DID the Everlasting, Invisible God of Eternal Life, ever send or execute his visible or invisible Judgements, Vengeance, Plagues, or great De­structions, or effect his wonderful and terrible Acts in, and upon Nations, Kingdoms, Cities, Towns, Families, or upon any particular or individual Man or Woman, before they were sufficiently warned within and with­out them? O England, England, England, what hast thou done? Wilt thou not yet be warned? Or is it not high time for thee to be awakened; to lay hold on, and to receive the tender, terrible, and yet sweet Visitations and Warnings of the most tender, holy, and highest God of Life and Power of Heaven and Earth, in, and by, and through his Lambs, the called, and chosen, and faithful Messengers; redeemed from, and above the earth, (that's corrupted and filled with vio­lence and habitations of Cruelty) to the end also, that thou O Nation, and the Inhabitants within thy bowels O Land, yet may be healed by the eternal Word of Life, of Holiness; and that the people also, in the ends and utmost parts of the earth, that sit in darkness under the bondage of Death and Corruption, may receive the everlasting Light and good un­derstanding [Page 2] of God's Lamb, (which was, & is the same that is to come, even the same that was in the beginning with God, in his Dominion (before he was slain) and that they might sweet­ly scent and savour the pure Vertue, Fame and Dignity of the renowned, holy, long-suffering-Seed of the blessed Plant of eternal Life of Holiness; yea, and to drink freely of the eter­nal Fountain of Life that's opened, and therein subject to the everlasting Righteousness, in which they shall believe and walk, even in the everlasting Light of Life of eternal Righte­ousness (that's risen up in the midst of thee, O Nation) which shall ascend up into a holy Flame, and shine forth in its trans­parent perfect Light of Life, and comely brightness, beauty, and glory, over the whole earth, (even as the waters covereth the Sea) so that the Nations round about thee, O England, shal have a single bright eye opened in them, perfectly to behold it, and believe in the bright & perfect Light thereof, in which they shall bless, praise and magnifie the mighty, good, and ter­rible God of Power and Life, that raiseth the dead, and sensi­bly favour his unexpressible long-suffering, who hath brought Life and Immortality to Light, through the Eternal Word of pure Life, or Gospel, which is the everlasting Power of the ho­ly, mighty God of Jacob, (even in the midst of a foolish and despised, yet a peculiar people) in thee, O England; by which many high, strong, and lofty Mountains, and Rocky Hills that have been raised up on high, and by it razed and overturned, and whirled down even to the sides of the Pit (where there is no Water) because their hearts within them were not steadfast, but very treacherous before the Lord of heaven, the mighty God of Power (& his suffering people) therefore even as a Milstone cast into the sea, sunk they down in the deep, even into the mighty waters, whose proud, swelling, lofty Waves lifted up their heads, & made a terrible noise, yea & roared over them; the barren I­slands, the high & lofty Mountains, the Hils, the ragged, the ridg­ed, the hard and smooth Rocks, lo they were overwhelmed in one day, even when there was a calm, (suddenly after the many various, quick, terrible, and violent storms and tempests) But alas! alas! wo and alas for thee, O England! Why should the unexpressible weight of the multitude of the mighty and cry­ing [Page 4] sins, open, and loud, lewd, and filthy abominations of the inhabitants of thy famous Cities, Towns, and goodly Pasture, be thy ruine? Was it not such a ful Cup that (as it were) drew down such Vengeance, suitable Judgements, Wrath, and woful Desolations upon Jerusalem, the old World, Sodom and Gomorrah, that of old suffered such woful Desolations, and the Vengeance of eternal Fire (from Heaven:) And why O Eng­land, why are they not evident examples to thee (for good) which thy Pastors, thy Teachers, thy Builders and wise-men have been so many hundred years talking of, whilst they have exceedingly added to thy sins, and caused thee to erre, and have multiplied thy abominations, and stirred up thy filthiness, so that such an ill savour and unwholesom smel so long time hath ascended up on high, even to the Throne of God; so that at this day thou art (as it were) swallowed up in obscurity: A­las for thee, O Nation! how is it that thine eyes are so closed and shut up in the night of darkness, together with its black, covetous, and unprofitable talkers, who have helped with their deceitful and bloody hands, to close up thine eyes, and blind thee; so that thou yet canst not see the Light of Life, which for thy good, O Land, may yet be the onely good & Diadem of thy glory, as a Crown of Life set and fixed upon thy head, so that all the Thrones and Dominions, Potentates, Powers, Kingdoms and Nations, Kindreds and Peoples, together with all the Inhabitants of the Earth, should not be able to smite it of, but it should stand even as a goodly ornament upon thy head, even from Genera­tion to Generation (If so be thy Day, O England, pass not o­ver thy head) and if so thou changest not, that that may be for thy glory; for that (as hitherto) which doth not profit, but may become thy ruine, O Nation.

And that this might not swiftly come upon thee as a valiant armed man in one day, or hour, as upon a Woman in travel, (whilest thy whited Walls are crying Peace and Safety to thee, e­ven in such an hour) from which in any wise she cannot flye or escape.

To this end (O England! England!) the most high and holy Lord of Lords, and King of Kings, hath opened the mouth of Wisdom (in his called, chosen and faithful Lambs of his lit­tle [Page 4] Flock.) And lo she hath uttered her sweet and pleasant voice freely, in, and through thy streets; within and without thy Borders & Territories, in and through thy Cities, Towns & Vil­lages, yea, and in the chiefest places of concourse within thy bowels, O Land; yea, even within, and upon thy high places, and goodly Palaces, Idols Temples, yea and before thy Thrones and Dominions, and unjust Judgement-Seats, and them that handle the Law; yea even in, and through thy stinking, cruel, oppres­sing, close, and unwholsom Prisons, Holes, and Dungeons and Caves of the earth, where Wisdoms Children have been mercilesly shut up and suffred want, their blood shed, their lives laid down, and what else?

Where O Nation, is the place within thy borders, or within thy most secret bowels of thy Territories or Dominions that the sound or cry, and terrible, yet pleasant eccho (or sound) of Wisdoms voice, that it hath not been heard? What, hath not the joyful sound hereof (with terrible and thundering Alarms, loud and still Voices, dreadful and certain Signs and Wonders, by which the Inhabitants within thy bowels have been hitherto, or so far clearly and certainly warned, and (as it were) swiftly passed through thy Land, O unbelieving Nation? And lo this is come to pass, and yet is, to the end that thou mightst yet be wa [...]d, and healed: (How long, or when shall (or wil) it once be?) But how Wisdoms Children have been treated, or esteemed of thee, thy Governors, thy Pastors, thy Teachers, thy wise Master-builders, thy Lawyers that have taken away, and not onely so, but have also lost the Key of Knowledge; thy long robed black Rab­bies and Doctors, (that have enlarged the borders of their Phi­lacteries, to comprehend or compass Sea and Land; and what if I should say, Lo this is the secret intent of their heart (to wit) lest the true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world, should reign over, and so come and take away their place and Nation) Professors and Prophane, Old and Young, Learned and Vnlearned, of thy bringing forth O Land; Verily the Generations to come wil wel consider it, and lay it to heare: What, have not the Lambs and babes of Wisdoms bringing forth, been as the Wind, or been accounted as the vilest filth of the Earth, or so vile as such, of whom the present World [Page 5] (or that without end) is not worthy, in the eyes of thy scor­ning Children within thy bowels, O Nation.

And O Earth, dost thou yet know, or canst thou yet compre­hend with all thy Wisdom and Prudence, the beginning of their strength, or the Land of their Nativity, or the Womb that bare them, or the day that brought them forth? Or dost thou yet know, O Land, from whence they come, or whither they go? Or are they not yet to thee, O England, as the Wind, or as soun­ding Brass, and tinckling Symbals, if not far worse, or as the vi­lest off-scouring of all things? Who were, and yet are, and are t [...] yea and shall be when thou art no more.

And O LONDON, thou Impudent Harlot, thou whorish Blood-thirsty Mistress of abomination, whose defiled corrupted Womb is wel nigh filled therewith: Verily thou hast been (what if I should say) even as a stinking, corrupt, unwholesom Fountain, this many hundred years; so that the ill favour of the Flood of thy filthy noisom abominations, from thee, as from a troubled, black, swelling Flood, or Fountain of filthi­ness, have flowed and streamed forth throughout the Land, and wofully defiled thy Neighbouring Towns and Cities; who have drunk deep of thy unclean, filthy whorish abominations: And who amongst them have not tasted somewhat of the Cup of Di­stress and Desolation, whil'st thou as a Queen or Lady, hath sate lifted up on high [as if thou shouldst see no sorrow] or rather like a treacherous hard hearted Harlot, with an impudent fore-head as of brass, with a stretched-forth neck, compacted as it were with sinews of Iron, so that thy impudent face hath been tur­ned as it were every way, beholding the same; and lo, thou hast put the Cup from thee (through thy treacherous dealings) into the hands of them that have been more righteous then thou; and in the midst of thy treacherous dealings and filthy abominati­ons hast thou blest thy self, O Harlot; so that the Name of the Eternal God of Holiness and of Judgement hath been as it were polluted in thy treacherous heart within thy filthy bow­els.

O Strumpet, whilst thou hast been speaking peace and safety to thy self, in and through every change of Government; yea, the everlasting eye to this day hath seen it, and mu [...] more; [Page 6] And have not thy treacherous dealers from time to time [in the days as it were of thy Calamity & Distress] wiped thy mouth; so that thou hast been ready to say, like an impudent Harlot, I am Innocent; and thy impudent face hath been sometimes as it were set toward the Lord, as if thou hadst been ashamed of thy whorish Adulteries, and to pay thy vows with a treacherous heart; and behold, the Eternal Eye of the Almighty hath be­held thee, and traced thee in all thy secret and open, changea­ble, hypocritical, impudent twinings, and turnings from time to time, and yet, yet canst thou not blush, O Harlot! And lo, I have been still, saith the Lord, and have long time held my peace, and I have refrained my self: But now will I arise, and cry like a woman in travel, to make waste Mountains and Hills, as in the ancient dayes: Wo to thy Pastors, and Teachers, and Builders, and covetous, treacherous, deceitful dealers, and wise and skilful Physicians, and haughty Builders, and swelling proud Boast­ers, and unprofitable talkers, whose hands have been defiled and polluted with blood, whilst they with treacherous hearts have been speaking Peace, Peace and safety to thee, and themselves e­ven in the midst of thy Wickedness; and their Tongues have been even as a sharp Razor, working deceitfully, strength­ening thy bloody hands as it were, to adorn and build thee up with blood. O thou great, wicked, and Bloody City, remember and forget not, if happily it may be yet for thy good, and (not to thy destruction) the many various, divers, tender, and terrible Warnings, Visitations, and Controversies of the Most High God of Truth, of Eternal Judgement; and many of his visi­ble Iudgements besides what hath past through his dear, tend­er, faithful Lambs & Messengers, that have not dealt deceitfully with thee, O Harlot, but have been thy very true Mourners over thee O City! How canst thou put away and forget the many various Signs, and Wonders, and tender Warnings and Visita­tions, valiant and terrible Acts, which the Almighty hand of his eternal Strength and Power hath held forth, brought to pass, effected, and accomplished from time to time within, and with­out thy VValls, strong holds, borders and Territories, even to awaken thee to eternal Judgement. [Mark that] And thou O lofty and bloody City of Cruelty, of Pride, of Hypochrisie, of treache­rous dealing, double-mindedness, together vvith fulness of bread, [Page 7] excess, wasting, vanity, and abundance of Idleness, Covetous­ness, Extortion and Opression, art not ignorant of these things: So that even thou, O great and wicked City, together with the Inhabitants within thy filthy Womb; I say again, ye are alto­gether not ignorant of these things; and yet this is the cry and call, Fruits meet for repentance from thee, O City; and blessed and happy eternally shall they be, that find a place of Repentance unto life before it be too late.

Wherefore let all know, that it is even thus as this Pen hath written, and much more; and that this is the living Word of Life within my heart, and Commandment of the Lord of Hea­ven, from whence this certain and true Warning is written; which tends not against, but for the Kings safety, together with all His Subjects thorowout his Dominion; I say, their safety, if so be they wisely lay it to heart, before the Eternal Decree of the Al­mighty be sealed against thee O City and Nation.

But O Nation! O England! O Earth! What wilt thou not yet be awakened, warned, and healed? How long, How long shal the most holy, long-suffering, tender, and true God of Power vvait to be gracious? whil'st his holy Word and Spirit of Life is become a taunt and by-word even in thy streets, and yet continueth striving within thee and thy Inhabitants for your good. What O Nation! Wilt thou not at all be healed, and cleansed? Where­fore, or why should Iniquity, or the multitude of thy open, se­cret, and loud crying abominations (that bringeth destruction and death, which thou hitherto hath chosen rather then life) sink thee down, and swallow thee up, O Land? who hast gree­dily (without fear or amazement) drunk down Iniquity, and al­so swallowed down, and glutted thy self with the tender mer­cies of the most high; and wasted, and impudently devoured his good Creatures, and the sweet blessings of the living God, and desperately consumed them upon thy abominable, many, and various hurtful Lusts; by which the Just, day by day, and from time to time, even from thy Infancy, unto this day, hath been wounded and ctucified. And verily, thou hast wickedly kickt against him, even as a fed and fatted horse against his owner, that fed and fatted him against the Day of Battel: And why O England, O Earth, O Land, wherefore should the most High [Page 8] be thus rewarded by thee? who hath been thy merciful and long-suffering God, even in the day of thy distress! Why should such unexpressible mercies and loving kindnesses, tender and yet terrible Visitations and Warnings, become thy greatest Judgements? whilest thou so greedily and swiftly art hastening on, and pursuing thy own destruction, and not thy glory; which happily may stand from Generation to Generation, even to all Generations, even as a goodly Diadem or Crown of Glory on thy head, didst but thou O Land, know the day of thy Visitati­on, so as to put far away all thy abominations: Thy Pastors and thy Teachers, thy wise men, and them that handle the Law, thy Governors, thy Builders, chuse ye the life of everlasting meekness and humility (which is to go before the Honour that is from beneath, and eternal Salvation crowneth it, which beau­tifieth, and maketh truly honourable all that are, or shall be therewith adorned, rather then Death and Destruction. And lo, the time hastens, and behold it cometh to pass (if thy good Day, O England, pass over thy head, and leave thee as a vile polluted, adulterous Woman, that hath received a bil of Di­vorcement from the beloved Husband of her youth) that the Nations round about thee shal see, and bewail, lament & shake the head, and cry, Wo and alas for thee; and yet condemn and not ju­stifie thee, because thou hadst not chosen the good day of Life, of Eternal Righteousness and Salvation; neither seen through dark Clouds of Deceit and Hypocrisie, to behold its tender and sweet, yet many various and terrible Visitations, Wonders, & valiant Acts, as in the ancient dayes; neither sufferedst thou the migh­ty Hand and stretched-out-Arm of the Eternal, Invisible, Li­ving God of Life and Power, of incomprehensible Wisdom, and irresistable strength, to take thee up, (and chastise thee, and heal thee, and save thee, and honour thee, O Land, with that which is everlasting, O Nation, as an Instrument in his Almigh­ty hand, of his everlasting Strength, and Eternal, Invisible Po­wer, to war against the Throne and Seat, Body and Authority of Antichrist, the Whore, the Great Whore, the Woman, the false Church, Mysterie Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots, and Abominations of the whole Earth; yea, against the Dragon and false Prophet, Babylons Merchants, the Beast (to which people [Page 9] and Nations have wickedly given their power, and the whole World have wandered after) yea, I say, even to war against the Man of Sin, his Seat, his Throne, Authority and Dominion exalted in, and throughout all Nations of the Earth.

But O England! O England! What hast thou done? What! O what shall I say for thee! Wilt thou not yet be humbled, and heal­ed, and saved? Why, or wherefore may it not be said of thee, or why mayest thou not be called of the Nations round about thee, and of the Generations to come, A Nation, a blessed Nation, a good Land, a very good Land, flowing with Milk and Honey, e­ven out of the Rock of Ages, the everlasting and sure Foundati­on of Mount Sion? How wel, how wel would it be with thee, O Nation, O Land, when if happily thou mayest be founded and built upon this sure, firm, stedfast, immovable, Eternal Foundation, this everlasting Rock, the LIGHT of the World, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world, that all men through him might believe, by whom the World was made; whose Name is cal­led the Word of God, Jesus, Emanuel, the Lamb which was in the beginning with God, (even the living God) which is in the midst of us (that tremble at his Eternal Word of Life) whom the Na­tions, Kindreds and Tongues, and People scornfully calls QUA­KERS.

Wherefore, or why O Nation, O England, is it that thou dost not like to retain a good, clear, sound and perfect understanding within thy heart? that thereby, and unto the end thou mightest have perfectly beheld and seen with the Eternal eye of it, and wisely laid it to heart what hath been the ground and cause, and also the end of the many various Chastisements, and terrible smi­tings, and tender Visitations and Warnings, gentle and severe strokes of the Almighty, and besides what else through his forbea­rance and long-suffering he hath (as it were) suffered to be effect­ed or brought to pass to thy many dangerous, deepe, and (as it were) incurable woundings.

Yet, yet alas, alas, wo and alas for thee O England; Why wilt thou not yet be healed? Or why, or wherefore should the multitude of the Inhabitants within thy Bowels, Borders, Strong holds, Ter­ritories and Dominions (as it were) generally, and with one cosn­sent, cry out, and lift up their voices in rage, folly and madnes, [Page 10] enmity and cruelty, and say as people in the ancient dayes to the Most High, Depart (or away from us) for we desire not the knowledge of thy wayes, or what is the Almighty that we should serve him? See Job the 21. and Job chap. 24. Or why O Nation, or what is the matter with thee, that thine eyes are so closed that thou dost yet turn thy back parts, and not thy face to the Almighty? from whose Eternal hand, and stretched out Arm of Power, or Word of Eter­nal Life, of everlasting strength, no Peoples, Families, Kindreds, Tongues, Kingdoms, or Nations are able to save or deliver themselves when at once his forbearance and long-suffering Patience is (as it were) come to an end, and his Eternal Decree sealed up against them.

O England, England, Ah sinful Nation! What shall I yet more say, to the end thou yet mayst receive Warning before another Warning come to thee as it were too late? Yet wo and alas for thee O Nation: Why O Land, may not the pure Sound perfect Understanding, together with Wisdoms Babes, Lambs and Chil­dren of Peace, young men and virgins, young and old that are free­born from above, Why (say I) may not those live, or be retained within thy Walls, Towers or Shires, Counties, Borders or Territo­ries? Why (O Nation, O England; or wherefore O unbelieving Nation) may not the pure, clear and perfect Sound, everlasting Understanding or Wisdom of the most highest God over all, (to­gether with its children) be liked so, as to be retained in thee? or furthermore, or moreover to be as a free-born Family in their Un­derstanding, to be as a clear pure Fountain, or Well-spring of li­ving Waters of Life, in the midst of thy heart and bowels, O Land? And why may not the sweet, comfortable, and pleasant streams thereof, sweetly and softly in the sweet, and peaceable stil­ness of the same, freely ascend, and pleasantly issue and stream forth from the midst of thee O Land, to the ends and utmost parts of the whole Earth, that's under the Sun, Moon and Stars of God? And why O England, art thou so obscured and clouded with darkness? Canst thou not yet see what letteth or hindereth that the Generations to come may not in truth and in uprightness of heart in the Wisdom of the Most High, call thee a Land, a good Land; a Nation, a good Nation, a stedfast Nation, founded upon a Rock; a blessed Nation of Peace, a blessed peculiar people; [Page 11] within the bowels of a peculiar, blessed, good Land, and freeborn Nation, brought forth in one day, and saved by, and under the Hand and outstretched Arm of the Almighty; the great and on­ly good, the merciful and onely wise, the invisible, eternal, terri­ble, dreadful, long-suffering God of everlasting Power, Life, Vir­tue, Substance, and onely Center or Being of all his good Crea­tures throughout his whole Creation, before it or they were form­ed, created, or made, or brought forth by the Eternal Word by which all are upheld even to this day, saith the holy God of truth; and let all the Nations thorow the whole Earth, under the whole Fabrick of the Heavens, know that I am the same before all things and not otherwise; and as I live saith the Lord, I am the Light, and change not, when they shall be no more.

And O Nation, O England, Who hast been so sweetly, and tenderly, and terribly, and wonderfully visited by the Eternal Word of Power, of Healing, of Health, of Virtue and Wisdom. of Light, of Life, or Gospel of Eternal Light of Life, of Holi­ness? And yet how art thou (as it were) filled with the habitations of Cruelty? And how art thou yet (as it were) overshadowed and clouded with thick, gloomy, black and dark Clouds, and fog­gy Mysts of the dark air, which are hurried up and down, to and fro, hither and thither; with the many and various storms and tem­pests, whilst thou hast been as an old, and yet strong weather-beat­en Vessel, hurried and tossed and beaten up and down, to and fro, in and upon the great, wide, proud, roving, swelling, lofty, merci­less Waves of the mighty Waters of the Ocean and troubled Sea, that cannot rest; upon which thou hast been desperately, danger­ously, cruelly and violently (as it were) hurried, and beaten, and tossed up and down, and so driven and forced through the violence of the many and various horrible Tempests and Storms, and dan­gerous cheating Calms together, through the subtilty, craftiness, unstableness, and hastiness, and self-willedness of thy disorderly, ravenous, foolish, and unwise Pilats within thee; who have under­taken from time to time in the dark dayes and nights of thy di­stresses, to harbor and shelter thee; and lo thou hast been, O unsta­ble Vessel, O Nation, forced, beaten, and traverst (as it were) from one barren Island to another, and from one high and lofty, rag­ged (and smooth, yet dangerous) Rock to another, under which [Page 12] thou often hast sheltered, though desperately, and (as it were) though dangerously, rid out many a storm, until thy strong-made hammered Anchors, and thy ground-tackling have failed thee in the dark days and nights of thy distresses, when neither Sun, Moon nor Star-Light could be seen through the dark Clouds; when the ma­ny various, fierce, tempestuous and furious storms have risen up, and the many Winds have blown fiercely and suddenly, and have often shifted to and fro, which have raised up the many and mighty wa­ters and floods, which made them roar again, and lift up their heads and voices on high, and clap their hands, insomuch that the strong and many great, proud and swelling Waters have broke forth and met, and violently dashed and smote against each other, so that many who traded by sea among these Rocks & mighty wa­ters, suffered great loss and shipwrack; the merciless swelling waves often and violently beat against thy weather-beaten sides, in so much also, that thou hast been many a time in great danger by their desperately wicked wounding, together with their deceitful healing of thee, so that thou hast often submitted under the hands of thy Treacherous Dealers, the many hasty, subtil, and deceitful, self-willed, drunken Pillars, who would not suffer the right Helms­man to order or stear the course, but they have been so unstable; hasty and besotted with strong meats and drinks, and varieties thereof; and lo, thereby they have fed and glutted themselves so excessively, that they have reeled and staggered to and fro like drunken men, or rather like Dogs and Swine, filled and fatted, and overcome with the abundance of excess; yea, insomuch that they have without shame-facedness, spewed and vomited, as it were, up and down in the old weather-beaten Vessel; insomuch that an ill unwholesom, strong, stinking smell hath been encreased within thee, which caused, as it were, a great sickness amongst the Sea-fare­ing men; so that the strong, able, valiant and skilful single-hearted Mariners hands and loins waxed faint and feeble; insomuch that they could not help themselves; what with being greatly troubled and perplexed almost on every side, also by reason of the many and various contrarities, tedious, many and long storms and tempests, long and dark nights and dayes, and tediousness, and length of the Journey or Voyage, that they could not attain to the good Land, or End, or Haven of rest, which was intended when they began [Page 13] with a simple, good, right and noble understanding with joy, true zeal, valour, boldness and integrity of heart, with one consent (as one man) to set forth to attain to the good Land or desired Haven of rest, where a King reigns in righteousness, and pros­pers.

And on the other hand these afflicted, poor, distressed Mari­ners, being greatly distressed by reason of the toyle, wilfulness or self-willedness, unstable and disorderliness of the many fool­ish and unwise Pilats, Ship-Masters and Governors, that entered on board this Weather-beaten Vessel, which so often hath been in such great and woful distresses, and as it were overwhelmed with the mighty roving, merciless Waves of the troubled Sea; at which times many of these Ship-Masters, Pilats, Governors, and skilful Physicians have reeled and staggered to and fro like drun­ken men, so that they have not known what to do, or what course to steer amongst the many cryes, dark and hideous voi­ces: And in this unstable confused estate from time to time, when this poor weather-beaten Vessel hath been beaten, hurri­ed and tossed up and down, to and fro upon the mighty Wa­ters; among these dangerous Islands Rocks, and Sands, many of these Builders, Pilates, Governors, Ship-Masters, unskilful Physicians have lost their hold, and through the violence of the mighty and unstable Waters that have tost the Vessel, they have been whirled from one side to another, even over-board at last, into the deep.

But alas! How have the poor distressed Mariners been distres­sed on every hand! who have wrought hard with no small toil, carefulness and watchings day and night, through these many and various distresses, with long breathing, and true desires, and diligent endeavours and watchfulness in many dark nights and dayes, many a time and often expecting and longing for the dawning of the day, and for the bright and Morning Star to a­rise: But lo, the long and tedious, and terrible dark nights and days of the Winter continued, so that neither Sun, Moon nor Star-light appeared for many dayes and nights together, the dark Clouds were so thick; insomuch that their hope became as it were lost, and their expectations (as it were) failed them. A­las! How were they thus distressed! These poor, afflicted, and [Page 14] distressed Mariners, who in this great distress were (as it were) willing in the time of this long and tedious Winter, to submit to any Guide or Pilate that would undertake to bring them, or Navigate the poor Weather-beaten Vessel (in which they were, and suffered so many hardships, and valiantly and boldly en­countered with, and beat through so many storms, dark nights and days of distresses) to the Haven of Rest (because it was good) and lo, from time to time many undertook the charge, and their eyes were often towards them for their expected end: But alas! wo and alas! their long, true and honest expectati­ons became frustrated, which added greatly to their afflictions and sad distresses, (yea more then their hard labour and travels through the Sea of Troubles)

But not to forget one amongst, and above the rest, who un­dertook this great Charge; and lo, behold the poor Mariners, the Sailors, the Souldiers and Officers that handled the Weapons of War, the Builders, the Shipwrights, the Carpenters, the Callkers, the many Pilates, the Ship-Masters and Governors, yea well nigh the whole company that were together in this old weather-bea­ten Vessel, lo their faces (as it were) with gladness of heart were set towards this bold, valiant, strong, smooth, great one, that undertook so great a Charge (whilest his very heart was (as it were) hid from the eyes of the people) but how he sate and steared his course, the poor distressed Mariners, yea and the Na­tions round about, and the Generations to come may wisely ponder and consider of it in the integrity and uprightness of their hearts; and verily it may be an evident example for good, even unto them (although it was evil in him who above many undertook so weighty a matter, and failed and came short of the end, or of bringing to pass what many of this great Compa­ny expected, the End after the manner as I have said) the wise in heart may understand it was to conduct, manage and to bring (as I may say) this old weather-beaten Vessel safely into the good Harbour or Haven of Rest, where there is peace and plen­ty, and no oppression, but stil water that goes softly, where there is no violence done, but as it were a place of broad Rivers and Streams, wherein shall go no Galley with Oars, [Mark that] neither shall gallant Ship sail thereby, Isa. 33. where no storms [Page 15] and Tempests can hurt, where there is no shipwrack, distress or desolation, neither any bad, loose, rotten dangerous ground in which an Anchor, though never so firmly or artificially made by the hand of a skilful workman can take hold, for the safety of a Ship of so great a Charge, (it's manifest to them that un­derstand, the skilful and able Mariners that have traded by sea) but on the contrary in this good Haven of rest, where no man, or force of all the earthly Nations can make afraid; for it is com­passed about with little Hills and pleasant Mountains; and so strongly and compleatly compassed and compacted about with fenced Walls, Towers and Bulworks, and valiant armed men, young and old men, of excellent valour, renown and boldness, vigour and renowned strength, which is as the strength of an Vnicorn, or a Lyon; yet notwithstanding, such are these that cannot do violence to any, neither shed any man's blood, be­cause their Wisdom, their Strength is better then Weapons of War: Lo, such are Wisdom's Children, whose God is the Lord in the midst of them, in the safe, quiet, good and pleasant Ha­ven of Rest, wherein no mortal man can approach, or bring his Brother, Family or Nation: O Land, thy Enemies certainly have been, and are them of thine own House. But here is good ground, yea very good, firm and sound Ground: O ye Sea­faring-men and Mariners of England, come, come away, for its yet but a very little while, and BABYLON the great shall fall, and as a Milstone be cast into the sea; and wo to them that come not out of Babylon, out of Confusion: Haste and come away, for verily my voice is to you; And O my bowels are moved for you, come, come away, lo I cry and call even unto you, O Sea­faring-men, because the Almighty hath touched my heart; and so in his Love, which is my Rest, lo I certainly and perfectly know and feel that the Rest is good, yea very good, and onely good, yea the good of all that labour and travel; and how wel would it be with you, O ye Sea-faring-men, who sometime were my Companions and fellow-Labourers in the many things up­on the mighty Waters and Seas, and which I certainly know cannot profit in the day and hour of distress: Now bear with me a little, O Friends, for my eye, my heart and my bowels have been often open, and set as it vvere tovvards you, since the [Page 24] hand of the Almighty touched me, & brought me from among you, and also from the evil of your wayes which I had lived in also in times past; and verily I have been often even distressed for you beholding your state with a single eye and heart, as one well acquainted therewith, though since the good day of such a Birth, hitherto have I been as a stranger, or hid from you, yet behold my face is towards you: O my Friends and Sea-faring­men! and I say again, O how well would it be with you, were your faces set towards the true Light of the World, who light­eth every man that cometh into the World, whose Name is cal­led the Word of God, which is nigh thee, O man, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart, to which thou dost well to take heed to, even as to a Light that shineth in a dark place, &c. which is able, and also sufficient, if so thou meekly submit'st to it, even to give thee the knowledg of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, &c. the heavenly trea­sure, the onely good and rest which remains for the people of God: And my Friend or Friends, yet bear with me a little, if I say again, even unto you, O Sea-faring-men, yea and even unto all that can receive these true sayings in the truth, in the inward parts (which the living God hath respect to at all times, and so should you my friends) in the love of it, were you come to this expected Haven of Rest, the LIGHT, the Rest, CHRIST the Rest, Christ the LIGHT (which makes manifest the sin, or secret evil) the onely way to the rest, to God, that you all may have a habi­tation in him, which is the desire of your friend, to the end that you may rest from your labors, and cease from your own works, even as God over all did from his; and yet again I say, How well would it be for you, O ye Seafaring-men, were you come to the End, which is the Beginning, the Light in the Covenant of Life, that you may enjoy the very good of all your Labours therein, and possess it in every particular or individual Vessel or person of yours; how comely and beautiful would you appear to all the upright in heart, when you possess the life of Eternal Righte­ousness even in you, and it live in its life and vertue, and power and authority, perfect liberty and freedom, and preheminence and dominion in you, that so it may be truly said as to the chil­dren of Light in the ancient dayes, (as also saith the holy Scrip­tures of Truth) Christ in you the hope of glory: Christ the Wis­dom, [Page 25] the Word, the Life, the Righteousness, the Sanctification and Redemption, and Salvation of God (which the Spirit yet in prison, yet oppressed in many of you, often and earnestly is breathing after, to be at rest, satisfied in him, without whom there is no satisfaction beneath the same, glory to the Lord; I very wel know what I say, and to whom) and yet, yet again, how well would it be with you, O ye Sea-men, Officers and Commanders, without respect of persons, and with every of you, were you come so far as to have your faces set and fixed towards the ever­lasting Light, the Way, the Truth, the Life; the Way prepared before the face of all people, and everlasting Salvation of God unto the ends of the Earth, who are to look unto him, the Light, the everlasting Covenant of God, the Witness, the faithful and true Witness, the Guide, Leader and Commander of his peo­ple, who are Children that will not lye; a peculiar people of a pure Language taught of the Lord, far from oppression; yea, Children that wil not lye: So he is their Saviour, the holy Babe, the heavenly Birth or Man-Child, CHRIST JESUS (that saves his people from their sins) the Rest; and so we certainly feele the health, the saving health of the Nations, God's Lamb, the LIGHT of the holy and beloved City, even in the midst of us; Glory to the everlasting God, who is our everlasting Light and Glory.

And loe we desire not, neither have we any other in the earth beneath the Sun to glory in, or plead our cause, save he that searcheth ours, and every man's heart, yea he knoweth its even so; and lo he is even in the midst of us, and herein we have good cause to boast and glory (yet in the fear and power of the Almighty, who hath hitherto preserved and oversha­dowed, and hid us as it were in the hollow of his hand, or se­cret of his power) and none can stop us herein as we abide faithful to him that called to obey his Voice, and bear testimo­ny to his great Name, his holy Name, his truth and people, which hitherto we have done in, and through, and by his ever­lasting, powerful and all-sufficient strength, which from man we received not; by which hand of power onely we have been led hitherto through great and many trials, cruel mockings and extream sufferings as it were on every hand, from all sorts, sects and opinions, Doctors, Wisemen and Rabbies, Professors and Pro­fane of the world, which lieth in wickedness, the deeds thereof [Page 18] being evil, against which our testimony is, was, and is to be whilst we are a people stedfast with the Lord, and redeemed by his eternal arm, for which we have so deeply suffered on every hand; and verily yet, yet our lives are not dear unto us for his Name sake, who hath done, wrought and effected such great, good, many, terrible and valiant things for us, whilst in his wisdom and fear we have walked, and held fast our integrity; whilst on the other hand we have been accounted by them who sate in the seat of violence, enmity, scorning, cruelty, hypo­crisie and oppression, even as the very filth or noisom off-scouring of all things; and loe I say, the hand of the Almighty hath been with us, yea the Angel of his presence hath not been against, but with us; to guide, to lead, to comfort and support us, as it hath well been witnessed in the many present needful times of troubles, when there has been no eye, or hand to pity, or to spare, or to work deliverance for us either on the right hand, or on the left: Loe by this Almighty hand have we been brought through unexpressible Trials, sufferings, tribulations, good report, and evil report; what evil cursed plots, wicked enterprises, or perfidious blood-thirsty hatchings or designs hath been stirring or acting in the Nation since we have been a peo­ple, which hath falsly been charged upon us, yet our innocen­cy stands, praises to the Lord. Time would fail me to enlarge, or to declare what may be (besides what by many hands gui­ded by the same long-suffering Spirit of Truth is already) writ­ten; yet Glory, and Blessing, and Wisdom, and glorious pure and living praises, power, and might, and dominion is, and is to be given to the Lord, to the living God, even our God; the Almighty God of good old Abraham, and dominion to the Lamb, even so Amen, saith my spirit.

And let the Nations know that his War is begun against the Man of Enmity, of Sin, throughout the whole Earth; and be­hold we are yet a living people, following Gods Lamb, even the Captain of our Salvation CHRIST JESUS, the same yesterday, to day, and for ever; yea, the very same, and not another Jesus; and I say again, not another Jesus then he that made a good confession before Pontius Pilate, and also suffered without the Gates at Jerusalem many hundred years ago; and lo this is he [Page 19] and not another that I have been declaring or writing of, who is the LIGHT which leads to the Rest, the onely and true way to the God of all Truth, who said, I and my Father are one; I came from my Father, and I go to my Father, who is the God of the Spirits of all flesh, the Father of lights, even the onely true Rest and Habi­tation, which was in the beginning, and is the very same before and since the Murderer Cain, the Vagabond, the Murderer or his Nature was, or is; and is it not the same Nature that's yet strong and alive in the sons and daughters of men at this day? I am speaking of the envious, wrathful, hasty, fierce murdering Nature, Cain's Nature, Esau's Nature, the prophane Nature, Ish­mael's Nature, the Seed of the Bond-womans Nature, the Mock­ers Nature, Nimrod's Nature, the cunning Hunters Nature, the cunning and mighty Hunter before the Lord, (Mark) before the Lord; the Babylonish nature, the confused nature, the heathenish nature, the ravenous, wolvish nature, the Dragons nature, the roaring Lyons nature; the Dogs and Swinish nature, the Ser­pents nature, the Vipers nature, the Bullocks, and Rams, and rough Goats nature, which was, is, and is to be offered up, be­cause its Right and Authority was not to rule, neither is to have any preheminence over the meek Life, Spirit or Nature of Gods Lamb, which was and is to rule over all this, and much more, though since the foundation of the World he hath been slain, and even so in the streets of the great City Sodom and Aegypt, where our Lord also is crucified: Doth not the babes lye low, and the beasts tread over him? Let him that hath an ear to hear, be awakened, and answer me.

And to you yet once more I say, even unto you that trade up­on the great and wide Seas, many and mighty troubled Waters: O ye Sea-faring-men! to you yet is my voice: How wel would it be with you, together with all that trade by Sea and Land in the many things, where the offences are, were your faces set or fix­ed towards, or come unto this good, sure, quiet, everlasting rest or good Haven, where a ship may ride (as I may say) in safety; where there is such good, firm, sound ground, which in any wise will not fail? as it hath come to pass according to what I have already declared: You that read with a single eye and heart, may understand.

But to return to what my heart was open to utter forth or de­monstrate, concerning the changeable, many and various tran­sactions of Men, Nations, Times and Seasons, yet as it were but hinted at by this Pen, though much already from time to time hath been given forth, uttered and written from a manifestati­on of the same Spirit of Truth, in plainness; yet bear with me a little, if I yet write somewhat more, which may be but little of what further may be declared at large, to the end that the pre­sent and future Generations that are to come, may consider, and wisely lay it to heart. And this I have in my heart to say (ac­cording to my foregoing words) concerning the great, high and lofty one who undertook (above many other of his equals) so great, and such an exceeding weighty matter or Charge, to ef­fect, bring to pass or compass the end what was pretended, or as I may say, to manage or navigate the old Weather-beaten Ves­sel that had been beaten thorough so many storms and horrible tempests, to its Haven of Rest, or good Land of Peace, where none could make afraid, where no Storms or Tempests, or Vio­lence could do any hurt, or shedding of blood is.

But alas! alas! wo and alas! Doth not the Nations round a­bout yet behold and see how this Great and Mighty One hath erred concerning this matter, and how wickedly, wilfully and desperately he mistook the good Land or Haven of Rest, to his own destruction, together with many more as high, as hard, as lofty, as proud, as perfidious and treacherous even as he; not­withstanding many sure and certain Forewarnings were sounded in their ears through many harmless wayfaring-men that passed by; so that the old Weather-beaten Vessel in which they had so much, and so long traded from sea to sea, even from one proud sea to another, and beat thtough so many various storms and tempests, upon the many and mighty Waters, in the many dark nights and days of the long and tedious Winter, in which time they could not see the Sun, or the dawning of the day; sufficient reasons not onely from this Pen, but from many others that have been guided by the same Spirit of sound and perfect dis­cerning. But wo and alas! how desperately, and wilfully, and dangerously the old Weather-beaten Vessel did they leave a­mongst the many barren Islands, ragged, high, lofty, hard rocks [Page 29] and sands, together with the smooth, and as it were hidden, which indeed were the more dangerous rocks in and amongst the troubled Seas and Waters, and proud swelling mereiless Waves, strong and lofty Floods, which many a time lifted up their heads and voices on high, in the dark dayes and tedious nights of the Winter; insomuch that they thundered and roared again, yea and what if I said they made the Earth, the Seas, the Hills, the Mountains to move, and as it were, to eccho and ring again, even when there was a calm, whilst they suffered shipwrack, and were not able to save themselves. Lo, came it not thus to pass? And the Almighty, dreadful, terrible, everlasting God of Power, of Eternal life, that sits upon the Floods, and spans the heavens, and lives for ever, that with his finger sets the extent of his E­ternal Decree, and by the word of his mouth and terrible voice, sets the bounds of the Sea, and of the mighty Waters; and yet, yet saith as in the ancient days, Hitherto shalt thou come, and no fur­ther: And let the Nations know, that with his everlasting and most pure Eyes of his incomprehensible Glory and Majesty, and of his transparent brightness, and unutterable holiness ran to and fro thorowout the vvhole earth, perfectly beholding these things, and much more, and as it were kept silence, and was stil, and as it were refrained himself.

But behold yet O Nation, O Land, O England, O Earth, O Earth, O Earth! Wilt thou not hear the Word of the Lord for thy good, that thou mayst yet be healed? O Nation! listen and give ear, if so thou yet can be awakened; for thus saith the Lord (even the living God) again unto thee O Nation! as in the ancient dayes: Lo I have been still, I have long time held my peace; yea, yea I am even weary with bearing; verily many a time have I refrained my self to my wounding, saith the just Lord of Heaven, of Sea and Land; but now wil I arise even as a Lyon to the prey, yea and roar like unto a Lionness bereaved of her young, yet to make waste Mountains and Hills, til they be no more, saith the Lord of the whole Earth.

O England! O Land! What shall I say yet more for thy war­ning and healing, seeing thy wounds, thy deep, desperate and dan­gerous wounds and putrified sores are yet (as it were) incurable? And what, wilt not thou yet submit under the Almighty Hand and [Page 22] Arm that hath been stretched over thee for thy good? How is it thou art not yet sensible thereof? Or what is thy strength (O un­flable Nation!) to the strong, terrible, Eternal God of Power? What, art thou able to continue a perpetual War with him who is the Lord, strong and mighty in battel? Dost thou not yet feel this? How is't that thy sensible parts and vitals are so be­nummed and besotted, that thou wilt not yet suffer him (who is able and all-sufficient, so that none can withstand him when he hath determined and also sealed his Eternal Decree to smite, to wound, to kill, to destroy, or to make desolate; to overturn, to throw down and to bring to nought things that are, as if they were not, or ever shall be) by his Word to heal thee, O Land, or by it to make a perfect and compleat seperation between that which is sound, and the contrary, the good and the bad, the holy and prophane, the precious from the vile, the clean from the unclean, the Lambs from the Wolves, the Light from the darkness, the harm­less Sheep from the rough Goats, the tender, sweet, choice, comely, pleasant, fruitful, beautiful Vines, from the wild, barren, fruit­less and rotten Trees of the Forrest and Woods, barren Heaths and Gardens that are hedged in, and (as it were) compassed a­bout with Nettles, Thistles, Bryars and Thorns, whose end is to be burned:

But O Nation! What wil no healing Medicines, or Balm of Gi­lead yet by thee be received? O that thou mightst be healed! How long, how long, O England, O Nation, O Land, or when shall it once be? Yet stay O Land, listen O Nation, in whose bowels, and throughout whose Land the Word, or the Eternal sound of the Eternal Word of Power, of Healing, or Gospel of Eternal life, of holiness, hath sounded, and behold yet, yet the same Voice, or certain Sound, and not another, is uttered; and let thy Inhabitants be awakened, that have been mad upon the multitude of their Idols, and have bowed down their heads and hearts to dead stocks, and dry trees, and the work of mens hands, and the de­ceit and imaginations of their own hearts; and verily they have not sought the Lord, but as evilly as they could on every hand provoked the Almighty to his very face throughout the Land; Wherefore such a Voice is to sound, that the ears of them that hear shall tingle: O Land! O Earth! A Sword upon thee, be­hold, [Page 23] a Sword, a Sword, a Sword is coming upon all thy High Places, and upon all thy Idols which thou hast (impudently and openly in the sight of the Nations) gone a whoring after, and committed Adultery with; and behold, a Sword, a Sword, a Sword upon thy wise, subtil dark Counsellors, Builders, Pastors and Teachers, and Merchants that have long traded by Sea and Land; so that they are waxen fat, and rich, and strong, and thorough abundance of excess are ful fed like fatted Horses prepared to the battel, who snort and snuff up the wind, and smell the Battel afar off, and have been swift to shed blood, and thereby caused thee to erre from the Way everlasting; and not onely so, but have caused (as it were a deep sleep to be poured forth upon thee in the night, in the dark nights; and notwith­standing thou hast been (as it were) so often awakened by the terrible Signs and Wonders, and Thunders of the Highest God, yet thou like a sloathful droan and sluggard, hast forsaken thy own mercies, and rather chosen and loved lying vanities, and whorish abominations, and loved to lye down to slumber, to sleep on thy bed of ease so filled with abominations, insomuch that thine eyes are become so blinded, that thou canst not see when evil or good cometh.

Yet behold I cry, Alas, alas, wo and alas for thee O England! Yet awake, awake, O Nation: Lo this is the cry, if so thou canst yet be awakened; arise, and shake thy self terribly, and put away all thy abominations, and stand upright upon thy feet, and suf­fer the Almighty Hand, Arm or Power of the highest God to set thee upon the Rock CHRIST JESUS, the everlasting Cove­nant of Light, the sure Foundation, and sure Light, that light­eth every man that cometh into the World, that it may be wel with thee O Nation, then; and so may thy Fame, thy Glory O Land, thy Strength, thy Prudence, thy Power, thy Wisdom, thy Life, thy Dread, thy Terror, thy excellent and unvaluable trea­sure, that from the Most High issueth forth as from a mighty li­ving Ocean or Fountain, to enter into thy heart and bowels, to purge and purifie thee therewith O Nation, as with fire kindled in thy Vitals, and burning in thy most secret hidden parts, tho­row which if so thou comest wel tryed and refined, even as pure Gold out of the pure Fire; O then how shouldst thou excel all [Page 24] Nations under the Sun; And then behold thy Dominion shall be greatly enlarged from Sea to Sea, and the Dread of thy Mighty God then within thy heart should strike through the hearts of Kings, Princes, Nobles, and Potentates, Powers, Thrones and Dominions of the Earth, who shall come stooping, and bending, and shaking terribly before thee, O Land! and not a Weapon formed against thee, O Nation! shall prosper, if the Glorious good Day pass not away over thy head, as it came to pass in the dayes of Noah, Righteous Lot, and Jerusalem.

And O Earth! O Nation! and O all ye Nations round about thee! O Land! remember, and forget not this one Warning more a­mongst the rest. Wherefore O England, England! the Land of my Nativity, wherein my first and second Birth was brought forth; over thee have I wept bitterly, and do yet lament over thee, with many of thy true mourners, yea my heart is broken for thee; verily my bowels are moved over thee! O I am yet distressed for thee! and lo my soul is poured out before the mighty living God because of thee, and for thy sake, O Nation! O Land! O Eng­land! to the end, if haply thou mayst yet know the things be­longing to thy peace, before they become altogether hid from thine eyes, and glorious day of Light, of Life, of healing, power, and of thy many and tender Visitations pass over thy head, even as a cloud before the Mighty, Fierce, Horrible, and Irresistable Tempest, together with Bright and Quick Fiery Lightnings, and yet more Dreadful Thundrings from the highest Heavens, then hitherto have come to pass, or shall be.

But why, O England! should Mercy, and Truth, Equity, and Sound Judgement forsake thee from henceforth; listen yet a while, O Earth O Land and bear with me; canst thou plead and say, I am Innocent? if it thus come to pass, its because I have not been sweetly and tenderly [Through the unexpressible, long­suffering and forbearance of the Mighty God, and of Wisdomes Children] visited therewith: Why O Nation! shouldest thou be made a spectacle, or object, or woful and evident example of the very severity of the Just Judgement of the Eternal, Merciful, Wise, and Long-suffering God of Power, of Sound and Eternal Judgment, if it is not, or may not be, because thou hast forsaken thy own Mercies, and loved, and chosen lying Vanities, as hath been [Page 25] said, so that the hearts of thy dark and blood-thirsty Inhabitants as one man, and as with one consent, is set upon many various, yea even a multitude of Whorish filthy Idols, Cruelty, Deceit, and Oppression, Hypocrisie, and Double-mindedness, Drunken­ness, and Gluttony, Excess, Wasting, and greedily Destroying the good Creatures and Creation of the Creator [out of his Fear and Wisdome by which they were Created] upon their hurtful, ungodly lusts, by which the just is wounded and crucified (as in the dayes of Noah, if not far worse) and wars against their preci­ous souls; and thus day by day have they exercised themselves as if every day were a day of Slaughter; thus wounding and pro­voking the Almighty to his very face; let the wise in heart judge and answer, if it hath not come thus to pass, and much more.

But, O Nation! What shall I say more, verily yet my heart is inlarged, and I have yet more to say; Lo I speak to thee in a known Tongue which is the Pen of a ready Writer, whether thou, O Land! or the Wise men, or the multitude of the Inhabitants within thy bowels, O Earth! can believe me, or nay.

Yet I cry, O Nation! Is there no relenting within thy heart and bowels? What shall not the tender Mercies, or the holy Goodness of the Long-suffering God, and his healing Word of Life, or tender Visitations enter into thy heart to humble and heal thee, and so to stop thy swift destruction which thou so gree­dily and hastily pursuest, O England!

O Land, O Nation! Why dost thou yet post on so swiftly (as if the Almighty Arm of the Living Eternal God who is Light) and his strength were not All-sufficient to save or destroy thee to thy own destruction. Stay, O Nation! the Almighty God, who is our God, delighteth in Mercy, and is Very, Very Gracious and Long-suffering, else O Nation, at this Day thou hadst not been: And whar dost thou not yet know he is Mighty to Save and to Destroy to break and throw down, to build and set up, to wound and heal, to kill and make alive? and who among the Gods can say to him, what dost thou? Yet lissen O Nation, hast thou not learned this yet by experience of this many hundred years standing, even from thy Infancy (till thou hast grown up into such an High and Dark Mountain of Wickedness) of the unexpressable Long-suffering [Page 26] Patience and Forbearance to, and concerning thee; which thou O Land! from time to time, even from thy youth up, hast tur­ned thy back, & not thy face, and kickt against him (who hath been even thy God in the midst of thy Distresses) with the heel; yea thou hast turned the back, and not the face like an Impudent Un­clean Harlot upon a chaste undefiled Virgin, even whilst thou hast been talking of the Mercies, Goodness, Patience and For­bearance and Long-suffering of the Lord of Heaven and Earth; and yet thy heart hath not been right with, and before the Lord God of Truth: O Nation Remember, and forget not, but, O that thou mightest be humbled yet for these things before thy day be over; and why should any of thy Wise men look upon it, or judge it as a crime in the dealing thus plainly with thee, O Land! or in doubling or trebling the Remembrances of thy great, various, and manifold Mercies and Dispensations, Visitations, Warn­ings and Iudgements mentioned, together with the Ground, Cause and End of the same, whether Mercies or Judgements.

And lo I yet say, thine own wayes hast thou chosen to thy wounding from time to time: O my Bowels, my Bowels! the sounding of my Bowels! my heart is turned within me, yea I am as it were filled with a merciful Lamentation; yet because of the Loving kindness of the Lord, and of his sweet, tender, dear Visitations, of his Healings, and Everlasting Salvation to thee, O Nation, O England! his holy Word of Powe [...], the holy God of Power, even his Word of Life, of healing, hath he sent in his Lambs with their precious Lives in their hands, the sound thereof hath sounded and rung in the ears of thy Tall Cedars and High Mountains, and Lofty Hills, and hath smote and broke, and melted some Rocks, and hath shattered them to pieces, and the ears of them that have heard have tingled again: Yea verily, verily the true & certain sound of the Terrible Alarm of War hath awakened many (Glory to the Lord of Life) yet at this day where art thou O Land, O Na­tion! notwithstanding the Terrible and yet joyful sound hath been sounded in the Holy Mountain of the Lords house of Holiness? yea the Terrible and Joyful sound thereof hath run throughout thy Land, O Nation! against the Man of Sin in all his Appearances, against the Seed of the Wise and Subtile Serpent, the Seed of Fals­hood, the Adulterer, of Enmity, against the Beast, the Dragon, [Page 27] the False Prophet, and the great Whore, Mystery Babylon, the Mother of Abominations, together with all her False, Skilful Merchants, and Deceitful Merchandizes, that have Bewitched and Besotted thee, and made thee Drunk, so that thou hast reeled to and fro, tottered and staggered like a Drunkard, as sufficiently before was hinted; and lo the Nations round about thee, have beheld thy Shame, and Nakedness, and mocked, and wagged their heads; yea mine eye hath beheld the same; and verily thy Treacherous Dealers that have dealt deceitfully with God and man, have deeply and dan­gerously wounded thee, even in thy Vitals, within thy own Bowels: And O [...]and, and O ye Nations round about, and Generations to come, remember, and forget not how the Covetous, Dark Teachers of England have Bewitched her; and Thou O Nation! hast loved False Dreams, and their Inchantments, whilst they have been blessing themselves, and the many people in the very root and ground of all Evil, where they have also been making a trade of the holy Scriptures of Truth, the holy Prophets, and Christs, and holy Apostles Words, and through covetous practises have taught things which they ought not, for dishonest gain, their gain from their Quarters; every one seeking after their own way, and which was far worse, like greedy dumb Dogs that never could have enough; witness the Goals, and the blood of many servants of God which suffered Death there, besides the spoyling of their goods, and so fully making Merchandize of Souls, Bodies, and goods of Gods Lambs, that suffered so by such ravenous Wolves, like such Troops of Robbers, as the holy Prophet Hosea saw, and Prophe­sied against in the dayes of old.

And because of these, and multitude of such Crying Abomi­nations, the Eternal God hath held his Controversie with thee this many years, in and through his Sweet and Various, yet Ter­rible and Merciful Dispensations; but O Nation, what is that I should say? Who shall remain in thee to mourn over thee, and bewail over thee, or to save thee from the Day of Calamity, or the day of Distress, which is yet to pass throughout thy Land, before the Eternal Decree of the Highest Lord of Lords, and King of Kings may be sealed against thee? yet the beautiful Children of the Kingdome without end shall be at Rest, hid even in the hol­low of the Almighty his hand of Love and heavenly Power, which [Page 28] is his terrible, beautiful, glorious and renowned banner, which shall be spread and displayed over all them that are redeemed from the Earth, and from the multitude of thy filthy, whorish abominations, O unbelieving Land. And O England, O Earth, O Land! Lo the time hasteneth, and I say, let the Nations know it; and behold it cometh to pass, that the Na­tions round about thee O England, shal perferfectly understand, and certainly and assuredly know by the Eternal Eye (viz.) the Light of the Lord Jesus Christ within them that are of one blood (to wit) that the holy, living, eternal, powerful, Almighty God of Truth, of Wisdom and Life, of everlasting Righteous­ness, is making inquisition for the most precious blood of his ho­ly Prophets, Martyrs, Servants and Lambs, and of all that have faithfully held and kept the Testimony of his holy Man-Child Jesus (whose Name is called EMMANUEL (to wit, God with us) the Word of God) whose sweet, innocent and precious Life and blood hath been laid down, shed and trampled on within thy bowels O Land, O Nation; as also in the defiled, corrupted and filthy polluted Womb of thy new-born Sister, thy hard­hearted Sister, an impudent Harlot, with a whorish hard fore­head, as it were of pollished Brass, mixed with Iron and Steel, (so skilfully and artificially wrought, formed and fashioned, and polished as it were with Gold, so beautified thus by the hands of the subtil Crafts-men) that yet, yet she c [...]nnot blush or relent, or smite upon her thigh, and say, What have I done? Or in any wise be ashamed of her filthy abominations, Fornications and A­dulteries; and much more after, and besides all this so impudent­ly and wickedly in the hard-heartedness of her Whorish heart, together with cruel, merciless, wicked, strong and bloody hands, in the sight of the nations, without fear or amazement shed innocent blood after she had gone a whoring: I say, even from the Lord of Life, and Prince of Peace, who comes to seek and to save that which is lost, that they which see not, might see; and that they that see, might be made blind; and to lead the blind by a way which they knew not, and into such pleasant pathes which they have not known; and not to destroy, but to save the life of man; according to the sayings of Jesus the son of man; the living wil lay it to heart, Eccles. 7. O thou Virgin Daughter of [Page 29] Sion, the beloved City of our Solemnity, lament, lament; And O ye free-born Daughters of Ierusalem that's from above, who are skilful in Mourning; take ye up a Lamentation: And O all ye Young men and Fathers, Old men and Babes, yea tender Children and little ones that are of a trembling heart, cry and spare not, and break forth into a Lamentation; and lo I lament and mourn with you, O ye my friends and right dearly beloved ones; even as you are, I am; and verily we are and shall be when the Murderer shal be no more; although the hard-hearted impudent blood-thirsty Harlot yet be joined to him: Behold O all ye Nations, and all ye that perfectly understand and know, and sensibly feel how good a thing it is to enter into the house of Mourning; behold and see (I say) how the Churches of New-England, and the mem­bers thereof, called Members and Churces of Christ Jesus, whom they call their Head and Lord, in whose mouth is found no guile; a perfect and compleat example unto us, and all that fol­low his steps, who when he suffered, threatned not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously, 1 Pet. 2 see ver. 21.22 23.24 25. Bear with me a little, for I am as a man wel acquainted with grief; and suffer my Pen to enlarge a little, for my heart hath been, and yet is (as I may say) touched with a finger of the Almighty, and thereby enlarged (blessed be his glory in the Kingdome without end) to write now, if so I be no more.

Yet I say, Behold O ye Nations, and O all ye people of a single, clean and upright heart, and consider (I say) even in the simplici­ty and integrity thereof, whether or no these Members I spake of, these Churches of New-England that Harlot, be joined to Christ Jesus God's Lamb, slain since the foundation of the World, and takes away the sins thereof; or to the Murderer, Thieves and Robbers. And vvhat if I should say, and cry aloud, and lift up my Voice like the sound of a Trumpet, and say, O Bloo­dy Englands, that neither unexpressible Mercies nor Judgements can prevail vvith you to receive the tender and terrible Warnings (as is sufficiently before expressed or hinted at, to the under­standing of the vvise in heart, yea even to the simple-hearted) from the hand of the merciful and long-suffering God of love, who is love; and vvhat he in his Wisdom, through his patience, [Page 30] long-suffering and forbearance, othervvise suffered to be done, effected or brought to pass.

O ye Nations! What's the matter vvith you that I cannot forbear, but am constrained to cry unto you? O Nations! yet vvhat is the matter that neither unexpressible Mercies, nor varie­ties of Judgements can yet awaken you, so as to prevail vvith you (O Lands) to receive the tender Warnings and svveet Visitati­ons from the God of love, although it appears not, neither comes unto you in your vvay; for vvith those eyes vvhich novv you see with, shall you never behold him who is the onely and chiefest good, the pure Life, and Vertue, and Substance, and Be­ing, and Support of his whole Creation: And this is the living Word of Life of the holy God of Love and Life: Yet to you O ye Nations, lo I cry, I cry, How long, how long, or when shall it once be, that the Inhabitants within your bowels learn to love Mercy even with the same mind that is in Christ Jesus the Lamb, the Light, the true, spiritual, everlasting Light, with which he lighteth every man that cometh into the World; to do Justly, and love Mercy, (which is better then Cain's Sacrifices) and also to love Neighbour as self, and not to be forgetful to entertain strangers; but to do e­ven unto all men, as you would be done by: And what O ye Na­tions, can you say that the Most High (who sheweth to man what is his secret thought, see Amos 4.) that he hath not shewed you this yet, even in the most secret of your hearts (though with your visible eyes you had never seen the Word written in your Bibles?) And what, is not this the Law and the Prophets, O ye Nations? And what, is it not the Love or Light of Jesus lowly and meek in the heart (where the World is set, according to Eccles. 3 & 11. & Mat. 13. & 38. & 44.) that comes to fulfil it, and not to destroy it or men's lives, but to save the life of man? And I may say, O Man, O Nation, O ye Nations, what doth the Almighty God require of you, but to do Iustly, and love Mercy &c. and to love him who is merciful, with all the heart, with all the soul, with all the strength, with all the mind, and Neighbour as self? And is not this the ex­cellent way, the more excellent way, the Charity that suffers long? And is it not better then whole Burnt-Offerings and Sacrifices (of Cain, of Esau, of Nimrod, of Ishmael, or of Barrabas's Nature?) And is not this according (and not contrary) to the sayings or [Page 31] sound Doctrine of the Lord Jesus, his Prophets and holy Apostles, and Scriptures of Truth? Or dare any in the fear or Wisdom that's from above, say it's contrary to the mind of Christ in Go­spel-times? But is not this the mind of Christ the Light, the Love, which is the end of the Law for righteousness, or the fulfilling of it in them, or to every one that believes in him, who was, and is, and is to come; the same to day, yesterday and for ever; the Lamb, the son of God's Love, that leads every one that hath received the Royal Law written in the heart with the finger or Spirit of the living God, to the fulfilling of it. Give ear and listen, O ye Lands; What if I ask you, saying, are you yet so ignorant of this one thing needful to you O ye Nations, that you cannot endure to receive and retain the pure mind of Christ in the love of it (in the holy Faith of God's elect, which is a mystery held even in a pure conscience, as it is written to commit your cause to God the Light, the Judge of all who judg­eth righteously (and not onely according to the outward appear­ance, but otherwise, as I have said) even as he did whom you call Lord, Lord, to whom Vengeance belongeth: And what will you yet continue to do violence to the Most High (as it were) to rescue it out of his Almighty hand? And shall it not return upon your own heads? Remember and forget not this O Earth, O Land, O Nations, O Peoples, O Tongues, O Kindreds; What if I call un­to you, and say, Bear with me a little; Are you yet void of the good & perfect understanding of Life, notwithstanding all your high (and as it were holy) Professions, Fastings, many Prayings and mul­titudes of Sacrifices, Humiliations and Solemn Assemblies, as if the Lord were your onely God, and Joy, and Glory, and Honour or Delight, or onely good, and the rejoicing of your hearts, or as Nations that did righteousness: But by the way let me ask you (ac­cording to the saying of Wisdom) What is it exalts a Man, a Family, Kingdom, a Nation, if not Truth, Mercy, Equity, sound Justice, and Judgement, and eternal Righteousness, which stands without respect of persons as in the ancient dayes? Antichrist inquired af­ter the Ordinances of Justice as you have seemed to do, so fre­quently talking of God, and making mention of his Name, of Christ, his Word, his Statutes, his Judgements, his Laws, his Testi­monies, his Decrees, his Doctrine, his Life, his Sufferings, his Death, his Resurrection, his Saints, his holy Prophets and Apostles words, [Page 32] and what more? as Nations that did Righteousness within your strong Holds, fenced Walls and Towers, Territories and Do­minions: And yet how is it, O ye Nations, O ye Kindreds, Tongues, and People, that you are so blinde and dark? yet is it not because you hate the Light, the true Light, by whom the world was made, and glorified with the Father before it was made, and lighteth every man that cometh into the world; and is Gods Everlasting Covenant and Salvation to the ends of the Earth, the way prepared before the face of all People (to wit) the Light, to give the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, according to the 2 of Cor. and the 4, 6, and 7. The true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

O Ye Nations, Ye Kindreds, Ye Tongues, Ye People! What if I say, Let me be eased, for behold yet I cry, and say unto you, how is't your hearts are yet so hardened? Is not this the great Plague (to wit) Hardness of heart (let the wise in heart consider and judge) the which your wise Builders, Pastors and Teachers have been so often and frequently speaking, and unpro­fitably talking of, concerning Pharaoh: but hearken ye learned Ones, is not this your Plague?

What are you so blinde, deaf, and past feeling you wise Rab­dies, ye Builders and Learned, and Eloquent Orators, and Doctors, that you cannot relent, or see it? Oh feel it abound even in the midst of, and among you, O ye Tongues, Nations, Kindreds and People; what say I (a lame man that am made to leap as an Hart) to you? are you yet altogether past feeling this great Plague your selves, whilst you have been, and yet are talking how it was, or is with others (many hundred years ago, or since, a great way off you) in the dayes of old, or to this day?

Wherefore listen you Wise men, and flourishing in that Know­legbe (which puffeth up, in which every man is Brutish) that is not Eternal Life; yet again bear with me a little for your good, if so you love the minde of Christ, you that call the Scripture your Rule, Listen; was not Pharoahs heart hardened, and his First-born slain before the Seed (which were oppressed under him the Op­pressor, together with his Taskmasters) was let go, and also be­fore the Lofty Oppressor with his mighty Host (who said, I will [Page 33] pursue, I will overtake, my Lust shall be satisfied) with Charriots and Horses, and Horse-men, the Horses and the Riders were over­thrown. What was not his, the Oppressors heart hardened be­fore the great and mighty Overthrow came upon him? his Hor­ses, his Chariots, his Horsemen, his mighty Host, were they not all overthrown, overwhelmed in the Deep, who attempted to pass through the mighty Waters (which stood on heaps on each side, whilst the Seed, the blessed of the Lord passed throw) and had said in the hardness of his heart (and was not his mighty Host diseased and plagued with the same Plague) I will pursue, I will overtake, my lust shall be satisfied? (but how was it satisfied, O ye lustful ones? blame me not for asking you this question) but say I, was not this breathed forth, before the Oppressor and his mighty Host, his Horses with their Riders, his Chariots and Horse­men were overturned and overwhelmed. Let the Eternal Witness of Jesus, or the Nobility of a good and perfect Understanding which yet lieth hid in you; be awakened to arise and answer to my Testimony, the words of which is written here in this Book; and come you down to its Testimony, that of it you may learn what this meaneth (according to the saying of Jesus) I will have Mercy and not Sacrifice, before your day be over.

And O ye Nations, Tongues, Kindreds, and People! Yea let all the Nations of the Earth listen, and give ear, and certainly know with a good understanding, to whom this Writing or words of my Testimony shall come: To which indeed, and in truth, plainness, and nakedness of heart is chiefly directed, viz: That there is a people of a pure Language, and Noble, Royal Seed, even a peculiar People (and a Royal, unchangeable Priest­hood, which offereth up holy, and acceptable, and spiritual Sa­crifices) within thy Borders and strong Holds of England, raised up through cruel Sufferings by the Hand, the Vertue, and Al­mighty Power of the Strength and Arm of Gods Salvation, the Light of the world in this Mighty day of the Eternal Power of the Mighty, Wise, and Invisible Eternal God of Power.

That in it have wrought, and many are working out their Sal­vation with fear and trembling, according to the perfect, which is the wholesome and sound Doctrine of the holy Apostle of Jesus (though many have itching ears, and will not endure it NOW the [Page 34] time is come) and lo they have heard the living Word of the Ever­lasting Lord of Life, at which we tremble, and behold the Living God of Power is with us, and we are his people. Let all know this, That the Rock of Ages is our Shelcer, Iudge and Avenger, King and Lawgiver; and lo he dwels with, and is in the midst of us, whom Nations, Peoples, Tongues and Kindreds, Professors and Prophane, that sit in the seat of Violence and Scorning, Enmity and Cruelty, yea in the very seat of the Man of Sin, of Antichrist, that is against Christ, scornfully calling us QUAKERS.

Because we are of a trembling heart, and the Eternal Word of Everlasting Power hath made the very Keepers of the house to tremble wherein the Living God dwells.

And these are the true sayings of a very friend to the whole Creation of God, and the faithful words of my Testimony, if so I cease to be any more. And O that any of you, O ye Kindreds, Tongues or People, or Nations of the whole Earth (Lo I forget not, but remember thee, O England, to fall upon, and submit to the Light, the Rock (and what if I say, in you except you be Repro­bates) to the end that you may be broken to pieces (listen you hard-hearted unlearned Rabbies) as it hath us, and broken us, con­founded us, and turned our wisdome backwards in times past: but hearken you Wise ones, if so with all your Wisdome, Elo­quence and Prudence thats from beneath, earthly, sensual, brutish and devillish, you go about to comprehend the Light (as hitherto many of you have done) or to bring people to the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, any other way then by the Light, which is the way that speaks not peace, but condemns the sin where it is, viz. in the Flesh: Bear with me a little; or I say, if with that Wisdome which before I speak of, you go about to comprehend, or yet think your selves with it to attain to, or to bring any people to the knowledge of the Son of God, or to the fulness or compleat stature of a perfect man, or unto the measure, or stature, or fulness of Christ, your end shall you never attain to, neither with them eyes that you yet see with shall you ever behold him; and this is the Word of Life in my heart, even unto you Tongues and Learned Rabbies, Doctors and Orthodox men: And to you also that handle the Law, who have ta­ken away the Key of Knowledge and lost it; and if any of you in [Page 35] uprightness of heart, you will seek to finde that which you have lost, which indeed, and in truth is hid from you; wherefore this is the counsel of a plain man to you, if you would seek that which is hid indeed and in truth from you, with the honest purpose of your hearts to find it, with all the aforementioned Wisdome you cannot, neither with all that which the natural man can learn or attain to; wherefore if any of you can believe me, & take the counsel of a plain man, all your hunting Wisdome is to be laid aside in the first place; and seeing that which indeed and in truth is hid from you which I have said, which are true words, then say I, after your Wisdome is turned backward, and you confounded, you are to come into the Deed, and into the Truth, which is the Light where the Key is hid from you, and it comprehends you, together with all your Wis­dome, and much more, which time would fail me to relate; and the Light which is the Rock, at which many of you have stum­bled, staggered, struck and smote against; so that many already have suffered Shipwrack, which certainly will arise and fall upon you and grinde you to powder if you fall not upon, and bow to it, the Light, the Rock of Ages, set not only for the rise, but for the fall of many, who is called The Son of the Highest Emmanuel, God with us, who is the Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world; and I say, if you go about (O you learned Rabbies and skilful wise Physitians) as I have said, to comprehend the Light, the more shall you be confounded, and so the Gospel shall be preached to the Tongues as my hand and pen declares at this time; wherefore I say again, if the Tongues would receive the Gospel, which is the power of God in the first place, their dark, subtil, crafty, viperous, Serpents Wisdome and Learning that's from beneath, Earthly, Sensual, Brutish and Devilish is to be laid aside; and so he that will be wise, let him first become a fool, and blessed shall they be which come to submit to the foolishness of God, which is wiser than men, because it pleaseth the most High through the foolishness of preaching to save them that be­leeve, though the world by wisdome knows not God: Wherefore I say again to you Rabbies and Tongues, its the counsel of a friend, a plain man, lay aside your Wisdom lest you so fall that you be ground into such powder and dust, and scattered with the horrible and ir­resistable Tempest, so that ye shall never rise again; for to the [Page 36] Light, which is our Strength and Life, and Salvation, Glory and Power, Wisdome, Redemption, Justification and Everlasting Righteousness, shall every Tongue confess, and every knee bow, whether you Tongues, Kindreds, Nations, Peoples can believe these true sayings or nay; yet the Living God hath opened my mouth to speak, now, although I have known the time to keep silence (and have not forgot it now, Glory to his Name) before the time to speak, and so let the Tongues know that we have been made to stoop, to bow, to fall upon the Light, the Rock, and in its Eternal Love which hath been as sweet to us as the honey that comes out of it, which we have tasted on, though a bitter cup we drunk of, before we soundly and perfectly and sensibly savoured its sweet Vertue and Love, which as it were constrained us to be­leeve in it, which hath broken us and saved us (a people saved by the Lord, who is our Light and our Salvation) from hard-heartedness; and by the same power that saved us, and saveth us by it, and no other, are we made willing to do the Will of God, in Earth as it is in Heaven, and to suffer with the Innocent, which suffered un­der the bondage of Death and Destruction that can talk of the Fame of Wisdome, though under the bondage of Corruption; but on the other hand, or on the contrary, on whomsoever this Rock shall fall, it will grinde him to powder, according to the true sayings of Jesus Christ that saves his people from their sins, and holy Scriptures of Truth, which shall not pass away till all be fulfilled in that which was, and is the same to come, and is not another, then he which was in the beginning, even the same which shall stand from Generation to Generation, yea even for ever and ever, world without end.

And this is a heavenly Voice, let all that dwell in Heaven, bless, magnifie and praise the Lord Omnipotent; yea and let all the Upright in heart with their precious Life, and everlasting Joy even upon their heads come, come to sing the Songs of Sion, and of the Lamb, for his Marriage is come, and his Bride hath made her self ready; and the Bride saith Come, and the Spirit saith Come, and whosoever will, Let him come, for the Fountain is opened, and the Living Waters of Life lo they stream forth, that the weary, whose tongue even fails for thirst, may come and drink free­ly of the Living Waters, at the living, pure and clear Fountain, [Page 37] where the Lambs are refreshed, so that there is no want to them: Wherefore O all ye single hearted, that make mention of the Name of the Lord of Life, yea what if I say unto thee, O Virgin Daughter of Sion, as in the Ancient Dayes, Cry out and shout for great is the Holy One in the midst of thee! And O all ye Children of Wisdome, with one consent make mention, that his Name is Exalted, yea and declare his doings, Praise the Lord, Sing unto the Lord for he hath done Excellent things which is known in all the Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness: Sing unto the Lord, O ye Prisoners of Hope in a known Tongne: Sing unto the Lord ye Lambs: Sing O ye Lambs of the Flock in a good Land that floweth with milk and hony out of the Rock, wherein plenteous Redemption is wrought with fear and trembling through the blood most precious even of Gods Lamb (the Light of Gods holy and beloved City) that taketh away the sins of the world, and healeth, and cleanseth, and purifieth from all Un­righteousness in the Light, which is, and shall be, even to the Lord of Life, a name of Joy, a Praise, and an Honour before all the People and Nations that behold the Seed of the Blessing beautified with Eternal Salvation, and cleansed from all Un­righteousness as in the dayes of old; and so the Eternal Fellow­ship, or Unity, or One-ty of Wisdomes Children is in the Light, with the Father, who is Light, and with the Son, in the Saints In­heritance in Light.

Wherefore bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless, praise and magnifie his pure holy Name, which is greatly to be Exal­ted over all the Earth, that is corrupted and filled with violence, and also is full of the Habitations of Cruelty, as I have declared in a known Tongue; and yet I say also, Babylon with a great noise shall fall; yet, yet, the Voice is, Come out from among them, O my people, as in the Ancient dayes, saith the Lord, Lest while ye partake of their Sins, you partake with them of their Plagues.