Truths Caracter OF PROFESSORS And their TEACHERS Which by looking through may bring to their remembrance the dayes of old and how it was then with them which may evidently shew unto them what hath befallen them since they degenerated from the measure of God which some of them had in them And it may also put them in mind of Gods Justice and severity towards them Here is also something in Answer to some remarkable particulars which were extracted out of above thirty Addresses which were presented to Richard Cromwell when he was Protector and were published to the Nation in the 〈◊〉 as one by Tho Goodwin by the appointment of the Officers and Messengers of above a hundred Congregational Churches And others from some of the Churches of the Baptized people bâ—t the most of them were from the parochial priests and others that joyned with them from most of the Counties in the Nation whereby their hypocrisie and deceit their folly and flatteries are made palpably manifest to their shame and confusion of face By one that is appointed of the Lord to make war in Righteousness under the banner of the Lamb in the Truths behalf both against the Beast and false Prophet known unto men by the name of William Caton The dayes of visitation are come the dayes of recompence are come Israel shall know it the Prophet is a fool the spiritual man is mad Hos. 9. 7. For they have sown the wind and they shall reap the whirlwind it hath no stalk the bud shall yiel'd no meal Hosea 8. 7. Because I have called and ye have refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded but ye have set at nought all my counsel and would have none of my reproof I also will laugh at your calamity I will mock when your fear cometh Proverbs 1. 24 25 26. LONDON Printed for Thomas Simmons at the sign of the Bull and Mouth near Aldersgate 1660. An Epistle to the Reader Friend THat which I have here published may give thee to understand if with a meek spirit thou wilt peruse it how the Lord several years ago caused his Light in some measure to shine out of the darknesse in the hearts of many of these professing Professors whereby they came in measure to see the grosse darknesse wherewith people was then covered and many of the superstitions that were then upheld by such as professed godlinesse And then a zeal for God did stir in many of them against them and while they retained their tendernesse and simplicity and kept in the fear of the Lord then was the Lord near them but when they begun to seek and set up themselves more then the Lords glory and his truth then did the Lord by degrees withdraw from them when they exalted themselves and begun to persecute the harmlesse and innocent people that were brought through mercy to the enjoyment of what they saw at a distance And when they got the power into their hands then their Priests with the help of their power begun to silence others and keep under them even as they had been silenced and kept under And they crept into their parsonage-houses and benefices in processe of time became highly guilty of their abominations Moreover by that which here followeth thou may see how many of them will change their merchandiâ—e to continue their trade dishonest gain are like unto subtil cunning merchant-men who observe what merchandize is the most commodious and will vend the best among those they deal withall even they will they provide for them partly for their own advantage and partly for pleasing of the people c. This following Treatise also sheweth how they have cryed for help and how they have been countenanced and holpen by the sundry powers that have been in being for these many years And particularly how generally from almost every County in the Nation they with others made their deceitfull Adresses unto R. Cromwell by which thou may see their blasphemies and flatteries their promises and engagements unto him And do thou judge how decâ—â—tful and hypocritical they have proved And it also appears by what followeth what hath happened unto and befallen those that helped them who are fallen split and broken yet they whom they combined together against stand in as much power authority and dominion in Gods eternal Truth as ever and the Lord hath appeared to their joy and honour whom they cast out but to their shame and confusion who have dealt deceitfully both with God and man And if the Lord shall cause the same measure to be mete to them which they have measured unto others it would but be just with him who will in no wise acquit the guilty nor suffer the wicked to go unpunished These things are put forth to publick view not to add grief unto their affliction that are already humbled and cast down but rather to put them in mind of their former proceedings which have caused this day of distress and calamity to be hastned upon them of which they have been often warned foretold by us the Lords Servants who now rejoyceth not because it is come upon them for we have rather desired to have seen them have forsaken the evil of their doings have returned unto the Lord with all their hearts that so they might have obtained Mercy from him neither is this intended to strengthen the hands of their persecutors for we are as absolutely against the spirit of persecution in their adversaries as we were against it in them and our testimony by suffering under it we expect and intend to bear against it now and henceforth as heretofore if the Lord permit And we are now as far from siding with these Priests who cast them out as we were from siding with them in their covetous practises and their abominations which hath long grieved the hearts and spirits of the faithful Now if thou be one that art concerned in the things herein contained be not offended with my plain and upright dealing for a necessity laid upon me to write and publish these things which I saw in the light of the Lord to be come and coming to passe And if I be accounted their enemy for telling them the Truth I shall notwithstanding rest in peace in the Lord in whose sight I have cleared my conscience concerning them in much love and tendernesse towards the witnesse of God in them which is now nearer to answer unto the Truth in many of them then it was when they were high and lifted up And oh that they would yet lay these things to heart and return unto him that smiteth them then should they find favour in his sight with whom we know there is mercy that he might be feared W. C. Truths Caracter of PROFESSORS and of their TEACHERS c. HEar Oh ye wise and prudent men of this world and seriously weigh and consider the things that I have to lay before you For a necessity
lyeth upon me to mind you of what is past what is present and what is to come to passe concerning you or many of you who have had sundry tender visitations of Gods eternal Love and many precious opportunities hath he put into your hands wherein you might have answered his Love and have perfected hisâ— praise in the earth had you not sought your selves more then the glory of God and the welfare of others And therefore is it just with the Lord now to pour out contempt upon you in the sight of those whom you have contemned and to make you as contemptible in the eyes of others as his despised people have been in yours You have had a glorious day of prosperitie as to the outward wherein the Sun of Righteousnesse hath caused his Light to shine forth gloriously to the illuminating of many of your understandings beyond your fellow Creatures but you have not liked to walk in his Light nor to retain his Counsel therefore is a thick dark mist come upon you so that you cannot see afar off and fear that surprizeth many of you and you are in a strait not yet well knowing what will be the end of these things that have befallen you one blaming another for his treachery and deceitful dealing when he that blames his fellow is as inexcusable as he that is guilty of the thing for which he is blamed had you been free from the things that heretofore have been laid to your charge by those whose Testimony you could not then receive then had not these things come upon you which the children of Light saw in the light of the Lord would befall you seeing you hated reproof and would not chuse the fear of the Lord notwithstanding all that which he had done for you But oh that you would now call to mind the dayes of old and the years that are past wherein you groaned under a heavy yoak of bondage which many of you for some years travelled under when you were restrained from having the liberty of your Consciences to serve God in that way which appeared to your understanding to be more agreeable to the Scriptures of Truth then that publick way of worship which then was established in the Nation which you then saw the emptinesse of by the light of the Lord in your own selves Do you not yet remember what a tendernesse there was in those daies in your hearts towards the Lord and good people And were not the meetings that you had in those dayes in your own houses or in other private places very comfortable and refreshing and was there not more of the presence and power of God felt and seen amongst you in your meetings in those daies when any man among you that feared God might have had liberty to speak what was upon his Spirit then there hath been for sundry years or is at this day And was it not better with you then when you were branded with the name of Puritan and Round-head and derided if not stoned in the streets as you have past and repâ—st to and from those * contemptible meetings in which you found so much of the presence and goodnesse of God And could you not in those daies have borne the revilings of the people much better then you could do now Could you not also have suffered better for that which your soules then thirsted after then now you could for that which you professe And was not your love very large to such as in those daies were persecuted for conscience sake did not you then take part with them when you durst appear against such as persecuted them And was not that the light of the Lord in you which let you see in those daies the evil of oppression and the evil of persecution wherewith you were persecuted for conscience sake was not that also the light of the Lord that gave you to see the emptinesse of that worship which you then liked not to be conformable unto And was not that of God in you that made you willing to suffer for conscience sake rather then you would do that which was contrary to your conscience And had you not peace joy comfort and refreshment in measure in your sufferings when you suffered not as evil doers but simply for conscience sake was not your prayers in those daies offered up unto the Lord with much tendernesse and many tears and did you not then feel something in your hearts making intercession unto the Lord with sighes and groans which were hard to be uttered And did you not in those daies make many vowes promises and engagements unto the Lord even upon your bended knees that if he would be pleased to appear for you and by the arme of his power bring deliverance unto you and set you free from that yoak of bondage which you then groaned under oh what you would then do in order to the propagating of his Gospel advancing of his glorious Truth removing the oppressions from off the oppressed making of his people a free people to the setting up of righteousnesse in the earth and to the shewing forth of his praise among the inhabitants of the earth c. Do you not yet remember that several years ye were wont to breaâ—h forth such things in your prayers to the Lord who was determined to try you as he hath done as afterwards may more fully appear Is it not well known unto many of you how that when you were little in your own eyes and few in number in comparison of the multitude that was contrary minded that even then and at that time when your hearts were very tender and you very low and humble before the Lord then did he appear for you for then he had respect unto you and his anger that was kindled against those that then would not let you have the liberty of your Consciences for they sought to quench and extinguish that which he had kindled in your hearts and their sins and abominations were grown to a very great height and many things the Lord had against them so that in processe of time the fire of his jealousie did wax so hot against them that they were not able to dwell in it but did begin to fly to the mountains and to the hills and unto them they cried for help but these could not save them from the terrible storm which swept them away Then did your day begin to dawn and the visitation of Gods eternal Love was then unto you whose cries had in the daies of your distresse entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabboth and then was he determined to try you whom he raised even as from the dunghill and put a very excellent opportunity into your hands For then many in Authoritie and Power begun to advise with you and take counsel at you and put you into places of preferment which you receiving begun to alter from the Lord and
some of them you begot into your own image and these promoted you and you flattered them And by degrees in processe of time you came to be invested with the supream Authoritie in the Nation And then you strove to wind out those that were not for your design though for your own ends you made use of many that were not of your mind but them you kept under and by guile caught them in your snare so that it was so with you for a season that you might do what seemed good in your own eyes And then many begun to sit down at ease having enriched themselves with the spoil of their enemies and were not onely gotten into their possessions and estates but were also plunged into their sins and were become as proud as covetous as self-seeking as their enemies had been And this many saw in the light of the Lord that had been one with you in your affliction and distresse in your sufferings and servitude which you had passed through before you came into the seats of those that the Lord drove out before you And when those that feared the Lord amongst you beheld your degeneration and saw so little was performed of what was promised by you they begun to desert you and many that retained their sinceritie towards God came out voluntarily from among you and others that could not bear your actions but must reprove you were turned out by you And even at that very time when many of you were in Authoritie did the Lord God of heaven and earth cause his Light to shine out of the darknesse in the hearts of a remnant even more clearly and more gloriously then it had done in yours And by this eternal Light which was the same that had shined in your Consciences whereby you had seen the evil of those things which you had long groaned under by this Light I say did the Lord convince many of his everlasting Truth and of the evil of destroying and devouring one another so that many came by the arme of Gods power to be gathered into the life of those things which you professed and came again to be brought into that tendernesse which you had lost and came to be more abundantly sensible of Gods eternall power and presence then you had been before And though those had been with you and had hazarded life liberty and estate with you yet you could not bear them because they could not bear your hypocrisie and deceit nor suffer it to passe unreproved therefore did you turn your hand against them that were your dearest friends and begun to make Leagues and Covenants with such as have now proved your enemies indeed And crept into fellowship with them and so sate down and setled your selves in that which was not your rest And then by degrees crept into Societies and some got into one form and some into another And many became Presbyterians and strove to draw if it had been possible all men after them into that Form in which there were and yet to this day are some as bad as those that you suffered under many years ago so in processe of time many came to see by the light of the Lord that they were not in the right way And so left them and went forth from that in themselves by which they had seen their covetousnesse their rigidnesse and the emptinesse of their form and so went too among them called Independants who in some things had a more shew of godlinesse though but in a few then the Presbyterians had but in a certain time their ambition and arrogancy appeared their covetousnesse and self-conceitednesse which became a burthen to such as retained their zeal and tendernesse towards the Lord and many such honest-hearted and self-denying people came out from among them and could not be content to keep at a distance from all till the Lord shewed them who were his flock and where they did feed and rest And therefore did they run to the Anabaptists so called who differed much in judgement from those with whom they had walked but in processe of time the light of the Lord manifested the emptinesse of their inventions as it had done the loosenesse of other Professors who had lost their tendernesse towards God which they seemed to have when they first setled in the forms before mentioned which many by running into them from that of God in themselves lost and so became dead dry barren and unfruitfull as many of you are who are as it were scorched and withered as trees of the heath without sap in the desert where you may behold your figure And when it came to be thus with you then many such as were tender among you and could not find him whom their souls loved while they continued in your forms came by the arm of the Lords Power to be pluckt out from among you as fire brands out of the fire and then many of you came to be offended and your indignation came to be kindled against them as the wrath of your adversaries was kindled against you in the dayes of your tendernesse and then did you instead of paying your vowes which you made unto the Lord in the day of your distress add unto the afflictions of the afflâ—cted and began to augment the oppressions of the oppressed and did behave your selves so uncharitably towards a suffering people even as if you your selves had never been acquainted with suffering so when you had lost the tendernesse that was in your selves you exalted your selves over them that were tender and made a prey upon them and cast them out from among you out of places of authority out of power and out of your Church fellowships And then preferred shallow selfish prating and deceitful men that would comply with you for their own ends above discreet sober honest and conscientious men that feared God when they could not swear nor bow to you nor give you flattering Titles did you not then and often upon that very account lay them aside esteemed them unfit to be in any place of office and so lightly regard your truest friends who bore much of the heat of the day and were more noble and valiant then your selves and for whose sakes rather then for yours the Lord often delivered you out of your enemies hands And some of you did not onely turn them out of power but gave your power unto their and your enemies for them to make a prey upon such as were recovered again to that state and condition which you were in when you suffered for conscience sake by that power that they had joyned with you against and yet did you do unto them as your adversaries did unto you when they had power over you yet they did not so unto you as you did unto them by whom you suffered For against them you plotted conspired and sought both their Lives and Estates as since hath appeared
30. 31. * So they were in the eyes of your persecutors but precious to you at that time The Professors vowes and promises which they made to the Lord When they were low and tender the Lord had respect to them Isa. 33. 14. Hos. 10. 8. How evill befell them Why they that feared the Lord turned away from them How others were brought to that which they had lost How they crept into falâ—e rests How they run from form to form from the Light of the Lord in themselves Cant. 1. 7. How they lost their tendernes and became dry barren c. Jer. 17 6. Zach. 3. 2. How they behaved themselvs towâ—rds the tender harted when they had lost their tendernesse Those that suffered by them for conscience-sake did not unto them as they had done unto their Adversaries Psa. 129. 3 How they came to be undone When they forsook the Lord then did he leavethem to themselves 1 Cor. 1. 19. Their confidence How they came to be weakened and then became like other men 1 Tim. 6. 9. How they came to get swords upon their thighs What temptations they that feared the Lord had from them How they became peâ—secutors of the Innocent * So I call â—hem because you have sitten in judgment upon them A prophesiâ— concerning them Note Joh. 16. 2. * This is spoke of them that in scorn â—re called Quakers 1 Cor. 1. 20. Serious questions concerning them As they have done to others so shall they be done unto Isa. 66. 5. psal. 130 7 Note here the subtilty of the Priests Mark their authority How they received the wage but did not the work â—ow professors were a 〈◊〉 to some while they had the power in their hand 2 Tim. 3. from the fiâ—st to the 10. verse High professing Priests as cruell and wicked in some things as others yea and as prophane as those that were judged to bâ— scandalous From whence they had their power And how they fed poor people with their inventions How they have usurped Authoritie and over whom 2 Pet. 2. 2. A caracter by which their end in creeping into profession may be known How they have already brought contempt upon themselves One great evill of theirs manifested Note * How they â—heltered themselves alwayes under such as did flourish the most and what is befallen their friends Jer. 6. 14. 15. Note Wherein some was more noble then their fellowes Isa. 2. 17. Note What the expectations of mâ—ny are They are like unto subtile Merchant-men 2 pet. 2. Observe their craft and policy How they changed their Merchandize How they strove to pleasesuch as did bear rule Why they change their Merchandize * What need they have of the help of the powers of the earth and how they are begun already to cry unto them Act. 21. 28 That was O. C. * What the long Parliament did for them Their lies and blasphemies manifestâ—â— * Which are to be sâ—en in tâ—e abstract that I have taken out of their addresses to R. C. This Ordinance was made by the Parliament for Tithes Ano 1647. * Vide An Act made by O. C. and his Parliament An. 1656. Hoâ—O C. above many in his day helped them The Prophets and Apostles had never such an Act made on their behalf How tedious they were and how difficult it was for the Magistrates to keep them quiet or to be quiet for them Vide O. C. Ordinance made An. 1654. How they were placed in places by the authority of man and not by Christs Heb. 11. 36 37 38. How the Ministers of Christ had no Augmentation allowed them or provided for them by the powers of the earth How the Magistrates heretofâ—re have been troubled with the Priests How they have had trouble with them How Officers must be troubled 〈◊〉 Priests How have 〈…〉 upon Rulerâ— for 〈◊〉 years How they flattered R. C. when they sought his help The end wherefore their following Addresses were published to the Nation a Whaâ— did fear begin to possesse you oh ye Proâ—essors that you also â—ust make your addresse and 〈◊〉 your 〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉 what example for â—his had you in the holy scripture b If you have not many good people in this nation have to whose bonds you congregational Churches have added afâ—liction c If you mean Oli. he was liker Hamon then Mordecai in his self-seeking honour and promotion more then the weal of Gods people who stood at his gates like Mordecai and when he in great pomp hath come by could not bow unto him d If your faith be one with theirs in New-England then we know how far it will extend yet we have better hopes of many of you then of them of New-England whose desperate wickednesse have exâ—ended to the taking away of the lives of the innocent whose blood continues crying for vengeance upon them who have done that hoâ—rid wickednâ—sse which cannot but amaze the simple among you that yet retain any tendernesse in your hearts towards the Lord and good people e We have not yet found so many of you in one mind without contradicting one another especially in matters pertaining unto Religion f Oh miâ—â—rable men â—had your faith been the faith of Gods Elect you needed not have been so â—aithlesse neither would you have been so foolish as to have committed your faith to him to countenance and propagate who could not propagate defend and protect his own Oh you of little faith who were so suddenly surprized with fear when you saw you had lost the protection of that great Mordecai â—hen you shewed your selves like the Reformed Churches so called indeed who run with them for help from him that then had the power in his hand for whom you then engaged to pray but do you now according to your engagement g What could not your saith keep you out of Egypt neither but you must run with Presbyterians and Independants into Egypt for help tell us that could not go with you what found you when you came there did you not rather get shame and reproach thereby then either help or profit what did you not know before you went that the Egyptians help was in vain and to no purpose would it not have been more honour and advantage to you to have stood still and in the faith and paâ—ience to have waited upon the Lord then to have run down into Egypt and to trust in the shadow thereof which is now become and that justly your shame and confusion h Doâ—h his memory yet remain precious to you wherefore then do you not strive to wipe away the reproach that is cast upon him i If he was your Father as Elijah waâ—Elishas then tâ—ll us wheâ—her his spirit of policy do rest upon you since his departure as Elijahs spirit did rest upon Eâ—isha after they were both parted asunder yea or nay k But it seems that you with your listing up your hearts and hands to God could not prevaile with the Lord as Iacob did that
promises and pretences have deceived many of You they have had their day of visitation as well as You they have also had a day of prosperitie wherein they have promised Peace to themselves and to You also several of them have had some tendernesse in their hearts towards God I do believe when they saw by the light of the Lord in their own consciences the heavy Yoaks and many oppressions that the upright in heart groaned and traveled under and then there was a zeal in them for God and godlinesse and after that power came to be overturned whereby some of them had been silenced then did they begin to stir themselves and night and day laboured and endeavoured to induce You into Church Fellowship and so came too get You too under their discipline And then began to make their party strong and so came to prevail against them that had been authorised by such as had kept them under And then they began to silence others with the same power and weapon by which they themselves had been silenced And then they begun to turn out others by the strength of the same arme by which they themselves 〈◊〉 been kept under and then did they draw many after them And then they came to be highly exalted in the Nation and began to grow into arrogancy and covetousnesse and several of them begun then to look after great benefits And they having the powers of the earth much on their side could by the help of their order easily get others out that were not of their mind and so by degrees could wind themselves in And when they were once setled in their places and livings and got the name of Parliament-Ministers few then durst oppose them or find fault with them they being setled by order of Parliament Then did they begin to insult over many of their Parishioners and proved deceitfull and treacherous to many of them whose Tythe of Corn Hay Wool Lamb Hemp Geese Eggs Pigs Apples Cheries and Turnups c. these have coveted and received and when they have gotten them of poor men they have refused to do those things which they were to do upon whom these benefits were first conferred and so the poor men have been constrained to hire others to do that which they judged their Priests should have done for them as baptized their Infants churched their Wives and have administred that they call the Lords Supper to them which some of your High-Priests would not do to many of their Parishioners and so the poor men have paid double for that which is little worth and if any of them desired to have a Funeral Sermon at their Burial these Priests would not give it them under ten shillings at the least neither would they admit several of their Congregation into fellowship with them except they would take on their form and comply with them in their Traditions which many simple people could not do And therefore hath that been with-holden from them by their Priests that have exercised Lordship over them which the people did think they had as good right unto as their Teachers had unto their Tythe which the poor simple people durst not with-hold from them though they did not administer bread and wine nor read the Service Book But in those daies you and your Priests might do what seemed good in your own eyes for you had then the sword in your hand by which you ruled And so you 〈◊〉 for a season a dread and a terrour to such as did not fear the Lord more then you who then had power to make Lawes and likewise to disanull Lawes And when your Teachers had got a Law on their sides by vertue of which they might recover not onely the Tythe it self but treble dammage of such as did detain it from them then did several of them put it in execution whereby they have caused many deeply to suffer who for conscience sake could not pay them Tythe yet these men of corrupt minds have pretended they could not do the things before-mentioned for Conscience sake when their Parishioners required them as to give them bread and wine church their Women and sprinkle their Infants c. yet they with their defiled Consciences could receive their Tythes and did not seem to scruple at the receiving of them nor yet at going to Law and taking treble dammage of such as for conscience sake could not pay them And those eminent professing Priests could spoil mens goods rifle their houses drive away their Cattel and rail as much against such as feared the Lord in their Pulpits as any and many of them have been known at sundry times to threaten us very much and that especially at such times as they perceived their party prevailed so that from them the people of God have suffered and that deâ—ply And much more opposition we have had from them then we have had from them that you their professing friends turned out for them to come in And those that you secluded were adjudged to be scandalous Ministers but now let the judicious and upright in heart judge what they were that crept into their places and benefices and took their livings from them and did not their work but proved to be more severe towards those that did not put into their mouthes then they that were thrust out by them who have often intruded into places by force having received power and Authoritie from the Powers of the earth so that they have prevailed when there hath been scarce twenty in a parish for them and the rest of the parish hath been against them in their minds and in their hearts yet peradventure durst scarce appear so to be being that he that should have been a servant to them all even exercised Lordship over them all and they must be contented and satisfied with what he invented and studied and provided for them when the people would rather have had that which he with-held from them And thus you Professors when you were but few in a Parish while you had the sword upon your thigh power in your hand could keep a number of people under you who wâ—re dis-satisfied and discontented though they sought to hide and conceal the thing from you with your discipline yet must be subject though by constraint rather then willingly and thus with a high hand have they exercised Lordship and usurped Authoritie not onely over tender Consciences but also over simple ignorant people who rather would have had their former discipline which they had been educated in then new inventions But in those dayes when profession came in fashion and was in estimation many for their own ends crept into it and these high professing Priests got many Proselites and many followed them in their pernicious wayes and upheld them in their covetous practises and sided with them in their plots designs and conspiracies But let people now mark well and observe
your prayers and the prayers of your brethren r Ready you were not to assist him in the uâ—most capacity wherein you were able when others opposed and withstood him and prevailed against him where was thâ—re one of you to be found in readinesse to perform what you have proâ—ised If R. C. put confidence in such as you it is then not so much to be admired that those things befel him which unavoidably are come upon him as it is to be wondred that yoâ— yet have escaped as you do but look to your selves and consider how sundry of the Powers unto which you have addressed are fallen and overturned And your standing is on slippery places s Had he not protected you in your Parsonage-houses which had been other mens livings and Tythes and Benefices and allowed you Salleries and Augmentations you would not have renowned him so much as you pretended to do t Your Promises and Engagements were to little purpose for which of you all can come forth and say he doth both keep and observe them u these fained words that you spoke in hypocrisie you may now be ashamed of and your spirit of deceit is now manifest that you have spoke and wrote from w When or where did you defend it either with your lives or estates Oh ye deceitful men x If you mourned at all it was so little as that Iudge few or none perceived it for many of you had little affection to him in your hearts notwithstanding all your flatterieâ— and deceitful expressions wherewith your Addresses are filled which savours meerly of hypocrisie and deceit and not of sincerity truth y There were many in the Nation that are looked upon to be good people that had not good satisfaction in the thing but lies in hypocrisie you could tell him like the rest of your Brethren z If it had stood strong it would have stood longer but it was not according to your professed hope who begun to cry to it and look for help from it because it was a Mountain a You had better have kept your Testimony to your selves then to have produced it and not to stand true and constant to it b But where â—id any of you appear to assist him in your capacities in a needful time when many forâ—ook him then did you also leave him instead of serving and assisting him like the rest of your deceitful brethen c Are you not of â—nother 〈◊〉 now when his memory begins already to be deâ—ested by many d Do you mean in his placing you in other mens livings and in making Acts and Ordinances on your behalf by which you might recover your Tythe Sallaries and Aâ—gmentations or do you mean his suffering the â—â—nocent to be committed to prison in his Name and suffering their goods to be spoiled their Cattel to be driven away and they to be made a prey upon in his name this his Father did and if he had followed his example according to your hopes then he might have done the like e While he was in power and that you expected help from him then were you seemingly affectionate to him but when he begun to be opposed then instead of obeying and assisting him you desented from him f Had he been as you say then would he not have suffered so many of them to have lain so long in prison as he did neither would he have suffâ—red such flattering deceitful men as you to have made a prey upon them as you did g When their suffering was laid before him he would very seldom put forth his helping hand to assist them but rather strengthened your hands against them so their suffering was continued unto his dying day And at his death he left many of them in prison which brought Infamy two-fold upon him rather then thrice Renown h Yea his care was over you as appears by the Acts and Ordinances before mentioned which were made on your behalf by him and his Parliaments which being now repealed and nihilated you are forced to creep under the shadow of these whom he and you in those dayes called the common enemy against whom you with him took part And when you had overcome them you got into their Livings and their Parsonage houses in which you sate under Oâ—ivers shadow with great safety and sweet repose i Be not then offendâ—d at us hereafter if we call you blind guides and say you are Physitians of no value seeing you have confest that the Light of your eyes and the breath of your nostâ—iâ—â— is taken from you k What was he more glorious then the Lord of Glory who is called the Prince of peace if so how then came his Glory to fade to almost nothing so that it is now become but as a dead and withered flower of the field l So being found speaking lies in hypocrisie I confesse with you you are treading in the steps of your Brethren who have dealt deceitfully like your selves m Many that feared the Lord did as much despise the dignities wherewith O C. was dignified as Elisha despised the gift of Naaman 2 Kings 5 16 n Your tongues appear to be unhallowed by the many lies that are spoken by them in hypocrisie o And are not you now become of the number of them that flâ—sh out insolent reproaches against his Government and Sepulchre and so become guilty of that which you would have had others punished for and therefore are inexcusable your selves p You have proved both unfaithful and unsound in the sight of God and men q But which of you now will adhere unto them in their distresse like as you did in their prosperitie when they were in power and able to help you then for your own ends you could follow them and adhere to them r But when he injoyned the people of God to pay such deceitful workers as you Tythe they could not obey him and therefore did they in his Name suffer by you as they had done in his Fathers dayes s But what have not you in particular ceased praying for him even in the time of his distress when he hath need of the help of the prayers of the faithful t Many fair speeches you have used to him in your sundry Addresses but where or at what time did you hazard either life or estate on his behalf oh you men-pleasers and time-servers the Lord will judge you u Are you not here sound with a lye in your mouth like the rest of your Brethren w If he was the light of your eyes and the breath of your nostrils as some of your brethren said then your losse in loosing of him was great x Surely you speak this as your formallity in hypocrisie and not in sinceritie as hath appeared by your not performing your promises nor much regarding your ingagements which you have so generally made in your Addresses a What could he have done more for you then he did did he not give you other mens livings did he not with
what say you then is now their Light and in what must they now walk if not in the Light of the Lord e If you mean O. C. I say he was liker Pharaoh then Moses for Pharaoh oppressed Gods people and afflicted them sore with the many burthens that he in his cruelty laid upon them who set such task-masters over them as your selves that were cruel and hard-hearted And when Pharaoh saw that they were many he consulted how they should keep them under least that it had come to passe that when there had been war in his Land the people of God should have joyned with their enemies against him and his Subjects And thus did O. by his Laws and Impositions oppresse Gods people and would not suffer them to go free from under the oppression of Tythes which you cruel task-masters did much afflict them with as you do at this day Yet the more Pharaoh and the Task-masters afflicted them the mâ—re they grew and Moses chused rather to suffer affliction with the afflicted then to injoy the pleasures of sin for a seasonâ— but so did not O. after he was made Protector f If you mean R. C. I say he was more like unto Ahaziah Ahabs Son in that he walked in the way of his Father who provoked the Lord God of Israel by his strengâ—hening your hands against the innocent by his not loosing the bands of wickednesse by his not undoing the heavy bâ—rthens when it was in his power and by his not suffâ—ring the oppressed to go free and therefore did he provoke the Lord â—o wrath whereupon his dayes were shortned for the Elects sake g But now you cannot say the same for the Lord doth not onely change Governours but he hath also changed and is changing Governments and you as well as other men must be tryed h But in whom are your hopes now Oh ye vain men how long will it be before you cease from hoping for salvation from the Mountains and from the Hills i If at that day the Lord had with-holden life and breath from you then your transgressions would have been fewer in number then they are at this day for I perceive that it is as easie for a Camel to go through the eye of a needle as it is for you and your Generation to cease from speaking of lyes iâ— hypocrisie you are so exceedingly given up to the thing k To these two names I have spoken in my answer to the last Addresses l But he was too much leavened with your priestly spirit to press after a Reformation m Large were the Promises and fair were the Pretences that you generally made and as you have appeared to make them unanimously so have you manifestly broke them aâ— generally to the shame and dishonour of your profession n If he had done so then he should have done some thing in order to the removing of that grand opprâ—ssion of Tithe and not have strengthened your hands by enjoyning people to have payed them to you o he was a Pillar to your forced maintenance Salleries and Augmentations p He did not so truly and faithfully protect the peace of the peaceable as he did you in your parsonage houses and Mass-houses which you crept into by degrees and then did you begin to exercise Lordship over Gods heritage and to feed upon the fat and to cloath with the wool and then your hearts came to be exalted q Nay though he helped you in many things he never helped you out of that really and truly for both he and you loved the treasures of it too well and were not onely unwilling to come out of it your selves but have also striven to continue the oppressâ—d in it in the affâ—ictions under your rigor and cruelty r Are not you blind guides indeed and unfit to lead others who said you will beg at the Throâ—e of grace that R. C. as another Ioshua may lead 〈◊〉 into a more full pâ—ssession of Truth Righteousnesse and peace Oh Hypocrites well might you cause people to erre by your â—s and hypocrisie for which God will â—â—ge you s In many things he did promote his own Interest and yours more then Zions or her converts who wept in her and he did not comfort them but suffered them to be committed to prison in his Name and there he did not visit them And that which he suffered to be done unto them the Lord took it as done unto himself and he was wroth with him and removed him in his displeasureâ— t Rather fainedly and deceitfully did you promise and engage unto him whose help â—herewith he helped you was to little purpose even so were your flattering and hypoâ—itical promises vain and of no value v Surely you are blind and cannot see afar off and out of the fear of God who have not yet seen the day of the Son of man who ariseth with healing in his wings And therefore dare you the rather presume to put mortal men in the place of him who is immortall And giveth light to these three Nations and not R. C. and likewise to all the Nations upon the face of the earth And who are you that dare presume to set a mortal maâ— in his place w It is the spirit that quickneth and giveth both light and life unto the Nations that are saved x The lying lips are your own who speak blasphemously against the Lord and his Spirit and many lyes have you and your Brethren uttered with your lying lips y And you are like the wandring stars the Apostle Iude speaketh of who runs from mountain to hill and from one power to another to get help of them but the Lord will plead with you in one day a Oâ—ds the worâ— honour wealth glory and riches he got abundantly but when the Lord put an end unto his dayes what did these things then availe him b When he begun to seek himself and his own Interest then did he begin to loose both the hearts and affections of good people c Wherein do you mean in upholding and protecting you in your Benâ—fices in suffering the innocent to be made a prey upon by you in making fair pretences and large promises like your selves to little purpose if these things were not the foot-steps in which you would have had him to have vestigated and followed his Father then declare more plainly what they were d Though you pretended to do it with cheerfulnesse for a season were you not soon weary of it especially when you saw you could have no advantage by it e Though he was renowned with you so was he not with all because he did not shew mercy as mercy was shown him but suffered the poor and needy to be persecuted therefore are his children become as vagabonds and strangers have spoiled his Labour Psal. 109. 10. 11. f For your own ends it was and that you might be seen to be conformable to your Brethren in their â—latteries and deceit g Are your prayers yet engaged