A MESSAGE TO THE PRESENT RULERS OF England.   

A MESSAGE TO THE PRESENT RULERS OF England.  
Whether COMMITTEE of SAFETY; (so called) council of Officers, or Others whatsoever.  
Delivered unto them by an ambassador from the only Right heir of the Government, whose Right alone it is to Rule, And by special Authority and Commission from him, this is sent unto them, that they may hear, and fear, and learn Wisdom, and may deliver up the proper Right of the only King unto him, that they may be blessed; but on the contrary dependeth their destruction.  
By EDWARD BURROUGH.  
London, Printed for Giles Calvert, at the black Spread-Eagle, near the West-End of Paul's. 1659.   

THese things were upon me, to deliver even by speech and word of mouth to the present men in power, that they might be warned lest they perish; But no way being made for me so to do, I have written what was upon me, even as short as possibly I could, and in as little compass as might be, having hinted at things which might more largely been spoken to; and I order this to be printed and given to their particular hands, with speed.  
E. B.   

To the present Rulers of England, A MESSAGE to you all, by an ambassador from the Lord God, The Great and Mighty King; And Jesus Christ, the only Prince of Peace and righteousness, whose Right alone, it is to Rule, over us in our Nation, and not another's, In his Name and Authority, I am come unto you.  
FRiends, My Master is a High and Mighty, and powerful Prince, and very Honourable; And fear, reverence, respect and subjection belongs to him alone, from you and all mankind, he is wise and understanding, and of great strength: And his dominion is from everlasting to everlasting; And he can do whatsoever he will in Heaven and Earth; for he rules with his Iron Rod over the World, and whatsoever he saith, it is done; for his Word is an everlasting Command; If he say to a man Live, it is so; and if he say to him Die, It cometh to pass; and if he give peace to a man or a Nation, none can make War; and if he make War with a person, or in a Nation, no man is able to make Peace. For why, he hath all power in his hand, and to him all Judgement and Authority is given, he is the son of the living God, the everlasting Creator; he was, and is, and is to come; his eye beholdeth all things, and his arm compasseth Heaven and Earth; and what his purpose is, he hath always, and will ever bring it to pass; if he set up Rulers, they must rule; and if he pull them down, none can hinder; whom he will he honoureth, and if it be his pleasure, he bringeth men to shame; if he break a Nation down, none can build it up; and if he confound Powers and Authorities in the kingdoms of men, they all fall as withered grass before him; Behold ye men! he is so great and mighty, and of so great Authority, that whatsoever he saith, it is done, and whatsoever he willeth, it cometh to pass; and none is able to resist him and overcome his power; when his pleasure is to accomplish a work; By him all things are that be, and all things live that hath life, and through him all things moveth, and of his fullness every creature in Heaven and Earth receiveth; and this my Master is altogether honourable in birth and otherwise; and altogether mighty in all his works; he is just and merciful, full of goodness, righteousness and truth, and all virtue dwells in him: and his judgement and Mercy, his Authority and meekness: and his wrath and his Love, they are Companions; And what are ye before him? or how shall ye be able to resist him? or to turn backward what his purpose is concerning you and this Nation? for ye have no being nor breath without him. Behold ye men; ye are verily as the dust before the wind, so are ye to him soon blown away, and your place not found, as the grass before the Mower, so are ye before him, soon cut down and withered, and your beauty utterly extinguished, as a potter's vessel under an iron Rod, even so are you to him, he can immediately break you, never to be bound up, as a drop to the Fountain, so are you to him, soon dried up, and made nothing; wherefore ye men, ye mortal creatures, ye ignorant persons, sons of a transgressor, ye dust and ashes; for thus you are in comparison of him this mighty Prince; harken to his Message which cometh to you from him: Hear and fear, and be not stouthearted against the Lord God that is about to speak unto you.  
As for this little Island of England, wherein your present place and being is; it is an Island which the Lord hath showed great favour unto, in ages past, and in this present time: and I must tell you he hath a purpose of love towards it, and to honour it in the view of the world, though through great tribulations, and he hath an intent of great good unto it: For he hath a seed, a precious seed in it, scattered abroad, and he hath a people that fears his Name, and hath walked in his ways, and he hath made them, and elected them, and what they are, it is by him: that he may dwell among them, and have the whole Government over them all, yea, he hath a speedy purpose verity concerning this Nation, and he will purify it in judgement, and refine its inhabitants through the fire of tribulations, that it may be pleasant to him, and fit to do his Will: he hath a purpose to work some great thing in it I must tell you, as he hath said unto me, so to do; he will have his Name exalted and reverenced in this Island, and his terror shall be sent out of it through the world, and his branch from it shall spread over the earth, he doth purpose in his season to take it into his own hand, and to sway the Government thereof with his own sceptre, and to set up righteousness alone, and to overthrow all oppressions and oppressors, and the Kingdoms of this world must become the Kingdoms of the Lord, and of his Christis.  
True it is, such hath been the coming to pass of time, and of things for many Ages by-past, that my Master hath been as it were banished from the Nation, and hath not been suffered to enjoy his Right, but hath been expelled, even as it were by the force of Satan, and Antichrist, who hath long usurped Authority over the inhabitants of this Nation; and in my Master's absence, lamentable injustice, cruelty, unmercifulness, tyranny and oppression, hath been exercised upon the inhabitants, and the poor creatures hath been held in great slavery by their Rulers, that have ruled by the dragon's power, and been kept in great blindness and ignorance, and under great oppression both in body and spirit, by Antichristian Teachers, for this many years, even while the great King hath been absent, and as it were gone into a far country: even all this time hath Antichrist and the devil ruled and reigned, and hath made and executed oppressing and tyrannical laws and Decrees, both in Church and State, and all the Nation hath been out of right order, and laid waste and barren of good fruit, and it hath been as a wilderness, by reason hereof; and men that have ruled for many years, have not ruled singly by my Master's Authority, but by another power, though not without the knowledge of my Lord, neither as though he had not power to have done otherwise; but for his own pleasure he hath suffered it thus to be, and let men go on to rule and govern in their own wills, and after their own lusts; and people have walked wickedly towards him, and towards one another, and all this he hath suffered, not as if he gave toleration for it: for his messengers now and then, and his witness in people's consciences, have been reproving their ungodly ways, and he hath often showed his dislike by divers ways and tokens, and many judgements and strange overturning: to the way and proceeding of both Rulers, Prophets and Teachere of this Nation: But yet they have gone on, against his mind, and contrary to his Will, notwithstanding his Reproofs and Judgements, not that he had not power to have executed his pleasure in wrath upon them, and to have destroyed them all together, and have made the Nation a heap, and as nothing, long before this day: for power was in his hand to have done it: But he hath been long-suffering, and of great patience, and born all things, and taken the injustice, and cruelty, and wickedness, and idolatry, and all unrighteousness that hath abounded in the Nation upon himself, and suffered under it, and born it for its season, while woeful and lamentable oppressions hath been practised in Civil State, even hellish Laws, and devilish Executors of them, merciless Tyrants have born the sceptre, and reigned for many years over the inhabitants, and in Church and State, hath been heinous Idolatry, and Superstitious vanities committed in a high nature, and measure, and even all men, and States of men, & orders of men, of every degree, hath been abominably corrupted, in the fight of my Lord; even from the Prince to the beggar, even Rulers and Subjects, Teachers and People, Judges and Prophets, they have been corrupted both in heart and hand, and they have dealt falsely, and wickedly towards him, and towards one another, even to the great displeasure and vexation of him, and his blessed Spirit, and to the high provocation of him, to their own destruction, if his long suffering had not prevailed, and all this, while he hath laid, as it were asleep, and at rest in himself, and he hath left men to try them, what they will do, and he hath given them a day, many Kings and Rulers, he hath let them have a little time, to see how they would use it, but they have abused it, and not Ruled for him, nor accomplished his work, nor fulfilled his will, but acted even in defiance of him, and of his Power, and to his great dishonour, Alack! I must be plain with you, my Lord hath been utterly exiled, and greatly dishonoured, and highly provoked and vexed, by reason of such proceedings, as hath been in this Nation for this many years, through the corruption of all sorts of men in place, and power, who hath not ruled for him, but for the devil, to their own corrupted ears, only he hath suffered men to go on in their course for a season, some as it were appearing on the Stage for a time, and suddenly cast down again, for their iniquities sake, and his hand hath been in all these things, though very privately and secretly, not known and discerned by the Sons of men, yet hath he Ruled over the Kingdoms of men, and pulled down one and set up another, and to forbear the several actings and proceedings of many by-passed ages, and to come to this generation, and to speak of things that have happened within these few years, and of the changing and overturning that hath happened in this Nation; such was the cruelty, tyranny, and oppression, and Idolatry, both in Church and Civil State, that the People of this Nation were held under, in the days of Papal-Power, such I say, was the exceeding height of Cruelty, and tyranny of that time, that not any that feared or reverenced my Lord, in any measure could scarce live, or have a being in the Nation, even against every man, that did but incline towards him, and desire the knowledge of his ways, hell's mouth was opened against them, and they were swallowed up, and many of their lives taken from the Earth, by the hellish power that had in that day usurped Authority in this Island, and when thus it was, than he looked down from Heaven, and his bowels of compassion were opened, for the sake of the oppressed People that desired after him, in so much that he broke, and threw down the power of their oppressors in some measure, as it stood in papal-authority, and when the iniquity of that power was filled up, he took vengeance upon it▪ and I must tell you, it was he that brought it about, even the destroying of that Power in this Nation, and freeing the Nation from it, though the men that were instruments in the cause were not his Servants, otherwise then as Nabuchadnezzar served him, for he hath a secret way to have a service from the wicked, and such is his Power, that he can turn the wickedness of the wicked to his glory, and he can make a Rod to whip his Adversaries, and burn it when he hath done, and he hath often destroyed one wickedness by another. Well, but to leave that, though he did in some measure free this Nation from much tyranny and cruelty, in the casting out Popish Authority, yet alack the Nation in a few years was near as much violated by Injustice, tyranny, and cruelty, under the prelatical power, as ever it was once under the Papal power, though before there had been some small reformation, and change in outward appearance, though little in ground and nature, yet oppression, and tyranny in civil State, and Idolatry, and Superstition in Church and State, and all profaneness and wickedness among people, was grown so high, like as it had been under the Papal power before, and all that desired after the Lord, and was weary of iniquity, and of the then present oppressions and Idolatries, were persecuted, and slain, and destroyed, and Injustice and cruelty exercised upon them, even almost to the rooting out of righteousness, and to the grieving of the Lord's Spirit▪ well then, because of the cry of the People, and the oppression of the Nation under that Authority, my Lord looked down again, and even for his Name sake, and his seeds sake, he had compassion on this Nation, to set it free, and to break off its oppressions, and by his hidden hand and secret power, he overthrew that oppressing power of Kings, Lords, and Bishops, both in Church, and civil State, and brought some Tyrants and Oppressors to just execution, for their wickedness and in a great measure, he did deliver the people of this Nation in many things, and there was a part of reformation wrought, and much pretended and looked for, and all this came to pass through him, and my Lord did accomplish it, however the instruments by which he wrought proved deceitful, and became oppressors, as others before them, and though there was in this Nation a day of great troubles, and wars, and contention, and great strife, and the wasting of much blood, and earthly treasure, and none of these things I must tell you, fell without the ordering of my Master's hand, yet so it was, and came to pass, that after this Nation was restored to peace; though much unrighteousness, and Injustice was removed, yet there was much also left behind, and men that he had used as instruments in his hand in a good work, and to whom he had given wisdom, and understanding, and appeared in much mercy, and in great deliverance, yet they even turned to seek themselves, and became corrupted in the spoils of their Enemies, and when peace, and plenty abounded, the Lord was forgotten again, and then the Land fell under oppressors, and began again to cry out for freedom, even when other horns of the first Beast sprang up, and went one each of them after his fellow, and though one horn hath striven to break another, yet after one hath been cast down, another hath risen, and made an Image to the first, and ruled and reigned by the same Spirit and Authority derived from the dragon's power, in cruelty and oppression, and made laws and executed them, to the dishonour of the Lord, and to the great oppression of his people, and to the filling of this Island with Injustice and cruelty, even from one generation to another, until this day, and thus up and down, hath times and seasons been altered, power and Authority changed, and altered, statutes, laws, and Decrees, changeable, and alterable, for as the iniquity of one power was filled up, that was cast down, and another had its day, till the measure of the first was also finished, that he might partake of the same judgements, and in all these overturnings, breakings down, and overthrowings, the very hand of my Lord hath been, though secretly, and not discerned, yet his power hath brought about, and suffered all these things to come to pass, and who shall charge him with Injustice? or who shall say what hast thou done? or why hast thou done it? for as I have said, he is a high and mighty Prince, and can do whatsoever he will; and he is the supreme Power and Authority which Rules and reigns in, and over all the kingdoms of men; and what though he hath used wicked men, as an instrument to accomplish his work, and made the wicked his Rod, and even brought it to pass, that one wickedness should destroy another, and one oppressor break down another, and the Kingdom of Antichrist confound its self, yet what of all these things? all flesh must be silent before him, and all people, and the whole Earth must be subject unto him, for the Government and Dominion over Heaven and Earth are his, and all Power and Dominion belongs to him alone, and all judgement is in his hand, to bring to pass whatsoever he will, and by whomsoever, as he pleaseth.  
But now my Friends, though I would not be tedious to you, yet must I tell you the truth, and faithfully deliver the Lord's Message unto you: and as concerning this last overturning, there was something of the hand of my Lord in it; and he can, and will bring forth his own work and praise by it, and it shall be for the good of all his people that waits upon him, though there was much ambition and corrupted ends in the Instruments, and neither part were perfectly single to the Lord in their proceedings; but their work was tasted with the false Idolatrous spirit of self-seeking: Yet notwithstanding the Lord may bring forth his Government, and his pleasant Plant, through and beyond all this, even out of another Root, which yet appears not among either of them, and righteousness may arise in the Nation contrary to both of them, out of another stem, and he will set up his Kingdom, and in the mean time leave one potsherd of the Earth to break another. And as for you that now sits on the Throne and bears Rule, 
Is meant here chiefly the new Committee of Safety* (so called.)  whether Committee of Safety (so called) chiefly, though it is not without my Master, for he hath the knowledge of it, at least, yet you are not the only men of his Choice, truly called of him to the place of Government, neither is your Government the Government of the Lamb, neither must it be for ever established by him; its foundation is not blessed, nor can its building be prosperous: For why? alas, it is but another Horn of that fourth Beast, that hath been made to Rule over the world, and upon the earth for many Generations, and it is but hitherto a very little refined from the last, and is of the last, even as the eight was of the seventh, spoken of by that servant Rev. 17.11. and it may also make war with the Lamb and his followers for a little season, and it may have a small measure of injustice, and persecution to bring forth in the Land, even till the words of God be fulfilled, and his Kingdom be fully come; the way of which is but yet a preparing by all these overturnings: and this your present Government Originally is leavened with the spirit of the old Dragon, that hath killed the Saints, and drunk their blood, and how should the Lord establish it? Nay, your Kingdom may prove but small and little, and full of uproars, and troubles, and little peace, and satisfaction, and establishment in it to yourselves, nor the people under you; but confusion will attend it, and fear will compass it about: Though this I must tell you, as you are men, you have your day of Trial, what you will do, as many others have had before you, and something you may and aught to do, if but to make the Whore (the false Church) more naked, and to scourge her, more than some others have done; and indeed my Lord requires something more of you (as such) to do, than others before you could do, and you have a price put into your hands which you may improve to the Lord's honour, and to the Nations good, and to our own happiness; which if you be faithful to the Lord to do what he requires of you, and if you become meek and humble men and fear his name, and deny yourselves, and not seek your own honours, nor any earthly advantage to yourselves; if you do thus, than My Lord will show mercy to you, and you shall not suddenly fall before your enemies, though many may rise up against you; but your days shall be lengthened, and the purpose of the Lord may be turned to your longer continuance, and not to your sudden destruction, and if you walk in this way, and Rule, only for the Lord, then shall you be honoured as men, if not as an Authority, and you and the Nation preserved in peace, and the force of the wicked shall be turned backward, and you shall not suddenly fall. And the late sundry overturnings in this Nation may be examples to you, that you follow not the steps of those that God hath cast out, lest you come to the same end of confusion and misery: For as concerning that assembly of men that last sat on the Throne, something was done by them, in their day and time, and in both their assemblings in some things they served my Lord, and they were a Rod in his hand to smite his Enemies, yet they were not faithful to the end, till all his Enemies were destroyed; but rather joined themselves to fight against the Lord and his people, and were hastening on towards the way of Oppression, and persecution; and it was time for the Lord to remove them, and to lay them aside, as an empty vessel, sometimes useful; and to break them as a Rod, sometime of service to be a scourge upon his Enemies; and when the day of their trial was over, which God gave unto them, being any longer (for present) unfit Instruments for his hand, than he cast him into the fire; and this his purpose came to pass upon them, so that they and the whole Nation may be contented and yield themselves subject, to what he hath done concerning them; for they being entering into the very same spirit of wickedness, of oppression, and persecution, which the Lord had once reproved through them, and cast out by them; then was a Rod raised up against them; even as they had been against others, and they were dealt withal as they had done to others; and this was in the justice of my Lord's hand, and what hath Mortal man to question his proceedings? and though some of you (present Rulers) be looked upon as great traitors and Tyrants in your dealing towards them; and doubtless the men of that part will seek vengeance against you, even by preaching and praying, and they will curse you in the name of their God, and seek continually your destruction, as such as have taken away part of their strength, and cast down their Idol: But alas! all this is nothing, for the Lord doth not account as men: For these things must needs thus come to pass for the furtherance of the Kingdom and Government of Jesus Christ, that it may arise through all; and if you were but faithful to what the Lord requires of you in your present proceedings; what you have done unto them should not be reckoned on account against you, neither by God nor good men: But, and if, you of the Army, be always treacherous and disobedient towards him, and abuse your power, and disregard your price that God hath given you, and trifle away your hour about places of honour, and such self-seeking matters, and the Cause of God be neglected by you, and his people continued oppressed sufferers under you, as they have long been, even than shall you be cast aside with shameful disgrace, and the heavy hand of the Lord shall be upon you in judgement, and you shall be smitten more than any before you; your Estates shall not be spared from the spoiler, nor your souls from the Pit, nor your persons from the violence of men, no nor, your necks from the axe; for if you be unfaithful, and continually treacherous to the Cause of God, then shall you be left to the will of your Enemies, and they shall charge treachery and treason upon you, and your persons and estates shall be given for a prey to your Enemies, and you shall not deliver yourselves, neither will the Lord deliver you from the execution of merciless men; for my Lord shall leave the cruel-hearted to plead with you.  
Wherefore that you may be warned, I advise you be faithful, let not the cause of God fall, nor the cause of his Enemies prosper before you, for there is no other way, whereby you can be preserved, nor no other defence shall you ever find from the wrath of the Lord, and from the fury of your devouring Enemies, than your faithfulness in God's cause, and therefore relieve the oppressed, and take off all oppression, break down all unjust laws, and set all people free, from unjust burdens, and let all oppression cease, both in Church and civil State, and even all oppressive laws, and unjust Judges, and evil men in power, let all this be removed, and the Nation clean quitted and discharged even from all men, and laws whatsoever, that have held under oppression the Persons, Estates, and Consciences of the good people of this Land, and let the Nation be corrected, and all orders and places of men, and laws and decrees purified, for this my Lord, the great King requireth; and he will suddenly have it brought to pass in the Nation, if not by you, then contrary to you, and to your utter destruction, and this is the very substance of my Message to you, that my Master hath given me to say unto you, and on his behalf I am come to claim of you my Masters long lost right, let him have his right, from which he hath long been banished, I demand it of you, all ye, whatsoever, that seems to bear rule in this Nation, I charge you in his name, let him have his title and prerogative, let him be Lord and King wholly in his own Kingdom, let him have the excercise of his people's consciences by his own Spirit, in all things, related to his worship and service, and let him have the full Authority by his Spirit, in all things pertaining to Church, and Ministry, and Faith, and Religion, and let his Spirit have the alone Authority, to persuade and dissuade people from, or to such or such Ministry, Worship, and practices of Religion, and let all forced Maintenance to Ministers, and Tithes be speedily taken away, and let all laws, and decrees whatsoever, made, and practised in the days of Antichrist upon the bodies, Estates, and consciences of the People, in oppression and unjustness about Church, and Worship, and Religion, be utterly repealed, and made void, and never more be in force in this Nation; But let my Lord be sole Ruler and governor, and have the full Authority in his own Kingdom, in all things whatsoever pertaining thereunto, and let no man henceforth hereafter, ever be entrusted with the liberties of the Members of Christ's Kingdom, as they are such, nor to judge over them, in any matters of Faith, and Worship, but give that right and privilege wholly unto the Spirit of Jesus Christ, for unto him only it pertaineth, to be whole judge, and to have full power in his own Kingdom, and until you give him this right, and deliver up unto him his own kingdom, and the excercise of people's consciences in all things about Religion, you shall never prosper, nor none that comes after you, that shall in any measure abridge my Master of his proper right, from which he hath long been banished as I have said, and till his right be given him, in the case aforesaid, he will dash one man against another, and none shall never be Established, but horn after horn shall be broken, and one power after another brought into confusion  
And therefore ye men, do not strive with him in this matter, but yield unto him, the excercise of your own consciences by his Spirit in you, and let him do so unto all others, even as ye hope to prosper, and upon the penalty of his sore displeasure upon you in this World, and in the World to come; and let just men and righteous men, and meek men, and men that have the fear and wisdom of God in them, without exceptation of Birth or otherwise, let such men have the Power and judgement committed to them, to determine in things between man and man; down with all the false hearted flatterers that have ruled for man, and not for God, and for themselves, and not for the good of the people, cast all such out from among you, for the good among you is choked by them, down with all that judge for rewards, & away with all hireling rulers, that executes the Law for money, and will not plead the cause of the poor without great fees; and down with all that will not serve places of Trust without so large stipends, away with all these things out of the Land, for they are heinous oppressions unto men, and great abominations in the sight of God, and the Land has long groaned under the weight of these things, and the Earth is weary of them, and my Lord requires their utter dissolution, as being iniquities fully ripe, and having the guilt of so much cruelty, Injustice and oppression, lying upon the Nation because hereof, therefore is the Lord's season to destroy them, and remove them out of the Land, which if you be the instruments in such a work, it will be your greatest Crown, and your perpetual honour, for the Lord's purpose is one way or other to cleanse the Land of all these and other oppressions whatsoever, that the people of this Land may be a free people from all the heavy yokes of Antichrist, which hath long sorely pressed them down, and the purpose of the Lord is to break the yokes of oppression and tyranny, from off the necks of this People, and therefore is it that he overturneth, yea, and will overturn all men and Authorities that shall oppose his work, and none shall be able to stand before him, for the presence of my Lord is more dreadful to a Nation when he shows himself in his wrath, than any multitude of Armed men, and woe is unto you if you be found opposeing of him, and if you seek to stop his work, you shall not cumber the Earth very long, nor oppress the Nation many days, wherefore consider, cursed will you be if you be unfaithful in what you have to do on the Lord's behalf, for your hour passeth over that is allotted you, and will be suddenly expired, never to be recalled, and then you cannot work.  
And whereas there is a great Cry about Ministry, for sending forth, and maintaining, and encouraging a godly Ministry, as you say; now to this, I do answer on my Lord's behalf▪ and I must tell you plainly, as for a true godly Ministry truly called and sent of God, such a Ministry and such Ministers you can never be able to hinder, but the Lord will send them out, maintaining them, and preserve them, whether you will or no, and while you are troubling yourselves about such a matter, you are but meddling with things above your line, and out of your Jurisdiction, while you act in such a Case, for it belongs to his Government to send out Ministers whom and as he will, and to maintain them and defend them according to his own pleasure, and all this without you, for such Ministers truly called thereunto, and sent of the Lord, will not seek to you to be sent forth or maintained by you, they will not be beholding to you in such a Case, but even without you and contrary to you, must they be sent out and maintained, so that the Lord will have a Ministry in this Nation purely of his own, and not of man, nor by man, and such a Ministry you shall not be able to hinder.  
And I must tell you plainly, as for these men called Ministers in this Nation, the way of their setting up, and sending forth, and the way of their maintenance, and the way of their standing and defence, and in every particular of their being such; they are the greatest and most woeful oppression in the Nation, even the most abominable and unjust cruelties and tyrannies is acted through them, as any other thing in the Nation, and they are (as such aforesaid) the woeful cause of the Nations groaning under merciless dealing; and there is upon their account the guilt of blood, injustice, and oppression lying upon this Nation; their iniquities, their iniquities cries for vengeance upon their own heads, for they are full, they are full, and the measure thereof is near finished, and God's eternal vengeance is their next reward, from the eternal God; what shall I say of them but this, The Earth is oppressed by them, the Inhabitants groans under them, and the righteous God is vexed through them, and they are the very men of high indignation and fierce wrath, and all their practices (as such) are the fuel of his Anger, to be consumed by the fire of his jealousy; the Nation is weary and its Inhabitants; and the Lord is weary because of these men, and is this the ministry cried up by you as godly and pious, & c? are these the men that the Nation must be forced to maintain in their pride and idolatry? is this the ministry that must be encouraged? Well, if these be the men, and this the ministry which must be established and encouraged by you, in so doing you shall never prosper, but thereby gain the displeasure of the Almighty unto you, to bring a curse upon all your doings even because hereof; for I must tell you, the hand of my Lord is against them, and whosoever shall seek to defend them, shall not prosper in their doings, because their oppressions, cruelties, deceits, and abominations are nigh finished and fulfilled; wherefore take heed unto yourselves, for this is my Master's advice unto you; let this ministry alone, and join not yourselves to Baal, lest you perish; neither take part with Antichrist any longer, neither be ye fighters against the Lamb and his Kingdom, but free the Nation, and let all its Inhabitants be freed from the cruel tasks and yokes of such men and such a ministry as aforasaid; uphold it not against the Lord, for if you do, you shall never be established: and this is from the mouth of my Lord unto you.  
And last of all, my Master hath a People in this Nation, even a suffering people, that have born the burden of the cruelty and injustice and wickedness both of Rulers and Teachers, who hath as it were trodden them down, and made them a very prey to their devouring mouths; the very cry of their sufferings hath reached unto heaven, and the very sound thereof your ears have heard; and this People are greatly beloved, and my Lord will assuredly honour them, and his hand shall be continued to preserve them, and defend them against all their Enemies whatsoever; and he doth reserve them to himself, and for a glorious work that he hath to do by them, and he hath formed them for himself, and they cannot join with any of the horns of the great beast, neither can a place of honour pervert them from their perfect way, but my Lord he compasseth them about on every side, and hath kept them in the midst of trials, reproaches, and sufferings▪ and covered them in the heath, and in the storm, and his pleasure is to make further use of them, they are his, and not their own, and they must fulfil his will, and none besides, and they lie at rest in him, while mountains are overturned, and while one Potsherd of the Earth breaks another, and this must be even till the appointed time, and to say no more of them though much might be said, they are had in remembrance before the Lord, to do with them even for his own glory, and for this Nations perpetual good, and to the Authority of the most high through them, shall Kings of the Earth, and Nations of the World bow and tremble, wherefore ye men touch them not, neither do ye afflict them even as you hope to prosper, remember their cause, and suffer it not always to be rejected as it hath long been, but keep yourselves free from the injustice and cruelty of them that have gone before you, who have been merciless and oppressors of that people, even till my Lord hath confounded them, and brought them into confusion, for there is the weight of blood, of tyranny and oppression lying upon the Nation in that people's cause, and my Lord will revenge them in his season, and though they are not weary of their sufferings, but are in the patience, which beareth all things, yet the Nation can never be happy, nor its gournment ever blessed while this people are held in bondage, and their sufferings are deeply considered of the Lord, and the season thereof is expiring towards an end, and when this cometh to pass, than woe unto the kingdom of Antichrist, and to the Whore, and false Prophet, even when their strength is dried up, by which they have made war against the Lamb, and his followers, yea, woe unto them, great fearfulness shall be upon all the World, when the King of that people Reigns upon the Earth, and the time is at hand, blessed is the man that waiteth for it, and blessed is he that is not offended in his coming, but is prepared to receive him in his appearing, which suddenly cometh upon all the World.  
And thus I have told you the Lord's present Message unto you, which I received from him, and thus far I am clear, and whether you accept it or reject it, my peace and reward is for ever with him, who am a Subject of his Kingdom, and a Friend to this Nation, however otherwise judged by ignorant men.  
The 9 Mo. 1659.  
THE END▪