once and again overturned and overthrowed and changed at his pleasure times and powers and Authorities and Dominions and he hath brought down the mighty from their seats and stained the Crowns and glories of the honourable and broken the stout-hearted and the oppressors and their Governments as potsheards one against another and made the highest of men of no respect before him for he hath pulled down and set up whom he would according to his will and in all these things hath his hand been the very doer and accomplisher thereof that he might be known and feared amongst all People through the whole earth who is the dread and terrour of men and Nations And as for thy Father the late Protector great things and honourable did the Lord do for him in raising him up and casting out his enemies before him and giving him victory and power and renown through Nations and we know the Lord shewed favour to him and gave him strength wisdom and valour and a right spirit and he was called of God into that great work to subdue the grievous tyranies once ruling over tender consciences and to break down the great oppressions which for ages had caused the just to groan and the Lord was with him in victory and went before him and was his defence and preserved him from great dangers and from the wills of all his enemies and made him prosperous against them all but yet we know to say no more of him he did not wholly fulfill the will of the Lord nor the work which he begun but became disobedient and abused his great deliverances and Authority and did not set free the oppressed altogether but left mountains of oppressions and grievous yokes of bondage unbroken down and unsubdued and the Lord smote him and took him away in judgement because thereof And as for thee who art now set up in his stead we certainly believe that the hand of the Lord is in this matter if but to try thee and it is he that hath brought it to passe not expected by any nor much sought after by thy self but it s come to passe a thing out of and contrary to the thoughts and expectations of the whole Nations art thou attained to this place of Government therefore we must acknowledge something of the great hand of God in it being come to pass as out of due season yet may the Lord make it seasonable and we patiently wait to receive what the Lord brings to passe thereby knowing that thou art in the hand of the Lord to do whatsoever he will with thee and concerning thee and if thou fear him and walk with him and chuse him for thy Counsellour and be obedient to him and seek his glory alone and not thy own honour and greatness then the Lord will do great things for thee and by thee and accomplish his own work through thee which fell in thy Father hand and thou wilt be blessed and renowned and honoured for ever and thy name shall be had in respect in generations to come and hereby the present thoughts of many shall be confounded but if thou do harden thy heart against God live carelesly and neglect his cause and despise his Name and honour seek thy own renown and oppresse the just in thee and without thee and suffer the poor to groan under the cruelty and burthen of oppressing men and Lawes in thy Government without relief from thee and go on in usurped Authority as some evil men before thee then shalt thou not prosper but the Lord shall bring thee down and lay his hand of judgement upon thee and thy name shall be a reproach to the Saints for ever and the heavy hand of vengeance shall be upon thee and pursue thee more then any before thee and the Lord will deliver his People by another way and this is not in flattery and fainedness to thee but as the Lord lives our God shall bring it to pass in his day and thou shalt be the witness Wherefore O man seek the face of the Lord and inquire diligently of him and hear his word that thy soul may live and feel a measure of his spirit in thee to lead thee into all truth and set his presence before thy eye alwayes to direct thy steps that he may bless thee with Power Wisdom Authority and Dominion to perform the duty of thy place faithfully towards the Lord and all men as he requires of thee and if thou first seek the Kingdom of God and its righteousness and the reconciliation between the Lord and thee and come to feel the Elect seed of God raised up over all the contrary in thee and transgression and thy own will and affections and that which is of the flesh in thee judged and condemned by the word in the heart which makes the immortal soul to live and be refreshed in God and the heir of the promise of God born in thee and hereby shalt thou have an assurance and hope of life Eternal to rest in perfect peace with God when this world is no more but passed away with thee and also in this present time wisdom and valour and true Nobility shall be added to thee and the spirit of Power and Dominion to make men and Nations be afraid and fear and all evil men and such as seeks the hurt of thee and thy Government shall be blasted and confounded and all good men be encouraged and made strong and the whole Nations kept in peace and unity and the truth and peace of God shall hereby flourish amongst us to the honour of the eternal God and to thy renown if thou Rule and Govern for him and by his Spirit and Authority And we are truly sensible of the great charge of this place also of the multitude of perplexities and dangers to thy self occurring and happening thereby dangers from open enemies by their malice and cruel plots and dangers from thy pretended friends and they of thy own house by secret surmisings dangers in Martial and Civil affairs in this Nation and abroad so that we certainly believe nothing save onely the Wisdom of God and his Power can preserve thee carry thee to go through faithfully fulfil so great a place and to discharge it truly in the sight of God and just men neither maist thou be defended and preserved by any other means from the wills and plots and envy of evil men who may watch for evil against thee to destroy thee and blot out thy name and thy fathers posterity out of the Land Wherefore take heed to thy self and fear God that he may bless thee for this is a subtil and crafty generation and the Nations are politick and the Inhabitants thereof wise and deceitful over whom thou art set and with whom thou hast to deal Therefore beware of men for many may seek after thy hurt and some may flatter thee and shew seeming great respect unto thee and profess great service of
wickednesse which was great in the sight of the Lord Oh remember this every one of you and come to the witnesse of God in you and be humble and meek and lowly and let the Lords fear be in your hearts and be of a tender spirit having your mindes exercised in purity in holinesse and in righteousnesse and exalt not your selves nor be lifted up in your hearts in the pride and vain glories and honours of this World least the Lord cast you down and make your name and posterity a reproach as he hath done many before you even for that cause was the generations of the Stewarts cast out and if you walk in the same steps and do the same things and become guilty of the same abominations and suffer the Children and Servants of the Lord to be persecuted as many are at this day some until death shall the Lord spare you nay he will cause you to feel his hand of judgement and bring you down with sorrow and he will vex you in his wrath and smite you with his rod more and more till you learn his fear and depart from all your iniquities and the Lord will deface your glory and pull down your crown and he will make you know that he is the Lord that doth whatsoever he will Wherefore humble your selves under the hand of God and search your own hearts and cast out the abhominations that vexeth the spirit of the Lord and suffer not the people of the Lords pretious flock to be devoured and made a prey to the wicked for because of this the rod of affliction cometh upon you and may suddenly break you to pieces but mind the seed of God in you which is oppressed and wait to know the power of the Lord which will redeem you out of sin and death and reconcile you to God and bring you into fellowship with himself to enjoy peace and rest for your soules that you may be made heires of the inheritance of an endlesse life and this would make you truly honourable and will be more satisfaction to you and joy and content and true rejoycing then all worldly crowns and worldly glories which will waste and consume away and leave you miserable and remember that you are now warned from the Lord God by whom I am moved to write this unto you in dear and tender love to you all and one day you shall witnesse it And as concerning the Quakers so called who are accounted as vile in the sight of men and are cast out of all power and place in the Nation being despised of all and also are reproached persecuted and imprisoned and all manner of evil and injustice unrighteously done and spoken against them by wicked and corrupt men in authority yet are they the Children and Servants of the living God and greatly beloved of him and are as dear to him as the apple of his eye and his power and presence is with them and the time is at hand that the Lord will make their persecutors fall and their enemies bow and tremble though now they suffer unjustly and are troden down as not deserving a place on the earth yet it is for righteousnesse sake and because they shew forth the image of the Father and not for evil doing and will not their sufferings lie upon you for many hundred have suffered cruel and great things and some the losse of life though not by yet in the name of the Protector and about a hundred at this present day lies in holes and dungeons and prisons up and down the Nation and some at this time are sick nigh unto death whose sufferings cries for vengeance and the Lord heareth the cry wherefore save your selves and let the innocent be delivered and the cruel bonds of oppression broken and the exercise of a pure conscience go free without persecution and then the Lord will turn away his anger and cease to smite you with his rod which hath been upon you and he will give you peace and make you blessed if you come to be lead by his spirit into all truth and though these innocent Lambs of Christ suffer thus under this present power yet are they not enemies to you but are friends to your persons and families and pitties you and loves you and desires well for you in the Lord that you may repent and be healed and even that your hearts may be opened to receive refreshments to your souls and that you may be established in righteousness and truth over all your enemies and may not be confounded nor your posterity brought into reproach which is hastening upon you and though our love be disputed we accounted hateful in your sight and looked upon with derision yet we bare all things in patience truly desiring your returning and repentance and not your destruction but if these doleful sufferings of the Lords poor Lambs be continued by this present power it will destroy you and undo you and break you and confound you and the Lord will not cease to smite you with his rod of sharp rebukes and he will make you know his Peoples cause shall not be unpunished Oh did you but know how hundreds have and do suffer how the bodies of some have been tortured by stocks and cruel whippings and how some lies sick in stinking holes and dungeons on the ground or a little straw at best ten or often more in a prison together and sometimes their own friends not suffered to come to visit them with necessaries Oh did but your eyes behold or your hearts perceive the greatness of the cruelty which some of the Lords dear servants and your faithful friends undergo it would make your hearts ake and your spirits to tremble and all this is done in the name and under the Authorty of Protector therefore how should the Lord but lay it to your charge and afflict him and his family he will make you know there is a God that can do whatsoever he will and that life and death are in his hand and all creatures are as clay in the hand of a potter and he rules in the Kingdoms of men and pulleth down one and setteth up another according to his pleasure but if the love of God be with-holden from you it is because of disobedience to him and your transgression Wherefore be obedient to him and love his wayes and judgements that he may make you more happy with a Crown Immortal that never fades away and remember once more the Lord hath warned you by a Friend unto you in the Lord E. BURROUGH Written the 1. day of the 7. month called Sept. 1658. Copies of this were delivered to divers of his Children and Kindred the day before he died To thee Richard Cromwel called Protector of these Nations is this moved of the Lord God of heaven and earth to be written for thy Instruction from him THere is a great mighty Innumerable people come coming up out of Aegypts Land
love to thee in the Nations and in thy Family for a season till their own ends of advantage be accomplished and may in the very time hatch evil against thee and secretly invent to uncover thy nakedness and betray thee for many men are treacherous but thou receiving a measure of the Wisdom of God it will guide thee over all such and thou wilt see into the hearts and spirits of men and to discern between love unfained which will seek thy good not self that love which is fained which will flatter thee and blind thy Judgement and lead thee into snares and such as will the least flatter thee will be the most true to thee so beware and let not vain flatterers and proud ambitious and ungodly self-seeking men nor drunkards nor covetous nor politick and deceitful men and spirits have any place in thy heart nor in thy house nor in places of authority and trust in thy Government for such men will be a snare unto thee and a dishonour to thee and the cause of Gods wrath curse against thy person family and whole Nations for such men God will not bless nor thee nor the Government for their sakes this thou wilt find true one day therefore chuse unto thee such men as fears God who are just and humble and upright-hearted who are sincere and faithful to the Lord who hath the Wisdom of God and true nobility of spirit in righteousness and simplicity free from the prophanness of this evil world let such be thy companions to wait upon thy person and to Govern and Rule in thy Family and Nations and let such be put in trust who will not be treacherous for such are blessed and will be a blessing to thee and the whole Government and we know that the Lord gives respect and regard to the upright that fears his Name and such he will accomplish his work by to thy renown and the peace and happiness of the Nations more then to craft and policy and the wisdom and subtilty of this world for thereby the Lord will never fulfil his work nor prosper a Ruler nor his people and if thy strength and defence be there and not in the Lord and his pure Wisdom only thou canst not prosper but the Nations men will over-reach thee beguile thee and thou cannot be happy nor thy Government be kept in peace but a little measure of the fear power and wisdom of the Lord God from heaven in thy heart amongst such as are thy Counsellors to guide you Govern you will be of more value and worth unto thee in thy place and condition then all worldly policy and wisdom and craft which with God is not regarded nor of him ever blessed and if thou deny the Lord and righteous men and chuse thy own way and this worlds wisdom that 's from below then thy trust and strength shall pierce thee and make thee feeble and of all others thy state will be the most miserable if thou be given into the policy and deceipts of treacherous men so be wise and seek the Lord that he may be thy trust and put not confidence in vain man whose heart is deceitful and desperately wicked And as concerning the condition of these Nations they are in a broken state much devided and divers in Judgements and far out of good order for there is much corruption and abuse in all orders and places of men and much to be purged out and Judged both in Magistracy and Ministry before righteousness peace and truth union joy and faithfulness can embrace one another amongst the Inhabitants of the Nations for both are in a diversion degeneration from what they were at the first ordained of God and this I could clearly manifest unto thee for the Nations are but newly come out of Popery having put off but part of the dress of that polluted Whore and the garments of professions in Religion yet smell thereof as not being throughly purged from her abominable Idolatries and superstitions as thou maist see when the Lord opens thy eye to view the present state of all things As for Magistracy it was ordained of God to be a dread and terrour limit to all evil-doers to be a defence praise to all that do well to condemn the guilty to justifie the guiltless but the exercise thereof at this day inthese Nations is degenerated and some that are in authority are greatly corrupted and regards not the Just and pure Law of God to Judge onely thereby but oppresseth the poor by injustice and subverts the good Laws of God and men to a wrong end and use abusing Authority and turning the sword against the Just whereby true Judgement is turned backward the innocent made unjustly to suffer for righteousness sake through the corruption of men in Authority and didst thou but know what we know in this particular it would pierce thy heart Why It is frequent amongst some of the Judges Magistrates to commit a just man to prison impose some great fine up on him and to cast him into a dungeon or hole among thieves and murtherers for a long season for no other offence or breach of any Law but because he cannot put off his hat to them and respect their persons by bowing the hat or knee and many others that fears God and for Conscience sake cannot swear upon a book by kissing it laying hand upon it because Christ saith swear not at all though they deny not to do and speak the truth in all things as in the presence of God and all men and many others that because they are moved to cry against sin and declare against the iniquities of the times in Teachers Rulers and People that highly abounds perhaps in a Market or Steeple-house or High-way or other place as they are moved of God and many others because for conscience sake they cannot pay Tythes nor give mony and wages to a maintain a Priest or false Teacher that they receive no profit by or to maintain a steeplehouse where the world worships in vain traditions and not in the spirit and power of God and many have been taken out of peaceable meetings where they were waiting upon the Lord and some out of their Innes and friends houses and many have been taken on the way travelling about their lawful occasions and some from their callings and labours and for these causes through the envy of wicked men and without any just conviction of the breach of any Law or any lawful tryal or examination have hundreds of just men being wholly innocent been sent to prison and layed many Moneths and some for years or whipt and put in the stockes and grievously abused by cruel executioners of wicked mens envy and injustice and upon such grounds onely and for such causes mentioned and without the transgression of any just Law have and do at this day many hundreds of