that I received the cheese that our friend Anthony Hall, and his wife, sent me; and I give them many thanks for their kindness.

Also this is to let you know, that Mr. Delamaine saith to me, that he hath received the coat, and those things you speak of in your letter. letter. I suppose he hath given you notice of it by writing, before this will come to your hands.

And for the difference with the parliament, it is true there was a great difference between the House of Commons and the House of Lords, about privileges, insomuch that the House of Commons did send several great lawyers to the Tower; insomuch that the king was constrained to prorogue the parliament to the third of October next. The contention between the House of Lords and Commons was so great, that it is thought by many, that they will hardly ever agree again; but the next morning, these lawyers the Commons had committed to the Tower, were delivered by a Habeas Corpus out of the prison, contrary to the vote of the House of Commons: so that there is no act of parliament this sitting at all; neither is there any thing done touching persecution of conscience at all, but things stand as they were so that many justices that were hot upon persecution, are cooled. And as for London, and all about London, the meeters are quiet, and not one justice doth stir. And as for your being churchwarden this year, I would advise you by all means to put it off this year. Who knows what the next year will produce?

Thus in short I have given you a hint of things, as they are at present; and being in haste, I must take leave, only my love presented unto yourself and wife,

and to all the rest of our friends in the true faith there

A Copy of a Letter wrote by the Prophet Lodowicke Muggleton to Mr. Henry Henn, bearing date from London, August 20, 1675.

Mr. Henn,

I RECEIVED a letter from you by the hand of a boy; the substance of your letter was, a complaint against yourself of your wicked actions, and great sin against God, and against your wife; and of your great sorrow, and unfeigned repentance for it; I do confess I have not been altogether ignorant of your wicked proceedings against your wife, yet because you have writ to me in your necessity, of your own accord, and hath confessed your sins, and laid open yourself in your confession, and it is to be minded by me, and 1 remember that saying in Scripture, that whosoever confesseth his sins, and forsakes it, shall find mercy. You have made a good confession of your sin and wickedness towards your wife, and her friends, and if you do but forsake them, as you have promised in your letter to me, there is no question but you will find mercy in the thing you require of

me; and as to your liberty only; this I must tell you, how you came to have so grievous a fall: it was because you were ignorant of the words in Scripture, which saith, Man shall forsake his father and mother and cleave to his wife; but you have done quite contrary; you have forsaken your wife, and cleaved to your relations, which were not so dear unto you as father and mother; and what fruit have you found or reaped by it? Have you not destroyed your wife's estate, in what you could, and your own interest in it? You have utterly destroyed it, by forsaking your wife and cleaving to your relations; this is the first entrance into sin and wickedness; and so brought destruction upon your wife and yourself in the estate; you being not content here, but added sin to sin, far worse than the first; in that you made yourself the member of harlots that was unclean, which act of yours did not only defile your soul, as a breach of God's commandment, but defiled your body; and the effects of this sin is the very cause of that separation between your wife and you; she would with ease pass by all that wrong you did in wronging her in her estate; but this nature itself doth abhor, that is not given over to a reprobate mind. After this, you proceeded on to a sin of cruelty, to abuse your wife, by laying violent hands upon her; putting her in such frights, as if death had possessed her, which caused her friends to fear you do intend to murder her; which is the cause they do intend to put you in prison, to prevent her from being murdered, and you from being hanged; for it is to be feared, by your rugged carriages to her, that you have made a covenant with death and hell, and that you can be but hanged if you kill her, or do her some other mischief; then hell must follow after death; this is the very

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cause that her friends do seek to prevent you from doing this wicked deed; and not merely for your wickedness done unto her estate, in forfeiting your bond; she and her friends could and would have passed that by; and not have troubled your person for it, but have sat down in silence in the loss of it; considering that your person being in prison, would do her nor them no good; but this violent practice of yours towards your wife, both in words and actions, doth give all her friends and acquaintance suspicion that you do intend to murder your wife, or do her some other mischief, if you meet with opportunities; therefore it is that they will endeavour to secure your person, to prevent you; but seeing you have made your request to me, and have desired me to use my utmost endeavour to your wife, her father and mother, and brother Atkinson, to let you have your liberty, to try you this once more, and that you will never disturb nor abuse your wife more, either in words or actions, unbecoming an honest man, let you endure all the punishment that is possible to be inflicted upon you you have spoken with your pen as good words as can be spoken, and if your heart be right to perform what you have said, it is pity but that you should find mercy in the thing; for this I say, it is a dangerous thing to dissemble with God and man; for whoever dissembles with his own heart, dissembles with God; for God hath placed his law in man's heart, as his watchman, to tell God of all his doings, either good or evil; but I am apt to believe that you do not dissemble with me; but I will perform what I have promised concerning your wife, that you will never abuse her more, in words nor actions, and I will do my best endeavour that you shall have your liberty. The case is this; I know your wife and fa

ther, out of tenderness to you, though you have done them this great wrong, is willing to pass it by and let you alone, but the power of the law lieth in Mr. Atkinson's hands, and he can prosecute the law, whether your wife or father will or no; and if you had not writ these lines unto me, you would assuredly have been prosecuted; so that my business is only to persuade Mr. Atkinson to let you have your liberty, and I think you need not doubt but I shall prevail with him, that you shall have your liberty; do you keep your promise, and he shall keep his; this shall be sufficient to satisfy you that you shall not be arrested by him for any of your former faults. Written by me, your friend in this matter,

August 20, 1675.

LODOWICKE MUGGLETON.

Since I wrote this letter I spake with Mr. Atkinson, and I have prevailed with him to call back that warrant from that serjeant that was to arrest you, so that now you are relieved from him, and those that are related to him, for the present. Witness my hand,

LODOWICKE MUGGLETON.