immediate and practical, as of fin, in thought, word, and deed, and to be daily affifted to live foberly, righteously, and godly in this world; to pray, and preach, and worfhip God; which relating to the fervice of Jefus, and the fervice of Jefus being by him allowed to be the Chriftian religion, the afferting of that divine light to be the holy rule of our Chriftian conduct to perform those things, deferves not fuch abufive infinuations and innuendos as this author makes upon us.

Page 14. He would have his reader believe, as if there were not one passage in all my part of that book called, "The Chriftian Quaker," he can cite before it be corrected, both stile and matter, because he only cites one which he thinks fit to correct; calling me for it a lewd author, and what elfe he pleases: but, according to his usual practice, he has inferted no PAGE to direct us where to find this affertion. If to me he has thought it not needful, I muft tell him, his amendment is as needlefs; for when I fpeak of Christ, I fay HE; and when of his body, I fay it: notwithstanding, he charges me with other things: but, I think, through the many books I have written, it will never be found my practice or mistake, whatever may be the printer's.

Pag. 23. Since the Quakers will have their light to be common to all men, and not natural, there is no fuch thing in the universe.'

Anfwer. By which he infinuates, that a divine light cannot be communicated to every man, and be divine. Would he have fhewn himself a candid author, one that defired to have informed, and not abused us, he would have first instructed himself what we have faid on this occafion. By natural, we mean mere MAN; his compofitum, or make; that is, of the nature of man, as he is man: by divine, what is above man, and from GOD, to direct man in all well-pleafingness to him. Yet if by natural may be meant, that every man that is born into the world has a portion of this light, or illuminating principle, to direct him in the way

to

to bleffedness, I fhould not very much quarrel at the word; it being, in a fort, natural to all men to have it; because all men that are born (from whence the word nature fprings) as certainly have it, as that they are born into the world. See John i. 4, 19. 1 Cor. xii.

Thefe few instances I thought fit to give of the unjust infinuations and infincerity of this author; which brings me to my third head, viz.

III.

His abufive terms and taunts upon us.

Indeed almost every page is freighted with them. My Key is a picklock, and we are imps of the Jefuits: our writings are apocryphal, our phrafes like gypsygibberish and beggars cant, our arguments putid fophifms; our leading men a pack of jugglers, fophiftical, of fuborned fenfe; men of tricks and legerdemain, abufing honeft-meaning men, as jugglers do plain country people; ranting cant, and that I debauch the Scriptures; with much more of this ftrain and ftile; befides that fcorn and levity, which very much unbecomes one that pretends to correct others in matters of religion. I would fain have this author to confider whether he has acted like one that has any reverence towards God, or compaffion to a mistaken people, fuppofing us to be fuch. Certainly, whether we are in the right or no, be must needs be in the wrong, and his religion vain, that has no better bridle to his tongue or pen: which faid, I fhall betake myfelf to my fourth head.

IV.

His pretended anfwers and interpretations of fcripture

confidered.

The first perverfion, mentioned in my Key, is pag. 1. viz. The Quakers hold, That the natural light in the confcience of every man in the world is fufficient to fave

all

all that follow it:' which, by the way after the flourish of an answer to the Key, (at least as to our doctrine of the light) is all that is cited by him; fo that my explanations of our principle, in anfwer to this, and three other perverfions upon this doctrine at the fame time, are not fo much as taken notice of by this man, that pretends to have confidered them all. But let us hear what he fays upon this perverfion.

Pag. 7. This is no perverfion; unless no objection made against a tenet be a perverfion of a tenet; which no body thinks befides W. P. For we only fay, That the Quakers believe that a natural light is fupernatural and faving: we mistake not their meaning, but oppose

it as an error."

Anfwer. He that changes the terms of a Question, abufes his antagonist, and perverts the argument; which is the cafe for the people called Quakers never faid, that a natural light was fupernatural, or fufficient to falvation: and if natural be not their term, then it is a perverfion of their principle. For whether they are miftaken in their principle, or no, is not the question; but whether their principle is not mifgiven by their enemies. This author feems to make it natural in another place, because we affirm it is common to all, or that all are enlightened: but this begs the question in point of argument, and will not rectify or defend a matter that is in fact falfe: for befides that it is not fair in any to charge their confequences upon others for principles, it is plain what any people say is their principle, is the rule for us to know whether what their adverfaries Jay is fo, be their principle or not. Suppofe it were true, that what is common is natural; yet if we do not say fo, it is a perverfion of what we fay; and as fuch I give it in my Key. For, as I faid before, what any people declare is their principle, is the rule for others to know whether what their adverfaries give for their principle be theirs or not: now whether the light we call divine be natural or no, fhall be confidered in its place: but that a natural light should be fuper-natural and faving,

is not our principle, but their perverfion and contradiction. Waving, then, any more of my Key, which he pretends to answer, he undertakes to state our religion, and the controverfy between us, in his own terms and not ours ; which I will not fay is a lewd, but a foul way of treating any people or opponent, in my judgment; and I think I am not mistaken.-His words are thefe:

Pag. 8. If any thing they fay deserves confideration, this is the point; and of this they fay, 1. That the light within is the rule of the Christian religion. 2. That it is God and Chrift. 3. That Quakerim is taught them by it.'

Answer. I could be glad this author faid any thing that deferved the confideration of good and wife men: I am sure he deserves their reproof, that will not let us confess our faith in our own words, nor exprefs our religion in our own way. However, I will obferve what he fays, as difingenuous as it is; and not write forty pages upon four lines, as he has partially cited out of my Key, and then call it an Answer. It is not our way of fpeaking to fay, The light within is the rule of the • Chriftian religion;' but, That the light of Chrift within us is the rule of true Christians;' so that it is, not our light, but Chrift's light that is our rule. "For in him was life, and that life the light of men, John i. 4, 9. chap. viii. 12. Life in the word, light in men; and life (too) where it is obeyed. For Chrift promifes "the light of life to all that follow him, the true "light that enlightens every man that cometh into the "world." Chrift himself hath made it the rule of his followers: " But he that doth truth, cometh to the

light, that his deeds may be made manifeft that they " are wrought in God." So that Chriftians are to square their lives by the light of Jefus; therefore it is their rule. It is the Chriftian path to blessedness. Chrift exhorts his followers to walk in the light. The beloved difciple begins his epiftles, as he does his history of the gofpel, with the divinity and doctrine of the light; telling us, "That God is light; that if we would have VOL. V. "fellow

fellowship with God, we muft walk in this light; and "that the blood of Jefus Chrift cleanfeth those only "that walk in this light; and that religion without it is a lie," John i. To which let me add, That in his book of Revelations, confonant thereunto, he faith, "That the nations of them that are faved fhall walk " in the light (of the lamb)." Rev. xxi. 23, 24. The apostle Paul makes it univerfal and effectual, in his epiftle to the Ephesians, chap. v. 13. "But all things that "are reproved (or difcovered) are made manifeft by the "light; for whatfoever doth make manifeft is light." Now all being reproved, all have light; and fince that light manifefts every thing that is to be known, Christ bimfelf was known by it, and the religion he taught difcovered by it to be of God; and fuch only received him and it, as obeyed this light in their confciences. The fame light is by the fame apostle rendered the Chriftian's armour; "And let us put on the armour of

light;" fays he, "let us walk honeftly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering "and wantonnefs, not in ftrife and envying; but put

ye on the Lord Jefus Chrift, and make no provifion "for the flesh, to fulfil the lufts thereof:" making it the fame thing to put on the armour of light, and to put on the Lord Jefus Chrift; certainly, then, Christ must be that light, and that light must be Chrift. But he objects to this doctrine.

Page 11. The Chriftian religion is nothing but the Jervice of Jefus of Nazareth.-Nothing, then, can be the rule of this religion, but what difcovers to us that there is one Jefus of Nazareth, and that he is Chrift the Lord. But never was any one man inftructed by that light that is in the confcience of every man, that there ever was such an one as Jefus of Nazareth, much lefs that he was the Lord, and leaft of all what he re6 quired of his fervants: therefore no light within, common to all mankind, can be the rule of the Chriftian religion; fince it was never poffible for any man to

learn