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he will punish these evil doers: and now their own doings have beset them about, that every truth may be brought to light. So let no man vainly imagine in his heart, that the Lord doth not concern himself abont mankind: but consider how soon the Lord saw the crimes of Ahab, who coveted Naboth's vineyard, and sent the prophet to reprove him-"Hast thou slain and taken possession?" For that reason the curse was pronounced against him: but you may say, there was no murder committed in these crimes; only trying by subtlety to take possession of their propertyand by so doing murder their characters, and bring them to ruin, if the Lord had not interfered to bring these evil deeds to light. And now I tell you, it is high time for you to call your conscience to witness, whether you have done the things that you say you ought to do, to reverence, God, and obey his commands. If you had done this you would never have injured your neighbours by any subtlety, or deceitful arts. So if you are innocent, you must now clear your innocence, and bring forward those that are guilty; but if you are implicated in the guilt with others, then I tell you your guilt must appear; and you will find you have a God to deal with, that hath seen the sorrows and heard the prayers of the innocent, that are put up in this distress; and therefore all the dark designs must be brought to light; and you will find the Lord will clear the innocent, and bring the guilt upon the guilty; for the Lord will not suffer those that trust in him to strengthen the hands of evil doers, but to be a terror to evil doers, and a praise to them that do well. Reflect with yourself how many are bowed down with sormany hearts row, through these unjust, 'evil practices; therefore it is high time to stop the torrent, for the good of mankind.

Here I have shewn you the laws of God, and how every truth must be tried and proved; how far the laws of men join with it, or whether they suffer you

to put out advertisements of lending money, to draw in honest people, and deceive them by getting their bills, and suffer them to be circulated without their having the money upon them, to ruin innocent men, this is the cause that must be tried.

From

JOANNA SOUTHCOTT."

From the Scriptures I have brought forward in the above letter, that I sent to Mr. John King, the reader may see that there was a good defence, from the laws of God, for them to resist from strengthening their hands to go on in this evil; and this Mr. John King allows himself, in his answer to me.

gins his letter thus:

He be

"Madam, I am honoured with your letter; and when I have explained to you this transaction, you will judge whether the quotations, which I admire as much as you do, apply to me."

He ends his letter by saying, You have been harsh with me; but as the motive was good, I was not offended. I admire your character, and revere your doctrine, and believe most devoutedly the divine authority you quoted. I am with regard and respect,

&c. &c.

Jan. 1, 1807, 76, Norton Street. (Signed) J. KING."

He adds in the postscript-" Perhaps I have not been very accurate, for I write instantly; rather than leave your letter a moment unanswered, I sat down directly and replied-One sentiment was thrown out, which I cannot help mentioning, and seems to nie a stigma on whoever broached it-that all would be overturned in March, and therefore it was as well to pay nobody; it may be necessary to tell you I know none of the persons that hold the bills."

Thus far of his letter I have given, and the other part the reader will see brought forward in my ans er to him, after I had inquired of my friends, how far his letter was true; and after they had pointed out

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to me what he had falsely asserted, I sent him the following letter:

Sir,

I did not answer the particulars of you rletter, dated January 1st, as I wished to know how far it was true what you had advanced concerning my friends, and from the examination, and their answer to your letter, I find there are many things you have falsely misrepresented.

You say you never violated your agreement with Mr. Wilson, and have supplied him with money when he could not get it elsewhere.

- In answer to this, Mr. Wilson tells me that the bills you mention of discounting for him, he could have got done any where else, and that you knew, as you asked him not to carry them any where else; and you had your profit for discounting them; but you cannot say you never violated your agreement with him, as you gave him a bill for 1601. for which Mr. Wilson hath not received but 100l. to this day; and you stand 601. indebted to him from that bill. You say, Major Eyre and Mr. Sharp wanted money, and they brought you the bills on Wilson and you told them directly, they were not the kind of bills that you could negotiate, and you tried them in various shapes.

Then now I ask you, how these bills came to be * negotiated? and why you did not return the bills, when you had tried them, and could not borrow money on them?

You say, the people concerned with you in business did advertise to procure money; of course to these money-lenders you applied; then if they could not procure the money, why were not the bills returned? If the bills were not of value at first, I ask you how they became of value at last? If money could not be procured on them for the owners of the bills, who applied to you for money, I ask you how money was got on them for others, that had no right to the bills?

You say in your letter, they were irregular bills, that you would not be responsible for. Mr. Sharp did not expect you to be responsible to assure him you could get the money on them; but you must be so far responsible for those hands you put them into, that if they could not get the money upon them, for those who applied to you for money, you must return them their bills, or bring forward those that received them from you, for them to answer for the bills, how and in what manner they circulated them as bills that had been the value received, and what value they received upon them, to answer for the bills to the owners, that have received no value. Thus I should suppose the just laws of our nation would call them to a strict account; but if the laws allow men to advertise to lend money, and they draw in honest and innocent men, to cheat them out of their property in this manner, then thousands may be ruined; and therefore crimes like these ought in justice to be brought to light, to prevent others from falling into the same danger.

You say Mr. Sharp said the money must be had at all risks, and on any terms.

This he denies; but every penny that has been received by Mr. Sharp, or Major Eyre, is now ready to be repaid, with reasonable charges, providing that all the bills drawn by Sharp and Eyre, and accepted by Wilson, that were given into your hands, are brought forward and cancelled; but if all the bills are not brought forward and returned to them, that they have received no value for, then the whole must be brought forth into court.

You say the money was not ready, by Major Eyre or Mr. Sharp, when the bill became due, that they were disappointed of getting the money at that time.

This I grant; and you will find the Lord did disappoint them, to bring all these evil deeds to light, and put a stop to these evil practices. You say, Major Eyre was suspicious. This he allows to be

true, from the moment he saw the bill of 4001, drawn by him, and accepted by Mr. Wilson, and was readily negotiated; and that you, without Eyre's consent, converted the money, to your relation's use, knowing at the same time that Eyre was in distress for money; which said bill of 400l. is not yet cancelled, though you say in your letter to me it is past due, and no one hath been troubled for it. Now I ask you, whether you did not give Eyre room for suspicion, when he saw in what manner you converted that money to your relation's use, and saw several bills were entrusted into your hands, without any satisfactory receipt being offered by you? Here I have given you a shadow of the reasons he had for suspicion; and from the whole that he hath laid before me, I clearly see his suspicions were just, which conduct hath now proved.

your

You say he was plotting against you, when he dined at your table. It was no pleasure to Major Eyre to dine at your table, after his suspicions arose; but he did it to watch his friends, fearing what they might be drawn into; as he well knew the good opinion Sharp and Wilson had of you, and how blind they were to the subtleties and arts that he saw they were likel. to be drawn into. So all his suspicions are just, and his sentiments he did not disguise to any of the party'; and,. from his suspicions, he watched the movements of many transactions, which you may not be aware of, and which prove his suspicions were just.

You say Sharp and Wilson are honest, upright men. This I have every reason to believe; they are as honest, upright men as any in London'; and men whose humanity teaches them to do all the good they can to their fellow-creatures; and judge others to be sincere, upright men, as well as themselves; by which reason they were not guarded against the subtlety and arts there are in mankind and from the good opinion they had of you, they were drawn in,

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