Mr. Perkins' LETTER TO Mr. Cornwell. And other MINISTERS AT Tunbridge-wells.  
Who denied him the Use of the Pulpit there.  
And have not Answered the Letter, as desired.  
LONDON Printed, and Sold by J. Bradford in New-street without Bishopsgate.   

Mr. Perkins' Letter to Mr. Cornwell and other Ministers at Tunbridge-wells, etc.  
Reverend Sir,  
I cannot blame you much for denying me the use of your Pulpit, since you did it not of your own accord, but by the Instigation of other Clergymen, with whom you consulted, and who dissuaded you, by telling you that I should make some begging Business of it I desired to know who they were that had thus advised you, whom you thought not fit to Inform me of. But because you know them, I desire you to ask them, How they knew I should make a Begging Business of it? Whether having Preached above 1000 times, I ever yet Preached a Begging Sermon I never yet did. But this I confess, I have sometimes commended Charity and good Works [not tha● I spoke in respect of Want; or, that I desired it should be so done unto me, But] for the Temporal Good of the Poor Receivers, and the Eternal Good of the Rich Givers, without any the least Respect to the present Gain to myself. If I must Proclaim my own Praises, they ought to Pardon my Boasting, who by thei● False Accusations have compelled me thereunto. Be it known therefore to all Men by these Presents, tha● I Joseph Perkins did lately offer to the Church wardens, etc. of the Parish of White-Chappel to Preach there [Memoriter] once or twice every Lord's-day in the Year [Gratis] as my Kinsman Perkins did in Cambridge, and as Christ has Commanded us [Freely ye have received, freely give] that so they might be more Encouraged, and the better Enabled to Relieve the Poor among them: The Parsonage being worth (as is Reported) six or seven Hundred Pounds a Year. And lest it should be thought that I expected, notwithstanding, some great Gratuity by the By, I declared further that I would never take any Reward of them, either Openly or Secretly, either Directly or Indirectly; but get my Living (as St. Paul sometimes did) by my own Art and Industry: And hereof I have Witness, and hereunto I have long since put my hand and seal. Therefore I am no Begging Preacher, except I Beg for others; And this I was Resolved on before, that if I Preached at the Wells, and Money should be given me, to give it all entirely to the Poors Box, and not play Ananias part in keeping back any the least part of the Price, notwithstanding I am very Poor myself. But are not these Men Uncharitable in Censuring me thus? Charity thinks no Evil. I had need therefore to Preach a Lecture of Charity to my Brethren, to keep them from Rash and Uncharitable Judging. But they think, and some have called me a Vagabond, etc. I answer, that so many of them have gotten Pluralities, that many others (perhaps as well Deserving as themselves) must be content to go without any. But then they'll tell me, that I may easily get a Readers Place, which is better than to run about the Country with my Poetry. I answer, that those Doctors and Bishops that cannot Preach without Book, are the fittest to make Readers of, and those to whom God has been Pleased to give the Gifts of Memory and Utterance, are fittest for the Pulpit (Ex quovis ligno non fit Mercurius) But he is a poor Man, say they, and therefore not fit to Preach before great Ones. Very right; for (saith Solomon) The poor Man's Wisdom is despised, and his Words are not heard. Perhaps, if I had been a Bishop, I had been as fitly qualified to Preach before a Princess as an Irish Bishop. But I did not desire to take the Pulpit before these Reverend Readers; some of whom I have heard speak very slightly of Preaching without Book: But I refer all those (and all those too that speak Contemptibly of Latin Poetry) for an Answer to the Fables of the Fox and the Grapes, and the Fox without a Tail. But what foul Injustice is this, for Clergymen by their Pluralities and Covetousness to force their Underling-Curates to be Poor, and then to Upbraid them with their Poverty, to force them to turn Poets, and then Jeer them for writing Schoolboys Exercise! But how is it possible for me to be Rich, who have been almost five Years in a service, and abused at Sea for discovering of Theft, worse than a Slave in Turkey, without a Penny of Wages, having withal a Charge of Children? But what if I am Poor, and go about? So did my Brother Homer; so did Christ and his Disciples go about doing good, and Lived by Alms, and Judas carried the Bag, and Christ himself was so poor that he had not where to hid his Head. But 'tis no wonder that a Prophet (that is) a Poet, has no Honour in his own Country. And those that Despise me for my Poverty, let them know, that he that Despiseth the Poor, Reproacheth his Maker. But possibly they that hindered me from the Duty, think they can do it better themselves. I answer, They have a good Opinion of themselves, and is Inconsistent with Modesty and Humility, which teaches us to Esteem others better than ourselves. But what if some of these Reverend Readers should think that if my Candle should be set up on the Candlestick, it would Eclipse the Light of theirs, and therefore would still keep it under a Bushel, or put it quite out, if they could; just as the Indian Queen, who being Black, and deformed herself, would admit of none that were Fair and Comly in her Court and Service, lest Joan should be perferr'd before my Lady. O Injustice! The Labourer is worthy of his hire; But you will not let him Labour, that so he may have no Plea for his Hire; you will not suffer the Ox to tread out the Corn, that so you may have a fair pretence for muzzleing up his Mouth. But whoever they are that have hindered me from Preaching, I desire them, when they Read the Exhortation before the receiving of the Communion, seriously to Consider of these words. Therefore if any of you be a Hinderer or a Slanderer of God's Word, or be in Envy or Malice, or Guilty of any other grievous Crime, Repent ye, or else come not to this Holy Sacrament. And moreover let all those my secret Accusers know, that by Slandering me and my Doctrine, to the prejudice of the Gospel, they do withal cast a foul Aspersion on all those Seven Lords a Dean and Chancellor, by Testifying contrary to what all these, and many other Persons of Honour and Reputation have both Testified and are ready to Testify. Therefore let them look to it, that thus inpudently without any ground, fling Dirt in the Faces of, and give the Lie, to many of the Nobility and Clergy, who have Honoured me with as good Testimonials as any of my Adversaries can produce. But lastly, if my Accusers spoke Truth, and their Complaint were just, what need they to conceal their Names? This is the worst kind of Slandering (saith the Author of The whole Duty of Man) for by Whispering a Man's good Name is stolen from him, and he can never find out the Thief. But he that knows the Author of an ill Report, and will not inform the injured Person, is thereby become an Abettor to those Murderers, and a Receiver to those Thiefs, and are both equally Criminal; against whom this Curse is threatened, Woe be to him that smiteth his Neighbour secretly. I am sorry that you should be so ready to believe Evil of me, as to set your Ears wide open to the Detractions of my secret Enemies. You should do much better (as Bishop Sanderson saith) to suspect him as an Imp of Satan that delights so much in doing Satan's Business, in being an Accuser of the Brethren.  
Farewell.  Semper Ego Auditor tantu? nunquamne reponam vexatus toties? Juvenal.  


In Concionatores quosdam Mercenarios.  

* Haleus Jakelus, etc.  BUrchius Argento conductus Rostra fagitat:  
Praemia si tollas, Burchius Ille silet.  
Ah! Te facundum fuvi spes rddidit auri:  
Hac demptâ, taciti Piscis ad instar eris.  
Histrio, Tibicines, Cantores, Causidicique:  
Hi vocem vendunt: Presbyterique pij.  
Vnicus at Vates Contempius Ridiculasque  
Officium tantum, 
* Quis enim virtutem amplectitur ipsam Premia si tollas? Juvenal  Premia nulla petit.  
Sol non conductus praebet sua lumina Mundo:  
Et non conductus munere fungor Ego.  
Perkins. August Secundo, Sole vix exorto.   

On the Mercenary Preachers, in English thus,  
WIth Bribes of Silver Burch is Hired to Preach:  
Take away those and he'll no longer Teach.  
Alas 'tis Money makes him Eloquent;  
His Voice is gone, when Golden Hopes are spent.  
Actors and Fiddlers, Songsters, Pleaders do  
Their Voices sell, and so do Preachers too.  
One Prophet Vile and Scorned has Regard  
To th' Office only: Not to the Reward.  
The Sun's bright Flames to Mortals freely Shine;  
And, whilst I Preach for nothing, so do mine.  
Perkins.  Loripedem rectus derideat: Aethiopem Albus. Juvenal. 
FINIS.