out for joy oh ye sufferers for him who are set free by him and your freedom can none take away for he is greater then all even him in whom ye have beleeved standing in his power wisdom and councel who is neer you that none is able to pluck you out of his hand for he hath the keyes of David who opens and none shuts and bindes and none can loose even he who rebukes the windes and seas and they obey him and causes a great calme and causes the waters to abate nay to stand of a heap and dries up the tongue of the Egyptian Sea that his ransomed ones may go over into the rest and he that hath and doth believe in him is entred into the rest where we all meet in one in him who is the Judge of all the world the light of the world and our life who believe in his name but the condemnation of all the world who walk in unrighteousnes for ever and ever For with the pure upright he dwells and his throne is established in righteousness for ever and ever and unto our God who lives for ever shall all the powers of the earth bow to whom be glory and eternal praise of all his redeemed ones for ever and ever F. H. O All ye Sons of Sion and ye daughters of the King who is glorious within who have waited for the Bridegroom Oh my beloved ones you who have long sitten in a solitary place and have been as a silly Dove without a heart hath bin as a widow desolate as a par ched heath you that hath wandred up down in the long night of darknes knew no rest but were as one cast off by all all that passed by you laughed at your sorrow you have been as a hissing and as a proverb to all and as a mark to shoot at by all your faces have been as the tents of Kedar parched and your skin withered for want of refreshment and as a dead tree that bears no fruit Oh yee who have come through great tribulation and have suffered the loss of all the spoiling of all even the greatest riches the chiefest Jewels who have lost all your knowledge and wisdome and become fools for Christ's sake and hath parted with all and hath suffered the indignation of the Lord to pass over all and hath drunk of the cup of fury at the hand of the Lord who have suffered hunger famine pestilence and earth-quakes and the darkning of the Sun and the Moon lost her light and the stars have fallen and the pillars of heaven hathbeen shaken the Earth hath been removed out of its place as a cottage and you have cried out in the midst of all this he hath forgotten to be gracious his mercy come to an end The womb hath been shut up desolation and sorrow loss of children and widowhood in a day came upon you Oh ye tossed afflicted and not comforted that have been as Eunuchs dry and barren as in the drought of summer that have been as Pelicanes and as Doves who have sorrowed for the loss of her Mate and as one in sorrow for the losse of her first-born who have been in bitterness and none could comfort you I am one with you your state I know I love you eternally yea ye are my brethren and Sisters for ever sealed in my heart and engrrveu to be read for ever I see you I behold you I kiss you and embrace you with an holy kiss of everlasting love which overcomes death and hell which love thinks no ill ye that are made partakers of this love knows what I say Ye that have waited for him and wait and suffer the spoyling of all I am married unto you I came forth of the same womb which is eternity free for ever free-born not in bondage because the Prince of this world is judged and cast out and the glory of the Lord revealed Come forth ye sons and daughters of Jerusalem which is free from above utter forth your voice sing aloud the Bridegroom is come and is coming and ye that have suffered the spoyling of all rejoice for evermore lift up your Voices as Trumpets He is come he is covered with righteousness as with a robe his countenance is as the morning his eyes is brighter then the sun his voice is life eternal salvation is round about him he dwells in eternal life life is in his right hand and joy is in his presence and peace for evermore he is a tryed stone he is a rock which the righteous flies to he hides his under his wings covers them wth his feathers Beauty beauty glory glory eternity eternity ness Almightiness power riches honor dignity and dominion strength wisdom and goodness fulness satisfaction eternal treasure durable riches infiniteness is his Name for ever unexpressible I am filled with his love and power he opens the windows of heaven he rains his showres as silver drops and as fine Myrrhe as sweet odours he nourishes the yong he carries the Lambs in his arms of love he drives gently them that are with young he is true and faithful for ever he keeps covenant he is long-suffering and kinde who can declare his power I am lost in the incomprehensible being of eternal love Oh my dear ones come up hither fellow-Citizens of Jerusalem which is from above who is our Mother which few know but you who are written in the Lambs book of life sound forth his praise trumpet forth his power declare his Name among the people that it may sound into the ears of Generations to come this is he we have waited for this is he who hath begotten us to himself to reign with him the Lamb upon Mount Sion as Kings and Priests and Judges of the Prince of darkness death and hell for ever salvation honor and glory be to him for ever eternall infinite Praises Praises to him for ever who was dead and is alive and lives for evermore King of kings for ever majesty glory and power and eternal renown is in his right hand for ever his redeemed ones lives for ever dwells follows lives in him for ever no beast can touch the mountain where he dwells but he dies for ever Come away my beloved ones drink abundantly and be refreshed and praise his names for ever eternally I am shed and spilt among you never so as now never to be separated out of the eternal oneness sound forth his praise declare his word let it go forth as thunder let the Heathen bow let the Princes of this world fall and the kings worship at his feet for ever let the disputers tongue cleave to the roof of his mouth for ever let all flesh keep silence for ever Babylon is fallen and become the habitation of Devils for ever the judge of all the world hath confounded and cursed her language for ever God is risen and sits upon his Throne eternal wisdome is come and the Ancient of dayes all carnall shall be confounded stop all mouths in the dust for ever Eternity shall speak and judge for ever whom he binds is bound for ever whom he looseth he looseth for ever whom he remits are remitted the Devil is chained the grave gives up her dead and the sea and hell all is judged by him that lives for ever O beloved ones who are the children of my eternall father who have eaten at his Table and drunken of the new wine in the Kingdome of God who are nourished dandled upon the lap of everlasting love who suck at the breasts of everlasting consolation your beauty is comely I am ravished I am filled Iam filled with love to you all I am sick of love your beauty hath ravished my heart come sit down my dear Lambs together in the fold where no wolf can come and let us rejoyce together and sound forth his praise who hath washed us and cleansed us and covered us and made us worthy to enter into the fold the Bride-chamber to eat with him of the bread of life for ever at the eternal Table of life the Bridegroom is come friends of him I know you rejoyce greatly because of his voice And now my deer beloved ones follow him for evermore in the eternal light and life where we were bred brought forth and nourished and are unknown to all the world but me you know and I know you in one who is the condemnation of the world and in him I meet you and leave you in his arms I lie down with you in the bosome of eternal love life peace joy and rest for ever where none can make us afraid Bandon in Ireland the 7th month 1655. My name ye know my voice ye know this is to all my beloved brethren who are redeemed from ye earth Francis Howgill
despises his law and his statutes and counteth his subjects as slaves and bond-men Stand upon your feet and appear in your terror as an Army with banners and let the nations know your power and the stroke of your hand cut down on the right hand and slay on the left and let not your eye pitty nor your hand spare but wound the lofty and under foot the honourable of the Earth and give unto the great Whore double and give her no rest day nor night but as she hath done so let it be done unto her and give her double into her bosome as she hath loved blood so give her blood and dash her children against the stones and let none of the Heathen nations nor their Gods escape out of your hands nor their images nor idols but lay waste the fenced Cities and tread down the high Walls for we have proclaimed open War betwixt Michael our Prince and the Dragon Your Captains are mighty men and your leaders are skilled to handle the sword and they are riding on before you Arise worm Iacob and fear not but thresh the mountains to dust for God hath given thee the power of thy enemies to tread upon and they shal flie before thee shalt fall by thy sword there is none too strong for thee nor no inchantment against thee but thou art blessed blessed world without end Therefore all ye Lambs of my Father and ye Camp of the Lords Host wait upon him to fulfil his Will for he hath put into your hearts to make war in righteousness against the beast the false Prophet and cursed be every one that riseth not up to the help of the Lord against the mighty the Beast is mighty and the false Prophet is great and they keep the Nations under their power But O thou Beast and thou false Prophet you shall be tormented together thou Beast upon which the false Prophet sits whom thou upholds by thy Law and defends by thy unrighteous power thy power is limited and it shall betaken from thee and thou shalt be overcome and the Lamb shall get the victory and into the pit and lake of fire shall you be turned to have your resting place And thou false Prophet which hath deceived the Nations and scattered the inhabitants thereof and builded by fraud and daubed with untempered morter thy Judgment is past upon thy head already and the Decree of our God is sealed against thee thy smoke shal ascend for ever and ever and of thy sin there is no forgiveness nor of thy torment no remission Over you do we and shall for ever rejoyce and sing and over your God and your King the Dragon that old Serpent cursed be he and his memorial for ever Ye Lambs of the true Shepheards fold with whom my soul resteth whether ever I behold you outwardly yet my heart is with you and I am one of your fold and I lye down with you under the shadow of the rock upon the Mountain which the beast cannot touch where we are safe from all our enemies and am to you wel known to be read in your hearts in the Record of the Lambs Book of Life and known only to the world by the name of Edward Burrough Written at Dublin City in Ireland To the Camp of the Lord in England TO all the seed of Abraham who are Iews indeed and Israelites in whom is no guile who are of the true circumcision made without hands Who are of the off-spring of David and of the Church of the first-born who are the first fruits unto God Ye royal off-spring of the Rock of Ages who have come out of the everlasting washing My dear Brethren called Quakers who have eaten your bread with fear and trembling whom your Brethren hath cast out Oh how I love you my soul is knit unto you my heart and life breaths after you I am one with you in suffering and in joy ye are the choicest of the Flock ye are the fairest of all the children which is brought forth Oh my beloved ones though I be among the Tents of Kedar as without where the Voice of the Lord hath neither been heard nor known it you I forget not if I do let the tongue cleave to the roofe of my mouth and let me never speak more in the Name of the Lord who is my life and the portion of my cup for ever Oh! what shall I say unto you none knows your beauty nor innocencie nor glory but them who are redeemed out of Kindreds and Nations and Tongues and People and Countries who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes For the name of my God and your God who is living and lives for evermore is in your foreheads you are his off-spring and the fruit that came out of the Eternal Womb begotten by the Eternal Word of life which lives for ever and are nourished at the eternal Table in the everlasting Mansion-house of my Father which is in Heaven None so fair none so beautiful none so glorious none so rich you are crowned with love for ever you are clothed with righteousness for ever you eat of the Tree of life which heals the nations and of the bread of life that nourishes you up for ever drinks of the living Waters which runs fresh beautiful and coole in it you are bathed and suppled and made white you are builded upon a Rock storms cannot move you tempests cannot make you afraid in this you have been and are like to be tryed Your Armour is righteousness on the right hand and on the left your City is free The Gates stand open day and night and a Wolf nor Lyon nor any beast can enter no not so much as a flying-Fowle Oh how goodly is thy Tents O thou seed of Iacob the Elect whom he hath chosen O how pleasant is your scituation The Tower of David Mount Sion stands sure and cannot be moved Oh! who is a people like unto you saved by our God that lives for ever His love is large he is kinde he is long-suffering he is faithful and keeps covenant and his Promises are Yea Yea He is the Amen the first and the last Come forth my dear brethren set forth his praise declare his name among the heathen publish his name among the Congregations let the earth be filled with his love and power that his Judgements may be declared and his Statutes that they sound in the ears of generations to come O ye that are convinced of the truth of our God wait in that which doth convince and keep your mindes to it love it and follow it whither it leads you and it will lead you to know the gift of God which leads to repentance from dead works to serve the living God who dwells in the immortal Light and take heed of looking back at the pleasures of sin you have formerly lived in but wait upon the pure light of Christ Jesus in patience that so you may see
the enmity which is against God and it slain in you daily that so you may see him that is the Saviour of the soul and take heed of rebelling against the Lord who hath given you a measure of his true light to lead you from sin if you love it unto righteousness from whence it comes even from the righteous Judge of all the world who judgeth every man out of the book of his conscience and so prize the everlasting love of God to your souls that you may see him who lives for ever And all Babes who are born again who have suffered the pangs of death and know the indignation of the Lord against sin and the terror of the Lord against the man of sin who have roared for the disquietness of your-hearts who have born the indignation of the Lord and are come to the giving forth of the Law where there is thundring and Earth-quakes and terror and great hail and fire and smoke even such as was not since the beginning in somuch that you could not hear his Voice and live nor see his face and live Stand still in patience and let it have its perfect work in you and bear the indignation ye that are in it if you endure the tribulation with patience hope you will see and a time of refreshment will come endure the cross that the mortal and earthly and carnal may be judged and the ground shaken and taken away and that you may see the liuing hope to stay your mindes upon And ye who are enliuened and doth witness the Law of righteousness set up in you which is a Schoolmaster and keeps in the fear stand in it and keep in the fear low in soberness and calmness and then you will see your hearts purified daily and the cursed nature judged which is out of its course and it bridled and subjected and the Law which is pure and holy and eternal which stands for euer in power and force against the transgressor to judge all Righteousness and so wait that you may see the Lyon tamed and the wilde Heifer yoked and the yoke of Christ born and the wilde colt tamed by him upon which never man sate before then and not till then is Hosanna sung And all wait in your measures dear Babes that the milk of the Word you may see and be nourished by it and grow up as living branches about the Table of the Lord And all you yong men and Virgins that know Virginity keep your Virgin you in whom the Prince of this world is judged and cast out and the righteous law of God revealed and given forth in which you stand and walk and hath peace from him who is the Law-giver and Judge who hath saved you from your iniquities and blotted out your sins for his own Name sake You who knows the living Water and Spirit of which you are born again and witnesses the birth which enters into the Kingdome of God where no mortal or unclean beast can come Keep in the life and power of God which limits all and chains all under that the life of the Son of God may live and speak in you and be bold In the dread of God stand and that which leads into slavery keep out And now being made partakers of his everlasting love walk worthy of his love and of the high calling whereunto you are called who hath created you in Christ Jesus unto holiness and righteousness for ever that to the praise of his grace which you are saved by by which you have obtained the remission of sins and an inheritance amongst them that are sanctified So wait in the living Hope and the living Faith in which God is well pleased in which you ask and receive of him and are accepted of our heavenly Father And this Faith ye know which is a present power and a shield against all temptations and a Helmet and as a Fortress by which you are preserved safe standing in it and putting it on in the day of trial My dear Brethren of the everlasting Kindred and Heirs of the everlasting Promise wait all in patience having received an earnest of the inheritance that never fades away to the end abide in the Fathers counsel and at Wisdom's gate Ye know what I say I write not unto you because you know not the truth but because you know and are made free in your measures by him who is the Truth and the Way in which all our fathers and you also have obtained a good Report even of all the houshold of Faith and take heed of the glory of the World and look not at hardship for verily all the suffering is nor worthy to be compared to that glory which is revealed and to be revealed unto all that wait and abide in patience and faithfulness unto the end but be ye as good souldiers endure hardship that you may receive the end of your hope and the euerlasting prize and the purchased possession and the Crown of glory which God will give unto you in his own day which is coming on towards you if you continue in the hope in the faith and in the love unfeigned which thinks no ill by which and in which love we have Victory ouer the Grave Sin and Death which he hath freely shedabroad in our hearts unto whom be everlasting Praise for ever and ever To him which was dead and is aliue and liues for euermore the Mediator of the new Gouenant of life and peace in which we haue access freely to the Throne of grace and are accepted in him who is the condemnation of all the World who hate the light but your life the light of the world God blessed for ever and ever And all you Fathers and Elders and honorable Women who are not a few whose bones and sinews are filled with marrow and fatness who wait at the Altar of the Lord and knows the Merey-seat which hath ouershadowed you and the golden Vessel in which is the hidden Manna by which all the children of the Lord are fed round the Table of the Lord out of the euerlasting treasure-house of my Father Watch ouer the Flock of Christ Jesus in euery place and region and quarter where the Lord hath set you and gouern them in all wisdom and righteousness that the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ may be adorned And take care of them willingly knowing this the Lord requires of you and hath called you unto and to nourish the plants and the young ones and the babes and that every one may know their place and watch and instruct in all wisdom and correct and reprove in the name and power of our Lord Jesus that no rebellious nor sloathfull may grow up nor be harboured among you but all in diligence may be kept in the fear of the Lord in their places that the Gospel of Christ Jesus be not evill spoken of nor the heathen blaspheme And therefore my dear brethren be diligent in the work of the