Apostles taught and is Recorded in the Scriptures of Truth but for the Revelation of that which they Taught and is therein Recorded Wherefore as the Apostle says There are diversities of Gifts but the same Spirit and there are differences of Administrations but the same Lord and there are diversities of Operations but it is the same God which worketh all in all But the Manifestation of the Spirit is given to every Man to profit withal 1 Cor. 12. 4 5 6 7. So say we viz. That there is a Measure of the same Spirit in us which was in the Holy Prophets and Apostles so that 't is not an Equality of any Writings with theirs but a Measure of the same Spirit of Revelation which they had that we Contend for Rel. p. 3. For the nature of the Blasphemy we Charge them with should be so Plain and Obvious that every Christian shall be able to Understand it to be so upon the Reading it to them Animad If the Nature of the Blasphemy be so Plain and Obvious as these Men pretend why did they Refuse at the Conference to give us a Particular Account of it For their Charging us with Blasphemy of so Plain a Nature and yet Denying us a Copy after so many Demands gives us just Cause to Suspect they are Conscious of the Invalidity of their Proofs and therefore of the Charge it self but that Envy link'd with Interest Prompts them to Calumniate Loudly that Some might be Frighted from Coming near us and Others Irritated to Hate Malign and Persecute us Rel. p. 3. But should we tell them the Names of our Books Page and Line before-hand we had deserv'd rather to be laghed at as Fools than looked on as Disputants for this would be to send them our Arguments before the Disputation Animad Here they make a Poor Excuse for Denying our Just Demands and then give as Weak a Reason for it But has the Hiding the Names of their Books Page and Line from us Secured their Reputation among Men of Wisdom Or only got them the blind Applauses of the Ignorant We know that Justice and True Wisdom are Inseparable and therefore seeing they have Positively Refused us Justice their Ambition of being accounted Disputants when they themselves know 't was no Disputation as it cannot Cover them from the Imputation of Folly so can it not Acquit them of the Guilt of Injustice Did ever Men Apologize to less Advantage than these have done We never desired their Arguments but their Quotations that we might know where to find the Blasphemies if any Such there were in our Friends Books and make Preparation for our Answer And ye there they talk of their Arguments as though we Solicited for them before hand For we told them they might Reserve their Arguments till they Needed them and yet might Reasonably Give us the Quotations they Pretended to Argue upon That they had a great Mind to be looked on as Disputants and were willing to seem furnished with Arguments to prove their Charge we do not Deny if Clamourous Harangues and Tricking Attempts be any Evidence of it For they would Fain have Drawn us into this Snare namely To have Condemned our Friends of Blasphemy before we had Examined what that was which they Called so Which Vain Effort whether it Proclaims their Folly or Speaks their Honesty and Fairness in Arguing the Impartial Reader though but of a Common Capacity may easily Determine Priest Archer of Milden-Hall confessed indeed that the Quakers of this Generation were Orthodox and the Confession of an Adversary is very considerable But he would have had us Condemn our Friends Books before we either Heard or Saw or Knew that there was any Blasphemy in them But we conceive it would have been as unjust in us to have Condemned the Evidence before we Heard them as it was and is in our Enemies to Conceal them from us Rel. p. 4. We told them the Evidence we should bring was not from Ours but from their Own Books and it was not fit we should tell them the Names of our Witnesses before hand that they might have time to tamper with them and make them speak what they never intended Animad It Looks as if these Men were somewhat Confused for in p. 3. they say Our Books Page and Line here forgetting what they Said but six Lines before they say Not from Ours but from their Own Books Again how Loosely and Idly do they Discourse in the latter Part of this Paragraph about our Tampering with their Witnesses Was it possible for us to Tamper as they Phrase it with them viz. Printed Books which were in their own Hands and in the Hands of many Others Or could we make them Speak otherwise than they do Surely the Weakness of this Argument as well as the Disparity between Books and Men shews little Wisdom in these Learned Rectors and rather bespeaks their Shortness than their Sharpness Rel. p 4. When a Time of Disputation with an Adversary is set and I have sent him the Questions to be Disputed on was it ever expected that I should before the Time send him all my Proofs The Question you know betwixt us is whether they are Blasphemers or no Animad Here is another Blunder hardly tolerable in any but in such Disputants Sometimes 't is I sometimes 't is We or Vs Singular and Plural One and More as their Fancy leads them But leaving this Confused Variation of Numbers let us Attend to what they say next The Question say they you know betwixt us is whether they are Blasphemers or no This is another Effluvium from a cloudy Intellect They never till now put it in the Form of a Qustion whether we were Blasphemers or no But Charg'd us with Express and Down-right Blasphemy Therefore they are gone from their former Mode of Expression and have brought it now to Terms of a Disputable Nature Rel. p. 4. Presently they cry'd out We Reproach the Parliament who have owned them to be Dissenting Protestants whilst we would prove them to be Blasphemers and indeed they did strut exceedingly for the Honour the Parliametn hath done them to Recognize them as Protestants as if under the Protection of the Act of Parliament they might Blaspheme cum Privilegio and no Body must be so bold as to ask them Why do you so Animad We Received not our Religion of Man nor were we Taught it after a Traditional Manner but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ whom the Lord God hath laid in Zion for a sure Foundation Isa 28. 16. Even the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Eph. 2. 20. and of all the Righteous in every Generation And He that is our Foundation the same is our Defence and Protection For he is our King the Lord God Omnipotent and the Head of the true Church which is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ 1 Thess 1. 1. and against which the Gates of Hell shall never be able
to prevail Mat. 16. 18. As we Received not our Religion from Man so Man cannot Continue it to us nor Take it from us Yet we did and do Gratefully Acknowledge the Favour of the Government and do Desire to Bless Almighty God for it by whom Kings reign and Princes decree Justice Prov. 8. 15. And so far were we from Abusing this Favour that we Commended the Reason they Assigned for it namely The Vniting of the King's Protestant Subjects in Interest and Affection and Earnestly Pressed the Prosecution of it For we Heartily Desire the Well-fare of our Country and Actually Endeavour it according to what we have Received wheresoever our Lot is Providentially Cast But it never was in our Hearts to conceive that we had thereby a Priviledge to Blaspheme God or Contemn Authority though these Priests have Misrepresented us both to our Neighbours and the Nation to be Persons that Blaspheme under the Protection of an Act of Parliament O Unchristian Practice Are these the Teachers of the People Are these Ministers of Christ If the Tree is to be known by its Fruit their Works do apparently Discover that they are not As to the Demeaning our Selves under the Government We Hope We have had our Conversation Honest in the Sight of all Men and have led quiet and peaceable Lives in all Godliness and Honesty Not only Doing unto others what we would have them Do unto us but we have Patiently Born many Injuries and Undergone great Sufferings for Truth and Righteousness sake And in this Temper and Evenness of Spirit have we been Preserved by the Power of our God under All and through All our Exercises to this very Day And we have not only a Testimony in our Selves but many Witnesses without us how contrary to that Strutting Carriage our Adversaries falsly Speak of we Behaved our selves at this Conference Rel. p. 4. They told us we are going about most uncharitably to Damn them all Animad And so they were but that neither was nor is in their Power to do Thanks be to God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ They have indeed Invaded the Regal Power of Christ and Taken upon them to Bind and Loose as though they were the Successors of Peter but wherein do they truly Succeed him Is it not rather in Denying of his Master than in Owning of him For they neither Follow him in Faith Doctrine Humility Patience nor in any other Characters of that Penitent and Self-denying Apostle and Minister of Christ Rel. p. 4. We told them they may Repent of their Blasphemies and be saved For Paul was once one of their Companions in Blaspheming the Name of Jesus Christ Animad We replied That ever since we have been a People Gathered by the Power and Spirit of God we have sincerely Believed and do still Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the holy Scriptures do Declare of him and do not only plainly Say but also firmly Believe That there is no other Name given under Heaven whereby Man can be saved neither is there Salvation in any other Name And this we hope is no Blasphemy Whereas they say Paul was once One of our Companions in Blaspheming the Name of Jesus Christ We Absolutely Deny that ever we Blasphemed that Sacred Name whereby we are called and which we Put our whole Trust and Confidence in and Prefer above every other Name And if they mean by Paul the Apostle Paul they have shewn great Ignorance in not Distinguishing between Saul the Pharisee and Paul the Apostle While he went under the First Denomination he was a Blasphemer and not under the Second For waving the Conjectures of others about his having two Names at his Circumcision Saul a Jewish and Paul a Roman Name We never Read in all the Holy Scriptures that he was called Paul till after his Conversion see Acts 13. 9. where 't is said He was filled with the Holy Ghost and then surely no Blasphemer So that their Simile though Designed to our Reproach Tends greatly to our Honour Paul the Apostle is our Companion in the Faith and Patience of Jesus Christ but not Saul the Persecutor and Blasphemer Rel. p. 5. They told us Blasphemy against God was the Sin against the Holy Ghost because the Holy Ghost was God We told them we were Sorry it was so for their sakes but for their Comfort we hope for to make it Appear it was not that Unpardonable Sin So from the 12th of St. Matthew we explained to them the Nature of that Sin and so Stop'd their Mouths Animad They hoped to make it Appear That Blasphemy against God was not that Vnpardonable Sin mentioned in the 12th of Matthew but have not done it neither have they Defined that unpardonable Sin or Proved that Blasphemy against God is not Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost If they had explained to us the Nature of that Sin they should first have given the Etymology and Proper Signification of the word Blasphemy for how should the People Understand what Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is before they are Informed what Blasphemy it self Signifieth So that not Acquainting the People with the proper Sense of the Word they were Barbarians to the Major Part of the Auditory and fill'd their Ears only with Frightful and Unintelligible Sounds 'T will therefore be Convenient since these Learned Rectors have not done it to Explain the word Blasphemy and make it Obvious to the Capacity and Understanding of the People The Word then is of Greek Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Blasphemy often rendered so by our Translators Lexicographers generally Derive it from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to Calumniate Speak Evil or Reproach the good Name of another And this according to Beza in his Notes upon Mat. 9. 3. is the common Acceptation of it among the more Elegant Greek Writers Blasphemy then in True and Proper English is Evil Speaking and so 't is Translated Eph. 4. 31. Let all Bitterness and Wrath and Anger and Clamour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Evil-speaking be put away from you with all Malice And having given the genuine Sense of the Word we will in the next Place for the Benefit both of Priests and People Acquaint them with what their own Church says of Evil-speaking against the Holy Ghost They may find it in Anthony Sparrow's Collection of Articles c. p. 44. and it is this Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is when a Man of Malice and Stubbornness of Mind doth rail upon the Truth of God's Word manifestly perceived and being Enemy thereto Persecuteth the same 'T is the 17th of the Articles agreed upon by the Bishops and others in the Convocation at London in the Year 1552. and Published by the Authority of King Edward VI. in the Year 1553. We do not say That we Agree to this Definition but it being the Account their Convocation gives of it we conceive the Priests should either Own it or Reject that Article
made in the Year 1562. by another Convocation which declares The Church hath Authority in Controversies of Faith If they will own it then whether the Sin against God be the Sin against the Holy Ghost or no We do not see how they can Quit themselves of the Blasphemy the Article speaks of For do they not of Malice Rail upon the Truth of God's Word manifestly perceived and as Enemies thereunto Persecute the same in Charging so many Blasphemies upon the Light within as taught by the Quakers For the Light within is Christ and Christ is the Truth of God's Word The Way the Truth and the Life John 14. 6. The Word that was in the beginning with God and was God Chap. 1. 1. The Sum and Substance of the Gospel and that which the Holy Scriptures give Testimony of and we Believe and Teach But whether the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost be Unpardonable we shall not Determine A great Doctor of their own Communion was of the Opinion it was not see Hammond's Annot. upon Mat. 12. If they Print again we intreat them to be Plain and Open and not Talk great Words in the Dark to Endeavour to Fright People and to Exasperate them against us without any just Cause or Provocation Rel. p. 5. And now we began to Charge them with Blasphemy against God Animad Whom did they begin to Charge Not the Quakers of this present Generation for they were then acknowledged Orthodox and yet at first all were by them Charged to be Blasphemers see their Contradiction Rel. p. 5. And as soon as we began to prosecute our Charge one gets upon a Form and Bawls aloud to the People c. Animad It 's true one got up on a Form and made a Solemn Confession of Faith in Scripture-Terms yet did not Bawl but in words of Sobriety Declared to this Effect We Believe in God the Father Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth and in Jesus Christ his only Begotten Son our Lord and Saviour who was Born of the Virgin Mary whom the Holy Ghost overshadowed who appeared in the World in that Body prepared for him who died for our Sins and rose again for our Justification And we Believe in the Holy Spirit and own the Three that bear Record in Heaven and that these Three are One. We Own the Holy Scriptures of Truth and Believe they were given forth by Divine Inspiration and that they are profitable for Doctrine for Reproof for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness and are able to make the Man of God wise to Salvation through Faith which is in Christ Jesus And We Esteem the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the best Book in all the World and could be glad that People did spend more of their time in Reading of them And the Ordinances of Jesus Christ his Baptism and Supper according to the Holy Scriptures and that we neither Preach Teach nor Believe in any other Light than the Life of that Word which was in the beginning with God and was God And therefore this Light as taught by us could not expose us to Error or Blasphemy And we own Magistracy to be the Ordinance of God for the Punishment of Evil-doers and Praise of them that do well Rel. p. 5. This Disorder hindred us from Prosecuting our design to any Purpose tho' we permitted every one of them from London or from Rome if they pleased to have free Liberty to Dispute if they will do it fairly without Noise or Clamour Animad Whatever their Design was it seems they did not Prosecute it to any Purpose But what an unjust and unkind Insinuation is this from London or Rome As tho' we had Romish Emissaries among us who Blessed be our God do equally Renounce all the Corrupt Doctrines Anti-Christian Spirit Lord-like Power and Grandeur Idolatrous Worship Superstitious Ceremonies and Wicked Practices both of Pope and all Others who Persecute for Religion and Conscience towards God it being Romish And this we Testifie and Declare that Whoever they are that promote Persecution upon any Pretence whatsoever they are Friends to Rome and not to England being Profest Enemies to Christian Liberty and Property and Publick Disturbers of the Peace of their Native Country Rel. p. 5. And whereas we brought a great Number of the Quakers Books both Old and New and all of them of their most Celebrated Authors they cried no Books no Arguments which occasioned great Laughter and Shouting among the People Animad Who said so We would willingly have discoursed upon Books Regularly but when we demanded a Copy of their Charge which was but Justice then the Managers of the Conference who should have been Examples to the People of Gravity and Soberness did turn it off to Laughter and Shouting with a Company of vain Persons there present to Joyn them therein Rel. p. 6. And ever and anon they would have been Charging us Insolently urging us to prove our selves Christians Animad They gave us great Occasion to Question their Christianity by reason of their frequent Hissing and Hollowing which made us take Notice of it to the Auditory that they might Observe what Fruits some of them brought forth Rel. p. 6. And by and By we must prove our selves Ministers of Christ which was answered Animad We do not remember that any of them did but if they did Why did not they Insert it here that we might have seen it They gave the Occasion by their frequent Examining our Friends whereupon One of them said If they would prove themselves Ministers of Christ he would be Chatechized by them but they Declined the Proof of that and when one in the Pulpit made an Essay towards it they discountenanced him saying He was a Young Man and not concerned with them in this Affair or to that Effect yet we Acknowledge he Behaved himself more gravely then most of them Rel. p. 6. And it was a Cunning Design of theirs to divert us from our Charge so much dreaded by them Animad It rather seems they were upon Cunning Designs and afraid to give their Charge than that we were affraid to take it For we offered to pay for the Writing if we might have had it and once we had a promise from Dr. Beckham but were afterward denied by Rector Meriton Now being thus imposed upon and denied just Measures we told the Auditory that seeing these Persons had refused us Justice we Appealed to the Lord of Heaven and Earth the Judge of All and in His Name and Fear we made our Confession of Faith in Opposition to their Charges and then some of them Laughed Hissed and Hollowed and one of them called for the Stocks and a Watch-man came near the Scaffold which we were upon and held up his Bill at us And they appearing with such seeming Threatning and Violence and we could not be heard some of our Friends took Occasion to disperse certain Books called The Christianity of the People called Quakers
Cowardise and Insincerity for ever Now whether the Three Persons above named who did so publickly Espouse F. B's Charge and Challenge be not Included in the We Express'd in the above Recited Challenge Let their following Actions demonstrate For upon the 28th Day of the Month called August last L. Park wrote a Letter to S. Cater a Minister among the Quakers with the said Printed Challenge inclosed acquainting him the said S. Cater That he the said L. Park and F. Bugg and Four more Six in all would make good the Charge therein contained and that they had agreed upon Time and Place viz. The Third of October next says he if you will meet us with the same Number at Ten of the Clock in the Forenoon of that Day in Dereham Church or if that place Offend you at any other place within the said Parish of West-Dereham and you are desired to resolve us in 14 days time that we may relie upon it And further to shew the Industry and Officiousness of the Three Priests before named to Push on the said Challenge and to Urge our Acceptance thereof to come forth on the Third of October next after The following Certificates may fully Evince This is to Certifie That on or about the 28th Day of the Month called August 1698. John Meriton and Lau. Park came with F. Bugg accompanied with several of the Inhabitants of West-Dereham to the House of William Phillips Tho. Becket's Wife being there and did leave a Printed Challenge with F. Bugg's Name thereto against the People call'd Quakers and soon after upon the same day Samuel Chicko one of the Inhabitants of West-Dereham aforesaid brought a Paper in Writing to the said Thomas Becket's Wife wherein was Proposed a Meeting to be upon the Third of October next following in West-Dereham Church and that there would be Six of them and would allow us the like Number to Debate the Matters contained in the said Printed Challenge Witness our Hands William Phillips Mary Becket This is to Certifie That upon or about the 30th Day of the Month called August 1698. Hen. Meriton and John Meriton came with F. Bugg to the House of John Hubbard in Stoak in Norfolk and there did urge again the said Matter of a Publick Meeting in the Presence of John Hubbard Daniel Phillips Edward Plumstid And the same day the Priests Hen. Meriton and John Meriton with F. Bugg went to the Crown Inn in the said Town of Stoak and one or more of them would have had the Inn-keeper Post up the said Printed Challenge upon the Sign-Post or any other Place which the said Inn-keeper refused to do This he affirmed in our presence John Gurney Joseph Hadduk Gilbert Lowe By all which it manifestly appears that they were the Aggressors and first Challengers and not We For first here is a Printed Challenge and altho' it has only F. Bugg's name to it yet it 's in the Plural Number We and in the most daring and insulting Terms as could well be exprest Now this We could not mean F. Bugg alone but some Others in Conjunction with him and who is it most rational to suppose those to be But the aforesaid Priests that accompanied him as the fore going Certificates set forth Secondly L. Park 's Letter to S. Cater afore recited telling him that he and F. Bugg with Four more Six in all would meet a like Number of the Quakers to make good the Charge contained in the Printed Challenge acquainting him with Time and Place and requiring a Positive Answer in Fourteen Days Thirdly F. Bugg L. Park and J. Meriton uring the same at West-Dereham and F. Bugg's Writing a Paper to Good-Wife Becket as he calls her saying If the Teachers amongst the Quakers would not come forth then they that were well-meaning amongst them might see it and leave them c. Fourthly H. Meriton and J. Meriton going to Stoak with F. Bugg and there again Urging the aforesaid Challenge Fifthly Their Going together to an Inn in Stoak and pressing the Inn-keeper to post the Printed Challenge against us All which Passages were before we wrote our first Letter to them dated the 7th of the 7th Month 1698. Wherefore let all Sober and Moderare Persons Judge who were the first Challengers and whether we could do any less than Appear and Defend Our selves from their false Charges considering how they dared us to come forth c. and Charged us with Fearfulness and Surprise if we did not and said Let it be a Monument of your Cowardise and Insincerity for ever Copies of several Letters that passed between the Priests and some of the People called Quakers The Priests with their Assistant Francis Bugg having first Challenged Us as is manifest by the foregoing Certificates we could not but think our selves obliged to Appear in the Defence of God's most Holy and Blessed Truth and thereupon sent them the following Letter The 7th of the 7th Month 98. which they falsly stile The Quakers Challenge IT is Prudence in Wise Men to Hear and Weigh a Defence as well as a Charge Francis Bugg has Charged the People called Quakers in Print and has been Answered to those several Charges several Times Some of the Answers wrote in the Defence of the said People are Entituled A Charitable Essay A Just Enquiry Innocency Triumphant and The Counterfeit Convert a Scandal to Christianity Which are those which at present occur to our Memory And when you have read over these Answers if you will give it under your Hands that those Answers are Defective Or if you think you have Matter to Charge us withal let us have your Charge under your own Hands and appoint Time and Place Convenient and we or some others of us God willing will meet you as Publickly as you Please But we reject Francis Bugg's Charge as being already Sufficiently Answered several Times over as also him to be one of the Persons concerned against us in Disputation because of his Unreasonableness We cannot suppose you so void of Common Sense as to look upon it suitable to a Right Management of Controversie to Answer an Opposer several times over in One and the Same Thing or Things And be it known to you all this is not through any Consciousness to our selves of holding any Errors but if you think it is you may if you Please try the utmost of your Skill and Strength and see what you can Get by it But pray leave off Boasting until you have obtained Victory Remember the Answer that was given to Ben-hadad 1 Kings 20. 11. You may make up a Quaker according to your own Dress to Please your Fancies but Counterfeits will not pass with us for True Coin Therefore to Conclude at Present as we said before we are Free or some Others of us to Meet with you or any of you all Francis Bugg only Excepted for the Reasons aforesaid to take your Charge and stand a Publick Tryal desiring only the Common Priviledges to
of your Terms Yet they proceeded according to what they wrote in their Letter dated the 16th of November in these words Pray trouble us no more with your Letters for our Measures are fix'd and you may chuse whether you will meet us upon the Terms resolved upon or no. Rel. p. 1. And our Charge according to their desire sent to them as appears by our first Letter Animad They sent us a Charge indeed but not according to our Desire for we Desired a Particular of the Blasphemies they Charged us with together with the Authors Names Titles of the Books and Pages as may be seen by the Three last of our Letters But this they constantly Denied us In our first Letter we were not so express as we were afterwards when we saw in what General Terms they Charged us but we Thought it had been enough to let them know our Freedom to take their Charge and stand a Publick Trial desiring only the Common Priviledges to such Occasions belonging Now what are these Common Priviledges but a Particular of their Charge with Author Title Book and Page considering they told us in their Letter dated the 3 d. of November 1698. We intend to Charge you with Blasphemy out of your own Books Rel. p. 1. And on the day appointed viz. December the 8th 1698. the Quakers and We met in West-Dereham-Church in the County aforesaid and took our Places before prepared We first read the Service of the Day near the Beginning of which they coming in staid it out not to joyn in the Duty but rather to affront it carrying themselves Irreverently all the Time Animad 'T is true We met them on the 8th of the 10th Month 1698. in West-Dereham Steeple-House but We neither appointed the Day nor the Place nor agreed to their Terms for we looked upon their Terms as Unreasonable And therefore our Appearing there was not to joyn Issue with them and to Answer their pretended Charge but to demand at this Meeting what we had so often in our Letters Insisted upon before and they had Refused us namely a Copy of their Charge and to acquaint the People whom the Priests had Misinformed that we were not the first Challengers Our coming in while they were at their Service was by the Direction of their Warden and a Watch-man sent as we Suppose for that Purpose And when we were come in tho' we did not joyn with them yet we offered no Affront nor carried our selves Irreverently unless a Silent and Serious Deportment all the Time of their Service may bring us under that Imputation Rel. p. 1. As soon as our Service was ended one of their Speakers began to Pray whereupon all of them immediatly pulled off their Hats and carried themselves as at a Religious Worship Animad We hope that was no Offence and if they could say in Truth they were for that Time Sober and Quiet as we were during their Service as they rightly call it we think it would have been more to their Reputation than to Cry out A Conventicle a Conventicle a Thing strange to hear of in a Steeple-House while our Friend was on his knees Praying to Almighty God as if there was a Law against Praying to Him which we know nothing of and besides it 's Allowed by their Liturgy Rel. p. 1. We insisted that they were our Challengers and repeated to them their own Letter of Challenge They told us they were provoked by certain Carriages of ours to write that Letter Animad True it is we did and do deny that we were the Aggressors and first Challengers and we Proffered several Testimonies to Clear up that Matter but being then Obstructed by our Adversaries We have now Printed them and leave the Judgment and Decision thereof to the Impartial Rel. p. 1 2. And after many long Harangues of several of their Speakers they desired that all the Letters which passed between us might be read to the Auditory not as if they could get any Advantage by reading them but as appeared to us afterwards meerly to divert us an Hour or more from prosecuting our Charge Animad It was very reasonable the Letters should be read that the People might understand First that they were the first Challengers and Chargers which they now grant by Complaining they were Diverted from prosecuting their Charge Secondly That we had several Times Requested the Authors Names the Titles and Pages of the Books out of which they did intend to Charge us that we might have been duly Prepared to Meet them and Give proper Answers to their several Charges For there is a common Justice due to every Man that he should have the Liberty to Explain his own Words and if the Author was Dead or could not be there that his Meaning by other Words or Sentences relating to the same Subject might be Explained and if they could not then it was Time enough to Disown those Words and Sentences but not without due Examination for otherwise we should be Unjust to our Friends and Injurious to our Selves Rel. p. 2. We answered we had Law and Equity against such an Unreasonable Demand We told them the Law was their own 't was from Edward Burroughs who was a Son of Thunder and spoke all from the Mouth of the Lord whose Book used to be with them of as much Authority as the Bible Animad Our Demand was a more Particular Account than a General Charge But was this Unreasonable Or is there either Law or Equity that forbids it We know of none that doth but do Conceive we have both on our Side Their Allegation out of Edward Burroughs doth not reach the Case nor could his Authority Settle the Preliminaries of the Conference For he hath been dead about 35 Years and this was Published about 5 Years before that therefore what is a Challenge of near 40 Years Standing and by a Friend so long since dead to us Is it Reasonable that that should Affect us and Set us such Measures as these Partial Judges Pitch'd and Resolv'd upon Besides E. B. tho' he made an ample Offer to the Priests of that Day saying Let them appoint Time Place and proffer Terms at their own Pleasure Yet he did not thereby Oblige us by any Express Word or Consequence That he was Boanerges or a Son of Thunder and did Speak from the Mouth of the Lord we humbly Acknowledge and Bless God for Raising up and Sending forth so Eminent and Able an Instrument to Preach the Everlasting Gospel His Memory is Precious among Us and his Books of Esteem but not of Equal Authority with the Bible For though he had received a Measure of the same Spirit which was in the Holy Pen-men yet Dispensations Vary according to the manifold Wisdom of God and therefore we prefer the Bible before E. B's Books and all other Writings Extant whatsoever We do not Plead for any New Gospel Faith or Doctrine different from that which Christ and his Holy Prophets and