An Antidote AGAINST MASTER EDWARD'S HIS OLD AND NEW POISON: Intended TO PRESERVE THIS long distempered Nation from a most dangerous Relapse.  
WHICH HIS FORMER, HIS later, and next Gangrenous Book is likely to occasion, if not timely prevented.  
by WILLIAM WALWIN.  Deut. 22. 33. 
Their Wine is the poison of Dragons, and the cruel venom ●f Asps.  Rom 3. 13. 
Their throat is an open sepulchre, with their tongues they ●ave used deceit, the poison of Asps is under their lips.  Proverbs 22. 10. 
Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out: yea, strif▪ ●nd reproach shall cease.  
London, Printed by Thomas Pain, dwelling in Red-Crosse-street, in Goldsmiths-Alley, over-against the sign of the Sugarloaf. 1646. June 10th   

An Antidote AGAINSTMASTER EDWARD'S HIS OLD AND NEW POISON.  
THough God hath given unto Mr. Edward's, parts and abilities, where with a to acquire a comfortable life, in a just and good way, and wherein he might be helpful unto many, and hurtful unto none; nevertheless he seemeth unhappily to have placed his contentment in being a Master and Comptrouler of other men's judgements and practices in the worship of God, (wherein the Word of God and a man's own conscience is only to govern): and thereupon (necessarily) finding opposition from all consciensious people, he grows most passionately impatient, and even violently mad against all such as either plead their cause, or take their part; plainly manifesting, throughout the whole course of his preaching and writing, that he would esteem it his greatest felicity, if he could prevail with authority, or provoke any others to the perpetual molestation and destruction, of all that will not (though against their consciences) submit to those rules which he approveth.  
Now the piety and justice of this Honourable Parliament, having so lately freed this long oppressed Nation, from this very kind of Tyranny, in the Bishops and Prelatical Clergy, and very many judicious, and considerate persons (through a blessed opportunity, freedom of discourse, and clearer search of Scripture then heretofore) being fully satisfied in their understandings, that to compel or restrain, any peaceable person in matters of faith, and the worship of God, is as real a sin, and as odious in the sight of God as murder, theft or adultery, and thereupon engaging themselves in the just defence of liberty of conscience, Master Edward's his work (of bowing all to his rule) falls out to be very difficult, and impossible (by any arguments drawn from the word of God) to be effected, or proved just.  
And this also, in steed of qualifying his spirit, or stopping him in his race, hath set him all on fire, that he rageth like an Irish, ravenous and hungry wolf, deprived of his prey by generous and true English Mastiffs, that watch both night and day to save the harmless and benefitiall sheep (the Independants and Separatists) who from the beginning of these our troubles, to this very day, have continually without repining contributed their fleece for clothing, and their limbs and lives for nourishment, and strength, to preserve not only their own liberties, but the just liberties of this Nation; Yet nothing abaieth the madness of this prophet; but even (as is to be feared) against his own conscience, and as if hired thereunto by some politic balacs, he flieth from one hill to another, from authority to authority, hath his parables and his offerings, and Satan like, would tempt the Lord himself to fall down and worship him, to go against his own declared will, and to stir up a persecuting spirit in the Magistrate, against this his beloved Israel, to compel them to worship him (as do the Hypocrites) against their minds and consciences, than which nothing could be more abominable in his sight.  
And though he cannot but see the hand of God against him, and that notwithstanding all his opposition, or any others, the numbers of them are daily increased, and that their faithfulness to the Parliament & commonwealth, hath caused them to grow in favour with all the People; though (if he would speak his heart) he must as Baalam, perforce acknowledge there is no enchantment against Jacob, nor any divination against Israel; no prevailing for a coersive power, against this good people, in a time of refreshment from any just Authority: Yet persists he in his ungodly resolution, and seeing and knowing that God will by no means answer his eager desire, of cursing this part of his people; he seemeth to grow desperate, and like as Saul when God had cast him off, and refused to answer him, either by Vrim or Vision, betook himself to the witch of Endor, even so this most unhappy man, betaketh himself to Machiavellian policy, for execution of his cruel purposes against them: and finding no just or judicious party that will afford him any countenance, or assistance, he applieth himself to any that hate them, though enemies to the commonwealth, hazarding the doing of their wrok, so that with them, and by them, he may but do his own, whereunto the weaknesses of many well minded heople ministereth to gerat an advantage, their rashness and to easy credulity, being all the foundation which he hath now left, to build his hopes upon, for if these would but a while suspend their belief, and patiently consider the things he hath spoken or is about to publish, and would there upon with draw themselves from his wicked and delusive counsels, and instead thereof would fall to councelling of him to forsake his violent Railing, and reviling, of a people they know to be faithful, it were then impossible for him to effect his unjust designs, which also (if effected) must necessarily be the bondage or ruin of all sorts of well minded people, as well Presbiterians as others (however his charm may for the present flatter them) that must and will be the conclusion, if they continue to take in his poisonous counsels, how pleasing soever they seem to a  corrupted by long custom; they are poisonous, and will in time both swell and destroy them.  
And therefore unto this sort of people, do I at this time principally address this discourse by way of Antidote, to prevent the working of his baneful Counsels, and to frustrate his accursed ends.  
This unjust man, knoweth all just and judicious men, cannot but oppose his unjust designs, and therefore it is, he hath denounced so many of them by name in his books, as his enemies, his ablest enenies they are, and the more powerful, because they are all known to be really faithful to the Parliament: In this case saith Machivel there is but one help, that is. they must be brought into disgrace, and disrepute, with the people, for if these remain in credit, the people will give ear unto them, be rightly informed by them & be in no capacity to be deceived: well says Mr. Edward's, how shall they be sufficiently reproached: Why says Machivel, seek out unto your aid honest zealous persons of godly life, and good repure in the world, such as you know are fiery hot against errors and heresies so called, and unto them sadly complain of the daily infinite increase thereof, & entreat their assistance in the extirpation of them, & for that end desire them to collect their memories, what they have heard in any discourse, what they have any ways observed or known, to proceed from such and such men, naming divets, that are taken and reputed to be either grand Heretics, and Schismatics themselves, or the defenders and maintainers of them, by word or writing, tell them you have heard that such and such, hold and such blasphemous opinions, at such and such a time uttered, such & such horrible speeches, pray them to consider how exceeding necessary it is such things were known, and made public to all the world, left through ignorance such blasphemous and heretical persons in time get into offices of Magistracy, if not into the Parliament itself; lay before them the danger if it should be so, and entreat them (for prevention) that they will thrust themselves into all meetings, companies, and societies, to provoke discourses, and to take notice of what they observe, or can any ways learn of any of them or any others, and it shall be your care to divulge them to the world, in the strongest colours your Art can give them: And (saith Machivel) as they through eagerness, will overhear and make things worse than they were either spoken or intended, so it must be your care to make them rather worse then better, than their relations, you must be sure to cast dirt enough upon them, some will stick, and a little (amongst those you would pervert) will suffice to blemish the clearest and most able amongst them, and to deprive them of all credit and and repute for ever.  
If you observe any man to be of a public and active spirit, (though he be no Independent or Separatist) he can never be friend to you in your work, and therefore you are to give him out, to be strongly suspected of whoredom, or drunkenness, profaneness, an irreligious person, or an Atheist, and that by godly and religious persons, he was seen and heard blaspheming the holy Scriptures, and making a mock of the Ordinaces of Christ, or say he is suspected to hold intelligence with Oxford, or any thing no matter what, somewhat will be believed, you cannot be ignorant how much this hath prevailed against divers able persons.  
If you see any such man but once talking with a Papist, or (though not) you may give out that very honest men suspect him to be a Jesuit: If any one but demand of you or any others, how you know the Scriptures to be the word of God, give it out for certain he denieth them, or if any put questions concerning God or Christ, or the Trinity, you have more then enough to lay accusations upon them, that shall stick by them as long as they live, if you will follow this my counsel throughly saith Machivel (as in part you have done) you cannot fail of your end, you can never want matter, you shall (amongst ●hose you deceive) be taken for a most zeaous, holy, and religious man, you may write book upon book, great and large ones, and make good profit (or great renown) by them, and in after ages, be recorded as a famous Author.  
Moreover if you prosecute this course, you may haply hereby not only hold your friends firm unto you, ready upon all occasions to petition what you would have them, or to do any thing you shall require them, but you shall be sure to hold them for ever divided from your adversaries, in all things, they shall not regard any thing, though never so just or good, if they see they have but a finger therein, nay if work wisely, you need not despair of dividing your most powerful adversaries amongst themselves, doubts & jealousies being of great force:  
And you know it is an undoubted truth, a house divided within itself cannot stand.  
This is Machivels' way; and this hath been Mr. Edward's his way; and in this way he goeth on, but the way of God have they not known, or rather have they not despised the way of the Lord.  
This is the Poison by which he hath envenomed the hearts and understandings of thousands in themselves) honest, religious people, too too easily misled, for want of knowledge or consideration of these Machivelian courses; men that being sincere in their own intentions, are easily deluded by the least pretence of zeal and godliness.  
And however his heart may be hardened that he will not regard any thing, that hath been written unto him; you that have been deceived by him, are not so fare gone but you may yet recover, & become untainted, with the least savour of his spirit, and in time abominate his ways:  
But surely than you must consider things more seriously than hitherto you have done, you must suspect your own ways, and compare them once more with the ways of God, commended to you in his holy Word; That is the only Antidote that is able to expel the Poison you have taken, or shall be offered in his next book; you know the word of God is mighty to the casting down of strong holds, & to bring into subjection all Machivelian Imaginations.  
I shall therefore pray you in reading his next book which (it is to be feared) is reserved for an accursed purpose, and to second some work of Darkness; that you will with open eyes see how fare, and how plaufible Machivel may go with colours of religion transforming himself into an Angel of light.  
Also that you will not hastily give credit to any thing spoken by him a professed adversary, lest in so doing, you become guilty of bearing false witness against your neighbour.  
That you will consider and mark those that cause divisions and offences, contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them: Rom. 16. 17.  
That you will mind a special part of that doctrine to be expressed in the fourteenth Chapter throughout, and the beginning of the fifteenth, which I entreat you to read without prejudice or preoccupation of judgement; and then I cannot doubt, but liberty of conscience will appear more just in your eyes, than it hath done, and confess that yourselves cannot live without it.  
That you will lay to heart how dangerous it may prove to the Common wealth, and to the cause you have hitherto jointly maintained, (God prospering you in so doing) if by any policies you should stand divided from those your brethren of other judgements; believe it, the hand of Joab is in all your divisions,  you see or judge, your common enemy, is the fomenter of them; and under what notion or colours soever they appear, they are a common enemy to you both, that labour to divide you, and in the end, you will find it to be so to your cost, if not to your ruin.  
An ancient Philosopher (somewhat to this purpose) hath a fable, That the Wolves being at long and deadly war with the sheep, and not prevailing by force; but contrary to their expectation almost vanquished: Resolved to try what they could do by policy, and thereupon desired a treaty, which the sheep simply and easily granted: The principal simply and easily granted: The principal thing in the treaty, which the Wolves insisted on, was, that the sheep would but discharge & send away their dogs, and then there would be no cause of war at all, but they should live quietly one by another, urging withal, that the dogs were of a quarrelsome disposition, had been the beginners and continuers of the war, that they were of a different nature & temper from the sheep, maintained the war only for their own ends, and in probability were like enough to make a prey of the sheep themselves, and the like; if they would discharge them, they would give them what security themselves would desire, for assurance of their peaceable neighbourhood. The poor sheep soon weary of the charge and trouble of war▪ yielded thereunto, and discharged their dogs, their strongest help, (whereby they had not only preserved themselves, but by many battles and main force had even quite vanquished the Wolves) which was no sooner done, but the Wolves in short time muster up their force, (the dogs being out of call) and when the sheep lest suspected, fell upon them and destroyed them utterly.  
I conceive this could never have been effected, but that the Wolves had conveyed some of themselves into sheep's clothing, who by flattering and dissembling carriage, got themselves into credit with the sheep, and so persuaded to this goodly treaty, and wrought them to those destructive conditions.  
And (if well considered) this fable (though dogs and Christians hold no fit comparison) may demonstrate, that whosoever doth, or shall endeavour to persuade the godly and honest Presbyters to abandon, discourage or molest their faithful, helpful, valiant and assured friends of other judgements (whom Mr. Edwards would have to be used worse than dogs) they are at best, but Wolves, or Wolves friends, and seek the destruction of all honest people, of what judgement soever.  
And whether. Master Edward's do expressly aim at so horrid an issue, or not; for certain, his works and endeavours do mainly tend thereunto, and will help on the wicked purposes of any that intent the destruction of the sheep.  
But, blessed be God, we are not as sheep without a shepherd, we have had, and still have faithful & resolved shepherds set over us by providence, in a most just and orderly way, a Parliament (the terror of the wicked, and comfort of the just) that for these 5. years and upwards, have been a strong Tower of defence to the sheep of the Lords Pasture, to all the godly party in the Land: and though many of our froward and weak sheep have many times been tampering & harkening after offers and conditions as dangerous to the whole flock, as the discharging of that strength, the Wolves most feared; yet hath the wisdom of those our faithful Shepherds hitherto prevented the same; and according to the true rules of wisdom have made most use of those whom the Wolves most feared.  
And we trust the same God that endowed them with such a new modelising wisdom, as hath been successful to the astonishment both of their friends and enemies, will still guide and direct them, when the policies of the enemies, are most busy and strongly working; and when the weakness and frowardness of their friends are most troublesome & importunate for destructive things, yea though some should be wrought upon so fare, as to show a wearisomeness of these their Shepherds; the same God will then we doubt not, show his mighty power and wisdom in them, and thereby preserve this whole Nation, from a most dangerous Relapse, which otherwise were to be feared:  
The whole flock is their charge, God hath made them Overseers of the whole, and to our joy and comfort they have hitherto showed, agreater care to preserve the whole People, then to please any part of them; in unreasonable things: and in so doing they have been (and cannot but be) blessed and prosperous:  
And notwithstanding Mr. Edward's his verlomous poison, blown abroad by his unhappy quill, to blast and destroy the repute of honest, religious, and faithful men, yet (the tree being known by his fruit) the Parliaments wisdom expelleth his poison and showeth no disrespect to any honest religious person, and every judicious man followeth their worthy example therein: and when you that are weak and have been misled, and tainted with his poison, shall consider it, your judgements I trust will be rectified, and strengthened so sufficiently, that you will no longer judge of men according to his malicious accusations, but according to their works and what you see them do:  
Which if you do, we shall have done with his poisonous, and scandalous books, which serve for nothing but to deceive and destroy the people; great quientnesse will follow thereupon, and you will soon find a nearer way to a final end of your troubles, than the wrangling way he hath proposed, for if once you were united you would have no enemies; your war would be at an end; your peace would be sure, and all the people safe and happy;  
Which is my only aim in this work and my most earnest desire: WILLIAM WALWIN   

A GRAIN MORE, And no more.  
OBserving by some passages and occurrences of late, that all the labour bestowed towards the conversion and reducing of Master Edward's into a truly, charitable, and Christian disposition, hath proved no other, then as the washing of a Blackamoor; and thereupon, daily expecting a poisonous issue from his infectious brain. To prevent the mischief that might ensue: I prepared this little Antidote, intending to have had it in such a readiness, as that it should have met his poison in the instant he first spread it, wherein I did my part, but the Printers mistake hindered it.  
Those therefore that have read his new Gangrenous and scandalous book, and do find themselves any whit tainted with the poison thereof, and have slept upon it: My friendly advice is, that they take double the quantity of this Antidote: that they read this little Treatise twice over, and consider every part of it seriously and deliberately, and if they are any thing fare gone, and in danger: than it will be necessary they add thereunto a good quantity more of true Christian love, it will be somewhat hard to find, there being abundance every where of that which is counterfeit, the best of which will do more hurt then good; and therefore it will be needful you get the help of some that by experience can distinguish the true from the false, and such a one I can assure you is also very hard to find: but without it there is no hope, and with it there is infallible certainty of recovery.  
If there were not much false and counterfeit love abroad, this wretched man with all his cursed diligence could never have been furnished with matter to have swelled his poisonous bulck to so vast a greatness.  
And truly had those whoever they are that gave those malicious informations concerning me, as he reciteth them if they had had, but one scruple of true Christian love in them they never had administered to his (so unmanly) occasion.  
I bless God, I have through diligent seeking found this precious liquor, and have enough to spare upon those his unadvised intelligencers, and through the power thereof can freely forgive their evil intentions, which my conscience assures me, I never deserved from any, I ever conversed withal, or that ever knew me.  
As for himself, if passion and fore-judging did not blind men's understandings, and that most men are transported with flashy fancies, and are unapt to consider things judiciously, it would evidently appear, that he hath not in any measure auswered, either my Whisper or the Word more both which will live in despite of his utmost venom, and will concern him, and all such deceivers as he is, being there set forth in their truest colours, nor is his neglect of them, any other but a device to keep men's eyes off from reading or regarding them, wherein he hath indeed dealt very politicly, and like one fully possessed with a true Machiavellian spirit, which more evidently appeareth in laying his charge upon me in such subjects, as wherein he knoweth the presses in these times are not admitted the  measure of freedom, & if I should insist upon the mistakes, & nullities in the charge, I should be enforced to use the names of some persons, I much esteem for that public affection I have seen in them, and for the uninterupted friendship I have had with them, which is no ways suitable to my spirit: insomuch as I am yet unresolved what course to take, besides, since it concerns only my particular, and that of necessity it will occasion a bulk in print beyond my temper, the world being also oppressed with books of particular contest, I believe I shall incline to forbear, though I am not certain.  
As for those who know me, or throughly know him, with all those I shall remain unprejudiced in my repute, though he should have spit all hisvenome at once, and as for those that neither know him nor me, I shall (and I think may) safely trust my credit to the operation of my Antidote, & to the most powerful addition of true Christian love, which were there need in this cause) would cover abundance of evil: love is the balsam which in my Whisper I really commended to his use, but either he will not use it, or takes not that pains to rub it in which I advised, but though I have cast my pearl amiss, and have sped accordingly; that shall not hinder or abate my esteem of so precious a jewel, it is the delight of life, and the joy of Heaven, and whilst I live I trust I shall live in love, and when I die, that I shall die in this love, and Rise and remain Eternally in love, that is in God (for God is love) in whose presence there is fullness of joy; at whose wright hand there are pleasures for evermore; and full amends for all reproaches.  
WILLIAM WALWIN   
FINIS.  

IMPRIMATUR,  
JOHN BACHILER. May 26. 1646.