A FAITHFUL WARNING WITH GOOD COUNSEL & ADVICE, TO THE Rulers & Magistrates IN ENGLAND, That they may not countenance Wicked and Merciless Men to oppress and spoil the Innocent under Pretence and Colour of a Law.  
By one that really desireth the Prosperity of the Truth, and the Welfare of all Men, Alexander Lawrence.  
And Judgement is turned away backward, and Justice stands afar off; for Truth is fallen in the Street, and Equity cannot enter.  
Yea, Truth faileth, and he that departeth from Evil maketh himself a Prey; and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no Judgement, Isa. 59.14, 15.  
Printed in the Year 1675.   

A FAITHFUL WARNING WITH GOOD Counsel & Advice, etc.  
TO You Rulers & Magistrates in this Nation and elsewhere, who think to establish Cruelty and Oppression by a Law, and thereby to exalt yourselves, and Lord it over the Heritage of the most High God, as the Seed of Evil-Doers did in all Generations, as you may read in the Scriptures of Truth, Exod. 5.2. and so on. Pharaoh, that great Oppressor, when Moses and Aaron spoke unto him, to let Israel go to serve the Lord, said, Who is the Lord that I should obey his Voice, to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go, etc. but instead thereof made their Task heavier, v. 6.7. So proud Haman whom King Ahasuerus gave Command that all should bow unto, but honest-hearted Mordecai, who was as much or more the King's Friend as Haman, did not therein obey the King's Command, knowing Haman to be of the Agagites; and when Haman understood, he was vexed, but thought it Scorn to lay his Hand on Mordecai alone, but sought the Destruction of all the Jews, as you may read, Ester 3. at large. And for Nabuchadnezzar, who made an Image of Gold, and set it up in the Plane of Dura, in the Province of Babylon, and commanded that all should, at what Time they heard the Sound of the Cornet, Flute, Harp, Sackbut, etc. fall down and worship the Golden Image, etc. Dan. 3. at large; but Shadrach, M●shach and Abedn●go, whose Hearts were upright and steadfast before the Lord, would not; and it was told the King, and the King was full of Fury, etc. and said, Who is that God that shall deliver you out of my Hands, verse 15. & c? And the back-sliding Jews, when their Hearts turned from God, though they cried, The Temple of the Lord, etc. yet they killed the Prophets, and stoned them that were sent; and when Christ the Son was come who is Heir and Lord over all, they said, We have a Law, and by our Law he ought to die. Several more Instances might be given, how many went about to establish Cruelty and Oppression by a Law, as in the Ten Persecutions, and in Queen Mary's Days, who was called, A Christian Princess, yet how many suffered Martyrdom by a Law in her Days, for their Testimony for God and the Truth, according unto what God had manifested unto them in their Day and Time; and if you go about to do the same Thing, and persist in it, know ye, that the Lord God of Heaven and Earth, whose Power is Vnresistible, when he riseth to plead with Man for Sin, and whose Glory far excels the Sun in its Brightess; the same Way by which you think to exalt yourselves, and Lord it over his Heritage, will he assuredly bring you down, and cause you to bow before him, either to acknowledge his Power and Sovereignty over all, and that he alone ought to be worshipped, as King Nabuchadnezzar did, and that in Truth and Uprightness of Heart, or worse, to wit, bring Destruction upon you, as he did upon Pharaoh and his Host, who thought to bring Israel again into Bondage; and as he did Haman and his Sons, who thought to have the whole Stock of the Jews in the Provinces of King Ahasuerus, destroyed; but the Lord wrought their Deliverance, and brought Destruction upon their Enemies: therefore in vain is it for Man to strive against his Maker; for when did any arise up against God and his People, and prosper? Therefore be instructed, and take Counsel you Rulers and Magistrates in this Nation, and elsewhere, who oppose the Appearance of God in his People, and would limit all according to your Way and Will, or otherwise they must suffer; be not overwise in your own Eyes, neither think it an undervaluing unto you to take Counsel and Advice at so mean a People as we, the despised People of the Lord called Quakers, are: For of a certain Truth, God in the Riches of his Love, in and through Christ Jesus, our Lord and alone Saviour, hath appeared unto us, and manifested the Way of Life and Salvation in us, and unto us by his good Spirit, which he hath given unto us to profit withal; and many have been the Admonitions, Counsels and Advice of the Lord unto you, through and by his Servants; which ye too little have regarded, but rather made a Mock of them and what they have spoken and written, accounting them as Mad Men, as they of old did the Servant of the Lord, 2 Kings 9.11. Nevertheless, as a Servant of the Lord, and in Love and  unto you, as one that really desireth your Good & the Good of all Men, my Advise and Counsel unto you is, to hearken and lend an Ear unto that Light in you, which secretly manifests Sin, and reproves for it; for of a certain Truth, that is a Measure of the Good Spirit of God, that will reprove you for your Cruelty & Oppression, and show you you should not do so against your Fellow-Servants; That will reprove you for your Pride and Haughtiness of Spirit, and show you what is Good, and what the Lord requires of you, that is, to do Justly, to love Mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God, Mic. 6.8. That will reprove you for Swearing, Cursing, Vain and Idle Talking, Wantonness, Whoredom, Drunkenness, and all Manner of Uncleanness and Evil whatsoever, though done never so secretly, yet the Lord is privy to it, and his allseeing Eye beholds all the Actions of the Sons and Daughters of Men, and by the Measure of his Good Spirit he strives with them, and showeth them they should not do the Thing that is Evil; and by the same calleth unto them for Amendment of Life; and those that turn at the Lord's Reproof, he will pour forth his Spirit upon them, and make known his Words unto them; but if you s●t at nought the Counsel of the Lord, and will none of his Reproofs (as some of Old did, and too many now do) then will he laugh at your Calamity, and mock when your Fear cometh as Desolation, and Destruction as a Whirlwind; than you may call, and he'll not answer, and seek him early, and not find him, because you hated Knowledge, and did not choose (mark that) the Fear of the Lord which is to departed from Evil.  
Therefore must you eat the Fruit of your own Way, and be filled with your own Devices that do so; But who hearkeneth unto the Lord, shall dwell safely, and be quiet from Fear of Evil, Prov. 1.25. and so on: Therefore be instructed ye Rulers of this Nation, and take Counsel of the Great Lawgiver Christ Jesus, who said, As ye would that all Men should do unto you, so do you unto them; for this is the Law and the Prophets; and remember the Parable that Christ spoke, A certain King which would take Account of his Servants, & when he began to reckon, there was one brought before him that owed him ten Thousand Talents, & had nothing to pay withal; but his Servant humbled himself, etc. and his Lord frankly forgave him the Debt; but he not doing so by his Fellow-Servant, what did befall him? And doth not Christ teach his to pray, Forgive us our Trespass●s, as we forgive them that trespass against us? Now if you cannot forgive them that trespass against you, how can you expect to be forgiven of God? And if Men ought to forgive them that trespass against them, then sure, they ought not to persecute such as never trespassed against them I would ask you one Question; Wherein have we given Occasion to be thus dealt with? what Plots or Evil Contrivances against the King or Government have we been found in since God raised us up to be a People? or what have you against us, except in the Matter of our God? Now if you should say, We do not obey the Law, I then again query, What wholesome Law is there that we disobey? But if it be a Law that would limit in the Worship and Service of God, who alone in that Case is the Lawgiver to his People, and aught to be subjected unto, than I query, What Power have you to make a Law to bind the Consciences of God's People in the Worship of God more than Queen Mary and her Parliament had, by which so many Protestants were put to Death (which you condemn as Evil in t●em) for the Testimony of their Consciences, according unto what God in their Day made manifest unto them; was not she called a Christian Princess, and lawfully descended to the Crown, & c? But if you say, They were persecuted because they bore Testimony to the Truth, but you because you are in Error, etc. How do you know that? could not the Ministers of those Laws say as much to the Sufferers as you do unto us? are you guided by an infallible Spirit in what you do? nay sure, for the Spirit of God never led any to such Things; but if any were in Error, they were to be reproved and admonished, and after the second Admonishing rejected, not cast into Prison, or spoiled of their Goods, and the like. But it may be some may say They had not Power; Was not all Power in Heaven and Earth given unto Christ? and where did he give his Church (as you would be reckoned) Power to do so? And therefore you that are called Lord-Bishops, and Ministers, and Spiritual Men, ought not you rather, if Men were in Error, to convince them by the Truth, and stop the Mouths of Gain-sayers by sound Doctrine, then to stir up King and Parliament, to make Laws to take honest Men and women's Estates from them, imprison and banish them for their Consciences towards God, and because they cannot put into your Mouths; and also to press the Ministers of those Laws to put them into Execution? did ever Peter, John, Paul, or any of those Bishops and Gospel-Ministers do so? Is this like Truth or Gospel Dispensation? Nay sure, therefore away with it all, you that profess Christianity of all Sorts, whether Papists, Episcopal Men, Presbyterian or what soever, and learn to do as you would be done by; and the same Liberty you would have yourselves, the same give unto others in Exercises of Religion, they living Peaceable, not seeking the Subversion of the Government, nor the Hurt of any; and this would heal the Nations Breaches, and make it as a Body or Family, as it ought to be, seeking the Good & Preservation one of another, both in Liberty and Estates, etc. But this persecuting, killing and destroying one another about Religion, never was of God, but sprung from the Devil, the Father of all Cruelty and Persecution; for Truth hurts none; he came not to destroy men's Lives, but to save them. But it may be some may say, This is not Cruelty, but a Law that is for the Good of the Nation; so might all say that made Laws in such Cases; but I say, it is not any Law or Custom of a Nation whatsoever that can justify any Man before the Just and Equal God, in doing the Thing that is unjust, and whatever is contrary to Christ's Command (who said, as ye would all Men should do unto you, so do ye unto them) is unjust, and to be accounted for unto the great Lawgiver Christ Jesus: Therefore do not smooth and flatter yourselves in saying, We have a Law (and the like) for the same did they say that are gone before you, who were found doing the same Things, and so justify the Wicked, and condemn the Sufferings of the Righteous in all Ages; But he that justifieth the Wicked, and he that condemneth the Just, even they are both Abomination to the Lord, Prov. 17.15. It is your Good we desire, and many Times it is in our Hearts bowed down before the Lord, both in Soul and Body, to pray unto him in your behalf, that he would change your Hearts, and cause you to be otherwise minded, that we might live a godly and quiet Life in all Honesty as becometh the Gospel: and if for these and such like Things we suffer, the Good will of him that appeared in the Bush (who had heard, and doth hear the Groans of his People, and was come down to deliver them) be done, who hitherto hath given us Strength and Patience to undergo what he hath suffered to be inflicted upon us for his Name sake, and our Hope and Trust is, will do unto the End, as we abide faithful to him, to whom be Glory over all, forever, Amen.  
From One that really desires the Prosperity of the Truth, and the Welfare of all Men, Alexander Lawrence