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Now all they that are intruding into things they have not seen, puffed up with a fleshly mind, and do not hold Christ their head, but have set up other heads, have broken into sects, schisms, and divisions one against another: this is clearly seen now, as it was in the apostles' days. G. F.

The 2d month, 1688.

The speech or declaration of Sultan Mahomet, the Great Turk, which he sent to the emperor of Germany, dated March 25th, 1683, from Adrianople, just after the Baron Saphonara, the Emperor's Ambassador, had his last audience of the Prince Vizier, wherein the said Ambassador could not comply with the extravagant demands of the Turk; which caused the said Grand Seignior to transmit the same to his Imperial Majesty: which is faithfully translated out of High Dutch.

MAHOMET the Fourth, son of emperors, and of the famous and renowned God; emperor of the Turks, king of Greece, Macedonia, Moldavia, Samaria, and Hegha; king of great and lesser Egypt; king of all the inhabitants of the earth, and prince of the earthly paradise; acknowledged prince and obedient son of Mahomet; preserver of the cities of Hungaria; possessor of the sepulchre of your God; lord of all the emperors of the world, from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof: king of all kings, lord of the tree of life, conqueror of the Malonian Hegley, and the city Prokenix; the great persecutor of the Christians, and all wicked people; joy of the flourishing world, commander and guardian of your crucified God, lord of the multitude of the heathens. We command ye to greet the emperor Leopold, in case he desire it; and you are a friend to our majesty, whose power and will we have extended very far.

You have for some time past acted to our prejudice, and violated our friendship; though we have not offended you either by war or otherwise; yet you have taken secret advice with other kings, and your councils, how to shake off your yoke; in which you have proceeded very indiscreetly; and thereby you have exposed your people to fear and danger, who have nothing to expect now but death, which you have brought upon yourselves: for I declare I will make myself your master, and pursue you from the east to the west, and extend my majesty to the end of the earth. In the procedure of all which, you shall find my power exerted to your extreme prejudice, and shall feel the dreadful effects of my wrath. And since you have put your hope in the strength of some towns and castles, I have given command to overthrow

them, and trample under my horses' feet all that is delightful to you, leaving no room hereafter to make friendship with me, or suffer you any fortified place to remain to put your trust in; for I have resolved forthwith to destroy you and your people, and to depose you of the German empire, after my will, leaving in the empire a remembrance of my dreadful sword, that it may publicly appear that I will establish my religion therein, and pursue your crucified God, whose wrath I fear not, nor his coming to defend, or deliver you out of my hands; but will condemn your sacred priests to the plough, and suffer the breasts of your wives to be sucked by dogs and beasts. You will do well to forsake your religion, otherwise I will give order to consume you with fire. This is enough to let you understand my will, if you will be so wise as to know it.

An answer to the speech or declaration of the great Turk, &c. By G. F.

SULTAN MAHOMET,

I FIND in a paper, which is said to be thy declaration, directed to Leopold, the German emperor, dated the 25th of March, 1683, viz. First, thou sayst thou art a 'possessor of the sepulchre of your God,' to wit, the christians. And that thou art a great persecutor of the christians.

Secondly, thou sayst thou art lord of all the emperors of the world, from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof.

Thirdly, thou sayst thou art king of all kings, and lord of the tree of life.

Fourthly, thou sayst thou art commander and guardian of your crucified God, (to wit, the christians,) and thou sayst, thou wilt 'pursue your crucified God, whose wrath I fear not, nor his coming to defend or deliver you out of my hands.'

Now, here is something in answer to the words of sultan Mahomet, the emperor of the Turks, saying, he is a great persecutor of the christians; but let him take heed, for the great God that made him, and heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things therein, who is Lord, Creator, and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and beholds all his words, ways, thoughts, and actions, and all men's and women's upon the earth; neither is there any creature that is not manifest in God's sight, but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him, with whom we have to do, who are the true christians, in scorn called Quakers, who do fear, serve, and worship the great God that

made us, who is a consuming fire to the wicked. And wheresoever men do turn themselves, there the face of God will meet them; his divinity extends through the whole world. Therefore you are to fear his divine majesty, as you do confess in your Alcoran; for the great God, the creator of all, doth know all in the heavens, and in the earth, both what is done in secret, and openly, and all is naked before him, who will reward every man, and woman, according to their words and works, whether they be good or evil, for God is a consuming fire to the wicked; and who shall dwell with everlasting burning, but the just and holy?

And, Mahomet saith in his Alcoran, chap. iii. page 34, that Jesus said, Who shall sustain the law of God in my absence? And the apostles answered him, we will sustain the law of God in thy absence;' and that 'Jesus shall be a witness in the day of judgment against such that obey not his law,' &c.

Now see how you Turks do obey the law or command of Jesus, for Jesus saith, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you, that you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.'

Now if the christians were the Turks' enemies, according to the command and law of Jesus the Turks are to love and bless them that curse them, and do good to them that hate them, and pray for them that despitefully use them and persecute them; so then the Turks are not to be persecutors, if they do obey the command of the Lord Jesus Christ, and if they be the children of God the Father which is in hea

ven.

But the emperor of the Turks saith, he is a great persecutor of the christians; and you say in your Alcoran, that Jesus shall be a witness in the day of judgment against such that obey not his law?' Are not your own words in your Alcoran, (and the Lord Jesus, and the apostles of Jesus, who should sustain the law of God in Jesus' absence,) witness against you, who are haters and persecutors, instead of loving enemies, according to the command or law of Jesus? And therefore as Mahomet saith, Jesus shall be a witness in the day of judgment against such as obey not his law.' So according to your own Alcoran, you Turks, and all others that are persecutors, who disobey the law of Jesus, he will be a witness against you in the day of judgment; yea, I say, against you Turks, and all other persecutors upon the earth.

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Secondly. Sultan Mahomet, emperor of the Turks, saith, he is lord of all the emperors of the world, from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof, king of all kings, and lord of the tree of life. But are there not many kingdoms and kings in this northern part of the world,

and many emperors and heathen kings in America, and also in the East Indies? Hath not the Great Mogul many kingdoms under him? Besides Prestor John, (commonly so called,) hath not he many kingdoms under him? And doth not the emperor of the Turks know, that these kingdoms and empires he is neither king nor emperor over? Yet he saith, he is emperor over all the earth, from the rising of the sun, to the going down thereof! Which world he knows is but his own country, and from the rising of the sun in it, to the setting of the sun in it; for the sun riseth and sets in America, and the East Indies, and all other parts of the world where he hath no rule nor power; and how long he may have rule and power, and be emperor in his own country God knows. And therefore it is best for the emperor of the Turks to be humble, and not conceit himself with an high and ambitious mind, that he is king of kings, and emperor of the world where he is not, and where God hath given him no power, lest the Almighty God do abase him, and take away his power which he hath given him. For Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar the emperor, that he should eat grass like an ox, &c. till he knew that the Most High God ruleth in the kingdoms of men, and giveth them to whomsoever he will; and his kingdom should be sure to him after that he knew that the Most High did rule.' And therefore the unchangeable God, man must fear; for heaven is his throne, and the earth is his footstool, that earth that the Turks and all men stand and walk upon. And so from the face of the eternal God and his footstool, cannot the Turk, nor any other man or woman turn themselves, but there the face of God will meet them, for God's divinity extends throughout all the earth; who inhabits eternity, and dwells with an humble heart; who beholds the proud and lofty afar off, and brings down the high looks, and abaseth the pride of men.

Thirdly. And again, Sultan Mahomet, emperor of the Turks, thou sayst, thou art lord of the tree of life. But the Turkish emperor must know he is not lord of the tree of life, which beareth twelve manner of fruits, and yieldeth her fruits every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. We do not believe that the empe ror of the Turks hath any such natural tree in all his land or garden, that yieldeth twelve manner of fruits every month, the leaves of which are for the healing of nations. This tree of life the Turks have no power over; and John the apostle of Christ, that kept the law or command of Jesus, Jesus spake to him and said, 'Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, that they may enter through the gates of the city,' namely, heavenly and holy Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from God, which is not outward Jerusalem in the land of Canaan; as in the Revelations of John the 21st, and 22d chap. And Christ said to John his apostle, 'He that over

cometh, I will give him to eat of the tree of life;' namely, he that overcomes the devil, sin, and unrighteousness, whose name is written in the book of life, hath right to eat of the tree of life. But if the emperor of the Turks doth not overcome, with the spirit of God and his power, the devil and his works, sin and unrighteousness, &c. he cannot eat of the tree of life; therefore he is not like to lord, and to have power over this tree of life, which he cannot eat of, except with the power and spirit of God he overcome the devil and his works.

And concerning the pure religion and the false, James who was one of the apostles of Christ Jesus saith, ' If any man seems to be religious, and bridles not his tongue, but deceives his own heart, that man's religion is in vain.' Therefore, what religion soever the emperor of the Turks set up or profess, or any man or woman else in the whole world, and bridle not their tongues with God's power and spirit, according to the law or command of Jesus which he gave to the apostles, their religion is vain, and they do but deceive their own hearts with their vain religion, from their unbridled tongues; For pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father, is this, to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, and to keep themselves unspotted from the world.' And this is the pure religion that God and Christ Jesus set up, and his apostles preached and declared to men, and all the believers and converted to God and Christ, and that keep their command, did and do walk in this pure religion.

Fourthly. Sultan Mahomet, emperor of the Turks, thou sayst, thou art commander of the christians crucified God; and sayst, thou wilt pursue their crucified God, whose wrath thou fearest not, nor his coming to defend or deliver them out of thy hand.'

Answer. These high words are not spoken in the fear of God; for if thou knowest God thou wouldest know his son Jesus Christ, who was made of the seed of Abraham according to the flesh, and declared to be the son of God, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead; so that thou hast neither power over his godhead, nor his flesh. And Mahomet confesses in his Alcoran, that Jesus, son of Mary, is full of light,' (which is according to the ancient scriptures,) and of the gospel, to conduct people the right way; with a confirmation of the old testament, and to guide and instruct the righteous.' Now Mahomet and the Turks, who make this confession in your Alcoran, then you must believe the old testament, and the gospel of the new, concerning Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, and of the seed of David, according to the flesh; and that Jesus Christ came according to the promise of God to his prophets, who was born of the virgin Mary.

And Mahomet in his Alcoran confesses that Jesus Christ was not begotten by the will of man, who was conceived of Mary, and that she

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