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<DATE>2010-12-02</DATE>
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<NAME>Megan Marion</NAME>
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<P>A SOBER REPLY, On Behalf of the People called <HI>Q&V;AKERS,</HI> To Two Petitions again&s;t them, (The One out of <HI>Norfolk,</HI> and the Other from <HI>Bury</HI> in <HI>Suffolk</HI>) Being &s;ome Brief Ob&s;ervations upon them.</P>
<P>Publi&s;hed on Occa&s;ion of <HI>Francis Bugg</HI>'s Expo&s;ing One of the &s;aid Petitions in Print, and Commending the Other, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> With many unju&s;t Aggravations and Mi&s;repre&s;entations in his late Book, fal&s;ly &s;tiled <HI>A Mode&s;t Defence,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<Q><P>It is an Honour for a Man to cea&s;e from Strife, but every Fool will be medling,</P> <BIBL>Prov. 20.3.</BIBL></Q>
<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed and Sold by <HI>T. Sowle,</HI> in <HI>White-Hart-Court</HI> in <HI>Gracious-Street,</HI> 1700.</P>
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<HEAD>A Reply, on Behalf of the People called <HI>Quakers,</HI> to Two <HI>Petitions</HI> again&s;t them, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THat we may not build too <HI>large</HI> a <HI>Porch</HI> to &s;o <HI>&s;mall</HI> an <HI>Hou&s;e,</HI> we &s;hall only premi&s;e, That the Chri|&s;tian Religion hath <HI>often Suffered,</HI> but <HI>never taught</HI> or countenanced <HI>Per&s;ecution;</HI> That it was the <HI>Per&s;ecuting Jews,</HI> not the <HI>Per&s;ecuted Apo&s;tle,</HI> who cry'd <HI>Men of I&s;rael, help,</HI> Acts 21.28. That the&s;e <HI>Petitioners</HI> again&s;t us, have nothing to Charge us with of <HI>Immora|lity,</HI> nothing again&s;t the <HI>Publick Peace,</HI> nothing but what concerns our <HI>Religion:</HI> Which is an implicit Acknow|ledgment (at lea&s;t) that they are in the &s;ame Streight to find out Matter of Accu&s;ation again&s;t us, that <HI>Daniel</HI>'s Adver&s;aries were in, to find Matter again&s;t him; who thereupon ingeniou&s;ly confe&s;t, <HI>We &s;hall not find any Oc|ca&s;ion again&s;t this</HI> Daniel, <HI>except we find it again&s;t him con|cerning the Law of his God,</HI> Dan. 6.5.</P>
<P>We begin with the <HI>Norfolk Petition,</HI> as that which (we under&s;tand) was contrived fir&s;t, and probably led on the other.</P>
<P>Petition. <HI>We cannot, without Re&s;entment, take notice of the great Growth, and daily Increa&s;e of the</HI> Quakers, <HI>and the Mi&s;chief and Dangers from thence threatning this Nation.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ob&s;ervation,</HI> We hope we may, without incurring their <HI>Re&s;entment,</HI> ob&s;erve, That the <HI>Jews</HI> of old took notice, and that not without <HI>Re&s;entment,</HI> of the <HI>great Growth</HI> and <HI>daily Increa&s;e</HI> of the <HI>Chri&s;tians,</HI> in the fir&s;t Age of the &s;pread|ing of the Go&s;pel, and of the Mi&s;chief and Dangers they apprehended did from thence threaten their Nation, <HI>John</HI> 11.48. Which Mi&s;apprehen&s;ion of theirs, made them bend their Forces again&s;t the <HI>Innocent Chri&s;tians,</HI> to Suppre&s;s, De&s;troy, and Root them out. Whereby
<PB N="4" REF="3">
they brought upon Them&s;elves, and their Nation, the Mi&s;chief and Dangers they feared: God avenging, by the hands of the <HI>Romans,</HI> and their own one again&s;t another, their Evil Treatment of his Son and Servants.</P>
<P>Pet. <HI>'Tis ob&s;ervable, with what re&s;tle&s;s Zeal their deluding Teachers&mdash;ramble into all parts of the&s;e Kingdoms.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ob&s;.</HI> 'Tis probable, the <HI>little Zeal</HI> (unle&s;s for Mainte|nance) the <HI>Petitioners</HI> have ob&s;erved in their own <HI>over-re&s;ted</HI> Teachers, makes the Zeal of tho&s;e they Petition again&s;t &s;o ob&s;ervable to them. But they may do well al&s;o to ob&s;erve (which if they will not, it may be hoped, They to whom they have Petitioned, will) how much this Charge, of <HI>Re&s;tle&s;s Zeal,</HI> renders us like unto the <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> and Primitive Chri&s;tian <HI>Teachers,</HI> who&s;e <HI>Re&s;tle&s;s Zeal</HI> would not &s;uffer them to <HI>&s;it</HI> down, and <HI>re&s;t</HI> in a Fat Benefice (with a <HI>Curat</HI> to perform the Service for them:) But made them <HI>Travel</HI> into mo&s;t of the then Civilized Parts of the World, as the <HI>Acts of the Apo&s;tles,</HI> and <HI>Ec|cle&s;ia&s;tical Hi&s;tories</HI> &s;hew. And though their Enemies then were more mode&s;t than to call it <HI>Rambling;</HI> yet they failed not to call them <HI>Deluding</HI> Teachers; as the&s;e do us.</P>
<P>Pet. <HI>And (as we &s;u&s;pect) many Romi&s;h Emi&s;&s;aries under their Di&s;gui&s;e.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ob&s;.</HI> The Petitioners &s;hould have done well to have given the Ground of this <HI>Su&s;picion</HI> of theirs, if they had any to give, that it might have been examined. But to <HI>Sugge&s;t</HI> (for it is probable this came, &egrave; <HI>Sugge&s;to,</HI> out of the <HI>Pulpit:</HI> For <HI>Ju&s;tices,</HI> we hope, would deal more <HI>ju&s;tly</HI>) &s;o <HI>Scandalous</HI> a Matter, upon a <HI>bare Su&s;picion,</HI> with|out a&s;&s;igning any Ground for it, is (to &s;peak mode&s;tly of it) an <HI>Evil-Surmi&s;ing,</HI> and <HI>again&s;t Charity:</HI> For <HI>Cha|rity</HI> (we are a&s;&s;ured, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 13.5.) <HI>thinks no Evil.</HI> And &s;ince <HI>Charity</HI> is &s;o excellent a Chri&s;tian Vertue, as to be preferr'd to both <HI>Faith</HI> and <HI>Hope,</HI> ver&s;e 13. We are &s;orry
<PB N="5" REF="3">
to find <HI>&s;o little Charity</HI> among the Ju&s;tices and Grand Jurors of <HI>Norfolk.</HI> This Su&s;picion of <HI>Romi&s;h Emi&s;&s;aries</HI> going under the Di&s;gui&s;e of <HI>Quakers,</HI> is indeed an <HI>old Scandal</HI> rais'd by <HI>our profe&s;t Enemies,</HI> the Prie&s;ts, above Forty Years ago, and by them indu&s;triou&s;ly &s;pread, and kept up ever &s;ince, on purpo&s;e to Traduce us to the bet|ter &s;ort of People. But is it not &s;trange, that if this had been true, not one <HI>&s;ingle In&s;tance</HI> could be given, not <HI>one Proof</HI> made in all this time, of one Romi&s;h Emi&s;&s;ary found among the <HI>Quakers!</HI> This alone is enough to baffle the Slander: which it hath done already with con&s;iderate Per&s;ons. Therefore, without taking further notice of it here, we will conclude with Queen <HI>Eliza|beth</HI>'s Motto (u&s;ed while &s;he was Prince&s;s, Per&s;ecuted and a Pri&s;oner) <HI>viz. <HI>Much &s;u&s;pected by me: Nothing proved can be.</HI></HI></P>
<P>Pet. <HI>And boldly &s;pread their</HI> Venemous <HI>Doctrines every where.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ob&s;.</HI> This <HI>Venemous</HI> Epithet &s;o ill becomes <HI>Ju&s;tices</HI> and <HI>Grand Jurors,</HI> that we are not willing to think it theirs; but rather impo&s;ed on them by &s;ome of their <HI>dictating Teachers.</HI> But pa&s;&s;ing by the <HI>Venome</HI> of it, we cannot but ob&s;erve here likwi&s;e, how much they make us, even in this al&s;o, to re&s;emble tho&s;e, whom we de&s;ire and labour to imitate, the Apo&s;tles of our Lord. Who&s;e <HI>Boldne&s;s,</HI> in A&s;&s;erting the Chri&s;tian Faith, and <HI>Spreading</HI> the Doctrine of their Holy Religion (which, no doubt, their <HI>Oppo&s;ers,</HI> the <HI>Prie&s;ts</HI> of that Age, and &s;uch <HI>Rulers</HI> as tho&s;e Prie&s;ts could influence) thought to be <HI>wrong,</HI> though they &s;eem to have been <HI>more mode&s;t,</HI> than to call it <HI>Venemous</HI>) made, even their Adver&s;aries <HI>Marvel;</HI> who yet were &s;o inge|nuous as to impute their Boldne&s;s to their having been <HI>with Je&s;us,</HI> Acts 4.13.</P>
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<P>Pet. <HI>Attempting to infect and &s;hake the Minds of weak</HI> Prote&s;tants.</P>
<P><HI>Ob&s;.</HI> Had not tho&s;e Prote&s;tants <HI>weak Teachers,</HI> they would not be &s;uch <HI>weak Prote&s;tants.</HI> Nor will it, peradventure, upon due Con&s;ideration, be found a Di&s;-&s;ervice in the <HI>Quakers,</HI> if by their <HI>Zealous Preaching,</HI> they excite tho&s;e Teachers (how unwillingly &s;oever) to be <HI>more Zealous,</HI> more A&s;&s;iduous, more Laborious and Diligent in Preach|ing, to &s;trengthen their <HI>weak Hearers.</HI></P>
<P>Pet. <HI>And A&s;&s;uming Rules of Di&s;cipline, Power in matters of Religion, and Forms of Government, Repugnant to the E&s;ta|bli&s;h'd Laws of this Kingdom, contrary to the very Acts of Toleration, and not allow'd to any other Di&s;&s;enters.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ob&s;.</HI> We pre&s;ume it is intended, in all the Branches of this manifold Charge <HI>[with re&s;pect to them&s;elves only,]</HI> and we hope it will be &s;o under&s;tood; That if we a&s;&s;ume <HI>Rules of Di&s;cipline</HI> in Church Matters, they are for <HI>our &s;elves only;</HI> Power in Matters of Religion, for and among&s;t <HI>our &s;elves only.</HI> As for <HI>Forms</HI> of <HI>Government,</HI> though they are Am|biguous Words, and &s;uch as we do not u&s;e among&s;t, or of, our &s;elves: Yet as there ought to be <HI>Government</HI> in every <HI>Religious,</HI> as well as <HI>Civil,</HI> Society; and a Form, or Forms of &s;uch Government: So we know of no Form of Government in our Religious Society, no Rules of Di&s;cipline, no Power in Matters of Religion, among us, that is Repugnant to the E&s;tabli&s;h'd Laws of this King|dom, relating only to <HI>Civil</HI> Matters, nor contrary to the <HI>Acts</HI> for <HI>Toleration.</HI> Nor (with Submi&s;&s;ion to our Su|periours) do we &s;ee, how tho&s;e Acts could be truly called <HI>Acts of Toleration</HI> to Di&s;&s;enters, if they did not <HI>Tolerate</HI> each &s;ort of Di&s;&s;enters, to <HI>A&s;&s;ume Rules of Di&s;cipline, Power</HI> in Matters of <HI>Religion,</HI> and Forms of <HI>Church</HI> Go|vernment, <HI>for and among&s;t them&s;elves,</HI> while nothing is thereby done Repugnant to the <HI>Publick Peace.</HI> Nor do we under&s;tand, but that the &s;ame is allow'd to, and practic'd by all other Prote&s;tant Di&s;&s;enters.</P>
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<P>Pet. <HI>Vouching in all their Actions Divine In&s;piration for their Warrant, and the Indulgence of the Government for their Indempnity.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ob&s;.</HI> In <HI>All their Actions,</HI> is <HI>too large</HI> an Expre&s;&s;ion, and &s;hews the Petitioners &s;pake <HI>by rote.</HI> But if we vouch Divine In&s;piration for our Warrant in <HI>&s;ome things,</HI> which relate <HI>more immediately</HI> to the <HI>Wor&s;hip</HI> and <HI>Service</HI> of <HI>God</HI> (and undertake withal to make appear, that That In|&s;piration is not di&s;agreeable to the Divine Te&s;timonies recorded in the Holy Scriptures) we hope our <HI>Warrant</HI> will not be di&s;liked, for being Grounded on <HI>In&s;piration,</HI> nor that <HI>In&s;piration,</HI> for being <HI>Divine:</HI> And that the <HI>In|dulgence</HI> of &s;o Indulgent a Government will be &s;ufficient to <HI>Indempnifie</HI> us, in our <HI>Peaceable</HI> Performance thereof.</P>
<P>Pet. <HI>How apparently their Bla&s;phemous Books, and Pernicious Principles, tend to &s;ubvert the Fundamentals of Chri&s;tia|nity, and undermine the Civil Government, are &s;ufficiently Demon&s;trable.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ob&s;. Demon&s;trable!</HI> Not yet <HI>Demon&s;trated</HI> then, it &s;eems, tho' for the&s;e Forty Years, and more, it has been en|deavoured. <HI>Hard</HI> Words and <HI>Ill</HI> Names may ea&s;ily be put upon the <HI>be&s;t Books</HI> and <HI>Principles.</HI> And there is no Book or Principle, which may not, by <HI>Perver&s;ion</HI> and <HI>Mi&s;con&s;truction,</HI> be made to look and &s;ound <HI>Ill.</HI> But &s;ure we are (and always ready to make appear) that neither are our <HI>Books</HI> Bla&s;phemous, nor our <HI>Principles</HI> Pernici|ous. The <HI>Fundamentals</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;tianity</HI> we heartily Own, and A&s;&s;ert as <HI>Boldly</HI> and Vigorou&s;ly as any. And how far we have been from <HI>undermining the Civil Govern|ment,</HI> our Practice, well known throughout the&s;e King|doms, is the be&s;t Demon&s;tration.</P>
<P>Pet. <HI>The Publi&s;hing whereof, by pretended Permi&s;&s;ion of the Government, is of mo&s;t dangerous Con&s;equence.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ob&s;.</HI> Pray give the <HI>Government</HI> leave to judge of that. So long as the <HI>Church</HI> of <HI>Rome</HI> could &s;top the Publi&s;hing of
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any <HI>Books</HI> or <HI>Principles,</HI> but her own, the Chri&s;tian World lay very Snug, in a deep <HI>Sleep</HI> of <HI>Darkne&s;s</HI> and Profound <HI>Ignorance,</HI> which &s;he had lul'd it into, which was what &s;he de&s;ired. And if the fir&s;t <HI>Reformers</HI> had been debarr'd the Liberty of <HI>Publi&s;hing</HI> their <HI>Books,</HI> and <HI>Principles,</HI> the <HI>Reformation</HI> mu&s;t either not have been be|gun, or greatly retarded in the carrying of it on, and <HI>Popery</HI> might have prevailed &s;till. It is a &s;ure <HI>Maxim,</HI> that <HI>Truth is Stronge&s;t.</HI> And therefore, they who have <HI>Truth on their &s;ide,</HI> and who know their own Principles to be <HI>Sound,</HI> need not fear the Publi&s;hing of Principles by o|thers; for if tho&s;e Principles publi&s;h'd by others be <HI>true,</HI> they co-operate with theirs; and therein they have Cau&s;e to rejoyce: If <HI>fal&s;e,</HI> they have thereby a fair Occa&s;ion given them, by expo&s;ing and confuting the <HI>Er|rors</HI> thereof, to illu&s;trate more clearly, and e&s;tabli&s;h more firmly, the true Principles a&s;&s;erted by them&s;elves; and for that they have no cau&s;e to be Sorry.</P>
<P>Thus far the Petition out of <HI>Norfolk,</HI> the <HI>Prayer</HI> of which &s;hall be con&s;idered together with that from <HI>Bury,</HI> which will help to explain one another.</P>
<P>The Petition from <HI>Bury</HI> &s;peaks in the Name of <HI>The Alderman, A&s;&s;i&s;tant Ju&s;tice, chief Burges and Burge&s;&s;es of the Common Council, in behalf of them&s;elves and other the Inhabitants of that Burrough;</HI> And in it they &s;ay,</P>
<P>Pet. <HI>That we, con&s;idering all Ancient Haere&s;ies, which have vexed both Church and State, were never &s;o formidable in their Ri&s;e and Progre&s;s, as are the Quakers.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ob&s;.</HI> Are then the <HI>Alderman</HI> and <HI>Burge&s;&s;es</HI> of <HI>Bury</HI> ac|quainted with, and ver&s;ed in, <HI>All Ancient Haere&s;ies?</HI> Or do they rely upon the <HI>a&s;&s;i&s;tance</HI> of their <HI>a&s;&s;i&s;tant Ju&s;tice?</HI> Or do both They and He take this upon tru&s;t from &s;ome not very tru&s;ty <HI>Par&s;on.</HI> Have they read, examined, con&s;i|dered the Vexation, the Spoil, the Havock, of both E|&s;tates and Lives, and almo&s;t De&s;olation, made in both
<PB N="9" REF="5">
Church and State, by the <HI>Arian Haere&s;ie</HI> alone, &s;o tragi|cally &s;et forth by <HI>Ruffinus, Socrates Schola&s;ticus, Theodo|rit</HI> and <HI>Sozomen</HI> in their <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Hi&s;tories?</HI> Or if they have, can they, without blu&s;hing, &s;ay, The <HI>Arri|an Haere&s;ie,</HI> and <HI>all</HI> other <HI>Ancient Haere&s;ies,</HI> were never &s;o formidable in their Ri&s;e and Progre&s;s, as are the Qua|kers? Who are the Quakers <HI>formidable</HI> to, unle&s;s to the <HI>Prie&s;ts?</HI> And wherein to them? Unle&s;s the Quakers <HI>Zeal</HI> (which they &s;o complain of) makes them fear, that they mu&s;t both <HI>Preach better</HI> and <HI>Live better,</HI> or el&s;e they will be in danger to lo&s;e the <HI>be&s;t</HI> of their Hearers, and perhaps with them, what they <HI>value more</HI> than them, <HI>&s;ome of their Maintenance?</HI> But they &s;ay,</P>
<P>Pet. <HI>We have too ju&s;t a Cau&s;e of dreading the Subver&s;ion of our Government by them, if not carefully prevented and &s;uppre&s;&s;ed.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ob&s;. Our Government!</HI> What do they mean, The Go|vernment of the Burrough of <HI>Bury St. Edmonds</HI> by the <HI>Al|dermen,</HI> a&s;&s;i&s;tant <HI>Ju&s;tice,</HI> chief <HI>Burge&s;s</HI> and <HI>Burge&s;&s;es</HI> of the <HI>Common Council</HI> there? We never under&s;tood that any Quaker hath attempted to meddle with <HI>their</HI> Go|vernment, or intrude into it; but rather, that &s;ome have <HI>declin'd</HI> it, when invited thereunto. If they mean the <HI>Government of England,</HI> we hope they will not &s;o <HI>appropriate</HI> it to them&s;elves, as to exclude their <HI>Fellow-Subjects</HI> from a Share in the <HI>Care, Support</HI> and <HI>Pre&s;erva|tion</HI> thereof; which we (and all other Prote&s;tant Di&s;|&s;enters) have as much rea&s;on as they (with re&s;pect to our E&s;tates, Liberties and Lives) to wi&s;h and &s;eek the Welfare and Safety of. And we humbly appeal to the <HI>Governours</HI> them&s;elves, whether we have given any ju&s;t Cau&s;e, by our Carriage, Deportment and Behaviour, to and under the Government, for any to <HI>Dread</HI> the Sub|ver&s;ion of the Government by us.</P>
<PB N="10" REF="6">
<P>Pet. <HI>Being in their Clande&s;tine Con&s;titutions oppo&s;ite to the Condition of our e&s;tabli&s;hed Polity.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ob&s;.</HI> What they mean, by <HI>Clande&s;tine Con&s;titutions,</HI> we know not; nor what, by the <HI>Condition of their e&s;tabli&s;hed Polity:</HI> But this we know, that as we have nothing which we call <HI>Con&s;titutions;</HI> &s;o neither any thing that is <HI>Clande&s;tine,</HI> or done in a <HI>Clande&s;tine</HI> way among us.</P>
<P>Pet. <HI>And in their Principles of Faith Anti-chri&s;tian.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ob&s;.</HI> So did the Church of <HI>Rome</HI> object to the <HI>Prote&s;tants</HI> in general upon the <HI>Reformation,</HI> as Bp. <HI>Jewel,</HI> in his <HI>Apo|logy</HI> for the Church of England, ob&s;erves, <HI>Clamant hodie pa&s;&s;im</HI> (&s;ays he, p. 7.) <HI>Nos omnes e&s;&s;e Haereticos, di&s;ce&s;&s;i&s;|&s;e</HI> &agrave; <HI>fide,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>They cry out now a-days, That we are all Hae|reticks, That we are departed from the Faith,</HI> &amp;c. But if that was a <HI>fal&s;e Charge</HI> again&s;t them; we are &s;ure, this is <HI>not a true Charge</HI> again&s;t us. For we &s;incerely and heartily own all that is written in the Holy Scriptures concerning <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> with re&s;pect to his <HI>Conception, Birth, Life, Miracles, Doctrines, Sufferings, Death, Burial, Re|&s;urrection, A&s;cention, Mediation</HI> and future <HI>Coming to Judgment.</HI> Which we take to be the Sum of true Chri|&s;tian Faith; and which who&s;oever rightly believes, ought not (we think) to be accounted <HI>Anti-chri&s;tian</HI> in Principles of Faith.</P>
<P>Pet. <HI>Of Government Anti-monarchical.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ob&s;.</HI> One would think this <HI>Arrow</HI> al&s;o had been taken out of the <HI>Popi&s;h</HI> Quiver again&s;t <HI>Prote&s;tants,</HI> &s;o exactly does it re&s;emble what the &s;ame <HI>Jewell,</HI> in the &s;ame place, &s;ays, the Papi&s;t charged them withal. Where, having reci|ted a large Beadroll of particular Slanders ca&s;t upon them, <HI>Clamant</HI> (&s;ays he) <HI>nos id agere et querere, ut Mo|narchiae et Regnorum Status evertantur,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>They cry, that we do the&s;e things, with purpo&s;e thereby to overturn Monar|chies and the States of Kingdoms.</HI> We doubt not but this was <HI>unduly</HI> charged upon them. But nothing could
<PB N="11" REF="6">
be more <HI>fal&s;ly</HI> &s;ugge&s;ted again&s;t us, who&s;e <HI>avowed Principle</HI> and <HI>known Practice,</HI> it has always been to yield a peacea|ble and quiet <HI>Subjection</HI> to the Powers which God hath &s;et over us.</P>
<P>Pet. <HI>In point of Doctrine Anti-Scriptural.</HI></P>
<P>Ob&s;. <HI>We deny that;</HI> and are ready to undertake the Proof of every Doctrine we hold, by and from the Scri|ptures.</P>
<P>Pet. <HI>And in Practices Illegal.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ob&s;.</HI> This al&s;o, if it relate to <HI>Civil</HI> matters, we deny, as <HI>utterly fal&s;e;</HI> and may, we hope with mode&s;ty; &s;ay, That no People are more <HI>conformable to the Laws,</HI> in things <HI>Civil,</HI> than we. And if it relate to <HI>Religious</HI> Per|formances, as it &s;eems to do, by the words next follow|ing, <HI>viz. [Having their Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly and Yearly Meetings.]</HI> We &s;hall need to &s;ay no more to it but this, That if we, and other Di&s;&s;enters, could have <HI>actually</HI> comply'd with what&s;oever the Laws required <HI>in Matters of Religion,</HI> there would not have been <HI>room</HI> for <HI>Indulgence,</HI> or <HI>need</HI> of an Act of <HI>Toleration.</HI></P>
<P>Pet. <HI>Having their Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly and Year|ly Meetings, which we cannot but rea&s;onably believe tend, not only to the Subver&s;ion of our Laws, but of our Religion al&s;o, to us of greater concerns than our Lives.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ob&s;.</HI> To <HI>Believe</HI> is one thing; to believe <HI>rea&s;onably</HI> (or to have <HI>Rea&s;on</HI> to believe, is another thing: Which if the&s;e Petitioners pretend to have, they &s;hould (if they expected to be believed) have a&s;&s;igned the Rea&s;ons of their &s;o <HI>believing.</HI> Well known it is to the Nation in ge|neral, and to the Government in particular, that we have had Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly and Yearly Meetngs (and tho&s;e <HI>the &s;ame</HI> that now we have, and for the &s;ame Services) many Years before the Government was plea&s;|ed to grant the pre&s;ent Indulgence; yea, and that in the times of the greate&s;t Troubles, and hote&s;t Per&s;ecutions:
<PB N="12" REF="7">
Which was an Evidence, <HI>beyond bare &s;aying &s;o,</HI> That our Religion was of greater Concern to us than our Lives. But what one &s;ingle Act or thing have any, or all of tho&s;e Meetings of ours produced, in all this time, that has tended to the <HI>Subver&s;ion</HI> of the Laws, or E&s;tabli&s;hed Re|ligion? Do not both the one, and the other, <HI>&s;tand</HI> now, at this very day, as <HI>Safe</HI> and <HI>Firm</HI> as ever they did, at lea&s;t for us? Can it rea&s;onably be &s;uppo&s;ed, that if tho&s;e Meetings of ours had &s;o <HI>dangerous</HI> a Tendency, as to <HI>Sub|vert</HI> the Laws and Religion of the Nation, the <HI>Piercing</HI> Eye of the <HI>Government</HI> &s;hould not &s;ee it as well, and as &s;oon, as the <HI>Aldermen</HI> and <HI>Burge&s;&s;es</HI> of <HI>Bury?</HI> How come they, now all of a &s;udden, to be &s;o <HI>Eagle-Ey</HI>'d, to pretend to &s;ee that, which <HI>their Betters</HI> (and who have much <HI>better</HI> Advantages for &s;eeing) could never yet &s;ee! For can it be imagined, that if our <HI>Governours</HI> had &s;een, or &s;u&s;pected, our Meetings to have &s;o <HI>Evil</HI> and <HI>Dangerous</HI> a Tendency, as is here Sugge&s;ted, they would &s;o Propiti|ou&s;ly have <HI>Indulged tho&s;e Meetings,</HI> and granted us a <HI>To|leration</HI> thus to hold them: We wi&s;h the&s;e Petitioners would think well of this; and con&s;ider whether it was <HI>decent</HI> for the <HI>Aldermen</HI> and <HI>Burge&s;&s;es</HI> of <HI>Bury</HI> thus to <HI>Im|peach</HI> the <HI>Wi&s;dom</HI> and <HI>Conduct</HI> of the <HI>Government.</HI></P>
<P>Hitherto they have &s;poken in the <HI>Accu&s;ative</HI> Ca&s;e: They now turn to the <HI>Vocative,</HI> Invoking the Parliament again&s;t us. As therefore we have made brief Ob&s;erva|tions on the Charges: Let us now, as briefly, take notice of the <HI>Prayer</HI> in each Petition; which we cho&s;e to con|&s;ider together, becau&s;e one &s;eems to explain the oth<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">.</P>
<P>That out of <HI>Norfolk</HI> mu&s;t be acknowledged to &s;peak the more mode&s;tly of the two. For it Prays the Hou&s;e of Commons, <HI>To take the&s;e things</HI> (the Charges in the Bo|dy of the Petition mentioned) <HI>into Con&s;ideration, that the &s;aid Principles and Practices may be &s;trictly Examined, and Cen&s;ured, or Suppre&s;t, as they &s;hall appear to de&s;erve, and as
<PB N="13" REF="7">
in their great Wi&s;dom &s;hall &s;eem expedient.</HI> Nor is it whol|ly de&s;ti&s;tute of &s;ome <HI>Shew</HI> of Tenderne&s;s towards us: For it prays This may be done, <HI>With what&s;oever Tender|ne&s;s to the Per&s;ons and E&s;tates of the&s;e People.</HI> But as it can hardly be conceived, how <HI>Principles</HI> and <HI>Practices</HI> flowing therefrom (e&s;pecially where <HI>Divine In&s;piration,</HI> as the&s;e Petioners &s;ay, is <HI>vouched for Warrant thereof</HI>) can be <HI>Suppre&s;t,</HI> without exerci&s;ing great <HI>Cruelty</HI> (the <HI>Op|po&s;ite</HI> to <HI>Tenderne&s;s</HI>) on the <HI>Per&s;ons</HI> or <HI>E&s;tates</HI> of the People, who&s;e Principles and Practices they are: So, if the <HI>Prayer</HI> of the other <HI>Petition</HI> from <HI>Bury</HI> (which was Formed af|ter this, and comes from their near Neighbours) may pa&s;s for a <HI>Comment</HI> upon the <HI>Norfolk-Text,</HI> it will not be very difficult to find, what, in the &s;ofter <HI>Norfolk</HI> Di|alect, is meant by <HI>Suppre&s;&s;ing our Principles and Practices.</HI> For the <HI>Alderman</HI> and <HI>Burge&s;&s;es</HI> of <HI>Bury</HI> &s;ay, <HI>We there|fore, oblig'd in Duty to God and our Country, do humbly pray your timely Con&s;ideration of our Jealou&s;ies, and remove our Fears; if not by totally Suppre&s;&s;ing, yet at lea&s;t by pre|venting their after Growth and Increa&s;e among&s;t us.</HI> Here, after an acknowledgment, that all tho&s;e High Charges, exhibited again&s;t us in the <HI>Petition,</HI> are grounded but upon their own (groundle&s;s) <HI>Jealou&s;ies,</HI> they (how man|nerly, let others judge) offer the Parliament <HI>Hob&s;on's Choice,</HI> either <HI>totally to Suppre&s;s us,</HI> or at lea&s;t to <HI>prevent our after Growth and Increa&s;e;</HI> which perhaps cannot be done, without <HI>totally</HI> &s;uppre&s;&s;ing us; or if it could, mu&s;t needs tend to a <HI>total Suppre&s;&s;ing</HI> of us. Now if they who have declared <HI>their Religion to be of greater Concern to them than their Lives,</HI> could find in their Hearts to have &s;o much Charity for their Neighbours, as to admit <HI>our Religion to be of greater Concern to us than our Lives</HI> (which we think we have given a <HI>full proof</HI> of, to &s;ay no more, as ever they have done) they might thence rea&s;onnably conclude, that we will part with
<PB N="14" REF="8">
our <HI>Lives,</HI> rather than with our <HI>Religion;</HI> and that there is no way <HI>totally to Suppre&s;s us,</HI> but by <HI>Cut|ting our Throats,</HI> or <HI>Knocking out our Brains:</HI> Which mu&s;t therefore be &s;uppo&s;ed to be their Meaning. And would they have the <HI>Honourable</HI> the <HI>Commons</HI> of <HI>Eng|land</HI> in <HI>Parliament</HI> A&s;&s;embled, undertake this Inhumane Piece of <HI>Butchery,</HI> to <HI>defile</HI> their hands in the <HI>innocent Blood</HI> of &s;o many <HI>Thou&s;ands</HI> of harmle&s;s, peaceable and indu&s;trious People, who are their <HI>Fellow-Citizens,</HI> and <HI>Fellow-Commoners,</HI> and by the <HI>Suffrages</HI> of &s;ome of whom, many of them&s;elves were <HI>Elected</HI> into that Honourable Society; and to Act, or Enact, &s;o Barbarous a Trage|dy, only to <HI>remove</HI> the groundle&s;s <HI>Fears</HI> of a few <HI>Jealous</HI>-Headed <HI>Aldermen</HI> and <HI>Burge&s;&s;es</HI> of <HI>Bury;</HI> who &s;eem to have forgotten what is written of &s;ome (whom they in this too nearly re&s;emble) who were &s;aid to have been <HI>in great Fear, where no</HI> (cau&s;e of) <HI>Fear was?</HI> P&s;al. 53.5.</P>
<P>They clo&s;e their Petitions; That out of <HI>Norfolk,</HI> thus.</P>
<P>Petit. <HI>That the true Chri&s;tian Religion may be pre&s;er|ved from Popi&s;h Super&s;tition, and unpolluted with Enthu|&s;ia&s;tical Innovation.</HI></P>
<P>That from <HI>Bury,</HI> thus: <HI>That our Po&s;terity may un|troubled live, by this early Care of our Laws and Liberties, and we enjoy the wi&s;ht-for Happine&s;s of a Peaceful life.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ob&s;.</HI> To the Fir&s;t we &s;ay, It is &s;trange they &s;hould fear the <HI>Chri&s;tian Religion</HI> &s;hould be <HI>polluted</HI> with <HI>Po|pi&s;h Super&s;titions</HI> by the Quakers, who, of all that go under the Prote&s;tant Name, are generally acknowledged to be <HI>furthe&s;t removed</HI> from, and mo&s;t aver&s;e to <HI>Popi&s;h Super&s;titions;</HI> and who&s;e great Objection to tho&s;e of o|ther Per&s;ua&s;ions has always been, their not having <HI>throughly enough</HI> relinqui&s;h'd Popi&s;h Super&s;titions. And for <HI>Enthu&s;ia&s;tical Innovations;</HI> as we do not own the word in that &s;en&s;e, in which they <HI>abu&s;ively</HI> apply it
<PB N="15" REF="8">
to us (tho' <HI>Divine In&s;piration,</HI> or God's &s;peaking by his Spirit in the Heart of man, we do own) &s;o we always offer our <HI>Doctrines</HI> and <HI>Principles</HI> to be <HI>Examined</HI> by the Holy Scriptures; which were written by <HI>Divine In&s;pira|tion,</HI> and are be&s;t under&s;tood by the In&s;piration of the <HI>&s;ame Spirit</HI> by which they were written.</P>
<P>To the Second we &s;ay, We de&s;ire, as well as they, that their Po&s;terity may live untroubled: But we think they might have done well to have con&s;idered, that <HI>we have Po&s;terity,</HI> as well as they; and the like Inducements from natural Affection, to wi&s;h that our Po&s;terity may live untroubled as they for theirs. Sure we are, and it is but too obvious, that we have more cau&s;e to apprehend Trouble and Danger too, to our Po&s;terity from them and theirs, than they or theirs from us or ours; For tho' we have done nothing, &s;ince we were a People, that might either give Trouble to them, or threaten it to their Po&s;terity; they &s;tick not here openly to propo&s;e, and &s;eek the <HI>Ruin</HI> and <HI>Extirpation</HI> of both <HI>us</HI> and <HI>our Po&s;teri|ty.</HI> They de&s;ire they may enjoy the wi&s;ht-for Happine&s;s of a Peaceful Life. We envy it them not: But God forbid they &s;hould <HI>Swim</HI> into it through a <HI>Sea</HI> of <HI>Innocent Blood.</HI> Can they find no way to the wi&s;ht-for Happine&s;s of a Peaceful Life, but by the <HI>De&s;truction</HI> of their <HI>Fellow-Subjects</HI> and <HI>Peaceable</HI> Neighbours? Had not <HI>Self-love</HI> (to &s;ay no wor&s;e) been more prevalent with them (or with their <HI>Envious</HI> Guides, who probably have anima|ted them to the&s;e Malicious Coun&s;els) than <HI>Chri&s;tian Cha|rity</HI> (which &s;eeks the Good and Happine&s;s of all, and teaches to love our Neighbours as our &s;elves) they would have been Content, that <HI>we al&s;o &s;hould enjoy the wi&s;ht-for Happine&s;s of a Peaceful Life.</HI> But &s;ince they are &s;o <HI>uncha|ritable</HI> to <HI>grudg</HI> us that, and &s;o <HI>unchri&s;tian</HI> to &s;eek to <HI>be|reave us of it;</HI> We humbly addre&s;s our &s;elves, in the fir&s;t place, to Almighty God <HI>(the &s;ure Refuge of the Righ|teous)</HI>
<PB N="16" REF="9">
who knows the <HI>Innocency</HI> even of our <HI>Thoughts:</HI> And in the next place, to our <HI>Governours,</HI> the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> as well as <HI>Judges</HI> of our <HI>Actions;</HI> unto whom, with hum|ble Confidence, we appeal in the later, as unto God in the former; Hoping, that the &s;ame <HI>Divine Goodne&s;s,</HI> which moved the Government to grant this <HI>favourable Indulgence</HI> and <HI>Toleration,</HI> will incline and prevail upon you to <HI>con|tinue it,</HI> both to us, and all other <HI>Prote&s;tant Di&s;&s;enters,</HI> to who&s;e <HI>intended Ruin</HI> al&s;o, we look upon this <HI>A&s;&s;ault</HI> up|on us to be but the <HI>Praeludium,</HI> that under the <HI>Protection</HI> of this <HI>Propitious Government,</HI> we may <HI>lead a quiet and peaceable Life in all Godline&s;s and Hone&s;ty, which is good and acceptable in the &s;ight of God our Saviour,</HI> 1 Tim. 2.2, 3. And may thence have the Obligation of <HI>Gratitude</HI> added to that of <HI>Duty,</HI> not only to <HI>pray</HI> for, but, in our &s;everal Capacities, to <HI>advance</HI> and <HI>promote</HI> the Intere&s;t, Safety and Pro&s;perity of this Government and Nation.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
