184 / 846
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T
he
LIFE
of
the
And
Confent:
Accordingly at
Evefham
and
Kiderminfler
they
were conftantly kept
up
:
In
the
Town
where
I
lived
we
had
once
a
-Month
a
Meeting of Three
Ju=
Rites
of
the Peace
(
who
lived
with
us
) and three or
four Minifters
(
for fo ma-
ny we were
in the Parifh, my
felt
and
Aflflants
)
and three
or
four Deacons,
and twenty
of
the ancient and godly
Men
of the
Congregation, who pretended
to no Office,
as
Lay
-
Elders,
but only
met
as
the Truftees
of
the
whole
Church,
to
be
prefent and
fecure
their
Liberties
;
and do
that which
any
of
the Church
x
T11e
might do
;
and they were chofen once
a
year hereunto (as * Gratin
do
ImpalaJam
ofinciples Pere
advifeth becaufe all the People could
not
have leifure
to
meet
fo
oft,
to
BoBoot;
1Ich
debate things which required their Confect
t
At
this meeting
we admonifhed
thofe
sooft liked
that remained impenitent
in any fcandalous
Sin,
àftgr
moreprivateAdmonition
be-
and
fol-
fore
two or
three; and'we
did with
all
poflìble tendernefsperfùade them
to
repen-
(owed,
tance,
and
labour
toconvince
them of their
Sin
and
danger;
and pray with them
if
they
confented
:
And
if
they
could
not
be prevailed
with
to repent,
we required
them to meet
before
all
the Miniftersat the,other monthly
Meeting, which
was
always
the next Day
after this
parochial Meeting.
There
we renewed
our Admo-
nitions and
Exhortations, and
(òtne
Minifters
of
other
Parifhes laboured to
fet
it
home,
that the
Offender
might not think
it was
only the
Opinion
of
the Paftor
of
the
Plade, and that he did
it out
or
ill Will or Partiality.
If
he yielded penitent-
ly
to
cónfefs his Sin
and
promife
Amendment
(
more or
lets
publickly according to
the Natureof theScandal)
we then joined
in Prayer
for his true Repentance and
Forgivenefs, and exhorted him farther
to
his
Duty
for the future
:
But
if he
Bill
continued
obtinately
impenitent,
by
the Confent of all, he
was
by the
Paltor
of
the
Place to
be
publickly admonilhed and prayed for by
that Church,
ufually
three
feveral days
together ; and
if
frill
he remained
Impenitent, the Church
was
re-
quired to
avoid
him,
as
a
Perron
unfit for
their Communion;
as is
more
fully
opened in
the
Articles
of
our Agreement.
§
32.
This monthly Meeting of the
Minifters proved
of
exceeding great Benefit
and comfort to
us
;
where when
we had dined together, we fpent an
Hour or
two
in Difputation
on
fore
Ozieftion
which
was chofen
the Week before
;
and
when the Refpondent
and
Opponent
had
done their Part, they were
pleated
to
make
it
my Work to
determine:
And after that,
if
we had
any Church
-
bufinefs
(
as
aforefaid)
we confulted
of
it.
And many Minifters met with
us,
that were
not
of
our Affoeiation,
for
the
Benefit
of
thefe
Difputation.
I
mull
confefs this
was
the
cornfortableft time
of
all
my Life, through
the
great delight
I had
in
the Company
of
that
Society
of
bonett,
fincere, laborious, humble Minifters
of
Chrift
:
Every
Week
on the
Leéflure
Day
I
had the
pleafant
Company
of
many
of
them at my Houfe, andevery
Month
at
our appointed Meeing I
had
the Compa-
ny
of
more
;
I
fo
well knew
their
Self
denial, Impartiality,
Peaceablenefs,
and
exemplary
Lives
together
with their
Skill
and faithful
Diligence
for
the Good
of
Souls
( however almoft
all
of
them have
been
fince filenced
and call
out)
that
its pleafant
to nie
to remember
the
Converfe
I
had
with them
;
fo
aimable are
fincere
andupright
Men,
whole
finglenefs
of Heart
doth imitate the
State
of
the
primitive
Believers,
when
proud,
felf-
feeking refereed Hypocrites,
do turn their
belt Endowments into.
a
Reproach.
133.
When Dr.
Warweflry
and
Dr.
Good
had
fubfcribed
as
above,
a
while after
Dr.
Warmefhy
confulted with
his
London
Brethren
:
and
he received a
Paper
of
Ani-
madverfions
(
not againft the Articles
of
our Agreement,
but)
againft my Expli-
cation
of
them, and
my
Paffages
which
oppofe thofe Epifcopal Divines
who deny
the Minifiry and Churches which have
not
Prelatical
Ordination: Theft
Animad-
verGons
he
Pent
to me
with
a
Letter,
which,
fignified his defire
of
Peace in general,
but that he mull
not
ftrike
a
League
with Faétion,
bc.
There
was
no
Name to
this
Paper,
but long time after
I
learnt that it
was Mr.
Peter Gunning's,
afterwards
Bifisop
of
Ely.
I
prefently wrote
an
Anfwer to
it,
and offered the
Doctor
to
fend
In
the Ap-
it
him,
if
he would tell me
the Author.
Becaufe it
is
too long to
be
inferred here,
pendix.
I
have
put
the
Paper and
Anfwer
together in
the
End, where
you may read
them.
After
this
I received from Sir Ralph
Clare
theft
enfuing Papers,
as
from
Tome
"Courtiers
( which
Me
of
the
fame Strain
with Dr.
Gnnning's)
;
which
with my
brief
Anfwer
I
adjoin.
S1Rt
_