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<P>A BRIEF NARRATIVE OF SOME Con&s;iderable Pa&s;&s;ages Concerning the Fir&s;t Gathering, and further Progre&s;s of a CHURCH of CHRIST, in Go&s;pel-Order, IN <HI>Bo&s;ton</HI> in NEW-ENGLAND, Commonly (though fal&s;ly) called by the Name OF ANABAPTISTS; For clearing their Innocency from the Scandalous things laid to their charge.</P>
<P>Set forth by JOHN RUSSEL, an Officer of the &s;aid Church, with Con&s;ent of the whole.</P>
<P>Dated in <HI>Bo&s;ton,</HI> 20th, 3d Month, 1680.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed by <HI>J. D.</HI> in the Year, 1680.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="3">
<PB REF="3">
<HEAD>Chri&s;tian Reader</HEAD>
<P>WE leave the en&s;uing Apology to &s;peak and plead for it &s;elf in your own Con&s;cience, the cau&s;es of its coming in this Method to your View. The Candor and Ingenuity that ought to be in Men, much more that Grace and Commi&s;eration that po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth the Hearts of good men, will per&s;wade to a patient hearing and impartial weighing of that Ju&s;t Defence that is therein made. If any demand why we concern our &s;elves &s;o much as to prefix this &s;hort Epi&s;tle in the behalf of tho&s;e &s;o remote from us; our an&s;wer is, That one and the &s;elf &s;ame Spirit who is in all Sincere Chri&s;tians,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 12.13.26. Heb: 13.3.</NOTE> conjoyning them as living members into one Body, worketh al&s;o in them like pa&s;&s;ions either as to joy in pro|&s;perity, or grief in trouble, whether internal or external; And the very notice and Communication of each others State removes all di&s;tance of place, promotes Sympathy,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Col. 2.1.5.</NOTE> and tends to make their State mutually pre&s;ent with each other. Moreover, the Authors of this Apology have declared their perfect agreement with us both in matters of Faith and Wor&s;hip, as &s;et down in our late Con|fe&s;&s;on. As for our Brethren of the Congregational way in Old <HI>England,</HI> both their Principles and Practices, do equally plead for our Liberties as for their own; And it &s;eems mo&s;t &s;trange that &s;uch of the &s;ame way in <HI>New-England,</HI> yea even &s;uch (a gene|ration not yet extinct, or the very next &s;ucce&s;&s;ors of them) who cho&s;e rather (with liberal e&s;tates) to depart from their native Soil into a Wilderne&s;s, then be under the impo&s;ition and la&s;h of tho&s;e who upon Religious pretences took delight to &s;mite their Fellow-&s;ervants; &s;hould exerci&s;e towards others the like &s;everity that them&s;elves with &s;o great hazard and hard&s;hip &s;ought to a|void; E&s;pecially con&s;idering that it is again&s;t their Brethren, who avowedly profe&s;s and appeal to the &s;ame rule with them&s;elves for their guidance in, and deci&s;ion of all matters relating to the Wor&s;hip of God, and the ordering of their whole Conver&s;ation. And that the pre&s;ent Mole&s;tation given to them is meerly for a
<PB REF="4">&s;uppo&s;ed error in one point relating to the right &s;ubject of Bapti&s;m, which hath been much controverted among&s;t Learned, Judicious, Holy and good Men at many &s;ea&s;ons ever &s;ince the Reformation, upon &s;uch occa&s;ions, for one Prote&s;tant Congregation to per&s;ecute a|nother (where there is no pretence to an infallibility in the deci&s;ion of all Controver&s;ies) &s;eemes much more unrea&s;onable then all the Cruelties of the Romi&s;h Church towards them that depart from their Super&s;titions; And certainly if prejudices were removed; and opportunities of Power not abu&s;ed, but &s;o far improved that the Golden Rule of our Saviour <HI>[All things which you would that men &s;hould do unto you, &s;o do ye unto them]</HI> were duly attended unto and rightly applied in the pre&s;ent ca&s;e, more mo|deration, yea even compa&s;&s;ion would be exerci&s;ed towards the&s;e our Christian Friends by &s;uch as now give them trouble: And we heartily pray, that the Honourable Governors in <HI>New-England</HI> will have that regard to all the Congregational Churches here, as to remit &s;uch proceedings, which tend to confirm and justify tho&s;e who &s;eek to overthrow all their A&s;&s;emblies, and that they will not, by per&s;i&s;ting in any rigorous Cour&s;e again&s;t the&s;e their Brethren in the Faith of our Lord Je&s;us, &s;trengthen the hands of &s;uch who have already publi&s;hed, That their proceedings with them of the Congregational way here in this kind,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dr. Stil|lingfleet mi&s;cheif of Seperation.</NOTE> are ju&s;tified by the pro|ce&s;s of their Brethren again&s;t other di&s;&s;enters in <HI>New-England.</HI> This &s;ubject is &s;o large and the Plea it affords &s;o rational, that we can hardly keep within the &s;hort limits appointed to this Epi&s;tle; But we will add no more, &s;ave our hearty Prayers for the Peace of them, that in every Place call upon the name of our Lord Je&s;us, both their Lord and ours; And &s;hall ever be,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Yours in all Chri&s;tian re&s;pect and Service to our Power.
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>Will: Kiffen.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Daniel Dyke.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Will: Collins.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Han&s;erd Knolles.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>John Harris.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Neh: Cox.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></SIGNED></CLOSER>
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<PB N="1" REF="4">
<HEAD>A brief Narrative of &s;ome Con&s;iderable Pa&s;&s;ages, concerning the fir&s;t gathering, and further progre&s;s, of a Church of Chri&s;t, in Go&s;pel Order, in <HI>Bo&s;ton</HI> in <HI>New-England,</HI> for clearing their Innocency from the Scandalous things laid to their charge.</HEAD>
<P>IT plea&s;ed God to move the Hearts of &s;ome of his dear and Pre|cious Servants in this Wilderne&s;s, whom he had by his good Word and Spirit taught, and in&s;tructed in the Way and Order of the Go&s;pel, to agree together to enter into Fellow&s;hip as a particular Body, or Church, ingaging one to another in a Solemn Covenant, in the name of the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to walk in fellow&s;hip, and communi|on together, in the practice of all the Holy Appointments of Chri&s;t, which he had, or &s;hould further make known unto them. And thus they became a vi&s;ible Church of Chri&s;t, walking in the Practice, and performance of the holy Ordinances of Chri&s;t, according to Di|vine In&s;titution. The Per&s;ons who began (this &s;o good a work for God,) were, <HI>Thomas Gold, Thomas Osburne, Edward Drinker, John George, Richard Goodal, William Turner, Robert Lambert:</HI> the three la&s;t named, were per&s;ons whom God (by his Providence &s;ome time before) brought out of <HI>Old England,</HI> who had walked with the Baptized Churches there; as namely <HI>Richard, Goodall,</HI> was of a Church in <HI>London,</HI> of which Mr. <HI>Kiffen</HI> is an Officer; and <HI>William Turner,</HI> and <HI>Robert Lambert,</HI> were of a Church in <HI>Dartmouth,</HI> of which one Mr. <HI>Stead</HI> was Officer.</P>
<P>No &s;ooner were the&s;e Servants of Chri&s;t entred upon this work of the Lord, but they met with great troubles and afflictions, as hath al|ways befallen tho&s;e whom the Lord hath been plea&s;ed to &s;ingle out from others to bear witne&s;s to his Truth; Much Scandal and re|proach hath been ca&s;t on them, their troubles, and temptations fol|lowed, one upon the neck of another, like the waves of the Sea: but the&s;e precious Servants of the Lord having in &s;ome good mea&s;ure counted the Co&s;t before hand, were not moved for any of the&s;e things, but were chearfully carryed on by the good hand of the Lord upon them, through all the Afflictions, and Reproaches they met
<PB N="2" REF="5">with; And are the mo&s;t of them now at re&s;t with the Lord, having &s;erved the Will of God in their Generation.</P>
<P>And now we who &s;urvive, con&s;idering the many and grievous Scandals that have bin by rugged Spirits ca&s;t upon the&s;e fir&s;t Beginners in the Church of Chri&s;t, that are renewed, and augmented from time to time upon us, both by &s;peaking, and writing; And that on purpo&s;e to render us odious, and make the World to think that we are a People not fit to live; as indeed we were not, if we were as vile as we are ren|dered to be. But the Lord, to whom we do both de&s;ire, and endeavour to approve our &s;elves in &s;incerity, will one day clear our Innocency, as the light at noon-day. Con&s;idering what is premi&s;ed, we think our &s;elves concerned and obliged, for the &s;ake of Chri&s;t, and his truth that we do profe&s;s, and bear Witne&s;s to, To give &s;ome brief account of things, for the clearing our &s;elves of tho&s;e heinous things laid to our charge. As to the manifold Sufferings we have undergone in our Per&s;ons, E&s;tates and Liberties, we &s;hall not give a Particular account at this time; only this in general, That &s;oon after our fir&s;t beginning, &s;ome of us were oft-times brought before Councils, and Courts, threatned, fined, our E&s;tates taken away, Impri&s;oned, and Bani&s;hed; but notwith&s;tand|ing it hath plea&s;ed the Lord &s;till to uphold us, in the mid&s;t of all the&s;e &s;ore troubles, that in&s;tead of being weakened and dimini&s;hed, we have bin further &s;trengthened, and increa&s;ed. Thus wonderful doth the Lord appear from time to time to a&s;&s;i&s;t poor weak In&s;truments in doing and &s;uffering what he call's them to for his Name &s;ake. Now as touch|ing what we have &s;uffered, and &s;till do &s;uffer in our names, by rea&s;on of tho&s;e Scandalous things laid to our Charge, which are as followeth; <HI>Schi&s;matical, Scandalous Per&s;ons, Di&s;orderly Di&s;turbers of the Peace; &V;nderminers of the Churches, Neglecters of the Publick Wor&s;hip of God on the Lord's-days, Idolaters, Enemies to Civil Government, &amp;c.</HI> To the&s;e we &s;hall give &s;ome brief Reply.</P>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="charge">
<HEAD>Charge 1.</HEAD>
<P><HI>That we are a Schi&s;matical Company, who have rent our &s;elves from the Churches of Chri&s;t, and do receive into our Society &s;uch who have through Di&s;content, di&s;orderly left the Churches with whom they have walked.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> To which we an&s;wer, That this is a mi&s;take in tho&s;e that &s;o charge us. For,</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t;</HI> As to the fir&s;t Beginners, who are before named, Three of them, viz. <HI>Richard Goodal, William Turner,</HI> and <HI>Robert Lambert,</HI> were Per&s;ons who had walked in the &s;ame way and order, in the Churches in <HI>Old England,</HI> who were by the Providence of God, brought into
<PB N="3" REF="5">this Land, and had Letters of Recommendation from the Churches to whom they did belong.</P>
<P N="2">2. Two of the other four; Viz. <HI>Edward Drinker,</HI> and <HI>John George,</HI> were Per&s;ons that were never joyned to any Church before, who were Per&s;ons of good repute, for their &s;ober and hone&s;t Conver&s;ations.</P>
<P N="3">3. The other two; Viz. <HI>Thomas Gold,</HI> and <HI>Thomas Osburne,</HI> had walked &s;ome years together in Fellow&s;hip with a Church, in the <HI>Con|gregational way,</HI> as it is called, and were reputed by all that know them, to be very Godly Men, Men of Holy and blamele&s;s Conver&s;a|tions, until &s;uch time as they came to que&s;tion the Baptizing of In|fants, not &s;eeing any light for it from the Word of God, and that Bap|ti&s;m &s;hould be admini&s;tred to vi&s;ible profe&s;&s;ing Believers; Whereupon, <HI>Tho. Gold</HI> did withhold his Children from Bapti&s;m, (as it is called) &amp; al|&s;o did manife&s;t his di&s;&s;ent from the Church in this practice, at &s;uch times when they did Sprinkle their Children, by &s;itting down: both which was greatly offen&s;ive to the Church. For which cau&s;e the Church dealt with him, and he remaining unconvinced, they proceed to lay him under Admonition, and wholly denied him Communion with them; Where|as he could then have freely held Communion with them, if they would have born with his di&s;&s;enting in that one particular of Infant Bapti&s;m. And under this Admonition he continued 7 or 8 Years, living with|out the injoyment of the Ordinances of Chri&s;t; about which time our Church was gathered. And likewi&s;e <HI>Thomas Osburn,</HI> for his not &s;eeing light for the Baptizing of Infants, di&s;&s;enting from it; and as al&s;o his withdrawing communion from the Church, being di&s;&s;atisfied with that rugged frame of Spirit in them towards tho&s;e that differed from them, as al&s;o becau&s;e he could not in joy all the Ordinances of Chri&s;t with them; for which cau&s;e the Church dealt with him, and laid him under Admoni|tion. So that they did not rend from the Church, &s;o as to become guilty of Schi&s;m, but were &s;hut out by them, from Communion with them, and that for no other cau&s;e, then hath been already expre&s;&s;ed.</P>
<P N="4">4. As to our receiving into our Society &s;uch who have di&s;orderly rent them&s;elves from the Church, we an&s;wer; That there have bin &s;ince the beginning of this Church, about 4 or 5 Per&s;ons that have left the Churches they had walked with, and have joyned them|&s;elves unto us, the mo&s;t of them being Per&s;ons of good repute for God|line&s;s, both before, and &s;ince, that could never be ju&s;tly charged with any thing of a Scandalous Nature. The grounds of their leaving or withdrawing them&s;elves from the Churches of whom they were, are chiefly the&s;e two:</P>
<P N="1">1. Their not &s;eeing light for the Baptizing of Infants, as al&s;o being
<PB N="4" REF="6">convinced, that them&s;elves were Unbaptized; And that it was their duty to &s;eek to enjoy it, the which they could not obtaine in tho&s;e Churches; neither would the&s;e Churches admit them to hold Com|munion with them, if they did obtain it el&s;e were, and were contented to remain with them; for this hath bin tried.</P>
<P N="2">2. Their di&s;&s;atisfaction in re&s;pect of that bitterne&s;s of Spirit in them, to tho&s;e that in the&s;e re&s;pects did differ from them, and there|fore could not with freedom of Spirit continue with them. And further, for the mo&s;t part of them, they did not come off, before they had u&s;ed means to obtain free leave, and liberty from the Churches to which they did belong; but all means u&s;ed not being &s;ucce&s;sful to obtain it, then they took it. So that it appears that it was not for any &s;inful Di&s;temper of Di&s;content, or becau&s;e they were weary of the Yoke of Chri&s;t, or that they would be more at liberty from under the Di&s;ci|pline and Government of Chri&s;t, but out of tenderne&s;s of Con&s;cience, becau&s;e of &s;ome things practi&s;ed, which they could not &s;ee light for; As al&s;o becau&s;e they could not injoy all the Ordinances of Chri&s;t with them; and that they might injoy all the Ordinances of Chri&s;t with more purity, and wor&s;hip him more according to Go&s;pel-in&s;titution. Now whether this be to be accounted Schi&s;m, we leave to the judgment of &s;ober Chri&s;tians.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="charge">
<HEAD>Charge 2.</HEAD>
<P><HI>That we are Scandalous per&s;ons, and that in the&s;e three re&s;pects; (1) That the foundation was laid with excommunicate Per&s;ons. (2) In that we called &s;uch to Admini&s;ter the holy things of God among us, who were ju&s;tly for Scandal ca&s;t out of the other Churches. And (3) for receiving &s;uch into our Society.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> This is a gro&s;s mi&s;take; for fir&s;t, As to tho&s;e who were the fir&s;t beginners of this Church, who were Seven in Number, all of them Men of good repute for Godline&s;s among their Neighbours, but two of them were excommunicate Per&s;ons, viz. <HI>Thomas Gold,</HI> and <HI>Tho|mas Osburne,</HI> of whom there hath been &s;ome account given, in <HI>pag.</HI> 2. And concerning whom we &s;hall give &s;ome further account. The&s;e Per&s;ons as afore&s;aid, being (by the Church to whom they did belong) laid under Admonition, and wholly &s;hut out from Communion with them in the Ordinances of Chri&s;t; and one of them, namely, <HI>Thomas Gold,</HI> having &s;o remained for 7 or 8 Years; in which &s;pace of time he was brought before &s;even or eight Courts, and in &s;ome of them to be tryed in order to Bani&s;hment, And for no other crime, then with|holding his Childe from being &s;prinkled; who, after &s;o long waiting, could have no help in the ca&s;e, but was like &s;o to
<PB N="5" REF="6">continue all his days, without the injoyment of the Ordinances of Chri&s;t. And further, being convinc'd that it was his duty him&s;elf to be Baptized according to the In&s;titution of Chri&s;t, and there being a competent number of them thus inclined, and agreed in their princi|ples; (viz. the Per&s;ons named in pag. 1.) They took it into their Con|&s;ideration to gather them&s;elves into a Church-&s;tate, that &s;o they might be in the practice and enjoyment of all the precious Ordinances and Appointments of Chri&s;t, according to the will of their Lord and Ma&s;ter; which they did undertake, after many Con&s;ultations about it, and many Solemn &s;eekings of the Lord for direction in &s;o great an Undertaking. Upon which proceeding of theirs, &s;o &s;oon as known, the Church with which <HI>Thomas Gold</HI> and <HI>Thomas Osburn</HI> had formerly walked, &s;ent for them, to deal further with them; who at fir&s;t thought not to have gone, being now not of them; but on further con&s;iderati|on, and being &s;ent for (the &s;econd time) they determined to go to them, and give them a hearing, but told the Me&s;&s;engers that were &s;ent to them, that they could not come on that day they required, becau&s;e it was the day they had appointed to break Bread, but they would come the next day, if the Lord did permit them: but Notwith&s;tand|ing, they not coming on the day that they required them (though they could not, for the rea&s;on before mentioned) the Officer of the Church proceeds to ca&s;t them unto Satan, grounding his proceeding on that in <HI>Mat.</HI> 18. <HI>Not hearing the Church;</HI> but their crime was no other then what hath bin already declared. So that from hence, two things are to be ob&s;erved, (1) That their Excommunication by the Church, with whom they had formerly walked, was &s;ome con&s;iderable time after they had been gathered into Church-Society, which was a long time after they had been denyed Communion with them, e&s;pecially one of them, (namely) <HI>Thomas Gold.</HI> (2) That this Excommunication was not for any Scandalons &s;in, committed, and per&s;i&s;ted in by them; which if it had, then their Excommunication had been ju&s;t; (Unle&s;s a Diligent endeavour to injoy Chri&s;t in the way of his Ordinances, according to Divine In&s;titution, be a Scandalous evil:) But becau&s;e they did not hear the Church. And this not hearing the Church, was no other then not coming, when the Church &s;ent for them, <HI>i. e.</HI> on that day they required them: though their an&s;wer was, not that they would not come, but that they could not come on that day, but did promi&s;e that they would come. Now whether this Excommunication were Ju&s;t, We leave it to-the Judgment of all &s;ober, unbya&s;&s;ed Chri&s;tians.</P>
<P N="2">2. The &s;econd thing for which we are rendered Scandalous, is for calling to office, &s;uch who had bin for Scandal ju&s;tly delivered unto
<PB N="6" REF="7">Satan. To which we an&s;wer, that there was never but one that was cal|led to office among us, who had any &s;uch Cen&s;ure pa&s;&s;ed on him, viz. <HI>Thomas Gold,</HI> concerning whom you have had a true account given. In who&s;e Excommunication there appeared no ju&s;t objection again&s;t his being called to Office, he being al&s;o a man who was in &s;ome good mea&s;ure fitted, and qualified with the gifts and graces of the Spirit of God, for &s;uch a work; and indeed proved an Eminent In&s;trument in the hand of the Lord, for the carrying on this work of God in its low and weak beginings, when expo&s;ed to great &s;ufferings.</P>
<P>The third thing for which we are rendered Scandalous, is, the recei|ving into our Society tho&s;e, who for moral Evils have bin ju&s;tly ca&s;t out of the Churches.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> To which we an&s;wer, That &s;ince the fir&s;t gathering of this Church, which was on the 28th of the 3d <HI>Mon.</HI> 1665. there have bin ad|ded about &s;ixty Per&s;ons or more, of which number, there have bin but two, that were ca&s;t out of other Churches, viz. <HI>Thomas Fo&s;ter,</HI> and <HI>John Farnum,</HI> concerning whom we &s;hall give &s;ome brief account. (1) As for <HI>Thomas Fo&s;ter,</HI> the ground and cau&s;e for which the Church to whom he did belong, did fir&s;t deal with him, was only his di&s;&s;enting from them in Infants-Bapti&s;m: he not &s;eeing any light from the Word of God for it, did &s;hew his Di&s;&s;ent, in departing the Meeting when that was perform'd; for until this time he was in repute among them for a very Godly man, and is &s;o to this day among the generality of people to whom he is known; and we doubt not but that he is &s;o &s;till in the Con&s;ciences of tho&s;e that have proceeded again&s;t him, who indeed is an aged, grave, &s;ober Chri&s;tian. But the Church dealing with him for the crime above mentioned, and not being able to convince him from the Word of God, but that he &s;till held his Judgment in that mat|ter, they proceeded to lay him under Admonition, and wholly debarr'd him Communion with them; until &s;uch time as he &s;hould repent, and reform; (though he then could, and would have gladly held Communion with them, if they would have borne with him in that one particular) but lying under this Admonition for &s;ome time, and &s;eeing no hope of reconciliation, unle&s;s he would act again&s;t his own Con&s;cience; And al&s;o being further convinced, that it was his duty to be Baptized, (according to both the precept and example of our Lord Je|&s;us Chri&s;t,) he applyed him&s;elf to us, by whom he was baptized, and received into fellow&s;hip. Which being &s;ome time after taken notice of, the Church to which he did belong, did proceed, from their Admo|nition to Excommunication, and delivered him unto Satan, rendering the matter, or cau&s;e, for for which they dealt with him, from fir&s;t to la&s;t,
<PB N="7" REF="7">to be the breach of 4 of the moral Precepts; <HI>viz.</HI> the 2.3.4. and 5. But had not any thing to lay to his charge, from fir&s;t to la&s;t, but what hath been before delivered, excepting any thing of infirmity that might appear in him, in the managing of this difference, by which any ad|vantage might be taken.</P>
<P N="1">1. From whence we ob&s;erve the&s;e two things, (1) That the grounds of the Churches proceeding again&s;t him from fir&s;t to la&s;t, was not for any Scandalous or moral Evils, but for matter of Con|&s;cience in things wherein he did differ from them.</P>
<P N="2">2. That this Excommunication was &s;ome con&s;iderable time after his being received into fellow&s;hip with us, and was not under the &s;entence of Excommunication when we received him. Now whether the receiving of this per&s;on into fellow&s;hip be matter of Scandal, We leave to the Con&s;ideration of the wi&s;e and Sober Chri|&s;tian.</P>
<P>In the next place come's in Con&s;ideration the ca&s;e of <HI>John Farnum,</HI> who was under the &s;entence of Excommunication when he was received by us into fellow&s;hip, and he is all that ever we did receive, that &s;tood in &s;uch a Capacity.</P>
<P>Now concerning this man, while&s;t he did walk in fellow&s;hip with the Church by whom he was Excommunicated, he was in repute among them for a very Godly Man, and was deputed by them to be a <HI>Deacon.</HI> But when he came to di&s;&s;ent from the Church in the Baptizing of Infants, then they became di&s;affected towards him; and he being al&s;o di&s;&s;atisfied with his own Bapti&s;m that he had in his Infancy, and looking on him&s;elf Unbaptized, and being al&s;o di&s;&s;atisfied with the rugged Spirit, that did &s;o much appear in the Church towards tho&s;e that did in the&s;e things differ from them, he did then withdraw from Communion with them, and did often fre|quent our Meeting, which was one thing for which the Church did proceed in dealing with him; unto which were gathered divers other things, and laid to his Charge, which had a face of Scandal on them, as they were taken, and con&s;trued: But his un-chri&s;tian carriage towards them, in the time of their dealing with him, was con&s;iderable, and therefore in the receiving of this man into fellow|&s;hip, We mu&s;t acknowledg that there was a defect, but yet not a wilful defect, however it may be rendred by our Opponents. Was there ever any Church &s;o perfect in all their Actions (e&s;pecially in their fir&s;t and weak beginnings) as to be free from all defect, and not to have done any thing that they might &s;ee cau&s;e afterwards to judge it had been better left undone?</P>
<PB N="8" REF="8">
<P>The Church was then under manifold Temptations and Di&s;tra|ctions, by rea&s;on of the oppo&s;ition they met with; but not long &s;ince, about &s;ome 2 or 3 years pa&s;t, there being a great Clamour revived, and renewed upon us, for receiving of per&s;ons excommunicated for moral Evils, and that in the i&s;&s;ue it centered chiefly on this Man, we were much di&s;&s;atisfied, and determined to make diligent &s;earch to know the truth of it, that we might clear our &s;elves.</P>
<P>The which accordingly we did, and &s;ent Me&s;&s;engers to the Officer of the Church by whom he was ca&s;t out, and procured under his hand from the Church Records, a copy of their Proceedings with him, and the ground thereof; which having obtained, and diligently peru&s;ed, did find that his Carriage, and Behaviour towards the Church in the time of their dealing with him, were ju&s;tly offen&s;ive, unchri&s;tian like, and much unbecoming the Go&s;pel, which was the chief matter of fact we could find in all their Charges. Whereupon we then laboured to convince him of the evil of them, and kept him off from Communion, until he &s;hould give Satisfaction, wherein he had mi&s;carried; who did in a &s;hort time fall under his offences, and gave us good &s;atisfaction, and tendered the &s;ame unto the Church, by whom he was excom|municated; by which they were well &s;atisfied, excepting one, who would not be &s;atisfied unle&s;s he would come and joyn with them again, but that he could not yield to. This hath bin affirmed by &s;ome of their Members to &s;ome of us.</P>
<P>Now from what we have &s;aid in this matter, this is to be ob&s;erved, That though there was an over&s;ight in the receiving this Man; and that the Church was not &s;o careful to inquire how things were, or were hard to give credit to what they might have reported of his Mi&s;carriage to the Church, as things were then circum&s;tanced; it being de&s;igned by our oppo&s;ites to ca&s;t all the reproach on us that they could any manner of way, to make us vile in the Eyes of the People, hoping there|by to prevent (at lea&s;t) our increa&s;ing. Yet we have now cleared our &s;elves from being of &s;uch principles, as to receive any Scandalous per&s;on or per&s;ons, ju&s;tly excommunicated for moral Evils, by what we have done, and the pains we have taken in this matter, as hath bin declared; and therefore how unju&s;t a thing it is &s;till to lay &s;uch things to our Charge, to &s;candalize our Name, as hath been done of late in their Printed Book, viz. <HI>The Conclu&s;ions of the late Synod,</HI> and al&s;o in a Book newly printed, entituled, <HI>The divine Right of Infant Bapti&s;m;</HI> we leave to con&s;ideration.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="charge">
<PB N="9" REF="8">
<HEAD>Charge. 3.</HEAD>
<P><HI>Another thing laid to our Charge is, That we are di&s;orderly per&s;ons, and walk di&s;orderly.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> This is al&s;o a mi&s;take: for our practice, and walking, is according to, and agreeable with the Orders of the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, therefore orderly: for we walk in Church-fellow&s;hip together; and continue in the Apo&s;tles Doctrine, Fellow&s;hip, breaking Bread, and Prayer, <HI>Act.</HI> 2. and that on the fir&s;t day of the week, by Per&s;ons elected, and ordained to Office, for the Admini&s;tration of the holy Or|dinances of Chri&s;t.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="charge">
<HEAD>Charge 4.</HEAD>
<P><HI>Another thing we are charged with is, That we are di&s;turbers of the Publick Peace.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> We have never yet been found making any di&s;turbance, by rai&s;ing any Tumults, or cau&s;ing any Sedition, either in Church or Commonwealth; nor are tho&s;e that accu&s;e us, able to prove the things whereof they do accu&s;e us. Indeed after the way that is called Here&s;ie, &s;o wor&s;hip we the God of our Fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law, and the Prophets; and have hope towards God of the Re&s;urrection of the Dead, both of the ju&s;t, and unju&s;t, and herein do exerci&s;e our &s;elves always, to have a Con&s;cience void of offence towards God, and towards Man, <HI>Act.</HI> 24.13, 14, 15, 16. We peace|ably follow our lawful Imployments, di&s;turbing no Man, being de|&s;irous to have peace with all Men.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="charge">
<HEAD>Charge 5. <HI>We are charged to be underminers of the Churches.</HI></HEAD>
<P>This is al&s;o a great mi&s;take: we never de&s;igned, neither do to this day de&s;ign any &s;uch thing, but heartily de&s;ire and daily pray for the well-being, flouri&s;hing, and Pro&s;perity of all the Churches of Chri&s;t, that the Lord would more and more appear among them, to revive the life and power of Godline&s;s in them, to make known more of his Mind and Will unto them, to reform what ever is ami&s;s among them; to continue his gracious Pre&s;ence in the mid'&s;t of them, and his Fa|therly Protection round about them; And de&s;ire that our &s;elves may have a peaceable living by them, as Chri&s;tians.</P>
<P>Whereas it is &s;aid, that our Principles and Practices are de&s;tructive to their Churches. We an&s;wer; That the utmo&s;t Tendency our Princi|ples, and practices can have with re&s;pect to their Churches, is but to reduce them to a nearer conformity to the will of Chri&s;t, but not to de&s;troy them; and there is a great difference between Reduction and De&s;truction.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="charge">
<PB N="10" REF="9">
<HEAD>Charge. 6.</HEAD>
<P><HI>Another thing we are charged with, is, Neglecting the Publick Wor&s;hip of God on the Lord's day.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> This is utterly untrue; Though this hath bin the crime that we have u&s;ually from time to time bin pre&s;ented to Court for, and have b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> Courts been puni&s;hed for. But it is well known that we do con&s;tantly meet on the fir&s;t Day of the Week, to wor&s;hip the Lord, and attend on him in all his holy Ordinances, and therefore why we &s;hould be &s;o charged, and dealt withal, there is no rea&s;on. If it be &s;aid that we do ab&s;ent from the Publick A&s;&s;emblies, and meet by our &s;elves in private hou&s;es, and therefore it is not Publick wor&s;hip.</P>
<P>We an&s;wer, That we do meet together by our &s;elves, and ought &s;o to do, being an intire Church, and body by our &s;elves, and therefore cannot meet in their A&s;&s;emblies. And there was a nece&s;&s;ity of congre|gating together by our &s;elves; Becau&s;e they would not admit of us to Communion with them in all the Ordinances of God, but &s;hut us out, and would allow us no more priviledge among them, then they would allow to a Heathen, or <HI>Publican,</HI> viz. to come and hear in their A&s;|&s;emblies. For &s;ome who have de&s;ired to joyn with them, after they were Baptized, have bin denyed, and that for no other rea&s;on then this, that they had &s;ubmitted to Bapti&s;m according to the Command of Chri&s;t, and could &s;ee no light for Infant Bapti&s;m.</P>
<P>And &s;econdly, for our meeting in Private Hou&s;es: It is true we have done &s;o, for we mu&s;t meet in &s;uch Hou&s;es as we have to meet in. But our Meeting was Publick, any one, that would, might come; and &s;ince we have for our convenience, and to take off the a&s;per&s;ions ca&s;t on us for meeting in Private Hou&s;es, obtained a Publick Hou&s;e, or a Hou&s;e on purpo&s;e for that u&s;e, we are become more offen&s;ive to &s;ome then we were before, &s;o that we cannot give content to &s;ome one way nor other; for we have been &s;hut out of our Publick Hou&s;e, and the Doors nayled up, and have bin forced to meet without in the open air on a very cold day. Though by the next day they were open again, we know not how, but do yet que&s;tion whether we &s;hall injoy the liberty of our Hou&s;e for Publick Wor&s;hip or no; &s;o that from what hath been &s;aid, it appears, that we are much wronged in this Charge.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="charge">
<HEAD>Charge. 7.</HEAD>
<P><HI>That we are Idolaters, and therefore not to be &s;uffered, as in the late Synod Book is concluded.</HI></P>
<PB N="11" REF="9">
<P><HI>And the Scriptures they bring to prove it, are the&s;e;</HI> Jo&s;h. 22.19. P&s;a. 99.8. Ezek. 43.8. Ho&s;. 11.6.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> The Lord God of Gods knows, and <HI>I&s;rael</HI> &s;hall know that we are innocent in this matter, <HI>Jo&s;h.</HI> 22.21, 22, 23. and that what we have done, is not in rebellion, nor tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion, to turn from fol|lowing the Lord, or wor&s;hipping him according to his own Appoint|ments, but that we may with more freedom of Spirit wor&s;hip the Lord together in purity. We do believe that it will appear one day that what we profe&s;s and practi&s;e, are not our own Inventions, not our own thre&s;hold, but God's thre&s;hold: nor is there &s;uch difference between us, and tho&s;e that do thus accu&s;e us, as that we &s;hould be thus rendred; we hope that we all agree in the &s;ame foundation, Chri&s;t Je&s;us, and all own the &s;ame Word for our Rule: though we are imperfect in our under&s;tandings, and &s;o are they, and who is not? the Lord forgive them, we de&s;ire to forgive them, and pray for them.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="charge">
<HEAD>Charge 8. <HI>We are charged to be Enemies to Civil Government.</HI></HEAD>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> We know no rea&s;on why we &s;hould be charged with this, not in the lea&s;t degree. (1) It is directly again&s;t our Principles, and con|trary to what we a&s;&s;erted in a Confe&s;&s;ion of Faith, that we formerly gave into the Court, as al&s;o to that Confe&s;&s;ion of Faith lately put forth by our Brethren in Old <HI>England,</HI> which Confe&s;&s;ion we own in every particular. (2) Our continual Prayers to God for them, according to 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 1.1, 2. will witne&s;s again&s;t this charge. (3) Our con&s;tant &s;ub|jection, and obedience to all their Laws, both actively (as far as we can with a good Con&s;cience) and wherein we could not Actively, there we have been Pa&s;&s;ively obedient; in &s;uffering what hath bin in|flicted on us, without &s;eeking any revenge in the lea&s;t.</P>
<P>Fourthly. In paying all due demands what&s;oever; not being de&s;irous to withhold from <HI>Cae&s;ar</HI> at any time, any of his dues. In a word both our Per&s;ons and E&s;tates are alwaies ready at command to be &s;ervice|able in the defence of the Authority, and Country, yea and have bin voluntarily offered on the high places of the Field in the time of the Countrey's greate&s;t Extremity; we have not thought our lives too dear, to put in our hands in the defence of the Countrey. For divers of us did with &s;ome others, freely offer our &s;elves for the &s;ervice of the Countrey again&s;t the <HI>Indians,</HI> even in the time of their greate&s;t di&s;tre&s;s; Among whom was <HI>William Turner,</HI> whom they plea&s;ed to make Cap|tain of that Company, who had bin one of the greate&s;t Sufferers a|mong us, for the profe&s;&s;ion of Religion. He was a very worthy man
<PB N="12" REF="10">for Souldiery; And <HI>Edward Drinker,</HI> who had bin another &s;ufferer, whom they plea&s;ed to make Lieutenant; And by the pre&s;ence of the Lord with them, they were made in&s;truments of the pre&s;ervation of one Town from the rage of the Heathen, who did violently be&s;et it, and break into it, but they being there, beat them out, and after this by Captain <HI>Turner</HI> (who was Commander in chief at that time) as an In&s;trument in the hand of the Lord, was the greate&s;t blow given to the <HI>Indians</HI> of any they had received; for after this they were broken and &s;cattered, &s;o that they were overcome, and &s;ubdued with ea&s;e. In this Fight did good Captain <HI>Turner</HI> lo&s;e his Life. Here it is to be ob|&s;erved that tho&s;e that had &s;uffered &s;o much from the Country, and have been Scandaliz'd as Enemies to the Country, and their Pri|viledges, freely offering them&s;elves in the &s;ervice of the Country, have been (through the Lord's pre&s;ence with them) &s;ome of the prin|cipal In&s;truments to &s;ubdue the Barbarous Heathen, and to deliver the Countrey from its great di&s;tre&s;s; which may &s;tand as a witne&s;s of our Fidelity to the Government to the World's End.</P>
<P>Thus have we bin vilified, and greatly reproached, and are &s;till to this day. It being without any ju&s;t rea&s;on laid on us, that we are one chief cau&s;e of all the Judgments of God on the Countrey. We do not excu&s;e our &s;elves, as not to have &s;hare, or part in many of the Sins that have provoked the Lord again&s;t Poor <HI>New-England;</HI> Nei|ther have we been freed from having part with others in the gene|ral Calamities that God hath brought on this poor place. Yet it is ob&s;ervable how graciou&s;ly the Lord hath dealt with us; that in the time of great Mortality by the Small-pox, when &s;o many hundreds dyed, though many of us were vi&s;ited with that Vi&s;itation, yet not one of our Society was removed by it: but it was not for any thing in us, that the Lord &s;pared us, but for his Name &s;ake, that the Mouth of our Adver&s;aries might be &s;ilent.</P>
<P>But thus injuriou&s;ly to be dealt with, is no new thing. How often have the mo&s;t Innocent and Harmle&s;s bin rendred the mo&s;t Vile, and Odious? God's poor Servants mu&s;t not think much at the&s;e things; It is the way their Lord and Ma&s;ter hath gone in before them, and no other then he hath foretold them, that they mu&s;t meet with; <HI>Luke</HI> 21, 12. <HI>Jo.</HI> 16.33.</P>
<P>And here we cannot but take &s;ome notice of a Book lately put forth by <HI>Mr. Mather,</HI> entitled <HI>the Divine right of Infant Bapti&s;m;</HI> (&s;ooner &s;aid then proved.) The Book it &s;elf will &s;ufficiently &s;atisfy any &s;ober unbya&s;&s;ed Chri&s;tian that &s;hall peru&s;e it, what was the main, or at
<PB N="13" REF="10">lea&s;t one main de&s;ign of the Author of it, which no doubt was (what ever is pretended) to render us as odious as he could, and not onely us here, but all tho&s;e of God's people the World over, that pa&s;s under that nickname of <HI>Anabapti&s;ts:</HI> a very unhappy de&s;ign, and e&s;pecially in &s;uch a day as this, when the Common Adver&s;ary is too bu&s;y. No doubt, Satan and his In&s;truments are much gratifyed by it, the Common Adver&s;ary will make him&s;elf Sport with it, and the more that &s;uch a thing &s;hould be done in <HI>New-England.</HI> But we de|&s;ire to lament that there &s;hould be &s;uch a Spirit breathing in Gods peo|ple one again&s;t another. We blame not the Author for di&s;puting for what he believes to be a truth in the point of Bapti&s;m, but for ca&s;ting &s;o much dirt, and filth on tho&s;e of the Lord's People, who are not of his mind in that particular; neither &s;hall we, nor have we time now to take up the Arguments, to make any reply to them, they are no new Arguments, but &s;uch as have been oft-times &s;ufficiently an&s;wered. As to the &s;trange &s;tories that be in it, we know not whether they be true, or fal&s;e; we may have as much ground to que&s;tion them, as to believe them: but if we grant they may be true, and that to the utmo&s;t ex|tent of what they are &s;et out to be; it makes us, nor the Truth we pro|fe&s;s, never the wor&s;e, though it may cau&s;e us, and the Truth to be evil &s;poken of by &s;ome, as the mi&s;carriages of the profe&s;&s;ors of Truth, do cau&s;e the Truth they profe&s;s, and the innocent profe&s;&s;ors thereof, to be evil &s;poken of: but tho&s;e that profe&s;s the fear of God &s;hould know better then &s;o to practi&s;e. And may not he that hath a mind to it, write a great Volumn of mo&s;t Hideous Crimes, Abominations, Mur|thers, Cruel Ma&s;&s;acres, Uncleanne&s;s, and fearfull Debaucheries yea Horrid Seditions, and In&s;urrections, that have from time to time been perpetrated, by a very great, yea by the greate&s;t number of tho&s;e that are for Infants Bapti&s;m? and would it be well taken, and favour of a good Spirit, to charge all the&s;e evils upon all tho&s;e that are for Infant Bapti&s;m; and make it an Argument to condemn them; and their practice, as the Author of this Book hath done on the otherhand? But we &s;hall not dabble our &s;elves with &s;uch dirty work, wickedly to in|jure tho&s;e who are Holy, and Innocent, though we may judge them to be in an error, as they may judge al&s;o of us; it is better to pray one for another, that we all may be led into all Truth, by the Spirit of Truth.</P>
<P>We &s;hall &s;peak particularly (only) to what he &s;aith in the clo&s;e of his Book, in <HI>page</HI> 26; where fir&s;t he is plea&s;ed to &s;ay we are combin'd in oppo&s;ition to the Churches of Chri&s;t in <HI>New-England,</HI> this hath bin &s;ufficiently an&s;wer'd in the foregoing di&s;cour&s;e.</P>
<PB N="14" REF="11">
<P>Secondly. He chargeth us with the Sin of <HI>Jeroboam,</HI> in making of the lowe&s;t of the people Prie&s;ts. We ea&s;ily under&s;tand what he meaneth in this; our Evil in this re&s;pect, is our calling to office tho&s;e that have not bin bred up in Colledges, and taught in other Tongues, but have bin bred up to other Callings, but it is not becau&s;e we are again&s;t Learning; for we do e&s;teem it, and honour it in its place; and if we had &s;uch among us, and that they were, together with that, otherwi&s;e duly qualified for the work of the Mini&s;try, we &s;hould readily improve them. But we do not think that the Spirit of God is locked up within the narrow limits of Colledge-Learning, that there are none fit to be called to Office in a Church but &s;uch, nor that all &s;uch are fit for &s;uch a Work, be they never &s;o great Scholars; neither doe we think that all tho&s;e that have not that Learning, are to be accounted the lowe&s;t of the People. God had indeed bounded the Prie&s;thood to the Tribe of <HI>Levi;</HI> He had &s;et apart that Tribe for that Work by a Divine In&s;titution. But we cannot find that the Lord (by Divine In&s;titution) hath tyed the Work of the Mini&s;try unto men of &s;uch Learning only, but whom he will, he fits and qualifies for that work. Neither are we left without plain Rules in the new Te&s;tament to direct us in this matter.</P>
<P>Thirdly; He chargeth us with a pernicious Principle in the Con|fe&s;&s;ion of our Faith; (that is) that Believers baptized, are vi&s;ible Saints, and fit matter for a vi&s;ible Church. But who dares deny this to be a &s;ound Truth? which he is plea&s;ed to call a pernicious Principle. As for the Conclu&s;ion he draws from thence, <HI>viz.</HI> That there are no vi&s;ible Believers but tho&s;e that are Baptized, is his own, and not ours; the improvement that he makes of it, and not what we make of it. Far be it from us to judge all that are not Baptized, not to be vi&s;ible Saints: for we judge that the Lord hath many precious People in the World that are not baptized, according to or in the manner that we Baptize; and further we judge they &s;hould be vi&s;ible Saints, be|fore, Baptized, or el&s;e they have no right to Bapti&s;m, for it is not Bapti&s;m that can make Saints. And as for our e&s;teeming, and looking on Infant Bapti&s;m as nothing, or a nullity, that is true; and we can look on it no otherwi&s;e, till we &s;ee light to own it to be that which he thinks of it, <HI>viz.</HI> of Divine Right, which we cannot &s;ee any ground from the Word of God to do. And as for not owning their Churches to be the Churches of Chri&s;t, we never yet denyed them to be Churches of Chri&s;t. It is enough for every one to prove his own Work. But we have own'd them as Churches of Chri&s;t, and do look at them as &s;uch: for where there is true matter joyned together in the bond of a Holy Covenant, they may be looked at as a true Church,
<PB N="15" REF="11">though they may be defective in &s;ome things; and for not owning it, when put to it in a Publick A&s;&s;embly, there might be good rea&s;on for that; but it was not denyed then. Chri&s;t him&s;elf did not an&s;wer Que|&s;tions put to him &s;ometimes, when he knew they were propo&s;ed for an evil end. Again, he &s;eems to take &s;ome notice of the time that we cho&s;e to make our di&s;turbance in, (as he call's it) and the Animator thereof. We know not well what he means by it, and therefore do not well know what to &s;ay to it. But as to the reflection of making di&s;turbance, he &s;eems as though he would make the World to believe that we had cau&s;ed &s;ome Tumult, or Sedition, or made &s;ome In&s;ur|rection. But the thing he means, was the Act of our fir&s;t gathering into a Church-&s;tate, which was not openly done, whereby there &s;hould be any di&s;turbance cau&s;ed; neither was there any, neither have we from fir&s;t to la&s;t ever made or cau&s;ed any di&s;turbance; but the truth is, we have &s;uffered very much di&s;turbance, and have &s;eldom been &s;uffered to be at re&s;t, or quiet, though none more de&s;irous to be at peace then we. But who have bin the principal cau&s;e of our trouble and di&s;turbance, we &s;hall not here name; It is well enough known who they are, and how much di&s;turbance we have met with, how often our Meetings have been di&s;turbed by Con&s;tables, and Mar&s;hals. Further, as to the other two things: <HI>viz</HI> Calling to Office one that was under Church-Cen&s;ure, and al&s;o the receiveing of &s;uch who for Scandal were ju&s;tly excommunicated, they have been already fully an&s;wered; and therefore we &s;hall not &s;peak further to it here. Oh what matter of Lamentation is it, that there &s;hould be &s;uch a Spirit breathing among tho&s;e that profe&s;s Godline&s;s, and &s;uch bitterne&s;s &s;pringing up, and that in <HI>New-England!</HI> Can the like be parallel'd in the whole Chri&s;tian World, That a People that fled from Op|pre&s;&s;ion, into this Wilderne&s;s for Liberty of Con&s;cience, &s;hould be|come &s;uch great Oppre&s;&s;ors of others for their Con&s;cientiou&s;ne&s;s to the Lord in the matters of his Wor&s;hip? Yea, even &s;uch who are one with them too, in all the main points of Religion? Surely this can|not but be greatly provoking to the Eyes of the Lord, and doubtle&s;s hath had, among other Sins, a great hand in pulling down all the &s;ore Judgments of the Lord on this poor place. O <HI>New-England!</HI> cea&s;e any longer to &s;mite thy Fellow-Servants, le&s;t he that hath already removed four of thy Candle-Sticks, whil&s;t thou ha&s;t been labouring (though yet in vain) to remove one, come and remove all the re&s;t, and make thy Habitation a De&s;olation for ever.</P>
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