REFLECTIONS Upon Several Passages in a Book ENTITLED, The Reasonableness of a Personal Reformation, And The Necessity of Conversion.  
With a LETTER to Mr. JOHN GALPINE, Concerning his Printed Encomium of I. F.  
The Speech of Dead Men commonly proves more Effectual, more Profitable, or more Dangerous, then that of the Living.  Dr. HAKEWIL in the Epistle Dedicatory of his Answer to Dr. Carier. 
Printed in the Year, 1692.   

TO THE READER.  
THO' I had much rather this Paper had been Published whilst that Person, whose Wicked Errors it Refutes, was Living, yet since it can be Testified by divers Honest men that it was written whilst He was Living; And since it is to Me so Evident that the Book I mention, though it carries such a show of Godliness, is full of Deadly Poison to the Souls of Men, I think it my Duty to Give out to the World an Antidote Against it. I earnestly beseech the Reader to Consider that it cannot be long before He and I shall Appear before the judgment-seat of CHRIST to give Account of our Censures of all that we Hear, or Read.   

REFLECTIONS, etc.  
THE Reasonableness of Personal Reformation, etc.  
P. 4. We little know how far Unsanctified Reason may be prevailed upon to quit its Throne, and resign its Sceptre into the hands of Lust, and Appetite. I. F.  
Unsanctified Reason is Always Subject to some Lust, or Inordinate Appetite.  
P. 5. Appeals to Reason may produce Reformation in some men sooner than Appeals to the Scriptures, or Principles of Faith. I. F.  
This is Contrary to the Common Sense of All True Christians, and the Express word of JESUS CHRIST, who says, Without Me Ye Can Do nothing, And (by the Mouth of his Holy Apostle) Without Faith it is Impossible to Please God, And certainly it is the same thing to produce Reformation in any man, and to Persuade him Effectually to do those things, which are Pleasing unto GOD, which cannot be Done Without Faith.  
P. 9 It (Reason) stands ready to offer its service to thee to Save thee from, or to receive thee out of those Mischiefs thou hast, or mayst run thyself into, if thou will but hear, and obey its advice. I. F.  
'Tis evident He speaks of Reason in Contradistinction to Religion, for thus He begins this Section: The Persons whose Reformation I particularly design by this method, being men that exercise more Reason, than Religion I. F.  
Now it can be no other than a most Detestable Heresy to Assert that Reason any farther than as it is Regulated by the Principles of Faith, can ever Save a man from those Mischiefs, which he would run himself into.  
P. 20. Notwithstanding the present Captivity of Reason under usurping, and domineering Lusts, so long as it hath a permanent and fixed Root, and Principle in their Nature 'tis possible it may recover its Throne, and Empire over them again. I. F.  
Unsanctified Reason may turn its Subjection from one Lust to another, but can never have a True Victory over any one Lust, but by Subjecting itself to the Principles of Faith, that is to say, by ceasing to be Unsanctified, and Partaking of the True Light, which is the Power of God unto Salvation.  
P. 21. Reason would only regulate, and legitimate your Delights, and Religion Sanctify them. I. F.  
'Tis very Injurious to the Souls of men Professing Christianity to possess them with a conceit that they may Lawfully, or According to the Will of God Act by Two Distinct Principles under the Notion of Reason, and Religion; For Christianity Obliges All men, Whatsoever they Do in Word, or Deed, to Do All to the Glory of God, which is the Principal Points of Right Reason.  
P. 99 What is the matter when all is sifted and examined? why the matter is this, some will be more serious, strict, and conscientious than others think fit, or necessary for them to be. I. F.  
This is a most Devilish False Insinuation: And we the True Sons of the Church of England APPEAL to Our Blessed LORD, the True Head of the Holy Catholic Church, to Judge between Us, and this most Impudent Schismatic, and his Companions: We Aver Before God, Angels and Men, that their Schism has been the Cause of many Abominations, particularly, That it has been an Encouragement to the Antitrinitarians to Publish their BLASPHEMIES. What BLASPHEMIES their Neglect of the LORDS PRAYER has Occasioned is also Manifest to the World.  
P. 130. Such as you are, whose whole Lives have been polluted with Profaneness, and All Impiety.— You cannot think as others do, that you need no Repentance, or Reformation. In this respect therefore you lie nearer to the Door of Hope, and Mercy than other Sinners do. I. F.  
By other Sinners he must needs mean those that have not been so Great Sinners: And whether the Greater or Lesser Sinners, that is to say, whether those that are More, or those that are Less Averse from True Godliness, are Nearest to the Kingdom of God, let any man Judge who is neither Brutishly Stupid, nor Diabolically Impudent.  
P. 139. This is the change I am here pressing him to.— P. 140. It is not in any Man's power to convert himself— Yet he Can Do, and Forbear to Do many things, the Doing, or Forbearing of which has a true, though remote tendency to his Conversion; and not Doing, or Forbearing of them, his Destruction is of himself. I. F.  
His Destruction is not of himself Because he Forbears to Act (or Do any thing in his own Natural Power, or Without the Divine Assistance) but Because he Rejects the Divine Assistance, which by the Father of Mercies is Graciously Offered unto him. 'Tis Evident by J. F's saying, This is the change I am pressing him to, Compared with these words, He Can do, or Forbear to do many things, etc. That he Encourages men to Act towards their Salvation in Their own Natural Strength, Whereas Our Preaching is this, That we Can do Nothing, but Sin Without the Help of JESUS CHRIST; but 'tis Always Possible for those that Trust in him to Abstain by his Assistance from All Known Sin. Now whether this Way of Preaching, or I. F's Way, be the True Preaching of the Gospel, I leave to the Judgement of Any man of Common Honesty, that has Read the Holy Scriptures.  
P. 140. Nor do I know any reason why you cannot compose yourselves, when engaged in God's Public, or Private Worship, to a close, and serious attendance to those Duties. I. F.  
Indeed he might have said, I know no reason, why Any man when he makes Confession of the Christian Faith, and says the Lords Prayer, should not Do it Sincerely, which if he Do, he is Converted: But to Suppose (as 'tis Evident he does) that the Persons to whom he speaks, continue unconverted, and yet to say to them, Nor do I know any reason, why you Cannot, etc. is Intolerable Ignorance in one that Pretends to be a Minister of the Gospel: For the Reason, which he says he Knows not, is as Evident, as it is, that Our SAVIOUR had said, Without Me ●●fe Can Do Nothing. Agreeable to that ●aying of Our Blessed LORD, and the whole Tenor of the Gospel, are these words in the CATECHISM of the church of England, after the Explication of Our Duty towards God, and ●ur Duty towards our Neighbour:  
My good Child, know this that ●hou art Not able to do these things of Thyself, nor to walk in the Commandments of thy God, and to serve him, without his special Grace which ●hou must learn at All times to call for ●●y diligent Prayer. Let me hear ●herefore if thou canst say the Lord's ●rayer— What desirest thou of God in this Prayer?  
Answ. I desire my Lord God, our Heavenly Father, who is the Giver of All Goodness, to send his Grace unto me, and to all People, that we may worship him, serve him, and obey him, as we ought to do.  
I do not find in all his Book one word Against those Heretics, who in so many Books lately Published (and to heighten the Abomination, upon Pretence of Pure Religion) Blaspheme the Godhead of our Blessed SAVIOUR and of the HOLY GHOST; And yet most certainly These Men, as much as any other sort of Sinners (if not much more) Provoke the Wrath of GOD Against this Sinful Nation. Since I.F. and his Companions make such Boasts of HOLINESS, as if they were the only Persons that Contend for the Promoting of it in the World, this I Affirm, and Challenge any Nonconformist to say any thing against it, if h● will not Submit to my Assertion: Tha● the Holiness or Sanctity of Man in th●● Life is no Other thing, but that Ki●● of Belief of THE ARTICLES O● THE CHRISTIAN FAITH, B● which the HOLY GHOST worketh in his Heart those Holy Desires which are Expressed in the LORDS PRAYER. Now let any man of Common Sense Judge whether these Persons are the chief Promoters of Holiness, who call the Ecclesiastical Injunctions for the Use of the CREED, and the LORDS PRAYER in Religious Assemblies, Toys, and Trifles. Against All the False Censures, and Contumelious Speeches, and Backbitings of this sort of Men I constantly APPEAL to Our Blessed LORD, Saying from the bottom of my Heart, COME LORD JESUS   

TO Mr. JOHN GALPINE, Concerning His Printed Encomium Of J. F.  
YOUR undertaking to Adorn the Memory of such a PESTILENT Schismatic, puts me in mind of what I wrote about Ten Years since, concerning a Person that had a Fancy to show the like Kindness to the Memory of T. HOBBS. My words were these: To Adorn the Memory of T. H. what is it but to Provide that the Corpse of one that Died of the Plague may lie in State, that People coming to Behold it may contract the Infection?  
You say that I. F. was well acquainted with the Mysteries of the Gospel, and in special with that admirable Mystery of Man's Redemption by Jesus Christ. How well he was acquainted with the Mystery of the Gospel we shall take Liberty to Judge, who have Observed the Satanical Falsehood of a great part of the Doctrine he has delivered in his Writings, particularly in the Book which he Impudently Entitles, The Fountain of Life Opened: In the 182 pag. of that Book he has these very words: There are not a whole World, no not half, but the far less part of the World Redeemed with the Blood of Christ. If he that Believed this was well acquainted with the Mystery of the Gospel, of that admirable Mystery of Man's Redemption by Jesus Christ, then certainly the Blessed Apostle was very Erroneous, who Says Expressly, HE is the Propitiation for our Sins, and not for ours only, but also for the Sins of the WHOLE WORLD. Since it is the Practice of so many of those that Deny the Truth of the Gospel, as I. F. did, to Accuse us, as if we did derogate from the Doctrine of the Necessity of the Divine Assistance to Do any thing in order to our Salvation, who Acknowledge that we have Learned to Believe in God the Son, who hath Redeemed us, and ALL MANKIND. I shall show you that J. F. showed himself to be Guilty of this Pernicious Error in his Answer to the 20 th' Question in the Sea-man's Catechism. But I have no Strength of my own to come to Christ by, and is it not absurd to urge me upon impossibilities in order to my Salvation?  
This is indeed a Question of the Greatest Importance to the Souls of Men. The Answer that is given to it by all True Christians is this, That though of Ourselves, or in Our own Natural Strength we are not Able to Do any thing Acceptable to God, we May Do All things Through CHRIST Enabling us: And CHRIST Offers the Assistance of His Holy Spirit to All those, who upon the Hearing of the Gospel are Sensible of Their own Impotency to Come to CHRIST, or to Walk in the Ways of God. The Answer which I. F. gives to this Question is Contrary to the Sense of All True Christians: for He would Persuade a man to Act in order to his Salvation in His own Natural Strength. You are more absurd, says He, in pleading, and pretending your Impotency against your Duty. To which I Reply, that No man shall ever be Able to Perform any Duty, that he owes unto God, till he shall be Convinced that Of Himself, or in His own Natural Strength, he can Do Nothing, but SIN. For you think, says He, you have a Power to come to Christ, else how do you quiet your Consciences with promises, and resolves of Conversion hereafter? Answ. They Follow the Father of Lies who Quiet their Consciences with any thing, but a Sincere Resolution by the Help of CHRIST to Abstain from All Known Sin, and to Perform All Known Duty both towards God, and towards Man. Nothing can be more Absurd than for one, who Professes himself to be a Preacher of the Gospel to Dissuade men from Believing that of themselves, or Without the Divine Assistance they are altogether Unable to Perform any Duty, to Do any thing Acceptable unto God. You say, He did what lay in him to live Peaceably with all Men. Let them Judge whether you speak the Truth, who Consider the Malicious Reproaches he casts on the Church of England in the last Book he Published, and in his Book Entitled Husbandry Spiritualised, and in the Sermon, you have Published, Entitled The Character of an Evangelical Pastor. Husb. Spirit. p. 94. This Book was Printed in the Year of Our Lord 1669, in which thus He Rails at the Church of England. Tho there be Preaching, Prayer, and other Ordinances left (at least the names, and shadows of them) yet the presence of God is not with them. There is no marrow in the bone, no milk in the breast, and so, as to Soul-subsistence, 'tis all one, as if there were no such things. In the Sermon you have Published, your Evangelical Pastor (that had FOUR WIVES) Harps upon the same string. 'Tis manifest that the Minister he inveighs against are the English Clergy in that he Marks them by the Character of those that Live upon the Profits, And in that he gave the Whole Church of England the same Character, in such plain terms, in the Year 1669. There is no marrow in the bone, no milk in the breast, etc. Is not this the same with what he now tells us, viz. They Preach, they Pray because they must do so, but none are the better for their Prayers, or Preaching. They seem to labour an hour, or two in a week; but their labours turn to no account. Nor can be expected to turn to any good account, whilst they are neither animated by Faithfulness, nor guided by Prudence. Agricola writing De Amantibus Subterraneis, tells us of a certain kind of Spirits that converse in Minerals, and much infest those that work in them. They seem to busy themselves according to the custom of Workmen. They will dig and cleanse, melt and sever the Metals, Yet when they are gone, the Workmen do not find that there is any thing done. I Challenge You, and All your Brethren to Say any thing Like Truth Against what I Say in Defence of the Church of England, viz. That it is most Evident that those Men are Guilty of Abominable Iniquity, who Endeavour to Seduce any People from the Communion of this Church, in which the Fundamental Articles of the Christian Religion are so clearly, and fully Expressed, and those most Important Expressions so frequently Repeated, that Persons of the lowest Intellectuals, who do not Rebel against the Light, in frequenting our Religious Assemblies, may more easily attain to the Knowledge of all things that are Necessary to their Salvation, than by Hearing, or Reading the best Sermons that have been, or shall be Preached by any of the Non-Conformists, to the End of the World: Which Assertion is as Evident, as it is, That any Illiterate Persons, may more easily Meditate on Truths plainly Expressed, and frequently Suggested to their Remembrance, than Collect the same Truths out of divers large Discourses, if they were therein Employed: So that it can hardly be imagined, how any Man can be in any thing more Serviceable to the Destroyer of Souls, than by Teaching People to Despise our Catechism, and Common Prayer. As to Your most SLANDEROUS Insinuation, that We, who have Warned the Country against the Wicked Errors, that have been Published by I. F. do not heartily desire the Prosperity of the Church of Christ, and of the Souls of Men, we APPEAL to the judge of All Men, Considering that within a very short Time we must Appear Before His judgement Seat: And we all Concur with Dr. MAURICE in the Ardency of that Devotion, which He Expresses in his Book Entitled, A Defence of Diocesan Episcopacy, pag. 443. Lord! How long shall mean Delusions be permitted to have so powerful and prevailing influence? How long shall the Wolf possess the Sheep against their Shepherds, and break into the Folds under the disguise of Sheeps-clothing? How long shall the deluded have eyes, and not see; and the Souls, for which Christ Died, be under the Power of Deceivers? How long will it be e'er the Hypocrite be disrobed, and the People see through the disguise of those, who abuse them? Surely there will come a time, when God will hear the Prayers, and Expostulations of his Servants: When the faithful Shepherd shall gather together those that are scattered, and bring back those that are gone astray: When he shall carry them on his shoulders rejoicing, and triumphing in the disappointment of the beasts of prey: But who shall live, when this comes to pass? Blessed surely shall their Eyes be, who shall enjoy the sight, a joyful and pleasant thing beyond expression it will be, to see Brethren dwell together in Unity.  
I Pray God to Bless You, and to Turn You from your Iniquities: And to Bring into the Way of Truth al● those, that Err, and are Deceived by You.  
Your Servant, and the Servant of All Men for Christ's Sake, E. E   

POSTSCRIPT.  
YOU say that all that have seriously perused Mr. Flavel's Books must needs suffrage with you that He was a Man of a sound and solid judgement. I have perused divers of his Books with this Serious Consideration, That I must give Account to Almighty God what Censure I pass on them. Amongst many Remarkable Passages I have taken particular notice of this in his Husbandry Spiritualised, p. 187. When Fruits are shaken down from their Trees, than the Husbandman separates them; the far greatest part for the Pound, and some few he reserves for an Hoard, which are brought to his Table, and eaten with pleasure. This excellently shadows forth that great separation, which Christ will make in the end of the World, when some shall be cast into the Wine-press of the Almighty's wrath, and others preserved for glory.  
Those fruits which are preserved on the tree, or in the hoard, are comparatively but an handful to those that are broken in the pound. Alas 'tis scarce One of a Thousand, and such a small remnant of Elected Souls hath God reserved for Glory.  
Can you in good earnest conceive it was Judiciously done of this Famous Man thus to Compare the Wrath of God against the Damned, and his Mercy to those that are Saved, to the Pounding, and Hoarding of Apples. To any man that so Blasphemes the Divine Philanthropy, as to say that God has Absolutely Reprobated All Mankind, except such a small Number, as One of a Thousand, I shall give no other Answer but this, The LORD Rebuke Thee.  
FINIS.