will. When I looked forward to nothing more than the awful trial, and my death to follow, before this revelation came to me, that I should have a child, I made my will in the following manner: after leaving a legacy to my brother and sister, to be paid at my death, and an annuity as long as they lived, with a few legacies to other relatives, and some legacies and tokens of love to my faithful friends, who have shewn kindness to me, and stood faithfully by me ever since I left Devonshire; after leaving these legacies and tokens of love, which did not amount to more than a thousand pounds; then all the residue of this great fortune, which the world say I am in possession of, I had left entirely to Mrs. Jane Townley, and Mrs. Ann Underwood, as we have lived together ten years; and, as a mark of my gratitude for their having done every thing in their power to make me happy; and from their having written all the communications given to me, ever since we have lived together, both for the press, and in letters to my friends; their giving up the world, and confining themselves to be with me; and their having made it their study to alleviate my sorrows and sufferings, under every abuse, that I have had to pass through, from an unbelieving and malicious world, which hath wounded me greatly by their false inventions to injure my character. And, when I reflect on the kind attention and affection which they have shewn to me through all the persecution I have had to go through, if I could forget their love, then I must have forgotten myself, and have an ungrateful wicked heart, to bring in a stranger's child, if I could do it without any one's know ledge. But here men must be void of common, sense and reason, if they suppose that Townley

and Underwood would aid in such an imposition, and which must so speedily come to a disgraceful end and I am now answered respecting the putting the purport of my will in print as follows:

I have led thee on in darkness, to bring to light the ignorance of foolish men; and it was for this reason that I worked in thee to make thy will, at a time when thou hast looked forward to death; and now I have ordered thee to put it in print, to shame and confound thy infamous accusers: for greater infamy could never be invented, and blacker crimes could not be done, than what they invented, that thou, Townley, and Underwood, would contrive to do for to mock both God and man."

Here I have answered the inventions of some men; but, as Solomon observes, men have sought out many inventions, I shall in the next place notice what one Besley, a printer, in South-street, Exeter, hath said in two hand-bills, which he hath printed against me and against the Spirit I am visited by. As he makes a mockery of the millennium, and calls Brice, the printer of my first book, a man of good sense, whom he allows to be a Deist; from such expressions, I can only judge that he holds the same opinions as Brice did; therefore I shall not enter into scriptural arguments with such men; but I shall take Besley upon his own grounds, to shew him his folly, that out of his own mouth he stands condemned.

He saith, "I am told her followers are become numerous, that she has a genteel establishment, and a chapel built solely for the use of her disciples."

This information I acknowledge to be true; for I am very comfortably situated; I have a number of respectable and worthy friends; and there is

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not only one chapel built in Duke-street, Westminster-road, but another at Greenwich, and another at Twickenham, for the accommodation of those who believe in the scriptures and the fulfilment thereof. And it was my firm belief in the Gospel that caused me to believe in the Spirit as being a visitation from the Lord, according to our Saviour's words; and it was from obeying the Spirit, and following his directions, that brought me into this situation, and fulfilled the promises made to me in ninety-four. So I have proved the truth of that Spirit, which Besley says is a lying spirit, a mere idle devil. But his expressions are too blasphemous for me to bring them forward. Did I not know better of the Spirit by experience, for more than forty years, than Besley knoweth for me, can any one suppose that I should have published the Third Book of Won ders from a Spirit that I could place no dependence upon, that announces an event, which if it doth not take place, must throw all my genteel establishment to the ground, and leave me destitute of those numerous followers that he says I have got? Here I appeal to the public for their judgment, whether they think any woman would run such a hazard as I have, if I had not sure grounds to rely on the Spirit that I am led by? But Besley's folly shews me the wisdom of a man's observation, who said, that there was all manner of sense in the world; good sense, and nonsense; but common sense was wanting; for that was scarce to be found. And common sense is wanting in Besley; for, if he had had common sense, he would have known, and reason would have told him, that no woman would have run the hazard that I have, without having strong and sure grounds to rely upon the truths of the Spirit,

as I have experienced throughout my life, like the hairs of my head that cannot be numbered; and as the truths have come of the past, so I now rely upon the Spirit for the future, and with him I leave my cause,

As Besley mocks the Spirit, for ordering me to carry my first book to a Deist to print, I think it necessary to state the particulars.

Brice being a Deist was the very reason why it was first carried to him, to shew that those who mocked the Gospel would mock the visitation likewise; and therefore the order was given at first, that he should print no more than three sheets. Brice said, that he had no objections to print prophecies; but when I carried communications to him concerning the Gospel; then he mocked the Gospel and the visitation of the Spirit to me; and from his mockery I was answered, that that was the reason he was confined to print no more than the three sheets.

But Besley sheweth plainly what artful lies and insinuations men will invent, to give the Spirit the lie and to say I go contrary to the directions, as he brings forward my being ordered to carry my first book to Brice. He says, "the Spirit selected the printer; but as another instance of woman's disobedience, or so little attention did she herself think necessary to the injunction of the invisible monitor, that in direct violation of the command, she sent for me to undertake the work, after Mr. B. had had the copy in his hands for some time; but did not proceed, for substantial reasons; and I was desired by her friend, Mr. S. junior, to attend her on Sunday next, to receive the second command of this sabbathbreaking spirit. In answer to my inquiry of her friend, who was to become responsible for the

payment, I was referred to the Rev. Mr. P. who I was given to understand espoused her pretensions, and would be answerable for the amount. Here I detected a lying spirit, as she was afterwards obliged to make an apology in the public papers for the unwarrantable use she made of that gentleman's name."

Here I shall answer for myself. I was surprised to hear of this new invention, as I never heard of it before. Whether invented by Besley, or a folly in Mr. S. is unknown to me. I never sent for Besley; neither did I know anything of the man; so he hath condemned the Spirit and me falsely, in all the assertions he hath made. What another person may say and do in my name, unknown to me, I cannot be accountable for; but what he hath brought forward is entirely false; for had I wanted money, or any person to be responsible for me, I should never have applied to Mr. P. for he was the last person whom I should have thought of; and for substantial reasons, as people began to say that he wrote the copies, and I put them in print; therefore I should never have applied to him to be security for the payment. I never made an unwarrantable use of Mr. P.'s name; neither did I make any apology in the public papers. He said, that my putting his name in print was from the devil, and desired me to sign to his words, which I did. But I now see my own folly in so doing, from the advantage which my enemies have made of it, to turn it to their own purposes. But I can clear myself to the world from all the assertions which Mr. P.'s conduct hath caused to be thrown on my character and from this, any one may see the injury which he hath done to me, by putting weapons in the hands of my enemies to fight against me.