THE Nameless Author of the ill-named Friendly Conference , to lay a Foundation for his Discourse , causes his Parishioner to report , that At a Quakers Meeting , a notable Speaker propounded this to the Consciences of the Hea●ers , Whether any among them could affirm , that he had received any Spiritual Advantage by his long frequenting of the Steeple-houses ?

Whether this Question was ever really thus proposed in any of the Quakers Meetings , is not my present Business to inquire . But seeing it is now propounded after such a manner , and that by one who terms himself a Minister , I cannot but desire every one , who shall read it either in his Book or this , to consider very seriously of it ; and if they be such as st●ll frequent those Places , to propose it most solemnly to their own Consciences ; for it is indeed of great Concernment to them .

And if ( sayes he ) after Inquiry , he found he had received no Pr●fit by it , he bad him further propound this Query to himself , Why am I thus ? For if God had any regard to the Priests , or their Worship , he would not be wanting to give a Blessing to their Wayes , &c. Thus far the Parishioner , to which the Minister replies , That the Goodness or Badness of the Ministry is not to be measured by the Want ●f a sensible Effect upon the Hearts of indisposed and careless Hearers , &c.

Answer , The Question is not concerning indisposed and careless Hearers , but in general Terms , Whether any among them , impartially consulting his own Conscience , could affi●m , that he had received any Spiritual Advantage by his long frequenting of the Steeple houses ; so that , in drawing it from any , to indispos'd and careless Hearers only , he rather avoids then answers the Question ; which is so much the greater Fault in him , inasmuch as both Question and Answer were of his own framing .

This however is observable , that we have here an implicit Acknowledgment of the Peoples not profiting under the present Ministry , which in pag. 6. is more freely confest in these words , Alas ! its our Hearts Grief , that our People should come into the Church , as the Beasts into Noah 's Ark , go out Beasts , 〈◊〉 they came in Beasts ; or like 〈◊〉 Pharoah 's lean Kine , no ●atter for all their feeding . Hence the People may take notice , what their so long and chargeable Attendance upon this Ministry hath produced them , namely , to be by their Ministers themselves reputed Beasts , and Lean Beasts too , no fatter for all their feeding . Surely it concerns them to consider well , what manner of Feeding they have had , which yields so little Nourishment . But however the Priests have fed the People , it is evident the People have fed the Priests well ; for they are grown ●at and wanton ; whence may be well inferr'd , That the P●iests are better fed then the People taught ; being such as the Prophet pronounced wo against of old , Ezek. 34.2 , 3. who fed themselves , and eat the Fat , but fed not the Flock .

But the Minister not liking ( as it seems ) the former Question , tells his Parishioner , ( pag. 6. ) that The Question , if rightly stated , will be this , Not Whether you have profited by our Ministry ? but Whether you might not have pr●fi●ed , had not the Fault been in your s●lves ?

Answ. The Cause being thus far yielded by the Minister , as to matter of fact , namely , that People are not really profited by their Ministry , this other Question of his leads both me and them to consider where the Fault of their Non proficiency lies . We read of some in former times , who ( though they did probably take as much pains as any of these men now adayes do , yet ) did not profit the People at all ; and the Reason thereof is also given . Now , inasmuch as similar ( or like ) ●ffects are commonly produced from similar Causes , let us inquire the Cause of that Defect , which may probably give some Light to this . In the 23d of Ieremiah vers. 30. the Lord by the P●op●et saith , The●efore behold , I am against the Prophets that st●al my Word every one from his Neighbour : Behold I am against the Prophets , saith the Lord , that use their Tongues , and say , He saith : Beh●ld I am against them that prophesie False Dreams , saith the Lord , and do tell them , and cause my People to Err by th●ir Lyes and by their Lightness , yet I sent them not , nor commanded them ; therefore they shall not pr●fit this People at all , saith the Lord , vers. 32. Here the very Ground and Reason why that Ministry did not profit , nay , why it was rendred uncapable of profiting the People at all , is most plainly given by God himself , viz. He sent them not , nor commanded them : They used their Tongues , and said he saith , when the Lord had not spoken to them : They stole his Word every one from his Neighbour : They ministred not from that Word which Moses long before , and Paul long since declared to be in the Mouth and in the Heart ; Deut. 30.14 . Rom. 10.8 which Word the Lord by his Prophet setteth forth to be like as a Fire , Ier. 23.29 . & like a Hammer , that breaks the Rock in pieces ; Vers. 28. Therefore said the Lord by the same Prophet , He that hath my Word , let him speak my Word faithfully ; what is the Chaff to the Wh●a● ? As if he had said , My Word only , my pure heart●cleansing Word , that like a Fire doth burn up all Corruption , and like a Hammer breaks the Rocky Heart in pieces , this only is comparable to Wheat ( the Staff of Bread ) All the Divinations of Man's Brain , his highest Notions and Conceptions , his studied Di●courses and most learned Exercitations , they are all but Chaff in comparison of this Word . And because those Prophets did not attend to this Word in th● Heart , but stole the Word from their Neighbours , and preacht what they had stole , because they said , The Lord saith , when the Lord had not spoken to them ( though he had spoken to others ) because they ran , and he never sent them , nor gave them any such Command , this was the very Reason why they neither did nor could profit the People at all .

Now let us see how the Case stands with the Ministers of England ; Hath God sent them , or do they send one another ? Do they attend unto the Word in their Hearts , or do they steal the Words from their Neighbours ? Do they use their Tongues , and say , He saith , when the Lord hath not spoken to them ? If so , how then can any Benefit be expected from them , the Lord having said expresly of such , They shall not pr●fit the People at all ? Now , that they do send one another , that they are Ministers of Man's mak●ng , com●mon Experience shews , If they were sent of God , 2 Pet. 4.11 . they would speak as the Oracles of God If they ministred by Command from him , they would do it as of the Ability which God giveth , that God in all things might be glorifi●d , through Iesus Christ . But this divine Ability they relye not on , nor indeed expect . But School-Learning and Humane Abilities , acquired by Study & much Reading , these they trust to , these they depend on , these they glory not a little in ; yea , these they Extol to so high a pitch , as if our Saviour were not a little beholding thereto , and that the Gospel could not be preached without them , as this Minister doth broadly enough insinuate , when he sayes , that Men wholely illiterate are not fit to preach the Gospel ; pag. 98. and in divers places of his prolix Discourse on that Subject , urges the Necessity of Humane Learning , which I intend to consider in its proper place . Now , if God hath not sent them , if our Saviour Christ hath not committed his blessed Gospel to these men to preach ; but they have run unsent , and have spoken uncommanded , no Wonder that the People are not profited by their Ministry ; and the Non-proficiency of the People under that Ministry , must needs be chargable on such Ministers .

But he sayes , The Goodness or Badness of the Ministry is to be measured from its agreeableness to the divine Institution , and real Tendency to its proper End , the Salvation of Souls , pag. 4.

Answ. Let us compare their Ministry with the Divine Institution , and see how they agree . What he means by Divine Institution , he has not exprest ; but that which is generally urged as the Divine Institution , is the Words of Christ to his Apostles , Mat. 28.19 . Go ye therefore and teach all Nations , &c. He told them , in the Verse immediately foregoing , that All Power was given unto him in Heaven and in Earth , and thereupon he grounds the Institution , Go ye therefore , &c. But before they were thus to go forth to teach , they were to receive the Promise of the Father , as Luke testifies , And behold ( said Christ to his Disciples , Chap. 24.49 . just before he parted from them ) I send the Promise of my Father upon you , but tarry ye in the City of Jerusalem , until ye be indued with Power from on high . And accordingly his Disciples did wait for and receive the Promise of the Father , and were indued with Power from on high , before they went forth to preach , as appears in Acts. 1 , & 2. Now that Ministry that doth not wait to receive the Promise of the Father , nor is indued with Power from on high , is not agreeable to this Divine Institution , and consequently not the Good Ministry . The Apostle Paul also , unto whom was committed a Dispensation of the Gospel , according to divine Institution , 1 Cor. 9.17 . Ephes. 4.8 , 12. sayes expresly , that When Christ ascended up on high , he gave Gifts unto men , for the perfecting of the Saints , for the work of the Ministry , for the edifying of the Body , &c. Now that Ministry that hath not received Gifts from Christ , is not agreeable to the Divine Institution , therefore not the good Ministry . And that the English Ministry ( in general ) hath not received the Promise of the Father , is not endued with Power from on high hath not received those Gifts from Christ , their denying the immediate Teaching of the Spirit in this Age , and their constant Recourse to , and Dependance upon Humane Learning and Study , doth sufficiently evince . This Di●agreeableness of the present Ministry to divine Institution , is another great Reason why the people are not profited by it .

Again , pag. 5. This Minist●r sayes , that Real Profit is Obedience and Holiness of Life ; and that the strong grown Christian measures the Goodness of the Ministry from its Tendency to Conscientious Obedience , that is , ( sayes he ) the Performance of all Duty in its Latitude , both to God , to Man , and to our selves . Now if the Performance of all Duty in its Latitude , to God , to Man and to our selves , be the Tendency of a good Ministry , how can that Ministry be good which denye , that all Duty , in us Latitude , both to God , to Man , and to our selves can be performed in this Life ? Yet that the English Ministry doth deny this , is not only notoriously known , but is also evident from this very Conference , a great part of which is spent to prove the Impossibility of being freed from the Act of Sin in this Life ; whereas the least Sin is a Breach of Duty , in some Degree or other , either to God , to Man , or to our selves . Hence I infer , that if the proper Tendency of a true Ministry be ( as this Man in words acknowledges ) to bring People to such an Vniform , Through , Conscientious Obedience , as amounts to the Performance of all Duty , in its Latit●de , both to God , to Man , and to themselves ; then cannot this Man's Ministry be true , because it doth not tend to the Performance of all Duty , &c. but on the contrary , by pleading a Necessity of Continuing in Sin , makes such a Performance of all Duty to be altogether impossible : And this is another grand Reason , why the People are not profited by their Ministry , the Fault whereof is in the Ministers .

Besides , they do not minister to the right Part in People , they aim rather at the Head then the Heart . Thus did not the Ministers of Christ ; they commended themselves to every man's Conscience in the Sight of God , 2 Cor. 4.2 C●ap 5.11 . as Paul testifieth ; and again , We are made manifest ( saith he ) unto God , and I trust also are made manifest in your Consciences . So Peter's Sermon at Ierusalem reacht the Hearts of the Auditors , Acts 2.37 . Vers. 41. so that it is said , They were pricked in th●ir Heart : This was Home preaching ; for that day were added to the Church about Three Thousand Souls . But these men now aday●s , as they preach from the Strength of Natural Reason , and from such Abilities as they can acquire from Study and School-Learning , so they sute their Matter to reach and catch the same Part in their Hearers , whose Affections if they can so far gain upon , as to win them to a Subscription to certain plausible and pleasing Notions , the Work is well nigh done , they are thenceforward Believers , but have not that Faith which overcomes the World , and quenches all the fiery Darts of the Wicked . 1 Iohn 5.4 . Ephes. 6.16 . Now , that this is the Mark they aim at , hear what this Minister , speaking of the Ministry , sayes , pag. 5. We must not esteem that most powerful and profitable , which produceth only sensible Consolations , working upon the Tender , and ( as he words it ) inferior Faculties of the Soul ; whereas the strong-grown Christian ( such ( adds he ) as the English Ministry designs to make men ) hath his Religion seated in the Rational Powers . Hence the People may plainly see the Reason of their not profiting under this Ministry , namely , because this Ministry designs to seat the Religion even of the grown Christian in the Rational Powers ; whereas the People of God in Ages past had their Religion seated in their hearts . The good Ground ( in the Parable of the Sower ) is by our Saviour Christ declared to be them , which ( not in a wise and knowing Head , not in the rational Powers , as this man speaks , but ) in an Honest and Good Heart , Luke 8.15 . having heard the Word , keep it , & bring forth Fruit with Patience . The Prophet David ( speaking of the Righteous ) saith , The Law of his God is in his Heart , Psalm 37. ●1 . Psal. 119.11 . none of his Steps shall slide . And of himself he sayes , Thy Word have I hid in my Heart , that I might not sin against thee . The Heart was the spiritual Treasury of Good Men of old , Mat. 12.35 . as he well knew who said , A Good Man out of the Good Treasure of his Heart bringeth forth Good things . Now these men not being sent of God , not having received the Promise of the Father , not being indued with Power from on high , not ministring as of the Ability which God giveth , but professedly designing to seat the Religion even of the strong-grown Christian in the Rational Powers , they cannot reach the heart , they cannot strike the Conscience ; Their Teaching is but like that of the Scribes , not having ( divine ) Authority ; whereas the Preaching of the true Ministers was in Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power , 1 Cor. 2.4 , 5. that the Faith of the Hearers might not stand in the Wisdom of Men , but in the Power of God .

But there is yet another Cause , why the People are not profited by their Ministry , namely , the Evil Lives of the Ministers , which this Priest gives his Parishioner leave to express , perhaps more plainly then ●e shall have Thanks for , at least from some of his Brethren ; for sayes the Parishioner , Now that you have put me upon it , pag. 11. I shall give you the true C●●se of mens Non-proficiency , and indeed Separation , which is occasioned by the Scandalous Lives of s●me Ministers , whose Behaviour is such , that th●y have caused both themselves and Doctrines to sti●k in the Nostrils of the People . This indeed is something to the Purpose , and to this the Priest thus replyes , That there are Scandalous Ministers in the World , is too sad a Truth , and which indeed ought to be lam●nted in the m●st Brinish Tears . Let none think the Priest has herein over shot himself , either in the Objection or Answer : For , like a wary man , he probably considered , that it was in vain for him either to conceal or deny that which every Body knows : His Art therefore and Interest it is , by a free Confession , a little to paliate , and what in him l●es to extenuate the Crime , and therein to be sure he will not be wanting : For sayes he , It ought to be considered , that in a setled National Ministry ( such as ours is ) consisting of great Numbers in holy Orders , it cannot be expected to be otherwise , but that some men for a Corrupt Interest , will intrude themselves into these sacred Offices , which is not to be charged upon our Function , since there was a Judas amongst the chosen Twelve .

Answ. Here then as to matter of Fact , Habemus confitentem reum ; we need not seek for Evidence , the Priest himself pleads guilty , acknowledging the scandalous Lives of Ministers ; but when in his endeavouring to mitigate the Fault , he from their Number argues the unavoidableness of it , and saith , it cannot be ●●pected to be otherwise , but that some men for a corrupt-interest will intrude , &c. He is so far from mending the Matter , that to my Understanding , he makes it much worse then it was before ; for by this he renders them arrant Hyppocrites , Cheats , Imposters , if not something worse by the Similitude of Iudas , whom our Saviour Christ called a Devil , Iohn 6.70 , 71.

Besides , it is much he should say , these scandalous Ministers intrude themselves , seeing all men that know any thing of them , know that according to the Constitution of their Government , none can intrude themselves into their Ministry , but they must be admitted , and have Letters of Induction ( as I think they term them ) from the Bishop , now then the Question naturally rises , Why would the Bishop admit such Hypocrites into such sacred Offices ( as they call them ) and the Answer as naturally follows , why , he did not know them to be such : But then alas ! may the People well say we are now in worse case then before ; for how shall either we or he be assured that they are not most of them such ? here they are all at a loss : If the People would judge them by their Fruits ( by which Christ said they should be known , Mat 7.16.20 . the Priest foreseeing the Danger that would ensue , tells them , by Fruits is not meant outward ●onversation , though from what immediately follows , viz. not every one that saith Lord Lord , shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven , ver. 21 , 22 , 23. but he that doth the Will of my Father , &c. and again , Many will say unto me in that day , Lord , Lord ▪ have we not prophesie ! in thy Name , & c ? ●nd then will I profess ●●●o them , I never knew you ; depart from me ye that work I●●qu●ty nothing can be more evident then that Life and outward Conversation are the Fruits intended there b● Christ . But sayes the Priest , By Fruits are meant the ill ●onsequences of their Doctrines , so that he would be sure to put the people upon that Way of Tryal , by which they should be l●ast able to discern ; for if those wise and great learned men , who admit these scandalous Pr●achers , cannot by the ill Consequences of their Doctrines discover those corrupt Inte●ests for which they intrude themselves , how alas should the ignorant vulgar do it .

But how scandalous soever these Ministers are , how corrupt soever the Interests for which they intrude , the People , it seems however m●st hear them , must maintain them that 's the Drift of his Discourse ; and because the ●uakers think otherwise , page 14. he reputes them worse then the very Papists the Reason's obvious , the Papists ●nd he jump togeth●r , and as with one Voice , endeavour to subject the People to the Clergy , how corrupt , how scandalous soever : Alas poor People ! miserably enthralled to their own Servants , whom good or bad they must keep , Minister a Servant . how much harder is their Lot ( in this Case ) now , then was that of the primitive Christians ! They were not permitted only , but exhorted , nay , commanded to withdraw themselves from every Brother that walked disorderly , 2 Thess ▪ 3.6 . And to the Corinthians the Apostle is more particular , I have written unto you ( saith he ) if any man that is called a Brother , 1 Cor. 5.11 . be a Fornicator , or Covetous , or an Id●later , or a Railer , or a Drunkard , or an Extortioner , not to keep Company with such an One , no not to eat : Had the Christians then so stri●t a charge given them to separate from such disord●rly Walkers , su●h corrupt and s●andalous Persons ( though they had but the Name of Brethren ) and to see their Converse , their Company , their Society , as men not fit to be eaten with , and must People now be tyed up , & fettered to such , and constrained not only to seed with them , but even to be fed by them ? Were such then thought not worthy to be converst with as Brethren , and must they now be received and admired as Fathers , as Teachers ! Unhappy change : though I have great ground to suspect a man to be a Fornicator , though I know him to be Covetous , though I fear he is an Idolater , though I hear him r●●l , though I see him drunk ever and anon , and feel ●●s Extortion upon all Occasions , must I notwithstanding acknowledge this man to be a Minister of Christ , and have recourse to him for Teaching , and Instruction in the divine Mysteries of the Heavenly Kingdom ? God forbid . yet take notice how this Priest argues for it .

Page 15. The Scribes ( saith he ) and Pharis●●s w●re got into Moses 's Chair , our Saviour bids not the People pull them down , but gives them an eternal [ mark the Epithet , an eternal ] Document , how to behave themselves when such Teachers fall to their Share , viz. Whatsoever they bid them to observe , that to observe and do , &c. Ma● . 23.3 .

Answ. Here first , it may be worth our noting that the Scribes and Pharisees were got into Moses's Chair , not into Aaron's : Now Moses was the Civil Magistrate , the Judge , or Ruler , but Aaron was more p●operly the Priest ; but take it in his Sense , the Chair for the Pulpit , and see his Inference . Our Saviour ( he saith ) gives the People an Eternal Document , how to behave themselves when such Teachers fall to their Share . An Eternal Document ! What 's that ? To do , [ sayes he ] whatsoever they bid them ; nay , hold there , we have had too much of that already ; England hath not yet forgot , since the Scribes and Pharisees of Rome sate in the Chair here , and were forward enough to bid , but were the good Men of that Age as ready to observe and do ? No , no ; Our godly Martyrs ( by his leave ) held not that Document to be eternal , as Smithfield can amply witness : And within our own Memory , that Chair ( as he understands it ) was possest by another Sort of Pharis●es , who I am apt to think were readier to bid , then ever thi● man himself was to observe , for all his Eternal Document : But Reader , consider well , if God for a Scourge to this provoking Nation , should once more suffer the Pope to repossess that Chair , how fit an Instrument would this man be to lead the People into Popery , by t●●ling them Christ hath given them this eternal Document , that whensoever such Teachers fall to their share , they must observe and do whatsoever those Teachers shall bid them to observe ▪ then they must receive the Sacrament of ●he Altar , then worship the Host , then pray to Saints , then pray for the dead , then adore Images , burn Tapers , and what not : nay if the Emaums , which are the Turkish Priests , could get into this Chair , I see no Remedy upon this man's Principle , but Mahomet must be worshipped , but to go on .

He tells us , he is to look at the Water , not at the Conduit through which it is conveyed , page 15.

Answ. But if a man see the Conduit be smeered with Mire and Dirt , will he choose ( or is it reasonable he should be tyed ) to drink the Water that issues therefrom , when he may as well have it from a cleaner ?

Again , he brings the Apostles's Words , we have this Treasure in earthen Vessells , that the Excellency of the Power may be of God , and not of us .

Answ. B●t ●ad they this Treasure in filthy Vessels ? no doubtless ; for no Excellency could thence have redounded to God : Earthen Vessels denote Meaness , but are capable of being clean as well as Silver .

But what , saith he , do you think of Judas , and Nicholas the Deacon .

Answ. I think Iudas was bad enough , he was one that sold his Master for Money yet as bad as he was , and as well as he loved the Bag he did not intrude himself ( as it seems some Pri●sts for corrupt Interests , now adayes do but he was cho●en and had obtained part of the Ministry , from which by ●ransgression he fell : Now will this Priest say , th●t Iudas after he had this transgr●ssed and fallen , should ( if he had lived ) have continued in the Mininistry ? if he saith yes , then may all People see what manner of Ministry this Priest is pleading for . If he sa●●s No I thence infer , that if the Ministers be Corrupt and Wicked , the People are so far from being bound to hear them , that they ought to turn from them and deny them .

As for Nicholas the Deacon , his Office was b●● to serve Tables , to take Care of the Widdows , &c. He was chosen to be Overseer of the Poor ; and is no where ( that I remember ) in holy Scripture , taxed with any scandalous Deportment . Ens●●bius indeed reports him to have been the Head of that Sect which in the Revelations is called Nichola●●●s ; L 3. c. 26. but neither one nor t'other ●ayes , that he continued his Deaconsh●● after his Defection . However it app●ar not that he was a publick Preacher .

But the Priest adds , Solomon you know fill into the grievous Sin of Idolatry , ye● for all that , we burn not his Books of Proverbs , Ecclesiastes and Canticles .

Answ. But did Solomon fall into this grie●vous Idolatry after he writ the●e Books , or before ? If it was before , then how knows he but Solomon repented , and turned from his Idolatry , before he writ those Books ? Charity useth to think the best .

But sayes he to his Parishioner , You cannot but acknowledge , that you have heard many excellent Discourses from the Pulpit , pressing your Respective Duties both to God and Man .

Answ. Ay but , might his Par●shioner well have replyed , tho●e Discourses made little Impression upon me , when I considered from whom they came . He told me indeed , that I must not be Covetous ; yet of all my Acquaintance I knew none more covetous then he . He told me , I must not be drunk , yet I have seen him so too often . He told me , I must live chastly , yet he himself was incontinent . He told me , I must not be Angry , yet none more furious then he . He told me , I must not Swear , yet himself would Swear and Curse too . He told me , I must not Rail , when a great part of h●s Sermon was made up of Railing . I confess I have heard him say , The Wick●d shall be turned into Hell ; but how could I think he believed it to be true , when he was so w●cked himself ? For , Examples are far more powerful t●en Precepts ; Prae●●p●a monent Exempla movent viv●tur Exemplis . therefore it s said , Pr●●●p●s Admonish , 〈…〉 more ; And Me● are apt to live by Examples . This the Apostle Paul well knew , and therefore exhort●d his Son Timothy to be an Example of the Believers , 1 Tim. 4.12 . not o●ly in Word , but in Conversation , in Charity , in Spirit , in Faith , in Purity . And his Son Titus he exhorted , Titus 2.7 . 1 Pet. 5.2 , 3. In all 〈◊〉 to shew hims●lf a Pattern of Good Works . The Apostle Peter also exhorted the Elders to feed the F●●ck of God , not as bring Lords over God's 〈◊〉 , but ●●●ng Examples to the Flock . Examples then we see are very necessary , and Examples indeed are not wanting . The Diffe●ence lies in th●s , The True Ministers were alwayes Examples of G●od●●ss ; but too many of these Ministers are Examples of Evil : And that 's another Reason why the People are not profited by them .

But when he cannot clear them of his own Profession , he falls upon the Quakers , whom if he can render as b●d as his own , he thinks he has done something , therefore he sayes , If you look narrowly upon the speakers , many of them make their pretended Holiness a Cloak for Ev●● Designs .

Ans● . If with all his narrow looking , he could have espy'd those Evil Designs , he should have done well to have discovered them . If he could find none , he has not done well , nor like a Christian , much less like a Minister of Christ , to insinuate such a foul Sland●r , and offer nothing in Proof of it . If ●e could have given an Instance , 't is not to be doubted but he would ; for his whole 〈◊〉 shews him big with Envy , in which he g●●e●on thus :

And divers of them ( sayes he ) who have been much admired for a time , have been by th● Quakers themselves rejected for arrant Ch●●ats .

Answ. This wants Proof as well as the former ; and as he has stated it , I deny it : Yet this I grant , that when any who have walked among us , and made Profession of the same Faith , have swerved from their Integrit , and losing that Sense of the Power of Godliness , which once they had ( although retaining something of the Form ) have gone back again into the spirit of the World , from such I say we have turned away , 2 Tim. 3.5 . thereby declaring , We have No Fellowship with them : And be this spoken to the Honour of that most pure Principle , which we have received from God , Ephes. 5.11 . which admits no Fellowship with the unfruitful Works of Darkness , but rather reproves them . And I would have my Antagonist know , that even in this our Religion is highly to be preferred before theirs who admit into and continue in their sacred Offices ( as he calls them ) so may ill-living and scandalous Priests , who for corrupt Interests intrude themselves , as he tells us .

THe next thing the Priest falls upon in his Conference , is our using the word [ Thou ] to a Single Person at which he seems offended , pag. 16. and asks , Whether Religion suffers by saying Thou to a Single Person ?

Answ. We lay not the Stress of our Religion upon Words ; yet we know there is a Form of Sound Words , and we desire to keep to it . He urges Custom against us ; but alas ! whence sp●ang that Custom ? In the best of Times , and with the best of Men , Thou and Thee ( to a Single Person ) was good and inoffensive Language . But as Times grew bad , and men worse , Pride and Fla●tery first put Inferiours upon paying a Pl●ral Respect to the Single Person of every Superiour , and Superiours upon receiving and at last requiring it . It was the stile of Fr●●ce at first , as well as any other Countries , to Thou any Person , one spoken to ; See Howel 's Epist. to Cotgrave his Dictionary . but when the Common-Wealth of Rome turned to an Empire , and so much Power came unto one man's hand , then in regard he was able to confer Honour and Offices , the Countries began to Magnifie him , and to speak to him in the Plural Number by You , and to Deifie him with Transcending Titles , answered in Symmachus his Epistles to the Emperor Theodosius , and to Valentinian , wherein his stile unto them is , Vestra Aeternitas , &c. so that You to a single person , with other Titles and Complements , seems to have its first rice with the Roman-Empire , which afterwards descended by degrees upon particular men . And how much it is uphold by Pride , & mutually upholds Pride at this day , Experience plainly shews . How oft have many been reviled and s●●ff● , how oft abused and beaten for using this proper and harmless word , the use of which he himself acknowledges to be indifferent ! What spirit is that which thus rages , and smiles with the Fist of Wickedness ? Is it the humble , meek , gentle Spirit of Jesus ? or the haughty , proud , exalted spirit of Lucifer ? It is easie to judge from what spirit that Custom ( of saying Thou to one ) at first arose , by the spirit that appears in it at this day , and the Wayes he takes to uphold it . How does the haughty ambitious Mind swell , and disdain to be spoken to in the other Dialect ! What , I pray , does this bespeak , but Pride and Arrogance ? And doth not then the upholding that Custom uphold Pride , and the upholding Pride cause Religion to s●ffer ? He magnifies Custom , and builds all upon it ; but I impeach that Custom it self , as nourishing and cherishing that in man which is not of the Heavenly Father's planting , and therefore must be plucked up Let the Ax therefore be laid to the Root of this Custom , which is , Pride , Ambition , Haughtiness , Flattery ; and no further Controversie will ever sprout from it .