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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A78553	An apology for the ministers of the county of Wilts, in their actings at the election of Members for the approaching Parliament. In answer to a letter sent out of the said county, pretending to lay open the dangerous designes of the clergy, in reference to the approaching Parliament. Wherein is shewed, the notorious falshood of the said letter: how injurious it is to the gentlemen elected: and the dangerous designe of it against the ministry. By some of the defamed ministers of the Gospel in the same county. Humphrey Chambers, D.D. John Strickland. Adoniram Bifield. Peter Ince.	Chambers, Humphrey, 1598 or 9-1662.; Strickland, John, 1600 or 1601-1670.; Byfield, Adoniram, d. 1660.; Ince, Peter, b. 1614 or 1615.	1654 (1654)	Wing C1914; Thomason E808_9; ESTC R207523	21,209	31

AN APOLOGY FOR THE Ministers of the County of Wilts in their Actings at the election of Members for the approaching PARLIAMENT In Answer to a Letter sent out of the said County Pretending to lay open the dangerous Designes of the Clergy in reference to the approaching Parliament Wherein is shewed The notorious falshood of the said Letter How injurious it is to the Gentlemen elected and the dangerous designe of it against the Ministry By some of the Defamed Ministers of the Gospel in the same County Humphrey Chambers D.D. John Strickland Adoniram Bifield Peter Ince Neh. 6.8 Then I sent unto him saying There are no such things done as thou sayest but thou feignest them out of thy own heart 1 Cor. 4.5 Therefore judge nothing before the time untill the Lord come who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will manifest the counsels of the hearts and then shall every man have praise of God London Printed for Ralph Smith at the Bible in Cornhill neer the Royall Exchange 1654. An Apology for the Ministers of the County of Wilts in their actings at the Election of Members for the Approaching Parliament ALthough Christians in generall especially the Ministers of the Gospel must look and prepare for reproaches in this life and may weare them as a crown of Glory when they are unjustly cast upon them yet the Apostle Pauls often endeavours to quit himselfe from sleightings and slanders that his Ministry might not be blamed or blemished through him seems to us a sufficient warrant for any Christians or Ministers to seek to remove such slanderous imputations as being openly and falsly raised against them tend to the dishonour of Christianity or Ministry or both especially when the Actors in this injury are high pretenders to an extraordinary pitch of holinesse religion and piety whose words may therefore plead for credit where they come This is an Apology for appearing in print at this time in Answer to a Letter lately printed and published sent out of Wiltshire to a Gentleman in London pretending to lay open the dangerous designes of the Clergy in reference to the approaching Parliament This Letter pretended to be written to a friend in London was intended and calculated as we see by the hasty printing and publishing of it generally for all England publiquely to calumniate the Clergy and Gentlemen chosen to serve in the next Parliament for the County of Wilts and to prepare contempt and scorn for them in the hearts of all men so far as the credit or cunning of the Compiler of this Letter could possibly prevaile for that end yet it is said to be written by a true friend to the publique interest and all peaceable men to which we have not much to say though the spirit of this Letter seem not to subscribe the testimony which the writer thereof bears to himselfe But our main businesse is with the Letter it selfe the dangerous designe whereof is manifest viz. to render the Clergy as he cals them despicable in the eyes of the people which wil more fully appeare in the Answer to the Letter it selfe In which the Authour pretends to answer the expectation of the Gentleman to whom he writes in giving a true account of passages relating to the choosing of Members to sit in Parliament for the County of Wilts but how much he hath disappointed the expectation of his friend wil appeare to the impartial Reader when we shal have discovered the falsness both of his Narrative and Invective It seems this man was very angry and therefore quarrels with all that stand in his way and some are apt to think it was because himselfe was not chosen at least because his friends were passed by and if this be true the ingenuity of the Noble Theban that went home rejoycing that there were so many men fitter then himselfe to serve the publike would have saved him all this labour We wil not so far prejudice that Noble Gentleman whom the Author of this Letter hath sufficiently described and unworthily traduced and whom by way of honour we shal name Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper as to make any Answer to what is in this Letter charged upon him he needs no Advocate in what he did acting as we are confidently assured with a publique spirit and desirous to doe his Countrey reall service Nor wil we so far lessen the esteem of those Gentlemen chosen in our Country to serve in the next Parliament as to undertake their defence against that reproach which is boldly and generally cast upon them in this Letter aetatem habent We are much assured having particular knowledge of the Religious integrity and eminent faithfulnesse of many of them that they have no way deserved that black calumny he seeketh to fasten upon them as unworthy time-serving men and such as never did the State any service Si accusasse sufficiat quis erit Innocens Neither doe we know why this single accuser should think so highly of htmself as to expect that he should bear down with the weight and warrant of his own Letter the reputation of those Gentlemen whom their Countrey hath honoured and in assurance of their fidelity entrusted with whatsoever is dear unto them in this world But since the Pen-man of this Letter whether upon his own account or with advice of others we know not is pleased to vent the heat of his indignation against the Clergie as he is pleased to stile them and to set some of us by name as ringleaders of the faction in the front of those Ministers of the Gospel in this Countrey whom in his Rhetorick he cals a Scottish faction Politique state Parsons a time-serving generation self-seeking Parsons the corrupt Clergy Rigid foolish men a corrupt self-seeking generation of men and to bend all his forces against us and them as carrying on some dangerous designe in our activity about this election of Members to the Parliament concerning which he makes such a horrible outcry We conceive our selves bound in duty towards God and for the upholding of the credit of our Ministery so much reproached by him to examine the Bil of high complaints laid in against us The accusation in which we with the rest of the brethren of the Association are charged in this Letter is either by way of Narrative or Invective and we shal answer unto both By way of Narrative it is affirmed for truth first That the Ringleaders of this faction were Dr. Chambers Mr. Byfield Strickland these with the rest of the brethren of their Association gathered together a great number of people and taught them their lesson beforehand To which we answer First see how this man stumbles at the threshold the truth is the first of those mentioned in the Catalogue his acting in the businesse except upon the day of election was next to doing nothing in it which we mention not because any of us know any cause why we or any other should be either

Christ An. By that person whom he reproachfully calleth one Stone is meant Mr. William Stone of Sarum a man of known sufferings for and fidelity to the publique and whose integrity in point of Religion for ought we know or have heard of is unblemished He desired us to let the world know that neither the words ascribed to him by the inditer of this letter nor any to the same purpose were spoken by him howbeit he seeth no cause to extract or blush at them if he had spoken them though he abhors the spiteful commentary which is made upon them he knoweth very wel how to distinguish betwixt Christs Church and mens lusts and wisheth that distinction were better studied and held on all sides but as to the speech fully ascribed to him he looketh upon it as a meer figment invented to bring him in within the scrape that he might have a share in the reproach the writer of this letter was resolved with his best skil to cast upon the Clergy and all that were friends unto them The other personal charge is in these words Sir I had a sight of a letter writ by one Burges a person of the confederacy sent to one of his brethren in this County his words are as followeth Sir I hope you will be active to engage all that ever you can to appeare with us for such men as will be valiant for the truth and be ready to meet Dr. Chambers Mr. Byfield Strickland Ince c. and that we may not be divided there shall be a Last of the ten to be chosen given to every one that appeareth for the best interest let us not be accessary to our own ruine and give occasion to the succeeding generation to curse us by not putting forth our interest to the utmost for choosing right men If we remember the last men that met at Westminster what they were voting by and withall how the monster of their malice was even brought to the birth it will make us active for a better choice Besides what this Parson writ in his letter he told the party before one Mr. Dyer that there was a commission comming out for ejecting Ministers and that he would be in danger of being outed his living that should not appeare with the Ministers at the election To this we answer By that person whom he reproachfully calls one Burges a parson of the confederacy he meaneth Mr. Daniel Burgesse whom we look upon as a godly and able Minister of Jesus Christ but no Parson of the confederacy for we own no such thing in his sence we are indeed in an association with many others of our godly brethren in a way of Christian communion but not of a subtile combination That the Author had a sight of that Letter written by Mr. Burges we will not deny but we are assured that he hath not truly recited the said Letter as appeares by a copy of it which we have under Mr. Burges his hand his words in the close of the letter are not as they are above recited but as followeth I pray you let us not be accessary to own ruine and give the comming generation cause to curse us by not exerting our selves to the utmost for the choosing of sound and faithfull men if we remember the last men that met at Westminster and what they were voting to ruine have not we cause to adore that hand of providence that dashed their designe the monster of their malice when it was even come unto the birth and now points us our to a better choice the same Lord give us wisdome timely to improve it The ingenious Reader cannot but observe a considerable difference and so Mr. Burges is not obliged to own that letter as his which his accuser hath so mangled yet because he doth own it for the substance we say that we see nothing in it that would have turned to his reproach if it had fallen into the hands of one that had been willing to give it a candid Interpretation For these words so confidently affirmed to be spoken by Mr. Burges to the party before one Mr. Dyer That there was a commission comming out touching Ministers and that he would be in danger of being outed of his living that should not appeare with the Ministers at the Election Some of us have spoken with Mr. Burges and Mr. Dyer and they confidently affirm the charge to be fals throughout and deny the words so that we may well apply the following words unto the Author The world may see how he maketh lyes his refuge and hath recourse to carnal weapons Besides this Narrative by way of Invective he chargeth us 1. With being of the Scottish faction and promoting of the Scottish interest To this we answer 1. In general that we can the better beare their bitter revilings because the most eminent servants of God in their generations after whom we are not worthy to be named Luther Calvin and others met with the self-same usage not only from Popish Adversaries but even many who pretended to higher attainments in religion scorned derided and loaded them with reproach Doubtlesse the Gospel would have lesse Reproach and the Professors thereof more love amongst them if at the length these Scripture rules might obtaine place and practice in good earnest amongst those that name the name of Christ Let us not judge one another any more but judge this rather that no man put a stumbling blocke or an occasion to fall in his brothers way And againe Let all bitternesse and wrath and anger and clamour and evil-speaking be put away from you with all malice But to come more particularly to the sharpe Invective against us These words Faction Interest and Scottish joyned with them are words of late much come into use amongst us but of that ambiguity when they are used by way of Invective that few can tell the meaning of them it lying in the brest of him that doth impose them upon others to expresse in what sense he meanes them and therefore till the Author speakes out what he intends by this charge we shall only say at present that when there hath been so much blood unhappily shed betwixt the Professors of the Gospel in England and Scotland it savoureth not much of a Christian spirit now that there is a hope of a Vnion betwixt the Nations to foment a perpetual enmity betwixt them by making Scottish still a proverbial expression of what is evil What we can probably imagine to be his meaning in this Invective will be fully answered in the examination of some of these Invectives that follow 2. He doth charge us that we make the oppression of Tythes and fat Benefices our great Diana which makes us in businesse so active to uphold them To this we answer First Whether we doe make Tythes and worldly gaine and fat Benefices our great Diana the accuser we are sure cannot tell possibly we may be of another frame of spirit before