A Testimony against Hypocrites and Deceivers, in defence of the Truth.  
OF all the Hypocrites and Deceivers I have seen or read of, from the beginning of the World to this present time, you who term yourselves the Ministers, and set up yourselves as Elders, and claim Authority over your Brethren, whom you call a Visible Body; Church, and Society, and are called QUAKERS, are the most shameless, brazenfaced, and stoutest Instruments of your Master, and have out stripped all the rest of your Forefathers, as may be seen, read, heard, and understood in two several Books of yours, the one Entitled the Spirit of Alexander the Coppersmith the other Entitled Judas and the Jews, etc.  
Coin the first born of the first Man Adam slew his Brother, but he stood not in a long dispute when charged for it, though he at first Motion said, Am I my Brother's keeper? yet presently he fell in his Argument, and made no large Reply in defence of his Treachery. The Sons of Jacob sold Joseph their Brother, but they did not stand to the Justification of the Fact, but sought to cover it as long as they could: but when they came into distress, they confessed, and said, That misery came upon them, because they pitied not their innocent Brother's cry. The Centurion, and those that were with him watching, when they saw the Wonders, the great Earth quake, that the Veil of the Temple was rend, etc. at the giving up of the Ghost, feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. Judas the Traitor did not stand for the justification of his wicked Act, when he saw how he had betrayed the Innocent, but said, I have sinned, etc. The persecuting Priests of late years, here in England, who stoned, whipped, imprisoned, haled out of the Synagogues the poor Quakers at their first appearance, would seek to make some cover for to hid their wicked Persecutions, and would not with such confused boldness stand in open justification of lying Testimonies, after it should be openly published in their faces, as you in your said Books have done. And for proving of this Truth, let him that runneth read.  
First, you say, You are slandered greatly, because it is said of you, that you deny Liberty of Conscience, and you appeal to God's Holy Witness in all Consciences for your proof.  
I Answer; Let all People that do in any measure own a Witness in their Consciences, consider, first, what you yourselves confess, you never liked the word Liberty of Conscience, and you seek to cover yourselves, under pretence that you did not mean it of outward, but of inward liberty.  
Again, I Answer, You say you liked not the word as commonly used. Alex. the Coppersm. p. 8. Is not the word Liberty of Conscience most commonly used by Men, in requiring a liberty to exercise themselves in Matters of Religion and Worship, according as the Spirit of the Lord makes manifest within in the Conscience? And hath not this Request been from time to time, in all Ages, made by Professors of Religion unto Magistrates and Rulers, desiring their Liberty? Was not this the Request of Moses and Aaron, when they were sent of the Lord to appear before Pharaoh King of Egypt? And did they not say then unto Pharaoh, that the Lord had sent them to require a Liberty for the People to go three days journey into the Wilderness to worship their God? and was not this Request for a Liberty to an outward exercise of God's Worship? Nay, did not Moses and Aaron say, when Pharaoh said, they should go, but leave something behind them, that they must bring all with them; because, say they, we must hold a Feast unto the Lord? And is it not then about the outward exercise of God's Worship that was the Message of Moses and Aaron unto Pharaoh for Liberty? Yet notwithstanding you reply and rejoin over and over, seeking to uphold yourselves in this great Confusion: and whereas you appeal unto God's holy Witness in all Consciences, if ever you so used any Conscientious Enquirers, as to thrust them out of your Meetings, pag. 11. And you say, It is baseness to suggest your ill-using of People in general, and none named. And thus when the Truth in plainness of Speech is laid open against you, that you cannot in any measure deny, but that the very words testify in plain terms against your practice; yet with boldness you would make People believe, putting meanings contrary to the sound of your own words, which your Forefathers the Professors that went before you would not adventure so far: though they would put meanings to the Scriptures, which was other men's words; yet would not they be so brazenfaced as to belie their own Expressions, by putting contrary meanings thereunto.  
Secondly; You say you are not fallen from the first Principle of Doctrine first preached by the People called Quakers, though you uphold, maintain, preach, declare, and publish in print, That putting off the Hat in Prayer, is an innocent and a reverend practice, and comely order. And though you have also declared and published in print, that you have your time for Public Prayer, and that you have purchased parcels of the Earth on purpose to lay your dead Bodies together from the People of distinct ways.  
Now let all that will not be wilfully blind, consider how far this Doctrine will concur and agree with the first Principle of the Quakers Doctrine and Declarations, both in words and writings, when they came first forth, and went into the Professors Meetings, and declared against all their outward Forms and Observations, against all their Hour-glasses and Watches, limiting themselves unto times for to pray or preach; yea, they stood with their Hats on in the times of the then Professors Prayers, saying, That God must be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth, that is, before Time was, and will continue the same when Time vanisheth away and be no more. And when the Professors withstood them, saying, the Apostle said, Every Man praying or prophesying with his Head covered, dishonoureth his Head. They answered, That Christ was Head within them, and that Christ was the same Son of God in Male and in Female; and wherever the Son appeared to speak, whether in Male or in Female, he discovered himself unto all that would receive and obey him. And the Quakers Doctrine than was for the rising of the Witness in every Conscience; and that all should cease from Man, whose Breath is in his Nostrils, and turn the mind to within, and there to wait for Teachings; and that none should look out for Teachings, but wait in silence, and be faithful to the measure, be it ever so little, it is sufficient: It is the whorish Woman, whose Eyes gad abroad, whose Feet abide not in her own House; and she that swept her House, found the lost Groat in her own House. And the Wise Virgins had Oil in their own Lamps; the Foolish Virgins were shut out whilst they went abroad for Oil: The Eye that looks out unto others Conditions, and neglects his own, is the Eye that offends and must be plucked out; that the pure Eye may be opened which offends not, and the Beam must first be cast out of thy own Eye; and let all flesh keep silence before the Lord; and let none speak his own Words, nor think his own Thoughts; but let every Soul be subject to the Higher Power; all Power is of God, who is from Eternity. And this Doctrine we still own and abide in, and your Time of Public Prayer, and your imposition, putting off Hats (which the People called Quakers at first, before your Visible Body was heard of, declared to be a practice worse than a Heathenish Vanity) we deny, and will follow the Light in our own Consciences, according to the first Doctrine; and will let the Dead bury the Dead, and will not join with you in your Usurpation, who are not ashamed to declare in print, that you denied them that contributed with you in the purchasing of a piece of Ground for to lay their Dead in when they had need of such a thing, and bid them go elsewhere for a burial place: and you say, It is no usurping of their property, for they never desired their parts of the Collection; and herein you say you are slandered: If you cannot show me one Instance of such shameless withstanding the Truth, and such boldness in the maintaining yourselves in gross Errors, after the discovery thereof, as you do in these things in any People of any Profession , let all sober-minded People take notice, that you have surpassed all Usurpers that went before you: for you acknowledge them to be joint-purchasers with you, that they contributed with you in the Purchase thereof. And as for your saying, They desired not their part of the Collection to be returned; You manifest yourselves to all that read your Testimony, to be Usurpers of their Property: For  it was that they parted with towards the purchasing thereof, be it great or small, they had no property therein, for that was become the property of him or them that sold the Land. So that if your own Testimony be true, you did them manifest wrong in denying them their just Right. Ahab offered Naboth, that he would give him a better Vineyard than his own, or the worth of it in Mony. Yet Naboth refused it, though Ahab was King of Israel: and moreover, when Ahab went to take possession of Naboth's Vineyard, he did not maintain his Argument against the Prophet's Reproof, but fell therein, saying, Hast thou found me, O mine Enemy? And herein you exceed wicked Ahab, in upholding and maintaining your confused Arguments. And herein is no suggestion, but plain Truth confessed by yourselves, and needeth no other Name or Testimony but your own Confession for proof against you. 1. That you liked not the word Liberty of Conscience, as commonly used. 2. That you are found in another Doctrine and Practice than the first Quakers in days past were found. 3. That you are not slandered in saying, That you usurped the Property of others; and as for your saying it is baseness to suggest your ill-using of People, and none named: I find that when they are named, you are not at all more ashamed, but still wilfully and confusedly you maintain and uphold that wicked persecuting practice, of haling and thrusting out of your Assemblies: which practice is as contrary to the practice of the people called Quakers about twenty years ago, as Light is to Darkness; for you will not admit of any Inquirer to be conscientious, that will not submit to your prescribed Orders: For the Doctrine and Practice of the people called Quakers then was; If any thing be revealed unto him that standeth by, let the first hold his peace. And your Doctrine and Practice now is, If any Man speaks in the Meeting that is not conformable unto your Orders, let such hold his peace, or else be thrust out of the Meeting; yea, you will not admit such a one to speak without the Door, but will thrust him forth into the Streets; and this I can witness, and stand to my testimony in any of your Assemblies, if I am called thereunto.  
And whereas you say of the Author of that Letter to which your answer is addressed, that his saying that every Member is equal, is false. I answer; your saying is twofold false: For first, his saying is not that every Member is equal, but that the Assemblies of the true Church are equal, having Christ the Light equally present with them, and in them. See Spirit of the Hat, pag. 15. Which saying is true, and not false, and herein you are found to be the Perverters of true Words, and not only so, but denying the true Church, & usurping Authority over the Consciences of your weak Brethren, declaring that you have power to enjoin the Consciences of Individuals; which is contrary to the Doctrine of the People called Quakers at first, who admonished every individual Person whatsoever that would hearken unto their Voice then, to return unto the measure of God within in his own Conscience; and they did not then, as you do now, challenge a Power over the Consciences of Individuals, nor did they warn us to put off our Hats when they prayed to Almighty God, but they than admonished us to wait in the Light, to be taught of the Light only, and not to speak, act, or move unto any Exercise of Worship, unless we were truly moved by our own Measures every one in particular: which Doctrine and Practice is quite contrary to your Doctrine and Practice now, who claim Power over the Conscience, and say that your Orders are Gospel: and herein we find you bringing in another Doctrine, and preaching another Gospel, contrary unto that Gospel preached by the Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ; who preached Christ the Word which was in the beginning with God, which Word was God, to be the true Light which lighteth every Man that comes into the World. And this Gospel we own. And the Apostle preached Jesus Christ a Stumbling-Block to the Jews, and Foolishness to the Gentiles, but the Power of God to Salvation unto all them that believe; and the Apostles called People to the Light, saying, you have a Light shining, as a Candle in a dark place, to which you do well to give beed unto, until the Day dawn, and the Daystar arise in your Hearts: And the Apostle said, you have an Unction, the Anointing within you, and you need not that any Man should teach you, but as the Anointing which you have received teacheth you, and it is Truth. That which is known of God is manifest in Man. Know ye not that Christ is in you, except you be Reprobates? He that believeth, hath the witness in himself. And this Doctrine also the People called Quakers, at their first coming forth among us, brought unto us; and this Doctrine we have received and believed, and we will not deny this Doctrine and this Gospel, and turn again with the Dog to his Vomit, and the Sow to her wallowing in the Mire, to Capping and Kneeling, to observations of Times, monthly, Weekly, Quarterly, Yearly; a set time to Pray, and another to Preach; a time to serve God, and a time to serve self.  
As for your saying that we are followers of John Perrot, and his mark is the Hat on in time of Prayer. I answer, that's not true: for we have seen several of John Perrot's Books brought forth by you, relating of his Travel and Sufferings for a long time after the dissension and difference did arise amongst you about your corrupt rotten confused hypocritical dissembling Ministries; and that you were drawn into parties, crying, as in the days of the Apostles, I am of Paul, I am of Apollo's, I am of Cephas, I am of Christ: And so you, the followers of James, the followers of George, the followers of John Perrot. And it is not true, as you say, that the grand cause of that dissension first began by John Perrot; and it is not the Truth of the matter as you affirm it of his Spirit, for he was but a Creature, Manking, and as in that estate was Dust, and to return to Dust again: and for his Spirit it was to return also to its own place; and this shows your madness about Spirits. And as for the Hat it is a dead Creature, and has no Spirit in it, and herein you make manifest that you are led by a delusive lying and wicked Spirit, who say Hat-Spirit; for the Hat hath (as I said) no Spirit in it, and the Spirit of the Hat is a lying Expression, given forth by the Devil and his Instruments, and it is the evil Spirit that first invented such a Name: for the Devil is the Father of Lies: and the Tree is known by its Fruit: herein your Fruit makes you manifest, who call People Hat-Spirits; and we do not declare in the dark against your secrets, but against the fruit of the Spirit that moves you to utter forth these lying Expressions.  
I was Imprisoned in the days of Oliver (the Protector so called) because I could not acknowledge and declare that the Scripture was the Word of God, (as some of you well know) to remain for three Months without Bail or Mainprize: and yet I did and do own the Scripture, which was declared by the holy Men of God, to be a true Declaration, and I do also own the Word that was in the beginning, of which Word the Apostles did bear a true Testimony, to be the Word of God, and the Light of God, and was before the Scripture was written, and before time; and in that Word, and the Light of his Countenance, do we pray, do we move, and have our Being. And we find that all the holy Men of God, recorded in Scripture from Time to Time, received their Wisdom and Strength, to Speak and to Writ from that Word which was in the beginning. Moses prophesied of him saying, The Lord will raise unto you a Prophet like unto me, Him shall you hear in all things. Esay prophesied of that Word and said, He should eat Butter and Honey, until he should come to choose the Good, and refuse the evil. John said, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; and the Word was made Flesh, and dwelled among us, and we saw his Glory. To his own he came, and his own did refuse him: but as many as received him, he gave them Power to become the Sons of God. This Word we have received, and this Word we will follow, and in this Word will we put our whole Trust and Confidence. This is He, of whom we have received a Measure, and in that Measure do we wait continually; our Measure is our Teacher, which teaches us as we abide faithful unto Him, how to Pray, when to Pray, how to Speak, and when to Speak: unto that measure did the People called Quakers at their first coming forth amongst us, direct us to turn our Minds, and our Minds were turned accordingly, and we will not leave that our Measure unto which our Minds are turned, and return again to the observation of outward Traditions. And if any People come among us to spy out our Liberty, we will not thrust them out of our Houses; and if they will speak that which is not Truth, that hurteth not us when we are waiting in the Light: we do know that you are shut out from the knowledge of our Conditions, as you do confess; and how we do build up one another in our most holy Faith: for we do not complain against those that come in among us to wait with an evil Eye: And I do challenge you to set forth what you can against my Words and Actions ever since the time that I declared against your Formality: And we know that there is no such jarring and jangling in the true Church, and the Ministers of Jesus Christ never gave forth such large Testimonies in the Name of the Lord in Writing, or in Print, and afterwards recant and condemn those Testimonies, and publish that they were given forth by the dark Spirit in an hour of Temptation, and that their Testimonies were fit for the Fire, as you have done; and with such confidence maintain such confused stuff, and with open Faces stand in the Justification thereof, and jumble one thing with another, to seek to blind People's Eyes, one while bearing a Testimony in the Name of the Lord, that there was no such thing as was declared; and you said that five great and manifest Lies meet together therein: See Alexander the Coppersmith, etc. pag. 24. And in a while after quite contrary maintain and justify the very thing before denied in your Book, Judas and the Jews, etc. pag. 49, 50. With these unfruitful Works of darkness we cannot join. Thus we were used in those days when we parted with the formal Traditions of those Professors, among whom there were many tender hearted People, but their Pastors, Teachers and Elders, preached unto the People the very same Doctrine as you now Preach, to wit, that the Quakers came forth to disturb the Church's peace: and when a Man would come in among them in a peaceable and quiet manner, and sit or stand civilly and orderly in the Meeting, if he would but speak or ask a question in sobriety, they would presently bestir themselves in such a disquiet manner that the Meeting would be in an uproar, and for that cause thrust the poor Quaker out of the House, saying, that he came to disturb their Peace. And as than it was with those Professors, so it is now with you, who say that the Hat on in Prayer disturbs the Church's peace; and herein we find you in the same persecuting Doctrine as those persecuting Pastors and Elders were in, when at first we left their outward Traditions, and betook ourselves to follow the Light. And as they then said that our Light was darkness, so say you now. And as they then said unto us, have not you received some good among us in those Ordinances? so say you, he dare not say that he enjoyed not comfort from those Prayers that came through an uncovered Head. And although that you cannot with all your wresting and twining in your Serpentine Wisdom, show no ill Fruit brought forth, but still cry a dark Spirit, a Spirit of Envy and Malice, and the like: and when we require you to prove your Assertions and Allegations, by laying open what fruit of that evil Spirit is brought forth; you say, we keep on our Hats when you Pray, & by that means we disturb the Church's Peace, and this is all you can allege against us; and for this cause are we called Hat-men: and herein you have no matter of Fact to lay to our charge, for when we come to the Meeting we come in a peaceable manner with our Hats upon our Heads, and as we come, so we abide quiet, and in that there is no matter of Fact done on our part; yet you complain that your Church's Peace is disturbed, as those Pastors and Elders in those Days did, by us; and you thrust us out of your Meeting for declaring Words in a peaceable manner, as those Professors did in those days by us; and it is true, and no baseness in this: I will stand to this Testimony when ever you please to call upon me. And the Apostle did not command the Corinthians to put off their Hats, and observe Times for public Prayers, as you would wrest his Words, which are Every Man Praying or Prophesying with his Head covered, dishonoureth his Head: and moreover he said, we have no such custom, neither the Churches of God. And the Apostles did write unto the Gentiles that believed, If they would abstain from Meats offered unto Idols, and from Blood, and from things strangled, and from Fornication, they would do well: and herein is no injunction laid upon the Consciences of Individuals. And here we find you bringing in another Gospel, and preaching another Doctrine, differing from the Doctrine of the Apostles, who preached Christ the Power of God to Salvation in all them that believe; and differing from the Doctrine of the People called Quakers at their first coming forth, who preached the Light within every particular to be the true Teacher, and that in the Light was power sufficient; and they did not preach the power that the visible Body of Friends had in itself, as you do: and therefore we own the Apostles Doctrine, and the Doctrine of the People called Quakers which they first preached, and which we believed, and deny your Doctrine.  
The Apostles Doctrine was, That the Wife is bound by the Law as long as her Husband liveth, but if her Husband be dead she is at liberty to be married to whom she will, only in the Lord: and Isaac being gone to meditate in the Field, Rebekah coming with her Damosel and Abraham's Servant, lighted off the Camel, and Isaac brought her to his Mother Sarahs' Tent, and Rebekah became his Wife: here is a record of a Marriage in the old Testament. How did Abraham the Father of the Faithful order his Servant to go for a Wife for his Son? and how did Isaac (of whom the Lord said, For in Isaac shall thy seed be called) take his Wife? and here is the Apostles Doctrine concerning Marriage, that when the Husband is dead, the Woman is at liberty to marry whom she will, only let her wait upon the Lord for counsel, and not run out to Men for advice, and let them see in it, and show it to other Men, and that none go together but before a dozen Friends: there was no such order prescribed, either by Abraham the Father of the Faithful, nor by his Son Isaac who was promised unto Abraham, nor by the Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ; neither did the People called Quakers bring any such orders among us at their first coming forth, as many of you very well know; and one of the eminentest of you acquainted me, how that a couple that were come out of the North unto West-Chester, betook themselves in marriage there. If you please to examine me further, I will give you further account.  
We do own a true Marriage, and the Bed undefiled; and those that God joineth together, we seek not to put asunder; neither do we busy ourselves to lay further injunctions upon People than the Holy Men of God of old times laid: for we do very well know that all sober-minded Men and Women, whose Minds are turned unto the Light in their Consciences, will, as they abide faithful and obedient to the Light, behave themselves toward God, and towards one another, in sobriety and meekness, as becometh honest People so to do; and as for others, whether they be those that despise the Light, or those that pretend to a wrong freedom, because they profess the Light, and so by their miscarriages bring a scandal upon the Children of the Light, we do deny both, and have no fellowship with the unfruitful Works of darkness, neither do we pretend unto any such outward Authority, as to meddle with those Exercises any further than we are concerned; and our admonition unto all is, That every one do stand still and wait upon the Lord in that measure, given him of God to profit withal for Counsel, and not run out unto them that cry, Lo here, and lo there is Christ; and in this we have not fallen from the Principle of Truth, nor from the Doctrine of the Holy Men of old Times, recorded in the Old and New Testament, nor from the true Doctrine first received of the People called Quakers. And I can appear, and give in my Name, and stand unto this my Testimony at noon day. And as for those filthy lewd Actions, which some of you have been charged with, not fit to be mentioned amongst any manner of People that have any civility, much less amongst Professors of Religion, and above all unfitting that those that profess the Light, should have any such things justly charged upon them; I do declare and testify, that I am ignorant of any such thing acted amongst those of my Neighbours and Acquaintance, although we differ about the aforesaid Orders: The Lord forbidden that I should in any measure slander you, or any People in the World, beyond my knowledge; nay rather I would be checked for concealing, than that I should overrun myself in such things; and in all this I do not flatter, I take God's Name for my Witness, who will reward every one in Righteousness and true Judgement. In this therefore, let every Tub stand upon its own bottom. And for your charging the said Author to be envious, malicious, and a wicked Apostate Slanderer, in what is declared in his Letter against some Particulars of you, I find you therein far differing from the Disciples of the Lord Jesus, who when he told them that one of them was a Devil, immediately made no more ado, but looked every one to himself, saying, Lord, is it I? They went not about to clear the Matter, but believed it was true, and immediately made a thorough search until the thing was brought forth openly; and afterwards they sought not to cover the Transgressor, but declared the Truth, and left it upon Record, to be read by Ages to come: Neither did they seek to hid the shameful sin of Peter, in cursing and swearing that he knew not the Lord; neither did Paul seek to cover the hypocrisy of Peter when he found cause of reproof; nor did he admonish others to let it fall, but published these things, and they are upon Record: and the Prophet did not seek to hid the shameful Adultery of David the King, one of the most eminent Kings in many respects that ever appeared in the World, Jesus Christ excepted. And although the King made no more ado, but confessed his sin; and although the Prophet upon the next words said, Thy Sin is taken away; yet notwithstanding all this, there is no covering or hiding, but it must be recorded; and King David did not bid the Prophet let it fall, left bad Spirits should know of it, as you do; and herein you are found out of the Doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles.  
But some Objections may be put: 1. We only declare against the envy and malice of the Author, and not against his Person. 2. We charge him to be a Liar, and a false Accuser, and our Charge stands good and firm, because he dare not appear and stand by his Testimony. And, 3. we declare against his treachery and combination with our professed Enemies, and furnishing those Enemies of Truth with such slanderous lying accusations against us, and hiding himself, not daring to show his face.  
Answer, 1. His malice and envy could do you no hurt; for it is worse to be the bearer of malice and envy, than to them that it is born against; and therefore it had better become you to have soberly cleared yourselves from the things charged, than to bear such Testimonies against Malice and Envy, which is an inward Principle.  
2. Seeing that in your Answer you justify most part of the substance of his Charge, he is not to be judged a Liar, and a false Accuser, although that his Name is not at his Charge; and moreover in his Letter it doth not appear that his Intention was to have it published, and therefore it savours more of Malice and Envy in you, for it breaks forth and issues out of your Bottles against them which you call Hat-men, without any distinction; but he makes a clear distinction between what he declareth against, and what he is for, and hath not jumbled all Good and Bad together, but in plainness of speech declares what it is that he disowns and declares against amongst you: and you yourselves confess most part of the matter of Fact, only you seek to darken Counsel, and would have People believe that your meanings are otherwise; and herein the Lie and the false Accusation stands upon you: for, as I said, you accuse all the Hat-men, as you call them; so that if his Charge had been altogether false; I dare say there are hundreds of those which you call Hat-men that are innocent, and do not know of those deboist filthy Actions which you slubberly seek to hid and cover.  
3. You in that Book also charge all Hat-men, as you term us, to be malicious vagabond Apostates; and this upon the account of one private Letter written by one which you yourselves (if there is any truth in your Declarations) know not who he is: which Letter was published by one that knew not the Author, as is related in the Preface to the Reader: and in this you appear more like unto Haman, than the Hat-men unto Judas: As it was too small a recompense in the sight of Haman to have Mordecai himself punished, but he would have all the People of the Jews destroyed; and the cause was no other, but that Mordecai sitting in the Gate would not bow to Haman: and there is no other cause of all your Sentences of Condemnation against the Hat-men, (as you call us) but because we sit, as you say, upon our Briches when you pray to your God, and not put off our Hats.  
Another Objection. Dost not thou pervert our Declarations concerning the Hat, which was only the putting it off to Magistrates we declared against, and not the putting it off to God in time of prayer?  
Answer. Richard Hubberthorn, in his Testimony of the Zeal of Oxford, declares these words, Doffing the Hat worse than a Heathenish Vanity. And Oxford, is a place where Men send their Children to learn the Languages, for to be fitted, as they say, to become Preachers of the Gospel, and a place that the Ministers of the Church of England call, The Fountain of Learning; and will any Man judge that this Testimony was a particular Testimony only against the Magistrates, and not a general Testimony against the practice of Zealots of those Times, which held it to be a decent and orderly practice, as you do; and more especially in regard that there is no exception made throughout all his Book for the reservation of that practice, and for the Observation of the time, as you would have it to be. And herein Naaman the Syrian had a more clearer defence for his bowing in the House of Rimmon, because that he reserved, that when he declared that he would worship no other God but the God of Israel, only when his Master went to worship at the House of Rimmon, and leaned upon his shoulders, and when he boweth with his Master at the House of Rimmon, the Prophet must forgive him. But after you have declared against a practice in general terms, without any exceptions or reservations, you bring in your exceptions after twenty years standing; and herein is your daubing with untempered Mor●er, and your confusion appearing, far beyond that Man which was one of the Gentiles.  
As for the Author, he is as yet hidden, as he declares, and needeth no Man to take part with him, until the Lord be pleased to bring him to be seen; and as for his Declaration, what you have denied in your first Answer, you have confessed much of it in your Rejoinder, and have gone about to justify the matter of Fact therein, and turned the other side outwards, saying to the Hat-men, You have been waiting many years with an evil Eye for our Failings, and make Music of it, carrying it unto the wicked Professors; but we could make a Book of your Failings.  
And herein it is manifest that the Lord is not pleased with the hiding of Wickedness and Transgression: for though Noah was the only Man that found favour in the sight of God in the Old World, yet his Failings must not be covered and hidden; and though Cain was one of his Sons, yet he must pronounce a Curse against him; and herein you show yourselves and your Declarations to be contrary to the Declarations of the Holy Men of God of old, who allowed of no Transgression to be hid and covered, but would bring all things to the Light, that the Transgressor's might not go free. But you, with your Elders and Ministers, have covered your Failings as long as you could; and when the Lord caused it in a special manner to be brought forth, you were like mad Men at your weak Brethren, who from time to time were grieved in their minds to see how you were fallen, and did use all lawful means upon all opportunities to seek a reformation. And for your saying, you can make a Book of the Hat-mens' Failings: Why have you not made it? Seeing the Hat-men did not bow to your Image, you ought to have declared the Truth, and bring the Transgression to the Light; for I profess I never owned your written Orders, but upon all occasions declared against them; and the backwardness of the Hat-men in not declaring your Failings to the World for many years since, doth not show that they were too forward in discovering your nakedness; but on the contrary, if there be any Error, it is on the other hand, in being too backward in declaring the Truth, until such time as the Lord brought it forth in a wonderful manner, by those that have no communion with the Hat-men, as you have declared in Judas and the Jews, p. 126. Neither will the Hat-mens' Failings serve you for a covering now after such Declarations are published, and such plain confession of such gross Errors found among you; which Confession is the most true Evidence as may be had against any People in the World; for there is no further inquiry to be made, when the Party charged confesseth the Fact charged. And you say, Behold the Hat-men! I say the same, Let all sober-minded People behold, and have regard, and bring all things to the Light, there to be judged and tried; and as for you, I challenge you in the fear of the Lord, to enlarge your Books as big as you can, and let the Hat-mens' Failings be no more hidden nor covered, but bring all things to the Light: And if there be any other Objections to be made against this Testimony; take no more pity, but let the Wound be thoroughly searched, that all corruption may be purged, that if possible by that means the Sore may be cured; and if there be any incurable Member, that that may be cut off. And for taking the Author's part, I do declare and testify that I do not know the Man; but knowing that a great part of the things declared in his Letter is true; and finding that you in your Answer and Rejoinder have brought other things to the Light against yourselves, which things I knew not before, seeing you so unreasonable in maintaining