others do propose better more feizable and more rational expedients and be more effectual than what is here offered we shall be really glad of it and do desire that this may be as an encouragement or an occasion to incite and stir up others more capable so to do and so to be concerned herein And indeed it was hoped that before this time these unhappy differences might have been composed but instead thereof it is sad to observe how they have rather increased than decreased and that Matters are here rather far worse than better so that there appears now a greater need and necessity for a speedy Compliance with reasonable Proposals in order to some Reconcliation or Accommodation c. Now Friendly Reader not to detain thee longer and to conclude this at present we desire and beseech thee to Read what follows without any prejudice and in the fear of God seriously ponder and consider the same so then it may not be undervalued or disesteemed by thee XV. For notwithstanding this undertaking of being Peacemakers or Reconcilers we may be rasbly judged by some partial disaffected persons and as foolishly disliked of by others may be too deeply engaged either by affection or interest and so too much prejudiced whose Zeal may far exceed both their Vnderstanding and their Charity Yet it may please Almighty God so to bless it in the Hands of Some Moderate and unbyassed Friends that in time it may prove successful and however may be of such service so as to beget some living earnest desires and ardent longings in the Hearts of many sincere-hearted ones on both sides and from thence there may be hearty endeavours used according to their Capacities and in their stations towards the effecting that long desired Reunion and happy Reconciliation which would be an unspeakable comfort and Cause of no small rejoycing to us all XVI And which that the Lord God Everlasting in his infinite Mercy Goodness and tender Compassion towards us may be graciously pleased both to grant us and hasten the time of its accomplishment and that we may all labour in the mean time to be a People worthy of so great and so unvaluable a Blessing and singular favour And let us all if so be at present we cannot accord in other things however unite and joyn together in our sincere breathings and supplications and with one Heart and Soul mightily cry to the Lord for the same XVII And which that it may be really effected and by that Divine powerful hand with which nothing is impossible at last brought to pass amongst us is that which is both our Hearty and earnest desire and is likewise the chief aim and end of the publishing the following Papers Reading the 12th 6 Month 1692. Signed on behalf of himself and others Concerned Abraham Bonifield The Copy of a Letter and a Paper Tending to an Amicable Composure of Differences among Friends at Reading c. Which is as follows The 18th 9th Month 87. Dear Friend IT cannot but be a great grief to many of you as well as with us that so sad Heats Animosities and Divisions have happen'd among those that were begotten to God by one and the same Word of Eternal Power That such should fall out by the way is indeed Lamentable Altho' the occasions taken may be very small yet the Enemy of all our Souls gets his Advantage when he draws us into Feuds and Controversies to the neglecting the most weighty matter these things greatly tending to the prejudice and hurting of many Tender Innocent and well meaning People And as these things have taken too much place in your Town and partly issued hither so it will be well if you first could hit upon a Reconciliation that the same Brotherly Love might again arise which at first was among Friends one towards another where then will the Animosities be Surely if all had kept in it these things had never happened Wherefore I have been willing to send thee the Inclosed Copy of a Paper Written by one who heartily Travels for the Prosperity of the Truth and the Vnion and Tranquillity of those that Profess it and shall esteem it well done of thee if thou approve thereof and propagate it to others of your Town Where I hope there are many either weary of these sad Disturbances or at least troubled at them If all sides prove as willing I hope it will prove as Easie and as Comfort able to you at Reading to come out of them again as it has done to our Friends at Bristol who had long enough tryed the sad effects of Division And if this Essay should have any of the same effect I make no doubt but it would be to the Glory of God the Honour of the Truth and the Comfort of you all the good Example of others and much Rejoycing to the Author c. Here follows the Paper SOmething once more soberly offered for an Amicable Composure and Accommodation of difference happened among the Professors of Truth in and about Reading and which may be through the Blessing of God in order to their Friendly Meeting all together again in the Antient publick Meeting-House if all parties concerned be Cordially inclined to agree hereunto and comply therewith which is left for them all to consider of seriously in and with the Precious Light of Christ Jesus WHereas it must be acknowledged on both Hands that there has been and is a sad Division and Separation unhappily fallen out amongst the Professors of Truth in the Town of Reading and that which hath partly occasioned the same has greatly proceeded from an unwary managing of Matters too hot a Zeal and Indiscreet Inadvertency and though possibly there might be in the mean time a good intention in divers on both sides yet alas how have the sparks of contention arisen to a great flame which albeit it may seem difficult however we hope it is not impossible to be quenched I. In order to which it is therefore in the first place tenderly proposed That it be Heartily and Unanimously concluded on by all concerned herein That it had been more to the Honour of God and renown of his Holy unchangeable Truth more for our prosperity therein and gathering of others thereunto had we all kept more in the Word of Gods patience and in the Lamb like Life more in Coolness and Calmness of our Minds and in the silence of all Flesh than frequently we have done whereby the Enemy of us all hath often prevailed upon us to draw us out to those things which were unseemly and unbecoming our Holy profession both to the wounding of our own Souls and also hurting many others and casting stumbling Blocks before the weak and whereby the pure Name of the Lord our God has been much Dishonoured and his Holy Spirit grieved the Hearts of the Righteous sadned and many ill effects produced II. Wherefore in the second place its necessary that a true godly Sorrow seize upon every
in lowliness of mind therein keep but by departing therefrom as too many have done in all Ages and as in this of ours some do hath caused much trouble and exercises to the Lords People and hath been one of the chiefest occasions of the Divisions Contentions Strifes and Animosities amongst them such ought to be Cautioned and Advised and also Warned of the great Hurt and Prejudice they do in many respects both to themselves and others and if they continue stiff and obstinate and instead of receiving the tender Council and Admonition from any Friend or Friends concerned in the Love of God to give the same they rather grow higher minded and more into self Exaltation Conceitedness and spiritual Pride they are then to be zealously detected and testified against But still we say all this should be done in the Spirit of Love and Meekness and with true Christian Prudence and Discretion and nothing given away to harbour in the least any Personal Prejudice or Enmity on the one hand which is to be as carefully watched against as Partiality or Hypocrisie two great Evils and too ready on the other hand to creep in II. That so upon the Reforming growing better and mending what has been amiss in any upon any account there may be both a friendly and kind receiving and embracing one another again into true Love Friendship and Vnity and also in that sweet Christian and Charitable frame of spirit forgive what 's past and never upbraid or remember it any more against them It is said in Eccles 28.2 3. Forgive thy Neighbour the hurt that he hath done unto thee so shall thy Sins be forgiven when thou prayest One Man beareth hatred against another and doth he seek pardon from the Lord he sheweth no mercy to a Man that is like himself and doth he ask forgiveness of his own Sins III. See Charrons Book of Wisdom chap. 34. page 104. There is nothing as Charron well observes so honourable as to know how to Pardon To give Grace to Remit and Forgive belongeth to a Soveraign Prince if thou wilt be a King of Kings themselves do an act that may become a King Pardon freely be Gratious towards him that offendeth thee But indeed if God were not more merciful and favourable of greater Compassion and Pity towards us than we are often towards one another alas who then could be saved For have we not all greatly grieved and provoked him much more than any can provoke or grieve us Is it not very unbecoming for us to be Quarrelling and be Implacable one towards another when he is both willing and ready to be Reconciled to and at Peace with us after such innumerable Transgressions against him which we all have been found guilty of Come Friends seeing then he is so ready to forgive us upon a sincere Repentance all our former provocations Let us therefore also forgive one another be Reconciled unto and at Peace one with another IV. As also we desire it may be observed that we plead for no other Vnity Peace Concord or Reconciliation with any but that which we believe to be consistent with and agreeable to the Truth even that which the Holy Apostles exhorted all to endeavour after and to be found in which is the Vnity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace And that is both much more comprehensive and of greater weight than many either understand or would have it to be This blessed Vnity c. which stands in Righteousness we really desire forever to Prize and do value above and beyond all other Vnities or Vniformities whatsoever in which we are and hope ever to be in true Vnity in the Ground withall the Faithful Sincere and Vpright hearted People of God every where V. And we know that the True Spiritual Invisible Fellowship and Communion of Saints which consisteth in the Divine Light or Spirit of Christ Jesus is not Confined to any External Visible Form c. For as J. Hales of Eaton See his Golden Remains Pag. 49 50. a Worthy and Learned Man well observes that it is the Vnity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace and not the Identity or oneness of Conceit which the Holy Ghost requires of at the Hands of Christians c. Concerning which much more might be said but let this suffice for the present having enlarged already far beyond what was first intended The Reader is also desired to observe that what is expressed in the aforesaid concerning Heats Animosities Prejudices c. one against another only Relates to those amongst Friends and such places where the Vnhappy and sad Difference hath fallen out as in this and some other parts VI. So shall Conclude all as in the Beginning of the Preface 1 Cor. 16.14 and 14.1 with the Apostles advice Let all your things be done with Charity and follow after it Concerning which one of the Antients spake very excellently For unprofitably saith he hath he all who wants that one viz. Charity whereby he should use all and how great is Love for if that be wanting all other Graces lose their Grace but if present all are profitable VII And as we find the Holy Apostles did neither affect nor seek of Men Glory neither says Paul to the believing Thessalonians of you 1 Thes 2.5 6. nor yet of others neither at any time used we flattering words So likewise he tells them but we were Gentle amongst you even as a Nurse Cherisheth her Children And according to this their Practice they exhorted others as in Titus 3.2 To speak evil of no Man to be no Brawlers but gentle shewing all meekness unto all Men. And in 2 Tim. 24. It is said Observe this well the Servant of the Lord must not strive but be gentle unto all Men apt to teach Patient in Meekness instructing those that opposed themselves c. nor must be self willing nor soon angry c. These Divine Blessed Qualifications ought all that profess to be Ministers and followers of Christ Jesus to be Endowed with who should also walk worthy of the Vocation unto which they are called with all humbleness of mind and meekness and with Long-suffering and Patience c. Forbearing or as some read it Supporting one another through or in Love THE END The CONTENTS of the Book I. THE Introduction by way of Preface page 1. II. The Copy of a Letter and a Paper Containing some Christian and Reasonable Proposals for an accommodation of Differences page 8. III. A tender and healing Epistle from Friends of Bristol to Friends of Reading advising them to meet all together again page 13. A seasonable Expostulation to Peace and Reconciliation directed particularly to Friends of Reading page 15. Sect. I. Contains several weighty Motives shewing the great need and necessity of Reconcilation Ibid. Sect. II. A Collection of divers remarkable Testimonies suitable to the Subject treated on page 31. Sect. III. Some Objections fairly Stated with their Answers as also divers weighty Considerations proposed page 46. Sect. IV. Some Friendly Councel and tender Advice to Professors of Truth with one or two more substantial Testimonies page 63. The Conclusion page 69. A Postscript Containing an Advertisement with something further relating to the said Expostulation c. page 71.
Eminent Friends of Bristol of both sides and Directed to several Friends of Reading also of both Meetings which contains good Christian Counsel and seasonable Advice and doth well agree with the aforesaid And is as followeth Bristol the 5th of the 1st Month 1686 7. Thomas Curtice William Lambol Leonard Key Abraham Bonnifield Robert Sandilands Robert Payne John Kent John Buy Benjamine Coale c. Dear Friends We dearly and heartily salute you in that Ancient Love of God which did at first reach unto us and gathered us to be a People and which hath often refreshed our Souls and Spirits to our great Consolation and Joy in the Lord and one in another It having pleased the Lord to take away the cruel hand of the Informers and other sufferings that have of late attended us in this City and our Meeting-Houses being again delivered up to us it came into our Hearts and we believe from the Motion of the Spirit of the Lord in us joyntly notwithstanding some misunderstandings and differences had happened amongst us to meet and continue together in the Worship of God as in former times in and through which we have found great refreshment and satisfaction for by our mutual endeavours to bury the extreams that offen'd each other we feel the antient love to arise the more which brings us nearer unto each other wherein we rejoyce and have great Consolation and from thence arises the same true and antient love unto you with prayers unto the Lord and desires unto you that the same endeavours may be amongst you that in the Grave of Oblivion all that hath been hurtful may be buried and utterly forgotten that so as one Family you may again meet together in your antient love and place as formerly then will certainly the true love more and more arise and the hope and faith that will remove Mountains and the peaceable Saviour be more rejoyced in that leads through and over all that which doth offend into Brotherly kindness and forgiveness one unto another wherein you may be one anothers joy and rejoycing in the Lord. May the Lord so tender all our Hearts and lead you and us in the same path are the Prayers and desires of your Dear Friends and Brethren Thomas Gouldney Richard Snead Charles Hartford Thomas Callowhill John Love Charles Joanes Cornelius Sarjant William Ford Thomas Jordan William Smith We send this by our Dear Friend John Osgood whom we have desired to communicate this to you A Friendly Perswasive to Peace or something by way of an Earnest and Seasonable Expostulation with Friends of Reading on both sides to be reconciled to one another and to lay aside all Heats Prejudices Animosities c. with divers Remarkable Testimonies collected to promote the same and some Objections answered which may tend to a general service SECT I. Contains several weighty Motives shewing the great need and necessity of Reconciliation c. I. AS concerning the Proposals for an Accommodation or Composure of Differences c. something already has been said in the Introduction Now as touching the aforesaid tender and healing Epistle from Bristol some Friends on both sides may remember That is was carefully delivered to them by our dear Friend John Osgood who after having imparted it to several he also used his utmost endeavours by perswading them to a Complyance with what was therein recommended and afterwards divers other Friends had the sight and perusal of it II. But alas it appears too plainly that it was not so tenderly regarded at least not Answered so as ought to have been And indeed seeing that to this very day the desired effects thereof are not yet produced must it not be concluded that there was both a great neglect and remissness somewhere and the wholesom Councel and Christian good advice therein given to Friends was neither followed nor favourably intertained so as to be practised Now Friends its left to every one both seriously to consider and also soberly to reflect upon themselves whoever they be that find they are particularly concerned herein and were really the chief cause or occasion thereof III. However it is hoped that it is not as yet too late to amend what has been amiss in this or any other respect and to take an impartial and ponderous review of the abovementioned so as to endeavour to recover whilst there is yet a time and opportunity afforded what has been lost either through carelessness or unwillingness which surely would not appear half so difficult nor uneasie as may seem to some if but once the manly part or that selfish conceited revengeful-like part where any thing of it is yet alive in any were laid aside and subdued and the holy precious Cross truly taken up to all Peevish and Stubborn Wills harsh and sower Inclinations cunning crafty Reasonings and Consultations with Flesh and Blood and to that untoward Disposition of too much justifying every one themselves and as much Judging and too severely Condemning others an Epidemical Distemper which Mankind is too generally and naturally Incident to And if that even sweet moderate Temper Peaceable Lowly and Charitable Frame of Spirit might once so prevail and appear in all so as to remove all all kind of Personal Prejudices Private Enmity Revenge or Hatred IV. Then certainly would not all be as hearty and desirous after a Reconciliation Peace and Friendship one with another again as ever formerly they might be Eager Earnest and Hot after Contention Variance Dissention and Separation from one another neither then would they be content or at quiet till the same should be brought to pass or at least they had used their utmost endeavours for a re-uniting and bringing all together again and it is but what the Lord both requires and expects of every one so to do according to their Power and Capacities V. That so the World and our Enemies on all hands may no longer reproach us and say we are become such enemies one to another that it seems impossible that we will ever agree or be Friends together again and that we are of all People the worst to be Reconciled or that there is not a wise Man amongst us to Compose our Differences or else if there be that we are very ill-natur'd and wholly averse to comply to any Christian and reasonable Terms and hear of no kind of Expedient for a Reconciliation nor yield to any equal Proposals that would tend to a better Accommodation of Matters and that it appears some do delight more in a separation and being divided asunder than to dwell and meet altogether again as Brethren of one Heavenly Father and belonging all to one Family in true Love and Friendship VI. O Friends is not the one that is the former as comely and as amiable a sight as can be seen amongst the Children of Men as it s expressed very fully and excellently in the 133 Psalm 1 2 3. vers Behold saith he How good and how pleasant it is
Men liberally and upbraideth not and we are to overcome evil with good A soft answer Prov. 15.19.11 saith Solomon turneth away wrath but grievous words stir up anger The discretion of a Man deferreth his anger and it is his glory to pass over a transgression Hard to hard says one never does well a gentle Rain will allay a Boisterous Wind as its unnatural to hate them that love us so its natural to love them that love us but its supernatural to love them that hate us for we are injoyned by Christ not only to love or salute our Friends but even our Enemies also and those of our Friends whom we esteem as our Enemies we ought so to love them as to forgive them and be likewise reconciled to them if possible at least to use our utmost endeavours for the same that if it be not effected the fault may be theirs Plut. in vita Alexandri and not ours It is a Kingly thing saith a great King to bear evil when thou dost good O Friends let us all in the love of God and for his sake and the truths sake which we all jointly profess delay no longer being at Peace one with another and Cordially reconciled together We can none of us be insensible how many disadvantages we all lie under and what grievous Censures and Reflections we are all exposed to both by professors and prophane how those common Enemies both to Truth and us all rejoyce at our Divisions expecting as 〈…〉 they may conjecture and conclude the dismal Consequence may be next to hear of our downfall O how do they warm their Hands at the Fire of our Contentions and say ha ha so we would have it I. Let us also seriously consider how highly provoking these things are in the sight of the Lord. Ob◠Let love be without dissimulation Rom. 12.9 and let us not live in word neither in tongue but in deed and in truth 1 John 3.18 And that it is a great evil that so much of Love and Tenderness Charity Humility Patience Long-suffering c. is professed pretended to and talkt of by many and yet in the mean time so very little of these in truth and in deed is practised and brought forth in real Fruits of love c. but a great deal of the Contrary It may not be long before God who greatly abhors all such Hypocrisy and Dissimulation take his Rod as well as shake it as he has often and especially of late given us both loud 〈◊〉 and frequent Warnings and severely correct and punish for these things Doth a Fountain send forth at the same place sweet Water and bitter Can the Fig tree my Brethren bear Olive-berries Either a Vine Figs So can no Fountain both yield salt Water and fresh Ja. 3.11 12. So that as their Faith is dead and like the Body without the Soul that hath no motion which is without works even so is their Charity c. but cold and faint without its Demonstrative effects and Fruits and still we may rationally conclude whether the Fountain be bitter or sweet tho' its easy for many to put the one for the other as they may imagine by its streams which flow from it And hath not the just God in all ages manifested his soar displeasure because of such Divisions c. It s no wonder says one if a Father after a long patience be at last provoked to turn all his Children out of Doors when they cannot be quiet nor agree together so it was heretofore when there was such siding one against another Bishop against Bishop some engaged in one Faction some in another till as one observes the Brethren of the Camp brought Dioclesians persecution which devoured them all It s a common observation among Shepherds that when the Sheep push at one another a storm speedily ensues and when that comes it drives them altogether whereas before they might be scattered asunder some feeding in one place and some in another II. Moreover to be plain Do not these Animosities Divisions and Contentions egregiously reflect upon our selves bespeaking us too plainly to be such as the Apostle complained of in his time who were divided amongst themselves For 1 Cor. 1.11 12 13. saith he it hath been declared unto me of you my brethren how gently doth he treat them that there are contentions amongst you That every one of you saith I am of Paul and I of Apollos and I of Cephas and I of Christ Is Christ divided c. Chap. 3.3 4. For whereas there is among you envying and strife and divisions are ye not Carnal and walk as Men And this he repeats to them three times and in one of them says positively that they were as yet Carnal and to draw them off from admiring and following one person more than another to the breach of Concord he tells them who then is Paul and who is Apollos But Ministers in whom ye believed even as the Lord gave to every Man I have Planted Apollos watered but God gave the increase and so goes on further upon this in the 7 8 9. c. vers And tho' the Galatians we find were once very zealous in affecting Paul yet saith he to them am I become your enemy because I tell you the truth What Turn-coats observes one upon this were these But a while since they would have pulled out their own Eyes and given them to Paul and now they would have as it were pulled out his Eyes who told them the truth III. And Friends amongst many of the disadvantages which do attend this unhappy Division and Separation this one is not the least viz. that as many simple honest-hearted Friends on the one Hand are disappointed of the benefit and comforts of the Labours and Testimonies of those that are sent amongst us and in the Universal Love of God are moved to visit us so on the other hand many of the Servants of the Lord have been straitned to come amongst us because they have not that full opportunity of clearing themselves and imparting of their spiritual gifts to all as in other parts so that in this respect we among our selves and many others are useless and as it were dead to one another while alive O how comfortable is it for the Lords People to meet often together in Love Peace and Quietness and open their Hearts freely one to another and tell their experiences one to each other what the Lord hath done for their Souls Thus it was once amongst Friends in this Town and it s hoped it will be so again one time or other After this manner some say the Art of Medicine was first found out as any one met with a Herb and discovered the Virtue of it by an accident he was to Post it up and so the Physicians still were perfected by a Collection of those Posted Experiments But alas some and too many there are who are ready to Post up and