A brief apology of Thomas Cartwright against all such slanderous accusations as it pleaseth…A brief apologie of Thomas Cartwright against all such slaunderous accusations as it pleaseth…

Hacket was a man whom, to my knowledge, I never saw: so was Arthington, until he was freed of his prison he endured for his misdemeanour: with Copinger I had acquaintance upon occasion of Mr Ambrose Copinger, chief officer to the right Honourable, th'Earl of Warwick; For, coming to his house necessarily for the settling of th'estate of th'Hospital of the right Honourable th'Earl of Leicester: ⟨image 7⟩there I met with this Copinger sundry times some three or four years before his lewd practise brake forth: with the former two I had never conference either by Letter or otherwise by message sent from them to me, or from me to them. Between Copinger and me touching this matter I am charged with, this only passed which followeth: Whilst I was in prison in the Fleer, Mr Rafe Hockenhull propounded unto me, as things he desired to be resolved of in the behalf of one of his acquaintance, §1whether there were any Apostles, Prophets and Evangelists in these days, I answered that those callings ceased many hundred years ago, and as no Apostles were ever hereafter to be looked for, so th'other two were not to be expected unless God in th'utter waste and desolation of the Church did extraordinarily raise them up for th'erection of a church out of the dust: And therefore that there was no use of such men amongst us. To a second question, §2how and by what marks such a one as thought him self one of these, might in deed know whether he were so or not, I answered that this doubting of the matter, was an evident and an invincible argument that he was none: For that such as have a calling immediately from God, are not to ask counsel of flesh and blood; as those which have th'undoubted testimony of Gods spirit unto their spirits that they are called of him. Whereupon Mr Hockenhull telling me that it was Copinger which had entered into such conceit of him self: I desired him to deal with him for dissuading him from such frantic opinions, which he told me he did accordingly. And afterwards, some while before his lewd practise brake forth, he admonished some of his kindred before Copinger him self, that if he belonged to him, he that day