borrow Words or a Profession but to have a right to them and be made one with them by the same Spirit of Jesus Christ the Lord of all our Mercies and as in him they lived moved and had their being who gave them forth he is so to the faithful this day and what I have heard and seen I declare that he is the true God And the Poor in Spirit receive the Kingdom of Heaven and see a nothingness and emptiness in themselves without a dayly supply from him and they are led and made to understand the Mystery of Election and Reprobation as in the two Seeds and Births the one elect and blessed of God before the World was if the mind of Man joyns to Christ who is God's Elect Isa 42. they are saved by him and Works out their Salvation with Fear and Trembling and this is the Elect and Corner-Stone Christ Jesus whom soever Builds thereon The Gates of Hell shall not prevail and will over turn overturn till he come whose right is to Reign and as unto this Elect and Precious Seed we Unite we are therein and thereby blesed of God this is not of our selves but the free Gift given of God by which we make our Calling and Election sure and in this we have learn'd to know the Reprobated and the Enemy of all Mankind that leads the mind from God into the Lust of the Eye the lust of the Flesh and the Pride of Life and all other Evils which if joined unto the Evil conceived in the mind brings Death and separates Man from God his Maker and here the strong Man keeps the House and by his Temptations therein prevails on Man to eat the forbidden Fruit by which he breaks the Law of God and falls under Condemnation from which State there is no coming nor the Figg-leaf Garment nor nothing without will cover but a turning to the blessed Appearance and Gift of God in the Soul and there find the Mystery Christ within the Hope of Glory who hath many Names and his Kingdom is compared to a little Leaven the lost Groat a grain of Mustard Seed and many other Parables and it is vailed from Man who is in the first nature of the Earth Earthly but revealed in the second Man who is the Lord from Heaven which gives us to know the first Man Adam a living Soul and the last Man Adam a quickning Spirit by which unless we be Born again of the true incorruptible Seed which enlightens us we cannot see the Kingdom of Heaven nor the Glory thereof which Man in the first Nature have strove to know but we must receive that knowledge by the ingrafted Word of God not in our will and time these things God gives as to know but being acquainted with his Mercies and the Temptations of the evil One as we may read and learn of Christ who left us an example as all true Travellers shall find in themselves him near in their best performances as I have seen and do see his approach and when I have heard or seen any on the high Mountains in their Imaginations who pretend they see all the World and their selves in conceit above all for which I have been grieved as well-knowing the danger of that State and willing I was to have advised them but knowing they was so highly set up in themselves my voice could not reach them calling that God which is not God taking the Name of the Lord God in Vain for which he will not hold them guiltless some of them having blown a loud Trumpet Jehu like saying Come and see my Zeal for the Lord of Hosts which I have been grieved to see in some both Men and Women and have lived to see divers fall which I well knew as they stood could not hold out to the end and many of Martha's Spirit I have seen and now do which runs and serves and cumbers themselves with striving to utter Words and have got the true Notion in their Heads but the true Seed hath not taken root downwards and those are they which are stumbling-Blocks who have been by some encouraged as I might have been but the Lord my God kept me out of that Temptation and many others not loving Hypocricy nor a feigned imitation whereby I might deceive others in what I was not truly to God who called me to take up the Cross to that which my Heart loved whether they were Idols of Silver or Gold or other things tho' useful yet if over-valued they fill the Heart of which there must be an emptying to make room for the Heavenly Jesus under whose Reign Israel shall safely possess their Souls in Peace and have the new Name given them and the White Stone which none knows nor can believe but those that have it and those are they that are come through great Tribulations and are washed with the Blood of the Lamb and all those of this Faith I dearly salute as being Children of one Father whose Voice I know from the Voice of a Stranger and I thank God who hath raised up the Poor in Spirit all that are therein gathered will out-last all other Notions and the Lord give Wisdom to them that have not as yet thereto attained to know the true Ministration and the right Season when they should and when they should not which in some hath been lacking which causes the weak to stumble and keeps out more than it brings in Thus have I given a short but true Account as I have passed through the Wilderness of this World and have seen many fall on the Right Hand and on the Left where also I might but have had for my preservation the cloud over me by day to keep me low that I might not be exalted neither by Visions Sights nor Revelations many have been hurt thereby and cast that on others which concerned themselves And as the cloud stood over me it kept me low from self-exaltation to know my self nothing but what I received from the God of all my Mercies and as I see the Cloud by day I also see the Pillar of Fire by Night which caused me to stand still and see the Salvation of God and the bright appearance of his Glory I am sorry for some that are backsliden and may say to them what have you or your Fathers found in the God of Jacob that you should depart from him But let all the strong will'd know little David who trusts not in Bow nor Sword but in the living God he by his Sling and smooth Stone shall hit the Head of those that defies the Armies of Israel's God And to all you workers of Iniquity who have charged us that we deny Christ Jesus come in the Flesh the Holy Scriptures and the Resurrection and say we are Heathens and Hereticks all which we know to be false and can appeal to God in the integrity of our Hearts therein and with him we can with Joy leave our Cause as well-knowing he
Blind As for rehearsal of all those former sailings therein contained if they were true yet rightly considered and impartially weighed may say since those Divisions a great manifestation there hath been of such Spirits to whom those names may deservedly be attributed tho' for many Years I have been counted a Dissenter Yet I nor many more never took pleasure to lay the Nakedness of any open but rather to cover for his Names sake who hath kept us in his Truth by which we have been preserved I have seen I have seen an Enemy enter the House and hath not been discover'd till they come into the Cool out of the Hurry and Noise and hear the call of the still Voice and herein my Soul with many other of my Christian Friends have been Blessed and by this we are led to Unite and to be truly reconciled in that Spirit by that Heavenly Jesus that true Reconciler of Man to his Maker And of this from thy true Friend be assured it was not from the Spirit of Hypocrisie Policy or any carnal or selfish End no no our House is not Built on that Sandy Foundation but on Christ Jesus that Rock of Ages which leads his in the way of Everlasting Peace which Peace cannot be declared but as it is felt of which Peace hath my Soul tasted largely and can say truly since into this happy state the Lord hath brought me I have experienced more of that Heavenly Joy and Everlasting Peace than ever I knew before but I thank the Lord who gave me a share thereof under every dispensation he hath led me through and can say they were all good in their time but this excelleth them all well knowing the Administration of John to be Glorious in its Time yet He that is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he into which Kingdom that thou may'st have an entrance after all thy Travels and come into this Sabbath and Rest with God will be a true Joy to thy Friend of which I can say with many more of my dear Friends whom I know not but as I feel them in this Spirit It is the Way and there is not another And for all those that are other wise-minded the Lord sned a Famine to come on the outward Knowledge that they may know to be led to the Spiritual Joseph whoever comes unto him 〈◊〉 upbraideth no one with what is past but receives them with his Love and embraceth them and they partake with him of the Fatness of the good Land Of this I am a witness and remain Thy True Friend S. B. S. B. AS to a Fast I desire this may be solemnly proclaimed a Fast from Strife Malice and every evil Work as new Born Babes desire the sincere Milk of the Word of Life and grow thereby in which we shall be accepted of God and truly reconciled to one another Postscript I Did not intend to have Printed this Letter I sent to a Friend but finding he hath Printed the Letter he sent to me as an Answer to W. R's Book I sent him which Book I had good Unity with and with all that are of a reconciling Spirit which to my Comfort I find many sincere hearted therein and as the vail of Prejudice comes to be taken of the Heart we shall see one another as God seeth us to whom I approve my Heart let Men Judge of me as they please it is not from any Evil or Insinuating self-end I can truly say for my self and many more true Christian Friends whose Hearts in this matter of Reconciliation is not to gain Praise of Men God is our witness but we are led to Unite by that blessed Spirit who hath shewed us of what and in what the Kingdom of Heaven consists of which is true Righteousness Joy and Peace in the holy Spirit which I with many more have tasted and could be glad all that oppose would come and taste and see how good the Lord is and with what the Immortal Soul is Refreshed I could never find satisfaction in any visible thing till I received the Word of God in which Word I find the Key of David Which opens and none can shut and shuts and none can open and that is that that opens the Mystery of the Kingdom of God in which the Father Son and Spirit is to be koown which Word of Faith gave the true understanding to the Prophets and Apostles and to all the Faithful of God to this day And in that way which some call Heresie Worship I the God of my Fathers believing all the Law and the Prophets and in Jesus Christ who is the Author and Finisher of our Faith S. B. O Lord Out of the deep I cried unto thee and thou pluckedst my feet out of the Mire and Clay and hast set them in the right way And being converted strengthen my Brethren Unto which I have this further to add when I first heard the confused noise made by G. K. and T. B. which appearance was and is to me like the Golden Calf and beholding many I knew which I thought had been more grafted in the Word of Life than to go after it for which I was greatly troubled but the heavenly still Voice gave me this Satisfaction fret not thy self be still it is a Cloud I suffer the Wind thereof shall blow away the Chaff but I will gather my Wheat thereby nearer together and this I know to be a certain Truth by which my Heart hath been often refreshed for which my Soul Praise thou the Lord. S. B. And unto all those who have raked up the miscarriages and evils and printed it and given it abroad to defame the People called Quakers whose Principles shall out-last their Malice and was some of us of their Spirit to render evil for evil revileing for revileing might say that of some of them that would cause shame who covered their foolish actions with the name of the Lord but it was and is such a Lord of which there is many but not the true God as some can witness but cover'd it from Men hopeing time might work them to see their weakness and know the true Lord over-ruling all their false Imaginations who may be truly compared to Saul when gone from the true God he goes to the Witch of Endor and she raised up what he would see but not what he should see so he was never the better for it but his Enemies prevailed and he fell by his own Sword so shall envy slay the wicked Man and they in darkness shall grope for the door but shall not find it All this is true and I own before all Men the Principle of the Quakers And have this to say for my self and many more I well know however our Enemies may render us vve knovv this by our selves and our Consciences bears us vvitness vve have in good Conversation vvalked before God and Men vvhich vvill speak for us in the gates of our Enemies and
is able in his time to plead it tho' there may be evil doers amongst us If Christ had one in twelve that was not enough for the Jews and some that followed him to say he was not in the Truth because Judas betrayed him and Peter deny'd him and he in that Agony bearing our griefs Isa 53. to cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me all this must needs stumble the Eye that looked out but they remembred his promise and waited at Jerusalem for the fulfilling of it who said he would come and he did come which confirmed them and so it hath done us And now something to you my dear Children whom I never deck'd in the extreams of formality to make my self or you seem what you were not but this was and is my desire for you seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and the Righteousness thereof and all other things shall be added unto you be sure to Remember your Creator in the days of your Youth and you shall find the Comfort of it in your Old Age or at your Death when all the Glory of this World will stand you in no stead And though some of you have met with some Disappointments yet you shall find as I have done all things work together for good and bring you nearer to God which I have ever desired for you more than for Silver or Gold tho' therein some of you have had a blessing beyond my desire and my comfort is you all set your Faces Sion-ward and to your Parents have been Dutiful Loving and Obedient for which God will bless you as you continue in his Grace This is written by one that hath been called a Dissenting Quaker which I desire not to be from faithful Friends for I never knowingly dissented from the Truth but loved it and though in some things was not satisfied yet kept as near as I could in Word and Deed to hurt no one but endeavoured to answer a good Conscience towards God and all Men in which I have found him near to help me and the blessing to my Soul and Body and have a true Love to all the sincere in Heart by what name soever called And as through Dispensations and Administrations and Gifts which are all by the same Spirit God is pleased to give a further manifestation of Himself who is a Spirit in that way shews Himself to Man as he can receive him which was and is his great Love knowing how happy he is made by it and unhappy without it and God's great Condescension therein who seeks Man before Man seeks Him because he is good and would have Us be like unto Him and take delight in Us and we in Him and in this way he led all his faithful People before the Law and after which Law was given by Moses by Divine Inspiration many Years after some of those things were done which all had their signification and pointed at Christ Jesus coming in the Flesh who when come said before Abraham was I am and they in the Wilderness drank of the same Spiritual Rock which Rock is Christ the Messenger of God and of the New Covenant the Law written in the Heart unto Him must all come that will truly know the Interpretation of what 's contained in both Old and New Testament which was declared from the Spirit and Power of God in the true Seed and that were left to be profitable especially to the Man of God through Faith in Christ Jesus by which we may see as our Minds are turned to God the Examples of those that followed the Lord their God and there make a true spiritual Application and see how far we are come into the good work of God in the proving of our Hearts as Abraham Offered up Isaac so must every one offer up what God requires to manifest our love to God and for all such who by Faith walk God will provide himself a Sacrifice and so Jacob the wrestler with God sent from his Father's House to go into a strange Land and have no dependency on any outward or visible thing in this his Journey yet Travels on and the Sun sets night comes on on this Stone lays his head and thus rests on the faithfulness of God to him in all conditions and then is the ladder of true experience seen where the Angels of God ascend and descend at the foot abode and you will say God was here and I knew it not and here Jacob received his blessing to whom Children was given and there was a striving as by the best Mind and Spirit you shall find the eldest by Nature will seek to rule and strive against the beloved of the Father And Joseph the true born Son sold into Egypt to provide Corn for Jacob and his Sons but they must go down to fetch it and this is to be known in its time and season and the Scripture fulfilled and the spiritual meaning therein known As Saul the first King over Israel for stature and appearance Beautiful annointed of the Prophet to be King but God saw beyond outward appearances into the Heart and they that go out from God their strength their defence is gone and they shall become weak as Soul did and their Enemies prevail then contemtible David who by his Brethren dispised him God saw and by the Arm of God's strength had killed the Lyon and the Bear and in that Power by which he overcame the Latter by believing in the same Power he overcame the greatest of his Enemies and this made him King in Saul's stead though with him he had long Wars to Fight the Lord's Battle but Solomon by the true Wisdom of God must Build the House in whose Reign there is Peace and Safety and he shall Judge and give true Judgment betwixt the Mother and the Child and Christ's Kingdom Typified in Solomon's consists of Righteousness Peace and Joy which is very delightful and desirous because the satisfaction the Soul receives thereby and hath a true sight of the Love of God in all he doth is but to make his Creature Man happy which Love is so great it cannot be expressed for the which all those that have received it praise God and all that have not come out of themselves and seek the Kingdom of Christ not in words but in Truth that they may partake with thy Saints in Glory and thereby see the Emptiness and Vanity of this World whether it be Profession Pleasure Riches Honour the Excellency of this Excels them all And to all you sincere hearted as Cornelius was to whom Peter was sent who said I see of a Truth God is no respecter of Persons but amongst all that truly fears God and works Righteousness are therein accepted yet God was pleased by Peter to Preach and Testifie unto Jesus Christ as his anointed who was crucified and to his Resurection from the Dead Acts 10. that in and through him they might believe and receive the Gift of
the Holy Ghost and of Power and thereby the inward cleansing from Sin and Pollution and by the Power and Work of Christ to become the Sons of God which no outward thing can do but whoso therein believes shall find Power in that Gift which God hath given which is a true discerner of the thoughts and intents of the Heart to which I would persuade all that are weary and heavy laden to come unto and they shall assuredly find Rest to their Souls by Christ Jesus the Substance unto which all Men must bow in the inwardness of their Hearts for the day of his bright Appearance is at hand and Behold he comes with Clouds Rev. 1.7 yet they that are gazing abroad cannot see him being veil'd from that Eye and Mind as he was unknown to the Jews formerly who had a great expectation of the coming of the Messiah who came in the will of God at the appointed time yet he not coming in that Glory and great Appearances they expected him they could not believe nor think that it was he and now there is great expectation in some of his second appearance some saying Lo here and some Lo there and yet still are disappointed and strangers to his appearance in Spirit but to them who truly look for him he shall appear the second time without Sin unto Salvation and there the true inward Christians shall see him in his Glory and enter into his Kingdom which exceeds all the glory of this World neither can the wise imaginary part in Man give a true description thereof but as God's Wisdom rises up into the Throne and hath the Government of the Mind they shall know the depth of these things from him that gives it and give him the Praise who hath brought them into so happy estate who desires well for every Creature both Man and Beast who groans for deliverance And as a Man comes to be gathered into the light and changed into the Nature of Jesus Christ the whole Creation will reap great benefit thereby and as many as have seen the beginning of the good Work of God in what he did He divided the Light from the Darkness and saw the Light and it was Good and so he went on in every day's Work till the whole Creation was finished and as we read in the Old we must find it in the New for he saith I will make a new Heaven and a new Earth wherein shall dwell Righteousness And as in the first he went on in order in his Work so you shall find him now and though by him called into the Vine-yard to work it shall find in many a high and strong will which would obstruct the good Work of God and that Hammon like gets upon the Kings Horse but he 's not Mordica that sits low in sackcloth at the gate and where this is in what pretence so ever in whom Pride rises and prevails it will if suffered destroy the Seed of the Jews but he that sees in secret will reveal the matter and that Spirit shall be brought down let its cloathing be never so glorious God hath decreed to exalt Mordicai who is of the true Seed he is found worthy and the Lord lives he shall Reign whose Right it is though the Heathen rage and the People imagine a vain thing yet will he set his Son upon the holy hill of Sion I could not well omit one thing more to give satisfaction to some who may think I am one that goes under the name that ministers to the People but I am not but this I give as my experience to all that are traveling to find rest with God in his Kingdom of Peace but to appear in a Publick Assembly there to speak I never did and I am of the Apostle's mind Let such Women as want Instruction or would usurpe Authority over the Man keep Silence in the Church and give place to Man to whom God hath given Preheminency and made fit for that great Work in which Work had not I satisfaction in my self and been strengthened by those worthy good Ministers through the weakness of some others who thereto pretend and as I well know run when they are not sent I might have stumbled but I saw how ever Justified by others divers of them were not nor are not upon the right Ground and some of them have been blown away like Chaff with the Wind not but that I know there is many Good and Vertuous Women who are appointed for good Examples in their Families who in Modesty Sobriety Charity and good Works a good Life and Conversation with these I joyn and in that Life I desire to Preach to my Children Friends Neighbours and Servants and they that in this rightness of Heart Live shall deceive none but gain to themselves a lasting Establishment which shall be of good Savour never to be repented of and as in this I desire to do unto all as I would be done unto and that in Truth and Sincerity I have here writ may be for the good of all to help the Feeble and strengthen the Weak and that from the ground of Integrity and in Good Will to all Men and it being received in the good Mind will cover any Weakness herein contained and make that use of it as it is intended Good Will to all and Glory to God Yet as there was formerly so there is now he that is born after the Flesh Persecutes him that is born after the Spirit whose Censures I expect not to escape it being so natural to the Litteral Jews when they could find nothing to accuse Christ of whilst upon the Earth sought what they could to intrap him in his Words but God gave him that Wisdom to see in them and cautioned his Disciples not to give the Childrens Bread to Dogs nor Pearls to Swine least they trample them under Foot and turn again and Rent you under Christ's Protection I leave my self This writ by one that hath waited at Wisdom's Gate for Instruction who hath given me an entrance to know as I have here declared and all that would go higher to see the Bride the Lambs Wife must be guided thereto by the Meek and Humble Spirit of Jesus without which there is no Safety though they may understand all Mysteries and give much to the Poor and have all those Gifts the Apostle mentions in the 13 of the 1. Epistle to the Corinthians and yet if the most excelent gift of Charity be wanting that thinks no Evil which boasteth not c. but Suffereth Believeth Hopeth and Endureth all Things and rejoyceth in God alone he that is here will out-last all other let their pretences be what it will and they that come not here let them change their Habits their Customs and as some call it the Worlds Fashions yet if they come not to see the World's Covetousness unto which the Heart of Man is naturally inclined rooted out the Earth will open and swallow up that
Mind and the Heart will be dead to God and they will loose their part in the blessed Inheritance Some on the other hand notwithstanding they may have seen the good way set forward therein but soon forgot what the Lord did for them who brought them out of the Land of Darkness from under their hard Taskmastrrs who put them to make Brick without Straw their Hearts not being throughly Converted they lusted for the Garlick and Onions again their old Diet and though they had past the Sea many dyed in the Wilderness and all them that delighted in the Sins of Sodom and make a mock at the good Angel that God hath sent to pull just Lot out of Sodom they shall be struck Blind and the Fire of God's Wrath shall destroy all such that come not in at the right Door of him who said I am the Way the Truth the Life and the Light who ever striveth by any other way will be found Theives and Robbers and deprive the Soul of its In heritance with God This by one who for many Years hath been counted a Dissenter being never forward to intrude into those things I had not seen nor adhered to what I had not a clear sight as my duty to God and there I stand still waiting on God to reveal to me yet that God that sees the inside the Heart hath rewarded me according to the sincerity thereof and I have found his Love so great and unexpressible which hath made up all again more than I have lost by any Man and hath safely preserved where Man could not see me whose Eye is abroad and looks at the outside appearance but as God's Eye who beholds both Evil and Good so have I seen in both Parties things acted and done which my Soul had no Pleasure nor Unity with but was willing the Lord should bring me off from those from whom he was departed and that the sincere hearted of both sides might be Reconciled for the accomplishing of which I have used my best Endeavours desiring there may not be a looking at what is past but an endeavouring for the good of all as I have really done as may be seen in this following Letter which I writ in answer to a Friend who was and is dissatisfied with some for appearing therein but let thembe what they please I am well satisfied in this good Work But I have seen the new Wine put into the old Bottle it not being well seasoned there becomes a Sowerness and the good Relish thereby seems to be lost that is in it self good in which state there is many that keeps to the old Leaven of the Pharisees Christ gives this Mark by which they should be known They love the uppermost Places and to be Master make long Prayers and to preach in their own Wills different in their Robes makes a fair show in the Flesh that they may appear well unto Men this hath been and is a great grief to the Just but I am comforted in this I see many right-hearted and good Christians who speaks from the Truth the annointed of God those God will bless and he will appear in them who reigns in Righteousness and all such shall reign with him for ever and ever and as I have seen this Good I have also seen this Evil which Man is prone to and apt to set a great value upon themselves and they not see it and let the Truth be never so plainly discovered and from the Spirit of the Living God dictated yet if it comes not in their way and after their manner as they have set it up in themselves there is no room for any thing to enter though never so good of this I have made to my self a good Caution and said O Lord if this Iniquity remains in me search it out for I see it looks ill in others and so it will in me if I am found therein S. B. How mean soever I may appear to Man A Witness in my Soul there lives that can Bear Record to the Father this that I Seek not Mortals praise but Immortality That Crown of Rest and Peace I may receive Which Mortals have not in their Power to give Which he must do who sets me free from Sin And being clean in Peace there Rules that King Who will not joyn unto Iniquity But love's Vprightness and Integrity Thinks Human Wisdom I can easily see The Scripture can this thing declare to me But 't is not known by Pleasure Ease or Sleep Who find this Pearl must dig low and deep And who finds before it be his own They must sell all to purchase that alone And cast up all his Stock and look within Before to Build this House he doth begin And learn by true experience rightly for to know The thing that 's realy good from what 's but good in show Remember Babel do not build too High Nor make a Tower to reach unto the Skie Nor look thou out but turn thy Eye within See Christ there laid then build thy House on him Who build not on that Rock shall surely fall For he is that Corner Stone uniteth all Cease then a while you Humane Learned Men That know your Wisdom cannot find out him Thou Willing and Obedient know it 's thee Whose Vale is rent to see this Mistery It 's not the prudent learned Wit that shall Him comprehend who is the Light of all The Lamb of God who comes in love to gain And bring lost Man stray'd from God back again And make Man happy the greatest good that can Befall to Mortals or the Sons of Men Which if not rightly known what e're we do Wants the good Oil and God's acceptance too He sees the Heart and what rules there full well Whether it be Pride or Passion Husk Fame or Shell Of all that cumber we must come to see Man strip'd of all and Christ alone to be The true conducter from the ways wherein He 'll not appear because they lead from him And all that goes in this true blessed way Shall by his Light be sav'd both Night and Day And as I have walk'd unseen and all alone In secret to my God I made my moan It s restless eye that makes complaint to none But unto thee from whom relief must come Out of my Troubles Doubts and Fears And send the Harvest which was sown in Tears Tho' sorrow may indure for a Night Thy morning Presence brings my Soul delight Thou art a God of Truth in all things Just And those that know thy Name will in thee Trust An Answer to a Letter from a Friend THine I received and have considered thereof and could have been more large in my own and my Friends Vindication therein concern'd but am gathered into that not to strive but to commit my Cause to God in well-doing having in my self and many others seen Pride to beget Passion and Passion Prejudice by which the Eye of the right understanding is made
vve find the ansvver of a good Conscience a continual Feast who have not received the Truth by observation but by the true administration by which we have learn'd vvhat lets into the Kingdom of our God and vvhat keeps out let Mens pretences be vvhat they vvill they that makes lies there refuge and takes avvay Mens good names shall be found vvorkers of Iniquity I having in this small account hinted of many States and several ways of the Lord 's working in Man that he may come to know him and on him rely in all estates I have one thing further to add I have lately seen an excercise at hand but when or in what I know not but leave it to God and his appointed time let it be in Mercy or in Judgment I believe all is for good as I have ever found all his dealings to me it was unpleasant to the fleshly part but I turn'd in and saw God's preservation near to all that truly on him relies and in nothing else was there safety and therefore I desire all to draw their minds from Vanity and consider their latter end that it may go well with them what change so ever comes for the glory of this World passes away therefore Work while the Day lasts for the Night cometh wherein no Man can Work I have also by my experience learned that in Sights and Visions without watchfulness there is a Temptation near there being a readiness in Man to cast that on others which God intends for our selves if vve could patiently wait till the Vision speaks for vvant of that many have run fiercely into things without and have fail'd and have brought Reproach on themselves and God not glorified thereby this I have also seen and is often before me and as there is no outward thing I more truly rejoyced in than to hear the Faithful Ministers of Jesus Christ in the which I am Comforted that God hath given such a manifestation of his Heavenly good Spirit to instruct his People in the Right and Everlasting Way which God will Establish in the Earth though I could be glad for the sake of many who take offence and are kept back because it is very discernable Martha's Spirit speaks when they had better be Silent goes hastily forward but would find a greater gain in themselves if they learn'd to obey and stand still and see the Salvation of God such may be angry that others rise not up and serve after their manner but Jesus that rightly knows the Spirits of all saw Mary sit at his Feet low in her self she chose the better Part which shall never be taken away and the Seed lown in that good Ground shall bring forth Fruit to the Lord of the Harvest but there is several sorts of Ground in vvhich the good Seed is sown and there are many Obstructions in the Ground which hinder the Prosperity of Gods holy and good Seed but the Harvest will come and the good Husband-man will discern the Tares from the Wheat vvhich none else can do there being such a likeness the Administration of John vvas Glorious in its time but he said Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the Sins of the World shall be preferr'd before and above all appearances be they vvhat they vvill here many that are Last shall be First and the First Last these are Christ's ovvn Words and are certainly true and beleived by one vvho vvishes vvell to all S. B. I being incouraged by the Immortal God to Print this and the matter contained therein and gave it to several Friends and it coming into the hand of T. C. he came to me and asked me Whether I meant George Keith To whom I replied I did who made this Application because he Preached up the Man Christ Jesus therefore he said I made him the Golden Calf and so he reported it And to all that shall hear this Report I have this to say and take Almighty God to be my Witness I do believe Jesus of Nazareth Born at Bethlehem according to God's Divine Appointment to be the Eternal Son of God and all those things to be true as the Scriptures declare of him and have received so great a benefit by him as my Tongue cannot express and for this false Aspersion and wrong Interpretation of T. C. I leave God to plead my Cause whom I know is able and in his time will do it but must say as I have once before He that is born after the Flesh Persecutes Him that is born after the Spirit FINIS