are the threatenings pronounced to me against mankind, as they so readily copied after the woman, in eating the forbidden fruit, when the Lord commanded that man should not; and now that the Lord hath commanded them to try the Spirit, whether it be of God, or not, they refuse to obey; and are not God's threatenings just? and will not his punishments be severe, if man will run contrary to all his commandments? I may say unto you, as Naaman's servant said unto him-" If the Lord had commanded him to do some great thing, would he not have done it?" And would you, Sir, not do a greater thing thau is required of you, if you could stay the judgments that are already begun, sooner than run the hazard of having them come heavier over the land? Which I was told, on the Fast day, no prayers should stay the judgments of the Lord from coming heavier upon us, till the writings were proved. But I know you will be ready to say, you cannot prove them by yourself; and you may argue, hath the Lord chosen ministers that will not obey his call? I answer-"the Lord hath called, and no man answered; he hath stretched out his hand to a disobedient and gainsaying people Israel do not know, my people do not consider, who it is that calleth, saith the Lord." ·

But you said, Sir, I remember, in your pulpit, that there were fifty righteous men in the Land; now you are at liberty to gain ten of them, or five; and I will gain the other; and let the truth be tried. If you cannot, then say no more that there are fifty righteous men, if you cannot gain five to come forward in so deep and weighty an affair. For I now say unto you, as I did in a letter a few weeks ago to the Rev. Mr. Tucker, I now speak boldly, and affirm, if I do not write by the Spirit of God; no man ever did, since earth's foundation was placed: the same Spirit

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that inspired them to write the Bible, in the beginning, hath inspired me to fulfil it, in these last days, beyond the reach of human learning: I am lost in wonder, how it is possible that ministers are silent to such letters as I have sent them. In my letter to the Rev. Mr. Tucker I called them fools and slow of heart, to judge that a woman had done all this of herself, and they not put her to silence; yet no man asketh me by what authority I do these things; if they did, I am ready

I must entreat your answer by the bearer, a woman whose honour you may depend upon, and will faithfully speak the truth of what you should think proper to send, whether you judge it prudent to run the hazard of another harvest; if so, great I fear will be the murmuring in our land. I am, with the greatest respect,

Your humble servant,

JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. The answer that Mr. Pomeroy returned to this letter was, that my senses were deranged, and that I wrote blasphemy.

To Mr. Pomeroy's answer I sent the following Letter, March 25th, 1800.

Rev. Sir,

I am sorry to be so troublesome to your honour, as I own I have been; and were there a possibility of my believing there is a God that can deal with his creatures as you think, I may be deceived in whom I have believed, and judge my writings; as Sir Egerton Lee did, from the powers of darkness. But as you say men have refused to be my judges in so deep and weighty affair, I must beg the liberty to judge for my

self.

You say, Sir, that my senses are deranged, or I should never keep on writing so. To this I an

swer-were Noah's senses deranged in warning the antediluvian world of their destruction, so many years before it came, and build the ark while they judged him an old fool for doing it? I may write of the long contentions of all the prophets; and how they were judged, and what befel their judges; but all this you know already.

I must now come to the purpose; you told Mrs. Boucher that I wrote blasphemy. I must entreat the favour, Sir, that you will be so kind as to tell her wherein I wrote blasphemy; and I am ready to answer for myself.-Yet I own it is generous and kind in you to say it, if you thought so; but my soul shudders at the thought, and much more of the act. I must beg to answer for myself, that there is not one, I believe, upon earth, who hath higher thoughts of the Holy Trinity than I have; and before I can judge them as low as I find mankind do, I must firmly believe the Bible is as strong enthusiasm as men judge my writings. Do mankind judge the Lord another such as theirselves? If so, they may judge me a good, mistaken woman, that have spent my time in fasting and prayers, to know the will of the Lord and obey it-and hath the Lord heard my prayers in silence, as the ministers receive my letters, and, when they broke silence, returned their answers in anger? But can I judge my Maker so? God forbid: the Lord judge between man and me.

I require no favour of any man, but to tell me faithfully, as ministers of the Lord, what Spirit they thought hath so powerfully visited me, for eight years past. This petition they refuse: but their words, like swords, go through my soul; and I may say, with the prophet of old, "My heart is broken, and all my bones shake." I own, the ill treatment I have met with from men, is enough to make me deranged in my senses: and did I think I should receive such from the Lord,

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I should say with Job, "Oh that my days were to an end!" and with the prophet of old, "Cursed be the day wherein I was born!" But I still hope to meet with a wiser judge than man; one that is clear when he judgeth, that he may be just if he condemneth.

I return you thanks, Sir, for all the trouble you have taken on my account. I do not condemn the innocent with the guilty. I must own, you have acted, in every principle, as a minister who wishes to give just and true judgment, to prove the spirit, and try it. You have owned you were ready; and had other ministers done the same, my sorrows would have been at an end; but now I fear they will continue till I go down to the cold chambers of the grave, which my soul longs for, in hopes of meeting a better and a juster judge than man.

I am not ignorant of what I am doing; I do not marvel at the times, that our land is so bowed down with sorrow and distress on every side, seeing the unfeeling hearts of the ministers, to know there must be some cause, unknown to them, that hath laid so heavy a burthen on the land, and upon my mind and heart; and they will not give theirselves one hour's time nor trouble, to search out the cause and free the load that lies so heavy on my spirits. I may say with David, "Lord what is man, that thou regardest him! Could I be clear that my writings were not from God, I would never take my pen in hand to write more on that subject; and what I have already written I would commit to the flames. But my soul trembleth at the severe threatenings against myself, if I am disobedient to the heavenly calling: I must sin against light and knowledge.

I must conclude with saying, that I do not wish you, Sir, to trouble ministers any more on my acCount; I find I must bear my own burthen, till

the Lord is pleased to take the cause in his own hand, and undertake for me.

I must beg the favour of you, Sir, to send by the bearer, wherein you judge I have written blasphemy; for the Lord is my judge, at whose judgment-seat I wish to appear, sooner than the judgment-seat of men: for I see, man is but man; but the judge of all the earth will judge right; so I wish to fall into the hands of God, for great are his mercies; but let me not fall into the hands of men, in whom I find no mercy, justice, nor equity; but unjust judgment, judging as blind men do of colours-but what they know not now, they will know hereafter.

I remain. with the greatest respect,

Your humble servant,

JOANNA SOUTHCOTT.

When I had ended the above letter, I was thus answered by the Spirit:

"Now thou hast ended thy letter, be thou comforted; I will not leave thee comfortless. I said his answer would determine the harvest, and perfectly so shall it come, as I shall shew thee in the night. Thou hast appealed to the judge of quick and dead; as man hath refused to judge for thee, thou must be a judge for thyself. This harvest is to determine thy judgment, that I am not a man to hear in silence, neither will I return thy petitions in anger. This harvest shall come perfectly like thy dream: the floor shall be scanty, that shall break down the hearts of men, if thy writings are not proved before the time. If they are, I will fill your barns with increase. It is not for thee to know whether they will or not."

The writings were not proved before the harvest; and it followed bad, as it was threatened; and was burnt up by the sun according to the threatenings; and when the writings went out the following year, then the three good harvests followed as promised.