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<DATE>2-25-08</DATE>
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<NAME>John Latta</NAME>
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<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>A Fre&s;h Di&s;covery OF THE High-Presbyterian Spirit. OR THE <HI>Quenching of the &s;econd Beacon fired.</HI> DECLARING
<LIST>
<ITEM>I. The Un-Chri&s;tian Dealings of the Authors of a Pam|phlet, Entituled, <HI>A Second Beacon Fired, &amp;c.</HI> In pre&s;ent|ing unto the Lord Protector and Parlament, a fal&s;ified pa&s;&s;age out of one of Mr <HI>John Goodwins</HI> Books, as con|taining, either Bla&s;phemie, or Error, or both.</ITEM>
<ITEM>II. The Evil of their Petition for &s;ubjecting the Libertie of the <HI>Pre&s;s</HI> to the Arbitrarine&s;s and will of a few men.</ITEM>
<ITEM>III. The Chri&s;tian Equity, that &s;atisfaction be given to the Per&s;on &s;o notoriou&s;ly and publickly wronged.</ITEM>
</LIST>
Together with the Re&s;pon&s;atory Epi&s;tle of the &s;aid Beacon Firers, to the &s;aid Mr <HI>Goodwin,</HI> fraught with further revilings, fal&s;ifica|tions, &s;currilous language, &amp;c. in&s;teed of a Chri&s;tian ac|knowledgment of their errour.</P>
<P>Upon which Epi&s;tle &s;ome Animadver&s;ions are made,</P>
<P>By <HI>JOHN GOODWIN,</HI> A Servant of God in the Go&s;pel of his Dear Son.</P>
<Q><P>When I would have healed I&s;rael, the iniquity of Ephraim was Di&s;|covered, and the wickedne&s;s of Samaria, &amp;c.</P>
<BIBL>Ho&s;. 7. 1.</BIBL></Q>
<Q><P>Then were there two theeves crucified with him, the one on the right hand, the other on the left.</P>
<BIBL>Mat. 27. 38.</BIBL></Q>
<Q><P>Humanum e&s;t errare: jacere, belluinum: per&s;everare, Diaboli<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="2 letters">m.</P></Q>
<P>Al&s;o two Letters written &s;ome years &s;ince, the one by the &s;aid <HI>John Goodwin</HI> to Mr. <HI>J. Caryl;</HI> the other, by Mr <HI>Caryl</HI> in An&s;wer hereunto; both relating to the pa&s;&s;age above hinted.</P>
<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed for the Author, and are to be &s;old by <HI>H. Cripps,</HI> and <HI>L. Ll.</HI> in Popes head Alley. 1654.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="1" REF="2">
<HEAD>To the Reader.</HEAD>
<P>_GOOD Reader, I &s;hal not impo&s;e upon ei|ther thy Time, or thy Patience, at pre&s;ent: the brief of the Story is this. Six <HI>London</HI> Book-&s;ellers, who&s;e Names thou wilt finde mentioned in the &s;uper&s;cription of the next en&s;uing Letter, and &s;ub&s;cribed to the &s;econd, all (as it &s;hould &s;eem) devout homagers to the Presbyteri|an fraternity of <HI>Sion</HI> Colledg, not long after the fir&s;t &s;itting of the pre&s;ent Parliament, pre&s;ented to the Lord Protector, and the Parliament, a &s;mall Pamphlet, inti|tuled, <HI>A Second Beacon Fired.</HI> In this Pamphlet amongst Errors and Bla&s;phemies (by them &s;o called, and &s;ome of them, in my judgment, too truly &s;uch) they cite &s;ome words of mine, which, and as, they plea&s;e, out of a pa&s;sage of my Book of <HI>Redemption,</HI> leaving out others, which give the &s;ence and import of the pa&s;&s;age: The&s;e words, thus Sycophantly and traducingly &s;evered from their fellows in the &s;ame Sentence, they pre&s;ent to the Lord Protector and Parliament, as containing in them Bla&s;phemie and Error. It was &s;ome while after
<PB REF="3">
the pre&s;entment of the &s;aid Pamphlet, before I came to the &s;ight, or knowledg of it. At la&s;t hearing that &s;ome|what publi&s;hed by me was listed in their Mu&s;ter-Role of <HI>Here&s;ies and Errors,</HI> to &s;erve the de&s;ign of their Petition for the Re&s;traint of the Pre&s;s, as al&s;o of their no-Chri&s;tian intendments again&s;t me otherwi&s;e, I pur|cha&s;ed a &s;ight of the Pamphlet; and comparing the tran&s;cription, as they had mangled and misfigured it, with my words related unto by them&s;elves, I found my &s;elf mo&s;t notoriou&s;ly wronged and abu&s;ed. Hereupon I wrote and &s;ent a Letter to the &s;aid Gentlemen Book-Sellers, de&s;iring Christian and equitable reparations (expre&s;&s;ed in the &s;aid Letter) of my Name and Repute, which they had not a little damni&s;ied by that egregious fal&s;ification of my words, &s;ence, and meaning. The&s;e Gentlemen, in &s;tead of giving me that &s;atisfaction, which Christianity and Con&s;cience required at their hands, return me &s;uch an An&s;wer in Writing to my Let|ter, as if they had taken unto them&s;elves &s;even &s;pirits wor&s;e then that, by which they or who&s;oever for them, in|dited the &s;aid Pamphlet, &amp; the fal&s;ifications thereof, ad|ing drunkenne&s;s to thir&s;t, multiplying reproaches, &s;lan|ders, &amp; revilings (as the ten Tribes &s;omtimes did their Idolatrous Altars) like the furrows in the Field: and are &s;o far from acknowledging any wrong done unto me by mi&s;-u&s;ing me, and my words, that they ju&s;tifie them&s;elvs in that high mi&s;demeanour, and &s;eem to think that they do God &s;ervice in &s;training the peg of that iniquity yet higher. Notwith&s;tanding I may (I &s;uppo&s;e) cleerly and fully acquit the &s;aid Gentlemen Book-&s;ellers from the guilt and crime of inditeing, or drawing up, the &s;aid re&s;pon&s;atorie writing: this I judg to be the froath and
<PB REF="3">
foam of another Spirit, which &s;ome yeers &s;ince leapt up|on me, and attempted to rend and tear me:</P>
<P>Sic oculos, &s;ic ille manus, &s;ic ora ferebat:</P>
<P>Such eyes, &s;uch hands, &s;uch mouth that &s;pirit had. Only the &s;aid Gentlemen have involved them&s;elves in the guilt of the un-Chri&s;tian Contents of the &s;aid writing, by con&s;ent, and &s;ub&s;cription, and po&s;&s;ibly by &s;o|licitation al&s;o; although I rather incline to think, that the Penman was cho&s;en and reque&s;ted to the work, not by men that u&s;e to &s;ell, but by &s;ome who are more fre|quently wont to buy, Books. That Motto in their title Page, <HI>For Sions &s;ake we cannot hold our peace,</HI> who&s;e device &s;o ever it was, &s;eems, by the Contents of the Book, not to be meant of <HI>Sion,</HI> in the common ac|ceptation of the word, <HI>viz.</HI> as it &s;ignifies the Church of God, but rather of <HI>Sion</HI> Colledg in <HI>London.</HI> For cer|tain it is that the Book or Pamphlet is not calculated with any relation at all, except it be that of oppo&s;ition, to the Intere&s;t of the Church of God; but mo&s;t exactly for the Intere&s;t of <HI>Sion</HI> Colledg and her children. Doubtle&s;s who&s;oever was the Epistler, or Enditer of the &s;aid An&s;wer to my Letter, might have &s;tood in the High Priests Hall without danger: his &s;peech would never have bewrayed him to have been of <HI>Galilee.</HI> I have, in the days of my Pilgrimage, both &s;een, and heard of many Writings fraught with much more then enough of that which is vile, and &s;infully extravagant in men: but to this day never did mine eye &s;ee, nor mine ear hear of, nor will it ea&s;ily enter into my heart to beleeve, that ever there was any Piece (for the inches of it) fuller of that which is un-Chri&s;tian, yea, un|man-like, as of mo&s;t notorious and broad-fac'd untruths
<PB REF="4">
(of &s;uch obvious and ea&s;ie an eviction) &s;uch bold &s;lan|ders, &s;uch childi&s;h cavils, wre&s;tings, and perverting of words, &s;uch &s;currilous and un&s;eemly language, &s;uch ridiculous quarrelings and exceptings again&s;t manife&s;t truths, &s;uch revengeful &s;uggestions and in&s;inuations (with many other unworthine&s;&s;es) then that letter of theirs, here pre&s;ented unto the world. It may be justly &s;aid unto them, Many Writers have done fooli&s;hly, but you &s;urpa&s;s them all. Their letter is for a writing, what he was for a man, who&s;e character was, <HI>Mon&s;trum nulla virtute Redemptum A vitiis.</HI> There is nothing &s;avorie or Chri&s;tian in it, to balance in the lea&s;t the high demerit of it.</P>
<P>Therefore as <HI>Paul,</HI> having received reproachfull mea&s;ure from men, and tho&s;e faling in their duty, who ought to have vindicated him, complaines that he was <HI>compelled</HI> him&s;elf to appear in his own vindication, which otherwi&s;e he had rather &s;hould have been the work of others; in like manner am I compelled once again to take hold of &s;hield and Buckler in mine own defence, and either to make, or to keep, tho&s;e things concerning my &s;elf, streight in the minds and thoughts of men, (if it may be) which men of mo&s;t untrue &s;ugge&s;tions have endeavoured to pervert, and make crooked.</P>
<P>For thine accommodation about the Animadver&s;ions made upon the Book-&s;ellers Epi&s;tle, and for the ready application of them in their re&s;pective branches, to the particular pa&s;&s;ages in this Letter, unto which they (re&s;pectively) relate, I have distingui&s;hed their Letter into twenty two Sections; and again di&s;tingui&s;hed the&s;e by letters of the Alphabet, where any Animadver&s;ion is particularly made upon them, which readily lead thee to
<PB REF="4">
their appropriate pa&s;&s;ages in the &s;ubjoyned Animadver|&s;ions, characterized by the &s;ame Letter al&s;o.</P>
<P>And becau&s;e the Gentlemen Book-&s;ellers, or rather, the &s;on of their right hand (their <HI>Amanuen&s;is</HI>) chal|lenge me to print <HI>Mr Caryls</HI> Letter about the pa&s;&s;age of their fal&s;ification, &s;ent unto me &s;ome years &s;ince, and threaten me that they may do it for me, if I will not, glorying over this Letter, as if the publi&s;hing of it would confound me, and that the rea&s;ons therein again&s;t the &s;aid pa&s;&s;age in my book, were &s;o &s;atisfactory, that they did effectually &s;ilence me; I have therefore publi&s;hed both this Letter of his to me, and mine al&s;o to him, which occa&s;ioned it. The truth is, I had Printed both the&s;e Letters pre&s;ently upon their writing and &s;ending, but only for a clau&s;e in <HI>Mr Caryls</HI> Let|ter (towards the clo&s;e of it) wherein he in&s;inuates his unwillingne&s;s to have pa&s;sages of that nature made pub|lique. So that it was cleerly, and as in the pre&s;ence of God, only out of my re&s;pects to <HI>Mr Caryl,</HI> that I then forbare the printing of them, and &s;hould have done &s;o &s;till, had not the&s;e importune Sons of high Presbitery thus reproachfully and triumphingly clamour'd upon me to do it. But as for any rea&s;ons against the &s;aid pa&s;&s;age, either &s;atisfactory, or un&s;atisfastory, that Let|ter mentioneth none, unle&s;s it be the a&s;&s;erting of the Au|thors own judgement and &s;ome other mens, in the point, in oppo&s;ition unto mine, notwith&s;tanding any thing offer|ed by me in my book. If either the Book-&s;ellers, or Book-buyers, judg this a rea&s;on &s;o <HI>&s;atisfactory, as ef|fectually to &s;ilence me for ever,</HI> I cannot but juag them to be of the race and lineage of tho&s;e, who are owerea&s;ie of &s;atisfaction for their own carnal advan|tage
<PB REF="5">
Be&s;ides, of &s;uch a rea&s;on as this, I was not, nor lightly could be ignorant, before <HI>Mr Caryls</HI> Let|ter came to me.</P>
<P>Concerning this Letter; with that of the Book-&s;ell|ers, I have delivered the Autographons them&s;elves unto the Printer, that there may be no mi&s;take in the printing of the&s;e, unle&s;s (haply) Typographical, which notwith&s;tanding, I &s;hall endcavour to prevent. For my own two Letters, not having by me the Copies them|&s;elves, which were &s;ent, but being nece&s;sitated to make u&s;e of the rough draughts, po&s;&s;ibly there may be &s;ome variation in words, although my de&s;ire &s;tandeth, as neer as may be, to varie in nothing, e&s;pecially with|out giving notice of the variation, where I have any knowledg of it. This I &s;peak becau&s;e of the capriti|ous weakne&s;s of my Antagoni&s;ts, who on the one hand, are wont to make a long arme to reach pretexts and oc|ca&s;ions of cavilling, and on the other, to complain of the gra&s;hopper as a burthen.</P>
<P>Such per&s;onal conte&s;ts as the&s;e have always been the regret of my <HI>Genius:</HI> and if I thought not that my repu|tation were, or may be of more concernment unto others, then I judge it to be to my &s;elf, I &s;hould not move, heart, hand, or foot, to pur&s;ue the re&s;cue; but abandon it to the lu&s;t and folly of tho&s;e, who have attempted to make a prey and &s;poil of it: But I remember a good &s;aying of <HI>Au&s;tine; For our &s;elves</HI> (Brethren) <HI>our con&s;cience &s;ufficeth, but for you, our name al&s;o had need be excellent</HI><NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Nobis, fra|tres, &s;uff cit con&s;cientia no&s;tra: &s;ed propter vos etiam fama pollere debet.</NOTE>: and <HI>Jerom's</HI> advice was, that no <HI>man &s;hould &s;it &s;till under</HI> a &s;u&s;pition, or <HI>charge, of He|re&s;ie</HI><NOTE N="b" PLACE="marg">In &s;n&s;pici|one Here&s;eos nolo quen|quam e&s;&s;e pa|tientem.</NOTE>.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides, this con&s;ideration, that by how much a fur|ther
<PB REF="5">
and fuller di&s;covery is made of the folly, or mad|ne&s;s, (as the word <GAP DESC="foreign"> was Engli&s;hed in our former Tran&s;lation, <HI>2 Tim. 3. 9.</HI>) of tho&s;e, who re&s;i&s;t the Truth, they have &s;o much the le&s;s time remaining to endanger the world by &s;uch a practi&s;e; this con&s;idera|tion (I &s;ay) did balance the aver&s;ene&s;s of my di&s;po&s;ition to the work. <HI>Now as Jannes and Jambres</HI> (&s;aith the Apostle) <HI>with&s;tood</HI> Mo&s;es, <HI>&s;o do the&s;e al&s;o re&s;i&s;t the Truth: men of corrupt minds, in-judicious con|concerning the Faith. But they &s;hall proceed no further; for their folly &s;hall be manife&s;t unto all men, as theirs al&s;o was ^c.</HI> It is always folly, if not madne&s;s, which ingageth men in a re&s;istance of the truth; yea it is one of the&s;e which cau&s;eth men to per|&s;i&s;t in this practi&s;e. By means hereof, it cannot but in time utter and di&s;cover it &s;elf. For that which is active, e&s;pecially in matters and ca&s;es of publique and weighty con&s;ideration, mu&s;t needs ere long bewray it's <HI>Genius,</HI> nature, and property, at lea&s;t unto tho&s;e, who are intelligent and apprehen&s;ive; who being lovers of Truth, and of the peace and comforts of men, cannot for|bear the communication of their vi&s;ion; and in ca&s;e that which they &s;ee in this kind, be of any evil or dange|rous import unto men, they cannot but give the mo&s;t publique notice of it accordingly unto the world. And when the generallity of per&s;ons &s;hall he brought to un|der&s;tand and &s;ee the folly or madne&s;s of men in any cour&s;e or way of acting, wherein they have been deceiv|ed and injured by them, they will for the future, abhor their practi&s;es, and buy their merchandi&s;e no more. I tru&s;t this &s;mall piece may do &s;ome &s;ervice unto the world in promoting and perfecting the di&s;covery of the folly
<PB REF="6">
of tho&s;e men, who re&s;i&s;t that great Evangelical truth (with its complices) which a&s;&s;erteth, That God, with his Antecedent and primary Intentions, intended the Salvation of the whole world by <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI> Or however God, and the con&s;ciences of other men, &s;hall agree about the event and &s;ucce&s;e of it, it here prefents ts &s;ervice unto thee (Good Reader) together with the Chri&s;tian re&s;pects, and further &s;ervice, of</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Thy cordially devoted Friend<LB>
and Servant in Chri&s;t,<LB>
John Goodwin</SIGNED>
<DATELINE>From my Study.<LB>
<DATE>Decem. 12. 1654.</DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB N="1" REF="6">
<HEAD>M^r John Goodwins Letter, Endor&s;ed.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>To my Chri&s;tian Friends, M^r <HI>Thomas Underhill,</HI> M^r <HI>Samuel Gellibrand,</HI> M^r <HI>Iohn Rothwel,</HI> M^r <HI>Luke Fawn,</HI> M^r <HI>Io&s;hua Kirton,</HI> M^r <HI>Nathaniel Webb;</HI> or any one, or more, of them, The&s;e pre&s;ent.</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>GEntlemen; A few dayes &s;ince, an ill-conditioned Pam|phlet, entituled, A <HI>&s;econd Beacon fired,</HI> pre&s;ented to the Lord Protector and Parliament, fell into my hands. I find all your names &s;ub-printed to it; but know not whe|ther your hearts be to it, and were con&s;enting to the pub|li&s;hing and pre&s;entment of it; or whether &s;ome Son of <HI>Belial,</HI> one, or more, taking the advantage (it may be) of &s;ome of your known weakne&s;&s;es, and de&s;irous to di&s;port them&s;elves (and po&s;&s;ibly others al&s;o) with your di&s;paragement, did not, without your privity or con&s;ent, borrow your Names to father &s;o hard-favoured a Birth of their own. The rea|&s;ons why I cannot but a little (at lea&s;t) demur, whether the piece be yours, or no&punc; are. 1. Becau&s;e I find in it mo&s;t un-Chri&s;tian fal&s;ification, even that which &s;ome would call Forgerie. 2. Becau&s;e I find in it likewi&s;e, &s;uch coun&s;els offered Petition-wi&s;e to the Lord Protector and Parliament, under a pretext of Godline&s;s, and zeal for <HI>Sion,</HI> which are ob&s;tructive, if not de&s;tructive, to the pro&s;perity and Sove|reign intere&s;t of both. 3. And la&s;tly, there is a &s;ent or &s;mell of &s;uch a &s;pirit, in the &s;aid Pamphlet, which teacheth men to &s;uppo&s;e that gain is Godline&s;s. I confe&s;s, that notwith&s;tanding any per&s;onal knowledg I have of you, or any of you, the Pamphlet may be yours under all the three characters of unworthine&s;s now &s;pecified: for I know none of you beyond the face, and only one of you, &s;o far; yet report hath &s;o far befriended &s;ome of you in my thoughts, that I am hardly able to conclude you all under the guilt of the &s;hameful and un&punc; Chri&s;tian enormities, which dare look the Parliament and the world in the face, out of tho&s;e Pa|pers. For (to touch the fir&s;t in one in&s;tance only, not
<PB N="2" REF="7">
having opportunity of making proof of more at the pre|&s;ent.)</P>
<P>Page 4. (of the &s;aid Pamphlet) this ab&s;urd pa&s;&s;age is charged upon me in my Book of Redemption, pag. 33&punc; 5. <HI>That in ca&s;e any a&s;&s;ureance of the unchaugeablene&s;s of Gods Love, were to be found in, or regularly deduced from, the Scrip|tures, it were a ju&s;t ground to any intelligent man to que&s;tion their Authority, and whether they were from God, or no.</HI> Surely they who lay this &s;aying to my charge, may with as much hone&s;ty and con&s;cience, yea, and with as much appearance of truth, impeach <HI>David</HI> as guilty of &s;aying, <HI>There is no God, P&s;al.</HI> 14. 1. or make the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul,</HI> to &s;ay, <HI>Rom. 10. 9. If thou &s;halt confe&s;s with thy mouth the Lord Je&s;us, thou &s;halt be &s;aved.</HI> For though the&s;e words are to be found in the&s;e &s;acred&punc; Authors (re&s;pectively) yet the &s;ence they make, otherwi&s;e then in con&s;ort of the other words re|lating in their re&s;pective periods unto them, was as far from their Authors meaning&punc; as the Heavens are from the Earth. <HI>David</HI> was far enough from affirming, that <HI>There is no God:</HI> and <HI>Paul,</HI> from &s;aying, that <HI>If a man &s;hall with his mouth con|fe&s;s the Lord Je&s;us, he &s;hall be &s;aved;</HI> yet the words, of which both &s;ayings con&s;i&s;t, are extant in their writings. In like manner the Beacon-Firers, whoever they be, you, or others (for I &s;hall not charge you with the folly, but upon better evidence) commit the foul &s;in of Forgery, in making me &s;ay, in their&punc; pretended Tran&s;cription out of my Book, that <HI>In ca&s;e any a&s;&s;ureance of the unchangeablene&s;s of Gods&punc; Love were to be found, or could regularly be deduced from the Seriptures, &amp;c.</HI> Whereas (be&s;ides &s;everal other words in the &s;en|tence) they leave out the characteri&s;tical word, <HI>Such, [any Such a&s;&s;ureance of the unchangeablene&s;s &amp;c.]</HI> the word, that is the Heart, Spirit and Soul of the &s;entence, that gives a mo&s;t rational and Orthodox ta&s;te and reli&s;h to the whole Period, and without which, the pa&s;&s;age contains no more my &s;en&s;e or judgment, then theirs who forged the Tran|&s;cription. For my &s;ence and opinion, which I argue and a&s;&s;ert in &s;everal places (upon occa&s;ion) in my &s;aid Book of Redemption (as <HI>viz. p.</HI> 63. 64. and again, <HI>p. 278. &amp;c.</HI>) cleerly and expre&s;ly is, that <HI>The Love of God, as all his Coun|&s;els
<PB N="3" REF="7">
and Decrees, is unchangeable;</HI> and con&s;equently, that an a&s;&s;ureance of this unchangeablene&s;s is regularly enough deduceible from the Scriptures, and this without any pre|judice to their divine Authority; yea rather to the e&s;ta|bli&s;hment and confirmation hereof. So far am I, either from thinking, or &s;aying, that if in ca&s;e <HI>any a&s;&s;ureance</HI> of the <HI>unchangeablene&s;s</HI> of Gods Love, were to be found in, or could regularly be deduced from the Scriptures, it were a ju&s;t ground to any intelligent man to que&s;tion their Autho|rity, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Therefore they who have accu&s;ed me, e&s;pecially unto a Parliament, of &s;uch a &s;aying, have the greater &s;in. That kind of unchangeablene&s;s of Gods Love, the a&s;&s;ure|ance of which, I affirm, were it to be found in, or regular|ly to be deduced from, the Scriptures, would be a ju&s;t ground to an intelligent and con&s;idering man to que&s;tion their Au|thority; <HI>&amp;c.</HI> I had imediately before de&s;cribed, and be&s;ides, &s;ufficiently explained in the rea&s;on of the &s;aid a&s;&s;ertion, which I imediately &s;ubjoyn in the&s;e words. <HI>Forthat a God, infinitely righteous and Holy, &s;hould irrever&s;ibly a&s;&s;ure the immortal and undefiled inheritance of his Grace and &s;avour unto any creature what&s;oever, &s;o that though this Craeture &s;hould prove never &s;o abominable in his &s;ight, never &s;o out|ragiou&s;ly and de&s;perately wicked and prophance, he &s;hould not be at liberty to withhold this Inheritance from him, is a &s;aying (doubtle&s;s) too hard for any man, who rightly under&s;tands and con&s;iders the Nature of God, to bear.</HI> From the&s;e words it plainly enough appears, that it is not <HI>any a&s;&s;ureance</HI> of the unchangeablene&s;s of Gods Love, as the Beacon-firers mo&s;t un-Chri&s;tianly and uncon&s;cionably &s;ugge&s;t to the Parliament, and (indeed) to the world, which I conceive to be a ju&s;t ground to any intelligent and con&s;idering man to que&s;tion the Authority of the Scriptures, in ca&s;e it could either be found in, or drawn from them; but <HI>&s;uch</HI> an a&s;&s;ureance hereof, by vertue of which, men turning a&s;ide from <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> after <HI>Satan,</HI> from ways of righteou&s;ne&s;s and of truth, to walk in ways of all manner of loo&s;ne&s;s and profanene&s;s, may notwith&s;tanding with a &s;ecure confidence, promi&s;e &s;alvation unto them&s;elves, and that God will never take away his love from them. And whether &s;uch an a&s;&s;ureance of the un|changeablene&s;s
<PB N="4" REF="8">
of Gods Love, as this, were the Scriptures any ways confederate with it, (which far be it from every Chri&s;tian Soul to imagine) would not be derogatory or pre|judicial in the Highe&s;t to their Authority, let the Beacon|firers them&s;elves, or any other per&s;ons, who make any con&s;cience of putting a difference between God and the De|vil, judg and determine.</P>
<P>If I were a per&s;on prone to jealou&s;ie, or de&s;ired to make any further breach upon mens reputations, then only for the nece&s;&s;ary reparations of the truth injured by them, I could &s;ugge&s;t this Query to the thoughts of men; Whether it be not likely, that they, who thus palpably and notoriou&s;ly have fal&s;ified the writings of one, have not committed the &s;ame folly in the re&s;t of their Tran&s;criptions from the writ|ings of others? con&s;idering that it is a &s;aying in the civil Law: <HI>He that hath injured one, hath threatened many.</HI> and our Sa|viour him&s;elf; <HI>He that is faithful in that which is lea&s;t, is faithful in much: and he that is unju&s;t in the lea&s;t, is unju&s;t al&s;o in much, Luke</HI> 16. 10. But no more of this at pre|&s;ent.</P>
<P>2. That pernicious Coun&s;el again&s;t the liberty of Printing and for the &s;ubjecting of all the learning, gifts, parts and abili|ties of all the worthy men in the Nation, unto the humor and conceit of a few men, who for their comporting with the Religion of the times, &s;hall be &s;irnamed, Orthodox, which the &s;aid Beacon-firers do (in effect) very pa&s;&s;ionately &s;ugge&s;t aud commend unto the Parliament, (<HI>p.</HI> 11.) and which, were it put in execution according to the terms of the &s;ugge&s;tion, would certainly fire both Citie, and Coun|trie, as well as <HI>Beacons,</HI> &s;hould (me think) argue the <HI>&s;e|cond Beacon</HI> not to be of your <HI>firing.</HI> For you are reputed friends unto <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t;</HI> and to the truth: and con&s;e|quently who can imagine that you &s;hould give any &s;uch ad|vice, e&s;pecially unto a Parliament, which is of an ob&s;tructive, at lea&s;t of a threatening import, to the advancement, and further di&s;covery of <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t</HI> unto the world, yea and which, were it pur&s;ued by tho&s;e, to whom it&punc; is given, can|not (in greate&s;t likelyhood) but &s;ort to an i&s;&s;ue or con&s;e|quence, quite contrary to that, whereunto it pretends; I
<PB N="5" REF="8">
mean, to a further propagating and &s;preading of errors and un&s;ound Doctrines and Opinions in the Land; and for the ju&s;tification whereof, there is neither footing nor foun|dation in the Scriptures. For,</P>
<P>1. Where doth the Lord Chri&s;t, authorize any per&s;on, or per&s;ons, of what capacity &s;oever, to authorize or appoint a|ny number of men, whom they &s;hall plea&s;e to call Ortho|dox (whether they be &s;uch, or no) yea or tho&s;e, which are &s;uch indeed, to &s;ay unto the Holy Gho&s;t; nothing which thou reveale&s;t unto other men, be it never &s;o much for the glorifying of the name of God, of never &s;uch worthy and &s;acred concernment unto the world, &s;hall publickly go forth into the world, unle&s;&s;e thou wilt reveal the &s;ame unto us al|&s;o, and make us partakers of the Vi&s;ion, as well as others? Or doth not the <HI>Beacon-firers,</HI> very pa&s;&s;ionately and impor|tunely tempt men in authority to a&s;&s;ume unto them&s;elves &s;uch an exorbitant and prodigious power, as this; I mean, to authorize a certain number of men, who &s;hall, in their &s;ence, be Orthodox; though according to the &s;ence of as un|der&s;tanding men, and (probably according) to the truth it &s;elf, be as erroneous in their judgement as other men, to word it is (in effect) at &s;uch a rate with the Holy Gho&s;t?</P>
<P>2. What ground is there in the Word of God for the in|ve&s;ting of <HI>Edmund</HI> (for example) <HI>Arthur,</HI> and <HI>William,</HI> with a <HI>Nebuchadnezzarean</HI> power over the Pre&s;s, to &s;tifle or &s;lay what books they plea&s;e, and what they plea&s;e, to keep alive; more then there is for the inve&s;ting of <HI>Jo&s;huah, Peter,</HI> and <HI>Tobiah,</HI> with the &s;ame? Or if the three latter be altogether as religious, as judicious, as learned, as the three former, by what rule of equity, rea&s;on, or con&s;cience, &s;hould they be more obnoxious in their writings, and publication of them, to the cen&s;ure and di&s;approbation of the&s;e, then the&s;e in their writings unto them? Or by what rule delivered in the Word of God &s;hall any man judge the three former, either more religious, learned, or judicious, and &s;o more meet for the intru&s;tment under con&s;ideration, then the latter?</P>
<P>3. Whether hath the Holy Gho&s;t any where characteri|zed, or declared what qualifications are requi&s;ite and meet, to be found in &s;uch per&s;ons, who &s;hall bee &s;et over the Pre&s;s
<PB N="6" REF="9">
and be intru&s;ted with &s;uch a &s;overaignty of power, as by which they &s;hall be inabled to fill the world with books and writings, for the advancement of their own faction, or for the propogation of their own erroneous, (and perhaps dan|gerous) conceits, and on the other hand, to &s;uppre&s;&s;e what&s;oever &s;hall bee prepared by men of &s;olid and &s;ound judgements for the detection, and eviction of their folly in &s;uch ca&s;es?</P>
<P>4. Is not the granting of &s;uch a power over the pre&s;&s;e, as the Beacon firers in the great heat of their devotion and zeal, &s;ollicite the Parliament to ve&s;t in a certain number of men, ill con&s;i&s;tent with the intere&s;t and benefit of a free Common|wealth, and of like nature and con&s;ideration with the grant|ing of Monopolies? Or may not the Commonwealth deeply &s;uffer by the exerci&s;e of &s;uch a power, in being thereby de|prived of the u&s;e and benefit of the gifts, parts, experiments, diligence and labours of many her worthy members?</P>
<P>5. Who are in a regular capacity of power, to nominate and appoint &s;uch per&s;ons, to whom the &s;aid power over the Pre&s;s ought to be committed? If it be &s;aid, the civil Magi&s;trate. 1. I would gladly know of the <HI>Beacen-firers,</HI> who hath de|legated &s;uch a power or authority unto him, or in what part of the Word of God, any &s;uch power is a&s;&s;erted unto him. 2. Whether the &s;aid power over the Pre&s;s bee an Eccle&s;i|a&s;tick, or civil power? If it be the latter, how are men &s;et a|part for the mini&s;tery of the Word of God, and prayer, ca|pable of the inve&s;titure? If it be the former, how is the civil Magi&s;trate in a capacity of conferring it, or inve&s;ting any man with it?</P>
<P>6. If the Supream Magi&s;trate in a State or Common|wealth, be allowed a power to inve&s;t what per&s;ons he plea|&s;eth with &s;uch a power over the Pre&s;s, as the <HI>Beacon-firers</HI> demand, is it not to be expected that onely &s;uch per&s;ons &s;hall be deputed to this tru&s;t by him, which are of his own &s;ence and judgement in matters of Religion, and con&s;e|quently who &s;hall comply with a State Religion? And are men of this character competent Arbitrators, between per|&s;ons of their own party and per&s;wa&s;ion, and tho&s;e who are contrary minded to them, in their conte&s;ts about truth and
<PB N="7" REF="9">
errour? And in ca&s;e the Magi&s;trate him&s;elf &s;hall be un&s;ound in the faith (as men of this Order have no priviledge of ex|emption from errour, more then other men; nay, they are under more and greater temptations, then other men, to be carried a&s;ide in their judgements from the truth) if then (I &s;ay) the Magi&s;trate be of an un&s;ound judgement in things appertaining unto God, &s;hall not our Pre&s;s-Ma&s;ters be un|&s;ound al&s;o; and con&s;equently, &s;hall we not have errour countenanced and &s;et at liberty, and truth impri&s;oned, and condemned to &s;ilence and ob&s;curity?</P>
<P>7. Shall not &s;uch men who &s;hall undertake the admini|&s;tration of &s;uch a power, by which the Pre&s;s &s;hall bee &s;uffer|ed to &s;peak when they plea&s;e, and be compelled to keep &s;i|lence when they plea&s;e likewi&s;e, run an extream hazard of fighting again&s;t God? Or to reject and repel the Holy Gho&s;t, when he &s;hall at any time be de&s;irous to come forth by the way of the Pre&s;s, into the world with any new Di&s;co|very of Truth, is this any thing le&s;&s;e (being interpreted) then a fighting again&s;t God? Or do they, who know but in part, univer&s;ally or infallibly know, when the &s;pirit of truth, and when the &s;pirit of errour is de&s;irous to come abroad into the world?</P>
<P>8. Doth not a power of gagging the Pre&s;s, when men plea&s;e, carry a dangerous Antipathy in it to that Evangelical charge, or precept, impo&s;ed upon all men, whereby they are commanded by God to try all things, and particularly to try the &s;pirits, whether they be of God or no? For if ma|ny things, or many &s;pirits of Doctrines be not &s;uffered to come to the knowledge of men, how &s;hall they be able to try them? Do not then the Beacon-firers, by their coun&s;el given to the Lord Protector and Parliament, for the re&s;trai|ning of the Pre&s;&s;e, render that great commandement of God for the trial of all things, of none effect?</P>
<P>9. And la&s;tly, That great evill of the infectious &s;preading of errours and here&s;ies in the Nation, the prevention where|of the &s;aid advice given touching the Pre&s;s, pretendeth un|to, is not likely to be at all prevented, but promoted ra|ther, by it, &s;hould it he followed and put in execution. For,</P>
<P><PB N="8" REF="10">1. (As the &s;aying is) <HI>Quod licet ingratum e&s;t, quod non licet, acrius urit.</HI>
<Q><L>What Laws permit to do, to do</L>
<L>Men do not much de&s;ire:</L>
<L>But what re&s;trained is, to do</L>
<L>They burn as hot as Fire.</L></Q></P>
<P>And the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> him&s;elf &s;aith; That <HI>Sin taking occa|&s;ion by the commandement, wrought in him all manner of concu|pi&s;cence. For without the Law, Sin is dead.</HI> Rom, 7. 8. And little que&s;tion there is, but that in ca&s;e the liberty of the Pre&s;s &s;hall bee by any law re&s;treined, they who otherwi&s;e would be but indifferent whether they publi&s;hed in Print their weak, it may be their erroneous and wicked concepti|ons, or no, will be hereby admoni&s;hed and provoked to do it, though more &s;ecretly. Stollen Waters are &s;weet.</P>
<P>2. In ca&s;e they &s;hall by any &s;uch law of re&s;traint, be kept from venting their fond and uncouth notions by the Pre&s;s, or &s;hall by the Ma&s;ters of the Pre&s;s bee prohibited the Printing of them, they will by way of indignation and revenge be &s;o much the more zealou&s;ly diligent and intent to propagate them underhand, and privately; and probably gain many more di&s;ciples this way, then by the other. <HI>The prophane and vain babling of</HI> Hymeneus <HI>and</HI> Philetus <HI>fretted like a Canker,</HI> although they wanted the opportunity of a Pre&s;s for their propagation.</P>
<P>3. When the generality of people &s;hal under&s;tand that the publi&s;hing of &s;uch or &s;uch notions, or Tenents, hath been re&s;trained and ob&s;tructed by tho&s;e, who &s;hall exerci&s;e an ar|bitrary dominion over the Pre&s;&s;e, it will (in rea&s;on) both occa&s;ion them to think the better of them, or at lea&s;t to think that there is &s;omewhat more then ordinary in them, in one kind, or other; and con&s;equently, they will be awake|ned and &s;tirred in their &s;pirits to inquire more narrowly af|ter them, and to acquaint them&s;elves with them. So that in this re&s;pect al&s;o there is little like to be gained towards the &s;uppre&s;&s;ion of errors and here&s;ies, by &s;ubjecting the Pre&s;&s;e unto a Te&s;t.</P>
<P><PB N="9" REF="10">4. The &s;etting of Watchmen with authority at the door of the Pre&s;&s;e to keep errors and here&s;ies out of the world, is as weak a project and de&s;ign, as it would be to &s;et a compa|ny of armed men about an hou&s;e to keep darkne&s;&s;e out of it in the night &s;ea&s;on. For as the natural darkne&s;&s;e cannot be prevented, or di&s;pelled, but by the pre&s;ence of light, nor nee|deth there to be any thing, either for the preventing or di&s;|pelling it, but light onely: So neither is it po&s;&s;ible either to prevent, or to remove, errors and here&s;ies, which are &s;pi|ritual darkne&s;&s;e, but onely by &s;hining &s;piritual light in the hea<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ts and under&s;tandings of men; neither needeth there any thing but this to effect either.</P>
<P>5. Errors and Here&s;ies, the le&s;&s;e they play in &s;ight, are like to defend them&s;elves upon terms of more advantage, and to lengthen out the daies of their continuance among&s;t men for the longer time. For by this means they are kept from the clear and di&s;tinct knowledge of judicious and learned men, who otherwi&s;e, being both able and willing to perform &s;o worthy a &s;ervice both unto God and men, would publick|ly detect and confute them. And I verily beleeve that the printing of <HI>J. Biddles</HI> mo&s;t enormous and hideous notions, and conceits about the nature of God, and &s;ome other very weighty points in religion, will bring the judgement of <HI>bloody and deceitfull men upon them,</HI> which (according to <HI>Davids</HI> Award) is, <HI>not to live cut half their daies. P&s;al,</HI> 55. 23, For as the great Apo&s;tles rea&s;oneth concerning &s;uch Teachers, whom he calleth men of corrupt minds <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>injudicieus,</HI> or without judgement, <HI>about matters of Faith, But</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>they &s;hal proceed no further for their madne&s;&s;e &s;hall be manife&s;t unto all men; as theirs al&s;o was;</HI> &s;o is it very rea&s;onable to conceive and judge, that the more generally and publickly any vile, wicked, or bla&s;phemous conceit &s;hall di&s;cover and manife&s;t it &s;elf unto men, it is &s;o much the nearer to become the loathing and abhorring of all men. Nor do the <HI>Beacon-firers</HI> argue like worthy men, when from the numbers of unworthy books printed, they infer the number of buyers, and from hence conclude the number of per&s;ons, either infected with, or inclined to, the errors contained and pleaded for, in tho&s;e books. For who
<PB N="10" REF="11">
noweth not that many men, e&s;pecially Mini&s;ters, Schollars, and learned men, buy many books, not with any intent to &s;ay as they &s;ay, or to &s;ide in opinion with their Authors, but partly to inform them&s;elves concerning the &s;pirits that come abroad into the world, partly to rebuke and confute them upon occa&s;ion, in ca&s;e they &s;ee cau&s;e for it?</P>
<P>6. (And la&s;tly for this) The Go&s;pel, and the truth never flou|ri&s;hed, pro&s;pered, &amp; triumphed at an higher rate in the world, then when errors and here&s;ies were no otherwi&s;e re&s;treined, puni&s;hed, or oppo&s;ed, then by tho&s;e &s;piritual means, which God him&s;elf hath &s;anctified and pre&s;cribed in this behalf, as <HI>viz.</HI> by the effectual preaching of the Go&s;pel, the &s;topping of the mouths of the gain-&s;ayers of truth by arguments of convicti|on, and &s;olid demon&s;tration; by ca&s;ting out of their re&s;pect|ive Churches, and delivering up unto Sathan, all &s;uch, who after admonition and conviction, &s;hall per&s;i&s;t in their errors, and in the teaching and &s;preading of them. But certainly a|mong&s;t all the means, Offices, and Officers, which the Lord Chri&s;t hath directed or e&s;tabli&s;hed, <HI>for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the Mini&s;tery, for the edifying of the body of Chri&s;t, till we all come in the unity of the faith, and acknowledgement of the &s;on of God, unto a perfect man, &amp;c.</HI> neither re&s;traint of printing, nor Licen&s;ers of the Pre&s;&s;e, are to be found; the&s;e are Apocryphal, both Names and Things. This for the &s;econd particular.</P>
<P>For the third and la&s;t, He, or they (whether it be &s;ome o|ther, others, or your &s;elves) who have repre&s;ented you as the firers of the &s;econd Beacon, and con&s;equently, the Au|thors of the advice given (in the Pamphlet mentioned) tou|ching the monopolizing of the Pre&s;&s;e, do in&s;inuate you as men, who can be too well content that others of the &s;ame craft with you, &s;hould &s;uffer in their trade, &s;o you may ad|vance in yours. For it is not much to be doubted, but that your de&s;ire is, that &s;uch men as you count Orthodox, &s;hould be recommended by you, or by your motion &amp; intere&s;t, to the high preferment over the Pre&s;&s;e, who by the opportunity of their &s;tanding on this ground, &s;hall be in a good capacity to gratifie their friends and benefactors in their way. But in this I &s;hall &s;pare you.</P>
<P><PB N="11" REF="11">For a cloze, I &s;hall make this rea&s;onable and Chri&s;tian re|que&s;t unto you, that in ca&s;e you be fellow-fufferers with me, and have not been privy or con&s;enting to the framing or publi&s;hing of that unworthy Pamphlet, intituled, <HI>A Se|cond Beacon fired, &amp;c.</HI> you will publickly, and in print, wa&s;h your hands from the guilt hereof, and declare unto the world, that you had neither right hand nor left, either in the inditing, or venting, of that Pamphlet. Or if your con&s;ci|ences be not at liberty to accommodate you in this (for by &s;omewhat I have heard &s;ince I began this Epi&s;tle to you, I am little le&s;&s;e then all thoughts made that you are the true, and not the per&s;onated, <HI>Beacon-firers</HI> your &s;elves) that then you will with your own hands, quench your Beacon on fire; fir&s;t, by acknowledging publickly and in Print,</P>
<P>1. That you have fal&s;ly accu&s;ed me, either of Bla&s;phemy or of Errour, and this unto his Highne&s;&s;e the Lord Protect|or, the Parliament, the Nation, and (indeed) to the whole world.</P>
<P>2. That you have given unadvi&s;ed councel (to &s;peak no wor&s;e of it) for the oppre&s;&s;ing the Chri&s;tian and ju&s;t liber|ties of the Commonwealth of <HI>England,</HI> about printing, by &s;ubjecting the whole Nation [I mean as many in it, as &s;hall at any time intend, or be de&s;irous, to publi&s;h any thing Pre&s;&s;e&punc; wi&s;e] unto the wills and plea&s;ures of a few particular men.</P>
<P>3. By delivering or pre&s;enting Copies of what you &s;hall Print, or cau&s;e to be printed, upon both the&s;e accounts, to all the &s;ame per&s;ons, as well Parliament men, as others, or to as many of them as are yet living in, or near, the City, to whom you not long &s;ince delivered Copies of that un|happy Pamphlet, &s;tiled <HI>A Second Beacon-fired.</HI> If you &s;hall with your own hands thus quench the <HI>Beacon,</HI> which you have ra&s;hly and unchri&s;tianly <HI>fired,</HI> I &s;hall re&s;t &s;atisfied. O|therwi&s;e you will compell me to do it after my weak man|ner for you, by publi&s;hing the contents of the&s;e Papers, which I have &s;ent unto you, I &s;hall wait for your Chri&s;tian An&s;wer till the latter end of the next week.</P>
<P><PB N="12" REF="12">The God of all Grace give you Wi&s;dome and a &s;ound under&s;tanding in the Go&s;pel of his dear Son, that you may be capable of knowing things that differ, to your own com|fort and peace.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your very loving Friend in the<LB>
Faith of Je&s;us,<LB>
<HI>John Goodwin.</HI></SIGNED>
<DATELINE><HI>From my Study in Swan<LB>
Alley in Coleman&s;treet</HI><LB>
London, <DATE><HI>Nov.</HI> 9. 1654.</DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB N="13" REF="12">
<HEAD>The Book-&s;ellers Letter to Mr J. Goodwin <HI>ENDORSED,</HI> To the Learned M^r John Goodwin at his Hou&s;e in Swan-Alley.</HEAD>
<HEAD>Together with the &s;aid M^r J. Goodwin's Animadver&s;ions thereon, according to the re&s;pective Sections of it.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Book-&s;ellers, or Beacon-firers, &sect;. I.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>SIR,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>O&V;r weakne&s;&s;e &s;hall be as readily acknowledged by us, as it is &s;cornfully derided by you; (<HI>a</HI>) but God who doth right|eou&s;ly conceal him&s;elf from lofty and crafty Sophi&s;ters, (<HI>b</HI>) doth graciou&s;ly reveal him&s;elf to Weaklings and Babes (<HI>c</HI>) We own that Book which you &s;ay was written by a &s;on of <HI>Belial, (d)</HI> becau&s;e thore was one little word S&V;CH (<HI>e</HI>) mit|ted in tran&s;cribing a pa&s;&s;age out of your Redempt. Redeemed. We cannot but admire this righteous providence (<HI>f</HI>) For you accu&s;e us of fal&s;ification, as <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI>'s Mi&s;tre&s;&s;e accu&s;ed him of wantonne&s;&s;e, whereof he was innocent, and &s;he was guilty. (<HI>g</HI>)</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="commentary">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Goodwins</HI> Animadver&s;ion, <HI>I.</HI></HEAD>
<P>(a) Your weakne&s;&s;e may be as readily acknowledged by you, as it is &s;cornfully derided by me, and yet never be acknowledged by you at all, (yea as far as by the Contents of your Letter can be rea&s;onably judged, you are too far hardned in a conceit of your &s;trength, ever to acknowledge your weak|ne&s;s.) For your charge here is but an unchri&s;tian calumniating of my Chri&s;tian intentions towards you, in remembring you privately of your weakne&s;&s;es: nor do my words import any &s;cornfull deriding, either of them, or of your per&s;ons for them. Your Prophet and <HI>Amanuen&s;is</HI> (the Compiler of your
<PB N="14" REF="13">
Letter) hath drawn you into a &s;infull &s;nare in the very begin|ning, (as he hath done unto twenty more in the &s;equel) by occa&s;ioning you to &s;ub&s;cribe &s;uch an in&s;inuation of untruth.</P>
<P>(b) The word, <HI>Sophi&s;ter,</HI> in the canting dialect of high Presbytery, commonly &s;ignifies, a per&s;on who levies &s;uch Arguments, whether from the Scriptures, or otherwi&s;e, a|gain&s;t any of their Tenents, which their Prophets cannot tell how to an&s;wer. In this &s;ence of the word, the <HI>Libertines, Cyrenians, Alexandrians,</HI> &amp;c. might have termed <HI>Stephen,</HI> a <HI>Sophi&s;ter,</HI> becau&s;e <HI>they were not able to re&s;i&s;t the wi&s;dome and &s;pirit by which he &s;pake, Act.</HI> 6. 9. 10. In like manner the <HI>Jews</HI> at <HI>Dama&s;cus,</HI> might have called <HI>Paul</HI> a <HI>Sophi&s;ter&punc;</HI> be|cau&s;e <HI>he confounded them, <GAP DESC="foreign"> argumentatively pro|ving,</HI> or inforcing by argument, <HI>that this (Je&s;us) is very Chri&s;t, Act.</HI> 9. 22. The Prophets of the &s;aid &s;chool of high Presbytery have attempted to impo&s;e a like exotique &s;ence upon &s;everal other words of frequent u&s;e among&s;t us. They make the word, <HI>Orthodox,</HI> to &s;ignifie, <HI>a man of their judgement,</HI> whether rotten, or &s;ound: the word <HI>Heteredox,</HI> or <HI>erroneous,</HI> a per&s;on differing in judgement from them, though in the truth: the word <HI>Bla&s;phemy;</HI> that which contradicts any of their notions or conceits about the Nature, or Attributes of God: this complex, the <HI>Reformed Religion,</HI> with them &s;igni|fies, that Sy&s;teme or body of Doctrine, which they teach: the word, <HI>Arminian,</HI> or <HI>Pelagian,</HI> &s;ignifies &s;uch a per&s;on, who holds that <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> ta&s;ted death for every man, in the Scripture &s;ence: and again who holdeth in the Scripture &s;ence, that God would have all men to be &s;aved, and none to peri&s;h. By <HI>Socinian,</HI> they frequently under&s;tand a per&s;on that will not bruit it in matters of Religion: by <HI>proud,</HI> they &s;ometimes mean, him that will not &s;toop to the high Presby|terian yoke, or to their judgement in other things. My mea|ning is not, that they intend or de&s;ire; that the words or terms &s;pecified, &s;hould in their writings, or teachings, be ta|ken in the &s;ences re&s;pectively mentioned; but that truth cannot ordinarily be made of what they write or teach, when any of the &s;aid words are u&s;ed by them, unle&s;&s;e they be taken and under&s;tood in the &s;aid re&s;pective &s;ignifications. And by their u&s;age of the&s;e, and &s;everal other words, upon the terms expre&s;|&s;ed
<PB N="15" REF="13">
they have wretchedly abu&s;ed the &s;imple and over-cre|dulous world. But I confe&s;&s;e, that if I be <HI>learned,</HI> (as you plea&s;e to &s;tile me in the &s;uper&s;cripcion of your Letter) and yet a <HI>Sophi&s;ter</HI> (in the true and known &s;ignification of the word) my condemnation is the greater, and equal to a rich mans, who is a common theef. But it may be, that was your complement, and this your heart.</P>
<P>(c) Tho&s;e <HI>Babes</HI> unto whom <HI>God graciou&s;ly revealeth him&s;elf,</HI> are not per&s;ons full of malice and revenge, or who will ju&s;tifie them&s;elves in &s;candalous and publick mi&s;demean|ors, nor who are alwaies learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth; but &s;uch who are <HI>babes</HI> or children, in malice, who are tractable, and teachable, and ea&s;ie to be intreated by the truth, though otherwi&s;e they be men in under&s;tanding.</P>
<P>(d) This is an untrue charge, like unto many others in your Epi&s;tle. I do not affirm or &s;ay, that <HI>your Book was written by a Son of</HI> Belial; but onely &s;ugge&s;ted that &s;uch a thing might po&s;&s;ibly be, and that you might be abu&s;ed in it, as well as my &s;elf.</P>
<P>(e) Whereas you &s;eem to extenuate the crime of your fal|&s;ification, by &s;aying, becau&s;e <HI>there was one little word S&V;CH, omitted, &amp;c.</HI> I confe&s;&s;e the word, <HI>Such,</HI> is no word great of bulk, or body: but it was the &s;pirit and life of that &s;entence, of which you make a dead corps, by &s;eparating it from it, and without which, as &s;pecificating that a&s;&s;urance of the un|changeablene&s;s of Gods love, of which I there &s;peak deter|minately, you repre&s;ent me as &s;peaking that, which is further from my thoughts, or &s;ence, then po&s;&s;ibly from your own. And for you to pretend that it is <HI>one little word omitted,</HI> as if it were the le&s;&s;e in con&s;equence, becau&s;e it is <HI>little</HI> in bulk, or quantity, doth it not bewray your great incon&s;ideratene&s;s? The words, <HI>no</HI> and <HI>not,</HI> are each of them &s;omewhat le&s;&s;e then <HI>Such,</HI> yet he that &s;hall leave them out of nine of the ten Com|mandments of God, &s;hall of &s;o many holy and ju&s;t Command|ments of God, make alike number of horrid &s;ugge&s;tions of the Divel. Be&s;ides the difference between <HI>Sibboleth</HI> and <HI>Shibboleth,</HI> con&s;i&s;ting onely in an a&s;piration, which as <HI>Grammarians</HI> in|form us, is le&s;&s;e then a letter, is farre le&s;&s;e then that between,
<PB N="16" REF="14">
<HI>any a&s;&s;urance,</HI> and <HI>any &s;uch a&s;&s;urance;</HI> yet did it co&s;t many thou&s;and men their lives <HI>a:</HI> But be&s;ides the <HI>little word S&V;CH,</HI> you <HI>omit</HI> many others in your &s;aid Tran&s;cription,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Judg. 12. 6.</NOTE> <HI>viz.</HI> all the&s;e (in the beginning of the period) <HI>yea (that which is yet more) I verily beleeve;</HI> which words have &s;ome con&s;iderable influence upon the &s;entence. Yea the truth is, had you put in all the&s;e, and the <HI>little word, S&V;CH,</HI> too, unle&s;&s;e you had moreover interpreted my meaning in this word, which you might and ought to have done, from what I had &s;aid before, and from what follows after, you had not dealt Chri&s;tianly or fairly in the tran&s;cription. For to take a &s;entence out of the mid&s;t of a di&s;cour&s;e, the meaning and right under&s;tanding whereof depends upon what goeth before, and what comes after, is not to repre&s;ent the mind or judgement of the Author in &s;uch a &s;entence, but with ambiguity, and with the greate&s;t probability of mi&s;take. Therefore whereas in your words immediately following, you go about to ju&s;tifie your &s;elves from the crime of fal&s;ifi|cation in any degree, the very certain truth is that you are fal&s;ifiers in a very high degree.</P>
<P>(f. g) It is indeed a <HI>righteous Providence,</HI> that I &s;hould accu&s;e you of <HI>fal&s;ification:</HI> I beleeve that God put it into my heart to do it, for the manife&s;ting of your unworthine&s;s, fir&s;t privately unto your &s;elves; and then, upon your obdu|ration and impenitency, unto the world. But that I &s;hould do it upon the terms a&s;&s;erted by you, is no <HI>Providence</HI> at all, but a broad-faced untruth affirmed by you, and &s;uch an af|firmation from you is indeed to be <HI>admired.</HI> For whether I be a fal&s;ifier or no, (which &s;hall be put to the trial anon) it is as certain as certainty it &s;elf, and hath been already proved in the &s;ight of the Sun, and above all contradiction, that you are fal&s;ifiers, according to your charge: Therefore not <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> with his cha&s;tity, but <HI>Jo&s;ephs</HI> Mi&s;tre&s;&s;e with her <HI>wan|tonne&s;&s;e,</HI> is your parallel. You lay claim to innocency, as <HI>Saul</HI> did to obedience, when the Prophet <HI>Samuel</HI> charged him notwith&s;tanding with <HI>rebellion. 1 Sam.</HI> 15. 20, 23. And he that taught you to talk of <HI>admiring</HI> that which you ex|pre&s;&s;e, as <HI>a righteous Providence,</HI> taught you to &s;peak pro|phanely, and not as men awfully &s;en&s;ible of the Maje&s;tique Holine&s;s and power of God.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<PB N="17" REF="14">
<HEAD>Book-&s;ellers or Beacon-firers, &sect;. II.</HEAD>
<P>To the fir&s;t of your three cen&s;ures then, We an&s;wer, that when you relate the judgement of the reformed Churches, concern|ing the unchangeablene&s;&s;e of Gods love toward his regenerate Children, (<HI>a</HI>) You your &s;elfe are guilty of a mo&s;t notorious fal&s;ification, which your Letter tempts us (<HI>b</HI>) to call, forgery, becau&s;e you forge a vile opinion, (and you are excellent at that kind of forgery) (<HI>c</HI>) and then lay a ba&s;tard of your own beget|ting at the Churches doors, and would per&s;wade the mo&s;t cha&s;t Prote&s;tants, that they mu&s;t father your own hard-favoured Mon&s;ter. Are not you a&s;hamed to &s;tain paper with &s;uch &s;lan|derous Cavils (<HI>d</HI>) Did any of tho&s;e learned men, again&s;t whom you write, ever a&s;&s;ert the unchangeablene&s;&s;e of Gods love to Apo&s;tates? to men that are never &s;o de&s;perately wicked and prophane in his &s;ight, though they continue never &s;o long in their outragious wickedne&s;&s;e. (<HI>e</HI>)</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="commentary">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Goodwins</HI> Animadver&s;ion, <HI>II.</HI></HEAD>
<P>(a) Here again you fal&s;ifie a fre&s;h, laying to my charge that which I know not, no nor yet your &s;elves; you &s;hould have done well to have pointed at the place in my writings, where <HI>I relate the judgement of the reformed Churches concern|ing the unchangeablene&s;&s;e of Gods love towards his regenerate children.</HI> For I do not remember that I have related the judgement of any of them all, touching this head of Doctrine but onely of the reformed Churches of <HI>Saxony;</HI> and this I relate in their own words <HI>p.</HI> 394. of my <HI>Redempt. Redeem|ed.</HI> In the &s;ame page I refer indeed the Reader to another Authour, who hath made a collection of the &s;ence and judg|ment of more of them: who&s;e <HI>relations</HI> and collections in this behalf, if you can di&s;prove you may do it, if you plea&s;e; but if you di&s;cover any thing ami&s;&s;e in him (which I pre|&s;ume you cannot) you mu&s;t have a con&s;cience by your &s;elves to lay it to my charge. However it had been requi&s;ite for you, upon &s;uch a charge as this, to have directed me where I &s;hall find the judgement of the reformed Churches in the point, related in conformity to your &s;ence and de&s;ire (for I am far to &s;eek in this) that &s;o I might have compared my report hereof, with the &s;aid judgement declared and laid down by the&s;e Churches them&s;elves. For in ca&s;e I &s;hould
<PB N="18" REF="15">
find that I had mi&s;-reported it, I &s;hould not con&s;ult your ex|ample for a ju&s;tification of my error, but the example of <HI>David,</HI> which teacheth me to confe&s;&s;e my &s;in, and to flee to the golden Altar of repenrance for my &s;anctuary. So that that <HI>mo&s;t notorious fal&s;ification,</HI> of which you would make me <HI>guil|ty,</HI> is but another <HI>mo&s;t notorious fal&s;ification of your own:</HI> you can prove nothing of it again&s;t me.</P>
<P>(b) However, I marvel you &s;hould &s;ay that <HI>my Letter tempts you to call</HI> it, <HI>Forgery.</HI> He that calls a &s;pade, a &s;pade, doth not tempt another to call an hatchet, a &s;pade.</P>
<P>(c) No Gentlemen; as <HI>Elijah</HI> an&s;wered King <HI>Ahab,</HI> who charged him with <HI>troubling I&s;rael, I have not</HI> (&s;aith the Prophet to him) <HI>troubled I&s;rael, but thou and thy Fathers hou&s;e;</HI> &s;o may I with evidence enough of truth, an&s;wer you, that it is not I, but you and your Prophets, that <HI>are excel|lent</HI> at that kind of <HI>Forgery</HI> you &s;peak of (if you will needs place an <HI>excellency</HI> in it) you, or they, or both of you to|gether, in the inditing of this very Epi&s;tle, have <HI>begotten</HI> I know not how many of tho&s;e <HI>Ba&s;tard and hard-favoured Mon&s;ters</HI> you talk of, and have layd them at my door. But I &s;hall remand them to tho&s;e, who have polluted their con|&s;ciences with the malicious plea&s;ure of their generation, and cau&s;e them to bear the &s;hame of them.</P>
<P>(d) <HI>The &s;hame</HI> of <HI>&s;taining paper with &s;landerous cavils,</HI> is a covering fit for your faces; it &s;uiteth not with mine, fur|ther then by a Chri&s;tian Sympathy I bear the burthen and &s;hame of your folly in this kind. I wi&s;h that <HI>&s;landerous ca|vils</HI> were as much beneath you, and your Prophets, as they are beneath me.</P>
<P>(e) Truly you need not put this que&s;tion to me. For I freely confe&s;s that I do not know <HI>any of tho&s;e learned men again&s;t whom I write,</HI> who ever <HI>a&s;&s;erted the unchangeablene&s;s of Gods Love to Apo&s;tates,</HI> or to per&s;ons of that Character, which you further de&s;cribe. The opinions of tho&s;e <HI>learned men, whom</HI> I oppo&s;e or <HI>write again&s;t,</HI> &s;o far as I oppo&s;e them, are obnoxious more then enough, as expre&s;&s;ed by them|&s;elves; &s;o that I have no temptation lying upon me to fal&s;i|fie or corrupt them; yet &s;ome of the learned men you &s;peak of&punc; and particularly your Prophets about the City, do
<PB N="16" REF="15">
a&s;&s;ert the unchangeablene&s;s of Gods Love towards all true Beleevers; many of which I have evinced both from the Scriptures, by pregnant argument and demon&s;tration, by a full con&s;ort and harmony of Orthodox and learned men both ancient and modern; yea by many Te&s;timonies of tho&s;e per&s;ons them&s;elves, who are counted pillars of the contrary Faith; yea and la&s;tly, by experience it &s;elf, may, and do, turn <HI>Apo&s;tates</HI> afterwards.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Book-&s;ellers, or Beacon-firers, &sect;. III.</HEAD>
<P>We have heard of &s;ome <HI>Arminians,</HI> who never did read <HI>Cal|vin</HI> him&s;elf, but were wont to read <HI>Calvins</HI> opinion in a Je&s;uite, and take it for granted that their brother Je&s;uite was to be tru&s;t|ed: We fear that you may be baptized into the &s;ame &s;pirit of gid|dine&s;&s;e (<HI>a</HI>) You put the poor Prote&s;tant in a Bear-skin, and then &s;et the dogs upon him, that you may di&s;port your &s;elf and your Confederates with that Tragick Comedy. Give us leave to tell all your friends who beleeve as your Church&punc; beleeves, That they who are fal&s;e accu&s;ers of the brethren are &s;ons of <HI>Beli|al, (b)</HI> It is not <HI>Calvin,</HI> but Mr. <HI>Goodwin,</HI> who doth main|tain the Apo&s;tacy of the Saints in his bla&s;phemous Libels. (<HI>c</HI>) It is no wonder if <HI>Such</HI> (we &s;hall remember the word <HI>Such</HI>) A|po&s;tate Saints are in&s;laved in Journey-work to Apo&s;tate Angels; (<HI>d</HI>) Be plea&s;ed to arm your &s;elfe with patience, while&s;t we tell you a &s;tory which runs thus in brief; when your Brother <HI>Ber|tius</HI> gave his booke, <HI>De Apo&s;ta&s;ia Sanctorum</HI> to King <HI>James,</HI> the King pa&s;&s;ed this cen&s;ure upon him, This Heretick, &s;aith he, de&s;erves to be commended for his wit, but hanged for his knavery. (<HI>e</HI>)</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="commentary">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Goodwins</HI> Animadver&s;ion. <HI>III.</HI></HEAD>
<P>(a) I can deliver you, or, if you plea&s;e, you may (I con|ceive) with &s;ome pains deliver your &s;elves, from this fear con|cerning me. For in my reading I never met with any of tho&s;e citations from <HI>Calvin,</HI> on which I in&s;i&s;t in any of my writings, in any Je&s;uit what&s;oever: and I beleeve that you may travel a long journey in reading the&s;e Authors, before you meet with any of them. You &s;peak &s;o many untruths, and the&s;e fully known unto me for &s;uch, in this letter, that I know not how to beleeve you, when you &s;ay, <HI>We have heard of &s;ome Arminians, who &amp;c.</HI> I much doubt whether ever
<PB N="20" REF="16">
you heard of any &s;uch or no; e&s;pecially from any Informer worthy credit. I fear you pin your Faith upon the &s;leeves of many, who (after the manner of the fal&s;e Prophets of old) <HI>make</HI> you <HI>glad with lies.</HI> You make the <HI>Arminian,</HI> brother to the <HI>Je&s;uite;</HI> but the kindred is much neerer be|tween the <HI>Je&s;uite,</HI> and the <HI>Black-Friars.</HI></P>
<P>(b) Here again, you only vary the phra&s;e; but pour out your High-Presbeterian &s;pirits in the &s;ame &s;hamele&s;s un|truths, with which you &s;tained both your credits and con|&s;ciences at once in the former Section. You and your <HI>Rab|bies</HI> to u&s;e a word of your own) are they, who put not <HI>Pro|te&s;tants</HI> only, but many the dear children of God them|&s;elves into the <HI>Bears-skins</HI> you &s;peak of, and then do as you &s;ay. As for me, I do not remember that I any where make u&s;e of any <HI>Bears Skin,</HI> but what I have pluck'd off from the backs of tho&s;e, whom I put into them. Nor do I <HI>&s;et the dogs up|on any poor Prote&s;tant,</HI> unle&s;s it be upon my &s;elf, and tho&s;e few friends (by you termed <HI>Confederates</HI>) which God hath given me: again&s;t the&s;e I have exa&s;perated and enraged, you know who, and how. But neither I, nor any of my <HI>Con|federates</HI> (as far as they are known to me) are wont to <HI>di&s;|port</HI> our &s;elves with any mans weakne&s;s, or &s;hame. The truth in this point, as in twenty others in your Letter, is not at all beholding to you for your courte&s;ie in &s;paring her.</P>
<P>You need neither crave <HI>leave,</HI> nor take <HI>leave,</HI> to <HI>tell my Friends,</HI> that <HI>they, who are fal&s;e accu&s;ers of the Brethren, are Sons of Belial:</HI> they are in&s;tructed in this truth to your hand: and by the light of it they are able fully to di&s;cern, who, and what manner of per&s;ons you are. If your meaning be to reflect upon me as <HI>a fal&s;e accu&s;er of the Brethren.</HI> you act like him, who compa&s;&s;eth the Earth to and fro, to draw men into the &s;ame condemnation with him&s;elf: You will ne|ver be able to prove that I ever <HI>accu&s;ed</HI> any man <HI>fal&s;ely,</HI> much le&s;s a <HI>Brother.</HI> Therefore con&s;ider in the fear of God who&s;e Sons you make your &s;elves by this charge.</P>
<P>Tho&s;e <HI>who beleeve as the Church</HI> with me <HI>beleeveth,</HI> beleeve as the Scriptures teacheth you, and all other men to beleeve: and this you may, through the long &s;uffering and bounti|fulne&s;s of God, come to know in time; although the truth
<PB N="21" REF="16">
is that you de&s;perately ob&s;truct your way to the knowledge of the truth, by entreating tho&s;e &s;o unworthily, who de&s;ire to make you partakers of this happine&s;s with them&s;elves. But me thinks you of all men &s;hould not di&s;parage men for be|leeving as their Church beleeveth, who &s;uffer your Cla&s;&s;ique and Synodical Pa&s;tors to exerci&s;e what dominion over your Faith, they plea&s;e.</P>
<P>(c) If by my <HI>Libels,</HI> you mean my little Books (for other <HI>Libels</HI> of mine, neither you, nor I, know any) you commit the &s;in of <HI>Fal&s;ification, in adjuncto,</HI> in calling them, <HI>bla&s;phemous.</HI> Nor need I at all be troubled for being charg|ed with <HI>Bla&s;phemy</HI> by the &s;ons of High Presbitery; for was not the Lord <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t</HI> him&s;elf, <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed for ever,</HI> charged with the &s;ame crime by men of a &s;ympathizing &s;pirit? <HI>Then the High Prie&s;t rent his clothes, &s;aying, he hath &s;poken bla&s;|phemy: What further need have we of witne&s;&s;es? Behold, now ye have heard his Bla&s;phemy. Mat.</HI> 26. 65. Be you more confident, if you can, or more zealous in the expre&s;&s;ions of your confidence, that there is <HI>Bla&s;phemy</HI> in my Books, then the High Prie&s;t with his A&s;&s;ociates were, that that Lamb of God <HI>bla&s;phemed.</HI> Nor doth Mr. <HI>Goodwin</HI> in any of his Books <HI>maintain the Apo&s;tafie of the Saints;</HI> but condemneth it, as a mo&s;t hideous &s;in. Or if your meaning be, that in &s;ome of his Books he evinceth by the Scriptures, by arguments im|pregnable, by Authorities numerous (and the&s;e of the be&s;t) by frequent experiments, a po&s;&s;ibility of the Saints Apo&s;ta|tizing, I &s;ub&s;cribe the charge, and &s;hall not put you to prove it. In the mean time, whether <HI>Calvin</HI> doth not <HI>maintain the Apo&s;ta&s;ie of the Saints,</HI> as well as Mr. <HI>Goodwin,</HI> let him|&s;elf be con&s;ulted in tho&s;e few places and pa&s;&s;ages in his writ|ings, which are tran&s;cribed by me, <HI>Page</HI> 387. 388. 389. of Redemption Redeemed. Therefore here again you are out of the way of &s;peaking truth.</P>
<P>(d) Who you mean by <HI>S&V;CH Apo&s;tate Saints,</HI> (You <HI>remember the word S&V;CH,</HI> to very little purpo&s;e here, for you had &s;poken of none before) and <HI>who,</HI> you &s;ay <HI>it is no wonder if they be en&s;laved in journey-work to Apo&s;tate Angels,</HI> when you tell us, it is like we may con&s;ider of the &s;aying: mean while it &s;hall pa&s;s for a <HI>nihil &s;ignificat,</HI> and &s;o e&s;cape
<PB N="22" REF="17">
upon better tearms then all your Letter be&s;ides. Onely I cannot but <HI>wonder</HI> a little, that <HI>YO&V;</HI> &s;hould talke: of <HI>S&V;CH Apo&s;tate Saints,</HI> who deny all po&s;&s;ibility that <HI>Saints</HI> &s;hould turn <HI>Apo&s;tates.</HI></P>
<P>(e) I have more need to put on bowels of pitty, then <HI>arme my &s;elf with patience,</HI> to hear you tell a &s;tory, with a conceit of lifting up your cau&s;e to Heaven by it, of which fir&s;t you have no knowledge whether a word of it be true, or no: Secondly, which, if it were true from fir&s;t to la&s;t; would rather be a blot and prejudice to your cau&s;e, then any matter of honour. For fir&s;t, If you remember who made King <HI>James,</HI> the Defender of your Faith, you have &s;mall cau&s;e to like your Faith the better for his Defending it. Secondly, <HI>Nero's</HI> hatred and enmity to the <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> Religion, turned rather to a Te&s;timony unto it, then to any matter of di&s;paragement, or di&s;repute. But you are (I per|ceive) of that generation of men, who love to be of the Kings Religion, be He, or it, what they will. I wi&s;h for your &s;akes, that your <HI>hone&s;ty</HI> may turn to as good an ac|count unto you before God another day, as that in my <HI>Bro|ther Bertius</HI> (as you call him) which your &s;tory calls kna|very. And as for the <HI>Hanging</HI> you &s;peak of, I beleeve that &s;ome of your Arch-Teachers (I will not &s;ay the Architect of your Epi&s;tle-Fabrique) for <HI>Carolizing,</HI> and <HI>Scotizing,</HI> and playing yea and nay with the Parliament, was far deeper in the merit of &s;uch a penance, call it by the name of <HI>knave|ry,</HI> or what you plea&s;e, then <HI>Bertius&punc;</HI> was.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Book-Sellers, or Be&punc; Firers, &sect;. <HI>IV.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Be plea&s;ed in cool blood to con&s;ider, that the Prote&s;tants do maintain, That the cho&s;en people of God are Elected to Faith and Godline&s;s (<HI>a</HI>) and to Per&s;everance in both, and <HI>Such</HI> is the unchangeablene&s;s of Gods Love towards them, that they are kept by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation. <HI>1 Pet. 1. 5.</HI> The purpo&s;e of God according to Election, &s;hall &s;tand (<HI>b</HI>) and therefore they &s;hall &s;tand, <HI>Rom. 9. 11.</HI> We depend upon Gods Faithfulne&s;s, and not upon our own, <HI>Heb. 10. 23.</HI> The Gifts and Calling of God, are without Repentance, <HI>Rom. 11. 29.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="commentary">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Goodwins</HI> Animadver&s;ions. <HI>IV.</HI></HEAD>
<P>(a) It &s;eems you think you have over-het my blood by
<PB N="23" REF="17">
making me to bear your burthens of unju&s;t revilings and re|proaches. But if this be your thought, &s;urely you judge your reque&s;t here made unto me, <HI>viz.</HI> to <HI>con&s;ider in cool bloud, &amp;c.</HI> very difficult of performance. But I have been &s;o long a Bea|rer of the burthens of men, that the work doth not much trou|ble or di&s;temper me. Therefore I &s;hall here hearken unto you, &amp; con&s;ider with the be&s;t of my under&s;tanding what the Prote|&s;tants do maintain. But I fear that neither you nor your Prophets are competent to inform me. Be&s;ides if I were ne|ver &s;o well &s;atisfied herein, yet I mu&s;t cleave to, and profe&s;s, what <HI>Paul</HI> and <HI>Peter,</HI> &amp; the re&s;t of the <HI>Hagiography maintain,</HI> not what this or that <HI>Prote&s;tant maintain.</HI> For that there is not <HI>idem &s;en&s;us, eadem mens,</HI> among&s;t <HI>Prote&s;tants</HI> about the point you here &s;peak of, is too well known to be any know|ing mans que&s;tion. If there be &s;ome that hold as you &s;ay, that <HI>Gods cho&s;en people are elected to Faith and Godline&s;&s;e,</HI> they are none of the be&s;t con&s;iderate, unle&s;&s;e by <HI>Faith</HI> and <HI>Godline&s;&s;e,</HI> they under&s;tand increa&s;e in <HI>Faith</HI> and <HI>Godline&s;&s;e,</HI> in which &s;ence the word <HI>beleeving,</HI> is u&s;ed 1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 5. 13. and frequent|ly el&s;ewhere; and &s;o <HI>holy,</HI> for further <HI>holy,</HI> or per&s;everingly <HI>holy, Eph.</HI> 1. 4. with many the like; and by being cho&s;en to the&s;e, and to per&s;everance in them, &s;uch a kind of chu&s;ing on Gods part, which doth neither nece&s;&s;itate, nor include or &s;uppo&s;e any thing that doth in time nece&s;&s;itate, tho&s;e who are thus cho&s;en, either to a progre&s;&s;e or increa&s;e, much le&s;s to a per&s;everance in them. With &s;uch Prote&s;tants, who thus conceive of Gods <HI>Election unto Faith and Godline&s;&s;e, and per|&s;everance in them,</HI> I fully concur in judgement &s;o far. If your Prophets tell you, that there are no Prote&s;tants of this judge|ment, they either bewray their ignorance herein, or a much wor&s;e principle.</P>
<P>As for the two texts of Scripture, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1. 5, and <HI>Rom.</HI> 9. 11. how irrelative they are to your cau&s;e, unle&s;&s;e it be by way of oppo&s;ition, and con&s;equently, how impertinently they are here cited by you, I have &s;ufficiently declared and proved el&s;ewhere, the former <HI>pag. 185, 186. &amp;c.</HI> of my <HI>Redempt. Redeemed,</HI> the latter, <HI>pag.</HI> 97, 98, and again <HI>pag. 132, 133. &amp;c.</HI> of my Expo&s;ition of the 9th. to the <HI>Ro|mans.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="24" REF="18">Whereas you &s;ay, you <HI>depend upon Gods Faithfulne&s;&s;e,</HI> if your &s;ub-meaning be, that I do otherwi&s;e (as it mu&s;t be, if you write by the &s;ame Law, by which you cen&s;ure and con|demn me in my writings) you <HI>put me into a Bears-skin, and lay a Ba&s;tard of your own begetting at my door.</HI> I tru&s;t the language plea&s;eth you well, being your own. But whereas you adde, and <HI>not upon our own,</HI> if by your <HI>own Faithfulne&s;s,</HI> you mean, either your <HI>own Faith,</HI> or your per&s;everance in it, if you have no kind of <HI>dependance</HI> upon it, it &s;eemeth your judgement is, that you may be as well &s;aved without it, as with it. If this be your &s;ence, I confe&s;&s;e I am not herein of your mind. You may be rectified in your judgements, if you plea&s;e, about the mind of the Holy Gho&s;t in <HI>Rom.</HI> 11. 29, by peru|&s;ing the 55. &sect;. of <HI>chap,</HI> 8. of my book of <HI>Redemption,</HI> and reading forward to the end of this chapter.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Book&s;ellers, or Beacon-&s;irers, &sect;. V.</HEAD>
<P>We are a&s;&s;ured of the unchangeablene&s;s of Gods coun&s;els by the Promi&s;es and Covenant of God, (<HI>a</HI>) By the &s;eals annexed to the Covenant, by the earne&s;t given to a&s;&s;ure the bargain, by the Witne&s;&s;es to confirm that la&s;t Will and Te&s;tament of &s;pecial and &s;aving grace; Which Te&s;tament is further ratified by the Oath of God, and heart bloud of Chri&s;t: We are a&s;&s;ured of all this, not onely by Chri&s;ts death, but by his life, for Chri&s;t &s;aith to every &s;oul that he hath quickned by &s;pecial grace, as he &s;aid to all his di&s;ciples, but <HI>Judas</HI> the Son of perdition; (<HI>b</HI>) Becau&s;e I live, ye &s;hall live al&s;o, <HI>Jo. 14. 19.</HI> God &s;aith to all whom he brings under the power of the Covenant of grace, I will be your God, and ye &s;hall be my people: <HI>I will, and ye &s;hall.</HI> I will not depart from you, and ye &s;hall not depart from me, <HI>I will not, ye &s;hall not (c) Such</HI> an unchangeablene&s;s as this, true Prote&s;tants, &s;uch as <HI>Edward, Arthur,</HI> and <HI>William (d)</HI> do maintain, <HI>Such</HI> an unchangeablene&s;s as this you do oppo&s;e <HI>(e) Such</HI> an unchangeablene&s;s as this the Scriptures do hold forth, and yet you cannot upon this or any other account, prove the Scriptures of the old and new Te&s;tament, not to be the pure word of God, though you have a cur&s;ed Art in Swan-Alley to un|dermine the authority of the Scriptures, even when you do mo&s;t pretend to defend them (<HI>f</HI>) It is a black Art (<HI>g</HI>) leave it for your juggle is di&s;covered, your folly manife&s;ted, and your
<PB N="25" REF="18">
book about, we had almo&s;t &s;aid, again&s;t, the Scriptures would have been wa&s;t paper, had not &s;ome Anti-Scripturi&s;ts brought them up (<HI>h</HI>) we can purcha&s;e &s;ome of your works at a good ea|&s;ie rate already: but we beleeve the Cooks will help you away with &s;ome of them next moneth to defend Geo&s;e and Turkeys, to lay up &s;pice, and underlay their pies, (<HI>i</HI>) and therefore we think your works need not be called in.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="commentary">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Goodwins</HI> Animadver&s;ion 5.</HEAD>
<P>(a) If you be <HI>a&s;&s;ured of the unchangeablene&s;&s;e of Gods coun&s;els,</HI> by the &s;everal means you here enumerate, I am glad for your &s;akes, that you are in &s;o Chri&s;tian a po&s;ture. God of his Grace keep you in it.</P>
<P>(b) But whereas you exempt <HI>Judas</HI> from among&s;t the Di&s;ciples, to whom <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> &s;aid, <HI>Becau&s;e I live, ye &s;hall live al&s;o,</HI> I know no &s;ufficient ground you have from the Scrip|ture, or otherwi&s;e, to do it. For certainly <HI>Judas</HI> was included in another &s;aying from the &s;ame lips of grace, which impor|ted as high a favour as this. <HI>And Je&s;us &s;aid unto them, verily I &s;ay unto you, that ye who have followed me, in the regenerati|on, when the Son of Man &s;hall &s;it in the Throne of his Glory, ye al&s;o &s;hall &s;it upon twelve Thrones, judging the twelve tribes of I&s;rael.</HI> Mat. 19. 28. If you plea&s;e to peru&s;e <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tomes</HI> expo&s;ition of this place, which you may find faithfully deli|vered, <HI>pag.</HI> 360, 361. and again 373, 374, of my <HI>Redempti|on Redeemed,</HI> you will find him looking upon <HI>Judas,</HI> as a &s;on of the Kingdome for a time, which opinion of his I give notice to be (together with the ground and rea&s;on of it) approved by <HI>Peter Martyr,</HI> who was alwaies untill now jud|ged a Prote&s;tant, yea and not the lea&s;t among&s;t tho&s;e that are called <HI>Orthodox;</HI> from who&s;e pen likewi&s;e we took know|ledge, upon the occa&s;ion, of that golden rule, <HI>That the pro|mi&s;es of life and &s;alvation, made by God unto particular men, are to be under&s;tood with reference to the pre&s;ent &s;tate and condi|tion of things with them.</HI> <NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Promi&s;&s;iones ita&abque; illae <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 word"> pro &s;tatis  prae|&s;enti rer<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="3 letters"> &s;unt <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 word"> gende</NOTE> But if <HI>Judas</HI> was excepted as you &s;ay, your cau&s;e is neither the whiter, nor blacker, for it.</P>
<P>(c) God indeed &s;peaks, as you here &s;ay, <HI>I will be your God, and ye &s;hall be my people, unto all whom he brings under the power of the Covenant of grace;</HI> but fir&s;t, this proves not, that he &s;peaketh not the &s;ame thing unto others al&s;o. Nor
<PB N="26" REF="19">
do you, nor can you, prove that the whole Nation of the <HI>Jews,</HI> to which this promi&s;e was jointly and indifferently made, <HI>Levit.</HI> 26. 12. were all, in your &s;ence, brought under the power of the Covenant of Grace. 2. The performance of this promi&s;e, even where it is made, or applied, to &s;uch per&s;ons as you &s;peak of, is &s;u&s;pended upon their obedience and per&s;everance in it, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6. 17, 18. Whereas you menti|on another promi&s;e in the&s;e words, <HI>I will not depart from you,</HI> I find it not, at lea&s;t in your terms, in all the Scripture. I &s;uppo&s;e you look at <HI>Jer.</HI> 32. 40. But how far the heart of this pa&s;&s;age is from your cau&s;e, is demon&s;trated at large, <HI>pag.</HI> 219. 220, 221, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> of my <HI>Redempt. Redeemed.</HI> By the way is it not a rank impertinency in you to think to &s;top my mouth, or &s;atisfie me, by a bare citation of &s;uch texts of Scripture, as if they countenanced the way of your errour, which I have upon a diligent and narrow enquiry, evinced above all rea&s;onable contradiction, to have no Communion therewith at all?</P>
<P>(d e) Your <HI>Edmund, Arthur,</HI> and <HI>William,</HI> may very probably maintain &s;uch an <HI>unchangeablene&s;&s;e,</HI> as you have de&s;cribed; for I think that in many points they maintain they know not well what. And the de&s;cription which you have made of your unchangeablene&s;&s;e, hath neither head nor foot in it. And whereas you &s;ay, that <HI>I oppo&s;e</HI> it, you again oppo&s;e the truth in &s;o &s;aying. For according to the be&s;t con&s;truction, among many, that can be made of your words, I a&s;&s;ert it, as well as you. The men you &s;peak of may be <HI>Prote&s;tants</HI> at large, but this is no character of their Orthodoxi&s;me. Be&s;ides concerning that unchangablene&s;s, which, I &s;uppo&s;e, you would de&s;cribe, if you knew how, the publick confe&s;&s;ions, of &s;eve|ral Prote&s;tant Churches do manife&s;tly contradict it, as you may inform your &s;elves, if you plea&s;e, by a peru&s;al of <HI>pag.</HI> 394 of my <HI>Redempt. Redeemed,</HI> and by pur&s;uing the directi|ons there given. Therefore let us heare no more of this Fable.</P>
<P>(f. g.) In this you &s;peak truth (though to little purpo&s;e) that I <HI>cannot upon</HI> the <HI>account</HI> you mention, nor any <HI>other, prove the Scriptures of the Old and New Te&s;tament, not to be the pure Word of God.</HI> Nor have I lift up either heart or
<PB N="27" REF="19">
hand to any &s;uch proof, though you (after your manner) di|abolize me &s;o to have done. That which I have any where a&s;&s;erted (as to this point) is onely this, or to this effect; that we are not bound to own for the Word of God, or as any part of it, what&s;oever every ignorant or heedle&s;s per&s;on, who was employed of old to tran&s;cribe the Old and New Te&s;tament (for the be&s;t pen-men are &s;eldom the greate&s;t Clerks) did in&s;ert in their Tran&s;criptions, nor yet what eve|ry Printer of later times, hath through carele&s;ne&s;s, or mi&s;|take, thru&s;t forth in their Printed Copies of the Scriptures, into the world. <HI>Jerome</HI> in his latter Prologue upon <HI>Job,</HI> complains, that for his labour and faithfulne&s;s in correcting the enormous Tran&s;lations and Tran&s;criptions of the anci|ent Scriptures, he was charged with <HI>a double errour,</HI> one that <HI>when he corrected things ami&s;s, he was a Fal&s;ifier;</HI> the <HI>other,</HI> that <HI>he did not remove</HI> or take away <HI>Errours, but &s;owed</HI> them. <NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Nunc au|te~, quia jux|ta &s;ententiam Salvatoris, volo operari cibum qui non perit, &amp; antiquam divinorum voluminum viam, &s;enti|bus virgul|ti&s;&abque; purga|re, Error mi|hi geminus infligitur: corrector vi|tiorum fal&s;a|rius dicor, et errores non auferre, &s;ed &s;erere.</NOTE> In the &s;ame piece, he complains&punc; likewi&s;e of many profe&s;&s;ors of Chri&s;tianity, who had Bibles full of errors and fal&s;ities, and the&s;e acknowledged for &s;uch by them&s;elves, and yet to keep their Books fair, without blotting and interline|ing, would not &s;uffer them to be amended. And particu|larly &s;peaking of the Book of <HI>Job,</HI> he &s;aith that <HI>among&s;t the Latines</HI> (he means, in the Latine Tran&s;lations of this Book) <HI>Job until his days lay on the dunghil, and was &s;pread all over with worms of errors.</HI> <NOTE N="b" PLACE="marg">&mdash;<HI>Ac Bea|tus Job, qui adhuc apud Latinos jace|bat in &s;terco|re, et vermi|bus &s;catebat erroram, in|tegrum, im|macultum&abque; gaudete.</HI></NOTE> Yea nothing is more frequent a|mong&s;t the be&s;t and learnde&s;t Expo&s;itors of the Prote&s;tant party them&s;elves, then to take and give knowledge of error after Error, as yet retained in the ordinary Copies of the Bible, which at fir&s;t crept in thither, partly by the igno|rance, partly by the negligence of tho&s;e, who were em|ployed to Tran&s;cribe them. Yea very many of the Expo|&s;itors I &s;peak of, ever and anon take upon them to correct and amend: tho&s;e Tran&s;lations them&s;elves, which notwith|&s;tanding they follow otherwi&s;e in their Expo&s;itions: Nor is there any of them that attempt this more frequently then <HI>Pi&s;cator.</HI></P>
<P>But &s;urely, although you would have me <HI>in cool blood to con&s;ider,</HI> your own <HI>blood</HI> was in an high di&s;temper, when you talk of <HI>a cur&s;ed Art,</HI> and <HI>a black Art in Swan-Alley to un|dermine
<PB N="28" REF="20">
the Authority of the Scriptures, when we mo&s;t pretend to defend them.</HI> But what&s;oever there is in <HI>Swan-Alley,</HI> there is &s;uch an <HI>Art</HI> as you &s;peak of, <HI>cur&s;ed</HI> and <HI>black,</HI> in <HI>Black-Friars,</HI> and, perhaps, in the Northern quarters of <HI>Pauls</HI> Church-yard al&s;o; the Practitioners whereof, like the <HI>Pha|ri&s;es</HI> of old, who defamed the Lord <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> as having <HI>a De|vil</HI> (and this mo&s;t confidently and impudently; <HI>Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and ha&s;t a Devil; Joh.</HI> 8. 48.) when as he was full of the Holy Gho&s;t, and acted and &s;pake accordingly; &s;o do the&s;e men mo&s;t &s;hamele&s;ly, and with out|faceing the mo&s;t evident truth, traduce &s;uch per&s;ons as un|derminers of the Authority of the Scriptures, and enemies otherwi&s;e to the intere&s;t of <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> Religion, who have been, and &s;o continue mo&s;t zealous, and faithful A&s;&s;ertors of the former, again&s;t, all oppo&s;ers, and are devoted heart and &s;oul to the promoting of the latter. Concerning that Book, which your Epi&s;tling Prophet teacheth you to charge with <HI>un|dermining the Authority of the Scriptures,</HI> one known to be as learned, grave, and judicious as any Engli&s;h-born at this day, and he no Independent neither, nor yet of my judge|ment, at lea&s;t in &s;everal points, about Redemption (with the controver&s;ies relating to it) gave a far different te&s;timonie of it (though not to me, nor in my hearing.) To a friend of his he gave his &s;ence and judgement of the Book in the&s;e words, or to this effect; That it was as good a Book as any was written &s;ince the Apo&s;tles days. This te&s;timony (I confe&s;s) may be as much too wide on the right hand as your malignant imputation is on the left. Nor &s;hould the &s;tory ever have been told or reported by me (for fear of being counted a fool for my labour) but onely to balance the mo&s;t importune malignity of tho&s;e men, who&s;e con&s;ciences &s;erve them to &s;pit that poy&s;on of A&s;ps mentioned in the face of it. Upon occa&s;ion of which &s;trange unworthine&s;s, the &s;aid per|&s;on expre&s;&s;ed him&s;elf further to this effect; that <HI>we are now fallen into an age, in which mens con&s;ciences will &s;erve them to &s;ay any thing. My juggle is di&s;covered, and my folly detected,</HI> in &s;uch a &s;ence, as the Lord <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> bla&s;phemy was <HI>di&s;covered,</HI> by the high Prie&s;ts rending of his garment, <HI>Mat.</HI> 26. 65. and the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> murther <HI>detected</HI> by the <HI>Barbarians,</HI>
<PB N="36" REF="20">
when they &s;aid of him, <HI>No doubt this man is a murtherer, Act.</HI> 28. 4.</P>
<P>(h. i.) It &s;eems by the latter pa&s;&s;ages in this Section, and the mention of <HI>Cooks</HI> and good chear, that your Prophets <HI>Ani|mus,</HI> when he compiled them, was <HI>in patinis:</HI> and more|over that among&s;t you, you intend to be at the co&s;t and charge, by the help of <HI>Cooks</HI> and <HI>Gee&s;e,</HI> and other good Chear, to pre&s;erve the Ceremonious frolique and jollity of <HI>Chri&s;tmas</HI> (&s;o called) from &s;inking in your days. But be|cau&s;e &s;uch of my Books, as are &s;old, <HI>offend</HI> Foxes, there|fore tho&s;e that are not &s;old mu&s;t do penance, and <HI>defend Gee&s;e:</HI> But do not you your &s;elves <HI>defend</HI> your &s;elves with &s;ome of them in this very Epi&s;tle? You do &s;omewhat very like a <HI>defending</HI> of your &s;elves with &s;ome of them. Sect. 7. and Sect. 11. and in &s;everal other places.</P>
<P>Whereas you think you reflect great di&s;paragement upon my Books, that &s;ome of them might have been <HI>wa&s;t-paper, &amp;c.</HI> 1. I have no demon&s;trative ground to beleeve that there were not as many <HI>Novice Presbiters,</HI> &s;old, as <HI>Bu&s;ie-Bi&s;hops,</HI> or <HI>Blind Guids.</HI> If there were not it may &s;igni|fie nothing el&s;e but that the Presbyterian party of the world, and their money, are &s;ooner parted, then tho&s;e that are wi&s;er, and theirs. Be&s;ides, it is the Ob&s;ervation of one of your Orthodox men (for &s;o I conceive him to be, pardon me if I mi&s;take in this) that <HI>Learning hath gained mo&s;t by tho&s;e Books, by which the Printers have lo&s;t; whereas fooli&s;h Pamphlets have been mo&s;t beneficial to the Printers. When a French Printer</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>complained that he was utterly un|done by Printing a &s;olid &s;erious book of Rablais, concerning Phy&s;ique, Rablais to make him recompence, made that his je&s;ting &s;currilous work, which repaired the Printers lo&s;s with advantage.</HI> Of the former part of this Ob&s;ervation, he giues three famous In&s;tances: The fir&s;t of <HI>Arias Montanus,</HI> who wa&s;ted him&s;elf in Printing the Hebrew Bible (common|ly called the King of <HI>Spains</HI> Bible:) The &s;econd, of <HI>Chri&s;to|pher Plantine,</HI> who by Printing of his curious Interlineary Bible, &s;unk and almo&s;t ruined his E&s;tate. The third and la&s;t, of a worthy Engli&s;h Knight (he means, Sir <HI>Henry Savile</HI>) who &s;et forth the Golden-Mouth'd Father (<HI>Chry|&s;o&s;tome</HI>)
<PB N="30" REF="21">
in a &s;ilver Print, and was a lo&s;er by it. Therefore that many books are no quicker of &s;ale; may as probably ar|gue the ignorance, weakne&s;&s;e, and injudiciou&s;ne&s;&s;e of the world, as any defectivene&s;&s;e, or want of worth in the Books.</P>
<P>Whereas you inform me of &s;ome <HI>Anti-Scripturi&s;ts, who bought up my books about the Scriptures&punc;</HI> I am very glad to hear it. For the work was in &s;pecial manner calculated for the u&s;e and benefit of &s;uch per&s;ons, who are either in whole, or in part Such, I mean, <HI>Anti-Scripturi&s;ts;</HI> I tru&s;t that thorough the ble&s;&s;ing of God upon their labours in rea|ding it, it hath reclaimed many.</P>
<P>But I &s;omewhat marvel at your tenderne&s;&s;e here, in &s;aying, <HI>We had almo&s;t &s;aid again&s;t the Scriptures,</HI> con&s;idering how bold and daring you are in twenty places be&s;ides to &s;peak a|loud, and without regret, mo&s;t palpable and gro&s;&s;e untruths. Your thought, that <HI>my works need not be called in,</HI> is very grave and con&s;iderate: &s;hould you not do well, humbly to pre&s;ent it to the Parliament?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Book-&s;ellers, or Beacon-firers, &sect;. VI.</HEAD>
<P>Sir, you might have had more hone&s;ty and piety, then to have talked of impeaching <HI>David</HI> of Athei&s;me. (<HI>a</HI>) One of our Company that under&s;tands Latine &s;aith, that you are, <HI>illud quod dicere nolo,</HI> for &s;aying &s;o (<HI>b</HI>) and we fear that if God do not &s;top you in your Bla&s;phemy, Apo&s;ta&s;ie, Here&s;ie, <HI>(c) P&s;al. 14. 1.</HI> may be &s;poken of your own &s;elf&punc; and be a very &s;uit|able Motto to that ill-conditioned book, called, <GAP DESC="foreign"> which one <HI>of our &s;ociety who under&s;tands Greek (d)</HI> &s;aith is a fighting again&s;t Peace, as <GAP DESC="foreign"> (which would have been a fitter title for your book) is a fighting again&s;t God as we &s;hall prove when you call us to that &s;ervice (<HI>e</HI>)</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="commentary">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Goodwins</HI> Animadver&s;ion. <HI>VI.</HI></HEAD>
<P>(a) Whereas you tell me that <HI>I might have had more ho|ne&s;ty and piety, &amp;c.</HI> do you think it is impo&s;&s;ible for your &s;elves to have more of either, then at pre&s;ent you have, or at lea&s;t had, when you talked of my <HI>talking of impeaching</HI> Da|vid <HI>of Athi&s;me?</HI> where do I talk either of your, or any other mans, <HI>impeaching</HI> David <HI>of Athi&s;me?</HI> I onely &s;hew you the foul face of your tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion, in a gla&s;s made of &s;uch a &s;uppo&s;iti|on, as I there mention.</P>
<P><PB N="31" REF="21">(b) I know not who that <HI>One is of your Company,</HI> that you &s;ay <HI>under&s;tands Latine:</HI> it were well that more, or all, of your <HI>Company,</HI> under&s;tood your &s;elves, and your duties, both towards God and Man, better then yet you do, though none of you <HI>under&s;tood</HI> either <HI>Latine</HI> or <HI>Greek&punc;</HI> One language is more then enough to &s;peak untruths in, and to revile per&s;ons that never did you the lea&s;t wrong or harm. But to me it is a &s;mall thing to be called by <HI>One of your Company,</HI> or by your whole company, an <HI>illud quod dicere nolo:</HI> onely in this I cannot but glory, that the reproach of an, <HI>illud quod dicere nolo,</HI> is of &s;o neare affinity with the ble&s;&s;ed Apo&s;tles, <GAP DESC="foreign"> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 4. 13. the very terms of reproach and aba&s;ement, by which he expre&s;&s;eth the opinion of the world concerning him&s;elf, and the re&s;t of his honour|able fraternity of Apo&s;tles, together with their mo&s;t wile in|treaties and u&s;age of them. But whereas you make me bear your Latine reproach, <HI>for &s;aying &s;o,</HI> I cannot imagine what it is you mean I &s;hould have &s;aid, as meriting the opening of &s;o foul a mouth upon me; you mention no &s;aying of mine of &s;uch an import.</P>
<P>(c) What &s;uch words as the&s;e, <HI>Bla&s;phemy, Apo&s;ta&s;ie, He|re&s;ie. &amp;c.</HI> &s;ignifie in your Dialect, hath been already de|clared, I think not the wor&s;e of any man, nor of my &s;elf, for being arraigned of <HI>Bla&s;phemy, Apo&s;ta&s;ie, Here&s;ie,</HI> by you &s;o called. But I marvel how any <HI>Apo&s;ta&s;ie</HI> &s;hould be a crime or matter of offence, unto you, who deny all po&s;&s;ibility of any mans Apo&s;tatizing from true Faith and Holine&s;&s;e; Surely to Apo&s;tatize, with you is but to do as <HI>Paul</HI> did, when he turned his back upon his <HI>Phari&s;ai&s;me,</HI> and &s;et his face towards Chri&s;ti|anity, or as he taught the Gentiles to do; when he per&s;wa|ded them <HI>to turn from darkne&s;&s;e to light, and from the power of Sathan unto God, Act.</HI> 26. 18. I am content to be account|ed an Apo&s;tate of this denomination. For <HI>Bla&s;phemy,</HI> I &s;igni|fied unto you before, that my great Lord and Ma&s;ter was ac|cu&s;ed of this crime: and he hath quieted my Spirit as con|cerning this reproach, with the&s;e &s;ayings: <HI>The di&s;ciple is not above his Ma&s;ter, nor the &s;ervant above his Lord. It is enough for the Di&s;ciple if he be as his Ma&s;ter, and the Servant as his Lord: if they have called the Ma&s;ter of the hou&s;e</HI> Belzebub,
<PB N="32" REF="22">
<HI>how much more &s;hall they call them of his hou&s;hold. Mat.</HI> 10. 24. 25. And concerning my <HI>Here&s;ie,</HI> I confe&s;&s;e unto you, as <HI>Paul</HI> once did to the Governour of <HI>Ce&s;area,</HI> that <HI>after the way, which you, and &s;ome others, call Here&s;ie, &s;o wor&s;hip I the God of my Fathers. beleeving all things which are written in the Law and the Prophets,</HI> Act. 24. 14.</P>
<P>It &s;eems it is but a &s;mall thing with you to take the Name of God in vain, in that you &s;ay, <HI>we fear le&s;t if God do not &s;top you in your Bla&s;phemy, &amp;c.</HI> as if to prevent inconvenience, God mu&s;t <HI>&s;top</HI> men for going on in &s;uch a way, unto which they never came near by 600 furlongs.</P>
<P><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 14. 1. May very well be applied unto tho&s;e, who care not what they &s;ay with their lips; for the&s;e are the men, that <HI>&s;ay in their hearts, There is no God.</HI> Therefore look to your &s;elves.</P>
<P>(d) Concerning your <HI>&s;uitable Motto,</HI> in talking at this wild rate you &s;eem to imagine, that the Word of God was written to &s;erve the folly and di&s;temper of Presbyterian Spi|rits. The <HI>Motto</HI> you &s;peak of is as <HI>&s;uitable</HI> to every book in your &s;hops, as to that of which you &s;peak. I perceive you have no dexterity of fancy, for calculating or contriving <HI>Motto</HI>'s.</P>
<P>(e) You may very po&s;&s;ibly <HI>prove,</HI> what you boa&s;t you <HI>&s;hall prove, when I &s;hall call you to the &s;ervice.</HI> For though you have mo&s;t provokingly intreated me, and <HI>&s;poken all man|ner of evill of me fal&s;ly,</HI> yet do I not love you &s;o little, as ever to <HI>call you to</HI> any <HI>&s;ervice,</HI> which you cannot perform with|out <HI>fighting again&s;t God and his Truth.</HI> Nor is a <HI>Book ill-con|ditioned,</HI> becau&s;e you call it &s;o: your common Dialect is An|tiphra&s;tical, as hath been more then once already &s;ig|nified.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Book&s;ellers, or Beacon-firers. &sect;. VII.</HEAD>
<P>You &s;ay that this &s;entence of Scripture [who&s;oever beleeves &s;hall be &s;aved] is the onely decree of election for &s;ub&s;tance, and yet you &s;ay the decree of Election is really and &s;imply God him&s;elf, (<HI>a</HI>) This Sentence of Scripture then, yea and another that is not re|ally the &s;ame with this, is by your agreement for &s;ub&s;tance really and &s;imply God him&s;elf. For you &s;ay that this &s;entence of Scrip|ture:
<PB N="33" REF="22">
[who&s;oever beleeves not, &s;hall be damned] is the onely decree of Reprobation, Agr. p. 3. This Sentence then of Scripture al&s;o is God him&s;elf. For in the 3d. particular of your Agreement, upon the fir&s;t head pag. 1. you &s;ay that the Decree of Election, and al&s;o of Reprobation are both (as well as all other Decrees attributable unto God) really and &s;imply God him&s;elf (<HI>b</HI>) Now as far as our weakne&s;&s;e can judge, the&s;e two &s;entences of Scripture, are not for &s;ence or &s;ub&s;tance really or &s;imply the &s;ame Sentences. Tell us then whether you have not &s;et up two Gods really di&s;tinct. (<HI>c</HI>) And why may you not make all the promi&s;es of eternal life; and all the threatnings of eter|nal death in Scripture decrees, as well as the&s;e, Nay Gods as well as the&s;e, &s;eriou&s;ly we do not as yet under&s;tand; and if the wi&s;e Doctor of Swan-Alley make &s;o many Gods, really we are afraid the f<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ol hath already &s;aid in his heart, That there is no God (<HI>d</HI>) Nay have you not advanced to a more impudent folly, and &s;aid as much by clear con&s;equence in &s;ome of your books: In the 1 chap. of your <HI>Redempt. Redeemed,</HI> Sect. la&s;t. p. 7. you tell us that the Ordinary effects here below, &s;uch as victory to the &s;trong, are perhaps more properly a&s;cribed unto the &s;econd Cau&s;es, then unto God. They are the la&s;t words of your fir&s;t Chapter. It &s;eems then that victory may be rather a&s;cribed to a potent Army, then to an Omnipotent God.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="commentary">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Goodwins</HI> Animadver&s;ion. <HI>VII.</HI></HEAD>
<P>(a) You &s;hould have done well, to have directed me to the place, where I <HI>&s;ay,</HI> as you &s;ay, <HI>that this &s;entence [who&s;oe|ver beleeves &s;hall be &s;aved] is the onely decree of election for &s;ub&s;tance.</HI> That 1. I might know whether you do not fal&s;ifie here al&s;o. 2. That I might con&s;ider upon what occa&s;ion I thus expre&s;s my &s;elf. I rather judge that my &s;aying is this, or however my meaning plainly enough is none other, that <HI>the Sentence of Scripture,</HI> you mention, <HI>contains the onely De|cree of Election,</HI> that I know of You will I pre&s;ume plea&s;e to under&s;tand me as &s;peaking of Election to &s;alvation, and not of any Election of another kind. Whereas you add, that <HI>yet I &s;ay that the decree of Election is really and &s;imply God him|&s;elf,</HI> I &s;uppo&s;e that in this you are of the &s;ame mind with me, unle&s;&s;e you either think to find the <HI>Decree of Election out of God,</HI> or el&s;e &s;omething in God, which is not really him&s;elf.</P>
<P><PB N="34" REF="23">(b. c.) And whereas you charge me further with <HI>&s;aying that the Decree of Election, and al&s;o of Reprobation</HI> (expre&s;&s;ed in that &s;aying, <HI>Who&s;oever beleeves not, &s;hall be damned, (as well as all other decrees attributeable unto God) are really and &s;imply God him&s;elf:</HI> and from hence (in your <HI>weakne&s;s,</HI> as your &s;elves truly &s;peak) <HI>the&s;e two &s;entences of Scripture not being</HI> (as you &s;ay) <HI>for &s;ence or &s;ub&s;tance, really or &s;imply the &s;ame &s;entence,</HI> in&s;ultingly demand; <HI>Tell us then whether you have not &s;et up two Gods really di&s;tinct,</HI> I an&s;wer <HI>di&s;tinctly,</HI> and plainly, no: For as ju&s;tice and mercy (and there is the &s;ame con&s;ideration of all his other divine properties, or At|tributes) though they import very different properties or Attributes in God, yet are they really the &s;ame in him, nor do they plurifie or diver&s;ifie, his E&s;&s;ence or Being: in like manner the two <HI>Decrees</HI> you &s;peak of&punc; though different, and expre&s;&s;ed in <HI>two different &s;entences of Scripture,</HI> yet are they really one and the &s;ame thing in God. Yea do not you your &s;elves, at lea&s;t your Prophets, a&s;cribe both Decrees the one of Election, the other of Reprobation, unto God, with|out &s;o much as once dreaming that hereby they incur the crime of <HI>&s;etting up two Gods.</HI> The&s;e then are but frivolous and childi&s;h cavils, and unto which your own Teachers with their Doctrines lie altogether as open, as I, or any of my &s;ayings.</P>
<P>Whereas you further deridingly (like your &s;elves) &s;ay, <HI>That if the wi&s;e Doctor of Swan-Alley, make &s;o many Gods, Really we are afraid, the fool hath already &s;aid in his heart, That there is no God;</HI> Surely in ca&s;e this be &s;o, it is no matter of <HI>fear,</HI> either to you, or to me. Yea I had rea&s;on to like my <HI>Heart</HI> the wor&s;e, and &s;o had you) if the <HI>Fool</HI> did not <HI>&s;ay</HI> there, as you expre&s;s. <HI>The Tra&s;gre&s;&s;ion of the wicked</HI> (&s;aith <HI>David,</HI> P&s;al. 36. 1.) <HI>Saith within my heart, that there is no Fear of God before his eyes.</HI> Was <HI>Davids Heart</HI> the wor&s;e, or le&s;s holy, and not rather much the better, and the more enlightened, becau&s;e <HI>the Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of the wicked &s;pake,</HI> as he declareth, <HI>in it? If the Fool &s;aith</HI> not in your <HI>Heart, That there is no God,</HI> the &s;ilence argues the darkne&s;s of it. But it is a thing very incident to your <HI>weakne&s;s,</HI> to make ob|loquies and reproaches of things commendable and wor|thy.</P>
<P><PB N="35" REF="23">(d) You go on beating the Air very fiercely with the rod of your anger, <HI>Nay, have you not advanced to a more im|pudent folly</HI> (it &s;eems you mea&s;ure me by your &s;elves, as commonly men u&s;e to &s;erve their neighbors, and &s;o are in a grand mi&s;take) <HI>and &s;aid as much by clear con&s;equence in &s;ome of your Books?</HI> It &s;eems then that your former <HI>con&s;e|quence,</HI> by which you made me <HI>&s;peak as much,</HI> was ob&s;cure and dark. But I perceive that <HI>a cleer con&s;equence,</HI> and <HI>a dark con&s;equence,</HI> to you are both alike, and a <HI>con&s;equence</HI> which is no <HI>con&s;equence,</HI> but a broad <HI>non &s;equitur,</HI> as good as either. Well, let us be in&s;tructed in your <HI>clear con&s;equence.</HI></P>
<P>In the fir&s;t Chapter of my Redemp. Redeemed, you tell me (Oh that you would learn to tell truth) that <HI>I tell you that the ordinary effects here below &s;uch as victory to the &s;trong:</HI> this Parenthe&s;is is a Ba&s;tard of your own begetting, as your &s;elves &s;peak, layd at my door; you find no &s;uch in the place you here pretend to tran&s;cribe) <HI>are perhaps more properly a&s;cribed unto the &s;econd cau&s;es then unto God.</HI> Nei|ther are the&s;e <HI>the la&s;t words of my fir&s;t Chapter,</HI> as you &s;ug|ge&s;t (it &s;eems you are re&s;olved not to give over the trade of fal&s;ifying) the Tenor of the la&s;t period in the &s;aid Chapter, is this. 2. <HI>That the ordinary effects, acts and operations pro|duced in the&s;e &s;ublunary parts, are not &s;o, or upon any &s;uch terms, attributeable unto God, but that they have their &s;econd cau&s;es al&s;o re&s;pectively producing them, whereunto they may as truly (and perhaps more properly) be a&s;cribed, as unto God him|&s;elf.</HI> This po&s;ition I lay down, as the latter of the two con|&s;equents, naturally flowing from this a&s;&s;ertion of the Apo|&s;tle; <HI>In God we move.</HI> Here you do not onely fal&s;ifie by addition (in&s;erting the Parenthe&s;is mentioned of your &s;elves) but by &s;ub&s;traction al&s;o, leaving out my Parenthe&s;is (at lea&s;t the form of it, and &s;omewhat of the matter al&s;o) and over and be&s;ides both the&s;e, you do not onely mangle and deface my period, tran&s;cribing &s;uch words of it as you plea&s;e, and &s;up|pre&s;&s;ing what others you plea&s;e, but further turn my <HI>MAY perhaps more properly,</HI> into your own, <HI>ARE perhaps more properly.</HI> It &s;eems you mu&s;t keep your hand in ure, and practi&s;e Fal&s;ification at every turn, lea&s;t you forget it.</P>
<P>But &s;uppo&s;e your words had been mine, and I had &s;aid,
<PB N="29" REF="24">
as you charge me, that <HI>ordinary effects here below are perhaps more properly a&s;cribed unto the &s;econd cau&s;es, then unto God;</HI> is this an hard, much le&s;s an erroneous &s;aying? is it not more <HI>proper</HI> to &s;ay, that <HI>Abraham</HI> begat <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> then to &s;ay, that God begat him? Or is it more proper to &s;ay that God warm|ed <HI>Peter</HI> at the fire in the High Prie&s;ts Hall, then to &s;ay (with the Holy Gho&s;t, <HI>Joh.</HI> 18. 18.) that <HI>Peter warmed him&s;elf?</HI> Your exceptions and cavils all along, are &s;o childi&s;hly ridicu|lous, that it is &s;carce worthy a man to take knowledge of them. And &s;uppo&s;e your exceptions in this Section, had been material, or con&s;iderable, how impertinent notwith|&s;tanding had they been to the cau&s;e depending between you and me?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Book-Sellers or Beacon-Firers. &sect;. <HI>VIII.</HI></HEAD>
<P>2. You &s;ay if God reprobated any from Eternity, it mu&s;t be him&s;elf. (<HI>a</HI>)</P>
<P>3. You &s;ay that neither Knowledge nor Fore-knowledge are attributed unto God, any otherwi&s;e then hands or eyes (<HI>b</HI>) in the third Chapter of the &s;ame Book.</P>
<P>4. We meet with &s;o many pa&s;&s;ages in your writings derogato|ry to the Word, Providence and Grace of God, that we are a|fraid Athei&s;ts will but make them&s;elves merry with your Athe|i&s;tical and bla&s;phemous Books. (<HI>c</HI>) We are weary of this drudgery to which you have en&s;laved us. (<HI>d</HI>)</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="commentary">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Goodwins</HI> Animadver&s;ion, &sect;. <HI>VIII.</HI></HEAD>
<P>(a. b.) What if I do &s;ay, as you &s;ay I do? what doth this concern either your fal&s;ification, or your Petition to the Lord Protector and Parliament, or your covetou&s;ne&s;s, about which three particulars, onely my Letter expo&s;tulateth with you? Or what evil or untruth, is there in this connex pro|po&s;ition; <HI>If God reprobated any from Eternity, it mu&s;t be him&s;elf?</HI> Why are the mo&s;t intelligent and con&s;iderate among&s;t your own Prophets and Doctors, &s;o careful to di&s;|tingui&s;h between the Decree of Reprobation, and the act of Reprobating; and &s;o likewi&s;e between the Decree of Electi|on, and the act of Electing, or Election it &s;elf (affirming the Decrees them&s;elves to be from Eternity; but the exe|cutions, or actings of them, in time;) What is the rea&s;on (I &s;ay) why they are &s;o weary thus to di&s;tingui&s;h, but that
<PB N="37" REF="24">
they &s;ee the unavoidablene&s;&s;e of the enormous con&s;equent in the &s;aid propo&s;ition, if they &s;hould affirm or hold, that God reprobated any per&s;on from eternity. But I have el&s;ewhere demon&s;tratively a&s;&s;erted the truth of the propo&s;ition. There|fore it was a pure piece of impertinency in you, to challenge me for &s;uch a &s;aying, unle&s;s you had fir&s;t di&s;abled my grounds for it.</P>
<P>Again, what if I &s;ay, <HI>That neither knowledge non fore-know|ledge, are attributed unto God, any otherwi&s;e then hands or eys, &amp;c.</HI> [meaning&punc; unproperly, or not formally, or upon &s;uch terms, as they are in men, or a&s;cribed unto them] is not this al&s;o a mo&s;t apparant Truth? Nor is it for want of ignorance that your Oracles, Dr. <HI>Kendal,</HI> Mr. <HI>Pool</HI> and others, con|tend again&s;t me for &s;uch a &s;aying. It was a light&s;ome &s;aying of that great light of the <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> Church in his daies; We &s;peak few things (he might have &s;aid &s;carce any thing) <HI>PRO|PERLY</HI> [of God] <HI>but many things &V;NPROPER|LY: yet it is well known what we mean</HI> <NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Pauca &s;unt enim quae proprie loqui|mur (&s;c. de Deo) plura non propri<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">: &s;ed cogno&s;ci|tur quid ve|limus. Aug. Confe&s;. 11. c. 2.</NOTE> [when we &s;peak unproperly of him] And that men &s;hould think that they &s;peak more honourably of God, who a&s;cribe unto him knowledge or fore-knowledge, <HI>properly,</HI> formally, in the letter, and as they are found in men, or in other creatures, then they, who attribute the &s;ame unto him by way of emi|nency, and tran&s;cendency of perfection, free from all tho&s;e Deficiencies, wherewith they are accompanied in men, and in other creatures, as <HI>viz</HI> acqui&s;ition, reception from ano|ther, accidentality to their Subject, &s;eparablene&s;&s;e from their &s;ubject, impairablene&s;&s;e in degree, limitedne&s;&s;e in degree, reality of di&s;tinction from the nature or e&s;&s;ence of their &s;ub|ject, (with &s;everal others of like con&s;ideration) that men (I &s;ay) &s;hould think, or imagine, as hath now been expre&s;&s;ed, argues extream o&s;citancy&punc; and either want of due apprehen|&s;ions of God, or of a right under&s;tanding what <HI>knowledge,</HI> or <HI>fore-knowledge,</HI> in their formal and proper &s;ignifications do import.</P>
<P>(c) You po&s;&s;ibly may meet with &s;uch <HI>pa&s;&s;ages,</HI> as you &s;peak of, in your own di&s;tempered and prejudicate fancies; but certain I am that you can meet with none of them in any of my writings. I wi&s;h your Prophets may come off with as
<PB N="38" REF="25">
much peace at the great Tribunal of <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> for their Doctrines and &s;peakings of <HI>the word, Provia<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">nce, and grace of God,</HI> as I am groundedly confident I &s;hall. But mo&s;t a&s;&s;ured|ly &s;hame and confu&s;ion of face will be your portion in that day, for all your un-chri&s;tian, &s;currilous, &s;hamele&s;&s;e revile|ings of per&s;ons who never wronged you in the lea&s;t, nor ever intended the lea&s;t evil again&s;t any one of you, or any belon|ging to you, unle&s;&s;e you take a timely cour&s;e by confe&s;&s;ing, and for&s;aking your &s;in to find mercy. <HI>Prov.</HI> 28&punc; 13. you have much more cau&s;e to be <HI>afraid that the Athei&s;ts,</HI> you &s;peak of, <HI>will make them&s;elves merry,</HI> with the writings and preachings of your Prophets, who day after day, preach broad-faced contradictions, and make the Scriptures to &s;ay, and un&s;ay; which being interpreted, is to make them &s;ay ju&s;t nothing. Nor are many of their writings any whit more excu&s;able upon the &s;ame account.</P>
<P>(d) Your work of cavilling, and calumniating, you &s;peak properly enough in calling, <HI>drudgery.</HI> You lately told me of &s;ome that <HI>wrought Journey-work to the Apo&s;tate Angels,</HI> I hope you will be no longer of their occupation. Whereas you &s;ay that I have <HI>in&s;laved,</HI> you to it, it &s;eems you are very ea&s;ie, and apt to be <HI>in&s;laved:</HI> and of this your weakne&s;&s;e your Prophets make no &s;mall advantage, I confe&s;&s;e that in &s;ome &s;uch &s;ence as the Lord <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> hath cau&s;ed many in <HI>I&s;rael to fal&punc; Luk.</HI> 2. 34. you may &s;ay that I have <HI>in&s;laved you to your drud|gery.</HI> My &s;peaking of the truth hath occa&s;ioned you to utter your &s;elves in many &s;ordid, ba&s;e, and ignoble terms again&s;t it.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="9" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Book-Sellers, or Beacon-Firers, &sect;. <HI>IX.</HI></HEAD>
<P>But that we may &s;top your mouth for ever. (<HI>a</HI>) we will at your reque&s;t correct the Pre&s;s and put in <HI>Such,</HI> that you may ac|knowledge a full re&s;titution, and de&s;ire you to make good your a&s;&s;ertion, not again&s;t us (who are but the Servants of the Com|monwealth of Learning) but again&s;t Mr. <HI>Caryl,</HI> who as we are informed, did fir&s;t &s;tigmati&s;e this your pre&s;umptuous Bla&s;|phemy. And when you &s;ent him a Letter, and did therein demand a rea&s;on of his cen&s;ure, He gave &s;uch &s;atisfactory rea&s;ons in his Letter to you, as did effectually &s;ilence you. (<HI>b</HI>) Oh that they had humbled you, But we challenge you in the Name of Truth and Piety, to print his Letters, and return an an&s;wer to them;
<PB N="39" REF="25">
le&s;t we put you to the trouble before you are aware. (<HI>c</HI>) Dr. <HI>Kendal</HI> hath charged you home to the life: why do you not an|&s;wer his challenge? He taxis you &s;martly for the &s;elf-&s;ame pa&s;|&s;age, which we complain of. Dr. <HI>Owen</HI> blames you upon the &s;ame account. All the&s;e three reverend Divines que&s;tioned you before we complained of you to the Protector and Parliament. And if you and your Confederates lay your heads together, you will never be able to return a &s;atisfactory an&s;wer. You &s;ee the re&s;titution of <HI>Such</HI> will not releeve you (<HI>d</HI>)</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="9" TYPE="commentary">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Goodwin</HI> Animadver&s;ion. <HI>IX.</HI></HEAD>
<P>(a) You take indeed the &s;ame cour&s;e to <HI>&s;top my mouth,</HI> by which <HI>Rab&s;ecah,</HI> &s;topped the mouth of the godly K. <HI>Eze|kiah</HI> and his people, <HI>E&s;a.</HI> 36. 21. and po&s;&s;ibly the cour&s;e you take in this kind may hereafter pro&s;per in your hand ac|cordingly. For the mouth of an Oven may di&s;hearten any man from gaping again&s;t it. But if you &s;hould <HI>&s;top my mouth,</HI> by revilings and reproaches, you &s;hould render me in this po|&s;ture but like unto him, who <HI>like a Lamb dumb before his Shearer, &s;o opened he not his mouth. Act.</HI> 8. 32.</P>
<P>(b) You talk of <HI>correcting the Pre&s;s,</HI> but you &s;hould do well in the fir&s;t place to <HI>correct</HI> your &s;elves. For you are the crooked thing that mo&s;t needs streightning. If you ex|pect an <HI>acknowledgement from me of a full re&s;titution,</HI> you mu&s;t not onely <HI>put</HI> in <HI>S&V;CH,</HI> but repair me in all tho&s;e particulars, in which I complain of your unworthy dealings in my Animadver&s;ions upon the fir&s;t Section of your Letter under the letters, (d, e) I fear you are not &s;o much <HI>&s;er|vants to the Commonwealth of learning,</HI> as &s;laves to your own <HI>wealth;</HI> and upon this account, to tho&s;e al&s;o, whom you judge to be the Grand-ma&s;ters in this <HI>Common-wealth,</HI> as men that are likelie&s;t to &s;erve your turn, and befriend you.</P>
<P>I am both able, and ready thorough the grace of God, to make good the <HI>A&s;&s;ertion</HI> you &s;peak of, not onely again&s;t you, who I fear had rather tru&s;t men with your Religion, then with your books, but again&s;t him al&s;o in whom you &s;o much glo|ry, yea let him take unto him Dr. <HI>Kendal,</HI> and Dr. <HI>Owen,</HI> the one for his right hand man, and the other for his left, to|gether with a <HI>Totquot</HI> of as many as you count pillars of your cau&s;e. The &s;aid <HI>A&s;&s;ertion</HI> then, being interpreted according
<PB N="40" REF="26">
to the plain, and be&s;t known, &s;ignification of the words and phra&s;es therein, amounts to nothing more, or le&s;&s;e, or wor&s;e, then this, <HI>viz.</HI> that if there were any thing to be found in the Scripture, which rightly under&s;tood, &s;hould repre&s;ent God as unholy, unju&s;t, a lover of wickedne&s;&s;e, a re&s;pecter of per&s;ons, or &s;hould charge him with any thing contumelious or reproachfull, to the mo&s;t tran&s;cendent excellency and perfection of his being, it were a ju&s;t ground to any intelli|gent man to demur about their authority, and to bethink him&s;elf again and again, whether they proceeded from God him&s;elf, or no. The rea&s;on of &s;uch an A&s;&s;ertion as this is e|vident, and near at hand, as <HI>viz.</HI> becau&s;e it is not lightly in|cident to any intelligent mans thoughts, that God &s;hould de|fame him&s;elf, or &s;peak any &s;uch thing of him&s;elf unto the world, which &s;hould be a ju&s;t ground unto men to think un|worthily of him, or of making him like to the vile&s;t or wor&s;t of men.</P>
<P>Whether this be <HI>pre&s;umptuous Bla&s;phemy,</HI> or mo&s;t Ortho|dox Doctrine, let any man who (in Mr. <HI>Fi&s;hers</HI> parable) hath not his &s;ences &s;odden into <HI>Trapezuntius</HI> his temper, judge and determine. I confe&s;&s;e you, and your Tutors, are &s;omewhat the more veniable under your zeal, in attempting to cavil, and quarrel down &s;uch notions, and &s;ayings, as that of mine mi&s;u&s;ed by you. For many of your opinions and Do|ctrines, concerning God, his coun&s;els, intentions, and di&s;pen|&s;ations, being &s;o enormou&s;ly di&s;honourable to him as they are, and you pretending to build them on the Scriptures; in ca&s;e any thing found in the Scriptures of a defaming import again&s;t God, were enough to &s;hake the foundations of their authority in the minds and con&s;ciences of intelligent men, you mu&s;t needs fall under the condemnation, not onely of men &s;peaking mo&s;t unworthily of God, but of &s;uch men al|&s;o, who teach and tempt the mo&s;t con&s;idering men, and (in part) others al&s;o, to &s;u&s;pect and que&s;tion the Authority of the Scriptures. And if the ca&s;e were thus with you and them, how &s;hould their Kingdome, (and con&s;equently your intere&s;t therein) &s;tand?</P>
<P>You may be <HI>informed</HI> (for you had need to plead informa|tion with many untruths, to ea&s;e your credit a little, for
<PB N="41" REF="26">
telling &s;o many) that Mr. <HI>Caryl &s;tigmatized my pre&s;umptuous Bla&s;phemy.</HI> But I was never <HI>informed,</HI> no not by Mr. <HI>Caryl</HI> him&s;elf, though he wrote unto me about the pa&s;&s;age, that he <HI>&s;tigmatized it for pre&s;umptuous Bla&s;phemy&punc;</HI> no not for <HI>Bla&s;phe|my</HI> in any the lowe&s;t degree Yea when as in my Letter to him, Lonely expo&s;tulated with him for <HI>&s;tigmatizing</HI> it with a brand of ignominy, in his an&s;wer he di&s;owns any <HI>&s;tigmatizing</HI> it at all, &s;ave onely in a very qualified &s;ence, as is to be &s;een in the Letter it &s;elf, printed <HI>verbatim</HI> at the end of the&s;e papers.</P>
<P>But whereas you affirm, that <HI>in his letter to me he gave &s;uch &s;atisfactory rea&s;ons, which did effectually &s;ilence me,</HI> you do your accu&s;tomed Devotions to the Godde&s;&s;e <HI>Mendacina.</HI> There was nothing at all in this Letter in any degree &s;atisfact|ory unto me: nor doth he argue the point, (I mean the &s;ub|ject matter of the pa&s;&s;age) little, or much, in it. And &s;o far was this Letter from <HI>effectually &s;ilencing</HI> me, that my mouth hath ever &s;ince been as wide open, in the defence of the truth contained in the pa&s;&s;age, as ever before, and is like to be &s;o &s;till.</P>
<P>(c) Whereas, in the &s;welling vanity of your &s;pirits, you challenge me <HI>in the Name</HI> of your two &s;trangers, <HI>Truth and Piety, to print his Letters, and to return an an&s;wer to them,</HI> threatning me withall, as if you meant to <HI>put me to the trouble before I &s;hould be aware,</HI> if did it not I; I mu&s;t 1. Appologize for my &s;elf upon &s;omewhat like terms with him, who being con&s;cienciou&s;ly devoted to his Idol, comming towards him upon an A&s;&s;esback, and &s;o having occa&s;ion to bow down to it, that the &s;tanders-by might not think that he wor&s;hipped the A&s;&s;e, &s;aid to the Bea&s;t (in the Act of his Adoration) <HI>Non tibi, &s;ed Religioni:</HI> &s;o being charged by the &s;acred Names of <HI>Truth and Piety,</HI> to <HI>print</HI> Mr. <HI>Caryls</HI> Letters, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> though I know no rea&s;on why I &s;hould gratifie the per&s;ons adjuring me by the&s;e Names, yet for the reverence I bear to the Names them&s;elves. I &s;hall herewith print the <HI>Letters, and return an an&s;wer,</HI> when either I &s;hall &s;ee my time to do it, or Mr. <HI>Caryl</HI> &s;ee his to re|quire it.</P>
<P>But (good Gentlemen) you &s;eem to threaten me with &s;ome &s;ore trouble, if I will not do as you &s;ay, <HI>and this before I am aware.</HI> If you could cau&s;e the great Fabrick of the
<PB N="42" REF="27">
whole world, to fall like an old rotten Hou&s;e upon my head,
<Q><L>Impavidum ferient ruinae.</L></Q></P>
<Q><L>The fall &s;hould &s;mite a dreadle&s;&s;e fearle&s;&s;e man.</L></Q>
<P>There is nothing to be gained at my hand by threatnings. (d) As for Doctor <HI>Kendal,</HI> and Doctor <HI>Owen,</HI> two other of your Champions, their folly may look them in the face in due time. Or if they &s;hall turn their backs upon it, it will pre&s;ent it &s;elf with never the more di&s;advantage unto the world. The fir&s;t of the&s;e (you &s;ay) hath <HI>charged me home to the life.</HI> You are mi&s;taken in the method of Doctor <HI>Kendals</HI> warfare: he fights more by the Stratagem, and go|by, then by the <HI>charge.</HI> Or if by <HI>charging home to the life,</HI> you mean (for you are wont to cant) &s;peaking great words to &s;mall purpo&s;e, I acknowledge your <HI>Encomium</HI> of him. And if by <HI>taxing me &s;martly for the pa&s;&s;age</HI> you &s;peak of, you mean, that he would very fain make &s;omewhat of it, if he knew what, for the honor of his wit, and the ingratiating of him&s;elf with his party, I mu&s;t confe&s;s that you &s;peak the truth in this al&s;o. Whereas you imperiou&s;ly demand of me, <HI>Why I do not an&s;wer his challenge:</HI> Why do you not ask your great Champion&punc; Doctor <HI>Owen,</HI> why he hath not all this while <HI>an&s;wered</HI> Mr. <HI>Horn?</HI> As Charity, &s;o Di&s;cipline, &s;hould be|gin at whome. Yet I think I may in part excu&s;e the Doctor at this turn. For (doubtle&s;s) Mr. <HI>Horns <GAP DESC="foreign">, Open doore,</HI> is too hard for Doctor <HI>Owen</HI> to &s;hut, and his mo&s;t &s;atisfactory an&s;wer would be, to acknowledge as much. If he would make this An&s;wer, he &s;hould de&s;erve the com|mendation of a, <HI>recte re&s;pondes.</HI> But my <HI>An&s;wer</HI> to you upon this que&s;tion, is, that I have publiquely engaged my &s;elf, (death, &s;ickne&s;s or other occa&s;ional intru&s;ions not pre|venting me) to an&s;wer more con&s;iderable men, and more con&s;iderable Arguments, then he, or his, are <NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">See the 26. and la&s;t Chapter of my Redemp|tion Redeem|ed.</NOTE>. It is meet that his betters &s;hould be &s;erved before him. Be&s;ides &s;ome of his own judgement in the controver&s;ies, have no &s;uch opinion of what he hath written, as to think that it needs much an&s;wer. The rea&s;on hereof I conceive to be, becau&s;e his An&s;wers (more generally) &s;tand upon &s;uch odd, uncouth, wild, and rea&s;onle&s;s principles and notions, in which the
<PB N="43" REF="27">
generality of his own Party, can neither find &s;ap, nor &s;avor, nor well tell what to make of them. Yea (if all hear&s;ays be Orthodox) Mr. Vice-Chancellor him&s;elf, his Co-adjunctor again&s;t the Truth, hath notwith&s;tanding pull'd in his Horns again, which he put out to &s;uch a length in his Quaint En|comia&s;tique of him, prefixed before his former Book, en|tituled <GAP DESC="foreign">, re&s;erving (as it &s;eems) upon better ad|vice, his high thoughts, for his own writings. But the con|&s;ideration now mentioned, in reference to Doctor <HI>Kendal,</HI> is another rea&s;on, why an an&s;wer to his Book may be &s;pared without any great detriment or lo&s;s to the cau&s;e. Yea upon the &s;ame account, an an&s;wer given to it, though never &s;o &s;atisfactory and full, would yet amount to no more, then onely to an An&s;wer <HI>Ad hominem:</HI> Others of his judgement would be little &s;atisfied, or convinced by it, becau&s;e it would not reach their apprehen&s;ions.</P>
<P>One thing further is, that could I but entertain the one half of that opinion concerning his Theological abilities, which by &s;everal &s;trains in his writings, I perceive he admits of him&s;elf, I could not but con&s;equentially &s;uppo&s;e, that he were able to An&s;wer all his own An&s;wers, and upon com|petent &s;tudie, to di&s;cover the nakedne&s;s of all he hath writ|ten in the controver&s;ies depending between him and me. Yea my pre&s;ent apprehen&s;ions of the learning, parts, and worth of Docter <HI>Owen,</HI> are &s;uch and &s;o high, that I really beleeve, would be ingeniou&s;ly, and with the be&s;t of his under|&s;tanding apply him&s;elf to the work, he could pluck up by the roots all he hath planted, and make Hey and Stubble of tho&s;e an&s;wers and di&s;cu&s;&s;ions which now (I que&s;tion not) but he de&s;ires &s;hould bee e&s;teemed Silver and Gold by his Friends and Party.</P>
<P>Notwith&s;tanding, as to Doctor <HI>Kendal,</HI> if what he hath written in an&s;wer to me, be too hard for him&s;elf to an&s;wer, I &s;hall at my fir&s;t lea&s;ure, be willing to help him, upon this condition, that he Re-print his Books, and cau&s;e all his <HI>Fro|liques</HI> (as him&s;elf termeth them) all his un&s;eemly jears, all his childi&s;h and frivolous cavils, all his windy and importue in|&s;ultations and triumphs, with abundance of other rub|bidge
<PB N="44" REF="28">
not fit for any man to be troubled with, but him&s;elf, to be left out.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, what Doctor <HI>Kendal</HI> hath written needs the le&s;s An&s;wer, becau&s;e in the eye of an intelligent and ob&s;er|vant Reader, he hath rather confirmed, then infirmed, or confuted the arguments of his Adver&s;ary, by giving the &s;tre&s;s and &s;trength of them the go-by (well nigh all along) &s;pend|ing his Attillery upon Phanta&s;ms of his own conception, and maters very irrelative to his cau&s;e. As for Doctor <HI>Owens blameing</HI> me, it is like his act in <HI>blaming</HI> me, is more <HI>blame</HI>-worthy, then that for which I am <HI>blamed</HI> by him. They who have had time to looke into his Book, find more then a few <HI>blame</HI>-worthies in it. Yea the&s;e <HI>two</HI> great Hypera&s;pi&s;ts and Champions of your cau&s;e, have by <HI>one Horn</HI> both been pu&s;h|ed to the Earth, and overthrown both Hor&s;e and man.</P>
<P>(d) It is (I confe&s;s) very probable, that neither my &s;elf, nor any other in my behalf, will <HI>ever be able to return an An&s;wer &s;atisfactory</HI> either to you, who are not capable of an An|&s;wer (truly &s;o called) or to &s;uch of your party, who judge it more honorable to per&s;i&s;t in an error, and this unto death, then to &s;eem to have erred: but I &s;uppo&s;e an An&s;wer hath been lately given, though brief, yet <HI>&s;atisfactory to the life</HI> (your own phra&s;e) to all con&s;idering and un-prejudiced men.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="10" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Book&s;ellers, or Beacon-firers, &sect;. X.</HEAD>
<P>You are plea&s;ed to tell us in your Letter to us that you could make a further breach upon our reputations, if you would exa|mine our Tran&s;criptions out of the writings of others (<HI>a</HI>) Sir, if you have a mind to maintain Mr. <HI>Biddles</HI> Bla&s;phemies, or a|dopt them into your a&s;&s;ociation, let us feel the dint of your two edged tongue, (<HI>b</HI>) But we pa&s;&s;e to your &s;econd charge. You &s;ay we give pernicious coun&s;el to the Parliament, and advi&s;e them to authorize &s;ome men, Sir-named Orthodox, to word it with the Holy Gho&s;t? What is this but to charge the Bla&s;phemies and Here&s;ies of the&s;e times upon the Holy Gho&s;t. (<HI>c</HI>) The Lord rebuke thee thou fal&s;e tongue; Con&s;ider that text &s;adly, If any man &s;peak a word again&s;t the Holy Gho&s;t, it &s;hall not be forgiven him. <HI>Mat. 12. 32.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="10" TYPE="commentary">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Goodwins</HI> Animadver&s;ion, &sect;. <HI>X.</HI></HEAD>
<P>(a) Here again you fal&s;ifie: I do not tell you in my
<PB N="45" REF="28">
Letter, that <HI>I could make a further breach, &amp;c.</HI> but onely that it is not unlikely, but that having dealt <HI>foully</HI> by me, you have not dealt much more <HI>fairly</HI> by others; which be|ing found, would make a further breach upon you. Concer|ning Mr. <HI>Biddles Bla&s;phemies,</HI> I beleeve, and beleeve it to be the &s;ence of many others, that I have laboured, and this publickly, more abundantly in oppo&s;ing them, not onely then you all, but then all your &s;ix Commi&s;&s;ioners (el&s;ewhere boa&s;ted in your letter.) Therefore whereas you talk of my <HI>maintaining the&s;e Bla&s;phemies, and adopting them into my a&s;&s;o|ciation,</HI> you do but teach tho&s;e, who know the truth, to under|value you, and to look upon any thing you &s;ay as le&s;&s;e con&s;i|derable.</P>
<P>(b) If my <HI>tongue be two-edged,</HI> it holds &s;o much the better re&s;emblance with that <HI>two edged-&s;word,</HI> that came out of the mouth of the Lord <HI>Chri&s;t, Rev.</HI> 1. 16. It is much better to have one <HI>tongue two-edged,</HI> then to have <HI>two tongues,</HI> or one <HI>tongue</HI> without any edge at all.</P>
<P>(c) Is the <HI>not authorizing &s;ome men to word it with the Holy Gho&s;t, to charge the Bla&s;phemies and Here&s;ies of the times upon the Holy Gho&s;t?</HI> To &s;ay that <HI>Abraham begat I&s;aack,</HI> is it to charge <HI>Sarah</HI> with being an Adultre&s;&s;e? I perceive you are no good Con&s;equentiali&s;ts. Or have the Parliament hi|therto, in <HI>not authorizing men to word it,</HI> in my &s;ence, <HI>with the Holy Gho&s;t, charged all the Bla&s;phemies and Here&s;ies of the times upon the Holy Gho&s;t?</HI> When you take me with <HI>a fal&s;e tongue</HI> (as I have done you ten times over) if you will not forgive me, then imprecate again&s;t me, as you do now without any cau&s;e at all. <HI>The Lord rebuke thee thou fal&s;e tongue.</HI> You wi&s;h me to <HI>con&s;ider &s;adly,</HI> that which you pro|po&s;e and cite <HI>madly.</HI> They who &s;peak maliciou&s;ly, and con|trary to the light of their own con&s;ciences, again&s;t their bro|ther, are very near neighbours to him, that &s;hall &s;peak a|gain&s;t the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t.</HI> Therefore it concerns you as well, if not much more, to take the advice you give, then to give it.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="11" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Book&s;ellers or Beacon-firers, &sect;. XI.</HEAD>
<P>As for your Committee (<HI>a</HI>) of three Orthodox Pa&s;tors, <HI>Ed|mund, Arthur,</HI> and <HI>William,</HI> we will inlarge them if you plea&s;e
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with three more, <HI>John, George,</HI> and <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> and then there is a Committee of Six: make your exceptions again&s;t them, if you can, and take you your <HI>Jo&s;huah, Peter,</HI> and <HI>Tobiah,</HI> into your own con&s;ociation. We wonder at your boldne&s;s, in calling the power of the Protector &amp; Parliament, a <HI>Nebuchadnezzarean</HI> power, (<HI>b</HI>) but we wonder more that you &s;hould inve&s;t Doctor <HI>Whichcote</HI> Doctor <HI>Cudworth,</HI> and the re&s;t of the Doctors of <HI>Cambridge,</HI> with a <HI>Nebuchadnezzarean</HI> power over Bookes and Opini|ons (<HI>c</HI>) and yet deny it to the Protector and the Parliament; you cannot an&s;wer that to a Committee: And we wonder mo&s;t of all at your boldne&s;&s;e and &s;awcine&s;&s;e with the God of Heaven, when you inve&s;t the Doctors of <HI>Cambridge</HI> with an Auto|cratorical Maje&s;ty, (<HI>d</HI>) and affirm that <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> had the &s;elf-&s;ame inve&s;titure. 1. Con&s;ider that this is the ba|&s;e&s;t kind of Flattery. 2. The gro&s;&s;e&s;t Bla&s;phemy to attribute that which is proper to God, to the greate&s;t or be&s;t of men: for you your &s;elf do acknowledge that Autocratorical Maje&s;ty is peculiar to God onely, where you deny &s;econd Cau&s;es to be Autocratorical: Wee wi&s;h that you had a better heart, and a better memory: (<HI>e</HI>) Wee hope the <HI>Cambridge</HI> Doctors will not take that glory to them&s;elves, which you a&s;|cribe to them, lea&s;t they be as Wormeaten in their intellectuals, as Herod was in his body, if they a&s;pire above the order of &s;econd Cau&s;es; (<HI>f</HI>)</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="11" TYPE="commentary">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Goodwins</HI> Animadver&s;ion <HI>XI.</HI></HEAD>
<P>(a) Nay, &s;tay a while: you Ante-date the power of the men, whom it &s;eems you would have for your Pre&s;&s;e-ma&s;ters, in &s;tiling them, <HI>a Committee.</HI> God in his ju&s;t judgement upon a &s;infull Nation, may permit them to be inve&s;ted with &s;uch a power too &s;oon: but as yet I &s;uppo&s;e you have not procured a <HI>Dedimus&punc; pote&s;tatem</HI> for them. Whereas you chal|lenge me to except again&s;t them, I &s;uppo&s;e they are not <HI>Ex|ception</HI>-le&s;&s;e, unle&s;&s;e their perfection be Hyper-angelical. But as to a Magi&s;trality over the Pre&s;s, my <HI>exception</HI> again&s;t them is. 1. That they know but in part, and therefore mu&s;t needs be ignorant, if not of many, yet of &s;ome, of the things of God, and which concern the eternal &s;alvation of men. In which re&s;pect, they are likely to ob&s;truct the publi&s;hing of truths of highe&s;t concernment unto the world, in ca&s;e they
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be ignorant of them. 2. Their pre&s;ent judgement con&s;ider|ed, I judge them ignorant of, or at lea&s;t declared enemies unto, many grand and important truths of the Go&s;pel. And that my judgement in this particular, is according to truth, I have &s;atisfied many, and &s;aid enough to &s;atisfie you, and all your party, were you not &s;o near of kin to him, who having incon&s;iderately affirmed that there are twelve Commande|ments, and being admoni&s;hed of his mi&s;take, and prompt|ed to &s;ay, there are ten; replyed; <HI>I have &s;aid there are twelve, and I will, &s;ay &s;o &s;till.</HI></P>
<P>But thirdly and la&s;ty, (and &s;omewhat more particularly) what think ye of him, formerly touched with <HI>Carolizing, Scotizing,</HI> and playing fa&s;t and loo&s;e with the Parliament? Is not he one of the <HI>&s;ix,</HI> if not of the <HI>three?</HI> I know you would have your Committee Honorable, and untainted, from the one end of it to the other. The Emperour <HI>Augu&s;tus</HI> was very tender in admitting any per&s;on to enjoy the lea&s;t de|gree of the <HI>Romane</HI> liberty, who had ever been in bands, or upon the rack <NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg"><HI>Cum et ed numero et de conditione ac differenti&acirc; eorum, qui manu-mitte|rentur, curi|o&s;e cavi&s;&s;et, hoc queque adjecit, me vinctus un|quam, tortu|&s;ve quis, ullo libertatis ge|nere urbem adipis cere|tur. Sueton. Octav.</HI> &sect;. 40.</NOTE>. If you do not like this tang of the Bell, you mu&s;t not blame me, but your &s;elves, who pull'd the Rope &s;o hard by the hand of your challenge &s;ent unto me <HI>to make my exceptions</HI> if I could. I fear &s;ome body forgot the old &s;aying. <HI>Ip&s;e crimine vacare debet, qui in alterum paratus e&s;t dicere.</HI></P>
<P>I may have cau&s;e indeed to <HI>wonder at your boldne&s;s</HI> in &s;in|ing, but have you any cau&s;e to <HI>wonder</HI> at that, which is not? I no where <HI>call the Power of the Protector and Parliament, a Nebuchadnezzarean Power.</HI> And yet under&s;tanding the word <HI>Power,</HI> of an executive <HI>Power</HI> onely, which the Latines more properly call <HI>potentia,</HI> and not of an Authoritative regulated or juridical power, commonly &s;ignified by the word <HI>Pote&s;tas,</HI> he that &s;hall not e&s;timate their <HI>Power</HI> to be <HI>Nebuchadnezza|rean</HI> (in my &s;ence of the word) under-valueth it.</P>
<P>You pretend here again to <HI>wonder,</HI> and this with a great|er wonderment then your former, at what no wi&s;e man would <HI>wonder</HI> at all. Do you not <HI>wonder</HI> that men &s;hould &s;peak, or under&s;tand any thing? Or that all men are not either Hor&s;es, or Mules? Or do you <HI>wonder</HI> that men in &s;peech, &s;hould &s;ometimes u&s;e metaphors? Are there no &s;uch doings in tho&s;e parts of your <HI>Common-wealth of learning,</HI> which you are wont
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to frequent and vi&s;it? do none of your Prophets &s;peak Metaphors at any time?</P>
<P>Your Cavil at my <HI>inve&s;ting Doctor Whichcote, Doctor Cud|woth</HI> &amp;c. with <HI>a Nebuchadnezzarean Power over books and opinions,</HI> is extreamly childi&s;h and futile. It may be I &s;hould not be able to <HI>An&s;wer</HI> the high mi&s;demeanor of u&s;ing a Me|taphor, to &s;uch a <HI>Committee,</HI> as you would obtrude upon me, and others: But before a <HI>Committee</HI> of wi&s;er mens chu&s;ing, I make little que&s;tion of my purgation. But in &s;aying that <HI>I Inve&s;t the Doctors</HI> you &s;peak of, with a <HI>Nebu|chadnezzarean Power over books and opinions,</HI> you fal&s;ifie by retail, though not by whole-&s;ale. For 1. I do not any where u&s;e the expre&s;&s;ion of a <HI>Nebuchadnezzarean Power,</HI> in all my Epi&s;tle to them. Nor &s;econdly, do I <HI>inve&s;t</HI> them with any power, priviledge, prerogative, or the like, but on|ly declare, or affirm, them to be <HI>inve&s;ted</HI> already.</P>
<P>(d) It &s;eems you are &s;et upon the pin of <HI>wondering</HI> (a &s;eat whereon wi&s;e men do not ordinarily &s;it) and the fir&s;t-born of all your wonderments is, at a very &s;trange thing indeed, were it not in the retinue of things that are not, <HI>viz.</HI> my <HI>boldne&s;s and &s;aucine&s;s with the God of Heaven, when I inve&s;t the Doctors of Cambridge&punc; with an Autocratorical Maje&s;ty&punc;</HI> But will ye not next <HI>wonder</HI> at the <HI>boldne&s;s and &s;aucine&s;s</HI> of <HI>David with the God of Heaven,</HI> for a&s;cribing unto Magi&s;trates the name of <HI>Gods. P&s;al. 82. 1. P&s;al.</HI> 86. 8. and much more of tho&s;e other Penmen of the Scriptures, who &s;o frequently call the Idols of the Heathens, by the name of <HI>Gods</HI> al&s;o? Or is it more <HI>boldne&s;s</HI> or <HI>&s;aucine&s;s with God</HI> (as your unband|&s;ome, or ill-&s;ounding expre&s;&s;ion is) to a&s;cribe unto men, not &s;imply (as you, after your manner &s;ugge&s;t) an Auto|cratorical maje&s;ty, but with limitation and explication, <HI>an Autocratorical maje&s;ty OVER BOOKS AND OPINIONS,</HI> then it is to a&s;cribe unto them the plain and expre&s;s Title and Name of <HI>Gods?</HI> Be&s;ides, your charge of my <HI>inve&s;ting them with this Maje&s;ty,</HI> carries the print of a fal&s;e &s;inger in it (as was lately &s;aid.) Nor is it any better then a putid of &s;illy ca|vil, not worthy the <HI>Genius</HI> of a School-Boy of ten or twelve years old, to charge me with <HI>the gro&s;&s;e&s;t Bla&s;phemy,</HI> becau&s;e I a&s;cribe unto the Univer&s;ity an <HI>Autocratorical maje&s;ty over
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Books and opinions,</HI> in &s;uch a &s;ence, as I declare and explain in the period immediately following, at large. Nor would your Committee of Licen&s;ers, &s;hould the Parliament indulge you in your Anti-<HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> <NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">I call your reque&s;t, <HI>An|ti-Chri&s;tian,</HI> becau&s;e a re|&s;traint of the Pre&s;s is ge|nerally prac|ti&s;ed, where <HI>Anti-Chri&s;t</HI> hath his Throne. The &s;ame Engine was made u&s;e of by the late Prelacy, to &s;upport their Kingdom of unrighteou&s;|ne&s;s. Is it me<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">t to bring in the me|thods and ar|rifices, in|vented and practi&s;ed by <HI>Satan</HI> for the &s;upport of his tottering State and Kingdom in the world, in|to the King|dom of <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> for the e&s;tabli&s;hment of this, as if it were not able to &s;tand but upon <HI>Satans</HI> legs?</NOTE> reque&s;t about them, (which I tru&s;t is found among the <HI>Ab&s;its</HI> of all con&s;idering men) be able to accommodate you in your expectations, or de&s;ires, if they &s;hould not inve&s;t them with &s;uch an <HI>Autocratorical Ma|je&s;ty over Books and Opinions,</HI> as I a&s;cribe to the Doctors of <HI>Cambridge:</HI> Should then the Parliament be guilty, either of <HI>ba&s;e &s;lattery,</HI> or of the <HI>gro&s;&s;e&s;t Bla&s;phemy,</HI> in ca&s;e they &s;hould inve&s;t them with &s;uch a power <HI>over Books and Opinions,</HI> as that which I Rhetorically term, an <HI>Autocratorical Maje&s;ty?</HI> Or have not I every whit as much ground of <HI>hope,</HI> that there will be found none (at lea&s;t no wi&s;e men) who will take that power and glory, to them&s;elves, without which Licen|&s;ers of the Pre&s;&s;e cannot be e&s;tabli&s;hed to do their work ef|fectually, and with authority, as you have to hope that the <HI>Cambridge Doctors will not take that glory to them&s;elves, which I a&s;cribe to them?</HI></P>
<P>When you in&s;innuate, (indeed, as good as &s;ay right|down) that <HI>I my &s;elf a&s;cribe unto God, that Autocratorical Maje&s;ty,</HI> which I a&s;cribe unto men, <HI>ve&s;tratim facitis,</HI> you do like your &s;elves, and not like unto men hone&s;tly con&s;iderate. Do I any where a&s;cribe unto God an <HI>Autocratorical Maje|&s;ty over Books and Opinions?</HI> But <HI>he that commits &s;in,</HI> I &s;ee is <HI>the &s;ervant of &s;in.</HI></P>
<P>(e) Whereas you <HI>wi&s;h me a better memory,</HI> then that which I have, I fear you would be better &s;atisfied, if it were wor&s;e. But I &s;hall not burthen you with this jealou&s;ie. Nay if you be reall and Chri&s;tian in your <HI>wi&s;h,</HI> I mo&s;t heartily concur with you in it. And by way of recompence, for your good affections to me, mo&s;t cordially wi&s;h you a better under&s;tan|ding; which I know will accommodate you as much, as a <HI>better memory</HI> will do me.</P>
<P>(f) Your Prophets are they, <HI>who a&s;pire above the Order of &s;econd Cau&s;es,</HI> when they claim a Lord&s;hip and Dominion
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over mens faith, and undertake to pre&s;cribe what mu&s;t be taught and beleeved by men. And if your notion here be true, this probably may be the cau&s;e, why they are (in your affectate Metaphor) &s;o <HI>Wormeaten in their intellectuals.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="12" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Book&s;ellers, or Beacon-firers. &sect;. XII.</HEAD>
<P>3. To your 3&punc; rea&s;on concerning Qualifications; the Holy Gho&s;t doth &s;et down &s;uch Qualifications both Negatively and Po&s;itively, as would fit men to over&s;ee a Pre&s;&s;e, though printing was not invented &s;ome hundreds of years after the Canon was perfected. 1. Negatively, They are not fit to over&s;ee the Pre&s;&s;e who are men of corrupt minds, de&s;titute of the truth (<HI>a</HI>) void of judgement, or delivered over to areprobate &s;ence. 2. Po&s;itively, they are fit, who hold fa&s;t the whole&s;ome form of &s;ound words, the my&s;tery of faith and Godline&s;&s;e, and have their &s;ences exerci&s;ed to di&s;cern both good and evill, (<HI>b</HI>)</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="12" TYPE="commentary">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Goodwins</HI> Animadver&s;ion. <HI>XII.</HI></HEAD>
<P>(a) <HI>If men of corrupt minds, or de&s;titute of the truth, be not fit men to over&s;ee a Pre&s;&s;e,</HI> I doubt you mu&s;t contract the number of your Committee of Six, or el&s;e admit of men not <HI>fit,</HI> according to your own rule, for the &s;ervice.</P>
<P>(b) Again, if they, and onely they, <HI>be fit, who hold fa&s;t the whole&s;ome form of &s;ound words,</HI> certain I am that your <HI>Committee of Six,</HI> are not <HI>fit:</HI> for they hold fa&s;t an unwhol|&s;ome form of words, and teach many <HI>un&s;ound</HI> Doctrines, which are not <HI>according to Godline&s;&s;e; the un&s;oundne&s;&s;e</HI> and ill con&s;i&s;tency of &s;everal of the&s;e Doctrines, with the intere&s;t of <HI>Godline&s;&s;e,</HI> I have demon&s;tratively &s;hewed and proved in &s;undry places of my writings. Nor have all the Mercury wa|ter that hath been applied, nor all the &s;crapings, and &s;crat|chings, and &s;crubbings that have been u&s;ed, been able to clean&s;e, or clear tho&s;e Doctrines from the&s;e &s;tains and blots.</P>
<P>By the way, though it be true, that the Scripture doth mention &s;uch qualifications and characters of men, both <HI>ne|gative and po&s;itive,</HI> as you &s;peak of, in reference to other oc|ca&s;ions and imployments, yet by what authority, or warrant, do you make them competent to qualifie for &s;uch an Apo|cryphal office, as you call the <HI>over-&s;eeing of a Pre&s;&s;e?</HI> Are not you men, who abhominate to make u&s;e of your own wits, rea&s;ons, or judgements in matters of Religion, e&s;pecially to
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tru&s;t unto them? Or can you prove from the Scriptures that your qualifications were ever intended, or meant by the Ho|ly Gho&s;t, for the de&s;ignation or characterizing of per&s;ons meet to make <HI>Over&s;ee-ers of Pre&s;&s;es?</HI> Or is your Office of Pre&s;&s;e-over-&s;ight an alien to Religion, and irrelative to it? Be&s;ides, what warrant have you, but onely from your &s;elves, and your own rea&s;ons, when you&punc; undertake to qualifie your Pre&s;&s;e-ma&s;ters, with tho&s;e qualifications from the Scriptures, which you expre&s;&s;e, to lay a&s;ide and leave out others, which are delivered there upon the &s;ame, or like account&punc; with tho&s;e in&s;i&s;ted on by you? Why do you not require in your Over&s;eers of the Pre&s;&s;e, that they be as well, <HI>blamele&s;&s;e, hus|bands of one wife given to Ho&s;pitality, not given to wine, not greedy of filthy lucre, not covetous,</HI> &amp;c. as men who <HI>hold fa&s;t the whole|&s;ome form of &s;ound words</HI> (which by the way is no Scripture qualification: this no where termeth <HI>forms, whole&s;ome,</HI> but <HI>words</HI> or <HI>Doctrines</HI> onely.)</P>
<P>Notwith&s;tanding this Section of your Letter hath this, that it is the calme&s;t of all the 22.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="13" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Book-&s;ellers, or Beacon-firers, &sect;. XIII.</HEAD>
<P>4. To your 4th. all things are not free in a free Common|wealth: that Chri&s;tian Commonwealth mu&s;t expect to be ruined, which allows men a liberty to bla&s;pheme Je&s;us Chri&s;t, or corrupt his Go&s;pel (<HI>a</HI>)</P>
<P>5. To your 5th. be plea&s;ed to read the 13th. of <HI>Deuter.</HI> the 13th of <HI>Zachary,</HI> and the 13th. to the Romans, and draw conclu&s;ions from thence for your &s;atisfaction (<HI>b</HI>)</P>
<P>6. To your 6th. The Religion owned by our State is the Chri&s;tian Religion (<HI>c</HI>)</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="13" TYPE="commentary">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Goodwins</HI> Animadver&s;ion. <HI>XIII.</HI></HEAD>
<P>(a) What you mean by a <HI>Chri&s;tian Commonwealth,</HI> what, by this Commonwealths <HI>allowing men a liberty to bla&s;pheme Je&s;us Chri&s;t, or corrupt his Go&s;pel,</HI> (I profe&s;&s;e ingeniou&s;ly) I under&s;tand not. If by the former, you mean a Nation or State, wherein <HI>Chri&s;tianity</HI> at large is more generally profe&s;|&s;ed, that which you &s;peak here of a <HI>Chri&s;tian Commonwealth,</HI> you might as well have &s;poken of an <HI>Anti-Chri&s;tian.</HI> But I pray tell me, did you ever know, or hear of a <HI>Commonwealth,</HI> which was either <HI>Chri&s;tian,</HI> or <HI>Anti-Chri&s;tian,</HI> that did <HI>allow
<PB N="52" REF="32">
men a liberty to bla&s;pheme Je&s;us Chri&s;t, or to corrupt his Go&s;|pel?</HI> Or doth it follow, that unle&s;&s;e a Committee of Pre&s;&s;e-Ma&s;ters be e&s;tabli&s;hed in a <HI>Commonwealth,</HI> this <HI>Common|wealth</HI> mu&s;t needs <HI>allow men a liberty to bla&s;pheme or corrupt,</HI> as you &s;ay? Or have the Lord Protector and the Parliament all this while, wherein they have e&s;tabli&s;hed no &s;uch <HI>Committee, allowed men a liberty to bla&s;pheme Je&s;us Chri&s;t, or to corrupt his Go&s;pel?</HI> Therefore (doubtle&s;&s;e) you do not under|&s;tand your &s;elves. Nor can any man make &s;ence and truth of your words with the lea&s;t pertinency to your cau&s;e. Nor do I well under&s;tand what you mean by <HI>Bla&s;pheming Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> and yet le&s;&s;e, what you mean by <HI>corrupting his Go&s;|pel.</HI> You and your Prophets have odd notions and conceits about <HI>Bla&s;phemy.</HI> Scarce any truth can be held forth, which thwarteth, or falleth foul on any of your tenents&punc; or Do|ctrines, but this Antipathy by you is turned into <HI>Bla&s;phemy.</HI> And whether by <HI>corrupting the Go&s;pel,</HI> you mean the ming|ling of any errour, though never &s;o light or &s;mall, with go&s;|pel truths, or whether &s;uch a <HI>corrupting</HI> it, which wholly de&s;troies the nature and ble&s;&s;ing intended unto men by it; or whether, a <HI>corrupting</HI> it to &s;uch or &s;uch a degree, between the&s;e two extreams, who can &s;o much as &s;teadily conjecture? The truth is, that I know very few, who are greater <HI>corrupters of the Go&s;pel,</HI> then your greate&s;t Champions.</P>
<P>When you &s;ay that <HI>all things are not free, in a free Common|wealth,</HI> do you &s;peak to any purpo&s;e? Or doth it follow from hence, &s;o much as by a dream of a con&s;equence, that therefore the Pre&s;s ought not to be <HI>free,</HI> becau&s;e all things are not <HI>free?</HI> Behold the natural face of your arguing in a gla&s;&s;e: All things are not lawfull for men to do: therefore eating when they are an hungry, or drinking when they are thir&s;ty, are not lawfull.</P>
<P>(b) The three thirteenths you here point me unto, I have already <HI>read</HI> at lea&s;t thrice over (re&s;pectively) and <HI>have drawn conclu&s;ions</HI> from them <HI>to my</HI> full <HI>&s;atisfaction</HI> again&s;t yours. And if you plea&s;e to &s;ee what conclu&s;ions I have drawn from them, and what grounds I have laid, upon which you al&s;o may draw the like, I &s;hall direct you to my re&s;pective arguings and explications of them. The fir&s;t of
<PB N="53" REF="32">
your three places you &s;hall find examined by me at large, in my treati&s;e intituled, <HI>Hagioma&s;tix,</HI> from &sect;. 34. to the end of &sect;. 41. Your &s;econd, in a &s;mall di&s;cour&s;e, written upon that text of Scripture onely, intituled, a <HI>Po&s;t&s;cript,</HI> or <HI>Appendix</HI> to the former di&s;cour&s;e. Your third and la&s;t in the &s;aid di&s;|cour&s;e, from the beginning of &sect;. 45. to the end of &sect;. 50. Between the&s;e Scriptures taken <HI>conjunctim</HI> and <HI>divi&s;im,</HI> and between your cau&s;e, you will find a very cold Communion.</P>
<P>(c) Your An&s;wer to my &s;ixt rea&s;on, is very little, and yet to le&s;s purpo&s;e&punc; For 1. What do you mean by <HI>The Religion, which the State owneth?</HI> 2. What do you mean, by the <HI>Chri&s;tian Religion?</HI> For this latter, fir&s;t: The <HI>Religion owned</HI> and profe&s;&s;ed by <HI>Anti-Chri&s;tian States,</HI> is (at lea&s;t in a &s;ence) the <HI>Chri&s;tian Religion.</HI> Yea they have as much confidence, if not more, of the truth and &s;oundne&s;&s;e of their <HI>Religion,</HI> as any Prote&s;tant <HI>State</HI> can have of the <HI>Religion owned</HI> and pro|fe&s;&s;ed by them. Secondly, I would know what you mean by the <HI>Religion which the State owneth;</HI> that &s;o it may be con&s;i|dered, not &s;o much whether it be, but how, and how far, and in what &s;ence, it may be called the <HI>Chri&s;tian Religion.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, if by <HI>the State,</HI> you mean, either all tho&s;e onely that have part in the Rule and Government of the Nation, or el&s;e the great Body it &s;elf, and Bulk of the Nation, who can di&s;tinctly, and in particular, tell, what <HI>Religion it</HI> is, that is <HI>owned,</HI> or that ever will be <HI>owned</HI> by either? That <HI>Religion,</HI> or that Sy&s;tem of Tenents, or confe&s;&s;ion of Faith, which was compo&s;ed and drawn up by the late A&s;&s;embly of Divines and others at <HI>We&s;tmin&s;ter,</HI> is not (it &s;eems) <HI>owned,</HI> or is not like long to be <HI>owned,</HI> by the <HI>State,</HI> (in either acception of the word.) For the <HI>State</HI> (in the former &s;ence) is in Travail with another <HI>Religion,</HI> I mean, another Confe&s;&s;ion, or Pro|fe&s;&s;ion of Faith; which, when they &s;hall have a&s;&s;ented un|to, and Authorized, there is little que&s;tion but the <HI>State</HI> (in the latter &s;ence) will (more generally) <HI>own</HI> al&s;o. If a man &s;hould repair to every particular member of the <HI>State</HI> (in the former &s;ence, and much more in the latter) and de|&s;ire his &s;ence and judgement, di&s;tinctly touching his Reli|gion, and what he particularly holdeth in &s;uch and &s;uch points, there is little que&s;tion to be made, but that in many things at lea&s;t, he &s;hould meet with the exemplification of
<PB N="54" REF="33">
the Proverb, <HI>quot capita, tot &s;en&s;us: quot homines, tot &s;en|tentiae: as many men, &s;o many minds.</HI> Yea in ca&s;e the re|&s;pective members of the State (in the former &s;ence) &s;hall joyntly and unanimou&s;ly &s;ub&s;cribe and Authorize any con|fe&s;&s;ion of the Faith, which &s;hall be formed, either by them|&s;elves, or by any number of Mini&s;ters, or others, this will amount to no proof, that therefore the &s;ame <HI>Religion,</HI> e&s;pe|cially in all points, is <HI>owned</HI> by them. For it is a mo&s;t true &s;aying, that <HI>Fides e&s;t in &s;en&s;u, non in verbis;</HI> a mans faith con&s;i&s;ts in that which he meaneth, not in the words which he &s;peaketh. And who knows not but the &s;ame words may have different interpretations and &s;en&s;es put upon them? Therefore in ca&s;e a <HI>State</HI> &s;hall publiquely <HI>own</HI> and Autho|rize a model of Religion, or Confe&s;&s;ion of Faith, that &s;hall be pre&s;ented unto them, I &s;hall be very little the neerer hereby to know of what Religion this <HI>State</HI> is, unle&s;s each particular member of this State &s;hall further, di&s;tinctly and particularly explain his &s;ence touching every Article, or head of Doctrine therein. The truth is, that to a <HI>State Religion</HI> it may be aptly &s;aid;
<Q><L>Belluae multorum es capitum: nam quid &s;equar, aut quem?</L></Q>
<Q><L>A many-headed Bea&s;t thou art; for what, or who,</L>
<L>May I with peace and &s;afety, for my Guide allow?</L></Q></P>
<P>I confe&s;s men may be very unhappily, and beyond the foreca&s;t of their own <HI>Genius</HI> in&s;pired in the compo&s;ing and drawing up a Catechi&s;m or Confe&s;&s;ion of Faith: But I judg that hardly can either be formed or contrived in &s;uch words, but that in ca&s;e I may be allowed my own &s;ence and con|&s;truction of them, I can &s;ub&s;cribe them.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="14" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Book-Sellers or Beacon-Firers. &sect;. <HI>XIIII.</HI></HEAD>
<P>7. To the &s;eventh. You do but repeat the Bla&s;phemy which you darted again&s;t Heaven in your fir&s;t Argument. For we ne|ver de&s;ired the Parliament to &s;uppre&s;s any truth revealed by the Spirit of God in the holy Scriptures, but to &s;uppre&s;s Bla&s;|phemies and Here&s;ies. (<HI>a</HI>)</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="14" TYPE="commentary">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>John Goodwins</HI> Animadver&s;ion. <HI>XIIII.</HI></HEAD>
<P>(a) What Gentlemen, &s;uppo&s;e I had charged you with <HI>de&s;iring the Parliament to &s;uppre&s;s truths revealed by the &s;pi|rit, &amp;c.</HI> had this been <HI>bla&s;phemy darted again&s;t Heaven?</HI> Are you <HI>Heaven,</HI> or any the Inhabitants thereof? I cannot
<PB N="55" REF="33">
but here tell you, that &s;uch importune and horrid a&s;&s;umings as the&s;e, on the one hand, and &s;uch abominable untruths and &s;landers, one following in the neck of another like the waves of the Sea, on the other hand, are not &s;o much as the way thither, but to a far differing place. For I know cau&s;e to beleeve, that I both am, and have been, further from <HI>charging</HI> you with <HI>de&s;iring</HI> any &s;uch thing <HI>of the Parlia|ment,</HI> as that which you here mention, then you are from <HI>de&s;iring</HI> it. I onely <HI>charge</HI> you with <HI>de&s;iring that of the Par|liament,</HI> which very po&s;&s;ibly may produce the great mi&s;|chief you &s;peak of, <HI>viz.</HI> the <HI>&s;uppre&s;&s;ion of truth revealed by the Spirit in the Scripture.</HI> This charge I &s;ub&s;cribe and own: and have pleaded to it in part, and am ready to plead fur|ther, if you &s;hall require it.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="15" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Book-Sellers, or Beacon-Firers. &sect;. <HI>XV.</HI></HEAD>
<P>8. To the Eighth. You have been a Tryar the&s;e twenty years, and you have cau&s;e to fear that you will be trying all things &s;o long, that you'l hold fa&s;t nothing at la&s;t. (<HI>a</HI>) You are now about &s;ixty years of age, and one of us remembring a Ver&s;e.
<Q><L><HI>Dum quid &s;is dubitas, jam potes e&s;&s;e nihil,</HI></L></Q>
<Q><L>He that cryes all things, and holds nothing fa&s;t,</L>
<L>Seems witty at the fir&s;t, prooves&mdash;at la&s;t. (<HI>b</HI>)</L></Q></P>
<P>Sir, we have heard that a Seeker, who had run through mae|many Forms and Sects, when he came to dye, cryed out that he had been of all Religions, and was now of none; Lord, &s;aith he, I have been &s;eeking thee till I have lo&s;t my &s;elf. O &s;eek and find me now, or I am lo&s;t for ever.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="15" TYPE="commentary">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>John Goodwins</HI> Animadver&s;ion. &sect;. <HI>XV.</HI></HEAD>
<P>(a) I confe&s;s I have been a <HI>Tryar</HI> of mens Doctrines and opinions for well nigh twice the number of years, which you &s;peak of. Therefore here, contrary to your wonted manner, you undercharge me. But my <HI>trying of all</HI> things, as I am commanded by God (whom I &s;hall not di&s;obey for your prophane jearings at me, becau&s;e of my obeying him) is &s;o far from being any &s;nare, or occa&s;ion unto me of <HI>hold|ing fa&s;t nothing,</HI> that without it I could <HI>hold fa&s;t nothing</HI> like a Chri&s;tian, nor (indeed) a &s;ober man. But you (it &s;eems) and men of your &s;pirit, in&s;tead of <HI>trying all</HI> things, as God
<PB N="56" REF="34">
commandeth you, <HI>hold fa&s;t</HI> all things, which your Teachers dictate unto you, hand over head without <HI>trying</HI> any thing.</P>
<P>(b) You gue&s;s &s;omewhat neer the years of my Earthly Pilgrimage. I ble&s;s the God of Heaven with my whole heart and &s;oul, for &s;paring me &s;o long in life and being on the Earth, until I had throughly <HI>tryed</HI> many the Doctrines and Tenents of your Teachers, and <HI>found them liars;</HI> yea and had opportunity to &s;tigmatize them for &s;uch publickly, and to allarm the world concerning the hatefulne&s;&s;e and danger of them.</P>
<P>The &s;tory you tell of your Seeker, is extreamly in&s;ipid and &s;encele&s;&s;e, yea and irreligious with all. For was there e|ver any man, who <HI>lo&s;t him&s;elf,</HI> by <HI>&s;eeking</HI> God con&s;tantly? There is a Letter in print, intituled, <HI>Sal Scyll&acirc;,</HI> written by one that had been a <HI>Seeker</HI> for many years, out of which you may gather a &s;tory worth ten of that reported by you here.</P>
<P>For your Poetry 1. you &s;ee that I hold &s;everal things too <HI>fa&s;t,</HI> for your &s;toute&s;t champions to wre&s;t from me. There|fore you &s;hoot this arrow at a wrong mark. 2. To <HI>hold no|thing fa&s;t,</HI> and to <HI>hold fa&s;t nothing,</HI> that will do a man good, are birds much of a feather.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="16" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Book&s;ellers or Beacon-firers &sect;. XVI.</HEAD>
<P>9 To the 9th, and the full &s;cope of it in its numerous &s;ub|junctions; We &s;ay you are like &s;in you take occa&s;ion by the Com|mandement, to lu&s;t after that which is forbidden by the holy Law of God, (<HI>a</HI>) If your rea&s;on be of any force, it is of an An|tinomian confederacy&punc; and &s;pends its &s;trength again&s;t the Holy Law of God, as well as the good laws of men. &V;pon this account no law mu&s;t be made, again&s;t Theft, Murther, or Adultery, le&s;t all the&s;e notorions crimes be promoted by the&s;e non-prudential Laws; As for &s;piritual means, we joyn with them who &s;ay, they are mo&s;t proper to &s;anctifie all civil helps (<HI>b</HI>) and &s;hall ever pray that God would make both effectual for the preventing or &s;uppre&s;&s;ing of Errors and Here&s;ies, le&s;t the Plague of Egyptian darkne&s;&s;e over&s;pread us. We humbly conceive that Magi&s;trates may do much in their places, for the preventing of &s;piritual mi&s;|chiefs, by denying men of corrupt minds and injudicious about matters of Faith, any &s;uch opportunity, as you confe&s;&s;e the
<PB N="57" REF="34">
Pre&s;&s;e affords them, for the &s;preading of their hideous and cur|&s;ed errors, (<HI>c</HI>)</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="16" TYPE="commentary">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Goodwins</HI> Animadver&s;ion, <HI>XVI.</HI></HEAD>
<P>(a) I know not what you mean, when you &s;ay that <HI>I take occa&s;ion by the Commandement to lu&s;t after that, which is forbidden by the Holy Law of God.</HI> But if you, in no &s;ence at all, <HI>take the occa&s;ion</HI> you &s;peak of, you are of a better Mold and temper then the great Apo&s;tle was. For he (&s;peaking of him&s;elf) &s;aith, <HI>but Sin taking occa&s;ion by the Commandement, wrought in me all manner of concupi&s;cence: for without the Law Sin was dead.</HI> Rom. 7. 6.</P>
<P>You rea&s;on not at all again&s;t my rea&s;on, when you &s;ay, <HI>if it be of any force, it &s;pends its &s;trength again&s;t the Holy Law of God, as well as the good Laws of men.</HI> I think in this as you think: it doth <HI>&s;pend it &s;elf</HI> alike <HI>again&s;t both</HI> kinds of <HI>Laws, i. e.</HI> again&s;t neither. I confe&s;&s;e that my <HI>rea&s;on</HI> notwith&s;tanding, <HI>good Laws&punc;</HI> may be made by God, and ought to be made by men. And further when you &s;ay, <HI>upon this account no Law mu&s;t be made again&s;t Theft, Murther, &amp;c. le&s;t the&s;e notori|ous crimes &s;hould be promoted by the&s;e non-prudential Laws;</HI> I confe&s;&s;e, that if 1. The onely end of making Laws, were to re&s;trein the evil prohibited by them; And 2. If the general|lity or far greater part of men, were of the di&s;po&s;ition and temper of &s;ome (I mean of theirs, who are apt to be pro|voked unto evil, by means of the oppo&s;ition or Barr of the Law prohibiting it) it were better that no &s;uch Laws as you &s;peak of were made. But both the&s;e &s;uppo&s;itions being evi|dently fal&s;e, your rea&s;oning here falls to the ground. And touching &s;uch per&s;ons again&s;t whom you de&s;ire your Law, <HI>viz.</HI> tho&s;e who are apt or likely to publi&s;h &s;uch things, as you call <HI>Errors, Bla&s;phemies, Here&s;ies, &amp;c.</HI> they are (ge|nerally) of that di&s;po&s;ition and &s;pirit, which we lately de&s;|cribed; men (I mean) that are apt to be admoni&s;hed, and the more provoked to do the evil, which you de&s;ire &s;hould be re&s;treined, by occa&s;ion of a Law made to oppo&s;e them. One rea&s;on hereof (among others) may probably be; becau&s;e &s;uch per&s;ons will hardly ever be per&s;waded, that any Law made to oppo&s;e them in &s;uch a way, is ju&s;t or <HI>Chri&s;tian.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="58" REF="35">(b) It &s;eems then you join with tho&s;e, who think, and (in effect) &s;ay, that all the means, which the Lord <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> hath afforded, or pre&s;cribed, for the due government of his affairs, and Kingdome in the world, which are all <HI>&s;piritual,</HI> are ineffectual, or unproportionable, for &s;uch an end: and that he was &s;hort in his provi&s;ions and pre&s;criptions in this kind, not remembring to call in the civil Magi&s;trate with his prudentials, and arm of fle&s;h, to a&s;&s;i&s;t him. If you be agreed with men of this notion, you may walk together.</P>
<P>(c) Tho&s;e whom you call <HI>men of corrupt minds, and inju|dicious about matters of faith,</HI> at lea&s;t many of them, will (I que&s;tion not) be found men of as pure and &s;ound <HI>minds,</HI> and of as di&s;cerning &s;pirits in matters of Faith, as either your &s;elves or your be&s;t Teachers. In the mean time, I would gladly purcha&s;e of you, at the price of the be&s;t book in all your &s;hops, &s;o much as a tolerable an&s;wer, to this double Que&s;tion; who are competent to appoint, or to be appoin|ted Judges, between men <HI>men of corrupt minds, and injudici|ous, &amp;c.</HI> and men that are otherwi&s;e? For it is not meet for any man, or men, to take this honour unto them&s;elves, I mean of being Judges over all other mens faith; much le&s;&s;e is it meet, that any man, or men, &s;hould take &s;o great an honor unto them&s;elves, as to con&s;titute or appoint others to be Judges hereof. If your an&s;wer &s;hall be, that the civil Magi|&s;trate is competent to appoint Judges in this kind; you mu&s;t give me a very pregnant and &s;atisfactory account of his Commi&s;&s;ion from the Lord <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> in this behalf, and by what rule he is directed by him to proceed in this great and impor|tant affair.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="17" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Book-&s;ellers or Beacon-firers, &sect;. XVII.</HEAD>
<P>To your 3d. and la&s;t charge which is, that we &s;mell of &s;uch a &s;pirit as teaches men to &s;uppo&s;e that Gain is Godline&s;&s;e, and that our indeavour is to Monopolize our trade. We an&s;wer 1. That we are not &s;o vain as to de&s;ire what is utterly impo&s;&s;ible to effect. (<HI>a</HI>) 2. That we are willing that all of our Trade and Compa|ny, &s;hould have equal liberty with our &s;elves to Print or &s;ell any Books which may promote the truth, which is according to God|line&s;&s;e. (<HI>b</HI>) 3d. We &s;hake our hands from all di&s;hone&s;t gain, it is below us to live by the Sins of the Age, we look upon it as the
<PB N="59" REF="35">
ba&s;e&s;t drudgery in the world to be Pandors to the Errors and Lu&s;ts of men (<HI>c</HI>) We might gain by &s;elling <HI>Biddles</HI> Books, but we had rather &s;ee them burnt by the hand of the Hangman. Your Motto will be&s;t become tho&s;e, who u&s;ually Print and &s;ell Bla&s;|phemous Pamphlets. For they, if any, look upon Gain as Godli|ne&s;&s;e: but our Motto is this, Godline&s;&s;e is Gain, and true Piety is the be&s;t Policy (<HI>d</HI>)</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="17" TYPE="commentary">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Goodwins</HI> Animadver&s;ion. <HI>XVII.</HI></HEAD>
<P>(a) Here again you make your charge from me greater then it is, that by denying the &s;um total of it, as your &s;elves make it, you may &s;eem to deny all the particulars. I no where charge you with <HI>Monopolizing your trade.</HI> You would gladly (I perceive) be charged with that, of which you can acquit your &s;elves with credit.</P>
<P>(b) But what if your Licen&s;ers &s;hall &s;uppre&s;s &s;uch books which <HI>may promote the truth which is according to godline&s;s,</HI> and commend to the Pre&s;s tho&s;e that look another way? How then &s;hall <HI>men</HI> of your trade, yea or our &s;elves, have that liberty you &s;peak of?</P>
<P>(c) To what end you &s;hould purge your &s;elves &s;o zea|lou&s;ly from the guilt of being <HI>pandours to the lu&s;ts of men,</HI> I under&s;tand not, unle&s;s (haply) &s;ome of your con&s;ciences charge you in this kind, and you &s;peak thus to &s;top their mouths. But for that which you call <HI>pandour</HI>-&s;hip to the <HI>errors of men,</HI> I fear you are as obnoxious as others of your trade; though perhaps you under&s;tand not your guilt in it, more then they.</P>
<P>(d) If you &s;aw the Books that you &s;peak of <HI>burnt by the hand of the hangman,</HI> do you think that the <HI>Errors, Here&s;ies</HI> and <HI>Bla&s;phemies,</HI> contained in them, would <HI>burn</HI> with them? If you do, I confe&s;s I am of a far differing mind from you. I verily beleeve that the a&s;hes of the&s;e Books would be much more propagative of the &s;aid Errors and Here&s;ies, then the Books them&s;elvs.</P>
<P>Your <HI>Motto</HI> may be as you &s;ay, and you &s;hall do well if you be not like tho&s;e Boxes in Apothecaries Shops, of which an ancient Father &s;aid, that they had <HI>Pharmacum in titulo, in pixide venenum.</HI> The Arch-Prie&s;t of <HI>Rome,</HI> hath this <HI>Motto, Servus Servorum Dei;</HI> yet in his practi&s;e he is, <HI>Do|minus
<PB N="60" REF="36">
Dominantium,</HI> He <HI>of your company, that under&s;tands La|tine,</HI> may interpret.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="18" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Book-Sellers, or Beacon-Firers, &sect;. <HI>XVIII.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Finally to your clo&s;e, we an&s;wer, that you have no juri&s;|diction over us, and therefore you have no Authority to impo&s;e any penance upon us, (<HI>a</HI>) or to cur&s;e us with Bell, Book and Candle, becau&s;e we have in &s;ome weak mea&s;ure, di&s;covered you to the world. (<HI>b</HI>) It is true, we owed you S&V;CH, and now we have made re&s;titution of it, (<HI>c</HI>) You know not what to do with it, becau&s;e you are not able by the help of it, to return an an&s;wer to tho&s;e three Reverend Divines, whom we mentioned before (d)</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="18" TYPE="commentary">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Goodwins</HI> Animadver&s;ion. <HI>XVIII.</HI></HEAD>
<P>(a) I am &s;orry to hear from you, that you look upon a <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> reque&s;t made unto you, to do that which is your duty, as an impo&s;ition of a <HI>Penance.</HI> I perceive that things which are ju&s;t and comely, are far from being the joy and re|joicing of your &s;ouls. You have forgotten your <HI>Motto</HI> al|ready.</P>
<P>(b) <HI>Cur&s;e you with Bell, Book, and Candle?</HI> Surely ei|ther I was a&s;leep when I did it, or you, when you &s;aid it. Name the word, or words of the <HI>Cur&s;e,</HI> and &s;ave your &s;elves from the &s;hame of a new fooli&s;h &s;lander. Whereas you &s;peak of &s;uffering from me, becau&s;e you <HI>detected me to the world:</HI> The truth is, had you <HI>detected</HI> me, I &s;hould have counted you my great Benefactors for it. I &s;hall be a gainer, not a lo&s;er, by <HI>detection.</HI> But &s;o far have you been from <HI>detecting me to the world,</HI> that you have concealed and hid me from <HI>the world,</HI> as <HI>Tertullus</HI> did <HI>Paul,</HI> when he termed him a <HI>pe&s;tilent fellow, Act.</HI> 24. 5. and the malicious <HI>Jews</HI> did our Saviour, when they put the veil of this reproach over his face, that he was <HI>a Samaritan and had a Devil&punc; Joh.</HI> 8. you have not <HI>detected me to the world,</HI> but your &s;elves, and have given the world an opportunity, yea a kind of invitation, to &s;ee your naked|ne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>(c) Concerning the <HI>re&s;titution</HI> of which you vainly here boa&s;t, it was before proved unto you, that you are debtors unto me of far greater Sums, then of the word <HI>Such:</HI> Be|&s;ides, you &s;peak at an extream low rate of under&s;tanding,
<PB N="61" REF="36">
when you have traduced a man openly, and in print, to call a broken kind of acknowledgement in hugger mugger, and &s;ealed up in a paper, a <HI>re&s;titution.</HI> If you pay your debts after this manner, they are wi&s;e&s;t that tru&s;t you lea&s;t.</P>
<P>(d) Yes; you have &s;een that <HI>by the help</HI> of the word <HI>h, I am able to return an an&s;wer</HI> (as you term it) <HI>to your three reverend Divines</HI>) in ca&s;e any of them &s;hould levy an Argument, or ground of exception, again&s;t the pa&s;&s;age you wot of; which yet none of them have done (nor can do, with any colour of rea&s;on) but only clamour'd and cavill'd, as you have done.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="19" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Book-&s;ellers or Beacon-fyrers. &sect;. XIX.</HEAD>
<P>If you de&s;ire us to print your Letter, and this our an&s;wer, we will for once make you an Apocryphal Licencer, and print both; if you &s;end us an <HI>Imprimatur</HI> by the 24 th. of this in&s;tant No|vember; and then you may pre&s;ent both to the Protector and Parliament. (<HI>a</HI>) And becau&s;e the world takes &s;o much notice of you, or at lea&s;t you of it, you may have both your Letter and our An&s;wer turned into as many languages, as <HI>Cerberus</HI> hath tongues, and &s;o di&s;per&s;e the Hi&s;tory of your Conque&s;t over a few Stationers throughout the world: But that you may deal fairly with the world, be plea&s;ed to tell them the whole truth, and no|thing but the truth; (<HI>c</HI>) We will be your Remembrancers in &s;ome few particulars.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="19" TYPE="commentary">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Goodwins</HI> Animadver&s;ions, 19.</HEAD>
<P>(a) I &s;hall not put you to &s;o much trouble or charge, as to <HI>print</HI> either <HI>my Letter,</HI> or your <HI>An&s;wer:</HI> you &s;ee I have done both to your hand. I doubt whether you will return me your thanks for it, or no. It &s;eems you claim a right of power to <HI>make Licencers:</HI> What need you petition the Parliament? if you can <HI>make Apochryphal Licencers,</HI> you can make Licencers of the highe&s;t Order that is: for certain I am, that there are none <HI>Canonical.</HI> Touching your permi&s;&s;ion to me to <HI>pre&s;ent my Letter and your An&s;wer to the Lord Protectour and Parlia|ment,</HI> it is not much unlike but that I may accept, and make u&s;e of it, if I &s;ee occa&s;ion.</P>
<P>(b) If you think not the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Territories large e|nough to &s;pread your &s;hame into, or tho&s;e who under&s;tand the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> tongue, a competent number to be witne&s;&s;es of
<PB N="62" REF="37">
your folly, you may if you plea&s;e procure <HI>my letter, and your an&s;wer</HI> to be <HI>tran&s;lated</HI> into twice as many <HI>languages,</HI> as, <HI>Cerberus had tongues.</HI> You have many learned men to friend who abound with lei&s;ure. It is but for every man of you to procure his <HI>Tran&s;lator</HI> in an appropriate language, and then you have double the number of <HI>Tran&s;lations</HI> to <HI>Cerberus tongues.</HI></P>
<P>As for me, you mu&s;t needs conceive that I am nothing competent for the work, in compari&s;on of you; who, in re&s;pect of your own number, being &s;ix, and your learned Party being many, lye under a like di&s;advantage, as the Pro|phet <HI>Elijah</HI> &s;omtimes did in reference to the great number of the 450. men &s;poken of, 1 <HI>King.</HI> 18. 22. 25.</P>
<P>(c) If you will plea&s;e to perform the &s;ervice your &s;elves, you may be your own Proveditors, and <HI>deal as fairly with the world,</HI> as you de&s;ire me to do, and (if you can at la&s;t hit upon it) you may <HI>tell them the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="20" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Book&s;ellers, or Beacon-firers. &sect;. XX.</HEAD>
<P>Remember how you have &s;et this City on fire (for that's your only glory) by preaching. (<HI>a</HI>)</P>
<P>1. That there was no nece&s;&s;ity of Humiliation before Con|ver&s;ion: you bid men go boldly (did you not mean, proudly) to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and he would humble them. Sir they that know you well, think you &s;o proud, that they fear you have not as yet been with Je&s;us Chri&s;t to humble you. (<HI>b</HI>)</P>
<P>2. Secondly, You taught that a General Faith or a&s;&s;ent was &s;ufficient, without any particular application of Chri&s;t to the Soul (<HI>c</HI>)</P>
<P>3. Thirdly, You taught men to renounce all in ere&s;t in Christs active obedience, and you have likewi&s;e affirmed that Chri&s;t need|ed not to have &s;hed one drop of blood for us, <HI>Red&punc; Red. p. 16. (d)</HI></P>
<P>4. You denied the imputation of Chri&s;ts all &s;ufficient &s;atisfac|tion, though he hath &s;uffered for us; (<HI>e</HI>)</P>
<P>5. You taught men to tru&s;t to their own tru&s;ting, to a Catho|lick, <HI>T&ograve; credere,</HI> or an Act of general faith, which we look upon as very imperfect and un&s;atisfactory (<HI>f</HI>)</P>
<P>6. Your Anti-Scriptural Bla&s;phemies have been detected by Mr. <HI>Jenkins (g)</HI></P>
<P><PB N="63" REF="37">7. Your Arminian Bla&s;phemies have been di&s;covered by Dr. <HI>Owen,</HI> Dr. <HI>Kendal</HI> and others (<HI>h</HI>)</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="20" TYPE="commentary">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Goodwins</HI> Animadver&s;ion. <HI>XX.</HI></HEAD>
<P>(a) If I have <HI>&s;et this City on fire,</HI> by my preaching, cer|tain I am that it hath been with that <HI>Fire,</HI> which <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t came from Heaven, to put on the Earth,</HI> and which he &s;o long|ed to &s;ee <HI>kindled, Luk.</HI> 12, 49. And that I have cau&s;ed it to <HI>burn</HI> no more with this <HI>Fire,</HI> then I have done, is both my &s;orrow, and my &s;hame. And if I have thus <HI>&s;et it on fire,</HI> to a|ny degree, this indeed is (as you truly &s;ay) <HI>my glory.</HI></P>
<P>(b) If I did exhort or incourage men <HI>to go boldly unto Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> doth not the great Apo&s;tle the &s;ame? When he incourageth, <HI>Therefore let us come BOLDLY unto the Throne of Grace, Heb.</HI> 4. 16. will you ask him, <HI>did you not mean PRO&V;DLY?</HI> And if I did teach that <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t will humble tho&s;e that come to him,</HI> I judge I have a very &s;uf|ficient Voucher for my Doctrine. Yea, or what do you your &s;elves think? will Je&s;us <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> make <HI>proud</HI> or <HI>humble,</HI> tho&s;e that come unto him? Or do not they rather teach men <HI>to go proudly unto Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> who teach them to bring <HI>humi|lity,</HI> along with them, and to expect entertainment and ac|ceptance with <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> upon the account of their <HI>humility,</HI> then they, who per&s;wade them to go unto him notwith&s;tan|ding any &s;ence of the greate&s;t unworthine&s;&s;e in them&s;elves, and not to be afraid of being rejected by him for any want or weakne&s;&s;e, that may accompany them in their way? But it may be, that he that penned your letter, out of &s;ome con|&s;ciou&s;ne&s;&s;e to him&s;elf is afraid of this Doctrine.</P>
<P>You are much mi&s;taken when you &s;ay, <HI>They that know me well, think me &s;o proud, &amp;c.</HI> there are none but tho&s;e that are &s;trangers, or enemies to me, that think thus of me: <HI>they that know me well,</HI> are otherwi&s;e minded. Yea and confidently, and upon good grounds beleeve, that I would be willing and free, notwith&s;tanding all your evil intreaties, and fiery provo|cations of me, to carry your books after you; yea to &s;toop to loo&s;e the latchet of the Shoe of the meane&s;t of you, had I any competent ground to judge that &s;uch a &s;ervice from me would turn to any &s;piritual, yea or temporal advantage un|to you. But your tongues, it &s;eems, are your own, and
<PB N="64" REF="38">
you think you are at liberty, to &s;ay with them, even what you li&s;t.</P>
<P>By the way, the <HI>City</HI> was &s;o far from being <HI>&s;et on fire</HI> (in your &s;ence) by the Doctrine you here challenge me for, that it was rather cooled and compo&s;ed by it, the Mini&s;ters about the City in tho&s;e daies, when it was preached by me, more generally, if not univer&s;ally, con&s;enting to it, and imbracing it. How the latter generation relli&s;heth the &s;aid Doctrine, I know not &s;o well. Notwith&s;tanding for &s;everal years la&s;t pa&s;t, I have not heard of any mouth opened again&s;t it, but yours.</P>
<P>(c) I confe&s;&s;e I have taught (and teach &s;till upon occa|&s;ion) that a firm and cordial belief of the Go&s;pel, as it com|meth from God, and as it is delivered in the Scriptures, and more e&s;pecially in the new Te&s;tament, is ju&s;tifying Faith; and that a particular application, is properly an act of hope, and not of Faith, but onely by the mediation of hope. For the ju&s;tifying of this Doctrine, I have not onely Scripture, upon Scripture, Scripture upon Scripture, and the&s;e mo&s;t &s;ignifi|cant and expre&s;&s;e, but the joint te&s;timony al&s;o of &s;everal Di|vines of the Prote&s;tant party, as con&s;iderable as well for pie|ty, and parts of learning and &s;ound judgement, as any of their fellows. You may &s;ee &s;omewhat more then a little up|on this account in my <HI>Redempt. Redeemed. pag.</HI> 397, 398, 399 400.</P>
<P>(d) This is a mo&s;t notorious &s;lander: I never <HI>taught</HI> any man to <HI>renounce all interest in the active obedience of Chri&s;t.</HI> Yea I have con&s;tantly taught and a&s;&s;erted the ab&s;olute nece&s;|&s;ity of it to render him a ju&s;tifier of the ungodly, and Savior of men. My &s;ence in this point is plainly laid down in &s;everal places of my Treati&s;e of Ju&s;tification. (<NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg"><HI>Part. 2. p.</HI> 50. 54&punc;</NOTE> Nor are you <HI>Christian</HI> in the latter part of your charge, I no where affirm, <HI>that Chri&s;t needed not to have &s;hed one drop of his bloud for us:</HI> the&s;e are words of your fal&s;ification. My words in <HI>pag.</HI> 16. of my <HI>Redemption Redeemed,</HI> to which you refer me, are the&s;e. <HI>The Salvation of the world, doubtle&s;&s;e, did not depend upon the actualor literal dying or cruoifying of Christ, but partly upon the Councel and good plea&s;ure of God to deliver him up unto death in order to this end; partly upon the readine&s;&s;e and perfect
<PB N="65" REF="38">
&s;ubmi&s;&s;ion of will in Chri&s;t to &s;uffer death, in ca&s;e any man or men &s;hould be found, that would inflict it upon him.</HI> Of this my A&s;&s;ertion I give a &s;ober and <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> account at large in the &s;equel of the di&s;cour&s;e. How wide the difference is between the notion and import of the&s;e words, and that affirmation which you unworthily charge upon me, an intelligent per&s;on may readily apprehend.</P>
<P>(e) This al&s;o is a mo&s;t wretched and daring calumny. Never in my daies did <HI>I deny the imputation of Chri&s;ts all&punc; &s;uf|ficient &s;atisfaction.</HI> I onely denied that mo&s;t &s;encele&s;&s;e and Anti-Scriptural &s;ence of this imputation, which was taught by &s;ome Mini&s;ters about the City: but in a regular and true &s;ence I alwaies affirmed it, and accordingly declare my &s;elf in the &s;econd part of my book of Ju&s;tification, <HI>pag.</HI> 53. 57.</P>
<P>(f) If you had prayed <HI>Davids</HI> prayer, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 119. 29. be|fore your drawing up of this Article, I judge that God would have heard you, and <HI>removed from you the way of lying.</HI> For certainly never did any word pa&s;&s;e from my lips, of any &s;uch tendency, or &s;ound, as here you are not afraid to fa&s;ten on me. That <HI>Catholique <GAP DESC="foreign"> credere</HI> you &s;peak of, I alwaies abhorr'd, and &s;et my &s;elf with the be&s;t of my &s;trength and under&s;tanding again&s;t it. Yea I argued again&s;t that opinion from time to time, which maketh Faith to ju&s;tifie by vertue of the relation which it hath to <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> upon this very ac|count and ground, <HI>viz.</HI> becau&s;e of that affinity it hath with the notion of a <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>credere.</HI> Nor did I ever teach men to tru&s;t in <HI>their own tru&s;ting.</HI> It is very like I may have taught them, to <HI>tru&s;t</HI> that upon their beleeving, or tru&s;ting in God tho|rough <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> they &s;hould be &s;aved: you are un&s;atiable in tra|ducing.</P>
<P>(g) All my <HI>Anti-Scriptural Bla&s;phemies</HI> may <HI>have been detected by Mr.</HI> Jenkin, and yet nothing to be &s;een by any man. Mr. <HI>Jenkin,</HI> according to the Proverb, when he went about to <HI>detect my Scripture Bla&s;phemies, &s;perans fragili den&punc; tem illidere, in Solidum impegit,</HI> thinking to &s;trike his teeth into that which &s;oft, met with that which was too hard for them to enter. Poor man! in&s;tead of <HI>detecting my Anti-Scrip|tural bla&s;phemies,</HI> he <HI>detected</HI> his own ignorance, and perver&s;e|ne&s;s of &s;pirit.</P>
<P><PB N="66" REF="39">(h) Mr. <HI>Jenkins Detections,</HI> and the two Doctors <HI>Di&s;|coveries,</HI> are birds of the &s;ame feather, or rather feathers of the &s;ame bird. The Gra&s;hopper weighs a Talent of Lead, in com|pari&s;on of them. They may for a time &s;erve to build up men in errour, and obduration again&s;t the truth. But he that <HI>cap|tived captivity</HI> <NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Eph.</HI> 4. 8.</NOTE> will <HI>detect</HI> all &s;uch <HI>detections,</HI> and <HI>di&s;cover</HI> all &s;uch <HI>di&s;coveries</HI> in his &s;ea&s;on.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="21" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Book-&s;ellers or Beacon-firers &sect;. XXI.</HEAD>
<P>8. The Agreement &s;ub&s;cribed by your Church (which &s;aith that our faith and repentance is the cau&s;e of our Election) (<HI>a</HI>) is &s;uch an ab&s;urd Di&s;agreement to &s;en&s;e, rea&s;on and Scripture, that we cannot but adore the Ju&s;tice of God who hath &s;mitten your intellectuals, and your phanta&s;ie, the glory of your proud felf (<HI>b</HI>) and phanta&s;tical admirers, (<HI>c</HI>) with &s;uch effectu|al and gro&s;&s;e delu&s;ions (<HI>d</HI>) that we wonder you your &s;elf do not take notice of it:</P>
<P>You &s;ee your Errors are &s;o innumerable, that we can &s;carce find heads enough whereunto they may be commodiou&s;ly reduced. And we have heard of a great <HI>Rabbi</HI> who was converted from Cards and Sack Po&s;&s;ets to Errors and Bla&s;phemies (<HI>e</HI>) but we &s;pare you. (<HI>f</HI>)</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="21" TYPE="commentary">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Goodwins</HI> Animadver&s;ion. <HI>XXII.</HI></HEAD>
<P>(a) You begin this Section with another Sacrifice unto the <HI>Father of lies,</HI> in&s;tead of &s;acrificing to the <HI>Father of Lights.</HI> The <HI>Agreement</HI> you &s;peak of, doth no where &s;ay, that <HI>our Faith and Repentance are THE CA&V;SE of our Election.</HI> But what &s;aith it? (as to this point) it &s;peaketh on this wi&s;e&punc; <HI>Our Brethren holding with us (as hath been noted) that there is no Election of per&s;ons, but in time, though the Decree of Election be from Eternity, we cannot conceive what &s;hould, or can, rea&s;onably determine the time, when this Election &s;hould be made (at lea&s;t in per&s;ons living to years of di&s;cretion) but onely their Faith in the fir&s;t rai&s;ing it in the &s;oul: and that &V;PON their beleeving, and not before, they are numbred among&s;t the Elect of God.</HI> Is here any thing that &s;ounds like a making our Faith and Repentance the <HI>cau&s;e</HI> of our <HI>Election&punc;</HI> No: both the compilers, and &s;ub&s;cribers of this <HI>Agreement</HI> re&s;olved the <HI>Election</HI> of all tho&s;e, who are <HI>Elected,</HI> into the gracious and good plea&s;ure and Will of God. Only we are
<PB N="67" REF="39">
taught by the Holy Gho&s;t, to look upon our &s;elves as <HI>Elect,</HI> according to the foreknowledg of God the Father, <HI>through the Sanctification of the &s;pirit unto obedience, and &s;prinkling of the Blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, 1 Pet.</HI> 1. 2. and that <HI>God from the beginning, hath cho&s;en us unto Salvation, through Sanctifica|tion of the Spirit, and beleif of the truth. 2 The&s;.</HI> 2. 13. But though we look upon our &s;elves as <HI>Elect</HI> or <HI>cho&s;en by God through Sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth,</HI> yet we judg not either the work of <HI>Sanctification</HI> wrought by the <HI>Spirit</HI> of God in us, or our Faith [or <HI>belief of the Truth</HI>] to be either the the ground or meritorious <HI>cau&s;e</HI> of our <HI>Election,</HI> but the condition only. We acknowledg no <HI>cau&s;e</HI> (taking the notion of <HI>cau&s;ality</HI> properly) of our <HI>Election,</HI> but the Grace, Wi&s;dom, and good plea&s;ure of our good God onely, as (we &s;uppo&s;e) your &s;elves do.</P>
<P>(b) You charge us with horrid untruths, and with &s;uch Tenents which never came neer us, and then pretend to <HI>adore the Ju&s;tice of God, in &s;miting our Intellectuals</HI> Is not this an horrid prophanation, and taking the mo&s;t Sacred Name of God in vain? Our <HI>Intellectuals,</HI> through the Grace of God, have been opened, enlightened and enlarged, to &s;ee the truth, as it is in <HI>Je&s;us:</HI> we evidently di&s;cern that your judgments and con&s;ciences are <HI>&s;mitten</HI> and bla&s;ted: for you can beleeve, and &s;peak any thing, without &s;cruple or re|gret.</P>
<P>Whereas your compo&s;er calls my <HI>Intellectuals and phan|ta&s;ie, the glory of my proud &s;elf,</HI> I fear he took mea&s;ure by his own foot&punc; when he made this &s;hoe for me, and (accord|ing to our <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Proverb) <HI>mu&s;ed, as he u&s;ed.</HI> I remem|ber what <HI>David</HI> (&s;peaking as &s;ome interpret) in the Per&s;on of God, &s;aith, to the wicked man: <HI>Thou thoughte&s;t that I was altogether &s;uch a one as thy &s;elf. P&s;al.</HI> 50. Yet I make no que&s;tion, but that I am <HI>proud</HI> more then enough; but whe|ther you and your Teachers are not in part acce&s;&s;ary unto it, let others judge. For I confe&s;s it is not much unlike, but that I may have &s;omewhat the better thoughts of my &s;elf, becau&s;e of your, and their, &s;uperlative unworthine&s;s. Notwith|&s;tanding all the ground and rea&s;on that you have, either to think, or call, me <HI>proud,</HI> is becau&s;e I do not bow the knee of
<PB N="68" REF="40">
my judgment and con&s;cience, to the Idol dictates and con|ceits of men, and more e&s;pecially of your Teachers, and this in the pre&s;ence of that light of the contrary truth, which God brightly &s;hineth in the face of my Soul. Notwith|&s;tanding what I am in humility, I am by the Grace of God: what I am in pride, I am of, and from my &s;elf. If you would but arm your &s;elves with the Apo&s;tles re&s;olution, <HI>ra|ther to obey God then men,</HI> and look for your <HI>credenda,</HI> be|yond your Teachers on Earth, you would &s;oon perceive me to be as far from <HI>pride,</HI> as now you think me from humility. But the be&s;t is, I am counted and called <HI>proud,</HI> by &s;trangers and enemies only.</P>
<P>(c) If I have any <HI>phanta&s;tical Admirers</HI> (which is more then I know) I do by the&s;e pre&s;ents re&s;ign all my intere&s;t in them, and con&s;ign it over unto your Teachers.</P>
<P>(d) If by <HI>effectual and gro&s;s delu&s;ions,</HI> you mean tho&s;e im|portune and &s;en&s;le&s;s opinions, which you (I fear again&s;t your own knowledge and con&s;cience) would compel us to own, it is not God who <HI>&s;miteth our Intellectuals with</HI> them, but the Devil by you <HI>&s;miteth</HI> our Names and reputations with them. Or if by your <HI>effectual and gro&s;s delu&s;ions,</HI> you mean tho&s;e Go&s;pel truths, which God hath graciou&s;ly revealed unto us, and as yet hidden from you (unle&s;s you &s;ee, and will not &s;ee) how is it that you tremble not to bla&s;pheme the&s;e by the name of, <HI>effectual and gro&s;s delu&s;ions?</HI> You are <HI>admirers of the Justice</HI> of God, much of the &s;ame kind with your grand Champion Doctor <HI>Kendal.</HI> He al&s;o (in an ec|&s;ta&s;ie of devotion) much <HI>adores the Hand of God for infatuing my parts,</HI> only becau&s;e he finds the two words, <HI>Con&s;equent</HI> and <HI>Antecedent,</HI> tran&s;-placed in the Printing of my Book.<NOTE PLACE="marg">See Ma&s;ter Baxter. Pre|face Apolo|getical. pag. 6. And again in his Pro|logue to Mr. Kendal. p. 4.</NOTE> Ye he rejoyceth more impotently over the mi&s;take, then he that (as <HI>David</HI> &s;peaketh) <HI>findeth great &s;poil.</HI> Yea he makes as formal, as grave, as &s;olemn a triumph for the di&s;cove|ry, as if it were his ma&s;ter-piece, and the fir&s;t-born &s;ervice he had performed in the compo&s;ure of his whole Book; or as if the interpretation of the &s;trange Phaenomenon mu&s;t needs be, that God had in an extraordinaay&punc; way given &s;en|tence from Heaven on his &s;ide, by permitting either the Printer, or the Author, to &s;hew them&s;elves in &s;o light an
<PB N="69" REF="40">
over&s;ight to be men. Notwith&s;tanding this man is (of the two) more excu&s;eable then you. He makes his Mountain of a Mole-hill: but you make yours of a plain. But you that are &s;uch devout <HI>Admirers</HI> and <HI>Adorers</HI> of the <HI>Ju&s;tice of God,</HI> and <HI>Hand of Heaven,</HI> where neither of them are to be &s;een, are but negligent and loo&s;e ob&s;ervers of them in &s;uch providences where they are con&s;picuous, and highly con&s;iderable.</P>
<P>If we were &s;et upon the <HI>wondering</HI> pin with you, we might much rather <HI>wonder</HI> that you <HI>take no notice</HI> of &s;o many un-<HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> and high mi&s;demeanors, as by notorious fal&s;ificati|ons and untruths, you have perpetrated in this one Epi&s;tle, then that you &s;hould <HI>wonder</HI> that we <HI>take no notice</HI> of &s;uch <HI>delu&s;ions</HI> in our &s;elves, which are not to be found in us.</P>
<P>(e) For the &s;tory of your <HI>great Rabbi,</HI> which your <HI>great</HI> Doctor brings in here <HI>obtorto collo,</HI> by head and &s;houl|ders, it &s;eems it is but a Presbyterian here-&s;ay. If you had &s;even more as wi&s;e &s;tories as this to joyn with it, I cannot imagine what &s;ervice they would all do you. Would they make you &s;eem either more wi&s;e, or more Orthodox, or more Religious, or el&s;e le&s;s unworthy, le&s;s froward, le&s;s ca|villing, le&s;s calumniating, then yet you appear to be? Or if your intent be to Theatrize me under the plea&s;ant fiction of your <HI>Great Rabbi,</HI> the <HI>conver&s;ion</HI> you &s;peak of, will not ac|commodate you with truth in re&s;pect of either of the tearms, either tho&s;e <HI>a quibus,</HI> or tho&s;e <HI>ad quos.</HI> Fir&s;t, for <HI>Cards;</HI> there have now twenty one years pa&s;&s;ed over my head, &s;ince my coming to the City: of all this time I never &s;pent &s;o much as half a minute in the recreation; and for ten years at lea&s;t together next before my comming, not a whit more. In my younger days, I confe&s;s I did pa&s;s &s;ome of my precious hours in the vanity; yet without &s;candal, or, any ob&s;ervation of exce&s;s or inordinatene&s;s in my addiction or practi&s;e that way. As for <HI>Sack-Po&s;&s;ets,</HI> counting from the fir&s;t hour that ever I &s;aw the light of the Sun, I beleeve there are very few Mini&s;ters about the City of <HI>London</HI> though there be divers that have &s;carce lived half my days, but have fi&s;h'd as often in tho&s;e Ponds, as I. If I be brought upon the Stage by you, as a man of a &s;ervile Appetite unto <HI>Sack-Po&s;&s;ets,</HI>
<PB N="70" REF="41">
I beleeve I never came there before, upon any &s;uch account.</P>
<P>And for <HI>Errors and Here&s;ies,</HI> whereunto your &s;tory (if it per&s;onates me) pretends that I have been <HI>converted,</HI> I con|fe&s;s I have been converted from <HI>Errors</HI> and <HI>Here&s;ies</HI> truly &s;o called, unto <HI>Errors</HI> and <HI>Here&s;ies</HI> by you &s;o called, that is, unto the knowledge and acknowledgment of many worthy Truths, into the &s;ecret of which your &s;ouls (it &s;eems) as yet never entred, which is the &s;nare upon you to tearm them <HI>Errors and Here&s;ies.</HI></P>
<P>(f) For your <HI>&s;paring</HI> of me, I could be content you &s;hould <HI>&s;pare</HI> me le&s;s if (le&s;s may be) then you do, upon condition you would not <HI>&s;pare</HI> the Truth &s;o much. But if your handling me, as you have done in your Epi&s;tle, be your <HI>&s;paring</HI> me, what would your inclemential and hard intreatings of me have been? Therefore you give te&s;timony again&s;t your &s;elves by this &s;aying, that you are of that ge|neration of men, who&s;e <HI>tender mercies are cruel:</HI> and who are men of this generation, you are informed mo&s;t Authen|tiquely, <HI>Prov.</HI> 12. 10.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="22" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Book-&s;ellers or Beacon-firers. &sect;. XXII.</HEAD>
<P>From the&s;e Premi&s;es we conclude, that we have ju&s;tly accu&s;ed you both of Bla&s;phemy and Errour (<HI>a</HI>) and do by the&s;e Pre&s;ents oblige our &s;elves to make our charge good (<HI>b</HI>) before the Lord Protector and Parliament publickly and in print. And therefore you may proceed after your weak manner to vindicate your &s;elf, and recover the &s;eque&s;tred revenues of your Reputati|on, by &s;ome Writ or Act of Indempnity: (<HI>c</HI>) This is the &s;a|tisfactory advice and councel of,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your plain dealing (e) Friends,<LB>
<LIST>
<ITEM>Luke Fawne,</ITEM>
<ITEM>Sam. Gellibrand,</ITEM>
<ITEM>Tho. Vnderhill,</ITEM>
<ITEM>John Rothwell,</ITEM>
<ITEM>Jo&s;hua Kirton,</ITEM>
<ITEM>Nathanael Webb.</ITEM>
</LIST></SIGNED>
<DATE>Nov. 17. 1654.</DATE></CLOSER>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="22" TYPE="commentary">
<PB N="71" REF="41">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Goodwins</HI> Animadver&s;ion, <HI>XXII.</HI></HEAD>
<P>(a) It is with your Epi&s;tle, like <HI>Premi&s;es,</HI> like <HI>conclu&s;i|on.</HI> Neither is there rea&s;on to be found in the <HI>former,</HI> nor truth in the <HI>latter.</HI> I pray what is the <HI>Bla&s;phemy,</HI> and what is the <HI>Errour</HI> of which you have <HI>accu&s;ed</HI> me? Certain I am, that you have proved nothing of which you have <HI>accu&s;ed</HI> me, to be either: nay you have not &s;o much as attempted or levi|ed an argument to prove either. No, you have not &s;o much as &s;hewed, or declared in what word, phra&s;e, clau&s;e or &s;trein of the pa&s;&s;age quarrelled by you, the <HI>Bla&s;phemy</HI> or <HI>Errour,</HI> by you &s;o called, lieth. The citation of the bare words of a Text of Scripture, is no eviction of an <HI>Error,</HI> or proof of <HI>Bla&s;phemy.</HI></P>
<P>(b) You talk of <HI>making good</HI> your <HI>charge:</HI> it were a wi|&s;er and more <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> undertaking, and more fecible of the two, to make your <HI>&s;elves good&punc;</HI> Can you wa&s;h a Blackamore white? Or can you prove darkne&s;&s;e to be light, or the night day? Then may you have &s;ome hope to <HI>make good your charge.</HI> If you can make it <HI>good,</HI> certain I am that you can do more then all the Angels in Heaven. It may be you think to a&s;cend up into Heaven in a vapour, and to carry all before you with &s;welling words of vanity. This I confe&s;s is the lofty method of &s;ome of your Don-Teachers; who if they can but &s;peak gloriou&s;ly and confidently of their cau&s;e, and then wa&s;h it over with &s;ome &s;light colour of an argu|ment, which it may be terminates the &s;ight of a partial or formal Reader, though it be as tran&s;parent as the air, to un|prejudic'd and intelligent men, think their atchievement to be greater then all applau&s;e; above all admiration.</P>
<P>(c) Here your Metaphorical eloquence pa&s;&s;eth (I con|fe&s;&s;e) my intelligence. What you mean by your <HI>Writ or Act of Indempnity,</HI> though your &s;elves po&s;&s;ibly may under&s;tand, though I can hardly think this, yet I do not. But truly when you make your &s;elves the &s;eque&s;tratours of the <HI>revenues</HI> of other mens <HI>reputations,</HI> you take an office and imploy|ment of no honour or credit at all upon you, unle&s;&s;e you think tho&s;e who are known among&s;t us, by the Title of
<PB N="72" REF="42">
<HI>Knights of the Po&s;t,</HI> to be per&s;ons of honour for their work &s;ake. Certainly <HI>Sathan</HI> is the Seque&s;trator General of the <HI>re|venues of mens reputations,</HI> and imploies many under him. And what <HI>Seneca</HI> &s;pake touching mens lives, <HI>vitae alienae Dominus e&s;t, quis-quis contemptor e&s;t &s;uae,</HI> any man that de&s;|pi&s;eth his own <HI>life,</HI> hath power over the life of another man, is as true in the point of credit and <HI>reputation.</HI> He that cares not to pro&s;titute his own <HI>reputation,</HI> may at plea&s;ure <HI>&s;eque&s;ter the Revenues</HI> of another mans. But for the <HI>&s;eque|&s;tred Revenues of my reputation,</HI> I &s;hall <HI>recover</HI> all in good time, and this with advantage, by an <HI>Act of Indempnity</HI> from <HI>Je&s;us</HI> Chri&s;t, which you will not be able to rever&s;e. You will be turned out of your Office of <HI>Seque&s;tration</HI> in that day.</P>
<P>(d) I know no <HI>advice</HI> or <HI>councel</HI> at all, that you have given me, unle&s;&s;e it be implicitely, and by con&s;equence: and thus you have advi&s;ed me to beware of men of your principles and &s;pirit. This <HI>advice</HI> I confe&s;&s;e is <HI>&s;atisfactory,</HI> and I intend to take and follow it, as far as with a good con|&s;cience I can.</P>
<P>(e) If your <HI>plain dealing</HI> in your Shops, be like your <HI>plain dealing</HI> in your Letter, in ca&s;e I were your cu&s;tomer, I would de&s;ire that you would deal roughly, not <HI>plainly,</HI> with me, becau&s;e your <HI>plain dealing,</HI> upon that account, would be full of unrighteou&s;ne&s;&s;e and untruth. But in as much as you give me to under&s;tand, that <HI>one of your Company</HI> under&s;tand|eth <HI>Latine,</HI> and the word <HI>planus,</HI> from whence the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> word, <HI>plain,</HI> cometh, &s;ignifieth, according to the different quantity of the former &s;yllable, in the Latine tongue, as well a crafty, jugling, di&s;&s;embling mate, as a plain, hone&s;t, and open-hearted man.
<Q><L>[<HI>Vir planus, e&s;t fallax: &s;ed aperto pectore, planus;</HI>]</L></Q></P>
<P>It may be you were advi&s;ed by him to the choi&s;e of the word, for the opportunity &s;ake of the oppo&s;ite &s;ignification of it, under the covert whereof you may act what part you plea&s;e. But were you really, and not in complement, my <HI>plain
<PB N="73" REF="42">
dealing Friends,</HI> you would deal truly and <HI>plainly. [i. e.</HI> Hone&s;tly and Fairly] with me, you would acknowledge your un-Chri&s;tian mi&s;demeanours towards me, and adju&s;t my reparations. In doing this you &s;hould be your own <HI>friends</HI> as well as mine: and <HI>plain dealing,</HI> in your &s;ence, with your &s;elves, you will find an higher point of Chri&s;tianity, then the like <HI>dealing</HI> with other men; e&s;pecially with tho&s;e whom you count your enemies.</P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB N="74" REF="43">
<OPENER><SALUTE>My Chri&s;tian and worthy Friend and Brother in Chri&s;t,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>I Came &s;ome few dayes &s;ince ca&s;ually to under&s;tand, that there is one pa&s;&s;age in my late Book, intituled <HI>Re|demption Redeemed,</HI> (po&s;&s;ibly among many others of le&s;s of|fence) of &s;o hard a re&s;entment with you, that you judged it of very dangerous con&s;equence, and have cautioned &s;eve|ral per&s;ons (as &s;ome of them&s;elves have reported, I know not how publickly, or unto how many) again&s;t the danger of it. Whether your intent was hereby to bla&s;t the credit of that one pa&s;&s;age onely, or to render the Book it &s;elf as un&s;afe, or how|ever of no good con&s;equence for them to read; I &s;hal not too narrowly enquire into, much le&s;&s;e determine. I acknowledg it to be far above my line, in the compo&s;ure of a Book to be able to pre-apprehend or fore-&s;ee, what notions or expre&s;|&s;ions may po&s;&s;ibly di&s;ta&s;te, or provoke a &s;pirit of prejudice and pre-occupation; or to deliver my &s;ence at every turn up|on &s;uch tearms, as to leave no place or po&s;&s;ibility for &s;ini&s;ter con&s;tructions: But this I am able to avouch, as in the &s;ight of God, who will &s;hortly bring every &s;ecret thing unto judg|ment, that in the penning of that Book I was con&s;cientiou&s;ly &s;tudious and careful, to decline, as well in matter, as in words, what&s;oever I apprehended likely to offend any man, further or otherwi&s;e then as the truth, even with the faire&s;t and cleare&s;t delivery of it, is apt to offend tho&s;e who are not di&s;po&s;ed, or prepared in their judgements, to receive it. And I now am, and I tru&s;t alwayes &s;hall be willing, and ready to do the be&s;t I can, to heal every mans offence taken at any &s;aying or ex|pre&s;&s;ion in that Book, when I come particularly to under|&s;tand the ground or occa&s;ion of it. I hear that within the&s;e few weeks there was another (who&s;e Name I &s;hall &s;pare at pre&s;ent) who very rea&s;onle&s;ly, and without the lea&s;t cau&s;e gi|ven, &s;tumbled in the Univer&s;ity Pulpit at <HI>Cambridge,</HI> at a|nother pa&s;&s;age in the &s;aid book, where I give an account of my judgment concerning the fulne&s;&s;e, freene&s;s, &amp; effectualne&s;s
<PB N="75" REF="43">
of the Grace of God. Notwith&s;tanding, I had in &s;ome parti|cular &amp; di&s;tinct explications of my &s;elf immediatly before, en|deavoured to remove the &s;tumbling-&s;tone (&s;uch as it was) out of his way; and had &s;hewed him before this, how he might with a very good con&s;cience, &amp; with more honour to him&s;elf, have pa&s;&s;ed by that pa&s;&s;age without lifting up his heel again&s;t it, but that I want &s;uch particularity of information about the carriage of the di&s;cour&s;e, as I de&s;ire, &amp; hope in due time to ob|tain. As for him, who Arch-Rabbi-like, concluded at once, &amp; without premi&s;es, al tho&s;e without exception that hold the Do|ctrines of general Attonement by Chri&s;t, and of a po&s;&s;ibility of a final declining in &s;uch who ever believed, to be men <HI>Godle&s;&s;e, Chri&s;tle&s;&s;e, Spiritle&s;&s;e, Gracele&s;&s;e,</HI> I &s;hall at pre&s;ent onely advi&s;e him to lay his heart clo&s;e to tho&s;e two &s;ayings of a wi&s;e man, <HI>Prov.</HI> 26. 12. and <HI>Prov.</HI> 29. 20. When I &s;hall hear that he is throughly baptized into the Spirit of the&s;e Scrip|tures, I &s;hall judge him a per&s;on worthy a reproof, when he offends. In the mean time, I judge, that He, who told it a|mong&s;t news from Heaven unto the City, that <HI>Arminius</HI> his rotten po&s;ts were lately new painted, together with him, who not long after (diurnal-wi&s;e) told the &s;ame &s;tory over again to the &s;ame Audience, only in a more di&s;mal Metaphor, in|forming them, that <HI>Arminius</HI> his Gho&s;t was lately &s;tarted out of his Grave, and walked; neither of them medling any further with the controver&s;ies. I judge, (I &s;ay) that the&s;e are men wi&s;e in their generation, and did well con&s;ider that the name of <HI>Arminius</HI> is the mo&s;t forcible Engine (though made of nothing but air and wind) to batter the walls of tho&s;e opini|ons, which they &s;o cordially wi&s;h in the du&s;t; and that &s;hould they have engaged any Scripture or Argument upon the de|&s;igne, they had run an hazard of lo&s;ing all that ground, or more, which they had rea&s;on to hope they had won, by draw|ing the pedigree of the &s;aid opinions, though mo&s;t untruely, from <HI>Arminius,</HI> it faring with their credulous hearers ac|cording to the Proverb; <HI>The blind &s;wallow many a fly.</HI></P>
<P>But Sir, Concerning that pa&s;&s;age in my late Book, upon the horn whereof you were plea&s;ed to tye a lock or bunch of hey, by way of &s;ignal unto your friends and others, to take heed of it, and to keep at di&s;tance from it; if my intel|ligence
<PB N="76" REF="44">
leadeth me to the right place: (as I &s;uppo&s;e upon competent grounds it doth) as far as I am able with the mo&s;t impartial eye I have, to &s;ee into it, it is &s;o far from merit|ing the brand of ignominy, wherewith you have &s;tigmatized it, that rightly under&s;tood and con&s;idered, it is as innocent and offencele&s;s, as any &s;aying that ever fell from your own mouth, in any of your Sermons. The pa&s;&s;age (I pre&s;ume) is this, <HI>page</HI> 335. of the &s;aid Book, I &s;hall recite it <HI>verbatim. Yea (that which is yet more) I verily believe, that in ca&s;e any &s;uch a&s;&s;urance of the unchangeablene&s;s of Gods love, were to be found in, or could regularly be deduced from the Scriptures, it were a ju&s;t ground to any intelligent and con&s;idering man, to que&s;tion their Authority, and whether they were from God, or no.</HI></P>
<P>The rea&s;on of this &s;aying I immediately &s;ubjoyne in the&s;e words, <HI>For that a God infinitely righteous and holy, &s;hould ir|rever&s;ibly a&s;&s;ure the immortal and undefiled inheritance of his Grace and favour unto any creature what&s;oever, &s;o that though this Creature &s;hould prove never &s;o abominable in his &s;ight, never &s;o outragiou&s;ly and de&s;perately wicked and prophane, he &s;hould not be at liberty to withhold this inheritance from him, is a &s;aying, doubtle&s;s, too hard for any man, who rightly under&s;tands and con|&s;iders the Nature of God, to hear.</HI> What there &s;hould be in either of the&s;e &s;ayings, &s;o much as lyable to any &s;u&s;picion of an in|comportance, either with rea&s;on, or with truth, cannot enter into my thoughts to imagine, or conceive. The pile of the di&s;cour&s;e is built and <HI>I</HI> cannot but pre&s;ume regularly enough upon this foundation; that if any thing were found in tho&s;e writings or books, known by the Name of, Scriptures, whe|ther in the letter of them, or in any expre&s;ne&s;s of con&s;e|quence from them, (here ju&s;tified or approved) of any bla&s;|phemous importance again&s;t God, or any his Attributes, it were a ju&s;t ground, at lea&s;t to que&s;tion, whether the &s;aid wri|tings were from God, or no. I &s;uppo&s;e I &s;hal not need to argue this principle, being &s;o full of light in it &s;elf. The Holy Gho&s;t him&s;elf teacheth us, that <HI>God cannot deny him&s;elfe</HI> <NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 2.</NOTE>: and as certain it is, that he cannot bla&s;pheme him&s;elf, nor yet au|thorize, in&s;pire, or teach any per&s;on, or creature what&s;oever, to bla&s;pheme him; the bla&s;pheming of him&s;elfe being no|thing el&s;e but a con&s;tructive <HI>denying</HI> of him&s;elf, as is evident.
<PB N="77" REF="44">
Therefore what book or writing &s;oever contains any thing bla&s;phemous again&s;t God, I do not mean as &s;imply report|ed, but as a&s;&s;erted and maintained in either, is not onely a ju&s;t ground to que&s;tion (which yet is all I affirm in the point) whether &s;uch a writing or book be of divine in&s;piration, or from God, or no: but even po&s;itively to conclude again&s;t them, that they are not. So then if there be any thing dan|gerous, or of &s;u&s;picious con&s;equence in either of the &s;aid pa&s;&s;ages, it mu&s;t be this; that in the former of them, I &s;up|po&s;e, and in the latter (con&s;tructively) affirm, that &s;uch an unchangeablene&s;&s;e of the Love of God, as is mentioned in the former, and de&s;cribed (in part) in the latter, is of a bla&s;|phemous import, and repugnant to tho&s;e great Attributes of righteou&s;ne&s;s and holine&s;s in God. Though the latter of the &s;aid pa&s;&s;ages recited, carrieth a &s;ufficient light in it to &s;atisfie any man (impartially con&s;iderate) concerning the truth of this a&s;&s;ertion; yet the matter being of an high and &s;acred importance, I am willing and &s;hall endeavour to give both unto your &s;elf, and others, &s;omewhat a more full and di&s;tinct account hereof.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t then evident it is, that that unchangeablene&s;&s;e of the love of God, which the&s;e pa&s;&s;ages &s;peak of, and without a &s;uppo&s;al whereof the common Doctrine of Per&s;everance, again&s;t which I here argue, cannot be maintained, in the for|mal and proper notion of it &s;uppo&s;eth, that if ever God once truly loveth a per&s;on, it is unpo&s;&s;ible, that upon any occa&s;i|ons or interveniences what&s;oever, he &s;hould hate him af|terwards.</P>
<P>Secondly, Every whit as evident it is, that &s;uch a &s;uppo&s;i|on or notion as this, &s;uppo&s;eth, that in ca&s;e a per&s;on hath once, or at any time, truly believed, &s;uppo&s;e in his youth, (under which condition he mu&s;t needs be beloved by God) though the very next hour or day after &s;uch his believing, he &s;hould fall into wayes of &s;in, wickedne&s;&s;e, di&s;obedience, rebellion again&s;t God, and &s;hould without repentance or re|mor&s;e continue in the&s;e abominations, adding drunkenne&s;s to thir&s;t from time to time, for 10. 20. it may be 40. 50. years to|gether, and to his la&s;t breath, yet God all this while truly lo|veth him, and remaineth unchanged in this his affection to|wards
<PB N="78" REF="45">
him; and con&s;equently loveth him with the &s;ame love; as great, as rich, as dear, under all the&s;e horrible pollutions, and mo&s;t accur&s;ed abominations, as he either would, or could have loved him with, in ca&s;e he had all this while walked in the greate&s;t innocency, and uprightne&s;&s;e of heart and life before him. Now then this is that which I affirm; that to attribute &s;uch an unchangeablene&s;s of love unto God, as this, which maketh him to love an ob&s;tinate and obdurate &s;inner, a wor|ker of all manner of abominations, with the &s;ame affection wherewith he loveth a ju&s;t, holy, and good man, a worker of all righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, is of a bla&s;phemous import to tho&s;e glo|rious Attributes of his, his Righteou&s;ne&s;s and Holine&s;s. For if the ca&s;e were thus with God, &s;hould not the world have cau&s;e to demand&punc; with tho&s;e in <HI>Malachy, Where is the God of judgement?</HI> <NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Mal. 2. 17.</NOTE> Or what is there, or can there be, of a more diametrical oppo&s;ition unto righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, then equally to re&s;pect and love the mo&s;t unrighteous with tho&s;e that are mo&s;t righteous? or unto Holine&s;s, then to honour tho&s;e that are mo&s;t polluted and abominable, as much as tho&s;e that are holy?</P>
<P>Nor can you here pretend, that I wrong your Doctrine of Per&s;everance to the value of the lea&s;t hair on your head, by making it a Patrone&s;&s;e and Protectrix of &s;uch an unchan|geablene&s;&s;e of love in God, as that now repre&s;ented: becau&s;e evident it is, that without &s;uch an unchangeablene&s;s &s;uppo&s;ed, the &s;aid Doctrine will neither have footing nor foundation to &s;upport it. For though you and others, Patrons of this Doctrine, under&s;tand your &s;elves, and be-friend your Do|ctrine better, then to expre&s;s or repre&s;ent it unto the world, in tho&s;e black and di&s;mal colours, wherewith I have now drawn the pourtraicture of it, or to de&s;cribe the unchange|ablene&s;s of love in God, which mu&s;t be the Ba&s;is and Pillar of it, in &s;uch tearms as it hath been de&s;cribed by me: yet there is nothing more pregnant and notorious, then that your &s;oft and &s;ilken, and mo&s;t tender expre&s;&s;ions of it, be|ing regularly, and according to the exigencie of truth, in|terpreted, and drawn out of the&s;e collu&s;ive involutions, amount every whit to as much, or more in deformity and A theologicalne&s;s of notion, as any expre&s;&s;ions u&s;ed by me
<PB N="79" REF="45">
do import. For certain it is (nor do I remember that I ever met with a denial of it, among&s;t the greate&s;t Defenders of your Faith, in the point of Per&s;everance) that he that truly believeth, may po&s;&s;ibly fall, and that within a very &s;hort time after this his believing, into the greate&s;t and foule&s;t &s;ins that the nature of man is lightly incident into, as drunkenne&s;s, adultery, murther, envy, malice, covetou&s;ne&s;s, oppre&s;&s;ion, idolatry, &amp;c. yea, and from the time of his fir&s;t falling into them, may continue and hold on in the practi&s;e of them for many years together, yea po&s;&s;ibly to the very approaches of death, without repentance. Onely you teach indeed, but by humane, not divine in&s;piration neither, that &s;uch per&s;ons (I mean, once believers) in ca&s;e they fall into &s;uch &s;ins, as tho&s;e now mentioned, or the like, yet never mi&s;carry in the great bu&s;ine&s;&s;e of Salvation, but by an high hand of Grace from God are always brought back unto repentance before their death: However, upon the former &s;uppo&s;ition, it clear|ly follows, that your Doctrine of Per&s;everance cannot &s;tand, without the rotten prop of a Suppo&s;al of &s;uch an unchan|geablene&s;s of love in God, which is palpably, and in the eye of a very ordinary under&s;tanding, of an highly di&s;paraging, and bla&s;phemous import to his Righteou&s;ne&s;s and Holine&s;s. In what &s;ence the Scriptures hold forth an unchangeablene&s;s in God, and &s;o in all his Attributes, and particularly in his Love, I declare once and again (upon occa&s;ion) in my late Book of Redemption, <HI>page</HI> 63, 64. And again, <HI>page</HI> 278, 279. and <HI>page 205, 206. &amp;c.</HI> El&s;ewhere (as <HI>viz&punc; page</HI> 318, 319. and <HI>p.</HI> 330. &amp;c.) I demon&s;tratively prove your Doctrine of Per&s;everance to be at open and manife&s;t defiance al&s;o with another great Attribute of God, his Wi&s;dom. Yea, when I look narrowly into the purport and tendencies of this your Doctrine, I cannot over-rule my thoughts, but that they will be very jealous, that it is acce&s;&s;ary to far the greate&s;t part of tho&s;e abominations at this day raging among&s;t us, <HI>Antino|miani&s;m, Enthu&s;ia&s;m, Famili&s;m,</HI> of the dangerous and vile opi|nions and practi&s;es of tho&s;e called <HI>Seekers,</HI> and of tho&s;e bred of the dregs and retriment of all the&s;e, the <HI>Ranters,</HI> and gene|rally of all the coolings, declinings, back&s;lidings, and of all other foul and &s;ad mi&s;carriages among&s;t Profe&s;&s;ors.</P>
<P><PB N="80" REF="46">Sir, I have looked upon you as the glory of the <HI>London</HI> Mini&s;tery, and do &s;o &s;till, notwith&s;tanding the conte&s;t of your judgment again&s;t mine, about the Doctrine of Redemption, and the que&s;tions relating hereunto. Yet give him leave, who is po&s;&s;ibly looked upon by you, as by many others, as the reproach and &s;hame of this Mini&s;try, to &s;ay this unto you, that tho&s;e two opinions, the one of a peremptory per&s;o|nal Election from Eternity, the other of a peremptory and nece&s;&s;itated per&s;everance of the Saints, genuinely interpret|ed, do (upon the matter) wholly di&s;&s;olve the u&s;efulne&s;s and nece&s;&s;ity of your Mini&s;try; the former in relation to per|&s;ons yet unconverted; the latter, in re&s;pect of Beleevers. For fir&s;t, if there be a certain number of men peremptorily de&s;igned by God to Salvation, all others as peremptorily ex|cluded, what need either the one, or the other, regard ei|ther your Mini&s;try, or any other mans? The former, &s;hall be infallibly and irre&s;i&s;tibly converted, and &s;o &s;aved, whe|ther you or any man el&s;e, preach the Go&s;pel unto them or no. If &s;o, <HI>Fortis ubi e&s;t Ajax?</HI> where, or what is the nece&s;|&s;ity of the greate&s;t Preacher under Heaven, in re&s;pect of them? The latter, notwith&s;tanding all the po&s;&s;ible relief that you by your Mini&s;try can afford them, will, and mu&s;t inevitably peri&s;h. Yea all the good that you are capable of doing unto the&s;e by your Mini&s;try, is onely to help them deeper into Hell. Secondly, if tho&s;e who already beleeve, &s;hall certainly, and again&s;t all po&s;&s;ible interveniences per&s;e|vere in faith unto the end, what if the Mini&s;try of the Go&s;|pel, and they, were quite parted; They &s;hould run no haz|ard of lo&s;ing their Crown hereby. This great Truth, <HI>viz.</HI> that your Doctrine of Per&s;everance fru&s;trates the Mini&s;try in reference unto the Saints, I prove at large (and I &s;uppo&s;e beyond all rea&s;onable contradiction) Page 301. 302. 339. <HI>&amp;c.</HI> of the book formerly mentioned: Where al&s;o I tear in pieces the Fig-leaf of that pretence, that the Mini&s;try of the Go&s;pel, notwith&s;tanding the per&s;everance of the Saints be &s;uppo&s;ed ab&s;olute and unfru&s;trable, is yet a means for the effecting or procuring of it.</P>
<P>But Sir, concerning the pa&s;&s;age recited, wherein you pre|tend to finde &s;o much danger, that you judge it nece&s;&s;ary to
<PB N="81" REF="46">
arm your Friends with a Religious caveat again&s;t it, I veri|ly beleeve, that there is &s;carce any Page in any of tho&s;e books which either you have publi&s;hed in your own name, or Li|cen&s;ed for others, but I could quarrel with &s;omewhat there|in, at as good a rate of ingenuity, if I judged the ingage|ment worthy of me, as you have done at that pa&s;&s;age of mine. Yea and wring every whit as bad blood out of the no&s;e of it, as you have forced out of mine. But for over|&s;ights, hard expre&s;&s;ions, or doubtful pa&s;&s;ages in other mens writings, otherwi&s;e then for the nece&s;&s;ary defence of tho&s;e Truths which God hath &s;tir'd up my Spirit to plead and pro|tect, I have neither time, nor mind, to take any &s;uch cogni&s;ance of them. Concerning my own writings, &s;o far as I find them ju&s;tifiable for matter of truth, and defen&s;ible, I &s;hall (God willing) <HI>pro virili,</HI> &s;tand up to maintain them again&s;t all Oppo&s;ition and Detraction, as fa&s;t as I &s;hall come to under&s;tand what exceptions are taken again&s;t them. What &s;hall rea&s;onably and in a Chri&s;tian manner, be ex|cepted again&s;t any thing, I &s;hall make no Apology for, but with a &s;pirit of meekne&s;s own the over&s;ight, and onely en|deavor the rectifying. In ca&s;e unju&s;t Oppo&s;ers &s;hall ri&s;e up too fa&s;t, or prove too many in number for me, I mu&s;t then be content to edecimate, and turne my &s;elf onely to tho&s;e, that are counted Pillars, and leave Punies-either to &s;hare with them in &s;uch an&s;wers and &s;atisfactions which &s;hall be given unto them, or otherwi&s;e to take their plea&s;ure in fly|ing upon the wings of their own wind. Sir, I cannot &s;u&s;|pect a want of &s;o much civility in you, as to deny water un|to tho&s;e for the wa&s;hing of their faces, who are bemired, though ca&s;ually, and by their friends: or that the publi&s;h|ing of the&s;e few harmle&s;s lines in order to my purgation, will be matter of offence in the lea&s;t unto you. Thus de&s;iring, that the Father of Lights will give both to you and me, and all others that de&s;ire to &s;erve him faithfully in the Go&s;pel of his dear Son, light and not darkne&s;s, for our vi&s;ion; I take my leave, and re&s;t</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Yours with a perfect Heart to &s;erve you<LB>
in our Great Redeemer,<LB>
<HI>J. G.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB N="82" REF="47">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Jo&s;eph Caryl</HI>'s An&s;wer, to Mr. <HI>John Goodwins Letter.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>SIR,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P><HI>I</HI> Suppo&s;e you Printed and Publi&s;hed your Book with a willingne&s;&s;e that it &s;hould be read and con&s;idered by all men, and knew al&s;o, that your opinion therein a&s;&s;erted concerning Univer&s;al Redemption, and falling from Grace, hath been (as &s;till it is) oppo&s;ed by very ma|ny. For my own part I plainly profe&s;se to you, that I have (according to my mea&s;ure) held forth and main|tained the contrary Doctrines, not onely before I &s;aw your Book, but before ever I &s;aw your face; and &s;o I judge my &s;elf bound to do, (as I have oppertunity) till I &s;ee ground to change my opinion, which as yet I do not, no not by what I have found in your book.</P>
<P>As for that particular Pa&s;&s;age of it, which you &s;ay I have &s;tigmatiz'd with a Brand of Ignominy, as al&s;o caution'd my friends about it; what you mean by &s;tig|matizing I apprehend not: All that I have &s;aid of it, hath been but a manifestation of my di&s;like of it, or that it is an argument of your highe&s;t confidence, that the truth, in that point to which it relates, is on your &s;ide. Now truly Sir, if you call this &s;tigmatizing it with a Brand of Ignominy, I know not how to take it off, not|with&s;tanding all that you have written in vindication of it, in the Letter you were plea&s;ed to &s;end me.</P>
<P>And whereas you intimate your purpo&s;e to Print that Letter, it &s;hall (I hope) be no trouble to me (unle&s;&s;e for your &s;ake) if you do &s;o. Onely give me leave to caution you as a friend, to con&s;ider well both with your
<PB N="83" REF="47">
&s;elf, and with your friends. Whether it be &s;o comely or you to di&s;cover &s;uch an eagerne&s;&s;e in this cau&s;e, that you cannot contain your &s;elf from publi&s;hing in Print, what is &s;poken in private di&s;cour&s;e among Friends, concern|ing this, or other Pa&s;&s;ages of your Book. The Lord lead us into all truth, and teach us how to walk in Love,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Yours in the truth to &s;erve you, in<LB>
all Offices of Go&s;pel Love.<LB>
<HI>Jo&s;eph Caryl.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="1" TYPE="postscript">
<HEAD>Po&s;t-Script 1. To be read in Page 42. line 23. after the&s;e words. <HI>Mr. Horn?</HI></HEAD>
<P>And why do you not demand of your <HI>Committee</HI>-man <HI>George,</HI> (otherwi&s;e called Doctor <HI>Kendal</HI>) another of your three worthies, why he hath not as yet an&s;wered Mr. <HI>Bax|ter,</HI> who (in your phra&s;e) hath <HI>charged him home to the life,</HI> or rather (indeed) to the death of tho&s;e foppi&s;h opinions and conceits of his, which he encounters with as much ea&s;e, and with like &s;ucce&s;s, as the fire doth the dryed &s;tubble? Yea why doe not you ask your third <HI>Committee</HI>-man, and Champion, <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> why he hath not an&s;wered the &s;ame Mr. <HI>Baxters</HI> Epi&s;tle, wherein he very gravely and Chri&s;ti|anly, yet roundly and <HI>&s;martly</HI> enough, expo&s;tulates with him for helping into the world, and this with approbation and applau&s;e, &s;uch a book, which well de&s;erves to be hi&s;&s;ed out of the world with indignation?</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="2" TYPE="postscript">
<PB N="84" REF="48">
<HEAD>Po&s;t-Script 2. To be read in Page 47. line 10. after the&s;e words, <HI>So &s;till.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Yea there are &s;uch things found, and have been di&s;co|vered by others, as well as by my &s;elf, e&s;pecially by Mr. <HI>Baxter</HI> and Mr. <HI>Hora,</HI> in the writings of the three additio|nal members of your Committee, which, according to the terms of your own regulation (mentioned &sect;. 12. of your Letter) render them &s;ignally unmeet for a &s;uperintendency over the Pre&s;s. Mr. <HI>Baxter</HI> well nigh all along his <HI>Reply to Mr. Kendals Digre&s;&s;ion,</HI> page after page, evinceth him to be a man <HI>de&s;titute of the truth, void of judgement, &amp;c.</HI> in ve|ry many things delivered by him in the &s;aid Digre&s;&s;ion. And for Doctor <HI>Owen,</HI> Mr. <HI>Horn</HI> hath in a ju&s;t volume di&s;cover|ed his incompetency in the &s;ame kind.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
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<HEAD>Faults e&s;caped in &s;ome Copies</HEAD>
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