OCR Text |
Show No. V. ~ A Lttu' JD Mary Penny· man. Life, p. 46. .An .A 'P 'P E N 'D I X to VoL. I. To MARY PENNYMAN. Rickmerfv:ortb, 22d of the 9th Month, 1673. ' IJ Hory Ptnnymon, JJ N · hb R ceiv'd a Leuer from thee by the Hands of 1': Mil e ~y e!g our: ' What is of Weight therein, I thall, I hope, ~~Truth and Rtghr:ouf· ' nefs anfwer. Firfl Thou fayft that at the Readmg of w~at I pnmed , againft thee (to rhy' great Scand::t1) thou felt'fi that L£ve ~ht~h coult for· ' ive as oft as 1 fO writ : 1 anfwer, There was no nmay 111 my ea~ ' ~gainft thee, neither did I take my_ At~ direEHy at thee, or at thy A£h' ons. 1 had rhc Publick Jidverfary m mtne Eye, who could pl~ad a Caufe , he ~nee ro my Knowledge fcorn'd, only to abu~e and rcandahze ~e, my ' Wife and friends. What 1 faid, I will ftand by m Gods Do1y; but .tfthou , canft forgive fo well (which indeed is not hard where no qtrencf 1F.s ~om~ ' mit ted) learn thy Hu!band to do fo, who hath been a Reviler o nen_ds ' behind their Back, and a Promoter of the Boo~, Tyrann-, and J!ypocrify 'dete8td &c by contributing to the Accufauons therem menuoned,, as ' himfelf'confeff~d toW. P. Tell me, ftlary, is it more Refined Qgokerifm ' (I ufe the Word. innocently, our Adverfaries reproacbfl!lly) to firengt~cftn ' the Spirit of the World againfi it, and pleafure thofe Wit~ Arrow~ ag:un , us that hate u~ as being !fluaker.s ~tall? Anfwer me plamly. Is not the ' · D~vil in Profeffors, and Prophane, joyed. a.r it ~ And .co~ld thy ~ufba~d, ' with all his pretended innocency an~ Spmruabry, dtp tn the Dtfh with ' rhefe ljhmacliru and Philiflines ? Is It to. convert People to th.e TRUTH, ' to ftrengthen them with Ae&ufations a~amft the Profeifors of It, who have • been old publick Oppofets of both, and who ~a~e no other Ufe ?f ~uch. • Informations, than to pierce and wound t.he Pnnctple through theu ?Ides • that profefs it, and in all Things anfwer tt not, a_s my Book often ~mts ~ • Ah ! Ham's Spirit· has entred him ; my Soul Y'11~h Brokennefs wt!heth, • that he might not receive Ham's Recompence, tf It hC: n?t too late, ~n.d • the Lord fo pleafe. See what Defenders t~ou haft ; ts. It for thy Rellg1~ ' ous Credit to be propt up by fuch as are kmd for the1r ~wn En~s, an~ ' fhew that Froth, Ahufe, ;md Envy, that the!r Books plenu~ully dtfcover . ' It hath wounded your Caufe abundantly with all fober·mtnded People. ' Do not therefore make me the Perfecutor : Thou art. not clear ; and t_hy 'Huffiand has manifefted his Rage againfi us! by Pubhck and. Clandeftme ' Oppofition and Infinuation; and i~ .t~e Vi}ioR of the Infimre, Erern~l, ' .Almighty God, I teftify, that the ~pmt m you whtch ha!h afT;~.ulte~ ~s, IS ' one io the Ground, though not m the Appearance, wuh the Spttlt. of ' John Fa/Jc T. Hicks H. Htdworrh, and F. CbadwelJ; for you both dnve ' to the fam'e End, a~d you equally fireng~hen the Spi_rit of this Wo.rld ' againft us: And it is Sport to that Generauon, when euher of you bnng ' forth ::tl!}: Thing againft the People called f<.uakers. ' Thou fayft, it was not in thee to ~efire any Mortal to plead thy Caufe, ' and thou juftifiefi not the doing of u : But .Mary, fame Mortals, _and no ' more, have done it ; here is, I fear, .Equivocation to boot. Thou d1dft not ' defire ir, but One Good Turn requ~res another, fays the Proverb. Thy ' Hufband help'd, or clos'd witli them for Matter of Accufation, thereby • ftrengthnir.g the Hands of the Common Adverfary to lay Wafte God's H~ ~ rirage: For though he pretend to be the True f'l..11aktr, he helpnhem that ' deny both the True ~uaker, and his Principle, and have writ agaihft, ~e;' fpifed, and perfecuted both. Oh ! that God would be plea fed to let hrm • fee this Great Evil that he is fallen into. Now, could they do lefs than ' become your Advocates, fuch as they are ? But, why plead ? frophanc ' not that Scriptur~ in thy Mind, as if the Earth helped the Woman: No, ' No; but the Dr:tgon doth caft forth Waters, (the Multitude) to drown ' us, (if poffible) the True Chunb coming out of.the Wildernefs; but blef· ' fed be the Lord, they c:annot prevail, nor (hall any Weapon formed ~gai_nft I $1on. . The A tiT H d R's LIFE • ' Sion. Thou fayft, thou doft not jullify it 1 but doft thou condemn lt; • By no Means ; for then thy Hufband will come under thy Cenfure who. • thou fayft, is fn11ocent, which if he be, no Body is Guilty. ' 1 ' Thou wifheft I had had no Provocation : 0 MnrJ, Glad would I be it • this were fpoken fince~e\y : Thou muft either have been ignorant of ~by • Hufband's Help to thts Work, or elfe thou haft writ equivocatingly or ' thou muft have repented of his medling with it; fince no Man or Wo~an ' can wifh a Thing not to have been, which has been, and they accelfory ' without Repentance _or J?eceit, chufe thou whither. Again, thou fayft ' that thou an to be tned, 1f thy Contentment or Delight can be placed in ' that which is invifible only. ' Mary, thou haft been a great Trial to fame of us in fome Senfc :Jncl ' haft imaginarily brought many needlefs ones (perhaps) upon rhyfelf.' tVe • are not of thy Mind~ thou art not fo retir'd as thou wouldft have us be' lieve. A Rich, Young, Neat, Sparkif'h Hnfband, is a certain Vifible ' T~ing, and his Credit in the World an Appendant~ and I am of the ' Mmd, to fpeak plainly, that a great Part of thy Delie;ht is lodged in him: ' I will fpeak no more, left it be reputed offenfively fatd, I hope J have not ' in faying that. But thou fayft, He is an innocent Man, and biddeft me • have a Care how I fpeak, or affirm any Thing of him, for 1 muft give an • Account ofit : So I mult for what I affirm of thee or any elfe: Is there • not '9. fingul:lr Exaltaticn bert!? How canft thou admonifh me not to be ' puft up, that haft fo puft up the poor ·Man, that he is ever and anori • ready to be cracked? Thou haft wrong'd him by thefe Things: I teitifi·e in ' t~e To11b of God, that your Humility is feigned, and your Exaltation • htgh, and thou haft enter'd that poor Man, and help'd to his being be. 1 guiled, by fwellinR him beyond his Place, as if he were fame God on .~ Earth; for which Seed of the Serpent, J. P. has a large Ground. , • _.A1arl, be not _difplea_s•d that I am thus plain; 1 fhould play the Hypo· , crtre w~th thee, 1f I wnt not as I.do: Thou canft gird thyfelf, and fpeak and wme fmooth and foft: I atn another's, and I write and fpeak as I • feel it, and not in demure Images; the Evil One hath that Way to make ' his Work go for God's, who will fometimes appear Mild to Bad as well • as Good, and fooner enrag'd againft the Good than Bad : I ~n to Mind ' thy fecret Grudgings of old, againft the Generality of Frienrls that Ia' boured, more .ei_Pecially thy fair Carriage and backbiting Charaaers.' : thereby thou dtdft fhut up thy Spirit from that Fellowlhi p, which would have been a Scrength and Prefervation unto thee. Thy Hulband may call ' to mind how he ufed to reflea in my tendei Seafons, as to T R U T H • upo~ the moft Eminent TraveHers amongft rJs, enough co overfet fo fmalf ' a Sa1l, in fa Grear a Sea of Exercife '"I rom in. I had writ to your Pa-=' • per againft !!_u.7lur Preachers, and my felf in particular, three or four ' Sheers of you both, and your Carriage within and without to Friends a net : others;.Cenainly a Smart RO:rl; but I hadCompaffion'; I frayed my Hand, tf yet you ~auld mend, litde expeU:ing the Second Part to thd' c fame Ungodly Purpofe;. but as yet ir lie·s·by me. , ' In thy Adv.ice to me, 'that I_thould h~vea Care of the Knowledge that puffs up, I wrfb I may follow 1t to the End: Yet this I wifl fay, Thor the' :Knowledge of God, from the Li.ving Witflefs ftom Thirteen Years of Age, , hath beeq.dear to me: From S1xteen I ha~te been' :t great Sufferer for it : • At the pmverfity, by that inward Work al'one( I rwhhfiood many: I ne· ver addtCied my fel_f to Schooi·Lettrning to underftand Religion by, b»t al: ways, e\'en to. r~elr Faces, reje~ed and difputed againft it: I never h:~d , any oth~r Rehg10~ than what I felt, excepting a Liule Pro{e/]ion that , ca~: wtth EdJtcatton : I had no Relations that inclined to fo S'o1itary and , Sptrnu~L a W a,y : l };Yas as a Child alone ; yet by the Hcttvcnly Opening of the Scrtprures to "'Y UnJer/1anding and more immediate !nj}irarionr was : I confirm'd, and abundantly comforted. I was a Secret Mourner b'y the , \Vaters of Babylon, and underwent heavy Stripes from my Relations, (af· . \erwards by them repented of) and that frequently, only for my lmrMrd ~ Per}'.'lt'./i!.'n'l 1~9 No. V. ~ |