<!DOCTYPE ETS PUBLIC "-//UMDLPS//DTD EEBOPROOF 2.0//EN">
<ETS>
<TEMPHEAD>
<REVDESCR>
<CHANGE>
<DATE>2014-03-31</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Kate Allen</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
</RESPSTMT>
<ITEM>Checklist: x *Add TEMPHEAD, change DATE, validate x*Review over structure: FRONT,BODY, BACK, DIV or rarely GROUP x*Add DIV TYPEs, make sure that @types makes sense as a navigational aide, and work in the context of the whole text, validate x*Survey book for troublesome formats of all kinds, including lists, illustrations, tables, music, math, end-notes, quasi-tabular arrangments, and marginalia. x*Proof title page(s) x*Examine marginalia. Is it all best tagged as NOTE? x*Observe divtop and divbottom material marking beginnings and ends of divisions, check that they are correctly tagged as HEAD, HEADNOTE, CLOSER, OPENER, ARGUMENT, EPIGRAPH, SIGNED, DATELINE, BYLINE, TRAILER, etc. x*Check for GAPs x*Check PB placement and completeness, ensure sequence of N="" x*Check ^, oe, abq, italic I / J, _Initals, space between &amp;c., -- x*Check for illustrations and correct usage of FIGURE. Add FIGDESCs if necessary. x*Check q, startq, endq, Q x*Correct excusable and inexcusable errors x*If appropriate, check for yoghs. x*If appropriate, check for Latin problems, e.g. oe and ae digraphs x*If appropriate, check for abbreviation and brevigraph problems. x*If appropriate, check for units of measure, symbols (alchemical, astronomical, etc.) and the like. x*Correct illegibles from proofsheet x*Check illegible page, para, line, span, word, dollar signs
*Final validate Corrected [ ] illegible groups out of [ ]. Converted [ ] illegible groups to GAP DESC="illegible". DONE</ITEM>
</CHANGE>
</REVDESCR>
</TEMPHEAD>
<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="B16652">
<STC T="W">A446</STC>
<BIBNO T="oclc">[ocm]08435457</BIBNO>
<VID>204258</VID>
</IDG>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="2" MS="y">
<P>THE ACT AGAINST Conventicles EXECUTED: WITH A VINDICATION OF THE <HI>Bedford-&s;hire</HI> JUSTICES Proceedings, <HI>From the A&s;per&s;ions of a</HI> Fal&s;e, Impertinent, and Libellous <HI>PAMPHLET,</HI> Entituled, A true and impartial <HI>NARRATIVE</HI> of &s;ome Illegal and Arbritrary <HI>Proceedings</HI> by certain <HI>Ju&s;tices of the Peace,</HI> and others, again&s;t &s;everal Innocent and Peaceable <HI>Non-conformi&s;ts,</HI> in and near the Town of <HI>Bedford,</HI> upon pretence of putting in Execution the late ACT again&s;t <HI>Conventicles.</HI></P>
<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed by <HI>W. G.</HI> M. DC. LXX.</P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="author's preface">
<PB REF="3">
<PB N="1" REF="3">
<HEAD>The ACT again&s;t CONVENTICLES EXECUTED: <HI>With</HI> A <HI>VINDICATION</HI> of the <HI>Bedford&s;hire</HI> JUSTICES Proceedings, from the A&s;per|&s;ions of a fal&s;e, impertinent, and libel|lous PAMPHLET, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<P><HI>_AFter I was informed, That the Ju&s;tices (generally) did ac|count it too great a le&s;&s;ening both of them&s;elves and their A|ctions (which they will ju&s;tifie to the World) to take any no|tice of &s;o wretched a Scrowl, void both of &s;en&s;e and integrity; upon examin|ing the Paper, I did believe it very unfit, that &s;uch a bundle of &s;candalous Fal&s;hoods, &s;hould
<PB N="2" REF="4"> have free acce&s;s to all &s;orts of Readers without any contradiction: Which is all the account why I took upon me the trouble to give it an An&s;wer&punc; And yet, notwith&s;tanding this condi&s;cention, I have &s;o good an opinion of my &s;elf, as to think that this &s;ordid Scribler can no ways de&s;erve to be acquainted with my name, and therefore I &s;hall chu&s;e (by concealing that) to pelt him in the dark, according to his own Law at Arms.</HI></P>
<P><HI>But, before I make the fir&s;t On&s;laught upon the Ribaldry of this Paper, I mu&s;t prevail &s;ome|thing upon the patience of the Reader, by engaging to be as brief as it is po&s;&s;ible upon &s;uch a &s;ubject: Very well knowing, That both the Names and Actions of all &s;uch latent Traducers, are then only placed in their proper Sphere, when they are rank'd in a Gaolers Calendar before the A&s;&s;izes. And this in the fir&s;t place will be evident enough, upon an impartial Examination of the Title Page of this Libel.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Where you &s;hall find, the</HI> due Execution of an Act of Parliament, <HI>&s;tyled</HI> Illegal and Ar|bitrary Proceedings, <HI>by the &s;ame Antiphra&s;is (which in our Idiom is cour&s;ely tran&s;lated a plain
<PB N="3" REF="4"> Lye) as</HI> di&s;obedient and turbulent Offenders, <HI>are called</HI> innocent and peaceable Non-con|formi&s;ts. <HI>Therefore whoever will become a competent Interpreter of this new Text, mu&s;t</HI> Janus-<HI>like have two fronts, one with Eyes for|ward to read Pretences, but tho&s;e of his under|&s;tanding mu&s;t be placed behind, to inable him to di&s;cover the Antartick Truth. And the &s;ame Rules al&s;o, notwith&s;tanding their pretences to &s;incerity and innocence, are applicable both to their Actions and Dealings as well as their Wri|tings: To &s;ay nothing of their fal&s;e Weights and Mea&s;ures, for which they have been often convicted; of the Arraignment of &s;everal of them at the Bar, for wickedly &s;educing a Servant to &s;teal his Ma&s;ters Goods, their clande&s;tine Traffick and Compacts for the &s;ame Commodities; of the impudence of a Teacher, who undertook to Di&s;pence</HI> his Gifts <HI>to the Peo|ple in a &s;tolen Cloak; their Complaints of one another in the Commi&s;&s;aries Court of bruti&s;h Incontinence: And to complete their Morals among&s;t us, they ju&s;tifie their Alliegeance by Acts of Rebellion, and pay Reverence to Magi&s;trates, by traducing Superiours,
<PB N="4" REF="5"> and make Narratives of the</HI> Truth, <HI>by for|ging</HI> Fal&s;hoods; <HI>as if they had been taught in</HI> Scoggens <HI>School to untile Hou&s;es, to find Hares, or more properly, in their own phra&s;e, to ride to</HI> Jeru&s;alem <HI>with their faces mounted to the Bea&s;ts po&s;teriors.</HI></P>
<P><HI>All which will be apparent enough, by unrip|ping the</HI> Letter, <HI>the Vizard-Mask to the</HI> Nar|rative; <HI>in which &s;ince he hath made bold to put the Ju&s;tices Names to the Character of the</HI> Non-conformi&s;ts, <HI>the be&s;t way of an&s;wering, will be by changing its part, and &s;tating it a Pro|&s;elyte, and then republi&s;h it to the World, con|verted to the Truth after this manner.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Some proceedings at</HI> Bedford, <HI>pur&s;uant of the late Act of Parliament</HI> (a true Narrative <HI>whereof is herewith publi&s;hed</HI>) afford won|der and di&s;like <HI>only to tho&s;e who&s;e Crimes have de&s;erved them; when you have peru&s;ed this Paper, you will conclude with me and others, that this</HI> Text needs no Comment; <HI>it is plain, that in de&s;pight of</HI> Magna Charta, <HI>and in defi|ance to all</HI> Laws and Rules of Righteou&s;ne&s;s, Neighbourhood and Humanity, <HI>the</HI> Non-con|formi&s;ts, <HI>re&s;olve once more,</HI> to ruin the Nation,
<PB N="5" REF="5"> <HI>although the</HI> In&s;truments (<HI>now as well as here|tofore) are no ways able</HI> to recompence the King and Kingdomes dammage <HI>thereby,</HI> the &s;candalized <HI>in the Libel are</HI> unconcerned and peaceable; <HI>their immediate</HI> Revilers <HI>are the</HI> &s;cum of the People; <HI>and ought chiefly to be the</HI> appendants (<HI>as in the former &s;en&s;e of this An&s;wer</HI>) of the Commi&s;&s;aries Court: <HI>The mo&s;t forward</HI> In&s;trument <HI>of that &s;ort, is one that openly avowed and declared his e&s;teem for</HI> Athei&s;m <HI>above any Religion. If &s;ome</HI> Check <HI>be not given to the&s;e</HI> extravagancies, <HI>many</HI> Fa|milies <HI>will be &s;uddenly</HI> ruined, <HI>the</HI> publick Trade <HI>and</HI> Welfare endangered, <HI>which the</HI> Intere&s;t <HI>of &s;ome, the</HI> Rage, Revenge <HI>and</HI> En|mity <HI>of</HI> others <HI>will not admit regard to. Par|don this trouble, when I have told you the par|ticulars of this An&s;wer are all true, and will be proved in every part. Thus Excrements become Sanatives, upon &s;ome accounts.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Indeed he is very corre&s;pondent to him&s;elf, for this Letter is of the &s;ame Tenour with the Libel, and both like the Oracles of his grand Patron the Devil, then true&s;t when they are con&s;trued back|wards.</HI></P>
<PB N="6" REF="6">
<P><HI>This is the mea&s;ure al&s;o by which he and his Party, &s;tate the Actions of Magi&s;trates; accor|ding to the compo&s;ition of &s;ome &s;ort of Pictures, on which if you take a direct and right view, they pre&s;ent the pourtraiture of a beautiful Per|&s;on, but if &s;ide ways with them, their &s;quinting Opticks will &s;hew you a Serpent: The Demon|&s;tration is before you: Now we come to con&s;ider the old Trade newly vampt, which he calls a</HI> Narrative, <HI>the fir&s;t Prologue to above Twenty years Tragedy.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<P><HI>_ON Lords day, May the fifteenth, &amp;c.] In Nomine Domini</HI> this Wretch begins to in&s;inuate, that an impudent and ignorant Cobler, whom he calls Preacher, might be occa&s;ioned from the di&s;cour&s;e of a Magi&s;trate, to call the Church of <HI>England Antichri|&s;tian, &amp;c.</HI> although he afterwards in&s;olently repeated the &s;ame words at a publick <HI>Se&s;&s;ion,</HI> for which he is bound over, at which time all &s;en&s;ible per&s;ons (with|out a <HI>Comment</HI>) will judge that he would have &s;et a &s;tricter watch upon his tongue, had not his over|boiling ignorance and malice, and the hopes both of Maintenance, and prevalency from the numbers of his Party, infatuated this <HI>thin-&s;oul'd Wight</HI> at once to di&s;cover the common Vogue of them all.</P>
<PB N="7" REF="6">
<P><HI>Page</HI> 4. The only truth in this page is, that <HI>Batti|&s;on</HI> hath manife&s;ted him&s;elf, in the Execution of this Act, to be as hone&s;t and dutiful a Subject to the King, in his degree, as any in the Nation; and if when he hired a Chamber to lay up Grain, the Li|beller will not allow the <HI>Saints Mault</HI> to be included under that title; it mu&s;t be by &s;ome <HI>quirk of the &s;pi|rit;</HI> for he will find no di&s;tinction, either in the <HI>Lo|gick</HI> or <HI>Philo&s;ophy</HI> of ordinary Taunters. By &s;uch an|other Sophi&s;m in the Law, he averrs a fair &s;ale and delivery of the Mault and the Mault-hou&s;e, although the fir&s;t Owner at this day continues the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of both. But one thing more in this ca&s;e is appa|rent enough (without Annotations) that notwith|&s;tanding the <HI>illegal</HI> and <HI>barbarous</HI> behaviour of the vulgar people (as it is &s;tated by the <HI>Scribler</HI> him&s;elf) yet we hear of no <HI>arbitrary</HI> Outrages committed, be|yond the bounds of the Act, by the <HI>inhumane</HI> Ju&s;tices.</P>
<P>The next complaint is, that (at a dead lift) the Officers did charge &s;ome <HI>Gentlemen</HI> of the Town to aid and a&s;&s;i&s;t them: But &s;etting a&s;ide the <HI>Scribes</HI> be|loved <HI>Antiphra&s;is,</HI> they were both ordinary, and fa|ctious Trade&s;men: And thus they can dub one ano|ther <HI>Gentlemen</HI> without Arms, <HI>Saints</HI> without <HI>Righ|teou&s;ne&s;s, Preachers</HI> without <HI>Orders, Lawyers</HI> without <HI>Learning;</HI> for by the magnifying Gla&s;s of the <HI>Spirit</HI> they did ever make their Mole-hills Mountains, and their Gee&s;e Swans.</P>
<P>The next de&s;ign this <HI>Pamphleter</HI> hath, is to intimate to the World, how much the &s;ufferings of their <HI>Di&s;ci|ples</HI> are again&s;t the grain of the people; as if they
<PB N="8" REF="7"> had &s;hut up <HI>Shops</HI> as in a <HI>Pest,</HI> and let the <HI>Shire-Town</HI> dwindle to a Countrey-Village: Here &s;omething, like truth, hath unawares dropt from his pen, for it fall|ing out upon a <HI>Holy-day,</HI> the <HI>Conforming</HI> Party had &s;hut up their Shops, and tho&s;e only were opened, who&s;e <HI>factious Owners</HI> are too well known to be the <HI>Plague</HI> both of Church and State.</P>
<P>The mo&s;t remarkable pa&s;&s;ages in the &s;ixth page are the&s;e, fir&s;t, his <HI>Phari&s;aical</HI> dubbing a pitiful <HI>Ped|ler</HI> into a Dealer in Linnen-Drapery, for indeed they &s;hould not be called like other Men.</P>
<P>And &s;econdly, The <HI>Libellers</HI> own <HI>mon&s;trous</HI> Con|ver&s;ion into a Di&s;treiner; no other Di&s;tre&s;s being made in this ca&s;e, be&s;ides what is in the <HI>Libel;</HI> for the Father-in-law of the <HI>Grocer</HI> did immediately lay down his Sons Fine, expre&s;&s;ing much indignation a|gain&s;t the actions of him, and &s;orrow for his Daugh|ter.</P>
<P>The la&s;t remark in this page, is the <HI>Libellers</HI> ge|nuine imitation of tho&s;e Arti&s;ts in Filching; who had rather &s;teal, than have any thing given them, to keep their Fingers in ure; &s;o he, to no other pur|po&s;e, but to pre&s;erve his faculty bright, hath fathered upon Mr. <HI>F.</HI> a Warrant again&s;t a Tanner, which was under the Hands and Seals of all the Ju&s;tices.</P>
<P><HI>Page</HI> 7. Now for the great re-incounter of a &s;illy Widow, &s;educed from her youth until this day (who&s;e Father indeed was a very hone&s;t Gentleman, and dete&s;ted the&s;e Juglers;) but &s;he u&s;ed her natural Parent then, as &s;he hath &s;ince &s;erved her heavenly; for being ripe for Conjunction, &s;he &s;tole out of his
<PB N="9" REF="7"> hou&s;e to Marry her &s;elf to an ordinary Trade&s;man, as &s;he now leaves the Church to be e&s;pou&s;ed to Con|venticles; who&s;e Fine was inhan&s;ed by her own in|di&s;cretion to herd her &s;elf among&s;t a pack of beg|garly Canary-birds: She bore their burthen at two Meetings, until her Fine amounted to Twenty pounds, for which this &s;piritual Romancer, by his <HI>Scotch</HI> Ac|compt, where Thirteen pence half peny is a Mark, hath &s;et down Forty upon Di&s;tre&s;s; although the Ju&s;tices have often offered, that either &s;he or her Friends might redeem the Goods at the Fine. But take his own &s;tating, and the Sum of his Evidence will amount to a clear ju&s;tification of all tho&s;e who acted in this matter; for the good Woman being fir&s;t &s;educed by the Brotherhood to di&s;obey the Kings Laws, and then to cheat him of his Penalty (which they call pa&s;&s;ive obedience) by a prudential &s;ecuring the be&s;t of her Goods; the Officers were reduced to take what &s;he her &s;elf thought was not worth removing.</P>
<P>And now we come to another de&s;olation, where the Libeller again cannot &s;ee Wood for Trees, not Men for People; and all in the behalf of two beg|garly Teachers (to &s;ay no wor&s;e) both which had not &s;ub&s;tance enough to pay one Fine (as the Widow can witne&s;s) and by his own calculation al&s;o of the number of Hats; which doth not amount to &s;o many as a travelling Furbu&s;her carrieth at his back.</P>
<P>The next remove is to his Cheats in Parchment, and indeed the&s;e de&s;erve to be ingro&s;&s;ed; for here is a Deed maintained to be void of Fraudulency, which was really made and dated three days after the Con|viction
<PB N="10" REF="8"> of the Seller, and the Buyer was frankly told by all the Ju&s;tices pre&s;ent, as well as Sir <HI>G. B.</HI> that his undertaking for other Mens Debts, over and a|bove his own &s;atisfaction, did plainly evidence a de|&s;ign to defraud the King of his Right. But the con|cerns of the Saints do &s;o much tran&s;cend tho&s;e of or|dinary Subjects (they being the fir&s;t born of the peo|ple in all &s;orts of Cheats) that their Soveraign Inte|re&s;t (although elder than theirs) mu&s;t not &s;tand in their way: Witne&s;s the&s;e new, and their old Tran&s;|actions, &s;o that by an inver&s;ion of &s;en&s;e they make good the Maxim, <HI>Nullum tempus occurret Regi:</HI> And however this Shark re&s;olves &s;till to play out his hand with fal&s;e Dice, yet there was not any one per&s;on who was pretended to be concerned in the re&s;t of the Debts, did ever offer to the Ju&s;tices to aver his In|tere&s;t. But &s;ome time afterwards the mo&s;t con&s;ide|rable among&s;t them, did upon an accidental di&s;|cour&s;e to one of the Ju&s;tices acknowledge, that al|though there might be &s;ome &s;uch engagement, yet the Deed was principally framed to &s;ecure the Ow|ner: Neither did Sir <HI>G. B.</HI> bind over <HI>Leyfield,</HI> any other ways than by being pre&s;ent whil&s;t another took his Bond, as the other Ju&s;tices were, who all owned the Act. For the re&s;t of this Paragraph, it con&s;i&s;ts of &s;peeches rai&s;ed by the <HI>Libeller,</HI> and fal&s;ely impu|to Sir <HI>G. B.</HI> but are a mo&s;t true remon&s;trance, both of the merits, and de&s;igns, of all the <HI>Party.</HI></P>
<P>But to &s;et him right a little, this I have heard Sir <HI>G. B.</HI> will own, that when a <HI>Secluded Alderman</HI> of the mo&s;t con&s;iderable Fortune in <HI>Bedford</HI> did tell
<PB N="11" REF="8"> him before another Per&s;on, that he heard that the <HI>Phanaticks</HI> had &s;aid, <HI>They did expect another Day for it,</HI> He replied, <HI>The &s;ooner the better,</HI> if <HI>it mu&s;t be &s;o:</HI> And con&s;idering how nearly related the per&s;on that &s;pake it is to the <HI>Ba&s;est Tran&s;actor</HI> in the Late Rebel|lion, that ever &s;erved any Party; it &s;eems mo&s;t fit, that the Governors of the Kingdom &s;hould determine this Controver&s;ie.</P>
<P>The next Paragraph you will find fill'd with the old <HI>Leaven</HI> and &s;tench of impudent Forgery; for here was no Di&s;tre&s;s taken when the <HI>Libel</HI> was compo&s;ed, be&s;ides what he him&s;elf hath made, upon the Truth and Reputation of &s;ome per&s;ons, who are of too much Worth and Integrity to have their Actions menti|oned by &s;o Ignominious a Scribler; forthe King'<HI>s Officers</HI> (more out of the Principles of Kindne&s;s, than Di&s;cretion) did take the words of the Offen|ders mentioned, to render their goods when the Ju&s;tices &s;hould demand them; but <HI>Ruffhead,</HI> one chiefly quoted in this part of the <HI>Libel,</HI> did, after a months Indulgence from the <HI>Officer,</HI> refu&s;e to deliver up his goods according to his engagement: this is the <HI>Di&s;ciple</HI> of St <HI>Cri&s;pin,</HI> who came of him&s;elf, and was not brought as in the <HI>Libel</HI> to the <HI>Justice,</HI> and told him, he had refu&s;ed to let <HI>Feckman</HI> come upon his ground, becau&s;e not named in the warrant; who candidly let him know (to prevent danger) he could not deny him to enter as an <HI>a&s;&s;i&s;tant</HI> to the <HI>Con&s;table.</HI></P>
<P>Whil&s;t we have thus ran&s;ackt the <HI>Libellers Cittadel,</HI> he hath gained an opportunity to make his e&s;cape out at a <HI>Postern;</HI> the old trick of &s;uch <HI>Combatants,</HI> who
<PB N="12" REF="9"> according to the <HI>Scotch Phra&s;e</HI> are ba&s;hful before an Enemy: Therefore we mu&s;t hunt the Purlews to re|new the reencounter; and the fir&s;t intelligence we can get of him, is from a Country Village not far from <HI>Bedford;</HI> where (<HI>guided by his Spirit</HI>) he hath found out another <HI>Canton</HI> of the &s;ame <HI>Tribe.</HI> Here he rallies with very much noi&s;e, advancing more Colours, Drums and Trumpets, than the remnant of his <HI>Ra&s;ca|ty</HI> than pretend to manage, the Pedant Stratagem to a|mu&s;e an enemy, whil&s;t he makes his retreat; the fir&s;t &s;launting pelt the Runnagate makes, is again&s;t the &s;uf|ficiencie of the relation of a little Child, as he is plea|&s;ed to call her; indeed I do not know by what ac|count he mea&s;ures the growth of his <HI>Babes of Grace;</HI> but, by the report of the Neighbourhood, &s;he is four|teen or fifteen years old; and it &s;eems capable enough of <HI>fal&s;e Doctrine;</HI> for &s;he was an Auditor, but not of the Truth: e&s;pecially in &s;o difficult a pa&s;&s;e to try her under&s;tanding, as at the next hou&s;e among&s;t her neigh|bours, to know where &s;he was, and whom &s;he &s;aw, which was all the u&s;e was made of her: But he makes bold to clip the <HI>Kings evidence,</HI> as well as His <HI>Patri|mony</HI> for a wife of one of the <HI>Gang</HI> confe&s;&s;ed to two others, that &s;he was at the Meeting, and the &s;ame day the Con&s;table &s;aw among&s;t the <HI>Brother|hood</HI> an <HI>Itinerant Bawler,</HI> who was Speaker at that Meeting; this and more was informed before any Warrant was i&s;&s;ued, which I &s;uppo&s;e in the judg|ment of &s;ober per&s;ons will be allowed, is ground e|nough for a Summons; the Examination and Oath were both taken by &s;everal Ju&s;tices as well as Sir <HI>G. B.</HI>
<PB N="13" REF="9"> as the Warrant under all their Hands and Seals makes appear; but <HI>cui bono</HI> if a &s;ingle Ju&s;tice had taken it, as the <HI>Libeller</HI> fal&s;ely affirms, the Action was warrant|able; &s;o that all I know can be &s;aid to it is, that he gives you this great Lye <HI>gratis,</HI> out of the abundance of his &s;tore, but he tells you <HI>that none of them would confe&s;s either the Meeting or the Preacher, although they were pre&s;&s;ed by the Ju&s;tices with an engagement to acquit them in ca&s;e they would do &s;o.</HI></P>
<P>Here you have him tottering upon his two rotten &s;upporters, <HI>non&s;en&s;e</HI> and <HI>fal&s;hood,</HI> for fir&s;t, how can a confe&s;&s;ion procure a di&s;charge, and then the Ju&s;ti|ces acted more ingeniou&s;ly a contrary way, for they offered, notwith&s;tanding the accu&s;ation, if any could make it appear, or <HI>bona fide</HI> affirm, they were not at the Meeting, they &s;hould be acquitted; but the guilt of their Con&s;ciences (which never re&s;train|ed them before) di&s;inabling them to do either, be|&s;ides the confe&s;&s;ion of the fir&s;t, it was collected from &s;ome others, that they had been there, and &s;o were convicted by the notoriety both of the circum&s;tance and evidence of the Fact, as it now &s;tands recorded; and to convince the Reader there was no mi&s;take in the Ju&s;tices, after the parties found there was no re|lief in collu&s;ions, the Meeting and the Teacher were openly confe&s;&s;ed.</P>
<P>The next <HI>Saint</HI> to be vindicated is as great a <HI>Villain</HI> (with Reverence be it &s;poken) both for ba&s;e lan|guage and actions, as the <HI>Libeller</HI> him&s;elf, as he was made to under&s;tand when he a&s;&s;aulted Sir <HI>G. B.</HI> with provoking and &s;currilous &s;peeches, which according
<PB N="14" REF="10"> to the manners and &s;tile of the <HI>Saints</HI> is &s;uing for favour, and had both <HI>fal&s;ely</HI> and <HI>&s;aucily</HI> traduced him to his fellow Ju&s;tice, and his fellow Ju&s;tice to him: But it is a &s;hame to publi&s;h more of his Character in print, than what hath dropt from the <HI>Libellers</HI> own Pen, even in defence of the <HI>Saint;</HI> for you &s;ee he hath like a faithle&s;s wretch <HI>broke open the lock</HI> of an|other per&s;on, who was engaged for his Rent, and <HI>Cancelled a Deed,</HI> which he had pa&s;&s;ed under his own Hand and Seal, for his Counter &s;ecurity, without either the knowlege or con&s;ent of the party; nei|ther did he mention this Cancelling, until his Son was Convicted, who did after that al&s;o acknowledge to the Con&s;table, that he was Owner of the Goods; which appears plain enough by his Agents taking the profit of the Cattle, after his Father-in-laws preten|ded Sale.</P>
<P>The remainder of this Paragraph, is a Declara|tion in ba&s;e Language, that among&s;t this beggarly Rabble the King mu&s;t lo&s;e his Right; which in truth is his Lot from all the <HI>Conventicles</HI> hitherto Con|victed: therefore to acquit the Informers, we may upon all accounts what&s;oever ju&s;tly &s;tile the <HI>Libeller, and his crew, the &s;cum of the People.</HI></P>
<P>Thus again&s;t my inclinations, I have been forced to publi&s;h the mo&s;t <HI>illegal, inhumane</HI> and <HI>ungodly be|haviour of the Libeller and his leaven,</HI> that I might &s;trip Fal&s;hood out of the Covering of Truth, and ju&s;tifie to the World the Magi&s;trates Tran&s;actions, which they are willing to &s;ubmit to the Cen&s;ure of the Laws, and of all &s;ober People. Neither had
<PB N="15" REF="10"> this <HI>Scribler</HI> the lea&s;t ground to impute any peculiar or &s;ingle action to Sir <HI>G. B.</HI> for it appears all along that he hath acted jointly with his Fellow Ju&s;tices, who (in relation to the Countreys happine&s;s) I de|clare are &s;o well knowing, unanimous, and active in all parts of their Duty, that they need no Leader; therefore this is ea&s;ily di&s;covered to be but a &s;tale &s;tratagem of their old <HI>Mare&s;chal de Camp,</HI> or if you had rather of their <HI>grand Mu&s;ter-Ma&s;ter Satan; Di|vide &amp; impera:</HI> Take off the old Cavaliers fir&s;t (who can give warning of their Wiles) and then the young ones will become a lu&s;cious prey. But to pre|vent this, it is not to be que&s;tioned, but that our Governours will manife&s;t a mo&s;t &s;ignal kindne&s;s and protection to the former, which is the true means to confirm and give encouragement to the latter.</P>
<P>And now when I hop'd that my task was over, up &s;tarts a long-ear'd <HI>Foal</HI> of the <HI>braying Dam,</HI> or ra|ther a Calf &s;linkt by the la&s;t <HI>Mate</HI> to the <HI>Geneva Bull,</HI> which &s;ome few years &s;ince Mooted Wonders from &s;everal parts of this Nation, but however it was dropt into the World, I can a&s;&s;ure you it &s;tinks like a <HI>Sooterken</HI> after a <HI>Dutch Frows</HI> Delivery, and there|fore pre&s;ently mu&s;t be de&s;troyed to pre&s;erve the Neighbourhood. Its ill-look'd front bears a &s;canda|lous compari&s;on, between one <HI>Prior,</HI> and <HI>Feckman;</HI> but as to the former he had never any application to the Ju&s;tices; except (heretofore) to reclaim his di&s;|orders, neither are any Di&s;tre&s;&s;es placed at his hou&s;e, notwith&s;tanding the Libellers impudent forgery: And as for the Death of the latter, his Wife is depo|&s;ed
<PB N="16" REF="11"> that he was &s;eized about eight years &s;ince with the like &s;udden Di&s;temper, to the great hazzard of his life; neither could it be expected that by the &s;trength of Nature, &s;o great a violence &s;hould be twice with&s;tood by any con&s;titution. And for his behaviour in the time of his Vi&s;itation, to his Wifes, you may have the Oath of Mr. <HI>Brad&s;haw,</HI> a very Reverend and Learned Divine, who&s;e practice &s;uits (as much as humanity permits) to his Orthodox Do|ctrine; that during the time of his weakne&s;s, his behaviour was &s;edate, and corre&s;pondent to the con|dition of a dying per&s;on, and as for the employ|ment he had taken from the Ju&s;tices, he &s;tedfa&s;tly declared, that he was &s;atisfied in Con&s;cience that he had done the Church and State good &s;ervice, as having been in&s;trumental in Executing the Act. And that if he was to begin again he would willingly take upon him the &s;ame engagement. Thus this <HI>Libellers</HI> Won|ders, as well as his other Relations, are but the fruits of <HI>Sodom;</HI> unexamined, and at a di&s;tance, they bear a deluding out-&s;ide, but at the approaches of truth, they prove but du&s;t and a&s;hes.</P>
<P>And here again I would gladly have been acquitted of the <HI>Libeller</HI> and his Crew, having driven them not into their <HI>proper Herd;</HI> among&s;t <HI>Satan and Witches;</HI> for they al&s;o were &s;tiled from the beginning of Times (as old Languages tell us) <HI>Forgers of Miracles;</HI> but this <HI>long-winded Bawler,</HI> hath learn'd of his Tu|tor <HI>Hugh Peters</HI> to turn the other <HI>gla&s;s,</HI> for behold a Po&s;t&s;cript behind, their Kirk in a Cloak-bag, or rather a great <HI>tayl</HI> fixt by the <HI>Libeller</HI> him&s;elf to the
<PB N="17" REF="11"> <HI>back</HI> of his <HI>Pamphlet,</HI> that it may out-mode <HI>Batti&s;on;</HI> it hath a praeter-natural di&s;cent, from a <HI>Calf</HI> and a <HI>Fox;</HI> for they ever delighted in mon&s;trous productions, wit|ne&s;s the Coitions of the <HI>Elders Maid,</HI> and the <HI>Quaker,</HI> with their <HI>four-footed Loves.</HI></P>
<P>But he u&s;es this <HI>Train</HI> as a <HI>Squirrel</HI> doth hers, to pal|liate and cover all the Cheats and Abu&s;es contained in his <HI>Libel,</HI> which, notwith&s;tanding the &s;mall part of the Fox, are ea&s;ily di&s;cerned.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t Attempt he makes in this <HI>Po&s;tcript</HI> is, with mo&s;t opprobrious and injurious terms, to &s;tate a pa|rallel betwixt the proceedings of <HI>Bedford&s;hire</HI> and tho&s;e of other Countreys; in which he publi&s;hes to the World, that all that have to deal with them mu&s;t expect dung in the Ballance.</P>
<P>In the next place, by their old Trayterous Sophi&s;m in a new Dre&s;s, he maintains, that reviling the <HI>Kings Magi&s;trates;</HI> and reproaching his <HI>Agents,</HI> is no Di&s;obe|dience to their <HI>Soveraign,</HI> nor Reflection upon the <HI>Government.</HI></P>
<P>And again, I am a&s;toni&s;h'd to &s;ee with what a pro|fligated Impudence he averres them&s;elves peaceable, and their Actions harmle&s;s, when the Prince is hardly warm in his Throne, nor his party in the Remnants of their &s;hattered E&s;tates, &s;ince by the very &s;ame <HI>Me|thods</HI> and <HI>Principles</HI> this &s;ort of people did reduce three Nations into one <HI>Aceldama,</HI> and then al&s;o, as now, (at the beginning) the people heard the voi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">e of <HI>jacob,</HI> and afterwards felt, both upon thei<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> Lives and Fortunes, the rough hands of <HI>E&s;au.</HI></P>
<P>In the la&s;t place he gives notice of three <HI>plain Ends,</HI>
<PB N="18" REF="12"> as he calls them of publi&s;hing this Libel; and in this he &s;aith well; for the fir&s;t is to prepare the whole par|ty of <HI>Non-conformi&s;ts</HI> to be as refractory in their Di&s;|obedience to the Kings Laws as the <HI>Sectaries</HI> of <HI>Bed|fored;</HI> which he,, in this place, by his <HI>Old Figure,</HI> calls a <HI>patient, quiet and peaceable bearing their provocations and trials;</HI> forgetting, <HI>good man,</HI> that in the beginning of his <HI>Libel,</HI> he hath boa&s;ted of their unmalleablene&s;s to any Conformity with the pre&s;criptions of this Act, and of the mo&s;t barbarous u&s;age of the Kings Agents by them and their Accomplices.</P>
<P>But now for the <HI>Second End;</HI> and the <HI>Fir&s;t End</HI> of that is, humbly to ask our Legi&s;lators a non&s;en&s;ical Que&s;tion, Whether this be the Garment of their Off|&s;pring? O the My&s;tical Metaphors of Illumina|tion!</P>
<P>The <HI>Second End</HI> of the <HI>Second</HI> is to return to his Vomit of rayling again&s;t the Ju&s;tices, when they may &s;eek for redre&s;s from the Laws of the Nation; but he is too much vers'd in his bu&s;ine&s;s to hazard that; for he knows, his Witne&s;&s;es, like Terriers, will never claw well but under-ground, being alwayes trained up in private Accu&s;ations.</P>
<P>The <HI>Third End</HI> of the <HI>Second,</HI> is to per&s;wade our Governours to manife&s;t to the people that they have impo&s;ed upon them an <HI>Incon&s;iderate Act,</HI> by a &s;peedy revi&s;ing it; but in this I ought to refer him to our <HI>Le|gi&s;lators</HI> them&s;elves to try for an An&s;wer.</P>
<P>And thus he hath given you <HI>three Ends</HI> in one, to avoid the cen&s;ure of having no End at all: If you plea&s;e you may properly call them <HI>a ne&s;t of Boxes,</HI> for
<PB N="19" REF="12"> tho&s;e trinkets are very Emblems both of him&s;elf and his <HI>Libel,</HI> as they are filled with emptine&s;s. And al|though &s;ome Criticks may quarrel this Method, yet I can a&s;&s;ure them, that this is the old way of branching out Points of Trea&s;on and Rebellion to their Vipe|rous brood; for their inventions are ever &s;well'd with &s;o great a <HI>Plethory,</HI> upon this Subject, that they never fail to produce &s;uperfaetations, often exceeding the <HI>Low Countrey</HI> Ladies Conceptions, more <HI>trea&s;onable Points</HI> than there are days in the year.</P>
<P>And now (if ever he is to be tru&s;ted) he is come to his la&s;t End, which is a tazled Repetition of a mo&s;t <HI>untrue, &s;candalous</HI> and <HI>formle&s;s Babble.</HI> The Sub|ject he hath made &s;o bold with, are the Actions of all the <HI>Magi&s;trates</HI> and <HI>Officers</HI> in the Nation (as him|&s;elf owns) from the highe&s;t to tho&s;e which act in the mo&s;t inferiour degrees; that by traducing them to be void of rea&s;on, humanity, and righteou&s;ne&s;s, he might make the &s;ame reflections upon the <HI>Laws them|&s;elves.</HI> He al&s;o hath made it apparent enough, that he u&s;es the expre&s;&s;ions of Peace but to u&s;her in War; for his fir&s;t admonitions to, and profe&s;&s;ions of Pa|tience, Peace, and Quietne&s;s, are now turned to an Alarm of Su&s;pitions, Heats, Animo&s;ities, Di|&s;tractions, and Confu&s;ions; (to run over no more of his <HI>Rebellious Ro&s;ary;</HI>) which, to u&s;e his own words, have filled the minds, and do exerci&s;e the thoughts of all &s;orts of Men. And, that he may render a clear te&s;timony of this, he tells you of great numbers of per&s;ons who have withdrawn them&s;elves both from their Habitations and Callings, that they
<PB N="20" REF="13"> may not contribute any a&s;&s;i&s;tance to the Execution of this Act. A &s;ymptom of Rebellion (I confe&s;s) un|heard of before, and higher than any of tho&s;e which preceded the la&s;t unnatural War. For, as to the lower &s;ort of people, what other cau&s;e can in|duce them to leave their Relations and Abodes, than by the in&s;tigation of their Leaders to plant them&s;elves conveniently for a <HI>Rende&s;vouz.</HI> And for tho&s;e of bet|ter quality, I will appeal even to their own Con&s;ci|ences (if there is any thing more than the Name of it left) to give their Prince an accompt, why (upon their own accord) they &s;hould lay down that <HI>Com|mi&s;&s;ion for the Peace,</HI> which (not long &s;ince) they look'd upon as the <HI>mo&s;t ble&s;&s;ed Magna Charta,</HI> to e&s;ta|bli&s;h them free, both in their Lives and Fortunes, except it be upon the fir&s;t opportunity to take up ano|ther for <HI>War;</HI> and if they &s;hall &s;cape unconcern'd, it cannot but be an example hereafter to all faithle&s;s per&s;ons, upon the lea&s;t uncertainty of State, to pre|pare for a change.</P>
<P>A Wight of this &s;ort was in the Commi&s;&s;ion for <HI>Bedford,</HI> who employed one that had been a <HI>Rebel in Arms as well as his Wor&s;hip</HI> (and equally noted with him&s;elf for a &s;mall parcel of Hone&s;ty) <HI>to get the Com|mi&s;&s;ion tran&s;cribed without his Name in the Catalogue,</HI> and in the Tran&s;action his Agent (well vers'd in &s;mall Arts) made u&s;e of the inadvertency of the Tran&s;cri|ber, to in&s;ert two Gentlemens Names with wrong Ti|tles, to di&s;inable them to Act, but the Sum is mi&s;pent, and the Commi&s;&s;ion corrected, yet however there remains a plain Demon&s;tration, that <HI>the old leaven</HI> will
<PB N="21" REF="13"> never fail to play at any &s;ort of Game <HI>to abu&s;e the Government.</HI> Much more might be &s;aid to alarm the Magi&s;trates, but by this time I &s;uppo&s;e the Reader, as well as my &s;elf, is &s;ick of the <HI>Libeller;</HI> therefore I &s;hall conclude with a Reque&s;t to our Governours, that the Pre&s;&s;es may be examined to find out the <HI>Author;</HI> that (according to the Rules of Retaliation) he may be <HI>&s;tigmatized him&s;elf for branding Paper.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="postscript">
<PB REF="14">
<HEAD>The Post-&s;cript.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Reader,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P><HI>THe Libel came late to my hands, otherwi&s;e this An&s;wer had pur&s;u|ed it at the Heels; and if this Lenitive Reply doth not &s;top the Flux of the</HI> Scribler, <HI>I will publi&s;h a more Restrin|gent Impre&s;&s;ion, with all their Names in the Margin. Pardon me, if to di&s;a|bu&s;e the Nation, I have been longer than I intended.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
</BACK>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
