SUch is the reſtleſs Nature of ENVY, that it will not ſuffer thoſe, in whoſe Breaſts it lodgeth, to be quiet; but filling them with a fretting Diſcontent, is continually ſtirring them up to Strife and Contention: Whereby they become like thoſe whom the Prophet of old compared to the troubled Sea, when it cannot reſt, whoſe Waters caſt up mire and dirt, Iſa. 57.20. Thus ſome ungodly men now (like thoſe whom Jude deſcribed of old) having, in their ſenſual minds, ſeparated themſelves from the People of God, and become like raging Waves of the Sea, have fomed out their own ſhame in many printed Books and Papers, which of late years they have ſent abroad. And leſt thoſe Books and Papers ſhould not have fallen into every hand, or the matter contained in them ſhould have fallen or ſlipt out of any mind or memory, a reſtleſs Agent of that Party hath lately publiſhed a Sheet of Paper to revive them, the Title whereof is, Something of a Revival of what hath been made publick, &c. Wherein many of their reviling and abuſive Pamphlets are named, and recommended afreſh to the Readers view. So induſtriouſly careful they are to blow the Coales, to keep the Fire flaming; ſo fearful leſt Contention and Strife (the food and life of that Spirit which they are joyned to and guided by) ſhould dy, decay or flag. By which all, that will, may ſee how deceietful they are, who (to gain upon the Simple) pretend they are for Peace, and that Contention might ceaſe and dy; yet leſt it ſhould, are ever and anon ſending forth ſome envious Book, or ſilly ſheet, to pick new Quarrels, or revive the old. But, as it was ſaid of the fooliſh Woman, that ſhe pulleth down her houſe with her hands, Prov. 14.1. So it is obſervable of this man, and of the reſt of that Party, that have appeared in Print, that in all their undertakings of this kind, they have either themſelves diſcovered their own Deceit and Wickedneſs, or given others occaſion to do it, and have thereby ſtil pulled down ſome Peice or other of their own confuſed Building. Which Infatuation of mind may well be looked upon as a divine Judgment upon them. Now although the greateſt part of that Paper, lately publiſhed by L. Key, is about the Shutting up the Meeting Houſe Doors at Reading, and turning Friends out of their Right and Property (which having been already ſtated and debated in print, may probably be the reaſon why the Friends of Reading, named therein, have not thought fit to take notice of it: Yet, in as much as in that Paper my name is uſed, and mention made of a Certificate made by me, with an Inſinuation as if I had declined a publick Meeting with J. R. and C. H. (which, with ſome other Paſſages, are ſo darkly hinted in the ſaid Paper, that they cannot be thereby underſtood) I think fit a little to open thoſe Paſſages, that the Reader may be enabled to ſee, and judge where the Truth of the matter lies.

In the Title of L. Key's ſheet, he'ſaith, And ſomthing is ſaid to Thomas Elwood's Book. But certainly that Somthing is ſo near Nothing, that were it not for the clearing of other Paſſages, and partly alſo to prevent his being wiſe in his own conceit, I ſhould not have thought it worth my while to have ſaid any thing to it at all. He begins with me in his third Paragraph, where he bids his Reader ſee the Account from Wickham, and ſee alſo what was ſaid to it, by that quibbling man Thomas Ellwood: For (ſays he) it doth appear he was the man, that writ the Certificate, concerning that Marriage he doth make ſuch a Clamour about: Which he ſaith, in page the 5th was before the Womens Meetings were ſet up. That the Reader may underſtand the matter thus darkly laid down, I think it needful to open it a little. The Account from Wickham, which he here mentions, was part of the Title of a Printed Sheet of Paper, publiſhed in the year 1690, and ſubſcribed in divers places with the Letters J. R. and C. H. (though C. H. hath ſince declared that it was printed without his conſent or knowledge.) To that I writ an Anſwer, the Title whereof was, The Account from Wickham (lately publiſhed by John Raunce and Charles Harris) examined and found falſe, &c. In that Anſwer of mine, to manifeſt their Deceipt (and thereby prevent others from being deceived by them) who in their printed Paper ſaid, We have only ſtood for our own and others Laberty in Chriſt, &c. I was neceſſarily led to ſhew, that the Liberty they had ſtood for was 〈◊〉 Liberty in Chriſt, but a Liberty out of Chriſt, out of Truth, a fleſhly Liberty, a corrupt Liber 〈…〉 mix in Marriages with ſuch as were not of us, and thoſe alſo 〈…〉 by her Neighbour 〈…〉 having ſhewed how much that Marriage was againſt the mind and life of the Meeting, and what a long Conteſt it occaſioned therein, I ſet forth there alſo how, at length, they overbore and prevailed upon the Meeting to permit it to paſs, which yet was not yellded unto without this particular Caution, that they ſhould not take each other in any publick Meeting of Friends, but amongſt their own Relations that Friends might ſtand clear of them afterwards. To which though J. R. and themſelves agreed, yet were they afterwards brought to a publick monthly Meeting of Worſhip, where they took each other in Marriage amongſt Friends, and as Friends, J. R. being there to preach on that occaſion. And that, when ſome Friends, being greived and offended thereat, aroſe and departed in Teſtimony againſt it, J. R. in reflection upon them and to abet the Marriage, publickly ſaid, Let him that is without Sin caſt the firſt Stone as in my ſaid Anſwer to their Account is more at large declared. This Open Diſcovery of their Deceit and Naughtineſs (whereof not themſelves only, but many others alſo know them to be guilty) hath ſo enraged them, and others of their party againſt me, that in many places, both of City and Country they have poured forth their Diſpleaſure againſt me in floods of Reproaches, Revilings and Railing: For which the Lord give them Repentance, and forgive them.) But becauſe bare Railing at me would not excuſe themſelves, therefore, that they might ſeem to ſay ſomthing in their own defence, they alleadge that I, who blame them for promoting that Marriage, did my ſelf write the Certificate for it. And by this Artifice they have amuſed and abuſed many. Now of that matter the plain and naked Truth is this; that as the terms, and (as it were) Condition, upon which the Meeting, after ſo long contention about it, did at length yeild to permit that Marriage to paſs, was, that they ſhould not take each other in any publick Meeting of Friends (which the Parties concerned agreed to:) ſo, in order to hold them there unto, I did make a Certificate for them, thereby fixing their Marriage to a certain Day and Place (of their own nomination) which was a private Houſe of one, who was either Relation or Acquaintance to one of them, on purpoſe to prevent their being married at any publick Meeting, or amongſt Friends. But that Certificate which I writ, and as I writ it, was not the Certificate that was ſigned at their Marriage; but either there was, another written by ſome body elſe, or that which I writ was altered, to accommodate it to their deſign, and that in thoſe material parts of it, relating to Time and Place, for the only ſake of which I writ it. So that, to juſtifie themſelves for impoſing that Marriage upon Friends, they alleadge that I writ the Certificate, thereby inſinuating that I owned and forwarded that Marriage as well as They: whereas the Certificate that I writ was written on purpoſe to prevent that which they did; and that Certificate which they uſed was not the ſame that I writ. I writ a Certificate to keep that Marriage from being brought to any publick! Meeting of Friends: ſome of them either writ another, or altered that Certificate, to bring that Marriage to a publick Meeting of Friends, and by ſo doing made that Certificate their own, not mine, eitherin Deed or in Intention. Thus they would cover Deceir with Deceit: but their Covering is too ſhort and to narrow, and this further Diſcovery of their double Deceit redounds to their further ſhame, But this is not all: L. Key is ſo eager on their behalf to faſten this upon me, that he runs himſelf on ground, and as they falſified the Certificate I writ, ſo he hath falſified the plain words in my Book: for he ſays that, in page 5. of my Book I ſay this Marriage was before the Womans Meetings were-ſet up; which is an apparent Falſhood of his, and he is therein guilty of a downright untruth. My words, in the place he quotes, are quite otherwiſe. I there ſay, The Conteſt between Friends and them about this Couple, was before any Marriage had gone to the Womens Meetings: He ſays, I there ſay the Marriage was before the Womens Meetings were ſet up. Had he not been in the blind Zeal, he falſly charges others with, he might have ſeen in the page he quotes of my Book, that the Womans Meetings were ſet up before that • ince I there declare, that the Friends were fain to uſe the help of the Womens Meetings, to examin that unhandſom Carriage of the before mentioned Woman towards her Father. But Envy ha •… blinded him, and his Maſter owed him this ſhame.

He goes on thus concerning me, viz. The Noiſe he makes againſt Separates and Separate Meeting cannot be pleaſant nor eaſy to his Friends at Reading that could have talked as much of their in •… be doth of his, &c. This is idle traſhy ſtuff. How knows he, and what needs he matte •… be pleaſent or eaſy to my Friends, or not? My Friends at Reading are quiet and ſtill, a good 〈◊〉 and Content: but he winches, kicks and flings, by which I can tell whoſe Back is gauled, be •… his ſilly Inſinuations. I would know of him when, where and to whom I have talked ſo m •… Inward ſenſe? Let him produce ſome Inſtance of it, if he can, or bluſh (if he be not pa •… over bold Folly. He ſays of others, there blind Zeal being ſomwhat abated, they go now at a 〈◊〉 but ſurely his blind Zeal is ſomewhat heightned, he runs on at ſo faſt a rate in his ungo 〈…〉 of ſcoffing at inward ſence. I confeſs I value inward ſence more then to be jeer'd out of the 〈◊〉 by any of his frothy fiouts: And if he were a man of any good outward ſence, he would 〈◊〉 made inward ſence the ſubject of his ſport.

He hath yet another ſnap at me, but ſnaps ſhort, and though he ſhews his Teeth, he has 〈◊〉 to bite. His words are, Reader, ſee for thy ſelf, and take not what he ſaith upon truſt: For it hath 〈…〉 he ſuffered his aged Father to want. This ſpeaks its ſelf a Slander even from the very manner of •… ing it forth. It hath been ſaid, By whom, hath this been ſaid? perhaps by L. Key himſelf, or ſome 〈◊〉 of his Party, who care not what they ſay, that they think might diſgrace me. The like, I have 〈◊〉 hath been ſaid by Charles Harris, who (againſt all Rules of either Chriſtianity, common 〈…〉 Humanity) did publickly traduce me with it, in an open Meeting, before a great Aſſembly of 〈◊〉 and in my abſenſe. But when, at a Meeting afterwards in the ſame place, appointed between 〈◊〉 and him (wherein his unbridled Tongue manifeſted his Religion to be vain, James 1.26. and his 〈◊〉 corrupt, Mat. 12.34. amongſt other ſcoffing Reflections and vile Reproaches, calling Jſaac 〈◊〉 oldeſt Son FOULMOUTH'D BRATT) I called him to an Account for his baſe 〈…〉 me with relation to my Father (as I did then alſo another of that Party, then preſent, who 〈◊〉 bitten me alſo with the ſame Slander) demanding of them ſeverally, by name, if they would 〈◊〉 to make it good againſt me, they both ſlunk back, and ſeverally anſwered, No; for they knew 〈◊〉 of it (they ſaid) but by Hearſay. And when I had given that Aſſembly an Account of my de •… and carriage towards my Father (which I believe gave ſatisfaction to all there, who were not 〈◊〉 againſt it) C. H. acknowledged that wh •… I had ſaid might be true for ought he knew, 〈◊〉 had not mentioned my Father, if I had not blamed the Woman for lying with her Father. 〈◊〉 the Meeting was ended, one of that Party came to me, and ſaid he was ſorry that buſin •… Father was mentioned, for he was ſenſible I was greatly wronged therein, having made par •… about it, for his own ſatisfaction, 〈…〉 Key's Paper being written (as I have 〈…〉 think) ſince that Meeting, he would not adventure to make it a downright Charge againſt m 〈…〉 to his ſhame, had done) but brings it in with an (It hath been ſaid) which is a ſly way of 〈…〉 a Slander. But ſeeing L. Key hath thereby manifeſted himſelf to be like thoſe whom the 〈…〉 old complained of that ſaid Report, and we will report it, Jer. 20.10. I do again deny the Ch 〈…〉 put him upon the proof thereof. And ſince he ſaith It hath been ſaid, It behoves him to 〈…〉 he hath heard ſay it, to free himſelf from being the Author, as well as Publiſher of this envio 〈…〉 He ſays of others, It was their Practice to ſpread Lies: But he has now proved it to be his o 〈…〉 therefore I have much more reaſon, then he, to deſire the Reader not to take what he ſays For he deſerves no credit, with honeſt and judicious Perſons, in ſurmiſing a Defamation up 〈…〉 er ground than an (It hath been ſaid,) eſpecially ſeeing I have now convicted him of falſifyi •… words of my Book. But ſince he, and ſome others of that Party (eſpecially thoſe at Wi •… taken this courſe to defame me, let them not complain if, when occaſion ſerves, I ſhoot th 〈…〉 ows back upon themſelves, and let the World as publickly know what hath been ſaid of 〈…〉 more in my Book, than I could make out or 〈…〉 any from or for them (that ever I could 〈…〉 wer thereunto; ſo little earneſt were they in reality to have what they 〈…〉 to offer, 〈◊〉 Meeting. And how little reaſon the Meeting, or I, had to take notice of that Paper may appear •… by this, that whereas in that Paper (which has as little fence as Truth in it) they complain that I have wronged and abuſed them and my ſelf, and all thoſe that do adhear to me, by publiſhing Lies againſt them, the matter they aſſign for proof thereof is that in my Examination of their Paper, I ſay I have found the Account from Wickham falſe, but have not proved it ſo. Was not this a ſufficiently-idle pretence for a publick Hearing in the Country, when as both their Paper and my Anſwer thereto being in print, both City and Country (and all Countries where they were ſpread) were capable, by comparing the one with the other, to judge whether I had proved their Account falſe, or no? They pretended they were wiling to have a publick Hearing in the Country, that they might clear their innocent Undertakings, and make their juſt Defence. Could they not clear their Undertakings in Print? It muſt be then becauſe their undertakings were not Innocent. Could they only offend others in Print, and not Defend themſelves? Or could they imagine any hearing in the Country (how publick ſo ever) could be ſo publick as from the Preſs, where they began? How ſhallow and ſilly their pretences are! But it may be gueſſed what ſort of hearing they intended (if indeed they really intended any) by their propoſing it to be before ſuch Friends and Neighbours that are willing (ſaid they) to hear what we have to ſay. A partial Auditary they deſigned, it ſeems not ſuch as would indifferently hear what both ſides had to ſay, but) ſuch as would hear what THEY had to ſay. They deſired alſo to know who were the Approvers of ſuch Beoks, and whether they are not paid for out of the Publick Stock? Why did they not, at the ſame time, ſignifie who were the Approvers of their Paper (if any but themſelves approved it) and out of what ſtock it was paid for? Could they not clear their undertakings, and defend themſelves without knowing the Approvers of my Book, and how it was paid for? My Name is to my Book in words at length: What then doth it concern them either who approved it, or how it was printed. This ſhews their Deſign was, under pretence of clearing themſelves (which they know they never can) to pick ſome freſh Quarrel to wrangle and make a noiſe about, and ſo ſlip off from their own Purgation. Their Agent L. Key ſays (and that truly) Truth is ſtrongeſt: And had they had, or beleived they had, Truth on their ſide, they knew where to have met me, even where they complained I had met with them, viz. in Print. Which as it is the moſt publick ſo was it the moſt ſuitable, and indeed the only proper way for them and me to meet, on that Subject, after they had begun in Print. Had they ſought me there, and I had not appeared, he might with leſs untruth have ſaid I declined a Meeting. But being conſcious to themſelves of their own Guilt, and not thinking it ſafe to truſt their Cauſe to the deliberate Examination of every judicious Eye, they themſelves declined that ſort of Meeting which they had given the open Challenge to. For in the firſt Poſtſcript to their Account from Wickham, p.4. they ſay, Now if we and our Friends be no better eſteemed than we have been rendred by ſome perſons, 〈◊〉 come forth in plainneſs, and if there be no Unity, no Peace to be made with us, LET THEM 〈…〉 AUSE PUBLICK. Were they ſuch Children, to think that, after they had, by ſuch a daring Provocation, drawn forth ſomthing of the Cauſe in publick, they ſhould ſlip back into a Corner, (for ſuch the moſt publick Hearing may be called in compariſon of the Preſs) to have the matters, already printed, heard and adjudged by a partial Auditory, of ſuch, perhaps, as were either Patients to J. R. or of Party with them both; ſuch, it may be, as was that Perſon, who (when C. H. in a publick Meeting, which ſome Friends had lately with him in this Country, where he and they dwell, was openly charged with an evil Converſation, and proof offered to be made thereof, which he refuſed to hear, or ſtand the tryal of) ſaid If ye do prove it, I will not believe it, Before ſuch Hearers it is probable they would be willing to have an Hearing, ſuch as would hear what They have to ſay, and would not believe Proof againſt them. But let them remember, they have in print bid us come forth in plainneſs, they have in print bid us make the Cauſe publick; and ſo far as that has been already done, ſhall (with Gods help) be as publickly defended.