TRVTH's INNOCENCY AND SIMPLICITY SHINING Through the Conversion, Gospel-Ministry, Labours, Epistles of Love, Testimonies and Warnings to Professors and Profane, (With the Long and Patiented Sufferings) of that Ancient and Faithful Minister and Servant of JESUS CHRIST, Thomas Taylor, Who finished his Course in the Year MDCLXXXI.  1 Thess. 2.5, 6. For neither at any time used we flattering words, nor a Cloak of Covetousness, God is Witness; Nor of Men sought we Glory, etc. 
LONDON, Printed and Sold by T. Sowle, next Door to the Meetinghouse in White-Hart-Court in Gracious-street; and at the Bible in Leaden-hall-street near the Market, 1697.   

AN EPISTLE TO ALL Friendly and Impartial READERS.  
THE Ensuing Collection is Recommended to your Serious Perusal, Charitable and Tender Considerations, wherein expect not to find either Empty Flourishes, Curiosity of Speech, or Acquired Eloquence, but Plainness and Simplicity, wherein the Substantial Truth is sincerely aimed and pointed at. The Author, by the Grace of God through Jesus Christ, being Converted from a Literal, Worldly, and Mercenary Priest, (tho' one of the Better Sort) to be a Spiritual Minister of Christ, and Free Preacher of Righteousness in Life and Doctrine, knowing that Gospel-Ministers, and good Preachers, must be good Livers; none being meet to Convert others to God or Christ, but who are first truly Converted themselves by his Power.  
This Innocent and Upright-hearted Man, Thomas Taylor, seeing the great Corruptions, Pride, and Covetousness, and other Enormities, among too many of the Worldly Teachers, Priests, and Hearers, was the more Fervent in his Testimony against them, who pleased themselves and others with good Words, whilst they lived Bad Lives.  
This our Deceased Brother and Servant of Jesus Christ, when Sufferings or Storms approached, or Wolves appeared to Devour, did not Flee with Hirelings, nor Flatter with Temporizers, nor Admire men's Persons for Advantage, but as one having a fixed Confidence in the Lord, and true Zeal for his Glory, was Valiant for his Truth on Earth, and used much Plainness in his Ministry, Testimony, and Warnings, both to High and Low, Professors and Profane, not sparing Disguised Hypocrites, or Deceitful Workers, no more than Open and Gross Offenders, but as a Partaker of the same Spirit and Life, the Primitive Ministers of Christ were in, according to his Measure, was Exercised in the like Sincerity, Uprightness, and Self-denial, intimated in 2 Cor. 2.17. For we are not as many, which deal deceitfully with (or make Merchandise of) the Word of God; and 1 Thes. 2.3. For our Exhortation was not of Deceit, nor of Uncleanness, nor in Guile. (Ver. 4.) But as we were allowed of God to be put in Trust with the Gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing Men, but God, which trieth our Hearts. (Ver. 5.) For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a Cloak of Covetousness, God is witness. (Ver. 6.) Nor of Men sought we Glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, etc.  
In like manner this Faithful Servant of Christ, (whom we now speak of) did not soothe up People in their Sins, nor sow Pillows under their Armholes, like False, Sin-pleasing Prophets, but in Tender Love and Pity to their Poor Souls, Faithfully Warned them, and Persuaded them to Repentance, as one knowing the Terrors of the Lord, and Revelation of his Righteous Judgements against all Unrighteousness of Men; being also sensible, when the Lord had spoken, who can but Prophesy? And when he saith, Cry aloud, and spare not, lift up thy Voice like a Trumpet, and show the People their Wickedness, Abominations and Transgressions, What Faithful Messenger dare be silent? He was a true Encourager of Virtue, and Witness against Vice and Profaneness, and the Lord was with him in his Christian Labours, Ministry, and Deep Sufferings.  
Wherefore, Friendly Readers, let not the Simplicity of his Style, nor his Plainness, Sharpness, or Zeal against Hypocrisy or Deceit, offend you in the following Collection, or any Passages therein, we hope there is nothing in them justly offensive, or that may not bear a Charitable and Just Construction with the Impartial and Unprejudiced, if any thing should seem Dubious: Though where Prejudice or Envy is against Persons or Things, (how Just soever) it will carp and quarrel at the Clearest Truths; as hath appeared both from Envious Apostates, and other Enemies to Christ and his Followers: The Holy Scriptures themselves not escaping the Causeless Cavils of Irreligious and Atheistical Persons.  
This Faithful and Zealous Servant of Christ was Divinely endued with a Gospel-Spirit and Ministry, and was of a True, Christian, Gentle and Humble Disposition; and his Judgement was mixed with Mercy and Compassion to poor Souls; and his Company and Society was Sweet and Acceptable to all the Faithful in Christ, who had a True and Spiritual Knowledge of him, and Acquaintance with him. He sincerely affected Christian Humility, Poverty of Spirit, and Simplicity in Christ, beyond all Artificial Painting, and Humane Acquirements. And seeing the Vanity of all Airy Notions, Scholastic Craft, and Self-righteousness, he laid it all aside, and was Refined from all that Dross, esteeming the pure Gold, the Heavenly Treasure, the Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord above all; therein asserting his Sincerity and Innocency, when a Prisoner in about 1665, in Praise to the Lord God, who supported him in his Sufferings, Patience and Innocent Condition. Concerning which, please to observe his own Testimony inserted here as followeth, viz.  
This is my Confidence in the Sight of the Lord God, and my Clearness before all People, that though I have been hated and persecuted, and evil spoken of by many these many Years, yet it hath altogether been without Cause, I praise the Lord. For I can truly say, That I never sought the Hurt of any Man living upon the Earth, though in Matters of Religion, or otherwise, he was never so contrary to me, or against me: Yea, the Terrors of God and his Truth, did preserve my Heart from seeking my own Revenges, but taught me still to commit my Cause to God; and he, according to his Word, did still bring forth my Righteousness as the Light, and my Judgement and Just Dealing as the Noonday, Psal. 37.5, 6. to his Holy Name's Praise, and my Soul's great Rejoicing; and did still let me see, that the patiented abiding of the Meek, is never forgotten of God.  
And so though I have been kept here (a Prisoner) above four Years for my pure Conscience sake to God, yet to the King and the People, under whom I Suffer, have I done no Harm, nor can think or intent them Evil; but have endeavoured in all things in the Power of God, as a true Christian, to live peaceably with all Men, as those that have known me from the beginning can witness. For I never drew Sword, nor Plotted against any, nor could ever persuade any others so to do; but have still lamented the Misery of Mankind to see them, instead of Loving and Helping one another, contrariwise Hating, Biting, Devouring and Destroying one another.  
So I rest in the Blessed Peace of my God, a Sufferer for his Blessed Truth, Blessed for ever be his Name, who hath called me, and counted me worthy thereunto. But it will not be well with such as hate the righteous Man, as saith Scripture: But my Heart can say, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.  
And concerning Kings, and all that are in Authority, my Heart hath said according to the Holy Doctrine of the Apostle, Lord Grant that they may Rule well, that it may be well with them in the latter End; and that we thy People, whom thou hast redeemed to thyself, may lead a quiet and peaceable Life, in all Honesty and Godliness under them, to thy Praise. And for this Cause pay we Tribute, etc.  
This his own Sincere Account, appears truly agreeable to what the Holy Apostle saith in the like case, 2 Cor. 1.12. For our Rejoicing is this, the Testimony of our Conscience, that in Simplicity and Godly Sincerity, not with fleshly Wisdom, but by the Grace of God we have had our Conversation in the World, and more abundantly to you-wards.  
These things are recommended to all Serious and Well-inclined Readers, who desire to seek the Lord, his Kingdom, and the Righteousness thereof, to weigh and consider, knowing that 'tis all our Concerns, tenderly to mark and behold the perfect and upright Man, for the End of that Man is Peace; as was the End of this Innocent and Upright-hearted Man, whose Memorial is Blessed.  
Divers Friends have been for some time concerned, that the following Collections were not published some Years ago; but many Occasions and Exercises intervening, have thus long prevented the Persons concerned in Collecting, Inspecting and Placing his Writings in Order, as they could find them, and as might most tend to future Service, Admonition or Warning, that they might be preserved for Ages to come.  
We have great Cause to Praise the Worthy Name of the Lord our God, that he hath raised and sent so many Faithful Witnesses in our Days, who have not been as Clouds without Rain, but Divinely Replenished and Qualified with Life, Wisdom and Sanctity, for the Work which the Lord hath called them unto. And therefore Woe will be to those Enemies, Apostates and Backsliders, who Contemn, Reproach or Harm any such, who are the Lord's Anointed one's, Prophets or Faithful Servants, either while Living, or Dead.  
And it highly concerns all the Lord's People, who profess his Light and Truth, sincerely to approve their Hearts unto him with unblameable Lives and Conversations, walking before him in true Love and Christian Charity, and truly to prise the Mercy of the present Day and Dispensation of Grace; and fervently to pray the Lord of the Harvest, to raise up and send forth more Faithful Labourers thereinto, that his Gospel-harvest-Day and Work may go on and prosper, both in this Age, and the Ages to come; to his Eternal Praise and Renown, and his Church's great Joy and Comfort in him for ever. Amen.  
WE being satisfied, and having Unity with the foregoing Preface, with Relation to, and in behalf of, our deceased Friend and Brother Thomas Taylor, his Service, Labours and Travels in the Gospel of Christ, do hereunto Subscribe our Names, 

Theodore Eccleston  
William Ellis  
Samuel Waldenfield  
George Bowles  
Charles Marshal  
Thomas Lower  
John Bowater  
Joshua Middleton  
Richard Needham  
John Field.    
I Am Concerned to give this further Account: The said Thomas Taylor (after other Imprisonments) being Twice Imprisoned at Stafford for his Tender Conscience to Christ.  
In the first Imprisonment there, he was near Eleven Years a Prisoner, (as I Remember) and the Second Imprisonment there was for a short time, being Threatened, Reviled and Falsely Aspersed, and called a Jesuite-Rogue by the Deputy's Steward of the Court. I was made Instrumental in God's Hand for his Release both times; the First in 1672. by Solicitation for him and many others, whom thereupon K. Charles the Second Released. And the Second, by Endeavouring for himself about 1679. Manifesting him to be no Jesuit nor Papist, but a Peaceable Harmless Man in his Conversation, and a Dissenting Protestant, Distinguished under the Name Quaker, to clear him from the False Aspersions cast upon him; in which my Solicitation and Endeavours for his Liberty, I had great Peace and Comfort, and the more, in obtaining the same for him and others; for I truly Loved him for his Innocency, Integrity and Love to the Lord and his People.  
G. Whitehead. London, the 20th of the 3d Month 1697.   

AN INDEX OF THE CHIEF HEADS Contained in this BOOK.  

I. A Testimony concerning our Dear Friend and Brother Thomas Taylor, who was Convinced of the Lord's Everlasting Truth, and Received it in the Year 1652.  
II. Christopher Taylor 's Testimony concerning Thomas Tailor.  
III. Thomas Taylor 's Testimony concerning his Father.  
iv A short Testimony of Hannah Taylor, concerning her Dear Father Thomas Taylor.  
V Robert Barrow 's Testimony concerning Thomas Tailor.  
VI William Fallowfield 's Testimony concerning Thomas Tailor.  
VII. A short Testimony concerning that Faithful Servant of the Lord Thomas Taylor, whose Memory is Blessed.  
THomas Taylor 's Epistles. To Friends Page 2  
To Friends at Strickland head Page 4  
To Friends in  and Stafford-shire, etc. Page 7  
To Friends Page 10  
A Loving and Seasonable Advice to the Children of Light from a Brother, Thomas Taylor Page 11  
To Friends that abide in the Truth: as also to such as are gone from it Page 15  
To Friends Page 17  
To Israel 's Babes Page 20  
Of Prayers Page 22  
Concerning Zion Page 23  
The Life more than  and Meat ibid.  
To the Unsatiable Devourers of Strong Drink Page 24  
To my Dear Friends every where Page 26  
To Friends Page 28  
To Friends in London Page 30  
To Friends of Sadbury side Page 32  
To Friends, Richard Boothman and Robert Clough Page 34  
The Day of the Lord is Dawned Page 35  
Some Prison-Meditations in the 7th Month, 1657. being a Free-gift Sermon, mainly touching the Religious Robbers, or Spiritual Murderers, the Sermon and Prayer-sellers of the former, latter and present Times; even to the whole Company of Mystery Babylon 's Merchants and Members a Warning Page 37  
To the Judges, Justices, Juries, Teachers and People of the Nation, who Profess themselves to be Christians, and the Scriptures to be their Rule, and yet account themselves disturbed if any speak unto them, and cry against them in their Assemblies or Streets in the Name and Word of the Lord (without any Authority from Man) a few Queries Page 50  
To those of Manchester that are Zealous for their Sabbath Page 53  
To a Wandering Apostate Page 55  
To George Ward, and those that had Fellowship with him Page 56  
To a Plundering Priest Page 58  
To those that Rejoice in Bells and Bonfires Page 59  
To them that plays the Fool upon the Stage. Page 60  
Against Mass. Time's Page 61  
To the Bear ward Page 62  
To the Dancers on the Rope's Page 63  
A Warning to all People ibid.  
For the People of England to Weep Page 64  
To the Comers and Goers by the Prison-Window, of both S●●●s Page 65  
To King Charles the Second, concerning Persecution, etc. Page 67  
To Informers Page 69  
Some Serious Considerations concerning the Priests of the High Places, called Churches, their Sprinkling Infants, Marrying People, and Burying their Dead, etc. Page 70  
To the ●ury-men of Appleby Page 73  
To 〈◊〉 and Rulers Page 74  
A Testimony of Truth Page 75  
To all that are Worshipping in the Outward Court, without God in the World, in divers Forms Page 78  
To William Thornton, called Justice, at Hipswell, in Yorkshire, Divulged for the Information of other Moderate Enquirers after the Lord Page 81  
To the Presbyterians so called Page 88  
To the Presbyterians Page 90  
To the Blind Teacher's Page 91  
For the Great People of the Earth, who love the Pleasures of Sin, these ib.  
Concerning Bread and Wine Page 93  
The Indignation of the Lord upon all Nation's Page 94  
To Lose and Wicked Professors Page 108  
To Protestants Page 109  
To the Sons of Vanity Page 110  
Who they are that only Rejoice in the Birth of Christ Page 111  
A Testimony against Persecution, to King Charles the Second, and his Magistrate's Page 112  
Woe to the World, because of Iniquity Page 114  
An Apology from the Harmless against the . And to the King and his Magistrates against Plotting ibid.  
Against Maypoles Page 116  
To a Dancing-Master Page 117  
To the Fruitless Vineyard of England Page 118  
To the People of England Page 119  
God's Controversy with England declared: Or, a Warning-word, by way of Reproof, to the Inhabitants thereof, even to such as forget God, and are adding one Sin unto another Page 121  
A Faithful Warning to Outside Professors, and Lose Pretenders to Christianity of all Sorts Page 123  
Something, as it came to mind, of what passed at the Assizes in Stafford, betwixt the Judge and the People of God, called by the World Quakers: But the Reproach of Christ is to us great Riches, and the Scorners God will judge Page 131  
To the Jurymen of Stafford, that brought him in Guilty Page 138  
To King Charles the Second Page 139  
Against Lotteries Page 142  
To Stafford Page 143  
To the Mayor of Stafford Page 144  
For them that Rule in Stafford ibid.  
To the Kings and Rulers Page 145  
Concerning his being taken Prisoner of Seven Years Continuance Page 147  
To the Mayor and Priest of Stafford Page 148  
Concerning the Fall●n Christians Page 149  
To the Vain People of the World Page 150  
An Exhortation to all People Page 150  
To the Teachers and Magistrates of Tamworth Page 151  
To sinful People Page 152  
To the Children of Men Page 154  
To the Fencers ibid.  
Concerning Sprinkling Page 156  
Concerning Burying, and Churching of Women, etc. Page 157  
A Testimony against Bull and Bear-baiting Page 159  
A Testimony against Sporting and Playing Page 160  
A Loving Exhortation, to all Kings, Primero ces, Potentates, Bishops, and People in the whole Christendom. Wherein is a distinction betwixt the True and False Teachers. Page 162  
A few Necessary Questions and Conclusions for the Present Parish-Teachers of England, etc. Deeply to Ponder and Answer in God's Fear, for the Good of their own and the People's Souls that are under them; for the Lord is arisen to call all things into Judgement. Page 171  
A Strong and Terrible Alarm Sounded out of the Holy Mountain, against all the Wicked Inhabitants of the Earth Page 179  
Watching for Sin Page 181  
A Warning to the Nations, to lay aside all Prejudice and Enmity, the Ground of Strife and Wars; and to come and Embrace the Light of Christ Jesus, that they may see themselves, and come to be Saved and Healed, and United in the Love of God Page 182  
To People whose Hearts are turned from the Lord Page 189  
To the Magistrate's Page 190  
To the Generation of Fleshly Fallen Christians, not worthy the Name of Christians Page 192  
To the King Page 193  
An Exhortation to remember the Judgements of God Page 195  
To the  Communicants Page 196  
God's Virtue and Goodness Extolled ibid.  
Richard Baxter 's Book, Entitled, The Cure of Church-Divisions, Answered and Confuted Page 201  
Some more of these strange Say of this Richard Baxter in his Book Page 232  
Some Gentle Remarks on a Book, Entitled, A Discourse concerning the Idolatry Practised in the Church of Rome Page 249  
The Day is Dawned that makes all Wickedness manifest Page 255  
To some of T. Hicks 's Friends Page 257  
Something concerning that called the Common-Prayer Page 258  
A Testimony for the Lord, the good Shepherd, and true Minister of the Sanctuary, and true Tabernacle which God hath pitched, and not Man, against all the False Shepherds, and Hireling Ministers, and Teachers of the World, under what Name, or Notion, or Form soever, who have run, and God never sent them, and therefore cannot profit the People at all Page 273  
The true Fast from the False Page 283  
Something in Answer to some Passages in that naughty Book, called, A Looking-glass for Lady's Page 284  
Thomas Taylor, who was ten Years and an half in Prison at Stafford, writes a Letter to a particular Adversary Page 293  
To the People at and about Stafford, a Testimony for God and his Truth, and against Deceit and Deceivers, especially the Hireling Priests, as a Warning, Information and Instruction in Righteousness, to them, (and all People elsewhere concerned) by the Spirit of the Lord in his Suffering Servant Thomas Taylor Page 294  
Something in Answer to some Passages in that Wicked Antichristian Book written Catechism-wise, by some Popish Stickler for his Master the Pope, the Romish Antichrist and his Followers. Printed at Dovay, and subscribed H. T. Page 299  
A Warning to the Papists at Stafford Page 314  
Something in Answer to a Paper from a Nameless Author, directed to be left at Joseph Holt 's in Okeham. Page 317  
A Copy of Verses writ upon occasion of a Visitation, so called Page 326  
Certain Queries Propounded to the People called Anabaptists, especially to such as believe, and hold forth, that Water-Baptism is an Ordinance and Command of Christ Jesus, the Door of Entrance into the true Church, and so of such Absolute Necessity, as that there can be no True Gospel Church-Fellowship without it. Page 333  
Christ Exalted above Moses, and the Spirit above the Letter Page 337    

A TESTIMONY Concerning our Dear Friend and Brother Thomas Taylor, Who was Convinced of the Lord's Everlasting Truth, and Received it in the Year 1652.  
HE had been an Eminent Parish Priest, and of Note among the Professors and other Priests, and also a Lecturer in several Countries, Preaching Sermons on the Weekdays. And he coming to Swarthmor in Lancashire, with some other Priests, I asked him and them, before Judge Fell, Whether he, or any of them could say, that they ever heard a Voice of God or Christ from Heaven, that bid them go to Speak to any People, as God and Christ did to the Prophets and Apostles? And Thomas said before them all, that he never heard any such Voice or Command. And I asked him what he Preached to the People then, and he made Answer, and said, His Experiences, and I told him his Experiences might not reach to every Condition; but he that had the Word of the Lord, might Preach it, whom God sent, and that would Reach all Conditions, who knows all Conditions: And so the Lord's Word and Power struck him that he was Silent. But the rest of the Priests were High, and Opposed, and came to nothing: And Judge Fell wondered, and was astonished at what he heard Thomas say, that he had never heard the Voice of God nor Christ to Command him to Preach to any People; and the said Thomas Taylor, being looked upon a High Priest, and above the Common Priests, and a Sober Man, and Beloved among the outward Professors, and so I went along with him that Day, to a place called Newton, in Lancashire, where he used to Preach sometimes; and he was very much down, and sad, and groaned that Night. And the next Day we went to a Meeting which we had in the Steeple-house-yard, but he would have gone into the Steeplehouse, but the Priest would not let us; and I told him, it was no matter. And there came another Priest from Vnder-Barrow, and several others, and Thomas sitting still, at last a tender Spring of Life Sprang up in him, and he Spoke very well in it to the People, both of his own Condition, and the People's, and where they had been; and now how they must turn to the Lord Jesus Christ,  
And the Vnder-Barrow-Priest, and some other Professors, were Offended, and Opposed him; but the Lord's Power came over them all: For he was looked upon, in the time of his Priesthood, above them,  
And Thomas Taylor grew in the Grace and Truth of Christ, and came to know the Word of the Lord, and Preach Christ Freely, as than he had Received Freely, and forsook his Parish-steeple-house, and his old Parish-wages, and the rest of the Priests, that Preached for Hire; and he Traveled up and down in many parts of England, Preaching the Word of the Lord, and his Gospel freely, as he was Commanded, who had Received it freely. And likewise his Brother Christopher Taylor, who had been a Public Preacher to a People, was also Convinced, and Preached Christ freely. And many Disputes Thomas had with the Priests and Professors, and continued still in his Confession to God, and his Truth and People, and what their Conditions were, and had been formerly. And so from that time he continued in the Truth, and the Grace of God, and grew mightily in it, and boldly Preached it, and saw where the Priests and Professors were, and by whom they were made and sent, not of God; so that the Priests and Professors grew in a Rage against him, and Persecuted him.  
And he, having been a Lecturer at Richmond in Yorkshire, was made to go there, and Turn his Back to the Priest, and put his Hands to both his Ears, and stop them, as a Sign, how God had stopped his Ears unto their Sacrifice, and Service, and Offering. And then after he was cast into a Prison at Appleby in Westmoreland for the Truth's Sake, under a cruel Gaoler, and a very bad Prison, being a sad, smoky place, by the Smoke that came out of other Rooms, enough to Choke him: But he continued Faithful in the Life and Power of the Lord, and the Lord delivered him thence. And afterwards he Traveled up and down, Preaching to Priests and Professors, and warning all, both Small and Great, to Repentance and Amendment of Life, turning many to the Lord. He was after a while cast into Prison at York for Truth, and after some time the Lord there delivered him. And so when he was at Liberty, he still continued Labouring in the Work and Service of the Lord, Preaching the Everlasting Gospel, and Turning People from Darkness to Light, and from the Power of Satan, to the Power of God. And also his Life and Conversation Preached, being a Man of a Sober Life, and Sound Judgement, and a good Understanding in the Truth. And after he had Traveled much up and down in several parts of this Nation, he coming into Staffordshire, was there Imprisoned and Premunired for refusing to Swear in Obedience to the Command of Christ, who says, Swear not at all; and there he was kept Prisoner Ten Years and a half in the Town of Stafford, under cruel Gaolers; and a sore, tedious Imprisonment he had, and great Sufferings by those Magistrates, as his Letters will Testify. and a wearisome Imprisonment he had through the wicked Prisoners, which burdened and grieved his Righteous Soul. And when he was at Liberty, and Traveled up and down in the Power of the Lord, in the Lord's Service, being a Man of a Tender Spirit and Conscience, sometimes he met with Bull-baiting, Bear-baiting, Plays and Shows, and Cock-fighting; and Mountebanks, and Ringers of Bells, etc. which burdened and grieved his Righteous Soul, that People should spend their precious Time in Sports and Vanities, and such as professed Christianity, which were more like the Heathen-Romans than Christians who was made to Admonish such, and Reprove them (as his Letters Testify) and not to spend their time so Vainly. The Lord was with him, and did assist him, who was an Elder indeed, and Partaker of the Glory, that is to be Revealed; who sought to Establish such as he Convinced (and were Convinced,) in the Truth and Gospel the Power of God; who was Beloved of God, and all his Faithful People.  
And many bad Prisons or Goals he was cast into for the Lord Jesus Christ, and his Truth's Sake. And he had a Dispute with Doctor Owen at Oxford, and the very Scholars could say, That Thomas was too hard for him; for the Lord, with his Eternal Arm and Power, did Support him. And he was a Faithful, True, Upright Man in the Lord's Truth, to the last, and turned many to the Lord Jesus Christ, that they became Hearers and Followers of him who Speaks from Heaven: And he loved the Government of Christ, and his Spiritual, Heavenly Order among his People. And when he had fulfilled his Ministry, and finished his Course (who was a harmless and blameless Man in his Conversation) he laid down his Head in Peace, and Died in the Lord, and is Blessed, and his Works follow him.  
Much might be writ of this Honest and Faithful Servant of God Thomas Taylor's cruel Hardships and Sufferings, that he went through for Christ, and his Truth's Sake. He finished his Days at Stafford with his Wife, in 1681. after he had been an able Preacher of the Gospel from about 1652. And is at Rest with the Lord: And  
Blessed is he that Dies in the Lord, yea, saith the Spirit, his Works follow him.  
Precious 〈◊〉 in the sight of the Lord is the Death of all his Saints,  Psal. 116.15. 
George Fox. Edmonton in Middlesex, the 24th of the First Month, 1681.   

Christopher tailor's TESTIMONY Concerning Thomas Tailor.  
MY deceased Brother Tho. Taylor was a Man, who, in his tender Years, had a Sense of Sin upon him, and saw a Necessity of coming and attaining to a State of Righteousness and Faithfulness to God that he might please him; so that for several Years he was exercised under the Spirit of Bondage and great Fears, lest he should miss of Eternal Salvation, and so come to be a true Seeker and Inquirer after the best Things; and the Lord was Good unto him in a preparative Work, as I may say, before he came to know the Sabbath of Eternal Rest in Christ Jesus.  
And as Light and Life appeared and sprung up in its Measure in the Land of his Nativity, the Lord in Mercy gave him a Share in it, and a Fear came upon his Heart, to preserve him in a State of Integrity and Simplicity, which kept him very Sober in his Conversation, and Restrained him from many Evils others fell into; so that he was accounted by many in those days who were Honest-minded, to be a Religious Conscientious young Man: And the Lord gave him Sights and Openings of good Things at hand, and opened a Door of Hope unto him, that he should see the Lord's Blessed Day of his Heavenly and Powerful Appearance, and, with Cornelius, waited and longed for God's Kingdom, and Powerful Appearance unto his Soul. And when that blessed Instrument in God's Hand, George Fox, came into the North to preach and declare the Everlasting Gospel of Glad Tidings to Mankind, and to such who were waiting to be delivered from the Bondage of Sin and Unrighteousness, this Dear Man was glad and was convinced of the Truth, which was demonstrated in the Evidence of God's Spirit and Holy Power unto him and many others: So that the Light and Truth broke up in him, to the breaking of his Heart before the Living God, and the making of his Soul tender in Humility, and the Dispensation of the Spirit of true Judgement, and Burning seized on his Inward Man, and pure Tremble before the Lord seized upon him, and Judgement did so effectually take place in the Operation of the Authority of the Mighty God, that his Inward Man rejoiced, that now he was come to know one of the Great Days of the Son of Man. And the Work of the Lord was begun in his Heart, so that his Soul cried mightily to God for Judgement, to Judge and Condemn for ever, all that was Contrary to the Word of his Pure Power. And the Lord heard his true Cries, which himself, by his own Grace, had raised up in him, and extended his Mercies to him, and fulfilled that Saying, A bruised Reed shall be not break, and smoking Flax shall he not quench, until he send forth Judgement to Victory. So Victory he came to know, and Deliverance to his Soul, through the Exercise of Faith and Patience in the way of Righteousness; and the Lord raised him up to be a living Witness to his Heavenly Power, and the breaking forth of its Blessed Day of Light, and sent him forth to Preach the Everlasting Gospel, and to turn many to Righteousness; and he became a Faithful Labourer and Servant of Jesus Christ in his Harvest and Vineyard, and many are his Witnesses, how Faithfully he served God, and how truly he cared for the Flock of Jesus Christ, wherever he came, and laboured in the Faith, as one wholly given up to Spend and be Spent, in that Work the Lord had committed to him. Many and Great were his Sufferings from Wicked Men who sometimes lay in wait for him, to have taken away his Life; and tedious it would be to repeat the Hardships he underwent, and great Sufferings he endured, by the Malicious instruments of Satan. But the Lord delivered him thorough all the Scourge, Buffet and Evil Treatments of Unreasonable Men. As to Imprisonment he suffered much in several Prisons in this Nation, as at Appleby in Westmoreland, at York, Leicester and Coventry, and last of all above ten Years Imprisonment in Stafford, and was there Premunired because he could not Swear. He was a Faithful Prisoner of Jesus Christ, and kept his Blessed Testimony over the Heads of Wicked Brutish Savage and Unreasonable Men he met withal in his Imprisonments. It is hard to utter what he passed thorough in those Evil Dens amongst such Savage Beasts, but the Lord upheld him, blessed him, and delivered him out of all; and Dear and Near he was unto his God who upheld him, Everlasting Honour be unto his Name: Deeply am I affected when I read him in the Sense of Life, how Safe the Lord kept him, so that the Course of his Life was Eminently Exemplary, so Grave, Tender and Humble he was, and Self denying. Well it is and will be for all who are so truly preserved to God as he was, I am persuaded none can justly tax his Life and Conversation, or present a Spot or Stain upon his Garment, whilst he lived, after he was called to the Lord's Work and Service. Oh! have I said in my Heart, What Happiness is it to those who are so kept and safely preserved, to Honour God and Preach his Gospel, as well in Life and Conversation, as in Words and Doctrine.  
And as to his Testimonies in Writing, which are here given forth to be read, they are plain and easy to be understood by every unprejudiced Person that reads them in Simplicity with the Light of Christ, there are various things testified against the Sins and Evils of the Times, for he laboured much for the Nations and People's Good, that they might be kept out of Debauchery, Wickednesses, Games, Sport and Evils of all sorts, that if possible such Evils as too much abounded in our Nation, might not have that Liberty, or Pestilential Disposition, as to Leaven and beget People further from God, and as a Leprosy to spread over the Nation. Also he was tender over the Lord's Innocent People, lest they should fall on the right Hand or on the left, and so lose their Habitations in the Truth. He was right spirited to discern the Wiles of Satan, and to instruct and give Warning to such as might be misled into any Evil Condition under the Pretence of Truth to fight against it: I believe he was never known, since he preached the Everlasting Gospel committed to him, to turn his Back of any Enemy, to give way to him, of what Size or Sort soever he was, or how Subtle soever the Devil could make him, the Lord gave him a Sight beyond the Subtlety of Satan, and when he was Spent in the Service the Lord had called him unto, in a good old Age, he departed this Life, and finished his Course with Joy and Everlasting Rejoicing, to the Praise and Glory of the Everlasting God, who for ever is to be admired of all his Saints, honoured and magnified for ever and for ever more, World without End. Amen.  
Christopher Taylor.   

Thomas tailor's TESTIMONY Concerning his FATHER.  
A Short Testimony lives with me to bear for my Dear Father, Thomas Taylor, that True and Faithful Servant of the Lord, who was Born near Skipton in Yorkshire, and was brought up a Scholar and sent to the University, and in process of time he came to be a National Minister, and so continued for some Years; but in those Days he had not many Equals, for he was a Man of a Tender Spirit, seeking after a further Attainment of the Knowledge of God and his Holy Way, whom to know is Life Eternal, which the Lord in his own due time made known unto him. After he had heard the Word of Life declared in the Demonstration of God's Holy Spirit through his Faithful Messenger George Fox, he was then evidently Convinced of the Blessed Truth, as it is in Jesus; he never after turned his Back upon it; many Days and Nights of great Sorrow and Anxiety of Spirit he underwent, until the Old Leaven was purged out by the Spirit of Judgement, and then he became a Vessel of Honour fit for the Lord's Service, and left his Benefice which he then had at Richmond in Yorkshire, not consulting with Flesh and Blood what he should do for a Livelihood, but trusted the Lord that he would provide for him and his Family, he having then a Wife and Five small Children, whom he afterward, through the good Providence of God lived to see brought up to be Men and Women: Now this Faithful Servant of the Lord not distrusting of the Mercies of God, gave up freely whatsoever was Dear and Near unto him, that the Lord required of him, that he might win Christ the Lord, who had Visited him with his Dayspring from on high, and Ruled him by his Grace, and gave unto him the Word of Life to declare unto the Sons and Daughters of Men, Warning and Admonishing them to turn from their evil ways, and to seek the Lord whilst he might be found; and great was his Labours and Travels in those Days, being moved often to go into Market-places and Steeple houses, to declare the Word of the Lord to the People, where he often met with great Opposition and Sufferings from the Hands of Unreasonable Men, but the Lord by his Mighty Power delivered him wonderfully out of their Hands, and many long and tedious Imprisonments this good Man underwent in his Day, but with great Patience and Contentedness of Mind, knowing it was for his bearing his Testimony to the Lord's Blessed Truth, and not for evil-doing: And this I have further to say for this Worthy and Honourable Servant of Christ, who loved not his Life unto the Death, that he might serve the Lord in his Day, who was a Faithful and True Minister of the Everlasting Gospel, and laboured mightily in Word and Doctrine, and many in this Nation were Convinced by that powerful Word of God that run through him, and they have great Cause to Bless and Praise the Name of the Lord, even as I may say on his behalf, for he was a Zealous Man for the Truth in his Day, and was one of the Worthies in Israel, who went through many Combats both with Professors and Profane; and, by the Assistance of God's Holy Spirit, oftentimes put them to silence, and the Truth prevailed over all, Blessed be the Name of the Lord for Ever.  
And now not being willing to be too tedious to the Reader, else I could mention many more things concerning my Dear Father, who was a Faithful Follower of the Lamb wheresoever he led him, through good Report and bad Report, for he valued nothing so much in this World as the Propagation of the Truth, for his Life was hid with Christ in God, at whose Right Hand there is Joy and Rivers of Pleasure, and that for Evermore. And a little before my Father's Departure out of this World, as he lay upon his Sickbed, several Friends that came to Visit him standing by him, he being very sensible to the last, spoke on this wife, I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God, and so departed like a Lamb, and is gone to his Everlasting Rest, to receive that weighty Crown of Glory that is laid up in store for all them that loves the Appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, and keeps their Garments unspotted of this World.  
Thomas Taylor, Jun. Middlesex, the 3d Day of the 3d Month called May, 1697.   

A short TESTIMONY OF Hannah Taylor, Concerning her Dear Father Thomas Taylor.  
THis I have to say, concerning this dear Servant of the Lord, who followed the Lamb through many Tribulations, and washed his Garmens' white in his Blood.  
That he served the Lord with a perfect Heart, and that he was endued with the Spirit of Wisdom and of Understanding in the Truth, which he did value above all the World, and all the Preferments thereof: For he counted all as Dross and Dung, in Comparison of that Pearl of Price, which he Laboured for both Night and Day.  
Yea, for Sion's Sake he could not rest, and for Jerusalem's Sake he could not hold his Peace.  
Because the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he had Anointed him to be a Preacher of Glad-Tidings to the House of God's Israel.  
But he was a Reprover of the , yea his Testimony was against all Wickedness and Evil-doers.  
Yea, he was clad with Zeal, as with a Cloak, and with the Righteousness, which God had put upon them, as with an Helmet.  
Yea, he was a Valiant Soldier indeed, he fought a good Fight, he kept the Faith; and from henceforth for him was laid up a Crown of Life, which at the time appointed he did receive, with all the Redeemed of the Lord, who rest from their Labour, and their Works follow them.  
Hannah Taylor.   

Robert Barrow's TESTIMONY Concerning Thomas Tailor.  
HE being a Man with whom I was Acquainted and Conversant for the space of Thirty Years, some part of our Acquaintance in the time of our Notion and Outward Profession of Religion in the form thereof, but the most of our time was after God in Mercy had opened our Understanding, and revealed his Son in us by the Word of Life, and Spirit of Truth, to know Christ in us the Hope of Glory.  
He was Educated and Bred up at one of the Colleges of Oxford, and became a Parish Preacher, and had a Place in the County of Westmoreland, yet in those Days he was a Seeking Man, having Real Desires to understand the Things of God, and the Mysteries of his Kingdom, and was a Man of an Honest Life, and Clean Behaviour, and in his Preaching and Judgement was more Refined than the rest of his Neighbouring Priests, and many of his Hearers were a People commended of the Common Hireling Priests of the World, which Priests nicknamed his Hearers Roundheads and Puritans, and many of those so called came frequently from the next Parish and Town of Kendal to hear him, amongst whom I was one; and he used to let John Audland and Francis howgil sometimes Preach in his Pulpit in that Profession, before either he or they was clearly Convinced of or Come to the Eternal Truth, and awakened by the Power of God.  
And in as much as that while he was a Public Priest, he would not Baptise his Children at the Font, nor Sign them with the Sign of the Cross, so that the other Priests were offended at him, and upon some Discourse about it, they agreed upon a Dispute to be held at Kendal Parish Steeplehouse, where was a very great Auditory, and Three Priests appeared against him to prove Baptising of Infants by Scripture, which they could not do, and he came over them all, and some of the Hearers run up Kendall-street crying, Mr. Taylor hath got the Day! Mr. Taylor hath got the Day! which Outcry grieved the Priests: This was in the Year 1650.  
And about Two Years after George Fox came into Westmoreland, and Preached the Everlasting Gospel and Power of God, in the Demonstration of the Spirit of Eternal Life, and many of those called Puritans was Convinced and Broken by the Power of God.  
And the said Thomas Taylor was almost left alone, it being a very great Cross to become a Fool to the World, and lose his Benefit, his Wife being a pretty high Woman, having Six young Children, and nothing else to live on, yet he gave up all, laying aside all superfluity of Naughtiness, and received with Meekness the Engrafted Word, which is able to save the Soul, and sanctify throughout in Body, Soul, and Spirit.  
And shortly after Margaret his Wife was Convinced, and laid aside all her finery of Apparel, and trusted Providence for a Livelihood for herself and small Children, and became a very good Friend, and kept the Faith, and laid down her Head in Peace in the Town of Stafford, a Year or more after her Dear Husband Died, who Died and was Buried in the same Town of Stafford.  
So Thomas Taylor having received the Truth of God in the Love of it, and denied himself in all things for the sake of it, in a short time he had his Mouth opened, by the Opening and Inspiration of the Word of Life, by which his Soul was then quickened, and he concerned in the Motion of God, and Authority of his Name, to describe the Darkness of the Parish Hirelings, so that they risen up against him, and, by the Aid of the then Unbelieving Magistrates, got him to Prison in Appleby Goal, where he grew in the Knowledge of God, and Government of Christ Jesus, and after he was released out of Prison, Traveled abroad, and was a Living Instrument in the Hand of the Lord to the Convincing of many.  
And he being a Man full of Zeal and Integrity, and being filled with the Spirit, was always in Truth's Service, that when he had been going on the Road, he commonly had a Word of Caution to Professor and Profane; and some of his Old Hearers who did not receive Truth, I have seen him speak to them on the Market-day in Kendal street, and sometime go to their Houses to exhort, admonish, and reprove, as the Lord directed; or if he had been Travelling on the Highway, and seeing Boys playing on the First Day in the Summertime, and their Barents or Old People sitting besides them, he would Preach to them, so that he was always concerned for God's Glory, and Truth's Praise, and Propagating of his Glorious Gospel of Peace: He was a Man I loved when he was a Priest, and more abundantly when he was a Gospel Preacher: He was a Comely Man of Person, Fair and Ruddy, his Hair Grey before he Died, being of a Good Old Age. I was at his Funeral in the Town of Stafford, where was divers Hundreds of People; and I was concerned in Testimony in the Lord's Power among them. And though it had been a dark Persecuting Town, ●et divers of the Priest's Hearers being his Neighbours, whose Children he had Taught in the Prison, they did there give their Testimonies, and said, He was a good Man, and his Words and Counsel they believed should never be forgot; and further said, They had not such another to Bury in the Town of Stafford.  
And as he Lived Honestly, he Died Honourably; yea, even in the Lord, and his good Works follows him, the Reward whereof he is in the Possession of a Life that's Everlasting, out of the reach of his Adversaries.  
Robert Barrow. London, the 9th of the 11th Month, 1690/●.   

William Fallowfield's TESTIMONY Concerning Thomas Tailor.  
THis short Testimony is with me to give concerning Thomas Tailor, having good knowledge of him that he was a Man of a harmless Life and Conversation, in which he was a good Savour, his Conversation confirming his Doctrine, God had undoubtedly endued him with Patience, and had committed to him a Dispensation of the Gospel, which he was both a Preacher of, and a great Sufferer for; his Patience in his Sufferings manifested his Christianity, he never sought his Liberty by any indirect Means, but waited patiently till the Lord effected it, and when at Liberty he Traveled much abroad, and Laboured much for Truth's Prosperity; God that called him, did in all things fit him for that Work in which he employed him, and his Labour therein was very Effectual, both for the Comforting and Establishing those already Convinced, as also for the Convincing of many, as many Living Witnesses that he hath left behind can Testify, also the stopping of the Mouths of many Opposers: He had a Word of Counsel to the Weak and Feeble, and a sharp Reprover of Disobedient, Loose-minded one's; he was altogether Accomplished for that Work whereunto his Lord called him. And what shall I say, but that I have Dear Unity with that Spirit that he was acted by, and doth see him in that which is Immutable; his Bow was always bend, and retained its strength; his Arrows were sharp, and often pierced the Uncircumcised; and as one well skilled, he missed not his Mark; the Churches amongst whom he was Conversant wants him, for he was a Faithful Labourer in his Day, he sought not his own, but others good, walking according to the Example of him that called him, in which he was fervent and diligent, Preaching the Word both in Season and out of Season; and though he be taken from us as to Visibility, yet his Life and Memory lives with us, several sweet Expressions came from him in the time of his Illness, and was very sweetly kept in that time of his Weakness; he lay ill not long, though for a considerable time an Indisposition of Body did attend him, yet his Love and  was such to the Truth, that, as one striving against his Distemper, he kept not his Chamber long, but went to Meetings, and visited Friends, but at last it prevailed over him, and brought him to his Bed, where he Died the 18th of the First Month 1681. in the Sixty-fifth Year of ●is Age: I had Dear Unity with him, and with those good savoury Expressions that proceeded from him, which tended to Unity and Concord amongst Friends, which, while he lived, he was Careful to preserve; he had a great Delight in it, and laboured much for it. In a word, he was a Man of Peace; and as he Delighted in it, now is a Possessor of it, and of that Joy that is Immutable, in which he lives with his God; a Possessor of that Blessedness and Reward, which through the same Faith and Patience, we that are yet behind, shall assuredly obtain as therein we keep, in the Lord's time. Many good things he wrote in his Day; if thou read this Book, thou wilt perceive and meet with good Exhortations in it, which will I hope tend to thy Strength and Encouragement.  
William Fallowfield.   

A short TESTIMONY Concerning that Faithful Servant of the Lord Thomas Taylor, Whose Memory is Blessed.  
DEAR Tho Tailor he was a Man who loved the Truth with a sincere Mind, and sought the Honour thereof, and not himself: He was ready at all times to speak a word for God, as there was occasion to inform the Minds of People, to that which would stand them in stead, when time here shall be no more: He was a very good Instrument amongst us, and a blessed Example in his Conversation, which did bespeak him to be the Servant of Christ Jesus: He loved the Prosperity of Truth more than all other things whatsoever, and for that was he given up in Soul, Body and Spirit, to serve the Lord and his Generation Faithfully, Travelling from Place to Place for that end; and as he lived in the Truth, so he finished his Testimony in the same. And though his Body be removed from us, and gone to the Earth from whence it came, yet his Spirit lives amongst us, and his Life shall never die. Truly I am not without a living Sense upon my Spirit, what a Loss we have of him amongst us, (who was always ready to serve the Truth, and the least in it,) and Sorrow is ready to seize upon me in the Consideration thereof; yet when I consider, that it is according to the Will of the Lord, I am therein well content, knowing that he hath this Advantage of us that are left behind (viz.) Is freed from Danger of falling into the Snares of this World, which we are liable to whilst in this Body, except we keep in that which is only able to keep us whilst we remain here: And I do believe that the Lord will raise up the same Life in others to Testify to the same Truth which he lived in, and that the Testimony thereof shall never fall: This is great Comfort to me, and all who love the Lord, to whom be living Praises, Honour, Glory and Obedience, given for ever and for ever more, from my living Soul, which he hath quickened to himself, by his Living Power, and Heavenly Life; to him I say be all the Glory given now and always. Amen.  
Marry Comberford. The 26th of the First Month 1681.   

Thomas tailor's EPISTLES.  

TO FRIENDS.  
MY Dear Friends, and longed after in the Lord, whose Minds are turned in by the Light of Jesus Christ from the World's Worships and Ways, in measure, to wait upon God, that you may learn by the Teaching of his Spirit in you, how to worship him in Spirit and Truth, who is the Fountain of all your Soul's Happiness; prise his great Love to your Souls every one of you in particular, and wait to receive the Law from his own Mouth, to the quickening and reviving your Souls out of the Death, and for the daily watering and refreshing that which lives of himself in you; for if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the Dead dwell in you, he shall by that Spirit quicken your Mortal Bodies; for all whose Hearts are purified through the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, are in the Covenant of that Everlasting Love of the Father, which gives to all that waith on him a full Possession of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light; but Woe and Misery from the Lord to the Unclean in the Earth: And therefore mind your Soul's Guide, which is pure Light of Jesus Christ, and be Faithful unto the Lord in whatever he makes manifest in you to be his Will, and let not the World's Frowns or Smiles cause you to draw back from the Truth in any thing, which the Saints have so great Recompense of Reward in, but be simple, be pure, be harmless, be innocent, be Lambs, and walk as Lights, amongst a Generation of crooked and devouring Minds, and think not strange concerning any Trial, but embrace the Cross, which is the Saints Rejoicing, and in Patience wait to see the Fleshly Mind Crucified with it, which would have ease below God, and do all things in the fear of God, and let not the Ear be open to the Enemy, but mind that which shows you the straight way continually, and learn to love one another more and more, for Love is of God, but none can love as Brethren of Christ, but those that love God, and keep the Commandments; and as you follow Christ in the way of his Cross and Sufferings, you will Delight in one another's Fellowship; but as any depart from the Light, and Iniquity abounds in any, the Love in that Person waxeth cold: So God Almighty Bless you with his Everlasting Mercy, to set free your Minds from all your Sins, to run the way of his Holy Commandments; so rests  
Thomas Taylor.   

TO FRIENDS AT Stickland-head.  
DEAR and precious Friends of God, who into the Fellowship of the everlasting Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God, the Light of the World, that Lighteth every Man that cometh into the World are called, and who have tasted of that Heaventy Gift, and upon that true Bread do feed, Grace, Mercy and Peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, be among you, and in you all, every where, in every place, multiplied with the Increases of the eternal Power of the Holy Spirit in all your Hearts, Amen. Thomas Taylor your Brother and Companion in the Patience, Sufferings and Kingdom of Christ, unto you all sendeth Greeting, and by the Spirit of the Lord God doth hereby give you all to understand, That it is the true Grace of God, and Power of Life, into which you are called, and which you have received, and wherein you stand, and whereby you are enlightened, and have been given to see the old dead way of Sin and Formality to avoid it; and the good and living way of Truth and Righteousness in Spirit, to embrace and follow it to the Praise of our Holy Heavenly Father World without end: And this Grace of God that hath thus brought Salvation to us, and is our Teacher and Guide in the good Way, is the same that would teach all, and would have all Men to be Saved; and (to that purpose) hath appeared to all Men, to leave all without Excuse. So Dear Hearts, all in the Light and Power of this Pure Truth of our God made manifest in us, dwell, and therein let every Soul bathe itself, and drink thereof abundantly, and therewith be covered, that as an Helmet, Sword and Buckler, it may be unto all our Souls, against all Assaults of the Enemy, and a sure Hiding-place from Storm and Tempest. And the Lord God of Glory upon this Rock of Ages you all preserve, that living Water and living Bread, even the Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ, your Souls may here feed upon, and be perfectly nourished with it, up into the Fullness of Life, and Perfection of Peace, for ever more: That so upon the Wing of this living Spirit, and Power of our God in Christ, we may be all continually carried, and under the Shadow thereof be warmed, and caused to grow triumph and rejoice over all Weaknesses, Wants, and Powers of Darkness whatsoever: For greater is he, Dear Hearts, that is in us and for us (the glorious God) in Light and Righteousness, Ruling and Saving, than he that is in the World, (the Power of Darkness) raging and destroying: And the World, with its Strength, Joy and Glory, which deceiveth and is deceived, is to be trampled upon and kept under foot, as a thing that perisheth, and passeth away with the Fashion, Trouble and Remembrance of it: But the Glory of our God, and Goodness of his Love, with the Power of his Truth, Fatness of his House, and Peace and Fullness of his Christ and Kingdom endures for ever, dearly to be prized of us, Praises, Praises, everlasting Praises to his Holy Glorious Arm of powerful Love for evermore: And let every Creature in Heaven and Earth Praise him, and all his wondrous Works in us and for us where these shall come, and in all his redeemed Ones every where, glorify him in Pureness, in the Immortal Mansions of Light and Love, that cannot change nor be taken from us for ever and ever. So again, all Dear Hearts, Brethren and Sisters in the Covenant of Life, Children and Servants of the Most High God, in the Life and Strength of God, and his everlasting Light of Truth, manifest, dwell and walk in it indeed, grow over all the World, and Powers of Darkness and Wickedness whatsoever, that the Seed of the Promise inheriting, and the Seed of the Serpent and Transgression cast out, you may indeed be true Witnesses of, to the Glory of the Lord God, and Good of your precious Souls for ever: For he that Believes, and in the pure Faith truly waits, hath and knows the Witness in himself, (the Spirit) which he hath of God for his everlasting Comforter; but the Witness of God, and his Face, is against him that doth Evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile: But the Love of God, and Glory to such as continue Faithful and Patiented in the Well doing bearing the Cross, and enduring it to the End. And Blessed are all that keep the Commandments of Life, that they may witness a daily Access and Freedom to the Tree of Life and Throne of Mercy, to feed thereon, and Live for ever: For now is the Life arisen, and the true Light, that lighteth every Man that cometh into the World appeared; and of his Fullness have all we received, even Grace for Grace; and his Commandments are not now to us Grievous, Praise to his Name for ever: And our Rock is not like the World's Rock, even many of themselves already being Judges; all Holy Praises to him that hath not cast us off for former Ignorance and Unbelief, but hath in this his day of endless Mercy stretched out his Arm of Power for us, and his Wing of Love over us, even to everlasting Salvation. So be it.  
Thomas Taylor. From the place of my outward Bonds here at Appleby in Westmoreland, in the first Month— 1658.  
Let this be Communicated amongst the Faithful of the Lord, in their Meetings or otherwise, as Freedom within and Movings are.   

TO FRIENDS IN  and Stafford-shire, etc.  
MY Dear Friends in Christ Jesus, in , Stafford-shire, Worcester-shire and Hereford-shire, with the parts thereunto adjoining, where my service in the Lord hath been, my tender Love in the Bowels of God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ doth dearly Salute ye all, Praying in the Spirit for you all, and for all Saints; that as ye have received the Truth of God through the Persecutions and Reproaches of the present times, so you may all with the abounding of the Grace, Mercy and Peace of the Everlasting God amongst you, be found therein Continuing and Walking to the Glory of his Name to the End, to the receiving of a full Reward, and finishing the Testimony of Christ amongst you to all Joy and holy Rejoicing in the Spirit, and to the full assurance of Faith in the sight of God our Father, Blessed for ever; who hath chosen us, and called us out of the Death in the Powerful Word of Truth to be his Children and Servants, to bring forth Living Fruits of Righteousness to his Glory; and to bear his Name through the daily Cross and Sufferings of his Son before the People of the World, that he, in all things, may be Honoured, who is the Head Christ Jesus, and we his Members, through the Operation of his Power in us, may be given daily to feel the Glory of his Love, which shed itself abroad in every part of the Body, by Virtue of Union with him, and Fellowship in the Eternal Spirit of Life. And this is the Portion of the Living Branches, who Faithful in his Work of Faith are found, and abide, not looking back at the Glory of Egypt, nor murmur at the hardness of the way, but pressing forward to the Mark set before them in Righteousness, which is of God, where the man of the Earth comes not, but is shut out for ever. So God Almighty your Hearts keep clean, and your Understandings always open, to discern the things that differ, and to choose the things of the Spirit of God, which will be to your Everlasting Peace and Glory in the Kingdom of our Heavenly Father, to whom be all Glory and Honour for ever, Amen.  
And now, dear Friends, as for my outward Condition, you may hereby know, that it was so ordered, that within two or three Days after I was got to my outward Being in the edge of York shire, here was an Assizes to be at this Town, called Appleby in Westmoreland, some Fourteen or Fifteen Miles North of it, whether I had move to come, not knowing my service in particular until I came there; and therefore when I was come to the Town, after pretty Service in the Town amongst the Country People, I was ordered to go into their Steeplehouse, at the time when the Sermon before the Judges, as they call it, was in hand, and there waiting in the Will of God, and hearing unsound Doctrine delivered, I was moved in Spirit Publicly upon a Seat amongst them all, immediately after the Man had done to declare against it, for which they pu'lld me down, and to fulfil the Scripture, hawled me out of their Synagogue; and as I passed in their Hands amongst the Crowd, through the Grave-yard, and into the Streets, I Sounded forth the Day of the Lord, and the Judgements of our God upon all the Wicked; Head and Tail; and for that, together for what was done in the Steeplehouse, they further hawled me by Command, as they said, to the Prison, the common Goal, where I remained till the next Day, and then afterwards was led amongst the Fettered Felons, as they call them, to their Judgement Seat three several times: Thus was I numbered among the Trangsgressors, and made contented to bear Christ's Reproach: And, though the Enemies did not only prepare a Bill of Indictment against me, and by their Juries, as they call them, Judged me guilty, as they call it, of a Disturbance; but also the Judge whom God will Judge, did set Five Marks Fine upon me, and Imprisonment until I should pay it; though indeed the Disturbance and Offence was on their part, for they Disturbed me in the Precious Work of the Lord, and have kept me hitherto in the Goal for my good Will towards them, the Lord forgive them, for they do they know not what; and so, what in them lieth, provoke the Wrath of God against themselves. But Blessed be the Lord, tho' they have, and do use me as is said; yet the Truth, both at the time of my Examination, and since, hath had Dominion over them, and the Friends of Truth in the Country, rather encouraged to go on in the Truth, than any way daunted; the Glorious God of our Life and Peace be Magnified: And so let all your Hearts, dear Friends in the Living Power and Truth of our God, be Comforted and Established, even to you I Speak, who know the goodness of the Cross of Christ, and submit willingly unto it in all things, not to be Terrified at all by the Enemy's endeavours, knowing that through many Tribulations we must daily pass to the Kingdom. And this is a Faithful Saying, that If we Suffer with Christ, we shall Reign with him: And truly, Friends, the Love of God to my Soul hath been so preciously, and is daily Manifested in this Prison-Condition, that, if it could be Expressed, you would never be much troubled after it, at the Sufferings for the Truth's Sake.  
So all in the Light Walk, and in the Power of Truth Dwell, that you may bring forth Fruits in all things to the Living God, that in Peace you may lay down your Heads, and with joy give in your Accounts to God continually, as Good and Faithful Stewards and Servants in his Vineyard, and work whereunto you are called: And the Lord God of Fullness supply what may seem wanting unto you, or any of you, in regard of mine, or other Friends in the Ministry, our absence in this time; knowing that we are not our own, but in the disposing of Him, who Rules and Orders all according to the good Pleasure of His own Will, and that for good in all things, to such as Fear Him, and in Spirit truly wait: For truly, Friends, I had thoughts of being up amongst you again, may be before this time, if this or the like had not hindered,  
So Rests your dear Brother in the Faith and Service of the Gospel, Thomas Taylor.   

TO FRIENDS.  
Dear Friends,  
MY Tender Love in the Lord Jesus Christ doth dearly salute you all, wishing and desiring, even from the Bowels of our Tender Father's Love, all pure Refresh, and holy, powerful Strengthening unto all your Souls, that you may be born up and carried on in the way of his pure Fear, and heavenly Righteousness, which he hath brought you into, and blessed you in, to do his Will, and to glorify his Name for Ever, that our Souls may live together in the sweet Unity of Love, Life and Peace with our God, out of the reach of the present Evil World, to sound forth his holy Praises World without end, even in and under our own Vine and Figtree Christ Jesus, where none can come to make us afraid, and where the Troublers of Israel neither do nor ever shall come to disturb our Happy Peace and Rest World without end: For, Dear Hearts, however things seem to be in the outward, yet truly God is good to Israel, even such as are of a broken, contrite, pure and clean Heart. So God Almighty you all keep and preserve, even so in his pure Love for Ever, rests yours, all Dear in the Love of our Father.  
Thomas Taylor.   

A Loving and Seasonable Advice TO THE Children of Light From a BROTHER, Thomas Taylor.  
YE Children of the Most High, Begotten to God by the Word of his Power, which liveth and endureth for Ever, and who through the Leadings of his Heavenly Hand are brought through the Veil (that is the Flesh) into the Holiest of all, the Banqueting-house of the Father, where his Banner over you is Love all Day long, and so are come to read your Names written in the Book of Life, which is a Mystery hid from all the Wisdom of the World: I say unto you, O all ye Children of the Heavenly Wisdom, keep your Habitation, keep in the Wisdom and Strength of the Lord God Almighty your Father, and give not your holy Things to Dogs, nor cast your Pearls before the Swine, for the Dogs will turn again and rend you, and the Swine will tread the Pearl under their Feet. So be ye wise in the dispensing and dealing out of your Heavenly Father's Treasures which he hath betrusted you withal, and made ye Stewards of for his Glory. O stand in awe, and sin not in this weighty Matter; be not too lavish (amongst the wicked Contenders) of your Master's Choice Goods, to get a Praise to yourselves, but be content to be as Fools before them, rather than to let the Babylonians into your Treasures, yea, though they make a dissembling show of Love, lest a Judgement follow, as it did to Hezekiah, of whom you may read, Isa. 39 Chapter throughout. O my Friends, the Serpent is Subtle, and Herod is Cruel, and therefore wait in the dread of the Lord God, to feel and savour the Serpent's Voice in all; for no more will any that are guided by the Serpent receive Truth in the Love of it, though it be never so plainly told them where it is, and what it is in itself, and what it will be to those that receive it in Love; I say no more will they love it, than Herod did the young Child, whom he only enquired after that he might slay him. So we may daily see that the Contenders and vain Enquirers of this present time are of Herod and the Serpent's Race, who cannot endure to hear of the Birth of that Seed that is above every other Seed, and is King of the true Jews in Spirit, and to whom all the Fleshly Births, under what Name or Profession soever, must be subjected and bow: And as the love of the Lord doth indeed constrain us as freely and abundantly to Communicate of our Heavenly Treasure to the pure in Heart, who hunger and thirst after Righteousness, as we have received them, even so doth the same Love and the Wisdom thereof engage us to do as our Heavenly Father doth, who hides the things of his Kingdom from the Serpent's Seed, the Wise and Prudent of the World, and so the Cross is the safe way; and so, as we stand in the Cross, our preaching is to the Jew outward a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness, as in former Times, 1 Cor. 1. And so in all our Dispute and Reasoning with the World about the Things of God's Kingdom, we must mind the Cross, lest for want of a Hedge, the wild Boar of the Forest get in and hurt the tender Plants of God. Friends, strive not in your Wills for Victory, but wait in the Light to feel the Spiritual Weapon, the sharp Two-edged Sword of the Spirit of God to cut down the Adversary. There came one to Christ and said, Are there few that shall be saved? And he said, Strive thou to enter in at the straight Gate; so his Answer was in the Cross, and he minded more the Edification of the Man's Soul, than to please the busiebody's curious Mind; so we must dwell in his Wisdom, and that will lead into Christ's Work. Another asked him, What he must do to enter into Life? He answered, What readest thou? So to such as profess Scripture to be their Rule, or so to bring them to the Obedience and Judgement of their Rule; and if they cannot believe Scripture, which they acknowledge to be true, how can they believe our words whom they look upon to be as Heretics and Deceivers. The Servant of God, saith the Apostle, must not strive, but in Meekness instructing them that oppose themselves to the Truth, must seek to bring them to the Truth, that thereby they may be delivered out of the Snares of Satan, whom their Ignorance are led Captive by him at his Will. Now, the Servant of God in this weighty Matter may consider what manner of Opposers these are, whether they stand in a lower or higher place of wickedness; for some are wicked in a high measure, who will neither enter into the Kingdom of God themselves, nor suffer others; as Elimas' the Sorcerer, Acts 13.9, 10. who withstood Paul, seeking to draw the Deputy from the Faith. These may be more severely reproved, as was thereby the Apostle, but still with this Cantion, that all be done by the pure Sword of God's Spirit, and not by the Wrath of Man; for the Wrath of Man works not the Righteousness of God: And such Opposers as this had Christ to do withal, against whom he pronounced so many Woes, declaring their wicked Root, by calling them Vipers and Serpents, and Children of their Father the Devil, Mat. 23. throughout, and John 8.44. But to others who are not so high and strong in their Wickedness, much Wisdom, Tenderness and Patience must be used, that if God may at any time give them Repentance, that from the Darkness to the Light of God they may be turned, as Judas saith in his Epistle, Ver. 22, 23. Of some have compassion, making a difference, and others save with fear, pulling them out of the Fire, hating even the Garments spotted by the Flesh. And all my Dear Friends in Christ Jesus, who are at any time called forth by the Power of the Lord God, to Encounter your Spiritual Adversaries, the Disputers of this World, who Goliath like, are so wise and strong in their own Conceit, and have so armed themselves with their Carnal Weapons, that they are not afraid to defy Israel, yea, Israel's God: I say, keep in the Power of God, and trust not to Saul's Armour, but wait to feel the little Stone cut out of the Mountain without hands, to hit the Enemy in the Forehead, and to bruise his Head, and to strike at his Feet, that the false Foundation whereon he standeth may be removed, and so the Image may fall into nothing at once: And in this great Business, (to wit, the Lord's Controversy) my Friends, always mind your own Standing and Foundation, to keep close to it, and not to be driven from it by any means, for the Enemy will seek to draw you from your sure Ground, the measure of Life and Experienced Truth in you, into vain Janglings and fruitless Disputes, to gratify their Corrupt Minds, wherein is no Edification to the Soul, which the Servant of God must wait in all things to edify; and though for our Work herein we may be accounted as Fools by the World, who cannot judge but by the outward Appearance of things, yet with God shall we be accepted, because Doers of his Will, and our Jay in his Sight and Presence shall abide, and none shall take it from us, as thus we abide in God's Will, Work and Covenant, who is over all Blessed for Evermore.  
And Friends, of Scorners we must beware, for their Root is Rottenness, and their Ground Accursed, and the good Seed in them hath no place to grow.  
And of such as Professing Scripture, and Wisdom, and neither can nor will believe that Christ lighteth every Man that cometh into the World with sufficient Grace or Light, though John saith expressly, That in the Word (Christ Jesus) was Life, and that Life is the Light of Men, and the Light of that Life shineth in Darkness, (to wit in Men) lighting every Man that cometh into the World; and that such as received him in that his Appearance, to them he gave Power to become Sons of God, John the first Chapter. I say of these Unbelievers , it may be truly said they are Children of Darkness, and so much is not to be said to them, but even to bring them to Christ's Light in them, to know it, and learn of it, for till then they will never understand.  
Also such Professors as have been long Reading Scripture, and have heard the like Testimony of the Kingdom of God from the Spirit of God in his Servants in these Days, and yet plead for outward Shadows and Sounds, and things that perish with them, to be the Way and Means of the Kingdom, and are Ignorant of the Mystery of it in Man, and so deny the Word and Power of God nigh in the Heart; and yet in this their Darkness separate themselves in Profession from others, thinking themselves to be something when indeed they are nothing; these are to be turned away from and judged.  
As also such as deny sinless Perfection, and so know not the Birth of God in Man, but will plead for Sin, yea, in the Regenerate, during term of Life, as though Christ were a Minister of Sin, and could make nothing perfect like the weak Figures of the Law. Though the Scripture saith expressly, The Birth of God sins not, and he that abides in Christ sinneth not, and that Christ the better Hope makes perfect. See Heb: 7.19. and 1 John 1.5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.  
Now the Reason why the Law could make nothing perfect, was because it could not take away Sin, and so that Perfection that is not sinless is no Perfection at all; therefore it's said, That Christ by One-offering hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified, Heb. 10.14. And behold the Lamb of God that takes away the Sin of the World. Amen.   

TO FRIENDS That Abide in the Truth: AS ALSO To such as are gone from it.  
FRIEND'S all still mind the Light of God in you, even that which is not of this World, but leads out of the World, and the Worships, Lusts, Customs, Fashions, Traditions and Inventions thereof up to God from whom it comes, which Light was preached unto you in the Beginning, and as your Minds were turned to it and believed in it, true Judgement was executed upon the Man of Sin in you, and through the Light wherein God's Saving Power is felt, you became more than Conquerors over the World and the Mind thereof, and so you became Lovely in the Eye of the Lord the Father of Light, and so he entered into Covenant with you, and you became his, and he yours in Truth, Power and Righteousness, and his Banner over you was Love, and is Love to all who have kept their first Love, and have continued Faithful to his Witness, and have brought forth Fruits to God; you have reaped Life, because you have lived in the Spirit, and walked in the Spirit, and sown to the Spirit of Life which God hath freely given you to profit withal, and to be a Blessing unto you in the midst of the Earth: But to such amongst you who came out of Egypt with you, and saw God's wonderful Working at the Red Sea, and came through the Sea to the dry Land amongst the Israclites of God, but are now fallen a Lusting in the Wilderness, and with your Hearts turned back again into Egypt, and so cannot enter Rest with God's People because of Unbelief; I say your Condition is Sad and greatly to be lamented, and your Bondage is great, that after all your Experiences of Pharoah's Oppression, and the Mourning of the Seed under his Yoke, and your Knowledge of God's great Power for you at the Red Sea, that you should so soon forget your own Miseries, yea, and the Mercies of God also, in delivering of you so Miraculously from under the Enemy's Power, that you would be, yea are, in the Brick-kills again; What, Is it the Onions and Garlic of Egypt, and fleshpots, that hath bewitched you that you are so weary of the Lord's Yoke, that the Heavenly Manna hath no Savour to you? O Foolish People, How are you bewitched that you should not love, nor like to follow the Truth, which hath wrought such Wonders for you: O the Treacherousness of your Unbelieving Hearts, How have they deceived yourselves, and all who looked for Good from you? How Foolish and Unwise are you become, to sell the Hope of eternal good Things, for that which you have seen to be nothing but mere Husks, Shadows and Vanity. But now therefore, if it be possible, call in your Minds, consider in your Hearts, what it is that the Lord requireth of you, you cannot be Happy without God and his Truth, but he can be eternally Happy and Glorious without you, he can clothe himself, and wrap up himself in eternal Light, Life, Power, Fullness and unspeakable Glory and Satisfaction without you, but you, without him, cannot enjoy one dram of Light, Life, Comfort, Satisfaction, or any Good, for in Christ the Light, God's Gift, all Fullness dwells, and out of him, or without him, nothing but Emptiness, Misery, Disappointment and endless Woe; yea, Vanity of Vanities, and a sore Travel as all things under the Sun, in your best Condition, without Truth, whilst here; and endless Woe, without all Comfort, when gone hence; Without me, saith Christ, ye can do nothing: And so say I, Without Christ ye are nothing, nor have nothing, but are mere Beggars, Prodigals, Lost, Undone, Blind, Wretched and Naked Out casts, profitable for nothing; so Return, Return, Renent, Repent, saith my Soul, in the Light of the Living to you all. So be it.   

TO FRIENDS.  
MY Dear Friends in Christ Jesus, who are Faithful in God's Covenant of Light and Life, to dwell, grow and increase; yea, and to bring forth Fruit of Righteousness to God's Glory abundantly, my true and tender Love salutes you all, and my Spirit in God rejoiceth because of you all, and I cannot but evermore, upon every remembrance of you, Praise, Laud and Magnify the great and glorious Name of our Heavenly Father, for his tender Love and tender Mercy to you all, and for the Power of his Love in Christ, whereby he hath reached help to your Souls in the needful time, when all help of Creatures was at an end; and hath raised you up from the Dead, to be his living Witnesses in the Day of his Love to Israel, and hath chosen you for his People, and to bear the Name of Sons and Daughters, Servants and Handmaids in his House, to do his Service, and to bear his Name in Righteousness before the Children of Men. O my Soul is even filled with the sweet heavenly Virtue of this Love of God upon every Remembrance of you, even of you all, and every Member of the Holy Body of Jesus Christ in every place: For who can express the Beauty of your Life, and Fullness of your Treasure which you possess in his Love? O Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath chosen us, and set his pure Love upon us, whereby it comes to pass, that we are more than Conquerors over all the things of Darkness, and Powers of Evil, that would separate us from his pure Love. O Glory, Glory to his great Name, who by his pure Love hath begotten us again from the Dead, into the Image of his living, pure and holy Nature of Love, to love one another, and to reach forth pure Love in Spirit and Truth unto all; yea, unto Enemies, for at the Birth of Jesus this was sounded forth by the Heavenly, even Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men. So that when Men have us, and speak Evil of us, we know they have no Cause for it; for if they know our Love and good Will to them, they would love us, and much more the Father of our precious Life, by whom we are begotten into such a pure heavenly Love, as even labours and travels night and day how we may fulfil that great Service of Love, and continual Duty of good Will, that we own to the whole Creation of God: For Oh how great is the Bondage of a great part of it, as yet being so burdened with the weight of Corruption that lies upon it, that it ever cries unto God by reason of Oppression, and waits for the Manifestation and Enjoyment of the pure and holy Liberty of the Sons of God, wherein God alone may be glorified, and the Creature set free to run in the ways of his Commandments with Joy, and the wicked one may be put under into the Pit of everlasting Woe, there to remain for ever. So my Dear Friends and Fellow-Citizens of the New and Heavenly Jerusalem, ye True and Faithful Seed and Servants of the everliving and true God, do you rejoice and lift up your Heads, for from the eternal Fountain of Life and Love is your Salvation come, your Portion is upon a Fat and Fruitful Land, not as Egypt watered by Mortal Man, but as the Promised Land watered from Heaven, and made to excel all Lands in Goodness and Fruitfulness; yea, I know you Faithful ones are able to read in the Mystery where the Fullness of all is enjoyed, and all Barrenness and Disappointment done away. So my Dear Fellow-Members in the Heavenly Body and Faithful Branches of the living Vine, do you rejoice and lift up your tender Souls in God's Name, and in his living Mercies at all times; trust, trust not in any thing, but in the Name and merciful Power of the everliving God our tender Father, and in this Faith will be your Victory in all things; by this Faith will your Hearts be kept clean to God alone, out of all Defilements and Worldly Entanglements whatsoever; yea, and by this Faith will you be kept so continually a top of all Powers of Darkness and Spiritual Wickedness whatsoever, that in Freedom of Mind, and Joy of Heart, you may offer yourselves to your Maker and Redeemer as a reasonable Service, and pure Offering of Obedience to his Praise, as is due for ever and ever.  
So my Beloved, in God's pure and precious Truth, I am your Brother and Fellow-Sufferer for the Elections sake, well satisfied in this through the unerring Spirit, that as we abide Faithful to God in our Conditions, we shall never want the Support, Joy and Comfort, and daily Supply of his abundant Love, and all-sufficient Grace; so that we need not fear the Terrors of the Night, nor noisome Plagues that destroys at Noonday, nor the Doing of Mortal Men, because the Lord is become our sure and safe Hiding-place, and Castle of Defence, as he was to our Brethren in the Faith in all foregoing Ages. And what if they say, That we are a Poor Deceived and Contemptible People, it matters not, seeing we have God's certain Truth in us, the Foundation of our Building, and God's gracious Acceptance of us in Christ for our Strength and Glory? And what if men's Decrees be against the Liberty of our Holy and Spiritual Worship? We must not be dismayed for such things, for so it was in the days of his Flesh, who said, The Servant is not greater than his Lord; and he endured such Contradictions against himself for our sakes; and he beheld his Father's Power, and in it stood to the overcoming of all Enemies; and so hath given a good Example what to do in Times of Trouble, and whither to go in Times of Need; for he that hath promised is near to all that fly to him for Succour who both hath, and daily doth make fully manifest his Kindness and Faithfulness in us, and for us, that we might be to him a People, and he to us a God for evermore. So into the Arms of his eternal Power, and Bowels of everlasting Love, I commend you all, to be kept, comforted and carried over all that would hurt you, or hinder you from walking in his good Way; and rests your dear and tender loving Brother, in the Patience and Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, as Bound, yet Free, Glory to his Name everlasting. So be it, even Amen, Hallelujah, Praise the Lord, saith my Spirit, in the Unity of your precious Life, which we have in his Love.  
Thomas Taylor.    


TO Israel's Babes.  

THis, this shall be the Everlasting Song  
Of Israel 's Babes, who Lily like among  
The pleasant Meadows grow; and, as the Rose,  
Send forth their sweetest Smells, and do repose  
Their tender Heads, on their dear Mother's Knee,  
The new Jerusalem for ever free:  
Free from all Sin and Sorrow; yea from all  
That doth the Soul Embodage or Enthral;  
As Fears, and Cares, and Earthly-mindedness,  
Which, as an Heritage, Men's Hearts possess;  
But Zion's Birth is free, and kept in Peace,  
Abiding in the Father's House Increase:  
And fitting under his pure shadowing Love,  
Even all day long whilst he their Faith doth prove,  
They are in safety kept within the Just,  
Not lending any Ear to the earthly Lust:  
They knowing that in Heaven is a surer Rest,  
Reserved for them, ay to be possessed. Hallelujah.   
Praise the Lord, give thanks unto his Name, say ye (O Holy Seed of Israel) The Lord God Almighty (our Father) is Good, and his Mercies Everlasting, and his Love unto us as Endless as Himself, who is the same, yesterday, to day, and for ever, over all Blessed for evermore.  

But Howl, Misery, Woe will be the cup  
Of all the Earth, who in their minds are up,  
Exalted over that that's meek i'th' Heart,  
And on it trampling; these must ever smart:  
These, these are they, that Heavens fierce Wrath must feel,  
These must be shivered with a Rod of Steel.  
Will God Almighty ever wink at such?  
That of his Glory due, him so much grudge:  
And will not suffer him the Earth to Inherit,  
Which by his Sufferings, as his right, did Merit.  
And through his Cross and Death became right Heir  
Of every Substance, Jewel, Precious, Rare;  
Above the Heaven, and in the Earth below,  
And in the deeps that in great Measure flow,  
He's Heir Apparent of all things, and Chief,  
Sure holden and possessed i'th' Saints Belief.  
Though the Wick●d and  will not yield,  
That he should Rule, or his pure Sceptre Wield  
As Lord and King, yet sure his Name shall spread  
From East to West, from North to South with dread.  
He shall arise as Lions to the prey:  
He shall proceed, in his Might, and will not stay;  
Or stop his Work, for all the flattering Cries,  
Of Hypocrites, his wicked Enemies.  
He will not then regard their feigned Voice,  
Who have not, nor yet will make Moses Choice;  
But, with the Esau's of the World, choose rather  
I'th' loss of all that's Heavenly, the Earth to gather.  
And say within themselves, Give, give, these things,  
That we may have our Lusts, and reign as Kings,  
In this time present which with Eye we see;  
For we believe not, what shall after be:  
We like not such harsh Doctrine, as doth tell,  
Of Abraham's Bosom, and the Gluttons Hell:  
For Pastimes, Pleasures, and such Recreations  
As feed our Senses, with Prevarications,  
Of all sorts, sizes, manner, form and fashion  
That can be found in City, Town or Nation,  
Is our vain Minds Desire and Heart's Delight;  
Here, here's the Crown, for which we Strive and Fight;  
For which both Night and Day, we Ward and Watch,  
And thus at Shadows, all the World doth Catch.  
Even all the World, Professors and Profane,  
Who that pure thing (Christ Light) within Disdain▪  
And for the Light, put Letters, Sounds and Forms;  
And for the Substance, Shadows Overworn.  
In this they all agree to set at naught,  
The living Virtue, by which Saints are taught,  
And so at large, the wicked Mind is left  
In Vnbeli●vers, to make up by theft,  
And stealth in their outside and vain Profession,  
What they of Truth do want in true Possession.  
But Babes of Zion feed upon that Bread,  
The real Substance, Jesus Christ, their Head,  
Which came from Heaven, and thither hath them led  
With him to rest, in his Eternal B●d.  
They feed upon him, in the Mystery,  
Hid from the Raven and the Vulture's Eye:  
For where the Body is, the Saints Resort,  
And there are kept secure, as in a Fort  
Of Brass or Iron, where the Table's Ready,  
All day full fraught with Dainties for the Needy:  
Yea, for the Needy and the Hungry Soul,  
To take and freely Feed, without Control.  
When false, profane Professors, in the double Mind,  
Much seem and dream they Eat, but all's but Air and Wind.    

Of Prayers.  

WHen, as a tuned Instrument, my Mind is in the Lord  
Well set, and with his Power Assist, O then I can Record  
The mighty Acts and wonders great of him that Rules on High,  
And of his great Magnificence, from whom the Heavens do fly,  
And Earth also, when he is pleased to make his Power known  
In Mercies and in Judgements deep, for such as are his own;  
When ●●e an Arm of Help doth reach unto the needy Soul,  
When he the daring Power of the Enemy doth Control,  
O then, I say, what Treasure can before his Presence stand,  
Before his Glorious Face, who is the Lord of Sea and Land:  
Where Kings and Princes are as Dust, and nothing in his sight,  
Yea all who in their carnal Minds against his Glory fight:  
Yet he doth make his Residence with every humble Heart,  
That loves his Name, and from his Truth by no means can departed.  
His presence is their perfect stay; and they in him can say,  
He is our Rock that nothing shall our Spirits much dismay:  
Yea, though our Troubles for a Night, or so, upon us lie,  
Yet in the Morning we are Saved, as we to him did cry. So be it.    

Concerning ZION.  

IF I Jerusalem forget, a People saved from Pride,  
Then let my Skilful Hand forget the warbling Harp to guide:  
And if Mount Zion in my Joy I do not still set up,  
Then let my Tongue cleave to my Mouth, and taste of Sorrows Cup. (said David.  
So shall the Seed of David now, in Heart and Pen endeavour,  
The Praise of Zion to Record, and of her God for ever:  
And Blessed are those Men on Earth, that with us now take part,  
In this our Work of Innocence, when all the rest must smart:  
For how can Israel 's Kingdom be the Portion of such Wights,  
As will not have God's Truth to Reign, but still against it Fights.     

The Life more than  and Meat.  
O Lord God, my Life is in thy Service, and my Soul's Everlasting Peace and Satisfaction in thy Love; all the Things of this World are of an empty fading Nature, and yield not the least true Content unto the Immortal Soul, but only answer a Mortal Necessity, as the Apostle saith, Meat's for the Belly, and the Belly for Meats, but God will destroy both i● and them; so  for the Back, and the Back for , but God will destroy both it and them; and so for other things of the World, they serve but only for Worldly and Temporal Necessities; but now Man, made in the Image of God, breathes after a more Excellent Good than this World hath to give; for in the Soul, which is Mortal, there abides an Immortal Desire, and from that an Immortal Cry after that Holy and Heavenly Food of Life, which is in the full Hand of God to give, and so when that is received and digested in the pure Mind, then goes forth Praises and Thanksgivings to the Lord, the pure and fall Fountain of all Everlasting and Eternal good Things; and so happy they who come through the Obedience of the Truth, to have their Hearts seasoned with this Heavenly Salt of the Word of God, the Living Word which abides for Ever; For in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and that Word was God, and is the Lise and Light of Man; and all places in Man, which is not filled with this Living Light, is full of Darkness; and the dark places of the Earth are full of the Habitations of Unrighteousness and Cruelty, and there is engendered all the Ravenous Birds and Beasts of Prey, all the fiery stinging Serpents, and every Venomous Thing which annoys, hurts and disquiets the Living Plant which God hath planted in the Paradise of his Pleasure, and seeks to devour the Manchild as soon as it is Born, but into the Arms of the Eternal Power of Life is the Babe taken, and by the Choicest Angel is the Plant watered and defended, and so the wicked is disappointed of his Prey, and therefore doth he retreat into his Den of Darkness, gnawing his Tongue because of his Plagues. So be it.  

O Lord our Strength and mighty Joy,  
How Glorious is thy Name within our Hearts:  
We cannot cease to Preach thy Truth,  
Though for it, at us Satan shoot his Darts.   

Though Hell be broken lose upon the Earth,  
To vent its Malice for a little time,  
And make the Righteous Man his Butt to shoot at,  
Yet God will Plague them for their mighty Crime.   

The greatness of their Evil passeth thought,  
Their Sins in number far exceeds the Sand;  
And therefore will the Lord against them plead,  
With all his Judgements in his Wrathful Hand.   

And though great Trials be to try the Faith  
Of pure and upright hearted People now;  
Yet that pure holy Power will us defend,  
Who makes the very Devils fear and bow.    

To the Unsatiable Devourers of Strong Drink.  

WHat Hellish Spark is that, in your Inflamed Breast,  
Which neither suffers God nor Man to Rest;  
But doth disorder even the whole Creation,  
Bringing God's Judgements thick on every Nation.  
Ye will not hear nor learn the thing that's good,  
But eat and drink up Sin your daily Food.  
Be filthy still, ye filthy Ones, and when  
Your Measure is full, your dreadful Doom comes then.   Thomas Taylor.  


HE that to Glory would attain,  
And many Happy Days would see,  
His Tongue from Evil must refrain,  
And eke his Heart from Sin keep free.   

He must both watch and ward in Heart,  
And persevere in that good deed,  
Lest Satan wound him with his Dart,  
As he doth all that take not heed.   

Such must not promise to themselves  
Great things on Earth, as Sinners do,  
Who build, and plant, and root therein,  
As from it they would never go.   

But he that to the Heavens would come,  
To dwell in that which never fades,  
Must not in the World set up his Rest,  
Nor shelter under Mortal shades.    

TO MY Dear Friends every where.  
O My Friends, and Faithful to God, whose Hearts are Tender and Zealous after the Lord and his Honour in this day, of the Trial of our most precious Faith, Grace, Mercy and Power from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, be abundantly multiplied in you, and the Blessed Arm of his Power support you, and carry you through all the present and future Trials for the Gospel's sake on Earth; for us hath the Lord drawn out of the many Waters, and set our Feet upon the sure Rock of Ages, the tried Foundation, and brought our Souls into the unmoveable Rest, Glory to his Name for ever, that we might be to his Praise, and Glory, and Honour for ever; that he might dwell in us, and we in him, for ever; and so be safe for ever under his Wing, where the Wicked cannot come because of Unbelief, and that great Violence whereby they have stopped the way of all good from their Souls. But now Dear Hearts, and Beloved in the Lord, you who have loved the Light, and received the Power which makes all manifest, and cleanseth from all Sin, you are Blessed, even the Blessed of the Lord God of Heaven and Earth, who loves your Souls with a perfect Love, and fills your Heart's day by day with his Infinite Goodness: Therefore, as a Recompense for all his Mercies, give up yourselves to his Holy Will in all things, and love the Lord the same, our everlasting God and Father, with all your Hearts, Souls, Mind and Strength, and he will do abundantly for you and us all, even his whole Israel in every place, beyond all that we can ask or think: Look not out at the World, nor their Love nor Hatred, for they are Men and not Gods; but keep in the Sanctuary of God, the Spirit of Christ, and there is Safety; with him is the Well of Life, which refreshes our Souls continually, and makes all things easy and possible to us through Faith in his Name and Patience. So let Patience have its perfect Work, for we have daily need of it, that we may continually see and feel the Love of the Lord in the Land of the Living, and not be clouded with the Spirit of this World, which gendereth to Bondage in any thing: For if Lot's Wife look back, she is presently turned into a Pillar of Salt; and if the Israelite turn back but in his Heart into Egypt, he is snared in Unbelief. So, my Dear Friends, look up to the Lord in Spirit and Truth, and wait continually to feel his living Presence in you, to keep you open and single to him, that of the powerful Spirit of his Holiness, which slays the Sin, and quickens the Soul to God, you may be Witnesses, and so come to possess the Immortal Kingdom, where Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost only reigneth. So, with the Dear Salvation of my Love unto you all, I commend you to the Lord, to bless, keep and water with his Goodness continually to his Glory, who only is Holy, and gives us freely every good thing to enjoy both for Soul and Body, who is near to the Righteous in every Necessity, to Help and Save to the uttermost: To whom be Glory and Immortal Praise: Even so rests with you, in the full Assurance of his Tender Mercies in Christ Jesus, your Dear Brother,  
Thomas Taylor.   

TO FRIENDS.  
TO the Called and Chosen of God, the Dear Vessels of Life and Glory in all the Earth, doth the Tender Salutation of me your Dear Brother reach, who as a feeling Member in the Holy Body of the Lord Jesus, do daily partake with you of the Blessed Joys of Life Eternal, and of the present Sufferings for the same, who therefore cannot but continually through the pure Love and Life's Motion breathe out amongst you the Happy state of our Innocent Souls, because of Truth, upon every Occasion, to the stirring up and refreshing of the tender good thing, the Heavenly Mind in all, to the joint Praising, Blessing and Magnifying of the Lord's great Name, for his abundant kindness towards every Particular Faithful Ones for Ever and Ever; for he is good to Israel unspeakably, unalterably true to them for Ever. And now, Dear Friends, seeing God hath been so gracious to us above all the People of the Earth, as to set his Name upon us in Righteousness, to the Amazement and Astonishment of many, and hath caused our Rod that was dry (even as others) to flourish and bear Fruits in the midst of the Earth, to the Praise of his Living Power, as a Token of his Acceptance and Choice: And seeing God hath so graciously performed his Promises to us his Seed, made to his Israel of Old, in bringing up our Souls from Death, and our Life from the devouring Sword, and hath unloosed our Tongues to speak of his Wonders in the great Congregation; why shall we not then speak good of this the Name of our God, the true Everliving God, in Comparison of whom the whole World, with their many Idols, Gods and Lords are nothing? We may not be hindered by the Adversary from breathing forth our pure Life given us of God for his Glory, in a continual mention of his Holiness; for if we should be silent, the very Stones would do it; for now is the Lord Jesus arisen indeed, and ascended far above all Heavens, Principalities, Powers, Names, and Greatnesses whatsoever, and come again to our Spirits, according to his Blessed Promise, that of his unspeakable Fullness we might all partake in abundance, to the causing of our Cup to overflow with all Holy and Heavenly Consolations and Praises, for the perfect Salvation of our God, to the watering of every tender holy Plant in Israel, that waits for the same. For as the Dew to the tender Herbs; so is thy Blessing, O Immanuel, to the Garden of thy own planting thy Beloved Plants, that waits for thee amongst whom the pourings forth of thy Name is as sweet Ointment: And Blessed are all that wait for thee, who hast enclosed thy Beloved People in the Arms of thy own Almightiness, and filled them with thy own Blessed Kingdom and Righteousness, who hungered after thee, even so, Father of Life, be it for Evermore to thy own unspeakable Glory, who alone art worthy.  
So now, Dear Friends, into the Unity of the Holy Life, Power and Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ, let every Soul of us gather and retire itself, to be nourished up thereby, and preserved to a daily and perfect Victory over all Temptations and Provocations whatsoever, that upon the very Head of the Serpent we may tread! and let us not look at the seen things, for therein lies the Wiles and Temptations, but let us eye and feel the Blessed Invisible Life, and Powerful Heavenly Spirit of our God, to carry us through and over all to his Glory, who hath said, That he will never leave nor forsake his tender breathing Seed that waits on him; so, Blessed are all that are found in this his Covenant, and follow him as Dear Children, and Obedient Servants in the sure and safe way of the daily Cross and Self-denial, to a perfect mortifying and subduing of the fleshly evil part, and a full Resurrection of the spiritual over it, so rests your Dear Brother in the Unity of the same Blessed, Living, Victorious Faith.  
Thomas Taylor. From the Place of my Confinement for the Everliving Testimony of Jesus, in the Fifth Month 1664.   

TO Friends in LONDON.  
OYE my Dear Friends, and Beloved of the Lord, in the City of London, my Love in the Lord: Our Life is drawn out at this time, to salute you with an Epistle of pure and unfeigned Love, because you are Dear and near unto my very Heart, in the feeling Life which hath given us the Blessed Victory over all Sin, and Works and Words of Death, to serve the Will of our Heavenly Father with all Fervency and Perseverance in our Day, Age and Generation, to the Praise and Glory of his Grace in Jesus Christ our Lord, whom our Souls can never cease to love, because the Savour of his good Ointment is ever fresh upon our Souls, and his Law of Life it is that we daily seel to have set us free, and to keep us free from the Law of Sin and Death; Praised be the God of our Salvation for his unspeakable Gift, though the Enemy of one hand say, we are no Christians; and on the other hand, call us a Form; and bark at our Holy Unity, and Blessed Agreement in the everliving Truth, and exercise of it, for the good one of another, and Service of all: Yet over all these unclean and unrighteous Spirits, and all others of like nature, we are more than Conquerors, and, like a Rock, unmoveable, which the Enemy may split himself with dashing against: Yet Praised be the Lord our Rock stands sure, for it is Holy, Pure and Everlasting, and the Gates of Hell shall never be able in the least to prevail against it nor us, as we upon it continue, rooted and grounded in the Love of God, and one of another, in his Seed, where all the Promises of Life and Salvation are, Yea and Amen for ever. And so you, my Dear Friends, and much longed after in the Lord, when I consider the many Trials, and great Contradiction of Sinners of all sorts, which for the Love and Zeal of our Holy Lord God, and his unchangeable Truth, you have endured from the beginning, my Heart is greatly affected with the Glory, and cannot but Praise the Lord for you, that you are even become as a Bulwark of his Truth, in the midst of a crooked, degenerate and Back-sliding Nation, who though like Sampson's Foxes, they look with Faces several ways, yet in Heart are one, every one with Firebrands and Stings in their Tails like Scorpions, to do Mischief, by stirring up the bad part in People, against the Simplicity of the Gospel of Love, and Life of our Lord Jesus Christ, which would gather, unite and heal all of all their Soul-Maladies for ever, if they did not make themselves unworthy of. But O how the Truth to you doth still abide in its Lustre and Glory without Alteration, knowing that you, as we your Brethren in the same every where, are set for the Defence of the Gospel; The Lord hath set his Love upon us, and it is from Everlasting to Everlasting; and therefore in his Name and perfect Goodness may we safely trust; and Storms will be over, and his unspeakable Peace and Joy, which is with us, and hath so unspeakably refreshed us, shall be with us for ever: We need not go to the Egyptians for help, as the Wicked do, for in the God of Israel is our Hope and Help, who keeps Mercy and Covenant with his, Dear People, for ever and ever. And when I also consider how the Samballat and Tobias of this Age say on one hand, What will these silly returning Captives do? And on the other, when I see the little Horn, with a Countenance more stout than his Fellows, in his very Words of Reproach, and Work of Scattering, tell of your Scattering whom God hath gathered, I cannot but say, O Lord Bless thy People (whom thou hast so powerfully delivered) and govern and keep their Hearts in perfect Peace with thee, through all and over all, even as thou dost this day, for ever and ever, that many may come to the Brightness of our day, and Glory of our Kingdom, which is not of this World, but of God eternal our Father, who is over all Blessed for ever. So under the Shadow of his ever-blessed Wing, my Dear Brethren and Sisters dwell, and here is the true Munition of Rocks, where the Living Bread is sure, and the Living Waters never fail, rests your Dear Brother in the Patience and Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, at present in outward Bonds for the Testimony of his Truth in this place.  
Thomas Taylor. Stafford, 21st of the 12th Month 1667.  
And I desire that this may be communicated, as the Nature of it requires, to the whole Flock of God in and about the City, in the precious Wisdom of God, with Bowels of Love unto you all. So be it.   

TO Friends of SUDBURY Side.  
DEar Friends, and Wellbeloved in the Lord, Brethren and Sisters in the Holy Covenant of his Everlasting Love, my very Heart and Soul doth dearly salute you all, and often do I remember you in the Dearest Affections of unfeigned Love as is meet, knowing your Love and Tenderness to God's Truth, and me your Dear Friend and Brother for the Truth's sake from the beginning, and how the Lord of his Infinite Love in Christ Jesus, hath separated us from the present evil World for himself, to hold forth his Virtues before the Children of Men, in a pure Life, and so to feed at his Table as the Faithful do in the unspeakable Fellowship of his Eternal Spirit of Life and Peace, whereby, O how often; yea, how continually he hath, and daily doth refresh, feed, and strengthen our pure Minds as in the simplicity of our Hearts together or asunder (as to the outward) we have and do daily wait upon him, and in his Light are stayed upon his Power in our inward Man, to the Praise of his Glory, which makes us that we cannot but love him, and one another in and for him, and so we cannot but remember him, and one another; and so pray for and rejoice in one another's welfare, as living Members of his Heavenly Body, who is over all, God Blessed for Ever, who is the Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls, and therefore we shall not want nor miscarry, as we abide in his Love, and this we know, Dear Hearts, that as we keep his Commandments, we do abide in his Love, and are at Rest in his Power. Many from the Letter may say, God is their Shepherd, or so, and therefore they shall not want; but truly Friends, there is none can say this in Truth, but who are led by him, and subject to him in Heart and Life; they are the Sheep of Christ who hear his Voice, and follow him in the Regeneration, not losing their first Love, but growing and continuing in it to the end, perfecting Holiness in the fear of God, and so working out their Salvation with fear and trembling, knowing it is God of his own good pleasure that worketh in us to will and to do. O Friends, how true we find it, in God's Light, that it is not of him that willeth nor runneth, but of the Mercifulness of our God in Christ Jesus to them that believe, and in pure Holiness and Simplicity of Heart, wait upon him at all times; and this puts to silence all Flesh, and keeps down all Boasting and fleshly Confidence and Conceitedness, to the unspeakable Glory of the Pure, Eternal, Holy Name of the Living God, our Father, who si●s upon the Throne, and is worthy of all Honour, Submission and Obedience for Evermore. For now is the Lord God suckling the Babes of his Love with the pure Milk of his Living Word, and feeding the Men of his House with the strong Meat of his overcoming Truth, and giving them the well-refined Wine of his Kingdom, to make glad their Hearts over all the Trials, and Tribulations of this present Life, so that through the Overcoming Love of our God we are more than Conquerors, and shall never be ashamed, abiding in his Love; for the Righteous are bold as a Lion, and through the help of our God we shall for ever leap over all the Walls of Opposition, that the Enemy makes to hinder us in our way, for it's the Fearful, Unbelieving and Disobedient in Heart that cannot enter, that cannot come into and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God this Day. But Praises to the Lord in the height of Heaven for all his unspeakable Goodness, who over all gives us the Victory by Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be Glory Everlasting, and Kingdom for Evermore. And, so Dear Friends, into the Arms of the Lord's unspeakable Love committing you all, rests your Dear Loving in the Truth of God a Friend and Brother,  
Thomas Taylor.  
Also Friends, you may know that my Wife hath her very Dear and Tender Love remembered unto you all, and is dearly affected upon every remembrance of you, considering what sweet Refreshment she hath sound amongst you in your Holy Assemblies, where the Presence of the Lord hath been abundantly witnessed by many, and I hope Ever will be, meeting together in his Fear to wait upon him, as you do. And as for our Condition here, praised be the Lord it is well; for though my Bonds for the Gospel in this Place be yet continued, yet some little Liberty of being with my Wife and Family sometimes, at her Hired House in this Town, through the Tender Mercy of our God, is granted me; and so we are made content, and all is good in the  of God, and so our Souls are at rest in his Love, where we pray that yours, and all the Holy Ones of God in every place, may rest for Ever, and be abundantly satisfied. Amen and Amen. And so we shall be glad to hear of all your Welfare in the Lord as he makes way.   

TO FRIENDS, Richard Boothman and Robert Clough.  
DEARLY Beloved in the Lord, and his Everlasting Truth, which hath redeemed our Souls, and doth daily Comfort our Hearts, as we abide in it, my very Dear Love, and tender Affections Salutes you, and all the Dear Flock of God about you, giving you all to know of my Health in the Fountain of Health, where, in the midst of all these Bonds, Trials and Afflictions, which, in Common with all Saints for the Gospel's sake on Earth, is ordered for us; my Soul is more than a Conqueror, Praises to our God for ever: And we may not let fall our Holy Hope, and trust in the least for any thing that Flesh can do against us; but by all means let us keep fast in our Hearts the living Faith of the Lord Jesus, which in God's blessed Sight is of greatest Esteem; for thereby we may effectually in all things overcome; yea, and be well able also to quench all the fiery Darts of the Devil: For upon our Watch must we needs stand in all things clothed with the whole Armour of Light, that no Enemy at all may come between us and our God, to deprive us of his precious Life, or hinder our Fellowship with his Holy Spirit in the least. The living powerful Presence of his Glory in the Face of Jesus Christ, be with all your Spirits, to Sanctify, Bless, Keep and Preserve you all, my Dear Friends, in Body, Soul and Spirit, Pure, Spotless, and altogether Blameless before him, in Love, Rests yours in the Dear Fellowship of God's ever blessed Truth  
Thomas Taylor. Stafford, the 20th of the Eighth Month 1668.  
And thus, Dear Friends, I could not, but thus in a few words, breath out of my true and tender Love amongst you, desiring also, as opportunity is, to hear of your State.   

THE Day of the Lord Is DAWNED.  
THE Ever-blessed Day of the Lord God is dawned; let all the Children of the Night fear, for they are now fully to be made manifest, and brought to Judgement, and now where will the Workers of Iniquity hid themselves from the Lord's Justice? Rocks nor Mountains will not cover them, they must come forth this Day to the Righteous Judgement of the Great God, the Just Judge of Heaven and Earth, of Quick and Dead; Rotten Rags and Fig-leaves of empty and filthy Profession must now be stripped off, and the shameful Nakedness of all Hypocrites, and unclean outside Professors and Professions must now be laid open to the Glory of that Powerful God, who hath long waited upon People to teach them, and to do them good, but they would not, and therefore Desolation upon Desolation, Overturning upon Overturning will come upon Thee, O thou Corrupted Earth, with thy Inhabitants, who are crying, Lord, Lord, but never come to do the Will of the Holy Lord God in Earth as it is done in Heaven; nay, nor have so much as a Mind thereunto, but are angry with such as do it: And therefore because these Inhabitants of the Corrupt Earth rebel against the Light, some under the Name of Papists, and some under the Name of Protestants, and yet say in their Hearts, We shall have Peace, and be Established in our way; the Lord hath said, They shall have no Peace, nor be Established in their defiled Ways; for God's Establishing of People is now manifested to be in Righteousness, and in nothing else. The Lord Jesus Christ is now to Reign, and the Sceptre of his Kingdom is a Sceptre of Righteousness, and the Kingdoms of this World must be the Kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ, and he must Reign, whose Right it is for Ever and Ever; according to Prophesy.  
And now it is of the greatest Concernment for Kings and Princes, Priests and Prelates, High and Low, Rich and Poor, to Kiss the Son, lest his Anger which they have kindled against themselves by their sinning against his Light, and grieving of his good Spirit by their manifest Transgressions break forth upon them, and consume them to the uttermost: For this is the Day wherein he that's greater than Solomon is upon his Throne, to execute Justice and Judgement in the Earth; and now it is not the flying of Cruel Joab to the Horns of the Altar shall save his Head, for Fire is gone and going forth from the offended God, to consume all false Worships, and false Worshippers, who in the false Spirit and earthly Fire presume to come near the Holy God; for with his Fire, and heavenly Two-edged Sword, is the Lord pleading with all Flesh; and now many must bow under his mighty Hand, that the Lord alone may be exalted, for to him must all bow, and to his Justice be made to confess it is so; and now the Noise and Boastings of a Church, and Sacraments, and Services, in their unclean, uncircumcised, unmortified Nature, will do them no more good than the crying of the false Jews of Old, The Temple of the Lord! The Temple of the Lord are we!  
Thomas Taylor.   


SOME Prison Meditations In the 7th Month, 1657. BEING A Free-gift Sermon, Mainly touching the Religious Robbers, or Spiritual Murderers, the Sermon and Prayer-sellers of the former, latter and present Times; Even to the whole Company of Mystery Babylon's Merchants and Members a Warning.  Hosea 6. Chap. Verse the 8, and 9 it is written, Gilead is a City of them that work Iniquity, and is Polluted with Blood: And as Troops of Robbers wait for a Man, so the Company of Priests Murder in the way by Consent, for they commit Lewdness. 
LONDON: Printed and Sold by T. Sowle, near the Meetinghouse in White-Hart-Court in Gracious-street, and at the Bible in Leaden-hall-street; 1697.   

SOME Prison-Meditations. etc.  
NOW, all you People and Priests of the Earth, amongst all your observe and gathering of Doctrine, observe with me, and take diligent notice of these few, short, plain Doctrines or Lesson from hence, and Tremble, and Repent; to wit,  
1. That Workers of Iniquity, are a filthy and bloody People.  
2. That lewd Priests or Teachers are Murderers, and Layers in wait for Blood.  
3. Where the Priests or Teachers are nought, such as follow them are not good; and so like Priest, like People, as here.  
4. Lewd Priests, and Murtherous-minded Men, (false Teachers) have in all Ages been many a mighty Band, fitted to devour.  
But Hesea! How didst thou escape this Bloody People, and these Murderous Priests, these Lewd Workers of Iniquity? Did they not Murder or Imprison thee, or Sue thee at their Courts, for a Disturber of their Peace, or for a Slander? How didst thou, poor Lamb, escape these Wolves, these Bloody Murderous Priests and People. Thy Brother Ames, the Prophet, was accused by one of these Murderous Priests, for a Conspirer against the King, in the midst of the House of Israel, and that the Land was not able to bear his Words, Amos, 7.10. etc. And thy Brother Jeremiah was cast into a dirty Dungeon, almost unto Death, besides the other Beat, 
Jer. 20.1. etc.  and Stockings, and Imprisoning that he suffered from one of these lewd Priests and the sinful Princes, for his Witness Sake in that Generation, as it is to be seen in Jer. 38. and other places of that Book: And thy Brother 〈◊〉, Son of Barschia●, 
See Mat. 23.34. etc. Luke. 13.33. etc. and Ch. 22. and 23.  was Slain by this ●loody Generation, between the Temple and the Altar for his Witness S●ke. Mat. 23.35. And all the rest of thy Brethren were evil Entreated of this Bloody Murderous Generation of Prie●s and People, for their Testimonies Sake: And the Heir himself, Christ Jesus the Head, when he appeared, was cruelly Murdered ●y these Bloody Priests, and such as followed them, and consented with them; and that for Witnessing forth Truth against the Wickedness and Lewdness of the Bloody City, and Venomous Priests, their Teachers, as is in the Scripture of Truth to be Read, and is now also in these present Days found true in Experience, by all thy Suffering Brethren and Sisters: Oh Prophet● Who are Reproached and Persecuted of this Present Evil Generation of the Priests (the Teachers) and the People under them, under the Nickname of Quakers: And therefore we having such a Cloud of Witnesses, and Fellow-sufferers for the Truth's Sake going before us; we may be Comforted and Encouraged in all our Tribulations, knowing that we are hereunto called, 〈◊〉 not only to Believe, but also to Suffer for Christ's Name Sake, that so we may fill up the Measure of the Afflictions of Christ in our Flesh for his Body's Sake, which is his Church.  
Further, Oh all People! You may hence observe, and take diligent notice for your good, that it hath been an old Custom of the World's Teachers, such as are called, of Men, Master, Matt. 23. and who Preach for Hire, Micah 3. and seek their Gain from their Quarters, Isa. 56. I say, that it hath been an old Custom of such Wolves to Murder Souls and People of God; for in some Scriptures is mention made of the Spiritual, and in others of the Bodily Murder, that they had, and would be guilty of. And further take notice, that these Banding Priests are a lewd Generation; which, in other Expressions, is all one as to say, Thieves, Whores and Harlots; and so indeed they are also in Scripture usually said to be; and therefore Typed, and set forth under the name of Painted Whorish Jezabel, and the Wellfavoured, Harlot; and here, under the Similitude of Troops of Robbers, waiting for a Man; and Paul calls them, Ministers of Satan, having a form of Godliness, denying and resisting the Power and Truth of Godliness: And therefore (Oh all People!) you are Exhorted by the Spirit of Truth, to turn away from them; yea, and commanded to come out from amongst them, upon pain of Eternal Death, Jer. 23. throughout. Rev. 14 8, 9, 10, 11. Rev. 18. throughout. 2 Cor. 11.12, 13, 15. 2 Tim. 3.5, etc. Rev. 2.20, etc.  
Read Scripture, and see if these things be not so, and Fear the Living God, and Bow to Truth, and be Exhorted and Persuaded all People, now at length to learn Wisdom, and to understand whom you follow; for you see the Scripture tells of Murderous Lewd Priests that stood over the People for Teachers in former Days; and in Christ's time there was Scribes and Pharisees, Hypocrites, who were taken by the blind People to be sufficient Guides and Teachers, 
John 8.25. Matt. 25.  whom Christ called, Blind Guides, Children of the Devil, Painted Sepulchers, Whited Walls; yea, Vipers and Serpents. And so you People that gather together to the Steeplehouse, which you call your Church, when you hear your Teachers; who, , go under the name of Ministers with you, take a Scripture, and out of it choose a Verse (or so) of a Chapter, according to their Wills, for filthy Lucre, and calls it their Text, and from it draws Doctrines, and Reasons, and Uses, as they call them, ask them whether there be any such Company of False Teachers  in England to be found, as this Scripture speaks of, who as Troops of Robbers wait for a Man, so wait to Murder in the way by consent: And who they are, and what, and who they Murder; and with what they Murder; and how these Murderers may be known; what be their Fruits, For by their Fruits ye shall know them, saith Christ. And ask them further, Whether these False Teachers, which the Prophet Hosea here calls lewd Murderers, be not the same in Nature with those which Isaiah, in the 56. Chap. and 10 v. of his Prophecy, calls greedy dumb Dogs, that sought their Gain from their quarter, and could never have enough: And the same that Jeremiah spoke of in Chap. 5. ver. 1, 2. & 23. Chap. of his Prophecy throughout, That stole the word from their Neighbour, and used their Tongue, and said, he saith, when the Lord never sent them, and so could not profit the People at all. And whether they be not the same that Micah the Prophet (Mic. 3 5, etc.) speaks of, who preached for Hire, and divined for Money, and spoke Peace to the Wicked for the Gift sake, but if any put not into their Mouths, they prepared War against them, and yet like all Hypocrites would lean upon the Lord in words, and say, Is not the Lord amongst us? No Evil shall come unto us. And whether these murderous Priests were not one with those that Christ Jesus cried Woe against in Matt. 23. Who were Sayers, and not Doers; who loved to be called of Men Master, and bound heavy Burdens upon the People, and touched them not with one of their own Fingers, but shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against Men, and would neither enter in themselves, nor suffer others. And finally, ask them whether such Men now, as stand over the People for Teachers, though under another Name, and making another Profession in words, yet if they be found in the foresaid steps, doing the foresaid Deeds of those forementioned False Teachers, are not to receive the same Judgement, and to be cried against and denied, and forsaken by all the Children of Light now, as formerly, Yea or Nay.  
And now Hosea, thou Holy Prophet of God, thou hast said and laid down these two Doctrines or high Charges against the People in general, and against the Priests in particular: The first, That the People in general are polluted with Blood. The second, That as Troops of Robbers wait for a Man, so the company of Priests Murder in the way by Consent. How dost thou prove and make these good, for the Gileadites are deeply concerned in it; and they will have thee to make it good, or suffer for default? Yea, by the Spirit I make it good, thus: Gilead is a City polluted with Blood, because they are such as work Iniquity; and the Priests Murder in the way by Consent, because they commit Lewdness: And this is witnessed not only by the Scriptures, but also by the same Spirit of Truth that gave it forth in all the Children of Light to be so. But Hosea, thou must not be tried per pares, that is, them of like Condition or Quality with thee, to wit, the Holy Prophets and Children of God, who are Witnesses with thee against the Abominations of their Times, and Sins that rules in Priests and People, for that will not satisfy nor serve the Gil●adites turn, for so the great Men of all sorts in City and Country would be sound faulty: But these Priests and People think it fit (according to their Nation-Law) to have a Judge and Justices sit upon the Bench, and to have a Jury of Inquest summoned, and to have a Bill of Indictment found against thee, and then if thou plead thy Innocency, and say thou art not guilty of doing them any Wrong, but only thou spoke as thou was moved by the Spirit of God; then thou must have, as they pretend, a fair Trial, (for thou must know that the Gileadites cannot believe thy Witness, nor any for thee from that Spirit only) but this fair Trial must not be by Spiritual Men, who only are able to judge of Spiritual Things, for the Gileadites know not their Voice no more than thine, Oh Prophet! but it must be further, by another Company of these Men whom thou hast said are Workers of Iniquity, and polluted with Blood, and so are Parties; and these must judge of thee; and these (says the World) are a Grand Jury, a Company of substantial Men of the Country, Sworn Men (Mark, out of the Doctrine of Christ, for his Yea is Yea, and his Nay is Nay, without an Oath.) And these Men (the Grand Jury) must bring in their Verdict (as they call it) against thee, for they have found thee Guilty, (for thou hast nothing on thy side but plain Truth, without Man's Testimony, or an Oath) and the Judge of the Court (one of the chief Men among the Gileadites that is versed in Law-matters) thinks it fit thou should be fined to pay a Sum of Money for thy Offence, (Oh Prophet! thou Man of God) and be kept in Prison (Summer and Winter, that matters not) until thou pay it: But what (Oh Prophet!) if thou hast neither liberty in thy Spirit, nor outward Ability to pay thy Fine, What course must be taken with thee? Well, for that (O Prophet!) Gilead matters not, but imprisoned thou must remain, for so Gilead will be quit of thee, and thou cannot come into their Synagogues, Markets, nor other Assemblies, to cry against their Sins, and disturb them, for the People and Priests would live quietly in their Sins, and they would not be disturbed neither in the time of their Service, nor otherwise. And H●sea, that thou mayst have no occasion to find fault with the Jury, or the Judge, one of these Priests whom thou hast by the Spirit declared to be Murderers and lewd Men, have taken an Oath in open Court against thee; and dost thou think that though they be a lewd and murderous Generation, that they will also Swear falsely; and so what by one means, and what by another, oh Prophet, thou art fair to come into Bonds for thy Testimonies sake: But what, oh Court, will you not hear the Prophet's witness? Speak, No, no, they will not Swear, but they will have their Yea and Nay to stand for Truth without more ado, as their Master Christ (they say) hath taught them; and they are Disturbers of our Peace as well as thyself, oh Hosea! And unless some such course as this be used with you, Gilead cannot Sin and be quiet, neither can the Priests Murder by consent, but be told of it; and therefore to Prison must thou go, and be numbered with the Transgressor's, as (the Disturber of the Wicked's Peace) Christ Jesus thy Master was. But what Care do these Priests and People, that have put thee in Prison, take for thy Lodging and Diet in the long cold Wintertime? O! for that they matter not, for they are as careless over their own Members, them of their own polluted Church, (who divers of them are left in Prison upon other accounts) as well as over thee. And so unless thou be provided for otherwise, thou mayst remain there in Misery and Want, or Perish there as well as they, for any Care they will have of thee, for thou must not look that they that hate their own Flesh can love thine. But the Righteous cannot be forsaken, for their Keeper is the Lord God of Truth and Love. So (O Prophet) be content, and wait in the Will of God in thy Condition; for, Blessed are they that Suffer for Righteousness sake; and the Scripture must be fulfilled which saith, They shall hawl you out of their Synagogues, and many other ways evil entreat you; yea, some of you they shall put to Death, and think therein they do God Service: And so wait to see the Sins of Gilead full; and then in the Judgement shalt thou, O Prophet of God, and all thy Suffering Brethren, rejoice, and all the Workers of Iniquity be Confounded, with all that Thirst for Blood; and into the Holy City shall none such enter; but the pure in Heart, who have come through the great Tribulation, and have washed their Garments white in the Blood of the Lamb, shall only enter, and alone inherit, to the Glory of the eternal righteous God for evermore; to whom all Honour and Glory is due, for ever and ever, Amen and Amen.  
And now for the Use of these Doctrines, oh Priests and People, that make a Trade of talking of the Scripture of Truth, and Uses from it, now and then in your high Places, but make none of walking in the Truth in your daily Conversation, it is to let you see, That there were Wolves in Sheep's Clothing formerly, and so to find such now, is no new or strange thing. And, That under a Profession of God, People may be found Workers of Iniquity, and full of Blood. And, That a whorish Spirit, in a Teacher, is a murderous Spirit, and will draw others from God into Wheredoms and Death, and so by all means to be taken heed of. And it is to let you see, oh all People, what evil use the Priests and Leaders of you the People in these days (as formerly) make of the Scripture; for whereas (as you may see here) it was given forth by the Holy Men of God, a Witness against the Enemies of God, and for the Servants of God, such People and Priests (as formerly, so now) abuse and wrest it from its proper Mind. Use and End, going about, what in them lieth, to make it speak for Deceit and its Upholders, and against Truth and its Followers, as is manifest: For whereas the Scripture speaks of no Worship now, nor Worshippers to be acceptable to God and Christ, but that which is in Spirit and Truth, they wrist, and force the Scripture for carrying on a Worship which stands in outward Ceremonies, carnal Ordinances, Types and Shadows, and a Kingdom to come in outward Observations, as Lo here, lo there, like the Jews, which a Man of Flesh, a C●in, or an Ishmael, or an Esau, or a Haman, or a Dives, or a Judas may conform unto, and be accepted with them, just contrary to Scripture, and so in effect deny Christ the Substance to be come; and as the Scribes and Pharisees which came to Christ, and said, Why dost thou and thy Disciples break the Traditions of the Elders, in eating with unwashen hands? To whom Christ said, Why do you make void the Law of God by your Traditions? mentioning in particular their Corban. So when the Priests (the Teachers) heaped up over the People in this Age, say unto us (whom God, by his mighty Power and outstretched Arm hath delivered out of Mystery Babylon, yea Sodom and Egypt Spiritual, where the Witnesses lay slain, and where our Lord also was Crucified, to worship him in Spirit and in Truth,) I say, When they object and say unto us, Why do you not observe, but transgress the Tradition of the Elders, in not bringing your Infants to Baptism; in not frequenting the Meeting at the Steeplehouse, called the Church? And why pay you not the Priest, now called Minster, his Tithes, Easter-reckoning, and other like things, called his Deuce? And why observe you not the Customs of the World, in Swearing at Courts, and bowing the Hat and Knee, and giving flattering Titles to Men, Job 32.21, 22. and bidding God speed to the Wicked, and the like? 2 John v. 9, etc. Our Answer to all such is, Why do you break the Commands of God by your Traditions, teaching for Doctrine these and the like things, which are merely your own Commandments and evil Customs, and not the Commands of God? For we put you (all Teachers and People) to prove by Scripture, where we are commanded these things you put upon us to do; and if you do not, (which we know you cannot) than I say, your gathering together in Companies, and going about to establish such things by a Law, for any People to observe, which Christ hath not commanded: See how you can free yourselves from the Charge which the Prophet here lays upon the People of Gilead, and the Priests thereof; and therefore why may not the words be turned upon you, and applied to your Condition, with the Names only changed after this manner, that is, England is a Nation of them that work Iniquity, and is polluted with Blood; and as Troops of Robbers wait for a Man, so the Company of Hireling Teachers, called of Men Ministers and Masters, murder in the way by consent, for they commit Lewdness. And therefore high time for you all People who love your Souls, and would not be murdered, to look about you, and in the Light which-Christ hath lighted you with, to watch, and take heed that you be ●ot rob and spoiled of the Heavenly Treasure, by these Layers in wait, as you would be careful to avoid a Troop of Robbers that wait for a Man; so all having time, prise it, and come out from among them, and know Christ in you to be your Teacher, for he is the true Light, that lighteth every Man that cometh into the World, that all in him should believe; and he is come to teach his People himself, and to deliver them by his Power and Spirit, from the Hands and Mouths of all such as have made, and would still make a Prey upon them, according as he promised of old by his Servants, who spoke and wrote from his Mouth of these things, as you may read in Scripture all abroad, and namely in Deut. 18.15, etc. Isa. 54.13. Ezek. 34. throughout, Jer. 31.33, 34. & Heb. 8. John 6.45. 1 John 2.20, 27. Rom. 8.14. Rev. 21. throughout. And the Scripture cannot be broken, For behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform the good thing which I have promised to the House of Israel, and to the House of Judah, Jer. 33.14. Now all People know that these are the days of fulfilling these Scriptures, and the Destruction of Antichrist, and the setting up of the Kingdom of Christ, not by might, nor by Power, but by the Spirit of the living Lord God believed and witnessed by, and amongst us who are reproached by many for the Truth's sake, under the name of Quakers; but the Reproach of Christ is to us great Riches; and the Scorners God will judge.  
And again, all People when you see the Company of Priests (the Parish Teachers) gather together on heaps upon every occasion at the Foot of the Great Men of the Earth, to get their Conclusions and Doctrines Established by a Law, for binding under Darkness the dark People, who are Ignorant of their Wiles, and unacquainted with their Ends; and for the Ensnaring of Tender Consciences, who are come to the Teachings of Christ and his Spirit, and so have found the true Shepherd and Bishop of their Souls, and so through Grace have escaped the layers in wait. I say, when you now see them gathering together by Troops for these evil Purposes, and the like Self-ends, marvel not at the matter, for it is no new thing, but one of the old things under the Sun, as you see here; for the World's Teachers, set up in the Will of Man, have always been many and evil, kept up by the evil Power; but the true Prophets not so, but rather few and faithful, and those preserved by the Power of God; yea, often found that the Prophets of Baal are Four Hundred and Fifty, and the Prophets of the Groves Four Hundred, which eat Meat at Jezebel's Table, for one Elijah the Prophet of the true God, who feeds upon the true Bread, and ministers it forth as he hath received it freely to others, without Self ends: See 1 King. 18 Chap. Ezek. 34. Jer. 23. 2 Tim. 4.3. 1 John 4.1. And so the false Teachers under Antichrist are set forth b● an Army of Locusts, the sound of whose Wings was as the sound of Chariots, and of many Horses running to Battle, Rev. 9 from 1, to 12. Ver. when the true Witnesses are set forth under a small number, even two, Rev. 11. And so those many Locusts and Frogs (the false Teachers) are the unclean Spirits of Devils working in his Servants, his Ministers, going forth unto the Kings of the Earth, and of the whole World, to gather them to the Battle of that Great Day of God Almighty, being thereunto fitted in a Miraculous manner, being trained up in the Wisdom of the Serpent and Sorceries of Egypt for that purpose, so that none can avoid following them but such as are in the holy Anointing, whose Names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life; see Rev. 16.13, 14, 2 Tim. 8.9. 1 John 2.20, 27. Rev. 20. last. And of the truth of this, to wit, of the great number and swarms of Locusts, false Teachers of all Coats, Black, etc. and of all Names and Orders, Popes, Cardinals, Bishops, Deans, Deans and Chapters, Prebendaries, Priests, Parsons, Vicars, Curates, Rectors, Ministers, etc. let thy many Thousands of Soldiers of this kind fight daily (against the Lamb and his Army) under Satan's Banner, and in constant known Pay (as Hirelings) in thee, O England, Scotland, France, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Italy, and other Lands, be witness: And therefore, O whole Earth and World! How art thou Corrupted! How great is thy Misery! What Lamentation shall be taken up for thee! A wonderful and horrible thing is committed all abroad in thee: Thy Prophets Prophesy falsely, and thy Teachers are Lewd and Treacherous Men, bearing Rule by their means over thee, fleecing thee in that greedy Mind that seeks the Gain from the Quarter, and can never have enough, crying, Peace, Peace to thee, when the Lord hath not spoken it, and preaching unto thee a Vision of their own Head and Heart, and not from the Mouth of the Lord, and so strengthening thy Hands in thy Wickedness, and stirring thee up to Wrath and Persecutions against the Innocent, and thou lovest to have it so; and what will ye all do in the end of these things? Will not the Lord invade you with his Troop? Will he not come upon ye, O Princes! as Clay? And tread you down under his Glorious Power, Oh People! as Mire is trodden down under Foot in the Streets. And who of all the false Spirits and Teachers, that you in your Rebellions against God have followed, shall deliver you out of his Hand?  
So all be warned, and repent, and return to Jesus Christ the one Head Shepherd, and Bishop of the Soul, and (as was said before) know him in you to be your Teacher, that out of the Hands of all Devils you may be delivered: And now having time, prise it, for this is assuredly the Day of your Visitation, and after that the Judgement upon you all; for Woe, woe, woe both is and will be more upon you all who puts the Day of the Lord afar off, and who love Darkness rather than Light, because your Deeds are evil; and your Head and Leader is not Christ, but he that came up out of the Bottomless Pit, and shall go into Perdition, with all his confounded Followers, the Children of Darkness.  
And therefore, on the other hand, all ye Servants of the Lord (my Brethren and Sisters in the Truth of Jesus Christ) every where, who are Sufferers for his Names sake, be encouraged, for stronger is he that is in us, than he that is in the World; and there are more with us than them, though we be not known to the World, nor our aid, 1 John 3.1. & 2 Kings 6.16, etc. for little Children we are of God, and the whole World lies in Wickedness; and so one single Elijah, and two Witnesses being God's Troop, are well able to encounter with all the Troops of the Wicked; for Truth shall prevail for ever and ever, and all Iniquity shall stop her Mouth, and so shall the due Praises be sung from off Mount Zion our Holy Hill, unto our God the Holy One of Israel, World without end, for his Goodness to us, even for evermore, Amen and Amen.  
For now is the Day of the Lord appearing, and Fire goeth out of his Witnesses wouths; and who of all the Adversaries can stand before him who is a consuming Fire, and to the Wicked everlasting Burning? Isa. 33.13, 14.  
Given forth for the Good of all People, by the Spirit of Truth in a Servant of the Lord, who for witnessing forth Truth, as he was moved of God, in the public Assembly of all sorts of People, at Appleby Steeplehouse in Westmoreland, in the Assize Week there, in the sixth Month 1675, against the Deceit there uttered, though not until the Priest had done his Oration, or Sermon, as they call it; yet was hawled out of that Synagogue, and so being hurried along into the Streets, and declaring the Day of the Lord, and warning them all, and calling them all to Repentance, was sent from thence (by command from some its aike) by an Officer to the Common Goal, for my good Will and Service-sake, where I was kept until the next day, and afterward thrice carried with the Felons of the Goal to their Judgment-seat, [so bearing Christ's Reproach] where there was first by one Jury (as they said it, for what is abovesaid only) a Bill of Indictment found against me; and then after that, an Oath in the open Court taken against me, by one of the Scandalous Priests; and then by another Company of Men, called the Grand Jury, (who should have better considered of the Matter, who are chosen by the Country, as principal Men to do Justice, and had bound themselves thereunto also by Oath) was I found guilty [as they said it] of a Disturbance; but I am sure the Disturbance was on their part, for they pulled me down from one of the Seats in the Steeplehouse as I was speaking, and violently hawled me thence, and so to Prison as is said, and so disturbed me in the Work of the Lord; but none could I disturb, being bound to Peace by a Law the World knows not: And how could I be said, by any reasonable Law of Man, to disturb them, seeing violent Hands on none outwardly did I lay; neither did I speak in their Congregation till all was done, and they were silent? And what was said by me, either in Steeplehouse or out of it, at that time they hawled me to Prison, I was there ready (as was offered) in the face of the open Court and Country, to make good by Scripture, both for Matter and Manner, if liberty had been granted me; but they liked better to proceed by their own Law than that: And so last of all, him called the Judge of Assize, instead of punishing Offenders who had wronged me, he fined me [the Offended] five Marks, and Imprisonment until I should pay it: And so because I cannot give them Money for their unjust Proceed against me, and unchristian Deal with me, I am kept here accordingly in the common Goal a Prisoner, yet free, and in that everlasting Truth of God which cannot be bound, but tramples upon the Neck and Head of all Deceit more than a Conqueror. But from hence all that have Eyes, may see what little liberty Truth can yet get in the Earth, after so much War and words protested for it: And therefore whoever thou art that reads these things, know, that in England also now, if thou wilt live godly in Christ Jesus, thou must suffer Persecution; for the Scripture cannot be broken. And this Persecution now in England, ariseth mainly from the blind Zeal that many have for keeping up their Ministers, as they call them, from being spoken unto in the Assembly, either in, after, or before the time of their Preaching, especially on the first day of the Week, by them called the Lord's day, and Sabbath day, and this the People are prompted unto by the wicked Spirit in their Teachers, which cannot endure the Light that God hath raised up in his People in these Islands in these days: And so this is the Condemnation of all such Children of Darkness, whether Priest or People, that Light shines, and they love Darkness more than Light, because their Deeds are Evil. And so all may see, whether the Teachers and People, that act in such Darkness, are going; for in the days of Queen Mary, the Persecutor, the Law reached only to a punishing of such as spoke to her Priests in the time of their Service; but now the Zeal of some for them is so increased, that neither in the time of their Speaking, nor in their coming nor going from their Steeplehouse, especially on the day aforesaid, must their Teachers be spoken unto, but they will impute it to the Party for an Offence, without examining whether there be cause for it yea or nay; but the Teacher, though he be never so false in Doctrine, or vicious in Life, yet if he be a Parish-Teacher, and receive the World's Hire, as Tithes, Glebe-lands, and Augmentations, with the State-allowance, or upon other Accounts, be allowed for a Public Teacher by the Nation-Law, he is like to be defended; and he or she that speaks to them, though such a one be never so dear to God, and speaks truth in that particular never so clearly, is like to be punished as an Evildoer: And if this be not a provoking of the Wrath and hot Displeasure of God against thee, Oh England! then let him that hath Understanding declare what more can be: And therefore thou art now in time warned of these things, that thou mayst, by Repentance, be saved from those things that shall assuredly come upon the Wicked. But for the present, all Poor People every where, who are in the dark Mind, unacquainted with the Teachings of God in the Spirit and Light of the Holy Anointing, but are following the Blind Guides, that endeavour to get their Wickedness established by a Law, your Misery is great, and much to be lamented, and the case of such of you as have any true Breathe after God, is to be pitied: And who shall deliver you out of your Bondage, but he that delivered Israel out of Egypt, and hath in all Ages been a present Help unto them in the needful Time of Trouble, and will still deliver them that fear him out of all Adversity: So wait upon him, and the Work is done, and be encouraged all that wait upon him, for there is no end of his Goodness to us, for his Mercy endureth for ever; and before him goeth a devouring Fire, to consume the Adversaries of his glorious Truth round about, and the day is dawned that will leave them neither Root nor Branch. And in this Rest I am your dear Brother, oh all ye Free People of God And in the Patience and Sufferings of Christ your Fellow-servant for the embondaged Seeds sake, Thomas Taylor.    

To the Judges, Justices, Juries, Teachers and People of the Nation, who profess themselves to be Christians, and the Scriptures to be their Rule, and yet account themselves disturbed if any speak unto them, and cry against them in their Assemblies or Streets in the Name and Word of the Lord (without any Authority from Man) a few Queries.  

1 Query.  
WHether was that a Disturbance in Christ Jesus, when he went into the Temple at Jerusalem (a Figure of his Body) and made a Whip of small Cords, and with it (without any Authority from Man) whipped out the Buyers and Sellers, and overthrew the Tables of the Money-changers, and commanded the Merchandise to be taken thence, Yea or Nay? Matt. 21.12, etc.   

2 Query.  
Whether was it a Disturbance in the young Prophet of God, that was sent to cry against the Altar at Bethel, whereon the King Jeroboam Sacrificed even in the time of his Worship; or the Disturbance was not on the King's own part, who put out his Hand against God's Servant in God's Work; and whether the withering of that Hand was not an evident Sign on whose part the Disturbance was, 1 Kings 13.1, etc. Yea or Nay?   

3 Query.  
Whether did Jeremiah the Prophet disturb the People of Israel, when he spoke unto them, and cried against them terribly in the Word of the Lord ordinarily in their Assemblies, and Gates of their Cities, Yea or Nay? Or did not they disturb him, in putting him in Stocks and Prison for so doing? Consider well of it, and give Judgement accordingly, Jer. 20. and Chap. 26. and Chap. 37 and 38.   

4 Query.  
And whether was it wicked 〈◊〉, King of Israel, and his House that had sinned against God, or Elijah the Prophet of God, who cried against their Sins, that disturbed Israel's Peace, Yea or Nay? And whether the wicked King's Judgement, or the Holy Prophet's Judgement, will you be of in this matter? See 1 Kings 18.17, etc.   

5 Query.  
And whether Amos, who prophesied even in the King's Court and Chappel, the Sword upon the King's House, and Desolations upon all their Sanctuaries, was a Disturber in so doing, or so accounted then (that we read of) save only by one wicked Priest, as you may read Amos 7.7, etc. And whether Jonah, preaching Repentance in the open Streets of Nineveh for a whole day together, was a Disturber or a Friend to their City, Yea or Nay? See Jonah 3.4, etc.   

6 Query.  
And whether the King and People of Nineveh, who instead of persecuting him the Lord's Prophet, did repent at his Preaching, shall not rise up in Judgement with this present Generation, and condemn it. Yea or Nay?   

7 Query.  
Whether did Paul the Apostle disturb the Jews and Gentiles in their Synagogues and Markets, when he reasoned of the things of God's Kingdom, and disputed as it were daily with them there, as you may read in the Acts of the Apostles? And whether you who account yourselves disturbed with the like things, doing in these days, do not allow of the Jews persecuting of him for his Works sake then, Yea or Nay?   

8 Query.  
And whether the same Paul in the Corinthians when he said, In the True Church all that have any thing revealed unto them from God, may speak one by one. And when he that is speaking, hears such an inspired one begin to speak, he (to wit, the first) is to hold his Peace, that all things may be heard, and all edified; I say, whether Paul, in preaching such Doctrine, preached disturbing Doctrine, Yea or Nay?  
And lastly, It is required of those that judge others for Disturbers in such cases as these, That they do set down what is the true and infallible Rule of trying Doctrines and Spirits by in these days; or for ever hereafter that they let the thing alone.   
These from the Lord's Prisoner, Thomas Taylor.   

To those of MANCHESTER THAT ARE Zealous for their Sabbath.  
1. TO all you in Manch●ster, who are Zealous for Morning Exercises, or Sermons, as you call them, on the First day of the Week, and so seem to overrun others in the way to the Kingdom, give me leave, in love to your poor Souls, to propose a few things to you.  
Do you know really and in Truth, by the Teachings of God upon your Spirits, what the Evening is, and what the patting out of all your own Lights is, seeing the Evening must be witnessed before the Morning, for the Evening and the Morning make the First day? And whether you have known the Voice of the Light shining in the dark place, and have taken heed to it as the Scripture speaks, and have obeyed the Voice of it, which calls you to return, and come to the Lord, from all your own ways; and there in Repentance do now wait in the Inner Man for the Dawning of the Day, and the arising of the Daystar in your Hearts? Or are you not yet in the deceivable Doctrines of them that are without, who cry Lo here, and Lo there, as all such do.  
2. And whether you do believe and expect any such Promise to be fulfilled in you here; so that being in the Day, and borne up into the eternal unchangeable Light, and so coming to know the Teachings of the Father, and the Anointing of the Holy One, ye shall not need that any Man teach you, but as that Anointing teacheth? Or do you imagine that you shall always be beholden to borrowed Lights, and Man's Teachings, as you are now, and so be the silly Women that are always learning, and never able to come to the Knowledge of the Truth?  
3. And whether that Ministry you are under, and please yourselves so much in, can truly be said to be the Ministry of Christ, seeing it leads not to an end? Nor can you or they witness any one hitherto presented thereby, perfect to God in Christ without Spot or Wrinkle, or any such thing, or ever like to be, seeing you generally hold, That no Man can be free from Sin, and so perfect, while you are here: And whether you are ever likely to come to the Unity of the Faith, and of the Knowledge of the Son of God, to the Measure and Stature of Christ, by that Ministry that stands in the Will of Man, and which denies the Light which hath enlightened every one that comes into the World, to be the True Spiritual and Saving Light of Christ; and so build upon another Foundation, and reject the Light of the World Christ, as he is in Man the Foundation already laid by God himself; and so denies at once the New Covenant, Gospel, Christ and Scriptures, as your Ministers do, who deny the Light which is in Man (which shows him Sin and Evil) to be Spiritual and of Christ, and calls it a Natural Light; and so putting the Letter which is without you for the Light, draw your Minds out to build upon their Meanings, Conceivings and Imagine of it; and so to forsake the true Light, the Word itself, the Teaching of the Holy Anointing within you, and to neglect the Promise of the Father, which would lead you into all Truth, if you did wait upon it, and did honestly, through Faith, giv● up yourselves to be guided by it; and whether you have not just cause to forsake these Builders, who have rejected Christ the Cornerstone, and caused you to build upon the Sandy Foundation, which in the arising of the Storm of the Lord's Trial and Indignation will not bear you up; but Iniquity being still found in you, you are condemned within yourselves, and with the Sinners and Hypocrites in Zion, you will all, e'er long, be forced to cry out, Holy Priest and People, Who among us can abide with devouring Fire, or dwell with the everlasting Burning?  
Thomas Taylor.   

TO A Wandering Apostate.  
O The Desolation that, giving way to the Enemy, thou hast brought upon thy Soul! What, must not God be Infinite, because thou canst not comprehend Infiniteness? Thou art that Finite One that stands against His Infiniteness, and glories in thy old uncircumcised Heart; but His Infinite Light has comprehended thee, and doth and will Judge thee for thy Evil Work, and Blasphemous Thoughts of Him, whom the Heaven, and Heaven of Heavens, cannot contain; but thou wouldst limit His limitless Nature to a creatural Form like thyself, as the Wicked do who know him not. And so of that Beast and mysterious Babylon thou art, who this day, with their many Heads, and Horns, and Forms of False Knowledge, and Worships, and Churches, so called, do all, with one Consent, push and fight against the Lamb, the Light and Son of the Incomprehensible and Infinite Father, and his Faithful Followers; but the Lamb both hath and ever shall have the Victory, and the Mouth of all Iniquity shall be stopped, saith my Soul. And so well had it been for thee, if thou hadst continued Faithful amongst us, but a Wanderer and Unfaithful in Heart hast thou been many a day; and so the Whore that watched in the Evening for the unwary young Man, hath caught thee in her Net, and there thou art a Slave in the Bands of Darkness, to the great Wounding of thy poor imprisoned Soul.  
Thomas Taylor.   

TO George Ward, And those that had Fellowship with him.  
GEorge Ward, to thyself, and those in Fellowship with thee, whether Speakers or Hearers, a few Words from the Movings of God in my Heart; You are weighed in the Balance, and are found wanting, and the Glory of the Holy Kingdom of God you are fallen short of in your Unbelief, and have not a Heart, as yet, to walk in the straight and narrow Way that leads unto it. You have not suffered your Minds and Souls to be guided by the pure Light of Jesus Christ that hath Visited you in great Love in these Days, but have rather chosen to follow your own Thoughts and wrong Expositions of Scripture to your great hurt; And, because you have Preached and Professed that washing the outward Water is the only Gate in the Christian Fellowship, you are both to lose your Credit amongst Men, by owning the more Excellent and Everlasting Way, though it be most plainly declared, and by the Spirit demonstrated to you in these Days: And so you go about to Establish that which makes nothing perfect, in Opposition to the Power of God which only makes Perfect. And so you resemble them of old, who stuck in the Shadows of the Law, in Opposition to him that was the End of the Law, and came to fulfil it; Christ Jesus over all God Blessed for ever. And so if I could have found in you a true Desire after God's Kingdom, may be I might have gotten a little Liberty to have Reasoned with you at this time of the things thereof: But seeing there hath been so many Endeavours and Desires in us after your Eternal Good, and ye will not come to Christ to know him in you, that you may have Life; for this time I thus rest in Peace with my God the Righteous Judge, believing, that in his own Way and Time, he will Silence every Tongue that moves against his Blessed Truth (the Light) and those that love it and follow it in the Regeneration in this Day of his Power, wherein the willing People are brought up, through the Death of the Flesh, to serve the Lord in the Land of the Living, in new Jerusalem, as our Souls do this Day, ever Praised be his Name, the Arm of his Holiness, for it is worthy.  
And now, where is the Disputer of this World, who pleads for seen things which Quicken not the Souls, and will not have the Invisible God, who is the Resurrection of the Life, to Rule in them; but are glad when they can get any thing seemingly that makes for them in their perishing Way? But our Work is, Praised be God to hold the Faith which was once delivered to the Saints in a pure Conscience, and in the Ability that God giveth us to help to bring People to God, where is the true Rest for ever: And those that will not submit their Minds, Hearts and Souls to the Light of the Eternal Word which is nigh in the Heart, shall never be Established in Righteousness and Peace, but shall weary themselves in the very Fires for Vanity; and this we have Learned through many Tribulations, Blessed be God for his Unspeakable Gift; and so if you be Wise, be Wise for your Souls, and Learn with us to sit in Silence at Jesus Feet, to know what he requires of you, and cease your running and doing without him, for you have spent too much time in Vain already, seeing the Spirit of the World is unfallen in you; Rests your Soul's Friend, and a Lover of the whole Creation of God, being become a willing Sufferer for the Holy Seeds Sake.  
And whereas you, or some of you, seem Offended that Widow Cock hath left you, and come amongst us, and say, she hath done it, and yet given you no sufficient Reason and Satisfaction for her so doing, I say, that Reason, I suppose, she hath shown sufficient to some of you, but to give Satisfaction to you in it that is hard, seeing you Speak Evil of the Good Way of God which she hath tasted of amongst us; for, of a Truth, the Lord and his Power and Presence is with us, Blessed be his Name for ever: And she stayed too long upon the barren Mountains where your Flocks Feed.  
Thomas Taylor.   

TO A Plundering Priest.  
YOUNG Man, all thy Prayers, Preach and Praises, are Abomination to God, so long as thou keepest the Just in Bondage; Thou being but newly, as it were, come on to the Stage of the World, gins thy part very badly; if thou hadst been as an old overgrown Tree in Customs of Covetousness, less could not be expected from thee than what some in Swaledale have sound: But thou being, as I hear, a young Man, under the Notion of a Scholar, nay more, of a Minister of the Gospel, to fall on a Suing People at Law, and putting in Prison, upon account of Hire, quite stains all thy Glory, and blasts thy Reputation with the Odium of a Hireling and Fersecutor. Thou might consider, if the God of this World had not blinded thy Mind, what thou daily, as it were, reads in the Scripture, Whatsoever ye would that Men should do unto you, even so do unto them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. And if thou be not come so far as the Law and the Prophets, thou art most unfit to take the Gospel into thy Mouth. For, without all question, if thy Condition had been Michael R●w's, thou would have accounted it hard Measure to have been so dealt withal as thou hast dealt with him. A Man with a Wife and ten or eleven Children depending much upon his Labour for their Maintenance, and this Man to be put into Prison, and there kept from year to year, for nothing at all, but because, for Conscience-sake to God, he cannot put into thy Mouth. What a Cry this hath, and will have, in the Ears of God, it concerns thee deeply to consider, for he is well known not to withhold Right from any where it is due: But though his Sufferings for time be long, yet thine, if thou repent not, will be very much longer; for it is a very fearful thing for thee, thus in thy Sins, to fall into the Hands of the Living God. So whilst thou hast time prise it, and say not within thyself, that thou shalt have Peace, though thou continue in this thy Hardheartedness, for certainly there is no Peace from the Holy, Just and Merciful God, to any abiding in the Paths thou walkest in. So if thou hast an Ear, hear what the Spirit of Truth saith unto thee in his Servant,  
Thomas Taylor.   

To those that Rejoice in Bells and Bonfires.  
woe, woe, from the Lord to this Heathenish manner of Rejoicing with Bells and Bonfires; Have you not learned it from those Wicked People called Papists, for Deliverance from whom you seem to Rejoice: And so instead of honouring God, with your Mirth, you greatly grieve and burden his good Spirit: And therefore your ●ins remain, and Judgement after Judgement still waits for you, until you turn to God with your Hearts, which yet to this day you have not done, O People of Stafford, and of all England, who delight in such vain things; yea, though Mercy after Mercy you have been tried with, yet still you are doing what you should not do, and leaving undone what God wills you to do; and so indeed have no Spiritual Health or Soundness in you, but all full of Putrifying Sores you are, and so unfit to enter God's Holy and Heavenly Temple: And that which makes your Wound uncurable, you cannot endure to have your Wounds searched to the bottom, but such as can daw● you over with their untempered Mortar, and call you good People, and good Christians, when your Lives loudly witness the contrary; those you account your Friends: And therefore will the Lord judge you according to your Deeds; and according to the Fruit of your Do will he reward you, if you speedily return not to him with your whole Heart, for a short Work will God make upon the Earth, when neither one Name nor another, nor one Profession nor another, shall be able to hid the Wicked from his Stroke, for it's in the Truth itself, as Truth is in Jesus, that the safe Hiding-place will be, and ●o where else, as saith his good Spirit in his Servant  
Thomas Taylor.   

To them that plays the Fool upon the Stage.  
THOU that plays the Foolish Man upon the Stage, and invents all the Lies and vain things that ever thou canst, to move Laughter in the Rude Multitude, which is Madness, as Solomon speaks, and all this for filthy Lucre: I demand of thee, whether thou believest that there is a God, that will call into Judgement all men's Words and Deeds, yea, to the very Thoughts and Intents of the Heart; and whether Christ's words are true which say, that for every idle word that Men shall speak, they must give account thereof in the Day of Judgement? And if this be true, as most true it is, then how wilt thou stand in thy multitude of vain, idle, unclean and corrupting words before the Righteous Judge of Heaven and Earth, whose Wrath is kindled against all such as have even thus sold themselves to do Iniquity: And his Judgement is near, and the Judge even at the Door; therefore in love to thy Soul I writ this, that, if possible, thou mayst repent, and not Perish Eternally.  
O ye People, whose Eyes are abroad, and whose Minds are in the Vanities of this World wandered from the Lord: How can ye behold such Men as these doing such Foolish things upon the Stage, without all fear of God, and care what any one that fears God can say against them, and yet profess themselves to be Christians? How can ye forbear to reprove them? Doth not the Apostle say to Christians, Have no Fellowship with the unfruitful Works of Darkness, but rather reprove them. And this is a Work of gross Darkness, for People to profess Christ, to do these Deeds of the Heathen, who said their Tongues was their own, and they may use them at their pleasure: But God will call into Judgement every vile, vain and unclean Word, and account must Men give for them; and then, Woe to the Wicked, and all that love Lies, and such vain Inventions as this Foolish Man upon the Stage, for filthy Lucre, doth practice. So People, fear God, and repent of your Deeds, for the Lord God is at the Door, ready to judge the present evil World for all their Iniquities.  
Thomas Taylor.   

Against Mass-Times.  
woe to this degenerate World of People called Christians, What shall be said concerning you, and who shall declare your Misery? For as you have multiplied your Transgressions as the Sand of the Sea, so will the Lord multiply his Judgements and Plagues upon you, for you have violated the Laws, and broken down the Bond of that everlasting Covenant, that should have redeemed and kept your Souls to God; and you have wholly suffered the Spirit of this wicked World to carry you away Captive by Millions and Multitudes into the Land of Darkness and Wickedness, which is Spiritually called Sodom and Egypt where our Lord was Crucified, and is at this day trodden under foot by you, where the Abominations of the Heathen, and Superstitions of the Jews, are kept up by you, and practised in the face of the Sun, and many of them held up by force of a Law; and such as departed from the Iniquities thereof, even become a Prey to you. So that the Lord hath dashed you together, for many Generations, like a Potsherd one against another, and will yet dash you together for your great Iniquities and grievous Idolatries, and will raise up his Plant of Renown from amongst you, and become the Teacher of his People himself, and they shall no more be a Prey to the Teeth of the Dragon, Wolf nor Fox, but shall feed in the good Pasture, as in the beginning before Antichrist was; and the Temples of Antichrist, with the False Worships therein, shall be a Desolation for evermore.  
woe, woe, to all ye observers of Mass times, and Tides and Seasons of the Year, wherein the Spirit of this wicked World, which is called Satan, God's Adversary, and Antichrist, Christ's Enemy, sets you at liberty to do all those Evils and abominable Works, wherewith the Spirit of the Holy Lord God that made you, is so much burdened and grieved from one end of the Year unto the other, so that he can smell no sweet Smell in any of your Sacrifices that you offer up unto him, because of the gross Darkness of your wilfully deceived Hearts, and the great Filthiness of your polluted Hands. O how the Lord, and his good Spirit in all, is pressed under the weight of your Iniquities, as a Cart under her Sheaves: And therefore hath the Lord rejected your Confidence, and called you Loruhamah, not Beloved; and Loammi, not his People; for as the Plant of a degenerate Vine are you to him, a Field overgrown with Weeds, and your Spot is not the Spot of his People; and therefore into the great Captivity are ye gone, and there are amongst the Heathen, worshipping the Works of your own Hands, and falling down to that which your Fingers have framed, and you delight in a thing of naught; and the Lord, the Light that made you, you are become Strangers unto, and is accounted by you as a weak natural thing that cannot help: And his Day, Power and Kingdom, is put far away from you, and instead thereof, the Seat of Violence is drawn near to you, and in the Seat of the Scorners and Mocker, of the Last Times have you placed yourselves, saying, Where is the Promise of his Coming; when as him, Christ Jesus, the Light in whom all the Promises of God are, Yea and Amen is rejected by you, even by your Builders.  
Thomas Taylor.   

To the Bearward.  
UNTO thee, O Man, who art called the Bearward, do these words come: Fear and tremble before the Lord God, who is against all such wicked and ungodly Men as thyself is, who contrary to the Law of God and the Nation, goest up and down the Country keeping this great Evil of Bear-baiting on foot, to the Corrupting of the Country for thy own filthy Lucre and abominable Covetousness, which is the Root of all Evil: And the Lord's Hand hath been long stretched out against all such Lewd Men; but you go on in your Wickedness and repent not, and therefore nothing can you expect, as a Reward of your evil Work, but everlasting Woe and Misery.  
And to all you, Foolish and Heathenish-minded People, who are the Upholders and Spectators of these Brutish Customs of Bear-baiting; yea, and can spend your precious Time, Strength and Money in the thing, the Lord is against you also, and his Soul is greatly grieved and burdened with you, and will assuredly visit with his Wrath, these and all your lewd and wicked Practices: So if there be in any of you, any Heart left for the Good, repent, lest you Perish in your Sins with such as hates to be reform, Rests the Lord's Servant, who cannot but Sorrow to see you thus, from time to time, go on in your Sins without Remorse,  
Thomas Taylor.   

To the Dancers on the Ropes.  
woe to the Dancers upon the Ropes, and Tempter's of God with their wicked Inventions; and Woe to the Man that maintains and upholds such for filthy Lucre, to draw the People's Minds from God: O Repent, Repent, the Day of the Lord is at hand, a Day of bitter Howling and Lamentation to all such Workers of Iniquity will it be. Did ever any Child of God, or any that had any Fear of God in them, go up and down the Country with vain Fellows at their heels, disfiguring themselves, and playing Tricks upon Stages and Ropes, like the Heathen that knew not God, and all merely to draw the Minds of the Multitude after them for filthy Lucre. O Cursed Covetousness! What hast thou done in all the Earth, the Root of all Evil well may it be called, and Idolatry, which whosoever follows, do separate their Souls from the Glory of God, and all the Good that is in his Kingdom? And then O ye deceitful and vain People! What will it profit you to gain the whole World, and lose your Souls. Rests God's Servant, and a Witness in his Power, against all vain and wicked Inventions of Fallen Man,  
Thomas Taylor.   

A Warning to all People.  
WEEP not for the Dead, but Weep for the Living, even for those that remain in the Body upon the Earth, because of the Miseries, Plagues and Judgements, that are come and coming upon all the Wicked, Sinful and Unholy People in all Lands, for the Lord hath a Controversy with all Nations, and great will be the Desolations, because of Iniquity and Violence that is grown up to so great a height, that it hath even as it were filled the whole Earth, and the Lord seethe all your Do, O People, and your secretest Workings, when in your Minds ye Plot against the Lamb's Life, which would redeem out of all the many Snares of the Devil, whereby the Ungodly are kept fast at his Will. But the Men of Nineveh shall rise up in Judgement against the Impenitent in the whole Earth, for they repent at the Preaching of Jonah, but behold a greater than all is come into the World, even Jesus Christ the Righteous, and they believe him not, neither repent of their evil and violent Do, but harden their Hearts against his Holy Spirit's Reproof to their own Destruction.  
Thomas Taylor.   

For the People of England to Weep.  
WEEP thou England, Howl, Howl ye People, for the Dreadful Day of the Lord God is at hand, it is at the Door, as an armed Man coming swiftly upon you, to break down and tread under feet thy Pomp, Glory, Pride and Strength: Thou hast exceeded in thy Sins, and art grown monstrous in thine Iniquities; so the Lord will be exceeding Terrible unto thee: Thou hast suffered the Wicked in thee to have liberty, and to take their Fill of Sin, when the Voice of the Righteous cannot be endured in thee; but he that departs from Iniquity, and would persuade others so to do also, is even made a Prey of by ungodly and unreasonable Men, their Bodies imprisoned and banished, and Estates spoiled, and many sorts of Injuries done them for thy Name and Truth's sake, O Lord God: And therefore will the Lord God arise to take Vengeance for these things; yea, his Soul will certainly be avenged on such a Nation as this, saith his Spirit in his Servant,  
Thomas Taylor.  
And moreover, because you have said in your Hearts, We have compassed them about with an Act, and now none shall worship God but as we please: Therefore will the Lord, the mighty God, compass you about with his Terrors, and you shall find no place to hid yourselves in from his Wrath, because of the Pride of your Heart, and Evil of your Do, O all ye People of the Land, who are guilty in these things, saith the Lord God.   

To the Comers and Goers by the Prison-Window, of both Sorts.  
ALL simple-hearted People, who have any thing of the true Fear of God moving upon your Hearts, and whose Desires are in any measure purely after God and Goodness, and are not altogether hardened against the Lord, and Good of your Souls: Consider and ponder a little, and unbethink you well, as in the Presence of God, what hath been from time to time declared to you, and all People, out of the Prison-Window: Hath not the Witness of God, in his Servant, declared amongst you, the Dreadful Day of the Lord God, which will assuredly come upon all the Wicked, and such as are covered, and not with the Spirit of the Lord, whether Priests or People: And hath not the same Voice, in great Love and Tenderness, freely proclaimed Peace and Good Will to the Penitent; and the most acceptable Day of the Lord to the , and such as Mourn under the Sense of Sin, and Burden of Unrighteousness, without respect of Persons: And are not these things to be laid to Heart, and not at all to be slighted? And therefore I say unto you, O People, even you that love your Souls, and are not yet come to the true Rest, Christ Jesus in Spirit, but are wandering from Mountain to Hill, after the Hireling-Teachers, one day after another, and yet are not satisfied with their empty Words, but are dead, dry and barren in Heart, as to the Power of Godliness, after all your Money spent and Labour taken: I said, Is not this an evident Sign, that it is not Bread that hath by them been ministered to you, but the Chaff of men's Inventions: For saith the Lord, Does not my words do good to them that desire after me? But alas People, the Hireling's Words which he sells you for Money, are not the Word of God, but only what he hath gathered and conceived from the Letter of another Man's Line, and so cannot profit you, though you should hear never so much of it, no more than Chaff can feed: And so do not say the Fault is not in our Teachers, but only in us: For I say unto you in the Spirit of Truth, the Fault is now in you both, for the Day of God is dawned, and now you are both warned, and so are left both without Excuse. There was a Time of Darkness and Ignorance which God winked at, but now the Life is manifest, and the true Light that enlightens being broken forth through the Clouds, you are hereby warned, and all every where exhorted, to Repent. So hearken to the measure of that Light that shines in your dark Hearts, which convinceth you of Sin and Unbelief, and would lead you from them, this is the Word of the Spirit of God that is nigh you wherever you are, and from whose sight you can hid nothing, though never so secret. Here is your Guide to God and Life eternal if you love it, and here is the Door that shuts you out from God and his Glory if you hate it; so prise your time, and while you have time, learn to know this Light of Christ in your Consciences to be your Teacher and only Guide, For why will ye die, why cease you not from Man, whose breath is in his Nostrils, that broken Cistern? Time will come when Fools will wish they had been wiser, and when God's Witness will be remembered, and when such as now Suffer for Righteousness sake, will be had in Honour. Rests, as always, your Friend  
Thomas Taylor.  
And you that go carelessly by this Window, and do not regard the Word of the Lord, Hear the Word of the Lord ye Careless ones, ye go and come from the Steeplehouse, and in your Minds secretly conclude that you shall have Peace, and no Evil shall come upon you, when the Lord God hath spoken no Peace to you, for there is no Peace to the Wicked, and there you are even in the Wickedness under the Wrath of God, for the Wrath of God abides upon all the Children of Disobedience. And verily the Lord is arising in mighty Power to Judge the World by Jesus Christ whom ye have Crucified, and whose Counsels you have set at naught, and have chosen rather to follow the Hireling-Teacher, and his ways, than the way of the Lord God. So consider what is here said, and run not headlong to your own Destruction, for what account can ye give to a pure God, in the day of his fierce Wrath, who are not yet at all cleansed from your Unrighteousness; Will your crying Lord, Lord, Save ye, who are found doing your own Wills and satisfying your own Lushes, without Repentance. To that in your Conscience I speak, which, in the day when the Book of your Conscience is opened, will justify the Truth of these things against you all, who in the broad way are found at that day to Condemnation, and the Day is at hand, and the Judge is at the Door, and Woe will be to such as put it far off. Rests the Lord's Servant still in this Prison, but the Truth cannot be bound,  
Thomas Taylor.   

To King Charles the Second, concerning Persecution, etc.  
IT is in my Heart, as from the Lord God of Heaven and Earth, to warn thee to stop the Current of that grievous Persecution which is raised up against us, the Harmless People of God, in Scorn called Quakers, for our pure Conscience sake at this day: For of a Truth the Lord God hath raised us up in his eternal Love to be his People, to bear his Name in Righteousness before the Children of Men, and so to exercise our Consciences in a pure Love and true Good Will towards God and all Men as he hath taught us, and doth teach all that come to him: And therefore weigh things well in thy Heart, in the cool of the day, and be not a means of injuring us for this the Exercise of our pure Conscience, for truly the Lord Jesus Christ is highly displeased already for what is done against us. O consider, consider, Doth not his Holy Eye behold, and his Heavenly Heart consider, the great Wrongs that are daily done us for his Names sake, our Bodies imprisoned, our Estates spoiled, our Meeting-houses pulled down; yea, whole Families ruined, as to the outward World, for no other cause, but because we cannot cease to meet together in his Name as he requires us, and required his, in a most harmless and peaceable manner, as his People in former Ages did, and as we have always done, since we were to God a People. And never let it be said, that Charles the Second disappointed the Good People of the Land, under his Government, of their Expectations; for behold we looked for the Continuance of Good Things from thee, because of some words passed out of thy Mouth, but behold great Evil hath ensued. O let not the Evil Counsel of thy own Heart, or of others, cause thee to go on in that which will certainly bring God's Judgements upon thy Soul and Body, and the whole Nation, if it be persisted in, as this present undertaking against us will do. We desire not your Ruin no more than our own, but this we know certainly, and the Scripture of Truth abundantly witnesss it, That never did any Prosper, who did, or suffered to be done, so great Injury, against a Harmless and Innocent People, as we are known to God to be. O let not the King believe any longer, the vain and false Suggestions of evil Men against us. If we had had any Mind against the King's Welfare, we should not have had that Boldness that we have in God's sight and thine; but now knowing in our Consciences, that all our Endeavours have been from the beginning, how to glorify God, and to serve all Men in Love to this day, therefore are our Hearts in God's Truth, greatly strengthened and emboldened to hold forth our Innocency before thee and all Men, For the Righteous are bold as a Lion, praised be God for ever. And why should it seem strange to thee, or any at this day, that we cannot give over to worship God as he hath taught us, seeing to God, the Judge of Quick and Dead, we must give account; and if we could give over our Meetings, and Holy Exercises, and please God, we should certainly do it, for God's Fear and Love is in our Hearts; but seeing it is God's Good Will, and Holy Command, that we should assemble ourselves together, as we do, to edify one another in our most Holy Faith, and so to hold forth God's Truth, as we have received it, before all, Why should the King, or the Parliament, or any of his Counsellors, think much that we should obey God rather than Man in this matter. Wherein we can, with Safety of our Conscience to Christ, we do obey you; but wherein we cannot, is it not your Wisdom to bear with us, as yourselves in the like case would be done by? And so fulfil the Royal Law indeed, which saith, As you would that Men should do unto you, even so do unto them. And this is a Law worthy a King to meditate in night and day, and not to follow the Counsel that is contrary: And this is a Foundation which all Parliaments and Councils ought to build upon, or otherwise how is it possible their House should continue; for from the height of Heaven hath the Lord beheld the Afflictions and Oppressions, and heard the Groans and Cries of the Innocent Sufferers in England this day, and will certainly deliver those that wait for him: But I would not have the King to be an Object of God's Wrath in that day if possible. And therefore in the Name of the Lord God, am I thus moved to write unto thee, and lay these things before thee, desiring that thou mayst read them, and well weigh them, for they are of greatest Concernment. And that, which rightly made use of, tends not only to thy Wellbeing in this World, but also to the Eternal Good of thy Soul Rests God's Servant, and thy Soul and the Nations Friend,  
Thomas Taylor.   

To Informers.  
LEt all such in these days, as are Informers against the People of God, for their Holy Worship and Service to God, consider, if they have not lost all savour of Good, and care of their Souls. What became of all such Informers in days past, whom the Scriptures make mention of. And first, let Haman, one of the great Informers come into your Mind, and consider his Work and End, a woeful Work did he work against his own Soul, in his Informing and Incensing the King Ahasuerus against the Jews, because honest hearted Mordecai could not bow to his Pride, as the Heathen did; and see his End, and tremble ye when ye read the History of the Matter, as at large you may in the Book of Esther.  
And consider ye, in the cool of the Day, what became of the Princes mentioned in Daniel, who not only in their Wickedness got a Law from the King, without cause, but also Informed against the Holy Man Daniel for breaking the King's Law (which the King never intended against Daniel) because he prayed to God as at other times: And read in the History of Daniel, where at large you may read it and tremble, what a miserable End came upon them Informers, who themselves were destroyed in that very Den of Lions in which they had thought to have seen the end and destruction of honest-hearted Daniel, but the Lord did deliver him, as he will ever do all them that fear him, from the Mouths of all the Lions.  
And let the dreadful End of those miserable Jews in Jeremiah's Time, that Informed against him for speaking the Word of the Lord: And in after time, of those Jews that Informed against Jesus Christ and his Apostles, come into your Minds, and affright you at Midnight, and terrify you at Noonday; for assuredly if you go on with them, and be still found with them in their Work of Informing against, and Persecuting of the Righteous, you must partake of their Plagues; as saith God's Truth, which never failed in his Servant,  
Thomas Taylor.   

Some Serious Considerations concerning the Priests of the High Places, called Churches, their Sprinkling Infants, Marrying People, and Burying their Dead, etc.  
1. IN their Sprinkling they abuse, and miserably wrest Scripture to prove their Practice: For that Scripture, Suffer little Children to come unto me, etc. speaks not a word of Sprinkling them, much less of their Do and Doctrines about it. And for that Scripture, Except a Man be born of Water and the Spirit, etc. it is nothing at all for them neither: For it is certain, the Spirit of God both can and hath, and daily doth Regenerate People without outward Water; but the Water without the Spirit never did, nor never can Regenerate any, and how the Spirit cometh to the Insensible Infants (that by their own Confession cannot act Faith) or whether it come to them at all in or by this doing of theirs, I am sure they cannot tell, neither have they any reasonable Ground to say or think it doth, seeing there is no Command nor Promise at all, in all the Scripture for it, upon such their Do, upon such Subjects, unless they will say with the gross Papists, that Grace is conferred upon People, ex opere operato, viz. by the Priests mere doing about them.  
2. They commit another great Evil in this Matter in bringing in People to promise that for the little Children which they neither do, nor (of themselves) never can do; nay, which they have not Faith so much as to believe that ever any can do by any means, whilst they are upon the Earth; to wit, to forsake the Devil and all his Works, etc. which is manifest by their denial of sinless Perfection, since all Sin is the Devil's Work: And after the old Popish manner calling them Godfathers and Godmothers, so taking God's Name in vain; and otherwhile calling them Sureties, so taking Christ's Office from him, who is the alone Surety, Mediator and Advocate between God and Man.  
3. And Thirdly, In their great Blindness and Presumption, calling upon the People to give God Thanks with them, for that he hath Regenerated, as they say, the Infant or Infants then under their hands by such do; though as I said, they have neither Precept nor Promise for it, nor Manifestation from God then upon the Child, for their so believing and concluding. And so for their manifold taking God's Name thus in vain, and causing you their Followers to do so also, how shall they be held Guiltless: For, saith God, I will not hold them Guiltless that take my Name in vain. And how can these Priests blame the blind Papists for their foolish Doctrine of washing away Original Sin by their Baby Baptism, when they by the like doing proclaim Regeneration and Inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven to such as can neither Exercise Faith nor Repentance in it. Tell me, whether is greater, washing away Original Sin, or Regenerating and giving Inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven. O what a Reformation is this? If this be not amended, surely God's Hand will be stretched out against you still. But you present Parish-Teachers, that practice this thing, Answer this sober and necessary Question: Do you believe this your own Doctrine and Practice to be good, or you rather do it because this is the way to please the Times, and so to get Money? If the former, then are you blind Guides indeed. If the latter, then are you Covetous indeed. And Covetousness, saith the Apostle, is Idolatry. And then let all judge, whether either of these be fit to guide and teach others.  
And next, in their Marrying of People, besides their manifold taking of God's Name in vain, as in their other do; and besides, their evil Custom of the Ring, do not they teach the People to swear and commit Idolatry, in saying, With this Ring I thee Wed, with my Body I thee Worship, and with all my worldly Goods I thee Endow; and at the conclusion of their Work, must plight their Troth one to another. Is this sound Doctrine? These Priests use to say the Scripture is their Rule. But no Scripture is there for certain for such do as this; but against it (if this be an Oath) for Christ saith, Swear not at all; but these Priests not only break this Commandment themselves, but teach others so to do also; and so as Christ saith, are lest in the Kingdom of Heaven: And Christ saith, Thou shalt Worship the Lord thy God only, but these teach People to Worship one another. And doth the Priest examine whether this be true, which he teacheth the Man to say to the Woman, With all my Worldly Goods I thee Endow? Or they matter not what they do? so as they can stubber over the business and get Money. But that which makes all this the worse, is, that it must be declared to be done in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, though never so unscriptural and corrupt. And therefore will the Lord visit for this thing also.  
But from the beginning of Genesis to the end of the Revelations, I do not find that there is any Command from God, either for Priests under the Law, or Ministers under the Gospel, to Marry People, nor so much as an Example that they did it. But the true Gospel Minister keeps himself pure to Christ out of the World's Evil Customs and Self-Ends, lest he come under Condemnation for partaking with them in their Sins: For now is the Cry gone forth from the Lord, Come out of Babylon my People, lest partaking with her in her Sins, ye partake also of her Plagues. And therefore when People that pretend much, run into things without the Heavenly Call, it's no wonder to see so much Evil attend their do.  
And, Lastly, when they come to Bury People, having begun so badly, they continue so to the end; for having ushered in the dead Body in their Superstitious Surplice to the Grave, they must say, Earth to Earth, Ashes to Ashes, and Dust to Dust, in sure and certain hope of Resurrection to Life Eternal, of all they so Bury. Is not this a sore Evil, to conclude so directly against Christ's words, who saith, John 5.29. That some, not all, shall come forth to the Resurrection of Life, and some to the Resurrection of Damnation. But you say all, at least all, that come under your hands thus to be Buried, though they live and die never so badly. Nay, these Buriers profess that they have a sure and certain hope of it too, though oftentimes it so falls out, that they have no knowledge of the Party so Buried, neither of the Person Life nor Death. But what shall be said to such Priests and People whose Eyes are so blinded with Evil Custom and Covetousness, that they heed not much what they say or do, but heap up Wrath against the day of Wrath, against their poor Souls. But the true Spiritual Man, the true Christian, who is a new Creature in Christ Jesus, sees all these things, and judges them and avoids them.  
And now, as for the Sermons, Praying, and Preach of such corrupt Men as these, what are they good for, or what benefit hath or can your Souls, O People, expect to reap from them? Can a corrupt Tree bring forth good Fruit, can Chaff Feed People's Souls? And he that hath not the Word itself, which is Spirit and Life, and as a Hammer and Fire, though he may have and run with the Words that declare of it, as the False Prophets of old did, for filthy Lucre, yet he is but a Dreamer and a Deceiver of his own and others Souls, Jer. 23. And though for Witnessing against such as these do, I suffer Imprisonment, yet herein is my Joy, that the Lord hath delivered my Soul from the trouble which they lie in; and that I am accounted worthy to speak for God against Deceit. So all People consider what you have to do, for this is the day of the Revelation of all things reprovable; and so whatever hath been hid in Darkness, is now by the true Light to be made manifest. And though the Wicked in their several dark Forms, dig as deep as Hell, and think to hid their Counsels and their Do never so deep in the Dark, yet to this Day of God which is already Dawned, and in great Power arisen, must they all come forth to be judged, and to receive every one a Reward according to their Doigns, without respect of Persons or Professions, as testifies his good Spirit in and by his Servant,  
Thomas Taylor.  
And what also shall be said to that one thing amongst many in your Communion, where it is said to the Receiver of the Bread and Wine when the Priest delivers it, The Body or Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy Body and Soul unto Eternal or Everlasting Life. Is this holding the Form of Scripture Words, or of sound Words, as the Apostle Exhorts? Do you pray in Faith when you say these words, O Priests, or may it not be said rather to you, who hath required this at your Hands. And do you consider what Bodies and Souls these People have that you would have thus preserved, are they clean, are they pure, perfect, and Holy; For such as are preserved unto everlasting Life must first be such, because no unclean thing enters God's Kingdom. And the Church that Christ presents to himself is such as are Sanctified, and throughly Washed by his Word from all Spot and Slain of Sin, Ephes. 5.25, 26, 27. But what have you to do here, you miserable Offenders, who by your own daily and customary Confession, have no Spiritual Health in you. So as Israel's outward Lepers were shut out of the Camp by the Law, so out of the Fellowship of God's Spiritual Israel must the inward and Spiritual Lepers be kept this day: It is so.   

To the Jurymen of Appleby.  
ALL ye of the Jury (which is by Interpretation Swearers or Sworne-men) who are not yet come to Christ's Doctrine, where the Yea is the Yea, and the Nay is the Nay: Such, I say, of you who found the Bill, and brought in the Verdict as it is called against me for a Disturber of the Peace, because in Obedience to God I witnessed against Deceit publicly amongst you. Consider, Do you know what you have done? Do you know what Verdict signifies? a Verdict sounds in your Language as much as a true Saying, or conclusion upon consideration of things in question; and is yours brought in against me so, to that of God in all your Consciences I speak, which if you had taken Counsel at, and not your own Wills, you would not have called Good Evil, nor brought in your own words against the Innocent, for by judging this, which was done in me to be a Crime, do you not condemn the Holy Men of God, mentioned in Scripture, who were often commanded of God, both contrary to their own Wills, and the Wills of all the World, to declare against the Sins both of Priests, Rulers, and People in the most public Places and greatest Meetings; yea, and most solemn Assemblies, as you may read in Scripture; and by this your Judgement, do you net justify those in those Days, who Persecuted the Prophets and Holy Men of God for their Witness sake; and so do what in you lies to bring the Judgements of God upon your own Heads, as those in those Days did, who took Counsel, and not at the Spirit of God. So consider what I say, and make your Peace with God, for it is your own Sins, and not the words that were spoken through me, which have disturbed it, and broken it, and do no more so wickedly, for the Day of the Lord is upon all the Unrighteous of the World, and in him have I Peace, who breaks no Peace but that of the Wicked, whose Peace God will break for ever; and so you having time prise it, for this is the Day of your Visitation, and a warning to all your Souls, rests  
Thomas Taylor. From Appleby Goal.  
And further consider, how durst you say, or how dare you say, that what was done by me was done maliciously and wilfully, is there no fear of God abiding in your Hearts. Awake, awake to Righteousness, for herein you have not done according to the knowiedge of God, I speak this to your Shame.   

To Judges and Rulers.  
HEar, O Judges and Rulers! and hearken, O all People! the Lord hath a Controversy with you; your Teachers have deceived you, and you that have followed them are destroyed: You are full of Strifes and Debates, your Iniquities are increased, your Assizes are full, your Fat overflows, your Pride and Vainglory, with your Profession, is grown high; and in the open Sun are these things manifest, and you are grown a heavy Burden, so that the pure God will speedily ease himself of you, for the Soul of the Righteous is grieved, with hearing and seeing what is daily done amongst you. Therefore, while you have time all prize it, for this is the day of your Visitation, and in this day shall no Hypocrite, nor Worker of Iniquity, be able to stand: As witnesseth the Spirit of the Lord God in and by his Servant  
Thomas Taylor.   

A Testimony of Truth.  
MANY are the Enemies of the Glory of Christ in this his day, who through their wilful and affected Ignorance, would set up a Faith in the People, that purifies not their Hearts to God, nor presents them Spotless and without Sin in his sight, carrying the poor People in hand, that they may be Christians and abide in Christ, though they Sin and do Evil, directly contrary to the plain Doctrine of the Scripture, 1 John 3.3, 6, 7, 8, 9 which John saith, And ye (to wit the Brethren) know that he (to wit Christ) was manifested to take away our Sins, and in him is no Sin: Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: Whosoever sinneth, hath not seen him, nor known him. And amongst these Enemies of Christ's Kingdom and Glory, are found even many who highly profess him in words, who therefore would be accounted better than others; yet upon true Search and Trial, are as Ignorant of the Mystery of God and Christ as any; as was yester day manifest by two of their Teachers; one whereof affirmed, That even the Perfection wrought by or in Christ, was not Sinless: And the other denying, and going about with all his might to prove, That this plain Scripture here set down, must not be understood literally as it speaks; nor that other Verse 9 of this forementioned Chapter, which saith, Whosoever is born of God, doth not commit Sin; for his Seed remaineth in him, and he cannot Sin, because he is born of God. But it must, saith he, be understood some other way than the letter speaks, otherwise (saith he) it would make People go out of their Wits, What none born of God that Sins? Can People live and not Sin? or to this purpose. I will bring a Scripture, saith he, to prove, That these words of John have some other meaning, and not to be understood literally as they speak. Yet H. Osland, in one of his Papers, says, They follow the Lamb in all his ways. Which Profession of his, though it be most False, as is manifest, yet from his words I demand, Whether such as follows the Lamb in all his ways, or whithersoever he goes, do Sin, Yea or Nay? Is not the Lamb's way undefiled? And they that walk in that way are undefiled, are they not? Are not these the Called, and Faithful, and Chosen? And then he turned to the Book of Ecclesiastes, Chap. 9.3. which saith, Yea, also the heart of the Sons of Men is full of Evil, and Madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the Dead. To which was answered, This shows only the State of Man by Nature in the Fall, and so under the Law and Curse, and doth not at all concern the Gospel-Dispensation, which Ministers Righteousness and Life to the Soul, and gives a new, clean and wise Heart, according to the Blessed Promise that saith, I will give them a new Heart, and Circumcise their Hearts, that they may sear me, saith God. According to that blessed Doctrine of the Apostles, which saith, To such as really believed in-Christ, and so were not under the Law, but under Grace, ye are God's Workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good Works, which God hath ordained you shall walk in them. What will this Contend go on in his Blindness, Blaspheming and saying, That Madness is in the Hearts of these while they live, and that these new Creatures, in Christ Jesus, are full of Evil in their Hearts while they live, and so go to the Dead. O Sad, that ever such should take upon them to be Teachers of others, and be so Ignorant of the Gospel-Mystery themselves: And therefore Woeful and Miserable must needs the Condition of all such be that follow them; for as Christ said, If the Blind lead the Blind, they must both fall into the Ditch; and in the Ditch they are both, in this day of God, manifested to be; and that which makes their Sin out of measure sinful, is their Unwillingness to come out of it, though one do reach never so loving a hand of help unto them: Also by this we know, that they are no Messengers of God, who cannot put a difference betwixt the Precious and the Vile, to wit, between such as are under the Curse of the Law, and such as are under Grace; to wit, betwixt such as are born after the Flesh, and such as are born after the Spirit. But here the Apostle John, a true Minister of Jesus, put the real difference, when he said in the forementioned Epistle and Chapter, Ver. 7, 8 & 10. Little Children, let no Man deceive you. He that doth Righteousness, is Righteous, even as he (to wit, Christ) is Righteous. He that committeth Sin is of the Devil, for the Devil sinneth from the beginning: For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the Works of the Devil. And in this the Children of God are manifest, and the Children of the Devil: Whosoever doth not Righteousness, is not of God. So Woe to all evil Doers, and unclean-hearted hearted ones, who believe not the Truth, nor receive the Truth, as it is in Jesus, but in your Hearts suffer Madness and Folly to rest, and in your Hearts continue full of Evil while you live, and so with the Dead lie down in Sorrow. But on the other hand, Blessed and Happy for ever are all you who have believed in the Light Christ Jesus, and abide in him with Thanksgiving, your Cup daily overflows with Heavenly Blessings, from his Heavenly Fullness, and ye are Complete in him who is the Head of all Principality and Power, and in whom are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge; and in him abiding, you daily witness his Circumcision in you, which is made without Hands, in putting off the Body of the Sins of the Flesh, and not keeping on you the Body of the Sins of the Flesh, as the Hypocrites do, who only talk of Christ, but in his Life do not walk.  
So all Dear People, who love your own Souls, and would know the Salvation that is in and by Christ Jesus, come out from amongst them that plead for the Devil's hold, which is Sin, Folly and Madness, to be in People's Hearts while they live, as though the Son of God were not come to destroy the Devil's Work, which is Sin, and so to cleanse the Heart, Soul and Conscience to God from Sin. And being come out from amongst these Blind Guides, you will come Savingly in the Light of Jesus, that leads forth from them (all you that follow the Light) to know daily more and more the things that belong to your Eternal Peace.  
Also to set forth the Fruits of these Teachers, how little they prosit them that follow them, because they have run and God never sent them, I shall mention one Passage which I had with some of these Nonconforming-Priests Followers at Stafford; for I being moved of the Lord to go amongst them, they did not only violently haw● me forth with their hands, and threatening Persecution to me from the Mayor, but also opposed the Blessed Doctrine of Sinless Perfection by Christ, with an Argument, directly one in nature with that which Priest Osland, one of their Teachers, yesterday brought to the same end, as is said, and it was this, Rom. 3.10, etc. There is none Righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. None that doth good, nor knows the way of Peace, nor have any fear of God before their Eyes, but Destruction and Misery are in all their ways, etc. Now when they had brought this, I could not but somewhat wonder to see such gross Ignorance of the Gospel in such a Professing People, for who could so have abused and wrested Scripture, as to bring the wretched State of such as are manifestly declared by their Works, to be under the Law and Curse, to prove against the Happy State of such as by Christ are delivered from both, and stated into the Holy Life of God's own Righteousness. And so these Professors, who know not God nor Christ, are laying all these heavy Charges upon God's Elect, whom he justifieth. What have Christ's Members no fear of God before their Eyes? And do not they know the way of Peace, but Destruction and Misery in all their Ways, like the wicked World, whose Mouths must be stopped; yea, yea, praised be the Lord for Ever; the Dayspring from on high hath vilited us that sat in Darkness, and the true Light now shineth, that hath led the Zion of God out of all those Condemnable Things , into the Way of Life, Truth, Holiness, and Peace, Glory to his Name for Ever.  
And so by this it appears how like these Priests and their Followers are, all sucking at the Breasts of that Mystical Whore and Dragon that opposes the Lamb, and his Followers, but the Lamb shall always have the Victory, as he hath this Day, Glory to his Name over all. For a Voice came out of the Throne (saith John, Rev. 19.5.) saying, Praise our God all ye his Servants, and all yet hat fear him small and great: And I heard as it were the Voice of a great Multitude, and as the Voice of many Waters, and as the Voice of mighty Thunderings, saying, Alleluja, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad, and rejoice, and give honour to him, for the Marriage of the Lamb is come, and his Wife hath made herself ready; and to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine Linen, clean and white; for the fine Linen is the Righteousness of Saints: And is not this Garment sinless, and without spot? Yea, yea, And blessed are they that are called to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Amen.  
Thomas Taylor.   

To all that are Worshipping in the Outward Court, without God in the World, in divers Forms.  
THE ETernal Truth of God is now making itself manifest in Sons and Daughters, Servants and Handmaids, according to Scripture, and the Lord God of Heaven and Earth to his own Glory is raifing up his own Seed by his own Power, and in this Day of ours working that Work and Wonder which the Children of the Night cannot believe, though it be told them. And now is the Searcher of Hearts appeared, and the hidden things of Esau are in searching up, and Judgement begins to take hold upon Old Ely's House, and the Vengeance of the Almighty upon his Profane Sons: And now that these things are in doing, the Powers of Darkness band themselves together to keep out the Judgement, but all in vain, for the Consumption decreed must overflow in Righteousness, and the Hall shall sweep away the Refuge of Lies in Priest and People, and all Fellow ships and Communions of People, whose Hearts are in the Earth, and who are covered, but not with the Spirit of the Lord, must be cast out, and have their Portion with the Hypocrites, where is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of Teeth for Ever. And now that Christ Jesus, the True Light, is arising, the Children of the Night, Who love Darkness rather than Light, because their Deeds are evil, are inventing all manner of false Covers, and false Arguments, to hid their Nakedness and Shame withal; but the Judgement of this Light they cannot avoid, for it is to give to every Man according to his Deeds. And now therefore all ye Teachers of the People awake, and arise to Judgement, and bring your Deeds to the Light, and you Principal of the Flock come forth, for the words of the Lord by Jeremy his Prophet, Chap. 25. Ver. 34, 35, 36. are now to have their perfect Accomplishment upon you. And these are the words, Howl ye Shepherds, and cry, and wallow yourselves in the Ashes, ye Principal of the Flock, for the Days of your slaughter, and your Dispersions are accomplished, and ye shall fall like a pleasant Vessel, and the Shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the Principal of the Flock to escape: A voice of the Cry of the Shepherds, and an Howling of the Principal of the Flock shall be heard, for the Lord hath spoiled their Pasture. Now he that hath an Ear let him hear what the Spirit of the Lord hath here commanded to be left in writing: And see and consider, all you that are under the Woe of these words, even all you who are called of Men Masters, with your Elders and Officers, and Repent, for where will you hid yourselves? And where will ye leave your Glory? For the Lion of the Tribe of Judah is arisen, and it is God, and not Man, Spirit, and not Flesh, that is pleading with ye; and the Powers of the Earth, and the Wisdom of the Beast will not shelter you, nor secure you from the Wrath of him that sits upon the Throne, and of the Lamb. For now though you be changed, as to the outward form, somewhat from the way of your Forefathers, yet in the same Nature and Steps, as to the substance of Things, are ye found; for were they justly cast out for feeding themselves, and not the Flock? Ezek. 34. And is it not so with you? And did not their House become desolate, because they stuck to the Shadows, and denied, yea, Crucified the Lord of Life, the Substance, in his Appearance? Luke 13.34, 35. And is it not so with you? And was not the Spirit of the Lord grieved then to see that filthy and horrible thing committed in the Land, to wit, to see the Prophets prophesy falsely, and to see the Priests bear rule by their means, and to see the People love to have it so? Jer. 5.30, 31. And is it not so found now with you? And was it not the Spirit of the Lord that moved to Cry against such then as stood for Watchmen over the People, and yet were Blind and Ignorant, yea, as Dumb Dogs, and greedy, which could never have enough; such Shepherds as could not understand, who all of them looked to their own way, every one for his Gain from his Quarter? Isa. 56.10.11. And is it not with you so now? And were not the People a prey to the Enemy of the Soul, when things were thus with them then as it is now? And was it not for the Covetousness and Cruelty of the Teachers of the People, that the Lord brought his Judgements upon them, so that they had no Answer of God, Micah 3.5, 6, 7. As it is now? And what was it that made the Priests contemptible and base in the Eyes of the People, but their horrible Breach of God's Covenant? Mal. 2.8, 9 As it is now. And therefore ye Proud Men called Ministers and Teachers of the People in the High Places in England, and elsewhere, who have made a Covenant with Hell and Death, as those of Old did in Jerusalem earthly; harken, and give ear, for the Lord hath a Controversy with you, as he had with your Fathers, who were in Covenant with the Powers of Darkness, to keep the People in Blindness and Ignorance from the true Light and Life then, as is your continued Custom now; for saith Hosea in his Day by the Spirit of the Lord, As a Troop of Robbers wait for a Man, so the Company of Priests Murder in the way by consent, for they commit lewdness, Hos. 6.9. And is it not so with you now? See and try, and let that of God in all Consciences give Judgement, and both yourselves, and all your Congregations, see and consider, and fear the Lord, and be not Mockers, lest your Bands be made strong, Is it not so with you now, as it was with them of Old, which the Lord sent Isaiah his Prophet to declare against, Chap. 29. to whom these words were sent, Ver. 9, etc. Stay yourselves and wonder, etc. (Here the words to the 15th Verse were written at large; and after them) see and consider, is not this your Condition? And are you not worshipping in the oldness of the Letter, and the earthly Spirit, and not in the newness of the Spirit of Christ, and the Heavenly Wisdom, which is pure, peaceable, and full of the Fruits of Righteousness, without Partiality, without Hypocrisy. And therefore will the Fire of the Lord be hard to endure by you; for now the Sinners in Zion are afraid, and fearfulness surpriseth the Hypocrites, because of the Everlasting Burn; see Isa. 33.14. And take warning while time is, for this is the Day of the Lord's Visitation, and witnessed by his Spirit in his Servant,  
Thomas Taylor.   

To William Thornton, called Justice, at Hipswell, in Yorkshire, Divulged for the Information of other moderate Enquirers after the Lord.  
FRIEND, I have received thy Lines, in answer to those I sent thee; and thou dost rightly conceive of the ground of my writing them to thee; for it was indeed out of pure Love to that which lieth in the Death in thee, thy Soul, unto which I spoke (though in the Death) to hearken to the Light of God that shines in thy dark Heart; for the Gospel is Preached to the Imprisoned Souls, who are dead in Sins and Trespasses, that the dead may hear the voice of the Son of God, (even of Jesus Christ, who is the Gospel itself, the true Light and Life of Men, who shines in Darkness, though the Darkness do not comprehend it) and so live. And if thou hast an Ear within open, thou may'st hear what here is spoken, and so there will be no contradiction in directing thee to a pure Principle, to attend to the pure Light of God within, freely given to guide to himself; but thou wilt, if thou beest once indeed turned to the Teachings of that Light of God in thee, which shows thee thy Sin and Death daily, and calls to Repentance and Faith, see clearly that the Contradiction lies in the disobedient Nature within in thyself, as in all others without Exception, of what form or way of Religion (so called) whatsoever, that are disobedient to the Light: But, dear Heart, so long as thou judgest of Spiritual things in thy Natural Reason, as here thou dost, how many seeming Contradictions will there be in the Writings of the Holy Prophets and Apostles, which never can be reconciled to that fallen Wisdom, but are all in Unity only to those that are new Born in God, from before whose Eyes the Veil is done away in Christ, who is the Wisdom of God, and the Power of God to all that receive him in Love, but a stumbling Block, and Rock of Offence to the Jews, and foolishness to the Greeks, who stumble and are offended at the stumbling Stone (the Light within) through Disobedience, as saith the Scripture: And therefore here will be thy Wisdom, even to cease from Man, whose Breath is in his Nostrils, and all the Wisdom of his Words and Teachings which are without, and which stand in the Will of Man; and as was said before, to hearken to the alone Teachings of the Spirit of God, the Light wherewith Christ hath enlightened thee within, which stand in a daily cross to thy own Will and Reason and of all Men, and cast off every weight and burden of Sin that hinders thy Soul from running the ways of God's Commandments, as in that Light they are discovered to thee; and so the Beam being removed out of thy Eye, and Judgement brought forth into Victory in thee, thou wilt see clearly into the Mystery of Truth, as it is in Jesus, which yet truly, the Veil of dark Flesh being unremoved in thee, hinders that thou canst not; and therefore in the Fear of God, sink down into the deepest Humility, and willingly become a Fool, that thou may'st be wise; for to Repentance thou must come, which yet thou hast not come unto, before thou enter the Kingdom; to that in thy Conscience do I speak, which will show thee this to be true, harkening to it, though the Enemy at present in thee, it seems, whispers otherwise. Oh! the Serpent is more subtle than any Beast of the Field, and hath deceived the whole Generation of the first Man, and doth, and therefore his Head being not yet bruised in thee, causeth thee to cover, but not with the Spirit of the Lord; and so the Woe will meet thee, till his Head be bruised in thee by the Seed of the Woman, which way soever thou turn thyself. Therefore must thou pass a straight Gate, as all the Children of God have and do, before thou come to Feed on the Tree of Life; even the fiery flaming Sword must thou pass, which is in the Hand of a Cherubin, which yet thou hast not passed, and therefore thy own Life and Strength yet remain, which yet must go, or thy Soul Perishes for ever; for that Sword must cut down the Subtlety, that that which hath led out from God may not lead to God; for it cannot, but the Simplicity (through the destruction of the subtle Serpentine Wisdom) must enter, which breathes after God to do his Will, that must enter by Jesus Christ. And for that thou presses the necessity of a search, by what Spirit I was acted in Writing, and that because, as thou sayest, these are Times of strong Delusion, wherein Multitudes are Captivated, etc. Thou may'st know, that though it be true, that many are Captivated by Satan now, as at other times, and strongly deluded, yet neither in these Times, nor any other, were any Captivated in those Delusions, but such only as received not the Truth in the Love of it, but have Pleasure in Unrighteousness, even such as turn the Truth of God into a Lie, and holding it in Unrighteousness, becoming vain in their Imaginations, worshipping and serving the Creature more than the Creator. And such God in Justice doth indeed give up to believe a Lie, and to be strongly deluded by thinking themselves to be of God, and Christians, when old things are not passed away from them, much less all things become new; and such are they also that the God of the World hath blinded the Minds of such who are minding Earthly Things, who live in the Lust of Uncleanness, turning the Grace of God into Wantonness, having indeed a form of Godliness, but denying the Power, the daily Cross, loving the Friendship of this perishing Evil World, and the things thereof, as the Lust of the Eye, the Lust of the Flesh, and the Pride of Life, making it hereby manifest, they know not the true God in his Power and his Purity within them, but Worship they know not what, a God at a distance, far away from them, and a Christ by hear-say. And now, Friend, consider seriously, and lay these things to Heart; for to thy Conscience, in the sight of God, I speak, Dost not thou love the things of this World? Art thou in Soul indeed separate from them? Dost thou not love Fineness in Apparel, Fineness in Dwelling, Fineness in Meat and Drink, Fineness in Speech, and Conformity to the World in their vain Fashions and Customs in many other things? I say unto thee in tender Love, God is no respecter of Persons, and dost thou respect Persons! Art not thou more afraid to Offend some than others, and more careful to please some than others, and that because of the Person? Friend, let me speak plainly to thee, hath not thy fear of displeasing thy Carnal Relations, now at Hipswell, been a cause of thy strangeness to us; I know it is not altogether (as thou writest that) because thou thinks us deluded, that thou art so estranged from our Fellowship, which once thou seemed to Love, but some other thing; the Light in thy Conscience will let thee see what it is: Ah! the Cross, the Cross thou must bear, if thou shouldst now own us, will be, I fear, found in the Matter, though I know it will be heard to confess it, if thou harken to the Serpent, and not to the pure voice the Light of God in thy Conscience. Dear Heart, consider it is not every one that saith Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of God, as the Scripture saith, and thou wilt, I know, acknowledge, but those only that do the Will of the Heavenly Father, which is Perfect and Holy; and though thou look at it now as something harsh to be told of Dissembling with the Lord within, yet I know through the Revelation of Jesus Christ in me, if ever thou come to see in Truth the deep Deceitfulness of the Heart of Man, thou wilt see a dissembling Nature lie lurking within thee under many Vails, which now thou seest not, and though thou say now, Lord let thy Kingdom come, thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven, yet then when God comes to set up his Kingdom in thee, and so to advance his Son Jesus Christ in thee, in the destruction of the Kingdom of the Devil, and of all thy own Wisdom, Glory, and Idols, and so to do his Will in thy Earthly Heart, in shaking its Foundations, and burning it up with the Increase thereof, thou wilt find something in thee strongly Gainsaying; yea, even Fight and Opposing to Death, which yet thou art not acquainted with, and secretly wishing, that the way were not so narrow, but that thy Ishmael might live before him, how much more in the swelling of Jordan will it be hard, when Isaac is called for also; but thou must witness a forsaking of the World, and the Religion thereof, before thou see thy Isaac Born, as did Abraham the forsaking of his own old Country, and the rejection of his fleshly Begetting, his Bond-Child Ishmael, before the promised Seed appeared; now if thy Ear be opened, thou wilt this also hear. And for so many being besotted with the lofty Notions and Expressions of some refined Monks thou speaks of, thou had dealt Ingeniously if thou hadst told wherein either I, or others with whom I have Fellowship in the Gospel of the dear Son of God, are found Guilty; for if the Scripture Expressions be such, we cannot deny them, though a Monk should say the same; but I know thou canst not, from any sound Ground in thyself, believe that we have Intimacy with such as are called Monks, but thou art cozened into this Conceit by the false Reports of the envious and blind World, who do what they can to hinder the pure Truth's progress, as they ever did by all means possible, together with what thy own misapprehension of us hath suggested to thee. But herein is our Joy, that Men speak all manner of Evil of us falsely, for the Names sake of Jesus Christ, whom alone, through Grace we own for our Saviour and Guide, and not another; and therefore it is that the World hates us because we cannot follow them in their Obedience to the Spirit of this World, as they do. And therefore, as I said before, so in love I advise thee again, not to trust in that vain Religion, that thou art yet unseperated from, which stands in outward Observations, which hath not so much as a promise of Perfection in it, where there is yet, lo here, and lo there is Christ, where there is a Temple made with Hands, and a mention of Sins untaken away continually, as in the time of Moses' Law, which was a shadow for a time, and could make nothing perfect, seeing perfection was to be brought to Light in Jesus Christ, the substance of all Shadows, Types, and Figures: And they that were Preachers of the Gospel preached Perfection in him; And where Christ the Substance, the Lamb of God was manifested in any, it was for the taking away of Sin and perfecting in Holiness, and so they could direct others. And ●rith the Scripture, Eph. 4, 10, etc. He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all Heavens, that he might fill all things, and he gave some Apostles, some Prophets, and some Evangelists, and some Pastors and Teachers (he himself gave them, and not Men) for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the Ministry, for the edifying the Body of Christ, till we all come to the Unity of the Faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect Man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. And this being so, it is something strange thou shouldst so far forget, as to say, thou knew not of any Text, in the whole Book of God, which doth promise to the People of God Perfection in this Life. For though as in Heb. 7.19. The Law (which stood in outward Observations) made nothing perfect, yet the bringing in of a better hope (which hope is Christ, in the Saints a hope of Glory) did, by which they draw nigh unto God; Having their Hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience, and their Bodies washed with pure Water, Heb. 10.22. And therefore there was a necessity of disannulling of the Letter Commandment going before, because of the weakness and unprofitableness of it, as in the 18. ver. of that 7. cap. And so Friend, the reason of thine, and all the World's Imperfection, is unbelief and disobedience to the Spirits teaching within, whereby the Soul is kept in the outward Court and Temple, and so not coming through the Veil, the Flesh, which only is rend in the Death of Christ, the Holiest of all is not come into, where there is Perfection, which Perfection indeed is not known in the Life and Glory, which is of the first Man, which stands in the Law of a carnal Commandment, but in the Power of an endless Life, without beginning or end of Days; which also if thou hast an Ear thou may'st hear, and the Lord give thee understanding that thy Soul may live, and not remain in Death, for the Letter Killeth, but the Spirit gives Life. And for my own Attainments, which thou calls Imaginary Transcendent, thou knows I said nothing of myself in particular; and therefore be advised to beware of that Spirit that pats off wholesome Advice by evil Judge and Surmisings concerning the Advisers: For, for my own part, I acknowledge myself to have nothing of my own to boast of, but to be by the Grace of God what I truly am, and that Grace is my Sufficiency, and rejoice in this to see the strength of Christ perfected in my Weakness, but Wickedness he Destroys, and will not allow of any work of Iniquity in any, and so in my Condition am I pressing forward to the Resurrection from the Dead, through the daily Death; and though I have not fully attained, yet I see every Gift of God to be perfect, and those that rest in Christ, rest from Sin, and there are perfect; and so whom the Son sets free are free indeed from Sin, and that where Christ is received, there is Power received to become a Child of God, and there the work of the Devil is destroyed, which is Sin; seeing he that commits Sin is not born of God, but is a Servant of Sin, and so a Child of the Devil. And therefore it is time for all to hast out of the Spiritual Sodom and Egypt of Sin and separation from God, lest the Wrath that hangs over fall on, and there being no Remedy nor Escape. And for that thou entreats me to beware of the confused Notions and great words of Jacob Bewman, and such like frothy Scribblers (as thou in disdain art pleased to term them) who thou sayest may hereafter prove broken Reeds to those who now admire them; thou may'st know, that those who follow the Light of Jesus Christ, wherewith he hath enlightened them in Spirit, which leads them orderly up out of the fallen Estate of Sin and Separation from God into the Kingdom of perfect Righteousness and Fellowship with himself, and lean not to any Man that can Deceive, but have all one Master and Teacher, which is Christ; in them all the Head, and they need not that any Man teach them, but as the Anointing leads them they are safe, and this the Scripture witnesseth. And by the Holy Anointing in them; as also saith the Scripture, they try all things, both Men and Writings, Words and Works, and do separate the Precious from the Vile, and know therein what to choose, what to refuse, as the Mouth tryeth Meat, and yet are not Wise, as Men count Wisdom, but Fools to the World, and their Wisdom is in their Head, hid from the World, which is Christ the Mystery, their Eye, and so the truly wise Man's Eye is in his Head, and so their Guide and Teacher is not Men or Means (as they are called) without them, but their Teacher is within in the midst of them, and not removed into a Corner; and if any speak not according to that Word within, it is because they have no Movings in them. And if thou beest humble-minded indeed thou wilt in Self-denial, bearing a daily Cross to thy own Will and Wisdom, wait with these simple Children and Babes of God in silence of Spirit to hear what the Spirit and Light of Christ itself alone, and not another speaks within thee; and this thou wilt find to be a straighter way than ever yet thou walked in when thy Mind must be kept in the Cross, and not have liberty to feed upon any visible or audible created Word, Writing, or Thing, but only upon the pure, immortal, and increated eternal Word of God within; then will the Serpent Rage, and the earthly Mind Famish, when it can come by no earthly Food. And for thy light Expressions of Jacob Bewman, (the rest thou names not, and so I can say nothing punctually of them) I know in most things he speaks a Parable to thee yet, and so his Writings may well be lightly esteemed of by thee; but there is that in his Writings which, if ever thy Eye be opened, will appear to be a sweet unfolding of the Mystery of God, and of Christ, in divers particulars, according to his Gift. And therefore beware of speaking Evil of that which thou knowst not, lest thou come under Judas Reproof. But, dear Heart, thy poor Soul not yet freed, as I said before, from the guidance of Self-Wisdom, thou travelest in a Satisfaction with that which therein only thou canst comprehend, and not only so, but therein also takes upon thee to judge that which is beyond it, which is very dangerous; but if Christ and his Kingdom were so known, it were no Mystery. And for that thou questions what I mean by my exhorting thee to come up to the Feast of Tabernacles; if thou knowst the Scriptures which thou readest, thou may'st see what it is to come up to the Feast of Tabernacles, it is not to come up to any Man's Tenets or painted Novelties (as thou too scornfully miscallest the Truth, we in our measure desire to walk in) but it is to keep a Feast with the Israel of God in the Wilderness, as though come out of Egypt into the Travel and Warfare towards the Promised Land, having not for the present a City to dwell in, and so to be separate from thy first Mother's Womb, which is from below, and is in Bondage with her Children, that thy feeding may be upon the Heavenly itself, which yet is a Mystery to thee, and all who cannot witness an Implantation together into the likeness of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ; if thy Ear be open thou wilt hear. And for that Scripture in the 7th of Matth. thou concludes with, thou may'st know that it doth not forbid the Judgement of the Spirit of Truth in any; but it truly and plainly shows to the Pharisee and Hypocrite his own Condemnation, who judgeth that in another which he is guilty of in himself much more. And therefore every one is to wait to see the Beam cast out of their own Eye, and so Judgement brought forth into Victory in the particular, and so the true Spirit of Judgement set up in the Heart in particular, true Judgement, according to every Spiritual Man's measure, goes rightly forth upon the general, so as Christ there saith, there is so, a clear seeing how to cast out the Mote out of the Brother's Eye, the Beam removed out of one's own. And now, Friend, if I should seem tedious to thee, consider it is my Love and desire of thy Souls Information, that if possible thou may'st be delivered from every Snare to serve the Lord in the truth of Spirit, being taught of and guided by that Light wherewith Christ hath enlightened thee, lest otherwise it be thy Condemnation, as it is, and ever hath been to all the Children of Disobedience. So rests thy poor Soul's continuing Friend,  
Rich. 18th. Feb. so called. Thomas Taylor.   

To the Presbyterians so called.  
woe to the Teachers of the People, who daub with untempered Mortar, and cry, Peace, Peace, when the Lord hath not spoken Peace, for the Lord speaks Peace to none in their Sins, but they teach for Doctrine, That none can live without Sin whilst on this side the Grave, and so they Minister for Antichrist the Man of Sin, and not for Christ who is without Sin. God's Righteousness, and he that is born of Christ, sinneth not, for the Heavenly Holy Father of the unspotted Generation of the Righteous is he; And the Gates of Hell cannot prevail against such as abide in Christ: The Root is Holy and so is the Branches, but the Old Adam, or Fallen Man, is not so, nor his Children, for the Root being Corrupt, the Branches must needs be so; and so they that are in the Flesh cannot please God, but they who love the Light, Christ Jesus, and walk in him, please God, for this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; Hear him, saith God, and know ye not that Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates. So the Voice of Christ the living Word, (is to be heard and waited in) which is nigh in the Heart, and the pure in Heart walk in the Light of his Holy City; and to such there is no occasion of Stumbling; but such as walk in the Darkness of their own Imaginations, stumble and fall into the Pit of Sin and Condemnation: But to such as are in Christ Jesus the Sinless Man, to them there is no Condemnation; for by his Spirit are they led and preserved out of Sin, which is the cause of Condemnation, and come to witness Justification through his Blood; for if we walk in the Light, as he is in the Light then have we Fellowship one with another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all Sin. How beautiful is the way of the Just, they do not Iniquity that walk in God's undefiled way, the Light, for by the Light are they led out of Sin and Evil, and so come through the true Door Christ Jesus the Light into the Sheep-fold, which is the straight and narrow way indeed, for whosoever walketh in Christ, and holdeth forth his Life before Men, shall be hated of all Men for his Name and Life's sake; for it is a Cross to all the World, who are in their own Wills, doing the Will of the Flesh, which is Enmity to God. And so woe to the Climbers over the Door, who are gotten into a Procession of Christ, without his Cross, without the Lord's Law, which is Spiritual, without the knowledge of that Flaming Sword to cut down the Man of Sin, that in the Birth which is Holy, one may come to the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Garden: O ye People, hearken a while, who have been feeding upon the Tree of Knowledge, and never came through God's Judgements, the Flaming Sword, to the Tree of Life, your Food is Death, your Works will burn, and your Fig-leaf Covers will fall off, and you be left naked and bare to the Shame of your Nakedness, as in the day that you were born; For what is any Covering worth, unless it be that of the Spirit of Christ? The Lord God, who is of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity, will bring your Deeds to the Light of his Judgement, and before him will nothing stand but that which is pure; your defiled Preach, Praying, Sing, Hear, Readins, will all be rejected and cast out as Dung, from the Presence of the pure holy God that consuming Fire. You have multiplied Words without Knowledge, you have not been, neither yet are ye, Doers of God's Will (to God's Witness in your Consciences I speak) therefore in vain do you say, Lord, Lord, and he will not hold them Guiltless that take his Name in vain: Your Garment is not of the pure white Linen, which is the Saints Righteousness, but Linen and Woollen is your Covering, the Linsey woolsey Garment, a thing forbidden by God's Law: Your Field is not sown with the one Heavenly kind of Grain, the good Wheat, but another Seed have you mingled with it, and the Mixture is so great, that the Earthly hath almost covered and quite choked the Heavenly in you. If you will work, you must into God's Vineyard, and be exceeding Diligent and Laborious in plucking up the Weeds by the Roots in you, the Light of Christ in the Conscience waiting in it, will give the Understanding. But Woe will be to them that call Light Darkness, and put Darkness for Light, and so suffer the Good in them to whither, and nourish the bad part, which is like the Grave that never hath enough, always Learning, but never able to come to the Knowledge of the Truth. But both Teachers and Hearers all in Sin, and laden with divers Lusts all their Lives long: And Woe to the Fleshly and Selfish Workers on this Holy Sabbath day of the Lord, wherein he hath given his People Rest from all their weary Labours and Burdens. The outward day, the First day of the Week, shall not cover you, nor be a Sabbath to you, but in the Breach of God's Holy and everlasting Sabbath you being found, you must bear his Judgement: And you feed upon the airy. Words of Man's Wisdom, raised up by the Crafty Spirit to please the Itching Ears of Fallen Man, and whose Faith stands in the Wisdom of these Words, and not in the Power of God; a day of Scattering cometh upon you, it cometh, and a grievous Whirlwind from the Lord; and though a Famine of the Word of the Lord is upon you already, yet you will not know it, nor he humbled for it; but the pleasant Breasts of Mystery Babylon, which you so much delight in, will be dried up, that you will get no Suck nor Food for that unsatiable Mind in you, that is like the Grave that can never have enough, always learning, and never able to come to the Knowledge of the Truth, which sets free from Sin; and the Songs of your Temple shall be Howl in that Day, because of the Vine of Sodom, that will bear no more Grapes; for all the Earth hath drunk so deep of the Wine of the Fornication of the great Whore, that the Nations are Mad against the Appearance of the Lamb, who is arisen to set up his Kingdom over all; for the Lamb must have the Victory, and Reign; so be it for Evermore.  
And you that talk so boastingly of your Faith, and Suffering Mind, you know not what Spirit you are of; for the same Mind that you think to suffer in, is it which hath formerly caused Sufferings to the Righteous, and would do the like at this Day, if Power were in your Hands; and so if you could give your Bodies to be burnt in this Uncharitable and Persecuting Nature, it would profit you nothing at all.  
Thomas Taylor.   

To the Presbyterians.  
O Ye People, called Presbyterians, you have fully manifested yourselves this Day to be of the Spirit of Cain, the first Persecutor of God's Righteous Seed; and as for your threatening of me, and hawling me out of your Synagogue towards the Mayor, because in Obedience to God I came to speak in his Name, to let you see your Sins, and to warn you of the Judgements of the Lord God that will certainly come upon you for them, if you speedily Repent not, and humble yourselves for all your Pride, and Hypocrisies, and false Accusations, and Persecutions of the Righteous Seed of God, which he hath raised up this Day in the Earth, to witness for him against all the false ways of fain Man, that so all may come to the Power Christ Jesus, to know him in them to be their Light, and Life, and alone Teacher to Salvation: And this is my Witness for God this Day, that except you come hither, you will never be Established.  
Thomas Taylor.  
But what are you grown so high already, that one must not come amongst you, though in never so peaceable a manner, to speak a word, though in the Name of the Lord? This is not only contrary to the Order of the true Church in the Apostles Days, but also contrary to the King's Late Declaration, which saith, That the Places of Toleration must stand open for all to come into. But this Persecuting Spirit is but the same that hath been in you of Old, notwithstanding all that hath come upon you in these Late Days.   

To the Blind Teachers.  
woe to the Teachers that have Eyes, and see not, Ears, and hear not, and Hearts that will not understand, who can put no difference betwixt the Precious and the Vile, but give the things they account Holy, to the manifest Unholy, Wicked and Profane, and so dishonour the Lord, and deceive the Souls of the People; and so they not discerning the Lord's Body, nor the Members thereof, which are holy; they speak Peace to the Wicked, who are Members of the Wicked One; for his Servants, and Members, People are to whom they do Obey; so Woe is to this present evil and wicked World, who in words profess Christ, but in their deeds do grievously dishonour him; the Day hasteneth wherein the Scripture must be fulfilled upon you, who will not that Christ should Reign, rests a Mourner in Zion for all the Abominations that are done amongst you.  
Thomas Taylor.   

For the great People of the Earth, who love the Pleasures of Sin, these.  
TO you that are great in the Earth, and in the Glory of the World exalted, the Word of the Lord God is to you come down, come down to the Light of the Lord Jesus Christ in your Consciences which shows you Sin and Evil, and it will let you see how you have spent your time, and how your Hearts are taken up with the Love of the World, and the Lusts thereof, that the one thing necessary is not so minded by you, as the worth of your Precious Souls requires, but you eat and drink, and sport yourselves with the Pleasures of Sin, and feed your minds with the vain Delights thereof, so fat and so full of Self love are you, that there is no place empty for Christ in you, wherein to lodge, or whereon to lay his Head, but as a Stranger in you, and in your Families, is the pure Son of God found, and an empty Profession of him that is heavenly in your earthly Minds, is all the Food that he can find amongst you: Alas! Alas! For you poor Careless People, what will ye do in the Day of the Lord, when an Account is required of you of all that ever hath been done in your Body? Is not Christ a Stranger amongst you, and not taken in, Sick, and in Prison, and ye visit him not? Read within. Oh how often hath the Lord knocked at your Door? and he is not yet in Love entertained in, the Heart's full of other Lovers, he cannot Sup there with you, and so you Sup not with him, but you eat your own Supper, and prefers that before his, and so discerns not the Lord's Body, and so Condemnation is near. Do you not? (to that in your Conscience I speak) Do you not, I say, sit down to eat and drink, and rise up to play? Is not all Places where you are found Witnesses against you, that you serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but your own vain Minds, and perishing Lusts rather? Doth not your Houses, your Diet, your Changeable Suits of Apparel, and your daily New Fashions, with your manner of going abroad, whether upon Horse, or in Coach, and your many unnecessary Attendants, and their Attire, show you to be so far from Christ's Doctrine, and out of his Life, that scarce any thing of the true Christianity is to be found amongst you: For where is the daily Cross to your Wills and Lusts taken up by you? Or where is the Crucifying of the World to you, and you to the World, witnessed amongst you? Or any such thing as the pure Worship of God, which stands in Spirit and Truth, wherein he only delights? But this poor Soul doth mostly satisfy you, (to wit) to get a Carnal Man who loves to be called of Men Master, to say over a few devised words, (or so) which he calls Praying, and Preaching to please your itching Ears, but neither he nor you doing the things which Christ Commands you; nor do you live the Life of what in words you profess, and so to your other Sins you add that great Sin of Hypocrisy, which is in words to profess the Knowledge of God, but in deeds to deny it: But better it were for you all to mind the Fear of the Lord, and to consider what end the Lord made you for, and not to pass away your precious time so, without the Fear of the Lord God in your Careless Minds, as you do; for this you should know, that the Lord of Glory, who respects no Man's Person will not be mocked, neither can the respecters of Persons who love the Praise of Men, and seek the World's Glory live with him; for such are Unbelievers, as receive Honour one of another, and seek not that Honour that comes from God only. See John 5. toward the end: And now that you have time prise it, and lay aside your vain Thoughts a little, and in the cool of your Minds consider, and let that of God in your Consciences speak, if it be not the greatest Folly in the World, to Gain the Lusts of the World with the Loss of your Precious Souls. And are you not in great danger of being found in this state, so long as the true Prophet Christ Jesus, whom God hath sent a Light into the World, (that all through him should come out of Sin) is no more regarded by you. So now having time prise it, and know this Day of your Visitation, and what indeed belongs unto your Eternal Peace. Rests,  
Thomas Taylor.   

Concerning Bread and Wine.  
THE Lord Jesus never ordained, that the unbelieving evil World should eat Bread and drink Wine in remembrance of him, when they daily deny him in their Life and Conversation, for that were Abomination. Carry such an Offering to the Governor, and see if he will accept thee; will he be pleased with thy words, when he sees thy deeds daily contrary to his Mind and Will? And how much less than can the pure God accept thee or thine Offering, whilst thou only in thy words seems for him, but in the whole Course of thy Life art directly contrary to Him and his Holiness. O thou that art in the state of Sin and Corruption, whose Fruits manifest thy Nature and Inside to be evil, how canst thou endure the Trial of this Day of God, which is as Fire, wherein all that are proud and do wickedly, are as Stubble to be burnt up Root and Branch; he that hath an Ear let him hear what the Spirit saith.  
Thomas Taylor.   

The Indignation of the Lord upon all Nations.  
THE Indignation of the Lord is upon all Nations, and his Fury upon all their Armies; he shall greatly distress the Inhabitants of the World, he will now plead the Cause of his Covenant against all those that withstand his Glorious Appearance and Work of Restoration in this the Day of his Mighty Power, wherein he is Restoring the Kingdom of his Everlasting Peace to Israel's Seed under the whole Heavens, who fear his great Name, and tremble at his Almighty Word of Life, which shakes not only Earth, but Heaven also. And now is the Lord God Almighty bringing forth his Glory to light, and Creating the New Heavens and New Earth, wherein dwells Righteousness, according to his Promise, Isa. 65.17, etc. wherein the People beat their Swords into Ploughshares, and their Spears into Pruning-hooks, never to learn War any more; but every one now that believes in the Truth Christ Jesus, the Light and true King of Righteousness and Peace shall sit under him the true Vine, and none to make them afraid, Isa. 2.2, &c, And now, even now, is the Lord God Almighty got up into his High Throne of Majesty and Everlasting Glory to Reign, and of this his Peaceable Kingdom which he hath begun to set up in his Trembling People there never shall be end: The true Israel of God is now coming up out of the Spiritual Egypt indeed, to possess the true Land of Promise, the Inheritance and Free Gift of our God, and no Enchantment shall now stand against God's Spiritual Host, nor Divination against the Redeemed of the Lord, who have known his Wonders in the Deep, and known the Out-going of God's Power against Pharaoh, and all his Host in the Red Sea of his Fiery Indignation. And now will God be exalted in Judgement, and avenged in Righteousness upon all Nations and People under Heaven, who hold the Truth in Unrighteousness, and will not that God's Holy Son, Christ Jesus the Light, should Reign, though he be come to Reign and Judge in the Earth: For to him the Light, who lighteth every Man that cometh into the World, is all Power in Heaven and Earth given; and his Light shines freely into all your Hearts, O all People of the Earth, and shineth in the thickest Darkness, making manifest the Creator's Will to all your Consciences, through your Darkness, tho' People comprehend it not; but it comprehends you, and all your dark Ways and destroying Thoughts, and lets you see plainly, that for all your great Workings, and toilsome Labours in an outside Profession in your earthly Wills, you have wrought no Deliverance in the Earth, but your Soul's Enemies still stand in strength; and it lets you see plainly, that for all your striving, and sighting, and killing, and spoiling, and destroying one another about earthly things, you have done no good at all, but brought God's Judgements upon all your Souls, and pierced yourselves through with many Sorrows: And therefore the Heavenly Voice sounds through the Earth, and calls aloud in your Ears, and knocks at the Door of your Hearts, O all People of the World, High and Low, Professor and Profane, Jews and Gentiles, Christian● and Turks, arise, arise, awake, awake, turn in your Minds to the pure Light of Jesus Christ, the Judge of Quick and Dead, the Son of the Eternal God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, who Died for your Sins, and Rose again to give you a New, Holy and Everlasting Life in himself, through Faith in his Name: And behold he lives for Evermore; and all see and search diligently in yourselves, what you know of his Holy Life made manifest in you to destroy the Body of Sin and Death in you, which in the Days of Darkness hath filled your Vessel, and brought your very Soul, Mind and Heart, into the Thraldom of that wicked One, who is called the Devil and Satan, and compassed with Terrors, and Fears, and Affrightments, your very Life and whole Man, because of the Wrath of the Almighty, which you by your sinful, unrighteous, and unholy, and cruel do, both against God and your Neighbour, have stirred up against you: And behold the Earth languisheth because of these things; and the Children of Light, who are Redeemed to God out of these sore Evils, and grievous Plagues, do mourn for you, and bewail your Misery Night and Day, as well knowing in the Light of the Lord, what your woeful End will be if these Briars, and Thorns, and noisome Weeds, the proper Fruit of the Curse be still suffered to grow in you, and cumber God's Ground. O how nigh unto Cursing is that Field which God's Rain reins upon, and yet brings forth no better Fruit than Killing, and Slaying, and Spoiling, and Cozening, and Cheating, and Defiling, and Oppressing one another, besides Lving, and Swearing, and Cursing, and Drunkenness, and Pride, and Persecution of God's Righteous Seed, with all other Abominations of the World against the holy Light, and Checks, and Reproofs of the good Spirit of the Almighty, both in their own Consciences, and the Mouth of God's Servants, and Holy Witness of Truth in the Scriptures, which notwithstanding all these their Abominations, many of them profess to be their Rule: But know, O Man, whosoever thou art, or whatsoever Profession thou art of that that's thy God, and Ruler, and Father, and Teacher, and Way, whose Commands thou lovest, and whose Works thou dost, and whose Will in the inward of thy Mind thou closest with; as Christ said to those Liars, false Accusers and Murderers in his Day, John 8.44, etc. Ye are of your Father the Devil, for his Works ye will do, he was a Liar and a Murderer from the beginning; so thou that goes from the Light of God in thee, which shows thee thy Sin, and the evil Lustings and Desires of thy Flesh and Mind, thou goes from God, and from his Fear, and from the Way of Peace, and so thou going from this, and joining to evil Motions of Sin in thy Flesh or Corrupted Mind, thou joins to the Devil, and so brings forth Sin, which is the Devil's Work, and the Wages of every such Work is Death, and so in the very Moment of time in which thou dost the evil Work, whatsoever it be, (contrary to God's Light in thee) thou diest the Death, and so remainest Dead from the Life of God, and his Blessed Righteousness, until the Day of true Repentance and Amendment of Life, and then what will it profit thee to have gained the World, or Victory over thy Neighbour, or Satisfaction to thy Lusts in the Loss of thy Soul's Life, therefore arise, arise, awake, awake, O all Nations and People, come forth to the Judgement of this great Day of God Almighty; for now is the effect of every Vision to be known and felt in the Earth, and the high Towers of the City of Confusion, the Mystery Babylon, the Great Whore, the Mother of Harlots, shall fall to the Ground, and the Mountain of the House of the Lord shall be exalted over all; yea, the Lord alone, and his Righteousness, and Truth, and Peaceable Kingdom, on the top of all shall stand, and no Weapon form against him and his People shall ever prosper.  
And how is it, O all Nations, Kings and People, that ye are not yet willing, after so many Years knocking at the Gates of your Cities, and Doors of your Hearts, that you will not open to the King of Glory, Christ Jesus, the Light that lighteneth every Man that cometh into the World, that he may come in, and be Judge, and Lawgiver, and King in the midst of you, that the Desire of all Nations may come, and be Head in all? For what is it that the Soul which God hath made in all Nations doth desire, but to see itself unburthened of that grievous Corruption which hath defiled it, and to be delivered from that Body of Sin and Death, which hath and doth so Embondage it from the beginning, until Christ's Power be known within, to work the Work of God, and to destroy the Work of the Devil, and to save the Soul from its Sin, and present it spotless to God, which is the true Salvation indeed. Now this is my Witness for God amongst the Servants and Redeemed of the Lord this Day, whom the World in Scorn call Quakers, who suffer for Righteousness sake, That there is none that can thus know the Day of Christ's Power to Salvation, but as they believe and receive that Light of God and Christ which they be freely enlightened withal, which shines in their very Hearts and Consciences, which searches their very Hearts and Reins, and makes manifest to Man his Thoughts, and from which none can hid any thing, but all things are naked and bare before him the Light Christ Jesus, who lighteth every Man that cometh into the World, Jew and Gentile, one and other, who searcheth the most hidden things of Man, and brings them forth to the Judgement of his Righteousness; for though the Night may hid the Adulterer and the Thief from Man, it hides them not from God, there is one nigh in the Heart and Conscience that tells Man and Woman all that ever they have done, and do daily do, even their secret Thoughts; is not this the Christ of God, the true Messiah that was to come, and is come, and dwells amongst us, and we look not for another: And of his Fullness have all we received, and do daily receive, who believe in his Light, which shines in our Hearts according to the Scriptures of Truth: And this the Fullness of our Blessed God and Saviour Jesus Christ the Light, is it which filleth all that come to him with all Spiritual Blessings, and Heavenly Good Things; and without whom all is Darkness, Emptiness, Death, and Desolation, as all the poor, deceived, lost Sons and Daughters of the fallen Adam do sooner or later know, and are made to confess: But Blessed are they that consider of things in time, and lay things to Heart before it be too late; for there are but Twelve Hours in a Day in which Men may work, saith Christ, and then the Night cometh in which none can work, but the Door will be shut upon all who have slighted and neglected the Day of their Visitation. O England, England, and all Lands far and near, that you had known, or could yet believe the things that belong to your Everlasting Peace, before they be hid from your Eyes; therefore turn ye, turn ye at the Reproofs of God's Wisdom and Spirit of Light and Truth, which sounds through all, and lets you see the Vanity and Evil of all your Works, and Frailty of all your Lives, how soon the Thread of your Life is cut off? And then where is the great Emperors and Kings with all their Crowns? And where is the great Captains and Commanders with all their Bloody Victories? And where is the Wise Achitophel's, and Cunning Counsellors of the Earth with all their Admirers? And where is the Covetous Oppressors with all their Houses full of the Spoils of the Innocent? Yea, in that Day, where is all the Glory and Lusts of the World with all the Lovers of it? Surely in Darkness and Misery shall they lie down together, and Death shall have Dominion over them, even all who have not believed in the Light Christ Jesus, and who have not followed him in the Regeneration that they may be saved, but have spent their Days in the Pleasures and Lusts of the present evil World to Destruction.  
Now therefore, O all People, harken to the Counsel of the Lord in this your Day, and learn of the Lamb, the Light, who calls you to Repentance from all your grievous Ways: How long shall the Spirit of the Lord strive with you? When will you cease learning War, and Destruction, and Oppression, and Spoil? O when will you beat your Swords into Ploughshares, and your Spears into Pruning-hooks? O when will you go and say one to another, one Neighbour to another, and one Nation to another, Come let us all be humbled before the Lord God of Heaven and Earth, who made us all of one Blood to dwell together upon the Face of the Earth in Truth, Goodness, and Love, to serve one another, and so as Branches of one Tree, to receive Life, and Virtue, and Power from our God into our Souls, to strengthen us unto his holy Work, who came not to destroy men's Lives, but to save them, whose Kingdom is not of this World, and therefore is not set up or maintained with Carnal Weapons, Violence and Spoil, but by the Eternal Spirit of our God, whose Fruit is in all Goodness, and Righteousness, and Truth; and let not the wicked Devil, the Destroyer, deceive us any more, by his Lies and Delusions, but let us all with one Heart and Soul resist his Temptations, when he persuades us to seek to be great in the Earth, and be avenged on them we count our Enemies, let us not hearken to him, but let us overcome their Evil with Goodness, and not to seek the Destruction of their Persons, or Spoil of their Estates, as the Heathen do, that know not God, but let us follow the Example of Jesus Christ, God manifested in Flesh, who when he was reviled, reviled not again, but prayed for such as despitefully used him. O come let us follow this meek Lamb in Righteousness and Truth, and let us learn of him in our Hearts, who is meek and lowly, that we may find rest for our Souls, who rebuked his Disciples who would have had Fire to come down from Heaven to destroy the Samaritans, who would not at that time receive Christ; for what knowest thou, O Man, but the Samaritans may in time come to a better Mind, and then thou wilt see it was thy Will, and not God's, that desired their Destruction in their Sins; for Christ would have all to be Saved, and to come to the Knowledge of his Truth, but many will not come to him that they might have Life, and so their Destruction is of themselves, and their Condemnation just. And who are now therefore those that withstand the Doctrine of the Truth, which saith, Love your Enemies, and seek not the Destruction of their Persons and Estates, but seek them by good Doctrine, and good Life, to bring them out of their Sins. And if they will not, but rather hate thee for thy ; be content thou hast quitted thy own Soul, and art clear of their Blood, and so thou becomes a Sufferer with Jesus Christ, and shalt Reign with him in due time: I say, who are these now on the Earth that are against the good Selfdenying Doctrine of Christ, and continue in the hateful destroying ways of the old Jews and Gentiles, but such as will not be counselled by the Lamb of God, the suffering Seed, who said, Learn of me for I am meek and lowly of Heart, but ye are Men of corrupt Minds, and account Gain, and worldly Honours and Promotions, more than Godliness, who cry Peace, Peace to themselves in their Sins. And that same Spirit in them which creates that false Peace in them, is the same that stirs them up to kill, destroy, oppress, and spoil one another for selfish and worldly Ends; but the Lord is arisen to Judge all these Evil things, and to redeem a Seed to serve him, as in the beginning of the Gospel before Antichrist the Murderer got up amongst them, that professed Christ in Words, but denied him in Deeds, and so had a Name that they lived, but were dead from that true Life that was in Christ Jesus, whom in words they Professed: And though the passage we feel now to be as hard of coming from amongst the false Christians and Turks, as it was for the first true Christians to come from amongst the Jews and Gentiles, yet the Almighty Power of our God is able, over all, and through all, to carry us to the End, whom he hath called and saved with a mighty Salvation, ever praised be his Name, and who will yet save his beloved Seed Israel, and gather them from the East and West, and from the North and South, to sit down with Christ in his Kingdom. And this is no ill News to any, but who are glued to Deceit, and married to Iniquity: But it is good News and glad Tidings indeed to all that love their Souls, and the Honour and Glory of Truth more than the things of this perishing World: And I could desire, that all who are apt to reason as the Jews did when they heard the Declaration of the Gospel of Peace, and Kingdom of God, which stands in Righteousness and Peace, saying, If we let this go on, than the Romans and others will come and take our Place and Nation: I say, that they would consider, that the very course which they, to wit, the old Jews in the denial of the Truth took for saving of themselves, brought utter destruction upon them and their Nation: But what shall vain Man in his foolish fallen Wisdom, and Earthly Reasonings, think to be wiser than God, and to have a greater Care and Love to the Creation than God himself who made it hath. What, shall Angels, at the Birth of Christ, sing Glory to God on high, and  to Men, and yet, when the way of God in Christ is published, for bringing this great Work of Salvation to pass, vain Man must come in with his false Mind, and say, This is the way to confound all Order, and destroy all Good, and that this Doctrine turns the World upside down, and that the Messengers of Christ are Pestilent Fellows, and movers of Sedition. O Earth, Earth, tremble before the Lord, for thou shalt never have Peace in ' thy own ways, thou shalt never be saved by thy own Strength, thou shalt never be established by thy own Counsels, thou shalt never have true Peace nor Plenty within thy Borders, until thou believe the Gospel, which saith, Learn of Christ, whose Kingdom is not of this World, and whose Weapons are not Carnal but Spiritual, mighty through God, not for the pulling down of outward Walls and Bodies, but for razing, and pulling down, and destroying the strong Holds of Sin and Satan in the Hearts and Lives of the Children of Men. For after that, saith the Apostle, the World by Wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the Foolishness of Preaching such Doctrine as this (which is a Cross and stumbling Block to all Flesh) to save them that believe. So lay things to Heart, ye People of the World, and Inhabitants of all the Earth; for God's purpose is not to exalt any Man or Men of this World, nor to glorify any Flesh, but to exalt his own Son Christ Jesus, the Heavenly Man, the Lord from Heaven, the Truth over all, of whose Kingdom and Government there shall be no End. And all that Obey his Voice, and for Obedience thereto are made willing to Suffer with him, shall Reign with him for evermore. But all others, whether they be called Christians or Turks, or whatever else, shall be as the Dust or Chaff before the Wind, to be scattered, as the Lord by his Spirit from the beginning hath said, and at this Time speaketh in his Servant,  
Thomas Taylor.   

To Lose and Wicked Professors.  
HOW long, O ye People, will ye sleep and slumber in a dead Form of Religion, without the Life and Power of Godliness? How long will ye dote upon the shows and appearances of Things, where the Substance is wanting? Can the Soul of Man live upon that which perishes and passes away with the using, as the things of this present time do? How long shall the Trumpet of the Lord be sounded in the Land, before the People prepare themselves to serve the Lord, and worship him in Spirit and Truth, as he requires. How long shall the Judgements of the Lord be in the Earth, before the Inhabitants thereof learn Righteousness. O the hardness of the Hearts of the Children of Men this day upon the Earth! how past feeling are the Men of this Generation grown, and without Understanding! Never was Sodom more secure! The Day is dawned, and the Sun is up, and yet they lie fast locked up in the deepest Sleep of fleshly Ease and carnal Security. And because the Lord suffers not his whole Displeasure to arise at once upon them; therefore they go on to harden themselves in their Sins, as the People of old did, whom the Lord overthrew in his Wrath: And so because Judgement is not speedily executed upon their Evil Deeds, therefore they set their Hearts to go on in their old ways of Sin, Vanity, and Uncleanness, and so cover themselves, but not with the Spirit of the Lord, nor any of the pure and Holy ways thereof; but take Counsel one at another, and strengthen themselves in the Arm of Flesh. woe, woe unto you, O wicked and evil People, who harden your Hearts against the Lord, who shall sufficiently bewail you, or what Lamentation shall be taken up for you? With the Mourning of them that mourn for the Dead slain by the Sword, cast out into the Highways to be trodden under Foot, shall you be lamented.  
Thomas Taylor.   

To Protestants.  
OYe poor People called Protestants, in the sense of the Love of God to my Soul, and pity to yours, do I write these Lines; It is many Years now since it pleased the Lord to deliver you from the bloody Conspiracy of them called Papists, in that Powder Plot, and you have kept a Yearly Remembrance of it in an outward Day, in an outward manner, Acclamations, Organs, and other bodily Exercises; but alas, your Souls lies still in the Death, Ignorant of that Heavenly Deliverance and Resurrection from Sin, which the Saints in Light witness to the everlasting Praise and Glory of his Grace, daily and hourly to be remembered, and at no time to be forgotten. And for want of this, your Offerings cannot be accepted of the pure God, who looks for Spiritual Obedience from the very Heart of all that receive any Blessing, Mercy, or Deliverance from him, either for their Souls or Bodies. But truly, the Lord God is not pleased with your Organs, Ringing of Bells, and Singing and shouting on the top of a Steeple, or any vain words of Thankfulness for an Offering to him, and you still remaining in that nature, which grieveth his Holy Spirit. And so you dishonour the Holy Lord God, the Creator of all things by your base and low thoughts of him, judging his Thoughts to be like your Thoughts; and that such a sorry Service as you offer to him will please so great a Majesty: Truly, the Lord might justly give you into the hands of those he hath thus delivered you from, because of your Sins, and because you lay not his Goodness to Heart, as a truly thankful People do. So whilst you have time prise it, and awake out of Sleep, and come to the Light of God in you the Soul's Searcher, and it will let you see the Truth and Seasonableness of my Words, that you may repent of all your Sins and sinful Sacrifices, and learn to offer unto God your whole Heart to be disposed of to his Will and Service, that by his Power he may purge you, and through his Righteous Judgements he may make you clean in Heart for his use, who is over all blessed for ever. And who is seeking such Holy Worshippers in this day of his Power, wherein he is arisen to purge the Earth with his fiery flaming Word, and to slay the wicked with the Sword of his Mouth.  
Thomas Taylor.   

To the Sons of Vanity.  
YE Sons of Vanity, whose Exercise and Delight is not all in God and Goodness, but in Sin and Vanity, to the darkening and separating of your Souls from that blessed Peace which the Saints in Light enjoy with the Lord God. O the miserable Desolations that Sin in this Night of Apostasy hath made in the Earth; yet Glory to God, though the Egyptians sit in the grossest Darkness, yet the Children of Israel who fear the Lord, and work Righteousness, have Light in all their Dwellings. And in that Light they stand Witnesses for God continually, against all vain Inventions, and cruel Sports of Men of corrupt Minds, whom God will Judge, and severely Punish in his Judgment-Day. O consider this ye Cock-Fighters, Bull-Baiters, and all that forget God; for the Judgement hastens, and who shall stand in the Gap for wilful Transgressor's.  
What, did ye seem to humble yourselves lately in a Public Fast for your Sins, and are you so quickly turned again to the Vomit of your old Vanities? How should the Lord but smite the Land for these things,  
From a Servant of God these, Thomas Taylor.   

Who they are that only Rejoice in the Birth of Christ.  
NOne can rightly Rejoice in the Birth of Christ, but the Spiritual Newborn in Christ. Those that think to please Christ with Eating, and Drinking, and Sporting, and Playing, are Garnally-minded, and the Carnal Mind cannot please God, Rom. 8.6, 7, 8. so it's manifest, that the Service and Kingdom of God stands not in Meats and Drinks and foolish and worldly Delights, but in Righteousness, and Peace, and Joy in the Holy Ghost, Rom. 14.17. For Meats for the Belly, and the Belly for Meats, but God will destroy both it and them, saith the Apostle.  
But God will never destroy such as Serve and Worship him in Spirit and Truth, all the days of their new and redeemed Life; and so it is manifest, the more Spiritual that any one is, the more are they dead and separated from that foolish Mind, and vain Customs that the evil World loves and lives in. And, on the contrary, those that make most Provision for Flesh, to satisfy it in the Lusts thereof, let the time be what it may, are the greatest Enemies to Christ and their own Souls. So let things be well weighed and considered, and it will appear to the open Eve, that God is not more dishonoured in any Twelve Days of the Year, than in these that People pretend most to Honour him in, which to a Godly Heart cannot but be matter of great Sorrow, as saith the Apostle, Phil. 3.18.18. Many walk of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are Enemies to the Cross of Christ: Whose end is Destruction, whose God is their Belly, and whose Glory is in their Shame, who mind earthly things.  
And this is the miserable and woeful Condition of too great a part of the People, that, in these days, bear the Name of Christians, over whom the Spirit Mourns.  
Thomas Taylor.   

A Testimony against Persecution, to King Charles the Second, and his Magistrates.  
THough our Sufferings be little accounted of in the Eyes of those that Afflict us, yet be assured they are seen to be great and many in the Eyes of God our Heavenly Father, for whose Name and Truth's sake we suffer; and for this are his Judgements begun to be poured out upon the Land; for though the People of the Land of all sorts, be guilty of many other Crying Sins, yet this one Sin of Persecuting the Righteous for their pure Conscience sake, is and always hath been the most Grievous in the Eyes of Jesus Christ, whose Glory is mainly concerned in it, as one may see by that in Acts 9 where it is said by Jesus from Heaven, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me. The Jews and Saul thought they had done well, so to persecute those Poor Members of Christ in those days, because they would not conform to the Ceremonies of their Law and Service; but Jesus saw it was done against him in them, what was done against them. So though many may think they do well, in doing thus against us in these days, because we cannot conform to your Customs, contrary to that of God in our Conscience: Yet know assuredly, we are justified in the sight of God for what we do, and he will assuredly plead our Innocent Cause, as he did the Sufferers for Truth in those former Days; and it will not be well with the Land, so long as these Yokes of Oppression are upon us, who desire nothing more than the Peace, Welfare, and everlasting Good of the King and all People; but alas, it will not be so long as the Law, which should be laid upon the Wicked Drunkards, Swearers, Unclean Persons, and Wasters of God's Creatures upon their Lusts, is thus laid upon the Righteous, who live Peaceably, Righteously and Godly, in this present evil World. And so you Judges, be awakened to true Judgement and Justice, and know aright for what both Land and Sea mourneth at this day, and let the King also and all People know the same, and know that it is for all your Sins, and especially for the hard Usage of us the Peaceable and Innocent People of God in Scorn called Quakers, for our Pure Conscience-sake, and Holy worshipping of our God in Spirit and Truth, as the Lord Jesus Christ hath taught us: And so till this, with the rest, be repent of, How can the Lord accept you, or be for you? Yea, though Noah, Daniel and Job, stood before God to intercede for you, yet his Heart cannot be for you, so long as your many Sins, and this grievous Sin before mentioned, do remain: Yea, though you should meet together every day in the Week, and call it a Fast, and seem in the outward to humble your Souls, yet till these Burdens of Sin be removed from off your Souls, and the Yokes of Oppression from off Christ's Lambs, it cannot be well with you. Your Teachers may tell you of Sin in the general to be the cause of these Plagues, but they tell you not nakedly and truly for what the Hand of the Lord is lifted up against you, neither indeed can they, because of the Blindness of their Hearts, and the Spirit of deep Sleep that is fallen upon them. So Friend, these things are on me, as from the Lord, to advertise thee and you all of, in love to thy Soul and you all, and to desire you, in the Name of the Lord, to lay them to Heart, and ponder of them, and not to pass over them slightly, as too many have done, because they come from such a one as I, who am as a Man rejected by you: Yet the Lord loves my Soul, and cares for me, praised be his Name; and in the Patience, and Joy, and Strength of the Peace of God's Blessed Spirit, am I kept and preserved in these continued Bonds and Sufferings for his Names sake; and the Love of Christ constrains me to seek all your Good and Welfare in the Lord, though the more I do this, I be the more hated and persecuted of some for my Good Will; but this I impute not here to thee, but desires that thou mayst more and more keep thy Heart and Hands clean from the great Offence (to wit, the Hatred of Goodness and good Men) which hath sunk Nations and Kingdoms into the Pit. And my desire is, That the King, and all in Authority, may timely know and consider of these things, as things of most Concernment to their Immortal Souls, Rests God's Servant  
Thomas Taylor.   

woe to the World, because of Iniquity.  
woe to the World, because of the great Iniquity that lieth upon it. O how are the People of this present time wholly lose in their Hearts to all manner of Vanity. The Lord seethe and well pondereth of these things, though you, O poor deceived People, will not see it. For O how the Enemy of your Souls, through long Custom, hath blinded your Minds, so that the Good which God hath commanded you, you like not at all, but the Evil which your own Hearts have devised you call Good, and so bring your felves under the Woe, woe, woe, to the cursed Customs of the World, which are many: Your Races, both by Men and Beasts, where Multitudes meet together to spend their precious Time, and to satisfy their Vain, Covetous and Drunken Minds, the Lord is against it; and Judgement from Heaven lingreth not, you will not be warned until you feel it. Rests God's Servant and Witness against all vain Inventions,  
Thomas Taylor.   

An Apology from the Harmless against the Unjust. And to the King and his Magistrates against Plotting.  
WE, who are of the World called Quakers, do testify, as in the sight of the Blessed Lord God of Heaven and Earth, that we are clear in our Hearts from all Plottings or Contriving of Evil or Mischief against the King or any of his Subjects; and that our Meeting apart from the Steeplehouse Worship, is merely in Obedience to God and at his Command, who saith, Come out from amongst them who live in Sin, and plead for the continuance of the Body of it (Yea in the Regenerate themselves) during term of Life: And so while we touched the unclean thing with you, we could not be accepted of God; and therefore the Lord called us out, that we might meet together as we do, and have done these many years, in his holy Name and Fear, to worship him in Spirit and Truth, not in a Pretence, but in the real Truth of the thing: And we have found his Heavenly Presence with us, and his Holy Promise fulfilled amongst us, which saith, Where two or three are gathered together in Christ's Name, he will be in the midst of them; Praises to him for ever. And now as concerning those People called Monarchy-Men, who are Fighters with Carnal Weapon, and it seems did rise up to disturb the Peace of the Nation by outward Force, we do utterly deny; and not only them, but all others who think the Kingdom of Christ can be set up with a Carnal Weapon, or that his Church can be preserved and kept clean by worldly Force, for God hath given us graciously to see beyond all such things, and hath manifested in us that Blessed Heavenly Power and Spirit of Christ, by which his Church, which is his Body, is raised up and preserved, and builded up for evermore; and the Sword of this Blessed Spirit of Jesus, which is the Word of God we know, for the cutting down not of Persons but Sins, Praised be God; and so to the outward Fightings and Warrings our Hearts are dead, and we dare not avenge ourselves as the wicked World doth, but to God to we commit our Cause in Welldoing, for he is the Avenger of all Wrongs, and Pleader of the Innocent Cause of his People in all Generations, Glory to his Name over all. And therefore it cannot be but a most unjust thing, that we should suffer by a Law that was made against Plotters and Seditious Conventiclers: I say, we who through the Grace of Christ are made to witness against all such things from our very Hearts, and therefore it concerns all, who are in Authority, to see what they do, and to distinguish rightly of Matters, lest they cause the Innocent to suffer, as some to their own Hurt have done, and so bring God's Judgements upon them; for not the greatest that ever were upon the Earth, could escape God's Judgements who wronged his People, witness Ahab's House, and all the great Kings of the Nations in all Ages, who touched God's People, who were as dear to him as the apple of his Eye: Do you not remember what they did to Daniel for the Worship of his God, and how the Lord delivered him, and the Pit devoured his Adversaries, with the Informers and false Accusers? Daniel could not worship but according to the Law of the God of Heaven, and so we cannot worship but according to the Law of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus: Must we therefore suffer; well we are helped by the Love of God, to rejoice and bear patiently the Will of the Lord, until he plead our Innocent Cause, and judge in Righteousness betwixt us and our Adversaries, for in his Judgement is our Boldness, Glory to God for ever; but the Haters of the Good cannot stand before him. The Jews said, They had a Law, and by their Law Christ ought to die: Was that a good Law which condemned the Innocent? So whatever Men pretend, as a Cloak to cover their Do from Men, yet God sees the Hearts of all Persecutors of the Righteous, and will judge them as such. Rests  
Thomas Taylor.   

Against Maypoles.  
O People of Penkridge, and the Places thereabout, who had a Heart or Hand in the setting up of these Heathenish Maypoles, especially this second time, you have shamed yourselves and your Religion thereby in the sight of all, and you have greatly provoked the Lord God against you by these do: And the old Heathens did never more manifest their evil inside in setting up their Idols, than you have done in setting up this dead Stick, and adorning it with Garlands, or so, and sometimes Dancing and Rejoicing about it, as your Brethren in the Wilderness did about the golden Calf. And now upon this particular Stick, what may be judged by the Flag that stands on high upon it, but that you have bid defiance to all Good. O the Pride, O the Self-willedness, O the Naughtiness of your blind deceived Hearts! How long will you strive against God with your Do? How long will you provoke the Eyes of his Jealousy against you? A sad day is coming upon you from his provoked Throne, O Repent, Repent, the dreadful and terrible Day of the Lord God is at hand; And what will you do in that day? Will you cry to the Maypole which you have so long danced about for help? O the Blindness and Wretchedness of your deceived Hearts, when will you a wake, when will you consider, and when will you remember your latter End? This dead and dry Stick, is a true Figure of your dead and barren Hearts to God and Goodness. So whilst you have Time prise it, for this is the Day of your Visitation from the Spirit of the Lord in his Servant  
Thomas Taylor.   

To a Dancing-Master.  
TO hear a Dancing-Master plead for his Kingdom, because of the evil Gain that he reaps from his evil Work, is no strange thing; but to see him plead for it from the Example of Holy David's Dancing or Rejoicing before God's Ark in Ravishment of Joy (for its return) is abominable in thee, and the same which the vain Fiddlers and Pipers of the Country (condemned by the Law) do, who will plead David's Music to bolster themselves up in their unholy Work; and so there is no more Agreement betwixt David's Dancing and thine, than there is betwixt David's Music and the Fiddlers. If David's Dancing before God's Ark were seen by your Eyes, who plead for your Heathenish Herodian Dance, in these days it would be accounted no less than Madness and Folly to you, as it was by Michael in the former days. O the Blindness of thine and all such Hearts, who are not afraid thus to wrest scripture to your Destruction: And whereas thou wouldst excuse Hecodias (thou shouldst have said Herodias' Daughter) her Dancing Heel from being a cause of the Baptist's Death, to cover thy Work withal, thou mayst know this Cloak is too short, for though Herod's Heart was evil, not only for marrying Herodias, but also in Imprisoning John for reproving him for it (as many in these days both do Evil, and Imprison the Servants of the Lord for telling them of it) I say, though Herod's Heart was evil and temptable, yet her Dancing Heel (as thou calls it) was as a Devil to tempt him to that rash Vow at that time; for it's manifest by his Unwillingness of answering her Demand for John's Head, that he had no desire of his Death, at least at that time, though he had put him in Prison.  
And so my Exhortation to thee (in Truth and not Hypocrisy) is to give over thy Dancing work; for as I said before, so I say again, it is not of God, and so it cannot prosper, nor that Gain or Pleasure that comes to thee or any others from it: And hate good Counsel no longer; for it will be hard for any to kick against the Pricks of God's Reproof.  
Thomas Taylor.   

To the Fruitless Vineyard of England.  
OH ye Bloodsuckers which hunt after Blood, which lay Tracks and Snares to slay the Righteous! Oh what a Profession is this that you live in, that are so full of Fury and Rage, some Mocking, some Beating, some Stocking, some Stoneing, some Plotting and laying wait to shed the Innocent Blood, and yet you do make a Profession of God and Christ, which Christ never taught that Doctrine; and there you show yourselves to be as Bloody Persecutors as ever the Jews were, who Crucified Christ and sought to slay the Apostles. Oh England, England! Is this the Fruit of thy Ministry? Is this the Vineyard which thou hast planted? Howl ye Vinedressers: Oh how is the Vineyard full of Briars! Oh how is the Vineyard full of Thorns! Oh how is the Vineyard full of dead Trees, which cumber and bring forth no Fruit! Oh how are the Springs stopped (that should Water it) with the Philistines! Oh how full is the Vineyard of Serpents! Oh how is the Vineyard full of Thistes! Oh how is the Vineyard full of Weeds! Oh how full is the Vineyard of Nettles! Oh how full is the Vineyard of wild Beasts, and of Trees that bear wild Grapes, and sour Grapes, which sets the children's Teeth on edge! A time hath been, and is, that the pretended Dressers and Looker's to the Vineyard are blind, and do not know one Tree from another, and cannot distinguish a Lamb from a Dog, a Sheep from a Goat, a Dove from a Kite; full is the Vineyard of Wolves, strong Horses neighing, and the Horses of Pharaoh and his Chariots whirling up and down: And the Vineyard is full of Thiefs and Robbers; and the pretended Watchmen are blind, and cannot discern betwixt a True Man and a Thief, but they call the Thief true Man, and the true Man Thief; they call Light Darkness, and Darkness Light: They call them who have come in at the straight Gate to Life, and so come in at the Door, these they call Thiefs and Robbers; and those who have never received the Word of the Lord from the Mouth of the Lord, but are climbed up another way, and live in the broad way, Pride and Covetousness, and the Lust of the Flesh, these they call the Messengers of God. Oh how full is the Vineyard of Drunkards, Drunk with the Wine of the sour Grape: The Land is full of Oaths, and mourns because of such, that their Flesh is defiled; the Land is full of Respecting of Persons, which is a Transgression of the Law of God: But now the Lord is risen and rising, who respects no Man's Person, and lays the Axe to the Root of the Tree; Every one that brings not forth good Fruit, must be hewn down and thrown into the Fire: For now is the Lord sending Sons and Daughters and Servants into the Vineyard; Spears are broken and turned into Pruning-hooks, and Swords into Mattacks and Ploughshares: Some are Ploughing up, and some are Hacking up; and some are Pruning, and some are dividing the Sheep from the Goats, and the Lambs from the Dogs, making a distinction, and putting a difference; and some are bridleing their Horses which have been wild; and some are distinguishing the Kites from the Doves, and putting a difference betwixt the Precious and the Vile, betwixt the Holy and the Unholy: Tremble, Tremble, Tremble, ye Mountains and Hills, before the Lord, for out of Zion doth the Lord utter his Voice, Woe, woe, unto all you that doth inhabit the Earth, ye will be scattered as the Wind scatters the Chaff; you will be consumed as the Fire consumes the Stubble; for the mighty day of the Lord is coming, which shall burn as an Oven; look upon an Oven when it burns, and you are afraid to go into it: But the Fire of the Lord is coming, which will burn you up Root and Branch: The Mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, who will perform his Word, and none of you that are Proud and Wicked can escape it: Though you may live a while in Pleasure and Wantonness, now you have time prise it, this is the day of your Visitation.  
Thomas Taylor.   

To the People of England.  
O Ye People of England, whose Iniquities are broken forth like the breaking of the Sea, whose Mire and Filth appear in every place: O what an evil Savour is come up in every place: The Land stinks before the Lord, because of the Abominations that makes desolate in every place. Oh the filthy Maypoles, that Heathenish thing, how they stand up in every place, some Naked, some Painted, and decked with Flowers, Garlands, Ribbons, and such foolish things, after the Custom of the Heathen of old that knew not God: And Oh with what Shouting, abominable Drink, foolish Dance and Noises have they been brought in and set up in the Towns and Villages: Oh poor naked England! as if thou hadst lost all Taste and Savour of Christian Religion: And what will the Heathens and Papists say, when they hear the Report of thee and thy Children? Old and young even mad after their Idols, and none scarce any Courage left to help in these things, the hands of all even as it were fallen down in thee, and few but a company of hidden Mourners lay the things to heart that are ready to overwhelm thee. Oh! the Cry; the Cry, of thy Sins O England is grown great, and thou hast been often warned by the Lord God, but thou hast not repent, but even hardened thy Heart, and fitted thyself for Destruction: And what shall the Lord now do unto thee, but even open the Floodgates of his Vengeance, and cause his Wrath to come upon thee, Judgement upon Judgement, Misery upon Misery, till thou be brought low, and be made very small, and in the Dust it may be thou wilt remember the Lord, and cry unto him.  
But Oh! what Lamentation shall be taken up for thee, and for thy Teachers in the midst of thee, O wretched England! For thy Teachers have also manifested themselves to every Eye, to be a company of Selfseeking Men, striving one with another about the Fleece, but none helping or healing the Diseases and Wounds of the poor torn scattered Flock, but every one cries Give, Give; they all look to their own way, their Gain from their Quarter, and fear not me, saith the Lord God; the best of them is as a Briar, and the most Upright among them as a Thorn-hedge: And now is the Lord arising, and he that hath overcome is coming in his mighty Power to dash the Potsherds of the Earth together, and break them one against another, and Babylon the Great shall fall, and be a place for Dragons, and be no more inhabited by any Son of Man, as the Lord hath said, for ever.  
So, howl ye Wildernesses, and rejoice ye Fruitful Fields, for the Lord hath visited Zion and comforted his Afflicted, and the Kingdom shall be the Lord's, and the Haughtiness of the World shall be humbled, and the Loftiness of their Looks shall be brought low, that the Lord God alone may be exalted for he is worthy: And this is our Holy Hope, and living Confidence, and faithful Witness, who are counted worthy of God to bear his Reproach amongst you (O People) under the name of Quakers.  
So People, cease striving against the Lord, and his Witness in you, and devise not Evil against the Innocent; but fear the Lord, and in time repent, lest his Fury br●●k in upon you, and his fiery Judgements be multiplied upon you, which none can stop or quench, for yet the day of your Visitation is not wholly passed.  
Thomas Taylor.   

God's Controversy with England declared: Or, A Warning-Word, by way of Reproof, to the Inhabitants thereof, even to such as Forget God, and are adding one Sin unto another.  
UPon the second Day of the fifth Month, 1661. as I Traveled under the Burdens of the People, the Lord God of everlasting Power, Glory, Wisdom and Righteousness said unto me with a strong hand, writ my Controversy with this Rebellious People of England, who are Wise to do evil, but to do good will have no Knowledge, who proceed from evil to worse, and Fear not me at all, saith the Lord God; whose Iniquities are greatly increased against me, and to such a height do the Floods of their Ungodliness make haste to arise, that all the Measures will be quickly full; And then Woe, Woe, unto them, saith the dreadful and holy One. For thus saith the Lord, I will Overturn, Overturn, until you wicked and profane multitude be no more; Even until you, O People, whose Ears are wholly shut against the good be consumed and brought to nothing: For your Iniquities do burden my Righteous Soul, saith God, and Sodom was not more grievous to me than you are. For, O what studying and striving is in thy Multitude, how they may exceed in their Vanities, in their Riotings, Drink, Revel, and Heathenish Abominations! Hath not my Soul considered, saith God, what you have done, both the last Year and this, under pretence of honouring your King. What do you think by dishonouring Me, to honour your King? You and your King (if he allow of your do) will I severely Judge, saith the Lord God, except ye speedily Repent, and all look better to your Ways than hitherto you have done. O consider this, ye forgetters of God, ye filthy hearted People, how have ye made the Land to stink before me, with your Abominations! O I have seen, saith God, how, wickedly, and with a high hand, as it were in despite of me, you set up your May poles, that accursed thing, the last Year, and I warned you of it, and called ye to Repentance; but, as if I had said nothing, you have doubled your wickedness in the same thing this Year also, to provoke my Soul to arise up against you to your hurt: And the Be●som on the top of some of them, signifies that I will sweep the Land of evil doers; And surely, it shall come to pass, that if ye will not yet repent of your wickedness, that I will plague you with the Plagues of Egypt, and I will do such things amongst you in my Judgement, and fury poured forth, that the Nations about that hear thereof, shall stand amazed at thee. O Revolted and Back-slided Nation; whither at thou gone already? and whither wilt thou run, if thou be suffered to go on? Into the Pit that thou art stepped already, and into the nether most Hell thou wilt fall if I let thee alone. But I will arise, saith God, I will execute Righteous Judgement in thee, with fire and sword will I plead with thee, and thy mighty Men shall fall with thee, who sing thy Song, and take part with thy Lewdness, and strengthen thy ungodly hands in thy wicked ways, and say in their hearts, O this is a good day, these are good Subjects, this is the time we have long looked for; now we reign; now we may do what we will, and who shall control us? who who shall hinder us from filling ourselves with all manner of delights; now we are settled in our way? now will we Build our decayed Houses, and Restore our fallen Worships; now will we Repair the broken Fences of our Parks, that we may have Game to the full; now shall our Horses be well fed for the Race, that they may fully please us; now let the Cockpits be looked to, for that (cruel) Sport, and let our Bowling-Alleys be well Dressed for our daily Recreation; now shall the Stage-players for our delight, have their full Liberty, and all the Sons of Vanity have due Encouragement; for the Old things we Love, and that which is New, though never so much the Better, our souls Loath; We like the Old Ways of our Fathers, because when they had Lord-Bishops, and their Minister Services with Matins and Evensongs, with Organs and Singing-boys, and such like Things, than there was Peace and Plenty; and when the Neighbourhood could meet together, and sit about a Bonfire or Maypole, or under a Bower, and drink strong Drink, and tell Stories, and Sing and Roar, than there was Love and Agreement; And when Plays, and Pastimes, and Wakes were duly frequented and observed, then was it a Merry Time, and a Joyful Land, and all went well in all those Days, when such Things were on foot; And when those that said they scared the Lord, and so could not join with us, but rather Witnessed against us, and Reproved us for such Things, were taken a Course withal, O then was it a good Day, say many; And as it was then, so would we have it now, saith your vain and wicked Hearts, O ye fallen Sons and Daughters of Adam! And I see you, saith the Lord God, with both your bands endeavouring these Things, and abusing my Power, if possible, to set up the Devil's Kingdom with it; And thus, quite contrary to my Ordinance, saith the Lord, are you become as a Terror to the Good, and ●n Encouragement to them that do Evil, and mine Eye seethe you right well, and my Heart considereth you thoroughly, and I cannot Love you, for Profaneness and Hypocrisy is your Covering, and you are as the  of a Menstruous Woman in my sight. Away with your vain Worships, saith God, my soul loathes your Sabbaths and Services thereon; yea, your Sacraments are a burden to me; I hate your Prayers, Praises, Professions, and Confessions, for you mend not your lives and do at all; I will stir up my Jealousy, and it shall kindle like flames of fire upon you, and utterly consume the joy of your Hearts, and for joy the bitterest of sorrows shall seize upon you, and you shall become a burden to yourselves, except you speedily Repent, and turn to the Lord God, from whom you are far gone away. For I have a long time held my Peace, saith the Lord, but now I will cry like a Travelling Woman, I will destroy and devour at once, I will lay waste the Mountains and the Hills, because they have not answered my Power with fruits of Righteousness to me. And the Multitudes of People who are as Grasshoppers in thy Bowels, devouring every green thing, and spending my Creatures upon their Lusts, not regarding my Glory at all, shall be as heaps of Fuel for the fire of my Jealousy, and it shall kindle upon them, and none shall quench it, neither shall it cease burning till I have consumed thy Dross, and appeased my Wrath in the Consumption of thy Wicked Ones, saith the Lord God. For Tophet is prepared of old, for the Purposes of my Heart, according to the Scriptures, saith the Holy One, through his Servant,  
Thomas Taylor.   

A Faithful Warning to Outside Professors, and Lose Pretenders to Christianity of all sorts.  
COme all ye Professors of Scripture, upon the Face of the whole Earth, under what form soever, what have ye learned hitherto of all ye profess? Have ye learned to Fear God and keep his Commandments? Have ye learned thus to Love God? And do you love your Neighbour as yourselves? Do ye not profess to love God above all things, and your Neighbour as yourselves? Is this done? What? will a profession of words commend you to God, where the Obedience is a wanting?  
O thou that art called Christendom, how art thou fallen! How art thou become the Plant of a degenerate Vine! How are thy Grapes become as those of Sodom! who shall bring healing to thee, who hast rejected the Balm of Gilead, that the Father brought to thee.  
O thou foolish Child! how hast thou trifled out thy precious Time about Toys and Trifles, and hast not regarded the Voice of thy Maker, who hath waited all day long to gather thee, and to do thee good, but thou wouldst not! Thou hast chosen the worse part, in that thou hast forsaken the Lord, the Fountain of Living Waters; and hast hewed and chosen to thyself a Cistern that will hold no Water. Thou art gone into the ways of the Old World, upon whom the Flood came: And which of those Sins, for which Sodom burned, are a wanting in thee?  
O! the pure River of Life that would quench thy Thirst, how is it slighted and neglected by thee! and therefore art thou utterly unsatisfied in whatsoever thou dost, or attempts to do. Thou art never able to satiate thy Soul with husks: Thou must come into the Father's House before thou hast Bread enough.  
But thou sayest in thy Heart, Thou art a Queen, yea, That thou art Rich, and endued with Goods, and hast need of nothing: When as alas in the true Light, thou art seen to be Miserable, Poor, Wretched, Blind and Naked. A long Course hast thou run; but the promised end thou hast not reached: Thou hast been like a bewildered Sheep, running from Mountain to Hill to find a resting place, where no rest is. Thou camest indeed a little out of Egypt: But O! how soon didst thou turn back again thither, from whence thou came, and loved the fleshpots of Egypt, yea, the Onions and Garlic better than God's Manna in the Wilderness: Thou shouldst have followed the Lord perfectly unto the Land of Rest in Patience, and silence of Spirit under his voice and teachings.  
But thou grew weary of waiting upon thy God, and saw Images of things on Earth, and Images of things in Heaven, and bowed thy Heart to them, and didst not keep thy Heart to the power that broke through the Darkness for thee. Nor didst thou keep thy Eye to the Light of Life, that freely shined out of Darkness for to have guided thee through the dark howling Wilderness to Zion. But thou being careless and felfish, thou lent thy Ear to the voice of the Stranger, and cried, Lo here, and Lo there, and so wast thou led out of the Way into By-Paths of Sin and Death, where thou hast been lost from the true Life, and true Light, and Spirit that wrought in thee in the beginning. And thou hast not to this day throughly considered thy loss; nay, very little is thy Nakedness and Wretchedness laid to Heart in thee.  
And now therefore thou, that art called Christendom, What is the Wood of thy Vine (seeing thou hast left off to bear Fruit to the Lord) better than the Wood of another Tree? nay, it is not so good as any. For, if the Salt, that should season other things, have lost its Savour, wherewith shall it be salted? and of what use is it, but even to be trodden under Feet of Men. O! that thou wert wise to consider, at least in this thy day the things of thy Peace in this great Day, wherein the Bridegroom, which hath been as one traveled into a far Country, is come again, and is appeared in his ancient Love, Power, and Perfection to visit thee, and to seek thee out of every place, where thou hast been scattered through Sin, in the long Night of Apostasy, to see, if any of the pure Love that was in thee in the day of thy Espousals, may be recovered to himself; that he may know how to do thee good, and how to make manifest his ancient love unto thee, which bowed the Hearts of his simple Israel into such love of his goodness, as to follow the Lamb wheresoever he went in the beginning.  
But O! thou polluted Woman, how art thou wandered away from the true Sheep-fold! How art thou gone a whoring from thy God How art thou covered with the shades of Night! And how art thou lost amongst the Countries, and mingled with the Heathen! yea, thou hast chosen thy own ways, and worshipped the works of thy own Hands, and hast cast the pure Law of God behind thy back. Yea, the Light of the Glorious Gospel of Christ, which hath shined to thee, and would have gathered thee up to God, thou hast rejected, and hast not liked to retain God, nor his Light in thy Knowledge. And so thou art become vain in thy Mind, and thy foolish Heart is become so dark, that thou worships thou knows not what, like those that know not God, and art become a Prey to every Beast of the Field, and art bowed in thy Heart to the Creatures, more than to the living God the Creator.  
And therefore will he arise in great Majesty, and dreadful Power and will yet again bring to pass his Act, his strange Act in thee. And he will not meet thee as a Man, but as a consuming Fire: Because thou hast rejected his Goodness, Patience, and Forbearance. And hast heaped to thyself Teachers after thy own Heart, who have rocked thee asleep with their false Voices, crying, Peace, Peace, when there was no Peace; for there is no Peace to any wicked one, saith the true God, profess what they may.  
For the Lord is come to look for Fruits. And now, Woe, woe, to the Fruitless Trees, to the Briars and Thorns! for the Fire of the Lord God will consume them. And now will the Lord God bring to nothing all thy Might, Wisdom, Glory, and Greatness, whereby thou host exalted thyself, and dishonoured him; and the Meek shall Inherit Heaven and Earth. And blessed is he that overcometh that Evil and wicked Spirit, that so much reigns and rages in thee; for he shall be called God's Son, and shall Inherit all things, as saith the Scripture. For the end cometh: And who shall stop the course of the everlasting Sun of Righteousness, whose Day is dawned, blessed for evermore?  
O thou Corrupted Earth, who wallows in the Blood of thine Iniquity! who art become Deaf to the Heavenly Voice, and art become an Enemy to nothing so much, as to that good thing that would unburden thee of thy Corruptions! O; O how hath Hell enlarged itself for the multitude of those wilful Transgressor's in thee, that are posting on in their sins this day to the Chambers of Death! who are making Provision for the fleshly Lusts, which War against the Soul! who will not believe what their miserable State shall be, though one come from the dead to declare it in true Experience to them.  
But, O thou little Remnant of Wheat amongst such a heap of Chaff! O thou lovely Seed of God, which brings forth Fruit of Righteousness to his Glory, and so shines forth as Lights in the foresaid dark World. Do thou rejoice, and be thou glad for ever in the Lord thy Saviour, who hath loved thee with an everlasting Love, and by his Arm of Power hath raised thee up to be his Servant, and hath gathered thee into his Bosom of Safety to lie down, and rest in Peace with himself for evermore.  
So be it, even so be it, saith the Spirit and the Bride. So do thou, O Lovely Holy Seed, begotten to God in Righteousness; do thou trust ●nd rejoice in the Lord thy God for ever.  
And be not troubled nor dismayed at the roar of the Waters of Babylon; but be still, be still, be at rest and Peace in the Arms of the Lord God Almighty, blessed, blessed for evermore.  
From a Lover of God's Everlasting Truth, Thomas Taylor.   

PEOPLE,  
THIS know, that the Entrance into Righteousness is the Only and Alone Entrance into the Kingdom of God, and there is not another. Christ is God's Righteousness, and so the Door: He that entereth not in by me, saith Christ, is a Thief and a Robber. So, see all People, where you are? I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, also saith Christ, and no Man cometh to the Father, but by me. So consider all People: Is Christ your Way? And is nothing Truth to you, like Christ? And have you a Life in nothing at all, as in Christ? Deal honestly with your own Souls, and deceive not yourselves; for God will not be mocked. Bring your Deeds to the Light, and seek not to hid your Sins from the Lord: For there is nothing secret, which shall not be made manifest.  
Drunkard, bring thy Deeds to the Light. Thou knowest by the Light, thou shouldst not be Drunk, nor spend God's Creatures upon thy Lust. Here thou hast learned thy Condemnation, and the Wrath of God abides upon thee in this Condition, profess what thou may'st. And all thy Prayers and Performances are Abomination to the Pure God, whilst thou abidest in the Lust of Drunkenness; for it defiles.  
And all ye Vnclean-hearted Ones, who burn in your Lusts one towards another, and are as the Brute Beasts, who know neither Guide nor Rule over your Minds; but are in the Evil Liberty, to follow your own Evil Hearts. Bring your Deeds to the Light, and it will let you see you should not be so: It will tell you, That the  shall not enter God's Kingdom; and without Holiness none can see God. Here ye may see your Way to be to the Chambers of Hell and Death, and not to Christ.  
And all ye Swearers, Vain and Obscene Talkers, and Foolish Jesters, whose Tongues run through the World: And as you know no Limit to your Lusts, so you know no Bridle to your Tongue. Your Religion is vain, Jam. 1.26. Bring your Deeds to the Light; there you may read your Condemnation. For there is that in your Conscience tells you, according to Scripture, that for every idle, vain, unclean or profane Word ●hat Men shall speak, they must give Account thereof to the Pure and Just God in the Day of Judgement.  
How! then ye Guilty, and be humbled for your Sins, lest that Day come suddenly upon you as a Thief in the Night, and sweep you all away, as it did the Old Wo●ld, who regarded not the Day of their Visitation, but went on in their Sins, until there was no Remedy.  
Awake, awake, ye Dead and Careless-hearted, who put the Day of the Lord afar off, and cry Peace, when there is no Peace. For, what Peace to the Wicked? There is no Peace to the Wicked, saith the true God; but Peace only upon Zion, and to such as turn from Iniquity in Jacob. So let not one take the Name of Christ in their Mouth any more, until they depart from Iniquity. For such as go on in the Custom and daily Practice of Sin, and yet think to cover themselves with and Outward Profession of Christ, do but deceive themselves, and increase their Condemnation, adding Sin to Sin. This is God's Truth, which he that hath an Ear, let him hear; and he that hath any Desire in him to return to God, let him consider of, and give Glory to God by Repenting of that, which doth any way dishonour God.  
Also this know for truth, That your Invented, Licentious Gaming for Vain Delights and Pleasures is not of God; but an Invention of that Wicked One, who is called the Devil and Satan, Invented to please the Vain and Empty Minds of his Children and Servants, which are out of the Law and Truth of God. But the Children and Servants of God are full of Goodness, and are exercised in the Law and Truth of God Day and Night; and so deny the Devil and his Works. So let no Man deceive any of you, neither be deceived in yourselves; for the Judge is at the Door. And the True Light is arisen, which makes manifest every Work, and the Reward of it for Ever.  
And all ye Stage-Players, Puppet-Players, and the Authors and Inventors of such things, with all that love such Heathenish Things, yea, and give your Money for them, that thereby ye may feed the Covetous Lusts in the Players, that thirst after Money; and the Vain Lust of your own defiled Eyes and Ears, which are after Pleasures more than the Lord God that made you. Know this, That your Works are all weighed in an equal Balance, and by the Light of Christ you are all seen to be out of the Doctrine of Christ in the Heathenish Nature, upholding and practising those things, which Christ came to destroy. Yea, and by the Light of Christ in your own Consciences, when you are a little sober and still in your Minds, you know, you should not do such things: Here you also have learned your Condemnation, and cannot in this State stand before the Lord, because of your Sins.  
And all ye, that can please yourselves with beholding one Creature hurt and torment another, yea, sometimes even to Death, as at Bull baitings, Bear baitings, Cook fightings, and the like. O! what Minds have ye, and how contrary are ye herein to the Tender Nature of Christ, and all Christians, truly so called, who could never Rejoice in any such things, by reason of their tender, pitiful and merciful Nature! O ye Children of Cruelty! when will your Hearts break, your stony Hearts melt into Tears before the Lord for all your mighty Sins? And when will you bring your Deeds to the Light, that ye may see the Ugliness of your Sins, and repent of them; lest the Judgements written fall upon you for them, as it did upon all such from the beginning of the World, and there be no escape?  
O England, England! How hast thou defiled thyself by thine Iniquities! How is the Floodgate of Sin broken open in thee to the polluting of thy Land! O, how art thou wholly overspread with Briars, and Thorns, and Weeds! so that the Lord must arise to purge thee by Fire; seeing thou hast refused to wash in that pure Water of Life, that sprung up in thee. So if thou hast an Ear, hear, before it be too late, and the Door be shut.  
Thomas Taylor.   

YE Feasters, ye Gamesters, ye Drunkards and Gluttons, ye False Christians, whose God is your Belly, and whose Care is how you may satisfy your Ungodly Lusts; you are Enemies to the Cross of Christ: Yea, you Crucify Christ afresh to yourselves, and put him to open Shame by your Lewd Living.  
The Hand of the Lord is against you, ye Profane Esau's, who have sold and are selling your Birthright for a Mess of Pottage. When will ye Awake, when will ye Arise from off your sinful Bed, where you cry Peace to yourselves in your Sins?  
When will ye lay to Heart the Apostle's Doctrine, ye Common Sinners, who proudly boast of your Common Prayers, and yet depart not from your Iniquities? Is not the Sacrifice of the Wicked an Abomination to God? And will God regard your Prayers, whilst you so love and regard your Iniquities, and walk so contrary to the Doctrine of Christ?  
Doth not the Apostle say, Make no provision for the Flesh, to satisfy it in the Lusts thereof; and ye, in a direct Opposition and Hatred to this Doctrine, make all provision for the Flesh to fulfil and satisfy it every way in the Lust thereof. And so your Table is as the Table of Devils, and not of Saints; and ye cannot both partake of the Table of Devils, and the Table of Christ, the Apostle being Witness.  
So howl ye Sinners, and  People, and be humbled for all your Lewdnesses; and repent of all your Whoredoms, whereby ye have gone a Whoring from the Life of Christ, and his Saints. And let your Feast be turned into Fast, and your Laughters and Merriments be turned into Lamentations and bitter Mournings, for the Misery that is to come upon you from the Presence of the Lord, in the Day of his Fierce Wrath, which is nigh to come, and be revealed upon you in Flames of Fire for all your mighty Sins.  
O ye, that are so contrary to Christ, be humbled before the Lord for all your Hypocrisies, who say, You are come out of Popery, and yet continue in some of their Idolatrous Customs, as this Profane keeping of the time, which ye in Imitation call Christmas (among other Superstitions) whereby ye show yourselves to be too near of Kin to that Whorish Woman, which hath defiled the Earth with her Abominations. Ye make haste to fill up the measure of your Iniquities, as though the time would fail you to make yourselves perfect in Wickedness. And ye seem to entertain Christ as the Heathens of Old did their Idols, who thought, The more Vain, Lustful and Wanton that they were, the more they pleased their Idols, and offered a more acceptable Sacrifice to their Gods. But O! be humbled for these things, lest the Lord carry you back again into the Belly of Egypt and Blackness of Babylon's Darkness, whither ye have manifested too much a Mind to return. And as a Just Recompense for all your Unrighteousness, he Swore in his Wrath, That ye shall never enter into his Rest.  
Thomas Taylor.   

Something as it came to mind, of what passed at the Assizes in Stafford, betwixt the Judge and the People of God, called by the World Quakers: But the Reproach of Christ is to us great Riches, and the Scorners God will Judge.  
WE being called to the Bar, we came up in the Dread and Fear of God, and in the Love of Justice, with our usual Garments on.  Judge. 
And the Judge asked us, If we knew where we were? To whom it was Answered,  Ans. 
Yea, we stand in the Presence of the Lord God of Heaven and Earth; before whom all are.  Judge. 
Then he bid Fine us Forty Shillings a piece, for keeping on our Hats; and then caused our Hats to be taken off.  Ans. 
To whom it was Answered, That some of the Men called Justices, now in Authority, had been heard to Condemn Oliver Cromwell for such a thing.  
Here the Judge spoke something of Oliver.  Ans. 
But where is it read in Scripture, that the Apostles suffered for keeping on their Hats. To which the Judge replied, They had no Hats: And so proceeded to other things.  
But here by the way all may take notice, that the Scripture speaks of Hats in Dan. 3.21. which was long before the Apostles time; and surely the Apostles had something to cover their Heads withal; whether called Hats or Caps is not material: And that it is not putting off the Hat, but putting away deceit from the Heart, that Honour's God's Authority.  
Now as concerning the Oath, the Judge asked, If we would take it?  
We Answered, Christ taught us not to Swear, but said, Let your Yea, be Yea, and your Nay, Nay, for whatsoever is more cometh of evil.  
Then said the Judge, You have spoken many words more than Yea and Nay.  
To which was Answered, That's not it; for the Lord doth not forbid his People to speak more words as need is in his Fear, but he intends plainly this, That when we affirm a thing, we should affirm it in the Truth, and what we deny, to deny it also in the Truth, and both without an Oath: For though under the Law, where Strife was, there was also Oaths, yet now Christ being come to make an end of strife, he ends Oaths also, and the occasion of them.  Judge. 
Then you must be the Expounders.  Ans. 
Not we, but the Spirit of God in all.  
Saith the Judge, But we read that God Swore; but where is it read that the Devil Swore?  
To which was Answered by one of us; yea, the Devil both did, and now also doth Swear, in the Mouths of all wicked Men, and that falsely also.  
Then here about the Oath of Allegiance was read.  
And it being read, one of us Answered whose Name was T. T. It seems this Oath was made against them called Papists. And as for Popery, I do here declare as in the Presence of the Lord against it, and their wicked Tenants, such as there is mentioned. And for our good Desires for the King, and all Men, is in like sincerity also now acknowledged.  
This is, as it were, the substance of the Oath, said the Judge: Then said I, Let that serve.  Judge. 
But why will you not Swear?  Ans. 
Because my Yea, is Yea, and my Nay, is Nay, without Swearing. And I do not deny to Swear in Contempt of Authority, but in Conscience to God. And so all People may see that if I suffer for this, it is not for substance, but circumstance, or so.  Judge. 
But how shall we try Matters of Difference without Swearing?  Ans. 
By Faithful Witnesses, without Swearing.  Judge. 
But what if they witness false?  Ans. 
The same may be said concerning Swearing: For you do not know by a Man's mere words, without further Trial, more when he Swears falsely or truly, than when he speaks falsely or truly. And so if ye had the same Law against False Witnesses, as is against False Swearers, it would be all one.  Judge. 
But we have not such a Law.  Ans. 
But you may have.  
And here all People consider, what the Law of God amongst the Jews that were under the Law, in such Cases as this, was; see Deut. 19.16. to the end: The words are these, If a False Witness arise up against any Man, to testify agdinst him that which is wrong, then both the Men, between whom the Controversy is, shall stand before the Lord, before the Priests, (who were Types of Christ to come) and the Judges which shall be in those days. And the Judges shall make diligent Inquisition, and behold if the Witness be a False Witness, and hath testified falsely against his Brother, then shall he do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his Brother, etc.  
If such a thing as this were minded, Would not this keep the Wicked in awe?  Judge. 
Reach him the Book.  Ans. 
What Book is it? Is it not the Scripture? Yea, said the Officer. Then said I, That Book witnesses against Swearing now to Christians.  Judge and Officers. 
You must lay your Hand upon the Book and kiss it.  Ans. 
I must lay my Hand upon my Heart when I speak Truth, as I do now. And the Lord saith not that we should kiss a Book, but Kiss the Son lest he be angry. See Psalm 2. last.  
Now as concerning Meetings.  
The Judge charged us with meeting contrary to Law.  
We answered, Not contrary to the Law of God. And the Apostles and Saints did meet separate from the rest of the People.  Judge. 
What are none the People of God but of your Gang? And said something of those formerly called the Godly Party.  Ans. 
We are manifest to that of God in all, to be such as fear God; and so let us not suffer for the Name, until you can prove some Evil by us.  Judge. 
The Judge spoke of our coming to that called their Church, a Steeplehouse.  Ans. 
And we wished him to prove there by Scripture, where Christians were limited, either to that, or to any place whatsoever. Which he could not do. And then said I, It's read in Scripture, That Men should lift up Holy Hands to God in every place, without Wrath and Doubting.  
But for such passages as these the Judge was at length troubled, and though he had been moderate a good while, yet he wanted all Patience, and so thought to proceed against me by the Act of Praemunire; yet for a little space he was seemingly willing again to proceed with me as with the rest upon the new Act; and so they caused it to be read, which being done, I was made to say something to this purpose, to wit, It seems then that your Intentions are to get us from amongst you, and if it should be so, that the Righteous were taken from you, would not God's Judgements fall upon the Land? And then the Judge threw up all as it were, and spoke in anger to the Grand Jury to draw a Bill of Indictment against me; and so I was as it were separate from my Brethren, and set apart for the greatest Sufferings, and that as is said for nothing but declaring Truth, and keeping my Conscience pure to God, and so I was put by for that time.  
Again, I was called certain hours after up to the Bar again, and then was that wicked thing, called an Indictment, framed and brought in against me: O what unchristian and unsavoury things was it fraught with, as though I had wickedly and contemptuously denied to take that Oath called Allegiance, which was made against Papists and Gunpowder Plotters: When as the Lord knows I denied only to Swear in Obedience to Christ, who saith, Swear not at all; and so to keep my Conscience pure to God in the thing I denied to Swear, and neither in favour of Popery, nor in opposition to the King, as I had declared before from the Truth of my Heart, and the Judge himself was once made to acknowledge it, as is said before, yet because I could not lay my Hand on a Book and kiss it, and so commit Idolatry, and because I could not say I Swear, I Swear, or so, they proceeded to bring in Sentence against me, as if I had been the greatest Offender in this case that might be; even to Confiscation of all in the outward World called Mine, whether Lands, Leases, Goods, Chattels and Liberty, though in the fight of God, and that just and righteous reasonable Principle of God in every Man I stand clear, which is my Joy.  
Yet before they proceeded to give Sentence, they would make a show of Legal Proceeding, but it was only to deceive themselves withal, for all others saw them.  
And so after they had read that wicked Instrument called an Indictment, some words passed from me in the dread of the Lord; as first, I declared my Innocency there, as to the thing charged upon me, in the sight of the Lord God and all Men; and so warned the Judge to take heed what he did against an Innocent Man, for with the same measure was measured to others, God would measure to all Men again. And so speaking again something concerning Swearing, the Judge said.  Judge. 
But what if a Thief should rob you, and deny it, would you take his word?  Ans. 
I would take his Word as soon as his Oath; for a Thief's Word and Oath are both alike?  Judge. 
But you go up and down Seducing the People.  Ans. 
No, I Seduce none, but desires that all may be Saved; and do endeavour, wherein I may, to help all People out of Darkness into Light; and so from under Satan's Power to God. And the Apostles did not Evil, in going up and down upon so good an Account.  Judge. 
But how should we know that you are an Apostle?  Ans. 
What I am by my Fruits may be known.  Judge. 
But prove yourself to us to be an Apostle.  Ans. 
If the Truth which I declare, and my innocent Life, will not satisfy concerning what I am, I must rest satisfied in God's Will; and what you know not, or cannot believe now, God may reveal it to you: So be not hasty in doing any thing against me. But the Apostle Paul himself, could not so prove himself, as to satisfy all of his Apostleship, for saith he to some, Though I be not an Apostle to others, yet I am to you.  Judge. 
But is Christ in none but you?  Ans. 
Yea, in thee also, except thou be a Reprobate.  Judge. 
But you see here is a Law.  Ans. 
But it's not safe for any to act by a Law, unless it be according to God: For those in Queen Mary's time, that burned People about things called Religion, did it by Pretence of a Law, or under colour of a Law or so; yet it is now held (as it was indeed) by all Protestants, to be an unjust thing they did.  Judge. 
But you have been in Prison before now.  Ans. 
Yea, for Truth's sake.  
Here it may be observed, how this Judge, being a mere Stranger to me, could know this; for immediate Revelation of God he pretends not to: Then how came he by this knowledge, but even by the Whisper of the Enemies of Truth, and of my Soul, who were not far off, nor wanting to whisper anything into his Ear, that might help on the Matter against the Innocent.  Judge. 
But how many Prisons have you been in? This observe he asked temptingly.  Ans. 
In several for the Truth's sake.  Judge. 
But why will you not tell me? Do you not say your Yea is Yea, and your Nay, Nay, or so?  Ans. 
Yea, my Yea is Yea, and my Nay is Nay, when I speak; but I am not bound by the Lord; to speak at every Man's Will.  
Then hereabouts the Judge proceeded towards the end, and though I had declared my Innocency in the thing before, yet he asked according to their Custom, Guilty or Not Guilty.  Ans. 
Here I being kept silent for a time, waiting in the Will of God, at length these words came to me, and passed through me.  
He was led as a Sheep before the Shearer, and as a Lamb dumb before the Slaughterer, and he opened not his mouth.  
At which words, though they in the Darkness were something troubled, yet the Judge proceeded and said,  Judge. 
If you will not answer, we will take it pro confesso, you know what that is, etc.  
Here the Simple may take notice, that to take a thing pro confesso, is as much as to say, They take it for granted.  Ans. 
Then I perceiving, in the Light of the Lord, what their purpose was, I said something to this purpose in the Peace of my Spirit.  
It's manifest enough how things are, and so you may proceed, if it seem good to you, the Lord will reward every Man according to his Deeds.  Judge. 
But what say you to the Jury? etc.  Ans. 
It's not like that a Jury, or a Company of Swearing Men, will do any thing for me, who am for Christ's Command against Swearing: For I could wish that they, and all Men, would speak Truth without Swearing.  
Here I was put away from the Bar for that time also.  
The next day being called up to the Bar, amongst Felons, Thiefs and Murderers, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, the Judge prepared to give Sentence against the Servants of God, called by the World Quakers; we being four in number, now brought together, though separate for a time: And he caused me to be first called up and spoken to, as being all along accounted the greatest Offender, because God had pleased to make use of me in his Service, more than of some others.  Judge. 
He, to wit, the Judge, asked me, If I had considered of things.  Ans. 
Yea, and it's my daily Work in Christ, to keep my Conscience pure to God: And I perceive what is purposed by you, if I yield not to Man's Will, contrary to that in my Conscience in this thing, even the loss of what is called mine in the outward World, etc. But that Law was made against Papists, etc.  Judge. 
But not only against them. And so caused that Stat. 7 Jac. to be read.  Ans. 
But I look at the words of the Oath, and it appears plainly it was made against them. Yet I do not hear that it is executed against any of them now, though they be the Parties thereby intended.  Judge. 
You may be Jesuitical or so.  Ans. 
Concerning Popery, I have truly declared against it before, and I have it under their own hand, that we, called Quakers, are accounted by them their worst Adversaries. And I have also by me to show, in seventeen main Particulars, wherein we are made by the Truth to oppose them in their Way or Religion.  
And so I say, what thou dost against me consider, and fear the Lord God, for if thou be a means of taking that from me which my Wife and Children should outwardly live on, and put it into the King's Treasures, it will not be a Blessing there, but a Curse, for I openly declare, that if I Suffer now upon this account, or so, it is for the Truth's sake. And so do what thou dost in the fear of the Lord.  Judge. 
Here he said faintly, I hope I do, and I am loath to do it.  Ans. 
Mind that which makes thee loath to do it, and it will never suffer thee to do it.  
Yet notwithstanding this he broke through all, and gave Sentence against the Innocent, and so filled up his measure, adjudging me to the loss of outward Estate, Liberty or so, and all this, as is said, merely for Truth's sake. Then it came through me, The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, Blessed be the Name of the Lord.  
Then being spoken unto to go away from the Bar, as I was going down, it was fresh in me, as from the Lord God, to exhort them on the Bench, etc. to Repentance, and to take heed of such Do as these, for which, and the like, a great Cloud of Judgements hang over the Land.  
And so staying amongst the rest of the Prisoners, till they were all dismissed and sending away, it was further upon me from the Lord, in the Peace of my Spirit, and pity to their Souls, to look upon the great Multitude of People there present, and to speak to them, to mind the Fear of the Lord God, and the Day of their Visitation, and to turn to the Lord whilst they had time, or so. And for this Work of the Lord, the Judge, and some other great ones there, were all so troubled; and so I was commanded and carried away, and down out of the Hall into the Street towards the Goal: And then the Word of the Lord arose in me in great Majesty, Dread and Power, and went forth amongst the Multitudes of People there, and to all People in the way to the very Goal door, to let all Workers of Iniquity know of the dreadful and terrible Day of the Lord, that is risen and arising, and come and coming upon them, to leave all without Excuse: And to let those also that fear God, know of the Love of God to their Souls. And so I was received into Prison, where I rest a Freeman of the Lord Jesus Christ, Blessed for ever more.  
The other three of my Brethren were Fined, two of them Five Pounds a piece, and the other Twenty Shillings, because they had been together with some other Friends of the Truth at a Meeting, to wait upon the Lord, to hear his Voice, and to Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem according to Scripture.  
Something might be said also of the Nakedness and Wretchedness of their Judges and Prosecutors, in their Proceed against them in this Matter, but hoping of their Repentance, it may be let alone here.  
The Fine for not putting off our Hats, mentioned in the beginning, it seems fell and came to nothing, for we heard no more of it.  
Thomas Taylor.   

To the Jury men of Stafford, that brought him in Guilty.  
YOU that are to be the Jury, to bring in that called the Verdict concerning the Servant of the Lord Thomas Taylor; I say, before you conclude any thing, consider in the Fear of the Lord God of Heaven and Earth what you do: You have heard things Debated, and you may know, and that in your Consciences will also tell you, that I am not really Guilty of the Breach of that Law, concerning that Oath called Allegiance: For it was made, as you may see, expressly against the Papists, who hold, it seems, such wicked things against Kings as is there expressed. But you might or should hear, that I declared against them, yea, and my Declaration was from the Truth of the Heart, the Searcher of Hearts knows it: And I also expressed my real Innocency and good Desires concerning the King, and all Men: Insomuch that the Judge himself confessed, I had as it were confessed to the thing in the Substance. And so you may see, if I Suffer, it is for Formalities, and not for Substance. For I believe, that that Custom of Swearing upon, and Kissing, a Book, was first invented in the Dark Time of Popery, when men's Minds were wholly, as it were, alienated from the Life and pure Knowledge of God, and gone into Idolatry. And so be not ye guilty of Sinning against God in this Matter? Neither let any of you have a hand in Oppressing a Man and his House, a Man and his Family; For if you be wise you will see, that taking that which God hath lent me in this World, for the Service of my Outward Man and Family, will not be a Blessing in the King's Treasures; For it's Righteousness upholds the King's Throne, and nothing of the contrary. So rests in the Will of God.  
Thomas Taylor.   

To King Charles the Second.  
On the Third Day of the Fifth Month, One Thousand Six Hundred Sixty and One, in the Morning, the Movings of God were in me, to the effect following to Write.  
AND now, O Charles Stuart, King in these Islands, whose height is grown great, and who art in the Heart of a Multitude, as if thou wert some Deity; unto thee, and to thy Nobles, thy Councils, thy Parliaments, thy Judges, and Justices, and all under Officers of that Nature: Thy Bishops and Clergy (so called) and all Officers and under Officers of that Nature: And to thy Captains of Hundreds and Thousands, and all under Officers of that Nature; unto you all, saith the Son of God, who is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and dreadful over all, whose Eye is as a flame of Fire, who came not to send Peace on the cursed Earth, but a Sword, and whose Sword never returns empty from the Battle; unto you all I say, saith the Holy One, the Lord Jesus Christ, Do not I see your ways, and your do, both what you have done, and what you do; yea, do not I search and see your Hearts and Reins, and know what you would do? O! consider, consider, do you know that I am near when you sit in Council, and work all your Works, even your darkest Works, and take notice of them, and treasures them up in my remembrance, to give to every Man according to his Ways, and the fruit of his Do? Do not I know that you all in Words profess me, and call me, Lord, Lord, and say, I am your Saviour; but alas, alas, you will none of me to Rule in you, and over you; nay, nay, you ask not Counsel at my Spirit, and so are not for my Honour in what you bring forth. Only sometimes, when my witness is reached in you, a little is done by some of you for my Babes; but then your Goodness stays not, but passeth away like the early Dew, and then your evil Hearts turn back again from me, and then you take Counsel one at another how to establish your own Kingdom, Wills. Glory, and Greatness, which is of this World, and regard not my Honour, my Glory, my People, who fear before me; and with Moses and all my Saints do quake and tremble at my Word, but suffers them to be a Prey to many, and lets mine Enemies go free amongst you. What shall Drunkards, Sweaters, Morris-dancers, Stage-players, Gamesters of all sorts, and Hypocrites of all sorts, have liberty to meet together to dishonour my Name, without danger and fear; and my Babes only who meet together to wait upon me to glorify my Name, sand to edify one another in the most Holy Faith, be threatened, stocked, and haled before the Judgment-Seats, and be Imprisoned, as though they only were the burden of the Land? Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord, and shall not my Soul be avenged on such a Nation and People as this. O! how hath the Enemy of the Soul deceived you, in making you believe, that you are setting up my Kingdom and Gospel, when you are fetting up your own Nests on high, and going about to establish your own Traditions. My Kingdom is not of this World, but that which you set up is of this World. My Worship stands in Spirit and Truth, yours in Form and Shadows, and outward Show, which the Hypocrites for self-ends can fast enough run into. My way is in a daily cross to all Flesh; yours in the Will and Liberty of the Flesh. O the burden, the burden that I bear of you! O the weight that you are unto my Spirit! O the cry, the cry and deep Groans of my oppressed Seed amongst you, because of your Iniquities! O! consider, consider, what is lately come to pass concerning Oliver Cromwell and his House, and his Friends and Flatterers; and shall not my Hand find out you, if you be found in their Ways, or worse? Did I visit (amongst other things) for the several Excesses committed about him in the time of his Life and Greatness, and especially for that at his Death, and shall I not visit for the several Excesses and Wastings of my Creatures about thee, O Charles Stuart, in these late Months, especially about that of thy Proclamation and Coronation, saith the Lord God? Lay things to Heart ye forgetful and stouthearted Children. What can you say that was Evil and Oppressive in their Days, and is not as yet amended in yours? I the Lord look for Judgement and Righteousness from you: I look that you should make use of my Power for the encouragement and help of them that love me, and fear my Name in the Lands, and not of their Oppressors: I will call you and all Nations quickly to account for all things. I will not be always (saith the Lord) as one that sleepeth or winketh. I will arise, I will come in mine eternal dreadful Power amongst you, O Sinners and Hypocrites in these Islands, and in all the Earth! I have been long as a gentle Lamb, and little oppressed Child amongst you! I will now arise! I will put on Zeal as a Cloak, and will clothe myself with Garments of Vengeance, and will roar from my Holy Hill, and will be as a Lion, and as a fierce Lion amongst you to take a Prey! And all your false Shepherds and pretended Watchmen with their false Instruments shall not frey me, nor in the least dismay me, nor deliver the Prey out of my hands: Neither will I hear their false Cry and Prayers, nor regard their deceitful Fast to do them good, who now in this day of my Visitation will none of my Counsels, but at naught set all my Love, and evil entreat my dear Servants who mourn amongst them, and in much tenderness warn them to Repentance. But oh! oh ye Mu●●●de of tall Cedars, ye strong Oaks, I will raise up a strong Wind amongst you, and your high tops shall dash against and split one another; and with your fall shall the great multitude of Bramble Bushes, Briar-Trees, and low creeping Shrubs, who admire and adore your Height and Greatness, and tremble at you, but not at me, (saith the Lord) shall be crushed down, together with you, in your Fall. But Israel shall do Valiantly, and your Fall shall be as a Resurrection to my dear Seed; and I will do Valiantly, saith the God of the Spirits of all Flesh, for all that wait for me, and love mine appearance. For Time is mine, and Place is mine, and I will not be limited (saith the Lord) and my Servants shall serve me, World without End; and that which hath not been seen, shall be known in the Earth, and Iniquity shall stop her Mouth! And Israel's Liberty shall be proclaimed over all the Earth. And all Holy Praises by the Lord's Redeemed and Ransomed ones shall be founded forth unto his Name for ever, as it is by the living in Jerusalem at this day; Even so come Lord Jesus, come quickly, saith my Spirit.  
Thomas Taylor.  
Thus much the Lord God of Heaven and Earth (who desireth not, nor delighteth not in the Death of Sinners, but rather that they might amend their Lives and live) was willing to have the King and his Servants to know, which might, according to its date, have come sooner to your hands, if it had been so ordered; but if it yet be ordered to come, I beseech you in the Bowels of Love, as a Servant of God, not to slight it, but weigh it well in the true Love and Light that searcheth all things, and it may be yet serviceable to you; for truly Wrath from the Lord is gone out against you, and how can it be turned back but by a speedy Repentance of those Evils for which it is gone forth; and by calling in all such Acts and Decrees as are gone forth, either before or since its Writing; whereby the pure Seed of God, in these Islands, either have been, or may be embondaged, and the good Spirit of God limited, For it is not fit that the Lord God of Glory should be stinted or limited in his Way: For he is a free Spirit, and will not be tied or bound up to any outward Form whatsoever, but will have his People Worship him in Spirit and Truth, and to be acted forth in the World, in such a form ●s he himself, by his Holy Spirit pleaseth to order them unto. And this is, was, and ever must be the order of the true Church in God built up of lively Stones, Elect and Precious of Abraham's Seed 〈…〉 for ever. By a Servant of Jesus Christ, and a Wellwisher to th● 〈…〉 and all People upon Earth, earnestly desiring the Welfare of all God's Creation, that it may be delivered from the Bondage of Corruption; and my Weapons are not Carnal but Spiritual; For if my Enemy Hunger I am taught to feed him, if he Thirst, to give him Drink; if he seek to do me any Evil, to overcome his Evil with Goodness, as the Lord hath dealt with me, and not to avenge myself, because it belongs to the Lord God for ever, who is worthy of all pure Obedience for evermore.  
Thomas Taylor. This last part dated in the Fourth Month, 1662.   

Against Lotteries.  
IS it not sad, O all People! to see such wicked and deceitful Inventions as these Lotteries still on Foot, and passing too and fro in the Land uncontrolled, after all the late Manifestations of God's Anger against the Nation and People thereof? O! when will People lay God's Judgements to Heart, and cease to Cousin and Deceive one another! Is there any so blind that they see not these filthy things called Lotteries, to be one of those Abominations that have come out of the bottomless Pit to deceive the People withal, and so to defile the Nations, to the pulling down God's heavy Judments upon you? O all People who are either the Inventors or Upholders of them, so cease, cease, from all such sinful and ungodly Things, whose Foundation is Covetousness, the very Root of all Evil, and mind the fear of the Lord God, lest the day of his Patience pass away from you, and you be shut up in that woeful Darkness, and Hell of Misery for all your Sins, where is nothing but weeping and wailing and gnashing of Teeth, for evermore. Rests a Witness for God, in his Power against the Sin of all People, without respect of Persons, and blessed are all who take warning betime, for the Lord is arisen out of his Holy Place, to ease him of all his Adversities.  
Thomas Taylor.   

To Stafford.  
O Stafford! Stafford! thy Judgement lingreth not, thy Condemnation slumbreth not, thine Iniquity aboundeth, and thy Transgressions are multiplied daily as the Sand of the Sea; yea, thou makes haste to fill up the measure of thine Iniquities, that the Indignation, when it cometh, and behold it cometh swiftly, and the Wrath of the Almighty, whom thou hast grieved, may be seen justly to come upon thee in the sight of all! O the mighty Patience and Long sufferance of God hath been great towards thee, in sparing thee hitherto 〈◊〉 but thou hast not at all answered the Goodness of God towards thee; thou art a Stage for all manner of Sin and Sinners to act their Part in thee, and thou a Partaker with the Ungodly in all their Ways; and so must thou assuredly partake with them of their Plagues, as sure as ever thou hast been of one Mind and Heart with them in their Sin; O the hardheartedness of thine Inhabitants, that could never Repent, nor lay things to Heart for your good, unto this Day, nor say within yourselves, What have we done? though the Lord hath made me a Warner and a Reprover unto you all, this Fifteen Years, both by Words and Writing, in Love, Truth, and Faithfulness, that your Souls might live and not die; showing unto you the Evil of your Do, that you might Repent and turn from them; but you would not hear, nor amend your Lives to this Day, but have increased your Sins as the Old World, whom God destroyed with Water, and Sodom, whom the Lord consumed with Fire; and like Jerusalem, whom God gave into the hands of a cruel Enemy, for all their mighty Sins, over whom the Prophet Jeremiah lamented, because they would not hear; and over whom Christ wept, because they would not believe: And so my Soul hath long, and yet shall weep in Secret for your Pride, if you will not now at length, before it be too late, humble yourselves, and repent of all your unholy Ways and Worships, whereby God's Soul is burdened for you, are most manifestly of those that say, Lord, Lord, in a dead form of words, out do not at all what he by his Spirit requires of you, but the contrary, and so you taking his Holy Name so manifoldly in vain, he will not hold you guiltless in his Judgement Day; so woe, woe, will unavoidable be your Portion from the Lord God, and everlasting Banishment from his Holy Presence of Life, except (as is said) ye speedily Repent in the deepest Humility and Godly Fear, as saith his Spirit in his Servant,  
Thomas Taylor.   

To the Mayor of Stafford.  
AND now to the Mayor of Stafford, who so busieth and trouble●h himself, without cause, about the Harmless and Peaceable Meetings of the People of God in their own Houses; if he would get true Praise with God and good Men, and Comfort to his own Soul, let him look into the Streets, and open places of the Town, and use his Authority, to the restraining and hindering of that great Wickedness, and abominable Debauchery, and Heathenish Practices, that are committed there, at such times as these called Christmas, i. e. in the face of the Sun. And let him now stand up for God, who is grieved and burdened with such things, if he would find Mercy to his Soul; for an Account to God must all give of their Stewardship: For what bad Customs shall one find amongst the Heathens, which at such times as these are not practised by the People of England, who in words profess Christ. But alas what will such a Profession do, where the Life and Power of Godliliness is wanting.  
Rests God's Servant, and all your Souls Friend Thomas Taylor.   

For them that Rule in Stafford.  
O Unrighteous People! What will ye do in the Day of the Lord, when the Just and Holy God, who lives for Ever, doth call you 20 Account for all your do? Do you judge it an Evil, and punishable by the Law, for one of us, though never so truly moved of God to come amongst you, when you are at your Worship, to speak a few words in a peaceable manner for your good, and yet can see no Evil in yourselves, to come in great Companies amongst us the People of God, when we are gathered together to worship God in his own free Spirit, as he hath taught us, and not only speak to us, but hawl, and pull us hither and thither, some one way, some another, without all Fear of God, yea, though you find us on our Knees praying to God, or other wise preaching the Everlasting Gospel? O how is it that you never seriously lay these things to Heart, and smite upon your Thigh in Godly Sorrow, saying, What have we done? How have we Transgressed God's Righteous Law? How shall we stand before the Judgment-seat of Jesus Christ, where all must appear, as well the High as the Low? Doth not Christ the Judge say, Whatsoever ye would that Men should do to you, even so do ye to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets? And therefore never boast of such a Law and Religion as is not one with the Law and Prophets of God; to the Witness of God in you all I speak, Would ye be done unto yourselves as you do by us in the foresaid Business? Nay, nay, we see by Experience the contrary. And so you think to carry things on with a high Hand, but God is higher than all, therefore fear him; for if you still go on offending against God, who shall plead for you? O say not within yourselves, We have Power, and therefore who shall question us, and control us? I say, there is no true Power but of God, and to him you must give Account for it; and the true Power is for the praise and protecting of them that do so well, as to Worship God in his Good Spirit and Truth, as Blessed be the Lord we do; and all our Adversaries never could, nor never can, make it appear to the contrary. And so you that are in Power, see that your Law be laid upon the Lawless, and not upon the Innocent, lest their Cry come up into the Ears of the Lord against you, and your Power be taken from you for your Abuse of it; for the Lord's Heart is for the Righteous, and against the Evil-doers in all Generations, without respect of Persons: Rests your Soul's Friend, though for my  to you I be too much hated by you; but for you I can say, praised be the Lord, Father forgive them, they do not well know what they do.  
Thomas Taylor. So be not Proud, for the Lord hath spoken, and a Consumption from the Lord will certainly come upon all that will not know God nor be subject to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.   

To the Kings and Rulers.  
O Ye Kings and Rulers of the Earth, who profess the Name of God and Christ, ought ye not to Rule for God and Christ, to whom ye must give Account of your Stewardship? And do you not read in the Scripture of Truth, that it is said, All Power in Heaven and Earth is given to Christ, and he doth what he sees good in Heaven and Earth, and all his Ways are Righteousness and Holiness for Ever; and that without him ye can do nothing; ought ye not therefore to take Counsel at his Spirit in all things, and so to be very Careful that you do nothing against him, nor his Children; for this Lord Jesus Christ, the Supreme and Great Ruler over all, hath a Generation of Just Men and Women upon the Earth, who are his Children, and as near and dear to him as the Apple of his Eye; and he that offends the least of these, offends against a Member of Christ's Body, and he will Recompense Tribulation to such as Trouble them; and every Knee to him shall bow, for God respects no Man's Person; he is higher than Agag; and King Saul himself, though he be taller by the Head than any Man in Israel, must down if he disobey God's Voice; and the Mighty Kingdom from Rehoboam must be rend, if he take Counsel of the Wicked to Oppress God's Heritage; and Great Nabuchadnezzar into a Beast shall be turned, if he grow Proud, and Rob God of his Honour; and Overturned shall all Kingdoms be, who Rule not in Righteousness; for the Lord is determined that Truth and Righteousness-shall Rule and have Dominion upon the Earth, and nothing else, and that Nation and People that will not now submit to Truth's Sceptre, shall come to nought. And seeing the Apostle saith, That such Magistrates as are God's Ordinance, are a Terror to evil Doers, and a Praise to such as do well: Then whose are they that do altogether discourage the Good, and encourage the Evil? They must needs be of the Number of those for whom the Lord by his Prophet complains of against Israel, saying, They have set up Kings, but not by me; and Princes, but I knew it not. These Kings and Princes were such as set up and carried on Idolatry in those days, and were even made glad with the Lies of the False Priests and Prophets; For in that day, as Troops of Robbers waited for a Man, so the Company of Priests murdered in the way by consent. See Hos. 6.9. And in the days of those Kings, saith Daniel, shall the Lord God of Heaven set up a Kingdom, and it shall be for ever. And ought not all People, who profess Christ, and hope to have Benefit and Comfort by his Appearance and Kingdom, to search, and see how they may come into Favour with this King, and be Heirs of this Kingdom? For behold I show you a Mystery, every Subject of this Kingdom, is an Heir of this Kingdom.  
Thomas Taylor.   

Concerning his being taken Prisoner of seven Years Continuance.  
THomas Taylor, Prisoner of the Lord, who oweth nothing but Love and  to the Creation of God, hath been a Sufferer here at Stafford, for no Evil at all, but because in Conscience to God he could not Swear, above seven whole Years, being taken as I was on my Journey with my Wife, as I was going into Worcestershire to see a Son that we had Apprentice there; and so the two Men called Justice Lain and Justice Pierchouse, being put on (it seems by a wicked Man) came upon me as I was standing without the Door of a House at Tipton-Green, where a few Friends and I had been for a little Season waiting upon God; and so the Meeting being broken up, and I, with the rest of Friends, ready to departed, every one to their place, and I on my Journey, as is said, they laid violent hands upon me, and caused a Constable to search me, as though I had been some dangerous Person, when, as the Lord knows, I bore no Carnal Weapons for this four and twenty Years space, neither did I Plot or Contrive an Evil to any Man in the least; but have, as much as in me laid, sought the Good of all Men in Word and Deed. And yet for my Good Will was I thus apprehended, as is said, by the two Men beforenamed (who since are both dead) and by them forthwith committed to the common Goal at Stafford for not Swearing, as is said. And so the same Spirit that so committed me, could not be satisfied until it had seen me run to a Praemunire, as they call it, for not Swearing; though the Man called Judge Tirrel, who did it, confessed before all the Country, I spoke or confessed the Substance of that Oath, called the Allegiance, yet premunired me for want of kissing the Book, or saying, I Swear, I Swear, or so, which are but light Matters compared with the Substance: For I told him and the rest, that Popery I was against, but not against the King, or good Government of this Nation. And therefore as the Lord hath, so will he ever judge Righteously betwixt me and my Persecutors, and bring the Wheel of his Judgements upon the Wicked, his Enemies.  
Thomas Taylor.   

To the Mayor and Priest of Stafford.  
WHAT! Is the Mayor and Priest of Stafford both in a dead Sleep, that neither Heart, Hand nor Tongue is left, either to punish or reprove open Wickedness and Profaneness committed in the open Sun amongst them, though both the Law of God and Man forbidden the same? What! Are not Players, Bear-wards, and such lewd and wicked Persons going about the Country, and practising their Wickedness as this day, not only condemned by the Law of God, the Light in all Consciences, according to Holy Scripture, but also in express words forbidden and punishable, as Rogues and Vagabonds, by the Laws of England, see the Statutes 39 Eliz. 4. & 1 Jac. 7. & 1 Jac. 25. with 3 Car. 4. And yet for all this no stop put to them, but even openly tolerated and cried up by the Multitudes of People in open Streets, to the great Dishonour of God, and Shame both of the Town and Nation, when the Servants of the Lord cannot be suffered so openly to cry Repentance, and declare God's Judgements against them, and the like Abominations that are in the World? And therefore may it not be well said of you, as it was by Jeremiah the Prophet of old, Chap. 10.21. The Pastors are become Brutish, and have not sought the Lord, therefore they shall not prosper, and all their Flocks shall be scattered. And Chap. 11.9▪ And the Lord said unto me, a Conspiracy is found amongst the Men of Judah, and among the Inhabitants of Jerusalem, they are turned back to the Iniquities of their Forefathers which refused to hear my words. And Isaiah 59.14, 15. Judgement is turned away backward, and Justice standeth afar off, for Truth is fallen in the Street, and Equity cannot enter: Yea, Truth faileth, and he that departs from Evil, makes himself a Prey; and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no Judgement. So awake and arise, and consider well of things, and repent, lest the Lord God come upon you in his fierce Wrath and Judgement, for these and all your Sins, whereby you have dishonoured him and the King, and suffered your Neighbours to be unhelped, when it was in the Power of your hand to have done it. And what Christian Heart can endure to see one Creature tear, and spill the Blood, and torment one another, and that for no cause, but only to satisfy the Lusts of ungodly and lewd, vain and cruel Minds of the Multitude? Will not God punish for these things, and his Soul be avenged on such a Nation as this, as have even corrupted the Earth with their Abominations? He that hath an Ear let him hear and fear.  
Thomas Taylor.   

Concerning the Fallen Christians.  
BLUSH O Heavens! and fear thou Earth! for the Lord God will certainly bring forth his Judgements, and plead the Cause of his Truth, in Vengeance and Righteousness, against an Hypocritical People, and Wicked Generation, scattered upon the Earth in several Countries, who call themselves Christians, and yet none more contrary to Christ in Heart and Life than they. For they strengthen the Hands of the Wicked in all the World with their lewd Practices, and cause the Name of Christ to be Blasphemed by their evil Do: They surpass the Deeds of the Wicked, and exceed all the Heathen that ever went before them, for they Eat and Drink to the highest Excess of Gluttony and Drunkenness, and Apparel themselves to the greatest Measure of Pride and Vanity that ever was. Their Inventions, how to please themselves, and satisfy one another's ungodly Lust, are innumerable; and the Burden of their Covetousness, Unreasonableness, Oppressions, Uncleannesses, Profaneness, Superstitions, Foolishness, Sports, Pleasures, Pastimes, and Unchristian Do, is too heavy for God long to endure; yea, and that which serveth to fill up, yea, to make the Measure of their Iniquities to overflow, is their Hatred and Persecutions of the Righteous that are amongst them: And therefore now again doth the Lord God say the second time, Ah! I will ease me of mine Adversaries, and be avenged of mine Enemies, and will cause the Arm of my Power to rest upon them, and the Power of my Jealousy and Wrath to consume them; until they know and acknowledge their mighty Sins, and be unfeignedly humbled, and repent before me for them: For their Iniquities are Grievous, and I am weary with forbearing, saith the Lord of the whole Earth, God over all, to be dreaded for ever, who will shiver in sunder the Hearts of the Stubborn Wicked his Enemies, and they shall fall, and never rise again.  
So be it, O glorious Lord God, for the raising up of thy own Dear Seed out of the great Captivity, faith my Spirit,  
Thomas Taylor.   

To the Vain People of the World.  
TO all the vain People of the World, of what sort soever, that go up and down the Country with their Vain Shows, Tricks, and Foolish Inventions, to deceive the People for filthy Lucre, by drawing their Minds from God, A warning from the Lord unto you all, howl, howl, the day of your Captivity, and Scattering, and Desolation is at hand; the Lord will be terrible to you, for you have long grieved his good Spirit, burdened his Seed, and deceived the People; so that you are grown fat, full, and most careless and forgetful of God and all Goodness; but the Lord will thin you, and empty you, and judge you in his Wrath, as a Company of deceived and deceiving Men, whose Minds the God of this World hath blinded, that you see not the Gospel of God, nor the good things thereof, which so much concern the good of your Immortal Souls, but you have chosen the God of this World, that wicked One, who Rules in all the Children of Disobedience, to be your Guide and Teacher; and the Gain of Sin before Goodness you have preferred, and chosen to your great hurt; and the Lord hath often called you to Repentance, but the Custom of Sin, and the filthy Lucre coming thereby, hath so blinded your Minds, and hardened your Hearts, that you have not set your Hearts to seek the Lord unto his Day, but cries, Peace to yourselves in your Sins, where there is no Peace; so if things of you that can hear and believe, consider, and lay things to Heart, before it be too late, for this is the day of the Visitation, from a Servant of God, and Lover of your Souls,  
Thomas Taylor.   

An Exhortation to all People.  
O People! where is your ascending with Christ, who are not yet arisen up out of your earthly and vain Conversation? What benefit can you have by any thing of Christ, whilst you remain Strangers to the Life of Christ, in the broad way of the World? Are you not in the broad way of the World, whilst your Lives are wholly fashioned to the course of the World? Your observing of a Day, and calling it Holy, will do you no good, so long as you abide in your old wont Unholiness and Sins. So seeing Christ is not only risen and ascended, but also come again by his blessed Spirit (as he promised) to gather his Saints to himself; Arise, consider, see where you are, and fear the Lord, and repent of all your false Ways and Worships, lest you be eternally shut out of his blessed Kingdom, withal Hypocrites, who in Words profess Christ, but in Deeds deny him; rests a Lover of your Souls,  
Thomas Taylor.   

To the Teachers and Magistrates of Tamworth.  
O Ye Magistrates, Teachers, Fathers, and Masters of the People of this Town of Tamworth! How is it that in all this long Profession of Christian Religion, you are not come to a better sense and feeling in your Hearts, than to suffer, if not to countenance, this vain and foolish Custom of Ringing and Jangling of Bells, and especially in your House of Worship, to the grief and burdening of the good Spirit of God, and the tender Souls of God's People, who are redeemed from such Vanities. O! consider, consider, how you will give account to God for yourselves and the People, especially the Youngmen, who are so greatly Corrupted and kept from God by such Practices; for they seeing you that are Rulers over them, suffering of them, if not delighted with it, they go on persuading themselves that they do no Evil in spending their precious Time and Strength upon such Vanities. For it's manifest, that all such as are exercised in such Vanities, spending several Hours in them, and that so often delight in them, and are Lovers of Pleasures more than Lovers of God, and so no Friends, but Enemies to the Gospel of Peace; so Repent all, and turn to the Lord's tender Spirit of Light and Life, and suffer it to have Place and Rule in in you, and it will not suffer you to live in such things as these, which not the true God, but the Evil Spirit of this wicked World hath set up, and keeps up to the Dishonour of God, and Blemish of the Profession you make: Rests a Lover of your Souls, and a Witness for God against all vain Inventions.  
Thomas Taylor.   

To Sinful People.  
AH sinful People! who, in the blindness of your Hearts and unbelief, are scattered upon the face of the whole Earth, from God's Way into the ways of Destruction, whose Delights is not at all in the Law of the Lord, neither are you afraid of the Judgements of our God, the pure and holy One, who Dwelleth in unspeakable Glory and powerful Majesty, whose Voice is uttered amongst you, and of whose terrible Judgements for Sin poured forth upon the Generations of the Wicked, from whose Loins you are sprung, you cannot be wholly Ignorant you are a corrupt Seed, a People in whom the Lord God of Heaven can have no delight; for in the ways of God, which are Holy, you delight not, but in your own ways, which are altogether Corrupt, you daily defile yourselves. Hear the Word of the Lord God, ye Rebellious ones, the Day of the Lord's fierce Wrath is nigh to come upon you, his Soul loathes all your Meetings; yea, your best Works are Abomination to him, your Prayers and Praises of your Temple are Sin; your Weddings Joy and Mirth is brutish as your Lusts are from which they proceed; you Buy, and Sell, and Marry, and Meet together to Worship, and all in the Accursed Thing, the Nature of the wicked One, which Christ came to destroy; and yet you are not ashamed to say, Did not Christ Institute our Marriages, and our Religion? Ah foolish People! when will you learn Wisdom? When shall Folly departed from ye? When shall the pure Voice of God and his Wisdom be heard, which cries to you for Repentance in the Streets, in your Hearts, and in all your Meetings? What will you make of Christ? Was he, or is, do you judge, such a one altogether as yourselves are? Does his Spirit delight in your Pipe, Dance, Drink, Rambling, Fooleries, unbridled Tongues, vain Religion? Is there any Time now left by him for such Things? Nay, verily, ever since he suffered upon the Cross, and ascended into Glory, the Times of the World's Mirth he hath put to an end, and for ever condemned it, and your Glory is no more; neither shall ever your sinful Hands find that any more that shall help you; but now you are called into the Cross of Christ, to deny yourselves, and forsake the Vanities and Wretchednesses ye delight and live in; and ye are exhorted to enter in at the straight Gate, and so to follow Christ in the Regeneration and new Life, where the Vanities of the World are judged, and put off with its false Flattering Religion and double Tongue, that would deceive God with the Lord, Lord, in the words; when the Heart is after every evil Lust, and the works of the Devil daily brought forth amongst you to his Dishonour. Now you are again warned to remember it; and now you have time to Repent in, prise it, lest the Door be shut.  
And unto you, O wretched Men! the Teachers of this People, who have caused them to err by your Lies, and by your Lightness, and by your destroying wrest of Scripture, who have received here of this vain People, and who receive Honour from this wretched Multitude, and they call you Masters, and you receive it; and indeed their Masters you are, and lead them Captive at your Will, after your blind Doctrines and Practices to where they are even Strangers with you to the Life Food. The Piper or Fidler brings you a couple of Carnal People to the Steeplehouse, and they come in to you to be Wedded, and in a few deceitful Words you join them together for filthy Lucre, and says, Whom God hath joined together let no Man separate; and than you send them forth again, with their Train, and the vain Man the Fiddler or Piper, or Waits, who brought them to you, receives them again, and goes with them to the place of Feasting, Drunkenness, and Sport, where the great God of Heaven and Earth, and Jesus Christ his Son is most highly Dishonoured with old and young all the Day and Night after, if not longer; and thus Lust gins the Match, and Lust carries it on and finishes it, and you are all but dead Men in God's sight, with all your do; and will you call this a joining in the Lord, and the Honourable Marriage. O Blasphemous Men, how dare ye so Blaspheme the glorious Name of God, shall you never be judged for these things; yea, verily, the Lord will require a strict Account, for it is now Day time, and you Sin in the Day after Warning; and so your Sins are the greater, and the Judgement will be accordingly. And as you begin with the People, so you lead them on with their corrupt Seed, bringing that also into your cursed Covenant, by sprinkling with earthly Water, which washes away the Sin; but the Lord God is separating ye all to the Sword, and you shall be a Prey to his Wrath; and his Servants who now Mourns for you, and thus Warns you, shall rejoice for ever, even so Lord Jesus, Amen and Amen.  
Thomas Taylor.   

To the Children of Men.  
O Ye Children of Men! doth not the Eye of the Lord God behold all your Do? and doth he not see all your studyings, how to satisfy and fulfil the Lusts and Desires of your own evil Hearts? Is not all your Gamings, Sport, and Misspend of your precious Time known to him? And when he beholds your Cockpits, your Bowling-Allies, your Playhouses, and the like places of Vanity, doth not his Soul abhor them that spends the Creation in making and setting up such things, and that lets forth his Heart in delight after the things there practised?  
O how is the Lord dishonoured by such do? Did Christ come into the World to hold up such things, or to pull them down? and will you profess Christ, and keep up those things which he came to destroy? O blush for shame, and lay your Hand upon your Mouth, and never boast of your Religion more, until you leave off your Vanities and Iniquities: For, because of the Evil of your Do will the Lord plead with you, and all the Children of Vanity; And the Wicked shall not be able to stand before him in this day of his Wrath, that is come and coming upon all the Earth, to consume the Sinners out of it, For the Lord hath a Controversy with the whole Earth, and by the Fiery Sword of his glorious Mouth will he get himself the Victory: And not by the Sword of either Great or Mean Men, shall the Earth be purged from her Dross. He that hath an Ear let him hear, and repent of the Evil of his Do. For he that goeth on in Sin, after the Admonition of Truth, shall not prosper, saith the Spirit.  
Thomas Taylor.   

To the Fencers.  
O Ye Fencers and Sword-Players, vain Men! How will you Fence off, or defend yourselves from the Judgements and Wrath of God that is to come upon you for your Sins? O what a Company you gathered together Yesterday for your own filthy Lucre sake, to the Dishonour of God, and wounding of all your poor Souls in the sight of God O the Wickedness of these Times, and Evils of these Evil Days! And what, O ye People, the Lovers and Beholders of these Vanities, will you not see the Evil of your Do? one Day gather together into that you call your Church, in a presence of Worshipping God, and the very next Day found assembled together with Drums into the County House, to see the Heathenish Actings of Two vain Men with Naked Swords, which, amongst Christians, should be put up into their Sheath. What Abomination is this, to see a Town and a Country gathered together, and that not of the Meanest of the People, to give their Money and spend their Time, to see Two vain Men Fight for a Wager, as they pretend, and yet in Hypocrisy too, to get the People's Money, and especially in these hard Times, when many poor Souls have not a Penny to buy them Bread withal! Will not God Judge for these things? Will not God's Soul be avenged on such a Nation as this? Yea, sure he will, and plenty in abundance of Drums and Naked Swords may you hear and see to your astonishment: And that in earnest to waste and cut down a Proud, Wicked, Gainsaying, and Hypocritical People. Howl ye Priests, the Head of all this Vileness, who have taught the People to be Heathens, and to delight their Hearts in things which God's Soul hateth. Howl ye Magistrates, who have born the Sword in vain, and have not withstood the do of the Wicked, but have suffered them to act their Abominations in the chief Places of your Towns, even before your Judgment-Seats. Howl all ye People, high and low, who are Upholders of, and Delighters in the vain Inventions and Heathenish Works of all sorts of Wicked Men, and your Hearts are secretly departed from the Living God; so that your delight is not in any of his Ways. The Lord's Controversy is with you, and he will certainly ease himself of you, and all his Adversaries, as saith his Spirit, in his Servant  
Thomas Taylor.   

Concerning Sprinkling.  
HEAR O ye Priests, and hearken O People, for the Lord hath a Controversy with you, because of the Evil of your Do, your Gatherings together are for the worse, and not the better; and the Lord can smell no Sweet Savour in your Feasts, because of his Name, which is Holy, which you so much take in vain at such times as these: For when you tell of Christening a Child, and Regenerating it, and making it an Heir of God's Kingdom, by such your Do, you deceive yourselves and the Infant greatly. And so when in words you seem to give Thanks to God for doing that which he neither doth, nor never promised to do by such a means, Do you not greatly dishonour him, and take his Name in vain? The Apostle Peter saith, It is not the washing away of the filth of the Flesh, but the answer of a good Conscience in the Resurrection of Jesus, that Sav●s. But what answer can the little Child have at present, who is sensible of no such thing? And for yourselves, your own words do daily bear witness against you, to be an Unsaved People; for you say, You do that you should not do, and leave undone what God commands, and that there is no Health in you: And this not only in such Do as this at this time, but also in the whole Course of your Lives you make good: For the Lord, I say, that he never required this at your hands, to wit, To take a little Water, and sprinkle it on a little Infant's Face, and then to say, that thereby it is made a Member of Christ, a Child of God, and Inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven. And the Scripture no where saith any such thing; and so you have no ground in the Truth for such a thing, nor for your Godfathers and Godmothers, as you in your Blindness call them, to promise that for the Child, which you never did perform for yourselves to this day, as is manifest, for to that of God in your Conscience I speak, When did you forsake the Devil and all his Works, Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World, and all the sinful Lusts and Desires of your Flesh? Nay, nay, it is most manifest in your Lives, as your words before set down prove against you to be otherwise. So in God's fear give over Mocking of God, and deceiving your own Souls, and the little Infants, and turn to the Lord in Spirit, that he may teach you, lest his Wrath break forth upon you, as it did upon the People of old, who went on in their Sins, and there be no Remedy.  
Thomas Taylor.   

Concerning Burying, and Churching of Women, etc.  
AT the casting Mould upon the Corpse in the Grave, the Priest shall say in the Burial these words,  
For as much as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great Mercy to take unto himself the Soul of our dear Brother here departed, we therefore commit his Body to the Ground, Earth to Earth, Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust, in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal Life, etc.  
And now lest any should say, they do not here say this in a particular Application of these words to that present Dead, in the Collect afterwards in the same Burial they say,  
That when we shall departed this Life, we may rest in him, as our hope is this our Brother doth: And that at the general Resurrection at the last day, they may be found acceptable in his sight, etc.  

In their Churching of Women,  
There is read the 116 Psalms or the 127, instead of that which in former times was read, wherein, The Sun shall not burn thee by day, nor the Moon by night.  
But still to understand, the Woman, whatever she be, must be considered of the same Heart and Soul as David was when he wrote these words, which is very often as contrary as Light is from Darkness, for afterwards they say, without fear, Save this Woman thy Servant, and answers, which putteth her trust in thee.  
And afterwards pretend to give Thanks for the Delivery of that Woman (whoever she be) which they call God's Servant, from the Pain and Peril of Childbirth, etc.  
Then the Woman must offer the accustomed Offering, now what these are I know not, but the Priest it seems doth: But why do they not enjoin them the Offerings of Moses, seeing you have your Pattern from thence? For in all the New Testament I never read of a Priest Churching of Women.  
In their Weddings they Swear, etc. saying, both the Man and the Woman, and that after they have promised, before all, to live together as Man and Wife, which one would think were sufficient, (but what can be sufficient where Truth is wanting) they must say, And thereto I plight thee my Troth; and yet not content with this neither. It is there said,  
Then shall they again lose their Hands, and the Man shall give to the Woman a Ring, laying the same upon the Book, with the accustomed Duty to the Priest and Clerk, (O here is the Business,) (this is that Wheel that carries all on, to wit, Money; and all is for Money amongst the Hirelings.) And the Priest taking the Ring, shall deliver it unto the Man, to put upon the fourth Finger of the Woman's left Hand, (what Sorcery is here) and the Man holding the Ring there, and taught by the Priest (it may well be said such a Priest as this that's blind, for it's certain God never taught such a thing as this) shall say,  
With this Ring I thee Wed, with my Body I thee Worship, and with all my Worldly Goods I thee endow.  
And this they must pretend to do In the Name of the Father, etc. Thus taking God's Name continually in Vain in their vain and uncircumcised Lips.   

Visitation of the Sick.  
And in this the Priest of the Parish, be he never so Notorious a Sinner himself, yet he must say coming in, Peace be to this House; and why, because Christ said to such as he sent in the Power of his own Spirit, that they, going upon the Message of the Gospel, might say, where they entered, Peace be to this House, or so. But really God will not be mocked, for what have Hirelings and wicked Men, who abide not in Christ's Doctrine, to do with Peace. What, because Paul, by the Power of Jesus, cast out Devils out of People, must therefore the Exorcists, the Sons of Seva, though he was chief of the Priests, do so? Nay, but must be given to know, through Judgement, their bold Presumption, see Acts 19.13, etc. And here must the Sick Man, though never so bad, be prayed for thus,  
O Lord Save thy Servant which putteth his Trust in thee, etc.  
But what, O bold Priest, if the Lord should even then call thee to Judgement, and say to thee, How dost thou know he is my Servant, and putteth his Trust in me? What signs of this hath he given in his Life and Conversation, or since thou came in, for the Tree is known by his Fruits? Would not the Priest be struck Dumb? Yea; as surely as ever the Man was, who dared to come to the Wedding without a Wedding-Garment.  
O what daubing with untempered Mortar is in all heir Do! The Lord will ease himself of all such Burdens, as these Men and Things are to his holy Soul, and ever blessed pure Spirit.  
But some may say, it's left to the Priest's liberty, whether he will so Pray for him before he have Confessed him or nay: Grant it be, but what then, O may the People or Priest say, the Creed was read to him, and he asked punctually whether he did believe it or no; and the Sick Man answered, That all that he did steadfastly believe. I answer, Did he so: Then see in the Book how that came about, even by their own means; for the Book saith, That after the Priest hath asked the Sick Party, whether he believe those Articles of the Creed; that the Sick Person shall answer, All this I steadfastly believe. Then it seems he must say so right or wrong. O these Men made Forms and Customs of Praying, Confessings and Professions, what Havoc they have made in the World. And afterwards it's so, that if the Party feel himself burdened with Sin, and confess it, and desire Absolution, the Priest shall Absolve him in these words,  
Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath left Power in his Church to Absolve all Sinners who truly repent and believe in him, of his great Mercy forgive thee thine Offences. And by his Authority committed to me, I Absolve thee from all thy Sins, In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  
And yet in the next words, called the Collect, Pray for the Forgiveness of his Sins, as though nothing were done, as indeed there is not. O Confusion!  
The last thing in the old Service, is the Commination, or Denouncing of God's Judgements against Sinners, to be used on the first day of Lent, or at other times as the Ordinary shall appoint.   
Thomas Taylor.   

A Testimony against Bull and Bearbaiting.  
O Ye Magistrates of Stafford, my Heart was grieved for ye and your Town, to see and hear Bulls and Bears led about your Streets with a Drum, and a multitude of People, in order to more Vanity and Wickedness, and that at such a time as this, wherein you pretend to be more Servants of God than ordinary, by your Communicating together in your Eating and Drinking the Signs of Christ's Body and Blood: But alas for you! What will all this avail you, so long as Bull and Bear-baitings are tolerated amongst you, with such full Allowance as this, to the Grief of God's Spirit, which abhors all such Cruel Sports and Heathenish Customs? Do you not publicly profess in your Church-Service, Repentance and Amendment of Life for all that's contrary to Christ? And do you not yet see, that to delight in seeing Bulls, and Bears, and Dogs, tearing and tormenting one another without cause, is a grievous Sin in the sight of God, and therefore not to be tolerated by you. Besides the great hurt it doth in the Minds of your young ones, who are led away from remembering their Creator in the days of their Youth by these things. Surely the Lord is grieved with you, will you not see the Evil of such Do; for I know if you would come to the Light of Christ in your Consciences, you could not but see them, and stand against them with all your might, and so discharge a good Conscience towards God and his Creation. And how do you know, but the general Liberty for these Evils to act upon the Stage of these Nations, is one cause of the present Judgement of the Sword amongst them.  
Rests God's Servant, who hath been a Mourner in Spirit for ye almost this Ten Years, because of the Evil of your Do; but as yet you have not laid things rightly to Heart, which shows your Misery to be great.  
Thomas Taylor.   

A Testimony against Sporting and Playing.  
NOne can rightly rejoice in the Birth of Christ, but the Spiritual Newborn in Christ. Those that think to please Christ with Eating, and Drinking, and Sporting, and Playing, are Carnally-minded, and the Carnal Mind is Enmity to God; and those that live in the Fleshly Mind cannot please God, Rom. 8.6, 7, 8. So its manifest, that the Service and Kingdom of God stands not in Meats and Drinks and Worldly Delights, but in Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost, Rom. 14.17. For Meats for the Belly, and the B●lly for Meats, but God will destroy b●th it and them, saith the Apostle. But God will never destroy such as Serve and Worship him in Spirit and Truth, all the days of their new and redeemed Life. And so it is manifest, the more Spiritual that any one is, the more are they dead and separated from that foolish Mind and vain Customs that the Evil World loves and lives in.  
And on the contrary, those that make most Provision for the Flesh, to satisfy it in the Lusts thereof, let the Time be what it may, are the greatest Enemies to Christ, and their own Souls; so let things be well weighed and considered, and it will appear to the open Eye, that God is not more dishonoured many Twelve Days of the Year, than in these that People pretend most to Honour him in; which, to a Godly Heart cannot but be matter of great Sorrow, as saith the Apostle, Phil. 3.18, 19 Many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even Weeping, that they are Enemies to the Cross of Christ, whose end is Destruction, whose God is their Belly, and whose Glory is in their Shame, who mind Earthly things.  
And this is the miserable and woeful Condition of the most part of People, that in these Days bear the name of Christians, over whom the Spirit mourns.  
Thomas Taylor.   

A Loving Exhortation, TO All Kings, Princes, Potentates, Bishops and People in the whole Christendom. Wherein is a Distinction betwixt the True and False Teachers.  
To be Read over in Meekness and the Fear of the Lord.  
OYE Kings, Princes, Potentates, and Rulers of the Earth, we desire not your Thrones, Honours, Places or Dignities, neither do we envy you for them; for we have enough in God our Father, who hath made us Kings and Priests to himself by Jesus Christ, Spiritually to reign over the Evil in the World, and to offer up ourselves in Righteousness to his Glory; and this is our Crown, and that which we strive after in a pure Conscience; for we are not of those that fight with Flesh and Blood, and with Carnal Weapons, for an Earthly Crown, but such as in the Strength of Almighty God are taught with Spiritual Weapons to War only against that Mystery of Iniquity and Power of Darkness, that captivates the precious Soul of Man, and keeps it short of the Glory of God; desiring from the Truth of our Hearts, that neither the Soul nor Body of any may perish, but that this Wicked one, which is the Enemy of both, may be destroyed out of the Earth, in this day of Christ, by the Spirit of his Mouth, and Brightness of his appearing; that so the whole Creation of God may be delivered from Bondage, to stand in its Holy Order, to the Glory of the Creator, as in the Beginning; that so he may take delight in the Children of Men, and make his Abode with them, as at that time, when the Morning Stars sung for Joy, and all was full of Beauty and Sweetness, and no Death in them.  
And O ye Bishops and high Teachers of the World, we desire not your Seats, neither do we envy you for your great Promotions, but do desire that you may know with us, the true Shepherd and Bishop of the Soul, Christ Jesus, the good and true Shepherd and Bishop, who gave himself for the Sheep, that he might Redeem them from all Iniquity, and deliver their Souls from the hands of all Oppression, to serve him in his own free Spirit, where none can come to make afraid. And as this Saviour you come to know and receive, your knowledge of Men and Things according to the Flesh will cease, and the Love of the World, and the World's things will die in you, and a Love to the Seed that breathes after Righteousness will arise in you, and you will know what God requires of you, and how you may do that which will commend you to God in the great Day of his Judgement, which is nigh at hand, and apply your Hearts thereto.  
Therefore awake, awake, arise, arise, for the great Day of the Lord is indeed nigh at hand, yea the Sun is already arisen, and his bright Glory shineth upon the Sons of the Morning, and the true fearching Light, from which nothing can be hid, is felt and known in the Earth, and before it the Workers of Iniquity are as Chaff, and before it can no mortal Man stand in Judgement, though he glister never so much in outward Glory in the World's eye; for in the presence of this Light, the Judgement proceedeth not according to Person or Worldly Appearance, but according to Truth, Equity and Righteousness; and so every Evil doer hates this Light because his Deeds are Evil, and the Light reproves him to his Face, and in his Heart, without respect to his Person: And therefore none but they whose Deeds are wrought in God, can willingly come to this Light with their Deeds, or endure that this Light should pass Judgement on them; for it's the Righteous only that hath Praise in the Presence of this pure God, the Light who lighteth every Man that cometh into the Word; and is come a Light in the World, that all through him might believe, and come out of Darkness, and the Deeds thereof, and be saved.  
So if any of you perish, it is in your love of Darkness, and your Destruction is of yourselves, for God would have you to be saved, and to that purpose holds forth his Love in his Light to your Consciences daily, that you might be warned and not perish: And if this Gospel of his Love and Grace, the Light, be hid from you, it is because the God of this World, with his deceitful Allurements, hath blinded your Eye. Mark, The God of this World hath blinded your Minds; that Old Serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, and Prince of the Power of the Air, which works in the Hearts of all Disobedient ones, hath captivated your Understanding, if this Gospel of Light you perceive not to Love and Obey it. And consider how the Power of Darkness deceives Man; it gins with him betimes, and works subtly with him in his Mind when he is tender and young, carrying him forth eagerly after Childish Vanities, and Youthful Lusts, if by the Light, that secretly Checks for these things, he be not resisted. The World tells the Youth, that by going forth into some Form of Religion, and conforming to that, is God's way, by which Man may be helped against his Sin; but God, the Truth, saith, I have laid help upon One that is mighty, Christ Jesus the Light, who is to be known in Man, a present help against Sin. And, by what means, saith David, may a young Man cleanse his way, save only by taking heed according to the Word of God. And, the Word is nigh, in the Heart, saith Paul, discerning the Thoughts and Intents thereof. And, the Light shineth in Darkness, saith John, (in Man) yea, in every Man that cometh into the World, making all things in secret, manifest; and who can bide their Deeds from it? So if the young Men come not to this Light, than they abide in Darkness, and grow up in Darkness, and covering themselves, but not with the Spirit of God, so long, until there be no Remedy, but the Woe and the Curse must needs come upon them. But he that followeth me, saith Christ, (the Light) shall not abide in Darkness, Sin nor Evil, but shall have the Light of Life, and shall not come into Condemnation.  
So, He that hath an ear, let him hear, and mind the Light of Christ in you, that lets you see all that ever you have done, and sets before you your Sins in order, and brings Judgement and Condemnation upon your Souls for them: And love the Light and its righteous Judgements, for Zion must be redeemed through Judgement; and bring all your Deeds, Words and Thoughts, to this Light of Christ, and hid not any thing from it; for he that hideth his Sins, from the Lord, shall not prosper. But he that in this true Light sees his Sin, and forsakes the Sin, and turns to God in his Light, and abides therein, shall be Blessed. But Woe is the Portion of such as turn not to him that Smites them, but instead of owning the Pricks and Reproofs of Wisdom, kick against them. These are the Ungodly, whose Sacrifice the Lord could never accept; but they abiding in their Sins, all their Prayers and Performances were still returned upon them, from the pure God, as Dung upon their Faces. Therefore, go not forth, saith Christ, for the Kingdom of Heaven (which he compared to many little things) is within you: And when they shall say, Lo here, lo there, saith Christ, go not after them: For those that draw People from the Light and Spirit of Christ (that Holy Anointing within) in Man, were always Antichrists. And in John the Apostle's Time, many of these were come; and, they went out from us, saith the same John (the beloved Disciple of Jesus.) From us, understand such as were in the Anointing of God, which taught all things, and they neeved not that any Man should teach them, abiding in the Anointing, wherewith their Souls and Spirits, of God were anointed; for that was true, perfect, and sufficient to lead them into all Truth, according to the Promise; it was in them a Spiritual Unction, a Free Gift from the Holy One in Christ, the promised Seed, with whom, through Faith, (the right Holy Faith) they were become one Spirit, and so became Heirs of the Promise, and true Witnesses of the New and Everlasting Covenant, which saith, And they shall all be taught of God. These are not outwardly anointed, as those under th● Law (the Figure) were, but these were and are Spiritually Anointed of God himself, in Christ, and so were and are true Heirs of the Gospel (the Substance) and true Children of the day, walking in that Heavenly and Eternal Light, wherein they could and do in truth say, Our Fellowship is with the Father and the Son. So here in this Holy Body there was no Antichrists; but those that went out from these into the World's Ways, Worships, Customs, Traditions and Inventions these were Antichrists: And now being gone forth from the Lord and his Spirits Teaching, they become one with the World, using their Tongues to talk of the things of God in the World's Spirit, without God: And so they being of the World (saith John) herefore the World hears them, 1 John 4.5. But he that is of God (saith the same John) heareth us, even us that abide in the Holy Anointing of God in us. And my Sheep hear my voice, saith Christ, and follow me, but a Stranger they will not follow. So there are two Spirits, the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of the evil World: And two sorts of Teachers accordingly; the one hears the Voice of God in Christ, and in the strength of this Spirit, goes forth with the Word of God, and Gospel of Truth in their Heart and Mouth, in Obedience to God, and pure Love to the Soul of Man, and not for filthy Lucre, nor any worldly End whatsoever: And these the true Seed, God's Little Ones, Lambs and Sheep hear, love, and are one with, merely for the Truth's sake, which is one, and endures for ever.  
But now contrariwise, the other sort of Teachers, who are rightly called Strangers, because they are Strangers to the Life of God, and Holy Motion of his Spirit; they go forth in their own Wills, according to the Motion of their own earthly Spirits, without God, for Self-ends, in the allowance of the earthly Power, Name, and Authority; not to build up the Body of Christ, or ●o minister to his in any, for to that they are Strangers, but to commend themselves to fallen Man's Wisdom for Self-advantage, and to gather People into several Forms and out side Professions and Observations, where all sorts of Sinners are taught to say, Lord, Lord, but never a one to do the Will of God perfectly from the Heart; and so they build up Babel, the City of Confusion, where there is like Priest, like People, the Teachers living in Sin, and the People that follow them living in their Sins, always learning, never learned to worship God aright: For the Teacher being blind through his Ignorance of God and Christ, he must needs lead them, that follow him from God, into the Ditch. And of this sort were they in Christ's time, that loved to be called of Men, Master; fair Sayers, but evil Doers, who loved the Praise of Men, and their Greetings in the Market, and their chief and high places in their Feasts and Synagogues; and loving, for this end, to go in long Robes, and costly Apparel, outwardly appearing beautified to the World's eye, but inwardly full of Pride, Covecousness, Uncleanness, the Spirit of Persecution, and all manner of unrighteousness, as one may read in the 23d Chapter of Matthew, and other places of Scripture, where Christ had to do with the false spirited Rabbis in his day, whom he compares to Graves, painted Tombs, Serpents and Vipers, who shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against Men, and neither entered in themselves nor suffered others, but did what they could to hinder those that were entering. And of such Christ gave his Disciples warning to take beed in time to come, and told them, though such Wolves should get the Sheep's clothing on them (to wit, the good words) yet they should not trust them, but should know them by their Fruits. And so the Tree that is by Nature a Thorn and a Thistle, hath manifested its Fruit; and by their Fruit the Children of Light now know them, and according to Christ's will, avoid them. And of this sort are they that not only in the days of Christ withstood him, but even the same that in all Ages withstood his Spirit and Work, as at this day. For with such earthly-spirited Teachers it was, that the Prophet Jeremiah's Heart was so broken in his day, as one may read all along the 23d Chapter of his Prophecy, and of whom in his fifth Chapter he so grievously complains, saying, A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the Land: The Prophets Prophesy falsely, and the Priests bear rule by their means, and the People love to have it so. And therefore Destruction from the Lord came upon them all. And these Teachers said still in their lying earthly Spirit, that Jerusalem (though sinful) should have Peace, and that no Evil should come upon them People, though they walked every Man after the Imagination of his own evil Heart, Jer. 23.17. And of this sort were they that the Lord sent his Prophet Micah to cry against, saying, Thus saith the Lord concerning the Prophets that make my People to err; that by't with their Teeth, and cry Peace; and he that putteth not into their Mouths, they even prepare War against him: Therefore Night and Darkness came upon them, and the Vision ceased from them in the just Judgement of God. For a self-end was in all their Work, and the dead Fly of Covetousness corrupted all: As one may read at large in the third Chapter of his Prophecy, Verse 5, etc. And of this sort are they, that Isaiah, the Prophet of God, in his time so grievously complains of also, as one may read in the 96th Chapter of his Prophecy, saying, Verse 9, etc. All ye Beasts of the Field come to devour; yea, all ye Beasts of the Forest: his Watchmen are blind, greedy, etc. all looking for their own way, every one for his Gain from his quarter, etc. And against this sort of earthly-spirited Teachers it was that God sent his Prophet Ezekiel to cry Woe against, saying, Woe to the Shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves; should not the Shepherds feed the Flock? Ye eat the Fat, and ye  you with the Wool, ye kill them that are fed, but ye feed not the Flocks. And so the God of this World, through Pride and Covetousness, had so blinded their Eye, and corrupted their Hearts, that they had neither Will nor Skill to help nor heal the poor diseased, sick, broken, scattered Souls of their Hearers; and therefore the Lord was glad to put them aside as Physicians of no value, and became the Teacher of his People himself; as one may read in the 34th Chapter of his Prophecy throughout. Glory to the Lord, who hath fulfilled his Promise to his Israel this day; and is become the Teacher of his People himself, whereby they come to be truly profited, as it is written, I the Lord thy God teach thee, O Israel, to profit. But the  Teachers, who have run in their Wills, for Self-ends, and the Lord never sent them, could never profit People at all: And as Christ Jesus the Lord, and his true Prophets, in former times were trouble and opposed by such Hirelings: So also the true Apostles of Christ did not escape the Trials and Oppositions of that deceitful Spirit by which they were acted, For such, saith Paul, are false Apostles, deceitful Workers, Satan's Ministers, transforming themselves into the likeness of the Apostles of Christ, 2 Cor. 11. Some of these were already come in his day: And I know, saith he, that after my departure grievous Wolves shall come in among you, not sparing the Flock: Also, of your own selves shall Men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away Disciples after them, Acts 20.29, etc. And as the Kingdom of Antichrist grew, these perverse things were established for Doctrine by a Law: For the very Name of Antichrist holds forth a Spirit opposing itself to every appearance of Christ, and of his Holy Spirit and Anointing in Man.  
The true Apostles and Ministers of Christ drew the Soul from Men and self, unto Christ, and his Anointing in them, to know that to teach them: But these, and all other False Teachers, draw from Christ and his Anointing within, to look at Flesh and Form without, which perfects not at all to God. And of this sort also are they, saith the same Paul, which creep into Houses (understand the great stone Houses, called Churches, as well as others) and lead captive silly Women, laden with sins, led away with divers Lusts; ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth, 2 Tim. 3. Of this sort, saith Paul, as shall come in the last perilous times, even Lovers of their own selves, Covetous, Boasters, Proud, Blasphemers, Unholy, (who say they are Christians, but are not so in truth) Fierce, etc. having the Form of Godliness, but denying the Power thereof; and these he exhorted true Believers to turn from; and so in Obedience to God, those now who are come to know Christ, and his Anointing in them, to teach them, are turned from such. And though these Deceivers have proceeded for a time, to wit, during the late Night of Apostasy, which Paul, 2 Thes. 2. spoke of, to deceive many; yet now that the Light is risen again from under the Earth, they are manifest, and can proceed no further. Let none therefore now be so void of understanding, as to brand the true Messengers of Jesus Christ in this Day, with the Name of Deceivers, because they declare Truth, not only publicly, but also from House to House, by virtue of the Holy Spirit only; for so did the Apostles themselves, and yet were no Creepers into Houses; for creeping into Houses denotes the Work of the Children of Darkness, who run without the Lord Jesus Christ, his Spirit, or Authority, in their own Wills, for Self-ends, as before; leading about People in their silliness and sinfulness all their Days, as by woeful Experience, in the late Ages of the World, since the Apostles Days, hath been fully manifest; wherein the World hath wondered after the Beast. And as there were false Prophets among the People, saith Peter, even so also shall there be False Teachers among you; who shall privily bring in Damnable Heresies, etc. 2 Pet. 2. But how may these be known, may some say? By their Fruits, saith Christ, ye shall know them. And of this sort are they, saith Peter in the same Chapter, who through Covetousness, with feigned words, make Merchandise of People; and by walking after the Flesh, in the Lust of Covetousness and Uncleanness, and Despite of Christ's Government, even deny the Lord that bought them. These are the Presumptuous Ones indeed, who count it Pleasure to Riot in the Daytime, speaking evil of the worthy things that God works and makes manifest in his Children, which these Presumptuous Ones know not. And these false Teachers are of those whose Eyes are full of Adultery, and that cannot cease from Sin: For how should they, seeing their Heart is exercised with Covetous Practices, loving the Wages of Unrighteousness, like Balaam, as he (to wit, the Apostle Peter) there speaks. And therefore, those that see not these are Blind indeed; and those that these Teachers can deceive, may well be said to be without a Foundation: And hence it hath come to pass, that through such Teacher's Wickedness, and People's Ignorance, the World hath been as a Wilderness. And now therefore is the Lord, according to his Blessed Promise, bringing up that knowledge of himself and his Christ again, that shall make the Wilderness a fruitful Field, and sweet smelling Garden for himself to be glorified in. And this knowledge of God shall cover the Earth as the Waters do the Sea. And thereby shall all hurting and destroying be done away from amongst Men, Isa. 65. last; as is this Day witnessed amongst such where this Knowledge of God hath place. Glory to his Name for Ever. So now therefore, all ye Kings, Princes, Potentates and Rulers of the Earth, see in what Principle you stand, and upon what Foundation you grow, and whose Work you are a doing; whether God's or your own. True Magistrates are not a Terror to the good, but to the evil. But how can ye see the good and the evil truly asunder, or know what to punish, and what to protect, if you come not to the Light, Christ Jesus, that true Light which lighteth every Man that cometh into the World (as was said before) to take Counsel at him, for he is the Wonderful Counsellor: and whatsoever makes things truly manifest is his Light, and with it every hard thing is known, and every secret thing found out, but without it nothing; but all People that walk in the Darkness of their own Understandings, do err in Vision, and stumble in Judgement, and so know not what they do, nor whither they go: And this way that seemeth good in the Mans own Eye, is that which always tended to Death, and disordered all things. And by such a Judgement Barrabas was Released, and the Innocent Jesus delivered to be Crucified; and by this the false Prophets in all Ages were protected and born up, and the Dear Servants of Christ cast out as a thing of nought.  
So arise, arise; awake, awake to Righteousness, and Sin not, for the Lord is on his way to give unto every Nation, and each People therein, Rewards according to their Works, without respect of Persons. And until God's Righteousness rule in all, and over all, how can any thing stand, let that of God in all Consciences judge; so lay things to heart, for this is the Day of your Visitation. Also, you Bishops and high Teachers, who are pleased in your Minds because accepted of Man; consider, Are you accepted of God? Is your Sacrifice so pure, and your Persons so innocent, that the Holy God can receive them? Is your Doctrine so sound, and Life incorrupt, that none can justly blame it? Have your Hands handled the Word of Life which you speak of to others? And do you know in yourselves what that living, sh●rp and powerful Word of God is, (which the Apostle, Heb. 4. speaks of) which divides betwixt Joint and 〈◊〉, Soul and Spirit, and discerneth all the thoughts and intents of every Heart? And are your Hearts cleansed by it? And do you Preach and Minister this internal, living, and eternal Truth (the Word) to the People, or the dead Letter only? See how it is: For the Fruit ●ow must be the real Witness of every Trees Nature. Have you received the Free gift from above? Then sell it not for Money. Would you be counted Ministers and Ambassadors for Christ, and would you have the Children of Light to own you? Then approve yourselves to them as Paul did to the Brethren in his Days, 2 Cor. 6.3, etc. In much Patience, in Afflictions, in Necessities, in Distresses, in Stripes, in Imprisonments; as dying, yet alive in the Hearts of the Hearers by the Power of Truth, etc. And let all People see that you mind the good of the Soul, and God's Glory, more than the World, and your own Self-ease and Advantage: For the Day is dawned that makes all things manifest. And lay by your Carnal Weapons, and make proof of your Spiritual Weapons (if you have any) and try a little, how you can persuade Men to be of your Mind by that means: For People begin to question much the forcing of Men into Religion by the carnal Sword, and outward Constraint, whether it be of God or no. For it's found by Experience, that into what People are forced by the outward Power, by the same means may they be forced out of that again, and so remain restless, and without a Foundation, until the Truth itself settle them. So set not up your rest in the Wilderness, much less in Egypt, but look towards the Holy Land, the undefiled, unmoveable Foundation, and suffer others to do so too. And those that have spied out the good Land, hinder them not from entering in, but help them on in their Journey, if you can, lest you be found Fighters against God. For now is the Effect of every Vision coming in; and a feeble one in this Blessed Jerusalem, that is descended, and daily coming down from God out of Heaven, is as David, and David as the Angel of God before them, Zach. 12.8. He that runs may now read, if his Eye be open. And Blessed are all that have believed in God's Holy Name; these will not be troubled at Zion's Prosperity, but will set to their Seal that God is true, and praise the Lord with us, the Children of the Womb of the Eternal Morning, Praised be God. So be it.  
And all know a separation in yourselves betwixt the Precious and the Vile, and the Vile brought under, and the Precious bearing rule there, and then will you be in some measure able to discern and judge aright of things abroad, but not until then. The Carnal Man seeks to gather a great heap into a Form, but the Spiritual Man, whose Eye is in his Head, he seeks to bring People out of the Evil of the World, into the Good of God's Kingdom and Power of Godliness. Blessed are they that can lay down all their own at the Feet of Jesus Christ, that they may be what they are in him; for the World, and the Glory of it, and the Lovers of it, is as a fading Flower, but he only that doth the Will of God abides for Ever.  
Given forth in the Move of the Spirit of the Lord God, in his Servant, who is a Sufferer amongst his Reproached Ones (called Quakers) for the Testimony of his Everlasting Truth, Praised and Blessed be God for Ever, who hath counted us worthy thereunto. Thomas Taylor.   

A Few Necessary Questions and Conclusions For the Present Parish-Teachers OF ENGLAND, etc.  
Deeply to Ponder and Answer in God's Fear, for the good of their own and the People's Souls that are under them; for the Lord is arisen to call all things into Judgement.  
1. WHether any can be said to be true Gospel-Ministers, who are not sent of Christ, as Christ was sent of the Father, seeing Christ said, As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you; for all Power is given me in Heaven and Earth? John 20.21. and 17.18. Mat. 28.18.  
2. Whether any can be justly blamed for not hearing or upholding such as are not thus sent of Christ, seeing Christ said, My Sheep hear my Voice, and a Stranger they will not follow, for they know not the Voice of a Stranger? John 10. 1 John 4.  
3. Whether it benot the greatest Presumption for any, upon what Pretence soever, to take upon them to be Ambassadors for Christ (the Great King) who were never Authorized or Commissionated thereto by Christ, as aforesaid, it being his Proper Right to send forth his own Labourers?  
4. Whether any who are not thus sent of Christ, as Christ was sent of the Father, can profit the People at all, though they have never so much Authority from Man, or be furnished with never so much Oratory, or Wisdom of Words, or Excellency of Speech, according to Man, seeing the Scripture testifieth, The World by Wisdom knew not God? 1 Cor. 1.  
And if any should say, How was Christ sent, or can any be sent now as Christ was sent? I Answer, Christ was sent in the Wisdom, Power and Spirit of the end less Love and Life of the Father, to Preach the Kingdom of God, and the Everlasting Gospel thereof, as it's said, Luke 4.18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the Poor, etc. and so were the true Ministers formerly sent of Christ, Luke the last, 49. Acts 26.16, 17. Acts 20.28. John 16.13, 14, 15. 2 Cor. 3.5, 6. And as in all former Ages, all the true Messengers and Ministers of God and Christ were sent in the Wisdom, Power and Spirit of God and Christ, and thereby directed and guided in their Work, both when, to whom, and what to speak, Jer. 17. etc. Exod. 3.10, etc. Amos 7.14, 16. Acts 10.19, 20. Acts 8.26, 27, 29. 1 Cor. 2.12, 13. Gal. 2.7, 8. Even so are Christ's true Messengers and Ministers sent now, and always must be, because without Christ they can do nothing, John 15.5. and because no Man knows the Things of God, but the Spirit of God; and therefore without that Spirit it must needs be impossible for any, either rightly to know or minister the Things of God, 1 Cor. 2.7, etc. and so saith Christ, I am with you, (not some, but all my Servants) John 17.20, 21, 22. (not for a time only, but always) even to the end of the World, Mat. 28.20. And therefore saith the Apostle, How can they Preach, except they be sent? (to wit, as Christ was, Luke 4.18, etc.) as is plain by the Apostle's applying that in general to Christ's Ministers, which the Prophet speaks in the singular number of Christ, Rom. 10.15. compared with Isa. 52.7. Again, Christ was sanctified and sent, so are also his Messengers and Ministers sanctified, and sent as Lambs among Wolves, John 17.16, 17, 18, 19, etc. Isa. 6.7, 8. Let no unsanctified Man here shelter himself under Judas, who was only for the turn of fulfilling the Scripture numbered amongst the Twelve, but not at all for a Pattern of true Gospel-Ministers. Again, Christ came not to do his own Will, but the Will or him that sent him; and so it is with every one that Christ sends, and who abide in his Doctrine; and as Christ endured the Contradiction of Sinners against himself with all Patience, even so do all he sends, and who abide in his Doctrine, not avenging themselves, but committing their Cause to God, who is the Avenger of all Wrongs done to his Servants: Also seeing Christ said, The Tree is known by its Fruits, and by their Fruits ye may know such as come to you in Sheep's Clothing, but are inwardly ravening Wolves, Mat. 7.15. Therefore it is further asked of you,  
1. Whether such as love to be called of Men Master, which Christ forbade, Mat. 23, 10, 11, 12. or seek and affect other Titles of worldly Honour, and to be Great, and to exercise Lordship in the Earth, like the Gentiles, do not plainly manifest themselves to be such as Christ is not with, seeing he said to his, It shall not be so amongst you, Mark 10.24, etc. And how can they believe, (saith Christ) who receive Honour one of another, and seek not that Honour which comes from God only? John 5.44.  
2. Whether such as make Merchandise of their Words, even selling them as it were for Money, by agreeing with the People for so much a Year, to settle at a place for Preaching, etc. and yet will not settle at a Place as Teachers, but where they know beforehand so much Hire or certain Yearly Maintenance provided for them, seconded with the worldly Power, to compel People to pay it them, or by Force to take it from them, whether they will or no? I say, is not this a manifest Token that such Ministers are not sent of Christ, seeing he said to his, Freely ye have received, freely give; and the Apostle said, We seek not yours, but you? But if you say, the same Apostle also said, If we have ministered to you Spiritual Things, is it a great Matter if we partake of your Carnal Things?  
3. Then I Query (to let pass the Question here concerning what you minister, whether it is Spiritual or Carnal) whether ever the Apostle, or any true Minister of God and Christ, either under the Law or Gospel, did ever use any other Means for that they had allowed them of God, but the Power of the Word only? Or did ever the Apostle, or any Minister of Christ, receive, much less compel by worldly Force, any Maintenance for Preaching from such as denied them to be true Ministers? And so such now as not only compel Wages from their own Hearers, but even from such as they do no Work for, do plainly manifest by their Fruits that they have run, and God never sent them, and are so far from being Successors of the Apostles in their Spiritual and Heavenly Ministry, as that they Merit to be accounted of the Kind of Old Eli's Sons, who by their Do caused the Offerings of the Lord to be abhorred, 1 Sam. 2. from Ver. 12, to 18.  
4. Whether such as cannot content themselves with the Incomes of one Parish, though it be Sixty, Eighty, or One Hundred Pounds a Year, but seek after one or more Parishes or Places of Revenue besides, are not out of Measure Covetous, and so palpably out of the Doctrine of Christ, and so Idolaters, seeing the Apostle saith, Covetousness is Idolatry? E●●. ● 5.  
5. Whether did ever any Minister of Christ's sending Preach up the Tenth of People's Labour, or Increase of the Earth and earthly Things, as a standing Gospel-maintenance for his Ministers, seeing the Apostles Writings are wholly silent in the thing? And now if any of you in your high Minds think much or strange to be questioned concerning these things, such may know that these are the latter Days, spoken of by Jeremiah, Chap. 23.20, 21. wherein God hath done, and is doing great things for his People; And in these latter Days (saith the Prophet there) you shall consider perfectly of the pouring forth of God's Wrathful Indignation upon the false Prophets and Teachers, who have run, and God never sent them, as also throughout that whole 23d Chapter of Jeremiah is to be seen: Also concerning the false Prophets and Teachers you may read John 10.1, etc. Isa. 56.9, etc. Ezek. 34.1. Mic. 3. 2 Pet. 2. with divers other Scriptures, which speak of the false Prophets and Teachers, also of the true Ones; from all which these few (amongst many plain and necessary Conclusions) following may be gathered, viz.  
1. The true Prophet, Messenger or Teacher is sent of God (as before) in the Power and Spirit of God, with the living Word of God, which is as a Hammer and a Fire, to break the hard Hearts in sunder, and to burn up the Chaff and Dross in the Minds of Disobedient People, who know God's Will, but do it not, but hold the Truth in Unrighteousness.  
The false Prophet or Teacher, he runs in his own Will, and having stolen the Word from his Neighbour, useth his Tongue to say, the Lord saith, when the Lord never sent him, and so with good Words and fair Speeches deceives the Hearts of the unwary Hearers, making glad the Hearts of Hypocrites, and crying Peace, when the Lord hath not spoken it.  
2. The true Prophet, Teacher or Minister, as he hath received freely, so he ministers freely; but the false Teacher, as he runs in his own Will, so he ministers for a Self-end; and if People put into his Mouth, he cries Peace, but if otherwise, he prepares War against them, and out of his corrupt Heart cries, Give, and can never have enough.  
3. The true Minister hath a Mouth always open for God, and against Sin and Evil in every Appearance of it, without respect of Persons, and like a true Watcher gives notice of the Wolf's approach, and doth not flee when the Wolf comes, but opposes him in the Loss of all, because Christ's Sheep are dear to him: But the Hireling fleeth, because he is a Hireling, and careth not for the Sheep; and as concerning Sin, it may live in People for Ever for him, for he cannot bark against Sin, he is so full of it himself; for how can he that is an Unclean, Covetous, Proud Person himself (with a Face) stand against such Sins in others; nay, nay, the barking of such must needs be against such as do from the Heart departed from Iniquity, and so separate from such as live in it, according to the Call of the Lord.  
4. The true Prophet, Minister or Teacher fights the good Fight of Faith, and his Weapons are Spiritual, and not Carnal, and so he sights not with Flesh and Blood, to destroy men's Persons, Liberties or Estates, but his War is with the wicked Devil (the Power of Darkness in Men) that separates men's Minds, Hearts and Souls from God, and brings them into Sin's Captivity, and so under God's Wrath; and so the true Minister's Work is to Preach People out of that woeful Condition into the Liberty of the Sons of God: But the false Teacher or Minister his Weapons are Carnal, and he runs to the worldly Powers to help him against such as oppose his evil Doctrine and Practice, crying, Men of England, etc. help, as the Jews cried out against Paul, Men of Israel help, and so matter not though they weary the Magistrate, and set all the World in an Uproar, to keep themselves up in their high Places of Deceit, and so prove the greatest Enemies against God's Truth and his Servants of all other, as is abundantly to be seen in Scripture, concerning the Priests and their Confederates, who Presecuted Christ to Death, and raged against his Followers, because of their holy Testimony for God against their Soul-destroying Ways.  
5. The true Messengers and Ministers of Jesus Christ, as they are powerfully sent of God, so they work effectually for God, for the edifying of the Body of Christ, and perfecting of his People in Holiness to God: But the false Teacher, as he hath run without God, so his Work is for strengthening that Part in Man (to wit, the Serpent's Wisdom) which is against God, and wars against the Simplicity of Christ and Good of the Soul in all; and so they being themselves out of that Heavenly Power which perfects the Soul to God, and gives it perfect Victory over all Sin, they cry, No Perfection here, no perfect Victory over Sin on this side the Grave; and so they lead about a People laden with Sin and Lust, silly as Woman in the Transgression, ever learning, and never able by their Means to come to the Knowledge of the Truth itself, which sets the Soul free from all Sin; for how should People ever come to the Knowledge of the Truth by following such Teachers as are out of the Truth? For if the Blind lead the Blind, must they not both fall into the Ditch?  
Also seeing you profess the Scripture, and not unwritten Traditions to be your Rule, and would have People to believe, that what you do is according to Scripture, therefore it's demanded in a few words further,  
1. What Scripture have you for your Sprinkling of Infants, and Signing them with the Sign of the Cross, and telling People, That thereby they are made Members of Christ, Children of God, and Inheriters of the Kingdom of Heaven, when in your own Catechism, in Contradiction to your Practice you teach, That Children, by reason of their Infancy or tender Years, then cannot perform the Requests of Baptism, to vit, Faith and Repentance?  
2. And what Scripture have you for your Sureties (so called) which you most unscripturally call the children's God fathers and Godmothers, which you pretend to make up the Defect in the Infants, by and for putting these Pretended Sureties upon such bold Undertake, and unadvised Promising of that for the Child, which they never yet did for themselves, nor indeed have Faith to believe, that so great Works can be done in any upon Earth, to wit, To forsake the Devil and all his Works, etc. seeing that such generally held, That none can live without Sin: Is not Sin the Devil's Work? Yea, yea: And is there any Undertaker for Man to God-ward but Christ? And was there any Surety betwixt God and Man, but Christ only, who saith, Without me ye can do nothing? So then this evil Custom of your undertaking, being derogatory to the Honour of Christ, Who can say that God hath required it at your Hands? But if you will yet plead for it, show us your Scripture for it, if you would be esteemed to act as Protestants, and not as Papists, and to own Scripture above men's Inventions and Traditions.  
3. Also what Scripture have you for your Surplice, Canonical Coats, Typpets, etc. and for wearing Black rather than other Colours, seeing the Apostle blamed such as placed Religion in Days, Meats, and the like; surely he would not agree with such as place their Religion in Garments and Colours; Blessed be the Lord whose Day is dawned, which makes all things manifest, and none will hate the Light of it but Evil-doers.  
4. And what Scripture have you for your Tithes, Easter-reckoning, Mortuaries, and the like, now under the Gospel, and for your Laws, which you call Spiritual, to compel the People to pay you them, seeing Christ is come, the End of that Levitical Priesthood, under whi●h Tithes were payable by Law?  
5. What Scripture have you, who profess yourselves to be Christians, for your Swearing, Swearing in your Courts (so called) Swearing in your Spiritual Courts (〈◊〉)? The poor People called C●u●e●-Ward●ns, gr●●an under the Burden of this evil Custom: O this is far from following Christ, who said and saith unto his Swear not at all; but you are grown to that pass, that you cannot trust one another without Swearing, no not in your Church-matters: Is not this a Fruit of Apostasy, and departing from that ancient Faith which was once delivered to the Saints?  
6. And what Scripture have you for giving David's Prayers, Prophecying, Roar, Quake, Tremble and Confessions in Rhyme and Meeter to the World to sing, who are of another Spirit than David was, and so utterly unacquainted with David's Conditions; and so instead of singing with the Spirit and Understanding, as the ancient Christians did, you sing in a Form without the Power, thereby not honouring, but rather dishonouring the Lord, who is a Spirit, and will be worshipped in Spirit and Truth?  
7. And what Scripture have you for teaching People to worship one another, and for your Ring in Marriage, where you teach them to say (With this Ring I thee Wed, and with my Body I thee worship.) Is not God alone to be worshipped? How then are such to be accounted Christian Ministers, who abide not in Doctrine? 2 John 9  
And lastly, seeing you pretend to be Christ's Ministers, and so God's Freemen, I ask you these few plain Questions further, Gal. 1.10. viz.  
1. Why do you limit yourselves, or suffer others to limit you, to such and such Forms of Words, and Gestures, and Apparel, as is in Use amongst you in all your Services? Is it from any Excellency you see in those Words or Forms more than in any other? Or is it because you are so weak of Judgement, or brittle of Memory, as that you can do little without Book? Or is it not rather for filthy Lucre sake you are willing to be so●ty'd, because you know, that without Conformity to the Wills of the great Ones in this Matter, you can get no Power to compel People's earthly things from them? O what will not the Love of Money compel covetous-minded People unto! 2 Tim. 6.10, 11.  
2. What is that makes you go to the Bishop, rather than any other Man or Men, for Ordination? (as you you call it.) Is it because you know or believe that he is more Holy than any other? Or hath more Power to confer any Spiritual Gift upon you, by. Imposition of his Hands, more than any other? If you say, he hath, where had he it? And wherein doth it appear? Or is it not rather that you go now to the Bishop for Ordination, as you or your Brethren went formerly to the Classical Presbytery (so called) in Oliver's time, because this is the Way now, as the other was formerly, to empower you to come into Parishes, and be their Teachers, and command their earthly things from them by Force, whether you do any Spiritual Work for them or no? Yea, from such as in the Lord's Light see you to be no Ministers of the Spirit, and therefore not able to minister Spiritual things, and therefore deny you: Oh that ever such a thing should be among such as profess to be Gospel Ministers.  
3. Whether do you believe that all things in the Church ought to be done and spoken in the alone Power and Spirit of the Lord Jesus? And if so, then how can you expect but that God will overturn, overturn all Things, until he (to wit, the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom all Power in Heaven and Earth is given) comes to rule in all and over all, to whom of Right it belongs. So be it.  
And what is the Cause that you are so dark in your Minds, as concerning the Mystery of Christ's Kingdom, and the Spiritual Saving Power thereof, if it be not that mentioned in the third Chapter of Micah's Prophecy, verse 5, 6, 7. where it is written, Thus saith the Lord concerning the Prophets that make my People err, that by't with their Teeth, and cry Peace, and he that putteth not into their Mouths, they even prepare War against him; therefore Night shall be unto you, that you shall not have a Vision, and it shall be dark unto you, that you shall not Divine, and the Sun shall go down over the Prophets, and the Day shall be dark over them; then shall the Seers be ashamed, and the Diviners be confounded; yea, they shall all cover their Lips, for there is no Answers of God.  
So be not proud, for the Lord hath spoken, but see in the Dread and Fear of God, how you can acquit yourselves from the Charge against False Prophets and Teachers mentioned in this Paper, and more abundantly in the Scriptures; For if you be found in their Sins, how can ye escape their Plagues? Rev. 18.4. For Woe will be to them that seek deep to hid their Counsel from the Lord, and their Works are in the dark, and they say, who seethe us, and who knoweth us; see Isa. 29. from ver. 10. to ver. 16. Read, and consider, and be wise for your Souls.  
From one who Travels for the Prosperity of Zion, Thomas Taylor.   

A Strong and Terrible Alarm Sounded out of the Holy Mountain, against all the Wicked Inhabitants of the Earth.  
woe, woe unto you Rulers, Priests and People, who live without the Fear of God, and do hid your Abominations in Hypocrisy and Dissimulations, you are got into several Sects and Opinions, and there some of you have long made a Profession of God with your Tongues and Lips, but your Hearts are removed far from him; so that your Profession stinks in the Nostrils of the Almighty, and he joaths and abhors your Preaching and Praying, for you are weighed, and are found too light, your Covering are too narrow, they will no longer hid you; for now you are searching with the true Light which makes you manifest, and rips off your Cover, so that your Nakedness appears; the Day hath made you manifest; and now is the Light risen, and with it you are seen to be out of the Life of Truth; yea, you are found to be the greatest Enemies to the Life that be upon the Earth, for you seek to Murder it wheresoever it is brought forth; yea, and in all its appearances you seek to Suppress and Murder it: Remember your Forefathers Cried, Not this Man, but Barrabas; and your Cry and Practice is seen-to be the same in Nature now; for in you, and by you is the Son of God Cried against, who hath long forborn you; and, because his Judgements were not speedily executed upon you, have strengthened yourselves in your Wickedness and Imaginations, and have provoked the Almighty to Wrath, and have not considered that his Long suffering towards you was to have drawn you to Repentance; but the Day of your Visitation you have despised, and have hated the Light of his Son in your Consciences, which hath often showed you your Evil Deeds; and so have trampled the Blood of the Covenant under your Feet, and have done despite unto the Spirit of Grace, and have chosen to follow the vain Imaginations of your own Hearts, and have contemned the Counsel of the Lord, and would not that he should Reign over you. For which cause his Judgements linger not against you, but are ready to be poured forth upon your Heads, even upon you who have sold yourselves to work Abomination in the sight of the Lord, and are Worshipping in the House of your Imagery, and are joined and become one with the great Whore of Babylon, who hath made herself Drunk with the Blood of the Saints and Martyrs of Jesus, but now is she come in Remembrance before the Dreadful and Terrible God, and now shall both she and her lovers be Plagued and Tormented together. Therefore ye Nobleses and Rulers, Captains and Mighty Men, Priests and People, High and Low, Rich and Poor, Bond and Free, who have Committed Fornication with her: Awake to the Judgement, and behold your King, the Old Dragon, which is the Devil and Satan, for he is come forth and deceives you, and he is come to gather you to the Battle of the great Day which is at Hand, for the Harvest is ripe, and the Winepress is full, and your Fats overflow, and the Measure of your Iniquities is great and now will God be Avenged on you, who will bring you all down to the Valley of Descision, even there shall the Day of the Lord be upon you, which will be a Day of Pain and Anguish, a Day of Blackness and Gloominess, and of thick Darkness unto you that have slain the Witness of God, and have made merry over him: Your Mirth is almost at an end, and instead thereof shall be Mourning and bitter Lamentation which shall come upon you in one Day, and now is the Day of Vengeance Proclaimed, now is the Trumpet Sounded forth; behold the Lion Roareth. Therefore, O all Inhabitants of the Earth, Fear and Tremble before the Living Dreadful God, and Dread ye his Name: For, now is he arising in his Majesty and Glory to shake Terribly the Earth, the noise of a Trumpet goeth before him, which soundeth an Alarm, Strong and Mighty is he, there goeth a Sword out of his Mouth, and a Threshing Instrument is in his Hand, wherewith he will cut down the tall Cedars, and thresh the Mountains to Dust: A Fire proceedeth out of his Mouth also, which shall devour and burn before him, and none shall be able to quench it, and the Breath, that cometh forth of his Nostrils, shall scatter the Earth as the Whirlwind scattereth the Dust: Yea, Terrible and Dreadful will he be unto you wicked, who Live in the Earth, you shall not be able to behold nor stand in his Presence. Therefore Weep, and Howl, and Lament, for the Misery that is coming upon you, for Destruction is at hand; yea, the Lord hath decreed an overthrow of the Wicked of the Earth, for now shall his overflowing Scourge pass through the Earth, and the Besom of his Destruction shall sweep you away, except you Repent: For your Wordomr, and Murders, and Idolatry, and Drunkenness, and Swearing, and Lying, and Wantonness, and Profaneness is come in Remembrance before the Dreadful and Terrible God, who will be avenged on you at once.  
Rejoice ye Saints, who are clad with Zeal, and Shout for Joy, you Sons of the most High God, and Sing ye Heavens, and you that dwell therein, for the Lord is risen, ye are Witnesses thereof. Behold he cometh in and with ten thousands of his Saints, to judge the Earth in Righteousness, and to execute his Judgements upon his and your Enemies: The Vials of his Wrath are made ready to be poured out upon them; and his Indignation is waxed hot against them, which shall burn, and slay, and consume them unto the end, Glory, Glory, Honour, and Dominion, and Praise, be given unto our King, who liveth for ever, for he is worthy to reign over all; who was dead, but now is he alive, and liveth for evermore, and hath redeemed us from the Earth, and hath brought us above the Earth, to reign with him upon the Earth; eternal Praises to our King for evermore, who is above all, and over all; who was before the World was, and hath brought us to reign with him eternally above the World. Now here is the Joy and cause of our Rejoicing, who have followed the Lamb through great Tribulation, and are brought above the Tribulations, to dwell in the Presence of the Living God: This is Joy unspeakable and full of Glory which shall never have an end. Hallelujah to our King for evermore.  By a Friend Thomas Taylor.  

Watching for Sin.  
woe to you that wake to Sin, and watch for Iniquity; that spend their Days in Vanity, and so bring themselves with Sorrow to the Graves, and their Souls to the Pit of Destruction. The Trumpet of the Lord is sounding, to awaken you to the Judgement of his great Day, which burns as an Oven against all the Workers of Iniquity upon the Face of the whole Earth. The Apostle saith, Awake to Righteousness and Sin not. But you that observe these Popish Wakes and Antichristian Revels, you awake to Sin and Unrighteousness, with the Strength and Delight of your uncircumcised Hearts, like the Heathen that know not God. The Papists appointed a Feast at the Dedication of their old dead Mass-houses, and you their Children, who uphold these Wakes, bear witness against yourselves, that you were never yet in heart truly separated from their Idolatries▪ O the Blindness and Deadness of your Teachers, that cannot bark against this dead Idol; And therefore doth the Lord warn you all to stand up from the Dead, that Christ may be your Light, to see such wretched and Soul destroying Vanities as these Wakes are, that so, through Repentance for them, you may find Mercy, and not perish with them that perish from the right way. Rests God's Servant,  
Thomas Taylor.   

A Warning to the NATIONS, To Layaside all Prejudice and Enmity, The Ground of Strife and Wars; And to come and Embrace the Light of Christ Jesus, that they may see themselves, and come to be Saved and Healed, and United in the Love of God.  
THE Indignation of the Lord is upon all Nations, and his Fury upon all their Armies; he will greatly distress the Inhabitants of the World, he will now plead the Cause of his Covenant of Light against all those that withstand his Glorious Appearance, and Work of Restoration, in this the day of his Mighty Power, wherein he is giving the Kingdom of his Everlasting Peace to Israel's Seed under the whole Heavens, who fear his Great Name, and tremble at his Almighty Word of Life, which shakes not only Earth, but Heaven also: And now is the Lord God Almighty bringing forth his Glory to light, and creating the new Heavens and new Earth, wherein dwells Righteousness, according to his Promise, Isa. 65.17, etc. wherein the People beat their Swords into Plow-shears, and their Spears into Pruning-hooks, never to learn War any more; but every one now that believes in the Truth, Christ Jesus, the Light, and true King of Righteousness and Peace, shall sit under him, the true Vine, and none to make them afraid, Isa. 2.2, etc.  
And now, even now, is the Lord God Almighty arisen, and got up into his high Throne of Majesty and everlasting Glory to Reign; and of this his Peaceable Kingdom, which he hath begun to set up in his Trembling People, there never shall be End. The true Israel of God is now coming up out of the Spiritual Egypt indeed, to possess the true Land of Promise, the Inheritance and Free Gift of our God; and no Enchantment shall now stand against God's Spiritual Host, nor Divination against the Redeemed of the Lord, who have known his Wonders in the Deep, and known the Out-going of God's Power against Pharaoh, and all his Host, in the Red Sea of his Fiery Indignation. And now will God be exalted in Judgement, and avenged in Righteousness, upon all Nations and People under Heaven, who hold the Truth in Unrighteousness, and will not that God's Holy Son Christ Jesus, the Light, should reign, though he be come to Reign and Judge in the Earth. For to him, the Light, who lighteth every Man that cometh into the World, is all Power in Heaven and Earth given. And his Light shines freely into all your Hearts, O all People of the Earth; and shineth in the thickest Darkness to make manifest the Creator's Will to all your Consciences, though your Darkness, O People, comprehends it not; but it comprehends you, and all your dark Ways, and destroying Phoughts; and lets you see plainly, That for all your great Workings, and toilsome Labour in an Outside Profession in your Earthly Wills, you have wrought no Deliverance in the Earth; but your Souls Enemies still stand in strength. And it lets you see, that for all your Striving, and Fight, and Killing, and Spoiling, and Destroying one another about Earthly Things, you have done no good at all; but brought God's Judgements upon all your Souls, and pierced yourselves through with many Sorrows.  
And therefore the Heavenly Voice sounds through the Earth, and calls aloud in your Ears, and knocks at the Door of your Hearts, O all People of the World, High and Low, Professor and Profane, Jews and Gentiles, Christians, so called, and Turks; Arise, Arise, Awake, Awake, turn in your Minds to the pure Light of Jesus Christ the Judge of Quick and Dead, the Son of the eternal God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, who died for your Sins, and rose again to give you a New, Holy and Everlasting Life in himself, through Faith in his Name. And behold, he lives for evermore. And all see and search diligently in yourselves, what you know of his Holy Life made manifest in you, to destroy the Body of Sin and Death in you, which in the days of Darkness hath filled your Vessel, and brought your very Soul, Mind and Heart into the Thraldom of that Wicked One, who is called the Devil and Satan, and compassed with Terrors, and Fears, and Affrightments, your very Life, and whole Man, because of the Wrath of the Almighty, which you by your Sinful, and Unrighteous, and Unholy and Cruel Do, both against God and your Neighbour, have stirred up against you. And behold, the Earth languisheth because of these things; and the Children of Light, who are redeemed to God, out of these sore Evils and grievous Plagues, do mourn for you, and bewail your Misery Night and Day, as well knowing in the Light of the Lord, what your woeful End will be, if these Briars and Thorns, and noisome Weeds (the proper Fruits of the Curse) be still suffered to grow in you, and cumber God's Ground. Oh! how nigh unto Cursing is that Field, which God's Rain reins upon, and yet brings forth no better Fruit, than Killing, and Slaying, and Spoiling, and Cozening, and Cheating, and Defiling, and Oppressing one another, besides Lying, and Swearing, and Cursing, and Drunkenness, and Pride, and Persecution of God's Righteous Seed, with all other Abominations of the World against the Holy Light, etc. Checks and Reproofs of the good Spirit of the Almighty, both in their own Consciences, and the Mouth of God's Servants, and Holy Witness of Truth in the Scriptures, which notwithstanding all these their Abominations, many of them profess to be their Rule. But know, O Man, whoever thou art, or whatsoever Profession thou art of, that that's thy God and Ruler, and Father, and Teacher, and Way, whose Commands thou lovest, and whose Works thou dost, and whose Will in the inward of thy Mind thou clofest with: As Christ said to those Liars, false Accusers and Murderers in his Day, John 8.44, etc. Ye are of your Father the Devil, for his Works ye will do; he was a Liar and Murderer from the beginning. So thou that goest from the Light of God in thee, which shows thee thy Sin, and the evil Lustings and Desires of thy Flesh and Mind, thou goest from God, and from his Fear, and from the Way of Peace: And so, thou going from this, and joining to evil Motions of Sin in thy Flesh and corrupted Mind, thou joinest to the Devil, and so bringest forth Sin, which is the Devil's Work; and the Wages of every such Work is Death. And so in the very moment of time, in which thou dost the evil Work, whatsoever it be (contrary to God's Light in thee) thou diest the Death; and so remainest dead from the Life of God, and his blessed Righteousness, until the Day of true Repentance and Amendment of Life: And then what will it profit thee to have gained the World, or Victory over thy Neighbour, or Satisfaction to thy Lusts, to the Loss of thy Soul's Life?  
Therefore Arise, Arise, Awake, Awake; O all Nations and People! Come forth to the Judgement of this great Day of God Almighty: For now is the effect of every Vision to be known and felt in the Earth, and the High Towers of the City of Confusion, the Mystery Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots, shall fall to the Ground; and the Mountain of the House of the Lord shall be exalted over all; yea, the Lord alone, and his Righteousness, and Truth, and Peaceable Kingdom on the Top of all shall stand; and no Weapon form against him and his People shall ever prosper any more.  
And how is it, O all Nations, Kings and People, that ye are not yet willing, after so long a time knocking at the Gates of your Cities and Doors of your Hearts, that ye will not open to the King of Glory, Christ Jesus, the Light, that lighteth every one that cometh into the World, that he may come in, and be Judge, Lawgiver, and King in the midst of you, that the Desire of all Nations may come, and be Head in all? For what is it that the Soul that God hath made in all Nations doth desire, but to see itself unburthened of that grievous Corruption, which hath defiled it, and to be delivered from that Body of Sin and Death, which hath and doth so embodage it from the beginning, until the Day of Christ's Power be known within, to work the Work of God, and to destroy the Work of the Devil, and to save the Soul from its Sin, and to present it spotless to God, which is the true Salvation indeed?  
Now this is my Witness for God amongst the Servants and Redeemed of the Lord this Day, whom the World in Scorn calls Quakers, (who am a Sufferer with them for the Kingdom of God's sake) That there is none can thus know the Day of Christ's Power to Salvation, but as they believe and receive that Light of God and Christ, which they be freely enlightened withal, which shines in their very Hearts and Consciences, which searcheth their very Hearts and Reins, and maketh manifest to Man his Thoughts, and from which none can hid any thing; but all things are naked and bare before him, the Light Christ Jesus, who lighteth every Man that cometh into the World, Jew and Gentile, one and other, who searcheth the most hidden things of Man, and brings them forth to the Judgement of his Righteousness. For though the Night may hid the Adulterer and the Thief from Man, it hides them not from God; there is one nigh in the Heart and Conscience, that tells Man and Woman all that ever they have done, and do daily do, even their secret Thorghts; Is not this the Christ of God, the true Messiah, that was to come, and is come, and dwells amongst us? And we look not for another, and of his Fullness have all we received, and do daily receive, who believe in his Light, which shines in our Hearts, according to the Scriptures of Truth. And this the Fullness of our Blessed God and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Light, is it which filleth all that come to him with all Spiritual Blessings, and Heavenly good Things; and without whom all is Darkness, Emptiness, Death and Desolation, as all the poor, deceived, lost Sons and Daughters of the fallen Adam do sooner or later know, and are made to confess.  
But blessed are they that consider of things in time, and lay things, to Heart, before it be too late; For there are but Twelve Hours in a Day, in which Men may work, saith Chriff, and then the Night cometh, in which no Man can work: But the Door will be shut upon all who have slighted and neglected the Day of their Visitation.  
Oh England! England! and all Lands far and near, that you had known, or could yet believe the things that belong to your Everlasting Peace, before they be hid from your Eyes. Therefore turn ye, turn ye at the Reproofs of God's Wisdom and Spirit of Light and Truth, which sounds through all, and lets you see the Vanity and Evil of all your Works, and Frailty of all your Lives, how soon the Thread of your Life is out off; and then, where are the great Emperors and Kings, with all their Crowns? And where are the great Captains and Commanders, with all their Bloody Victories? And where are the Wise Achitophel's, and Cunning Counsellors of the Earth, with all their Admirers? And where are the Covetous Oppressors, with all their Houses full of the Spoils of the Innocent? Yea, in that Day, where is all the Glory and Lusts of the World, with all the Lovers of it? Surely in Darkness and Misery shall they lie down together, and Death shall have Dominion over them, even all who have not believed in the Light, Christ Jesus, and who have not followed him in the Regeneration, that they might be saved; but have spent their Days in the Pleasures and Lusts of the present Evil World to Destruction.  
Now therefore, O all People, Harken to the Counsel of the Lord in this your Day, and learn of the Lamb, the Light, who calls you to Repentance from all your grievous Ways. How long shall the Spirit of the Lord strive with you? When will you cease learning War, and Destruction, and Oppression, and Spoil? O when will you beat your Swords into Ploughshares, and your Spears into Pruning-hooks? O when will you go and say one to another, one Neighbour to another, and one Nation to another, Come let us all be humbled before the Lord God of Heaven and Earth, who made us all of one Blood, to dwell together upon the Face of the Earth in Truth, Goodness and Love to serve one another, and so as Branches of one Tree, to receive Life, and Virtue, and Power from our God into our Souls, to strengthen us unto his holy Work; who came not to destroy men's Lives, but to save them; whose Kingdom is not of this World, and therefore is not set up or maintained with Carnal Weapons, Violence and Spoil; but by the Eternal Spirit of our God, whose Fruit is in all Goodness, and Righteousness, and Truth? And let not the wicked Devil, the Destroyer, deceive us any more by his Lies and Delusions; but let us all with one Heart and Soul resist his Temptations. When he persuades us to seek to be great in the Earth, and be avenged on them we count our Enemies, let us not hearken to him; but let us over come their Evil with Goodness; and not to seek the Destruction of their Persons, or Spoil of their Estates, as the Heathens do that know not God; but let us follow the Example of Jesus Christ, God manifest in Flesh, who when he was reviled, reviled not again, but prayed for such as despitefully used him.  
O come, let us follow this meek Lamb in Righteousness and Truth, and learn of him in our Heart, who is Meek and Lowly, that we may find Rest for our Souls; who rebuked his Disciples, who would have had Fire to come down from Heaven to destroy the Samaritans, that would not at that time receive Christ. For what knowest thou, O Man, but the Samaritans may in time come to a better Mind; and then thou wilt see it was thy Will, and not God's, that desired their Destruction in their Sins. For Christ would have all to be saved, and come to the Knowledge of his Truth: But many will not come to him, that they might have Life, and so their Destruction is of themselves, and their Condemnation just. And who are those now therefore that withstand the Doctrine of the Truth, which said, Love your Enemies; and seek not the Destruction of their Persons, and the Spoil of their Estates; but seek by good Doctrine and good Life, to bring them out of their Sins: And if they will not, but rather hate thee for thy good Will, be content; thou hast quitted thy own Soul, and art clear of their Blood; and so thou becomest a Sufferer with Jesus, Christ, and shalt Reign with him in due time. I say, who are these now on the Earth, that withstand Truth, and continue in the hateful destroying Ways of the Old Jews and Gentiles, but such as will not be counselled by the Lamb of God, the Suffering Seed, who said, Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in Heart: But are Men of Corrupt Minds, who account Gain, and Worldly Honour, and Promotions more than Godliness, who cries Peace to themselves in their Sins: And that same Spirit in them which crie● that false Peace in them, is the same that stirs them up to Kill, Destroy, Oppress and Spoil one another for Selfish and Worldly Ends.  
But the Lord is arisen to Judge all these Evil Things, and to Redeem a Seed to serve him, as in the beginning of the Gospel, before Antichrist the Murderer got up amongst them, that professed Christ in Words, but denied him in Deeds; who had a Name that they lived but were dead from that true Life, which was in Christ Jesus, whom in Words they professed.  
And though the Passage we seel now to be as hard of coming from amongst the false Christians, and Turks, as it was for the first true Christians to come from amongst the Jews and Gentiles; yet the Almighty Power of our God is able over all, and through all to carry us on to the end, whom he hath called and saved with a mighty Salvation (ever-praised be his Name) and who will yet save his Beloved Seed Israel, and gather them from the East and West, and from the North and South, to sit down with Christ in his Kingdom: And this is no ill News to any, but who are glued to Deceit, and married to Iniquity; but it is Glad-tidings indeed to all that love their Souls, and the Honour and Glory of Truth more than the things of this perishing World. And I could desire that all who are apt to reason, as the Jews did, when they heard the Declaration of the Gospel of Peace, and Kingdom of God, which stands in Righteousness and Peace, saying, If we let this go on, than the Romans or Others will come and take our Place and Nation. I say, that they would consider, That the very Course which they, to wit the Jews, in the Denial of the Truth took for saving of themselves, brought utter Destruction upon them and their Nation.  
But what! shall vain Man in his foolish fallen Wisdom and earthly Reasoning, think to be Wiser than God, and to have a greater Care and Love to the Creation, than God himself, who made it, hath? What! shall Angels at the Birth of Christ●sing, Glory to God on high, and  to Men; and yet when the way of God in Christ is published, for bringing this great Work of Salvation to pass, vain Man must come in with his false Mind, and say, This is the way to confound all Order, and destroy all Good; And that this Doctrine turneth the World up-side down; And that the Messengers of Christ are pestilent Fellows, and Movers of Sedition?  
O Earth, Earth! Tremble before the Lord; for thou shalt never have Peace in thy own Ways, thou shalt never be Saved by thy own Strength, thou shalt never be Established by thy own Counsels, thou shalt never have true Peace, nor any Plenty within thy Borders, until thou believest the Gospel, which saith, Learn of Christ, whose Kingdom is not of this World, and whose Weapons are not Carnal, but Spiritual, Mighty through God; not for the pulling down of Outward Walls and Bodies, but for razing, and pulling down, and destroying the strong Holds of Sin and Satan in the Hearts and Lives of the Children of Men: For after that, saith the Apostle, The World by Wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the Foolishness of Preaching, (to wit, such Doctrine as this, which is a Cross and Stumbling-block to all Corrupt Flesh) to save them that believe.  
So lay things to heart, ye People of the World, and Inhabitants of all the Earth; for God's Purpose is not to exalt any Man or Men of this World, or to glorify any Flesh; but to exalt his own Son, Christ Jesus, the heavenly Man, the Lord from Heaven, the Truth over all; of whose Kingdom and Government there shall be no End. And all that obey his Voice, and for Obedience thereunto are made willing to Suffer with him, shall reign with him for evermore: But all others, whether they be called Christians or Turks, or whatever else, shall be as the Dust or Chaff before the Wind to be scattered, as the Lord by his Spirit from the beginning has said, and at this time speaketh in his Servant  
Thomas Taylor.   

To People whose Hearts are turned from the Lord.  
O All People! whose Hearts are gone away from the Lord, out of his Pure and Holy Fear, and are in the Broad Ways of the World, at Liberty in the Flesh, satisfying the Lusts and Desires thereof, making Merry over God's Witness, which lies at present as dead amongst you in your Hearts; and so because Judgement is not speedily, and at present executed upon you, therefore are your Hearts in you wholly set to do evil; and so you grow up like noisome Weeds in your Vanity, putting far from you the Evil Day: And none layeth to Heart the Afflictions of Joseph, nor considereth the Sufferings of the Seed of God, that in this present Day, and in these Nations, are great and many; but you Pipe, and Dance, and Feast, and Drink, and Revel, and Fatten your Hearts as in a Day of Slaughter, as if there were no such thing, and mind not the time to come, nor take notice of the present, wherein God would gather you out of your Sins to himself, and do you good for Ever, but you will not; therefore is your House left unto you desolate, and your present Mirth will be all turned into Mourning, when this thing you come to be made sensible of, by the Just Judgements of God, and his Hand upon you. Yea, and all your Temple-Songs will become Howl also in that Day; for what Pleasure, O vain People! can the Lord take in you, or your Services? for in that same Mind that all your  Evils are done, are your Preach, Praying, and Singing Performed; with the same Mouth you Bless, or rather seem to Bless God withal, with the same Mouth you Curse, and Swear, and Backbite, and Slander, and tell Lies, and bear False Witness against Men, and Sing your filthy Rhimes; and all these things, are Abomination to the pure God, who is calling a People out from amongst you, to Worship him in Spirit and in the Truth.  
Because of Swearing, Drunkenness, Wantonness, Pride, Covetousness, and Persecuting of the Just, thou Land of England, and of the whole World, even Mourneth and Languisheth. So rests God's Servant and Witness, in outward Bonds.  
Thomas Taylor.   

To the Magistrates.  
TO the Magistrates of the Town of Stafford, who are angry with with me for coming amongst you, whilst the Money-Sermon was in hand, and think you do God Service in Persecuting me for it; be it known unto you, that I did not Rebuke the Man in mine own Will, but the Lord, by my Mouth, did it for your Soul's Sake, that you might not always be deceived with such Men, whose Mouths, not the Lord, but filthy Lucres opens; for when the Rich Man Dies, then comes the Sermon at his Burial, but the Poor Man is put into the Earth with little Noise, and are ye so Ignorant as to think that the Lord takes not notice of such things, and doth, and will Reprove them: Will you Punish me, as those of old did the Prophets, for doing God's Work, and be Guiltless: What? Will you say with such evil Men, that the Lord hath forsaken the Earth, and is there Knowledge in the most High? And will you say, you have a Law, and therefore I must suffer, tho' spoke never so truly; because not according to your Wills, what think you of the Jews, who said concerning Christ, We have a Law, and by our Law he ought to die. And why consider you not in yourselves, that it is fit for God, by whom he will, to call such down as he never set up, as is come to pass in this present Business. Whether you Prosecute me upon Mary's Act, or upon the Oath, you will be guilty of Evil in the sight of God in both, for in the one you will but Imitate the Papists in Mary's Days; who, by that Law, endeavoured to stop the Mouth of God's Witness against their Superstitious and Idolatrous Do: And by the other, you will make yourselves like them whom God had taken way before you, who Persecuted me, because I could not Swear, and so break the Command of Christ, who saith unto his, Swear not at all.  
So consider what you do, for it is not me, but the Truth of God in me, that you have set yourselves against; for I would not have you destroy yourselves by striving against God's Truth, for though I be as nothing, and you may trample upon me as a Man, yet God's Ever-blessed Truth, which dwells in me, and is with me, and for me in this, as in other of his Works you cannot overcome, for Truth is stronger than all, and hath ever been my help, when Men of Evil Minds have risen up against me for Truth's Sake, I praise the Lord: And so I have found, by manifold Experience, That Jerusalem, the City of Truth, hath been a burdensome Stone to all that have fought against it; as saith Scripture, Zechariah 12.3. So if you be wise, you will Understand, and provide for your Soul's Peace, by letting the Innocent go free, and not keep him in Bondage for Pleasing yourselves, and the Hirelings, whom God is against, for it is not for their Sakes that the late wicked Popish Plot was discovered, but for God's Ever-blessed Truth's Sake, which he is purposed to Exalt in these latter Days, and for the sake of all such as love Truth in Sincerity. Rests God's Suffering Servant, and your Friend, who am, I praise God, no more, nor otherwise a disturber of your Peace, or the People's, than the Prophet Elias was in his Days of that Generation, though so by them Accounted, 1 Kings 18.17, 18.  
And consider well, in the cool of the Day, what is the reason that things go so oddly on concerning those. People, called Papists, who seek the hurt of all, without Respect of Persons or Professions, who cannot bow to their Idols: Is it not your Sins, O People, and your keeping amongst you so much of the Popish Leaven yet Unpurged out from you, as it was the Sins and Superstitions of Israel of old, that gave the Babylonians so much advantage against them. So buy of Christ Eyesalve, and anoint your Eyes with it that you may see, and then all things will be plain to you.  
Thomas Taylor.   

To the Generation of Fleshly Fallen Christians, not worthy the Name of Christians.  
CHrist Jesus came into the World to save his People from their Sins, and to cleanse their Hearts and Lives from all Unrighteousness, and not to keep up the Customs of the Heathen, whose Religion stands in Eating and Drinking, and Gaming and Sporting, and every way serving the Lust of the Flesh, and of the Mind which must Perish; for Meats for the Belly, and the Belly for Meats, but God shall destroy both it and them, saith the Apostle: And so Christ's Doctrine is not that People should make Provision for the Flesh to satisfy it in the Lusts thereof, with Meats, Drinks, Pleasures, Pastimes, and all manner of foolish Inventions, but that People should abstain from Fleshly Lusts, because they War against the Soul. And did not the Apostle weep for such as made a God of their Belly, and Gloried in their Shame, and minded Earthly Things; and plainly tells them, That they were enemy's to the Cross of Christ, and their End was Destruction, Phil. 3. And so thou, whoever thou art, that pretends to Honour Christ, by making Provision for thy Fleshly Part, to satisfy it in the Lusts thereof, thou art no Servant of God and Christ in this, but a denier of his Truth; and so instead of following Christ in the Regeneration and daily Cross, and Self denlal, thou follows Christ's Enemy, the great Antichrist and Satan, who hath seduced the Minds of People from Christ's Doctrine and Life, into the Doctrine and Life of all Unrighteousness; and so they that Eat and Drink, and Game and Sport after the Custom of the Heathenish World, their Professing of Christ in Words will do them no good in the Day of the Lord, when God will Reward every Man according to their Deeds; for now, instead of a Holy, Pure, Righteous, Selfdenying Life which God requires, thou offers him an unclean Sacrifice of an unholy and corrupt Life which he will not accept: And so many shall come in that Day, and say Lord, Lord, Open unto us; to whom he will Answer, I know ye not, depart ye Workers of Iniquity. O dreadful Sentence to such as it hits; who, like Esau, sell their Birthright for a mess of Pottage, and choose rather to follow the Fleshly, Sinful World in the broad way to Destruction, than the Lambs of Christ in the straight way that leads to Life Eternal: So all Awake and Arise from your dead defiled Customs and Practices of Sin, to the pure clean Fear and Worship of God; for God is a Spirit, and Christ is a Spiritual Lord, and will be Worshipped and Served in Spirit and Truth, and who is this Day seeking such to Worship him, who shall bring forth Fruits to him worthy, amendment of Life, And one thing is needful, saith Christ, and Mary that sat at his Feet hearing his Word, choosed that good Part which shall never be taken from her; but Martha was cumbered about much in the outward; as too many are now, and that in a Heart far from that of Mary's Heart, to their Souls great disadvantage. So he that hath an Ear, let him hear, for these Words are Faithful and True.  
Thomas Taylor.   

To the King.  
O That the King and all his Councils, the Parliament and the Rest would hear, and believe these Words; for in the Truth of God's Spirit, and Uprightness of my Heart, are they thus written, and sent to them for that purpose; Consider of your ways, for thus saith the Lord, the Holy One, Creator of Heaven and Earth, Mine Anger is kindled against you, because you have not made a Separation betwixt the Precious and the Vile, but have numbered my People, who tremble at my Word, with the Transgressor's, and will not hear the Voice of my Mouth to let my Israel have their Liberty to meet together in my own free Spirit, as I have Taught them to wait upon me, and to Edify one another in their most Holy Faith; but you will Punish them, and Afflict them, and evil Entreat them for this, and surely if you go on in this Work, and think to destroy this my Heritage from being a People upon the Earth, and to Root them up from bearing a Testimony to my Name in their Holy Assemblies before the Children of Men, I will Work Wonders; yea, I will Work Wonders, and make all the Earth to know that these your Thoughts and your Do are against the Lord and his People, as truly as ever Pharaoh and Egypt, and the Nations there abouts, in that Day of Israel 's Oppressions and Deliverances (did know) have you no Understanding, that you would eat up my People as Bread, saith the Lord, in whose hand is your Breath. Oh! that you could once lay things to Heart what you have done, and what you should do; and not still take Counsel at a wrong Spirit, which hurries you thus on in a way that is not good, to the grief of God's Spirit; and, in the end, (if continued in) your own Destruction, have you not Herd, and do not you Read, what God hath done in former times to great Kings and strong Nations, for their Do against his People; and do you not know that the same Evil Spirit which causes you in other things to do what you ought not to do, and to leave undone what you ought to do, is the butter of you forward in this grievous Work of Persecuting the Seed of God, who Fear and Tremble at his Word, and work out their Salvation with Fear and Trembling, as the Lord Commands; and who, in their Meetings, never had, nor at this Day have any other end, but to Glorify their God, the true God over all, in obeying his Voice with a true good Will in our Hearts towards all Men, without the least thought of Evil to any, as God's true God over all Men, without the least thought of Evil to any, as God's true Witness in all Consciences, where it is hearkened unto, doth plainly Testify at this Day, as it hath done ever since we were to God a People: For from War, Bloodshed, Wrong and Spoil hath the Lord called and delivered our Souls into his Holy Habitation of Truth, Peace and Love; that as Lambs we might in the midst of the Earth stand in Christ's Innocency, to hold forth the Virtues of God, who hath Blessed us in Christ Jesus, with the Knowledge of himself, whom to know is Life Eternal: And so if you hate us because God loves us, what will be the end; O Consider, consider, this matter is of the weightiest Nature: And so, though at present, by reason of the Darkness that is upon your Minds, you do not see us as we are, but present us to yourselves, as Evil-doers, or so; yet seeing you know in your own Consciences, as in Words also you often Confess that in other things you are miserable Offenders; you ought to be more Moderate, Sparing and Careful what you do in this present matter concerning us; because where Sin is, and remains, there must of necessity be a want of Ability as to the right judging and discerning of Men and Matters Spiritual, as Christ foretold of some, that, through the Error of their Minds, should think they did God Service, when they were Killing his Children: This was a sad Mistake. Therefore let this be upon your Hearts when you lie down, and when you rise up, and when you sit in Counsel, and walk by the Way, to keep you from Sinning this great Sin against God, for never did any strive against God and Prosper; and thus, in God's Spirit, having given you in a few Words, a hint of what certainly is, and will be: And so having cleared my Conscience to God, and paid my debt of Love to you in this matter, I leave all to him, who is the righteous Judge, and the true Pleader of the Cause of the Innocent in all Generations, and the Avenger of all Wrongs that are done upon the Earth; and rests his Servant, in whose Love is my Souls Life, who am a Sufferer for the Testimony of the Everlasting Truth, amongst the Despised People of God, whom the World, in Scorn, call Quakers; yet the Reproach of Christ to us is great Riches.  
Thomas Taylor.   

An Exhortation to remember the Judgements of God.  
HOW long, O ye People of this present time, will ye grieve and burden the Spirit of the Lord with your Works? How long shall he suffer your Manners unpunished? Is it not high time for the Lord to lay to his Hand, seeing you have so covered his Law with your Traditions and vain Customs, that the poor People can hardly find any one thing you do, savouring of Pure Christian Doctrine, or the Apostles Practice? But the Hand of the Man of Sin is the Worker in you, and by the power of the Earth is your Building upheld; But Woe to the Building which the Lord hath not builded, and Woe to the Builders of that House wherein all the Wicked of the World inhabit, lie down, and are at ease, and bring forth their Young: Is this the Church of God? Nay, nay, this is the Synagogue of Satan, and not of the Living God, for the House of God is Holy, and nothing but Holiness dwells there, nothing that defileth can enter this day into God's Temple, for Holiness is the Ornament of God's House for ever. So Woe to the false Builders and Daubers, that cry Peace to People in their Sins; the Lord speaks no Peace to any Sinners, but Judgements, Plagues, and Woes to Priests and People who live in their Sins, and plead for a Continuance in Sin as long as they live, as at this day. woe to the unspiritual Men, that bind heavy Burdens upon others, and will not touch them with one of their Fingers; that bind the poor Men whom they call Wardens of their Church, by Oath, to do impossible things, and punish them that make Conscience of their Ways and dare not Swear nor Forswear, but would keep their Hearts clean to Christ, in whose Church is neither Swearing nor Forswearing this day, but the Yea is Yea, and the Nay is Nay, in all things, in Truth and Righteousness. But Woe to the wicked World, that takes God's Name in their polluted Lips, the Lord is arisen to judge thee in Flames of Fire, for the day of the Lord is dawned upon thee, and thy building will he thrown down, and a visible downfall shall Babylon have upon the Face of all the Earth, for the Pastors have not gathered in, nor visited with Truth, the good Seed, but with Force and Violence over it do they Rule; and therefore is the Lord arisen to plead the Cause of the Poor and Innocent, as the Mouth of the Lord hath said. So be it.  
And let all the Earth fear and tremble before the Lord this day, f●r our God, the true God, is a consuming Fire, and will by no mea●s acquit the Guilty.  
Thomas Taylor.   

To the Unclean Communicants.  
YOU that tell of a Communion, and say, you eat Bread and drink Wine in remembrance of Christ's Death, and yet live in your Sins, confessing with your own Mouths, that you daily leave undone that which you ought to have done, and do what you ought not to do, and that there is no Health in you: Consider of your Ways, and see in what your Fellowship and Communion stands, Doth it not stand in Sin and Disobedience? And examine yourselves what you eat, Do you not eat Damnation to yourselves, not discerning the Lord's Body? For the Lord's Body is Holy, but you are Unholy, and live in Unholiness, as yourselves confess, and as is manifest in your Lives and Conversations; so you have cut yourselves off from being of Christ's Holy Body, you that live in your Sins, and do your own Wills, and leave undone that which he wills now to do; for no unholy or unclean thing can be joined to Christ's holy Body. Again, Christ's Body is a sound and healthful Body, and no Leper in it, but you have no Health in you, as you confess, and so you are of that Body and Number who have not as yet so much as touched the Hem of Christ's Garment with a true Heart, but are in the Mud, and Filth, and Diseasedness of this sinful lost World, through which the wholesome Waters of God's Sanctuary have not run to cleanse you: So all you do in this your sinful State, is unclean in the sight of God, and he can take no pleasure in your seeming Services, because of your Sins. For as the Leprous Bodies under the Law, were shut out of the outward typical holy Place, so the Spiritually Defiled are altogether unfit, in this day, to enter into, or have Communion with any thing of Christ's Kingdom.  
Thomas Taylor.   

God's Virtue and Goodness Extolled.  
O Thou pure God of all Heavenly Glory, Virtue and Goodness, how Holy are all thy Ways, and Righteous all thy Judgements! O how plainly and clearly hast thou manifested thy Mind and Will to Mankind in all Generations, and especially since the first publishing of thy Gospel, and in this of ours, and yet alas with grief of Heart may it be said, never was the Earth more burdened with the Evil of her Inhabitants than at this day; never was there more provoking of God by evil Customs and bad Do than now, They spend their Days in satisfying the Lusts of the Flesh, and of the Mind, that is Earthly, Sensual and Devilish, and say in their Hearts unto God, Depart from us, for we desire not the Knowledge of thy Ways. The straight way of Christ they perfectly hate, and the broad way of the World, which leads to Destruction, they willingly choose, because their Hearts are evil; and to Christ's Light they will not bring their Deeds, because they be so evil, that the Light will utterly condemn them. And thus in the Blindness of their uncircumcised Hearts, they heap up Wrath against the Day of Wrath and Revelation of God's just Judgements upon them. And though the Trumpet of the Lord hath been plentifully sounded amongst them, yet they will not hear nor awaken to Judgement, but say in their Hearts, Yet a little more Sleep, yet a little more folding of the Hands to Slumber, the Judgement is far off, we will not forego our present Pleasures and worldly Delights for Glory to come; Where is he that's come from the Dead to tell us what's in another World? Let's Eat and Drink and take our Fill of Pleasures, for tomorrow we Dye and are not, say they. O the Wretched, O the Atheistical Hearts of the Men of this present evil and adulterous Generation! The Lord is gathering his Lots from amongst them into his happy Fold of Truth and Rest, that the Judgements of God may hasten upon the wicked Sodom and Egypt who burden the Just, that God's righteous Soul may be eased of them: Even so come Lord Jesus, for thou art worthy to reign, saith my Soul.  
Thomas Taylor.   


Richard Baxter's BOOK, ENTITLED, The Cure of Church-Divisions, ANSWERED and CONFUTED; And he PROVED to be a Physician of no Value; Who hath Manifested his Folly and Weakness in Undertaking a Work which he hath so little Understanding in.  
By THOMAS TAYLOR.  For, from the least of them, even unto the greatest of them, every one is given to Covetousness, etc.— They have Healed also the Hurt of the Daughter of my People with sweet words, saying, Peace, Peace, when there is no Peace, Jer. 6.13, 14. — But ye are Forgers of Lies; ye are all Physicians of no Value, Job 13.4. 
London, Printed and Sold by T. Sowle, next Door to the Meetinghouse. in White-Hart-Court in Gracious-Street; and at the Bible in Leaden-Hall-Street, near the Market. 1697.   

Richard Baxter's BOOK, ENTITLED, The Cure of Church-Divisions. ANSWERED and CONFUTED.  
RICHARD BAXTER, a Man, who through a show of Learning and Religion, had gotten (in Oliver Cromwell's Days) a great Esteem in the Minds of the Ignorantly Zealous Professors of Religion in this Nation, and especially in the Parts of Worcester-shire, about Kidderminster, (where he then resided) hath since the Change of the Times, and coming in of the Old Common-Prayer-Book-again, much manifested his Nakedness, Confusion, and Unsoundness to every Eye, that in any measure is open to see the difference of Truth and Error in the ground of it, as by his Works appear: And that it is so, amongst other things, that Book of his, falsely called, The Cure of Church-Divisions, which I have now underhand to Answer, doth plainly manifest: For, instead of Curing Divisions, he hath showed himself to be a Physician of no Value, and so instead of Curing, hath struck at (under a Judas Kiss of Unity and Concord) the very Life and Foundation of all true Christian Unity and Amity; to wit, The Free and Perfect Teachings, and Gifts, and Work of the Spirit of Truth, (the Spirit of the Father and Son in his Believing Members) whereby they cry in a spotless Mind, Abba Father, and freely and powerfully declare the Glory of his Kingdom to the Children of Men; and instead thereof, would bring in and establish that Soul-deceiving and Church-dividing Doctrine of Humane Learning and Humane Helps, as absolutely necessary to the procuring and engaging, as it were, the Holy unlimited God to give unto the Creature his Holy Spirit, and the Knowledge of the Mysteries of his Eternal Will and Kingdom for the same; as in Answer to an Objection in the 6th Page of his Book, in his first Direction (so called) is to be seen. The Objection against his Carnal Reasonings, for Old Men's Knowledge, is in Page 5. where he saith,  
I know those that I have to do with will say, That Divinity is not learned by Labour and Men's teaching, as other Sciences and Arts are; but by Teaching (I add, yea, and most free Gift) of the Spirit of God, and therefore the Youngest may have as much of it as the Eldest.  
And to this R. B. there thus Answers.  
Answ. There is some Truth (saith he) and some Falsehood, and much Confusion in this Objection.  
But let us hear how this R. B. proves that, that there is either Falsehood or Confusion in the Objection.  
It is true (saith he) that the Saving Knowledge of Divinity must be taught by the Spirit of God; but it is false, that Labour and Humane Teaching are not the Means which must be used by them who will have the Teaching of the Spirit.  
Reply, But O the Darkness, yea, rather Enmity, that is in R. B's Heart against the free Teaching of God's Spirit! That he would find any thing against so plain and manifest Truth, as is in this Objection! But what will not Flesh do that is lifted up with Conceits of his own Wisdom, to keep up its Honour before the People, rather than the Pur● Undoubted Truth of the Gospel, and Self-abasing Spirit of Truth, should Reign and have the Pre-eminence.  
But to this I say, that a Child of Light, in the least Measure, doth easily see the Falsehood of that Spirit, by which this R. B. is acted in this his Answer: For the Wind of the Spirit bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, thou natural Man; but neither knows whence it comes, nor whither it goes; so is every one that is Born of God: And without this Birth, all thy Knowledge is Damning, not Saving, John 3.7, 8, etc. And Job 32.7.8. I said, Days should Speak, and multitude of Years should Teach Wisdom: But there is a Spirit in Man; and the Inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. And saith God, It shall come to pass in the last Days, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all Flesh; and they shall all know me, from the least to the greatest: Yea, and Youngmen shall see Visions, and Servants and Handmaids shall Prophesy: And ye have received an Unction from the Holy One: And ye know all things, (saith the Apostle John) and ye need not that any Man teach you. This is the Day of the Lord, wherein these things are fulfilled; praised be God: And the New Covenant abundantly witnessed in the Children of Light, whom this wicked Book of R. B's strikes at; but his Wickedness turns upon his own Pate, and his own Iniquities shall slay him: For he, by his Carnal Wisdom, would darken Knowledge, and shut the Kingdom of Heaven against Men, as his Predecessors of Old, the Pharisees mentioned Mat. 23. did: But the Lord hath opened a Door to the Believing Souls this Day, which all the Powers of Darkness shall never be able to shut; Glory to his Name for Ever.  
But what is that Labour and Humane Means that People must use for getting the Spirit of God, or Saving Knowledge of Divinity, as he calls it? Is it tumbling over a Ruck of Books, stuffed with Art and Humane Wisdom, or Learning from below, as this R. B. hath long done, to the darkening of his Heart from the Knowledge of God, and Way of his Spirit; so that he knows nothing of it, after all his long lost Labour, but what he knows naturally, as a Brute Beast (and that's plain) for it sanctifies him not, as by his confessing, That his best Duties, even his Prayers, are not without Sin; and affirming, That no Man prays without Sin? As in his Book is to be seen, Page 195. and in his Preface.  
And so the Prayer of Faith, and Preaching by the Spirit, he is ignorant of; yea, Preaching by the Spirit is become a Mock and a Derision to him and his Brethren at this Day: But Paul, and all the Ministers of Christ, Magnify the Free Grace and Infinite Gift of the Spirit of God, according to that (2 Cor. 3.) saying, Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think a good Thought; but our Ability is of God, who hath made us able Ministers of the New Testament; not of the Letter, but of the Spirit; for the Letter kills, but the Spirit gives Life: And that which the Eye hath not seen, nor Ear heard, nor hath entered into the Heart of Man (or Humane Heart) to conceive, hath God revealed to us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the Deep Things of God; and which Things we Preach or Speak not in the words which Man's (or Humane) Wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing Spiritual things with Spiritual, 1 Cor. 2.  
But this R. B. comparing Spiritual Things with Carnal, is not wise, who, because Old Men, and long Students in Arts and worldly Sciences, are most Wise, or likely to be so; therefore they that Labour and Study most in Books of Divinity (so called) get most of the Spirit's Teaching.  
O sad! that ever the Minds of the Children of Men should be so covered with Darkness, and yet read the Scripture of Truth, which witnesses to no one thing more than to the Free Teachings of the Spirit of God, without Humane Helps! For all the Help that is Humane, or that Man who is (ab humo, that is) from the Earth can afford, is but Natural, and of this World, which comes to nought; therefore is it said, That none of the Princes (that is, the Chief Men) of this World knew the Mystery of Christ and his Kingdom then, which made them so Band against him, see the 2d Psalm. And the Natural Man, with all his Natural Means, discerns not the things of the Spirit of God, because they are spiritually discerned: So every one that would know the Mind of the Spirit of God, must come to feel (through the Most Holy Faith) a measure of it in themselves: For, after ye believed, ye were Sealed with the Spirit of Promise, saith Paul: And the Word is nigh thee, even in thy Heart and Mouth: O thou that hast an Ear to hear, hear what the Spirit speaks, even the Word of Faith, which we Preach: Therefore go not forth from the Anointing of God in thy Heart, to hear the frothy and false Doctrine of such as R. B. who have run and set up themselves by their Humane Helps, in the Place of Teachers, and God never sent them, and therefore they cannot profit the People at all; but lead them about, like silly Women, laden with divers Sins and Lusts; yea, in their Prayers and best Performances, as is manifest; and so, not being sent and enabled by God's Spirit, they can never lead you to it, but from it, as is manifest.  
Also R. B. in Page 6. beforementioned, saith, The Objection hath much Confusion in it. (And how proves he that? But by saying) 1. It confoundeth the Spirit's teaching us, by inditing the Scripture with the Spirit's teaching us the meaning of the Scriptures. 2. And it confoundeth the Common Knowledge of Divinity, with the Saving Knowledge of it. No Man cometh to a Common Knowledge, fit for a Teacher of others, without the Spirit's teaching by the Scriptures; for that was the first part of the Spirit's teaching us, to inspire the Prophets and Apostles, to deliver a Teaching Word to the Churches, by which we might all be taught of God through all Generations. But many Men have Excellent Common Knowledge by this Word, and by the Common Help of the Spirit, without that Special Help, which begetteth Saving Knowledge: And all Knowledge requireth Time and Labour to obtain it, though the Spirit giveth it, and though it may be sanctified to us in a little time; but that may be a means of saving others, which saveth not the Man that hath it.  
And in Page 114. farther saith, Take them not for no Ministers that want Grace totally: And marvel not that Gifts are more necessary to the validity of Ministration, than Grace is; he may perform the Office of a Minister to the Benefit of the Church, that hath no Saving Grace at all. Thus far R. B.  
O! What Sorcery and Egyptian-darkness is here, to make void the New Covenant, and Free Gracious Teachings of the Spirit of God in these Days, and to Establish the Letter in the room and stead thereof, which only witnesses to is, and is a Declaration concerning what the Spirit of God did in them, and in the World before Christ's coming in the Flesh, and what was done during his being in it, and what the Spirit would do in the Believing Souls, and in the World after that time? But this the Hirelings do, that they by their trading with, and giving their false meanings upon the Scriptures, they may keep the People in Blindness, and so from the Anointing, and Teaching, and Enjoyment of that Spirit that was in them that gave forth Scriptures, that they may not see their deceitful Doctrines and Merchandizes, lest they should buy no more of them: For no Man that knows the badness of Babylon will buy them any more, and then will the Merchants of Souls mourn: For, they that know the Lord, and his Spirit's Teaching in them, which is the Good Old Way, yea, and the ever New, Fresh, Profitable, and Living WAY, will follow no more such Men, as would bring in, and establish a Graceless Ministry, as this R. B. doth here, to his Shame. But such Graceless Priests the Lord will have none of; nor his People neither: For my Sheep hear my Voice, saith Christ, and a stranger they will not hear: Surely a Graceless Man is this Stranger: They (to wit, graceless Men, saith John, 1 Epist. 4.) are of the World, and the World hear them; we are of God; Stewards of the manifold Grace of God, 1 Pet. 4.10. And they that are of God hear us.  
And so, Ever Blessed and Praised be the Great and Glorious Name of the Lord Jesus, who hath restored to them that Obey him, the Glorious Doctrine of the Spirit's Teaching, as was in the Apostles Days, according to his true Promise; where all in the Truth (of which we, the People of God, in Scorn called Quakers, are Members) is done in and by the Holy Spirit, praised be God; and nothing owned amongst us, but what is so done: Here is Praying in and by the Spirit, and Preaching in and by the Spirit, and Singing in and by the Spirit of our Holy Lord God; and so the Head being Spiritual, and the Members of the Body every one Spiritual, (for we are all Baptised by one Holy Spirit into the one Heavenly Body) our Food is also Spiritual Heavenly Bread, and Heavenly Wine, and the Water Spiritual that sanctifies us, and mak●s us clean to God in all our Sacrifices and Services: For Christ gave himself for his Church, which is his Body, that he might wash it, and present it spotless to himself, and without all Deformity, by the washing of Water (even the Water of Life) in the Word of Life, the Creating Word of the Everlasting Father, which is Spirit and Life, the Resurrection and the Life in every believing Soul; for we are Redeemed from Death thereby, that we might for Ever hereafter serve God, in the newness of his own Spirit, and not in the oldness of the Letter, as all such do as know no other Teaching Word but the Letter, as this R. B. doth; and so they having gotten a little Brain-knowledge by their Humane Helps, and not by the Spirit of Truth, they wrist Scripture to their own and others Destruction, desiring and boasting themselves to be Masters and Teachers of others, whilst themselves need teaching what the very Principles, or beginning Doctrines of the true Christian Religion is, as is plainly manifested by his seeking to bring in a graceless Minister, or Wolf into Christ's Fold, surely the Wolf comes not but to rob and destroy. All that ever came before me, saith Christ, are Thiefs and Robbers, and never came in by the Door, as its plain, the Graceless Man doth not, but hath climbed up another way by his Humane Helps, as Baxter speaks; and to this purpose, see John the 10th, and Mat. 23. where Christ at large sets forth such Wolfish Teachers; who can perk themselves up in Places of Teachers, by the World's help outwardly; but will neither enter into the Kingdom of God themselves, nor suffer others, but shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against Men, by such deceitful Doctrine and Antichristian Inventions, as this R. B. hath, by saying, That Gifts are more necessary to the validity of Ministration, than Grace is; and that he may perform the Office of a Minister to the Benefit of the Church, that hath no Saving Grace at all; And all Knowledge requireth Time and Labour to obtain it, though the Spirit giveth it; which last saying doth directly thwart and contradict the Scripture; which saith, I was found of them that sought me not, Isa. 65.1. And Paul sets believing and working in this great Matter of the Knowledge of God and Christ to Salvation, one against the other, as the way of the Law and Gospel; for to him that worketh, saith he, is the Reward reckoned of Debt, not Gift of Grace; but to him that Believeth it is of Grace, to the Glory of God's great Love to Man; for saith the Scripture, God so loved the World, that he gave his Son, that whosoever on him believe, should not perish, but have Life Eternal: And none can truly say, but those are the best knowers, and wisest People, that have Eternal Life in them, though they never laboured for it, nor sought for it; and so such as this R. B. who looks at all, as obtained by Time and Labour, they are those Spiritual Proud Ones, who are swel●ed so big with Spiritual Pride, that Self-idolizing Sin, which, as himself saith, in his second Direction (so called) is the great Rebel against God, the chief part of the Devil's Image, that one Sin which breaketh every Commandment; the Heart of the Old Man, the Root, and Parent, and Summary of all other Sin; the Antichristian Vice, which is most directly contrary to the Life of Christ, etc. and these Letterwise Men, that have parched together a Garment of Fig-leaves, to cover their sinful Nakedness, are Proud of mere supposed Spiritual Excellencies; for the way of the Blessed Spirit, and its free Gifts, and free Workings in the Children of Men, they are strangers unto; and then through their Humane Learning, and lost Labour, having gotten a little or a great deal of talk from the Letter of the Scripture concerning Religion, in their Earthly Spirits, which sees nothing of the Kingdom of God; they condemn the Generation of the Just, whom God teacheth and Blesseth with all Spiritual Knowledge in Heavenly Things, and call them Spiritually Proud; because they cannot but speak very highly, and yet in the truest humility of Heart, concerning the great Things that God hath done for their Souls; and because they cannot join with the Wicked whom God abhorreth, neither in their Worship, nor other sinful Customs.  
And so out of that Old Bottle, come all those unsavoury Expressions of R. B. , against the free Teachings of God's Spirit; yea, so great an Enemy he is to the wholesome Doctrine of Free Grace, that Page 7. he saith, Is it not Blaspheming of God's Spirit, to make it the Patron of men's sloth and idleness under pretence of Magnifying Grace?  
To which I answer, That pretending we deny, and truly say, with the Apostle, That God who commanded Light to shine out of Darkness, hath shined in our Hearts, to give us (yea, most freely without our own Lalabour, or any Humane Help) The Knowledge of the Glory of his Kingdom; and those that call this Doctrine, either in the Apostle, or us, a Patronising of Sloth and Idleness, are those that do really Blaspheme God's Spirit which teacheth it.  
But many Texts (saith R. B.) commands us diligence; and sloth is a great Sin.  
To which I say, the Scripture indeed commands a diligent Improvement, and holy Exercise of the free Gifts which the Spirit hath given the Faithful: But the Scripture never said, that Humane Labour and Helps are the Means to be used for getting the Spirit's Teachings; and without which no Knowledge in Spiritual Matters is now received; Stir up the Gift of God in thee, saith Paul to Timothy, so say I; but he no where puts the Humane or Carnal Man to Work or Labour to get the Spirit; for that is quite contrary to this Scripture, Gal. 3.2. as also Rom. 9.16.  
Obj. But this R. B. asks this Question, Why hath God settled a Teaching Office in his Church, and commanded all to attend, and hear, and learn, if we are taught by the Spirit without Man's help? Why were the Apostles sent forth into all the World, & c?  
Answer, Here is the great stumbling of these Unbelievers, (the Worldly-wise Ones indeed) what, because God in his free unlimited Spirit did begift Men, and in his own Spiritual Power sent them forth to preach and publish all abroad the Glory of his Kingdom, and Good Will to Men; cannot People therefore be taught by the Spirit without Man's help? What Reasoning's this? When the Scripture expressly saith, That all the Gifts, and Abilities, Helps, and Means of bringing People to God, and the Knowledge, and Enjoyment of all the Good Things of his Kingdom, are merely, solely, and wholly from God and his Blessed Spirit's free Gift in Christ, and not from Man at all: And therefore, when the Corinthians began to look at Man, whether Paul, or Apollo, or Cephas, he calls it Carnal, and said, Christ was not divided, signifying plainly it was Christ, and the Spirit of his Power, that alone did all in all; as Christ said. Joh. 15. Without me you can do nothing; for in the True Church Christ ever was, and ever will be all in all, and and Man nothing; as Paul said of himself, Paul is nothing: But in the False Church where R. B. is pleading for Man; yea, Graceless Ministers, Man is all, and Christ suffered to have no Rule: But those mine Enemies, saith Christ, that would not that I should Rule, bring them and slay them before my Face.  
But what sottishness is this in R. B. to ask such a Question as this, when himself confessed in the very last words before it, That none are so forward to Preach as these same Men that cry down men's Teaching? Whereby it plainly appears, that we do not deny God's Teachings, and the Spirit's Good and Gracious Gifts, freely given for the edifying and building up of the Body of Christ, till we all come to a perfect Man, to the measure and statutre of the fullness of Christ, no more than the Apostle did, Ephes. 4.11, etc. but that which we cry down, is that Antichristian Spirit in R. B. and all such Men as by setting up Self; and Flesh would draw from Christ and his Teachings in Spirit to look at them, and their Painted Words, and Love-killing Doctrines, who are this Day Goliah-like come forth to defy the Armies of the Living God; but the Stone cut out of the Mountain, without Hands, shall dash them and their Images all to pieces; Glory to the Lord for Ever. And though they with their Humane or Earthly Spirit and Sorceries, withstand the Truth and Spirit thereof, as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, when he was about to call Israel out of Egypt; yet as their Folly was soon seen, so are these, and they shall not proceed far; but Israel out of Egypt shall go, and those Faithful Ones that are escaped, shall they not with all their Enchantments bring back again into Egypt; Glory to the Lord for Ever, Amen.  
But wouldst thou indeed know, O vain Man, R. B. for what the Apostles, who had Ability to Preach (without Man's help) were sent forth? Then thou may'st know, it was to reprove such as th●e that would limit God to vain Man's Help, and to call his People from amongst you, who lay heavy Burdens on men's Shoulders, but will not touch them with one of your Fingers; it is even so.  
But whereas thou addest and said, Those are taught of God, who are taught by those who are sent of God to be their Teachers; it plainly shows the numerous Company thou boasts of, who believe thee, are not taught of God; for thy Doctrine already mentioned, shows most plainly that thou wast never sent of God; for never did any, whom God sent set themselves against the Free and Gracious Teaching and Gifts of God's Spirit, to Establish Humane Helps, as thou dost: But as if that which thou hast said were nothing, thou addest, Page 8.  
Advise with the Experience of all the World; who was the Man that ever you knew, able to Expound one Chapter in the Bible by the inward Teachings of the Spirit alone, without any Labour of his own, or Help from others by Voice or Writing? Where dwelleth the Man, who by mere Inspiration can turn one Chapter out of the Hebrew or Greek into the Vulgar Tongue? And where is the Man that can solidly unfold any Doctrine of Divinity, which he never read or heard of, or can Teach that Truth, and deny that Religion which he was never taught by Man?  
And afterwards in his Second Direction, and Page 16. having led his wretched Disciples into a Labyrinth or Mist of words, about their Uncertainties in their Matters of Knowledge; and having advised them to Humility, as he calls it, or not to think too highly of their own Knowledge; he there adds, and says in that 16th Page especially, If you know your Advantages for Knowledge have been less than other men's, that you are young; or that it is but a few Years since you entered upon the Study of the Scriptures; or that you have not any stronger Natural Parts than other Men; that you have not had that Measure of Learning which might further your Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures; but that others that differ from you have had much more of all these Helps and Means than you, and have Prayed more, and Meditated more, etc.  
And in Page 17. in his Answer to an Objection; which is, That the Learnedest Men are not always the Wisest in the Matters of Religion; he saith, many Men are learned in the Languages and Sciences, who are not learned in the Scripture; because they applied not their Studies that way; and many Men are learned in the Scriptures and Sacred Languages, who yet live in Sin, though they are able to Teach the Truth, for others: Here (by the way) all may take notice what a False Teacher this R. B. is, who is not ashamed to say, That Man that lives in Sin, may Teach the Truth for others; for such as live in Sin, neither know the Truth (which is Christ) nor have seen him, (as John's first Epist. Chap 3. expressly saith) but this R. B. goeth on, and saith, But those that well understand the Scriptures without learning the Languages which they are written in, and the Customs of those Times and Countries, or without much reading, and long Study of the Scriptures themselves, and the Writings of them that better understand them, are so few, if any at all; that if you will pretend to be one of them, you had need of some Miracle, or something like a Miracle, to make yourselves or others believe that you are not deceived.  
I might here add his other false Doctrines immediately following these in that his Book, as his Answer to an Objection there set down against Singularity, or so; the Objection is this, The greater Number are not always in the Right; therefore why should my Singularity discourage me. But because his Answer hath a pretty many words in it, I refer it to another place, and to what he hath already said, do Answer, and say in brief thus.  
First, That as by his other words, so also by these, it is most manifest from what Fountain this R. B's knowledge hath proceeded, to wit, not from the Inspiration of the Eternal Spirit, which gave forth Scripture; but from his own Earthly or Natural Spirit and Humane Industry and Studies, and Trading in Books and Letters without him, from which earthly or humane Spirit and Wisdom hath not come (nor possible ever can come to any) the right Meaning and Understanding of Holy Scripture (as such as he would have it) For the natural Man, as the Apostle saith, perceiveth not the things that be of the Spirit of God, 1 Cor. 2.14. But all false Visions, and lying Divinations have ever come from that earthly Spirit, and all the cruel Wrest of the Holy Scriptures, from the beginning to this Day, have proceeded from it, to the miserable and woeful Undoing of the Generality of that People, called Christendom; as also the Bloodsheds, and all the cruel Usage of Spiritual-minded Men, for their pure Conscience Sake, have issued from that Fountain of the Earthly Spirits, and the false Births thereof, from the beginning, and that great Whore found Guilty of all; for in her was found the Blood of Prophets and of Saints, and of all that were Slain upon the Earth, Rev. 18.24. For what Spiritual Man did ever ask such a Question, or rather affirm; for in him, his question is an Affirmation, to wit, That no man is able, by the inward Teachings of the Spirit alone, to Expound one Chapter in the Bible: And that there is none can solidly Unfold any Doctrine of Divinity, which he never Read or Herd of, or can teach the Truth, or defend that Religion, which he was never taught by Man.  
Oh happy therefore are they who are come to the Everlasting Covenant of God, and to know the inward Teachings and Leadings of his Holy Spirit in their Heart, to lead them into all Truth, according to Promise, John 16. without being beholding to vain Man's Help; for whereof is he to be accounted, as is manifest, even as a thing of naught, is the best of them, out of the Truth: For O! How Ignorant of the Ministry of God and Christ, and the Holy Spirit's Inspiration, sufficient Teaching, is this R. B. who is not content to fit among the Parish-Teachers, as a Fellow; but even takes upon him to be a Teacher of the Teachers? Yea, so Ignorant and Unbelieving is he, concerning the Spirit's Power and Sufficiency in these Days, that without an outward Miracle, he will not believe any such thing: Nay, he would not have People believe for themselves, that God teacheth their own Hearts, unless it comes in Man's Way, and by humane Study, Labour, and natural Means: Therefore the Lord saw good for his own Glory, and for the Vindication of his own Honourable and Everlasting Truth, which the Hirelings had made void by their Traditions; and for the absolute necessity of his own beloved Seed, to restore unto us the Ancient Doctrine of the Holy Spirit's Sufficiency, in all the Work of bringing Man out of the Fall to God, that the Lord, the Spirit, might be the first and the last; yea, all in all, in their Salvation, without Man's help; for he is worthy, who, as he Created all things, by his own alone Power, and according to his good Will; so he Restores all things, according to the Counsel of his own Will, and not of Flesh, nor of Blood, nor of the Will of Man, as the Apostle also Speaks, John 1.13. But, Oh! How unlike is this Doctrine of the Apostles, to R. B's; for when the Apostle had said, To them that received Christ, to them he gave Power to become the Sons of God; lest any should think, as this R. B. doth, that it was either by Man's Labour or Study, or humane Endeavour, or Art, or Parts, or any Natural Abilities or Helps whatsoever; he saith, It was not of Flesh, nor of Blood, nor of the Will of Man, but of God. And of his own Will begat he us, by the Word of Truth, saith that other Apostle, Jam. 1.17, 18. And he bids not Err, as this R. B. doth, to set up another Fountain or Root; and that this Word of Truth is not any outward Writing, Voice, or any Creature: John in his first Chapter tells us, That in the beginning was this Word, and the Word was with God, and is God: And his Name is called, the Word of God, Rev. 19.13. So this Word, though it works according to the Witness of the Scripture, which it gave forth freely, and as itself pleaseth, in the Children of Men; yet it is not the Scripture; For search the Scriptures, or ye do search the Scriptures, saith Christ, that witness of me, but you will not come to me that you may have Life; and these were they that Paul said, He bore them Record that they had a Zeal for God (and Scripture) but not according to Knowledge; for they being Ignorant of God's Righteousness, went about to Establish their own Righteousness, and submitted not to God's: And so, even so this R. B. and many such like, have a blind Zeal, and a great Talk of the Scriptures without, and of the Spirits Teaching by the Letter, and humane Helps, and the like; but will not come to Christ, to know him in them, that they may have Life, and Wisdom, and Righteousness: But would Establish their own, which is mere Emptiness and Vanity in the sight of God, and all truly Spiritual Men, 1 Cor. 13.5. Rom. 10.3.  
And how far this R. B's Language in those other words, where he saith, That if any will pretend to a good Understanding of the Scriptures, without learning the Languages which they are written in, and the Customs of those Times, Countries, or without much Reading, and long Study of the Scriptures themselves, and the Writings of them that better understand them, had need of some Miracle, or something like a Miracle, to persuade themselves, or others, that they are not deceived. How far, I say, is this Doctrine and Language in this R. B. from the Language of the Holy Men of God that writ the Scripture, let the Spiritual Man, who best understands all things, Judge; for the Holy Apostles Magnified the free Grace, and the free Teachings of the Spirit of Grace, and debased Man, and all mere humane Helps, as is said before, and as the Scripture Witnesseth: But this R. B. tieth the weight and main Stress of all, upon humane Learning, natural Parts, knowledge of Custom and Countries, much Reading, long Study, and the like; insomuch, that without them, Man must not look that any should believe him: Nay, nor he must not own God's Teaching in his own Heart without these; unless seconded by some Miracle, or the like.  
But, Oh the Misery thereof of such poor Souls, as follow such wretched Teachers, and their unsound Doctrine, as I may well say; And Oh! for ever Blessed are they who are brought from off such Barren Mountains into the good Fold, where all the Lambs of Christ lie down in the good Pasture of the Spirit's Fullness; and walk up and down in the Light of the Lord, under the Hand of the good Shepherd, Christ Jesus, where none can come to make afraid, nor deceive; for in the Light of our God, we see all these false Teachers, and their devouring Doctrines; and by the Holy Power of God are delivered from them, and made able in the overcoming Spirit of Truth, to declare against them: Glory to God for ever, Amen.  
Again let us review, and consider in particular a little of those words of his, before set down; where he saith, as an Argument to persuade his young Ones, and Dissenters, to his falsely called Humility.  
Especially, saith he, If you know your Advantages for Knowledge, have been less than other Men's; that you are younger, or that it is but a few Years since you entered upon the Study of the Scripture; or that you have not any stronger Natural Parts than other Men; or that you have not had that Measure of Learning, which might further your Knowledge of the Holy Scripture: But that others, that differ from you, have had much more of all these Helps and Means than you; and have Prayed more, and Meditated more, etc.  
To which I Answer, That by these words it is easily seen, what manner of Knowledge it is that this R. B. trades in, and would have all Slaves unto; and what are his Means for obtaining it; to wit, a mere natural Knowledge; which, by mere worldly Helps and Advantages, may be attained: For a mere Heathen accompanied with many Years, and much humane Learning, and strong Natural Parts, that can but talk much of the Scripture; especially having on him a Form of Prayer, and the like, must needs go for a better knowing Christian with him, than the dearest Child of God; especially if he be young in Years, and want those natural Helps, and outward Appearances.  
Oh what havoc hath such Doctrine, as this of R. B's made amongst his deluded Hearers and Admirers in this Nation; so that now, let the Man God come to one of them in the purest Evidence, and most powerful Demonstration of the Spirit of Truth, if he appear not to them Clothed and Accompanied with these Natural and Worldly Abilities and Endowments; they are fenced against the Lord's Messenger with such Arguments as these, You are but young; you have but Studied a while; you are of slender and mean Natural Parts; and little or no Scholarship, and have Prayed but little, etc. in comparison of our Grave and Learned Divines, and the like: So that as Christ said, so we find now true: That Publicans and Harlots enter into the Kingdom of God before such; and now what a Curer of Church-divisions this R. B. is like to prove is easily seen; and therefore that Charge, which his Self-condemned Heart feared would come upon him, may justly be brought upon him here; which, in his Preface to his Book, he sets down thus.  
They will affirm, saith he, that I have clawed with one Party, and have girded at the other, and have sought to make them Odious, by bringing them under the Reproach of Separation, of censuring and avoiding the ; and that, being Lukewarm myself, and a Complier with Sin, I would have others to do so too: And that these Reconcilers are neither Flesh nor Fish; and attempt Impossibilities, even to Reconcile Light and Darkness, Christ and Belial, and that for the sake of Peace, we would sell the Truth, and would let in Church-Corruptions, out of an over-eager desire of Agreement; and when they have all done, neither Parties will regard them. These are this R. B's words, in that Preface of his to that Book; which is justly come upon him.  
And indeed, he may as well go about to reconcile Light and Darkness, as bring the Children of Light, whom God hath delivered out of the Darkness and Filthiness of Egypt and Sodom Spiritual, into Unity with them again; for there is Enmity put between the two Seeds, and those words of Christ, in John 17.21, 22, etc. which he deceitfully puts in the Title Page of his Book, are only proper to the Living Members of the Spiritual Body of Christ, (which he calls Mystical) and not to any of the World's Churches, or visible mixed Congregations of People whatsoever; the Words of the Apostle in John 17.21, etc. are weightier than any Hypocrite can bear, and they are these, That they all may be one, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that thou also may be one in us; that the World may believe that thou hast sent me; and the Glory which thou hast given me, I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made Perfect in one; and that the World may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. God is arisen to drive Hypocrites from under all such shelter of words, as they would hid themselves under; for now is the City and Kingdom truly Manifested and Witnessed, into which no Uncircumcised or Unclean shall enter; but only the Redeemed Born babes, and Living Members of Christ. And now to the Knowledge and Experience, not of the Evil World, but of all that know God, do I appeal to Judge, whether this R. B. or any of like Spirit with him, can be said to know any thing of the Oneness betwixt the Father and Son, the Members of the Holy Heavenly Body, much less can be any of them, who are not afraid to affirm, That such are not to be disallowed from being Ministers of the Gospel; though they want Grace totally: And that Gifts are more necessary to the validity of Ministration, than Grace is; and that he may perform the Office of a Minister, to the Benefit of the Church, that hath no saving Grace at all, (as Page 114. of his Book aforementioned) and that there is no Man alive that Worshippeth God, without some Sin: And adds, Do you ever Pray yourselves in Secret, or in your Families without Sin; as in Page 19.5.  
And in Page 30. of his Preface to that Book, That there is no Person, Church or Worship on Earth faultless, and without Corruption; (and saith there further) I Justify not the Faults of my own daily Prayers, and yet I never Pray without them.  
And in Page 34. etc. That Cain was the Firstborn Member in the Church of Adam 's Family: And Cursed Cham was of the Church of Noah: And reckons Lot 's two Sons-in-law, and Esau; yea, and the Ten Tribes in their Apostasy, to be of the Church.  
And so having reckoned up, and raked together the Faults of the Race of Abraham, before Christ's coming in the Flesh, and of those called Christians after that mentioned in Scripture; he wickedly and imprudently says, Page 44. That no one Member is in all these Scriptures, or any other, commanded to come out, and separate from any one of all these Churches; as if their Communion in Worship were Unlawful; Directly contrary to 1 Cor. 5.11. 2 Cor. 6.17. Rev. 18.4, 5, 6, etc. Come out of Mystery Babylon (the false Church) saith God to his People.  
Oh the Blasphemy of such Men's Hearts, that dare Entitle wicked Men (for a bare Profession-sake of Religion) to the Glory of the benefit of this Prayer of Christ's, who Prays (and his Prayers were always heard) That his might be one, as He and the Father were, and are one; the Father in Christ, and Christ in them; and so made Fellow-heirs and Partakers of the Glory of Christ by free Gift: But neither R. B. nor any graceless Minister, nor sinful Praying People, whom he pleads for, while such, can ever be one, as the Father and Son are one: Therefore I may safely say to you all, who desire the good of your Souls, and the Glory of God, Come out from amongst them, and join not with them, No, not in their Worship Actions (as he calls them) nor be ye Partakers in any of their Sins, or Sinful Worship, lest ye partake of their Plagues; for the Temple of God is Holy, and the Worship of God is Holy: And so R. B. with all his own Corruptions, and all his heaps of Lies, and false Accusations of the Brethren of Christ are for the Lake; It is so.  
And so I return to set down R. B's Unchristian Answer to that former Objection against the Singularity of Separation; the Objection is as before; The greater Number are not always in the right; therefore, why should my Singularity discourage me?  
Now to this R. B. answers, Page 17, 18. The greater Number (saith he) through the World, are not in the right about Christianity; for they are not Christians, and the greater number of vulgar Christians be not in the right perhaps, in many Points of Learning, and Scholastic Controversies; because they are not Learned in such Controversies; but all Godly Men, and Christians, are in the right in all Points Essential to Godliness and Christianity: And therefore they are in the certain way of Life.  
And if in any Integral or Accidental Point, you think you are wiser than the greater part of Men, as Learned and as Godly as yourselves, you must give very good Proofs of it, to yourselves and others, before it is to be believed: I know that in all Ages God giveth some few Men more excellent Natural Parts than others; and he engageth some in deeper and more laborious Studies than others; and he Blesseth some Men's Studies more than others; and therefore there are still some few who know more than the rest of the Country, or Mankind; and it were well for the rest if they knew these, and would learn of them: But these are such as come to their Knowledge by hard and laborious Studies, and Meditation; though also by the Spirits Blessing their Endeavours: and they are such as give Proof of the Knowledge they pretend to; and they are such as employ their Knowledge to preserve the Peace and Concord of Believers, and do not proudly make a stir with it, to set up their own Names, though hereby they set the World on fire.  
To which, by way of reply, I answer and say, That there is not the least Child of Light, but doth truly and easily see the nature of the Spirit, by which this R. B. is still acted, and the end he drives at; for as for the Spirit by which he is acted, it still appears plainly to be the Spirit of this World that never knew God, nor the Mysteries of his Holy and Heavenly Kingdom, by which Earthly Spirit (by much poring on Books without him) he hath attained to a deal of Unsanctified Graceless Knowledge, (as himself speaks Page 114.) to deceive the simple People by, who are Ignorant of Satan's Devices; and as for his end, it is also as manifest to be this, to wit, to bring People (who were in some measure pressing out of Babylon) back into Egypt and Babylon again; and yet to cover his Deceit, lest the Simple should see him without an Interpreter, he brings in the Spirit, as to help his Humane Labour and Carnal Endeavours: But the Spirit of God, which he strikes at in all his Writing, will be no Drudge or Slave to any such Vain Selfended Proud Mind in any.  
But of these words, where he saith, That all Godly Men and Christians are in the right, in all Points Essential to Godliness and Christianity; and therefore in the certain Way of Life, as he saith.  
Let us consider; As for Godly Men, who ever imagined otherwise? much less denied it in words that they were in the right way; but as for that he saith, That all Christians, if he means all that were sprinkled when they were Children, and that so being grown up, make an outward Profession of Christ (for such in Spiritual manner he seems to mean by Christians) are in the right, in all Points essential to Christianity, and so in the certain Way of Life. It is such a notorous Expression, and so bold an Assertion, that no one Saying can more gratify the Devil, and so help to build up his Kingdom, than it doth: Nay, it certainly gives the Lie to the certain Experience and Testimony of all the Holy Men of God, both formerly and now; for Paul said in his day, That many professed, and nominal Christians do so walk, as that they were Enemies to the Cross of Christ, whose God was their Belly, and who gloried in their Shame, and whose end was Destruction, Phil. 3. and were these in the right Points Essential to Christianity, and in the certain way of Life? What Contradiction and Blasphemy is this? And the same Apostle tells some among the Corinthians, That they had not the Knowledge of God, Cor. 15. and what, Were these right also in all Essentials? What is not the Knowledge of God an Essential Point of Christianity? Nay, without the Knowledge of God, no Eternal Life; and yet this R. B. is not ashamed to affirm, That such as know not God, are in the certain Way of Life. And further, To the Experience of all that know God do I appeal, whether this R. B. doth not here in his blindness, justify the very Papist; Yea, and all other sorts of People, who any way in the outward profess Christ; especially if they be outwardly sprinkled with Water, young or old: For, saith he, in his Preface, Page 33. Christ hath solemnly and purposely made the Baptismal Covenanting with him (to wit, by outward Washing) to be the Term and Title to Church-Membership and Communion, and the owning of this same Covenant, is the sufficient Title of the Adult (or those of ripe Years) and the Imposers that come after, and require another kind of Evidence of Conversion or Sanctification than this, do confound the Church, and enslave the People, and leave no certain way of Trial. Thus far R. B. by which it appears whither he, by endeavouring to keep his Credit with the World, is wandered beyond the Bounds of Reason. Nay, Mystery Babylon herself (though she be become a Cage of every unclean and hateful Bird, and a very Habitation of Devils,) seems justified by his Position, and reckoned to be right in the Essentials of Christianity, and in the certain Way of Life: For without all Controversy, this Mystery Babylon is of that Number who in words profess God and Christ, and have a Name to live, though they be dead, or it were not a Mystery, if it were not covered from the World's Eye, with a show of what it is not, Rev. 17, 18, 19 Chapters. Yet so far is this R. B. in the Dark, that he accounts it an Abuse, and false Interpreting of Scripture, to persuade any by that Command [Come out of Babylon] to separate from professed or nominal Christians, though full of Iniquity, Page 32. than which, nothing more can gratify the Wicked One, and that Adulterous Church of Rome; for though he would seem in some words, here and there, in his Book, to be no Papist; yet there is never an Argument he brings, for the Fellowship with Dead and Corrupted Members; and against those that separate from such; but they will fully serve to prove the Pope and Papists to be a Church, and all them to blame who have separated from him in outward Church-Fellowship upon any Pretence whatsoever. So foolish is the World's Wisdom when it is set against Truth: But this R. B. having laid his wrong Ground; That all that are called Christians are in the right, in all Points essential to Christianity, and in the certain Way of Life; he may easily conclude that to be unwarrantable Separation which goeth from such. But then I say, How will the Protestants warrant their first Separation from Popery? Or how did this R. B. with his Presbyterians in Oliver's time, with their Directory, excuse their separating from the Bishops, and their Common-prayer? And how will he salve his old Nonconforming brethren's Flight into New-England (where since they have shed the Blood of certain Martyrs of Christ) from the former Bishops?  
But now his false Ground and Foundation being overturned, it is most manifest that that Separation is most lawful, which is from such, who call Good Evil, and Evil Good, put Light for Darkness, and Darkness for Light, as the Wicked do, from whom the People of God in these days separate: And so in obeying the Voice of our God, who saith, Come out of Mystery Babylon my People, lest ye partake of her Sins, and so of her Plagues, (we are justified) for the Sins of the Wicked, (who, in words, profess God and Christ, but in Deeds deny all) is reached Heaven at this day: And doth not the Apostle say, If any Man that is called a Brother be a Fornicator, or Covetous, or an Idolater (and Covetousness, by the Apostle's Doctrine, is Idolatry) or a Railer, or a Drunkard, or an Extortioner, with such not to keep company, no not as to eat with them, 1 Cor. 5.11.  
And doth he not say in another place, Have no Fellowship with the unfruitful Works of Darkness (nor with the unfruitful Workers in Darkness, as before) but rather reprove them, Eph. 5.14. must we not yet separate from them, yea, yea, in their very Worship-Actions as well as others; and when even the greater number are so far defiled and tainted with the Leprosy of Unrighteousness; and they are so far from amending, that they persecute all that will not be as bad as themselves: Surely when the Lord hath spewed out a People, as he threatened to do lukewarm Laodicea, Rev. 3.16. yea, and cast them off, for their resisting of his good Spirit, as he did the Jews; 'tis no time for his People to stay amongst them then, and to continue with them in their Worship-Actions, as he calls them; but every one to deliver his own Soul, by coming out of such Babylonish Worships; whose Prayers are Abomination to God, as all sinful Prayers are; and neither this R. B. nor any one that he knoweth upon the Earth, prayeth without Sin, as himself before hath confessed; and so all of them together do daily and continually that which they should not do, and leave undone what the Lord commands them, and so have no Health in them: And so now that the True Light shines so clear again from under the long Cloud of Antichristian Apostasy, it is the Wisdom of all that love God and their own Souls, to join to the Lord in the Covenant of his Light and Spirit, where no Committers of Sin can join; for Darkness, and the Workers thereof, can never join with the Light, and the Workers thereof: So now that the Trumpet hath founded, all aught to come to the Holy Worship of God, amongst the Holy Worshippers, that Worship in the Spirit of Holiness and Truth; (where no Worker of Iniquity, nor Hypocrite can come) out of all the Defiled Worship of the World whatsoever, or under what Name soever in the Fall: But this R. B. is in such love of Hypocrisy, that he makes a Necessity of the Hypocrites being amongst the true Members of Christ, as though they knew not how to do without them; as if the good Corn could not grow so well if the Weeds were wanting; saying, Page 56. It is more for the sake of the truly Faithful, than for themselves, that the Hypocrites have their Station, and Privileges in the Church; God makes use of their Gifts and Profession for his Elect, to many great Services of the Church. To which I answer, That this Language betrays thee further to be of Babylon, and not of Zion; What R. B. with all his seeming Zeal for Reformation in Oliver's days, become now a Pleader for Hypocrites, and their great Service in the Church! But this is but like his Doctrine of his Graceless Ministers which he pleads for, Page 114 of his Book; so R. B. and his Hypocrites, and Graceless Brethren, with their Gifts, (or rather Thefts void of Grace) have been so far from being serviceable to the Elect True Church, that they have done it (and ever did) all the Injury that ever they can by their wicked Doctrines, Ungodly Lives, and heaps of Lies and false Accusations, and cruel Persecutions; insomuch that the Growth of the Heavenly Seed, the Lilies of God, the true Heirs of the Kingdom, hath been, and is, as a Lily among Thorns: But Christ and R. B. are directly contrary in their Judgement one to the other; for Christ would not suffer the Devil in the Man to preach him, but commanded him to come out, and hold his peace, because Christ never had need of Devils, or wicked Men, or Hypocrites, to preach him; but saith to such, What hast thou to do, to take my Laws and Covenant in thy Mouth, and hatest to be reform, Psal. 50.16, etc. and so far are Graceless Priests and Hypocrites from being serviceable in this matter to his Church, that he saith, My Sheep hear my Voice, and they follow me; but the Graceless Minister and Hypocrite, who is a Stranger to me, they will not hear, for such come but to rob and destroy, read John 10. and see if ever R. B. understood Scripture, who talks so contrary to it: As did those Pharisees of old, whom Christ cried out so many times Woe against, Matt. 23. Who would neither enter into the Kingdom of Heaven themselves, nor suffer others. And those in Ezekiel, who sowed Pillows under men's Elbows, making glad the Hearts of the wicked Hirelings, by persuading People that they must not disown them from being Ministers, though they be totally void of obeying Saving Grace; and that Hypocrites have a Station in the Church, for great Services with their pretended Gifts to the Elect; and by pleading for Games, and Fashions of Apparel; yea, and the Opinions in Religion of bad People, yea to such a measure, that he is not ashamed to say, That many an Error is taken up, by going too far from other men's Faults; as is to be seen in Page 224 of his Book, with many such like Heathenish Say up and down his Book; a few whereof I only touch here and there, that by those the Reader may see the nature of that wretched Spirit, that hath long lurked in him, under a Cloak of Zeal for Reformation, when the World pretended to such things; but now that the World is for a manifest Establishing of their old dark Stuff, he turns about, and is all for them as it were, and against Zeal, against Reformation, Separation, Immediate Revelation, or any thing that may manifest People to have a care of their Souls: But Oh the Misery, the Misery, the unspeakable Misery of such as are not yet redeemed from under the Slavery and Egyptian Bondage of such Men: But the Lord will break the Rod of the Oppressor, as in times of old, as in the days of Midian and Egypt, where both Jannes and Jambres, who withstood the Lord's Servant Moses, in his calling Israel out of Egypt, were made manifest, and their Folly by all clearly seen, as this R. B's is by every open Eye: Praised be the Lord for his Infinite Love in all things.  
But the Hearts of the Righteous, whom God delights to comfort, he doth all he can to make Sad, by persuading the dark cruel World, that the cause of all the Miseries of the late years, yea, and at present in these Islands, is much (what if not mostly) occasioned by those, who in tenderness of Conscience to God, could not, nor cannot join with, nor uphold the Popish Customs, and Imposition in Matters relating to Religion, and the Soul, which is more precious to them that know it, than all the World: And in the Truth we may say, that if we should come amongst the Steeplehouse Worshippers, or any other Company, who are only separated from them in Form, and not in Life and Power, and their exercise, not in the Gift, and Heavenly Holy Worship and Service to the Lord Jesus Christ our God, we should even Sacrifice the Abomination of the Egyptians before their Eyes; and now would you not Stone us, or Imprison us, or otherwise evilly entreat us, even as you do, and ever have done? Yea, yea, and as they dealt with the Prophet Isaiah for saying (Chap. 66.3.) He that killeth an Ox, is as if he slew a Man; he that sacrificeth a Lamb, as if he cut off a Dog's Neck, etc. and Chap. 1.11, etc. To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord, I am full of them; and who hath required it at your hands, to tread my Courts? Bring no more vain Oblations, etc. For which it is said they slew him; so they would deal with us. And what measure have the dear Servants of God in New-England met withal, not long since, for the like witness against those Hypocrites, but Death and cruel Whip, and Banishment; and in old England lately, but most Savage and Cruel Usage? And would this R. B. yet have us, yea, and those he counts his Brethren, and of his Flock, who have any Tenderness in them, to communicate with such whose Hands are full of Blood? If he were as the Mouth of God, he would put a difference between the Clean and Unclean: But he being of another Spirit, is for leading People back again into Egypt, not for bringing them out of Egypt into the Promised Land; which Work and Endeavour is rejected of God, and of all that know God, who are escaped out of Sodom and Egypt, and Babylon Spiritual, where our Lord was Crucified: And to us the Lord hath said, Let them return to you (ye Saved People) but return not you to them; For their Pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the Lord; therefore they shall not prosper, and all their Flocks shall be scattered, Jer. 10.21. He that hath Ears let him hear, and he that readeth let him understand, for the time is at hand, for the Lord is arisen to plead with all the False Worshippers upon Earth, and with him is no respect of Persons. And now is the Lord God of ever blessed Power and love appeared in the Earth, after the long Night of Apostasy, to restore all things; and now are the Virgins called upon, through the whole World, to trim their Lamps; for behold the Bridegroom is come and coming, and now the foolish Virgins, who have been long sleeping and slumbering, in a dead Profession of Christ and the Scriptures, are found wanting in their Faith, Holiness, Love, and all other Christian Virtues, and so in their Unholiness shut out; yea, and though they run to the Hirelings, that set all things to Sale, to Buy, yet still before they come, the Door is shut; for whilst the Lord stood waiting upon them, with his pure free and full Grace and Spirit, they would have none of it; but rather choosed to go their own ways of Carnal Endeavours, and Man-commanded Religion, and so like the Jews of old, going about to Establish their own Righteousness, have not submitted to the Righteousness of God, which is by Faith in Christ Jesus: But the wise Virgns, who are of an honest Heart, to fear God, and wait for the Lord Jesus Christ, to appear in their Spirits, to set up his heavenly and everlasting Kingdom in them, they receive daily of his Fullness, which filleth all in all, where the true Oil of the Kingdom is found in their Holy Lamps, to the Praise of the Glory of the unspeakable Love, and free Grace of the Almighty Father. So be it.  
Again, to that part of this R. B's former Answer, where he saith, That in all Ages, God giveth to some few Men more excellent Natural Parts than others, and he engageth some in deeper and more laborious Studies, and he blesseth some men's Studies more than other; and therefore there are still some few, who know more than the rest of the Country, or Mankind; and it were well for the rest if they knew these, and would learn of them.  
Query. But how may one know these hard and laborious Studiers, as he calls them?  
Oh, saith this R. B. They are such as give proof of their Knowledge they pretend to; and they are such as employ their Knowledge to the preserving of the Peace and Concord of Believers; and do not proudly make a stir with it, to set up their own Names; though thereby they set the World on fire.  
To which I answer and say, It is still more and more manifest, that this R. B. lays the weight and stress upon Natural Parts, and hard Studies; as though the Kingdom of God were not at all come, nor the Promise of God (concerning the Free Gifts, and plentiful pouring forth of the Spirit) yet fulfilled; and so a necessity of learning at the feet of Gamaliel, and earthly Doctors still: But now that the Spirit of Truth, according to God's blessed Promise, is come, and witnessed amongst us that believe, praised be God, we cannot go to such as this R. B. with all their Natural Parts, and hard Studies; for the Spirit of Truth leads us, and all that obey it, into all Truth; but this R. B. and such as he leads, are in an Error, as is manifest; for they are of those that lead about a Company of poor Souls, silly as Women laden with divers Sins and Lusts, ever learning, but never able to come to the Knowledge of the Truth, which sets free from Sin; for that (and nothing else) is the Truth, which sets free from Sin; for saith Christ, If ye know the Truth, the Truth shall set you free indeed. But this R. B. and all such, teach it for Doctrine, That they are so far from being free from Sin, that their very Prayers, and best Performances, are not free from Sin, but Sin is in them all. Oh Sad, that ever they should dare to pretend to the Ministry of the Gospel, who preach such a Doctrine as make nothing perfect, but leaves them in Sin all their Lives long: And no wonder that they and their Doctrine should be void of all good Fruit; for saith God, They have run, and I have not sent them; therefore they shall not profit the People at all. And yet they would gladly have People know them, and learn of them, though they can do them no good at all; and this is that sorry and bad Proof, that the Hirelings make of their great Knowledge they pretend unto, which they have gotten with their Natural Parts, and hard Studies: And so thy own words shall witness against thee, Oh R. B. and thy Brethren, who have given no good Proof of your Knowledge to this day; nor have thereby preserved Peace and Concord amongst Believers, but done what you can to break it; for that Doctrine that makes not Men free from Sin, leaves all the Seeds of Discord and Dissension still in People's Minds; for as Sin separated Man from God at first, so doth it to this day keep them, and so keeps them from Love, for God is Love; and none live or dwell in Love, but such as live and dwell in God: But such as live in Sin, and never Pray without it, are out of God, as the Apostle said of People in Unbelief, They were without God in the World. It is not any outward Conformity, that will or can make them to be at Peace with, or love one another; for if it were possible to bring Papist, Atheist, and Carnal Protestants and Professors of all sorts, into one Form of outward Worship, as for Time, Place, Words, or the like: Yet there would be neither Love, Peace, nor Concord amongst them, for want of Unity with God and his good Spirit, the only true Ground and Foundation of all true Love, Peace, and Concord. And so, Oh R. B. we have known thee this many Years to be a great Enemy, and therefore we may not learn of thee, nor any such, but of Christ do we learn, ever praised be his Name, who teaches his People to profit; and so it's only the poor deluded Multitude that knows thee not, who learn of thee, and suck in such poisoned Doctrine, as makes them most uncapable of the pure Word of Life, and Doctrine of Salvation; so that Publicans and Harlots, who make little or no Profession, enter into the Kingdom of God before you.  
And as for making a stir with thy Knowledge, and striving to set up thy own Name thereby, though thou set the whole World on fire by it; Who more Notorious than thyself in this R. B? as witness all thy lying frothy Words, Books, and Pamphlets, which thou hast spoken and written, against the appearance of Christ and his Truth, in these late years; but thy Studies and such Works God hath cursed; for no Child of Light will ever buy any of thy Merchandise, nor the deceitful Wares of any other Merchants of Babylon, for evermore Blessed be God for his unspeakable Gift, Amen.  
But the end of these words, of setting the World on fire, set down here by this R. B. is easily seen to be this, to wit, To persuade People, that those who are Zealous for God in these days, in publishing his everlasting Gospel upon the Earth, in a cross to the World, are such as set up themselves, and would set the World on fire: And so he is manifest to be one of the old evil Generation of Priests, who accused Christ for a mover of Sedition, and Paul for a pestilent Fellow: Oh, it was that good stirring Spirit of the Lord Jesus in himself, and his Followers, which did so trouble the World, the combustible World in all Ages, that made, and doth make, the Hireling Priests, and their deluded Followers, so rage and cry out; but as for setting the World on fire, in a good sense, Christ Jesus saith, That he came to set Fire in the Earth: But for setting the World on fire, in R. B's sense, that is sowing Discord and Dissension amongst People; this is the Work, and ever was the Work of the Hireling Priests, who loved to be called of Men Masters, as this R. B. is, witness not only our own Age, but the Holy Scripture, and the Histories of all Times and Ages, as those that read may understand: And yet these proud Masterly and false Teachers, were ever the first, and forwardest that cried against Christ and his Followers, for disturbing the World's Peace; when as this Doctrine of Christ's Spirit, though it did always disturb the Devil's; yet it did always tend to the working of the Hearts and Souls of the People into God's Peace, and did ever, and doth at this day work this glorious and blessed Effect in all that believe: Whereof we are Witnesses, praised be God, though for the Testimony of Christ, we are troubled on every side by the wicked World: So that even now, when the Wicked have no Peace (for there is no Peace to the Wicked) we whom the World Mock, Stone and Persecute, under the Nick name of Quakers, or so, have Peace in all our Dwellings: Egypt is full of Darkness, that one may feel it, yet in our Goshen is plenty of Light, ever praised be God: And when the World of false Christians are learning War, and preparing Weapons, we are ceasing from War, and not to learn it any more, as the Lord hath said. And therefore, Oh ye Inhabitants of the Earth, if ye knew us, ye would not hate us, and persecute us, but love us with your Hearts, because of the good Will of our Hearts towards you; for our Weapons are not Carnal, but Spiritual: Not for pulling down, or Destroying of you, but your Enemies, your Sins, which War against your Souls: And the Reason why we cannot join with you in your Liturgies, and Worship-actions, is not because we hate you; but because we love God and your Souls; for if we should join with you in your defiled Worships, as yourselves confess they are, we should strengthen you in an evil Way: But by our separating from you, because of the Unholiness of your Sacrifices, occasion may be ministered to you to question your State, and so some of you in time may come out of your Darkness, into the marvellous Light of the Lord Jesus with us, and praise the Lord in the Land of the Living. So be it.  
Another of this R. B's Follies and false Doctrines, I may here mention, as one may read it in that Book of his that I have under hand, to wit, in Page 114. are these words, It may be unlawful, saith he, in a Ruler, to command a thing that will do no good, because it is a Vain Command, and maketh Men spend that time in vain, and yet be the Subject's Duty to do it.  
Answ. This is such Doctrine as Paul's Enemies taught, who said, Men might do evil, that good might come of it, whose Condemnation was just. So to avoid Sufferings from Men, he would have us to obey Unlawful Commands, which will do no good, but rather a great Evil; to wit, make People spend precious Time in vain: Away with such Ant christ a and Heathenish Stuff, for all true Christians abhor it in their Hearts, as the Lord, the good Shepherd hath Commanded them. And now R. B. to that part of thy feigned Prayer, Page 252. where in words thou seemest to desire, That God would stir up some Faithful Friend to tell thee, with convincing Evidence, where it is that thou hast Miscarried, that Contrition may prepare thee for the Peace of Remission.  
Here the Lord hath, contrary to thy will and desire, stirred up one, in Faithfulness and Love to thy Soul, and the Souls of the poor deluded People whom thou hast deceived, to tell thee plainly of thy Faults, and grievous Miscarriages; as by what is convincingly in these Lines set down, doth appear, and might be more abundantly, if all the Miscarriages in this Book (only to let pass all thy other) were answered unto in particular; but these in this Answer of mine, being as it were least of what the rest are, may satisfy at present. And Oh that the Righteous Judgements of God may come upon thy Heart, and the Hearts of all them who are in the same false, fleshly Confidence with thyself; whose very Prayers are not without Sin, that you may never have Peace Day nor Night, until you humble yourselves before the Lord, and Repent of all your hard Speeches and Evil Deeds that you have spoken and done against him, and his Servants, for the Truth's sake; that, if it be possible, you may be saved from the Wrath that will certainly come upon you, if you Repent not; for that old wicked Paper, full of Lies, as I made manifest before thee, and some of thy Company in thy Study (to thy Shame) at Kidder minster, which thou writ'st in the Pride of thy Heart against us in Oliver's Days, when thou wast lifted up; Entitled, Reasons to Persuade, why no Reasonable Man can be a Quaker, amongst the rest of that kind, which thou art not Humbled for to this Day, as I perceive by this Book, do all stand upon Record before the Lord, the Righteous Judge against thee; for in those thy do, and all that kind against the manifest and manifold Appearances of Christ in his People of every degree thou hast plainly declared thyself to be of Rabshekah's Spirit, who Railed against the Living God, and his despised Israel; and of that Spirit that Jannes and Jambres, who withstood Moses in his work, under God, of calling Israel out of Egypt; and as the Lord Pleaded the Cause of his People in those Days, so will he (as he hath) for ever, plead our Innocent Cause against thee, and all his Enemies; for of a truth the Lord God. Blessed for ever, hath raised us up to be his Servan●, Sons and Daughters, to bear his Name in Righteousness before the Children of Men, in a pure Holy Witness against all the false Ways and Worships of false Men; (so be it) and so it will be as hard for thee, and all, to kick against the Pricks, as it was in Persecuting Saul, Acts 9 Read and consider, lest the Day pass over you, as it did from the unbelieving Jews, who would not receive God come and manifest in the Flesh in those days, to whom Christ said, Ye will not come to me, that ye might have Life; but they would seek it in the kill Letter, and as it were by the works of the Law, until midnight Darkness, and utter Desolation came upon them. For, Oh how the Earth is filled with Violence, because of such Doctrines and Teachings as this R. B. and such Men brings forth; for behold how the Field of his Followers and Admirers are all overgrown with Briers and Thorns, and noisome Weeds, as the proper Fruit of their accursed Doctrines, as this R. B. himself sets down in his 48th Direction, Page 236. of his Book, in these words, that is to say, Oh Friends, how bad are we ourselves? What Pride is in our Hearts? What Ignorance in our Minds! So wanting are we even in the lowest Grace Humility, that we have scarce enough to make us take patiently, as now we are giving out upon others; So Selfish, as Dishonoureth our Profession, with the Brand of Contradictedness and Partiality; so weak, that our Duties are liable to greater Censures than we can bear; and our inward Grace's weaker than our outward Duties [This must needs be so in the Duties of the Graceless Minister thou pleads for] of such ungoverned Thoughts, that Confusion and Tumult, instead of Order and Fruitful Improvement, are the daily Temper and Employment of our Imaginations [This must needs be so in you that Live in such Opposition to the Life of God manifest in his Children at this Day] So Passionate, Impatient and Corrupt, that we are a trouble to ourselves and others, [This must needs proceed from such a corrupt Fountain] and a Dishonour to the Gospel [it is so] and a hindrance to the Conversion of those whom our holy Exemplary Lives should win to God: So strange to Heaven, as if we had never well believed it [that is so, and therefore the Sheep of Christ deny your Voice, you who are such Strangers to him] And to say all in one, so empty of Love to our dear Redeemer, and to the God of Love, that our Hearts lie vacant to entertain the Love of Worldly Vanities [ye Hypocrites, what have you to do to name Christ, who are thus Unbelieving and Unredeemed] and to fly back from the serious Thoughts of God, which should be our daily Work and Pleasure, and fly from the Face of Death, as if we should be the worst, when nearest to our God. Oh Hypocrites! how can you for shame call God yours, when you are thus beyond measure bad, when Scripture saith, He that saith, he knows God, and keeps not his Commandments, is a Liar, and the Truth is not in him, see 1 John 2.4. And Repent lest ye all perish together, Priests and People; for the Lord is arisen to Judgement, and none can stand before him, which hath unclean and filthy Garments, as you are covered with, whom R. B. here puts on to be Teachers of others, and yet remain yourselves with him under such woeful Sins and Condemnation, as is here spoken of: But surely if you did believe, and feel inwardly that it were so bad with you, as here in Words is signified, you could not go away so lightly with your Burdens, as you seem to do, but it would stop your Mouths, and cause all your Pride and Glory to cease.  
For consider but the first thing, that this R. B. would have you his principal and best taught Hearers to confess, to wit, That Pride is in your very Hearts; which, if you were sensible of, you would cease calling God your Father, and Christ your Redeemer in this wretched State; for to you, in this State, it may be truly said, as Christ said to those unbelieving Jews, Ye are of your Father the Devil; for Pride of Heart is the chief part of his wicked Image: And indeed, the main thing in this Day, which hinders you from coming to Christ (the meek, pure, and lowly Lamb of God) is the Pride of your corrupt Hearts, as Jeremiah said to the Jews, If you will not give Glory to God, before your Feet stumble upon the dark Mountains, my Soul shall mourn in secret for your Pride: It was the Pride of their Hearts, that was the ground of all their Evils, as it is of yours; for from the Pride of your Hearts, comes your Ignorance of Mind, and Partiality, and want of all good, to the dishonouring of your Profession, and what not? So that it may easily be known who sent this R. B. who hath profited you nothing at all: For they have run, and I have not sent them, saith God, Therefore they cannot profit the People at all, Jer. 23. And that this R. B. might make it fully appear under whose Banner he Fights, and for whose Kingdom he Pleads, lest the rest of his Book should leave it doubtful: He is now come forth in his proper shape of an Enemy of God, and good Men, that in any measure are looking Heaven-ward, being burdened with the Fellowship of the Wicked, and instead of helping the Lord's little Ones, against the great Power of the Dragon in the Persecutors, he hath hammered forth Weapons for the Wicked Persecutors, and against the tenderhearted Ones of God, who are travelling to the Holy Land, with Egypt left behind; as in that 55 Direction, so called, and Page 254. of his said Book appears, where he hath these words.  
Little do many real Separates, who cry out against the Spirit of Persecution, suspect that the same Spirit is in them; whence is Persecution, but from thinking ill of others, and abhorring them, or not loving them? And do you not so by those (saith he) whom you causelessly separate from?  
Answ. Here by way of Answer, before I set down any more of this naughtiness of his, I cannot but take notice of this word (Causelessly) which here he puts in to cover his Deceit; for though, at the first look, one might judge, he intended only Causeless, or Unwarrantable, or Wicked Separation; yet, Reader, thou must know, he intends as well the truly  People of England, who in Conscience to God, and according to his Holy Commandment are come out, and separated from the Fellowship of the Wicked in these Days, and so cannot take part in the Offerings of the Dead as well as others; and at these, in a special manner, he strikes, after his accustomed manner, through the sides of others; for his main Envy is against the Living Members of Christ: And so though those that separate without cause, may have the like mind to those that separate from being different only in Form, but not in Heart from them; yet such as are separated by the Power of God (as Paul was, whom God separated from his Mother's Womb, calling him by his Grace) have not; for these stand out of their own thoughts, and are in the Will, and Work, and Worship of God, whose Worship is in Spirit and Truth: But to proceed, R. B. saith further.  
You will say, that though you think them not to be true Christians, yet you love them as Men, and wish their good, and so will those say by you (saith he) whom you call your Persecutors; though they think you to be Proud and Humorous, and Disobedient, yet they say, they love you as Men; and do but correct you, to cure yourself willedness and Humour, and to do you good, and to preserve the public Peace: They think you to be bad, and therefore Imprison you: You think them to be bad, and therefore avoid Communion with them.  
To this I cannot but by the way speak a word; Who is there that sees not the very Spirit of the Egyptian Sorcerers acting in this very thing, to the hardening of Pharaoh's Heart, lest he should let Israel go? But this R. B. goes on in his Wickedness, and saith, They (to wit, the Persecutors) think you so bad, as to be unworthy of civil Liberty and Privileges: You think them so bad as to be unworthy of Church-Priviledges and Liberties: They think you unworthy to be suffered in the Land perhaps; and you think them unworthy to be suffered in the Churches; they cry against you, Away with them, they are Schismatical, or Heretical; you cry against them, Away with them, they are Profane.  
Answ. Now in answer to this, I say, That we who are of the World, Scornfully called Quakers, have everlasting cause to Praise the Lord, who hath redeemed our Souls from among such devouring Wolves, as this R. B. and from such a venomous Spirit as he is acted by; What Heathen upon Earth could strengthen the Hands of the Persecutors against the Righteous more than this, by such Comparisons or Arguments: What if this R. B. had lived in the Days of the Apostles, and first Christians, when God separated them from the Congregation of the unbelieving Jews; surely he could not but have been accounted famous, and worthy of great Honour amongst those persecuting Jews, for such Comparisons as these; for never an Argument he brings, for the Persecutors now, but it would as much have fitted the Persecutors then against the Christians; yea, and it would formerly, and doth at this Day fit the Papists against the Protestant's, as well as the Persecuting, Profane, Superstitious Protestant against them, whom God hath drawn by his Mighty Power this Day from amongst them. For seeing ●e sets but Thought against Thought, the Persecutor's Thoughts of the Righteous, against the Persecuted Man's Thoughts of him: And seeing all Thoughts are questionable, he leaves this ground for the Persecuting Jew to reason, to excuse himself against the first Christians, according to his Hellish Invention on this wise, viz.  
You Christians who separate from us, are of as bad a Spirit as us Jews, whom you call your Persecutors; for what is Persecution, but a thinking ill of others, and abhorring them, or not loving them? And do you not so by us, whom you causelessly separate from? And though you say, though you think us not as Servants of God, yet you love us as Men, and wish our Good, so do we you; and that which we do against you, which you call Persecution, is but a correcting of you, to Cure your Self-willedness and Humour, and to do you good, and to preserve the Public Peace: And though you think much, you Christians, that we Imprison you, deny you Civil Liberties and Privileges, and count you unworthy to be suffered in the Land; yet all this (by R. B's Doctrine) is far less than you do to us Jews; for you think us so bad, that you avoid Communion with us, and deny us Church-liberty and Privileges; yea, and think us unworthy to be suffered in the Churches. Come R. B. Would this have been good and true Reasoning by the Jews against the Christians, or by the Papists against the Protestants? Then if it would not (as no sober Man can say it would) then for Ever stop thy Mouth, and let shame cover thy Face, for Ever speaking any more of things pertaining to Christian, or Christ's Religion; for an Enemy to Christ and his People thou art herein manifest to be: And lest thou shouldst want any thing to make thee complete in Wickedness, thou goest on, and in answer to an Objection, which is to this purpose, That the Persecutors separated from, are bad, and profane, and he that separates, saith he, charges them truly; but he is not Schismatical, or Heretical, but they accuse him falsely. To this I say, this R. B. with a Whore's Forehead, on the behalf of the Persecutors, answers and saith,  
You (to wit, you that separate) say so, and they (to wit, the Persecutors) say the same of you: They say you are Schismatical; but they are not Profane: Now how shall a stander-by know, which of you are in the right? doubtless by the Witnesses and Evidences, [saith he] they try you in some Court, or before some Magistrate, before they punish you, [saith he] you never try them, nor hear them speak for themselves; nor examine any Witness publicly against them; nor allow them any Church-Justice; but avoid their Communion upon Reports, or pretence of private Knowledge: They judge you Personally, one by one, you condemn whole Parishes in the lump unheard: They condemn you, as for a positive Crime, but you condemn them, without charging any one Crime upon them, etc. To which I answer for the Lord and his Truth, in this Day of Israel's Trouble and Trials, and say,  
The Lord rebuke thee, thou Lying Spirit, in this R. B. Was there ever heard such Notorious Falsehoods and Abominations come from one professing the Gospel, yea, professing himself to be a Minister of the Gospel, yea, and taking upon him to be a Teacher of the Teachers, as is here from this R. B? Oh! the Envy, Oh! the Malice, the deep-rooted Iniquity of this Man against them that depart from Iniquity in these Islands, and cannot join with the People of this wicked World, in their Bloody Offerings: Oh! the Patience and Long-suffering of God towards such, though they continue long in their Wickedness; but the Lord will certainly plead with thee, O R. B. and all his Adversaries, for your great Envy to his People and Work in these Days: But come let us see again, if these Lies of R. B.'s, would not have suited as well for the Persecuting Jews against the first Christians, or the Persecuting Papists against the Protestants, as it doth for the Persecutors in these Days against those, that in Obedience to God are separated from them?  
For what if Tertullus, or any Jewish Lying Orator had stood up in behalf of the Jews against the Christians, and said, The Jews try you in some Court, or before some Magistrate, before they punish you; but you Christians never try them, nor hear them speak for themselves, nor examine any Witnesses publicly against them, nor allow them any Church-Justice, but avoid their Communion upon report, or pretence of private Knowledge, and so condemn them by the lump; yea, a whole Nation together? etc. And so if the Papist against the Protestants had used the like reasoning, would it have been any thing but gross Untruth and Falsehood in either of their Mouths? Or were either the first Christians, or first Protestants, any more to be blamed for their Separation, because of such Liars? Nay, nay, neither are the People of God in these Days any worse to be thought of for separating from the Wicked, notwithstanding all these gross Lies of R. B. or any of his Spirit; I say, they are most gross Lies, if they be said of us the People of God, whom they World in Scorn calls Quakers, that we have not Tried them, etc. For we have Tried them, and heard them often what they can say for themselves, and we have by the Spirit of the Lord found them wanting of the Life and Power of Godliness, like the Heathen, who profess not Christ, and public Witnesses there are of it, not only their own Works which are daily manifest in the Face of the Sun, but also their own Words and Confessions when they meet to Worship; for they say, they have left undone what God commands, and done what he forbids, and so have no Spiritual Health in them; which signifies plainly, they have denied Christ come in the Flesh; (for whosoever receives him, receives God's Saving Health, and are a saved People, spiritually healthful) they have condemned themselves by their Unbelief and evil Deeds from the Commonwealth and Inheritance of Israel: And so not only the Spirit of the Lord in us, but even the Witness of God in their own Consciences charges not only one, but even many great and grievous Crimes upon them. And so R. B. with all his Lies, and evil Inventions, (if he Repent not) is for the Lake; and if ever he be saved, it must be through fiery terrible Judgement, which will consume the Adversary: For, Oh! how hath Satan blinded his Eye, that he should thus rise up against the People and Work of God in these Days to his hurt? And when it is objected, that of all Men living, no Man think that a Persecutor is godly, and fit for Church-Communion, he doth not like a Christian confess to the Truth thereof, but after his accustomed manner, Heathen-like, he invents his sorry shifts to avoid the force of the Truth, by saying, Did all the Ministers and Common People persecute you? And then ask a Question concerning the do of the Soldiers under Oliver, and the like, which are mere shifts; For what is the do of any Men, to make void the Truth by it? For whatsoever any in their Ignorance of the Truth, have done against the Truth, serves nothing to the making void of this, to wit, That a Persecutor of the Godly, is not godly, nor fit for Church-Communion; but instead of giving Glory to God, by Confessing to Truth, this R. B. after he hath wearied himself with his words, of what was done in Oliver's time, he sums up his Devilish Doctrine of pleading for the Persecutors, and against those whom God hath separated from them, (saying to the same wicked purpose as before) It is but one and the same Sin in Persecutors and the Separates, which causeth the one to smite their Brethren, and the other to Excommunicate them; 
☜  the one to cast them into Prison as Schismatics, and the other to cast them out of the Church as Profane, etc. And so for this thy summing up and concluding, God hath concluded thee with the wicked Persecutors, whom the Judgement of his great Day will meet. But hold, O! R. B. thou that art thus hot, and without all fear in pleading for the Devil's Kingdom: I say, when the Lord bids us, and we obey him in separating from the Wicked; is this all one with the Sin of Persecution? Oh thou Unjust Man! the Lord will be terrible to thee in the Day of his Wrath, which is nigh at hand to come upon thee, (if thou repent not) for all thy Villainy against him, and for all thy daubing deceitful words, in the beginning and end of this Direction; the Lord sees thee to be a Fighter against him, and thy Reward will be according to thy Works, as he hath said, and all the Rocks and Mountains of the Wicked World, for whom thou pleadest, shall not hid thee from his stroke: As testifies the good Spirit of the Lord Jesus, in his Servant,   
Thomas Taylor.   

Some more of the strange Say of this Richard Baxter in his Book.  
Page 219. GODLY Men are much liker to be in the right, than  Men.  
Answ. This shows what a Stranger he is to the certainty of Godliness.  
Page 220. Sometimes the worse sort of Men may hold fast the Truth.  
Answ. This is a gross Lie; for the bad cannot hold fast the good, unless in Prison.  
If any better Persons deny Infant-Baptism, the worse Sort of People would be all against them, and yet be in the right.  
Answ. Thus Sprinkling of Infants, for which there is no Scripture, must needs be wrong whosoever hold it; and the Corruption of it appears so much the more, because the worse Sort are so much for it.  
Many do take a Form of Prayer, or Liturgy, to be unlawful, merely because the most of the worse Sort are for it.  
Answ. If thy Hearers be so b●dly-taught, yet those that are taught of God, forbear such things as they know he requires not of them, but what Form, or Liturgy is that, which the most of the worse Sort of the People are for, is it not that which speaks Peace to the Wicked, by telling them they were Regenerated by sprinkling a little Water on their Faces, or the like, when Infants? And that they shall be saved, though they continue in Sin all their Lives long: But the Hour cometh, and now is, that neither in the invented Forms of the Hypocrite's long Prayers, nor in the short invented Forms and Liturgies of the Profane, but in Spirit and Truth, as the Lord Jesus enables them, will God be worshipped, and served by his People; for the Day is dawned, and the Shadows fly away; and as the Day doth more and more arise in its Glory, will all the things of vain Men pass away.  
Page 221. The sum of his 44th Directions, by his own setting down, runs thus,  
Ye take the Examples of Religious Men, to be one of your most Perilous Temptations; and therefore labour to discover, especially what are the Sins of Professors, in the Age that you live in, that you may especially watch and fortify your Souls against them: [And adds] That sometimes the strictest Sort run in a Gang after one Opinion, and sometimes after another.  
Answ. Here I Appeal to that of God in all that fear his Name, and are alive to Truth, whether this do not wholly tend to the hardening of Pharaoh's Heart, against the People of God in these Days, who are in the Truth itself, and not in Opinions, as the Hypocrites are? For though such as are begotten into Forms of Religion (without the Truth) by the Hirelings, do never cease from erring, yet the truly Religious, who are begotten to God by Christ, walk in the Way undefiled, which the Fools, who are upright in Heart cannot err in.  
But this his telling of running in a Gang, is a filthy and reproachful Speech, wholly of Ashdod, and the Lord will judge thee, O Enemy! for thy work R. B. and therefore let all that fear God, take heed of this Man's Soul-defiling, and Heart-hardning Doctrine; for out of the dark, and wicked Kingdom, wherein he and all such live, is the Lord calling his People.  
And to conclude, If any would see this Harlot in its fine Dress, and the Crooked Serpent in its glittering Colour on the Head which must be bruised, and yet with his Sting in his Tail, which is full of Venom, let them consider that 44th Direction, which runs thus,  
Desire the highest Degree of Holiness, and to be free from the Corruptions of the Times, but ●ffect not to be old, and singular, from ordinary Christians in lawful things; for instance, If it were to go in a meaner Garb than others, and as the Quakers, not to put off the Hat; or with the Friars, to go barefoot, or in a distinguishing Habit, that all Men may see, and say, This is a singular Person in Religion; it is easy to see how this gratifieth Pride.  
Answ. But now that the Lord is arisen according to his Promise, Isa. 27.1. which saith, In that Day the Lord with his sore, and great, and strong Sword, shall punish Leviathan the piercing Serpent, even Leviathan that crocked Serpent, and he shall slay the Dragon that is in the Sea. Therefore, I say, it is, that the Dragon is so wrathful to pour forth his Floods of Persecution after the Heavenly Woman, and her Man child: And there fore it is, that the Crooked Serpent in such Men (as this is) is so at work, every way seeking with their Cunning and Crafty Deceitful Doctrines, to pierce the Heart, the Life of Truth, by their Darts; and so with their fair colourable words, as the Apostle speaks, to deceive the Hearts of the Simple and Ignorant People, but the Lord taketh the wilily in their own Craftiness, and the Pit they dig for others, themselves fall into, and the Lord's Spiritual Sword of Truth pierces through all their Lives; and Dead in the great Sea and Puddle of their own Iniquities before the Lord, and his Saints, this Day they lie▪ Glory to his Name, the Mighty God over all, who is worthy.  
For what more glistering and fair-seeming words can the Serpent give, than to say, Desire the highest Degree of Holiness, and to be free from the Corruptions of the Time: But that this R. B. intends no such thing, no, nor believes that any shall ever attain to any such thing, whilst on the Earth, is most manifest by the whole current of his Doctrine; for not only in his former Books, where he hath publicly declared, That sinless Perfection is the Doctrine of the Devil, hatched in Hell, etc. But even in this very Book, it fully appears what an Enemy he is, not only to the highest degree, but even to Holiness itself, where amongst his other Unholy Doctrines he saith, as is before mentioned, from Page 195. That there is no Man alive, that worshippeth God without some sin, (and adds) Do you ever pray yourselves in secret, or in your Families without sin? And a better State than this he doth not believe, that any shall here come unto; and for being free from the Corruption of the Times; what hast thou to do, O R. B! to talk of this, who art one with the Corrupt, pleading for Conformity, even with the Persecutors of Godliness itself? Yea, seeking to make such, as good and  before the Lord in their Persecutions of the Godly, as the Godly themselves are, who in Obedience to God do separate from them: What! Is Praying to God with sin in your Hearts, the highest Degree of your Godliness? Oh Hypocrites! Yea, it is: And is your Conforming to the Worship-Actions of the Persecutors, who take God's Name in vain, when ever they mention it in that State, no Corruption? And not only so, but your Oneness with the Times in many of their Corrupt Customs of daily Conversation, as every Eye sees, no Corruptions? But above all, Corruption is gone forth over all the Land, even from the Teachers, such as this R. B. is, who in words can tell others of forsaking it; for what greater Corruption, than for the Priests to love to be called of Men Masters, and to Preach for Hire, and Divine for Money, and to cry, Peace, Peace to the Wicked; especially such as put into their Mouths: But if any put not into their Mouths, than they prepare War against them, as both in Oliver's time, and since, they have done, to the impoverishing and spoiling them that fear God of their Goods, and imprisoning several to Death upon the same account: What would Christ, (Mat. 23.) and the Prophets, Jeremiah, and Isaiah, and Micah, and the rest, have cried so vehemently against such things, if they had not been grievous Corruptions of the Times? See Jer. 5.30, 31. Isa. 56. Micah 3.5, etc. And so when the Priests are Proud, and Covetous, and Cruel; what can their Followers be, but like them? It is not the Priests telling People, they must desire after Holiness, and forsake the Corruptions of the Times, that will do any good, so long as the Teachers themselves live in Unholiness and Corruptions, and smite with the Fist of Wickedness; for doth not that in the Conscience say to such? Thou that teachest another; why dost not thou teach thyself: But they have run, and God hath not sent them, therefore (they are such Briars, and Thistles, and) cannot profit the People at all, Jer. 23. And they say to every one that walks after the Imaginations of their evil Hearts, ye shall have Peace: But for these things, the Lord hath, and yet will severely judge them, Head and Tail, Root and Branch, in his great Day.  
And now to that which he saith to his Disciples; Be not odd and singular from ordinary Christians in lawful things, if it be to go in a meaner Garb than others, or not to put off the Hat, or to go barefoot, or in a distinguishing Habit, this gratifieth Pride.  
Answ. To this I may say, Woe be to them that call Evil Good, and Good Evil, that account keeping on the Hat in simplicity of Heart to God, as we do our other Garments, without Contempt to any; I say, that account and call this Evil, and yet account putting off the Hat, in Honour to Proud Flesh, Good; the Apostle James saith, He that hath respect to Persons committeth Sin, and is convinced of the Law as a Transgressor, Jam. 2.9. But R.B. in this his pleading for the Hat, saith [it is lawful] but to keep Christ's Commands, in having respect to Christ, and not to the Persons of Men [oddness and singularity] though this Man, and his Fellows, condemn us for this, yet Christ justifies us, and so we have Peace with God: And for going in a meaner Garb than others; whosoever he intends by this, we know that he, and all such Proud Masterly Teachers, are far enough from this, for they are quite out in the other Extreme; for if you will find Pride and Prodigality, who more Notorious in the Land than the Priests and their Families, who live in Pride, Idleness, Fullness of Bread, and the poor People see it, though they are forced to labour and drudge for them, as the Israelites in Egypt: And so they spend their Money, for that which is not Bread, and their Labours, for that which satisfies not their Souls, as the Prophet of Old complained; and that which is most sad, they must do it by force; for if the People do see them to be totally void of Grace in their Lives, yet according to R. B's Doctrine, they must not take them for no Ministers, however they must be at cost with them, to maintain them in their Pride and Idleness, or else look for a Prison, or spoiling of their Goods, or the like; but the Lord hath shaken his Hand at such dishonest Gain. But as for a distinguishing Habit, which this R. B. Charges upon the Friars; how is it that he could not see himself, and his Brethren, in their distinguishing Habits of Black Gowns, Black , Tippets, Hoods, Surplices, and the like? Oh! these Unjust Men, who are all Eye abroad, and none at home; but this was ever the Nature of such as were out of Christ's Doctrine. Also whereas this R. B. by these words, [That all may see and say, this is a singular Person in Religion] doth endeavour to make People believe, that, our not putting off our Hats, (which we do merely in Obedience to God, who commands us not to honour proud Flesh) is done for a selfish End, and in our own Wills, to get a Name, is such a piece of Haughtiness and Foolishness in him, that nothing but mere Envy could have taught him such a piece of Unreasonableness; for who is there that sees not the contrary Effect to come of our not putting off our Hat, to what R. B. here sets down? For it is so far from getting us a Name of being Religious amongst Men, that they do as it were with one Mouth cry out against us, unmannerly Fellows, and the like, for it: And truly, but that the pure Fear of God strengthens us, it were impossible for us to bear the Reproaches, Finings, and Beat, and daily Cross that attends this very same thing; so that to cross proud Flesh in this one thing, exposes the poor Creature to great Trials in these degenerate Days, even amongst them that profess Christ, (who made himself of no Reputation in this World) from whom one might expect better usage, for so harmless a thing: But as Christ, and his Apostles, and Disciples, found no better usage amongst the professing Jews of those Days, for doing the Will of God: So we are even made content to undergo all things for the Truth's sake from our own Countrymen and Professors in these Days, even from all who profess the Letter, and want the Life and Virtue of what they do profess: And praised be God for Ever, who through his Grace gives our Souls the Victory; but as for this R. B. and his Followers, who are so full of that earthly fallen Wisdom, which receives Honour of Men, and judges of things according to the Flesh; I say, for them to seek God's Honour, and glorify him in such low contemptible things, as this is, is at present far from them; but to put off the Hat in Honour to proud Flesh, and to love greetings in the Markets, and to go in long Robes, as the Old Pharisees did, and to be called of Men Master, and the like, which gets Praise and Applause of the World, though Christ forbidden it never so much, I say, these things they like better, the more is the pity; see Mat. 23. and so it appears who are in the Selfishness, Pride and Hypocrisy, and who are not; and so is the Scripture fulfilled, which saith, In that Day it shall be seen, who are they that fear God, and who not; Glory to God for his unspeakable Gift, and not unto us, but to thy Name be the Praise, O Lord.  
What would this R. B. (if he had been in those Days) have said of Christ, of whom it was said, That he taught the Way of God truly, and regarded not the Persons of Men, (than surely he put not off a Hat in Honour to proud Flesh, as ye do) I say, would not this Man have called him some odd Conceited, Singular, Proud Fellow, like as his Predecessors the Pharisees of those Days (who received Honour one of another) did? No question but he would; for if he do thus to us his Servants, what would he have done to him our Lord and Master? But happy are all they in this Day, who choose rather to suffer the Affliction and Reproach with Christ and his People, than to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin, which are but for a Season. So be it.  
Also because this R. B. in Page 27. of his Preface saith, That People are far more averse (that is, contrary or against) to Communion or Concord with the Parish Churches, than the Conforming Ministers are; and yet he seems in his Epistle to Bryan's Book, to be unwilling that People should think he hath Conformed, though he hath pleaded for it, and against Separating from the Parish Assemblies and Worships, as now managed: And also seeing that Bryan, as he saith, is, or was silenced for Nonconformity himself, I desire all that reads these Lines, to take notice of what a strange, uneven and unrighteous Spirit these Men are of, in their creeping, and twisting, and twining to and fro; yet the Eye of the Lord, and his Blessed Spirit in his Children this Day doth easily spy them out: Sometimes they are all for Conformity, and against Separation by any means, and plead the Common-prayer-peoples' Cause with all their might▪ as it were; and yet presently they are all on a fire against any that shall think they are Conformists: Nay, says R. B. How can any judge him to be a Conformist, who is silenced for Nonconformity? But if this Man, (sometime a Head to those called Presbyterians at and about Kidderminster) and Bryan of the same Nature, sometimes a Teacher at Coventry, be not Conformed, or be not yet Conformists, as well as others of their Brethren, who have long since swallowed down, the Old Common Prayer Service, as they called it, which they rejected in Oliver's time, because it hindered them then from devouring the People's Labours; and seeing they plead so shamelessly for it now; and also seeing this R. B. in express words confesseth, That they are not so much against Conformity with the Common-Prayer Service, as the People are; What may be the Reason of this strange thing, to wit, That they do not in all things conform, in Deed and Practice, as well as in words, save only, as is plain to me, this; because they judge that their Admirers are not yet sufficiently wearied out with keeping off, nor sufficiently moulded and fitted in their Minds for coming in; and therefore they have lingered, and may yet linger a while longer before they do openly, and before all appear Conformists, desiring, if possible, to see the People in before them; for these Two Chief Presbyterian Priests, so called, are already in the Parish Stuff, in their Judgement, and with their Minds and Hearts already, or at least would be thought so to be by the wicked World, of whom they are Lovers: Yet they see not how to vend their flattering Doctrines, if their Admirers Conform not, and come not in with them, or rather be not in the Pit before them; so weak and wretched a thing is Man, yea, the best-seeming of the Sons of Men, out of the Truth; Oh! how truly fulfilled by these Men, are those words of the Apostle, where he speaking of the False, Hypocritical, Ontside Teachers of that Time, saith, With good Words, and fair Speeches, they deceive the Hearts of the Simple? Therefore ever-praised be Christ, who hath opened our Eyes to see, and persuaded our Hearts, to avoid such Wolves in Sheep's clothing, as this R B. and Bryan are; for, what finer and higher Talk, or Skin, or Clothing, can the Wolf get, than to make Sermons of dwelling with God, and the like, as this Bryan doth? When it's manifest, he neither knows God, nor his Way, nor his Dwelling-place; but is inwardly ravened, from that Good and Blessed Spirit of Truth and Honesty which should commend him to God. The Wolves Nature in R. B. is already in this Writing set down and manifest; and now I come in the Light of the Lord, to make manifest some of his Brother Bryan's. And first shall set down that Blasphemous Passage of his, in p. 291, and 292. of his sixth Sermon, in that Book of his, Entitled, Dwelling with God, etc. where he saith, I am not ignorant, that many of you, whose Habitation, I question not but the Lond is; who have your Habitation in several Countries of this Kingdom, have drunk a deep Prejudice, against all the Parochial Congregations, whereof you are Legal Members, and where all you were Baptised, and thereby were made the Members of Christ, the Children of God, and Heirs of his Kingdom: I fear some of you will startle at these Expressions, found in the Common Prayer; but if you consult the Holy Scriptures, you will find them warranted in a Sacramental Senon; and your Prejudice hath so far wrought upon you, that you have forsaken the assembling of yourselves together with your Neighbours, in the public Meeting-places. Thus far this Bryan.  
Answ. But ever praised be the Lord, who hath delivered us from the Mouths of such manifest Wolves as these are, who in times past were hidden, but are now fully seen, (who, though his Brother R. B. says, his Mouth was stopped, or silenced for not Conforming, yet here it seems it is wide open still, according to his and their Custom, to manifest his Folly and wicked inside against the Truth, and for Deceit) that the Simple-hearted might for ever be warned from following such any more; for who would have thought, that ever (him called) Dr. Bryan of Coventry, and Richard (called Mr.) Baxter of Kidderminster, who were so promoted in Oliver's time, for Conformity to Oliver's Laws and Religion, in opposition to the Prelates, and their Common-Prayers, should now, with a little blast of men's Breath, be silenced (as R. B's Epistle to his Book saith) for a time, and so shattered and confounded with the Fall, that when they awaked, and got a little Breath, that they should, for fear of Men, be so transformed into other shapes, as not to be ashamed to get into their Mouths blasphemous words [of making People Members of Christ, Children of God, and Heirs of his Kingdom] by having a little Water sprinkled on their Faces by a Man-made Priest, when they were Infants, and understood nothing; which passage is contrary to the Scriptures of Truth, as all sober minded People may well understand; yea, and this Bryan himself knows in his own Conscience, that they are not sound words, though he most notoriously and falsely says, to please the present Evil World [with all] that the Holy Scriptures warrant them in a Sacramental Sense. But I desire that all People, who fear the Lord, would take heed of such dangerous Heresies; for the Scriptures of Truth do not allow of Falsehood in any Sense at all; for it's absolutely false in the sight of God, and to all good Men, that Infants, by any such outward Sprinkling or doing (as they call Baptism) are made the Children of God, Members of Christ, Heirs of his Kingdom; seeing the Scripture now here commands any such thing, but saith, That except People be born from above, they cannot see the Kingdom of God: But the Day is dawned, that makes all things manifest, Praises to God: And therefore People consider what a Wretchedness those are under, who follow such blind Guides, as turn and change with every Time, and can be any thing or nothing in appearance, so that they can but keep up their Name amongst Men. What, was was the Common-Prayers, and such things, so odious a thing in the Eyes of these Priests in Oliver's Time? And is it now, yea the worst part of it, become such an Idol in their Eyes, as that those that dwell in God, must be condemned of deep Prejudice for not Consormity to it? What, will not that Spirit that climbs over the Door, and never was sent of God to preach the Gospel, say, or unsay, so as it can but please the present Times? But Oh thou Blasphemous Bryan, the Accuser of the Brethren; Can those that dwell with God, deny to conform to that Worship or Service which is of God? And therefore it is safely and truly concluded, that the Service thou pleads for, is not of God, because for Conscience to God, with whom they dwell, they cannot conform to it: But Oh how the Serpent creeps upon his Belly to do mischief, by seeking to persuade the Conscientious People, That by their not joining with the Parish-Worships and Assemblies, they open their Mouths wide, to cast a Scandal upon their Persons, as Profane, and upon the strict Profession of walking precisely according to the written Word, which they think (says this Bryan, in that P. 292. of his Book) gives you no warrant for your Separation, etc. And then down upon his Belly he goes, saying, My humble and earnest Request to you is, to lay aside your Prejudice, and examine by the good Word, whether your Separation be not sinful.  
Answ. To which I answer in the Word of the Lord, Blessed for ever, that we, who for the Work and Word of the Lord in our Hearts and Mouths, are by the sinful Priests of England, and elsewhere, disdained, and scornfully called Quakers, are not separated from them because of any Prejudice, or the like, against them; but God, who by his Everlasting Light of Truth, hath showed us the Evil of their Do, and of our own, when we worshipped we knew not what amongst them; he, I say, hath separated us from them, and joined us to himself in Christ Jesus, where, with him, our Dwelling is indeed, (though Bryan think not so) praised be the Name of our most Holy Lord God for evermore. And so we are not yet to examine, whether our Separation be sinful, or nay; for that is done, and we do know it to be good, according to the good Word from the beginning, most certainly. And so the Offence which the Parish-worshippers take, is Offence without all Cause on our parts given; and so it is no other, than the Unbelievers took in all Generations, against them that feared God; as the Jews were offended at Christ and his Apostles, yea, and all Christians in those days, because they could not worship with their Neighbours in their Superstitions, as this Bryan would have us; and not only so, but they killed Christ and his Apostles, and grievously persecuted the Christians for their Separation then, as they do us at this day; and so the Reproach of Christ, is to us great Riches, and the Persecutors God will examine and judge: And as Moses did choose rather to suffer Affliction with the People of God, than to enjoy Egypt's Glory for a Season, so Blessed are all, that with us are persuaded in their Hearts, to follow the Lamb wheresoever he goes, not heeding what the Wicked say or judge of them; but as the Apostle exhorts, looking at Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith, who for the Joy that was set before him, endured the Cross, and despised the Shame; and so through all the Trials and Persecutions of this World, enter into God's Glory, where none can come to make afraid.  
But if there be any, who through Prejudice (as this Bryan speaks) and not by the Spirit of the Lord, are separated from the Parish-Worship; it is necessary for such to see to themselves, and consider, lest their Return be as Shameful, as their Separation was Sinful, (like this Bryan and R. B) who, it seems, all this while, have been no real and true Separatists to God; but have been only in the Self separation according to the Will and Force of Times: For though the poor deceived Followers of such Men, be at present more averse from joining with the Superstitions of the Times, than your Hearers are (as R. B. says) yet if you grow not out of their rotten Root, into the Root Christ Jesus, you will be weary and faint in your Way before the end: But let all know, that these Self-separatists, who have not their Birth of God, are not real Dwellers with God; though this Bryan, it's like, had an Eye especially to such in his words, and to whom, it's like, in a special manner he applies his fawning flattering Words and Desires: But what's the Reason, may we say again, that these Nonconforming Ministers, by R. B's report, are not so much against the Parish Way of Worship, as now managed, as their Hearers are, save only their gross Hypocrisy, and selfseeking Nature, and double Mind, as was hinted before? For they have carried the People in hand, that they would suffer; yea, what would they not suffer, rather than Conform: And now behold how this Teacher of Teachers (R. B.) hath bewrayed their Nakedness: O People, People, who have been long deceived by such double-minded one's (who are unstable in all their Ways) that you would turn your Minds from them, to the true Light of Jesus Christ in your Conscience, that with it you might first see yourselves, and so growing up in that true Light, you might come to see Jesus Christ, who never fell, nor never changeth, to be your Teacher and Minister; and so come from off the Barren Mountains, whether these, and the like, deceitful Men (R. B. and Bryan) have led you, and left you; for now is the Lord making unto all People a Feast of Fat things, of Wine on the Lees well refined, ever praised be his Name for it: And now, if after all the Light that the Lord hath set up in this day, you will not be warned to come into the Liberty of the Sons of God, and so accept of God's Freedom in his Son freely tendered you; what remains? But if you be fastened more in the Pit of Darkness with all Unbelievers, it is just.  
But whereas this R. B. tells of his Brother Bryan's silencing formerly for not Conforming, it had been well for him that he had been silent still, rather than have opened his Mouth thus to the dishonour of God, and strengthening Deceit in the Deceitful, and so to the Shame and Confusion of his own Face; and all his raking up something here and there, as he could get hold of it in his dark Imaginations, for Parish-conformity, it is so nothing to the purpose, and so well seen to be so, by all that are not wilfully blind, that it serves only to discover his own Nakedness, and rotten in side, as not only by what hath been already said, but by what also now follows doth further appear, as in Page 295 is set down, where he faith,  
It is no sufficient Warrant to separate from a Church, because it is guilty of such Sins and Corruptions as deserves God should forsake, and for which he hath threatened in his Word, that he will forsake it. (Here by the way take notice, that this Bryan here considered not, that he fully makes manifest the Hypocrisy of his Brother R. B. who talks of his Hearers forsaking the Corruptions of the Times, and yet is one with this Bryan, in persuading them to join with such a Body, as is so corrupt that deserves that God should, yea, and hath threatened that he will forsake them.) But to go on, Bryan saith, Yet People should not forsake that bad Company, till it appear that God hath put in execution that which he justly threatened, we ought to acknowledge it, and receive it as his House, and not refuse to dwell with him in it, for shall Man be Holier than God, and hate Corruption more than he? And we may not communicate with it, by consenting to any Corruptions that are or shall be detected, or proved to be in it.  
Answ. To which strange Doctrine of this Bryan, to which R. B. in his Epistle says, Amen; I say, in the first place, it is absolute Blasphemy against the Holy Name and Nature of God, either to say, or imagine, that God dwells with such a People as are guilty of such Sins and Corruptions, as this Bryan here speaks of; and how far unlike this Bryan's Spirit is, to the Spirit of the Prophets, who said, God is of purer Eyes, than to behold Iniquity; and your Sins have separated betwixt you and your God: And the Apostle saith expressly, That those that would have God to dwell in them (and it's certain God dwells with none, but as he dwells in them) they must be separated, and touch no unclean thing, 2 Cor 6.16, 17, 18. And doth the Lord command us to come out from amongst the Unclean? And will he himself, the Holy One of Israel, dwell with the Unclean, yea, with such as are guilty of such Sins and Corruptions, as deserve that God should forsake them for them; yea, for which God hath threatened in his Word, that he will forsake them? And certainly there can be no Way, nor Means, to stay or hinder the Execution of God's Judgements threatened and deserved, but by forsaking those Sins and Corruptions which such People are guilty of, which the People of England (that this Bryan) would have us, and others, to join with, are far from; for, O England, England, thou and thy Parishes are polluted that will not come to Christ, that they might have Life; but persecutes them (with unreasonableness, and cruel Usages) that the Lord hath raised up, to forewarn thee of his Judgements: And so thy House being destitute of God's Fear and Goodness, we are not more Holy than God, nor hate Corruption more than he, in our separating from thee, as this wicked Man Bryan would have thee falsely believe; but in our separating from thee, we do the Lord's Command, and follow his blessed Example; and so we cannot receive that for God's House, which he dwells not in: And so thou art a False Witness, O Bryan, and a Blasphemer of God and his Tabernacle; for the Temple and Tebernacle of God is Holy; which Temple are his Holy Members and Body the True Church; not Babylon, the False, Sinful and Corrupted Church, which R. B. and Bryan pleads for: And if any defile the Temple of God, saith the Apostle, him will God (not call his House, and Dwelling-place, but) destroy, 1 Cor. 3.17.  
Again, How shall this gross Contradiction, which this twisting twining Serpent makes, be salved? For this Bryan one while says, It's to be Holier than God, to separate from such a sinful corrupt Sort, as deserves God's Judgements: And yet with the same Moutli saith, We may not Communicate with them, by consenting to any Corruptions that are, or shall be detected, or proved to be in such a People. What, join with a manifest Corrupted Body, whose very Prayers (by their own Confession) are not without Sin, and not so much as consent to any of their Corruptions? What a Joining is this, when it must not be a Joining; no, not so much as in the Consent: What gross dark Contradiction is here (and now to bring this a little home to the business of England) a Doctor (so called) and Pleader for Conformity, and Communion with the Parish worshippers of England, which are detected, and manifestly proved; yea, and not only by their words, but by their own Confession also, to be miserable Offenders against God; yea, so guilty, and full of Sins and Corruptions, from the Crown of the Head, to the Soles of their Feet, as that they have no Health nor Soundness at all in them, would have us conform to them; and yet he saith, We may not communicate with them, by consenting to any of their proved Corruptions. Then I say, If we may not have Fellowship with them in their Corruptions, no, not so much as by consent; then we must not have Fellowship with them at all, for they and their Corruptions are one; for saith Christ, Ye are of your Father the Devil, for his Works ye will do. But saith Bryan, Christ was a Member of this Church (as he calls it) of those wicked Jews; because he was Circumcised, and frequented the Temple, and eat the Passover; than which Saying of this Bryan, nothing can be more False; for what, though Christ was Circumcised, and went sometimes into the Temple, and eat the Passover, which had been Ordinances of God for their time, and were Shadows of good Things to come; What is that to prove Christ a Member of that Body, whose House was left unto them desolate, and who were headed by the Devil, which at length put them on to murder him? O sad, that ever People in their love of the World should be so blind! But what is Christ's conforming to the Shadows of the Law, which God gave for that time, and by him to be fulfilled, and so ended, to your requiring us to conform to you in that, or those Things which God never ordained? as Sprinkling of Infants; and not only so, but teaching for Doctrine, That you make them thereby the Children of God, Members of Christ, and Heirs of his Kingdom; and also your giving David's Psalms in Rhyme and Meeter, to the wicked World, to sing to God's dishonour: And to hear a proud Man, and covetous Man (who is an Idolater) Preach and Pray, whom God never sent; yea, and to maintain him in his Sins, contrary to all Reason and Religion; also how can we conform to you in your Corruptions of respecting Persons, and of having men's Persons in Admiration because of Advantage? Contrary to the express Doctrine of the Apostle, which saith, James 2.1, etc. Have not the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, with respect of Persons: Yea, and plead for their Transgressions: How can we Conform to such, as under the Name of Christians, do live manifestly in the Sins of the Heathen; as Fornication, Covetousness, Idolatry, Drunkenness, and are Railers, and Extertioners, and lovers of Pleasures more than lovers of God: from whom the Apostle bids us turn away? 2 Tim. 3. and 1 Cor. 5 11, etc. with whom he forbids us to eat; and yet with such, both R. B. and Bryan, for all their former seeming hypocritical Zeal, would now have us to Communicate, yet not so much as consent to their Corruptions, neither as their daubing contradicting Doctrine seems willing to have. Then I say, We must neither have Fellowship with them in their Worship-actions, (as R. B. calls them) nor in their ordinary Conversation, for all is Corrupt: For what greater Assent or Consent can we give, than by joining with them, or practising such things openly: But it's better to obey God than Man, both in this and all things; and as the Lord said to Jeremiah, so in this case hath he said to us: Let them return to thee, but return not thou to them; for what Fellowship hath Light with Darkness, or the Temple of God with Idols?  
And now I come a little to set before you poor People, who have been deceived by such Men as this R. B. and Bryan are, something of the Answer they give to the Arguments of the zealous People of old (called Brownists) who could not for Conscience-sake conform to their Common-Brayer, etc. Their Objection saith Bryan, in Page 297 of his Book was this, to wit,  
That the People of England were never rightly called; for in the beginning of the Queen's (to wit, Elizabeth 's) Reign, they were by her Command and Proclamation, compelled to embrace the Protestant Religion, and to conform to God's Worship; whereas in the New Testament we have no Example of People compelled to the Service of God: Christ commanding Fisher men to convert Souls by Preaching, not Princes to make Disciples by Compulsion; therefore the Church of Christ (England he should have said; for who ever denied the Church of Christ) had no right Constitution?  
But now see the wretched Answer of this Bryan to the said Objection of the old Non-conformists.  
If we speak (saith he) of a Church first planted; the People of such a Nation are first called by the Word, before they come to be a Church: But it is not so (saith he) of a Country, where for a long time true Religion hath been professed, which is our case. And as to that part of the Objection, That there is no such Example in the New Testament;  
First, The Magistrates were then Enemies to the Christian Religion.  
Secondly, (saith he) It sufficeth that we have Examples in the Old Testament, 2 Kings 23.21. 2 Chron. 15.13. and 33.16. and 34.33. nor have (saith he). Christian Princes less Power in their Dominion to abolish Idolatry, and by Laws and Penalties, to compel their Subjects where there is a Parity of Reason.  
And after this, Bryan having wearied himself with setting down several words, to and against, both what the Conformists said for, and the Non-conformists said against, these Things; he takes breath, and says, he returns to satisfy the Objection, to wit, The Objection before mentioned about Separation, with such words as these,  
It is not necessary and generally true (saith he) of all the Members of the Visible Church, that they be called by the Word.  
Answ. To which I answer on behalf of Truth: That it is the great Love, and tender Mercy, of God to our Souls, that he hath delivered us from under such Men, as this Bryan and R. B. are, who know nothing as they ought to know; but professing themselves to be wise, are become most foolish and brutish in their Minds and Words, by such false and Soul-destroying Doctrines as these; affirming, That People may be called into the visible Church without the Word; and if one ask him, If not by the Word, by what then? His answer is, by Sprinkling, when Infants, or for fear of Man: But what, are these Calls into the Visible Church? A strange Church must that needs be for certain, where People are called into it without God's Word; for certain it's none of God's Church, into which People are called, without his Word: It's the visible Company of such as know not God, thou shouldst have said: For God's Church are the Faithful, and their Faith cometh by Hearing, and Hearing by the Word of God, and not without it: But, oh the Desolation that such Doctrine as this of Bryan and R. B. hath made amongst the poor People, whose Eyes are not fully opened to see their Deceits.  
Also this Antichristian Doctrine being laid as a Foundation in their House, it is no Wonder to hear this Bryan say, Page 301. That Ignorant and Profane Persons have always been in the Church, and ever will be, at lest, till Christ comes the second Time.  
But by all these unsound, unchristian and ignorant Say, it fully appears, that this Bryan is one of them who have neither seen nor known Christ; seeing he would bring in the Heathen into the Temple without the Word: And so, Who is more Ignorant and Profane than this Priest Bryan himself, as also his Brother R. B. who is not ashamed to make such a one a Tutor, or Father of Ministers, who is ignorant of the very Door and Entrance into the Church, and of Christ's second Coming? Nay, who is ignorant of his first Appearance, which was for Judgement, even to whip the Buyers and Sellers, and all Profane ones, out of his House, as he said himself, For Judgement come I into this World. What Pastors or Teachers can such Tutor, as are so ignorant of Christ's Kingdom; and so admit the Ignorant and Profane into their Church, (or Cage of unclean Birds) for the Church of Christ, which is visibly seen, and known by the Spiritual Eye to be his Body, is Holy, and into it can no unclean thing enter, as saith the Scripture, Rev. 21.27. but into the World's Church, may both Ignorant and Profane enter and dwell: But at such dishonest Gain, as is gotten by such Doctrines as this of Bryan and R. B. hath the Lord long shaken his Hand: Is this your Ware that you sell to the People at so dear a Rate? Is this your Straw and Stubble that you seed them with? But no Man of any Understanding in Heavenly Matters, will buy any more of your Merchandise. For God is come to teach his People himself, and the Spirit of God is felt and witnessed amongst us, praised be God; yea, and in our very Hearts to teach us, and by which we feel Christ come again the second Time, without Sin, to Salvation, according to his Holy Promises, and by whose all-powerful Word of Faith and Heavenly Presence in us, are we joined together unto him, in one Holy Body; Glory to his Name over all, for he is worthy.  
And for that Saying, That Christian Princes have not less Power to abolish Idolatry, and by Law and Penalties, to compel the Subjects in Matters of Religion, where there is a parity of reason, than the Jewish Kings under that Law had.  
I answer and say, That all are not Christians who are so called; and this crying up the Worldly Magistrates Power in Matters Spiritual, is the only Inlet into Persecution of the  People of God, who cannot bow to every thing the World sets up; yea, though it come under the name or show of Christian Religion; and if the Image be of Gold never so goodly, yet wanting Life and Power they cannot bow to it. I say, They who Preach up the Worldly Princes, under what Name soever, to have Power over the Consciences of People in Matters purely Spiritual (as the whole Body of Christian Religion is) are Antichristian, and the great Enemies of that Liberty which Christ hath purchased for his People, and which the Apostles sealed unto with their Blood, saying in such cases, Let every Man be fully persuaded in his own Heart. And who art thou that judges (much less forcest and compelest as Bryan and R B's Doctrine would have it) another? to his own Master (to wit, God the Judge of all) he standeth or falleth, see Rom. 14. at large; but what account will those Daubers give to the Lord, for all the Innocent Blood they have caused to be shed these many hundred Years? is Sad to consider: For though such Magistrates as are evil inclined are not free, yet the False Teachers, who by their Lies stir up, yea, and bring forth that evil Inclination into real Actings against the Good, shall receive the greater Condemnation: And yet notwithstanding all the Evil, both in the one and in the other, the Lord will certainly carry on his great Work to his own Praise, which he hath begun, Glory to his Name for ever: And the Beast, Whore and False Prophet, shall alive together be cast into the Lake prepared for them, and into the Pit which they had digged for others.  
Also whereas he saith, That it sufficeth that we have Examples in the Old Testament for the Magistrates Power in Church matters, though none in the New Testament. I say, It is no more true, than if we should reason for an outward worldly Temple, Sacrifices, and Circumcision now, because there is Examples of these things in the Old Testament; and for Revenge and Retaliation now, because it is mentioned in the Old, contrary to Christ, For though it hath been said of old (saith Christ) an Eye for an Eye, and a Tooth for a Tooth; yet I say to you, my Disciples, under the New Covenant, If any Man smite you on the one Cheek, turn to him the other; and the Apostle saith, Dear beloved, avenge not yourselves; butif thy Enemy hunger, seed him, etc. and so Christ being come, and all Power in Heaven and Earth given him; Is not he in these Spiritual Matters, relating to the very Soul and Conscience, the only Lord, Lawgiver and King, and Supreme, and aught of right to rule in his own House and Temple, which is in Man, and those that will not that he should Rule, must bow before him, and be ashamed before his Face.  
So that now the Son of God being come, and seated by right of Inheritance, the true King and Heir upon David's Throne, to Rule in Righteousness for ever in the Hearts of his Children, he commands the true Seed of Israel to obey his Heavenly Voice, Law and Doctrine, spoken and written within, as those outward and typical Kings did, command the fleshly Seed of Abraham to keep Moses' Law, written without; and as those that obeyed not that outward Law of Moses, were liable to the Punishment of that Law; so they now that obey not Christ's Spiritual Law, written in the Heart and Conscience by his Holy Power, are liable to the Eternal Judgement of Jesus Christ, the Judge of Quick and Dead, as he saith, The Father judges no Man, but hath committed all Judgement to the Son: And as for the worldly Magistrate, he is to Rule in outward things, betwixt Man and Man, to see that every one, as to the Body and outward Estate, be well behaved one towards another, and not to bear the Sword in vain, as hath been too much in use, even amongst many called Christian Magistrates, as well as others; from whence it hath come to pass, that for the sake of the Poor, whom the worldly Powers have oppressed, as well in Temporals as Spirituals, the Lord hath overturned them, one Sort after another, as they were found in the Abuse of that Power and Trust which was put into their Hands, for the Protection of, and Encouragement and Praise of the Good, and Punishment of the Evil doers; but not the contrary, according to that of the Prophet.  
I will overturn, overturn, overturn, till he come whose Right it is: And so until Truth, Righteousness, Goodness, Equity and Justice rule, both in the Hearts and Lives of the Children of Men, there will neither be Peace, nor Establishment of any good thing; but as a Wheel will the whole Earth be, from Generation to Generation, saith the Spirit, who is the sweet Orderer in all things, for the Holy Seed's sake: Glory to his Name for ever.  
And so in the Love and Kindness of the Lord God, have I been thus enabled for the Truth, and the poor People's sake, to lay open something of the Deceits, and gross Hypocrisy, of these two Men, called R. B. and Bryan, who have long, under a Cover or Vizard of Holiness, deceived the unstable Souls of many: But now the Covering being rend off, their Wolfish Nature is fully manifest: Glory to the Lord, the good Workman over all for ever, So be it.  
Thomas Taylor.   

Some Gentle Remarks on a Book, Entitled, A Discourse concerning the Idolatry Practised in the Church of Rome.  
A Book coming to my Hands, called, A Discourse concerning the Idolatry Practised in the Church of Rome: Written by E. S. Styled D. D. And finding the Man Zealous against that Romish Idolatry, which is Commendable in him: E. S. in his Book, Orig. Sacra. Page 4. hath these words, God Created the Souls of Men, not only Capable of finding out the Truth of things, but furnished him with a Sufficient Teacher to discover Truth from Falsehood, by a LIGHT set up in his Understanding; which, if he had attended to, he might have secured himself from all Impostors and Deceit. And also finding in his Principles, towards the latter end of his Book, such a saying as this, to wit, his fifth Priciple; There can be no other means Imagined, whereby we are to judge of the Truth of Divine Revelation, but a faculty in us discerning Truth and Falsehood in Matters Proposed to our Understandings; which, if we do not Exercise in Judging the Truth of Divine Revelation, we must be imposed upon by every thing that pretends to be so. And in Article 13. The Holy Scriptures may be understood Infallibly by all Persons, who sincerely endeavour to know the meaning of them, in all such things as are necessary for their Salvation. This is the Scope of the latter part of that Article. And in Article 13. And there can be no sufficient Reason given, why that may not serve in matters of Faith, which God himself hath made use of, as the means, to keep Men from Sin in their Lives, unless any imagine, that Errors in Opinion are far more Dangerous to men's Souls than a vicious Life is; and therefore that God is bound to take more Care to prevent the one than the other. And in his Fourth and Fifth Conclusion, upon his Articles, saith, The more absurd any Opinions are, and Repugnant to the first Principles of Sense and Reason; which any Church Obtrudes upon the Faith of Men: The greater Reason Men still have to reject the pretence of Infallibility in that Church, as a grand Imposture. And so, to disown what is so Taught by such a Church, is not to question the Veracity of God, but so firmly to adhere to it; as to what he hath Revealed in Scriptures, that Men dare not, out of Love to their Souls, reject what is so taught.  
Yet finding this E. S. making several Reflections upon us, whom the World Scorn, under the Nick name of Quakers; I say, us whom the Lord hath drawn out of the many Waters of Mystery Babylon, into the Light of his Son, that most inward Principle, Faculty, and alone Ability in Man, to try all Doctrines and Works by; I could not but thus write something to him, that he might see his Mistake of us, and not lose his Reward of standing against Romish Delusions, by withstanding or Speaking against the Truth of God, made manifest to us in our Hearts, and Shining forth in our Lives, to the Praise of his Glory, and the Good of all who do rightly understand us, and receive our Testimony; I say, that if possible he may understand a little, and feel of that inward Principle, or Faculty (as he calls it) which he is aiming at, and which, he saith, must be antecedently supposed (viz. necessarily) to all Divine Revelation, are these things writ.  
Now that part of his Book, where he somewhat smites at us; is, that where he Treats of the Fanaticism of the Roman Church: As one may see Page 249. where he says, Who will not take pains to see how Faithfully I have Translated these Words out of Eymericus, would imagine I have borrowed some of the canting Language of the Modern Quakers. Look * where he goes on.  
Now, What is this some of this canting Language? That part of Petrus Johannis' Relation of St. Francis (as he calls him) runs thus.  
That those who Opposed this Order (to wit, of that Francis) were the Carnal Persecuting Clergy, in whom the Seat of the Beast is much more than in the People; that in the time of the Mystical Antichrist, the Carnal Church shall oppose the Doctrine, Life and Zeal of the Saints, and burn as it were with Fire against them; but it shall be dried up from all Spiritual Wisdom, and Grace, and the Riches of Christ; and be Exposed to Errors and Delusion, and as it was with the Jews and Greeks. Thus far there.  
To which I Answer, What is this kind of Language Canting, where it is truly applied in any Age; dost not thou, Edward Stillingfleet, believe that there both was, and is a Carnal Church, that did and doth oppose the Doctrine, Life and Zeal of the Saints, etc. as is there s●t down. To let Francis and his Applauders alone, we know both the Holy Prophets and Apostles of Jesus Christ mentioned in Scripture; as also Christ himself did vehemently Cry against a Carnal Church, or Fleshly Company of Professors in those days; for he that was born after the Flesh did always Persecute him that was born after the Spirit, both before, and in the Apostles Days. And so it hath been since, no question, all along downwards; and as we for certain find it so in these our days, not only by the Papists, but even amongst them called Protestants also: And was those many Sharp Reproofs, and large Discoveries of the False Teachers in the Prophets and Apostles time Canting. O Man! take heed, thou knows not what thou dost, when thou judges our Witness against the False Teachers, and Carnal Professors of this Age no better than Canting: But certainly, though some of you may put it off at present, as a light thing, and look at it Scornfully, as no better than Canting; as they did, who said, He is Mad, and hath a Devil, why hear ye him; but the time will come when it will be otherwise, even then when the Books are opened, and every one receives a Reward according to their Deeds. It is strange, this Doctor, who seems to be so much Read, should Read our Principles no better, and pretending to so much Wisdom, if he have Read our Books, that he should no better understand us, than to compare us to such as him, called St. Francis, Ignatius Loyola; or the Upholders of that Rotten and Superstitious Kingdom of Popery: But we are not greater than our Lord, who was Crucified between the Thiefs, and of whom they said, he is a Samaritan, and a Friend of Publicans and Sinners: But Wisdom is justified of her Children; Praised be God, though others, who are not some of the Heavenly Wisdom, speak ever so ill of it. Also this Edward Stilling fleet, Page 252. of his Book, saith, Their Doctrines (to wit, those of Francis' Order it seems) may be Reduced to these Four Heads; First, Evangelical Poverty. Secondly, Unlawfulness of Swearing. Thirdly, The Doctrine of Perfection. Fourthly, Opposition to the Carnal Church: Which, being joined with that great Degree of Light, which they supposed themselves to have above all the rest of the World, makes a Sect of Quakers, after the Order of St. Francis.  
Now to this I say, That if such Doctrines as these, not in Francis, or Petrus Johannis' Sense, but in the Truth of the thing, be plainly found Asserted and Exhorted unto in Scripture by Christ and his Apostles, than I hope they, who Revile us for such things, do not do it to us only, but even to Truth itself, and must be accountable to him in Judgement for it: As for the Order of Francis, and Dominicus, and Benedict, and Jesuits, or what other of Popish Sects there be, through the Grace of Christ we are, taught to deny them all, together with all those Orders amongst them, called Protestants, which would make the Seamless Coat of Christ of many Pieces, and so spoil all, for Christ's Body is one, the chosen Ones of God, precious to him. And of his Heavenly ●ody, it is our Glory and our Crown to he found Members; and our Faith being builded upon the Living Rock, Christ Jesus, in Deed and Truth, we know the Gates of Hell cannot prevail against it: But what art thou against true Gospel Poverty, and Perfection, and Light; and such a Friend to Swearing, and the Carnal Church, that those now amongst us that hold the one, and deny the other, must be holden no less than Papists for it: Our Judgement of these things it generally known, and of the Lord Jesus allowed, and that's our Peace; and so in particular at present, I speak not much, but only gladly would let E. S. see how he hath wronged himself, by numbering us with he knows not whom; but however Reported to him, (if as the Vilest amongst the Vile) it were this Author's Wisdom to weigh his words better, and be more solid for time to come.  
Also I take notice of one saying of this Authors, in Page 256. where he saith, (that some Fanatic Papists held) amongst other things, That every Intellectual Being (doth he not mean Man's Soul) hath enough within itself to make it happy, or (saith he) a Light within. These words [or a Light within] seem to be put in on purpose, that People may take notice whom he would have them believe they resemble: But it seems somewhat strange, that this Man should any ways speak slightly of our Testimony to the Light of Christ in Man, seeing he hath Confessed so much as is before set down in his Principles of an inward Law, necessarily Antecedent to all Divine Revelation, as the Judge thereof in Man. And is not that inward Law, the Light of God and Christ in Man: For what other Light can judge aright of Divine Revelation? O how often is this to be found true amongst Men, that they will seem in words to confess to that which indeed they are against; for want of a true understanding of their own words?  
And whereas he mentions Christ's being Spiritually Crucified in some that suffered in the next Page, as such a one relates: Whatsoever the thing was to them, surely the Expression is not Canting; for Christ said to Saul, Why Persecutes thou me? And some are said to Crucify Christ afresh to themselves; and the Witnesses lay slain in the Streets of the great City, which Spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where our Lord was Crucified, which he that hath an Ear may hear. But indeed Spiritual Expressions could never be relished by the Unspiritual Mind.  
Also in Page 273. this E. S. telling of one Ignatius Loyola, That it's reported of him, That it was his Custom not to give Men any Titles of respect, but to call them only by their Common Names; and particularly, that he would not put off his Hat when he was brought before a Commander, says, by this we understand who was the first Founder of that Fanatic Sect among us, which is distinguished so much from others, by denying Common Civilities to Men. Also Page 275. telling of this Ignatius further, saith, After he was committed to close Prison, he preached to the People with great Zeal, who now flock in great numbers to him; and gloried as much in his Sufferings, and talked at the same rate that the Ringleaders of the Quakers are wont to do among us, and just with the same resolution; for when the rest of the Prisoners made an escape through the Negligence of the Keepers, Ignatius and his Companions would not stir; when they were called to Answer, Ignatius preached at large upon several Points of Divinity to them, under pretence of answering Questions. And saith, They preached in the Streets and Market-places, and on Bulks of Shops for their Pulpits; and though few understood them, being Strangers, yet all admired and commended them; and no doubt, faith this Author, they Converted many, as their Followers have done, from the use of Laces and Ribbons. I answer, then surely this is more than the Popish Parish-priests than did, or Protestant Priests now do.  
And in Page 281, and 282, concludes, And now let the World judge, whether there hath appeared a greater Enthusiast, or Pretender to Revelations, than Ignatius was, since the Days of Mahomet and St. Francis? Methinks they might be ashamed to upbraid us with the Phanaticism of the Quakers, and such Persons, the Chiefest of whom fall very much short of Ignatius, in those very things for which they are Condemned by us, yet any who compares them, would imagine the Life of Ignatius had been their great Exemplar: I know not whether any of that Innocent and Religious Order of the Jesuits, had any hand in forming this New Society among us, as hath been frequently suggested. Page 258. But if one may guests the Father by the Child's likeness, Ignatius Loyola, the Founder of the Jesuits, was at least the Grandfather of the Quakers.  
He goes on, saying, That as Vasthi the Queen being cast off from the Kingdom and Marriage of Ahashuerus, the humble Esther was chosen to succeed in her place; and the King made a great Feast to his Princes and Servants, so in this last state of the Church, the Adulterous Babylon, the Carnal Church being rejected, the Spiritual Church must be exalted, and a great Spiritual Feast be kept to Celebrate these Nuptials with: That under the Mystical Antichrist there shall be Overturnings and Commotions, by which the Carnal Church shall be terribly stirred up and moved against the Evangelical Spirit of Christ, but that the Whore of Babylon, the Carnal Church, shall fall, in which time the Saints shall preach, saying, From this time it is no longer the Church of Christ, but the Synagogue of Satan, and the Habitation of Devils, which before said in the Pride of her Heart, I sit as a Queen in great Honour and Glory, I Rule over my Kingdom, I sit at ease, I am no Widow, i. e. I have Bishops and Kings on my side: That the Roman Church is that Great Whore spoken of in the Revelations, which hath committed Fornication with this World, having departed from the Worship, and sincere Love and Delights of Christ her Spouse, and embraced the World, the Riches and Pleasures of it, and the Devil, and Kings, and Princes, and Prelates, and all the Lovers of this World.  
Also Page 285. For if we have no other Helps for the understanding of their Prayer of Contemplation, than what Mr. Cressy gives in his Preface, we may as well hope to understand the Quakers Canting as Mr. Cressy ' s. And this Author, Page 289. saith, Christ and his Apostles taught Men a plain and intelligible way of serving God, and bid them look for Perfection in another World.  
Also Page 295. telling of some Romish fanatics, says, Did not they deliver this for their Doctrine, that Men ought to hearken to the immediate Impulses of the Spirit of God within them; and that now God doth acquaint his own People with his Mind and Will in a way peculiar to themselves. And says afterwards, That our Enthusiasts do not boast of so many Raptures, Visions and Revelations, as those of the Church of Rome have done.  
Now to this I say, that when any of those that pretend to be Head of the Protestant Church, are come to such a pass and measure of Darkness, as that they cannot allow that Christians ought to hearken to the immediate Impulses of the Spirit of God within them, or that now God doth acquaint his own People, etc. I say it is sad, and the Times may well be said to be perilous indeed. What! Doth either the Scripture without, or the inward Faculty, which thou says must be Antecedent to all Divine Revelation, Dictate to thee, that these Say are Fanatical? What! Are not the Children of God led by the Spirit of God which is in them? And must they not hearken to the Doctrine and Movings of their Teacher and Leader? And doth not Christ say, to you, to wit, my peculiar People and Disciples, it is given to know the Mystery of the Kingdom of God; but to others it is not given, to wit, to those that are without, that follow their Wisdom, and not Christ's Spirit: But both the Carnal Church of Papists and Protestants deny to hearken to the inward Movings or Impulses, as are here called, of God's Spirit, that they may Establish their own Traditions, some in one way, some in another, but all in vain; for the Lamb shall have the Victory, and a little Child shall lead them, and the Meek shall increase their Joy in the Lord; and he, the Lord, whom the World despises, shall lead them by the Fountain of Living Water.  
But let me ask this Doctor this Serious Question, whether he accounts that part of Romish Phanaticism here set down, or the Common Tenets of them called the Orthodox among them, the better Doctrine? Surely of the Two, this he calls Phanaticism is the more favoured by Scripture, and so consequently the more Orthodox; and may I not say, the more Protestant too? For the first Reformers pretended to take Scripture for their Rule, though in many things they miss it sadly. And are not we that go amongst them under the Name of Quakers, counted fanatics at this Day from this very ground, because we Preach Scripture Doctrine, and Speak Scripture Language at this Day? As for instance, because we say, Christ lighteth every man that cometh into the World, according to John 1.9. And because we say, this Light, or Grace, and Truth of God, which hath appeared unto all Men, is the Saints Teacher, and would be a sufficient Teacher and Leader into Life to all Men, if they did not resist it, and rebel against the Motions of it: And because we say, that the Saints who are in this Anointing of the Holy One, know all things (necessary to Salvation) according to 1 John 2. And because we say, that People ought not to have the Faith of Christ, with respect of Persons, but such as respect Persons commit Sin, according to Leu. 19.15. And because we say, the Work of the true Ministry is for perfecting the Body of Christ, Eph. 4. And the false Ministry perfects nothing, but keeps People always Learning, and never brings them to the Knowledge of the Truth. And because we say, thee and thou to a particular Person, according to Scripture; I say, for these and many the like Doctrines, doth the present evil World of Papists and Protestants, Professors and Profane, hate us, and deride us, and persecute us to their own shame, who would be accounted Owners of Scripture.  
Thomas Taylor.   

The Day is Dawned that makes all Wickedness manifest.  
FOR now, even now, the Day is Dawned, which makes all things manifest, Praises to the Lord God of Heaven and Earth, and now no Worker of Iniquity can be hid any more; for now the Glory of the Lord fills the Earth, and the Knowledge of God covers the Earth, as the Waters do the Sea: And now the pure Truth of the Everliving God hath lift up its Head above all the Clouds and Floods of Error, and over all the Mists and Fogs of the dark perishing World: Glory to the God of Truth, our Life and Light this Day, who is appeared in the Riches of his Bounty, to gather our Souls to himself, and to unite our very Hearts and Souls unto him in the Covenant of his Life and Love, never to be broken nor forgot. And now the Kingdom of God is come indeed to the Believers in the Light, according to the Promise of the Lord, and the Saints Prayer, into which no unclean thing can enter; but the unbelieving World stand without wondering, despising and perishing in their manifold Opposition to the Truth, and Light of this Day of God, the true God over all, Blessed for Evermore. And now all those who will not take Warning by the harms of such Gainsayers of the Light, as are gone before them, will fall with a double Destruction, because they would not apply their Hearts to that pure Wisdom that comes so plentifully from God, in the Light of his Son this Day, to learn his fear therein, but take more pleasure in the Works of their own deceived Hearts and unclean Hands, than in the pure Law, and Handiwork of the Everliving Blessed Lord God, that gives Life, and Breath, and all things, who is this Day indeed exalting the Kingdom of his own Son over all, to whom every Knee shall how, and every Tongue confess, for he is worthy. The Springs of Life gush out apace from the Presence of the Lord into the Hearts of the Righteous, and Righteousness runs down like a Stream, through the Valleys of Israel, to bring forth the Heavenly Fruits of Righteousness, to the Glory and Praise of the Great and Good Husbandman, who is over all God Blessed for Ever, of whose Holy Reign, Kingdom and Government there never shall be end. But of the Kingdom of the Man of Sin, and all Antichrists, there shall be an utter end, and Death and Hell shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, and the Judgement of the Living and Everlasting Truth of our Heavenly Father shall go forth more and more for the discovering and consuming the false Hope, and lying Refuges of all Hypocrites, who have covered themselves, and not with the Spirit of the Lord; the Zeal of the Lord of Life will perform this, that his Name over all may be exalted, who is worthy; whose Appearance in Glory this Day the Children of the Night have greatly withstood; and the Dragon hath made great War against the Lamb, but praised be the Lord the Lamb hath got the Victory, and the Lamb's Followers are this Day with their Feet upon the Holy Mountain, where none can make them afraid, rejoicing in this, that they have found the Lord whom their Souls loved, and do love for Evermore. So be it.  
Thomas Taylor.   

To some of T. Hicks' Friends.  
YE Hicks' Hearers of Tixall-hall, and elsewhere, who Read his Defiled and Defiling Book, called, A Dialogue between a Christian and a Quaker; Fear the Lord God of Heaven and Earth; for I do affirm in the Truth of Christ, that it is a mere Work and Invention of the Wicked One, in that Servant of his, called T. Hicks, who goes under the Name and Profession of an Anabaptist, as they are termed; I say, this Man was put on by the Wicked One, who is called the Devil and Satan, who was a Liar and False Accuser of the Brethren of Christ from the beginning, to Render us, the Servants of the Lord, called Quakers, Odious to the World: For the very first Words and Title of his Book is an absolute Lie, for never was there such a Dialogue between a Christian and a Quaker; but it is a mere Fiction of his own naughty Heart and Head, for Rendering us, and the Truth we hold, Odious; and it is a False and Wicked Representation of us, and our Religion, to the World; for the which God will severely Judge him: And indeed, by this manner of way that he takes, who or what kind of Profession is there that he can miss grossly to abuse: Seeing he takes upon him, like a Prevaricator or Stage-player, both to ask the Question, and give the Answer; so as may serve most for his own wicked End and Purpose, and make his Opposite infamous. O the Wickedness of such Actors, and their Work; but Praised be the Lord, we are out of the reach of his Malice; for under the Holy Wing of God's Power and Protection are our Souls gathered by the Eternal Power of his Living Word in Christ Jesus our Lord: And you that Read this Book, whether called Papists or Protestants, if this Hicks had a Mind to Render you Odious, could he not this way he takes, do it as Plausibly as against us; and so I would not have you hurt yourselves, so as to strengthen yourselves against us and the Truth, which we Live in, by such bad Books and Endeavours, as this Hicks hath come forth in; for if that your Minds stand open to receive them, you will never want them; for the Enemy of your Souls and ours, yea, of all Mankind, will never be wanting to furnish you with Lies for Strengthening his Kingdom in you, and hindering you from entering into the Kingdom of God: And if you would know the Reason of his thus rising up against us, I say it is, because through the Grace of God given us, we Preach the Mystery of the Kingdom of God, even the Wisdom of God in a Mystery, as Scripture speaks: And that Striking at his carnal Conceptions of things, and his Idolatrous Thoughts of outward Water-Baptism, hath stirred up the Venom in him; which, by this his Book, he hath Vented; but the Lord is the Pleader of his People's Cause, which is our Joy and our Armour against all the fiery Darts of all wicked Ones; for the Birth, Life, Death, Resurrection, Ascension; Glorification of Christ, and his Coming again to us, according to the Scriptures of Truth, and Heavenly Promises, through the Power of God, to our Souls Eternal Salvation and Comfort, we Witness Glory to the Lord for ever; whatsoever this Book, or any thing of like nature can, or may say to the contrary; so as Christ said to one of our Brethren in times past, The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against us: And so in the Peaceable Habitation of the Love of God in Christ Jesus do we lie down together, with all Holy Souls and Spirits of Just Men made Perfect; Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent Reigneth in Mount Zion, and before his Ancients Gloriously: And so let the Mouth of all Iniquity be stopped for ever, saith my Soul.  
Thomas Taylor.   

Something concerning that called the Common-Prayer.  
AND Now all People, that you may see we do not without cause Cry against the Priests, and deny to join with them in the present Common Service, now in use amongst the Parish Teachers of England; which you are enjoined upon several Penalties to submit unto, I shall in the strength of Truth unbowel it a little unto you, that you may at least in part see the true inside of it, and not be deceived with the outward Appearance any longer; for the Lord is arisen in his mighty Glorious Power, to scatter all those Clouds of Ignorance and Error that have long vailed and covered the Minds of People, and to be himself the Teacher of his People how to Worship him: For his Spirit is greatly burdened with the Manners of the People, who take his Name so continually in vain; as such do as are only Confessors of their Sins, but never forsake them, but all their Lives long doing what they should not do; and so instead of lessening their Sins, are daily adding Sin to Sin, covering with a vain, verbal, unfeeling Confession of Sin, but not with the Spirit of the lord And so in the very entrance into their Work, their Foundation is seen, for they manifest themselves not to be in the New Covenant of the Spirit of the God of Life, but in the Old Covenant of the Letter; saying, The Scripture moves them to confess their manifold Sins and Trespasses: But when will it be seen that the Scripture moves them to forsake them; for a Confession of Sin in Words we hear amongst them, but the time of forsaking them never, as yet, come to be seen: For what one Sin, O ye People, Teacher or Hearer, that you were guilty of Seven or more Years since, is there, which you are not actually in at this Day; he that was Drunken, or Proud, or Covetous, or Lustful, or Pleasurable, or Unjust, or the like, in times past, is found so still; no Amendment, no Washing of Sin away by all your Do from amongst you; for indeed, Words and outside Performances could never do away Sin. And so in vain is your Worship whilst your Fear is taught by the Traditions of Men, and not by the Power of the Spirit of God according to Scripture, for the Kingdom of God stands not in Words, but in Power; And the Redeemed of the Lord Worship in the newness of the Spirit, and not in the oldness of the Letter; 
Heb. 7. Col. 1.  for the Letter-Law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of the better Hope doth, which is Christ in Man the hope of Glory. And so you wanting the Humble, Penitent and Obedient Heart, your Confessions are in vain, and are rather a Mock-service, than any true Sacrifice to God: And so for want of a pure Heart, you can neither see God, nor approach to the Throne of his Heavenly Grace, but stand Self-condemned; your own words being witness against you: And so you go on, saying after your blind Guides, That you are all your Lives long Miserable Offenders, following too much the Devices and Desires of your own Hearts; Offending against God's Holy Laws, doing what you should not do, and leaving undone what you ought to do, till you are so full of the Leprosy of Sin from Head to Foot, that there is no Health nor Soundness in you. And then thus continuing from Year to Year to the end of your Days; what Sacrifice can God accept at your Hands, for the very Prayers of the Wicked are Abomination to the Lord. And therefore, whereas in this State you so often call God Father, you lie, and do not the Truth; For he that doth Righteousness is born of God, but he that committeth Sin is of the Devil; both Christ and his Apostle John being Witnesses; see John 8.44. and 1 Epistle of John, Chap. 3. and Verses 6, 7, 8, etc. And so for the Words of that called the Absolution, which follows, wherewith the deceitful Priest would doub himself and you over; I declare for the Lord, they are no 〈◊〉 fit to either of you, whilst you continue in your Sins, as it's manifest o● do; yea, those very Words in that same Absolution, where it is said, He Pardoneth and Absolveth all such (and I may add, none but such) as do truly repent and unfeignedly believe his holy Gospel; shuts you all out from the Benefit of God's Absolution and Pardon: For such as truly repent and unfeignedly believe the Gospel, are healed of the Sickness of Sin, and so have Health and Soundness in them, and are not Miserable Offenders, as you are; but blessed Believers, yea, a chosen Generation, born of God, as Scripture saith, John 1.13. And he that's born of God, Sinneth not, for his Seed remaineth in him, and he cannot Sin, because he is born of God, 1 John 3.9. Then certainly such Holy Ones as these, Live not in a Continual Breach of God's Commandments, as you do.  
And so for the Lord's Prayer, it belongs not to you, whilst you continue doing the Deeds of the Wicked One; for it was taught the Disciples and Followers of Christ, who had God indeed for their Heavenly Father, because they were really Born of him, even of the Immortal and Incorruptible Seed of his Living Word, which abode in them, and they in it, and so were Disciples indeed: But alack for you, who instead of forgiving, as you would be forgiven, are seeking your own Revenges, and are learning of the Men of this World, who know not God, nor his Kingdom, no nor so much as the Door, nor entrance into it: For the Heavenly Kingdom is still uncome to such as believe not in the Light, which Christ the Door hath Enlightened them withal; but love Darkness more than Light, because their Deeds are evil. For such as love to be called of Men Master, and are Proud and Covetous, and live in the daily Breach of God's Commandments, could never love the Light, nor bring their Deeds to be tried by it, because it is an Everlasting Reprover of all such: And therefore saith Christ, the true Light, Therefore doth the World hate me, because I witness against their Deeds, that they are Evil.  
And so your most Hypocritical Proceeding to say, O Lord open thou our Lips, and our Mouth shall show forth thy Praise; shows plainly you heed not what you do; for both the Priest and you have opened your. Sinful Lips times without number, without God's Spirit of Regeneration opening them, for that as yet you never waited for; and therefore your Sinful Mouth could not, nor cannot show forth God's Praise, for the Dead Praise him not: For it's only such as Live in Christ, as the Saints do, not in Sin, as you do, that Praises him; Glory to his Name, that hath Abolished Death from amongst his People, and hath brought Life and Immortality to Light in them, in this his Glorious Day, wherein he is Judging the great Whore which hath defiled the Earth grievously with her Fornications; and the Day of God is Glorious which thus brings forth all the hidden things of Darkness to Light: And Blessed are they, and they only, that walk in the Light of God's Holy City, into which no unclean thing can ever enter. So all ye People of the Earth, who are thus found only in the Confession, but not in the Forsaking of Sin, shut your Mouths, and cease taking God's Name any more in vain, For certainly the Lord will not hold such Guiltless as take his Name in vain. And take heed of applying those Scriptures to yourselves whilst you live in Sin, which belong only to such as witness Redemption from Sin; as those words in that 95th Psalm following do, which say, O come let us sing unto the Lord, let us hearty rejoice in the strength of our Salvation, for he is the Lord our God, and we are the People of his Pasture, and Sheep of his hands, etc. O stand in awe of God, O People, and do no more so presumptuously, for his Sheep you are not, who are so Deaf to his Voice, and so Rebellious to his Word, as you have and do daily every way manifest yourselves to be: O what Salvation can such witness, as are so deep in their Sins; for Christ Saves his People from their Sins, from their Disobedience, from being miserable Offenders, and is the Saving Health of his Heavenly Anointed ones, he leaves them not in the Darkness where the Sin is committed, but brings all his Followers to the Light of Life, where the ever Blessed, and Holy, and perfect, and acceptable Will of God, is both known and done; and then of such it is truly said, They are the Sheep of Christ's Pasture, a Royal Priesthood, a peculiar People indeed, to the Praise of God's Glory, Amen.  
These things are in your Morning Service, as you call it, and your Evening being so much like it, we pass it over, and proceed to what follows; only this may be taken notice of by the way in all your Service, whereas there is often repeated those words, Glory to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost: As it was in the Beginning, etc. I say, Glory was not so given to God in the Beginning, as it is by you at this day, that is to say, In Form and Custom, and in a dead Mind; for in the Beginning living Praises from a living Sense of what God had done for their Souls, was given to God: And as it was then, so it is at this day, by the living Members of Christ's Heavenly Body, as is said before, and ever shall be, by such Saved Ones: But the strange Children will Dissemble, as they do at this day.  
The next thing I may take notice of as a thing of Concernment, because it is as the very Door and Inlet into your defiled Congregation; and it is that your Sprinkling, which you call Baptising of Infants, which is so unscriptural and corrupt a Custom, both for Matter and Manner, that the Lord's Spirit in these days (wherein Truth is so gloriously arisen) is so burdened with, that he will not long forbear to judge you for it. For first, you bring in a little Infant as the subject of your Baptism, which by your own Confession in your Catechism, cannot perform the things required of Persons to be Baptised: For it's said, What is required of Persons to be Baptised? Your answer is, Repentance, whereby they forsake Sin; and Faith, whereby they believe the Promises of God made to them in that business. And therefore when it is further demanded, Why then are Infants baptised, when by reason of their tender Age they cannot perform them? Your answer is, Yes, they do perform them by their Sureties. And then you bring in your Sureties, which very unchristianly you call Godfathers and Godmothers, to promise and vow such things for the Child, as you never did to this day do for yourselves, that is, To forsake the Devil and all his Works, etc. But I ask, Who hath required this at your Hands, that you should so promise for them? Certainly God never required it of you, for it is contrary to his Pure and Holy Nature, to lay such an Impossibility upon you, to wit, That you should promise that for others, which, of yourselves, you have no power to do for yourselves; and also because he knows it is against the Glory of his Christ, who is the only Surety, Undertaker and Mediator betwixt God and Man. And certainly if you and your Teachers were not utterly given up to Darkness, you could never adventure your Souls in such a thing; for now it's well known amongst Men, what the Nature of a Surety is, for he is liable to pay the Debt if the Principal fail, as if it were his own Debt. Now seeing its manifest that there is a Failing in the Infant, as to the Performance of this Bond, to wit, Of forsaking the Devil and all his Works, Pomps and Vanities of the evil World, and all the sinful Desires of the Flesh: And seeing that the Wages, Reward or Punishment for Sin is Death, Are you bold Sureties willing to die the Death for the Child? for indeed you deserve it more than the Child, for it never undertook it, and so never as yet brought itself under the actual and personal Engagement for the Debt. O! consider, consider, this is a mere Mocking of God, but God will not be mocked, for if you repent not of this, and all your other Sins, he will vex you in his Wrath. And then for that other great Error, whereby the blind Guides would seem to make you believe, that the Infant, by this sorry doing of theirs, is regenerate, and made an Inheritor of God's Kingdom: It is such a piece of Popery and Grossness of Darkness, that it's much they fear not that the Earth should open and swallow them up, for their Presumption, as it did Core: For where did ever God, by his Son, Prophet or Apostle, ever give them any ground in Scripture for such Judgement; for Regeneration is such a worthy Work of God upon the Soul, that it cannot be done, but though the Incorruptible Seed of the Word of God, which lives and endures for ever in the Lord Jesus.  
But these bold and blind Teachers, rushing like the Horse into the Battle, are not afraid to say, and that generally concerning every Infant which they Sprinkle, that they are Regenerated; and so presume to give God Thanks for it; as though without question it were certainly so; when as indeed they do not at all know whether any thing at all be done to the Child's Soul by it or no: And surely this must needs be a high Presumption, to Father that upon the pure and holy God, which he never promised to do by such a means upon such a subject, as by the Scriptures and Doctrine of Faith is most manifest. And for those Scriptures which they would colour the Matter over to you with, makes nothing for it. They allege, Christ took little Children in his Arms, and blessed them; therefore they are regenerated by the Priest's Sprinkling: Is this good reasoning, I say this is nothing to the purpose, for Christ did neither Wash nor Sprinkle them with any outward Water at all, but laid his Hands on them and Blessed them that came to him. But bringing them to the Hireling Priest, I am sure no wise Man will say, is bringing them to Christ. And so let the little Infants alone whilst Infants, and when they are capable of Doctrine, let them be brought by true Faith to Christ, and he will bless them now as then; for nothing but the Prayer of Faith can do them any Service at all in this weighty Matter until then. So this meddling with Children above this measure of Truth and Faith, is great Presumption. Again saith the Priest (who would be Saved himself by some outward Observation or means of Words or Water, or the like, if it could be) did not Christ say, Whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little Child, shall in no wise enter therein. So say I also: But what is this to their Custom of Sprinkling the Flesh with Water, and their Doctrine of Regeneration thereupon? I say, nothing at all; For the Natural Infant is only here set forth by way of Similitude, to show what harmless, passive, low-minded Things those are, who enters into the Kingdom of Heaven, But Flesh and Blood, saith Paul, enters not, neither doth Corruption inherit Incorruption, 1 Cor. 15 50. And as for the natural Infants, though they be harmless as to Men, yet they generally hold, that by Nature they are not Harmless and without Sin in God's sight, and so as such, are not fit Subjects of God's Kingdom. And Rom. 9.6, 7, 8. the Apostle speaking of such a thing as this, saith, All are not Israel which are of Israel (though outwardly Circumcised.) Neither because they are the Seed of Abraham are they all Children, but in Isaac shall thy Seed be called. That is, They which are the Children of the Flesh, these are not the Children of God, but the Children of the Promise are counted for the Seed. Ye may as well, yea better, conclude, That all who came of Abraham according to the Flesh, and were outwardly Circumcised, were Saved (because Circumcision was commanded for the Children to which outward Baptism was not) as that all Coming of Parents, called Christian and outwardly Sprinkled, are Saved (and that for the outward sake) as you in your Doctrine most presumptuously do: But here the Apostle gives all such Car●al Conceits the check. And as he saith in another place, It's neither Circumcision nor Uncircumcision avails any thing in this great matter, but a new Creature. So may we as truly say to all such this day, who place no less than Salvation itself upon the outward Baptism, that it is neither such Baptising, nor Unbaptizing, that avails any thing to God's Kingdom, but a new Creature in Christ Jesus, for it is said, He that Believes and is Baptised, shall be Saved: But he that Believes not, is condemned already. But he doth not say, He that is not Baptised with outward Water shall be Damned, or is Condemned already. And we, through Grace, know there is a Baptism of the Spirit, whereby all the Members of Christ are Baptised by one Spirit into one Body, Glory to God, who hath given us Victory over the Beast, Whore and False Prophet. But you will say, perhaps, then, What shall become of our Children? I say, if thou knowest not, stay till God make it known unto thee; for Secret things belong to God, things Revealed tous. But it is not where said, That all that come of such as are called Christians outwardly, and are not Sprinkled after the Custom of England, and die before they commit actual Sin, are excluded the Kingdom of Heaven, as the Ignorant and Presumptuous may imagine; but as they grow capable of Doctrine, we ought to instruct them in Christ Jesus, and so nurture them up in his Fear, to know him in them, and what he is to them in their Hearts by Faith, as is in part said before, so shall no Uncircumcised or Unclean in Heart, be brought into God's Church; neither shall the Hireling make a Prey upon the People any more; but the Church shall be as in the Beginning, when it was called the Spouse of Christ, a Royal not a Defiled Priesthood, a Chosen Generation (not the unchosen and unclean World a peculiar People (and not the whole World, who in their Uncleanness, can get into the Talk of Christian Religion, to the great Dishonour of God, who is burdened with the Manners of such People as cry Lord, Lord, and leaving continually undone the Lord's Holy Commandments.)  
And now that you who read these Lines, may ponder a little further of what I say, I may here set down somewhat more of the Priest's deceivable words at their Sprinkling of Infants, as you may find them in the Book: For thus saith the Priest to the People, Dear Belived, ye have brought this Child here to be Baptised, ye have Prayed that our Lord Jesus Christ would receive it, to release it of its Sins, to Sanctify it with the Holy Christ, to give it the Kingdom of Heaven and everlasting Life: Ye have heard also how Christ hath promised in his Gospel to grant all these things, which ye have prayed for. (Stay, I say, and be afraid for this Boldness, for there is no such Promise in the Gospel, that the Lord Jesus Christ will give Eternal Life to any, much less to all that the Hypocrites and open Profane Sinners pray for, for their Prayers sake; who do all with one Mouth and Consent, daily Confess they have no Health in them, but are Miserable Offenders, living in the continual Breach of God's Commandments, and even angry in their Minds to hear any profess and witness a better State; so it was most truly said, God heareth not People living in Sin, but if any be a Doer of God's Will, him God heareth, John 9) So, People, you may see your Teacher's frame Deceit, and would have you believe their Untruths. But the Priest goes on, and saith, Which Promise he for his part will most surely keep and perform. Wherefore after this Promise made by Christ (silence Flesh, there is no such Promise made upon this account) this Infant must also faithfully, for his part, promise by you that are his Sureties, (until he come to Age to take it upon himself) that he will Renounce the Devil and all his Works, and constantly believe God's Holy Word, and obediently keep his Commandments.  
So now by this all may see that these Priests, for all their great talk of Regenerating by their Baptism, it stands only upon a Condition, that the Child must perform faithfully what is promised on their part. And so they do not believe their own Doctrine, when they say in their Catechism, without any if or and, That the Child was in its Baptism made an Inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven: And so in Unbelief and Blindness of their Hearts do they presume to give Thanks, when they say afterwards that they give God Thanks that he hath Regenerated the Infant. If they had prayed only that he would do it, and so have left it, it had been less, but to conclude that it is absolutely done, only because they have sprinkled it, and said a few words over it, and the Covenant on the Child's part yet unperformed, this is great Presumption, and a grievous taking of God's Name in vain. And here also is manifest a grievous Error, that they cannot stay until the Child can promise for itself, if there must needs be sprinkling and promising, but they must bring in others, without all Scripture and Reason, to promise for them: For I do positively affirm as before, that God never required it at any one's Hand so to do; for besides, that there is no Scripture for it, it is greatly against Christ, who is the alone Surety and Mediator betwixt God and Man, but it hath been a Custom merely introduced amongst People called Christians, in the dark Night of Apostasy, when Popery began, which now in the clear shining of the Sun of Righteousness upon People again, is done, and daily to be done away, Glory to the Lord for Ever.  
But the Priest goes on, demanding of the Sureties (which oftentimes fall out to be some wanton Boy or Girl, or some other Notorious Evil-liver of Riper Years.)  
Dost thou in the Name of this Child renounce the Devil and all his Works, the vain Pomp and Glory of the World, with all Covetous Desires of the same, and the Carnal Desires of the Flesh, so that thou wilt not follow, nor be led by them.  
And then these Ignorant Sureties, of what sort soever, being fore-instructed by the Priest, must Answer, I Renounce them all.  
What! People, are ye all Dead, or fast asleep, that ye never consider such things as these, but rush like a Horse into the Battle without fear, into such weighty Matters as these? Were it not fit that such who promise so boldly so great Matters for others, were first looked into whether ever they did half, nay, the hundredth part of so much for themselves, but where the Blind leads the Blind, what less than such Pits can be expected.  
And further, these Bold Sureties on the Child's behalf, being asked concerning his Belief of the Articles of Faith, called the Creed, go on, and being taught of Man, are not afraid to say any thing, and affirm, That all that they steadfastly believe, though in their Heart the Knowledge of God is not.  
And being further asked, Whether be will obediently keep God's Holy Will and Commandments, and walk in the same all the Days of his Life?  
The Answer is without stop or let, without ask Counsel of God at all, I will.  
O what a thing is Man left to himself! What a heap of Confusion and Contradiction is he! O what Taskmasters of Egypt are these Blind Guides, to bind that on others, which they will not touch with one of their Fingers; for they themselves neither forsake the Devil, nor his Works, as is manifest; nor believe in God nor Christ steadfastly; for how should they trust God for their Souls, who dare not trust him for their Bellies, as their Covetous Practices shows? And how can they be said to keep God's Holy Will and Commandments all their Days, who are doing what they should not do by their own Confession all their Lives long.  
And when the Priests have thus far taken God's Name in vain, and deceived themselves, and the Parents by making them believe that they are what they are not, by this their sorry doing, they proceed to give Charge to the Godfathers and Godmothers, (so called) that they bring the Child when it can say (for it must be noted that their Religion stands in saying) the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, in the Vulgar Tongue, that they bring it to the Bishop to be Confirmed by him. O sad! O sad! that ever Men should thus dare to trifle with Holy Things. For Regeneration is a Holy Thing, but is neither wrought by outward Washings, nor vain men's Words, nor Promises, nor their Prayers, but only by Jesus Christ, the great and true Baptizer, according to the working of his Heavenly Power and Spirit of Life in the Will of God, as he saith, The Wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but knowest not whence it comes, nor whither it goes, so is every one that is Born of God's Spirit, John 3.8.  
And to shut up this Business, that none may be ignorant of the grossness of Darkness that goes all along in this thing, and so ends it; they say, It is certain by God's Word, that Children which are Baptised, dying before they commit Actual Sin, are undoubtedly Saved. Understand thus Baptised, as aforesaid.  
Now to this I say, that if People can be wrought into such Darkness as to believe this, and to rest satisfied that it is according to the Word of God, when it is a mere Invention of the Nations in the Apostasy, and so no Scripture of Truth at all for it, it's no wonder if they can get them into the Belief of lesser Errors. And also it's no wonder to see the Poor People, thus deluded, make such haste to get their Infants to the Priest, when they perceive them in any danger of dying. For these that lay so much stress upon this outward Sprinkling or Baptism, as they call it, must needs have dismal Thoughts concerning such as Die without the same, to wit, that they are little less, if not altogether Damned. And as also may easily be gathered from the Words before their Burial of their Dead, which runs thus,  
Here is to be noted, say they, that the Office ensuing, (to wit, of their manner of their Burial of the Dead, which they call Christian Burial) is not to be used for any that Die unbaptised, (to wit, unsprinkled by the Priest, as aforesaid) or Excommunicate, or have laid violent Hands upon themselves.  
O what Darkness, what Destruction and Misery is in all their Ways, who account not People worthy of Christian Burial, who are either Excommunicate by these Wretched Men, and that may be for not paying a Groat or two for Repair of their Steeple house, or high Place! Or will not, nay, cannot for Conscience-sake come under their Sprinkling. But as for the Man they speak of, who hath laid violent Hands upon himself, what if it prove one that they say has been made Inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven, yea, confirmed in it by their Office, and was never Excommunicated by them, must not he have Christian Burial neither? O strange confused do! Then it seems the Gates of Hell may prevail against such as are of your Faith, though they be confirmed in it never so much. And by this it also appears, that you are such Sinners as God hears not, as was said before; for you prayed after your wretched Fashion, in your sprinkling of them, that the Old Adam might die in them, but lo here he lives, and hath laid violent Hands upon the Body; you prayed for Power over the Devil for them, but lo here the Devil hath overcome them; you prayed that those Dedicated by your Ministry might be Everlastingly Rewarded with good, but lo here your Child is become a Man, and a Selfmurderer, and not thought worthy of Christian Burial, as you call it.  
But the Lord sees all your grievous do, your End is come and coming, and the Lord Jesus Christ himself, the Everlasting Highpriest is at Work, Baptising with his Holy Spirit and Fire; O! his Fan is in his Hand throughly to purge the Floor. But you Mer-made Priests, who have presumed to speak, and he never sent you, you are not as his Mouth or Messengers, for you put no difference, neither know ye how to put difference betwixt the Precious and the Vile. You bring in the uncircumcised and unclean, you matter not what you do, you weigh not your Do nor Words in God's Balance, but the Love of Money (the Root of all Evil) hath so blinded your Eyes, that you will see nothing at all of Truth, for your Eye being Evil, your whole Body is full of Darkness, as Christ saith; your Skirts are discovered, the Books are opened, and now will the Lord give you according to your Deeds; as you have grieved and burdened his good Spirit, so will he burden you with his Plagues and Terrors: And though you may cry to the Rocks and the Mountains, yet nothing shall hid you from his Wrath, as Truth hath said it is so. Some have been lopping at the Branches, but now Christ's Axe is laid again to the Root of the Evil Tree, (Glory to his Name) to cut it up Root and Branch, that the right Heavenly Root and Branch of his own planting may bring forth Fruit to his Glory and Endless Praise, who is worthy, who is over all God Blessed for Ever. So be it.  
The next thing, after the Children are grown up to Men and Women, at least to Sixteen Years of Age, or upwards, and have passed the Bishop's Hands, as is , they are invited to the Communion, which they call the other Sacrament, wherein they eat Bread and drink Wine in remembrance of Christ's Death, as they say, until he come: But here you must understand a great Mystery of Deceit which hath crept in amongst the People called Christians, since the Apostles time, in the Apostasy and great Darkness of Antichrist; to wit, that though they tell of remembering Christ's Death till he come, yet they do not believe, nor would have any others ever to believe, that this coming of Christ shall be whilst People are in this Body upon the Earth, but they must be eating Bread and drinking Wine as a Sign, and never come to see it fulfilled to them in the coming of the Substance, to wit, Christ in Life and Power to dwell with them, and in them, as he promised to them that looked for him; as Christ said concerning the Fruit of the Vine, that he would drink it new with his Disciples in his Father's Kingdom. And as Christ taught them, amongst other things, to pray that the Father's Kingdom might come; and is not this to be known in People whilst here? Yea, yea, and so to feel Christ supping with them, and they with him; and being unto them their daily Bread, as he saith in the sixth of John, I am the Bread of Life; thus, I say, they remain out of the Faith of Christ; and so without Faith it's impossible to please God.  
Also here is to be noted another grand Deceit of the Enemy in this their Sacrament, so called, in that he makes them believe the Bread and Wine is not holy enough, and sufficient for that Business, unless the Man-made Priest have said some words over it, which they call Consecration, and so Consecrated it, as they speak, with his unholy Hands; unholy I call them, and that appears from their own Confession, for they daily say they have no Health in them, by reason of their grievous Offences, but if they had not in words confessed it, yet their Lives makes it manifest that they are of unclean Lips, and defiled Hands, which whilst so, are not fit to meddle with Holy Things, no more than the Lepers under the Law, were fit in their Leprosy to enter into the Temple, or meddle with any Holy Thing: And for those words they use unto all that Communicate Hand over Head, which say, The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy Body and Soul unto Everlasting Life: It is demanded where they had them, for I never read any such in Christ's giving that Bread and Wine at his last Supper, nor in Paul's words to the Corinthians, afterwards speaking of it, where then had they them? Surely they have either Invented them out of their own Heads, or had them out of some Popish Book, or the like: For it is certain from the Lord Jesus they came not, seeing they are such a Burden to the Souls of his Redeemed Ones this Day: But again these words, Preserve thy Body and Soul, signifies, the Blind Priest takes it for granted, that all that he gives this Bread unto, are in a good and safe Condition at present, though the Lord knows, and they themselves confess, they remain Miserable Offenders, and have no Health in them. O what sad work is here amongst them! O what grievous daubing! First, they tell them, that by their sprinkling they were made so and so, as is , and in their Bishoping confirmed in it; and now therefore by this eating and drinking they are preserved, though to the Grief of the Spirit of God they live in their Sins, and in the broad way of the Old and Evil World, where the true sprinkling of the Blood of Christ is not known; for saith the Apostle, If we walk in the Light, as he, to wit, God, is in the Light, them have we Fellowship one with another; and the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son, cleanseth us from all sin, 1 John 1.6, 7. Then it must needs be, that such as walk in Darkness know not Christ, nor the cleansing of his Blood, for he is only the Author of Life to all that obey him; but the unclean World eat and drink Damnation to themselves, whatsoever to the contrary they may Imagine. But whence came this Custom of Consecrating Bread and Wine, if not from those of Rome, who falsely imagine the Real Presence, as they call it, to be after their Consecration? For Christ's giving of Thanks at his last Supper, before his giving of Bread and Wine, is nothing to your Custom. Also seeing you pretend to give all the Virtue to the Thing signified, and not to the Signs, you spoil your own Doctrine of Consecration: But Popery is easilier gotten out of the Profession than out of the Heart.  
It would be long to tell of all the bold and strange Passages they have in this their Communion, as in the other of their Observations. But this one more only may be mentioned, and so pass on, and it is this, Therefore with Angels, and Archangels, and with all the Company of Heaven, say they, we laud and magnify thy Glorious Name Evermore, praising thee, and saying, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts, Heaven and Earth are full of thy Glory.  
Now all People, whose Minds are tender towards God, I Appeal to God's Witness in you, whether such words as these do any way suit or agree with the Condition of the Parishes of England, who thus use them? For what Fellowship have such Miserable Offenders and Unhealed Souls with Angels, and Archangels, and all the Heavenly Company? Nay, nay, no more than Light and Darkness hath. But here the Whore that fits upon many Waters (which by Exposition of the Spirit, are Multitudes of People) hath lifted up their Minds into a Conceit that they are Real Christians, and so of the Heavenly Company, because of Words, when Alas they are for the most part such as the Apostle wrote unto weeping, Who so walk as that they are Enemies to the Cross of Christ, whose God is their Bellies, and glory in their shame, minding earthly things, Phil. 3.  
And what shall I say of their Ring, and plighting of their Troth, and Worshipping one another in their Form of Wedding, when they say, With this Ring I thee Wed, and with my Body I thee Worship; but even take up a Lamentation for the People, whose Eye is so blinded by the God of this World, that they will not see the things that belong unto their Peace in this the Day of the Lord, wherein he is so lovingly ca●●ing them out of their Darkness into his Marvellous Light.  
And as for the Visitation of their Sick, and Churching of their Women, as they call it, (that Mosaical Rite) there is such bold calling of every one, (who can but say a few words by rote) the Servants of God, and putters of their Trust in God, and the like, it even burdens the Spirit of the Lord to bear it: And to hear a poor wretched Man, who hath run, and God never sent him; to say, That by the Authority of God given him, he Absolves the Sick Man from all his Sins: Such had need take heed lest the Judgements of God fall on them, as it did upon those Presumptuous Jews, the Priest's Sons, mentioned Acts 19.13, etc.  
And for their Burials, as they do in the rest, so do they in this, and are most grievous Daubers and Takers of God's Name in vain; and they are not afraid to say indifferently of one as well as another, that they have a Hope, yea, a sure and certain Hope of their Resurrection to Life Eternal, though they have been never so Notoriously Evil in this Life; yea, though they have said but a little before in their Commination, Cursed are the unmerciful, Fornicators, and Adulterers, Covetous Persons, Idolaters, Slanderers, Drunkards and Extortioners; and both Prieft and People said Amen to it. And though they be found living and dying such, yet now at their Burial all must be daubed over with a Resurrection to Life Eternal.  
But here is the Device by which the Hireling lives; for what by their Doctrines and Words in their Sprinklings, in their Confirmations, in their Communions, in their Burials, yea, in all their Do, there is such a Bewitching of the People, and strengthening the Hands of Evil-doers, that none returns from their Evil Ways, but all lies in Death and Darkness, without remorse; none smites upon his Thigh, and saith, What have I done? But with Death they make a Covenant, and with Hell are they and their Multitude at Agreement; but with the Over flowing Scourge of his Wrath, will the Lord sweep away all Lying Refuges; and the Lord is begun to make a Blessed Separation between the Precious and the Vile, Glory to his Name for Ever. So be it; so be it.  
O! the set Wages and Hire in every Parish, seconded with an Outward Law to compel it, and the many stinted Forms of Words and Actions in their Services made ready to their Hands, and Enjoined upon them, upon Pain of being uncapable of the Wage and Hire appointed for those Do, is such a Bait to the Mercenary Minds of the Men of this World, that it even draws and drives by heaps into the Ministry such as God never sent, nor would never come of themselves, but for the sake of that filthy Lucre. But God is shaking his Hand against such Dishonest Gain; and the Lord hath, and is restoring to us the Ancient Ministry as in the Apostles Days, where all was done by the Ability of God's own Spirit, in such as had freely received the Gift thereof, and therefore could and can freely give, Glory to his Name for Evermore. Amen and Amen.  
Thomas Taylor.   

A Testimony for the Lord, the good Shepherd, and true Minister of the Sanctuary, and true Tabernacle which God hath pitched, and not Man, against all the false Shepherds, and Hireling Ministers, and Teachers of the World, under what Name, or Notion, or Form soever, who have run, and God never sent them, and therefore cannot profit the People at all.  
HEAR the Word of the Lod God that is gone forth against you, like a Flame of Fire, in this the mighty Day of the arising of the Almighty Power of the Lord God Almighty, who is jealous of his Honour, and who is tender of the poor Souls whom you have deceived, and do daily make a Prey of for filthy Lucre, your End is come, 
2 Pet. 2. 2 Cor. 3.13. Dan. 5.26 27.  the Day hath Revealed you, and in God's Balance are you weighed, and found altogether wanting; and therefore is your Kingdom departed from you; and now the Lord God is setting up his own most Heavenly and Everlasting Kingdom in the Hearts of his People, 
Dan. 7.  who in the Leadings of his Light are come out from amongst you; and who through the Blood of the Lamb, and the Word of their Testimony, have gotten Victory over the Beast, the Whore, and false Prophet, who have defiled the Earth with their Abominations, Lies and Lewdness, 
Dan. 7.  and he will yet gather more from amongst you: And now the Kingdom under the whole Heavens is, and shall be for ever the Portion of the People of the Saints of the most High God, whose Kingdom is an Everlasting Kingdom, and all Dominions shall serve and obey him, who liveth for ever; who is arisen in this his Glorious Day, not only to reveal, but even to destroy to the uttermost the Man of Sin, that Son of Perdition in all the Earth, 
2 Thess. 2.  which hath sat in the Temple of God, as God, saying he was God, and hath long Exalted himself above all that was called God, which alone ought to be Worshipped; but the Lord is arisen to dethrone him, even that Wicked One, who would not suffer the true Seed, the true Heir, Christ Jesus, the true Light, to Reign; but hath always, like an enraged Beast, pushed with his Horns, against the Lamb in every Appearance, whereby the tender Buddings of Truth in many People have been often hurt, and the Growth of the good Seed often hindered, and some of the feeble Ones, even in their come out of Egypt, have been out off by this Spiritual Amaleck, the Dragon, upon which the Whore, the false Priesthood and Ministry Rides, whom God will have War with for ever, and will destroy him to the End; for now is the Ancient of Days upon his Throne, and the Thrones of the Wicked are cast down; and One like unto the Son of Man, 
Acts 9.10, 11.  to wit, the Lord Christ Jesus, in and with his numberless Number is come with the Clouds of Heaven (for as sure as he went up, so is he certainly come again) and brought near to the Ancient of Days, 
Dan. 7.26, 27.  and is in the actual Possession of that Kingdom, Glory and Power given him of the Father, that all People, Nations and Languages should serve and obey him; for his Dominion is an Everlasting Dominion, which shall not pass away, and his Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed; and now the Judgement is set, and the Books are opened, Glory to the Lord for ever; and now is the Revelation of all Things, 
Rev. 16.19.  and fulfilling of all Things which hath been spoken of by the true Witness, since the World began: And now the Tything Hireling Priests, and Merchants of Babylon, who by their Works deny Christ come in the Flesh, run to the Powers of the Earth; and Cry out, 
Rev. 18.15, 16.  and say, They will not pay us, they will not put into our Mouths, they will buy none of our Merchandise any more; Alas, alas, our great City: But for all their Crying, God will not hear, nor help them, for they have left off to do good, and God hath shaken his Hand at their dishonest Gain; and the Son of God, in his Ever-blessed Light, is arisen, and is at Work to lead out of Darkness the Souls of the Simple, that they may know him alone to be their Priest, Minister and Teacher, and may not be a Prey any longer to the Wolf in the Sheep's Clothing; the Wolf, who is inwardly gone from God, and ravenned into the dark Wilderness, and hath stolen the Saints and Christ's Words, and makes a Trade on them, to deceive withal for filthy L●cre: Woe unto them, they have gone in the Way of Cain, and after the Error of Balaam, for worldly Ends, 
2 Pet. 2. throughout. Rev. 12.7, 5, &. 10.  and shall p●rish i● the gainsaying of the Truth, as Core did. And the Lamb shall have the Victory; and the Lord is at Work, leading his Flock by the Streams of Living Waters; Glory to his Name for ever.  
And what shall I only complain of the Unrighteousness, and declare of the Downfall of the Kingdom of false Teachers and Hirelings amongst the Turks, or of the Proud Imperious Prelates of the dark Seed of Rome? Or shall I not rather come nearer home, to wit, to the Place of my outward Nativity, the Land of Old England, who pretend to be neither of the Spirit of Turks nor Papists, but People of the Reformed Religion, called Protestants, as who should say, Protesters against Romish Usurpations and Antichristian Innovations? But alas! to the Shame of thy Nakedness, O England, England, there is found in thee a Conspiracy, a Company of lewd and treacherous Men, 
Jer. 13.  who stand over thee as Teachers, covered with black both inwardly and outwardly, who wear a black Garment now, as the false Prophets of old wore a rough Garment to deceive, who cry, Give, give, and can never have enough, for they are as Graves; and if one put not into their Mouths, they by't with their Teach, and prepare War against them; 
Micah 3.  Suing People at Law for Wages, for whom they do Work, most unreasonable of all Men, and contrary to all other People, Reaping where they never Sowed, neither Spiritual nor Temporal Seed; they claim the Tenth of such Men's Labours and Increase, as they themselves excommunicate out of their Synagogues, and in their false Judgement judge to Hell: What! doth not the Destruction of their Souls seem enough, but you must destroy their Estates and Families, and sometimes their Body and Life also, by long and unheardof Imprisonments and Plunderings? Shall not the Nations of the World (who profess not, as you the Priests and Prelates of England do) rise up in Judgement against you? For which of the Priests in Turkey or Rome are more eager for their Bellies than you are? What Means do you leave unessayed against those, who for Conscience sake cannot put into your Mouths? Will any, whose Eyes are open, believe you to be Ministers of the Gospel, who rather than lose a little of the Earth, will expose both yourselves and your Gospel, to all the Blame and Shame that may be.  
The very Name of Tithes, shows you to be Jewish, and of Easter-reckoning, and such like, to be Popish; and now where is your Reformation? You may well confess, there is no Health in you, who have so palpably done (and do) what you ought not to have done, 
Isa. 14.5,  and left undone what you ought to have done, as in your Custom you confess: Health, nay, nay, how should you have any Spiritual Health in you, who live in such manifest Opposition to the Spirit of Christ Jesus, the Heavenly Physician. Christ Jesus saith to his Disciples, Freely you have received, freely give; but you are all for Money, and great Farthly Revenues, that you may live in Pride, Idleness, and Fullness of Bread. Christ saith, Seek ye first the Kingdom of God; but your Care is, how to get great Live and Fat Benefices; and as for the Heavenly Kingdom, 
Mat. 13.  which Christ compared to a Grain of Mustardseed, you neither know it, nor are willing to learn; you will neither enter into it yourselves, 
Mat. 23.  nor suffer others, but by your Traditions you shut it up against Men. Christ saith to his, Swear not at all; but you teach for Doctrine, that Christians may Swear, 
Mat. 5.34, 37. James 5.12.  and you do Swear, not only before the Magistrates, but even some of you in your ordinary Communication; yea, and which is most Abominable, in your very Church-Service, compelling the Men called Churchwardens to Swear (and that oftentimes with an Unwillingness of Heart, and Condemnation of Conscience) to perform your Church-Offices, which lays a kind of Impossibility upon them. Oh sad! may it not be said, The Land mourns because of Oaths? What, have you no Shame nor Care of your Credit, that can do such things in the open Sun, 
●os. 4.2, 3.  and not blush? Will you never open your Eyes a little to see your Works? What do you mean to do? Or where will you hid yourselves in the Day of God's Judgements, when he calls you to an Account, and pleads with you in Flames of Fire for all your mighty Sins? Do you indeed believe, 
2 Thess. 1.8.  as in words you say, That you regenerate the little Infants, by sprinkling a little Water on its Face; and speaking a ●ew words of your own devising over it, which it knows nothing of? Go you indeed, I say, believe, That by this kind of Baptism, they are made the Children of God, the Members of Christ, and Inheritors of the Kingdom of God? Or do you not rather do these Things to get Money by? Oh Cursed Covetousness, 
Mat. 13.15.  the Root of all Evil; Oh, how it hath drowned your Souls in Perdition; how it hath blinded your Hearts, that you can see nothing of the Kingdom of God: You bring in a Company of poor deluded Souls, who follow you blind Guides, to promise for the little Infant, That it shall forsake the Devil and all his Works; then what shall these bold Promisers suffer, if the Child do not so? Will they, or you their Teachers for them, be content to suffer the Pains of Hell, the Reward of such as break Covenant with God? And when will you see that this Custom of undertaking for the little Infants, greatly derogates from the Honour of Christ, who is the only Undertaker for Man towards God: But what if a Child, through Grace, be so strengthened, when it grows up, as to see your Wretchedness, and so to forsake and bear Testimony against all the Works of the Evil One that are done amongst you, Will you not call him Heretic, and put him out of your Synagogues? Yea, yea; for you can have no Fellowship with any that have Health in them; for by your own Confession, you are miserable Offenders all the Days of your Life, and have no Health in you, and so cannot endure to hear of Perfection or perfect Soundness on this side the Grave: 
Eph. 9.11, 12, 13.  Yea, though you read in Scripture, That Christ's Ministry perfects to God, Ep●. 4. Yet there is not so much Faith amongst you as a Grain of Mustard seed, to believe any such thing; for if any come to be healed by Christ, and so made perfectly found to God, and witness forth the same, they are not for your Company, even you who have no Health in you, but are miserable Offenders. Oh you that cry out against Separatists and Separation, 
Judas 18.19.  what a woeful Separation have you made; you are of them who have separated yourselves from the Lord in Unbelief, and are sensual, not living in God's Spirit, but in the broad Way of the World. Oh when will you be weaned from the Breasts of Mystery Babylon, and learn to suck at Truth's Breasts, 
Zach. 13.1. Rev. 22.1, etc.  and draw Water out of God's Well, which in the Light and Life of Jesus Christ, is opened to the true Hungerers and Thirsters after Righteousness this day.  
But you have transgressed the Everlasting Covenant, and offered Violence to the righteous Law of the Lord Jesus, and miserably wrested and perverted the Holy Scriptures, 
2 Pet. 3.16.  which witness of him and his glorious Appearance in these latter days; and this you do, that you may establish your own Traditions, that you may keep yourselves up in the Earth, in the Glory of this World, and esteem of Fallen Man, 
John 5.44.  who knows not Christ nor his Kingdom; and therefore hath the Lord already discovered your Skirts, and will yet daily more and more, 
2 Thess. 2.8.  by the bright shining forth of his Light, make you so manifest, naked and bare, that every Eye shall see the Shame of your Nakedness; 
Isa. 66.24.  And to the Nations of them that are Saved, who walked in the Light of the Heavenly Jerusalem, shall you be an abhorring for ever; and the Redeemed of the Lord shall daily flock to Zion out of your Frozen Land, to offer their Spiritual Sacrifices to God upon his Holy Altar; and shall see the Smeak of your defiled Sacrifices go downward as Cain 's did, 
Gen. 4.5.  which God had no Respect to; And the Smoke of your Torment shall go up for ever and ever, 
Rev. 14.11.  for strong is the Lord that judges you, because you have given his Lamb's Gall and Vinegar to drink, 
Rev. 16.19.  and have pushed them with Side and Shoulder; and therefore a bitter Cup will God give you to drink.  
Oh how hath the Lord borne with you? How hath his Voice uttered itself amongst you in your Streets, in your Assemblies? saying in your Ears, O Repent, repent, Give Glory to God, by giving over to deceive your own, and the poor People's Souls, which are precious to God: O ye that have exalted yourselves into the Place of Teachers, and are untaught yourselves, into the Place of Bishops, and Overseers of others, and have not looked into your own Hearts and Souls, to see what grows there. 
Mich. 3.6, 7.  O the deep Sleeps and Slumbers that you are seen to be in this day, even all you who have run, and God never sent you, and therefore you have not, nor never can possibly in that State, profit the People at all. Oh all you that love to be called of Men Master, and Doctor, and Lord Bishops, and Arch Deacons, and suchlike worldly Titles, which Christ, 
Mat. 23.10, 11.  the meek Lamb, and lowly in Heart, did always forbid, and his Spirit is against for ever and ever, and saith, It shall not be so amongst his, but he that is greatest must be least, and Servant of all, not in feigned Words and deceitful Shows, 
Mat. 20.25, 26. Mat. 15.13.  but in Deed and in Truth, Glory to the Lord, who is arisen to root up the false Ministry, and to bring in his own, as in the Beginning, That the Earth may be covered with the Knowledge of God, 
Isa. 11.9. Hab. 2.14.  and Jesus Christ our Lord, as the Waters cover the Sea, Amen and Amen.  
O ye Priests and Parish-Teachers! When will ye consider of the Entrance of yourselves into your Offices, and the People into your Church? You have laid another Foundation than Christ hath laid; Christ said to his Messengers and Ministers, 
John 20.21, 22. Heb. 7.16.  As my Heavenly Father hath sent me, so I send you; But Christ was not made a Minister by the Law of a Carnal Commandment, but by the Power of an endless Life. And so you that are Ministers of the Letter, and made Ministers thereof by the Law of a Carnal Commandment, and your Fittedness for the Work is gathered not from the Holy Spirit's Ability, 
1 Cor. 1.20, 21. Rev. 3.18, 19, 20.  but from some Worldly Endowments, as Natural Languages, Arts and Parts, which can only fit a Man for a Heathenish Oratory, but could never help in this great and Heavenly Matter of Christ's Kingdom; and your Bishops being made by the Humane Powers, could never say, That by the laying on of their Hands, you received either the Holy Ghost, or any Gift of it: And so you being of the World, and impowered by the World, how can you claim Audience or Obedience from Christ's Members, who know not to follow your Voice, which is the Stranger's Voice; and so you Men of the World are heard, 
1 John 4.5  upheld and obeyed by the World, who are ignorant of Christ's Voice from the Strangers; 
Mat. 15.14  and so being such blind Guides, whether can you lead the People but into the Ditch? And there you are, 
Isa. 55.2.  who are always doing what you ought not to do, and so have no Health in you, and so dangerous to join to, and are miserable Offenders, 
Isa. 56.10. Isa. 1.4, 5, 6.  for taking the poor People's Money for that which is not Bread, and causing them to spend their Labours for your Traditions and empty Sound of Words, which are never able to satisfy their Souls: 
John 10.1.  And you are very miserable Offenders also, in not only coming in by a wrong Door yourselves, but also in persuading the poor deceived Multitude, that you enter them into the Pale of the Church, by your Baptising or Sprinkling of them, when Infants, for which there is no Scripture: Nay more, as your common Custom is, and as is said before, that you regenerate them by it; for God never regenerated any by a Means which he never ordained, as this Usage of yours is manifest to be: So all your Entrances being impure, and your Foundations Unspiritual and Unscriptural, what Building must needs be builded thereupon, the wise in Heart do easily see: So you and your Work being Mystery Babylon, 
Mat. 7.26. Rev. 17.15. and 14.11.  the Lord God of Heaven is engaged against you, and his Vials of Wrath is he pouring forth upon you, and he will not fail, nor be discouraged, until his Judgements be brought forth to Victory over you. And now to you the Magistrates and Powers, who Rule in this Nation of England, lend not your Power, much less give it to this dead Image; uphold not this Ministry, which cannot profit you nor the People at all, lest God plead with you in his Wrath for your Abuse of it; for though they may persuade you that Christ is not against them, yet such as God hath Redeemed from amongst them, know them to be no Ministers of Christ, but Hirelings, who have run without Christ's sending; and so not going Christ's Message, they cannot be content with Christ's Maintenance, but cry unto you, 
Acts 21.28.  O Magistrates, help, help, the People will not Pay us their Tithes, and the like, lend us your Laws, your Prisons, etc. O Rulers! Consider, consider what Teachers these are, who instead of compelling People to Love, and contribute to them by the Power of the Word, are glad to run to the Worldly Magistrates Sword; is not God against them that are thus against him? O leave them! Leave them to try and prove themselves to the People's Conscience, to be true Ministers by a free and powerful Ministry of the Word, not of Man, but of God, unto them, or never own them, for Christ's ancient and true Ministers had freely received, and therefore could freely give; and did Plant before they Eat, 
Mat. 10.8.  and Fed the Flock before they had the Milk thereof; but these Buy their Words, and therefore Sell them like Merchants of Babylon; 
Ezok. 34.  They eat the Fat, and cloth with the Wool, and kill them that are fed, as the Prophet speaks; but God's Flock they feed not, but persecute them, calling them Heretics, and all that's naught, as the Old Jews, who persecuted Christ and his Followers, did; 
Acts 24.14.  But after the Way that they call Heresy, so worship we the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, believing his Living Word which perfects us to himself, and the Scriptures which testify thereof; Glory to his Name for Ever.  
And all ye Peopl●y who are Lovers, and Followers, and Upholders of this false Ministry, which keeps you always learning, 
2 Tim. 3.5, 5  and never brings you to the Knowledge of the Truth, as it is in Jesus, which alone perfects to God; cease from it, and the Masterly Teachers in it, and from them turn to God; 
Jer. 23.28, 29.  for what are their Dreams to the Living and Eternal Word of God, which is as a Hammer and a Fire in the Hearts of all that receive it? 
Ezek. 18.23. Ezek. 32.11.  And what are their Inventions to the Ordinances of Christ? The Lord loves your Seals, he hath no Pleasure in your Death; it is not his Will that your Precious Souls should be lost for the pleasing of vain Men, and answering their ungodly Lusts: 
Jer. 30.17.  What is there no Bulm in Gilead? Is there no Christ, no Physician in England, that the Breach which Sin hath made betwixt God and your Souls can never be made up, 
Hos. 4.2.  but the Wound must stand open still, like a Bloody-Issue, running out the very Life of your Souls, so that you have no Power, no Victory over Sin, but Sin stands still in its Strength and perfect Dominion over you? O when, O when will you come to the Light, that your Eyes may be opened to see the dangerous Paths that you are in, 
Rev. 3.18.  by following these Blind Guides, 
Mat. 23.13.  who having shut up the Kingdom of God against Men, will neither enter into it themselves, nor suffer others. Oh! why will ye Die ye People of England? 
Exod. 10.21, 22, 23. Isa. 11.10. Joh. 3.19, 20 Gen. 31, 4.  Why will ye sit in Egypt's Darkness still, and the Land of God's People so full of Light? The Lord God hath listed up the Standard of his Truth in the midst of you, but you choose rather to Fight under the Banner of the Power of Darkness, because of your Love to the World to your Hurt; and so the Old Dragon, who beguiled Eve, leads you Captive at his Will, who will not have Christ, the true Light, the good Shepherd and Bishop of the Soul, to rule in you. The Word of the Lord God unto you all, both Priests, Magistrates, and People; Awake, Awake, the great and mighty terrible Day of the Lord God is at Hand, 
2 Pet. 3.16. 2 Thes. 5.2, 3. Prov. 1.27. Mal. 2.1. Rom. 1.18.  is very nigh to come upon you, like a Thief in the Night, like an Armed Man, like a terrible Tempest to scatter you, to spoil you of your Glory, to leave you neither Root nor Branch: For now is the Lord Jesus Christ Mighty in Power, arisen to plead with you in his Wrath, because you have made void his Law, and transgressed the Everlasting Covenant of his Gracious Light, and instead thereof have set up a dead Image, 
Rev. 13.14.  a liveless Form of Man's devising, the Image of Jealousy, a Religion and Worship which makes nothing perfect to God; your Root is seen and judged by the true Light, Christ Jesus, the Root and Offspring of David. It is so.  
And if you still continue in your vain Thoughts, thinking to please God with such a Life, wherein you are daily doing what you ought not to do, and leaving undone what God commands you, and never come out of that wretched and miserably defiled State; but think a customary Confession of Sins, without forsaking of them, is a Worship worthy the pure God, who is of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity; I say, if these Thoughts and this Heart continue in you, 
Hos. 1.6, 9  the Lord will cast you off, and will utterly forsake you, and bring his sore Plagues upon you; and you shall know in that Day that God will not be mocked, but will be sanctified and exalted in his Judgements over all his Enemies, especially over such as you, who take his Name daily in your Mouths in vain, saying, Lord, Lord, and living in a continual Breach of his most Holy Commandments; and who instead of waiting for his Holy Spirit, to kindle a pure heavenly Zeal in you towards God and Christ, 
Leu. 10.1, 2.  do offer the false Fire of your own Blind Zeal, as Nadab and Abihu did, whom God in his Jealousy consumed with a grievous Destruction.  
And now unto you the two Mothers of these Priests of this Nation of England, called Oxford and Cambridge; 
Isa. 1.4.  fee what you have brought forth and nourished at your Breasts. O! a sad Generation it is; O! what a Generation of Evil-doers are your Children (whom you have given Suck unto) become? How have you with your Heathenish Arts and Sciences strengthened them against the Simplicity of the Everlasting Gospel, which Christ hath restored unto us in this his glorious Day, 
Col. 2.8. Isa. 1.26. Rev. 14.6, 7.  after the long Night of Apostasy. The Lord Jesus Christ never ordained such Ways and Means as you use for the furnishing and enabling of his Servants for the Work of his Ministry: But when he ascended up on high, he gave Gifts unto Men, some Apostles, some Prophets, some Evangelists, some Pastors and Teachers, for the edifying of his Heavenly Body, and perfecting of his Holy Ones, Ephes. 4. But what can you edify or perfect to God, 
Jam. 3.15, 16. 1 Cor. 2. from Ver. 1. to the end.  whose Wisdom is from below, and whose Studies and Exercises for the most part run in the Channel of the Heathenish Philosophy, and Vain Deceit of the World's Spirit, which can neither receive in, nor minister forth any Thing of Christ's Kingdom: And so we are given by the Lord's Blessed Light and Spirit in this Day of the Lord, to see and declare, That you are gone from Christ, and the Way of the true Ancient Christians, into the Way of the Heathens, who know not God, as the Apostle said, The World by Wisdom knew not God: And so the People of the Country are greatly deceived by you, and their Children extremely wronged and corrupted by you; for many send up their Youth to learn some Good amongst you; but Alas, how can you that are so evil, bring forth good Fruit? Nay, nay, for if any come amongst you, and conform not to the filthy and bad Customs of your Universities, how are they looked upon as strange Things? How are they hooted at as Owls in a Desert? You are altogether corrupt, 
Isa. 1.4, 5, 6.  from the Crown of the Head to the Sole of the Foot, no Soundness in you. Oh! What Lewdness and Debauchery hath mine Eyes beheld in you? 
Isa. 2.17. Isa. 31.4, 5. Jer. 6.15.  The Lord will ease himself of you, your high Looks and high Towers he will pull down; your Theatre that you Glory in shall be a Curse; and the Lord will deliver his Lambs from your Teeth: What a Face have you that you cannot Blush? What, will you never give over provoking God with your Acts and Degrees? What Heathenish Stuff is this, to find you at this time a-day telling of, and glorying in? Your Bachelors of Art, and Masters of the same, Bachelors of Divinity, and Doctors of Divinity, and such like; but if any come amongst you, who through the Grace of God, hath attained to that Blessed Degree of a true living Member of Jesus Christ, and Man of God, to Preach the Mystery of God's Kingdom, 
Isa. 56.10.  to awaken you out of your deep Slumbers of Sin and Death, him you persecute, him you disallow, as your Forefathers, the Old Scribes and Pharisees, 
Mat. 27.21, 22.  rejected Christ Jesus, the true Foundation and Cornerstone of the Heavenly Building, with his Blessed Followers: And therefore will God's Controversy be with you for Ever, until you Repent of your Sorceries and great Abominations, wherewith you have burdened his good Spirit Days without Number: 
Rev. 1●. 6.  But the Everlasting Gospel of God's Light and Love shall spread, and the Branch thereof shall over all your Walls grow up to his Praise, who is come in this Day of his Power, to Judge the Great Whore's Works in England, as well as in other Countries, that the Earth may be swept, 
Isa. 11.9.  and filled with the Knowledge of God, as the Waters cover the Sea. So be it, so be it, saith my Spirit.  
Thomas Taylor.  
And now the Heavenly Free Mother, 
Rev. 21.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Gal. 4.26.  with her Happy Children, is come and coming down from God out of Heaven, to possess, inherit, and everlastingly to enjoy the Kingdom of his Endless Love, Peace, Righteousness, and Joy, where Mystery Babylon, with all her false Mothers, and sinful Children, shall have no Name nor Place at all; for at the Downfall of Mystery Babylon, doth arise in the Saints the pure unspeakable Joy, which none of the Children of the dark World understand any thing of at all. It is so. See Rev. 2.17. and Rev. 7. from Ver. 9, to the end; and Rev. 11. from Ver. 15, to the end; and Rev. 12.7, 8, 9, 10, 11. and Rev. 14. from Ver. 1, to Ver. 13. and Rev. 15.1, 2, 3, 4. and Rev. 16.17, 18, 19 and Rev. 17.18. and Rev. 18.24. and Rev. 19 from Ver. 1, to Ver. 10. It is done, HALLELUJAH.   

The true Fast from the False  Isaiah 58.4. Ye shall not Fast as ye do this Day. 
THE Lord Speaks this to the Ungodly People in those Days, who made a Vain and Hypocritical Show of Fasting, but the Lord Regarded them not; and the same Lord, the Everlasting God, who was angry then with that Falsehearted People, is Angry and fore Displeased with the like Generation of Evil and Ungodly Men at this Day; who, when any Plague or Calamity comes upon the Nation, so that the Hand of God cannot but be seen against them, than they will call a Fast for a Day in a Week or a Month, or so, and so make a Show of Humbling themselves in the outward, but in the mean time the Sin of their Souls, and Evil of their Lives is not departed from, but in their Words and Deeds they are the same both in the sight of God and Man after their Fast; Yea, many of them in the very Day of their Fast, as they were before. Were they Drunkards before, they continue so still; were they given to Swearing, and taking God's Holy Name in Vain, they are found the same still, for all their Fasting, as they were before. Were they Proud and Covetous, given to Oppress, Extort and Over-reach the Poor, and Over-reach their Neighbours in their Bargaining and Deal, that they may be Rich, and so Live, like the Rich Glutton, in all manner of Excess of Meat, Drink and , they are found the same; alas the very same, if not worse, after the Fast, as they were before: Or were they Guilty of laying heavy Burdens upon the Tender-Conscienced People: yea, and of Imprisoning such as in Conscience to God could not Bow to every thing that Man's Will set up, Alas! to the Grief of God's Holy Spirit, they are found in the same Steps still; and therefore saith the Lord from time to time, Ye shall not thus Fast as ye do this Day, to cause your Voice to be heard on High: Is it such a Fast that I have chosen a Day for a Man to Afflict his Soul? Is it to bow down his Head like a Bulrush, or so? Wilt thou call this a Fast, an acceptable Day to the Lord? Nay, nay, this is not the Fast that God hath chosen, but this is only that which vain deceived Man, in his Ignorance and Blindness, chooseth. For the true Fast, even that which the Holy God in all Ages, and from all People Requireth, is that every one depart from the Evil of his Way, and from the Violence that is in his Heart and Hands, and so to lose the Bands of Wickedness, and to undo the heavy Burdens that lie upon Soul or Body; and so in Deed and Truth to let the Oppressed go free, and to break every Yoke, and to be Merciful, Pitiful, and  one to another, according to Jesus Christ. O! this is the Fast that pleaseth God, that which his Soul, and the Soul of the Righteous Loves.  
But to see People gather together for a few Hours of a Day, and in a few, or many Formal Words, Confess Sin and Wickedness, and yet Live in it, this is Abominable in the sight of God and all good Men.  
Therefore all Awake, Arise, and stand up to Judgement, O all ye People of the Earth, who are found in such Deceitful Worship, for God is not Mocked, neither will he be at all Reconciled to you, until you, from the Heart, put away all your Sins, whereby his Glory this Day is so much stained, and until you bring forth Fruits of Righteousness, and such Words and Works daily as are worthy amendment of Life.  
Thomas Taylor.   

Something in Answer to some Passages in that naughty Book, called, A Looking-Glass for Ladies.  
HE saith in Page 89 and 90. There are two sorts of Love; One Legal, The other Evangelical.  
The First, which is Legal, is to Love God with all our Hearts, all our Souls, and all our Might.  
This, saith this Man, no Man can attain unto in this Life, no not the Regenerate themselves.  
To which I Answer, That this Man shows plainly, that he knows not what he saith, but is not only a False Witness against God and his Work in his Regenerate People, but also a manifest Contradicter of himself, for saith he, Evangelical Love is when a Man gins here truly to Love God. 2. When he doth daily grow and increase in this Love. 3. When he is Constant in the same to the end, so that nothing can draw him from God.  
This he and all that sort will in words confess the Regenerate in this Life may do, and yet not love God with that Love the Law requires. What Contradiction is this? Is not this Love perfect and answerable to God's Law, when one, First, Loves God truly; Secondly, Grows and Increases daily in this true Love; and, Thirdly, When one is so constant in the same, that nothing can draw the Soul from it: And therefore, saith the Apostle, Rom. 8.3, etc. That which the Law could not do, in that it was weak through the Flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful Flesh, and for Sin condemned him in the Flesh; that the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the Flesh, but after the Spirit.  
Now let any who knows God, give in his Witness, if this Man do not deny the very End of Christ's Coming in the Flesh, which was, as the Apostle saith here, to fulfil the Law in and for his People, that they might love the Lord their God in Christ Jesus, with all their Heart, Soul, and Might, according to his Holy Law; as one well said, That which the Law requireth, the Gospel fulfilleth. But such Men as this, who flatters the fallen Sons and Daughters of Adam, by pleading for respect to their Persons, knows nothing of the Matter in themselves, but only as they imagine from the Letter without, they tell every Man his Dream to his Neighbour, and so by their false Doctrines, and Self-contradictions, as is manifest here, do daily make the shame of their Nakedness appear, and their Envy to the Servants of God, whom they Reproach under the Name of Quakers, appears very much in such say as he there sets down saying, This serves to reprove the Quakers who are possessed of Perfection through Satan's Pride; and adds, O that ever a poor Worm of the Earth, a very Lump of Sin and Corruption, to think that he dare look God in the Face in a sinless Condition! These need not a Psalm of Mercy, saith the Lying Spirit in this Sam. Smith that writ that Book, these will not be beholding to Christ.  
To which I answer and say, First, It's Blasphemy to say, That the Regenerate Man's sinless Perfection is proud Satan's Work: For it is Christ's Blessed Work to perfect his Saints, as Eph. 4.12, 13, 14. and Chap. 5.25, 26, 27. And Secondly, It's a false Slander, and unjust Accusation of us, whom the World calls Quakers, to say, That we either say or think, that any Worm of the Earth, or Lump of Sin and Corruption, either dares, or ever possibly can look God in the Face, or ever attain to a sinless Condition; for Earth, Sin and Corruption, cannot enter into God's Kingdom, or inherit Incorruption: But this we say, That the Regenerate who are Born again, even Born of God, of the Incorruptible Seed of his Heavenly Everliving Word, are sinless and perfect in Christ Jesus, with whom they are one, and in him do in all Holy Humility and Acceptance with the Father, stand before his Throne, where no Earth, nor lumps of Sin and Corruption, nor no false Accuser of the Brethren, nor Respecter of Persons, can ever come.  
Again, whereas this Man Sam. Smith saith, The Evangelical Love (before described) is far short of that Love the Law requireth, is a false Witness and Accuser of Christ, as though he came to destroy or make void the Law; But do not think, saith Christ, that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfil: And is not this the great Thing and Sum of all the Law and the Prophets, thou shalt love the Lord God with all thy Soul, Mind and Strength? And doth not Christ the Power of God, fulfil this in his Members? Yea, yea, as Paul said expressly in Rom 8.4. before mentioned, That the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the Flesh, but after the Spirit: But now such as profess the Letter, and want the Life, and so walk not after the Spirit, but the Flesh, these do not love wholly, nay, not at all in Truth, and so with this Smith, are Breakers of the Law of God, and so not at all in the Kingdom of God.  
The next thing observable in this wretched Man's Book aforesaid, called, The Looking-glass, is his grievous Opposition against the Doctrine of Perfection.  
Where he saith, That there is none so Godly, Righteous or Religious here in this Life, or can attain to that Measure of Grace, to be Perfect, but stands in need of the Exhortation, Prayers, and Godly Advice of others.  
To which I answer and say, That though godly Exhortation, Prayers, and Advice amongst Brethren of Christ be lovely, yet for him to say, There is none so perfect, but stands in an absolute Necessity of these from Man, is not true; for the Apostle speaking not to the Teachers only, but to the Brethren of Christ in general, 1 John 2.27. These Things I have written to you concerning them that seduce you, but the anointing which ye have of God the Holy One, teacheth you all things, and you need not that any Man teach you, but as that teacheth you, etc. and you know all things: And these things, saith another Apostle to the Brethren, do I write unto you by way of remembrance, (not absolute Necessity, as this Man speaks) to stir up your pure Minds. And this Doctrine of the Hirelings, is only to keep up their Masterly Power over the poor People's Consciences; and indeed denies the Gift of God's Spirit, and coming of Christ in the Flesh, and the very End of his Ministry, which was for the perfecting of the Saints, even in this Life. See Eph. 4. at large. But the Hirelings Doctrine, which perfects nothing but Sin, keeps People always learning, laden with divers Sins and Lusts, but never brings them to the Knowledge of the Truth, which sets free from Sin; and therefore from such, according to Christ's Doctrine, ought all People to turn away.  
But what, must this Sam. Smith, and his Fellows, who would be accounted Masters of Assemblies, be taught of others? Indeed they stand in need of teaching; for they have run, and God never sent them, and therefore they cannot profit the People at all, as is here manifest.  
The Reasons of this Smith for denying Perfection, saith he, is, Because the Best of God's Saints and Servants in this Life are not capable of Perfection. And is any Child, saith he, put by his Master into the highest Form the first day he comes to School? Or doth he not lead him on by degrees? The Apostles themselves, that had the Spirit, and so in a Capacity of more plentiful Revelation than we are, yet Christ tells them, he had many things to tell them, but they could not bear them then. And for this he brings John 16.12.  
To which I answer, That this Man here doth manifestly abuse Scripture, and by that the Nature of his Naughty Spirit in all his Discourse is easily seen. For here he saith, they had the Spirit, and yet could not bear Christ's words, whereas Christ in that place makes the want of the coming of the Spirit, the very Cause why they could not then bear his words; and therefore he saith in the very next words, in that of John 16.13. Howbeit when the Spirit of Truth is come, he will guide you into all Truth, and show you things to come.  
And so this Smith is one of them that abuses and wrists Scripture, tending to his own and others Destruction.  
But whereas he saith, That the Apostles who had the Spirit, were capable of a more plentiful Revelation than they are, that's true; for they, to wit, such Hirelings and Wresters of Scripture, as this Smith is, are Sensual, not having the Spirit, and so are far from receiving any Vision or Revelation from God, seeing it's their common Doctrine to deny Immediate Teachings and Revelations from God, for that's ceased, say they.  
But for him to say, as these his words would insinuate, That the Apostles in those Days were capable of more plentiful Revelation than any are in these Days, is false; for God is the same to his now as then; and such as are Faithful in a little now, shall be Ruler over much, as well as formerly; and saith Christ, I pray not for these only, but for all that shall believe on me through their words, that they may be one, as we are One.  
And for his Reason or Proof, That the Best of the Best of the Saints and Servants of God in this Life, are not capable of Perfection, the very Child, or Schoolboy he speaks of, may come forth and confute it: For what though a Scholar be not perfect in his Book at first, doth it follow that he never shall be while he lives? He may as well say so as the other, for his Comparison doth utterly make void his false Doctrine against Perfection, as Experience of all Men, both Masters and Scholars, proves. But what a Mountain of Enmity is risen up in these Deceitful Teachers of these Times, (who love to be called of Men Master) against that Heavenly Doctrine of sinless Perfection, is manifest to all in this, that though they can allow of a Perfection in all Arts and Sciences in their kinds, yea, and of a Perfection in the growth of all other Creatures in this kind, but cannot endure to hear tell of, much less to allow of a Perfection in the Children of the Everlasting Father, God over all, who is this Day well witnessed upon his Throne, Ever Praised be his Name, bringing forth his Heavenly Birth, and Babes, and so making all things new. But who ever, but this Slanderous Spirit in this Smith, said, That though People have lived in Drunkenness, Swearing, and open Profaneness many Years, yet if but once come to be lifted (as he scornfully calls it) into that Society, (to wit, of such as he and the rest of the World in Scorn call Quakers) that presently they are perfect, and without Sin? And then like the troubled Sea he foams out his own Shame, and adds, saying in that forementioned Book,  
I Challenge all the Quakers on Earth, and in Hell, to give a sober answer to these Texts of Scripture, Eccles 7.2. 1 Kings 8.46. Prov. 20.9.  
Answer. By these words of this Enemy of God, and his Perfect Work in his Saints, any who judge in the Light of God in the least measure, may see the Rancour and Malicious Blind Nature of that Spirit by which he was acted; O! that ever Men should take upon them to be Ministers of the Gospel (as such would be accounted) and yet utter such base words: Did ever any Enemy of Truth, from the beginning of the World to this Day, make such a Challenge? What! must People come out of Hell to give thee a Sober Answer? What! hath Passion and Envy so blinded thy Heart, as to imagine that the Inhabitants of Hell can resolve Questions, and that in soberness; nay, nay, they must be Heavenly People that give truly sober Answers in such weighty Matters as these; and therefore thy unsober, wild words in these Matters, shows where thy Dwelling is, to wit, not in Heaven amongst the Saints and Spirits of Just Men made perfect, but in the Earthly, Sensual and Devilish Wisdom, amongst those who are Enemies to Truth and Perfection, and so Ministers of Antichrist, who plead for Sin during term of Life, and not of Christ, who came for that very end to perfect his Saints, and to present them himself even in this Life, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, Eph. 5.25, etc.  
And so the Reproachful and Malicious words of this Sam. Smith against the People of God called Quakers, and their Holy Doctrine of Perfection put aside, I say concerning those Scriptures he mentions, and first to that Eccles. 7.20. For there is not a Just Man upon Earth, that doth good, and sinneth not; that Solomon here speaks of Men under the Law, and of the Generation of the First Adam in the Fall, amongst whom there is not indeed a Just Man that doth good and sinneth not; but this doth not make void the Covenant of God with his Elect, in Christ Jesus the Second Adam, the Lord from Heaven; for as is the Heavenly, so are they that are Heavenly. And so whosoever is Born of God, and abideth in Christ, sinneth not; for he that sinneth hath neither seen Christ, nor known Christ, as the Apostle saith expressly in 1 John 3.6, 9 And herein is that saying true, 1 John last, If we say we have not sinned, (to wit, in the First Adam, or Flesh) we make God a Liar; but now being Translated out of that Kingdom of Darkness, into the Kingdom of the Dear Son of God, the Light; we put on Christ's Nature, which is Holiness and Righteousness, without which none shall see God; Blessed be God for his Unspeakable Rich Gift.  
And so though in the First Man's fallen Nature there is Sin and Death, yet in Christ Jesus there is Life, Righteousness, and Everlasting Peace: And if thou wouldst not have Death, the Wages of Sin, thou must come out of the Flesh into the Spirit of Christ, where Life and Everlasting Peace is witnessed. This is the Day of the Lord's Mighty Working, wherein he is separating the Sheep from the Goats, and making the difference plain and manifest betwixt such as serve God, and such as serve Sin.  
And for that other Scripture, 1 Kings 8.46. which saith, There is no Man that sinneth not, it must in like manner be understood as the former, to wit, of Man in the First Adam, or fallen Fleshly Nature, where all have sinned, and come short of the Glory of God; and in which state of Sin and Unbelief whosoever abide, they do sin daily: But this toucheth not at all the sinless and perfect state of the Children of God in Christ Jesus, where Sin, which is the Devil's Work, comes not, as was said before; for the Prince of this World hath no part in me, saith Christ: And therefore who art thou that lays Sin to the Charge of God's Elect? Thy own words shall be thy Burden, but Peace on God's Israel for Evermore.  
And for that third Scripture, Prov. 20.9. Who can say, I have made my Heart clean, I am pure from my Sin? I say, No Man can say that he hath made himself so, though in Christ Jesus he is so; for not of ourselves, but of God's alone Mercy and Free-gift in Christ Jesus, it comes to pass that the Elect Vessels are cleansed and made pure in Heart, according to that well-known place, Eph. 5.25, 26, 27 Christ gave himself for his Church, that he might sanctify and cleanse it, with the washing of Water, by the Word, that he might present it himself a Glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy, and without blemish.  
Is not here a Company made clean indeed, yea, clean at Heart, and pure from Sin in and by Christ Jesus: Therefore let all the Enemies of Christ, and his perfect Work, be silent for ever. So be it.  
But above all, it seems strange what he sets down in that Defiling Book called The Looking-glass, where he saith, That Philpot, Bradford and Cranmer confessed, That they were vile sinful and wretched Hypocrites, even at the State when to be burnt for their Religion.  
I say, either he, or the Printer or Relator of the History, or all of them, do greatly wrong them Sufferers, or else their Condition is greatly to be lamented, who had so much Zeal and Boldness as to Suffer for the sake of their Conscience, and yet had so little Knowledge and Understanding of the Mystery of God and Christ, as not to know the washing of Regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost no better.  
But we leave this, and so proceed to see what there is in those Scriptures, which he saith the Quakers make so much use of, to prove Sinless Perfection.  
The first is, Psal. 37.37. Mark the Perfect Man, and behold the Upright, for the end of that Man is Peace. The second is, Heb. 6.1. Therefore leaving the Principles of the Doctrine of Christ, let us go on to Perfection. The third is, 1 Cor. 2.6. Howbeit we speak Wisdom among them that are perfect. The fourth is, 2 Cor. 13.11. Finally Brethren farewel, be perfect.  
To all which I say, It's most plain to every pure Eye, that these Scriptures, with many more that might be brought to the same purpose, prove sufficiently a Sinless Perfection, otherwise it is no Perfection at all if not Sinless of God's working, for every Work of God is Sinless and Perfect; for that Perfection which is in or with Sin, is the Work of the Man of Sin, and is that Perfection which pleaseth his vile sinful hypocritical Members so well. And so whosoever marks and beholds this imperfect and unbelieving Generation, shall plainly see their End is Trouble and Misery; and therefore it is that our words which we speak this day from the Lord, concerning the great things of his Kingdom, are accounted no better than Folly and Error amongst these sinful Opposers of God's Work of Sinless Perfection in his Saints; and so these Opposers are never going on to God's Perfection, but backwards from that of God in them, which should lead them to God, and so their Back and not their Face turned to God, they are ever learning, but never able to come to the Knowledge of the Truth, as it is in Christ Jesus, which perfects to God all that come to it: And so how can they for shame exhort their Hearers to Perfection, who are themselves the great Opposers of God's perfect Work in his People, above all others.  

To conclude.  
That which remains at present to be spoken to that filthy Looking-glass, is to wipe off a heap of Lies and Dirt, which he hath falsely charged upon the Innocent and Harmless People of God called Quakers; as in p. 249. where he saith,  
That we disown the Ordinances of Christ and his Gospel, the Word preached by his Ministers, Church-order, Baptism, and Supper of the Lord, Prayer, Singing of Psalms, the Public Ministry, as no Ministry of Jesus Christ. Albeit, saith he, God hath set his Seal thereto in the Conversion of many Souls.  
To all which in a word I answer and say, The Lord both hath and yet will rebuke that Lying Spirit by which this Book was written.  
And in particular to the several parts of this false and notorious lying Charge against us, I say, That the Ordinances of Christ, and his everlasting Gospel, we dearly love and own, and the Word preached by his Ministers, but not the Ministers of Antichrist, we dearly own and delight in; for the Word of God which the Ministers of Christ, which he sends, preach, is Spirit and Life, not the dead Letter, for the dead Letter which the Hirelings preach for filthy Lucre, we know to be no better than Chaff, compared with that living Word which the Ministers of Christ preach, for the Letter of the Hireling killeth, but the Spiritual Word of the Gospel of Christ gives Life; the Word of the Lord in the Mouth of Christ's Ministers which we own, is the Savour of Life to Life, and of Death to Death. But so is not the false frothy Doctrine of the Hireling and false Accuser, such as this Sam. Smith, who wrote this Book which we disown is nothing worth, and therefore cannot profit the People at all: And therefore he tells a great Lie, in saying, That God hath set his Seal to the Ministry of such as have run and God never sent them; as is manifest by this Man, who is not ashamed to speak all manner of Evil falsely against whom the Lord hath Blessed for his Name's sake; for those whom God sends, are one with, and not against, such as are of God. But because he neither knows the Father, nor Christ, therefore he thinks he doth well, to persecute and revile us with all slanderous words, which will be his own Burden in God's Judgment-day.  
And for Church. Order, it's manifest by the Walking of our Members who owns it most, for they who walk most orderly in Life and Conversation, own Church-Order indeed; but those that live Disorderly and know not so much as a Bridle to their Tongue, are the Diso●wne● and Breakers of the Good Order of Christ's Church and Spirit.  
But what is that Baptism he saith we disown? For the Baptism o● Christ, which is but one, by that one Spirit of Truth into one Body we dearly love and own, for in it are we presented Clean to God, ever Praised be his Name: But that Baptism which the Hirelings use and plead for, for which there is no Scripture, we cannot own, for if we should, then should we disown the Light of Christ, which makes it manifest to be vain and nothing.  
And for the Lord's Supper, we cannot but love and own it with our very Souls, for it is our Souls Food, and the Lord is known to us, and in us, daily, by breaking of his Heavenly Bread in the midst of us, as he said, Behold I stand at the door and knock, if any Man open to me, I will come in and Sup with him, and he with me.  
And for Prayer to God, both Public and Private, those that say we disown this, do plainly manifest that they know little of us or our Practices, but are shameless Forgers of Lies against the Innocent; for which, and for all their Sins, God will judge them, it is so.  
But for Singing of Psalms, what hath this false Accuser of the Brethren to do with Singing? For not Singing, but Mourning, is the suitable Exercise for the Wicked, What will ye yet Sing and Rejoice and make Merry over the Witnesses of God which ye have slain in your. Streets, and over the Lamb that lies slain in the Streets of your Spiritual Sodom and Egypt, where our Lord was Crucified: But the Days of Mourning are at hand to all that now sing in Sin, and the Days of Darkness to them will be many: But Peace upon the Israel of God, in whose Book our Names are Recorded by the ever-blessed Finger of our God, ever Praised be his Name, who hath put a now Song into our Mouths, even Psalms of Salvation to our God, and to the Lamb, for ever more, according as it is written Rev. 14.1, etc. And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Zion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's Name written in their Foreheads. And I heard a Voice from Heaven, as the Voice of many Waters, and as the Voice of a great Thunder: And I heard the Voice of Harpers, harping with their Harps. And they sung as it were a new s●ng before the Throne, and no Man could learn that song, but the Redeemed from the Earth. These are they that were not Defiled with Women, for they are Virgins: These are they that follow the Lamb wheresoever he goeth: These were redeemed from among Men, being the First fruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their Mouth was found no Cu●le, f●r ●●ey are without Fault b●fore the Throne of God.  
And what will not all this persuade our Adversaries that there is singing of Psalms among us, and that Sinless Perfection is not the Devil's, but God's own Doctrine and Work, and attainable by the Believers in the Light: And that this Man, who writes this false Looking-glafs, was a great Enemy of God, and Blasphemer of his Heavenly Tabernacle, in charging them with Gross and Absurd Opinions, for keeping to Yea and Nay, without Swearing, in all things; and holding forth the immediate Teaching of God's Spirit according to the New Covenant, which saith, They shall all be taught of God, and God is a Spirit, and to be known and witnessed in Man, immediately to teach him, and to write his Heavenly Law and Doctrine in his Heart, or he perishes in his Sins and Ignorance; it is so.   
Thomas Taylor.   

T. T. who was Ten Years and an half in Prison at Stafford, writes a Letter to a particular Adversary.  
J. D.  
IF the Wisdom of this World, which is Foolishness with God, had not clouded thy Mind, thou couldst not have so ju●ged, as to account it Foolishness in me to abide in Prison; whereas thou may'st as well say, That to keep a good Conscience to God is foolishness; for in Obedience to God, and for doing his Will, have I suffered amongst you these many Years. Also whereas thou tookest upon thee to be an Instructor, saying, If I did seek unto God, he would deliver me out of Prison. I say unto thee again as I said then, That the Lord God of Life and Truth, the True God over all, Blessed for ever, hath graciously delivered my Soul from the Pit of Darkness and Ignorance, Sin and Wickedness, in which the whole World of Unbelieving People, who receive Honour one of another, and seek not the Honour that comes from God only, do miserably Lye. And as for my Body, it is offered up to the Lord, to do and suff●● according to his Blessed Will●●. And 〈◊〉 thee plainly, and all People in the Word of the Lord, 〈◊〉 for ●oing his Blessed Will, in witnessing in his Holy Power against the Wickedness of this present Evil World, who in words profess they know God, but in Deeds deny him, as is too manifest to every one who do not wilfully blind the Eye of the Understanding, for because of Oaths, and Drunkenness, and Pride, and Covetousness, and Oppression, and all manner of Uncleanness, and Unrighteousness, the Land Mourneth, and the Inhabitants thereof, God, for these things, will make to tremble; and because in Obedience to Christ I cannot join with you in these Things, I am made a Prey, as it were: For I say unto thee, and all the World, What Evil have I done? I praise the Lord I am not conscious in myself, neither have my Adversaries made it manifest, of doing or intending the least Evil to the King, or any Man within his Dominions, but have endeavoured to my Power to do good unto you all; and so the Scripture is fulfilled, which saith, They hated me without a Cause.  
Thomas Taylor.   

To the People at and about Stafford, a Testimony for God and his Truth, and against Deceit and Deceivers, especially the Hireling Priests, as a Warning, Information and Instruction in Righteousness, to them, (and all People elsewhere concerned) by the Spirit of the Lord in his Suffering Servant Thomas Taylor.  
Hear, O People, and Fear; for the LORD hath spoken.  

THE false Teacher, the Hireling, who hath run and God never sent him, but Preaches for Hire, and Divines for Money, can never profit your Souls, O People, at all; but with their selfe Dreams, and lying Divinations, and empty Sounds, they deceive your poor Souls: For what can the dead words of a d●●d Man, (dead in Sins) raise up your dead Souls from Death to Life? No, they cannot; they have no Life in them; and such who have no Spiritual Health nor Soundness (by their own Confession) in them, but are Miserable Offenders, can they minister any healthful or sound Doctrine to your Souls? Nay, these cannot; for, what is their Chaff to the Wheat, their frothy Words to the powerful Word of God? For, sow a Field with Chaff, and what a Crop can you expect? But as the Prophet saith. They sow the Wind, and reap the Whirlwind: So cease from them, you that love God and your own Souls, and turn to God; for I Testify for God, That the True Ministry, the Soulsaving Ministry of Christ Jesus, is not with the Parish-Hirelings of these Days; for neither their long Black Robes, nor long White Surplices, nor their Humane Learning, nor the Ordination of Man, Men of like Nature with themselves, doth any more conduce to the making of them able Ministers of the New Covenant, the Gospel of Christ, the Everlasting Covenant of God, than the Grey or Brown Coat of the Ploughman, or Artificer, or the Skill of the Husbandman in Husbandry; or the Cunning of the Cunning Worker in Wood, Brass, or Iron, doth furnish them for Gospel-service; for the Vision of God's Kingdom to all the World this Day, both Wise and Foolish, is like a Book sealed, as the Prophet saith, which is given to the Worldly-wise to read, and he cannot read it, because it's sealed; and to the Foolish, and he cannot read it, because he is unlearned, Isa. 29.10, 11, 12. so though in the World there is a difference betwixt the Wise and Foolish, yet as to the Kingdom of God there is none; for the Wisdom of this World is foolishness with God, 1 Cor. 1.10, etc. for that which lieth hid from all Flesh, God reveals to his by his Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God, 1 Cor. 2.6, 7, 8. And People, the time of quickening and raising up of many that were dead in Sins is come again, after a long Night of Darkness, and the Dead this Day hear the Voice of the Son of God (not of main Man) and they that hear do live, John 5.25. So People, look to your Souls; for though your Parish-Teachers, who Preach for Hire, and Divine for Money, and love to go in their Long and White Robes, do boast of their being come out of Popery, yet upon the Popish Maintenance of Tithes, Glebe-lands, Easter-reckoning, Mortuaries, and Moneys for Preaching over and Burying the Dead, and such like things they live and make a Prey upon, not willing to come to Christ (to this Day) as the first Christians did, for a thorough Reformation; and so not a little, but a great deal of the Old, Sour, Popish Leaven, being yet found amongst them, both in Doctrine and Practice, how should their whole Lump but be very sour? As appears by their Fruits, and the Fruits of such as follow them: And so, for witnessing in Christ against them for these evil things 〈◊〉 suffer Imprisonment; yet, through God's Mercy enabling me thereunto, I rejoice, and can truly from my Heart praise the Lord, that hath delivered my Soul from that horrible Pit, that these ungodly Men yet remain in, and will not be helped out of.  
And ye People of Stafford, for your sakes it was that the Lord by my Mouth rebuked the Hireling, that you might not always be deceived, and kept in Death with such Dreamers; but that you might turn to the Lord God, from all such, to know his Word and Spirit, that made you, in you, to teach you, and to lead your Immortal Souls to the Springs of Living Waters; for you have too long dwelled in the Wilderness of Sin, Ignorance, and Unbelief, and now it is high time for you to Repent, and come to know the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and Fire, which is Christ's proper Baptism, Mat. 3.10, 11, 12. for, alas! you have but hitherto been carried on by the Pharisees in the outward Shadows and Figures of Things, which reach not the Soul, to purify and perfect it unto God, and therefore is the Lord come in Mighty Power this Day, to break in sunder all the Graven Images of the People, whether under the Profession of the Popish or Protestant Religion; for the Lord is on his Throne, to make all things new again, as in the beginning, when all the Sons of God in Holiness sung for Joy, and rejoiced in the Lord, for the Blessed Victory they had got through the Blood of the Lamb over all their Souls Enemies.  
But Woe and Alas for you, the Poor People of Stafford, and of many other Places, who are under the Teachings of Worldly-minded Men, Miserable Offenders, like yourselves, always doing what ye should not do, and leaving undone what ye should do, and so without all Spiritual Health, in the Miserable Captivity of Sin, my Soul mourns for you, and my Sufferings are for you, and my Soul prays for you, that you may be recovered out of the Snare of your Soul's Enemy, by which ye are led Captive at his Will; for many Days and Years hath my Soul mourned for you, and been oppressed, and the Lord hath called to you early and late to Repent, and lay things to Heart; but, O the hardness of many of your Hearts, and the carelessness of the rest! O, why will ye Die? Why will ye linger, and remain still in Spiritual Sodom and Egypt, where the Witnesses lay slain? Rev. 11. So whilst ye have time, prise it, left the Lord lay you upon a Bed of Sorrows, where no Ease is, and say unto you in his Wrath, I gave them time to Repent, and they Repent not.  
In the Year 1679.  
Thomas Taylor.   

HEAR the Word of the Lord, all you that fear to offend the Lord, and who breathe after Righteousness in any measure, and yet in your Ignorance are seeking the Living among the Dead, the Living God in Dead Observations, which by Tradition you have received one from another, and not from the Lord Jesus. The Day is come, wherein by the Spirit of Jesus it is witnessed in and by his Living Members, That he that was dead is now alive, and lives for Evermore, and is ascended far above all Heavens, and out of all Figures and Shadows, that he might fill all things with his Holy Substance: And as in former Days he gave some Apostles, some Prophets, some Evangelists, and some Pastors and Teachers, for the Perfecting of the Saints, for the Work of the Ministry, for the Edifying of the Body of Christ, till we all (saith the Apostle, to wit, the Heavenly Body, not the Body of Sinful Earthly Flesh) come in the Unity of the Faith, and the Knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect Man, unto the Measure of the Stature and Fullness of Christ, Ephes. 4.11, 12, 13. Even so the Lord is now giving forth of his Spirit to his Children, Born of his Spirit, for enabling them in this Day of Restoration, for the Work of the Ministry, for the perfecting of the Saints, and fitting them for Glory; and this now, after a long Night of Darkness and Desolation, is to the Praise of his Glory, who hath made us, in this his Blessed Day, as he did his Faithful Followers in the Beginning, accepted in the Beloved, to show forth his Praises to Ages to come, whom he will also raise up by Christ Jesus, together with us, to magnify his Mercies for Evermore.  
But that the Parish Teachers of these Times, who Preach for Hire, and Divine for Money, loving to be called of Men Master; and like the Pharisees of old, love to go in Long Robes, and receive Honour one of another, John 5. are such, to wit, so given of Christ, and begifted from Heaven, and fitted for so great a Work, as to perfect the Saints, as those before (in Eph. 4.) mentioned were, I utterly deny, and their Fruits, as also the Fruits of their Hearers make manifest that they are of another Sort, Seed and Generation, even such as the Prophet Jeremiah speaks of and declares against, who have run, and God never sent them: For why? they waited not for the Word of God to speak in them and by them, but stole the Words from their Neighbour, and used their Tongues to say, The Lord-saith, when the Lord never spoke by them, (jer. 23.30.) and therefore, saith the Lord, these Teachers shall not profit the People at all (Verse 32.) For what are their Chaffy Words to the Word of God? (Verse 28.) So the Teachers of the Parishes this day get into the Pulpit with the Words of the Prophets and Apostles in their Hand, and Sin in their Hearts, as those other did, dreaming over them for Filthy Lucre, and cry to the People, BELOVED, (yea, Beloved, because they put into their Mouths) Hear the Word of the Lord, as you shall find it written in such a Chapter, and such a Verse, when the Lord never spoke to these Hirelings, nor sent them thus to preach; but they are Men made Ministers, Men of the Evil World, and great Lovers and Pleaders for it, and therefore the World hears them, 1 John 4.5. But ●●e true Messenger of Christ saith for himself and his Brethren, We are of God, and the whole World lieth in Wickedness. And saith Christ. to his Disciples, Ye are not of the World, as I am not of the World; for if you were of the World, the World would love you; for the World loves its own; but now I have chosen you out of the World, therefore the World hates you, John 15.18, 19  
So all People fear the Lord God; for the Name of Christians, without the Nature of Christ, will do you no good at all; for the Lord is come to search all that called Christendom with Candles, and to pull down the lofty Hearts and Looks of all amongst them called Christians first, and then of all the World besides; for now is the Lord exalting his great Name over all, as in the Beginning, before the Antichrist, Beast, False Prophet and Whore got up; and who shall stop the Passage of this mighty Jehovah, in the great Work of setting up his Kingdom over all the Kingdoms of the Man of Sin, that the Kingdoms of this World, may become the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose Right alone it is to Rule and Reign, according to that Saying in the Prophet, I will Overturn, Overturn, Overturn, till he come to Rule whose Right it is.  
And now woe and Misery gins to take hold of all Hypocrites, and all the Wicked, because of the arising and appearing of the great God from Heaven this day, who is on his Throne, judging in Righteousness, and in Righteousness making War, whose Fiery Word, his Two-edged Sword, goes out of his Mouth, not only to discover, but also to destroy and consume the Man of Sin in all the Earth. And now the Hireling Teachers of all sorts, the Merchants of Mystery Babylon, shall cry, Alas! alas! that great City, People begin to see us, and they will not Trade with us, nor buy our Merchandise, as in former days, but declare against it, see Rev. 18.10, 11. O, yea; it cannot be otherwise; for now the Witnesses that lay slain in the Streets of the great City, Sodom and Egypt, Spiritually so called, are arisen, and stand upon their Feet, praised be God. And now Judgement is given to the Saints of the Most High God, Dan. 7.12, 25, 26, 27. So that though the great Antichrist, under many Shapes and Appearances, hath spoken great words against God, his Truth and People, and hath oppressed the Saints; yet now the Judgement of God being set against him, his Dominion shall be consumed and destroyed, and the Saints of the Most High God shall have Dominion, and Reign with Christ, whose Kingdom is an Everlasting Kingdom, and all Dominions shall serve and obey him, to wit, our Lord Jesus Christ, for whose Blessed Name and Truth's sake, the Holy Tremblers, who Tremble at his Word, and follow him in the Regeneration, do this day suffer; it is so.   
Thomas Taylor. In the Year 1679.   

Something in Answer to some Passages in that Wicked Antichristian Book written Catechism-wise, by some Popish Stickler for his Master the Pope, the Romish Antichrist and his Followers. Printed at Dovay, and Subscribed H. T.  

IN his second Chapter he saith, Faith is necessary to Salvation; and that Faith is, firmly to believe Matters of Faith, because God hath revealed them. Then say I, Not the Pope. But saith he again, It is not enough to believe all that is written in the Bible, but we must believe also Apostolical Traditions, citing 2 Thess. 2.15. Now say I in answer hereto, That through wresting and abusing of this Scripture, have they made way for bringing in all their Filthy Popish Stuff, whereby Thousands, and Ten thousands, of poor People's Souls, both have been, and are at this day miserably deluded; for certainly the Traditions which the Apostle there tells of, whether by Word or Epistle, where all of one nature, and not directly contrary or contradictory one to another: But the Popish Traditions, though they may falsely call them Apostolical, are directly contrary to Holy Scripture.  
But saith he, The Apostles Creed is not in the Scripture, and yet is to be believed.  
To which I answer, If the Apostles Creed (so called) either be not in Scripture in so many words, or do not wholly agree with it in nature, we are not to believe it: But the reason why we believe it, is not because the Pope saith it is Apostolical, but because rightly Expounded or understood (but not with the Popish or other wrong Exposition) we find it, for Substance, agreeable to Holy Scripture.  
But saith he, If a Man shall deny, or obstinately doubt of one Point of Faith, Would he thereby lose his whole Faith? Yes, saith he, because true Faith must always be entire; and be that faileth in one, is made guilty of all, by discrediting the Authority of God revealing it. Then say I, Neither to Pope, nor General Councils, need People be beholden for their Faith, but to God only, according to Christ's words, John 6.45. They shall all be taught of God.  
But now mark People, under these seeming words of this Sophister, what a World of Wickedness lieth hid: For though he use the words (of God's revealing Faith) for a Cloak, yet he intendeth nothing so indeed: For if I, or another Man, should come and truly say, God hath revealed this and the other thing to be his Will, I should believe, and that by his Spirit I am able to make it manifest, that it agrees with the Scripture of Truth; yet if the Pope and his Councils do not approve of it, it shall be no Faith with them; but I shall be accounted an Heretic, and fit to be Burned, where they get Power, as hath been manifoldly proved in England and other places. And again, this Wickedness lies hid under his words, That if a Messenger of the Pope, as Jesuit or other Priest or Teacher of them, say to the poor People, that do in general too much believe their False Doctrines and Practices, yet if they do not in particular believe all their Superstitions, than they have lost all their Faith, and so consequently are Damned. If they be told, I say, that they must say so many Ave Maries, so many Pater-nosters, do such Penance, observe such and such Saints-days (so called) and their Eves, and Ember-weeks, and receive such and such for their Ghostly Fathers, though they see and rightwell know them to be Sensual and mere Carnal-minded Men, and what not, that these Priests commend unto them for Holy. Doctrines and Catholic Practices, (tedious to relate) If they do not believe all, then by this Man's Doctrine they have lost all their Faith: And why? Because, say they, the Pope and his Councils (which they account God's revealing, for no other God they look at to teach them, as afterwards in this his Book appears) have said it must be so. O the miserable Slavery of all such as are under this Hellish Egyptian Yoke! The Lord deliver all simple Hearts from it.  
And for his Worshipping and Praying unto Angels, as also Saints, which here and elsewhere he mentions, and brings some Scripture wrested, as their Custom is, seemingly to prove it: That one Scripture, I say, instead of many others, which might be brought, shall serve for ever to dash in pieces the Head of that Venomous and Idolatrous Doctrine and Practice of Bowing and Praying unto Saints and Angels, where it is said, That to God in Christ, every Knee in Heaven, Earth, and under the Earth must bow, and every Tongue confess. And when he brings in his only begotten into the World, he saith, Let all the Angels of God worship him: And therefore the Angel in Rev. 22.8, 9 utterly denied John's worshipping him, saying, Worship God. And in Rev. 7. The whole Company both of Saints and Angels fell down according to their Duty and great Engagement, and did worship God. So that if the Saints and Angels were as ready, and as well pleased, to receive Honour, as these Superstitious Men are to give it them, they would lose their Holy Place, and be like them; for saith Christ, How can ye believe, that receive Honour one of another, and seek not that Honour which comes from God only? John 5.44. But truly Holy Saints and Angels are better learned than so, and therefore abhor all Honour, but that which comes from God only, and for that they return to him alone as his due, all Honour, Glory and Praise; saying, as in Rev. 4 last, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive Glory, Honour and Power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. And so true Heaveny Brethren, and Fellow-Servants and Keepers of the Commandments of God, as all true Saints and Angels, whether in Heaven or Earth, are, look not for Worship one from another, but gives all to God their Maker and Saviour to whom it's due: But it's the Devil that would have God's Honour from him to himself, as Matt. 4.9, 10. but none but the Wicked will give it him.  
And then, if the Saints and Angels themselves be not to be worshipped, much less their Pictures: Also I say, If such living Images of God and Christ, as Holy Saints and Angels are, are not to be worshipped, much less dead Images of God and Christ, invented by Man's Brain, and framed by Man's hand, are to be adored, but to be trampled upon, as Nehustan that little piece of Brass was, which the Children of Israel Idolised.  
And this Popish Book, speaking of the Necessity of the Incarnation, saith, If it had not been, scarce one of a Thousand (and those great Clerks only) would have known God to any Saving Purpose or so, because of his Spiritual Sublimity, etc.  
By this it appears, how perfectly this great Clerk is ignorant of Truth; and in this, how diametrically opposite to the Apostle's Doctrine, 1 Cor. first and second Chapters; for there he makes the World's Wisdom in general, Foolishness with God; and in particular, the wisest sort of them farthest from the Saving Knowledge of God: And so attributes all Saving Knowledge to the alone Revelation of the Spirit of God, and that to Babes and Sucklings, Matt. 11. But this Sophister imagines, great Clerks can do something more than others in this matter. And it were well if all Protestants were well purged of this bad Disease.  
In his Fourth Article of the 'Greed he asks, Is it lawful to honour the Cross? Yea, saith he, with a relative Honour: Because, saith he, it is a special Memorial of the Passion, and is called, the Sign of the Son of Man, Matt. 24 20. he would say, it's like, Verse 30.  
To which I say, It's a mere Dream and Falsehood, to call an outward Cross the Sign of the Son of Man, for in that Scripture there is not the least Intimation of a Cross, for the words are these, Then (to wit, as in the former Verse, when the Powers of Heaven shall be shaken) shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in Heaven: And then shall all the Tribes of the Earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of Heaven, with Power and great Glory. The Disciples, in the beginning of this Chapter, asked him, What should be the Sign of his Coming? And here he answers them, (Not a wooden Cross, or any such thing, but) the foregoing of Judgement, terrible Judgements, as is here mentioned, which go immediately before this his appearing. And for the outward Cross, being a special Memorial of the Passion, The Apostles had other ways of remembering Christ's Death, than by outward Crosses of Wood, Gold, Silver, or other Metal or Stone, or so, for they were buried with him into the likeness of his Death; and they bore in their Bodies the Marks and Dying of the Lord Jesus, and the Virtue of Christ's Passion, they felt daily to Crucify them to the World, and the World, with all its Evil, to them: And as they died, and were dead to Sin, they were made alive, and lived to God; and so Christ lived in them, and they in him, How could they forget one another? And thus it was not only with the Apostles, but with all the true and living Members of Jesus, standing thus in the Faith in those Times, as Scripture plentifully declares; and neither need, nor mention made, of any outward Cross, to put them in mind of Christ's Passion, seeing they daily suffered and reigned with him. But People retaining only the Name of Christians, but falling from the Faith of Christ, which the true Saints lived in, than came up this Invention of outward Crosses and Pictures, and suchlike Smoke out of the Bottomless Pit, for Memorials and Teachers to the poor Carnal-minded People which were out of the Faith, and so at Enmity against God: But Praises to the Lord, saith my Soul, for this day of his, which after a long Night of Darkness, is restoring to many the ancient everlasting Truth, which all Holy Men of God lived by: And now Mystery Babylon; with all her Lovers, must into the Lake prepared for her.  
But says this Dreamer farther, The Cross was that blessed Altar on which Christ offered his Bloody Sacrifice: And to prove it brings Gal. 6.13. Phil. 3.18. Ezek. 9.4. In which last Scripture he says, Such as were signed with the sign Tau (which was a Picture or Figure of the Cross) were saved from the exterminating Angel, and only such. Now to this I say, it is mere Deceit: And adding to the Scripture this Saying of his, for there is mention made only of a Mark Vision-wise, but nothing at all what Mark it was, neither was it needful, for to mark them there, signifies God's special Care of his in time of Judgement, and not an outward Cross, as these Dreamers Dream. And for those other Scriptures, Gal. 6. Phil. 3. they speak not of the outward Cross of Wood or so, but of the inward Spiritual Cross, the Power of God, 1 Cor. 1.17, 18. But this Man, by calling the Cross the Altar, maketh it greater than Christ; for saith Christ, Matt. 23.19. Whether is greater, the Gift, than the Altar that Sanctifies it? And thus it appears, how near unto Blasphemy are all Superstitious and Idolatrous Minds.  
In his Exposition of the Fifth Article of the Creed, he saith, That his descending into Hell meaneth, That so soon as Christ was dead, his blessed Soul descended into Limbo, to free the Holy Fathers who were there. And for proof brings Acts 2.2, 24, 27. and Eph. 4.8. And then asks, Did he not also descend to Purgatory, to free such as were there? He answers, It is most probable he did; according to 1 Pet. 3.19, 20.  
I Answer, That these dark Imaginations are poor Grounds for People to place Faith, and so Salvation on. It is probable, saith he, that he descended to Purgatory: And what, is it more than probable that he went into Limbo? Nay, nay, it is not so much as probable that he went into either, for those Scriptures he brings, speaks neither of Limbo nor Purgatory; and so there being no such Place as either Limbo or Purgatory, as Papists Dream, how could he descend into either? For the true Place of Purging, is through Sanctification of the Spirit in the Belief of the Truth, as it is in Jesus, in this Life time, and not afterwards: And the Heil which Christ's Soul was not left in, is understood, when he said, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? And for his Body, it was raised out of the Grave, and so the true Christ saw no Corruption, as the Scripture there speaks: But your imagined Breaden Christ will Corrupt.  
But for this Man's Dream of Interpreting the Prison to be Purgatory, which Christ by his Spirit went to Preach to them in, in Noah's time, that were Disobedient, and that not till after he was Crucified, is so gross, that it needs little other Confutation than the very mentioning of it; for Christ by his Spirit in Noah Preached to them in that Day, when they were in the Prison of their Sins; and by the Spirit that raised Jesus from the Dead, have the Wicked been Warned and Preached unto in all Ages.  
And he saith, That the print of Christ's Feet are to be seen to this Day upon Mount Olivet, from whence he was taken up: I say, what if it were, will you go to Worship it, as you do a Wood or Stone Cross? But I do no more believe that there are such prints, than I do your other Unscriptural Superstitious Imaginations and Inventions. But to Discredit this, I have very great ground, considering that Christ said to Mary, that she should not touch him (in an outward natural manner, or so) because he was not yet ascended, John 20.17. because there is danger in such things, how much less would he leave prints of outward Feet for Superstitious Souls to Idolise? And it's probable, for this very Cause was the Body of Moses hid from the Jews, lest they should Idolise it. Therefore saith Paul, a Spiritual minded Man, for himself and his Brethren, Henceforth know we no Man after the Flesh; yea, though we have known Christ after the Flesh, yet know we him henceforth so no more; for he that is in Christ is a New Creature, 2 Cor. 5.16, 17. When will Christendom, so called, learn this Lesson?  
And this Book saith, That Christ, as God, is equal with the Father, but as Man, is in the highest Created Glory. I answer, the Scripture saith, that Christ sitteth, or sat down at the Right Hand of the Majesty on high, Heb. 1.3. Is this Created?  
And he asks, Is there any Merit in our Works? Yea, saith he, as in Apoc. 22.12. I say, that Scripture doth not say, for the Merit of Man's Work, but only they shall receive according as their Work is: But pure good Works are rather God's than ours, and then where is the Merit?  
And he saith, The Place of the general Judgement shall be in the Valley of Jehosaphat, betwixt Jerusalem and Mount Oliver. I answer, how knows he that? How is it he mentions no Scripture for it? So it is mere Imagination: But what! Must People lose their whole Faith, if they believe it not, as before?  
In the Ninth Article, speaking of the Church, he saith, The Church is the Congregation of all the Faithful, under Christ their Invisible Head, and his Vicar upon Earth, the Pope. But how proves he this? Neither by Scripture, nor Apostolical Tradition, for which he brings neither, for there is none for certain; for the Church hath not two Heads, the Church is not a Monster with two Heads, one Visible, to wit, The Pope, or suchlike; and another invisible, to wit, Christ: Neither is the Church an Adulteress with two Husbands, one visible and another invisible: For saith the Apostle, I have espoused you to one Husband, even Christ. So all others are Antichrist.  
And then this wicked Book farther asks, What are the Essential parts of the Church? And to that it answers, A Pope or Supreme Head, Bishops, Pastors, and the Laity. To this I say, It is rank Popish Poison: And what Scripture have they for this? Surely none, nor Apostolical Tradition-neither, for the Apostles could not contradict their own Writings, the Scriptures of Truth, as is said before; And the Scripture doth no where make the Church of Christ consist of such Essentials, for God's Church are his Cleroi, that is, his choice ones, his Lot, his Heritage, his Flock all of them, 1 Pet. 5.3. God's Flock are every one of them sound, Sheep and Lambs, and they are Men, God's Cleroi, that is, Clergy, and not Laity; and the word Laity is Popish and Antichristian, as well as the Pope. And for the true Overseers and Pastors, Feeders in and of the true Church, What have you to do with them? unless it be to Persecute them, as your Custom hath been all along, ever since Night and Darkness came upon you for your great Apostasy.  
Then this blind Guide goes on ask, How prove you St. Peter, and the Pope his Successor, to be the visible Head of the Church? He answers, First, out of John 21.16, 17, 18. Where Christ (saith he) for a Reward of his special Faith and Love, gave Peter absolute Power to feed and govern his whole Flock, yea, even the Apostles themselves to be his Sheep, and he their Head and Pastor.  
I answer, This is a most shameless Lie: For Christ was so far, in those words, from giving Peter charge of Feeding and Governing his whole Church in general, much less the Apostles in particular, who were his Equals, that the same Charge that is given here, is also given to the rest of the Apostles, though not in the same express words as here, yet in words of the same import fully; as not only when he first called them to be Fellow Apostles, but also, and that most plainly, when he departed from them, as in Matt. 28.18, 19, 20. where it is said, And Jesus came, and spoke unto them (that is to say, to the Eleven, for Judas was gone to his place) saying, All power in Heaven and Earth is given to me. Go ye therefore (not Peter only, but all the rest as well as he) and teach all Nations, Baptising them in (or rather into, as the Greek there truly signifies) the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: And lo, I am with you (to wit, all of you, not Peter only) always, even to the end of the World. Amen.  
And whereas this Liar says, It was for Peter 's special Faith and Love; I say, Peter had no Faith nor Love, but what was common to all the rest of the Apostles. But if all things may be reckoned, he had but little Faith nor Love neither, when he denied his Master. And though Christ said, Lovest thou me more than these? He was taught by his former forwardness not to say, Yea, I love thee more than they all, but humbly in the sense of his former weakness, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. And great cause had he to love Christ greatly, seeing he had Dishonoured Christ, and Wounded his own Soul, by Denying and Forswearing Christ more than they all. And so no Merit in Peter for any thing can be looked at, but God's great and free Mercy, in not only forgiving him, but also in employing him in his Service again. So let your unclean Mouths be stopped for Ever, ye Idolisers of Creatures: For as Paul said to the Corinthians, so may I say to you, and all the World, who are striving about Men, What is Paul? Or what is Apollo's? So what is Peter, or others that God made use then, or makes use of now, as Instruments in his Hand for People's good, but even as nothing, seeing Christ is all, and in all? And with him there conclude, Neither is he that planteth nor watereth any thing, but God that giveth the increase, 1 Cor. 1.11, etc. and Chap. 3.3, 4, etc.  
His other Proof for Peter's Supremacy, is out of Mat. 16.18. Thou art Peter, and upon this Rock will I build my Church; therefore, saith he, the rest of the Apostles were built on him; and hence it is, saith he, as often as they are mentioned in Scripture he is named first. To which I answer and say, It is no less than Blasphemy to say, That either the Apostles, or the rest of the Faithful, were Built upon Peter as a Man; for it contradicts all Scripture, which every where give the Glory of being the Rock, the Foundation, yea, and Cornerstone of the whole Building of the Church of God, to Christ alone, and not to Peter at all as a Man; for what is said here of Peter, hath relation only and altogether to the Faith of Christ the Rock, here confessed only unto by Peter, but given of the Father. And Peter himself says expressly, that the rest of the Faithful in those Days had obtained like Precious Faith with him, and the rest of the Apostles. See 2 Pet. 1.1. And the Apostle blames them greatly in 1 Cor. 1. , for saying, I am of Paul, and I of Apollo's, and I of Cephas, that is Peter, and I of Christ, as though Christ were divided: For they all should have kept the one Head Christ, without mentioning any Man's Name in this Matter. For as Peter also said in Acts 4.12. There is no other Name, but that of Christ Jesus, by which Men can be saved; then say I, of Necessity there can be no other Rock.  
And whereas this Imaginer would make something for Peter's Supremacy, from his being named first often in Scripture, when the Apostles are mentioned; I say, though it were always as he says, it makes nothing at all for his purpose, but is a mere childish empty Conceit, not worthy a Man, much less one professing Religion, to talk on, for some of them must be mentioned first; but that thus mentioning Peter in Scripture, had any such Intention in it as he here Dreams of I, and not only I, but all Saints with me, do utterly deny. And as for the word Supremacy, it is inconsistent with the Nature of true Christianity; for saith Christ to his Followers, when they were telling of who should be greatest of them, he Convinced them of their Error, by setting before them a little Child, and saying, who will be greatest of all must be Servant of all, and least of all; and that not in Words only, but in Deed and Truth say I.  
But what is any thing that is said of Peter in the Scripture to the Pope? O yes, saith he, he is his Successor. To which I say, it is as false as any thing is true; for Peter was a Holy Man of God, of Christ's sending, but the Pope, an unholy Man of the wicked World's sending, choosing, and setting up, witness the Men choosing him, and the manner of their choosing and setting him up, the very relation of which, in all the Foolish and Antichristian Circumstances of it, would even make a truly Honest Spiritual Man's Heartake to hear or read it. Again, Peter was a Humble Man, clothed with Humility, as he exhorted others; not a Lord over God's Heritage, but an Example to it of Faith and Goodness, as he exhorted others; but the Pope is a Proud Man, set up at Rome like a Worldly Prince, Ruling and Lording it over God's Heritage, not only with his wicked Curses and Excommunications of all that will not bow to his Superstitions, and Abominable Idolatries, but even Persecuting to Death with worldly Power and Force, (where he can do it, either by his own or others, whom he can stir up and persuade to act his wicked Will) all such as deny him, and against him bear withess, though otherwise they be never so dear and near to the Lord God; and so instead of being an Example of Goodness to any, he is become an Abhorring to Nations; and therefore is the Woe come and coming upon him, and his Seat, and Upholders, and Lovers, from him who is a Consuming Fire, and this Babylon, with all its Strength and Glory, shall be burnt in his Fire; and Zion shall not take one of her polluted Stones to put in her Holy Building. It is so.  
Thomas Taylor.   

There is more by me of this kind, as in Answer to more Passages of that Bad Book herein mentioned, which in due time may come forth; and it is this.  
Again, as concerning the Pope's succceding Peter, and all Successions relating to the Church of God, (truly so called) I say it is merely Spiritual, as the Lord said concerning his Prophet, The Spirit that I have put upon thee, and the Word which I have put into thy Mouth, shall not departed from thee, nor out of the Mouth of thy Seed, nor out of the Mouth of thy Seeds Seed, from henceforth and for ever. And so we finding both the Spirit and Word of the Pope to be quite of another Nature than that which was in Peter, and the other Apostles, we deny him and his Succession, together with all other Pretenders to the like Succession, who want that Heavenly Spirit, Life and Doctrine that they were in.  
In the Ninth Article, this Bad Book saith, But why may not a well-meaning Man be saved in any Religion? He answers, First, from Ephes. 4.5. and Heb. 11.6. where mention is made of one Faith; and that without Faith it is impossible to please God. Then I say, well meaning in the Popish Way, without true Faith, will not save no more than in any other. But than saith he, Secondly, because as in a natural Body, that part which hath not a due Connexion to the Heart or Root, presently dies for want of Continuity: So in the Church, (the Mystical Body of Christ) faith he, that Part or Member that hath not a due Subordination and Connexion unto the Head, and Come Councils thereof, that is the Pope and General Councils, (thou shouldst have said Christ, as in Ephes. 4.15, 16.) from whence under Christ we have our Spiritual Life and Motion, as we are Christians, must needs be dead, nor indeed can be accounted a Member of that Mystical Body.  
O Profound Antichristian Doctrine indeed! For here thou hast pulled off thy Vizard with thy own Hand; and any one of a very mean Understandstanding may see, that by this Popish Doctrine, Christ the Living Fountain is thrust out of Doors, for it must not by this be known, what saith Christ and his Spirit to my Soul, but what faith the Pope and his Councils to mine Ear.  
And afterwards this Pleader for Baal, to wit, the Pope and his Councils accounts them Novelists, Heretics, and Idle Brains, that will not submit to this Tribunal of Christ (he should have said Antichrist) on Earth, to wit, the Pope and his General Councils, and makes this alone to be the Cause of all Heresies and Sects, as he calls them, whether Protestants or other; For, saith he, they will not be tried by this Tribunal, but by their own idle Brain, and the dead Letter of the Scripture. To which I say, God will judge this Man, and all such, for their Wickedness in coupling an idle Brain, and the Letter of the Scripture together; for though the Scripture be but as a dead thing to them that will neither understand nor believe it, yet to an Enlightened, Understanding, Believing Soul, it is of such Service, that the Apostle is not afraid to say, That the Scripture is given for our Learning, upon whom the Ends of the World are come: And the Scripture is of such force in the Hand of such Enlightened and truly Understanding Ones, that Christ made use of it against the great Wrester of Scripture, to wit, the Devil; and by the right use of it in the hands of the Faithful, through the Spirit which gave them forth, all the Mud-walls of Popery, and Paper Bulwarks of the whole Antichristian Kingdom of False Professors, both have and daily are beat down; and therefore doth the wicked Popedom keep the Holy Scripture from the poor Slaves under them. But the great King Christ Jesus, upon his Heavenly Tribunal, is bringing his great Work to pass in these latter days, against the Beast, Whore, and False Prophet, under what Name or Notion soever; and by his Spirit, according to Scripture, to pour Judgements and Plagues upon all their Tribunals, Glory to his Name for evermore.  
Again this Popish Book asks, Is not this (to wit, the want of a Popish Tribunal) the reason why the Protestants, and other Sects, are so divided, etc. He answers, Yea, a principal reason; For how can different Fancies (says he) upon different Principles, be united? I answer, No: The want of this Tribunal is not the cause: And ask, What was the Reason of Differences amongst the Jews, that had their Tribunal of the Law outward, and High Priests, and Sanhedrims or great Councils, for ordering Matters of Religion? Yea, and what was the reason that there was Divisions and Dissensions amongst the first Christians, when even Peter and other Apostles were living? Yea saith the Apostle, There must be Heresies among you (even you that all profess Christ) and he gives a Reason, that these that are approved may be made manifest: He doth not say, Heresies come for want of a Pope and General Council. And I may add another Reason, and that a main and universal one, and that is, Peoples either not living in the Spirit, or not walking in the Spirit, and so not keeping the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace; And so not keeping the Head, to wit, Christ, in whom, if the whole Body be coupled and knit together, increase of the whole Body (to wit, the true Church) is made to the Edifying of itself in Love, and not otherwise, Eph. 4. This is the Cause, and continual Cause.  
A Second Reason of those Differences, saith that Popish Book, is because the very Ground work of Protestancy is, That all Men, even the whole Church of God, are Fallible, and subject to Err, so that they cannot pretend to Certainty or Infallibility (saith he) for any one Point of their Belief.  
To which I say, if any Protestant say, the whole Church of God is Fallible, and subject to Err, if they understand the Church as Paul doth in Ephes. 5.25, 26, 27. and as he doth in 1 Tim. 3.15. or as Christ doth in Mat. 16.18. where it is said, The Gates of Hell shall not provail against it; they do not well: For though all Men, as Men, in Adam the Earthly, are not only Fallible, and subject to Err, but also really in Deceit and Error; yet in Christ Jesus the Second Adam, the Lord from Heaven, that quickening, preserving Spirit of Truth, there is no Fallibility nor Error, as the Apostle saith, 1 John 3. He that abideth in Christ sinneth not, Ver. 6. And he that is Born of God sinneth not, nor can sin, Ver. 9 But what is all, or any of this Glory to the Pope, or his Synagogue, which he falsely calls the Church of God? For they do not attribute the Infallibility to the Eternal Spirit, which is in every true Member of Christ's Church, which is their Leader into and Preserver of their Souls into all Truth, but to the Pope and General Councils; as though Infallibility were annexed to the Dream of Peter's Chair, and not to Christ's Spirit in the Faithful. O the Abomination of Desolation that is in this Popish Doctrine!  
But what, is there such Unity amongst these Deluded Disciples of the Pope? Surely nay; for as we read there was amongst the Jews, the several Sorts and Sects of Pharisees, Sadducees, Libertines, Cirenians, Alexandrians, and the like, yet all against Christ: So in the Popish Hierarchy, there are the several different and divided Sorts and Sects of Franciscans, Dominicans, Jesuits, Cappuchins, Carthusians, and others, all agreed this Day, as of long time they have been against the Blessed Crown, Kingdom, Dignity and Dominion of our Lord Jesus Christ: But these, with all the rest of Mystery Babylon's Merchants, have cause to wail, because the Light and Spirit of God in Christ Jesus is broken forth in Power and great Glory this Day, to judge them all, that the Kingdom, (not Worldly, but Heavenly) may be given to the People of the Saints of the Most High God, for an Everlasting Inheritance, as in Dan. 7.27.  
Here also I may well take notice of some other words that this Popish Pleader hath in his Book, Treating of this Matter, viz. Since then, saith he, to be of one Religion, is to be of one settled Persuasion in Points of Faith, and ceiling cannot be without Infallibility or Necessity; it is not well possible, that any two Protestants or Sectaries to be of one Religion, every Man Expounding the Scripture as he lists, and no one having Power to Control the others Exposition of it.  
I Answer, and in the Power of Christ do grapple with this Beast that arose out of the Sea, and with his Image also, and do say, That no Humane Conceit, nor Natural Man's Exposition, with the help of all the World's Wit and Skill, whether Pope, or other, is infallible, or binding, or controlling: But by the same Spirit that gave forth Scripture (whether in a Fisherman, Tradesman, or other, now as well as formerly) is the Scripture rightly Understood and Expounded. So the true Oneness in Religion stands in the Oneness of that Spirit that gave forth Scripture, and gives a right understanding of it, and of all things, as the Apostle saith, The Anointing which ye have of the Holy One teacheth all things, and by it you know all things, 1 John 2.20. And he that hath not this Spirit is none of Christ's, Rom. 8.9. And he that is guided by this Spirit is a Spiritual Man, and so not to be judged or controlled in his Spiritual Concernment, by any Man of this World, (neither Pope, nor other) as saith the Apostle, 1 Cor. 2.10, 15. It is so.  
But whereas he tells of every Man Expounding the Scripture as he lists, I say, this is the Pope and all his Priest's Fault, and of all the wicked World besides, who are not in Heart and Life subject to that one Pure and Holy Spirit, that is, of Jesus, that leads Spiritually into all Truth, which Truth is one: And so though they that are of another Spirit may agree never so much, and in never so great numbers, in their several Ways of Deceit, yet the true Religion of God's Holy Ones in Light, they still remain ignorant of.  
And so his Blindness of imagining, that Protestants and Sectaries, as he calls them, cannot be two of them of one Religion, doth hereby fully appear: For not only they, but all the People of the Earth, under what Name, Notion, or Profession soever, are either the Children of Light, or Children of Darkness, and so not only two, but all of the same sort may, and do agree in the Root in their Religion, (if it may be called so) though we know there is but one true Religion, and that is truly and properly the Religion of God's People, the Children of his Light, even that which in Purity and Holiness binds their Hearts to God.  
And so by this word Controlling, which this Remish Agent here useth, it is easily seen how the Pope hath set up and maintained his Wicked Kingdom, that is to say, by a Worldly Controlling Power over men's Souls and Consciences, and not by the Power of Truth: For if his Earthly Power, with his Worldly Assistants, were taken from him, his Decretals, Expositions, Bulls, Excommunications and Curses, for not obeying his Commands, would be of little force this Day in the Earth, because of the Light that God hath raised up in the Hearts of People this Day to discover him, Glory to his Great Name for Evermore.  
And so the true Judge and Controller of all Judgements and Controulers, is on his Throne this Day judging in Righteousness, and on his White of Glorious Power, going on Conquering and to Conquer, the Man of Sin in all Lands, and his Holy Ones in Light: His Called, Faithful and Chosen follow him with great Joy of Heart, Rev. 19.11, 12, 13. He that hath an Ear let him hear what the Spirit saith.  
Again, saith this Popish Book, ask this Question, Is the Church visible? He answers, She is, and must be visible at all times, as consisting of a Hierarchy of Pastors, Governing, Teaching, and Administering Sacraments to the World's end; and of other People governed, taught, and receiving Sacraments at their Hands, all publicly professing the same Faith, all which things are visible: And for this brings Ephes. 4.11, 12. Mat. 5.14, 15.  
Answer, Now to this, I say, that the true Church, the Spouse of Christ, (and not the Adulterer, the Popedom) are visible and known to God, and its own Members, but invisible to the World as such, as the Apostle saith, 1 John 3.1. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us, that we should be called the Sons of God; therefore the World knows us not, because it knew not him, to wit, Christ Jesus their Head, though he did appear in Flesh; and so the Flesh was the Veil by which he was hid from the World then, as the Flesh is the Veil by which the true Saints are hid from the World now: And this makes manifest that that Scripture Ephes. 4.11, 12. makes nothing for his Purpose at all.  
And as for that other Scripture, Mat. 5.14, 15. where it is said, Ye are the Light of the World, a City set on a Hill, which speaks of them that were truly so, and kept their savour, and not at all for the Pope, or his great Army of Apostates, nor of any other who have the Name only of Christians, but have lost the good savour, and so want the true Christian Life, and so having put the Candle under a Bushel; though they may have a show in outward Observances of their own devising of a Church, yet still wanting the true heavenly savoury Life, I say, they are to be trodden under Foot of Men, as unsavoury Salt; and so this Scripture makes nothing for them neither.  
But some may say, Though this makes not for the Pope, or any false Church, yet doth it not make something for the visibility of the true Church? I answer, No, not in the Popish or Worldly Sense at all; for though the good Life of the true Church be very savoury to that of God in every Man, and the same Holy Life shining before Men, is of great Service to Men, and Glory to God; and so because they separate from the World, not only in the inward, but outwardly also, therefore they cannot be hid if they do any thing contrary to their Holy Profession and Separation; yet still the Apostle (1 John 3.1.) stands firm in his Testimony to which my Spirit agrees: Therefore the World knows us not, because they knew not Christ: For how can the World, who are in the False Life and Religion, and yet think it is true, know or believe them to be the True Church of Christ, who separate from them, and bear witness against them. And this farther appears, if we consider how the True Church, as Christ himself, was ever hated and persecuted of the World, Rev. 12.6, etc. and many other Scriptures: And wherefore is all this Enmity, but even because the World knew them not as they were, but even accounted them, through their great Ignorance, as the Off-scouring of all things. As it is reported also concerning the Christians in the Heathenish Persecutions after Christ, Sejanus vir bonus sed est Christianus, Such a one is a good Man, but he is a Christian. So amongst and by you called Papists; Such a one is a good Man, but he is a Protestant: And amongst the common Protestants; Such a one is a good Man, but he is a Quaker. Thus hath the true living Seed been vailed from the World, under some Reproach or other, through Ages and Generations, as at this day.  
And so to conclude, I say, That which is here said of the Invisibility of the True Church, is not as this Popish Book would wickedly Insinuate, Because there were none called Protestants before Luther's Time, (or because others since Luther's Time have had other Names) but because the Truth, according to the Scripture of Truth, so judges, as is here in a few words set down.  
But to return the Wickedness of these Popish Pleaders upon their own Heads, it may be truly said, That the End of their Pleading so much for the Visibility of the Church, is, Because they have little in their Religion, if any thing at all, but what the blind and evil World can both see and exercise themselves in, and yet continue still in their sinful Nature. So that the Pope's Daughter, the Popish Synagogue, is most unlike the Heavenly King's Daughter, the True Church, which is all Glorious within; but the Pope and his Daughter, the False Church, is all Foul within, and only Glorious on the out fi●e, and that not with a true outside Comeliness or Glory neither, but even with the rotten filthy Rays and menstruous Clouts of Humane Traditions, and Carnal Ordinances and Observations of their own Devising, beautiful only to the Adulterous Eye, but not with the Ornament of a truly Godly Life and Holy Conversation, which is the True Churches Golden Ornament or Raiment, which is truly Beautiful in the Eye of God and his Saints. It is so, as saith God's Good Spirit in his Servant    

A Warning to the Papists at Stafford.  
Thomas Taylor, a Servant of the True and Everliving God, in the Everlasting Gospel and Kingdom of his Son, sendeth Greeting, and a Warning unto you from him, in whose Hand is your Breath, and the Breath of all the Living.  
I say unto you, who call yourselves Catholics, or Roman Catholics, here about Stafford, Awake, Awake, look into yourselves, Trim your Lamps, and see whether the true Oil be in you, which the first Christians witnessed in them, which they had of God, whereby they knew all things; for if you would be found true Catholics, Members of the Universal Church, the Heavenly Body; this you must have, for the Cry is gone forth, Behold the Bridegroom cometh, and it's none but the Wise in Heart, the pure Virgin Souls can enter God's Kingdom; it's not enough for you to say, We are Catholics, or Roman Catholics, and our Religion is old, or so, for it is not how Old, but how Good; for how much old an Error or Way of Evil is, by so much the worse it is; and to imagine that God will receive you, because of your many Outside Observations, and Carnal Ordinances; you are very much mistaken, so long as the inside is unwashed; for it's a pure Heart, and a right Spiritual Worship from the same, that God Requires: And did not the Apostle to the Galatians say, He was afraid of them, because they thought to Please God, in observing Days, and Months, and Times, and Years, after Christ was come in the Flesh, and Offered up to end all such Shadows, and all of like Nature, that can be brought in since then, as a part of God's Worship, and to bring in Everlasting Righteousness, even the true Standing and ever Continuing Worship of God, which is in Spirit and Truth, For, saith Christ, God is a Spirit, and they that Worship him, must do it in Spirit, even in his own Spirit and Truth. So then they that are in the Flesh, the Carnal Mind, cannot Perform this Worship, and so cannot Please God; but a Carnal-minded One can observe your Days, whether Fasts or Feasts, and say all your Prayers, and do all your Devotions, which you are outwardly Exercised in, from the one end of the Year to the other, and so get a Name, yet this avails nothing to the Kingdom of God: Nay, Paul the Apostle speaks further, If I give all my Goods to Feed the Poor, and my Body to be Burnt, and have not the Love of God, the true Charity (Understanding within to Purge thy Heart from Sinful Self in the matter) it is nothing. For true Christians do not do good Works, no● suffer for well doing, that they may merit Salvation thereby, but being saved freely by Grace through the Redemption which is in Christ Jesus, they do good Works from the Heavenly Nature of that Holy Root that bears them, and brings them forth as good Trees to Glorify God in their Bodies and Souls which are his, Tit. 3.8. And the Apostle Charging Titus to Exhort Believers to good Works, was not because they were Saviour's, but because they were Profitable to Men, as well as the Prophets.  
And as for our Religion, which the World, and all the outside Professors of it, look so slightly at, and speak so Contemptibly of, we would have you, as well as the rest, to know that it is truly Ancient Catholic, Christian and Apostolical, as having its Rise and Foundation in and from the Eternal Word, which is Christ in us, the Hope of our Glory, whom the Apostle to the Colossians Preached as a Mystery formerly hid, but then Revealed to the Gentiles, even Christ in the Flesh, the Hope of their Glory, through Faith in his Name; and this is God's Foundation, the Foundation of Christ's Church, another Foundation can no Man lay, than this which God hath laid; and this is the Rock, not Peter, but Christ, who Peter, by the Revelation of the Father, Confessed unto: And so through Faith in this Word, Christ the Foundation and Rock of all the Righteous, that ever were, or ever shall be, do we deny all the false Faiths and Works of all who have gotten the Name, but want the Nature of true Christian People; and so in the true Faith which gives Victory over the World, and in the Name of Christ, which is above every Name, do we separate from them, and meet together to Worship God in Spirit and Truth, as he Requires us; and his Blessed Presence in the midst of us, according to Promise, do we abundantly feel and witness, to the great Rejoicing and Establishing of our Souls in Righteousness, when thus met together. And therefore do we Exhort all that Name Christ, whether called Papists or Protestants, to have Fellowship with us, because our Fellowship is thus truly with the Father and the Son. Therefore Awake, Awake, stand up from your Dead Faculties and Dead Worships, that Christ, who is the true Everlasting Way, you may walk in, and Worship in, where no Uncircumcised or Unclean in Heart can come; and if this you do not believe, and bow your Heart accordingly to obey, let me tell you, as one who hath received Mercy to be Faithful, you can never be Established with the Establishment of the Righteous; for this is the Day that burns as an Oven, where in all the Proud, Wicked and False Professors and Confessors must be as Stubble, and neither Root nor Branch must be left them, because they will not have him, the true Promised Seed, and Heir of all things, to Reign, and Sway his Righteous Sceptre in them and on them. O! Look up to the Lord in a Trembling Soul and True Contrite Spirit, to find Favour in his sight, before the Door be shut, and you stand without, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us, And he Answer you in his Wrath, because of your Unbelief and Disobedience, saying, Depart from me, I know you not Workers of Iniquity; for all are Workers of Iniquity in their highest Performances and greatest Conceits of themselves, whose Works are not wrought in God, that Spirit and Holy Power that Cleanses the Heart from all Sin; and so brings Life to Light, for God to be Praised in, for the Dead cannot Praise him. So consider what I say, and be not Proud, lest your Bands be made strong, and your Feet stumble, and then Fall upon the Dark Mountains, where you have been too long Wandering: Neither be so Foolish as to say, This is but a Quaker, who hath gotten some new Upstart Religion, or so; for in good Earnest, I tell you the Truth, which will stand when all Deceit and Devices of Men of corrupt Minds will come to naught; for in the true Poverty of my Spirit hath the Lord, according to Promise, manifest his Blessed Kingdom in me, and the pure Hunger and Thirst of my Soul, which was after him and his Righteousness that he Graciously satisfied: And therefore am Constrained, in pure Love to your Souls, to invite you, as well as others, to come out of the Prodigal State, into the Heavenly Father's House, Christ Jesus, as himself said, My Father is in me, and I in him; and as the Apostle said, It pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell in him; for in this House, and no where else, is there Bread enough, true Living Bread for the Hunger of the Immortal Soul, as he said of himself in John 6. before any thing was spoken concerning the Bread and Wine at his last Supper; I am the Living Bread, the Heavenly Bread; and when the Hearers Carnally Questioned, How he could give them his Flesh to Eat; he told them, The Flesh Profi●ed nothing, it was the Spirit that Quickened. So come away, Come away from your Carnal Conceivings of a Heavenly Man, the Lord from Heaven, to be Comprehended in a little Earthly Bread or Wine, seeing the Heaven, and the Heaven of Heavens, contain him not, much less outward Temples and outward Elements of Bread or Wine: For unto his Light that is night you, which shineth in your Dark Hearts, though your Darkness Comprehend it not, must you come, and there wait for the Day to dawn in you, or these Mysteries of his Kingdom you can never truly Know, but in your Darkness grope and stumble for ever, as People without Eyes; and though this Heavenly Seed, the Word, the Light, appear little in you, yet despise it not, for in it is the Blessing, and if you receive it, and in it abide, you will know all this and it will work in you, as Leaven in Meal, till your whole Lump● ' Heavenly, Sweet and Pure, and so as Christ said, If thy Eye be single (to wit, single in and to the Lord, in his Light to Believe and Walk) than thy whole Body shall be full of Light; but if you say Nay, but we will do, and say, and Understand, as we have been accustomed, then know for certain, you are of those that Reject the good Counsel of God, given you by his Spirit, in his Servant  
Thomas Taylor.   

Something in Answer to a Paper from a Nameless Author, directed to be left at Joseph Holt's in Okeham.  
BUT Before I speak in particular to it, I cannot but touch a little upon another Paper, to that part of it where it is said, Perhaps the Man concealed his Name, on purpose to try the Man's Skill, who said, He had an Unction from the Holy One, and knew all things. If so be he knows all things, he will easily inform thee who it was that wrote it.  
Now to this I say, that all People may here take notice, what a Scoffing Profane Spirit lodges in these Men, to wit, Those Priests and their Auditors: Who but a Julian, or some Gross Heathen, would have made a Mock of the plain words of the Apostle? For the Man did not say so of himself, but only brought the Apostles words, which say, 1 John 2.20. Ye (to wit, the Saints) have received an Unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. To prove that the Saints Teacher is the Anointing of God now in them as then: And I may say therefore, such as have not this Unction, are not of Christ: But doth it therefore follow, That either the Apostles and Saints then, or the Children and Saints of God now, do know all Natural or Worldly Things? I remember it's said in Scripture, that when the Jews and Gentiles had blindfolded Christ, they Smote him, and wickedly said unto him, Prophesy who it is that Smote thee; (and was not this from the very same ground that this Scoffer speaks) reasoning, What, if thou be Christ, and a Prophet, thou canst tell all things, and therefore thou canst easily tell who Smote thee. Those also did it for the very same end that this Man supposes this to be done for, to wit, To try his Skill; But the Lord will Judge for ever, all such his Enemies. But what if one had gone to the Saints whom John writ to, and said, A Paper was sent to me this day, and there is no Name at it, and I desire to know it, but cannot, surely you can tell me what the Man's Name was, if you know all things: Or if a Man had had his Horse or other thing stolen from him, Would it have been good Work from any (especially from a Tempting Scoffing Spirit) to have said, you Saints know all things, therefore what is the Thief's Name, or so? O Impiety! To what a height Wickedness is grown up in the Unbelievers and Mockers in this Age. But come ye Teachers of the Parishes, tell me, Do you indeed believe, or you do not, that John spoke true, when he said, The Brethren had received an Unction from the Holy One, and they know all things? If you do believe that the Brethren than did, and that they now do, receive such an Anointing: I ask you, What are those All things that the Unction taught them, were they Heavenly or Earthly things? If Heavenly, even things pertaining to Salvation and Preservation in a Saved State, as without all question the Apostle did intent, as is plain there; and not such earthly things as this Scoffer speaks of. Then I say, this Scoffer is either very ignorant of the Scriptures, or he is very wicked in his Mind, in sinning against Light, to make God's Children Odious. But the Cause of his Truth God will ever defend, and the Scorner he will Judge.  
And for those other words in that little Paper, where it is said to Joseph Holt, When thou dost know me, do not pelt me with Reproaches; call me not Unrighteous Priest, nor one of the World, as your Phrases are; nor yet be so rash as that Old Peevish Man at Sommerby was, to tell me I am Damned.  
I answer, That I am the Man I suppose thou intends by that Old Peevish Man at Sommerby, and therefore whoever thou art, that says I said thou art Damned, it was not so, but a mere Falsehood in thee to say so, for I never said so to any man that I know of; but what I said at that time at Sommerby against your Deceit, was not Rashness nor Peevishness, but pure Zeal for God, which caused me to declare for God against you, for wresting the Scripture, and abusing the People thereby. What you are, by your Fruits is very manifest, he that runs may read what your in free is, by your Words and Works, the Day of the Lord hath found you out, and therefore if you repent not, you cannot miss to perish with all the Wicked that are gone before you, though we should hold our Peace.  
And so to call you that are Unrighteous, as by your Fruits is manifest, and who by your own Service-book are termed Priests, I say, to call you as you are, is neither False nor Reproachful, when in the fear and feeling of God, it is so said to or of you. But that you should account yourselves either wronged or reproached, if one tell you that you are of the World, is something strange, seeing the Course of your Lives is so in the broad way of the World, and your Spirits so Worldly, as not only by your earnest Pleading for worldly Elements, so necessary to Salvation as outward Water, that you can hardly be persuaded that any can be Regenerate or Saved without it; but also at your very Scossing at the Holy Anointing of the Spirit of God in his People, as is manifest; but without this Anointing of God, none knows Savingly any thing of the things of God's Kingdom; but for all that other Understanding, which is not of this Holy Anointing of God's Spirit, Man may be Brutish. And so I come, in the Ability I have from the Lord, to refute and make void thy Dark Thoughts, Arguments and Reasons, for and concerning outward Washing or Sprinkling the little Infants with Elementary Water, mentioned in that first Paper.  
And first, where from Matt. 19.14. thou drawest these Arguments for Infant-Baptism. First, sayest thou, Those whom Christ would have brought unto him, it doth not at all become us to stop from Baptism, etc.  
To this I answer, That by this manner of wild Arguing, thou mayst deceive the Simple, and lead the Blind into the Pit; but none, that in any measure are guided by God's Light, can be deceived with it: For what if I form thy words into a Syllogism (your Diana) there will no such thing at all as Infant-Baptism arise from them, but only this, that those ought not to be hindered from coming to Christ, whom he would have come to him. Unless you will say, That Christ Baptised those Children with outward Water, which if you should either say or think, it would be most Absurd, and to be exploded by all. Neither was it in the desire at all of them that brought the Children to Christ, to have them so Baptised, but as the words are, That he would put his Hands on them and Pray. But it seems you lay all the stress of the Service that can be done to Children, on Washing or Sprinkling them with Water, for without this, all your laying your defiled Hands upon them, and your sinful praying over them, would do them little service it seems; for indeed how should it, seeing you never came to witness sinless Duty? For it's the Doctrine of the Highest amongst you, that you sin in your best Duties; and the words of your daily Service is, That there is ●o Health in you. And so Christ's Purifying Baptism we own for ourselves and our Children, but yours we deny, for you have run, and God never sent you, and therefore so little worth are all your do.  
The other Argument from Mat. 19.14. is, Those to whom the Kingdom of Heaven doth belong, and the Covenant of Grace, to those also the Seal of that Covenant doth belong, which is Baptism, sayest thou, but to Infants doth belong this Covenant, Gen. 17.7. and Acts 2.39.  
I Answer, To this Argument much might be said, to show the fallacy and gross deceit of it, but in a few words it is manifest thus; First, I deny that part of the first or greater Proposition, where thou Expoundest the Seal of the Covenant to be Baptism, that is, Outward Water-baptism. For though Outward Circumcision was a Seal to the Jews of that Covenant, yet it doth not at all follow, that Outward Baptism or Washing is the Seal of the Covenant of God in Christ to Believers under the Gospel; neither doth Outward Baptism succeed in the room or place of Outward Circumcision, as you falsely all along suppose; but Inward Circumcision of the Heart, is that which succeeds that in the Flesh; and the Seal of God's Covenant with Man in Christ now, is his Holy Spirit of Promise, as the Apostle expressly saith, Eph. 1.13. In whom (to wit, in Christ) after ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of Promise: So that now the Covenant being wholly Spiritual, and the Ministration of it Spiritual, the Seal of it must needs be so, to wit, the Seal of the Spirit; as it is said in that place, which thou sayest we omitted, John 3.5. Except a Man be Born of Water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, which not at all speaks of Outward Washing or Water, but of the Spirit only of God from above, as Christ's own words afterwards plainly signify, where he saith, Ver. 6. That which is Born of the Flesh is Flesh, and that which is Born of the Spirit is Spirit: And Ver. 8. The Wind bloweth where it listeth, etc. so is every one that is Born of the Spirit; where Christ leaves out the mention of Water, as if on purpose to stop such Carnal Conceits of his Work, as thine is; for the Seed of the New Birth, or Power, or Means, whereby Regeneration is wrought, is only of God, by the Operation of his Heavenly Spirit, and not by Outward Water, or any perishing Thing whatsoever, as it is said in another place, The Children of God are Born of the Incorruptible Seed of the Word of God, which lives for Ever: And so when Peter had mentioned our being saved by Baptism, to stop such Carnal Conceivers as thee, he saith, Not the doing away or washing of the filth of the Flesh is it, but the Answer of a good Conscience in the Resurrection of Jesus saves; which if thou hadst an Ear to hear thou might hear  
And for the Assumption, or other Proposition of thy Argument, where thou s●ist, But to Infants doth belong this Covenant, and for that brings Gen. 17.7. Acts 2.39. I say there is a gross fallacy or deceit in the Word Infants or Children, for it is an ambiguous, Term, and may be either understood of natural or fleshly Infants, Children or Seed, or of the spiritual. But that that Covenant of God with Abraham's Seed, was not to the fleshly as such, is most manifest by the Apostles Doctrine, where he on purpose speaks of it in two Eminent places, to wit, Gal. 3.8. when he had said, In thee (to wit, Abraham) shall all Nations be blessed, he subjoins Ver. 7. So then they that be of Faith are Blessed with Faithful Abraham. And Ver. 16. Now to Abraham and his Seed were the Promises made. He saith not, and to Seeds, as of many; but of as one, and to thy Seed, which is Christ. And Verse the last, If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham 's Seed, and Heirs according to the Promise. Now may it not on the contrary be truly said, If ye be not Christ's, then are ye not Abraham's Seed, nor Heirs according to the Promise.  
The next Scripture, is that which I mentioned upon this occasion in my writing to you, which thou takest no notice of; for indeed it judges your Carnal Conceits of Things, and it is in Rom. 9.7, 8. Neither because they are the Seed of Abraham, are they all Children: but in Isaac shall thy Seed be called. That is, saith the Apostle, They which are the Children of the Flesh, these are not the Children of God: but the Children of the Promise are counted for the Seed. Was it not for such Doctrine as this, that the Carnal Jews, like you Carnal Christians, cried against the Apostle, saying, Away with such a Fellow from the Earth, he is not worthy to live; as you use to cry against us to the People, for witnessing to the Truth of Things against your Gross and Carnal Conceits, and Unscriptural Practices, These People would Damn your Children: Nay, nay, we Damn none, but could wish that all might be Saved, and come to the Knowledge of the Truth. But say you, How can our Infants be Saved, if they be not Regenerate? And how can they be Regenerate, except they be Baptised with Outward Water? Poor Souls, I pity you in your great Apostasy; Doth not the Scripture say in the  place, The Wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but knows not whence it comes, and whether it goes: So is every one that is born of God's Spirit; And so Regeneration is not limited to any outward thing whatsoever: And for the little unteachable Children, thou busybody, let them alone, till they be capable of Doctrine; and then, as any is able, let them bring them up in the Nurture and fear of the Lord, and so bring them to Christ, that he may lay his Hands upon them and Bless them. But secret things belong to God, not to thee: When things concerning the Children are known to thee, make good use of it, and answer the Lord's Mind in it; the Lord knows best what to do with the little Children Souls, which are hidden from thee; and let God alone with them who made them, he will have Mercy on whem he will have Mercy: And so let thy Sprinkling of them alone, for it neither Regenerates them, nor Seals it unto them, but is a thing of men's devising, which the Lord never required at your hands: And though Scriptures be wrested by you to keep it up, and many Reasons brought to prove it, yet I say, and I, and not I only, but many more, know in the Light it is proved, that there is not one Scripture rightly understood that is for it; nor one true Reason from Scripture to keep up your Sprinkling Infants: But it is a Custom that in the Apostasy had its Rise, and by such as are not recovered out of the Apostasy, kept up and pleaded for.  
Now for the stir thou makest about something that was said by one of our Friends, about the Press that was about Christ, by People that came to be Healed, and that therefore the Disciples might say something, as tending to hinder the little Children from coming, and that the Children were brought upon other accounts to Christ, and not to be Baptised at all with outward Water. I say, thou wrongest our Friend, in mixing and charging words on him he spoke not; and therefore now that I see thee make so bad an use of his words, and so misrepresent them, it is good time to take notice of thee.  
And now I may add something more concerning thy ungrounded Reasons thou bringest for Infant-Baptism.  
1. Thou sayest, Where the Disease is, there ought the Remedy to be applied; but the Disease, to wit, Original Sin, is in Children as well as Men: Therefore the Remedy, which is Baptism, aught to be applied to Children as well as Men.  
I answer, That by this both thyself, and all that take part with thee in this thing, are manifest to be like the Papists in this Point about Infant Baptism, for they hold that Baptism of Infants washes away Original Sin, and so do these English Priests it seems. I knew that you were Idolaters from the Womb, giving that to the Creature which is proper to the Creator: If the Disease be Original Sin, and the Remedy be outward Baptisin, than it seems those that are so cured, must certainly be saved; then it's no Wonder, though poor People, that are persuaded of this Lie, do run so fast to you with their Children to be Sprinkled; and no wonder that they do so admire you, and worship you, that are such Saviour's; and none must be thought worthy to do it, it seems, but yourselves: O sad Work! But by this Craft you get great Live, and that pleases your Carnal Mind well; But God will judge for all such things: And if this Tradition of yours were true, How can ever any, that have Original Sin so cured and washed from them, Sin at all? For take away the Cause and Root of a thing, and the Effect and Fruit which comes and springs from them must needs cease also. And therefore thy Interpretation of the Remedy against Original Sin, that it is outward Water-Baptism, which thou didst mention in thy Argument, I do utterly deny, and do, with all the Children of Light, pronounce it to be contrary to the Word of God, for God's Word is Truth, and no Lie is of, but contrary to, the Word of Truth. And so where the Door or Inlet into your Church, is such an unsound Doctrine as this, what a Church is that. And now if thou couldst convert to Truth, according to thy seeming Promise, it would be well for thy Soul. Therefore whilst it is called to day, harden not thy Heart.  
Thy second Reason is answered already, in showing thy false Exposition of that place of Scripture, Gen. 17.7.  
3. Thy third Reason, No means of Salvation ought to be denied to the Children of the Faithful, whereof they are capable, but Baptism is an outward means of Salvation, whereof Children are capable under the Gospel, as well as Children of the Jews were capable of it under the Law; therefore, etc.  
To this I say, Though in a general Sense, 
Your own grant that Infants cannot observe the Requisites of Baptism, to wit, Faith and Repentance shows their Incapacity for it.  the Major Proposition, as you term it, may be granted, but restrained to your Sense: I say, that before you entitle your Children to Privileges, because of your Faith, you had need prove yourselves to be in the Faith, which yet you have not done, lest both the Root, Tree and Branches fall all together. And for the Minor, as you term it, I say it is false, that your Sprinkling is any means of Salvation either to yourselves or your Children, because, as is proved, it hath no ground nor footing in the Truth, but a mere Invention of Man's wanting both Precept and Precedent in the Scriptures of Truth: And for Children being capable of it under the Gospel, I ask how capable? Dost thou say they understand what is done to them in it, or can make any Spiritual use of it in their Infancy? Then I say, The Multitude shall condemn thee, and the least in the Flock witness against thee: But if thou say they are capable of it, only so as to suffer it to be done on them without understanding, than I say it is no Gospels' Capacity, for in the Gospel Ministration all must be done and received in and with the Spirit and Understanding, except you will join hands again with the Papists, and say ex opere operato, to wit. From the Work of the Priest done upon them they are saved. O sad! That ever we should have occasion to speak thus to a People, after so long a time of professing the Scripture and Protestant Religion.  
4. The fourth Reason speaks all as it were in one, and doth fully make manifest the Darkness in thee, from whence all thy Unchristian Doctrines have proceeded, and it is this, All those who receive the thing signified by Baptism, aught to receive the outward Sign, it is the Argument of St. Peter, Acts 10.47. Can any Man forbidden Water, that these should not be Baptised, who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? But Children of the Faithful receive the thing signified by Baptism, to wit, Regeneration and Remission of Sins: Therefore, etc.  
To thy first Proposition drawn from Peter's words, Acts 10.47. thou might have left that to others, who Idolise outward Baptism in another Form; for they will tell thee, it belongs nothing to you at all who Sprinkle before Confession, or any visible Appearance of any inward Work. But than sayest thou, If Children be not Regenerated, and receive Remission of Sins, you must needs hold, that all Children are damned. I say, thou belies us and the Truth, for there is no necessity at all for such a wild and false Conclusion from our true and harmless Premises, for what though God please to have Mercy upon Children, whether some or all, whom and as he pleaseth; What ground is that for you to say hand over head, that all that you Sprinkle are Regenerated, when you know nothing at all of God's Mind in the thing? And for your calling such Children of the Faithful, who naturally only proceed from such as do but in general only profess the Christian Religion, though their Lives, even in your Judgement, are judged to be no better; some, if not many of them, to be, I say, no better than Heathens, is such a piece of Darkness and Wretchedness, that the Earth groans under it; and the Spirit of the Lord is burdened with your Do, as a Cart under Sheaves. And whereas thou brings that Scripture, Mat. 18.10. to prove, that by little Children he intends the Natural Infants, is so gross, that it shows thou wilt not see; for those little ones, whose Angels, Christ said, did always behold the Face of his Father, are plainly said to be such as believed in him; Ver. 6. and humbled themselves like a little Child; and so he still brought little Children as Figures and Examples to Men, that they might come to the Birth of God in them which Heirs his Kingdom, according to what is said before Rom. 9.8. and John 3. That which is Born of the Flesh is Flesh, and that which is Born of the Spirit is Spirit.  
Also as to that which thou brings against our Objection from Mat. 28.18. concerning Infant Baptism, it is nothing but thy groundless Argument drawn from a false Supposition of our understanding of the place, as though we understood the reason wherefore Teaching is to go before Baptising, because of the mere standing of the words in the Sentence, and so troubles thyself to prove by other Scripture, That Precedency of Action is not always deducible from the Precedency of Words: For thou mayst know, that we do not say that Teaching goes before Baptism, merely because it is placed so in words, (though in that place that is true) but especially because of the Nature of the Thing, as is manifest amongst many other Reasons.  
1. By your own Confession, that the Sacraments do not beget Faith, but only confirm; and that Faith cometh by hearing the Word Preached.  
2. From the Practice of those that Baptised with Water in the first Times, as is to be seen in Scripture, where none were Baptised with Water, but upon Teaching first, going to the Understanding of such, whatsoever you imagine to the contrary, from the Goaler's or Stephana's Families.  
3. From the Judgement of those that Compiled that Catechism, which saith, What is required of Persons to be Baptised? The Answer is, Faith and Repentance: And so because they in their dark Minds and Self-will, would needs have Children into that Ceremony, (right or wrong) they devised that strange, and unheard of, and unreasonable Custom of Sureties, or Godfathers and Godmothers, to Promise that for the Children which the Lord never required of them, and indeed is most unreasonable to think possible; for can any Promise for another that they shall do such things, as forsake the Devil and all his Works, etc. especially for Infants, whose Minds and Hearts are wholly hid from such Presumptuous Promisers. But what if the Lord should require the Performance of this Promise in the Day of Judgement, on behalf of such Infants, that when they come to Years are found following the Devil and all his Works? Wouldst thou be content to suffer the Punishment of such Disobedient Ones for their Sin? Were it not just thou shouldst, seeing thou wast the Surety or Undertaker for them, and they have failed? Must it not therefore fall on thee, except thou Repent? And so if thou be Damned, do not say that we Damn thee, for it's thyself that art the Cause, and God and his Servants are clear of all your Blood: And do not trifle and say as one of you said, See these Men can bring a Proof out of our Catechism, and therefore it is so and so; and drew this wretched word forth from it, The Spider draws Poison out of the same Flower the Bee draws Honey. The Heathens might have said so to Paul, who brought their own Authors against them: And did his bringing some true words out of their heaps of false, prove all to be good, and he a Spider for so doing, any more than our present Work make us Spiders, or allow of all that's written in that Catechism? Nay, nay, the Lord is Judge between us, and he sees who are in Heart true Lovers of him and his Truth, and who are not, and will give every one according to their Works, and that is our Joy, Glory to his Name for Ever; and so at this time rests the Lord's Servant,  
Thomas Taylor.   

This Writ upon Occasion of a Visitation, so called.  

UNto you who are called Divines,  
In Love are sent these following Lines;  
And so, if you are Wise, you'll not Disdain  
A few plain Verses from a Heart that's plain;  
They'll serve as Monitors unto that part  
In you, which is grown dull with weight of Art,  
And evil Customs, in these lazy Times,  
Wherein the Truth's Extirpate Prose and Rhimes;  
Wherein Ambition, Pride and Cruelty,  
Is like a Fiery Flame advanced so High,  
That if with Moistening showers it go not out,  
It will consume the Tree both Branch and Root.  
woe to the Shepherds that lead the Flock amiss,  
And follow Cursed Covetousness, what's this,  
Save gross Idolatry, to give to th' Earth  
Your Hearts, which is the due of him that gives you Breath?  
And Woe to People, when even for a Word,  
A Man's Offender made, then comes the Sword:  
Then comes the Plagues of God upon that Land,  
To cut off Sinners who against him stand.  
And Woe to People, when their Bishop's Blind,  
That neither sees nor knows their Sores to Bind;  
Who feeds himself with Thoughts of Worldly Glory,  
And knows not that his Life's an empty Story;  
And knows not that the Holy One Beholds,  
How such the Sheep impound in dirty Folds;  
How they the Fleece, and not the Flock, do seek;  
Howl, howl, ye Shepherds, Roar, Lament and Weep;  
The Day of your Dispersions is at Hand,  
You shall no more the Lambs Tear, Kill and Rend:  
But Heaven and Earth shall Joy the Day to see,  
Wherein the Sheep from Bondage shall go free:  
Weep, Weep and Wall, all strong and stout of Heart,  
Who, with Proud Babel's Whore, have taken part;  
Upon a Bed of Sorrow you must lie,  
Because the Cursing thing you come so nigh.  
What Madness is in Men in these bad Days?  
That will not heed what Christ and Scripture says;  
That will not once believe that God will come,  
And give upon your Deeds a Righteous Doom.  
What are your Ears and Eyes so closed, that ye  
God's Truth will neither Practice, Hear nor see?  
Hath Midnight Darkness all your Senses drowned,  
That of God's Truth you'll not endure the Sound?  
Must every vain Invention Suffered be,  
And with a Brazen Face i'th' Land go free;  
And only such, as do Proclaim God's Day,  
Be stopped, and from your presence sent away  
Into some nasty Prison, or such Place,  
To spend their Days in Sorrow with Disgrace?  
As though the Great and Holy One of Heaven,  
Would not pour out his Vials Seven times Seven,  
Upon the Seat of that proud Beast and Whore,  
Who hate his Truth, and would his Lambs devour;  
And would set up that Worship which he hates,  
And all that Bow unto it Desolates:  
And will not suffer Light and Life to Reign,  
But Preach and Pray, and all for filthy Gain:  
God shakes his Hands against you for such things,  
And He's the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings;  
Who will not be o'er-toped by Mortal Birth;  
Whose Origin and Root is from the Earth,  
But will be Honoured as a Heavenly King,  
Or else his Judgements through the Earth shall Ring;  
With Terrors great, he will his Foes Confound,  
Who have wrought all their Works as under Ground.  
And in their Hearts have said, Tush, none doth see,  
But we shall Rule and Reign, and only we.  
O turn your Ears, and listen then a while,  
Let not the Serpent always you Beguile:  
He that deceived the simple one at first,  
Doth after all your Souls and Spirits thirst;  
He leads you out to love the Perishing things,  
Which swiftly fly away with eagle's Wings;  
Which answer not the Heavenly Minds desire,  
But leaves your Spirits scorched as with a Fire.  
You seem to Eat, and sumptuously to Fare,  
But when awake, you Lean and Hungry are:  
You spend your Money for poor empty Shells,  
And go to Drink at Springless empty Wells:  
And when your Minds with Wind and Air are filled,  
And you a little in School-Learning Skilled,  
Then do you Judas yourselves fit Guides to be,  
Unto the poor Unskilful Commonalty,  
Who do not know the difference 'twixt the Wheat  
And Chaff, which, to the Soul, was never Meat:  
But hark, what is it now my Mind doth see,  
Sad Oaths imposed on Men that should be free,  
That should their Office do as Christians did  
In former times, as great Jehovah bid;  
And not as Worldly Men, whose Will's their Law;  
Who, with their Fines and Threats, still kept in A we  
The silly Multitude, which knows not God,  
But are more Fearful of the Tyrant's Rod;  
And are in Earthly-mindedness so deep,  
That they will lose the Soul before their Sheep:  
And are so Ignorant of things Divine,  
That they will part with Truth before their Swine.  
And what Religion is it that such Men,  
For Worldly Ends, will not Profess, but when  
The Tide of Times doth turn, and changes Face,  
Then they will leave you all unto Disgrace:  
And that which now seems as an Iron Post,  
Will then forsake you, and be gone and lost;  
For it's their Bodies that by force is gained,  
When as their Souls i'th' change of Sin's detained.  
So that a perfect Man you cannot bring,  
Of all your Number, unto God, to Sing,  
And Sound forth Holy Praises, 'mongst the Choir  
Of Holy Ones, who burn in pure Desire,  
Of setting up the Lamb, upon his Throne  
Of Highest Glory, and all Sorrows gone;  
Then what's your Work, and where will you appear,  
When you have Slept and Slumb'red Year by Year?  
And in mean while have suffered Souls to Pine,  
For want of Heavenly Bread, and Spiritual Wine;  
And would them neither Feed, nor suffer such  
As God hath sent to Feed them, but do grudge  
That any, but yourselves, should have a share  
I'th' Work of Feeding such as to God precious are:  
But this be known unto you all this Day,  
That Israel's Holy One none limit may;  
If Christ, an Amos, or a Peter will  
Have in his Vineyard Work, his Word's their skill;  
By which, without Book-Learning, they do know,  
'Gainst Satan's Kingdom, how to bend their Bow;  
And if proud Scribes and Pharisees Disdain  
Their mean Appearance, and their Language plain,  
Then doth their Master plead their Innocent Cause,  
And soon delivers them from Tyrant's Jaws,  
And makes the Earth to know, that maugre spite,  
He's able to secure the Harmless Wight,  
Who trusts unto his Strength, and walks the Ways  
Of Truth and Holiness unto his Praise.  
And that the Earthly Man, with all his Power,  
Shall not secure himself from Heaven's sharp Shower  
Of Hailstones, which upon the Wicked must  
Be Reigned down, as thick as any Dust.  
But stay a little, to the present Work,  
A Word or two in Love, that does no hurt;  
A Visitations talked of in these Towns,  
Wherein the Priests must come with Long Black Gowns,  
To make Appearance, but whose Will to do,  
They best can tell, who perfectly do know:  
Then I demand in plainness, that you may  
Prove by the Scripture, what you do this day;  
Why doth your Bishop Ride in so great State,  
As if to Kings and Princes he were Mate?  
And yet will say to others, they must Die  
To Worldly Pomp and Earthly Vanity:  
Why are you Teachers now called Masters? when  
Christ saith, Be ye not Masters called of Men;  
And why your Courts (which Spiritual are by Name)  
Do Trouble Men for carnal Things? O shame!  
That you should Read so long the Scripture Letter,  
And yet yourselves and Business do no better:  
Why is your Maintenance forced, when th' Gospel's free?  
And God's pure Day is dawn'd, that all may see,  
That those that dare not trust the Lord for that,  
Are such as Minister they know not what:  
For such, in the Beginning, that did Preach  
The Everlasting Gospel, and did Teach  
Men to observe Christ's Doctrine, knew not how,  
At all, by outward force, to make Men Bow;  
But said, Our Weapons are not of the Earth,  
But Spiritual, Powerful, from that Heavenly Breath.  
That Fans and Winnows, and doth not beguile,  
But separates the Precious from the Vile;  
And so into Subjection they did bring,  
By force of Truth, unto their Holy King:  
They sought not Earthly Honours, nor did crave  
The Earthly Riches, but the Soul to save.  
You have received freely, freely give,  
Saith Christ, who took the Care how they should Live  
And be maintained, and did not bid them take  
Wages of Heathens, who the Truth do hate.  
But now you have a Custom, sad to see,  
To force your Wages both from Bond and Free;  
You force your own Disciples; yea, and those  
That are as Heathens Judged by your Laws;  
Which, if your Spirit were not over-base,  
You would soon reckon it a foul Disgrace:  
Can any Man that's Noble in his Heart,  
Take Hire of such as from the Lord departed?  
And not Require it only, but compel  
Them to Maintain you; Judge, is this done well?  
May not such truly say, You Love your Pride  
More than the Gospel, and all things beside?  
For sure, a little will serve Nature's turn,  
But what can satisfy where Lust doth Burn?  
For when in Pride and Fullness Men will Live,  
Then comes the Horseleech Daughters, crying, Give,  
Give, give; yea, which is ill; yea, worst of all,  
We'll have it, or we'll bring you into Thrall,  
We'll have your Tithes, we'll have your Easter's Dues,  
We'll have them all, you's neither Will nor Choose.  
And thus old Eli's Sons are still alive,  
Which in this World, nor that to come, will thrive.  
What! Preach the Gospel, and yet Sue to such  
For Maintenance, as Christ his Honour grudge;  
And do not rather such rebuke and say,  
If you'll not Hear, we'll quickly turn away,  
And shake your Dust from off us, we'll be free  
From you and yours, that all may truly see,  
We are not such as would ourselves advance,  
Nor men's Estates, of any sort, enhance;  
But seek to set up Christ to be the Head  
Of all things, in all Worlds, with Fear and Dread.  
And thus it was with Good and Godly Men,  
In the beginning of the Gospel, when  
The Spirit of the Lord did teach them what to say,  
And Men did walk i'th' Sunshine of the Day;  
Before, I say, that Pope and Turk arose,  
Who, to Christ's Kingdom, are Professed Foes,  
And would themselves set up o'er th' Sons of Men,  
To Rule as Gods, that neither Tongue nor Pen  
Might Publish aught, but what their Heads devise,  
Whose Wisdom out of the dark Pit doth rise;  
And which for Ages hath spread over all,  
To bring the Souls of many into thrall:  
But now the Lord of Great and Endless Power,  
Is making bare the skirts of that great Whore,  
And giving double of his Furious Cup,  
To such as of her Wine still dare to Sup:  
It's her strong Poisoned Wine that makes Men mad,  
In Persecuting of the Just; O sad!  
That ever any, who do Christ Profess,  
In Words, should seek his Members to Distress:  
So then, if you be Wise, you'll search and see,  
How from that Monstrous Harlot you are free;  
For if in Hand or Head her Mark you bear,  
The Lord amongst his Enemies will you tear;  
If you your Ways Reform not, which are ill,  
He will not spare, he will your Glory spill;  
He'll Fight against you with his Fiery Word,  
Which Kills and Slays as doth a two edged Sword,  
Live in Deceit, and turn which way you will,  
His Sword will reach you, and your Cup will fill  
With Woes and Sorrows, and sad Acclamations,  
The just Reward o'th' Wicked in each Nation:  
Yea, tho' the Name of Christians you may bear,  
Yet it's his Nature must the Laurel wear;  
For Christ your Persons doth not now Regard,  
But as your Works are, he will you Reward:  
If you'll not give a Reason of your Faith,  
But Trample under Foot what any saith  
Concerning things that are amiss amongst you,  
And to the Powers cry out, they hate and wrong ye;  
And thus, with Fig-leaves, seek from Men to hid  
Your Crying Sins of Avarice, and Pride,  
And Persecution; and instead of mending,  
Still Harbour Evil Thoughts, which tend to Rending;  
Then know for certain in a Moment, God  
Will Visit you with his Almighty Rod:  
And you who have not Visited in Love,  
His suffering Servants, will his Enemies prove;  
And when his People's Sufferings are Complete,  
Then they shall Feed when you shall pine for Meat.  
So be it.   

And if the Writers Name in Writing you would see,  
A Lover of God, a Lover of Man is he;  
This is my Nature's Name, which shall Remain,  
When Sinful Men are Dead, and all Disdain;  
And God, the Worker of my Souls Salvation,  
Shall Rule and Reign as Head in every Nation;  
And though the Devil fret, yet Truth shall stand  
Over all, and be the King in every Land,  
for evermore, Amen.   
And to you called Churchwardens and Sidesmen, how weak is your Hearts, and how slavish are your Minds (through unbelief) become, that you cannot withstand and avoid such a manifest Temptation and Danger, as to come under, and Swear to the Bishop's Articles; for which of you either do, or can, or intent to Perform according to what you seem therein to engage yourselves unto. And that which is sad to consider, the more ready you are to Engage, and the more observant in the Performance, the more Miserable oftentimes are you, for thereby you must not only accuse the Drunkard and Swearer, your own Mother's Sons, but even the People of God also, for their pure Consciences sake; and so you had need all, and every one of you, Repent, lest the Lord Swear in his Wrath against you, that you shall never enter into his Rest; as he did against those that had grieved him Forty Years in the Wilderness.  
Thomas Taylor.   

Certain Queries Propounded to the People called Anabaptists, especially to such as believe, and hold forth, that Water-baptism is an Ordinance and Command of Christ Jesus, the Door of Entrance into the True Church, and so of such Absolute Necessity, as that there can be no True Gospel-Church-Fellowship without it.  
1. WHAT do you believe concerning the Baptism of John, the Son of Zacharias the Priest, who was sent to Baptise in Water? Was he in and under a pure Evangelical Office and Ministration, and his Baptism in Water a Gospel Ordinance to continue to the end of the World? If yea, prove it by plain Scripture.  
2. What do you believe concerning the Witness or Prophesy of John, Recorded John 3.30. I must decrease, but he (to wit, Christ, who was to Baptise with the Holy Ghost, John 1.33.) must increase? Did he speak this of his own Person, and of the Person of Christ, or of the Office and Administrations which they respectively were sent to Execute and Administer? If of the Persons, then tell us how and wherein the Person of John decreased, and how and wherein the Person of Christ increased; and whether that saying, Recorded Mat. 11. He that is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than John, was spoken of or in relation to John's Person also, and not concerning his Office or Ministration?  
3. Is that Baptism which you Administer, and so earnestly press People unto, John's, or Christ's, seeing John himself did expressly distinguish betwixt his Baptising in Water, and the Baptism which Christ was to Baptise in? John 1.26. And Christ also and his Apostles did distinguish betwixt John's Baptism, and the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, (Acts. 1.5. Luke 20.4. Acts 13 24 and Chap. 18.25, 26. Chap. 19.3, 4.) into which Christ Baptised, Mark 1.8. And are these distinct, divers, or several Baptisms? Or do you believe that they are but one Baptism, and so no distinction to be put betwixt them? If yea; then tell us upon what Ground and Certainty you would have us believe you, seeing therein you agree not in Doctrine with John, nor with Christ and his Apostles.  
4. Is that Baptism which you Administer, a Figure of the Spiritual Washing away of Sins by the Blood of Christ, and of Plunging into his Name, Spirit and Life? Or is the outward Water, in which you Baptise, and your Act of Baptising (that is, Plunging or Dipping) in it, really Sanctified to the doing of it (and so consequently doth) that Work, and so no Sign, Type nor Figure? Tell us plainly what you yourselves believe concerning it?  
5. Do you believe, that those mentioned, Acts 19 (on whom Paul laid his Hands, and the Holy Ghost came upon them) who were Baptised in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and had before that been Baptised in or unto John's Baptism, (who Baptised in Water) were they then again plunged or overwhelmed in Outward Water? If yea, then tell us upon what Scripture Proof your Faith is grounded, seeing there is no Water there mentioned: And if some were then Baptised in Water a second time, why then may there not be as much Necessity now, unto such as have not received the Holy Ghost at their first plunging into Water, to be Baptised again in Water a second time? And why was the Name of the Lord Jesus there only used, and not the Form of words which you use and plead for, seeing it was after that Commission? Mat. 28.19. Let us know your Faith concerning these things; and whether the most Orthodox amongst you be of one and the same Judgement concerning them.  
6. Why do you call you Dipping or Plunging People into Outward Water, Sacred Baptism? What Scripture Precedent and Rule have you for that Term? Did John the Baptist call his Baptism Sacred? Or did Paul call it so? (Acts 19.3, 4▪) Or was it not the Pope of Rome in his Decretal Epistle, that called his Baptising in Water Sacred Baptism, and the Water in which he Baptised, Holy Water? And do not you use the same Term for yours? But tell us plainly, whether it be your Act of Dipping in Water that you call Sacred, or the Water in which you Dip or Plunge People? Or where you had that Term to call your Water-baptism Sacred, if not from the Pope of Rome.  
7. Wherefore are you offended at us for calling your Baptising in Water, Dipping or Plunging, seeing that we understand to be the import or signification of the Word in plain English.  
8. When you Dip or Plunge People into Elementary Water, whether do you Dip or Plunge them in reality of Truth, in, or rather into the Name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, yea, or nay? For if not, do you not deceive them, in making them believe that you Baptise or Plunge them (according as Christ commanded his Disciples) into the Name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, when in reality you do but only Dip or Plunge them into Outward Water.  
9 Do you believe, that the Name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is Elementary Water, seeing I find in that Scripture, Mat. 28.19. (so often quoted by you, to prove your Mission to Baptise in Water) that Christ gave his Disciples Commission to Baptise in, or rather into, (as it is in the Greek, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉,) the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but nothing said of Baptising in Water? Or do you believe, that the Father, the Word, and the Spirit, are one? Is not his Name Spiritual, representing his Nature, yea, Spirit, Power, and Life? If yea, why then do you seek to introduce and impose your Baptising in Water from that Scripture? And why do you presume beyond what is there written, especially seeing that you yourselves Confess, that the Scriptures are the Ground and Rule of your Faith? Why do you seek to impose a Faith upon us from that Scripture, beyond what is there written? What Ground and Rule have you for that? And what Ground and Rule have you for your Baptising in Water from that Scripture, seeing Water is not in the least mentioned in it? Tell us plainly.  
10. Did not Jesus Christ who gave that Commission, Mat. 28.19. Command his Disciples to tarry at Jerusalem until they were Endued with Power from on High? Luke 24.49. And whether did they go forth to Baptise all Nations, before they had waited at Jerusalem, and received that Power? Answer plainly.  
11. Have all you that go forth to Baptise in Water under pretence of that Commission, Mat. 28.19. obeyed Christ's Command, Recorded Luke 24.49. Acts 1.4. And have you received that Promise and Power? If yea, what is it? A Book, or Books, or Writings without, or the Spirit, Power, and Life of Christ revealed within? But and if you have not obeyed Christ's Command as aforesaid, but run before you have received that Power, are you not therein manifest Transgressor's of the Doctrine and Command of Christ, even in that which you pretend to be the Ground and Rule of your Faith and Mission? And if so, are you not thereby plainly manifested to be Intruders, and false Apostles, who are not to be owned nor received, but to be denied and judged by all that live in the Power of God, and true Gospel Fellowship?  
12. Was the Apostle Paul any whit inferior or behind the very Chief Apostles? And was not that Commission, Mat. 28.19. as much his as yours? And did not he know the Mind of Christ in it, as fully as any of you the Counsel of God, being revealed to him? Notwithstanding which, did not he expressly testify that Christ sent him not to Baptise, (1 Cor. 1.17.) but to Preach the Gospel? Now if you have a Mission or Commission to Baptise in Water, which belongs not to him as fully as to any of you, tell us plainly who gave it when you received it, and your Scripture for it?  
13. Do you believe that Paul was Called and fully Endued for the Ministry? And was his Commission, Acts 26.17, 18. Evangelical and Full, for the Gathering and Planting of Churches according to Gospel-Order, seeing we find nothing in it of Christ's sending him to Baptise? Or do you think his Commission insufficient for the End aforesaid, because he was not sent to Baptise in Water, and that yours now is more Full and Evangelical? If you do, tell us what Scripture have you for the Ground and Rule of your Faith in that Matter.  
14. Whether do you believe that the One Baptism spoken of Ephes. 4.5. be that of John's in Water, or that of Christ's in the Holy Ghost, seeing both John, Christ, and his true Apostles, did distinguish betwixt them as aforesaid? Now if you say, that that One Baptism there mentioned is the Baptism in Water, than I Query, whether you do believe that the Baptism of or in the Spirit is now ceased, or not of such Absolute Necessity as that in Water, seeing the Apostle speaks but of One Lord, even so of One Faith, and One Baptism? And whether you do believe, that any now are or can be really made Members of that One Body, and true Church of Christ, by Water-baptism, or any other way, than by being Baptised by that One Spirit, into that One Body? Answer plainly.  
Thomas Taylor.   

Christ Exalted above Moses, and the Spirit above the Letter.  
MANY are and have been in all Ages the Enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Blessed Truth and Life Immortal, which he hath brought to Light by his Appearance in and through his Servants, both in the Days of his Flesh, and since his Ascension, by the pourings out of his Spirit according to his Holy Promise, whereby it hath come to pass, that many simple Minds have been greatly hindered from receiving the Truth for a time, until it pleased the Lord, by the Arm of his Mighty Power, to Consume the Adversaries of his Glory, and so to remove the Stumbling-blocks out of the way of the Simple and Upright in Heart, that all Pure Holy Praises, in a Living Obedience of his Gospel, might be given to him. And amongst those Enemies of God, thou Tho. Hall hast risen up in great Malice, and Wickedness, through the hardness of thy Impenitent Heart, heaping up Wrath against the Day of Wrath upon thy own Soul, and doing despite against the Spirit of God's Grace, that hath sought by all means possible to win thee to Repentance; but thou hast closed thy Eye, and stopped that Ear in thee, that should see and hear the Things of God, and so instead of believing in, and following the Lord Jesus and his Gospel, thou hast in pretence chosen the Killing Letter of Moses' Law to thy own Confusion, and hath set at naught the Son of God, by Mocking and Scoffing at his Light and Spirit in these Days, as the Rebellious Jews did at him of Old, who derided him and his Doctrine, saying, They were Moses' Disciples, but as for that Fellow Christ, (as they Blasphemously called him) they knew not whence he was: So thou wouldst be accounted a Disciple of Moses, and Pleader for his Law and Ordinances, which never did, nor never can, make any thing perfect, as the Apostle showeth at large in his Epistle to the Hebrews; but as for J●sus Christ, he is of little Value to thee, nor hath any room in the Inn of thy Corrupt Heart, but thou wouldst make him a Drudge to thy unclean Will, that when thou hast done him, and his Spirit and Light all the Despite thou canst, thou wouldst have him to Save thee for a feigned Profession sake, which stinks in his Nostrils; for from the Lord I do here again declare unto thee, that all thy Prayers, Performances and Plead, are Abomination in his sight: And as I have often said, his Hand is lifted up against thee, and will assuredly in his own due time fall heavy upon thee, and will grind thee to powder, except thou speedily Repent; for in the Wages of Balaam thou art, in the great Captivity wandered far away from the Everlasting Gospel of the Son of God, and a mere Stranger to the Law and Covenant of his Peace, not knowing neither what thou sayest, nor whereof thou affirmest, when thou Talkest and Writest of Moses Law and Ordinances, and wouldst set them up as the Jews did and do, to veil and hid Christ (the End of the Law) from the Minds of the People: For even as the Apostle said of the Opposing Jews in his Day, so I may truly say of thee, That even to this very Hour, for want of Faith in Christ, the Veil of Darkness and Ignorance is upon thy Heart, for all thy Reading and Talking of the Letter of Scripture, for thou wanting Faith in Christ, (the Light, who hath the Key of David in his Hand, which is his Light and Spirit) thou gropest like a Blind Man for the Way, and canst not find it; nay, though it be most plainly witnessed unto in the Scriptures, and declared of to thee by us the Servants of Christ in these Days; yet for all that can be said or writ to thee, thou (though the Wickedness of thy Unbelieving Heart) remainest as Ignorant of Christ, and his Covenant, and Spiritual Law of Life, as if thou hadst never heard nor seen any thing thereof, as by what now follows, I know to every seeing Eye, will most plainly and easily appear.  
And now to his purpose, (God willing) I shall set down some of thy Errors, as I find them in thy last Papers, which are so gross and manifest, that little more than the bare setting of them down, will be needful to discover that filthy Puddle of Enmity, and deep Sink of Sin that lies hid in thy Corrupted Heart against the Lord Jesus, and his Blessed Spirit of Truth, the only Guide of all Believing Souls in these Gospel Days.  
And first, thou T. Hall says, See whether a Man ought not to give his Ears, and Heart, and Soul, and Body, and Eyes, to hearken to and believe, as duly to the Moral Law, as to Christ the Prophet. Nay, there is more Charge and Command lies upon the Observation of the Law, than for the Gospel, as by Moses 's several places of Warning, and in respect of several Dangers; though it be said, He that harkens not to the Prophet Christ, shall be cut off, there is as much spoken of the Law.  
I Answer, Who but an Unbelieving Jew could ever thus have gone about to Undervalue and Dethrone the Lord Jesus Christ, as this Tho. Hall doth, who lays more weight upon the Observation of Moses' law, which had the Shadow, than upon the Everlasting Gospel of the Son of God, and so he neither believes Moses, nor the Prophets, nor Christ, and so he is captivated in the great Captivity of the Spiritual Assyrian, the Devil, who hath blinded his Mind, lest the Light of the Glorious Gospel should shine unto him. See 2 Cor. 4.3, 4. For Moses writ of Christ, saying, Deut. 18. The Lord thy God shall raise thee up a Prophet like unto me, him shalt thou hear in all things, etc.  
Now the Lord Jesus being this Prophet when he appeared in the Days of his Flesh, he made manifest to such as believed in him what was necessary for them then, and the rest of the Father's Mind and Will after his Ascension, by his Blessed Spirit, as he said John 16.12, etc. I have yet many things to speak unto you, but ye cannot bear them now; howbeit when he the Spirit of Truth is come, he will guide you into all Truth; for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will show you things to come: He shall glorify me, for he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine; therefore, said I, he shall take of mine and shall show it unto you.  
So by this it's evident, that this T. H. speaks not by the Spirit of Truth, for he would set up Moses the Servant above Christ the Lord of all; and so instead of glorifying Christ, dishonours him exceedingly.  
And as Moses had so plainly writ of Christ, and ●●ected all to hearken to him when he appeared, upon Pain of Eternal Death, so did also all the Prophets writ of the Glory of Christ's Day, and pointed to him as the Sum and Substance of all, over all God Blessed for Evermore. And so in the Transfiguration, when Moses and Elias the Servants were gone, Christ only was left with an Eternal Witness of God out of the Bright Cloud, saying, This is my Beloved Son, hear him, Mat. 17.1, etc.  
And so this Tho. Hall is a grievous Liar, who says, There is more Charge and Command for hearing Moses than Christ; for even then when the Law was in use amongst the Jews, yet Moses as from God, doth Charge all upon Pain of Death, to hear and obey the Voice of Christ in his Appearance, as is said before.  
And as for the danger, the Apostle reasoneth in his Epistle to the Hebrews quite contrary to this T. H. for saith the Apostle, Heb. 12.25. See that ye refuse not him (to wit, Christ) that speaketh; for if they escaped no● that refused him that spoke on Earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from Heaven. Also see Heb. 2.1, etc.  
See what thou hast chosen, Tho. Hall: How thou hast chosen the Earthly before the Heavenly, the Killing Letter before the Heavenly Spirit of the Lord Jesus, which giveth Life; and the Shadowing Law of the Servant before the Living Law of the Master Jesus Christ, who was counted worthy of more Glory than Moses, in as much as he that builded the House, is more worthy than the House. See Heb. 3.3.  
But when we say, that Moses' Law is a kill Letter, and made nothing perfect, this T. Hall, like a wicked Man, is ready to cry out of us, as though we broached some new or strange Doctrine, when as it is no other than the plain downright Doctrine of the Holy Apostles, and Servants of the Lord Jesus, set down in Scripture, as you may read, without our adding or diminishing any thing at all. And to this purpose see 2 Cor. 3. where are these words Verse 6, etc. Who also hath made us able Ministers of the New Testament, not of the Letter, but of the Spirit; for the Letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth Life. But if the Ministration of Death, written and engraven in Stones, was glorious, (Mark this, though he calls the Law glorious in its time, yet he calls it the Ministration of Death) so that the Children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses, for the Glory of his Countenance, which Glory was to be done away: How shall not the Ministration of the Spirit be rather Glorious? For if the Ministration of Condemnation be Glory, much more doth the Ministration of Righteousness exceed in Glory. For even that which was made glorious, had no Glory in this respect, by reason of the Glory that excelleth. For 〈◊〉 that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of Speech. And not as Moses, which put a Veil over his Face, that the Children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished; But their Minds were blinded: For until this day remaineth the same Veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament; which Veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the Veil is upon their Heart. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the Veil shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord, are changed into the same Image, from Glory to Glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.  
Here this T. Hall might as well have condemned Paul as us, for I say, that here is more spoken for a Jewish Spirit to catch at, than in our Writings; for I say, nothing comparable to this can be brought out of our Writings, for a seeming denial, and making void, of Moses' Law, for here he calls it, not only a kill Letter, but even a Ministration of Death and Condemnation, done away and abolished, and never able to remove the Veil of the Heart from any in reading of it. And so whereas this Hall is used to bring Psal. 19 4, 7, etc. for establishing his Dreams about Moses' Law, where it is said, The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the Soul: He might easily see it was not Moses' Letter, Ministration or Law, which Paul here says, was K●lling and Condemning to all that came under it, to get Life by it. But David speaks there, of the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus, which opened the blind Eyes of his Mind, and wrought the Holy Fear of God in his Heart, and so converted his straying Soul, to follow the Lord through Faith in his Name, as it is with the Faithful at this day, as the Apostle saith Rom. 8.1, etc. There is now therefore no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus: who walk not after the Flesh, but after the Spirit. For the Law of the Spirit of Life, in Christ Jesus, hath set me free from the Law of Sin and Death. For that which the Law could not do, in that it was weak through the Flesh, Christ doth in us and for us. And that the Law of Moses made nothing perfect, it is the Apostles express words also, Heb. 7.18, 19 For there is verily a disannulling of the Commandment going before (that is, as he reason's all along in this Chapter, the Law of Moses in the Letter) for the Weakness and unprofitableness of it: (suitable to that before mentioned in Rom. 8.3.) For the Law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better Hope did; by which we draw nigh unto God.  
Now if any be ignorant of what this Better Hope is, which makes perfect, and by which Believers draw nigh to God, they may know it is Christ Jesus the Lord of Life and Glory, that quickening Spirit also, by which the Veil of the Heart is rend away in them that believe, which the Old Covenant made with the Jews at their coming out of Egypt could not do, because it was weak through the Flesh, as is said before.  
And so thou T. Hall, and all the Unbelieving World going out from the Spirit, into the Letter in your Fleshly Minds and Wills, which is Enmity to God, and is neither subject to the Law of God, nor indeed can be as Paul saith Rom. 8. you bring in nothing but Condemnation to your poor Souls, for you are so proud in Heart, that you will not come to Christ that meek lowly Lamb, to be taught by his Light and Spirit, which shineth in your Consciences, reproving you daily for your Unbelief: But you think, by your exercising of yourselves in your own Wills and Times, in some outward Observations of your own devising, called Religion, to get Acceptance unto God in them (though to his Son you are utter Enemies.) But truly, instead of Life, you bring Death, for the Wages of these your sinful Do, and defiled Worships, is Death.  
And that thou, T. Hall, art an Enemy to Christ and his Blessed Spirits Teaching, thy words in thy Papers will still fully and more abundantiy show, which are these which I shall now set down, for thou, T. Hall, in Page 11. wickedly sayest, Be it known unto you Quakers, God and Christ had no such an intention to answer the Question of the Man in the Gospel, in any such like manner, to seek to the true Worshipping of God in Spirit and Truth; but Christ, instead of directing the Desire of the Man for the good of his Soul, and Glory of God, Christ dees not send him or bid him go to the Spirit of Truth, and wait for it: Had Christ done so, he might then have sent or directed the Man out of the way to get Life Eternal, and so further from God than before, for then the Man had not come through the Father to him, according to John 6.44, 45.  
And Page 15 further erroneously thou sayest, You Quakers cannot find as that Christ the Prophet did give any Command to any People, as was in ignorance of the Ways to Salvation, or Life Eternal, that they should leave off to be taught of Moses, or his Law, or Precepts, and go to learn of the Spirit of Truth, and let that teach or lead them, God forbidden.  
O miserable Blindness and Ignorance! That ever any Professing God or Scripture, should thus belch out their Enmity against the Spirit of Truth. The glorious Promise of the Father, without which all Knowledge, and all Profession, is a mere Nothing, but a heap of Darkness and Confusion, and without which there had never been any true Prophet, nor Scripture of Truth; for Holy Men of God spoke not in their own Wills or Times, but as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (the Spirit of Truth) without which never Man did, nor never Man can, come to any Saving Knowledge of God or Christ, or the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God and Christ; and therefore saith Paul (after many Years zealous Profession of Moses' kill Letter) That which the Eye hath not seen, nor the Ear heard, nor hath entered into Man's Heart to conceive, God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit; for the Spirit of God (that Spirit of Truth) searcheth all things, even the deep things of God, 1 Cor. 2.9, 10. And therefore saith the same Paul, 2 Cor. 3.6. God hath made us able Ministers of the New Testament, not of the Letter, but of the Spirit, for the Letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth Life. And therefore saith Christ, John 16.7. It is expedient for you that I go away, that the Spirit of Truth, which leads into all Truth, may come, who is the Saints Comforter. And this is that means by which the Father draws to Christ, even the Spirit of Truth (and not as thou ignorantly Dreamest) the Letter of Moses' Law, John 6.44, 45. And so, T. Hall, thou art not far from that unpardonable Sin of Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, who says, That if Christ had directed the Man in the Gospel to go to the Spirit of Truth, and wait for it, he had directed him out of the way of Life. O sad! that ever such a Monster of Men should appear in these days, when the Lord is so graciously arising with his Healing Wing of Light, Life and Spirit, to save his Israel out of the Hands of their Souls Enemies.  
And thou, T. Hall, sayest farther, God forbidden that Christ should send or direct People that were in Ignorance of the ways of Salvation, to go and learn of the Holy Spirit of Truth, to be taught of it, and not at Moses 's Law.  
I say again, This proceeds from the same bitter Root of Error and Blasphemy in thee that the former did; and so woe, woe, woe, to that Nest that hatches such Venomous Birds, and Cockatrice Eggs, as thou dost: And if that People, of whom thou professest thyself a Member, should see these things, and not deny thee for them, they would be as much to blame as thyself, who hast plunged thyself so deep into the Pit of Destruction, that no less than a Miracle of Mercy can help thee to see and acknowledge the Truth of God whom thou hast Blasphemed. For O thou full of all Unrighteousness! What must ignorant People come to know the things of God by, but only by the Spirit of Truth? as Paul says, No Man knows the things of God, but the Spirit of God, 1 Cor. 2.11. And saith Paul, Gal. 3.2. to some of like mind with this T. H. concerning Moses' Law, This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the Works of the Law, or by the Hearing of Faith? And Verse 3. Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the Flesh? Thus he shows, That the Spirit of God is received into the Believing Soul, through the hearing of Faith preached, and not by any fleshly conforming to Moses' Letter of that Law; for saith he in Ver. 10. of that Chapter, As many as are of the Works of the Law, are under the Curse: For it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them. See T. Hall, what thou hast done for thyself (and wouldst do for others) by pleading for Moses' Letter of the Law to be over Christian People; thou hast brought thyself under the Curse; for they that come under that Covenant of Works, must not only do all things written in the Book, but they must continue therein without Sinning or Offending against it, otherwise they are Cursed; as the Apostle James in another place saith, He that keepeth the whole Law, and sinneth in one Point, is guilty of all. And so, as I instanced to thee in that of the Sabbath day, for though in thy blind Mind thou wouldst be a Teacher of the Law, yet thou neither knowest what thou sayest, nor whereof thou affirmest, for the Sabbath-day, which Moses commanded to the People under that Covenant, was the Seventh day of the Week, which thou neither keepest thyself, nor any of thy Fellows, and so you are guilty of breaking the whole Law, and so under the Curse. And whereas you think to save your Heads, by saying, You keep the next day, being the First day of the Week, for a Sabbath; that will help you nothing at all, for the Law admitted of no change of the day (which was the Seventh from the Creation) into another day: And so the Apostles meeting together on the First day of the Week, was so far from establishing the legal Sabbath, that it was on purpose done, to show that Christ, the end of the Law, and everlasting Sabbath of Rest to his People, was come. And so to thee T. Hall, and all of like mind with thee, I say as Paul to the Galatians, Chap. 4.21, etc. Tell me, ye that desire to be under the Law, Do ye not hear the Law? For it is written, Abraham had two Sons, the one by a Bondwoman, the other by a Free. But he who was of the Bondwoman, was born after the Flesh; but he of the Free woman, was by promise. Which things are an Allegory, for these are the two Covenants, the one from Mount Sinai, which gendereth to Bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in Bondage with her Children. But Jerusalem which is above, is free, which is the Mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren, that bearest not, break forth and cry, thou that travelest not, for the Desolate have many more Children than thee which hath an Husband. Now we, Brethren, as Isaac was, are the Children of the Promise. But as then, he that was born after the Flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless, what saith the Scripture? Cast out the Bond woman and her Son; for the Son of the Bondwoman shall not be Heir with the Son of the Freewoman.  
So see Tho. Hall where thou art, a Child of the Bondwoman, Born after the Flesh, Persecuting us whom God of his Free Love in Christ Jesus, hath Begotten and Born Spiritually unto himself, to Serve and Worship him in his own Free Spirit, and so in the same to bear witness for him, against thine, and all the Slanderous Lying Tongues and Pens, who will not have Christ by his Eternal Spirit of Truth to Rule, yea, to be King, Lawgiver and Saviour in his People: But this Wicked Antichristian Spirit of yours, as the Lord both hath and will by the Brightness of his Appearing discover, so he will likewise, by the Spirit of his Mouth, utterly consume, and for Ever destroy.  
And thus the Lord Jesus, the Son of the Father, shall Triumph over thee and all his Enemies in Righteousness; for though the Law and Covenant of Moses, was for the time until Christ came to the Jews, of great use, yet Christ being come, the Promised Seed, Grace and Truth, yea, Life and Immortality in its Glory was made manifest and enjoyed in the Believers both then and now, and did as far, yea, much more transcend the Glory of the Law, as the Sun doth the Moon; and therefore the Jews, the whole Fleshly Seed of Abraham, had their New-Moon Feasts, to signify the shadowy Night Dispensation they were under, short of the Day; and therefore saith Malachi, the last Prophet under the Law save John Baptist, in his last Chapter, To you that fear my Name, shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing under his Wings: so though in the Law there was Condemnation against Sin, yet the Life and Healing Virtue is only in Jesus Christ. And this is the very thing that John, Chap. 1. saith, The Law was given by Moses, but Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ: So that the Offender under Moses died without Mercy; but the Believer in Christ, and the Abider through Faith in Christ, is Healed by the Mercy that is in him, to all that so are found in him. And so you that daily Confess you do what you ought not to do, and leave undone what you ought to do, and have no Health in you, you show plainly that you never yet knew Christ, but are yet in your Sins under the Law, which makes nothing perfect; and so all your Righteousness in this state, is like menstruous Rags indeed, and your best Works Sin; and so you being ignorant of God's Righteousness, and going about to establish your own Righteousness, have not submitted to the Righteousness of God, which is Christ. For that no man is justified in the sight of God by the Works of the Law is evident, for the Just shall live by Faith. And the Law is not of Faith; but the man that doth them shall live in them, Gal. 3.11, 12. Rom. 10.2, 3, etc.  
Now T. H. What wouldst thou have judged of Paul if thou hadst been in his time? Surely the same that thou dost of us, who are of the same Holy Faith with him, and so wouldst have Condemned the Just, and Chosen Barrabas.  
Obj. But sayest thou, Paul saith, Gal. 3. That the Law was our Schoolmaster to bring us to Christ: And from thence would infer, That Moses 's Law in the Letter is to be a Schoolmaster to all People now, to bring them to Christ.  
Answ. To which I say, first, as I said before; and it is most certainly true, that those words, [to bring us, Gal. 3.24.] is not in the Greek Copy out of which the English was taken, but put in by the Translators who did it, as supposing those words made up the Sense: But these words, to wit, [to bring us] are so far from helping the Sense, that they quite alter it; as though the Letter of the Law of Moses, were the Means or Instrument by which the Father draws People to Christ under the New Covenant, as this T.H. foolishly Dreams, as is manifest by his often thereupon bringing in that of John 6.44, 45. where it is said by Christ, That no man can come to him, but whom the Father, that sen him draws, and they shall all be taught of God, as it was written in the Prophets. This Drawing of People to Christ by the Father is by Moses ' Law, saith he, and this Teaching of God, spoken of by the Prophets, is by the La● of Moses, saith he, which was a Law in the Letter. Now that this Interpretation of this T. H. is an Absolute Wronging of Christ, and Wresting the Scripture, all may see, who do consider the drift of Christ's Words, with the Parties he spoke unto in that place; for there he is speaking to a People that were under the Law; who for all that the Law in the Letter could do for them, remained still ignorant of the Great Mystery Christ; for Christ in Man, the Hope of Glory, was the Great Mystery which Paul was sent to Preach, Col. 1.28. And therefore when Peter said to Christ, that he was the Son of God, Christ tells him, That Flesh and Blood had not revealed it to him, but my Father that is in Heaven: And how did the Father reveal Christ to Peter? What, by the Letter of the Law, as this Man saith? By no means; but even as Paul saith, 1 Cor. 2. By the Holy Spirit. And as he saith in another place, 1 Cor. 12.3. No Man can call Jesus Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. And received ye the Spirit, saith he, Gal. 3.2. by the Deeds of the Law, or by the Hearing of Faith? And this is that Glorious Promise of the Father, spoken of by the Prophet, and recited by Christ, which was more manifest in the Gospel Day, according to that well known place in Joel, and mentioned by Peter, which saith, I will pour out my Spirit upon all Flesh, Acts 2● And so this being so; and the Foundation of this Tho. Hall being removed, his Building will fall.  
And now again to the Business of the Laws School mastership, That it was never intended by God to be so any longer than until Christ, the very next words, to wit, there in Gal. 3.25. show: For when he had said that the Law was their Schoolmaster, (to wit, unto or until Christ) he presently adds, But when Faith is come, we are no longer under a Schoolmaster; and this he Illustrates in Chap. 4.1, etc. by a Comparison taken from an Heir in his Nonage, and at full Years; saying, The Heir while he is a Child is in one Condition, but when at full Years in another: So the Church of God under the Schoolmastership of the Law, was in its Childhood; but when the Fullness of God's time came for the Manifestation of his Christ, and the Pouring forth of his Glorious Spirit, according to Prophesy and Promise, than came the Church to be like the Heir at full Age, entering into the Blessed Possession of the Father's, Kingdom, the Inheritance of Saints in Light. And therefore, saith Christ, the Law and the Prophets were unto John, since which time the Kingdom of God is preached, and People press into it. And amongst them that are Born of Women, there hath not a isen a greater Prophet than John Baptist; but he that is least in the Kingdom of God is great than he: Therefore Woe is unto thee Tho. Hall, and all such Jewish Spirits, that would shut up this Blessed Kingdom of God from Men, and you will neither enter into the Kingdom of God yourselves, nor suffer others.  
Obj. But what then was the Law for?  
Answ. Paul answers, The Law was added because of Transgression till the Seed (which is Christ) came, to which the Promise was: And so (saith he) before Faith came we were kept under the Law, shut up unto the Faith afterwards to be revealed, Gal. 3.23.  
Then saith he, Verse 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The Law was our Schoolmaster unto Christ; but never a word of bringing us to Christ by Moses' Law, but a shuting up. We were shut up, schooled, saith he, (or hard kept to our Task, and Whipped). But he that reveals Christ to the Soul, and draws the Soul to Christ, is the Father, by the Living Power of his own Eternal Spirit, whom the Fleshly World knows not.  
Obj. But must not the Soul be humbled in the sight and sense of its Sin, before it can receive Christ for Salvation?  
Answ. I say, yea, but this is the Work of Christ also, who by his own Eternal Spirit, (which ministers his Fiery Law) doth Convince the World of all their Sins of Unbelief, and mighty Transgressions, whereby they have dishonoured him, and slighted all his Love; and so that which now makes all the Sins of People so Damnable, is their Sin of not believing in and receiving Christ, the Light of the World, into their Hears, to dwell, guide and rule there; and so he that believeth not is Damned already, saith Christ; and this is the Condemnation, that Light is come into the World, and Men believed it not. And ye search the Scriptures, (saith Christ to those Jews that boasted of being Moses' Disciples) for in them ye think to have Eternal Life, and they are they that testify of me; but ye will no● come to me that ye may have Life. Also consider, that Paul for all his Zealous Profession of Moses' Law, and Letter-knowledge, was never truly sensible of, nor truly humbled for his Sins, until Christ appeared from Heaven, and struck him down.  
See Tho. Hall how Christ here sets forth the Nature of Carnal Professors of the Letter of Scripture, and Boasters of Moses' Law, they are dead from God, because they will not come to Christ, in whom only is Life. They thought to have had Eternal Life in the Scriptures which test fi d of Christ, but they sticking in the Form, and dead Profession of the Letter, without Christ, (the Living Power of God to Salvation) they could not have Life Eternal; Fo● he only that hath the Son of God hath Life; and he that hath not the Son hath not Life, but the Wrath of God abides upon him. For you being under the Law, as is said before, are under the Curse; and the Law worketh Wrath, saith Paul, and that is the reason that the Carnal Professors of the Letter are Persecutors of the Life of Christ wherever it is made manifest, in Son or Daughter, in all Ages, as Paul saith in that forementioned place, Gal. 4. He that was Born after the Flesh, Persecuted him that was Born after the Spirit, even so it is now: But the Lamb shall have the Victory, and the mouth of all Iniquity shall be stopped, Glory to the Lord our God over all for Evermore.  
Another Piece of thy Enmity (Tho. Hall) against Christ and his Spirit, is manifest in thy Paper, where thou sayest, That there is no Scripture that warrants Peoples going from the Law as Moses taught, though it's a Law written in the Letter, to hear and learn at any other, either a Christ Called a Lawgiver, or the Spirit of Truth, as you call it.  
Answ. So here all may see, that thou art so full of Enmity against Christ, that thou canst not endure to have him honoured with the Title of Lawgiver; and thou art so full of Darkness, that thou knows not, nor wilt believe, that God's People have any such thing indeed, as the Holy Spirit to guide and teach them; but comes forth with thy scornful Words (like the Jews that Crowned him with Thorns, and Spit in his Face) saying, A Christ called a Lawgiver, or the Spirit of Truth, as you call it. So it's high time for all People to take heed of falling into the Error of these Men, to wit, Tho. Hall, and his Fellows, who have chosen the Killing Letter of Moses' Law, and denied the Son of God, and his Blessed Spirit; and so have builded the Babel of their Rotten Profession upon a Foundation of Sand, to wit, their own Righteousness, which in the Day of God will utterly fail them; for every Man's Works must be tried by Fire: And so all such as have not Christ for their Foundation must Perish. For other Foundation can no man lay, than that which is laid, even Christ, who is our ALL, and will Reign over all his Enemies for Evermore.  
And so let no Man trouble us any more, for we bear in our Bodies the Marks of the Lord Jesus: And Ever-praised be his Name, who hath given us an Understanding to know him, the Salvation of God, to be in us, and we in him; and so to be Witnesses for him before Men, that the time of the fulfilling of his Scriptures is come, which saith, Jer. 31.31, etc. Heb. 8. Behold the Days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a New Covenant with the House of Judah, and with the House of Israel, after those Days; not according to the Covenant which I made with their Fathers, in the Day when I took them by the Hand, to lead them out of the Land of Egypt, which my Covenant they broke, although I was an Husband to them, saith the Lord; but this is the Covenant that I will make with them, after those Days, saith the Lord; I will put my Laws into their minds, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a People. And they shall not teach every man his Neighbours, and every man his Brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their Sins and their Iniquities will I remember no more. Now in that he saith, A New Covenant, he hath made the first Old. Now that which●d cayeth and waxeth old, is ready to vanish away. This is the Apostle's Conclusion from the former words, as is to be seen in the last Verse of that 8th Chapter to the Hebrews.  
Now mind, whoever thou art, that reads these words, that the Covenant which here he calls Old, was that which God made with the Fleshly Seed of Abraham at their coming out of Egypt, which is mentioned in the Writings of Moses, as you may read; and part of this Covenant was the Two Tables of Stone, which the Lord by his Angel delivered Moses for that People to observe and keep, with the rest of what Moses had in Charge for them, and set down in the outward Book, to be done, and which the Children of Israel did Promise and Covenant that they would observe and do, but they broke Covenant with God, (as all Flesh ever did, and doth at this Day) and so the Lord regarded them not; for no Flesh can do what the Pure Spiritual Lord God commands them, having no more help thereto, but what a Law or Letter without can furnish them withal; and therefore the Lord God in love to Man's Soul sent Christ into the World, to be his own Arm and Power to and in Man, to bring forth that Righteousness and Holiness which he required; and therefore saith Paul, after he saw his own utter unableness to do the Will of God, with all the outward Helps that ever he had, he concludes, that they that are in the Flesh cannot please God, let them turn which way they can; for the Enmity against the Law, whilst in that Principle, (and in that thou T. H. art) still remains against the Spiritual Law of God, as he saith, Rom. 8.7. For the Carnal Mind is not subject to the Law of God, nor indeed can be.  
And therefore as Paul, so must all come to Christ, the Lord that Spirit, to know him in them, to destroy the Enmity out of them; that so the Will of God, and Law of his Mouth, which is Spiritual, may be done in them; and so come to witness as Paul there in Rom. 8.2. did, That the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus, hath made them free from the Law of Sin and Death. And the Ground or Reason of the Lord's gracious Dealing with Man, in the next Verse e sets down, saying, For what the Law could not do, in that it was weak through the Flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful Flesh, and for Sin condemned Sin in the Flesh. And the end of all this he shows in the next Verse, saying, That the Righteousness of God's Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the Flesh, but after the Spirit. And thus he stops the Mouths of all the Enemies of Christ, who with Tho Hall would object, That with Preaching of Christ, and his Light, and high Spirit in Man to be all in all, they make void the Law.  
Answ. Nay, nay, I say, By Preaching Christ we establish the Law to the Glory of God in Christ over all.  
And so thou Tho. Hall hast been he which hath not hitherto either truly heard Moses, nor the Prophets, nor Christ, nor his Apostles, or his Spirit in these days, and so canst not in that wretched Mind believe, though one come from the Dead.  
And so for the Truth's sake, and to stop the Errors and Blasphemies of this Thomas Hall, who ceaseth not to pour forth his Ignorance against the Lord Jesus Christ, and his blessed Spirit of Light and Life in Man, the only Teacher of God's People in these Gospel days, have I writ these Lines, that the Truth of the Gospel, against his, and all such Unbelieving, Jewish, Persecuting Spirits, in these days, may stand cear, over all their Heads, and triumph for ever in the Hearts and Consciences of all tender and honest-minded People, whose Desires 〈◊〉 continually after the Kingdom of God, and the Righteousness thereof, whose Kingdom is everlasting, and the Righteousness thereof is Pure, Spotless and Undefiled of God, and endureth for ever. And this is our Righteousness, and the Righteousness of all Saints, Praised be God for ever; and for whose Name and Truth's sake, and for bearing Testimony thereof in this World, do we suffer Reproach and Persecutions from the present evil World, not only of the Profane, but even of many such unreasonable professing vain Talkers as this T. Hall, who would be Teachers of the Law, not knowing what they say, nor whereof they affirm, as Paul the Apostle of Christ witnessed of such in his days, who would never be quiet from opposing the Gospel with their False Interpretations of the Law, until God cut them off, and cast them away for their Wickedness: But we know, saith the same Apostle in that place, to wit, 1 Tim. 1.5, 6, 7, etc. that the Law is good, if a Man use it lawfully. I nowing this, that the Law is not made for a righteous Man, but for the Lawless and Disobedient, for the , and for Sinner, etc. So say we; and so the Law of God we love and honour, ●s God's Ordinance, for good, to restrain, limit and condemn such ungodly and unreasonable Spirits, as this T. Hall is; for those that will not believe nor obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, must be ruled, and bruised, and condemned, with the Iron Rod of God's righteous Law; which whatsoever it saith, it saith to them that are under it; that every sinful Mouth may be stopped, and all the World of wicked unbelieving Men, may be found guilty before God, Glory to his Name for ever, who giveth us the Victory by Jesus Christ our Lord, who is our Light, Life, Wisdom, Righteousness and Salvation for ever, whose Grace alone is able to keep us, and preserve us, and present us (and all that believe in his Light, and know him in them) unto himself, without Spot and Wrinkle, and unreprovable in everlasting Peace, Rests a Lover of the Soul of Man, which is in great Captivity, until it come to the Liberty of God's Sons; and, who in a patiented quiet Suffering way, do wait to do it good, as a Servant of God, wherein I may be known amongst Men by the Name of Thomas Taylor, but in the New Name, which is of God, and not of this World, which the Father hath given me, doth my Soul rejoice. And though I be set apart for Sufferings, amongst the reproached despised People of God called Quakers by the World, yet we are Happier than our Persecutors, in that the Lord is on our sides, and justifies us in his way, which is Christ, while his Holy Spirit testifies against our Adversaries, because they are his Adversaries.  
He that hath an Ear to hear let him hear, and give Glory to God by believing, for these words are Faithful and True.  
Thomas Taylor.  
FINIS.   

A Testimony for the Lord God, and His Work in the Earth.  
HEar O EARTH, and hearken ye HEAVENS, for the Lord hath spoken, even the Lord God mighty in Power and excellent in Wisdom; Lovingkindness and Mercies have appeared, and are made manifest in the Children of men, and the Isles of the Gentiles do feel his Power and partake of his Promise in the Light, in the Life, in the Eternal Covenant of his Peace and Truth, whereby Japhat is persuaded in the Tents of Shem to dwell: And this is the Lords own doing, and it is marvellous in the pure eyes of all that behold it, and the eye that seethe is Blessed, and the Soul that heareth and beleiveth is Blessed, and shall be Blessed; for the Lord the faithful God is Arisen, and his appearance is like the Sun when it Ariseth and Shineth in the Brightness of its Glory; and therefore are we refreshed and caused to live in his sight, and to bring forth the living fruits of Righteousness to his praise and glory; Glory, glory for ever, for the Heaven gives now its dew, and the Earth yields its increase, and the blessing is upon the People and the Nations of the World shall bow, and the Inhabitants of the Earth do tremble at the Glory of the Lord, at the Majesty of his Appearance in this his glorious day, wherein he hath Visited, and his Visiting his Seed, and calling his Servants out of Egypt, and delivering his Beloved out of the hands of him that was too strong for them, and putting a new Song into our Mouths; And his Rest is Glorious, and his Praise is Holy, and his Renown is spread abroad, and his Foes become his Footstool; and the Ransomed of the Lord do unto Zion return, and in the Light of the living God do all the day rejoice and praise him upon the truly Spiritual and well tuned loud Cymbals in the heights of Israel, in the Holy Temple, in the Promised Land, in the Purchased Possession in the Holy Mount, even the Mountain of God's everlasting Love in CHRIST JESUS, where his eternal Arm of Power and Faithfulness is truly witnessed; And this is the Mountain of God's House and Holiness indeed, which is now on the top of all Mountains; and here the Lord is fully seen, and his living Power daily felt, and his everlasting Love continually enjoyed, for watering and refreshing the Babes and living Plants of the New Jerusalem; glory glory for ever, glory to the Righteous, for this is comely.  
And now is the day of the Lords gathering, and his Angels are gone forth, and his Trumpet hath sounded the Alarm out of the holy Mountain, 
[Place these Sheets after Page 130.]  unto all the Inhabitants of the Earth; And now if any Old or Young, High or Low, can come forth and stand before the God of the whole Earth; they are warned and called upon to bring their deeds to the LIGHT, to the day of the Lamb, that true Light that lighteth every man that cometh unto the World, John 1.9. For now indeed is the day of the Lord God appeared; and the Lamb is come, and who may stand before him? who can abide this day of his coming? for he cometh in the thousands of his Holy Ones to Judge the World, even all that are Proud and do Wickedly in his sight, and to convince them of all their ungodly deeds and hard speeches, which they ungodlily have spoken against him, and whereby they have slandered the foot steps of his Anointed Ones, and blasphemed his Heavenly Tabernacle, which he hath pitched amongst men that he might dwell amongst them and be glorified for evermore.  
So WOE is to the Wicked, and much Wrath will be upon the people who now stand out and strive against the Lord, even the Lord, the habitation of Justice, in whose hands is their ●●eath, who are careless Children and do not regard this day of their Visitation.  
So all having time, prise it, and bow to the Lord God, and know this day of your Visitation; for the Lord in his Glory is Arisen, and his Eye beholds, and with his own pure Light is trying the children of men: And now, even now shall the Mouth of Iniquity be stopped, and the Righteous shall rejoiyce and be glad, as the Scripture hath said; Yea, the high praises of God is already heard in their Mouths, and the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, is felt going forth Conquering and to Conquer; And the Mountains are moved, and the lesser Hills are afraid, and the hearts of the Hypocrites do melt for fear at the presence of the Lord, at the appearance of our God, the true God, the everlasting Father who is exalting his own Name, and setting up the Kingdom of his dear Son, and shaking terribly the earth; glory, glory to him for ever and for ever, for he is good, and his Mercy endureth for ever, and of his faithfulness there is no end.  
All flesh is grass, but that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit, and shall inherit and sound forth the living Praises of the living God for evermore, as it is at this day. So be it.  
Given forth, in the move of the Lord, as a Witness to his Truth in this his Day, by one who bears the Reproach of Christ (amongst many Brethren) by he evil World, under the name of Quaker.  
Thomas Taylor.   


Ignorance and Error REPROVED: BEING AN ANSWER TO SOME QUERIES That one JOHN REYNOLDS Wrote to Two of the People called QUAKERS.  
By THOMAS TAYLOR.  
LONDON, Printed and Sold by T. Sowle, next Door to the Meetinghouse in White-Hart-Court in Gracious-street; and at the Bible in Leaden-hall-street near the Market, 1697.   

THE EPISTLE TO THE READER.  
WHEN the Lord God of Eternal Power began, by his Spirit, to move in these Nations, in the late times of Trouble, and there was an Opening in the times for the Zeal of the Heart to work out itself, than every one betook themselves to that Fellowship and People that agreed most with the Working-Principle that was in them, and so there came a distinguishing and knowledge of those seeking Souls, according to some thing most obvious to the Eye of the World, and so they called some by the name of Presbyterians, some Independent, and the like: For, as for those called Prelatical, they were not of such a pressing Nature, as to seek forward much after the Spiritual Kingdom, but rather Breathed after their Old Form, how they might come to that again, (without the former Troubles) to lie down in that: But those called Presbyterian or mixed Independent (in answer to whose Queries, or one of them, the ensuing sheets are) they seemed so Zealous while the World's Power countenanced them, as though they would have taken Heaven, as it were by force; and not only so, but even of late also, since the Second Charles came in, and they began to be put out of their high Places by some old Incumbent, as they call them, or upon some other Account, as Zealor so, yet did some of them keep up their Custom of Preaching amongst People in public, where they could get place or audience, in so much that the boasting Spirit began to get up in some of them, as in this John Reynolds, as though nothing should stop their passage, and so would have all accounted Liars that had said to the Contrary: But behold the Wisdom if God in suffering things so to come to pass, that all things might be fully manifest: And so an Act of Parliament must come out against them, unless they will Conform. And then lo, behold this shower of Rain forces in their tender Heads, as not being able to endure the sharpness of the Storm, for want of the true Spiritual Armour: For Words and Profession could never secure any from the Fiery Trials that are still ordered in the Wisdom of God for the manifesting of every Seed: So if these ensuing answers may be serviceable unto any of these Zealous Hearts to provoke them to a further search of themselves, and be a means now when they are something low, to give them a sight of any thing wherein they have Sinned against God, and Erred from his way of Life, and so to move them to Repentance, it will be well, and a gladding of my Heart, and of my Brethren, who cannot but desire and endeavour, not only theirs, but even the good of all Men; yea, of them, that either in times past have, or at this day do show the greatest Enmity against us; for we know, they none of them understand aright the Innocency of our Hearts to them, and the Fear and Love of our Souls to God and his Truth; for if they did, how could they forbear to Love us: But Glory to God for ever, that hath given us, not only to believe, but even, as need is, to suffer for his Name and Truth's sake, and to pass by great Offences done to us, which in Love to the Soul we could desire might be also the Portion of all that name Truth, Rests God Servant,  
Thomas Taylor.   

Ignorance and Error REPROVED, etc.  
JOHN REYNOLDS, A Paper of Queries (coming to my hand) as seems from thee to John Finch, and John Payton of Dudley, and weighing it well, I could not but in obedience to God writ something to it, not so much for the use of these two young men, who by the Light that God hath raised in them do see thy deceit therein, as for the sake of some simple people who are as yet admirers of thee, and deceived by thee, and such like who under a pretence of zeal for the letter of Scripture, and things you have set up in your wills under the name of Ordinances, not knowing nor considering that Christ is come, the end of all things to them that believe: Though you may sometimes unwillingly light on Scriptures, that speaks the thing; and so if by what here may be said, the Truth may more appear, and their simple Souls be helped, God will be Glorified, and that will be Reward sufficient: But before the Queries themselves be answered, something may be said, to that which goes before them in that Paper, and from that I have noted the nature of thy Fawning, Flattering, Self-contradicting and Confused Spirit; but to hid that from the Light, thou backs thy say with quotations of Scripture, as though mentioning what the Holy Men of God spoke by the true Spirit, could prove that to be a true Spirit which acts in thee: Nay, nay, the day is dawned Praised be God; and the Sheepskin no longer can hid the Wolves from being seen of the Lambs of Christ, for such hear Christ's Voice and follow him, and so are Children of the Light, but the Stranger they will not follow, though he may Paint himself over never so cunningly with words, but all your fair words in the beginning of your work, ye Fair-sayers, whether in Pulpit or in Press, is but to make way for your sting that follows, for you resemble the Scorpion whose sling is in his Tail, mentioned in Revelations: for the end of all thy fair words here, is but to draw these young men from the simplicity that is in Christ, and his Light that Lighteth every man that cometh into the World, for the great Malice of thy Heart, is against the sufficiency of Christ's Light in every man; and so would have something to be added to it from without, that so thou may'st bring in thy own traditions; but what condition shall one gather by thy words, these two Men John Finch, and John Payton, were in at the writing of these Queries to them, for one while thou seemest to apply Scriptures respecting the conditions of the unbelieving Jews to them, and another while thou applies those that respect the condition of pretty well-grown Christians: But however the sum of all is, to persuade them from following the Light of Christ in them, as not being sufficient, and so thy love is not testified unto them in Deed and in Truth, as thou sayest it is, but in mere Hypocrisy and Deceit, as may further appear: But what is that Soul enlightening Commandment Psalm 29.8. Whereby thou seemest to desire they may be enlightened? Is it this letter without, or the Light of Christ within? If thou say the letter, as thou must say, or else thwarts the whole current of thy Doctrine, and then all that have Eyes may see thee to be an outward Jew only: But if thou say with us, it is the Light of Christ that shineth in Darkness, John 1. which at the Commandment of God shineth out of Darkness, 2 Cor. 4. to give the knowledge of God's Glory to Man in the Face of Christ, than the business about Sufficiency of the Light between us is at an end, and the Truth stands over the from thy own words. The next is, when thou hearest the Scripture mentioned thy Windy, Slightly, Crafty Doctrine of Deceivers, Ephes. 4.14. than thou shoots thy Sting at the Innocent, and wouldst have People believe that is to be applied to us who Preach Christ and his all-sufficiency in, and for every one that can Receive Him, who is near every Man, and by his Light shineth to Conviction and Judgement in every Man, who would have all Men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of his Truth, which is nigh in the Heart and in the Mouth; but this was the Apostles Doctrine, and so not to be condemned in us, but thou goest on, telling of two ways of Deceiving, the one thou namest the upper way (which thou sayest) is by Philosophy, the Traditions of Men, Rudiments of the World, and Sciences falsely so called: And Praised be God, thou art as it were forced by the Light in thy Conscience to acquit us from being of this Number; but truly the Light in our conscience tells us expressly, that thou John Reynolds art one of them that arei●n this upper way, as thou callest it, of deceit, for of Philosophy, Traditions of Men, Worldly Rudiments, and false Sciences is the Body of thy Divinity made up, as well as other of thy Brethren the Hirelings ●●ou wouldst condemn, for the difference is not in the nature of your Doctrine, but in the form. And so though an Idol of Gold appear more beautiful than one of base mettle, yet it is an Idol still, and so you are both in the Fight and Persecuting nature, as all Idolaters are; Ephraim against Manasseh, and Manassch against Ephraim, but both against Judah; one for the Common-Prayer, another for the Directory, but neither will own the Lambs Light in you, to Teach and Guide you; and so though you may have a Form of Godliness more Painted than they, yet denying the Power (Christ in man) you are all alike to be turned away from: And so John Finch, and John Payton in turning from thee, as well as the other Formalists, are ; and though thou goest about to persuade them from the Truth, by telling them of a lower way of deceiving by a voluntary Humility, and neglecting of the Body, and wearing a rough Garment to deceive, which thou wouldst intimate to be our condition, yet this will not deceive their minds, if they keep to the true Light of Christ in them, for in that they feel our Garment to be smooth and sweet, through the Father's Love, not rough or hairy, as the Hypocrites is, who kill one another about their ways of Worship; but for voluntary Humility in the will offered up by heaps, which is no better than filthy smoke in the nostrils of a pure God in this day; and Praised be God that hath brought us from this into the true Humility: but how thy words of accusing us here of neglecting the Body, and afterwards of Drunkenness, can agree, let the wise in Heart consider; but all in thy changeable nature and unstable must needs be Self-contradictors; and so who be the Thiefs that Christ in this day is Crucified between, is thus far in part, and will afterwards God willing more appear. Also it is observable from that Preface of thine further, where it is said that this latter, viz. Namely, the lower way of deceiving may possibly prevail, though not with the present Multitude, yet some unstable Souls that have been none enlightened and have tasted the good Word of God, and the Power of the World to come, but are not yet rooted and settled in the Truth and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ; then I say, thou needest not fear any of thy followers to be deceived on this manner, for none can be savingly enlightened who denies the sufficiency of Christ's Light, the Grace of God, which hath appeared to all Men; yea, in their Darkness shineth, though the Darkness comprehend it not, as thou dost not; and none can say in Truth they have tasted the Good Word of God who puts the Letter for it, and denies the sufficiency of Christ's Light, which is his Word nigh in the Heart and Mouth, as thou dost; nor none can truly be said to taste the Powers of the World to come, who deny to bow their Hearts to the least Measure of Christ's Light in them, accounting it insufficient, as thou dost: And so it is the real Believers that had need to take heed of being Deceived, with fair Shows and rough Garments, for the Hypocrites are deceived already: But what Doctrine John Reynolds doth judge in these he calls  Seducers and Quakers, to be amiss, and by these two men he writes unto to be taken heed of, may gathered out of these Queries, to instance some.  
1. Because they say Christ Lighteth every man with a sufficient Light that cometh into the World  
2. Because they say, That the Measure of the Spirit of God in man is the true and certain trier of all Spirits.  
3. Because they say, Christ himself and not the empty declaration without, is the Word of God.  
4. Because they say, Christ the better hope, being come, sinless perfection through him is attainable here.  
5. Because they say, Judgement is committed to the Saints even whilst they are in the Body, and therefore such may Judge; and yet, say they, it is not flesh, but Spirit that Judgeth all things.  
6. Because they make Conscience of saying Thou and Thee to a particular, which is the plain Language.  
7. Because they say, that all Honour, and Glory, and Worship is to be given to God alone, and not to any Creature.  
8. Because they say, The true Church is in God, and so no Unrighteous One in it, or of it, and so can neither call the Wicked God's Church, nor a House of Wood and Stone his Church.  
9 Because they cannot own the World's Sprinkling of Infants with a little outward Water, for Christ's Baptism; and because they cannot own that for a right Communion, which is in Sin, and who eat Bread and drink Wine in Remembrance of a Coming of Christ, which they say shall never be while they are here, and the like.  
But now something, the Lord assisting, may be spoken particularly in Answer to the Queries themselves; and the first of them is this,  
Query 1. First Question; If that Light which is within every Man that cometh into the World, be sufficient without the Preaching of the Gospel, how is it that Heathens know little or nothing of the True God?  
Answ. To this I answer, That thou runnest here upon a false Ground, and so draws this and the rest of thy stumbling Consequences from thy own Imaginations, not from our Words, for we do not Exclude the Preaching of the Gospel from the Light, nor the Light from it; but say, That is the true Light that Lighteth every Man that cometh into the World; one loves the Light, believes it, and follows it, and is led to God, and so saved by it sufficiently; the other hates it, and it is his Condemnation: And this is the Gospel Preaching, and this Light of Christ in every Man is the Light of the Glorious Gospel, whether it be declared of to the outward Ear in Words or not; but he that Preaches not this True Light, Preaches another Gospel, though there be not another Gospel: And I say unto you, all People, if a seeming Angel Preach not this Gospel of Light, this Grace of God which brings Salvation, which hath appeared to all Men, and is the Saints Teacher and Keeper, he is to be accursed: But whereas thou tell'st of Heathen: Answer, All are Heathens now, and Ignorant of the True God, who know nothing of the sufficiency of the Light that Lighteth every Man that cometh into the World; but thou askest in the end of that Query two very Childish, Questions: The first, Why we exhort all Men to follow the Light within, if that be sufficient? I answer, Because it is sufficient, therefore do we Exhort all Men to follow it, for that which is not sufficient is not safe to follow: And so you that are so full of words, and ignorant of the Sufficiency, beat the Air and deceive the People, keeping silly Women ever Learning, and never able to bring them to the knowledge of the Truth, which perfects to God all the comers thereunto. Thy second Query there, How could the Word of God be called a Mystery hid from Ages and Generations, but now is made manifest, if the Light within be sufficient? And then quotes Eph. 3.9. Col. 1.25, 26. Mat. 11.25. I answer, That it was within, and sufficient when it lay hid as a Mystery, till God's full time came of revealing it; and therefore Christ compares it to many Powerful and Precious, though hidden things, and of little account to the outward view, as to a Grain of Mustardseed in the Earth, to a little Leaven within much Flower, to Treasure hid in the Field; and Christ said to the Pharisees, that God's Kingdom was to be found in Man, he excludes none, and those Scriptures thou sett'st down prove for this Truth, and against thy roving Mind which is in the outward observe, thinking to find the Kingdom there, when Christ saith, it cometh not that way, see Luke 17.20, 21. What, wilt thou conclude it was not, because it lay hid? What Logic is this? Doth not Paul there say, that the Mystery which was so hid, and which he by the Spirit now Preached, which was Christ in the Gentiles the Hope of Glory? And Christ was Light, and to this Light he warned every Man to take heed; but the little Children, not the Masters, obey the Voice, and so are led into the Understanding of the Mystery.  
Qu. 2. In the next general Query thou askest, Are not the Scriptures the Words of the Lord, whose Words are they? And why is the Scripture so often called the Word of God, and the Word of the Lord? And for this thou brings many Scriptures, as Exod. 24.4. 2 Kings 20.26, 27, 28, 29. Psal. 12.6. Jer. 36.4, 6, 8, 11. Acts 19.10. 2 Cor. 2.17. 1 Thes. 1.8.  
Answ. To this I say, First, That the Holy Scriptures were given forth by Holy Men of God, as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and so they may be called the Words of God, or of the Lord, not that Spirit and Living Word, but that those Scriptures prove what thou bringest them for; to wit, that the Scriptures or Writings without, is there called the Word of God, is not true; it is said indeed in that of 2 Kings 20.16. That Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the Word of the Lord; and Hezekiah said, Good is the Word of the Lord; and in other places of Scriptures, that the Word of the Lord came to the Prophets; and that in the  place of Acts, and Corinthians, and Thessalonians, mention is made of the Apostles Preaching the Word of God, all this is true; but of Exodus, and Psalms, and Jeremiah, mention is made of Words; but what doth all this prove, but only that the Word came to Holy Men, this Word was God, and as this Word moved in them, and gave them Wisdom and Utterance, they writ or spoke forth Words as a Declaration of what was in the Mind, or Word of God, or what God was; and what, though the Scriptures may be thus called, The Words of the Lord, or his Prophets, or Apostles, Acted by his Power, which we never denied; this is nothing to the Hypocrites, who use their Tongues to say, The Lord saith, when he never spoke by them, but make a Trade of the Scriptures for filthy Lucre, and by their much pressing the Declaration to be the Word of God, have quite clouded the Word itself (Christ, from whence true Words come) from the People's Minds, so that scarce any have any true Living Feeling after God in his Word Christ; for in the beginning was the Word, before all Declarations, and shall be after all the Peaceable Life of all that Believe for ever: So that the Lord saw it good to stir up a People in these days to be True and Living Witnesses of the Word, for the stopping of the Mouths of all such as have gotten the Words, as Thiefs from others, and so kept People in the form with themselves, always Professing, but never Possessing the Power which the Scripture Witness unto, and so the Letter and empty Words killed and do kill; but now the Living Spirit and Living Word being Witnessed, the Scriptures is owned in its place; and Resurrection to Life being felt, the Crown is set upon the King's Head, whose Name is called The Word of God, who was, and is, and is to come, over all God Blessed for evermore; and it is considerable, that the Ministers of Christ are never called Ministers of the Letter, or Words, but of the Word and Spirit, 2 Cor. 3. and that Christ and his Apostles mentioning the Prophet's Words, usually called them Scripture, and not The Word of God, as the custom of Hypocrites is now; All Flesh is Grass, and all outward Sounds and Signs vanish, but the Word of the Lord that endures for ever; and this is that Word which, by the Gospel, (the Power of God) is Preached, and by nothing else savingly; which, when understood, People are One, but not before; for it is the weakness which is like the Woman's speaking, makes Dissension; so let the Scripture have its due, and the Word of God its due, and all is Beautiful in its place.  
Query 3. In thy third, thou askest, How shall we know whether the Spirit that speaks in us be the Spirit of God, or an evil Spirit, but by trying them by the Scriptures? And for this thou bringest 1 John 4.1. Isa. 8.19, 20. Acts 17.11. John 5.39. than thou replies, and as it were says, If you say we know the Spirit to be of God, because it convinceth of Sin; then I ask, how do you know that to be Sin, but by the Scripture? For this thou bringest 1 John 3.4. Sin is a Transgression of the Law; and afterwards says, If we say that Spirit tells us it's of God, or that we know it but by its Fruit, how do we know it not to be a lying Spirit; or how do we know the Fruits of the Spirit but by Scripture?  
Answ. Now, I say, by all this it plainly appears, that thou art no Gospel-Minister, no Minister of the Spirit of God at all, but art a mere talker of the Letter and Law, not knowing what it faith, nor whereof it affirmeth; for doth not the next Covenant run thus, I will put my Law in their Hearts, and in their Minds will I write it, Jer. 31.31. and Heb. 8.8. and the Apostle that said unto his Brethren, Try the Spirits, in that place 1 John 4, 1. did not say, you have a writing without by which you know all things, but you have an Anointing from the Holy One, and this abides in you, and by this they know all things, 1 John 2.20, 27. according to what Paul in 1 Cor. 2.15, 16. saith, The Spiritual Man judgeth or discerneth all things, but is judged or discerned of none; for the Natural Man knows nothing aright, though he may have all the Scriptures to talk of without him; and though he may cry up in appearance, even as Isaiah said to the Law and to the Testimony, yet he never goes to the Law or Testimony at all, for the Law is Spiritual and Inward, and the Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy, as saith Scripture Declaration; and by that Spiritual Law Paul came to the knowledge of his Sin, to Humiliation; but while he was but a Professor of the Law in the Letter, he was alive without Law; but when the Commandment in Spirit came to be felt nigh in the Heart, than Sin Revived and he Died: And so will John Reynolds die when the Law indeed he comes to feel, but he is yet alive without Law, and from that Ground comes all these Queries of his to stop, if possible, the Holy Seed from coming out of Egypt; but the Lord will break all Bonds for his Elect sake; so that in a few words, take away from this John Reynolds the Letter, and by his own words he is as blind as a Beetle; for he Questions how a Man can either know the true Spirit, or Sin, or the Works, or Fruits of either good Spirit or bad, but by the Letter, so that his Eye is in the outward Book, and so no Letter, no Preacher. For, John Reynolds, did the Apostles hold forth a Letter without them to be an Eye to the World? Nay, nay, they were to turn the People to the Light of Christ within them, that thereby they might see the Light out of all Darkness and false Worships; For in thy Light, saith David, we shall see Light: O the Riches of the Grace of God that hath delivere● John Fince and John Payton from this Blind Guide John Reynolds, whose Eye within is yet shut by the god of the World! 2 Cor. 4.3, 4.  
Qu. 4. Thou Queriest, whether the Saints in your times are more perfect than Saints in Scripture times? And the rest of this Query is to plead for Sin, and against sinless Perfection; and in the Conclusion of it, thou sayest, we cannot show you one Man that ever attained it.  
Answ. Yea, to this I say, Through the Lord's great Love we are able to hold forth to thee, and all the World, one perfect Man; yea, such a One, in whose Mouth there was and is no Guilford; who did, and doth good, and sinned not, nor doth sin; who was in a sinless Perfection, and of such a Man will we glory, not of Self, nor of Flesh, but in him who is made unto us of God, Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption, who is more perfect than Thousands under the Law were. Go to then, to stop all Mouths, the Gospel-day is Witnessed, Praised be the Lord, and in Perfection of Beauty do true Believers now Worship, and the Righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in such who walk not after the Flesh, but after the Spirit; so John Reynolds to thee, and thy Company, I say, Arise, stand up from the Dead, come out of your own times where there is none perfect, for your times pass away into nothing; but for Scripture times (that's large, it is not, as thou wouldst Insinuate) ended yet, for the Scripture is the Lord daily fulfilling, and will do it until time shall be no more; which he that hath an Ear to hear, ●et him hear; and not only they, but a Hundred Forty Four Thousand sinless perfect Ones are mentioned Rev. 14.25. with many more; see also Chap. 7. Vers. 9.14. an Innumerable Number.  
Qu. 5. And for thy fifth Query, where thou sayest, If those that are called Quakers esteem themselves the only true Christians in the World, then would I know where hath been their Church this 1600 Years.  
Answ. To this, I say, here thou manifests thyself again; what stumbling is here in thy dark Mind? This is like the Papists Arguments to Protestants; but to this may be easily answered, that if it be manifest to the Conscience of any, as Praised be God it is to many, that we are of God, such a one will never ask such a Question as this: But now to you who cannot own the Light in your Consciences, we cannot be manifest, because the World knows us not; and then ask, where hath your Church been? I say, it hath been ever where it is at this day; to wit, the Church which is in God and Christ; which, when thou comest to the Light of Christ within thee, than thou wilt see, but till then we must be content to lie hid from thee, and all Dark Minds, and so to bear Christ's Reproach; but to all my dear Brethren in Christ, I say, Behold what manner of Love the Father hath bestowed on us, that we should be called the Sons of God, Fellow-Citizens in the Heavenly Jerusalem with all the Church of God, Firstborn of God, whose Names are written in Heaven, therefore the World knows us not, because it knew not our Head first, 1 John 3. Heb. 12. But as for thy telling of Esteeming Self, and the name Quaker, and the like, thou may'st take those words in again from whence they came, for Self and Names of men's giving we deny; and Glory in the Cross of Christ, where the Name of God is known; and as for the rest of thy Queries, which tell of our unableness to give a Proof of such People as we, before the last twenty Years, or so; who placed Religion in Thouing and Theeing, and refusing to put off their Hats, and wear Decent Ornaments in their Apparel, and it is such frothy stuff that it Shames thee and thy Profession; but thou may'st know, that though you may do what you will that are without Law to God, yet we are taught to fear the Lord, and whatsoever is pure, to mind that, and so our Religion stands in Christ, not in outward Appearances, though the outward be all thou canst see, and so stumbles at the meanness of it; but what are those Decent Ornaments in Apparel thou tell'st on? Is needless Points, and Laces, and Ribonds, and such filth? Then surely all Saints are one with us here; but for that thou sayest, we Rail against Priests Tithes, Idols Temples, and Idols Worship, being such as yours; I say, though Railing we deny, yet we can easily prove by Scripture, that Holy Men Cried Vehemently against false Worships and Worsh●ppers, who were guided as you are in all Ages; but as for that, thou sayest, We Rail against Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and Singing of Psalms, thou art found a great and false Slanderer in this, for to let pass the word Railing, we deny that we so much as speak against Christ's Baptism, or Supper, or his Singing, or that we take upon ourselves to condemn any to Hell; but this we say, That no Unrighteous One, or Hypocrite hath any Inheritance in the Kingdom of God, or of Christ, and he that is not with us is against us; which Words will be hard and heavy for many to bear; and as for Christ's Baptism, and Supper, and Singing in and with the Spirit we dearly own, but the Hypocrite and their Leaven we deny.  
Qu. 6. The next Query is something to the former purpose, and so that which is said may serve for that; but thou addest a great and wicked Lie and Slander, in saying, we condemn the most Eminent Saints and Martyrs, for thou sayest, they were not of our Minds; and thou seemest much Troubled, that thyself also (whom thou hast so high an esteem of) could not pass the Censure of those thou scornfully calls Quakers, have any of them called thee Deceiver, and the like? I say, see if it be not true that might be thus spoken unto thee, for it is no Derogation to the Honour of Truth, to say, the Truth itself may call a Deceiver, false Accuser, and Reproacher, by their proper names: For in Matt. 23. and John 8. see Christ's Language to the Hypocrites of those Days; so the Error was not in Christ his calling them so, that were so, but in those Pharisees there calling Christ a Deceiver, and Devil, when he was not so, nor could be; and for the most Holy and Zealous Christians amongst you, that thou sayest, had the like Names from us: I answer, if any under the Name Quaker called thee or any of thy Company otherwise than they, in the Light, saw true, or could make good, they were to blame; but if any in Truth have declared your Inward Condition to you, though under such Terms, you ought rather to repent, than to kick and spurn at it in your hard Hearts; for it will be hard for you to kick against the Pricks; and for Spewing, you may take that to yourselves, whose Throat is an open Sepulchre, wide opened against all that are Holy and Zealous in Christ, to separate from you, and witness against your Deceit: And so if those thou callest Holy and Zealous Christians amongst you, together with thyself be weighed in the Balance of Truth, it will appear you are as far from that State, as the East is from the West.  
But I demand how thou knowest the Saints and Martyrs were not of our Persuasion and Practice? for thou dost not judge with the Light that is Pure and Spiritual, as is manifest, nor see with a single Eye, but only judgeth with thy Evil Thoughts and False Imaginations; for we say in a few words, that our Mind and Practice is to believe on the Name of the Son of God, that true Light that Lighteth every Man that cometh into the World, and to love one another, and to labour to keep a Conscience void of offence towards God and all Men: And I Read that the Saints and Martyrs were of this Persuasion and Practice with us, and so we have a Cloud of Witnesses, both Ancient and Modern, of the Truth of this our way; and so if thou hast Books that tell of other manner of Saints or Martyrs, I deny both them and thee, in calling them Saints, who are not; for the Saints of God and Martyrs of Jesus are one Body in all Ages, not loving their Lives to death, that so they might always keep to God's manifest Truth in them without denying it before Men; and this is that which the Lord God hath wrought in us poor Despised People, to the Glory of his Grace in this his day, that no Flesh might Glory, but as it is written, Let him that Glorieth, Glory in the Lord, who alone is worthy.  
Qu. 7. But in thy seventh and next Query, thou thinkest thou hast gotten something against us, because, sayest thou, we use to cry against you as Hirelings, and that you would Preach no longer than People put into your Mouths; but now, sayest thou, it's manifest that many of these are ready to lose all for the Testimony of Jesus, and to Preach the Gospel freely though it be in danger of Imprisonment.  
Answ. To which I answer and say, That the Testimony of those thou scornfully callest Quakers, against you, stands firm and true, for all these thy high swelling Words of Vanity; for we know none of you Preaching freely as yet, and the reason why you talk in the form, you do it because you cannot keep your fat Benefices; O Hypocrites! What Whining and Complaining is there by you in these days for your Belly? But for Preaching the Gospel, you have manifested yourselves to be Ignorant both of Christ and of the Gospel, by denying the sufficiency of the Light which Lighteth every Man that cometh into the World, John 1.9. and then put the Letter for the Light, and so fight and strive with your Brethren about your form and several Imaginations of the Letter; one cries up a Bishop, another a Presbyter, and both of you Ignorant of the true Bishop and Elder. But John Reynolds, wouldst not thou and thy Brethren be at the Gain from your Quarter again, if Common-Prayer could be dispensed withal? Oh if you be brought into such a suffering Frame! How is it that we have no more of your Company in Prison? Nay, nay, your old Heart is in you yet, and ye would be sucking Lambs Blood still if you had Power, and that the God of Heaven sees, and will take Vengeance on you for it; and that which you cannot do with your Hands, you are doing with your Tongues and Pens, as is manifest. But I have often said, if you could Preach freely; that is, without a set or forced maintenance, in the state where you are, that would not at all commend you to God or his People: For you have run, and God never sent you; and therefore you remain so ignorant of him, and profit not them that follow you; for when did Christ bid you go to the Universities of the World to learn him there? And when did he bid you go to such a place, and such a place, and there sit down and Eat the Fat, and Cloth with the Wool, and Preach the Thoughts of your vain Hearts, as you have done, and would do, and be guarded by the Magistrate's Power, that none should speak to you in your high Places, nor going nor coming from thence? O call to mind the day of your fullness, and of your Pride; the same measure you meet to others is God measuring to you; you must be broken to pieces, because you turn not to the Lord for all this: And to the despised thing, the Light in your Conscience, you must come and bow before it, as others have done, before you be healed; and if it give you a word to speak, you may speak it; otherwise you must be silent, or you perish: The Lord is arisen, and so if indeed you can kiss his Rod, you may find Mercy; but if you still go on justifying yourselves in his sight, you shall certainly moulder to nothing; the Lord hath said it, who is daily gathering his Lambs out of the Mouths of all Devourers, Glory to his Name for ever. But what Testimony of Jesus can you either give or suffer for, who have so Vilified and Reproached the Spirit of Prophecy in Sons and Daughters, in Servants and Handmaids in these Days? For the Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy.  
And now all People, I shall lay before you, a little more, the Condition of this John Reynolds, and such like boasting Men, who now thus cry up themselves for suffering Ministers of Christ, as to this particular thing. In the former times, before the Wars when the Bishops had Rule, there were some such that could not conform to all the Fooleries of those Days, and so could not enjoy their fat Benefices (though they loved them well enough) and so instead of suffering in Old-England fled into New-England to avoid the Cross, and so in process of time it came to pass that they got the Magistrates on their side there; and then their Old Wolfish Hearts being still in them, they fell on Persecuting the Servants of God that came amongst them to witness to Truth, insomuch that of late Years they have sucked the Blood of several of our Dear Members in Christ; Three they hanged on a Tree, cut the Ears of others, Tortured the Bodies of many with cruel Whip, spoiled the Goods of many, and Banished others for no other thing, but for owning the Truth as it is in Jesus, and meeting to wait upon him.  
Qu. 8. The Eighth and next Query is such a vain and empty one, that the very setting of it down will be in great measure an answer to it, and it is this.  
If there be no honest Men in the World that are not Quakers, then is it not certain, that no honest Men ever turned Quakers? Then is it not certain, that none but the Wicked ever turned from us, and then where is our shame? Again, if all are Graceless Persons that are not Quakers, then how can any Man turn Quaker if he will not first acknowledge himself a Wicked and Graeeless Wretch?  
Answ. O Crooked, Twining, Twisting Serpent! How Cunning and Crafty wouldst thou here appear in thy vain Philosophy, and false Science, to cast a Mist before the Eyes of the Simple? Yet, Praised be the Lord, the least Child of Light sees thee well, and the Seed of the Woman shall bruise thy Head, and thou shalt not proceed far, but thy Folly shall be manifest to all, as the Sorceries of Jannes and Jambres, thy Fathers were; for the Lord is already at work the second time to deliver his Israel out of Egypt, and no Weapon form against his Seed shall ever prosper; but the Horse and his Rider shall fall, and the Beast and False Prophet shall be taken alive and cast into the Pit, and Everlasting praises shall be Sung to the Lord God Almighty by the Lambs of his Holy Fold, as it is in Zion this day.  
But let us see how this reasoning of thine would have helped the Jews and the Gentiles in the first times of the Gospel against the Christians, and so setting down thy words for them, only instead of Quaker putting in the word Christian thus:  
If there are no honest Men in the World that are not Christians, then is it not certain, that no honest Man ever turned Christian; and if so, where is their Glorying? And if all are wicked that are not Christians; then is it not certain, that none but the Wicked did ever turn from us; and where is our Shame? Again, If all are Graceless persons that are not Christians; then is it not certain, that none but the Wicked did ever turn from us; then where is our Shame? Would this have been good Reasoning, either to have disproved the Christians Doctrine withal, or to have kept the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles in a safe Condition where they stood? Nay, all must bow to the Son of God in his rising and going forth; for his going forth is prepared as the Sun in the Morning, who rejoiceth as a Giant to run his Course, and to this Just One must every Knee bow, and Tongue confess; for his Way is in his Light Shining more and more until it be high Noon and perfect Day: And the Gentiles, though as honest as Cornelius, Acts 10. and the Jew, though as blameless concerning the Law as Paul in his first state was, Phil. 3. must bow to him: Yea further, Let all the Angels of God Worship him. But as for the World's Inhabitants, both Honest and Wicked, we know that the whole World lieth in Wickedness: And so, before you turn such Christians as quake and tremble at God's Word, and work out their Salvation in Fear and Trembling, you must be content to own yourselves to be little less than Dishonest, Wicked, and Graceless Wretches, though into the Truth Sinful Flesh and Blood cannot enter; and though you will not now own the Grace of God to be your Teacher, and so in that respect may be called Graceless; yet you will one day know, that the Grace of God which brings Salvation, and would have taught you, did appear unto you all; and so God will be clear of all your Blood, and your Destruction will be of yourselves; and so because you have not received this manifest Truth, the Grace of God to be your. Teacher, therefore are you given up to believe Lies, as is manifest.  
Qu. 9 Thy Ninth and next Question is about Ordination; and then Queries, To what purpose did the Apostles, Evangelists, and Presbyters ordain Elders in every City with Fasting, Prayer, and Imposition of Hands, if every Person that will, may run and ordinarily Preach without any such Ordination? And thou sayest, you may see how Persons were sent forth to Preach in Scripture, Acts 13.23. and 14.23 1 Tim. 4.14.  
Answ. To which I say, that the purpose of God in ordaining Elders in every City, as is mentioned in that Acts 14.23. was not that proud and covetous Men (who have a little Worldly Wisdom only to talk of the Letter and wrest Scripture by) should perk up and set up themselves in the place of God's Elders in God's Church: But that in this Church, by his Spirit in those Elders, the Body might be Edified, and all kept in good order amongst them through Love: Mind, this was the Church of God which was in God, 1 Thess. 1.1. the Body of Christ, of his Flesh, and of his Bone, Eph. 5.23, 24. Not a Worldly People gathered in the Will of Man into a vain Form without the power; not I say, the Synagogue of Satan, who denies Perfection, and the Sufficiency of Christ's Light: And that there is none knows any thing aright, but by the Letter, as this John Reynolds pretends is not true; for the Church of God was taught of God, and the Elders in this Church were not brought up at the World's Schools of Learning, nor called of Men Master, nor Hirelings, nor Persecutors of the Innocent, as the Presbyters of these days are; but they were Holy Men of God, of mean account in the World, raised up merely by God's Power, out of the Heathenish and Jewish Worships, to know Christ's Spirit, and his Anointing in them which taught them all things; and they were not such as got the Magistrate to help them to great Live and fat Benefices, and compel all by his Iron Sword to come in to them, but they were Sufferers under the Powers of the World, as we are at this day.  
But whereas thou speakest of every Man that is not so ordained, thyself, and yourselves, who never were ordained by the Holy Ghost, as they were; for when did the Holy Ghost in your Assemblies say, as in Acts 13.2. Separate such and such, for the work I have appointed them unto. Nay, nay, you have run and God never sent you; for you never heard his Holy Voice at any time; and therefore you profit not the People at all, but make them more Cunning to Dispute against the Truth, than they were before they followed you.  
But what Ordination of Man had Paul at his first going out to Preach? See Gal. 1. he received not the Gospel by Man, and went not to Man, no not to the Apostles themselves for Ordination and Commission to Preach, but immediately Preached Christ, as many have done, and do at this Day, who go under the Reproach of the name Quaker. And so God is Restoring his Church to its Primitive Purity and Power, to the stopping of the Mouth, and confounding the Wisdom of all Flesh, whether called Pope, Cardinals, Bishops or Presbyters that the true Eldership and Body of Christ, to God's Glory, may again appear: And what Rules and Orders are, and shall be in this true Church, is known to God, and by him Manifested, and to be Manifested to the Body itself, and not to the World; for the World must neither have the right Understanding nor Management of those things, no more than they had in those Days, when it was said, I stand not to Man's Judgement; for the Holy Anointing must be all in the Church of God for ever.  
Qu. 10. Thy Tenth and next Query, is a plain discovery of thy Folly, and of thy manifest Enmity against the simple Appearance of Truth in any discovery; and though thou say, the Scripture is thy Rule, yet by it thou canst not endure to be Ruled, but plain Language itself is thy Burden; and therefore thou askest, how it can be said that ever Christ, or his Apostles, or Patriarches, or Prophets used the words Thou and Thee, when they never spoke English? And how can it be unlawful for us to use the word You to each other, since the same words in Hebrew, Greek and Latin that signify Thou, signify You in the Singular Number also, and may be Translated You as well as Thou, and so it seems thou sayest, 2 Sam. 15.27.  
Answ, John Reynolds, Didst thou Read this Query twice over? Or didst thou at all Consider what thou saidst in it? Was either the Fear of God, or Care of thy own Credit before thy Eyes when thou writest it? Surely neither. But thou hast judged in thyself with thy vain Thought, that because thou hast used to blind thy poor Hearers, and make them believe any thing for Truth thou speakest or writest; therefore it will be so with others: Nay, nay, the Day is dawned, the Lord hath given his People an Eye whereby all Covers are seen through; and to this Light thou hast manifested as much Nakedness and Blindness to be in thee, as in the grossest of them that say Mass at Rome, or read Common-Prayer in English: Nay, I do believe many of them would be ashamed to argue thus, as thou dost; to wit, because Christ, his Apostles, Patriarches and Prophets did not speak in the English Tongue, that therefore they used not the words Thou and Thee: How came the Translators to Translate their Words, when they speak to a particular Person, Thou and Thee, and never You, as may all over Scripture be easily found; thou may'st as well say, Christ, his Apostles, Patriarches and Prophets said nothing at all that is Recorded in Scripture in the English Tongue, because they spoke not English; so the Lord hath catched the Wise in his own Craftiness; but thou goest on, and sayest the same words in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, that signify Thou, signify You, in the Singular Number also, and may be Translated You, as well as Thou; which, I say, is altogether false; for You is not at all Singular, but Plural altogether, and so the Translators of the Bible knew, and therefore never Translated their Singular Term in the foreign Language to you in English, but Thou and Thee, as is before mentioned; and for that place in 2 Sam. 15.27, thou settest down, and says, it seems that You is used to a singular there, it shames thee; for if envy to the Truth had not Blinded thee, thou mightest 〈◊〉 fee that the King speaking to Zadock, and saying, Your Sons and you, speaks not of Zadock and his Son, but of Zadock and Abiathar and their Sons, as the very words next after; and in Verse 29. plainly show, and so here thou hast committed that great Error thyself, that thy Generation use to Charge falsely upon us; to wit, in taking a piece of a Verse that seems to make for thy purpose, and leaves out the rest that shows fully the Sense.  
Qu. 11. Thy Eleventh and next Query is for the World, where thou undertakest the part of an Advocate for Flesh; not only pleading for the Honour that is below, but also for the Manner of it. Thy Doctrine is very pleasant to the fallen Man, and the World cannot hate such Preachers as thee; for ye are not only of the World, but chief Master-Builders of the old House of the fallen Adam, who loves the Earthly Honour. But now that Christ the second Adam is come, the Lord from Heaven, above the Earthly Man, let all Flesh bow before him, and give up his Honour to him; otherwise this shall be fitly applied unto you that Christ said unto the Jews, How can you believe, that not only receive, but also seek, and plead for Honour one of and from another? John 5.44. For Christ received not Honour from Men, Verse 41. So that tho' there was a time that Angels were bowed unto, which were greater than Flesh, Gen. 19.1. yet a time came that Angels denied that Honour, Rev. 22.9. For now the Son himself was Glorified, of whom it was said, And let all the Angels of God Worship him, Heb. 16. And at his Name shall every Knee bow, Phil. 2.10. And Christ said to the Devil, who was like his Children, that would now be Worshipped, Thou shalt Worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve: The Devil and Haman would be bowed unto, but the true Jew will bow only to God: But thou queriest, and sayest:  
Qu. Whether did the Saints in Scripture-times Sin, in giving Honour; that is, (sayest thou) A Civil or Inferior Honour unto Men, and upon occasion Testifying the same by Honorary Words or Deeds?  
Answ. To which I answer and say, All that the Saints before the coming of Christ did, is not to be an Example to us now; but we must all now, that would be approved to Christ, take him for our Example, and to follow no Man for our Example, further than they followed, or do follow him; and when the Apostles speak of Honouring all, it must be understood (as in some place is mentioned) in the Lord; and that is not with Cap and Knee, and false Flattering Titles, and Gestures, as the World useth; but in Heart and Truth, as the Spirit of God moveth: So that a Man must first be in the Lord (out of the first fallen false Mind) otherwise he knows not at all how to Honour either God or Man, but is a Dissembling Wretch, making fair Shows outwardly of Love, where nothing but War and Self-love is in the Heart: See 2 Sam. 20.9, 10. Judas 16.  
Thus Children being in the Lord, do, through the Lord, Honour Parents aright; thus Servants in the Lord, Honour their Masters after the Flesh aright; and so Church-members the Elders, Wives their Husbands; the Ruled the Rulers: Yea, thus they Honour their Faithful Brethren aright; and in a Word, all Men; and so the Scripture is fulfilled in them: But what Honour do these Faithful Ones look for from Men? Nay, nay, they believe and seek for that Honour that comes from God only; and so the Scripture will not help the fallen Man now to his Honour, which is his Life; but as the Scripture saith, He that would save his Life, must lose it. And so all you, Hypocrites of the World, who are giving Honour to Proud Flesh, and receiving Honour from it, cease your Work, and let Christ have his due, or verily he will break you all in pieces with his Iron Rod. But in the end of thy Query, thy Conscience a little checking thee for this vain Work, thou wouldst daub over the matter, by telling People the Honour from below, which thou hast been pleading for, must not be in Opposition to, but in Subordination to God's Honour: Nay, nay, I say, the true Christ, the Son of God is come, and all Power in Heaven and Earth is given to him; and so all Honour, and Glory, and Worship is his due (and the due of none else) to whom be it given of all his Angels and Servants, both now and for evermore. So all People, harken and hear a word for your good; would ye be Honoured? Then Honour the Lord by obeying his Voice, and he will Honour you in due time, though for doing his Will you lose the World's Honour, as assuredly ye will, if once ye be Faithful.  
Qu. 12. The next Query Consisteth of a great Boast of the Ministry, as though it were Unrebukeable. And thou queriest, whether that Ministry can be lawfully Condemned as Antichristian, which the Lord hath owned and sealed with the Conversion of many Souls.  
Answ. To which, I say if your Ministry were such as this thou speakest of, than indeed it were not safe to condemn it: But where are these Converts thou speakest of; to be a Convert, is to be turned from Darkness to Light, and from the Power of Satan unto God; bring forth the Man that can witness thee to be a Minister of the Gospel this way, that he may give us an Account of the true Hope, if he have it in him: But Men cannot gather Grapes of Thorns, nor Figs of Thistles; so thou being such an Evil Tree, as thou hast manifested thyself in these Queries to be, how can a true Convert be expected from such a Ministry? But thou sayest, it's in Power, etc. and that many stubborn Sinners have been brought down unto their Faces, and to confess that God is in you of a Truth: But I say, it will be hard for thee to bring forth such a Man; for when I use to come amongst you to declare Truth against your Deceit, as the Lord ordered me, I found a heap of hardhearted Sinners, more like to destroy the Creature, than to be Witnesses of Truth. O shameless Men that bring forth such bad Fruit! And yet, with a Whore's Forehead, dare take the Scripture which speaks of Prophets in God's Church in God's Power, and apply it to yourselves, who deny the sufficiency of Christ's Light in Man; and know nothing but merely by the Letter without, as thou for thy own particular haste made manifest, and so are sensual, not having the Spirit, as was noted in the third Query.  
I observe also, in this present Twelfth Query, the Ignorance of the Grace of God; for when thou hast falsely Boasted of your Ministry what it hath done, thou sayest, is not this the Grace of God that bringeth Salvation? Tit. 2.11, 12. I say no; your Ministry, not being the true, is far from being the Grace of God there spoken of: But if it were the true Ministry, it were not that Grace there spoken of; for the true Ministry is but a service to that Grace, not the Grace itself; for the Grace of God is that which hath appeared unto all Men, and that which brought Salvation to Jew and Gentile, as God's Gift without Words or Works, and which was the Teacher of the Apostles themselves, as well as others: And so when People would have been setting up Paul for his Ministry's sake, he denied it, as nothing in comparison of the All-sufficiency of the Grace of God, and the Word thereof, to which only at best he was but a Servant. But if it could be manifest, that any under or amongst you were Convinced of the Evil of their Ways in some measure; and so in their Dark Minds set upon a seeking after the unknown God, which is the most can be found amongst you, and that rarely neither; this is no warrant, either for them to stay with you, who are Ignorant of the Way out of Sin unto God, neither is it any proof for you to be Gospel-Ministers, nor your Ministry to be a Gospel-Ministry: For the Gospel-Ministry is not only Convincing, but Converting and Perfecting, Eph. 4.11, 12, 13. which work ye have utterly denied, and so shut out yourselves for ever from the Gospel-Ministry; and amongst the Priests of the Letter, Law at best, must you be reckoned, which made nothing Perfect; and hence it is that you are such bitter Enemies to the Spiritual Ministration, or New Covenant mentioned, Rev. 8. And such earnest Contenders for the outward Shadows, outward Law, Tithes, Temples, Days, Priests, etc. as is now every where found. But for the True Power, and Gospel-Ministration, it is risen above all your Languages and Tongues, and hath darkened the Glory of all your Fleshly Forms and Likenesses: And the Babes of God are in Obedience to God turned, and turning from you unto this his Power that perfects to God for ever: And Pharaoh and all his Host will not now be able to hinder Praises to the Lord God for ever.  
Qu. 13. In this next Query thou goest on seeking false Covers to hid thine and your Nakedness, ask; How can the Quakers Condemn your Congregations, because of some Wicked Unprofitable Hearers, when Christ himself (sayest thou) did not Convert all his Hearers? And for this thou bringest, Mat. 11.20. and Mat. 23.37. and Isa. 49.4. I say, all this will not cover your Nakedness, Oh ye Teachers! nor your Congregations; for what have you to do to compare yourselves with Christ and his Holy Prophets? You that deny the Immediate Revelations and Teachings of God's Infallible Spirit in these Days, and instead thereof, set up Schools of Humane Learning to make Ministers by. O Hypocrites! When will you give over perverting the right Ways of the Lord, and leading the Blind into the Ditch? You that love to be called of Men, Master, Greetings in the Market, uppermost Rooms at Feasts, chief Places in the Synagogues, as the Pharisees did, all which Christ dis-allowed: What have you to do to compare yourselves with Christ and his Prophets? They are not Hirelings, and Fighters, and Pleaders for the World's Gain, as you are: And so, tho' all that heard the outward Declaration, or Sound of Christ, or his Prophet's Words were not Converted, yet that makes nothing for you, who have only a Sound, and so Convert none to God: But, as I said before, beget them into your own Images, making them more able to Dispute against the Life of Truth than some others, and so greater will be your Condemnation: But now your Sheeps-clothing being pulled off, the Lord will be Glorified in his Power, in the Conversion of many to himself without you: For he hath rejected your Confidence, and laid waste your Mountain, and the Mountain of the Lords House is on the top of all your Mountains in this great Day of the Lord, wherein in all the Children of the Lord are taught of the Lord, and walk only in his Light, which comprehends and teaches to avoid all the cunning crafty Ways of the Serpent; and now, not in your Congregations, but in that Holy Assembly, is the Swords beaten into Ploughshares, and the Spears into Pruning Hooks, and no War any more learned, but under the Vine and Figtree all sit eating their pleasant Fruits, and taking the Cup of Salvation, and both Praying unto, and Praising the Name of the Lord.  
But thou sayest, we have Drunkards, Fornicators, etc. among us, as well as you, and that they are with us at out Prayers (if we have any) and that they are not so severely dealt withal as yours are; for, thou sayest, some of yours cast them out, which we do not.  
Answ. Yea, thou false Accuser, such are cast out from us, and from the Church of God, and with us they can neither Eat nor Pray, but with such as are Ignorant of Christ, and the Sufficiency of his Light, and know no Light nor Teacher but a Letter without (as thou hast manifested in thy Queries) they may both Eat, and Preach, and Pray; and when you cast out Drunkards and Fornicators from amongst you, you must cast out yourselves, for in that Nature you and all Hypocrites are; and so some of you are Drunk with Wine and strong Drink, and some with the Cup of the great Whore, some in the outward Fornications, others in the inward, and some in both; so that your Tables are full of Vomit, and every Bed defiled amongst you. And for the outward Drunkards and Harlots, and such like (though we cannot but reprove and cast them out in that State) yet this we say of them, that they may sooner enter into the Kingdom of God than you that judge yourselves free, and are not; for you are so Painted and Conceited, that it is easier for a Camel to go through the eye of Needle, than for you to enter in, and this makes your Wound more Uncureable; for you neither enter in yourselves, nor suffer others.  
And for those words in thy Parenthesis, whereby thou questionest, Whether we have any Prayer amongst us, shows thee to be a great stranger to us and our Practice; for Prayer with the Spirit, and with Understanding we allow, and are taught to practice, and say with the Apostle, Pray continually; but the wicked Hypocrites the Lord rejects, whose Prayers to God are Abomination; and so it would have become thee to have said less of us, and to have judged more soberly and moderately of us, until thou hast known us better than thou hast done; for thou hast little knowledge of us, it seems, by coming into our Assemblies, but only judgest by Here-say, and false Reports, which brings thee under Condemnation and Shame, when the Light now searche●h all things; but your Ways and Practices are well known to such as are now come from amongst you, and so in that they cannot be deceived. And now, John Reynolds, to proceed, I see much of the Wisdom of God in bringing thee forth thus to manifest thyself in thy Queries; and the next three Queries that follow, do, with those already mentioned, fully manifest thy great Ignorance of the Reformation of things brought to pass in Christ; for the Law had but a Shadow of the good things, and yet thou stickest not to plead for it; and so thou hadst need learn the first Principles of the Christian Religion, which thou remainest Ignorant of, before thou be a Christian thyself, much more seeing thou takest upon thee to be Teacher of others; but to set down thy Queries themselves, or so much of them as is the substance of the whole.  
Qu. 14. And thy fourteenth Query is, Had not the Saints, in Scripture-times, their set places for public Worship as well as we? Had they not their Temple, 1 Chron. 6. which Christ calls his Father's House of Prayer, and whips the Buyers and Sellers out of it? etc.  
Answ. To which I answer, You have indeed an outward Temple or House made with Hands to Worship in of your own devizeing, the Old Popish Mass-house, and so cannot be called the Father's House of Prayer so well as the Jews was; for the Temple at Jerusalem was made by God's Appointment for the outward Circumcision to Worship, in during the Law, as a Figure of Christ's Body to be Magnified, and therefore he whipped Buyers and Sellers then out of the Figure, as he doth now out of the Substance; but you have not only the Enemy's Nature in you, but you have brought forth his Work into open view in your outward Temples also, which were never Built by God's Command, and so there is Buying and Selling amongst you, as was amongst them, as every Eye seethe: For there you Men made Priests, sell Words, the Words out of dead Books to the People, and they give you their Money, Glebeland, and Tithes for them: O filthy Merchandise! The Lord hath shaken his Hand at your dishonest Gain, and is whipping out such Merchants by his Powerful Truth out of his House; and your dead Works, which you sell at so dear a Rate in your Stone-houses, which you call Churches, shall no Child of Light ever buy of you: For the true Bread of God, his free Gift, is now witnessed, Praises for ever: One sort of Merchant Priests sell their Sermons and Mass to the People for Money, another sort their Common-Prayer and Sermons, and the third their Sermons and Directory.  
And thou, John Reynolds, pleadest also for Synagogues and Pulpits, and when thou hast set down Scriptures that tell of the Jewish Temple, Synagogues, and Pulpit, thou askest, if Christ and his Apostles did not resort to these places to instruct the People? To which I answer, First, That whilst the Jewish People stood, Christ and his Apostles did sometimes go into their Temple and Synagogues to Preach the Gospel of the Kingdom, and so an end of those things, and to bring them out of these things which they and you so much dote on; and plead for: but they did never Command Christians to Build such amongst them, but told them, Their Bodies were the Temples of God, 1 Cor. 3. and that those that abide in the Faith, were the House of God, Heb. 2. And these Christians never so confined themselves or others to any such place for the Exercise of their Conscience in the Worship of God, but met as the Lord Jesus and his Apostles did; much less did they stir up the Magistrate, and drive the Jews out of their Temple and Synagogues, and the Gentiles out of theirs, that so they might creep into their Houses, and under another Form of Worship live upon the Jewish Priests Tithes, Offerings, etc. nor upon the Maintenance of the Idolatrous Priests of Diana, and the like Idols; as you Priests, to the shame of your Profession, have done, and do at this day: What, have you driven the Papists out of their Mass-houses, and do live upon their Priest's Maintenance of Tithes, Glebe-lands, Smoke-mony, Garden-pences, Handmony, and the rest of their Foolish things? What, cannot a Man be Born, Marry, Live, nor Die, but you must have Money for it! O Horrible and Filthy thing! stop your Mouths for ever, for your Folly is manifest to all, and you can proceed no further: And so you Priests of the last Order, called Presbyters, did not you drive out the Prelates out of their Houses, which they had gotten from the Papists, and there you sat down Feeding upon the Spoil of the People, as your Fathers had done, and now think much that you are driven out again? And thus you fight with, and drive out one another like wild Beasts, striving each of you to get Power of others to be great in the Earth, and do what you will in your fat Pastures. But, as I said, the Lord is arisen to whip you all out, and to pull down your Nests, and to restore all things to their Primitive Purity, as in the beginning before the Temples, Tithes, Pulpits, and such things were.  
Secondly, I consider, that though I read that Christ and his Apostles went amongst the People in their Temple and Synagogues, as we do at this day, to Preach the end of these things, and so to bring People to the Word that was in the Beginning, before all things, that the Worship might be in Spirit and Truth, as it ought to be, John 4. Yet I never read, that either Christ or his Apostles got up into their Pulpit, nor ever Commanded his to perk up into a Pulpit of Wood over the People, as a Master of a Synagogue, to tell his Thoughts of the Letter, as you do: For though Ezra, a Priest of the Law, had his Pulpit or Tower of Wood to Read or Expound the Letter in, in those days, before the Life was manifest; yet now the Life Christ Jesus is arisen, whose Voice in the Heart, and in all places is to be heard, without a Pulpit, and without Money, and without Price; and the Apostles Preached this Gospel in Towns and Countries, where neither Temple, Synagogue, nor Pulpit was, but Tumults rather; and so the Gospel is not a thing that will set up its Servants in Worldly Honour, but indeed the contrary, which he that hath an Ear may hear, but the Wicked is so Proud in Heart, that neither Preacher nor Professor amongst them will stoop to the simplicity of it.  
The next thing Considerable in this Query is, thy twisting and striving to keep up the Honour of the old Mass-house, however, if it be but a Name, though it want the Nature, yet if thou canst save that, thou thinkest better that than nothing; and sayest, What, though the Saints of God are called the Church; yet that cannot hinder the House, where the Church meets, from being called a Church? A Profound Reasoning! What, is this the Fruit of your cried up Universities? What, must every Place, where any People meet, be calledby the Name of that People? What Logic is this? Surely the Wisdom of the World makes haste into its Nothing again; God is utterly Confounding it. Do you call the place where the Parliament or Privy Council sit, the Parliament or Privy Council? Do you call a Barn, or such a mean place, where the Saints of God now a-days often meet, by the Name of a Church? If we should Reason for the places where we meet, as you do for yours, surely you would Laugh at us, and might then well call us  Women and Seducers indeed.  
But, to go on, thou bringest a Scripture as though thou wouldst prove the thing, and it is Acts 19.37. but the place being well weighed shames thee the more; for the words in that place are the words of a Town-Clark, a Worshipper of Idols, and they are these, For you have brought hither these Men, which are neither Robbers of Churches (as K. James' Translators of the Bible have it,) but in the Translation of the Bible by Beza, it is, You have brought hither these Men, which have neither committed Sacrilege; nor, etc. if Paul had spoken to him or others, and called a Stone-house a Church, as ye do, it had been something to the purpose; but the Heathen speaking there of Sacrilege, improperly Translated Robbing of Churches, can neither be understood to speak of a Christian Assembly, nor the place where they Assemble; for the Covetous and Idolatrous Coppersmith, and his Rude Fellows, matterred little what Paul had done to these; but this Sacrilege, whatever it was, it must needs respect something that the Heathen had in great Esteem: But thou bringing this to prove that a House may be called a Church, because of the Church that may meet in it, is nothing at all to the purpose; for thou wilt not say, it's like that the Worshippers of Diana were the Church; for he that runs without Light must needs stumble, if not fall often. So J. R. walk more soberly, and take some Light along with thee, when thou hast to do in such things.  
Then the last thing in this thy Query is a secret Confession of a weakness of thy own Arguments in this matter; and thou sayest, What tho' the Worship of God be not so tied to any place, as formerly; yet there should be convenient places for the Church to meet in?  
Answ. I answer, The Worship of God now is not tied to any set place at all, and so all your set places, that you plead for, are in the will of Man; and the true Church God both hath and will order it, and provide convenient places for it to meet in, though the World cannot hardly afford it on Earth a place to meet in at all. And for that thou concludest and sayest, What though our Churches have been formerly Abused to Idolatry; So were the Temples and Synagogues abused to Idolatrous and Superstitious Worship, yet nevertheless did Christ and his Apostles make use of them: I answer, What use Christ and his Apostles made of the Temple and Synagogue of the Jews, is in part before declared: To which this may be added;  
As for Christ, he was, according to the Flesh, of the Jews, made under the Law, and so he was to cleanse the Temple, a Figure of his Body, and fulfil the rest of the Laws, Shadows and Customs; and so end them all, and through the Gospel bring Life and Immortality to Light, and to Consecrate the New and Living Way through the death of all old things; for he Nailed them all to his Cross, and they died with him; but he arose from the Dead, and not to bring up the old Dead things again, as thou J. R. and thy Generation would have, but to make all things New; for saith he that sitteth on the Throne, Behold, I make all things New, Rev. 21.5. Glory to his Name for ever; but none can see God in his Throne, but in the Light that comes immediately from him, which Lighteth every Man that cometh into the World; which the World's Builders did always deny and reject, as they do at this day: And for the use the Apostles made of the Temple or Synagogues of the Jews, it was, as is formerly set down, to reason with them there of things pertaining to the Kingdom of God; the Jews, not the Christians, being Assembled there, as the Servants of God, called by the World Quakers, do at this day, to bring People both then and now from the Shadows unto the Substance Christ Jesus, who hath said of his Body, Destroy this Temple, and I will build it again in three days; and so the three days being come and finished, the Temple that is Holy was built again, and God Worshipped and Glorified in it; but nothing that is defiled or loves a Lie can enter into, or be joined unto it: But the Jews were more reasonable in one thing than you Priests of England are, for they suffered Paul, it seems, to Reason with them several of their Sabbath-days in their Assemblies quietly; but now, if any come amongst you upon the liek account that Paul did, it's hard for such to escape your Furious Hands, or a Prison in these days: Whereby it appears your time is but short, you are so unreasonable and full of rage.  
But the use that those Gospel-Ministers the Apostles made of the Jewish Synagogues, will not serve your turns, O Parish-Masters! for unless you may have them in your own dispose to bring the World into them, to call you Master, and put into your Mouths, it will not answer your lustful Mind: And so indeed, with you that have put the Name of Church and Saints upon the Wild World; a great Stone-house Fashioned to Solomon's Temple, with an addition of an high Steeple (Babel-like) with Bells in it, seems most convenient, though it was not only abused too, but even built for Idolatry so much: But for the little Flock of Christ in Cities, Towns and Villages, a less House when they they need one, will be as much, if not more convenient: And to conclude, whereas thou intimatest, that your great Stone-houses, which thou callest Churches, though formerly used to Idolatry, yet now they are free; I say, thou wilt want proof for this, so long as you continue in the Worshipping and Serving of Creatures; (and Paul's Doctrine continues true, which saith, Covetousness is Idolatry;) unless you repent and bring cleaner Vessels into your Temple than you do.  
Qu. 15. Thy Fourteenth Query was for Set-places, now this the Fifteenth is for Set-times; and thou askest, Had not the Saints in Scripture their Set-times for Public Worship as well we?  
Answ. Yea, I say, the Saints amongst the Jews had their Set-times for their Worship better than you; for they were under the Law, and that was their Warrant; but you are neither under, Law nor Gospel in Truth, but  Carnal Imitators in your Will, sometimes of the one Customs, and sometimes of the other, as your Selfwilled and Selfended Hearts in your blindness Prompts you unto; and so for this, I say, Love the Light which Christ hath lighted you withal, and it will lead you to Repentance from all your vain Observe; and in the Light wait, that God's good Spirit you may know, and receive to Teach you, and lead you into all Truth, according to the Promise; and so wait in the Light that lets you see your wants, that's the Holy Place, and wait there for him in his Fear, that comes in his own, not Man's time; and be not as the Heathens, that think to be heard for their much wording of it, nor spread abroad the Sails of your vain Imaginations, when you Pray as the Hypocrites do, lest Satan Transformed carry you about, and fill you with the Wind of his Frothy Spirit, making you believe you Pray with God's Spirit, when it is his own lying Spirit, as his Custom is amongst you to work.  
Qu. 16. So thou having spent thy Strength in Pleading for your Set-Places and Times, in Imitation of the Jews, thou goest on in this Query, endeavouring to prove your Work on these times, in those places, from the likeness of them, to theirs then. And thus as you do, so do the Papists for their Customs, for they Reason as thou dost: For had not the Jews, say they, a Temple and Synagogues; So we: Had not they One High Priest? So we, who is called a Pope, had not they an Altar, and Sacrifice outward? So we; Had not they their Set-Fasts, and Music in their Temples, and Choristers, and Tithes, and Offerings, and such things? And so have we, say they: So saith John Reynold here in this present Sixteenth Query: Had not the Saints in former Times the Scriptures Read in their Congregations, Acts 15.21. Luke 4.16. and sometimes Expounded, Neh. 8.7, 8. and Prayed there, Verse 6. and Singing David's Psalms there, 1 Chron. 16.7. etc. and Blessing the People in the Name of the Lord, Num. 6.23. etc. Well, this was so under the Law, but what wilt thou infer from this, that you may continue the Customs of the Jews in such things; that follows not, unless you will deny the Ascension of Christ, Eph. 4. from 8. to 17. for the Jews were under the Law, and so they had a Worldly Sanctuary, and a Worldly Service, with divers Ordinances of that Nature, until the time of Reformation by Christ raised up, and come again in Spirit, and then says God, Behold I make all things New; and so he that is in Christ is a New Creature, Old things passed away, all things become New; New Temple, New Offerings and Service, New Prayers, Sing, Preach, which no Worldly Man can get into, but all with the Holy Spirit and with Understanding: But thou bringest several places out of the Writings of the Apostles, and Luke, as in Acts, Corinthians, and Hebrews, to prove that the Apostles and Saints use Praying, Preaching, Psalms, and Blessing amongst them: Yea, but what is that to you, that deny that Infallible Spirit of God to be Head in you that guided them; and so get the World's Wisdom, Acts, and Helps instead thereof, to make you Ministers and Saints by. You have indeed in some things a Form of their Works, but the Power being found, not only wanting amongst you, but denied by you; the Children of Light are necessitated to turn away from you, and thus to witness against you.  
But thou sayest, Christ did not only Read the Letter in the Jews Synagogues, but also Preached from a Text of it: To which I answer, For his Reading, he did upon account of being a Jew, to fulfil all that Righteousness of the Law in his day till his Offering up; but that he Preached from a Text, as you Priests do, I utterly deny. For his doing at that time was only this; He being Reading in the Prophet, as is mentioned in that Fourth of Luke, and in providence meeting with that place, which said, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he hath Anointed me to Preach the Gospel, he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, etc. And the Spirit of the Lord arising in him in Life and Power, and Witnessing in him to the fulfilling of that Scripture in himself, He was overcome with Love and Glory, and so closed the Book, and gave it again to the Servant, and sat down; and so the Eyes of the People were fastened on him through Admiration, and Ravishments of Love and Spirit that was upon him; and so as that Living Spirit gave him Utterance in the Silence of all Flesh, he spoke to them, and Preached in many Gracious Words the fulfilling of that Scripture in the Ears of that Day: And this was Christ's doing there.  
But, O you poor naked Teachers of England! etc. What have you to do to boast of this Example for warranting your Practice? There was no choosing a Verse in a Chapter in the Will of Man, which you think you can raise most words from, and so consult with your own Imaginations and old rusty Books, how you may raise an Hours Discourse from it, and so divine to please the itching Ears of Carnal Professors, that they may give you outward Honour, Glebe-lands, Tithes, Augmentations, Easter-reckoning, and the like to please your Lusts; and if need be to Fight for you, and lay their Sword and Law upon all that will not hold you up, and Cry Peace to you: O Hypocrites! How have you deceived the poor People with your long wrest of Scriptures? But now that the Spirit of Truth is come, it is leading us into all Truth without your help, Praised be the Lord for ever.  
And so for Christ his Expounding out of Moses and the Prophets, and opening the Understanding of the Disciples to know the Scripture mentioned, Luke 24. And Paul's Expounding and Testifying of the Kingdom of God, and Persuading the Jews concerning Jesus, both out of the Law of Moses, and out of the Prophets mentioned, Acts 28. is nothing to you who now a-days (instead of Testifying to the Kingdom of God, and opening the Understanding to know Scriptures, and the Light of the World, which they witnessed unto) do Testify of this World, Pleading for your Carnal Ordinances, Set Places, Set Times, Bowing one to another, and the like, as is manifest in these Queries; and so instead of opening, shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against Men, and so with these of old, will neither enter into the Kingdom of God yourselves, nor suffer others; but are under the Woe, as you and the People, may Read all along in Mat. 23. And for Singing of Psalms, it doth not say, that the Saints Sung the very words of David, and no other, and that in Rhyme and Mee●er, in Worldly Tunes, after men's Inventions, or with Organs, or so; but they S●ng as the Spirit gave them utterance in plain words, as thou may'st Read in Acts. 4.24. etc. Which thou bringest for Singing, if that may be called Singing, this was a Song by the Persecuted, not the Persecutors, which in the Persecuted Church of God at this day is often Sung, worthy Consideration, but a shame for all Persecuting Priests and Professers to take these words into their Mouths: And the same Apostle in that place, 1 Cor. 14.26. that saith, every one hath a Psalm, saith, I will Sing with the Spirit and with Understanding; so than a Psalm was a Gift of the Spirit spoken forth from the Understanding to the Edifying of the Hearer; and they were to be silent when that Gift was Exercised as well as others; but your Confused Noises and Temple-songs is but as Howling in God's Ears, and his children's Ears in this day; for there the Proud and Scornful Sing Falsely, and say, that they are not Proud and Scornful, because David said so, Psal. 131. and so with, and amongst you is David's Psalms in words used, but the Holy Life and Innocent Love that he Lived in, in Deeds denied, and so the Lord can take no Pleasure in you.  
And for that Scripture thou bringest of Aaron and his Sons Blessing the Tribes of Israel in the Name of God: And Paul's commending of the Churches in the closure of his Epistles to the Grace of God, makes as little for your customary Blessings of, and speaking Peace to the Wicked for self-ends, as the Preaching of Christ doth for your Daubing and Divining for Money; for you are neither of Aaron's Order, nor of Christ's Anointing; and so wash you, and make you clean, and put away the Evil of your Do, and God will Bless you, but not otherwise; and better will it be for you to have the lowest place in that Blessing, than the uppermost Room where you stand in the Cursed Ground.  
Qu. 17. Thy Seventeenth and next Query is; Hath not Christ Jesus sent out his Ministers to Disciple him all Nations, and to Baptise them in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and Promised to be with them to the end of the World? Mat. 28.19, 20. Is not that Baptism with Water? And having set down some Scriptures that speaks of washing with Water, thou criest, Are not they then contrary to Christ and his Apostles that deny Water-Baptism?  
Answ. To which I answer, That all this, if it were granted thee, is nothing at all to thine and thy brethren's Practice, who take a little Water and sprinkle it on a Child's Face, calling it Christ's Baptism; for there was Discipling, and Confessing of Faith, and the Holy Ghost, before Baptising, which cannot groundedly, by you, be said of Infants of a day old, or so; and this thou sawest, which made thee so busy in the words of that Query there following, to pro●e Infants sprinkling: And first, Thou goest about to prove it, by saying, The Scripture intimates that the Children of Believing Parents are Disciples, Acts 15.10. I say to the Children of Light, this Scripture intimates no such thing at all, but plainly holds forth the contrary; for the words there are, Why tempt ye God to put a Yoke upon the Disciples Necks, which neither our Fathers nor we were able to bear? Now these Disciples here spoken of, were not Natural Infants, but grown Men, Christian Believers, as the First, and the Twenty-third, and Twenty-fourth Verses of that same Fifteenth Chapter do plainly show; and so if thou hadst not bee● a Blind follower of the Blind Guide Richard Baxter, whose Argument this is, thou wouldst not, it's like, have offered to bring this for this purpose, for it shames you all for ever: But this Argument being too weak for thee, thou endeavourest by another Argument, as little to the purpose, to prove the Natural Infant's Subjects of Water-Baptism, because, sayest thou, they have received the Holy Ghost, or else how could the Kingdom of God consist of such? To this I answer and say, But which of the Natural Infants which you sprinkle hath the Holy Ghost, and which not? How come ye to see this difference? Or, you will say, that all have it; if so, then may People have the Holy Ghost ordinarily by Natural Birth, without hearing; then where is your great Glorying of your Words or Sermons? But to proceed, thou sayest, Can we imagine that God will give them the Kingdom, and deny them Water-Baptism? I answer, God will give the Kingdom of Heaven to whom it belongeth, and it consisteth not in outward Observation or Washings, as Dipping, or Sprinkling, or so, but in Righteousness, Peace, and Joy in the Holy Ghost: And thou that, with the Papists, attributes so much to Water-Baptism, how comes it to pass, that after all your Sprinkling the Children, as they grow up in Years, many grow up in so much Wickedness and Vanity, as is every where manifest? And as concerning Children of Believing Parents, we deny them to be Believers that hate the Light, and believe not in it, but say, it is Insufficient, as before is declared. But as for that Mat. 28. which thou and thy Brethren usually bring for your Custom of Preaching and Sprinkling of Infants; I say, it makes nothing for you, who sit down in some Fat Benefice or other, as times favour you, and there Divine from the Letter, as is said, an Hours Discouse or two in a Week to the People for Money: Why go you not into all Nations, as they did, and Disciple the Turks and Indians, if you will be warranted by this Scripture? But whereas you take the Apostles for your Example, I query first, When did ever the Apostles go to the Schools of the World so many Years to be made Ministers? Did ever the Apostles seek to the Magistrates to compel People to pay them Wages, as you do, or compel People by their Sword to conform to Christian Doctrine? Or when did they sprinkle Infants, receive Tithes of the People, or Sing David's Prayers, Quakings in Rhyme and Meeter, as you do? When were they called Master, as you are? And many the like things, wherein you differ as much from the Apostles, as Darkness from Light, whereby you show yourselves to be Guided by a contrary Spirit, (to wit) the Spirit of Error: So for ever be silent, and stop your Mouths, for you are both out of the Apostles Doctrine and Practice, as your Fruits make you manifest.  
Qu. 18. Thy Eighteenth Query is concerning the Supper; and thou askest, Hath not Christ Jesus given us his own Example for the Celebrating of his Last Supper? And hath not the Apostle Paul delivered it to the Church, and Commanded the Saints to do it in Remembrance of Christ, and thereby to show forth the Lord's Death till he come again?  
Answ. The Lord's Supper we own; for Behold I stand at the Door and knock, saith Christ, and if any Man hear my Voice, and open to me, I will come in and sup with him, and he with me: And for the Doctrine of Christ, his Eating and Drinking with his Disciples, so we own it in its place, and for its time; but what is that to you, who are both out of the Doctrine and Practice of the Apostles, as by your Fruits is manifest? And so you Eat and Drink unworthily, and thereby are guilty of the Body and Blood of Christ; and so Eat and Drink Damnation to yourselves, and do not discern the Lord's Body: And so in witnessing against you and your Practices in this State, we neither Vilify Men, nor Jesus Christ. And thou sayest, What a vain pretence is it to say, We Eat Christ Spiritually? I say, it it vain, if it be but in Pretence; but if it be in Truth, it is the greatest thing, for it is Eternal Life; and he that thus Feeds upon Christ's Body is Alive to God: But you in all, your other Eating and Drink, are Dead whilst you Live: And so of you, that would keep People always in the Figures and Signs, saying, The coming of Christ, spoken of 1 Cor. 11.26. is never to be witnessed here: I demand, Whether that Cup which the Apostle said, The Cup of Blessing which we Bless, is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ; And the Bread which we Break, is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ: For we being many are one Body, and one Bread; for we are all Partakers of that one Bread, 1 Cor. 10.15, 16, 17. I say, Whether was this outward Bread and Wine, yea or nay.  
Qu. 19 And in the next Query thou comest over with these things again, saying, How can those Persons be Faithful to Christ Jesus, and Obedient to his Gospel, that refuse to Pray, and Sing Psalms, and Baptise with Water, and re●eive the Lord's Supper?  
I answer and say, If any disobey God in any thing he commands them unto, whether in any of these things, or in any other, they are not Faithful to Christ and his Gospel; but those People thou here secretly shoots at, are taught to obey God in all his Requirings, 
☜  and so to Glorify him in their Bodies and Spirits, which are his; and so are we clear before the Lord from this thy Charge, and also from that which follows; for we Revile none, much less those that in Conscience of their Duty to God observe them or any thing else: And so the Reviler must lodge in thine own Bed, who fears not to Revile and speak Evil of such in these days, as in Conscience to their known Duty to God, Worship him in Spirit and in Truth.  
But you whose Fear towards God is taught by the Precepts of Men, in vain is all your Worship; for I Testify for the Lord, that whatever you do, though it had the very Form of the Saints Practise of old, which yours have not, and not led thereinto by the Motion of the Eternal and Infallible Spirit of Life, it is nothing but the Precepts of Men, and Will-worship, and no better than Offering Swine's Blood, or cutting off a Dog's Neck: and for the endeavouring to keep up your Custom of Praying, and Singing in mixed Congregations, from the Example of Jews, or them that follow Christ; I say, your Hypocritical Praying and Singing is good no where, but Rejected of God; and I see thy P●ide all along, that would be computing your Congregations to those that followed Christ: Nay, nay, for though there was One Devil, yet there was Eleven Saints; but when you are searched, scarce One of many Twelves that hath any true Fear of God before their Eye● is to be found amongst you.  
Qu. 20 And whereas in thy last Query thou askest, Whether those Persons that have Experienced the Operation of the Spirit of God in the Gospel's Preaching and Administrations, Convincing their Consciences, Melting the Hearts, Humbling the Spirits, and Turning them from Darkness to Light, and have afterwards Tasted much Sweetness, and have felt Soul-Ravishing Comforts in the Enjoyment of God in Ordinances, have not the Witness in themselves that God doth own these, and Bless these Privileges to them. I answer, Yea, it is thus with all that, in Truth, have the Witness in themselves, that God doth own these, and Bless these Privileges to them. But those People that go under the Name Quakers, have, to the Praise of God's free Love, the Witness in themselves of such Fruits as th●se amongst them, from the Virtue of the Everlasting Gospel, and its Administration. And therefore we can Witness, that John Reynolds, and all such as Condemn this Ministry and Work of God amongst us (as Heresy, or so) are Deceivers, and that they are Strangers to Spiritual Communion with God, whatever in words they may Boast, who cannot meet with, and enjoy God where we (to his Immortal Praise, be it in Truth spoken) do experience that loving Kindness and Goodness which is better than Life itself: And therefore, how long may this John Reynolds, or any other Seducer or painted Sepulchre talk, before ever they can persuade these whom the Lord hath so loved, not to believe their own Spiritual Senses and Experiencies? But to conclude, Whereas this John Reynolds in his high swelling Words of his last Query, and the 12th, boasts much of his own and his Fellows Experiencies of Spiritual things, I refer the Reader to the rest of his Queries, and especially the 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, and to the answers to them all; and to weigh all in the Balance of Just Judgement, and it will appear to him beyond words what may be Judged of them and us.   
Thomas Taylor.   

A Testimony to the True and Spiritual Worship: And a Word of Consolation to the Children of Light.  
GOD is a Spirit, all Pure, Holy, Just and True; and therefore in Spirit, Purely, Holy, and Truly, will he be Worshipped of all that come to him; and therefore all that Worship, which stands in the Impure & Unholy nature of the flesh is of no acceptance with him; Cain may Sacrifice, and Israel may be Circumcised, and Judas do something like an Apostle, but so long as the Murderous, Scoffing, Covetous, Traitorous Nature of the Flesh stands, all is nothing.  
The Lord God Blessed for ever, hath in this day of his Powerful Love made manifest himself, amongst the Children of Men on Earth; and now Sons and Daughters do Prophesy, and Old and Young do Sing of his Praise, and Sound forth with Joyful Hearts of the worthy noble Acts of his Right-Hand; because his Kingdom is come, and his Glory in Zion is appeared; and the Tabernacle of God is indeed with Men, and he himself (not a Shadow, or a Figure, or ontward Representation of him) but he himself, who is over all God Blessed for ever, dwells in, and with his People, his dearly beloved S●ed, who have believed in Light, that true Light, that Lighteth every Man that cometh into the World, and have not despised the day of Small Things, but have waited in the Light, in the Faith of his Holy Power, for the fulfilling of his Promises, and so through Faith and Patience, have received the Promises of Everlasting Life, and Salvation fulfilled in them; whereby the Mountains are thrown down, and Valleys lifted up, and all made Plain, Pure, and Perfect for the Holy God and Father of all Mercy, and Goodness to dwell in, and walk in: Glory, Glory to his great Name, who hath not left himself without a Witness of his Faithfulness this day, nor left the Throne of David's Kingdom without an Heir to sit upon it, to Order and Establish it in Righteousness: And now, even now in this our Day, the Day which the Lord hath made, is the Blessed Fountain of the great Depth of the Love of God in Christ Jesus truly opened; and the Waters of the Heavenly Temple are so deep that a Man may swim in them; and it is not now as sometimes in times past, here a line and there a line, here a little and there a little, but now hath the Lord our God, according to his excellent Lovingkindness, fully opened to Judah, and the Children of the Heavenly Mother Jerusalem, the Mystery of his Will, and Fountain of his Eternal Goodness, in Christ Jesus the Light, whereby our Souls are satisfied, and Sin and Transgression done away, and the Everlasting Righteousness (which makes Pure and Perfect the very Heart, Soul, and Conscience to God) brought in; ever Blessed be his Glorious Name for his unspeakable Gift, Amen, and Amen.  
And now are all false Religions seen, and by the Light, which makes them manifest, Judged; for the false Births, which are of the great Whore (Mystery Babylon) whose Religions are carried on by the will of the Flesh (as by the Fleshly Wisdom they were Invented) stand all in the Curse, where nothing is perfect, but their own Misery and Wretchedness Remains; and therefore it is that both Priest and People, in this Wretched State, do all with one consent cry out against the perfect Work of Jesus Christ in his People, saying, None can be Perfect here; And so do in a Word deny the very End for which Christ came, and the End for which the Ministry of Christ was given; for Christ gave himself for his People, That he might wash them in the Word of Life, and so present them to himself a Glorious Congregation, without Spot or Wrinkle, or any such thing, Ephes. 5.25. etc. And thou art all Fair my Love, saith Christ to his Spouse, And there is no Spot in thee. And the Law made nothing Perfect, but the bringing in of a better Hope (Christ in us the Hope of Glory, Col. 1.27.) Heb. 7.19. And the very end of the Ministry was, for the Edifying and Perfecting the Saints, who are Christ's Body, Eph. 4.12. And we labour to present every Man Perfect to God in Christ, Col. 1.28. And John 17.23. I in them and thou in me, that they may be made Perfect in one. But now the false Ministry, which stands in the Flesh, in which no good thing dwells, keeps People always learning, and never brings any to the Knowledge of perfecting Truth of the Lord Jesus; for how should it? For they have Run and I never sent them, saith God, therefore they shall not profit the People at all. Jer. 23. And under this woeful Condition lieth all the World of unbelieving People, who believe not in the Truth, Christ Jesus, but follow their own dark Spirits, which see nothing of the Kingdom of God, nor the Holy Worshippers therein.  
A long and dark Night of Apostasy hath passed over the World since the Apostles time, wherein the Spirit of Antichrist and Devils hath wrought effectually in the Children of Disobedience, as was foretold to the blinding of their Minds, and hardening their Hearts against the Everlasting Gospel of Truth, the Heavenly Light and Power of God unto Salvation; and hath so deluded them, that they have thought they were doing God service, when they were Persecuting his Truth, and Members of his Body, as many in the same dark deluded state do at this day; but now the Lord is lifting up his Standard against that great Whore, Dragon, false Prophet, and their Armies, who Gog and Magog like, would devour the Lambs of Christ.  
And now no Weapon form against Christ, his Truth and People, shall ever prosper any more at all, but the Lamb shall have the Victory; and the Kingdom, Dominion, and Greatness of it shall be given to the Saints of the Most High God, whose Kingdom is Everlasting, and that Nation, Kingdom and People, that will not bow to Truth, will moulder away and come to nothing, as the Lord hath said: For now is the effect of every Vision fully to come, and no more at all to be prolonged. And therefore, Woe, woe to the Inhabitants of the Earth, and the Sea, who are putting the Day of the Lord a far off, crying Peace, Peace, when there is no Peace; for there is no Peace to any who will not have Jesus Christ (the true Light, that Lighteth every Man that cometh into the World) to rule in them, and over them; for his is the Kingdom, Glory and Power, and he will Reign for Evermore, in the midst of his Enemies. Glory to his Name without ceasing, Amen and Amen, saith my Soul, whom thou hast Redeemed, O Holy One of Israel, to set forth thy Praise amongst the Living in Jerusalem, thy Holy Hill, so be it.  
So now, O all ye that love Righteousness, and daily wait to see the Heavenly Kingdom thereof, set up in you, and in all People I T. T. your Brother, in the Joys and Sufferings of the Gospel; having had through the Mercifulness of our God and Father, perfect knowledge of his Good Way from the beginning of this Day of his Love, which hath dawned upon his Beloved Seed in these Islands, and in all the World, do declare and bear my Testimony for God amongst many Brethren, that there is no way to God the Father of Light, but by the Light Christ Jesus, that true Light that Lighteth every Man that cometh into the World with a Light that is Pure, Free, Spiritual and Sufficient, that all Men through it may believe, and so be led out of Darkness, Sin and Death (the ways of Sin) into the Marvellous Light and Life of Righteousness and true Holiness, and so into Fellowship with the Holy God, without which Holiness none can see him, nor enjoy him for ever. For this Gift of God, the Light, is Holy; and in all that believe and receive it, it brings forth it's own Blessed Image, which is Holiness. And it is Free, and works according to its own Blessed Nature in all that join to it, setting them free from all their Spiritual Enemies whatsoever; and so making them Freeborn Children of the Heavenly Jerusalem, which is free for evermore, from all the false and imbondaging Impositions of the Man of Sin whatsoever.  
And so also because this Heavenly Gift of God, Christ Jesus the Light, who Lighteth every Man, John 1.9. is perfect, and shines in the Hea●t, therefore it doth of its own Nature, make perfect every Man that wi●h their Hearts receive it, and so come to God by it: It makes perfect to God, as pertaining ●o the very Heart and Conscience of all its Lovers; for if you Love the Light you Love God, from whence it comes; for he that Loves him that is sent, ●oveth also him that sent him.  
And therefore I say unto all People upon the face of the Earth, that all that Faith, Hope, Worship, Religion, or whatever it may be called [That stands not in (and is not carried on in) this Power of God the Light, which Lighteth every Man] is nothing worth. Every good, and perfect Gift (saith James) cometh down from the Father of Light, who is Unchangeable; and it shines in the Heart of every Man, though the Darkness, which through the Full hath gotten place there, comprehends it not; yet the Light is there a sure Foundation, a tried Cornerstone, Elect and Precious; Blessed are all that fall upon it, so as to be broken into Godly Sorrow, and Tenderness of Heart; and Blessed are all that Build upon it; they shall be called the Elect of God, Precious Sons and Daughters of Zion, and their Building shall never fail them, nay, the Gates of Hell shall never prevail against their FAITH, because it standeth in the Power of God Christ Jesus, the Light that ever Liveth, to keep them in a good and safe Condition, that thus come to God by him.  
The Day is dawned, which makes all things manif●ll, Praised be God forever; even the Spirit of Truth, which leadeth into all Truth, is come; and the Holy Anointing is witnessed (in all that believe in the Name of the Living Unchangeable God) which Teacheth all things, and it abideth in the Faithful Hearts, and is sufficient. And he called the Light Day; and so the joyful Day, which the Lord hath made, being come, we will Rejoice and be Glad in it, though the Children of Darkness be never so Angry; For the Lord, our Strength, will maintain our Cause against all his Foes for evermore; so be it.  
And now, though the Children of the Night be many, and Professors of the Letter of Scripture, that want the Life of it, come forth as so many Armies, to plead for, and contend for their several form Ways, and invented Worships, against the Children of God this day, who Worship God in Spirit and in Truth; yet Greater is he that is in us, than he that is in the World; and so, though we are forced to Build, in this our Holy City, New Jerusalem, with our Spiritual Sword in our Hand, yet we are all well content, finding the Lord still with us in this Day of the Restoration of all things: And so though Tobiah and Sanballat, with all the Heathen, Mock and carry false Reports, concerning us, to the Rulers of the Earth; yet through the Help of our God we are enabled to go on in our Holy Spiritual Work, in the Lord's Holy City and Temple; and the Word of the Lord Prospers in our Hand, and in our Hearts. And though they say we deny the Ordinances of God, because we cannot plead for, or put confidence in a Shadow or Figure; yet holding the Head Christ Jesus, the Light and Life Eternal, we are safe enough, and have the Witness of God in our Hearts Justifying us and Sealing in our Hearts our Acceptance with his Majesty, which is our Peace and Assurance for ever; for Praised be the Name of God for ever, who hath given us an understanding to know him that is true, the Son of God, and we are in him that is true; who is the Everlasting Ordinance of God; and in him are we Baptised, with a Baptism made without Hands; and our Supper is with the Lord in Spirit and Truth where we are daily given to feed freely at his Table, whose Body is Meat indeed; who said, I am the Living Bread that gives Life for ever, John 6. And he that Believeth in me, and feedeth on me, shall never Die, chap. 6.50, 51. God gave the Children of Israel Manna in the Wilderness, and they died notwithstanding, but my Father giveth you the true Bread; For God so loved the World, that he gave his Son to be the Light and Life of Man; and so to as many as Received him then, and do Receive him now, to dwell in their Hearts by Faith, to them he gave, and daily doth give, Power to become the Sons of God, whose Birth is not of the Mortal Seed, of Flesh and Blood, nor the Mind or Will, or Words thereof, but of the Incorruptible Seed of the Word of God, Eternal, Real, and Essential, which Lives and Endures for Ever, which perishes not with Using, as mortal thing do; but it Lives and Triumphs in its own Creating, saving Sustaining, Upholding, Comforting, and satisfying Virtue and Power for evermore, well witnessed in the Hearts of Spiritual Believers this day; For in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and by it wore all things made, and it was and is the Light and Life of Man; and he Delighted and doth also this day greatly Rejoice and Delight in the habitable parts of his Creation; For I will dwell in them, and walk in them, who open unto me, saith the Lord, who by his Servant said, Behold I stand at the door and knock; and by his Servant also now saith, Behold the Lord stands at the door of your Hearts [all People and whosoever opens unto him, he will come in unto them, and the pure in Heart shall see the pure and Holy God supping with them, and they with him; and they shall drink abundantly of the Heavenly Wine with Jesus Christ in the Father's Kingdom, fresh and Living, for now is the Lord rending away the Veil, the Covering that hath been upon the hearts of People, and making to all People the Feasts of fat things, full of Marrow, and of Wine upon the Lees well Refined.  
And now is the Lord God Blessed for ever fulfilling the Promises of his Great Love in Christ Jesus, which have been since the World began, in this day of the pouring forth of his Holy Spirit, whereby the Holy City, New Jerusalem, is felt come down from God out of Heaven, and God himself dwelling with Men, even the Tabernacle of God with Man, as was said before; all Holy Praises to his Name: Yea, he that sits upon the Throne hath made, and is daily making all things New; and now the Lamb is known to be the Light of his People, and they need no other; for the Anointing which they have of him Teacheth all things; and now is Jerusalem a rejoicing indeed, and her People a joy; but now the Uncircumcised in Heart and Ear, who do always resist the Holy Ghost, are greatly troubled and offended by reason of the great Darkness and enmity of their Hearts, because they cannot in their unclean mind enter in; for into this City no unclean thing, nor any that loves or makes a Lie can enter; for now the Serpent's meat is Dust, and his Head is bruised, Glory to God for ever. See Isa. 65.17. etc. Rev. 21.1. etc. Acts 7.51, 52.  
And now are all the Climbers (who have not come in by the door, but are Climbed up another way, in their unclean minds, whom Christ calls Thiefs and Robbers ●seen, and by the same that discovers them Judged and Condemned; these are they that have taken away the Key of Knowledge, and will neither enter into the Kingdom of God themselves, nor suffer those that are entering into enter: These are they whom Christ-cries woe against, who love to be called of Men, Master; heady and high minded Men, with the great Train of their seduced Followers, who Plead for them, and Fight for them, because they cry Peace to them in their Sins, and tell them they must never be Perfect whilst they are here, but must carry about them a Body of Sin, without all Hope of ever being freed from it, whilst on Earth; and so in effect deny the end of Christ's coming, who came to set free the Soul, by destroying the Body of Sin; also they deny the very end, the very end of Christ's Ministry; for when he Ascended up on High, he gave gifts to Men, for the work of the Ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ, and for the Perfecting of the Saints, Ephes 4. Come ye Contenders against Truth, Is not the Perfecting of the Saints in Holiness, by bringing them out of Unholiness; and in Faith, out of Unbelief; and into the Spirit, out of the Flesh, and all Fleshly and Perishing Observations? And doth not the Ministry of Christ, which is the true Spiritual Ministry, attain its end, and do its work to the utmost? Yea, yea, though the Ministers of Antichrist Fret, and Foam, and Gainsay, and Contradict, and Blaspheme, and spend their strength in Vain, and perfect nothing but their Sins; yet the Work of the Lord goes on and Prospers, and the Body of Christ is Built up, and the Songs of Zion Sung in the Holy Land; and none can take part therein but the Redeemed of the Lord, who are redeemed from the Earth, into the Heavenly Society, and Church of the Firstborn, whose Names are written in Heaven, and who follow the Lamb whither soever he goes; these are not Defiled with the Cup of the great Whore, for they are Virgins, and have Oil in their Lamps, and so need not go to the Merchants of Babylen to buy. And so all People bow to Truth in the inward parts, for obedience to that is the Sacrifice which God requireth, and better than all other Sacrifices; all your Sabbath out of this, are but mere Druggeries; and all your Will worship, Ceremonies, and Traditions (being out of this) are but mere mock Services; yea, out of this (to wit, the Light and Truth in the inward parts) your very Faith is vain, and your Hope of none effect, and your Prayers Sin; for unto thee who wilt not have it to rule in thee, the Lord hath no respect, nor to thy Offering: So prise your Time O all ye Strangers to the Life of God, and make supplication to your Judge Christ Jesus, that Lights every Man that comes into the World; for this is the condemnation, that Light is come into the World, and Men Loved, and do Love, their evil deeds, and hate the Light; for every evil Doer hates the Light, saith Christ, yea, it is so, whatsoever the Hypocrite, the Evil-Doer, with his Mouth may say to the contrary.  
And all ye Children of the Light, walk in the Light, and be thankful, for the Lord is Arisen in Mighty Power to Crown you with his Glory; his Glorious, Righteous, Wisdom, Holiness, and Salvation; he is come indeed to fulfil all his Promises in you, and for you, to the Glorifying of the Arm of his own Power, and for your Souls endless comfort; and why should any of you be afraid of what Man can do against you, seeing you fear God, and love the Children of Men, and you are not of them that seek to destroy men's Lives, but to save them, as much as in you lieth?  
Arise, Arise, break forth into singing, ye Sons and Daughters of the Heavenly King, the Lord our Righteousness: for thy Light is come, and the Glory of the Lord is risen upon thee: And thou shalt no more be termed desolate; for thy Maker is thy Husband, and thy Land is married indeed: And thy Plants grow, and thy Gardens cast a Sweet Smell: Oh! Happy are they who Believe in thy Light, and walk in the clear Sunshine of thy Day: No Stumbling nor occasion of Stumbling is on thy Mountain, nor in thy Valleys; but on the Dark Mountains, whereon the Haters of Christ walk, is all the Stumbling of this present World. Thou who art come in at the true Door, Christ Jesus, the Light of the World, thy Kingdom is not of this World, but is a Kingdom without End, which cannot be shaken, wherein dwells Righteousness indeed; and thy Pasture is Fresh and green all the Year bong, being wet with the Dew of Heaven, yea, in thy Happy Lot are both the upper and nether Springs, and Bread of Life, for evermore, where rests with thee (in the Purest Love) thy Brother in the Joys and Sufferings of the Gospel,  
Thomas Taylor. In the 12 of the 6th Month, 1669.   

A Message of Truth to Professors.  
woe to the Teachers of the People, that daub with untempered Mortar, and cry, Peace, Peace, when the Lord hath not spoken Peace; For the Lord speaks Peace to none in their Sins; but they Teach for Doctrine, That none can Live out of Sin whilst on this side the Grave; and so they Minister for Antichrist, the Man of Sin; and not for Christ, who is without Sin, in God's Righteousness.  
And he that keepeth Christ's Commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him; and his Commandments are not Grievous, saith John: And again, He that is Born of Christ Sinneth not; for the Everlasting Father of the Unspotted Generation it he. And herein (saith the same John, and all the Living Members of Christ) is our Love made Perfect, that we may have Boldness in the Day of Judgement; because as he is, so are we in this World.  
But the Masterly Teachers of this world cry out, O the Commands of Christ (who is God) are hard, none can keep them, we must ●ive in Sin whilst on Earth, no Perfection here, no Victory over all, while on this side the outward Grave.  
These have their Eyes abroad, and Judge after the Flesh; and the things of God's Spirit are Foolishness to them: The Grave of Sir 〈◊〉 lie dead in, and know not the Resurrection from it; and so 〈◊〉 norant of Christ, who is the Resurrection and the Life: And the ●●r in such is shut, as yet, that should hear the Son's Voice, whose V●●●e raiseth the Dead.  
O Foolish and Slow of Heart to believe all that Christ and his Prophets have spoken! Doth not Christ say, The hour is coming and now is, when the Dead shall hear the Voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall Live? For as the Father hath Life in himself, so hath he given to the Son, to have Life in himself, John 5.26. And in another place, He that Liveth and Believeth in me, shall never die, for God is not the God of the Dead, but of the Living; for the Dead cannot Praise him. And And I will Ransom them from the Power of the Grace; I will Redeem them from Death; O Death I will be thy Flagnes, O Grave I will be thy Destruction, Hos. 13.14.  
And again, Ezek. 27.12, etc. Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, O my People, I will open your Graves, and cause you to come up out of your Graves, and ye shall know that I am the Lord; and I will Place my Sanctuary in the midst of you for evermore. These Words are Faithful and True, and the Israel of God, who are risen with Christ, know them; and in the Birth Immortal being passed from Death to Life, do set to their Seal, That God is a Faithful Performer of his Promises this Day: For Life and Immortality is brought to Light through the Gospel, which is the Power of God to Salvation, in all that believe in God, and know his Christ in them, who is the Death of Death, and Destruction of Sin, and Life Eternal to enjoy; Glory to his Name for ever: And against this Living Faith and Quickening Power the Gates of H●ll shall never be able not prevail.  
But as any said before, Woe to the Teachers of the People, who Daub with Untempered Mortar; who look outward, and judge of things according to the Flesh and outward appearance of things; and plead for the Life of Sin during, the whole time of Man's being upon Earth, and look at the Grave without, and Death without, and so lie Dead in Sin, and Buried in the Grave of their Spiritual Wickedness themselves; and so le●d about a People, filly as Women in Matters Spiritual, laden, like themselves, with divers Sins and Lusts, always learning, but never able to come to the Knowledge of the Truth: For who know the Truth, as it is in Jesus, are set free by it; For if you be set free by the Truth then are ye free indeed, saith Christ. This is more than all outward Knowledge and Profession, to be so free, as not to be under the Power of any Sin, Lust, Temptation, Will of Man, nor any of the Powers of Darkness whatsoever; but Free, as Christ is Free, who is over all, God Blessed forever.  
But now that Christ is come, to set up this his Holy Glorious Kingdom in the Hearts of the Children of Men; where is this Faith to be found on Earth? But the Multitudes of Earthly Professors cry, the Kingdom of Heaven hereafter; the Kingdom of Glory hereafter; no Perfection on this side the (outward) Grave; none can overcome, or put off the Body of Sin, whilst here; and the like: Not knowing what they say, nor whereof they affirm, when they speak of such things; because, to the Kingdom of Heaven within, in Man, they are Strangers; Eyes they have but see not; and Ears but hear not; for the inward Eye, which should see, have they fast closed; and the Ear, which should hear, have they shut, lest they should see and hear, and be converted, and be saved. But Blessed is the Eye that sees the Kingdom of God, which he hath set up, and is setting up in his Trembling People; and the Ear that hears the unutterable Word of the Living Father, which raiseth the Dead; they shall ever be Prasing of him in the Congregation of the Righteous, where none can come to make afraid; for these Love and Fear the Lord, and that frees them from the Fear of Vain Man, whose Breath is in his Nostrils.  
But all whose Religion stands upon the Sandy Foundation of Man's Wisdom, and Thoughts, and Do, which Perfects not to God, these will be like the Chaff, which the Wind scatters to and fro; the Regenerating Power of God's Eternal Spirit they being ignorant of in themselves, all their show of Religion is mere Hypocrisy, and the Religion of Hypocrites shall never be established; for all who gather not with Christ shall scatter; and every Plant that his Heavenly Spiritual Hand hath not Planted, shall be rooted up.  
O! What Darkness have you wrapped yourselves in? and how is the Understanding Part clouded in you, that you will neither see nor learn to know the things that pertain to Everlasting Life? Can you say the Branches of the fallen Tree, the first Adam, are Unholy and Corrupt, because of the Unholiness of the Root? And will you not see that the Members of the Heavenly Man, Christ Jesus, who never fell, are Holy, because of the Holiness of the Root? For if the Root be Holy so are the Branches. Anoint your Eyes with Eyesalve, that if possible you may see, and know a better Root in you, than the fallen Man's Nature, to grow on, that the Kingdom of Holiness you may feel come near you; For they that are in the Flesh cannot please God, whatever they may profess: And this adds to their Misery, that when they have brought forth the Deadly Works of the Flesh, they would charge them upon God's Elect, and make their Works like their own: These Fleshly ones are great Enemies to Christ, and his Righteousness, and his Members; for they that are in Christ are New Creatures; and to Abel and his Offering God hath still Respect, though Cain and his Offering was always Rejected, because Polluted with Sin; as the Prayers and Performances of all Hypocrites are at this day: Therefore for this purpose was the Son of God manifested, and is at this Day Received of the Faithful, even to destroy Sin, which is the Devils Work. And in him, to wit (Christ Jesus the Light) is there no Sin, nor Sinsul Narure.  
So they that Love Christ, and Walk in his Life, and Light, please God; for he is that Way Undefiled, wherein no Unclean can Walk: but the Redeemed are here: And what if I should set down the words of Jesus, to wit, Whosoever abideth in Christ, Sioneth not; whosoever Sinneth, hath not seen him nor known him, 1 John 3.6. Can you believe it? I know you cannot whilst you stand reasoning with Flesh and Blood, not Believing in the Light, that Lighteh every Man that cometh into the World; but call the Light of Christ in Man Natural; and th●n put the Letter (which only witnesses to the Light) instead of it: And then the Enemy works in your Natural Earthly Wisdom, causing you to wrest Scriptures to Establish your Empty Forms, which makes nothing Perfect; and this was the Sin of the Old Jews, who though they talked of the Messiah, yet when he appeared they would not come to him, that they might be saved; and so under the Dead Profession of the Letter, they lay Slain: And tho' they had a Zeal for God, as you have now, yet it was not according to Knowledge, and so stumbled at the Stumbling-Stone; and so in their dark minds would needs keep up the Forms and Shadows of things, in opposition to the Substance (the thing itself) Christ Jesus, when he appeared; as you do now. O! that you could be persuaded of this, how well would it be for your Poor Souls in time to come.  
Therefore now that the True, Heavenly, Everlasting, All-sufficient Light is broken forth again, from under the Clouds, after the long Dark Night of Apostasy; turn your Minds in, to know a measure of it in you, and wait therein to be led out of all the Dark Paths of Sin and Error by it: For I am the Way, saith Christ, the Light, that true Light which Lighteth every Man that cometh into the World; and I will send my Holy Spirit of Truth to lead into all Truth: He is come, and his Promise fulfilled; Glory to his Name forever. And do you not know that Christ is in you, except you be Reprobates, saith the Apostle? And if we walk in the Light as he is in the Light, then have we fellowship one with another, and the Blood of this innocent Lamb cleanseth from all Sin, and washeth from all Unrighteousness all real Comers thereunto, saith the same Spirit: Therefore go not forth, for without are Dogs, and all Liars; but Truth and the Kingdom of it, is to be found within, nigh in the Heart.  
O how Beautiful is the Way of the Just! Holiness is the Girdle of their Reins continually, their Hearts ponder deep things in Holiness; they do no Iniquity who walk in this Everlasting Undefiled WAY, Christ Jesus, the Light; for, by the Light are they led out of all Defilements; and to such there is no occasion of Stumbling.  
O stoop down low with your minds to the Light of Christ in you, that convinceth you of Sin and Evil, that through the Light the true Door, and Daily-Cross to the Carnal Mind, you may come into the Sheep-fold; for all who climb up another Way, are but as Thiefs and Robbers, and must be judged as Goats, and set on the left hand, because they would not hear Christ's Voice, the Light in the Conscience, to be led by it. Great Woe to the Climbers over the Door; such neither receive Christ, nor his Servants whom he sends; but choose rather to follow such as love to be called of Men, Master, and live in the respect of Persons, and Persecuting Nature, and daub over an old Heart with fair Promises of Life, as it is amongst you this Day; for what tho' some in the outward stand against you for your Form, and Words sake, as the Heathen of old did the outward Jews, yet both those outward Jews then, as you outward Professors do now, stood and do stand, against Christ, and us for his Truth's sake: For we find it true from you all, that whosoever walketh in Christ, and holdeth forth his Life, and so Worshippeth God in Spirit and Truth, shall be hated of all men, whether Professors or Profane, who are out of that Life and Holy Worship, even for Christ's very Name and Life's sake, because it is a Cross and Offence to all the World, who are in their own Wills, under what Form or Profession soever, who are gotten into a Profession of Christ, without Christ, and the daily Cross which his Followers bear. Therefore all who are climbed up into the Tree of an outward Profession without the true real ceiling and Spiritual acquaintance with the daily Cross, and fiery Law of the Lord, and flaming Sword (which Guards the Tree of Life) which is in the Hand of the Angel of the Covenant, for the cutting down of the Man of Sin (that the Birth Immortal, which is Holy, may onter in and possess the Inheritance) must come down again; I say they must come to the beginning, from which in their fallen Wisdom they are wandered, to learn of him in Silence, who speaks from Heaven, whose Word is nigh in the Heart, before ever they be established; for except you become as little Children, not in Talk, but in Truth, ye cannot enter God's Kingdom.  
O ye People, harken awhile, whether Teachers or Hearers; You who have been feeding upon the Tree of Knowledge, and never came through God's Judgements, the Flaming Sword, to the Tree of Life: Your Food is Death, your-Works will Burn, and your Fig leaf-Covers will fall off you, and you be left Naked and Bare to the shame of your Nakedness, as in the day that you were Born: For what is any Covering unless it be that of the Spirit of Christ? The Lord God, who is of Purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity, will bring your Deeds to the Light of his Judgements, from which you cannot flee; and before him will nothing stand but that which is Pure.  
Your defiled Preach, Praying, Sing, Hear, Readins, will be rejected, and cast out as Dung from the Presence of the Pure Holy God, that is a consuming Fire: You have multiplied words without Knowledge: Ye have not been, neither yet are ye Doers of Gods Will (to the Witness of God in your Consciences, I speak) therefore in vain do you say, Lord, Lord; and he will not hold them Guiltless that take his name in Vain. Your Garment is not of the Pure White Linen, which is the Saints Righteousness; but Linen and Woollen is your Covering, a thing forbidden by Gods Law. Your Field is not sown with the one Heavenly kind of Grain (the Good Wheat) but another Seed have you mingled with it, and the mixture is so great, that the Bad hath almost choked and covered the Good in you: If you will work you must into God's Vineyard, and be exceeding Diligent and Laborious (in Spirit) in plucking up the Weeds by the Roots in you; the Light of Christ in your Conscience waiting in it will give thee Understanding: But Woe will be to them who call the Light Darkness, and put Darkness for Light; and so suffer the Good in them to whither, and nourish the Bad Part in them (which is like the Grave, that never hath enough) but is always learning at Man without, and not at Christ within, and Ministering from the outward Dead Spirit of the World, and not from the measure of the Living Spirit of Christ; and so not taking heed to the Word of Faith, which is nigh in the Heart (the Word of Christ which is Spirit and Life) they never get Victory over their Sin, as is manifest, but go laden, Teacher and Hearer, all their Life long, with divers Sins and Lusts, as was said before. So Woe to the selfish Workers, who speak their own words, and think their own thoughts on this the Holy Sabbath Day of the Lord God, wherein he hath given his People rest from all their weary Labour and Burdens: The outward Day, the first Day of the Week shall not Cover you; nor be a Sabbath to you, but in the breach of God's Holy and Everlasting Spiritual Sabbath of Rest, you being found, you must bear his Judgement. Behold, all ye that kindle a Fire this Day, and that compass about yourselves with Sparks, walk in the Light of your Fire, and in the Sparks that ye have kindled; yet know, that your reward from the Lords Hand, is to lie down in Sorrow. I say, all you who feed upon, and whose Faith stands in, the wisdom of Vain Man's words, raised up in the subtlety to please the itching Ear, and not in the Power of God, which washeth the inside; a Day of Scattering cometh upon you, it cometh, and a grievious Whirlwind from the Lord; and the Pleasant Breasts of Mystery Babylon, which you so much delight in, shall be dried up; for the Lord hath rejected your Confidence, because you have rejected his Good Word and Counsel, and chosen your own Delusion, and evil entreated his Servants, whom he sent, rising up early, and sending them time after time, to warn you to come out of all your Dead Forms, and Dead Faith, into the Living Virtue and Power of his eternal Spirit of Truth, to Worship him there, and to know it in you; but you would not; therefore the Lord will yet do that Great Work and Wonder amongst you; he will confound the Wisdom of your Wise, and bring to nought the understanding of your Prudent Men, and they shall be as Women, weak and feeble; the Mouth of the Lord hath spoken it; and the Songs of your Temple shall be Howl in that Day, because of the Vine of Sodom, that will bear no more Grapes; but so many as have drunk of the Wine of her Fornication, must Drink of the Cup of God's Wrath. And all you who talk of your Faith and suffering Condition, and yet Live in your Sin, you know not what Spirit you are of; for the same mind, that you think to suffer in, is it which by Transgression grieves the Spirit of God, and stands against the setting up of his Kingdom in yourselves, and the Testimony thereof in his redeemed Ones this Day: And so, if you could give your Bodies to be burnt, in this your Unsaved and Unsanctified Condition, it would prosit you nothing at all. Wherefore come out from amongst them, all you that would be happy, and touch no unclean thing, but give your Hearts to the Lord, to know his Light in you, to teach you; and he will receive you, and hid you from the Wrath that is to come upon all that are not in him, as saith his Spirit in his Servant.  
This is a Message of Truth to all you in and about Stafford, and those of like Spirit with you elsewhere, who go under the Name of Presbyterians, Teachers and Hearers, to Read and Ponder in the cool mind, that you may know what the Lords Mind is concerning you in this his day, wherein he is manifest with his Fan in his Hand, to purge the Floor, that he may gather to himself the good Wheat, and burn up the Chaff: For we knowing the Terrors of the Lord, persuade you, and all People, in Love to your Souls, to take heed of dallying with God, who is a consuming Fire; for his Judgements are manifest, and who can stand before his Wrath? O be not Proud, lest your bands be made strong; but be Meek and Lowly, and Gentle in Heart, to Learn of him that is so, that you may find rest for your Souls; for there is no Peace to the Wicked, saith my God the true God, that made Heaven and Earth, whose Wrath from Heaven is perfect, revealed against all Ungodliness and unrighteousness of Men (without respect of Persons or Professions) who hold the Truth in any manner of unrighteousness, So be it.  
In the 2d Month, 1670. Thomas Taylor.   

WEEP thou England, Howl, Howl ye People; for the Dreadful Day of the Lord God is at Hand, it is at the Door, as an Armed Man, coming swiftly upon you, to break down and tread under feet thy Pomp, Glory, and Strength.  
Thou hast exceeded in thy Sins, and art grown Monstrous in thine Iniquities; so the Lord will be exceeding Terrible unto thee. Thou hast suffered the Wicked in thee to have Liberty, and to take their fill of Sin, when the Voice of the Righteous cannot be endured in thee; but he that departs from Iniquity, and would persuade others so to do, is even made a Prey of by Ungodly and Unreasonable Men; their Bodies Imprisoned and Banished, and Estates spoiled, and many Injuries done them for God's Name and Truth's Sake. And therefore will the Lord God arise to take Vengeance for these things; Yea, his Soul will certainly be avenged on such a Nation as this, saith his Spirit in his Servant, if they do not repent and amend.  
AND moreover, because you have said in your Hearts, We have compassed them about with an Act, and none shall Worship God but as we please: Therefore will the Lord, the mighty God, compass you about with his Terrors, and you shall find no place to hid yourselves in from his Wrath, because of the Pride of your Hearts, and Evil of your Do, O all ye People of the Land (saith the Lord God) who are guilty of these things.  
Thomas Taylor.   

THE Lord, even the Lord God, of infinite, endless, Glorious Power and Truth, plead our Cause, our Innocent Cause, against you the Rulers of this Nation, and of all the World, who hate us, and Persecute us without a cause. The Lord hath raised us up in Righteousness, ever Praised be his Name, to bear our Testimony for God and his Christ, against all the Ways and False Worships of Fallen Man; and therefore it is that such as are in the fall, through the Ignorance and Evil that is in them, number us with the Transgressor's, and account all manner of Punishments and Grievances too little for us; Yea, Banishment, Imprisonment, Spoiling of our Goods, and Death itself is Judged not less than we deserve: So the Scripture is fulfilled, see John 16.2, 3. And all this for no manner of Evil at all, but merely because we cannot cease to Worship and Serve the Living and True God, our Father, as he hath taught us, and doth teach all that come to him: For our Worship to God is pure in Spirit and Truth: And this is the True, Standing, and established Worship for evermore; and God is now Mightily seeking such to Worship him. And so the Lord, the Ever-blessed and True God, Plead our Holy Cause against you, who hate us without a Cause. We have laid before you the Truth and Righteousness of our Cause, and our  to all men, and how it is not in our Hearts and Hands in the least to injure you, or any; but to this Day you will not hear, but stop your Ears to our Innocent Cries, and therefore to the Lord God of Heaven and Earth do we call, and before him who is KING of Kings, and LORD of Lords, and RULER of Rulers, and JUDGE of Judges, do we lay our Innocent Cause.  
O that you had known at least in this your Day, the things of your Peace! but you will not, and therefore how can ye expect less than a Forsaking and Casting off by the Lord, as the People of Old (called Israel) found, who would not hear the Voice of the Lord and his Servants, Crying and Calling unto them in those Days: Read the Prophecy of Hosea, Hos. 1.6, 8, 9 and see what Lo-ruhamah and Lo-ammi signify, and humble yourselves greatly before the Lord; for assuredly great Wrath is gone out from the presence of the Eternal Majesty of Heaven and Earth against you; and nothing can stay it, but your ceasing from Persecuting the Blessed Truth of God, which we, the People of God, in Scorn called Quakers, do Love, and Live in. It is so.  
Thomas Taylor.