JOANNA SOUTHCOTT'S

ANSWER TO

Five Charges

IN THE

some room for cavilling, she wishes to make

every allowance; and give a clear answer,

how that was misunderstood: and not

only to answer the

FOUR FALSE CHARGES

that are brought against her; but she has brought

FOUR TRUE CHARGES

Her Adversaries,

In the following Pages.

THE FIVE CHARGES.

I. "I know she declared to the World, that her Sealing would cease on the last day of December, 1803, Old Style; and it is well known she continues the practice to this day."

II. "She positively declared, that in March last, the invasion would take place; this I believe she never put in print, but I dare say the believer has heard her affirm it many times."

III. "Is a tremendous prediction: 'your every grain,' says the Prophetess, 'shall be smitten with rust and mildew.' This the believers say, has come to pass; I appeal, Mr. Editor, to you and all the world, whether the late harvest did not rather falsify than establish this prediction; wheat was in some places a failing crop, but in several others it was exactly the reverse."

IV. "I come now to Joanna's late awful Trial, so long foretold. 'The unbelieving Clergy,' it was said, 'would be compelled to be present, and acknowledge the mission of this wonderful Woman;' I ask the believers, Is this true?"

V. "And lastly, she frequently said, the Lord had made it known to her that she should not live to see the end of the year, 1804. Is this true? Certainly not. How then dare this woman charge such falsehoods upon Heaven? The word of God has decided upon her pretensions, and says, 'When a Prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the Prophet hath spoken it presumptuously; thou shalt not be afraid of him.' "

Since Joanna had her answers to the charges brought against her written for the press, a believer has found a few places in her books, where the Sealing is mentioned. One is in her Dispute with the Powers of Darkness, page 126. "I will not hurt the earth, or the sea, till I have sealed up my servants," &c.-the number in Revelation is one hundred and forty four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel, which cannot be limited to one year, and to one nation. In The Answer of the Lord to the Powers of Darkness, pages 53 and 54, are mentioned the blessings to the Sealed people, and what is to happen after one year's Sealing. In page 104 of the same Book, which ought to be read with great attention, is the true meaning of the Sealing clearly explained; and it thus says, that after Joanna's death, her Seal must be given to a friend. Now the readers good sense must convince him, that the Sealing must continue for several Years, which is to go into every land as being the leaves for the healing of the nations. In p. 60 of the Second Book of Visions there it is again said, the Sealing is to go into different nations, and is again mentioned in the Warning to the World, pages 53 and 54; and in pages 62 and 63 of the same Book, it there speaks of the twelve nations to be Sealed; but the greater number may appear in England. These two pages ought to be read with attention; and in page 96 of the same Book, are these words, "Therefore I have given my strict command, that no one shall have a Seal from thee who hath not read my words, which are given to thee." The command was given after the first Sealing ended which was the first day of December, 1803, Old Style. The reader may form a glorious idea of the effect of the Sealing, by the healing of the nations from the 9th verse of the 7th of Revelation-"After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the Throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands, &c."

JOANNA SOUTHCOTT'S

ANSWER

Also the true meaning of the Words of Christ on the Cross

When he said "It is finished."

The first charge-That the Sealing would cease on the last day of December, 1803, Old Style.

Joanna's answer.-It is known to all as to the manner that my Sealing first went out, which lasted but one year and stopped at the time mentioned; and men were strictly charged by me, as well as what was put in print, that none but believers were to be Sealed for the future, so that the Sealing for unbelievers was put an end to; and they must be impostors, if ever any more that are unbelievers are sealed. So the Spirit spoke the perfect Truth there; but never was it said by me, nor by the Spirit that attends me, that the Sealing of believers would cease in one year: for in 1802, I think it is printed it was said that after my death, my Seal would be given to some one, that would seal the people of other nations, as well as this; and that the Sealing was never understood to cease till the number was sealed mentioned in the Revelation.

And here is the answer of the Spirit.

"Now Joanna, I shall answer thee. It is to bring all men to their Bibles that I have directed thee to go on in this manner, that is not known or understood by man. Thou knowest I ordered the Sealing to go on for believers or unbelievers; to draw a bow at a venture, to seal those that wished for my kingdom to be established, and Satan's to be destroyed; whether they were true believers in thy visitation or not. But it is known unto thee and to all believers, that it ended at the time mentioned; and all were refused that came a day after; so for unbelievers it there ceased, and the words for them were fulfilled and verified. Now I shall bring men from this to my Bible: Know that I said on the Cross-It is finished! and now I will tell thee what was finished:-Satan's power over Me was finished; for, like the Sealing for unbelievers, that was then put a stop to by my command, so Satan's malice was put a stop to by My Power. For though I submitted to his malice to the death of the Cross; yet he had no power to go further; for with all the band of soldiers, that was placed by his arts, working in men to secure My Body, they had no power to secure it, or prevent my rising from the dead, in the same perfect Body I laid down for man. So all the arts, all the malice, and all the power that men and devils had over Me were finished on the Cross; for they could go no further! ! But did the arts of men and devils stop there? or did their malice and fury stop there? Did they not follow my disciples with the same malice, the same fury, and the same unbelief, and persecuted them as they before had persecuted Me? Now I ask mankind, what they will prove was finished at that time, any more than I have mentioned? For if all the power of the devil had been finished, and all unbelief had been finished, and all My Work had been accomplished, it must stop there, and have gone no further; perfectly so is the Sealing: my strict command was given to put a stop to all unbelievers being sealed at the end of that year. And know I said whoever came in after without faith, were Thieves and Robbers; so the Truth of the Words was verified and fulfilled by Me by the command I gave to thee. But did My disciples understand what I meant, when I said it was finished? All men must answer, no; neither didst thou understand, nor did thy friends understand the meaning of letting unbelievers be sealed that year, and then stop them, before I explained it unto thee; and perfectly so is My Bible, which many men wrest to their own condemnation-as they no more understand the meaning of my words, saying-It was finished-than they understand the meaning of thy Sealing being put a stop to at the end of the year. But know what I told thee before, in the Answer to the Powers of Darkness, (the 93rd page) The people shall be numbered by the Seals, and the number of the tribes mentioned in the Revelation, shall now be sealed. Now let men mark the words, and then judge for themselves, whether they thought that number could come in one year, or whether they thought I meant to call the unbelievers for them to be of the tribes sealed? I tell them, no: the tribes of the sealed must be those that are sealed by faith. But know how many that were sealed in unbelief, have destroyed their Seals already; then how can they be numbered by their Seals? Now I tell thee the wisdom of men can never explain My Bible, nor ever prove it true by any judgment they can draw; for by the judgment of men, they make My Bible as false as their judgment made thy words false, that thou spokest by my command. Now perfectly so was the accusation of the Jews, when they came against Me; they made use of my Words without my meaning; they said "This fellow saith, I will destroy the temple of God, and in three days build it again." St. Matthew, chapter xxvi, verse 61. These are the words and accusations that were brought against Me, for my saying I would "destroy the Temple of God," which I meant my own Body, that I would give up for the power of men to destroy; that meaneth to take my life from Me, and build it again in three days, which I meant by rising again the third day in my perfect Body, as it was before; though they alluded my meaning to the Temple of God, to be the buildings of their temple; so taking my words without my meaning, they condemned me, as they thought, justly. Now to bring men to know their Bibles, I have spoken words to thee in the Spirit perfectly as I spoke them in the Body, that ye may weigh one with the other; to see how it was spoken, and how it was fulfilled: then they will discern, that from one Spirit came the whole; and not from the wisdom of man, but from the wisdom of God. And here my own meaning is in all I have said; and like My Bible thy writings are fulfilled; and so I now have tried the unbelieving world, at the time that I had fixed for them; and then gave a strict command their Sealing should go no further. And now my strict command is, as I have told thee already, he that wisheth to be sealed without having a true faith that thy visitation is from the Lord, is a thief and a robber. But now go on to the words, that mentioned the number in the chapter must be sealed: the Sealing did not stop for believers, neither was it finished at that time, any more than all my office that I had to go through, and all that my death was for, was finished on the Cross; for then the destruction of the Jews must be finished for ever, and man's destruction, instead of their redemption must be finished by my Death and sufferings; and instead of bruising Satan's head, by my heel that was bruised on the Cross, his power and malice must be the greater: and instead of fulfilling the Bible, I must die to destroy it; and my Apostles must come after Me with false doctrine. Now let men look as strict into my Bible and point out all the words that are there, and they will bring more charges against the Bible, from the judgment that is drawn by man, than they can bring against thee: for the prophecies I have spoken to thee are more plain to be understood than my Bible. And now I shall come to the Second Charge made against thee."

Second Charge: "She positively declared, that in March last the invasion would take place."-To this charge I shall answer for myself.-It is a notorious falsehood; for it is known to all my believers, perfectly as the communications were given to me I put them in print; and whatever might be the judgment of others, my judgment was, an Invasion would never take place before my awful Trial; as I never could believe, that if the French were to land and destroy one half of the nation, or a great part of them, that ever my writings would be demanded by my enemies; or that I could have any awful trial to go through:-for it is mentioned in many places in my writings, that I have an awful trial to go through from my enemies, by their unbelief. But how could this take place, if the French came in and destroyed the land, and myself and the believers were preserved in the midst of dangers? Who then would come against me? This to me appears as great a folly, as is possible for any to imagine; and a judgment that was never drawn by me; and words that were never spoken by me; but I have disputed on the inconsistency of such belief; and as to the French landing, I am not clear they ever will, by what I understand of my writings; but if they do land it will be suddenly and unexpectedly. Now mark the second page of the Warning to the World, where it is said-"I have already told thee, like a snare it shall come upon them in a day they little think of, and in an hour unawares; for as they have said, they want not the knowledge of the Most High, the knowledge of the Most High they shall not have:" So the second charge laid against me is entirely false; for no likeness of the words were ever spoken by me; and if I was to speak from my own judgment, I am more of opinion that the meaning of the enemies wounding our land, means the keeping on the burden of the war to wound our substance, distress the land, and starve the poor, than it means wounding the land by an invasion; for then the wound might be over; but now I see we are wounded daily. But this is my own judgment not a prophecy; for the prophecy that was given of the Cat and the Dog meant the French and the English. So every one is left to draw their judgment as they like, and I have told you how I have drawn mine; but I never could understand from any of my writings, that either sword or famine would be in our land in my days; and therefore it was said-if I died at the end of the year 1804, then they might fear to see fatal judgments in the following year. So the second charge is without any foundation of truth; words that I never spoke, nor ever thought.

Here is the Answer of the Spirit-

"Now I shall answer thee of the second Charge laid against thee, which is known to Me to be as false as thou hast affirmed it; for I well know the thoughts of thy heart: thou hast always judged the sword would never happen in the land in thy days, because I always told thee, the things thou so much fearest and dreadest, thou shouldst never see. But now I shall answer to the second charge made against thee, that is entirely false: and all men will find, full as false is the second charge made against the woman now, as the first charge was made for want of judgment and understanding, concerning the Sealing. But the second charge is absolutely false, without any foundation; and perfectly so I tell thee of the woman: the first charge that was made in the Fall, were truth and errors blended together, for want of judgment: for it is true the woman gave it to the man; and it is true I gave the man the woman; but here was the error in the Fall of the Man; he did not cast the blame where he ought to have done, as the woman did; though he knew from her the way it came; yet, instead of casting it as she did, on the serpent, he cast it on his Maker, which put a stop to their happiness at once-as I put a stop to the Sealing, when I saw in what manner the unbelievers went on. But now I shall come back to the Fall: though I put a stop to the happiness they had in Me, and they were dead to the knowledge of their God, and cast out of Paradise, yet I did not make an end to the whole; for though I said in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die, yet he did not die a natural death, to be no more in this world; but his life was prolonged, and the promise was made to go on till the woman's seed should bruise the serpent's head.-Now I tell thee, perfectly like thy Sealing, the Promise stands in the Fall; the first curse was laid upon them, yet with that curse the Promise was made to the woman to avenge the serpent; and for his curse to be the greatest. But this truth men will not allow; but like the men by thy Sealing, say, the whole curse must remain of the Fall upon the human race of mankind never to be removed. So the first charge that was laid upon the woman, the devil holds mankind to keep her there for ever: but to claim the Promise that was made her, they deny its ever being designed to be obtained. Then I ask mankind to what purpose was my word given? For I now tell all men, full as false as thou sayest the second charge is, they have brought against thee, full as false have men made my Word in the Second Promise made to the woman; they baffle away the first, and firmly deny the truth of the second: and now I tell thee and all mankind, let them read thy writings through, and my Bible through, and I will prove it impossible for all the enemies thou hast in the world to prove thy writings are false as they are proving my Bible; therefore I have brought them to the standard of the Bible, to see what men make of their Bibles. Now concerning the Sealing: there was some room for thy enemies to speak, that did not understand my meaning; and so there was some room for Adam to find fault, as he did not know the devil was so close to him, to make him cast the blame on his Maker, as he was to Eve to tempt her to eat the fruit: therefore Satan's arts that worked in man appeared to him right: so they perished for want of knowledge, as soon as they had eaten the fruit; that meaneth, instead of that perfect happiness they were created for, they fell into every sorrow and misery, and their lives were soon after embittered by Cain and Abel, and no man discerned how the promise went on, and renewed to the woman through my Bible. But all these promises are mocked and despised like thy Sealing; for they wish to stop at the first charge that was made against her, and thereby bring in a false accusation against her in the second; which I now prove to the world is a thing impossible for any man to do, without he denieth my Bible, as it is for thy enemies to prove thou saidst the enemy would land in March. This is a false accusation against thee, and full as false they must make my Bible, if they deny the promise made in the Fall: and this I tell thee, they are doing. So let them not say the charges are brought against the woman; for I tell thee, the charges are brought against their Maker. The first they have wrested; the second they have lied; and no more foundation have men, to prove the Promise shall not be fulfilled, than they have to prove the words that were said of thee; for both alike are entirely false.

"And now I shall come to the third Charge."

The third Charge, is the prophesying against the Grain, that the mildew and rust should take the Wheat in the year 1804.

"This is a charge brought against her, as he 'appeals to the Editor, and the world at large, whether the late harvest did not rather falsify than establish this prediction.' " To this charge I shall answer for myself, and say as Samuel said unto Saul, when Saul said unto Samuel (1st Book, chapter xv, verse 4), he had done all that the Lord had commanded him, Samuel answered Saul, from whence came the bleating of the sheep, and the lowing of the oxen in my ears? Just the same I say of the Harvest; if it was good, from whence come the high prices and great dearth that is in our land? And that the price of corn is constantly rising everywhere, when it is known to the world at large, we had three remarkably good harvests, and heard no complaining of crops, after the year 1800, until the year 1804, and then samples of wheat were sent to me from different places, eaten out with the mildew and rust, and they wrote me word that it fell on the beans, peas and barley, which was taken notice of, and the samples were sent to the archdeacon Moore, of Exeter? In all parts of the kingdom where my writings have been known, they have written me word that the mildew and rust have been universal; and I read myself in the newspapers, that the harvest proved much worse now they came to try the corn, than they ever expected; for which reason they are allowed to raise the price of bread. Then how will man dare to assume or deny the truth that is so plain before them? Because they say there were some good crops. Poor, ignorant, foolish man! ! ! If there had been no good crops, there must have been almost a famine before the next harvest, though there was a large quantity of corn in the land before; for I have been creditably informed, that some fields of wheat have been cut down for dung, and others were thought not worth the reaping. Had this been universal in every field, this harvest must have produced a famine; then all must have allowed it was clean cut off; so to prevent a famine there must be some good crops: but I am sorry to say, it appeareth to me as though the unbelievers are studying how they can harden men's hearts in sin, telling them there are no judgments, while we are surrounded by judgments; telling them there is no sorrow, while our land is surrounded with sorrows: and should I speak the language of my own heart, I should say these men are as full of lies and aggravation as the devil, to say the harvest is good, when the corn is risen here more than double the price it was last year; and by letters we received from different parts, the rise is everywhere the same. Then what provoking wretches must these lying men be, to say black is white, out of aggravation?

The Answer of the Spirit.

"Now I shall answer thee. In the heat of thine anger, thou hast spoken thy last words, and in the heat of My Anger I shall go on to make them feel what they determine not to see. For I now tell thee, it is by the devil, that is full of aggravation, lies and contention, that these men are set on by: the charges are not against thee, but against Me, as it was not thy words, but My Words that threatened the harvest; and it was not thy power, but it was My Power, that fulfilled it. But know I have set all things for types and shadows; and for types and shadows the Harvest stands. Now I shall answer thee of the good Crops: they stand a type for man; and had there been no Good Crops in man, they should not have mocked of the Harvest, to say it was not bad, because it was not all cut off; but to their sorrows they should have felt it. Now to prove the truth of my words, I ordained the letters should be sent to thee, of the rust being in the Wheat, in the Barley, in the Peas, and in the Beans; and I now tell thee, if the truth was known, there is not a grain but the rust took some of every grain that is sown by man for food to eat; but do you suppose from that, because I said I would send it upon your every grain, that I meant there should be no grain of the same nature to be preserved from the rust and kept from destruction?-Then how could I compare the harvest with man? Know what I said of the harvest of Woolland's field. I compared it with man, that was full of unbelief; and that I made the grain like it; and perfectly so I said of this harvest, that if unbelief abounded in man, and the mist of darkness was before their eyes, and the rust and canker was in them, I would send it in the grain. And now, I will tell thee of every grain: wheat is a grain compared to man; and the generality of mankind throughout your land is full of unbelief, eaten out as it were with the canker. Now as I compared this grain to man, and said I would show it in the wheat, I must have no good grain in man at all, if I had shown no good wheat at all; for know from the parables what was said:-

"There the mist shall bring the rust upon your every grain,

"If men do longer mock and jest, the famine next shall come."

"Now I shall answer thee from these words: if I send the rust to show the perfect likeness of man in one part, that the mist, which was here before their eyes, prevented them from being good wheat, as I have compared man to wheat; so I sent it universally throughout the land in your corn, that they may see their own likeness: but as I said there is some good corn in your land, which I mean in man, I sent some good crops, to show the likeness of them; for know I have told thee already, and I now tell thee again, it is the good crops in men that will save your land from utter destruction, as the good crops prevented a famine: but had thy trial come on by such men as have printed against thee, they would find the following harvest like the wheat that was cut down for dung; but as thy trial was brought forward and proved by believers only, it is they will prevent the fatal judgments of the famine, as the good corn prevented the famine this year. Here I have shown thee of the prophecy concerning the harvest; and now I shall bring men's observations to the Bible. Know what I said in my Gospel, "Ye can discern the signs of the weather, but cannot discern the signs of the times." And now observe from this man; though the dearth hath showed you the harvest as foretold, yet he can observe all the crops where the mildew and rust were not! but he cannot observe my Bible, where the Scriptures stand that are not yet fulfilled. These things are all forgotten by such men as he; he can be strict in observing every word that he seeth doth not appear to be perfectly fulfilled in thy writings; but he denieth the Scriptures that are plain before him not fulfilled. These he places another way, to be fulfilled to a judgment of his own. But now I shall come to the purpose with all men; as thy writings and my Bible both came from one fountain, and I tell thee must end in one current stream, therefore I now tell all men when they begin to point out what is not perfectly fulfilled in thy writings, let them also point out what is not perfectly fulfilled in My Bible: and let this be the answer of all believers, if a prophecy is not of God, without it be fulfilled to the extent of the word to every perfection, tell them the Bible must be the same. Fulfilled to the perfect extent of the word, without any meaning or applications made by man; for if they will turn the Bible to say it hath this, or that meaning, all thy prophecies they may turn the same, by what they cannot prove as fulfilled, and prove they are of God by the Truths they contain. So by the truths of thy prophecies that are past, no man can deny, but all have been fulfilled in part. And now I shall call thee back to the past year: your land allowed the dangers to be great when it came to March and April, which was proved by your Parliament, and your fall by sea was great in the number of ships that were shipwrecked. This was one of the prophecies I gave thee; but did I say, from these dangers that they hear, or fear, they should prove the utter destruction of your land? They must answer, No. Now I shall go further; What sunshine of my countenance, as blessings, did I show your land the year that is past? Did I gain you any victories in the war? Did I lessen the burden of your land? Did I bless your harvest with abundance? Is not your burden increased, instead of decreased? Then where is the proud boasting of men, that are filling you up in their own wisdom, blinding the eyes of the people, that in seeing they may not see, and in hearing they may not understand? Scribes, Pharisees, and Hypocrites, that say every word must be perfectly fulfilled to the destruction of the nation in one year, to fulfil the words that they are from the Lord; and yet cannot discern what must happen, or what must take place to fulfil my Bible-now I tell thee every charge they have brought against thee, is like the charge the Jews brought against Me, that if I was the Son of God, I must come as a Prince and a King to restore the Crown to them. The office I had first to go through was like this wise observer of the harvest, that judged the words could not be of the Lord, without the harvest was totally destroyed; and perfectly so was the judgment of the Jews concerning Me, they could not believe all the miracles I wrought could be of God, unless I had worked miracles to restore the Crown unto them; and by a powerful victory, destroyed all my enemies, and seated myself with an Earthly Crown. Without this they would not believe the words of their prophets were fulfilled in Me; but had this been done, the words of the prophets could not have been true; for how then could I be wounded for their sins or bruised for their iniquities if I had come in this manner at first?

"I shall now come to the fourth and fifth charges, and explain the whole together."-The fourth Charge:-'I now come to Joanna's late awful Trial, so long foretold the unbelieving Clergy would be compelled to be present, and acknowledge the mission of this wonderful woman.'-The fifth Charge:-'She frequently said, the Lord had made it known to her, she should not live to see the end of the year.' To these charges I answer for myself; as to the fourth charge it never was said in my writings, that the unbelieving Clergy would be compelled to come forward; but it is said in my writings, they will compel me to come forward, when they are provoked to anger and to jealousy; but at what time or in what year, it was never made known to me. For in all my writings that are sealed up, it is said that it would be sudden and unexpected; which I can plainly prove and show to the world; but as to my trial, (it being the calling of the Lord) it was said November should not end in 1804, before my trial was called forward, and every truth cleared up, and perfectly so, the Truth hath followed this last year: and the Book of my Trial is since gone out into the world, with the names of the witnesses, the name of the attorney, perfectly like a trial; more than ever I expected. My trial went through in the very month that was mentioned, so that every Truth was laid before them at that time, therefore the fourth Charge is entirely false, and the words of my prophecies are perfectly true; for if you observe in the 11th page of the Warning to the World, it does not say that my writings would be proved by unbelievers; but on the contrary. From the ninth month, it is said, "the ending of this year will come, to make my chosen call aloud, and prove the Truth they've seen and heard." But could this prophecy be verified, if the unbelieving clergy had come forward this year to prove my writings? Then it could not have been the chosen men, to prove they had known and seen the Truth, for it must have been the unbelieving clergy: now the believers have confessed they have seen the shadows of all that was foretold in the past year, and by that faith they all passed their judgment, they believed the visitation to be from the Lord, without seeing any wondrous working to bring on my death; which must have taken place if the unbelieving clergy had come forward. Then they might have feared what would follow their presumptuous unbelief: but this presumption my believers all feared; and when the Communication was carried to them, they could not see my trance without my death following, and if there were any unbelievers, they should speak, that wished to be convinced by the trance. But there were none: for they all were afraid of the presumption of such unbelief, and were convinced from what they had seen and heard before; so the truth of the prophecy was verified in them. And the fourth charge is entirely false about the unbelieving clergy: for my prophecies could by no means come true, if this had taken place last year. Mark the 13th page in the Warning to the World, and see the explanation from Mr. Foley's letter, which was perfectly fulfilled at my Trial; for my fears were alarmed that nothing but my trance would convince either believers or unbelievers; which made me fear, and my prayer was for the trance; till I was reproved; saying-in praying for my trance, I prayed for my death; which made me cease till the Communication was given me which I delivered to my friends and believers then assembled. And while my heart was thus in jeopardy, as it was before, concerning Mr. Foley's letter-knowing if unbelievers were there, my death must follow or my prophecies were false-and while I stood thus in confusion and waiting their answer, every man in the room held up his hand as a true believer -they wanted no further proof to convince them. Here are the words verified in the 13th page: "when your fears are most alarmed, and thou beginnest most to fear, in that very day and hour thou art ready to sink, like the letter that was ready to drop in the post, thy deliverance will come, and thy friends and believers will rejoice." Now here was the perfect Truth verified too, as not understanding myself the perfect meaning of my trial, my own faith failed me concerning my trance; trembling and faintness seized me, and my prayer was made known unto all; but in the day and hour that I went to them with a confused mind and heart, not knowing what event would follow, or what their unbelief would be-I was set at liberty by the uplifted hand of every friend, perfectly as I was before set at liberty of my fears concerning Mr. Foley's illness, when Mr. Turner returned with his letter from the post. So the shadow and substance proved perfectly alike to me.-But this could not have been fulfilled if everything had been told me in a straight line. And now I shall come to the fifth charge:-I never said to any one that I should die in 1804; or that I was ever told I should: but perfect as the words were given me, I read them to all-"I do not tell thee, thou shalt live to see the end of the year 1804." But it was never said to me-thou shalt not see the end of 1804. And now I shall come to the particulars in 1792. The Visitation of the Lord had so deeply affected me, that I made my will, and thought I should die, I then was answered-"I will add to thy days fifteen years:" and have been told since, that those days should not be shortened, unless I began to pray for my death, as Hezekiah prayed for life. For the sake of my friends I wished to live till everything is made clear to them; but when I began to pray for my trance, at the ending of 1804, then I was answered-I knew not what I was praying for; for in praying for my trance, I prayed for my death, which stopped Me in an instant, as I did not wish to die, unless they had been filled with unbelief. But knowing it was said,-"I do not tell thee thou wilt live to see the end of the year," put me in jeopardy, not knowing what their faith would be; and had unbelief been in any of them, I should have wished for my death, and prayed for it; but their faith prevented me. Now of all the Charges that have been laid against me, no man can justify himself in any but the first, to have any grounds to bring forward a shadow of falsehood against me, or against the Spirit that directs me; but in the first, I grant a man that will study to make scruples and find fault, he might speak from the Sealing, as it was put out in such a manner, to say that believers, unbelievers, and children might be sealed to the end of 1803, and then to stop; of which they might scruple and say that the meaning of it must be to stop the whole, the believers as well as the unbelievers; for I confess I did not understand it myself, before it was explained. But in all the other charges are entirely false accusations, without any grounds for what they have said. If people will assert the lies of the public, they may assert ten thousand that people have affirmed they heard me say that never entered my head or heart. Therefore let no man assert what I say from hearsay, unless they can prove it in my writings; if they do, I shall publish them for liars, as I have Garrett; who hath published from hearsay, or from his own invention, the most notorious lies that ever could be thought of: for I may say he is filled with lying wonders without any foundation at all. Thus far I have answered for myself. The Answer of the Spirit:-"Now Joanna, I shall answer thee from the judgment thou hast drawn: four accusations thou sayest are entirely false, as there is no ground for any truth in them; but thou allowest of the first charge there is room for dispute. Now mark what I told thee of the first, and how I compared it with the Creation, and how I gave it up to man and allowed there was room for dispute, whether the woman was made for his good or hurt. This charge, like thee, I submitted to.-But now I shall come to the other charges, which thou sayest are four false accusations against thee; and I say the same: for who can prove the harvest good, unless they will prove it by the price? And this thou knowest they cannot do; then how can they prove that accusation true? So here is a charge false against thee: and by the truth thou hast proved all the others false the same, in the Warning to the World. I warn all men to read that book deeply; that meaneth, to look deeply into the book, and weigh it with thy life, with the year that is past;-what deep visitations-what sickness-what anguish of spirit-what agonies of heart thou suffered the year that is past! And know what is said in the 14th page, "Thy fears must come first, and the land must first boast; but thy fears shall vanish, and the land shall fear." Now let them mark deep, the events of the past year and the boasting of your land, and what thou wentest through while the mockery of men went on with their boasting as though they had nothing to fear. And now thou seest they are going on the same-mocking in the midst of every danger; without discerning how this year began-by heightening of your war, the loss of your ships, and a heavier burden coming upon the nation to support your war; besides the dearth of provisions, and your land being alarmed by the wise and learned, fearing the disorders of other nations may fall into yours. Now let all these fears, these types and shadows of the beginning, be deeply observed, and weighed with the Warning to the World, and they will soon observe every charge they have brought against thee is false; for know I told thee thy fears should vanish; but the fears of the nations should increase. So every charge they have brought against thee I shall turn back upon their heads. And now I tell thee, these are four charges that I have against mankind:-Know in the first place the charge that was given unto Noah, which they mocked, till they were destroyed by the deluge; and the same charge I have now against the world; they have heard of the destructions abroad; they see the burden rising upon their land at home; and yet the teachers of the people are hardening their flocks through unbelief, prophesying smooth things, and prophesying deceit; blinding their eyes that in seeing they may not see, and in hearing they may not understand.-This is a charge I have against the Shepherds of the land: they are deluding the people like the antediluvian world of old. Another charge is, that of Sodom and Gomorrah, when they charged Lot for a fool; and though they were struck with blindness when the angels came to visit Lot, yet they still hardened their hearts, till fire came down to destroy them. And the same charge I now bring against the Shepherds, for seeing the judgments that are past, and seeing what lies before them, hearing the threatenings pronounced, and yet they go on to harden their hearts, to turn the people out of the way, saying, let the Holy One of Israel cease from before us; we want not the knowledge of the Most High. So as the unbelief of the world of old brought their charges against Noah, till it fell back upon their own heads, and the same by Sodom and Gomorrah, that brought their charges against Lot, and all turned back upon their own heads-so these charges they have brought against thee I shall turn back upon their own heads; so these charges they have brought against thee I shall turn back upon the Shepherds' heads, when I demand the sheep at their hands. And now this charge do I give to the Shepherds to prove the truth of their words, by bringing peace and plenty into their land and feed the bowels of the starving poor; or my charges will come heavy against them; and my judgment must be great in the land, if they starve the poor in the midst of plenty: then now that plenty I charge them to show, and let the prices be like the former years; or let them know the curse pronounced against them for oppression to the poor. So if they affirm their words to be true, that there is plenty in your land, they must allow my judgments just to bring a curse upon the land: and they are pulling my judgments down. So if they bring charges against my word, and deny my judgments, I shall bring my charges against their cruelty: and let them know, he that showeth no mercy shall find judgment without mercy; so out of their own mouths they are condemned, and have brought the whole back on themselves. And now I shall come to the third charge, which is that of Nineveh: I charged Jonah to warn Nineveh, and Nineveh repented at the warning: and know what is said in my Gospel, Nineveh should rise up in judgment against this generation, and Nineveh repented without seeing the judgments in any manner fulfilled; but this generation is hardened in the midst of judgments surrounding them abroad and at home. They have heard the fate of other nations, how they have been cut off by the hand of death, swept away with the besom of destruction: the complaint of the famine and the plague in Spain, and the fatal destruction in your own port; yet for all these judgments the Shepherds are but hardening the sheep, telling them they have nothing to fear-but I tell them they have all to fear; for I ask them, in what are these nations worse than your own, if you will starve the poor in the midst of plenty: and know what I said in my Gospel of Dives and Lazarus: and have ye not made yourselves like Dives, by your cruelty to the poor? Out of your own mouths are ye condemned. So here are the charges brought against you. And now from my Gospel I shall proceed; think not that these Galileans were sinners above all Galileans, because they have suffered these things; I tell you, nay; but unless they repent, they shall all likewise perish: for if you declare your sins like Sodom, and hide them not, woe unto your souls! And now I tell thee, and tell all men, if the latter harvest with the three former have been blessed in your land, and your barns have been filled with increase, while you starve the poor by dearth, it is not the sins committed in your port, nor the sins committed by the Spaniards, are greater than the sins of your own land. Therefore the charges that are in my Gospel, what I said of Nineveh, Sodom and Gomorrah-what I said of Tyre and Sidon-what I said concerning the Galileans-are now charges against the Shepherds of England. So here is the third Charge from my Bible that was first brought against my prophets, and turned back upon their own heads. And now I shall come to the fourth charge, which the Jews brought against Me, and after my death, against my disciples, till they brought upon themselves their own destruction; their city destroyed, and themselves vagabonds, scattered through their unbelief. This is another charge that I shall turn back upon the Shepherds: that they do not see these things that befell the others as a caution to them, that they may not copy after and perish likewise. Now mark, these four charges were first brought against the people of God; that meaneth, those that were visited by My Word: Noah and Lot were first charged for fools, but the charge fell back on those that condemned them. But thou sayest in thy heart, the people of Nineveh did not condemn Jonah for a fool. No: I tell thee, there is a charge that stands in my Bible to condemn this generation; and mark this is the fourth charge, though it is mentioned the fifth, they have brought against thee. From these two charges, the fourth and fifth, the fourth are the words turned, the clergy being compelled, instead of thy compelling them: and the last charge is saying for a certainty what was said upon uncertainty; "for had the unbelievers been present, thy life must have ended;" therefore like Nineveh, it stood on conditions, and on conditions now stands the whole-

"For every charge is brought on thee-

These Four Charges let them see,

There is no Truth in either one;

And so to Noah they must come.-

They brought their charges then the same

Until my anger they'd inflamed,

I say, for to destroy the whole-

See how the charges back did fall!

And know to Lot 'twas just the same

The charges first against him came,

Until the fire came from on high,

Burnt up the flames that in them lay,

But the Third Charge must come from me,

The way I warned from Nineveh,

How they in judgment should appear

Against the generation here.

Now mark the charge how it is come,

Thou knowest the words are turned by man;

Because compelled thou knowest I say,

The Shepherds they would come this way

For to compel thee to appear

Before that I have ended here.

But now the words are turned by man;

Should I compel the Shepherds' hands?

That's not according to your law;

And to my Gospel none will go

To do the things that I command:

Then in compulsion can I stand

To say that I'll compel a man

For to act right, that's acting wrong?

No; this compulsion's not in me:

If so, mankind is never free

To say he acts by love or will,

If he doth act as I compel,

Without a choice that's of his own!

Then from compulsion 'tmust be known.

I might as well compel your land,

In my command they all should stand,

As to compel my Shepherds here,

They in my Gospel must appear

And do the things that I command,

As faithful Shepherds make them stand.

No; this compulsion's not in me;

If it were so you all might say,

Why do I not compel the whole

That by My Power none might fall?

But here compulsion I shall end,

As I ne'er said, nor e'er intend

To bring compulsion unto men,

To say the trial they should stand.

No; 'tis by Love I do invite,

And those that won't my offers slight,

I make them workers here with Me;

But know my labourers must be Free,

For to be labourers with the LORD;

My chosen men with one accord

Have acted according to my word.-

Now mark thy death, how he alludes,

To say, I told thee thou should'st die.

Thou hast penned the word that I did say,

And from that word I'll now appear:

How I could e'er alarm thy fears,

Or cause that feeling in thy breast,

Or couldst thou fear of being cast

If I'd assur�d thee before,

Thou'dst live to see the fifteenth year,

Before thy life I'd take away?

Thy faith would keep thee till that day,

No death would come to thee before,

And by thy faith thou could'st not fear;

Then how my words could they be true?

Weigh every one before thy view-

I said thy fears they would alarm,

As from the letter all discern;

And as the shadow came at first,

They see the substance came at last.

Let Hirst and Turner call to mind

How thou didst begin to fear:

Before the letter he did find,

I placed the shadow there;

And now the same I say to man,

When they did all appear,

They saw what trembling in thee came

Before I raised thee there;

And thou didst fear what would appear,

Thy heart to all unseen

Was known to Me, concealed from they

What sunk thee in despair.

The trance, like them, thou wished to see,

Which made thee ask in prayer;

Then came my word that's on record

If thou goest on in prayer

To have thy trance that time be known;

Thy life ends with the year.

I told thee so, thou well did'st know,

If I thy trance brought on,

Thou would'st not see the following year,

Thy death would soon be known.

So here confusion filled thy breast,

That was from all concealed.

Thou knowest if man did with thee jest

The whole must be revealed.

What I do mean, I'll now explain:

Had they to jesting come,

To say we'll speak in unbelief

To have the trance be known:

Then all would see the end of thee,

As I did say before,

And this within is known to thee,

Thou didst go in faith and fear:

Confused within thy mind was seen,

And not concealed from Me,

To hear the answer of thy friend-

The type was strong in thee

That at the first for thee I placed,

And so the end did come:

I know what joy soon filled thy breast,

To see their every hand

Uplifted there that did appear

Thy sorrows to dismiss.

And now the mysteries you see clear,

How both alike did burst;

But I had said to thee before

That all would happen so;

My other words could not appear,

To prove that they were true;

Nor could thy friends so feared the end,

Had I not said before,

That they might mourn if thou art gone,

To see the famine near.

So now discern how I do warn,

To stop presumptuous men,

That they may fear the every storm,

And let their reason come;

So reason here may strange appear,

If men would but discern

The Prophecies of the last year,

What shadows to thee came;

For on thee first I said should burst

The deadly wound to feel,

Ere on your nation it was cast,

That I should never heal

The grief in them, when it did come,

If they still mocked my word.

Now from thy sickness must be known

What grief on thee was laid;

Sickness and sorrow and distress

Did in thee strong appear,

And every anguish in thy breast,

Thou surely felt last year.

Call all to mind what thou didst find

To wound thy heart within,

And every fever in thy mind

Unto thy friends was seen.

There's not a shadow come to thee

But what your land may fear,

Will come in substance unto them

That mock my calling here.

My Spirit strong now think upon,

That sometimes thou didst feel,

What anguish there did then appear!

What wounds that none could heal

Appeared in thee, they all did see-

Then now the whole discern;

I ask your nation how they'll flee,

If all on them I turn?

Now weigh the whole: see how't must fall,

I said it should turn from thee.

Then now weigh deep this every call,

And mark what I did say;

If on the land I turned my hand,

I said it should heavier grow;

So now the whole you may command

The way to fear the blow;

Because from thee they all may see

What shadows came at first;

And mark the words were said before-

On thee it first must burst.

So I'll end here, and say no more;

But let them now look deep;

If on the land the substance come,

Can they preserve their sheep,

As I did thee, from misery?

Now let men try their skill,

What strong physicians they will be,

The wounds of all to heal."

See part of the Earl of Romney's Speech, Friday, March 8, 1805, in answer to a speech of Earl Stanhope, about the dearness of Corn.

"There was one part of the Speech of the Noble Lord who spoke last, that was most extraordinary indeed; he said that House had just dared to put arms into the hands of the people, and then, afterwards had dared to attempt their starvation. Good God! what had they done? When he heard the words his hair stood on end! The noble Earl imputes that to their Lordships, which was altogether the act of Providence, viz., a bad crop, the effects of which he knew and lamented as much as any one. Their Lordships could not control the seasons nor make the corn grow in spite of their opposition; had we obtained a fair crop, he was certain there would have been no occasion for discontent-that under the guidance of Providence, was the sole cause of high prices which had taken place in the necessaries of life, and it was not fair to impute them to any act of the Legislature." See the newspaper called "The British Press," March 9, 1805.

When Mr. Pitt was told in the House of Commons, after the late harvest of 1804 had begun, that the rise of bread was occasioned by his Bill; he, to shelter himself from this reproach, shifted the blame to Providence, which was too fatally confirmed by the monthly report of the Society of Agriculture, that the rust and mildew had hurt the then harvest: the truth was spoken even by Mr. Pitt, and it suited his convenience.--Are these things true, or not, ye wise men and infidels?

March, 1805.