HEar, O Iſrael! This ſhort Meſſage and Teſtimony is to you, who have long made Profeſſion of the holy Truth, yet have not known or witneſſed the pure purging Power of it, throughly to cleanſe, waſh and ſanctifie, and to ſet you free from ſin, and the power and ſervitude of it, but have taken up a falſe Reſt, and are ſate down at eaſe in Zion, in a Profeſſion of Truth, with a Name to live, whilſt dead, dead as to Holineſs, dead as to the Life, Power of Truth, and divine Knowledge of the Myſtery of Chriſt, Enemies to the Croſs of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, that ſhould throughly crucifie you to the World, and the World to you, which raiſeth up the Soul into the Life of Holineſs; this you are Enemies unto in your Minds, by reaſon of wicked Works, ſo hold the Truth in Unrighteouſneſs, and are crucifying that afreſh to your ſelves, which ſhould ſlay and crucifie you to the World and the Evils of it; but what will ye do in the end thereof? Though now for a Time you may live over & trample upon this innocent Life, yet in the end it will be too heavy for you, if ye will not bow and bend to it, and be willing to fall upon it, and be broken by it, it will at laſt fall heavy upon you, and will grind you to Powder; and this I have long ſeen and fore-ſeen in the Light of the Lord, to be your ſtate, many of you; therefore hear and fear, all ye Diſobedient & Rebellious Ones, who have long profeſſed me in words, ſaith the Lord, yet in works have denyed me, who honour me not, nor is my Name feared & ſanctified in the midſt of you, but my holy Spirit is & hath been long grieved by you, for you are a Rebellious Houſe, ſaith the Lord, therefore I delight not in you, nor are your Offerings pleaſant or acceptable in my ſight, as in days and years paſt, when they were as a ſweet ſmell unto me, whilſt you retained your love and ſincerity to my Name & Truth, and held faſt your Integrity, and my holy fear was before you, and whilſt yet kept and abode in it, it kept and preſerved you out of many of the Evils of the World, which you are ſince again run unto, and into this muſt you come again, even to your firſt Love, and to Repent, and do your firſt Works, if ever ye come into my favour again, and be owned and received of me, and that I again receive an Offering at your hands, with Acceptance.

Hear therefore, O Iſrael! what the Lord by his Spirit may ſignifie unto you, Though very long hath the Lord born with a People in this day, even as he bore long with Iſrael of Old, forty Years was he grieved & tempted with that Generation, who after that, He by a mighty hand, and an out ſtretched Arm had ſaved them out of the Land of Aegypt, and had led them through the Red Sea, and brought them ſafe upon the Banks of Deliverance, where they ſang his Praiſe, yet he afterwards deſtroyed them that believed not; which things are written for our Admonition, that we grieve not the Lord in repelling againſt his good Spirit, as they did, of which we had need to take heed, leaſt we alſo come to fall in this Wilderneſs, through the ſame Example of Unbelief; for the Lord hath born long with a People and Generation in this our Day, and for whom he hath alſo done much, who have long profeſſed him in words, ſome of them forty or near fifty years, but what fruit is there brought forth by too to many of them, though he hath waited long, year after year, ſeeking and expecting Fruit, of whom he now grows weary, and the Day of his long-ſuffering and forbearance is come near unto an end, and that he will ſay, Cut it down, why cumbereth it the Ground? And this will be the lot & portion of many, unleſs they ſpeedily Repent: Its Fruit that he expects and looks for, and he will not be longer put off or ſatisfied without Fruits that may honour him; for barely, a Profeſſion of the holy Truth, without a holy Life, will ſtand no Soul of us in any ſtead at all, in the great Day of Account, but he will have an Improvement made by us of his own and what he hath committed to our Truſt, and he that hath not improved his Gift, but hath been idle, ſloathful and negligent in his Lords buſineſs in his Day and Time, this Gift or Talent will at laſt be call'd for by the Giver of it, and taken from him, and the Portion of that Servant will be in utter Darkneſs forever. He that hath an Ear to hear, let him hear this Word, The Lord is taking away thy Diadem, the Crown is falling from thy head, thy flouriſhing Beauty is paſſing away quickly, the heavenly Sun which thou rejoyced in for a time, now with-draws its ſhining, the Darkneſs is now thickening upon thee; in ſtead of ſpiritual Mirth and Gladneſs, a Day of Sorrow, Mourning and Lamentation; in ſtead of a Girdle, a Rent, inſtead of well ſet Hair, Baldneſs, and inſtead of a ſweet Smell, behold a ſtink; and thy Name ſhall be for a perpetual Shame and Reproach amongſt the Heathen, becauſe ye have not ſanctified the Name of the holy One, but have greatly polluted it in this Land; therefore I will make ye a Scorn, a By-word & a Hiſſing to Nations, and Women ſhall rule over thee, & ſtrangers ſhall come up and eat your Bread, and ſhall poſſeſs your Habitations, and the Lord will call in others to the heavenly Banquet, the Supper of the Lamb, and who are more worthy than ye, & they ſhall enter into the Marriage Chamber, & pertake of the heavenly Dainties, and they ſhall come from the Eaſt and from the Weſt, and ſhall enter in, & ſhall ſit down with Abraham, Iſaac & Jacob in the Kingdom of God, and Ye who have accounted your ſelves the Children of it, ſhall be thruſt out for your Diſobedience; for there are firſt that ſhall be last, and laſt that ſhall be firſt; and as ye were in times paſt, when little in your own Eyes, and in a bowed ſence before the Lord, you were then reproached, ſcorned, mocked and derided of the World, and ſuch as knew not God, for your Plainneſs, your Chriſtian Modeſty, your Seriouſneſs, Sobriety, Gravity and Moderation, your Self denyal, holy and harmleſs Converſations, and ſerious Deportment, and good Behaviour and Teſtimony againſt the World, and the Evils and Faſhions of it, which your Minds were far drawn out of in that Day; and becauſe ye could not faſhion your ſelves after the former Luſts, whilſt in your Ignorance, nor walk as other Gentiles, that knew not God, in the vanity of their Minds; for that cauſe, how were ye hated, reproached and reviled, for the Truths ſake, while ye thus ſtood the Croſs; but now on the contrary, ſince the Offence of the Croſs is ceaſed with many, to my grief, and many more, I now ſpeak even with ſorrow of heart, and not to upbraid you, may it not now be ſaid, and that truely, That ye are now become a Scorn to Fools, and a Reproach juſtly among the Heathen, for your evil doing, and for your diſagreeable Practices to what the innocent harmleſs Quakers uſe to be found in, witneſs your Perſecution, by Impriſoning, Fining, and taking away Goods from your innocent Neighbours & Brethren, who for Conſcience ſake could not conform to you.

And now, that your Evil, Ʋn-Chriſtian and Ʋn-Quaker-like Deeds and Corruptions, both in Principle & Practice, are brought to light, and which cannot now longer be hid, but they muſt come forth to publick view, and their Covering, who have not the Truth purely for their Covering, is ſtripping off them, and their Nakedneſs, and the Shame of it muſt and will appear to the view of all. And now inſtead of looking at the hand of the Lord in it, and humbling of themſelves under it, and owning it to be juſt upon them, for their Hypocriſie and great Unfaithfulneſs, inſtead of this lay all the blame upon others, excuſing themſelves, & blaming and accuſing of others with it, and ſay, Its this Man or the other hath done it, and brought this Diſhonour and Reproach to Truth; and its not we, but G. K. and thoſe in the Seperation, who have broken Ʋnity with their Brethren, but will not own that they have done any thing that hath juſtly brought the Diſhonour, but wipe their Mouthes, and ſay, They have done no Evil. Yet this I muſt tell, as I am certainly perſwaded of it, That had you but continued faithful, and retained your firſt purity and love to God and his Truth, as ye were once in, this then had not happened, nor ſhould G. Keith, or any other, then ſuffered thus to lay open & expoſed you to the world, which you have all along much endeavoured to hide your Evils and Filthyneſs from, but now, that which hath been long hid and kept ſecret is made manifeſt, and brought to light, for as Chriſt ſaid, There is nothing hid, that ſhall not be revealed, nor covered, that ſhall not be uncovered, and that which hath been ſpoken in ſecret ſhall be proclaimed upon the Houſe top; and ſince you have loſt that which once made you a good favour in your Neighbourhoods and Families, and that reached the Witneſs of Truth in many hearts, having loſt this, you will be left as deſtitute, as naked, and as bear as ever People was left, without timely and ſincere Repentance.

Friends, as touching my laſt Paper which I ſent, with the other of B. D's to your Monthly Meeting, in which was ſome things hard to be rightly underſtood by you, eſpecially ſince I am again with drawn from you, being warned of God ſo to do, and that I may keep Truth clear, and my Teſtimony thereunto, however cenſured and looked upon by you, the great thing with me, is, and hath been, to approve my heart to God, and to ſpeak the Truth uprightly, without partiality of reſpect to any Mans Perſon, and whilſt I am kept there, I heed it little who commends, or who diſcommends me; for not he who commendeth himſelf, or whom another commends, but whom the Lord commends, that is approved; I ſay, that I may be the more Intelligible, and prevent and take off, what in me lies, thoſe evil and hard Conſtructions which very aptly and readily you may put upon what I there writ, as concerning Printing and Expoſing, as hath been of late, both by one ſde and the other, which I ſhall explain, and give you my ſence, thus, That I have and can honeſtly and ſafely teſtifie againſt ſuch manner of Expoſing as hath been of late by both, as that which ought not to be amongſt brethren, who are to dwell together in Unity; yet if the Lord will make uſe of, or permit an Inſtrument to lay open & expoſe a People for their Unfaithfulneſs, and for their treacherous dealing with him, who ſhall then withſtand the Lord in what he doth, who doth whatſoever he will? and though men cannot ſee it ſo, yet whatſoever the Lord doth, is well, and he is and will be glorified over all; and if he be not glorified in mens Salvation, he will be glorified in their Deſtruction, as he was upon hard hearted Pharoah and his people when he wrought that mighty deliverance for Iſrael; for the Scripture ſaith concerning Pharoah, For this ſame purpoſe have I raiſed thee up, that I may ſhow my Power in thee, and that my Name might be declared throughout all the Earth. Thus you may ſee, in one ſence we may ſafely condemn ſuch manner of expoſing, dividing, tending and tearing Member from Member, as that which ought not to be among Brethren, as the Apoſtle mentions in one of his Epiſtles, Theſe things, my Brethren, ought not ſo to be; ſo ſay I, Brethren ought not to differ, fall out, and be at ſtrife, but all rather dwell together in Love and Amity, being all of the ſame Mind, and of the ſame Judgment; and this is very aimable, and a comely thing for Brethren thus to dwell together in Unity; but if that a People who have profeſſed themſelves to be in the greateſt Unity of any People beſides, and all to believe the ſame things, profeſſing the one Faith, one Lord Jeſus Chriſt, and one Hope of their Calling, if this People, or a part of them ſhall be found in Error, & certain men from among themſelves ſhall ariſe, and ſhall teach and aſſert things contrary to ſound Doctrine, and ſhall continue and perſiſt to maintain ſuch corrupt and erroneous Principles and Doctrines, to the infecting and corrupting of one another, ſo far as to the Denying of our only Lord and Saviour Jeſus Christ, and if for this their great Degeneracy, and contemning of the Word and Teſtimony of Jeſus, God ſhall immediately concern & raiſe up ſome from amongſt themſelves, to correct, reprove, reprehend, and ſharply to teſtifie againſt the ſame, in the zeal and fervency of their Spirits, and alſo to with-draw from their Fellowſhip and Communion; and whether it be not right and juſtifiable in the ſight of God ſo to do, I leave to the Wiſe in heart to judge.

Thus you may plainly ſee I have and can freely condemn the Printing, Expoſing, Seperating & Dividing one from another in the Church of Chriſt, and amongſt Brethren, that it ought not to be, but in that other ſence, as I have told you, if the Lord doth it for a good end and purpoſe, to make manifeſt Hypocrites and evil Workers, who live in Error, and to ſearch out the hidden Workers of Darkneſs, and the Hypocrites in Zion, and who profeſs themſelves to be Jews, and are not, but do lye, and for the laying open Hereſie and Error, that hath long lain undiſcovered, that ſo thoſe that are approved of him may be made manifeſt; and if he will raiſe up ſome from amongſt our ſelves to do this Work, which you account ſo ill a Work, yet in this ſence, as the Lord doth it, in order to effect and bring to paſs his own Purpoſe, I may not condemn it, it being the Day that I have much wiſhed for, that thoſe that are approved might be manifeſt, and no place found where the Worker of Iniquity might hide his head; and the Day is come and coming▪ that will find them out of all the dark Places and lurking Holes.

So, with little more, I ſhall conclude, deſiring the Lord, if it be his Will, to turn your hearts to him, and to work a true Reformation and change in your Minds, that ſo the thick Vail of Darkneſs and Error, that is over many of your hearts, may be effectually rent off and taken away, and that you may come to know the holy Covering of God, and to put on the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, and to be covered with his Righteous Power and Spirit, and then I know you will not be found naked, but might be able to ſtand before the Son of Man.

Now as to any amongſt you who may be conſcientiouſly concerned, as to me, if any ſuch there be, I am able to give a further or more full and ſatisfactory Account of my leaving you again, if deſired; and as to my going to and fro for my own ſatisfaction, which ye render ſo ill, and as being now worſe than before, and that it beſpeaks me and us of an unſtable Mind, and wavering too and again, for my late condeſcention in coming ſo near you (as I was willing to come as near to you as the Truth would poſſibly admit) and that in love, for the Bodies ſake, the Church; but how I am the worſe for ſo doing, I may tell you, and what my Experience hath been ſince I came laſt amongſt you, or rather that you came to us in your appointed time, for I never did ſee my way clear to come to you; indeed I can own, in one ſence, I am not the better for my being laſt with you; and though it was not long that I was with you, yet I now think it was long enough, and ſhall truly and honeſtly declare my experience, and how I found it in that time, which thing I kept ſecret to my ſelf, but I minded it well, and how the Lord was to me in that time, and whether I enjoyed him now amongſt you, ſo as I did before, when in the Seperation, as knowing what he had been unto me then; and this Experience I have, and am now free to tell it, That the nearer I came to you, the Lord he with-drew himſelf the further from me, and I wanted thoſe Soul refreſhing Comforts that I had from him before; and as I with-drew my ſelf again from you, the Lord immediately drew near to me again, and then my Love and Zeal began to freſhen & increaſe more to him, which (while near to you) began to •••• ten and decline, becauſe I was not to ſit down with you in an evil ſecure ſtate, nor • ould I ſit down with you in the ſtate I ſaw you in, nor was it ever in my heart ſo to do, as knowing certainly, if I did, the Lord would wholly with-draw himſelf from me, and ſhut up, and with-hold his wonted goodneſs from me, and whom my Soul was ſtill concerned for, that I might not looſe him, nor do that which might give him cauſe again to hide his face. Theſe things I made Obſervation of betwixt the Lord and my own Soul. Alſo, a a little before I left you, the Lord ſet it clearly before me, your unprofitable ſtate, and where you are, and what your lot and portion will be, and mine alſo, if I continued with you, ſo as to ſit down and have fellowſhip with you in that dark evil corrupt ſtate, which the Lord knows, and my Soul knows, you are now ſitten down in, and he haſtened me much before I left you, as Lot out of Sodom, To haſte, and flee as for my Life, and to ſave my ſelf from ſuch a Generation as are out of the Faith of the Lord Jeſus Christ, which I can now with greater boldneſs affirm, than I could before, having had the advantage to hear and ſee the ſecond time again for my ſelf, and which was the main & great cauſe of my being amongſt you the ſecond time, that ſo I might have a more perfect knowledge of theſe things, and like the Noble Boraeam, deſired to find and ſearch out, whether theſe thing were altogether ſo, as the Cry and Report hath been: And why ſhould any blame me for this, or reſent ſo ill, my coming and going to and fro, as being under a Soul concern? I wiſh that many amongſt you, that are ſettled on their Lees, were in like manner ſo concerned, and that I could ſee many going to and fro; for its ſaid, In the latter days they ſhall run to and fro, and Knowledge ſhall increaſe. And ſeeing I came to ſeek the good amongſt you, (had it been to be found) and not to ſpy out your liberty in Chriſt, and bring you into Bondage, yet was willing to ſpy out whether ye have indeed the Faith of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt; and finding that you have it not, am warned to with-draw, and have no fellowſhip with ſuch as cannot bear to have the Lord Jeſus Chriſt preached amongſt you, the which advantage I have had by my being laſt with you, ſeeing plainly, that its not as you have endeavoured to make People believe, viz. That its not for the Teſtimonies ſake, that ye deny theſe in the Seperation, but for this dividing Spirit, and for reviling and expoſing; But this cover is now ſtripping off, and will not longer hide you, but you muſt now appear as yeare, and that ye are of thoſe that love not the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, as your doings have and do manifeſtly declare.