Joel 2 28. Act 2.17.18 And are not these the last days here you see the Lord hath promised that every one should have something both Sons and Daughters Servants and Handmaids should prophesie and young men see Visions and old men dream Dreams So let the Prophets and Prophetesses tell their prophesies and let the young men tell their Visions and the old men their Dreams and do no hinder them Did not Christ say He that did not improve his Talent was to be cast into utter darkness where should be weeping and wailing and gnashing of Teeth Matthew 25.28 And doth not Christ say How the Word was sown upon all Grounds and how far it sprang up in some till Persection came and how it sprang up in others till the Cares of this life choaked it and upon the High-way ground but the Fowles of the Air picked it up and upon the good ground it was sown and it only brought forth from it Perfection Matth. 13.19 c. So here Christ would let them see and all men that if they did not improve their Talents and Gifts and Graces which the Lord had committed to them and given them to profit withal and to live up to the Word of God in their hearts that then they should be cast out and rejected as unprofitable Servants and Stewards And so I desire that the Lord may give you an understanding Also you may see that Persecution for Conscience sake is against the Profession of Christian Princes and likewise condemned by the antient and latter Writers FIrst King James in his Speech to his Parliament 1609. saith It is a sure Rule in Divinity that God never loves to plant his Church by Violence and Bloodshed Also see the said Kings Exposition on Revel 20. in which he saith The Compassing of the Saints and the Besieging of the Beloved City declareth unto us a certain Note of a false Church to be PERSECUTION for they come to seek the Faithfull the Faithfull are them that are sought the wicked are the Besiegers the Faithfull are the Besieged Secondly Stephen King of Poland saith thus I am King of Man not of Conscience a Commander of Bodies not of Souls Thirdly the King of Bohemia saith That mens Consciences ought in no sort to be violated urged or constrained And further he saith So that once more we do profess before God and the whole World that from this time forward we are firmly resolved not to persecute or molest or suffer to be persecuted or molested any person whatsoever for matter of Religion c. By the antient and later Writers in short thus Hillary against Auxentius saith thus The Christian Church doth not persecute but is persecuted Tertul. ad Scapulam It agreeth both with humane Reason and natural Equity that every man worship God uncompelled c. neither beseemeth it any Religion to compel another to be of their Religion which willingly and freely should be imbraced and not by constrant forasmuch saith he as the Offerings were required of those that freely and with good will offered and not from the contrary Jerom in prâ—am lib. 4. in Jeremiam Heresie must be cut off with the Sword of the Spirit c. Breâ—tius upon 1 Cor. 3. saith No man hath power to make or give Laws to Christians whereby to bind their Consciences for willingly freely and uncompelled with a ready desire and chearfull mind must those that come run unto Christ Luther in Postil Dom. 1. Post Epiphan he saith Let not Christians be commanded but exhorted for he that willingly will not do that whereunto he is friendly exhorted he is no Christian wherefore they that do compel those that are not willing shew thereby that they are not Christian Preachers but worldly Beadles Again upon 1 Pet. 3. he saith thus speaking of the Civil Magistrate If you cannot bear it that any should usurp Authority where you have to command How do you think that God should suffer you to thrust him from his Seat and to seat your self therein Chrysostom saith It is not the manner of the Children of God to persecute others to death about their Religion c Moreover said he The shedding of Blood about Religion is an evident token of Antichrist Relig. Uris pag. 192. Haywardus said That the best Writers of that time did agree in one Opinion and with Tertullian Lactantius Cassidorus and Josephus c. That People must inform men to embrace Religion with Reason and not compel them by Violence Lactantius said If you will with Blood with Evil and with Torments defend the worship it shall not thereby be defended but polluted lib. 5. cap. 20. Reinaldus said That he who with Imprisoning and Persecuting seeketh to spread the Gospel and greaseth his hands with Blood shall much rather be looked upon for a Hunter then a Preacher or a Defender of the Christian Religion The Prince of Orange saith Anno 1579. That it was impossible that the Land should be kept in Peace except there were a free Toleration in the Exercise of Religion I might add the serious and ponderous Expressions of King Charles the first concerning Toleration and Liberty of Conscience as also King Charles the second that now is his Speeches and Promises at Breda with Speeches and Sayings of theirs are more ample copious and pertinent concerning toleration of Religion and liberty for tender Consciences then any other King or Prince that I have here inserted but for brevity sake I am constrained to omit them at present because I hope King Charles the second who now is hath not forgotten his own Promises neithers his Fathers Counsel in order to Toleration and Liberty in matters of Religion and Worship of God A Postscript IS it not a strange thing that the Turk should out-strip a Christian for how many Religions are tolerated in several places in his Dominions as Greeks Jews Armenians Jacobites Papists and others And also in Mogul â—s Country they do not force any And in several places of Poland and Hungary they give Toleration And you know the Jews in Christ's time were under the Roman Empire where lived divers Sects of Religion as Herodians Scribes and Pharisees Sadduces and Libertines Thadaeans and Samaritans with others besides the Religion of the Jews Christ and his Apostles all which differed from the common Religion of the State which was like the worship of Diana which almost the whole World then worshipped Acts 19.20 All these several Religions lived under Caesar's Government giving unto Casar that which was his and for their Religion and Consciences he left them to themselves as having no power over the Conscience and when any Tumults were raised by the persecuting Jews Priests and Professors of the Law against the Christians you may see the prudence of the Magistrate appeased them Acts 18.14 and 19.35 I desire that the Lord would so compose and qualifie the minds and spirits of the Christian Magistrates to do so now as the Heathen Magistrates did then J. S. THE END
Now where are there any of your Bishops or Priests that goes freely and preacheth freely Is not this Command of Christ's with them thrown away because it brings in no gain who saith Freely ye have received freely give And in Matth. 10.12 Christ tells them When they enter into any House they are to salute it saying Peace be unto this House and what they set before them that they may eat c. He doth not say You shall send Constables Parrators and Informers to ransack and spoil the House neither doth he say You must give me two or three hundred a year And doth not the Apostle say 1 Tim. 3. That a Bishop must be Blameless not given to Wine no Striker not greedy of 〈…〉 not a 〈◊〉 not Covetous and he must be Gentle and apt to Teach And he must not covet mens Silver nor Gold nor Apparel Acts 20.33 but to keep the Gospel without charge was not this the practice of the Apostles to keep the Gospel without charge 1 Cor. 9.18 But do these Priests and Bishops so that cast into prison for Tythes and such things Do not those mind earthly things and such seek not the Lord Jesus but their own Bellies Rom. 16.18 which have from a hundred a year to a thousand and the Bishops have several thousands Do you think the Priests and Bishops will leave those fat Benefices and preach the Gospel to the Heathen freely in Sheeps-skins and Goat-skins as some of the holy men have done spoken of in Hebrews 11.37 they were not gotten so high then as White-Sleeves Tippits and Hoods Now those which have cast into prison and spoiled and ransacked Houses and made havock of peoples Goods and made many Widdows and Fatherless and Imprisoned many unto Death this is not glad Tidings for the Gospel is Glad-Tidings such do not keep the Gospel without charge these do not obey the commands of Christ nor the Apostles which saith Freely ye have received freely give Matth. 10.8 And unto such we cannot bid God speed 2 Jo. 10 1. For while we put into the Priests and Bishops Mouthes they preached Peace unto us and blessed us but when we see they were out of the Doctrine of Christ and could not put into their Mouthes then they prepared War against us then they came to biting of us with their Teeth like Men eaters and gnawing our flesh and Bones to the very Marrow see Mic. 3. And also Jerâ—m 5. who said The Priests bear Rule by their means c. which was a horrible and filthy thing committed in the Land So consider what became of them in Jeremiah's dayes how they went into Captivity And see in Isaiah 56. how they fought for gain from their Quarter and he calls them greedy Dogs and dumb Dogs and Dogs which cannot bark and you know Dogs are subject to bite for I never read that a Sheep bit a Dog and they were such as sought for their gain from their Quarter And do not the Priests now seek for their gain from their Quarter when a Bishop is dead will not another quickly seek for his Benefice yes it will not be long vacant another will say he hath a call and a motion to go and get anothers Benefice that is dead and so will the Priest do for another Priests Benefice that is vacant especially if it be a fat one and bigger then his own And doth not the same Prophet in the same chapter call the Watchmen Time-servers as in Junius and Tremelius Translation and how many Priests in this day are guilty of this let Cities and Countries speak And see Ezekiel 13.14 33 and 34. chapters and there you may see now the false Shepherds preached for handfulls of Barley and pieces of Bread and feeds themselves and eats the Fat and clothes with the Wool and kills them that are fed but feeds not the Flock but he speaks in that thirty fourth chapter how the Lord would gather them from their Mouthes and set one Shepherd over them even Christ Jesus Christ did not set up Tythes nor Augmentations nor Easter Reckonings nor Midsummerdues nor Gleab-Lands in the Worship of God for his Ministers nor Appstles but said Freely you have received freely give And the Apostles charge was to keep the Gospel without charge and rebuked them that did it as you may see in his Epistles for God is as free to you in his Spiritual Gifts and Graces as he is in the things that are Temporal in the Creation And so as I said Christ hath ended that Law which held up Tythes for the Priests amongst the Jews Hebrews 7. And are not those people called Quakers more chaste in their lives and conversations then any and kept out of Drunkenness Swearing Oathes Theft Fornications Adulteries Debaucheties c. more then any other people And is not this an case to Magistrates And should not the Magistrates be a praise to them that do well And yet are not those that do well as Sheap that are led to the Slaughter And also consider there are many of those People that are Tradesmen as Clothiers c. some it may be keeps two or three hundred at work and some are Knitters and other callings and Trades Now you taking away their Goods you make them uncapable to mannage their Imployments and Trades whereby they themselves are not only undone but many hundreds of poor people are liable to famish having no other way to subsist but only their daily labour and so what will become of those poor people they set at work when their Masters are cast into Prison and their Goods taken away And besides you make our Friends uncapable to pay the National Taxes and so these things hinder the King of his Customs and dues when people grows poor how can they pay them for the Riches of a People is the honour of a Prince And you know 〈…〉 than have 〈…〉 takes one part and the King another and the Poor another how can the Rents be paid when the Stocks are taken off the Land must not they be necessitated to relinquish their Farms And there are many Merchants and Shop-keepers what encouragement have they to trade when they know not but their goods may be taken from them for worshipping and serving the Living God and if they have no encouragement what profit can come to the King And so in the Fear and Wisdom of God consider these things that there may be Liberty in the Gospel the Power of God every one should improve their Talent and their Measures Gifts and Graces as good Stewards 1 Pet. 4.10 And they were not to quench the Spirit nor despise Prophesying And is it not said That in the last dayes the Lord would pour out of his Spirits upon all flesh and Sons and Daughters should Prophesie and young men should see Visions and old men should dream Dreams and on his Servants and Handmaids he would pour out of his Spirit in those dayes and they should Prophesie
large mony to the Souldiers to say so vers 12. And so all along throughout Matthew Mark Luke John you may see it was the chief Priests that were Christs greatest Enemies not the meanest of them but the chief and so it is now Do not the Bishops and Prebends and chief of the Priests stir up Persecution now against the people of God Did not Christs words come to pass upon the Jews and upon Jerusalem when Titus came against them about forty years after Christs Ascension And was it not by the chief Priests Order and Authority that Saul went with his Packet of Letters to hale those that were Believers and Followers of Christ to prison Acts 9. And do they not do so now with their Paraters and Informers by order from their Bishops and chief Priests Now consider these things in the tender Bowels and Mercies of God for we would not have the Magistrates ridden upon nor spurred up by the chief Priests nor Bishops to persecution but we would have them provoked to love and good works that they may be a praise to them that do well and a Terror to the Evil Doer Rom. 13. And was it not the high Priest that examined Stephen when the false Witnesses came against him where you know he was stoned death Acts 7. And was it not the chief Priests and Elders that caused the Apostles to be whipped so as you may see in the Acts all along And you may see there how much the chief Priests were against the Apostle Paul after he was converted and had forsaken them and followed Christ Jesus who is a Priest for ever made higher then the Heavens Hebr. 7.26 And so all along you may see in every Age since the Pope got up how Persecution hath been stirred up by the Priests In the other Powers dayes Did not the Priests give Oliver high titles and the Presbyterian Priests and Independants made Petitions and Addresses to him for Pesecution And then in his Son Richards dayes Did not the Presbyterian Priests and Independants petition against us that we might be persecuted and called him their Ioshua So that many thousands of our Friends in his time were imprisoned besides the unreasonable havock they made in spoiling of their goods and about forty suffered Death in that day by cruel imprisonments but the Lord hath been our Preserver and Helper who had no Helper in the Earth whom ever since we were a People the Priests of all sorts would have rooted us out of the Earth Therefore we would desire for your eternal good to consider these things For Caesar that is the Magistrate must have his due which is the Tribute and Custom and God must have his due that is the Rule in the Conscience and in the heart and his Worship that is in Spirit and Truth Iohn 14.24 Now concerning Liberty MOses who was a Magistrate and a Judge and a Prophet he did not restrain others from Prophesying but said Oh that all the Lords People were Prophets Numb 11.29 He did not say It would destroy the Government if they did preach in the Camp He did not say It would make Riots and Routs but said Oh that all the Lords People were Prophets Abraham dwelt among the Canaanites a long time yet contrary to them in Religion Gen. 13.7 and 16.13 again he sojourned in Gerar and King Abimeleck gave him leave to dwell in his Land Gen. 20.21 23 24. And also Isaac had Liberty to sojourn in those parts Gen. 26. But you do not read that they were forced by them with whom they sojourned to be of their Religion Jacob lived twenty years in one House with his Uncle Laban yet differed in Religion Gen. 31. Neither was Lot forced to the Sodomites Religion Neither do you read any of the Pharaohs during the Children of Israels sojourning there Exodus 12. forced them to be of their Religion but it was his own oppressing mind to set them at work that made him to keep them there and so he would not let them go forth to worship God till the Ten Plagues came upon him Neither did any of the Emperors compel the Israelites to be of their Religion during their seventy years Captivity And 〈◊〉 he encouraged the Jews to build a Temple though he was different concerning their Religion And Darius and Cyrus see their tenderness though they were Heathens they were tender to the Jews and gave them Liberty to worship the God of Heaven though there were many that did inform against them and said Their City had been a Rebellious City Ezra 4.12.15 And the three Children in Nebuchadnezars time were persecuted because they would not joyn nor fall down to worship that great Image they made read Daniel So what was of man and mans making man was not to fall down to that because it was the work of mans hands and have they not been making Religions ever since the Papists got up And doth not the pure Religion come down from above from God which all is to fall down to and worship which is in Spirit and Truth Jam. 1.27 And Daniel he had Liberty to worship God in Babylon though his worship were contrary to the Emperors and and prayed as at other times notwithstanding the Emperors Decree till those wicked Informers rose up against him but mark their end see Daniel 6. And so its very much how people that are called Christians can say the Lords Prayer that are so full of envy and say Forgive us as we forgive them that trespass against us and have so much enmity and hatred in their hearts one against another Do they think to be forgiven that do not forgive Doth not Christ say they must be reconciled to their Brother before they can offer their Gifts to God Matth. 5. And what have they against those people called Quakers but in matters concerning their God and because they pray to God and worship him in Spirit and Truth in that Worship that Christ himself set up above sixteen hundred years ago see Jâ—â— 4.20 21 c. Do not the Quakers love Enemies Matth. â— 44 Do they not bear all things 1 Cor. 13.7 Are they not the best Tenants that the great men in the Nation have And do they not deal truely with you in their Shops and Merchandizing and in then Commerce are they not at one word with you Why should they be chased and coursed up and down like a Partridge upon the Mountains And why should the Priests and Bishops be against them Is it not only because we cannot pay them Tythes And is not the Priesthood changed that took Tythes and the Commandment disannull'd that gave him his Tythes read Hibrews 7. And doth not Christ say to his Ministers Embassadors Teachers and Disciples Freely ye have received freely give Matth. 10. And he bids them Go into all Nations and he would be with them and if he be with them that 's enough then they need neither to seek for Bag nor Scrip.