News of a New World: OR, THE MYSTICAL PRISON-DOOR OPENED, WHEREBY The OUTWARDLY Bound are INWARDLY Free, WHILE The SEEMINGLY Free are still REALLY Bound.  
DECLARED IN An Epistle of Universal Love to the Free-born of all Sorts, not only in England, but in all Nations.  
Written by one better known of God than Men, because an unworthy Member of the Invisible Church.  
LONDON, Printed in the Year, 1663.   

The Prison-Door opened, &c.  
LIberty, yea, The glorious Liberty of the Children of God, hath the Lord's anointed, higher than the Kings of the Earth, proclaimed to them, that have been long Captives; He it is that opens the Prison to them that are unwillingly bound under the Bondage of Corruption, and sets their Affections, or souls feet, in a large place or Principle, for the new Commandment of Love is exceeding broad.  
All ye therefore, that have been free in Spirit, to do or suffer, the Will of your Lord and Master, who hath permitted the Devil to cast some of you into Prison, that ye might be tried, by a short time of Ten dayes Tribulation, to you belongs the Crown of Life, and Everlasting Liberty, for being faithful to the Death; of your own carnal Bondage, to you also is published( because in you 'tis witnessed) the Acceptable Year of the Lord, but the day of Vengeance to others, who have with disdain to the Captives in Babylon, required by way of scorn, the Songs of Sion, whose Inhabitants have been in the house of Mourning, while they, who have laughed and feasted, seem but like Fools, to fat themselves for a day of Slaughter.  
He that is given from on High, as a Covenant of the People to establish, or rather, raise up the Earth, and cause to inherit the desolate Heritages, He it is that hath all Authority and Power, to say unto the Prisoners, GO FORTH, to them that are in Darkness, show yourselves; and fear not ye little Flock, to whom it's the Fathers good Pleasure to give a Kingdom.  
They that have been fed with the Rod, with the bread of Affliction, and water of Affliction, shall now walk at Ease, in ways of Meekness, Humility, Righteousness, and Holiness, being lead by the deep, but still Waters, and their green Pastures, wherein they may lie down freely, without Fear or interruption, and shall be in all High Places.  
High Places on Earth, for they fear not any human Power, because in that which must give Law to the World: High Places in Heaven, whence the Accuser is cast out, and there is their Conversation, for they dwell on High, by being lowly, and by first turning inward to God in themselves, they then appear outwardly for God, to others in the posture of humble Servants, but in the work, of subordinate Saviours to God's whole Creation, under Christ, that saves them to the uttermost, and so assures them, whereby, having learnt of him by Faith, they teach all others in Love, who are weary and heavy laden, to take upon them his Yoke and Burden, which is light and easy.  
These are they, wheresoever they are, that hunger not after ought that feeds the lust of the Flesh, the lust of the Eyes, or pride of Life: Hence is it, that though they are black, yet are comely; for, notwithstanding the Sun hath looked on them, yet they are not smitten with its heat, wherewith others are parched like the dry desert, and heathy Wilderness, for they being embodied, yea, one Spirit with the Lord, the true three of Life, do stand planted by the ever running Rivers of pure Water, which makes them incessant bearers of Fruit in all seasons, for all Places and Persons without exception; but especially are very big with desires, by kindness to Convince and Convert the unkind; like Him, who came first to those, that with great despite rejected him.  
Ye therefore are the truly Free People, who have freely traveled through Bonds of various sorts, whether by a subjection to mortal Princes and Powers, or in other kind of trials, by yielding to Him that is Immortal, your Liberty inward, appears not by that which is outward, but by using both or either, as they are given, ( viz.) for Him that hath made you Free indeed: As natural Births rise not, but through Death, to spiritual Perfection, so no degree of outward Freedom, can be inwardly or rightly improved, but in the strait Way of the across; for the Self-will, slain or crucified in the one, is very much the Crown and Glory of the other.  
Then may ye build and plant freely, because in obedience to him only, who hath planted and builded you up in Himself; then may you trade, buy and sell, because you may have all of Him, without Money or Price, that hath bought you with his precious Blood, and will not sell you, for, or with your own; then having kept the Lords Sabbaths and become Eunuchs by your own Consent, for the Kingdom of Heavens sake, may you mary, or give in Marriage, as if you did it not, because not for any sordid ends, as earthly Muck-worms, or base beastly Necessity, but are taught to discern, between Christ's Call to all things, and your Own, for he hath Married you to Himself, and thereby hath given you in Marriage to his New manly Nature, whereby having a better Name than that of Sons and Daughters, ye are espoused to all the beauty and glory of the New World, and so by ceasing from that which feeds the corrupt Self-hood, in all works of the old, ye have learnt at length to do them in another Spirit then your own, even without the leadings of carnal desire, which as it drives or separates from God, in the most lawful duty, so, till a Conquest thereof be gained, by quitting ourselves in a right Performance, or forbearing a Wrong, we cannot join to the Lord, who is and should be witnessed both in ourselves and Works, to be All, and in All: Herein is the real Liberty to all things, even when we are in that Love that seeks not its own, but the pure Will of God, and the good of others.  
Ye that have tasted the Vanity of all under the Sun, can tell it feelingly, and by trying what is below, are tired with it, but not with seeking what is above; nor can it be long until you find the true Pleasure, which is soon perceived, by forbearing ought that you can comprehend, and yielding yourselves up with a holy earnestness, to that being, which comprehends you, because in the one you are a restraint upon yourselves, that you may be Free, in the other ye cannot be bound.  
All the ways of Wisdom are ways of Pleasantness, yea, to the very Natural man, because through obedience to Death, he becomes Spiritual, and by being bound a while, in time is made Free to Eternity: All her paths are Peace, because, although sometimes da●k and untrodden, yet led to the King of Peace, and lasting Liberty, who gives it not as the World doth, but as absolute, and without Condition.  
No Prison or Bonds, like those of the corrupt selfish nature, and no Liberty, like walking by the Line or Rule of the Pure; in the one, man becomes chained and shackled as a servile Slave to tyrannical lust, which while it bears Dominion, though speciously covered with Religious Veils and Ornaments, yet causes a profanation of the very Sanctuary itself, by it's seemingly zealous Worshippers; In the other, man is Free, though his Body be bound in Chains of Iron, when his Spirit is at Liberty, so as to glorify God in the very fires, and may walk in burning flames or furnaces, not subject to the heat thereof, but singing Praises to God, in that Spirit which can quench such Violence, make Prison-doors fly open, stop the mouths of lions, and disdaining the acceptance of any Deliverance, but in order to the obtaining of a better Resurrection.  
For as the Soul knows no such Prison, like that of the Flesh, so no such Liberty, like that of the Spirit, wherein we walk without account or control to any on Earth, because in unfeigned subjection to the only true One, our Lord and Master, which is in Heaven; therefore, while the Body is at large, the Mind is to be the more confined, lest by the worlds variety and diversion, which always presents its self while we are in it, to 'allure; our thoughts and affections should scatter, and so the inward composure gained by long silence, should become disordered; for by inverting the new Natures course, from stillness to trouble, the whole Man fluctuates, and becomes unstable as Water, and unfit to ask, receive, or transact, ought from the hand of God, or with Man.  
Wherefore how incumbent is it on you, Oh ye New-born Souls, to watch yourselves more diligently, if at outward liberty, then when ye were under Locks, Bolts, Bars,& Guards or Keepers, lest outward sights, objects, or occasions, beget inward wanderings, and bring a Cloud over the understanding, to deprive you of that calm Serenity, and those heavenly Prospects, which you had time to behold without interruption, when in a holy kind of solitude, you turned your backs upon your own Country, Kindred, and Fathers Houses, among the Hittites and Amorites of this world; for as the Souls Converse can never be confined by the Bodies Restraint, so neither can it retain its true Liberty, when it becomes a Servant to that whereunto it is no Debtor, or consenting to entangle itself with the cumber of real Cares, but feigned false Comforts, that do impair its Freedom, of continual Ascending, or indeed Retiring, to the hidden Life with Christ in God.  
The many things of this World, are very apt to interrupt the one thing necessary of the other; great is the unhappiness of being serious about trifles, and trifling about what is serious; the true Seed thrives best, when watered with Tears, and warmed with Sighs; not, that the highest obedience of this kind can change the Nature, but only help the growth and spreading of the unchangeable in an earthly soil that's otherwise, which without weeding and dressing, though enclosed by restraining or Common Grace, becomes f●ll of thorns, Thi●tles, and other Plants, that are not of the Heavenly Fathers planting, but tend to obscure and stifle the growth to maturity, of that peculiar good and perfect Gift, which cometh from above.  
The Creatures first Elective Freedom was it, that proved so fatal both to Angels and Men; those curbs and checks that are some pain to the outward man, serve but to train the Inward, to bridle itself, and when this is done, it knows no less the Door, by which entrance is made into the Feast of fat things, with those that are compelled from the highways and hedges, to the Marriage Supper; then with the Halt, Lame, and blind that are taken out of the streets, or straight Lanes of restrained Communication, while others that though invited, and seemingly Rich with their Farms or merchandise, for the hire of Souls, are sent empty away miserable poor and naked.  
Happy is he that witnesseth himself a Companion in Bonds with the Poor and wise Child, even the Spiritual Babe of Grace and Glory, better then the Old Adam or foolish King, refusing any more to be admonished, for fining after the similitude, not only of the first, but last& great Transgression; for out of the stinking Prison of the fleshly nature, he cometh to reign in Spirit, whereas the other that is born in, and unwilling to loose that his Kingdom, becometh poor.  
Great is the Mystery of Bondage and Liberty; the seeming Captives are commonly most Free, and Liberty used as an occasion to the flesh, is the greatest Bondage; but behold the long, and long expected year of JUBILEE is at hand, wherein our Freedom from the great Tyrant and Oppressor shall be made manifest; and such as refuse it, their ears shall be boared as a signal Mark of their perpetual Servitude.  
The Day of Vengeance, and Year of the Redeemed are one; as the Womans Seed have been confined in sackcloth, to Wilderness, Dens and Caves of the Earth, by the Serpents brood and Viperous Generation, reigning in the world, and walking at large: So now the liberty of the Sons of God, will be a tormenting close restraint to the Sons of Belial, he that cuts off the Chariot from Ephraim, the Horse and Battle bow from Jerusalem; even Sions King, the Lord of Hosts, he it is that speaks peace to the Heathen, and saith also, that his Dominion( which being of Peace and Love, is not attainable by Might or Power but his own Spirit) shall be from Sea to Sea, and from the River( the streams whereof make glad the City of God) to the worlds end.  
To this Strong hold therefore turn, all ye that have been Dayes, Months, or Years, Prisoners of hope, and long Sufferers in flesh or Spirit, with joyfulness; it is declared, that double shall be rendered to you, for he that by the blood of the Everlasting Covenant hath sent you out of the pit, wherein is no water, can bend Judah for himself, and fill the bow with Ephraim, and by raising up the contemned ill●terate Sons of Sion, against the wise and learned ones of Greece; can make his poor and peeled, but willing people in the day of his own Power, like the Sword of a mighty Man: Then shall the Governors of Judah, by their just, righteous, holy, meek, and humble Conversation, be made like a hearth of fire among the wood, and like a flaming torch in the sheaf, devouring the fierce implacable people round about, that cannot desist their rage and malice against the poor and needy, for the Lord himself saith, he will even seek to destroy all Nations that come against Jerusalem.  
Great have been the strivings and conte●ts for many years, by Prisons, Bonds, and various Deaths or Torments, to Conquer and Subdue the Innocent h●rmless holy ones of the living God; but behold the day and hour cometh that the burden shall remove, and yokes shall be broken or de●troyed, because of the anointing, which grows too strong for all Walls, Chains or Fetters, and this not by a resisting Principle, but the yielding practise to all long Sufferings, with meekness and patience, which not only convinceth enemies, but at length will upon the across, conquer Enmity itself, by reason of that all powerful Nature of God, which is pure Love, t●o strong for a thousand deaths; and more Tormentors, that by lingering severities as bad as the Age wherein they are can bear, do seek to wear out the Saints of the most high God.  
Nor can it be long after Prison Foundations are once shaken; but some Jaylers or Keepers themselves, will spring forth trembling, saying to such as seem in their own power, What shall we do to be saved? He that will lay New Foundations for Liberty, will shake with a Vengeance all that are the Old for Bondage; and as often as this is felt within, and witnessed in Power by that Spirit which can sing Praises with understanding, in a Night of general apostasy, and particular Confinement, the outward accomplishment thereof does not appear far off.  
Then is the time for bowels of love to be discovered, and instead of passions, compassions to be had on those that shall be gathered to the Church from those dark corners of the Earth, that for a long time have been full of the habitations of cruelty; which cruelty, by whomsoever endured, and to what degree soever, yet is the least thought of revenge Diabolical, and very inconsistent with the everlasting Father of Mercies, whose Arms are always open to the worst of sinners, at what time soever they turn to him by Repentance.  
Then indeed will be the time for such as have been mans Prisoners, even when they shall become the Lord's Free-men to stoop and condescend to those that have been( not while they were) as Lords and Masters( whether in Prison or abroad) over them: 'tis said that Diamonds are cut best by their own dust, and so contrite Hearts abound with tender meltings to them that are of the like temper, and can bow to any persons high or low, in the lowly Spirit and meek Principle, but are as averse from bending or stooping by way of compliance with the stout-hearted, till they are spoyled by the Almighty of all their Powers: when the great Teeth of the young Lions are broken, they may be fed and nourished without danger, but not while they appear in raging rampant fits, as Beasts of prey.  
The gods of the earthly Nature, both in ourselves and others, must be tamed by famishing, and the lust of the flesh( expressed in wrath or otherwise) and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, must be pined to death by poverty, instead of giving where we owe nothing, either as Tribute or Custom, to whom, by the Laws of God or Men, it does not belong. The wild Ass used to the Wilderness, can snuff up the wind( of the Airy Principality) at her pleasure; nor in her occasion is she to be turned away, and such as seek her( yea for her own good) will not weary themselves( by yielding to her wild and wanton Nature) and all this is, because in her Month they shall surely find her, as an object of pitty and lamentation.  
And that being foreseen, while on the one hand the evil spirit and practise hath been resisted, and not bowed unto by gratifying the flesh of such as are declared Enemies to the spiritual Seed; so on the other hand, the poor souls of those very persons, as the most real Prisoners and Bond-slaves of Satan in his dark Dungeon of the self-willing wrathful Nature, have been prayed for, to be forgiven, yea a large Room left in the hearts of the afflicted for them, whether they have been instruments to increase or ease( which hath sometimes happened) the Bonds of the afflicted: such, as have sate long in the thick darkness of the Mystical Prison-house, cannot but have a sense of their misery, that remain still bound in the same, more especially while they flatter themselves in the fools paradise of a false Freedom, to wit, under sin, but not from it.  
To you therefore that remain bound in the worst sense, this is the express word of the Lord, Wo to them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that writ grieviousness, that they have prescribed to turn aside the needy from Judgement, and take away right from the poor of the People, to whom the greatest privileges are due, for theirs is the Kingdom of God; and what will ye do in the day of Visitation, and in the Desolation, which shall come from far? to whom will you flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory? Without me they shall bow down under the Prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain; for all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.  
To you that are Free, not so much because your outward Man is, or you believe shall be,( and so remain) released from Prison-walls, where you have been kept at the mere lusts of mortal Men and earthly Powers, as that before, or since you have had this outward Freedom, you were or are become Witnesses of the Inward, which is a a clearness from all thoughtful care of those concerns which belongs to the loathsome Prison-house of the Body, whether in reference to that, which may for a time indulge, and make it a painted Sepulchre; or, bring it to the dust, its first Original; and having thus far opened your strictest Prison-door( from which you cannot be wholly free, till it be demolished or laid in the Grave) you will then find your souls raised in holy desires towards a refined sort of Enlargement, that is above or beyond the reach of all Bonds, Death, Pain, or Sorrow, because unchangeable; the pleasure whereof is of the highest Latitude, and not at all attended with any care or cumber, nor with empty vanity or vexation of spirit.  
You that in unfeigned simplicity are pressing towards, or arrived at, this true and glorious liberty of the Sons of God, must know for certain, that he only which is dead, is freed from sin, and he that hath suffered in the flesh, hath ceased from it; and therefore, ye either are or must be armed with the same mind, that ye may be meet Companions, for and with Him that dies no more, to the end, that neither Sin, World, Flesh or Devil may have Dominion over you.  
If you are indeed risen with Christ, so as to seek the things only that are above, then are you past the reach of Jewish Rage, and gentle Power of spiritual Sodomites and Egyptians; for as when Christ was dead and risen, his mortal Enemies of both these sorts which combined to crucify him, ceased any longer seeking after him, his very Body being then too subtle and Spiritual, for the influence of outward force or cruelty, because Satan himself, much more his Instruments are fast bound in Chains to the bottonles Pit, and not suffered to behold( but as an addition to their own Torment) the Elect Children of the Resurrection equal to the Angels of God in Heaven.  
In like manner, as you that have been the Mystical slain Witnesses of Jesus, whose bodies the very sons of men, as mere men among the People, Kindred, Tongues and Nations of this World, have not hitherto suffered to be put in earthly Graves( not but that there is a difference between the Saints Bodies now, and when they shall be raised out of the d●st) yet having fulfilled the time of Civil Death( without such Burial in deep silence as in former Ages) during which, the Dwellers upon earth have rejoiced over you, making themselves, merry with Feastings, Pomps and Jollities over your mournful state, and yet after all this, the Spirit of Life from God having entred into you, then may you in love stand with your cleansed feet or pure affections over all the Seed of Enmity, taking that in yourselves and them also Captive, whose Captives ere while you were, whereby great Fear will fall upon them that see you, because ascended up to such a Heavenly Conversation as your worst Enemies may behold, but not hinder you from those right and left-hand Blessings, which are the Portion of them that have in this manner changed like Joseph their Prison garments, and washed them white in the blood of the Lamb.  
But are you indeed Risen out of the earthly up to( yea higher than) the Angelical Nature, then have you learnt to appear or disappear in bodily set forms of all works, especially, that are of a spiritual kind, as best suits the attaimment of their truest ends; at which you have arrived by keeping first the strait way that leads to life Eternal, by departing from all that's evil or unlawful, to the use only of what is lawful; and lest you should still hold the Truth in unrighteousness, by imprisoning as it were, the Spirit in a house of God's own building, you contract your out-works to that which is expedient; keeping this course at first, within the confines of all Naturals on this side Death, but pressing still forward, to and thorough all Spirituals beyond it, by the same Rule, till at last ye come to be above the Power of any thing, but the true Power itself, so as to take or leave, not in your own, but the Lord's Will only, and for others Edification.  
This is that first Resurrection, whereinto as ye are Children of the Free-woman, ye having past through various Births, Forms, or Measures, the second Death hath no power over you, much less are you troubled( or at least overcome) with fears of the first, and therefore as while you abide this heavenly pitch of Liberty, you often see things so unutterable, that whether ye are in or out of the Body, ye cannot tell; so likewise, if you descend from thence, but, about your Heavenly Fathers business, then whether ye are, or soon after shall be, in Prison, ye cannot tell; for this lower old World is but a large restraint to a new heart or free spirit, that finds it a Prison wherein the dark Prince retains all that refuse to be set at liberty by Christ, who is the true Light and Son of Love.  
Yea, though ye seem perfect as David was, and men after God's own heart, yet being enticed into the paths of the Destroyer, the lustful Traveller in the whorish spirit of this World, whose ways are very movable, may meet you, and gain admittance; the entertainment whereof, more or less, will make you as it did him, like them that go down into the Pit, where ye may be brought very low, ere ye are delivered, and cry long to him that hath the keys of Hell and Death, to bring your fettered souls out of Prison, where the pangs of both may, as they did on him, get hold upon you.  
As there is a Heaven, so likewise a Hell upon Earth, the one by a sense of his Presence, the other of his Absence, who is Lord of all, that forms the light, and creates darkness; for if we ascend with the Prophet into Heaven, we find him there, and if we go about to make our bed in Hell, yet he that is Omnipresent is there also.  
A careful Watch to keep your Garments clean, and yourselves unspotted of the World, while ye are in it, is the Posture proper; for such as are ransomed by blood, not so much of present and past Ages, either in War or Peace( although thereof as well as of the Treasure, Tears and Prayers, that have been spent, ye now reap the benefit) but of him that was taken from Prison, and from Judgement, and who shall declare his Generation? for he was cut off from the land of the living, and for the transgression of his own people was he strike: With a great price therefore hath he obtained your Freedom; yea, absolute, can you but wait for it, without the conditions of Bonds, Oaths or Covenants to any mortal. For you being begotten again to a lively hope, by the Resurrection of Christ from the dead, are of the heavenly Race or blood-Royal to all intents and purposes, and whether as Christians or Men ye are Free-born, and therefore bound to insist upon your vast privileges of the new World, by so much the more as ye are or have been shortened of those that are your due in the old. But the greater your Birth is, and Redemption, the more care should be to make Improvement, by living, not to yourselves, but to Him, who to Redeem you, both died and rose again.  
To him that died: By dying to all that is already dead, or that being so, cannot be revived again, to live unto Him that died for all( viz.) Creatures in one respect, the whole Race of mankind in another, the Elect Saints in a third, and so to deliver them, who through fear of Death were all their life time subject to bondage.  
By this first step of Self-denial, within and without the Prison-walls of your own flesh, and refusing to join with ought aforementioned, you will at once show the present Generation, how much of this first Creation, as it stands in its degenerate state of corruption, must be swept off the Stage, as unfit even for common converse or Communication in that Restitution and time of Refreshing, that is at hand, because in a fixed enmity against Shiloh the great Prosperer, or safe-making Restorer( together with his Followers) who by his long-suffering, and their meek Testimony thereof, hath sufficiently declared how unwilling he is that any should perish, but that all should come unto Repentance. Nevertheless there is a time for Patience abused to become Fury; and the Earth or Tribes thereof, that after much rain and dressing, bear nought but thorns and briars, shall be rejected as nigh unto cursing or perpetual separation from the Lamb upon the Throne.  
Your life also should be to Him that rose again, and that in a Two-fold respect.  
First, in bringing forth whatsoever grows from Christ the Head, or pure natural Root, and not already broken off from him, or corrupted, and permitting it with all tenderness, to exert or show itself in subjection to, and harmony with, the same Lord, who is also Head of all, that is or are spiritual, even the First-born from the dead among many Brethren; lest by the instability and mismanagement of the Creatures present purity or perfection, for want of better Conduct than its own proper and elective Freedom, it brings itself in Bonds, and so not only loses the liberty of a transient Dominion, but bars for ever against itself the door of Hope, to that which is Everlasting; 〈◇〉 which danger, not only the enlightened Sons in the gentle world, called Pagans or Heathens, instructed inwardly only to do the works of the Law by Nature, but even the very Professors of Christianity on the stock of common Grace, which by the help of some visible Church, Sect, or Party, may carry them very far, yea into and out of Prisons, as sufferers for Christ's sake, and yet are not clean escaped.  
Secondly, your Life to Him that is risen, not only consists in your own unchangeable Union with him, but in rightly comprehending, or at least apprehending all, that though obscured under the confinement of present Veils and Forms, yet seem capable of the true spiritual Liberty; notwithstanding any present entanglement, which through the Divels subtle devices, serves to captivated their minds, so as to imprison the Truth, or hold it in unrighteousness, either by declining to what is simply evil in its self, or not inclining to the best good, but only a knowledge in part, which when what is perfect is come, must be done away.  
Your labour of Love is as freely due to all on that account, as the Love of God, which though not due, yet hath been Free, in freeing you from whatsoever Bonds, Shackles, Fetters or Prison, Bars, and straitning clegs of your own corrupt selfish Nature, that may seem to hinder you from Preaching, both in words and works, the everlasting Gospel, beginning at the Elect or household of Faith, but from them des●●nding or going on to all Mankind, yea, to every Creature under Heaven; to which glorious Embassy or employment, by the Law of the Spirit of Life, which hath made you free from the Law of sin and Death, are you called and appointed able Ministers.  
This will be your proper Exercise, more than bodily or barely lawful, for it is an expedient diversion, whereby your minds being at some seasons unbended from those visionary Meditations, and inward Enjoyments of the Lord, which when you are freely retired, and at liberty from all your own thoughts or motions, that may hazard an interruption to this your most intimate and supersensual Communion with the spiritual Bridegroom, seem too great for your long abode in the flesh, but are as it were ready to swallow up and devour your very natural Being, which without some suspense or Intervals, could not subsist under that enduring weight of glory, whereof by Faith you have so clear an evidence.  
The converse of the higher Region is too Serene to be born long together, while our flesh by mixtures remain, without sometimes descending: and to descend upon any account whatsoever of such inglorious transactions, as may check and not further our Freedom to re-ascend again, where in our Head, Christ Jesus, we were at first, as he was with the Father, is but a degenerous consent to our own confinements in the lower World.  
In these Principles and Works, consist our glorious Liberty of the New Birth, from all bonds of the Old, whether outward or inward, and whereby ere long, the Foundations of both shall not only be shaken, but so raised, as their place shall not be found, much less the Lordly Keepers thereof under the subjection and account which they are to their infernal Prince, whose restraint to his own place and Prison, from deceiving the Nations any longer, does now hasten apace.  
For when the sons of men come once to understand their respective allotments upon these grounds and Principles, into that three-fold Race of Noah, who though was perfect in his Generations, yet one was for his folly accur●t, and made a servant of servants, for the present, unto his Brethren, and with these three sorts or offspring of his Sons, was the whole earth over-spread; when this I say is well considered, then may it appear how easily, by these distinct Generations, the several Nations may be divided in the Earth, as they were immediately after the Deluge, and this without any acts of Hostility used to invade or engross each others Territory.  
For when Christ the great Prophet, who hath been in his Priestly Power, the first, so in his Kingly, will he be the last Preacher of Righteousness to all Nations, thereby to leave the World without excuse, then will his Angelical flames of fire break forth upon the ungodly, as heretofore he opened the Flood-gates or Windows of Heaven, for their destruction by water, and as then the Earth itself was not destroyed, but eased of its burden, and replanted; so now, but upon more equal terms, and re-built upon better foundations, then to cause a confusion of language in the fabric, because after the Lord hath in this manner devoured the whole earthly Nature of things and persons, in their degenerous state of corruption, by the fire of his jealousy afore-mentioned; then will he turn to the people a pure lip or language, that they may all call upon his Name, and serve him with one consent, which will cause a general cessation from Arms, or learning War any more.  
At that time, as the now invisible, but then true catholic Church, will drain all particular visible Churches of their living Members, whose life in the flesh, appears manifestly to be by the Faith of the Son of God, that works by Love, not of some Saints only, but of all, which is the true spiritual Freedom.  
So likewise will the truly Royal, and long-lasting Dominion of Love, be then able to show its lovely Form● as well as Power, to be so beautiful for its distributive Justice, Righteousness and Equity, no less at all seasons, than to all sorts, high and low, without respect of persons, as will eclipse the fading splendour of all the petty particular( though now reputed great) Principalities on Earth, which while the narrowing interest of self-love ( called that of State) remains, are not the true, but false shadows of Dominion.  
For as the Principle of universal Love and equal Liberty appears, both among Saints& Nation, to be the true general Interest of both, so the breaches that are or have been among both or either, will be made up or healed, and the Judgements which are at the door, to be fulfilled and manifest against the Beast, Whore, and false Prophet, will very much accelerate a Reception of the other as a Truth, not only among those that are already free in Spirit, but even with them also that as yet remain bound.  
And since 'tis common to Mankind to believe little of the good way, before they have tried the evil; 'tis likewise to be expected, that the knowledge gained by experience, will enlighten beyond the prevailing power of contradiction, especially when the time comes, that the Deceiver of the Nations himself, becomes bound to his place, that they may be set Free in theirs, as well from the power of his subtle and ensnaring devices, as from their own vain Imaginations, that though tending by bonds, and other engines of external force, to imprison Truth, and suppress those anointed Ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole Earth, in publishing it; yet when the means of this kind used to straighten, prove a real enlargement to the godly Seed( for the Word of God, whether in its inward or outward Revelation, is not bound) and all attempts to bury alive, and keep in corners, the Free Principle that is of God, both in Christians and men, serve but to raise it higher on the house-top; then will those Conquests, that through Conviction are gained by meek and patient long-sufferance in the Lambs warfare, appear durable and lasting, as those by force grow out of date, whether in them that by works of Violence, have designed to impose their own, or that with good success for some time, have resisted others bondage.  
Nor will the former reverting course of things be presidential to us of this Generation, on whom the ends of the world are come; for if the Womans Seed of Gentile-Israel, now get forth of the Wilderness by the waters dividing, or those streams and multitudes of people parting interests asunder, and running on heaps, which while going all one way, hindered the Elect remnant from more then seeing the Promised Land, as a Land of distances seeming afar off; then is the time, that by the mighty power of God, their passage shall become clear, and the hearts of those that intend opposition shall sink and fail within them, so that neither Sons of Anak, or the great men of renown, nor high Walls of ancient Laws or Customs, that serve but to shelter the mere Natives of this World( against the true Israelites indeed who are without guile) that shall any longer terrify or check the progress forward of the Holy Peoples and old Foundations being ra●s'd to the ground, new will be laid, not in the death of any more First-born, but in the Life, Spirit and Power of him that's risen from the dead, tending to save, and no longer to destroy, but protecting his own in that glorious Liberty, Peace and Plenty, and Enjoyment thereof, without fear or interruption, wherein by reason of alternate changes heretofore, they have been at their best estate, no more than sojourners.  
As the Seed of Promise by the Free-woman appears born or brought forth, that must inherit all Nations, so does that faith which staggered not before, renew its strength now, even to remove Mountains of opposition, which being the Gift of God to new-born Souls, they do thereby become very strong in the Power of the Lord's Might, and giving back the Glory thereof, to Him from whom they have received it, and through the evidence of things not seen, and the substance of what is hoped for, being seen and felt within them, there is less need now than heretofore, of any human help to expound Prophesies, which to former ages seemed afar off, because now so near fulfilling or accomplishment: And therefore whether it be from Antiochus( called) the Great, or Epiphanes after him, or Eupator his Son( as some say) or from Christs Death, and Julian the Apostates attempt to re-build the Temple as others, that the Account did commence of the daily Sacrifice ceasing, or being taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate or astonisheth, set up, all those dayes or years are already expired, and whether few or many of the 45. years interval from thence are past, to the end whereof, he or they are pronounced blessed that come, and when the Creatures Halcion-time of refreshing shall begin, of being delivered from its bondage of corruption, is not here given to declare; although the gradual preparations, previous to so great a work of bringing forth, as well to the actual exercise, as knowledge of that glorious Freedom so long waited for, 'tis to be feared will suddenly surprise some, that though professed Witnesses thereof, yet are accessary to that spirits Confinement which leads thereunto.  
But to let pass all human deductions extant from Scripture Prophesies, which are very many( for much study) whether by Writing or Reading, is but a weariness to the flesh and instead thereof, by inward silence, waiting to hear the still voice of the true Interpreter, one of a thousand; we are not only taught experimentally, that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is( as well as shall be) Liberty, even in and to them, to whom it is given, but also with open face, as in a glass, beholding the Glory of the Lord, are changed first inwardly, then outwardly, into the same Image, from Glory of one degree, to Glory of another, as by the Spirit of the Lord.  
And furthermore, by the Faith that fails not in trial; by the Hope, that as an anchor, enters within the veil of all outward appearances, true or false, and continues still steadfast, yea against the hope of seen things, and many persons; to believe in hope of others unseen, and less in number, that he whose day Abraham long since saw, and was glad, shall shortly appear the true King, as well as Father, of all Saints and Nations; by the Love that reaches further than to those of our own Tribe, Kindred and Acquaintance, Natural or Spiritual, even to the Souls and Consciences of them that seem the chiefest Sinners against God, and Enemies to Us: Also by Visions, by Dreams, by ordinary Signs of the times, by those extraordinary of wonders in Heaven, and on Earth, by the face of the sky in our English Horizon, compared with the Posture of other Nations, by Bonds of all sorts wearing off, as well as easy; and yet deliverance not accepted in unworthy bowing to Oppressors; by the Man-child come to the Birth, that must Rule the World, yea the very bearing pang thereof, already felt sensibly in some, and by sympathy in others; by the worldly spirit falling, and that of God, which is pure rising, beyond the fear of Gibbots, Scaffolds, Stakes, Graves, or lingering Deaths in Dungeons; by the Union of Saints growing; by that of Sinners declining; by the corrupt Self-interests of force and fraud, striving in vain to mingle themselves with the Seed of men, that liking Freedom better, cannot cleave each to other, because the true Interest of Mankind shows itself on the rising hand, in and over all that's false or feigned; by the very restoration itself, already witnessed in some particulars to that degree, as thereby to discern in what manner 'twill show itself ere long in the whole Creation, and man's arriving at the Dominion in himself, as the way rightly to re-assume it over other Creatures.  
By all these and much more, together with the unanimous consent of Saints of all Sects, Sorts and Statures, whether Children, Young-men or Fathers, to lift up their heads; such clear and uncontrollable evidence is given of our Redemption drawing nigh, that an Angel coming from Heaven would hardly be received, if telling that he which is already fallen and thrown thence, shall not ere long be bound, and all his swarms of infernal Locusts confined together, to his and their place of smoky Torment, in the bottonles Pit; and the Faith afore-mentioned is too high upon the wing, to stoop to the ensnaring lures of the Fowler, and the Victory over the World, even outwardly,( by the inward first obtained) is now too far gained to sound a Retreat, or become affrighted with false alarms of the Serpents seed prevailing any more. The Conquests of the Lambs warfare are as sure and lasting, as all others are uncertain; yea, the ground gained therein by seeming loss, proves often of most advantage; but because this glorious liberty of the Sons of God, in the extent thereof, reaching to all men and Creatures, is of too illustrious and excelling a new nature to be born or received, by the old Creation, all at once, by reason of the prejudiced depraved nature of the sons of men; Therefore it is that Christ, the Author of this common Salvation, and showing itself in this glorious manner unto all, as well as of the peculiar unto some, the better to enlighten the Worlds darkness with his approaching Jubilee, or Release of the Creature from its Bondage of Corruption, does suffer the Testimony or tidings thereof, to be sometimes clouded in one Age, that it might break forth with greater power in the next; which Mystical Progress and Regress, is that whereby the loose hang-byes, and feigned pretenders to its Propagation, are shaken off and laid aside, to the end there may be no false Conceptions, abortive Births, no retrograde Motions, no sandy Foundations, or hollow-hearted Buildings, when the set time comes, for the full discovery of this so desirable Freedom, but that so pure a Principle, and refined an Interest, may find a truly Free People like itself, to espouse with it, not with thoughts of engrossing a common good to themselves, but to communicate it unto others, that are less fit to led then to fallow; lest otherwise the self-arrogance of Lordly headship and Superiority should be minded by them, that cannot as Rulers, stoop and become servants in love, to the meanest part of the whole body in God's Creation, which consists of equal Subjects to the Prince of Princes, at least in outward Liberty, throughout his great, but free Dominion.  
And thus it appears, that in much Wisdom Christ hath suffered, both in this and former Ages, a temporary Witness to this longlasting and glorious Freedom, sometimes more, sometimes less, heightened beyond the common understanding or reception, even of some Professors, but more profane( being blinded and bound in chains of Self-love) to be checked and over-run by the worldly spirit in those various Births and gradual out-goings thereof, to which some better refinement seemed necessary, by a seasonable suspense or silence, but still in order to its clearer passage through those changeable appearances, to it s more full and complete Manifestation, whereby it will grow at length too strong for any more suppression; the several steps or methods whereof, that were observable in its convincing Death, will also appear in its victorious Resurrection, from under that contempt and reproach, wherein like its holy Captain and Leader thereunto, though Dead and butted for a season, yet hath seen no Corruption. For as the lot of them that have been more than others in the Power of Godliness, was heretofore and of late, to come under the severe censorious Judgement of mans day, among those that were more formal, whereby way is made too easy for the Hypocrites and Apostates, to invade the outward Peace and Liberty of all that are sincere, both in Form and Power; so when these as Instruments, suffered to begin Judgement at the House of God, have done their work, then is the time for the openly profane Ones contending to be their severe Judges, who made them their Brethren and Companions in wicked Cruelty; and thus grinding each other o-as it were to pieces, like the upper and neather Mill-stones, while some common calamities, as an over-flowing scourge, may likewise overspread the whole; those whose hearts are purified by patient long-suffering under all, both from God and Man, may arrive at an abiding, dwelling in Love, without Fear or Torment, and ●o be wholly disengaged, as well from the active, as the passive part, of a wrathful Ministration.  
So that when in this manner, Iniquity of all kinds abounding, hath had its course without control, over all that is of Go●● manifest, but as it were imprisoned by fleshly weakness, and subtle as well as cruel wickedness, and therefore panting and breathing after a greater degree of strength and Freedom, still longing for deliverance; then will the Meek, but Mighty Spirit of the Lord, lying long in the grave of obscure silence, rise and show itself, by lifting up a Standard( without War, Tumult, Force or Violence) by conviction on the minds of all, for universal Justice, Righteousness, Peace, Love and Liberty, against all opposition whatsoever; then shall all breaches be healed, and paths restored, even for them to dwell in, that have long wandered and gone astray, if but willing to return, and of Enemies become Friends, to Christ's Lambs and Little Ones, that can be no other to them, though as Butts all this while, against whom the Seed of Enmity have spent all their Darts; nor are they willing to eat their Morsel alone, nor enjoy their free privileges apart, as a separate People, but wait and think long to invest others therewith, who have through ignorance, lengthened their own and Brethrens Captivity, under the great Oppressor.  
And as these things may possibly be fulfilled, ere we are ware, in these british Nations, so Gods proceeding by the same Line of Judgement in other parts of the World, may not be far off; for by that time the Reformed Churches abroad seem swallowed up by a licentious sort of Protestants at large, and both these by Popery, and ●hen those Countries that are planted with the fierce bloody Propagators of that Religion, by a suppression of any other, shall be overrun with the Turkish Mahometans, 'tis then possible that tidings from the East may divert the over-flowing course of those multitudes, which seem like many waters; then also the Euphration streams of interposing People of many Nations, being dried up by Sword, Sickness or Famine, way may be made for the scattered Tribes or Sects, but Royal Race of inward Jews, that by the Circumcision of their hearts and Spirits, are become true Priests and Kings in that Eastern Wisdom, Light and Knowledge of the Son of mans second Coming, without sin unto Salvation, through their Mystical Fellowship with Him, in his Death and Resurrection.  
For as heretofore, so now it is desirable, that even brethren themselves be not ignorant of this Mystery( which is a great one) least they be wise in their own conceits, and thereby not knowing after what manner it is, that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in, for so all Israel shall be saved, ( viz.) those that are of it, whether as Jews under a Legal, or as Gentiles under an Evangelical Ministration that are Israelites indeed, in whom is no guile; but 'tis not Circumcision or Uncircumcision outward that avails, but the new Creature-obedience; and out of Sion is to come the Deliverer, in whom both bond and free are all one, that shall turn ungodliness from the true Seed of Jacob; the time being therefore now short, it remains, that they who are Married to any visibles or particular Form or Measure, short of that way which is most excellent, even the Royal Law of Love, be as if they were not confined, but wholly free; and those that are free, as if they were bound in Spirit to become all to all: Nor will any trans●ient Communion, or Separation, comfort or across, joy or sorrow, possession or want, appear to be of much benefit or loss, since the most comely fashion of the old world passeth away, and the pleasant voice of him, by whom both the worlds were made, is heard, saying, Behold, I make all things new.  
This is that welcome voice, or glad tidings, which looseth the Prisoners, and raiseth them up that are bowed down; yea, the dead shall hear it, and they that hear( having died in the Lord) shall live, and come forth of their Graves, whether of sin, tormenting fear of Death, Hell, or any kind of Bondage to corruption, from which, the incorruptible new-nature, of unchangeable universal Love, does at once release the groaning, sighing, and in pain-travelling Creature.  
In the first Mystical Resurrection, which is a kind of transfiguring glory, wherein the Spirits of them that are dead in Christ, rise first as living witnesses of the Restoration; there is neither Marrying or giving in Marriage, whether in a literal or mystical sense as aforementioned, but in the Lord, not in the necessitous bondage, to outward helps; nor building or planting of Churches, Estates or Familes, unless in the will of the Lord, who is the chief builder and planter of his own House and Vineyard, before any else, and therefore no allowance in the works of that kind, to fulfil the lusts of the eyes, nor to abuse or waste the creatures in excess or superfluity, to support the pride of life:  
Nevertheless, as in that which is the literal, and yet but first Resurrection also which follows after, wherein the very bodies, as in the other, the Spirits of them that are dead in Christ, rise first; there will be an absolute cessation of all those things and duties, that were both lawful and useful in the land of our fleshly nativity and kindred, so likewise in this, as previous to that; there is to be a forbearance of nothing that is expedient to express the free estate of this glorious liberty of the Sons of God, who when they refuse no across, have a right to every creature-comfort, being received with Thanksgiving, and the work thereof sanctified by the Word of God and Prayer.  
The lustful will, subdued to the Will of God, and the selfish nature being bridled; by the pure, there is no more danger in abundance, then in want; nor in outward liberty, then a Prison: A free voluntary confinement to the across, steers our direct way to the Crown,( viz.) a real conquest over the sensual or carnal part, whether of pain, or pleasure, in any thing declined, or desired together with an inward joy of contentment, to feel the immortal life daily growing up through a decay of the mortal; so as not only in green enclosed Pastures of still retirement, but in the common high-ways of most ordinary familiar converse, to be kept purely unspotted of the world, and elean from wallowing in the mire of inordinate passions and affections.  
When Jerusalem is created a rejoicing, and her people a joy, there will be rather an improvement then a cessation of any works, ordained to uphold or meliorate this first Creation, because all manner of productions, will be with more perfections, when that which hinders it, and genders to all imperfection, becomes bound, if not ●xpel'd, for there shall be no more an Infant of dayes, but the Child shall die an hundred years old, and old men also; but such as must have fulfilled their dayes, yea, they shall build, but not for others to inhabit; they shall plant Vineyards, but not for others to eat the fruit of them; for as the dayes of a three, so are the dayes of my people,( saith the Lord) and my Elect shall long( even the Lords day, or Sabbath of a thousand years in length) enjoy the work of their hands, resting from all their labour and travail.  
Then shall cease all complaining in our streets, for want of Justice, Liberty, Righteousness, or Food or physic for Soul or Body; for wheresoever those waters or people run that issue out of the Sanctuary, there the Nations shall be healed of all their bruises, breaches, divisions and oppressions, and every thing that moveth, where this clear River runs, shall live, viz. it's incorrupt life of innocency, and freedom from that, which by an unwilling subjection to vanity is it's burden; and on either side of this River, grow all trees for meat; even such blessed souls, that neither see when heat cometh, nor ar● careful in the year of drought or restraint, whose leaf shall not fade, nor fruit consume, because continually new, and brought forth according to the respective months or seasons of the new flux of time, or long Sabbath to the whole Creation.  
Thus do these Sanctuary-waters, make the earthly nature of mankind, restored from the curse, fertile, and the fruit or good wholesome works of Righteousness, Reformation, and reasonable service to God and man, that these living Trees, or Saints of the most high God, true Plants of renown produce, shall be for meat or nourishment to the Sons of men in all Nations; and the leaf thereof, or their visible outward profession, and general, or ordinary moral Conversation, like a continual Winter Green, without change or falling, shall be for medicine to cure the distempers of all bodies politic, and human or civil Societies.  
These things may seem to this present Age like dark prophesies, or but allegorical Illustrations of them that are so; but by that time seven years more shall be expired, not only Saints, but Englands common people will by experience understand them much better: by three times seven; the Nations abroad, that now are invelopt under Popish darkness, and Turkish tyranny; but before seven times seven shall pass, tis expected that the very heathen shall appear to be the inheritance of Sions King, and the utmost ends of the earth his possession, present, and no longer in Reversion.  
But before this glorious day, the morning cloud of thick darkness, short, but sharply felt, may be the gradual or successive lot of all places and persons respectively, previous to their being visited by this welcome day spring from on high, and as the fellowship of inward sufferings are or shall be experienced by a sincere conformity therein to him that hath trodden the winepress of his Fathers wrath alone, and hath lead us the way by his own Doctrine, Precept, and Example; so the outward will be found more or less in measure easy.  
Yea, when distress of Nations shall be great, that of Sions mournful Sons and Daughters shall be very little, for the Mark is set upon them that sigh, to escape, when others, neither old or young shall be spared.  
Then shall the( earth made like a) wilderness and solitary place, be glad for them, viz. that made it so, even the wild beasts and birds of prey, very much disappearing, because confined to the business of the Lords Sacrifice in Bozrah, and the great slaughter appointed in the Land of Idumea, in the year of recompense for Sions Controversies; for as the wrathful Ministration very much in the active, but especially in the passive part thereof, is cast upon Gods implacable Enemies, though possibly for some time they may have been employed as hired Servants; so his poor peeled People, that ere while seemed like the dry barren desert, shall rejoice and blossom as the Rose; it shall blossom abundantly, rejoicing with joy and singing, their Peace shall be like a continual running River, and their Love like an Ocean without bounds or bottom.  
But to conclude; 'tis endless to think by words, of declaring fully the endless Life, which together with them that live it, are beyond all present discoveries, while under the Veil that must be rent or ended, ere we begin to know more than in part, or as we are known, for the company of Elect Angels is innumerable, and of so vast extent is the general Assembly of the First-born, whose Names are written in Heaven, that no Place, Nation, Age or sort of professing people on earth, can or ever could possibly comprehend them; but Love in a holy still silence, from all words or deeds, but what do express its own pure nature, can do much in both, for it reaches all things and persons with its own likeness at last; but beginning first in theirs, till in a fixed enmity, they either dislike or reject it: for it binds and loses on earth by heavenly appointments or order, and not otherwise.  
By this Free Principle therefore, two great things shall shortly be accomplished; First the true Universal, but of late bewildered and invisible Church shall be gathered, which is one, and not many, nor consisting of those one outward Form of Religion only, much less of one sort of that, but of all sorts, that seem of all, but being lovers of Truth in the inward parts, practise nothing but what they so know, with humble sincere desires and ready minds, by further discoveries, to know more and do better.  
Hereby are the several members of one Body reduced from wandring( in many ways and forms, out of the more excellent) into one Spirit, who being scattered and obscured in a preter-natural variety; neither know the true dimensions or parts of the Body, nor the efficacious Power of the new Natural Spirit, by reason of its diversified manner of breathings in one another.  
Nor is this catholic Church so much mentioned, as if any formal admission thereinto were more easy then a Gospel fitness prescribes unto such as are dead to all contentious pleadings for any other, notwithstanding their abounding with choice of Members, that want not marks of visible sanctity; for those scattered Saints well know, that their being already in the true Spirit of the living Body, will render them discernible, when the dry bones meet, although for present they remain ravicking themselves only among the Virgins that are without number, not formally espoused to any fellowship, wherein fewer Queens than Concubines do appear; but this general Church, the Members whereof being scattered in every Nation, by fearing God, and working Righteousness, some are known, others unknown, but the Lord and his Spirit witnessing with theirs, that they are accepted of him; and by reason of their local distance, look not to see the whole Assembly of that Age wherein they live, till by laying down the Body, or translating Change, they do it of all Ages together in the Resurrection; mean while, as near Neighbour-hood gives opportunity, they abide in the same Spirit, ready to meet with as many as are Free in the Lord, and can do it with one accord, for their Faith being unfeigned, shows itself by love to Saints of all sorts and measures, and next these to all men, not allowing of Wrath, Enmity, or vain Jangling, either for preferrance of themselves or any other, but depending upon the Spirits Wisdom only, to give evidence in each Heart or Conscience, who they are that are more or less worthy, whether of single or double Honour.  
This Universal Church therefore, is not pressed or mentioned, to reflect upon Particulars, or any Sort, Sect or Fellowship, nor Members thereof respectively, that pretend not a Competition with, but only Subordination to, this grand Assembly of the First-born, that comprehends all else, but rather to undeceive some, that say, they are Jews and are not, as also them that are, but know it not, because not so accounted, for want of signs external, though as authentic under the Gospel, as that was under the Law, to wit, of Circumcision.  
Secondly, by this Free Principle likewise, is that general Government to be known, that is fit and meet for the whole Universe, and to be evidenced by practise, which whether as the Kingdom of David, or Common-wealth of Israel, admits not of being calculated to the single Meridian of one Nation only, much less some personal or corrupt Interests thereof, but of all Nations, Countries, Kindreds and People, and whether they be few or many, in their several and distinct Confines of this world, and spread through the face of the whole Earth; for it is a Power that can appear and subsist in any Form, but in its own most easy, because agreeable and subjected to the free Will of God, and not to be depraved, but most enlightened conscientious part of man, taking in the knowledge and experience of all ages past and present, but reserving still room for more, by keeping in Gods hand the chiefest conduct, as the main true balance of Improvement.  
Nor is it confined to Numbers, Place, Wealth, or broad or narrow Rules of property; for a man, whether Poor or Rich, is more precious than Gold; but this Form and Power aforementioned, can show itself in the least and lowest, and also in the greatest sort and numbers, as joined or distinguished, but still under one and the self same Rule of impartial Justice, Equity and common Freedom, that whether on Islands or Continent, the Inhabitants of the whole World may live under one Royal Law, as subjected Brethren to the same Dominion, and this without compelled or confused necessity of uniting or dividing Territories, Lands or Lordships( or indeed at all) but by mutual consent; for hereby such lasting Foundations are laid, for true and growing Liberty, Peace and Plenty, without Blood-shed, War, Noise or Tumult, as may enure to the People or Inhabitants of each Nation, even where they are now fixed or settled, and abide to the Worlds end.  
For as it shows comprehensively, the inclusion of any use or help which may be had of all Saints and Men, so likewise the exclusion of all Beasts and Devils, black or white, by making sinners afraid, that seek umbrage and shelter in some out-works of Sion, and surprising Hypocrites with fearfulness, bridling the profane with a severe kerb, but indulging the Free Spirit with all due encouragement, binding that which neither knows, or not rightly to use Freedom, but setting and keeping Free all that is or are so New-born, especially after its trial, by patient bearing and wearing out unjust and undue Bondage.  
This and much more is learnt, by an humble filent waiting on the Dictates or Comman●s of this new Man Christ Jesus, whose name is Wonderful councillor, Prince of Peace, on whose shoulders this great Government is cast to manage, and therefore shall not miscarry, though mediately entrusted into the hands of his Heavenly Watchers, or his Meek holy Ones on Earth, but of its increase and peace there shall be no end; for as it comes to be understood, that of one blood he hath made all Nations, having determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their Habitation, so will Judgement be shown unto the Gentiles, without striving, crying, or his Voice being heard by any man in the streets; nor shall the bruised Reed be broken, or smoking Flax quenched, till Judgement come forth to Victory, and in this his Name, and Nature also, shall the Gentiles trust.  
By this Free Nature, or true pure new Natural Freedom, is taught to pull down and pluck up, all those things, and those only which as inconsistent therewith cannot stand, and by casting out the Scorner or mocking Seed of the Bond-woman, to build and plant that, and that only which will abide, by changing the mutable state of all Saints, men and other Creatures, altogether by way of Improvement, but nothing by way of Degeneration, for having descended as a Faithful Servant, it teaches in that strait course, and no otherwise, to ascend by right as Lord of all, leading a●l captive in silent Conviction that oppose it, but all them that follow it, unto the top of its own Dominion, not to bind or enslave the Free, but to set free the Bound, and make them more Free, that by way of enlarged desires are so already.  
This is that Free Wisdom, coming from above, that dwelling within no other confines but of Prudence, teaches to increase poor Families like Flocks, to erect houses for all sorts of good( not carnal) Fellowships, to build Cities, Towns and Villages, all after new Forms, but for better and more public ends, then those low, mean, and base Concerns of mortal name, famed, or interest; yea, to plant not only a private Garden, Field or Country, but all Nations, that are either at present, as dry barren deserts, or stancht and choked with weeds, and top-heavy scratching brambles, yea to make the whole Creation like a Paradicecal Eden, or Garden of God.  
Hereby also will be instruction to follow all manner of Trades and Callings, without such accursed entanglements, or beastly marks, previous to the allowance of the pretended Freedom in all Arts or Sciences, as those who are Free indeed decline for the conditional clogs thereof. This wise Prudence guides the simplo learner, till he become a perfect Teacher, and lets the Teacher see himself an imperfect Learner, till he can become all to all, to gain some.  
'twill make the Servant fit to be a Master, without aspiring or insubjection; and the Master willing to serve, without regret or trouble; this is it that can Rule, Obey, Gather, Scatter, Live or Die, not for itself; for it shows the way to all persons, by becoming pure in one degree to cease from, and for that of another, still offering and yielding up the lower to the higher, till all comes to the foot, and into the hand of Him that is highest of all.  
In this manner preparing the great, as well as every little World or Man, to become a fit Sacrifice, to Him whose works were all at first good, and therefore knows best by fiery trials how to purge away all impure mixtures, in order to their Restoration, not destroying the precious, but separating it from the Vile, till all immortal Beings are distinguished by their respective Principles, Love or Enmity, wherewith in time they have espoused themselves for an Eternal Union.  
And then the pure fine Veil of Creature-Innocence, which the Creator made as a changeable clothing to wear a while, upon his own unchangeable Power and Glory, being by the same hand, but as a Mediator, or the Redeemers restitution of all things, brought to light from long darkness, and caused to succeed that false Covering, which by sin and Satans entrance upon the World, hath been cast over all flesh; and this last, which was also first, subjecting itself to death by fire freely, as that which hath intervened, must do by force or feigned obedience, all things and persons in this manner being detected, shall stand in their naked simplicity before the Judge of Q●ick and Dead.  
Then those who in this life have received their good things, and so be fooled themselves with Satans golden chains of sensual selfish and imaginary pleasure, profit or honour, will be confined to their place of everlasting Bondage.  
But such as have declined no Seas of trouble in the flesh, whether of hardships, losses, crosses, or captivity by far and faithful adventures in the Lambs long-suffering warfare, shall then be received, not into any more movable Tabernacles, but fixed in during substantial dwellings of Love, in their Fathers house, where are many Mansions.  
And mean while, their transient bonds, or other marks of the Lord Jesus, which they bear about in their mortal bodies, and earthly concerns, are their lasting badges of honour in this life;( if onely owned in meekness, without boasting or being puffed up therewith) and of a never dying Freedom in that world which is to come. By this small prospect from the Creatures bondage into liberty, may be perceived the grand mistake of any that press not so much towards the Lord of Heaven, for a Spiritual enlargement in their bodily prisons, as towards the seeming Lords of the earth, to be released from Stone-wall'd enclosures; for doubtless as the mind grows inwardly free, so a restraint from outward converse is it's privilege and advantage, to keep it fixed and steadily intent upon those things above, that tend to raise it far beyond the sense, and by degrees, above the power of all bonds whatsoever; for when those that are within become broken, because of the anointing, those that are outward, though of the strongest kind, cannot long continue.  
But besides, what doubt or question is to be made, that so soon as the work is finished which was given to do in the secret Chamber, but by the decree of the angelical watchers, and by the demand, or word of the holy Ones, the door of the closest prison on earth will fly open, which hinders from ought of duty that lies abroad? and till that be clear, the hidden life yields too much of substantial profit& pleasure, then to be quit for vain shadows or fond diversions: Especially, since the soul that knows its broad compass in the pure will and love of God, finds experimentally all parts and places of this lower world, no better then a large restraint; but the body, it's more close prison, which for those very deuce of nature, that it daily requires, keeps the Spirit from dwelling always on high, and compels its too frequent descendings.  
Nevertheless, the Free Citizens of the inward upper world, have long since resigned their own Elective Freedom in reference to any lot or portion below, for they wot not what to choose, knowing, that to live, is Christ, but to die, their gain; and therefore as their outward Bonds are no burden, so their Liberty of that kind also, will be no snare, because not willing to accept it but from his hand only, who hath all Authority and Power.  
But as Christs fleshly Birth or coming into the world, was in a place of repose for Beasts rather than men( thereby resembling his first manifestation) in the mixed nature of our own persons) so likewise his second and spiritual birth, whereby he will become admired in all them that believe, will no less probably show itself most early in those Dens or dark Caves of the earth, that are the great Dragons habitations of Cruelty, where the Ostrich, owl, and other doleful creatures dwell, the Satyrs dance, and none of the Vulturous Crew have wanted their Mates to belch out their blasphemous Oaths, and Enmity against the Wounds, Blood, and Life of the Lamb, as well as the meek and lowly Ones, of the most high God, whereby those wretched Sodomites, through their lewd ungodly conversation have vexed the righteous souls of the pure in heart, whose tongues were sometimes made to cleave to the roof of their mouths, appearing as it were dumb, and no reprovers, because in the houses of a Rebellious people.  
On this account, some spirits have been kept in prison, like a kind of Hell upon earth, more troublesone then the bodies restraint, whereby the souls aforementioned, have seemed almost to dwell in silence, each of them whose portion have been in obscure confinement in this manner to bemoan themselves sometimes a part in secret, saying, Wo is me that I sojourned in Meshech, and that I dwell in the Tents of Kedar, whose portion is to be with the uncircumcised.  
But the alwise God, that brings good out of evil, knows by this double kind of silence, wherein he thus permits his own to be detained, how, as it were to press inward the leaven of his own Kingdom, that consists not in words but power, till at length it works itself outward by breaking all bonds of both kinds in sunder, and to torment that infernal spirit, with its followers; which, when it becomes bound from offending Babes of love, will feed and prey upon its own wrathful off-spring, or seed of Enmity; while the seed of the free Woman are released to all intents and purposes, walking at liberty upon earth, because redeemed from it, warning and teaching every one in all wisdom, by Preaching the Everlasting Gospel in words and works of it's own nature, that by such means, they may present every man in Christ Jesus, whereunto they labour, striving according to his new Manly-natures working, which( some that seem wise builders of States and Churches understand very little of, but( worketh in them with mighty power.  
Then shall the end of their silent long-suffering travels be seen, and the meaning of their patience under those reproachful censures be known, whether by Brethren or Strangers, because by some of both judged for straining at a Gnat in their account, of one kind, which is not to swallow a Camel of another, but in pure obedience to him that hath fulfilled all Righteousness, wherein, because so unable to follow him in the Positive or Active part, they are the more obliged to endeavour it in the Negative or Passive, and therefore dare not decline the straightest gate of outward trials, rather than lose their inward freedom afore-mentioned, by causing the offence of the across to cease, through bowing in any degree, though under fair pretences to the worldly Spirit, which by a constant and steady patience in the Lamb's Warfare, will not only be bowed, but broken.  
Nor are such as are Free in this freedom, rendered thereby worthy only to be Members of any petty Body politic, or Corporate; or to be advanced to Honour and Dignity in the Court of Princes or Potentates, as Joseph, Mordecai, Daniel, and others have been, since the Church began to lift up her Head under Constantines Imperial power and shelter, after more then two hundred years depression from her primitive glory, least in truth, such living stones being placed in old rotten fabrics, not rightly founded, for some trans●ient benefit and lustre put upon them by a good Inhabitant, should suffer loss, and come to decay, when the house itself is left desolate; and so the Church, having clothed her self in the gorgeous attire, that suits the mixture of such times, should be driven again to quit it by wearing sackcloth in the wilderness.  
They who have arrived at this glorious liberty in themselves, are( and ought to be so accounted) free dennizens in all Nations, or of the whole world, nor of this below, but by being so( as new naturalised) of that which is above, even the new Jerusalem which descends from God out of Heaven, for that being their proper Inheritance and habitation for converse, their life here, is spent very much for their sakes who know no better freedom, then as derived from him who is of the earth, earthly; which, whether at it's worst estate already corrupted, or it's best, which, though not so, because yet changeable, for the worse, as well as the better, is corruptible, and so altogether vanity.  
And therefore the labours of these Chri●tian Freemen, is to keep others from falling lower then they are, to wit, into the nethermost Pit or Dungeon of hellish bondage and darkness, that may be felt from whence is no Redemption, as also to draw them with cords of love higher, even into the unchangeable liberty derived from the glorious Son of God, who is the Lord from Heaven, Heavenly.  
Wherein they whom Christ hath made Free indeed, are made to stand fast therein, without being entangled again with any yoke of bondage, whether from men or evil Angels; hence is it that they seem like-indefatigable Labourers to set the oppressed free, both within and without, counting no Commands of Christ grievous to themselves, and therefore with the more Authority preach in good works the life of true Freedom to all men whatsoever, that sit in darkness and shadow of death, but are best understood by them, that having received the first fruits of this Spirit, are groaning within themselves, and waiting for the Adoption, to wit, the Redemption of the Body.  
Now whether this is written by one in Prison or out of Prison, need not be asked, for he cannot tell, because though he walks in spirit at large, yet not without some symptoms of a fleshly thraldom, to the bodily prison of his earthly nature; but by the sincere love he bears to true freedom, and good will to all that wish or witness it, he is as the Lords Free-man, a bound Servant to the Grace of the least and lowest, but not to the lust or corruption of the Highest on earth; therefore in meekness and patience does he desire to possess his soul, knowing that it is but a very little time, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry, who having the keys of Hell and Death with him, will loose the Bonds or troubles of the Righteous, and cause the Wicked to be in their stead, by putting down the Mighty from their Seat, and listing up the meek and lowly.  
For 'tis neither worldly Greatness or Gallantry, nor Wealth or Wisdom, nor Pomp or Power, much less what's worse, but the Lord alone that will be exalted in this day that's come and coming; he it is that hears and regards the sighing of the Prisoner, without words or written Petitions, and will ere long see the travail of his Soul for that universal Liberty to all Saints and Mankind, as afore-mentioned.  
And though hope deferred hath made hearts sick for a season, yet when-desire comes, 'twill be a three of Life, because as well above ground as under it; 'tis possible, that the Prisoners may yet rest together without hearing the voice of the Oppressor, when small and great may remain quiet, and every faithful servant free from the hard Bondage of his Tyrannical Master.  
Now if it be said, Alas! who shall live when God doth this, or when these kind of Parabolical Prophesies will be fulfilled? 'tis answered, they that desire to live the Life, as well as die the Death of the Righteous, and therefore make it their work to stand always refign'd to every daily, yea hourly appointment of Divine Providence and Pleasure, valuing the meek and lowly life of innocent long-suffering travels in words and works of Truth and Soberness, at a higher rate then the unjust reward of frowns or flatteries, persuading to curse the Seed that God hath blessed, or to bless the Seed that God hath cursed.  
But because the Judgements of the Lord are a great deep, 'tis very evident that they who are mo●t conversant in Gods pure Will, for the knowledge of them, are or ought to be at so much the more distance from their own will, and desire, to hasten or preproperate their execution, especially if thereby any vain hopes do arise, that the fire which is already kindled in Sion should extinguish, till Gods whole work be performed therein, by her dross being thoroughly purged, and her Converts being fully redeemed with that Righteousness and Judgement whereby all false alleys must be consumed.  
And since it is not contending by secret Plots or open Violence, against persons or Powers high or low, though upon the most specious pretences of introducing better things then the present Generations of men seem acquainted with, but a harmless, holy, inoffensive Life and Conversation, expressed in universal love without dissimulation, towards God and all men, which will gain a belief in the world, that the Yoke of Christs Government is more easy than that of man, especially in his degenerous beastly state of Corruption; 'tis therefore to be remembered, that Christs next coming, will be as the Son of Man, and that like Lightning more than Thunder, which impl●yes, that his Witnesses m●st approve themselves to the Consciences, as well of every man, as Chri●tian Brother in the sight of God, as also, that the bearing of thi● testimony should be without Noise and Violence.  
But if this Dove-like spirit finds no rest, by reason of a sinful deluge of iniquity still abounding, and filthy waters prevailing, then what remains, but that the prudent should still keep silence, and in-Ark themselves in the hidden Life with Christ in God, waiting in a secret or inward obscurity, till the floods of the ungodly shall be assuaged, and freedom given for the meek and lowly to reap, and enrich the Creation with the fruit of their vict●rious Conquests gained over the worldly spirit, not by force or fraud, but by innocent and patient long-sufferings with joyfulness, so as they may bear without envy or offence, in their hands and hearts, the Palm branches of lasting Peace, and universal Love, to all Saints and men, but crying Hosanna to none, save the Highest only.  
And this is the faithful Testimony of one that desires to glory in nothing, save in the across of Christ Jesus, whereby the World may be crucified to him, and he unto the World: Therefore so far as ●ught in this Witness seems worthy of any Honour amongst the most honourable, therein, he would be unknown, because 'tis not his own that he seeks, either to give, or receive by it; But if any thing of that kind hath intruded not only to his own, but even others offence, whether of brethren or strangers, he acknowledgeth it so far beyond his Warrant, that as he dares not be unwilling to bear the across when it finds him, without h●s own seeking it, in this World; so neither to accept the Crown of esteem, or approbation, until he comes in to another.  
THE END.