THE Humble Address OF THE Widow Whitrowe TO King William:  
With a FAITHFUL WARNING To the Inhabitants of England, TO Haste and Prepare by True Repentance, and Deep Humiliation, to meet the LORD, Before His Indignation burns like Fire, and breaks forth into a mighty Flame, so that none can quench it.  
Printed in the Year, 1689.   

THE HUMBLE ADDRESS OF THE Widow Whitrowe TO King William, etc.  
GOD SAVE THE KING FOR EVER: For that is the desire of my Soul to GOD for thee, and for all Mankind, which is the chief end of my Writing to the King at this time: And my humble Petition and Request to the King is, that his delight may be in the Law of the LORD, and in HIS Law to have thy Meditation day and night.  
For this was the Word which GOD put into my Heart for thee, when I was going on the Way near Putny; and hearing the King was to come that way, I stood still to see him; and whilst I stood still, these were the Words that did rise in my Heart to thee, O King.  
Blessed is the Man that doth not walk in the Counsel of the Wicked, nor stand in the Way of Sinners, nor sit in the Seat of the Scornful; but his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and in His Law doth he meditate Day and Night; For this is he that shall be as a Tree planted by the Rivers of Water, that will bring forth his Fruit in due season, whose Leaf shall not fade; so that whatsoever he shall do, it shall prospero: but the Wicked are not so, but are like the Chaff which the Wind driveth away.  
These were the weighty Words; but I saw not thy Face at that time: But another time, as I was going by Water, I met thee going to land at Whitehall, and our Boat standing still, I felt the power of GOD's Love so to thee, that it transported my Spirit into a Heavenly Joy; I was drawn forth into Prayer, and these were some of the Words; LORD be Thou his Counsellor: LORD be Thou his Director. And so I departed in this holy Ecstasy, making my request to GOD for thee: Put after this, I saw thee upon East-Sheen-Common, where thou wast taking thy pleasure in Hunting: I was much grieved to see the King spending his precious time in such a vain Exercise, in such a day as this, when the Nation lies bleeding, the People wallowing in their Blood of Uncleanness, and all manner of Abominations, whose Sins are of a Scarlet Dye, and cries aloud in the Ears of the LORD GOD for Vengeance: O King! is this a day for Pleasure, when the Righteous GOD is oppressed under the Sins of the People as a Cart is pressed with Sheaves? I beseech thee consider the end of the LORD, in bringing thee into this Nation, was it to do thy own Will, or the Will of Him that sent thee? For thou hast lived to see some of the great Acts of the LORD in this thy day, as others did in the days of old, when one chased a thousand, and five put ten thousand to flight; yea, how did the Mighty fly before thee, when none pursued them? And if GOD prolong thy days, thou wilt see greater things than these; for the LORD will work Wonders in this the day of His mighty Power, as He did in Egypt, and at the Red-Sea; and for this end, to get Himself a Name above every Name, to exalt His glorious Name in the Earth, that all may know that He is the LORD, and that man is but man: As thou, O King, art a witness, that it was not thy Sword, nor thy Might that brought thee hither, but the LORD's own Arm which He made bore in the sight of all. And now I beseech thee consider how highly thou art engaged to the LORD for all his Goodness; and what wilt thou return to the KING of Eternal Glory, but to love Him with all thy Heart and Soul, Strength and Might, and thy Neighbour as thyself; and to do Justice, and love Mercy, and to walk humbly with the LORD; for this is the whole Duty of Man, to love GOD and keep his Commandments, to visit the Widow and Fatherless in their Afflictions, and to keep thyself unspotted from the World; to love our Enemies, to do good for evil, to overcome evil with good; as our blessed LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ commanded, Whatever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye that unto them: O these are blessed Rules for men to walk by, for the King and his Nobles to put into practice: These are the Rules that the holy men of GOD gave forth as they were moved by the Spirit of GOD, as the holy Apostle saith, That the man of GOD be perfect, and entire, wanting nothing, but furnished for every good Work. And saith our LORD and blessed Saviour, Be ye merciful as your Heavenly Father is merciful. And King David saith, LORD with the merciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful, and with the pure Thou wilt show thyself pure. This made David call upon GOD so earnestly, to make him pure, even as GOD is pure; and this made him merciful to forgive his Enemies so often; for he knew the benefit would return to him again, both from GOD and Man; and as there was great Goodness in it, so there was great Policy, for it won the Affection of the People, so as that there Hearts were bowed to him, as the Heart of one man. And now O King, seeing thou art compassed about with so great a Cloud of Witnesses, encourage thyself in GOD, as David did, and let the Power of the LORD GOD be strong in the King, to throw down Sin, and to root out Wickedness out of this Nation: For be it known unto thee, O King, this Nation at this time is fit for Judgement than for Deliverance; for how doth all manner of Wickedness reign, both in Professors and Profane, for the one is given to their fleshly Pleasures, as Drunkenness, Feast, Whoredon, and all manner of beastly lascivious Talking, Swearing and Lying, Cheating, and all manner of Deceit: It would amaze one to s●e how Youth and little Children are debauched, their Mouths filled with Cursing and Swearing, and all manner of wicked Words, as Dam, and Rot them, and such Hellish Words; and the Professors of Religion outstrip the Profane: for O the Deceit, the Double-dealing, Cheating & Cozening: and if their evil ends are not answered, than the Malice they are filled with, even seeking to destroy one another: And the ground wherein all this mischief grows, is Covetousness, which is Idolatry, and the root of all Evil every one seeking themselves, and not the things of Christ, who said, Ye cannot be my Disciples, except ye deny yourselves, and take up my daily Cross, and follow me: But instead of this, they are become Enemies to the Cross of Christ, whose God is their Belly, as saith the Apostle, whose Glory is their Shame, who mind Earthly things. And is it not a shame that men that call themselves Christians, should mind their Honours and Preferments into great Places? Did Christ and his Followers leave such a Pattern? Let them bring their Lives to the Life of Christ, and see how like they are to His; this is the cause why they do not profit the people, because their minds are in the Earth; and behold, o King, what preaching and praying here is in this Land, but how little practising? What Fruits are brought forth to GOD by all this praying and preaching? did ever pride abound as it doth now? the holy Scriptures of Truth speaks of the Jews, Isa. 3.16. to the end, when they were departed from the Law of GOD they went a Whoring after the Abominations of the Heathen, and one of their Whorish Inventions was, they made them Round Tears like the Moon; for which the Prophet proclaims the heavy Judgements of GOD against them.  
But what may we call the Dresses of the professed Christians of our Time? the Tower of Babel, or the Whore of Babylon's triple Crown? O ye Rebellious Daughters, who have Ears but hear not, Hearts but do not understand, that the long Suffering of the LORD should lead you to Repentance; O ye Proud stiffnecked and Rebellious People, do you thus requited the LORD for all his kind and gentle dealing, which should humble you in the dust before Him; ye Rebellious Ones, with what face or pretence of Piety can you appear before the pure and holy GOD in your Congregations to worship? with your proud Hearts, your staitly Carriages, your lofty looks, your towered Thoughts, thinking you are Gods with your high towered Heads, which makes you look exalted to the Skies, with all the rest of your rich & gorgeous Attires, fit for the Heathen Stage-Players than for Christians: I say, can you approach before this great and Almighty GOD, and not be abased and confounded before Him? Know you not that His allseeing Eye beholds your Idolatry? and if his MAJESTY looks upon you in Anger, ye are consumed to nothing, and must return to the Dust from whence ye came, for the Worms to feed on your delicate Carcases, for which your precious time hath been spent in taking care for to feed it Voluptuously, and to adorn it excessively, and than to love and admire it so, as to worship and adore it: Now which are the greatest Idolaters, they that worship the Sun, Moon and Stars, the glorious Creatures, which represent the Glory of GOD, or you that worship your sinful Flesh? Ye great Idolaters, do you think that GOD created you for this purpose, to Love yourselves, Admire yourselves, to Kiss your own Hands, saying to your proud Flesh; I will Honour and Worship thee, thou art my God, (for this know, his Servants ye are, whom you obey) and than go and stand in your Idols Temple, to Mock GOD, and bid Defiance to His Spirit of Grace, saying, we are delivered to do all these Abominations!  
I speak this to all sorts of Professors, from the highest in profession to the lowest of them that call themselves Christians, for the one is as deeply guilty of loving themselves, their own Ways and evil Works of earthly Mindedness and Covereousness, which is Idolatry; as the Prophain is of their Prophainness: O Everlasting GOD, what Lamentation shall be taken up for both these, which are gone away from thy Ways like lost Sheep! But o ye Idolaters, who call yourselves Christians; go you to the Wars of Jerusalem, and read there what the LORD did for the wickedness of that People who were called Jews: & do you think to escape the just Judgements of GOD for your Sins, because you are called Christians, though out of His Life, Not, Not, that Covering will be too short in the Day of Account; and though some of you may say, We have Eaten and Drunk in Thy Presence, and in thy Name done many wondered Works, yet not persevering to the end of all Iniquity, this will be your Portion, Departed from me ye Workers of Iniquity, I know you not.  
And now having in some measure cleared my Conscience, by doing as I am commanded, to speak the Truth to my Neighbours, I Expect the same measure from those that are guilty in this matter to cast a Stone at me, as they did at the faithful Servants of the LORD of old: Poor suffering Jeremiah, was so sorely tried, that he said, Woe is me, my Mother, that thou hast born me, a Man of Contention and Strife to the whole Earth. And that holy Prophet Isaiah, who said to the Scoffers of his time, Isa. 57.3. O ye Sons of the Sorceross, the Seed of the Adulterers, etc. On whom have ye jested? upon whom have ye gaped and thrust out your Tongues? Are not ye Rebellious Children and false Seed instanced with Idols? And my blessed Saviour, the Everlasting GOD manifest in Flesh, when He went to Die upon the Cross for their Sins, they beaten Him and mocked Him, saying, Prophesy who smote Thee; so I must take my Lot among these blessed Ones, though unworthy; but I will get me into the secret of His Pavilion, under the Shadow of the Almighty, where I shall be hid from the strife of Tongues.  
And now, O KING. I hope thy Goodness will pass by my Trespass in this long Discourse, wherein I have been engaged to bear my Testimony against the Sins of the people of this Nation, which cries aloud in t●e Ears of the LORD for Vengeance; and seeing I intent nothing but what is good for the King and his People, I desire to have Liberty to ease myself of the burden which hath lain upon me many years before thou camest into this Nation. For be it known unto the King, I have feared the LORD, and loved the holy Scripture from my Youth up until this day; and in my searching after the LORD I passed through many things, which would be too tedious to mention here.  
About a quarter of a Year before the Plague began in London, the LORD commanded me to go to Bristol, and call them to Repentance, before the terrible Day of the LORD, and so I went a Foot, and when I came thither, at the Command of GOD I put on Sackcloth on my Body, and Ashes on my Head; and when I had delivered my Message, the next day I returned towards London, where I came to my Husband and Family in ten Days time, or the tenth Day of my parting from, them, leaving a young Child of a Year old that sucked at my Breast, and found all things well, myself also, so well as if I had not gon● one Mile, although a weak Woman of Body, and not able to go two Miles without Pain, yet in the strength of the LORD I went almost two Hundred Miles a Foot, Glory be to GOD forever.  
And after a great Exercise of Fasting & Prayer which lay upon me, I was commanded to go out of my own House Sackcloth and Ashes, and proclaim the terrible Day of the LORD, that should burn as an Oven; crying Woe, woe, woe unto the Inhabitants of this City, Desolation upon Desolation, and Woe upon Woe; than presently the Plague began in the City; and for too Weeks after the Plague began, I thought I should never have had rest more, for day and night I was like a Woman in strong Travel, all over in ra●king Pain, I trembled that my Knees struck one against another, and as the weight of a Mill Stone upon my Spirit, I cried bitterly to the LORD, and said, O Righteous LORD, if Thou remove not this burden, than I cannot live; than the LORD answered, and said, It is the burden of the Iniquities of the Nation I have laid upon thee, and thou must bear my Indignation, for thou art their Sign of the Repentance and Humiliation I require of them: than I knew what the Prophet Habakkuk meant when his Lips quivered, his Belly trembled, and rottenness had entered his Bones; than I had a little ease for the present, but the great Exercise remained still, going in Sackcloth and Ashes, and calling the People to Repentance; but when I had performed my Service, and done all that the LORD required of me; O the sweet melting consolating Love my Heart and Soul was filled with to GOD for His goodness, in giving me strength to do His blessed Will, and was so humbled, I could have licked the Dust; than I threw my Body upon the ground, and my Mouth in the Dust, that GOD might be Exalted; than I had Beauty given me for Ashes, yea, the Beauty of His Holiness; I had the Garment of Praise for the Spirit of heaviness, for my Mouth was filled with Praises, and my Heart with Heavenly Halaluj●hs; I went about doing Good, visiting the Sick, and relieving the Poor; I had the Word of the LORD to many Families, to tell them that their Visitation drew near, calling them to Repentance. Praises be to Him that lives forever; for the LORD had not only sh●d his Love in my Heart, but filled my Heart and Rains so full, that it run as a River to ill mankind, for their Redemption out of their fallen Estate; but this increased my outward Afflictions, and the inward Travel of my Soul, so that I never heard of any that went through the like in this latter Age: I was much exercised with fasting, at the Command of the LORD I Fasted three days, and three nights, without any Sustenance; and eat Bread and drank Water six days together, for a Witness against their Feasting and Drinking high Spirits, to keep the Plague from their Hearts, but alas, they were Physicians of no value; but it pleased the LORD to preserve me and mine, at that Time, and for many years after, until it pleased Him to prepare my dear Children for Himself, and than He took them out of all the Sa●res and Temptations of this sinful Life, to their everlasting Joy and His eternal Praise, World without end, Amen, Than I enquired of the LORD why He took them away in their youth; and He said, Because of their Father's evil Life, and in order for my deliverance to the Work He had called me to; than the LORD Commanded me to departed from the Multitude, and from all the concerns of this World, to seek H●n apart; to give up Name and Fame, and whatsoever was dear to me in this Life, Body, Soul and Spirit, to serve the LORD as he required me, (that was in Fasting and Prayer) which was also to be a sign to the Multitude, of the Worship which the LORD required of them; but the Afflictions I went through at that time is beyond my Tongue of Flesh to declare; than after all this the LORD commanded me to go in Sackcloth and she's three days, and to wear Sackcloth three years, which I did, till after the death of King Charles the second.  
And now, O KING, I am required to visit thee, and to lay before thee what the LORD requires of thee, which is, To do Justly, and to show Mer●y, and to walk humbly with thy GOD, and not to fear Man, whose Breath is in his Nostrils, nor to put thy trust in the Arm of Flesh, but in the living GOD; for it is written, Woe unto them that go down into Egypt for help; It is also written, Blessed be the Man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is, for he shall be as a Tree that is planted by the Waters, which spreadeth out her roots by the Rivers, and shall not feel when the heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green, and shall not care for the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding Fruit, yea, Blessed shall he be in his going out, and in his coming in; for the LORD shall bless him with an everlasting Blessing, which shall be better than the Blessing of his Ancestors: Therefore O King, be Valiant for the Truth upon Earth, and give not thy Strength unto others, nor thy Power and Wisdom to Men, but serve the LORD with all thy Strength, and with all thy Might, for this the LORD requirs of thee, and give it not to Men to serve their evil ends.  
And in order to the carrying on of this great Work which I have been treating of, my humble Request to the King is, that he would be pleased to take Christ for his Example in this thing, to withdraw often from the Multitude, and to retire into his own Soul, there to attend upon the Lord very diligently in Fasting and Prayer, ask Counsel of the LORD how to order his Affairs as may be most for the Glory of GOD, and than The GOD of Peace make the King▪ perfect in all good Works, to do His most acceptable Will, working in him that which is pleasant in His sight, to whom be Everlasting Praise for evermore, Amen.  
From one that is of no Sect or gathered People whatsoever, yet I love the good in all, but the evil I ablior; so I walk alone as a Woman forsaken; I have fellowship with them that Lived in Caves, and in Dens, and desolate places of the Earth, of whom the World was not worthy.  
J. W.   

Postscript.  
O Ye Church and People of England! what did you sand for King William our of his own Country, and turn out King James? You said it was to set up the Christian Religion, and to Establish it: Why is it not done? What have you been a doing all this while, making provision to set up yourselves? For the Christian Religion is not set up: you know what that is, To forsake the Devil and all his Works, the Pomp's and Vanities of this wicked World and all the sinful Lusts of the Flesh, and to keep GOD's W●ll and Commandments, and to walk in the same all the days of your Lives. So you see the Christian Religion shows you what the Devil's Works are, that they are the Pomps and the Vanities of this wicked World, and the sinful Lasts of the Fl●sh. And Christ's command is, Learn of me, for I am Meek and Lowly, and you shall found Rest to your Souls: And Christ's command is, Love your Enemies, do good to them that hate you: And Christ's command is, Let your Light so shine, that men may see your good Works, and glorify your heavenly rather: These are the Commands of Christ, with all the rest that I have been treating of. And these are the Vows you have vowed in the Name of GOD, in your Baptism, To forsake the Devil and all his Works, the vain Pomps and Glory of the World, with all the Covetous Desires of the same, the Carnal Desires of the Flesh, saying, I will not follow, nor be led by them: I forsake them all: This is your Promise. Therefore, o ye Church and People of England, perform your Vows which you have vowed to the GOD of Heaven, and put into practice what you have promised the LORD; but if you will not, than will it appear to all the World, that you did not all this to set up the Chrian Religion, but to set up yourselves, which if you do, GOD will pull you down; for saith the LORD, Them that Honours me I will Honour: but they that despise Me shall be aespised, 1 Sam. 2.  
And o ye Church and People of England, I am to acquaint you, that the last Lord Mayor's Day I bore a heavy burden for your Feasting: The LORD calls for Fasting, and you go to Feasting: so that ye are guilty of the same Iniquity that your forefather's were, for said Isaiah the Prophet in that day, Did the LROD GOD of Host call into Weeping and Mourning, and Baldress, and t●● guarding with Sackcloth; but behold Joy and Gladness, slaying Oxen and kill Sheep eating Flesh and drinking Wine, Eating and Drinking, for tomorrow we shall dye: That was all that presumptuous Generation valued, either the command of the LORD, or His just Judgements, to make a mock at that weighty Message; and yea do the same in your Actions, breaking Christ's commands, who said, When thou makest a Dinner or Supper, call not thy Friends, nor thy rich Neighbours▪ jest they bid thee again: But when thou makest a Feast, call the Poor and the Distressed, for they cannot Recompense thee again, but thou shalt be Recompensed at the Resurrection of the Just. So remember your Vows which ye have vowed, o ye Church and People! to keep GOD's holy Will and Commandments, and to walk in the same all the days of your Lives. And now, o ye Churches and Inhabitants of England of all sorts and Sects, be it known unto you, that thus far I am clear of your Blood by performing my Service to GOD, and my Duty to my Neighbours, whom I desire the welfare of as my own Soul; yea, I can call Heaven and Earth to witness, that this is my end, even your Salvation, which will be more to you than all earthly crowns.  
And that this Message to you may prove so effectual by the Power of GOD, that you together with me in the Humility of our Souls, may cast ourselves with all Self-interest at the Feet of Christ Jesus, as a second Mary Magdalen, washing His Feet with our Tears, and wiping them with the Hairs of our Heads, that our cries may pierce through the Heavens to the Throne of his Grace, to move His holy and glorious MAJESTY to be merciful to us, and this poor Nation, that it may not be made an utter Desolation for the Sins of them that live therein.  
Your Friend, ready to serve you to the utmost of my Power according to the Will of GOD. J. Whitrowe. Eastsheen, near Mortlock, the 2d of the 10th Month, 1689.