devil; and I shall never pretend no such have crept in among us, who, whether designedly or no, prejudice those they shelter with, and the Christian religion in general. Undoubtedly there are privately among us, as well as others, weak and ignorant, and perhaps too, some ill-meaning people, who are fond of peculiar conceits, and idle extravagant notions of their own framing. But this can be no fair objection to the whole body; for let any one shew me the community whose individuals are all correct and sound, and not some of them singular and faulty; which however are but as the wens and unnatural excrescences in the human body, which enter not into the description of the body, but at most are only counted accidental irregularities it is liable to.

When Mr. Wall, therefore, in order to make us look the more monstrous, shuffles into his impartial account, as he calls it, of our present opinions, the freaks and persuasions he has heard a single man, or a very few persons that have been in our party, maintain; it looks very pitiful in him, and can impose only on such readers who are as willing to be deceived as he desired. And indeed such readers only can bear his many mischievous insinuations; a sort of ornament he seems fond of. I cannot comprehend what could possibly be his design in his silly excuse for Mr. Baxter, who continued to charge us with a notorious falsehood, even after all proper care was taken to let him know it; nor what occasion he had for his innuendo, when he briefly mentions our liberality to our poor; adding in an invidious parenthesis, that we attract the multitude by this artifice, and gain proselytes to strengthen our party. I wonder in my heart what he thinks it is

that attracts the rich; for unless there are such, the poor are not like to be provided for: is it that they seek opportunities to dispense of their good things to the necessitous and wretched? I am afraid this would be too great a commendation of them; and Mr. Wall would not willingly be guilty of such a supposition; he rather seems desirous to have it supposed they are acted only by an unquiet, factious spirit; for what else can be his meaning in saying, They, either out of peevishness, or else being overpersuaded by their leaders, who find their account ' in continuing separate bodies, whereof they may be 'heads, do refuse to join even in those things wherein they agree in opinion with use?'

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Why also does he so often upbraid us with having had Jesuits found among us, and take the pains so industriouslyf to aggravate the thing, unless to make us thought a troublesome, factious party, and the tools of disaffected men to divide and weaken the protestant interest? But such clamours only shew passion and distaste in our opposers, and are no demonstration they have either truth or justice on their side, and that we are in the error. If these zealous men would effectually ruin our cause, they should leave railing, and use their strength to convince us from Revelation, or the principles of reason, or the history of the primitive church, that we are the vile, novel, and humourous sect they abusively pretend. We invite them to the trial, and are not apprehensive of being worsted in the issue; for we bottom our cause on the stable foundation of Scripture, reason, and primitive practice. Does it not look as if they were e Part i. p. 96. [203.] f Part ii. p. 282. [371]

conscious that they can do us no hurt from these topics, by their forsaking these arguments, and endeavouring to oppress us by more popular arts? as if they thought one of the most prevailing arguments against us is, publishing and persuading people to believe that our leaders are Romish priests, or persons who are their retainers, and do them service. And they usually ply us hard with these reflections. Nothing can be more exemplary in this kind, than the heroic exploits of Featly, Baxter, and Russen, to mention no more.

But as we have already, so we shall see further, as we proceed, that Mr. Wall's fidelity in relations of this nature, is not altogether so much to be trusted to, but we may fairly question the facts: besides, were these things true, our reputation cannot suffer much; for every one must needs be sensible, it is impossible always to be aware of those busy intruders, who wear any shape, and choose to mix in societies they think dangerous to their designs, to breed corruptions and disorders there, and then get themselves discovered, in order to lay the whole disgrace on the societies, and make them bear the scandal. And Mr. Wall might have considered, that even the national church has not been free from such maskers, who have found means to open themselves a way to her preferments and profits. I need bring no other testimony sure of this, than a speechs made in parliament, February 9, 1640, by the great lord Falkland, a true friend of the church, according to the character given him by our late noble English Thucydidesh, who was himself too as firm a patron of the church as by g Rushworth, vol. iv. p. 184.

h Lord Clarendon.

law established, as any in his time; and that noble lord's complaint, therefore, cannot be judged to come from envy or detraction.

But lest all this should not be effectual to expose us so much as he could wish, to shew his real tenderness towards us, he loads us further with some of the most infamous and hated opinions, which the generality of Christians disown, and the warm and eager anathematize with the greatest fury. And this addition, perhaps, he thinks will weigh down our scale.

If, indeed, the things he taxes us with were true, I would be silent on the point: but they are so notoriously false, that I admire any man, especially one of Mr. Wall's order, could persuade himself to accuse us of them. Socinianism is one of the blackest heretical tenets, with most people, that infests the Christian world; it is commonly thought so derogatory to our Redeemer's honour, and so inconsistent with the fundamentals of Christianity, that all its abettors may be justly treated like infidels, and open enemies of God and religion. This, Mr. Wall knows, is much the more prevailing temper, as well as it seems to be his own. And therefore, to expose us to a general contempt, and to draw this odium upon us, he takes care to inform you, that we have many Socinians among us,' insinuating as if we countenanced them; and that the old heretice k, some of them denied him (viz. 'Christ) to be God; and others of them denied him to be properly man: but these,' says he, deny both, and say, he is neither God nor properly

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' man.'

i Part ii. p. 222. [333.]

k Ibid. p. 265. [337-]

It is strange any one should have the face so boldly to affirm this, when himself, and all that are acquainted with us, know it to be utterly false. There are such, I know, in the Church of England, though she deservedly disclaims them; and there may secretly be some with us; and so in all parties: but they are so uncommon, or so concealed, that I do not know so much as one among us. And I need only appeal to our author himself, to justify us from his own calumny; for at another time, when he is not in quite so ill an humour, he confesses, that though we have some Socinians who creep in among us, yet I have not heard,' says he, of any church or congregation of them, that makes pro'fession of that doctrine; but on the contrary, that they that profess it openly are rejected from their communion'.' And pray, what can we or any church in the world, do more to cleanse ourselves of that leprosy? and yet he could suffer himself to accuse us of holding those very opinions, he here owns we endeavour to root out. Can this, sir, and the other things I have been noting, flow from an honest, good mind?

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I would omit other mistakes, &c. of Mr. Wall, as his charging Pelagianism, and holding the mortality of the soul,' upon us; which are very falsely imputed, in order to come to the grand question between us but what he says of the non-necessity and unreasonableness of our separation must not be passed over without a reflection, it seeming to be designed to render us odious, by insinuating, how much our censorious quarrelsome spirit delights in fractions and divisions.

1 Part ii. p. 275. [359]