LEt it not seem strange unto you , who are men chosen and authorized by the great Monarchs , and States of Europe , to find out a speedy remedy for the present great trouble , under which many of her Inhabitants do groan ; as such whose Wisdom , and Prudence , and Abilities has so recommended them to the World , as to be judged fit for so great and difficult a work ) to be addressed unto by one , who by the World may be esteemed weak and foolish ; whose advice is not ushered unto you , by the Commission of any of the Princes of this World , nor seconded by the recommendation of any earthly state : For since your work is that which concerns all Christians , why may not every Christian who feels himself stir'd up of the Lord thereunto , contribute therein ; and if they have place to be heard in this Affair , who come in the name of Kings and Princes , let it not seem heavy unto you , to hear him that comes in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ , who in the truest sense , is the head and governour and cheif Bishop of the Church , the most truly Christian and Catholick King : Many of whose Subjects are concerned in this matter , and the blood of many in hazard for whom he hath shed his precious blood , and yet who shall not seek to obtrude upon you the beleif of the Truth or certainty of his Commission , because of his own Testimony ; but leave it , as well as the things he therein delivereth , to the holy and pure witness of God , in all your Consciences , to be received or rejected by you , as it shall there be approved , or not approved .

Know then my Friends that many and often times my Soul has been deeply bowed down under the weighty sense of the present state of Christendom , and in secret before the Lord I have mourned , and bitterly lamented because thereof : And as I was crossing the Sea , and being the last Summer in Holland , and some parts of Germany , the burthen thereof fell often upon me , and it several times came before me to write unto you what I then saw and felt from God of these things , while I was in those parts ; but I waited and was not willing to be hasty , and now being returned to my own Country , and at my own Home : I cheerfully accept the fit season which the Lord has put in my hand , and called me to therein , to signifie unto you those things which in his name and authority I am commanded to do .

And for this end , the Lord has shewn me , what the causes are of all this mischeif , and confusion , and desolation ; which are necessary to be made known unto you , and deeply and seriously to be considered by you , else ye can never be able to apply the right remedies ; I speak of the primary and original cause , as it proceeds from him , and is hatched by him , who is the Author of all mischief , and the great enemy to , as well as envyer of the true peace and prosperity of all good Christians , and who sows in mens hearts , that evil seed and fomenteth that bad ground from which all evil ariseth ; for unless this be seen , discovered , and removed in the ground , although the secondary and more immediate causes be seen , ( to wit ) the projects , designs and councels of men , and in part be answered and removed , by giving way to some , and taking from others , according as they are more or less formidable and considerable , measuring these things by the rules of humane wisdom , and carnal prudence and policy : Yet that is not sufficient , that may allay the heat for a time , but will not remove the evil ; and you in so doing , will prove but like those Physitians , that do mitigate the pain and violence of a Disease for a time , but do not take away the ground and cause of it ; so that it shortly again returns , and in the end destroys him that is afflicted with it .

The cheif ground , cause and root then of all this misery among all those called Christians , is because they are only such in Name , and not in Nature , having only a form and profession of Christianity in shew and words , but are still strangers , yea and enemies to the life and vertue of it ; owning God and Christ in words , but denying them in works , and therefore the Lord Jesus Christ will not own them as his Children nor Disciples ; for while they say they are his followers , while they preach and exalt his precepts , while they extol his life , patience , and meekness , his self-denying perfect resignation and obedience to the will of his Father ; yet themselves are out of it , and so bring shame and reproach to that honourable name , which they assume to themselves in the face of the Nations , and give an occasion for Infidels Turks , Jews and Atheists , to profane and blaspheme the holy Name of Jesus : Is it not so ? While so much ambition , pride , vanity , wantonness and malice , murder , cruelty and oppression , yea and all manner of abominations abounds , and is openly practiced ; yea while those , that should be patterns and examples of Justice , Vertue and sobriety to others , do for the most part exceed most in those things ; so that the Courts of Christian Princes ( who while in words seem more to glory in being Professors and Protectors of Christianity then in their outward Crowns ) which should be Colledges of Vertue and Piety , are mostly Scenes of greatest wickedness , and nests and receptacles of all the Buffoons , Stage-players , and other vilest Vermine , not fit to be mentioned . I say is it not so ? while upon every slender praetext , such as their own small discontents , or that they judge the present peace they have with their neighbour , cannot sute with their Grandeur and worldly glory : They sheath their Swords in one anothers bowels , ruin , waste and destroy whole Countreys , expose to the greatest misery many thousand Families , make thousands of Widows , and ten thousands of Orphans cause the banks to over-flow with the blood of those for whom the Lord Jesus Christ shed his precious blood , spend and destroy many of the good creatures of God : And all this while they pretend to be followers of the Lamb like Jesus , who came not to destroy mens lives , but to save them ; the song of whose appearance to the World , was glory to God in the highest , Luke 2.14 . and good will , and peace to all men ; not to kill , murder and destroy men , not to hire and force poor men , to run upon , and murder one another , meerly to satisfy the lust and ambition of great men , they being oftentimes ignorant of the ground of the quarrel , and not having the least occasion of evil will or prejudice against those their fellow Christians whom they thus kill , amongst whom not one of a thousand perhaps ever saw before , Yea is it not so ? that there is only a name and nothing of the true nature of Christians , especially manifest in the Clergy , who pretend not only to be Professors , but Preachers , Promotors and Exhorters of others to Christianity , who for the most part , are the greatest promoters and advancers of those Wars ; and by whom upon all such occasions , the name of God and Jesus Christ , is most horribly abused , profaned and blasphemed . While they dare pray to God , and thank him for the destruction of of their Brethren Christians , and that for , and against , according to the changeable wills of their several Princes : Yea , so that some will joyn in their Prayers , with and for the prosperity of such , as their profession obliges them to believe to be Heretical and Antichristian , and for the destruction of those , whom the same profession acknowledges to be good and Orthodox Christians : Thus the French , both Papists and Protestants , joyn in their Prayers , and rejoyce for the destruction of the Spanish Papists and Dutch Protestants ; the like may be said of the Danish , Swedish and German Protestants , as respectively concerned in this matter : Yea which is yet more strange , if either constraint or Interest , do engage any Prince or State to change his Party , while the same War and Cause remains , then will the Clergy presently accommodate their Prayers to the case in praying for prosperity to those to whom instantly before they wished ruine , and so on the contrary , as in this present War , in the Case of the Bishop of Munster is manifest : Was there ever ? or can there be any more horrible profanation of the holy and pure name of God ? especially to be done by those , who pretend to be Worshipers of the true God , and Disciples of Jesus Christ ? this not only equals , but far exceeds the wickedness of the Heathens , for they only prayed such Gods to their assistance , as they fancied allow their ambition , and accounted their warring a vertue , whom they judged changable like themselves , and subject to such quarrels among themselves , as they that are their Worshippers : But for those to be found in these things , who believe there is but one only God , and have or at least profess to have , such notions of his justice , equity and mercy , and of the certainty of his punnishing the transgressors of his Law , is so horrible and abominable , as cannot sufficiently be neither said , nor written .

The ground then of all this , is the want of true Christianity , because the nature of it is not be gotten nor brought forth in those called Christians , and therefore they bear not the image nor bring not forth the fruits of it ; for albeit they have the name , yet the nature they are strangers to , the Lambs nature is not in them , but the Doggish nature , the Wolfish Nature , that will still be quarelling and destroying ; the cunning Serpentine subtile nature , and the proud ambitious Luciferian nature , that sets Princes and States a work to contrive and foment Wars , and engages people to fight together , some for ambition and vain glory , and some for coveteousness and hope of gain , and the same cause doth move the Clergy to concurre with their share in making their prayers turn and twine , and so all are here out from the state of true Christianity : And as they keep the name of being Christians , so also upon the same pretext each will pretend to be for peace , while their fruits manifestly declare the contrary ; and how hath and doth experience daily discover this deceit ? for how is peace brought about ? is it not when the weaker is forced to give way to the stronger , without respect to the equity of the cause , is it not Just so as among the wilde and devouring beasts ? who when they Fight together , the weaker is forced to give way to the stronger , and so desist until another occasion offer ; so who are found weakest , who are least capable to hold out , they must bear the Inconveniency , and he gets the most advantage , however frivolous , yea unjust his pretence be , who is most able to vindicate his claim , and preserve it , not by Equity , but force of Arms : So that the peace-contrivers rule is not the Equity of the Cause , but the power of the Parties ; Is not this known and manifest in many , if not most of the pacifications that have been made in Christendom ? It is therefore in my heart , in the name and behalf of the Lord Jesus CHrist , to warn you to consider of those things : And therefore be not unwilling to hear one , that appears among you , for the Interest of Christ his King and Master ( not as if thereby he denyed the just Authority of Soveraign Princes , or refused to acknowledge the Subjection himself owes to his lawful Prince and Superiour , or were any ways inclined to favour the dreams of such , as under the pretence of crying up King Jesus ; and the kingdom of Christ , Which calumny some have been apt to throw upon us , by reason of some in those Countreys that have so affirmed . either deny or seek to overturn all Civil Government ) nay , not at all . But I am one , who do reverence and honor Magistracy , and acknowledge subjection due unto them , by their respective people in all things just and lawful ; knowing that Magistracy is an Ordinance of God , Rom. 13.1.4 . and that Magistrates are his Ministers , who bear not the Sword in vain . Yet nevertheless I judge it no prejudice to Magistracy , nor injury to any , for one that is called of the Lord Jesus , to appear for him in this affair , for he is not a little concerned , as all by their confession , so by right are his Subjects ( unless they wilfully render themselves to another , even to the adversary ) for he is Heir of all , and therefore it is fit that they who speak in his name be heard , for his honor and glory is concerned , his Authority has been contemned , his Laws broken , his Life oppressed , his Standard of peace pulled down and rent , his Government incroached upon : What shall I say , his precious blood shed , and himself afresh crucified , and put to open shame , by the Murthers and Cruelties that have attended those Wars : If then ye come not under a deep and weighty sense of those things , so as to apply your selves to seek after some effectual way to remedy these evils ; however you may seek to please Princes and States , by patching up a reconciliation and troubling your selves to satisfie their covetous and ambitious wills , who make such a noise and stir in the World about their glory , and do not mind the glory and honour of the Lord Jesus Christ , so as to give him the right that is due unto him : In the first place , not in a bare sound of words ( he will not accept of such a Complement while the evil works remain , ) I testifie in his name and Power and Authority , your work will be imperfect , and not prosperous ; for although these Kings and Princes that are now at varience , may be by your means brought to lay down Arms , and appear to be good friends , and dear allies : Yet unless the Lord Jesus Christ can be restored to his kingdom in their hearts , and that evil ground of ambition , of pride , and lust , and vain glory be removed , that so they may rule in the wisdom and power of God , and not according to their Lusts , that evil ground and devouring nature being still alive , and predominant in them , will quickly stir some of them up again so soon as opportunity offers fit for their advantage ; they will kindle the flame again , and all your Articles will not bind them , but they will break them like strawes ; and their Counsellers who flatter them , and seek to please them , will quickly find out a pretext for a breach , such as have taught them these hellish maxims , Qui nescit dissimulare nescit regnare , i.e. that such as make Conscience to lye , or serve the Devil ; But to obey Christ , are not fit to rule , and that Kings must not be slaves to their words : And perhaps if they find it difficult to hit upon any probable ground or pretence , if they judge themselves strong enough , they will neither trouble themselves , nor the world to give a reason , but tell , that to be at peace is no longer consistant with their glory , and when they have brought about what they have determined , they will let the World know the reason of it . Hath not manifold experience proved those things to be true , and seeing it is so , there is , nor can no settled , firm established peace be brought to Christendom , until the Devils Kingdom be rooted out of mens hearts , from which Wars come , Jam . 4.1 , 7. as the Apostle James testifies , and the Kingdom of Jesus came to be established in the hearts of Kings , and Princes , and People , whose Kingdom , is a Kingdom of righteousness , and peace , and joy in the Holy Spirit ; until he come to rule in and among them , and his enemies , ( viz. ) every evil Lust be thrown out from him , so that his Heavenly wisdom may take place , which is pure , Jam . 3.17 . and peaceable , and easie to be intreated , And therefore to bring this about , is the one and great thing needful to be minded and considered of and effectually to be pressed after , as that by the accomplishing whereof the present evils can alone be cured and removed .

Therefore be not mistaken , neither receive your selves , to think ye can accomplish this work by your worldly and humane wisdom ; the wisdom of the flesh will not do it , neither that of the first birth , which must dye , and be crucified , e're the Heavenly wisdom , the beginning whereof is the fear of the Lord , Prov. 1.7 . be reavealed , by which alone this work can both be truly begun and finished , for the worldly and carnal wisdom is the cause of the War ; It is by it that men have been , and are stirred up to it , even the wisdom of the first fleshly Birth , which leads men not to be content with their own , but to covet their neighbours , and to quarrel and fight in hopes of advantage : Therefore that wisdom which is the cause of the mischief , will , nor can , never cure it ; try and examine your selves therefore seriously , in the sight of God whether you be led , acted and influenced in your present Negotiation , by the wisdom of this World , the wisdom of the first Birth , which is sensual , divelish , and from below , or by the heavenly and pure wisdom of God , Jam . 3.17 . which is from above , and is the fruit of the second Birth , the new Birth by Christ Jesus , formed and brought forth in the Soul , and the Light of Jesus Christ in you , which showes you all your thoughts , and has reproved every one of you for your unrighteousness , even from your childhood up , that will manifest unto you , if you mind it , and heed it which wisdom you are acted by , and discover to you , whether it be your thoughts and purposes to glorifie God over all , and to remove so far as in you lyes , what is contrary to his holy and pure will , and whether you be more concerned for the particular Interest , and Interests of your several Princes , to satisfie or obviate their designs , or to bring about that , by which Gods holy witness in every Conscience may be answered , and the pure life of Jesus , that by these doings the oppressed , may be eased , and suffered to arise : For if this be little in your minds , as a thing not much regarded , but neglected by you , I must intimate to you in the name of the Lord , that your work will not be blessed by him , neither will it prosper ; for although you may make peace for a time , yet ( as I have aforesaid ) it will not be firm , nor of any long continuance , but the old root still remaining , will send forth its evil fruit again , and all your labour will quickly be undone .

Let me exhort you then seriously to examine your selves by the Light of Jesus Christ in you , that can alone discover unto you your own hearts , and will not flatter you ( as men may ) whether you be fit for this work you are set about , which you cannot be until you have seriously applyed your selves , to the killing and crucifying of that nature in your selves , from which all this evil flows , if the warring part be removed out of you , and the corrupted wisdom done away , and the peaceable wisdom brought up , then are you fit to consult and bring about the peace of Christendom ; but this cannot be accomplished in you , until you have first believed in the light of Jesus Christ , wherewithall you , as well as all men are inlightned , and which is given you as a sufficient guide and leader , to lead out of darkness , to lead out of strife , to lead out of the lusts , Jam . 4.1 . from which the Wars come ? Unto the ways of righteousness and peace , which leads not to destroy , but to love , and forgive enemies ; it is the minding of this , and being led and guided by it , that only can fit you for so great and good a work , for this is the fruit of the fathers love to mankind , and the gift of God even Christ Jesus , who was given for a light to enlighten the Gentiles , Isa . 49.6 . Luc . 2.32 . and for his Salvation unto the ends of the earth ; so it is by turning to this , and following it , and obeying it , in which is sufficiency , and which gives power to the receivers of it to become the Sons of God , Joh . 1.12 . that the true nature of Christianity can be brought forth , and restored , and by which Kings and Princes , Rulers and people , may be brought out of Lust , Envy , Warring and Strife , to true peace with God , and one with another .

And therefore the cause of all the mischief that is in Christendom , is because this Light has not been minded nor regarded in the heart , but has been hated and overlooked , as a low and insufficient thing ; and therefore the seed of the Kingdom , this gift of the Fathers Love , this little Leaven , this pearl of great prize ; and this Talent being hid in the ground , condemned and despised , and the world and wordly mind being set over it , notwithstanding all the preaching , and praying , and professing of Christ in words , that has been only one outward show and appearance by which men might the more easily be deceived , and live more securely in their wickedness ; but the innocent life of Christ hath not been known , and all Christendom has brought forth bitter and sower grapes under all their talk and forms of Worship , and not the sweet and peaceable fruits of righteousness , which can never be brought untill all come to him , to the Light of Christ in their Consciences , to follow and obey it , and acknowledge it as that which is given them of God , and sufficient to lead them to Life and Salvation ; for as this is thus received and entertained , the true nature of Christ will be begotten , and brought forth in people ; and then the contrary nature in which the enmity and strife is , will die and pass away , and so Truth and peace will come to be settled , and firmly established . And for this end the Lord God Almighty is arisen , and arising in his own power and glory ( who out of his infinite compassion , having regard to the present distracted and desolate condition of Christendom ) is seeing them strangers to his Life and power , and led and guided at will to the utter ruine and destruction both of Body and Soul by the adversary of mandkinds true happiness , that he might reveal the Light of his Truth , even of true Christianity , to those who have the name only , and hath turned many who are strangers and enemies thereunto in their minds by wicked works , to this precious Light , by which judgment has been laid to the line , Esa . 28.17 . Mat . 12.20 . and righteousness to the plummet in them , and the evil works and nature in them has been judged , and condemned ; and they have willingly abode under it , until it hath been brought forth to victory in them . And many of them who have been wise according to the wisdom of the World , have learned to lay it down at the feet of Jesus , that they might receive from him of his Pure and Heavenly wisdom , being contented in the enjoyment of that , by the World to be accounted fools , and also many of them who were Fighters , and even renowned for their Skil and Valour in Warring , have come by the influence of this pure Light , To beat their Swords in Plough-shares , Esa . 2.4 . and their Spears in pruning-hooks , and not learn Carnal War any more , being redeemed from the Lusts from which the Fighting comes ; and there are thousands whom God hath brought here already , who see to the end of all contention and strife , and that for which the World contends ; and albeit the Devil be angry at them , and rage against them in the meer Nominal and Literal Christians , because he knows they stricke at the very root and foundation of his Kingdom in mens hearts , and therefore he prevails in his followers , to wit , in these Literal Nominal Christians , to persecute , kill , beat , bannish and imprison , and many ways vex them : Yet because the Lord has chosen them to be a first fruit of that glorious work , which he is bringing about in the Nations ; therefore they hitherto have , notwithstanding of all that opposition , and yet shall prosper , by a patient enduring , in the Spirit of Jesus , they do , and shall overcome .

And therefore there is nothing can so much tend to the good and universal Peace of Christendom , then for all and every one , to mind this gift of God in themselves , and not only to suffer , but to rejoyce at the preaching and promulgating of the universality of this glorious Light , whereunto God is now calling many , for the resisting and slaying of this in themselves , as well as in those who come in the name of God to declare it , is the cause of all the mischief , that Christendom labours under , so also its being received and taking place , would remove and do it away .

Be not therefore easily ingaged by the enemy , to slight and reject those things , as foolish and weak , and too low for you to consder , or give place unto ; for thereby the enemy always laboured to vail and darken the counsel of God ; and hindred it from being received by men : 1 King . 2.8 . Thus the King of Israel despised the Counsel of Micah , at the instigation of his mocking Prophets ; but remember that you profess to be followers of Jesus , Luc . 21.2 . who was loaded with many roproaches , Mat . 27.20 . accounted a disturber ; and to whom Barrabbas a Murderer was preferred by the counsel and advice of the wise Rabbies , Job . 18.40 . and great Professors among the Jews , and remember that you profess your selves to be owners of that Gospel , whose first and chief Ministers and Preachers were accounted foolish and and Illiterate men , movers of Sedition , Act. 2.7 4.13.17.18.19.26.21.28.24.56.25.7 . Idle Babblers , and turners of the World upside down , and therefore be not easily frighted by these , and such like reports , and reproaches , from hearing those whom God hath called and chosen , that in and amongst them he may be glorified ; and by them , may restore that in reality in the so called Christian World , which for several generations they have only had the shadow of , but have not enjoyed in the substance : And because many are the calumnies that such are reproached withall , as holding forth strange and pernicious Doctrines : Therefore I have herewith sent you a large Apology for the true Christian Divinity held forth , and preached by them , that therein you may see how the truly Christian principles , which have been lost in the Apostacy , while the life of Christianity was not to be found , is restoared by their Testimony , desiring you seriously to read and consider the same , as well as transmit it to the several Princes you are employed by , that both you and they may see , That the day of the Lord is dawned , and may learn to walk in the light of it , which would bring peace and quietness and felicity to all , both outward and inward ; and thereby all may be stirred up to receive with gladness , such as the Lord will move to preach and declare this day , as it is dawned and made manifest in them , following the Apostles rules , In receiving strangers willingly , Heb . 13.2 . for that some in so doing have entertained Angels unawares : And that none of you may be like the Pharisees , who cryed Crucifie him ; nor like those who intreated him to depart out of their Coasts ; and like those who would have none of him to rule over them , least with them , ye receive the like condemnation : However I shall be clear of all your Blood , in so far as I have faithfully answered what God required of me towards you , and discharged my Conscience in love to your Immortal Souls , as well as to the common peace and good of Christendom ; whereof , and of all those that profess the name of Christ , I am a true friend and hearty well wisher .