others, to confound the wisdom of men at first, and prove their judgment wrong, that placed thy writings to him? For, as ye are with men, I must act after the manner of men; for I well knew it was impossible for thee to abide in Exeter and have thy writings proved there, if ******* had stood stedfast with thee; because men and devils would have risen in fury against thee, and against the man; for as they began, they would have went on, to say he had written from his own invention what he was ashamed to put his own name to; and therefore desire thee to give thine. So that, one way or other, both would be condemned. Call to thy remembrance what they said of *****; what they approved of, in thy writings, the said was written by him. And this the world would have affirmed, had I permitted any man to take the writings from thy mouth, after I ordered thee not to write the communications thyself; and therefore I told thee I should gain two handmaids to write for thee; and this thou knowest was in 1795. And now let them discern in what manner I worked a way to have strangers come forward, that had no knowledge of thee, or thy writings that had been carried on so many years, and published to the world, before ever they had heard thy name. This was my wisdom, to baffle the wisdom of men; for I have shewn thee plainly, from the wisdom of a few, what the wisdom of thousands would be: and, as books are printed now against thee, Satan would have had every advantage to work in men to publish books against him and thee, if he had stood stedfast, to go on; and therefore I permitted his fall from any faith in thy mission.

"And now call to thy remembrance what have been thy pondering thoughts of thy observations in the world, how strongly do men rule with arbitrary power over the minds of one the other,

so that ye dare not say your souls are your own, that by your own masters ye can stand or fall; because the fear of men, and the dread of men, make many fall from their own stedfastness: man's inhumanity to man makes countless ages

mourn.

"This is thy discernment and pondering; then marvel not in thy heart that I should permit ******* to fall off, when I saw by what arbitrary power that men began with over him: but know I told thee, if he repented and acknowledged the truths, that were put in his hands, I should make his standing more secure than it was before he fell. For I have already shewn thee how his standing could not be secure, to go on and stand according to his calling at first; but, in his unbelief, he hath acted like the unbelieving world, as I told thee before by the Bible, that they were doing the very things that he did by thy writings. Are they not parting the Bible, to take away one part, that it may not be understood? Thou hast heard in what manner the Arians are parting the Bible: and was this to be done by all in like manner, to take away one part; men would have no clear knowledge of the Scriptures, to compare them together, or shew the truth one part with the other. This could not be done by man; if all joined alike, then there could be no witnesses of the Scriptures, to prove the contents; and the knowledge would be concealed from public view, as the truth of thy, writings was concealed by him. So both together stand in one likeness.

"Now call to thy remembrance what books thou hast heard of, and what books have been brought to thy view, that are printed against the Scriptures, against my Gospel; much worse than ever was printed against thee. And now I ask mankind how, these blasphemous writers,

that are daily increasing, will ever be put a stop to, by the wisdom of men? This is impossible for man to do; and therefore the Scriptures would fall to the ground, like the falling leaves in the autumn, one leaf after the other till the trees are stript bare by the frost: and so are the frozen hearts of men become to strip the Scriptures all the same; for as the wind weakens the leaves, to make them fall off one after the other; just so will the wind of words that is in men, that is now rising high amongst mankind, to fill them up with unbelief, to strip the Bible in like manner, as the trees are stript of their leaves: and as the cold makes them wither to die away, so do the cold hearts of men make the Scriptures die the same; and therefore I said in my Gospel, that if the days were not shortened, no flesh would be saved. And know I compared my coming to the budding leaves that appeared in the spring; for, when the autumn hath stript the one, that all die away by the cold and the frost; so doth the warmth of the spring bring on the other, to have new leaves appear to man, though all come from the same tree. And now I tell thee of the new leaves: there must be a renewal of my Spirit, a visitation of my Spirit, according to my Gospel, according to the Prophets, to shew mankind that the TREE is the same: it is not dead, though the leaves are withered in the autumn, which I have clearly shewn thee, from the hearts of men, how my Bible is become dead to them; but I shall shew them, by the spring and the leaves that will appear, that the TREE, which is my Promises, stands stedfast, and will be fulfilled: and I shall return like the leaves in the spring. And therefore I have commanded thee to bring together all the prophecies of *******, where he stands on conditions, and where he stands without

conditions; which I have clearly pointed out to thee both ways, that men may discern how they were fulfilled, according to the prophecies spoken of him; and this I have ordered thee to publish to the world, that men may judge of events in this present age, and what hath taken place in so few years, before their view.

"All these things I have ordered thee to bring together in a straight line, that men may see the calling clear; for thou knowest how many were stumbled concerning ******* ****; because they did not discern where he stands on conditions, nor where he stood without conditions; and, as men are stumbled concerning him, because they judge, if he began, he must go on; without discerning that his fall was foretold. So in like manner men stumble at the Scriptures; for they do not discern in what manner they stand-what is said on conditions, being placed for man, before my appointed time is come to fulfil my words and promises, that stand on record, without any conditions.

"Now come to the beginning.-Genesis, i. 26. "And God said, Let us make man in our Image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowls of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own Image, in the Image of God created he him : male and female created he them."

"Now come to my Gospel. Luke, ii. 10, 11. "And the Angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a SAVIOUR, which is CHRIST the LORD. And this shall be the sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."

C

John, i. 1, 2, 14. "In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with GOD, and the WORD WAS GOD. The same was in the beginning with GOD.-And the WORD was made flesh, and dwelt among us; and we beheld his glory, as of the only begotten of the FATHER, full of grace and truth."

Isaiah, xl. 5. "And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."

"Here let men discern what is spoken without conditions-that the Lord would create MAN in his own image, and after his own likeness: then let them discern from my Gospel, how that WORD became flesh, and dwelt with men; then let them discern what was said by the Angel at my birth— "Good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people."

"Here let men discern, these words stand without any conditions, but to say they shall be fulfilled in the end, to fulfil the promise made in the beginning. But now come to ADAM: he was created of the dust of the ground; and a command was given him; so that HE was placed on conditions on condition he stood; and on that condition he fell: And so men went on in every age. But now I ask mankind, what Image or Likeness ADAM bore of his CREATOR? Did he not hide himself from God, when he was betrayed, through the subtlety of the serpent, that beguiled the woman? Aud did he not cast the blame on his Creator, for giving him the woman? Then where was the Likeness and Image of God in him? In thy heart thou answerest, none : either in wisdom, power, or strength, to withstand the subtlety of the devil. But know, in my Gospel, I had power to withstand, power to contend and overcome. And here let men discern, how the promise was first fulfilled, of man