even in Conscience and all his Commands which are otherwise we are willingly and in our Consciences contented in patience to bear what men shall put upon us and thus we do accept of the King and his Government as he it are according to God and answerable unto him if it be so we are willingly and in Conscience accepting thereof and shall be obedient Subjects thereunto but if it be otherwise that is to say if he Rule in Tyranny and Oppression and his Government be unjust and unrighteous and contrary to God then we must give our witness against him and it yet not so as by outward opposition and rebellion to seek the overthrow of him or the Government by Carnal Weapons but shall patiently bear and that for Conscience sake all that Cruelty or Injustice and suffering which can be Imposed upon us And as for owning his Supremacy if it be meant his Supremacy over the Church as if he were Head of the Church and were Supream Law-giver and Iudge and King in Church-State as to give and prescribe Laws for Worship and Faith and to pass all Judgement in matters that are Spiritual and appertaining to Conscience about the things of the Kingdome of God if by his Supremacy this be meant and intended thus we cannot own his Supremacy but must deny it and we do ascribe Supremacy only to IESUS CHRIST in and concerning all these things mentioned and that he alone is Iudge and King and Law-giver in all the matters concerning his own Spiritual King dome and he must prescribe for us Faith and Worship and must be the only Iudge in all cases of Conscience and Spiritual matters and not Charles Stuart King of England c. nor any other man upon the Earth for let it not be understood that we deny his Supremacy in opposition to the Pope of Rome as if we should own the Popes Supremacy over the Church for that we do not nor any man upon the Earth as I have said but only IESUS CHRIST is Principal in that relation and to him we give the Dominion in all the cases of his own Kingdom but if owning his Supremacy it be intended whether we will own him to be Head and Ruler as in the affairs of this Nation pertaining to mens Persons and Estates without any relation to the Worship of God or matters of Conscience so we own him as I have before mentioned and must be Subject for Conscience-sake in fulfilling all his commands whatsoever either by doing or suffering and this is our principle which we are perswaded in and resolved herein to continue and abide E. B. TO CHARLES STUART Who is PROCLAIMED KING And to all You that are called and known by the Name of ROYAL PARTY CAVALEIRS and who have Suffered in your Cause for your Principle FRIENDS THE Lord God who is greater than all that doth whatsoever he will hath given you a Day and you are raised up again out of your Suffering State Oh that you would consider the end of it and wherefore the Lord hath done and suffered it to be done and that you would make right use and improvement unto God and this Nation of this your Deliverance and Promotion for certainly there hath been an absolute purpose in the Counsel of the Lord that these things should be thus and his hand hath even suffered it to be accomplished even in a strange and marvellous way through the confounding of your Enemies and giving of them up to the folly of their own hearts in their Councils that they should destroy themselves and bring in you over their heads and make you a Mountain and break down their Mountain and make it as a low Valley and certainly these things are in the Iustice of the Lords hand and it will be well for you if you can consider it and acknowledge it You have been a suffering People it is true for these divers years and Orignally your Suffering was partly just as from the Lord for there was a great measure of Iniquity and Oppression fulfilled in this Nation on the part of Kings and your Sins were great against God wherefore the Lord was Iust in bringing Affliction and Tribulation upon you to humble you and he might Iustly raise up others to reprove you and to subdue you before them for a season and thus far even because of your Iniquities which were great in the sight of God your Sufferings and Afflictions were Iust But as for those that the Lord made use of in the Execution of your Afflictions they are not justified in all what they did towards you but they went beyond in Violence and Cruelty upon you what the Lord called them unto and thereby they brought a great measure of guilt of Injustice and Cruelty upon their own Consciences in proceeding towards you beyond Iustice and Equity Though some of them might be more sincere and upright in the beginning of these things when they began to War against you yet it too well appears that many of them soon lost the Iust Cause and began to have respect to your Estates and Titles of Honour more than to free the Nation from Oppressions and Vexations though they pretended much thereunto yet so it was that they became fouly corrupted in their way and though they Subdued you yet did they not free the Nation but became Oppressors themselves no less than others before them and they possessed your Riches and Titles yea and in great measure Unjustly and then were exalted in Ambition and Vain-glory and began to strive amongst themselves who should be the greatest and set up this and the other and some cryed one way of Government and others another and they pulled down and set up as they would and cast down and exalted whom they would and thus they continued for some years rowling up and down in Confusion and yet the Nation under very great Oppression and Vexations each one crying his Burthen was the greatest while they were exalted in their Pride and Riches and lived at ease notremembring the end wherefore they were first raised nor keeping to sincere Principles but caused them to suffer deeply that were faithful to the Lord and walked with him in sincerity and all this while you were as asleep and not thought upon by them as if ever you should call them to an Account but they thought that their strength was great and their number many and therein they gloryed having no true respect unto the Lord and because hereof the Lord justly confounded them in their Counsels when their measure was full and made them weak as water and you are now justly raised up to reprove and correct them even those that have abused Gods Mercies to them and that have forgotten God and sought to exalt themselves for ever and had no respect unto the Lord and his People though these things are not said of them to upbraid them nor to kindle your fury against them to add Misory upon
their Affliction but they have already been told of their Treachery and what would come to pass And Oh that they could now humble themselves before the Lord and confess to the Iustice of this their Affliction they might yet partake of his Mercy through great Iudgments And as for you Oh that you would consider these things and by whose purpose you are restored and from what cause and for what end it is accomplished Oh that you would mind what your work now is and that you would not exceed your Permission for you are raised up for an end and there is a work for you to do Oh that you could do it with respect unto the Lord it should be the better for you Oh those men that have long Sate as Princes in this Nation and Pretended and Vowed and promised Reformation in Church and State but they have not done it as they ought but as great Oppressions and Injustice as great Superstitions and Idolatries both in Church and State were continued and carried on in their dayes as in dayes before them Oh how abominable have these things been multitude of words might demonstrate but now their reproof and Iudgment is come and their fall is just upon them Who should pitty them or mourn for them seeing they have deserved all this and much more which has yet happened unto them as some of them may confess and those things their Treachery Unfaithfulness Oppressions I mean must needs be avenged one way or another How often hath it been foretold them yea it hath been often said unto them that God would bring them down and destroy their Power they have been told that these things were not right neither could they escape unavenged and it new appears as if the day were come and if you must be their Executioners and must execute the wrath upon them who shall prevent you or say unto you stay your hand Or rather who of them that sees these things shall not be patient while you take vengeance for ths Lords sake and for the sake of his People whom they have long Vexed and Opppessed Nay who of the Lords People shall not say let the Lords will be done and his Iustice Executed upon his Enemies If this be your work that you are called to must it not go on till it be finished They have been Hard-hearted and Oppressors towards others and by a Hard-hearted People may not the Lord justly deal with them and be a Plague unto them in that very manner that they have sinned against him for this is usual with the Lord even to destroy Oppressors by the Wickedness of others and often he Rebukes the sin of a People by a People as bad as themselves he may justly give unto men from the hands of others what they love in their own hearts and even as those men have loved Pride and Ambition over others and Oppression and Hard-heartedness towards others even so and much more may justly be done unto them and that according to the Will of the Lord and if this be your work designed you by the eternal hand who shall prevent you But yet Oh that you would consider and that you would have some respect unto the Lord lest you out-go the end of your Restoration You would indeed be happy if you could forgive your Enemies if you could reward them good for their evil and you would be happy if you could not exceed the measure of your permission be not too Hard-hearted towards them but shew Mercy And Oh you must take heed lest you cause the Righteous to suffer with the Wicked and that you cause not the Innocent to groan and mourn in your execution of Gods purpose upon the ungodly you must be a ware lest while you punish Offenders you smite not them that are free Oh that you had hearts this to understand and that you could walk in the path of fulfilling Gods pleasure and not go further I mean though you may be raised to be a Plague upon Hypocrites and Disobedient and Treacherous men and to avenge Gods Cause and his Peoples but you are not raised to be Oppressors of the Lords People nor to destroy his Heritage this is not your work God hath not called you to Destroy and Persecute them that fear his Name and tremble at his Word though you have Power to be avenged on your Enemies And Oh that your hearts could understand this that you might distinguish in your proceedings between executing of Iustice upon Transgressors Persecution for Conscience-sake the one you have to do but the other is forbidden you of the Lord and you ought not to do it for if you Persecute any for good Conscience-sake or because they are of such and such an Assembly of People and Worships in such a way if you inflict Tribulation upon any because hereof or because they are such or such in their Profession and Religion then you persecute for Conscience-sake and you go beyond the End and by the Path for which you were raised and if you turn your Hand and Power to persecute for good Conscience-sake then you divert the End and Purpose of this your Restoration and the Lord will require it of you if that you go beyond his Permission and Assignment and go beyond his Pleasure in Persecuting his People and so turn your Power to a wrong Use and End O then the Lord shall suddenly confound you and he will find out instruments that shall fulfil his Wrath and Iustice upon you as he hath found you fit to execute Wrath upon others and therefore do not O do not persecute any for Conscience-sake if you have nothing against them but concerning their Faith and Worship and their Religion do not lay your hand upon them nor let them be touched for if you do the Lord will take it as a heinous offence against him and in this life or hereafter he will Plague you for it and you shall not escape unpunished and therefore I say once more to you as the advice of your Friend let no man be persecuted for his Faith and for his Religion-sake but make a distinction between inflicting wrath upon offenders that have been hypocritical and deceitful and that have made themselves rich through the ruins of others and that will how to any thing or any kind of Worship for their own ends and between such who have a Principle and do stand by it and are humble and acted in the principles of sincerity and follows that way of Religion which they suppose and are perswaded is the best and the rightest all such ought to have their Liberty under you in their Profession and Faith and Worship and ought not to be Persecuted while they live Peaceably as men with one another and towards all men and the God of Heaven requires it of you and your Standing or your Fall the Blessing or the Curse unto you depends hereupon and this you shall find to be true unto
prove otherwise than to destroy themselves and make room for you and these things I observed And also thus far we did fore see and it was revealed to us and believed by many of us fully and we did often Prophesie it that the Lord God of Heaven Earth would destroy and bring down the Government Authority as they have stood in this Nation for divers years and that he would bring Iudgment upon the Rulers and upon many of the Teachers People of this Nation because of their Oppressions and Unfaithfulness and Treachery Hypocrisie Wickedness which abounded amongst them which we have felt and seen and been sensible of and we have often given our witness against them because of their guiltiness in their sinful waies Oh it hath been loathsome unto the Lord even the Oppressions Treacheries of the Rulers Oh how hath Cruelty and Injustice abounded in their Government their hypocrisie hath been evident in our sight in many Particulars even in that they have cryed against and overthrown King and Kingly Government charging them with oppression and cruelty and pretended to ease the People in a better way of Government when as though Governors and Names Titles of Government were changed and altered yet oppression ceased not neither was injustice forsaken nor was the heavy yoakes of great bondage removed but the rather these things were increased upon many good People in these Nations and herein was the unfaithfulness and treachery of the Rulers very great in the sight of God and their Government unjust and unequal wherefore the Lord hath been provoked against them to confound them and overturn them and we have often told it them and also the Hypocrisie and deceits and sinfulness of Teachers we have seen testified against our witness to them both is and will be found true and Gods justice will be fulfilled upon them both these things we have observed even the heinous guilt of sin against God in both Rulers and Teachers the abominations that have been committed both in Civil and Church Government so called also and many People have loved to have these things so and we have been sensible how the Lord hath been provoked to overthrow the Governors of this Nation because hereof and this we have foreseen and Prophesied of even that Iudgement and Confusion would come upon the Government the Rulers and the Teachers but particularly when and after what manner judgment overthrow should come upon them was left to the Lord who hath brought to pass his own will according to Justice and it may prove to be a just Jugdment from the Lord upon the Unfaithful and Treacherous and Unjust Rulers and Teachers and People which I have mentioned and the Lord may justly avenge himself upon them who have abused his Mercies and not improved his Deliverance to his glory but perverted the end wherefore they were at first raised up I say the Lord may justly be avenged of them by this means of this mans comingin and he may be in the hand of the Lord a very smiting Rod to correct and rebuke and may be a heavy Judgment upon many in this Nation even from that cause and for that end as before I have expressed Quer. 2. Whether you or any of you do adjudge it Reasonable and Equitable that he should come inherit the Nations of which he is born the right Heir Or whether or no it is just or unjust to God and men that he should Reign King over these Nations If you walk judg by the Law of God which is Equal then judge of this whether he hath been kept out this many Years now is brought in again Reasonably Iustly or Unjustly contrary to Reason Answ. That he should come in is Reasonable and Equitable because through the purpose of the Lord his coming in is accomplished who effecteth nothing but what is Equal Reasonable there is cause in God sufficient wherefore it should thus be there is Sufficient cause Reason appearing to us in this matter upon the very account as laid down in my Answer to the first Query it is Equal as in the Lord that he should be restored who hath been removed cast out by such as have pretended to Govern Rule better than he but have ruled in Oppression Injustice not answered the cause wherefore he was cast out that he should come in to be a Scourge upon these this is just and in this particular doth lie the Reason Equity of his coming in to inherit this Nation And as for Reigning justly over this Nation that may better be answered when we have had experience of his Reign for if he Reign Rule in Truth Righteousness in Mercy and in Iustice and by and according to the Iust Law of God if thus he Reign then he Reigneth justly it is just to God and men that he should Reign and this the Law of God which is Equal judgeth by which we walk in all things do judge of all things And as for his being kept out this many years we do judge that the hand of the Lord is in these matters they were done suffered to be done by him in which he will be glorified yet thus far I say they that have kept him out in pretence that they would Rule better than he yet have ruled in Oppression Injustice as much more may be then he would have done they have dealed unjustly and contrary to reason both to him and much more to the People of these Nations while they have made and had new Names and Titles of Government and Governors but have continued the old oppressions and not releived the oppressed according to their own vows and promises which they have broken and it is but just they should be punished for it but if he render not evil for evil he doth well Quer. 3. Whether or no ye can judge that his Reign and Government shall be blessed to himself and these Nations or the contrary Or whether shall Peace or Trouble be in the Land in his dayes And shall his dayes be many or shall his time be short if this be revealed to you let us know Answ. We do judge that his Reign and Government may be blessed to himself and these Nations or not blessed and peace may be in the Land or trouble in his dayes and his time may be long or it may be short according as he walketh in the fear of the Lord or as he walketh wickedly and according as his Reign and Government is in Righteousness Mercy and Truth or in Oppression and Injustice accordingly do I judge may he be blessed may have Peace and long dayes or the contrary if he walk in the way which brings contrary effects and we take not upon us to judge any thing before the time but as thorow time he discovers himself so
High in this World thorow your Sufferings and between such as have acted against you for self ends and have insulted over you and have made themselves Great and Rich in this world thorow your Afflictions and Sufferings for they who have walked in that way are hereof guilty they havenot acted Righteously nor walked in good Conscience if such Suffer by you for that cause it cannot be called Persecution nor is it for the Name of Christ nor can such have Peace with God But we being clear from the sin of such we cannot suffer as such but if we suffer by you it is Persecution and our sufferings will be upon you Quer. 5. Whether the great Afflictions and Sufferings sustain'd by him this divers years from the Subjects if his own Nation and the guilt thereof do lie upon all the Subjects in general Or whether upon any or some paâ—icular Sects and Sorts of people many which now are arisen and if upon any particular Sect and Sort who are such more than others distinguish them from others and clear your selves if you can from the guilt of his Sufferings Answ. As for the Afflictions and Sufferings sustained by him so far as they were Iust and Righteous Iudgment from God because of iniquity can no man be charged with but that is on Gods account who was pleased to chastise with Afflictions and Sufferings and no man can be blamed with Injustice for that Affliction which cometh from the Hand of God upon whom Injustice may not be charged by any one whatsoever and so far as his Sufferings were unjust the guilt thereof doth not lie upon all the Subjects in general nor upon every particular sort of people alike but upon some more than others and such are easie to be distinguished from others if it be considered who they are that first raised the War in this Nation against the King And who was it that first Preached and Prayed up the War and prosecuted it against his Father And who is it that cast out the Bishops and Prelates from their places and took their Revenues and Benefices and are become men as Corrupted as Covetous and Self-seeking as Proud and Ambitious as Unjust Persecutors as ever the men were which they cast out And the guilt is partly upon such who cast out others in pretence of Refarmation but did it not And who is it that hath gotten great Estates in this Nation and Worldly Honour and raised themselves from nothing by the Wars and by your Suffering and became ambitious and insulting over others though they first began the War in this Nation and pretended great Reformation in the Civil State as well as the other had done in Church State And who get the Estates Titles of their Enemies pretended to free this Nation from all Oppressions but have not done it but have continued the old Oppressions and have been striving among themselves who should Rule and who should be great but have not Ruled for God nor in Iustice and Equity though they first Warred against the King and carryed it on and removed the King and Lords and that Government and all this in pretence of Ruling better and in a better Government and yet kept not Engagements nor Promises made in that case Upon such is the guilt of the Suffering of the King so far as his Sufferings are unjust even upon Hypocrites who have â—alked in these steps who as I have said first made war against the King and got great Estates and quite forgotten the cause once pretended by them and now in flattery Cries up King and Kingly Government again though this many years they have seemed to be opposite against it upon such as these may the guilt aforesaid in measure be charged And though there are risen many Sects and Sorts of People since the beginning of the Wars yet in the beginning there was but one sort that were in a capacity to raise and prosecute War against the King and upon such there is guilt to be charged in the sight of God who have foregone their Principles and been deceitful both to God and men And as for Us who are called Quakers we are clear from the guilt of all his Sufferings and in the present Capacity wherein we now stand and under the actings of that Spirit which now we are of we have no part in the guilt of these Iniquities we have not cast out others and taken their places of great Benefices neither have we made war with carnal weapons against any never since we were a People mark neither have we broken Oaths and Engagements nor promised freedome and deliverance and for self ends and Earthly Riches betrayed as others have done what we pretended to and in many particulars it doth appear that we are clear from his Sufferings for we have been a Suffering People as well as they by the same Spirit which caused them to suffer which hath been much more Cruel Wicked and Unjust towards us than it hath been towards them though our Persecution hath been in another manner but what they have done against us we can freely forgive them and we would have you to follow the same example and if you could accuse them in many things so could we but this is not a time to accuse one another but to forgive one another and so to overcome your Enemies or else you will appear in the same Spirit that so he that condemns them cannot justifie you though we do condemn as well as you them that have pretended Reformation and Warred against you upon that account And when they had gotten victory did not reform but became Oppressors themselves as well as others and became Cruel towards others that would not say and do as they and for this Cause the Lord hath brought them down and may justly suffer others to deal with them as they have dealt with others yet notwithstanding I must still say and it is my judgment that there was very great Oppressions and Vexations under the Government of the late King and Bishops under his power which the Lord was offended with and many good People Oppressed by for which cause the Lord might and did justly raise up some to oppose and strive against Oppressions and Injustice and to intend and press after Reformation in all things and that principle of Sincerity which God did raise in many in the beginning of the Wars which in some things acted them forth and carryed them on in opposing Oppressions and pressing after Reformation this Principle I can never deny but acknowledge to it though many soon lost it and became Self-seekers forgetting and foregoing the Cause pretended to having lost Sincerity and became corrupted in their way and Injustice and Oppression abounded by them and because hereof are they condemned in the sight of the Lord and not by me Iustified because they have lost Sincerity and turned the War and all the Proceedings into Self-seeking and therefore is God
you in the day of Gods Righteous Iudgments O therefore be not stout against the Lord but fear and tremble before him let his Dread be upon your Spirits and do not offend him nor provoke him against you and this Nation lest he tear you to pieces and number you for destruction lest he overturn you suddenly and deface your glory in its morning Oh how happy would you be if you would regard the Lord and reverence him and take him before you and not go beyond in any thing what his purpose and pleasure is who hath given you this one day to try you if so be that any of you shall learn his fear and turn from your Iniquities that you may be blessed and not confounded Oh therefore consider what the Will and Purpose of the Lord is towards you and wherefore you are raised up and may fulfil his purpose and not your own Oh then this day should be made happy unto you but the contrary works I mean if you do Oppress and Persecute and seek to destroy his Heritage and Rule in Oppression and Tyranny then the God of Heaven shall cut your day short and diliverance he will bring to this poor Nation without you and even contrary to you and his hand shall be turned upon you and your Mountain though never so great and high shall be laid low and an Infant of the heavenly birth shall leap over it and shall say Where is that lofty Babel that exalted it self agâ—â—â—â— my God And as for us we are a very poor contemned and despised People even since we were a People unto this very day and have nothing at this present nor heretofore to glory in from any Power that hath ruled but the Power Spirit and Presence of God in our Tribulations Afflictions Persecutions and unjust Sufferings these things have been our portion even from all all have troden upon us in Contempt and Scorn and accounted us as Sheep for the slaughter and we have not to glory in any Government that hath been since we were a People we cannot justifie one or another but we say they have all been Oppressors and we have groaned with deep sighs unto the Lord under the burden of their unrighteous dealing and herein we assent with you if you say they have been unjust men we say the same and if you say their Government hath been Oppression and Unequal we say the same if you say you have suffered cruelty and unrighteously by them we say the same if you lay they have Ruled by Will and Forci more then by Law and Equity we verifie the same and if you can say you have suffered Afflictions and Tribulation by them so have we in another manner and far more unjustly Wherefore we cannot justifie them nor will not plead for them in opposition to you but we partly beleive we may receive as much Equity and good Reason from some of you as we did from some of them and thus we have been a suffering People even without cause And at this day we are threatned by the rage of men as if we should be cut off and destroyed but we regard not those things but do respect the Lord whom we fear and Worship in our hearts and if we outwardly perish among them that may perish yet it is for Righteousness sake and because of the matters of Gods Kingdom which we hold and if you do Destroy us for this cause we are clear and Innocent blood will be upon you and the guilt thereof will sink you into misery here or hereafter Oh take heed and desilenot your selves nor load your Consciences with our guiltless sufferings as many others have done before you even to their ruin and wofull destruction you are yet in a great measure clear from our Oppressions we have not much Iniquity yet to charge upon you in our Cause of Afflictions Oh it will be well for you if you keep your selves clear the less will be your Iudgement and the better success will you have in your Cause for Friends the weight of Innocent Blood it hath a loud cry and God will hear it and if you burthen yourselves with it it will soon overweigh you therefore keep clear and condemn them by your Practises that have said they would not Persecute for good Conscience sake but have done it even contrary to all Pretences and Engagements and if you who professe not so much in words towards that thing would do it how should your Practise condemn their Hypocrisie in the Sight of God Men and Angels but however I warn you and do leave it at your door and do say unto you Persecution for Conscience sake is the crying Sin which drawes down vengeance upon Kings and Governments be you warned through the fall of others least confusion come upon you as it hath come upon many others for that cause and be not too confident in your way nor too furious against your enemies but remember your breath is in your nostrils and he that gave it you can soon take it away And as for you we have no enmity towards any of you nor do we sick the hurt of your Persons nor can we rise up in Rebellion against you or seek your Destruction by Craft or Policy neither indeed can we seek Covenant or League with you by flattery it is true you are yell in Authority over us outwardly and as you are so we shall â—d subjection to you in any of your just Commands and in all things it is our Principle to obey you either by doing or suffering yet we cannot bow nor fawn nor flatter nor deny our Principle nor our Religion of which we are perswaded by the Spirit of God in our Consciences that it is right and according to God but I say we cannot revoke our Principle neither for advantage to our selves nor yet to save our lives you must find us constant not changeable as others are who turn every way for their own advantage and ery up this or the other and pray and fight on the behalf of any thing which may make for their advantage but God is grieved with such Spirits yet we are otherwise minded and must only own your Government and Authority as it is just and brings forth Righteousness so we can own it and bow before it but as otherwise if it be Unjust and Oppression we must patiently suffer under it whatsoever you have power to do and this is all the peace we can make with you or the Engagement that we can bind our selves in towards you though we cannot but own that this Day is given you either in mercy or in judgement to you yea and we cannot but own that you may be Gods Executioners yea what if we say that you may be raised up to avenge our Cause upon our Oppressors though still we must bear witness against that wicked loose prophane Spirit that lives and abounds in some of you and among you and workes Unrighteousness