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RESPECTING this letter the counsels of the heart have been made manifest to me; for God hath revealed, by the Spirit, that the judgment, which Mr. P. drew from it, hath caused all the discord between him and me.

"The Spirit searcheth all thing; yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man, which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God." 1 Cor. ii. 10. iv. 5.

"The counsel of the heart is now made manifest to me, in what manner he judged the letter, which caused his anger and indignation, and which I was quite ignorant of; as I

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W. MARCHANT, Printer,
Ingram Court, London,

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viewed the letter in a very different light; and, therefore, as Solomon saith," all the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes, but the Lord weigbeth the spirits:" and, from this revelation, it is accounted to me why Mr. P.'s conduct appeared clean in his own eyes, which I have been at a loss to account for. And both have been blamed from the letters which passed between us, and which stand in print; but now I cannot see how men of wisdom can blame either; for, as I had never such a thought concerning the letter, as I am answered he had, that it alluded to a marriage with any man; but that it only meant threatenings if he did not faithfully search out the truth, and that the promises of God were great to him in spiritual blessings, if he acted faithfully, to search out the truth; and, as he acted faithfully till the writings went out in the world; then I judged that he had done what was required of him; but when he fell back through unbelief, and refused to give up the letters which I had put in his hands, saying he had burnt them; this kindled anger in me; in the first place, to think that he had led me on for six years, assuring me that my writings were not from the devil, and laughed at those who said they were. Thus, by his judgments, I was strengthened to go on; being answered that his judgment should be right; and thus I was led on, till my writings were out in the world, and my name was publicly spread abroad, as being visited from the Lord by prophecy, from the events that had taken place, and what was hastening on; and as to which I put myself to great expenses in publishing six thousand pamphlets, and other expenses attending it. Now, after my name was thus gone abroad, for Mr. P. to change from his former judgment, to turn it another way, and disgrace my character, by

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saying it was from the devil, and refused to give up the prophecies which I had put in his hands, that proved the truth had followed; this kindled my anger, and I judged that he had acted deceitfully with me, which he assigned no cause for, only to prevent the mockery of the world, that mocked him for judging that the prophecies were from the Lord, and which I thought would have been to his credit, to have pointed out the truths of those events that had taken place, put in his hands, which caused him to draw the judgment he did, and to have said that the future events he must leave to time, and be a silent spectator of what was hastening on; as he saw, from the gentlemen who came to Exeter, that there were others who drew the same judgment as he had done. In this manner I judged he might have cleared himself of the mockery of the world, without doing me so great an injury, by joining with my enemies, who rose up in malice against me; but, as to the letter put in his bands in 1797, which will be brought forward in this book, he never mentioned it to me, that he drew any judgment thereon, neither was it revealed to me from whence his anger arose, any further than men and devils working upon his heart to see things in a wrong light. In 1804, when I was at Bristol, I was ordered to point out the events I had put in his hands, and require an answer from him; but, instead of giving any answer to me, he sent a letter to my friends to set them against me, if he could have done it, and refused to give any answer to the inquiries of my friends, who were then ordered to write to him; but he treated all with scorn and contempt. This conduct in him, both myself and my friends were at a loss to account for; yet I was still or

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dered to contend with him, to make him acknowledge the truth, if possible; but all to no purpose. Nevertheless, from a Communication given to me last year, that he would be convinced of his errors in the end, which I was ordered to send to the Bishops; this made me draw my judgment that he might be hastily convinced; and therefore I sent to him again, as I was directed, but finding all to no purpose, it threw a jealousy in my mind and heart, why I should be directed to contend with a man in this manner, while all appeared as a dead letter and lost labour. To my ponderings I was answered, that what kindled his anger so much against me, from the letter of 1797, which he drew his judgment from, was that he must become the Bridegroom mentioned in that letter, or the threatenings contained therein stood against him, if he refused. At this I was shocked and surprised, to think that he should draw such judgment from it; but I could no ways blame his anger and indignation, if these were his thoughts upon the letter. This might well kindle his anger against me, and which I do not marvel at, looking upon my situation at the time, and his situation, as a gentleman having a family growing up, that he must disgrace himself and family, by taking one into his house, who was his inferior, mocked and despised by all. Therefore, instead of wondering at his anger, if this was the judgment he drew from the letter, I should sooner justify his anger than condemn it. For I should have dreaded such a thing as much as he could, if I had judged the letter that way; and should have thought I might as well put my head into the fire, as to have entered into his family, which I must expect would hate and despise me. Had I ever drawn such judgment from the letter, I

should never have had courage to have gone to his house after the decease of Mrs. P. neither should I ever have troubled him afterwards with angry letters; because it would be putting upon me more than I could have borne, to follow the directions that were given me, if I had known his mind and thoughts on that letter, which is now revealed to me was the cause of his anger. And therefore I was ordered to send him in a letter, last winter, that the Lord would take the stumbling block out of his way; and now I am answered, that I was the stumbling-block to him, as he judged the letter in a way it was never meant; that he might well say my writings were Dot consistent with a benevolent and merciful God, if the thought that the Lord threatened judgments against a man, if he did not enter into a union against his own will. This was never the design or the decrees of the Most High, to threaten judgments that way all that was required of him was, to act faithfully to his trust, and bear testimony of the truth that was put in his hands. When this was revealed to me of the wrong judgment which, he had drawn, I was ordered to have some of my friends to see the letter, and pass their judgment on it; and to let them know that what was revealed to me was Mr. P's judgment. They said, if he drew that judgment, it wholly accounted for his conduct after wards, and would clear him to the world; as no one could: possibly blame him in such a case. But as Mr. P. refused to give any answer to letters sent to him, I was ordered to send a friend to Bodmin to have a personal interview with him, to know the truth of what had been revealed to me, whether that was his judgment on the letter or not; and to convince him that nothing further was required of him in that communication, than

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