IT's unto you, into whoſe Orders I am now Admitted, and by whom I am Owned, ſince the Quakers have denied me, that I make my Complaint of the Quakers; that caſt on me ſuch Aſperſions, that its evident and demonſtrable out of my Books, what I have ſaid of you, as theſe following evince, viz. That you Ran, and the Lord never ſent you; and that you were Covetous and Ambitious, ſeeking how to pleaſe Men, for your own Ends; and it's true, That I cried againſt your Philoſophy, and your Univerſities, ſaying, They are the Stews of Antichriſt, out of which comes your ignorant, profane, ſcandalous Miniſtry; and that the Generality of you have not the True Faith; and that in proceſs of Time, your whole Miniſtry will conſiſt of ungodly Men; the Wicked being ſtill preferr'd by the Wicked: And ſo, they ſay, I am preferr'd among the reſt; and by contrivance and deſign, now I am ſo Old, as to have ſo much Natural Wit, as to ſee I muſt make ſome ſhift how to live; having caſt my ſelf out from among the Quakers, and ſeeing it is the far eaſieſt of many or moſt Trades, to be a Preacher, to get Money, and become one of the Man-made Miniſtry, where All is done for Money: Therefore, Learned Brethren, I come among you; for you know, No Money, No Preaching; as the Old Proverb is, No Penny, No Pater Noſter. And the vile Quakers ſlander me in theſe, and other matters of Truth, by ſaying, You (and I may now ſay, We, Brethren) Preach not Chriſt; but ſay contrary, That is not Chriſt which convinceth every Man of his ſins, and tells him all that ever he did; it is but a Humane Principle, and not Divine: And to Read Set-Forms of Prayers out of a Book, which to read, whether in private or publick, and call that Reading Prayer, is not (I affirm) any part of Goſpel-Worſhip; neither was it known in the Church, either in Justin Martyr, or Tertullian's Time, who lived above 300 Years after Chriſt.

And, Learned Brethren, theſe Heathens, as I call the Quakers, in my late Sheet, Reproach me with another thing that I ſaid of them, whilſt I was one of them, concerning ſuch as you (and I) that now oppugn the Quakers with groſs and horrid Lyes, and falſe Calumnies, and meer Abuſes, like unto the ways that ever the worſt of the Adverſaries of Truth have uſed againſt the True Witneſſes of it; and yet ſaid I, It never yet hath been proved, nor never will, that the Religion profeſſed by the ſincere and faithful People, called in ſcorn Quakers, is either Paganiſm, or any other thing than Real Chriſtianity; and notwithſtanding I have ſo ſaid, I do Retract, Diſown, and Deny whatſoever is to be found in any of my Books, contrary to the Holy Scriptures. Yet theſe Heathens, Learned Brethren, do not forbear to Reproach me with what I have truly ſaid, concerning the Sacraments Chriſt hath ordained in his Church, viz. Two only, as generally neceſſary to Salvation, as we profeſs; that is to ſay, Baptiſm, and the Supper of the Lord. Viz. As for Infants Baptiſm, and Sprinkling a Child of Eight Days Old more or leſs, on the Forehead, and call it Baptiſm, I ſaid hath no footing in all the Scripture, neither of Precept nor Practice; neither was it in uſe for an Hundred Years and more after the Apoſtles days, among Profeſſors of Chriſtianity; and that we cannot Prove it, altho' we Practice it, and get Money by it, but do it by a bare Imitation, and a meer pretended Call, which is great Preſumption, yea, Superſtition; altho' we call it Chriſt's Ordinance, and ſay, It's Commanded by Chriſt; yet he hath given us no Command; but we ſet up the Commandments of Men in the Room of God's Commands, like the Phariſees, as they ſhew in their late Sheet, entituled, The Chriſtianity of the People called Quakers aſſerted by (me) George Keith; and in their Book, called The Creed-Forgers detected, they ſhew, that I ſaid, Tertullian was againſt Infant Baptiſm, and that we cannot (as true it is) give any Evidence in Church-Hiſtory, that Chriſt commanded thoſe Words to be uſed, which we uſe in Baptiſm; and Zuinglius is againſt us in this Caſe; and that 1 Cor. 11.23, 24. proves no Inſtitution of the Lord's Supper at all; and that we, Learned Brethren, own (as you know we do) and acknowledge, that there is no abſolute neceſſity of uſing that called the Supper, ſo as that none can be Saved, but ſuch that partake of it: And that whatever Outward thing God Commands, brings along with them a real Advantage to Men's Souls; and you know, we hold this to be an Outward thing, and Viſible Sign. And for my part, I ſtill adhere, as I ſaid in my Retractations, to my former Advice, that nothing be required by one ſort (i.e. by us, or any others) from another, as an Article of Faith, or Doctrine, in common to be Believed, but what is expreſly delivered in the Scriptures, in plain expreſs Scripture-Terms.

And, Learned Brethren, you know, we hold the Lord's Supper as an Article of Faith, or Doctrine, to be believed; and yet cannot we prove it by what is expreſly delivered in the Scripture, in plain and expreſs Scripture-Terms. What, Brethren, ſhall I do with this Gang of Quakers? Altho' I charge them not either upon the Generality (pray mind that) far leſs the Univerſality of all them called Quakers; yet I muſt confeſs, I have poſitively ſaid in my late Sheet, That I have proved the Quakers (without Exception) Heathens; notwithſtanding thoſe that have but a little ſound Judgment may eaſily find, I do not contradict my ſelf in any thing, nor do I continue to hold palpable Contradictions; for I have declared in Print, Thoſe that continue to hold palpable Contradictions, all Ingenious Perſons will conclude great Hypocrites, for none but ſtark Mad and Crazed in their Underſtanding, will hold perfect Contradictions, for what I hold is agreeable to Holy Scripture; therefore theſe Quakers that I have charged with the Gangreen of their Vile and Groſs Errors and Hereſie, that is, a Complex of the worſe ſort of Errors and Hereſies, Demand of me to prove by plain Scripture, and in Plain and Expreſs Scripture Terms, that the Baptizing Infants, and Signing them with the Sign of the Croſs, and the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, as uſed by us, and our ſet Forms of Prayer, and our taking Tythes, and pleading for the Divine Right thereof, and our requiring they ſhould be paid to us (the Miniſters of the Nation) as Miniſters of Chriſt, and that as ſuch we ſhould receive Tythes and Stipends; to prove all this, and much more, from plain Scripture, and in plain and expreſs Scripture Terms, they do demand; becauſe I ſtill ſay, I adhere to my former Teſtimony.

Again, If I believe theſe things to be Articles of Faith, or Chriſtian Doctrines to be believed, and many other things that we Hold and Practice; theſe Quakers would have plain Scripture for all ſuch things, and in plain and expreſs Scripture Terms they would have it proved; is not this unreaſonable, Brethren? I have indeed declared, in publick Print, That I have been above 30 Years among the Quakers; and ſince I left them, have publiſh'd to the World, that I Reverence Divine Providence that I became a Quaker: And have Affirmed, That they held the Fundamentals of Chriſtian Doctrines, and that I knew the Quakers and their Principles, having been Converſant with them in their publick Meetings, as well as private Diſcourſes, with the moſt noted and eſteemed amongſt them for 30 Years; yet have ſaid, to Excuſe my ſelf ſince I left them, If I had known they had ſuch Errors among them, I would as ſoon have put my Head in the Fire, as have owned them: Yet in my Retractations, I declare, I am of the ſame Faith as I have been above 30 Years. Thus they ſay, I ſay and unſay, and pretend Ignorance when I well knew, and vindicated thoſe Doctrines ſtoutly, and in the Name of the Lord, which I now chargeas Errors upon them, many of which were writ before I was a Quaker; and therefore as to my pretence, that if I had known the Quakers had ſuch Errors, I would as ſoon have put my Head in the Fire, as have own'd them; which the Quakers eſteem an idle Story, for they will not believe I was ſo Ignorant, as not to know them, becauſe I vindicated them; and beſides, they account there is no need for me to put my Head in the Fire, becauſe they think me too hot-headed already; and that if what I have ſaid be true, That I am of the ſame Faith ſtill, that I was when a Quaker, and that I have been for above 30 Years paſt; then I muſt be a Quaker ſtill; and if I never was a Quaker, then they pretend they do not underſtand what reaſon I had to publiſh to the World, That I reverence divine Providence that I became a Quaker; thus they reflect upon me, and endeavour to render me in palpable Contradiction, and to ſhew that by my own Saying, I prove I am an Apoſtate, a great Hypocrite, Crazed in my Underſtanding, and ſtark Mad: But, Learned Brethren, ſeeing I meet with theſe things, I make my Complaint to you, to whoſe Service, for my Wages, Stipend, or Reward, I am now Devoted.

And I ſay, and do what I can, by calling the Quakers Heathens, Deiſts; their Divinity, mad Divinity; their Religion, the Religion of Julian the Apoſtate; and render them Stoicks, Platoniſts, and what not; and aſſert I have proved them Apoſtates, telling them in my late Sheet, That I think not at preſent to take particular Notice of the Pamphlets which charge me with ſome Paſſages in my former Books, particularly the Account of a National Church, &c. the Animadverſions thereon, the Portraiture of G. K. and the Broad-Sheet, cum multis aliis: But they ſtill call upon me to prove that thoſe Principles which I have formerly vindicated in the Name of the Lord, are contrary to Scripture; and the Quakers tell the World moſt truly, I Deny and Retract what's contrary to the Holy Scriptures, that is to be found in any of my Books; by which they conclude that I do more Retract what I have lately writ and done, than what I writ or did formerly; becauſe they ſuggeſt, that according to their Opinion, I Writ, Preached and Practiſed, more agreeable to the Scripture then, than I do now; and when I had more Charity for them, I was better than now I am, and leſs envious, and more like a Chriſtian indeed: Therefore in my late Sheet I ſay, I do Retract, Diſown and Deny whatever is to be found in any of my Books contrary to the Holy Scriptures, or the 39 Articles of the Church of England; which, I ſay, I ſincerely believe are perfectly according to the Doctrine of Holy Scriptures: And now they would have me prove that the Quakers hold any Fundamental Doctrine that is contrary to the Holy Scriptures, and the 39 Articles of the Church of England. And what Fundamental Principles or Doctrines of the Chriſtian Faith to be believed, they, i. e. Quakers hold, that are contrary to the holy Scriptures, and 39 Articles.

Seeing that I ſay, I am of the ſame Faith, and have not changed in any Fundamental Principle, nor indeed in any one Principle of the Chriſtian Faith, nor varied therefrom to this Day; for all the while I was a Quaker, I was Orthodox, or Sound in the Chriſtian Faith, although I have, to render the Quakers odious, aſſerted them to be Erroneous. And although I now ſay, Thoſe Texts of Scripture, relating to Baptiſm and the Supper, I was mistaken in; and when I did particularly Aſſert, Water was not meant; and ſince affirmed that it is meant in Mat 28.19. yet I have not varied in any one Principle of the Chriſtian Faith, nor contradicted my ſelf; neither doth this prove, when I held otherwiſe than now I do, that I was not then found in the Principles of Chriſtianity, or Doctrines of the Chriſtian Faith, or that I held any thing contrary to the 39 Articles, by no means, for then I ſhould be an Apoſtate, ſtark Mad, and Crazed in my Underſtanding, (if I contradicted my ſelf;) according to my own Saying, and was unſound in the Principles of Chriſtianity, or Doctrines of the Christian Faith; or that I held any thing contrary to the 39 Articles.

And, Learned Brethren, you are not Ignorant how we have encouraged ſome to write againſt the Quakers, altho' it hath coſt ſome Scores of Pounds: and there hath been a Complaint made, in the Quakers Names, againſt me, humbly preſented to the Clergy of the Church of England; therefore my Letter-Learned-Brethren, that are as Falſe and Conceited as I am, and think you can ſplit Hairs, ſtrain Sentences, quibble about Words to raiſe Strife, uſe Sophiſms, draw wrong Concluſions, make undue Inferences, to Wrong the Living, and Deſame the Dead, that you may render both Erroneous, the living Ignorant, and your ſelves Wiſe and Knowing, when it's well known (to them that are truly wiſe and knowing) we are otherwiſe: Therefore ſuch of you that have more Paſſion than Patience, Pride than Humility, empty Conceit than ſound Judgment, Folly than Wiſdom; that are more taken with Lyes and Railery, than Truth and Reaſon; to you I do Addreſs my ſelf, as being neareſt Related to me, and with whom I am in abundant more Unity, than with the Patient, Humble, Wiſe, Judicious, and ſober honeſt Men; for they may think, that I might better Imploy my Time, and my Parts, and Zeal, to much better purpoſes, in furthering the Reformation of Men's Lives, and of the Manners of the Nation, than by raiſing or keeping up with an Unchriſtian Temper, to the manifeſt Injury of the Chriſtian Religion, which is an Inſtitution of Love, dangerous or unneceſſary Controverſies or Diviſions;—all Religions being, I think agreed, that bad Men are a Scandal to the beſt Religion; and that they cannot, if they continue ſo, be ſaved in any, as is ſaid, p. 27. of that Book, ſaid to be publiſhed with the Approbation of a conſiderable number of Lords Spiritual and Temporal: This Advice being contrary to my Practice, I rather chuſe to make my Addreſs to you; and it's to ſuch that all along I intend my Complaint: And this I may add.