lately been Hearers of the said J. B. Priest of Wareham to which said Meeting also resorted several of the said Priest's Hearers After the Meeting I went that Evening with some Friends to Croton being about a Mile distant from the place where the Meeting was where a Friend late one of J. B's Hearers did acquaint me That J. B. raged sore against the Quakers I replied to the Friend It was the manner of some Priests so to do where Truth spreads and where such as had been their Followers were convinced and turned from them The Friend did farther acquaint me That J. B. railed in his Sermons against the Quakers charging them to be led by the spirit of Antichrist and that it was the spirit of Antichrist they directed People to or words to this purpose and that some who heard him being dissatisfied therewith did afterward speak of it and John Barber being spoken to he did assert it again and challenged to make it out against any Quaker that would meet him before a Congregation of People After I had heard the Friend I spoke something to him as not to mind what the Priest said for I hoped he and the rest who were convinced of the Truth were satisfied the Priest's Charge was false He said He was satisfied but some who had heard of the Priest's Challenge were desirous he should be met Farther adding That if he should not be met he and many others would boast as tho' the Quakers durst not Dispute with them I would have put the thing still from me it being cross to the Inclination of my own Mind and I being engaged for several Days in Truth 's Service which was the occasion of my being in Cheshire at that time though I was not altogether easie concerning it so I left it that Evening not giving the Friend farther answer Next Morning it was upon my Mind and the Friend again spoke of it so it resting pretty much before me I bid the Friend write down what he heard the Priest say which he did and the words were to this effect John Barber saith He hath said it and will say it again That the Light and Spirit the Quakers are led by and direct People to is the spirit of Antichrist and that of any of the Quakers would meet him he would eng age to prove it by Disputation before an Assembly of People The Friend that writ had also heard J. B. repeat and vindicate it When I had read it it was in my Heart to write a few words under it which was to this effect Friend if this be thy Assertion and that thou wilt according to thy Challenge undertake to-prove it by Disputation before an Assembly of People against any Quaker that will meet thee then Subscribe thy Name to it and I do undertake on the behalf of the Light and Spirit the Quakers are led by and direct People unto to meet thee and stand by the Defence of the Truth against thy wicked Charge leaving to my Friend John Low the Bearer hereof with thee to agree of Time and Place To which I subscribed my Name Time and Place was agreed upon betwixt J. B. the Opponent and my Friend J. L. on my behalf who was to be Defendant which was to be at Croton the 20th of that Instant the 4th Month 1676. To which Place appointed came John Barber in order to prove his Charge and to his assistance John Davis Priest of Fradsham and John Cheyney Priest of Burtonwood-Chappel these were Opponents John Cheyney gives some Relation himself of his coming to this Dispute in p. 1 2. of his Warning to Souls how he was in suspense what do he says He sought the Lord determined to go though not without some doubts in his Mind Which gives ground to any wise Man to believe he had not an Answer from God nor a Command to go for if so what needed he to have doubted But when he comes to the place he says He was no ways engaged in the Dispute but came as an Hearer where at present I leave him John Davis was the first of the Three Priests that I heard speak who offered to be a Moderator in the Dispute betwixt John Barber and me When he ceased I had a few words upon my Mind 〈◊〉 speak to the People when I had spoken them J. D. said He hath spoken well Afterwards I read J. B's Charge asserted in to be False and put him upon the Proof thereof J. B. Propounded an Argument for Proof viz. That the Quakers asserted God Man to be in them But failing in Proof he Argued again That the Quakers asserted the Totum Christum or the Whole Christ to be in them and that they denied the Lord that bought them I denied his Proposition That the Quakers asserted the Whole Christ to be in them and asserted his Conclusion to be false saying The Quakers do not deny the Lord that bought them yet I owned that Christ was in us to which J. B. replied Either the Whole Christ or No Christ Such was J. B's Ignorance I shall 〈…〉 some Scriptures which agree with my owning Christ to be in us Col. 1.26 27. Even the Mystery which hath been hid from Ages and from Generations but 〈◊〉 is made manifest to his Saints To 〈…〉 what is the Riches of the Glory of this Mystery amongst the Gentiles which 〈◊〉 Christ In You the Hope of Glory 2 Cor. 13.3 Since ye seek is Proof of Christ Speaking In Me which to you ward is not work but mighty In You Vers â— Examine your selves whether ye be in the Faith prove your selves know you not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is In You except ye be Reprobates John 17.23 I In Them and thâ—â— in me John 14.20 As that day ye shall know that I am in my Father and you in me and I In You. 1 Pet. 1 11. Searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was In Them did signifie when it testified before-hand the Suffering of Christ and the Glory that should follow I might add many more Scriptures but these may suffice for the Reader 's Information and Satisfaction if unprejudiced To J. B's Assertion That either the Whole Christ or No Christ was in us I replied That the Whole Christ or No Christ is in us I deny For the Heaven and the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain Christ the Lord how much less then should the Whole Christ be in us Yet unto us God hath given of his Spirit by Measure and the Earnest of his Spirit is in our Hearts And is not this according to Scriptures Col. 1.16 Ephes 3.9 John 1.3 All things both in Heaven and in Earth visible and invisible were created by Jesus Christ for he is Lord of Lords and King of Kings Rev. 17.14 19.16 1 Tim. 6.15 Behold the Heaven and Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee 1 Kings 8.27 And is not Christ and God one John 10.30 14.9 10 11.
aright to my benefit satisfaction and comfort He was a Skilful Labourer in God's Vineyard knowing as well how to refresh water and gather in due season as to prune and keep up the Fence He was a Skilful and Valiant Soldier of the Lamb in Innocency shooting God's Arrows aright against Babylon and his Bow abode in its Strength He was not afraid of the Archers that shot at him having on the Shield of Faith which repelled their envious Darts His Fighting was not with Carnal but Spiritual Weapons under the Banner of Christ his Captain which is Universal Love in which Love he was rooted and grounded and flourished like a fresh and fruitful Tree more and more to the end of his time I was with him at a Meeting the day next before his Sickness began being but three days before his departure in which Meeting the Lord's Wisdom and Power in a great measure appeared with him opening many excellent things by him and his Service therein was great treating very fully and clearly of the sundry Dispensations of God towards Mankind in the several Ages of the World according to the several States and Conditions thereof in order that Mankind that had been in a lost and estranged Estate in Transgression might come again to be reconciled unto and acquainted with God their Creator and with him enjoy Everlasting Peace and Happiness Shewing also That God who at sundry times and in divers manners by his Angels and Prophets spoke unto Mankind formerly hath in these last days spoken to his People by his Son whom he hath appointed Heir of all things by whom also he made the World who in the fulness of time came in the Body prepared for him Born of the Virgin Mary in which he spoke and did many excellent things and suffered many things yea even unto Death leaving to all that should believe in him an Example that they should follow his steps who laid down his Life for their Reconciliation to God and Redemption from all Iniquity And also according to the Scriptures he very clearly and largely declared and testified That the largest clearest and most general and excellent Dispensation of God's Love in his Son Christ Jesus is as it was in the Apostles time in this our Age and Generation in and by the Light and Spirit of Christ manifested in and unto his People who walk in Faithfulness and Obedience thereunto to which he Exhorted all and the Praise and Glory of all he ascribed to God whose Honour he sought and not his own The substance of which sound Declaration and living Testimony by the Lord's Power that attended it was so Imprinted in my Mind and Memory that day that I believe I shall never forget it So the Lord who had made him comely both outwardly and inwardly and adorned him with a meek low and quiet Spirit and with Wisdom clearly to discern the deep things of God in a great measure and to divide the Word of Truth aright in tender Love and sound Judgment was with him to the end of his time and when he had accomplished his great Service which the Lord called him unto and accompanied him in and blessed with success to the good of many he having fought the good Fight and kept the Faith and finished his Course laid down his Head in Peace and Died in the Lord the righteous Judge whose Cross in his time he having cheerfully born now enjoyeth the Crown of Everlasting Life and Righteousness and being at rest from his Labours his Works follow him and the Testimony of his Works Writings and Services may be of Benefit and Service in the Generations to come and his sweet Memorial will Live with the Just for ever He Departed the 11th Day of the 3d Month 1696. Henry Mollineux Given forth the 19th of the 8th Month 1697. Christopher Winn 's Testimony concerning Dear Roger Haydock Deceased AS touching this my dearly beloved Friend I cannot easily be silent but express something in Testimony concerning him for a three fold Reason First Because the Lord made him an Instrument to Preach the Word by which my hard and unbelieving Heart was reached and tender'd for although I had heard the Truth preached before by some Friends yet it was no more than a Wonder to me remaining still in gainsaying until it pleased God by his Ministry to open my Heart to receive the Word spoken by him by his explaination of that Prayer our Lord taught his Disciples and shewing who had right to call God Father was I convinced at which I often marvelled remembring my Zeal in my young Years for the repeating of it according to Tradition yet so it seemed good to the All wise God in whom I have believed and do reverently Bless his Name for sending his Messenger of Glad-tidings to Proclaim the acceptable Day and Preach the Gospel for which at that time he suffer'd Bonds and Imprisonment having only obtained Liberty for a little season which he bestowed in visiting the Churches I am through Mercy amongst others a Seal of his Ministry which he was careful as well as prudent to adorn in Conversation using sometimes in familiar Discourse to say He that Preaches abroad let him Preach at home He was self-denying for the Truth 's sake he was always in a Care and often in Admonition lest any should dishonour the Truth by out-going or disorderly walking whose Expression sometimes was To Walk in Truth was better than to Talk of it Secondly Because of my knowledge of him after my Convincement it falling to my lot of later time to be a Member of that particular Meeting he belonged to in which time he shewed that in him had God settled a Care as well to Build up in the Faith as to beget to it helpful to further and promote Vertue in us all and in no wise Censorious as to the Testimony of young Friends nor frowning whether they appeared before or after him Yea further without boasting I may say he was a Man greatly fearing the Lord apt to Teach prudent to Advise as well as able to do it I observed in difficult matters few too hard for him but by that Wisdom that was in him he had strength to go thâ—ow it So that his Death was a Surprisal as well as a felt and known Loss to the Churches amongst whom he frequently conversed and because thereof was their Hearts affected with Sorrow It may appear by his Journal he made use of his time leaving Wife and Children and Temporal Affairs to visit the Churches in these and other Nations My Third and Last Reason that hath been a motive to give this brief Relation is That near and true Respect I bore towards him in his Service amongst us in so much that with a tendered Mind I now remember him and a sence of his Spirit my Heart tenders And though to him to Dye is Gain yet to us Loss But who may say to God What dost Thou Or Why is it
Journey was of great Service to me in my young Days and indeed a Time of Service to many in that County many were Convinced that Journey and many young ones strengthned and refreshed many drawings about that time had he had into that County of Chester and of great Service it was the Lord wonderfully blessed his Labours and there remains many Seals of his Ministry amongst which was my dear Brother John Low who was Convinced of the Truth and lived and dyed in It a faithful Man also his dear Wife Children and Servants besides many that way at which the Priests began to Rage and prepare War because many refused to put into their Mouths and could Buy their Merchandize no more receiving the Invitation that was free Come buy Wine and Milk without Money and without Price It was a glorious Time indeed and by the plenteous Preaching of the Gospel the Lord opened many Hearts to receive it as he did the Heart of Lydia of old and the Word of God grew in our Hearts that had received it in Love and the Lord opened my Mouth and touched my Tongue as with a Live Coal from his Altar that I might testifie to that Word of Life that Converts the Heart and gives Understanding to the Simple In this Time was he very Helpful and of great Service to me being always ready to lend an Hand of Help to weak ones to promote every good Word and Work About that time I with my Cousin Elizabeth Hodson went to visit Friends in some parts of Yorkshire and he brought us on our way as far as Bradley where we had a good Meeting where William Ellis and some others were Convinced there he left us and we travelled some Weeks in that County and had good Service for Truth and returned Truth prospering and Zeal and Fervency for it in our Hearts encreased About this time the Lord raised a Concern of Love in our Hearts each to other relating to Marriage In which Concern we felt the Lord's special Hand to order us It continued betwixt us for the space of five Years we never Created Opportunities to discourse it nor any Journey on purpose was made about it during that Time yet in the Way of Providence we met together sometimes in which we had some Discourse the Lord still evidencing to us his good Pleasure therein in which time we laboured in our respective Gifts in the Work of the Ministry being truly united in Spirit and daily sensible of one another's Exercises though much absent one from another outwardly he being concerned in Travels in the Labour of the Gospel though much a Prisoner yet the Lord made way for the Work 's sake that he travelled in many Parts of this Nation both North and South as also through the Nation of Ireland where he took Sickness which was then some Exercise to me being at such a distance but the Lord shewed me that at that time he should not Dye and blessed be the Lord he returned well with the Reward of his Labours Peace and Satisfaction After that he stayed a while and visited the Churches up and down in England where the Lord wonderfully blessed his Labours many were convinced and turned to Christ Jesus their Teacher and the Convinced were strengthned and built up together in that most holy Faith which gives Victory over the World and when clear of these Services here he went up to London to the Yearly-Meeting and found drawings for Holland and Germany which after the Yearly-Meeting was over he faithfully answered together with Roger Longworth his Companion at that time the Lord greatly blessed his Labours and made them effectual to many the same time I was at London with him at the Yearly-Meeting where we were refreshed together being devoted to the Work and Service of God which the Lord blessed and us in it I with dear Mary Warrel travelled from London west-ward through several Counties as Hampshire Dorsetshire Devonshire as far as Plymouth so back to Bristol and homeward The Lord was with us and blessed our Labours and we return'd in Peace After our return Home my dear Friend returned back from Holland that Winter and about this time the Lord gave us to understand our Concern of Marriage was near to be accomplished betwixt us in which we had regard to the Lord's Hand and Counsel It was compleated the Spring following the 6th Day of the 3d Month 1682. before many faithful Friends and others the Lord 's glorious Presence and Power was with us as a Crown upon his Ordinance And as we had evidence in our selves of the Lord's hand with us guiding us in that Affair so the Lord raised up his Testimony in the Word of Life in others And I may further say The Lord who joyned us together blessed Us when together so that we lived in great Love and Peace 14 Years and five Days in which time we were never straitned one towards another always of one Heart and of one Mind purely knit together in the Covenant of Life so that the Grave hath not broken our Fellowship it goes beyond the Grave where we can enjoy the Spirits of the Just the Separation that is made is only of Bodies not of Spirits Praises to God therefore My dear Husband as he was a faithful Man so was he a growing Man doubled his Talents and encreased his Gifts both as a Minister and as a Help in Government in the Church who being very Skilful and Wise therein settled many Affairs comfortably in the Church not only in our own County but Neighbouring Counties I may say of him He was wholly redeemed from the World altogether the Lord's in all Respects given up to him I saw his Growth daily and sometime rejoyced in it yet in my Joy there was some Heaviness looking he was nigh the Perfection of his Gifts and in a little time must go to his Rewards The sence of this came upon me with Sorrow when he was last in Holland which occasioned me to turn over all Affairs to see whether I had given the Lord occasion to withdraw so great a Blessing from me but blessed be the Lord I found all Accounts straight and no Rebuke upon my Spirit any way having always given him to the Lord according to that Promise I made before I took him by the Hand before so many Witnesses which was To give him to the Lord as long as he lived which the great Lord before whom only I promised helped me to the performance of so that my Heart was never strait there through our time and I may further say as freely as I gave so freely was I given to the Lord my dear Husband often expressing his great Love to me above all Visibles as the best of enjoyment he had in this World yet would say I was not too dear to give up to serve the Truth because in it I was made a Blessing to him more comfortable every Day than other he would
often express it and truly so was he to me every Day every Way and in every Respect no Tongue nor Pen can relate the full of that Comfort and Joy we had in God and one in another Yet we find such hath been the Pleasure of God concerning them he hath loved to try them in the most near and dear Enjoyments that it might be manifest he was loved above all that no Gift or Gifts may be preferred above the Giver but that he may be all in all and over all who is and is to come God blessed for ever and ever And truly there hath been great Care and Watchfulness one over another and over our own Spirits to see that our Love though great was bounded and kept within its Compass the Truth being its Original the Alpha and Omega also Although it hath been the Pleasure of God to try me in the removal of so great a Blessing from me sure it is that I may be the more inward to him and have his Love always in my Remembrance who gives and takes away and in all Bless his Name My Soul travels that I may always follow his footsteps of Self-denial in all things that I may finish my Course in this World to the Glory of God as he did and have my part in that Mansion of Glory with him eternal in the Heavens though it be my Lot to stay for a time in this World of Troubles yet I have hope in Immortality and Eternal Blessedness when time in this World shall be no more My dear Husband was a Man very Laborious in his time though he had several long weak Fits of Feavers and Agues yet when a little well regarded the Lord's Business above all Besides his Travels about home and here in England he travelled through Scotland and twice in Holland and Germany since we were Married and had great Services for the Lord in many Places as I doubt not but Accounts may be given and through Mercy for two Years last had his Health well and is gathered to his place like a Shock of Corn in its due Season and rests with the Lord for ever I have sometimes considered the suddenness and manner of his Removal although it was ordered by Providence that I was far remote at that Time in in the Service of Truth which was with his free Consent and Approbation being brought on my Way by him so far as Talk-Hill in Staffordshire where we parted in great Love and Sweetness the Glory of the Lord resting upon our Spirits in which Breathings ascended up to the Lord for each other And though I saw not his going away yet have seen in what he went that it was full of Zeal and Fervency in the Love of God and Life of Righteousness So in pure Submission to the Will of God I conclude this short but true Relation of my Worthy Dear Husband whose Name and Memorial is blessed and will live and be of a sweet Savour in the Hearts of the Righteous through Ages I am Truths Friend and a well-wisher to the Souls of all People Eleanor Haydock Penketh the 15th of the 3d Month 1697. Ashort Testimony to the Lord's Kindness and to the Life Ministry Sufferings Services and Death of our Worthy Friend Roger Haydock who departed this Life the 11th Day of the 3d Month 1696. WE are deeply affected and bowed in Soul in a sense of the Lord 's free Love and Goodness unto us in looking upon and visiting us in the time of our Uncleanness when we were unworthy of the least of his Mercies Oh! then was his Arm revealed for our Help Redemption and Salvation a Work of so great Kindness as ought ever to be had in Remembrance in that neither we noâ— any of the Children of Men can sufficiently set forth so great a Favour the Concern is of great Moment the only begotten Son of God laid down his Life to effect it We Travel in our several Measures that we and all the Lord 's gathered People may ever dwell in a Worthiness that we may be in the Lords hand Instruments to work the appointed work of our Day And under this tender sense we found our Hearts open to give the Salutation of unseigned Love to all our dear Friends where these may come with this brotherly Exhortation That you may all stir up one another to the Duty you owe unto the Lord that as a Church and People of our God's peculiar gathering you and we may be presented to him without Spot or Wrinkle And dear Brethren the dealings of the Lord with his Instruments and faithful Servants and the removing of them from us hath considerable Weight upon our Spirits and raiseth a holy Desire in us that we and you may not abate but encrease our Zeal Diligence and Labour that the Lords good Work begun may not stop but go on and prosper and that the great Lord of the Harvest may never want faithful Workmen Next hereunto O Reader We recommend to thy perusal this following Account of our said Friend Roger Haydock First As touching the manner of his Life we having several of us known and conversed with him from the time of his Convincement can say of it His Conversation was without Covetousness of Self-denial he was a good Pattern in Habit Plain in Meats and Drinks very Temperate and in his Actions and Concerns Careful that what he did might answer the better Part in all and justly offend none Walking he would often say he preferred before Talking and laboured that others might walk as they had Christ for an Example Secondly As to his Ministry though we need say little because it was known in most places where these may come We have from good Experience this Account to give That he preached the Gospel freely both in this and other Nations always possessed with a Care that Life and Vertue might put him forth and manifest him to his Auditors very weighty and deep things did often drop from his Mouth and although he had sometimes sharp Arrows to shoot at Babylon and against all Hypocrites and Double-Minded yet many times a Living Sweet Consolating Stream was conveyed through him to water the tender Plants and very often a Morsel to the Poor and Needy Very tender and kind to his Fellow-Labourers yea to the least Child that from a right Concern opened a Mouth for the Lord and for the sakes of such did many times sit whole Meetings through in Silence very kind in that Respect to Strangers yea such was the Care of this good Man that Friends might truly reap benefit in their Meetings that in many of our Week-day Meetings he used to wait amongst us in Silence that none might too much depend upon Words or be surfeited through the multitude thereof And when at any time he had upon him a Concern to visit Churches in remote Parts his manner was to lay before and wait for the Concurrence of this our Meeting which many times occasioned
Righteousness The Faithful City William Ellis London the 20th of the 6th Month 1697. A Short Plain and True Testimony for and in the behalf of 〈◊〉 â—ceased Friend Roger Haydock ALthough I heard that some Friends had Intentions to Write something by way of Testimony as a Memorial of this Servant of Christ above named yet upon Consideration I did not find my self clear and easie though delayed for a time except I did cast in my Mite amongst the rest having had knowledge of him since he was convinced and received the Truth which was in the Year 1667 since which time I observed that he was still in a growing Condition in the Truth to his last End as a Tree planted near the River of Life in God's Garden which was always Green whose Branch withered not but spread over the Wall that they without might be induced to come in to be made partakers of the Fruit of the blessed Vine Christ in due season as faithfulness to the Call and Gift of God was lived in He was a Man that had good Will for all and true Love especially to the Household of Faith Poor or Rich was no Respecter of Persons in those Cases but had an Eye to the Inward State and Condition so that as Truth did encrease and prosper in any his Love encreased for it was his great delight to see Truth prosper and Friends in it for he loved Friends for Truth 's sake God endued him with Wisdom from above that he had a sense of Inward States so that he could divide the Word aright Bread and sweet Wine for Obedient Children and Judgment for the Rebellious But with such Wisdom and Moderation that gained upon many of them so as to consider what it was they rebelled against even the Light of Jesus Inwardly discovering that which is Evil. He certainly learn'd of Christ to be Meek and Low in Heart very clear from an exalted Spirit but ready to be a Servant to the least Child I believe it was pleasant to him to be doing Good he was a Man given to Hospitality himself and very Careful of the Poor I heard him once say in a Meeting upon occasion We have enough let not the Poor want He was a Man of good Utterance in his Declaration and the Gospel he preached he lived in and preached it Freely as he had Freely received it from God it was the Power of God that comes over the Power of Satan in Man His Doctrine dropped as the Dew and small Rain to the refreshing of the tender Buds and Branches in the Vine Christ and comforting the stronger that did abide therein he was an Help and Support to the Cast-down of which I have some Experience and although he was younger than I yet I had a great esteem of him for Truth 's sake and did honour him as an Elder yea with double honour for he was worthy who ruled his own House well and took care of the Church of Christ I have been often upon occasion in his Family and never law better Government in any Family wheresoever I came than there He hath left a good Example behind him to his dear Wife who observeth it diligently He was faithful in that Work God caled him unto which many are Witnesses of in his own Native Country besides his Services in other Nations as Scotland Ireland Holland and Germany He hath been several times a Sufferer for Truth but never daunted but reign'd in Authority in the Power of God as a King over the Power of Darkness and Persecution which was no more to him than a little Dust under his Feet I was with him in a Meeting where some in Office as was said assisted with a great Company of Rude Fellows with great Staves making a noise like Mad Men finding him at Prayer had like to have pulled him off his Knees but were something restrained of which he tooâ— no notice but when he did rise they laid hold on him and hurried him away out of the Meeting with an howling noise like a Company of Wolves that had made a Prey upon a Lamb for so he behaved himself all which did not so much touch nor hurt him as to alter his Countenance as I perceived But after the Rude People were gone Friends continued their Meeting and there being some from several Meetings we had a good Meeting for the Power of Darkness was driven away and the Enemies blinded And this was at Freckleton in the Fylde where there is now a settled Meeting and hath been for several Years He was also Prisoner for the Truth at Lancaster-Castle several times Now in as much as I am fully satisfied that his Spirit is Crowned with Life Eternal in Heaven where my Spirit in some Measure hath unity with him as he is brought to my Remembrance Why should not his Name which is precious be kept in a living Remembrance from one Generation to another for the stirring up others to follow him as he followed Christ That over all God may have all the Honour the Glory and the Praise who alone is worthy for this my Friend in his Life time never sought it to himself but sought the Honour of God only He was of excellent Service in these parts where he lived upon Truth 's Account but what he did it was by the Assistance of God's Holy Spirit and Grace given unto him so nothing to be attributed to Man tho' he was a good Man for out of the good Treasure of his Heart he brought forth good things He was of a Noble Spirit a Person Prudent in Matters and the Lord was with him his Company was Pleasant and his Discourse Profitable I may hope that none will be offended with me that I give so much Commendations to God's Workmanship both Inward and Outward that God may have the Honour and Praise of his own Work And when he according to the Will of God had finished his Course the Lord was pleased to favour him with but a short Sickness He had his Accounts ready he laid down his Head in Peace and dyed in the Faith the 11th day of the 3d Month 1696. Isaac Ashton Sen. Given forth the 21st of the 7th Month 1697. James Laithwait 's Testimony concerning Roger Haydock deceased OUR Faithful and Well-beloved Friend Roger Haydock was Born of honest Parents who were of good Repute in the World and concerning him I have this Testimony to bear from a certain Knowledge I had of him for I knew him soon after he was Convinced and received the Knowledge of the Truth and I then took great notice of him he appearing in great Humility and under a great Inward Exercise and Travel of Spirit before he appeared in a publick Testimony for the Truth which was about the Year 1669. At which time a great Power and clear Life was shewn forth in him in the beginning of his day it being a day of the Revelation of the great Power of God and of his Powerful
Word of Eternal Life of which this our faithful Friend was a Minister to which work the Lord by his Grace had called him and he freely gave up and devoted himself to that Service for which the Lord had well fitted and qualified him and made him of great Ability through the Spirit giving him sound Knowledge and deep Discerning to find out the Mysterious Workings of the Enemy of Mankind so that he was very skillful to divide the Word of Truth aright And at that time there was great Service to be done for the Lord for then many had tender Desires after the Knowledge of God and were Seeking and Enquiring after the way of Truth which leadeth to Eternal Life and to such he was an Helper and faithful Instructor in the Lord Jesus and being zealously Careful that he might compleat the Work and Service that the Lord had called him unto and promote the Interest and Honour of God and be Instrumental for the good of many of the Children of Men He went under a great Concern and Exercise of Spirit through great Travels Sufferings and Labour of Body preaching the Gospel of Christ freely that many might be turned to God and gain the Knowledge of him and be gathered into the one Fold and Pasture of Eternal Life out of the By-Ways and Dark Paths and Vain Religions of the worldly-minded and so might know a coming out of Darkness and a walking in the true Light and way of Life and Righteousness that they might please their Creator and answer the end of his Love revealed in his Son and manifested in the Light And the Lord who imployed him in his Service blessed his endeavours therein for many received his Testimony and thereby were turned from Darkness to Light and out of the Paths of Error into the Way of Righteousness His Labours and Travels are in part declared by his Journal which sheweth his Travels in several Countries and Nations and sometimes amongst People of a strange Language A blessed work he went through in faithfulness unto the End He was a great Helper and of great Service in the Church of Christ and his Labours and Ministry therein were very successful he was often prevalent to end Differences and Discord where the Enemy had sown any amongst Brethren His Doctrine received of the Lord was sound and deep Matters were often opened by him and it was his delight to do Service for God and to help the good Work forward in any he being earnestly concerned that all that knew God might Glorifie him as God And the Lord blessed him whilst here with such Mercies as appertain to the making of a Man's Life Comfortable in this World which the Lord saw no doubt he was worthy of who richlâ— recompenseth all those that Love him and Seek his Honour and the Welfare of his Church as this our faithful Friend did and his Memorial will be long upon the Earth amongst the Generations of the Righteous I might write much concerning him and his Vertuous Life which was Comely and Honourable and of a loving and friendly Behaviour amongst Men His Company was Pleasant and Profitable and many were sorry to part with him But though his Removal hence be a loss to many yet I am well assured that he hath gained thereby and is in the enjoyment of Peace and of an endless Treasure in Heaven amongst the number of the Blessed with Christ in his Kingdom and being at rest from his Labours his Works follow him And it is my earnest desire that we who are left behind which is but for a little space may so improve our Time and Gifts that in the end we may have a Share of the same Reward that is laid up for all the Faithful James Laithwait A Brief Account c. An EPISTLE to FRIENDS of Blackrod Meeting IN Love unfained do I Salute you and in the Fear of God Exhort you to Faithfulness and in the Word of the Lord Counsel you To be Watchful in your Meetings that the weighty Work and Service of God which he hath concerned you in be not slighted by any of you through Unfaithfulness and want of Watchfulness Friends The Seed which God hath sown is good if you be watchful it will grow and prosper and cover the Ground and the Earth will be blessed But if you sleep the Enemy will sow Tares which will grow up with it and choke it so the Ground that affords them nourishment will be cursed This is the Word of Truth unto you so as in Love to the Seed which is good and in Bowels of Compassion to your Immortal Souls which are of great Price in the sight of God desiring the Seed's Prosperity and your Souls Good in the sense of its Suffering and of the Deprivation of God's Love unto you who in this Incumbent Duty of Watchfulness have been negligent it hath been upon me many times in the Motion of God's Spirit to Reprove your Negligence and likewise Exhort and Admonish you to Faithfulness in that Duty whilst conversant with you even so since remote from you outwardly separated and under Bonds restrained the sence of the Non-performance of that so weighty a Duty on your behalf who are herein concerned whereby God's Righteous Soul hath been vexed and the Spirit of the Upright and Sincere-hearted to God amongst you have been made sad hath sometimes come before me to my grief and yet remaineth in my view to the saddening of my Spirit who am truly a well-wisher of Zion and one though outwardly confined yet travels for the Prosperity of Jerusalem in Spirit which is at liberty which Man cannot confine Therefore it entered my Heart in the Word of Truth to signifie God's Counsel unto you That ye be watchful that the good Seed which God hath sown may grow deeply having depth of Earth even room in the honest Heart that it may bring forth in some Thirty in some Sixty in some an Hundred fold but in all of you some to his Praise lest the Enemy sow his Seed and it grow and the Ground be nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burned And Friends another word hath often run thorough me when present with you That you Love one another and the same word is in me though I be from you whereby I know the Cause yet remains in you And truly I may take up a Lamentation for you who are concerned who will not be counselled How often hath the Lord striven with you How often hath his Word been spoken unto you And how often hath his Servants laboured amongst you And do you yet live in Strife and Contention Truly I am sorry for you and that the precious Truth is dishonoured by you it is a grief upon my Spirit and upon the Spirits of the Upright-hearted among you If therefore you have an Ear to hear hear put away Strife Envy and Contention and labour a Reconciliation in the Love if so be the Lord's Anger may be appealed
no wonder for though it be not very long since he turned Parson and crept in among the Chemmarims or Men of the Back Robe for formerly he he was a Justice's Clerk and thirsted eagerly after the Quakers Money but as yet I hear not that he returned them their Money again yet in this short time he hath defiled his own Nest charged his Brethren with Vile Hypocrisie stiled them Hypocritical Ministers yet of himself saith I am the most Rude and Vnskilful of all thy Ministers Hath he not marked his own Nose What constrained him to Pray Hypocritically Dissemble with God and Lye to the Almighty Not the Truth for there is no Lye of it not the Spirit of Truth for that leadeth into all Truth He hath been acted by another spirit Well he is seen by many to be what he is an Hypocrite And whereas he saith Many will not endure such Preachers as he I add No doubt But from henceforth some that have heard him and approved of him being simply betrayed by him now seeing him will hear him no more but quite turn their Backs on that Rude Distracted Hypocritical Dissembling Lying Minister all which his own Confession proves him to be also a Base Wicked Confused Blaspheming Priest all which his own Works prove him to be Now if any moderate Enquirer shall ask a Reason Why I heap these things upon him I answer I am only an Instrument in the Lord's Hand and the God of Heaven is pouring Contempt upon him he hath lift up himself and not by the Lord and therefore the Lord is casting him down For the Truth 's sake and for the sake of the Simple-hearted where this may come have I collected these passages out of his Works giving the Title of the Book and Page in which whoso desires may in his Books read them more at large Many gross things I have pass'd by in his Books especially Quakerism subverted as also in his Skirmish the latter being fully answered already It is for Truth 's sake and the sake of People's Souls which are misguided that thus far I have run through his dirty Channel what I have written I commend to every Man's Conscience in the light of God who am Truth 's Friend and the Soul's Friend but an Enemy to that which misguided Roger Haydock A HYPOCRITE UNVAILED AND A BLASPHEMER Made Manifest Being an Examination of Iohn Cheyney's False Relation of his Dispute with the Quakers at Arley-Hall in Cheshire the 23d of the 11th Month called January 1699. Published in his Book Entituled A Warning to Souls c. Wherein John Cheyney's Lyes and Slanders are Detected his Hypocrisie is Unvailed his Confusion and Blasphemy is Manifested which he hath Published in his foresaid Book That the Simple-hearted People may see John Cheyney the pretended Gospel-Minister is No Minister of Jesus Christ By a Disciple of Christ Roger Haydock Isa 28.15 We have made Lyes our Refuge and under Falshood have we hid our selves Verse 17. The Hail shall sweep away the Refuge of Lyes and the Waters shall over-flow the biding-place Obad. 1.3 The Pride of thine Heart hath deceived thee Rev. 13.6 He opened his Mouth in Blasphemy against God to Blaspheme his Name his Tabernacle and them that dwelt in Heaven A HYPOCRITE Unvailed AND A BLASPHEMER Made Manifest c. IT is not a Narrative of the Dispute I had with John Cheyney at Arley-Hall in Cheshire upon the 23d Day of the 11th Month last past that in this Treatise I am purposed to give for that would require an impartial Reiteration and faithful Relation of all that was spoken on both parts which Task I am unwilling to undertake First Because I have not John Cheyney's Crutch which he leaned upon at the said Dispute I mean his Notes which he Disputed by he may well bear the Repetition of his own Expression published to the World in his Sermons of Hypocrisie p. 203 204. where he saith Such as do use Notes in publick it is but as a Lame Man that makes use of a Crutch or as a Weak-sighted Man of Spectacles And that he made use of his Notes in that Publick Dispute it was evident to some Hundreds of People which Notes I having not cannot relate every thing that was spoken by J. C. in his assaying to prove his false Charges Secondly Because something of what the Lord gave me that day to speak in defence of the Truth is not now in my Remembrance it being some Months since the Dispute and I had not Notes to Dispute by like J. C. neither did I put Pen to Paper concerning it or premeditate before hand what to say that not being Truth 's Way nor according to Christ's Command but expresly contrary Mat. 10.19 20. Take no thought how or what ye shall speak for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak For it is not ye that speak but the Spirit of the Father which speaketh in you But I was resigned in the Will of God and stood in his Counsel and it was given me of God whose Presence was that day with me who blessed my Undertaking concerning that Dispute to him alone be the Praise what to speak in Defence of the Truth whereby the Truth was cleared the People called Quakers and their Religion defended from John Cheyney's wicked Charges against both and J. C. proved a Lyar and a Deceiver Something of what was spoken-by-me which had then its Service is not now in my Remembrance so as to give a particular Account of every word I then spoke Therefore it 's not a Narrative of the Dispute I intend but an Examination of J. C's false Relation given concerning the said Dispute is chiefly hereby intended in order to detect his Lyes that the Truth may appear in which Examination I shall relate something of what was spoken and for clearing things to the Reader shall further declare my fence as the Lord opens things in me But before I come to Examine J. C's Relation of the Dispute at Arley I must intreat the Reader 's patience by the way to go along with me in the Examination of J. C's Account given of a Dispute at Croton in Cheshire between Mr. B. Minister of Wareham and Roger Haydock a Quaker I think it expedient for the opening the Matter to give the Reader a brief Relation how this Dispute was occasioned that it may appear I did not Challenge a Dispute with this Mr. B. as J. C. calls him whose Name is John Barber a thing I am clear of though of late I have been twice concerned in Disputation yet as Defendant through the daring Challenges the Priests have given amongst whom this J. C. of all others hath exceeded of which something more hereafter About the middle of the 4th Month 1676. I was in Cheshire at a Meeting of God's People at a place called Kingsley where there were some People lately Convinced of the Truth some of which were Parishioners and had
Brethren are faithful Ministers of Christ duly Called and Commissionated by Christ but his bare Word which is of little esteem with many and it is nothing though it be so for I know not how that Man who plays the Hypocrite and Dissembles with God and utters Untruth to the Searcher of Hearts should have esteem with good Men for if he will lye to God he will lye to Men and what Credit shall be given to his Word And because several Brethren whose Books are extant in the World in which these things are thoroughly treated of have fully proved these things which may be seen by such as read them I say many have written and coplous and plentiful are the Books in which sufficient proof of these things may be seen by any who reads them with a single Eye yet I refer the Reader who is desirous to be informed to a Book entituled The Priests and Professors Principles and also to William Gibson's Book entituled The Life of God which is the Light and Salvation of men exalted which is an Answer to six of John Cheney's Books in which whoever reads if simple-hearted may be rightly informed and in pag. 10. of the said W. G's Book may read J. C's own Testimony concerning his Church which agrees not with his fore-cited Boast of their Ministry and Doctrine but contradicts himself So I shall leave the Dispute at Croton that I may examine J. C's Relation of the Dispute at Arley in which I expect to find him the same J. C. to boast of Victory though he fled the Stage which if so it prove it will something resemble the running Bird which when got home crows aloud upon his own Dunghil J. C. in p. 1. of his Warning to Souls saith For sundry Reasons he is purposed to make a brief Relation of his Dispute with the Quakers at Arley Reply In this the Man is well nigh as good as his word for of that whole confused Treatise which contains twenty five pages I think there is not above four pages if collected of what was spoken at that Dispute and of those four pages so far as I perceive not thrice four lines of what J. C. says I spoke and of those lines I think not six lines of what I spoke which Lines had they been left out then had J. C. according to his word made a brief Relation of his Dispute For his Relation made together with his whole Treatise I find not the recital of a word spoken by any Quaker in that Dispute but R. H. So that if the thing intended was a Relation of a Dispute with the Quakers herein J. C. hath come short for Roger Haydock is not Quakers but if it was as I rather think though mist in the making intended to be a Relation of his Dispute to tell his Reader what he said and what he did and what a Conquest he made and how the Quakers were overthrown though indeed it was quite otherwise much like his Account of the afore-mentioned Dispute at Croton in which there is not one word of what any Quaker said then J. C. hath on that hand over-reached especially in telling his Reader that R. H. spoke what he spoke not nay what he ever abhorred to think viz. That God did no where command us to walk according to the Scripture pag. 21. of his Warning c. To which at present I say It is a Lye and a wicked Slander and concerning it I shall say something more hereafter This is one Character of his Relation and no question but if he have that Impudence as to make R. H. speak as he would have him he will have Confidence enough to speak what he pleases for himself in composing his Relation in order to perswade his Reader R. H. was confuted and silenced and the Quakers were overthrown But if his Reader be a Wise Man he will not judge of things before the time Lyes are said to be light and often spread far and False Reports often get the start and go before and sometimes that side hath cryed Victory which hath run away Fools have believed them but Wise Men have waited to know the Truth who got the Day and to such the first Report to be false and the Folly of them that believe it was made manifest in due time But to come to J. C's Relation in order to examine it so soon as I can reach thereunto it is my purpose but by the way John Cheyney mentions a Paper which I came to him with the day after the Dispute at Croton which he saith was written to prevent a Brother of a Godly Acquaintance who was inclining to Quakerism in which Paper he saith He had charged their Religion to be Antichristian and Damnable Reply This Paper J. C. mentions was shewed me by a Friend several Days before the Dispute at Croton or that I knew to have a Dispute with J. B. who for the sake of the Young Man then lately Convinced desired me to write something in answer to it I perused it and found the Charges very wicked but there was no Name subscribed to it so I gave it to the Friend again looking upon it to be no other than a Reproachful Libel The Friend told me He believed J. C. writ it and was very urgent upon the Young Man's account to have it answered Whereupon I said Let some Friend shew it to J. C. and if he own it and will subscribe his Name to it something then may be done So the Friend took it with him After the Dispute at Croton I went for Lancashire and in Warrington met providentially with some Friends who were about to go to J. C. with the Paper they desired me to go along with them at whose request I took the Paper and went with them shewed it to J. C. who read it over afterwards owned that he writ it but would not subscribe it neither give it me again but alledged the Paper was neither Ours nor His but God's and Providence having ordered it to his Hand again he would keep it I told him Whereas he had wronged us if he would acknowledge it we would pass it by He desired after some debate about the Paper which he had in his hand to read it over again he read it that the standers by did hear it afterward he said to one of his Friends who stood by him He thought there was nothing in it but what might be stood by his Friend assented to what he said I told J. C. It was very unlike a Minister of Christ to give forth a Paper as a Minister and afterward desire to read it over to see whether he could stand by it or not he ought to have considered that before he gave it forth Yet still he refused to subscribe until some of our Friends would first draw him a Copy of it If he would have subscribed it after the second perufal of it I promised he should have a Copy of it before
Certificate or Complaint from the Right Worshipful John Wainwright Doctor of Law Vicar General and Official Principal to the Right Reverend Father in God John Lord Bishop of Chester to Christopher Bannestree and Henry Houghton Esqs and other his Majesty's Justices of the Peace of the said County directed wherein it was declared That one Roger Haydock of Coppal in the County aforesaid had contemned and disobeyed the Process of the Ecclesiastical Court by not appearing at Days and Times appointed him to answer Ralph Briddock Clerk Doctor of Divinity of a certain Cause of Tithes depending in the said Court The said Christopher Bannestre and Henry Houghton by Warrant under their Hands and Seals did Apprehend or Take or cause to be Apprehended and Taken the Body of the said Roger Haydock and committed the same to Prison viz. to the common Goal of Lancaster there to remain until he had given sufficient Surety for his due Obedience of the Process Proceedings Decrees and Sentences of the Ecclesiastical Court according to a certain Act of Parliament in that behalf made and provided And whereas afterwards the said Roger Haydock appealed to the said Consistory Court at York from the said Decree of Certifying him the said Roger Haydock to his Majesty's Justices of Peace aforesaid and complained of the Injustice Nullity and Invalidity of the said Decree and alledged he was never cited nor any lawful Certificate thereof made By vertue of which Appeal and the Admission of the same the Force and Effect of the said Decree was suspended to the Intent the said Roger Haydock might be free from all Constraint and have free Liberty and Power to Prosecute his Appeal The said Consistory Court at York did will and require the Justices aforesaid to set at Liberty the Body of the said Roger Haydock during the dependance of the said Cause in the said Court which was done accordingly And whereas afterwards the Court rightly proceeding in the said Cause of Appeal decreed the said Roger Haydock to be cited personally to appear in the said Court at a certain time and place assigned him to take and undergo his personal Oath commonly called Juramentum de malitio Committando in the said Cause and issued a Citation under the Seal of the said Court in that behalf by vertue whereof he was cited and for his Contempt and Contumacy in not appearing in the said Court at the time and place assigned him according to the Tenor of the said Citation was by the said Court propounded Contumacious and for his Contumacy in not appearing nor presenting the said Appeal by such ways and means as the Law in that behalf provides the said party appealed was desired to be dismissed from the said Appeal and the said Roger Haydock was desired to be certified to his Majesties Justices of the Peace aforesaid as by the Acts and Records of the Consistory Court aforesaid and the said Warrant and discharge in that behalf made reference being thereto had more fully and at large it appears All which the Consistory Court of York doth Certifie Inform and Signifie unto us and do require our Aid and Assistance to order and reform him the said Roger Haydock for his Contempt and Contumacy aforesaid according to the Tenor and Effect of the above-mentioned Act of Parliament made in the 27th Year of the Reign of King Henry the 8th of famous Memory containing an order for payment of Tithes We therefore in Obedience to the said Significavit and Pursuance to the said Act of Parliament do straitly Charge and Command you That you or some of you do forthwith upon receipt hereof take the Body of him the said Roger Haydock and him convey or cause to be conveyed to his Majesties common Goal at Lancaster there to remain without Bail or Mainprize until he shall find sufficient Surety to be bound by Recognizance to the Use of our Soveraign Lord the King to give due Obedience to the Process Proceedings Decrees and Sentences of the Consistory Court of York made against him as aforesaid fail not herein at your Perils Given under our Hands and Seals the 8th day of May Anno Reg. Dom. Car. Secund. Anglia c. xxvii Annoque Dom. 1675. Roger Bradshave Nicholas Penington To all Mayors Bailiffs Constables sub-Constables and to all other his Majesty's Sworn Officers but more especially to the Constables of Coppal and every of Them These Roger Haydock Heskin Fell and Alice Haydock 's Letter to the Bishop of Chester Unto thee who subscribes thy Name Ralph Chester there is a few Words upon our Minds to impart which are as followeth Friend BY thy Letter to the Jaylor and also by an Information from thee to the Judge at the last Assizes in order to Confine me with some other of my Friends to the common Goal here at Lancaster We whose names are hereunto subscribed do understand that we are Prisoners at thy Suit having so been for the space of twenty Months and upwards for the accomplishing whereof thou say'st it hath cost thee 30 l. Now Friend in a plain Stile for I may not give thee any flattering Titles not having so learned of Christ but in words of Truth and Soberness unto thee who art called a Bishop it is with me to write and that upon good Ground as also having sufficient Reasons inducing me thereunto Love to God and love to thy Soul and that my Conscience may be Clear and that by way of Query leaving it to thy serious Consideration and to the Witness of God in thy Conscience to give an Answer thereunto Whether it was not an Unchristian Act of thee to cause us to be cast into Prison for no other cause but that we who own Christ Jesus to be come who is our Priest and the Bishop of our Souls who oversees us and takes care for us and gives us freely without Money and without Price and because we cannot destroy our Faith in him nor lay waste our Testimony concerning his Coming and the free Teachings of his Spirit could not with a safe Conscience and therefore refused to pay thee Tithes knowing of a Truth that the Levitical Priesthood to which Tithes were due is changed and that Christ Jesus who is made a Priest not after the Law of a carnal Commandment but after the Power of an endless Life A Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedeck hath disannulled the Commandment as is clear from Hebrews 7 And whether thy writing to the Jaylor and incensing the Judge against us not only to infringe our Liberty but if possible deprive us of Life also be not very Unchristian Whether did ever Christ give ye any such Command that said Freely ye have received freely give Or the Apostles shew thee any such Example who said We Covet no Man's Silver Gold nor Apparel Or whether thou that hast taken upon thee the Office of a Bishop which the Apostle Paul said was a good Work be in the Practice of those things which
the said Apostle gave in Charge to Timothy concerning Rishops that they should be Blameless Vigilant Sober no Striker nor greedy of filthy Lucre Not a Brawler not Covetous that he be not lifted up with Pride lest he fall into the Condemnation of the Devil Also the same Apostle to Titus A Bishop must be Blameless as the Steward of God not self willed mark no Striker not given to filthy Lucre one that holds fast the Faithful Word that he may be able by sound Doctrine mark by sound Doctrine to Exhort and Convince gainsayers And whether or no if thou hast been in the footsteps of these Primitive Bishops to whom Paul writ supposing us to be without to wit Gainsayers instead of spending 30 l. to cast us into Prison and of threatning the Jaylor and stirring the Judge against us wouldst thou not rather have laboured by sound Doctrine mark by sound Doctrine and not by casting us into Prison whom thou hast not so much as given the least word of Exhortation unto to have convinced us But I query of thee Whether did any of the Apostles or Ministers of Christ Jesus cast any Man into Prison for denying to pay Tithes or of whom did they ask the Tenths of their increase If thou canst shew me such a President in the Scriptures of the New Testament Or whether they did freely receive and freely give Yea or Nay if Yea then whether Imprisoning People who cannot give their Money for that which is not Bread be not a very unchristian Practice and too much like the way of Cain who was a Persecutor resembling the Error of Balaam who loved Gifts and Rewards And whether such as are in the Practice thereof be not in the footsteps of those Prophets Micah spoke of that bite with their Teeth and he that puts not in their Mouths they prepare War even against him and of such as looked every one for his gain from his quarter Friend Christ said Every Tree is known by his Fruits And if thou be a Minister of Christ the words of Christ will not offend he said Not every one that saith Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the Will of my Father which is in Heaven Such as when he was Hungry gave him no Bread to Eat when he was Thirsty gave him no Water to Drink when he was Naked did give him no Clothing when Sick and in Prison did not visit him such were shut out of the Kingdom of Heaven For said Christ In as much as ye did it not unto them ye did it not unto me Now if such were shut out of the Kingdom who did not these things unto Christ in his Members mark if such as did not visit Christ in his Members in Prison were shut out of the Kingdom of Heaven What then will become of such who Imprison Christ's Members Now Friend consider thy Ways and thy Actions Hast thou done unto us as thou thy self would be done unto Or hast not thou rather broken the Righteous Law of Christ If by thy Works thou be not Justified shalt not thou by thy Works be Condemned since every Man must receive according unto his Deeds be they Good or be they Evil Now If a Bishop should bite with his Teeth and prepare War against an Innocent People because they cannot put into his Mouth and cast them into Prison some of which neither owes him any thing either according to the Law of God or any Law of Man as is known to some of his Agents The like of which I think cannot be parallell'd by all the Impropriators and Priests in England Besides yet done by or at least in the Name and at the Suit of the Bishop and threatens the Jaylor with severe Punishment if he suffer them to have any Liberty at all and likewise stir up the Judge to straiten their Bonds that if possible he might have the Lives of such for whom Christ dyed and bring the Guilt of their Blood upon his Head I say if a Bishop have thus done I Query Whether this be the way for such a Bishop to stand approved in the sight of God and to be manifest to the Conscience of all People and to have a good Report of them which are without or rather the way to fall into Reproach and the Snare of the Devil and bring the Wrath and Judgment of God upon his Head So let the Witness of God in thy Conscience Answer to these things And the Lord God of Heaven and Earth the Righteous Judge of all the Earth whose Judgment is Just Judge betwixt thee and us And unto him we Appeal with whom there is no respect of Persons who Judgeth the Cause of the Poor and the Cause of the Rich and to his faithful Witness in thy Conscience we also Appeal in this matter Whether it be not more Christian like more according to Truth the Example of Christ and his Apostles who gave Commandment unto the Church That they should walk as they had them for Examples in Christ which all true Christians ought to follow to ser us at Liberty than to keep us Prisoners until Death having contrary to the Law ensnared us and bring the Guilt of Innocent Blood upon his Head But now Friend if thou shalt say It is because you will not pay Tithes I Answer One of us being one of the three thou imprisoned and writ against in order to straiten our Bonds hath nothing according to the Law of the Nation Titheable therefore wrongfully imprisoned according to that Law and so detained and as to the other who for Conscience sake refused to pay them if thou canst make good by the Scriptures of the New Testament that Christ or his Apostles sued any Man for Tenths or Tithes and cast them into Prison if they would not pay them give us Chapter and Verse for this and let us see where it is so written that Christ Jesus who has all Power in Heaven and Earth given unto him made such a Law and gave it to his Disciples Apostles Ministers Ambassadors and Evangelists and if so let us see where it is written in the New Testament and where his Disciples and Apostles did practice any such Law shew this plain Scripture unto us and we to wit who have any thing Titheable will pay thee Tithe But if thou canst not art not thou a Transgressor of the Command of Christ that said to his Disciples Freely ye have received freely give So to be one that Transgresses and abideth not in the Doctrine of Christ as thou may'st see in the se cond Epistle of John and the ninth Verse And did ever Christ or his Disciples force any to hear them and come to their Church and if they would not cast them into Prison And did ever Christ and his Apostles force any that were not of their Church to give them Maintenance or Tithes and if they would not cast them into Prison and threaten the Jaylor to