lives because of their great desires which they had for the welfare of this people; yea, and this they have done, when they were about to perish with hunger, because of your exceeding great neglect towards them. And now, my beloved brethren; for ye had ought to be beloved; yea, and ye had ought to have stirred yourselves more diligently for the welfare and the freedom of this people; but behold, ye have neglected them, insomuch that the blood of thousands shall come upon your heads for vengeance; yea, for known unto God were all their cries, and all their sufferings. Behold, could ye suppose that ye could sit upon your thrones, and because of the exceeding goodness of God, ye could do nothing, and he would deliver you? Behold, if ye have supposed this, ye have supposed in vain. Do ye suppose that, because so many of your brethren have been killed, because of their wickedness? I say unto you, if ye have supposed this, ye have supposed in vain: for I say unto you, there are many who have fallen by the sword; and behold, it is to your condemnation; for the Lord suffereth the righteous to be slain, that his justice and judgment may come upon the wicked; therefore ye need not suppose that the righteous are lost because they are slain; but behold, they do enter into the rest of the Lord their God. And now behold, I say unto you, I fear exceedingly that the judgments of God will come upon this people, because of their exceeding slothfulness; yea, even the slothfulness of our government, and their exceding great neglect towards their brethren, yea towards those who have been slain: For were it not for the wickedness which first commenced at our head, we could have withstood our enemies, that they could have gained no power over us; yea, had it not been for the war which broke out among ourselves: yea, were it not for these king-men, who caused so much bloodshed among ourselves; yea, at the time we were contending among ourselves, if we had united our strength, as we hitherto have done; yea, had it not been for the desire of power and authority which those king-men had over us; had they been true to the cause of our freedom, and united with us, and gone forth against our enemies, instead of taking up their swords against us, which was the cause of so much bloodshed among ourselves; yea, if we had gone forth against them, in the strength of the Lord, we should have despersed our enemies; for it [p. 418]