of my commission, I do charge and command you (as I have done many of the preachers of the other six churches) that you would leave off speaking or preaching of that lying doctrine which the Quakers teach, which is to mind the light within them, but deny the body and person of Christ without them; neither have you any commission to do as you do, for the light within a man was never a sufficient commission to make a man a minister, messenger, or ambassador of Christ.

Therefore, if you shall exercise the office of a public preacher, or gather the people to meet at your house upon a religious account (for you do but deceive yourselves, and other ignorant and silly people;) therefore, if you shall do any of these things aforesaid, after the receipt of this letter, then, for this your disobedience unto this commission of the Holy Spirit, I do pronounce you cursed and damned, both in soul and body, from the presence of God, elect men and angels, to eternity.

Written by

LODOWICKE MUGGLETON,

One of the two last Witnesses and Prophets unto the High and Mighty God, the Man Christ Jesus, in Glory.

A Copy of a Letter written by the prophet Lodowicke Muggleton, to Goodwife Wylds, William Young, and Thomas Martyn of Kent, dated from London, August 27, 1663.

I UNDERSTANDING that you three are fallen in your minds from that true faith, and spiritual worship, which doth belong to this spiritual commission, and so have given up yourselves to worship as the priests of the nation do; for I understand that you three do all go to church, to save yourselves from suffering a little damage in your outward estates, which you will find contrary to your expectations. I thought that you had been very well satisfied about that the last time I was with you; but your faith was not tried as it is now.

Yet you, Goody Wylds, had no intent to go to the public worship; then, however, you did pretend unto me it was but for the trial of other believers ; but now it doth appear otherwise; and Thomas Martyn could say unto you, that you should lose your peace, and be damned to the grave's mouth, and yet he himself should do the same thing, there being at that time no trial put upon him. Oh! how strong is mens faith where there is no trial of it; but that faith which doth endure the fiery trial to the end shall receive the crown of life.

But I perceive that you, because you were blessed by John Reeve, think you shall not be damned, though you do bow your knee to Baal, or worship Baal; but I would not have you so ignorant as to think, that you can shew yourselves at church, to

save your estates, and yet not to worship a false God. Is not all the worship of the nation set up by man? and if man command you to worship, or else to pay your money, if you do obey to save your money, do you not worship as the nation doth? and if the worship of the nation be true, then the worship of God in spirit and truth (which this commission of the Spirit holds forth) must be false. For, deceive not yourselves, you cannot serve God in spirit and truth, and give your bodies to the worship of the nation; for where the heart is, there is the body also; and where the body is, there is the heart; and it can be no otherwise: therefore do not blind your eyes as to think that you may shew yourselves at church to save yourselves from sufferings, and yet own this commission of the Spirit, you are mightily mistaken if you think to do so. But I have learned experience by by this your fall, you Goody Wylds and Thomas Martyn, which were the strongest in faith, revelation, and experience in this commission of the Spirit in all that country, and yet the least able to suffer any thing for it, notwithstanding this commission of the Spirit hath freed you from abundance of bondages and entanglements which other sects do undergo; a yoak which our fathers, the apostles and saints, did undergo in their times. These things this commission of the Spirit hath freed the believers of it from that bondage, which all other sects are under to this day and yet now there is a little trial, how few is there that will hold out to the end. And if your faith cannot abide the trial of losing a little money or imprisonment, what would you do if it were death itself, as all other commissions have suffered death for their worshipping of God contrary to the worship of the nation; neither doth this com

mission lay such a strict law upon the believers of it, as Christ did upon his; for except a man would forsake father and mother, wife and children, house and land, for his sake, they were not worthy of him. But you will not forsake the tempation of your husband, nor the other two the brawling of their wives, for the faith's sake; but you have done much like unto Ahab; you have sold yourself to work spiritual witchcraft, through the temptation of your husband, and their wicked wives.

For this I say to you, that temptations will come, but happy are they that are not overcome by temptations; for our Lord was tempted of the devil, but not overcome. And so hath all prophets, apostles, and saints, been tempted by the devil without, as well as by the devil reason within. But those as have overcome the temptations of the devil without, and the devil within, they shall come forth as gold tried in the fire. But I perceive you three have been overcome by the temptation of the devil without and within both. You, by the devil your husband without you, and the other two by the serpents their wives without them, with some other by-ends, which your reason the devil did lay hold on, which have overcome the seed of faith in you, and hath carried it captive into prison, and hath made shipwreck and spoil of your faith; neither do I think that you will ever be delivered into that liberty and assurance of eternal life as you had before; for you have quenched the spirit of truth and revelation, which did run as a river of living water in you: it will run but little in you now, hardly to bear you up into the assurance of eternal life; for you know not what you have done in forsaking the worship of the living God, and joined to the worship of the nation. For if their worship

be true, then this worship we have professed is false

Again, did not this commission of the spirit deliver you, Goody Wylds, from all our sins, which were more and greater than ordinarily is committed by other people; and not only so, but your faith in it, and Thomas Martyn's, it made you strong in faith, revelation, and experience, above all in that country. It was a crown of glory upon your heads; but you have pulled it off your head, and trampled it under your feet, by bowing your knee unto Baal, for you were much like unto Sampson for strength.

For your faith and revelation in this commission of the Spirit did break all the cords of the Philistine's asunder; that is, all the arguments and reasonings, which other sects brought from the Scriptures to bind you withal; but now you are become like Sampson, when his hair was cut he was like another man, and so had his eyes pulled out.

So it is with you, you are become now like other men, for your eye of faith is pulled out, and your eye of reason will be pulled out shortly also; so that you will be as weak in the true faith as other men, or any other experience: for the devil hath caught you fast enough now, he hath got you to bow down to his worship. Let it be out of hypocrisy, or out of sincerity of heart, the devil matters not for that, you have yielded obedience unto him, and you will have much ado to get out of the snares of the devil to your lives end, think of it what you will; for it is a dangerous thing to find that grace might abound, because you think you shall not be damned to eternity for it, therefore you will do despite to the spirit of grace, so that you may be set down, like prophane Esau, who sold his birthright for a mess of pottage.