Muggleton's Last Will & Testament, (Who died Novemb. 30. 1679.) Being an Absolute and Real RECANTATION Of his former Notorious Blasphemous Doctrine.  
Together with several Christian Instructions in order to refrain the same, showing the Eternal Woe and Damnable Misery of all such who offer to seduce poor Ignorant Souls, and the danger which infallibly accompanies such kind of False Prophets, of which he accounts himself the chief.  
Published for a Caution to all ignorant and seduced People.  
Mat. 23.17. He which hath sinned, let him sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon him.  
London, Printed 1679.   

Courteous Reader,  
I Conceive this a Subject that may confute many, reduce several, and reclaim all from the foolish, sottish, and Brutish Opinion of being a Muggletonian; you see here the lamentable and deplorable end of the Original of the Copy by which they writ: If thou receivest no Instruction by the same, blame thyself, and not me; for here is not only an incomparable Subject, but excellent Matter, sufficient to reduce the most brutish of Sinners. If it reclaim thee, thank the Testator; if not, thou hast just cause to fear his unhappy end: which that God may preserve us from, shall be the fervent prayer of,  
Thy most Cordial Friend, J. B.   

THE Last Will and Testament OF Lodowick Muggleton, Who died in the Marshalsea upon Sunday Novemb. 30. 1679.  
ANd must I then go to the Tribunal of those three exemplary Judges Eachus, Minos and Radamanthus? Is there an infallible necessity I must leave and forsake Religion for a Pillory, a Pillory for a Gaol, and a Gaol for the Rewards of my Folly, which I now (though too late) perceive will be Eternal Damnation? Was his Holiness the Pope the first infuser of these Principles into me, and yet be so notoriously unkind, that though he keeps the Keys of Heaven, yet not to let me in? If these be the Wages wherewith he pays his faithful Servants, what think you can such expect who have been much more negligent in their duty, than myself has been? But although I find myself a man lost to all Eternity, yet will I give the World to understand, I have more common Honesty and Christianity in me, than to die after the Jesuitical mode, by affirming I am as Innocent as the Child that is unborn, of the Plots now on foot: Therefore let them know, that whatever kindness the Pope's Indulgences, Pardons, and their own feigned Merits may promise them, if the words of a dying man are to be believed, they are all vain and frivolous pretences, only to delude the simple, and cheat the ignorant.  
That they have daily Plotted, and do the like still, against the public good and interest both of King and Kingdom, is not unknown to all rational men: But in respect the novelty of my cursed Principles, the strangeness of my damnable Doctrine, and the whimsical delusions of my pretended Religion, may hardly ever regain credit amongst the more solid people, I shall therefore conjure you, by the words of a dying man, to believe what I shall say is infallibly true, and more sincere and real than any the last words which were ever asserted by a dying Jesuit. I am now at my last Gasp, and could you but see, as I now do, the Felicity of that Eternal happiness I have through Blasphemy and Heresy slighted, and the unspeakable misery of that Eternal damnation which attends me for the same, you would certainly not only pity my condition, but give credit to my last dying words. Heaven and Hell were once offered to my own free choice, whereas I, like a damned Wretch as I am, have refused the former to embrace the latter; and all this, because I would rather rely upon my own Merits than my Saviour's; he hath plainly told me he is the door, by which, and no other, we must enter; but I durst not believe him, but sought out inventions of my own, and thought to climb like a Thief and a Robber into that blessed Fold. And now let me tell ye all, but more particularly those whom my accursed Principles have perverted from the Truth, that this, and no other, was the main scope of my design; I had these conceptions in my head, that let me live never so much like a Reprobate all my life, and contrary to my knowledge, which I am sensible I did, yet when I came upon my deathbed, if I had but so much time as to say, Lord have mercy on my Soul, and forgive me all former miscarriages, I never questioned my salvation. This being a thing which I suppose may be received as a general opinion by more than myself, I shall endeavour to show them the folly of the same.  
And first, were such a thing probable, as I am confident it is impossible without a Miracle from the Almighty, for nothing is impossible to God; yet how many are cut off by some sudden accident, that have not so much time allowed them to speak these words, I leave any reasonable man to judge: I could give you several examples in these Cases, for I perceive Example is more prevalent than Argument, but let this one suffice. No longer since than the 3. of October, 1679. a Gentleman, who had been a very debauched liver, being viewing his Buildings in Exeter, swore very much at the neglect of his Workmen, when the Scaffold immediately fell, without any harm to any excepting himself, who was knocked on the head with an Oath in his mouth, not having any the least time allowed him to call upon God for mercy. Besides, consider there is but one way to come into the world, and a thousand to go out of the same; and shall any man, except such a damned Wretch as myself, ever trust his Salvation on so small a Thread? Pray consider but only this, If you were at a great and Princely Banquet, and had all the Varieties either Art or Nature could devise, and at the same time directly over your head should hang a Sword by a small twined Thread, pray what appetite could you have to your Victuals? Thus it hath been hitherto with you through my damnable persuasions, I have hitherto prompted and put you forward to such notorious evils, which I knew in my own Conscience would prove damnable to all who exercised the same; and you, poor Souls, through blind zeal, devotion, or pleasure, never refused to follow my instructions; yet never▪ saw the Sword of God's eternal wrath, which hung, and will hang continually over your heads, as long as you continue those wretched courses, by me tolerated and prescribed. As for the former sort of Persons who conceive it enough to cry, Lord have mercy upon me at the last gasp, let me tell them myself, who at this instant have more time to repent than possibly they may ever have, yet find it so hard a thing to do the same as I ought, that I fear God Almighty hath so hardened my heart, that I cannot call upon him as I would, or fear and love him either as I ought or should; and if I, poor miserable Wretch as I am, have time, yet not grace allowed me for repentance, what can such expect who die with an Oath in their mouths, as the persons above specified; or in drink, as is too frequently seen? But having a small time to live, and finding approaching death draw so near as to stare me in the face, I shall devote the remainder of my small span of time now left me to the honour of Almighty God, and preservation of the lives and souls of such of my Countrymen and Congregation, whom I have any ways perverted by my false Doctrine, or deluded by my erroneous and Heretical opinion.  
And first let me apply myself, (as briefly as my small space of Life will admit me) to such Persons who are Teachers of false Doctrine, Heresy and Schism: Let me inform such; for such, I am very confident are, (and will be to the end of the World) do not only render themselves accountable for their own sins, but likewise for the sins of all such People, who by them are seduced. But, pray Beloved, mistake not the Words of a Man, who, in a manner, hath both Feet in the Grave: Not that their answering for those they seduce, shall acquit the Persons seduced, but that they both shall jointly suffer for their Offence, according to the respective nature of the Crimes by them committed. For on the one hand, as certainly as the Teacher of false Doctrine shall be accountable for the Souls of all Persons by him seduced, so on the other side, all such seduced Persons shall be severe Sufferers, for not trying the Scriptures, and searching out the difference between Truth and Falsehood, according to their respective Abilities; for where God gives a Talon, he requires the same with Interest, and not like the slothful Servant, that we should wrap the same up in a Napkin, and then tax him for a hard Master. I must confess, for my own particular part, had I employed the Talon of that Knowledge God had given me, to a right use, I had not now groaned under the remarkable Judgement of the Curse of the omnipotent God. Therefore, once more, if dying men's Words have any operation upon living Persons, let me request, and with bleeding Eyes beseech you, as ever you hope to escape those eternal Torments I expect to suffer, Never teach false Doctrine; I speak this to all Persons of new fangled Opinions in general, and likewise to all Persons in particular, who are or may be Auditors of such Seducers, That they never receive any fundamental Alteration in their Religion, until they have first tried the same by the Touchstone of Religion, which is God's Word: For since our Saviour hath said, The latter days shall be full of Deceivers, of which I must confess myself Chief, it certainly behoves every rational Man, in so grand a Concern as this is, to beware how they are cheated of their eternal Happiness. Secondly, Let no Man whatever run on in a wicked course of Life, in hopes of eternal Happiness at the hour of Death. I must confess, we have one Example, and but one Example that I know of in all the Scripture, of a Person who obtained Salvation at the hour of Death, and that was the poor penitent Thief on the Cross; which was only to keep us from Despair, rather than to prompt us to Presumption, by casting all our hopes on the last breath of Life. God Almighty under the Law requires the first-fruits of our Ground, which made Abel's Sacrifice more acceptable than Cain's; whereas under the Gospel, he requires the first fruits of our Hearts, and the service of our green Years: And had I for my own particular part, served him, than I had never come to this deplorable Condition now; and I hope this my lamentable Example will deter both Young and Old, for ever walking in my Footsteps.  
But to conclude: Solomon says, A Man may sustain his infirmities, but a wounded spirit who can bear it? Such is the wretched misery of my present deplorable Condition, that I now not only groan, but absolutely perish under this Heart piercing Calamity. None but Francis Spira, and such a Wretch as myself, ever felt such pangs of Conscience as I now feel: Hell gapes for me; the Devils are ready to torment me to all eternity; the holy Angels laugh at me; the blessed God mocks at my Calamity; yet such is the divine Influence of his blessed Spirit, that he compels me poor damned Wretch to preach Salvation to others, who never expect Salvation myself. But since the Devils themselves have done the like, it cannot be conceived strange of me. I may, nay I can say, I put my trust in the Hands of Almighty God, yet cannot I believe he will save me, such is the miserable hardness of my rocky Heart; I sigh, I groan, I die, I languish, I perish, yet without any remedy. Let it once for all suffice, and I hope Almighty God will say Amen to my humble and hearty Soulsaving Request, That Muggleton's Example may preserve Thousands of Souls from Hell: For although I conceive myself justly delivered up to a reprobate Sense, yet it is the desire of my Soul, other Persons may take Example by my damnable Fall, and shun all false Doctrine, as they expect Happiness either in this World, or the World to come. My Breath now fa'ls me; I can say no more but this, The God above knows, that the dying Words of the Unfortunate Muggleton, declare more Truth, and give more Christian Instruction, than the correctest Copies of the most eminent Jesuits; and how that shames their Profession, let the World judge.  
FINIS.