Cain Against ABEL, Representing NEW-ENGLAND'S Church-Hirarchy, In Opposition to Her CHRISTIAN Protestant Dissenters. By George Fox.  
Printed in the Year 1675.   

THE PREFACE TO THE New-England Professors, That HANGED the Servants of the Lord for RELIGION. And all others that are found in their Steps, Persecuting Imprisoning, Hating and Killing their Brethren about Religion, as Cain did ABEL his Brother.  Wo be unto them, for they have gone in the Way of Cain, and ran greedily after the Error of Balaam for Reward, &c. judas the 11th Verse. Christ saith, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; & no man cometh to the Father but by me, John 14.6. 
So here are the two ways, one to Happiness, and the other to Misery.  
SInce you high Professors of New-England( who fled out of England for Religion) have Martyred and Put to Death the Servants of the Lord about Religion in your Country, and that your Earth has opened her Mouth, and received the Blood of those Righteous Abels; has your Earth yielded, its Increase? or the Fruit Trees brought forth their Seed? And do you think that their Blood has not cried for Vengeance to the Lord? And if so, then what do you think that the Lord will recompense you withal? And did ever Christ or his Apostles after him, make a Law either to Imprison or Spoil the Goods of any, or put to Death any for Religion? Now you do say, The Scripture is your Rule; therefore let us see Scriptures for these your Practices. Oh, that ever Men should flee for fear of Persecution, and then themselves be the greatest Persecutors! Or did ever Christ or the Apostles make a Law, that it should be Five Shillings a day Penalty upon any that would not hear Christ and his Apostles? If you say, Yea, then let us see what Proof you have in Scripture for it, or else never profess the Scripture to be your Rule for these things: Have you not trodden the Command of Christ under foot, which says, Love one another, and Love Enemies, and Entertain Strangers? And has not God Almighty brought great Judgments upon your Government, and Priests and People since you have drunken the Blood of his Faithful Servants? And now in this the Day of your Calamity consider this, Behold the Judge standeth before the Door, Jam. 5.9. What Door is this? and what Judge is this? Whether is this the outward House-Door, or the Door of the Heart, think you?  
G. F.   

Cain against Abel &c.  
THE Lord said unto Cain, why art thou wrath, and why is thy Countenance fallen? If thou dost well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou dost not well, Sin lies at thy Door, and unto thee shall be his Desire: and thou shalt rule over him, &c.  
Doing well shuts Sin out of the Door; so it is not saying well, or saying Words that be true; but Doing well shutteth Sin out of the Door, and Doing ill letteth Sin in at the Door; but Cain did not well, and so Sin entered in at the Door of his Heart and mind, and then he killed his righteous Brother about his Religion: And in like manner, pretended Christians now, where Sin is got into their Hearts( and they pled for Sin in them as long as they live) are found in the like practise of killing their righteous Brother: So then, persecuting Christians may stop their mouths for finding Fault with Cain their elder Brother, that killed his Brother about Religion. For Christian, what hast thou done? Hast thou done well in persecuting and beating thy Brother about Religion? And art not thou become a Vagabond, and a Fugitive in the Earth? And art not thou become a Cain and art risen up in his stead, and hast killed Abel for his Religion, contrary to God's Command, who would have had thee do well, and contrary to Christ's Command, that you should love One another that were Christians, yea further, love Enemies, that were no Christians: For Christ had in the Love of God dyed for all; and Christians should have the Mind of Christ, to love all that Christ dyed for.  
Now all ye that profess yourselves Christians, of all Sects in New-England, and all Christendom; consider and see, if you be not like Cain, and not like Abel, and the Birth of the Flesh, that persecutes him that is born of the Spirit, and in a worse State then Cain; for Cain had, or made no Law for a Cover to persecute his Brother by; but now you have done it by a Law of your own making( not God's nor Christ's making.)  
Now the Lord said unto Cain, why art thou wrath, and why is thy Countenance fallen? So you may see there was Wrath in Cain, and his Countenance was fallen, before he persecuted and murdered his Brother about Religion: And so is there not a Wrath in all you Persecutors before you do persecute, imprison or murder for Religion? His and your Countenance falls from the Good which is of God: But if ye, or Cain did well, you would have been accepted of God; there is a Promise of God to you, as was unto Cain, before he or you do persecute or murder about Religion; but if thou dost not well, saith God to Cain, Sin lies at thy Door: And what Door was this think you? Was it the Door of his House or Tent, or the Door of his Heart, Mind and Spirit, and Sin's desire was towards him; but if Cain did well, he should rule over the Sin, and he should be accepted; & this was before that he had murdered his Brother, that God spoken those Words to him. Now after Cain's Countenance was fallen from Truth and Righteousness, and his Brother Abel stood up in it; then was Cain wrath, & then Sin got into his House, his Mind and Heart, and then it came to rule over Cain, and not Cain to rule over it, and then Cain did not well but evil, when he killed his Brother about his Religion.  
So now consider all ye Professors in New-England. and Christendom, is not Sin got into your House, and do not you pled for it as long as you live, in your Wrath, with a fallen Countenance, grumbling against your Brethren, before you murder them; and so when the Good is fallen in yourselves, then you turn against it( Cain like) against your Brethren in whom Truth stands, and they in it, and that do well. Now when Cain had killed his Brother, the Lord asked him where his Brother was, and he said, I know not, am I my Brother's Keeper? Here the Murderer pretends, he cannot tell what he hath done with him that he hath murdered; so here is adding Sin unto Sin, and Lying unto Murder. But consider all ye that profess yourselves Christians, God did not charge Cain with Sin getting into his House, before he persecuted and murdered his Brother, but said, it lay at his Door: And now you that are not come so far, as to hear God's Voice as Cain did, but pled for Sin in you as long as you live; Sin is got into the Door of your Hearts, Minds and Spirits.  
Now Christ Jesus stands at the Door and knocks, Rev. 3. and saith, if any Man will open, he will come in and sup with him, &c. And therefore consider, does not Christ stand in the Sin's Place, at the Doors of your Minds and Hearts, and Sin is gotten in at the Door of your Hearts and Minds, and there the strong Man of Sin keeps the House, and you pled for him Term of Life, that he must have a Freehold there, and yet Christ stands at the Door of your Minds and Hearts, and knocks, the Lamb of God, that comes to take away Sin; and there the heavenly man may knock; for do not you tell him, you must have Sin as long as you live in your House, and within your Door; and let him knock by his Power and Spirit, that comes to take it away, and to make an End of Sin, and to bring into your house everlasting Righteousness; he who was manifest in the Flesh, came to condemn that Sin that is got into the Flesh, and with his Blood to cleanse thee from all Sin, and to give thee that Faith, which will give thee Victory over thy Sin; and yet thou wilt neither receive it nor believe it; but pled for Sin within thy House, as long as thou livest; and Christ Jesus that knocks at thy Door, tells thee, he hath perfected forever all them that are sanctified, by the One Offering, who dyed for your Sins, signifying, they were imperfect, before Christ had sanctified and perfected them. So Sin is in all your Houses and within your Doors, that pled for it as long as you live, and so Sin's Work you do, and not Christ's, and over it you do not rule, but persecute them that have Rule over it, that are of the Faith of Abel, who has opened the Door of their Hearts, to let Christ in to rule in their Hearts, by whom they rule over Sin; and by the Faith which Christ is the Author of, and hath wrought in their Hearts, they obtain Victory over sin; and their Countenance does not fall, neither be they in the Wrath against the Righteous. But in all your Doors into whom sin is gotten within your Hearts, Minds and Spirits, he makes you to rage against them that have rule over him, that he cannot get within the Doors and Houses of their minds, hearts and spirits, and such he rages against; some he persecutes with the Tongue, some in Body and Estate, and some to Life itself: But the Righteous Blood from Abel will come upon the Evil, Persecuting and Murdering Generation; that is the Word of Christ to you all, that will stand.  
Now he( to wit. sin) rages against every Appearance of God; for he is within your Door: you'l make a Talk of Christ without; but Reprobates won't have him within: He may stand at the Door of the Reprobates, but they won't let him into their Hearts. And you that pled for Sin within your Door as long as you live, Christ he stands at your Door, and knocks, who should rule in your hearts by Faith, which gives the Victory over sin.  
Old Cain, your great Grandfather, you may see, he heard God's Voice, which you all deny, and say, There is no hearing God's Voice now adays; and so are more dark then Cain; so he was beyond you in that; for he talked with God, and God with him, as you may see in Gen. 4.  
And are not all those in the Wrath, and their Countenance fallen, whom God hath no Respect to their Sacrifice, yea, all that be out of Abel's Faith?  
Now the Lord asked Cain, Why he was Wrath, and why his Countenance was fallen? saying, If thou dost well, shalt thou not be accepted, & c?  
So you may see, here was a Promise of God unto Cain, if he did well; and this was before he had killed his Brother about Religion( as before): So it is not a Talking well, but Practising and doing well that God accepts; for as yet he had not murdered his Brother about Religion, though he was Wrath, and his Countenance fell: And if thou dost not well, sin lieth at thy Door, &c.  
So all you that do not well, though you may talk well, are you not in Cain's Way, and sin lieth at your Door? But all you that pled for sin in you, it is a worse state then Cain before sin got into him: Now the Lord said unto Cain, Unto thee shall be his desire( to wit, Sin) and thou shalt rule over him, if thou do well. So, if you do well, ye shall rule over Sin; for you may see, unto Cain was Sin's Desire, though he lay at the Door: But you that have let him into your Hearts and Minds, and pled for him as long as you do live; of you he hath got his Desire, and rules over you, and not you over him. So as the Apostle saith, The Prince of the Power of the Air rules in the Hearts of the Children of Disobedience: So he is got into their Hearts here, he doth not lye at their Door; for[ mark] he rules in the Hearts of the Children of Disobedience.  
And Cain talked with Abel his Brother, And it came to pass when they were in the Field, that Cain rose up against his Brother, and slay him, &c.  
So mark, Cain talked with his Brother before he slay him about his Religion; and don't you talk with your Brethren about Religion, before you destroy them? But what talk was this? let New-England Professors and Boston Magistrates answer it: Was not their Talk like Cain's? And don't you fulfil Christ's words, and you and Cain think you do God Good Service in Killing your Brethren about Religion: And does not the Apostle say, He that hates his Brother is a manslayer, in the time of the Gospel & this is before he has done the outward Act, though it be in the Heart; for says he, Whosoever hates his Brother, is a Murderer, and ye know that no Murderer hath Eternal Life abiding in him.  
Now, I pray, consider this all ye Christians, that say, Ye are in the Gospel-times, and yet Hate and Persecute your Brethren about Religion; are you not Brothers in Adam, as Cain and Abel were? Is not Cain the Father of you all? for though you profess the Gospel-times, yet the Gospel tells you, He that hates his Brother is a Murderer, and no Murderer( the Apostle tells you) hath Eternal Life abiding in him: So it seems the Murderer abides within all them that hate and persecute their Brethren about Religion, though they do not the Outward Act of Murder, as Cain did.  
Now, you that do that Outward Act of Murder, Hang, Burn, Banish, Whip, Cut-off Ears, Fine, Spoil Goods, Imprison and Torture to Death for Religion; are you not like Cain, the old Murderer, and worsethen they that hate their Brother, which are called Murderers in the Gospel Times, that don't do the outward Act? And therefore, how can you pled for Eternal Life abiding in you, that hate your Brethren, and murder them, and pled for a Body of sin and Death to the Grave. Now Christ tells you in the Scriptures, that he through Death, might destroy him that had the Power of Death, that is, the Devil; and for this Purpose the Son of God was manifest, to destroy the Works of the Devil; and he was manifest to take away sin, which is a Work of the Devil; for this is the message, which we have heard from the Beginning, that we should love One another, not as Cain, who was of that wicked One, and slay his Brother &c. and wherefore slay he him? Because his own Works were evil[ mark] because Cain's own Works were evil, therefore he persecuted, and slay his Brother about Religion. And can your works be more righteous then his, that do slay your Brethren now about Religion? And Abel his Brother's Works were righteous; and so it is the righteous Brethren and the just, that suffer by the unjust, and he that is born of the Flesh, persecutes him that is born of the Spirit: So, marvel not my Brethren( saith the Apostle) if the World hate you; we know, that we have passed from Death to Life, because we love the Bretheren; and he that loveth not, abideth in Death.  
Now the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy Brother? And he said, I know not, am I my Brother's Keeper? Here after Cain had killed and murdered his Brother about Religion, he asks whether he was his Keeper; for he thought to have succeeded him in his Inheritance and Possession.  
Now what says Christ of the great Professors, and murdering persecuting Jews? Yonder comes the Heir( when they had killed the Servants, and stoned them) when he came to look for Fruits let us kill him also( said they) and then the Vineyard shall be curs. And see what judgement the Jews in that case gave upon themselves; that such Vineyard Keepers, that had killed the Servants and the Heir, should be miserable destroyed, and the Vineyard let forth to other Men: Now this that Christ spoken in this Parable, was concerning spiritual Fruits, that God had sent his Son and Servants( whom they killed) to look for; and hath not God sent his Servants, and Sons, and Daughters since the Apostles Dayes, to look for spiritual Fruits amongst you, that do profess the Gospel? And have you not( Cain like) hated them, and murdered them, manifesting that eternal Life does not abide in you, which is the Fruit the living God looks for, and his Servants; so you may give judgement upon yourselves as the Jews did.  
And the Lord God said unto Cain( though he  told the Lord he did not know where his Brother Abel was) What hast thou done? The Voice of thy Brother's Blood cries unto me from the Ground, and now art thou cursed from the Earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy Brother's Blood from thy Hand; and when thou tills the Ground, it shall not he ceforth yield Seed unto thee, or Strength; a Fugitive and a Vagabond shalt thou be in the Earth, &c.  
And now consider, all ye that profess the Gospel Times, and are Killers of your Brethren about Religion, do ye think that their Blood doth not cry to the Lord? And do ye think that you are not under the Curse of Cain, and that Wo and Misery is upon you? red judas what he says of such in the Gospel-Times; and do ye think that the Ground, that received your Brethrens Blood, will yield its Strength unto you when you till it? And do ye think that ye are not Fugitives and Vagabonds in the Earth, that do murder and kill your Brethren for Religion? You hating your brethren in the Gospel Times, ye are Murderers, not having eternal Life abiding in you; so not Heirs of Grace and Life, and not Heirs of the Gospel, the Power of God, and so not Heirs of Christ and his Kingdom, that stands in Righteousness, and Peace, and Joy in the holy Ghost, where no unclean Thing can enter.  
So consider you this, and see, are you not Vagabonds and Fugitives from this Inheritance and Kingdom, all you that have murdered and hated your Brethren upon the Account of Religion? And see if Sin be not entered too within the Doors of your Hearts, and there keeps the House, and there you pled for him to be the Term of your Life, to the Grave; and you cannot abide to hear talk of Faith in the Heart( which Christ is the Author of) which gives Victory over Sin in this Life; & you cannot abide to hear talk of believing in the Light of Christ, and becoming Children of the Light, and so to be born of God, and of having a Witness in yourselves, which Belief overcomes the World, and their God, which blinds the Eyes of the Infidels; and you cannot endure to hear talk of the Grace of God to be sufficient to teach and bring to Salvation, and this to be within, in the Heart; and you cannot endure to hear talk of the Spirit and Truth to be within, in the Heart of Christians, in which Truth and Spirit they worship the Father, the God of Truth, who is a Spirit; for he seeks spiritual Worshippers to worship him in the Spirit & Truth, and not formal Worshippers without the Spirit and Truth; and ye cannot endure to hear talk of the Light shining in the Heart, to give the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ, and this heavenly Treasure in the earthen Vessels, and the Excellency of its Power, you make a Mock of it, which is of God, and not of us; and you cannot endure to hear talk of God's writing his Law in the Heart, and putting it in the Mind, this new Covenant, in which God will be their God and they shall be his People; that they shall not teach every Man his Neigh our, and every Man his Brother saying, know the Lord; for all shall know me from the least to the greatest; for I will be merciful to their Unrighteousness, and their Sins and Iniquities I will remember no more. Now the Lord saith, their Sins and Iniquities he will remember no more, to his Children of the new Covenant, in whom he hath written his Law in their Heart, and put it in their mind; but you will remember Sin, and keep Sin in you, and pled for it and the Body of Death to the Grave, who talk of the new Covenant, but are out of it, and the Apostle John saith in his Gospel-time, to the Church in his general Epistle; but ye have an Unction from the holy One, and ye know all Things; and again the Anointing, which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any Man teach you, but as the same Anointing teacheth you of all Things, and is true and is no lie; and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.  
Now can you endure to hear of this Anointing within People to teach them, ye in whom sin is gotten into your House through the Door of your Hearts, and ye do pled for him to the Grave, that ye may not be divorced from him as long as you live, and so have not you proved yourselves to be the disobedient Children? and the Prince of the Air rules in your Hearts as long as you live, and not Christ; so he may knock at your Doors as long as you live; but the Prince of the Air shall rule in your Hearts: And did not the Apostle say, When it pleased the Father to reveal his Son in me, he preached him, & therefore what Sort of Preachers are you, which pled for sin in you to the Grave, & Christ not revealed in you, but stands at your Door & knocks? consider this. And doth not the Apostle say, The Righteousness which is of Faith speaks on this wise; say not in thy Heart, who shall ascend into Heaven to bring Christ down from above, &c. but what saith it, the Word is nigh thee, even in thy Heart and in thy Mouth, and this is the Word of Faith which we preach. Now ye Professors without Possession, like the Jews, can you endure this, or do you know in what wise the Righteousness of Faith speaks, which saith, the word is nigh, in peoples hearts & mouths, to obey it and to do it; and this was the Word of Faith, which the Apostles preached; and have you not been against the preaching of this Word of Faith in the Hearts and mouths of People, to obey and do it; for if you did do and obey this Word, you would know it like a Hammer, to hammer down the strong Holds of Satan, and the spiritual wickedness in you; and you would know it like a Sword, to cut down your Iniquity, and your Unrighteousness and Ungodliness, and to cut down all your Profession without Possession, and to cut down that persecuting Birth in you, and that Nature, that held the Truth in Unrighteousness; and you would know it like a Fire, to burn up the chaff and corruptions within you, by which Word you might be reconciled to God, and be born again of the immortal Seed, and to feed upon the milk of the Word, and see it, and handle it, and declare it to others, that which was from the beginning, Christ the word, that bruises the Serpent's head, who was before he was, and will be when he is gone: So here will be no more pleading for sin term of Life, but pleading for Christ the endless Life, which is my desire that all may come to.  
And Christ saith, No man knoweth the Son but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father but the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Mat. 11.27. Now you Priests, and Teachers, and Professors of New-England and else where, that deny Revelation in this your Age, Day and Generation, both to yourselves and your hearers; you deny that by which you should know the Son, and the Father; for Christ tells you in plain Words, he and his Father are not known but by Revelation: And therefore you that deny Revelation, you deny the Way, by which the Father and Son are known, and therefore how can you be Preachers of God and Christ, and know them not, and deny that Revelation, by which you should know them; for Christ saith, no Man[ mark no Man] knoweth the Son but the Father, neither knoweth any Man the Father but the Son, and him to whomsoever the Son will reveal him: So you that pretend to be Preachers of God and Christ in Words, you preach that you do not know, and deny Revelation, by which he is known, and therefore how can you be the true Christians, and Preachers of him, that know neither the Father nor the Son, and deny that by which they are known, & persecute them in whom he is revealed; and you that deny the Revelation of God and Christ, which is that by which they are known, yet make a Profession of them in Words and of their words, what do you differ from the Jews or the Pawaws of your own Country; for the Apostle tells you, who was a Minister of Christ, even so( says he) the Things of God knoweth no Man but the Spirit of God, and God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: And have not you said over and over, that you have not the same Spirit of God that the Apostles had, and deny Revelation? And therefore you cannot know the Things of God; for the Apostle tells you, no man knows the Things of God but the Spirit of God; and so, how can you know the Things of God, which are spiritually discerned, and deny yourselves and your Hearers of having the same Spirit of God and Revelation, as the Apostles had, seeing the Apostle tells you, no Man knows the Things of God, but the Spirit, and therefore how can you preach the Things of God, that you do not know; for the Apostle tells you, They are Foolishness to the natural Man; so you may stop your mouths forever from preaching the Things of God to others, that have not the Spirit, and Revelation the Apostles had, which you know not yourselves; for the Things of God are only known by the same Spirit of God, the Apostle was in and enjoyed.  
And therefore have you looked upon them that have come to preach the things of God amongst you as Foolishness, and have hanged some, and whipped and scourged others, and cut the Ears of others, and banished, and imprisoned, and fined, and spoiled the Goods of others.  
And now, consider this, Would you be so done unto, and served yourselves, as you have done to others? Would you have the Law and the Prophets fulfilled upon you, who have walked neither according to the Law, nor Prophets nor Gospel? for your Lives have answered neither.  
And do not you know, that after a Dog hath bitten a Man or a Woman, he is Man-keen, after he has tasted of his or her Blood?  
And so we see men and women that be in the Dogs Nature, though they may profess all the Scriptures in words, and yet deny the Life and Power and Holy Ghost, that the Holy Men of God were in, that gave them forth, are biting and devouring them that be in the Power of God and Holy Ghost, now as in Ages past.  
And were not the holy men of God, that gave forth the Scriptures, beaten and torn with such as were in the Dogs Nature, that were out of that Power and Spirit that the Prophets and Holy men of God were in?  
And so, is it not manifest, that after such Dogs or Wolves have tasted of the Blood of the Innocent, and of the Righteous, Godly and Holy Men and Women, then do not such Dogs and Wolves hunt after, and are very keen, and thirsty and hungry for their Blood, and nothing will satisfy them but the Blood of the People of God?  
And were not always the Dogs and the Wolves and the Swine the Despisers of the Power of God and Holy Ghost, that the Prophets and Apostles were in; and the Thirsters after the Blood of such as were in the Power of God and Holy Ghost, as you may see in the dayes of the Prophets, and in the dayes of Christ and the Apostles; and is it not so now?  
And consider Jezabel, that hunted after the Blood of the Righteous? was not she in the Dogs Nature? and did not Dogs lick her Blood at last and her Husbands also? red 1 Kings 21, 22. chap.  
Does not David say, who was in the Power and Spirit of God, For Dogs have compassed me, the Assemblies of the Wicked have closed me, they have pierced my Hands and my Feet, & c.?  
And was not this a prophesy of Christ? And was not he compassed about with Dogs? And did not David desire the Lord, to deliver his Soul from the Sword, and his Darling from the Power of the Dog? red Psal. 22.  
And further, he says, The Lord is my Shepherd, I. shall not want; and he hath made me lye down in green Pastures, and he leadeth me by the still Waters.  
Now, have you not been as Dogs, to worry such as the Lord is their Shepherd, and cannot complain for want, who lye down in God's green Pastures, and he leads them by his still Waters? Have you not hunted these, and never have been satisfied till you have drunk their Blood?  
And are such( as are called Dogs) Members of Christ's Church? surely no. And does not Isaiah call the False Idol Shepherds greedy dumb Dogs, that could never have enough? And have not your Shepherds fulfilled this prophesy of Isaiah, both in their Greediness concerning their Means and Gain, and also concerning their Greediness of the Blood of the Righteous? as witness your Priests Sermons before they executed the Servants of the Most High God, upon whom God's Vengeance from Heaven fell.  
And consider the Judgments of God, that Jeremiah declared to the persecuting Jews, that cast him into the Dungeon, though they did not put him to Death, as you have done, though they were as a Company of Dogs about him.  
Thus saith the Lord, &c. Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my Mind could not be towards this People: cast them out of my Sight, let them go forth, &c.  
If they far unto thee, Whether shall we go forth? thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Such as are for Death, to Death; and such as are for the Sword, to the Sword; and such as are for the Famine, to the Famine; and such as are for Captivity, to Captivity.  
For I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord; the Sword to slay, the Dogs to tear, the Fowls of the Heaven, and the Beasts of the Earth to devour and destroy them.  
And it is well if this Scripture does not come to be fulfilled upon you in Jer. 15. who have been as Wolves and Dogs upon God's Sheep, Whipping, Branding with Hot Irons, Hanging, Spoiling Goods, making Widdows and Fatherless, whose cries come up before the Lord, and others Mourning for their Children and Relations, whom You Hanged, whom the God of Heaven sent amongst you, to Warn you of the Evil Day to come, who are the Professors without the Possession of Christ's Power and Spirit; like the Jews, who professed the Law and the Prophets, and yet were like Dogs against the Prophets, upon whom God brought the Heathen, nabuchadnezzar, who toar them to pieces; and it is much if the Lord does not bring the Heathen upon you also, to Tear you to pieces, and to Hang, and Burn, and Spoil your Goods also.  
Indeed, the outward Dogs had more Compassion upon poor Lazarus, then great Dives.  
And the Apostle saith, Beware of Dogs and Evil-Workers, &c. For we are the Circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no Confidence in the Flesh.  
Now consider, who was to beware of these Dogs? and who were these Dogs? let your High Priests expound it; for you dare not say, that you are of the Circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, and have no Confidence in the Flesh: For your Confidence has been in the Flesh; and now see in what stead that Confidence will stand you in, and that corrupt Flesh, when God's Wrath is coming upon you, who in your Words have professed God and Christ, and in your Works denied him.  
And when the Lord did open to John the City and the three of Life, he saw without the City were the Dogs, &c. Now come, red yourselves, Priests, Magistrates and Professors, that have drunk the Blood of the Servants of the Most High God, that came amongst you, to bid you, come freely to the Water of Life, and take thereof freely. I know, neither Priest, Magistrate nor Professor of you, dare say they are within this Holy City; for you do say, You have not the same Power and Spirit the Apostles had; and therefore you are not like to see this Holy City, nor to taste of this Water of Life, nor eat of the three of Life, without the Spirit which John saw it withal.  
And having seen an Act, made in 1656. by your Court of Assistants, so called, at Boston, wherein itis said as followeth:  Whereas there is a Cursed Sect of heretics, called Quakers, &c. who take upon them to be immediately sent of God, and infallibly assisted by the Spirit, &c. to speak and writ Blasphemons Opinions, &c. 
Answer, Are not you the Blasphemers, that blaspheme against the Spirit of God? For your Envy has so straitned your Spirits, that you have not discovered, what blasphemous Opinions they have spoken or writ, nor what is Blasphemy in this your Act. And are not you the more like to speak, and writ and hold forth Blasphemous Opinions, who say, You have not the same Spirit as the Prophets, Christ & the Apostles had? And was not Christ and the Apostles charged as Blasphemers and heretics, by such Professors of Scriptures as you are, without the Possession of the Spirit? But does God's immediate sending his People, and their speaking by his infallible Spirit, torment you? Are not many of those Prophecies come to pass, which those Servants of the Lord, that you murdered, denounced against you?  But there is a Cursed Sect of Heoeticks( as you say) called Quakers. 
Answ. What Scripture have you for calling them so, seeing Christ and the Apostle say, Bless, and Curse not? It's well if your Curses do not enter into your own Bowels; for you cannot curse that which God has blessed; it touches them not, who in your Scorn you call Quakers, who are of the Royal Priestbond, and of the general Assembly, written in Heaven, elect and blessed in Christ, who bruises the Head of your Father, the Murderer, that brought the Curse upon Man and the Earth.  
So we, who tremble at the Word of God, by which all things were made and created, have received that in our Hearts, which was before Sects were; but your Language betrays you, and savours of the Jews Spirit, that charged the true professing Christians to be of the Sect of the Nazarites.  
Now the Foundation of your Law is a lie, in saying, there is a cursed Sect of heretics, called Quakers, that have taken upon them to be immediately sent of God, and infallibly assisted to speak and writ Blasphemous Opinions, &c. For these are nothing but empty words from an empty brain, and a malicious murderous heart; and the Lord will reckon with you for this your Blasphemy against his infallible Spirit, and his immediate Moving of his Servants to come and look for Fruits amongst you, whom you( that have whored from his Spirit) have drunk their Blood.  
And you manifest the Spirit and Language of your Fore-fathers, the Jews, who persecuted the Apostle as an heretic; but after that Way which they called heresy, he worshipped the God of his Fathers; and so do the Quakers.  
And whereas you farther say in your Act, That they despise Government, and the Order of God in Church and Common-wealth, speaking evil of Dignities, reproaching Magistrates and Ministers, seeking to turn People from the Faith, and gain Proselytes to their Pernicious ways, &c.  
Answ. All these things are false Charges, and a bad Foundation to ground your Murder, Banishment and Persecution of the Servants of God upon; for Magistrates we own, that rule well, and they are worthy of double Honour: but you say, You are Christians, and the Scripture is your Rule;( if so) then show us where did Christ and his Apostles set up a Magistracy and a Dignity to Hang and Murder Christians for Matters of Faith and Religion, or Ministers to encourage and stir up the Magistrates to Persecution: let's see where this Dignity, Magistracy and Ministry was set up by Christ, who has all Power in Heaven and Earth committed to him. And where did ever Christ and the Apostles encourage Magistrates to such work? and whether these your Actions have not been in the lower power, and not in the higher? your Works declare it: For is it not the Higher Power's Command, To do unto all as you would have them do unto you? And Magistrates which are for the Punishment of the Evil-doers, and the Praise of them that do well, we own; but such as you, that have abused your Power, and punish those that do well, and turn your Sword backward, were admonished by our Friends; and if you will not hear, we leave you to God to deal with you.  
And the Church-order, which is the Gospel-order, we are Heirs of, and are in the Possession of; and the Faith which Christ Jesus is the Author and Finisher of we contend for, and can join with no dead Faith of Mens making; and the Ministers which Christ Jesus hath sent freely, and go in his Command, and love one another, and love Enemies, such we own.  
But such as will not go without Judas's Bag, and the Magistrates Staff & Power, to fill their Bag, which are not able to convince the Gain-sayers, but cry, help Magistrates of New-England, as the Jews cried, help Men of Israel against the Apostles, who have not the spiritual armor nor spiritual Weapons to defend them; now these have been a Dishonour to Christ's free Gospel, and have made it chargeable, and follow neither Christ nor the Apostles in their Succession, Ordination nor Qualification; all that can but red the Scriptures, may see them, and red them.  
And that Church which doth persecute about Religion, and drinks the Blood of the Saints, and decrees and enacts, that none shall buy or sell with them, but who receive their Mark in their Forehead, and join with them in Persecution, with their Mark in their Hand; now according to the Scriptures doth not that Church manifest itself to be the Whore, and not the Spouse of Christ, which was to love one another, and love Enemies.  
For you have not natural Affections that destroy God's Creatures and Servants about Religion; and therefore you are not like to have divine or natural Affections.  
And have not you mingled your Sacrifices with the Blood of the righteous Servants of God, as Pilate your elder Brother did? And have not your Hearts and Hands been full of Blood, which you have lifted up? but the blood-thirsty Men God will shorten their Dayes; and have not your Hearts and Ears been uncircumcised, that would not hear such as God sent unto you?  
And in Rev. 6.9, 10. I saw under the Altar the Souls of them that were slain for the Word of God, and for the Testimony which they held. Now these Souls of these Martyrs cried with a loud Voice, How long Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our Blood on them that dwell on the Earth, & c?  
Consider this you New-England Professors, Priests and Magistrates, and all others that have  shed the Blood of the Servants of God for the Word of God's sake, and the Testimony of Jesus.  
And you make a great Noise of heresy and Blasphemy, but when you came to murder them, had you any other thing to charge against them, but that they owned themselves to be Quakers? as much as to say, they trembled at God's Word; the Word Quaker was a Nick-name given to us by Justice Bennet and Col. Barton, a Presbyterian Preacher of Darbyshire in the Year 1650. whom God Almighty has blasted; and take heed, lest the Lord God of Heaven doth not blast you also.  
Again you say, in your Act, In Consideration of the Premises, and to prevent the like Mischiefs, as by their Means wrought in our native Land, &c. we do hereby enact, that whatsoever Master or Commander of any Ship, Bark, Pinnace or any other Vessel, shall henceforth bring into any Harbour within this Jurisdiction, &c. any known Quaker, &c. or any other blasphemous heretics, as aforesaid, &c. shall pay, or cause to be paid the Sum of 100 l. &c. and for Default of Payment shall be cast into Prison, till Satisfaction be made, &c.  
Answ. Would you be so served yourselves? And would you have your Masters and Commanders of Ships or Merchants, into what Port, Country or Nation they come, which be of a contrary Religion then the New-England Men be, for them to do so by you, as you do by the People of God called Quakers, and the Masters of Ships that bring them in? And if they should do so by you, how can you find Fault? It is but like your own New-England Law; and if they should use your own Terms, and say, It is but a cursed and bloody Sect of Persecutors in New-England, that blaspheme against God's immediate sending and infallible Spirit, and so to prevent your New-England Men from coming into any other Place or Country with your mediate and fallible Spirit; and this would be but executing your own Law upon you, and so to shut you up in your native Country; for how can they but say, this is but New-England's murdering Law, in doing to them, as they do unto others.  
But you make a great Noise of the Scriptures, and of Christ, and the Apostles Words, and say, that they are your Rule, and therefore you should put in your Law the Law of God, mentioned in the Scriptures, for your Rule, and the Command of God and Christ for your practise, but by that are you judged.  
And what Mischief have you prevented of being wrought in your Land by this your Act? And have you not brought a great deal of Mischief upon your Land by your so doing to them? But why did not you discover what Mischief they wrought in your Land? Or was this the Mischief they wrought, that they would have had you and your People turned to Christ and God, that you and your People might have escaped the Wrath of God that is to come upon you, that you might not have fallen into Mischief.  
But you have manisested your Spirit to be like the Jews, who called Paul a pestilent Fellow, and those Jews that envied Christ, and got Guards to watch his Sepulchre, who called Good Evil, and Evil Good, and Light Darkness, and Darkness Light.  
But the wicked shall fall into Mischief, as in Proverbs, and they that harden their Hearts shall fall into Mischief; and hath not your Hardness of Heart sufficiently shewed itself; and therefore how can you but expect Misery and Calamity, and to fall into Mischief also.  
And did not you of late banish Solomon Eccles, and Captain Nicholas Alexander, a Justice of Peace in Jamaica, out of your Country, who came in Love to visit your Country, and was passing towards Rhode-Island? And have not you been worse then the Heathen Romans? for they permitted Paul( though he was brought a Prisoner to Rome) to hire an House, and preach in his own hired House the Kingdom of God to all that came to him.  
Again you say, That the Commander of, or Master of any such Ships, as aforesaid, being legally convicted, &c. shall give in sufficient Security, &c. to carry back the Persons aforesaid; and upon his Refusal to be committed to Prison, or give in sufficient Security, to the content of the governor, as aforesaid.  
Answ. You have neither Law of God nor Christ for this your practise, nor Law of England; and therefore if you should be so served yourselves by all others that are not of your Religion, it is but like New-England Persecutors Law, and you cannot say it is hard measure: And is not this your practise quiter contrary to the Command of God, and Christ, and the Apostles? that commanded to entertain Strangers, and receive Strangers: The Bishops in Old England did not serve you so, when you fled for Religion out of Old England.  
Again, You farther enact, That what Quakers shall arrive in this Country from foreign Parts, or from any Places adjacent, shall be forthwith committed to the house of Correction, & at their Entrance to be severely whipped, and to be kept constantly at work, and none suffered to converse or speak with them, during the time of their Imprisonment, &c.  
Answ. Would you like it well to be so served yourselves, into what Country or Nation soever you come, that be not of your Religion, to be done unto yourselves as you do unto others? And have not you despised the practise of the Higher Power? For this is your Law, which the Higher Power commands, To do unto all men as you would have them do unto you. But were not these Practices of yours the Works of the Persecuting Jews, to Whip & Scourge Christ and his Apostles? and like Pharaoh, that put the Jews to hard Work? and not like unto the true Christians, which were to Love Enemies.  
You may well say, you have not the same Spirit of Christ as the Apostles had, but the Spirit of Pharaoh and the Jews; and you have fulfilled Christ's Words, who said, They should Scourge his Followers, and Persecute them from City to City: So the Jews and Pharaoh are your Rule, and not the Scriptures of Christ and the Apostles: and here all may see what sort of Weapons you New-England Persecutors use, to wit, Carnal, not Spiritual; the World's, and not Christ's.  
Again, You further order and enact, That if any Person shall bring in any Quakers Books or Writings, concerning their Devilish Opinions, shall pay for every such Book or Writing, being legally proved against them, the Sum of Five Pounds; or whosoever shall Disperse or Conceal any such Books or Writings, if they be found in his or her House, &c. shall pay and forfeit Five Pounds, &c.  
Answ. Have you not set up Queen Mary's Laws in Boston and New-England instead of Christ's? For shane never cry against the Papists, nor Pharaoh, nor the Jews, nor the Turks: For may not Christians nor the Quakers have their Liberty to carry any Books or Writings into your Country, but must fall under these your monstrous Laws, which make your Name to stink, and the Heathen to blaspheme the Name of Christianity by your wilful Cruelty, contrary to the Law of God and Christ, and yet would make People believe the Scripture is your Rule, under a Colour and a Cloak.  
But all may see who have been your Rule, the Father of lies, the Murderer; and what Means you have used to try Spirits withal.  
And as for Devilish Opinions we abhor: And how can your Opinions be but Devilish, who say, You have not the same Power and Spirit the Apostles had? And had you acted as men, you would have mentioned in your Law what the Devilish Opinions were they held in their Books.  
But would you be so served yourselves concerning your own Books and printed Sermons by others, that are not of your Bloody Persecuting Religion? And would it not be but doing unto you as you have done to others, if you were so served by others?  
Again, You further enact, That if any Person in your Colony shall take upon them to Defend the heretical Opinions of the said Quakers, or any of their Books or Papers, as aforesaid, being legally proved against them shall be fined the first time Two Pounds; and if they persist, the second time shall be fined Four Pounds; and if still they shall Defend and Maintain the said heretical Opinions, as aforesaid, they shall be committed to the house of Correction, till there be convenient Passage for them to be sent out of the Land, being sentenced by the Court to Banishment, &c.  
Answ. These are New-England Laws; but were you so served yourselves, when you lived in Old England? Would you have your Brethren to be so served, that do defend your Books and Principles in other Nations or Countries, by them that are not of your Religion? It is but doing unto you as you do unto others, if you are so served, which is the Law of the Higher Power: And have not you barred your Sect by this your Law from expecting any Liberty in any Country, but in your own? For if you won't give Liberty to others, that are of a contrary Religion to you; How should you expect it yourselves from others? For the Law of Christ Commands as before, Do unto all men as ye would have them do unto you, and this is the Equal Law.  
But did ever Old England think, that such a Company as you, that fled for Religion, should be the greatest Persecutors and Murderers for Religion? Is not this enough to bring the very Heathen upon you( who have no Command from God, nor Christ, nor his Apostles) for you called Christians to practise any such things?  
And have you enriched yourselves by your Hundred Pound Fines, Five Pound Fines, Four Pound Fines, and Two Pound Fines, and other such like Fines, and other the Spoiling of the Goods of the People of God, which will make you never the richer: For you that can Banish, Whip and Hang them, and take their Goods, it will eat out that which you have: And when you cease Spoiling, do you think you shall not be spoiled? Will not the Lord raise up the Heathen to spoil you? For have you not been like a Troop of Robbers, spoiling by Consent?  
Lastly you enact and order, That if any Person soever shall revile the Office or Person of Magistrate or Minister( as is usual with the Quakers) such Persons shall be severely whipped, or pay the Sum of 5 l. &c.  
Answ. This is grounded upon a lie; for it is not the practise of the Quakers to revile the Persons or Office of neither Minister nor Magistrate.  
But to tell your Ministers and Magistrates, that these Actions are contrary to the Command of Christ and the Apostles, is no reviling, no more then the Prophets, Christ and the Apostles were, which reproved the persecuting professing Jews, who professed that they did not live in.  
And to tell you, that you have no Scripture for your practise, nor no Command, except from Papists or your Father Bouner; this is no reviling of you, but when speaking Truth to Priests and Magistrates is called reviling; thus did the Jews by Christ and the Apostle, sscourge and whip, and called them Movers of Sedition, a pestilent Fellow, and Christ a Blasphemer, like you.  
But you have outstripped them by the 100 l. & 5 l. Fines; and where did ever Christ and the Apostles give you any Command to scourge, whip, hang, banish, fine and spoil the Goods, or to brand with hot Irons, and cut off Ears, as you have done; you say, the Scripture is your Rule, then make this out by Scripture to all your Neighbour Colonies, and to all Christendom, or else forever let your mouths be stopped from professing God, and Christ, and the Scripture to be your Rule, who in your practise thus dishonour him, and deny his Commands, in persecuting, imprisoning, spoiling Goods, whipping, hanging, branding with hot Irons, and cutting Ears of such as Christ has dyed for, and bought with his Blood; how will you answer this before his tribunal judgement Seat, who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Man Christ Jesus, by whom God will judge the World, according to the Gospel preached to every Creature?  
And what a shane is this for you to fly in Pretence of Religion, and when you are tried, and the Lord sends his Servants, and his Sons and Daughters such great Journeys, to look what spiritual Fruit is among you, and you hang, banish, burn, whip, fine and imprison them? So would you do unto Christ also, if he had been in your Dayes, and have crucified him as a Deceiver, like your Forefathers, the Jews, and Pilate, before whom he witnessed a good Confession: But he is risen far above all Principalities, and Powers, and Thrones, and Dominions, and remains in the Heavens till all things be restored; and therefore you nor no Powers can touch him, to crucify him again. But you may say, you can persecute him in his Members, where he is manifest; what! is the Devil, & Cain, & Herod, & Pilate and the Jews, and Pharaoh, and Nebuchadnezer turned Christians in Name, & persecute the Nature of Christ? is not this the highest hypocrisy that ever was, to make the Profession of Christianity a Cloak for Murder, Envy and Cruelty? For set the Case they had been Tares, you ought to have let them grow to the Harvest; for God will sand his Angels to be the Reapers at the End of the World, Christ tells you so. But did not you want a Gamaliel amongst you, to have ordered your Courts and your Priests, who said, Let these men alone, lest you be found Fighters against God, but if it be of Men, it will come to nought: What, is Gamaliel's Counsel, and Christ's and the Apostles Counsel all thrown away and rejected, and yet the Scripture pretended to be your Rule, both by your Priests and Magistrates; but I shall leave it to all that fear God, to judge who has been your Rule, and whether it be not the Spirit of him that abode not in the Truth, that has been the Murderer of all the righteous Abels from the Beginning to this Day, that hath been your Rule. Oh that you might see yourselves, and repent, and turn to the Lord, whilst you have time; but I fear, Repentance will be hide from many of your Eyes, who have been the Suckers of the sweet Blood of the Saints.  
Therefore dread and fear, lest the Lord does give you Blood to drink, and do unto you as you have done unto others, which is not our Desire, but that you might see yourselves, and humble yourselves, and repent, and that you would cry out as Paul did, and be like him after his Conversion, and not like Saul, and show forth the Nature of Christianity, and not to be the Talkers only, but the Walkers also, and not the Sayers only, but the Doers of the Word of God, that your Souls might be saved.  
For I feel and see a Blackness and Darkness to be amongst you, and that you are covered over with a Profession, and that the Birth of the Flesh is turned Christian, that persecutes with his carnal Weapons, Whips, Goals, Gallows, hot Irons, the Birth that is born of the Spirit, whose Weapons are spiritual, and not carnal, and their armor spiritual, and not carnal, by which they stand and defend the Gospel of Christ and his Kingdom, that is not of this World, and the Faith that Christ is the Author of, and the Religion that is pure and undefiled, and the Worship that is in the Spirit and Truth, that the Devil is out of, and the general Assembly written in Heaven, and the Church made up of living Stones, elect of God, which Christ, the heavenly Man is the Head of, which is defended by spiritual armor and Weapons. And did not the Persecutors in all Ages persecute the Saints of the most high with carnal Weapons? And were not the Apostles able Ministers of the Spirit? And was not their armor and Weapons spiritual? And are not you that use your carnal Weapons carnal Professors, Defenders of your carnal Church, with carnal armor and Weapons, by carnal Men? And how dare you say, Christ is the Head of such that neither know him nor his spiritual Ministers, armor nor Weapons? And was it not in all Ages, that the Truth in the Prophets, Christ Jesus and the Apostles and primitive Christians was persecuted, killed, crucified, and had their Goods spoiled, under the Name of heretics, Blasphemers and Deceivers in all Ages? And were not they the Blasphemers, and Deceivers, and schismatics, that did persecute the Truth and the Professors and Followers of it in all Ages?  
Consider this, and red through the Scriptures, and see, in whose Steps you walk, whether in the Path of the Holy Men and Women, with their Spiritual armor and Weapons; or in the Steps of the Carnal Professors and Heathen, with their Carnal Weapons, like the Jews and Judas, with their Swords and Staves.  
And therefore take heed that you sell not the Truth; For have you not sold this Truth, that says, Freely you have received, freely give?  
And have not you sold this Truth, that says, Love one another, and Love Enemies? And have not you sold this Truth( that Christ and the Apostle commanded) Not to Swear; and likewise this Truth, which saith, Do good unto them which hate you, and pray for them that persecute you and despitefully use you? And have not you taken up Hatred, Persecution and Swearing in the room thereof? Does not the Apostle tell you, That all is nothing, except you have Love, and that you are but as tinkling Cymbals & sounding Brass? And do you think that your tinkling Cymbal and sounding Brass will carry you to Heaven? oh! no.  
The Lords Day is coming upon you, and will find you out; and all the Proud and Wicked shall be as Stubble, the Day will burn them up, and neither leave them Root nor Branch: And think not by your Force, and Courts, and Laws to keep God and Christ out of the Hearts of his People; for you may as well think to change the Ordinances of the Sun, Moon and Stars, as to go to change the Commands of God and Christ, that his People must not obey him.  
And you that have risen as a Flood, and thought thereby to drown God's Wheat and Seed; but God Almighty hath set Bounds to your Sea, and can bring a Flood upon the Backs of you ere you be ware, and swallow you up: For the Day of Christ will come suddenly upon you, as a Thief in the Night, when you are crying Peace and Safety, and blessing yourselves in your murderous Works, thinking you have done God good Service; but your service has not been to the living God nor Christ, who commands you to the contrary.  
I cannot but grieve and pity, to think how the Name of God has been blasphemed by you, who have made a Profession of his Name, and yet dishonoured him and denied him in your Works; who have a name to live, but are dead, who are proved and tried, and whose Fruits declare, that you are not the Jews in spirit, nor Temples of the living God to dwell in, Vessels of his grace and mercies; but Synagogues of Satan, full of Murder, Persecution and Cruelty: For had you been true Christians, as you did profess in words, you would have been glad of the Lambs of Christ, that he sent amongst you; and they might have been loaden with the heavenly Fruits, which you should have born to the great God, who is over all blessed forever. But on the contrary, the fruits of the evil spirit have appeared, wrath, envy, murder, back biting and devouring; and therefore take heed that you be not Consumed in the end. And is not this Scripture fulfilled upon you, that pretend yourselves to be Christians, that have been killing and beating your Fellow-Servants; and do you not think that Christ's judgement will come upon you, that he hath given in that Case, To be cut asunder, and have your Portion with the Hypocrites? And do not your Practices fulfil Christ's Saying, I was sick and in Prison, and ye visited me not; and a Stranger, and ye took me not in; but when saw we thee so? said the Goats, and many of you say in their Nature & Spirit; Inasmuch( says Christ) as you did it not unto those little ones, you did it not unto me: and therefore, if they went in Everlasting Punishment that did not visit Christ in Prison, what will become of you that do cast him in his Members into Prison, and not only so, but persecute, whip, fine and hang them? And Christ saith, Saul, Saul, why Persecutest thou me? I fear you never heard this Voice, but still are kicking against that which pricks you; I wish you did see and feel it, that you might confess and repent of your Blasphemy and Persecution, as Paul did.  
From him that desires the Good of all men, and their Everlasting Prosperity in the divine Faith and Love in Christ Jesus, who tasted Death for every man, that all men should live to him, and not to themselves; and his glorious Gospel is preached to every Creature, that every one that receives it, their Conversation should be ordered according to this Glorious Peaceable Gospel, which Power of God was before the Devil was and his power, which has darkened man from Life and Immortality, which the Gospel, the Power of God brings Life and Immortality to light in man, that in the Power of God, the Gospel, they may see over him that has darkened them, and live and walk in the Fellowship of this Gospel.  
So with my Love to all that serve the Lord in the Grace and Truth that comes by Jesus, that they may be built upon him, the Foundation and the Rock.  
G. F. This 20th of the 11th month, 1675.   

Having seen an Order from the Court at Boston, that is come over to England, dated the 3d of Nov. 1675. subscribed Edward Rawson Secretary; which Order is against the Innocent People of God in Scorn called QUAKERS, under Pretence of Reforming the Provoking Evils, as you say: which Order begins thus.  
WHereas it may be found amongst us, that mens Thresholds are set up by God's, and man's Posts besides God's Posts, especially in the open Meetings of the Quakers, whose Damnable Heresies and Abominable Idolatries are hereby promoted, embraced and practised, to the Scandal of Religion, and Hazard of Souls, & Provocation of Divine jealousy against this People, &c. For Prevention and Reformation thereof, it is ordired by this Court and the Authority thereof, That every Person found at a Quakers Meeting, shall be apprehended ex officio by the Constable, and by a Warrant from a Magistrate, &c. shall be committed to the House of Correction, and there to have the Discipline of the House applied to them, and be kept to work with Bread and Water, &c. or else to pay 5 l. in Money, &c. And as touching the Law of Importation of Quakers, that it may be more strictly executed, and none transgressing to escape Punishment; &c. it is hereby ordered, That the Penalty of that Law annexed be in no Cause abated to less then Twenty Pounds, &c.  
Answer, Are these Christian Weapons to reform the provoking Evils with( if they were such as you say)? Or are they not Jewish and Heathenish? Or are these your Scandalous Terms and Abusive Names( you cast upon the People of God called Qurkers) Christian or Antichristian? Or did ever the Apostles or Christ Jesus use such Weapons or Words, as you do? But what the Provoking Evils are, you have not manifested  
But if you call the Quakers meeting together( to worship God, and to wait upon God, and to serve God) provoking Evils, here all People may see how you are degenerated from that which you did formerly profess: But if you would look back upon your own Actions, you would see it's them that provoke God, and bring his Wrath and Vengeance upon you.  
And if New-England Magistrates, Priests and Professors have no better Weapons then Whips, Goals, Gallows, House of Correction, and feeding with Bread and Water( and that scant enough) to reform and prevent Evils withal; 'tis manifest they are no true Christians, nor have the Spiritual Weapons with which the Apostles and Elders did reform. But had you said, These your Weapons were to deform people from the Good into your Evil, and so to make them Conformable Hypocrites, then People might have believed you. But show us by the Scripture, where ever Christ or the Apostles used such. Weapons? Let's see the Scripture for your Rule in this. For we red in Scripture, that the Jews and Heathen did persecute Christ and the Apostles as Evil doers and Blasphamers, whereas they were the greatest Evil-doers & Blasphemers themselves: But consider what became of the Persecuting Jews, that crucified Christ without the Gates of outward Jerusalem, and called Christ a Blasphemer? And what became of those Jews that imprisoned and persecuted Jeremiah? These were the provoking Sins in which you are now found. And what became of Judas, that sold his Master, and then got a Company with Swords and Staves( your Weapons), and then got Whips and Scourges to scourge Christ Jesus withal? And were not the Jews the Whippers and Scourgers of Christ and the Apostles, who looked upon themselves to be the highest Professors in the World( like you, without Possession)? And were not they whipped themselves at last, when Titus took Jerusalem, and laid their City and Habitations desolate, and scattered them over all the World, like a Company of Vagabonds without Possession? And consider what became of Pharaoh, that persecuted the Children of Israel, and would not let them worship God, and made a Law to Kill all the Male Children? Do ye think that he did not look upon the increasing of the Children of Israel outwardly to be a growing Evil, and so would prevent and reform it: and did not they increase and grow the more? And do not you make your Laws against the Increasing of the Jews in Spirit, the true Christian-Quakers, to hinder their Growth amongst you? But I must tell you, God will increase them the more, such as shall and will worship God in Spirit and Truth: And therefore consider what will be the End of you; for you have grieved the good Spirit of the Lord with your Actions: For Pharaoh sought in his Fury to destroy till he was destroyed, and his Host; and are not you the spiritual Pharaohs Host, pursuing the Jews in Spirit with your Carnal weapons, like him and his? But consider, when your Chariot Wheels begin to go heavy, as his did, lest the read Sea flow over you, as it did over him: He that hath an Ear to hear, let him hear. And consider what became of Herod, that destroyed the Young Children in Maliciousness, thinking to have destroyed Christ, and consider what became of Ahab, that commanded Michah to be put in Prison, and be fed with the Bread and Water of Affliction: And consider what became of Ahab, that  shed the Blood of the Righteous, whose Blood the Dogs licked; and what became of Jezabel, whose Flesh the Dogs eat. And therefore you that delight in & love Blood, Whippings, Scourging, Hanging and feeding with Bread and Water, Banishing and Spoiling the People of God's Good; take heed lest those Judgments come upon you at last, as came upon them. And may it not be said of those harmless Lambs( called Quakers) that live amongst you, as it was said to the Church in the Revelations, That they dwell where Satan's Seat is; but they are encouraged now( as those were then) To hold fast the Name of the Lord, as they have done hitherto, and have not denied his Name nor his Faith, though you have drunk some of their-innocent Blood. And I do believe, that all your Whips, Gallows, House of Correction, Hot Irons, Spoiling their Goods, Fines, Banishments, and feeding with Bread and Water, will never force them to deny the Lord Jesus Christ( that has bought them) to be their Teacher and Leader, Prophet & counselor, Shepherd, Bishop and Priest, and their Way, Truth and Life: For the Believers in the Light are become Children of Light, and can see over all such bloodthirsty spirits; and God has sealed them with his Spirit of Promise, and they can set to their seal that God is true in all his Promises and his Judgments upon the Wicked. And have not you red of Antipas, Christ's faithful Martyr, who was slain where Satan dwelleth?[ mark, Satan] he hath his Dwelling there, where the Slayers of God's faithful Martyrs dwell: and don't you think that they slay him under Pretence to reform the provoking Evils, and as an Evil-doer, as you in your blind Zeal do God's faithful Martyrs now? And doth not John say to the Church, Fear none of those things[ mark, fear them not] which thou shalt suffer; behold the Devil shall cast some of you into Prison, &c. So you may see here, it was the Devil that should cast some of the Saints into Prison, and not Christ, nor his Apostles, nor Followers. And you shall have Tribulations Ten Dayes; but be faithful unto Death, and I wid give thee a Crown of Life, says Christ. So here Christ encourages the Saints to stand against the Devil and in the Tribulations, as you may see in Rev. 2. and not to fear the Devil's Imprisoning of them, nor any of those things which they should suffer.  
And now, whereas in your Preamble to your Law you say, That it may be found amongst you, that Mons Thresholds are set up by God's Thresholds, and Mans Posts besides God's Posts, &c. especially in the open Meetings of the Quakers, &c.  
Answ. Here you would make us believe, that your Posts are God's Posts, and your Thresholds are God's Thresholds: Oh! no; for are not you like unto them that Ezekiel spoken of? and therefore take heed, lest God consume you in his Anger, as he did them that Ezekiel spoken of: For have you heard the Voice of God, as Ezekiel did? or have you the same Power and Spirit to see God's Posts and Thresholds with? But this Power and Spirit you deny the having of, or that any can attain unto it now adays. But the Quakers do witness the same Power and Spirit that Ezekiel was in and so are God's planting and household, and are upon the spiritual Foundation that Ezekiel was upon. But hear oh ye New-England Magistrares, Priests and Professors, is it not you that have set your posts & thresholds by God's? as in Ezek 43. for are not many of you to your power seeking to  shed Blood like the Princes of Israel there spoken of? Now Son of Man, wilt thou Judge the Bloody City? Thus saith the Lord God, This City sheddeth Blood in the midst of it, &c. Oh consider this ye bloody Town of Boston, and ye New-England Priests and Professors; has not the Blood of the Innocent been  shed in the midst of thee? And were not those bloody professing Jews such as you New-England Men, that would set their Thresholds and Posts by God's Posts and Thresholds? And are not you such as them that followed their own Spirit, and see nothing, and have been the Daubers with untempered Mortar, and Sowers of Pillars under Armholes, and are the Polluters of People for Hardfuls of Barley and Pieces of Bread, and setting your Thresholds and Posts by God's, and Deceivers of Souls, and yet never heard God's Voice, like those professing bloody false Prophets nd Persecutors, the Jews, as you may red you Predecessors in Ezek. 13. And yet do not you lean upon the Lord( like them) and say, Is not the Lord amongst you, and no Evil can come upon you; but take heed, lest your Sion be ploughed up like a Field, and your Jerusalem be on Heaps, and the Mountain of your House( your highest Place) be not like the highest Place of the forest, barren and desolate, Micha 3. But God's People( whom ye in Scorn call Quakers) are come to the Mountain of the House of the Lord, and he doth teach them of his ways, that they may walk in his paths, &c. but these Meetings wherein People are taught of God, this torments you & troubles you. And your Prophets make the People to err, which bite with their Teeth, and cry Peace, Peace, but they that put not into their mouths they prepare War against; this Scripture you have fulfilled, as you may red in Michah. And because they are full of the Power & Spirit of God, that are taught of God, and declare unto you your Transgressions and your Sins, therefore you are offended at them.  
And as for the damnable Heresies and abominable Idolatries you cast upon the Quakers.  
Answ. These are but scandalous Words; for you should have particular'd what damnable Heresies they held, and abominable Idolatries they practised; you should have brought them forth, and name them in your Bloody Laws: But this is like the Spirit of the Jews, who called the Master of the House beelzeebub. and what will such do to his Servants; and if they did so unto the green three, what will they do unto the dry? But we can say, the Lord forgive you, if it be his Will, for your Railing and Evil speaking, and can bless when you curse, &c.  
And as for your saying, they embrace and practise such Things to the scandal of Religion and hazard of Souls, and provocation of divine jealousy, &c.  
Answ. It is you that have brought a scandal upon the Religion that is pure and Undefiled, with your impure and defiled bloody Hands and Actions, and your Religion is vain, who cannot bridle your Tongues from slandering the Innocent.  
For the pure Religion and undefiled before God the Father, is this, to visit the Fatherless and the Widdows in their Afflictions, and to keep themselves from the Spots of the World. Now have not you scandalized this pure Religion, who profess yourselves to be Christians, and are a dishonour to it? Have you visited the Fatherless and the Widdows? Nay; have not you hanged and banished some of them? Have you visited the Widdows in their afflictions? Nay; have not you Imprisoned, banished and whipped some of them? Have you kept yourselves from the Spots of the world? Nay; are not you found in the worlds ways and Works, Ga ments and Weapons, Spirit and Nature, lusting to Envy and Murder, Debate and Strife: with your Fists full of wickedness, and your Hands fula of blood? Have not you dishonoured the very Name of Christianity, and this pure Religion, let your bloody Laws and practise, your gallows, Whips, Brands, Goals, Bridwell, Banishing and spoiling the People of God's goods, speak. And had not you private Meetings in old England, before you Fled beyond Seas? and did ever the Bishops lay such fines upon you, for your Meetings? as you do now, upon the People of God called Quakers; much may be written to this, but let your and their Day, time and practise speak. And you mention nothing wherein these people of God called Quakers do practise any thing to the scandal of Religion: and therefore I look upon that, to be Scandalous and abusie Words as I said before.  
And as for your saying, they practise and embrace such things &c. to the hazard of Souls &c.  
Answ. This is a false charge as to us, and it is your own condition; for we are come to Christ, the Saviour of our Souls, and our desires are that all may come to Christ the Saviour of their Souls, who destroys the grand Deceiver of mankind, and Murderer of Souls.  
And as for your saying, to the provocation of divine jealousy &c.  
Ans. Oh deceit can you talk of divine jealousy, & have so often denied having the same Power and Spirit the Prophets & Apostles had, if you knew what divine jealousy was: you would Tremble to do and say what you do. But in the day of God's vengeance you will know it, when God Almighty comes to make inquisition for Blood, for the Earth shall not always cover the blood of the Slain Martyrs, which cry to the Lord for Vengeance. And we know the love and favour of God, and what we do it is in obedience to him. But how dare you be so audacious and bold against the command of Christ? for if they were Tares, you ought to let them grow together till the Harvest, which is the end of the World: And how dare you profess the Scriptures to be your rule; and thus are found like Wolves in Sheeps clothing, and like those evening Wolves who devour Christ's Sheep in the Night. Take heed of the wrath of the Lamb, lest he come upon you suddenly as a thief in the Night.  
And as for your Law, That every Person found at a Quakers Meeting &c shall be sent to the House of Correction &c. or pay 5 l. &c. and all Constables that shall reglect their duties &c. shall forfeit 5. &c. and that the ponalty for Importation of Quakers shall not abated to less then 20. l &c.  
Answ. Is this New-England Magistrates, Priests and Professors Way to redress, prevent and reform the provoaking Evils? was there ever such Merchants red of, but in the Revelations? and is this your Way to get Money, and enrich yourselves by such Fines? do ye think that he that sits in Heaven( who has given you no Law nor Command for such things) does not laugh you to Scorn? and will have you in Derision for such Things? and do ye think that he will not speak unto you in his Wrath, and vex you in his sore Displeasure, and break you with his Rod of Iron, and dash you to Pieces like a Potters Vessel? For did ever the Apostles in the primitive Church and Times use any such Weapons? and are not these your Laws for Hanging, Banishing, Whipping, Scourging, Fining, Spoiling Goods, burning with hot Irons, cutting off Ears, and making to run the Gaentelop, and banishing the People of God, and the like, are not these carnal Weapons? Indeed you may make Hypocrites to comform to you; but the Birth born of the Spirit will never join to that persecuting Birth, born of the Flesh: For the Birth of the Flesh hath its fleshly carnal Weapons, Whips, Gallows, Goals, and cast s Christ in Prison, where he is man fest and spoils the Goods. I the Righteous: But the Birth born of the Spirit hath spiritual Weapons and armor, and visits Christ in Prison, where he is manifest, and their Weapons are not carnal, but spiritual. And alack, poor blind People! can you stop the Sun from shining, & the Rain from falling, & the Spring of all Herbs, Trees and Plants from budding forth? then you may stop God's heavenly Sun of Righteousness from shining, and his heavenly Rain from falling upon is Plants, and his heavenly Trees and Plants from budding, and bringing forth Fruit, to the Praise and Glory of the great God, who created all to his Glory.  
I saw this Law of yours for the preventing and reforming the provoaking Evils of the Quakers Meetings, as you call it, which Law of yours bears Date the 3d of November, 1675. And I also saw an account how the Indians had killed the 19th day of the 10th month next following four of your Captains and 14 men, and wounded four more of your Capatins and 121, more of your Souldiers, which mischief you fell into soon after this your Law against the People of God called Quakers was made. Now if this be true, take heed and consider lest the Lord give you blood to Drink, and that what you have given to his Children, which my desire is that it may not come upon you but that you may repent and come to have forgiveness from God for all your Murder whippings, Banishings, Imprisonings and spoiling Goods and your false charges and hard words, that you have done and spoken against his Children and People. And have you( New-England men) fulfilled this Scripture, Love thy Neighbour as thyself, and do unto all men as you would have them do unto you.  
red and consider these Scriptures, and examine yourselves by them, if they point not out your present State and Condition, For your Hands are defiled with Blood, and your Fingers with Iniquity; your Lips have spoken lies, your Tongues have uttered perverseness. Isa. 59.3. I will feed them that oppress thee with their own Flesh, & they shall be drunk with their own Blood, Isa. 49.26. Also in thy Skirts is found the blood of the Souls of the poor Innocents, &c. behold I will pled with thee, because thou sayest I have not sinned, Jer. 2.34, 35. The bloodthirsty hates the Upright, prov. 29.10. The words of the Wicked are to lie in wait for Blood, but the Mouth of the upright shall deliver them, prov. 12.6.  
G. F.  
THE END.