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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A97093	An antidote against Master Edwards his old and new poyson: intended to preserve this long distempered nation from a most dangerous relaps. Which his former, his later, and next gangrenous book is likely to occasion, if not timely prevented. by William Walwin.	Walwyn, William, 1600-1681.	1646 (1646)	Wing W680; Thomason E1184_4; ESTC R208196	8,365	23

expectation almost vanquished Resolved to try what they could doe by policie and thereupon desired a treaty which the sheep simply and easily granted The principall simply and easily granted The principall thing in the treaty which the Wolves insisted on was that the sheepe would but discharge send away their dogs and then there would be no cause of warre at all but they should live quietly one by another urging withall that the dogs were of a quarrelsome disposition had been the beginners and continuers of the war that they were of a different nature temper from the sheep maintain'd the war only for their own ends and in probability were like enough to make a prey of the sheep themselves and the like if they would discharge them they would give them what security themselves would desire for assurance of their peaceable neighbour-hood The poor sheep soon weary of the charge and trouble of war yeelded therunto and discharged their dogges their strongest help whereby they had not only preserved themselves but by many battels and maine force had even quite vanquished the Wolves which was no sooner done but the Wolves in short time muster up their force the dogs being out of call and when the sheep least suspected fell upon them and destroyed them utterly I conceive this could never have been effected but that the Wolves had conveyed some of themselves into sheepes cloathing who by flattering and dissembling cariage got themselves into credit with the sheeps and so perswaded to this goodly treaty and wrought them to those destructive conditions And if well considered this fable though dogs and Christians hold no fit comparison may demonstrate that whosoever doth or shall endevour to perswade the godly and honest Presbyters to abandon discourage or molest their faithfull helpfull valiant and assured friends of other judgements whom Mr. Edwards would have to be used worse then dogs they are at best but Wolves or Wolves friends and seek the destruction of all honest people of what judgement soever And whether Master Edwards do expresly ayme at so horrid an issue or not for certaine his workes and endevours do mainly tend thereunto and will help on the wicked purposes of any that intend the destruction of the sheepe But blessed be God we are not as sheepe without a shepherd wee have had and still have faithfull resolved shepherds set over us by providence in a most just and orderly way a Parliament the terror of the wicked and cōfort of the just that for these 5. years and upwards have been a strong Tower of defence to the sheep of the Lords Pasture to all the godly party in the Land and though many of our froward and weak sheepe have many times been tampring harkening after offers and conditions as dangerous to the whole flocke as the discharging of that strength the Wolves most feared yet hath the wisdom of those our faithfull Shepherds hitherto prevented the same and according to the true rules of wisdom have made most use of those whom the Wolves most feared And we trust the same God that endowed them with such a new modelising wisdome as hath been successefull to the astonishment both of their friends and enemies will still guide and direct them when the policies of the enemies are most busie and strongly working and when the weaknesse and frowardnesse of their friends are most troublesome importunate for destructive things yea though some should be wrought upon so farre as to shew a wearisomnesse of these their Shepherds the same God will then we doubt not shew his mighty power and wisdome in them and thereby preserve this whole Nation from a most dangerous Relaps which otherwise were to be feared The whole flock is their charge God hath made them Overseers of the whole and to our joy and comfort they have hitherto shewed agreater care to preserve the whole People then to please any part of them in unreasonable things and in so doing they have been and cannot but be blessed and prosperous And notwithstanding Mr. Edwards his verlomous poyson blowne abroad by his unhappy quill to blast and destroy the repute of honest religious and faithfull men yet the tree being knowne by his fruite the Parliaments wisdome expelleth his poyson and sheweth no disrepect to any honest religious person and every juditious man followeth their worthy example therein and when you that are weak and have been misled and tainted with his poyson shall consider it your judgments I trust will be rectified and strengthened so sufficiently that you will no longer judge of men according to his malitious accusations but according to their workes and what you see them doe Which if you doe wee shall have done with his poysonous and scandalous bookes which serve for nothing but to deceive and destroy the people great quientnesse will follow thereupon and you will soone finde a nearer way to a finall end of your troubles then the wrangling way he hath proposed for if once you were united you would have no enemies your warre would be at an end your peace would be sure and all the people safe and happy Which is my only ayme in this work and my most earnest desire WILLIAM WALWIN A GRAINE MORE And no more OBserving by some passages and occurrences of late that all the labour bestowed towards the conversion and reducing of Master Edwards into a truly charitable and Christian disposition hath proved no other then as the washing of a Blackamoore and thereupon daily expecting a poysonous issue from his infectious braine To prevent the mischiefe that might ensue I prepared this little Antidote intending to have had it in such a readinesse as that it should have met his poyson in the instant he first spread it wherein I did my part but the Printers mistake hindred it Those therefore that have read his new Gangrenous and scandalous book and doe find themselves any whit tainted with the poyson thereof and have slept upon it My friendly advise is that they take double the quantity of this Antidote that they reade this little Treatise twise over and consider every part of it seriously and deliberately and if they are any thing farre gone and in danger then it will be necessary they adde thereunto a good quantity more of true Christian love it will be somewhat hard to find there being abundance every where of that which is counterfeit the best of which will do more hurt then good and therefore it will be needfull you get the help of some that by experience can distinguish the true from the false and such a one I can assure you is also very hard to find but without it there is no hope and with it there is infallible certainty of recovery If there were not much false and counterfeit love abroad this wretched man with all his cursed diligence could never have been furnished with matter to have sweld his poysonous bulck to so vast a greatnesse And truly had those whoever they are that gave those malicious informations concerning me as he reciteth them if they had had but one scruple of true Christian love in them they never had administred to his so unmanly occasion I blesse God I have through diligent seeking found this pretious liquor and have enough to spare upon those his unadvised intelligencers and through the power thereof can freely forgive their evill intentions which my conscience assures me I never deserved from any I ever conversed withall or that ever knew me As for himselfe if passion and fore-judging did not blind mens understandings and that most men are transported with flashy fancies and are unapt to consider things judiciously it would evidently appeare that he hath not in any measure auswered either my Whisper or the Word more both which wil live in despite of his utmost venome and will concerne him and all such deceivers as he is being there set forth in their truest colours nor is his neglect of them any other but a device to keep mens eyes off from reading or regarding them wherein he hath indeed dealt very pollitiquely and like one fully possest with a true Machivillian spirit which more evidētly appeareth in laying his charge upon me in such subjects as wherein he knoweth the presses in these times are not admitted the lest measure of freedome if I should insist upon the mistakes nullities in the charge I should be inforc'd to use the names of some persons I much esteeme for that publique affection I have seen in them and for the un-interupted friēdship I have had with them which is no waies sutable to my spirit insomuch as I am yet unresolved what course to take besides since it concernes only my particuler and that of necessity it will occasion a bulk in print beyond my temper the world being also opprest with books of particuler contest I beleeve I shall incline to forbeare though I am not certaine As for those who know me or throughly know him with al those I shal remain unprejudiced in my repute though he should have spet al hisvenome at once and as for those that neither know him nor me I shal and I think may safely trust my credit to the operation of my Antidote to the most powerful additiō of true Christian love which were there need in this cause would cover abundance of evill love is the balsome which in my Whisper I really commended to his use but either he will not use it or takes not that paynes to rub it in which I advised but though I have cast my pearle amisse and have sped accordingly that shall not hinder or abate my esteem of so pretious a Iewell it is the delight of life and the joy of Heaven and whilst I live I trust I shall live in love and when I dye that I shall dye in this love and Rise and remain Eternally in love that is in God for God is love in whose presence there is fulnesse of joy at whose wright hand there are pleasures for evermore and full amends for all reproches WILLIAM WALWIN FINIS IMPRIMATVR IOHN BACHILER May 26. 1646.

called and unto them sadly complaine of the dayly infinite increase thereof intreat their assistance in the extirpation of them for that end desire them to collect their memories what they have heard in any discourse what they have any waies observed or knowne to proceed from such and such men naming divets that are taken and reputed to be either grand Hereticks and Schismatiques themselves or the defenders and maintainers of them by word or writing tell them you have heard that such and such hold and such blasphemous opinions at such and such a time uttered such such horrible speeches pray them to consider how exceeding necessary it is such things were knowne and made publique to all the world left through ignorance such blasphemous and hereticall persons in time get into offices of Magistracy if not into the Parliament it selfe lay before thom the danger if it should be so and intreat them for prevention that they will thrust themselves into all meetings companies and societies to provoke discourses and to take notice of what they observe or can any waies learne of any of them or any others and it shall be your care to divulge them to the world in the strongest colours your Art can give them And saith Machivel as they through eagernesse will over-heare and make things worse then they were either spoken or intended so it must be your care to make them rather wors then better then their relations you must be sure to cast durt enough upon them some will stick and a little amongst those you would pervert will suffice to blemish the clearest and most able amongst them and to deprive them of all credit and and repute for ever If you observe any man to be of a publique and active spirit though he be no Independent or Separatist he can never be friend to you in your work and therefore you are to give him out to be strongly suspected of whoredom or drunkēnesse prophanesse an irreligious person or an Atheist and that by godly and religious persons he was seen and heard blaspheming the holy Scriptures and making a mock of the Ordinaces of Christ or say he is suspected to hold inteligence with Oxford or any thing no matter what somewhat will be beleeved you cannot be ignorant how much this hath prevailed against divers able persons If you see any such man but once talking with a Papist or though not you may give out that very honest men suspect him to be a Jesuit If any one but demand of you or any others how you know the Scriptures to be the word of God give it out for certain he denieth them or if any put questions concerning God or Christ or the Trinity you have more then enough to lay accusations upon them that shall stick by them as long as they live if you will follow this my counsell throughly saith Machivel as in part you have done you cannot faile of your end you can never want matter you shall amongest ●hose you deceive be taken for a most zeaous holy and religious man you may write book upon book great and large ones and make good profit or great renowne by them and in after ages be recorded as a famous Author Moreover if you prosecute this course you may haply hereby not only hold your friends firme unto you ready upon all occasions to petition what you wold have them or to doe any thing you shall require them but you shall be sure to hold them for ever devided from your adversaries in all things they shall not regard any thing though never so just or good if they see they have but a finger therein nay if work wisely you need not dispaire of dividing your most powerfull adversaries amongst themselvs doubts jelousies being of great force And you know it is an undoubted truth a house divided within it selfe cannot stand This is Machivels way and this hath been Mr. Edwards his way and in this way hee goeth on but the way of God have they not knowne or rather have they not despised the way of the Lord. This is the Poyson by which he hath envenomed the hearts and understandings of thousands in themselves honest religious people too too easily misse-led for want of knowledge or consideration of these Machivelian courses men that being sinceare in their owne intentions are easily deluded by the least pretence of zeal and godlinesse And however his heart may be hardned that he will not regard any thing that hath been written unto him you that have been deceived by him are not so farre gone but you may yet recover become untainted with the least savour of his spirit and in time abominate his waies But surely then you must consider things more seriously then hitherto you have done you must suspect your owne waies and compare them once more with the waies of God commended to you in his holy Word That is the only Antidote that is able to expell the Poyson you have taken or shall be offered in his next book you know the word of God is mighty to the casting down of strong holds to bring into subjection all Machivelian Imaginations I shall therefore pray you in reading his next book which it is to be feared is reserved for an accursed purpose and to second some worke of Darknesse that you will with open eyes see how farre and how plaufible Machivel may go with colours of religion transforming himselfe into an Angell of light Also that you will not hastily give credit to any thing spoken by him a professed adversary lest in so doing you become guilty of bearing false witnesse against your neighbour That you will consider and marke those that cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned and avoid them Rom. 16. 17. That you will mind a speciall part of that doctrine to be expressed in the fourteenth Chapter thorow-out and the beginning of the fifteenth which I entreat you to reade without prejudice or preoccupation of judgment and then I cannot doubt but liberty of conscience will appeare more just in your eyes then it hath done and confesse that your selves cannot live without it That you will lay to heart how dangerous it may prove to the Common wealth and to the cause you have hitherto joyntly maintained God prospering you in so doing if by any policies you should stand divided from those your brethren of other judgements beleeve it the hand of Joab is in all your divisions what-ever you see or judge your common enemy is the fomenter of them and under what notion or colours soever they appeare they are a common enemie to you both that labour to divide you and in the end you will find it to be so to your cost if not to your ruine An ancient Philosopher somewhat to this purpose hath a fable That the Wolves being at long and deadly war with the sheep and not prevailing by force but contrary to their