can have no higher Original then that of Mans reason which as it is subject to be short vary and miscarrie such things as those ought not to have been brought in as the Lawes of the Medes and Persians but Cautiously and by way of Probation Therefore having now the proofe of the evil consequence of being Possitive where at most you ought but to have recommended You would do well to Repeal or at least suspend next Meeting what has been found so fatal to the Unity desired otherwise you may shew more Power to Rule then prudence to Govern What you have said to others in Address to Protestants page 62 to 92 both what should be made Terms of Communion and what should not deserves your most serious Consideration for certainly we want nothing of what you say there is sufficient for Communion and if so it is unreasonable to shut us out for want of that which ought not to be made such and that in your own sense pray be consistent for that passage in Page 93 deserves not only your Consideration but Application and that is if we consider the matter well I fear sayes our Author it will be found that the occasion of disturbance in the Church of Christ hath in most Ages been found to lie on the side of those that had the greatest sway in it which in our Age is but too true We observe this Epistle differs much from other Books writ on this Subject and allowed by the same Authority if we should Confront this with them they would be like Babel Indeed whilest the same thing is pretended 't is true we are willing to search to the quick but as we would not make the breach wider then needs must we shall not at this time compare them together hoping how ever that the softness of the Stile of this bespeaks a dislike at least of former severities what is right we are willing to acknowledge and shall as readily note What is wrong concluding it is dangerous to endeavour to heal our hurt slightly and how ever our endeavour may succeed or be resented we can in our Defence say that not only our Arms but our Hearts are open and free to receive you and what you say as we meet it in the truth and you in the Spirit and power of our Lord Jesus Christ and can add sincerely that our desire to seek and find that seemless Garment of Our Lord you speak of and not only find it but that we might have it put on as in our beginning whilest Travellers together in Spirit for the true Rest which so many have set out to find but miscarryed but as this Seamless Garment stands not in Identity of an Opinion nor in the Unity of those Formallities of Form which respect more the manner of doing of a thing then the thing it selfe therefore all the Builders that have sought it here have erred and will still err as they thus seek it For as Truth is contrary to Error so is Gods way to Mans in this matter as our own Appollogies for Liberty do abundantly shew Now if the Unity to be sought for stand not in Opinion nor in those Formallities of Form as above it can only be found in the Spirit where there is a sincerity to God this Our Lord owns when ever 't is according to the degree of Light afforded And that is it which should be seriously enquired after and this you can hardly deny Us upon your own Concessions in this Epistle if you are real other if you deceive Us. You confess Page the 2 that we are one with you in Judgement in the Worship and Doctrine of Truth c. Now if by Worship you mean a true serving of God and if by Doctrine of Truth you intend as you ought what concerns Godliness it can hardly be but you must allow Us found in the Faith and Conscientious in what we doe for 't is impossible we should be faithful in the greater Things and false in the less on this account you ought to allow our reason or indulge us and therefore considering this and several other confessions in this Book may we not hope for the future that Dissenters and such as are dissatisfied may meet with a more favourable aspect from you and not only their seperate Meetings Visited in Love by you but your Meetings free and open in your minds and behaviour to such as come in Love and good will to Visit You tho in some things disatisfied with your proceedings for what can keep up the Difference more then your strangeness and how can it tend to accommodation the Thing you pretend to desire and seek Or how can it be Truth or like it to keep up this Difference and distance to Severities if not some time to rudeness and that with such as agree with you in your own sense in all the Essentials of Religion and truly serve God for any thing you know or can prove to the contrary Pray consider of it But to proceed You speak of the Government to remain in the hands of the Eldership but if Our Lord makes this Eldership does he not also make the submission that 's necessary for we will say we are for good Order and if the Elders set us a good example of humility and selfe-denyal by which we find it is not themselves they Preach but Christ and his Government they desire should be set up and not their own We can readily give them double Honour by following them as they follow Christ and we are sure none of you ought to desire more Now if We are only to follow you as you are the followers of Christ we ought to be sensible of it and that must be either by an outward Rule or by an inward if the first set it forth if the latter stay till we are convinced or perswaded this is fair here blind Obedience is excluded and it ought not to be denyed on this foot we inquire how we must know this Eldership on whose Conduct we may safely rely for where there must be a dependance there ought to be a certainty pray mind that to us then as a free and voluntary Society there seems but two wayes to know Eldership that is chiefly after the Spirit or after the flesh that is after an inward or an outward way now if we must know our Eldership after the Spirit then indeed no matter of your setting them forth for as we are not to believe every Spirit a liberty of Examination is reserv'd and where that ought to be a choice must be allowed on this Foot it follows beyond contradiction we are not Obliged to new things but as convinced or perswaded and as this is according to Gods dealing with us in our Spiritual travel so it agrees with our Imbodying as a free and voluntary Society and grant but this great Truth and Ancient Testimony and as it may prevent further disatisfaction which to us seems greater then you
arises nothing can justifie the proceeding on your part but a necessity for the thing For if this of Necessity be not consider'd in our case as abounder a door is opened to fill us with Opinions and Ceremony seeing there wants nothing to introduce them but a specious Pretence which never fail'd to wait on such as affect Government or reflect on their own abillities for it Now as there can be no necessity for Womens constant Meeting for Government for you to claim Power under the Notion of Elders to bring in to the Society against the minds of your Brethren such things as in truth there is no Necessity for this we say is a violence done to our Constitution as we imbodied a free and voluntary Society and is also against the truth of our Principle and Opinion First that it is a violence to our Constitution is clear for you know in our coming forth we did not choose any Elders to depend on nor indeed could we according to our Profession for as we asserted that Christ our Lord was come in Spirit to teach and govern us a teacher that as he could not be removed into a corner so he was only sufficient And therefore the preheminence was to be given to him in all things Thus it would have been a gainst his Honour and the truth of what we professed to have chosen any Man to have depended upon when Christ was come in Spirit to teach and govern to depend on Man to do it was to neglect the Fountain and chuse the Cistern therefore as we neither did nor could according to the truth of our Principle chuse any Men to depend on under any Name or Notion whatsoever for any to chuse or Impose themselves upon Us is wrong to Us and a violence offered to our Constitution For in short observe it is really Ignorance of the sufficiency of Christ to chuse any Man so much as Mentally to depend on But 't is Slavery to have others to chuse for or Impose themselves or their choice upon Us. You know as Christ our Lord was own'd to be come in Spirit to teach and Govern us we were to bring all our thoughts words and deeds to him that we might know the truth in what we thought said or did for we were not to be our own but his and as we were to bring our own words and deeds to him certainly we were to bring the words and deeds of all others to him in which we were to be concernd For as we could not know the truth of what we did our selves but by the testimony or approbation of his Spirit so 't is beyond contradiction we can not know the words and deeds of others to be from the truth any other way thus conviction or perswasion brought us together and that must be preserved still inviolably or we can not continue a free People examination of what we were to receive from others was truly asserted as our undoubted right in our coming forth and as the truth is but one the reason is the same now as well as then therefore to Impose an Eldership upon Us under any pretence whatsoever as it destroyes or takes away the Liberty of Examination 't is a violence done to our Constitution Indeed what is brought in by violence must needs be upheld by force or otherwise it will dye and come to nothing of it self thus the force and strife you have used to uphold what you have brought in by violence demonstrate you more wrong then any argument we can use when 't is but seriously considered that it is not Truth but Error that loses by tryal nay the truth only gains the most when freely examined and tryed and error loses most that way what can discover your wrongness more then the denying a free Examination For where that is taken away the prevailing of those things cannot be owing to the truth but the force and conquest of Men which as it is directly contrary to a free examination and choice so 't is beyond contradiction a violence done to our Constitution as we are a free and volluntary Society confessing but one Lord and head And as the bringing into our Society things for which there appear no necessity and requiring complyance under the notion of Eldership is a Violence done to our Constitution so 't is against the truth of our Principle Profession For you know the Lord from Heaven the second Adam the quickning Spirit the true Light that lighteth all Men coming into the World is Professed to be our foundation and asserted by us to be sufficient to lead into all truth all that truly adhere to him Now it must follow whilest we thus confess him that we truly adhere to him or we do not if we truly adhere to him we must according to the truth of what we profess know his sufficiency and where the sufficiency of Christ our Lord is truly known such can not depend on Man no 't is Impossible as in the Natural Figure the Moon and Starrs do shew us light but 't is in the dark 't is in the night therefore when the Sun comes thô it does not take away that light which the Moon and Stares have as to themselves yet to us it takes it away so that it is impossible thô we had a mind to depend on that Light or have any benefit from it and we are sure the Sun of righteousness as he arises in the Soul doth as much fulfill the Service and transcend the light of the Instrument therefore on this foot we are to call no Man Doctor Master Father or Elder on Earth by way of Preheminence for our dependance because one is our Doctor Master Father and Elder in Heaven and all such as are thus taught of him are Brethren Christ and his Disciples in the dayes of his flesh are a true Figure of this for he chose his Disciples they did not chuse him and as he chose them out of the World they was simply to depend upon him not one upon another therefore when they thought of depending one upon another by consulting who should be the greatest amongst them our Lord corrected their mistake and in them yours if you lay claim to the like choice by telling them the Elder should be as the Younger and he that rul'd as he that served nay he that would be the greatest among them must be Servant to all the rest then not Lord or Master to Impose upon the rest and as he told them they should call no Man Master Doctor or Father so he forbad them to be called soe and we are sure it was the thing as well as the Name that was intended whereupon it followes that to seek this Preheminence by desiring this dependance under the Notion of Eldership as it is contrary to the truth of our Principle and Profession so 't is against the very Sence and meaning of the Command of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ For this is
to come in your own Name and not in his But on the other hand whilst we confess the Lord is come to teach and govern if we do not truly adhere to him as such can not know the truth of what they do profess so 't is certain such do not truly believe in him and if such think that want shall be supplyed by depending upon you or that this is Christs Government to be subject unto yours they are Miserably mistaken And truly whilst you seek this dependance under the Notion of Eldership you contribute to their mistake and are guilty of the Ignorance and Error such are in for as in the Figure above the Disciples were not to gather unto themselves but unto their Lord knowing none could be truly taught except they came to him so they knew that if they did come to him he was sufficient and therefore having brought 'em to him they did not interpose We have found the Messiah said one Jesus of Nazareth can any good come out of Nazareth Come and see try thy selfe and then thou 'l have the same ground to trust that we have or to this effect and t is true according to our Profession that Christ our Lord is now as able to teach and may be now as easily come to as then who is it then that dare strive for their Opinions whilest such acknowledge the Lord is present Thus if you were the Servants of Christ you must gather to him and not to your selves for we can not be the Disciples of Christ till we hear him our selves nor followers of him till we know him go before us and this we can not truly know whilest we depend on you or any Man True Religion is founded on those two Commands to love God with all our heart and our Neighbour as our selves here 's both our Duty to God and Men included and Christ our Lord teacheth the latter as well as the former and those that know not something of the truth of those things in their own minds under our Profession are not yet come in to the School of Christ Pray therefore let the People know that as Christ is head to the true Churh in all things he must be head to every Man in all things that is a Member of this Church So that to be of this Church is quite another thing then to be of any 〈◊〉 Society whatever Address to Protestants Page 177 this building is rear'd without noise strife and contention 't is like its Figure the Temple built at Jerusalem in Solomons Peaceful Reign no Axe or Hammer heard there all that at best is but in the Preparation which so many have mistaken for the choice And so in stead of travelling for the true rest have set up a false one growing great in stead of being humble dispising others in overvalluing themselves For all this noise and strife in the best sense is amongst the Servants and Workmen amongst the drawers of Water and hewers of Wood and not among the Children and Sons of God Now your Service if you have any is to bring to Christ the true knowledge of him ends the strife and the noise For those that sit at his feet truly to hear him are quiet and as they have chosen the better part soe are they not cumbred about many things And as your Service is to bring to him you ought to indeavour honestly to take out of the way whatever hinders coming to him and indeed in this case that is your own self hood your affected and desired Elderships for this is to bear witness to your selves by seeking a relyance and dependance upon you and this begets into Sects and Divisions for 't is sure while the People depend on you ot any Man they neither do nor can know the sufficiency of Christ our Lord. Pray therefore consider that to seek this dependance upon you under the Notion of Eldership is really against the truth of our Principle and Profession For if you prevail it will fix the People in that which can never perfect for all that depend on you as they must allwayes be learning of you such can never be able to know the truth as it is in Jesus as it allwayes falls out where Persons on a Religious score seek to bear Rule by their own means and the People love to have it so and as on this foot you will still grow more narrow in your minds and Spirits as true and just a seperation may be from you as any other People heretofore We intreat you to weigh the matter that so you may throw down your Crowns at the feet of Jesus who alone is worthy to raign according to our Testimony in our beginning Objection But perhaps you will say It is true Christ our Lord is sufficient for all that truly adhere to him but all that Profess him do not adhere to him and 't is for their Souls that an Eldership is necessary and that we are thus concerned that a check may be upon all Practice as an expediency against Irregularity in Conversation whether toward them that are without or them that are within the same Communion to which the strong will submit for the sake of the Weak c. Page the 9. Answer It seems your care is about those that do not truly adhere to Christ and for the securing of them you ought to be cautious that you do not burthen the Conscience of those that are faithful for if what is good and evil could not be known and Judged of without Womens Meetings for Government it were something to the purpose but since it is clear it may this seems but an Artifice to seek to inslave such as are conscientious and sincere to God under pretence of taking care for those that are not and is but a subtill argument to make way for the setting up Mans Government in stead of Christs for what is this but to say we are not to examine what you bring in whiles yon pretend to apply it to some good end But if we do examin things and truly find they tend to Formallity and leads into Ignorance and Slavery yet we must dissemble our conviction and dishonour our head to please you what 's this but to endeavour to make us owe more to you for Government then we do to the Civil Magistrate 'T is true We are to Obey every Ordinance of Man for the Lords sake but yet we do not this blindfold for as we are the Servants of Christ and own him for our Lord and Head we must examine what Man Injoyns and if in our understanding it agrees with the truth we are bound in Conscience to obey But if it do not then Conscience rather obliges to suffer then dishonour our Head And will you not allow us that berty without making us suffer which you take and insist upon as a right You know Christ our Lord is one in all and cannot deny but that he ought to be the Head
and Conscientious Person and in room of numerous and disputed Opinions made the bonds of external communion lest some plain general and necessary truths be laid down and let them be few Was it right in those you wrote too to take away those things And is it not wrong in you to impose such things as give Occasion And if it was just and right in them to take theirs away is it not right in you to take yours away There is nothing but self-love that can hinder For it will hold as true in our case being nothing but the Old Cause new Varnisht But to go on in Address to Protestants 85 Page you tell us that the belief of Jesus of Nazereth to be the Messiah the Son and Christ of God sent to restore and save Mankind is the first and was then the only requisit Article of Faith without any large confessions or a heap of Principles and Opinions c. And you proceed to prove this confession truly made to be sufficient for Communion and to that end also answer all the usual Objections Page 91 and 92 the last Objection is this say you if it be alledged that this will take in all Parties yee that Schismaticks and Hereticks will creep in under this Confession since few of them will refuse to make it to this you answer I do say sayes the Author 't would be an happy day what Man loves God and Christ seeks Peace and concord that would not rejoyce if all our Animosities and vexations about matters of Religion were buryed in this one Confession of Jesus the great Author and Lord of the Christian Religion so often lost in pretending to contest for it O Friends Have not you been greatly wanting to the World here in an example to your Brethren whom you acknowledge to be one with you in the Worship and Doctrine of Truth and therefore can never want those requesit Articles for Communion O that you could see in this your day of tryal the things that belong to your Peace Now that you may not think much that we should thus remind you because we are to examine what we are to receive we will take notice of a little part that you have quoted out of Jacobus Auntius to strengthen what you there write and therefore ought to be of more force to conclude you You begâ—n with him in the 157 Page and continue to the 172 to the same purpose but the Place we note is in 162 and followes thus and because a thing will be so much the better preserved by how much the greater is the Number of those that keep it the People oughe often to be put in mind that both the Reading of the Scriptures and the care of Religion belong nor to the Pastors of the Church only that is in our case not to the Preachers and Elders only but that every one that would be saved Pray mark it ought to make dilli gent search whether corruption be all ready or mind it is for the future like to be introduced and mark this to do no less carefully than if he was perswaded that all besides himselfe was asleep no fear then or hazzard of being singular and mind whatsoever is wont to take off the Common People that is such as are neither Elders nor Pastors from such studdy care must be taken that that shing observe be wholly taken away And pray who must take this away in our case but the Preachers and Elders And how must they take it away but by letting every one know that is neither Preachers nor Elders that if they expect to be saved the care of Religion belongs to them as well as it doth to the Preachers and Elders and therefore they ought to examine things and not to believe them true only because such as esteem themselves Pastors and Elders say it but because they themselves know they are true And we are sure if this will hold any where it will hold in our case where we confess but one Lord and Head But allas Instead of this good Method to take away what hurts Examination you are endeavouring all you can to establish and confirm what you ought to take away telling us those things do not belong to Faith Conscience and Religion and so not to us to Examine that are to be govern'd and rul'd but to you that are our Elders and Teachers for that is the Natural Consequence of this great strife for your Opinions But as what is above proves we ought to Examine things and that strictly so what followes confirms that we ought to have a choise as well as Examination For in Page 149 it followes to check this exhorbitancy the Apostle Paul demands Who art thou that Judgest anothers Servant To his own Lord he stands or falls which shewes with great evidence say you that Christians of all sorts great and small are but Brethren to be sure and consequently Pray mark all Superiority Lordship and Imposition are excluded to be sure But if there be a difference among Christians 't is in this that as Christ taught he that is greatest is to be Servant to the rest but say you what is more opposice to a Servant then a Lord And to Service then Injunction and that on Penalties too Here it is that Christ is only Lord and Lawgiver who is only King of this inward Kingdom of the Soul and 't is to be noted observe that the Apostle did not write this to a private Brother or in some special case but to the Church observe as a general standing truth and therefore say you now as authentick and proper as then and if this be true I cannot see sayes our Author how any or even the most part of the Church observe for it is patt to our case that are still but Brethren to the rest of one Voluntary Communion and Profession can with any shew of reason Impose upon them of the same Community and escape the reproof of this Scripture and pray mind to confirm all this what followes for sayes our Author all Societies are to govern themselves according to their Institution and first Principles of union where there is violence on this part Tyrany and not Order is introduced Now since Perswasion and Conviction began all true Christian Societies and therefore ours to be sure in your sense all Christian Societies must uphold themselves upon the same free bottom to be sure or they turn Antichristian I beseech you sayes the Author here let us Examine our selves faithfully indeed that is it we would be at and the want of that is the cause of our Misery and I am of belief sayes the Author that something will appear amongst us that shews great Reverence to that free Name What do you say will not all this hold you Can any thing be more to the purpose against Imposition or more pertinant to our case Seeing 't is Imposition that excluded Us the same Society 〈…〉 and ought any thing to
this Page 6 You tell us it is the end that allwayes constitutes the means and here you tell us that the increase makes the business and as business is that end therefore on those terms where there is no increase there is no business and where no business no end and where no end there need no means and 't is certain in many Places there is no increase since the thing came in question therefore as it is against the truth so 't is against your very good reason to impose them universally upon our Society thus to impose them is a wrong that you ought to avoid both according to reason and truth But further according to this reason that the increase makes the Service a decrease takes it away therefore where there is a decrease in stead of an increase as the Service is at an end we hope you will give leave to lay them by and we think you can hardly deny this for as in your sense there is not matter of Conscience Conscience you know cannot be pleaded to uphold them and if the pretence of Service be a wanting to what purpose are they indeavoured to be kept up except for meer Formallity The endeavouring of Unity there being the Rock on which all others have split But in short either your Elders that have exhorted to this of Womens Meeting and have used your Authority with the People for the keeping them up till you have made these Rents Divisions and Dissatisfaction did believe and judge that Friends was faithful to God without Womens Meeting that is before they had them or that they was not if they was not faithful to God did you think the setting up Womens Meetings for Government in the Society would doe the business What do you say Did you think they would keep out the Devil or baffle the Serpent Indeed if that was true things is much altered since the beginning But if you did believe that Friends was faithful how could you imagine they would not receive what was needful without force Pray consider is not our Principle universall And is not the Spirit of truth sufficient to lead into all truth Then must not every Man at least every Meeting know best what was Serviceable for them or what they ought to do If so what need we pray of more then recommendation Except you were afraid the Spirit of Truth would not lead into this Practice and why Except you know it was not a truth and if not a truth will you differ with us for things that ought not be observed as a truth Pray Consider of it Page the 8. and 9 You are pleased to tell us of the great benefits of Women distinct Meeting for Government For say you to confirm it two businesses is doing at the same time which say you in Country Places and Winter Seasons where Friends come 10 or 15 Miles to a Meeting must needs be very convenient and comfortable c. Answer Indeed You are hard beset to keep up the credit of your Opinion while such Lame Notions are given for reason for this makes Womens Meetings Serviceable where either they cannot be Practised or to be sure are least used for here you give short dayes and Winter Season to make them the more Servicable so that long dayes and Summer Seasons have the less occasion for them and yet every body knowes they are then most frequent And again as you make their greatest Service to be in Country Places where Friends come ten or 15 Miles to a Meeting they seem clearly to be of least use in the City if at all Serviceable there because Friends live near together so may take time to do that business they cannot in the Country when truly had not the good Women in the City found either more Service for their Meeting or less business of their own we believe we should never have been pressed with Womens Meeting in the Country to our dissatisfaction but by how much Friends live farther off one another by this rule Womens Meetings still are the more Serviceable for the farther off one another the less time to meet together and so stand the more need of quicker dispatch but all this proves Womens Meeting a very ordinary business for where Friends live near together they may very well excuse the Women because they may take time to dispatch their business themseâ—ves and then where they live remote they may as well excuse them by reason of the inconvenience of getting to go so that you see all this noise according to this reason is about litle or nothing But pray is not this reason at a litle ods with your Very good reason befor For there you made the increase of Friends to great Numbers to make the Service and here the fewness for the remoteness does demonstrate there 's but few but pray before you go further then 15 Miles for a Womans Meeting is the thing practicable you have already set on foot What! 15 Miles to a Meeting for Women and home again in Winter season and short dayes to which we may add bad Wayes long Miles and bad Weather for you have made no provision nor exception that we know of what think you of it on second thoughts You know you have told the good Women the matter does not relate to God nor is matter of Conscience so we hope you will allow them the use of their reason for if they find all the business they can do and goe 15 Miles to a Meeting in short dayes as above is not worth while or that they can do all that business if any better in their respective Meetings and perhaps with less Charge then this 15 Miles Journey would put them to and besides save themselves at home where they may be sure they have an incumbent Duty will not you be content What do you say If not pray may not we justly and honestly inquire if such as injoyne this 15 Miles Journey do themselves put it in practise If answered that perhaps such as injoyn it do not live so remote and therefore have not occasion to make the tryal then may we not still inquire who are best Judges of fact those that do not put in practice or them that have But what think you of it was not this Order made in some warmer Climate or at least for some that dwelt where Dayes are more equal Wayes better and Miles not so long as in many parts of England But indeed too much of this if it had not been to shew the frivolousness of your reason and therein the meanness of the cause that you have caused contention about Page the 9 you tell us those are your reasons and Motives to the present Practice of Womens Meeting in the Church of Christ without compelling Conscience or infringing Christian Liberty c. Answer We have considered the weightyest of your reasons that we could find as above and do not see any thing that is offered that can