WHen I read your Letter to Mr. Lowth , which you lately sent abroad to find him out ( as you are pleased to express your self , as if Mr. Lowth were some Out-law d , or Silenc'd , or ( at least ) very Obscure Person ) I could not but conclude either that Mr. Lowth was a most weak man for charging you with Fraudulent Dealing without turning to your Book , or that Dr. Burnet was a most confident man for denying matter of Fact in a Point that was so easie to be examined ; especially since you are so positive in justifying your Self , and so severe in dealing with Him , as if he were one of the most Unjust , and Ignorant , and Contemptible men of all the Clergy . Upon this I resolved to use mine Own eyes , because you say the Truth on your side is so obvious and clear ; partly that I might find out Mr. Lowth's mistake ( if there was one ) and partly that I might vindicate the Credit of your Book , which ( you say ) would be shaken , if he had accused you justly : for to be free with you , some people believe it to be the only good thing you ever wrote , that could recommend you to the kind opinion of Honest Men , that know the difference between English and Scotch .

I perceive the thing in Controversie between Mr. Lowth and your self lieth thus . First , Mr. Lowth tells us from Dr. Durel , that Arch-Bishop Cranmer changed his former opinion about Church-Power , subscribing to the Opinion of Dr. Leyghton ; and that when Dr. Durel perused Dr. Stillingfleet's Manuscript , he saw Th. Cantuariensis set with the Arch-Bishops own hand below Dr. Leyghton's name , to shew his Approbation of Leyghton's Judgment , and his own love of Truth : and that this was upon the Article of Church-Power ( for that 's the bottom of the present Controversie . ) Secondly , Mr. Lowth tells you upon his own observation , that you , Dr. Burnet , have dealt unfaithfully in Transcribing that part of the Manuscript , in not giving any account to the World of the Arch Bishops subscription to Dr. Leyghton in that Point , but omitting it wholly , and even in the Second Edition of your Book , which you say is Corrected too . This is Mr. Lowth's story , and indeed if he be in the right , your dealing with the House of Commons , and with the Lords too , and with the whole world is very Disingenuous and Foul . On the other hand now , First , you Dr. Burnet , do grant in your History ( lib . 3. pag . 289. as your Adversary doth rightly object ) that in Cranmer's Paper some Singular Opinions of his about the nature of Ecclesiastical Offices are found ; but as they are delivered by him with all possible Modesty , so they were not establish'd as the Doctrin of the Church , but laid aside as particular conceits of his own , and it seems that afterwards he changed his Opinion . Secondly , you confess in your Letter , that Dr. Durel , the Dean of Windsor may be Believed ( pag . 5. ) so that upon the whole you own what Mr. Lowth saith as to that part of the Story , that Cranmer did really subscribe to Leighton upon the Point of Church-Power , and that this Subscription is in the Manuscript which Dr. Durel and your self both saw . Now the question between Mr. Lowth and you is , about your Faithfulness or Unfaithfulness in the Transcribing . Mr. Lowth saith , you have not noted Cranmer 's Subscription in that Point ; you say that you have , and that in your Book ( pag . 243. Vol. 1. Coll . Rec . ) where Dr. Leyghton's Subscription is set down , there is set by it T. Cantuarien , Now if Mr. Lowth be in the wrong , he is guilty of extreme Carelesness indeed : but if you be in the wrong , you are guilty , Sir , of a double Falshood , of one in your History , of another in your Letter .

Now , Sir , ( as you say ) I would willingly believe the best of every man ( and even of you Dr. Burnet ) but since you have charged Mr. Lowth so severely for Uncharitableness and Injustice , and for slandering you falsly , I must crave leave to tell you ( for it is a hard thing , and needs a Preface to soften it ) that you , your self , Dr. Burnet , are the False man , and the Slanderer ( for all your Confidence ) that have brought Shame upon your self , if you have not forgotten to blush , since ( as some Folk says ) you hardened your Conscience in the case of my Lord Lauderdale , and your Forehead at the Rolls . Be not angry , Sir , but turn to your own Book . Turn to page 227. where the Question of Church-Power is , where Leyghton's Opinion is , and where Cranmer's Subscription ought to be , and you cannot find any Notice of that Subscription there ( tho it be there in the Manuscript , saith Dr. Durel , whom you say we may Believe . ) Turn on further to page 230. where another question upon the same subject is , and where Leighton's Opinion is again , and where Cranmer's Subscription ought to be too ( if we believe Dr. Durel , as you grant we may ) and neither there is any the least notice taken of any such Subscription .

Indeed such a Subscription is noted by you page 243. ( the place you refer us to in your Letter ) there is T. Cantuarien . over against the name of Edward Leighton ; but that ( good Doctor ) is upon another Article , upon the Point of Extreme Unction , and upon that Point only , not upon the Point of Church-Power ( the Point in Controversie between Mr. Lowth and you . ) And what is that Subscription to the purpose ? He speaks of one thing , you of another that belongs not to the Question . He accuseth you for False dealing in the case of Church-Power ; you would come off by shewing your just dealing in the case of Unction . This is a Trick , an Evasion , and instead of being a Defence , is an argument of Guilt , a confession of a crime which none but Dr. Burnet could have been guilty of . Mr. Lowth chargeth you upon one Point ( that of Church-Power , I tell ye ) and he chargeth you roundly , justly , clearly , like an Honest man , like an English-man , like a true-hearted Clergy-man ; you answer him Impertinently upon a Point that neither of you is concerned about . You conceal Cranmer's Subscription , where you should have mention'd it ( saith Mr. Lowth : ) You tell him you have mention d it : but 't is in another case that signifies nothing . What shall we call this ? Fraud ? Falseness ? Equivocation ? Shifting ? Impudence ? and an Abuse upon Lowth and Cranmer too ? I call it neither ; but some in England call it a Burnetisme , meaning a complication of all this . Who but Dr. Burnet would tell Mr. Lowth now , that he hath taken his Collection verbatim from the Original , when there is not a word of the Arch-Bishops Subscription in the Transcript , where it is in the Manuscript ? Who but Dr. Burnet would have the Confidence to accuse Mr. Lowth of Uncharitableness in the manner , and of Injustice as to the matter of his charge ? Who but Dr. Burnet would presume to take occasion hence to upbraid Mr. Lowth for the roughness of his Stile ( which proceeds most from the fault of his Printer , and for want of good Correction , the Honest man himself being at a great distance from London ? ) Really Doctor , I am concerned for your Reputation , tho I hope it will not prejudice the credit of your History . If it shakes that , I think both Houses of the next Parliament will be concern'd to take you to task for it , and for Imposing thus upon all Englishmen , as if you took us all for Children and Fools , easie to be cheated . If it should hinder the sale of your Book , the Price of it will fall , and the Injury is to Us that bought it before , when the rate was high . But if it should turn to your injury , or the Booksellers , you know Chancery gives not Equity for an Unsaleable Book ; and of all men living I know none that has less reason to expect Relief , than your self , especially since the Master of the Rolls is dead . I only advise you to own your fault fairly and ingenuously , or else to take some other course to clear your self , lest the world say , that you have plaid the Knave in your Book , and the Fool in your Defence . And so farewel , till you pester the Press again .