A26911:373
The defence of the nonconformists plea for peace, or, An account of the matter…
The defence of the nonconformists plea for peace, or, An account of the matter of their nonconformity against Mr. J. Cheney's answer called The conforming nonconformist, and The nonconforming conformist : to which is added the second part in answer to Mr. Cheney's Five undertakings / by Richard Baxter.
London: printed for Benjamin Alsop, 1680
A DEFENCE OF THE NON-CONFORMIST'S Plea for Peace, AGAINST Mr. J. CH… › Chapter 28
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Ans. No Man can tell by these words, whether you mean [If they did all that the Laws and Canons command them,] or [If they did the good part and left out the bad.] If the later be your sense, it is against you: If it have a bad part which we must not do, it hath a part which we must not consent, covenant, or promise to do. If the former, then you have part of your Happiness, and may soon enough see more. Your honest words elsewhere show that you take it for no Happiness, to have all professed Non-conformists Excommunicated according to the Canon, and Silenced and Ruined according to the Law.
Ans. No Man can tell by these words, whether you mean [If they did all that the Laws and Canons command them,] or [If they did the good part and left out the bad.] If the later be your sense, it is against you: If it have a bad part which we must not do, it hath a part which we must not consent, covenant, or promise to do. If the former, then you have part of your Happiness, and may soon enough see more. Your honest words elsewhere shew that you take it for no Happiness, to have all professed Non-conformists Excommunicated according to the Canon, and Silenced and Ruined according to the Law.
And yet I cannot tell how to agree you with your self: You say, [All good and peaceable Men would be protected, whether Conformists, or Non-conformists.
Ans. As Mr. Field, Mr. Thompson, and others that died in Gaol were; or as Mr. Hughs, Mr. Joseph Allen, and others that died by their Prison-Diseases were; or as those that must be Silenced, or lie in Gaol six Months, and pay forty pound a Sermon; or as Men Excommunicated ipso facto are protected.
Ans. As Mr. Field, Mr. Thompson, and others that died in Gaol were; or as Mr. Hughs, Mr. Ioseph Allen, and others that died by their Prison-Diseases were; or as those that must be Silenced, or lie in Gaol six Months, and pay forty pound a Sermon; or as Men Excommunicated ipso facto are protected.