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The
L
I
E
E
of
the
LIB.
j.
but he
was
loth to
meddle
in
the publication
of
it.
Nor
did
I
chink it p udence
my
felt
to
do it,
as
knowing the
Malice and
Power
of
the Papills.
Since this,
Dr.
Peter Moulin
bath
in
his
Anfwer
to
Pbtlanax A
glime,
declared
that
he is-ready
to
prove, when Authority will
tall
him to
it
that
the King's
Death and
the
Change
of
the Government,
was firft
propolèd both
to the
Sorborne;
and to the Pope with
his
Conclave, and contented to and concluded
for by
both.
§
245.
Another
Book
wrote againftme
was
( as
was
thought)
by
one
Tompkins,
a
young_Manof
All
-
Souls,
Son
to
Mr.
Tompkins
ofWorcefler,and a School-boy there
* Since
when I
lived
in
that County
:
He
called
it
The
Rebel's
Plea
;
being
a
Confutation
made Dr.
of
fuch
Paffages
in.my
Holy
Commonwealth,
as
he lean understood and
could make
.
Vat'
moll
odious.
All
thefe
Men made
me
think, what
one
advifed
the Papills
ro
do
mop's
for
the effeâual Confutation
of
the Proteftants
;
viz. Not
to
difpute
or
talk
with
Chaplain.
them at
all,
but to
preach every day againft them in the Pulpits tor there they
may fpeak without any
Contradiâion,
and need not
fear an Anfwer.
§
246. Shortly after our Difpuration at
the
Savoy,
I went to
Rickmerfwortb
in
Hartfordfbire,
and preached there but once, upon
tl?attb.
22.
12.
[And
be
was
fpeeeh-
leß
]:
where
I
fpake
not
a
word that
was
any nearer kin to Sedition; or that
had a-
ny
greater tendency to provoke them, than
by ;hewing
[that
wicked men, and
the
refuters
of
grace,
however
they may now
bave
many things to
fay
to excufe
their
fin,
will at
Taff
be'peecble6,
and
dare not
'land
to
their
wickedneß
before
God.]
Yet
did
the
Bi-
Ihop
of
Worcefler
tell
me, when
he Blunted me,
that
the Bilhop
ofLondon
had
(hew-
ed him Letters from one of the Hearers,
affuring him that
I
preached
Ceditioully t
fo little Security was any Man's
Innocency
(
that
difpleafed
the Bilhops) to
his
Reputation with that Party, who had
but one Auditor that dehred
to
get favour
by
accufing him.
So
that
a
multitude
of
fuch Experiences mademe perceive, when
I
was filenced,
that
there
was fome
Mercy in
it, in the midit
of
Judgment
:
for
I
Mould fcarce have
preached
a
Sermon, nor put up
a
Prayer to God, which
one
or
other
(
through Malice, or hope
of
Favour) would
not
have been
tempted to
ac-
cafe
as
guilty
of
fome heinous
Crime
:
And
as Seneca
faith,
He
that bath
an Ulcer
crietb
Oh,
if
be do
but
think
you
touched him.
§
247.
Shortly after my return to
London,
I
went
into
Worce'lerfbire
,
to try
whe-
ther
it
were poffble to
have
any honeft
Terms
from the Reading
Vicar
there,
that I
might preach to my former Flock:
But when
I had
preached twice or thrice,
he
denied
me liberty
to
preach any more
:
I
offered
him to
take my
Leâure,
which
he
was bound to allow me
(
under
a Bond
of
goo 1.)
s
but
he refuted it
:
I next
offered him to be
his
Curate, and he
refufed
it:
I next
offered
him to preach for
nothing,
and he
refufed
it
:
And laftly,
I
defired leave
but once
to Adminioer
the
Sacrament
to the People,
and
preach my Farewel
Sermon to them ; but he
would
not content. At
laft
I underftood that
he
was
direâed
by
his
Superiours
to
do what he did
:
But
Mr.
Baldwin
(an
able
Preacher whom
I left
there) wasyet
permitted.
§
248.
At
that time,
my
aged
Fatherlying in great
pain of the Stone and Stran-
gury,
I went
tovilit
him
(Twenty
miles
further):
And while I
was
there,
Mr.
Baldwin
came to me, and
told me
that
he alto
was
forbidden to
preach. We re-
turned both to
Ridderminfler,and
having
a
Leâure
at
Sheffnel
in
the
way, I preach-
ed there, andflayed
not to
hear
the Evening
Sermon, becaufe
I would make hafte
to the
Bithop.
It
fell
out that my turn at another
Leâure
was
on
.
the
fame
day
with
that
at Sbefnal
(viz.
at
Cleibury
in
Sbropfhire
alfo)
:
And
many were
there mec
in expeâation
to hear me
: But
a Company
of
Soldiers
were there
(as
the
Country
thought, to
have apprehended
me);
who
Ihm
the Doors againft the Miniftersthat
would have preached
in
my ftead (bringing
a
Command to the Churchwarden to
hinder
any
one that had notaLicenfe from the
Bithop
);
and the poor People
that
had comefrom
far
were fain to go home with grieved
hearts.
§
249.
The
next day it
was
confidently reported that
a
certain Knight
offered
the
Bilhop
his
Troopto
apprehend me,
if
I
offered
to
preach And the People
diffwaded me from going
to the
Bithop, fuppofing my Liberty in danger. But
I
went that Morning with Mr.
Baldwin,
and in the hearing
of
him and Dr.
Warm
-
ßrp, then
Dean
of
Worceßer,
I remembred the
Bilhop
of
his
Promife to
grant me
his
Licence, &c. but he refufed
me
liberty
to preaeh in
his Dfocefs, though
I
of-
fered
him
to preach only on
the
Creed
,
and the Lord's
Prayer
and
Ten
Com-
mandments, Catechiftical Principles, and only
to fach
as
had no preaching. But
the Difcourfebetween him and
meat
that time,
I
have had
occalon
lince particu-
larly