I say if serving of God peaceably and quietly with Reverence and Godly Fear be good in the Sight of God How can those answer the turning the Edge of the Sword of Iustice upon them before the great Jehovah who put that Sword into their hands and if so Why are the poor peaceable People of God that are no Turkish slaves but the free born Commoners of England thus enslaved Why must the Sword of Oppression thus be suffered in the hands of Richard Brown instead of the sword of Iustice Why are the several Justices of Peace in the several Counties of England thus suffered to disturb the Peace of the Innocent Lambs of Jesus in their peaceable Meetings And if any man shall ask me the reason why I question these things I must Answer them in the words of Little David in that 1 Sam. 17. 29. What have I now done is there not a cause Is not that great Goliah of our times defying the Host of the Israel of God that Rome-bred Monster Persecution Is it not now vaunting it self against both the Cause and People of God Is it not now pulling down those that cannot drink drunk go like Anticks Spot and Paint Whore and Rant Rend and Tear Swear and Forswear Is not this a Cause why the People of God who will evidence themselves so to be now to stand up for Purity Piety Peace Mercy Truth and Iustice and in such a time as this boldly Couragiously Manfully to fight the Lords Battel and to lay about them with the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God Joh. 6. 17. and chiefly and more frequently to meet together and with a peaceable gentle holy violence come with great Zeal into their several and respective Meetings to pray to the Lord and set their shoulder to the Work as one Man to offer an Holy Violence to the Throne of Grace that God would let King Charles see what he hath done for him and also what he doth expect from him that so the End of his faithful Subject in casting that into his Treasury may be effected To which purpose it shall be my request to all my Brethren that they would both privately and Publickly Meet at their Publick Meetings to cry Mightily to the Father by the help of the Spirit in the Name of his Son King Iesus that he would Assist King Charles in that needful work of Self-Examination and due Consideration Not forgetting the Great the Mighty and the Noble of the Land nor thee Richard Brown although thou art so cruel But to remember also all Iustices of Peace yea and all the Nation in general that are thus bent against Gods People with such a spirit of bitterness that God would let them see how they requite the Lord for his Benefits bestowed upon him and them and to them in doing so much for him their King To which purpose that it may be the more Effectually done I say to them all as I do to Henry Den about Swearing in my Fannaticks Testimony against Swearing in Page 45 that they would call for and crave the assistance of all in that Page mentioned that so they may if possible have one Word of God from the ablest of their Learned Men for their thus imprisoning and abusing the Fock of God or any man else for their worshipping their God because they cannot worship with them I say again I would have every soul be fully satisfied herein before they proceed farther that so they may have the Word of God for their Warrant as a Foundation of their Faith herein for saith the Apostle Rom. 14. 23. Whatsoever is not of Faith is Sin For Faith is the full perswasion of the heart of Man grounded upon the Promises of God and wrought in us by the Spirit of God So that if thou hast not a Word of God for thy Warrant as a Foundation of thy Faith herein thy Faith is no more Faith but Fancy and therefore have a care Soul who ever thou art though never so great I say again in the fear of the Lord have a care that the Lord say not one day to you that are thus found persecuting his People for worshipping him not at all harming you as once he said by his Prophet to Israel of old Isai. 1. 12. Who hath required this at your hands Why have you Ensnared Inslaved Imprisoned and evilly Intreated my People when I have done so much for you when I have given you so much Liberty so much Freedom so many Priviledges and Injoyments and can ye not suffer the Members of that Body of which my Son Iesus is the Head no Liberty at all When King Charles wanted his Kingdoms Wealth Liberty Subjects Armies Arms Ammunition Magazines and Store-houses Sumptuous and Fair Buildings Parkes and Chases Meadows Fields and Pastures Ships and Shipping with all that He hath and all that He doth enjoy and all this He hath by His own shewing again and again from the hands of our Father that Loved us and gave his Son to Die for us yea He hath what He hath from the hands of our Father who is so to us by Promise not onely by Creation but also by Regeneration and Adoption yea we have his Word for it 2 Cor. 6. 17 18. And by his assistance have performed the conditions and I have his Seal for my Son-ship Ephes. 1. 13. and through Mercy I speak not Parrot-like but what I have through Grace seen and known felt and looked upon and handled that I declare it is that which giveth me boldness now Acts 4. 13. and will give it me at the day of Judgement 1 Iob. 4. 17. And although we are his peaceable and quiet Subjects by the appointment of our Father yet he careth not for us but is desirous to be rid of us and no Roome fit for us in all his Territories but a Prison and in these Prisons the Dungeon and that by many thought to good for us too although we never deserved such things at his hands I am sure he promised us better things and that upon conditions too the which on our parts were never yet broken nor never shall be let him deal with us however he pleaseth yet our peaceable Meetings are broken and our Forms and Accommodations in those Meetings broken to pieces Demollished and burned and that by the Rude Rabble and should we were it our Principle be but half so Tumultuous as these are that at every turn have to do with us we should then be looked upon as very dangerous Persons such as there might be some colour of Imprisoning but blessed be the Lord we are not such and yet are and have been Imprisoned and in Kent several have been Haled away to Maidestone who now lie there and our Brother Crosse who a short time before with his own hands presented a moderate and an honest Petition into the Kings Hand in order to the procuring a Liberty according to the Kings Promise
both of him that shall give out such a Commission and thee that shalt gain it of him that shall Execute it and of all that shall rejoyce at it and consent to it yea for all be they High be they Low be they Rich be they Poor be they Young be they Old be they Free be they Bound King or Subjects I say in the words and I hope in the Spirit of Truth with my Brother Stephen I shall Pray The Lord lay not this sin to their charge and in the words of him that was not ashamed to call his Congregation Heb. 2. 10. nor his Disciples Brethren Sisters and Mothers Mat. 12. 49 50. I say in his words I hope by the help of his Spirit I shall cry out and say Father forgive them they know not what they do Luke 23. 34. For this is a day in which we must expect nothing lesse but Mockings Iearings Scoffings and Deridings Buffettings Banishments and Imprisonments with Torturings and cruel Deaths for I perceive by the Hatred Malice and Malignity of the generality of the Sons and Daughters of Men that it must fare with us in our Crooked and Adulterous Generation as with the Flock of God gone before yea and with our Master himself who was said to have a Devil John 10. 20. And at length Away with him Crucifie him Crucifie him Mat. 27. 22. The Apostles Peter and Paul were both put to death in the last year of the Emperour Nero Paul was Beheaded and Peter was Crucified with his head downwards saith Eusebius Pamphilius in his third Book the first Chapter O Friends Consider what are your Fears what are your Doubts Did ye not run well in a Sun-shiny day who did binder you you lay all your Confidence in an Arm of Flesh and is it vanished with it Shall so many of us come out of Aegypt with Israel of old And shall our Carkastes fall thus as did theirs in the Way Shall but some few Calebs and Ioshuahs enter into Canaans Glory of the old Stock Numb 14. 22 23 24. What need we Fear are not all our Hairs numbred Can the Two Witnesses be Slain till the Forty and Two Moneths be expired and their Prophesies fulfilled Doth not the Nation ring of your Apostacy in this Cloudy Day Do not that People called Quakers upbraid us with your backslidings in one County and another a third and more O Friends It is the burthen of my Soul to hear such Actings as I hear and that my rejoycing towards you and on your behalfs in my Fannaticks Letter in page 5. c. is to so little purpose I well hoped it might have proved an Instrument in Gods Hand of much good unto you but I fear it was much slighted and undervalued because it dropped not from a tall Cedar but sprung up from so mean and low a shrub But to such Souls I must say in the Words of the Prophet Isa. 40. 28 c. Hast thou not known Hast thou not considered Hast thou not heard that the everlasting God the Lord the Creatour of the ends of the Earth fainteth not neither is weary There is no searching of his Understanding He giveth power to the faint and to him that hath no might he encreaseth strength Even the Youths shall faint and the Young men shall utterly fail But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with Wings of Eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not be faint for of a Truth God is no respecter of Persons but in every Nation he that feareth Him and worketh Righteousnesse is accepted of him Acts 10. 35. And now why should I much wonder to see such Apostatizing times when the Lord by his Servant telleth us That day shall not come except there come a falling away first at whose coming he himself putteth it to the Question Whether he shall find Faith on the Earth Luke 18. 8. And this is the use that through mercy I make of these times I see hereby my Saviour was a True Prophet And this is a Confirmation to me that I am in the Truth in which time I also see and feel such Halings before Magistrates to Prison in this time when Iniquity doth so much abound And Secondly This leads me out of my self to stand by the strength of Him that is Mighty by whose strength onely I have yet stood and still hope to stand It was by his strength that I lived and survived the dampnesse of the Dungeon void of Light or Air those ten Weeks together It was by his help that our Consciences were kept undefiled and by his help it was that way was made for us in the Hearts of the greatest of the Nation to Release us without Fees It is by the help of Iosephs God that was with him in the Prison Gen. 39. that it was so well with us as it was It was by the help of Daniels God that sent his Angel to shut the Mouths of the Lions that we were preserved from harm amongst a company of rude people Felons and others it was by the help of the God of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego that we came out of our Dungeon without harm And by the help of him that walked with them in the fiery Furnace it was that we were constantly refreshed comforted and supported it was by the help of him that turned again the Captivity of Iob that we were brought again from our Captivity it was by the help of him who inabled David to break through a Troop and to leap over a Wall that we are at present Escaped from the Guards of Souldiers that watched our Gates night and day it was by the help of him who sent his Angel to strike off Peters Chains and to open the Prison-doors that we were inlarged it was by help of him whose grace is sufficient for poor Souls that we were supported in our Spirits Yea it was by the good will of him that burned in the Bush that our Zeal for the Cause of Christ was and still is continued Oh then let me beg you in Gods Fear not to droop in this Cloudy day for there is no Crown but for the over-commer no Reaping but for him that doth not faint Oh then let the hands hanging down and the feeble knees be strengthened and held up and look up and lift your heads for your Redemption draweth nigh the day of Jesus is at hand the Kingdom of God is even at the door for yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry and the Iust must live by Faith And now Rich. Brown I would have thee know that though I speak to my Brethren in this City Nation in some part of my Discourse yet it is not besides my business for thou well knowest that it is the nature of an Alarm so to do to Rouse Friends as well as Enemies I shall Appeal to thine own Practice
Fannaticks Testimony against Swearing I say shew your selves as great Enemies to me as you will my Resolution is and God assisting me ever shall be according to the Requirement of King Iesus to Love You though you be mine Enemies and as much as in me lieth to do Good to You though ye Hate Me Yea and the Best Good too yea and as much as in me lieth to bring you to that Chiefest Good to that One Thing Necessary and also earnestly to Pray for You though you Despitefully use Me And this is the way by which I shall evidence my self to be a Child of that Father who sent his Son to Die for Thee for Me and for All the Sons and Daughters of Adam A Parley AND now O Richard Brown before I Retreat from thy Quarters I shall sound thee a PARLEY although I may say to my self and the Peaceable People of God as once Hezekiah said to Israel of old 2 Chron. 32. 28. We need not be dismayed notwithstanding all the Rude Multitude that is with thee For with Thee is an Arme of Flesh but with Us is the Lord our God to Fight our Battels for us Though we are on the Strongest side and have the Best places of Defence For the Name of the Lord is a Strong Tower the Righteous flee to it and are safe Prov. 18. 10. And they that trust in the Lord are as Mount Zion that cannot be Moved but Abideth for Ever Psal. 1. 25. Yea when Sinners in Zion are Afraid and when Fearfulness shall Surprise the Hypocrite then He that walketh Righteously and speaketh Uprightly Isa. 33. 14 c. then He that despiseth the Gain of Oppression He that shaketh his hands from taking of Bribes He that stoppeth his Ears from hearing of Blood that shutteth his Eyes from seeing of Evil as do many of the Peaceable Ones amongst the Baptists He shall dwell on High his Place of Defence shall be the Munition of Rocks Bread shall be given him yea that Bread of Life that once came down from Heaven his Waters shall not fail for he shall drink freely of the Waters of Life Revel 22. 17. I say again though we are of the Strongest side yet seeing thou hast some of the Souldiers belonging to the Captain of our Salvation in thy Custody I shall desire if thou shalt think fit to come to a PERSONAL TREATY with thee Provided that thou wilt allow me but the Law of Arms to go and come Freely and without Interruption during that Treaty And I then question not but in a very short time by the Help of the Spirit of Peace we shall conclude of such a Sound Lasting Firme League and Covenant that will prove like the Law of the Medes and Persians which altereth not For I am verily perswaded and that from mine own former Condition that God hath yet some other thing to do by thee or upon thee So that if thou do what thou doest against Gods People singly and alone for Gods glory thy Judgement not yet being rightly Informed I do really believe that thou shalt yet be an Instrument in the hand of God of much Glory to him as once was thy Brother Saul and my Brother Paul Who what he did he did it out of Zeal to God and in his Ignorance and Unbelief and therefore he obtained Mercy as he saith himself Phil. 3. 6. 1 Tim. 1. 13 16. But if thou hast any other end in what thou doest Thou mayest go on and please thy Fancy if thou wilt and fulfil thy Lust if thou pleasest but thou shalt miss of thy End to attain Glory if that be thy End For if Gods Glory the Good of thine own Soul and the Benefit of Others be not thine End then thy End to Eternity will be but Miserable For God made Thee and I and All Men for his own Glory in producing of which he hath promised us Glory But if God be not Glorified by us he will be Glorified upon us For God will not want his great End Therefore O Richard Brown be perswaded in Gods Fear and as thou tenderest the Eternal good benefit and welfare of thine own Soul to consider thy End and thy End thy End what it is in doing what thou doest do and thy End what it will be if thou yet continuest doing what thou hitherto hast done And if thou shalt be willing to such a Treaty possibly it may be that which experimentally I have known with others may tend to thy Information in order to thy Reformation that so thou mayest be wrought up to a Conformity to the Will and Mind of God when thou shalt be Transformed into the Likeness of Gods dear Son that so thou mayest be translated into his Kingdom of Grace here in order to thy Reigning with him in Glory hereafter And this O Richard Brown the Searcher of all hearts knoweth is my chief and ultimate End in this my Alarm even thy souls good to Eternity But if thou shalt refuse to answer my Desire in this my Parley but wilt still go on in thy Acts of Violence and Oppression I shall without Violence or the least force of Carnal Weapon make a Peaceable Retreat and Retire into my Closet where my Soul shall weep in secret for thee and al Tyrannical Oppressors and shall cry out in the Words of Him who went up and down doing Good who left Himself as a Pattern for us to walk by Who said of them that Crucified Him Father forgive them they know not what they do THE END