a proceeded to have damnified me any further So seeing thou yet intendest to add weight and oppression to the afflicted and oppressed little enough if thou give me a true account of my supposed transgression which I expect thou wilt forthwith do by this Bearer either in word or writing without any further deferring for sure thou hast not gone about to impose all this upon me that thou hast done and yet intends to do by adding affliction to my bonds but thou canst and will give a reason in every particular wherefore which I expect of thee without any further evasion or otherwise I may conclude thou canst not So that I say again in tender love to thy Souls eternal Peace do I desire thee to ponder well these things and receive the Advice of thy Friend herein for I know there is a Witness in thy Conscience that will receive me from which thou canst not flee nor hide thy self Day nor Night to it I appeal and know thou that it s not that I am weary of Sufferings or am so married to the World that I cannot part with it for though the Devil may have power to Dispossess me of an External Inheritance as he hath had power to cast into Prison yet will I wait upon the Lord knowing he is able to subdue Satan under his Feet and thou could have had no power against me if it had not been given thee so if thou willt not be advised for thy good do what thou hast power to do as for me I have so much Faith as to Trust in the God of Jacob and Patience to endure all these things knowing the Captain of my Salvation was made perfect through Sufferings who will be Glorified in the Sufferings of his Saints whom my Soul honours and glorifies above all So be Exhorted and Warned in time lest this stand as a Witness against thee in the Day of the Lord's Indignation for this was in my heart from the Lord to warn thee of so I shall be clear of thy Blood Carlile the place of my outward restraint and inward peace the 14th of the 9th Month 1664. By one that desires from my heart the welfare of thee and thine and to be found in the exercise of love to Enemies Tho. Carleton This second I sent to him after I was Outlawed L. West HEar and understand let thy patience shew forth it self a little to hear read and receive home this herein inserted directed to thee how long will it be ere thou cease to add oppression to the oppressed Wherefore hast thou Outlawed me when in Prison Hadst thou no way to accomplish thy design and obtain thy covetous desire and end but by Treachery and Deceit and by stealing Law against the Innocent Oh how eager hath thy desire been after the dwellings of the Righteous and that without any just cause for which thou hast often refused to give a reason or shew the cause Thou knowest on the day of my Commitment I asked thee what thou couldst demand before many Witnesses also I writ to thee for an account and my Relations desired an account of thee but none yet wouldst or rather couldst thou truly and justly give Oh! be ashamed be ashamed and blush that ever thou should profess a Priests Function and deal so Treacherously as thou hast done was thy cause so evil and thy plea so bad that thou must steal Law to obtain thy greedy desire Is thy love so much professed to my Fathers Children at an end and is envy wrath and malice crept in instead thereof Oh! the Heathen shall condemn thee for this yea the Earth shall open her mouth and the very Beasts of the Field and Fouls of the Air shall abhor and be astonished to hear and see thy proceedings herein The Tribe of the Priesthood will be ashamed of thee and all such Sons of Levi well did Jacob say Instruments of Cruelty was in their hands yea I may say Cruelty in the highest degree pride tyranny and oppression is their way and path well speak the Prophets that which is now come to pass yea seen and felt Micha 3.5 11. Ezek. 13.18 19 22. and chap. 22.25 26 c. Isa 56.11 Oh the oppression of the Priesthood of England the Earth can scarce bear them and among them all canst thou produce a president for Covetousness Cruelty and Oppression surely thou knowest not what spirit thou art of but thy fruits will discover thee by and by if a Man should tell of thy dealings to thy Function how thou hast beat me with the fist of Wickedness persecuted with all thy might sworn or caused to swear deceitfully and how illegally thou hast done and that for filthy lucre sake to obtain the gain of oppression would they tollerate thee and not be ashamed Oh blush to hear of thy corrupt Conversation thy own hand shall witness against thee and thine own heart shall condemn thee for these things thou hast not only dealt Treacherously with me but with the Kings Officers also by causing them to return I could not be found when thou hadst me in Prison and they had me in Custody surely thy Master will deceive thee and thy nakedness treachery and deceit is and will be laid open and made more publick then thy Proclamation was that I might either render my Body or be Outlawed which thing was done in obscurity and deceit but I must be more publick and plain with thee it may be to rip up thy skirts that thy nakedness may appear thy filth and putrifaction though as a chief Priest yet one of the Whores Children for the light manifests thee so to be and all thy crooked deceitful serpentine paths and by the Children of Light thou art seen and shalt be made apparent to them that is yet under the yoke of oppression thy Name shall rot and the memorial of thy Seed shall stink in thy Generations to come a Testimony I have to bear against the workers of Iniquity and for that end the Lord hath called me forth and brought me not only to believe but also to suffer for his Name which Name I have as a Rock a Shield and Helmet of Salvation in this day of great Tryal and in the Strength of the Lord am I resolved to hold forth my Testimony valuing all with it as dross and dung and doth believe that through it I shall undergo all and be able to make War in Righteousness and by his Power shall tread upon the neck of the Scorpion and Adder and on the crown of the head of thee and all the Oppressors of the Lords Seed who at this day is made objects of your Cruelty yea by the Power of the Living God we both do and shall tread you as chaff in the Streets So take heed how thou proceedest least Gods witness in thy own heart break thy rest for the first Priest that imprisoned for Tythes in Cumberland was made a spectacie of his wrath and he is the
according to the Covenant that I made with their Fathers when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt for because they abode not in my Covenant I regarded them not saith the Lord But this is the Covenant that I will make with them after those days I will put my Law in their Hearts and write it in their inward parts and I will be their God and they shall be my People Jer. 31.33 Ezâ—k 37.26 c. Hebr. 8.8 9 10. and 10.16 They shall not need to Teach every Man his Neighbour or every Man his Brother saying Know the Lord for they shall all know me even from the least to the greatest of them and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more mark Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more here suffer me to enlarge a little by the way Now where Remission of sin is there needs no more Offering for sin and for this end was Christ made manifest to take away all sin and in him was no sin howbeit the Children of Darkness who are strangers to the Covenant of Promise being never yet come to the Light nor to the Second Covenant the New and Living Way they I say that have not received this they say there is no Redemption from under sin there is none say they can be set free from iniquity while on this side the grave there is not an upright Man upon the Earth say they that doth good and sinneth not there is none Righteous no not one a strange Doctrine in a Gospel Day this Generation used to bless the Name of the Lord for this glorious Day and Golden Age and time said some wherein his Gospel was so purely Taught and Preached mark this confusion is the Gospel purely Taught them when they are yet in their sins but it may be they have not received the Gospel in Power and Purity but in name and word only for the Gospel is the Power of God Rom. 1.16 or Christ Jesus the Light of the World the Power of God and the Wisdom of God 1 Cor. 1.24 who was manifested to take away sin but these will pretend to be Gospel Men and Christians who say none can be purified from sin and thereby frustrate the end of the Lord and make void his coming who came to save his People from their sins and he is able to save to the utmost them that come unto God by him but may it not be said they come not unto God by him and they enter not in at the Door but climbs up some other way that holds sin for Tearm of Life which the Devil is Author and Lord of then whose Servants are they let wise Men judge a smookey Tenent a Principle of Darkness assended out of the Bottomless Pit sure no Christians what ere they may profess What hath Christ suffered in vain What hath the shedding of his Blood no more effect What is he not able perfectly to save those to come unto God by him Is he not able to save his People from their sins Is he not able to redeem from death Is his Hand shortned Or his Power weakned Is he not the same he was in the Apostles dayes Is not his power the same yesterday to day and for ever mark Was he not given for Salvation to the Ends of the Earth Was he not sent to redeem those that were under the Law Was he not sent to save his People from their sins Was he not ordained a Light to lighten the Gentiles and the Glory of the People of Israel Yea a Light to lighten those that sit in Darkness and the Regions of the shadow of Death and to guide their feet in the Way of Peace Was he not manifested to take away our sins and was not his Blood shed for the Remission of sins the Apostle said yes and if it be not so that our sins be done away nor we not sanctified purified and cleansed through his Blood nor do not witness Remission nor forgiveness through his Sufferings and Death and our Consciences purged from dead works and our sins done away in him I say if none have this benefit by him then is our Faith vain and we are still in our sins and both the Apostles and we are found false Witnesses of him but neither they nor we are false Witnesses for we know and they knew before us That Life and Salvation is manifested and we have seen it and that which we have seen and heard we do declare that ye might have Fellowship with us mark that ye might also obtain Remission and Redemption with us And this indeed is the Message that we have heard of him and received from him and declare unto you that God is Light and in him is no Darkness at all and if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lye But if we walke in the Light as he is in the Light then have we fellowship with him and one with another and the Blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all Sin c. mark ye Sons and Daughters of Darkness that say none can be cleansed from all Sin but no marvel if Infidels say so that never owns the Light that never came to the Blood of Sprinkling that never came to the Blood the Life of the Covenant that cleanseth and purifieth from all sin but are stumbling and groping in darkness immagining in their dark minds that all is like themselves and these will profess they know God but they are Lyars 1 John 2.4 for they neither keep nor believe that any can keep his Commandments but they seeing but in part believes that a Man can but be in part purified and in part sanctified but not throughout Now I would ask them one Question wherefore none can be sanctified throughout Is not that which sanctifies in part able to sanctifie throughout Is not the Blood of Christ able and sufficient to cleanse and purifie from all sin Was he not able perfectly to save those that come unto God by him Yes surely he was else he had been an imperfect Sacrifice but the cause is either they will not come to him for Life and Salvation or else when they do come they abide not with him nor continue not in obedience to press forward to the high Calling that is in Christ Jesus they sit down short of the prize they go not on unto perfection they faint and are weary before the work be compleated and finished like foolish Builders and then content themselves in their own vain immaginations and pleads inability weakness and failing which say they is insident to all Men thinking all like themselves but they measuring all by themselves and comparing themselves with themselves viz. with their own immaginations are not wise as said the Apostle but John said As many as received him to them he gave power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe in his Name John 1.12 and
hold forth which is the Key that opens the mystery ground intent and end of every Law and Statute whatsoever so that of Henry the 8th about Tythes doth not institute enact or ordain settle or impose them as a Temporal Civil Injunction but they are there called Spiritual gifts belonging to holy Church and because many doth deny the payment c. so this Act doth but enjoyn the payment of them as a supposed due and right formerly belonging to holy Church and therefore doth but at the utmost repair strengthen and preserve that which was like to decay but doth not set up any new structure property or title so the reasons of this Law being taken away which is that they are a supposed due this Act is nulled These before mentioned being the only main Grounds and Reasons whereupon Tythes are claimed and payed which I hope is satisfactorily answered indeed some more frivilous Objections are made as what will not many say to save themselves when they are in an exigent yea brawl menace perhaps beat with wicked fist revile or scoff and it may be set an Officer on one and hale him before a Magistrate c. I say many more they make to little purpose as that in Luke 18. where the Pharisee payed Tythes of all he possessed which hath little in it unless they would be condemned with him as a Pharisee with their outside holiness others say Thou shalt not muzle the mouth of the Ox that treadeth out the Corn I say so too if they be Oxen let them be unmuzled and live of what they tread out which is so little that they never durst rely upon it yet but they are more idle then such Oxen c. this is like their plowing in hope and sowing in hope which for the most part fails before they either plow or sow for in which of the Priests did ever the hope endure untill he reaped the Fruit of his plowing or sowing but rather first he must know what Stipend there is what Tythes or Gleab-lands or other Revenue belongs to the Incombent and how it doth arise this you may say is too true Again say they He that gathers a Flock let him eat of the milk of the Flock indeed so say I but they either get no flock gathered or else their Flock is barren and gives no milk or otherwise the milk they give doth not satisfie which makes them pull tug and draw so hard for milk meat and maintenance from others pertaining to another Flock which they never gathered as daily experience teacheth to their shame and to the shame of all that are gathered by them Again say they If we have sown unto you Spiritual things is it a great matter if we reap your carnal things I say it s no great matter but rather the part and duty of a Christian but to whom have they sown Spirituals I am sure not to me for L. W. hath Ministred nothing to me but that which is Earthly and savours of Death as I have elsewhere said which deserves not my Carnals nor any other maintenance from me not that I am strait-handed or so knit and joyned to the things the Lord hath endued me with but I can destribute them freely to such as sow Spirituals and Ministers freely from the mouth of the Lord or to any other in necessity but L. W. as is well known hath no such necessity for all his eager pursuit after my Carnals these Three or Four Years last past but he hath coveted an evil covetousness to set his nest on high but thereby hath not delivered his Soul from the power of evil but hath consulted confusion to his shame So Still I say the grand Title stood in the Mosaical Institutions all which pointed at Christ and Christ being come they fall flat and to them a period is set for its Evident for some hundreds of years after Christ there was neither Claim nor payment of Tythes nor no setling or confining of Ministers to such and such Parishes or Places but they that received freely preached freely and went from one Country to another and from one People to another as they were drawn by the Spirit of the Lord and in those dayes there was no setled nor forced maintenance belonged unto them but they who received Spirituals and were brought into the Faith and Fellowship of the Saints they administred of their Temporals freely without any injunction as many hath done in England these late years and the Lord having opened the Hearts of many as Lydia they called them into their House being open to distribute to their Necessities so that they that set forth without money or scrip c. wanted nothing yea I believe many of the Lords Ministers and Servants called Quakers hath Travelled in these late years many Hundred of miles from one People and Nation to another having been persecuted and beat and haled to Prison and out of Prison here and there amongst a strange Nation and People which they knew not who when they set forth could not assure themselves of one Nights lodgings or one meals Meat and yet they were in every place sufficiently provided for and had no want they only cast their care upon the Lord and lived upon the Gospel being Preachers of it and by the Faith of the Son of God as did the primitive Christians in the Apostles dayes and some Hundred of years after untill the power of Christianity was lost and the Apostacy crept in and then they fell into Forms and Immitations Rome being the leading Church setled Bishops Vicars and Priests and erected Monasteries Abbeys and Religious Houses and placed them there and brought in the old Rites and Customs of the Jews again under a colour of Zeal and Piety perswading the People to give gifts to pious uses so enjoyning them to one thing after another until their Traditions were received as Canonical and amongst the rest brought in this of Tythes again which for a long time was payed at the Owners pleasure either to the Poor or to the aforesaid Monasteries and Religious Houses for pretended Spiritual uses and when they saw that the greater part destributed their Tythes to the Poor Pope Alexander the third did restrain the Peoples freedoms Anno 1180. And Pope Gregory ordained that Tythes should not be destributed to the Poor but to the Mother Church Anno 1274. And Pope Pius the Fourth ordained the payment of Tythes upon penalty of Excomunication by a Council at Trent about the year 1560. And thus they crept in again as they fell from the Power of Godliness then they began to build again that which was before destroyed and so brought in these old Ordinances again in immitation of the Mosaical Law and so came to force and compel a maintenance for a Priesthood and Ministry which was not of Levi's Linnage which was never used nor known amongst the Christians in the purity of the Gospel but being little acquainted or read in
the Minister said God was to be found and all to obtain Peace with my Maker but it as it were fled from me and was not to be found amongst them and and then this cry was great in me O that I knew the Truth Oh that I knew the True and Living Way to the Kingdom of God! O that I could feel that Testimony of Spirit which they so much spoke of bearing witness with my Spirit that I was in the Sonship though I felt and knew I was in the way according to their Judgment and had the signal tokens of a Christian as they produced from that spiritual progress and operation the Saints and Servants of God went through in Ages past which was as Way-marks set up by Patriarchs the Prophets and Children of Israel in their Travel to Canaan and by the Apostles and Servants of our Lord Jesus Christ in their Spiritual Travel to the Heavenly Canaan through the Regeneration and New Birth But being as I said before often deeply humbled before the Lord and tendred and broken in my Spirit distressed in my Soul afflicted in my Body day and night panting and breathing after the Lord as the Hart panteth after the water Brooks being many times deprived of my natural rest and sustenance mine eyes preventing the night Watches as David said watering my Bed with my Tears being almost overwhelmed in the Floods multitudes of Afflictions compassing me about Wars and Commotions on every side Famine and Pestilence and Earthquakes fearful Sights and great Signs appearing from Heaven these were the beginning of Sorrows and Days of great Tribulation then did the sign of the coming of the Son of Man appear in the Clouds of Heaven with Power and great Glory whose appearance was as the Lightning that appeared from the East and shined unto the West by which it pleased the Father to manifest the way of Life and to reveal his Son in me and by his Light that gives the Knowledge of the glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 4.6 He was pleased to give me a glimpse of that heavenly Land and of the Way to the Kingdom of God which I saw to be in and through the Light of Christ Jesus which Lighteth every Man that cometh into the World as it was then Preached and testified by the Servants of the Lord a measure of which I felt in my self which told me all that ever I did secretly condemning every work in me with every word and action that was against or contrary to the mind and will of the Father and also justifying every good word and work that was according to his Will Thus the Lord having opened my understanding and given me in measure a feeling of himself I was forced to conclude as the woman of Samaria did that this was the Christ this was the Way this was the Truth as by daily experience I found by the operation of the Light in my own heart compared with the Testimony that the Saints and Servants of God had given in Ages past and thus in the mouths of two or three Witnesses this Testimony was established and confirmed in me but how to receive and give obedience I knew not the Enemy often raising Doubts and Fears in me often disswading me from embracing the Light with much questioning whether it were the Truth yea or nay Then as soon as the Seed the Man-child appeared the Dragon appeared also ready to Devour the Man-child then the Read-Sea was as it were before and Pharoh and his Host behind and fear fell on every side then appeared Father against Son and Son against Father one Nation against another and still the greatest Enemies were in mine own House and then was I in great distress then was the Dayes of great Tribulation perceiving the Way strait and narrow being to forsake Father or Mother House or Lands Friends and Relations and all old acquaintances and cast down all Crowns Dignities Wisdom Riches or what other Enjoyments whatsoever and deny my self and become a Fool and a Reproach a Scorn a By-word and a Hissing to the Men of the World and take up the Cross daily and follow the Lord through great Tribulation through the Red-Sea through the Wilderness yea even through Death it self then was I ready to faint and to say with them This was a hard saying who can bear it then the Dragon cast out Floods after the Manchild but God prepared a place in the Wilderness and the Child was preserved then was the warfare great between the Flesh and the Spirit the Law in my Members waring against the Law in my Mind doing that which I allowed not and leaving undone that which I allowed with my mind I served the Law of God but with my Flesh the Law of Sin the Spirit indeed was willing to Drink that bitter Cup but the Flesh was weak then when I would have done good Evil being present prevented me then I became as one destitude of all succour comfort and support not knowing whither to fly or how to escape from the dreadfull wrath of God that was then impending over me if I disobeyed then was I forced in the fulness of time not only to stand still and see the Salvation of God but also to resign my self into his Blessed Will and sweetly to Drink that bitter Cup that was given me to Dâ—iâ—k allowing that the Will of the Lord and not my will should be done being willing to undergo any thing so the Lord be glorified and my Soul might rest in Peace being that for which I had long travelled in spirit having been often as it were at the Pâ—ts brink and as it were at the mouth of the Furnace having Drunk deep of the Cup of Judgment and of Indignation and of the Wrath of the Lord for Sin and for Iniquity often travelling as with my Hands upon my loyns pained and crying outin my Soul as a Woman in Travel that longeth for the appointed hour of her Deliverance often in that state blessing the Lord for the Ministration of condemnation which at that Day was glorious to me often doubting and fearing in my self least the Lord should cease striving with me and have left me and given me up to a reprobate Mind and to heardness of Heart being often ready to Dispair of obtaining the promised Land that was before me considering the many lets impediments obstructions hazards dangers which like Mountains of opposition appeared as high as the top of Carmel And thus being assaulted by the Enemy reasoning in my self I was at a point what to do to turn back to Egypt the Land of Darkness or House of Bondage again I durst not knowing the Light in me the Piller of fire that appeared for my Guide and Leadâ—r led me Canaan ward and knowing the Terrors and Judgments of the Lord that had not only passed upon me but was still impending over me for sin disobedience because I offered not up freely nor sacrificed
the Sign must I not be cast out of your Church and into Prison 21. What is his Body of Christ and what is the Blood whether is his Body Spiritual or Carnal or how is the Lords Body to be discerned 22. Whether is the Body one or how many Bodies hath He or how do they Eat and Drink his Blood that Eternal Life abideth in 23. How did they eat the same Spiritual Meat and Drink the same Spiritual Drink which were Baptized under Moses for they drank of that Rock which followed them and that Rock was Christ 24. What is the difference between the Cup of the Lord and the Cup of Devils and the Table of the Lord and the Table of Devils 25. Whether are they worthy Receivers purified from their Sins and sanctified through His Blood seeing His Body was broken and His Blood shed for the remission of sins 26. Whether they that are yet in their Sins do not eat and drink their own condemdemnation not discerning the Lords Body 27. Who is the Head of your Church and Body or who is King Priest and Prophet whether Christ King Pope or Bishop or how many Heads is there 12 Month 1667. Send thy Answer to me at my Prison-house in Carlile T. C. Another sent after about the 4th Month 1667. L. W. I Having all along a desire to be edified in the True Way and Worship of the Living God and an inclination from my childhood to follow after that which is good righteous and unreprovable in the sight of the Lord and to keep my Conscience undefiled and my judgment clear and uncorrupted as the Lord God of Heaven knows from whom nothing can be hid and seeing the ground of the Controversie between thee and me is matters of Faith or Worship and so matters of Conscience to me and such as I cannot easily renounce nor dare not turn from unless my judgment were otherwise perswaded I therefore sent some Propositions to thee to that effect an answer whereof I expected from thee before this time which thing I thought but requisite and very consistant with thy Office and Profession being that which the Ministers of Christ was always ready to do being willing to render a reason of their Faith and Hope to any that should demand it and also to exhort inform and instruct in the Doctrine and Principles of Truth with all meekness gentleness and long-suffering which thing if thou refuse to do let me know upon what grounds for I have not straitned thee for time but thou mightest have done it with deliberation so I desire a sober answer of thee of all and every particular propounded or else a reason why thou wilt not and it may suffice for the present T. C. Now having as briefly as possible given a True and Impartial Relation of all the differences states and proceedings on both sides that is of most importance and concernment and the ground and cause of all as things hath passed and been carried on between us plainly and honestly so far as I know and do remember I shall leave all both his and mine causes and proceedings with all that hath been done to the witness of God in all Hearts and Consciences that gives a true sense and understanding of the nature and property of every word and work and accordingly let the sober moderate and unbyassed Reader or Hearer judge of us and between us and especially such as have known us both after the flesh and the Lives and Conversations of us both among them ziz the Parishioners of Addingam and others in the Towns and Parishes adjacent amongst whom we have lived and with whom we have had to do many of them being privy to the most part of those things and so may the better bear witness to the Truth or Falshood of them being as I have said elsewhere willing to recommend my self to every Mans Conscience in the sight of God and as I own and acknowledge the Light for my Leader Guide and Salvation so I am willing that all my deeds should be brought to the Light and that which I do or have done that is not justifiable in the Light let it be condemned by Light and I ashamed and this is to do as I would be done unto also these my Papers that I have sent to him they are now made publick and so are no longer his and mine only but other Mens to judge and consider of In my first I desire as I would often have willingly embraced that he or any other of his Function and Profession would give me or us a sober moderate visit or meeting at their own time and place allowing us person for person that there we might dispute the differences in Religion between them and us in a sober moderate spirit which to us is of great price and if in the Spirit of meekness he or they could convince us that we are schismatical and erroneous c. as they have frequently affirmed and preached behind our backs whether in denying of Tythes or in any other thing whatsoever I can say it for my self and believe it for many others that if in our Consciences we were convinced thereof we would reform our Judgments and pay Tythes and submit in any other thing whatsoever as really and conscientiously as any People in the Nation without either suing at Courts spoyling of goods excommunications cominations imprisonments or the execution of any Law whatsoever and if this be not very equal and reasonable let all sober People judge and whether it be not the part and place of Men professing that Function and to be Ministers of Christ and Overseers in the Church that Spiritual Men might War and overcome with Spiritual Weapons and by the Armor of Light and the Power and Demonstration of the Spirit of Christ Jesus that as the said L. W. hath oft Preached it may be known to whom the Lord hath given the Urim and the Thummim but these they use but in words only but instead of dealing so with us they 'l turn us over to a Consistory Spirituâ—l or Ecclesiastical Court so called which as I may truly say is as Carnal and Earthly a corrupt Court at this day as any in the World I know of and to the Secular Powers and Civil Magistrate c. and when we are brought before them and answers to what is Charged against us pleading matters of Conscience the Doctrine of Christ or His Apostles or the priviledge of the Church in a Gospel Dispensation then they cry hold your peace we have no thing to do with that Dispute it with your Ministers you shall not Preach here c. And all we can get of their Ministers is Rogue and Rascal Erroneous and Schismatical Fellow or Audacious Saucy youth I 'll humble you we 'll take a Course with such Refractary Fanatick as you are ere long c. So having the Sword by their thigh and the Law by their side thus are we preyed upon by
Authority over all the Europian Nations as doth fully and largely appear in those pithy and ponderous works of the before recited Authors A. P. and F. H. this Title of Tythes having such a pleasant delightsom relish it hath been still retained amongst all the Reformed Rulers in Church and State who hath so largely professed to cast off the Papistical Yoke Now I shall proceed to say something to those my Neighbours and Parishioners amongst whom I have had my conversation in times past and a society when I wrought the will of the Flesh who have known my manner of Life from a Child I say to such what have I done what have I thought what have I acted or spoken that hath deserved any such measure as I have received from L. W or what evil have I done or what occasion have I given to any Mans person good name or estate at any time especially since I associated amongst the People called Quakers let him you or any of you or any other Person come forth that can justly charge any thing against me wherein I have damnified any one the value of a penny and have denied to give satisfaction or have offered violence to any ones Dog and I shall willingly upon due proof make acknowledgement and satisfaction to the utmost of my power for blessed be the Lord my Righteousness and Redeemer there is no thing upon my Conscience and Spirit but what is between the Lord and my own Soul in matter of my Testimony yea everlastingly magnified be the Righteous Lord my preserver to whose praise I desire to speak it that though L. W. and many others have sought occasion and have waited for my halting or falling they have not yet seen it nor got no occasion against me save about the Law and Worship of my God or the holding forth my Testimony and Exercise of my Conscience towards him for which I have been reviled mocked and reproached amongst you yea the Children in the Streets have played upon me with their Tongues this I speak to their or their Parents shame but was as joy and rejoycing to my Soul being for Righteousness sake the Blessing of the Lord was with me and mine Enemies knew it not nor they that dwelt in Darkness saw it not This further I have to propound to you whether ye can allow of it or that it would be justifiable in the Law of Equity and true Judgment that my Servant should Sue you at Law make spoil and carry away your goods and cast your persons into Prison and after all seek to make your Estates forfeit and confiscate and all for the wages and recompence of the Service he hath done for me which of you would approve of such work or of me in keeping such a Servant would you not rather say to me if I have hired a Servant and employed him pay him and maintain him also why doth he trouble you What have you to do to pay him for my work seeing he is my Servant Is not this the case between me and you Is not L. W. your Minister and also your Servant And by what Law or Reason ought I to pay him for doing your service Hath either you or he a President in all the Scriptures of any such unequal deeds Did ye ever Read of any of the Churches or Servants of God in Ages past that used such things I trow not If I had destributed voluntarily it had been one thing but being sued and compelled thereunto therefore I complain may not I say to you why do you hire more servants then you can pay Or why do you keep more then you are able to maintain Else why am I thus persecuted for his maintenance May not I speak this to your shame being so many as I may say for one Servant you are either hard Masters and very penurious and strait-handed to your Servants or else your Servants are very lavish proud profane and prodigal and hath much maintaining Did ever any Minister of ours called a Quaker come among you to sue and cast into Prison for their maintenance and livelihood or what would you say if they should I believe you would condemn both us and them and indeed we should be greatly ashamed if they should for my part I had rather Administer to the last mite then any such cause of aspertion should be given against us and also testifie against them as no Ministers of Christ that Preaches for any such ends if they be Gospel Ministers let their Gospel maintain them or let them labour with their hands though many have said we are a disorderly and unmannerly People but I affirm we have better orders and manners amongst us then you have for your Servants are become your Masters and Lords it over you and both in that and many other things disorder and confusion is come over you as they that built Babel of old I remember well what Malachi saith complaining of the Priests Mal. 2.2 3 c. to verse 9. I will send a Curse upon you I 'll Curse your Blessings yea I have Cursed them already Behold I 'll corrupt your Seed and spread dung upon your Faces and ye shall know that I have sent this Commandment unto you that my Covenant might be with Levi my Covenant was with him of Life and Peace the Law of Truth was in his mouth for the Priests lips should preserve knowledge but ye are departed out of the Way ye have caused many to stumble at the Law ye have corrupted the Covenant of Levi saith he therefore have I made you contemptible and base before all the People mark now Is not this the case and condition of the present Priesthood and Clergy of England those neutralists that are neither Ministers of the Law nor Gospel hath not the Lord made them contemptible and base before all the People yea where shall a Man come and have any Discourse about them but the most part if not all doth generally conclude they are Covetous vile proud and profane Persons Oppressors Drunkards Men-pleasers Time-servers Turn-coats Heady and High-minded lovers of Pleasures and filthy lucre more then of God having a Form of Godliness but denying the Power but their folly shall be and is made manifest it shall proceed no further said the Apostle May not I say the Merchants of this last Age hath exceeded all that ever went before them they can trade on those dayes called their Sabboths or Lords-dayes and prohibit all others from either trading or labouring in their lawful and honest vocations but if they 'l Play Drink Revel Swear and be Profane there they may have liberty enough on those Dayes Also whether any have need of their Merchandice or not or will come and Trade with them or not or will take any of their Commodities from them or not yet they have a Law and by that Law compel them to pay and that even their own Rates what they demand and if any refuse then