An apology for the nonconformists ministry containing I. the reasons of their preaching, II.…

7. But surely our Nonconformity on terms so hard, declared it sufficiently to all reasonable men. If 1800 Ministers (none of them cast out as accused of any other crime) should have ceased the work of their office, and occasioned divisions in the Land, and have cast themselves and families into so many years distress and poverty; and all this for to avoid that which they took to be no sin; they had not deserved the name of Christs Ministers, of Christians, or of men.

8. Lastly, Those Writings which any of the Nonconformists have since ventured to publish for their cause, have all of them downright endeavoured to prove that Conformity is a sin; Let Mr. Cawdrey's, Mr. Hickman's, Dr. Collins's, or any of all the rest be perused; and this will be found the scope of the books. Yea he that they judged moderate in these matters, in his book called, Sacrilegious Desertion of the holy Ministry rebuked, saith, O be not too angry with those that censure you as sinners—God hateth sin, and so must all that truly love him: And they are our best friends that do most to preserve us from it; and they are our greatest enemies that would flatter us into it. To preach against sin is your Ministerial office: And if any man think that you make a solemn Covenant to sin, that you may have leave to preach against it, yea that you deliberately commit a greater one, that you may have leave to preach against a lesser in other men; this man deserveth to be heard, though he mistake. If we say nothing to you, yet it is easy to gather by the costly terms on which we avoid it, that we take Conformity to be a sin.—I must tell you, that we cannot but think that you need repentance, great repentance, for sinning more (and that by public, deliberate, chosen, covenanted, ministerial sin, protesting against repentance) in the day when judgments called us all to renew our repentance for our former sins.—We beseech you be not too angry with us for differencing between good and evil, between him that sweareth, and him that feareth an Oath, as long as we do it to the loss and suffering of our own flesh, which disputeth in us more cunningly and strongly for Conformity, than all the Durells, the Fullwoods, the Stilemans, &c. in England. We have naturally no more love to poverty, to scorn, to a prison, than you have.—It is not pleasure, ⟨p. 152⟩