believer of this commission; only this I shall give the liberty to do, that if he comes amongst you, you may eat or drink with him, or give him lodging as you would unto a stranger, but not to mind any of his sayings with reference to his being a believer, or to what I have done concerning him: I say in these things you are not to mind him nor regard what he shall say or do of that nature.

No more at present, but expecting to hear from you as soon as you can, I rest your Brother, in the true faith of Jesus, the only true God,

LODOWICKE MUGGLETON.

London, February 25, 1660.

A Copy of a Letter written by the prophet Lodowicke Muggleton, to pull down the high Exaltation of Lawrence Claxton. Dated from London, December, 25, 1660.

Lawrence Claxton,

I HAVING seriously considered your many foul, proud and covetous actions since you came to the belief of this commission, but more especially of late, since you have been allowed some means from the believers of this commission, which have made you so lord-like, that you are grown so spiritually proud, so that now you are gotten, in your own conceit, to be the chief man in this spiritual commission ;

so that your pride hath grown by degrees so high until you have gotten to sit in John Reeve's chair and place, so that you are got up as high as you can ; therefore it is high time for you to fall.

Therefore, seeing that occasion and offences will come, that the secrets of the heart may be made manifest, therefore I do see a great providence in that business of mason's wife, for that hath been an occasion to bring forth those differences which have been among the believers of this commission: likewise it hath been a means to insearch the bottom of your heart; for ever since the beginning of this difference, after that you did understand that your com→ mission was like to be taken away from you, you have strove with all your might, both with saint and devil, for to uphold your authority without me; therefore you have made use of your beloved Frances and Ananias, and, Saphira-like, you have consulted with that venomous serpent your wife, and have. made her your council in all spiritual matters, and that I did perceive by the serpent your wife, in that she did show Mr. Hatter and Mr. Hudson, that place of Scripture concerning Moses and Miriam, which I know she could not do of herself, except she had heard your judgment of it, which conceit of yours on that place could do you little good, only this your judgment on that Scripture, with your continual consultation with the devil your wife, hath enraged your wife so far as to vaunt herself against the believers of this commission, and against me; for which I do pronounce your wife cursed and damned to eternity, though she hath been damned by John Reeve already, therefore I have set to my seal, that John Reeve's damnation shall be true upon her.

As for yourself, because you have strove to main

tain your authority without me, and for that purpose you have written this book, wherein you have quite excluded me, and have made the commission only John Reeve's and yours, for your writings do shew forth the very pride of your heart; therefore I do declare against that book, and against you, that I do renounce and disown you upon any such account, as to be a messenger, bishop, or a servant, any more to this commission; neither shall you write any more, or speak any more in the behalf of this commission, for I shall utterly disown whatever you do or say of that nature; neither shall the believers of this commission allow you any maintenance, neither in Cambridgeshire nor Kent, upon any such account, as looking upon you to be a messenger; for you shall become as one of the least of believers of the commission, and you shall become a reproach to saint and devil, which shame and reproach shall strike as a loathsome leprosy unto you during your life; for your shall never come to any honour of this commission any more, for you have had your last that ever you shall have in this world, because you shall know that your have kicked your heel against your master, and that there is a prophet yet in Israel, and hath power over you; notwithstanding you have made yourself equal with John Reeve, you shall know that John Reeve was as Elijah, and that I am in the place of Elisha, and that you are in the place of Gehazi. This is my resolution.

Written by Lodowicke Muggleton, the last true Prophet and Witness unto the true God, the Man Christ Jesus in glory.

December 25, 1660.

LODOWICKE MUGGLETON.

A Copy of a Letter, written by the Prophet Lodowicke Muggleton, to his loving Friend Christopher Hill, at Maidstone, in Kent, Jan. 2, 1661.

Give this with Care.

Loving Friend, Christopher Hill,

MY love remembered unto you and to all the rest of the believers of the commission of the Spirit there with you.

These are to let you understand, that I received your letter, dated November the 29th, 1661, with your kind token; and the eighteen shillings in money; and it came very seasonable, because I have been at more expence of late than ordinary; for my daughter Sarah hath been sick of the yellow jaundice ever since, and doth remain so still, which was the cause I did return no answer all this while; because her death hath been much feared by some in London, and there is no certainty yet that she will escape, though she is not so extreme sick as she

was.

Also, there hath been another trouble upon me to add unto the other, which is this; I being a long liver in the parish, it fell to my lot to be chosen scavenger, and I must either hold or fine; and if I should have held I might have lost nothing, but I should have been entangled with oaths; therefore I rather chose to pay down the fine, which was twenty shillings, before the parish would choose another in

my room.

Now I shall write a few lines concerning some particular things in your letter.

;

The first thing is concerning some that do profess an acknowledgment of this commission, but do not live the life of it; because they go to publick meetings, which indeed cannot stand with true faith in a commission. For, look what laws a commission doth set up are to be observed by the believers of it and the laws of this commission of the Spirit are spiritual, and do worship God in spirit and truth, without any visible forms of worship, as the worshippers of Baal have; for though there was an outward, visible form of worship set up by Moses and the Apostles, and they were to be observed in their times and places, because they had commissions from God so to do; and the believers in their commissions were happy in yielding obedience unto them: but when public worship is set up by men, without a commission from God, it becomes a will-worship and idolatry, a thing which is an abomination unto the Lord. Therefore, whosoever shall make a show, or a profession of faith in this commission of the Spirit, and yet go to worship with the idolaters of the nation, I shall not look upon any such person to have any true faith in the true God, nor in this commission of the Spirit; neither can they have any true peace, nor the assurance of everlasting life; for he that will not deny himself and take up his cross for truth's sake is not worthy of it: and I am sure,, there is as little suffering by the believers of this commission for their faith sake, as ever there was of the other two commissions.

Again, this commission of the Spirit doth lay as little, and less bonds upon the believers of it than any of the other two above mentioned did; for this E