which were only to continue till the time of Reformation Heb. 9.10 by Christ the everlasting Covenant came to be made manifest the everlasting Offering who perfected them that are Sanctified who is the Oath of God the end of Oaths and of all strife and contention his Doctrine was Swear not at all Mat. 5.33 34 35 36 37. neither by the head nor Feet nor Books nor Gospel nor any other thing but that yea should be yea and nay nay in all things and James an Apostle of Christ Jesus who knew the New Covenant which was everlasting which saw over the Ordinances of the first Covenant of the Jews saith above all Things my Brethren Swear not at all neither by heaven neither by the Earth nor by any other Oath but let your Yea be Yea and your nay Nay lest you fall into Condemnation James 5.1 2. and this was Apostolical and Catholick Doctrine in the Primitive Churches But afterwards the Faith being lost which once was delivered the Saints and the Power lost they began to set up Oaths again imitating the Jews and bringing the commands of the Jews who were under the first Covenant as their Ground But this was in the Apostacy And Justinian the Emperour appointed first that men should Swear by the Gospel or Book called the Gospel and lay their Hands thereon and Kiss it saying So help me God and here Christendom may see who are in the Apostacy and who were the first instituters of this Swearing and the manner thereof which the Teachers of these latter Ages do Ignorantly Press for an Ordinance of God In the Primitive Times they that had the Word of Reconciliation who had received the holy Ghost and Gift of prophecy and were made able Ministers of the Spirit who had discerning and saw by the Spirit who were fitted for the Work of the Ministry and fit to be Elders and Helpers in the Church they laid hands on them in God's Power and they received the holy Ghost but now since the Apostacy came in this kind of Imagination of laying on of hands one Hypocrite upon another who are out of the Power who have not received the holy Ghost neither they upon whom their hands were laid but afterward it came to be a custom and a holy Rite to be performed upon Children Silvester Bishop of Rome ordained that all that were christned Churches and Chalices should be anointed with Oyl and Fabianus commanded that it should be renewed every Monday and Thursday Clement the first ordained that Children that were christned should be anointed with Chrisme and he also instituted the Sacrament as it is called of Confirmation or as it is now called Bishopping and did suppose that no man was a perfect Christian if this Rite and Ceremony was omitted and for this cause it hath been judged and looked upon as catholick Doctrine both by the Church of Rome and the Protestants that the holy Ghost is more plentifully given them by the hands of the Bishop and on this wise in the first institution thereof it was only administred by the Bishop First he asked the Name of the child making the Sign of the Cross in his Forehead saying I sign thee with the Token of the Cross and confirm thee with the Chrisme of Salvation in the name of the Father Son and holy Ghost c. and smote the Child on the cheek softly but if of greater Age which was to be confirmed the Bishop gave a sharper Stroke that he might remember this great Mystery and here you may see how these things came in and the Traditions and Inventions and Precepts of Men have been and are taught for Doctrine and Apostolick Institution many of which are upholden in the reformed Churches so called unto this day and so People are kept in Blindness in a Multitude of Traditions and heathenish customs and their minds led out from seeking after the living God CHAP. VIII Concerning Fasts Feasts and Holy-dayes THE Jews in the first covenant had many Fasts and Feasts and Holy-dayes as the Sabbath and Feasts of the New Moon and Passeover and Feasts of unleavened-bread Pentecost the Feasts of Tabernacles and the Feast of Dedication which are largely shewed in the Books of Moses all which things as the Apostle saith to the Hebrews were but Shadows of things to come and not the things themselves which only continued till the time of Reformation and till the better Hope which brought in the better Covenant which stood vpon better Promises Now in the Primitive Churches they came to see the End of these things and were brought to him that was the Substance in whom all Figures and â—hadows do end Col. 2.16.17 Let no man therefore judge you in Meat or Drink or in respeâ—t of a holy day which are a Shadow of things to come but the Body is Christ Now afterward when they minded the Form more then the Power they ran out into those things with many additions some borrowed from the Heathen and some by their own Invention and then press them as Apostolick Ordinances upon Christians which things stand in force with many until this Day too too much among them that are called reformâ—d Victor Bishop of Rome about the year 196. decreed that Easter should be celebrated and kept on the Sunday from the 14 th Day of the first Moneth which is March to the 22 d. of the same now the Jews kept it sooner and so it is without ground from the Jews Practice and meerly an Invention of their own which led People back into dayes and about what time they judged any thing to be done which Christ or the Apostles did they invented a day and time to keep for it as to reverence Sunday in Advent Nativity Circumcision and Epiphany Purification of Mary called Candlemass Lent Palm-Sunday Monday and Thursday on which Christ washed his Disciples Feet as it hath been imagined Good-Fryday Easter Pentecost was kept by the Jews and this they would hold out for an Apostolick Example to Christians and for all the former Dayes they were invented with many more which have been brought in since and so they were decreed and ratified at a Council at Lyons in France that such days as either the holy Saints departed this Life or did any notable deed a day should be kept holy as they said in that Council for the encrease of their Religion there were also other days instituted the Feast of Saint Stephen and Innocents by Pope Boniface the fourth and likewise John-Baptist and that which they call Lady-day Laurence Michael and Martin and generally of all Saints and these were his Institutions which are practised by the Church of Rome and practised among the Protestants to this Day Likewise that which is called Corpus-Christi day this was made a holy-day and dedicated by Urban the fourth Silvester assigned the day of Advincula Sancti Petri commonly called Lammas in memorial of Peter's pains and persecution Felix the first
the Lord hath uttered his Voice before his Army for his Camp is great as a Lyon and is greedy of his Prey as a young Lyon he will not spare but devour and destroy all the Uncircumcised and cut off from the Earth even all the abominable Tremble tremble O Earth before the Lord and all ye careless Sons and Daughters that live at Ease in the Flesh in Wantonness and in Mirth a Day of Howling is coming upon you a Day of Sorrow and Lamentation Howl howl and weep ye that spend your Dayes in Vanity in Lust and Pleasure killing the Just ye Drunkards your Throats are as an open Sepulchre your Throats shall be dryed up and parched with the Flame of the Lord's Indignation the Lion shall be famished Diver 's End is your Portion you covetous greedy Deceivers Oppressours Lyars Swearers proud envious contentious Quarellers ye vain airy light Minds ye are â— Dust and will have your Portion in the Lake that burns Tophet is prepared Hell hath enlarged her self the Grave stands open to receive you the Pit hath opened her Mouth the Deep shall swallow you up ye rebellious and stiff-necked Generation who fear not the Lord but add Sin unto Sin behold the Day is coming ye shall wish the Mountains to fall upon you and the Rocks to cover you and shall seek Death but shall not find it The Arm of the Lord is stretched out the Hand of the most High is against you you fruitless Trees that cumber the Ground you shall be cut up by the Roots and cast into the Fire ye Lyars Swearers cursed Speakers ye proud and covetous double Dealers and Hypocrites which say in Word what you are not in Deed and make a Profession of the Name of God but depart not from Iniquity the Trumpet of the Lord is blown out of Sion the Alarm is sounded out of the holy mountain let all the Inhabitants of the Earth tremble a Noise of War and Rumor of VVar is heard his Sword is furbished and brandished to make a great Slaughter and the slain of the Lord shall be many Oh ye Potsherds of the Earth will ye strive against the Lord will ye set Bryars and Thorns in Battel against him who shakes the Heavens and makes the Earth reel as a Cottage who dryes up the Face of the deep and cuts off all the fresh Springs and makes the Cedars fall and pours down Snares upon the wicked Fire and Hail Storm and Tempest and Pillars of Smoak this shall be your Portion to drink the mouth of the Lord of Hosts hath spoken it O foolish People unwise when will you seek after Wisdom Wisdom hath lift up her Voice in the Streets but you have stopped your Ears as deaf Adders and say in your Hearts we will not have Righteousness to rule over us but we will walk as our Fathers and worship as other Nations do and as them whom the Lord hath cut off out of the Nations as untimely Fruit and are perished with the Uncircumcised Fear fear tremble tremble ye careless Ones ye hard Hearts ye Rocks shall be broken ye Cedars shall fall ye strong Oaks shall be cut up by the Roots your Root shall perish ye Mountains shall melt ye wild savage Creatures that are as wild Asses upon the Mountains a Moneth is coming wherein you will be found and a Day is at Hand wherein you shall see him whom you have pierced yea behold the Judge of all the World stands at the Door even of the quick and dead and he comes in the Clouds with Power and great Glory and every Eye shall see him and every Heart shall melt and all Faces shall gather Paleness and all Knees shall smite together and every Tongue shall confess his Judgment just when he shall execute his Wrath upon you and sweep you into the Pit and blow you away with the Whirlwind of his Wrath and then you shall be judged out of the Book of your Consciences Therefore fear fear and repent repent and prize your time while you have it and mind the Light of Christ Jesus that shews you your Iniquities and Sins and it love and it will turn you from Sin and Unrighteousness to Christ Jesus from whence the Light comes and it love and it will judge all your vain Actions and bring Condemnation upon all the Deceit and lead you to true Confession and Forsaking and to know the Lord is pure and holy and nothing that is evil can dwell in his Sight And so remember you are all warned in your Life time lest you be swept away into the Pit and perish forever and ever and there be none to deliver you and unto you this is the word of the living God whether you hear or forbear F. H. THE FIRST General Epistle Written to the Camp of the Lord In ENGLAND TO all the Seed of Abraham who are Jews indeed and Israelites in whom is no Guile who are of the true Circumcision made without Hands Who are of the Off-spring of David and of the Church or the first-born who are the first Fruit unto God Ye royal Off-spring of the Rock of Ages who have come out of the everlasting Washing My dear Brethren called Quakers who have eaten your Bread with Fear and Trembling whom your Brethren have cast out Oh how I love you my Soul is knit unto you my Heart and Life breathes after you I am one with you in Suffering and in Joy ye are the choicest of the Flock ye are the fairest of all the Children which are brought forth Oh my beloved Ones though I be among the Tents of Kedar as without where the Voice of the Lord hath neither been heard nor known yet you I forget not if I do let the Tongue cleave to the Roof of my Mouth and let me never speak more in the Name of the Lord who is my Life and the portion of my Cup forever Oh! what shall I say unto you none knows your Beauty nor Innocency nor Glory but them who are redeemed out of Kindreds and Nations and Tongues and People and Countryes who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes For the Name of my God and your God who is living and lives for evermore is in your Foreheads you are his Off-spring and the Fruit that came out of the Eternal VVomb begotten by the Eternal VVord of Life which lives forever and are nourished at the eternal Table in the everlasting Mansion-house of my Father which is in Heaven None so fair none so beautifull none so Glorious none so Rich you are crowned with Love forever you are clothed with Righteousness forever you eat of the Tree of Life which heals the Nations and of the Bread of Life that nourishes you up forever and drinks of the living VVaters which run fresh beautiful and cool in it you are bathed and suppled and made white you are builded upon a Rock storms cannot move you tempests cannot make you afraid in this you have been and
pure Spirit if thou waitest in the Manifestation of the Spirit these Things thou wilt see to be Truth though hid and vailed from the World that lyes in VVickedness as thou comest out of its Nature I have not written for to please Men of corrupt Minds who glory in VVords and outward Appearances and glory in natural Parts and in Sounds and are erred from the Life but to the simple-hearted and for the strengthening of the weak and for the understanding of the simple and that which thou seest in the following Discourse which thou canst not close with let it alone and judge nothing before the Time in thy Wisdom that is earthly or in thy Reason but in that and to that of God in thee I desire to be approved and to nothing else and shall be made manifest in the day of the Lord that is dawning in the world and many have seen it to appear in Power and Glory wait thou in thy own particular that thou may'st feel thy own Condition and see thy own State and that which lets thee see thy own Condition will let thee see the Lord and what I have declared of him to be true I am thy Friend in Truth and wish Good to all Men. F. H. SOME OF THE MYSTERIES OF God's Kingdom DECLARED As they have been revealed by the Spirit THROUGH FAITH THE Lord God of the whole Earth who lives forever even the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and Jacob whose Throne is established in Righteousness forever who rideth upon the Heavens and shines forth in his eternal Excellency from the Firmament of his Power he is manifesting himself in his Power as in the dayes of old and revealing his Righteousness as in the Years past and pouring forth his Spirit upon his Sons and Daughters according to his Promise and they that believe come to be made Partakers of the Blessing of the everlasting Hills even the Lord who appeared at Sinai unto Moses his Servant in the Bush who rose up from Mount Seir and shined forth in his Brightness from Mount Paran and came with ten thousands of his Saints even he from whose right Hand went a fiery Law so that the People could not behold his Glory the same is he who hath now appeared in this the Day of his Power and is appearing whose Glory shall dazel the Eyes of the World whose Brightness shall make dim all the World's Glory and stain its Wisdom and shut it up in utter Darkness that it shall not appear to have any Existence or Being and the Shadow of Death shall fly away and all the haughty and lofty Princes of this World shall be horribly afraid the Beasts shall go into their Dens when the day appears and the Lambs of the everlasting Fold shall come forth and be fed in the fat Valleys where the Springs of Life compass about all the Banks and rejoyce in their Shepherd and shall say The Lord is my Shepherd which many at this Time do admire and say What hath the Lord wrought who have seen his Wonders in the dayes of old and have seen his noble Acts which the Fathers have told of who are fallen asleep and are at Rest in the Lord and now many is God bringing to see what they witness to be true and to have the same fulfilled in themselves Honour and Praise unto him forever who is the Stay Strength of all his People forever And the day of the Lord is broken and the Light hath appeared that manifesteth all Things which are reproveable and the Day-Star is arisen in the Hearts of many and they are come to see that fulfilled in their Hearts which Peter exhorted them to wait for and to take heed unto the sure Word of Prophecy until the day appeared and did dawn in their Hearts which day when it appears and to whom it appears discovereth all things and maketh all things manifest as it is declared by the Spirit of Truth in the Scripture of Truth and every Man's Work shall be tryed of what Sort it is and of what Nature it is and this day hath appeared to many Praises to the Lord who have waited for it and now they see every thing in its Ground and Rise and every tree and fruit is seen according to its kind whether good or bad and every Man's Work is obvious to every one who are in the day and upon whom the Morning of Righteousness hath appeared and the Sun of Righteousness hath shined upon whereby that is seen in every one by the Light which is truly called day by the Lord who causeth it to spring from on high which is reproveable and condemnable and also whatever is justifiable and unreproveable is seen by the day of the Lord appearing in the Heart The Day of the Lord what it is and to whom it hath appeared discovered and how it is seen GOD is a Spirit his day is spiritual and is seen with a spiritual Eye it 's pure Light pure Brightness the pure shining forth of the Lord in his glorious Excellency the pure shining forth of Eternity Life putting forth it self in its Brightness Holiness shedding it self abroad in its Glory Purity spreading it self in its immeasurable Excellency and can only be seen as it is in it self by the Children of Light that are born of it there is a natural day there is a spiritual Day the natural day receives its Brightness from the Sun the spiritual day receives its Brightness from the Sun of Righteousness by whom it 's brought forth without whom nothing was or is made or brought forth but by him who is the Fountain of Life and as the natural day receives its Clearness from the natural Sun and is discerned by the natural Eye of a natural Man and all things natural are seen and discovered by and in the natural day and are perspicuous and obvious to him that hath his natural Sight even so from the Sun of Righteousness the Lord of Glory Light and Purity the day of God receives its Brightness and is issued out from him by the Rayes of his Brightness and is discerned and seen only by the spiritual Eye of the spiritual Man who is the Image of the Father brought forth in Life and in his own Nature and Quality that is to say from God the Father of Life by Christ Jesus the Life of men the Light of the World and this is the Birth which is born from above which is of the Nature of the Father and the Son and of the day and he only comes to behold this day and discerns all things of the Father's Kingdom by it and likewise discerns all the hidden things of Dishonesty and the Works of Darkness which are brought forth by the Prince of Darkness who is shut up in eternal utter Darkness which is his dwelling-place forever which is his Residence and shall be the Residence of all the Workers of Iniquity that bear his Image forever Object But some
though with the best of all our Commodities though with Cinamom and Odours and Oyntment and Frankincense yet they will buy none of our Ware nor there 's no Hope of trading with them any more for they are come to know the Pearl which is more precious then Rubies and the heavenly Treasure that doth not rust and the Word which is sweeter then the Honey and the Honey comb there 's no Hope of them but this is the Misery they will not be content with what they have found but impart it to others and so beget a Dislike in other Peoples Minds to the best of all our Merchandize However them that are gone from us and deny our Mother and her golden Cup and deny all her Merchants great and small not only them that trade in Wood and Vessels and Brass and Iron but even them that trade with the best Merchandize as Gold Silver precious Stones Pearls fine Linnen Purple Silk and Scarlet however let us excommunicate them and give them up to Satan and let us call to the Beast with his seven Heads and ten Horns who is scarlet-coloured dreadful and terrible and let us accuse them of Heresie Schism and Blasphemy and call them Seducers Deceivers and false Prophets and let us brand them with Names of Reproach as Sectaries and say they are seditious and rebellious and mutinous and they are Enemies to Church and State and all good Government Peace-breakers factious and pestilent Fellows that bring all the Nations into an Uproar and if that will not do let us petition to Kings Princes Dukes Parliaments Protectors and Councils that some speedy and effectual Course may be taken for suppressing of these Hereticks and for stopping of these blasphemous Doctrines as that the Steeple-house is not the Church and sprinckling of Infants no Ordinance of Christ and singing of Psalms by Tradition no Part of the true Worship of God and it may be shall get some Law or Act of Parliament against them or call them Vagabonds and get them whipt abroad and put in Prisons while we take away their Oxen and Goods at home and so by this Means it will stop others whom we traffick withal that they will not dare to hearken unto them for if they will not buy our Wares and take our measures by a Glass in Love to it yet because of Fear of Imprisonment or Loss of their Goods or Estates they will be constrained to trade with us But alas it is otherwise with us now then it was in Queen Mary's Dayes when Mass Mattens and Even-songs Processionings Ave-maries Creeds and Pater-nosters took up most Part of the Time and went off among People for spiritual Worship at a good Rate neither is it with us now as it was in the Dayes of Bishop Laud our great Metropolitan and the rest of our Mother's Merchants then would Common Prayer translated out of the Mass-Book into the English and Creed Letany Pater-noster with a Lord have Mercy upon us or we beseech thee to hear us good Lord forty Times over in a Quarter of an Hour with some of David's Psalms turned into Meeter by Hopkins and Sternhold Masters of Musick sung with Organs with Choristers and Boyes with bowing to the Altar and such like Merchandize which was then precious in the Eyes of our Mother's Children then whosoever would not be obedient to all the Rites and Ceremonies we branded them with the Name of Puritans and Non-conformists and haled them before Sessions Courts and Magistrates cited them to appear before the Bishops served them up to the High-Commission-Court before the Lords Spiritual and Temporal falsly so called and there the Flesh was gnawn to the Bone and Ears cut off stigmatizing and burning with Irons Imprisonment and Banishment Now as People came nearer the Day they began to suspect all this as not to be the spiritual Worship of God having no Ground nor Footing from the Spirit of Truth nor Example from the Scripture nor from the primitive Churches then they over whom our mother once reigned began to question her whether she was the Lamb's Wife yea or nay And whether our Predecessors and Brethren were the messengers sent out by the true Church yea or nay And whether the Ordinances and Practices were the Institution of Christ and his Apostles yea or nay in the primitive Times And the Day dawned upon them and the Spirit came to be revealed and did shine into their Hearts and they began to search the Scriptures and to compare the true Church which was cloath'd with the Sun and crown'd with the Crown of twelve Stars with our mother Mystery Babylon and they began to compare the Apostles and ministers in the primitive Times with our Predecessors Babylon's merchants and also compared the Institutions and Ordinances which were delivered to the true Church with the Institutions Rites Ceremonies and Inventions of our mother Mystery Babylon and so they found all out by the Revelation of the Spirit and by searching of the Scriptures they found out the Rise of our mother after the Woman was fled into the Wilderness and that she sate not as a Queen upon Nations Kindreds Tongues and Peoples till after the Woman did fly away upon the Wings of an Eagle into the Wilderness for a Time Times and half a Time and likewise they found out that our Predecessors and Fellow-merchants were not like the ministers of Christ in the primitive Times neither our Doctrines and Ordinances like the Ordinances and Doctrines which were once delivered to the Saints before ever we merchants set sail or floated in a Ship on the Sea And so finding our City to be raised up in its Glory since the Glory of God was lost in the Earth and finding our Queen Mystery Babylon ruling in our City since the Lamb's Wife fled and finding us merchants to receive her Traffick from her City since the Faith was lost that once was delivered to the Saints and did see our Creeds and Beliefs and Pater-nosters our Prayers and our Hymns that they are quite another Thing which was Part of her Traffick they have concluded and that upon infallible Grounds warranted by a Cloud of Witnesses in the Prophets and Apostles that our mother is a Whore and her Predecessors are her merchants and that our Ordinances are and Traffick hath been invented by some of our mother's children which are Apostates and they have found us out And now alas a Ship will be hardly able to ride any more upon the Waters nor the Sea will hardly bear up our Vessels any more the Nations the Kindreds the Tongues and the Peoples are almost dryed up especially in the North Regions they will not buy our merchandize any more our Ships are like to stand still and our merchandize is like to be all shipwrackt therefore let us take counsel lest all the Sea dry up and we all sit down in Solitariness and our Song be turned into wo worth the Day misery and alas Therefore now it
Church of God when as Christ saith He is the door none comes into the Fold but by him and none comes to the Father but by him and he is the way so who sets up another entrance unto God or into the Fold or into the Church which is the Pillar and Ground of Truth sets up an Idol and prefers an Idol above the Life and so are in the Idolatry But let none mistake that I say Water is an Idol nay it is a good Creature of God or that I say Johns Baptism with Water was an Idol nay he was in the Power and Spirit of Eliah and his Baptism a Figure of a good thing which was to come which afterward was received by the Disciples and Christ's words made good unto them John indeed Baptized you with Water unto Repentance but ye shall be Baptized with the Holy Ghost and with Fire not many dayes hence that was Christ's Baptism I am not Ignorant of the many and great Contests in this Age that have been about these things and I know many Scriptures that speak of Baptism all which I have searched narrowly with the Measure of God's Spirit given unto me into the true Ground of things and the true State of each administration and in this thing I am satisfied fully that the Baptism with Water was John's Baptism and not Christ's and the Baptism of the Spirit 〈◊〉 Christ's and now John's I have no desire to Wrangle or Jangle about words or contest about Shadows but that all may come to know him in whom all Ministrations end in and there will be Peace and Satisfaction to wit in Christ But to say something to the main Basis and Foundation which Priests and Separatists build much of their Arguments upon the last of Matthew and the last Verse Go teach and baptize all Nations in the Name of the Father Son and holy Ghost as for all the Priests about their baptizing of Infants here is no Ground at all for here is first teach and then baptize and here is no infants neither and so I know what Consequences have been drawn from this by the unlearned in their Imaginations but them that have the least Measure of true Light will not take a Consequence to build a Foundation on for this is contrary to their own Rule they say the Scripture is their Rule then their Consequence is not the Rule and if the Scriptures be the Rule let all People of your Parishes know if you can by the Scripture shew when John or any Disciple of his or Christ's baptized Infants and taught them Principles of Religion twenty Years after but they are willingly ignorant that see not you to be Idolaters and as for the Baptists Separates who build upon this for their Water-Baptism they are as groundless as the Priests and all their Agruments are as invalid as the rest for here is baptizing the Nations in the Name of the Father in the Name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost and any who are judicious or wise and are in any Measure of God's pure Wisdom will not say that the Name of the Father is Water or the Son or holy Ghost is Water the Name of God is I am and a strong Tower and the Name of the Son is the Word and the Word is the Power but this is not Water but further they say the Disciples had received the holy Ghost and did baptize with Water after and they were baptized with Water after they had received the holy Ghost and they bring divers Scriptures to prove this I shall not deny but Peter baptized with Water and Paul two or three Families and thanks God he baptized no more and said he had declared the whole Counsel of God and he makes not mention in all his Epistles that Baptism was any Part of his Command neither in all his Counsel to the Churches any where doth he exhort either to Timothy Titus or Apollo or any of the Brethren to baptize with Water but as for Peter's baptizing with Water I know no more Command he had then Paul as for the Commission which Matthew writes of Mat. 28. 19. and that Mark mentions Mark 16.15 there is no Water and so it 's the Baptism of John I grant and Christ bearing Witness to John that he was a Prophet and did baptize many and therefore he or they in Honour to John's Ministry might baptize some as well as Paul did circumcise Titus and then in 1 Cor 7.19 said It was nothing and again in another Place Neither Circumcision nor Uncircumcision did avail but a new Creature and because it was a Figure which People did not idolize so much then as they did Circumcision for the Weakness of the People for a time and the wise in Heart may understand that when any Representation or Figure outward was set up it was not easily denyed again nor an easie Thing to be laid down when the thing signified was come for many of the Jews believed in Christ and were said to be Brethren and yet they came from Jerusalem and troubled the Church of Galatia and would have brought them under the Figure Circumcision again and the Apostle in Gal. 4. asks them Now when ye know God why turn ye again to the beggarly Elements Circumcision observing Dayes Moneths Times and Years I would ask the moderate a Question whether Water be not an Element and pertains only to the elementary Part in man which is to pass away and be dissolved when the Seed is raised up whose Nature is not elementary but caelestial I shall say no more to them at this present who are contentious who are so zealous for their Water upon so weak a Ground but take heed that while you are striving about your outward Water you neglect not the washing of Regeneration and the cleansing of the Spirit many have been baptized but which of you have received the holy Ghost there is not one among you dare own or witness an infallible Spirit but count it an Error that any should speak or witness or look to enjoy any such thing in these Dayes well I say unto you your Day is a Day of Darkness and Gloominess you live in and thick Darkness covers your Tabernacle for whoever have received the holy Ghost or Spirit of Truth in any Measure are led by that which is infallible and not fallible and if you look not for this ye are no Sons notwithstanding all your washing the outside For as many as are the Sons of God are led by the Spirit of God and this is witnessed Praises to the Lord forever the Lord is unto his People an everlasting Light and this is the Sum that Water is owned to be a Figure of the one Baptism and was an Element and pertained to that which is elementary but the Elements shall melt with fervent Heat and be dissolved in the Day of the Lord and then the Seed comes up which is Heir of the Promise which is
but it called it self by the best Name as for the Priests of Scotland their Doctrine and Practice is made manifest and their Reformation by their Principles which I refer the Reader to intituled The Principles of the Priests of Scotland their Reformation and discipline is nearly related to the Spanish Inquisition for their Doctrine they say Grace is not free and Faith is not without Sin and the Letter is the word of God and that they are Cursed that say there is Light within which will lead up to God and as one said although it meant Christ and if any will not submit to their words and conform to their Practice and Traditions then they call a Counsel together as their fore-fathers at Trent and pronounce him a Heretick and within these few Years Banished them or else took their whole substance outward from them and if any out of Conscience could not submit unto their Invented Tradition then if he ever came to have any converse with them again he must have a Pennance before he could get an Indulgence from them like the Pope and furthermore if any deny them because they are out of the Doctrine of Christ and are contrary to the Scripture then as I said they Excommunicate them and charge all People neither to buy nor sell nor eat nor drink with them nor work for them and so the Beasts Power is exercised compelling to come to their Mass-houses and as for the denying the Bishops then you have denyed your Fathers that begat you and Ordained you then you have no Ordination but may be you have Cryed so for setling your Gospel you have got a Committee to ordain you or one Company to lay Hands on another but when receive ye the holy Ghost Oh that is an error in your Church but are not you got into the old Cathedrals so called and into the Steeple-houses and the old Mass-houses and where you had may be 20 Pounds or Forty in the Year now you have gotten a Hundred it may be two here 's Reformation indeed well we must needs remember you of your race and Stock the Apostates since the Apostles dayes and the former Practices which is found among the old Protestants and Papists is among you and you are still Drunk with the whore's Cup and are crying for Cain's Weapons to guard you well I say you are part of the Dragon's Tail that draws to the Earth and to the Pit which will be the end of all Idolaters and Apostates except they come to Repent And as for the Independants Churches so called you are a Branch of the same Root you have declared against the Bishops and court Prelates and said they were in error and many of you declared against them for Pluralists because they had too great Benefits and declared against Tythes as to be Anti-christian and whoso received Tythes denyed Christ come in the Flesh who are wheeled about and now take them your selves and Creep into the old Mass-houses and have taken that up which you condemned in others and so have made your former Testimony void and all sober People see your Hypocrisie and Deceit who have gathered a company together which you call Select People or Members of your Church and you exclude the rest who have as good right to your Ordinance as you for they profess Christ in Words as you do And yet you will receive their means whom you judge not capable of your Ordinance and your Church will no more maintain you then it would maintain them that you have denyed in Words if you had not the Beasts Power to compel your Vineyard would Starve you your Gospel and your Preaching is one with the former and the People is the same in Nature they were before you have got Bishops Lands Augmentations and Stipends more large then your fore-fathers had for the most part and sue Men at the Law and hale them before Judgments Seats and take away their Goods whom you loook upon to be in error yet this stands as good with you as any Article of your Faith to force to compel to Sue to hale into Prison to take away their Goods and get a Scripture for your Cover and say He that Preacheth the Gospel must live of the Gospel and them that neither hear you nor receive you neither believe your Gospel yet you conclude it 's lawful to take their Goods and if you cannot get them hale the party into Prison are not you drinking still the Whore's cup and do not you follow the Beast and do not you own that Law to be Just that compels People to pay Money to you who deny your Ministry and are none of your Sheep and are not your Ordinances and Worship Imitated Things from the Scripture the Saints words and yet out of their Life and Practice are not you in the Apostacy have you not your Profession and Confession of Faith to make year after year as the Magistrate changes doth not this Evidence that you are Unstable and are yet in the Waters upon which the whore Sits and situated in Babylon the Mother of Harlots who yet makes you Drunk and that makes all the Filth and Vomit appear in the Earth that Stains the Earth and your Idols corrupt the Earth all Separates under what Name soever who have not denyed the Ground of Apostacy but are in the Apostacy for all Sects since the Apostles dayes have taken up some part and left another since the Life hath been lost and the Power lost all hath been in the Idolatry and the Protestants who have denyed the Papists yet they have not denyed them in the Ground of their worship but have retained some part and have kept some part of their worship and all Sects sprung out of the Protestants in them all there is some part remaining for they have not denyed the Ground of the worship set up in the Apostacy the Whore's cup is Drunk of and the Dragon hath Power which sought to destroy the man-Child and made war with the Remnant of the Seed of the Woman who was Clothed with the Sun you all stick yet in Babylon and the best of you all are but yet in the Suburbs thereof For since the Apostles dayes their Foundation hath been either Traditions Imitations Inventions of their own or Borrowed things from the Jews in the first Covenant or at the best the Letter hath been the ground of their Faith and their Foundation which they have twined and translated this way and that according to the wit and Reason of every particular Sect and Opinion and according to the understanding of their private Spirits now all these buildings and Towers that mâ—n have builded up in the Apostacy they would fasten upon the writings of the holy men of God and so have raised an Imagination of their own and so would have the Scripture prove what they say and the writings of the Apostles theâ— all call the Gospel and the word of Faith and the Light
and Justices with Persecution falls flat to the Ground We are no Boasters but rejoyce in our sufferings for Christ's sake neither are we weary but are willing to bear and suffer till the Lord arise and plead our Cause and our sufferings are Recorded and the Lord hath considered them though men would not and hath overturned many and Rebuked many for our sakes and it is he that Justifies us and who art thou that Condemns us the Testimony of our Innocency and the causeless suffering hath a Witness in many thousands Hearts who are not like thine as Flint and what uncivility hath any to lay to our charge as against Mâ—gistracy whom have we wronged or what Violence have we done to any except thou Judge that incivility because we do not Complement Bow and flatter and make feigned Addresses like thy Generation and this your Highness and the other your Excellency and another my Illustrious Lord and the next Week or next Month call them Traytors Tyrants and Usurpers and as I told thee before that which was order among the Churches is accounted Disturbance by thee which evidently manifests that you are in the Apostacy and out of the Christian Religion which was Professed and Practiced among the Primitive Christians and for any known wickedness among us I am out of all doubt if thou hadst any thing thou wouldst preach it upon the House top known wickedness hath God redeemed us from which thou yet Wallowst in and yet takest delight in And therefore all these known Wicked abominable falshoods Lyes are come forth besides the abusing of our words and false representing what we have written as our Doctrines to the World and this thou hast done sometimes added to our Words and sometimes detracted from them and sometimes addest thy own Collections then presentst them to publick view as our Errors and Blasphemies and as for Courts and Justices Magistrates and Rulers many of them hitherto have ruled by the Dragon's Powers and not by the Power of God in that many have incouraged the Evil-doers and have not listned to the cry of the Oppressed therefore hath the Lord God overturned them and their day is past and our charges against their Wickedness and Persecution neither our Testimony neither our sufferings have fallen to the Ground but stand as a Record against them And thou saist It is high time for all the redeemed Ones and sanctified Ones and Children of Grace the Favourites of Heaven Honest Godly sincere Christians Children that will not Lye to improve their intrust in God for this sinful divided Nation What dost thou own any to be redeemed and Sanctified or to be Children of Grace or that do not lye and yet cryest out of Perfection as Blasphemy or that any should come to or live by that which is perfect if thou excludest the Quakers to be any of these they will not findm any redeemed Sanctified Honest Godly sincere Christians and all your Improvement and your intrust which you have in God and in Christ will but amount to a small dram you all of you hitherto as you have said have improved your intrust and have sought God as you have said by your Prayers and Humiliations for the suppressing of that which you call Heresie and yet you have had no answer neither hath he listned nor will he listen nor bow down his Ear unto because your Hearts are full of Abominations and as for relapsing into Popery you never came out of it witness the Priests Popish Ordination their Popish Attire your Popish Mass-houses your Cross and Bells your Popish Tythes Easter-reckonings and Mid-summer dues your Popish Colledges your Popish Crosses and your Popish Images in and about your Idols Temple and because of the holding up of these things the Hearts of many of God's People are made sad and because you would hold up your Religion by Swords and Clubs and Persecute others who dissent from you in this you are one with the Papists And is this all thy Reformation that thy godly Ministry can bring forth You have travailed in vain and spent your strength for nought and because of these things the Hand of God is against all in the Nation who hold them up and who is he that can alter the Counsel of the Lord and God will not be reconciled to the Nation till these things be done away because of these things and many more grievous Oppressions which have been holden up therefore God hath broken them in the midst of their Counsels and confounded them in the midst of their devices and will confound and overthrow all deceitful Workers and unprofitable talkers such as thou art and one Hill shall fall after another till there shall be a great plain that the ransomed of the Lord may walk over and Worship the Lord together in Spirit and Love and Truth in Joy and gladness of Heart even as when Israel kept the Feast of Tabernacles And now I shall come to let the Reader see how thou hast falsified our Words which thou hast added thy own Imaginations to and then hast quoted our Books to make People believe they are our words whenas they are thy own forged lyes the which I shall return upon thee First Thou sayest George Fox In Truth defended saith that Preaching the Word Praying and singing are no Appointments of Christ whenas he saith no such thing but the Hireling Priests divinations and feigned Prayers and other mens words in Rhime and Meeter are the Inventions of men and not the Ordinances of Christ. Secondly Thou saist E. B. In Truth defended saith The Priest taking Tythes in the time of the Law was Evil and proved them to be false Prophets and Deceivers Whenas he saith quite contray that the Priests took Tythes under the Law according to the Command of God but now the Priesthood was changed and the Law was changed and them what Preach for Hire and seek for their Gain from their quarter or take Tythes are in the steps of false Prophets and Deceivers and no Ministers of Christ. Thirdly That it 's dangerous for the ignorant and Unlearned to read the Scripture and the Ministers of it are the Ministers of Death Now thou hast detracted from the Words There it is said that it is dangerous for thee to take the Scripture to War against the Saints withal and to make a trade with it and give carnal Exposition and then sell them for Money Fourthly Thou tellest of one Master Kellet in Lancashire and his Queries Whether did not Christ Institute his last Supper with Bread and Wine and R. H. saith the Bread which Christ called his Body is his Church which words thou hast mangled and perverted as thou hast done the most thou hast medled with and there is no such man as Master Kellet the words are these in Truth 's Defence p. 103. Christ did not â—peak of Bread and Wine but he took Bread and brake it and said This is my Body and we
a Service for such a Day and such a Worship for such a Day we find not in the first hundred Years after Christ. And for your Lent which one of your Fathers invented and this was his Ground because God had the tenth of the increase of Tythes due to himself and for his Ministers under the Law therefore it was necessary that the tenth part of Dayes should be allowed as Tythes to the Lord Oh! Gross ignorance and palpable Blindness mid-Night it self came upon you in the time of your Visibility when the True Church was fled into the Wilderness As though the Lord was not the Lord of all Dayes and as though all dayes were not his and to be used to his Glory And your prohibiting Meats and distinguishing of Meats one Holy for such a day another for such a day Flesh one day and Fish another day as though there were not the Flesh of Fish or one thing were clean and another Unclean And this invented Trumpery hath been observed for Catholick and Apostolick Doctrine but by whom we must needs tell you by the Nations Kindreds and Tongues and People upon which the Whore sits and out of which the Beast rose And we will grant you antiquity enough this many hundred Years and yet we will prefer the Primitive Times before you and bring their Doctrine and Practice to reprove you though we do not desire to go in Cain's Way and to kill Creatures that are out of the Doctrine of Christ and contrary to Apostolick and Catholick Doctrine which wrestled not with Flesh and Blood but with spiritual wickedness whose Weapons were not carnal but spiritual and yet they hâ—d great might in them and threw down by these weapons that which never could be by carnal 2 Cor. 10.4 Again your forbidding to Marry which is reckoned by the Apostles Doctrine to be a Doctrine of Devils and contrary unto that the Apostle's Doctrine was Marriage is Honourable in all Estates the Bâ—d undefiled Heb. 13.4 And seeing you plead Peter was at Rome and Peters Chair and that the Bishop of Rome doth succeed him and hath the Keys as Peter had Why do you exclude the chief Bishops as you account them from Marrying and divers other Orders seeing Peter had a Wife and seeing that it is Catholick and Apostolick Doctrine before you could claim the Name of visible Church that a Bishop should be the Husband of one Wife and should not be Covetous nor no striker nor given to Wine nor filthy Lâ—cre c. But since the Bishop of Rome hath Appropriated to himself to be the Head of the Church and the chief-Bishop over all â—he Catholick Church it hath been manifested how much covetousness and covetous Practices have been Acted as Money for Pardons and Indulgences and get Money for the living and the dead and the invented Purgatory hath filled your Coffers and your Meritorious works have been Sold at a dear rate Insomuch that a poor Woman who hath lost her Husband and he deceased must pay ten Shillings for a mortuary that he may be Prayed for or some of your Merits may be accounted to him which you have in store as a Stock to sell to any who come with a Prize in their Hands And from whence have you all these Tythes have you not borrowed them of the Jews and yet you are no Jews and such things we do not read among the Jews were Tythable Pigs Eggs Hens and Geese to omit greater matters and the Smoak passing up the chimneys and that which you call your Peter-Pence And this is contrary to the Catholick and Apostolick Doctrine which Peter would have been ashamed to ever have mentioned either amongst Jews or Gentiles And now I would ask you a Question or two seeing John saw the true Church flee into the Wilderness the Woman that was cloathed with the Sun who brought forth the Man-child what cause have you to boast of Visibility or Universality Now when were you in the Wilderness if your Church hath not been so then it Demonstrates that your Church is not the Woman cloathed with the Sun for she did fly into the Wilderness as with the Wings of an Eagle Secondly Whether hath your Gospel been universally publickly preached these sixteen hundred Years or nay And is it the very same that was Preached in the first hundred or two hundred Years seeing that John saith that all Nations did drink of the Whore's cup of Fornication And then Nations were Waters seeing he saith the Gospel shall be preached again to Nations Kindreds and Tongues which clearly demonstrates there was a time when the everlasting Gospel was not preached to the Kindreds Tongues which are the Waters upon which your Church is Situated And it is evidently manifested that yours hath been another Gospel then that which was preached in the Apostolick Church and in the Catholick Church the first hundred or two hundred Years after Christ was manifested in the Flesh Much might be said to Demonstrate the Truth which is in Hand that there hath been an Apostacy the Beginners thereof came forth in the Apostles dayes and afterwards grew into a Body and became like a great Sea which according to the best Ecclesiastical writerâ— which have given a Narrative of the first five hundred Years declared that there was great loss within 300. Years but in five hundred Years or less the very Power of Godliness was denyed and very much of the Form And though your pleads Antiquity for a Thousand Years for these things aforementioned which they would be hard to prove For although it should be granted them yet we will joyn issue with them in this thing and are able to prove all these Doctrines and Practices not to be as it was in the first two hundred Years except they will own such as taught the Doctrine of Balaam and taught the Doctrine of Devils and went in Cain's and Chore's Way for an Example It were not hard to prove the introducing of all these things before mentioned and how they have come in by degrees one Council that rose out of the Waters ordaining this another ordaining that and so have risen up into this great Body of Darkness some of the Practices borrowed from the Jews and some from the Heathen and some invented of themselves in latter Ages so that the Worship that was in the Spirit and in Truth in Christ's and the Apostles dayes is turned from and such a numberless Number of vain Traditions Ave-maries Creeds and Pater-nosters and such a deal a do as there is about their unbloody Sacrifice of the Mass that they are glad to be counted by their beads on strings as many very well know By all that which hath been said may easily be Collected that there hath been a great Deviation and Apostacy from the Doctrine and Practice of the Primitive times thus far as I am descended I leave it to the Reader to judge and compare these things with the Churches Doctrine and
you who Profess your selves Reformed for shame leave off these things and come out of them and deny them Secondly Parishes and Parish-Churches which were Ordained and builded in the Apostacy and dedicated unto Saints which stand to this day both in the Church of Rome and in the reformed Churches so called and Church-Yards which they call Holy and Consecrated Ground to bury their Dead in this is an invented thing and Superstitious and yet it stands as an Apostolick order both among Papists and Protestants in the Primitive times in the dayes of the Apostles the Scriptures make mention of the Jews Temple at Jerusalem and of the Gentiles Idols Temples in which they Worship the Apostles and Ministers of Christ who published the Word of Reconciliation and Christ the substance of all Figures they gathered them that did believe of the Jews from the Temple and Temple-worship and the Gentiles from their Temples and Idols to Worship God in the Spirit and they met together in Houses we read of no Parish-Churches dedicated to Saints nor Consecrated Ground for they knew the Earth was the Lord's and the fulness thereof and was clean and good and Blessed to them that believed and there was no dividing into Parishes then nor no compelling then Corinth was not divided into a Parish Antioch Philippi Thessalonica Philadelphia and Smyrna and the rest were not all made into Parishes neither were them that believed not compelled or forced to come to the Christians Meeting at Antioch Philippi Thessalonica Philadelphia or any other place that we read of in the Scriptures and the Apostles were not confined nor their Spirits were not so strait as to stay over one hundred or fifty Families twenty Years and call that their Parish between such an Hedge and such a Ditch and such a Water and such a Way as Parishes are now divided into though I say they had Houses to meet in and preached the Word and brake Bread from House to House and sometimes by the Sea-side they Congregated and sometimes on an Hill and at certain places they met together to Worship God they went not back to the Jews Temple nor Gentiles Idols Temples neither forced any of their Maintenance as to minister unto them by which all may see that these invented Churches and Church-Yards for Holy ground and Parishes are not Apostolical nor was no Catholick nor Universal thing then in the Primitive times neither was there any command given to the Christians to do any such thing neither Reprehension for not doing such things The first Church or Temple that we read of was consecrated by Pius Bishop of Rome in honour to the Virgin Prudentia and afterwards Calistus made a Temple to the Virgin Mary a place beyond Tibris and instituted a Church-Yard in Apius his Street and called it after his own Name And Dionysius in the Year 267. divided both in Rome and other places Churches and Church-Yards to Curates and made Parishes and Diocesses to Bishops commanded that every man should be contented with his Prescript Bonds and there was the Beginning of Parishes Churches and Church-Yards consecrated Ground and in Process of time when all Nations had drunk of the cup of Fornication the Nations began to imitate their Mother and to build and consecrate Temples and Churches and Church-Yards to this Saint and the other Saint as is too too manifest through Christendom to this Day And here 's the rise of Holy Parish Churches which of late have been preached up for the House of God and the House of Prayer which bears the Name yet by which the Pope Baptized them Saint Peter Saint Paul Saint Mary Saint Hellen Saint Katharine Saint Gregory Saint Maudlen Saint Alnban Saint Anthony Saint George Saint Margret Saint Dunstans Saint Clement Saint Christopher Saint Giles Saint Martin and Painting and Garnishing these Houses with Images and Pictures and hanging of Flowers and Boughs and Garlands this came from the old Heathen who Sacrificed to Saturn and Pluto and this hanging up candles and their Candlemas dayes this came of the Gentiles and Pagans who Honoured their false God Saturn and their Altar which they have builded in this Temple and their Tables upon which they offer and set their Sacrifice these Boniface the third commanded that they should be covered with Linnen clothes and here was the Beginning of these kind of Orders so that as I said before most of these things in and about the Worship which hath been since the Reign of Anti-chirst and since the Whore hath sat as a Queen they have been either borrowed from the Jews or else from Pagans and Heathens and the Mother of Harlots hath put these things off for Apostolick Institutions these many hundreds of years and divers other Things which are in and about the Parish Churches your many Crosses in and about them of Wood and Stone your Baptized Bells and consecrated Pulpits and Fonts and hour-Glasses and soft Cushions to Preach on all these the Scriptures make no mention of not in the Christian Churches the first two hundred Years after Christ. Now Protestants who have denyed the church of Rome and their Practices which was contrary to the Primitive and the Scriptures look about you and see how you are sticking in Babylon and buying yet the Merchandize thereof and as for your Holy Ground called your church-yards which you only judge fit to bury the Dead in and would compel all to come thither because there are many Officers in and about this Temple who are greedy of rewards so that they would not miss any thing that might be commodious unto them and so would compel all to come there for their Gain but Abraham was the first we read of that made any place of burial in Hebron which he bought of Ephron an Hittite for thirty shekels of Silver and there was he and his Wife buried and this was no Parish-Yard neither did he leave any Priestor Clark that we read of to receive Wages Fees for Ringing a Bell and reading and singing over the Dead and so for shame you who Profess the Scriptures and the Apostolick Order Institutions of Christ come out from among all this Trumpery and wait that you may come again into the Order of the Gospel and the Primitive order which hath been talked of these many years and yet not known CHAP. VII Concerning Swearing by the Gospel and kissing a Book and that which is commonly Confirmation or Bishoping Children things invented contrary to the Apostles Doctrine and are in the Apostacy IN the first Covenant the Jews were commanded to Swear by the Lord and Oathes were observed by the Jews that were in the first Covenant which was faulty Heb. 8.7 which Ordinance did not make perfect as pertaining to the Conscience and so there came to be an End of that Covenant and the better was brought in which stood upon BETTER PROMISES and then the Priest-hood Law first Covenant and the Ordinances thereof
in Heresie in Schism so that there is an absolute Defection from the Life and Power of God which was manifested in the Apostles dayes and therefore the Church of Rome is not the true Church What I have said as to the Doctrines and Grounds which have been laid down by the Author I shall refer it and the Answer unto God's Witness in every Man's Conscience and if I hear any more of the Author his great Boasts or ambitious Challenges which may reach to all that do dissent from the Church of Rome as to be Hereticks I shall engage in the Strength of the Lord to vindicate the Truth however opposed and shall further if God permit be ready to give a more large and full answer unto the Doctrines and Practices and Worship of the Church of Rome and prove them to be contrary to the Scriptures and the Apostolick Doctrine and the Faith that was once delivered to the Saints So in what I have said I hope may convince the Author of his vain Assertions and them that are enclined towards Babylon it may put a Stop to that which would too readily close with every thing which goes under the Name of Antiquity But in what I have said upon the whole Matter I hope will be sufficient unto all who read with a single Eye without Prejudice and unto such I say the Lord give them an Understanding that they see and discern the Way which leadeth to Life and Felicity from that which leadeth to the Chambers of Death and the Pathes that take hold on Destruction A GENERAL EPISTLE TO THE Seed of God DEar Friends every where who have believed in our Lord Jesus Christ and called with an holy Calling to the great Salvation of God which is manifest in this the Day of his Power keep your first Love and let not the Threats of Men neither the Browns of the World affright you from that which you have prized more then all the World now the Sun is up and a time of scorching is come and that which hath not Root will wither now every Ground will be tryed and blessed is the Good that brings forth the Seed which must inherit the Promise Oh let not the Cares of this present Life choak that which God hath begotten and seeing the Lord hath so marvelously wrought for us hitherto in the midst of great Opposition let not your Faith fail nor your Confidence in God who delivered Jacob of old out of his Adversity and Israel out of all his Troubles whose Care is over his People now and having seen the Emptiness of the World and its Way and Worship let nothing blind your Eye again and let not the things present nor things to come separate you from the Love of God in Christ Jesus and mind not them that draw back to Perdition but let it teach you all more Diligence to be as those that press after Glory Immortality and Everlasting Life the Way of God was ever hated by the World and the Powers thereof never heed the rough Spirit nor the heavy for their Bound is set and their Limit known but mind the Seed which hath Dominion over all and forsake not the assembling of your selves together in which you have found God and his Promise and Power amongst you and Blessing your Understandings opened Oh rather suffer all things then let go that which you have believed fâ—r whoso doth will loose the Evidence of God's Spirit in them and their Peace and Joy will be lost the Lord God preserve you all unto the End faithful Your Dear Brother for the Testimony of Jesus F. H. Aâ—â—elby Goal the 10th of the 3d Moneth 1664. A Visitation of Love Peace and Good-will from the Spirit of the Lord sent unto the whole Flock of God now in this their Day of Tryal and Hour of Temptation DEar Friends and Brethren who have been called to believe by the holy calling of the Lord unto Sanctification and Holiness that ye might inherit the Promises of God and that your Souls might live in the Land of the living and partake of his Goodness that you might admire him and praise his Name forever And seeing the Lord out of his rich Love and Mercy hath visited you who sometime sate in the Region of the Shadow of Death and were cast out of his Presence in the time of Unbelief seeing he hath caused his miraculous Light to shine upon you in his gracious Visitation of you and hath given you to believe in his Name prize his Love unto you and let not his gracious Benefits slip out of your Minds lest your Hearts be filled with other things that will corrupt your Hearts and make you an unmeet Habitation for the Lord to dwell in and among Dear Friends hear my Brotherly Admonition and Exhortation for the Lord moved in my Heart to write unto you and in the Bowels of his kind and tender Love and Motion of his heavenly Spirit to stir up your pure Minds and Consciences unto Stedfastness in the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ and so much the more that you all be watchful seeing the times be perilous for now the Adversary goes about roaring and ravening on the right Hand and on the left to destroy and devour that which God hath brought forth in you that so he might regain you too under his Power and Government and that ye might revolt from the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ that stands in Power and Righteousness which is come and hath been of a Truth manifest in great Glory and this is an Hour the Power of Darkness is let loose to try the Faith and them that dwell upon the Earth and he is let loose for a Season blessed are they that hide themselves under the Shadow of the Almighty and under the Wings of Christ Jesus who is given for a Redeemer a Saviour and a Preserver of Men that the wicked One touch them not and now the Devil rages because he knows his Kingdom is but short and but for a small time is like to stand in many because a stronger then he that rules in the World is come and hath began to dispossess the strong Man and bind him and cast him out and now he rages and stirs up all the Temptations within and without and all his Instruments to joyn with him to make War for him that he might not rule who is the Heir of all things and given for a Leader and to be the Head of the Body his Church in which alone he hath Right to rule because the Lord of the whole Earth yea of Heaven and Earth hath put all Power into his Hands to bind and to lose to bring out of Captivity and to lead Captivity Captive that Life and Immortality might again inhabit in the Sons of Men that Truth and Righteousness might sway that Mercy and Love might sit on the Throne that his Salvation might take hold on the Ends of the Earth and his Power made known
you and over you even as he doth at this Day for which I thank the Lord and I am satisfied hitherto in what is done and I have my Reward and it 's with me O dear Friends this I speak unto you that you might abide in Love and keep in Unity one among another even as you did see us one to another at all Times Oh dear Hearts dwell in Love in Meekness speak all the same Thing be kind to one another and tender and easie to be entreated one of another and be pitiful and merciful one to another and bear and forbear one another for Christ's sake who hath born your Infâ—rmities in Times past be like minded and truly I speak it your Comfort your Faith Obedience Suffering and Self-denyal thus far is come abroad and hath strengthned many and hath made them willing to be Companions with you in Life or Death their Prayers are for you their Praises are of you their Blessings are with you and so is mine who am the Lord's and yours in Life or Death and if we shall not see one another any more in these Earthly Tabernacles God's Heavenly Will be done And these Lines I send unto you as the best Thing I have to greet you with my whole Heart which is as tender as a sucking Child to you all Farewel Farewel everlastingly in the Life of Christ Jesus in which I write unto you Farewel Your Dear Brother and Companion in Tribulation F. H. Send a Copy of this to Bristol and Hartford and else-where where any are sentenced THE Great Case OF TYTHES AND Forced Maintenance ONCE MORE REVIVED THE True state thereof enquired into before the Law under the Law among the Jews likewise under the Gospel the true Ministers of Christ their Allowance shown likewise in the Corruption of time since Christ how Tythes have been introduced wherein Antiquity is searched and the Judgment of the Fathers of the Church in several Ages produced besides the Scripture it self examined in all which is clearly proved Tythes and forced Maintenance are no Gospel-maintenance the Scriptures answered divers Arguments confuted and Objections answered which are brought by the Ministry of this last Age. Also the Institution and Division of Parishes and their Rise which are published for the Benefit of all who desire that Gospel-Order might be established again in all the Churches of Christ. F. H. THE EPISTLE TO THE READER Impartial Reader THou hast here recommended once more unto thy View what from Time to Time and from Age to Age hath been not only the grand Cause of invocating Councils but also hitherto even the Ground of great Dispute and Controversie if thou thâ—s Treatise do with a single Eye peruâ—e and ballance the same in just and equal Scales thou wilt find it of so muâ—h Validity as will poise thy Judgment to give Censure that this â— a clear true Demonstration of the Matter in Hand if thou be serious in thy View sincere in thy Heart and single in thy Mind as willing to know the Radix Rise and Ground of the Matter herein handled then wilt thou find thâ—â— the very Key which will aright and may without Scruple open unto thee and demonstrate the very certain infallible and sure Testimony as well of theâ—r Original Rise Growing Begetting Constitutâ—ng Setling Confirming Upholding and maintaining of them viz. Tythes all which that thou may'st be clearly informed may'st thou find as by Step and Step herein traced thou wilt find their Original as first how Tenths were given before the Commandment was given forth to the Jews thou wilt also find their growing and their Institutions thou may'st clearly see and wherefore they were so instituted thou wilt find them when confirmed and when corrupted and thou wilt find them when lawful and when not lawful thou wilt find them when they were to be payed and thou wilt find a Time when they ought not to be payed And because the Ministers of our Age as we have daily from them do vaunt and boast themselves of the Orthodox Fathers of their Church therefore wilt thâ—u find by a narrow Search and a single Eye in the reading hereof unto which I do advise thee and that in Patience and Sobriety thou wilt as one unbiassed ballance the same here may'st thou have their Opinions and Judgments also and their ancient Fathers quoted thou wilt have at large their own Words all which as by this Treatise is intended to inform thy Mind and be as a President how they are now in this our Age apostatized from what they were and now at length become as Usurpation or abused and for thy more full and perfect Understanding how they were continued and imposed thou may'st also read the Orders and Decrees of many great Councils their Opinions Judgments and Impositions from Time to Time in many Ages past thou wilt see the Testimony of the holy Martyrs and their Verdict and last of all the Scriptures discussed the Arguments confuted the Questions answered and the Objections razed which the Ministers of our Dayes do produce or in Times past have been produced as the Basis or Ground from which they infer and lay their seeming fair Foundation these thou wilt all see sufficiently clearly and evidently confuted their Structure defaced their painted Building demolished their Foundation unbottomed and they themselves if their old Root of Coveâ—ousness were not so strongly centured in them might be convinced there is not one Stone left but all is overturned and the Bottom viewed that thereby this Babel's Foundation may now be thrown down at the last which hath had so many Batteries and Assaults against it tha as it is the last so it is indeed a weighty Piece which if Truth might have Place and Error and Deceit which since the Apostacy is crept in once rooted out then needed there not another of this Nature for this indeed doth bolt the Door and if sensibly felt arightly understood and the Truth of it assented unto then would there be no Entrance but though all this may not take hold with the worldly Priest yet herein have I Hopes that Truth therein being so sufficiently demonstrated may take Place and Footing in every honest Reader so far as that he may not only be informed but convinced and not only so but being convinced by this which doth so candidly manifest the same he may in the Zeal of his Heart own 〈◊〉 and stand in the Defence thereof vindicating the just Cause thereof and witness with his Seal that this is true which if unbiassed he peruse it doth evidently appear unto me he cannot but own as he is willing and aminded to own Truth One Thing more is also in this Book inserted to wit the Sufficiency of Allowance to the Ministers of Christ in Gospel-dayes according to the Doctrine of Christ and the Apostles and it were well if Magistrates and Superiors would weigh it and that they would with the infallible Eye of pure Judgment labour
Judaism among the Christians brought in by their Leaders and from the Opinions of these and other Ancient Fathers Tythes Easter and Pentecost came to be introduced and brought into the Church among the Christians Also Jerome in these Words I do not take a Part as the rest of the Tribes of Possessions of Lands but as a Levite I live of the Tenth and as I serve at the Altar I am sustained by the Oblation of the Altar being content with Food and Rayment I follow nakedly the naked Cross But there is no Necessity to understand his Words of Tythes but as the Levites lived of Tythes serving at the Altar even so am I maintained by the free Offering of them that do believe But it is to be observed that there were divers Councils in and about the 600 Year only provincial as Mascon and Arles and some others do take it for granted that a Tenth was due by Way of Offering and put into the Hands of them that ministred to the Church is spoken of as good Antiquity grounded upon the Mosaical Laws which they call their Divinas all which did spring from the Doctrine of the four Fathers before mentioned but especially Ambrose and Austin about the Year 400. but take his own Words It is not fit for us saith he to prefer our selves as Christians unless we do the Work of Christians viz. to offer the tenth Part of Corn and of Cattel and all the first Fruits of the Earth and took it for granted as due only his Ground from Moses's Law and if they should offer less then a Tenth their Offering was not accepted Also agreeing with him is Augustine in a Sermon after this Manner viz. Dear Brethren forasmuch as the Day of Christ draws near we ought to assemble our selves together and to give Thanks to God who hath given unto us by our offering unto God our Tenths for God is worthy to have the whole and this he grounds from that of Malachi Honour the Lord with thy Substance c. Farther exhorting them to pay their Tribute to the poor and their Sacrifice to the Priests then urging more Texts out of the old Testament he tells them That the Neglect of Payment of Tythes was the Cause of Sterility and Blasting of their Corn and the like These two great Bishops agree and as was said before from the Law of Moses infer their whole Doctrine yet notwithstanding the great Pressures and hard Threats of some of the Bishops at that Time it was not a general received Doctrine that Tythes ought to be payed until about the Year 800. neither was any Thing by the Church then determined or ordained touching the Quantity that should be given though no Doubt in many Places the Offerings of the more devout Sort Tenâ—hs or a greater Part of their Encrease were given according to the Doctrine then in Use And then about this Time the Offerings and Gifts to the Church were disposed of on this wise being received into a common Treasury one fourth Part to the Priests out of which every one that laboured had his Portion another Part for the Relief of the Poor sick and Strangers and a third for the repairing Places of publick Worship and the fourth to the Bishop and generally then the Bishop lived in some Monastery and his Clergy with him from whence he sent them to preach in the Diocesses and Countries and there they received such Offerings as were made and brought them to the Treasury so that hereby the Reader may take Notice that the Priests had not such a peculiar Interest in that which was given but others had a Share with them but now they claim all their Churches were builded out of the Gifts of the People the Poor Fatherless and Widdow were relieved out of them and the Prisoners who suffered for the Faith they held were relieved also the Bishop and his whole Clergy were sustained but now they claim it as due and take Tythes by Force and Violence three or four fold and sometimes ten fold and People thrown into Prison and Widdows Goods spoiled how unsuitable these Practices are from what they were in the Apostles time and the ancient Fathers for 500 Years though they are very proud and boast much of their ancient Fathers yet they will not so much as come near them in Example yet they cry up the Church the Church and Antiquity when they are far enough off from their Practice though they were in a declining Condition in this Age I have been speaking of before Also Jerome upon the third of Malachy in his Commentary doth admonish Christians to give their Alms to the poor and double Honour to him that labours in the Lord's Service not binding at all to offer this oâ— that Part yet exhorts them not to be more backward then the Jews wherein they payed their Tenths Neither is Chrysostome at all different from him in his Doctrine in perswading even Labourers and Artificers to give bountifully their Alms to the Church for Holy Uses according to the Apostolical Ordinances relating to the weekly Offerings in the Churches of Corinth Galatia Antioch and the Jews Liberality was brought as a President below which he would not have Christians determine their Charity and sayes withal that he speaks these Things not as commanding or forbidding that they should give more yet as thinking it fit they should not give less then a tenth Part for holy Uses as the Phrase was Cyril Bishop of Alexandria speaking upon that Passage of Abraham Gen. 14.23 who after he had gained the Victory over the King of Sodom's Enemies and rescued Lot when the King of Sodom offered him Part of the Spoils he would receive nothing but a few Victuals Though saith he the holy Teachers do war in the Behalf of perishing Mankind yet do they not take any thing from the Men of the World nor do they heap up unto themselves Riches lest the World should say We have made you rich they only ought to receive the Sustenance from the Hands of those whom they have converted to the Faith for it 's Christ's Command saith he that those who preach the Gospel should live thereby So that it 's evident that very many of the ancient Fathers whom this Generation have talked so much of did deny Tythes and a forced Maintenance from the World but in this Point it 's like they will be judged but weak-sighted or erroneous in their Judgment by this Generation as they do the Quakers or Men of mean Understanding but I see many will traduce them in Words but few in Practice It was the Judgment also not of private Persons but of the most learned and sound Teachers of that Age in five or six hundred Years after Christ. Prosper saith They that live of the Gospel who will be Propriators of nothing who neither have nor desire to have any thing not possessing their own but the common Goods and what
concluded that the Ministers of the Gospel do receive Tythes which they as miserably wrest as they do the Words even so for here the Apostle is exalting the Priesthood of Christ above the Priesthood of Levi and shews that Melchizedeck was greater then Abraham after whose order Christ was made an High Priest and that Levi payed Tythes in Abram unto Melchizedâ—ck and these Words Here men that dye receive Tythes hath wholly relation unto Abraham and to Levi in that Covenant and not so much as any shadow at all of paying or receiving Tythes in the second Priesthood for if Perfection were by the Levitical Priesthood what further need was there that another should arise after the order of Melchizedeck And all the afore-mentioned Scriptures which are the greatest seeming Ground that the Ministry of this last Age pretend Tythes and forced Maintenance from prove nothing at all but rather to the contrary as hath been said and much more might be said for it is manifest that all the Ministers of Christ never received any Tythes or forced maintenance from the World who were in the Unbelief neither of them who were not of their Church nor of such as they reckoned as Hereticks but this last Generation of Apostates exceeds all that ever went before them in Covetousness if they be but remaining within such a Parish which was first set up by the Pope and his Emissaeries and ratified by the Princes of the Earth that have drunk Whores Cup whether they be Believers of Unbelievers Prophane Schismaticks or Hereticks yea or such as they 'l Curse and give up to Satan Tythes and forced Wages Mortuaries and Oblations besides many other things that they claim as due this they must and will have and will tell you he that preacheth the Gospel must live of the Gospel O sad Generation who fills the World with Darkness and blinds the Minds of People may it not truly be said and looked for that which was Prophesied of Old and came to pass coneerning the Levitical Priest-hood when they had violated the Commandments of the Lord For your sake shall Sion 〈◊〉 Plowed as a Corn field and Jerusalem become as Heaps and truly I do reckon it as one of the main Transgressions of the Ministry of this last Age which should have been Leaders of the People but have caused them to Err that the Nation hath been Plowed up and turn'd over as a Husbandman turns Ground and therefore the Nation hath not enjoyed its rest nor the Land its Sabbaths neither I look will or can do whilest these abominations are held up Likewise Let all the now call'd separated Churches be proved and tryed who reckon that they are separated from the World and yet many of them have received pay and Wages of those who are of the World for their Teachers who sent one out at their own cost to Preach to the World and this is likewise Hypocrisie and an abominable thing and here also the Rulers of our present age might learn Wisdom seeing that all â—he Ministers of Christ never received any Maintenance from the World or from them that did look upon them as Ministers of Christ nor own them as such to with-hold their Hands from upholding any with their 〈◊〉 Sword or compel others to maintain them by their Penal Laws 〈◊〉 leave Christ's Kingdom to his own Rule who is Lord of the 〈…〉 sends forth Labourers and hath Spirit and Life and Power and Wisdom to put upon them and give unto them who chuses whom he 〈◊〉 and will not be limited who set forth Fisher-men Shepherds 〈◊〉 Plough-men Tillers of Ground and Keepers of Flocks who spoke plain 〈◊〉 and reached to the Consciences of men of the meanest capacity and yet our litteral Rabbies cannot understand who are yet wise in the World's Wisdom gathered into Schools and there Study and learn a Trade and trade with their Words thereby to get their Living and what Doctrine suites the times that they Study to uphold their Maintenance In the time of Popery they studyed the Popish Doctrine and preached into Nations in the time of Prelacy they changed to a New form and when that was laid aside Presbytery stepped on the Stage and that Doctrine and Worship was studied and Preached and the Universities and Schools sent out such as would suit that time then after that Independency that was propagated and then the Universities and Schools sent out such as would suit that time and now Episcopacy is stâ—rted up from the Grave and all the fâ—rmer lâ—id aside look what pleaseth them best which hath the greatest livings to dispose and that is sure by them to be cryed up and studyed and Preached and here 's the spring of the Teachers the Universities and Schools send forth who Wheel about any way to preserve them in esteem and in their maintenance But let the Rulers and all Wise men consider that Christ's love to the World for whom he died is not lessened or abated neither is his Spirit diminished nor his Power shortened that he will not or cannot send forth fit Ministers for his Service or that he needs Universities or Schools or Magistrates to provide maintenance for those that he sends forth for let the Magistrates look to their own Kingdom which is of this World and to restrain and punish the Evil-doers therein and to encourage and protect the good and then all would be agreed and the Nations preserv'd and kept in peace and quietness every one enjoying his true liberty and freedom in the things that are Spiritual and which belong to the Kingdom of God and herein would be no detrimâ—nt at all to the Magistrates or the Kingdoms of the World nor any diminution from their Power and oh that they might learn Wisdom and as they would not have men to entrench upon their prerogative and Power as it is not meet so likewise that they would not intrench upon the Soveraignity and Power of Christ's Kingdom which is over all and do we not say Thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory and know this that his Glory he will not give to another and let me speak freely the Reason wherefore the Nations have been broken into striâ—e and fractions and war is because many men have made an inroad and an intrusion upon the Soveraignity of Christ and against such his Power hâ—th and will ever turn because they will not allow him that is the most high to Rule and Reign in Kingdoms and the Consciences of men which he alone hath Right to do and this Power Honour and Glory the Lord hath not given to any other nor yet will do but to the Son of God the Light of the World the Life of men and the Saviour of man kind and what is man or the Sons of men that they should strive with the Lord in this thing Let all the Rulers of the Earth consider betimes was not this it that destroyed the whole Nation of the Jews was
keep his Divotion within the Limits of such a Place or any parish for in the Respect of Offerings and profits Canterbury was indeed the only limitted parish so it was not material at what place they met or where they offered their Bounty so they did it 〈◊〉 where and it 's commonly received that Honorus who succeeded Augustine at Canterbury about the Year 630. divided his province into paâ—isâ—â—s as some of the greatest and most learned Writers relate But when the Pope's Doctrine was received and Divotion grown great such as it was most Lay-men of great Estates desired the Country Residence of some Chaplains or Clarks that might alwayes be ready for their Instruction their Families and adjoyning Tenants and then Parish Churches began to be builded by them also and the Bishops hallowed them as it was called and they were endued by particular Maintenance from the Founders the Territories Demesnes and Tenâ—â—â—ts and Neighbouring Possessions and they assigned the Limits where the holy Function should be exercised appointed the Persons 〈◊〉 should 〈◊〉 the Church and offer there and provided a special Sallery for the Performance and made the Revenue perpetually annexed to the Church of that 〈◊〉 who received it and so the Offerings were restrained from the Common Treasury of the Dioceâ—s Out of these Lay Foundations chiefly undoubtly came these kind of Parishes which at this day are in every Diocess their Difference in Quantity being originally because of the several Circuits Demesnes or Territories possessed by the Founders sometimes greater and sometimes lâ—ssâ—r At what time these Lay Foundations began to be frequent appears not but some mention is made of them about the Year 700. as Bede â—aith who mentions one Puch a Saxon Noble man and one Addi who builded also and endued them with Sallary but about the Year 800. many were founded by Lay men and recorded to be appropriated to the Abbey 〈◊〉 by this Time Lay Foundations grew very common and Parochial â—imits also of the Parishioners Divotion And in a Council hold under 〈◊〉 Arch-Bishop of Canterbury we find that where Churches are builded and that they are consecrated by the Bishop of the same Diocess a Canon of the same Synod ordains that though every Church upon the Death of every Bishop that all the Families of every Parish were to meet at the Church and sing 30 Psalms and 600 Psalâ—eâ—ies and â—0 Missays with Pasting and Prayer for the Soul of the Bishop deceased Many more Instances might be given and Presidents about these Parishes but enough of this only to inform the Reader of their Original from these it doth fâ—lly appear that the Limits of Parishes were understood but the first express mention of Limitation of Profits to this or that Church as in the Laws of King Edgar made in the Year 970. in the very Midnight of Popery where it was ordained that every man should pay his Tythes to the most ancient Church or Monastery where he heard God's Services but some Parishes had other Beginnings in Regard of the inconveniency which made 〈◊〉 Alexander write to the Bishop of York that he heard of a certain Parish in â—his Province so far distinct from the Parish Church thâ—t the 〈…〉 could not repair to it in Winter whereupon he commands the Arch-Bishop to build a Church in the Town and to institute a Presâ—nâ—â—tion of the Rector that might have to his Use all profits encreasing in those Limits and acknowledge a Superiority to the Mother-Church And so by the Authority of the Power either by the Pope Bishop or Princes who received their Doctrine the Limits and Maintenance of Parishes have been more or less as they ordained and as they do continue to this Day Likewise in other Kingdoms and Nations where the Pope had Authority the like Rules as aforesaid were observed as might be evidenced by sundry Authors but not to trouble my self or the Reader any more with such unprofitable Stuff I have only given these Instances to shew the Ground and Rise of them and shew how that people then were not limitted to any particular place in Respect of Worship neither in Respect of Pay or Duty so called but now them that pretend Reformation and have denyed the Pope and his Doctrine as they say that claim both and if all between such a Hedge and such a Ditâ—h such a Water and such a Way will not come and worship at that Place called their Parish Church and hear their Service and joyn with them iâ— iâ— though it be never so repugnant to the Doctrine of Christ and the true Worship of God but more especially if they come not with their Pay they will give them up all unto Satan by whole Sale and cast them into Prison and denounce them Hereticks and câ—y to the temporal Power for Help against these Non-conformists for they are not fit to live in a Nation because they are not commodious to us and then get an Order fetch away their Goods break open the Gates and carry away poor mens Corn drive away Oxen and Cows and trail away the Pots and Pans hale away Clothes off poor peoples Beds and then cry they are not subject to the Orders and Canons of the holy Church no not conformable to our Laws and this is the practice of our great Reformers of our latter Ages which are far worse then in the very Height of Popery by Reason oâ— which practices the Land mourns and because of which we cannot joyn with them in their Worship neither give them pay for doing of Mischief nor suffer the Lord's Goods to be given to such coveâ—ous lazy priests who serve not the Lord Jesus Christ but their own Bellies And for denying of these late Innovations and new upstart things which are no Congruity with the primitive Church of Christ we are great Sufferers at this Day but have rather chosen to keep our Consciences clear and the Doctrine of Christ inviolable whatsoever we suffer till God make our Innocency and our Righteousness appear as the Noon-day and plead our Cause in the midst of all our Enemies The poor Husband-man's CompIaint his Hope and Confidence LET Pope and Priest do what thy may God will take Tythes ere long away For they 're oppressive in the Land Which makes good Men against them stand For we oppressed are thereby Which makes 〈◊〉 to the Lord so cry To ease us of this Burthen sore That we may praise him evermore That he would hearken our Addresâ— Which we to in Humbleness Present our Suit to ease our Grief And thorow Pity send Relief For by the merciless Merchants Crew Of Babel's City doth renew Our Sufferings most heavily Housholds expos'd to Penury Our Kine and Oxen they by Force Drive away without Remorse Our Bedding Pewter and at last Our selves are into Prison cast Thus to Misery they their Doom By Authority fetcht from Rome Do expose our sad Estate And whole Housholds ruinate By that which they usurpate They