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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A78553	An apology for the ministers of the county of Wilts, in their actings at the election of Members for the approaching Parliament. In answer to a letter sent out of the said county, pretending to lay open the dangerous designes of the clergy, in reference to the approaching Parliament. Wherein is shewed, the notorious falshood of the said letter: how injurious it is to the gentlemen elected: and the dangerous designe of it against the ministry. By some of the defamed ministers of the Gospel in the same county. Humphrey Chambers, D.D. John Strickland. Adoniram Bifield. Peter Ince.	Chambers, Humphrey, 1598 or 9-1662.; Strickland, John, 1600 or 1601-1670.; Byfield, Adoniram, d. 1660.; Ince, Peter, b. 1614 or 1615.	1654 (1654)	Wing C1914; Thomason E808_9; ESTC R207523	21,209	31

AN APOLOGY FOR THE Ministers of the County of Wilts in their Actings at the election of Members for the approaching PARLIAMENT In Answer to a Letter sent out of the said County Pretending to lay open the dangerous Designes of the Clergy in reference to the approaching Parliament Wherein is shewed The notorious falshood of the said Letter How injurious it is to the Gentlemen elected and the dangerous designe of it against the Ministry By some of the Defamed Ministers of the Gospel in the same County Humphrey Chambers D.D. John Strickland Adoniram Bifield Peter Ince Neh. 6.8 Then I sent unto him saying There are no such things done as thou sayest but thou feignest them out of thy own heart 1 Cor. 4.5 Therefore judge nothing before the time untill the Lord come who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will manifest the counsels of the hearts and then shall every man have praise of God London Printed for Ralph Smith at the Bible in Cornhill neer the Royall Exchange 1654. An Apology for the Ministers of the County of Wilts in their actings at the Election of Members for the Approaching Parliament ALthough Christians in generall especially the Ministers of the Gospel must look and prepare for reproaches in this life and may weare them as a crown of Glory when they are unjustly cast upon them yet the Apostle Pauls often endeavours to quit himselfe from sleightings and slanders that his Ministry might not be blamed or blemished through him seems to us a sufficient warrant for any Christians or Ministers to seek to remove such slanderous imputations as being openly and falsly raised against them tend to the dishonour of Christianity or Ministry or both especially when the Actors in this injury are high pretenders to an extraordinary pitch of holinesse religion and piety whose words may therefore plead for credit where they come This is an Apology for appearing in print at this time in Answer to a Letter lately printed and published sent out of Wiltshire to a Gentleman in London pretending to lay open the dangerous designes of the Clergy in reference to the approaching Parliament This Letter pretended to be written to a friend in London was intended and calculated as we see by the hasty printing and publishing of it generally for all England publiquely to calumniate the Clergy and Gentlemen chosen to serve in the next Parliament for the County of Wilts and to prepare contempt and scorn for them in the hearts of all men so far as the credit or cunning of the Compiler of this Letter could possibly prevaile for that end yet it is said to be written by a true friend to the publique interest and all peaceable men to which we have not much to say though the spirit of this Letter seem not to subscribe the testimony which the writer thereof bears to himselfe But our main businesse is with the Letter it selfe the dangerous designe whereof is manifest viz. to render the Clergy as he cals them despicable in the eyes of the people which wil more fully appeare in the Answer to the Letter it selfe In which the Authour pretends to answer the expectation of the Gentleman to whom he writes in giving a true account of passages relating to the choosing of Members to sit in Parliament for the County of Wilts but how much he hath disappointed the expectation of his friend wil appeare to the impartial Reader when we shal have discovered the falsness both of his Narrative and Invective It seems this man was very angry and therefore quarrels with all that stand in his way and some are apt to think it was because himselfe was not chosen at least because his friends were passed by and if this be true the ingenuity of the Noble Theban that went home rejoycing that there were so many men fitter then himselfe to serve the publike would have saved him all this labour We wil not so far prejudice that Noble Gentleman whom the Author of this Letter hath sufficiently described and unworthily traduced and whom by way of honour we shal name Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper as to make any Answer to what is in this Letter charged upon him he needs no Advocate in what he did acting as we are confidently assured with a publique spirit and desirous to doe his Countrey reall service Nor wil we so far lessen the esteem of those Gentlemen chosen in our Country to serve in the next Parliament as to undertake their defence against that reproach which is boldly and generally cast upon them in this Letter aetatem habent We are much assured having particular knowledge of the Religious integrity and eminent faithfulnesse of many of them that they have no way deserved that black calumny he seeketh to fasten upon them as unworthy time-serving men and such as never did the State any service Si accusasse sufficiat quis erit Innocens Neither doe we know why this single accuser should think so highly of htmself as to expect that he should bear down with the weight and warrant of his own Letter the reputation of those Gentlemen whom their Countrey hath honoured and in assurance of their fidelity entrusted with whatsoever is dear unto them in this world But since the Pen-man of this Letter whether upon his own account or with advice of others we know not is pleased to vent the heat of his indignation against the Clergie as he is pleased to stile them and to set some of us by name as ringleaders of the faction in the front of those Ministers of the Gospel in this Countrey whom in his Rhetorick he cals a Scottish faction Politique state Parsons a time-serving generation self-seeking Parsons the corrupt Clergy Rigid foolish men a corrupt self-seeking generation of men and to bend all his forces against us and them as carrying on some dangerous designe in our activity about this election of Members to the Parliament concerning which he makes such a horrible outcry We conceive our selves bound in duty towards God and for the upholding of the credit of our Ministery so much reproached by him to examine the Bil of high complaints laid in against us The accusation in which we with the rest of the brethren of the Association are charged in this Letter is either by way of Narrative or Invective and we shal answer unto both By way of Narrative it is affirmed for truth first That the Ringleaders of this faction were Dr. Chambers Mr. Byfield Strickland these with the rest of the brethren of their Association gathered together a great number of people and taught them their lesson beforehand To which we answer First see how this man stumbles at the threshold the truth is the first of those mentioned in the Catalogue his acting in the businesse except upon the day of election was next to doing nothing in it which we mention not because any of us know any cause why we or any other should be either

sorry or ashamed of being more active therein but the truth is upon a pressing occasion he was out of this Countrey for above a fortnight together and came not to his own house till the night before the election and not to Wilton till a great part of the company were gone unto the Hil on the day and at the time of the Election and so it fell out by providence that he had not opportunity to gather together a great number of people much lesse to teach them their lessons before hand By this the Reader may see how little truth is to be expected in the rest when there is so grosse an untruth in the beginning And we see evidently that the writer of this Letter watcheth for our halting and beareth us so much good wil as to take us up before we be down Secondly suppose it had been true of all the three Ring-leaders mentioned with the rest of their brethren as it is more particularly charged upon one of them who hath learned though he be by name reviled with the title of Scribe and Pharisee yet not to revile again but to commit himselfe to him who judgeth righteously that they were active and exceedingly bestirred themselves in that election busly intermedling with more then ordinary diligence and activity What is their crime how can they be truly charged as offenders and over busie intermedlers in that which concerns them not who are members of the same Commonwealth with others and therefore are as much concerned in the welfare thereof as any others In the peace thereof we shall have peace But it may be the crime is our more then ordinary diligence and activity To which we answer what we have now done is there not a cause Surely more then ordinary diligence and activity is very justifiable when the case is more then ordinary Can we expect to see another Parliament in which the Interest of all that is or should be deare unto us in this world as Christians and as Englishmen can be more concerned then in this present Parliament Nay are there not a generation of men amongst us who are acted by such principles as do manifestly tend to the subverting of Law destruction of Propriety and the utter extinguishing of the Ministry of the Gospel and shall we sit stil Another Charge is That we with the rest of our brethren of the Association taught the people gathered together by us their lesson beforehand to cry up onely those ten men named in our List To this we answer That there was a List given out of ten names we shal not deny neither do we know any just exception to be made against it we are confident the compiler of this Letter would have found no hurt at all in it if that List which he abetted and which many were brought violently to abet had been owned by us and followed by the Countrey in their election so as that the fault was this that we did not teach them to cry up their List but we demand any shadow or proof of this that we taught the people to cry up onely those ten men mentioned in that List which he cals ours which yet t was no more ours then those Gentlemen of the Countrey who were also concerned in it with our selves Nay we doe with much confidence affirm that it was often expressed to severall men that men were left to their free liberty if they were not satisfied in any of the ten to put in any other fit person or persons in their room and accordingly some did take that liberty Neither did we ever perswade any person to adhere to any of the ten further then upon the general account of their fitnesse to do their Countrey faithfull service and that was in truth the depth of our design that such men and such onely might be chosen Another charge is That we did teach the people to brand others as namely Lieut. Gen. Ludlow Col. Eyres c. who were nominated by approved faithfull men in the Countrey with the names of Anabaptists Levellers to render them odious to the generality of the judicious people by these false and malicious imputations Ans We do again demand proof of this charge that any of us did ever teach any one to brand Lieut Gen. Ludlow Col. Eyres c. with the names of Anabaptists Levellers we doe with confidence affirme that as we did not our selves so neither did we heare any other to put them into this dresse till we found them so clothed in the Letter But suppose that some did use those expressions will it follow that they were taught by us so to doe we thinke the leaders of their party would not take it well if we should charge upon them all those reproachful scornful and reviling speeches uttered by very many of their followers upon the place against such who might have expected better language from them We expected upon the mention of two in their List the Author would have given us the names of all the rest in my List and not have left us to spell out the meaning of an c. and to defend our selves from branding with reproachful names we know not who It were no difficult work we think to finde out the rest of the names in that List but since the Author of that Letter is pleased to conceal them we will not further provoke him by the mention of them It is true that List was commonly called by the company upon the place the Anabaptists List because the number in that List did either consist of such or some of the most notedst sticklers for it went under that denomination and so it wil not be strange that there should be frequent mention of the name Anabaptist yet we doe again deny that we did brand any of them with those names Anabaptists Levellers or taught others so to doe And thus the ground-work fails him surely then those other words to render them odious to the generality of the judicious people by those false and malicious imputations must needs be left to stand alone and signifie nothing onely because the words may be of good use if they be rightly applied we shal borrow them and retort them with much more clearness of truth The Authour in this Letter hath branded the faithfull Ministers of the Gospel not onely in this Countrey but throughout the Nation with the titles of a corrupt Clergie a corrupt self-seeking generation of men and divers such like reproachfull terms to render them odious to the generality of the judicious people by those false and malicious imputations Another charge at least insinuated against us is That some hundreds gave their voyces who were either Cavaliers or else of inconsiderable estates not worth 100 li. and therefore uncapable of choosing by the modle of the established government Although the words may be as wel applied to those that voted for his List and with as much truth as to the other side yet

spoken of and to stinke in the nostrils of people who doe but deride them as a company of vain busie-bodies Who would have expected after all this dirt cast upon us by the Author to have found in him so deep a sense of the reproaches cast upon the Ministry of Christ but alas a few good words in the close will not be sufficient to wash off the guilt of all his former reproachings and revilings how much himself doth stand in need of the benefit of this prayer will appear to the judicious reader if we do make a very little alteration in it God forgive this man for causing as much as in him is the Ministry of Christ to be evil spoken of and to stinke in the nostrils of the people by his deriding of them as a company of vaine busie-bodies for their doing of that which no law of God or man doth forbid unto them And we would desire the Author of this Letter to examine his own conscience in secret upon this Interrogatory how tender soever he seemes to be of the reputation of the Ministry that he would not have it to stink in the nostrils of the people whether that which troubles him at the very heart be not because he sees us and other poor servants of Jesus Christ notwithstanding all open and secret counter workings still to retaine a high place both as to our persons and Ministery in the love and esteem of multitudes who truly feare the Lord however it will sound in his cares we shall take the boldnesse in all humility and thankefulness to our good God for his abundant kindnesse towards his unworthy servants to assure him that the despised Ministry and Ministers of the Gospel in this Nation even at this day doe finds blessed b● the Lord much love in the hearts of very many who walk humbly and closely with the Lord their God nor doe these servants of God discover any more eminent effect of the hard speeches which are in word and Print uttered against them by bitter men of several spirits and interests then the blowing up of the affections of many of Gods people to a stronger flame of love towards them and their Ministry which therefore we hope the Lord will teach and strengthen his weake servants with greater faithfulnesse to fulfil to his own glory the stopping of the mouthes of their enraged adversaries and the good of the poor of his flock who wait on him We are glad to hear that the Author of this Letter bethinks himself at last of the Christian weapons of Faith Hope Patience Prayers and Teares it was our hard lot to fall into his h●nds whilest he was making use of other more sharpe weapons Psal 57. v. 4. yet if he and those of his party of whom he speaketh be in good earnest to stand to those spiritual weapons only for the time to come we shall desire to make use of no other and if we fight on both sides with these Armes there may at last be hope that we may be brought together into the bond of truth and Christian love to serve our God with one consent according to his blessed word All the revenge we will take of our accuser for his injurious dealing with us shall be to joyne him with our selves in our prayers to the Lord though possibly he may scorne the motion as not thinking that we have any acquaintance with God that he would deliver both him and us from every evil worke and keep us to his heavenly Kingdome to whom be glory for ever Amen FINIS Books newly printed by Ralph Smith viz. Mr. Dicksons Exposition on the whole Book of the Psalms in three Books The Christian Charter shewing the priviledge of Believers in this life and in the life to come by Mr. Watson Minister of Stephen Walbroke the third Edition much enlarged Also Mr. Watsons Art of Divine contentment the second Edition Mr. Hutchinsons Exposition on the six small Prophets viz. Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk and Zephaniah Mr. Hutchinsons Exposition on the three last Prophets viz. Haggai Zechariah Malachi An Exposition on the whole book of Ecclesiastes by that late learned and pious Divine Mr. John Cotton Pastor of Bostock in New England A Sermon of Mr. Simon Ash at the funerall of Mr. Jeremiah Whitaker Together with a Narrative of his pious life The second Edition many other Poems and Elegies added