and what property the Quakers have in this Excellent Martyr Bonner taunting him as an Anabaptist and as one that denyed the Lawfulness of Swearing before a Judge he replyed thus My Lord I am no Anabaptist I think it LAWFVLL TO SWEAR before a Competent Iudge He being accused by the said Bonner before one of the Sheriffs of London that he denyed Baptism to be necessary to them that were born of Christian Parents and that he denyed Fasting and Prayer c. smartly answer'd to this slander Is not your Lordship ashamed to say before this Worshipfull Gentleman that I maintain these abominable Blasphemies which you have rehearsed So that you see to deny the Ordinance of Baptism as the Quakers do in the judgment of the Learned Philpot is an abominable Blasphemy And in vindication of Infant Baptism He has writ a very learned Tract never to be Answer'd And concerning the other Sacrament of the Lord's Supper At a Conference with several of the Nobility he said thus I do protest to your Honours that I think as reverently of the Sacrament as a Christian man ought to do and that I acknowledg the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ ministred after Christ's Institution to be one of the greatest Treasures and comforts that he left us in the earth And being required by the Arch-Bishop of York to give a definition of the Church he gave it thus It is a Congregation of people dispersed thorow the world agreeing together in the word of God using the Sacraments and all other things according to the same So then those that deny the use of the holy Sacraments and consequently the Quakers who do so are according to this Pious Martyr no members of the Church of Christ. Bradford whom Ellwood styles an Eminent Martyr p. 275. in a Conference with the Arch-Bishop of York and the Bishop of Chichester would not by both their entreaties be moved to sit in their presence neither would he be perswaded to put on his Cap till they overcame him by their great importunity The same Bradford chargeth the Papists with Sacrilege in robbing the Laity of Christ's Cup in the Sacrament Now if he were living of how great Sacrilege would he accuse the Quakers who not only take away the Cup but utterly deny both the Sacraments And herein are the Quakers far worse than the Papists Again as to his Judgment of an Oath In a certain Conference he says thus I was thrice Sworn in Cambridg when I was admitted Master of Arts when I was admitted Fellow of Pembrook Hall and when I was there the Visiters came thither and Sware the University Again I was Sworn when I enter'd into the Ministry when I had a Prebend given me and I was Sworn to serve the King a little before his Death Tush Herod's Oaths quoth the Chancellor a man should make no Conscience at But My Lord said Bradford these were no Herod's Oaths no Unlawful Oaths but OATHS ACCORDING TO GOD's WORD as you your self have well affirmed in your book De verâ obedientiâ Do but compare his Letters Recorded by Fox with Ellwood's Chapter of Confession and see whether Light and Darkness can be more contrary Taylor speaking of the Common Prayer-Book gives this character of it There was says he set forth by the innocent King Edward the whole Church-Service with great deliberation and the advice of the best learned men in the Realm and Authorized by the whole Parliament and receiv'd and publish'd gladly by the whole Realm which book was never reformed but once and yet by that one reformation it was so fully perfected according to the Rules of our Christian Religion in every behalf that no Christian Conscience could be offended with anything therein contained I mean of that book reformed And the Common Prayer-Book was the last Present he made to his Wife and that which he used also during his inprisonment This may satisfy you that this Godly Martyr was no Quaker Of an Oath you may see his opinion where he saith The Oath against the Supremacy of the Bishop of Rome was a LAWFULL OATH and so was the Oath made by us all touching the King's or Queen's Preheminence Par. I perceive after all this that all those excellent men whom he acknowledges Godly Martyrs were of the Church of England Min. Did you ever doubt it Surely it was never questioned till this Quaker invaded our Right in them Par. But how do you prove your other Particular that they held the afore-mention'd Document to be eternal Min. First you shall hear what Latimer saith As long as they minister the word of God or his Sacraments or any thing that God hath Ordained to the Salvation of Mankind wherewith God hath promised to be present to work with the Ministration of the same to the end of the world They be to be heard to be obeyed to be honoured for God's Ordinance sake which is Effectual and Fruitful whatsoever the Minister is though he be a Devil c. And he cites Origen and Chrysostom as of the same opinion Hear also what the Learned Philpot saith to this Point He being engaged in a Disputation with the Arch-Bishop of York and being asked what the opinion of the Donatists was replyed That they were a certain sect of men affirming among other Heresies that the Dignity of the Sacraments depended on the Worthiness of the Minister so that if the Minister was Good the Sacraments which be Ministred were available or else not Here you may infer that this tenent of Ellwood's in the opinion of this holy Martyr is no less than Heresy And you may know too from whence both he and his Brethren had it even from the long since exploded Donatists At another Disputation with the Bishop of Worcester and others He told the Bishop that he knew Rome To this the Bishop answer'd that he was sorry that he had been there for he supposed the wickedness which he saw there made him do as he did Philpot replyed No My Lord I do not do as I do for that cause for I am taught otherwise by the Gospel not altogether to refuse the Minister for his evil living so that he bring sound Doctrine out of God's Book Par. I wonder why you take no notice of Tindall whom T. E. calls a faithful Martyr p. 275. Min. I shall give you two or three instances whereby you may understand his Principels were far from Quakerism In a supplication to the King and Estates he exhorts the Lords Temporal that they would fall before the King's Grace and would humbly desire his Majesty to suffer it to be tryed who of right ought to succeed c. And that all the Lords Temporal be SWORN thereto c. Next I find this Confession of his We be all Sinners an hundred times greater than all that we suffer And in one of his Letters he gives advice
in time of temptation fell away Therefore the Heart being there distinguisht from the lower Faculties must consequently be meant of the Higher that is the rational Powers acted by mature Deliberation constant resolution and sincere endeavours Through the ignorance of this both good men and bad have oft mistaken their Condition and estate towards God good men being sometimes discourag'd for the want of these Consolations and bad men by the strange raptures of these fanciful joys commonly encouraging themselves with a false conceit of being in the Truth and a good estate and therefore may be truly resembled to Isaiah's hungry man who dreameth he eateth but he awaketh and his soul is empty Isa. 29. 8. which place do I never read but it puts me in mind of the Quakers as a true Emblem of them Par. But he tells us that the Prophet David speaking of the Righteous saith that the Law of his God is in his Heart p. 13. Min. Where said I any thing to import the contrary But then do's not the same David say give me understanding and I shall keep thy Law And did not Solomon beg of God a wise and understanding heart When the Scriptures speak of the heart with a relation to Religion they mean the Spirit the inward man the rational Soul and therefore are far from setting it in opposition to the rational Powers which are the faculties of it and in which the very nature of the reasonable soul consists Men of understanding in Iob 34. 10. are in the Hebrew tongue and accordingly noted in the margin Men of heart Mercerus upon the place gives this reason because the heart is the seat of wisdom In Prov. 6. 32. He lacketh understanding is in some Readings He lacketh Heart You know the decree against Nebuchadnezzar Dan. 4. 16. Let his heart be changed from man's and let a beast's heart be given to him Now do you suppose it was the real heart of an Ox or Ass or of any other brute that was given to him No heart there signified his rational Powers the use of which he was to be deprived of And this is evident from ver 34. And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lift up mine eyes to Heaven and mine understanding return'd to me I wish the Quaker be true at heart himself for I can hardly believe him such an Iguarâ—… as here he makes himself And 't is well if his design be not the advancing some other interest than that of Quakerism And I wish those miserable deluded people whose true good only as the Searcher of all hearts knows engaged me in this Controversy may seriously consider of it Par. His next cause why the people are not profited by your Ministry is the evil lives of Ministers p. 14. Min. Here most injuriously and craftily do's he pass by what he might have found in my book sufficient to convince if not him yet any sober man Where I assert that the efficacy of the Divine Ordinances depends not on the worthiness of the Minister Friendly Conference p. 14 but upon the Power of God p. 15. that is upon his blessing and grace that the excellency of the Power as the Apostle hath it may be of God and not of us And why did he pass by that note I made of St. Paul's rejoycing that Christ was preacht tho' it were from a principle of strife and envy And if no benefit could come to the people by such mens doctrines what ground had the Apostle to rejoyce Seeing mens respective duties to God and their Neighbours are taught them from the Pulpit why takes he not notice of that unanswerable Appeal I make to their Consciences in these words Wil you tell the great Iudg at the Grat day that your non proficiency was occasioned by the scandalous life of your Minister Or will an impudent upbraiding your Minister with his faults excuse you in the neglect of your duty Conference p. 16. Now judg whether ever this Quaker design'd a sober and honest Answer to my book as in the fear of God when not only here but all along he passes by what is most considerable and wherein the strength of my Argument lies At this rate he might easily answer any book whatsoever Par. I observe that he speaks of Ministers as you say Indefinitly and therefore cannot tell whether he means All or some for he do's not explain himself as you used to do Min. Then may you take notice of a Jesuâ—…tical trick of this Quaker's frequently used by him to play fast and loose in such shifting and ambiguous terms If he mean that some Ministers only are scandalous why had he not the honesty to express it to free the innocent But then I suppose he foresaw that his Argument would have been hiss'd at as ridiculous and impertinent in accusing the Ministry it self and denying its efficacy meerly for the Personal failings of some Ministers as if Iudas's faults had made void the doctrine both of himself and his fellow Apostles On the other side if to avoid this absurdity he purposely orders his discourse that ignorant people may believe All Ministers are scandalous this is after the rate of his modesty and that which blessed be God the world knows to be a foul and malicious slander Par. You told me that in a settled national Ministry consisting of great numbers in holy Orders it cannot be expected but that some men for a corrupt interest will intrude themselves into those sacred Offices which is not to be charged upon their Function seeing there was a Iudas among the chosen Twelve From hence T. E. infers that you palliate and extenuate the crime p. 15. Min. Whose crime that of the scandalous Ministers Will any man endued with common sence say that the import of that passage was to palliate or cloak their Crimes when it contains a relation of so great a Crime as that of Intruding for a corrupt interest into sacred Offices No Any one that is not blind may see that there I am doing quite another thing that is excusing the Church and Government from the blame of such an inconveniency as indeed is unavoidable Par. But he wonders that you should say these scandalous Ministers should intrude themselves seeing all men that know any thing of them know that according to the Constitution of your Government none can intrude themselves into the Ministry but must be admitted and have letters of Induction from the Bishop p. 16. Min. That there is due care taken to prevent scandalous men from intruding into the Ministry is as freely confest by me as it is truly intimated by this Quaker to the honour of our Church tho' against his will yet as the Church may unavoidably and unblamably receive some into her outward visible Communion who afterwards may prove Apostates So may she when all is done as unavoidably admit some men into holy Orders who may afterwards prove Hypocrites For whereas Christ's
Secondly If we grant that any one should exhort to evil life then he speaks not from Moses's Chair nor out of the Law And this I hope the Quaker will grant an eternal Document that All that an evil Pastor commands us from God's Law and by virtue of his Office we ought to do This was our Saviour's sense in that text and mine in quoting it Par. There is one thing which I must not forget He tells his Reader in these words Our Godly Martyrs by his leave held not this Document to be eternal as Smithfield can amply witness ibid. Min. This is a passage I must not brook that he should be so arrogant to call them Their Martyrs as if the Martyrs were Quakers and it were the Quakers Cause for which they suffer'd The Crow must not adorn himself with the Peacocks feathers nor the Quaker challenge a property where he has none at all In honour therefore to the memory of these pious Souls I shall God willing undertake to vindicate their reputation from so foul so false an intimation and shew 1. How far they were from being any thing like the Quakers or in the least inclinable to them 2. That they did not oppose Christ's words as Ellwrod here doth but held this Document to be eternal First I hope to make it evident that They were as contrary to the erroneous and nonsensical tenents of the Quakers as to those of the Papists by whose cruel hands they were murther'd And this disparity will appear both in their Doctrines and Manners Mr. Fox tells us that Mr. Rogers Protomartyr in Queen Mary's bloody Persecution speaking of the Ministry declared that the similitude between Them and the Apostles was not in the singular gifts of God as doing miracles c. but They were like them in Doctrine c. Now he being Vicar of St. Sepulchre Prebendary of St. Pauls and Divinity-Reader there could not be admitted into the said Preferments but by taking Oaths and subscribing to several Ecclesiastical Constitutions And must He be put into the Calendar of the Quakers Martyrs Par. 'T is well if you can agree upon the Persons For T. E. speaks of the Martyrs in general and not here of any in particular Min. You say well But what if I pitch upon Cranmer Ridley Latimer Hooper Philpot Bradford and Taylor Par. These T. E. will own to be Godly men and worthy Martyrs p. 305. Min. Good Par. What makes you smile Min. Cranmer was Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Ridley Bishop of London Latimer Bishop of Worcester Hooper Bishop of Glocester Philpot Arch-Deacon of Winchester Bradford Prebendary of Pauls and Dr. Taylor Parson of Hadley And would it not make any man smile to hear this man call those Reverend Prelats c. the Quakers Martyrs who were such constant Defenders of the Protestant Religion and of the Doctrin of the Church of England both by their Sermons their Pens and their Lives However take this by the way that in calling them Godly he justifies their Practices and in calling them Martyrs he owns the Cause for which they suffer'd and so by consequence makes the whole design of his Book a Contradiction to himself here So that he has brought himself into this miserable Dilemma and necessity either to reject these Godly Martyrs or to recant his book For further instance These Martyrs who were so learned so well skilled in the Fathers and so excellently grounded in the Principles of Faith and Holiness that they confirmed them with the Sacrifice of their Lives These very men were so far from concluding all Oaths unlawful that as they could not be admitted into their Offices and Places but by taking Oaths so likewise did they administer Oaths to the subordinate Clergy and Ecclesiastical Officers according as the Laws did then oblige them These were Dispencers of both the Sacraments were Receivers of Tithes They never scrupled to give Civil Titles to men nor to say You to a single person as is evident from all their Conferences and Disputations They wore Gowns and were in all such things as the present Clergy Yea that very Form of Confession in our service-Book against which Ellwood writes a whole Chapter was composed by some of these whom he calls their Godly Martyrs Par. I see already that he had better never have mention'd these Godly Martyrs Min. He knows what reputation they have among all Protestants and therefore he would Gull the common people with this plausible Cheat by endeavoring to perswade them that these Martyrs were Patrons of their Cause Therefore think it not tedious if I give you a further account of their Principles and Practices Cranmer one of the Compilers of our Liturgy was so far from abandoning the two blessed Sacraments that he calls them the Seals of God's promises and gifts and also of that holy fellowship which we have with Christ and all his members Ridley another of the Compilers of our Li Liturgy was so constant to the Devotions of it that Mr. Fox tells us he constantly used the common-Prayer in his own house both Morning and Evening And that he being told out of St. Cyprian and St. Augustine that Communion of Sacraments do's not defile a man but consent of Deeds acknowledged it to be well spoken if well understood which was meant saith he of them which suppose they are defiled if any secret vice be either in the Ministers or in them which communicate with them Baptism says he is given to Children the Lords Supper is and ought to be given to them that are waxen And he tells us that he wished the Bishop of Winchester to be stiff in the defence of the Sacraments against the detestable errors of Anabaptists And that you may see his judgment of the Continuation of the Lord's Supper he says * Do this c. Luke 22. 19. was not a Commandment for a time but to persevere to the world's end Hooper in his Exposition on the 3d. Commandment tells us that to Swear or take an Oath before a Lawful Iudge is the work also of this Commandment and setteth forth God's Glory for as Paul saith All controversies are ended by the virtue of an Oath So have we examples in Paul Rom. 9. And in the same Exposition he not only owns the Holy Sacraments as he rightly styles them but he expressly calls them both Vows and Oaths and further tells us that therein we Swear and promise to live after God's Will and pleasure Pray Consult the Preface to his Exposition on the Ten Commandments and you will find how contrary his Doscourse is to the Quakers notion of Perfection Do you not remember what character T. E. gives of Philpot Par. Yes He tells us He was a Godly and Learned Martyr p. 275. Min. Truly Ellwood is so far in the right for a Godly and Learned man he was But then let us see how He and the Quakers agree in their notions and principles of Religion
that the Scripture may be in the Mother-Tongue and LEARNING set up in the UNIVERSITIES That these Martyrs aforemention'd were Godly men T. E. himself confesses From which confession of his you may reasonably make this Inference That men may be Arch-Bishops Bishops Arch-Deacons Prebendaries and Parsons may encourage University-Education sons may live and die Conformable to the Doct rine and Discipline of the Church of England may Administer both the Sacraments may hold it Robbery and Sacrilege to deprive the People of but a part of the Lord's Supper may defend infant-Baptism take Oaths daily confess themselves to be miserable Sinners may say You to a single Person give and receive Titles of Honour may take Tithes and agreeably to Christ's Doctrine affirm it unlawful for any man to divide the External Unity of the Church by separating from that particular Congregation whereof he is a member for the faults or ill life of the Preacher And yet even in Ellwood's judgment be GODLY Men. Now if these were Godly Martyrs why must we be accounted Ungodly for retaining the same Doctrins and Constitutions I heartily wish the Quakers would be of the same Religion these good men were of for then they would be of our Religion too and then but not before I should acknowledg them Their Martyrs Par. Whereas you told me that a man is to look at the water not at the Conduit through which it is conveyed Conf. p. 15. To this he answers But if a man see the Conduit besmeared with mire and dirt will he choose or is it reasonable he should be tyed to drink the water that issues therefrom c p. 21. Min. The outside of the Conduit may be defiled and yet the pipes and water in them may be clean Man's evil actions do not hinder his speaking well nor doth the wickedness of the Sower infect the seed as was determin'd in an old British Council under Saint Patrick Par. To your instance of Iudas he says he was bad enough but will you say that after he had transgressed and faln he should if he had lived have continued in the Ministry p. 22. Min. This is an idle query far remote from our present business started on purpose to avoid the question which was not to enquire whether Iudas should have continued in his Apostleship after his horrid treason had not the divine Vengeance pursued him to death but the question was whether Iudas was a Good man or Bad during the exercise of his Apostolical Function before that Treason was committed That he was both an Apostle and a Bad man is certain and confest by my Adversary Therefore 't is clear enough what I before asserted that an Ill man may notwithstanding be a true Minister of the Gospel Here you may see that I am not pleading the Cause of Iudas or any like him For I wish such were ejected But till this be fairly done by just Authority we may not allow the people to separate from them seeing our Saviour never caused his Disciples to separate from Iudas tho' he knew him and declared him to be a Devil Ioh. 6. 70 71. Now that the people are not tied and fetter'd according to T. E's expression to Ministers incorrigibly ill but may have remedy by a Judicial way of Proceeding appears from the 26. Article of this Church And to my knowledg some accordingly have been Ejected from their Offices and Benefices Par. As for Nicholas the Deacon whom you mention'd his Office was to serve tables to take care of the widows c. he was chosen to be Overseer of the poor c. however it appears not that he was a publick Preacher ibid. Min. If I rightly understand this Quaker the Offices of a Deacon and an overseer of the poor are according to him one and the same Then probably his next work will be to quarrel with our Magistrates or rather with the Laws of the Land that the Overseers of the poor are not ordained into their Function by Prayer and Imposition of hands as the Deacons were Acts. 6. 6. But why might not he be a Preacher as well as his Collegue St. Stephen However this I must ask If the Quakers plead that his Deaconship did not qualify him for a publick Preacher How dare they men and women every one at their pleasure take upon them to preach being neither Priests nor Deacons Do's not this contradict and make void their pretence of the Spirit 's Moving them And whereas T. E. says that neither the Scriptures nor Eusebius say He continued his Deaconship after his Defection I answer neither do they say he was cast out of his Deaconship which was my Adversarie's part to have proved but he saw that be could not make that out whereupon he says that it appears not he was a publick Preaocher concerning which I have said what is sufficient already But whatever the Preacher is the people are accountable for all the instructions they hear concerning their respective duties both to God and man How will Ellwood deny this Par. Ay but says he might his Parishioner well have replyed Those discourses made little impression upon me when I consider'd from whom they came c. p. 23. Min. Ay Indeed Is this the Quaker's Divinity to say this would have been well replyed That the Sermons of his duty to God and man made little impression upon him No pretence I am sure can justify this Reply But it 's too apparent the contrary Command of our blessed Saviour lately explained to you has made little impression upon this Quaker whereby the people are straitly enjoyn'd not to disobey their Teachers tho' Scribes and Pharisees nor to plead their ill life to excuse their own disobedience as this Quaker here encourages the people to do having to this end no doubt aforehand corrupted that text as you have heard but in quite opposit terms Whatsoever they bid them concerning their said duty to God and man that to observe and do tho' not after their works This Quaker in the mean time forgot that heavy sentence of our Saviour's Mat. 5. 19. Whosoever shall break one of these least Commandments and teach men so shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven that is excluded from the Priviledges of it I am confident he cannot think this Plea which he teaches the people will hold good at the last Day For while Goodness is Goodness and Truth is Truth whoever speaks it God will then demand an account of it from all that heard it And whatever prophane men and promoters of Satan's Kingdom may talk and vent at this distance from that Day Yet they will then find Ellwood's Plea insufficient to answer these Questions If you Discerned the actions of your Teacher to be EVIL why then did you not avoid them His Example did not compel you to be Bad And if you Discerned his Instructions to be GOOD why then did you not follow them Why did you
an Oath to a perfect man which in the Gospel is altogether forbidden c. ibid. Min. This Phrase the Lord seemeth to allow an Oath in the Law do's plainly import that an Oath was not really Lawful then Now do's the Quaker imagine that St. Basil did think an Oath was but seemingly allowable during the Law This will render him more ignorant than the Quakers are themselves who confess an Oath really allowable then So that if we make sense of St. Basil's words His meaning must needs be this Oaths in Converse are seemingly allowed by the Law though not really so In the Gospel they are not seemingly but plainly forbidden And that Basil meant Oaths in Communication we may be sure from those Ecclesiastical Canons he made Of which the 10th Canon is That He who had sworn with due Circumstances should not be forced to retract his Oath And the 29th Canon saith They who use to swear they will do evil things ought to be cured by all means by teaching them First Not to swear Lightly Secondly Not to persist in their evil purposes Whence the famous Balsamon in his Notes on these Canons concludes that St. Basil was not against lawful Oaths Par. Next he brings in his other Authentick Witness Gregory Nazianzen Who in his Dialogue framed between A. and B. against swearing discourses thus B. What if I use an Oath unwillingly but to free me from danger A. Let another allow thee that B. What if we be drawn by Necessity to give an Oath A. Why didst thou not rather dye for surely thou shouldst rather dye than do it And that he speaketh here of All Oaths even the most solemn T. E. bids us observe what he says a little before B. But what wilt thou say to me of the Old Covenant surely it doth not prohibit an Oath but requires a true one A. No wonder at that time only it was prescribed in the Law concerning Murder but now it is not Lawful for any Cause so much as to smite or beat c. p. 186 187. This is so considerable a passage that not only T. E. but thirteen of the Grand Quakers in the Book before-mention'd call'd a Treatise of Oaths do mention it as a great Argument p. 64. to shew that the Practice of Antiquity is clearly against you Min. You may observe here that T. E. do's falslly and dishonestly again Call this Tract of Nazianzen's a Dialogue against swearing when the Title is A Dialogue against Common swearers And a little after where Nazianzen saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Then it was forbidden to murder but now even to strike T. E. to make Gregory speak like a Quaker turns the last words but now it is not lawful for any Cause so much as to smite or beat Where he puts in one half of the Sentence out of his own head and it would make one think who saw not the Cheat that Nazianzen thought it unlawful for a Father or School-master to whip a Child for his faults or for a Magistrate to punish a Malefactor by stripes But to come to the Matter I will make it appear that Gregory Nazianzen believed the Lawfulness of Oaths upon weighty occasions First From his own words in this very Dialogue against Common Swearers And Secondly from his own Practice In his Dialogue He hath these words Forbear to multiply Oaths especially commonly and great Oaths and on every occasion And a little after Swear not to all things nor always that is Playing Eating when thou art crossed or when thou art blessed c. B. When then and on what occasion do you allow us to Swear A. When there is a necessity B. Very well But when will you call it a necessity when I may free a good man A. Yes B. Or when I may deliver my self from a base aspersion A. And then it is lawful Par. I see already that Gregory that Authentick Witness as T. E. calls him is against the Quakers and not against You in this matter and yet what the Quakers cite out of him relates to false and unlawful Oaths to free our selves from danger which the Holy Father will not allow nor You I believe neither It seems he positively declares Swearing in cases of necessity to be lawful But can you prove that he ever swore himself Min. That may easily be proved from one of his own Poems which is Entituled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. OATHS or PROMISES BY OATH wherein he solemnly Swears by by his Saviour to avoid such and such Sins and to perform such and such Duties of Christianity The Poem begins thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. I 've Sworn by th' Word who is my God most Great The Beginning from th' Beginning c. And a little after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. I 've Sworn that I will never entertain Dishonourable thoughts of God c. Then the Holy Man goes on 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 IF I complying with bad times Deny The Unity of th' Glorious Trinity Here you may observe he follows the Hebrew form of Swearing as he do's all along till he comes almost to the end of his Poem The Particle ' Eâ—… i. e. If being used by him above twelve times And after all comes the EXECRATION whereby T. E. may learn that his Authentick Witness did not think that This makes an Oath more unsuitable to the Nature of the Gospel p. 169. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let Others then Christ's Mercy soon obtain But let My Labours fruitless be and vain I told you before that an Oath may lawfully be used in the Dedicating our selves to God here you see Gregory useth it to that purpose as it were crying out to all says Billius that of the Apostle Be ye followers of me as I am of Christ. For I have SWORN that I may speak in the words of the Psalmist and am stedfastly purposed to keep the Righteous Iudgments of Christ. Now what do you think of the Quaker and his friends You see Nazianzen is point-blank Contrary to their pretences Par. I cannot tell what to think Well may the poor ignorant people be deluded by them little imagining there can be so much Deceit under such serious pretences demure Countenances But if this be their way of managing their Cause and their Principles be such as are not to be defended but by such wofull tricks as these Then farewell Quakerism Min. What I have said of Gregory Nazianzen may serve also to clear St. Basil further in this point for such was the intimacy and correspondence between these two that Gregory tells us in the funeral Oration he made for St. Basil that they were but as one Soul in two Bodies Now if St. Basil did so concur in all things with Nazianzen is it possible that the one should differ from
passages in Scripture that are of the greatest Concern are written in such a plain and familiar style that the weakest and most illiterate or unlearned c. shall not be able to excuse the neglect of them c. p. 216. Min. It 's T. E's old subtilties to call what he cannot answer Minute and less material passages and here he says he do's not find any thing further that is remarkable when indeed he hath left unanswered the most remarkable passage of all even that in page 91. of my Book My Argument there was this If St. Paul ' s Epistles were hard then in those days of primitive light and purity and extraordinary inspiration and even to those that were acquainted with the Original Languages wherein they were written and with the peculiar Proverbs and proprieties of them If they were hard then to those who well understood the rites and customs of the people to whom they were particularly written and who might be easily informed of the particular occasion and by that means of the true scope of them How much more difficult must they needs be to us at this distance c. This had been worth the Quaker's pains to have answered and ours to dispute about So that I have no reason to take any further notice of him when thus he skips over the main of my Arguments But neither you nor any other can remain unsatisfied of the Necessity of humane Learning if you will peruse a Treatise on that Subject written by Mr. Reyner of Lincoln Par. But methinks he yields the Cause For he tells us that it is not their manner to deride Learning or any way to undervalue it which in its place is good and serviceable p. 217. Min. I doubt His Party will scarce thank him for this Concession who for many years made it a great part of their Religion to decry it One whose Name is not affixt to his works saith that the Original of Tongues was in the days of Nimrod that Heretick Though I must tell that Learned Antiquary that Nimrod was rather an Atheist than Heretick But I pray wherein then is Learning good and serviceable In Natural Civil or Humane Affairs p. 218. Min. If so why do's he make use of it himself in a Controversie of Religion And why do's he pretend so much to esteem that Learning which the Translators of the Scripture made use of in that Work p. 264. Par. T. E. has one objection against humane Learning c. Which to me seems very considerable and to have more in it than the whole Chapter besides If says he want of Humane Learning were the Cause why the Scriptures are wrested How comes it to pass that they are wrested by those that have Humane Learning p. 219. Min. Seeing you look upon this objection as considerable you shall have the fuller Answer to it Let us look back into former Ages and we shall find that No Heretick was famous for Learning in the two first Centuries Montanus was for Inspiration as are the Quakers and as horrible a Wrester of the Scriptures as they are Calling himself the Paraclet or Comforter that was for to come Manes was a Persian slave void of all ingenuous literature and education and He broached the Manechaean Heresie Arâ—…ius was a Man of plausible eloquence but of no great Learning And I would have T. E. shew us any one of the Hereticks that did come near to the profound Learning which was in those Glorious Lights of the Church Iustin Martyr Irenaeus Clemens Alexandrinus Athanasius Basil Nazianzen Chrysostome Hierome Ambrose Augustine Eusebius Theodoret c. These Holy Fathers were some of them admirably skill'd in Languages all of them in Histories Laws Rites and Customs yea in most of the Liberal Sciences all which they got by Education And he must be a Stranger to primitive times who knows not how God made use of the Learning and Eloquence of these Orthodox Fathers to confound Heresies is they did arise up in the World It the Hereticks with their little learning did wrest some places of Scripture these Hero's did rectifie such abused places by which they both baffled their Adversaries and confirmed the Truth So that the Heretick got as little by those attempts as Ellwood has by this Allegation Which gives us but an opportunity to set an higher value upon Learning seeing God has been pleased to use it as a means to secure His Holy Word in times of old but to go on We may observe that when by the furious inundation of the barbarous Nations into the Roman Empire Learning fell into decay and when Arts and Sciences were discouraged and neglected at the same time all manner of Corruptions crept into the Church and as ignorance encreased Errors multiplied So that most of the present evil opinions of the Church of Rome had their original in those Unlearned Ages from about 700 years 〈◊〉 Christ till about 〈◊〉 after About the Midnight of which darkness there was scarce any Learning left in the World It is wonderful saith Sabellions what a General oblivion of Arts had seized on Mens minds These were the unhappy times which bred and nursed up Invocation of Saints Worship of Images Purgatory with all the Fanatical Visions and Revelations Miracles c. Then began Shrines Pilgrimages Reliques Purchasing of Pardons and the Popes attempts for an Universal Monarchy To serve which ends Scripture was wrested Fathers Councils and Records corrupted and forged while the World was a sleep and for want of Learning discerned not the Cheat which is now so gross and palpable And 't is well worth our Notice what the Learned Hottinger observes viz. That the Canon of the Council of Vienna Anno 1312. Commanding the study of the Oriental Languages in Europe was the happy dawning of the blessed Reformation For while ignorance overspread the World the Pope carried the Bell away and had it generally at his Devotion And Canus confesseth that their Doctors for 300 years together understood neither Greek nor Hebrew And Lelius Tifernus Anno 1470. had much ado to get leave to read Greek in the University of Paris for as Epenâ—…aeus tells us Com. ad 2 Tim. 3. In that Age to understand Greek was suspected and to have skill iâ—… Hebrew almost enough to make a Man accounted an Heretick In those times they could wrest Ecâ—… duo gladii and Deus fecit duo Luminaria to prove the Popâ—… above the Emperour But as soon as God restored Learning the Reformation immediately followed Which the wisest Papists foresaw Hence Platina relates that Pope Paul the second who lived about forty years before Luther was wont to Call all that studied humane Learning Hereticks frequently admonishing the Romans not to bring up their Children in Learning Hence that famous saying of Ludovicus Vives his Master to him which might very well fit the Mouth of George Fox The better Grammarian thou art the worse Divine thou wilt