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A92669
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A briefe epistle to the learned Manasseh Ben Israel. In answer to his, dedicated to the Parliament. September. 6. Imprimatur John Downame
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Spencer, Edward, Sir, 1595-1656.
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1650
(1650)
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Wing S16A; ESTC R229666
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14,465
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69
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A Breife EPISTLE to the Learned Manasseh Ben Israel In Answer to his Dedicated to the PARLIAMENT September 6. Imprimatur JOHN DOWNAME Printed at London 1650. TO MY ANCIENT FRIEND William Lenthall Esquier Mr of the Rolles SIR I Can to none more justly dedicate this little worke of mine of a few dayes production which ayms at the conversion of the Jewes than to you who now hold the place of Mr of the Rolles which was the Inn or Hospitall of the converted Jewes and therefore it is fit you should take notice of the beginning of their conversion And I am assured you feare not the too sudden conversion of them but doe much desire at and by this little Treatise there is abundant caution given that the converted should not be burdensome to the State and after your perusall of this small peece which you approv'd as a fayre attempt towards their conversion saying there was no hurt in it but wishing it had beene done more seriously To which I make this reply That Manaslehs treatise beeing so slight deserved no better And this may chance do more to their conversion than the many serious labours of very good and judicious Authours have done As all the care and endeavour of a skilfull paynter who desired to expresse the foame of a beast could not attaine unto it to satisfie himself yet by an angry dash of his pencill or spunge thereby saw a rare expression of it So may this carelesse dosh of my pen doe somewhat which if it may please you and good men and bring downe their haughtinesse I have my ayme Your humble servant E.S. Middlesex To my deare brother Manasseh Ben Israel the Hebrew Philosopher SIR I kindly take 〈◊〉 Dedication of your Booke as one who am a Member of that House you so much honour your acknowledgement that we of that House do highly favour your Nation and seeing you would yet have us love you more and more I will tell you what is the true bond of Love the greattest obligation even true Religion wherein because you yet fall short I cannot yet love you so much as I would but I doe abundantly pitty you that you yet live in darkenesse and the shadow of death and will not entertaine that light which your Adonai and ours hath sent into the world But what yet we have done of any glorious action I cannot yet acknowledge it may be I may finde it hereafter And certainely it will be a very glorious action if wee can convert your Nation of the Jewes to the fulnesse of true beliefe And indeed I beleeve we are the likelyest Nation under Heaven to doe it For wee hate Idolatry as much as you Nor doe we worship any graven or paynted Images I wish both ye and many of us were as free from inward Idolatry and did not worship our owne conceits and vaine Imaginations But we have some that are free from that also and are free from Covetousnesse which is Idolatry I wish your Nation were so also But I would not have our nation put that hard precept of Christianity upon you that upon your conversion your goods should bee confiscated that precept to sell all and give to the poore is ill administred by the Idolatrous Roman Congregation Secondly we worship that one God which you doe whether you call him Elohim or Adonai but wee say that Adonai belongs to us more than you for you shall finde in the Psalmes that Elohim said to Adonai which wee declare thus The Lord said unto my Lord sit thou on my right hand untill I make thine enemies thy footstool you cannot say but this is spoken of the Messias and the filius Davidis and hence wee collect two persons in the Trinity which one God Trinity in Unity we worship and upon this very day which wee call Trinity Sunday the Sunday after the comming of the Holy Ghost And we write de tribus Elohim which wee can prove out of the old testament Thirdly we acknowledge with you the old testament to be the word of God and receive no other Canon of it than you doe herein wee both disagree with the Romanist And wee acknowledge that God by your Nation hath preserved the Canon of the old testament and wee pray you may understand it as well as wee Fourthly wee keepe a sabbath as well as you onely wee say that Adonat being Lord of the Sabbath changed the day some other things there are wherein wee agree and clearly in the whole decalogue saving that alteration of the sabbath Now Sir I will shew you wherein you differ from your selfe or fall short of the truth and that your hopes built upon Montezint's relation are very fallible and nothing so Divine or reasonable as our faith Your relation of Montezini is a double hereâ—â— first of him from the Cazic Francis and that was also from his forefathers then from Montezini to your selfe That from the Cazic Francis with that caution that Montezini should not aske him any questions least he should make him to lie p. 10. A very doubtfull busines whether Montezini did not aske him too many questions or whether the Cazic being so apt to doe is did not lye but this upon the result must be the fullfilling of the prophesies and induce our Parliament men to kill the Kings of the earth that Messias may reigne and all the world may be under his governement There are some of us apt enough to believe that Christ shall raigne a thousand yeares and that they shall destroy all Monarchy They have done prettily well for three kingdoms allready in one man but that your brethren the Scots call upon his sonnâ—â— and so will endeavour to spoyle all the worke but let them not follow their forefathers your countreyman Iudas Iscariot They have done pretty well already in so barbarously hanging his best friend that even our men raile upon them and so will doe still untill they have purchased or conquered their Sanhedrim Have at them Cromwell hath once conquered them allready for which they have given him thanks and so may they doe againe But Sir ye both well agree in pulling downe the Pope but will you pull downe the Antichrist The Papists say he must be of the tribe of Dan will you pull down your brother Ye loved Musique your brethren the Scots hate all but the bagpipes or one of Robert VViâ—edomes Psalmes But Brethren of Israel bee advised they will have a King of their aun nation have a care they prove not mongrells they say they are Christians not altogether Jewes England is their land of Canaan yet they are aswell dispersed over all the world as yee even to a proverbe in the German tongue Scotten Rotteâ—and base gelt goes all the world over But ye must joyne with some of us for a thousand yeares raigne their Nappier speakes much against it and very rationally Well then ioyne with those Millenarians now or never What though it hath