are not in the undefiled Christian Religion which keeps from the Spots of the World and leads into Fellowship with the Father and his Son And therefore there was no such Danger as thou insinuatest in thy Letter in his leaving of your Church of incurring the Damnation of his Soul or choosing an unsafer way to Heaven in coming to that Religion he hath chosen Next we observe thou seemest to take an advantage at his saying It is the Light of God's Grace that let him see the evil of his own Heart that he lived in and the evil of others also and so wouldst strain these words the evil of others particularly to the seeing of the hidden Evils of their Hearts in secret as he saw his own whereas it is not to be questioned but that he intended the Evil that others brought forth into Words or Actions Though when he speaks of himself he names his Heart saying My own Heart yet thou unfairly makest a great deal ado about it to bring him under blame as if he assumed God's Prerogative and plainly contradicted the Apostle Paul in the 14 th chap. of the Romans but that thou hast no just reason for these thy endeavours wise Men may easily comprehend However it is certain that through the Light of God's Grace in the Heart Men may come to see the defects in themselves and also in others without assuming God's Prerogative And as to thy saying It 's a Term often used by the Quakers but not rightly understood by them Thy Charge is false The Quakers understand it and thou canst not make out the contrary though it 's easie for thee and others to accuse But that we leave upon thee to prove and make out But as for his seeing the wickedness of his own Heart it is not to be questioned and also to see the Vanity and Wickedness of others is not difficult For it is apparent enough that Men that are in the Society of the People of your Religion may see what is brought forth daily that is not agreeable to Christianity both in Words and Actions And seeing this and that which Christ lays down being granted that out of the abundance of the Heart the Mouth speaks and a good Man out of the good Treasure of his Heart brings forth good things and an evil Man out of the evil Treasure brings forth evil things Matth. 12. 35. Then according to this Rule of Christ's by what Men bring forth in their Conversations the Heart may be judged And though the Lord search the Heart and try the Reins and to know Secrets is his Prerogative yet what is thus manifested according to the Rule of Christ is no presumption to believe or give judgment in And as to the Apostles Words Rom. 14. Thou makest an impertinent Application of them in bringing them as a Testimony in this concern against him for the case in which they were not to judge one another was in point of Faith or their growth or liberty therein the Weakness of the Faith of a weak Brother was to be born with in that straitness that was upon some as in respect to Meats and the observing of Days which others were grown over that were not to be judged but in point of Faith were to be left to their own liberty and in that case saith he Let not him that eateth not judge him that eateth for God hath received him and he that did eat was not to despise him that did not eat So thou may'st see that the Apostle had a regard to their Growth in the Faith and so would have all walk accordingly in Wisdom with care not to hurt one another But what is this to People of a loose Life whose Words and Actions are contrary to the Law of God and so sinful May we bear no Testimony against such Was it not the Practice of the Prophets Christ and the Apostles to Reprove such and give Testimony against them and yet not contradict Paul in this case How ignorant thou shewest thy self to be of the Scriptures But mark thy Iudgment and where it will fall Have not these many years your Church and Ministry been concerned in Persecuting such as could not for Conscience sake and in the liberty of their Faith Observe Days and other things which you required And when they could not conform to you they have not only been judged by you but sorely abused and cast into Prison put in the Stocks and their Goods spoild Thus have many suffered only for matters of Faith and Conscience towards God And so herein it is evident that your established Church thou speakest of is highly Guilty of the Fact thou chargest to be plainly contrary to the Apostle in that fore-cited Scripture in Rom. and so is judging another Man's Servant in that wherein he ought to be left to his own Master and presumest to meddle with Christ's Prerogative so you are under thy own Condemnation being guilty of that which thou wouldst condemn in others And this to be your practice can be proved by many Witnesses that have suffered upon this account by your Church both in England and Ireland From what is before said it's evident that for a Man to say That he sees the evil of his own Heart by the Light and Grace of God and the evil of other Men which were conversant with him in his loose Conversation doth not bring him under the Censure of the Apostle as thou ignorantly dost imply Therefore thou mayst take it home to thy self and thy Brethren as a just Judgment upon you for the reasons aforementioned Thou further say'st That perhaps we will object that Christ in Matth. 7 16. says Ye shall know them by their Fruits c. To which thou Answerest He does so but tellest us It hath relation to false Prophets and withal wouldst insinuate as if the Teaching Quakers as thou callest them were such But that they are such is a false Insinuation which thou canst never be able to prove And by Fruits thou tellest us that both there and in other places is meant the Doctrine of those false Prophets or Teachers that being the proper Fruits of such men and not their particular Actions Answer That Christ's words here have a relation to false Prophets we grant it and that they are to be known by their Fruits we also acknowledg But that the Fruits there meant are only their Doctrines and not their particular Actions as thou affirmest we do deny And that it is not so as thou sayst doth plainly appear from the words of Christ in many parts of the same Chapter For first he saith They shall come in Sheeps-Cloathing but inwardly they are ravening Wolves so not in the Sheep's Life And what is the Sheep's Cloathing Is it not the Words of the true Phrophets Apostles and Servants of God As appears by the Testimony of the Lord's Servants as may be seen in Ierem. 23. 30. Behold I am against the Prophets saith the Lord that
speak the Word and it shall not stand for God is with us For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong Hand and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this People saying Say ye not A Confederacy to all them to whom this People shall say A Confederacy neither fear ye their fear nor be afraid Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself and let him be your fear and let him be your dread Isa. 8. 10 11 12 13. ADVERTISEMENT TO THE READER Christian Reader ANother Letter coming to our Hands subscribed J. T. the tendency thereof being to beget a dislike in R. L. to whom it was Writ to the Principles of Truth as professed by us the truly Reformed Christians called Quakers and to prevent the writing of more such occasion'd our making thus publick the following Answer to Priest Potts ' s Letter and the rather understanding the said J. T. saw it and takes no notice thereof in his although it Answers the substance thereof excepting in these following particulars 1. His accounting it an Errour in us Not to Swear Ans. We in short say we have Christ's Command for not Swearing Matt. 5. 3 4. Swear not at all And seconded by the Apostle James 5. 12. which we believe ought to be observed by all Christians 2. He charges us with Denying the Trinity as he terms it Ans. We do really own the Three that bear record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these Three are One Iohn 5. 7. And we also own the Three that bear witness in Earth the Spirit the Water and the Blood and these Three agree in One as verse 8. and so we do and always did believe according to the Holy Scriptures 3. He charges us with Denying the Scriptures to be the Word of God Ans. We believe the Scriptures to be what they call themselves a Testimony or Declaration as in Luke 1. 1. John 5. 39. But Christ we own and believe to be the Word of God according to John 1. and Rev. 19. 13. So we own the Word of the Lord that came unto the Prophets saying as in Ezek. 7. 1. and in divers other places and we own and believe the Sayings of the Word as recorded in the Holy Scriptures So the Word that came unto the Prophets was the Sayer or that which spake unto them and the Scriptures are the Words or Sayings which the Word or Spirit of Christ spake unto and through the Prophets as is evident from the Testimony of the Apostle 1 Pet. 1. 10 11. Dublin the 12th of the 9th Month 1688. J. B. J. W. The Holy Truth and its Professors Defended c. Lawrence Potts WE having met with a Paper of thine and finding our selves and others of the People called Quakers concerned therein with our Christian Religion and Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ which we are called to bear witness unto and contend for were not willing to let it pass without taking notice of thy false Charges upon Us and our Religion together with thy weak Vindication of thy self with the rest of the Clergy of your Church in those things which thou hast yet to prove And we find our selves the more concerned because of thy Challenge in thy Paper where thou say'st It dos become your Teachers to make this plainly appear to you and me from whom they have drawn you and therefore if they can make it out I again challenge it of them and you By the way we would have thee take notice of this that Robert Lacky in his Letter to thee doth acquaint thee that it was the Light or Grace of God that let him see the Evil or Defects in himself and others and so meerly the Love of God that prevailed in his Heart so that it was not Man that drew him from thee and thy Teachings but the Lord Iesus Christ the true Shepherd whom the Father promised that by his Spirit of Light and Grace did draw him and so fulfilled the Promise of the Father in Ezek. 34. 10. where he saith He would deliver his Flock from the mouth of such as fed themselves that they might not be Meat for them c. In the first place we observe thou blamest him for saying If he or any other through the Light of God's Grace in the Heart do see Defects in themselves or others that profess that Religion wherein they were bred he does not understand how he incurs Damnation by forsaking it c. And so in thy Answer blamest him for confounding Religion as thou say'st with the Carriage of its Professors c. Answer It 's true there may be wicked Men Professors of a most holy and pure Religion and therefore for some particulars being of an evil carriage to condemn a Religion is not proper But when a Man finds and understands that in the Exercise of his Religion he receives not power against Sin and Temptation in himself nor yet sees the effect of such a power in others it may be not in the very Teachers but that is lived in which answers not the Law of God nor the Life of a true Christian and yet here is no dis-membring of such or excluding them from their Church-Fellowship This may justly give ground to suspect a Defect in that Religion And therefore it may be warrantable for a Man under these Observations both concerning himself and others to enquire and seek after a Religion wherein Power may be enjoyed from Christ to overcome Sin and withstand Temptation And we do believe thou thy self art not ignorant how that not only many of the People of your Church are of a loose Conversation but diverse of your Clergy also and yet they suffered to abide in their Places and Offices without either being excluded or silenced though the Apostle exhorts To withdraw from every Brother that walks disorderly And again 1 Cor. 5. 11. He writes unto the Church not to keep company with any called a Brother that was a Fornicator or Covetous or an Idolater or Railer or a Drunkard or an Extortioner such thou mayst see were to be denied Fellowship in the Church But we have often observed how that in your Church there have been and still are both Swearers Liars Drunkards and Men given to other profaneness and yet little zeal appearing to Excommunicate or exclude them But when any for Conscience sake could not pay the Priest his Wages though it were but some small matter oftentimes such a one should soon be prosecuted and Excommunicated so that by your practices what-ever you may profess in words you are more zealous for your Gain and Interest than for excluding Evil and promoting Righteousness in your Church and so like them the Apostle speaks of who minded earthly things whose end he said was Destruction Phil. 3. 19. Now such practices are no marks of the Church of Christ but of a false Church where there is want of zeal for Righteousness Whereby it is manifest that you
art in a great mistake in charging this to be a defect in the Quaker's Religion not to have such a Practice which is an unwarrantable human Invention And it is a great Defect in your Religion to perswade people that when you have Sprinkled a little Water on the Head or Face of a Child and signed it with the sign of the Cross it is thereby admitted into the Christian Church and call it Baptism when it is but Sprinkling and therefore a Defect throughout But thy Charge upon the Quakers Religion that we deny that of Baptism by which People are admitted into the Christian Church we affirm to be false For we own that Baptism according to what the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 12 13. For by one Spirit are we all Baptised into one Body whether we be Iews or Gentiles c. This we own to be Christ's Baptism And we also own Iohn's Ministration of Water to have been God's Ordinance in its day But yours we leave for thee to prove from whence you had it Secondly Thou sayst Nor that of the Lord's Supper by which they are strengthened and preserved in it Ans. Let all that are wise in Heart consider whether that which thou callest a Sacrament which you take hath such a great effect in it as to strengthen and preserve in the Christian Church which is Christ's Church For the Protestants do account it no more than a Sign of an inward Spiritual Grace But we are satisfied concerning what Christ did as in that Scripture thou quotest Luke 22. For he had regard to the fulfilling of the Law and his time drawing near that he was to be Sacrificed and so the true Passover as Paul saith 1 Cor. 5. 7. For even Christ our Passover is Sacrificed for us had a desire to eat the Figurative Passover with his Disciples before he suffered as thou mayst see Luke 22. and in eating the Passover he took the Cup and gave thanks and gave it to them and bid them divide it among themselves and likewise took Bread and brake it and gave it to them And after Supper again he took the Cup and gave them And thou mayst see what he said both of the Bread and the Cup the One was his Body which was given for us the other was the Cup of the New Testament in his Blood which was shed for us Which words import that his Body which is broken for us is the substance of that Unleavened Typical Bread and his Blood which was shed is the substance of that Cup. Not that the Bread and Wine was his Body and Blood for that was but Typical though some do ignorantly imagine that he meant the outward Bread and Wine was his real Body and Blood As the Iews thought he had meant the Temple made with hands when he spake of the Temple of his Body For we read that when the Passover was instituted they were to have a Lamb without blemish and unleavened Bread and the Door-Posts were to be sprinkled with the Blood of the Lamb which Passover was certainly a Type of Christ the immaculate Lamb whose Body is the true Bread that nourishes the Soul to Life eternal and his Blood sprinkles the Conscience from dead works to serve the Living God This is that we have an eye to that which was broken for us and shed for us and we think by thy Writing thou art not of the Papists mind for the Real Presence And if not then consider what that Bread and Drink was that was broken and shed for us which he spake of though he was then eating the Passover with his Disciples and then come on and see what the Apostle saith to the Mystery of it which was that which he preferred in the Church at Corinth 1 Cor. 10. there he tells them of the Fathers viz. the Church in the Wilderness and saith They did all eat of the same spiritual Meat and did all Drink of the same spiritual Drink for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ. So here thou mayst see the Meat was Spiritual and the Drink was Spiritual and the Rock was Spiritual that they drank of and that was Christ. So the Apostle speaking to Wise Men bids them judge what he saith as in ver 15. and in ver 16. saith he The Cup of Blessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ And the Bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ And ver 17. For we being many are one Bread and one Body for we are all partakers of that one Bread The Iudgment of this thou seest the Apostle referred to Wise Men and we know Wise Men will Iudge that it is this Spiritual Meat and Drink that strengthens and preserves in the Church of Christ what-ever thou may'st say to the contrary And so thou wrongest the Quakers in saying That we have not the Lora's Supper administred in our Religion for we greatly delight in the Lord's Supper to eat and drink that which strengthens and preserves us in the Church of Christ. And for your Practice that you use in your Church we demand your Example for it and whence it did arise For thou may'st see that Christ in the Figure did eat the Passover with his Disciples according to the Law and gave them the Cup both before and after Supper as a foresaid Thou pretendest Thou hast other notorious defects in our Religion but forbearest to bring them forth only one thou say'st thou canst not omit which is so great a one that it renders the generality of the Quakers almost no Christians at all And thou say'st Most of us are guilty and that is a defect in the very badg and mark of a Christian Disciple which say'st thou is Love and Charity and so quotest Christ's words John 13. 35. By this shall all Men know that you are my Disciples if ye love one another Ans. Thou dost in this as thou hast done in other things before charge us to be Guilty but dost not bring one Proof or Argument to prove the Guilt upon us from matter of fact unless thy saying It is so be either Proof or Argument which no wise Man will understand to be so Thou say'st Perhaps we have charity among our selves we love one the other who are of our Perswasion However that is well so far it answers this Text of Scripture which thou hast quoted we wish we might say in truth so much for all of your Perswasion But thou goest on to shew how we should love Enemies c. and tellest us what Iohn says That God is Love and the more a Man hath of Love the nearer he doth approach to the Nature of God and so tellest us what Paul saith of Charity c. But what doth all this towards the proving us to be defective in this great badg and mark of a Christian Disciple That this is both your and our Duty we
grant but thou dost not shew matter of Fact wherein we are Guilty It is an easie matter to accuse and charge but Wise Men will consider how they can make good the Accusation before they charge But since thou hast provoked thereunto let us take an observation of the Works of your Church and Ministry and see how you have born this badg and mark of a Disciple of Christ or whether we can find any Defects in her or not that we may see whether there is any reason to forsake her or not For many years past the Fruits of your Church and Ministers have been such that we think it will be hard for any to say they are the badg and marks of Christian Disciples for thou speakest in thy Letter of the Protestant Religion as it is profest in the Church of England and Ireland and so it is of that Church we now have Reason to take an observation Let it be considered from whence hath all that great Persecution for many years proceeded whereby so Many Families have been ruined many thousands Imprisoned their Goods taken away not leaving some so much as a Bed to lie upon Cattel to Till the Ground nor Corn for Bread and Seed nor Tools to work withal Whipping Stocking Stoning and grievously Abusing so that many thereby have lost their Lives and meerly because they could not come to your Worship for Conscience sake or for Meeting together to Worship God according to their Faith And in these Persecutions the Ministers have often had a hand themselves in sending forth wicked Informers and sometimes appearing in their own Persons Besides the great Sufferings wherein many have suffered for the Ministers Wages and Hire which hath not been a little This in England Yet we have not escaped in Ireland but have often been Imprisoned for Meeting together to Worship the Living God as we have also been for the Ministers Wages Now these not being the acts and deeds of former Ages but of our present Age and of a People yet Living we need not say much to make it out it being still as Wounds Bleeding which may be seen Therefore come to the Application and see where the Imputation of this great Defect which thou couldst not omit will fall If thou canst prove these doings of yours to be the effects of Love and Charity then thou clearest your Church from this great Defect and if so may be it may be a true Church But sure they manifest quite the contrary and were never the marks of a True but of a False-Church as may be seen from the days of Cain downwards So that there 's no want of Reasons why R. L. and others may turn from your Church and so in turning from you to the Truth which the Quakers are Witnesses of is not unsafe but a safe way to Heaven notwithstanding all that thou hast said to the contrary in Reflection upon us and our Religion as also upon him as if he had forsaken you and changed his Religion out of Covetousness for which thou neither dost nor canst give any grounded Reason And therefore having said so much already we need not say much more to these matters When he Answered thee and told thee It was the Love of God manifested in his Heart c. and not Covetousness neither Humours Passions nor Prejudice c. For all he tells thee so yet thou still assertest That it plainly appears to be out of Covetousness and sayest In this as in other things he shakes hands with the Papists and not meerly for Conscience sake So here as in other things thou dost charge and accuse without proving what thou say'st as if thou knew his Heart and Conscience better than himself What dost thou think who is now judging another man's Servant And who is now Assuming God's Prerogative And when he tells thee It was the Love of God manifested Thou tellest him It seems to Thee that God had with-drawn his Love from him in suffering him to forsake so rational and pure a Religion as the Establishedone is for a Perswasion that has either little or no Reason or Purity in it Ans. As for your Established Religion what Reason and Purity is in it or the contrary we have in some measure before shewed and all that will but observe your Religion and the Effects of it may easily see that this is but a vain boast in thee to set forth your Religion for such a rational and pure one And for thy saying That which he hath chosen hath little either of Reason or Purity in it It is but thy Say so thou dost not undertake to prove or make it out at all So that if People will believe what thou say'st it must be so because Thou sayst it and not from anything thou makest appear to manifest what thou sayst to be true Thou goest on still after the same rate and when he saith He felt nothing of incurring the Displeasure of the Lord but on the contrary had more Peace in his own Conscience than when under thy Teaching Thou tellest him of What Paul saith of some whom God had given up to a Reprobate mind and so would'st perswade him that this is his state and when he speaks of Enjoying Peace more than when under thy Doctrine thou say'st The reason is plain enough while under thy Doctrine his Conscience was under a tenderness it was sore with sin c. Ans. Truly we believe there was Reason for it to be sore with Sin but he might stay long there before it would be saved from Sin and so healed from that soreness for that you never come to by your own confession For all your days you are complaining that there is No Health in you so you are like to be sore with Sin But all that see their Infirmity and what Physicians of no value you are had need to look out for a better Religion and better Ministers or Physicians to their Souls So that it s still evident he had Reason to forsake yours and look out for a Religion that had more Power and Vertue in it to deliver from Sin and heal the Wounds it had made But it is not to be questioned that if he had stayed with thee and lived in his vain Conversation that would have been better born with by thee than his owning of that which leads to a Reformation and so like them of Old that while People put into their Mouths they cryed Peace but when they did not then prepared War against them Thou tellest him of Going into the Quakers old way of uncharitable Censuring because he saith Many of the Protestants in England and Ireland prosess Christ in Words but in Works deny him Answ. This is evident from their doings as is before proved so that it is no hard matter to make that Charge good against them Do thou clear them if thou canst When he saith As far as he understands our Principles and Practice are according to Christ's Institution
which he doubts not but we will make good upon occasion Thou in answer say'st Thou knowest our Practice well enough Which if true and if so bad as thou endeavourest to make People believe of us why hast thou brought none of them to make good thy Charges against us And as for our Principles thou say'st Thou never heard'st we had any Then thou must needs be ignorant of our Way and Religion And therefore in thy speaking evil of it thou speakest evil of things thou understandest not and so art of that Generation spoken of 2 Pet. 2. 12. And as for our Faith and Principles they have been published to the World both by Words and Writing they have not been hid in a corner so that any that had a mind to concern themselves against us and yet as wise Men would not judge without an understanding lest like thee they should speak evil of the things they did not understand might easily be informed what our Principles are However we are a People that believe in the Lord Iesus Christ and that the Father sent him into the World to lay down his Life a Ransom for all Men that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have Eternal Life That he was Crucified without the Gates of Ierusalem and so became a Propitiation for the Sins of the whole World And that after he had suffered and was buried God the Father Raised him again by his Eternal Spirit after which he shewed himself unto many Witnesses and then Ascended into Heaven and is Glorified with the Father with that Glory he had with him before the World was made And we further believe that he is the Light of the World and that he ought to be followed according to his own words Iohn 8. 12. and That he lighteth every Man that cometh into the World according to Iohn 1. 9. and that this Light wherewith he lighteth every Man all ought to believe in that they may be Children of the Light according to Iohn 12. 36. And so we believe in his spiritual Appearance according to his Promise who said He would pray the Father and he should send them another Comforter even the Spirit of Truth according to Iohn 14. 16 17. and this was his own Spirit for he is the Truth and of this the Saints were Witnesses as the Apostle saith Gal. 4. 6. And because ye are Sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your Hearts crying Abba Father And thus was Christ in the Saints the Hope of Glory according to Col. 1. 7. And thus believing and witnessing the Truth of the Scripture we wait upon God for his Spirit that we may worship him therein according to the Institution of his Son Christ Jesus as in Iohn 4. 23 24. and that we may pray with the Spirit and sing with it according to 1 Cor. 14. 15. For the Apostle exhorted the Saints To be filled mith the Spirit Eph. 5. 18. and the Saints were to Pray in the Holy Ghost Jude 20. So our Faith stands in the Power of God which is that the Apostle laboured that the Saints Faith might stand in as thou may'st see 1 Corinth 2. 5. believing that there shall be a Resurrection both of the just and unjust they that have done good unto the Resurrection of Life and they that have done evil unto the Resurrection of Damnation according to Iohn 5. 29. Here we have given thee some account in short of our Faith Principles and Practice and proved them to be according to the Scripture whereby thou may'st see if Prejudice and Self-Interest do not blind thine Eye that Robert Lacky in turning from thy Teaching to Christ the true Light and his Teaching according to God's Promise under the New Covenant who said They shall be all taught of the Lord which according to our Principle we direct People to wait for it 's no unsafe way to Heaven nor as thou falsly accusest us a pursuing such ways as are directly contrary to holy Scripture which thou in some measure promisest thou wilt make appear but hast it yet to do Thou say'st Because thou art fully satisfied we cannot make this out therefore thou wilt shew him how he has incurred not only the Displeasure of God for the present but the Damnation of his Soul hereafter unless he repent and return by this his departure from the Religion he was bred in Ans. Thou may'st see thy Satisfaction is without ground as also thy confident presumption in thy passing such a Sentence upon him concerning his present and Eternal Estate And surely thy Iudgment herein is groundless rash and vain as all may see who have any true Christian understanding and discerning and do but observe what is brought forth under your Teaching in your Religion For we understand no Reason thou assignest for thy Iudgment but His leaving of your Religion which we have before proved he had good reason so to do And therefore neither he nor any other need be afraid of thy Threatning upon this account because from what is before written it is clear that there are great Defects in the Principles and Exercise of the Religion he was bred in if he was bred in yours and so not according to Christ's Institution as may be seen if compared with the Scripture and that there are no such Defects in the Religion he now embraceth but proved in the Principles and Exercise of it to be of Christ's Institution according to the Scripture And herein thy Challenge we have answered and endeavoured to make it appear both to thee and him according to thy demand But if thou hatest to be Informed it shall lie at thy own door and thou shalt answer for it thy self So it is plain he may have changed out of a Principle of Conscience and pure Love to God and his Soul and not out of Interest Humour Passion or Prejudice as thou seemest to accuse him And as for thy Assuring him upon thy Word that it is not for any temporal advantage that thou seekest to reduce him but only in love to his Soul as thou hast to all Mens as thou say'st Ans. We think he hath no reason to believe that thou and the rest of your Clergy have such a Love to the Souls of all Men as to be the only Reason of your coming amongst them to be their Teachers for your Practice which is a surer evidence than your Words speaks the quite contrary in that you do leave any People where you are to go to another place for an Augmentation and higher Preferment So that it 's evident it is not the good of People's Souls nor the Glory of God that chiefly moves you in this concern what-ever may be pretended to And so to the Consciences and Understandings of Wise Men we refer these things to be considered of with our Hearts desire to God for you all that he would open your Understandings and let you see the Errour of you Ways and
to shine For he was an Instrument of Good to many making a Difference saving some with Fear pulling them out of the Fire hating even the Garment spotted by the Flesh being found in that pure and undefiled Religion of Visiting the Fatherless and widows in their Affliction and through the Grace of our Lord Iesus Christ keeping himself Unspotted from the World and therefore knew how to Save upon Mount Zion and Judge upon Mount Esau. Much might be written concerning him for we know the very Desire of his Heart and Bent of his Spirit was that God through his Son might Reign in the House of Jacob and the Kingdom might be the Lord's He abhorred the Appearance of Gathering to himself and had Self of no Reputation therefore the Lord honour'd him with his Divine Presence and made his Company althô dreadful to the Back-sliders yet very desirable unto many especially those who knew his Integrity and Zeal for the Exaltation of the Name and Truth of God in whose Hearts he was highly esteemed for his Works sake which shall follow him althô he be at Rest from his Labour being got to his desired Haven where the Wicked cease from troubling where the Weary be at Rest. And there the Prisoners rest together they hear not the Voice of the Oppressor for the Accuser of the Brethren is cast down Temptations cannot prevail an Over-coming is known by the Blood of the Lamb and by the Word of their Testimony who have not loved their Lives unto Death And To him that overcomes saith Christ Iesus will I grant to sit with me in my Throne as I also overcame and am sate down with my Father in his Throne he shall not be hurt of the Second Death but with Abraham Isaac and Iacob and with all the Faithful in the Kingdom of God without ceasing sing Praises unto him who sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever-more who is Worthy O the great Loss we have of him How can we but Lament Yet it is his Everlasting Gain For he shall never Return to us but we may go to him And that Word of Life in which his Life was hid yet remains for our support which as we are careful to keep to will preserve us as it has done him to Enter into that Mansion of Glory the Lord hath in store for all the Faithful He was Dear unto us in the Lord with whom our Souls were bound up in God's Everlasting Covenant And thô his Body is gone to the Dust yet our Souls rejoice with many more in that we enjoy his Spirit and are come to the General Assembly and Church of the First-born and to God the Judge of all and to the Spirits of Just Men made Perfect and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant and to the Blood of Sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel where our Ioy is full and our Spirits bowed and subjected to the Will of God where our Peace flows and the Life arises that fills our Hearts with Praises that Ascend as sweet Incense to the Lord God and to the Lamb who is blessed for evermore The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delighteth in his way Psal. 37. 23. And they that be Wise shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament and they that turn many to Righteousness as the Stars for ever and ever Dan. 12. 3. Broughton in Cumberland the 22th of the 2d Month 1691. Margaret Fawcet Jane Wilson Margaret Head Jane Hall Mary Wilson Mary Bowman Sarah Fallowfield An Account by Way of Testimony concerning our Dear Friend and Brother Iohn Burnyeat WE will leave to others the Account of his Birth and Convincement that were his Neighbours and Kindred and shall speak of him only as some of us knew him from an Intimate Fellowship in divers Services for above Twenty Years He was a Choice and Seasoned Vessel of Christ the special Workmanship of his Power and Wisdom by which he was effectually qualified for the Ministry of his Everlasting Gospel throughly furnished may We say to every good Word and Work God called him unto Deep and Large in his Gift reaching what was seasonable to every State in Judgment sound free in Utterance Zealous for Holiness severe against Unsound and Dividing Spirits Most tender to Penitents and returning Prodigals affectionate to the Brethren und careful over the Flock of God that they might Answer their Heavenly Call and grow in the Truth Of a grave and steady Temper yet sweet Hardy in his Constitution and Undaunted and Unwearied in Mind He was the Father of many Children in Christ who through his Ministry were begot again to a Living Hope and the Builder up of more through the same in the pretious Faith of God's Elect. For this he often Travelled through this Nation and sometimes Scotland and the Plantations in America but Ireland in a more peculiar manner both at his first Entrance upon his Ministry and of latter Years where he Married and chiefly resided and where he laid down his Head in Peace with God and Love to his People and good Will to all men being about the 59th Year of his Age and is entred into Eternal Habitations to praise the God of his Mercies in the Living Family of the Spirits of the Just for ever He was indeed a Man of an Excellent Spirit and Divine Understanding from God and deep in the Knowledge of the Heavenly Mysteries of the Kingdom of God and also of the Depths Wiles and Subtil Workings of Satan wherein he lies in wait to beguile the Children of Men and the Lord many times opened him in his Heavenly Wisdom to declare of them that those who had regard to God and the Peace of their own Souls might be preserved out of Satan's Snares He was an able and powerful Minister of the Gospel of Salvation a Strengthener of the Weak and an Incourager of the Upright and Sincere-hearted to continue to the end But he was indeed dreadful to the Hypocrites and Rebellious and all the Opposers and Gainsayers of the Truth A skilful Marks-Man yea one of the Lord's Worthies of Israel a Valiant in the Camp of the Lord and an Undaunted Warrier in his Holy Host and his Bow abode in strength and Wisdom was given him to direct his Arrows to the very Mark so that the Sturdy were wounded the Meek were comforted the Tender in Spirit refreshed And was by the Lord made Instrumental to wound that Self-separating and Dividing Spirit thad had for want of Watchfulness in the Divine Light and Faithfulness to God's Spirit and Truth in the inward parts prevailed over some who notwithstanding in a disguise and under specious pretences endeavour to sow the Seeds of Dissension Discord Separation and Division among the Gathered of God And the Lord blessed his Labours greatly and so preserved him in a Holy Conversation and in a meek tender bearing healing Spirit that he promoted both
on and that many Afflictions and Exercises would attend us and that many People being possest with great Fears fled for England at which time many Testimonies came from Friends of sundry Meetings for all to mind the Lord's preserving Power and not to let Fears take hold of them as it did of others who knew not the Lord Our Dear Friend though he had an Opportunity had no Freedom to go for England but gave himself up to stay with Friends here and bear a part of the Sufferings that might attend us In which time he was a pretious Instrument in the Lord's Hand for the Comforting his People in the time of great Afflictions and Calamities for he was a Chearful Encourager of us He was a Dear Friend a True Brother a Diligent Over-seer and Tender Father a Perfect and Upright Man in his day who feared God and eschewed evil And though he sought the Salvation of all yet could not bear with Deceitful Men and Evil Workers who profest the Truth yet brought Dishonour to it against such he had a Iust Indignation and Godly Zeal Oh! the Remembrance of his Fatherly Care over God's Heritage in keeping things in good Order is not to be forgotten For his Care was great that the Professors of Truth might walk answerable to it in a Chast Life and Blameless Conversation And in all his Travels into whose House he entred he was Content with what things were set before him were they never so mean which was great Satisfaction to many poor honest Friends amongst whom his Lot was cast He would not usurp Authority over his Brethren but was of a healing Spirit and Lamb-like Nature and of a good Report in all his Travels Our Dear Friend and Brother did greatly delight to Read the Holy Scriptures and would often and with great Earnestness Advise Friends frequently to read the same and the Young and Tender in years more especially as also Friends Books wherein the Principles of Truth were Treated of that so none might be Ignorant of the Principles of the true Christian Religion now again preached and clearly held forth He was at our Province-Meeting at Rosean-Allies a little before his Decease where he bore a Living Fresh Testimony amongst Friends to our great Comfort and Exhorted Friends to Faithfulness From thence he went to Montroth and had a Meeting there and from thence to Ballinakill and had a Meeting there So he came to the Monthly-Meeting at New-Garden where many heard him bear a living sweet Testimony in the Opening of the Word of Life to the Refreshing of their Souls After Meeting he came home with our Friend John Watson to his House and feeling himself not well took his Bed and was visited with a Fever and continued sick for the space of Twelve days All which time he was preserved in his Senses and in a sweet Frame of Spirit and did often say he was sine at Ease and quiet in his Spirit The Lord did Attend him with his heavenly Power and Presence to his Comfort and our great Satisfaction He said to John Watson That he ever loved the Lord and the Lord loved him from his Youth and that he felt his Love He was wonderfully preserved in a sensible Condition to the Last and on the Eleventh day of the Seventh Month 1690 about Two of the Clock in the Afternoon he quietly and peaceably Departed this Life about the 59th Year of his Age and is gone to his Rest with the Lord and his Works follow him And as he honoured the Lord in his Day so he was honoured with the Company of many Antient Friends from several Parts of our Province to Accompany him to his Grave at New-Garden where he was Decently Interred the Fourteenth day of the same Month and there we had a good Meeting to the great satisfaction of many Friends and others And now surely If David did well in Sorrowing for Absolom we have Reason greatly to Lament the Loss of so Dear Tender and Upright-hearted a Friend whose Labour and Travel was great both in Body and Spirit faithfully to serve the Lord his Church and People and to Exalt his Glorious Name and propagate his Living Truth in the Earth and to preserve Unity and Peace in the Churches of Christ. But believing 't is the Lord's Will that 's done concerning him in a Holy and Reverend Resignation and Submission thereunto we ought to be Content knowing 't is his unspeakable Gain to be Absent from the Body and at home with Christ. And thus Dear Friends We that yet remain do see how the Lord is pleased to Remove from among us many of our Antient Friends and Faithful Labourers in the Gospel of Peace who have been serviceable in this Day for the Gathering and Confirming of many in the Truth that we may walk therein And Friends we that are yet behind are the more immediately concerned for to Labour in the Heavenly Gift of his Divine Grace the Lord in his Love hath bestowed upon us that so we may come up in this Gospel-day to succeed them that are gone before us to their Rest in the Lord in bearing a Faithful Testimony to the blessed Truth that our Memorial may live to Ages to come as this our Dear Friend and Elder Brother's doth amongst God's People this day who having Faithfully finisht his Course here in great Patience and an humble and holy Subjection to the Will of God hath now received a Crown of Immortal Glory which is laid up for all the Faithful Followers of the Lamb and Lovers of the Appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ To whom and the Father through him be Glory and Honour both now and for ever Amen Dated in Dublin the 22th of the Second Month 1691. Anthony Sharp Roger Roberts Amos Strettel John Watson Henry Hillary John Haukes An Account of John Burnyeat's Convincement Together with a Iournal of his Travels IN the Year 1653. it pleased the Lord in his Love and Mercy to send his faithful Servant George Fox with others of his faithful Servants and Messengers of the Gospel of Peace and Glad-tidings whom he furnished with the eternal power of his Word in the wisdom and power of which he proclaimed the Day of the Lord unto us in this County of Cumberland and the Northern Parts of England and discovered the right Path of Life unto thousands that was in Error seeking the Lord but knew not where to find him nor how to come acquainted with him although he was not far from us But this blessed man G. F. one of a thousand may many say and chosen before many thousands was sent amongst us in the power of the most High filled with the strength of his Word in the wisdom whereof he directed thousands unto the Light and Appearance of Christ Jesus their Saviour in their own hearts that he might come to know him and the Glory of the Father through him in his Appearance and so come to believe in him with the