The Fool batb said in bis be art, tbereis no God. Pf. xiv. 1. AN ANSWER TO THE WORLD, FOR PUTTING IN PRINT A BOOK. IN 1804, CALLED Copies and Parts of Copies of Letters and Communica- tions, Written from Joanna Southcott, AND TRANSMITTED BY MISS TOWNLEY TO MR. W.SHARP IN LONDON. BECINNJNC WITH THE PARABLE OF THE LITTLE FLOCK OF SHEEP: In which Pieasons are given, in Answer to the Mockery and Ridicule of Men, for printing the Parables and Fables, which were Published from DIVINE COMMAND in that Book. BY WILLIAM SUA IIP. For evil shall be put out, and deceit shall be quenched. As for FAITH it shall flourish, Corruption shall be overcome, and tlie Truth, which hath been so long without fruit, shall be declared. 2 Esclrus vi. 27, ,"-', L A /) V : PRINTED BY S. ROUSSEAU, WOOD STREET, Si J A FIELDS; \MJ SOLD BY E. I. FIELD, NO. I. 1 ,;', NEAR Bf.OO I '. \ lOll'.r, HIGH IIOLHOUN. ]&0(). r TO THE WORLD. ii A S the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is -ilL the laughter of the Fool." [Ecclefiajles viu 6.) may be applied to many and to them might be a suf- ficient answer ; but for a man innocently to become the sport of fools, in these days, cannot be any matter of sur- prise, when the existence of a God is denied by some ; and the existence of a Devil is treated by numbers as a phantom produced by a wild imagination, or a scare- crow to frighten silly people. Nevertheless, for the sake of truth, which hath been so long without fruit, it is necessary it should be declared; and for me to give a short account to the world, from my first reading the publications signed Joanna Southcott, published in the year 1601. By reading only her three first Books, called Strangk Effects of Faith, and two others, called Strange Effects of Faith, with REMARKABLE PROPHECIES MADE IN THE YEAR, 1792, &x. of Things which are to come, I was convinced, from the events that had happened, and com- paring them with what I read in these books, that the visitation to her must be out of the course of nature, and not of human wisdom. It then became my duty to search further into the truth, which occasioned my journey to Exeter, at the end of that year, with several friends, and who went with the like innocent motives. I had the same right to go to Exeter, to enquire after the truth, if it had been only for my individual amuse- ment, as others have to go to Bath, to entertain them- selves with its dissipations. I was then happy to find A 2 ( 4 J Joanna South cott, with whom I became personally ac- quainted, had put it out of the power of evil-disposed peop'e ever to prove her an impostor, as she had, before her publications appeared to the world, made her appeal to the clergy in her neighbourhood, who were of the established church, stating to them the purport of her writings, which, were dictated to her from a Spirit invisible, that she might have the benefit of their advice and assistance. It was the duty of the clergy, according to the laws of the church of England, to give those who applied to them, such ghostly council and advice, to the quieting his or her conscience, and avoid- ing of all scruple and doubtfulness. Here is the duty of every clergyman, which is to be seen in the exhortation in the Communion Service, and which every person may read in the Prayer Book. But her sincere application was not successful, according to the desire of her heart; this appeal to the church, however, proved Joanna Southcott could be no impostor; for it is the maxim of every impostor to shun the truth, and avoid investiga- tion. I have further to observe, that from the year 1792 to the end of the year 1794, her writings were sealed up, and after being witnessed, were put out of her pos- session; and the same caution was observed at the end of each succeeding year, and were at each time placed in the hands of persons of credit, until the arrival of my- self and friends at Exeter, when at our departure, which was at the beginning of January, 1 502, the whole of her sealed writings were put in our possession, properly sealed and witnessed. The box, containing the greater part, was given to my care, and a parcel, also sealed and witnessed, was given to the Rev. Stanhope Bruce; and and one to each of the other frierrds. And I think it necessary to add, that whilst I was at Hath, on my return from Exeter to London, 1 had a large case made, which ( 5 ) enclosed the whole box, for the cords round the box were sealed with seven seals, and I had a quantity of tow put between the box and the case, to preserve the seals from being broken. Here again, I must observe, that all these cautions' of Joanna, about her writings, in sealing, &c. could BOt prove her an impostor; neither, from these circumstances, could the Spirit that so di- rected her, be a false Sp". it 3 neither was it possible for us to be deceived respecting the identity of the tarilhgs delivered to us : and which remained secure with us un- til they were conveyed by me to High-house, Padding- ton, where the box and parcels were opened, and the seals broken, in the presence of above forty person, who were assembled together by public notice, and which was at the beginning of January 1S03. And after the writings were taken out, each paper was signed by three persons, before they were delivered to Joanna, for them after- wards to be copied off. The reader will now take notice from these particulars, that there can be no cunningly contrived plan to deceive; and from the whoie of Joanna's conduct, up to this day, together with what we dis- covered, when at Exeter, from the evidence of those who knew her many years before, and from constant observation since, of those who have lived with her, and do now live with her, there is every confirmation of her sincerity, and of the divine truth of her writing?. She could not adopt a more prudent, or mere respectful mode of conduct, than in her application to the clergy, who might be supposed to be the best informed in spiri- tual knowledge ; and whose duty it is to give every ghost- ly council and advice, according to what is required of them, as may be seen before, quoted from the Prayer Book. Since Joanna's firfl. application, every means have been used to invite the clergy at large, by letters sent to many of them at their places of residence, and by public adver- ( o ) tisement, and also to religious people of everjr sect, There are many other particulars, which it is not neces- sary for me to repeat, they being already laid before the public ; and Mr. Foley has related in his book what may be necessary to add further, to which I must request of the readers to refer, for their greater satisfaction. The clergy of the church derive their incomes from the establishment, that their attention and time may not be diverted from those sacred duties, by any trade or calling, like other men, that they may be the better enabled to instruct their flock in the true knowledge of the word of God, to guard them against all false doctrines, and that impostors and hypocrites may 'not come among them to deceive, and after to ruin them in their religious princi- ples. Of the ministers of the church, who are more than twenty thousand in number, only FOUR have yet been found to sit in judgment, and vindicate the ways of God to man. Three of these formed part of the seven, who, with myself, came from distant parts, and visited Joanna, at the end of the year 1801. The present awful state of the world has been increas- ing in calamities, ever since the year 1792, the very year when the Spirit of Prophecy was given to Joanna. Let any person only compare the state of this nation, be- ginning at that year 1 792, with what it is at present ; let them well consider the burdens that have increased up- on the people; the sufferings many must have gone through, by dearth and scarcity, and an uncommon in- crease of national taxes and other heavy expences ! Let every person, whether they believe in Prophecies or not, only place the two dates together that is, 1709 and this year 1S0G; then let them view the events that have happened on the continent op Europe, between those .two periods of time. In the year 1792, there was no war in which this country was engaged; the means of subsistence could be had at an easy rate. She wrote at ( 7 ) that time of what would happen; and which has since come to pass. When the mind of man reflects upon what has happened within the period of the last thir- teen years, they must conclude, that some great and mighty change is about to take place. After my belief was fixed, that her visitation was from the God of heaven and earth , it was my duty to believe he would be faithful to his Word and his Promises: and there can be no faith but what has its root in cha- rity : every one must know, when one person has re- ceived any act of real friendship from another, without a possibility of any return, the person receiving a favour ought to place confidence in his friend's future inten- ^ons; if otherwise, he must be void of all charity and faith in the good intentions of his friend, and prove himself unworthy of any future friendship. Now this must be my case, if I doubt the Love and Wisdom of the Almighty God, by rejecting his Commands, when I know what his Commands are ; and as I believe his Spirit has dictated the Writings of Joanna Southcott, which declare he is now coming to redeem the world from the bondage of evil, and establish his universal Kingdom of Peace. Therefore, if it be required of man to have charity for his friend, and who is liable to errors, what excuse can be made for a man who shall have any doubt that the Almighty is both " faithful and true," and that in righteousness HE doth judge and make war to destroy all the evil that is on earth, when ins will may be done on earth as it is DONE in IIeavf.x. Here are my reasons for my belief. If any person chooses to find fault with me, I expect their answer founded on the love of truth. The first and greatf.st promise, made by the Almighty, was before man was created, or had any existence, that he was to bt created in the Image, after the likeness of his Creator. It must be the ( 9 ) inmost principle of Divine Love, to act out of and from itself; for love is not confined, and can have no bounds . and it is truly written, God is Love. Now with this free- dom of Spirit man was created, to act in obedience or not ; but who after, was tempted to become a prodigal child. The wisdom of the Most High had provided a remedy, that his image might not be lost in Man ; therefore, after the command was given to Man, not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, in the very next verse there is the remedy provided for Man's redemption, that he may be again restored by the Pro- mise first made after his creation, to make him an help- mate in the Woman, who was taken from the Man. And it was to her, and not to the Man, that the promise was made after the fall that her Seed should bruise the Serpent's Head. As Christ certainly was born of the woman, to have his heel bruised, so by his Spirit's vi- siting the woman, she becomes at last the Helpmate. And it is said the Woman is to be prepared, as a bride is adorned for her husband; therefore, whatever Woman is to receive Christ in the Spirit, must be prepared for that purpose, in such a manner that her desires must be to him, and to him alone, to know his Will; and when convinced it is his Will, that she may obey, as it is written, " Let us be glad and rejoice, and give ho- nour to him, (that is Christ) for the Marriage of the Lamb is come, and his Wile hath made herself ready." Rev. xix. 7 The reader must keep his attention fixed to the Fall, which came through the Woman the pro- mise was made to the Woman Christ was born of the Woman and the Redemption from the Fall must come through the Woman at last, as the Fall came through her at first*. I am convinced that Joanna has for above twenty years, in various ways, been in preparation * Sro an explanation of this given by the Spirit, in Mr. Foley's l^ook, from page '20 lo the end of 31. ( 9 ) from a Spirit invisible, before the year 1792, when the Spirit of Prophecy was first given to her. Had she not been thus gradually prepared, before this period, the suddenness of the extraordinary visitation would have been too powerful for nature to bear ; neither could she have had that confidence in the truth of the Spi- rit, if she had not had proofs before, respecting herself, in her own private life, in many instances. Her Life has been before printed, with the reasons; and Mr. Foley has of course done her character every justice, in his Book. Here are the means of human redemption, having the foundation on the first promise made to man for his good, on which all the promises of the Scripture rest. From the beginning of Genesis to the last of Revelation, not a single failure of any one promise can be proved by man ; for all is made on conditions, provided man per- forms his part in faith and obedience; and, like every human contract, any failure on man's part, compels his Creator to act according to the justice of his will: and Man by his disobedience forfeited the best promise of his creation. I most particularly request of the reader, that he will examine with attention, I mean the most scrupulous attention, the Six Books of the Explanations of the Scriptures, dictated through Joanna by an invi- sible Spirit ; he may then judge of the Spirit and the Bin le together ; and he may judge of me for my belief and faith. I knew that at the time I was printing the Book, containing the Parables that are so much despised, I must become an object of ridicule, and with many of contempt. My faith being decided that Joanna's visita- tion was from Divine Authority, it is not for me to oppose the wisdom of the Almighty God, by my own natural understanding, whether I understood the Parables or not ; whatever his Commands are to put in print, I am toobcv; because I know God is faithful and true- and who is now daily proving the truth of his divine i; ( io ) Word, by bis Spirit's visiting Joanna, for ber to claim tbe Promise made at the Fall, which is to bruise the Serpent's head, by her being the helpmate; and which never entered her natural mind, any more than it did the mind of any woman that ever existed. It is therefore not the length of time that is at all to be con- sidered. It is sufficient to know that near 6000 years have passed away with the world under the dominion of evil ; and through all the different ages, no person whatever has come forth to claim the fulfilment of that Promise, which was wisely concealed in the bosom of the Father, until his appointed time. The Parables, which I put in print last year, in my book, beginning with the Parable of the Flock of Sheep, are explained by the Spirit, and given to the public in this book ; and the Parables in Mr. Foley's book, en- titled, What manner of Communications are these, are explained from the same Divine Source, in his book just published. The reader will now be in possession of the whole; and he will see the reasons, why such Parables were given. What other way can be pointed out to ex- plain to the world the various evils that the human race hath been tainted and tormented with I know not ; but this I know, every art has been used to adulterate Di- vine Truth, in every period of the world; and the in- nocent have alwavs been the victims for the murderer. The crimes have been so numerous from the fall up to this day, that the whole earth might be covered, were all to be put on record*. It is by parables that these * Let every individual publish the his ton of his own errors, or crimes, that have not readied the eve of the world, or have been ex- posed by the laws of his country ; let families do the same ; also ci- ties, and nations, with all the millions of inhabitants in our own days, together with what parses daily and hourly in the heart and mind to commit, if nun were not restrained by law, or the fear of being ex- jjo-ed; then let every man consider and reflect back, and go from ( II ) numerous evils can be brought within the compass of every understanding : and as we read that the Kingdom of Heaven is likened to every likeness of things on earth ; also, at our Lord's first coming, we read, that Jesus spake in parables, and without a parable spake hb not unto them." Matt. xiii. The reader may now proceed to read the explanations, from the Spirit to Joanna, beginning in page 5(5, on Parables; and which are further continued in Mr. Foley's book *. TYPES AND SHADOWS. Every man must know, by common observation, that before the sun shoots forth its first rays of light, which we call the dawn of the day, the earth is in dark- age to age, what murderous and adulterated hearts have existed since the fall of man, under the Devil ! Can the numerous sands on the sea shore he enough to equal the crimes of men, what they hav committed, and particularly what they would have committed, if ex- ternal restraints, and their dear characters, had not stood in the way ? Ten thousand years of life would he but a short allowance, to write out the crimes and arts of hell, that have taken place on this earth. When the reader has reflected deeply, lie will better know how to estimate the truth of every historian ; lie will behold the rubbish, the lies, murders, and concealments too, of gi-cut nun, as well as small men, in all ages and in all countries. Then let men survey the con- duct of animals, the beasts and birds of prey, they may see, by com- parison viith iiKiii, innocence even in their ferocity; for when their hunger is satisfied, they generally become tame and barm, less; but man, under the dominion of the devil, is a bottomless pit that is never fall. * As 1 have made observations different from what 1 had at first ex- pected, and which may be of some length, I have made a distinction by printing the words of the Spirit to Joanna in a larger type. These observations, which I have made, on a smaller type, are only to be considered as my sincere and humble efforts to assist the minds of others ; as by their various occupations with the world, in the pursuit wf business, many valuable truths might Lave escaped their notice. ( 1* ) ness, that nothing can be discovered, unless by the light of the moon, which is only a reflected or borrowed light: all objects are but imperfectly seen, and the real truth cannot be discovered. In Revelation xii, we read of the Woman clothed with the Sun, and the Moon un- der her feet. In the Writings of Joanna, the Moon is re- presented as a type of Satan, while the World is un- der his power, and in the darkness of night : It is by his wisdom that many of the learned are instructed ; and to many others this kind of wisdom appears to shine bright- ly, and the understanding of men is much dazzled and puzzled with difficulties, that a ray of pure truth is not to be found. These men constantly boast of the improved state of civilization, when compared with the Indians, Savages, Hottentots, Sec. who, they say, are not en- lightened, like civilized society, with the aid of learn- ing. That the savages and others are in a dark state is certainly true ; and it is a truth that cannot be denied, that the devil is to be found as well among savages, as he is in civilized Europe. All are alike the descendants of Adam, and of course under the Fall : and that the savages murder each other is also true ; for they have their wars ; yet then it is seldom but with their next neighbours, and soon at an end, when the enlightened world, with the advantage of learning, always have, and do still continue to extend, their wars, their mischief, and their crimes, to every part of the globe. Although the safety of their persons and property is owing to those laws which have originated from the Bible, they in general deny all revelation ; therefore, if learn- ing and civilization claim the preeminence, why have they not produced peace on karth and good will amongst men ? We have had, and we continue to have, plenty of authors, and plenty of divines too " Yet o'er the earth the darkness it is gone ; Mything but darkucw in the Sons of Men." ( 13 ) I hope I shall be excused for having wandered from the subject j but while mankind are under the government of the Moon, these melancholy facts suddenly appear to my view : therefore I shall again proceed with the rising sun, which is described as a type or emblem of Christ, who is the true light and life of Man ; and it is by his wisdom alone that the darkness proceeding from the Moon, which is a type of Satan, can be dispersed. We all know, that, at the first appearance of the rays of the sun above the horizon, the shadows first appear, pro- duced from substances, or objects that are behind. Let the reader here reflect on the simplicity of this language drawn from nature ; and how easy this may be under- stood by every capacity, whether learned or not ; for these effects in nature do not require the aid of what is called learning, but may be understood by illiterate men of every nation and language, however ignorant they may be of the different modes of speech, with all their endless variations ; and which scholars are so proud of displaying:, and who waste so much of a short life in their pursuit only that their own dear selves may be admired. This may appear to some like honey covering over a dish full of dirt (as mentioned in page 31 of Joanna's Prophecies.) These characters treat with contempt the parables used by Christ, for human instruction ; and they reject also every knowledge produced by types and shadows. Therefore as man cannot be brought to the knowledge of wisdom at once, he can only be gradually instruct- ed, like the introduction of the light of the morning. For any man to be brought suddenly out of darkness to behold the sun in its meridian splendor is impossible even the light of candles, when introduced into a room has been too strong for the eye, after the company has been sitting together at the close of the day ; therefore the splendid sun must produce the wonderful effect like the deprivation of sight. These common observations I ( 14 ) trust are sufficient to convince the reader, that the true and easy way that man can be instructed by, is first by the shadows, which the light makes us discern, that when they appear the substance must be behind, which will gently lead him to the truth. In Joanna's Book of Let- ters, page 32, she says, when the hand of God is in any thing, he always brings the shadows before the sub- stance ; and in the same page, when the sun is behind a tree, the shadow comes before the substance ; in the preface to Joanna's first Book of Prophecies, which it is every ones duty to attend to, she says, I shall go on till I have made public all the mysteries of the Bible the times which are to come and what shall happen till Christ's Kingdom is established : sometimes from types and shadows ; sometimes from dreams and visions ; and also from the Bible. Here I beg of the reader to go to Mr. Foley's book, lately published, page 17, upon the lessons of the day appointed by the church, and read with attention. It is also a truth in nature, which can- not be denied, that there are shadows produced from the light of the moon, and which frequently produce terror and dismay, particularly to a timid mind. When man be- came dead to the light and wisdom of the Sun, or the Lord of Life, 'by the Fall, it was then that the knowledges of Satan, like the light of the moon, introduced the reign of terror and darkness in the world; and which cannot be better displayed than it is in a part of the history of Jo- anna's life, of her being frightened by the false appear- ances that were presented to her imagination by the light of the moon, with the fright of the owls, who at the same time were as much disturbed by her, when they were stealing app'es*. The owls at this presentday are in the same state of alarm, fearing the fulfilment of the Bible, that darkness may no longer prevail. It is notsur- priiing that mockery and ridicule are gone forth against me See page 13 of the Cod called theLittle Flock of Sheep. ( 15 ) and my friend, for publishing of the parables contained in our two books, and which give soexact adescription ofthe murderous and adulterated state of the world, that many cannot bear that the whole should be exposed. Men will there find that the true knowledge of the Bible cannot be known, without a right understanding of types and shadows ; they were placed in the prophets, the same as they have been placed to Joanna ; and were pointed out as signs to the people, of what should take place, and of what the end would be. But as I shall introduce a com- munication from the Spirit, in page 89 of this book, ex- plaining the use ofthe visitation at Bristol, in the sum- mer of 1S04, to Joanna, a true account of which is be- fore the public, in the two books published by Mr. Fo- ley and myself, at the end of that year ; it is needless for me to observe, that the types were set as strongly in Jo- anna as they were in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, of what is now coming upon all nations ; and by referring to that communication, the reader will be instructed by the Spirit of Wisdom, why those types were set in the prophets of those days, as well as in Joanna, in the year 1804 ; therefore I shall not presume to give any further observations. All created Nature is as a Book of Wjs- dom, and an Uncreated Being must be the Author ; and what God writes must be in a legible hand. From the appearances that are in nature, and the most trifling ways of men, are brought forth types to inform the most simple mind, what is the divine will to man, in both the old and new Testaments. In Jeremiah xviii. 2. the prophet is thus ordered "Arise and goclown to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. If any person should be de- sirous to know the reason why Jeremiah should be com- manded to go to a potter's house in particular, and there sec formed thoseearthen utensils called pots, the answer to this enquiry is in verse 0, as follows " O house of Israel, ( lfi ) cannot I do with you as this potter ? saitli the Lord t behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel. I shall next require the reader's attention to Acts ii. After they were filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them ut- terance" it is to be observed, there appeared unto them cloven tongue?, like as of fire. Here again tha tongues were as types or signs to them of the new mode of utterance ; for every man heard them speak, each in their own language ; and they were all amazed, and marvelled, saying one to another, Are not these which speak Galileans ? and how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born ? Here I cannot but call to mind the words of a clergyman of the church, a doc- tor in divinity too, who told me " he had no opinion of a Holy Ghost who could not write grammar." This learn- ed divine, who said these words tome, is the author of many publications to civilize the world : and he also .has since expressed his contempt of people's attending to the writings of a foolish old woman ; but it remains for this man to prove, how many of the apostles were learned men. 1 shall now leave this foolish doctor of divinity, and shall return to Acts ii. where there is ano- ther verse that may give offence to the learned. It is -verse 17, being the words of the prophet Joel, which Peter one of the apostles then delivered : " And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh ; and your sons and your daugh- ters shall prophesy ; and your young men shall see vi- sions ; and your old men shall dream dreams. It is need- less, at present, to say much about dreams; all persons, whether learned or not, know what they are ; but I must observe that they form an important part of the wisdom of the Bible, as will bo seen in the following pages, many dreams have proceeded from that Spiiit of Wisdon?, which is to be upon all flesh; C 17 ) and which persons of every nation and language may and will understand, when the knowledges of the Lord cover the earth, as the waters cover the great deep ; for when this takes place, the substance is come of what stands on record, of the Apostles' being filled with the holy ghost, which was in them as the shadow. And as the tongues appeared like as fire, the fire shall try every man's works. 1 Cor. iii. 13. It is unnecessary for me to repeat the many passages in the Bible, all prov- ing that fire is a type of purification, as many pages might be filled ; for by fire, and by his sword, will the Lord plead with all flesh. Isaiah lxvi. 15. It is how- ever necessary to remark, that the Apostles spake to every man, each in his own tongue, the tongue wherein he was born ; and in the very same manner the Spirit now speaks to Joanna ; for all persons think and ponder in the only language they were educated in : they can think in no other ; neither can they be instruc- ted in any other. I shall here introduce the words given to Joanna last summer. THE WORDS OF THE SPIRIT. tc I shall reason with man, from the different languages and tongues. Let a man come in a tongue to a nation, they never learnt, and speak in a tongue they never understood ; I ask thee, without an interpreter, how his words would be un- derstood ? Suppose a Frenchman was talking with thee in his own tongue, and to bring the parables from his own nation, what knowledge wouldcst thou learn from all he had said ? In thy heart thou an- swerest, none ; perfectly so I tell thee of mankind ; should I come to them in the language of heaven, and bring men parables from the glory there ; what likeness would it be to the sons of men ? or what knowledge would they draw therefrom, any more than thou, wouldest draw from a tongue thou hadst c ( 18 ) never heard ? Therefore, I tell thee, the wisdom of men is madness and folly, to judge their Creator, whoknovveth whereof ye are made and what parables ye may understand. Should a king go to a beggar, that was brought up in the greatest ignorance, and should the king address him with all his learning, what would a beggar understand from him ? or what answer would he make to his words ? only say he had spoke in a language he was never accustomed to ; perfectly so I tell thee of" mankind ; the igno- rance of a beggar it not so much inferior to the wis- dom and learning of a king, as mankind's is inferior to the wisdom and learning of a God ; therefore, I tell thee, if I did not stoop to men to teach them parables in their own form, for them to learn and understand, men could never learn from me any- more wisdom and knowledge than thou couldest learn from the tongue of a Frenchman, without an interpreter, to know his meaning; but where is the man who can interpret for me, if I did not stoop to them to speak in words they could interpret ? There is no man who could be my interpreter. But now mark what 1 said in my Gospel " They would strain at a gnat and swallow a camel ;" perfectly so I tell thee are thousands ; they strain at the parables J bring forward for man, and think them too simple fur an all-wise God, while they swallow every vice that bringeth the parables upon their own heads. And now I shall tell thee further of thy pondering thoughts, aj I have shewed thee why I brought these parables to the likeness of the Bible ; and dis- cern in the same books were all my strange dealings with thee, to shew the likeness of my dealings with the prophets ; that what happened to them should happen to their nation ; for they were only set as types and shadows to the people ; perfectly so I tell thee was thy visitation, that now stands in these two books, It is a type and a shadow deepc/M> .*./; not only of this, but of all nations. There- ( 19 ) tore I tell thee, if men could discern clearly the mystery of these two books, they would clearly dis- cern the end of all ; for in those two, the end stands." THE ORIGIN OF EVIL. I shall now submit a few observations to a certain class of men who call themselves Philosophers. Some there are who openly profess themselves to be Atheists ; of which I once doubted the possibility that such characters could any where be found ; although the Scriptures declare, "The Fool hath said in his heart, there is no God." But in regard to those who call them- selves Deists, they are numerous, not only among the philosophers and great writers of the present day, but are to be found amongst those professing Christianity, and who have their places of worship. All these dif- ferent characters, if any could be found honestly to re- flect at all, must believe it to be a great and universal truth, that all created Beings had their beginning from a Power that cannot be understood or compre- hended by the natural mind of man; neither can man, by the same natural powers, either trace his origin, or the origin of the world in which he lives. No man, can know how he first received his lite, but by a revelation from the same Almighty Power, that created him and breathed in him the breath of lite ; tor none but a fool can believe that man could give himself wisdom, any more than lie could create himself; and whoever presumptuously believes the contrary, let him read witli attention the following lines from Joanna's book, called Strange Effects of Vaith, which I have mentioned in the beginning of this book, with the reasons for my belief: " But fi r.- 1 !< t thy original be trae'd And tell me then what mighty thing thou wast. C 2 { 20 ) When to the potent world my word gave birth, And fix'd my centre on the floating earth, Didst thou assist me with one single thought, Or my ideas rectify in ought ?" Man could only have found himself a regular organizedbe- ing, with a mind which enabled him to reason, to discover what was truth, with every blessing around him, and a glorious creation before him; that he was fearfully and wonderfully made; and could only be a recipient of wisdom, or the Image of his God that created him. It is certainly every man's duty to enquire, why he is not both wise and happy; or for what end he was created; that the world on which he lives and breathes, with its air and atmosphere, shall be impregnated with death and disease ; that instead of generating only wholesome particles, to give life and happiness, it is well known to all that, by continual changes of climate, diseases are continually succeeding each other ; that every created thing on the surface of the earth is only a living image of death and sorrow; and map after he contemplates on the whole, finds himself with an infected heart. These reflections must surely lead men to know what they ought to be, by reflecting what they are. Man will then find it his principal duty to know himself. If any man* whether deist, philosopher, or pretended christian, is hardy or bold enough to say, his wretched, wicked life proceeded from the seeds that were in him at his first creation, then man places all his misery and crimes to his Creator. For the first and greatest promise we read of, and which promise can alone proceed from di- vine love, is to be found in the 1st. of Genesis, 20th verse, "Let us make man in our image, after our like- ness." Therefore if man was created at jirst with evil and malice in his heart, they must come from his Creator ! or the fool may be justified, who says in his heart, there is no God. Every one who opposes truth. ( 21 ) because he will not see it, begins in Ignorance and ends a tyrant. And the time will come, when the philoso- pher, so called, will know and feel the awful conse- quence of degrading his Creator, and making sport with his Name. There are men distinguished for learn- ing, and what is called knowledge, who deny at this pre- sent day any supernatural cause, and pretend to reason, as they say, from effects in outward nature, until they be- come frantic with the pride of self-elevation ; and at last fancy that wisdom not only proceeds from, but even be- gins in, themselves. In this state of madness or folly, they must substitute falsehood for truth, like as the father of lies is described in the Bible, and from whom will be found every evil to proceed. The love of self- elevation must produce contempt for others ; and to love their neighbour as themselves is impossible; because their delight is to rule, until hatred must be substituted for love, and falsehood for truth. The mind is thus drawn away from the belief in a God ; because man, in this state, hates every power superior to himself like the devil, in whose image and likeness he is now become. Although man in this state of insanity does not believe in a devil or any infernal powers ; but denies the existence cither of a God or a Devil, he allows of the existence of nature ; because it is present before him, and he daily knows that he has the senses of feeling, seeing, hearing, smelling, and tasting ; and with this knowledge of the five sense* dogs, and other animals, who are without the rational knowledge to explain the use of these senses, although they have them, are by far his superiors In this state of masquerade many men do now live, with the devil concealing himself under the mask, that he may reign and rule, by artfully fixing the mind only to outward nature, to promote universal in- fidelity. These men, whom I shall call Naturalists, form only a part of the enemies to truth ; for when we ( 22 ) see the numerous race of hypocrites, who have the name of the Lord in their mouths, affecting nothing but holi- ness and purity, at the same time deny to their fellow- creatures the least spark of divine love or grace; parti- cularly to those who dare to differ with them in opinion, a, id who believe that a devil was purposely formed, and by the God of love too ! ! for the endless torment of those who are not of the elect number. It is needless to enu- merate the variety of enemies, now called Religionists, all contradicting each other; yet, united to oppose uni- versal Redemption, and the universal Love of Christ! ! Upon reflection, it cannot be a matter of surprise to me, when I see that Philosophers, Deists and Arians, Athe- ists and puritanical Calvinists, who can have no charity for the God of the universe, that they should abuse and slander those who wish to have no other weapon but the sword of truth. The days are now ar.ivcd, when there is scarce faith upon the earth ; and the clays of Satan must now be shortened, otherwise no flesh can be saved. Murk xxiii. '20. These pas?:iges of Scripture are ex- plained in the words given to Joanna, in her writings ; and for the present I shall leave them. Many divines and others, place every crime to originate in the human heart; concealing the cause of its corruption, they speak of human depravity and wickedness: all of which are well known in our courts of justice, and our daily intercourse with human society. In our courts of jus- tice, in the indictment, of a murderer, or traitor, it be- gins in this form of words " Not having the fear of God before his eyes; but being moved by the insti- gation of the devil, did, &c. he." They also quote from the Scriptures, "That the heart of man is prone to evil, as the sparks fly upwards." All this, in the cor- rupt state of nature, is certainly true; they ought also to inform their hearers, who it is that makes the fire of ( 23 ) evil that produces the sparks. In the greatest and blessed promise given in the first chap, of Genesis, ver. 26 " Let us make man," &c. one cannot but believe, when man was formed after the image and likeness of his Creator, he must be only prone to good : He neither knew of the existence of any evil; and his mind must be void of all suspicion of evil. A Being of love and wisdom can- not produce hatred and falsehood ; and man in his crea- tion could know nothing but loye and truth ; therefore, had he remained as he was created, the heart and mind of mau could only be prone to reproduce these divine quali- ties. The k beastly inoculation of evil came afterwards ; man's nature is now become so changed, that the divine image is nearly gone, and would soon be no more seen in this world, if the Creator of angels and men did not interfere with his mighty power, to shorten those days, and restore all things to order under himself, that the kingdoms of this world may become the kingdom of the livirig God, and bring man back to his inheritance for which he was created. I have heard it said, in conver- sation with various persons, when speaking of the wick- edness we daily see and hear of, in all classes of men, and also from the history of past ages, that its permission proved God to be the author; particularly with one who is deemed a prodigy in learning; after I had mentioned to him the observations that I had made of men throwing the blame on their Creator, as being the cause of evil, he replied lie cvrfd have prevented it if he would. I replied, that compulsive goodness was no- thing no person can be praised for an act of virtue, if its appearance proceeds from compulsion or force; as it then ean only be au appearance, but not a reality : a God uf order cannot contradict himself, to make compulsion to be called obedience ; if we were not created free- agents we could have no choice ; there can be no love by compulsion ; or with words to this effect : and our ( 24 ) conversation finished. I have since reflected much upon this ; because many disputes have arisen about what is called the Origin of Evil', and it has often occurred to ray mind, that whatever had a beginning, which came not from God, will have an end. In the Book of Wis- dom ii chap. 23, and 24 verse, it is said, " God made man to be immortal, and made him an image of his own eternity. Nevertheless, through envy of the devii came death into the world.'' Here evil first began in this world. Now it must be evident to every man's under- standing, there must be a freedom of choice in all created beings, angels as well as men, and the happiness of all rests upon their obedience to the divine will ; but there can be no such thing as compulsive obedience ; the two words compulsion and obedience can no more be joined together than heaven and hell can become one in union. For any one to say God could prevent evil, if he would, might as well say, when God gave man his choice to obey his commands or not, he compelled man to be disobedient: and the remark, which thislearned man made, was from the same infernal source as the words were first made to Eve, to intice her to taste the for- bidden fruit, and who afterwards made Adam to blame his Creator for giving him the woman. Therefore the devilish and satanic spirit that produced the fall of man, and inoculated the human race with evil and misery, once was an angel of light, united to his Creator, and par- took of his eternal wisdom and inexhaustible love in realms of bliss ; and whose immense happiness flowed to him and those joined with him, by their voluntary obedience : and the least departure or deviation from their obedience must produce rebellion, which is the beginning of every evil, truly described as the sin of witchcraft. Here the mind of Lucifer became inverted; but in disguise, as an angel of light (which he once ( 25 ) was) he since goes on, by every form of purity and every outward appearance of virtue. In the divine state of free agency, in which Lucifer was at first created, stands every created being, whether angels or men, to this day, and ever will so continue. Although God created him an angel, yet he did not prevent him from being a devil. If God had by his power so prevented him, he then must have ceased to be an angel, having no choice ; for the essence of tyranny begins in compulsion to destroy free agency; and when compulsion is used by a God of Love, whose darling attribute is mercy, it is only to preserve those who by their obedience wish from their hearts to be in union with his Spirit; therefore judgments are called his strange works. It was his strange work to drive the fallen angels out of heaven, to prevent them from an- noying, or endeavouring to destroy the happiness of those angels who were faithful in their love. After this the wisdom of the Most High gave him six thousand years to be on this earth, to try him, and permittedhim to tempt* ; and therefore he is called, in Holy Writ, the tempter; and when man became disobedient to divine command, he fell under Satan's power, which made him to be the prince of this world. Here came his great power to act by compulsion ; the reign of terror here began on earth, to devour and destroy whenever the good fruit appeared in man in all ages. And in the Sixth Book, printed and published by Joanna at the end of the year 1501, the reader will see how in every age the evil fruit destroyed the good. Here the reader will reflect upon the wisdom of the Almighty, in his command to man, not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and of evil ; for man was not to know the evil, but only the good. Everyman whose mind is satisfied of the existence of an Almighty Being, who was before all things, and whose eye is every where present, cannot believe it possible, # * See Strange Effects of Faith, Rook i v. p. 147; and p. 27 of this. D ( 26 ) that he can be deceived or be betrayed by a devil, who at his first creation, as an angel, was the work of his hands ; and by foreseeing what passes in the heart and mind of Lucifer, and every other being, cannot by his divine wisdom put bounds to the evil, and provide a remedy; for there can be no eternity to evil, which had a beginning and must have an end. The man who doubts the wis- dom and fore- knowledge of God, may as weM deny his power of creation; or man may join with Satan and say lie created himself. I shall here transcribe the words of the Spirit of Wisdom, from a book published by Joanna Southcott, called " Sound the Alarm" page 58; at the same time request the reading of her Prayer, which pre- cedes that communication. The reader will see in the communication, that the devil began by folly, which progressively destroyd the wisdom he had once received, and he became a tyrant of darkness as man became dead to the knowledge of the Most High when he fell under his power. A person asked Joanna, il Why the Lord created the devil to be such a sinful being in heaven, when he fore- knew he would be so ?" Heie is the answer of the Spirit to Joanna : " Now I will answer thee, of the man that asked why I created the devil, knowing what a wicked beinglie would be? Here the wisdom of man hath taken in question the wisdom of his maker. But know, O vain men, you must first feel the pain of sickness, before you know the pleasure of health. A man that never felt poverty, knows not what he enjoys by his riches. Neither did the an- gels in heaven know from whence all their happiness flowed, that I had created in the realms of bliss. There- fore as worms breed in wood, so did evil breed in the devil and fallen angels. They could not believe that all happiness sprang from me. Envy and pride entered their hearts, as worms into wood, till it begins to decay ( 27 ) and moulder into dust. Just so did evil enter into the heart of the devil that thought he was a created being > though not of me, but of himself equal in might, majesty, and power and that he ought to be worshipped in heaven, equal with me. Thus evil entered his heart without my creating it ; and as wood is grown, and is made into timber for use, and the worms breed in it of them- selves, without being there when it was first formed and fashioned * : just so did evil enter into the heart of the devil, like the worms that bread of themselves in timber, till he became corrupt all through, by pride, malice, and envy. Thus did evil breed of itself. Then I separated the evil from the good, and cast him out of heaven, with the angels that worshipped him, and placed his power below to shew his reign, and created man upon the earth, where he had power to tempt man, as he tempted the angels in heaven. Therefore when I created man, I well knew the depth of Satan's arts, that he would find away to have an influence over him, as he had over the angels in heaven. Therefore I said, it was not good for the man to be alone, and said, I would make an help- mate for his good, and placed the tree of knowledge in the garden, that if the man eat thereof, he should be deacl " to Knowledge" but did not add the last words that I meant. Now, this command was given to the man, and kng-wn to the devil, who thought if he could impose on the weakness of the woman, he should destroy the works of the creation and say, the woman I made for man's good was for his hurt; and then prove to the fallen angels I had as greatly erred in casting them out of heaven, as I erred in the creation, in making the woman for man's good to be his helpmate: but man be- came dead to knowledge. How then could she b:^ for his good ? It was concealed from the knowledge of man to * Every thing' has a form rones ponding with its essence. D 2 ( 28 ) this day, how she could be for man's good, that the wo- man was then made, who, they judged, brought the fall on man. Here with man it might appear impossible, but with God all things are possible and the mystery is possible and plain ; for, the man was made of the dust of the ground ; the woman was made of flesh and blood, taken from man in astute of perfection. But know, he was not then the per/eel man, but divided into tzvo living souls and bodies; and Satan betrayed that part ot him, that I pronounced for his good and man east his blame on her, and me forgiving her. But on the serpent? that is, the devil, was the woman's blame cast ; and know the curse I then pronounced on him, that that curse should fail on him above every living creature that lie should creep on his belly, as having no foot to stand upon. This, as a serpent, was pronounced against the devil, and I said I would cause enmity between his seed and her seed, and it should bruise his head. Now, answer me, O ye sons of men, did Satan outwit me? or shall I outwit him? If I do not fulfil the intent of my heart, Satan must have outwitted me in the creation, as he is now trying to outwit men in their redemption. But know, () vain men, if he outwits man, he cannot outwit ME, who made the heavens and formed the earth, and knew all the depths of Satan's arts : There- fore 1 laid apian in the creation to make room for man's redemption, by the woman that I created for man's good, by casting her blame on Satan s head ; and that every soul will find in the end. Then will all the earth know I did not err in the creation, when 1 bring in your redemption. Tor every footing Satan hath got on earth must be taken away, when I come to fulfil my promise, to bruise his head ; and bring the curse on him as I pronounced. Then will men say, " Let God be true, and every vuin a liar," that says he erred in the creation, and did not make ( 29 ) the woman for man's good. But know, I am God, and change not. It is man that hath sought out many in- ventions to wrest the Scriptures to his own condemna- tion, not discerning the Lord's body till his coming that as my heel was bruised; so must Satan's head be bruised also. But this knowledge man has been dead to, ever since the fall, which way it will be accomplished,, till the glory of the Lord was revealed to the "woman, that she should ask and receive, that her joys should be full, to be avenged of her adversary the devil, whose subtle arts caused her fall ; and my promise must be her plead, and my honour is engaged to save all to the utmost, who now believe my word is, "Yea and Amen'* What I promise I shall fulfil; therefore as dust returns to dust, the creation must turn to what I created them for at first. So if it did not prove for man's good then that she was betrayed, it shall be for man's good that she pleads the promise, which was made in the crea- tion, to bring in man's redemption. Therefore have I made ail her Prophecies more true and plain, if man can discern them through, than any prophecies given to man, that you may now begin to see the woman is your help- mate for your good. But if all were given plain and true to man, they would not want, nor receive the woman, for their good ; but judge they knew all them- selves. Therefore I have foiled the prophecies of men, arid made it more plain tothewoman, that you may be- gin to lift up your heads, and " Know that your Redemp- tion draweth near;" and my words are near to be fulfilled* that Satan's curse, which was pronounced, shall fall upon his head and my kingdom of peace near to be estab- lished. But all these mysteries you must dig deep to find them ; for this is the pearl of great price." To ascribe evil to proceed from God, a man may as well say darkness proceeds from the sun, when he shuts the { 30 ) windows of his chamber : for darkness is a deprivation of light, as an evil mind, which produces hatred and every base principle, is a deprivation of heavenly love and good- ness. The world under the fall is in darkness, originally produced by the prince of darkness, -when man fell un- der his power; and, as I before observed, he is called the prince of this world. The Bible is a divine collection of records on purpose to shew to man the effects of his fallen state, that in the end, from the fountain of all goodness, he may see also the origin of evil and its end; many infidels have blamed the Bible, in recording so much evil, instead of admiring it for its impartiality, in shewing what man has been, and what he is under the powers of darkness, when what are called the best of men in every age have fallen into evil deeds, except Jesus Christ, of whom every historian, and men of every descrip- tion have united with Pilate to say " I find no fault in him." The first man, Adam, a created being after the image of his God, who had no human father, was se- duced into disobedience, through the ignorance of the woman, as they were without any suspicion of evil; for a suspicion of evil could only proceed from a knowledge that evil existed; and the power of Satan was at that time unknown to them; and as he had before succeeded in tempting angels, (for in the ii Peter 4.) " God spared not the angels that sinned," there can be no doubt, but he would have had the same success with man, had there been no woman to betray ; for it was not through the instrumentality of a woman that the angels fell. But the duty of the first man, Adam, was to stand in his obedience, which would have been their protection from every temptation, and A.dam would never have used the words infused into him by Satan, to blame his Creator, for giving him the woman ; but as he fell by the tempta- tions of Satan, through the woman, man v\ill in the end prai&c his Maker for making the woman to be his helpmate ( 31 ) for his good, by the Spirit of Christ, when he comes in power to redeem the world from death, hell, and sin. Christ came into the world born of a woman, of the Holy Ghost. The only two persons that were without any human fathtr were the first man Adam, and the second man Adam, who was the Lord from heaven, (on whom the first Adam cast the blame.) Jesus knew the tempter's arts, and suffered for man that inexpressible misery, which the mind cannot conceive. Human feel- ings are as different from divine, as light from darkness ; we know that a good and humane man feels pain in this world, when he beholds an act of cruelty; but a man, in whose breast pity is a stranger, feels no torment, and loves the world with its cruelties. From this we may conceive only a faint idea of the sufferings of Christ, who was a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief, who sweated drops of blood. During the time he was on this earth, as a man, he was, in common with every earthly being, subjected to every temptation from the prince of this world, as is mentioned in Luke iv ; for Satan well knew who he was ; and when he shewed the Lord the kingdoms of this world, in a moment of time which he offered to give, with the glory of them, he added, " For that is delivered unto me : and to whomso- ever I will, I give it." In this chapter are the tempta- tions of Christ recorded, and his victories over them ; he not having evil in himself, although subject to its ef- fects; but by his divine power he resisted the temptations of thesame tempter, who at first by arts seduced our first parents to evil ; and who is described with his crimes and arts in various parts of the Bible, and also in Joan- na's Books, until we find, in Lithe 22, Satan's entering into Judas to betray his Lord, and who was afterwards crucified ; and before he expired, he said, It is finished and here finished the power that Satan had over him' f 32 ) who as a man came in the lowest state of humiliation, mto a world under the dominion of evil, and by his combats and victories, he successively glorified that human body he received from his mother, and united it to the Divine*, and as our Lord had during his natural life proved that he had no spot or blemish of evil, and who resisted every temptation unto his death, his body did not see cor- ruption, but he arose again from the tomb with his glorified body. Here let the reader mark and reflect up- on his dying words It is finished, and not to fall into the fatal error of many, who say these words signi- fy the redemption of the world from Satan's power, when it is so well known his power and mischief has continued in the world, over the human race, up to this day, and the world is not ye redeemed. For here was the heel of the seed of the woman bruised ; as Christ was born of the woman without a human father : and it is by the seed of the womaji that Satan's head is to be bruised, by the Spirit of Christ in her, at his second coming ; and all those who are united to the woman in obedience, are spiritually the seed of the woman ; and those who are in the world in this spiritual union, when Satan receives his curse, (which must be above every creature, whose crimes and arts, are as much beyond human conception, as the love of Christ is beyond every human love ; then it is that our vile bodies will be changed like unto Christ's glorious body, which he had glorified by his victories and arose from the grave. It is necessary to remark, that from the fall of man up to this day, there has been no human being but what has committed evil, or fell under some temptations ; neither could any man whatever stand at all in his own strength; and when Christ had finished his work, as a suffering Saviour, he said " Father forgive them, they know '* Father, glorify tliv name. John xxii. y&. ( 33 ) not what they do. But it is the murderer who entered Judas, that knew who he was, and caused his innocent blood to be shed, who is therefore without any claim to forgiveness or pity, not having a heart of repentance like Judas. When Satan left the man he despaired and died. It was not the spirit of Judas that betrayed his Lord ; for in St. Luke xxii. 3. it says, " Then Satan en- tered Judas." Judas was only the instrument, or hand, not the principal; for the 21 verse might be thtts read* * f But behold the hand of Satan that betrayeth me is with mk on the table. Judas was here the hand of Satan J had it been the man's spirit, then these words " Satan entered Judas," could be of no ufe, and could have no meaning; and if the truth is here to be doubted, then we must doubt the whole : for my own part, I believe all or none ; for we must be either all right, or entirely wrong. The Jews were at this time so blinded by the prince of this world, that they did not believe Christ was the Son of God. Here was a distinction made between the crimes of men, in their state of ignorance and darkness, and the power that seduced them to evil, not only at that time, but from the beginning. While the whole creation has been groaning and travailing in pain, and doth still so continue up to this day ; while temptation has always succeeded temptation ; the evil fruit constantly devour- ing and destroying the good; and since Christ and his apostles have fallen; in the very name of Christ and his apostles has every cruelty been committed, and every base art has been practised : for there is not a religion having the name of Christ for its institution, but has been used has a mask for crimes; even the great public edi- fices that have been raised to the worship of the Al- mighty, in different parts of what is called the christian world, have been named after the apostles of Christ aid E ( 34 ) other saints, but who would bo despised were they now alive.* Yet in all periods of human misery, the devil has not succeeded to destroy the whole ; and notwithstanding his power men have resisted him, even through tor- ments, unto death ; not that this could ever be by man's feeble power ; but they have honestly invoked and im- plored the aid of the divine Spirit, which has been to them a tower of strength, and made them triumph over the tyrant with their expiring breath. There are literary characters of this present age, who profess to be Atheist?, and who employ their pens either, as they presumptuously say, for the improvment of the public, or to the support of their families. I have personally known such men, although I once doubted the possibility. These men, sometimes call themselves JsTaturalists ; and as these and many other men aspire to be gods, as they despise the wisdom of their Creator, and substitute what the devil has infused into their minds; (and whose existence they also deny;) for the denial of a devil is now almost universal ; particularly by atheists, deists, philosophers, or naturalists, as I have be- fore observed) it well suits his artful design, to cause men to blame their Creator for that delude of crimes that has oversprea/1 the world ever since man departed from the Divine Spirit. These men, called Atheists, or Naturalists, attribute ail wisdom to nature, and the natural senses. But to them I will submit the follow- ing observations : There is a natural truth to be found in the seventh verse of the second chapter of Genesis, in a few well-chosen words, which these fools can never improve, and it is not in the power of language more clearly to express ; the words are these: " And the Lord * The Spaniards have even named their ships of war, after divine and holy names ; one first-rate man of war, brought into a British port, was called the Saviour of the World ! There are also Knights of the Holy Ghost! ! J ( 35 ) God formed man of the dust of the ground." Let these men find out of what other matter are our bodies formed, as also the bodies of every living animal, from the great- est to the least; even those that are so minute that they can scarcely be discerned by the human eye ; but by the help of glasses are found to have a wonderfully organized form of bones, muscles, Sec. all are formed from the dust; the same also of animals of the largest magni- tude. Do not the houses, in which we dwell, and all the furniture, made from timber and other materials, come from the dust? the clothing of our bodies is made from animal and vegetable substance* ; we eat animals for food, who have again been fed by vegetables, which again, by springing out of the earth are produced from the dust. Let those who have read the history of nations and empires, and reflected on the stately and magnificent structures of antiquity, the remains of departed grandeur, and also the buildings of these latter ages, consider from whence they came; let any man, whether learned or not, view the cathedral of St. Pauls, and other buildings of this great capital London he must cry out, " Dust thou art." These few words, which I have taken from the third chapter of Genesis, and which a child may be easily made to understand, cannot be rejected but by fools, who say in their hearts, there is no God ; when from every common observation the truth is daily before us. These im- portant words, also convey another meaning, tor every man to know, and which forms an important question why it should be so particularly mentioned, that man was made of the dust of the ground, iftheAlmi never created beings in any other way, or from any other materials ? The answer immediately occurs to then that there was a new mode of creation, different from (he creation of angelic beings, and before unknow n to them, E2 ( 36 ) and that the Almighty in his wisdom thought proper to rhal e a new race of beings, different from others ; and the reasons why are clearly explained in Joanna's Fourth Book, page 1-18 ; where, speaking of the rebellion and pride of Jaicifer, who was cast out from the society of the just, the same as a man, or set of men may be thrust out of societies on earth, when he or they become obnoxious. Here are the words given to Joanna in that page : *' And soon from thence I cast him hence, And did him then dethrone; To try again his future reign lsoon created man I must here beg leave to observe, if man, who is of the dust, and fallen to the dust, unites with the Spirit of Christ now with the woman, he will be an instrument to make the serpent lick the dust ; pride will have its fall, and man will be redeemed. As it is evident to every person's understanding that there are beings of a different order, whose bodies were not composed of earthly sub- stances, or the dust of the ground, like unto man, and who have invisibly communicated with man in different ao-es, as messengers, or as ministering spirits to guard and counsel him against the power of evil j and to be the messengers to bring glad tidings to man for future blessings, that he may, in the end, be united to his Creator, and bear his i m age, it would be unncessary to bring all the numerous proofs from the Old as well as the New Testament, when every reader has his Bible to refer to, where he may search for himself, if he behonest to himself ; for by being honest to himself, he will feel it his duty, and his principal duty too, to be honest to his God, by believing him to be faithful and true, and that in-: never can vary and change, like man. For if we do but reflect, how this visible creation must have ori- ( 37 ) ginally burst forth, and how it has since continued in, such wonderful order, and daily presents itself to our view, if we choose to open cur eyes to contemplate these wonderful works, we shall then own that all must have been produced by a God of Order, and not of confusion. No person thus reflecting can be so void of reason as to believe that this World was created for bad men and devils, to reign and rula in, and for ever to counteract his divine order; and that he created all things to continue only as instruments of misery, and eternally to remain so; and that there will not come a day when the fulness of time is come when he will awake as one out of sleep to restore all things to order under him, when the last thing he will destroy is death, with its sting of sin, that God may be all in all. W hat man with any honesty of mind, or feeling in his heart, will wish to perpetuate the sting of sin ? Because man fell into darkness, shall the love of God also expire with the wisdom of man? and that he has not power to restore man to himself, who first created him and breathed into him the breath of life when man became a living soul ? Although the body of man came from the dust of the ground, the wisdom he had could only be spiritual, and must come from spirit and eternal life. The first created man would, to human wisdom, have been a soli" tary being, had there been no spiritual beings or angels of another order of creation for his associates ; the heavens and the earth must have been one in union, and communion; and while man continued in his happy state of obedience, the angelic society were with him for his true happiness, unfolding to him the love and wisdom of an eternal God, as best suited his state of reception to be a partaker with them. And the spiritual mode they had to communicate ideas cannot be known at this day, by any natural or acquired language ; nothing of this can ( 33 ) ever be known but by revelation ; and whatever characters have been thus favoured, at different periods since the fall, to converse with ministering spirits or an- gels, it must have been by a spiritual preparation only; by the putting off man's wisdom, like the shoes from his feet, that is made by himself, that lie may stand on holy ground, by which God has preserved a witness of himself in different ages, with a view to the end. When I said man would be a solitary being, if he had no society with angels, I beg not to be understood there could be no communication or union with his God with- out them j but as by the established order of infinite wisdom, there are principalities and powers emanating, from the eternal majesty of God, who can have no equal to himself, ail must be inferior ; but as from the bosom of the Father proceeds the Son, who is One with the Father *, the Son is as a medium of communica- tion to all created beings, whether angels or men, to de- scend and commune with them, according to their states; and who, to restore man to himself, took man's nature upon him even his fallen nature, from the Virgin Marv, which was God manifested in the flesh ; and in Matt. i. 1 . was called Jesus. Angels and men, when in union of spirit have some resemblance, like equality, to each other; but with infinite varieties and degrees, greater or less, all emanating" from the eternal source of iovc and wisdom, from which arises the divine freedom of society, the true liberty of the Sons of God; which also agrees with our Saviour's words " In my Father's house are many mansions." When the fatal change took place by the * " 1 and my Son who boili as One; I took him from my side, And so my plan I plac'd t'<>r man, In mv own likeness all." I'\urlh BcoJi'f Piopbecies, p. IIQ. ( 39 ) faU> the spiritual vision was withdrawn and closed. This was out of pure love and mercy to man ; for when man became subjected to the powers of hell, nature became changed ; the will of God was not done on earth, as it was done in heaven. Had the spiritual vision continued open in rrmn, and the infernal host before him and about him, nothing but horrors could ever attend him, without any repose ; what is now invisible to him could produce nothing but despair ; and it is by invisible means he is now preserved from his invisible enemies. Here again, the mercies of God most wonderfully present themselves, whose love is constantly with us, although in disguise; and who commands the rage of the sea, and compels it to have its bounds ; for man is not to be lost in the tempest; there is a shore, which will be his rest and he will see it at the end. This spiritual language must remain unknown until man is redeemed from the fall, and the Kingdom of Christ is established ; when the last will be first ; the Alpha will be the Omega; and the Creator will then have become the Redeemer; then will the knowledges of the Lord cover the earth, as the waters cover the great deep; the angels of God ean then descend, to be the com- panions of mankind. And here lam led to make some remarks upon DREAMS, AND THE VISITATION OF ANGELS, By the proofs that are in the Bible. We read in Genesis xviii That the Lord appeared to Abraham in the plains of Mamre : and he sat in the tent door and three men stood by him, cc. aud in chap, xix And there cnvie two angeh to Sodom at even ; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom; hi chap, xxi: When Abraham stretched forth his hand to slay his son, the angel of the Lord cal- led to him omtof heaven ; and, in thefifteenth verse, ther.n- ( 40 ) gel of the Lord called out of heaven a second time. But I particularly wish to eng ;ge the reader's at- tention to the twenty-eighth chapter, where Isaac had called Jacob to arise and go to Padan-aram, to take a wife of the daughters of Laban, his mother' o brother, to in- herit the land to which he was a stranger, and which God had given to Abraham and his seed, one hundred and fitty years before, in these words, chap. xvii. ver. 8. And I will give unto thee and to thy ,eed after thee (in their generations) the land wherein thou art a stranger; all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." Now to re- turn to chap, xxviii. 10th ver. \vc read that Jacob went out of Beersheba, and went toward Haran ; he lighted upon a certain place and tarried there all night ; because the sun was set : And he lay down to sleep ; and he dreamed; and behold a ladder set upon the earth* and the top of it reached to heaven ; and behold the an- gels of God ascending and descending on it ; and behold the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy Father, and the God of Isaac : the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; and thy saed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south : and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed, &c. &c. Here is a dream, and a dream too that demands the serious attention of all ; for all will find it a pleasing dream of the end. Next I shall proceed to chap, xxxvii. And Jacob, afterwards called Israel, dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan* with his generations. Joseph was seventeen years old, and was feeding the flock with the brethren : veree 3 Now Israel loved Joseph, more than all his children ; " because he -ocas the son of his old age:" and when his ( 41 ) brethren saw their father's love to him, they hated him ; verse S And they hated him yet the more for his dreams and his words; verse 1 1 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying; verse 18 And they conspired against him to slay him ; and when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they said one to another, " Behold this dreamer cometh ;" verse 22 And Reuben delivered him out of their hands, that they might not kill him, but cast him in a pit ; and Judah saved him from perishing in the pit, saying, verse 26 " What profit, if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood ? Joseph was sold to the Ishmaelites, and they brought him into Egypt ; verse 36 And they sold him to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, and a captain of the guards. Chap, xxxix. 2 And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. Here again, by the false story of Potiphar's wife, verse 20, Joseph was put into prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound; verse 21 But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the chief of the butlers, and the chief of the bakers were put into prison by the wrath of Pharaoh, where Joseph was bound. They dreamed a dream, both of them, each man his dream, in one night, which were interpreted by Joseph, who said, Do not interpretations belong to God ? And Joseph's interpretations of both dreams came to pass.* And on the third day, on Pharaoh's birth day, he restored the chief butler, who did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. Chap, xlii At the end of two full years, Pharaoh dreamed, awoke, and dreamed again, both in one night. In the morning Pharaoh's spirit was troubled ; and he " Head this chapter. ( 42 ) sent for the wise men and magicians ; but none could in- terpret the dreams to Pharaoh. When the chief butler, who had been in prison, remembered his faults to Joseph he told Pharaoh of Joseph's interpretation of his dream? and the baker's dream, when in prison (two years before;) verse 14 " Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph ; and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon ; and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh." And Pharaoh told to Joseph his dreams, which no one could interpret; verse \6 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, " It is not in me : God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace." After Pharaoh had told his two dreams, Joseph said the dreams of Pharaoh are one : God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do. And by Joseph was given the true interpretation to Pharaoh of the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine throughout the land, and over the earth. Af- ter this, Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the spirit of God is ? And Joseph was thirty years old, when he stood be- fore Pharaoh ; and Joseph was appointed to rule over the house of Pharaoh, and over all his people; only on the throne was Pharaoh greater than Joseph ; verse 51, and the seven years of dearth began to come; verse 55 And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread : and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, go unto Joseph: "What he saith to you, do." And the famine was overall the face of the earth; chap, xlii And when Jacob knew there was corn in Egypt, he sent Joseph's ten brethren from Canaan to buy corn, that they might live, and not die; verse 7 And when Joseph saw his brethren, ho knew them ; and Joseph remembered the dreams which be dreamed of 'them, which caused his brethren's envy, and himself to be sold, when they were tempted to slay ( 43 ) him. And when Joseph had made himself known to his brethren, chap xlv. 4. he said, "I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt ; now therefore be not grieved nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither : for God did send me before you, to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land, and yet there are five years, in the which there shall be neither earing nor harvest ; verse 7 And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity m the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me, but God." After these words of Joseph, I shall not presume to add, only to observe, that these marvellous events were brought absut by Dreams. I, cannot refrain from bring- ing forth the words of a man, that prodigy in learning, whom I mentioned in a former part of this book, who endeavoured to persuade me against the belief in dreams, and who totally rejects every thing supernatural ; he said, Dreams were only the shaking of the nerves. By what means the nervous [system could produce such dreams, again to produce such events, is for him and those physicians who agree with him in the same opi- nions, to explain, I now return; verse 16 It pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants, that Joseph's brethren were come; and Pharaoh said unto Joseph, "Say unto thy brethren, This do ye j and take your father and your households, and come unto me : and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat of the fat of the land." And the brethren returned to Israel their father, to bring him to Egypt, to dwell in the land of Goshen, that he might be nigh unto Joseph. While Israel was on his journey, with all he had, God spake to Israel in the visions of the night, and he said, " I am God the God of thy father ; fear not to go down tu Egypt .- F 2 ( 44 ) for I will there makeof thee a great nation": chap. xlvi. 4. And the number of souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, who were sent for by Joseph, were threescore and six, to dwell in the land of Goshen in Egypt, to be nourished daring the famine. And Jacob, or Israel, lived In Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred and forty-seven years. And Israel said unto Joseph, behold I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers. And Ja~ cob called unto his sons, and said, gather yourselves to- gether, that I may tell you that which shall hefaljou in the last days ; chap. xl. 33. And when Jacob made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet in the bed, and yielded up the ghost. And Joseph went to bury his father, and with him the servantsof Pharaoh, and the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father's house, and a very great company ; so they carried the body of Jacob from Goshen to Canaan. And after Joseph's return into Egypt, fromtheburial of his father; chap. 1.16. hisbrethren fearing that Joseph would requite them for the evil they did unto him, they sent a messenger unto Joseph, say- ing, thy father did command before he died, saying, so shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin ; for they did unto thee evil : and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept; and his brethren fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, fear not: for am I in the place of God ? J3ut as for you, ye thought evil against me ; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as at this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore fear ye not : I will nourish you, andyour little ones. And hecomfoited them, and spake kindly unto theni. \nd Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father's house : and Joseph lived an ( 45 ) hundred and ten years. So Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. And the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly and multi- plied, and waxed exceeding mighty ; and the land was filled with them. These chapters, beginning at the xxviii, with the dream of Jacob's ladder, I do most seriously recommend to be read through ; as I have only brought together the leading particulars in a very short compass, trusting that the readers will refer to each chapter, that they may never forget what events have taken place, that were re- vealed by Dreams; and what is taking place at this day; and how the Lord promised to make known his will in this manner, as in Numb, xii And the Lord came down in the pillar of a cloud and called Aaron and Miriam ; and he said, hear my words : If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. Again in Judges xiii The children of Israel did evil in the sic;ht of the Lord ; and the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines forty years. And the angkl of the Lord appeared to the wife of Manoah, who was barren, and he was told she should conceive and bear a son, who should begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines, whose name was Sampson. There are a variety of other parts of the Bible, where the Lord appeared in a dream. To Solo- mon, and also to others ; particularly in Daniel vii. 13 " I saw in the night visions, and behold one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the A nciknt of Days, and they brought, him near be- fore him, and there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should .serve him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Many dreams and visions are ( 46 ) in Daniel, which are needless here to add. I now feel it a duty to mention a few passages from the New Testa- ment, wherein it is clearly and most decidedly proved, that the foundation of every Christian Church in the World rests on dreams and visions, and also in the belief of angels.; and without the belief of these, they hold no higher rank amongst the human race than Savages and Hottentots, whom they affect so much to pity for their ignorance and darkness. I shall begin with the birth of Jesus Christ: in Matt. i. when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. and while he (Joseph) thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife : for that which is conceived in bet is of the Holy Ghost; and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS : for he shall save his people from their sins. Then Joseph being raised from sleep didas the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: and knew her not till she had brousrht forth her first-born son. and he called his name Jesus. Here we find the con- ception of the Virgin, and also the office of Christ, the Saviour and Redeemer of the World, declared by an an- gel in a dream. And in chap. ii. we read of the wise men who had seen his star, and came from the East to worship: and Herod the king was troubled and all Jeru- salem; and he gathered the chief priests and scribes of the people together, to know from them where Christ should be born. And they told him, in Bethlehem, as writ- ten by the prophet Micah v. <2. And Herod privily en- quired of the wise men, what time the star appeared, and scut them to Bethlehem to find the young child, and ( 47 ) bring him word, that he also might go to worship the child; but whose intention was to destroy it; for after the wise men saw the child, and made their offerings, in verse 12, they were warned of God, in a dream, not to return to Herod. And after they were departed, be- hold the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt ; and be thou there until I bring thee word : for Herod will seek the young child's life to destroy him. Here I shall put a question : Why should IJerod, the chief priests, the scribes, and all the people, be alarmed at the birth of an infant, that in itself had no power to hurt any, or do the least harm whatever ? The answer is,, it was a birth out of the course of nature, and was foretold by the prophet ; the infernal powers were alarmed at this wonderful birth ; Satan knew who it was; and this alarm was infused into the minds of the people; for all Jerusalem were frightened at a Babe ! But the scribes and chief priests told Herod of this birth, from the words of the prophet Micah, which concluded with these words "That shall rule the people." It is here worthy of a remark, that as Herod, and all Jerusalem, both great and small, should be alarmed at the birth of this child, it must be a strong proof of the divinity of Christ, as well by the conduct and fear of the Jews alter, even until his death upon the cross ; and which leads me to the first verse: Mary was espoused to Joseph, before the* came together, &c. The custom of the Jews was, that a contract was made, by which the women were con- sidered as the wives of their intended husbands, although the marriage had not been confummated. The usual time from the contract was six months, before the ac- tual consummation ; and if during that time, the in- tended bride became pregnant, she was by the law ( 46 ) stoned to death ; but it" the bridegroom did not insist on so rigorous a punishment, he had it in his power to dis- claim all intercourse with her ; and she was considered as infamous, and abandoned to the hardships of life. But Joseph, her husband, beinga just man, and not willing to make her a public example; was minded to put her away privily: Mall. i. 19- Thus the conception of the Virgin Mary was not more marvellous than when the BREATH of the Almighty at first made man a living soul ; both were equally incomprehensible to natural wisdom; for in Luke i. 35. the angrel said unto the Vir- gin, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee : therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." And in the next verse, the sign was given to Mary of what the power of God could do : " And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a sou in her old age : and this is the sixth month with her who is called barren." Now to return to the sixteenth verse: He (Joseph) arose and took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod ; and the angel of the Lord again appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, for him to arise and take the young child and his mother, to return to the land of Israel. During this time, Herod rinding himself mocked by the wise men, who had before been warned in a dream not to return to tell him where the child tvas, ordered all the children under two years old to be slain, that were in Bethlehem and in all the coasts. Here we may bring to our view, what a monster the devil can make of a man! I shall now proceed to the visitation of the Virgin Mary ; but first to the birth of John the. Baptist, who was the son of Elizabeth, the wife of Zacharias a priest ; they were both well stricken in ( *& ) years, and Elizabeth was until then barren.* Whilst Zacharias was executing the priest's office before God, in the order of his course, there appeared unto him the Angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense, and said unto him, fear not, Zacharias; ver. 13, for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a sort, and thou shalt call his name John, &:c. and in ver. 18, Zacharias said unto the angel, I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. And the Angel answering said, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God, &c. And after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived and hid herself five months; and in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a vian whose name was Joseph, of the house of David: and, in ver. 25, the angel said, Hail highly fa- voured, the Lord is with thee : blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of saluta- tion this should be. And the angel said unto her, fear not, Mary : for thou hast found favour with God; and behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring fcrth a son, and shall call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest : and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his Father David : and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever ; and of his Kingdom theue shall be no end. Here I must not only request the reading of this chapter; but also to refleet on the different visitations of past ages, which I have brought together, in as short a space as possible of Jacob's ladder, when the Lord stood above * We shoultl tall to our minds Abraham and Sarah; and also the wife of M anouh, the mother of Sampson, who was barren. These thiu^s itandinj as shadows in past ages shew Almighty Ptr.ver. G ( 50 ) it what happened after by Joseph and his brethren and to compare also Daniel's night visions, of what will be the end, of the Ancient of Days, whose dominion shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. Now let the reader reflect, deeply reflect too, as to the number of years that passed away, from the time of Abraham to the birth of Christ, a space of 2000 years ; it was 1760 years before the birth of Christ, that Jacob had this dream ; and 125 years from Jacob's dieam until the death of Joseph ; and 64 years from the death of Joseph and all his generations, Moses was born, when the succeeding Pharaoh ordered all the male child- ren of the Hebrews to be put to death, which we may compare with the fury of Herod upon the innocent children, that the Son of God might be destroyed. Had the infernal powers, by artfully working in Pharaoh, suc- ceeded in destroying the male children of the Hebrews at their birth, the whole race of Israel, to whom the tromises were made, would have been lost ; and the fe- male children, by being mixed with the Egyptians, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, could no long- er have been a peculiar and chosen people. In these events may be clearly seen the workings of the powers of evil, to destroy all that was good ; and here also we may call to our serious attention, the great deliverance of the children of Israel under Moses, and the destruction of Pharaoh's host, so clearly described in Joanna's writings, to be nType of the destruction of the Power of SATAN in the end; and Daniel's visions of the end were shewn to him 553yearsbeforethebirthof Christ! Can any man, whether philosopher or atheist, if he has a heart to reflect at all, sup- pose that all these events can be inventions ? or that they are not true? I am only surprised, when all is considered together, that there should be found a man in the world* having the use of his senses, who can have any doubt; ( 51 ) yet there is scarcely faith to he found ! For what purpose, or to what profit, according to the selfish mode of reason- ing of the present day, could it be to the apostles and disciples of Christ to believe, and testify their belief to the world? their gain was torment, destruction, and death j and the evil has been destroying and pursuing the good to this day, the same as Pharaoh pursued the children of Israel, and as Herod destroyed the innocent children, by oppression and by blood ! But as there are men who will say, that all these things are invention?, how could all the parts so systematically agree with each other, at such distant periods of time, and by people who never saw each other, living at remote ages ? Here I will leave the reader to ponder upon the whole, and judge for himself; for it is his particular duty to know the truth that the devil may be known in all his monstrous forms, and what he has made of man, who was created to bear the image and likeness of his God, according to these lines in Joanna's Fourth Book, page 147 ' Out of the dust I made at first ]\Iy perfect Image there ; I breathed in him, it then was seen, My Spirit bright and fair. Read this whole Communication, and then see what Spirithas been in man after his fall 1 If we read the life of our Saviour, we may trace the invisible power of hell over the human mind, by the alarm stirred up, not only at his divink jiirth, but also the extreme cruelty and envy of the Jews ; for Pilate even knew that they delivered him for envy ; Matt, xxvii. 16. for when lie asked the Jews whom he should release, Barabbas or Jesus, the Jews chose a murderer to be released, instead ot innocence; for Barabbas had committed a murder in ;l G 2 ( 32 ) sedition. When Pilate saw he could prevail nothing, but rather a tumult was made, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person : See ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children*. I shall here add the nineteenth verse, as to Pilate's tvife' //! wl.'li. j; John U 2Q. Hebrews ii. 11. \\\\ Revelations il 11. *** Seepage 12. Flotk of Sheep. II 2 ( to ) drcn whom I love, while Satan is daily accusing them, as he did Joi? : they would not serve me if the)' were afflicted, is Satan s upbraiding in all ages ; therefore, I tell thee, I do not willingly grieve and afflict the children of men, that look unto me as their Father and Protector ; and yet, like thy father, I often grieve them by afflictions, while the devil is busy to condemn them ; therefore, I tell thee, he must he destroyed, before your Peace can flow as a river ; and I must take out of my Kingdom all that offend, all trial wound and grieve my children ; for these are my promises through the records of my Bible, which may be as easily dis- cerned, if you weigh the whole together, as thy life can be discerned, if von weigh the two books together. Here I have shewn thee, why I or- dered thy life in print, and to be put in two books, to bring them both together. Now I shall come to the Parables, that I ordered thee to place in both books ; know I have told thee, the Flock of Sheep is compared to my Gospel, find with my Gospel 1 shall compare the Parables that are placed in this book. And now come first to the Parables that are in my Gospel : Matt. xiii. 8. "A sower went out to sow his seed." Here \ began in parables to my disciples, and to nil men : Now mark the words of my disciple^ " Why speakest thou unto them in parables? " Know my answer :" " It is given unto you_, to know the mysteries of the King- dom of Heaven : but to them it is not given." Now mark the parables through the chapter, and to what parables I likened the Kingdom of Heaven. It was likened unto a leaven, which a woman took and hid in three incisures of meal, till the whole was leavened. Now mark this parable with the other, chap. xxii. 2 ver. " 'i lie Kingdom oi Heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his and sent forth his scrva \i* to call ilicm that were ( 6i ) bidden to the wedding : and they would not come.*" chap. xxv. " The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto ten virgins, which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom." Now I tell thee from these parables, if they discern to what I likened the Kingdom of Heaven to the marriage of the king's son, and to the woman's having the little leaven, they must know and discern, this is a spiritual union that must take place with God and Man : and to brinp; the likeness of the kino's son, the shadow must begin with the woman. And iiere bring the parable of the child that is born poor, and mean for the noble knight*. Now I tell thee, from this parable, it appeareth to the grand world that boast of wisdom and learning, knowledge and un- derstanding, as much to be despised by them to think that a simple woman, without learning, birth, or blood, as the rich and great so much boast of, should be born as an Heir to claim the promise ; and that mysteries should be revealed to her I This, I tell thee, is as much despised by man, as the child was despised by the knight ; and yet I tell thee, to make my parables true, and to make the Law and Gospel join, as thy history joins in the two books, that is not completed in one, perfectly so, I tell thee, the likeness of this parable must be fulfilled ; and the spiritual union of the marriage must begin with the woman to bring the Kingdom to what I likened it to ; therefore I tell thee, however simple these parables may appear to an unbelieving world, yet to believers it is given to know the mystery, that perfectly like the child in the womb of providence, all these things were decreed, which neither men nor devils can overturn ; for as the woman was hid at different times to save her life, to be preserved to the end, and fulfil the decrees; perfectly so, i tell thee, it has been by the woman, in the womb ' Pa^e SI, Flock of Sheep. ( 62 ) of Providence ; she was made for man's good ; but as Satan sought her life, to destroy her, I was born of the woman, to be man's helpmate for her ; that meaneth, that I might be a helpmate for man's good, that was born of the woman ; and they sought my life to destroy it. So here is the second time it hath been hid from man, of the mystery of the Creation, when I made the woman. But now I am come in the Spirit to unveil the mystery, and clear the whole. For I now tell thee, as thy writings have been hid. and twice cut open, and proved by man*, and yet as the promise that was made is not fulfilled, they must wait till the third time, that thy trial cometh by Friends and Foes. Perfect- ly so, I tell thee, stands the nvystery of the Gos- pel, that men do not understand ; and yet if they discern the parable deep, and what was the end, they could discern plainly, the woman was created to make man perfect in happiness, as the child in the end made the knight; but as the child's life could not be preserved, if kind Providence had not interfered, and the powers of heaven protected the child ; perfectly so, I now tell thee, without kind Providence, and the interference of heaven, the wo- man can never be preserved and restored to that state of happiness and innocence, she was created for. And now to come to this happiness, you must come to the other parable -f~. where the courage of the lady ventured her life to find out the murderer she wis jealous of; and yet I tell thee, this could not be done, for her to hive that faith and courage, wisdom and prudence, to bring the truth to light, without a kind Providence interfering in her behalf. So you must discern from the parable, she was pro- * The Box of sealed writings and the scaled pare 1 ! ".ore opened at the Trial at Hi_',h House, I'addmgton, in January, ISO,'); and again at the second Trial, at Neckinger house, iiemioiuUey, in December, ISO-!. t See page 70, 71, I lock of Sheep. ( 63 ) tected by heaven, or she could not have brought the murder to light in that manner, and save her own life. Now from this parable stands Satan s end \ for this is what I said in my Gospel, Johnxii. 31 ; I said Now was the judgment of this world ; that meaneth, the judgment they then passed on me ; but mark the words that follow : Now shall the prince of this world be cast out ! Now mark my words further: chap, xvi Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged ; and mark further, whar I said to my disciples : I have many things to to say unto you; but ye cannot bear them now; howbeit, when the Spirit of Truth is come, he shall guide you into all truth. Now I tell thee from these words, how could the disciples bear to go through all their sufferings, if I had told them of the end, and the perfect mystery of my death, with the reason why my heel was bruised ? For the victory could not come by man, to have the prince of this world cast out ; to have him judged by the transgression of man ; as man never cast it on him. No : it must be by the woman, whom he betrayed, to claim the promise, where il ivas made, that he might he judged for all the evils that he had done from the creation^ ever since he betrayed the woman. But had these things been explained to the disciples, I ask thee how they could have borne them ? but now mark from the Spirit of Truth when he comes, he shall guide you into all Truth. Now I ask thee, what men make of these words? was not the Spirit of Truth in me ? but know I told them, they could not bear it then ; but now the Spirit of Truth is come to guide you into every Truth, and bring every thing to your remembrance, from the founda- tion of the world to this day. And now mark my words further ; when they said, blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which gave thee suck, know my answer ; Yea rather blessed are they that hear and believe my Gospel. Luke xi. 28. Now I ask how men understand these- words? Do they vainly suppose my followers are more blessed, or yea rather blessed than my mother ? I tell thee, no : and know what was written of her, all genera- tions should call her blessed ; and blessed she is call- ed ; and blessed, I tell thee, she is : and yet, I tell thee, the meaning of my words, though they were blessed that believed my Gospel, and the womb was blessed that bore me ; yet, I tell thee, rather blessed are those, that believe to the. fulfilment ': and they may say blessed are they that, believe my Gospel, that Idled to fulfil the pkomise ; for I now tell thee, they will be rather blessed that enjoy the fulfilment ; because they will not have to go through the miseries and evils that others had to go through, when the murderer is cast and cut off, like the fable, for betraying the woman *. Now mark the parable : he was a murdcicr of women ; and by a woman he vcas found out, and brought to justice. Now I tell thee, the parable goeth deep, and close with my Bible, if you discern how he was betrayed by the -very hand lie thought to murder ! Now perfectly so, I tell thee, is Satan betrayed, as the guilt was first cast on his head, by the zvoman he betrayed. And now discern in what manner I have ordered to lay my plan, as I laici it first for man, that Satan may be judged according to my Gospel, and by the trials and temptations that he pursues all with, and which plainly prove he is justly cast, as he claimed it, (that is death) for man at the first ; there- fore, I tell thee, the fable is plain for man to discern the end ; and weigh my Gospel with the Revela- tion ; and let them mark the twelfth chapter with the twentieth, and then they must discern the truth of the parable, that I ordered thee to print; for know what 1 said in my Gospel, that I would liken * See rn : :( ; 70 and 71 Flock of Sheep. ( 65 ) the Kingdom of Heaven to every likeness of things upon earth ; then now discern this parable of the woman, (that is the lady), with what agonies of sorrow she went through, and what the man had in his heart, to be her murderer ! and how she brought it round to bring on his destruc- tion. Now I tell thee, from this parable, as it is placed between the man and the woman, perfectly so stands the Revelation, between the serpent and the woman ; and know, the man must be first cast, to be in prison till the judge cometh ; and perfectly so stands the Revelation. Satan is first cast, having a little space to come down in wrath, before the judge cometh to pass his sentence. So I tell thee, these two fables*, that I ordered thee to put in print, are a perfect likeness of the Gospel, if men can understand what they read, and discern the parables that were placed by me at first, and how they were ordered to be placed by me at last; for in the man and woman, I have placed the likeness, if you discern the parable deep, to weigh it with my Gospel. And now I shall come to another Parable, of the Alarming Drum, when the soldiers beat aloud \. Now I tell thee, from this parable, though you will see it come upon many; yet, I tell thee, it is the perfect end, when I come to brin^ in my king- dom \. And now come to the parable in my Gos- pel What shall the Lord of the Vineyard do when he cometh ? He will come and destroy all these hus- bandmen, and give the vineyard unto others. So I tell thee, from the parable, men and devils both may fear; for the srnsc is like the other; because as thy parable ends, the innocent was bawd, and the guilty was cast. " Knight and the F.aiK. i" See ].:{' ~h~ Flocti oi' Sheep. i Mark \i. Luke xx. <->. ( 66 ) And now I shall tell thee of another Parable to compare with my Gospel, which is the Hermit in disguise* : and so in disguise I came to my fol- lowers, when I arose from the dead, and appeared first to the women, and next to my disciples. Now I tell thee, from this chapter, {Luke xxiv.) mark in what disguise I appeared to my disciples, and they knew me not : and now I ttll thee., in the Spirit I am come in the same disguise to men ; and their eyes are so holden, they do not know me ; and yet, I tell them, I shall make myself known amongst my disciples, before 1 take thee out of the world ; and yet I appear in disguise to men, expounding to them, on the Scriptures, in what manner the whole must be fulfilled. Here 1 have shewed thee I come in disguise ; so I ordered thee to pen the fable of the Hermit in Disguise : but know, I told thee, from the type of the hermit, what the end would be. And now mark from that parable, how it ended well with the innocent; but the guilty met his fate ; and perfectly so I told my disciples the end would be, when I came in might, majesty and power, to welcome my friends into the joy of their Lord. Now if thou discernest the parables, that I ordered thee to pen, the end brought guilt upon the guilty, and the innocent were freed ; perfectly so stands my Gospel, that the same end would be to mankind. But now I know thy pondering thoughts : there are dreams put in print, that the innocent was murdered, and the guilty fled -\-. So here the misery fell upon the innocent ! Now perfectly so, I tell thee, is the Gospel; the innocent was "murdered and the guilty fled in the beginning ! Mark my death ! and the death of my disciples ! Here is the parable that thou hast put in print by my commard, standing perfect- * Sec pagcQO Flock of Sheep. t See jrajre GS-t-Flock of Sheep. ( 6? ) ly like me and my disciples ; and what I told them before would take place in me and them. So as the two dreams were fulfilled, my words were fulfilled in the Gospel : here it fell upon the innocent, while the guilty fled. So as these things were accomplished in the first, there is every other parable remaining for the last; and deep, I tell thee, the parable stands, as a type for the end : to shew men clearly the truth of my parables ; how they may hope to the end ; how they will be delivered at the end ; and how the murderers will be destroyed. There- fore, I tell thee, these Books that thou cbuldest not bear, because of the parables, arc a clearer and deeper sign of the end, than any Books that have been printed ; because the parables were commanded by me to be put in print*." * In page 48 of die book called the Flock of Sheep, there is another parable, of die Healkn g S a lv k being applied, before the corruption is drawn out. This, in the first place, alludes to the clergy at large, who pretend to heal the nation over whilst they continue in their sins and in their blood, without searching their wounds to the bottom ; therefore they pretend to heal the wound that is in man, without first drawing out the corruption, that is originally from the devil ; so that the root of evil must never be drawn out. It may also be applied to all the believi rs ; some of whom have believed themselves more holy than their brethren, without discovering the corruption in their own hearts; and who have been n proved, on pur- pose that, they might be healed, however painful it must be to them. This parable, as respecting the clergy, is explained by the Spirit, which the reader will see in page -1 0, and is also applied to believers, and i.1 a fulfilment of the words in the Gospel ; - Whose fan is in his hand, and iik will thoroughly purge his floor." Here are the words of the Sim kit. " This bringeth it to thy parable, that I ordered thee to pen; (Brown's Healing Salve, and Deem's Draw- ing Salve). So if you weigh them both together, you I '2 ( 08 ) ' Now I shall come to another Parable, that is plac- ed in my Gospel, and in thy Book. But now I know thy pondering thoughts : Where in my Gospel can I liken what the lady said of the gentleman, that he was like an empty bottle *? And now I will tell thee where I have placed it to in my Gospel ; Luke xi. 44. i4 Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypo- crites ! for ye are as graves which appear not, and men that walk over them are not aware of them." Now I tell thee, from these words, an empty grave, that is not discerned, is like an empty bottle, which deceives man, if he expects to have wine therein. Now perfectly so I tell thee of mankind, scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites have been in every age of will see the parable join with my Gospel and with my pruning them that are in the vine, if they will bear prun- ing; but if not, I tell thee, like withered branches they must be cast out." Since the foregoing remark was sent to the press, the following lines were taken out of Joanna's sealed writ- ings, written in 171)0, exactly tkn years ago, when people then thought their clangers were over, which we may apply to the present state of the country , for, in consequence of the death of Mr. Pitt, we have had new rulers, some of whom are men of great acquired knovv- 3e-de, and distinguibbed for integrity of heart. ** The healing Balsam now is tried ! But here the wound lies deep. They think the dangers all are gone, Before the wound seems dried ; Bui soon they'll find they are deceiv'd; The wound lies deep within, And when that it begins to break, They'll find their judgment gone; For /;; flu r hhod the)/ arc bound up , And all told not to fear: Wv Law and Gospel's all forgot, Let all men now take care." * See page f>9 Flock of Sheep. ( 6 9 ) the world ; and it was known to me, they would continue to the end ; therefore I compared them to graves that are empty, and not discerned, that men walk over unaware and fall into ; because I tell thee, men do not discern the deceit that is in them- selves, as the lady discerned the deceit of the man. She soon perceived he was nothing but emptiness, and ordered an empty bottle to convince him ; but how few have her wisdom, to discern the emptiness there is in mankind! They boast of my Bible ; they boast of the Gospel ; that they have a knowledge of the whole ; but when you come to put them to the trial, and ask them what they make of the whole, and whether they judge it will be ever fulfilled, I tell thee, their wisdom is as empty as thebottle ; for they will tell you it must be fulfilled in their wisdom and their ivisdom is like the man 's fortune, which thou knowest was none ; perfectly so I now tell thee, there is no wisdom in man to know the way the Scriptures will be fulfilled ; and he that boasts he hath this knowledge is like the man that would have deceived the lady by his appearance, if she had not found out the real state of his fortune, that all was gone, and he had nothing left. Nov perfectly so I tell thee the same of mankind ; their wisdom is gone : their knowledge was lost in the beginning; and man hath no power of himself, to help himself; neither hath he knowledge to know the end ; there- fore I rell thee, men must discern these things, how far man's wisdom and understanding are gone ; and how far their wisdom would lead men astray ; as the wisdom of the Jews led men from my Gospel, so would men's wisdom lead them from my Kingdom. Therefore I tell thee, the wisdom of man is perfectly like thy parable, and like the parable I brought for- ward of the graves, that men walk over, not discern- ing the pit they might fall into : for now mark my ( 70 ) words further : The light of the body is the eye ; therefore when thine eye is single thy whole body also is full of light ; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Lukeyii. 34. Now I shall tell thee the meaning of these words To have your eye single you must have it to the Lord, be- lieving all my Bible will be fulfilled ; that God is a God of Truth ; and to that truth your eye must be fixed ; then the Scriptures will fill you with light to discern what is not fulfilled, and what is to be ful- filled, to make the word of the Lord in all things come true : but if your eye be evil, like Jezebel's, when she saw my wondrous working at the first, what I had done by the hand of the prophet, yet her evil eye was darkened, not believing, from the mira- cles she had seen before, that I had power to save the prophet, and bring on her the destruction that I had threatened to Ahab's house ; and that I should de- stroy her, as I had destroyed her prophets ; this her evil eye never discerned before the destruction came upon her*. ON T THE PARABLE OF LOUD BURNET. Now I shall answer thy pondering thoughts, at the 5Qth page in the Flock of Sheep. Simple as thy thoughts were, in the manner thou judgedst to be called aloud, so simple, I tell thee, were the thought^ of believers, to think they should know the powerful visitation of my Spirit, when thy trial was at the end of the year : for I now tell thee, there were many who expected the promise to be fulfilled, of the pouring out of my Spirit, when thy trial was at the end of thai year, as thou wast in expectation to hear my voice call thee aloud; and like thy disap- \ Sec the continuation in Mr. Foley's Book, from page 07 to 71. ( 71 ) pointmcnt was their disappointment. Therefore, I tell thee, I ordered these shadows, simple as they appear to be, to be printed ; yet, I ordered it so, that, from the shadow you may discern the sub- stance, how the like disappointment came to Be- lievers. Now I tell thee, if men discerned this deep, and compared the shadow and substance together, in these little things, they would discern my footsteps in greater ; for it was to open the eyes of their un- derstanding that I permitted these trilling things to appear : and let this be discerned by all ; though thou wast disappointed every time thou waitedst with expectation ; yet know, in a day thou little thought- est of, and in an hour unaware, thou heardest thy name called aloud. And mark the enquiry thou didst make, to know if it was possible to come from thy brother's room ; now perfectly so, I tell thee, suddenly and unexpectedly will thy calling be, and the enquiry be made*. Now 1 tell thee, like the shadow will be the substance of the disappointment, and the * Now to understand this, it is necessary to say, that the time when Joanna expected to be called was on the 24th of June; but she was not called till the 1st of August, when she heard her name called aloud " Joanna," upon which she desired Underwood to see if there was any one in her brother's room ; but there was no body there; as that was the only room that the voice could come from, had one called in the house. Then she desired Underwood to call aloud in that room, that, she might prove if the voice could be heard from thence ; but it could not ; there- fore she knew that she was called by the same voice that she had so often been called by, and to her as- tonishment at a time that she did not expect ; for she was surprised at it, as she had passed the time she expected to be called, and did not then think she should be called till the three mouths were up. C n ) sudden surprise*. And now I shall answer thy pondering thoughts upon the letters that were sent to Foley and Sharp*)-; as thou hast been pondering in thy heart to what purpose were the letters sent, so near alike each other, to he put in print; for thou canst see no meaning in either. But now I shall answer thee, why this was done : as I have told thee, from those two books, I shall bring them to the Law and the Gospel ; now mark John xii. 30, 31 "This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world : now shall the prince of this world be cast out." Chap. xvi. 11. " Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged." Here I have shewed thee from the Gospel, and now I shall come to the prophets : Isaiah xxv. 7, 8 " He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces, and the rebuke of his people shall be taken away from off all the earth : for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall he said in that day, Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him." Isaiah xliv. 8 " Fear ye not, neither be afraid : have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it ? ye arc even my witnesses." Now I shall answer thee from these words ; as thy letter stands in both books, se- parated, one part in one, and the other part in the other ; yet perfectly to one sense and meaning they both are of one thing; anil perfectly so, I tell thee, stand the words of the Prophets and the Gospel. And now mark the words before ; irr. (j " Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Rcdeem- * See Flock of Sheep, pn;;e /'.ft. t The 20th June, Isoi, 87th ]-a^e it] Mr. L'olcv's, and ( 2Stli page in Mr. Sharps hook, ( 73 ) er, the Lord of host ; I am the first, and I am the last, and besides me there is no God." Now I ask what thou understandest from these words, any more than thou understandest from thy books ? In thy heart thou answerest, thou dost not understand them. Now I answer thee : perfectly as thy two letters might be joined together as one, perfectly so, I tell thee, stand the words before thee: the Lord the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, I tell thee, are united as one, though it appeareth to man, from the Gospel, that they are separated, like thy letters ; and yet it is known to thee, they were only divided by one be- ing sent to one, and another being sent to another ; and many words in both are alike ; now perfectly so, I tell thee, stands the Gospel appearing as a se- paration to man, that the Lord and the Redeemer was divided, by my taking man's nature upon me, and condescended to be born of a woman. Here stands the separation that stumbleth the Jews ; because it is written, I am God, I know not any, and besides me there is no God. Now I tell thee, from these words, the Jews will never be convinced, until they discern the separation that all came from the be- ginning from one Mead, as thy letters are in one sense, though parted into two separate books. Now perfectly so, I tell thee, stand the Law and the Gos- pel : there is no earthly God, man can set up ; there is no Image, man can set up; neither is there any Man that can be set up by man, to be a God, but only the Creator of the Universe, who dwelleth in the heavens above, and amongst the habitations of the earth below. But this men do not discern, the meaning of the words that were spoken in the creation, when the Creator of the world said, Let us make man in our likeness. Now I tell thee, if men discerned deeply the words that were spoken at first, t hey would discern to whom I spoke that there was a Unity in K ( M ) Heaven of some One I compared with myself. Here I have shewed thee from the first words in the crea- tion, concerning making man ; secondly from the Fall, after the man had cast his blame upon his Crea- tor, for giving him the woman ; and I pronounced the curse on the serpent for betraying the woman. Mark the words that I said: He shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Now whose heel do men vainly suppose I said he should bruise, but the Lord's, where the man cast the blame ? Now I tell thee, as the unity was together in the words let us ; so I tell thee, the blame was cast on the US that was united together as one. These things I am speaking for the sake of the Jews, to open their blind eyes ; because it is written there is but one God, they cannot believe, from that God, there can come a Holy One to be a Redeemer, to fulfil the words spoken in the creation ; for I tell thee, there are thou- sands who marvel as much at the Law and the Gospel, how they can be divided and joined together, as thou hast marvelled at thy two books, how they are divided; and yet thou sayest they are joined as one, the same thing printed over again. Perfectly so, I tell thee, I and my Father were ONE, one in substance from the beginning ; one in heart and spirit united ! So I tell thee, there was but one God for the Jews to wor- ship ; and they knew of no other ; neither taught J them another; neither taught I in my Gospel of anv other God for men to worship ; but plainly told them 1 and my Father were ONE; and that I was from the beginning I come from the Father I go to the Father is what I taught my disciples and mark in what manner I taught them to pray. So if men discern my Gospel, they must discern my coming in the Flesh, to suffer for the transgression of man ; and to have my heel bruised, which was a separation from the Father, to take man 's nature upon me, as thine was a separation in the two letters ; and yet one in I 75 J substance. And now I ask thee, who do men suppose, came to Moses in the Bush ? or on Mount Sinai ? or who so often visited Moses ? I know the thoughts of thy heart ; and to thy thoughts I shall answer ; they both were as ONE; but the separation came by taking man's nature upon me : but, I tell thee, in Spirit it was ONE ; and by the same Hand, the same Power, and the same Spirit, that Moses's miracles were wrought, I wrought all the miracles in the Gospel : but, I tell thee, to fulfil the one I must suffer the other. Therefore I tell thee, thousands and tens of thousands, besides the Jews, are stum- bled concerning the Gospel ; as they cannot look into the mystery of the Trinity ; and many judge they worship two Gods, by uniting the Father and Son together ; and this, I tell thee, is through ig- norance, for want of discerning the words in the creation " Let US," in the beginning, which was first, and must be last, and besides it, there is no God. Here I have shewed thee plainly in what manner the us was divided, perfectly like thy two letters, and many words the same over again ; and so, I tell thee, they are here : thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts. Now I ask thee, who was HIS Redeemer, that did his will, and obeyed it and came to suffer for the transgression of man, to fulfil the promise? Will they say, this was man ? I tell thee, no; man's redemption cannot come by man ; therefore it must come to the Gospel " Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world ;" for who shall set in order things from the beginning, to fulfil the promise that was made in the beginning ? But these things I have revealed to thee, the reason why I took man's nature upon me, to suffer for the trans- gression of man, that was cast upon his Creator, that m the end the Promise may be fulfilled : and it is K 2 ( 76 ) known to thee, the enmity that is kindled between thee and the serpent ; between thy seed and his seed ; all his malice and fury was strongly felt by thee; and heard, and discerned by my handmaids that were with thee ; therefore I said, be not afraid ; ye are my wit- nesses; and my witnesses ye are, of the enmity that was kindled. Now come to the Gospel, the words that I ordered thee to pen : John xvi. 1 1 The prince of this world is judged ; but mark the words that I said before, in ver. 7, 8 When the Comforter cometh he will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. Now mark these words: I told them the Comforter must first come, to reprove the whole world, before the prince of this world was judged. And now mark the other words that I or- dered thee to bring together. This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes: Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. Perfectly so, I tell thee, the powerful working of my Spirit, and the manner the voice was spoke within thee, came not for thy sake, but for the sake of' others, that they may be my witnesses, that the enmity was kindled; that the prince of this world should be judged and cast out. Now I shall come to thy pondering: in Foley's book, the same letter is in the Q/th page ; as they stand both (Sharp and Foley's) in one date, and thou hast been pondering in thy heart how simple many things appear to be published to the world ; but know what I told thee in the beginning, thy case was Job's, and thy friends were like Job's ; and how simple does the book of Job appear to an igno- rant world, that know not the designs, nor the de- crees of their Creator! Let them mark the two first chapters, and my answer to Satan, concerning Jo!) : kb Behold he is in thine hand, but save his life." Here is a mystery that no man discerns, why I should suffer Satan thus to try and tempt Job ; ( 77 ) doth not this appear to the world as simple as my suffering Satan to tempt and try thee ? But the ends were unknown to man, why this thing was per- mitted ; know I have told thee, it was not for Job only, but for all men, to shew in what manner Satan upbraids mankind ; and how afflictions often come to the just, to confound and shame their ac- cuser ! But how would mankind believe Satan was such an accuser and tormentor, if I had never per- mitted his arts to appear ? and if they had never appeared in the Bible, then the world might say it appeared simple for Satan to be permitted in this manner to try thee. But in Job's afflictions mark his words " I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth." Here was Job's inward assurances from me, while the powers of darkness were strong upon him ; but mark my words to Job, in chap. xl. 2 " Shall he that contends with the Almighty instruct him ? He that reproveth God, let him answer it." Now it is known to thee, I have told thee already, it was Sa- tan that reproved God concerning Job ; then know I compared thee to Job in the beginning ; and now, I tell thee, like Satan's contention concerning Job, so were ii is contention and aggravation in every way concerning thee, therefore 1 said, you are my wit- nesses against the devil ; fear not, nor be terrified, my friends ; I am in the Spirit, and will destroy your enemy. Now do these things appear more marvel- lous to men, that I should speak in the Spirit to thee, than to dispute with Satan concerning Job ? I now tell thee, all appcareth alike marvellous to mankind ; and yet, I tell thee, all is brought to- gether, that ye may call all things to your remem- brance, and weigh the beginning with the ending : for as I compared thy life with Job's, so I shall com- pare Job's, and Satan's accusation against him, with the beginning. And now mark Job's end ; he was ( 78 )' twice as rich as at the beginning; because, thouknow- cst, his riches were doubled, after I had confounded Satan, his accuser; and perfectly so, I tell thee, will be the end of man, after I have put to silence your accuser. But how shall I bring all things to your remembrance, and call forward my footsteps, that were hid in the great deep, to shew you, from the beginning, you do not know the ending, before my wisdom doth appear, if I had not brought forth types and shadows in thee, that men might weigh the whole together, how Satan disputed con- cerning Job, how he disputed with me in the Gos- pel, and how it is said, in the Revelation, his malice would be kindled against the woman, when he knoweth he hath but a short time, and is cast unto the earth ? Then know he persecutes the woman which brought forth the man child. Now I tell thee of this mystery, concerning the man child, it will not be cleared up till the end ; and then will every one see clear the perfect mystery of the man child, that is brought forward to man, to rule the nations with a rod of iron. But this I shall leave, and shew men plainly, from thy visitation, the clear truth of the Gospel ; and let them weigh it with the Scriptures that I have mentioned. And now I shall come to thy pondering heart, in read- ing oyer the hooka of Moses; and thy own thoughts thou hast feared being in a sin; as thou hast discerned many iliings that appear more wrong in the books of Moses, which are put in print, than the things I have commanded thee to put in print; and strange do the things appear to thee that 1 should order the children of Israel to offer up bullocks and sheep, to make atonement for their sins. These tilings ap- pear marvellous in thy eyes; and I now tell thee, marvellous in the eyes of man do all my ways appear, from the creation of the world to this day; because my footsteps have been hid in the great deep, and ( 79 ) my paths past man's finding out. But know I have told thee, the books of Moses stand a type of the end ; and the serpent he lifted up in the wilderness, was a type of my being lifted up; and know I have told thee, the type of the beasts being slain is a type of the end, that SATAN must be slain like- wise. And now discern the words at first, which were said to the serpent " Cursed art thou above all beasts ;" then now I tell thee, from the shadow at the beginning, and the words that were then spoken, the shadow must begin with the beast to be offered up for the sins of man ; therefore, I tell thee, no man discerneth in what manner my Bible stands, that the types and shadows come/// st, and the sub- stance hist. Now mark ; these things were ordered by Moses, that I visited through the wilderness. And now come to the Gospel : when I came to pur away the shadows, I came to bring the substance ; I was lifted up, like the serpent in the wilderness ; and I came to bear the curse for man ; then discern what followeth : I did not tell my disciples to make anymore offerings of bullocks or sheep ; but know I told them, it was the prince of this world that should be judged and cut off; for the shadows were past it was the substance that was to come ; and the old serpent, called the devil, to be destroyed ; for as thcjirsl shadows came upon m i<;, 'o the second shadow of killing the beasts and destroying them, should come upon I UM, which came in the form of n ser- pent, compared with the bras!. Now I. tell thee all mankind, that mock thy visitation, thy prayers and petitions, to claim the promise, to have the Beast destroyed, that sin may be removed, may marvel at the Books of Moses : and let men answer me, which they judge most consistent with the wisdom of a wise and just God, to see the sacrifice in every heart, wishing to have the Beast destroyed, that is the author of all your sins, that you may serve the ( 80 ) Lord without sin unto salvation, or wishing to live in sin, and have its author remain, but offer up bullocks to make an atonement for your sins ? Now I ask mankind, which they judge is most pleasing to a just God, the shadow, or the substance ? And know, after the shadow of offering up the beasts, they committed sins as before ; so this sacrifice did not do; but when evil is destroyed, sin will be de- stroyed ; then the sacrifice of the heart will be esta- blished in righteousness and peace. Now I tell thee, from thy pondering thoughts, these typesand shadows were commanded to be be done, after the flood, to shew the next Beast that must be swept away; and my Bow was set in the clouds for man ; there- fore the beasts were ordered to be slain, to shew the type of the promise how the Beast must be slain in the end ; when my Blood makes a full atonement for the transgression of man, then must come the language of every heart, to have the Beast slain, that sin may be destroyed; that meaneth, the serpent that betrayed them, compared to the beast ; and as the shadow, the beasts were slain ; but when it cometh to to the substance, know it is the old serpent, called the devil, whose power must be cut off. Now if these types and shadows did not stand in the Bible, men might marvel at the end, when 1 come to reveal all mysteries, and bring all things to your remembrance ; but now let him that mocks my visitation to thee, and men's signing for the destruction of Satan, that they may be sealed mine to the day of redemption ; thise that mock this direction, and think it too simple for a God, let them tell me what good the blood of bulls and goats could do ? or whether a man could appear more holy or just in my sight, or more innocent before me, because he had slain a bullock, a sheep, or a lamb? Did this change the man's heart ? In thy heart thou amwerest, no; and yet, I tell thee, obeying the ( 81 ) command was a blessing to them that did it in true obedience to my will and command : because the type and shadow stood of the end. Now perfectly so I tell thee of the end ; it is not signing your names that changes the heart, or overcomes the evil power, so that he hath not power to tempt you ; and yet I tell thee, the perfect obedience, and true desire of the heart, to have evil destroyed, that I may walk with man, and man with me, is a more acceptable offering than the burnt- offerings of beasts ; so that he who despiseth the one, let him point out why I com- manded the other. Here ! have shewed thee, from the books of Moses, what was the shadow of slaying the Beasts-, and so I tell thee of every command, being given to Moses, what they should all do, were but types and shadows of the end, when my delight is with the sons of men ; and my often visit- ing of Moses, as thou hast remarked in reading his books through, are types and shadows of the end, when I come to claim the earth my own, and walk up and down in it ; that meaneth, constantly to visit men by the Pow r ER of my Spirit, when every heart is renewed by me, and every evil is taken out of the way. Therefore I tell thee, the Books of Moses arc types of the end. Now come to the prophet Balaam : BALAAM AND THE HEATHEN NATIONS. Num. xxii. He was not a prophet of the children of Israel ; but he was a prophet of Balak's whom Balak sent unto ; but thou knowest his heart went atler Balak, that he might be promoted by him to honour. Now I know thy ponder- ing thoughts : how could Balaam be a prophet of the Lord, and not be of the seed of the Jews, when I said. " You only have I known of all the families of the earth?''' Here is a mystery thou dost not understand, concerning Balaam ; but this mys- L ( 82 ) tery I shall explain to thee. Dost thou think all the families of Israel were in Egypt? that none of their offspring was any where, but there ? I tell thee they were scattered in different parts. Dost thou think of the Jews there are none of their offspring amongst the Gentiles, that believe the Gospel ? I tell thee, Yes ; for when they are so scattered and divided, men know not from what slock, they spring ; therefore leave off thy pondering thoughts concerning Balaam: and now discern his heart, how he wished to be pro- moted to honour by I3alak ; and yet know his answer " If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more." Numbers xxii. 3 8. Here, I tell thee, he was truly convinced, it was out of his power to do according to the wishes of Balak's heart ; and yet it was in his heart to wish to please Balak ; therefore, I ordered him to go up with the people that came unto him. Now I know thy pondering thoughts : after I had ordered him to arise and go, it is said the anger of the Lord was kindled, because he went. This appears contra- dictory to thee ; perfectly so, I tell thee, do many things appear contrary to the wisdom of man, that are wrirten in the Scriptures of Truth. Now I tell thee, why my anger was kindled when he arose to go ; because [ knew the thoughts of his heart, that his heart went more with Balak, that he might be promoted bv him to honour, than his heart was with "me. Now I tell thee, if Balaam had risen by my command, and his heart had been not. to do the will of man, but of God, my anger would not have been kindled, because he went by my command-, but it was knowing the thoughts of his heart, that he wished to go from me, and go up to please Balak, that kindled my anger against Balaam ; therefore the angel stood in the way, and opened the mouth of the ass, that he i ight sec my wondrous working, before he went to Balak ; and know it was out of his ( S3 ) power to go one step of his own ; for I tell thee, his conscience soon smote him in what he was do- ing ; therefore he said, I have sinned : and after that he repented ; for mark his words in the following chapter : " Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his ! Now I tell thee, from Balaam, here stands a type deep of the end ; and I tell thee he prophesied of the end ; though it is known to thee, many have judged his prophecies only to foretel the coming of Christ ; but I tell thee he prophesied of the end. And now look to his vision i 'He hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the Most High, which was the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open*; I shall see him, but not now : I shall behold him, but not nigh : there shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth." Numb. xxiv. 16, 17. Now I tell thee to mark his para- bles through : " How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob I and thy tabernacles, O Israel ! He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his King shall be higher than A gag, and his kingdom shall be exalted." Now I tell thee, these words men do not discern : let them read the chapters through, and what were the parables of Balaam. After the ass had opened her mouth to re- prove him, he prophesieth of the end what star should appear ; what sceptre he should sway; and whose kingdom should be exalted ! But mark thg. end of Jus parables : " Alas ! who shall live when God doe th this?" Here, I tell thee, he plainly shews, from every parable, what is the end of the children of Israel ; and what I shall arise to do ; but who are the children of Israel.? is thy enquiry ; does * Eyes of his Spirit. L 2 ( 84 ) his allude to the Jews ? are they the children of Israel who are meant ? But know, already I have told thee, who the children of Israel are : It is they to whom the promises are made ; for as Balaam was a prophet, and not with them, yet he prophesied of the end, perfectly so, I tell thee, many true Prophets will arise, to discern the end, that are not of the Gospel, as Balaam did ; and yet I tell thee, it is those that are of the Gospel, and rely npon me for Re- demption, that I shall free from the powers of darkness, as the children of Israel were freed from the hand of Pharaoh ; and yet I tell thee, like Ba- laam, when my deliverance draweth near, to gain the promised land for my people, and build Jeru- salem afresh, prophets like Balaam must arise, and warn these nations ; for I tell thee, as the angel appeared in the way to Balaam, and opened the mouth of the ass, to let Balak know that the chil- dren of Israel would possess his land ; perfectly so, I tell thee, will the visions he in the end to warn other nations what are my decrees. Now I ask thee, who would receive the threatenings abroad from this nation? or who would hear the threatenings? Would Balak have sent to Moses, or to Aaron, to enquire of them ? In thy heart thou answerest, no; perfectly so I tell thee of other nations; they will not hear the threatening from this nation, and Prophets like Ba- laam must arise from abroad; therefore, it is written, in the Revelation, of the leaves of the tree being for the healing of the nations. I tell thee, they must be first wounded by judgments, and warn- ed of destruction by prophets, that will arise amongst them ; and then with joy they will hear the news, that there are hopes for those that turn. So I tell thee, in the book of Moses that thou hast read over, and stumbled at, stand every type and shadow of the end. But where is the man who can prove the prophecies of Balaam are fulfilled ? and where is my ( 85 ) kingdom so exalted ? No ; I tell thee, men do not discern the Scriptures they read ; nor what is fulfilled, nor what is yet to come ; but all will find the truth of Balaam's words "God is not a man, that he should lie, neither the son of man, that he should repent; hath he said, and shall he not do it ? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good ? I have received commandment to bless ; and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it." Num. xxiii. 19, 20. Now I tell thee, from Balaam's words ; I have or- dered thee to read through the Books of Moses, that thou may est discern the truth of my words, that the prophecies of Balaam were not then fulfilled; but he prophesied of what should be hereafter, when I come to deliver my people from the bondage of sin and Satan, as 1 was then delivering them from the hand of Pharaoh which were but types and shadows of the end. Now mark the words of Ba- laam, and what followed after, and then you will see that his words must stand to the end : " He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel ; the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of aking is amongst them." Num. xxiii. 21. " The people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab ; 3 ver. And Israel joined himself with Baal-peor : and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. Num. xxv. 1.3. The Lord said unto Moses This people will rise up and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and my covenant." Deut. xxxi. Hi. For I know their imagination, which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land, which I sware, ver. 21. Now I have shewed thee from these chapters, that I foresaw there was per- verseness in the hearts of the children of Israel, and that they would turn away from all my commands, that I had commanded them ; therefore I tell thee, the words of Balaam were not fulfilled in them : nei- ( 80 ) ther do men discern what they read ; for know I told Moses how I knew they would depart from me, and brine; down my anger upon them, and how they would be scattered again in the end ; therefore I tell thee, no man discern eth that Balaam prophesied of the end. When the hearts of men are changed, and the imagination of their hearts are to have all evil de- stroyed ; then will the words of Balaam be fulfilled that the shout of a King will be in the camp of Israel ; but that must be the true Israel of God, when the morning sTARariseth in their hearts; then will I de- stroy all the AmoriteSjthe Canaanites, and the Kenites. Now I tell thee from these nations, it alludes to all nations that are like them, when I come to make a final end, and sway the sceptre in righteousness: then it may be said How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel ! when I come to afflict Eber, that he perish for ever. Now I tell thee the meaning of the words of Eber's perishing for ever, compared with the other nations. It is the ROOT OF EVIL must perish for ever ; then shall my doctrine drop as the rain, my speeches shall distil as the dew, when men publish the name of the Lord, and ascribe the greatness unto your God, when I separate the sons of Adam. Deut. xxxii. Here is a chapter thou dost not understand ; neither is it understood by the ltarned ; yet thou sayest in thy heart, the words seem plain before thee When the Most High divideth to the nations their inheritance, when he separateth the sons of Adam : he set the bounds for the people, according to the number of the children of Israel ; for the Lord's portion is his people ; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance : and all this thou judgest alludes merely to the children of Israel, without considering how often they were pro- voking me to anger to destroy them ; and how they were always rebelling against me ; then what portion could they be to the Lord, to be the lot of his in- heritance ? No; I tell thee, these words stand for ( 87 ) the end, when my people will be my portion, that turn unto me, to live for ever in my fear and in my favour; then shall I keep them as the apple of mine eye. For I tell thee, the world is as a howling wil- derness, and as a desert it is now to man ; and Satan is ready to catch the prey ; therefore I tell thee, the Scriptures, that thou hast pondered over are not dis- cerned nor understood by men, that all these things stand upon record what I shall do for my people in the end ; neither have men discerned what followed the children of Israel ; and how their rest was not sure ; neither did they continue in my favour to en- joy the things that were written of them ; neither do they discern for what end these words stand to shew mankind how the shadows of the first are the substance of the last, when I told Moses I would give them the lands I had promised to their fathers ; and as the shadow began by the children of Israel, so., I tell thee, the substance will end unto all the true Israel of God, when I separate the sons of Adam, to preserve the Abels, and destroy the Cains. This is the sepa- ration I shall make, when I come with ten thousands of saints, who are longing for my coming and lor my commands to be written in every heart ; then will come the words of Moses, that he spake to the dif- ferent tribes of Israel ; so will it rest upon the dif- ferent nations, who receive the blessings like Jacob; for then, I tell thee, it will be lasting. And now mark the words of Moses, in the chapter that is before thee. Dent, xxxiii. Now I have shewed thee these chap- ters, and gave thee a short explanation therefrom, that men may discern what stands on record, from the beginning to the ending; for I nov tell thee, these chapters, though they perfectly speak of the end, they art not discerned by man, but are judged as men judge my Gospel : because I said // is finished \ they judge that all was finished ; and perfectly so by the words of Moses ; because he said it to the chil- dren of Israel, they judge all was fulfilled in them ; ( 88 ) that is, unto the Jews at that time, without discerning who were the true Israel of God. Now I tell thee, if men take all for the Jews, for them only to have the promised blessings, they cannot believe my Gospel ; for now I ask thee, what Scriptures will men apply unto those that are brought in by my Gospel, to believe in their redemption ? and where stand the Promises by the Prophets, if they allude all to the Jews, that all stand for them only in the end? Then my Gospel must be null and void; and th&re is no man who can make it good, because I said I come to fulfil the law of God and the prophets ; and again I told my disciples, in all my parables, that it was them that believed in me, that I died for their salva- tion, that I should come again to redeem ; and these are they that should be welcomed into the joy of their Lord, who were faithful at my coming. Now I tell thee, if men weigh the Gospel and the Prophets together, and ascribe all the blessings that were made to the Israel of God to be to the Jews only, then they must deny the Gospel ; for the Law and the Gospel cannot stand together ; because at my coming to re- deem the world my Promise is to none who do not believe in me, that I died for the salvation of man ; and this, I tell thee, men must believe, if they be- lieve the prophets ; then how can these things stand for the Jews, who neither kept the law of Moses, neither keep they my Gospel ? Then where is the rock they have to fly to, who neither obey the Fa- ther nor the Sox the Law nor the Gospel ? Then now I ask thee on what can they rely? But now I know thy pondering heart : thousands of the Jews turned to the Gospel, and upon their offspring may the promises rest in the end ; but this, I tell thee, is unknown to man, who is the offspring of the Jews, and who is not ; therefore I tell thee, as Jacob was called Israel, so I tell thee are the promises to Jews and Gentiles, as Jacob and Israel were two names in one ; perfectly so siands the end, which, I tell ( s& ) thee, comes by faith : Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob obtained the promise by Faith and there stands tht whole Israel of God." What the Spirit has further delivered will be found in Mr. Foley's Book, in his Answer to the World, begin* ning at page 71, and continued to the end of page 77. The tahole of 'these Communications roere taken by Anj? Underwood, from the mouth of Joanna South- Cott, in the presence oj Jane Townley. A COMMUNICATION ON JOANNA'S VISITATION, AT BRISTOL, in 1804. I have promised, in page 15, to give to the public a further Communication about Types and Shadows, and which follows here, in addition to what has already been given by the Spirit in the foregoing pages. June 9, 1805, after Joanna had been reading over her wondrous visitation at Bristol, in the summer of 1804, she deeply pondered in her heart of the manner of her visita- tion ; of her being so strongly assaulted by the powers of darkness, at that time j and that the publication of them could be" of no use to be put in print, as she saw no prophecies in them. Whilst Joanna was thus pondering, the Spirit told her, they were of use for a time to come; and that the strange things, which had happened to her during that year, should be compared with the fcook of Job with Isaiah xx where the Lord ordered him to walk naked and bare-footed three years, for a sign and a wonder upon Egypt, &c. with Jeremiah xiii where the Lord ordered him to take a linen girdle, and M { 90 ) put it on his loins ; and after that he was ordered to take the girdle and go to Euphrates, and hide it' there in a hole of the rock ; and after many days, he was ordered to go again and take it out; and also in Ezekicl iy, are seen the many different ways the Lord commanded him to do. In the same year of ISO*, Joanna was twice ordered to send the Letters by Express, instead of the usual mode by the post. Now all these things together appeared to her marvellous ; as she could see no prophecies in them ; and that it could be no pleasure to people to read about her sufferings. These were the pondering thoughts of Joanna, on Sunday, June 9, 1805, while she was reading over the Book printed by Mr. Foley, at the end of 1804, entitled, " What manner of Communications are these!' THE ANSWER OF THE SPIRTT. Now, Joanna, I shall answer thee from the pon- dering of thy heart and thoughts, which I have worked strongly in thee ; as the hearts of all men are known to me, and the pondering of thy heart and thoughts are the pondering thoughts of many. And now I tell thee why I ordered thy Visitation to be so in print. Know what I told thee of the year at the beginning, that it was a type of the End \ and now I tell thee, there are no books that have been printed are a stronger prophecy of the end than those are : and I now tell thee, what happened to thee is a deep type and shadow to your nation, and to all nations. For as Isaiah's going barefooted was a type unto the people what should happen to them ; so I tell thee, what happened to thee is a type unto the na- tions the same ; and perfectly so they will find it in the end ; for as I placed types and shadows in thee, let this be observed and remarked by all men, this thing came to thee in the 4th year of the century, that I told thee before the century began, in the 4th ( 91 ) year I should begin to change my Blessings into Judgments ; and in that year I set the type as strongly in thee as I set it in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. And now mark the words which I said to Jeremiah, after I had set the sign from the girdle, that he took out of the rock and saw it was marred, and was profitable for nothing; know my answer : After this manner will I marr the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. And perfectly so, I tell thee, hath been my Visitation to thee ; and in like manner it shall come upon the Nations. And mark every way ; it came to thee in different ways, and in a different manner; and so, I tell thee, in different ways, and in a different manner, it will come upon the Nations. And mark how many different ways I ordered the type to stand in Ezekiel, chap, iv * : the one by taking a tile, as though he was laying siege against Jerusalem and setting battering rams against it round about ; and as I ordered him to take an iron .pan and set it for a wall of iron between him and the city, and to besiege it, for a sign to the house of Israel ; then I ordered him to lay on his left side, to lay the iniquities of the house of Israel upon it ; and the years of their iniquity were to be according to the number of days that I ordered him to lay on his left side three hundred and ninety days ; and forty days to lay on his right side, for the iniquities of the house of Judah, each day for a year. Then I ordered the meat he should eat to be mixed together, which was unpleasant to the taste. Thus I com- manded the prophet for a sign unto the people, what their iniquities should bring upon them ; and per- fectly so, I tell th.ee, the three months that my Visitation was so strange upon thee, in the 4th year of the century, will be three years to this nation, * Read the 4th and 5th chapters, which were written *>lt> years hr fore Christ. M 2 ( 02 ) wherein they will see my strange Visitation, of various kinds. For though they do not discern the distresses that have happened to your people abroad no more than they discerned what happened to thee ; and yet, 1 tell thee, it was felt by the people of your own land, as my visitation was felt by thee : and as thou didst lie on the floor in agonies and sufferings, so did your people lie on the ground by the sword, by the plague that was in your Port *, and others were sunk in the great deep. But this hath been unnoticed by man, to discern the shadows that first appeared ; but I tell you, it will be felt by your land when the Expresses come of dangers, as I ordered the Expresses to go out* This is a shadow you do not discern, the two expresses that I commanded should be sent out the first year that I began to visit your nation with heavy afflicti- ons ; they do not discern it ; neither will they discern it, before judgments come heavier upon them ; but by Expresses they will be warned : and I now tell thee, in various ways things will happen in your land. And now I shall begin with thy first Visi- tation : thou wast alarmed, fearing thou hadst done wrong, and every mark, of despair was fixed in thee ; then came the power of my Spirit to thy deliver- ance. Now I tell thee, this is one of the things that will happen to your nation : when they see the judgments roll on, and great dangers seem to sur- round them, there are thousands who will begin like thee, tp make enquiry if they have done wrong ; for know I have told thee, the persecuting Pauls, where the hearts be good, they will begin to grow jealous for theirselves, when they see the dangers before them, and the truth is plainly shewn unto them ; then ihey will begin to cry out like thee, and enquire into the cause : therefore I rook my Spirit from thee and hid my face as it were for a moment, and gave the enemy room to work, that I might shew thee * Gibraltar. ( 93 ) what would be in the heart of man. But know I told thee, those that began to grow jealous, like thee, fear- ing they might do wrong, I should convince them in the end, when I began to shew my powerful working : and powerful they will find it in the end. This is the shadow of one of thy visitations, that many, like thee, will be jealous for themselves. But now I shall tell thee of another visitation, when thou wast laid on the floor, insensible of what thou wast doing, till thou hadst discoloured thy own flesh by thy own hands, beating thyself. This is a Type which stands deep for ihe LAND, that is insensible of their own dangers, insensible of what they are do- ing, and what they are bringing on themselves. And I tell thee, it is not to this nation only, but the type stands deep for other nations ; because thy prophe- cies stand for all nations, and the ends of the earth : and my visitation is upon all nations, which I tell thee will go on ; for I shall not stop until I have made an end. Therefore I tell thee, thousands, like thee, will be insensible of what they are doing, till their own hands bring on their own destruction, as thy own hands wounded thee. This is another shadow which lies deep for the nation ; and, as I told thee, for all nations : and know, in this thou wast insensible. Another shadow is of thy sickness ; for I now tell thee, as thou wast sick, so shall I sicken the nations, and make them sick with smit- ing them ; for I now tell thee, as thy stomach loath- ed the bread of man, so do men loath my word, and the bread that cometh down from heaven to be eternal life to them ; and yet, I tell thee, this is as much loathed by thousands, as bread was loathed by thee; therefore I shall make them sick even unto death, as thou wast sick ; but thy life was prolong- ed to finish the work I had for thee to do; and so I tell thee of the nations ; though I shall make them sick with smiting them, yet I shall not cut them clean ( 9* ) off, "before my work is finished, in the war yon are now engaged ; for I now tell thee, as thou brakest the clomen ware, the potter's clay, so shall I break the nations in pieces. For I now tell thee, perfectly like the types I placed in my prophets, which I have mentioned unto thee, perfectly so all nations will know I placed the types last year in thee ; and there- fore, I tell thee, it is not seven times seven the number of those books that are printed, that will be enough for the end. Here I have shewed thee thy own folly, concerning the books. And now I shall go on with the types I placed in thee ; and come tothy midnight hours, and thy restlessness jn thy red. Here, I tell thee, the type goes deep for thy friends, as well as foes. When dangers sur- round you all, then let them mark thy words; "Fear not my friends fear not my followers fear not ye that are longing for my coming." For what I spoke then to my handmaids through thee, is spoken to all my brethren. This, I tell thee, is a deep type to the Believers, when my destroving angel goeth forth, and dangers seem to surround them all ; then I bid them to fear not, but stand still and see the salvation of the Lord: and they will know what manner of eom- nmnicathms all these are, when their hearts are sad ; for then their deliverance draweth near, to turn their sorrows into joy, and end as thine did with the year, which is but a shadow to the Believers, how their sorrows will end in a perfect harmony and joy. But had enemies come forward at the end of the year, the type could not be set for them to shew clearly their end, after troubles had come upon them as the type stood in thee; for I tell thee, every type stood in thee, for friends and foes; for those that mock their coming Lord, and those that are longing for my kingdom. And now I -.hall tell thee of thy temptations. It is known to thee as well as to me, many have disputed of the book of Job, and ( 93 ) never believed there was such a man, or such tempta- tions, and thought that Satan would not dispute with the Lord, or that the Lord would ever answer him. This, as it is known to thee as well as me, hath been disputed by men; therefore I permitted the powers of darkness to work every way with thee, that it might be made known- at the end, what are his dis- putes, and what are my answers. And now I tell thee, as Satan's working was strong with thee, so will his working be strong with mankind, that he may foil them in the end. And this I told thee in the year \ 800, how strongly Satan would pursue man- kind, that he may seek their destruction, and not let them go to possess my promised rest, that I have promised unto man. But had I never made known his arts to thee, by permitting him to come, his arts would never have been made known to mankind ; for had it been only in the book of Job, it would not have been believed by man, that in all ages he hath pursued the same ; but I tell thee, in all age* many have been his arts, and strong have been his disputes against mankind : therefore it is written, he is the great ACCUSER of the Brethren ; but how could this be proved and known, to appear to mankind, if I had not permitted him to visit thee, to shew you all, that the end is at hand. And I now tell thee, deep are the parables, which Satan brought forward ; for if he cannot accomplish them in one, he will try to accomplish them in others; though not in the same manner, yet I tell thee, in the same sense will his pursuits be with mankind ; and every visitation that came to thee, in the year that is past, will be deeply discerned in the end, when thou art no more; for every mystery and every work- ing must be made known to mankind." ( 96 ) I am afraid to add any observations at the close of this book, lest I should divert the mind from the words of wisdom ; as it is my sincere wish, that every man may seriously consider, that he has a great duty to perform, like a jury in a court of justice, which is to know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth : a For he that is most zealous to find out the Truth is the most zealous to know his God : He that hath ears to hear, |et him hear; he that hath a heart to understand, let him understand : I have spoken, but ye have not hearkened; and the Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the pro- phets, rising early and sending them unto you ; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ears to hear." Jer. xxv. 3. For as a horse that runneth a race and stop- peth not until he hath gained the prize, so will the Re- deemer of Israel go on, and will not stop, until he hath brought forth judgment unto victory, and accomplished all the promises made in the Bible, having their founda- tion on the promise at the creation of man; for so sure as the body of man came from the dust of the ground, so sure will he rise above the dust and become a living soul: "Thy dead shall live ; with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust : for thy dew is as the dew of herbs ; and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee .- hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the in- dignation be overpast. For behold the LORD COMETH OUT OF HIS PLACE, TO PUNISH THE INHA- BITANTSOF THE EARTH FOR THEIR INIQUITY: THE EARTH ALSO SHALL DISCLOSE HER BLOOD, AND SHALL NO MORE COVER HER SLAIN. Isa. XXVI. 1921. April 3. 1B0G. WILLIAM SHARP. S. Rovsst: \u, Printer, Wood Street, Spa Fields. \Vr\ce One Shilling and Sixpence.] THE ANSWER OF THE REV. THOMS P. FOJLEY, TO THE WORLD, WHO HATH BLAMED HIS FAITH IN BELIEVING IT WAS A COMMAND FROM THE LORD TO PUT IN PRINT SUCH PARABLES, AS HE PRINTED LAST YEAR AT STOUR- BRIDGE, UNDER THE TITLE OF WHAT MANNER OF COMMUNICATIONS ARE THESE? GENESIS, 1 5th CHAP. 1st VERSE. " Fear not, Abram; I AM thy Shield," VERSE 6. He believed in the LORD, and lie counted it to him for Righteousness." Oldnxiinford, Kotaubcr, 180.3. * ' STOURBRIDGE: PlilXTED AT THE OFFICE OF J. HEMING, TO THE PUBLIC. AS I have been greatly blamed by many for publishing such a Book of Joanna Southcott's Divine Writings which I did last year at Stourbridge, under the title of " WHAT MANNER OF COMMUNICATIONS are these?" And which the World have been pleased to call stuff and fables : so now I am happy to come forth, and I shall endeavour to justify my conduct to Those, who will listen to common sense and reason, that I did not build my Faith upon a sandy foundation; but from a full, and clear Conviction, that Those Communica- tions, however, they might appear to the wisdom of men, did proceed from the A - 4 Spirit of the LIVING GOD: and therefore, with peculiar Joy I gave up my own Wisdom, to be directed by the Wisdom of the Lord. But I did not do this in a hasty or a careless manner. For in the Christmas of 1801, I went down from London with four others, to Exeter, and there met Two Persons from different pa^ts of the Kingdom, to search diligently into the Writings and Character of Joanna Southcott; and to know, whether those things were true or false which had come before us. For, if it proved to be (what we are certain it is) The Glorious Work of the Mighty God of Jacob, it was our indispensible Duty to push it forward with every power and faculty of our Souls : and if it was a Falsehood and Delusion, it was equally our Duty to crush it in its Birth, and to prevent its spreading to the ruin of thou- sands and tens of thousands of our Fellow- Creatures. As I have given a faithful and accurate account of our proceedings at Exeter, in a letter addressed to the Vice-Chancellors of the Two Universities, I shall not here enter upon the several particulars; only say, We were fully satisfied and convinced, from clear and open proof, that Mrs. Southcott was visited by the Spirit of God : and, that the same Spirit which dictated the Scriptures of truth, dictated her Writings. Since that period, I have lived near two years in the game house with her, and can assert with Truth and Confidence, that She has had no assistance whatever, from Men, Books, any other Sourse, but the Invisible Spim thai directs her:- and which has revealed iq her All the Public Events that have taken ph in this Nation, and the surrounding' Ou$s FOR MORE THAN TWELVE YEARS,, *S W mockery, and coriicmpV of these things. I shall conclude this address to the Public, with saying, that we have such clear and irresistible Proofs of This being the Glorious Cause of the Most High God ; and that our dear Redeemer will now take unto Himself His Great Power and Reign ; and so certain is this sure, this heart-cheer- ing truth, that unless men can stop the Sun from rising at his appointed time ; or the Tide from ebbing and flowing at its fixed period ; so certain is it, they can neither stop this work, nor overcome this now de- termined decree of the Supreme Ruler of the Universe : We therefore, humbly hope, that nothing will seduce or separate us from pursuing and continuing in, this Blessed and God-like Work, till we arrive at the bright and perfect day. We must now show to the World, " That dauntless Courage which all rage defies, 11 And fear no Danger whilst wc view the Prize." 16 We must now show to the World, that neither Tribulation, nor Distress, nor Perse- cution, nor Famine, nor the Sword ; nor any of the terifying Disasters, nor the allur- ing Interests of this mortal State, shall vanquish, or overcome us: for, in our full, and sure Trust, in the Lord, we are persuaded, that neither the fear of death, nor the Love of Life ; nor angels, nor prin- cipalities, nor powers; no arts of Satan or his Instruments ; nor things present, nor things to come: no pains, or pleasures felt or expected: nor Height of Prosperity, nor Depth of Misery; nor any other Creature: no event, or circumstance, in the whole Circle of Creation ; nothing we humbly trust, under the Divine Grace, will draw us from the path of our present Religious Course: will divert us from the Love and Fear of God; will disappoint us of the unspeakable Joys and Rich Rewards, of our Lord's now approaching millennial KINGDOM. THOMAS P. FOLEY. Oldswinford, Worcestershire, Kov. 1805. 1? HERE follow Communication!; given by the Spirit to Joanna Southed t, and taken from her mouth, and copied off by Miss To^nleyand Mrs. Under woody and transmitted to the Rev. Thos. P. Foley, of Oldsxvinford ; together with some Parables, beautifully explaining the mysteries and apparent difficu Ities in the Book, that he published last year at Stourbridge, under the title of " WHAT MANNER OF COMMUNICATIONS ARE THESEl" The following Communications was given to Mrs. Southcott, on Sunday, July 14th, 1805, upon the Lessons of the day, and upon her pondering thoughts on various Subjects. First Lesson for the morning Service, 15th chap of the 1st Book of Samuel 22nd verse 'And Samuel said, hath the Lord as great delight in Burnt Offerings and Sacrifices, as in obeying the Voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than Sacrifice, and to hearken than the Pat of Hams,' The Second Lesson, 2nd chap, of John, 10th verse ' And saith unto him, every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men liave well drunk, then that which is worse ; but thou hast kept the good wine till now.' The Gospel for the day (5th S. after Trin.) was c 18 the 5th chap. 1 of St. Luke, 10th verse.. 'Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.' First Lesson for the Afternoon 17th chap, of the 1st Book of Samuel, 37th verse. ' l>avid said moreover, the Lord that delivered me out of the Paw of the Lion, and out of the Paw of the Bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.' Second Lesson, 5th chap. 1st Epistle of Thess. 2nd and 3rd verses. ' The Day of the Lord so cometh as a Thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and Safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as Travail upon a woman with Child ; and they shall not escape.' The Psalms for the day, 71 st Psalm, 14th verse. ' I will go forth in the strength of the Lord God; and will make mention of, thy lligh- teousuess only.' * Thou, O God, hast taught me from my youth, up until now; therefore, will I tell of thy won- drous works.' The Psalms in the Afternoon, 73rd Psalm 11th verse. ' lush, say they, how should God perceive it : Is there knowledge in the Most High ?' The Answer of the Spirit. ' - ' Now, I shall answer Thee of the Lessons, tjiat All men may mark the Signs and Shadows that first come unto man, before the Substance. Mark Saul's disobedience, and mark his shadow-^- How he ljrst rent the mantle of Samuel (15 chap. Samuel, 27th verse) before the Kingdom was 19 rended from him : and mark Samuel's words, ' The Lord hath rended the Kingdom of Israel from Thee this day, and hath given it to a Neigh- bour of thine, that is better than Thou.' Here, the Shadow came first to Saul from a simple Type and Shadow, before the Substance was fulfilled. And now mark the Shadow of David, and the words that he said to Saul, (17th chap. Samuel, 34th verse) ' Thy Servant kept his Father's Sheep, and there came a Lion and a Bear, and took a Lamb out of the Flock, and I went after him and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth; and when he arose against me, I caught him by the beard and smote him, and slew him.' Now, here was the Shadow first to David he slew both the Lion and the Bear, which made him confident in slaying the Philistine ; and after that he slew tbs Philistine and gained the Kingdom, that was rended from Saul ; so the Lion and the Bear fell before him ; for Saul was as a Lion to David, seeking to destroy him. Now, come to the Gos- pel, and mark the Shadows of MY working Miracles, ' The water pots were first filled with water before I made them wine; and the best wine was reserved for the last : and so I tell thee is the best wine for man. Let all these Shadows be marked together; and mark the Draught of Fishes, that was the Shadow to the Disciples, till the Net was full, and began to break ; and the Boat began to sink and know the words, that I said unto Simon, which is Peter (Luke, chap. 5. verse 10.) * Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men/ Now, mark every Shadow came before the Sub- stance; then think of the Thousands that were c 2 20 after this converted by Peter's preaching. Now, come to the other Lesson, IstThess. 5th chap. 1st verse, ' The Times and the Seasons, Brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you ; but the Day of the Lord so cometh as the Thief in the Night, when they shall say, Peace and Safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as Travail upon a woman with Child.' Now, I have told thee to mark all the Types and Shadows in these Chapters, that were placed for the day how it came to Saul and David how the first was water, and the next wine how the Disciples were made Fishefos ; -Catchers of Fish, before they were Catchers of Men. Now, these Types and Sha- dows I shall bring to the Chapter that is before thee ; as the Shadows come before the Substance and the things of beasts were compared to men : perfect so I now tell thee, must things temporal be compared to things spiritual and as the Apostle hath here compared MY Coming, and the Sudden Destruction to Those that walk in darkness, that it should come upon them, as a Travailing Wo- man with Child ; and this comparison of the Apostle's words which all men may take temporal, they will find I shall make spiritual ; and now I tell thee, as a Woman with Child, in a temporal sense ; so hath thine been in a spiritual sense, travailing in birth, with pains and anxiety of mind to know the meaning of thy visitation. And know what I have told thee already All the Sorrows that came upon thee, will surely come upon the Nation to Those that walk in darkness. And now mark the Visitation in the year that is past, how sudden and unexpected did every Load come upon thee ; and know, I have told thee, in like 21 manner it wi 1 ! come upon the N.ition, th^t say, Peace and .Safety, tihnking no evils wiU overtake them. Thus have I told thee their Troubles will come on unaware, as thine came on Thee ; yet 1 tell thee like thy Deliverance,, will it be to the Chil- dren of the Light; for in Thee stands the Type of Them Both. For as all the otlier Types that are placed for the Lessons of the Day, that were fist placed of Saul, which was hut a shadow in rend- ing the Mantle ; and the substance came after of the Kingdom being rended from him : - pj rfgc t so I tell thee will be the shadow of thy pains', that were but trifling, like Samuel's Mantle : yet the substance will be great unto the Nation, as it was of Sauls Kingdom : For I tell thee, t us is tnc meaning that will follow the Apostle's words : that as things have stood Temporal, while Tem- poral things remain : so thus it must be Spiritual, when MY Spiritual Kingdom cometh. And let the feelings of thy heart be penned in the day that is past; and then I shall answer thee again. For I now tell thee as nothing but a continuation of the feelings of My Spirit causes happiness in Thee : so perfect happiness can never be in man, before the evil power is destroyed ; and My Spirit be poured out then cometh continual happi- ness for men to rejoice in the GOD of their Sal- vation, when I have delivered them out of the hand of the Lion, and out of the paw of the Bear, and destroyed the uncircumcised Philistines: then, will their water be turned to wine and know the best wine is reserved to the last For know, I have told thee as the Types and Shadows came first to Saul and David of what should follow 22 them : so Saul and David were but Types and Shadows of the end. Now, write the feelings of thy heart- -Saturday July the 13. 1805. A deep melancholy came over my Spirits as I sat pondering to myself of various kinds of things ; and how uneasy many of the Believers seemed to be, as they had built themselves up with wondrous Ideas that as they were Believers they must im- mediately be delivered out of every trouble, and have every thing come to their wishes which, I was clearly convinced in my own mind, from all the Prophecies given to me, they had troubles and difficulties first to go through, and although the Lord had promised to protect them in the end : and I am clearly convinced their Deliverance from troubles cannot come, till the Deliverance comes to the Nation in a way we know not. These thoughts struck a melancholy upon me, and pondering in my heart, that I was not clear from the words spoken to me in 1792, I should leave the World till the fifteen years were up; as I did riot die last year ; I thought to myself in Avhat strong manner the words were spoken in 1792, when I thought I should die " / will add to thy Days fifteen years.'" Then, I thought if I lived the fifteen years, I should live tjmough the years of sorrow, and hear the murmuring and com- plaining of Believers, as I know there are in many who h:ive filled themselves up with wonderful Ideas, that some Miracles will be Avrought for them, especially when my Trial is, they expect wonders will fall for them. With these meditations I thought the time long, but was afraid to wish for death, fearing I should be in a Sin, and yet in my heart, I felt it impossible to wish for life. 23 The Answer of the Spirit u Now I shall answer thee from the pondering of thy heart, of the Believers, who judge their de- liverance will come at thy death. Mark the words that I said unto thee in the year that is past ; they all might mourn if thou didst die at the end of the year : for then I tell thee their sorrows would greatly increase after thy death ; but, if I pro- longed thy life to the fifteen years that I told thee in 1792 then, I tell thee their Deliverance will come at thy death, because the time will be up, that I told thee Deliverance would come to them, that were wishing for their coming LORD. And now mark the time that I first told thee of fifteen years in 1792 : and five years in 1802 : So if thy life be preserved to see the time, then, they may expect wonders and a wondrous deliverance that wiil happen together in this Land. But I now tell thee, it is not for thee to know, nor any man to know, whether thOu wilt see the time, or not of the fifteen years but this is for all to know, as thy heart was wounded by the murmuring of thy Friends, because the wonders did not appear as they expected ; so I tell thee would many hearts be wounded, if I should take thee before I make a full end because they will have no one to com- fort them'. But I know the thoughts of thy heart, and what thou sayest within ? I have promised to pour out MY Spirit upon MY CHOSEN when I take thee out of the World ; that as the Spirit of Elijah fell upon Elisha ; so shall MY Spirit fall upon them. Tins is my promise! - -and Tills I shall fulfil. And yet, I tell thee, ye have all Spirits of your own, that was 24 this done before the Nation is more enlightened before the truth is more come found before Be- lievers were more come in, would it not be one for Paul? Another for Apollos ? Another, for Caphas? That meaneth, One would cleave to One; Another would eleavc to Another ; and while the Believers aie few- they would kindle Strife, instead of l\ace ; by being many Masters and as thou weariest thyself with the visitations of others ; not knowing what is right , or wrong : I perfect. so I tell ihee, would be the confusion of the Believers, if they were separately visited before the time is come, that every thing is made clear from the years that I. have mentioned : so when they see the end of the Rolling Stone; and see the fifteen years that I spoke to thee of at first and the five years from lbt2, that I told thee alter, and then weigh the whole together Every man can stand with boldness upon thy 'Writings, and his own Visitation, when every Truth is plain before him, but where is the man can stand now ? lor, if doubts and jealousies arise in thy breast from what Spirit so many are visited ? W hat jealousies may arise in others, that have not been so long acquainted with MY Spirit, as thou hast been ? neither have they seen so many 1 ruths of the Spirit, as tho.u hast seen of thin ? But, remember thy jealousy in the beginning after tliou hadst seen many Truths come on ; then, if thou wast jealous after seeing so many 2 ruths, what would the other Believers be, if they were left in the midst of confusion visited by a Spirit they are unacquainted with? And now call reason to thy assistance. Suppose the different Commu- nications that are given to thee on various Subjects 25 were given to forty different men, how would they be able to place them together, to say they were clear they were all from one Spirit ? I tell thee, Jea- lousy would rise amongst them, because if they were divided in different portions one tiling given to one another thing given to another then, every one would wish to have the greatest but when the whole is given through thee, and then sent out for all, there is no room for discord to arise. Therefore, I tell thee, if thou lovest thy friends, make thyself easy and be at rest; and sooner wish for their sakes to live through the time, than leave thy friends in distress. For I now tell thee, had I brought on thy awful Trial, and taken thy life at the end of the year that is past, many of thy Believers would now be wishing as much for death, as thou didst on that day which is past : there- fore, it was My wisdom to tell thee in the begin- ning, that I should add to thy days the number of years, that I mean to bring on Afflictions upon this Land ; and it is not for thee to know, whe- ther I shall shorten those days or not, of thy life : but the others will not be shortened ; for I shall go on with the Judgments that are lingering for the sake of those whose hearts are known to Me, that lingering Judgments will awaken ; and those that are hardened in the midst of Judge- ments, must fill up the measures of Iniquity, to confess my Judgments just When I bring on their fatal destruction, they must own they have long been warned; and though they did not be- lieve the warning, Yet, I tell thee, they shall see the Judgments, that they may have no excuse to make. For I know the excuse that is made by 26 man they cannot believe My Visitation to a Woman, to warn of the end, to warn all Na- tions to reveal My Secrets to thee, and to throw open the mysteries of the Bible. This appeareth hard to man. Now I shall come to the Lessons of the day, and to the words I ordered thee to pen. Hath the Lord as great delight in Burnt Offerings and Sacrifice, as in obeying the Voice of the lord ? Now, I tell thee from these words, though men read the Lessons, and discern the words of the Prophet Samuel ; yet they do not believe the Visitation of the Lord in these days neither do they discern there is any mystery in My Gospel of making the Water Wine but only to shew that I worked miracles amongst them neither do they discern that the best Wine is re- served for the last. But know all men, if the best wine should be reserved for the last; then MY BEST PROMISE must be fulfilled at last. And what was the best promise I made for man in the.BEG inning ? in thy heart thou sayest thou dost not know what I mean by this enqui- ry. Then now I will tell thee; as was the sha- dow of Saul, so was it from the beginning, when I said, " Let us make Man in Our Image, after Our Likeness, and let him niece Dominion over all Cattle, and oxer all the Earth." Here was My Promise first to man: next, I said I should make him a helpmate for his good; for this was the meaning of my words and this was My i'iust promise before he fell by disobedience and forfeited that Promise. Then mark the words further The Promise that I made between the Woman and the Serpent, c< That her Seed should bruize his Head." Now. here I have told thee already, as I rended the Kingdom from Saul, so I would rend it from Sa- tan by the promise 1 had made to the Woman ; therefore I tell thee, "to obey is better than Sacri- fice, and to hearken than the fat of Rams." So let men hearken, and hear My words, and the Justice of my Pecrees that I made in the Crea- tion then, they will find by My heel being bruized for the Transgression of man, that the best wine which is the rest promise is reserved to the last, to Bruize Satan's Head for betraying the Woman and the promise I made to man, that she should be a helpmate toman; and by claiming the Promise, she is A Helpmate for his Good: therefore, "Rebellion is as the Sin of Witchcraft, and Stubborness as Iniquity and and Idolatry." Now, I tell thee from these words, the rebellion began first in the devil, as the sin of wjcthcraft to betray the woman. Now mark the words Samuel said further to Saul be- cause thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He hath rejected thee from being King. Now, I tell thee, these words stand deep for men and devils. For though I have told thee, as the Kingdom was rended from Saul, So I will rend the Kingdom from Satan. And yet I tell thee, if men rebel against My words against My Promi- ses and my Just Decrees, their Rebellion is as Iniquity and Idolatry; because I tell thee it is Iniquity in themselves, and they are making an Idol of themselves trusting more to themselves, than they trust to My Promise ; relying more on their own wisdom, than they rely upon My words; therefore I tell thee they must rej ect My words that I spoke in the beginning; and I shall reject d 2 28 them from enjoying My Kingdom. For I now tell thee as Samuel said to Saul, when Saul told him he had saved ihe best of the sheep and oxen, to offer sacrifice unto the Lord; But what delight have I in sacrifice, if men will not obey My words? Here I tell thee Thousands are like Saul, thinking it right to save the beasts, as Saul did but I tell thee, as the shadow was to Saul, so is the substance now to all, for to obey is better than sacrifice. And let men deeply discern My Bible, and trace those records through: then, they will find the best wine is reserved to the last, for Those that obey My Commands: but Those that now- rebel like Saul, will find My Kingdom rended from them, and given to their Neighbours, that are more worthy of it. And now come to David. Mark from David how hejirst slew the Beast, before he slew the Philistine, to gain the Shadow of the Crown, by having Saul's Daughter: but here thou beginnest to ponder within, if Saul be a Type of Satan, how should the Shadow of the Crown come by his daughter ? But know, I have told thee, I have placed Saul two ways ; as the shadow of a tree will go two ways whether the sun be on one side, or on the other. As the sun turns, the shadow turns : perfect so I tell thee of Types and Shadows they are placed to stand two ways ; as I have already told thee of Esau; as* a shadow he stands two ways : and so I have told thee of Jacob And the same I tell thee of David He stands a shadow of man and Mc therefore, I tell thee, the beast must be slain before My Kingdom can come, to have My Throne established in Righteousness. Now, I tell thee, if men discern deep from these Two 29 Kings, that were the first anointed by Me; for. though there were Many Other Heathen Kings ; yet, they were not The Anointed of the Lord like Saul and David: then, let men discern deep from the Shadow of these Two, and see the end : how Saul had the Kingdom rended from him, for saving the beasts : and the shadow of David began from slaying the beasts. Now, as I have told thee of a Sun Dial ; perfect so I tell thee stands My Bible if men would mark the shadows in the beginning ; and the way the Kings rose that zvere anointed by Me ; they would dis- cern by the same marks what would be the ending : for as the Figures stand in a Sun Dial from mid-day to mid-night; and from mid-night to mid- day, one following after the Other : perfect so I tell thee, as the turn of the Sun bringeth round to the same Figures from four in the morning to four in the afternoon from eight in the morning till eight at night and the turn of the Sun bring- eth to the same hours from six to six ; and from seven to seven thus Mill the Sun shew you in a long Summer's day ; and perfect so I tell thee, if men would discern the Figures of My Bible, the way Kings began by My appointment and the desire of meru they would clearly see the end. And perfect so I tell thee of the fall Like a travailing woman in sorrow did Eve begin, when She found She was betrayed by the serpent - condemned by her husband and blamed by her Maker like a travailing Woman her sorrows began ; and perfect so I tell thee like a travailing Woman the whole will end. Therefore, I tell thee My Bible is not discerned by men, that it stands perfect like a Sun Dial;*is 1 have told thee 30 of the hours at the turn of day which bringeth round the morning and evening Sun-rising ;md Sun-setting to the hours alike and as the Soring of the year ; so I tell thee was the Spring of time : and so I tell thee was the fall. See how rruich nearer the hours come together to one Likeness at Spring and Fall ; to what they are in Summer and Winter and so I tell thee of the end > Nearly like the Fall wi'l come the Spring for man, when I come to bring in their Redemption, as I told them to mark the Green Leaves, knowing that the Summer was nigh at hand, and their Redemption, as I told them to mark the Green Leaves, knowing that the Summer was nigh at hand, and their Redemption drew near. But now I know thy pondering thoughts ; if the Spring and Fall be alike in man, how can happiness attend him? To this I answer as the minutes change : so will the time change. First it fell on man, but next it must fall on -the beast, whom I pronounced cursed above every living creature : and yet I have already told thee, and I now tell thee again as it begun with the Woman and the Serpent, which is the Devil, for that old Serpent he is called : perfect so it must end therefore, the enmity must be kindled between the Serpent and the Woman, as I said in the Fail. Now, remember the time I died for man thou knowest it was in the Spring; and perfect so I tell thee was Mv Dea h for man; to bring back the Sun to the hours it was first fixed, and rest the curse on the Serpent's head. Here I tell thee, if men look deep into every mystery of the Creation into every mystery of My Bihle, and discern the Spring and Fall, how I placed the rising and the 31 Setting Sun, to come in hours near together ; they would see My Bible was like a Sun Dial, topont out the whole to man, that had any light of the Sun within him, to discern and sec tie Fields they would see from the Fall, where the Sun rises i what was the Premise and where it must set, when 1 bring in the Sping fol nan to rfVem him from the Fall. The Sun must cct on the Woman's head, and the powers of darkness must go into daikness for iw&c was tr.e curse fixed, and hrre must hi 8 pre - Waves be stayed. And t! is I tell thee c . oun Dial for man, if they will weigh the whole together. And all men will know a. id find in the end I have placed the Sun Dial in I bed, and know in the Woman the Figures stood. First. To be created as an helpmate for man. Secondly To have the promise made Ikt, that her seed should bruize the Serpent's head. Thirdly. For ME to be born of a Woman, to have MY Heel bruized, that 1 might accom- plish the promise and Fourthly. To send MY Spirit to visit a Wo- man, to kindle that enmity, and to claim the promise. Here are the four quarters for men to discern; and here is the Sun Dial whereby all men may sec the time and the seasons, how all will be fulfil- led. And now let all men discern deep from the manner of thy Visitation the manner of thy FaiMi and Fears, what thou hast gone through, trusting .strong in ME ; fearing to offend Jealous of be- ing deceived with a single eye to MY honor and glory wishing to know MY will and obev it and with a strong enmity against the seipeiit, which is the Devil; fearing neither his threat- 's 32 enings, nor his malice ; but trusting wholly in Me to be thy Keeper and Deliverer from all his power. Now, I tell thee if men discern this deep, and weigh thy Visitation through and weigh My Bible through that they would as clearly see the days that are come, and for what thy calling is ; as a man can see the hour in the day by a Sun Dial, when the Sun shines bright. But where there is no Light in man, to discern the Sunshine of MY BIBLE; nor the Marks: nor the Figures, that are placed there they cannot see where the Sun must set ; nor where the promise was made to have it set : but let them discern deeply the Shadow of the Fall, how the woman was beguiled by the serpent the sorrows and the sufferings she went through, when she saw her Son was slain ; and the Other fled from her presence : Judge, O man of her Reflections ! Ye know not her Sufferings, nor Repentance : then, what have ye to marvel at, that I the LORD who searcheth the Hearts, and seeth the Sorrows in My Creatures, and the Re- pentance they go through, while the adversary rejoices at their Fall ; that I should say of their adversary, as I said unto Samuel, (15 Sam. v. 2) ' I remembered what Amalek did to Israel, how " he laid wait for him in the way, when he came 14 up from Egv.pt Now go and smite Amelek, H and utterly destroy all that they have, Sheep " and Oxen, Camels and Asses, Infants and * l Sucklings, and the whole." Now, I tell thee from these words let Infant and Suckling, Man and Woman take care that join with the beast. For, I remember a!l he hath done, how he betrayed the Woman at first ; how he laid iu 33 wait for her Son : tj work in one to slay the other: and how he laid a\ wait for man to work in one to slay the other ; rod how he laid in wait for Judas to work m hi 11 to BETRAY ME all these things I well remember; therefore, i shall destroy him, an I utterly cat off Root and Branch, Alan and Woman, that join with the beast - and lie that wishes to preserve him, will nave the Kingdom raided from him, which I designed for man before the Creation of the World, and before the Foundation was first laid I designed the Kingdom for man; and for him. to be created in My Likeness to live in perfect happiness united with Me, and. I with him and what- 1 designed, I wi ll a c c o m p l i s ii : lor now . ; I shall go on like David, to take the Lamb out of the Lions mouth, and out of the paw of tiie Bear; and slay the uncircuincised Philistines, that defy the Armies of the Living .God. These things shall I go on to do ; therefore, I tell thee, Those that mock My coming, they will find it will come upon them in a day they little think of, and in an hour unaware, as mv first visitation came upon Thee. dt Now 1 shall explain from the manner of thy life, how thou wast visited by my Spirit, to guide and direct thee for thyscif This thou knowest wenl on for years, and the enjoyment was to thyself; but how s rdden and unexpected did My Visitation come of the Nation ? but where would thy Senses have been gone, if thou hadst no knowledge of Me before ? I know the pondering of thy heart, and the answer thou irmkest within, thou shouldest not. have believed it a Visitation from the Lord ; 34 but have judged thy Senses would soon be lost, if thou didst not try to withstand- the Visitation. Now, here I tell thee from thy Visitation, though thou hadst been unacqaainted with my Spirit, to vjsit thee of truths before concerning thyself; yet, it is known unto thee, and to ail, thou hadst fear mixed with thy faith : so there was a Shadow in thee of what there was in the beginning though thy Visitation was from Me the Living Lord ; and yet thy faith was mixed with fear- and perfect so was Eve's in the Fall She had a fear mixed in her when She contended with the Serpent, and yet he overcame her by his temptations. Now, I tell thee in like manner, let all discern have been thy fears, that thou mightest have been deceived by some wrong Spirit : but when thou art cast down, I raise thee up when thou wcrt wounded, I healed thee when thou art afflicted, I comfort thee and by My Tr'th and My Words, I have led thee on, to bring thee to the knowledge of the good ; as- Satan brought Eve to the knowledge of the evil, Therefore, I tell thee, if men dis- cern deeply from the knowledge of the Fruit, being good and evil and that the Fruit was plucked by the Woman's hand by the subtilty of the Serpent, to come to the evil, and bring death upon man ; so I have told rhee, the same hand must bring the knowledge^ of the good but, by what hand, and what power ? or from whence must his knowledge conic r Thou knowest, I have told thee, as Satan's arts brought the first (to Eve); so My Wisdom brings the last (to thee): for the last is first, and the first is last Now, thus it must be to fulfil My Words, tliat I have spoken through the Bible. And now let men discern iu 35 what manner I have led thee on, is faith ani fiar, that thou mayest be compared to a Woman travailing with Child, that knowerh not till the Child is born, whether She shall have a Son or a Daughter : whether the Child will live or die and yet She travaileth on in hopes that She may have a living Child -yet whether living or dying, She cannot get free of her burthen till the Child is born, whatever anguish She goes through. " This is the perfect State of a travailing Woman with Child; sometimes feeling pain sometimes feeling none and sometimes feeling the Child to struggle in her womb. This is the perfect State of a Woman with Child, which is felt more or less by all that are with Child. And now I shall appeal to thy own Conscience, whether this hath not been the true State of thy mind and heart, and the struggling of thy Spirit within : sometimes in faith; sometimes in fear: for I tell thee My Spirit hath worked with thee in different ways, to bring the perfect Likeness in thy mind and heart - struggling in faith struggling in fear pains of mind, and pains of heart have been thy case as a Woman with Child feels pains of Body ; so hast thou felt pains of mind. And yet I tell thee, as a Woman with Child cannot get rid of her burthen, till the Child is born ; no more canst thou get rid of thine, till thy Children are born; to see the clear and perfect day. Therefore, I tell thee it way impossible for thee to draw back after My strong Visitation to thee; for by stronger powers than man, hast thou been led on to shew mankind the reparation' of thk fall that in like manner as Satan brought on E- 2 *36 fiormw upon* the Woman in the Fall, and Sho travailed m pain in Child- birth, to bring on maris ffastyuction : so it must be in' like manner of ipain-and Child-birth, to bring on mans restitution. io^ias one is Temporal ; so the other is Spiritual. .And as a Woman travaileth in pain and anxiety of mind to be travailing in a Spiritual birth therefore, 1 tell thee, the Lessons of the day must go toge- ther Said slain David gained the victory '1 he best wine reserved to the last And all things ;C#me, as pain to a travailing Woman with Child. 3The meaning of these things I have explained and a temporal travailing and a Spiritual I have compared together. Now, I shall come to the Ration Are they not groaning like thee under burdens and afflictions? under loads and oppres- sions ? and yet there are Thousands that walk in darkness, and will not see the day-light ? And yet I tell thee, when Troubles come faster on, and greater burdens do appear ; Thousands will begin like thee, to have their jealousy alarm them ; fearing they have been wrong on the one hand, as thou hast feared on the other, For, I now tell thee, every perplexity of mind, that hath been in thee, will hasten fast on the Nation but how could I place the Type in thee ; or how couklest thou be compared to a travailing Woman; travail- ing in birth, and crying to be delivered, if in pain nor fear had ever alarmed thy breast? The Scriptures could not be fulfilled in thee? Now, I tell ti.ee as thy desire of death is known to Me ; so are the hearts of many, who think wonders will come at thy death, and their deli- verance will then come ; therefore, they are wishing and longing for the time : This is known 3? to Me ; to be in the hearts of many, anion g thy Believers, but they will not tell their muds; therefore, I worked .the same desire in thy -heart, that I might shew fhein their folly that no won- drous delivei*ance dm come in tiie manner they expect, before My appointed time t work deli- verance for the whole ; and that will not come in a xvay that is judged by man. I shall first try the Nation by heightening their afflictions before J shall bring on anv deliverance; that I may see what they will do, when the Burden comes heavier upon them. Shall I cut eff a whole Nation lor the sake of a F w? And many are known to Me whose hearts are like Jehu's see my Zeal for the Lord of Hosts, while their Eye is only to their own self Interest f For, I now tell thee, there are Many who are looking more for the Loaves and Fishes, than for My Kingdom oi Peace, that they may enjoy every happiness in Me, and be freed from every Temp- tation, and feel an heavenly joy within. -This however is known to Me to be the desire of Some, who say- they come in by the Sheep-fold ; and these latter are the People, that must look tor a Rervard : but the former, that come in lor the Loaves and Fi- lies, do not come in by the Sheep- fold ; and Hierefore, T tell thee their expectations will fail. But let not thy heart be wounded, nor thy Spirits grieved because I have told thee what is in The hearts and thoughts of some of the Belie- vers, thinking thy Awful Trial will being on De- liverance to them, which I tell thee it will not, but only heighten their Sorrows, if I take thee out of the World, before the Lnd drawtth near* -know, I have lo'd thee it would heighten their troubles, sooner than cause apy Deliverance. 38 -'Therefore, I tell thee the way they have plan- ned happiness for themselves, would only bring sorrow upon their heads. If taking of thy Life would be any Comfort or Blessing to mankind ; and would add to their happiness and My Glory, Do they vainly think 1 would prolong; thy Life to live in a World thou art weary of? I tell them, No ! their wavs are not as My Ways ; nor their thoughts as MY thoughts -It is for the sake of True Believers, who have a single Eye to My Honor and Glory, and for the Good of Mankind that thy life is prolonged till all Truths are made clear before them, and their Hearts are prepared for My Visitation to receive My Spirit ; but I know Sorrow hath filled thy heart, because I have told ihee, the hearts and thoughts of some of the B< lievers, who expect they know not what. Now, let them call reason to their assistarce, and see if they judge Me a Merciful GOD, whether they think I shall destroy the Nation to saveajezo before they are tried with deeper Judgments. And let them consider what I told thee, when I first or^ dered thee to publish to the World ; if I should puli the weeds too soon, the wheat would be de- stroyed : aid how could your Nation stand if I cut it short when ye are surrounded with a Fo- reign Enemy? And yet I tell thee, such are the wild Ideas of Many in your Nation, thinking they should be more happy if the Land was cut more short. This I know is a folly in many, and I tell thee it is a Folly for who then would protect your Land? Know what is said in My Gospel, let both grow together till Harvest ; and so I tell thee of this Nation They must both grow together till the end draweth near and sq 39 far from thy death bringing them an happy deli- verance, I now tell thee if I take thee shortly before the end draweth near, they would find themselves a- Ships without a Pilot ; One would say he was directed one way and Another, An- other, till strife and discord would he among them- Here I have shewed thee from the Sha- dow of those that say they have been visited, and have different directions given ; but to whit con- tusion would all things go, if every man followed these different directions ? For I now tell thee in the end, they will find the Truth of all MY Words to thee, and from a few you may plainly discern it ; therefore I tell thee they would be like a Ship without a Pilot tossed to and fro with every w nd, if they were left to their own Wills. These things I have explained to thee to shew thee the folly that is in mankind; they know not the way to plan for their own happiness. And now I will tell thoe another reason, why their thoughts are vain and foolish, to think if thy awful Trial was come, and My Spirit was poured out on them, that they were visiter 1 , as thou art visi- ted, they would be more happy This, I tell thee is a folly in man ; for while the World stands full of unbelief, and they are judged as madmen and fools, they would be judged so ; and so much the more if the Spirit of Prophecy was now given them ; because I tell thee this must be the end to them, that are chosen to be present with thee at thy awful Trial; that the words of the Apostle might befulfiled "ye may all prophecy in your turn, v and that My Gospel may be fulfii- Jed u to be born of the spiRiT." These things must come in their time, when vour Nation is 40 mOffceniighened, and the truth hastening on upon all Nations, to make all things more cleaj before them ; then they may receive My Spirit with J >v and say, " THE COMFORTER IS COME " But, no iv? I tell thee as a field of Wheat being cut before it is ripe withereth away, and nc er comes to good Corn ;---perfect sb I tell thee would the Visitation of My Spirit be, to be pour- ed' out upon the Believers before the corn be ripe for the Harvest. Now, let^tUeih call reason to their assistance; > Supposingevery man that was present at thy Trial, had tUQ Spirit, of Prophecy, would not the World say th^y were all mad ? I tell thee, yes-! and it would do more harm, than good amongbt mankind; and every man must bear his own burden of being mocked, despised, and ridiculed but now the whole burden lays on thee; thou appearest the Standard for All for though men say they are Madman to believe in thy Visitation, yet, how much more would they say they were Mad-men if they began to prophecy ? Was the Spirit of Prophecy 'given to Many as things stand ai present, it would do no good to Mankind,, only Mould cause confusion amongst them, an I bring the h a\len the heavier upon themselves. Now, as I know the eagerness of Many to wish for thy Trial, because I have said in the end, it should be like the day of Pentecost ; so they expect great things from thi 3 Visitation. But let them call reason to their assistance, what My Disciples went thro' after My 1 veath, that the Holy Ghost was poured out upon them but know, while I lived and was in the Body amongst them, the whole feiufften was laid upon ME : now perfect so I tell thee of this 41 Visitationwhile thy Life rcmaineth, the xrhole must lay upon thee. They can hut blame the Others for only believing ; but if I should take thee out of the World in the State it now stands, and when unbelief so much abounds, MY Work must cease ; or My Friends must get themselves into trouble, if I should command them to up through the work, and visit them as I have visited thee. This, I tell thee would not be to their. Joy: but would heighten their Sorrow, and make then' load and burden the heavier: so I plainly tell thee, the thoughts of men are vain and foolish, to wish to take the burden from thee, and lay it on themselves. Let them discern how thou art confined, and how the World would mock thee, if thou wast known to appear in public; then, how can men vainly wish to be mocked the same ? For, I now tell thee they would be mocked the same if they pretended to prophecy ; or if even the Spirit of Prophecy was given them they could not go boldly abroad, to face an unbelieving YVorkl. as they now do. All these things I have laid be- fore thee, as I know the working of Manv Hearts, how they judge the time rolls on, and thy awful Trial is not yet come, for them to be visited with the Holy Ghost, as they were in the day of Pen- tecost. This I know is the thoughts of Many and this I know is the desire of Many; Ihit now I shall come to reason with men, and Jet them look to thy Visitation in whatmanner I led tiiee on. year after year expecting every year men would meet together to prove thy writings, whether thev were of God, or not: and by so donig thou sayest every year seemed but as one year to thee : but how would thy heart have tailed thee, if 42 I had told thee in the beginning of the number of years it would be, before Any would meet together to examine the Truth: and that None of those men whom I ordered thee to write unto, would come forward to oun the Truth, that was put in their hands? This would have sunk thy Spirits low, and made thy burden too great for thee to bear, if thou hadst all these things to look forward to the number of years and the backwardness of the Ministers I sent thee unto :-- but, know thy own judgment, how thou always thought, be- cause I assured thee, thy Writings would be proved by My Chosen, that would come to Taylors (Exeter) to enquire into some Truths ; this, I told thee My Chosen men would do. Now, reflect with thyself what Judgment thou drawest in thy own mind and heart, and thy Friends* together, that it was the men to whom L bid thee write : but had I told thee then men would come from distant parts of the Kingdom, to enquire the Truth at Taylors, would it not have fdled thee with jealousy and doubts of the Truth ? In thy heart thou answerest, yes ! And now I answer it would have discouraged thee to write to the Ministers of Exeter, if every clear Truth had been told thee; and yet discern how much greater than thy expectation, or any thought that tilled thy head, have. I brought the things round for thee and let reason take possession of thy heart, if I had confined thee to a few in Exeter, and they had been Believers, would the Truth have tied abroad, and been made so clear in other places, as it now is : In thy heart thou answerest, no 1 therefore, I have done more for thee, to make the Truths clear for the public World, than ever entered thy thoughts, though I disappointed 43 thee in the Judgment thou hadst drawn ? Now, perfect so, I tell thee, is the case of Believers : as distant as things have come from any Judgment thou hadst drawn thyself, and all came to the perfect Truth of My Words in a more strong and clear way: so I tell thee, it will eome to all. For, reason must tell thee had thine been confined to Exeter, they would as soon said, they were Mad-men ; as they have said it by the others, and the Truth could not be made known. For, if the unbelieving World ?ww say it was smuggled up by Friends, when it is publicly known to the World that the Truths were put in the hands of Ministers who do not believe ; and who would have contra- dicted the Witnesses if they were not true. Now discern if people plead their unbelief from the way that I have brought it round, how much more room would they have for unbelief, to say it was a false thing of Friends if these Ministers had come forward as believers; then, indeed, there could be none to say the Truth could be proved by Any other, than by Friends. Now, as I have shewed thee the weakness of thy Judg- ment, that thou couldest not make it clear to mankind to prove it was not the deceit of Friends ; so on the other hand, I shall shew thee My Wis- dom, and the weakness of men's Judgment, like thine, to expect so hastily the pouring out of My Spirit ; because I said when every Truth was made clear of the Vision I shewed thee in 1/94, it should be like the days of Pentecost to Man. Now, I tell thee as these words were put in print; so if I had hastily fulfilled them, Would not the unbelieving World say it was an infusion in then heads, because they would make thy Writings v 44 Tiiu e ? Then who would believe them ? I tell thee no man ! Therefore I disappointed them at first, to prove to the World there was no deceit in them : neither would they take any notions in their heads of being visited by My Spirit, like the Disciples of Old, when they were not. Then where is the man can condemn their Innocence ? And now mark the year that is past, how they came from different Quarters expecting the Visi- tation of My Spirit, and the fulfilment of thy Prophecies; but here again like thee they have been deceived. Then where is the man can con- demn them ? To say they have filled their heads with confusion, that is not heal and true This, must convince the unbelieving World and plead in their behalf, that there is no Infusion in them, to fancy things that are not real. And now I tell thee as My Wisdom have cleared their Innocence in a way they never expected : so I toll thee, I shall clear them when I come to the purpose, to fulfil My Words that the unbelieving World might not have room to say they fancjed these tilings, because they were said in thy Writ- ings: for then they might have fancied them before I had fulfilled them, according to their own Judgment as they had expected. Therefore, I tell thee as 4i sa PP om tments by placing a wrong Judgment 'happened to thee; perfect so it hath happened to them ; but now I shall come to the same reasoning with them, as I came to with thee Uow would it have discouraged Many that came forward at thy Trial, if they had known My won- drous Working was kept back for the enp: tharthfe best wine was reserved jor the last; and th.-it the last time was not come? This, would hive discouraged them, as it would have 45 discouraged thee, to be writing to Ministers, if 1 liiid told thee they would never come., for ward with the TitUTii: and yet I tell thee, the truth is come forward more strong to con- vince an unbelieving World, that say it was proved by nothing but Believers; than it could possibly have been, it these Ministers had been Believers: and perfect so I tell thee of the end, I shall make the Truth much clearer to prove their Innocence and My Visitation to them, than it could be proved if they had never been deceived. >~ A Dream of Four White Oxen, - * - AND The Parable of the Black. HERE T shall introduce a Dream that a man had (and which is founded upon a true Story) con- cerning hi.-? travailing till lie met with a learn of White Oxen, and which is the Introduction of the ,l large Crock, or Pot of Gold " mentioned in the Book I published last year at Stourbridge. It is as follows : -" The Dream of the Crock of Gold in the 26th page of What manner of Communications are These ?" thus began. " A man dreamt he should go till he saw four White Oxen in a Plough, and then he should have great Possessions. The man went eighteen or nineteen miles ; at last he saw four White Oxen ploughing he went up and 40 spoke to the man, and told him his Dream. The man laughed at him for a Fool and said, he dreamt the same night, that he should go to such a place, and dig up a French Nut Tree, and under it he should find a large Crock or Pot of Gold"' See the continuation in the 26'th page of my Book. The Parable of the Black is as follows : " A Black told my Father, that God Almighty killed his Father cowardly in bed ; for if he had been out upon his Father's Balks it was not Twenty God Almighties could have killed him; for then he would have run for his life. See the explanation in the QJth page of my Book. THOMAS P. FOLEY. The Continuation of Joamws Communications. " Now 7 1 shall reason with thee of Pomeroy Had he come forward a strong believer affirm- ing the Truths were put in his hand as an exalted Character I ask thee, who among the unbelieving World would have believed his report? But now every reasonable mind must know from the strife between ye, and the unbelief that is in him, every Witness must be true, and thy Letters to him must be true ; or he would have ceme for- ward, and denied the whole, if there was any falshood or deceit. So here 1 have shewed thee from Pomeroy I have brought it round in a way the unbelieving World do not discern, to prove the Truth is proved by enemies as well as friends and so I tell thee of the end I shall make every Truth clear in a way that ye know not; and 47 mark the way .the shadow began by Strangers coming from different Quarters to search out the Truth through faith: and so I tell thee, men will act through unbelief when My appointed time is come ; but know I have told thee the best xpine is reserved to the last; and My Visitation to thee shall rise higher and higher, brighter and brighter to the perfect day and they shall know what was sown in weakness shall rise in power; what they judge was spoken in fool- ishness they shall find I will prove in wisdom. But I now tell thee, it was but to try thee, that I said I did not tell thee thou shouldest live to see the end of the year that is past ; but shall I take thee out of the World before I have clearly proved to mankind thy Visitation is from the Lord ? For, I now tell thee, if My Wisdom that lies behind was revealed to another and not to thee, thousands would say thy Visitation was not from the Lord ; therefore, I tell thee to make thyself easy, till I have cleared up every mystery, why I began to speak in words, and in verse that appeared low to man why I have kept back the best wine for the last and why I have ordered these simple Fables to be put in print and compared with the Nation; which I. know thy foolish Wisdom can- not bear the thoughts of and yet I tell thee, thou wilt see the end to prove it true and the very thing thou thinkest most simple, I tell thee, the Nation will find most true and discern how the, Horn is blowing by Those that are .gone forth to give the warning; and how the unbelieving World is mocking the warning: perfect as the Fady did (in Foley's Book) and persuading others to the same unbelief as she had. Therefore, I tell thee Those that mock the warning that is given 48 the Horn that is blowing for men's Salvation have all to fear their own destruction, that it will come upon them, as it came upon the Lady in a day and hour unaware ; therefore, I tell thee thy judgment is weak to wish that Parable out of the Book ; ; for ' that Parable shews the end to those that mock the Visitation of the Lord : for I tell thee their laughter will be turned into mourning, that say they have nothing to fear from all My Warnings and Threatenings : they will find they have all to fear : so do not judge thy- self wise in wishing it not to appear : for I tell thee that will appear in the end a Standard of con- dem ation to this Nation, and every Nation that mocks the warning when they are warned so thou set thy heart at rest, for I tell thee, the thoughts of thy heart are evil to wish to have it out of the Book. But this' I tell thee as the ponderings of thy heart have been to despise the Parable, because it is not in a manner that thou judgest clear for the Lord to bring forward con- sistent with the Bible, and therefore thou canst not bear it, and wisheth to have it taken out ; so 1 tell thee of the Nation, they may wish it not to be fulfilled, that the truth may never appear: but as I tell thee the Parable must remain; so I tell thee, the truth will appear. For, the Parable is like the Bible, that I compared the Children of Israel to an adulterous Woman, and' so I have compared the adulterous Nations and though the words are not put into a Song in My Bible; yet, I tell thee, (he Parables are the same. So here I have shorted thee thy pondering thoughts are wrong ; and full as wrong are thy pondering thoughts to wish to leave the World before the best wine appeareth ; for how could I clear My 40 Honor in what the World mocks and despises by another hand, to prove thy Writings came from ME. I now tell thee, the World would sav, it did not all come from one Spirit, if I should take thee out of the World and clear up every Mys- tery by another hand for to make the Water Wine for as Water thy Writings appeareth to thousands; but I shall turn it into Wine. By all the directions of the past I shall clear them in the end by the same hand that I begun : and perfect so, I tell thee, I shall clear My Honor in making the Woman -an Helpmate for man, which appears as great folly to thousands as they say thy Writ- ings appear. For the Wisdom of their Creator is blamed by the Creature, and this hath been done in every Age of the World ; and point out the Age that the Wisdom of God was not blamed by man when I came to visit by My Spirit? In thy heart thou answereth there is no Age, but man hath condemned My Visitation to the Prophets : and so I tell thee Adam begun to cast the blame upon his Creator ,- and thus All Ages have gone on ; and so I tell thee they will go on to the end till sudden destruction comes upon thousands, like the sudden deaths that have been to Many, and remarked in this year, 1805 and deep I tell thee they will remark thejend. Now I shall come to thy pondering thoughts I said,- I would clear up the mystery of thy Visitation by the same hand I began ; and thou sayest in thy heart thy, hand is stopt writing, and the writing is given to Another; so if I make thee a mouth and voica, I do not make thee the hand to end that which I made thee to begin. To this I answer from the 50 Fall. I took thy Writings from thee to clear U]fc every mystery ; for know, I said the same hand that brought the knowledge of the evil, should bring the knowledge of the Good. Now, if you take the sa??ie hand without calling the Woman the same hand, you must say it must be brought by Eve ; but know I have told thee by the same hand I mean the Woman. And now I tell thee Perfect as thy Writings began by thee and car- ried on by other Handmaids : perfect so the promise began by Eve to lay the Foundation for Another to claim and to build thereon : so I tell thee the hand is alike, it cannot be changed to man : and perfect so I tell thee as thy hand be- gan the writing from My Spirit ; so the hand of Woman shall end. Then now discern what is meant by the same hand ; it is not meant the hand of Eve that plucked the evil, and brought the knowledge of the evil, shall bring the know- ledge of the Good : and yet I tell thee the Foun- dation was as much laid by her in speaking the Truth, and casting her blame on the serpent ; as the Foundation of thy Waitings was first laid by thy hand and as men blame the Foundation that was laid by thee, and thousands judge it foolish- ness what thou hast penned, because they do not discern the mystery, nor understand what thou hast penned: perfectly so I tell thee is the mys- tery of the Fall ; -they do not. discern the pro- mise her First Reasoning and her second truth neither do they discern the Fault in man ; neither do they discern how soon the Curse came on again from Noah after the World was drown- ed, that he pronounced ujxm his Son ! These things are not discerned by men ; therefore, the blame layeth upon the Woman without discerning 51 Adam was as easy to fall by the weakness of the Woman, as She was by the subtil ty of the serpent : but see how the blame was cast? These things men do not discern therefore, they go on as Adam began, to cast the blame upon the Woman and My Honor can never be cleared for giving the Woman for his Helpmate, if I do not clear My Honor to fulfil My Promise, and make her for his good and perfect so I now tell thee, I cannot clear My Honor in the simple manner I have often spoken to thee ; therefore, I tell thee, I shall clear up the whole by the same hand I began that meaneth, to be a Mouth and Voice in thee, to speak the words, and by the hand of Women to be penned : but let no one judge irom these words, that what I have begun by thee as a Mouth and Voice, that other Women are to end % that I shall be a Mouth and Voice to them. For, now I tell thee, there are Many that if they were to hear these words without having them clearly explained, they would say thou wast but a Shadow ; for they were the Sub- stance. Therefore, I tell thee all I mean by another hand of Woman, is, to finish what thou hast begun, and to pen the words that I shall deliver to thee, and thou to them. Here I have shewed there are many things laid behind to clear up the whole ; and thou art wrong to wish deli- verance from the World, before I have cleared up the whole and confounded all Gainsayers. g a 52 Joannds Communications in continuation on the Song of Lord Burnet. Tuesday night, July lth, 1805. " After I was in bed, I was pondering upon the whole, and I was deeply answered that by the hand of the Woman, the Lord would confound men and devils the devil for betraying her and man for blaming his Maker for giving the Woman to him. After these words I begun to ponder upon the song of loud burnet : and it was deeply answered through a Song, yet, the Parable was deep throughout. It begun to be answered me from the first words, " By One, by Two, and by Three" and three were the Judgments threatened upon the Nations The Sword-~The Plague and the Famine, and these judgments they were calling down. And I should observe how the Shadows of the Three were in the Nations abroad, that had already come : and Three things and been in this Land The Dearth of Provisions the Sword of war that you are engaged in, and theThousands that have been lost thereby and the burden to cany on the war, and though these three things appeared before them ; yet, the Na- tion was like the Lady to smile upon the World with all its Vices, and their hearts were fixed to wander from God ; as the Lady wandered from her husband to seek after another lover. Perfect so was the State of the Nation and though they were warned of their dangers, as the Foot-page warned the Lady; yet, their Confidence was perfect like hers to smite the person that warned them ; and still Self-confident in the love of the World to wander from God, as the Lady did from her husband. ,So that, every step of the 53 Fable was the Perfect Likeness of the Land ; and I should discern- from the Foot-page after acquainting his Lord with the whole, how he called down his men " by One, by Two, and by Three," the second time, and so are the Nations going on the same, to call down the three judg- ments that were first threatened. And in this Nation Believers are gone out to blow the Trum- pet, to sound the alarm yet, neither the past s nor the present had any effect upon thousands They, perfectly like the Lady, that knew the FoOt-page had seen her ; knew, he had threat- ened her; heard the trumpet blown that dangers were near her : yet, She was still self-confident till her destruction came. And perpect so is the Nation. Now, they have heard the warnings they have seen the Judgment from the past harvest and the other burdens that are upon the Land, and yet they are still Self-confident therefore, the Song thou canst not bear is the True Picture of the Nation and a Picture for the Nation to draw their True Colors before them. And to shew their perfect likeness I ordered that Song to be put in print And know what I likened the Children of Israel to? to a treacherous Woman playing the Harlot : and what did I say in my Gospel ? To what shall I liken this Gene- ration ? And now 1 say the same, to what shall I liken this Generation ? In the Parable of the Lady I have shewed thee to what I have likened it to ? Therefore, be not thou like the Self-righte- ous to think thou art more wise, and more holy than Me that thou canst not bear to liken a Nation that is wandering from Me, as the Lady did from her Husband, unto an Adulterous Woman. Here I have shewed thee the perfect likeness; and I now tell thee the 64 Self-confident have to fear the perfect end of the Lady. I know that soNfr is as much disliked by Many, as it is by thee : therefore, I worked in thee to think upon the Song, when not reading it, that it may be answered for others. So let thy pondering, and My Answer be copied off, and sent amongst the Believers, that they may discern the depth, and answer to the whole. But now I know thy pondering thoughts It ; was not so answered in that clear manner, when it was printed. To this I answer ; had it been answered clear to every particular, 1 could not have tried the Wis- dom of men, to what they would place a Parable, that is so plain before them, to shew the end ? How could I try their judgment, if I had pointed out every particular? therefore, I gave an expla- nation in a manner they did not understand of the past ages and the present. For I now tell thee like the destruction upon the Lady it came upon the Jews of old, and upon Jerusalem. And, if you discern My Gospel you will discern the de- struction will come the same. Therefore, I tell thee it is not the Song that you are to look to, nor the form it is placed by man: but the sense through it contains. And I now tell thee there are many Parables in the Bible as much mocked and despised i as much ridiculed and not understood why they are placed in such a manner, as that Song is* Therefore, I tell thee it was My Wisdom to bring forward such a Song, and shew the perfect likeness from the Song, that men may discern the meaning of the Parables that are in My Bible. Now, where is the man can point out a more perfect likeness of your Nation, than I have pointed out from the Parable thou so much hated ? Now, canst thou answer from thyself that thou canst point out, a more clear way, to shew the 65 Nation in its hue colors? In thy heart thou answerest, no ! Now, T tell thee the Form of the Song, and the manner of the words, if men find fault with and blame ; the^r must blame the Authors that made- it: because the Song was not composed by thee but it is the Parable to shew the likeness of the endj that I commanded it to go in print. And I now tell thee I confined thy senses not to discern the manner of the Song, that thou shou-ldest not alter it when it was printed. And now I have told thee if they blame the Song, they must blame the World that made it: and yet the Parable is deep as I have told thee : and now 1 1 shall answer thy further pondering heart, from the manner I have explained it in the Book ; and perfect as I have explained it the end will be ; for the destruction must come in the end upon the root of evil upon the author that tempts man to sin. ^>nwifOIBfflir<9 Qn Joanna s Temptations by Satan at Bristol, in 1804. Now I shall answer thy pondering heart why should I suffer thee to be thus tried and tempted by the devil by every art he could invent, is thy next pondering thoughts in reading the whole together, what thou wentest through, s in the year that is past ? Simple as this may appear of My permission, as it could not be without My permission ; so this hath appeared marvellous in thy eyes pondering on from the past : but mark what I told thee in the beginning of the year, thdt year, was a Type of the end. And how could I so clearly free the Fall of the Woman* if I had not suffered thee by every way satan could invent to be tried and tempted to the uttermost ? And how could I so clearly shew My power that! kept thee in the midst of Temptations, if I had not suffered thee to be tempted? Now, I tell thee, if men discern and weigh the Book deep, they must discern it was impossible for simple Women to be together in all the wondrous working that came to thee, if My presence had not been with you : fears, I say, would have alarmed the whole. Now, I tell thee as thy poidenng thoughts have been; so are the. pondering thoughts of Many; for all hearts are known to Me. Therefore, I worked in thy heart and thoughts the perfect thoughts I know are in others ; that I may answer them by thee ; as thou knowest I answered Peter, when 1 knew the thoughts of the Pharisee. I brought the Pa- rable forward to My own' Disciple : and so I tell thee I bring things forward to thee, to answer the World by thy simple thoughts. And now I tell thee as thou hast pondered, why I suffered satan to tempt and try thee : so I know men ponder from the beginning, why I suffered satan to come in that manner to tempt, and try the Woman at first? The same, I tell thee, they have pondered of Job, why I have suffered satan to try there? And others have pondered in the . Gospel, if I was the SON of God, why I should suffer satan to tempt Me ? All these pondering thoughts, I know, arc in men ; which make Many jealous of their Bibles, and fill them with unbelief. It is not consistent with the Wisdom f God, say they, that His Son should be tried 57 and tempted by; the devil ? This is known to Me, are the. thoughts of men: perfect so I tell thee of the Prophets there are many things spoken by them that I commanded for Types and Sha- dows which appear full as contrary to their Judgment, to come from the Wisdom of a God, as the Parables I have ordered thee to pen. Therefore, I tell thee to shew them My Bible in all its Simplicity and Truth, I have permitted the Likeness of the whole to come to thee ix tiils age; that men may see the- Truth of My Bible, when they have seen the clear Truth of My Visitation to thee, and thy Prophecies. For, I now tell thee the hearts of men are known to Mc, There is not a. pondering thought in thy heart) that can appear simple in thy Writings, that doth not appear simple to men in tiie. Bible. And I tell thee there are Thousands and Tens of Thou- sands, whose, hearts are concealed from tiie World, but their hearts are not concealed from Me; for every thought is. known to Me and though they boast of the Scriptures of Truth ; yet, I tell thee, they do not believe the Scrip- tures are true: neither do they believe they will ever be FULi^t^i^i^^tTf^ap pears simple like thy Writings to Thousands : therefore, if it was not for Prophecies to awaken them out of their unbelief, the Nation would perish 'like the World of Old. Therefore, thy pondering thoughts are worked by ME, to shew tiie perfect state of man, how-they ponder in re;u.linj; the ' tfefciptares. For, I now tell thee the Song tliOsG dispised so much in thy heart, is not morexlespised oy thee, than My Bible is by Thousands. Andi I'.teli tnee conscious guilt will hereafter coadeiilia-. utfuny, 58 when they see thy Prophecies fulfilled ; that they have looked upon My Bible with as much dislike, as thou lookest upon that Song and they take as much in question the devil's tempting the Woman in the beginning why I should permit it: as thou ponderest in thy heart why I permitted all thy temptations, and for what use they were printed. But I tell thee for what use they were printed ? To prove to mankind the truth of My Words the perfect enmity between thee and satan, which is plainly proved from thy First Visitation; and from the enmity they must see the promise, " that the serpent's head must be bruized" Therefore, I tell thee and all men, thy Visitation, and thy Prophecies, are no addition to the Scriptures; but a fulfil- ment of the Scriptures. Therefore, I tell thee, no man can say thou hast added thereto; or took therefrom : but perfect as the words were spoken, perfect so they are now fulfilling, and that every Soul will know, I have begun, and I shall make an end." ON THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOK OF, WHAT MANNER OF COMMUNICATIONS ARE THESE t " And now come to the beginning of the Book, and mark from thy First pondering thoughts, the happiness thou feltest in obeying; and the fears thou hadst in disobeying : -yet, these thing? 59 appeared to thee simple to stand in print j-^-but to thy simple thoughts I shall answer? How could I bring all tilings to your remembrance from the Foundation of the World to this day, to lay the whole state of the Woman before your view ? Her first simplicity? Her first Innocence, if I did not bring the Shadow of the likeness in thee? Now, I tell thee from thy thoughts and simple pondering was the first thought and conduct of Eve ; that she would stand to her first words, and disputed with the serpent, saying, she should fall from her happiness, if she went from them. This, I tell thee was the beginning : put mark what followed as thy fears arose thou hadst disobeyed concerning the Book being wrongly placed ; and all the horrors of hell arose in thee by My permission, to shew the perfect state in the beginning, I permitted thee, though inno- cent, to fear thou hadst acted wrong and I permitted satan to work every honor in thee, that I well knew he worked in Eve : that you might perfectly see the likeness of the Creation what was the Woman's first simple innocence what her next horror and confusion after she was betrayed like thy horror when thou wast filled with jealousy, fearing thou hadst disobeyed. Here stands the perfect likeness of the Woman in the Creation, in the beginning of thy Bopk, that appears simple to thoe ; and I tell thee as simple it appeareth to Many ; because they do not de- cern My footsteps, to call every thing clear to Men's Remembrance. And now I shall come further to the purpose of the Fall -when I entered strong into thee, know, the words I spoke within thee against the tempter- I said H 2 60 " That hell should tremlde, and should fear. p Tliese were the first words I spoke to thee, when I entered within to comfort thee, and to condemn that evil power, that so strongly sought thy ruin. -Then, now compare this with the Creation " the serpent said unto the Woman, yea, hath God, said, ye shall not eat of every Tree of the Garden ? " And the Woman said unto the serpent, we " may eat of the Fruit of the Trees of the G arden : " but of the Fruit of the Tree which is in the " midst af the Garden, God hath said, ye shall not " eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. " And the serpent said unto the Woman, ye " shall not surely die. " For God doth know, that in the day ye eat U thereof? then your eyes shall be opened: and ' k ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil." Now, I tell thee from this chapter is the per- fect simplicity of the Woman, that was in thee in the beginning of the Book. Her innocence was betrayed; and her misery came on By her the Truth was spoken ; as every true word was spoken by thee when thou wast in agonies of sorrow. In the beginning M'hcn thou feltest joy, thou didst speak the truth in the simplicity of thy heart and when thou feltest sorrow and despair, thou didst speak the Truth of the feelings of thy heart. Then now see the true state of the beginning " The Lord said unto the Woman, what is this thou hast done r And the Woman said, the ser- pent beguii'd me, and I did eat?" Then now see the likeness together; for Eve's last words were spoken with truth, I tell thee, in agony and dis- pair. Then see My answer " The Lord God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, 61 thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the Field : upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life."- Now, let men discern liie perfect likeness of My words to the old Serpent, the devil, when he had betrayed the Woman, and caused her Fall and My words when I appeared in thee, saying, ; the devil had laid his Net, and he should surely fall therein* Let them weigh them both together, and see the likeness of My Love and Anger and My Fury against the arts of hell. Now come to the following words " I will put enmity between thee and the Woman, and between thy seed, aud her seed :-**- it shall bruize thy head." Then, now mark the words I spoke within thee, that I would make hell tremble and fear ; and redeem man from hm power; for I should conquer hell they should no longer bruize My heel ; but My Fury should fall on hell. Now, let them weigh these together; then they will see the perfect likeness of the Creation now brought back, and called to then* Remembrance, and laid before their view by the simple manner I have worked in thee, to place the whole before them. And now mark the Chapter further " The Lord God said, Behold the Man is become as one of us, to know good i and evil and now lest he put forth his hand, ' and take also of the Tree of Life, and eat, and live for ever. Therefore, die Lord God sent hirri forth from the Garden o( Fden, to till the ground ' from whence he was taken. So HF drove out ' the man; and HF placed a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the Tree of Life.' Now, weigh these words with the words which were further spoken in 17 and 18th m pages of Foley's Book I said, what was done in the Secret* Chamber should be made known upon the House Top : for I said, I would clear every mystery. And now I will tell thee, every mystery 1 will clear, to prove every thing from the begin- ning, and to shew the likeness of every Shadow. And now come to the new creation. The new Covenant that I said I would make with man: and how I placed the forbidden Fruit? But here thou hast pondered in thy heart they were never put to the Trial ? To this I answer They were not put to the Trial, when thy Trial was, because none but Friends were present and the others refused to come: so they have not yet been put to that trial: neither. was satan's Trial, when thy Trial was his head was not bruized with My Heel, though the words stand together : neither is the Tree of Life come to man, that the Sword was placed to keep for man. All is not yet fulfilled : and yet I tell thee from thy pondering thoughts, are the thoughts of Thou- sands concerning the Bible. Thou judgest thy Trial is over, and no forbidden Fruit appeared to be rejected or reproved: therefore, the Command I gave thee Mas of no use; without considering " there is a day to come, when THOU WILT FIND THE USE OF ALL." N OW, 1 tell thee, like thy thoughts thinking all was fulfilled, that thou hast nothing more to fear from the Command which was given in the NEW COVENANT: perfect so men judge the Bible they think all is over; the time is past Mv Heel was bruized All was fmishe \-^ there is no future day to come, to bruize the serpent's head. As thou hast been pondering in thy heart, there is no day to come to try the Forbidden Fruit ; so 6S men judge there is no clay to come for the evil to be tried* for the Promise to be claimed: for the Tree of Life (that was preserved) to be obtained by man. All they judge is passed by, and forget, as thon judgest by thy Trial, all is passed by, and the caution was of no use; but, I tell thee a day uill come when thou wilt find the caution to be of use and perfect so they will find the Scriptures the days are coming when allshai.l be fulfilled. Now, mark further of Cain- after the first sorrow of Eve was- over, her sorrows begun again by Cain's murdering Abel And now mark how thy sorrows begun again by the strong temptations of the devil? how the horror of hell came upon thee, more than thou knewest how to bear, after thou hadst felt the Power of My Spirit, and the Promise I had made thee ? Here bejmn the Shadow of Eve in thee how the powers of darkness attacked her ? What horror and misery she felt, when one was slain, and the other tied ? Here begun the Shadow of Eve in the beginning of thy Book. OJV JVO4H. Now I shall come to Noah Therefore, I ordered thee particularly to put thy life in print, that they may see how the Creation goes on from the Shadow of thy simple life. Now, mark whew the sons of men had provoked Me to anger by their sins and disobedience, that I said, I would destroy tlcm, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And now let them mark the Shadow in Thee jas Noah was the only man that I said VtLs- 1 a just and perfect man that walked- before God, and found favor in My sight perfect so was the name with thee. But now I shall come to the mystery of the name. Though Noah found favor in My sight, and did all that I commanded him, and man was preserved in the Ark that Noah built. Here Noah showed his love to Me, and I to him : yet, know from Noah the Covenant of Peace was not established for know, how soon Noah's anger, was kindled against his Son. Here was Innocence and Peace,, Love aud Unity soon broken. off between the Father and the Son: per- fect as thy Love was broken -off- for here satan took advantage to work between them, that their Love and Unity should be turned into anger. Now, mark the Covenant that I made with Noah if Be ye Fruitful and multiply, bring forth * Abundance in the Earth: and I will establish \ My- Covenant with you neither shall All Flesh ' be cut off any more by the Waters of a Flood * I do set My Bow in the Cloud, and it shall be * for a Token of a Covenant between Me and * the Earth." Now mark after this Covenant, the Covenant of Peace was broken with Noah and his Sons. How was their Love turned to anger and confusion ? And sin, and sorrow en- creased as before ? Though I tell thee, My Love to man to preserve him in the Ark was perfect like thy Love to Noah and though My Covenant !\as made not to destroy the Earth any more by he Flood, and the Bow stands a mark to this day as thy Love stands on Record : so do My Bow stand on Record of the Covenant I made with Noah, and is seen in the Clouds. But, how did man go on to wound My Heart, and grieve My Love, to turn from Me alter I had shewn so muefc 65, Lore tp him ? And yet discern thq beginning the strength of his Faith- the obedience of bi# Love, in what manner he begun by every obcl.- ence; and yet see how soon the whole was chilled ? And sec in what maimer his Sons went on, that the Generations of Noah was soon broken off from love; as thy Love and his was broken off. But now mark where stands die fault ? Was the fault in the Woman there ? I tell thee< No 1 ^nd yet thou sayest in thy heart, if I bring the Parable to thee, there was fault in the Woman to break it off, because there was fault in thee to break off the love : so thou sayest in thy heart, that the Woman stands still condemned from Noah and his Sons, as well as from Adam ? To this I answer the powers of darkness have been pur- suing you ever since the Creation, raid by the ad- vantage he had over the Woman, is pleading the promise of man's death, and by every art is working his destruction. Ana 1 novy I tell thee from Noah and his Sons, if he could not gain the advantage over the Woman,, bP would not have rested till he hati over the man. for I now tell thee as thou ponderest in thy heart the time is past of the Forbidden Taut that I placed in men, jthat refuse Me coming in the Spirit to the Woman, as a Helpmate for man: so would satan have worked in man, if he could not have betrayed the Woman, the time was past and the things were forgotten; as Noah and his Sons forgot what destruction Sin had brought upon Mankind., Therefore, I tell thee, satan would have found a way to tempt men to evil, if he had not don it in the beginning but as he had done it in th beginning, and the blame by man was cast on th J 66 Woman, and on his Maker for giving him the Woman then, know the words that I have told thee, that I will clear My Honor by the hand of the Woman to the shame and confusion of men, who now blame My Visitation to the Woman, to claim the Promise for the destruction of satan, that caused her Fall. For, 1 nOw tell thee, if men discern the Love of Women for Me, and their Love for the good of Mankind It hath been like thy love to Noah : but here thou sayeafe in thy heart in thy love thou wast to blame, be- cause by thee the love was broken off? Now, I tell' thee as that perfect Innocence was id the Woman, so satan's arts broke oif die love which brought on the sorrow to Mankind. Therefore, in tiiis I'll not blame thee : but I tell thee the Standard of thy Love that is placed in the Book is to shew My Love to man in the case of Noah to preserve him in the Ark ^-and his Love, Faith, and Obedience, in building the Ark, and still to shew it was broken off from being a lasting and happy L T nion between God and man and perfect so I tell thee in all ages, where there was love it caused sorrow ; as satan trieth to break it off, and to cause discord between God and man. ' There- fore, thy simple history is but a Shadow to shew how things went on, and how thy Love was broken off to shew the shadow of the Deluge how soon the love was broken oft* after My won- .dlrous deliverance to man. 6* ON PARABLES. '* Now \ t 'EAT are My Promises in the beginning; and \e, how SETERE are My threatenings ai-ti let them wf.igh it wnh the manner qf My Yfeitafjqn to thee, i said, My ^ViTge-ir and My Fary should go forth ; and My Lo^iug-kindncss should save to tjie utmost- Aqd now mark in this Chapter I said in the begin- ning, " My Doctrine should dro" as ih< Rain; ]vly Speech shouM distil as the Dew, as the small Rain upon the tender Herbs, and as the Showers, upon the Grass." Now, I tell thee from thesp word* if men discern them, I have shewn My Great Promises to the sons of men, that abide in My Covenant ; and in the same Chapter I have shewed My severe threatenings to them that de- spise my Counsels. Now, let men weigh this with the manner of My Visitation to thee, then they will discern the Likeness of My words unto Moses that frocu One Spirit came the whole. For, I pow tell thee thy Visitation hath. not been c|ceply decerned by man, to weigh it with the Prophets, that Love and A -tiger is mired, together Promises and Threatenings to shew. you. the End. And know, I have told thee from the Books of Mo;es, there are many things that stand yr the End. And now let men discern hi wh,)t manner was My Visitation -to thee j and let them dis- cern in what manner My Spirit has been striving with man Thou sayest in thy Heart in reading through the Books of Motes it appeareth to thee, as though the LORD had visited the Earth fre- quently during the FORTY YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS, as though HE had been upon the Earth ; the same as HE was in the days of the fte*rn? f lUpiVjL I teU,.thcc from %- pondering thoughts, J .^Vi^nsw^r t u p i i kst is last ; and tus : AT is fihsTv For, IN' THE SPIRIT was My strong Visitation to man in the^ begin- ning : and in* the s pi hit will be My strong Visitation in the ex ding but how could I vUit Moses in the Spirit in the manner I hare vwted thee? What knowledge had man of the Spirit being visited witjiix before I came in the tlcsh, to tell them in what maimer My Spirit should visit mankind ? .Now, I tell thee, this was made known by the Gospel, which was not made known to the Prophets of Old : therefore, My Visitation must appear visible; or, they could not know they were visited by the Lord. lUit dost thou vainly believe the God of Heaven The Creator of tlic Universe, was abiding upon the Earth, to be always conversing with Moses, as thou dost suppose ? I tell thee, no ! The Power of My Spirit was with Moses, and lie was often visited by Angela, as Messengers, to declare M^y Will and now I tell thee no more than thou knowest when thou art visited power- fully by My Spirit, and when thou art vjsited by Angels, as Ministers : no more did Moses know who visited him. For, I now tell thee after I appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai ; in the Burning Bush and went before Him, to deliver the cbildren of Israel: if I sent My Angels unto Him in My Name, I ask thee, if Moes could tell any more than thou canst tell, whether there is any different Spirit, or Power that visits thee Hut I know thy pondering thoughts? A different Power thou hast TWICE PELT; in thy First Visitation in- 179-, when 1 told thee K 74 #f what was coming upon the Earth; it was with Power and made thee tremble and a greater Power thou didst feel in My strong Visitation to thee in the year that is past (1804) And now I ask thee if thou couldest continue to bear the powerful Visitation of My Spirit in the like mariner always ? In thy heart thou answerest, no ! -Then now I answer thee of Moses Mark how he feared and trembled when I appeared to Him in the Bush (Exodus Srd chapter 6th verse). Then how canst thou simply suppose, that a mere man could be so freely and frequently conversing with his God, to come down in My Bodily Presence, as a God arrayed in Majesty ? For, know it is said, * None shall see My face and live." Therefore, I tell thee thy thoughts were simple, to judge I was forty tears upon the Earth in the Wilderness con- versing with Moses as man with man ? I tell thee, no! and yet in the spirit I strongly visited Moses which made his face shine, that the children of Israel could not look on Him when I had visited him strong, And perfect so I tell thee was My powerful voice in thee: but, I ask thee who could pen the words if I had con- tinued in the strength of My Spirit to have been in thee? I tell thee, ye can as well bear to look in the fervent Sun when it shines in all its Splen- dor; as bear the powerful Visitation of My Spirit. For, I now tell thee, when I visited thee in Power so strong, at Bristol, in 1 804 : thy own Spirit fell before Me ; and so I tell thee la all My strong Visitations therefore, thy senses seemed gone. Then how can the Spirit of the Lord, and your Spirits bear witness together, jf I visit so strong to overpower your Spirits more 73 than ye can. bear .?. Now, perfect so \ tell the of Moses * To be conversing with God, as thou, supposed as man with man through the wilderness,, is more than man could bear. And yet I tell thee My Spirit was upon Moses ; or He could not have borne the murmuring of the children of Israel : and by My Angels lie was visited. Therefore, 1 tell thee, the first is last, and the last is first THE VISITATION OF THE SPIRIT. And now I tell thee oi: the Burning Bush when I appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai Like the first will be the last when I come to destroy satan's host, and free My People from his power ; as it was when I came to destroy Pharoah and his host : for know it is written, " he that doth let, will let, till he be taken out of the way ; whom the Lord shall consume with the brightness of His Coming"- then the Burning Push must, appear. Here I have shewed thee from the Books of Moses w hat were the Shadows in the beginning ;- and what the Substance must be in the ending und what *s the likeness of My Visitation to thee. And now I tell thee, no more than the children of Israel could look on Moses without a veil be- tween, when his face shined with the Glory of the Lord: no more can thy Believers look into the mystery of My strong Visitation to thee with- out having a veil between* that they cannot clearly discern the mystery of thy walking to and fro, speaking words in My. name, as though I was present in thee; for strong I teli thee was My Spirit then within thee. But I ask thee, how thou couldest bear the Continuation ? Or, how couldest thy friends, bear to write from, thee ? And yet I tell thcc in this manner f visited th#e, I that tfhey'might know and see the Powor o# A In- spirit ; and from whence thy Visitation was, bv tiie words that -were uttered when' thy 'Sense* seemed gone: because P f#l thee, *& Poivdr o My Spirit 'when it cometh in Power is mbi'-e -than your frail natures can bear. Now 1ct thein wcigli> these things together- tatfftft the Scriptures I have ordered thee to point out; and let them discern My answer to thy Visitation at that time. Now, I Shall answer thy pondering thoughts in reading through the Books of Moses unto Samuel how many things hast thou discerned- appeared as simple to be put in tliO Bible, as THE HIS- TORY of thy life Can possibly appear for in reading over thy own- Books, thou ponderest in thy heart to what usC'wcre these things printed, as they appear simple. Perfect so thou hast pondered of the Bible. And to thy pondering thoughts I answeiv How could man be Judge Between God and man, unless they read through the Bible, and see My different dealings wheri 1 sent blessings; and when I sent Judgments; if the history of their lives was not penned. * Therefore, 1 tell thee, these things that appear simple to thee to be put in print; is to- -shew what was in man; and how they provoked ME to anger, to turn My Blessings into Judgments, And how often hast thou pondered in- thy heart what Mad-men were the .Jews, to go oiv as they did, after being tried so often with Blessings, and with Judgments ? Now, I tell thee in this man- ner it was known to ME, All Ages would con- tinue for like the past; so are the present; though their crimes are not of the same nature. Thou sayest in this Land -they do not appear so 77 perverse as the Jews were? To this I answer, is thy eye like MINE to be every where ? Arc all things open to thy view, as to MINE ? Thou a-nswerest, no !- And now look to the Nations abroad, and see the evils that are there ? There- fore, I tell thee like the Nations past, are the present. Every act of sin and cruelty is now done under the Sun while sat n walks to and fro, as a roaring lion seeking whom lie may devour. Therefore;, I tell thee, thy Visitation that appear- eth simple, is a true and simple warning to man; to shew that I have jjegux", and I will make an end. And marie what came upon the Prophets as Types and Shadows of what should come upon the Nations perfect so I tell thee will My Visitation be in Love and Anger.* All These Communications were taken from the Mouth of Joanna Southcott, by ANN UNDERWOOD, and in the presence of JANE TOJVNLEW - i . .., THE CONCLUSION. . WHEN we calmly and without prejudice take a comprehensive view of the honest and artless History of Joanna Southcott as pourtrayed in these Books of her Life, we must confess the Simplicity and Innocence that runs through them are strong marks of the full Truth of her pretensions, and of her Divine Mission. For where is the Person can exhibit to the World the true history of their lives from the beginning to the end- ing, and say, with a safe Conscience appeal- ing to God and man, that it has been more pure and spotless than what Joanna Sou'thcott's hath been ? I do not believe there is that Being under Heaven can now do it, and de- clare the Truth. For this must be remem- bered, that She hath kept nothing back, but has nobly and boldly penned her foibles 80 her mistakes and her errors, that She may be able to shame and confound all Enemies, by appealing to the Standard of Truth for the Sincerity and uprightness of her Conduct and that She has evcr-had^n vie.w in all her Dealings with the World, to have a Con- science void of offence, and clear of Self-re- proach towards God and towards man. And Ik re I am happy in testifying that ever since my acquaintance with her in the year 1801, I have iound TRUTH, HONOR, and PIETY to rule all her Actions ; and that the Glory of God, and the Welfare of men, have been the first and fervent desire of her heart. Tne following observation I shall now make. How. could the World have been enabled to judge between God and man had not the Lives and Histories of the Jews been penned ? And how could men now judge between God and the Woman if the perfect History of Joanna Southcott's life did not appear before them ? And by her life which is now iaith- fully. given, men may judge of the Truth, or Falsehood other Claims and from her life, let Jhpse, who boast of Religion, and say they are more Righteous than her call their 81 own lives and true Histories before them, and I am persuaded, conscious Guilt will stop the mouths of all her Accusers. . I know, it has been rashly an^ wickedly asserted by Igno- rant, Vain-boasting, and Self-righteous men that Joanna Southeott has been led on under the influence of satan ; but did they know, the truth of her character, and the truth of her writings, they would be then more hum- ble and less positive ; fearing they might be deceived by the arts of the evil one, and NOT HER. And how will these wise and self-confident men be astonished and ca*t down, when they see in the end, the wis- dom of God to shine with truth and lustre in the very Books which they have so condemn- ed : and which will also prove the truth of that Scripture, that "the wisdom of this "World is foolishness with God." A^ain he it further remarked, how could men and devils be ashamed and confounded if the true and . faithful History of Joanna Southcoti's life had not been drawn ? And if nothing simple ; foolish, or wrong, had appeared in her con- duct, might not Satan have upbraided her ? And might not the World have condemned L 82 her with this enquiry? She hath penned one part of her life, but are we sure she hath pen- ned THE WHOLEof it ? And how could She have answered with a clear Conscience She had, if ought had been kept hack ? But now She can boldly come forward and challenge all, and defy them to prove anything of im- portance is withheld in her whole History, but that TRUTH hath ever directed her and we know, the Lip of Truth will be es- tablished for ever. Now, from the Simplicity and Innocence of her life, if satan huth decei- ved her ; there is room for every man to fear and from the manner of her Visitation, if we look to the Prophets we shall see how Types and Shadows were placed in them, in like manner as they are placed in her and this is a clear proof, that we are not supporting a Delusion or a Cunningly devised Fable, but the mighty work of JEHOVAH : because we are acting agreeable to the Oracles of Truth. The next thing that claims our attention is the Visitation of Joanna Southcott, and which 1 shall compare with the Scrip- tures. 83 We must know, that our Blessed Lord told us in His Gospel the Visitation of His Spirit would come ; and in that perfect man- ner as HE described it in the 3rd chapter of St. John : so hath it come to Joanna South* cott. And we have never heard of any Per- son since the time of our Saviours being upon Earth, that hath been visited by Angels as the Prophets were in days of old : but all Visitations have been from the Inspiration of the Spirit WITHIN for, HE says, "The Kingdom of Heaven is WITHIN You, And again The Spirit of Truth shall come to guide you into all Truth and our Lord told His Disciples, that it was His Father that spoke WITHIN them: and from His Conference with Nicodemus He saith, Those that are born of the Spirit, HEAR THE SPIRIT, as ye HEAR THE WIND. "Now, from these Passages and Many more, that might be brought torward, we are fully assured, there would be a Visitation of the Spirit, and that this would continue ; for it is written, " Lo, I am with you to the End. And again The God or* Truth shall lead you into all "Truth. But how can the God of L 2 M Truth lead us into All Truth 'without the Visitation of His Spirit? Or, how can the Spirit of the Lord bear witness with our Spirits u itHoift^is Visitation ? Or, how can we try tile Sf/irrts; to know whether they are of God in'nere'be'no Spirits to try ? And how can v/elthittiih'Xhe Spirit, if the* Spirit' doth not Visit? We surely cannot quench it. And how can we des])Le Prophecies, if no Pro- phecies are given ? We surely cannot despise tlicrn. Now, from these and many more "Words to the same purpose, it is clear and evident that there were to be Prophecies, as well as' a Visitation of the Spirit in the latter days ; And we have examined the Prophecies of Joanna Southcott by the Touchstone of Truth, in the most open, fair, and public manner, and to the best of our Judgments from clear and full evidence produced be- fore us, we have THREE TIMES declared to the World, that they came from the God of Truth : but we cannot say how All her Prophecies will be fulfilled, no more than we can say how all the Prophecies of the Gospel will be fulfilled : yet, we know the Words of the Lord are, " Yea and dmen" 85 and that He will at His own appointed time strictly execute what He hath promised and thus we have no doubt but He will in His Wn good pleasure faithfully perform the Glorious Promises made to His Chosen Handmaid ; because it has been PROVED thdt they have flowed from the Fountain of Truth. Now, if we examine the Books of Moses we shall find, that many Prophecies given to him were literally fulfilled in the Jews of Old. "We see, they possessed the Pro- mised Land, as Moses foretold them. We see, they were disobedient again as Moses foretold them. "We see, they were scattered again as Moses foretold them. We see, their hearts and thoughts were foretold by Moses. For as the Lord told him they would do, they really and actually did do. So that many things of Moses came perfectly true to the Jews : and yet, All his Prophecies are not completely fulfilled concerning the Twelve Tribes of Israel, Now, if we look to David and Solomon we shall see many things fulfilled, tho\gh not All; for the Psalms are not fulfilled ; neither are the Pro- phecies of Solomon fulfilled ; and yet it was 86 fulfilled of Solomon's departing from the Lord ; and the House that He built in Honor to the Lord was destroyed, and his kingdom .was divided. And thus if we exam iiie all the Prophets, we shall find One part is ful- filled, and the Other not. ,TThe same obser- vation we may make of the Gospel. One part is fulfilled: and the other not. Jerusalem was destroyed the Jews were scattered the Disciples were put to death Our Blessed Lord was put to death according toHisPredic- tion; and He rose again according to His Words. All these things were spoken of by Christ before He was put to death, and before any of them were accomplished. So these Truths are past ; and there are many more to come to fulfil the Gospel. For, we find in the 21st chapter of Luke, 25th verse "And there shall be signs in the Sun, and in the Moon, and in the Stars: and upon the Earth DISTRESS of Nations, with perplexity the Sea and the Waves Roaring: men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming upon the Earth : for the powers of Heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man come with 87' Power and great Glory. Arc! when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your Heads; for lo ! YOUR REDEMPTION" DRAWETH NIGH. ** Now, this hath not yet taken place ; though it assuredly will in GOD's appointed time for it is written, * This Generation, (viz. un- der the Fait ) shall not pass away till all be fulfilled. Heaven and Earth shall pass away ; but My Words shall not pass away," Again, it is written in the 1 4th chapter of St. John the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things, and bring all things to your Remembrance " for our Blessed SAVIOUR expressly says in the 17th verse "The Spirit of Truth whom theWorld cannot receive, because itseethllim not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him, for //edwelleth with you, and shall be in you." And this is the Comforter that our Lord said, HE would pray the Father, that HE should give unto us, to abide for ever. So the Gospel is plain of an Inward Visitation of the Spirit of the Lord: and without THAT no Prophecies can be depended upon and in 88 this manner we can affirm and testify, that the Visitation to Joanna Southcott hath been literally fulfilled : and therefore, we have the Scriptures for our guide, to know what Spirit dwelleth with her, and is in her, even the Spirit of Truth, which is testified by the Truth. See, 15th chapter of St John, 28th verse, and the 16th and 13th verse. If we examine the Prophets we shall find in the 31st chapter of Jeremiah and 33d verse, that it is written, " After those days saith the Lord, I will put my Law in their inward Parts, and write it in their hearts : and will be their God, and they shall be My People. And they shall teach no more every man his Neighbour, and every man his Bro- ther, saying, know the Lord ; for they shall all know Me, from the least of Them unto the greatest of Them, saith the Lord : for I will forgive their Iniquity, and I will re- member their Sin no more." The Words of Kzekiel upon this Subject are too important to be passed by. . "Then will I sprinkle clean Water upon you, and ye shall be clean : from all your filthiness, and from all your Idols will I.cleanse you. A New Heart 89 I will I also give you, and a Neto Spirit will I also put within you : I will take away the Heart of Stone out of your Flesh, and I will give you a Heart of Flesh. -And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My Statute^, and ye shall keep My Judg- ments and do them. Ezek. 36 chap, 25, 27, v. And the words of Joel were confirmed by St. Peter in the 2nd chap, of the Acts, 17th verse. "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God. I will pour out my Spirit upon All Flesh, and your Sons and your Daughters shall Prophecy.' 1 Now, if we search the Law and the Gospel, we shall clearly perceive that Prophecies will come in the latter days, and that there must be a Visi- tation of the Spirit to fulfil the Scriptures and we have as strong grounds for this belief, as ever the Prophets had of old to rely upon the Visitation of Angels: because it is affir- med by God, and we know that Man cannot reverse it. And further when we reflect how the Lord condescended to \isit Man in all Ages of the World and when we reflect how He condescended to visit Moses in the Bush, and upon Mount Sinai, and upon M 90 the Altar and how He sent His Angels to guide him through the Wilderness, and how He declared His mind to Moses concern- ing the Children of Israel, and how He vi- sited the Prophets to declare His will to the People and afterwards, His infinite Love to Man, to have the son of His Bosom come down from Heaven, to bear our Sins, and to die for our Transgressions, that HE might reconcile the whole World onto God; I say, when we weigh the whole together we must believe HIM to be a God of Truth ; and that He will be with us to the end according to His Words. W T e must be- lieve also, that from the Visitation of His Spirit True Knoivledge will come to Man, which I have clearly, and I trust, decidedly proved, from the Scriptures must take place in order to fulfil them* Once more then, we are happy in pub- licly declaring to the World this mighty Truth, that JOANNA SOUTHCOTT IS VISI- TED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD. We can prove, whenever called upon, in the most satisfactory manner, that many of her Public Predictions concerning This, and 91 Other Nations from 1792 to this day have already come to pass: as well as many private Predictions respecting Herself and Believers. And from these Truths that are past, we have the strongest Assurance to be- lieve that the rest will follow in their deter- mined hour : for never did any Prophecies come on so fast, so true, and so clear, as what Her's have done since the begin- ning of time. Besides, She hath opened the Bible in such an astonishing and wonderful manner, from the First chapter in Genesis to the Last chapter in the Revelations Recon- ciling all difficulties and setting forth the whole Plan of the ALMIGHTY concerning His Justice, Truth, Mercy, and Goodness to His Creatures concerning His Irreversible Decrees and concerning the fulfilment of that Golden Book, as no one ( except the Lord were with them ) could have done, no more than they could have made this Terres- trial Globe : and therefore, we have sure and fixed Grounds to believe THE PRO- MISE made in the Creation is now arrived to be accomplished viz For THE WOMAN to be THE HELPMATE of man. m 3 92 Hear what the Spirit says in the 37th page of the First Book of Sealed Prophe- cies ** But now your Helpmate strong is come, That Earth and Hell miiy rage in vain,- Your every Victory now T'll gain, To prove your Helpmate now is good, And Fll fulfil My Father's word : And Safari's arts are all in vain By his own Sword he shall be slain. So let the Learned now appear, And answer what I've spoken here: And then I'll answer thee again Men with their Maker now contend, 1 say, as Adam did at first ; And now's the time for ME to burst, And cast the ev'ry fault on Man, As you reject her written hand ; Which you so soon received at first, To have the evil fruit to burst; ME and MY followers for to kill ; And so your Guilt hangs hov'ring still, Until I do turn back the Dart, And plunge it in the rebel's heart, By the same hand that he betray'd Therefore the oath to thee was made : And where's the Man will blame thy* Prayer? MY Kingdom he shall never share. So here's the Justice of a God . "Embrace MY Love ; ox fear MY Rod." And now I shall conclude with ad- dressing a few Words to my dear Brethren, and Fellow-labourers in this Blessed and Glo- See 97 page of the Fifct Book of the Sealed PropLcciw. 93 nous Cause. Permit me to remind you, that we are embarked in a Voyage of the greatest, and most momentous Concern, that was ever undertaken by the Sons of men. It is a Voyage of Discovery. Oh may it close to us as a Circumnavigation of Charity, Peace, and Love ! We are now in the midst of a Tempestuous Ocean, where many Diffi" cuities and Dangers await us : and therefore, we must prepare our Souls for Trials and Temptations. What, if from our First setting out until now, the Wind has been fair, and our Passage favorable: yet, we must not flat- ter Ourselves with vain hopes, that it will thus hold with us to the end : (or No one ever reached the Shore of the Heavenly-Canaan without meeeting a Storm by ihe way. Moses, Job, and David, and All the Renown- ed in holy Writ bear witness to this Truth : Nay, the Son of God Himself had a Conflict with the sharpest Storm that Nature ever felt ; for the Prince of the power of the Air, and all the potentates of Darkness conspired to heighten the fury and the horrors of it : and it was so tremendous, that it shook both Heaven and Earth. How, then, can 94 We hope to escape without encountering some adverse Gales? But, be not dismayed, the/ the Wind and the Waves may be against us; though fearful Dangers should be in our way: yet, let us make Resolutely for the Canaan-Shore. Forget not, that we are already half-way on our Voyage, and should we now turn back, " The Bear would meet us, and our bones would break." Better then, far belter, if we needs must Perish, to Perish in the right way. Shrink not then from your Posts, nor cast a longing, lingering look upon this vain and deceitful World; but set your faces unalterably fixed upon the Promised Land. Let us neither faint, nor slacken our Diligence to hold oh our Course, though the Waters Rage and Swell and though, the Mountains shake because of the Tempest : but let us put our firm trust in the Lord, knowing, HE will deliver us out of all Storms, and will carry us in the c?id into a Haven of rest, that rest which remain- eth for the People of God. And now () Blessed Lord, who hast appointed Thy Chosen Servants to many diffi- culties and dangers for the trial of their Faith and Constancy; and lor the Glory of Thy 95 Name in their Deliverance : suffer not the Spirit of thy Feeble Ones to fail before Thee in the day of their calamity and distress : but be with them in every Storm, and stand by them in every temptation. Thou bust graci- ously promised, that when we pass through the Waters Thou wilt be with us : and that when we pass through the Fire we shall not be burnt. Be it unto us, O Lord accor- ding to Thy Word. Let neither the fear nor the favor of men prevent us from sup- porting the Cause of God and Truth. Let us now prove Ourselves Children of the Free Woman, knowing, that when THE SON shall make us FREE, we shall be FREE INDEED that His Spirit will Jortify our souls against all opposition, and will make us VALIANT for the truths before us and here if we prove Faithful to the Grace and Appointment given us we have nothing to fear; but shall be carried safe through all Trials and Troubles of every kind : for HE that Rideth upon the White Horse is our LEADER and DEFENDER : and HE hath a Bow to Wound His Adversaries, and a Crown to give his True and Gold-tried Fol- lowers, and HE goeth forth Conquering and 96 to Conquer.- -But remember, to him only that overcomdh, will HE grant to sit with HIM on His Throne ; as HE also * c Overcame, and is set down with His Father 4t on His Throne." THO. P. FOLEY. Oldswinford,- December 21, 1 805. I r- Sold by E. I. Field, No. 139, near Bloomsbury Couit, High Holborn; C. Abbot East End of Old-street ; W. Tozer, Lambeth-road, St. George's Fields, London : Also by W. Symonds, Gandy-lane ; and Miss Evekighs, St. Sid well's, Exeter ; Samuel Hirst, Leeds ; and James Light, Coventry- street, Stourbridge, Woicestershire. ' -*y PRICE, ONE SHILLING & SIX-PENCE. [ntrreo at Stationer* $nn] Stourbridgt : Printed by J. Hunting, High-street. LETTERS, AND COMMUNICATIONS or JOANXA SOUTHCOTT, THE PROPHETESS OF EXETER: lately written TO JANE TOWNLEY, LUKE, 24th CHAP. 17th VERSE. " WHAT MANNER of Communications ARE THESE? " JUNE, 1804. ^o* STOURBRIDGE . PRINTED BY J. HEMING, 1804, fp LETTERS, Sec. . .. h m KiMUM W>* " JUNE \oth % 1804. Dear Miss JownJey, IT HAT new wonders arc daily presented before ray view ! I dare not suf- fer myself to indulge a thought of them ; if I did, I could not write, or keep my senses : but if we go one step from the directions the Lord hath given to me, we are lost in time, and to all Eter- nity ; fallen from the height of happiness, to the depth of misery and woe. We must stand by Eve's first words; but we are lost, if we comply, as she did, to go one step further afterwards. I would sooner go to the flames as a martyr, than go one step from the directions the Lord hath given me concerning my Trial and you must charge my friends, for their lives, NEVER to consent to ANY PROPOSALS made by any man; but say. as the Lord hath commanded it, we MUST OBEY ; for, if they consent any other way, they shall never see me: for I am determined to abide by Eve's first words, and no arts of the serpent can work in man, shall ever make me go to the second: for had she abided by the first, " Ihe Lord hath forbidden it" and stood to her word, she could not have fallen and now the devil will come in men, instead of the serpent, to try me. Therefore, we must stand to Eve's first words, and then we shall not fall, I hope, by the next post, you will be able to send them all the joys that are set be- fore them, and then let them judge for themselves; if they would run so fatal a hazard, as to go one step of their own* to do either good or evil. I am forbid from ever speaking to man any more, before I meet them in my Trial so I cannot see friend or toe, and no man must come in my presence be- fore I go to begin my journey, and then I must not speak to any man upon the road and when I arive to take my Trial, there is not one of my men friends must come to see me, before they meet me in the room and then those that are against me must enter first, having such strict charges given me; and knowing that how the serpent would try in man to betray me, to make me disobey. I began,, this morning, to ponder in my heart what Arts he could use in, man to accomplish it; but thought to myself, he might use his arts in this way to tempt men, they ought to have me first to be tried by medical men, to see if I was in my senses; hut that I thought the devil would be easily (oiled there, as they were to contend with the Twenty-four chosen men first and if they would not consent to that then, they would give it up tiiat all is right : as you, as well as so many witnesses can prove my senses as good as ever, and my understanding much clearer. Another thought came into, my head, they might make a search after me, to resolve to find me, and then I was deter- mined in my mind, not to see them, for I would shut my eyes, and keep fast my mouth that it was not all the arts of men and devils should make me open either: for I would not look on them, as Eve did on the serpent; nor dispute with them, as she did with the serpent. I am writing you my simple thoughts, because the answer to them is deep and weighty; for I was ordered to pen the ponderings of my heart. Adieu. JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. The answer of the Spirit to the above ponderings of . Joannas heart* *' NOW this has been the pondering heart of thee How thou wouldst act sooneT than disobey? And from thy heart I'll now appear, And prove that men are devils here; If they would have thee disobey, And let the serpent now to say, It is a fever of thy brain, That thou with men do thus contend Thy Maker's will for to obey ; '1 hey all shall find the woman's free . J'rom the temptations of the Fall, And from that guilt, I tell }ou all-.. And so by her the serpent's cast : But now in man he strong doe> burst ; So 'tis with man she must contend ; Because the devil's now in men-- And like the serpent do appear,-^ 6 And now from fPatil III answer here, That My simplicity is come To shew you in the woman's form I'M come the world for to redeem, Trom Adam's fall, I now tell mn And now I'll tell you of the Law, Under the fall you all must know. You all stand tainted by the fall; But bow's the time, 1 tell you'all, 1 will redeem ydu from that curse, For here the serpent now is cast-T- in true simplicity she's come, That is, in CHRIST to guide her hand In true obedience to appear - And now, Oh men, you must take care You are not in the serpent's form ; Then here's a sin you don't discern, So strong against the HOLY GHOST, If any man so bold should burst; As in her heart she'th ponder'd here, From hell that man I cannot clear; For there he ever must remain, Worse than the devil you see plain, That man in boldness must become; For now I'll answer unto man > Had satan in the serpent's form, Gone to the woman then unknown, And said he'd sting her then to death, If she refus'd the fruit to taste ! And shew'd her then his pois'nous spear. Then soon in hell he should appear: Because no blame could be in her She eat the Fruit her life to spare ; Or, else, I say, her life to save, When i had said, she should not live; If in My Power he had come, I say, My honour 't must be gone To let him reign another day, No, 'twas by arts he did betray. And they by arts may try the same, But know, vain man, if ere you come In any Violence to appear : As I've pronounc'd by satan's spear, Your sins against the HOLY GHOST, f 3. Corj. 11 chap. 3 vente, - Galatians, 4 chap. 4 ver?* And you in hell are ever lost. Because much bolder you must come, Than ever satan did assume; And 'twas by arts he did condemn, That he MY people could betray ; And so by arts he cange to thee, With every fatal threatening there; But never did to thee appear: Because that power I forbad, And ne'er would let him to proceed. And now the same, I say to man, I'll give them leave to act like him, In every threatening to appear; But ne'er approach thy person here. If they can make thee to comply With all the arts that they can try : Then I'll not cast the blame on man, If they can pluck thee from MY HAND, By any arts, or threatenings, here; But if in Power they do appear, Thinking by Pdwer thus to do ; Thy silence every soul shall know. Because as thou hast ponder'd here, And there's no answer men should hear In any word then spoke by thee, Nor, yet their face thou should'st not see* I'd sooner make thee dead and blind, Than e'er let man that Power find. And soon in hell they should appear, And they no more from ME should hear And no raor* mercy they should see, Than they would hear, and see in thee. For now I've brought the cause to man. To prove the c.m\ how all will stand : For as that chapter doth appear, Man is the serpent; I say here ; For My simplicity is come, To bring the cause, and now try man. What they would be in satan's room : For strongly in them now he's come The simple woman to betray, Ami make her now to disobey; With every art that they can do, I now allow them to pursue, Without a violence to appear; Or, we approach thy person here; 8 Unless they make thee to comply By thy consent, and Me deny.* But in thy heart I well do know, Thou say'st no arts can ever do-** If they likesatan should appear, To send the greatest offers here : As he would 've made thee Queen of hell ; And man on earth the same should swell, To say they'd make the Queen the same. They'd find in thee an equal scorn They with their Gold may perish here, And all their threatenings thou'lt not fear For My command thou wilt obey Nor Earth, nor Hell should alter thee ; Before thou had'st seen the perfect end. To no one living thou wilt bend ; But My command thou wilt obey- Then hear the words I now do say I've brought the woman, to your view, Tis for your good you all shall know : If by her words you now do stand, Then Paradise you may command. For now the serpent is in man, With all the rage of hell he's come, To see if he can me betray By any arts brought round this way. I gave him leave to work his will And try his power and his skill With all the art, he can invent, To work in man is My consent :--* Thy every virtues for to try, To see if thou wilt e'er comply To 7iew proposals made by man : Then I will own like Eve thou'st done But if like Eve thou'lt not appear, With ali thtir threatening malice here: But to her first words thou wilt stand, And say it is the LORD'S command ; The way the trial now is plac'd : And then the good Fruit they shall taste. But one step further must not go ; For there the woman found her woe And there your woes, 1 say would come. If now erne step is giv'n up to inan. From any way the trial's plac'd ; For then the Evil it wouiu burst. 9 And every woe must come on man, For then i say, you're all undone. But' if you stand unto MY word You'll find ME as a Powerful GOD, To bring REDEMPTION unto man, And find My Kingdom is nigh at Hand Because mankind i well do know, When they are convinced they wrong did go, To seek by arts for to betray, I know in mourning then they'll lay ; And all themselves they'll highly blame, And then the Serpent 1 shall shame And tell him for to act like men, Weep and repent of what he 'th done : For he shall grieve mankind no more, I'll rid him of this earthly shore; And claim the kingdoms all my own, And men as Earthly Gods shall come And Paradise on Earth shall see. So here's the mystery of the Fall: For the first words I tell you all, Must in the woman now appear ; With My Command, must all stop there* And then the Serpent must be cast, And he in hell with rage may burst: Because I know he've had his time, And now he'll find I will HAVE MINE. For so the ending shall appear. And know I always told thee here, When I redeem'd you from the Fall You must come back to Adam's call-* For the Creation 't must appear When I do come the whole to clear. And can it be another way ? I ask, My Honor, how't must lay, To say at first I laid a Plan. To be a Helpmate then for man ; As I pronoune'd it for his good. Can man so vainly judge their God, Should let the devil ME betray, And turn ME back another way ? And tell ME I should not go through, The Plan I'd laid would never do ? But now, to do it, 1 AM come; And Satan may consult with man, B 10 To turn it back another way They both together may agree If they an art can now invent Thy heart in sunder for to rend ; And make thee disobey My will ; Then I'll give up to Satan's skill, That he hath work'd to act in man, If they thy heart can now o'ercome - Then men shall say there is a God; But not in Power as 'tis said ; Nor yet in Wisdom so DIVINE, If they can make the heart of thine, To yield to them another way, Than I have laid the Plan for thee'\ Now, my dear Miss Townley, must not we be worse than Mad-men and Fools deserving pun* ishment worse than the devil, if we draw back to dishonor GOD, after His unbounded love and goodness to man ? (Signed) JOANNA SOUTRCOTT, 11 HERE follow copies, and part of copies, of Letters and Communications of Joanna Southcott, which she sent to Miss Townley; and which Miss Townley has, according to the dates, transmitted to the Rev. T. P. Foley, of Oldswinford , Worcestershire. Wednesday \ June *3, 1S04. REV. SIR, I went, this morning, to our dear Joanna, for directions for Mr. Sharp, concerning the Book in which the Letters are placed wrong: but no words can express the feelings of my heart, to see her, as though she was surrounded by the devil and all his hellish hosts, in such agonies as if he was tearing her very soul and body. The horror and misery of her was far beyond what pen can express, or heart conceive, that was not an eye-witness to it. It has been a day indeed; a day of everlasting remembrance to me, that never can be forgotten. I shall give you the words, pen- ned from her mouth during this scene of distress; though I was hardly able to pen them at the time* and scarcely able to write them now : but it is her wish to have them to-morrow. Here followeth the words. (Signed) JANE TOWNLEY. ANN UNDERWOOD, 12 June 13, 1804. Dear Miss Townley, THERE is no pen can paint, nor heart conceive, the horror and misery I have felt, ever since the book, that is now printing in London, has come to my view ; when I saw it was placed wrong, it went as a dagger to my heart: and though I was answered, the Lord had permit- ted it for wise ends, and you took all the blame to yourself, yet the thoughts of Mr. Sharp's letter struck as a dagger through my heart and soul ; as I remembered hearing it read, he had altered the title-page, which I then understood was only the outside leaf, that I did not approve of myself; but when the book was brought, that I saw he had altered the whole, self-reflection cut me to the soul; and, till the Lord is pleased to take this burden from me, my life is miserable. All the heavenly joy I felt before, is now vanished into horror and misery greater than I can bear. I do not believe there is a more wretched being, this side the grave, at present: for I am fallen from the. height of happiness to the depth of mi- sery. Instead of heavenly Joys too grot for me to bear, my heart and soul wanting to be enlarg- ed to bear them ; I now feel sorrow, horror, mi- sery and woe, no pen can paint, no heart can con- ceive, and, no tongue can express, what I now feel; my life I cannot bear. What will be my fatal end? All the sufferings that I have had from 1792 to this day, are nothing to the suffer- ings I now feel ; for I am now upon the wrack of misery, wishing for death, but cannot die, and in this state am afraid to die, fearing I should meet an angry God, that I have innocently offended, 13 not knowingly or designedly. But from whence came all my misery that I cannot bear? Am I my own murderer? Have I been doing wrong? And is this the way that the Lord is come to punish me? Was mine false fire? Was mine false Love? Was mine a delusion from the devil? must now be my enquiry: For the Lord hath now hid his face from me; and the devil, with all his hellish power, has now taken possession of my soul. Who shall I reflect upon? If my sufferings are that I am wrong, being led by a wrong spirit, that is now come to shew himself in his true co- lors, and the horror and misery I must soon be in then I must say, cursed men! that when I be- s sought them, in the bitterness of my soul, they would not hear me, but do as the devil said they would, to make me believe it was the God of heaven. Then, by what arts are we all Letrayed? Is there a God, must now be my enquiry? And will HE give all this power to the devil? LORD have mercy upon me ! CHRIST have mercy upon me, and deliver my soul from the jaws ofVdeath, from the power of hell, from the }, it of destruc- tion ; for in thee, my God, I have trusted : forsake me not in this trying hour; but leti^y light shine upon me, and shew me where the error ilfs, which way. my sufferings came. Is it for the present? Is it for the past? We are all undone: for then the whole world lies in the power of the devil. If for the present pardon my iniquities, blot out my transgressions, in mercy, dear Lord! I pray thee, and remember them no mere; for my trou- ble is greater than I can bear. The power of hell has taken hold of me, and there is none but a God can deliver me; for it is not all the powers on earth, that are in man, can now give me one 14 moment's pleasure: for, if the Lord do not de- liver me, I am for ever undone. Now, I must leave all to yourselves; for my direction seemeth quite over. If they were from the devil, it is time to be over: if it be of God, HE hath hid His Face from me; and, for a moment, HE hath forsaken me. But in loving kindness I trust HE will visit me, and not destroy me for a thing I am innocent of. I am, &c. JOANNA SOUTHCOTT, After writing this letter, she begged me [Underwood] to leave her to herself, and to take with me all the knives, and every thing that she could hurt herself with; but not to go away, but stop in the adjoining room : when she went 'to prayers and tears, that the Lord would deliver her from her dntadful sufferings; which I did the same by her door. After a considerable time she opened the do<;>r, and her distressed looks I can- not describe, ^uhe said, she had no answer to her prayers, and Qt must direct ourselves: at which I cried out, we cannot direct ourselves; and there shall not another letter go out of the house, unless the LORD, in His unbounded love, mcrcv, and goodness, direct us, through thee. She said, she had no answer, and she could not direct us; and flung herself back in a chair, for a few minutes. It is too late to write you the particulars, though you shall have them in your next. Oh, what a day! and ho\v the house has shook? (Signed) JANE TOWNLEY, ANN UNDERWOOD. 15 Here I shall go on ivith a continuation of Joanna's suf- ferings of yesterday. June 13/^, 1804. AT the time the horror of the devil was upon me, I felt I could not bear my existence: there- fore I desired Mrs. Underwood to take away every knife out of the room; that, in my despairing moments, I might not lay violent hands on my- self. As soon as she was gone, I fell on my knees in prayer, and could not avoid crying aloud ; but could not express all with my tongue, what I felt in my heart: but, finding I had no answer to my prayers, I arose, and was silent for some mi- nutes, listening if I could hear " the small still voice of the Lord." But, feeling no comfort, and hearing no answer, I opened the door, and desired Mrs. Underwood to send the letters by their own directions, as none were given to me. Mrs. Uuderwood, in floods of tears, said, we can- not direct ourselves; and no more letters shall go out of the house, unless the Lord, in His unbounded Love, Mercy, and Goodness, will direct us through thee. She then went and told Miss Townley, no answer was given, no more directions from the Lord. The Lord had hid his face from us, and no more letters shall go out of this house: for she felt in her heart, if the Lord would not be pleased to direct us, we would not direct ourselves. She then came back to me, and told me, that Miss Townley was upon her knees in prayer and tear?, when Mrs. Underwood came back with this word. Here all were alarmed; and they wculddo nothing of themselves, without the directions of the Lord id Then the Light of the Lord broke in upon me; and I walked the room, in tears, speaking these words : " I feel my JESUo is not gone; I feel my SAVIOUR will return ; He'th hid his face, but now he's come; A tedious night shall a bright morning have: Then my soul shall take its old abode, And, cloth'd in flesh, I shall behold my God." My repeating these words, Underwood fell down upon her knees, to return thanks to the Lord: and, in an instant, a Spirit entered me, that took my senses; and I felt strength enough in me, as though I could crush the world to atoms. The Spirit spoke with power and fury, " I'll chain the rebel to his den." I walked up and down the room, and shook the whole house ; for I was not myself. I could not stop my fury; words flew too fast to utter against the power of darkness : and I felt in myself power, that I thought, if he was present, that I could tear him to pieces ; and should not have feared, had there been ten thousand men and devils before me. After this power ceased, I laid myself upon the bed, to compose myself for a little while. I soon was ordered to rise and write. The first words I penned, were, " Dear Lord! what Spirit hath been so powerful in me, this day.'* I was answered, " The shadow of the substance to come in all. The horror of hell that thou hast felt this day, some will come against thee in, by temptations then, as a God I shall appear in thee, and cast the devils out of men by my power, as I broke in thee: but as I knew these things were too high for thee, without a veil be- tween, I caused Foley's illness, for thou to judge it a pleasing dream. Now I must explain that, 17 befdfe I go any further. Mr. Foley's illness, with the other confusions, gave Satan the advantage* over me: and, as I had written the day before . that the Lord had ordained the thing concerning the book, and then to feel that horror and misery after, threw me into a dreadful state of despair. And now I shall go on, as it is spoke in verse. " And now I tell thee how 1 shall appear, In much more power then they all shall see : Than now, this day, I entered into thee. Because,, in power, I did now appear, And now's the time I'll shake the earth once more. And they shall find ME in the woman's form; For hell shall tremble now it shall be known. For now, I say, I'll chain the rebel/lown, And men shall tremble at my every sound; For every heart I shall much stronger shake, Than ere thy walking in this room did make: And much more fury every foe will see, Than ere this day did now appear in thee. And now I'll tell thee of the words I spoke When from My Silence I in thunder broke; So strong within thee then 1 did appear I said, that hell should tremble and should fear. I said, that man I surely would redeem, And they should find me in the woman's form. I said, no longer men should bruize my heel; But now my fury it should fall on hell. I said mankind should all begin, like thee, For to enquire, and long the truth to see. I said, my power should all in fury bieak: I said, the devil now hath laid his net . I said, that in it he should surely fall . I said, My Fury now should conquer hell - I said, the hearts of men I'd surely shake, And many hearts like thine I'd surely make; As full of horror when I do appear, That they like thee would say they could not bear The Agonies, 1 said, that they would feel, When they do know they're bruising now my heel: C 18 And then, I said, they should; repent like thee; ' 1 said, thy sufferings they must know and see And bring their guilt, like thee, before my view, And then enquiie, jike thee, the truth to know ; Which way their guilt did lie upon their head, As thou enquired'st the way thou wast betray 'd, I said, before me every thing should come; And then I'd conquer in the woman's form. I said, like thee mankind should surely break, And so enquire if the Lord did speak. For, now, the, secret chamber doth appear, Where every mystery, I saic, 1 should clear; And on the House Top this will sure be done I said, in power now I'd conquer man. So great in power now I would appear, For men should tremble, and the devils fear; For, now the tempter I'll bind to his den, And so the house by thee was shaken then, And so tiie fabric of the earth Fil shake, And in ten minutes this and more I spoke For sixteen minutes they did not appear After 1 enter'd ere I left thee here. And then, to prove to thee that that was true. Brought Foley's letter plain before thy view : Because his life I told thee I would spare, And he'd recover for to copy there, The very letter I unto him sent. So let thy friends observe all that is penn'd, And every day and date they now. must put, That men may judge the manner all was wrote : Or, else, I tell thee they will not appear, The way thou ordered every man to swear: Because that swearing they'll say thou'st forbid; And now by swearing must they all proceed. ] tell thee, yes, MY BIBLE to fulfil, And now My Covenant I tell thee still, Firm as the heavenly pillars it shall stand, For now's the time I'll shake both sea and land. For all shall tremble, as thy friends did here, And then, with joy, they'll see their Lord appear. 1? But in this manner should I come to man, 1 tell them plain, My Gospel could not stand: Because the Jews would all begin to siy, Now the Messiah's come we plain do see. Ah, w here's your Saviour in the woman's form ! These wondrous miracles for to perform :' Or where's the Saviour that fro pi her was born, That ever made his foes so much submit, T6 cast their crowns and all beneath his feet? For now beneath me every soul shall fall ; For hell I'll conquer, and I'll conquer all. Awl so My Law and Gospel I'll make true, And now My Covenant bring to their view- And so go on to write thy pleasing dream, And in the end they'll surely see it plain; That men like Adam they are all asleep, - But, when they see the woman for to breik Upon the serpent in her fury there In words that all will tremble for to hear Thou curs'd betrayer, as thou said'st of man ; ' But then in fury thou wilt surely come Against the serpent, and in rage dispute, While men will tremble, and they'll all stand mute. JUNE 13, 1804. JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. Here follow the words that I had been writing on Tuesday morning, June i2, 1804, when Miss Townley and Underwood brought me Mrs\ Foley's letter. I shall begin at the words where I had bic- gun in the morning, and their names are signed. June 12, 1804. Dear Miss Townley, I shall now give you thr Communication that I had been writing on Tues- day morning, June 12th, when you brought me Mrs. Foley's letter, wherein it was said, t .at Mr- 20 Foley was very ill indeed and yu seemed thunderstruck at my saying I was glad of it, and desired you both to sign your names to what I had been writing; where I had began, and where I had wrote to when you came. You know I had told you how dangerously ill I had been in the night, and marvelled the people in the house had not heard me groaning. The communication is as follows. *' As restless as thou hast been this night, which is but a shadow of what the Clergy WILL FEEL that have turned back thy letters; and thy con- fusion of this morning, is but a shadow of their confusion that have mislaid their letters. What hurry will they be in to find them? And say, as thou sayest, they must find them, or thou wilt not speak unto them. And when they- have found them, they will see, they have as wrong misplaced their bibles, as thou hadst wrongly misplaced thy writings: and they will own, Town ley hath found for them what they had lost, CHRIST in the woman, THE HELPMATE for man, to enter into a new Covenant, with man, that all the old may be done away, and all things become new: and the former shall not come into my mind; for, behold, I create all things NEW. And this is My New Creation, : to place the forbidden fruit in man, that hath returned their letters, refusing to accept ME as a helpmate in the woman. And this is my command to man : they must tell the Bishops, one and all, that any of their Ministers they may send, that can produce their letters, and own they have kept them; but those that have returned their letters, as evil, they must not send. And My Chosen Men must tell them, they will not meet ANY MAN to dispute with, but those that can swear, by Hini 21 that Livetli, the letters were sent them, snd they have kept them. And, if this cannot be found among the Church Clergy, let it be enquired among other Ministers: for I will make of the Church that are not of the Church, if they cannot be found in the Church. But there are THREE that I have reserved to myself, by sealing their names in the sealed book; that is, the Reverend Archdeacon Moore, the Reverend Chancellor Nutcombe, and the Reverend Mr. Pomeroy. Now, if these men have not had the letters sent to them, and returned them, they may have one given to them ; but, if they have had one, and returned it, they shall not appear. So they must say, by Him that Liveth, every man is come ac- cording to order; " for God is a God of Order, and not of Confusion." And this is the new Cove- nant I will make with man ; and that proverb shall be no more in Israel, " The Fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge." But, now, 'tis the soul that sinneth shall die ; for the iniquities of the Father shall no longer rest upon the Children. For THIS IS THE NEW COVENANT I am making with man, and I will be a Covenant-keeping God: if they do not break My Law, they shall have part in the first Resurrection, and then, of the second, death hath no power; for these are the first Redeemed upon the Earth, and their leaves shall be for the healing of the nations. And if any man add to, or take from this Covenant, he shall add to his own destruction, and have his name blotted out from the Tree of Life, to have no part in it. Now, if any man ask thee, by what authority thou hast done these things, let this be thy answer Let them tell thee, by what authority they rejected 22 Christ to be the Helpmate for man in the woman, when they say, as in Adam all died, even so in Christ shall nil be made alive. And what they know not now, they shall know hereafter; for I am come to fulfil My Bible." So far had I written, when you came with Mrs. Foley's letter; and here both your names stand (Townley and Underwood). Now do you mar- vel ! I rejoiced at Mr. Foicy*s illness; knowing, if it was not from the Lord, it was better for he and me to die, than to have this Covenant go out in the name of the Lord; as I am ordered to have it printed. If it was from the Lord, I knew Mr." Foley's illness would be set for a clear sign for me if it was from God : if not, I had rather die. Therefore, this must be printed by Mr. Foley, with the reasons I assigned; and the answer to his sickness, with this Covenant of the Lord, that I was writing when his letter came, must now be put in print, with the answer that was given me the same day of his recovery, which took place be- fore my letter could reach his hand by the letter I received the following day: and the shadow of mv rejoicing then, brought the substance to me the following day; when both wonderfully broke in upon me, the Power of God and the Truth of his Word as I felt the One and saw the Other, by Mr. Foley's letter. (Signed) JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. 23 Thursday, June 14, 1804. Dear Miss Tvxnlcy, And rrow I shall direct thee how to dispute with the Learned when a Judge of Assize comes to pass sentence on a Thief and a Murderer, for whom doth he pass that sentence? Thou answer- est for the person whom the thief, or the murderer hath murdered. But suppose the Judge answer I will not cast the thief and the murderer for the sake of the person he had robhed and murdered ; because he despiseth them much more than he did the murderer, or the thief would you not call him an unjust Judge? Thou answerest, ye?, he could not be fit for a Judge, having no Honor nor Justice in him ; for how could he then try any Cause, if he was partial in the Law ? Then let this be laid before the Judges And I'll proceed further Would he not for his Honor say, though I fear not GOD, nor regard the man that was murdered; yet, I will relieve this Woman of her Adversary, lest she weary me with often coming. For, now I will bring the Cause to a man murder- ing a woman's hufband and the Judge refused to pass sentence on the murderer, because he had more regard for the murderer than he had for the man that was murdered: but if the Wife is cry- ing daily for vengeance, wearying the Judge to be avenged of her injured Hufband, saying, the mur- derer is taken ; he is bound in Prison: it is the Law of our Land ; and you will not try him for murdering my Iluiband you cannot trv ANY murderer, for then you break that L;nv And what is a Law for One, is a Law for all ! And if you let that murderer go untried, by what autho- rity could I be tried, if I murdered you in re- 24 vengc ?pr, by what authority should another Judge condemn me ? Would he not say you had broke the Law, freed the murderer, and not suf- fered murderers to be tried and condemned? And my love is so great for my Hufband, that if I can- not be avenged of it by your trying the man that murdered him, I will find a way of revenge to murder you! What answer would this unjust Judge make, any other than this? Though I fear not GOD, nor regard the man; yet, I will avenge this Woman of her Adversary, lest she wearies me with often coming ; or, seek my life ifr her re- venge. In this manner let them dispute with men of Honor, what is a Law for one, is for all. And now I will come to the Laws of GOD. The law of GOD was to avenge the woman's adversary by My Death but how can it be avenged by My Death, before a woman bringeth forth her cause against him. It is like a man being murdered, and the murderer let go without any Action being brought against him : as this has been done by great men, because of money the murder hath been passed over and for want of Love in the Wife, the revenge hath not been sought after. Now, Joanna wilt thou do by Me, as the Groom's wife did, give up My death without revenge, be- cause the Bishops are great men, when I tell thee it is impossible for the cause to be brought forward against the devil by man without the woman? for it was the woman that was betrayed by the devil, and to the woman the promise was made and though I was murdered, My murderer was never brought to Justice, by any woman till now; nor the author of My death. Now, if thou givest up the Cause to man, to let them to act one step contrary to what I have ordered thee, then thou 25 takest away My Life, as thou hnst taken away Townley's bounty, and thou causes! Me to be mur- dered twice But I hear thy enquiry. Is the fatal stroke committed by thy unfortunate hand, then thou canst not live? But tremble no more :- thou hast done right by my command. I know thou could'st not write, if thou feartst thou hast done wrong : but I tell thee it was my command, to take away the one thousand; because I will have the one thousand to reign in power the second time, by the woman's ordering the cause to be removed that caused her fall ; and, to shew her perfect obedience the second time, the cause is brought forward by the woman. She is, the se- cond time, put to the trial of her obedience. Now, if thou standest in thy obedience the second time, as thou hast in printing thy book, then, the six thousand that are not taken away, brmgeth ME the second time to come in power and great glory; for there is no one can.hurt ME but thee: and, hitherto, thou hast done all things well, for ME to come the second time and reign in power* And, now, in power I will reign and rule, if all thy friends say, as thine said the day that is past, they will not do any thing without MY direction is given to thee: therefore, I hid my face from thee, before they had given their answers they would do nothing without ME ; and then I shewed the Shadow of My power; and, if they continue to copy after these women, they shall see the Substance of My power." Lord, save me by thy power! let me not say with Peter, though all men deny thee, yet will not I; and yet, alterwards, did deny: but that fall would make my end more fatal, and Thy honor lost. " Joanna, I answer thee, I know thy fears will kill thee, if I <\o not D 20 . assure thee, the gates of hell shall not prevail against thee." (Signed) JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. June 14, 1804. Continuation of Joanna's History. " A large Crock, or Pot of Gold. And now, faid he, fhould I be fuch a fool to go and tell the man, that I fhould dig up his French nut- tree becaufe of my dream, and then fhare with me the money. The man's dream was anfwered, for he knew the French nut-tree was in his own garden ; fo he went home pleafed with the jour- ney, and in the night he began to dig, and found a large crock of gold : but being a poor man, he told the matter that he worked for, that he had a friend in London who was dying, and he rauft go and fee him, which he did, and afterwards came down all in clofe Mourning, faying, that his friend had given him three Hundred Pounds, and as he liked the little fpot he lived in, he would buy it. So he bought his Houfe and Garden-land for ever. Then he faid he would alter his Garden, and dig up the French Nut Tree, where, he found a large Cheft of Gold under the Crock of Gold. He could then boldly claim it his own, and rewarded the man that told him his dream. He left a great deal to the poor when he died, and houfes for them to live in. But to return to my Father's dream you muft underftand, that when my Fa- ther had this dream, he was in Getfham, fourteen miles from Heavy-tree, and my Father knew nothing of my fealing up my* writings, till a month after I came to Heavy-tree, and furprizcd us by faying he came in the Bifhop's Carnage, at which we all laughed. He laid, if he did not come in it, he rode behind it, which was true; ibr the Bifhop had been out an airing, and his car- riage overtook my father, when he ordered his coachman to ftop, as he faw my father going towards Exeter, and enquired how far he was going : he faid, to Heavy-tree, to Mr. Wolland's, to fee his daughter; that he came from Getfham. The Bifhop then ordered his fervant to alight from his horfe, and affift my father to get up be- hind his carriage. My father then enquired of the fervant, who the gentleman was, that he might know how to return him thanks when he alighted. The fervant answered, it was the Bifhop of Exeter. My father faid, he was glad he afked ; or e\(h he mould have thanked his Honor, inftead of his Lordfhip. Mr.Woliand told my father, the fervant only mocked him ; for he thought ihe Bifhop would not have condefcended, in that manner, to have flopped his coach to take up a poor man : though that Bifhop bore a moft noble character, for it was Bifhop Buller. "When be had baffled my father about it, he faid he would go to the turnpike, and know what gentleman went through at that time with his coach; the turnpike-man laid, like the fervant, it was the Bifhop: at which we were fur- prifed, and he furpriled us with the dream that is mentioned, as we knew it was the fame night I fealed up my writings. I mentioned this fiirple thing, as both are deeply explained to me. And now I am ordered to go on with the hiitory of my Lovers, as they are explained alio. When I was young in years, 1 had many Lovers: but the firfl I indulged the company of was Noah Bishop, a farmer's ion in Sidmouth ; as I kept houle for my 28 brother at Sidmouth. Then, after we had be&t acquainted for many months, my friends began to be againft my keeping company with him ; as they thought another of more fortune would make me an offer, but that had no v eight with me : though many people faid, that Noah was a very paflionate man, and would foon break my heart if I had him. Thus they plagued me for a long time: at laft, I was determined to try his temper, by provoking him to anger, and upbraided him with going to another, at which he threw himfelf in a violent paflion that aftonifhed me; and faid, he wiflied the tongues of the people were in hell burning. I made for anfwer, he might with mine there too, if I was his wife and offended him. He faid, no , it was his fervent love for me, that provoked him fo much to anger with every one that let me againft him : but his arguments did not prevail. I law the fury of his anger, and foon alter broke off the acquaintance; though I confefs I had equal love for him, but I thought it was better once fmart than always ache, and time and prudence would wear off love, by keeping my thoughts in love to My CREATOR: lb I broke off my courtfhip. After that, they were daily wounding my ears that Noah was miferable ; that he faid he would as foon be dead as alive, and he was ill on my account: and, when he found he could not die, he was determined to go to lea; for he could never live to fee me the wife of another. This opened every wound of my heart afrefh, and kindled lo> e ftronger than ever, and I was deter- mined to have him if he returned again ; for I thought I had rather break my heart by his pair fions, ihan t>reak my heart by my own cruelty and wound us both. 29 Here follows a letiet from Miss Town ley mid Mrs. Underwood, to the Rev. T. P. Foley. Monday, June 18, 1804. Reverend Sir, I muft leave off my letter to you from our dear friend Joanna, and make some faint at- tempt to describe what we have been witness to this day, Monday, June 18. Miss Town ley can- not hold her pen, therefore I muft take it up. But I shall begin from yefterday morning, when she came down dressed in white, and said she supposed we should wonder to see her : but sue took up two different colored gowns, and was told she muft put on white, and wear it for three days. After that, she went up flairs to her own secret chamber: she. sat down to write, but a trembling came over her, and she was ordered to put down her pen; for there her pen should drop, except signing the Seals. She then came down for me to write, and I began the copy of your letter of yefterday, Sunday, June 17. After I had wrote a little time she seemed in great agonies, and said I muft take her key, and lock up all her books and pagers, and deliver them to her brother, and see them packed up, and signed, and sealed, by her brother, Miss Townley, and me. Alter that was done, she went on with tolerable composure for some time; but was told, she muft go through the hiftory'of her Lovers, and her Father, which seemed to give her pain; as she said, she. could see the depth of the words, how they flood a type to the nation : but, at supper, she seemed cheerful, - and, when she went to bed, she could not get her 30 gown off. I went to her assiflance, and found her arms quite red, with trying to get it off; but she was told, she had put on her clething, but could no f get it off without assiflance. About eleven o'clock I heard a thumping in her room, and went up to her door, where I heard her lamenting the miserable blind state man was in, through the arts of the devil. I stayed a great while at her door; but, hearing her quiet, I came away. This morning she requtfted both Miss Townley and me would go and copy for her. We began about her father, and she was extremely affecled ; but, the further she went, the greater her diftress seemed : and, when she came to her Father's ago- nies, after his being in a passion* with her, that she was worked up in such a manner she could not ftand ; for she had been walking the room in great agonies. While we were penning it, the power of the Lord broke in upon her soon after ten,, o'clock, and she continued speaking till one. Miss Townley supported her in the chair all the time, and I got pillows to lay on her lap, for I feared she would beat herself to pieces. The agony and fury she seemed to be in, made her to appear in great strength: and she stamped the floor till she made the house shake, and continued all the time an explanation of the Bible, from the parable of her Lovers and Father; where she ended and seemed composed, and said she would lie down on the bed, and desired we would leave her, and finish our letters for the post. But we had not been down ten minutes, bclore I heard a noise, and went up flairs and found her upon the floor: where she continued, Arete bed out upon her back, for an hour; saying, " he nmft on the ground claim tfiH land as his own." I attempted 31 to get her on a mattress; but she said, our Saviour was on the ground, and so must she. Remember, this is the sixth day, My labor rnuft be done. Here Underwood dropped her pen. I think it right to inform you, that juft before the Power of the Lord came upon her, she said she was sick unto death; and, as she vomited violently, I ran down flairs for warm water, but she said she could not drink it. I then offered her wine, which she immediately drank; and said, it was now the time the vats would run over with new wine. To give a regular description of all that has passed to-day, is impossible; but, that the Lord will enable us to recoiled the words she spoke, I have not the smal- ler!: doubt. I attempted to pen her words, but it was impossible they flowed so fail. Your letter I re- ceived this morning and read it to her, and she approved it all, both letter and proof sheet and said I muftsend (he Printed letter and proof copy to a Gentleman here, who has been twice for in- formation ; for she was told he would be the means of awakening thousands; and as soon as I'had written these worJs I was called up flairs, and we have put her to bed she desired us to wash her feet, which Underwood and I did, and put her on clean Linen. She said she knew not why, but we muft do it and one of us was always to set up with her. I have sent you all I can ; poor soul ! to see how she has bruized herself with the thump- ing on the Floor. She desired me to tell you, that she dreamt a few nights ago, that we put her on the night cap we did. Adieu, &c. JANE TOWNLEY. 32 Continuation of Joannas History. Monday, June 18, 1804. This resolution I had fixed in my mind, to renew the acquaintance, if he returned again on a Sidmouth Fair-day. In the morning I met him, and he asked me if I intended to go to the Fair I answered, yes, so we parted: but I deter- mined in my heart to go to the Fair on his account. And, when I came to the Fair, I met with many of my acquaintance, who pressed me to join their company, young men and maids: but I made ex- cuses, and said, I could not; for my heart was itill with him. I then met others, that pressed me the same ; I made the same excuse again, that I was in pursuit of my brother, to go home, but, going up thro' the Fair, I met Noah and my brother together. He then pressed me to join him; but, for my life I could not: my hand and heart seemed as though they were bolted, and I desired my brother to go for the horse, and go home. d ! redly. My brother went away for the horse, and Noah went with us. While my brother went into the yard for the horse, Noah intreated me to go in and drink with him for old acquaintance, if I would not for new. I told him l# I would not go in either for old or new ; if he made as many words as there were flars in the sky, or ftones in the ftreet but the dejection of Iris looks cut me to the heart: and, when I was upon the horse, I could have given my life to have been back with him in the Fair; and could scarce .speak to my brother, going home: which he per- ceived, and said, if I was so melancholy he would carry me back again. My brother exclaimed, this 33 is the way of the women; you refused to go with him when he intreated you, and now you .ire as melancholy as he. I then spent a reftless nighty which was renewed the next day by a young vrct r man of my acquaintance, who said, the hard shower of rain that came on in the evening made all the youngfters in Woolbrook go into a Public House together, and they had all their sweethearts but Noah, and her heart ached to Sep how miserable he appeared; and there was a young vrin^n m the room who was juft mad about him, but he took no notice of her. I then determined, if ever he speke to me any mote, my resolutions were fixed never to slight him more. The Sunday alter I was going to milking in my brother's ground, and met Noah; he intreated me to let him go wiin me to keep up the cows, but my heart was boifed in a moment. I said, my ci-vvs wanted no keeping up, neither worild I accept of his company: but I had not gone twenty yards from him, before my heart denied What my trembling lips had spoken; aiid I thought I would give the world for his company, and made a resolution in my mind, that I would never be such a 1 >u) any more. But, the Sunday following, he put me to the like trial, by my brother's hiving a beautiful Pear Free; and the young mad whrf was with him asked me leave to let him go in and have a few pears. Noah asked me if I would give him the \ same liberty: I very gravely answered NO but Richard who was with him might carry him out some, but I would not permit him to come into the orchard. H'ere my heart was torn again : I thought to myself, what a ftubborn cieature was I, to plague myself to plague him. I then de- termined to be matter of mv ftubborn heart, as I E 34 judged it and thought to myself he never should try in vain neither did he: for he fixed his re- solution to go to sea, but did not go. And when a young man persuaded him to go again, and told him, if he had been accepted as Noah had, he would try again * and not give it up, for he was sure I liked him. But Noah answered, I have- tried often enough, and it is always the same, and all her friends are against me; and now, if I die for her sake, I'll never try more. These words cut me to the soul: yet I admired the nobleness of his spirit, and was convinced his passion was Jove, when he held me so strong by my hands, that hurt my hands and wrifls for many days and said he would not let me go, before I had told my authors, who had told such lies againft him. All these ponderings in my heart drew my love almoitjo madness, that nothing but religion could keep me in my senses. My sisters knew the flate . of my mind, and persuaded me to leave Sidmouth, and come back to Getsham to my father's. I an- swered, No: you may kill me, or you may drown me; but I will not leave the place where he is: I mutt see him, if I cannot have him. We went to Newton Fair; and I had met with an. accident that day in my eye, that I was almost blind, by what they call in Devonshire a Cuckol-button getting into it. As I was going up through the orchard, in diftraclion of love, I ran my eye en- tirely againft it, and they persuaded me not to go to the Fair; but I was determined to go, for I knew Noah would be there: but how was my hear.; torn, when I met him in the Fair, and he passed me by unnoticed. I then felt I could not beai< myself, and desired my sillers to return home, wJio were laughing at me for saying, when I nVt 35 espied him, t; there he. is, there he is." As we were going home, we met his Brother Nathaniel Bishop. He asked me, what was the matter with my eye? I told him. He asked, if I could not cure it? I told him, No. Nathaniel answered, can't Noah cure it? I cried out, in madness, if he can, he wont: at which my sifters reproved me; and said, I had declared my love to his bro- ther. I said, I did not care if 1 had ; for I wished to awaken his passion to return ngain: for I had rather die with him than live without him. My sifters went home the next day, and told my fa- ther and mother the dreadful ftate I was in. My father raved in agonies; and said, my former sips are brought to my remembrance : How many wo- men's hearts have I broken by Love! He walked the chamber, my sifter said, like a madman; cry- ing out, now it is come home upon me : for that maid, who is the delight of my soul, is now wounded the same. In this manner my father lamented that ever he had courted a woman, and not mar- ried her, when he knew her passions of love were so ftrong for him: but, after he had broken the hearts of many women, he married his firft wife out of pity, because he saw her upon a sick bed. What I had appointed, HE, the Lord had disap- pointed, concerning the rtmainder of this hiftory. (Signed) JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. AND JANE TOWNLEV. 36 A copy of a Letter of Mrs. Southern? s from Mis'* Townley to the Rev m T. P Foley. June, 19, 1804. l\LV:rend Sir, After the sufferings Mrs. Southcort went through yesterday, she was obliged to be un- dr's^ed and go into bed, for in her agonies fight- ing with the devil, she had beat herself black and hi .e. and was too faint and weak to set up. She then sat up in her bed, and went on with her His- tory, tnat she was ordered to pen, particularly as the whole was explained to her. She often felt faint with dying sweats, and told us not to he a- larmed, if she fainted away. Her words made us leave our pens, and go to her bed side, and see, what a fainting state she was in. After that she recovered and before : but she called to mind these words. "The setting Sun will feel a setting ftroke." She laid awake till day light came, and she refused to drink wine or beer. Now I shall come to this Morning Tuesday, June the 19th 1804. "Joanna " dreamt, in the morning, that the devil came to " her bedside with all the honors of hell to destroy u her, she felt his hand, and broke the top of his * c finger." She then dreamt that a man said, he had outwitted the devil by his own craft. .After that she dreamt she was going to some place with little Richard Foley; but going into a House she left him, and went away without him: As she was walking through some beautiful Fields, she recollected the dear Child was left behind, and felt herself hurried and confused, and thought she would make haste back to seek him; but to her aftonishment, she heard his cry in an adjoining Field; he was crying like a mad Child, my Jan- ney, my Janney. I pursued my steps with eager- ness to go where I heard his cries, and to my Joy and aftonishment saw a Woman enter the Field with the Child in her arms. I ran with eagerness to embrace him ; he sprang into my arms with .39 eagerness, and threw his Head into my bosom* as though he would have died with Joy, and I felt equal pleasure. His dear little Face was swelled with tears, and covered over Tfith a. bathing sweat. -" Now, Joanna, thee I'll answer As the child did then appear ; Perfect so, I now do tell thee, - Are nay sufferings for thee here. But to make true, before your view The Hermit in disguise; I cannot slay my rival foe Before 1 do chastize. My honor here, to prove it clear That me thou bast obeyed; And then my agonies you'll Hear, ' When I do bruise his head * And now to Foley's letter look The shadow does appear; And aii shall find 1 Am the root, That do these branches bear. Now I'll go on to answer men, From what is raid before : The agonies the Child was in, Do in my heart appear. The love of thine, they all will find, That thou hndst for the Child : But greater love in him was found, Let no ori'j here be foil'd. The dream of him must now be seen, Unto your Land appeal, And in thy writings 't must be known, 1 nlac'd the shadow there. Then in the child, when so he smil'd Upon my every friend ; And now you'll fytij, the time's at hand, I shall the same descend. But first they'll see, I now tell thee, * I had wiiitrn -o far, when Mr. F&Icy\ Irt'er nme 40 ME like the child appear ; For now I'll come to answer man . From what was said before And let^the Noahs in your land, Now like him to appear And then they'll see, the mystery, A Noah must be found ; And read the chapter now of he, And tremble at the sound : For I said there he Riust appear; And if you him deny,f Much greater agonies you'll bear, Than thou didst bear that day : When thou'st complain, 'tis all in vain He never will return- No, no, I tell you 'tis too late, For to refuse the man : A Noah here, I'll now appear, And thy First Love now see : Because my heart he did ensnare, And gain'd the love of thee. But it was I, that dwelt on high, Then kept thee from that man : For in the end, 'twas my intend, I, in that name should stand. To shew you clear, the Noahs here May all turn back like he I'll try no more, the time is o'er, She put me off too long : I'll sooner see my misery, Than e'er turn back again. Then Noah's flood, the deluge stood, And Noahs you'll become, To perish in the every flood, If. you will not return. Because that here the Type appears, . Her heait you plain do see, How strong in love her passions were. And so 'tis now by me. For I Am come the Lover strong, Of all the human race : f The 54.'.^ chapter of Iajph, and 9lh verse. 41 That do not do] as thou hast done Thy Lover to disgrace, I say with lies ; let men grow wise-* I'll place it every way : Because My Bible you may see, For here the Type doth lay ; Now in these two, brought to your viewf, A Noah to be plac'd : But when the husband is the Lord Look deep, ye fallen race, How it should come so plain to man, And these Two Lovers see : But he the Bridegroom could not stand, My Bible saith 'tis Mil, That must appear the Bridgroom here, When Noah's flood do come: Then see how love did both ensnare, To drown the eyes of them. Because in thee I oft did see Thy eyes in floods of tears : And just the snme I know in he, When he in deep despair; Did say no more he'd not appear, If he died for thy Sake- Then now, you Noahs all take care Like him you do not break : For if you do, 1 tell you true My Love will all be gone; And bring the whole unto thy vieWj How Cold thy heart is come Unto the man that here doth stand; And 1 shall stand the same: If men do say, like he that day, They'd sooner die, than turn : Then sure thy pride must be appli'd; For I shall leave them all : But if they now return to ME, My heart like thine shall fall ; Inflam'd with love they now shall prove Their SAVIOUR to appear: Because in he you all shall see, I AM the Noah- there.* F A1 The Root and Offspring to appear, Then let the Branches come : And let their love like your's to prove- And then the earth you'll see In every blessing to abound, In love and harmony: But it was I, that dwell on High, Did then ordain that stroke : To shew My Bible plain that way, How Noah's love was broke But here the man I'll not condemn, 'Twas I that bolt'd the door ; Because My Bible I'd make plain, And prove a Noah there Did first incline thy heart and mind, To feel thy passions strong: But irl that chapter all shall find Thy husband he must come : A widow here thou didst appear Forsaken then by He ; And know the man reject'd thy hand ; Then now the mystery see The thing is plain, if learned men Could weigh the matter deep. Such thing I never would ordain'd To make the likeness break ; To shew the man, that in him stand, A Noah then by name, Who did reject thy every hand When heart-felt love inflam'd : And thou the same, I know thy name When Love did thee ensnare : But it was I that dwelt on high Prevented tb' union there. Because to all I'd prove the call, 'Tis like My Bible plac'd ; And now's the time I'll prove to all, Your MAKER so shall burst. For Noah's flood in love both stood, And floods of tears came on ; And now I tell you for your good, I'll bring it so to man. 43 Bnt do not say, like him that day, It shall be in despair If they will all turn back to ME, My hand and heart they'll share." (Signed) JANE TOWNLEY. -jjjjt A Letter from Miss Toxonley (being a copy of Joanna SouthcotCs) to the Rev. T. P. Foley, Reverend Sir, Joanna being weak and faint with the fatigue of the sixth day, laid down on the bed for some hours, while I was finishing your letter ; but she awoke with a most beautiful and heavenly- dream, though she could not recollect it ; but it seemed to be with the power of GOD breaking in strong upon her. Here I will Rest from My Labor. All Old things shall be done away ; and all things shall become New. No longer shall My Spirit strive with man, but I will destroy man whom I have created, that will not enter into the New Covenant with Me : for now My Delight shall be with the Sons of men, that enquire what the Lord hath said, and what HE hath spoken concerning them $ and they shall be MINE in the day that I make up My Jewels ; and I will spare them as a man spareth his own Son that serveth him. For now, I will wound, and I will heal ; I will kill, and I will make alive ; I will cast down, and I will raise up; for, a quick work will the Lord do upon the Earth. And my new covenant shall stand with man; and whosoever will enter into it, let him seek ME, and he shall find ME : let them call 44 i upon ME, and I AM ready to answer. I AM HE that created all things; that fiftieth the Hea- vens with MY Majesty that filleth the Earth with My Goodness and that filleth hell with My terrors. And now the Heavens shall Be filled with * My Majesty the Earth shall be filled with My Goodness and hell shall be filled with My Ter- rors. For now, I will break out on the Right hand, and on the Left: I will kill and destroy at once : My Anger is kindled My fury shall go forth and My Loving kindness shall save to the utmost all them that now come unto ME. For 1 have placed the Chapter before You, and they shall Jcnow Thou art the Woman; a Widow in thy Youth and forsaken; grieved in spirit and rejected by man, and refused. But I call thee as a Wo- man forsaken, and his name (Noah) stands as a Type unto you all : for as the floods of Love where in you Two, so are the floods of My Love coming to Man : for in rest and peace, ye shall possess your souls, after I have brought My Mighty work to pass I know thy heart trembleth, and all thy bones shake: you are serving the Lofd with fear and trembling, but soon shalt thou come into My presence with thanksgiving, >nd enter into My Courts with Praise. Awake, awake, O Zion, put on thy beautiful Garments, O Jerusalem ; for the day of the Lord is at hand, that HE bath visited and will redeem his people. I have visited by My Spirit ; and now will I redeem by My power. I will no longer bow down to man, but unto My Name shall all men bow; and unto Me-shall all men swear, that they will be taught of Me, from the greaU ft to the leaft. Bring forth your argu- ments, O ye ftout-hearted ; plead your cause ye that boaft of Learning. Where js your God whom 45 you have forsaken ? Where are your Bibles which you have neglected ? Have I not said it, and shall I not do it? Shall men set all my Councils ait nought, and say they are wiser than their Makf.r? Shall the Clay contend with t-e Potter? Shall he that is formed say unto him that formed him, what doefrThou? I AM GOD, there is none besides ME: My Honor I will not give unto an- other; neither My Praise to the Sons of men. Their Wisdom shall not save them : and their Counsels I will bring to nought : for the Wisdom of the wise men shall perish : and the Underfra'id- ingsof the prudent shall he hid. But now will I gather him that halteth ; for I have led t! em bv a way they know not, and in by-paths they did not underftand. But now will I make crooked paths ftraight before them: for now will I unveil the myfleries unto them : they are the Abrahams, and the feed of Abraham, and like Abraham they have gone on, inviting men to come forward binding the Cords upoft the Altar : but now the Cords are broken; My Ifaacs shall be unbound : no longer fhall they invite men: no longer (hall they entreat them: but they fhall ftand valiantly in their faith and wait till men fhall invite them : wait till men fhall entreat them to let them ftand the Trial, that they may see the NEW CREA- TED BEING- that they may see the NEW COVENANT that is making with man, ai;d know that the Mouth of the LORD hath spoken it, that they may enter into a NEW COVENANT with Him, before they call upon the Rocks and Mountains to cover them for they fhall find I will go forth with Fury, and None mall flay My Hand. I will break down the pricle of the Lofty, and \ will exalt the Spirit of the Meek; for the 40 meek man is bowed down, and the humble man is despised in his humility, and for a moment I have hid My Face from them. For now will I reason together with man ; though their sins are as scarlet, I'll make them as wool ; though they are as Crimson, I'll make them as snow. For now will I create all things NEW. For now he that hath spoiled and was not spoiled: he that hath dealt treacheroufly, and no man dealt treacheroufly with him: but now his time is over of dealing treacheroufly ; and they (hall not deal treacher- oufly with him ; (Isaiah the 33 chapter J Hear, and hearken, ye sons of men, who is the man that deals treacheroufly with him. Who is* the man that hath spoiled, and no nkn sought to spoil him? Open Your eyes ye blind : unstop your ears ye deaf and discern My Words that I spake unto You, that My Wisdom was hid in the great deep, and My Paths pair man's finding out. Satan hath dealt treacheroufly, and no man hath dealt trea- cheroufly with him: sata*n hath spoiled; but no man hath spoiled him but now he hath made an end of dealing treacheroufly, for his treachery can go no further. My Sons and Daughters have been bound with Cords of the Altar, as Isaac was bound But now the Ram fhall be caught in the thicket, and all My Isaacs (hall be unbound ; and now shall they deal treacheroufly with the devil ; for now the Lord fhall be gracious unto them. They have waited for me every morning, and they fhall see the salvation of their God. When they pass through the waters, I will be with them; and, in the floods, it (hall not drown them : for they are created NOW, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not, lest thou shouldest say, Behold, 1 knew them. Isaiah 48th chapter, 7th verse. O ye sons of men that boast of wisdom, and ye learned, that boast of learning, how do you understand nvy Bible? Have 1 not said, I should shew you New Thin os, and hidden things, that you did not know? Then now lot your GOD be true, and every man a liar, that says, he can Irnd out by learning, what are My hidden mysteries in the lhble, when I have concealed them from Men and Angels Angels could not look into the depth of My Decrees Then where are ye vain boasting men, whose Breath is in your nostrils and whom 1 pronounced dead to knowledge? Shall I come and contend with men and devils, with the Bible I cannot clear? Let the wise men contend with the wise men and let them contend with a Fool that is brayed in a Mortar, and see if he will not contain his Folly, till I can make my Bible as plain before him, that a Fool, though away-faring man may not err therin. Where is the man that by searching can find out his GOD ? Who can find out the ALMIGHTY to perfection? Shall I come in power, and not come in honor ? How did satan upbraid ME concerning Job ? How did satan upbraid me. in the flesh, when he said I should cast myself down from the Temple; for "it is written I should give My Angels Charge con- cerning Him." ? Then how shall I contend with satan? To be a God of Confusion, and not of order? Have not Kings order in their Wars? Do they not produce' their cause before they break out in a War, that they may shew a just cause for it? Or, how would the enemy upbraid them, and sav, that they had dealt treacherously with them? They were not spoiling, but man 48 wished to spoil them. Then how can a King appear in such a War ? Would not his Enemies dispise him, when he could shew no just cause for what he had done ? Would not his Subjects be ready to forsake him, and say, that he had called them out to battle against an enemy which had not offended them ? Where was their love ami courage to fight for their King, whom they found all the Fault in, and saw none in the enemy they were going to war against, but their lives were slaughtered for nought? Judge the cause ye learned ; open your eyes, ye prudent, and see that I cannot cast down your adversary, the de- vil, that* is as a roaring Lion seeking .whom he may devour. (But how' could I keep him from his prey, before I had made the Partition Wall strong against him?) Before I had proved My cause to be just; that I had said unto him, as unto the proud waves of the Sea, "hitherto shalt thou go, and no further." Then as a KING I can contain My honor. I sat bounds for man in the Creation, and thou Temptest man to break them. And now I have sat bounds for thee, the same. Now see the Creation stand before thee dead to knowledge, as I had pronounced them. See the Woman I created for mart's good stand before me in perfect obedience. Tuesday 19> of June, here ends the seventh day. Joanna was now too weak, faint, and trembling to stay up longer. She could taste nothing for supper but a small piece of tart: her appetite is quite gone from tea, and she can drink nothing but camomile tea. She was often sick as death, on Tuesday; bringing up water. The Tuesday night she awoke at midnight, full of the strength of the power of the Lord, in her pleading all his 4g sufferings for man, and all the mockery that hg bore for man. Townley and Underwood slept in the next room. Underwood awoke; and heard Joanna very loud, talking and thumping the bed. She called Townley, and then went directly into her room, and Townley followed as quick as she could, and found her full of the spirit of the Lord: it continued till one o'clock, expressing the agonies which he bore for man, and the shameful re- proach he had been treated with by man. The names they had called him, were then repeated by her; and so she said the mid-night hour would break for man, when HE came in fury to his enemies in Love to his friends. The heavenly words flowed too fast to be penned, or to be recollected, all of them: but she said, " Tell My disciples, " the women visited me first; and here the wo- " men appear. Mary, do not weep; rejoice in " in the God of your salvation; enter into the "joy of your Lord: I will call My Sons and " Daughters from afar; I will enlarge my borders: "I will strengthen my stakes; I will break out " upon the Right, and on the Left: ALL NA- " TIONS shall drink the cup of My Fury.". Repeating these words, she said, she felt full of Power and Strength of the Lo B d. You my friends have nought to fear; but England, Oh! England how have you slighted my warnings? How have you despised my Invitations? How have you set at nought all my Counsels? But turn unto ME, and I will turn unto You. This is the shadow of the mid-night hour? for in that manner HE will break with power and fury upon His Ene- mies, and set all their mockery before them. Tremble, ye Jews " Mourn, ye Gentiles; for the 50 day of the Lord is at hand: the day of the Lord is nigh at hand." u For 90 the midnight hour will burst for all, And men and devils tremble at the call. For, now, the mystery I'll explain to thee I brought then on the War for men to see : And then I left thet at that very lime, And made the weak; and weak they all will find The trembling Nations .to before me stand ; When I do come to conquer Sea and Land: I'll lay before them all that I did bear; I'll make the Jews to tremble, and to fear; For all their mock'ry I will then turn back, And they shall know the way they all diiLmock: Because my hand shall not be shorten'd then; I'll conquer devils, and I'll plead with men: For in the Vallies now I'll bring them low, And weak as' thee, the Nations all shall know They shall in weakness, and in trembling stand ; But mark the Spirit and thy strength command How full of Strength that hour thou didst appear, \ No Men or devils, thou that time coulds't fear :< > Then here's the warning to My Brethren dear, ) That by the Woman I so bid them seud, To My Disciples to tell them in the end, They'll find My Spirit so strong in them to burst For hell I'll conquer ; and 1 have conquer'd First, To build a Wall I told you for the war ; I know the roaring Lion does appear Against Mv Friends, that wish My Kingdom here Therefore THE WALL I made it BY THE SEAL Against the devil, now for to prevail Against his fury, I shall now go on: Because My Wall he now is breaking down. Then here's A WAR 1 tell you all IS JUST; For I shall conquer as I told you first. And now My Warriors let them to go on, Tho' weak in nature, but they'll find ME strong- Strong to deliver I shall now appear, And strong to conquer you shall find ME here. And now my foes I'll make them to comply, And they shall know the midnight hour draws nigh. And now the mystery I shall here explain, It is to bring the likeness of thy dream, 51 That I did shew thee then in ninety-two ; "When all the Fvil Fruit before thy view, 1 said 'twas fallen: black the veil whbin, Then to thy view a room was surely seen Where was a bed, and did thy GOD appear, "Who rose and told thee, He was waken'd there; And thou didst stand His Answers for to hear. Aud now, My Sisters, you the Likeness see. How from the Bed My Spirit doth appear, To warn you all, th^ Fruit is fallen here. And now in ranks the good Fruit they may stand; J Tis but as trees things have been seen by man: Because the mysteries you did ne'er discern, The way or manner I to you did warn ; And all as water you have surely been, To think your God would always thus contend With Dust and Ashes, if they'd not comply Unto thy words, I now will answer here, I made thee ill, the every "truth to clear; That from the bed I do reveal My will, And now the stubborn hearts of men I'll chill. And now the cause in hand I'll surely take, And all the fabric of the earth I'll shake: And all the strong men I'll bring weak as thee, And then their boasting let them for to see How by their conduct they insult their God; Then now unto the Kings I shall allude Could I with Satan now in rage begin? To kindle war with such vain, ignorant men? Then, like the King that 1 did name before, I tell you all, I must come IN THIS WAR ; For men against Me surely now they're found, Then how can Satan tremble at My sound Without a friend My Honor to support? I tell you plain you do My Honor hurt; Weak as this woman they do now appear: So weak are men in judgment, 1 see clear And no more stiength have they now got to stand, Than thou hast got to conquer bea and land, Without My power for to carry thee through Thy trembling nature thou dost feel and know; Because thy strength and appetite is gone, And so I tell thee are the sous of men:- Their strength of wisdom it shall all fall down, As on the bed thou'rt now in weakness found: 52 And all their appetites shall go the same, Unless the GOOD FRUIT do their hearts inflame' And then, I say, I'll raise them up again. If for the good fruit they do but complain; And list'ning wait, MY STILL VOICE FOR TO HEAK," I'll give them strength, and raise them up once more: Because I tel! thee I shall raise thee up;- Thou need'st not fear- thoul't hear My voice and hope, That greater wonders now I shall go through ;- - And greater Mysteries bring before thy view. And from thy Father I shall now appear ; 'Tis but the Owls that did thee frighten here : Because their fruit it surety now must fall, 7 Twas but a shadow thou didst hear of hell." The meaning of this is, when I was laid on the floor the seventh day, the horrors of satan came in upon me, and told me if I would not give up my confidence in Christ I should see the mid-night hour to burst upon me with his coming- in with all his hellish Host, for he had got them at the door. I told him I knew the Lord would not let them come in with him. The de- vil upbraided me, and said, I was to dispute with him. I said yes, but not before two simple Wo- men, and he was ever a coward ; and a coward he wanted to appear. But I knew the Mercies of GOD would not let hiin appear; and so I got rid of him as before-mentioned. But this morn- ing at nine o'clock I was just got into a Dose, I felt him come upon me almost to stifle me : but I thought to myself, if I must die in these ago- nies, I have done the Will of the Lord, and I feel a happy and peaceable Conscience. I ber gan to pray that the Lord would deliver me, and I groaned aloud, and he left me, as Townley and Underwood entered my Room, which I was " to see and I asked them why they' did not 53 corns sooner, as they must have heard me groan ; but they said they did not, ti 1 just before they opened the door, though Uiey came at nine o'clock as they nrereordered, for tlicy were for- bid coming before. ** Now, Joanna, thee I'll answer. As the Fabte cloth appear; Now 1 udl thee, like thy Father, Twas the Owls that frighten'd there: And Owls they be, they all shall see. And out they all shall fly ; And so the fruit they shall let fall, J'll burst the light to thee. The clouds I'll break, for now I speak A God IN POWER Divine: And thou shall see what frighten'd thee, And know it at thit time When thou'st come home, before my throne, Then evety thing thou'lt know; ; The way the shadows did deceive, And thou wert frighten'd so. But know no harm did thee alarm, And none to thee shall come Could satan be such ignorant fool To think I'd e'er let him Approach thee here? in person appear, When all I have foi bad? No men, nor devils, to appear Before thee to proceed ; But well I know his rage is so, Such coward he would enne; If I his chain should e'er let go, Then hell should be his doom ; Never- to free from misery, ]f he that way Could break; *But he shall find there's power in ME, Thy Father now do speak And do not blame, nor will 1 shame Thy weakness at that time When thou dost fear ; / tell thee here Bis footsteps close beiiud. 54 Thf n fear no more, for now the doors Are open'd wide for all ; And now the Glands I'll surely burst, And down the Fnjit shall fall ; Thai in his mouth he now have got, The doors are open'd wide And every Gate / will uulock, To shew thc/aitkjul Bride* Now I'll go on from every man, And Noah they must see : How he rejett'd thy every hand,- When so provok'd by thee Then there the man the Name doth sland To make my Bible clear; And let the Learned all command, And tell how't happen'd here; That this should come to make it strong, So perfect like n.y word And from my bible I'll go on, . And prove a Noah's flood Will be in man ; their fears will come Like Noah's heart, and thine And then their Tears to Joy shall turn, 1 say to Joys Divine.- As 'tis with thee the end will be, "Where Love do make thee smart, There's neithe r one in misery ; For know, a Noah's heart lnflam'd again ; his heart did come. As it was at the First ; Thou heard'st him say he lov'd her name, And so the end shall burst, To every one that now do come In perfect love to ME : They'll find My Name to be the same, A Noah's love they'll see, Is not confin'd in heart and mind He never could love more ; As he at first seem'd then inclined ; And here's another door x I shall unlock, and mark the stroke, The word* were spok'n by thee; When thou bis heart had surely got, His Anne thou then did'st see; And told him then, His wife was corne. The woman he should have. 55 T?nt mark how he did her despise, And said he'd never give His hand to slitt, 'twa-. known to thee, But yet it so did turn ; That afterward* his love was there, The same for her did burn So now to all, it so will fall, Like Noah's love and thine; That do believe this every call, Is from your God Divine. But if too late the door be shut, Like Rigsby to appear; She's gone, site's gone, now / am come, And cannot enter here ; Because my. ways she did despise : It was well known to me : The woman he hud slain before, The truth they all must see. For thou'st kept back the fatal .stroke, That made thee hate the Man . The'poison he had bought before, And gave it to her hand And so she did die, was then their cry. By hiscur'st hand betray'd ; Therefore no devil thou didst say, Should ever be thy head. Wedded to sin, the man had been, A child of hell become And now the truth thou must declare, And tell the Woman's doom How she with child, by him beguil'd, And then the shame to Miss ; He bought the poison then for her, But / shall answer this Savine you know is an herb doth grow And there the poison laid ; He said the Child's life it would take And there she was betray'd ; Because her own, he told her then, Her life 't could never hurt ; 'Twas but the Child that would be slain, Her honor to support. So here's the man like satan came, the Woman to betray ; And afterwards thy Lover came Satan hath act'd that way ; 56 For close to thee, he oft does flee By every art appear And in thy writings all may see* Profess'd thy lover there ; Till rage in thee, the same to he, As from the former place Now mai. the man how he does stand, An artful foe to burst; First to betray, and then to say, Her honor he'd" secure ; lie laid his pois'nous darts that way, And made her murder sure. And now to thee the same he'd flee, If he thy hand could gain, T4ie Children all dead barn must be. The Mother must be slain ; If /'d not one in love too strong, That hat'th My rival foe ; And so n he'll see the woman's gone, Where he can never go Then he'll appear, / am foil'd here, / never shall her see ; By any arts for to ensnare. She's gone, She's gone from me. y/nd for my love he now may prove She hath disgraced the whole ; My honor now is gene that way, Oh ! Rigsby's passions fall ! If he did see the the lines from thee, liow.him thou hast disgrae'd ; He'd curse ihe c ay he came to thee, Thy hand for to embrace: Conceal^! before did- all appear, . And vengeance / did miss; But now my guilt doth all appear; What woman brought round this ? Is it from One where / did come In love and passions burn ; And was the malice in her heart, To think of what I'd done ? Could she not bear, my guilt was there Her Sex for to betray ? / knew her hatred did appear ; But did not know that way, She so did hate, in rage so great 5? My face she would not see ; But as a man can / now stand 7o turn nvy rage on she ? No ! conscience hire must now appear^ '1 is Heaven has me betra/d ; My conscious guilt / cannot bear, For now 'tis o'er ffly head. Conceal'd so long by what 7'd done, / thought it all would die ; But now the vengeance it is come, Will be the Sinner's cry.- ' 7"hen now let'helrthe same to swell, And cry he's guil'y here ; My murder was concealed so long, The way /did appear, !n arts at first / so did burst, The Mother and the Child ; / both did kill by arts from hell ; And ihen thought to beguile The bride the same to her / came By arts and passions strong ; And every way I then did try; To hold her by the hand ; But't would not do, I well do knO'w; For all my arts did miss-r- 711 bring the person to my tfiew, For sO I'll bring round Ul ' s - The Child at first, by arts that burst, He surely Was struck dead And now the same, behold the name, The Woman so is led ; For dead to all, now in this Call He hath the Woman slain. And then he thought to conquer all, And gain the heart of tliine. But there in vain he surely came, His deeds do now appear ; In words from hell, how be did swell, AsRfgsby's arcs did there ! So now the two before their view, In print their deeds are seen ; ThyFathers Words bring to thy view. And blot them out again : Because that there, they must appear, As men unlik'd b y thee ; Jli neither one thy heart can share H 58 '71s ALL gave up Ko ME. A nd now I'll come in words so strong ", Thy Father said before His former sins to him were come, When thv grief did appear; How many womens' hearts he'd brolTe? And I may say the same ! Became in love for him they dropp'd ; The martyrs did appear Then in the flames, for ME they came, It was for love they stood And.'tk for love, / now shall prove, All thia /now allude ; Because that here thou dost appear A suffering Child for ME And now the past / mean to clear, Thy Father's passion see-rp. Flow all was plac'd when he did burst Jn grief he could nor bear ; His former sins he said were plac'd, And. then his heart did tear, To think that one his Child's become To feel the fatal smart ; What he before by love had done, y^nd broke the Womens' hearts. 71ien now my sins where said by him, To my remembrance come ; And now the same, I say to men, My Bible' you discern ; The guilt of All on me did fall, They plac'd the sin there first; And so my Lovers I see all, In sufferings have been cast. .Now all together you must brin^,- And place before your view J ' And then thy Father's Love they'// see, The Likeness to be true- That I the same in Love AM come, To see whatiGailt I bore ; It was to free the TALL of men I did THAT WAY appear ; And so to man I then did come., My Lovers then were cast ; In broken hearts, they died for ME;-*> Or, cruel torments burst. All this for ME, I plainly see 5g ft had been done before ; And with thy Father 't will agreej For no man can appear, To prove My Bible so don't stand, Without^the Marriage here. 1 ' (Signed) JANE TOWNLEY, To the Same, Thursday Afternoon, June 2i, 1804. Reverend Sir, As soon as we had finished our Letters for one Post to send to Mr Sharp in Lon- don, the day being ordered by the Spirit for us to do so; the following day we are ordered to take up our pens to write to you : so that you can- pot have a clean and regular account, as you have had already, nor Mr. Sharp either for, the true knowledge is concealed from you Both before the Books are out of the Press : and just so stands all mankind that know not the way "He trradfcth the wine press of his Father's wrath: nor, what vengeance was in His Heat; no more than you know what letters are sent to Mr. Sharp; or Mr. Sharp know the letters that are now sent to you ; so you must draw your own judgments, as you can, before you see both the books together, ancl the Forbidden Fruit is placed before you ; for you must not write one Communication of mine to Mr. Sharp, but you may write any to Leeds. Joanna has been confined to her Bed ever since Tuesday night, but though the Lord hath casx her down, He has promised to raise her up ; but she is able to set up in her bed, and deliver to ue 6o the words of The Lord, that are spoken to her. But she feels the anger of the Lord is greatly kindled, and soon they will see Him break forth in fury ; for they have refused the promise, that was made to man in Creation; and they have refused the promises that were last made to man in tbt* ir Redemption. But now I shall put all things plain before you, and I will make them as naked as thou art in thy Bed, and they shall find they have no more wisdom, no more understanding, no more knowledge of My Word, than thou hast clothing upon thee which from the heat of thy Fever thoq hast none, having thrown the Bed- clothes from thee. And so shall the heat of My Fury make them lay down jn the dust, as weak as thou art: and I will strip them of all their Clothing I will strip them of all their Wisdom; for I am as sick of their Wisdom, as thou hast been of thy Tea ; and I will spue them out of my mouth, as thou hast spued out thy Tea and I will give them Bitters to drink, as thou art drinking now. To have this be understood, the agitation of the Spirit Joanna has been in the last seven days, has brought her weak, and .faint, and so sick, that she cannot drink her Tea, but brings it up again, and is obliged to drink Camomile Tea, which she can- not heap. For I am sick of their Wisdom, and I shall make them sick of Mine : for the Cup of My Fury is kindled against them, and My heart is hot within Me: they shall feel the Hand of ^he Lord heavy upon them, as heavy as thou feel- est My Hand, when thou groanest under it, and said, thou shoulds't die, and prayed to be deli- vered from the power of the devil, for at that tjrne J;hpu so judged ME. I 6l >-r" And now (lie nation shall the Likeness sec Because at first thou lelt'st the Hand of God, So heavy on thee pressing with such Load; That tfiou said'st satim surely must be there; Thou felt'st the hand under thy neck appear**}, And then thy body it was pressed so, That thou wast dying, thou didst judge, I know; But rest and peace within thee thou didst find, And now I'll perfect tell My every mind It was the Parables in all to clear, That in like manner 1 did press thee there; To prove roe Likeness now in all was true, The rage of hell that night before 1 knew Was close upon thee ; thou didst feel his power, And then thou know'st 1 told thee of an hour, That thou should'st wake to see the Lord appear;. And much like Osmyn 1 did then come there, And think what Agonies that she did bear; When Osmyn held her by the trembling hand, And slrew'd the picture; judge how she must stand, With heart oppress'd, and much more grief than thine; Because that sweetness in thy heart thpu'st find; And all that sweetness thou shalt find in ME Conscience at peace, and all thy guilt I'll free; Because thy weakness I. will never blame Thy doubts and fears shall only put to shame. . The boasted Confidence that is in man ; When they'd no footing in the least to stand, If that My Bible they did e'er discern; Their jealousy, like thine, must them alarm: And say, they fear THE WOMAN may BE TRUE; And bring our Bibles plain before our view. For, if the second Adam must appear, We know the Lamb's wife, she is mention'd there; She must be ready for to stand the Bride, And now avenge the Cause where first it laid ; And see the vengeance that was in My heart, To have the woman to avenge her dart I pon the serpent, that did bruise My heel : Because by arts he've surely stung the whole~ Afid now the enmity in man do fall; 6'2 Against the woman'* seed they now are come; "But from thy lovers I shall here go on Remember him that to!d thee of his store, He'd gold enough for bo'h, he'd want no more * Then now on John I surely here will lean, A shadow deep, that I shall noW explain; He wished to wed before the time was up; But know thou told'st him so it would not drop r-' And now 1 tell thee thou "hast wish'd the same, To wish the marriage ere the time was come. But know I told thee this could never be; In My appointed time the Truth thou'lt see: And now I tell thee My appointed time Is for the present, every soul shall find; Or else the ending they'll all find like John The part the journey he with thee did come, And then the journey he did take no more; Because that night I bolt'd tlie every door : When thou before My Throne did'st so complain, And wish'd an interest in my heart to gain Then know the answer that 1 then gave thee; That a new heart in 'thee should surely be; And on it there I'd build my every law, And put My Spirit there the fools shall know, That by a woman th us 'twas never done: Then the Creation by her you must plan, If you do place it to a Woman here ; , Or to the devil now, you Fools take care For now My Folly shall begin to break, And from the' Mid-night hour My wisdom speak But from the Mid-night hour I'll first appear, When Peter West thy heart did so ensnare ; And told thee then how deeply'he did love, And thou the shadow in thy heart did prove, And know at Mid-night that you ttyo did part. And know at Mid-night thou didst feel the dart, That was of Love to kindle in thy breast, And the war within thy heart did burst : Thy foolish heart was wandering then from Me, Let it not wander was the prayer of thee ; Unless thy Husband I did him design, And from thyself thou then, did'st fix the time, 63 \f/rut I before had kindled in thy breast ; And so My Peter's every one was cast : Because that Peter he did ME deny, And so My bride have turn'd it b ;ck that way, For all the Peter's she denied the same Men fled from Me and thou hast fled the same, To turn it back that way by every man For mark, when Peter did again return, That had deny'd, as I had fix'd the mark, And know the time, and bring the every spark That was of love, kindl'd again in he ; But then thy answer let them all to set-^- " If he was better to them he mihtgo f Thou would never wsste his love, thou told'st him so r To hurt himself, and back to thte to come, If he was great ; thou told'st him thou wast grand." And now 1 tell them, grand 1 will appear,; And all My boasting Peters tell them here Unto the skies they've swell VI their wisdom high Ana bow I teH them they'll fall back this way : Because the upright man thou can'st not find, For to seek out their SAVIOUR's heart and mind; Unless the Noahs they do all app ar, And say we'll turn and try her heart once more; Before by Noah sute the thing was done I tell them pt;iin thy History must go en; In every truth thy History must appear; Because the Likeness I'll jn all compare, You know at first how that you two did part, When Jealousy had wound'd thy tender heart." Continuation of Joanna's History, " As I am called to write the particulars, that aU may be explained, J shall mention what I have omitted before we* parted for good. There was a young woman in SidmQuth, Captain Wickers's daughter, who was almost mad about Noah Bishop, 64 aha* would follow him wherever he went; when: he did go to Sidmouth Town, one Sunday, she followed him upon thee beach, and followed him part of the way home, and he slood talking with her. A friend of mine passed them by, and came and told me of it. This fired my soul with jea- lousy: and, as soon as I saw him enter the yard; I went'immediately up stairs. He came and en- quired of my sister for me. She told him I was gone up stairs, because I refused to see him; for, that I had desired her to tell him, that where he had been already, he might go again, along with Fanny Wickers* He declared to my sister, he could not bear her; and, though she followed him, he hated her, and believed her a very bad, loose girl; hut, as she had followed him, he was obliged to stop, and speak with her: but this excuse did not do for me. * My heart burned with jealousy: and, in my passion, I said, I would riot come down for the night ; neither did I the next day. I thought, if what he said was real, he would come as usual, when I was milking, as he knew I could not shun him then ; but, to my astonishment, he did not come: this fired my heart with indignation, for I tltought my jealousy was without a cause. The next day, I went to my father's at Getsham, and Noah came and pleaded his cause again with toy Sister, who told him I was more confirmed in my opinion than ever ; and she was gone to Get- sham to my Father's. He said, well then I will soon be after her, for I will go and and see her, and convmcehez, that I hale Fanny Wichers. My Sister told him he need not go to Getsham to see me, for I should return again the latter end of the week. He said, then he would wait till my return. I returned home on the Saturday night, but assooi? 65 as lie came into the house on the Sunday, I fled from him as before; but in the evening when I went to milking I saw him standing at the Orchard Gale, as he knew I could go no other way; he had an halter in his hand, and said, he had been down to turn the Sheep out of the Orchard, and put in the Colt, and he would not let me go till he had convinced me of his dislike to Fanny Wickers, and that I was the only Woman in the World that he loved, I told him, if what he said was tru*:, he would have come on the Monday night to convince me of the Truth, and not have staid away as he did; for I suoposed he was w*th her then. He assured me to the contrary ; for his father had sent him in the morning all over Bulverton Hill to find the colts, and he had come round two or three times to my brother's grounds, in hopes of seeing me watering the bullocks, which I very often used to do at noon, as there was no water in the field; but he had missed the time that I came, and made it so late before he could find his horses, that he did not return home till after night; and to prove the truth of what he said, he could bring his bro- ther Nathaniel, William Prince, Richard Isaac, and many others, to testify the truth of what he said; and his brother, and William Prince, did testify the truth: so I gave up all my jealousy in this matter, before it came to be alarmed another way, by people's saying, that he would break my heart in a twelve-month if I had him, which, brought the sorrows upon me, as is mentioned in my history : but, as all particulars must be explain- ed, > I shall notice one further. His wife that is now, and I, were intimately acquainted : and, one Sunday, when she came into the house, I told, him I 66 that she should be his wife. In a contemptuous fnanner, he said, he did not like her: but, years after, when he courted her, I was in company with him at a reaping- harvest, and there was a woman there that said her name was Anne. He said, Oh, Anne! I love the name of Anne and now I may say the same of my dear SAVIOUR, that I have been so often jealous of, fearing HE would let the gates of hell prevail against me ; but now I know none can pluck me out of His Hand and now I will, say, with David, " if I am vile, I will still be viler," and prove the truth that the Bible is clear, and the truth of His words are true to me. - " Though I'm unworthy, and of merit none; I see the merit in my Saviour's groans. I see the merit doth in Him appear, Unworthy I his hand or heart to share ; Because my jealousy so wrong have been, As 'twas by Noah now to me is seen. And all my passions open now anew, I see my SAVIOUR's words in all are true; That of my jealousy I may complain, To let my heart be so enrag'd by men. It is the Harlots that have me provok'd ; It is the Harlots that did cause the stroke. To cause the jealousy by my weak hand, When I did sign the folly of a man, That said from hell the writings did appear, And by his wisdom he'd destroy them there. But by his wisdom this he could not do ; He's just like Fann the Harlot in my view ; Because a Harlot she by man was plac'd, For so they said her roving heart did burst To every man ; that she thought she could gain; And now the empty world I see as plain, That they are roving after pleasures here, And every vanity their hearts ensnare. 6/ And so my heart they thought to tear that way, Because I knew there came my Jealousy Because professed Christians stood before, And made me judge my Saviour's Lord was the And that his promises to me He would forsake, And that's the way my Jealousy did break ; But curst tormentors now your rage is o'er, Your fury can no more from hell appear, With all the arts that now are in your view ; I see my Saviour, and I see him true, Doth in this Fable strong to me appear: I see this Likeness and I feel it here. And now your fury shall no further go, To say my Lord will fill my heart with woe. No, him I'll trust, and give both heart and hand; J see myself doth in this fable stand I see my Lord in Noah to appear; Not all the arts of hell shall now appear, To make me ever grieve my Dying Lord : Til trust His honor, and I'll trust his word-* For ail my passions they are open here, Much stronger for my Saviour to appear, Than ere in youth they did appear for man; I'd sooner die, than now give up my hand To any wretch, that shall against Him speak- No, No, my heart in sunder you may break, To kill my honor, and despise my fame; To say thy Maker thou doth boldly name, To be my husband, and the Lord of hosts, 1 tell you plain in Noah it is plac'd: Because the shadow there is in the man; But in my youth 1 was forsaken then, Grieved in spirit I did then appear, Worse than a widow's was my sorrows there- And 'twas pretended Friends brought on that woe, And now pretended Friends the same I know, Within my heart these daggers all would place; And the last error fata'ler than the first Then now, ye cursed tyrants! look and see, If you once more can break the heart of me; Just like the devils you must all appear,. And worse than serpents for to sting ine here. 68 But now I tell you, sooner I will die, Than e'er my God and Saviour to deny: Because so plain He'th brought all to my view, And 1 have witnesses to prove it true That 'twas by arts my Jealousy did go, Because the Harlots tlfey have stood, lefore, And made me judge my Saviour's Love was there. But from the Fable now I plainly see, They stood before but had no heart of He, To make him change His Bible for to turn, I see the way the Harlots all become To follow after, and to stand before ; And that's the way my jealousy was there. And so his absence 1 one time did aee, When hell by arts provok'd my Jealousy, And then my Lord not hasty to return, 1 thought my writings every one to burn. But then my blessed SAVIOUR did come round, He proved the 'Truth that HE was in the sound, And shew'd the way my Jealousy did come, The arts of Satan unto me made known ; - And by HIS 7 RUTH, I did believe his word, Ana by HIS TRUTH I'll now stand by my LORD,, Ten thousands deaths by man I'd sooner die, Than ere my blessed SAVIOUR now deny. No, No, the shadow it is gone before, But of the substance I will now take care, And trust the honor of my SAVIOUR dear; Tho' I am unworthy HE is worthy found, Unto His Cross my hand and heart is bound ; And I will sooner die beneah His Feet Than ere give up His Love that is so great, To be aveng'd of all, out rival foe That strong in satan now 1 know do go And in the Harlots he do now appear - To stand before them that he mav ensnare, And kindle Jealousy again to burst; But now too late the happy die is cast : For me as plain to see my SAVIOUR'* name; As I saw Nonh's when he humbly came, To place the t'tith of all before my view; And shall rny LQRD so humbly now pursue, Then well the Manger HE may call to mind, How humbly first HE came unto mankind, And how the mock of fools HE then did bear; And now the same they're pointing every spear, To crucify my dying LORD again ; Weigh every shadow, and you'll see it plain Because the suhst nice now I plain do see, The second time you'd murder HIM and me: As Eve by arts satan did murder first, And so by arts the Cross of Christ was plac'd - And sj by arts he'd place it all again ; Chiist and the Woman once more to be slain, r The second time the swo d go through he" soul, This is the way I Know you'd murder all But now I tell you Christ shall murder me; Before my hand and heart I'll ever give To any living, but my LORD alone; I'd sooner die and come before His throne; And there my tri il I'd begin to plead, And ask HIM how this way I'd been misled 1 -* His Words and Bible all for to believe, I'd ask HiM how satan could so deceive; I'd ask the devil how he could appear In Christ's form, my heart for to ensnare, And say, that by it I should conquer hell, Then now the truth for once he sure must tell; Because against himself he now must stand, To say he is a devil in all lands; And in the hearts of all men he does go, Nothing but ruin he do see and know ; While he hath power for to rule and reign, Then sure the self-accuser must be slain. Because if 1 should murder now a man, An\ boldly say I had the murder done; And tell the way I did to all contrive^ I ask what law would let me then to live If I plead guilty; man must plead the same > And so from hell, as you do say, it came; From his own words he now is guilty cast; ". * , And I'm the witness will against him burst. - But if from heaven you say is n >w the sound, ^Then sure your Conquering SAVIOUR will be found; ;o As HE hath said to conquer earth and hell, And make the rebel in his den to dwell; That he may never vex the earth no more, Until the thousand Years are named be o'er And now Joanna I have spoke in thee, The truth of all for thou to hear and see. This is the way that thou must plend with man; Because thy eyes I've open'd to discern, How clear in all the likeness doth agree, And now like Noah I shall answer thee. It is the harlots do before me go, Profess they love ME, and they hold ME so, That I must save them by my dying blood; But ne'er avenge it on the serpent's head Therefore their love like Noah 1 do hate; Though they profess to ME, their love is great, _ To have MY dying blood be all in all; And never have my rival foe to fall," Here We ended on Thursday night, June 2r, i3o4 And then a Letter was received from Exeter, that they had sent a Letter to Mr. Pome- roy, which he returned back without answering a word. Tins set all Joanna's heart on fire ; the agonies she felt, no tongue can express she saw the fatal ruin he was bringing on himself, and called to her remembrance a Letter she was or- dered to send him; she thinks it was in 1797. ** AncJ Judas he shall be to me, Jf he do mc deny; Uo comfort in this world he'll have, And trembje for to die. Jlc must be found an cinpty sound, And hollow all within : I asked the Bishop how he'd look Qb sucty dccejtful men." Because in his Preaphjng he professed great Love for Cfmst ; therefore it was said, the Lord would try the man, and now he is weighed in the bal- ance and found wanting, but knowing it is the H I devil's arts have deceived him, wounds me to the heart in pity for the man ; but as for the Devil I hate, my rage and malice grow more and more every day against him ; as I receive Letters how believers are daily haunted, for those that are longing for Christ and His Kingdom, the de- vil is pursuing with all his rage and fury, while those that do as a man } said at Leeds, that, he did give the devil a, corner chair to set in his heart that then he said th,e deril was at rest with him ; but if he disturbed him, the devil would plague him and I heard the same man say, he v/ould die to redeem the devil, which made me tremble to think there could be so wretched a being. I told him his death would not redeem the devil; for that power was in GOD only and he would find him a cruel devil to him, tho' he professed so much love to him, he would not find that love in return from him : but I am soiry to say I see his likeness in many men ; they would sooner bring the day of Vengeance on themselves, and free the devil from his just punishment, than let the devil have his due. For they gave him a corner chair to set in their hearts, because he may not disturb them. But I will assure them in the end, they will find the devil to be like a Gentleman's Gar- dener, who courted the Gentleman's Maid, and made great professions of love to her, till he had brought her with Child and then he ordered her one night to come at mid-night to such a Garden at her Master's, and he would meet her there, and take her to Church to be married early in the morning; but while the bloody wretch was digging the Grave, to bury her when he had mur- dered her, the Gentleman was warned by a dream, that his Gardener was digging of a Grave, tt f George Hey, near Lccdi*. 72 ' murder his Cook, he told his wife of it, ano* said he'd go down she desired him not, and said it was only a dream. He went to .sleep and dreamt the same again lie then said, he would rise, but his Wife persuaded him not to listen to dreams. lie went to sleep again, and dreamt the same the third time ; he then sprung off' his bed, and said, he'd lav there no longer, till he searched out the truth of his dream. He slippedon his Night-gown and went down and met hiifCook Maid at the door, dressed to meet her devilish lover. He asked pie maid where she was going, she was compelled to tell him she was going to meet his Gardener to go to Church to be married. He told her she should not. The poor innocent maid burst into tears, and said she must go, for she was with Child l?y him. The Gentleman told her, he was only going to murder her, and to convince her he would' go first to the Garden, which he did, and left the poor maid trembling in the house. When he came, he found the Gar- dener had dug a very deep Grave ; he asked him what he was doing ? The wretch answered ma- king of a Cucumber-bed. The Gentleman told him it was the wrong season of the year to make Cucumber-beds And he knew from the maid that told him she was with Child by him, and he had appointed her to meet him there, that he had designed to murder her, and had dug that for her Grave. The wretch finding that he was betrayed fled from his master and left the country. And now I shall insert Joannas dream of last night " I dreamt last night, that I was to go to be married with my Brother Page that is dead ; my Brother-in-law. He first made love to me, and then married my Sister. But to this I 'thought I T9 must go to be married by Proxy, as the Queen* do. I thought some said, why you must not marry with a man, if you are wedded to Christ: I said. No, it was but by Proxy, like the Queens ; for I should nerer live with the man: but my happi- ness would never be completed, before I had gone through the Proxy of marriage. I thought some cried out, in raptures of joy, and said, now I see the whole mystery clear. One strange gentleman cried out, in contusion and raptures of joy, she shan't want for money nor a house she hath many presents sent her, and I will provide a house for her. I thought they kept presenting to my view, little things, wrapped up; and, when I opened them, there was gold and blue ribbons in them* I thought many men seemed bursting with joy: but one man in the company looked as if he would burst with envy; and said, I don't know what to make of this woman's marriage, I believe it's all a sham ; while others warmly reproved him. I. then thought, that myself, with my friends, entered a beautiful, large garden; where I saw four crown pieces lay upon a stone. I thought I picked thenz up, and give one to Miss Townley* and one to> Mrs. Foley; and said, I had found them upon the earth : but, as they were covered with dust* I did Hot know whether they were silver or not. I thought we began to rub the pieces, and I found they were not -true silver : so I cried to my friends, it is not true silver, fling them all down in the garden again; which I thought we all did So we pursued our journey together, till we came out of the garden; and then I lost my friends, I know not how, and I was in a room with two wo- men, that were very ill-looking old women. And I< thought in derision they said one to the other, K 74 have you heard of this mighty woman that is going to be married? I heard their mockery, and pulled my veil over my face, that they might not know it was me: but I thought Jealousy alarmed one of them, and she went down stairs to call a parcel cf women more to come up, and prevent my going, I thought I looked at the stairs, and saw them full of old women, looking like witches Immediately I felt the strength of the Lord enter in me, and I flew like a Bird over their he^pls, and flew out of the house. 1 thought they turned in con- fusion to seek me, and said, where can she go, that we cannot find her? I thought with myself, the Lord will carry me where you cannot find me. And I thought I was carried round, from place to place ; and saw the people as if they were bursting with envy at me: but so quick and powerful was my flight, that no one could prevent me, nor touch me, nor stop my fl'ght, till I came to some beautiful piace, which I cannot recollect, and then I awoke." ,, Here, Sir, you are left in a confusion, like Mr. Sharp, sending you dreams and visions with the explanation: for the explanation of this dream and vision will be sent to Mr. Sharp, and he will be puzzled to know what it alludes to, as you may be puzzled to know what it meanctb, to go in print without an explanation: but the explanation you are forbid to' know, till the book is printed. But I wish I could find the Clergy as wise as Mr. Sharp, to say his head is now confused, to find out the mystery of what I am sending: for he knows" there must be some pages kept back that ought to be sent, to make my writings clear before him, for he cannot now understand them. Now, if the Clergy were as wise as he is, they would see there H 5 were some hidden mysteries in the Bible, that they can't find out, to make the Bible clear and true; as you will both see by my letters, that you cannot make the mysteries clear, till both books are brought together. (Signed) JANE TOWNLEY. From the sa?ne to the same. p <-, . Friday Afternoon, June 22,. 1 804. The following Communication is given to Joanna, in answer to a simple Parable " of a Black." The Parable is sent to Mr. Sharp, and the explanation is sent to you. " For so My Bible doth appear, I tell you simple men ; The Parables you've goi them here, But cannot them explain. No more than he the thing could see Why thou such things should pen; ! For in the dark there stands a mark, That no one does discern Had been up on his father's bulks, He said that he could run; Because that there he might appear, In strength he thought to stand; But when upon bis b*'d he were, He judg'd a coward's hand Had slain him then, ye simple men, Your Bibles stand the same; I'll bring the mystery to the Land, That you may know My Name. My Father here cannot ippear, To strike the rebel dead ; No other way His Honor clear, But bring it to the bed, f9 Where I did fall ; I tell you all, That so 't must surely come: For me to strike the rebel dead, As satan's arts are known. For him I'll place, ye fallen race, The Black's father to be ; And I must bring him to the bed, That first did murder ME : For in the Land, as now you stand, The bulk of all to place; By satan's arts you this command, That be may run his race, To save his lite, and end the strife, For there his bulk does come And if with him you thus do hold, You give him room to nm; For Twenty here he well may clear, My Bible he does see ; My Honor I can never clear, Till to my bed 't must be : Because that there, he did appear, I say a coward first; And now My Honor I can clear, To make a coward burst, On him the same; ye simple men^ And strike the rebel dead : But from the bulk in all he's plac'dj "To bring it on your head, For man to fall, I tell you all, And he to run the same : He know'th My Honor cannot fall, A liar to become And plead with he, in lies to be ; A God for tp appear No ! Twenty Oods he'd quickly free,, And say no truth was here. Then how can 1, that dwell'th on high, In lies for to proceed : No, all your earthly Gods must die, $3e'd quipkly strike them dead ? And so he'd run to ME 'twas known, The bulk in all to place ; 77 And say 'tis man I must enthrone, For where's the truth to burst? No woman here did now appear A helpmate to mankind; My Bible you can never clear, You earthly Gods must find ; Because that here you may appear,, That number to make good ; And every one would satan clear, You ne'er could strike him dead: No, he would run to ME, 'tis known, The way he'th run before ; The woman he did first enthrone, / Then how can I appear, To say the way he did betray, J'd bring it at the last? Then 'twas the woman you do say, And there the truth shall burst; In' honor clear I shall appear, The woman all must free ; And say, if he did Eve ensnare, Then now 'tis come to ME f I say the same, again I'M come, The woman to beguile; Then there the devil cannot stand, And well thou then may'st smile, To see a thing so simply done, That I shall here explain I'll bring. My Bible out to man. For that's the bulk I mean. The bulk of all from Adam's fall. If satan there could stand ; You earthly Gods he'd conquer aM, And run by my command; Because that here he would appear; And say no truth whs plac'd; I promis'd as a SAVIOUR here. The likeness it must burst : God of this world, he sure did call The devil at that time : Then how that God could he e'er fall, Till Chr^jt ap Eve could find^ 78 For to obey, as Eve did f lay Obedient to his will; I tell you all, ye earthly Gods, You'd keep his footing still ; He well does know, and so does go, To work in every heart, And Cowafds he would make of you, To take your S.WIOUR's part ; For Christ to come, and reign the same, Jn power in every land For now 1 tell you Satan's frame, The Bulk in him doth stand That's of Mankind, you all may fintl, And look which way you will, The reigning power that is in man, Is bound to Satan's will. And this he gain'd ye simple men, By Woman's simple hand, And by that bed he must be slain, For there : the Type doth stand, "What he gain'd first, from Woman burst, And so he'll now appear! He'll place there Witchcraft at the last, The Bride they'd murder here : She should not come, to Christ be't known, By witchcraft would they cry; To have the Saviour all their own, And death and hell to die. 2^o, we'll keep up our every hope, That we had got before ; His blood to wash away our stains, We do not want e'er more. Thus 't will begin in hell to burn, The Witches now he'll try ; That he hath power for to bewitch, And make the Bride to die: Because that here he will appear, As he appear'd before ; And from the Jews, 1 this shall clear, For so they'll answer here What Blasphemy must be in she, Her SAVIOUH to blaspheme! To say in spirit now H l*L's come, With her to plead like men; For to appear like Noah here, The Hermit in disguise: 79 With all her Lovers to compare, ' Tin time for to chastise If this does go -vr weii do know, She ll gain men all lier own They'll judge the Biale to be true, The way that she hath shewn. And we no more, than Fools appear, Will satan swell their Pride; 1 know the Witches will appear, That way the witchcraft li'th Then from the first I stong shall burst, Ami call the mid-night hour And see your Saviour how IIE's plac'd, Your pride for to devour My Grandeur here, when I appear, To make My Wisdom shine ; Would i your mockery ever bore ? Had I not known My Mind, That at the last a Prince I'd burst By Woman's simple hand ! Because that there, I tell you here, The devil's power doth stand Now I the Last the same do burst, The earth for to con.mand ; I come to do My FATHER s will, And there His Will shall stand : The Woman shall your IWpmate be, For now I've gain'd her hand. The fruit to pluck now to the root, And down the root shall fall; Not all his witchcraft now shall do, For I shall conquer hell : This very way, now I do say, That I did first design: The Woman shall your Helpmate be -^ I'll further tell My Mind : It is not one to ME 'tis known, For I'A M a David here ; And many Brides are now My own, Alike with her to swear: But now the First from Saul did burst. For there the Bride did come, And David's Crown that way was found, Anil Saul's was overthrown. So unv the Saul, i tell )ou all, la Satan he does stand ; 80 fiat now within thou dost begin, , Thy pondering heart command:^ Mast thou appear the Daughter herfe Of satan just the same-. - I tell thee no, it is not so, Tlio' all from Shadows^caroe. The Shadows first from saten burst, Children undei the Fall; Then there t he daughter thou must stand I now do tell you all : Because that there hell did appear, A prince of earth to come ; And by the Fall, I tell you all I then pronounced man As dead to be in Love to ME, Or knowledge to' become ; By satan's arts you all may see Your Children form'd by him. Then now see clear, the shadow here, A Child of his must come ; To give their hand to Darid here, And slay their father's throne ; That did appear in Saul now there, And there the shadow see, Ho^David's life were then preserv'd, By a Daughter born of lie ; That is of Saul, I tell you all, So David gain'd his Crown ; And so I tell you by the Fall, You're satan's Children found. Fallen from M E in misery, By satan's artful haud : And from the Shadow all must see, How David's Crown must stand. But here within thou dost begin, In Jealousy to burst ; And from this Fable thou dost see, Thou art unequall'd plac'd ; Not for to Love thou here dost prov*, For David's heart did go, And other women better lov'd, Than her thou well dost know. So misery and jealousy, Have work'd thy passions high And is My Love no more for thee J Tho' thou for me wilt die. 81 Thy love's so great, without deceit, In every thing to prove : And shalt thou see that misery, To find a David's love So cold to thine ! No, I'll resign, 'Twas but a shadow there ; When I at first came to mankind, The Brides for to ensnare- To wed with me 1 now tell thee, And Brides they did become ; Because that they do trust in ME, That I shall them redeem. But now see clear, the mystery there, I am a David found, The Ark of God in all to clear, And bring the nivsteries round: That t am come to act like him, For to uncover ail, The Brides that 1 have got before, Do now like her appear: What fool say they, must Christ now be To come anil stoop so low, And in their heaits they Me despise, Like Saul's daughter ihey go. But 1 shall aay, like him that day, Iff vile i do appear; Then now much viler I will be, And come to Noah here For like his love Mine now shall pit>ve, Thy Jealousy did burst ; Like Saul's Daughter for to appear, Thou know'st how it was plac'd ; That she despis'd him so unwise, And folly she did see, For him to dance before the Ark, In honor then to Me. But viler there he would appear, He told her at that time And now the mysteries i shall clear, And bring it to mankind. A David here I did appear, I told them at the first, His Root and Offspring then I were ; The morning star to burst 6th Chap. 2nd Book of Samuel through. L 82 But then see clear My Brides were there, Tho' then I wed with Some, My Humbleness they could not bear, And so despis'd My Name. So they did die, I tell tliee why, No Children did appear, Till other Brides were gain'd by Me, My every crown to share So first from them; the Jews did come, And every one did die ; Because My ways they did despise, Too low thev all did cry ; And now the same they moe^MyName The Brides that here do come Tho' at the) first My death they plac'd, To be the life of them : Then now within thou dost begin, The mystery for to see ; Children of Said I tell you all, Like Saul's Daughter will be ; Tho' I began to thee 'twas kno ati, To place the Shadow there ; With Saul's Daughter 1 then did come, The likeness to compare; And thou within did*st tremble then > And all may tremble too, That say My Ways they do despise, Bring all before thy view ; For viler there he did appear, To tell her he would be; And viler here, I will appear, And that they all shall see ; If low at First, 1 here did bursf, And in the Manger come ; I tell them lower at the Last, 1 shall receive My Crown. Humility you all shall see, Do highest honor bring, And humbly now I'AM come to thee, Thy heart and soul to win. And so to all, I now d'o call, Brothers and Sisters here ; My mother too, before My View, My Love do so appear ; Then surely I who dwell'th on High, Do humbly now become; 83 For to invite My every Bride, My Kingdom tor to share ; Because this way to thee, I say My Kingdom 't mus,t appear; It is by Love you all must prove, Mv Kingdom it must come ; And it is Love the Cause must move, The Serpent to condemn ; I said at Last MY Love should burst, Unto them in the end . When I do bring My earthly Crown MY Love to man must bend : Or how should they in Love to ME Shun every Bival Foe. No, I'll appear to answer here, MY Sheep astray do go, And they are gone from ME'tis known Then Horses must appear, That to the Manger now will come, MY Chariot Wheels to clear ; And draw them on, as they've begun. Like Horses Men must be ; The strength of sheep is too much gone To stand the light lor ME. So I'll appear like Noah here, My sheep are gone astray ; MY words they do profess to hear, And so profess'd THEY LAY In love to ME, they say they be, And so they follow here ; But as their hearts I plain do see, Their love I cannot bear. But now to thee a mystery, Like Noah I shall come ; And tell thee of thy Jealousy, That did thee now enflame : The sheep were gone he told them then And Horses in the Room, That he had been one day to seek, And now the day is come. Because this year 't shall so appear, That Horses 1 shall find : My every Harness for to wear, My Chariot Wheels behind, Shall surely go, they all shall know And bring ME to MY Thram vm* 84 That I shall now prepare for you, And claim this Earth MY own, So now see clear, one shadow's here, How Noah wail'd to see, Tby every Bullock* to appear, Thai watei'd the) may be. So now to all, 1 thus do call, I wait'th for man the same ; That to MY Brook they all may come, Whih thirsty hearts enflam'd; As He was there in love appear'd, So is MY heart for Man ; But if that they do act like thee, And miss the time 1 come ; Then they may grieve as thou'st believe Thou surely miss'd the whole, But if their arts I find like thee, They'll find me so to fall To come again, and shew them plain* They way they ME did miss ; Tho' I was waiting at their doors, And would have shew'd them thus, How f was come in love toman, And told them of the time ; But they did look another way, The mysteries could not find And satan there did strong appear, To make them miss the mark ; As I your footsteps did prepare, To leave both in the dark ; Because the thing 1 did design, To bring the Shadow here ; And shew the substance to mankind, The way 1 shall appear; If Jealousy in them I see, As in thy neart did burn ; To think that I AM gone from thee. Like Noah i II return ; Andshew them plain how this was done They ne'er ciiscem'd the time, And for MY Horses 1 was gone, MY Chariot Wheels to find ; Thatthoy may draw you all shall know That have MY Harness here ; Because MY Sheep too w