THE Trial and Determination OF TRUTH In ANSWER to The Best Choice for Religion and Government Believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they are of God for many false Prophets are gone out into the World 1 John 4. 1. That thou may'st know how thou oughtest to behave thy self in the House of God which is the Church of the Living God the Ground and Pillar of the Truth 1 Tim. 3. 15. LONDON Printed in the Year 16 THE PREFACE TO THE READER GENTLE or SIMPLE WE are fallen into a most ill-natur'd and censorious Age apt to interpret every thing spoken or acted design'd or written in the worst sense 'T is rare to find a Man who will not take with the Left-hand what is offer'd with the Right Yet being a Friend to Truth which was in danger to suffer by the Mistakes and Errours of a late Book Entituled The Best Choice c. I have here ventur'd to make an Apology such as it is and to say all I honestly could in the Vindication of the Saints therein mention'd who out of an unusual Modesty or for some other Reasons best known to themselves have for divers Months conceal'd their Talent talk'd only of an Answer but publish'd none This Trial of Truth was calculated and chiefly design'd for the Meridian of SCYDROMEDIA but may indifferently serve any County or Corporation in England as a fair Intimation to all Freemen and Free-holders to distinguish betwixt Church and Conventicle Truth and Falshood and on that Side which is safest from Deceits There to fix there to vote in all Elections of Future Parliaments If there should be amongst the Electors Men disturb'd in their Understandings by the Heat of Enthusiasm or whose Wisdom is altogether sensual and worldly who presumptuously make Heaven stoop to Earth hiding their private and secular Designs under the Venerable Name of Saints or the Sober Party I don't once concern my self with them in this Endeavour to advance Truth The former cannot and the latter will not be convinc'd There 's no Ear so deaf as that which Interest has stopp'd and none so miserably blind as those that resolvedly shut their Eyes against the plainest Demonstrations of Truth The Words of an old Author are at this day verified of the English What they like not they never understand JEOF CHAVCER Yet Truth ought not to be quite run down for want of an Advocate nor shall Sir A. and my good Friends be aâ—â—â—'d whilst 't is in my power to make a tolerable Defence for ' em And truly Friends I have a hard Task on 't The grievous Immoralities of Life the Blemishes of Humane Nature the many Designs of this wicked World appear so plainly at the bottom of our Zeal and Stifness for our several Opinions that 't is more ingenuous and adviseable to own some things to be sordid and base in our Proceedings than by an over strict Justification of our Doings we put the Church up on Enquiries lest after an impartial Search we should stand condemn'd by all Good Men. 'T is but a folly to deny what we cannot hide That secular Ends are very apt to mix with and shelter themselves under the shadow of Religion This has been the Old Artifice for Mischief in all Ages we should be wiser than venture our Stake upon a Game so well known that every Child in Vnderstanding can now perceive the Cheat. Far be it from me to write one Syllable in Dishonour to True Religion That must needs be a Right Noble and worthy Thing in it self and very powerful with Mankind when the bare Shew of it can serve to carry on those Designs which neither Wit nor Force can effect All I ask of the Whole Body of Dissenters is if possible To be Honest to aim at nothing but what 's good and warrantable to prosecute all their Affairs by lawful Means Do no irregular unworthy or base Act but with Purity of Soul bear a principal regard to the Rules of their Duty and the Dictates of a well-inform'd Conscience Build their Practice not upon treacherous Quagmires bold and impious Opinions but upon solid safe approv'd and well-try'd Principles which tend to the Vpholding of Virtue Government and Humane Society So that they can be content to have their Thoughts sounded their Actions sifted to the bottom could even wish that their Breasts had Windows that their Hearts were transparent that all the World might see through them because the more curiously the Ways of an Honest Man are mark'd the more exactly his Dealings are scann'd the more throughly his Intentions are penetrated and known the greater Approbation he is sure to receive from Good and Wise Men. But Men made up of Deceit and Treachery desire to keep on the Vizor are fearful to be laid open to have the Varnish wip'd off their Intrigues unravell'd and their Intentions quite stript of the Veils that now enfold them All agree in this even by the Light of Nature That Honesty is the best Policy and the most infallible Method of Safety and Security in all the Transactions of this World Yet it would puzzle a good Philosopher to find so much of it here in the Sunshine of the Gospel as is apparent among Turks and Indians in their darkest Night of Ignorance and Infidelity I conclude this in the Words of Salvian written as a Monition to all Christians How much is Religion concern'd in this that without comparison we should be better than Heathens But how much with Grief and Horrour I bewail it does it tend to the Prejudice of Christian Life and Action if we are worse than Heathens This is to be worse when we are more guilty You may be offended perhaps that read this and at the same time condemn it I refuse not thy Censure Si mentiar condemna condemna si non probavero If I prove not what I say by good Authority then let me bear the blame Judge as you see Cause Farewel THE Trial and Determination of TRUTH In ANSWER to The Best Choice for Religion and Government Or The Vindication of the SAINTS in SCYDROMEDIA THIS Ancient BURROUGH known formerly by other Titles goes at present under a strange Disguise an odd Name will best correspond with some late Transactions there a Place and People so much chang'd for the worse that if the Old Catieuchlani who had it before the Romans were now alive they wou'd fancy themselves unhappily cast upon some wild new-found Land inhabited by the Family of Errour and her Daughters of which none were alike unless in this That all are Deform'd If Saint Augustine the Monk and Venerable Bede whom we account Favourers of the worst that is the Romish Religion shou'd once more visit our divided Scydromedia and consider the irreligious state of it at this time they wou'd presently cross themselves and get out of it with all speed to avoid Dangers If those many Christian Bishops who here held a Conference and Consultation in
that truly fears God ought most carefully to avoid The Church of England loves Religion and Goodness in all Men and declares there 's nothing more Valuable in the World but cannot excuse the Body of Dissenters from being the Occasion of many Impieties in the Nation Their very Separation destroys the true Spirit of Religion which is Charity it le ts loose great Numbers who cannot govern themselves moving them to live Atheists or Idolaters to pour Contempt upon the whole Church of Christ confirms Men in their evil Courses and exposes the Church as a Prey to the Common Enemy Gentlemen give me leave to say That to propose Maintenance of Charity and all Virtue by overthrowing the Church is as improbable a Project as his who in Henry the Seventh's time propos'd a Rebellion without Breach of the Peace When the Government of King and Bishop was subverted there were presently as many Religions as Men monstrous Swarms of Errors and Heresies broke in upon us more than had been before known in the Church of God and upon this an Inundation of all sorts of Wickedness over-spread the Land So horrible was the Effect that one of their own Authors tells us That for many hundred Years there had not been a Party pretending Godliness Tenderness of Conscience Strictness above other Men as this Party did that has been guilty of so many Sins horrible Wickedness provoking Abominations as they are Hell seem'd to be broke loose to have invaded all Quarters in despite of their Covenant and all the little Schemes of their so-much-magnified Reformation That they have overpass'd the Deeds of the Prelates justified the Bishops in whose Time never so many nor so great Errors were heard of much less such Blasphemies and Confusions We have worse things amongst us more corrupt Doctrines and unheard-of Practices than ever were in all the Bishops days Our Reformation is become a Deformation We first put down the Common-Prayer and then some put down the very Scriptures slighting and blaspheming them Some cast down Bishops and their Officers others cast to the Ground all Ministers and all the Reformed Churches Some had cast out the Ceremonies in the Sacraments others had cast out the Sacraments themselves With abundance more too tedious to repeat Another of their Authors tells the Parliament in a Sermon That the Covenant cries God grant not against you for the Reformation of the Kingdom the Extirpation of Heresies Schisms Profaneness c. These Impieties abound as if we had taken a Covenant to maintain them since it was taken These Sins which we have Covenanted against have more abounded than in the space of ten times so many Years before Another makes this Remark That one of the Fruits of this Blessed Parliament and of those two Sectaries Presbyterians and Independents is That they have made more Jews and Atheists than are in all Europe besides Gentlemen of the Jury You may see by what means it was that this Nation came to be pester'd with Opinions and Practices beyond the Example of former Ages to the infinite Prejudice and dishonour of our Religion and Nation You may guess what a blessed Reformation we may expect from the Ruine of the Church The same Causes set on foot by the same Principles will eternally produce the same Effects And tho' Men at first may mean never so well yet Temptations will insensibly grow upon them and Accidents occur which in the Progress may carry them infinitely beyond the Line of their first Intention and engage them in such Courses out of which when they come to discern their Errour it may be too late for them to retire Diss Advoc. 'T is in vain to plead against Matters of Fact but I would have you know our Dissenters are more for Spirit and Truth more modest and peaceable than those of that Time we are more conformable to the Laws less turbulent and offensive to Government and generally speaking did we believe that our Schism or Separation from the Church was a Sin or the Occasion of Sin we should no longer remain in the Practice of it but presently join with the Church and never more forsake her Communion Ch. Advoc. You may guess at the Spirit and Temper of the Dissenters by their obstinate and indefatigable Stiffness in Opposing the Church Let the World judge let themselves be Judges in this Case When the Church requires no Popish no Antichristian Terms of Communion when the Dissenters can offer no Argument that has not been abundantly answer'd they entrench themselves within their strongest Holds of Stiffness and Resolution never never to yield tho' they are sufficiently convinc'd and baffl'd If the Dissenters have any thing more of Moderation and Peace than appear'd in the late Times of Anarchy and Confusion we are oblig'd to the Church the Pillar and Ground of Truth and to the Civil and Ecclesiastical Laws that lay some restraint upon them But once remove This Church or quite let loose the Reins of Government and we shall soon find what manner of Spirit does influence these Men. The first Race of Dissenters were far more for Unity and Peace than these are they meddl'd not with Things out of their Line nor mixt themselves with Matters of State All they desir'd was to have no Violence offer'd to their Consciences When they could not conform as Ministers they did as Private Christians Men that were most eminent amongst 'em for Learning Piety Preaching Writing Experience and Fame have done more towards the Unity of the Church than our Modern Dissenters do at this day They have own'd our Communion lawful they have receiv'd the Communion kneeling they have bred up their Children to the Ministry of the Church they have join'd in the Liturgy they have been married according to the Form of it The ancient Nonconformists would not separate tho' they feared to subscribe But now the Government has been so kind to settle Liberty of Conscience by a Law our Conscionable Men turn their Backs upon the Church and make no scruple tho' by causeless Separation to cut themselves off from its Communion not considering that nothing next to the Glory of God shou'd be more heartily desir'd and endeavour'd by all Men than the Unity and Peace of the Church and consequently there 's scarce a greater Sin than Schism is that rends and divides it A Sin if you believe the ancient Fathers that shuts Men out of Heaven a Sin that cannot be expiated by the Blood of Martyrdom This is the Sense which the best and most pious Christians that ever liv'd had of it That 't is better to suffer any thing than that the Church of God shou'd be rent asunder That 't is every whit as glorious and a far greater Martyrdom to die for not dividing the Church than for refusing to sacrifice to Idols That a Person going from Church to Schismaticks tho' in that capacity he should die for Christ yet can he not receive the
Ark wherein were preserv'd the Clean and Unclean And without Vanity I may speak it though we have too many wicked People belonging to the Church of England yet there are at the same time a far greater Number of truly pious Christians that live up to the Strictness of Religion to be found in the Communion of this Church than amongst all the Dissenters in the whole Kingdom As for the two places in Scripture produc'd for your Separation read like truly Wise Men consider the Coherence and Design of them and it will plainly appear that by the first Text is meant That Christians in the Church of Corinth shou'd not meddle with Unclean and Abominable Practices that were us'd by the Heathens in the Worship of their False Gods These they were not to touch to have no Fellowship with them in these but rather to reprove them that is in Judgment to condemn by Word to reprove and in Conversation to avoid them So that this is nothing at all touching the Duty of one Christian communicating with another though it has too often been so abus'd and mis-interpreted And for the second Text it is certainly to be understood also of Idolaters and according to most Interpreters of the Roman Idolatrous Polity and is a Command to all Christians to forsake the Communion of That Church lest they endanger their own Salvation by Communicating with her in her Idolatrous Worship And if this be the true Sense of the Words it abundantly justifies our Separation from the Roman Church but affords not the least Plea for Dissenters to separate from Ours And now I pass to THE SENTENCE YOU Latitudinarians Presbyterians Independents Seekers and Quakers You have had a fair and impartial Tryal upon an Indictment for your Opposing and unjustly Separating from the Church of England The Jury has brought you in Guilty You stand condemn'd by many Laws of this Realm You are condemn'd by the Holy Scriptures you are condemn'd by the Practice of the Church of Christ for above 1500 Years together and by that of all Reform'd Churches who were zealous for Episcopal Government us'd Liturgies and Publick Forms of Prayer had Festival Commemorations of Saints not to pray to 'em but to praise God for 'em had their Rites and Ceremonies in their Publick Worship more in Number and more liable to Exceptions than those us'd in our Church at this Day You are separated from a Church that was planted by our Lord and his Apostles water'd with the Blood of Holy Martyrs and redeem'd by the Blood of the Holy JESUS You are withdrawn from a Church that proposes no sinful Terms in all her Communion a Church wherein a Man may be as faithful a Servant of the True God as Loyal a Subject to his Prince as Honest a Man in his Dealings as good a Neighbour and as firm a Friend as can be found in any Church or Society of Men in the Christian World Therefore You Sir Anthony ' Squire Mouth Maggot and Ponteus with all the rest who are obstinate Opposers of so Excellent so Incomparable a Church You must go to the Place from whence your many Erroneous Opinions came Rome or Geneva there to be dealt with according to your Merits And the Lord have mercy upon your Souls Here follow their several CONFESSIONS Sir Ant. Here now behold upon my bended Knees I confess the Justice of the Court ask Mercy of this abus'd Corporation and bid Adieu to it and all my silly and credulous Votaries in these mournful Words Good People I own that our Rise was unjust Our Fall the Desert of Deceit and of Lust Squire O Pan aliique Dii Dat mihi ut intùs Sim pulcher I know not what God can be a Friend to me I invoke them all that tho' I appear in the darkest Colours to the Worlds Eye I may not always suffer the gloomy Storms of an evil Conscience nor be continually frighted with the Deformities of my Soul Siccinè perpetuo cruciantur crimina Luctu Hic turpem spectate virum ludibria Fati Ah scelus Ah Facinus me vix mercede potitum Sub Veneris Ouercu Threnis mea Musa reliquit I who once was a great Man amongst Poets Historians Linguists Orators especially in the Opinion of the Fair Sex have scarce a Word left to plead in my excuse I must withdraw Time and true Repentance may do much but 't is impossible I can presently retrive my lost Reputation and what signifies a Chair of State without it I 'll then make a Vertue of Necessity in this Publick Place abdicate my Office and with all Humility resign That which I cannot hold Farewel Scydromedia when I am gone Farewell for ever Judge I heartily wish that All Dissenters wou'd make such ingenuous Confessions as these two Gentlemen have now made However I shall in another Place fairly represent this their Civil Behaviour towards the Court to gain 'em a Reprieve and if possible a Pardon The first I do the latter I dare not promise Quak. Verily Friends our Light within us our Personal Light we have trusted to like an Ignis Fatuus has led us upon many perillous Boggs and amazing Precepices and there left us Presbyt Ah Brethren I that have often preach'd Hell and Damnation to others enough to scare People out of all Sense as well as Religion am now under the Sentence of Condemnation My Soul alas is like a glimmering Candle in a dark deceitful Lantern a Lantern I say whose Sides are all Dark I can give but little or no Direction to the People I have a small Degree of Light or Comfort now left to support me And Oh! I must expect less when I come to die Indep My Spirit is like very like may well be compared unto I say 't is like a poor venemous disturb'd Spider in a broken Cobweb it makes all the haste it can to escape the Broom of Impartial Justice Seeker 'T is as plain as the Sun in a Cowcumber that there are some few good meaning People among the many Sorts of Dissenters I have sought pry'd and narrowly look'd into them and truly have never been able to fix in any of their Persuasions to my content Since I foolishly departed from the Church of England in vain have I pursu'd what is not to be had in Error and Schism namely True Peace and Satisfaction of Mind Judge I observe our Phanatical Canters are very unlucky at Simile's and after all their Juggling when they come to be serious to make a right Discovery they 're at a loss Then they cry out Alas Sirs how sadly have we been cheated misled and deluded nay almost inevitably ruin'd our selves and others by forsaking the Church of England And I need use no more Words to advise the Dissenters to return speedily to that Pillar and Ground of Truth which cannot deceive them The SPEECH to the CHURCH ALL you Gentlemen Lovers of the Church of England of that most sound incomparable Religion and
those elder Times Times of less Learning and more Honesty shou'd have occasion with other Spirits to enter our inchanted Castle and Corporation they might see sufficient Reasons for the change of its Name and cou'd not but wonder at the many Vicissitudes of Time Place and Manners But Sir Antbony Putt and I will not pretend to be much seen in the Antiquities of our Town and Country that 's a Study we must resign to a more Able Faithful and Judicious Antiquary who has already detected our Mistakes in point of Elections and will publish them in due time 'T is no Prudence for Men of our small Reading and less Judgment to print more than they can make out or come under the Correction of the more Learned To prevent such farther Disgrace we ask Pardon of that Worthy Gentleman for once daring to invade his peculiar Province without leave Well waving Antiquity in this case let 's survey the present State and Condition of this Burrough What deplorable Alterations it has suffer'd within our Memory How unnaturally have some Men degenerated from the Principles Honour and Temper of their Ancestors Where the Grandfather and Father were constant Blessings in their Piety Beneficence and Good Example to all Men the Son unlearns all his Parents Virtues and becomes a Reproach to his Family a very Curse and Plague to the Plate he wells in He that a few Years ago pass'd for an undoubted Oracle every Word of his was a Law with the Common People was as Infallible as the Pope Himself has now alas lost Ground to amazement His Cardinal Dissenters begin to have other Sentiments to think in good earnest they may be safest without him their Liberty as sure their Traffick more unlimited and their Reputation more clear if by laying him aside they free themselves from their unpolitick Practice of opposing the Church The meanest of the People have their Eyes open can now see as far into a Mill-stone as other Men can tell ye that all is not Gold that seems so that there 's difference betwixt Words and Deeds Pretence and Truth and do mortally hate to be deceiv'd They see plainly what was meant by setting up the Burrough against the Corporation the mighty Out-cry of Danger Danger like Fire Fire to amuze and confound the Multitude that had they either not Voted at all or join'd with the Mayor and Aldermen against Sir Anthony their Danger and Loss had not been so great in setting aside a Man greedy of Honour as the Injury and Mischief of destroying the Unity and Friendship of the Town dividing it into Parties and begetting Hatred and Malice one against another They now believe that the Civil Rights and Liberties of Scydromedia may well be maintain'd without his Help and that the Advice and Assistance of Honorary Freemen in chusing the fittest Men to serve in Parliament can be no wrong to a Corporation That to rob Men of their Peace Reason and Religion is a greater Crime than to hinder a few insignificant Votes if that had been intended The Poorer sort had not created Enemies by confronting the Rich on whom their Work or Relief must depend Time and Consideration do Wonders some Men that heretofore wou'd venture starving rather than not Vote for our Worthy Patriot now are of Opinion they had better stay at home and stand neuter and then tho' they strictly oblige neither Party yet by leaving it to others of better Judgment they enrage none People are afraid of a Glorious and Just Design because such a Pretence once ended in the most Barbarous Murder of King Charles I. They made him in truth a Glorious King but sent him to find a Kingdom in another World ever since that time the Wind of Reformation has blown over us we have breath'd in an unwholesom Air. The Contagion has spread into all adjacent Parts some leading busie Dissenters like diseas'd Sheep have infected not the whole Flock but very many that came near them Poor Sir Anthony I 'm sure is the worse for 'em he has no mind to be made a Tool to any Power or Interest whatsoever if he was not forc'd to it by his belov'd Honour Being puff'd up with that he and his Magna Charta pass some coarse Compliments on Mr. Mayor the Aldermen and all the Church-Party calling them Arbitrary Infolent Magistrates Multipliers of Electors Thieves Treasonable Impudent Fools Injurious Time-servers Carriers on of Tricks Men of black Designs Men of no Reason Frantick Undertakers But we must suppose that these Words are to be taken Ironically that he meant just contrary to what he said And truly without the help of this deceitful Trope we had been hard put to 't to take off the Absurdities and Contradictions of that printed Paper Now let 's try at the Book if we can answer that justifie the Saints and preserve our Members the Work 's done Sed hic Labor hoc Opus In order to it let Sir A. put on as good a Face as he can genteely frisk about the Town visit every diminutive Cottager say Sir I 'm your humble most faithful and most obedient Servant you 're all mistaken in me I am the same Man I was in King Charles II. 's Time that no Revolution can change my Temper that with all my Faults you had better have one you do than one you do not know If he meets a Man that has but an Hose or Clout on his Head let our obliging Knight bend his Body with Hat and Hand to the Ground and in all Circumstances act the Part of Popularity to the life I Confess he 's too great a Master that way than to need my Directions Let my Lady Castle spend no more of her precious Time in vainly Coaching to Park or Play in making unnecessary unwelcome Visits to the Gentry these will never promote our Cause Mrs. Maggot or any other of the Holy Sisters or whatever they are that will help to carry on our Good Design must have the Honour of being my Lady's Companions nay she shall attend them in House Street Coach in all Places and seem fond very fond of 'em for want of better Society Let the ' Squire forbear watching and waiting under his amorous Oak the Prize is taken and was I fit to advise a Counsellor that Tree should not longer stand as a living Monument of his dying Honour Let him not altogether lurk within doors but try his Skill upon the Dissenting Females some more than common Familiarity with them may chance to turn the Tide for all this The Leading Presbyterians are sure Cards to oppose Church and Kingly Government the Independents may be easily wrought into any pious Mischief and the Quakers are generally too proud to submit to the plainest Truth or go one step out of their own way And yet the wisest Heads amongst 'em are stagger'd at the Book and know not well what to say against it But to our comfort I perceive all
Sects are more inclin'd to favour Popery whatever their Clamours may be to the contrary than to encourage the Church and vote for the Defence of it For my part I 'll try what Service I can do in pursuing this Method 1. Enquire out the Author 2. Discover the Errors of the Book 3. Bring our Cause to a fair Trial. 4. Determine according to Truth 1. First For the Author 'T is hard to find out who this Friend Henry is whether Quaker or not If I own the Truth he was a wise and honest Man and were it not in hopes of securing Voices by People's Ignorance I cou'd heartily wish all English-men knew and consider'd so much as he has written O Interest Interest I cannot like any thing that crosses Thee Plain Dealing 's a Jewel but have a care of the latter part of that known Proverb Why should any Man create Enemies to himself Had he not medled with our Diana and the Crafts-men to expose them had not he defended Monarchy Episcopacy and the Whole Religion and Government of the Church of England at such a conjuncture in which we are contriving to subvert 'em I cou'd have more freely excus'd and pardon'd that Author Now we must wait long enough for a Republick we have been plagu'd with Bishops for above Sixteen hundred Years already and 't is to be doubted we shall ne'er get rid of 'em while the World endures We have blacken'd the Church with more than bare Suspicions of Popery and must never again use that Trick to deceive the People All the Dissenters in the Kingdom if they understand Sense and the force of Argument must confess that the Church of England is Orthodox and Apostolical and that no just Imputation of Popery can be fastned on her I desire the Author in his next Edition to abate something of his Virgin Modesty in concealing his Name and Residence The Hornets may buzz about but cannot sting him or if they do he has many Friends Men of Honour Art and Integrity to take care that the Venom may not prove Mortal The Danger is not worth naming when the Religion-Broker is so pleas'd with his Gainful Recipe that he offers Twenty Pounds in Requital Mr. Maggot seems concern'd that the Author wou'd not give him leave to be grateful Our Knight extravagantly promises a Full Bottle of the Best and to give him the Honour of seeing the Parliament for his Reward The Church-men are more oblig'd for those convincing Reasons on their side which require some Time and Skill to answer Porringer and Mouth may be excus'd for Charity 's grown cold among their quondam Benefactors If a Woman one of the Fair Sex as some say was the Author and is as lovely in Body as Mind our good Members earnestly desire to be most intimately acquainted with her If Law Divinity and Physick as most think were engag'd in this Composure w' are over-match'd by far All we can do besides This Trial is by way of Recrimination which will neither invalidate the Book nor extenuate our own Faults Truth will prevail We may endeavour to blemish their Reputations attempt to render these Gentlemen as immoral and vile as we are yet without all peradventure the Envy Hatred Malice Lying Spiritual-Pride Beastiality Deceit and Treachery too commonly approv'd and practis'd among Dissenters do by as many Grains out-weigh the smaller Infirmities and Failures of the Church of England as the solemn and deliberate Crimes of riper Years do the Extravagancies of inadverting Youth Whoever was the Composer we shall hardly dance after his Pipe He has set a fairer Copy than the Dissenters of Scydromedia will transcribe in one day In compliance with their Temper I 'll try if I can spoil the Musick blot and blur the Book to make it less valuable For though I cannot discover the Author I have found out 2. Secondly The Errours of the Book which I intend to bring in as Evidence against it I should begin at the wrong End a preposterous Method is most agreeable to all our Proceedings 'T is very true of Making Books there 's no End This is not the first time our choice Friends have been read in Print and cannot be the last I doubt not but we shall daily afford fresh Matter for ingenious Men or Women to try their Wits on Oh! If we had truly fear'd God and kept his Commandments we had never been troubled to answer this Untoward Book It may not be judg'd a Matter of Imprudence in entring first upon the Conclusion of it there being but here and there a little in the Body and substantial Part but what 's too firm and unanswerable However at present we 'll call it a silly vain scurrillous Pamphlet meriting not so much Regard as the bare reading it amounts to let the Church-men say what they will of the Validity of its Arguments of the Truth of its History That this Conference has done the Church of England Right and the Inhabitants of Scydromedia no Wrong there are yet some Errata's or Mistakes to be retracted or amended in the next Edition else by my Consent it shall never pass Muster amongst the Saints But for the better Satisfaction of the World and that Truth and Justice may take place the COURT has impanell'd a Jury of several Persuasions that the Book with the Persons and Matters therein represented may have fair Play The Jury indifferently chosen are Five Church-men Four Presbyterians Four Independents and Four Quakers Honest Men and True stand together and hear your Charge viz. Judge A late bold Pamphlet call'd The Best Choice for Religion and Government written in favour of Church and King questioning the Reputation of the Saints under the Names of Latitudinarians Presbyterians Independents Seekers c. who have here put themselves upon this Trial of Truth You are to enquire therefore without Favour or Malice Whether Guilty or not Guilty And to take special Care before Verdict given That you duly and impartially consider the Matters and Things urg'd on both Sides that Sentence may pass accordingly You Gentlemen of the Jury I am farther to inform you that the Matters in Question are Matters of Fact whereof You are the proper Judges Attend then First To the Evidence for the Saints drawn out of the Errours and Insufficiencies of that Book no less than Fourteen of ' em Mr. Mouth complains of the Book for Flattery and Untruth His Father was no Committee-Man in the late Blessed Times of Plunder and Rapine He was one of your honest Sequestrators one of those conscientious Men that first seiz'd and then took away the Goods of Church and Kingdom Religiously converting them to better and more holy Uses leaving a well-gotten Inheritance to his Children We have an English Proverb Bless'd is the Son whose Father goes to the Devil true enough of such Fathers who swell'd with Pride hardned with other Vices and given over to Invincible Prejudice Invincible Perverseness do seldom end with True
People with stronger Meat than with which the Church has fed her Children To preach the Doctrine of God's Secret Decrees To make the People Believe that the Lord has no more to lay to the Charge of an Elect Person yet in the height of Iniquity and Excess of Riot committing all the Abominations that can be committed than he has to lay to the Charge of a Saint Triumphant in Glory That God permits Sin that there may be room enough in the Play for Pardoning-Grace And many other such Doctrines as tend more to the Edification of the People than you can meet with in the Church of England Ch. Advoc. 'T is strange that Men should glory in their Shame value themselves for such wild Notions as never before obtain'd in the Church of God! Herein you excell the Church in Fancy in Errours but not in Truth Our Doctrines are Faith Hope Charity Humility Peace Meekness Justice Patience Obedience and Perseverance to the End Our Ministers teach the same Truths that our Dear Saviour and his Apostles taught Sound and Orthodox The Words of Eternal Life tending truly to Edification to build Men up in the Unity of the Church To grow in Grace in Knowledge and in all Vertue I would to God the Dissenters might be in Love with such Edifying Doctrines as these are But alas This talk of higher Notions of greater Edification is many times mere Wantonness and Instability of Humour and too often rather Fancy than Effect Men conceit that they are better edified not when they are more fully instructed in any weighty Point of Faith or more perfectly inform'd in some necessary Duty or more efficaciously mov'd to the Practice of what they know but when they are more gratified and pleas'd at the hearing of a Sermon or the like Those that are troubled with these itching Ears instead of being edified are commonly the most ignorant of all Men they often make an unwise choice in their Teacher and provoke God to leave them to the Vanity of their own Minds when they depend rather on the suppos'd Abilities of a Man than the Blessed Influences of the Holy Spirit and look more at Paul that plants and Apollos that waters than at God that gives the increase For it is the Blessing of God alone and not any Man's Skill in dispensing them that make the Word and Ordinances any way beneficial to us with the help of his Grace those Means of Instruction which we sometimes the most undervalue may be profitable to our Salvation without it our Ears or Fancies may be entertain'd But we cannot be edified by the most fluent and popular Tongue nor the most melting and pathetical Expressions in the World but much less by such Doctrines as were taught by the Dissenters when the Church was down I tremble to name them That the Scriptures cannot be said to be the Word of God and are no more to be credited than the Writings of Men being not a Divine but Humane Tradition That God has a hand in and is the Author of the Sinfulness of his People not of the Actions only but of the very Pravity which is in them That all Lies come out of his Mouth That the Prince of the Air that rules in the Children of Disobedience is God That in the Unity of the Godhead there is not a Trinity of Persons but that 't is a Popish Tradition That the Doctrine of Repentance is a Soul-destroying Doctrine That Children are not bound to obey their Parents at all if they be ungodly That the Soul of Man is mortal as the Soul of a Beast That there is no Resurrection on at all of the Bodies of Men nor Heaven nor Hell after this Life These are only a Taste not all nor the hundredth part nor the worst of those Doctrines taught by Dissenters in the late unhappy times when the wholsome Food of the Soul and the Dispensers of it were quite laid aside So much for Doctrine Diss Advoc. I protest Brother you have been too hard for me in this but Gentlemen of the Jury Truth may be on our side next time If we don't excell the Church in Doctrine let 's try for Worship Do you think that our Spiritual way of Worship is not better than the Forms of the Church That a Liturgy though made and review'd with that Prudence and Moderation Care and Circumspection Wisdom and Piety as any thing extant in that kind can be so good as the sudden indigested extempore Effusions of our Gifted Men Do you imagine that Inspir'd Men can be guilty of any undecent incoherent irreverent Expressions as some will complain of 'em for Or that a Form of Prayer can be so prevalent with the God of Order as a saying just what the Spirit hints What say you to that Ch. Advoc. I am sorry you should so far undervalue the Prayers of our Church and your own Judgment in comparing any performances of Prayer in your way to the most excellent Liturgy of the Church of England I durst put it upon this Expedient Let any Prayer made occasionally and extempore by the ablest and most cautious of those that magnifie the Conventicle way and despise ours be taken exactly in Writing and publish'd to the World I am very well assur'd that one Man without any great pains may find more things exceptionable in that single Prayer in a short time than the several Parties of Dissenters with all the Diligence they have hitherto used have been able to discover in the whole Service of the Church in more than a hundred Years Our Prayers as to the Substance are what Christ and his Apostles us'd in a Language understood by all those that are concern'd in them to which we may all safely say Amen But for sudden Prayers though they may happen to be good yet for the greatest part they are dangerous something of Heresie in every Sentence some Indecencies and Absurdities may be in every Word Reflect upon the Dissenters in that time when this Liturgy was out of use and every one left to his own Liberty 'T is scarce possible to believe what wild and prodigious Extravagancies were upon all occasions used in Holy things especially in Prayer the most immediate Act of Worship and Address to God 'T is an Affront to the Majesty of Religion that there shou'd be any thing in it Childish and Trivial Absurd and Frivolous that its Sacred Mysteries shou'd be expos'd to Contempt and Scandal by that Levity and Distraction that Heat and Boldness those Weaknesses and Indiscretions those loose raw and incongruous Effusions which in most Congregations of those times did too commonly attend it How can there be that Sobriety that Sense and true Devotion in an Extempore Prayer where the Mind is employ'd to find out Words and looks more like studying or making of a Prayer than Praying as in those Publick Forms which are consider'd and fixt where the Spirit or Soul has no more to
do than to mount upon to Heaven with the Wings of true Devotion and offer her Requests in these Words at the Throne of Grace Was it any Amendment instead of praying From Fornication Goood Lord deliver us to say with a Dissenter Lord Unlust us To leave out our admirable Collects for the peaceable and orderly Government of the Church and instead of these to blaspheme the Almighty by telling him If he did not finish the good Work which he had begun in the Reformation of the Church he wou'd shew himself to be a God of Confusion and such an one as by cunning Stratagems had contriv'd the Destruction of his own Children That God wou'd bless the King and mollifie his hard Heart that delights in Blood For that he was fall'n from Faith in God and become an Enemy to his Church Let thy Hand we pray thee O Lord our God be upon him and upon his Father's House But not upon thy People that they should be plagu'd O God! O God! many are the Hands lift up against us But there is one God it is thou thy self O Father who dost us more mischief than they all We know O Lord that Abraham made a Covenant Moses and David made a Covenant and our Saviour made a Covenant But thy Parliament-Covenant is greater than all Covenants with abundance of such intolerable stuff as this I cou'd name Places Time and Persons but I forbear Judge Have you any more to say upon this Head concerning Worship for the Dissenters Dess Advoc. My Lord 'T is the Way they have been us'd to and 't will be hard to persuade them to try any other Judge If that be all go on to the Third Head about Discipline or Church-Government I am willing to hear all out Diss Advoc. We thank your Lordship and the Court we have not much to say in This But New Lords New Laws we are for Change and rather than not have some Amendment in those things we have so long preach'd against nay if all that old Discipline is not laid aside we 'll venture the losing of all the Religion we have rather than submit to the Church Ch. Advoc. I 'm sorry you have no better Argument than Obstinacy When People cannot but acknowledge the Doctrine and Worship of a Church to be according to Truth 't is a Weakness an Absurdity to find fault with its Discipline which was appointed for the better Performance of Religion And the parting from that which is well establish'd the dis-setling of that which is well fixt is not the way to greater Purity and Perfection but to the Corruption and Decay of Religion unless you can shew that the Church was so much over-seen as to constitute Canons and Orders inconsistent with or destructive of the Establish'd Religion Wou'd the Church be so careful to Reform from Popery and to deliver a Pure Religion down to Posterity and not likewise take care of such a Discipline as might preserve the Esteem and Practice of that holy Religion Prove any Order of our Church sinful or not correspondent with Religion that Order that Usage shall immediately be discontinu'd This I am sure you and all the Dissenters in England cannot prove The single and plain Question then is Whether the Government of the Church or That among Dissenters is to be chosen by any Wise Man Look back upon the Changes made in Church-matters by Dissenters in the late Sanctified Times Those Changes those Alterations were not so conducive in their Nature for the Edifying and Well-governing of the Church as those things which they illegally remov'd As for Instance The Ordination by a Bishop accompanied with Presbyters was more certain and satisfactory than that by Presbyters without a Bishop Was it not better to have Forms of well-compos'd Prayers than to petition or rather affront the Almighty with Noise and Nonsense Was it not better to repeat the Creed standing than to leave it quite out of the Directory Was it an Advantage to Christian Piety to change the Gesture of Kneeling in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper when the Sacred Elements are given together with Prayer for that less-reverent one of Sitting of Sitting especially with the Hat on as the most uncomely Practice of some was and is The People being taught to cover the Head while the Minister was to remain bare among them Was the Alteration of giving the Elements an Amendment Read the Directory for Publick Worship in the time when the Dissenters did their best to excell the Church Take ye eat ye This is the Body of Christ which is broken for you This City is the New-Testament in the Blood of Christ which is shed for the Remission of the Sins of may The Words denoting Christ's present Crucifixion and either actually or in the future certainty of it give countenance to the Romish Sacrifice of the Mass Nor was the Civil Pledge of the Ring in Marriage better'd by the Invention of some Pastors who took a Ring of their Women-converts upon admittance into their Church The Forbidding the Observation of Christ's Nativity and other Holy-days did not add one Hairs-breadth to the Piety of the Nation but on the other Hand it took at least from the Common People one ready Means of fixing in their Memories the most useful History of the Christian Religion 'T is possible for meer Dwarfs in Understanding and Policy to contrive an Alteration in Government that may be pleasing to themselves for a time during their Passion and the Novelty of the Model in their own Fancy not yet disturb'd by some unforeseen Mischief or Inconvenience But 't is extreme difficult upon the whole matter to make a true and lasting Improvement fitted and fram'd to all Cases and Circumstances of Affairs in Religious Observances So that if we make a fair Comparison and let Experience and Reason rule in this Case we must say That the Government of the Church is Best still Diss Advoc. If we have got no Ground of the Establish'd Church in Matters of Doctrine Worship and Discipline I hope it may be granted we have the Advantage by much in the Purity of Life We are holier and less offensive than other Men. If you 'll not allow That we are certainly far more demure and private in our Vices more wary and cautious in letting 〈◊〉 Faults be seen by the World while the Church-men are most care 〈…〉 n that Point and seem far worse than they really are Ch. Advoc. 'T is worth our observation That no Argument has hitherto been offer'd in favour of the Dissenters but carries a sufficient Confutation along with it I have the Charity to think well of some Men who out of a true desire of pleasing God having no worldly Design at the bottom do in some Circumstances differ from us I am perswaded there are many well-meaning Dissenters who from their Hearts detest all known Wickedness And such only will rightly consider the Mischiefs of Separation which every one
Crown of Martyrdom That such a one has no Part in the Law of God or the Faith of Christ or in Life or Salvation That without this Unity and Charity a Man cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven tho' he shou'd deliver up himself to the Flames or cast his Body to Wild Beasts yet this wou'd not be the Crown of his Faith but the Punishment of his Falshood not the glorious Exit of a Religious Courage but the Issue of Despair He may be kill'd but not crown'd He rents the Unity of the Church destroys the Faith disturbs the Peace dissolves Charity and profanes the Holy Sacrament These and many other severe things are to be found in St. Cyprian And now if the Glory of God the Peace of the Church and the Good of Souls are as necessary as indispensible in these Days as they were of old How dangerous how desperate is the Condition of those Men who endeavour to deprive us of them If Father Mouth Father Elymas Father Pen and the rest of our Dissenting Fathers can prevail with the unthinking People to fall in love with their Vices can be such degenerate Christians if we may call them Christians as to make no scruple of Schism and Separation which are so fearful and damnable then the Determination will be so natural the Case so plain that the Jury will scarce need to go from the Bar to consider any further of it Diss Adv. I have no more to offer We 'll leave it to the Court. Ch. Advoc. With all my heart only beg pardon that our Pleadings have been a little too tedious Judge You Gentlemen of the Jury I take you to be wise and honest Men who will not contend so much for Conquest as Truth You have heard this Cause debated by Learned Council on both Sides go and consider duly which of them is Best for Doctrine Worship Discipline and Life How dangerous a thing it is to make Publick Ruptures in Church or State Whether Church or Conventicle stands upon the best and surest Foundation Whether any Man 's private Opinion or Fancy Humour or Interest ought to be advanc'd above the Judgment of the Ancient Fathers the Practice of the Church for many hundred Years or above the Quiet and Peace of a Nation Remember that TRUTH is now upon Trial and that it will be to your lasting Reputation if without partiality you do what 's Right and Just in defence of Truth To that purpose I give you more than ordinary Time while I dispatch some other Affairs of less moment you may agree upon your Verdict Exit Jury Judge Call in the Quakers You stand here Indicted for Coining and Altering the King's current English Language pretending a greater Findness and Propriety of Expression than other Men undertaking to teach the most Learned Doctors and Professors in both Universities and to contradict the whole Nation You are Lords High Commissioners for Youing and Thouing but are under a Foreign and therefore unlawful Authority You had your Commission and Example from Ignatius Loyola the first Broacher of this whimsical Nicety and may justly be suspected and question'd for it What say you Friends 1 Quak. I say YOU to Many THOU to One Singular One Thou Plural Many You. The Reasons are 1. These Words are so used in the Bible and all other Literal Translations 2. From their Agreement with the Second Persons Singular and Plural in other Languages LATIN GREEK and HEBREW As 1. Thou is singular because in  Latine Tu is singular 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Greek Su 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hebrew Attah 2. You is only plural because in  Latine Vos is plural 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Greek Humeis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hebrew Attem Judge He that has any Judgment in the English Tongue or is Master of any Sense will confess That THOU is not of the singular Number because Tu Su or Attah are so but because English-men use THOU in the singular Number Neither is YOU of the plural because Vos Humeis or Attem are of the plural but because English-men use YOU sometimes in the plural Number 'T is the Usage of a Nation that is the Reason of their Language and all English-men except Quakers use YOU to One as well as to Many The Variety of English in this being above most other Languages And though we use THOU singular for the more strict Translation of the Scripture yet the Original is as capable to be translated into You as Thou The Translations of the Bible may be varied according to the commonest Use of a Language but the perpetual Use of a Language does not depend upon one or more Translations 'T is plain that You and Thou as all other words have their diverse Acceptations We find in Scripture and all other English Authors YOU to One as well as YOU to Many Gen. 18. 3 My Lord 4. Let a little water I pray YOU be fetched Job 18. 2. Bildad said to Job How long will it be ' ere YOU make an end Jer. 2. 28 O Judah 29. Wherefore will YOU plead with me Jer. 3. 20. YOU O house of Israel You to one Lord You to one Job You to one Judah and You to one Israel We find also that THOU is not only us'd to a singular One but to a plural One or a singular Many as Jer. 4. 1. THOU O Israel 29. THOU O City Isa 26. 20. Come my people enter THOU In which places Israel is a plural One or singular Many a City is a plural One or singular Many People is a plural One or singular Many and yet Thou O Israel Thou O City Thou O People 2 Quak. But in strictness if it be proper for the Scripture to translate Thou to One why may not I say Thou to a King to a Judge a Minister a Father now as well as to say Thou to GOD Judge 'T is not so proper to say Thou to a King as to God because the King cannot judge of our Hearts as God can If we say Thou O GOD He understands whether we speak with that Reverence and Honour to Him which belongs to our Duty But the King cannot tell our Honour to him but by such Words and Actions as declare it And for other Superiours though Thou in Scripture be commonly us'd to them according to other Languages which have not so good distinction of Words for the second Person as English has yet YOU in our Days being a Term of Respect and Civility of Honour and Reverence and THOU except in Scripture and other Literal Translations being a Word for the most part of Contempt Insolence Imperiousness and Indignity We ought to prefer You before Thou though it be to One And if other Languages have not so good a Propriety to set forth their Humility towards and to shew their Estimation of one another we should not contemn or dispute against our own Language because others are not so good but to use
Truths hardly any thing can be so false but may have Colours and Probabilities to set it off and that a Multitude of ignorant People do often swallow the grossest Errors in the disguise of the greatest Truths taking them all down at once without chewing For this reason you cannot pass a right Judgment upon Pretenders to the Spirit until you have search'd into the main or general Current of their Lives as well as the meer Conduct and Carrying on their Designs with the Means they make use of as well as the End they seem to aim at with all their Actions in a Lump as well as with the most specious and fairest of them And when this is done thorowly then let the Hypocrites and Impostors be what they will let the Features of Religion be never so artificially and neatly drawn let the Colours be laid on with never so delicate a Pencil and let that Pencil be manag'd with never so exquisite Address 't will be most easie to find the Difference betwixt the Picture and the Life Let Zeuxes lively Grapes be never so apt to deceive the Birds yet the Deadness of his Boy will unfold the Cheat. And truly the Arts of Deceiving are very obvious Men that will be infatuated and deceiv'd by them must be Men of the lowest Size in Understanding Judge In like manner as the Spirit so the Light is to be examin'd Whether the Light within you be a true Light or a false one Whether indeed it be Light or only the Appearance of Light in the Soul Men in this Case shou'd set themselves as before an Earthly Jury and say thus There 's a Light which I talk of and perswade others to walk after But what does it shew me That all whatsoever is forbidden in holy Scripture must be avoided whatever it requires must be obey'd 1. Does it teach you not to employ your selves in Things secret and unreveal'd Deut. 49. Not in Fables and endless Genealogies 1 Tim. 1. 4. Not in the Tattling of wandring idle Busie-bodies 1 Tim. 5. 11 13. Not with them which teach otherwise than the Apostles or that consent not to wholesom Words 1 Tim. 6. 3. Rom. 16. 17. Not with them which dote about Questions and Strife of Words 1 Tim. 6. 3 4 5. Not in opposition of Science falsly so called 1 Tim. 6. 20. Not in Words to no profit but the subverting of the Hearers 2 Tim. 2. 14. Not in foolish and unlearned Questions 2 Tim. 2. 23. Not in thinking more highly of our selves than we ought Rom. 12. 3. Not to be wise in our own conceit but to condescend to others Rom. 12. 16. Not in rioting and drunknness chambering wantonness strife and envying Rom. 13. 13. Not in judging and setting at naught our Brother Rom. 14. 10. Not rendring evil for evil nor railing for railing Rom. 27. 17. 1 Pet. 3. 9. Not using our liberty for a cloak of maliciousness 1 Pet. 2. 16. Not to believe them that say Christ is in the secret chambers Mat. 24. 26. These are plain undeniable Scriptures And now Does thy Light teach thee that all these things are to be avoided That Riotting and Drunkenness are to be avoided Or if perhaps it do ask farther Does it shew thee that all the other Particulars are to be avoided as well as Drunkenness See my Friend does thy Light shew thee that thou must not exercise thy self in things that are Secret and Unreveal'd Does it forbid all that the Scripture forbids O look into thy Soul Is there a Light in it against all that teach otherwise than the Apostles that consent not to the form of wholesom words committed to Timothy and other ordain'd Ministers Is there a Light in thee against those that dote about Questions and Strife of Words against opposing of Science against Science one Light against another Christ the Light against the Light of Christ the knowledge of the Quakers conceiv'd Light to make the Knowledge of the Scripture useless and impertinent Does the Light direct thee not to think highly not to be wise in thy own conceit not to judge or set at nought thy Brother not to render railing for railing not to use thy Liberty as a cloak of maliciousness nor to hearken to or believe them that say Christ is in the secret Chambers Meetings and Conventicles Put the Case to thy self Does the Light I talk of direct me to avoid all these or does it not If not then 1. It is no Light Isa 8. 20. If they speak not according to this Word it is because there is no Light in ' em 2. It is great Darkness St. Mat. 6. 23. If the Light that is in thee be Darkness how great is that Darkness 3. It is Satan transform'd into an Angel of Light 2 Cor. 11. 14. No marvel if the false Apostles and deceitful Workers transform themselves into the Apostles of Christ For Satan himself is transform'd into an Angel of Light This Friends is the Light within you if it teach you not to avoid all these things that are against the Scripture and if you find your Light within you doth shew that unreveal'd Truths belong not to you that Doters about Questions Opposers of Reveal'd Truths Non-consenters Contemners Railers Cloakers of their Sins with the Pretence of Liberty are to be avoided Then 2. Ask farther How is thy Life See what Rays thy Light has cast upon all thy Faculties Does it shew you a Light to exercise Brotherly Love in honour preferring one another Rom. 12. 10. If it be possible to live peaceably with all men Rom. 12. 18. To have Faith to our selves Rom. 14. 22. To hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering Eph. 4. 14. To follow the Churches of God 1 Thess 2. 13 14. To study to be quiet and to do our own business 1 Thess 4. 11. To esteem the Clergy very highly for their work sake 1 Thess 5. 13. To please others for their edification not our selves Rom. 15. 2. 1 Cor. 10. 33. To be of a condescending and yielding temper Rom. 12. 16. To walk by the same Rule Phil. 3. 15 16. To practise Godliness Meekness Long-suffering forbearing one another Unity of the Spirit Eph. 4. 1 2 3. Women to keep silence in the Churches to be under obedience and learn at home with all silence and subjection 1 Cor. 14. 34 35. 1 Tim. 2. 11 12 14. This is the Truth of the Infallible Scriptures which hath been deliver'd to you and to me not now only but by all our Christian Predecessors This is a sure Word of Prophecy whereto we must take heed if we will not be carried about with divers and strange Doctrines Henry Truly my Conscience as a thousand Witnesses comes in against me 'T is a folly to make a Defence when a Man finds himself condemn'd in his own Breast Judge I take Friend Henry to be a very honest Man one that loves and speaks Truth Pray let 's hear him a little farther
in this Matter Henry I confess These are Truths not to be deny'd many Particulars to be avoided and many to be practised by every good Christian I know that the World is grown to that pass that the repeating of the plainest Texts is accounted by many as unconcluding in Divinity as in Philosophy But 't is time for us to lay aside all our Sophistry and to prefer the Wisdom of God before our own O! my deluded Brethren have we not troubled the Nation and our selves too much with unreveal'd Secrets hearkning to Fables and rejecting the Truth Have we not been for making a Church a Saint a Minister a Heaven a Christ a Light a God in our own Imagination while the Truths in Scripture are nothing worth in respect of These Have we not delighted in Tattlings Wandrings busying our selves in Things which concern us not Are not our Opinions new Opinions contrary to the Church Don't we use our Liberty for a Cloak of Disorder a Cloak to Sacrilege a Cloak to usurp the Divinest Imployments To cry All are one in Christ Jesus therefore all are one in a Kingdom a Church a Family We are all free from beggarly Rudiments the Rudiments of the Ceremonial Law therefore we are free from Ceremonies of Order and Decency among Christians therefore no Tythes to be paid no Priests to be maintain'd tho' the Priesthood of Christ be not a Levitical but long before a Levitical Priesthood a Priesthood after his Order that received Tythes a Tything Priesthood before the Levitical Law was instituted and that not for a short duration but for ever after the Order of Melchizedech We have declaim'd against Priest to destroy Minister we say Christ is an High-Priest and yet have deny'd his Ministers to be Priests of an Inferior Order Our Lives have been questioning tatling opposing railing damning Lives And truly Friends such Lives are contrary to the Light of Christ the Light of the Word or any Light but that which the Scripture calls Darkness And however we may come off before an Earthly Judge 't will be too hard for you to answer these Things at an higher Tribunal Then Brethren 't will be better for you to say Lord we have believed trusted hoped in thy Word than We have disputed question'd and contemn'd it Better for our Light to say O Lord we have receiv'd thy Prophets in thy Name give us we beseech thee a Prophet's Reward than We have slain thy Prophets revil'd and set at naught thy Ministers and their Ministry Therefore as you love your Salvation as you desire the Favour and Fruition of God if your Souls Reputations and Consciences are dear to you no more of these Things which the Light of Eternal Truth tells us we must avoid Judge What say you to the Practical Part of Religion Can you clear your selves in the foregoing Particulars Henry I wish we could do so But alas when I examin'd my Life by the Rules of Truth I found little of the Christian in me while I adher'd to my own Light For is this Brotherly Love to separate from the Church and think nothing worth our Labour but what opposeth it Is this to prefer one another in Honour when we think our selves so holy that we abhor the Congregations of Church-men think we are polluted to join in Prayer and Communion with them so wise that all Words besides our own are vain Words all Books but ours are meer Errours that we and none else have the Light the Word the Truth all Privileges Is it to live peaceably as is possible when we think it an excellency to disturb Order to find fault with every thing but our own Inventions and agree in nothing but to disturb that which is establish'd Is this the Peace we are to exercise Is this the Quietness of Illuminated Christians The True Light shews us That if we have Faith we must have it to our selves not to disturb the Church of God with it We may all be Christians and yet have our several Opinions But if we have our Opinions different from the receiv'd Opinions of the Visible Church we ought to keep them to our selves not to divulge or disperse them to disturb our Brethren How can we say that we hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering when we scarce know what Article of Faith we have not rejected We dispute of Heaven or Hell of any Light or Way to Heaven but that within us First We contemn'd and threw off the Bishops the Worship and Discipline appointed and approv'd by them Next We contemn'd the Presbyters which we us'd as a Means to destroy Bishops We rejected the Independents which shew'd us a different Way from Presbytery Is there any thing we now approve in any of them but the Extempore's And not them neither but as they serve a Turn Is this holding fast to seek all new to reject old Doctrines old Principles Rules and Ceremonies We are Waverers Questioners of all things Holders of nothing The Truth tells us We are to study Quietness to esteem a Minister very highly in Love for his Works sake to withdraw from every Brother that walks disorderly to follow the Churches of God But our Lives do directly oppose the Truth Nobis quiet a movere merces videbatur We have always been for Troubled Waters if we cou'd but question or contradict put an odious Gloss or Interpretation upon the Church That was a Pleasure to us We love the Clergy so well that we wou'd detain their Tythes that Poverty might make them Blessed We rail against Tythes not that we think 'em unlawful but for other Reasons We have a long time made it our Business to revile the Clergy of England to finite the Shepherds that the Sheep might be scatter'd and to draw the Hearts of the People from them Are not we to withdraw from every Brother which walks disorderly And does not he walk disorderly who walks contrary to those Duties which the Apostles have taught in their Epistles Are we not to follow the Churches of God But we have followed every Separation a Meeting-house a Desart a Secret-chamber a Schism-shop a Seducing-school any Place but a Steeple-house How do we follow the Apostles if we don 't as they require Do we practise that Lowliness Meekness and many other Christian Duties Do we agree with others as far as we can and wait till God shall be pleas'd farther to reconcile us We shou'd not permit Women to lay aside their Silence and Subjection and to become Speakers in our Seducinghouses I 'm sure they don't instruct in Meekness but question with Impudence evade by Ignorance gloss by Impertinence and conquer by no Dispute but violent Bawling and invincible Insolence Women's Disputing lost us Paradise and Women's Preaching can do no less than lose us the Truth of our Doctrine and the Peace and Safety of the Church And if my Brethren would duly consider the Plainness and Authority of these unerring Rules
of Christian Light and Life and what the Spirit has said to the Churches in the Holy Scripture they wou'd soon be of my mind the Difference betwixt us and the Church of England wou'd here be ended Judge Did not I tell you that Friend Henry wou'd shew himself an honest Man Has any of that Party more to offer for themselves Let them come forth and they shall be heard Quakers We object against the Clergy of England That they are no true Ministers as being sent by Men whereas St. Paul declares that he was not of men neither by men but by Jesus Christ Gal. 1. 1. Judge The Apostle may be consider'd either in respect of his First Calling which we commonly call Internal or Extraordinary Calling and so indeed St. Paul was not called of man nor by man but by Jesus Christ Acts 9. 4 5 6. Or in respect of his Second Calling that is External or Ordinary Calling and so St. Paul was called by man as much as any Minister in our Church was called by Man For 1. He had the Hands of Ananias put upon him to receive his Sight and to be fill'd with the Holy Ghost Acts 9. 17. 2. He was separated in the Church at Antioch by Fasting and Prayer 3. He was not to be believ'd till he had the Testimony of Barnabas as Letters of Orders or Commendation from the Church Acts 9. 27. 2 Cor. 3. 1. 'T is necessary that Extraordinary Ministers should have an extraordinury Assurance of their being sent of God Moses must work Miracles and Christ must work Miracles But Ordinary Ministers are to give but ordinary Assurance that they are ordain'd by the Church and that they preach nothing contrary to the Form of sound Words reveal'd in the Scripture Deut. 13. 1. Gal. 1. 7 8 9. 1 John 4. 1. Quak. Is this all the Evidence we must expect of the Truth of a Minister Judge This is as much as can be expected in Cases of this Nature Miracles are sometimes requir'd but never unless upon extraordinary Occasions And these Miracles our Dissenters can no more pretend to than the present Clergy of the Church of England and to reject all their Admonitions by enquiring into the Proof of their Authority or Christ's speaking in them was an old Wile of Christ's and St. Paul's Enemies which they do not resolve but pass by as if that were to be suppos'd not disputed Vid. Mark 11. 28. 2 Cor. 13. 3. Quak. But your Priests take too much upon them Why all these Robes Riches Tythes Oblations Why shou'd the Priests be so well provided for Every one of us is as holy as deserving as any of Them Judge It has ever been the Practice of Separatists to envy and misapply the Privileges of the Church Look into the Congregation of Korah not one of them thinks he but was at least as good as Moses and Aaron Methinks I hear 'em say How much do they take upon ' em How do they lift up themselves above the Congregation of the Lord Why all this Blue and Purple and Scarlet all this Linen Gold and Jewels for one Priest What a Plating and a Wyring and Cunning Work 's here Here 's a stir about Ephods Curious Girdles Breast-plates and Coats Cannot the Priest be well enough without these Linen Coats these Surplices Mitres and Bonnets What a Lording it do they keep with their curious Garments their costly Hems their intermix'd Bells and Pomegranates 'T is not enough for them to have Robes but they must have plated Gold too nay Plates of Gold are not enough neither but they must have Jewels enclos'd in them What Jewels Yes Rows of Jewels 1. A Ruby a Topaz a Carbuncle 2. An Emrald a Saphire a Diamond 3. A Lygure an Agate an Amethyst 4. A Beryl an Onyx a Jasper Here 's Pride upon Pride Here 's taking upon 'em to purpose What are these Priests more than we that they shou'd be thus robed we naked and ragged Gold Plated Gold Plates with Jewels Jewels in whole Rows Rows ingraven Ingravings of the most curious manner The Ingravings of a Signet We may well be poor whilst we must maintain all this Pride of Aaron and his Sons This is like to be a Soul-saving Priest that has as much in every Jewel as wou'd provide sufficiently for many of us If Judas shou'd be Judge he wou'd cry All this Waste at the annointing of Jesus And what did they against Aaron or Christ which you do not carry on against the Clergy of England And what do you object against the present Clergy that was not objected against Moses and Aaron Talk ye of the Pride of the Priests So did they Talk ye of taking too much upon them So did they Talk ye of the Priests being above you So did they Talk ye of the Holiness of your Congregations So did these abominable Conspirators Ah! Holiness If this be Holiness 't is Holiness to be abhorr'd Mouth-Holiness Heart-Hellish-Holiness If this be Holiness then be as plain as the conspiring Jews were against our Saviour Not this man but Barabbas Not Moses but Korah Not Aaron but Abiram Not Jesus but Judas Not God but the Devil Judge Well Gentlemen you have heard a long and fair Debate the Arguments and Proofs on both Parts for and against the Church with divers Objections against The Best Choice for Religion and Government Tell me Are you agreed upon your Verdict Jury All agreed Judge Is the Book Guilty or Not guilty Jury Not guilty my Lord. Judge Because I wou'd have no Mistake Do you find for Church or Conventicle Jury Unanimously for the Church against all Dissenters and all their Adherents Judge The Verdict's just and you have shew'd your selves Men of great Integrity in this Case Call the Heads of the Latitudinarians Presbyterians Independents Seekers and Quakers Have you any thing more to say why Sentence shou'd not pass upon you Young Couns My Lord we plead the Act of Parliament for Liberty of Conscience which we all interpret as a sufficient Authority to impower us to do what we please and may excuse if not justifie all our Proceedings Judge You do strangely abuse and misinterpret that Law it was design'd in favour of Tender Consciences but not to take away all Conscience I wish the Dissenters may all shew themselves those Good Men who truly deserve Favour Quak. We are a rich and thriving People we prosper whereever we go and this we offer as an Argument that Heaven favours us and that we justly expect Encouragements from Men. Judge Is God's permitting Men to be prosperous or to sin on with Impunity any good Reason of his approving them God permits what he abominates his own Dishonour How patiently did he permit the Disobedience of the First Adam And the Crucifixion of the Second All the Villanies in the World do come to pass by God's Permission however contrary they are to his Rules and Precepts If prosperous Impiety does therefore cease to