was pleased to make others and not the Cavaliers Instruments in his hand against his Sons therefore that was a Revelation to Geo. Fox that K. Charles II. should return to his Crowns again if Fox had such a Revelation he was strangely disobedient to the Heavenly Vision in writing as he did to the Presbyterians just before the Restauration as you will see by and by such another Prophecy we have in the next words given forth by Burroughs himself and yet the Letter was wrote December 1659. when almost every one but such blind Beetles as these did foresee it But what said the Oracle then It tells the Cavaliers That the same Spirit of Pride Oppression and Idolatry was entered into their Enemies and did live in them in as high a measure as it had done in the Cavaliers and their Iniquities were well nigh finished and the Lord would one way or another correct and repâ—ove them But mark it the Prophet was presently at a loss for whether says he the Lord will ever make use of you Cavaliers to reprove them as he did of them to reprove you this I determine noâ— but leave it to him who can do whatsoever he will by what Instruments he pleaseth A most wonderful Revelation that God should some way or other rebuke notorious open and universal wickedness especially in Men of Publick Place and Station when St. Paul tells us the Wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of Men and we have so many instances thereof from Scripture and our own Experience But his Prophecy gave little hopes to the Cavaliers since he reminds them therein that though they had made many attempts to be revenged on their Enemies they had not prosper'd the Lord had hitherto always defeated them and bow'd them down under a People as unworthy as others and Ch. Stuart must either be converted to God he was it seems at that time wholly estranged from him and ruled by him or else he can never rightly rule for God in this Nation and then he did believe it was not impossible but that he might be a Rod upon them that had once smote him Who would not travel a great way to be resolv'd in his Doubts by such a famous Prophet Truly had the Oracles of the Heathens been no clearer or more to the purpose than these Prophesies the Priests of Apollo would have had but a miserable Trade of it and yet says Burroughs it appears that these things in a great measure were foreseen and prophesied of And yet he presently after tells them that his Prophecy was nothing but a rational Observation of things for 't was says he verily believed that such a thing would be your Enemies having so acted and proceeded as to destroy themselves and so bring you in over their heads though they little intended the thing yet the effect of their proceedings could hardly prove otherwise than to destroy themselves and make room for you and these things I observed saith he So that all the Divine Revelations hereof shrunk at last into a prudent and rational Guess which he made upon their indiscreet management and ordering of matters Such another Prophet was Stephen Crispe who seeing the Nation engaged in a dangerous War and London at the same time suffering by a dismal Fire September 1666. began to foretel a sad time coming upon all the Inhabitants except his own Party and positively says it shall be before seven times which the Friends no doubt understood to be seven years should pass over them for thus he speaks Friends I am the more drawn forth at this time to visit you with an Epistle An Epistle to Friends concerning the present and succeeding Times p. 13 15. because the Lord has given me some sight of his great and dreadful Day and Workings in it which is at hand and greatly hastens of which I have something to say unto you that you may be prepared to stand in his Day and may behold his wonderous Workings amongst his Enemies and have fellowship with his Power therein to be sure they must joyn with their King and assist him against his Enemies And as concerning those succeeding times the Spirit of the Lord hath signified that they will be times of horrour and amazement to all that have and yet do reject his Council for as the Day of his Forbearance Warning and Inviting have been long so shall his Appearance amongst those that have withstood him be fierce and terrible even so terrible as who shall abide his Coming for the Lord will work both secretly and openly and his Arm shall be manifest to his Children in both And because of the hardship and sorrow of those Days many shall seek and desire Death rather than Life Had this been the Day of the general Judgment who would have doubted the truth of what was here said but as they believe no such particular Day shall outwardly be so 't was a Day that should come upon the wicked Inhabitants of this Nation who had so long withstood the Warnings and Invitings of their Teachers whereupon he proceeds Ah! My heart relents and is moved within me in the sense of these things and much more than I can write or declare which the Lord will do in the Earth and will also make haste to accomplish amongst the Sons of Men that they may know and consess that the Most High doth rule in the Kingdoms of Men and pulleth down and setteth up according to his own Will and this Men shall do mark that before seven times pass over them and shall be content to give their Glory to him that sicteth in Heaven That is if we may interpret so great a Mystery all Kings and Princes shall be forc'd to yield up their Crowns Scepters and Coronets into the hands of the Quakers King that he may give them to his Servants for the Meek must inherit the Earth and he assur'd them 't would not be long Before seven times pass over the wicked they should be forc'd to yield up all to the Most High who pulls down and sets up whom he pleases It were endless to trace these Men in all their Follies of this kind who so extremely doted upon uttering Prophecies that they could not write a Pamphlet without giving a cast of their Skill herein We will mention but one passage more though that alone is sufficient to confound these Persons for ever and make them asham'd of such a Lying Spirit as has all along possessed their Prophets One Richard Crane soon after his Majesty's Restauration wrote a Piece Rich. Crane's Strict Account of Bab. Merch. printed for Tho. Symons at the Bull and Mouth c. styl'd A Strict Account of Babylon's Merchants c. where he welcoms the Loyal Clergy who had suffered so long and so much for their King with these Presages no doubt out of great affection to his Majesty for they were then become the only Royal Loyal Men
Wenching and Fornicating which were the Wolf in him were not discovered till some time after Leeds in his Trumpet sounded p. 64. tells us of a counterfeit Quaker who tho a silly Woman could put a cheat upon their pretended Spirit of discerning how she travel'd from Meeting to Meeting through several Countries and held forth most powerfully and was entertained by Friends as a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to their great refreshment and admiration and never discerned to be no Quaker till discovered by others So that now they admit none to travel upon Truth 's account without Certificates Whitehead in his Quaker plainness tells us they have a record in peoples Consciences but now they must have a record in their Pockets too or their Friends will not receive them upon a Conscience-Record Who doubts but Judas was wicked enough yet the people might hear him and follow him whilst in his Doctrine he followed the Instructions of his Master Nay there is no doubt he might convert some by his Ministry and they receive Nourishment from this Wolf as Romulus and Renues from another seeing the efficacy of the Ministry depends not so much on the worth of the Minister as upon God's Grace Far be it from us to plead for the profane and scandalous we could heartily wish there were no more of such Wolves in the Church than there are of the other sort in the Kingdom because tho God may cooperate with the Ministry of such if their Doctrine be according to Truth and Godliness yet he does not so usually do it unless their Preaching be accompanied and enforced with the visible Doctrine of a holy Life Remember Judas was one of the Twelve sent out by Christ to gather a Church and it were an impeachment of the Divine Wisdom to say he made choice of an 2 Cor. 2. 17. Instrument which was no ways fit for the work As for the two Scriptures 1 Thess 1. 5. which he produces when he tells us what he brought them for whether to prove Infallibility or Transubstantiation we will return an answer P. 7. But there is another Quotation out of G. Fox given him by the Brief Discovery which George Whitehead is pleased to take no notice of and it is P. 96. this He says to the Priest Thou not being infallible thou art not in the Gr. Myâ—â— Spirit and â—o art not a Minister of Christ and art not able to judg of Powers that is not infallible nor Magistrates nor Kingdoms nor Churches So then it seems Powers Magistrates Kingdoms and Churches are to be judged at this infallible Bar. 'T is to be feared 't was this Judgment of such a Light within that câ—ndemned and cut off the Head of one great Magistrate in our own Country for nothing can stand before its High Court of Justice all Power P. 13. in Heaven and Earth as W. Smith in his Primer saith being given to it Let the Magistrates look to this perhaps ere long they may find it as necessary for their preservation to cause People to renounce the Authority of a Pope within as of a Pope without Whereas Edward Burroughs was charged in the Brief Discovery as saying Hereticks are infallibly known and discerned by the P. 7. Spirit of God in the true Church of Christ and by every Member of the same George Whitehead endeavours to justify him by desiring the contrary may be P. 13. inverted upon us and then saith he it must be thus That Hereticks are not infallibl known and discerned by the Spirit of God in the true Church of Christ nor by the Members thereof But George wilt thou never play fair with us always dropping the Card out of thy hand that may spoil thy Game Shouldst not thou have said by every Member thereof No that were too invidious and it would have been hard to have brought off Brother Burroughs handsomly for making too large a stretch if he had said every Member therefore he cunningly shuffles in an Indefinite for an Universal The Members of the Church which cannot imply every individual Member as Burroughs said but may mean some few of them as the Church-Representative in their yearly Juncto But does not Burroughs expresly say Hereticks are known infallibly by the true Church of Christ and every Member thereof And is this a fair Conversion of such a Proposition to say The Members thereof Whitehead hath some Scriptures which he hopes may help him at a dead lift to prove this Infallibility of discerning amongst the Quakers but 't will easily appear they have not the least disposition to testify to this Infallibility nay that 't is impossible to wring such a sensless Blasphemy from them for can any imagine the Scriptures of God should go about to set up another God which they would do should they assert another infallible Yet give us leave out of pure Love to them to rescue them from such barbarous violence that they may only give their voluntary and unconstrained Testimony in this matter We will begin with the last being a reserve he places the greatest Confidence in Enoch prophesied of this Behold the Lord cometh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he Jude v. 14. 15. would have it rendred in ten thousands of his Saints and denote only Christ's coming in the Spirit into his Saints and then it must be only a Christ in them must execute Judgment upon the Ungodly and convince them c. and so Christ will have as many Courts of Judicatory as there are Saints in which he shall judg and condemn Sinners But all this while tho Christ in executing Judgment be every where infallible in judging or discerning how proves this the Saint is so in whom he is But perhaps he means every Saint must be infallible in his Judgment having such an infallible Director and Mover within him But the Lameness of this consequence is shewn before it will be still with us as with our Watches tho the Spring be never so strong and good yet by reason of some Cracks and Bruises it got by the fall there may be some Errors and Stops in the motion even of this Masterpiece of the Creation which was at first so fearfully and wonderfully made by God But after all 't is plain the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 must be rendred as in our Translation with and it was never otherwise interpreted by any Christian Writer than of the coming of Christ to Judgment with his Saints to this day till it fell into Quaker hands We have a parallel Deut. 33. 2. place He came with thousands of his Saints So The Lord my God shall Zach. 14. 5. come and all the Saints with thee At the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ with 1 Thess 3. 13. all his Saints Which he explains by being caught up together in the Clouds to Chap. 4. 17. meet the Lord in the Air. Mind but the Context and it will necessarily â—â—ad to
Divine Prophetical Influx and Inspiration when there 's all the evidence imaginable that the Father of Lyes and not the God of Truth was the Author of these spurious Prophesies that by the false he might derive a suspicion upon the true ones or abuse the Minds of Men with vain Hopes or panick Fears Oh let not any of us who own our Saviour for our Prophet receive the Devil for our Oracle if we be sick or weary of things present shall we resort to the God of Ekron by attending to any Prophecy of his incitation for Quiet and Resolution Can the Devil be thought able to answer any Questions concerning things to come Isai 41. 23. Chap. 44. 7. Or is he willing if able to do it with any fair and single Intentions Have the Beams of the Sun of Righteousness put out all the Fires on his Altars Have the Glory and Power of the Divine Oracles and Miracles spoiled his great Trade of Lying Oracles and Wonders and shall our Credulity and Vanity encourage him to drive this secret and little Trade of Prophesies The particular advice God gavethe People by Jeremiah in a like Case deserves now Jer. 27. 9. to be recommended to them Hearken not to your Prophets nor to your Diviners nor to your Dreamers for they prophesie a Lye unto you And 't is worth our Consideration that those who in these last Ages have pretended to them are Men either extremely Ignorant or very Vicious or strangely Fanciful or Hypocondriacal for Men that are best disposed by their great Wisdom and Holiness as also by the Evenness and Serenity of their Tempers to receive these influences of the Holy Spirit do neither feel nor desire them whilst they consider those vehement Transports Consternations Tremors Enigmatical Visions must create great uneasiness to them which the faculties of those Holy Men who were actuated by the Spirit in order to Prophecy most frequently underwent thereby which makes them value it as a happiness that God hath delivered us to the Conduct of that sure word of Prophecy the Holy Scriptures and the Dictates of clear and renewed Reason But to return to the Quotation out of Burroughs George Whitehead to excuse him tells us p. 29. That what Prophesies are for Christ's Kingdom they must own viz. that he shall rule the Nations and in the midst of his Enemies and that the Kingdoms of this World shall become the Kingdoms of God and his Christ which says he the Holy Scriptures do expresly warrant and testifie But how idle and impertinent is this when he knows none of us Priests or People of the Church of England who do not own the Scripture-Prophesies concerning the Kingdom of Christ or the Government of the Lamb whenas we assert them in a great measure fulfilled already since so many Earthly Kings have willingly submitted to the Spiritual Government of our Lord acknowledging his Scepter above theirs and yielding themselves freely to be his Subjects yea counting it a greater honour to be Membra Ecclesiâ— Members of his Body than Capita Imperii Emperors of the World but we never read that the Spiritual Kingdom of Christ should be so troublesom to Earthly ones as to extirpate and overturn them or that the Scepter of the Lord Jesus should like Aaron's Rod swallow up the Scepters of all Earthly Princes as Burroughs asserts But now George if thy fright be over let us survey the other part of the Quotation There shall be no King ruling but Jesus nor no Government of Force but the Government of the Lamb nor no Law of effect but the Law of God Canting words that signifie nothing but to inspire People with a disgust of the Government if it does not set up Quakers in Authority over the rest But pray resolve us did not Christ reign whilst Constantine Theodosius Justinian and other Godly Kings and Emperors ruled who were Nursing Fathers to the Church and brought their Glory and Honour into it who sway'd their Scepters in Sub-ordination to their Saviour and exercised their Authority for the promoting his Religion and now could he truly say in opposition to such there should be no King ruling but Jesus nor no Government of Force but the Government c. since all that which was otherwise viz. the Heathen Persecuting Power was by the means of Constantine ground to Powder and why might not Jesus be said to reign when K. Ch. II. came to the Crown who professed his Religion restored his Church to her pristine Glory and own'd himself a Member thereof let George Whitehead tell us in good earnest whether he thinks with his Brother Burroughs that there ought to be no other Government in the World but that of Jesus and we urge it the rather because the Letter our Scripture tells us that Jesus Christ was pleased to own another Government to which he himself paid Tribute and Obedience and disclaim'd all Temporal Authority saying My Kingdom is not of this World and therein taught his Disciples and Followers what to do even to submit to those Rulers in whose Dominions they are born and live and not withdraw their Obedience out of pretence that they are Subjects to him as Burroughs does in the following part of the Quotation As for this People the Quakers they are raised of the Lord and established by him even contrary to all Men and they have given their Power only to God and they cannot give their Power to any Mortal Men to stand or fall by any outward Authority Words not only Seditious but direct Treason against the Government of any Kingdom as if it were in the Power of any Natural-born Subject under the pretence of being a Christian to withdraw his Allegiance from his lawful Prince contrary to the Doctrine both of St. Peter and St. Paul 1 Pet. 2. 13 14 15 16 17. Submit your selves to every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's sake whether to the King or to Governours sent by him for so is the will of God the wâ—iâ—h well-doing i. e. with the constant practise of Obedience to them ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men as free but not using the liberty for a cloak of maliciousness as redeemed by Christ but not making that a pretence for disobedience to the Magistrate that because you have given up your Names to Christ you cannot give your Power to any Mortal Man to the service of the King or Government but as the Servants of God Honour all men love the brotherhood fear God honour the King Thus St. Paul exhorts the Roman Christians Let every Soul be subject to the higher powers which Rom. 13. 1. how can they be if they withdraw their Obedience and Assistance when call'd for and say they cannot give their Power to any Mortal Man to stand or fall by any outward Authority when as the same Apostle adds speaking to the Christians Ye must needs be subject not only for wrath for fear of the Magistrate's Power but
for Conscience sake out of regard to the Command of your Lord and Master Christ who have made Obedience to Magistrates a part of his Religion and therefore herein they rebel not only against the Law of the Land but against the Law of Jesus whom they pretend to be their King and only Ruler But King and Parliament can make no Collars for the Necks of Quakers they are established contrary to all Men and to any outward Authority they cannot seek but to the Lord alone though now they can creep and cringe to Parliaments as well as any other The next Citation is from George Fox who p. 31 of his Great Mystery saith That the Quakers are in the Power of God and in the Authority of the Lamb above all Houses and into Houses creep nor but are upon the Throne Not standing about the Throne as Angels do those daily Attendants on the King of Glory but they are upon the Throne as well as Christ and who knows but ere long they may croud him out and reign alone But this saith George Whitehead “ is no doubt meant Spiritually not Literally Then the Sense must be this they are above all Spiritual Houses and into Spiritual Houses creep not for they are upon a Spiritual Throne for otherwise their being upon a Spiritual Throne can be no reason why they should not creep into Material Houses for all Quakers as Whitehead here owns are upon a Spiritual Throne and yet can nestle into these Material Houses and some very fine ones too We are therefore afraid George thy Brother Fox had a farther design even at these Material and Earthly Thrones But says Whitehead p. 29. l. 9. He must mean Spiritually for they are not upon an Outward Throne No God be thanked for it but Burroughes in a Declaration tells us They are the right Heirs to it 't is their Right of Inheritance they are Kings de See the Declaration in the Brief Discovery p. 22. Jure though not de Facto 't is their Heirship to possess the utmost parts of the Earth and doubt not ere long to tumble down the Usurpers out of their Thrones though at present they must bear 'T is true the Scriptures every where encourage the Servants of God to persevere in their Christian Course with the hopes of a Crown and Kingdom but the time of their Reign is not yet come they are not already upon the Throne but Quakers it seems are and therefore it must be a different one from that promised by God hereafter to the Saints As an evidence of the truth of what George Fox said Whitehead quotes Job 36. 7. with Kings are they viz. the Righteous on the Throne and are exalted but George's are Kings upon a Spiritual Throne and is not this Text then cited very pertinently to prove Quakers upon a Spiritual Throne The truth is they cannot stay for the promised Kingdom after Death Kings they must be presently and a Throne they must now possess but whether Eternal Spiritual Material or Figurative they know not so * His Letter is at the end of the Snake Coale tells George Fox He was a King and ruled in Righteousness and of his Kingdom there was no end But Eâ—ihu going upon this Principle That God could not be so severe to them that were dear to him insinuates that Job must be a Hypocrite for God uses to exalt his Friends and true Servants unto Thrones and not throw them upon Dunghils he makes them even Companions for Kings and by way of Hyperbole says they set them upon the Throne with them the expression is Figurative for 't is not said they are Kings upon the Throne but on the Throne with Kings meaning in short no more than what 's express'd in the close of the verse they are exalted and honoured even by Kings though we do not remember Quakers ever so honoured by any save by the late King some of them being admitted though not to sit with him on 's Throne yet in his Closet and lean too much on his Bosom Brief Discovery p. 15. quotes Truth defending the Quakers p. 9 10. wrote by Whitehead and George Fox Jun. who being ask'd whether they did not say That the Magistrate who made Acts of Parliament and doth not receive them from God as Moses doth act contrary to the Law of God They answered The Magistrate that is sent of God he receives the Law from the Mouth of God and he is the Prophet whom Moses spoke of Deut. 18. 58. An Answer notoriously shuffling The Question being whether the Magistrate that is sent of God receives the Law from God as Moses The answer is if sent of God he receives the Law from the Mouth of God but does not say as Moses No doubt thou wer 't sensible George that the Laws of Magistrates are not accompanied with those Appearances of Terrour and Amazement which Moses's Laws were and therefore as Moses must be drop'd Well George we will abate thee the thick Cloud the Thunder and Lightning the Smoak and the Tempest Exod. 19. with which Moses's Law was attended Must every Law of the Magistrate be from the Mouth of the Lord as Moses's was or else he that made it is not sent of God then every Law of the Magistrates even that for burying in Woollen may be prefac'd God spake these Words as well as the Ten Commandments or else the Magistrates that make them are not sent of God And thâ—â— all the Magistrates in the World are exaucthorated by a dash of Whitehead's Pen who made Laws which came not from the Mouth of God as the Ten Commandments did Our Magna Charta and other Statute Laws may oblige us surely to Obedience tho not of equal Authority to our Bibles But Whitehead complains the last Words are mis-quoted instead of he is the Prophet it should be he hears the Prophet whom Moses spoke of We had the Book it self when we wrote the Quotation tho now it be out of our hands and can't but wonder that three of us together should be so dimsighted as not to discern he is from he hears Howsoever George the Objection we make is thou seest strong enough without any support from that Passage We desire therefore thy clear and positive Answer whether the Magistrate be sent of God who makes Laws and yet does not receive them from God as Moses This is what was objected against thee and thy Companion Fox Jun. that you had affirmed formerly and tho Friends may be satisfied yet do not believe that wise Men will think thou hast conquered the Objection as the French use to conquer our Fleet by running away from it There is a bloody Charge laid against George Fox in the Brief Discovery p. 16. where out of his Book called several Papers given forth to Presbyterians c. just before the Restoration of King Charles II. these Passages are cited Friends to all you that desire an Earthly King in England c.
provides expresly for this Provided always and be it enacted by the Authority aforesaid That if any Assembly of Persons dissenting from the Church of England shall be had in any place for Religious Worship with Doors lock'd bar'd or bolted during any time of such meeting together all and every such person or persons that shall come to and be at such Meeting shall not receive any benefit from this Law but be liable to all the Pains and Penalties of all the foresaid Laws recited in this Act for such their meeting notwithstanding his taking the Oaths and his making and subscribing the Declaration Yes but George Whitehead answers p. 43. As to the Door of our yearly Meeting being kept by some Person or Persons this we hope is no Offence in it self the Door not being locked bar'd or bolted as prohibited But George is it not clearly the design of the Act P. 41. that all Meetings for religious Worship as thou expresly sayest your yearly Meeting is as well as the others upheld in the Name of the Lord for his Worship and Service should be free for every one that pleases to come unto them And does it not as much defeat the intent and aim of the Act to have the Doors secur'd by persons who shall hinder any from entring as to have them locked bar'd or bolted Thou hast we see a tender concern for the Letter of human Laws tho the Letter of the Divine Law is but Dust and Death with you but this is shamefully to baffle the meaning whilst thou strictly observest the Letter of the Law it designing all Religious Meetings should be open not clandestine and secret that nothing blasphemous heterodox or profane should be published there but present notice might be taken thereof yea that under the pretence of Religious Worship there should not be any caballing against Church or State which is always done privately and in the dark But this intent of the Law you defeat by setting persons about the Door that none but whom you please should enter in and because the Door is not lock'd bar'd or bolted you conclude you make no breach of the Law tho your cunning herein has deceived you if any would proceed to try it it being a Maxim with that great Coke's Inst 〈◊〉 â— Lawyer That Cases out of the Letter of a Statute yet being within the same Mischief or cause of making the same shall be within the same Remedy that the Statute provides But that we may note your Inconsistency herein we observe that in a Book called A just Censure you P. 26. say These meetings are not intendâ—â— for Worship So that as it serves your turn they are either Religious or Political If we speak of your Fund for maintaining of which you raise Mony by Collection Oh! then 't is a Religious Meeting for the care of your Poor and nothing else for you have no mercenary Teachers they singer none of it tho we could and that from good hands tell you other things But if we tell you of the Doors being guarded by men set on purpose to keep People from entring in then 't is no Religious but a Civil Political Assembly not intended for Worship Brief Discov p. 22 23 24. As to what we cited from Mr. Keith Geo. Whitehead puts us off to Thâ— Elwood's Answer hereunto and to be even with him we refer him to the Reply made by an excellent Pen to Tho. Elwood viz. the Piece call'd Satan disrob'd which his Friend Tho. Elwood never thought fit to make any rejoinder unto and we would advise him as Friends never to undertake it What we observed further that when the King and Parliament were so gracious as to include the Quakers in the Act for Toleration it was with this condition That nothing therein should be construed to exempt them from paying of Tythes nay Brief Discov p. 24. as we have been credibly informed their leading Men did then promise some of the Bishops that their People should duly and honestly pay them yet notwithstanding in their yearly Meeting 1693. they order that all Godly care should be taken against the grand Oppression and Antichristian Yoke of Tythes c. This Geo. Whitehead does not in the least deny to show their Gratitude and Ingenuity for the Favours received but labours to strengthen their Testimony by some of the Martyâ—s who were he says of their mind herein especially one Wm. Thorpe This Wm. Thorpe was indeed a zealous but ignorant Man who lived in the Beign of Henry the 4 th but was no Martyr As if our Lord had not said upon a like occasion The Labourer is northy of his Hire and Luc. 10. 7. St. Paul had not sufficiently confirm'd the Ministers Maintenance by asking the Corinthians 1 Cor. 9. 1 4 5 6. these short but smart Questions Am not I an Apostle And if so how comes my Condition to be worse than the rest of that rank Have not we Power to eat and to drink to be maintain'd sâ—mtu Ecclâ—siâ—â— at your cost whom we have preached unto Nay have we not Power to lead about a Sister a Wife as well as other Apostles particularly the Brethren of the Lord and Cephas Have not we as well as they a right to carry about our Wives and Families and have them maintained by the Churches we come unto as Peter and others Or I only and Barnabas have not we Power to forbear working Why should we be denyed the Privilege common to all the rest See Clem. Alex. lib. 3. lib. 7. Stromat and Euseb from him lib. 3. cap. 30. of his Eccles Hist as well as Modern Writers Piscat Parcus Crellius and Slicting in loc Nay he adds v. 11. If we have sown unto you spiritual things is it a great matter if we shall reap your carnal things shall we not deserve Meat and Drink and other necessaries at your hands when by our Ministry ye are inroll'd in the Book of Life and made Heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven Do you count it such a mighty thing that you afford us and our Familys Maintenance truly 't is no such great matter But this Argument is too large to be entred upon here and we the rather wave The Author of the Snake in the Grass it because 't is not only done already but promised by a worthy Person to be considered which is already come out with respect to the Quaker Arguments against it in a Treatise by it selt Touching a Register kept of their Sufferings inflicted for the breach of the Laws 't was so evident and notorious that Geo. Whitehead could not deny it for their yearly Epistle 1693. found fault with their Monthly and Quarterly Meetings for not sending up Brief Discov p. 25 26. full and complete Records thereof and charged them to take more care for the future But it seems they were too full to be true for Mr. Pennyman who was one of them about 20