A VINDICATION Of certain CITIZENS That lately went to the Leaguer, then before OXFORD, Or, their Answer unto some prevaricating passages, inserted in an Epistle, lately published by William del, Minister of the Gospel. Occasioned, by their attesting his delivering of certain Positions, in a Sermon at the Leaguer, here set down, they being thereunto called by the House of LORDS. PROV. 20.6. Most men will proclaim, every one his own goodness; but a faithful man who can find? MATTH. 5.13. Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt hath lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast forth, and to be trodden under foot of men. 7.15. Beware of false Prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening Wolves. Published by Authority. LONDON: Printed by Eliz. Purslow for Thomas Vere at the upper end of the Old-baily. 1646. Mr. Dell having beautified the Frontespiece of his Book with these Scriptures; namely, Matth. 5.11. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. vers. 12. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in Heaven, for so persecuted they the Prophets which were before you. Psal. 69.9. The reproaches of them that reproached thee, are fallen upon me. Beginneth his Epistle thus: To the Reader. HAving obtained this grace from God; to be called into some friendship and familiarity with Jesus Christ, so, as to hear and receive from him, something of the mind and bosom of the Father, according to his free grace, who hath mercy on whom he will: and having after many tears and temptations (not unknown to many yet in the body) obtained this further grace, to speak the Word of God with boldness, I have also been counted worthy to be taken into some fellowship with Christ in his sufferings, and to endure the contraditions of sinners, and ofttimes to encounter the rage and madness of men; yea, and to fight with men after the manner of beasts, altogether brutish and furious. And thus it hath fared with me often, especially at two remarkable times; The one at Lincoln, upon occasion of two Sermons preached there, upon Isai. ●. 7. The other time wherein I met with remarkable opposition, was lately at Marston, the head Quarter at the Leaguer before Oxford, whither some coming out of the City of London, in all probability out of some special design, (seeing the old Malignity now acts in a new form, and is daily coming forth in a second and more plausible, cunning, and deceiving edition) became exceeding angry and heady against the plain and clear truth of the Gospel delivered in this following Exposition, (wherein the whole truth and substance of what was then delivered, is exactly set down, and nothing abated, but rather some things farther pressed; Jer. 36.32. adding (as Jeremiah in the second roll) many like words to the former. Now some of these men, seeing themselves and their new design clearly discovered by the light of the Word, and made altogether naked, suddenly they grew fierce and furious, contradicting and blaspheming; yea, some of them speaking the language of hell upon earth, of which there are some witnesses) as became men of such a generation. Joh. 8.44. These men, according to the operation of that spirit, which works mightily in the children of disobedience, come and fill the whole City with lies and slanders, laying to my charge things that I knew not; the falsehood and untruth whereof, there are some hundreds, and some of them of great and eminent worth and piety, ready to witness: Wherefore of mere necessity I was constrained to publish this Exposition, as a witness to this present and the following generations, of these men's resisting the Spirit, and acting against Christ himself in the Word. And though the discourse be very plain, not savouring of any accuratonesse of Humane Wisdom and Learning; yet they that are themselves spiritual, will acknowledge something of the spirit in it, and for that cause will relish and love it, though others will therefore be at the greater enmity against it. But for my part, I have set down my resolution in the Lord in this Cause of Jesus Christ, not to weigh all the power of Earth or Hell, one feather; but to put it to the utmost trial, whether the truth of the Gospel, or the slanders and lies of men shall prevail; whether the smoke of the bottomless pit, that comes forth out of the mouth of these and many others, shall be able to blot out or darken, the Brightness of Christ's coming in the Ministry of the Gospel? Yea, and whether the power and malice of the Devil and the world, shall be stronger than the love and protection of Jesus Christ. And I doubt not, but the more the world acts in the spirit of the Devil, the more will Christ enable us, to act in his own Spirit, till all at last shall be forced to acknowledge, that the spirit that is in us, is stronger than the spirit that is in the world? And what now have all these men obtained by all their malice and fury, but a greater and more open discovery of the truth; and to cause that that light of the Gospel, that only shone in one Congregation, should through the Printing of it, have its beams scattered in many parts of the Kingdom? And where over the truth comes, the Children of the truth will entertain it, and ask no body leave. And thus, through the overruling power of God's wisdom, do these men betray their own and their follo●… Cause, and overthrow their own, and their ends; and whilst they think to oppress the truth, propagate it the more: And thus shall truths enemies perish, and the truth itself flourish: Yea, flourish through Slanders, Oppositions, Contradictions, Blasphemies, and all the Vileness and Villainy in the world. And all this considente in us, arises hence; Because Christ is not as a dead man, but is risen and ascended, and sits at the right hand of God, and fills all things, and doth all things in Heaven and in Earth, in the world, and in the Church, among his friends, and among his enemies, till these be made his footstool; which is the very thing we are now in expectation of. Now one thing more which I think fit to acquaint the world withal in this Epistle, is this. That 〈◊〉 of th●se thorny hearts durst after come to discourse with me, or to look me in the face; but one among them, that seemed of a better temper than the rest, upon the urging of a godly Citizen then present, did speak with me; and the Question he asked of me, was this; Whether I thought, that all Presbyterians were carnal Gospelers: I told him, I was fare from thinking any such thing; for I knew some of them very godly Christians, and did acknowledge the grace of God in them; and that for mine own part, I did not allow any such distinction of Christians, as Presbyterians and Independents, this being only a distinction of man's making, tending to the division of the Church; and added, That as in Christ's Kingdom, Neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature; So, in this same Kingdom of Christ, Neither Presbytery availeth any thing, nor Independency, but a new creature; and that the Kingdom of God stands not in Presbytery nor Independency, but in righteousness and peace, and joy in the holy Ghost; and that, if I saw any thing of God, or Christ, or the Spirit, in any one, I reckoned him as a Brother, not taking any such opinion into consideration; and that the unity of Spirit, and not of opinion, is the bond of peace in Christ's Kingdom: The man then pretended to be satisfied, and to rejoice in his satisfaction; but since (as is related) hath showed his stomach again: But, because he seems to be a Christian, The Lord lay it not to his charge. Thus fare the Epistle relates to us, our Vindication and Answer followeth. To Master Dell. SIR, HAving received, and perused your Epistle, directed to your Reader, we think ourselves bound in duty, as well for the Vindication of our Innocency, as the satisfaction of our fellow Citizens, and others, who have, or shall read you; to let yourself, and the world know, that we, the persons, against whom you are pleased to be so invective, are such as by our fruits (our lives and conversations) desire to be known: By God's grace we are what we are; we desire not, that our talkative tongues should applaud us before men, but that our sincere souls should approve us to God. To him, the searcher of all hearts, we appeal; 2 Chron. 28.9 for he knows, and his discerning Spirit testifies to, and with our spirits, that we are every one of us free from all those your virulent expressions; which causeth our spirits to be perplexed, and our very souls to grieve; not for our own sakes, whom you have endeavoured to shoot and stab, with the sharp Arrow, and direful dart of your fiery tongue. But for your own sake; that you, whom we esteemed to be principled from Heaven, (and so some of us reported of you,) should discover your rotten principles, Ephesi. 4.31. by your bitterness, wrath, ang●●, calmour, evil speaking, and malice; whereas your speech ought to be always with grace, Col. 4.6. seasoned with salt. Can it be imagined, that a man of your pretence could possibly thus miscarry? Where is that divine strength that should have conquered your peevish passion? What! profess so much grace, and demonstrate so much unsubdued nature? Before you did thoroughly resolve to belch out so many Bedlam blasts, why did you not remember your own honour? Surely that, though God's glory would not, might have deterred you from your railing rage. Sir, You must give us leave to trace your Tract, that so we may fully answer every piece of your patched Epistle that shall concern us; for one jot further we will not step; No, we have already appealed to God: And now we will appeal to the world, whether or no, we be such as your term us, madmen, furious, brutish beasts; Phrases that your carnal Christian surely scorns to breath forth. The providence of God disposing of our thoughts to visit the Leaguer lately before Oxford; & the rather, for that it was credibly reported in London, that Oxford would certainly be surrendered on Saturday, the sixth of June last: And having never been at, nor seen a Leaguer; hoping likewise that this would be the last Leaguer, that we should have occasion to see in England; by God's assistance, setting forth from our dwellings in London, on Friday the fifth of June in the afternoon, we came to the Leaguer the day following, without the least thought of any manner of design: O censorious Sir! You saw not our hearts, our hearts to whom the very name malignity, much more the thing, come it whether in your first or second edition, if under that notion of malignity, 'tis odious, 'tis abominable: 'tis publicly known, that we have laid out ourselves, and ours, for the public. On the Lord's day, the seaventh of that June, in the morning, we desiring so much as we could, at such a distance from home, and in such a place, to spend that day to God's glory and our own good) hearing that there would be no Sermon at Wheatly, where we Inned, we repaired to the Leaguer, and inquired at the Headquarters, who was to Preach before his Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax, and where the Sermon would be, and were informed that yourself were to exercise at the meetingplace at Marston; learning at length that by Meeting-place was meant the Church; thither we repaired, where we saw and heard from you Master del, a great deal of other Matter than the Press hath met withal; and till then, most of us never saw, nor heard of you: Yet were we so fare from anger, or headiness, by you charged upon us, against the plain and clear truth of the Gospel, which you then delivered in your Exposition, that we commended you for all that we found to be commendable in you: As we did, do, and will say, (say you what you will) that you did deliver some very good matter. But yet, since we are necessitated, and since (as it now appears to us) wise men are not always so wise as they should, or might be; therefore you will have us promulge our thoughts to the world; we must declare, we were not satisfied with all that then you did deliver. But pray, let us tell you, you do ill to conclude, that because we spoke not with you, therefore we durst not come to you to discourse with you, or look you in the face; for all of us had not the opportunity to come unto you, and indeed after our rehearing from you by a Gentleman of our Company, who did speak with you, as you have acknowledged; though we could have gained time, we had but little desire, the reason whereof we hereafter give you in this our Answer. On the Monday morning, the eighth of June, we took our journey homewards, and by God's blessing returned that night well and safe to our dwellings; leaving behind us at the Leaguer, some of our Company * C. F. , which we had just cause to suspect (because you put us in mind of Designs) went thither to carry on a Design, as appeared, by deserting of us; by maintaining the rumour of the SCOTS coming against the Army; by discountenancing some of our godly Preachers in London; and such other passages. Having been a few days at home, a rumour came to our ears, of a seditious Sermon lately Preached in the Leaguer; and the people's voice pitched upon this your mentioned Exposition, to be that Leaguer Sermon, which so tended to sedition. The whole truth, and substance whereof (notwithstanding your affirmation) to our knowledge is not exactly set down in the Printed Copy: For as very much is abated, which you then delivered; so, something is added, of like words indeed, but of much different sense; whereof we will not presume to pass any manner of censure or judgement, for that is above us and now depending. For the report hereof stayed not long within the City walls; insomuch, that within a few days following, notice having been taken of our late return from the Leaguer, we were, with much wonderment on our part, and without our foreknowledge, privity or desire, summoned to make our appearance on Monday the nine and twentieth of the same June, in the Lord's House of Parliament. Wither being come, we were there demanded by the right Honourable Lord, the then Speaker, Whether we were lately at the Leaguer, and whether we heard you Preach there. We answered, we were there, and there we heard you Expound the s●ven last verses of the 54. Chapter of Jsaiah. Then was produced by one of the Clarks of that House, a Paper, which when he had read, we found that it contained certain passages of your Exposition, which it seems you have now forgotten, and therefore have either omitted or minced them. But being demanded, whether we remembered them to pass from you or not, we must speak the truth, and did confess, that those or the like words in effect, were then and there by you delivered. Whereupon we were for that time dismissed, and commanded to attend again on Thursday following, being the second of this July; where having attended some time, we were without calling in commanded to departed, till further summons. What was then and there read unto us, as by you delivered in your Exposition, if not in those very words; yet to that effect, doth here follow, viz. There are no more of the Church of God in a Kingdom, than there be such as have the spirit of God in that Kingdom. Neither Old nor new Testament do hold forth a whole Nation to be a Church. Whatsoever a State, an Assembly, or Counsel shall say, ought not to bind the Saints, further than the judgement of those Saints shall lead them. The Saints are those that are now styled Anabaptists, Famalists, Antinomians, Independents, Sectaries, and the like. The power is in you the People, keep it, part not with it. The first Party that risen against you; namely, the Profane ones of the Land, are already fallen under you; and now there is another party, Formalists and carnal Gospelers, rising up against you; but I am confident, they shall also fall under you. They are willing to become Subjects, to make the Saints slaves; nay, they are willing to become slaves themselves, that they may tread upon the necks of the Saints. Now that being thus by yourself occasioned, we have declared our consciences, in setting forth the whole truth of our knowledge in these proceed; we do, in the presence of God, protest against the very thought, of all or any either old or new Design, to be acted by us, notwithstanding your so much urging the same, and harping thereupon. But if instead of our acting, those of riper and more diving judgements than we are, can or shall, out of your own mouth, collect a Design now in hand on your part, to them we shall leave both it and you. Be not ashamed Sir to charge home, descend from your mighty mouthing Generals, your pretended fierce, furious, contradicting, blaspeming, hellish speeches (words not beseeming so mild a mouth as a Ministers ought to be) to plain particulars; spare neither our persons, words nor actions: you have several times met with us, pointed at us; Oh why would you not deign to speak with us? We are, we hope, of such a Generation as you are, if you be, as we hope you are (notwithstanding the transcendency of your passion) of that generation that fears God: Suppose the worst, that we had wronged you (though should you say it, we dare say, your conscience would check your tongue) Oh me thinks you should not recompense to us evil for evil, Pro. 24.29. Rom. 12.17. nor thus in this vain, frothy, wording way, seek to avenge yourself; Rom. 12 19 Why should you be thus transported? You know whose vengeance is, and who hath said he will repay; to him both you and we must stand and fall. Why will you thus presumingly usurp God's Throne? Pray remember what it is to judge; Mat. 7.1, 2. 1 Cor. 4.5. the Lord preserve us from any, and you from further operation of that Spirit, in whom no truth is. john 8, 44. The whole City filled with lies, slanders! O hyperbolical! and you poor simple man charged with things you knew not, or rather that you will not remember; but there are though not hundreds, yet a competent number of credible witnesses, and some of them of known worth and piety, that when they shall be called to it, will, in discharge of their conscience, and according to the Covenant which they have taken, put you in mind of something which you would be loath to hear. Ah, Master del! what del-usion is it that hath thus seized upon you? What, must mere necessity constrain this, and the following Generations to be acquainted with your juggle? Because you are afraid that your whole exposition, if it look upon the Sun, will not endure the light thereof; and searing lest we being called thereunto, will make a clear discovery; therefore you cry out, these men resist the Spirit, and act against Christ himself in the Word; a strange conclusion. We hint your drift; you think perchance by your prejudice, to cloud and eclipse us, yet your expectation may be frustrate. Truly Sir, for our parts, we must needs confess, that your discourse in print, is plainer than your discourse in the Pulpit was; yet both there and here, we, whom you esteem children borne after the flesh, and carnal Christians (the Lord more and more spirituallize both you and us) cannot be so blind, but we must needs, and do acknowledge something of the spirit in it, against which we abhor to be at any enmity; and are as seriously resolved as you are, or can be (notwithstanding your boisterous blustering and sesquipidalian verborsity) to stand to, and maintain the Cause of Christ, and the clearing up the brightness of his coming in the Ministry of the Gospel, against the power and malice of the Devil and the world, according to our Vocation so fare as possibly we may or can, though with the loss of what is most dear and precious to us, even to the laying down of our lives themselves: and this profession, notwithstanding all the venom that you have, or can spit against us, we do here jointly and severally (we thank you for it, for we take it as an accidental courtesy) make and hold forth; not doubting, but knowing assuredly that the spirit of Christ, which we trust is in us, and hope and pray that it may be in you, is, and will be predominant over that spirit that is in the world. And now Sir, where or what is that Victory that your verbal vaunting boasts of? To what purpose hath your furious fury all this while run descant? Phil. 3.19. Glory not in your shaine: Is there no other way to accomplish a greater, and more open discovery of the truth, and to cause the beams thereof to be scattered in the Kingdom, but by your curtailed notes? Oh! what pity is it, that another, and not yourself, did not write the forepart of this your Epistle? Let another man praise thee, and not thy own mouth; Pro. 27.2. a stranger, and not thy own lips. Good Master Dell, do not conceive the children of the truth to be so dull, but that they will entertain the truth, where, and by whomsoever it comes, without ask you any leave. Whither are you now roving? You are gotten again into the clouds, and fall again upon your paradoxes; and because you will not too much tautalogize you have laid aside your before mentioned cunning and deceiving malignity, and have found out Synonimaes for Designs; and now you tell the world, that we betray our own and our fellow's Cause, and overthrow our own and their ends: We freely profess our ignorance herein, we understand you not, neither know we what to make of, nor how to unfold these your ridiculous riddles: but this we plainly from our souls pronounce and say, Cursed be that person that shall think of oppressing the truth; let it propagate and flourish, and let all its enemies perish; let it flourish! yea, we are confident it will flourish, and that through slanders, oppressions, contradictions, villainies, and all other your reckoned up rascally rabble: And this our confidence is built upon a strong foundation; John 3.35. The Lord of heaven and earth having given all things into the hands of his Son, Heb. 2.8. Col. 1.18. and having put all things in subjection under his feet; so that at length he shall most certainly have the pre-eminence; for at the name, and by the only power of Jesus Christ, Phil. 2.10. every knee shall bow, of things in Heaven and things in Earth, and things under the Earth. Let your thoughts of us be as mean and low as you please, this is that great day and thing that we look and long for. Oh! now at length pity your soul, repent your railing; 2 Sam. 16. 2 Kin. 18. act no longer Shimei nor Rabshakehs part: Be astonished, and magnify the omnipotent God, that hath thus discovered the deceitfulness of your heart; Jer. 17.9. and let our souls bless the Lord, that he, the sole wonderworking God, hath by his power and goodness, out of this your intended evil towards us, produced thus much unspeakable joy & comfort to our spirits, causing us, through the riches of his mercy, to clear up our evidence for heaven, and enabling us by the freeness of his grace, tovindicate our aspersed selves as to the world, so we hope to your own conscience. Cease therefore, we beseech you, to calumniate those, that from their souls desire to look and walk heaven-ward: We verily beleeve, did you truly know us, you would not suffer one man's whispering to be so prevalent with you, as thus to alienate your affection from us. Though we are strangers to you, 1 John 3.14. we hope the Lord loves us; Why should you injure and oppress us? Nay we are Brethren, why should you not love us? We wish that your * C. F. Informer were so godly a Citizen as you take him to be: you will not deny that dissembled piety is double iniquity: What think you of that godliness that is accompanied with drunkenness? to say no more of him, though we might speak of pride, lying, backbiting; but we are loath to brand him too much. Can we insinuate into, and fawn upon you, as others do, than we think you would not thus condemn us: Howsoever, 1 Joh. 3 21. Mat. 12.7. since our hearts condemn us not, why should you do it? And you have little reason to count us thorny hearers, for that you find by experience, that the Word is not choked in us. Mat. 13.22. As for that one among us that came to you, he was not urged thereunto, as you pretend, neither do you set down either a true or full relation of that discourse that passed between him and you. The truth is, there was some such discourse as you have set down concerning Presbytery and Independency, and this was that wherein he rejoiced, as seeming to you satisfied: but you must needs remember, that other matters were then spoken of. Neither was he so satisfied as you would make the world believe and how could he or any of us be satisfied? when as this your exposition tendeth much to division, by extolling the Independent party, and yet in private, you will pretend to put no difference between Presbytery and Independency, and then evade it, by going about to make us and others believe, that your intentions were not according to your expressions. And your Relater is much mistaken in this Christians stomach, for his stomach hath been no other, either concerning yourself or this business, then becometh a Christian to have. But of this particular, and of this Christians more particular answer to so much of your Epistle as concerns himself singly, you may perchance hereafter have a more full relation. Thus having by the assistance and direction of our prudent and good God, discharged our consciences, and endeavoured to satisfy both yourself and the world, by fully answering every particular of your charge against us, we do hearty commend you to the grace of God, earnestly entreating you to be no longer mistaken in us, but to be convinced in your judgement, that our study is (for such we assure you is the bend of our souls, the Lord pardon our sins, our imperfections) to live peaceably with you and all men, Rom. 12.18. Heb. 12.14. as much as in us lieth, and to acquire holiness; without which, we are most certain, no man shall see the Lord. Sir, we are, according to your own denomination in the end of your Epistle, Christian Readers. FINIS.