and my sister, and as my brides joined with thee: for so the woman was in the creation, as being taken from the man, she was his sister; but as bearing him children, she was a wife, and a mother; thus was the woman made at first, and this must be the state of the woman at last, now I am come to free the fall of women. Here I have placed you three, as true helpmates for man; and as such let men receive you, if they wish to be made alive in ME, as they died in Adam. For here all shall find is a shadow of my Gospel began in you three; and by the hands of you three my wondrous working shall go on, till your light shall break forth as the morning, and the truth be made as clear as the noon day's sun, that the woman is the true and perfect helpmate for man; for by the woman I will now complete his happiness, but no other way will I ever accomplish it. So from you three mankind shall see, The second Adam is in ME, I tell you man knows not the end, My brides appear I tell you here, And now see plain, ye sons of men, Then I'll appear, I tell them here, And save them in the end; And let my coat be known to all, Then now see clear, I must appear, No seam of sorrow shall be here, If men my words now disobey; I this shall answer man, I've made all clear, that I am here In Spirit come again': The mystery deep no man can clear To prove from Hell it came; No, 'tis from ME, mankind shall see, For so I shall appear, To prove my Spirit visits thee, And other friends are here, Whose hearts within to ME are known Like mothers to appear, And so a sister's love is shewn And let the Land take care They do not mock, for now the stroke Shall go throughout the Land; I shall not trifle now with men To slight my Love, as now I'll prove And all their sorrows to remove, If they will not, I'll tell their lot, And let the child not be forgot- If they can bear my threatenings here But all my Love they disapprove To wish for me-they all shall see Ingratitude, they all shall see, They'll find a brother and a friend, To save them all from Adam's fall And set the prisoners free, That now are bound in Satan's chains. If men will turn to ME; Then I to them will surely turn And strong their Friend appear, For my delight shall be with men, If their delight be here To have me come, and dwell with them, My Coming they shall see, How I from Sorrows shall redeem And from all sufferings free. So this to Sharp I bid thee send ; And let them weigh all deep, And then I'll stand their every friend, And warn them all, that great's the call, And great 'tis now for man; Because my Judgments strong will fall If men now mock thy hand: For I'll appear in words more clear, If altogether men compare And judge it not from ME: And if they're blind, the ditch they'll find It hastening on for all: But if they see the mystery And come to judge the call, Then I'll appear to make it clear When Sorrows in your Land abound (Signed,) DEAR MISS TOWNLEY, JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. June 2, 1804. "On the receipt of your letter that you sent to me, from Mr. Sharp, of a Bishop's returning his two engravings of our Saviour and the Virgin Mary, with these words, "The Bishop of obliged to Mr. Sharp for the offer of his Prints, but desires to be excused from accepting them. They are fine engravings, and he wishes Mr. Sharp shewed as much judgment in his religious opinion as skill in his profession. House, May 30th, 1804." This contempt of the Bishop filled my soul with contempt. Oh, what a pattern do the ministers of God's word set before mankind, to fill their hearts with scorn and contempt! If Mr. Sharp, being an artist, is a judge of his profession, I confess the Bishop has given him more credit for his profession than I can give the bishop for his profession as a minister of God's word; as I cannot give that honour to the bishop. For we must give honour where honour is due. But what honour can there be due to the bishop from me, when I consider the thousands a year they are paid to be faithful Shepherds of the Lord, to take care of his Flock? And Christ died to set them an example, to follow his footsteps. Now if Christ so loved the world, as to die for man; and became poor, that we, through his poverty, might be made rich; ought not the bishops, that are made rich by the Gospel, to take care of Christ's flock that is committed to their care? Now I ask the Bishop, who came to Christ that he refused to hear, or whom he sent empty away ? What did our Saviour say unto Peter? "Simon, son of Jo nah, lovest thou me?" Peter said, "Yea, Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee." "Then feed my sheep, feed my lambs,' were Christ's commands. And now I shall come to the Communion Service, for the preparation of the Lord's Supper: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, which is in Heaven. Not every one that saith unto ME, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that doth the will of my Father, which is in Heaven. Therefore, if there be any of you, who, by this means, cannot quiet his own conscience herein, but requireth further comfort or council, let him come to me, or some other discreet and learned minister of God's word, and open his grief, that by the ministry of God's holy Word, he may receive the benefit of absolution, together with ghostly council and advice to the quieting of his conscience, and avoiding of all scruples and doubtfulness." Now here, as faithful Shepherds, they are in duty bound to give clear and right judg.. ment; not to judge of a cause unheard; but to be clear in judging, that they may be able to give ghostly council and advice, to the quieting of the consciences of those that have scruples or doubts. Now this is the strict command to the clergy, if they profess themselves ministers of God's word. And then where was a cause of more importance to all people than mine is, to the quieting of the conscience of those that are called with me? When I then told you, my dear Miss Townley, it is for the quieting of our conscience, that you did the will of the Lord to write unto him; then how much is he bound in duty to give ghostly advice to the quieting of our conscience? But instead of this, he refused to hear, and treated the application with contempt when not only our souls, but the souls of thousands must be in danger, if it were possible for a wrong spirit to lead me astray. But on the contrary, if it be of God, as I am firmly persuaded |