TO M. S.

DEAR M. S.,

It is in my heart at this time to write to thee, not in the will, wisdom, and affections of a man, but in the tender love and melting bowels which are of God; beseeching thee to take heed of that wisdom which (under subtilty and disguise) leads from the nature, spirit, and power of truth; raising up another thing in the heart for the witness and truth of God, with which it bewitches the mind, and then wipes its lips and saith, It has done no harm; but others are guilty, and my spirit and ways are innocent in the sight of the Lord, and I feel his justification and clearness before him therein.

O! M.S. if thou be'st entangled by that deceitful wisdom, if another thing get up in thee which is not of the truth (of the true innocency and simplicity, whatever it appears to thee), then thou canst not hear the voice of the prophet, which thou once heardst, nor stand to the testimony which it gave thee to bear; but wilt warp and decline from (in the subtilty and specious pretences) what thou tookest up in the uprightness and simplicity of truth; and, not hearing the voice of that prophet, thou wilt err more and more, and grow strong, wise, and hard in thy error, even till at length the Lord be provoked to cut thee off by his spirit and power from among his people.

3d of the 8th Month, 1667