‘Again, consider, and let it move on thy heart, not to exalt thyself, nor to be high-minded, but to fear continually, knowing that thou standest not by thyself, but by another, and that he is able to abase thee, and give thee into the will of thine enemies whensoever he will; and how the Lord hath preserved thee sometimes wonderfully, and doth unto this day, from the murderous plots, and crafty policy of evil men, who seek thy evil, and would rejoice in thy fall, and in the desolation of thy family and countries: how have they, and do they lay snares for thy feet, that thou mayst be cut off from amongst men, and die unhappily, and be accounted accursed? And yet to this day he hath preserved thee, and been near to keep thee, though thou hast hardly known it; and the Lord’s end is love to thee in all these things, and yet a little longer to try thee, that thou mayst give him the glory.
‘O that thy heart were opened to see his hand, that thou mightest live unto him, and die in him, in peace. And beware lest hardness of heart possess thee, if thou slight his love, and so be shut up in darkness and given to the desires of thine enemies, and left to the counsels of treacherous men, who may seek to exalt thee by flattery, that they may the better cast thee down, and destroy thee, and blot out thy name in reproach, and make thy posterity a people miserable. But now, O consider, and let it enter into thy heart, for thou hast not answered the Lord, but been wanting to him, for all this, and hast chosen thy own way and glory, rather than his, and not fulfilled his counsel in raising thee; for the bonds of cruelty are not loosed by thee, and the oppressed are not altogether set free; neither is oppression taken off from the back of the poor, nor the laws regulated, nor the liberty of pure consciences altogether allowed: but these dominions are filled with cruel oppressions, and the poor groan every where under the heavy hand of injustice; the needy are trodden down under foot, and the oppressed cry for deliverance, and are ready to faint for true justice and judgment. The proud exalt themselves against the poor, and the high-minded and rebellious contemn the meek of the earth; the horn of the ungodly is exalted above the Lord’s heritage, and they that are departed from iniquity, are become a prey to oppressors: and the cruel-hearted deal cruelly with the innocent in these nations. Many are unjustly, and wofully sufferers, because they cannot swear on this, or that occasion; though in all cases they speak the truth, and do obey Christ’s commands, even such are trodden upon, by unjust fines charged upon them; and this is by the corruptness of some that bear rule under thee, who rule not for God as they ought, but turn the sword of justice. Some suffer long and tedious imprisonments, and others cruel stripes and abuses, and danger of life many times, from wicked men, for reproving sin, and crying against the abominations of the times, (which the Scriptures also testify against,) in streets, or other places: some having been sent to prison, taken on the highway, and no evil charged against them; and others committed, being taken out of peaceable meetings, and whipt, and sent to prison, without transgression of any law, just or unjust, wholly through the rage and envy of the devil, and such who have perverted judgment and justice; and some in prison have suffered superabundantly from the hands of the cruel jailers and their servants, by beatings and threatenings, and putting irons on them, and not suffering any of their friends to visit them with necessaries; and some have died in the prisons, whose lives were not dear to them, whose blood will be reckoned on account against thee one day. Some have suffered hard cruelties, because they could not respect persons, and bow with hat or knee; and from these cruelties canst thou not altogether be excused in the sight of God, being brought forth in thy name, and under thy power. Consider, friend, and be awakened to true judgment, and let the Lord search thy heart; and lay these things to mind, that thou mayest be an instrument to remove every burden, and mayest at last fulfil the will of God. O be awakened, be awakened, and seek the Lord’s glory, and not thine own; lest thou perish before the Lord and men: nay, if men would give thee honours, and high titles, and princely thrones, take them not; for that which would exalt and honour thee in the world, would betray thee to the world, and cast thee down in the sight of the world: and this is God’s word to thee: what! shall the whole nation be perjured men, and thou the cause of it? And wilt thou transgress by building again that which thou hast destroyed? Give heed unto my words, and understand my speech: be not exalted by man, lest man betray thee. Deal favourably, and relieve the oppressed; boast not thyself, though the Lord hath used thee in his hand; but know that when he will, he can cast thee, as a rod, out of his hand, into the fire; for in his hand thou art. If thou wilt honour him, he will honour thee; otherwise he can, yea, and will confound thee, and make thee weak as water before him. His love through my heart breathes unto thee: he would thy happiness, if thou wilfully contemn it not, by exalting thyself, and seeking thy own glory, and hardening thy heart against the cry of the poor. This I was moved in bowels of pity to lay before thee, who am thy friend, not in flattery, but in an upright heart, who wishes well unto thee in the Lord.
E. BURROUGH.’
That which E. Burrough mentions in the forepart of this letter, of the grievous burdens and oppressions laid upon the just, seems chiefly to regard the tithes which the priests extorted from the Quakers, so that many thereby were reduced to poverty; and the heinousness of this was not unknown to Cromwell; for when he was about to give battle to his enemies, near Dunbar in Scotland, he said in his prayer to God, that if the Lord would be pleased to deliver him at that time, he would take off that great oppression of tithes. But this promise he never performed, but suffered himself to be swayed by the flatteries of his teachers; and therefore it was not without great cause that E. Burrough laid this grievous oppression before him. A copy of the said letter, of which but a part is inserted here, to shun prolixity, was given into the hands of Oliver Cromwell, then protector, in the Third month of this year. In the next month E. Burrough spoke with him about it, and Cromwell told him in effect that all persecution and cruelty was against his mind, and said that he was not guilty of those persecutions acted unjustly upon Burrough’s friends. This made E. Burrough write again to him, and bid him,
‘Consider what the cause is, that what thou desirest not to be done, is yet done: is it not that thou mayest please men; making it appear thou art more willing to do the false teachers of this nation, and wicked men, a pleasure, than to own the people of God, in relieving them, and easing them of their cruel burdens and oppressions, laid upon them by unjust men? For a word of thy mouth, or a show of thy countenance, in dislike of these cruel and unjust persecutions, would bind the hands of many blood-thirsty men. Therefore consider: thou canst not be cleared in the sight of the Lord God from them, being acted under thee, and in thy name: for there seems rather to be a favouring of them in thee, by forbearance of the actors of cruelty, by which their hands are strengthened, than any dislike showed by thee, in bearing thy witness, as thou oughtest to do, against them. For thou knowest of some in this city, and elsewhere, whom we know to be just men, who suffer imprisonment, and the loss of their liberties, because for conscience-sake they cannot swear; and many others in this nation, suffering cruel things upon the like, or same ground: even for well-doing, and not for evil; which oppression might be removed, and their unjust sufferings taken off by thee, by a word from thy mouth or pen; and this makes that thou canst not be clear in the sight of God in these things, because not helped by thee, who hast the power to help it.
‘And as concerning the light of Christ, at which thou stumblest, by which every man that cometh into the world is enlightened, in short, this I say: this light to thee is given of God, and thou must own it to be thy only teacher, to receive by it from the Father, and to be guided by it in all things, if ever thou inheritest God’s kingdom.
‘The kingdom of Christ is setting up by his own power, and all must bow and become subject thereto; he needeth none of thy policy, nor the strength of thy arm to advance it; yet would he have thee not to prove thyself an open enemy thereof, by doing, or suffering to be done, cruelty and injustice against them whom the Lord is redeeming out of this world, into subjection unto that kingdom; lest thou be such a one, as will not enter thyself, nor suffer others to enter, and so destruction come upon thee. Wherefore arise as out of sleep, and slumber not in this world’s glory and honour; be not overcome by the pleasures of this world, nor the flattering titles of men; wink not at the cruelty and oppression acted by some, who shelter under thee, and make thy name a cloak for mischief against the upright.
‘Consider, I say, consider, and be thou changed in thy mind and heart; lest thou having forgotten God, and his many deliverances, be shut up, and numbered for destruction. I desire the Lord may give thee a more perfect understanding of his ways and judgments, and that the crown immortal thou mayest strive for, by meekness and righteousness, through relieving the oppressed, and showing mercy to the poor, and removing every burden which lies upon the innocent; and this is the desire of him who is thy friend, and would not have thee crowned with dishonour, through suffering the people of God to be oppressed in thy name, which will be thy overthrow absolutely, if thou removest it not, by turning, and easing the oppressed.
E. BURROUGH.’