This was delivered to his hands at
Hampton Court, in the Fourth Month,
1658.
I never understood that any thing of moment followed upon this; but
about two months after he wrote another letter to Cromwell, which was
delivered to him at Hampton Court, in the sixth month.
_To the Protector._
‘FRIEND,
‘Know that there is a God that doth whatsoever he will. All power
is in his hand, and he bringeth to pass the counsel of his own
heart, and he ruleth in the kingdoms of men, and bringeth down
and setteth up: he killeth and maketh alive; and he changeth
times, and seasons, and governments, and bringeth to nought the
counsels of men; for all power in earth and in heaven is in him,
and all his doings are right, and his ways are equal, and thou
and all mankind are as clay in the hand of the potter: he can
honour and exalt as he pleaseth, and he can mar, and break to
pieces, and dishonour whensoever he will; wherefore be humble,
and low in heart before him, for he is the highest power, that
subdueth all things under his feet. If he would, who can heal?
And if he kill, there is none can make alive; and know thou, it
is the Lord God Almighty that doth this, in whose hands are the
issues of life and death; and he it is who can break thee down,
and build thee up; who can wound thee, and restore thee; and
bring thee to destruction, and say unto thee, return; and to know
him that doth this, belongs to thy eternal peace, &c.
‘Be thou faithful in what the Lord calleth thee to, and thou
shalt have thy reward; and seek his honour, and he will honour
thee; and let thy mind be to the Lord in all things, and feel his
word and power, and presence in thee, to quench all that which is
contrary, and then thou wilt be blessed in this life, and in the
life to come; but if thou continuest in thy oppression, the Lord
will suddenly smite thee.
By a friend unto thee in the Lord,
E. B.’
That the Lord, according to this prediction did suddenly smite
Cromwell, time verified; for he lived but about a month after the
receipt of the said letter. And that E. Burrough tenderly loved him,
appears to me from several circumstances: and the ardent desire he had
for his eternal welfare, occasioned this plain language to him.
G. Fox also wrote to him, that it was not improbable, that because of
his wickedness, the Lord might once raise the royalists against him,
to be instruments of executing his wrath; as once Cromwell himself had
been an instrument to their overthrow. And a very short time before
his death, G. Fox went to Hampton Court, to speak with him about the
sufferings of his friends. With this intention, he met him riding
into Hampton Court park, and before he came to him, (according to his
relation,) he perceived a waft of death go forth against him; and
coming to him, he looked like a dead man. So after G. Fox had laid
the sufferings of his friends before him, and had warned him, Oliver
bid him come to his house; whereupon G. Fox went to Kingston, and the
next day came to Hampton Court again; but there he understood that the
protector was sick; and Dr. Harvey told, that the doctors were not
willing that he should speak with the protector. So he passed away,
and never saw Oliver Cromwell any more: who, since the death of his
daughter, the lady Claypole, had been distempered, and troubled with a
malignant humour in his foot; which, when his physicians endeavoured
to disperse, they drove upward, (as was said,) to his heart: and
being seized with a violent fever, he grew weaker and weaker; yet
his preachers endeavoured to conceal the danger he was in: and it is
reported that Dr. Goodwin, one of his chaplains, in a prayer during
the time of his sickness, made use of this expression, ‘Lord, we beg
not for his recovery, for that thou hast already granted, and assured
us of; but for his speedy recovery.’ Whilst the protector was sick, E.
Burrough wrote the following letter to his wife and children, &c.
‘_Friends_,
‘Remember, that by the Lord you were raised from a low state, and
when he will he can abase you, and bring you down; he gave you
the palace of princes, and threw out them before you.
‘O, remember this, every one of you, and come to the witness
of God in you, and be humble, and meek, and lowly, and let
the Lord’s fear be in your hearts; and be of a tender spirit,
having your minds exercised in purity, in holiness, and in
righteousness; and exalt not yourselves, nor be lifted up in your
hearts in the pride and vain glories, and honours of this world,
lest the Lord cast you down, and make your name and posterity a
reproach, as he hath done many before you; and if you walk in the
same steps, and do the same things, and become guilty of the same
abominations, and suffer the children and servants of the Lord to
be persecuted, (as many are at this day, some unto death,) shall
the Lord spare you? Nay, he will cause you to feel his hand of
judgment, and bring you down with sorrow, and he will vex you in
his wrath, and smite you with his rod more and more, till you
learn his fear, and depart from all your iniquities; and the Lord
will deface your glory, and pull down your crown; and he will
make you know, that he is Lord, that doth whatsoever he will.
‘Wherefore humble yourselves under the hand of God, and search
your own hearts, and cast out the abominations that vex the
Spirit of the Lord; and suffer not the people of the Lord’s
precious flock to be devoured, and made a prey to the wicked;
for because of this the rod of affliction cometh upon you, and
may suddenly break you to pieces; but mind the seed of God in
you, which is oppressed, and wait to know the power of the Lord,
which will redeem you out of sin and death, and reconcile you
to God, and bring you into fellowship with himself, to enjoy
peace and rest for your souls, that you may be made heirs of
the inheritance of an endless life: and this would make you
truly honourable, and will be more satisfaction to you, and joy,
and content, and true rejoicing, than all worldly crowns, and
worldly glories: which will waste and consume away, and leave
you miserable. And remember that you are now warned from the
Lord God, by whom I am moved to write this unto you, in dear and
tender love to you all; and one day you shall witness it.
‘And as concerning the Quakers, so called, who are accounted as
vile in the sight of men, and are cast out of all power and place
in the nation, being despised of all; and also are reproached,
persecuted, and imprisoned, and all manner of evil and injustice
unrighteously done and spoken against them, by wicked and corrupt
men in authority; yet are they the children and servants of the
living God, and greatly beloved of him, and are as dear to him
as the apple of his eye, and his power and presence is with
them; and the time is at hand that the Lord will make their
persecutors fall, and their enemies bow and tremble, though now
they suffer unjustly, and are trodden down, as not deserving a
place on the earth; yet it is for righteousness sake, and because
they show forth the image of the Father, and not for evil doing:
and will not their sufferings lie upon you? For many hundreds
have suffered cruel and great things, and some the loss of life,
though not by, yet in the name of, the protector; and about an
hundred at this present day, lie in holes, and dungeons, and
prisons, up and down the nation; and some at this time are sick,
nigh unto death, whose sufferings cry for vengeance, and the Lord
heareth the cry. Wherefore save yourselves, and let the innocent
be delivered, and the cruel bonds of oppression broken, and the
exercise of a pure conscience go free, without persecution; and
then the Lord will turn away his anger, and cease to smite you
with his rod, which hath been upon you: and he will give you
peace, and make you blessed, if you come to be led by his Spirit
into all Truth.
‘And though these innocent lambs of Christ suffer thus under
this present power, yet are they not enemies to you, but are
friends to your persons and families, and pity you, and love you,
and desire well for you in the Lord; that you may repent and
be healed, and even that your hearts may be opened to receive
refreshments to your souls; and that you may be established in
righteousness and truth over all your enemies, and may not be
confounded, nor your posterity brought into reproach, which is
hastening unto you: and though our love be despised, and we
accounted hateful in your sight, and looked upon with derision,
yet we bear all things in patience, truly desiring your returning
and repentance, and not your destruction. But if these doleful
sufferings of the Lord’s poor lambs be continued by this present
power, it will destroy you, and undo you, and break you, and
confound you; and the Lord will not cease to smite you with his
rod of sharp rebukes; and he will make you know his people’s
cause shall not be unpunished. Oh, did you but know how hundreds
have and do suffer! How the bodies of some have been tortured by
stocks and cruel whippings! And how some lie sick in stinking
holes and dungeons, on the ground, or a little straw at best;
ten, or often more, in a prison together, and sometimes their
own friends not suffered to come to visit them with necessaries!
Oh, did but your eyes behold, or your hearts perceive, the
greatness of the cruelty which some of the Lord’s dear servants,
and your faithful friends, undergo, it would make your hearts
ache, and your spirits to tremble! And all this is done in
the name and under the authority of--Protector; therefore how
should the Lord but lay it to your charge, and afflict him and
his family? He will make you know there is a God that can do
whatsoever he will, and that life and death are in his hands,
and all creatures are as clay in the hand of the potter; and he
rules in the kingdoms of men, and putteth down one, and setteth
up another, according to his pleasure: but if the love of God be
withholden from you, it is because of disobedience to him, and
your transgression. Wherefore be obedient to him, and love his
ways and judgments, that he may make you more happy with a crown
immortal, that never fades away. And remember once more the Lord
hath warned you, by a friend unto you in the Lord.