CHAPTER VI

WINSTANLEY'S EXPOSITION OF THE QUAKER DOCTRINES (1648-1649)

"There is nothing more sweet and satisfactory to a man than this,
to know and feel that spiritual power of righteousness to rule in
him which he calls God.... Wait upon the Lord for teaching. You
will never have rest in your soul till He speaks in you. Run after
men for teaching, follow your forms with strictness, you will still
be at a loss, and be more and more wrapped up in confusion and
sorrow of heart. But when once your heart is made subject to
Christ, the Law of Righteousness, looking up to Him for
instruction, waiting with a meek and quiet spirit till He appear in
you: then you shall have peace; then you shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free."--_The New Law of Righteousness_.


_The Mystery of God concerning the whole Creation, Mankind_, is the
title of Winstanley's first published pamphlet, to which we have already
referred, and which was written early in the year 1648, probably in
April or May. As already mentioned, it opens with a Dedicatory Epistle
to "My beloved countrymen of the County of Lancaster," in which he first
apologises for venturing into print in the following suggestive words:
"Dear countrymen, when some of you see my name subscribed to this
ensuing discourse, you may wonder at it, and it may be despise me in
your hearts ... but know that God's works are not like men's; He does