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النشر الإلكتروني

الله

T.

1

THE REV. MR. POMEROY.

79

for the glory of God, and for the good of mankind. You are a christian minister, and to our astonishment, you contend that on your bare word, and without examination, we should desert a much injured woman, who is prepared with evidence to prove that you withhold her just right from her; and to prove that you have villified her good name: and what is still more awful, you contend that the verity of her mission should not be examined into, so that it may not be refuted if unfounded,

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blished if it be true. Thus on the one hand, you
uphold a continuance of delusion among thousands
of simple and well-meaning people; or on the other,
that the author of sin may triumph in his fall, in the
ruin and misery of millions of human beings.

But

Again: we call upon you, reverend Sir, to take a retrospect of your conduct. We have what we judge to be indubitable evidence of your having expressed very different sentiments respecting the mission of Joanna, compared with the artful, opprobrious, and insulting tenor of your late letters. You may imagine, Sir, that they may be well suited to screen you from the ridicule of the world, by appearing to do away the imputation of your having been formerly more attentive to the pretensions of one whom you now call a poor, deluded woman. it may be worthy of your consideration, that the cause at issue between you and Joanna claims a different mode of conduct; for the only way remaining De for you to act honourably is to bring your charges forward; and we are ready to meet you to examine them, and to exhibit our evidence upon the subject. To conclude: you must be sufficiently aware, reverend Sir, that at all times, when any great good has been designed for mankind, the evil power has never failed to gain over human agents to counteract it; and now that universal blessings are promised, and the destruction of that power threatened, that

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he will make more than usual exertions to avert his destiny; let us all therefore watch and pray, that he may not be able to uphold his reign by means of any respectable name and sacred character * !

(Signed,)

REV. STANHOPE BRUCE.

REV. T. P. FOLEY.
REV. THO. WEBSTER.
GEORGE TURNER.

W. JOWETT.

WILLIAM HARWOOD.

E. CARPENTER.

JOHN WILSON.

PETER MORISON.

WILLIAM R. WETHERELL.

WILLIAM SHARP.

CHARLES TAYLOR.

WILLIAM BELK.

CHARLES Аввотт.

JOHN TORIN.

THOMAS STEPHENS.

JOHN YOUNG.

JOHN MORRIS.

RICHARD LAW.

GEORGE STOCKS.

ELIAS JAMESON FIELD.
WILLIAM LAYTON WINTER.
WILLIAM OWEN.
JOHN Hows.

• The reader is referred to Mr. Pomeroy's letters, where the asperity, which seems to pervade this address will be found in his own words.

THE REV. MR. POMEROY.

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We here subjoin an extract of a letter from the Rev. T. P. Foley, to shew that our friends in the country agree in our sentiments; and to sanction the insertion of his name with ours, agreeably to his desire.

"I must confess that Mr. Pomeroy's letter provoked my indignation in a great degree. Can he foolishly suppose that we have no characters or honour to lose as well as himself? I trust that we shall shew him that ours are as dear to us, as his own; and that we shall contend for them to the last moment of our existence. - He calls Joanna a deluded woman; and that she is deranged, or led by an evil spirit. If Mr. Pomeroy would only weigh the matter coolly and honestly, he might think, as so many persons of strong understanding and clear judgment do believe in the divine mission of Joanna Southcott, that he himself might be deluded, and not her; and if he were to try the spirits by the scripture rule, he would have some solid reasons to believe that the spirit which guides him was an evil spirit, as truth, honour, nor honesty, guides his own proceeding; and he would see that the spirit which guides Joanna is full of truth, honour, and wisdom. Were he to act in this fair way, there would be no difficulty in drawing the right inference; and he would be put in the right road to establish his own peace and happiness."

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Here we shall also add a part of a letter from Miss Townley to Mr. Sharp, containing some remarks by Joanna, and words of the Lord, respecting the conduct of Mr. Pomeroy.

Joanna says, that Mr. Pomeroy's conduct has made her quite sick and bad, which has opened all her wounds afresh. His subtle arts, two years agone, appear more lively before her than ever; for she saith, he acted like a man that would dip a razor in oil to cut her throat; first to come with such subtle arts, pleading it would be his own destruction, if she would not sign, that he had said it was the Devil that told her to put his name in print; and as soon as he had drawn her in to free him from the ridicule of the world, then he burnt all her letters, wherein the truth of her prophecies had stood for so many years; because the truth should not appear for her. And now he is going on with more subtle arts, to be her complete murderer if he can. Joanna was again highly provoked when she saw in the newspaper what was said of Spain, which she prophesied of in January, 1797, and put it in Mr. Pomeroy's hands, with many other prophecies, that she did not then keep the copy of, as he had it in her own hand-writing, and in Miss Fanny Taylor's hand also; as Joanna did not then suspect he would act so deceitfully; and the Lord concealed it from her, but charged her to have witnesses concerning them. And now the Lord will call him into judgment, to shew him that such artful and deceitful dealings are never consistent with the Spirit of God. The words of the Lord now broke in upon Joanna. " I shall answer thee of what thou sayest of Pomeroy. Pomeroy shall know, that such artful and deceitful dealings as he hath dealt with to thee,

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THE REV. MR. POMEROY

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never came from my Spirit; therefore he shall know he hath disgraced his God, to say that he is led by my Spirit to act with arts, deceit, and lies; and to say thou art led by the Devil, that dost act with every true, just, and upright dealings towards God and towards man. Let them see thy upright dealings, to put the prophecies in his hands, when thou knewest, if they were not of God they would not come to pass; then he would have had it in his power to convince thee thy calling was false. So all the world must see, that thou hast acted with honour, and with honesty towards God and towards man; for thou couldest not deceive the world, if the prophecies that thou didst put in his hands had not come true. Now when he published it was from the Devil, he ought to have acted with justness and honesty, to have brought forward the letters and proved his assertion. But if he could not prove it by the letters, how dare he affirm it, and burn the letters, that shewed the truth, from whence thy writings came? So let not Pomeroy say, he that acteth with arts and deceit is led by the Spirit of the Lord; and they who act with every upright dealing, in perfect obedience to their God, are led by the Devil! So by the different principles, let men judge of the Spirit. I am thy judge, and witness against him, that thou canst come forward with truth and with innocence; but he cannot; therefore he shall find he is deceived, and is deceiving, and the truth is not in him, to say thy writings are from the Devil; for they are no more from the Devil, than thou hast printed lies against him, but hast put the truth in print, as I commanded thee : and I shall be a swift witness against him in his trial, that thy writings are from ME the LIVING GOD, and not from the Devil, as he said."

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