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
there but were too apt to look out at others These things he did often testify against as one having Authority being himself Redeemed out of those things by the Power of God His Innocent Deportment and blameless Conversation preached where-ever he came Gravity and Patience was with him Moderation in Meat Drink and Apparel having laid aside all superfluity of Naughtiness and received with meekness the Ingrafted Word all which were as Ornaments upon him and preached for the Truth abundantly as also did the many Living Testimonies he bore that flowed through him as Showers upon the tender Grass He was a True Labourer who spared not his Life unto Death and was willing to spend and be spent that he might gain upon the Sons and Daughters of Men to turn them from Darkness unto the true Light and from the Power of Satan unto God Oh! what shall we say of him He was a faithful Preacher of the Gospel not only in Words but in Life and Practice and his Memory shall Live for ever For his Labour and Travel both at home and abroad in Prison and at Liberty hath been such as cannot easily be forgotten by many who have reaped the benefit thereof For the Lord was pleased wonderfully to appear by him and sound through him to the awakening many to Righteousness and greatly encouraging all the Faithful amongst God's People In Sickness and other deep Exercises he was as a skilful Physitian to Apply that which was sutable unto all yea he was quick sharp and nimble on the one hand to Search as on the other hand to Cure heal bind up and comfort but unto the Hypocrites he was Dreadful and Terrible though he was a Man of large Bowels of Compassion Many an untrodden Path he travelled and passed through great Dangers both by Sea and Land in visiting Friends not only in England but also in Scotland Ireland Barbadoes New-England with thé Islands adjacent passing through Wilderness-places and dangerous Waters Through all which the Lord in a most wonderful manner preserved him with the rest of his Servants and from the hands of Wicked and Unreasonable Men who was ever near him for his Preservation both inwardly and outwardly And the Lord Cloathed him with Humility before all as became the Gospel he preached which he preached freely counting nothing near nor dear unto him to be parted with suffered or to be done but a willingness was wrought in him through the mighty Power of God who always strengthened him to do to suffer and to undergo all things whatsoever for his worthy Name 's sake And thô the Lord had bestowed eminent Gifts on him yet he would Condescend to the weak Capacities of all to reach to the Good in all that he might lay a Foundation to build upon He had the Word of Reconciliation committed unto him whereby he was made Instrumental to Reconcile many to God by Iesus Christ and one unto another And the Lord caused him to Triumph in Christ and made manifest the Savour of his Knowledge in many Places and his Ministry is sealed in the Hearts of many who are satisfied of his Faithfulness unto God who hath received him into his Rest. Now althô his Body be gone to the Dust yet his Spirit lives and that Word of Life which was his pleasure remains for our Comfort who are yet behind in that Pilgrimage which he hath past through and may be attended with the Temptations which he is deliver'd from who hath finisht his Days-work Whom the Lord raised up to shine forth as a Glorious Star in several parts of the Northern and Western World And his Mild and Grave Deportment did so well become his deliberate Ministry that it greatly hightned his Esteem amongst his Neighbours so that he was not without honour in his own Country And when at any time he came into Cumberland where he was born and educated his Neighbours would abundantly flock to the Meeting to hear him Yet he was far from Glorying in his Gift or desiring to be popular but would rather Restrain such who would applaud him he having Self in no Reputation He may be truly numbred among the Righteous who sought God's Glory and the Peace and Unity Flourishing and Prosperity of his Church which Christ is the Head of Much more might we say concerning him but shall attribute nothing to him but to the Lord ' s Power that did support him And now if Samuel had cause to Mourn for Saul and the Children of Israel wept thirty days for Moses much more cause have many now to mourn for the loss of so dear a Friend But though our Loss be great his Gain is beyond utterance who hath received the blessed Recompence of Reward for his Labours and Travels for all his Service and Suffering And having finished his Course and Time in this World is entred into Life and Happiness everlasting in the World to come And we pray the Lord of the Harvest to raise up other Labourers both in his Room and also in the place of others that have finished their Testimonies for God and Christ that God over all through Iesus Christ may have the Honor Glory and Praise from Generation to Generation who is blessed for ever Amen! Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace Psal. 37. 37. Broughton in Cumberland the 22d of the 2d mon. 1691. Philip Burnyeat John Tiffin John Bancks Tho. Laythes Tho. Dockwray Chr. Wilson Tho. Fletcher Rich. Head Chr. Story Peter Fearon Jonathan Bowman John Bowstead Thomas Wilson Ja. Dickinson The Testimony of several Women-Friends in Cumberland IN brokenness of Heart and tenderness of our Spirits we have this Testimony concerning our Dear Friend and Brother John Burnyeat That he was one of the Lord's Worthies chosen and fitted by him for his Work and Service and it was his whole Delight to do the Will of God so he came more and more to know of his Doctrine whereby he was made a good Instrument in the Hand of God for the Converting many from the Error of their ways to the way of Truth and Righteousness He was one on whom that Prophecy came to be fulfilled That Saviours shall come upon Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau and the Kingdom shall be the Lord's For he well knew how to Divide the Word of God aright which dwelt plentifully in him as Deep Waters and the Well-spring of Wisdom as a flowing Brook so that he was often as Clouds full of Rain emptying himself at the Lord's Command causing the Seed of Life to spring whereby God's Inheritance was confirmed He was a Man of a Thousand clothed with Innocency and beautified with Humility Words are too short to set forth the Excellency of that Spirit by which he was guided Neither can we express fully what is in our Hearts concerning him Yet shall we Attribute nothing to him but to the Lord's Power that wrought effectually in him to the making him
and so taught of the Lord according to that New Covenant promise They shall be all taught of the Lord Isa. 54. 13. Iohn 6. 4 5. Then was our Hearts inclined to hearken unto the Lord and our Ears which he had opened to hear was bent to hear what the Spirit 's Teaching was and what he said unto the Church who was the chief Shepherd and Bishop of the Soul And thus were we gathered into a right Gospel Exercise and Gospel Worship by him and through whose Name we had received Remission of Sins past and whose Blood had sprinkled our Hearts from an evil Conscience and who gave the pure Water that washed and made clean so that with true Hearts many began to draw nigh unto God in the full assurance of Faith as the ancient Saints did and was accepted and had access by that one Spirit by which we came to be baptized in one Body and so came to drink into one Spirit and was refreshed and greatly comforted and grew up together in the Mystery of the Gospel fellowship and so worshipped God who is a Spirit in the Spirit received from him which is the Gospel Worship according to Christ's appointment Iohn 4. 24. And then we came to see over all the Worships in the World which were set up either by Imitation or man's Invention and saw it to be in vain to worship God and teach for Doctrines the Commandments of men as our Lord had said Matth. 15. 9. and therefore were we constrained to withdraw from them and also many of us to go and bear witness against them in their invented and traditional Worships where they were ignorant of the Life and Power of God And thus being gathered by the Lord Jesus Christ that great Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls we became his Sheep and did learn to know his Voice and to follow him and he gave unto us Eternal Life and manifested the Riches of his Grace in our Hearts by which we were saved through Faith and delivered from that wrath fear and terrour which had been so weighty upon our Souls and in measure from the power of that Death that had reigned and made us miserable and wretched and came to partake of that Life wherein the blessedness doth consist and so then the Lord becoming our Shepherd he taught us and led us forth into green Pastures where we did feed and rest together with great delight O the Joy the Pleasure and the great Delight that our Hearts was overcome with many times in our reverent and holy Assemblies how was our Hearts melted as Wax and our Souls poured out as Water before the Lord and our Spirits as Oyl Frankincense and Myrrhe offered up unto the Lord as sweet Incense when not a word outwardly in all our Assembly has been uttered And then did the Lord delight to come down into his Garden and walk in the midst of the Beds of Spices and he caused the North-wind to awake and the South-wind to blow upon his Garden and the pleasant Showers to descend for the refreshing of his tender Plants that they might grow still more and more And now unto them that had known the Night of Sorrow was the joyful Morning come according to that ancient experience of David Psal. 30. 5. and such as had been in the foregoing deep Afflictions Tossings and Distresses came to witness the fulfilling of that great Gospel Promise O thou afflicted tossed with tempest and not comforted behold I will lay thy stones with fair colours and lay thy foundations with Saphires and I will make thy windows of Agates and thy gates of Carbuncles and all thy borders of pleasant Stones and all thy Children shall be taught of the Lord and great shall be the peace of thy Children In righteousness shalt thou be established thou shalt be far from oppression for thou shalt not fear and from terrour for it shall not come near thee Isa. 54. 11 12 13 14. Thus then came we by him to be gathered into Covenant with God and to witness the fulfilling of the Promises of God in whom all the Promises are Yea and Amen and so come to sit together in heavenly places in him and so come to feed upon the heavenly food the Bread of Life that came down from Heaven which Christ the heavenly Shepherd did give unto us who had gathered us from amongst the Shepherds that fed themselves with Temporal Things from the Flock but knew not how to feed the Flock with Spiritual Food for they had it not And now we coming to be acquainted with the Power of the Lord Jesus Christ in our Hearts became great Lovers of it and Delighters in the Enjoyment thereof having already counted all things but as Dross and Dung in comparison of the Excellency that we saw therein and therefore was willing to suffer the loss of all that we might win him as it was with the Apostle of old and blessed be the Lord many obtained their desire they found their Beloved met with their Saviour witnessed his Saving health by which their Souls was healed and so became his Flock and Family or Houshold of Faith And thus then as his Children and blessed Family we still did continue to meet together twice in the Week or oftner and in his Name and holy Fear being gathered together his Promise we did witness according to Matth. 18. 20. he was in the midst of us and did honour our Assemblies with his heavenly Power and Presence and that was our great delight and the sweetness of it did wonderfully engage our Souls to love him and our Hearts to wait upon him for we did find the ancient experience of the Church true as testified in the Scripture because of the savour of thy good Ointments thy Name is as Ointment poured forth therefore do the Virgins love thee And growing thus into this Experience of the Goodness of the Lord and of the Sweetness Glory and Excellency of his Power in our Assemblies we grew in Strength and Zeal for our Meetings more and more and valued the benefit thereof more than any worldly Gain yea it was unto some more then our appointed Food And thus continuing we grew more and more into an understanding of Divine Things and Heavenly Mysteries through the Openings of the Power that was daily amongst us and wrought sweetly in our Hearts which still united us more and more unto God and knit us together in the perfect Bond of Love of Fellowship and Membership so that we became a Body compact made up of many Members whereof Christ himself became the Head who was with us and did rule over us and so further gave Gifts unto us by which we still came to be enlarged and further opened that we might answer the end for which he had raised us up and so far blessed us and sanctified us through his Word that dwelt in our Souls and so we keeping still in our Zeal and unto our first Love and
fire And that shall such know who in the day of the Lord 's Gathering and tender Visiting in Mercy and Loving-kindness will not be won and gained into Faithfulness but slight the Day of their Visitation Therefore my dear Friends be faithful unto the Lord every particular of you in that which you have receiv'd from him and wait to be guided by that in your own hearts And keep low and down to the Principle of Life in your own hearts that you may never become stiff-necked nor hardned in your hearts again For this was Israel's Sin of old whose hearts were hardned and whose neck was become like an Iron sinew that it could not bend unto God's Toke For which he was wroth with his People and cast off his Inheritance in that day so that their Enemies had power over them and laid their Dwellings desolate Those things are left unto us for an Example that we might not fall after the same manner of Unbelief but fear lest a Promise being left us of entring into his Rest we should fall short through Unbelief and so loose the Inheritance and so by the Enemy have our Habitations luid desolate and so be carried Captives out of our Dwelling-place These things my Friends and Brethren I lay before you in the fear and love of God which is weigty in my heart towards you all and so desire that the Lord may preserve you all faithful unto himself in the feeling of his life and good presence by which your hearts may be kept open unto him and so open in true Love one towards another that as a Family in the love of God you may dwell together In which love my Soul dearly Salutes you all and so in it remain To my dear Friends in the North of Ireland about Kilmore Lurgan and that way Your Brother and Companion in the Tribulation and Patience of Christ Jesus I. B. Bristol the 25th day of the 11th Month 1667. Dearly Beloved WIth whom in the Covenant of Life Light and Peace I am one wherein I am with you and in Spirit do reach unto you in that love which many waters cannot quench in which my Soul at this time doth very dearly salute you all ye Children of the Covenant which have been born again of the Word Immortal and in the life of the true Seed remain unto you all without respect of Persons doth the love of my Soul reach with the Salutation of my life in the power that is endless In which my desire is that the Lord may preserve you all that as living Plants in the Vineyard of God you may flourish and bring forth righteous Fruits and so be a honour unto the Lord in your generation and then you need not doubt but the Lord will honour you in the glory of his Kingdom that is without end And therefore Friends the life of Righteousness in the power that is without end do you all mind to live in that fruits of holiness in a godly conversation may be brought forth by you all by which the Gospel of Peace and Salvation comes te be adorned and so the effects of Righteousness you will all come to know which is peace and assurance for ever Which is that you ought all to be mindful of that the evidence of peace by the testimony of the living Spirit in all your hearts ye may feel renewed daily which will not be without an abiding and living in the life of Righteousness whatsoever Notion of Profession may be held in the wrong mind and not in the power and life of Righteousness For this Testimony is true and living searching narrowly under all Coverings and breaking through all Vails entring into the inner Court and breaking through into the Secret Chambers to see what may have a being there or be worshipped So that in vain it is to cover any thing in this day wherein the searcher of all hearts hath appeared and he is come whose Fan is in his hand who sits as Resiners fire and as Fullers sope to cleanse and to purifie his chosen Tribe that they may be a peculiar People a chosen Generation and a Royal Priesthood to shew forth the Praises of him who hath called out of darkness into his marvellous light And therefore My dear Friends with open hearts and nakedness of Spirit do you all walk before the Lord not seeking any Covering but that of the Spirit in the life of Righteousness that its Testimony and witness you may all have in your hearts to bear witness with you unto Justification that so ye may be cloathed with the white Robe of Righteousness in the power of the Lamb and so become Kings and Priests unto God reigning over that in the power of the Lamb's Spirit which can never offer a Sacrifice acceptable before which the hearkening and obedience hath acceptance and so will the life of the true Priest be known to spring in you in which you are accepted and so in the life of him that is a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedeck according to the word of the promise and of the oath you will be a Royal Priest-hood offering up an acceptable Sacrifice unto the Lord. And so my dearly beloved unto whom my heart in pure love is opened keep your habitations in the Life of the Son in the Life of the Priest that lives for ever that you may never be rejected in him is the Father well pleased in him are all our Offerings accepted and without him ye can do nothing All Coverings and Robes without him are but as filthy Rags and all Garments without his power and life of righteousness are no better than a Menstruous Cloath and abomination in the sight of the Lord. And therefore keep your Garments clean your hearts pure before the Lord that the acceptance you may never lose and mind the living of the power in your hearts and your living in it unto God the Father that as we have been quickened together in the Resurrection of the Life even so in the same we may worship the Father for evermore And so in this Friends doth my heart's love reach unto you all in which my Soul doth once more very dearly salute you all ye Children of the Covenant and of the blessed day of God Almighty who walk in the Light my heart is ravished with pure love in the Remembrance of you O ye dearly beloved of my Soul I have not forgotten you neither have I been unmindful of you though outwardly we have been separated but the antient love hath lived in my heart yea and doth live towards you all which draws forth strong desires in me unto the Lord that in his Will I might see your faces which I hope will be answered in his time and until then I am freely given up into his Will to stand out of time being satisfied with the invisible union and fellowship in the Spirit that I have with you which time nor distance of places can never
might have been at the Meeting which he could not possibly know who nor of what sort he might have brought all his own Hearers if he would we put no limitation but as above an orderly peaceable Auditory of sober People But instead of coming to Grapple with us in publick as he terms it which one might have thought by his boasting there was to be no doubt of he flies quite off from that and tells us of Printing to the view of the World what we have to offer c. And in the beginning of his Paper tells us The expedient propounded in our last Paper is altogether vain and impertinent c. and saith It rather bespeaks us Children not past our Non-age in those things c. and further saith That our offering such an expedient for an Accommodation c. He looks on it to be a part of that Subtlety of which the mystery of Quakerism is made up and constituted in that we do so readily contrive and under colour of seeming Zeal for Truth propose such Mediums as we doubt not will in the end or event make for the advantage of our Cause and Interest could we by our pretty Serpentine acts as easily charm Iames Barry into a compliance with our Proposals as our Semi-proselites into a belief that because of our forwardness and seeming earnestness to appear for our dark and rotten Cause the People termed Quarkers are beyond all dispute the only holy and pure People whom God hath blessed c. Thus far Iames Barry Now let all sober unprejudiced Readers observe and consider whether our Expedient that we offered and the Mediums we proposed be such as he would here suggest and insinuate and whether there appears such subtle Contrivance and partial Intentions in our method for the advantage of our Cause and Interest that in the end or event if our Proposals had been complied with beyond all Dispute the Judgment must be given on our side that we were the only holy and pure People whom God had blessed Now our Offer was as before related and if our Proposals had been complied with he might have brought whom he pleased we excluded none that he would bring nor put any limitation otherwise than desiring an orderly and peaceable Auditory of sober People so that it 's evident we had no Contrivance nor could in that method we desired to have only such Persons as would give the Cause on our side right or wrong as he would wickedly insinuate But it 's plain for all his boasting and railing Rabshekah like he has been contriving how to find out a crafty shift to cover himself in his Retreat not being willing to appear to our faces in publick lest he should be publickly manifested and reproved for his unchristian Railing against us and abusing and belying of us and our Principles behind our backs But this is not all that hath this tendency in his Paper but he renews it over again to perswade People to believe That the Quakers had made such a choice of Moderators as would give it on their side let it be Non-sense or Heresie or what it will For saith he you will not leave the Decision to men that are the same in Iudgment with me c. and in Answer he proceeds to give Judgment upon the Meeting that was proposed to whom he saith he will not leave it counting them the Moderators which the Quakers chose and thus represents the people calling them a dark faithless and ignorant Rabble whose Nature saith he is the very Recipient of spiritual darkness and who will on that account suck and drink in Whimsies and the poison of Error as the Fish drinks Waters with those kind of Moderators saith he which the Quakers choose to decide Controversie in Matters of Faith Nonsense and Heresie will be the best Divinity Noise and Clamour set off with the paint and varnish of Multitude of Words and Texts of Scriptures neither understood nor rightly applyed will be the most convincing Arguments to prove a Victory By all this the Reader may see that he would perswade the People that the Quakers had made a choice of what sort of People they would have and that they were such a People whose Nature is the very Recipient of Spiritual Darkness c. And with whom Non-sense and Heresie would be the best Divinity c. Let all sober unbiassed People judge in this Case whether he doth not greatly wrong us yea or nay for you may see he is left free to bring whom he would What! could he find none but such to bring with him to hear and judge Secondly You see what sort of People we desire as in our Paper signified and we also affirm that it was the desire of our Hearts to have sober Conscientious Religious People that would have their understandings exercised according to a good Conscience that they might discern Right from the Wrong and receive every thing accordingly And so he goes on further with a Lye from his Pen and saith Certainly should James Barry consent to the Quakers in this Matter he believes the Quakers themselves as well as others would laugh at him This is but a silly shift to endeavour to get off with and he a Believer of a Lye for we are more serious in our Resolutions and intend better things in our Desires than in the obtaining of them to Laugh at it And we do believe that if Iames Barry had given us a Meeting as desired and had given no more occasion nor worse than his Answering our desire in that no sober People would have Laught at him nor have made Rimes of him neither for all he saith When he doth so he will not be displeased with Quakers and others if they do make Rimes of him for his folly in this thing But the Wise in Heart may see the end of all these Evasions and Shuffles and impertinent Excuses as well as his wicked Abuses and ungodly Reflections and false Accusations which he endeavours to cast upon us and so to the Understandings and Consciences of such we leave it let them judge between us in this Matter But among all these he has yet another Proposal which it may be he accounts a chief one offered in a former Paper and that is that we agree upon Judicious Persons to be present at our Discourse who may be in the capacity of Moderators to judge indifferently who is in the Right and who is in the Wrong I can hear nothing of that but willing you are saith he to leave the Dispute to be determined by the Conscience or Reason of every one that shall hear We suppose that in this Proposal he accounts himself above a Child because he judges our Expedient we propounded altogether Vain and Impertinent which rather bespeaks us Children not past our Non-age in those things we pretend to know However we would have him produce his Example for his riper Age he thinks himself grown into and seeing