t *« ® ll(l! %fcl( «„ 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 Presented by Mr Samuel Agnew of Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 Agncw Coll. on Baptism, No. 
 
 
 ,o 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/briefhistoryofriOOIewi 
 
A BRIEF 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 Rife and Progrefs 
 
 O F 
 
 AN ABA P T I S M 
 
 I N 
 
 ENGLAND. 
 
 To which is prefixed. 
 
 Some Account of the Learned Dr. JVICLIF, 
 
 AND 
 
 A Defence of Him from the falfe Charge of &&, and 
 his Followers, denying Infant Baptism. 
 
 ByJOHN LEWIS, 
 
 Minifter of Meregate in Kent. 
 
 L N T> O N: 
 
 Printed for J.Roberts, in Warwick-Lam , 1738, 
 [Price Two Shillings.] 
 
rrf* 
 
 ADVERTISEMElSi i. 
 
 HE tumultuous Carnage of 
 the Anabapeifts in Germany, 
 of which an imperfeff Ac* 
 count is given in the follow" 
 
 ing 'Papers, is y I find, attempted to he 
 
 difcredited by an Englifli 
 
 a 7 . • /i 7 /i * Blackwood V 
 
 AnabapUJt, who questions Scorm . f 
 
 whether it he lawful cc be* ? Aa ^ ch I ^. 
 
 lieve an Hiftory from the 
 
 Mouth and Pen of an Enemy. But this y 
 fure, is too ignorant and romantic a Sug* 
 geftion, ever to he admitted by Perfons 
 
 in their Senfes, and of any Ingenuity, 
 fince it is to deftroy all human Faith and 
 
 Credit. The learned and worthy Man 
 from whom I have principally taken the 
 following Account of the German Ana* 
 
 baptifts, is Dr. Henry Bullenger, w#0/»f- 
 
 A 2 ceeded 
 
iv ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 ceeded Z)r. Huldrick Zuing- 
 
 1532. b ^ D 
 
 lius in the chief Paftorpip of 
 the Church of Zurich $ and he ajfures us, 
 'That a good Fart of what he relates, he 
 faw and heard himfelf: Bonam harum 
 rerum partem ego ipfe vidi et audivi. He 
 wrote his Book in the vulgar German 
 Tongue, that fo any one who could, might 
 confute it. It was afterwards tranjlatcd 
 into Latin, and printed at Zurich by 
 
 ChriftopherFrofchover,y5^r/y as 1560. 
 It will, I believe, be allowed to be the 
 Effect of a veryftrong Partiality, to onsen 
 as the Writer of the Hiftory of the Eng- 
 lijlo Anabaptifts does, in the 
 ?agI0 ' Cafeof<Dr.mdif> that the 
 c papifts were the left capable of giving 
 an Account of Perfons who lived in the 
 Times when Dr. Wiclif lived, and yet 
 to que ft ion whether it be lawful to be- 
 lieve both Papifts andPiozeftants, in the 
 Accounts which they give of the Ana- 
 baptifts tumultuous Carriage^ and mad 
 
 Opi- 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. v 
 
 Opinions, in their Time. Sure, the Pa- 
 pifts were as much Enemies to 'Dr. Wio 
 lif, as they and the Troteftants were to 
 the Anabaptifts, 
 
 The Account here given of our Encr- 
 lilh Anabaptifts, is taken, 1 . From the 
 Chronicles of John Stow, 
 who, we are affured by an E^^f 
 able Judge, was very exad ~~-^-^ 
 and critical in his Collec- 
 tions 5 and, that we may take his ho- 
 ned Word for it, that he never was 
 fway'd by Fear or Favour in any of 
 his Writings $ but had impartially, to 
 the beft of his Knowledge, delivered 
 the Truth, 2. From our 'Publick Re- 
 cords. 3. From the Anabaptifts own 
 Writings and ConfeJJions 5 which, I 
 declare, I have not wilfully in the haft 
 mifreprefented. J f what I have done 
 he any wife ferviceable to jloew the Folly 
 and Falfenefs of the Anabaptifts Tenets, 
 and convince them and others, that 
 
 what 
 
 / 
 
vi ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 what they get> if they do get any 
 thing, ly what they call a pure Wor- 
 fliip, they lofe by want of Charity, 
 / Jhall not repent of the fmall Tains 
 I have taken in making the following 
 Collections. 
 
 a Thus William Kiffen was pleafed to exprefs himfeif : 
 c So long; as you deny to follow the Rule 
 Anfroer to Ri- c of Chrift, for the Separation of the Wicked 
 craft, />. 9. c from the Godly, and feparating the Pre- 
 
 c cious from the Vile, we are bound, in 
 c Obedience to Jefus Chrifl, to leave you, while you re- 
 c main obiKnate to Him : ' Whereas it is well known, 
 the Vile and Wicked feparate themfelves, and do not hold 
 Communion with the Church of England ; being fenfu a l> 
 and not having the Spirit, Jude v. 19. At moftj they are 
 only Hearers, and not many of them fuch. 
 
 Mergate, 
 Feb. 14. i;|f 
 
 Some 
 

 Some Account of 
 
 
 Dr. John Wicl'iI: 
 
 AND 
 
 A Defence of him from the Charge 
 of Anabaptifm, dec. 
 
 ^(^fOHN JVICLIF was born, very 
 I probably, about the Year 1330, in the 
 *J Parifn of Wickliffe near Richmond^ in 
 Torkfhzre, and thence had his Name : Being 
 bred to Learning, he was fent to Oxford, 
 and there admitted a Commoner of Queens 
 College ; and foon after was removed to 
 Merton, where he was chofen Fellow- He 
 feems to have had very early a true Senfe 
 of the covetous Exactions of the Popes, 
 which at this time were got to a very great 
 Height 5 and therefore, in 13 5 6, he wrote 
 a little Tract, which he entituled, Of the 
 Laft A^e of the Church 5 in which he fliew'd 
 the ill Confequences of thefe deteftable Prac- 
 tices, and how much God is provoked by 
 them to take Vengeance on thofe who are 
 
 a The mflbry of the Life, Sec of John WfcligJD.JD. &c. 
 
 By John Lewis, Minifler 0/ Mergate. London, Vrinted 
 for Richard Wilkin, at the King's Head In St. Paul's 
 Church-yard, 1723* 
 
 guilty 
 
V i i i Some Account of 
 
 guilty of them. Soon after this, 
 1 361. he is laid to have been pro- 
 
 moted to the Mafterfhip of Ba- 
 llot Hall}, being much taken Notice of, for 
 his taking the UntVerfity's PaR igainft the 
 Encroachments of the Begging Friers. In one 
 of his little Traces, yet preferved, he thus 
 writes of them : Friars, fays he, draw Chil- 
 dren from Chriftj into their private Order 
 by Hypocrifie, Lefings, and Stealing ; for they 
 tell, That their Order is more holy than any 
 other, &c. He likewife wrote againft another 
 Pretence of theirs, That Chrift was a Beggar ; 
 to juftify their going about a Begging. Thefe 
 Tracts he entituled, Of the T overt y 0/Chrift, 
 againft able Beggary \ and, O/Idlenefs in Beg- 
 gary. By his Management of thefe Contro- 
 verts he got a great deal of Credit in the 
 Univerfity, and out of it. In 1365 he was 
 by Archbp. I flip appointed Warden of Can- 
 terbury Half which his Grace had newly 
 founded : In his Instrument of Collation he 
 gives Mr. JViclif the Character of his being 
 laudable, for the Honeily of his Life and 
 Convention, and his Knowledge of Letters. 
 In this Poll: he continued not long 5 for in 
 1367 Archbp. Langharn removed Wiclif 
 and made one JVodehtdl Mafter, whom the 
 Founder had put out when he collated Wic- 
 lif. He had Courage enough to appeal to 
 the Pope -, but Sentence was given againft 
 him in favour of the Religious. During 
 this Difpute, Pope Urban V. gave Notice 
 
 to 
 
2)r. John Wiclif. is 
 
 to K. Edward, that he intended, by Procefs, 
 to cite him to anfwer for his Default, in not 
 performing the Homage which K. John, his 
 PredccelTor, acknowledged to the See of 
 Rome, for his Realm of England, and Do- 
 minion of Ireland, and refilling to pay the Tri- 
 bute by him granted to the faid See. This fo 
 provoked the Parliament, that they refolved 
 unanimoufly, if the Pope mould attempt any 
 thing againft the King by Procefs, &c. the 
 King, with all his Subjects, mould with all 
 their Force and Power refift the fame. But 
 notwithstanding this Refolution, a Monk, it 
 feems, had the Hardinefs to defend this 
 Claim of the Pope's, and to challenge Mr. 
 JViclif to difpute that Point with him. 
 Wiclif replied to him, and fnewed, That the 
 Refignation of the Crown, and Promife of 
 a Tribute, made heretofore by King John to 
 the Pope's Legate, ought not to prejudice 
 the Kingdom of England, and did not at 
 all oblige the prelent King. In this Paper 
 Mr. Wiclif ftyl'd himfelf the King s peculiar 
 Clerk. 
 
 Mr. Wiclif having taken the Degree of 
 Doctor of Divinity, he publickly profelTed 
 Divinity, and read Lectures in it in the Schools 5 
 which he did with fo great Applaufc, that 
 whatever he faid, was received as an Oracle, 
 In thefe Lectures he frequently 
 took notice of the Corruptions £££& 
 of the Pegging Friers, and named 
 fifty Herefies and Errors, and faid there were 
 
 a many 
 
x Some Account of 
 
 many more, if Men would Jeek them welt 
 out. 
 
 In 1374 was Dr. Wiclif, with fome others, 
 appointed by the King to be his Ambafladors 
 to the Pope, to treat with him of the Liber- 
 ties of the Church of England-, on which he 
 had encroached : And on his Return from 
 this Embafiy, was prefented by the King to 
 the Prebend of Auft in the Collegiate Church 
 of Weft bury, in the Diocefe of Worcefter, and 
 to the Rectory of Lutterworth in Leicefter- 
 fhire, in the Diocefe of Lincoln. 
 
 The Religious, as they were highly pro- 
 voked by Dr. Wiclif '§ oppofing them, and 
 detecting their Frauds and Impoftures, fo they 
 leem to have taken the firft Opportunity of 
 being revenged of him. In 1376 therefore 
 we find a Schedule fent to the Pope, wherein 
 were contained fifteen Articles, faid to be 
 held and maintained by Dr. Wiclif As foon 
 as the Pope had received them, he imme- 
 diately difpatched feverai Bulls, all dated on 
 the fame Day, to Simon Sudbury Archbifhop 
 of Canterbury, and William Courtney Bifhop 
 of London, appointing them his Delegates to 
 examine into the Matter of the Complaint 
 exhibited againft Dr. Wiclif; one to the King, 
 and one to the Univerftry of Oxford. But 
 before thcfe Bulls could reach England, King 
 Edward b died 5 and the Univerfity, when 
 the Bull directed to them was brought down by 
 
 f> June 21. 1377. 
 
 a Mef- 
 
2)r. John Wicli*. xi 
 
 a MeiTenger ordered on Purpofe, received it 
 with fome Hefitation, and very coldly obeyed 
 it : However, the two Delegates proceeded 
 to execute thofe lent to them - y they accord- 
 ingly ordered Dr. Wiclif to be peremptorily 
 cited to appear before them in the Cathedral 
 Church of St. T aid's, London* on Thar f day 
 the 19th of February. Here accordingly he 
 made his Appearance : But being protected 
 by the Duke of Lancafler, the Earl Marflial, 
 and others, the Court broke up abruptly, and 
 Dr. Wiclif had no Sentence palled on him. 
 He was foon after cited ro appear before the 
 Pope's Delegates, in the Archbifhop's Chapel 
 at Lambeth : But here the Queen-Mother 
 interpofed, and fent Sir Levjts Clifford to 
 forbid them to proceed to any definitive Sen- 
 tence againft him. 
 
 Pope Gregory Xlth, who had fent thefe 
 Bulls, died March 27th, the Beginning of 
 the next Year : Which was no 
 fmall Advantage to Dr. Wiclif "'5 1378. 
 fmce the Cardinals not agreeing 
 in the Choice of a Succefibr, there was a 
 double Ele&ion 5 and it tvas fome Time be- 
 fore it was determined by the King of Eng- 
 land? and his Parliament, which of the two 
 Ihould be own'd for true Pope here. 
 
 Being thus providentially fet at Liberty, he 
 tranflatedthe c Bible out of the Vulgar Latin 
 into English $ and in 1381 fet himielf, in his 
 
 5 Printed ox London, 1731. 
 
 a 2. Ledtures, 
 
xii Some Account of 
 
 Lectures, to attack the favourite Doctrine of 
 
 Tranfubftantiation. Thcfe Conclufions he 
 publifhed ; and the Univerfity, by a folemn 
 Decree, condemned them, and inhibited every 
 one the teaching or defending them : So that 
 the Doctor was forced to retract his Doctrine, 
 or rather more exprefly to own it $ however, 
 he was expelled the Univerfity, and forced to 
 retire to his Parifh of Lutterworth- 
 
 It was not long after this that Dr. Wiclif 
 was fcized with the Pali} 7 . Very probably this 
 ©ccafioned his not being cited to appear before 
 the new Archbifhop in the Mo- 
 
 1382. nailery of the Preaching Eriers, 
 
 London* and not going to Rome, 
 
 on the Pope's citing him thither : However 
 
 this be, he died at Lutterworth the laft Day 
 
 t& 'December ^ 1384. 
 
 As his Opinions were very much mifrepre- 
 fented by his Enemies vvhilft he was alive 5 
 znd firsce his Death, lo he has had the Mif- 
 fortune to have fomc falfly imputed to him 
 by thofe who would be thought his Friends. 
 Por Inftancc : 
 
 1. It is affirmed of him, That 
 Hf/? of the j lc aflertcd it to be Biafphemy, to 
 f£f %**-< call any Head of the Church, fave 
 Chrift alone. But this is more 
 than appears from his Writings. By Head 
 of holy Church, he fcems to hove underftood, 
 that infallible Authority which was afcribed 
 to the Pope in his Time : floridly Clerks, 
 he faid, made blind Men believe, that the 
 
 Pope 
 
tZ)r. John Wiclif. xiii 
 
 Pope is Head of holy Church, and the mo ft 
 holy Father, that may not fin. 
 
 2. He is reported, as condemning Epifco- 
 pacy as a Creature of Princes fetting up ; be- 
 caufe he affirmed, That in the Time of the 
 Apoftles, two Orders of the Clergy were fuf- 
 ficient ; and that it feemed certain, that 
 Cxfarean Pride, or an Affectation ro be like 
 the Princes of this World in State and Mag- 
 nificence, was the Caufe of the Degrees and 
 Orders of a Pope, Cardinals, &c. Our Com- 
 pilers of The Inftitutim of a 
 Chriften Man, before our Re- 1535. 
 formation, gjrr. obferved, That 
 in the New Teftament there is no mention 
 made of any Degrees or Diftindions in Or- 
 ders, but only of Deacons or Minifters, and 
 of Priefts or Bifhops : And the Papifts them- 
 felves hold, That Bifhops and Priefts are only 
 different Degrees of the fame Order. 
 
 3. It is faid, Dr. Wiclif was for having 
 Minifters maintained by the voluntary Contri- 
 butions of the People, and not by Tithes 
 fettled on them by Law ; faying, c That 
 i Tithes are pure Alms, and that Paftors are 
 ' not to exact them by Ecclefiaftical Cen- 
 c fures.' But this is Misrepresentation : It is 
 plain, by Dr. IViclifs own Writings yet re- 
 maining in MS. that" he commonly calls 
 Tithes and Offerings GodV Por- 
 tion : That he obferved, That **£ */ Wic - 
 
 -.1 1 ' J+ ' r r t • 1 Lire, p. 127. 
 
 the principal Caule for which 
 they fnould be paid, was, Curates teaching 
 
 a 3 their 
 
xiv Seme Account of 
 
 their Parifhioners in Word and Example ; or, 
 in other Words, that the Benefice is given for 
 the Office - f and advifed, That People fhould 
 pay their Tithes, &c. to good Men and able, 
 and give them freely, without Exa&ion or 
 Conftraint, as was done to the Jcwifli Priefts > 
 and obferved, That thofe Things that are due 
 to Priefts, fhould not be asked or fued for 
 by Strength, nor Violence, nor Curfing or 
 Excommunication. As to his calling Tithes, 
 &c. poor Mens Goods, and pure and free Alms, 
 it is the Language of the ancient Canons, and 
 
 our own Municipal Laws. In 
 P e S j acrts .n the former, TDttarene obferves, 
 UbTI ci. ^ nat tQC Goods of the Church 
 
 are always termed the *Patri- 
 monie of the Poor 5 becaufe the principal 
 frcfign of conferring on the Church fo many 
 and great Eftates, yas, making Provifion for 
 the Poor. In the Injunctions of K. Edw. VI. 
 and Q. Elizabeth, the Goods of the Church, 
 or Tithes, <5cc. are cailed the Goods of the 
 'Poor ; and yet it is certain, they were allow- 
 ed to be the Miniftcrs Property. 
 
 As to Dr. Wtclif's calling the Tithes, Offer- 
 ings and Glebes, pure and <* free Alms* this 
 Signifies no more than a Tenure or Title of 
 Lands in our Common Law $ by which is 
 
 intimated, that thev are bellowed 
 EllteLib. upon God, that is,' given to fiich 
 p. c.xq. People as bellow thcmfelvcs, or 
 
 are 
 
 « Frankalmoign* e, feu Ijberam Eleemofjrnam, voci- 
 
 ^:mu:^cu^e aci oidincm fac/um tantummodo ipectar, &: 
 
 neque 
 
2)r. John Wiclif. xv 
 
 are employed, in the Service of God, for 
 pure and perpetual Alms : Whence the Feeof- 
 fours or Givers cannot demand 
 any terreftrial Service, fo long as cowl's Law 
 the Lands, Tithes, &c. remain Interpreter. 
 in the Hands of the Feoffees. 
 Britton maketh another kind of Cap. 66. ?. 
 this Land, &c. which is given 
 in AlmSy but not free Alms 5 becaufe the 
 Tenents or Feoffees in this are tied in cer- 
 tain Services to the Feoffour. 
 
 4. It is reported, That Dr. Wiclif was not 
 for giving the Church a Power to decree 
 Rites and Ceremonies, and determine Con- 
 troverfies of Faith : That he flighted the Au- 
 thority of General Councils, and affirmed, 
 That wife Men leave that as impertinent, 
 which is not plainly expreffed in Scripture. 
 This feems intended as a Refledion on the 
 XXth Article of Religion, which afferts the 
 Lawfulnefs of the Reformation of the Church 
 of England \ or the juft and lawful Authority 
 of the King and Parliament, to enaft thofe 
 Laws which they palled concerning the Con- 
 troverfies betwixt the Church of Rome and 
 us. But as to Dr. Wiclif he is here again 
 
 neque cenfum, neque fidei profeflionem, fed precum fo- 
 lummodo in Patronorum feu Dominorum falutem efFun- 
 dendarum officium a clientibus exigit : ita tamen uc Civili 
 Foro cliens de ea re iifti non poflir. J. Seldeni Not* ad 
 Eadmerum-) p. 203. 
 
 a 4 mif- 
 
xvi Some Account of 
 
 _ . , T ., mifreprcfented : His own Words 
 
 Trtal. Lib. r r r . x . 
 
 IV. c. 7. aiL ' e » Infinitum magis autentica 
 eft Veritas Scripture, quant per- 
 fonaaliqtta jam fuperftes <vel communitas alle- 
 ganda 5 ideo, fi effent centum Tapa, & omnes 
 fratres ejfent verji in Cardinales, non deberet 
 concedi fententia fua in materia fidei, niji de 
 quant fe fundavcri?it in Scriptura : The 
 Truth of Scripture is infinitely more authentic 
 than any Perfon now living, or any united 
 Community ; therefore, if there were an 
 hundred Popes, and ail the Friers were turn'd 
 into Cardinals, yet we ought not to fubmit 
 to their Sentence in a Matter of Faith, 
 no farther than they founded it on Scrip- 
 ture. But I don't find that he ever aliened, 
 . : as fome of his e Followers did, 
 
 p 14. §U. anc * 0LU " Puritans, That the Word 
 of God containeth the 'DireElion 
 of all Thirgs pertaining to the Church, yea, 
 of^hatfotver Things can fall into any Tart 
 
 e Bp. Pecock called them Bible-men, 144.0. They were 
 of two Sons : Some of them affirmed, Thar no Govetnauncb 
 
 is to be holden of Chrifiian Men the Service 
 T-n Reprefng of the Law of God, five it which is grounded 
 of omr-miche i~< 1 holie Scripture of the Newe Teftament. 
 wilting tli Others maintained, That no Governance is 
 
 Clergy. MS. to be held or accounted ofChrtftian Men the 
 
 Service cr the Law of God, fave it which 
 is grounded in the New Teftament, or in the Old, a?id is not 
 by the N< w Teftament revoked. But, tho' on thefe Prin- 
 ciples they blamed no fewer than eleven Governances of the 
 then Chinch of England, I don't find a Word faid of their 
 oppofm.q; iheUfage of baptizing Infants. They thought it, 
 Ifuppofe, a Governance of the Old Tefame?it, not revoked 
 in the Aiw, ' " 
 
 of 
 
c Dr. John Wiclif. xvii 
 
 of Mans Life-, or, That to ufe any Difci- 
 pline, or obferve any Rites or Ceremonies, 
 which are not grounded in the Old or New 
 Teftament, is unlawful. 
 
 5. Dr, JYiclif "is reprefented as being againfl: 
 prefcribed Forms of Prayer, but efpecially 
 againfl: impofing them ; and faying, That to 
 bind Men to fet and prefcript Forms of 
 Prayers, doth derogate from that Liberty God 
 hath given them. But nothing of this ap- 
 pears in his own Writings 5 and it is cer- 
 tain he made ufe of them as long as he lived, 
 or attended on the Forms then prefcribed and 
 impofcd. 
 
 6. Some Men of great Note and Learning 
 are faid to have left it upon Record, that 
 Dr. Wiclif denied Infant Baptifm : But his 
 own Writings, it is plain, (hew the contrary. 
 In his Great Sentence of Curfe expounded, 
 c. 20. he obferves, That why % 
 
 poor Priefts, and * lewd Men, in r ^° rign °' 
 Time of Need, may lawfully 
 baptize Children) and not confirm them, is 
 Great Wonder amons Men of Reafon. In 
 his Book called The Trialogue, 
 which was printed fomewhere in 
 Germany, A. D. 1525, he ob- 
 ferved, That this Sacrament of Baptifm is fo 
 neceffary to Men in this World, that Chrift 
 faid to Nicodemus, Except any one be born 
 again of Water, &c. and that on Account 
 of this Form of Chrifi's Words in the laft of 
 Matth. the Church admits the Faithful to 
 
 aniwer 
 
 Lib. IV. 
 c. 11. 
 
xviii Some Account of 
 
 anfwcr for an Infant not arrived to Years 
 of Discretion, In his 12th Chapter, "DeTri- 
 ■plici Bapttfmo, he exprefly fays, Reputamus, 
 tamen, ah f que dubtetate, quod Infantes recti 
 baptifati flumine fint baptizati tercio b apt if 
 mate-, cum habent grattam baptifmalem : 
 That he thought, without any doubt, that 
 Infants rightly baptized with Water, are bap- 
 tized with the third Baptifm, that of the Spi- 
 rit, fince they have the baptifmal Grace. He 
 is very plain, in declaring it unlawful for the 
 Faithful, baptifmum fluminis omnino relin- 
 ouere, wholly to omit Water- baptifm, on a 
 Suppofition of being baptized with the Spirit 5 
 and pofitive, That it matters not 
 Cap. 11. whether they who are fo bap- 
 tized are dipped or plunged once 
 or thrice, or have Water poured on their 
 Heads, fed fatiendum eft feciindum confuetu- 
 dinem loci quern quis incolii, but that we are 
 to do according to the Ufage of the Place 
 where wc live. In an Englifb Tract of his, of 
 the Seven Sacraments, he obferved, That, in 
 'Time of Nede, a Woman may chrifien a Child 
 with full Will to chrifien it, and with thefe 
 Words per fitly faid, N. I chriften the, In the 
 Name of the Fadir, of the Sonne, and of the 
 
 Holy Ghoft : So be it : That God that 
 
 giveth them Grace to bele-ve in Him, he 
 chriftneth ther Soules, that is to fey, waf ch- 
 it h their Soules fro the Uncle anefs of all man- 
 ner of Sinnes \ and that therefore ben Chil- 
 dren, and fumtimes Men and Wymrnen, 
 
 chriftned 
 
c Dr. John Wi c l i f. xix 
 
 chriftned in Water. In his Tria* Lib jy 
 logue, he likewife puts the Cafe 
 of an Infant dying unbaptiz>ed y after it had 
 been brought to the Church, that it might be 
 baptized according to the Rule of Chrift, and 
 there being no Water, or other Requifites 5 
 <c but he dared not, he faid, to determine on ei- 
 <c therSidc/ 1 Let any one now judge, whether 
 this learned Man was zn Anabaptift, or wit- 
 neffed againft Infants B apt ifm in his Time. 
 
 It is added, That Dr. fViclifis charged with 
 feveral of thofe which are called Anabap- 
 tijtical Errors \ fuch as, the refufing to take 
 an Oath ; and alfo, that 'Dominion is founded 
 in Grace. 
 
 As to the firfi of thefe, the Accufation 
 feems grounded on Dr. Wiclif's blaming Lords 
 and Prelates " for fwearing cufto- 
 « marily, needlefly, and oft an- J^T'ffo 
 €c advifedly and falfe, by the 
 " Members of God, by Chrifi, and by Saints^ 
 €C as by our Lady of TValfingham, St. John 
 <c Baptif, St. Edward, St. Thomas of Can- 
 ic terbury, and fuch otheir Seintis ; and charg- 
 <c ing more this Oath, than thofe they fwore 
 u by the Holy Trinity. " He faid, « To 
 " fwear by any Creature, is to do Idolatries, 
 cc and agens God's Commandment -, but, That 
 4c though it were lawful to fwear by Saints, 
 " this is Idolatrie to charge more an Oath 
 " made by fuch Saints, than by God Al- 
 < c mighty, or by the Holy Trinity, and to 
 H honour more thefe Saints than God. " But 
 
 he 
 
xx Some Account of 
 
 ^ArtkU h he owned > " That God granteth 
 MS. NV14. " to iwear by his own Name, 
 u or by Himfelf 5 or, That it is 
 " lawful to fwear by God Almighty in a 
 " nedeful Caufe, with thre Circumftances, 
 " in Truth, Doom, and Rightfulncfs. " 
 
 As to the Charge of Dr. Wiclifs founding 
 
 Dominion on Grace ; the fame Defence 
 
 which the learned Grotius makes 
 
 JJJr** for St * d»fti*> one of the Au - 
 247 thors of the Latin Church, and 
 
 from whom Dr. JViclif took what 
 he faid on this Head, will ferve for Dr. JVic- 
 lif : " Anftin, in faying, That all Things are 
 * { the Godly's, plainly refers to that Time, 
 " when the Inheritance will be eternal ; in 
 <c the mean time, we muft live by human Laws, 
 Ci which, he fays, is in the Power of Kings : 
 " This Law and this Vower whoever vio- 
 " lates, have not Auftin for their Patron." 
 
 But it is urged, to prove Dr. JViclif truly 
 charged with holding Anabaptiflical Err or s* 
 &c. That the Tapifls were the bejl capable of 
 giving an Account of Perfons who lived in 
 thofe Times. But if they were the beft ca- 
 pable, it is certain, they have not reprefented 
 Dr. JViclif aright : Thus, in his Life-time, 
 they accufed him of that Ana- 
 ^9<S. &C ' baptiflical Tenet, That the Effi- 
 cacy of the Sacraments depend- 
 ed on the Worthinefs of the Miniftersj 
 and of another, which he called, A filly 
 prating of the Friers^ that the Teople might 
 
 cor- 
 
2)r. John Wiclif. xxi 
 
 correal delinquent Lords \ which, he obferved, 
 was a Slander and falfe Leafing />//£ upon him, to 
 make Lords to hate him : So he was accufed of 
 that mad Saying, That God muft obey the 
 Devil. It is further obferved, with a great 
 deal of Wifdom, l That although, when Wic- 
 c /if wrote his "Dialogue, he held the bap- 
 < tizing of Infants, yet it does not follow that 
 ? he might not afterwards be of another Mind, 
 e and write againft it in fome of thofe 200 
 c Books of his that were burnt, of which, 
 1 as Mr. Fuller fays, not a Tittle is left. ' But it 
 is abfolutdy falfe, that not a Tittle is left of 
 200 Books of Dr. Wiclif s. The learned Mr, 
 Wharton, who was well acquinted with our 
 Englifh Libraries, tells us, Ci That we have as 
 " many of the Works of Wiclif 'yet extant, as, 
 ff if printed together, would ma kefour or five 
 u Volumes in Folio." In the Account given 
 of his Writings, in his Life, printed 1723, 
 are the Titles of no fewer than 255, which 
 are yet preferved in MSS. in the King's, 
 Cottons, and other Libraries. 
 
 But ftill it is urged, c That whether he de- 
 * nied Infant Baptifm or not, it is certain, 
 ' he was the firft Reformer, of any Note, 
 c that fpread thofe Tenets among the Eng- 
 c lifh, which tend to overthrow the Pradice 
 c of baptizing Infants: And that, if he did not 
 c purfue the Confequence of bis own Doc- 
 c trine ib far, yet many of his Followers did y 
 c and were made Baptijls by it. ' But nei- 
 ther is it true, that he fpread any Tenets which 
 
 tend 
 
xxii Some Account of 
 
 tend to overthrow Infant Baptifm, nor that 
 any of his Followers were Anabaptifts. He 
 no-where taught, That no Rule or Ceremony 
 ought to be received in the Church, which is 
 not plainly confirmed by the Word of God. 
 He never affirmed, That they are Fools and 
 ^Prefumptuous, 'who affirm fuch Infants not 
 to be favedy who die without Baptifm $ but 
 that they are fo, who, by their 
 
 W*e'tt' own Authorit y or Knowledge, 
 
 determine any thing about that 
 
 Matter : Nee andeo alteram partem diffinire, 
 
 at mutus fubticeo, confitens humiliter ig- 
 
 norantiam meam. 
 
 It is no more true, That he denied that 
 nil Sins are abolished in Baptifm. He owned 
 Original Sin 5 and faid, That by Baptifm, wc 
 are made Partakers of Baptifmal Grace. In 
 his Trialogue, he exprefly fays, That whofo- 
 ever is rightly or duly baptized, 
 i^Lib. IV. Baptifm blots out whatever Sin 
 it finds in the Terfon baptized. 
 He does indeed affirm, That if the Baptifm of 
 the Spirit, which he calls the infenfible Bap- 
 tifm, be wanting $ however, there be the Bap- 
 tifm of the Church, and the Baptifm of Blood : 
 Baptifmus non prodeft animte ad falutem ; 
 Baptifm does not profit to the Salvation of 
 the Soul : But then he immediately adds, as 
 I have obferved before, That he thought, 
 -without any Doubting, that Infants rightly 
 baptized with Water, are baptized with the 
 third Baptifm, or that of the Spirit. 
 
 There 
 
2)r. John Wi clip. xxiii 
 
 There is no Proof, that I can find, that 
 any of Dr. IViclifs Followers were Anabap- 
 ti/ls, or denied the Baptifm of Infants, He 
 died, we have feen, in 1 3 84 5 and it appears 
 by the following History, that none of 
 the Englifh Nation were known to be of this 
 Opinion 'till about 1600, above 200 Years 
 after. 
 
 The Writer who indulges hlmfelf in this 
 uncommon Freedom, has thought fit to re- 
 flect on Mr. Fox, as concealing fome of 
 Dr. Wiclif's Opinions, for fame T)efign net 
 known, and particularly mentions his leaving 
 out one of thofe condemned 1382, at the 
 Court held by the Archbifhop's Authority at 
 the Treaching Friers in London, and three 
 of the fonrty five condemned in the Council 
 of Conftance. Now, the one Article omit- 
 ted by Mr. Fox, is the /event h of rhofe con- 
 demned 1382, It. That God ought to obey 
 the 'Devil 5 which, I fuppofe, the good Mart 
 thought too blafphemous to tranicribe and 
 print. 
 
 As to the other three, which are here faid 
 to be omitted of the fourty five condemned 
 at Conftance, the Matter of Fad is, that /even 
 and twenty are omitted. And fa far is the 
 "Defign of doing this not known, that Mr. Fox 
 tells his Readers {p. 108. **) what it was, in 
 the following Words : " Befides the 24 Ar- 
 
 u ticles 
 
 f Acles and Monuments of thefe latter and ferillous 
 Days , touching Matters of the Churche ; wherein are com- 
 prehended and defer ibed the great Verfecutions, and horrible 
 
 Troubles , 
 
xxiv Some Account, &c. 
 
 cc ticks above-mentioned, there wcr others alfo 
 " gathered out of his Books, 45 in all, which 
 €C hys malicious Adverfaries perverfly colled- 
 <c ing, and maliciouQy expounding, did exhibite 
 cc up to the Councell of Conjiance : Whiche 
 " to recite all, tho' it be not here needful* yet 
 " to recite certain of them* as they (land in 
 " that Councell, it fhall not be fuperfluous. '" 
 The following Suggeftion is therefore very 
 falfe, and highly injurious to the Character and 
 Memory of this hone ft Hiftorian 5 viz. That 
 c he endeavoured to conceal many Things that- 
 * would make againft the Religion eftablifhed 
 c in his Time, or that he thought would be 
 t a Difparagement to his Martyrs. ' It is (till 
 fo much the worfe ; becaufe it has no Foun- 
 dation but an evil Surmife, and a fond Defire 
 to have Anabaptifm of a more ancient Date 
 than it really is. 
 
 Thefe are ibme of the Wounds which thefe 
 learned and valuable Men have received in the 
 Houle of their feeming Friends. 
 
 Troubles* that have been wrought and pr a if t fed by the Romiffc 
 Prelates* fpecial'ye in this Realme of England and Scotland, 
 from the Teare of oure JLorde* A Thoufande^ unto the Time 
 no<w prejent^ &c. By John Fox. 
 
 Imprinted at London, by John Day, dwelling over Alder [gate, 
 beneth St. Martyn's, Anno ij6;, the 20 of March. 
 
BRIEF HISTORY 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 Englifh Anabaptifts^. 
 
 |N order to give a fair and impar- 
 tial Account of the English Ana- 
 baptiftsy it will be neceffary to 
 take fome Notice of their firft 
 Rife and Beginning in Germany* 
 This was about the Year 1521. in that Part 
 of Saxony which is fituated by the River Sale. 
 Here arofe fome feditious Spirits, of whom 
 one Nicolas Stork was the principal, This 
 Man pretended to be utterly un- 
 learned, and perhaps he was fo 5 
 but declared that God had revealed 
 to him from Heaven that Know- 
 ledge which maketh wife unto 
 Salvation: Helikewifeftirred up many againft 
 the Minifters of Churches, making them be- 
 lieve that fuch Aflemblies and Congregations 
 
 B as 
 
 Camerarii 
 Vira Melan- 
 &honis,/>. 45, 
 Ed. 1655. 
 
2 i Brief Histori 0/ 
 
 as were guided and ferved by ftated Minifters 
 and Paftors, were not the Churches of Chrift% 
 and that therefore they were bound to depart 
 from them. They who became his Profelytes 
 were to be admitted anew by Baptifm into 
 the true Communion, for which 
 Brandt Hift. Reafon they were called » jl na - 
 
 maJ C w ef r fapttp- But this Sca did not 
 p. 61. flop here. There was no Place, 
 
 they faid, where any Good was 
 
 done : The Wicked, who, without any Care 
 
 of the common Good, ftudied only how to 
 
 gratify their own Lufts and Defires, were they 
 
 that pretended to domineer over the Godly > 
 
 wherefore God had decreed to root them 
 
 out, and to fubftitute another Race of Men 
 
 endowed with Innocence, Righteoufhefs, and 
 
 Holinefs. To begin fuch a Race, and to 
 
 caufe it to multiply, it was necclTary to bring 
 
 forth Children s and therefore nobody ought 
 
 to marry a Wife, unlefs he knew that there 
 
 fhould fpring from her fuch Children as would 
 
 prove good and godly, and predcftinated for 
 
 the Community of the Kingdom of Heaven. 
 
 This could not be otherwife known, than by 
 
 a Revelation from God 5 bur, as they gave 
 
 out, the Gift of Prophecy was in their Afiem- 
 
 blies, whereby they foretold future Things, 
 
 and difclofed hidden ones. It was likewife 
 
 among their Laws or Rules, That none fhould 
 
 a Sleidan intimates, that the Name they were fond or 
 was that of Prophets. Fropheta^ nam hoc Jibi nomen ufur- 
 f>ant-> Lib. x. 
 
 apply 
 
the Englifh Anabaptifts. 3 
 
 apply thcmfclves to Arts and Sci- 
 cnccs, nor feek for Learning and VicTmXk. 
 Knowledge any-where, but in the 
 Benignity of the Eternal God, where human 
 Means were intirely unneceffary. For how 
 could any one othcrwile ferve and honour 
 God, unlefs he was thought worthy of the 
 fame Favour or Benefit which was granted to 
 the Fathers and holy Men of ancient Times ? 
 Yea, that a like Commerce and Colloquy is 
 mod earneftly to be dc fired of God, and to 
 be granted to thofe who are urgent for it. 
 Stork would likewife tell his Friends, that he 
 had feen in his Sleep the Angel Gabriel fly 
 towards him - y and when he ftepp'd by him, 
 befides other Things which he thought were 
 not yet to be declared, to have fpoken thus 
 to him, Thou /halt be placed in my Throne ; 
 which Stork underftood as a Promife made to 
 him, of the Principality of a new Kingdom, 
 which was foon to be fet up. Upon this 
 Account He, and the other Teachers of this 
 Seel:, were acceptable to a great many 5 as 
 giving them Hopes of a Liberty of all Things, 
 and a Profpeft of a Kingdom. Among others 
 who were Admirers of Stork, was one Mark, 
 who had been a Scholar at the Univerfity of 
 Wittenberg, but deferted his Studies either 
 before or after he came into this Society. He 
 boafted much of an excellent Talent being 
 given to him of God, that he fhould excel in 
 interpreting and explaining the Holy Scrip- 
 tures. He once undertook to convince Lth 
 
 B z iher 
 
4 A Brief History of 
 
 t her of his being endued with the Spirit of 
 God, by his telling him what he thought ^ 
 which was, according to his vain Fancy, that 
 he began to incline to believe his Do&rine 
 true : To which Luther replied, The Lord 
 rebuke ihee y Satan- But what became of 
 thefe Two Men, Stork and Mark, what fur- 
 ther Attempts they made, and how they end- 
 ed their Lives, Camerarius faid he had never 
 found. However he obferved, that the Minds 
 of the giddy and ignorant Multitude were per- 
 verted by their deceitful Speeches. Erafmus 
 tells us, That in 1529. they were in great 
 Numbers every- where 5 and in 1535? their he 
 apprehended France was not altogether free 
 from them, only there they were filent for 
 Fear of Balling. He, however, gives this 
 Character of them 5 That tho' they were a 
 Sett which was more hateful to Princes than 
 any of the other Se&s, on Account of their 
 Anarchical Principles, and their preaching up 
 the Community of Goods ; yet at that Time, 
 1529, they had never had any Church, nor 
 attempted any Kingdom, nor defended them- 
 felves by Force, and were faid to be of b much 
 founder Morals than any of the other SzRs, 
 
 or 
 
 b It feems as if it was on this Account, his giving fo fa- 
 vourable a Character of the Anabfptifis\ and their Morals, 
 that Erafmus was .obliquely charged by Cardinal Bellar 
 rune with being of their Opinion. For this he refers to 
 his Preface to his Paraphrafe of St, Matthews Gofpel, 
 where he fays quite the contrary But the Cardinal, it is 
 ©bferved, was provoked by Erajmus's declaring in this Pre- 
 face 
 
the Englifli Anabaptifts. 5 
 
 or were to be commended above them for the 
 Innoccncy of their Lives. But he owned 
 Four Years before this, that they whom they 
 called Anabaptifts muttered long before that 
 an Anarchy, and held other monftrous Opi- 
 nions 5 as that Baptifm is not necelTary either 
 for Adults or Infants : And, that they were 
 guilty of another Sort of Madnefs, affecting 
 to appear Prophets, whilft every body made a 
 Jeft of them for thefe Pretenfions. In 1535, 
 he gave the following Account of them ; That 
 Matters then were not confined to verbal 
 Difputes 5 but that the Anabaptifts raged 
 with Sword and Blood 3 poffclTcd Cities by 
 Plots, Deceits and Force 5 drove Men againft 
 their Will to their Seel by Slaughter and Vio- 
 lence 5 made new Kings and Queens, and 
 framed new Laws after their Pleafure 5 and, 
 that all Lower Germany was ruined by them. 
 Where thefe Things would end, he faid, God 
 knew, no Man could tell. 
 
 Of this Difcipline and Faction 
 of St or lie's, was o ne 'Thomas Man- ^"Inab 
 cer ; who alfo had his Difcipies, 
 Thifer, Melchior Ringgus, and fome others. 
 This Man boafted or his Familiarities with 
 God. His Dodrine was all Fire, and was di- 
 rected chiefly againft the Minifters of the 
 Gofpel, and next to them againft the Magi- 
 face for the Laity and Unlearned reading the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, and cenfuring thofe who reprefented it as a Crime to 
 tranflate them into Fre?ich> or Engiijb; or any of the Vul- 
 gar Tongues. 
 
 B 3 ftracy. 
 
6 A Brief History of ' 
 
 flracy. He not only by Word of Mouth, but 
 in Writings which he publiihed, affirmed, 
 I. That the Preachers who at that Time 
 preached the Gofpel, or who were of the 
 Reformed, were not fent of God, and did 
 not preach the True Word of God, but were 
 Scribes, and preached only the T>ead Letter 
 of Scripture. 2. That Scripture and the c 
 Outward Word is not the True Word of 
 God, but only the Tejlimony of the True 
 Word : That this True Word is internal and 
 heavenly-, and proceeds immediately out of 
 the Mouth of God, and ought to be taught 
 inwardly -, and not by Scriptures and Sermons. 
 3. That Water Baptifm was of no Ufe, and 
 the Baptifm of Infants not of God, and, that 
 therefore they ought to be rebaptized with 
 a Spiritual and better Baptifm. Tho' at that 
 Time, and the Beginning of Anabaptifm y 
 Muncer himieif, as it was reported, did not 
 rebaptize ; being hindered by ibme Occa- 
 sions, or rather by his Principles, 
 It plainly ap- and his Difciples began to rebap- 
 pears he was f lz>e before him. He likewife 
 ^ITLf tau S ht > 4. That it was falfe that 
 Bapnfm. Chrijl has <* fatisfied for us. 5. 
 
 That the Marriage and Conjugal 
 
 * See R. Barcla/s Apology, Sec. The EngUfi Anabap- 
 liits afterwards aliened. That that Worfhip is forbid v/hich 
 is not commanded j and, that in Chrift's CommiiTion about 
 Baptifm, they that are not exprejjed in it, are excluded from 
 it. Blackwood's Storm of Antii :brift) p. 50, 61. 
 
 * Of this Opinion fcem Mr. Smith and his Followers to 
 have been. 
 
 Bed 
 
the Englifti Anabaptifts. 7 
 
 Bed of the Carnal and Unbelieving is not 
 undefiled, but a true Bed of Harlots, and a 
 Stew of the Devil. He likewife added, that 
 God made known his Will by Dreams 5 and 
 therefore magnified Dreams, and propofed 
 them as infpired by the Holy Gho^l. And 
 hence he and his took the Name of heavenly 
 Prophets, Spiritual^ and Enthufiafts. 
 
 This Do&rine Muncer propagated in little 
 Books which he publifhed, and in Letters 
 which he frequently fent into all Parts of 
 Germany : And thefe Writings were greedily 
 read by Men like himfelf, of a feditious Spi- 
 rit > and approved, and with great Zeal di- 
 fperfed by them. About the Year 1523, 
 and the Year after, Muncer taught at Alftet* 
 which is a Town of Saxony, on the Borders 
 of Turingia. But when he not only inveigh- 
 ed againlt the Miniftcrs of the Word, but 
 alfo preached furioufly and feditioufly againfl 
 the Magiftracy, and complained, that Liberty 
 was extind, that the miferable common Peo- 
 pie were oppreffed by Tyranny, and intolerable 
 Burdens ; that what they had and acquired 
 went to the Princes, whilft they had nothing 
 referved for themfelves but Labours, Want and 
 Mifcry j and, that therefore it was high Time 
 for them to think of this Matter 5 when he 
 began to teach thefe Things, he was ejc&ed 
 from Alflet, and came to Norimberg, and 
 into the upper Parts of Germany ■; and in that 
 Journey came alfo to Bafil, and from thence 
 into Klacga, and there remained fome Weeks 
 
 B 4 in 
 
8 A Brief History of 
 
 in the Village of Griejfa 5 yet in the mean 
 Time, in the neighbouring Places, and the 
 County of Staling^ he diligently carried on 
 his feditious Defign, and fowed in factious 
 Minds his poifoned Seed of the Boors Sedi- 
 tion, which followed a little after. At the 
 fame Time alfo he difperfed among the Vul- 
 gar his Opinions of Anabapttfm, and the 
 Word of God before-mentioned. Moreover, 
 when he had left thefe Countries, and dwelt 
 at Mulhufe in Turingia, he fent Letters to 
 certain Men, in whom he had Confidence, in 
 which he incenfed and provoked fa&iousMen 
 againft their Princes. Alfo a few Days be- 
 fore that the Boors in thofe Countries took 
 Arms, he fent a MelTenger thither with Let- 
 ters and Papers, in which was defigned the 
 Bignefs and Circumference of the Shells, 
 which the Mortars, made at Mulkufe for the 
 Ufe of the Sedition, would carry ; and by 
 this Mean he encouraged the fa&ious Party, 
 and confirmed them in their Purpofe. By his 
 Intrigues he likewife got the old Senate of 
 grave Men at Mulhufe to be laid afide, and 
 a new Anabaptijiical and Muncenan one to 
 be fubftituted in its room. On this followed 
 a great many Riots : For Muncer taught a 
 Community of Goods, and that no one was 
 to have any Thing of his own. He likewife 
 faid, that it was revealed to him by God, 
 that all Grandees and Princes were to be de- 
 pofed 5 that there was given to him the 
 Sword of Gideon againft all Tyrants, to affert 
 
 true 
 
the Englifli Anabaptifts. 9 
 
 true Liberty, and eftablifh a new Kingdom of 
 Chrift in thefe Countries, &c.' 
 
 Whilft thefe Things were tranfa&ed by 
 them, the Boors throughout Suevia and Fran- 
 conia, and in many other Places, made an In- 
 iurre&ion the next Year, 1525. 
 againft their Princes, and defeat- 1525. 
 ed Part of the Nobility, plun- 
 dered their Forts and Caftles, and burnt fome 
 of them. Then Muncer preached to the 
 People with greater Vehemence, and did all 
 he could to inflame and let them againft their 
 Princes, and a little after, with 300 Men, 
 joined the Rebels, who had their Camp at 
 Erancufe. But when they were defeated by 
 the Princes of Saxony, Hejfe, Britnfwick> 
 and Mans fold, and fome of them fled into 
 the City, Muncer fled thither with them 5 
 where being taken, and carried to the Princes, 
 he was condemned to die, as he deferved, 
 Before his Death, he publickly confeiTed, that 
 he had acled ill, and owned his Error ; in 
 which notwithstanding his Difciples the Ana- 
 baptifts firmly continued. This is the true 
 and firft Original of Anabaptifm. Stork* 
 Mark, and Muncer, factious, ieditious Men, 
 were the firft Parents and Authors of it. 
 
 Erafmus indeed fufpected, that many 
 Jews and ^Pagans mingled themfelves with 
 thole Tumults, of which I have given fome 
 Account 5 of whom fome, he laid, hated 
 Chrtft, and others believed nothing of Him : 
 He luppofed that they defigned fome new 
 
 Democracy 5 
 
io A Brief History of 
 
 Democracy ; but that the whole Matter was 
 managed by fuch crafty Counfels, that the 
 Authors of them were not as yet fufficiently 
 
 difcovered. It islikewife intima- 
 form°W C i. tcd b y Brandt y that there were 
 
 many fimple Anabaptifts y who 
 did not adhere to Stork's and Muncer's Party ; 
 but who were yet involved by them in great 
 Troubles, by joining too eafily in Commu- 
 nion with them, on account of their pro- 
 felling the lame Opinions about Baptifm, &c. 
 and foolilhly thinking that they were ftirred 
 up by the Spirit of God. 
 
 At Zurich were c certain Men 
 Quidam non f fomc Learni but of a con . 
 
 indocti. . . . P' 
 
 tentious Spirit, who read Muncer s 
 
 Writings with great Application, and pre- 
 ferred them far before the Writings of Lu- 
 ther 
 
 e Alpha eomm fuit Bahhafar Hubmerus, apoflata iterum 
 icerumq,' factus : qui Zuinglii beneficio liberatus, gratiam 
 ei retulit quam mundus folet ; tancis enim conviciis virum 
 bene de fe meritum onerare nebulo non dubicavir, ut Apo- 
 logia fatisfacere fratribus habuerit necelle. Mel. Adam} 
 Vita Zuinglii^ p. 30. 
 
 Bullinger does not name them, but I have put down 
 their Names from Brandt, Conrad Grebel, and Felix Mans : 
 M. Adams names Hubmer as the Head of this Party at Zu- 
 rich, who was put in Prifon there. By others we are told, 
 that this Balthafar began to oppofe Infant-Baptifm, 1527. 
 and wasdetained in Prifon at Zurich Six Monrhs, and after- 
 wards burnt at Vienna : That Erafmus called Caro/fiadius 
 the Father of the A-nabaptifts ; and that Melantlhon faid, 
 that the Baptifm of Infants was firfl dilapproved of in thofe 
 Countries by him. Some of the Anabaptifts fanfied even 
 Zuinglius himfelf to be of their Opinion ; and therefore 
 One of them, in the Third Deputation at Zurich, adjured 
 
 him 
 
the Englifh Anabaptifts. 1 1 
 
 ther and Zuinglius. Nay, they told Zuin- 
 glius, the chief Paftor of Zurich, to his Face, 
 that Muncer was a true Prophet, who had 
 undertaken rightly to manage the Caufe of 
 the true Word of God, and the new Kingdom 
 of Chrift. Thefe all confpired together, and 
 had many clandeftine Colloquies : The whole 
 Reformation, as then fettled, was difpleafing 
 to them, as too narrow and fmall, not fpiri- 
 tual, high, and perfect enough 5 and fome of 
 them hoped they fhould have the Gift of 
 Tongues, and quarrelled with Zuinglius on 
 that Account, and ftudied to oppofe him in 
 every Thing, and reprefented him as (lowly 
 and coldly managing the Affairs of the 
 Church, and of the Kingdom of Chrift : 
 They therefore propofed a Separation, which 
 they grounded on the Apoftle's Words, Save 
 yourfehes from this untoward Generation. 
 But finding they could not get their Ends of 
 Zuinglius, they refolved to promote their 
 Separation another Way, and to conftitute a 
 particular and feparate Church. They there- 
 fore began to condemn Infant-Baptifm, and 
 to exclaim againft it, as not appointed by God, 
 
 him to tell the Truth, Whether Infant-Baptifm was of God, 
 or not ? Gerhardi Loci Com, de Baptifmo^ p. 307. Col. 2. 
 But in the fame Manner have fome of the Englifh Anabap- 
 tiils treated our Minifters, reflecting on them as getting 
 their Wealth by this Craft, and being flow in receiving 
 convincible Truths, thro' flavifh Fears of Poverty and 
 Difgrace : Intimating that they are really of their Opinion, 
 Jput that they dare not own it. 
 
 but 
 
12 A Brief History of 
 
 but invented by Pope f Nicolas, and there* 
 fore iniquitous, and of the Devil. Since, 
 therefore, the Baptifm of Infants was not va- 
 lid, and they therefore were not baptized ; 
 Tie Faithful ought forthwith to be baptized, 
 ■■ lat they might be a holy Church of God. 
 On Account of this Opinion of theirs, they 
 .^egan to be called Baptifts and Anabaptiffs, 
 who before went by the Name of Enthu- 
 fiafts. 
 
 In a little Time this Difiention g,re\v fo 
 high, that the Magiftratcs, who were reli- 
 gious and honeft Men, thought it proper for 
 them to interpofe, and therefore exhorted 
 both Sides to a familiar and friendly Confe- 
 rence. But a contentious Spirit was lb ftrong 
 in the Anabaptijls, that no familiar Confe- 
 rences, no written Admonitions, could bend 
 them, and divert them from meir Purpofe. 
 However, a Publick Difputation before the 
 Senate was appointed on Jan* 1 7, 1 5 2 5 . and 
 a Second the 20^ of March following : The 
 Confequence of which was,That the Principals 
 of the Anabaptijis were gravely admonifhed 
 to defift from their Purpofe, and be quiet. 
 But after that the Anabaptijis found they 
 
 f Here the Anabaptifts do not agree among themfdves, 
 fince in a Book of theirs, called The Exhortation^ they 
 name Pope Eugenius as the Conhrmer or Eilablifher of the 
 Baptifm of Children ; and others have faid, that Pope &- 
 potent decreed and confirmed the Baptifm of Infants. But 
 tho* there were feveral Popes of each of thefe Names,. I 
 don't find that any of the Anabaptijis have diftinguiflied 
 them, 
 
 could 
 
the Englirti Anabaptifts. 1 5 
 
 could do nothing by Difputation in thefe Con- 
 ferences, tho' they were encouraged by fome 
 who wifhed the Oppreffion of the GofpeJ, 
 and Increafe of Popery, they began to aiTerc 
 their Caufe very boldly, and openly and ex- 
 prefly declared, that they would bear Witnefs 
 to it not only in Words, but with their own 
 Blood. They began therefore to baptize 
 boldly in the City, and elfewhere. From 
 hence arofe a greater Commotion than be- 
 fore : lor fome of them soins out into the 
 Country without the City, promoted their 
 Caufe there alfo. Some of them, having a 
 Halter or Willow about their Middles, cried 
 with Jonah, Within a few T>ays is Zurich 
 to be drowned. Wo to Zurich! Wo I Wo I 
 Repent ye •> %he Axe is laid to the Root of 
 the Tree. In the mean Time they began to 
 teach in their feparate Churches a Commu- 
 nity of Goods : They ftrenuoufly exclaimed 
 againft Pride, Rioting, and Drunkennefs 5 
 againft Blafphemies, and other WickednefTes. 
 They led a fpiritual Life to all outward Ap- 
 pearance ; were grave, fighed much, and did 
 not laugh : They were vehement in their 
 Reproofs, talk'd with a lofty Air, that by 
 thefe Means they might be admired by, and 
 have fome Authority with, well-meaning and 
 devout People. They therefore thus fpoke 
 of them : Let others fay what they will of 
 the Anabaptifts, I fee nothing in them but 
 Gravity 5 I hear nothing, but that we mult not 
 fwearj muft do no one any Injury/ but all 
 
 ought 
 
14 A Brief History of 
 
 ought to live pious and holy Lives : There- 
 fore I fee nothing of Evil or Iniquity in them- 
 So that by this Mean they deceived many 
 in that Country, and, as it were, blinded them. 
 Some of them inveighed againft the Minifters 
 of the Church, and the Magiftracy, and that 
 fo impudently and feditioufly, that they were 
 put in Prifon, and various Attempts made 
 to teach them better. Some of them, there- 
 fore, on their promifing to renounce their 
 Error, were difmiffed without any Punifh- 
 ment ; and others, who would not bear to be 
 inftru&ed, but obftinately perfifted in their 
 Defign, were detained and kept in Cuftody, 
 that they might not be the Authors of a yet 
 greater Sedition, and more Tumults : And 
 thefe afterwards were fome of them fined, 
 and others banifhed. On this the Anabap- 
 ti/is and their Friends, both in the City and 
 Country, made loud Complaints, That all 
 Things were done by Force 5 that Truth was 
 oppreffed; and godly and innocent Men, who 
 attempted nothing but what is contained in 
 the Word of God, were not heard, nor fuf- 
 fered to fpeak : That all they defired was to 
 be dealt with according to Law and Right, 
 and be permitted to have the Liberty of 
 Speech. They likcwife grievoufly accufed 
 Zuinglius. that he would fufFer no body to 
 fpeak, and attempted to opprefs the Truth in 
 the Mouths of his Adverfaries, and, as it were, 
 in their Throats : And that by this Manner 
 of Proceeding he defended his Caufe 5 not 
 
 by 
 
the Englifli Anabaptifts. i 5 
 
 by the Word of God, but by Clamours, and 
 the Authority of the Magiftrates. 
 
 By thefe vehement Complaints of the Ana- 
 baptifts, and the earneft Intreaties of Zuingli- 
 us, and the other Minifters, who petitioned 
 for a publick and free Difputation, the Senate 
 of Zurich was prevailed on to publifli or pro- 
 claim a publick and free Difputation in this 
 Form : It is our Will and Decree, That all 
 they, whofoever they be, that will maintain, 
 prove and defend, out of the Holy Scriptures, 
 that Infant -Baptifm is an Appointment of 
 the Devil's, but that Anabaptifm is juft $ and 
 that therefore they judge that they have done 
 well and rightly, who are rebapti&ed ; and all 
 they who do not think it w 7 rong, but are of 
 Opinion that Infants are to be baptized 5 
 that all thefe together, or every one feparate- 
 ly, come on the Monday after All Saints 
 Day to a Publick Difputation ; where they 
 fhall every one be fufficiently heard, and that 
 which is juft and equitable fhall be deter- 
 mined. 
 
 The Queftions to be difputed were thefe: 
 1. Whether the Children of Chriftians are 
 lefs the Children of God than their Parents 
 now, than they were in Old Teftament Times > 
 Becaufe, if they are not, who (hall deny them 
 the Baptifm of Water > 2. Whether Circum- 
 cifion among the Ancients was not, as to the 
 Sign, the fame that Baptifm is to us ; fo that, 
 if Infants were circumciled, they are alfo to 
 be baptized \ J . Whether Anabaptifm has any 
 
 Evidence, 
 
\6 A Brief History of 
 
 Evidence, Example, or Proof, from the Word 
 of God ) Since, if it has not, they who re- 
 baptize, do crucify Chrift, either out of Ob- 
 ftinacy, or a wilful Defire of Innovation. 
 
 On November 6, 1525. the Day appointed 
 by the Senate for this Publick Difputation, a 
 great Number of Minifters and other learned 
 Men met at Zurich : The Anabaptifts like- 
 wife, with the Principals of their Se&, who 
 came every- where out of the neighbouring 
 Countries, as St. Gall, and others. There 
 were likewife prefent Deputies, who were 
 efpecially fummoned out of the Country be- 
 longing to Zurich 5 becaufe Anabaptifm was 
 increafed among them, and many had com- 
 plained, that the Anabaptifts were not heard ;. 
 that fo they being preient, might themfelves 
 hear how they were ufed, and be able to relate 
 and evidence the fame at home to their 
 Churches. 
 
 The Difputation began in the Senate-houfe 
 at Zurich> the whole Senate being prefenr, 
 and the Doors fet wide open. But no fooner 
 had the Anabaptifts begun to dilpute, but 
 another Fa&ion of them broke in upon them, 
 fome of whom cried with a loud Voice, Sion, 
 Sion ! rejoice, Jerufalem. On which a great 
 Tumult being raifed, it was thought proper to 
 change the Place of Difputation, and remove 
 to the great Church. Here the Difputation 
 continued Three whole Days. After it was 
 ended, the People expreficd themfelves very 
 well fatisficd. Only the Anabaptifts perfe- 
 
 vered 
 
the Englitti Anabaptifts. 17 
 
 vered in their Purpofe $ wherefore they were 
 called before the Senate, and gravely admonifh- 
 ed, that fmce they had been fufficiently taught, 
 and ftrongly convicted publickly in the Church, 
 before all the People, they ought to give Glo- 
 ry to God, and defift from their Purpofe, which 
 had no manner of Foundation. But when 
 no Impreflion could be made on them, they 
 were led away to Prifon, and there kept for 
 a little while, when they were difmifTed with 
 Hopes of Amendment, and being threatened 
 with fevere Punifhment, if they yet perfifted 
 to difturb the Publick, and be the Authors of 
 Factions. But all this fignified nothing. Nei- 
 ther Threats, nor Imprifonmenr, nor Fines, 
 availed any thing to reprefs the Stubborn- 
 nefs of thefe People, and perfuade them to 
 live quietly : They (till continued to make 
 feditious Difcourles to the People, to feduce 
 others, and rebaptize. They (hewed no Re- 
 gard to the Mercy which the Senate treated 
 rhem with, nor to their own Promifes and 
 Oaths, and the Security which they had given; 
 but when they afted directly contrary with 
 the utmoft Boldnefs, they ityled their Con- 
 duel Conftancy in the Faith. On this the 
 Senate was provoked to prohibit Anahaptifm 
 on Pain of Death 5 and accordingly fomc 
 were capitally punifhed ; among whom, its 
 faid, was Felix Mam before- 
 mentioned, who was drowned at Brandt, efc« 
 Zurich 1526, upon the Sentence P-^7- 
 pronounced by Zairiglius, in thefe 
 
 C Four 
 
18 A Brief History of 
 
 Tour Words g, Qui iterum mergit, rnergattir. 
 This Proceeding appeared very ftrange, and 
 occafioned the following Reflections j That 
 the Zttinglians were fcarce got out of the 
 Reach of Perfccution themfelves, and faw 
 thofe Fires in which their Fellow-Believers 
 were burnt, ftill daily fmoaking 3 that moft 
 of them condemned the putting Hereticks to 
 Death, where it came home to themfelves, 
 and yet pra&ifed it where they were upper- 
 mod h thus doing to others what they would 
 not have done to them. Erafmus 
 Epift. Lib. made much the fame Reflection 1 
 2^0. 59 That they who are fo very urgent 
 that Hereticks mould not be put 
 to Death, did yet capitally punifh the Ana- 
 baptifts, who were condemned for much 
 fewer Articles, and were faid to have among 
 them a great many, who had been converted 
 from a very wicked Life, to one as much 
 amended $ and who, however they doated in 
 their Opinions, had never pofleiTed themfelves 
 
 8 I have mentioned this Story, that I might not be ac- 
 cufed of making Concealments; but I have no Authority 
 for it but Bra?idt, who quotes for it an anonymous Book, 
 entituled, The Beginning of ' Sckifm> &c. Neither Bullingery 
 who lived at Zurich at this Time, nor Sleldan^ fay one 
 Word of it : No more does Mekhior Adams ^ who wrote 
 his Life. It feerns to me an improbable Story? and very 
 unlike Zuinzliush Charadter, thus to jeft and fport with a 
 
 Map's Life. Adams tells us, That he was 
 Vita Zuinglii, called a Thief, an Eteretick, and an Adul- 
 p. 37. terer^ to caft a Slur on his Doctrine, and 
 
 openly traduced in the rudeft and moil 
 clamorous Manner } but fays not a Word of his being re- 
 proached as a Ferjecutor and Murderer. 
 
 of 
 
the Engllfii Anabaptifts. 19 
 
 of any Churches or Cities, nor fortified them" 
 felves by any Leagues againft the Force o^ 
 Princes, nor caft any one out of their Inhe- 
 ritance or Eftates. But they did not defer vc 
 this Character long 5 and if Melchior Adams 
 is to be believed, they did not deferve it now. 
 Tandem carcere, profcriptionibns, 
 morte, contra perjuros, tnobedi- J* J^' 
 entesy feditiofos, non jam Cata- 
 baptifias, Senatus agere coa£lus> ut malum 
 intejlinam averruncaret : At length, fays he, 
 the Senate was forced to proceed againft them, 
 by Imprifoning, Banifhing, and Death itfelf 5 
 as perjured, difobedient, and feditious People, 
 not as Anabaptifts, that they might root out 
 the inrcftine Mifchief. 
 
 At the fame time were the Anabaptifts as 
 troublefome to other Churches and Cities, as 
 they were to the Church and City of Zurich. 
 In the Year 15-25 they began to raife Tumults 
 and Factions at Bajil, which provoked the 
 Magiftrates to commit many of their Num- 
 ber to Prifon in the City and Country, and 
 to punifh them equitably according to their 
 Defcrts. In the Year 1527 forne of them 
 were brought publickiy to dispute with Oeco- 
 lampadiusy and the other Mi aiders, concern- 
 ing Infant- Baptifm, Anabaptifm, Afagiftracr, 
 Swear/ng, and the other Anafeaptiftical Opi- 
 nions 5 and were quite confuted. The fame 
 Year Jtihn*Denkhis> and Lewis Hefi&r, Two 
 Rabbins and Principals of the Anabaptifts, 
 perverted to Ariabaptiftn, Jamts Kautziitm, 
 
 C 2 alias 
 
lo A Brief Hist oh i of 
 
 alias Night-Owl, Minifter of the Church of 
 Wormes. In 1528 a famous Difputation was 
 had at Berne, but to little Purpofe \ fince the 
 Anabaptifts continued immoveable. The 
 next Year, 1529, another Difputation was 
 had at BafiU with Nine Anabaptifts, but with 
 no better EfFeft, fince no Satisfaction was 
 given by it to thofe contentious and pofitive 
 Men. In 1531 was another Difputation had 
 at Berne, with a certain principal Anabaptift, 
 named Tift or major, who was convinced, and 
 forfook Anabaptiim. This Difputation was 
 publilhed. The following Year, 153 1, the 
 Senate of Preappointed a Third Difputa- 
 tion at a Town of their Province called Zo- 
 ftinga in Argpvia. This Difputation laded 
 Nine Days, and it was debated between the 
 Miniftcrs of the Church of Berne and the 
 Anabaptifts, Of the Judge of this Difputa- 
 tion : Of the hlijjion of the Anabaptifts, 
 whether, it be divine ? Of the Church : Of 
 Excommunication : Of Magiftracy : Of 
 Shearing: Of Treacher s : and Of B apt if w. 
 The Diiputauon it (elf was put into Writing, 
 figned by fworn Notaries, and pubiifhed. By 
 this Account of the firftl Rife, Progrefs, and 
 Increafe of Anabaptiim - ? the Oppofition made 
 to it by the Ma gift rates, and Minifters of the 
 Churches 3 the frequent Refutation and Con- 
 viftion of the Anabaptifts, and that betore the 
 Magiftrates, and whole Church ; the Principals 
 of them refufing to own them lei ves over- 
 come, but rejecting and defpifmg the Cofts 
 
 and 
 
the Englifh Anabaptifts. 1 1 
 
 and Pains, the Mercy, and Admonitions, and 
 Pardon of the pious Magiftrates and Minifters, 
 it may appear to any equitable and impartial 
 Judges, how unworthy of, and difhonourable 
 to, any Chriftian Man, this Opinion is. But 
 on the contrary, many honed Men avoided 
 Anabaptifm as fo much Poifon : Some alfo 
 deferred the Anabaptifts, and behaved them- 
 feives honeftly ; but others who left them, 
 behaved themfelves fo loofely and difibiutely, 
 as to evidence indeed, that their Behaviour, 
 whilft they continued in Anabaptifm, was 
 mere Hypocrify. 
 
 The Anabaptifts having thus feparated them- 
 felves from both the Popifh and Evangelical 
 Churches, and all others, that they might live 
 in the new Order of Anabaptifts, to which 
 they gave the Name of a true and Chriftian 
 Church acceptable unto God, received the 
 Principals of their Seel: into their Church by 
 rebaptizing them to Repentance and Amend- 
 ment of Life. Thefe afterwards, as has been 
 intimated before, led a holy Life as to Ap- 
 pearance -, they inveighed fharply againfl: Co- 
 vetoufnefs, Pride, Oaths, obfeene Diicourfe, 
 and immodeft Behaviour of Men, Drinking- 
 bouts and Gluttony, and frequently talk'd of 
 the, Death of the Old Man, But afterwards, 
 when the Spirit, as themfelves reported, was 
 augmented to them, many Things were al- 
 tered and innovated by the Brethren, which 
 foolifn Men every- where received as Articles 
 lent down from Heaven. On the contrary 
 
 C 3 yet, 
 
2i A Brief History of 
 
 yet, others rofc up, who difoaraged thefe 
 Things, their Spirit revealing them ; and 
 they produced fome Things which difpleafed 
 the reft, and were rejected by them. So that, 
 after they were divided among themfelves 
 into various and very *> different Parties, they 
 bc^an mutually to excommunicate and damn 
 one another. Yet of all the Anabaptijls a 
 certain People were collected, which we may 
 call General or common Anabaptijls - 3 fince > 
 for the moft parr, they yet retain the com- 
 mon Do&rine which heretofore was common 
 to the Anabaptijls. The Opinions and In- 
 ilitutes of thefe are contained under the fol- 
 lowing Heads. 
 
 i. They think themfelves to be the only, 
 true Church of Chrljl, and acceptable unto 
 God; and teach, that they who by Anabap- 
 tjh are received into their Church, ought 
 not to have any Communion with the Evan- 
 gelical and our Chriftian Churches, or with 
 airy other whatsoever $ for that our Churches 
 are not true Churches, no more than the 
 Churches of the papifts, or others. This 
 they attempted to prove by this Reafon $ 
 That in their Curches is a confpicuous and 
 manlfcft Amendment of Life $ whereas, in 
 thofe which are called Evangelical, fome 
 Things arc preached out of the Gofpel, but 
 no body is amended, and all the People are 
 
 k The Awbiiptijis eonfift, at preienr, of fuch a Number 
 oi S^c>v> 'hat iearqe any body can reckon rhe Number of 
 :hem. Br*?/«fcjHiit. Vol i. p. 336. 
 
 impeni= 
 
the Englifli Anabaptifts. ly 
 
 impenitent, and guilty of Sins and Wicked- 
 nefles : But it was not lawful to have any 
 Communion with fo impure a People. 
 
 2. Next, they faid 5 That thefe Things were 
 not only wanting in the Teople, buc there 
 were other Things to be defired in the Mini- 
 Jiers of the Churches, both in their Terfons 
 and Miniftry. As to their Terfons, they 
 faid, They were not lawfully and ordinarily 
 called to the Miniftry, becaufe they were 
 not endued with thole Qualifications which 
 'Paul required in a Minilter, 1 Tim- iii. they 
 did not do themfclves thofe Things which 
 they taught others; they had Stipends, and 
 did not labour, and were therefore Minifters 
 of the Belly. 
 
 3. In their Miniftry, they faid, many 
 Things were to be defired both in their 'Doc- 
 trine, and the Adminijiration of the Sacra- 
 merits : That their T)o£irine was confined to 
 the Sermon of one Preacher ; whereas 'Paul 
 commanded, That if any thing was revealed 
 to any one who fat by, the former fhould 
 hold his Peace, and the other fhould be per- 
 mitted to preach : That Preachers did not 
 keep to the Words of Scripture, and infift 
 only on them, but interpreted them ; whereas 
 the Scripture was not to be expounded by 
 every one's peculiar Interpretation : That the 
 Sermons of Minifters were trifling; fince they 
 taught, That Chrifi has fatisfied for Sins 5 and 
 that Men are juftificd before God by Faith, 
 not by Works > whereas in this wicked World 
 
 C 4 gooi 
 
%4 J Brief History of 
 
 good Works arc more to be urged and re- 
 quired : That moreover they taught, It is 
 impoilible for Man to keep the Law, when 
 yet the Scriptures every- where require Men 
 to obferve it : That Charity, which requires 
 a Community of all Goods, was not rightly 
 taught by the Preachers, fince they taught, 
 That a Chriftian Man might have fomething 
 of his own, and be rich 5 whereas Charity has 
 rather all Things in common with the Bre- 
 thren : That, beftdes, the Preachers mingled 
 together the Old and New Teftament 5 and 
 yet the Old was abrogated, and of no Validity 
 among Chriflians 5 and they who were under 
 the Old Teftament have nothing to do with 
 thofe who are under the New : That what 
 Preachers teach, That our Souls directly go 
 into Heaven after the Death of their Bodies, 
 is an uncertain Thing, fmce they deep to the 
 very la ft Day : That they attibute many 
 Things to the Magftracy, of which yet there 
 is no Ufc among Chriftians, who know no 
 more, than that they are to fufFer. 
 
 4. That a Chriftian Man may not execute 
 the Office of a Magiftrate. 
 
 5. That the Magiftracy ought not to take 
 . Care of the Caufes of Religion, or of Faith. 
 
 6. That Chriftians are not to refift thofe 
 who offer Violence to them 3 and that there- 
 fore there is no need of judicatories, nor 
 have Chriftians any Occofion to make ufe of 
 them; 
 
 7. That 
 
the Eoglifli Anabaptifts. 25 
 
 7. That Chriftians are not to kill, nor to 
 punifh with cither the Prifon or the Sword, 
 but only with Excommunication. 
 
 8. That no one is to be compelled to the 
 Faith by Force and Authority, nor to be put 
 to Death for it. 
 
 9. That Chriftians are not to defend them- 
 felves, and therefore not to wage War, nor 
 in that Matter to obey the Magistracy. 
 
 10. That the Converfation of Chriftians 
 fhould be, Yea, yea 3 No> no : That they 
 fhould never fwear, and therefore fhould fwear 
 no Oatlr, becaufe it is a Sin fo to do. 
 
 11. Further, they faid $ That this alfo was 
 to be defired in the Miniftry of Preachers, as 
 to the Adminiftration of the Sacraments, that 
 they baptize Infants ; for that the Baptifm 
 pf Infants arofe from the Pope and the 
 Devil. 
 
 12. That Anabaptifm is the true Baptifm 
 of Chriftians, as being what is given to thofe 
 who confefs in order to Repentance, to thofe 
 who are taught and endued with the Ufe pf 
 Reafon. 
 
 13. That Preachers ufe no Separation, or 
 make no Diftinction, and do not drive Sin- 
 ners away from the Lord's Supper, and have 
 no Excommunication. 
 
 It has been obferved before, That the Ana- 
 baptifts were divided into very different and 
 feveral Parties : Thefe, it is obferved, were 
 fo many and numerous, that fome have 
 thought it impoffible to give an orderly Ac- 
 count 
 
%6 A Brief History of 
 
 count of all their Differences, contrary Opi- 
 nions, and pernicious and horrible Se&s 5 how- 
 ever, thefe following are remembered : 
 
 1. Thofe who named them- 
 Bullinger. felves Apoftolical ,• to wit, from 
 the Apoftlcs and the Apoftolick 
 Church, to which they defired to render them- 
 felve conformable : Thefe regarded only the 
 naked Letter of Scripture ; therefore they 
 wandered through Countries without a Staff, 
 Shoes, Purfe or Money, and magnified their 
 heavenly Calling to the Miniftry. And be- 
 caufe the Lord faid, That which ye have 
 heard in the Ear, proclaim ye on the Houfe- 
 tops ; therefore they would climb up thither, 
 and preached thence. They warned one an- 
 other's Feet j and faid, they ought to become 
 as little Children, and therefore behaved them- 
 felves childifhly. Becaufe it was faid by the 
 Lord, That he who forfook not his Houfe, 
 and all that he had, could not be hisDifciple ; 
 they deferred their Wives, Children, Houfes, 
 Trades, and Bufmefs, and wandered through 
 Countries, and lived upon the Brethren, and 
 impoverifhed them, 'till they excommunicated 
 them as grievous and troublefome Drones. 
 In their Teaching, they preiled this, That 
 no one could be a Chriftian and be rich i 
 That no one ought to have any Property, 
 but that all Goods and Riches ought to be 
 in common, Bur they were not all of the 
 lame Qpinion as to this Community of Goods 5 
 for fome of them went bare-feeted, and were 
 
 new 
 
the Englifli Anabaptifts. 17 
 
 ncwFrancifcans or Begging Friers, who thought 
 it a Sin even to i touch Money, or have any 
 thing of their own. Others did not count 
 this among Sins 3 but only thought, that he 
 who had any thing of his own, fhould not 
 keep it to himfelf alone, but fhould impart it 
 alfo to others, and not fufFer any of the Bre- 
 thren to want, fo far as his Riches would go. 
 In fome Places, as in k Moravia-, it was re- 
 ported, that they had a Steward, and a Com- 
 mon Purfe : But they did not long continue 
 to agree 5 but were all ready eafily to deliver 
 one another to Satan, and excommunicate 
 them. 
 
 2. There were, befides, other Anabaptifts> 
 who would have nothing common, or like to 
 the World $ becaufe it is written, Be not con- 
 formed to this World.. Thefe held many of 
 the common Opinions of the Anabapijls> 
 but had thefe particular ones befides : As 
 if they had been a new Order of Monks, 
 they made Rules for their J Habit, of what 
 Matter and Form their Cloaths fhould be 
 
 * The Begging Friers found out a Way to evade this ; 
 fince, tho' they would not touch Money with their naked 
 Fingers, they would handle it with Gloyes, or tell it with 
 a Stick. 
 
 Y Some of the Dependents of thefe People are now in 
 the new Plantation of Georgia : They are faid to be a fru- 
 gal, induftrious Pnople, who keep a common Table, and 
 hold a Community of Goods, and the Unlawfulnefs of o-o- 
 ing to War, or even of their defending themfelves. 
 
 1 In this, as in other Things, do the Englifi Quakers 
 imitate them, 
 
 made ; 
 
aS A Brief History of 
 
 made 3 asalfo how long, how great and wide 
 they ought to be : In the mean time they 
 condemned all coftiy Habit and Ornament, 
 and called thofe Ethnicks, or Heathens,, who 
 ufed worldly Things of this So < They alfo 
 prefcribed Rules for Eatin ng> Sleep 
 
 and Reft, Standing and 6 : , - they faw 
 
 any one laugh, and be jo; 1 merry, 
 
 they bawl'd out that evangelic ig, IVo 
 
 be to you that laugh, for. by a ye flail 
 
 weep and lament* They fetch'd eep Mghs, 
 and were fad, and very religio : They 
 avoided and abhorred merry Meetings and 
 Teafts, Singing, and all Ufe of Mufick ,: 
 Behdes, they condemned Leagues, and the 
 Wearing and Ufe of Arms. 
 . .3. A third Seel: of Anabap lifts had or con- 
 tained holy Brethren, pure, and free from 
 Sin , with whom alfo the general Anabap- 
 tifts did. in fome meafure agree. The Doc- 
 trine of thefe was as follows : Since it was 
 plainly written by John, Whoever abideth in 
 him, doth act fin : Who committeth Sin, is 
 of the Devil : And Taul adds, That Chrift 
 has prepared for himfelf a Church without 
 Spot and Wrinkle, holy and irreprovable 5 
 vnd they are Members of this Church who 
 abide in Chrift 5 they muft be pure, and with- 
 out Sin : Therefore there were fome of this 
 Sect who omitted this Part of the Lord's 
 Prayer, Forgive us our Debts, as we forgive 
 our 'Debtors ■ ; and left off praying, as pure* 
 and having no further Occafion for Pardon 
 
 and 
 
the Englifli Anabaptifts, 29 
 
 and Remiflion of Sins. On the fame Ac- 
 count, they thought the Prayers of other faith- 
 ful People unneceffary, and of no Ufe to 
 them : Thcfe alfo did not acknowledge Ori- 
 ginal Sin 5 but thought that Infants were 
 pure, without Sin, and therefore did not need 
 Baptifm. 
 
 4. There were the Silent Brethren : Thefe 
 firmly believed, that there was no further 
 need of any Sermons 5 for that the Door 
 was (hut, and now were thofe evil Times, of 
 which Taiil made mention, in which we were 
 to be filent : That, befides, the World was 
 •unworthy to hear the holy Word of God, and 
 the true Gofpel of Chrifi ; thefe, if they were 
 asked concerning any thing, and even about 
 Religion, would be filent, and give no An- 
 fwer. 
 
 5. There were another Party of Anabap- 
 tifts, who did aimoft nothing elfe but Pray ; 
 for they fuppofed, that on Account of this 
 their Work, and the very Act of Praying, they 
 became acceptable unto God : They thought 
 likewife, that they could, by their Prayers, 
 avert all Evils 5 and therefore taught, that they 
 were to be refifted by Prayers. They took 
 away alfo all Means, that fo the Left unto 
 God might confift in Him ; and prattled many 
 Things about it, that the Left unto God ought 
 to (land or continue : lo that, at length, even 
 they themfeives did not underftand what they 
 faid, and whither it tended, or what it was 
 for one left to God to ftand- 
 
 tf. A 
 
}o A Brief History of 
 
 6. A Sixth Sett of Anabaptifis was of 
 thofe who were named Enthtifiafts and Ec- 
 ftatics, of which there was a great Number 
 at the Beginning of Anabaptifm. Thefe glo- 
 ried much of the Spirit, which was fo pow- 
 erful in them, that they were fnatch'd without 
 themfelves, and faw certain Angular and di- 
 vine Vifions and Myfteries. When the Spi- 
 rit began to move in them, their Counte- 
 nances changed, they had horrible Geftures, 
 and fell upon the Ground, as if they had the 
 Falling-Sicknefs, and would lie there a long 
 Time ftretched forth like dead People: Some- 
 times their whole Body would 
 SotheEag- tremble frightfully, and at others 
 
 S^and' WOuld S' 6w ftiff * nd likc Stocks - 
 fince! When they awaked out of their 
 
 Ecftafy and Dreams, they would 
 
 relate wonderful Vifions which the Spirit had 
 
 laid open to them, and themfelves had feen 
 
 in another World. For they had been taught, 
 
 That Anabaptifm was a holy Thing, that it 
 
 had God tor its Author 5 but that Infant- Bap- 
 
 tifm was profane or impious, and from the 
 
 Devil. Some of them faw Zitinglhis in 
 
 m Hell $ others heard, that all who oppofed 
 
 Anabaptifm 
 
 to VhHippus Melanfthon turn quoque fovebat apud fe 
 JMarcum-i quamvis perfpicue cognoviilec inania effe omnia 
 qux afferrer, ct diflentanea inter fe, cc pleraque nugatoria, 
 nonnulla etiam ejufmodi, ut non eilc fana neque integia 1 
 eum menre deprcbenderetur. Ex quibus unum hoc duxi 
 exponendum. Quodam tempore, fcribence nefcio quid 
 VhilifpO) Marcus^ qui forte adverfus ilium aflediflet, in fi- 
 
 lentio 
 
the EnglilTi Anabaptifts. 3 1 
 
 Anabaptifm were rejected and cad away by 
 God. This was the Voice of all of them ; 
 Jt /s the Will of the Father ; the Father has 
 commanded or [aid. All, or however the 
 greater Part of them, faw the Day of the 
 Lord at hand. Nay, fome of them were fo 
 rafh as to fix the Time and very Day, in which 
 the Lord was to come 5 and like n mad Men 
 ran about the Streets, crying, The *Day of 
 the Lord 5 the *Day of the Lord ; 1&0 declare 
 to you the "Day of the Lord, &c. 
 
 7. There 
 
 lentio et cogitarionibus fenfim ibi confopiri, et demittere 
 caput in menfulam, ad quam fedebanr, et obdormifcere. 
 Poft non mukum temporis experrecms, erigere fe, et intu- 
 eri Vbilippuw, et interrogare fubito, Qusenam eflet exiftt- 
 matio ejus de Joha?zne Cbryjbflomo ? Cumque Fhilippus com- 
 mode refpondiffet, fe fentire de illo prseclare, quamvis 
 verbolitatem ipfius interdum non probaret : Turn Marcus^ 
 Modo^ inquit, vidi ilium fpecie trifti in Purgatorio. Ad haec 
 Vhilippus primum ridere, mox difcedere, deplorans pertur- 
 bationem tantam in illo, qui Purgatorii faceret menrionetn 
 earn, quam iplbrum alix diiputation.es miritice refeilerenr. 
 Camerarii Vita Melantth. p 49. Ed. 1655. 
 
 n Anno Domini 1535. tertio Id. Februar. Amfterodamt t 
 in vico Salhuirioy in axiibus Joannis Siberti pannicid?e, 
 qui tunc procul domo aberat, feptem viri et quinque fee- 
 minae, Anabapiiftae, convenerunt. Inter hos unus, cui 
 Theodorico Sartori nomen erat, afflatus, in terramfe aliquan- 
 diu coram creteris fratribus et fororibus porrexit ; qui tandem 
 evigilans, precatione facia magna gravitate, Deum, inquit, 
 fe tin fua majeftate vidiiTe, aliacue in ccelo et apud inferos 
 luftrafle omnia, adefle magnum extremi judicii diem, dec 
 Veftes deinde omnes exuir, ita ut ne interula quidem reli- 
 -qua eflet ad tegendas verendas corporis partes. Mandat 
 fub haec exceris fratribus et fororibus, ut fuo exemplo fe 
 totos exuant : Univerfum enim id, quod e terra factum 
 natumque lit, filios Dei exuere et deponere oportere : Prse- 
 rerea^cum Veritas nuda fie, nihil circa fe patiatur, oportere 
 
 ipfos 
 
32 A Brief History of 
 
 7. There were the Libertine Anabaptijls, 
 whom the other Anabaptifts call the grofs and 
 impure Brethren, and arc wont to excommu- 
 nicate. Of thefe was no (mall Number from 
 the Beginning of Anabaptifm, efpecially in 
 the Upper Germany. Thefe underftood Chri- 
 fiian Liberty in a carnal Senfe. For, becaufe 
 they were by Chrift fet free, they would be 
 fet at Liberty, and be free from all Laws. 
 They therefore were of Opinion, that by Right 
 they ought not to pay any annual Rents, nor 
 Tithes, nor to perform any Services. Others 
 of them were a little more moderate, and 
 taught, That altho' thefe Things were not due 
 by Right, yet they were to be paid to Hea- 
 thens, that they might not complain, and 
 blafpheme the Doctrine ; but that Servitude 
 ought by no means to be among Chnllians. 
 Some of thefe Free Brethren perfuaded light 
 
 ipfos quoque, ut veraces, penitus nudos efle. His factis, 
 cum omnes, nulla verecundia ducti, nudi aftarenr, omnibus 
 imperat Theodoricus^ ut fe imitaremur, Mox igitur nudus 
 in publicum e domo egreflbs, borribiliter clamabat, Va ! 
 V<e ! V*e ! Divina VindiBa ! Divina Vinditta ! &c. Hunc 
 deinde cseteri viri ac fceminae nudae iequebantur, et quaii 
 furiofi. currebanc, et borribiliter clamabant, ut nunquam 
 horrendior clamor auditus fuerit. Quamobrem cives ad 
 arma concurrunt, quippe qui ignorarent urbfne ab hofti- 
 bus capta elTet, aut quid tandem libi hie tumultus vellet. 
 Capti demum iunt nudi illi et lmpudenres homines. Com 
 capti effent, veftitum oblatum rejecerunt, dictitantes veri- 
 tatem nudam efTe oportere. Quseftione habita, quinro Ca- 
 lendas Martii feptem viri percutiunturi horum primus cla— 
 mabat, Laudate femper Dominumj alter, V.indka u-ngulnem 
 tueruvi) Domi?ie ; tertius, Aperite ocvlos ; quamis, V'<e y Va^ 
 <&c. Poftea etiam mulieres fupplicio affec'i-x iimt. La?n- 
 berti Horte?ijii Liber Tumultnum Anabaptiftatum. 
 
 Women, 
 
the Englifh Anabaptifts. 3 3 
 
 Women, that they could not be faved, if 
 they did not proftitute their Chaftity 5 for 
 they abufed the Word of the Lord, and that 
 not without Blaiphemy : Unlets any one de- 
 fertsand defpifes whatfoever is dear to him, he 
 cannot be faved : Alfo, that for Chris's Name's- 
 fake, all Ignominy and Reproach is to be 
 borne. Befides, fince Chrift has faid, that 
 Harlots and Publicans were to go before thofe 
 who valued themfelves on their Righteouf- 
 nefs, into the Kingdom of Heaven, Women 
 ought to become Whores, and proftitute their 
 Chaftity ; becaufe then they will be greater 
 in the Kingdom of Heaven, than virtuous 
 and honeft Matrons. Others managed this 
 Caufe a little more fubtiy ; for, as they 
 taught a Community of Goods, fo they taught 
 a Community of Wives : They alfo added, 
 that after they were rebaptized, they were alfo 
 regenerate, and could not fin 5 that the Fiefh 
 only could fin : And under this falfe and 
 feigned Pretence, and empty Figment, they per- 
 petrated many Wickedneffcs and Lulls ; and 
 yet, moreover, they had the daring Confidence 
 to fay, That this was the Will of the Father. By 
 this Mean were invented, among the filthy 
 Knaves, fpiritual Marriages 5 for they per- 
 luaded the Women, that they grievoufly finned, 
 if they lay with their Husbands who were yet 
 Gentiles, and had not been rebaptized 5 but 
 that it was no Sin for them to lie with the Ana- 
 baptiftsy becaufe between them there was a 
 fpiritual Marriage, &c. 
 
 D 8. There 
 
34 A Brief His tori of 
 
 8. There was, befides, another Sort of 
 thefe Libertine or Free Anabaptifts, who, 
 though they were not fo grofs as the former, 
 yet in the whole Caufe of Religion were 
 fickle and inconftant ; and therefore the 
 greater Part of their Doctrine was reje&ed and 
 anathematized by the other Anabaptifts : 
 They determined, that Infant Baptifm, Ma- 
 gift racy, Swearing, were Things free and 
 indifferent, which the Faithful might ufe 
 or nor, at their Pleafure : They fuffercd the 
 Preaching of the Word to ceafe and be ex- 
 tinct 5 for they made nothing of outward 
 Preaching, and religious Ailembiies for divine 
 Worfhip 5 faying it was written, All muft 
 be taught of God s and therefore there was 
 no Occafion for anyone elfe to teach. In 
 the fame manner they judged the Sacraments 
 to be needlefs to the Faithful, and of fmall 
 Ufe 5 for fince the p Faithful had the Spirit, 
 and the Things fignified by the outward Signs, 
 the outward Signs could not confer any more 
 on them, flnce they have them already, and 
 do not therefore want the Sacraments. They 
 determined alio, That it was free to confeis 
 the Faith, or not, according as the Times 
 were ; For if they were threatened with griev- 
 ous Perils, the Faithful might diilemble or 
 conceal it ; fince it was fufficient before God, 
 if any one retained the Truth in his Heart, 
 
 * This feems to be now revived, as if all or any Religion 
 V as alike and indifferent. 
 P So the JLngUJh Quakers. 
 
 tho' 
 
the Englifli Anabaptifts. 3 5 
 
 tho'hc outwardly before Men profefled the con- 
 trary : Thar Men ought not to expofe them- 
 felves to Torments and to Death for the fake 
 of Religion, fince no Acceflion was made to 
 God by our Death 5 nor does he will or defive 
 our Death, that we mould defert our Wives 
 and Children : That therefore, for the fake 
 of Peace and Quietnefs, every body mould 
 conform himfelf, in the Matter of Religion, 
 to thofe with whom he converfes, and among 
 whom he lives. Of this Opinion was iikewife 
 that Blafphemer David George. 
 
 9. A ninth Faction oiAnabaptifis was that 
 of 'the Hutites, who were fo named from one 
 John Hute, who died in Prifon : He was of 
 Opinion, That the Anabaptifts of his Party 
 were corporally the People of Ifrael, who 
 ought to cut off with the Sword all the im- 
 pious or ungodly Canaanites ,• but that the 
 Lord would reveal to them the Time when 
 this was to be done. Thefe Hutites loved 
 Vifions and Dreams, which, for the mod 
 part, were cruel and horrible : However, 
 they told only horrible Things, feen by them, 
 which God was about to do in the World. 
 So fure were they of the Laft Day's being pre- 
 fent, that fome of them lavifhed away all 
 their Wealth and Eftates, as fanfying they 
 could fcarce fpend them, and that they had 
 Wealth enough to laft fo little a Time. Some 
 of them, in Progrefs of Time, were made 
 like thofe who call themfelves Voluntary 
 Toor : Yet, as they faid, they begg'd or ga« 
 
 D 2 ther'd 
 
^6 A Brief History of 
 
 ther'd together not for themfelves, but for the 
 Brethren and Sifters -, although, in the Diftri- 
 bution of it, they did not negleft themfelves. 
 
 10. Next were the Auguflinian Anabap- 
 tifts, fo named from Aitgufiine a Bohemian* 
 He was not unlike to Hute in Dreams and 
 Vifions : But the peculiar Opinion of thefe 
 Auguflinians was, That Heaven is not yet 
 open, but fhut againft Men, and will con- 
 tinue fo 'till the Lad Judgment, But this 
 feems no more than the general Opinion of 
 the Anabaptifls, exprefled in other Words : 
 Since, if the Souls of Men do fleep 'till the 
 Laft Day, and don t go, after the Death of 
 their Bodies, up to Heaven j Is not this the 
 fame as to fay, Heaven is (hut againft them > 
 
 1 1 . Next are reckoned the q Munjter Ana- 
 baptifts, who are fo well known, and fo 
 infamous for their horrid Seditions. 
 
 12. Laftly s Of this Seel is reckoned 
 Michael Servetus, a Spaniard : He, at the 
 End of his Book Of Regeneration, thus wrote 
 of Infant Baptifm 5 That it is an horrid Abo- 
 mination j does extinguifh the Holy Spirit 5 
 lay wafte the Church of God 5 difturb the 
 Chriftian Confeflion 5 abolifh the Renova- 
 tion made by Chrift, and deftroy his whole 
 Kingdom. In his Book Of the Reftitution 
 of Chriflianity, he derided the Do&rine of 
 the Trinity, and denied the true Divinity of 
 Chrift. 
 
 s Bullwger adv. Anab. Lib, II. cap. 8. Sleidan. 
 
 Mel- 
 
the Englifli Anabaptifts. 37 
 
 Melchior Hofman was another who main- 
 tained, That the Baptifm of little Children 
 is of the Devil, and not to be borne with by 
 any Chriftian : That the Eternal Word of 
 God did not take Fleih of the Virgin Mary, 
 but was himfelf made Flefh \ and went fo far, 
 as freely to fay, Curfed be the Flefh of Mary : 
 That Salvation is in our own Power, or to 
 be obtained by our own Strength : That if 
 any one, after his having received Grace, do 
 fin wilfully, he can never afterwards be re- 
 ceived to Grace again r . 
 
 Such is the Account given us of the Rife 
 and Progrefs of Anabaptifm in Germany, by 
 thofe who were upon the Spot, and faw and 
 heard, what they relate, with their own Eyes 
 and Ears. It might indeed have been eafily 
 inlarged 5 but this is fufficicnt to fhew, that 
 Infant Baptifm had been the Cuftom and 
 Practice of all the Chriltian Churches from 
 the very Beginning : That the afcribing it to 
 the Pope and the Devil, was not only very 
 rude and unchriftian, but utterly falfe, and a 
 Condemnation of all the ChriPcian Churches 
 then in Being : That Anabaptifm was annul- 
 ling the Baptifm of all Chriftians, and quite 
 unchurching them, making them Strangers 
 to the Covenant of Tromife, and without 
 Chrift in the World \ which mult be very 
 
 r Thus Bullivger reckons the feveral Se£ts of the German 
 Anabaptifts. Others mention befides thefe, i. The Sepa- 
 ratist : 1. Adamites : 3. Bucheidians : 4.. Gecrgia?n : 
 5. Menonifts. 
 
 D 3 con- 
 
;8 A Brief History of 
 
 contrary to Chriftian Charity and Humility* 
 But befides, it appears by this Account, that 
 the Majority of them held Opinions fo de- 
 ftrudive of all Civil Government, and of all 
 Peace and good Order - y and they play'd fo 
 many mad Pranks, and were guiity of fo many 
 feditious and rebellious Practices, that they 
 made themfelves very obnoxious to the Go- 
 vernment, and fo much hated and feared by 
 their Neighbours, that, like s mad Beads of 
 Prey, they were every-where hunted down 
 and deftroyed 3 fo that even fome of them, 
 who were fimple and innocent, iuffered for 
 the Guilty. 
 
 It feems as if fome of thefe mad and hare- 
 brain d Sectaries came over hither about 1534. 
 
 Stow tells us, That " the 25 th of 
 1535. u May, next Year, were examin- 
 
 " ed in St. ^Paul's Church, Lon- 
 <f den, nineteen Men, and fix Women, born 
 " in Holland, whofe Opinions were, 1. That 
 Ci in Chrift is not two Natures, God and 
 u Man. 2. That Chrift tooke neither Blefh 
 lt nor Blood of the Virgin Mary. 3. That 
 " Children borne of Infidels fhal be faved. 
 <c 4. That Baptifm of Children is to none 
 " EffeEl. 5- That the Sacrament of Chrift s 
 (c Bodye is but Bread onely. 6. That hee 
 11 who. after his Baptifme finneth wittingly* 
 u finneth deadly e, and cannot be faved. 
 
 8 Cum igitur conftet -dvabaptiftas agi fanatico fpiritu, 
 non moveat nos eorum auctoritas. Melanttb. Loci Com. 
 
 cc That 
 
the EngliCh Anabaptifts. 3 9 
 
 cc That fowertene of them were condemned ; 
 c < a Man and a Woman of them were brent 
 <c in Smithfield 5 the other twelve were fent 
 " to other Towns, there to be brent. " Bp. 
 Latimer faid, in one of his Ser- 
 mons before K. EdwardVl. That Sermo^I V. 
 he had heard, of credible Men, ^ardVL 
 that they went to their Death 
 even intrepide, as ye will fay, without any 
 Fear in the World, chearfully. In the Pre- 
 face to thefe Sermons the Author thus ex- 
 prefTed himfelf 5 u Chrifi breath his Spirit upon 
 " you, that ye may read the Scripture with 
 <£ all Humblenefs and Reverence, to fetch 
 " from thence Comfort for your wounded 
 " Confciences 5 not to make that lively Foun- 
 " tain of Life to ferve for the feeding of 
 ci your idle Brains, to difpute more iubtilly 
 u therby ; or elfe, by mifunderftanding cf the 
 " fame, to conceive pernicious and Anabap- 
 u ti/lical Opinions. " Accordingly, our Church 
 Hiftorian, Dr. Fuller, obferved of thefe un- 
 happy People, That u they had 
 " many rude Notions, and were ® ook V ' 
 iC too ignorant to manage them, 
 u and too proud to crave the Directions of 
 " others." 
 
 In 1537 was printed a Book, intituled, 
 The Inftitution of a Ckriftian Man ; conteyn- 
 inge the Expofytion or Interpretation of the 
 Commune Crede, of the Seuen Sacramentcs 
 of the Ten Commandementes 5 and of the 
 Pater Nofter, and the Ave Maria, Juftyfica- 
 
 D 4 tion. 
 
40 A Brief History of 
 
 tion, and Purgatory. This was dedicated to 
 the King by 'Thomas Archbyfhop of Canter- 
 bury, Edwarde Archebyfhop of Torke, and 
 alle other the Byfhops, Prelates, and Arche- 
 deacons of the Realm, as is laid in the Dedi- 
 cation, though it is ftgned by no more than 
 nineteen Bifhops, eight Archdeacons, and 
 feventeen ProfeiTors or Divinity, and Eccle- 
 fiaftical and Civil Law. Their Expofition of 
 the Sacrament of Raptifm feems defigned to 
 rectify the Anabaptifts Miftakes concerning 
 this Sacrament, and prevent the Engltjh Peo- 
 ple being corrupted by them. It is conceived 
 in the following Words : 
 
 As touching the holy Sacrament 
 Fol. 34. b. of Baptifme, we thinke it conve- 
 nient, that all Byfhops and Preach- 
 ers (hall inftrufte and teache the People com- 
 niytted unto their fpiritual Charge, that they 
 oughtc and mufte of Neceilitie beleve cer- 
 tainly all thofe Thynges whiche have ben al- 
 wais, by the hole Confent of the Churche, 
 approved, receyved, and ufed in the Sacra- 
 ment of Baptyime. And, 
 
 Fyrft, That the Sacrament of 
 
 I'ol. 55. a. Baptifme was inftituted and or- 
 
 deyned by God, in the Newe 
 
 Teftamenf, as a thing neceiTarie for the at- 
 
 tayning of euerlaftynge Lyfe 5 accordynge to 
 
 the Saycnge of our Saviour Jefu Chrifte, 
 
 where he fayth, That no Man 
 
 Joan. iii. can enlre into the Kyngdome of 
 
 Heven, except he be borne ageyne 
 
 of Water arid the Holy Goo fie. Item, 
 
the Engliflh Anabaptifts. 41 
 
 Item, That it is offered unto all Men, as 
 well Infantis, as fuches as have the Ufe of 
 Refon, that by Baptifme they (hall have Re- 
 myffion of all theyr Synnes, the Grace and 
 Fauour of God, and euerlaftynge Lyfe 5 ac- 
 cordinge to the Sayinge of Chrifte, 
 Whofoever beleueth, and is bap- Mark xvi 
 tifed, fhall be faved. 
 
 Item, That the Promifeof Grace and euer- 
 laftynge Lyfe (whichePromyfeisadjoyned unto 
 this Sacrament of Baptifm ) perteyneth not 
 only unto fuch as have the Ufe of Refon, 
 but alfo Infantes, Innocentes, and Children ; 
 and that they ought therefore and muft needs 
 be baptized : and that, by the Sacrament of 
 Baptifm, they do alfo obteyne Remyflion of 
 their Synnes, the Grace and Favour of God, 
 and be made thereby the veray Sonnes and 
 Children of God j inloomoche as Infantes and 
 Chyldren dyinge in their Infancie fhall undoubt- 
 edly be faved thereby, and elfe not. 
 
 Item, That Infants muft needs be chriftened, 
 becaufe they be borne in original Sin, which 
 Sin muft nedes be remitted 5 which cannot 
 be done but by the Sacrament of Baptifm, 
 vvherby they receive the Holy Ghoft, whiche 
 exercifeth his Grace and Efficacie in them, 
 and cleanfeth and purifieth them from Sin by 
 his moft fecret Virtue and Operation. 
 
 Item, That Children or Men once bap- 
 tifed, ought never to be baptifed again. 
 
 Item, That all good Chriftian Men ought 
 and muft repute and take all the Anabaptifts 
 
 and 
 
4i A Brief History of 
 
 and the ^Pelagians Opinions, which be contrary 
 tothePremiffes, and every other Man's Opini- 
 on, agreeable unto the &\&Anabaptiftsox.Tela- 
 gians Opinions in that Behalf, for deteftable He- 
 refies, and utterly to be condemned. 
 
 Item-, That Men or Children, who having 
 the Ufe of Reafon, and being not chriftened 
 already, defire to be baptized, (hall, by virtue 
 of that holy Sacrament, obtain his Grace, and 
 Remiflion of all their Sins, if they {hall come 
 thereunto not only perfeftly and truly re- 
 pentant and contrite of all their Sins before 
 committed, but alfo perfectly and conftantly 
 confefling and believing all the Articles of 
 our Faith, accordingly as is mentioned in 
 the Crede, called The Apoftles Crede : And, 
 finally, if they fhall alio have firme Credence 
 and Truft in the Promife of God adjoined to 
 the faid Sacrament 5 that is to fay, that in 
 and by this faid Sacrament, which they fhall 
 receive, God the Father giveth unto them, 
 for his Son Jefu Chrifts fake, Remiflion of 
 all their Sins, and the Grace of the Holy Ghoft, 
 wherby they be newly regenerated, and made 
 the very Children of God $ according to the 
 Saying of Saint 'John, and the Apoftel Saint 
 Tetety where they fay, T>o you 
 Mat. iii. Tenance for your Sins, and be 
 Ad ii eac ^ °fy° u baptized in the Name 
 ofjcfo Chrifte ; and you fhall ob- 
 teyne RemiJJion of your Sins, and fhall receive 
 the Gift of the Holy Ghoft. And according 
 to the Saying alfo of Saint Taul> where he 
 
 faith, 
 
the Englifh Anabaptifts. 43 
 
 faith, God hath not faved us for Tic gg 
 the Workes of Juftice which we 
 have done, but of his Mercy by Baptifm, and 
 Renovation of the Holy Ghoft, whom he hath 
 poured oat upon us moft plentifully, for the 
 Love of ] efu Chrift our Saviour % to the In- 
 tent e, that we being jujlifed by his Grace, 
 fhould be made the Inherit ours of ever lofting 
 Life, according to our Hope. 
 
 But notwithstanding this Care and Inftruc- 
 tion, the Anabaptifts found Ways and Means 
 to propagate their Opinions, and increafe 
 their Seel : They had their private Meetings, 
 and imported Books printed abroad, which 
 they difperfed here. This alarmed the Go- 
 vernment ; infomuch that, in October 1 $3 S, 
 a Commiffion was granted by the 
 King, to cc Thomas Archbifliop Concilia M. 
 " of Canterbury, John Bp. of fg^$ 
 " London, and Richard Bp. of 
 il Chichefter 5 John Skipe, Nicholas He at he y 
 €C Thomas Thurlby, and Richard Gwent, 
 cc Archdeacons of London Diocefe, and the 
 <c King's Chaplains 5 and to Robert Barnes, 
 " and Edward Croome, Do&ors of Divinity \ 
 €C to enquire after, and be informed fumma- 
 u rily, of all manner of Perions within this 
 (C Kingdom, of the damnable, erroneous, 
 " and heretical Sedt of the Anabaptifts, how- 
 " foever fhfpedted, noted, or defamed 5 and 
 cc to make a diligent Search and Scrutiny 
 " after their Herefies, Books, and Letters, 
 f c and to examine and difcufs them, as well 
 
 " in 
 
44 A Brief History of 
 
 1£ in Court as without, as to them fhould 
 u feem mod expedient, and to determine on 
 Ci thern by a final Sentence 5 and to argue 
 " with and to confute thofe who hold them 
 <c out of the holy Scripture 5 and thofe who 
 " are tired of their Errors, and perfuaded of 
 iC the Truth explained to them, to admit to 
 " an Abjuration of their Errors, and into 
 iC the Bofom of holy Church : but to rejed 
 " and caft out of the Congregation of the 
 " Faithful, and alfo to deliver over to the 
 " fecular Arm, thofe who are ftubborn and 
 " obftinate, and defperately plunged into their 
 " Errors, and to fearch after and burn their 
 " Books, wherfocver they fhould be found. >b 
 The Occafion of this Commiffion is faid to 
 have been, That the King had received In- 
 formation, that fome of the Anabaptifts had 
 privily crept into this his Kingdom of Eng- 
 land, and had attempted to infedhis Subjects 
 with the Poifon of their peftilent Herefy. 
 The EfFe£t feems to have been, 
 
 naif'* An ~6 that OL1 the 24th of November 
 following, four Anabaptifts, three 
 Men and one Woman, all T)utch, bare Fag- 
 gots at ^Paul's Crofs 5 and on the 27th a Man 
 and a Woman, T>utch Anabaptifts, were burnt 
 in Smithfield. In the fame Month the King 
 ordered a x Proclamation, whereby he pro- 
 hibited all fuch Importation of foreign Books, 
 or printing any at heme without Licence 5 
 
 [ Bp. Burnet's Supplement, p. 137. 
 
 and 
 
the Englifli Anabaptlfts. 45 
 
 and condemned all the Books of the Ana- 
 baptifts, and ordered thofe to be punifhed 
 who vended or difperfed them. Fuller ob- 
 ferved, That this Tear their Name firft ap- 
 pears in our Englifh Chronicles : meaning, 
 I fuppofe, thofe of Mr. Stow y who did not 
 name them in the Account he gives of them 
 three Years before. 
 
 The Bufinefs of Munfter, and the other 
 Rebellions and Infurre&ions of which fome 
 of this Denomination had notorioufly been 
 guilty in Germany and Holland, together 
 with their great and real Errors, and falfe 
 Opinions, had made that Name io odious, 
 that we find two Years after, when 
 an Aft paffed concerning the ^ uy I54 °' 
 Kings mofi gracious j general, and free *Par- 
 don, there were excepted out of the laid 
 Pardons thefe Herefies and erroneous Opi- 
 nions hereafter enfuing 5 that is to fay, 
 
 1. That Infants ought not to be baptized. 
 
 2. That if they be baptized, they ought to 
 be rebaptized when they come to lawful Age. 
 
 3. That it is not lawful for a Chriftian Man 
 to bear Office or Rule in the Commonwealth. 
 
 4. That no Mans Lawes ought to be obeyed. 
 
 5. That it is not lawful for a Chriftian 
 Man to take an Oath before any Judge. 
 
 6. That Chrift took no bodily Subftance of 
 our bleffed Ladie. 7. That Sinners after 
 Baptifm cannot be reftored by Repentance. 
 8. That every Manner ofDeath, with the 
 Time and Hour thereof, is fo certainly pre- 
 ferred. 
 
46 A Brief History of 
 
 fcribed, appointed* and determined to every 
 Man of God* that neither any Prince by his 
 Sword can alter it i nor any Man, by his own 
 Wilfidnefs* prevent or change it. 9. That 
 all things be common* and nothing fever al. The 
 29th of April* i54- r > two more 
 1543. wcrc condemn d for Anabaptifm. 
 
 Three Years after this, was fet 
 forth by the King's Majeftie of England* A 
 Neceffary Doctrine and Erudition for any 
 Chrijlian Man. In this Book it is 
 St/^Bap- obferved, That in thefe Days cer- 
 tifm. J tain Herejies have rifen and 
 
 iprung up againjl the Chriftening 
 of Infants. A plain Intimation, fare, that the 
 Compilers of this Book knew of no fuch He- 
 refies before. They further note, That, as 
 the holy Doctors of the Church do teftify, 
 the univerfal Confent of the Churches in all 
 Places* and of all Times* ufing and frequent- 
 ing the Chriftening of Infants, is a fufficient 
 Witnefs and Proof, that this Cuftom of the 
 Church in Baptifing of Infants, was ufed by 
 Chriji's Apoftles themfelves, and by them 
 given unto the Church, and in the fame hath 
 been alwaies continued even unto thefe T>aies : 
 And that this Citftom and perpetual Ufage of 
 the Church, even from the Beginning, is agree- 
 able with the Saying of St. 'Paul* 
 ? e v Chrifl loved his Church, and 
 
 hath given himfelf to the T)eath for his 
 Church's Jake* to fanttify her* and make her 
 holy* in cleanfing her by the Fountain of 
 
 Water 
 
the Engllfh Anabaptifts. 47 
 
 Water in his Word, &c. So that no Man 
 is, nor can be of this Church, but he which 
 is cleanfed by the Sacrament of Baptifm : 
 Like as the Texte before alledged T 
 fheweth, where Chrifl fay eth, Who- 
 foever is not born againe of Water, and the 
 Holy Ghoft, foal I not enter into the King- 
 dom of Heaven. Wherefore feeing that 
 out of the Church, neither Infants nor no 
 Man elfe can be faved, they muft needs 
 be chriftened aud cleanfed by Baptifm, and 
 fo incorporated into the Church. And as 
 the Infancy of the Children of the Hebrews, 
 in the Old Teftamenr, did not # ,. 
 * let but that they were made 
 participant of the Grace and Benefit given in 
 Circumcifion : Even fo, in the Newe Tefta- 
 ment, the Infancie of Children doth not let 
 but that they may and ought to be baptized, 
 and fo receive the Graces and Virtues of the 
 fame. It was alio noted, That Children or 
 Men once baptized, ought never to be bap- 
 tized againe : And, That all good Chriftian 
 Men ought and mull: repute and take all the 
 Anabaptifts and the jP 'elagians Opinions, which 
 be contrary to the PremiiTes, and every other 
 Man's Opinion agreeable unto the faid Anabap- 
 tifts or thcTe/agians in that Behalf, for det eft- 
 able Hereftes, and utterly to be condemned. 
 
 In 1549, we are told, there B ut*et\m% 
 were many Anabaptifts in fe- ofReformac 
 veral Parts of England, who were Vol.11, p. 
 generally Germans, whom the II0? e 
 
 Revolu- 
 
48 A Brief History of 
 
 Revolutions in Germany u had forced to change 
 their Seats. Of thefe there were two Sorts 
 moft remarkable : The one was of thofe who 
 only thought that Baptifm ought not to be 
 given but to thofe who were of an Age capable 
 of Inftru&ion, and who did earneftly defire it 5 
 and that therefore they who were baptized in 
 their Infancy, ought to be baptized again when 
 they were adult 3 from whence they had the 
 general Name of Anabaptijls ; thefe were 
 called the gentle or moderate Anabaptijls : 
 But the x others who bore this Name, denied 
 almoft all the Principles of the Chriftian Doc- 
 trine, and were Men of fierce and barbarous 
 Tempers : This appears pretty plain, from 
 the Account given of them before. It is no 
 Wonder that Notice was taken of thefe, and 
 Complaints made to the Council, of their 
 propagating their Principles, and making Pro- 
 ielytes to them $ fmce not only was the Pu- 
 rity 
 
 & If Bp. Latimer was not mifinformedj there were above 
 500 of them in one Town, who fpake again il the Order of 
 Magiftrat.es, and Doctrine of Subjection to them, and would 
 have no Magift rates nor Judges in the Earth. Bp. Latimer's 
 4th Sermon, &c* 
 
 * In judicandis his qui damnant baptifmum parvulorum, 
 confideremus etiam quales habeant notas : habent autem 
 multas impias opiniones^ non folum de baptifmo, fed etiam 
 de ceteris arriculis Chriftianae doctrinas. Damnant pleraque 
 politica, ut judicra, juramentum, rcrum divifionem, &c 
 Unde fatis apparet eos non intelligere fpiritualem juftitiam, 
 fed imaginari Chriftianifmum cfletantum quendam externum 
 monachatum. Imo anabaptiftse nuper nati etiam turpiter 
 docent, conjugem debere difcedere a conjuge abhorrente a 
 fefta anabaptiftica. Et alicubi jam per feditionem pepu- 
 
 lerunt 
 
the EngliOi Anabaptifts. 49 
 
 fity of the Chriftian Doclrine concerned, but 
 the Peace and Safety of the Pnbiick. A Coin- 
 million was therefore ordered to the Arch- 
 bifhop of Canterbury, and fevcral other BU 
 fhops, Sir Thomas Smith, Sir JVilliam Tetre* 
 and others, to fearch after and examine ail 
 Anabaptifls, 5cc. to endeavour to reclaim 
 them, toinjoin them Penance, and give them 
 Abfolution 5 or, if they were obftinarc, to ex- 
 communicate and imprifon them, and to de- 
 liver them over to the fecular Arm, to be 
 farther proceeded againfr. Some Tradefmen 
 in London were brought before theft Com-- 
 miffioners vs\May y and were perfaaded to ab- 
 jure their former Opinions 5 which were 
 thefe : 1 . That a regenerate Man could not (in. 
 
 2. That there was no Trinity of Terfons, 
 
 3. That Chrift was only a holy Trophet-, and 
 not at all God. 4. That all we had by 
 Chrift, was, that he taught us the Way to 
 Heaven. 5. That he took no F/tflj of the 
 
 lerunt iegirimos rttagiftratus. Item fingunt tale ChrifH reg* 
 nura in terris ame noviflimum diem futurum efTe, in quo 
 dominaturi fint iancti deletis omnibus impiis. Haec Judaica 
 deliramenta & Piditiofa & impia funt. Tales notae diligenter 
 funt confiderandge, ut fpiritus probentur. Cum igitut hebeant 
 anabaptiftx palam impias opiniones, datnnandi en fugiendi 
 funt. Deinde iii hue ipfa caufa de baptifmo parvulorum mul- 
 tos habent errores. Negant peccatum originis: hxc nota 
 iterum fignifica: eos tanfum profano more jadicare de 
 peccato et juftitia. Nullum intelligunt eiTe peccarum niii 
 actuale. Cum igitur conitec anabaptiftas agi fanatico fpi- 
 ritu, non moveat nos eorum audtoritaSj ur dffcedanuis a 
 covimuni confenfu veteris ecdefiae de baptizandis infancibus. 
 Melantth. loci communes de Bapt. Infant, 
 
 E Virgin. 
 
50 i Brief History of 
 
 Virgin. 6. That the Baptifm of Infants is 
 not prof table. One of thefe bore a Faggot 
 the next Sunday at St. TanTs. But there was 
 another of this Sort of Anabaptifts, who 
 was extreme obftinate 5 this was a Woman 
 named Joan Bocher y and commonly call'd 
 Joan of Kent : She denied that Chrift was 
 truly incarnate of the Virgin, whofe Flefh 
 being flnful, he could take none of it 5 but 
 the Word, by the Confent of the inward 
 Man in the Virgin, took Flefh of her. The 
 Commiflioners took much Pains with her 5 
 but fhe was fo extravagantly conceited of her 
 own Notions^ that fhe rejected all they laid 
 with Scorn, Whereupon (he was adjudged an 
 obftinate Heretick, and delivered over to the 
 fecular Power* The young King was with 
 gteat Difficulty perfuadcd to fign a Warrant 
 for Burning her ; and when he did fet his 
 Hand to it, it was with Tears m his Eyes. 
 Crayimer and Ridley took the Woman into 
 their Houfes, to try if they could perfuade 
 her : But fhe ftili continued, by Jeers and 
 other Infoiencies, to carry hertelf fo con- 
 temptuoufly, that at laft the Sentence was 
 executed on her, May 2d, 1550. She car- 
 ried herfelf then, as fhe had done in the former 
 Parts of her Proccfs, very indecently, which 
 made her look'd on as a frantick Perfon, fitter 
 for Bedlam than a Stake, and at laft was burnt. 
 The next Year, 1551, another of the fame 
 Seel:, very probably, one George van Tarey 
 a ^Dutchman, was condemned in the fame 
 
 manner, 
 
the Englifii Anabaptifls. 5 1 
 
 manner, and burnt, April 25. in Smithfield* 
 for holding, That God the Father was only 
 God, and that Chrift was not very God. 
 
 Thefe were certainly very unjuftifiable Cru- 
 elties, and contrary to the Mildnefs and 
 Clemency of the Gofpel. However, it 15 
 obferved, That for the other Sort 
 of AnabaptiftSy who z only de- ^^P Il2 » 
 nied Infant Baptifm, if indeed there was any 
 fuch Sort, no Severities arc to be found ufed 
 to them : But feveral Books were written to 
 convince them, to which they returned fome 
 Anfwers 5 but none of thefe have I ever 
 feen. 
 
 Notwithstanding the unchriftian Severities 
 juft now mentioned, it feems as if this Sect 
 increafed, however, in the Diocefe of Lon- 
 don $ fince in the Articles to be inquired of, 
 at Bp. Ridley's Vifitation of it, 1550, there 
 are thefe following ones : 
 
 Whether any do preach and defend, that 
 private Perfons may make Infurre&ions, ftir 
 Sedition, or compel Men to give them their 
 Goods. 
 
 Whether any of the Anabaptifls Seel, or 
 other, ufe norotioufly any unlawful or pri- 
 vate Conventicles, wherein they do ufe Doc- 
 trine or Adminiftration of Sacraments, icpa- 
 rating themfelves from the reft of the Parifh. 
 
 y Anabaptiftae in Anglia Tirones adhuc, 1647, funt aec- 
 dum ad cos errores de.lapii, quos apud trantmarinos invenias. 
 Toca fere ccruroveriia, quam curr, orthodoxi; habent, in 
 loco de Bapciimare confiftit, &c vocatiooe miniftrorum. 
 
 E z Whe- 
 
52 A Brief History of 
 
 Whether Baptifm be miniftrcd (out of 
 Ncceffity) in any other Time than on the 
 Sunday or Holy-day > or in any other Tongue 
 than Englijb, 
 
 Whether any fpeaketh againft Baptifm of 
 Infants. 
 
 Whether any faith, That the Wickednefs 
 of the Minister takcth away the Effect of 
 ChriJVs Sacraments. 
 
 Whether any faith, That Chriftian Men 
 cannot be allowed to Repentance, if they fin 
 voluntarily after Baptifme. Wheras in Archbp. 
 Cramntrs Articles exhibited about the fame 
 Time, in his Vifitations of his Diocefe of 
 Canterbury, it is only enquired in general, 
 Whether any have wilfully maintained and 
 defended any Herefie, Errors, or falfe Opi- 
 nions, contrary to the Faith of Chrifi and 
 holy Scripture. 
 
 For this his Article of Enquiry 
 Fox's Atts concerning the Anabaptijis Seel, 
 WAW;. thc g ifh refle a e d on in 
 
 p. 1250. ed. r» • r\ • 
 
 I5 6 5 . the next Reign, as acting incon- 
 
 Mcntly with himfelf. He knew, 
 they faid, how great a Crime it was to fepa- 
 rate himfelf from the Communion or Fel- 
 low fhip of the Church, and to make a Schifme 
 or Divifion $ and he had been reported to 
 have hated thc Sectc of thc Anabaptijis > and 
 aiwaics to have impugned the fame on this 
 Account. To this the Bifhop is reported as 
 making the following Anfwer : " I know 
 u that the Unity of the Church is to be re- 
 
 u taincd 
 
the Engiifh Anabaptifts. 5 3 
 
 u tained by all Means, and the fame to be 
 " neceflary to Salvation -, but I do not take 
 u the Mafic, as it is at this Day, for the Com- 
 u munion of the Church, but for a Popifh De- 
 c ' vife, wherby both the Commandment and 
 " Inftitution of our Saviour Chrifte y for the 
 <c ofte frequenting of the Remembrance of 
 6( his Death, is eluded, and the People of God 
 " are miferably deluded. The Seel of the 
 
 " Anabaptifts - — ought of Right to be 
 
 " condemned, forafmuch as, without any jufl: 
 " or neceflary Caufe, they wickedly feparate 
 <c themlelves from the Communion of the 
 " Congregation ; for they * did 
 " not alledge, that the Sacrament * He feems 
 
 " [Of the Lord's Supper] Was Ufl- hereto mean 
 
 <c duly adminiftred 5 but turning ^/^d" 
 " away their Eyes from them- Cathari, 
 cc felves, wherewith, according whom he 
 « to St. Tank's Rule, they ought ^te^- 
 <c to examine themfelves, and nabaptifis. 
 (C calling their Eyes ever upon 
 ec others, either Minifters or Communicants 
 " with them, rhey alwaics reproved fome- 
 cc thing for the which they abftained from 
 " the Communion, as from an unholy Thing. " 
 How true an Account this is of the Englijh 
 Anabaptifts, their own Practice and Confef- 
 fions fhew 5 except that they do alledge, That 
 both the Sacraments are unduly, nay, [infully, 
 adminiftred among us, and condemn us as 
 no Chriftians, or not any Part of Chrift's 
 Flock, or any Subjects of his Kingdom, es;- 
 
 E 3 eluding 
 
54 4 Brief History of 
 
 eluding us from both the Means of Grace a 
 and the Hopes of Glory. Such is their Cha- 
 rity and Humility 3 as if they thought the 
 Word of God came out from thern, or that 
 it came unto them only. 
 
 In 1553 were publifhed, by the King's 
 MajeftiCb Authority, Articles agreed upon by 
 the Bifhops, and ochere learned and godly Men, 
 in the laft Convocation at London, in the 
 Year of our Lord 1552, &c. Thefe are 42, 
 in Number, and feem principally defigned to 
 vindicate the Englifo Reformation from that 
 Slur and Difgrace which the Anabaptifts Te- 
 nets had brought upon the Reformation 
 in general. In this the Proteftants in Ger- 
 many had fet them a Pattern, who, in their 
 ConfeiTion of Faith exhibited to the Em- 
 peror Charles V. at the Diet at Ausburgh, 
 1550, took particular Care to clear them- 
 felves of holding the Anabaptijiical Opinions 5 
 as may be iczn in 2 Articles 3, 5, 8, 9, 12, 
 14, 16, 17, of that noble Confeiiion. Our 
 Reformers followed their Example, and in 
 thefe Articles afterted, in Oppofttion to the 
 Anabaptifts, That the Son, who is the Word 
 qf the Father, took Man's Nature in the Womb 
 of the bleffed Virgin Mary, of her Subftance - y 
 That he was of two whole and perfect Na- 
 tures ; And that he truly fuffered, to be a 
 Sacrifice for all Sin of Man, both original 
 
 2. Confedio Fidei exhibita invicl^lT. Imp. Caro'o V. Cx- 
 Cafi Aug. m Ccmi'.iis Augufta^ A mo M.D.XXX. Wittn- 
 
 and 
 
the Englifh Anabaptifts. 5 j 
 
 and actual. Whereas Melchior Hofman 
 taught, That the Eternal Word of God did 
 not take Fkfh of the Virgin Mary, but was 
 made Fkfh himfelf ; and was of one Nature 
 only, not of two Natures. 
 
 In the 4th Article, they afferted, IhztChrift 
 did truly rife again from Death, and took 
 again his Body, with Fkfh, Bones, and all 
 Things appertaining to the Perfection of Man's 
 Nature, wherewith he afcended into Heaven : 
 Whereas the Anabaptifis faid, That after 
 Chrift's Glorification, there was nothing of 
 the Creature in Him ; but that his Humanity 
 being clarified, palled into his Divine Nature. 
 
 In the 5th Article, it was affirmed, That 
 holy Scripture containeth all Things necef- 
 fary to Salvation j c Da r cid George having 
 taught, That all the Doctrine hitherto delivered 
 and revealed by God, Mofes, Ckrifl> the Pro- 
 phets and Apoftles, is imperfect, and of no 
 Ufe to obtain Salvation. 
 
 In the 6th Article, it was declared, That 
 the Old Teftament is not to be put away, 
 as though it were contrary to the New, but 
 to be kept ftill j for both in the Old and 
 New Teftaments everlafting Life is offered to 
 Mankind by Chrift^ &c. Whereas the Opi- 
 nion of the German Anabaptifis was, That the 
 Old Teftament was fo intirely abrogated by 
 God, that it has no Place any longer among 
 Chriftians, and is of no manner of Autho- 
 rity. 
 
 E 4. In 
 
56 A Brief History of 
 
 In the 8th Article, the Anabaptijis are 
 named, as now-a»d6ys t renewing the Opi- 
 nion of the c Pelagians, That Original Sin 
 ftandeth in the following or Imitation of 
 Adam: Whereas the Article aflerts it to be 
 the Fault apd Corruption of the Nature of 
 every Man that naturally is ingendered of the 
 Off-fpring of Adam- 
 
 In the 9th Article, it is affirmed, That we 
 have no Power to do good Works, pleafant 
 and acceptable to God, without the Grace of 
 God, ar. Or, as this Article was afterwards 
 altered, That Man cannot turn and prepare 
 himfelf, by his own natural Strength and 
 good Works, to Faith, and calling upon God : 
 Whereas it was one of the Opinions of Mel- 
 chidr Hofman, That Salvation depends on 
 Man's free Will, and is to be obtained by 
 every one's natural Powers. 
 
 In the nth Article, ] unification, by only 
 Faith in JeJusCkrift, isafferted : Concerning 
 which the Anabaptijis were not a little mi£' 
 taken, and contended, that it mould be faid, 
 That Chriftians are juftified by their Works. 
 
 In Article the 14th, it is aliened, That all 
 Men, except Chrijt alone, though they are 
 baptized and born again in Ckrijl, yet offend 
 in many Things : This was to mew their 
 Abhorrence of the vain Boafts of fome of the 
 German Anabaptifls, That they were pure and 
 without Sin, and needed not to ask of God 
 his Pardon and Forgivenefs, 
 
 In 
 
i 
 
 the Englifli Anabaptifts. 57 
 
 In the 15th Article, it is afferted againft 
 the Anabaptifts, That they are to be con- 
 demned, who fay, They can no more fin as 
 long as they live here ; or deny the Place for 
 Penitents to fuch as fin willingly after Bap- 
 tifm, though they truly repent, and amend 
 their Lives. 
 
 In the 1 8th Article, it is faid, That they 
 are to be had accurfed and abhorred, that 
 refume to fay, That every Man fhall be faved 
 y the Law or Seel which he profeifeth, 
 lo that he be diligent to frame his Life ac- 
 cording to that Law, and the Light of Na- 
 ture. 
 
 The 19th Article inftru£rs us, That they 
 are not to be hearkened unto, who affirm, 
 That holy Scripture is given only to the 
 "\Veak ; and do boaft themielves continually 
 of the Spirit, of whom, they fay, they have 
 learned fuch Things as they teach, although 
 the fame be mod evidently repugnant to the 
 holy Scripture. 
 
 The 24th of thefe Articles determines, That 
 it is not lawful for any Man to take upon 
 him the Office of publick Preaching, or mi- 
 niftring the Sacraments in the Congregation, 
 before he be lawfully called, and fent to exe- 
 cute the fame : Whereas the Englifh Anabap- 
 tifls, as well as the German^ were of Opi- 
 nion, That there ought not to be any adiftinft 
 
 Order 
 
 a William Kijfen fet down this among the Caufes of the 
 Anaba$tif$ Separation? The quenching of the Spirit^ and de- 
 
58 A Brief History of 
 
 Order of Minifters 5 but that all who have 
 Gifts, fhould, in their Turn, being elected by 
 the reft, preach, pray, and baptize. 
 
 The 27th Article affirms, That the EfFcft 
 of CkrijFs Ordinance is not taken away by 
 the Wickednefs of thofe who minifter it, nor 
 the Grace of God's Gifts diminifhed from fuch 
 as by Faith and rightly receive the Sacraments 
 miniftred unto them 5 which be effectual, be- 
 caufe of Chrift's Inftitution and Promife, al- 
 though they be miniftred by evil Men. 
 
 In the 28th Article, it is aiTerted, That the 
 b Cujlom of the Church to chriften young Chil- 
 dren is to be commended, and in any- wife to 
 be retained in the Church. 
 
 The 36, 3 7> 3 8,39>40>4i>42, are levelled 
 at the pernicious Errors of the Anabaptifts y 
 by declaring, in Oppofition to what they 
 taught 5 
 
 fp'ifmg "Prophecy, that no Man may fpeak in the Publick Exer- 
 cifes but one. Anfiuer to Ricraffr Looking-glajs for the Ana~ 
 baptifts, p. 9. 
 
 k A very ignorant Reflection has been made on this Ex- 
 predion of the Compilers of thefe Articles : " It feems by 
 " this, that thefirfi Reformers did not found the Practice of 
 " Infants Baptifm upon Scripture^ but took it only as a com- 
 tt mendable Cufio?n, that had been ufed in the Chriftian 
 <c Church, and therefore ought to be retained." But their 
 Writings mew the contrary. Many of theFraraers of thefe 
 Articles reviewed them, 1562, when this Article was thus 
 altered ; "The Baptifme of young Children — is moft 
 cc agreeable ^jith the Institution of Chrift. " However, if 
 an Apoftle is to be believed, the Cufto?n of the Churches of 
 God h not to be flighted and neglected : If any one feem to 
 be contentious, we have no fach ,Cuftom, neither the 
 Churches o/God, 1 Cor. xi. 16. 
 
 i. That 
 
the Engliflb Anabaptifts. 59 
 
 1. That the Civil Magiftrate is ordained 
 and allowed of God. 
 
 2. That the Civil Laws may punifh Chri- 
 ftian Men with Death for heinous and griev- 
 ous Offences. 
 
 3. That it is lawful for Chriftians, at the 
 Commandment of the Magiftrate, to bear 
 Weapons, and ferve in lawful Wars. 
 
 4. That the Riches and Goods of Chri- 
 ftians are not common, as touching the Right, 
 Title, and PoffeiTion of the fame. 
 
 5. That Chriftian Religion doth not pro- 
 hibit, but that a Man may fwear, when the 
 Magiftrate requireth, in a Caufe of Faith and 
 Charity. 
 
 <5. That the Refurre&ion of the Dead is 
 not as yet brought to pafs, as though it onely 
 belonged to the Soul, which, by the Grace 
 of Chrift, is raifed from the Death of Sin 5 
 but it is to be looked for at the Laft Day. 
 
 7. That they who fay, That the Souls of 
 fuch as depart hence do Jleep, being without 
 all Senfe, Feeling, or Perceiving, until the 
 
 Day of Judgment, do utterly diflent 
 
 from the right Belief declared to us in holy 
 Scripture. 
 
 8. That they who go about to renew the 
 Fable of the Hcreticks called Millenarii> are 
 repugnant to holy Scripture, and caft them- 
 felves headlong into a Jewifh Dotage. 
 
 9. That they are worthy of Condemna- 
 tion, who endeavoured at that Time to reftore 
 the dangerous Opinion, That all Men, be 
 
 they 
 
60 A Brief History of 
 
 they never fo ungodly, (hall at length be 
 faved, when they have fuffered Pains for their 
 Sins a certain Time appointed by God's 
 Juftice. 
 
 About this Time was palled an 
 ^4Bthf.YL A6i concerning the King's Free 
 c- H- and General Pardon -, out of 
 
 which are excepted the fame 
 Anabaptijlical Opinions mentioned in that 
 of the 3 2 Hen. VIII. only Art. 7. is omitted. 
 
 About the fame Time was drawn up, in 
 purfuance of an Act of Parliament palled at 
 the latter End of King Hen. Vlllth's Reign, 
 c A Reformation of the Ecdejiajtical Laws. 
 It began with Articles of Religion and 
 Herefy. In this the Compilers took Care to 
 exprefs their Abhorrence of the Tenets and 
 Doctrines of the Anabaptifts. They af- 
 ferted, That the Son, who is the Word of 
 the Father, aiTumed the human Nature in the 
 Womb of the bleffed Virgin Mary, of the 
 Subftance of her Flefh : That his human 
 Nature had a Body made in Time, and never 
 but once, nor of any other Matter than of 
 the true and only Subftance of the Virgin 
 Mary -, and condemned thofe who trifled 
 about his having a Body divinely aiTumed 
 from Heaven, and which paiTed through Mary 
 as through a Canal or Pipe. They aliened, 
 That there were in Chriji two Natures, a 
 
 c Londbii ex Officina Johannis Bail, Anno Salutis Hu- 
 mane, J5-1 
 
 Divine 
 
the Englifli Anabaptifts. 6\ 
 
 Divine and Human, entirely, and pcrfe&ly, 
 and infeparably joined together in one Perfon : 
 That his Human Nature afcended into Heaven, 
 and fits at the right Hand of the Father. They 
 obferved, That they were the word: of Here- 
 ticks who depretiated the holy Scriptures, 
 reprefenting them as only calculated for the 
 Weaknefs of frail Men ; whilil they who 
 were more perfect were not to be concluded 
 by their Authority, but had a certain pecu- 
 liar Spirit, by which, they faid, they were 
 iupplicd with whatsoever they taught and did : 
 That many were found in their Times, among 
 whom the Anabaptifts were principally to be 
 placed, to whom if any one aiiedged the Old 
 Teftament, they maintained, That it was alto- 
 gether abrogated and obfolete, and that every 
 thins; in it related to the old Times of our 
 Anceftors : That their Error was to be avoided, 
 who maintained, contrary to the Truth of 
 Scripture, That original Sin was only in 
 Adam* and did not pafs to his Pofterity, nor 
 produce any Perverfenefs of Nature $ unlefs 
 that, by Adams Sin, was propofed a noxious 
 Example of Sinning, which invited to the 
 Imitation and Pra&ice of the fame Pravity : 
 That their Pride was to be checked, who 
 attributed fo great a Perfection of Life to 
 Men juftified, as the Weaknefs of our Nature 
 is not able to bear, and which none but 
 Chrift can have, to wit, That they are free 
 from all Sin, if they apply their Minds to 
 live rightly and religioufiy : That they are 
 
 their 
 
6z A Brief History of 
 
 their Equals in Impiety, who affirm, That 
 whatfoever mortal Sin is wilfully committed 
 after Baptifm, is all done againft the Holy 
 Ghoft, and cannot be forgiven : That their 
 Boldnefs is vain and horrible, who contend, 
 That Salvation is to be hoped for in every 
 Sect or Religion which Men fhall profefs, if 
 they only, according to their Power, en- 
 deavour to be innocent and upright in their 
 living, according to the Light given them 
 by Nature $ and, That their Madnefs is not 
 lefs, who, in this our Time, revive the dan- 
 gerous Herefie of Origen y That all Men, be 
 they never fo wicked, fhall at laft be faved, 
 when for a certain Time they have, by the 
 Divine Tuftice, been punifhed for their Sins : 
 That they profanely philofophife, who teach, 
 That the Souls of Men departing out of this 
 Life, when they are gone out of their Bodies, 
 do either jleep 'till the Laft Day of Judgment, 
 or are d annihilated, and when the Day of 
 Judgment comes, are either raifed from Sleep, 
 or rife again with their Bodies from Death : 
 That akin to them is the Error of the Refur- 
 rc&ion, which many, agreeing with Hyme- 
 nals and 'Philetus, fay, is already perfect 
 and concluded, becaufe it ought only to be 
 referred to the Soul, which Chrift has alto- 
 gether raifed from the Death of Sin : That, 
 moreover, the clownifh Stupidity of the Ana- 
 
 d This,it has been faid,is the Opinion of fome of the Kenti'b 
 Anabaptifts, That the Soul conlumes with the Body. Hift. 
 of Infant Baptifm y p. 445. ed. 4CO. 1707. 
 
 taptifts 
 3 
 
the Engliflh Anabaptifts. 63 
 
 baptifts is to be defeated, who deny it to 
 be lawful for Christians to bear the Office of 
 Magiftracy : That iikewife mould be excluded 
 the Community of Goods and PofieffionSj 
 which has been introduced by the fame 
 Anabaptifts, and which they carry fo far as 
 not to leave any body any Property : That 
 their not allowing the lawful Ufe of Oaths, 
 is contrary to the Dottrine of the Scriptures 
 of the Old and New Teftament, the Examples 
 of the Fathers, of the ApoftlefW//, oiChrift* 
 and even of God the Father : That alike is 
 their Madnefs, in disjoining the Inftitution 
 of Minifters from the Church, denying that 
 certain Teachers, Paftors, and Minifters ought 
 to be placed in certain Places, and not admit- 
 ting lawful Callings, nor a folemn laying on 
 of Hands, but making common to all the 
 Power of Teaching in Publick, who are at 
 all verfed in the facred Writings, and claim 
 to themfelvesthe Spirit : That great iikewife 
 is their Rafhnefs, who leffen the Sacraments 
 fo as to have them taken for naked Signs, 
 and only outward Marks or Tokens of Chri- 
 ftian Men, by which their Religion may be 
 diftinguiftied from others : Laflly, That it is 
 a cruel Profanenefs of theirs, not to give Bap- 
 tifm to Infants. 
 
 In the Convocation holden at London^ 1562, 
 were the Articles of Religion (mentioned be- 
 fore) renewed and altered : fome of thefe Altera- 
 tions are in the Articles concerning the Anabap- 
 tifts, Thus, in the 8 th Article of Original or 
 
 Birth- 
 
64 A Brief History of 
 
 Birth Sin, the Words, which alfo the Anabap- 
 tifts do now a-days renew, are omitted 5 as are 
 the 4 1 ft and 4.26 Articles of the Millenarii ; and, 
 That all Men fhall not be five d at the length : 
 And Article 39th, That the Refurrettion of 
 the Dead is not yet brought to pafs. By 
 which one would think, that the Anabaptifts 
 at this time had dropp'd thefe Errors, and 
 were become more fober- minded. 
 
 However this be, I find nothing more faid 
 of them by any body 'till 1574? when Brandt 
 
 tells us, that fome of this Seel: 
 
 Hift.ofthe retired from Flanders into Eng- 
 
 Reformat. land, thinking to enjoy the Free- 
 
 Vol.Lp.314. dom of their Opinions under 
 
 Queen Elizabeth 5 but foon 
 found their Miftakc, being obliged to 
 fly from thence to Holland and Zealand. 
 Of this the Engliflj Chronicles give the 
 
 following Account : u On 
 Summary cc Eafter-day, which was the 3d 
 qfExglilb <c oi jiprii about nine of the 
 p. *66 &c CIockc in the Forenoon, was 
 
 x ' " difclofcd a Congregation of 
 
 rials, />. 679. "Anabaptifts, 'Dutchmen, in a 
 15-5. " Houfe without the Barres of 
 
 u Aldegate at London, whereof 
 " [even and twenty were taken, and fent to 
 cc Prifon 5 and e four of them, bearing Fag- 
 <c gots, recanted at "Paul's Crofs, on the fif 
 " teenth Day of May, in Form as foliowcth : 
 
 * Strype fays five', and names them, thus j Hendric, Ter- 
 wort, Gerald i'a?i B yhr, Jan Peter s, Ha?is Va?iderfirate 3 
 Uemeh. Annals, &c. Vol II. p 380. 
 
 1 Whereas 
 
the Englifh Anabaptifts. 6j 
 
 1 Whereas I % %, &♦ p. being reduced 
 c by the Devil, the Spirit of Error, and by 
 c falfe Teachers his Minifrers, have fallen into 
 c certayne molt dctciTabic and damnable He- 
 
 * refers s namely, 
 
 i. } That Chrifc took not Fhjh of the Sub- 
 c ftance of the blejfed Virgin Mary. 
 
 2. c That Infants of the Faithful ought 
 c not to be baptized. 
 
 3 . c That a Chriftian Man may not be a 
 c Magi ftr ate, or bear the Sword or Office cf 
 c Author Hie. 
 
 4. ' That it is not lawful for a Chriftian 
 1 to take an Oath. 
 
 c Now, by the Grace of God, and through 
 c Conference with good and learned Mini- 
 1 ilers of Chrift his Church, I do underftand 
 
 * and acknowledge the fame to be mod dam- 
 c nable and deteftablc Herefics, and do ask 
 c God, here before his Church, Mercy foe 
 £ my fa id former Errors/ and do ferfakethem, 
 1 recant and renounce them, and abjure them 
 ' from the Bottom of my Heart 5 profeffing 
 \ that I certainly believe, 
 
 1. ' That Chrift took Flefo of the Sub- 
 c ftance of the blejfed ffirginWttf. 
 
 2. < That Infants of the Faithful ought 
 c to be baptized. 
 
 3 . * That a Chriftian Man may be a Magi- 
 c ft rate, or bear the' Sword and Office ofAu- 
 f thorilie. 
 
 4. ' That it is lawful for a Chriftian to 
 4 take an Oath, 
 
 F < And 
 
66 A Brief History of 
 
 * And further I confefs, That the whole 
 ■ Dodtrine and Religion eftablifhed and pub- 
 ' lifhed in this Realm of England-* as alfothat 
 1 which is received and preached in the 'Dutch 
 € Church here in this City, is found, true, 
 1 and according to the Word of God, wher- 
 c unto in all Things I fubmit myfelf, and will 
 
 • mod gladly be a Member of the hidDutch 
 ' Church, from henceforth abandoning and 
 c forfaking all and every Anab apt ift teal 
 ' Error. This is my Faith now, in the which I 
 ' do purpofe and truft to Hand firm and ftedfaft 
 1 unto the End. And that I may fo do, I 
 
 * befcech you ail to pray with me and for 
 ' me to God the heavenly Father, in the Name 
 ' of his Son our Saviour Jefus Chrift.* 
 
 " The like Recantation was made by them 
 Ci afterwards in the Dutch Church. " 
 
 " The one and twentieth Day of May, 
 
 ft being Whitfun-e-ven^ one Man and ten 
 
 " Women, Anabaptifts, Dutch, 
 
 Stow, &c. " were,intheConfiftoiyofiFW/s, 
 
 f. 62o. " condemned to be brent in 
 
 " Smithfeld > but, after great 
 
 u Pains taking with them, only one Woman 
 
 " was converted, the other were banifhed 
 
 " the Land. On the Jirjt of June the nine 
 
 " Women being led by the Shrives Officers, 
 
 " the Man was tied to a Cart and whipped, 
 
 " and fo all conveyed from Newgate to the 
 
 " Water's fide, where they were fliipped awaye, 
 
 " never to return againe, " 
 
 But 
 
the Englifli Anabaptifts. 67 
 
 But though this Account be given with all 
 the Appearance of Truth and Exadtnefs, by 
 one who lived at the very Time when thefc 
 Things were done, I find it con- 
 tradiftcd. Brandt tells us, That *f^ 
 fourteen Women were put on 
 Shipboard ; That it was a Boy who was whip- 
 ped at the Cart's Tail. But it is plain, his Rela- 
 tion of this Matter is not exact. 
 Our Church Hiftorian, Fuller* church Hip. 
 tells us, That one Dutchman and p™^ * X ' 
 ten Women were condemned, 
 of whom one Woman was converted to re* 
 nounce her Errors *•> eight were banifhed 
 the Land -, two more fo obftinate, that Com- 
 mand was iflfued out for their burning, in 
 Smith fields where they died in 
 great Horror, crying and roaring : j u ly 22.' 
 But thefe two were not IFomen, 
 but Men ; their Names were 
 f John Wielmacker, and Hendnck strype's An* 
 Terwcort. This lad had recanted, nals - 
 as has been (hewn before 5 and 
 the other is faid to have returned from BaninV 
 ment : However this be, great Interceffion 
 
 [ Brandt calls him JoknVeterfon. It is commonly faid, 
 That the fir it who was put to this cruel Death, or burnt in 
 'England^ was William Sautre, 14.00 : But this is a Miftake, 
 Camden tells us, ex quo, regnante Joanne, Chriftiani in 
 Chriftianos apudnosflammis favire cceperunt. A Chronicle 
 of London mentions one of the Albigenfes burnt there, 1210* 
 The Abridgment of our Englifn Chronicles telis us of a Dea- 
 con, who, for turning Je*u>i was condemned ztOxford, and 
 committed to the Fire, 1222. 
 
 F z was 
 
(58 A Brief History 0/ 
 
 was made for them to fpare their Lives. The 
 learned' and venerable John Fox, for whom 
 the Queen expueiled a very great Value, and 
 ufed to call him her Father, wrote her a very 
 elegant Latin Letter on their Behalf 5 and 
 the ^Dutch Congregation appeared very earned 
 with the Privy Council to fpare them : But 
 with no Succefs 5 the Queen and they, it feems, 
 being highly provoked at their Authority be- 
 ing called in queftion, and they denied to be 
 Chridian Magiftrates. However, Mr. Sirype 
 feems to have been miitaken, in faying, that 
 thefe Men were burnt after they had been 
 fifteen Weeks in 'Prifon 5 im'cc from May 
 ijth, when Terwoofi recanted, and when 
 I fuppofe him to have been difcharged, to 
 July 22d, can by no Numeration be made fo 
 long. 
 
 In 1589 was pubiifhed, by Robert Some, 
 D. D. a Book which he intituled, A godly 
 Treat 1 'fe, therein are examined and confuted 
 many execrable Fancies given out a*ad h olden, 
 partly by Henry Barrow and John Green- 
 wood 5 partly by other cf the Anabaptiftical 
 Order. Thefe Fancies he names in the fol- 
 lowing Order : 
 
 1. The Llniverfties cf Cambridge and Ox- 
 ford have a Popifb Original, therefore Q^Eli- 
 fabeth ought to aboliih them. "Page 2. 
 
 2. The Teachers of God's Religion ought 
 to live ex mera meemofykd, cf mere Alms : 
 Tythes were a Part of the Ceremonial Law, 
 
 ther- 
 
the Englifli Anabaptifls. 6<? 
 
 therfore Minifters oue.ht not to be maintained 
 by Tithes. Tag. 7, 9. 
 
 3. The Church need not (lay for the Prince 
 in reforming any Abufe, but may reform it, 
 though the Prince fay no. Tage 13. 
 
 4. A Chriftian Prince harh no Authoritie 
 to make Ecclcfiaftical Laws in his Dominions. 
 
 5. The Minifter mud be chofen by the 
 People, when they are taught ; therefore the 
 Prince may fend an able Man to an ignorant 
 People, as a Teacher, but not as a Minifter. 
 
 6. Any Man, who is able, may preach 
 without an external Calling. 
 
 7. It is not lawful for a Chriftian toufe the 
 Lords Trayer, eirher publickly or privately, 
 as a Prayer. 
 
 8. It is not lawful to ufe a Form of Prayer. 
 
 9. The Difcipline which they require is 
 an efiential Part of the Church. 
 
 10. The Church may excommunicate with- 
 out a Minifter. 
 
 11. Baptifm adminiftred and received in the 
 Popifh Church, is not God's, but the Devil's 
 Baptifm. 
 
 12. There is no Worfhip of God in the 
 Church of England. 
 
 13. It is blaiphcmous tobeftilcd Doctor of 
 Divinity. 
 
 The ift, 2d, 7th, and 8th, and almoft all 
 the reft, except the 10th, were defended by 
 Barrow againft the Do&or, in his Brief "Dif 
 covery of the falfe Churches. But Barrow 
 pleaded againjt the Anabaptifticai Tenet of 
 
 F 3 Bap- 
 
70 A Brief History of 
 
 Baptifm, and afferted, That g none unbap- 
 tizcd may be a Minifter, or baptize '5 and 
 that neither have *z# unbaptized ^People Tower 
 to elect or ordain a Miniftry among them : 
 Which firikes at the very Foundation of all 
 the Congregations oiAnabaptifts in England. 
 
 On the Occafion juft now mentioned, of 
 the "Dutch Anabaptifts recanting, and ibme 
 of them being burnt, our Church Hiftorian, 
 
 Ftiller y thus expreffed himfelf : 
 1575. f* Now, faith he, began the Ana- 
 
 " baptifls wonderfully to en- 
 66 creafe in the Land ; and as we are forry 
 <# that any Country Men fhould be ieduced 
 " with that Opinion, fo we are glad that the 
 « h Englzfh, as yet, were free from that In- 
 " fetiion." If this was fo, it is pretty much 
 to be wondered at, in a People who are very 
 remarkable for their being great Lovers of 
 Changes, and greedy of Novelty : And yet, 
 by the Account that is given of one John 
 Smith, who is faid to live at the Beginning 
 of King James the Firft's Reign, his being 
 the Beginner of Baptifm by Dipping, it feems 
 
 g Page 178, edit-. 1707 ;. whereas Chrifiopher Blackwood 
 affirmed, That Baptizedneffe tn the Difpenfer is ?zot effen- 
 tial to Baptifm. A Soul- je arching Catechifm, &c. 3d Edi- 
 tion, 1658. 
 
 k Of the fame Opinion was John Frith, who was mar- 
 tyred 3 i533 : "I truft, faid he, the Eng/ifb have no fuch 
 <c Opinion." So John, Fox, many Years after, in his Let- 
 rer toQElifabeth, gave God Thanks, that he heard not of 
 any Englifowan that is inclined to that Madnefs : fo he called 
 Anabaptifm. 
 
 not 
 
the Englifli Anabaptifts. 71 
 
 not quite improbable. This Account is as 
 follows : 
 
 1 In the Days of K. James, or thereabouts, 
 one Mr. Smith, who was of the Church of 
 England, after difliking thereof, and leaving 
 England, in Proccfs of Time was admitted 
 a Member of a People of our Judgment, then 
 living in Amjlerdam, commonly, but falfly, 
 called Broivnifts 5 and, in Procefs of Time, 
 was caft out of that Church, for Errors he 
 held 5 and not long after, he fell to deny 
 his Baptifm in Infancy, and knew not how 
 to have a better, nor a truer Adminiftrator, 
 fucceffively, after your Way of Dipping : 
 At length he baptized himfelf, and then he 
 baptized one Helvifh by Name. This you 
 may fee in a Book written by one Jejfop y 
 prefented to King James. More to this Pur- 
 pofe I have feen in a Book written by Mr. Ro- 
 bin/on, living then at Leyde?i in Holland > 
 alfo in another Book, written by one Mr. Clif- 
 ton, who wrote an A nfwer to one of Mr. Smith's 
 Books j and in another Book, written by 
 Mr. Henry Ainf-jjorth, Teacher at that Time 
 in the Church where Mr. Smith was caft out 
 from ; and, as I have heard, that one Mr, 
 Spilsbury mould go to Holland to be bap- 
 tized of this Smith, fo he brought it into 
 
 i A Necejfary TrettiJ? for this Age\ or, A plain Di ; J "covery 
 of the great Error of Denying Baptifm nuitfi Water to the 
 Childre-ri of Believers, &c. briefly and plainly handled and 
 
 difcuft. By Thomas Wall. London, Printed i66y> 
 
 P- 44> 45- 
 
 r 4 Eng- 
 
?i A Brief History of 
 
 England : But, if this be fo, we don't find 
 he pra&ifed it 'till about thirty Yearsafter'. 
 
 However this be, in the iriih of the Ca- 
 nons Ecclcfhftical, agreed upon in the Con- 
 vocarion which met the firft Year 
 A. D 1^03. of this Reign, the affirming, That 
 it is lawful for any Sort of Mini- 
 fters and Lay-Pcrfons, or either of them, to 
 join together, and make Rules, Orders or Con- 
 ftitutions, in Caufes Ecclefiaftical, without the 
 King's Authority, &e. is declared to be a 
 wicked and Ar.ab apt: (Ileal Error 3 and in the 
 48th, Miniders are required not to refufe or 
 delay to chriften any Childe. 
 
 In 161 1, we are told, feme of the Englifh 
 Anabsptids published a Ccnfcilion of their 
 Paith : Thefc feetri to have been of thtgetiefal 
 Sort, fince they termed Original Sin an idle 
 Term ; and ailcrred, That Infants arc con- 
 ceived and born in Innoccncy 5 That the 
 Sacrifice of Chriji doth nor reconcile God 
 unto its, but us unto God; That the Office of 
 the M a <; i (1 r a t e i s a permijjfve Q 1 d i n a n c e of G o d ; 
 and, That Ghriftihns may nor go to Law be- 
 fore Magiflrates, nor ale an Oath. 
 
 Of thefe People feems to have been Eda*. 
 Wigkt man of the PariPn of Bur ten upon Trent, 
 in the Diocefc of Lichfield and Coventry : 
 He was charged with holding fcvcral Opinions 
 of the c Dutch or k German Anabaptifts 3 as, 
 
 k Like Come q&.thsm^ he fanfied bimfelf that Tr-ph.r 
 •which Go:\ cold Mcfks he > wbiiid raife up j and the Holy 
 Ghoil the Ccmforrcr. 
 
 That 
 
the Engtifl] Anabaptifts. 73 
 
 That there is no Trinity 01 Pcrfons in the 
 Unity of the Deity ; That Ckrift took not 
 human Flcfh of the Subtlancc of the Virgin 
 Alary 5 That the Soul doth deep in the Sleep 
 of the firft Death, as well as the Body ; That 
 the Baptizing of Infants is an abominable 
 Cuftom ; to which he feems to have added, 
 from the Tolifh Socinians, That the Ufe of 
 Baptifm is to be adminitlred in Water only to 
 Converts of lufficient Age and Undemand- 
 ing, converted from Infidelity to the Faith. 
 For thefe and other Opinions he was con- 
 vened before Dr. Richard Neile, then Bifhop 
 of Lichfield-, <5cc. and proceeded againft in 
 a Caule of Herefy, and declared to be an 
 obftinate and incorrigible Heretick, and de- 
 livered over to the iecular Arm. Accord- 
 ingly he was, by virtue of the King's Warrant 
 or Writ, direcled to the Sheriff of the City 
 of Lichfield j ordered to be committed to the 
 Fire in lb me open and publick Piace in the 
 laid City ; which accordingly was done April 
 nth, this Year. 
 
 This Confeilion, l Mr. John Robinfon, who 
 had then a Congregation of Engl/fh, who 
 went by the Name of Bro r Junifts, at Leyden 
 in Holland, tehs us, was publifned by the 
 Remainder ot the Congregation gathered by 
 Mr. J. Smith juft now mentioned, and, very 
 
 1 Apo'^h jufta ct nccelTaria quorundam Chriftianorum 
 aeque conrurneiiefe ac com munirer diftorum Erovjniftartav^ 
 five Bariilarmi/^ per Jckan?2em 'Robinjonum Anglo-Ley- 
 4enfem 3 &c. Aono Dom. 1619. 
 
 pro- 
 
74 A Brief History of 
 
 probably, printed in Holland. Mr. Robinfon 
 printed ibme Remarks on it, as containing, 
 I fuppofe, thofe Errors for which Smith had 
 been cad out of his Congregation. How- 
 ever this be, 
 
 6 a In the Upper Houfe of Con- 
 
 Abp. Wakes vocation, which met the 6th of 
 
 State of the April, 1 614, one Griffin was 
 
 Church, &c arraigu'cil of horrid Blafphemies. 
 What they were, I don't find ; 
 but, it feems, he (ubmitted, and recanted. 
 
 The next Year, 161 5, was pub- 
 limed a fmall Treatiie by thefe 
 Anabaptifts, intituled, Terfecution Judged 
 and Condemned: Wherein they endeavoured 
 to juftify their Separation from the Church of 
 England 5 and to prove, That every Man 
 hath a Right to judge for himfelf in Matters 
 of Religion , and, That to perfecute any on 
 that Account, is illegal and antichriftian, con- 
 trary to the Laws of God, as well as to 
 ieveral Declarations of the King : They alio 
 afierted their Opinion concerning Baptifm ; 
 and condemned that which was adminiftred 
 either in the eftablifhed Church, or among the 
 other Diffenters, as invalid and of no Ufe. 
 However, thefe were fo far come to their 
 Senfes, as to acknowledge Magistracy to be 
 God's Ordinance ,♦ to confefs, That Chrift 
 took his Flefh of the Virgin Mary 5 and to 
 lament the fcveral ftrange Opinions held by 
 others ealled Anabaptifts. In this Book, they 
 are laid likewife to have referred their Readers, 
 
 for 
 
the Englifli Anabaptifts. 75 
 
 for their Orthodoxy in other Points, to this 
 Confeflion of their Faith, publifhed by them 
 ( as has been already faid ) four Years before, 
 viz. 1 61 1. 
 
 In the Year 161 8, we are told, l6l % 
 there came forth a Book, trans- 
 lated out of Dutch into Englijh^ intituled, 
 A plain and well-grounded Treatife concerning 
 Baptifm : This is faid to be thought to have 
 been the firft that was publifhed in English 
 againft the Baptizing of Infants 5 but it is fup- 
 pofed to have been concealed, as much as po£ 
 fible, 'till the Civil Wars produced Liberty 
 of Confcience, or rather, a Licentioufnefs of 
 Thinking. 
 
 However this be, in 1620 the l6 
 Anabaptijls are faid to have pre- 
 fented to K. James I. in Parliament-time, 
 their Humble Supplication : In which they 
 complained of the cruel Proceedings againft 
 them; and humbly befought hisMajefty, his 
 Nobles, and Parliament, to compaffionate 
 their Cafe, and, according to the Directions 
 of God's Word, ™ let the Wheat and Tares 
 grow together in the World until the Harveft : 
 But this I have not feen. 
 
 It was not, it feems, 'till thir- l6 * 
 teen Years after this, 1633, that 
 xhz Anabaptijls began to feparate themfelves 
 from the other Proteftant Diffenters, and form 
 diftinft Societies of thofe of their own Perfua- 
 
 m Thus one Party or them cxprefTed themfelves in their 
 Confeffion ; 1660. 
 
 lion. 
 
76 A Brief History of 
 
 lion. The firft of this Kind was, it fecms, con- 
 ftituted Sept. 12th, this Year : Their Minifter 
 was John Spilsbury, factorc-mcntioncd ;and the 
 Congregation about twenty Men and Women, 
 with divers others, looking upon the Bap- 
 tifm they had received when they were In- 
 fants as invalid, and of no Effect, did, mod 
 or all of them, receive a new Bap- 
 16%%. tifm. In the Year 1638, TVil- 
 
 liarn Kijfin, and Thomas Wilfon, 
 and others, being of rhe fame judgment, 
 were, upon their Requeft, difmiffed to Spils- 
 bur/s Congregation : And the 
 1639- next Year, 1639, another Con- 
 
 gregation of Anabaptifts was 
 formed in Crutched Friars in 
 1644. London. In 1 644. were feven 
 of thefe Churches, as will be 
 ihewn by and by. 
 
 Of this Judgment was one Luke Howard 
 
 of "Dover in Kent, who afterwards turning 
 
 Quaker, as many others of them did, wrote 
 
 a Book, intituled, n A Looking- 
 
 P. 5. 6. glafs for BaptiftSy &c. wherein 
 
 he gave the following Account 
 
 of their coming into Kent : ' In the Years 
 
 * 164$ and 1644 the People called Baptijfs 
 
 < began to have an Entrance into Kent 5 
 
 < and Anne Stevens of Canterbury, who was 
 ' afterwards my Wife, being the firft that 
 
 n Printed 1672. To it was printed an Anfwer by 'Richard 
 Hobbs, intieuled, The Quakers Looking-glafl looked upon, £cc. 
 16^3 ,' but he does noi contradict this Account. 
 
 4 re- 
 
the Englidi Anabaptifts. yy 
 
 received them there, was dipped into the 
 Belief and Church of W. Kiffen, who then 
 was of the Opinion commonly called 
 The 'Particular Election and Reprobation of 
 Perfons : And by him was alfo dipped 
 Nicholas Woodman of Canterbury, my Self, 
 and Mark Elfreth of 'Dover, with many 
 more, both Men and Women, who were 
 all of the Opinion of the particular Point, 
 and who reckoned thcmfelves of the Seven 
 Churches in that Day, who gave forth a 
 Book, called, The Faith of the Seven 
 Churches ; which was then oppofite to the 
 Baptifts that held the General, and is ftill 
 the fame ; at which Time there was great 
 Contcft betwixt thofe Baptifts called the 
 General, as Lamb, Barber, and thole which 
 held the Univerfal Love of God to All, 
 and Kiffen, Patience, Spillman, and Co Iyer, 
 and thole that held the Particular Election : 
 So that if any of the Particular Men or 
 Women of the Seven Churches aforefaid 
 did change in their Opinions from the^r- 
 ticular to the General, that then they were 
 to be baptized again > becaufe, they laid, 
 you were baptized into a wrong Faith, and 
 fo into another Gofpel : ufmg that Saying, 
 That if any Man bring any other Gofpel 
 than that -ivhich we have received, let him 
 be accurfed. Whereupon fevcral denied their 
 Belief and Baptifm, and were baptized again 
 into the General Opinion, or Belief. But 
 : Nicholas fFoodman afouefaid, with Mark 
 
 « El 
 
78 A Brief History of 
 
 € Elfreth, with all of them in Kent* except 
 c Daniel Cox of Canterbury, which never 
 € baptized any, held their Baptifm in the 
 ' ^Particular, but changed their Opinions to 
 € the General, and fome to Free-will, and 
 * the Mortality of the Soul, and many other 
 
 c Things. ' 
 
 In the Year 1642 was publifhed by one 
 A. R. a Book, intituled, The Vanity of 
 Childifh Baptifm, in two Parfs : 
 Page 2. In the Preface to this Book the 
 Author was pleafed to exprefs 
 himfelf thus : I found Infant Baptifm, fays 
 he, to be but only a mere Devife and Tra- 
 dition of Men, and brought into the World 
 for Politick and Bye-ends, and acordingly yet 
 continued and ftill defended merely by the 
 Subtilty of human Arts, and Acutenefs of 
 
 Mans Brains. Here now 
 
 Part I. thefe learned Divines are at as 
 great a Strait to defend their Pro- 
 Page 4. pofition as their Predecef- 
 
 fors, the Priefts and Elders were, 
 to juftify themfelves in their reje&ing the 
 Counfel of God. - Seeing 
 
 Page 12. the Power and Authority, wher- 
 by Baptifm is adminiftred, is not 
 from Chrijl, but from an Antichriftian Hie- 
 rarchy ; the Baptifm itfelf is not from Chrijl, 
 but from Antichrift likewife. Page 14. he 
 compares the Miniflers of the Church of Eng- 
 land to Jannes and Jambres, who withftood 
 Mofes; and, Page 15, Fays of them, That 
 
 they 
 4 
 
the Englifh Anabaptifts. 79 
 
 they have the fame Office as Mafs-Priefts 5 
 and that the Parifh Aflemblies are not fuch 
 Churches to whom the Power of Ckrijt is 
 committed. Page 21, 22, he intimates, That 
 the Anabaptifts fcruple taking the Oath of 
 Supremacy. He ftiies Infant Bap- 
 tifm an Idol, compares it to the p a rt II. 
 Beaft, and Infants, to Bartho- 
 lomew Babies. This may ferve as a Specimen 
 or Sample of this Writer's Spirit. 
 
 In 1 644 was printed a Paper, intituled, ° The 
 ConfeJJion of Faith ofthofe Churches which are 
 commonly, though falfly, called Anabaptifts : 
 Trefented to the View of all that fear God, 
 to examine by the Tone hft one of the Word 
 cf Truth 5 as likewife for the taking off t ho fe 
 Afperfions which are frequently, both in Till- 
 pit and Trint, although itnjaftly, caft upon 
 them. In the Preface to this, they made 
 heavy Complaints of their being charged with 
 holding Free-wills falling away from Grace > 
 denying Original Sin; difclaiming 0/Wiagi- 
 ftracy 5 denying to ajjlfl them, either in Per- 
 fons or Purfe, in any of their lawful Com- 
 mands 5 doing Ads unfeemly, in the difpenfing 
 the Ordinance ^Baptifm, not to be named 
 among Chriftians. All which Charges they 
 difclaimed as notorioufly untrue, • though, by 
 
 Conftat in univerfum 52 articulis, quorum plerique 
 flint referti ambiguitatibus, & fophifticis refervationibus. 
 Haerefes fuas incruftant fubdola phrafeologia. Honor* 
 Reggh alias Geo.Hornih de Statu Eccl. Britan, fag. 61. ed. 
 1647. 
 
 reafon 
 
80 A Brief History of 
 
 reafon of thefe Calumnies caft upon them, 
 many that feared God were difcouraged and 
 forestalled in harbouring a good Thought 
 either or' them, or what they profeiTed ; and 
 many that knew not God, encouraged, if 
 they could find the Place of their Meeting, 
 to get together in Clutters to (tone them, as 
 looking upon them as a People holding fuch 
 
 Things as that they were not fit to live. 
 
 This was fubferibed, in the Names of feven 
 Churches in London, by 
 
 William Kiffen, 
 
 Tko. Patience, 
 John Spilsberjy 
 Geo. Tipping, 
 Sam. Richard Con, 
 Tho. Shippard, 
 Tho. Mundar, 
 Tho Gunne, 
 
 John Mabbat, 
 John Webb, 
 Tho. Killcop, 
 'Paul Hobfon, 
 Tho. Goare, 
 Jofe. Phelps, 
 Edward Heath. 
 
 In the Confeffion itfelf, which con hits of 
 53 Articles, after having exprefied their Con- 
 lent to the Calvinijtical Syftem, 
 Art. 33. it is affected, That Chr/Jl hath 
 here on Earth a Spiritual King- 
 dom, which is the Church, which hehath pur- 
 chafed and redeemed to himlllf as a peculiar 
 Inheritance : That this Church, as it is vifible 
 to us, is a Company of vifible Saints, called 
 and fepara "ted from the World by the Word and • 
 Spirit of God, to the vifible ProfciTion of 
 the Faith of the Gofpel, being baptized into 
 
 that 
 
the Englifli Anabaptifts. 8 i 
 
 that Faith, and joined to the Lord and each 
 other by mutual Agreement in the practical 
 Enjoyment of the Ordinances commanded 
 by Chrift their Head and King. 
 That being thus joined, every Art. %6. 
 Church has Power, for their bet- 
 ter Well-being, to choofe to themfelves meet 
 Perfons into the Office of Paftors, Teachers, 
 Elders, and Deacons, being qualified accord- 
 ing to the Word ; and that none other 
 
 have Power to impofe them, 
 either thefe, or any other. That Art. 58. 
 the due Maintenance of the Offi- 
 cers aforefaid, fhould be the free and volun- 
 tary Communication of the Church ; they 
 that preach the Gofpel fhould live on the 
 Gofpel 5 and not by Confiraint to be com- 
 pelled from the People by a 
 forced La~jj. That Baptifm is Art. 39. 
 an Ordinance of the New Tefta- 
 ment, given by Chrift, to be difpenfed only 
 upon Perfons profeffing Faith, or that are 
 Difciples, or taught. That the 
 Way and Manner of the difpenfing Art. 40. 
 of this Ordinance, the Scripture 
 holds out to be Dipping or Plunging the whole 
 Body under Water : It is added in the Margin, 
 That the Word baptizo fignifies to dip under 
 Water, yet fo as with convenient Garments, 
 both upon the Adminiftrator and 
 Subject, with all Modeftie. That Art. 41. 
 the Perfons deilgned by Chrift to 
 adminifcer this Ordinance, the Scriptures hold 
 
 G forth 
 
Sx A Brief History of 
 
 forth to be a preaching Difciple, and is no- 
 where tied to a particular Church 
 Art. 45. Officer. That alio fuch to whom 
 God hath given Gifts, being tried 
 in the Church, may and ought, by the Ap- 
 pointment of the Congregation, to prophefie, 
 according to the Proportion of 
 Art.fi. Faith. That a Civil Magiftrate 
 is an Ordinance of God - y and 
 that the Supreme Magiftracie of 
 49- this Kingdom, they believed to 
 be the King andParliament, freely 
 chofen by the Kingdom 5 and, That in all 
 thefe Civil Laws which have been enacted by 
 them, or for the prefent is, or fhall be or- 
 dained, they were bound to yield Subjection 
 
 and Obedience unto in the Lord, ■ although 
 
 they fhould fuffet never fo much from them, 
 in not actively fubmitting to fome Eccle- 
 fiaftical Laws, which might be conceived by 
 them to be their Duties to efta- 
 Art. 5c, blifli. That if God fhould provide 
 fuch a Mercy for them, as to in- 
 cline the Magiftrates Hearts fo far to tender 
 their Confciences, as that they might be 
 protected by them from Wrong, Injury, Op- 
 preffion, and Mcleftation, which long they 
 had formerly groaned under, by the Tyranny 
 ofthePrelatical Hierarchy, which God, through 
 Mercy, had made the preient King and Parlia- 
 ment wonderful Honourable, as an Inftru- 
 
 ment in his Hand, to throwe down ; 
 
 they fhould, they hoped, look at it as a Mercy 
 
 beyond 
 
the Englifli Anabaptifts. 83 
 
 beyond their Expectation : But if Art 51 
 God withheld the Magiftrates 
 Allowance and Furtherance herein, yet they 
 mult, notwithstanding, proceed together in 
 Chriftian Communion. That like- 
 wife unto all Men was to be given Art. 52. 
 whatfoever is their Due, Tributes, 
 Cuftoms, and all fuch lawful Du- 
 ties. And, laftly, That they A ^t. 53, 
 
 defired, from their Souls, to dis- 
 claim allHerefies and Opinions which are not 
 after Chrifi p . 
 
 On this Confeffion, Dr. Dan. Featly made 
 fome Animadverjions, in a Book which he 
 printed the next Year, 1645, and 
 called, The Dippers Dipt : u The p ag . 2I9 . 
 <c Pro&ors for our Anabaptifts, 
 " fays he, would bear us in hand, That all 
 " who of late have preached and written 
 iC againft that Seel, through the black Humour 
 cc of Malice, tanquam fepia atramento-, make 
 " it appear much more deformed and odious 
 << than it is : For, if we give Credit to this 
 < £ Confeffion, and the Preface thereof, thofe 
 < c who among us are branded with that Title, 
 
 P In 1646 was another Edition of this Confeffion^ in 
 which feveral Alterations were made, and the following 
 Article added ; It is lawful for a Chriftian 
 to be a Magistrate, or Civil Officer ; and ^ rft ^ 0o 
 alfo it is lawful to take an Oath, fo it be 
 Truth-, and in Judgmsnt, and in Righteoufnefs, for Confirma- 
 tion of Truths and ending of all Strife : A?td, That by raih 
 and vain Oaths the Lord is provoked, and this Land mourns. 
 
 <t 
 
 arc 
 
84 A Brief History of 
 
 " are neither Hereticks nor Schifmaticks, but 
 " tender-hearted Chriftians, upon whom, 
 <c through falfe Suggeftions, the Hand of Au- 
 " thority fell heavy, whilft the Hierarchie 
 IC flood. — — Be it fo ; for I defire to make 
 <c them rather better than worfe than they 
 cc are : I will therefore lay nothing to them 
 tc but what they own, nor bring any other 
 *< Confeffion againft them than this their 
 « Confeffion/' 
 
 In this therefore, he faid, he 
 Pag. 221. excepted, i. againft thofe Words 
 in Article 31, That <whatfoever 
 the Saints, or any of them, doe poffiefs or enjoy 
 of God in this Life, is by Faith. This, he 
 faid, favoured rank of the Herefie, That the 
 Right of ail PolTeffions, and Goods, or tem- 
 poral Ble flings, is founded in Grace, not in 
 Nature 5 and that we hold them by no legal 
 Tenure, but evangelical Tromifes. 
 
 Next, he excepted againft thofe Words in 
 Art. 3$, That the due Maintenance of the 
 Officers a fore faid, fhould be the free and vo- 
 luntary Communication of the Church. Thefe 
 Words, he faid, might carry a double Senfe : 
 If their Meaning was, That all religiousChri- 
 ftians ought freely to contribute to the Main- 
 tenance of the Miniftry, and fhould not need 
 any Law to inforce them, their good Affec- 
 tion to the Church and Churchmen was to be 
 embraced : But if their Meaning was, That 
 the Maintenance ought to depend upon the 
 voluntary Contributions of their Parifhioners, 
 
 and 
 
the Englifli Anabaptifts. 8 5 
 
 and that, in cafe the Flock fhould deny their 
 Shepherds either Part of their Milk or 
 Fleece, the Paftors fnould have no Affiftance 
 of Law to recover them 5 this their Opinion 
 was moft impious and facrilegious, and di- 
 re&ly repugnant to the Law of God, which 
 afligneth Tithes for the Maintenance of the 
 Prietis$ which Law of God in the O/^Tefta- 
 mem is not abrogated in the New± but ra- 
 ther confirmed, at leaft in theEquitie thereof; 
 for thrift, fpeaking of the tithing Mint and 
 Cummin, faith, Tkofe Things ye ought to do, 
 and not leave thefe Things undone, &c. 
 
 Thirdly 5 He excepted againft Art. 39, 
 That Baptifm is an Ordinance of the New 
 Teftament, given by Chrift, to be difpenfed 
 only upon Terfons prof effing Faith, &c. Here, 
 he faid, they fpoke out plain their Anabap- 
 tiftical Doctrine, wherby they excluded ail 
 the Children of the Faithful from the Sacra- 
 ment of Entrance into the Church, and the 
 only outward Means of their Salvation in 
 that State : But that the beft of their Proofs 
 fell fhort -, the Word only, which only could 
 prove this their Aflertion, being not to be 
 found in any of the Texts alledged in the 
 Margin of the Confeffion, nor the Senfe of 
 it to be collected from thence. 
 
 Fourthly 5 The Do&or excepted againft 
 Article the 40th ; The Way and Manner of 
 dijpenjmg this Ordinance, the Scripture holds 
 out to be Dipping or Plunging the whole Body 
 
 under Water. > ■ This, he faid, was new 
 
 G 3 Leaven? 
 
86 A Brief History of 
 
 Leaven ; for it could not be proved, that any 
 of the ancient, or German Anabaptifts, main- 
 tained any fuch Pofttion ; and the Scripture 
 alluded to Wafting and Sprinkling, as well 
 as to Tripping. 
 
 Fifthly 5 He excepted againft the 41ft Ar- 
 ticle, The Terfons defigned by Chrift to 
 difpenfe this Ordinance, the Scriptures hold 
 forth to be a Preaching Difciple. A *P re ach- 
 ing c Difciple, he laid, founded as harfhly as 
 a Scholar-Mafier, or a Lecturing Hearer : 
 And asked, If all be Teachers, where are 
 their Scholars ? 
 
 Sixthly i He excepted againft the 45th Ar- 
 ticle, That fuch to whom God hath given 
 Gifts, being tried in the Church, may and 
 ought, by the Appointment of the Congrega- 
 tion to prophecie. If, he faid, that Cuftom 
 which Archbp. Grindal would have introduced 
 into the Church in the Days of Q. Elifabeth, 
 
 » were put in Practice in England, and a 
 
 certain Number of learned and able Paftors 
 met at fomc fet Times, and having before 
 Notice of the Texts to be handled, fhould 
 every one in their Order deliver their feveral 
 Interpretations, Obfervations, and Applica- 
 tions thereof, which they call Trophecying ? 
 
 : queftionlcfs thereby the Minifters would 
 
 very much improve their Talents of Know- 
 ledge : But for rude and illiterate Mecha- 
 nic ks, without Calling, without Knowledge 
 of Aits or Tongues, upon a Scripture read 
 in the Congregation, to give their fudden 
 
 Judg. 
 
the Englifli Anabaptifts. 87 
 
 Judgments and Interpretations thereof, as was 
 the Manner of the Anabaptifts-, was an in- 
 tolerable Prcfumption in them, and unfuffer- 
 able Abufe in the Church. 
 
 In his Dedication to the Parliament, he 
 obferved, That the Anabaptifts preached, 
 and printed, and pra&ifed their heretical 
 Impieties openly : Thar they held their 
 Conventicles weekly in our chief Citie, and 
 the Suburbs thereof, and there prophefied 
 by Turns : That they printed not only Ana- 
 baptifm, from whence they took their Name, 
 but many other mod damnable Doctrines, 
 tending to carnal Liberty, Familifm, and a 
 Medley and Hodgepodge of all Religions 5 
 witnefs a Tractate of q 'Divorce* in which 
 the Bonds of Marriage are let loofe to inor- 
 dinate Luft : A Pamphlet, entituled, Mans 
 Mortality ', in which the Soul is caft into an 
 Endymion Sleep, from the Hour of Death 
 to the Day of Judgment : And a bold Libel, 
 offered to Hundreds, and to fome at the Door 
 of the Houfe of Commons, called, The Vin- 
 dication of the Royal CommiJJion of King 
 Jefusj wherin the brazen- fae'd Author blufh'd 
 not to brand all the Reformed Churches, and 
 the whole Chriftian World at this Day, 
 which chriften their Children, and fign them 
 with the Seal of the Covenanr, with the 
 odious Name of an Antichriftian Faction. 
 
 * Mihons Doctrine and Difcipline of Divorce, drci 
 1644. 
 
 G 4 As 
 
88 A Brief History of 
 
 As to their TratJices, they flock'd, he faid, in 
 great Numbers, to their jordans y and both 
 Sexes entered into the River, and were dipt 
 after their Manner, with a kind of Spell, con- 
 taining the Heads of their erroneous Tenets, 
 and their engaging themielves in their lchit 
 matical Covenants and Combination of Sepa- 
 ration. He added, That the Tapifts and 
 Anabaptifts had beftirred themielves above 
 all others fince the Waters were troubled, 
 andboafted in fecretof their great Draught of 
 Fifli, the Tapifts of r 20.000 Profelytes, the 
 Anabaptifts of 47 Churches. 
 
 In 1646 was this Confejjion re- 
 
 1646. printed, with the following Title : 
 
 A Confejjion of Faith of Seven 
 Congregations or Churches ^Chrift in Lon- 
 don, which are commonly (but unjuftly) called 
 Anabaptifts. Tublijhed for the Vindication 
 of the Truth y and Information of the Igno- 
 rant 5 Ukewife for the taking off of thofe 
 Afperfions which are frequently See. caft 
 upon them. The Second Impreflion, Cor- 
 rected and Enlarged. London, Printed by 
 Mat. Simmons y 6cc. 1646. 
 
 This Edition is dedicated to the Right Ho- 
 nourable the Lords, Knights Citizens, and Bur- 
 gtffcs in Parliament aflembied. In this Dedica- 
 tion Notice is taken of Dr. Feat If s Book being 
 
 v In 1660 the General Anabaptifts owned, That the 
 Cowfejfion which they then pulliihed, was approved by more 
 than 20.000. 
 
 lately 
 
the Englifli Anabaptiflfs. 89 
 
 lately prefented to them, and of the many 
 hainous Accufations, which, they faid, were 
 unjuftly and falfly laid againft them in his 
 Dedicatory Epiftle : And they obferved how 
 neceilary they conceived it to be, to make 
 fome Declaration of their Innocency 5 and, 
 to that end, to prefenr to their View this 
 their Confeffion of Faith. ' Here, they faid, 
 1 they unfainedly declared what in their 
 c Hearts they judged, and what they taught; 
 c and according to this Rule, they defired, 
 ' and endeavoured, through the Grace of 
 c God, to lead their Lives. ' 
 
 Next follows an Epiflle to the judicious 
 and impartial Reader. In this they compare 
 their Treatment with that of Chrift and his 
 Apofties $ and obferve, That they are blamed, 
 becauie they frequent not the Temples > and 
 are conceived by fome to be in an Error, 
 becauie there were but a few of them. As 
 the Watchmen dealt with the Spoufe oiChriJi 
 in her feeking her Beloved, fo,they complain- 
 ed, they were dealt with ; being found out of 
 that common and broad Way they themfelves 
 walk in, they fmote them, and took away their 
 Vail, and vailed them with Reproaches, and 
 odious Names, to incenfe all, both Good 
 and Bad, againft them, not fearing to charge 
 them with holding Free- will, falling from 
 Grace, denying Election, Original Sin, Chil- 
 drens Salvation, the Old Teftament, and Mens 
 Propriety in their Eftates, and cenfuring all 
 to be damned that are not of their Judgment, 
 
 All 
 
<?o A Brief History of 
 
 All which, they faid, they difclaimed, be- 
 caufe they were untrue. And as for the 
 other Things whereof they were accufed, they 
 referred thofe who dcfired further Satisfa&ion 
 to the Anfwers of them, one of which is 
 named in the Margin, entituled, Brief Con- 
 fiderations on "Dr. FeatlyV Book, entituled y 
 The Dipper Dipt. By Sam. Richard/on, one 
 of the Subfcribers to this Preface, who are in 
 all fixteen : 
 
 Tho. Gunne, Tho. Munden> 
 
 John Mabbit, Geo. Tipping, 
 
 John Spilsberry, Will* Kiffen, 
 
 Sam. Richard/on, Tho. Holmes, 
 
 *Paul Hobfon, Hanfert Knotty s, 
 
 Thomas Goare, Tho. Tatiext, 
 
 Ben. Cocke s, 'Denis le Bar bier > 
 
 Tho. Kilicop, Chrifioph. Tturet. 
 
 In a Marginal Note, added in this Edition 
 to Art. XLVIII. it is affirmed, That concern- 
 ing the Worfirip of God-, there is but one Law- 
 giver, which isJefusChrift, who hath given 
 Laws and Rules fufficient in his Word for his 
 Wormip 5 — - That it is the Magiftrate's Duty 
 to tender the Liberty of Mens Confciences ; 
 
 and that they believe it their exprefs 
 
 Duty, efpecially in Matters of Religion, to be 
 fully perfuaded in their own Minds of the 
 Lawfulnefs of what they do 5 as knowing, 
 whatfoevcr is not of Faith is Sin. On the 
 
the Englifh Anabaptifts. p i 
 
 fir [I of thefe Pofitions Erafmus r . a T ., 
 
 ^ j i r n T> i E P lft - Llber « 
 
 made the following Remark : ,{ y ^ 
 i\fo;z eft-, inquiunt, Magiftratui 
 parendum, nifijuxta Scriptura ^Divina regulas 
 utatur poteftate. Scripturas ant em interpre- 
 tari noftrum eft, non aliorum. — — If it be 
 nor lawful for any one to appoint any thing 
 but what is contained in the Scriptures, why 
 did John the Baptift prefcribe to his Difci- 
 ples certain Prayers and Fails ? Why did James 
 Biihop of Jerusalem make a Decree concern- 
 ing Things ftrangled, eating Blood ) &c. But 
 to return : 
 
 This Book of Richardforis I never faw r 5 
 but it is plain from Dr. Feat If s Dedication, 
 that he did not in that, or in his Animadver- 
 Jions on this ConfeJJion, charge the Anabap- 
 tifts with holding any of the Opinions above- 
 mentioned. But, however thefe Particular 
 ones might be clear of them, they of the 
 General Sort could fcarce s defend themfelves 
 from them. In a Book intituled, The Vail 
 turrid Afide, written by a Particular Ana- 
 baptiftof Afoford in Kent, we arc aflured the 
 molf of the Anabaptifts in Kent and Suffex 
 deny the Doctrine of the Trinity, zndChrift's 
 Satisfaction > disbelieve God's Omniprefence , 
 
 s This feems to be owned by the Authors of the Articles 
 of Faith of the Congregation meeting at Talkie chandlers 
 Hall, 1697 ; finceone Reafon given by them for publifhing 
 this their Confeffwn, is, That this Church might be diftinguifh- 
 ed from fuch Congregations that fliroud themfelves under the 
 fame Name, though itnfowid in the Fundamentals of Chn- 
 ftian Reitgio?}, 
 
 affirm, 
 
92 A Brief History of 
 
 affirm, That God is in the Shape of Man ; 
 and that the Soul fleeps with the 
 
 H™^ B0d ^ in tllC GraVC 5 aild C ° Unt 
 
 viCx^&c. figging of Tfalms unlawful. 
 
 A SouU Blackwood^ of the Particular 
 
 fetching Sort, afferted, That God's decree- 
 
 pTofS' *"g °f sin > bdn s aWa y to mani - 
 
 ed. 1658. feft the Glory of his Juftice, is a 
 
 good Thing ; That God works 
 about Sin, by removing the Impediments that 
 hindered Men from Sinning, and fetting be- 
 fore them Obje&s wherbyhe knows their Cor- 
 ruptions will be enticed ; and that his ten- 
 dring Means to All, is no otherwife than the 
 fhining of the Sun upon the Blind: Thus re- 
 preienting God as a&ing by the moft trickifh 
 and deceitful of Men. He declaimed againft 
 Parochial Churches, as brought in by Antichrift 
 of late Days 5 and faid, That the Proteftant 
 
 Churches had erred, in retaining 
 Vanity of tne Baptifm they had from the 
 chUdiJJj Bap- Hands of Popifh Priefts, and in 
 **foh p- 17-4- their Continuation of Epifcopacy. 
 
 A. R. afferted, That the Parifh 
 Afifemblies are not fuch Churches to whom 
 the Power of Chrift is committed : That 
 the Church of the Jews flood not by Faith, 
 and Circumcifion of the Heart, but meer- 
 Jy upon Nature, and Circumcifion of the 
 
 Plefh : That neither Abraham nor 
 p. 18. his Seed were circumcifed, be- 
 
 caufe the Covenant was made 
 with him : That, in refpeel of the Covenant 
 
 of 
 
the Englifti Anabaptifts. 95 
 
 of Grace, the Children of Be- 
 lievers have no more Privilege \'^ 
 than thofe of Heathens, Turks, 
 and Infidels : That the Maintain- P. 29. 28. 
 ers of Infant Baprifm are juftiy to be 
 efteemed the greateJl'Deluders and ApoJiates 9 
 both in Faith and Worship. Some of them 
 feem infe&ed with the Principles of Antino- 
 mianifm> under the Form of Free Grace > 
 and others, fo far from thinking, with the 
 German Anabaptifts, that the Old Teftament 
 is abrogated, and quite null, reckon the Jewifli 
 Sabbath of prefent Obligation, and obferve 
 both that and the Lord's Day, and abftain 
 from Blood, and Things ftrangled. 
 
 But now appeared another Seft, l( < 
 
 which, in a little time, eclipfed 
 that of the Anabaptifts •, and were more con- 
 formable to the Principles and Practices of 
 thofe in Germany ', except that they did not 
 rebaptize, as laying afide the Ufeof both the 
 Chriftian Sacraments : Thefe, like 
 the German Ecjtatic Baptifts, were 
 feized with Gjuakings and Tremblings, from 
 whence they had the Name of Quakers given 
 them : They had Heavings, and violent Agi- 
 tations of their Bodies, when they fpoke in 
 their Meetings, and would knock and beat 
 themfelves : They dealt much in c Dreams, 
 t Vifions, and * Prophecies. Some of them 
 
 E Thefe were not peculiar to the Quakers at this Time, as 
 appears by the tv/o following Books ; printed 1650, and 1655.. 
 and thus intituled, Pfendochrijlus - t Satan at Noon. 
 
 ran 
 
94 A Brief History of 
 
 ran about the Streets, crying, Wo I Wo I Wo ! 
 and threatening divine judgments, and the 
 moft dreadful Vengeance : They were fome- 
 times ieized with Fits of Silence, and had 
 what they called their Silent Meetings ; and 
 pretended to have a Spirit given them beyond 
 all the Forefathers, fince the Days of the 
 Apoftles, in the Apoftafy : They affected to 
 oppofe the Authority of the Civil Magiftrate, 
 even in fo (mall a Matter as keeping their 
 Shop-windows (hut on a Week day, and 
 made it a Matter of Confcience to talk like 
 their Neighbours, and call Things by the fame 
 Name as they called them. Some of them 
 would go into the Churches when Divine 
 Service was adminiftring, and there difturb 
 and interrupt the Minifters, and abufe them 
 with the vileft Language : But of one Prin- 
 ciple of the German Anabaptifts they took / 
 great Care, to wit, that of a voluntary Con- 
 tempt of the World, and defpifing Riches 5 
 it being become a Proverb, As rich as a 
 Quaker. 
 
 The Principles and 'DoElrines of thefe 
 People were explained and vindicated by one 
 u Robert Barclay of Ury in Scotland, which 
 he called, in his Cant, The Tlace of his Pil- 
 grimage, in 1675, if not fconer : Thefe 
 
 were 
 
 u An Apology for the true Cbrijlian Drjimt)\ as the 
 fame is held forth and preached by the People called, in 
 Scorn, Quaker*, &e. Printed in the Year 1678. 4.C0. 
 
 I. That 
 
the Englifii Anabaptifts. pj 
 
 I. That the Teftimony of the Spirit, is that 
 alone by which the true Knowledge of God 
 hath been, is, and can only be revealed 5 and 
 that this divine Revelation, and inward Illu- 
 mination, is that which is evident and clear 
 of itfclf, forcing, by its own Evidence and 
 Clearnefs, the well-dipofed Underftanding 
 to affent, irrejiftibly moving the fame ther- 
 unto, even as the common Principles of na- 
 tural Truths move and incline the Mind to a 
 natural Affent. 
 
 II. That the Scriptures of Truth, p . 
 becaufe they are only a 'Declara- 
 tion of the Fountain, and not the Fountain 
 itfelf, therefore they are not to be efteemed 
 the principal Ground of all Truth and Know- 
 ledge, nor yet the adequate primary Rule of 
 Faith and Manners ; but their Certainty and 
 Authority depends upon the Spirit by which 
 they were di&ated. 
 
 III. All Adams Pofterity, both Jews and 
 Gentiles, as to the firft Adam y or earthly Man, 
 is fallen, and fubjeft unto the Power and 
 Seed of the Serpent. Nevertheiefs, this Seed 
 is not imputed to Infants, until by Tranfgref- 
 iion they actually join themfelves therewith. 
 
 IV. In whom a holy and pure Birth is fully 
 brought forth, the Eody of Death and Sin 
 comes to be crucified and removed, and their 
 Hearts united and fubjc&ed unto the Truth, 
 fo as not to obey any Suggeftion of the Evil 
 One, but to be free from actual finning, and 
 
 tranf- 
 
96 A Brief History of 
 
 tranfgrefling the Law of God, and in that 
 refpeft perfect. 
 
 V. By the Gift or Light of God, as it is 
 manifefted and received in the Heart by the 
 Strength and Power thereof, every true Mi- 
 
 nifter of the Gofpel is ordained, and may 
 
 and ought to preach the Gofpel, though with- 
 out human Commillion or Literature. 
 
 VI. They who want the Authority of this 
 divine Gift, or have not the true Grace of God, 
 however learned or authorized by the Com- 
 miffions of Men and Churches, are to be 
 efteemed but as 'Deceivers, and not true Mi- 
 niftersoi the Gofpel. 
 
 VII. They who have received this holy and 
 unfpotted Gift, as they have freely received, 
 fo are they freely to give, without Hire or 
 Bargaining. 
 
 VIII. AUWorfhip, \>ox\\Praifes, Traiers, 
 and Preachings, which Man fets about at his 
 
 own Appointment, whether they be a 
 
 prefcribed Form, or Prayers conceived ex- 
 temporarily, they are all but Superftitions, 
 Will-worfhip, and abominable Idolatry in 
 the Sight of God. 
 
 IX. Baptifm is a pure and fpiritual Thing, 
 of the Spirit and Fire. - — — The Baptifm of 
 Infants is a meer human Tradition, for which 
 neither Precept nor Practice is to be found in 
 all the Scripture. 
 
 X. All the vain Cuftoms and Habits of 
 the World, they (aid, were to be reje&ed 
 by thofe who come to this Fear, to fear al- 
 ways j 
 
the Englifh AnabapCifts. 97 
 
 ways 5 fuch as taking off the Hat to a Man, 
 the Bowings and Cringings of the Body, and 
 fuch other Salutations of that kind ; unprofit- 
 able Plays, frivolous Recreations, Sportirigs 
 and Gainings, invented to play away Time > 
 calling the Months and Feftivals of the Year 
 by their common Names.. 
 
 XI. Theie People likewife, like the German 
 Anabaptifts, refufed to take a lawful Oath 
 before a Magiftrate, and to bear Arms, or go 
 to War. 
 
 XII. They wore a particular Habit, and 
 affefted to talk in a manner peculiar to 
 themfelves, as ufing Tea for Tes, and Thou 
 and Thee in (read oiTou. 
 
 XIII. Lajlly \ They were like them, in re- 
 filling to pay Tithes ; but had more worldly 
 Prudence than to proteft againft other annual 
 Payments, as Quit-rents, Taxes, &c. 
 
 It appears by a Palfage in the 
 Life of the Lord Chief juftice p. ^. 
 Hales, how much the Anabap- 
 tifts were favoured by Cromwell about this 
 Time. The Judge had a Caufe brought 
 before him, of ibme of them who had rufhed 
 into a Church, and diflutb'd a Congregation 
 while they were receiving the Sacrament, not 
 without ibme Violence : On which he was 
 minded to proceed feverely againft them" > 
 for he faid, It was intolerable for Men, who 
 pretended fo highly to Liberty of Confcience, 
 to go and diftutb others : But they were fo 
 fupported by feme great Magistrates and Offi- 
 
 H cers, 
 
5>8 A Brief History of 
 
 cers, that a Stop was put to his Proceedings. 
 But now, it feems, they were not fo much in 
 Cromwell's Efteem 5 the Confe- 
 1658. quence of which was, that he 
 was not fo much in theirs, in- 
 fomuch that they framed x Articles of Im- 
 peachment againft him, and entred into fe- 
 veral Confpiracies to affafllnate him $ and a 
 Pamphlet was publifhed by W* 
 1657. Allen, intituled, Killing no Mur- 
 der 5 and, as they own'd them- 
 felves, began to whifper together of return- 
 ing to their firft Husband, i. e. in their 
 Cant, to their Duty and Loyalty to the King : 
 Por this Purpofe y they drew up an Addrefs, 
 which Lord Clarendon has printed 
 Vol. III. p. * n k' ls Hiftory, to the King, who 
 489. edit. was then at Bruges, to offer him 
 1 7°4- their Affiftance, on fuch Terms 
 
 as they mentioned. In this Ad- 
 drefs they owned, That they had been wan- 
 dring, deviating, and roving up and down, 
 this Way and that Way, through all the dan- 
 gerous, uncouth, and untrodden Paths of 
 f anatick and Enthufiaftick Notions. Lord 
 Clarendon* however, obferved of the Se&aries 
 who joined in this Addrefs, That they always 
 pretended a jujl EJleem and Value of all Men 
 who had faithfully adhered to the King, and 
 
 * An Impeachment of High Treafon againft Oliver Crom- 
 well, &c 1649. 
 
 f They were joined by fc-veral hitependents and Quakers. 
 
 lived 
 
the Englifh Anabaptifts. pp 
 
 lived foberly and virtuonfiy. But the Ob- 
 fervation made of them, That they feem to 
 have returned to their Allegiance to the King, 
 not out of Confcience, but becaufe they found 
 them/elves undone without him, feems to 
 be but too well grounded : Even this Addrefs 
 is one Proof of it, fince it is clogg'd with fuch 
 Demands, as, if they thought and reflected 
 at ail, they mud know, neither would nor 
 could be granted : Thefe were as follow : 
 
 i. That the King do refettle the Long Par- 
 liament with the excluded Members. 
 
 2. That he ratify all the Conceflions made 
 by his Father at the Treaty in the Iflc of IVighi : 
 Which were fuch, as Lord Clarendon eife- 
 where obferved, as, in truth, did, with the 
 Prefervation of the Name and Life of the 
 King, near as much eftablifh a Republican 
 Government as was fettled after his Murder, 
 and fuch as his Majefty yielded to with much 
 lefs Chearfulnefs than he walked to the Scaf- 
 fold. 
 
 3. That he fhould fet up an Univerfal To- 
 leration of all Religions. 
 
 4. That he fhould abolifh all Payment of 
 Tithes. 
 
 5. That he fhould pafs a General Ad of 
 Oblivion. 
 
 How much the fir ft of thefe was laboured 
 for at this Time, appears by the following 
 Pamphlets publifhed the next Year, 1659 : 
 
 H 2 A Vm- 
 
too A Brief Histori of 
 
 A Vindication of the Old and New Se< 
 eluded Members from falfe Calumnies, &c. 
 
 Some Reafons humbly propofed to the Offi- 
 cers of the Army, for the Readmiffion of the 
 Long Parliament. 
 
 The Caufe of God, and of the [e Nations. 
 
 The Good Old Caufe drefs'd in its Pri- 
 mitive Lufire, and fet forth to all Men. By 
 Robert Fitz-Brian. 
 
 A ^Declaration of the Army, inviting the 
 Members of the Long Parliament. 
 
 Some of the Arguments and Reafons againfl 
 the Office and Title of Kingfhip) 5 with many 
 others. 
 
 The Third Demand, of an Univerfal Tole- 
 ration, had likewife been long infifted upon 
 by the Anabaptifts, Independents, &c and 
 as zealouily oppofed by the Presbyterians. 
 
 On this Occafion they publifhed the fol- 
 lowing Tracls : 
 ] i. Liberty of Confcience. 1643. 
 
 2. The Arraignment of Perfecution, &c. 
 1645. 
 
 3. Twelve Queries , fbewing in what Cafes 
 'Difference in Religion is to be tolerated. 
 1646. 
 
 4. The Neceffity of Toleration in Matters 
 of Religion. By Samuel Richardfon. 1647. 
 
 5 . The Chriflian Moderator $ or, Perfecu- 
 tion for Religion condemned. 1651. 
 
 6. The Bloody Tenet of Perfecution ar- 
 raigned. 
 
 The 
 
the Englifli Anabaptifts. lot 
 
 The Fourth Demand was a Principle 
 efpoufed by our Englifh Anabaptifts, and 
 which was one of the German Anabaptifts 
 Tenets, though they did not think it proper 
 to put it in their ConfeJ/lons. On this Occa* 
 fion were printed, 
 
 Vindicia Decimarum. By J. Carter. 1 640, 
 And fome Years after a Book with this 
 Title : 
 
 England'^- 'Deplorable Condition : Shewing 
 the Commonwealth's Malady by Sacrilege-, 
 and want of Duty in the People j Conten- 
 tion, want of Charity, in the Miniftry ; 'Per- 
 jury, and want of Truth, in both : And its 
 Remedy, by the Peoples Obedience and Libe- 
 rality s the Minifters Love and Unity ; Both, 
 their Repentance and Fidelity. Briefly de- 
 clared in Three Treatifes, Of the Minifters 
 Patrimony, and Peoples Duty 5 and Propo- 
 fals to reconcile fuch as are for Lordly Epi- 
 fcopacy, and Unordained Presbytery 3 for 
 Popular Independency, and Upflart Anti- 
 pxdobaptiftry : And againft Perjury. Alfa 
 a Petition for the jews. 1659. In this 
 Tract, the learned Author, who has con- 
 cealed his Name, and only flgncd his 
 Epiftle prefixed to it, E. F. de 
 C. V. obferves, That Tithes, as Pag- 5. 
 now they are paid, were given 
 by Lucius, and his People, is more than pro- 
 bable, fith they were governed in Religion, 
 end the Difcipline of the Church, and Main- 
 tenance thereof, was after the Example 
 
 H 3 
 
ici A Brief History of 
 
 the Romifi Church, which then was in its 
 Parity, or very little fwerving from the Apo- 
 ftolic faith : Thar, at that Time, Tithes 
 were paid at Rome 5 fince all Chriftians are 
 bound, both by the Law of Nature, and In- 
 ftitution of the Church, to pay Tithes : And 
 St. Auguftine faith, Tithes are re- 
 Serm. I. quired of due Debt ; and he who 
 
 Dom.poft ^j|j nQt - e t i iemj invades an- 
 
 other Man's Goods : And again ; 
 lie who gave thee the Whole, requires again 
 the Tenth of thee $ not to profit Himfelf, but 
 us : That in the National Council of £ah 
 cuith, Anno 7? 5, in the Reigns of K. O fa aid 
 and Offa> Tithes were commanded to be paid, 
 as a fpecial Gift and Tribute we owe to God : 
 
 That the Reafon why the Devil 
 Pag. J2. is fo bufy, feeing a Reformation 
 
 and Purgation of God's Service 
 and Miniftcrs is now in Agitation, to cleanfe 
 us from Romifh and other fupeiftitious Dregs > 
 to cry down the Minifters of Chrift, and their 
 Maintenance too, as Popifh and Antichriftian, 
 is, that fo he may draw us from abhorring 
 Idols, to commit Sacrilege, which indeed is 
 the greater Sin $ for this Sin will ferve well 
 his Turn to overthrow, not only the begun 
 Reformation, but alfo the profeffed Proteftant 
 Religion from among us, that fo he may hereby 
 niake our Reformers the c DeJirojers of our Re- 
 ligion ; for, by this Means, he knows our Mini- 
 dry will become poor, illiterate, and contemp- 
 tible, wanting Books to provide, or Time tq 
 
 ftudy i 
 
the Englifh Anabaptifts. 107 
 
 Spirit, or in the Name of the Lord Jefus 
 Chrift, fuch only of them as profefs Repent- 
 ance towards God, and Paith towards our 
 Lord Jeftts Chrijl : As for all fuch who 
 preach not this Doftrine, but inftead therof 
 that Scripturlefs Thing of Sprinkling of In- 
 fants, fallly called Baptifm, ^ they are here 
 
 faid to be utterly denied -, forafmuch as it is 
 commanded, that we fhould have no Fel- 
 lowfhip with the unfruitful Works of Dark- 
 nzfs, but rather to reprove them. The 
 Twelfth aflerts it to be the Duty of all fuch 
 who are Believers baptized, to draw nigh 
 unto God, in Submiffion to that Principle 
 of Chrift's Do&rine, to wir, Prayer, and Lay- 
 ing on of Hands, that they may receive the 
 Promife of the Holy Spirit. The Fourteenth 
 fhews 3 due and becoming Regard to the 
 Power of Godlinefs, or prafticaL Holinefs, 
 in declaring, That unlefs Men profefllng and 
 pra&ifing the Form and Order of Chrift's 
 Doftrine, (hall alfo beautifie the fame with a 
 holy and wife Converfation in all Godlinefs 
 and Honefty,theProfeffion of the vifible Form 
 will be rendred to them of no Effect. The 
 Fifteenth is much to the fame Purpofe with 
 the Fifth. By the Sixteenth, b Tithes, or 
 any forced Maintenance, are utterly denied 
 
 b You continue Tithes and Offer i?igs of People, as if 
 Qhr'tfi were nor come in the Flem. Williavi Ktffeifs An- 
 
 fyver to Ricraffs LQok'mg-glafsfox the Anab^ti^s'. 
 
 to 
 
to8 A Bri ef History of 
 
 to be the Maintenance of Gofpel Minifters. 
 The Seventeenth afferts, That the true Church 
 of Chrifl ought, after the jirft and fecond Ad- 
 monition, to rejeft all Heretics ; and, in the 
 Name of the Lord, to withdraw from all fuch 
 as profefsthe Way of the Lord, but walk dif- 
 orderly, or anywife caufe Divifions or Of- 
 fences, &c. The Nineteenth orders, That 
 the c poor Saints belonging to the Church 
 of Chrifl are to be fufficiently provided for 
 by the Churches, that they neither want 
 Food or Raiment, and this by a free and 
 voluntary Contribution, and not of Necef- 
 fity, or by the Conftraint or Power of the 
 Magistracy. The Two and twentieth affirms. 
 That when Chrifl {hall appear, they fhall not 
 only appear with him in Glory, but reign 
 with him on the Earth. The Twenty -fourth 
 Article is a very honeft Declaration againft 
 offering any Force or Violence to the Con- 
 fciences of Men : It is, it fays, the Will and 
 Mind of God, in thefe Gofpel-times, that all 
 Men fhould have the free Liherty of their 
 own Confciences in Matters of Religion or 
 Worfhip, without the leaft Oppreffion or Per- 
 fection, as Jimply upon that Account. In 
 the Twenty-fifth, they declare, That in cafe 
 the Civil Power do or fhall at any time im- 
 pofe Things about Matters of Religion, which 
 they, through Confcience toward God, cannot 
 
 c This I never knew put in E-vecution where I hsvc 
 
 lived. 
 
 actually 
 
the Englifli Anabaptifts. ioj 
 
 ftudy $ and fo there will not be found, as 
 heretofore, able Men to convince the Gain- 
 fayers : That if it be Oppreffion, 
 Injuftice, and Theft, for any Per- p a g. 14. 
 fons under Heaven to make a 
 Law to take away the Freehold and Inherit- 
 ance of an innocent Man, or to difanul and 
 alter the Teftament of a pious Man deceafed, 
 who, before he died, bequeathed his Lands 
 and Goods to whom he pleafed 5 then, cer- 
 tainly, the Sin is aggravated in any Perfons 
 that fhall eftablifh Iniquity by a Law, to take 
 away the Tithes, Glebes, and Lands given to 
 God, w T hich were the Gifts and Legacies of 
 holy Men, devoted to God for the Main- 
 tenance of his Service and Minifters, out of 
 a Zeal to God's Glory, being moved ther- 
 unto by the Spirit of God, or to deprive the 
 Minifters of their Freehold and Inheritances, 
 which not only by God's Law, but by ib many 
 Laws and Ads of Parliament by our Anceftors* 
 through many Ages, is confirmed unto them. 
 
 In 1660 was printed a ConfeJJwn of thofe 
 called General Anabaptifts. 1 find it ob- 
 ferved, that this Diftin&ion of the Englijh 
 Anabaptifts into General and T articular Ana- 
 baptifts, or thofe who have followed the 
 Arminian Tenets, and thofe who have pro- 
 feffed the Calvinifticah has been ever firu ' 
 the Beginning of the Reformation, But th 
 cant be true, for a very plain and evidc 
 Reafon, viz. That it was many Years of 
 the Beginning of the Reformation^ bef - 
 
 H 4. t 
 
104 A Brief History of 
 
 there were any Englijh Anabaptifts in Eng- 
 land. However this be, the ConfeJJion above- 
 mentioned is thus entituled 5 
 
 A Brief ConfeJJion or Declaration of Faith, 
 lately prefented to King Charles the II. fet 
 forth by many of us who are falfely called 
 Anabaprifts 5 to inform all Men, in thefe 
 Days 0/ Scandal and Reproach, of our inno- 
 cent Belief and Practice 5 for which we are 
 not only refolved to fuffer < PerJecution to the 
 Lofs of our Goods, but alfo Life it f elf ra- 
 ttier than to decline the fame. 
 
 Sidfcribcd by certain Elders, 'Deacons, 
 
 and Brethren, met ^London, in Behalf 
 
 of themj elves, and many others unto 
 
 whom they belong, in London, and in 
 
 fever al Counties of this Nation, who 
 
 are of the fame Faith with us. 
 
 It confifts ot 25 Articles : In the Second 
 
 of thefe, it is affirmed, That God, in the 
 
 Beginning, made Man upright ; from which 
 
 State he fell by Tranfgrefllon, and fo 
 
 came into a miierable and mortal Eftate, 
 
 fubjeft unto the frjl Death. In the Third 
 
 they feem on Purpofe to avoid faying 
 
 any thing of the old German Anabaptifts 
 
 Tenet, and only affirm, That Jefus Ckrifl 
 
 was born of the Virgin Mary. ' The Fifth 
 
 determines, That fome are to be chofen by 
 
 the Church from among the gifted Brethren, 
 
 and ordained by Fading, Prayer, and Laying 
 
 on of Hands, for the Wprk of the Miniftry \ 
 
 but that all fuch who are only brought up 
 
 in 
 
the EngliCh Anabaptills. 105 
 
 in the Schools of human Learning, to the 
 attaining human Arts, and Varietie of Lan- 
 guages, fceking rather the Gain of large 
 
 Revenues, than the Gain of Souls to God, 
 fuch they utterly denied, i?. Barclay charged 
 it on the moft of Troteflants, as affirming, 
 That Man without the true Grace of God 
 tnay be a true Minifler of the Gofpel. This 
 feems to be one of the Tenets of the old 
 German Anabaptifts, who held, That the 
 Minifters of the Churches were not lawfully 
 and ordinarily called to the Miniftry, becaufe 
 they did not do themfeives thofe Things 
 which they taught others 5 as if the Efficacy 
 of the Word and Sacraments depended on 
 the Worthinefs of thofe who miniflred them. 
 But the Office and CommilTIon arc the fame, 
 however unqualified they are who are in it : 
 And if it was not fo, the Faith of Chriftians 
 would not (land in the Power of God, but 
 the Hplinefs of Men, which no one can 
 know. This Confideration, I fuppofe, caus'd 
 Dr. JVidif to fay, That a citrfed 
 Man doth fully the Sacraments, Life 3 p. 96. 
 though it be to his ^Damnation ; 
 for Men ben not z Autours ofthefe Sacraments. 
 The Eighth Article allerts, That God hath, 
 even before the Foundation of the World, 
 chofen or eleded to eternal Life fuch as 
 believe, and fo are in Chrifi j yet that the 
 
 2 Au£tor is dicitur, a quo quis aucftoritatem, id eft, jus 
 deminii in rem quarnpiam accepir. Calyini Lexicon Ju- 
 
 ridicuv: . 
 
 Pur- 
 
106 A Brief History of 
 
 Purpofe of God, according to Election, was 
 not in the lead arifmg from forefeen Faith in, 
 or Works of Righteoufnefs done by the Crea- 
 ture, but only from the Mercy, Goodnefs, 
 and Compaffion dwelling in God, and fo it 
 is of him that calleth. By the Seventh, it 
 is ailerted, That there is One Holy Spirit, the 
 precious Gift of God 5 and that there are 
 Three that bear Record in Heaven, the Fa- 
 ther, the Word, and the Holy Ghoft, and 
 thefe Three are One. The Ninth obferves, 
 That Men, not confidered fimply as Men, 
 but ungodly Mai, were of old ordained to 
 Salvation. In the 'Tenth, it is concluded, 
 That all Children dying in their Infancy, 
 having not actually tranfgreffed againft the 
 Law of God in their own Perfons, are only 
 
 fubjeft to the firft Death -, and not that 
 
 any one of them, dying in that Eftate, (hall 
 fuffer for Adams Sin eternal Punifhmcnt in 
 Hell, which is the fecond Death 5 for to fuch 
 belongs the Kingdom of Heaven. The 
 Eleventh affirms, That the right and only 
 way of gathering Churches according to 
 CkrijTs Appointment, is firft to teach or preach 
 the Gofpel to the Sons and Daughters of Men 5 
 and then to baptize, that is, in Englijh, * dip, 
 in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy 
 
 a This is a Miftake, as appears by Hebr.ix. 10. OurEzg- 
 
 lifb Tranflators have rendered the Words, diverfe IVa/b- 
 
 ings : The Greek is, diverfe Baptifms. But now, if we turn 
 
 o Numbers viii. 7. we fhall find, that one of thefe Bap- 
 
 ■ifms was fpring'ling Water of Purifying. 
 
 Spirit? 
 
the Englifli Anabaptifts. 109 
 
 a&ually obey 5 then they, with Teter alfo, 
 do fay, That they ought, in fuch Cafes, to 
 obey God rather than Man ; and accordingly 
 do hereby declare their whole and holy In- 
 tent and Purpofe, That, through the Help 
 of Grace, they will not yield, nor, in fuch 
 Cafes, in the leaft, actually obey them 5 yet 
 humbly purpofing, in the Lord's Strength, 
 patiently to fuffer whatfoever fhall be in- 
 fli&ed upon them for their confcionable 
 Forbearance. This ConfeJJion is concluded 
 with an utter Declaration againft all thofe 
 wicked and devilifh Reports and Reproaches 
 falfly caft upon them, as though fome of 
 them, in and about the City of London, 
 had lately gotten Knives, crooked Knives, 
 and the like, and great Store of Arms, be- 
 fides what was given forth by Order of 
 Parliament, intending to cut the Throats of 
 fuch as were contrary-minded to them in 
 Matters of Religion 5 and that many fuch 
 Knives and Arms, for the carrying on fome 
 fecret Defign, had been found in fome of 
 their Houfes by Search. 
 
 This ConfeJJion is faid to be fubferibed by 
 certain Elders, Deacons, and Brethren, met 
 at London in the * Fir ft Month, 
 called March, 1660, in the Be- * This is the 
 half of themfelves, and many gS^f* 
 others to whom they belong in 
 London, and in feveral Counties of this 
 Nation, who are of the fame Faith with 
 them. 
 
 Then 
 
no A 6rief History tif 
 
 Then follow thefe Names ; in all 41 \ 
 
 Jofeph Wrights 
 Wm. Jeffery, 
 Tho. Monck, 
 John Hartnoty 
 Ben/. Morley> 
 Fran. Stanley ', 
 &G&o. Hammort, 
 tVm. Smart, 
 John Reeve, 
 Tho. Tarrot, 
 John Woody 
 Francis Smithy 
 Edw. Jones, 
 Hum. Jones, 
 c Mat. Caff en, 
 Sam. Loveday, 
 Job. TarfonSyten. 
 Tho. Stacy, 
 Edw. Stanley y 
 Jonath. Gennings, 
 John Hammer jly, 
 
 <Wm. Ruff eh 
 Jofeph Keeich, 
 Nich. Newberry, 
 Sam. Lover y 
 Geo. Wright, 
 J oh. Tarfons,jim. 
 Tho. Grantham, 
 John Clayton, 
 Thomas Seele. 
 Mich. Whiticar, 
 Giles Browne, 
 John Wells, 
 Steph. Torye, 
 Tho. Lathwel, 
 Wm. Chadwel, 
 Wm. Raph, 
 Hen. Browne, 
 Wm. Taine y 
 Richard Bowin, 
 Tho. Smith. 
 
 And underneath, 
 
 Owned and approved by more than 20.000. 
 
 London, Printed for Francis Smith, at the Elephant 
 and Cattle near Tei?iple-barre. 
 
 M.DC.LX. 
 
 d He wrote himfelf Paftor to the Church of Cbri;? meeting 
 at Bidden den in Kent ^ and in 165-8 publilhed a Book, entituled, 
 Stan's Redemption, and Original Sin vindicated. 4to. 
 
 e He lived fomewherein the Weald ok Kent, and held fome par- 
 ticular Opinions, by which fome of the Anabaptifls thereabouts 
 arc ftill diftinguifhed, and called Cajfenites. 
 
 f He lived at HUdhurJl in Suffix, where he had a Congregation, 
 
 and printed feveral Books in the Ant'viomian Strain. 
 
 By 
 
the Englifli Anabaptifts. 1 1 1 
 
 By this it appears, That the Anabaptifts 
 of this Confeffion, or they whom they called 
 General, were much the greateft Party. Who- 
 ever compares the Fir ft, Third, and Seventh 
 of them with the Ift, lid, and Vth of the 
 XXXIX Articles of Religion, or with the ift, 
 2d, and 9th of thofe of the Seven Churches, 
 will, I fanfy, be inclined to think, that the 
 Framers and Subfcribers of them affe&ed to con- 
 ceal their Opinions of the holy Trinity, Chriffs 
 Incarnation and Satisfaction : They fay no- 
 thing of Chriffs Refurre&ion, and taking 
 again his Body, &c. wherewith he afcended 
 into Heaven .; but only, in general, That the 
 fame Lord Jefus, who fhewed himfelf alive 
 after his Paffion, was carried up into Heaven. 
 They likewife have omitted taking any notice 
 of the Sacraments being not only Badges or 
 Tokens of Chriftian Mens Profeffion 5 and 
 particularly of Baptifm being not only a Sign 
 of Profeffion 5 and the Supper of the Lord 
 not only a Sign of the Love that Chriftians 
 ought to have for one another. I fee nothing 
 of the Lawfulnefs of Chriftian Men ferving in 
 the Wars 5 their Swearing when the Magi- 
 ftraterequireth, and of the Laws of the Realm 
 punifhing Chriftian Men with Death $ of the 
 Unpardonablenefs of wilful Sins committed 
 after Baptifm ; from which they ought to 
 have cleared themfelves, if innocent, fince 
 they themfelves own the Defign of this Con- 
 feflion to be to inform all Men of their i?ino- 
 cent Belief, in thefe Days of Scandal and 
 
 Re- 
 
ii2 A Brief History of 
 
 Reporach. However, they are pretty plain 
 and open in aflerting the Opinion of the 
 German Anabaptift Separates, That for all 
 fuch who preach not their Doctrine, they 
 are to be cajt out, utterly denied, and had no 
 Fellowship with. In this, we 
 Hifioryofin- are told, fome of the Englijh Ana- 
 f*rt*W*fi»> baptifts are fo peremptory, that, 
 
 1707. *4to. ft tnev are m tne Chamber of a 
 fick Perfon, and any Pxdobap- 
 tift Minifter come in to pray with him or 
 her, they will go out of the Room. This is 
 the Confequence of their evil Surmizings, 
 That our Prayers are Sin, and our Sacraments 
 profane 5 comparing us to the unbelieving 
 Jews -, and applying to us> what St. *Peter 
 laid of them'y That they were an untoward 
 Generation, from which Men ought to fave 
 themfelves 5 to idolatrous Babylon, out of 
 which God's People are ordered to come : 
 as if they affected to imitate the People 
 fpoken of by the Prophet Ifaiah, 
 Chap.Ixv. 5. who faid, Stand by thyfelf, come 
 not near to me, for I am holier 
 than thou : Whereas, according to their own 
 Confeffion, in the Church Militant here upon 
 Earth, Tares will grow among the Wheat, 
 and can't be Weeded out, or feparated from 
 it, 'till the Harveft, or End of the World. 
 The learned Erajbius obferved, That fomc- 
 what of this Spirit was but too much encou- 
 raged by the mil Reformers in Germany-* 
 which provoked him to make the following 
 
 Re- 
 
the Englifli Anabaptifts. 1 1 5 
 
 Reflection on them : Mirifieisprx- Epi $ lib 
 fiigiis ex agger ant y quam fiobrie, xxxi. 59. 
 quam eafie, quam innocenter vi- 
 vatur fub Evangelio, qu£ majore fide alieno 
 ore pradicarentur. ^uid Argentorati fiat 
 nefcio : Alicubi fcio nufquam fuiffe major em 
 luxum, plus adulter tor urn, quam inter Evan- 
 gelicos ; fie enim appellari gaudent. Hoc nee 
 ipfi negant Evangelici : utinam omnes ad bo- 
 nam frugem fefe reeipiant, tit hie habear 
 vanus. They alien that Principle of Chrift's 
 Dodtrine, to wit, Trayer, and Laying on of 
 Hands, after Baptifm, that they may re- 
 ceive the Tromife of the Holy Spirit : This 
 the Seven Churches rejected as Popifh. 
 Lafily 5 Thefe teach the Millenary Opinion, 
 That when Chrifi fhall defcend from Heaven, 
 and appear, they fhall reign with him on the 
 Earth : That the Kingdoms of this World 
 fhall become His 5 and unto the Saints fhall 
 be given the Kingdom, and the Greatnefs of 
 the Kingdom under the whole Heaven. 
 
 In 1660 was likewife printed by s Wil- 
 liam Allen, a Retractation of his Separation 5 
 he having been one of the General Aiiabap- 
 
 g He was anlnftance of the Progreft that might be made 
 in understanding the Scriptures, without the Knowledge 
 of any of the learned Languages, by one who had Hu- 
 mility, and a Teachableness of Mind, and attended to 
 reading and Searching them. In 1676 he published A Se- 
 rious and Friendly Addrtfs to the Nonconformifts, begi?i~ 
 ?iing with the Anabaptifb, to fhew his Obfervance of our 
 Lord's Advice, when he was converted himfelf, to ftrehgehen 
 his Brethren-, Luke xxii. ^2. 
 
 tills. 
 
H4 A Brief History of 
 
 tifts, and, I think, a Teacher among them : 
 In the Preface to this, he makes the follow- 
 ing Requelt to thofe who oppofed Infant Bap- 
 tifm, and thofe who afferted and pleaded tor 
 it, with which I (hall conclude this Brief 
 Hiftory. 
 
 c My humble Requcft (fays 
 
 Pagei. ' he to the Ant ip a dob apt i ft s) 
 
 < is, That their Diffcnt from 
 
 < other godly Chriflians in the Point of 
 ' Infant Baptifm, may be held and managed 
 1 with much Humility and Sobriety towards 
 c them that differ : That Reverence which 
 1 is due to the Wifdome, Godiincilc, Faith- 
 
 * fulneis, and Zeal of fo great a Number as 
 
 * in former Ages have been, and in this prc- 
 
 * fent Age are of a Mind different from 
 1 them, calls for it : The Senfc of their 
 1 own Weaknefs, and that they are no more 
 c infallible than other Men, calls for it : 
 1 And the Peace and undifturbed State 
 1 of the Church and People of God, 
 e which every Chriftian is bound, as much 
 f as in them lies, to preferve, calls for it 
 
 < likewife. 
 
 c My Prayer, on the other 
 Page it. c hand, to the godly Padobap- 
 1 ti/ts, both Minifters and Peo- 
 ' pie, is, That they would ufe like Modc- 
 c ration and Tendernefs towards the godiy 
 c Antiptfdubaptifts, and nor, for their dif- 
 c ferent Opinion fake in point of Baprifm, 
 1 to fct them at nought, and reprefent rhem 
 
 4 to 
 
the Englifh Anabaptifts. 1 1 5 
 
 to the People, and that without Diftinc- 
 tion, as fuch Monfters as fome do, noi: 
 to make an Eftimate of the beft by the 
 ivorft 5 there being near as much Differ- 
 ence between Anabaptift and Anabaptifts 
 as there is between c P<zdobaptift and Tado- 
 bnptift ; but to think and fpeak of them 
 as fuch, who, for a confiderable Part of 
 them, at leaft, arc truly tender of the Glory 
 of God, and of the Pvoyal Authority of his 
 Laws. ' 
 
 f 1 is 1 s. 
 
A.