Selected quad for the lemma: world_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
world_n	death_n	sin_n	sin_v	14,462	5	10.3751	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47164	The Presbyterian and independent visible churches in New-England and else-where brought to the test, and examined according to the doctrin of Holy Scriptures ... : more particulary directed to those in New-England, and more generally to those in old England, Scotland, Ireland, &c. : with a call and warning from the Lord to the people of Boston and New-England, to repent, &c. : and two letters to the preachers in Boston, and an answer to the gross abuses, lies and slanders of Increase Mather and Nath. Morton, &c. / by George Keith.	Keith, George, 1639?-1716.	1691 (1691)	Wing K191; ESTC R21261	124,580	240

how in Gospel days the true Believers of Jacob and Esau should become one Body of a Gospel-Church and in this Body they of Esau should be as Hands but the Voice is Jacob's that is the Word of God in the preaching of the Gospel should be sounded out of Jacob's Line to wit from the Prophets and Apostles who were of Jacob. And there is no ground from Scripture that Esau as to his Person was not saved yea Luther and Moller and Oecolampadius all famous Protestants in their day judge rather that he was saved and the whole passage of Jacob and Esau beside that it hath its historical fulfilling is a Figure of two inward Seeds and Births none of which are reprobated but the other preferred But if some alledge Heb. 12.17 to prove that absolutely Esau was rejected and did perish because it s said He found no place of Repentance though he sought it carefully with Tears I answer that doth not prove his final rejection but only that he could not be heard to have that first Blessing recalled which was already given to Jacob. 6. Where now shall these Men find any place in Scripture to prove that there are any reprobate Infants Or that any Infants dying in Infancy go to Hell and perish eternally only for Adam's Sin although that Sin was forgiven to Adam and Thousands more equally guilty by their own confession If they shall alledge as some do that place in 1 Cor. 7.14 For the unbelieving Husband is sanctified by the Wife viz. that believeth and the unbelieving Wife is sanctified by the Husband else were your Children unclean but now are they holy Yet this cannot prove their Intention for they dare not confidently say that all Infants of believing Parents are elected otherwise they must say that Esau was elected both whose Parents were Bellevers Although some in Church-Covenant have gloried that none of their Children while Infants were Reprobates because they were in covenant and yet at that same time pleading that Esau was a Reprobate in his Mother's Belly forgetting that both Esau's Parents were more holy than they And if any further urge If there be no reprobate Infants that then all Infants are sanctified and holy both the Children of unbelieving Parents as well as of Believers I answer it doth not follow by any necessary consequence although to admit of that Consequence is much more tollerable than to say that any Infants perish eternally only for Adam's Sin And as for the general state of Infants and how they are particularly disposed of immediately after Death who die in Infancy seemeth a great depth and is a great mystery and is best known unto the Lord For it is generally granted that God hath his way to reach to Infants and deal with them both in the Womb and upon the Mothers Breasts and therefore let us leave secret things unto God until he reveal them and be satisfied with what he hath revealed Now this is plainly revealed and declared in the Scriptures that the Condemnation is not simply that Adam sinned or his Posterity in and with him but that Light is come into the World and Men love Darkness more than Light And as by the offence of one to wit the first Adam Judgment is come upon all to Condemnation even so by the Righteousness on one to wit Christ the second Adam the free Gift is come upon all to Justification of Life And tho' Men generally are by Nature Children of Wrath if it should be granted or allowed that by Nature signifieth their natural condition as they are born into the World yet by the great Mercy Grace and favour of God they all have an opportunity or possibility to be converted and become the Children of God And what that Holiness or Cleanness is that the Children of one or both the believing Parents have is a great Mystery I am sure to many who have that Scripture place oft in their Mouths and greatly glory in it that they are in Church-Covenant and therefore they are holy and their Children also some call it federal or Covenant Holiness but what is it they know not whether it be any real thing or principle of Holiness lodged or placed in their Children more than in the Children of others that are not in their Church-Covenant they dare not affirm for many yea very many Children of professed Christians of all sorts when they grow up to Youth are as unholy and sometimes worse as the Children of Unbelievers But that Children generally either of Believers or Unbelievers are actually sanctified from the Womb or in the Womb cannot be proved from Scripture or any Observation that we can make It is recorded as a rare and great thing that John the Baptist was sanctified from the Mother's Womb and the like of Jeremiah and so perhaps may be gathered of Moses or some others but these rare and singular Examples rather prove that Children are not in general actually and de facto holy from the Womb and therefore that Holiness of Children mentioned 1 Cor. 7. must only signifie some more near capacity in them than in others to become actually holy in time to come and that not of all Children after the Flesh but the Children of Promise as Paul distinguisheth these two sorts of Children of the same Parents Rom. 9.8 But who are the Children of the Flesh and who are the Children of the Promise Tho' it be well known unto God from the beginning yet commonly it is not known unto Men until they discover themselves by their Works and Fruits 7. As concerning the general state of Mankind by means of Adams fall what the Scripture saith of it is readily believed and granted and it is safest in all things to keep to Scripture words especially in all cases and matters that are in Controversie For the Scripture is a rich Treasury or Store-house sufficient to afford us Words whereby to express our Faith in all matters of Christian Doctrin and it is not safe to leave the Scripture-words and go to words of Mans wisdom and thereby to declare our Faith of Christian Doctrin Now the Scripture saith That in Adam all die 1 Cor. 15.22 and Rom. 5.12 That by one Man Sin entred into the World and death by Sin and so death passed upon all Men for that all have sinned And that Christ hath died for all Men proveth that all Men were dead as Paul argueth the case And David though he was the Son of a good Father yet bewailed the state wherein he was conceived and born Psal 51.5 Behold I was shapen in Iniquity and in Sin did my Mother conceive me And that under Moses Law an Offering was to be offered up for the Mother and the Child Levit. 12.4 5 6. when it was Born and that the Mother should be unclean so many days after the Birth of the Child doth certainly signifie a Seed or Principle of Sin and Corruption to be conveyed from the Parents to the Children in

Christ Jesus who gave himself a Ransom for all to be testified in due time Heb. 2.9 That he by the Grace of God should taste death for every Man 1 John 2.2 He is the Propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole World But it is commonly alledged by the Adversaries of Truth that by All in these places is understood not all particulars but some of all sorts or all the elect To this I answer the word All must needs be as full and universal with respect to Christs death and the benefit of it as it is with respect to Adam's fall because the Scripture maketh a plain parallel betwixt all that die in Adam and all that Christ died for as in that fore-cited place 2 Cor. 5.14 If one dyed for all then all were dead Now if All only signifie Some in the first part of the verse the sense must run thus If one dyed for some or a few then all were dead This quite maketh void the Apostles inference for if Christ only dyed for some then only some were dead and not all Again in Rom. 5.18 the parallel is very plain As by the offence of one Judgment is come upon all unto Condemnation even so by the Righteousness of one the free Gift is come upon all unto Justification of Life not that all are actually justified but the free gift is come upon them that they may be justified and so it is that the two sides or parts of Parallels are of equal extent Beside that the word All in Scripture doth most commonly signifie all particulars and therefore to restrict it in respect of Gods Grace and Mercy through Christ savours of a narrow Spirit and this narrowness of Spirit in Presbyterians and Independents is a great evil in them and maketh them so peevish uncharitable and cruel 2. And whereas they object against Christ his dying for all Men because he said he did not pray for the World and therefore he did not die for the World John 17.9 I pray for them I pray not for the World It may be very well granted that he dyed not for the World which he doth not pray for But what World is that It is not any part of Mankind as they are considered when first born into the World and having had a time to live in the World and a day of visitation wherein they might have repented and have been converted unto God but as having finally rejected the great Mercy and Grace of Christ after many tenders and offers of it until that the Lord hath wholly left striving with him by his Spirit in their hearts and then they become Reprobates and that World whereof Christ spoke when he said he prayed not for the World And therefore it ought to be well noted and considered that when it is said Christ dyed for the sins of the World it is only with respect to sins past or any other sins that Men may commit before the precise time and period of Gods leaving them and ceasing any more to strive with them when they are become perfected so to speak in sin and evil and are as the ripe Tares fit for burning having nothing remaining in them of any tenderness simplicity or sincerity or true Love to God or Man no grain of Goodness or Virtue nay not the least Seed but are wholly become as Dross after all the precious Mettal to the least grain is extracted or separated from it for such I say Christ hath neither dyed nor prayed And thus it may be with many and is with many before they die and concerning these John declared saying There is a sin unto Death I do not say that he shall pray for it 1 Joh. 5.16 and this is that sin of final Unbelief and obstinate Impenitency wherein men may be permitted to live some considerable time before they die And this is no Contradiction nor Inconsistency but serveth greatly to clear the understanding of this weighty matter how Christ hath dyed for all Men within a day or time of Grace and yet hath dyed for none of these Men after they have wilfully neglected that day of Grace and resisted the Spirit of Grace until he did altogether leave and forsake them And also it is to be considered that though Christ hath dyed for all Men within a day or time of Grace and Mercy beyond which time they have not the benefit of his death and there remaineth no more Sacrifice for Sin unto them yet he hath not died with the same equal intention and degree of Love Kindness and Good-will for them who finally perish as for them who are saved nor are the gracious Providences of God and his dealings both inwardly and outwardly after the same way and manner towards all And therefore all who shall be saved at the end of the World have very great and unspeakable cause to praise God for his more abundant Mercy Grace and Love towards them in Christ Jesus and that he and not they did make them to differ from others yet none that perish can have any just cause to complain against God for when that that is sufficient is given to them they have no cause to complain But all who are saved God is pleased at one time or another that suiteth with his infinite Wisdom and good pleasure so to draw perswade move and incline them to come unto him and when come so to preserve them with him and in him or if at any time he suffer them to depart infallibly to reclaim them before the end that they shall certainly be saved and this the Lord can well do so as to put a difference betwixt Cattel and Cattel or Men and Men without their observation and so as neither to give unto the one any occasion of Presumption nor unto the other of Despair and without giving any greater measure of inward Grace although he may and oft doth give a greater measure to one than to another for he is free to give of his own as he pleaseth but only by suitable Providences and Dispensations and means of his own chusing the one may be taken and the other left the one gained and saved and the other not the inward Grace being the same both in kind and degree in some that are saved and in some that are not as the Parable of the Pounds and Marks plainly declare every Servant had his Pound or Mark which is an equal sum and some improved it and some not And of this more abundant Love of God towards Paul he himself taketh special notice with great Thanksgiving unto God 1 Tim. 1.14 16. And the Grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all Long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to Life everlasting And the like notice he taketh of the

all things And Christ said his Yoke was easie and his Burden was light And John said His Commandments are not grievous But according to these Faith-publishers Christ's Yoke is so heavy that none can bear it for what is it to bear his Yoke but to keep his Commandments And if they cannot be fulfilled by Men and yet many Thousands cast into Hell-Fire for not fulfilling them they are very grievous which God forbid we should think And to say that God requireth perfect Obedience from any part of Mankind and yet giveth them no Ability to perform it and punish them with Hell-Fire for not doing that which is utterly and absolutely impossible for them do doth wofully reflect upon the Justice of God and rendereth him not only severe and hard but most Cruel and Tyrannical worse than Pharoah to the poor Israelites who required of them the tale of Brick but gave them no Straw and yet punished them for not performing their Task And lastly It is wofully injurious to Men to discourage them to press after Perfection or a perfect freedom from Sin to tell them They cannot attain to it while they live As if a Physician should tell his Patient For all the Physick I give thee thou must still remain diseased and never be healed till Death heal thee Or as if one should say to a Traveller that is going to such a City Thou shalt never reach to it whilst thou livest in this World Would not this greatly discourage them And also it doth greatly encourage People to live in sloath and neglect to tell them That though they live and die in their Sins they shall be saved if they have at any time once in all their Life believed in Christ Jesus that Faith will save them though they live and die in their Sins But we find that Christ fore-warned People That if they died in their Sins they should not come whither he did go John 8.21 And it was a fearful threatning that God denounced against that People Isa 22.14 Surely this Iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die saith the Lord God of Hosts But this false Doctrin of your Teachers telleth you It is no matter though ye die in your Sins yet ye shall immediately after Death go into Heaven if ye have once believed And the Scripture saith Where the Tree falleth there it shall be whether towards the South or towards the North Eccles 11.3 But according to this evil and corrupt Doctrin though the Tree falleth North it shall lie South It is a fearful thing to teach or believe such Doctrin in a matter of so great moment so to smooth and daub with untempered Morter and to flatter People to tell them They not only may but must live and die in their Sins and yet immediately after Death they shall go into Heaven if once they have believed their Faith secureth them though they sin daily in Thought Word and Deed and break all God's holy Commandments every day and that there be no Health nor Soundness in them And indeed it is the great love that People have to Sin and Iniquity that maketh them plead so earnestly for it for if they were weary of Sin and did hate it as a most cruel Tyrant they would be glad to hear of a possibility of deliverance from Sin here in this World And they that plead so much for Sin to live and die in it they plead for the Devil's Kingdom and are his Servants and Ministers in that respect and not the Servants and Ministers of Christ 6. But to clear the Doctrin of Perfection as it is believed and preached by the People called Quakers take these following considerations 1st It is not an absolute Perfection that we plead for as attainable in this Life as many of you have falsly accused us and particularly Nath. Morton in his New-England Memorial pag. 157. as in many other things he doth most falsly charge that People in his said Book for we say That the highest degree of Perfection attainable in this Life ought not to be sit down and rested in by any but there ought to be a continual progress by the best in Holiness and in conformity to the Image of the Son of God until the very last moment of their Life for Christ himself who was free from all sin yet was perfected further as he was Man and did grow both in Grace and Stature and Adam in the innocent state was still to have increased in Virtue and Goodness and then he would not have fallen as he did 2 dly This perfection or freedom from Sin and Possibility by the Grace of God to keep his Commandments we do not say it is attained by every one at their first Conversion or entrance into the true Faith but on the contrary we say many true Believers and who have a true measure of sincerity towards God are yet short of that state of a sinless Perfection and that it is not attained but by great diligence and wrestling against sin through the ability of the Grace of God and much watching and praying and using all the means appointed of God both inwardly and outwardly to attain to that blessed Conquest and Victory over sin 3 dly The most perfect in this Life have need to watch and pray that they enter not into Temptation for as Adam in Innocency and in the Garden did sin and by his sin lost his Innocency so may Men that are inwardly come to this state if they be not duly watchful sin against the Lord therefore it is not the impossibility of sinning in all respects that we plead for but the possibility of not sinning and that by the Grace of God and not otherwise Altho' some may arrive to that state in Holiness in conformity to the second Adam that they neither sin nor can sin in that sense as the Scripture doth intend it 1 John 3.19 which doth at least hold forth that such who are attained to this noble degree of Holiness they cannot commit any gross sin although in some things not for want of love but not having a full and perfect Knowledge in all things they may a little fall short as a most loving Child not perfectly understanding the Fathers mind in all things may do a thing amiss and yet without breach of true Love to his Father and therefore his Father doth not charge it upon him as a crime and the like example may be of a most loving Wife to her Husband who retaineth her chaste and perfect Love to her Husband and yet may do some things not according to his mind for as the Scripture saith Love is the fulfilling of the Law and he that faileth not in his Love and transgresseth not against the Law of Love though in some case he may fall short in understanding God doth not impute it to be a crime unto him 4 thly It is not temptations or motions unto sin that may arise either from the Devil or

among the Jews of a two fold sort of Proselites one of the Covenant that received Circumcision and the Law another of the Gate that did not receive Circumcision yet this is but barely alledged without all proof But if he was a Proselite of the Gate it is certain at that time when the Angel was sent unto him he had no express Knowledge nor Faith of Christ crucified for that was the thing which Peter was sent to preach unto him by hearing of which he was to receive the holy Ghost and be saved for the Angel told him that Peter should speak Words to him by which he and all his House should be saved see Acts 11.14 Now altho' at that time when the Angel appeared unto him Cornelius had no Knowledge nor Faith of Christ crucified yet he was in a good estate and well were it for many called Christians that they were in as good estate as he then was in When the Angel appeared to him he told him that his Prayers and his Alms were come up for a memorial before God Acts 10.4 And it is said of him verse 2. He was a devout Man and one that feared God with all his House which gave much Alms to the People and prayed unto God alway And with respect to this Peter began his Preaching saying Acts 10.34 35. Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of Persons but in every Nation he that feareth him and worketh Righteousness is accepted of him Now who dare be so bold to say Cornelius at this time had no real and true beginning of Salvation or of saving Grace and Faith before Peter did preach Christ crucified raised again unto him For although Cornelius had not at that time Faith in Christ crucified yet he had without all question Faith in God and in the Word of God that was in his Heart and that Word was Christ in him though the Mystery of Christ was not fully revealed unto him at that time and in that state he was accepted of God yet not for his Works sake but for Christ And therefore Men may have a beginning of true Faith and of a true Work of Salvation begun in them when the Mystery of Christ crucified and raised again is not revealed unto them For that Mystery being so great as it is was not in that Day to wit before Christ came and suffered in the Flesh preached as one of the first and most necessary things to be first known and believed as without the Faith and Knowledge of which no Man could be in any degree blessed otherwise when Christ began to Preach he would have preached it as one of the first things and when he sent his Disciples to preach the Gospel before he suffered Death he would have given them an express Commission to preach it to all People how he was to be crucified and raised again the third day but the Mystery of it at that time they knew not and therefore could not preach it then Nor did he preach it himself when he began his Ministry nor for a considerable time afterward● until the time drew near that he was to suffer In all that excellent Sermon of his on the Mount not one Title or Word doth he mention of his Death and Resurrection expresly but he taught the Law and the Prophets and expounded the Spirituality of the Law in its extent far beyond the reach and conception which the People had of it at that time and withal dropped some Evangelical Precepts unto them and taught them the right way of Prayers Fasting and Alms and pronounced them blessed that hungred and thirsted after Righteousness and were poor in Spirit that were Merciful that were Meek and Peace-makers and that mourned c. and suffered for Righteousness sake And therefore it may be very safely concluded that the express Knowledge and Faith of Christ crucified is not of absolute and indispensible necessity especially where it hath not been preached nor revealed unto the beginning of a Man's Salvation although it is really of absolute and indispensible necessity unto the finishing and perfecting of it because as hath been already said our inward renewing unto God when perfected in us is a renewing us perfectly and not in part only into the Image of God and a part of that perfect Image is the perfect Knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ whom to know is Life Eternal and that perfect Knowledge requireth men to know him as he came in the Flesh and died and rose again which is that great Mystery of Godliness as Paul called it 1 Tim. 3.16 But if these Men who own that said Confession of Faith enquire whether all these honest Gentiles that lived in the world or do now live in the world who have not had Christ crucified outwardly preached unto them but were diligent to frame their Lives according to the Light that was in them died in a state of Salvation I say yea they did and this I may the rather say according to their own Doctrin For what if they had not the perfect Knowledge and Faith of Christ crucified when they lived Yet they might have it at their Death to wit in the passing through the Valley of the shadow of Death according to Psal 23.4 Even when they are not able to demonstrate unto the Living what is then revealed unto them And as it is in Job 33.22 23 24. When a Mans Soul draweth near unto the Grave and his Life to the Destroyers there may be a Messenger with him an Interpreter one of a Thousand to show unto Man his Vprightness then he is gracious unto him and saith Deliver him from going down to the Pit I have found a Ransom or Attonement see the Hebr. or Margin of the English Bible Or if I should say they receive this perfect Knowledge of Christ after Death it is according to your Doctrin who say The Souls of the Righteous generally or universally after Death note after Death being then made perfect in Holiness are received into the highest Heavens c. These are the express Words of your Catechism cap. 32. sect 1. But when and how or at what precise time these honest Gentiles who used their greatest diligence to frame their Lives according to the Light that is in them and yet have not had the Death and Resurrection of Christ outwardly preached unto them when they then lived in the World is not my present business to determine It doth suffice that I have demonstrated from Scripture that Men have been in a state of Salvation and acceptance with God who have not had the mystery of Christ his Death and Resurrection made known unto them and surely these Men continuing faithful to what they had received when they died could not perish For it is impossible that any Man who hath the Work of Salvation really begun in him though but as a Child in Knowledge that holdeth fast the beginning of his Confidence firm unto the end

assured that the Spirit of God never teacheth nor leadeth any to think say or do what is contrary to the declared Will of God in the holy Scriptures nor to that holy and righteous Law that is writ by the Finger of God upon the Hearts of Men universally which is the substance of the Decalogue that God writ upon the two Tables of Stone And we readily grant that whoever pretend to follow the Spirit of God to be their inward Guide and Rule should be very cautious and wary lest the evil Spirit that doth and can transform himself into many Likenesses but always short of the Truth step in and deceive But there is a most safe and sure way for every one to be sure that they are not deceived and shall never be in any matter of moment and that is for every one to be faithful unto God in these moral Duties or any other things which they know infallibly and are generally agreed upon by all Christians to be good things for such have the Promise of God that they shall be preserved from being deceived And whereas the said Increase Mather hath writ so many remarkable Judgments of God that have come upon notorious Offenders on purpose to record them in Print and that he saith Cap. 11. We may not judge of Men meerly by outward Accidents which befall them in this World c. And some Lines after he saith Nevertheless a Judgment may be so circumstanced as that the displeasure of Heaven is plainly written upon it in legible Characters And in this he saith true but he should have added that such Men who can read the same must not be blind but have the true Eye opened in them otherwise they will make a wrong Construction of these things There wants to be inserted or added to his Book the many signal and manifest Judgments of God that came upon the People of New-England in general and upon divers particular Persons the main actors for that horrible Persecution they raised against that honest People called Quakers and putting to death four of the Lord's Servants for which the Name of these Actors and Abettors are a stink over many places of the World And of these Judgments in general the blasting of their Wheat generally ever since they put our worthy Friends to Death at Boston and the Indian Wars that soon after followed whereby many English were destroyed And after that but of late Years a dreadful Visitation of the Small-Pox called by some the Black Pock that cut off very many both at Boston and else-where of which they were fore-warned by a Woman that came from Barbadoes and went into some of their Meetings with her Face all made black for a Sign of what was coming upon them she being one of these People called Quakers and owned by them in that very Testimony which she declared she was moved by the Lord to come from Barbadoes to bear among them her Name being Margaret Brewster to which may be added the taking away their Charter and Power which they so grosly abused in turning the Sword against the Innocent one cause of which was their persecuting the Quakers unto Death and the manifest Judgments of God that came upon divers particular Persons notorious Persecutors of that innocent People are very observable as Major Adarton who joyned in passing sentence of Death against some of these Servants of the Lord who suffered Death at Boston who not long after was killed with a Cow and that Horton Preacher at Boston a great Persecutor who dyed suddainly as he was walking in his House after Sermon and Captain Davenport another great Persecutor who was killed with Lightning And though the said Increase Mather doth relate the suddain Deaths of both these men he altogether omitteth these great Circumstances of their being great Persecutors the which ommission whether it was wilfully in him or not I shall not determine But it is the more memorable that the said Major Adarton being warned before-hand of the Judgment of God he made light of it as I was informed by some in New-England who had the Relation of it from some that did so warn him being of that persecuted People And also it is very memorable how one of these persecuted Servants of the Lord called Quakers did plainly fore-tell that the House of Governor Indicot a greater Persecutor should be left desolate and become a Dunghil as did accordingly come to pass and hath been observed by divers to have been a real Prophecy divine Justice and Providence did so bring it about There are many other Instances and Examples might be mentioned some of which I refer to George Bishop his Book called New-England Judged to be there read and considered I shall only add one passage more which I was informed of and had it writ from some of the People of Barnstable how that from an honest-man a Quaker in the Town of Barnstable were taken four Cows with some Calves the Quaker's name being Ralph Jones who is yet alive and these Cattel were taken away by the Preacher of that Town his Son-in-law who had married his Daughter and returned to the Priest as a part of his Wages The Priest sent to Ralph Jones to tell him He might have two of his Cows returned to him if he would send for them But he never sent and so the said Priest used them and disposed of them as his own killed one of the Calfs and sent a part of it to his Daughter that lay in Child-bed she no sooner did eat a little of the Calf but fell into a great trouble and cryed Return home the Man's Cows I hear a great noise of them and so dyed in that trouble The Priest alledged the Quakers had bewitched his Daughter although it cannot be proved that ever they had any business with her But to what evil Construction will not Malice and Hypocrisie and Covetousness bend a thing Some time after the said Preacher killed some of these Cows to be eat in his House saying He would try if the Quakers could bewitch him and not long after he dyed even before the Flesh of these Cows were all eat The passage is so fresh in that Town that it is acknowledged by divers of the Neighbours to be true And as great havock was made upon this honest Man and upon many in Sandwich a neighbouring Town and in many other places so much more might have been expected had not their Violence been restrained by the King 's granting an Indulgence to all tender Consciences Next as to Nath. Morton in his Book called New-England's Memorial pag. 157. he chargeth the Quakers with corrupt and damnable Doctrin in the following particulars 1. That the holy Scriptures were not for the enlightning of Man nor a setled and permanent Rule of Life The which charge is false for we have granted that the Scriptures are a Rule of Life so we do still the best outward Rule that can be found but