: wilt cut off from this generation head and tail, branch and rush, in one day: and it shall be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him: for wickedness burneth as the fire, it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest; and they shall mount up, as the lifting up of smoke. Through thy wrath the land is darkened, and the people shall be the fuel of thy fire: no man shall spare his brother; they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm, Manasseh Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, and they together shall be against Judah and the streets shall be filled with blood, and the fields shall be soaked with blood and fatness; for it is the day of thy fury and revenge for the controversy of Sion: but yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten, as a teil-tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves : for the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. And in that day shall the Branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious; and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely, for them that are escaped of Israel: and in that day shalt thou be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty unto the residue of thy people ; and for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment; and for strength to them who turn the battle to the gate. For thou in the midst of us art mighty; thou wilt save, thou wilt rejoice over us with joy; thou wilt rest in thy love ; thou wilt rejoice over us with singing; and thou wilt gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, even them to whom the reproach of it was a burden; and thou wilt create upon every dwelling-place of Mount Sion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud, and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for upon all the glory shall be a defence. Who is a God like unto thee, that pardonest iniquity, and passest by the transgression of the remnant of thine inheritance? Thou retainest not thy anger for ever, because thou delightest in mercy. Oh be thou glorious and exalted through Britain, and the whole world! When shall the night be gone, and thou arise "with healing under thy wings?" When shalt thou "pour down thy Spirit from on high," and make unto thyself a willing people? Hasten these days, for thine elect's sake: be an hiding place to thy chosen, from the storm and tempest, and the blast of the terrible ones, according to thy promise: cover us with thy feathers, and under thy wings make us to trust let thy truth be our shield and buckler. Then shall we not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon-day: a thousand shall fall at our side, and ten thousand at our right hand; but it shall not come near us; only with our eyes shall we behold, and see the reward of the wicked. Oh let us see the good of thy chosen, and rejoice with thy nation, and be glad with thy people: let us see good, according to the days wherein we have seen evil, and according to the days thou hast afflicted us. And perform thy great promises, now in the end of time and days. As thou hast already poured the vials of thy wrath on the seat of the beast; now, our mighty One, dry up the river, the great river; and let there come a great voice from the temple of heaven, from the throne, "It is done;" that thou mayest have a glorious church of Jew and Gentile; such a day of thy power, and beauties of holiness, as that the clearest days we or our fathers ever saw, were but days of darkness and ignorance, in comparison of them. Haste, O Wellbeloved, that thou mayest cry down time and days, and become all in all unto thy chosen, throughout eternity. LETTERS, WRITTEN BY MR. ANDREW WELWOOD, FROM LONDON, A LITTLE BEFORE HIS DEATH. I. A LETTER TO HIS MOTHER. Dear Mother, London. If I were able to dictate now, when I am entering into eternity, I could tell you the consolations wherewith I am comforted of God, even when the chief delights of the world, these trifles upon which the sons of men dote, can be no comfort to me. Alas! what are all the comforts that flee away at death! even the vanities of earth, which cannot convoy a man without the borders of time, and far less endure with him through eternity. My death would seem judicial-like to blind worldlings, who see no judgment, but to be deprived of the empty and tasteless vanities of time; but I see that all things work together for good to them who are the called according to his purpose, Rom. viii. 28: even difficulties, temptations, griefs, and woes, have all a happy end to the godly: Out of the eater cometh meat, and out of the strong cometh sweetness, Judg. xiv. 14; so, even eating and consuming griefs, sickness, and losses, which make the outward man decay, renew the inward man, and make him flourish; even the strongest difficulties, temptations, and foes, when overcome, yield the sweetest victory: and the thoughts of having rushed through so many enemies, and so strong, shall be sweet throughout eternity. I see clearly, all the steps of Divine Providence toward me, have conspired to a blessed close; even the most difficult of them, especially this half year: I would not, for ever so much, but that I die where I die, and am sick in this place; for his dispensations have a wonderful depth in them, and cannot well be discerned, but by eyes enlightened from above. But worldlings are blind, and vary strangely in their judgment of things; and even the saints, while here, are much blinded with sin and infirmities of this overpowering mortality. Death has indeed a terrible face to those that place all their happiness in this life: but I fear it not; it is not death, but a harbinger of glory unto me: it is a hard-favoured messenger sent from my sweet Lord to me; it is a dark and sad chariot carrying to the land of light and joy. My Lord has done to me, what he has determined from eternity; and all his purposes, even all the thoughts of his heart, are full of love, infinite love, to those that wait upon him. I resolved to glorify him on earth, and dedicated my life wholly to my Lord's service; and I know it is all one with him, as if I had done it: and I shall, in another manner, more exalt and serve him above, than I could have done here below, weighed down with mortality, and innumerable infirmities. My Lord has said to me, It would weary thee to stay too long in this valley of tears A A |