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Then I'll appear to make it clear
From Heaven is every sound;
But if men say they will not hear,
In grief they shall be found;
And I'll not hear I tell them there
If they'll not now hear ME;

When Sorrows in your Land abound
I will not set them free."

(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

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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 quicting 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

and assured, this wondrous visitation never came to me from any other spirit but the Spirit of the LIVING LORD, and the whole nation stands in danger of utter ruin for their neglect. Strongly are the words said to me, if the Lord calleth and no man answer, they shall call, and he will not answer, but laugh at their calamity, and mock when their fear cometh. And now I am full of the fury of the Lord, whose anger is kindled against his Shepherds; for deeply are the words said to me, it was the Lord that worked in Mr. Sharp's heart, to send the prints of our Saviour to the Bishop, at the time the Lord had ordered his words to be sent to him by you, and he has as much refused to obey the command of the Lord, as he refused to receive the pictures of our Saviour. Now the contempt that the ministers of God's word, when they first treated me in the like manner, sunk my spirits, when I sought them in the bitterness of my soul, and they would not hear. This sunk my soul in secret sorrow, and in private prayer and tears I poured out my complaints and grief unto the Lord; for as man refused to hear me I trusted wholly in the Lord, and knowing I was so much their inferior in rank and fortune, I bowed in submission with a broken heart to their silent contempt; but now I find that you are a lady of family and fortune, not inferior to them, and Mr. Sharp, an artist of no low profession and well known in the world, to be treated with this contempt hath raised my spirits with indignation; so I shall thank you, or Mr. Sharp, to write to the bishop, in my name, or your own, what is the duty of a bishop, if he judge the calling not of God. To try and prove it by his arguments, and shewing his strong reasons, is the command of the Lord unto man. I must conclude with saying, I wish the bishop was as good a judge of his duty, as a bishop, as Mr. Sharp is of his engraving, as an artist; but he cometh far short of Mr. Sharp, for though he gave Mr. Sharp credit as an artist,

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I cannot give the bishop cred it as a bishop; unless, like Peter, he is convinced of his errors and goeth out and weep bitterly. This I have written to you for your perusal, in the height of anger, as you and Mr. Sharp are treated with contempt on my account, as well as the LORD, for doing the thing that he had commanded you. Now, my dear Miss Townley, you see how my passions were worked, after hearing in what humble polite manner Mr. Sharp addressed the bishop, and offered to wait upon his lordship, and give him every information; for the glory of God and the good of mankind were all the ends he could have in view, but the glory of God and the good of kind were treated with scorn and contempt. But now judge my surprise after I had written in the height of my anger, as a private letter, to you, I was answered in the following manner: "The "The preparation of thy heart in thy letter to Townley, came from ME, for thou art full of the fury of the Lord, and all my fury this land shall find.-The enemy shall break in upon them and destroy them, if my Spirit, and my faithful servants are treated with this contempt; therefore my strict command is to thee, to have thy letter, thou hast written to Townley, in the height of thy anger, put into print; for it was I, the Lord, that worked that anger in thee; and they shall see much greater in ME. If they do not repent, I will strengthen the enemy, to be strong against them and they shall not be able to get out of his power, for they are doing despite to my Spirit and to my servants; and I will reward them according to their works, unless they return with weeping, as Peter did. Then will I shew mercy unto them, and not destroy them; for the battle is mine, to give the victory which way I will. So let the letter be printed, and my answer to it, for it is fatal for thee, or Townley, or Sharp, if out of fear of offending the bishop, my command is not obeyed; for all men shall

know thy writings come from the LIVING LORD, who feareth no man's person, and for my Honour and great Name, I cannot save this land from ruin, but for the sake of the shepherds' searching into all thy writings, to know, and to prove from whence they came; for the word is gone out of my mouth, and shall not return, till unto me every knee do how,

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and every tongue do swear." Here you see I am caught in a net, by my own feet, thinking to write you a private letter, I am ordered to make it public; to kindle the wrath of mankind against me; but what is the wrath of man, to the wrath of the Lord? Man can but kill the body, but the Lord can cast soul and body into hell. It is better for me to die, than the whole nation to perish, by my disobeying the command of the Lord; so I must stand the trial of their fury; as in man I could never find pity. Here I was ordered to add a parable that was in my thoughts, of a man at Topsham in Devonshire: he was a man that my father told me of, that had for a long time been stealing of salt, from a salt trader; at last the owner of the salt caught him, stealing of his salt; he had filled up near a hundred weight to carry away; when the owner came, who told him if he would pay him 301. for all the salt he had stolen from him, as he had lost it for a long time, he would forgive him. The thief paid him the 301. and went and indicted the master, for concealing a thief, and not indicting him; and the master told my father, it cost him five hundred pounds, and brought him to beggary, poverty, and want; that he had made it up with the man, thinking to save the expences of a prosecution: so to encourage men in vice doth but harden their hearts the more. This thing of the man I was ordered to pen, and now I shall give the answer of the Spirit, that was given to me in answer to this parable of the man.

Now thy fable thou hast ended,
For to answer I'll appear:
Like the thief I now intend it
My indictment shall be here.

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