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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	call_v	gospel_n	law_n	6,005	5	5.3501	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47167	A refutation of three opposers of truth by plain evidence of the holy Scripture, viz. I. Of Pardon Tillinghast, who pleadeth for water-baptism, its being a Gospel-precept, and opposeth Christ within, as a false Christ. To which is added, something concerning the Supper, &c. II. Of B. Keech, in his book called, A tutor for children, where he disputeth against the sufficiency of the light within, in order of salvation; and calleth Christ in the heart, a false Christ in the secret chamber. II. Of Cotton Mather, who in his appendix to his book, called, Memorable providences, relating to witchcrafts, &c. doth so weakly defend his father Increase Mather from being justly chargeable with abusing the honest people called Quakers, that he doth the more lay open his fathers nakedness; and beside the abuses and injuries that his father had cast upon that people, C. Mather, the son, addeth new abuses of his own. And a few words of a letter to John Cotton, called a minister, at Plymouth in New England. By George Keith.	Keith, George, 1639?-1716.	1690 (1690)	Wing K199; ESTC W21703	49,228	77

of God revealed in him and therefore he might vvell command it for that time tho' no Gospel Precept But vvhereas thou sayst That Peter and the Apostles did command in Christ Iesus the Lords Name Water Baptism is a thing utterly false the Scripture saith no such thing but That Peter commanded them to be baptized in the Name of the Lord so that the Name of the Lord is relative to their being baptized not to the command and their being baptized in the Name of the Lord doth plainly signifie that their being baptized vvith Water vvas som outward sign that they became the Lords and were true believers in him Next vvhereas thou sayst I affirm that Water Baptism was at that time an abolished Ceremony is false I said no such thing It was beginning to be abolishing and decaying and was decreasing as John said in respect of his Baptism I must decrease but Christ must encrease But that it vvas then totally abolished I say not for it could not be safely abolished all at once but by degrees and after some time as I have above demonstrated And novv that I call this third and last Dispensation that began to take place after the Death and Resurrection of Christ the pure and perfect Dispensation of the Gospel I understand it not as if the first and second Dispensations before and under Moses or before and under Christ as he vvas present in the flesh had any mixture or impurity of sin or evil nay far be it from me but I call it pure and perfect as having none of these Figures and Types of the Lavv mixed vvith it as formerly And though the Apostles after the giving of the holy Ghost did grovv up into the attainment of this most pure and perfect Gospel state and Dispensation yet many Christians vvho had a measure of sincere Faith in Christ vvere short of it and for the cause of such vvho vvere vveak and but as Babes in Christ they savv it meet in the Wisdom of God to use it for some time But after the days of the Apostles and their Successors about three or four hundred years there-after the true Gospel Spirit was generally lost a Remnant excepted of hidden ones who in some measure retained it and the inward Power of Godliness departed from and then Water Baptism and many other things belonging to the outward form became as a dead thing and was more fit to be buried than to be used And none ought to presume to raise it up again unless it could be said That the Power of God had raised it or renewed it in the users or practisers of it and that they could sincerely say and prove that God had sent them or given them Authority to use Water Baptism and other the like things but this I do not find that any called Baptists so much as pretend unto and if they did pretend to it their bare pretence without some real and effectual prooff were not to be believed And that Peter caused Water-baptism to be administred to Cornelius and other Gentiles doth not prove it to be a Gospel Precept for under the Law the Gentiles who became Proselites of the Covenant so called were generally baptized into Water as well as Circumcised long before Iohn's time as the Iews Books plainly declare and as may be gathered from Scripture and as divers Christian Writers relate from the Iews and particularly Thomas Godwin in his Book called Moses and Aaron lib. 1. cap. 3. And seeing it was so commonly practised by the Iews as well before Iohn's time as then and thereafter as both Iewish and Christian Writers affirm and as the Epistle to the Hebrews doth plainly declare Heb. 9.10 how that the Law had its divers Baptisms so the Greek translated into English Washings and carnal Ordinances until the time of Reformation it doth more plainly evince that Water Baptism was a legal thing tho' both it Circumcision with all the other Types and Figures of the Law pointed at Gospel Mysteries and in so far may be said to relate or belong to the Gospel in its more obscure Administration but that whole Dispensation both of Moses and the Prophets is in Scripture stile call'd The Law altho' Moses himself and all the Prophets saw beyond the Figures of the Law and were truly endowed in great part with a Gospel spirit That thou say'st if Water Baptism had not been comprehended in Paul 's Commission then he had done evil in baptizing so many I Answ. It doth not follow any more than that he did evil in circumcising Timothy for things may be done upon occasions without a Command from God and that not only by a bare or simple permission but in a sweet heavenly freedom of Gods holy Spirit inwardly revealed which is the only chief and principal Rule of every true Christians freedom as well as of their Obedience How many good Christians joyn in Marriage having no command so to do but knowing and enjoying an inward Liberty by the Spirit of the Lord so to do and therein receiving the blessing of the Lord and many other the like cases might be mention'd Thou givest a very strange and exceeding strained Gloss upon Paul's words That he was not sent to baptize but to preach the Gospel to wit that Water Baptism was not so bound to Paul or any other sent to preach the Gospel that they with their own hands must needs perform that Work of Baptizing and Paul and the other Apostles had such and such for their Ministers as John Timothy and others But what then what Paul commanded other Disciples to do is all one as if he had done it himself as thou arguest in another case but not to thy purpose and therefore it cannot be reasonably judged that if Paul had been sent to baptize either by himself or making use of others to assist him in that work he would have said He was not sent to baptize for that would imply a plain Contradiction to be sent and not to be sent But this thy strein'd gloss on Pauls words is grounded upon a meer supposition of thine That Paul was sent to baptize with Water which thou hast not in the least proved nor art ever like to do Matth. 28. saith nothing of Water Thy similitude betwixt Solomons Temple and the Gospel-Church as thou dost apply it is exceeding vain foolish and proceedeth from great Ignorance as if the Stones that were the Foundation of Solomon's Temple cut out of the Mountains and the Timber-work did signifie that the Foundation of God's Spiritual House should be Water-Baptism But this is plain contrary to Scripture that saith The Church is built on the Foundation of the Prophets Apostles Iesus Christ himself being the chief Corner Stone And thou that sets up Water-Baptism as the Foundation of the Gospel Church preachest another Foundation than Christ Jesus and another Gospel If Solomon's Temple had been built on the Waters thou mightst have had some slender

legal and evangelical but the Evangelical doth but obscurely and hiddenly appear and therefore the first may be called more Legal and in that respect is called by Paul and others The Law by a synecdoche the denomination being taken from the larger part and this Dispensation continued until Iohn according to Christs own Words The Law and the Prophets were unto John The Second Dispensation of the same Gospel may vvell enough be understood to begin at Iohn according to Acts 1.22 beginning from the Baptism of Iohn unto that same day that he vvas taken up from us see also Acts 10.37 38. and to continue until the plentiful pouring forth of the holy Ghost both at and after the day of Pentecost and this second Dispensation comprehendeth all the time of Christ his being on Earth in the flesh vvhich though a more clear and glorious Dispensation of the Gospel yet vvas in some degree vailed vvith the figures of the Lavv for not only Iohn's Baptism but the vvhole Lavv of Moses vvas in force until Christ suffered on the Cross and became a Sacrifice of a svveet smell unto God and a Propitiation for the sins of the vvhole World and thereby put an end to all these Sacrifices of Rams Lambs and Bullocks c. for Christ himself being made of a Woman vvas made under the Lavv and fulfilled it both in his being circumcised and baptised and he preached the Law and Gospel and sent one vvhom he had cured of his Leprosie to the Priest according to the Lavv and told the Iews That their paying Tythes which wholly belonged to the Law was a thing to be done but that withal the greater things of the Law as Mercy and Iudgment were not to be neglected And Christ told that it is written in the Law They shall be all taught of God which is a Gospel Promise So that the Gospel and Law were united and joyned together in both these former Dispensations and the Gospel was in the Law as some precious Treasure hid within some vail The Third and last Dispensation began from the giving of the holy Ghost at Pentecost most apparently and was to encrease until it should come to its Meridian or Noon-tide Glory as so it may be said it did really so come in the days of the Apostles before their decease And this third Dispensation of the Gospel is that which ought to be called The pure and perfect Gospel Dispensation purely and perfectly unvailed and uncovered declaring and revealing that great Mystery of Christ and of eternal Salvation by faith in him both as he came and suffered outwardly in the flesh and dyed for us and rose again and ascended and is now in Heaven at the right hand of Majesty making intercession for us and also as he doth come inwardly to live dwell and rule in our hearts for both his outward and inward coming are a most choice and excellent Doctrine of the Gospel of our Salvation but the one without the other is lame and defective for as it is most glad Tidings which the word Gospel or Evangel signifieth that Christ hath dyed for us purchased to us the forgiveness of all our sins through Faith in his Name so likewise that the Father hath given him to us in our hearts to kill and destroy the very life of sin in us and perfectly to sanctifie and renew us into the Image of God and no Vails nor Figures nor Types of things to come belong to this third Dispensation of the Gospel but the Truth of the Gospel is held forth purely and perfectly in its own native lustre beauty and glory without any figure or shadow of the Law such as Circumcision and Iohn's Baptism was These Positions thus being laid down and well understood the substance of which are sufficiently laid down in my late book tho' not so largely or in so many express words may serve sufficiently to answer to every one of thy Objections against us without a particular application to every particular of thy Treatise And thus it plainly doth appear how it may be granted that Iohn's Ministry and Baptism was the beginning of that second Dispensation of the Gospel that as yet had its Vails and Figures in some degree remaining vailing that more abundant glory that was to follow But it doth not follow that Iohn's Baptism or Water baptism of any that did baptize did really belong to the third Dispensation of the Gospel as any part thereof and this third Dispensation is being the Gospel perfected and consummated as it cometh to its Meridian or Noon-tide Glory and Brightness that which is most commonly and frequently called the Gospel in the New Testament being cleared and discharged from all these Vails and Figures of the Law even as when Christ arose he laid aside his grave Clothes and did not after his Resurrection re-assume his Garments which he did use as a cloathing before he suffered but left them to remain with the Souldiers that put him to death A figure of this very Mystery And thou art at great pains to prove That John was sent to baptize with Water and Christ's Disciples baptized with Water and so did the Apostles after the giving of the holy Ghost and a great many other things thou bringest no wise contradicted by us the People called Quakers and therefore thou might'st have spared thy needless pains But the great thing for thee to prove was That John 's Baptism or Water Baptism is any part or precept of the Gospel Dispensation and Administration as it began to take place after the Death and Resurrection of Christ and the giving of the holy Ghost This thou hast not done in the least and therefore thou hast done nothing to purpose And whereas thou pleadest That Christ sent John to baptize and preach I answer And so I say as truly he sent Moses to give the Law and Circumcision for the Spirit of Christ was in Moses and in Aaron and in the holy Priests under the Law that circumcised and sacrificed and Christ gave both the Law and Gospel and was the Mediator under both and the Minister of both for without Christ the Word that was in the beginning by whom all things were made neither Law nor the Prophets could have been But the thing thou shouldst have proved That Christ as the Mediator of the New-Covenant in the pure and perfect Dispensation of the Gospel in the last administration of it ever commanded Water Baptism or that Christ after he rose from the dead commanded Water Baptism which thou dost not do in the least Thou seemest to lay great stress on these words Acts 10.48 That Peter commanded them to be baptized who had received the holy Ghost to wit Cornelius and his company But this I have answered already and I say further this doth not prove that Water Baptism is a Gospel Precept but only that that second Dispensation being not yet vvholly abolished Peter savv a service in it in the Wisdom

Water Baptism of yours is neither Iohn's nor the same that some of Christs Disciples and Apostles administred for some time seeing ye can show no Line of Succession either from Iohn or the Apostles of your call to administer Water Baptism that proves ye have no shadow of any mediate Call and to an immediate Call ye have no pretence nor can it be truly said that the Letter of the Scripture barely and alone considered calleth any to a Ministerial Office or Function for the Scripture saith No man taketh an Office unto him but he that is called of God as Aaron was And thus Iohn was sent of God by the Spirit of God in his heart and did not draw his Call from the Letter of the Scripture tho' he was of Aaron's Posterity and the Son of a Priest And therefore your Water Baptism is a meer Idol like the golden Calf that the Children of Israel set up when Moses was absent But suppose your Water baptism were as good as Iohn's which it is not go and learn what that meaneth Mark 9.5 how when Moses and Elias and ye know that Christ said of Iohn that he was Elias who came in the Spirit and Power of Elias did appear with Christ at his Transfiguration Peter said Let us build three Tabernacles one for Moses that signifieth the Law of Circumcision and Sacrifices another for Elias i. e. Iohn with his Water Baptism the Scriptures saith he knew not what he said and a Cloud came and took away Moses and Elias i. e. Iohn Baptist out of their sight and left only Christ present with them and well consider whether this doth not signifie that Believers in Christ under the pure and perfect Gospel Dispensation are not to build Tabernacles neither for Moses nor Iohn i. e. neither for the Levitical Law of Moses nor the Water Baptism of Iohn A brief Answer to the weak and impertinent Arguments of Benj. Keech against the Light within in his Book call'd The Childs Instructor in that Section of his Book concerning the Light within wherein he undertaketh to prove That the Light in every man hath not the least tendency or service to mans Salvation but only to condemn him And also an Answer to his gross Calumnies and false Accusations that in his ignorance he raiseth up against both the Principles and Persons of the People called in scorn Quakers FIrst he granteth That the Light in every man containeth in it the Law or substance of the first Covenant written or implanted in the hearts of the worst of men Next he doth acknowledge That it doth show or teach every man that there is a God which did create all things and that he is the Soveraign Lord of the whole Creation that he is to be worshiped also that it doth convince of sin but not of evey sin Also That it doth teach Righteousness towards men and to render due respect unto all and to do unto all men as they would be done unto and from this he concludeth saying Therefore take heed and walk according to this Light for it is a Candle lighted and set up by the Lord in thy Intellectuals Answ. This seemeth a fair acknowledgment and is more than many do acknowledge for if men are to take heed unto it and walk according to it as he saith they ought it is given of God for a Rule of Obedience unto men and therefore the Scripture is not the only Rule as many affirm But that he saith It doth convince of sin but not of every sin this he only affirmeth and doth not prove in the least and seeing it containeth in it the substance of the Law of the first Covenant it followeth most evidently that being duly improved and the mind duly applied unto it it convinceth of all sin against the first Covenant Next as to sins against the second Covenant called the Gospel or New Covenant if the Gentiles who have not heard the Gospel outwardly preached have nothing of the Law of the New Covenant revealed or made known unto them they cannot be said to sin against it for where no Law is there is no Transgression if then these Gentiles who never as yet heard the Gospel or Christ outwardly preach'd have only the Law of the first Covenant they are only sinners against that Covenant and consequently that Light in the Gentiles doth convince them of every sin that they are or can be guilty of in the Gentile state But seeing he hath granted That there are some sins that they are guilty of that the first Covenant in them doth not convince them of it followeth most necessarily that there is some Law or Light of the new Covenant in them And thus it doth plainly appear that the snare or net which this Benj. Keech hath been making for the People called Quakers he is entangled himself therein But we can most clearly prove from Scripture that the Light that is generally in men the Heathens not excepted hath in it some small degree of a discovery or revelation of the New Testament or New Covenant 1 st Because it revealeth to men generally the goodness of God that leadeth to Repentance according to Rom. 2.4 yea the Riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering and therefore it revealeth in men universally that God is merciful and gracious as well as just and pardoning sin and transgression to every one that truly repenteth and turns from sin And this may be proved also from B. Keech's own confession for he plainly confesseth That the Light in every man teacheth him that God is the best the highest and chiefest Beeing therefore it doth clearly follow that the Light in men teacheth them that God is a gracious God and one that pardons Iniquity otherwise he could not be understood to be the best beeing for seeing among the Children of men many men have that goodness that inclines them to forgive the greatest Trespasses upon their Repentance and asking forgiveness therefore God himself is infinitely more gracious and ready to forgive 2 dly The Gentiles or Heathens of the better sort who have not heard Christ outwardly preached unto them have offered up Sacrifices unto the only true God as well as the Iews and Aristotle tho' a Heathen did affirm That it was proper to Mankind universally to Sacrifice unto God and as the Sacrifices of the People of Israel as B. Keech confesseth was a spiritual and shadowing Ministration given in mercy unto men to discover and hold forth unto them the glorious and great Sacrifice and Attonement of the Lord Jesus Christ the same may be said of the Sacrifices of these Gentiles who sacrificed unto the only true God And if it be said The Gentiles who did so Sacrifice as Iob and others did it being taught by some outward means I answer allowing it so to be so did also the Iews and People of Israel but as among the Iews so among the Gentiles the Light of God in them did accord in

pretext or colour to use such a Comparison but what Resemblance Stone and Timber hath to Water Baptism I do not understand And if Water-Baptism be the Foundation of the Church then the Church hath had no Foundation for many Ages past for Infant Baptism by sprinkling ye Baptists do not acknowledge to be any true Baptism at all but a meer fiction or invention and yet for many Ages there hath been no other Water-Baptism used but that of sprinkling Infants for that party or society of People called Baptists or Anabaptists did but appear about Luther's time or since and therefore if Water Baptism be the Foundation of Gods Church the Church hath had no Foundation for many Ages and therefore hath quite ceased to be for she cannot be or subsist without a Foundation And as concerning the Allegorical and Spiritual signifycation of Solomon's Temple it is very well understood without your Water Baptism for Solomon's Temple as it was a figure of Christs Body which was crucified and rose again and ascended into Glory so also it was a figure of the Gospel Church under the pure Gospel Dispensation the Foundation whereof is Christ Jesus as he came in the likeness of sinful flesh and took upon himself the form of a Servant and humbled himself unto Death even the Death of the Cross made of a Woman made under the Law the Seed of Abraham and David I say Christ thus come in the flesh and crucified for our sins as the Mystery of him is inwardly revealed by the holy Spirit in the hearts of all true believers in respect of his thus humbling himself and taking hold of the seed of Abraham may well be compared to the Stone Wood of Solomons Temple which were but mean and not very costly Materials but the fullness of the Godhead that dwelt in Christ Bodily and his being anointed with the holy Spirit without measure being the only begotton Son of God full of Grace and Truth of whose fullness all true believers do plentifully receive and Grace for Grace and the many most rich and excellent divine Virtues wherewith both Christ and his Church are most richly endued and adorned are well signified by that great plenty of Gold and Silver and other precious Furniture wherewith the Temple of Solomon was beautified But it is much thou didst not make the Sea in Solomon's Temple to signifie Water-Baptism possibly some of thy Brethren may judge this a great omission or neglect in thee but hadst thou brought it it could have made nothing for thy Water Baptism for that Sea in Solomon's Temple was not a figure of outward Water which it self was but a figure but of these spiritual Waters of the Sanctuary mentioned by the Prophet Ezekiel chap. 47.1 7 8 9. and by Iohn c. 4. v. 6. and Rev. 22.1 But this most idle and ignorant gloss and comparison of thine is like to that other passage in thy book where thou sayst Repenting Believers baptized with Water being a sign and token from God to them of the remission of sins are the only true Heirs of the Promise of the holy ghost c. Which assertion thou dost falsly ground on Peter's words to the Iews Repent and be baptized every one of you mind it sayst thou every one that expects Salvation in the Name of Iesus Christ for the Remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the holy ghost But whether Water Baptism is to be here understood or not thy arguing that it must be Water Baptism is most weak and idle as if to render it only Spirit is to charge the Spirit of God in Peter with gross Impertinencies and Tautologies as if he should say Repent and be baptized with the holy Spirit and you shall receive the holy Spirit To this I Answer This is no Impertinency nor Tautology in the least but very proper as it is very proper to say White Cloth being dip't into the Dyers Fat that hath a red dye receiveth the said red dye even so the Soul being dipt into that spiritual Water of Gods holy Spirit receiveth it as the Cloth receiveth the dye But this to thee is a Mystery and Parable and therefore it is not strange thou talkest such gross impertinencies And it is plain by these words of thine thou makest Water Baptism equally necessary to Salvation with Faith and Repentance and therefore all are eternally and finally Lost who have not been baptized or plunged into Water O Monster of uncharitableness This most Uncharitable Doctrine damneth all to the Pit of Hell for many Ages that never received Water Baptism this is like one of thy Brethren who printed a book with this Title Dip or Damn It is no wonder to find you Baptists generally so bitter and peevish for this your Uncharitable Doctrine of Condemning all to Hell who are not baptized into Water begetteth this evil nature in you even as the narrow Doctrine of the Presbyterians as touching the Grace of God maketh them of the like evil nature for evil Principles and Perswasions have a great influence upon mens Hearts and Lives And now I find thee in this thy work against us joyn'd with the Priests of New-England and particularly these of Boston tho' formerly some of thy Brethren suffered great persecution by the Priests of New-England where it seems thou hast got thy book printed and so like Herod and Pontius Pilate joyning together against Christ as he came in the flesh so ye joyn together against him as he is come and coming more abundantly in Spirit but this Stone which ye builders of Babylon have refused will God exalt and is exalting to be the head of the Corner Thou art as idle and impertinent to alledge That by Water and Blood mentioned 1 Iohn 5.6 This is he that came by Water and Blood is to be meant Water Baptism and that call'd the Supper in giving and receiving Bread Wine But this being thy bare alledgance without any shadow of proof it is altogether denyed and the Virtue of both the Water and Blood together with the Spirit are inwardly and spiritually felt which three agree in one and are inseperable but so are not your Water Baptism and Bread and Wine which ye your selves confess are oft seperated from the Spirit as the many vain persons among you and the many dry and barren Souls of your society too palpably demonstrate for who more gawdy and vain in their Attire and Cloathing both men and women than many call'd Baptists as I have seen and observed in part to my great grief Who greater Enemies to the Spirits inward Revelation and to Christ's inward presence and Appearance in Believers than thou and the Baptists generally perhaps some few excepted And therefore the Spirit and your Water Baptism and breaking of Bread agree not in one and are not in unity And whereas thou chargest it on me and my Friends the People called in scorn Quakers as if we did presume or boast of our

being arrived to a state above or beyond the Apostles after they had receiv'd the holy Ghost for thou say'st Here we may note the pride that this Boaster is filled with counting even the Master Builders of God's House but Children in comparison of them c. And again thou sayst The Generation of Quakers it seems are got into an higher degree of stature and fullness thinking they are in an higher Dispensation than they had attained c. All this is a most injurious and gross Perversion of my words and of our Principle I never said writ or thought any such thing But take notice on what false foundation he grounds this his Perversion because I said in my last book If they who are so zealous for Water Baptism were cordially zealous for the inward and spiritual Baptism they might be the more born with as Men bear with Children c. and Charity might be allowed them in that case to be as Children or Babes in Christ. I intreat the Readers to take notice that I say nothing here of the Apostles or any living in that Age but of these now living in our Age who are generally too zealous for the Water Baptism but have little or no zeal most of them for the inward and spiritual plainly denying inward Divine Revelation as the priviledge given to the Saints in our Age and calling Christ in the hearts of the Saints a false Christ as this Pardon Tillinghast hath done and as many others do And though the Apostles after they received the holy Ghost used Water Baptism yet it was not for themselves who saw beyond it and were attained to that One Baptism Not the putting away the filth of the Flesh but the answer of a good Conscience as Peter declared but in the Apostles days there were Babes in Christ and many scarce arrived at the true state of spiritual babes whom the Apostles saw meet to baptize into Water but yet that Water baptism was not the Milk where with they were fed but rather as stilts or Crutches that these babes or lame Persons used for some time And whereas thou further sayst That we called Quakers are born Monsters not Babes to be fed with Milk as the Saints heretofore Here thy scornful Spirit full of bitterness and prejudice doth plainly appear How many thousand babes in Christ have been before ever baptism with Water was in being and since it received its burial and whoever seek to raise it again or restore it in their own self-will and meer imaginations from what they falsly infer or draw from the Letter of the Scripture they but raise a dead thing that is not the sincere Milk for the Milk of Babes is the sincere Milk of the Word and that is not Water-baptism And whereas thou alledgest That to pretend to the Power and deny the Form of Godliness is as Hypocritical as the other is Formal This we agree unto but it remaineth as yet to be proved that Water baptism is any part of the Form of Godliness since the form and practice of it hath generally ceased since the Apostles for many Ages past and but again is raised up by the meer will of Man without any divine Call or Authority so far as ever I could yet learn for I never yet heard that any in this Age or since the Apostacy began did pretend to an inward divine Call for Water Baptism But whether when the Gospel shall have it free course to be yet preached to all Nations any shall be raised up to baptize with Water by a divine Authority belongs not to the present debate And thus I hope it will appear to the impartial Readers that I have sufficiently answered to thy Objections and pretended Reasons from plain Scripture which thou hast but grosly wrested and perverted In the close of thy book thou sayst I strike as well at the Lords Supper as at Water Baptism alledging further that I say our common eating that we use is the Lords Supper whether two or three more or less but both these are thy false alledgings and none of my words nor justly can be gathered from my words And first as to the Lords Supper I say where Christ is not inwardly and spiritually seen tasted and fed upon by his inward Revelation in mens hearts there is not the Lords Supper altho' they gather together with ever so great a Solemnity as outwardly to eat outward Bread and drink outward Wine in remembrance as they pretend of Christ. Secondly There is neither Number of Persons nor any set Times appointed by Christ in relation to the outward eating and drinking which ye call the Supper and therefore as the Church of England use it once Quarterly and some Baptists Monethly or perhaps some Weekly why may not others with as good reason use it daily and seeing the Number of Persons is no essential part as ye must confess then why may not two or three as well as some hundreds use it with equal Solemnity and religious Devotion viz. eating and drinking together both with a holy fear and chearfulness remembring the Lords Death even until his last coming as well as until his more abundant inward spiritual Coming into their hearts And whereas I queried in my last book Wherein we are behind you or wherein we fall short of you or what excellency worth or value hath your Supper above and beyond ours To this thou hast not answered one syllable nor hast thou shewed any one particular instance wherein your eating and drinking excelleth ours and therefore I return it again unto thee to be answered And I thus further query Is the difference about the bear Name that ye call it The Supper of the Lord and we have no freedom to call the bare outward eating and drinking unless Christ be inwardly enjoyed the Supper of the Lord but where Christ is inwardly enjoyed and fed upon together with the outward eating and drinking as most frequently is witnessed to God's praise that we can freely call the Lords Supper Or 2 dly Is the difference because ye have some Priest or Pastor or gifted Brother to consecrate the Bread and make it more holy than our Bread that we eat even when we use Prayer and Thanks-giving before eating either vocal or only mental and frequently both Or 3 dly Is it because we do not use that formality of repeating the words Take eat this is my Body which we find no where commanded to be used in the Saints eating Or 4 thly Is it because the eating and drinking that was among the Saints called by thee and others the Supper was never in ended for satisfying hunger as thou hintest And what if I should say the same thou gainest nothing for it is not the simple eating and drinking that I call a holy Remembrance of Christs Death but the holy and religious way and manner of performing it and yet thou canst not prove that the Saints when they did eat that commonly called the

Harmony with the outward means of their Instruction 3 dly The Apostle Paul doth plainly declare That the Gentiles who did the things contained in the Law had their thoughts excusing them or apologizing as the Greek hath it and therefore there is some Light or Illumination in them other than that of the first Covenant that only condemneth as B. K. affirmeth 4 thly Cornelius before Christ was outwardly preached unto him hath this Testimony by the Spirit of God recorded in Scripture That he was a devout man and feared God and his Prayers and Alms were accepted of God according to his state and that he was not singular or the only man in the World that was sincerely devout and that knew not Christ as come in the flesh Peter's words plainly declare how that in every Nation he that feareth God and worketh Righteousness is accepted of him And if it be said that Cornelius was a Proselite or at least had some knowledge of the Iews Religion I Answer This is only supposed but not proved but granting it were so it is certain he had not faith in Christ crucified and raised again until Peter preached Christ unto him and therefore a man may be accepted of God in Christ and for Christ's sake in some respect and degree who at present hath not faith in Christ crucified and raised again which most evidently overthroweth all that B. K. hath built up in his vain dark Imagination against the Light within and yet such are not without faith altogether for they have faith in God and in his living Word in their hearts And whereas B. K. frames an objection in behalf of the Light within viz. If this be a Light flowing from God and a Ministration of God how can it fail in any respect and be insufficient He answereth First The Law given to Israel was a Ministration of God and yet it could not give Life But this is easily answered for God gave not the Law to Israel only for that end to condemn them and send all every one of them to Hell but to be a Schoolmaster to lead unto Christ and therefore together with the Law of the first Covenant he gave them the Levitical Law of Sacrifices and many other Types which had some real Ministration in it of the New Covenant tho' obscure yet such as served for that time But according to B. K. the best of the Gentiles who were most diligent to frame their lives according to the Light in them and have not heard Christ preached unto them as crucified c. are all sent to Hell and the Light in them tho' a Ministration given them of God hath no other end but to condemn them and make them guilty of Hell Fire and that forever which is a most injurious Reflection upon both the Justice and Mercy of God Secondly he saith Every Light and Ministration of God serveth for the end time and purpose it was appointed and ordain●d This saying is very true but very badly applied as if that Light and Ministration of God in the Gentiles were only given to make them guilty of eternal Damnation but having not the least service use or tendency to the least beginning of their Salvation which is a horrible Reflection upon God as representing him altogether Cruel and Unmerciful worse than most men and therefore is a blasphemous Assertion In the next place he undertakes to prove That the Light in every man is not God nor Christ nor the Holy Spirit First he proveth that the Light in men is not God Because tho' all Light doth come from God yet all Light is not God I Answ. And who saith all Light is God but because all Light is not God it doth not therefore follow that God is not Light no more than it doth follow that because all Spirit is not God therefore God is not a Spirit But seeing he confesseth This Light floweth from God it doth necessarily follow that God himself is present with and in this Light for God cannot be locally seperated from any thing or being that proceedeth from him otherwise he were not Omnipresent and the Name Light doth as properly belong to God as the Name Spirit for as the Scripture saith God is a Spirit so it saith God is Light Nor is his Argument any more valid to prove that Christ is not Light in men Because Christ signifieth Anointed and only the Man Christ is Gods anointed I Answer Thus we see how B. K. acts the Socinian like his Brother P. T for if Christ be only and wholly restricted to Christ's outward Person as he came in the flesh then there was no Christ nor Saviour nor Mediator before Mary but this is express contrary to Scripture in many places which saith By Iesus Christ all things were created And Israel in the Wilderness drank of the Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ And most surely all the faithful in all Ages were partakers of Christ and he lived in them as well as in Paul And that Christ was Anointed from the beginning before all Time and Ages is expresly affirmed Prov. 8.23 the true Translation out of the Hebrew Text being I was anointed from the beginning The Hebrew word Nissak is rendred by Buxtorf in his Hebrew Lexicon To anoint and surely David Isaiah and all the faithful were partakers of the holy anointing and they had it from Christ God's anointed from the beginning And Lastly he is as foolish and idle in his arguing That the holy Spirit is not a Light in all men because Christ said The World cannot receive him Ioh. 14.16 and whoever have the Spirit of Christ are Christs Rom. 3.9 for to have and receive in these places signifie Vnion and Possession and in that sense we say Unbelievers and Ungodly men have not the Spirit but yet it doth not follow that the Spirit is not in them to reprove and convince them and also to call invite and move them to Repentance otherwise men could not be said to resist the holy Spirit and as a rich Treasure may be laid in a mans House and yet that man have not the right and possession of it even so the Spirit of God is in Unbelievers to convince call and move them to repent and turn to God and yet they have no right nor interest therein while remaining in their unbelieving state But it is to be further considered that the holy Spirit throughout the Scripture doth signifie not the Spirit of God abstractly considered but as influencing men with a peculiar holy or sanctifying influence and operation and these are only such who have faith in Christ crucified and raised again as is clear in the case of Cornelius and all other Believers in Christ crucified c. whose Faith is wrought in them by the mighty Power of God and therefore this peculiar influence and operation of the holy Ghost the Gentiles have not in their meer Gentile state but yet they have that

his other fauls were pardonable c. But to this I Answer That Increase Mather hath not secur'd his veracity from being impeached for it belongeth to Veracity and to him who hath it not only to tell some true matters of fact but to tell them with a true intention and for a true and upright end and to assign the true and right Names to the Persons that have done the things alledged as when a man is murdered tho' the matter of Fact be true yet if he who relates it doth charge it upon a person or persons no wise guilty his Veracity may justly be impeached and so the case is here as to I. Mather suppose the matter of fact be true yet it is as gross and false a charge and imputation to cast these things acted and done by Tho. Case and his Crew upon the Quakers as to cast them upon any other People whatsoever yea as upon them whom he may judge to be true Christians or suppose Presbyterians and Independents for what tho' they call themselves or that others ignorantly call them Quakers doth it therefore follow that they are owned by that People or are of their Society no wise no more than it doth follow that they are Christians because they call themselves also by that name And suppose these of T. Case's crew should call themselves Presbyterians Independents or Members of the Congregational Churches of New-England doth it therefore follow that ye of New-England should be charged with these things And whereas I said in my last book That I. M. relates these stories on purpose to abuse the honest sober People call'd Quakers without making any distinction thou Cotton Mather leavest out altogether the following words that were most material for the clearing of the Quakers and proving I. M. guilty of slandering and falsly accusing an innocent People my following words being these nor giving the least information to the world how that the Body of the People call'd Quakers doth not in the least own these ungodly and wicked People c. But what doth his Son C. M. answer to this that may satisfie the impartial Reader surely nothing but answers with a Scoff like to himself it seems he hath largely accustomed himself to sit in the Seat of the Scorner saying But what Mettal is this mans fore-head made of and then he proceeds to alledge That his Father very carefully made a distinction because once or twice he calleth them the late singing and dancing Quakers And again that he saith The Quakers are some of them possessed with evil Spirits But I Answer Thou C. Mather rather bearest in thy forehead the print of him that hath a face of Brass than of an ingenuous man in thy undertaking so to palliate and excuse thy Fathers gross abuse and slander Doth not every one that knoweth what a distinction is know that it consisteth at least of two Members or parts and not of one only member or part Now I challenge Cotton Mather to produce one word or syllable in all Increase Mathers discourse where the other Member or part of the distinction is named or exprest in the least whereas if he had indeed made any distinction he would at least have informed the world That there is another s●rt of People called Quakers that doth no wise own Thomas Case or any of his Crew nor their Spirit nor Doctrine nor Practices but abhor them and their way as much as any People can do and do as widely differ from them as white from black or as one contrary from another yea it is easie to show that Tho. Case and his Crew are more near to many called Presbyterians and Independents than to the honest Quakers both in Doctrine and some Practices for the honest People called Quakers own no carnal Singing and do not own dancing on any account and yet to my certain knowledge many called Presbyterians do both own and practise carnal Singings and Dancings and Pipings and Fiddlings also at Feasts and Weddings all which practices are more like to the mad Crew of Tho Case than to the sober and honest Quakers who own no singing but what is truly spiritual and holy and it doth not appear that when I. M. nameth the late singing dancing Quakers that he intended any distinction but that he gave such Names only as certain Epithets to the Quakers or to some of them as when Cott. Mather calleth us absurd and angry People it doth not appear that he intendeth a distinction as if some of us were not absurd nor angry or as when his Brethren used to call us The Cursed Quakers that they intended any distinction as if some of us were blessed or if he had called us The late upstart Heretical Quakers as some have called us as if some or us were not late nor heretical but Antient Orthodox nor is it any real or true distinction to say Some of the Quakers as implying not all for all and some are no specifical distinction but only numerical whereas I said in my book without any distinction it is most clear from my following words in that book purposely as it seemeth omitted by C. M. that I meant a specifical distinction for what I. M. alledgeth on some of the Quakers as such belongeth to all of the same society even as what belongeth to some men as men belongeth to all men and if these wild and mad and abominable Practices do not belong to T. Case's Crew as Quakers then why doth he so charge them as ●uakers or why doth he not inform the People of New-England That T. Case's Crew are no Quakers any more than real Christians altho' they falsly are so called and are no wise owned by the Body or Society of that People this he hath not done in the least and no man that hath not some better Information what the Quakers are than what I. M. hath given of them can know any other but that the Quakers generally are all singing and dancing Quakers or at least own these mad Practices for as I said before I say again he maketh no distinction betwixt them he calleth Mad Quakers and others that are sober and there are many hundreds in New-England that reading I. M's Book will be ready enough to believe the Quakers generally are such as these of T. Cases Crew seeing he mentioneth no other sort and they have no other intelligence what the Quakers are having never seen any of them nor heard them nor read their Books But C. M. perceiving this pinch or strait how he could not make it appear that his Father made any real distinction takes another course and plainly telleth us His Father needed not make any distinction at all and rather than C. Mather will allow the least Charity to the Quakers he will fall at variance with his Father and show himself of a contrary mind as one would think to his supposed reverend Father that whereas he thinketh or would have it believed

his Father made a distinction betwixt the late singing and dancing Quakers yet the Son Cotton thinking himself more wise than his Father maketh no distinction at all and will have Cases Crew and all other Quakers which he as falsly as foolishly calleth Keith's Crew to be substantially of the same drove both Mad tho' with some variety of application in their Phrensies This is barely alledged but not in the least proved and therefore needeth no further Answer The honest People called Quakers through the Love and Grace of God whereof they are made partakers without boasting or vain-glorying may in general be compared to the best of your Church Members in Sobriety and good Christian Behaviour It hath been the lot of good men before us to be called Mad and worse But thou hast given us no evidence or proof that we are so and therefore it returns upon thee as a Calumny and Slander And whereas thou sayst One Keith a Quaker had been compassing Sea and Land to make Proselites visits New-England in his Progress where meeting with small Applause and less Success instead of Converts picks up what Quarrels our Country could afford him and among the rest this Book of Providences Answ. That I have travelled in many places both by Sea and Land to turn People unto the Lord and from Darkness to Light I am not ashamed to acknowledge for so did many of the Servants of God in former Generations and not like Cotton Mather and his Brethren generally who creep into one certain place or House and there continue to preach for hire and rarely remove but when the motive of a greater Sallary doth invite them And as for mens applause I regard it not whether great or small I seek not honour of men but the honour that cometh of God that doth satisfie me and the good and Christian esteem that I have in the hearts of many Brethren as well as my honest Report among men that truly know me which hath not been wanting to me in New-England as well as in other places where I have travell'd and as for Success in my Ministry and being made instrumental to convert some and build up others in the most holy Faith through the Grace of God I need not bear witness to my self but if need were many can bear witness to it even in New-England so that my labour in New-England hath not been in vain and I hope yet to see more the fruit and effect of it through the blessing of God Next whereas thou sayst At my return to Pennsilvania I bless the World with a little Volumn of Heresies and Blasphemies against the Protestant Religion Here thy scoffing airy Spirit appeareth as oft else-where how can the world be blessed with a Volumn of Heresies and Blasphemies But that my book containeth either Heresie or Blasphemy thou hast not yet showed far less proved Thou callest my Book Some further improvements of Non-sence than the Abilities of the Quakers had heretofore helped them to and after a few lines thou sayst I have been craftily assaying to spoil your Vines This seemeth not well to consist if my Book be nothing but Non-sence how can it or I by it craftily assay to spoil your Vines Craft and Non-sence seldom go all along together And that thou sayst thou supposest I will not be long without the Castigations of a full though short Answer c. I fear not this menacing if any such pretended Castigation come forth tho' thou callest me a Fly I doubt not but if I live God will enable me to detect the vanity and impertinency thereof or if removed by Death that he will raise up some of his Servants to do it But that thou sayst The twelfth Article I charge on you is directly contrary to what ye assert and maintain and preach every day and then add'st scoffingly after thy wonted manner This was his Inspiration then I Answer Then why dost thou not produce this twefth Article and demonstrate it so to be as thou affirmest But I say thy Affirmation is false in that very thing the 12th Article being this in express words That the Scriptures ought to be believed only for their own outward Evidence and Testimony and not for the inward Evidence and Testimony of the holy Spirit in mens hearts That this is justly charged on you I need not much enlarge to prove it at present only in short I prove it thus Seeing ye deny true divine Inspiration and inward Revelation of the holy Spirit in the hearts of the Saints ye must needs deny the inward Evidence and Testimony of the holy Spirit for they are one and that ye deny the former is plain from the express words of your Confession that saith There is no new Revelation and the former wayes of Gods revealing his Mind are ceased 2 dly Iohn Owen whom ye used to call your Reverend Brother hath writ a large Book to prove the self-evidencing Power and Authority of the Scriptures and denyeth that it deriveth its evidence from the inward Revelation or Inspiration of the holy Spirit in mens hearts yea thou thy self scoffest at Inspiration in this very place and else-where and tho' in words ye seem to own the inward Testimony of the Spirit yet in Deed ye disown it while ye deny true divine Revelation and Inspiration properly so call'd 3 dly If ye did indeed believe the Scriptures for the inward Evidence and Testimony of the holy Spirit then ye would acknowledge it to be the principal Rule of Faith but this ye do not for ye say in your Confession The Word of God contained in the Scriptures is the only Rule c. Whereas I said in my Book That when some of T. Cases Crew were whipt at Plymouth some of the honest People call'd Quakers openly declared before the People that the Quakers did not at all own them to be of their Society To this thou makest no direct Reply but sayst I am to ask him who of this honest People then it was that then declared them to be the dear Children of God I Answer readily No not one and I challenge thee to instance any one owned by the Society of that honest People that so declared But this question of thine is a meer deceitful Evasion containing in it some Insinuation as if some did so declare which is utterly false Next as to the story in old England taken from H. More concerning one Robert Churchman that was no Quaker but only had some inclination to be a Quaker as H. More doth alledge and he imagined that the Spirit of God spake in him and at last it appeared it was not so but that the man was under some mistake or suppose a real Possession of the Devil To this I answered What can all this say to discredit the Quakers Religion and Principle Have there not been mad People and whimsical both of the Presbyterian and Independent Churches To this thou answerest not denying but that a Possession

were very civil who were with him but as to any Worldly or Civil Concern either with him or any other or as to any intention or purpose that he or they had to hurt or damage you in any of your Religious or Civil Concerns I had no knowledge nor have from any of them But the ground of my saying what I have affirmed in my Book was simply and wholly as I there in my Book have affirmed That my hope is that in due time many People both in Boston New England shall have their Eyes opened by the Spirit of the Lord which ye blaspheme to see you to be these false Teachers who bring not the Doctrine of Christ and the Houses ye preach in not being your Houses buc the Houses of the People they shall not any more receive you into them c. Hereby it doth most evidently appear that I had not the least ground in my most remote thoughts that these in present Authority or any others by any outward Force would destroy your Churches or extrude you out of your Meeting Houses but that in due time God would open the Eyes of the People to see you to be that sort of false Teachers who bring not Christs Doctrine and that on that account the People would not receive you into these Houses being their Houses and not yours It is therefore most evident this gloss of thine upon my words is a meer Forgery and Calumny as if I did either wish or predict by some conjecture That any in present Authority at that time were e'er long purposed to destroy or overturn your Churches or Meeting-Houses But it is no wonder thou putest such false Interpretations on my words when thou and thy Brethren dare so frequently put false Interpretations on the Scriptures themselves And I never had the least ground to think or conjecture that any at that time in Authority had the least intention to overturn any of your Churches or in the least to straiten you in the Profession of your Religion and I believe they had none And as to my words that I laid In due time my hope was that God would open the Eyes of many People both in Boston and New-England thou also makest a Mock of that Expression In Due Time saying Ay no doubt of it in due time but I pray friend George sayst thou when shall this due time be I Answer thee sooner than thou dost expect or thinkest of but as to the precise time of what Year Moneth or so I leave it wholly to the Lords ordering who hath said He will Overturn Overturn Overturn till He come to reign whose right it is and that is the Lord Jesus Christ spiritually and inwardly revealed to reign and rule in mens hearts whom ye oppose and blaspheme against and all his Enemies will fall before him in Due Time according to Deut. 32.35 To me belongeth Vengeance and Recompence saith the Lord their feet shall slide in DVE TIME for the Day of their Calamity is at hand and the things that shall come upon them make hast So thou mayst see that the true words of Prophecy in Deut. 32.35 are so expressed with a respect to the Due Time As for us and me in particular neither we nor I have any evil will or wish in our hearts towards the Land or People of New-England but we and I in particular can and do say I wish the Well-fare and Happiness of it every way and my Hope is great and my Faith sure and firm That God hath a chosen Seed and People in it to whom he will inwardly reveal himself in great Power and Glory and gather them to the living knowledge of himself and into a living acquaintance with himself and his living Way and Truth and this will make them indeed a blessed and happy People but as for all such who shall be found continuing to oppose and resist the heavenly inward and spiritual Appearance and Revelation of God and Christ in the hearts of People and shall be found saying as these Scoffers of whom Peter prophesied who should come in the last dayes and say Where is the Promise of his coming and as this Cotton Mather in the same scoffing nature and spirit hath said When is that due Time that I have said shall come that God will open the Eyes of People c both thou and all such and all Hypocrites and all false Teachers of all sorts who do all that ye can to uphold your Babylonish buildings shall be greatly disappointed of all your vain and false Hopes and a dreadful Cup of Wrath and Judgment will be given to all such who shall still continue to gainsay and oppose yea to blaspheme this heavenly inward Appearance and Revelation of Christ in his People And therefore I do sincerely and earnestly exhort and request both thee C. Mather and Increase Mather thy Father if this ever come to his hands and all others of you call'd Ministers and Teachers in New-England to Repent of all your hard Speeches Revilings false Accusations and Calumnies that ye have raised against the Truth and Witnesses of it and bow and submit to that divine Light of Christ in your hearts that ye have so long and so much gain-said and blasphemed against heretofore And as for thy Conclusion in thy Appendix it is so dirty and unclean that it is not worth mentioning being an old Latine Rhyme made by some old doting Priest or Clergy-man in the former time of Ignorance and as it hath no good favour to any that understand a little Latine so no more would it have if translated into English But we may well bear it to be called or esteemed by thee in thy ignorance and darkness of understanding as Dung and Filth when the Apostles of the Lord by men of thy dark Spirit were made as the Filth of the World and the Off-scouring of all things 1 Cor. 4.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is another Passage in Cotton Mathers Appendix which though I could easily have passed by altogether without any just Reflection on us yet because it showeth now foolish and inconsiderate he is to accuse others for that which these of his own Society have been sufficiently liable to I shall take some notice of it He saith That the Quakers fall out amont themselves is but a natural Consequence of their Tempers and Errors which cannot be otherwise than incoherent and sometimes their Credit forces them to explode in one another what they wish they could but can't excuse Answ. That we have denyed Thomas Case and all his ungodly Crew and Followers is not the least proof that the Quakers fall out among themselves for tho' they or others may falsly call them Quakers as being of our Religion and Society yet it doth not follow any more than that many of the most Wicked called Christians are of the true Christian Religion or are Christians because falsly so called But in this thou actest more like Celsus

and others in antient times who upbraided the sincere Christians yea and the Christian Religion it self with all the vile and gross Heresies wicked Practices of some Apostates and other vile and lewd Persons who called themselves Christians and were not We have better learn'd Christ and Christianity than to judge any to be of our Religion or Society because of any outward Name whatsoever But if thou hadst any common discretion thou wouldst have spared these words to upbraid the People call'd Quakers with falling out among themselves and that their so falling out is but a natural consequence of their Tempers and Errors for through the great love and mercy of God the honest and sincere People call'd Quakers the which Name of Quakers is but a Nick-name raised upon them by Scoffers like Cotton Mather even as the Name Round-head and Puritan were Nick names raised upon sober People fifty years ago and upwards have been preserved as to the main in great Unity both of Perswasion and Love beyond any People that have appeared pretending to a Reformation in these latter Ages But for any Presbyterian or Independent who reckon themselves one in matters of Religion to upbraid any other People with falling out when they have had so great Contentions and Fallings out among themselves not only with one another but with these call'd the Episcopal and Church of England whom they deny not to be their Protestant Brethren and one with them in the main doth evidence not only great Partiality but Hypocrisie and Indiscretion For who have had greater Quarrels and Fa●ings out one with another than them who have professed one and the same Protestant Religion not only to hard Speeches one against another but great Persecution one of another and all this on the pretence of Religion And even in New-England it self Cotton Mather cannot be ignorant what Quarrels Disputes and Fallings out have been among these call'd Ministers and Teachers in New-England There are divers yet alive who were both eye and ear Witnesses to the hot Contentions and Fallings out among some call'd Preachers and Ministers in New-England of the Congregational way and particularly that great Opposition and Falling out that was betwixt old Iohn Cotton of New England of whom this Cotton Mather is descended and some of his Brethren the said old Iohn Cotton being accused severely by his pretended Brethren of the Ministry for false Doctrine though that Doctrine for which he was accused was not false but true and agreeable both to the Scriptures Testimony and to what the honest People call'd Quakers are raised up to witness unto as namely That not only the Graces and Operations of God of Christ and of the holy Spirit are in all true Saints and Believers but that God and Christ and the holy Spirit together with these Graces and Operations are really present and in-dwelling in the hearts of all true Saints and Believers And Iohn Owen hath asserted in some of his Books printed in Old England to wit That the holy Ghost doth really dwell in Believers together with his Graces and Virtues The which Doctrine both of old Iohn Cotton and Iohn Owen an Independent Preacher in Old England hath been judged by others of their Brethren not only Heresie but Blasphemy and is the main Article of Blasphemy that the Presbyterian and Independent Priests and Professors charge upon the People call'd Quakers And thus it doth appear what little Wit Discretion or common Prudence this Cotton Mather hath to charge the Quakers with falling out among themselves which in the case mentioned by him is altogether false when they themselves and his Brethren have been so deeply chargeable in that matter besides that of late there have been very unhappy Differences among these of your Church in New-England the which how agreeable to true Christian Religion or Civil Authority Truth in due time will discover Nor is he any more pertinent to say of a Woman that God moved as she declared to come with her face made black for a sign of some Iudgment ready to come upon many People of New-England That she dressed her self like a Devil and frighted some of her Sex almost out of their Lives in one of their biggest Assemblies for the Judgment she was moved to come as a sign to warn you of did soon after come to pass by a very sore and dreadful Visitation of that called by some The Black Pock that cut off many both Young and Old among you as I noticed in my late Book But if Cotton Mather were not full of a scornful light and airy spirit he would not make so light of a matter of so great weight so to sport and make merry with these whom God moved to warn of his approaching Judgments that come to pass accordingly thereby it was made apparent her Message was true But why should the colour of black be judged by Cotton Mather so much to resemble the Devil How many Negro's are there in New-England whom People daily see and converse with some of which may come to your Assemblies and none are affrighted thereby But if the colour of Black so much resemble the Devil as C. M. alledgeth then what saith he to his Brethren the men call'd Ministers in New-England who generally are Black in Habit from the Crown of the head to the foot like the Black-coats or C●●marims of old must they also by Cotton Mathers Authority be like unto the Devil So that in all his discourse C. M. showeth himself a meer silly Triffler but no sollid Disputer nor Defender either of his Father or himself Another thing I think fit to acquaint the Reader with That he need not think strange to find Cotton Mather so falsifying and wresting my words and abusing the honest People called Quakers when down-right and in plain words he falsifieth the holy Scripture and alledgeth a down-right falshood upon Christ himself who is the Truth for in his thing call'd a Sermon upon 1 Pet. 5.8 pag. 9. he saith We are told in Mat. 12.26 Sathan is NOT divided against himself Now let the Reader view the place and he shall find no such words nor indeed any where in all the Scripture for the words are Mat. 12.26 And if Sathan cast out Sathan he is divided against himself how shall then his Kingdom stand And here every one that hath a right though ordinary understanding of things and who see even but a very little may see that Christ doth not so much as imply That Sathan is not divided against Sathan but only argueth the case with them against themselves by an Argument that is commonly called Argumentum ad hominem as doth plainly appear by the following Verse v. 27. And if I by Belzebub cast out Devils by whom do your Children cast them out therefore they shall be your judges for Christ had this manifest advantage against them that they could no more alledge that he did cast out Devils by the Prince of Devils