THE DISSENTERS REASONS. For SEPARATING from the CHURCH OF ENGLAND. \ Which were publifhed at the End of Dr. G/V/'s. ANSWER to a Welch Clergyman, AND

Transcription

1 THE DISSENTERS REASONS For SEPARATING from the CHURCH OF ENGLAND. \ Which were publifhed at the End of Dr. G/V/'s ANSWER to a Welch Clergyman, AND Occafioned by the faid WRITER. The F O U R T H BiD I T I O N, Publiflied at REQJUEST. LONDON: Printed in the Y«AR M.DCC.LX.

2

3 ( 3) *fhe Diflentcrs REASONS for Separating from the Church of England; occafioned by a Letter -wrote by a Welch Clergyman on the Duty of Catechizing Children. Inr tended cbiefy for the Ufe of DiJ/eaters of the Baptift Denomination in Wales. "1 T 7"H E R E A S DHfcnters from the church of Rng- VV lan<l are frequently charged with fchifm, and their reparation is reprefented as unreafonable, and they are accounted an obftinate and contentious people; it may be proper to give fome reafons why they depart from the Eftablifhed church j by which it will appear that their re paration does not arife from a fpirit of Angularity and contendon, but is really a matter of confcience with them ; and that they have that to fay for themfelves, which will fufficiently juftify them, and remove the calumnies that are caft upon them : and our reafons are as follow : I. We diflike the church of England becaufe of its Con- Jlituttoa, which is human, and not divine : it is called the church of England as by law Eftahlijhed ; net by the law of God, but by the law of man : it is faid to be the beft conftituted church in the world j but we like it never the better for its being conftituted by men : a church of Chrift ought to be conttituted as thofe were we read of in the Afts of tbe Apoftles, and not eftablifhed by abs of par liament j as the articles, worfhip, and difcipline of the church of England be ; a parliamentary church we do not underftand : Chrift's kingdom or church is not of this world ; it Is not eftablifhed on worldly maxims, nor fupported by worldly power and policy.

4 C 4 ) If. We are not fatisfied that the church of England is a true church of Chrift, becaufe of the farm and order of it, which is national ; whereas it ought to be congrega tional, as the firft chriftian churches were ; we read of the church at Jerufalem, and of the churches in Judea befides, To that there were feve.ral churches in one nation ; and alfo of the churches of Macedonia, and likewife of Galatia, and of the feven churches of jffta, which were in parti cular cities mentioned ; yea of a church in an houfe, whjch could not be national ; there were alfo the church at Corinth, and another at Cenchrea, a few miles diftant.from it, and a fea-port of the Corinthians. A church of. Chrift is a congregation of men who are gathered out of \ the World by the grace of God, and who feparate from it and meet together in fome one place to worfbjp God ; and to this agrees the definition of a church in the igth article of the church of England, and is this ; *' The vifi- 5* ble church of Chrift is a congregation of faithful men :" - which is againft herfelf ; for if a congregation, then not a nation ; if a congregation, then it muft be gathered out from others ; and if a congregation, then it muft meet in «ne place, or it cannot with any propriety be fo called; as the church at Corinth is faid to do, i Cor. xi. 1 8, 20. and xiv. 23. but when and where did the church of Eng land meet together in one place? and how is it ^he vifible church of Chrift? where and when was it ever feen in a body together f is it to be feen in the king, the head of it? or in the- parliament by whom it was eftabliflied? or in x the upper and lower houfes of convocation, its reprefentatives? To fay that it is to be feen in every parifliv is either to make a building of ftone the church, which is the ftupid notion of the vulgar people; or to make the parifhioners a church j and then there..muft be as many churches of England as there are parifhes, and fo fome thoufands, and not one only,. III. We object to the matter or materials of the church of England, which are the whole nation, good and bad j yea, inafmuch as all the natives of England are members of this church, and are fo by birth, they muft in their original admiflion or becoming members be all bad ; fince they are all conceived and born in fin, and great part of them as they grow up are men of vicious lives and converfation* j

5 (5) fatiorts : whereas a vifible church of Chrift ought to confift of faithful men, as the above mentioned article declares, that is, of true believers in Chrift : and fuch were the materials of the firft chriftian churches j they were made up of fuch as were called.> to be faints, fanc~tified in Chrift Jefus, and faithful brethren in him ; as were the churches at Rome, Corinth, Ephefus, and ColoJJe : thefe were churchet of faints ; but the church of England is a church of the world, or confifts for the raoft part of worldly men ; and therefore we cannot hold communion with it. IV. We are diflatisfied with the dofjrint preached in the church of England, which generally is very corrupt, and not agreeable to the word of God ; and therefore cannot be a true church of Chrift, which ought to be the pillar and ground of truth ; for the vifible church of Chrift, as the igth article runs, is a congregation of faithful men, in the which the pure word of God is preached ; of which pure word, the doctrines of grace are a confiderable part ; fuch as eternal election in Chrift, particular redemption by him, juftification by his imputed righteoufnefs, pardon through his blood, atonement and fatisfadtion by his facrifice, and falvation alone by him, and not by the works of men, the efficacy of divine grace in converfion, the perfeverance of the faints, and the like ; but thefe do&rines are fcarce ever, or but feldom, and by a very few, preached in the church of England': fince two thoufand godly and faithful minifters were..turned out at once, Arminianifm has generally prevailed ; and fcarce any thing elfe than jirminian tenets and mere morality are preached, and not Chrift and him crucified, and the neceffity of faith in him, and falvation by him ; wherefore we are obliged to depart from fuch a communion, and feek out elfewhere for food for our fouls. And though the 39 articles of the church of England are agreeable to the word of God, a. few only excepted ; yet of what avail are they, fince they are feldom or ever preached, though fworn and fubfcribe.4 to by all in public office? and even thefe. are very defective in many things : There are no articles relating to the two covenants of grace and works ; to creation and providence ; to the fall of man, the nature of fin and punifhment for it ; to adoption, effectual vocation,. fan&ification, faith, repentance, and the final perfeverance of the faints ; P«r B»

6 (f) to the \3tvr of God, chriftian liberty, church-government and difcipline, the communion of the faints, the refurie&ion 6f the dead, and the laft judgment. V. We diflent from the church of England, becaufe the ordinances of baptifm and the Lord's fupper are not duly adminiftred in it, according to the word of God, and fo is not a regular church of Chrift ; for as the above article fays, " The vifible church of Chrift is a congrega- " tion of faithful men, in the which the facraments be " duly miniftred, according to Chrift's own ordinance, in ** all thofe things that of neceffity are requifite to the " fame :" but the faid ordinances are not duly adminiftred in the church of England, according to the appointment of Chrift ; there are fome things which are of neceffity requifite to the fame, which are not done ; and other* which are not of neceffity requifite, which are enjoined, and with which we cannot comply. Fir/l, the ordinance of baptifm is not adminiftred in the faid church, according to the rule of God's word : there are fome things ufed in the adminiftration of it, which are of human invention, and not of Chrift's ordination j and other things abfolutely neceffary to it, which are omitted 5 and indeed the whole adminiftration of it, has nothing in it agreeable to the inftitution of Chrift, unkfs it be the bare form of words made ufe of, / baptize tbet in the name ef the Father, &c. 1. The fign of the crofs ufed in baptifm is entirely tin* fcriptural, an human invention, a rite and ceremony which the Papifts are very fond of, and afcribc much unto ; and indeed the church of England makes a kind of facrament of it, fince the mtnifter when he does it fays,. that it is done " in token that hereafter he (the perfon baptized) " fhall not be afhamed to confefs the faith of Chrift cru- " rifted, and manfully to fight under his banner againft ** fin, the world, and the devil, and to continue Chrift's «' faithful foldier unto his life's end :" the is fuch an hu man addition to a divine ordinance, as by no means to be admitted. 2, The introduction of fponfors or fureties, or god fathers and godmothers, is without any foundation from the word of God ; it is a device of men, and no ways requi fite to the adminiftration of the ordinance}. befidcsj they * ^ - are

7 (7 ) are obliged to promife that for the child, which they cannot do for themfelves, nor any creature under heaven ; as to renounce the devil and all his works, the vain pomp and glory of the world, with all covetous defires of the fame, and the carnal defires of the flefli, fo as dot to follow or be led by them ; and conftantly believe God's holy word, and obediently keep God's holy will and commandments, and walk in the fame all the days of his life. 3. The prayers before and after baptifin may well be objected to, fuggefting that remiffion of fins and regenera tion are obtained this way ; and that fuch as are baptized are regenerated and undoubtedly faved : in the prayer be fore baptifin are thefe words 3 " We call upon thee for this " infant^ that he coming to thy holy baptifm, may receive " remiffion of his fins by fpiritual regeneration 5" and when the ceremony is performed, the minifter declares,, " that this child is regenerate, and grafted in the body of ** Chrift's church ;" and in the prayer after it, he lays* " We yield thee hearty thanks, molt merciful Father, *' that it hath pleafed thee to regenerate this infant with thy '* Holy Spirit :" and in the rubric are thefe words ; " It * is certain by God's word, that children which are bap- *' tized, dying before they commit actual fin, are wn- *' doubtedly faved }" yea in the catechifm, the perfon catechifed is inftruded to fay, that in his baptifm he " was " made a member of Chrift, the child of God, and an " inheritor of the kingdom of heaven :" which feems greatly to favour the popifh notion, that the facrament* confer grace ex epere operate, by the deed done. Thefe are things which give difguft to many diflenters, that are for infant-baptifm ; but fomeof us have greater reafons than thefe againft the administration of baptifm in the church of England., for, 4. The fubjects to which it is adminiftred are not the proper ones, namely infants : we don't find in all the word of God, that infants were commanded to be baptized, or that ever any were baptized by John, the firft adminiltrator of that ordinance, nor by Chrift, nor by his apoftles, nor in any of the primitive churches : the perfons we read of, that were baptized in thofe early times, were fuch as were fenfible of fin, had repentence for it, and had faith in Chrift, or profeffod to have it ; all which cannot be (aid of infants j nor can we fee, that any argument in favour B4 ef

8 ( 8 ) of infant-baptifm can be drawn from Abraham's covenant, from circumcifion, from the baptifm of houfholds, or from any paflage either in the Old or New Teftament. More over, 5. We cannot look upon baptifm as adminiftred in the church of England, to be valid, or true chriftian baptifm becaufe not adminiftred in a right way, that is by immerfion, but either by fprinkling or pouring water, which the nibnck allows of in cafe of weaknefs ; nor do we underftand, that it is ever performed in any other way at leaft very rarely ; whereas we have abundant reafon to believe that the mode of immerfion was always ufed by John the baptift, and by the apoftles of Chiift, and by the churches or Cnnlt for many ager. Secondly, There are many things in the admimftratkm of the Lord s fupper, which we think we have reafon to objett unto, and which (hew it to be an undue one and not to take notice of the bread being ready cut with a knife, and not broken by the minifter, whereas it is exprefsly faid, that JLhnft brake the bread, and did it in token of his broken body; nor of the time of adminiftring it at noon, which makes it look more like a dinner, or rather like a breakfaft being taken fafting, than a fupper; whereas to adminifter it in the evening beft agrees with its name, and the time of its firft inftituuon and celebration; but not to infift on tneie things. i. Kneeling at the receiving of it is made a neceflarv itqurfite to it ; which looks like an adoration of the elements and ferns to favour the dodrine of the real prefence: and S'^VV^ 'twasar ught b "*«.»"**, and thatfor the fake of tranfubftantiation and the real prefence his predcceffor Innocent the IIP. had introduced : and tho* the church of England A\&yom any fuch adoration of the elements, and of Chrift's corporal prefence in them; yet inafmuch as it.s notorious that this has been abufed, and ftill Iw XS87* " rthr l be hid aflde ; and the rather fit- SLr, Je ufed, fince,t is a table-gefture, and more fuitableto a feaft,- and was what was ufed by Chrift and his apoftles, and by the primitive churches, until tranfubftanmtionobtamed; or however, fince kneeling at moft is but 2.'

9 (9 ) 2. The ordinance is adminiftred to all that defue it, whe ther qualified for it or not, and to many that live vitiou» lives and converfations ; yea the minuter when he intends to celebrate it, in the exhortation, which in the book of (Jommon Prayer he is directed to ufe, fays ; " unto which in ** God's behalf 1 bid you all that are here preftnt, and be- *' feech you for the Lord Jefus Chrift's fake, that ye will " not refufe to come thereto." Whereas it cannot be thought, that all prefent, every one in a public congrega tion, or in a parifh, are fit and proper communicants ; and there are many perfons defcribed in the word of God, we are not to eat with, i Car. v. n. Yet the rubric enjoins, " that every parifhioner {hall communicate, at the leaft, *' three times in the year ;" and directs, " that new mar- ** ried perfons fhould receive the holy communion at the ** time of their marriage, or at the firft opportunity after ** it;" tho' none furely will fay, that all married per fons are qualified for it. 3. This facred ordinance is mod horridly proftituted, and molt dreadfully profaned by allowing and even obliging per fons, and thefe oftentimes fome of the worft of characters, to come and partake of it as a civil left, to qualify them for places of profit and trutt ; whereas the defign of this ordi nance is to commemorate the fufferings and death of Chrifr, and his love therein, to ftrengthen the faith of chriftians, and increafe their love to Chrift and one another, and to main tain communion and fellowlhip with him and among them-. felves. 4. This ordinance is fometimes adminiftred in a private houfe, which took its rife from faying of private mafs ; and to fick perfons, to whom it feems to be given as a viaticum, or a provifion for the foul in its way to heaven ; and to two or three perfons only, and even in fome cafes to a fingle perfon ; whereas it is a church-ordinance, and ought to be adminiftred only in the church, and to the members of it. Vi. As the church of England has neither the form nor matter of a true church, nor is the word of God purely preached, and the ordinances of the Gofpel duly adminiftred in it ; To neither is it a truly organized church, it having fuch ecclefiaftical officers and offices in it, which are not to be found in the word of God ; and which is another reafon why wefeparate from it. Thefcripture knows nothing of

10 ( 10) f archbifhops and diocefan bifhops, of archdeacons and deans, of prebends, chantors, parfons, vicars, curates, &fv. The only two offices in a chriftian church are thofe of bilbops and dea cons ; the one has the care of the fpiritual, the other of the temporal affairs of the church 5 the former is the fame with pallors, elders, and overfeers : and fuch men ought to be 0f found principles, and exemplary lives and converfations ; and moreover ought to be chofen by the people, nor fhould any be impofed upon them contrary to their will ; this is an hardship, and what we cannot fubmit to ; and it is a reafoa of our reparation, becaufe we are not allowed to chufe our own paftors. VII. The church of England has for its head a temporal one ; whereas the church of Chriit has no other head but Chrift himfelf. That our lawful and rightful fovereign king GEORGE is head of the church ofengland, we do not deny j he is fo by act of parliament, and as fuch to be acknow ledged ; but then that church can never be the true church of Chrift, that hat any other head but Chrift ; we therefore are obliged to diftinguifh between the church of England and the church of Chrift. A woman may be, and has been head of the church of England, but a woman may not be head of the church of Chrift; fince fhe is not allowed tofpeak or teach there, or do any thing that (hews authority over the man, i Cer. xiv. 34, 35. i Tim. ii. Ii, 12. VIII. The want of difcipline in the church of England is another reafon of our diffent from it. In a regular and well-ordered church of Chrift, care is taken that none be admitted into it, byi fuch as are judged truly gracious perfons, and of whom teftimony is given of their becoming converfations; and when they are in it, they are watched over, that their walk is according to the laws and rules of Chrift 's houfe ; fuch as fin, are rebuked either privately or publickly, as the nature of the offence is ; disorderly perfons are cenfured and withdrawn from ; profane men are put out of communion, and heretics after the firft and fecond admonition are rejected : but no fuch difcipline as this i» maintained in the church of England. She herfelf acknow ledges a want of godly difcipline, and wifhes for a reftoration of it ; which is done every Lent-kafon, and yet no ftep> taken for the bringing of it in : what difcipline there is, isnot

11 not exercifed by a minifter of a parifh, and his own congre gation, tho' the offender is of them, but in the bifhop's court indeed, yet by laymen ; the admonition is by a fett of men called apparitors, and the fentcnce of excommunica tion and the whole procefs leading to it by lawyers, and not ministers of the word. IX. The rites and ((renames ufed in the church of Eng land are another reafon of our reparation from it. Some of them are manifeftly of pagan original ; fome favour of Judaifm, and are no other than aboliflied Jewijb rites revived j and moft, if not all of them, are retained by the papifts j and have been, and (till are, abufed to idolatry and fuperftition. Bowing to the eaft was an idolatrous practice of the heathens, and is condemned in fcripture as an abominable thing, EzeL viii. 15, 16. Bowing to the altar is a relict of popery, ufed by way of adoration of the elements, and in favour and for the fupport of tranfubftantiation, and the real prefence ; and therefore by no means to be ufed by thofe that disbelieve that doctrine ; and muft be a hardening af fuch that have faith in it. Bowing when the name of Jefus is mentioned, is a piece of fuperftition and will-worfhip, and has no countenance from Phil. ii. 10. The words Ihould be rendered in, and not at the name of Jefus j nor is it in the name fefust but in tbg name of Jefus, and fo defigns fome other name, and not Jefus, and a name given him after his refurredtion, and not before, as the name of Jefus was at his birth ; and befules fome are obliged to bow in it, who have no knees in a literal fenfe to bow with, and therefore bowing of the knee cannot be meant in any fuch fenfe. And as for fuch ceremonies which in their own nature are neither good nor bad, but indifferent, they ought to be left as fuch, and not impofed as neceflary ; the impofition of things indifferent in divine fervice as neceffary, as if without which it could not be rightly performed, is a fufficient reafon why they ought not to be fubmitted to: fuch and fuch particular garments worn by perfons in facred office, confidered as indifferent things, may be ufed or not ufed ; but if the ufe of thefe is iniifted on as being holy and necef fary, and without which divine worfhip cannot rightly be performed, then they ought to be rejected as abominable. Nor can we like the furplice ever the better for being brought in by pope Adrian* A. D The crols in baptifin,

12 . ( 12 ) tifm, and kneeling at the Lord's fupper, have been taken notice of before. X. The book of Common Prayer fet forth as a rule and directory of divine worftiip and fervice we have many things to obje& to. 1. In as much as it prefcribes certain ftinted fet forms of prayer, and ties men up to the uce of them : we don't find that the apoftles of Chrift, and the firft churches, ufed any fuch forms, nor chriftians for many ages ; and of whatever uce they can be thought to be unto perfons of weak capacities, furely fuch that have fpiritual gifts, or the gift of preaching the Gofpel, can ftand in no need of them, and who muft havethe gift of prayer ; and to be bound to fuch pre-compofed forms, as it agrees not with the promife of the Spirit of grace and fupplication, Co not with the different cafe», circumftances, and frames that chriftians are fometimes in : wherefore not to take notice of the defedtivenefs of thefe prayers, and of the incoherence and obfcurity of fome of the petitions in them ; the frequent tautologies and repetitions, ecpecially in the litany, fo contrary to Chrift's precept in Matt. vi. 7. are fufficient to give us a diftafte of them. 2. Tho* we are not againft reading the feriptures in pri vate and in publick, yet we cannot approve of the manner the liturgy directs unto ; namely, the reading it by piece meals, by bits and fcraps, fo mangled and curtailed as the Gofpels and Epiftles are : we fee not why any part of Ccripture fhould be omittfed ; and the order of thefe being an in vention of a Pope of Rome, and the fixing them to mattins and even-fongs fmelling fo rank of popery, no ways ferve to recommend them to us : ' not to take notice of the great impropriety of calling paflages out of IJaiah, "Jeremiah, Jo el, Malawi, and the Atts of the apoftles, by the name of Epiftles': but efpecially it gives us much uneafinecs to fee kflbns taken out of the Apocrypha, and appointed to be read as if of equal authority with the Cacred Ccriptures ; nay not only out of the books of Baruch, Wifdom, and Ecclefiaflkus, but out of the niftories of Tito, Judith, Sufannat Bel and the dragon ; and fuch leflbns out of them as contain the moft idle and fabulous ftories. 3. The book of common prayer, enjoins the reading ofthe book of Pfalms in the corrupt translation of the Vulgate Latin, ufed by the papifts ; in which there are great omiffions

13 ons and fubftraftions in fome places ; as every where the titles of the Pfalms are left out, and in all places thefe words Higgaion and Selah, and the laft verfe of Pf. Ixxii. and in others, there are manifeft additions, as in Pj. ii. 12. and iv. 8. and xiii. 6. and xxii. i, 31. and xxxix. 12. and cxxxii. 4. and cxxxvi. 27. and cxlvii. 8. and three whole verfes in Pf. xiv. whereas nothing fhould be taken from, nor added to the word of God : fome fentences are abfurd and void of fenfe, as Pf. Iviii. 8. and Ixviii. 30, 31. and in others the fenfe is perverted, or a contrary one given, as in Pf. xvii. 4. and xviii. 26. and xxx. 13. and cv. 28. and cvi. 30. andcvii-40. and cxxv. 3. This tranflation ofthepfalmt Hands in the Englijh liturgy, and is ufed and read in the churches in England. 4. It dire b to the obfervation of feveral fafts and feftivals, which are no where enjoined in the word of God. and for which it provides collects, gofpels and epiftles to be read : the fafts are Shtadragefima or Lent, in imitation of Chrift's forty days-faft in the wildernefs, Ember-weeks, Ro gation-days, and all the Fridays in the year ; in which men are commanded to abftain from meats, which God has created to be received with thankfgiving. The feftivals, befides the principal ones, Chr'iflmas, Eafter, and Wbltfuntidet are the feveral faints-days throughout the year, which are all of popifh invention } and are either moveable or fixed as the popifh feftivals be ; and being the rehcks of popery, makes us ftill more uneafy and JilLtisfied with them. 5. Befides the corruptions before obferved in the ordi nances of baptifm and the Lord's fupper ; in the order for the vifitation of the fick ftands a form of abfolution, which runs thusj " And by his (Chrift's) authority committed " tome, I abfolve thee from all thy fins, in the name of " the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoft ;" which is a mere popifli device ; Chrift having left no fuch power to his church, nor committed arty fuch authority to any fett of men in it ; all that the minifters of Chrift have power or authority to do, is only minifterially to de clare and pronounce, that fuch who believe in Chrift fhall receive the remifion of fins, and that their fins are forgiven them, and that fuch who believe not fhall be damned. 6. It appoints fome things merely civil, as ecclefiaftical and appertaining to the miniftry, and to be performed by eccle-

14 ( U) ectlefiaftical perfons and minifters, and provides offices for them, as,. i. Matrimony; which feems to favour the popi(h no tion of making a facrament of it ; whereas it is a mere civil contract between a man and a woman, and in whicha minifter has nothing to do ; nor do we ever read of any prieft or levite, that was ever concerned in the folemnization of'it between other perfons, under the Old Teflament, or of any apoftle or minifter of the word, under the new ; not Co fay any thing of the form of it, or of the ceremonies attending it 2. The burial of the dead ; which is a mere civil a&ion, and belongs not to a gofpel-minifter, but to the relations of the deceafed or other neighbours, friends and acquaintance, Matt, viiu 21, 22. ASs viii. 2. nor is there any neceffity for a place to be confecrated for fuch a purpofe. Abraham and Sarah were buried in a cave, Deborah under an oak, JoJI)ua in a field, Samuel in his houfe, and Chrift in a garden, Gen. xxiii. 9. and xxxv. 8. Jojh. xxiv. 20. I Sam. xxv. i. John \\x. 41. nor do the fcriptures ever make mention of any fervice being read, or of any divine worfliip being performed at the interment of the dead; and was any thing of this kind neceflary, yet we muft be ob liged to objedt unto, nor could we comply with, the fervice ufed by the church of England on this occafion ; we can not in conference call every man and woman, our dear bro ther, or our dear fifler^ as fome who have lived vitious lives, and have not appeared to have had true repentance towards God or faith in Chrift, have been called ; or com mit their bodies to the ground In fure and certain hope of the refurregion to eternal life \ fmcc we know there will be a refurreclion to damnation as well as to eternal life ; nor can we give thanks to God on account of many, that it has pleafed him to deliver them out of the miferies of this finful world ; nor join in the following petition, which feems to favour the popifti notion of praying for the dead ; befeeching that we with all thofe that are departed in the truefaith ef thy hfly name, may have our perfeil confummatien and blijs, both in body andfoul, &c, XI. We cannot commune with the church of England, becaufe it is of a persecuting fpirit ; and we cannot think fuch a church is a true chur.ch of Chrift; that the Puritans wer.e

15 were persecuted by it in Queen Elizabeth'* time, and the dutenters in the reign of King Charles the fecond, is not to be denied ; and tho' this fpirit does not now prevail, this is owing to the mild and gentle government of our gracious Sovereign King George the head of this church, for which we have reafon to be thankful ; and yet it it not even now quite clear of perfecution, witnefs the Teft and Corporation-ails, by which many freebern Englishmen are deprived of their native rights, becaufe they cannot conform to the church of England; befides, the reproaches and revilings which are daily caft upon us, from the pulpit and the prefs, as well as in conversation, fhew the fame.- and to remove all fuch calumnies and reproaches, has been the inducement to draw up the above reafons for our difient ; and which have been chiefly occafioned by a late let ter on the duty of catechizing children j in which the au thor, not content highly to commend the church of England, as the pureft church under heaven, but reflects greatly on diflenters, and particularly on fuch whom he calls retaptizers ; and repeats the old ftale ftory of the German jtnabaptifts, and their errors, madnefles and diftraftions ; and moft malicioufly infmuates, that the people who now go by this name are tinctured with erroneous principles ; for he fays, they did fpread their errors in adjacent countries, which are not fully extinguifhed to this day : whereas they were a people that fcarce agreed with us in any thing ; neither in their civil nor in their religious principles, nor even in baptifm itfelf ; for they were for the repetition of adultbaptifm in fome cafes, which we are not, and ufed Crink ling in baptifm, which we do not : the difference between them and us, is much greater, than between the papifts and.the church of England as to baptifm ; and yet this letterwriter would think it very hard and unkind in us, fhould we rake up all the murders and maflacres committed by Padolaptifls, and that upon principle, believing that in fo doing, they did God good fervice ; I mean the Papijls% who are all Padobapt'ifts ; and yet this might be done with as much truth and ingenuity, as the former ftory is told : and befides the difturbances in Germany were begun by Padebaptifls ; firft by the Papi/ls before the Reformation, and then by Lutherans after it, whom Luther endeavoured to difluade from fucb pra&ices j and even the difturbances in Mun- Jttr

16 Jler'vrcre begun by the Pcedobaptift minifters, with whom fome called Anabapttfts joined, and on whom the whole fcandal is laid. But what is all this to us, who as much tlifuvow their principles and practices, as any people under the heavens? nor does our different way of thinking a- bout baptifm, any ways tend to the fame.... i... j. FINIS.