CONCERNING DAVID.

:

No he did fall, I tell you all;
Then now his offspring see:
Then David here you soon would cleat,
His standing was the same-
The man did fail, I tell you all,

And so his offspring came
To follow on as he began,
So tainted by the Fall;
And worse and worse they still went on,
I now do tell you all.
So Adam see, the Fall of he,

Which was the Fall of Man;
But after him, you all do see,
A fataller Fall become ;
Because that Cain-call to your mind-
A murderer did appear;
And so from David you do find

What murdering sons were there.
So all in sin they did begin;
The parents first did fall,
When I the Promise made to them;
Once more I tell you all,
While Satan stands in every land,
He hasty will pursue;
Like men of war he will appear;
All ages find it true;
Because on man the Curse did stand,
As I did say before;
And now I say, in every land
It strongly doth appear.
So marvel on as thou'st beguti,
To think of David's Fall:
You see the Tempter still is strong,
I say, to cast down all,

Where Promise great to them I make ;
But see they cannot stand,
Until my Sceptre I do shake,

To gain the PROMIS'D LAND. The Promise first for Man to burst;

The Serpent's curse appear; Then all may say another way,

"We see the Promise clear: "A David's Reign doth now begin "In happiness to burst;

"We see the curse remov'd from men,

66

Upon the Serpent cast.”

Then children free all men will see,

Like Solomon appear;

That is in WISDOM great to be,
But not in SIN to err:
No, no, I say to thee, that day

When I destroy the Root,
And every evil take away,

Then Satan must stand mute.

11

"I've had my time I now to find,
"When God did promise Men,
"That he unto them would be kind,
"If they would worship him."
That is, to do, you all do know,
As I do them command.
But Satan he did find a way,

He would not let them stand:
For like the first, this sure did burst,
Like Adam's promise make;
And Satan then so strong did come
These promises to break.
Then of what use can I produce

A Promise great to Man ?
They'll not obey what I do say;

I see they cannot stand,
While Satan here do strong appear.-
Weigh every Promise through:
As Adam first I here have plac'd;
My Bible all go through:
And Moses see, I promis'd he

The land of Canaan there,
That I my children then would free;
But how did they appear?

Sin did abound in every sound,
And Satan did pursue,

Like Adam's Fall, I tell you all,
Was then their passage through.
Then how could I who dwell on high,
Preserve the life of Man?

I tell you, no: it was not so,
My Promise first must stand:
If men obey what I do say,
I'shall fulfil my Word;
But men did not, judge every lot:
See how they fell from God:
Though Abraham here I mean to clear,
But Isaac he was bound;

And know the Promise I made there,
And see how soon was found

Then Esau strong from him to come→→
And Esaus all may see;

While Satan's reign I do prolong,
Your murderer he will be:
So Jacobs here let men appear-
But know his sons did fall
I say in sin they did begin-

The Promise stands for all :
I say, at first it there must burst,
As Man so strong is bound;
By Satan's chain they do remain,
Where Promises are found
So great to Man, he cannot stand,
While Satan's power do reign;

Now I'll begin from what thou'st seen,
Or what thou said'st this day;
As by thy wisdom thou hast seen
How all my Bible lay.

After part of this Communication was given, that the ponderings of Joanna's heart were answered, Joanna said that the Light of the Lord broke in so strong and clear upon her, that she said she saw the Foundation was laid clear in the Fall; and if men took away that Foundation, it was like taking the foundation of a house: that if you go and dig round a house, and dig away all the foundation that it stands upon, where would your house be? must it not fall to the ground? And is it not likely to fall upon those that digged away the first! foundation? Just so, Joanna saith, is the Bible. If you take away the Foundation the Lord laid in the Beginning, and the Promises he made in the Fall, you destroy your Bibles, like the house

THE OLD PROPHET'S DECEIT.

And the Foundation I have laid,
To free the sons of men.
But if you say another way-
It shall not stand so here:
"This Foundation we'll take away,
"Because we'll baffle her."
Then I'll appear to answer here:
Upon you it must fali;
The guilt of Man I cannot clear,
I now do tell you all.

So I'll end here and say no more,
But thou must ponder on,
Till all the mysteries I shali clear,
For to be given to man."

15

Here ends Sunday night, September 23, 1804.Taken from Joanna Southcott's mouth, by me,

JANE TOWNLEY,

Monday, September 24, 1804.

JOANNA has been reading, since the morning, through the first Book of Kings, and began the second; but could by no means help her feelings being provoked with the perverseness of men, after the great promises the Lord had made them, and the extreme grandeur the Lord had filled the kings with, and the promise he had made them, if they continued in his statutes; and the threatenings pronounced against them, if they departed from them. But with what perverse hearts they did depart, one king after the other, though they were warned by the prophets, what judgments should follow them, if they did depart from them; and yet they continued worse and worse. The more Joanna reads her Bible, the more she is convinced, that nothing will free men from sin and sorrow, and bring them to happiness and union with God, till the Power of the Devil is destroyed, which is the root of all evil. But one thing Joanna was afraid for herself, whether she did not commit sin in her heart, concerning the old prophet's deceiving the young prophet. 1 Kings, xii. For Joanna could not