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Show Mafter John Cottons Anfwer w•s ptonounced again!\ him iu t_he Court ~tiorc wmter; MJd refpicc was given him to carry cercam weeks (11x or more) to prepare forI nh itsh jeo umrenaenye. time,fome of his friends went co the place •ppoin· red by himfelfe before band, to m".ke pro_vifion of ho~fing, an? other nece!faries for him againft h1s commg; otherwife he might have chofen to have gone tither Southward to his acquaintance at 1'/pmutb, or Eaftward to P afcatoque, or Aganimticw. And chen -the wilderne!Te had been as no wildecmffi, ( at leaf!, no howling wilderne!fe) where men fit downe under warme and dry Roofes, fheltred from the annoyance of froft, and fnow, and ocher winte! hard!hips. · 4· When he faith, 'IhJt myf•lf• prof<jl in [pmb and writing, that I was no procurer of h;, forroweJ . I doe not beleevo that I made any fuch profeffion at all, either in fpee~h, or wr,idng .. For. it was my ferioua intendment, ( iflt bad beon the will of God to breath in · fuch weake meanesfor fuch an end )to have procured his unfained godly forrow for his Erroursin Judgemmr, and for his _o~enfi~e difturbances of Churches, and Common-wealth. Rue this 11 char which I havetJrofe!Ted,That I had no hand in procuring,or folici· ting the Sentence of his Bani!hment· And tha~ not for the ~aufe, which he noteth in hi& margent, as if I had fame relutl:ancy m my felfe, concerning the way of Perfecucion. For 1.I did never doubt, that the way ofperfecmion,( truly fo called) that is, the afl!itl:ion of others for righteoufne!fe lake, was utterly unlawfull. 2. I did never beleeve, that the fentence palfcd againlt him w.s an atl: of Perfecutian• 3. Nor did I ever fee caufe to doubt, but that in fame cafe!, ( fuch as this of his was,) Bani!hment is a lawful!, a11d jull pun\lh· ment : if it be in proper fpeecq a punifhment at all in fuch a Coun· trey as thi& is, where the Jurifdiaion (whence a man is banifhe<!l is but fma\1, and the Conn trey round about it, large, and fruit• fUII:where a man may make his choice of variety of more pleafant, .and profitable feats,then,he leaveth bchinde him.In which rcfpelt, -Bani!h'ment in this ,Conntrey, is not counted fo much a confin: menr, as an enlargement, where a man doth not fo much loofec~· viii comforts, as.change them. A. nd as f-or lipirituallliberties,b e(i1 hY· to Mafler Roger Williams. berry uf~hu rch· Ordinances)che b his fpirit here: And thereture h ~ w~re a ff. 'bdf,n and bondage to neitheP doth he 10 this d.ty I e cka ~ em 0 ' e ore they lefc him ; Ch 'fl' , oo ·•t It as a way of God c f1 tan man to look after the 0 ·d' f G . ' •Or any ll II • manc<s o Jod m. Ch h e ate at a ; As conceiving that the A oft a tie . " . 111 C• - fofarrecorrupted all that therec Jb P of Anuchnft hath ft fi 'II C . ' " e no recovery Out of tha A po a ;e, tl hrlil !hall lend forth new Apoftle 1 1 • ches anew. 8 10 P anc Chur- . But as_for the true caufe why I medlcd not in his ci 'll Ce {j It was, ch1efly becaule Chill Cenlures belong unto a:~ h K~re, dome, then chat which we are called 10 admini!ler: ( ~iv~ll ~ng: fures are ~ot tbe w~aponB of our warfare:) and partly allo beca~fe lh'km c'fca mfehd' (as· ftlll Iam)with acompaffio nO fh'I S p erl·o n and I ewl eo ·~Wife,( a woman as then,of a meek and mod ft fi' .. who a long time futfered in fpirit, (as I was informed ) t e :trl?. fenfi~e courfe:which occafioned him for .t feafon t · hd or 18 0 m · r.· · ld • awlt rawcom-d muon tn p1mual unes, even from her alfo till at le g h h rew her ,co pa~take with him in theerrour of hi~ way. n t e But M • WzU,ams affi,·meth, That in Lmm pajl between b. d ""'he. prll'IJtd, and exprejl, th~t if he bad perifbed in that forrowj':/7~::_ 'i"hf' f~tg ht, one!J the bloud ofChrijl co>tld have warl !.d mefirom the p'll Anfrp, That he did ~xpre!Te ~och a thing in fame Letters to me as I doe_ not remembent, fo neither will I deny it : but that h; provtd It, I_ may as r.felydeny ir, a& he boldly allirme ir. Could he then have gtven any fuch proofes, doubde!Te he would not have concealed them now, when he undertaketh codeare to the wo ld ~~e pretended innocency of him[elfe, and the fuppofed iniqnitier of ~ fuppofed Perfecmors. How precious the blond of Chnlt is co mr, and how ~eedfull ( I bleffe the Lord ) my foule knoweth : but :hac I n;eded It to wa!h away the guilt of an} injurious proceedogugamf\ the bloud of M'.Williams, (I fpeake ic in holy confi~ ence) ~never difcerned it to this day. The proofes which he al· ~gech In the fequdl for my hand in his Rdnifhment, I {hall (God ~lltnl\) deare t~em anon i~ due place. Meanc while, wh.1t anI ers I m~de to h1m co"c<rmn~ the fame in other Letrers,he wifezconcea: erh: but concenteth h_imfelfe_ to tell m,that my final! Anwer was, That bad he perzjhed zn b<1 jlzght; hir bloud bad bcm upon B b bi< 9 |