Complete Works of Edward Burrough, Volume 3

Edward Burrough feared no earthly power. In this third volume, his pen turns to the rulers of England — Cromwell, Parliament, the magistracy — and his tone is unflinching. He writes not as a petitioner but as a prophet, calling the powerful to account before a higher tribunal. The letters and addresses gathered here span the years when Quakers were being imprisoned in large numbers for refusing to swear oaths, pay tithes, or cease their public ministry. Burrough documents the persecution in factual detail, then challenges the authorities: is this the liberty of conscience you promised? Is this the godly commonwealth you claimed to build?

These texts have both historical and devotional value. As history, they give an eyewitness account of what early Friends actually endured. As devotional reading, they model a quality rare in any age — the willingness to speak difficult truth to those who hold power over you, without hatred, without flattery, and without flinching. This modernized edition preserves the tone and argument of the originals while making them fully accessible to contemporary readers.