The second part of The nonconformists plea for peace being an account of their…

26. And he that writeth this professeth for himself, that when the people cry out [We cannot in Conscience hear an ignorant man, a silly empty sayer of a Sermon, nor a Ministry that openly justifieth Perjury, or renounceth a necessary reformation, &c.] if he had not a far larger charity to stop such persons mouths with, and to hide or excuse greater faults, than such as some now aggravate, ⟨p. 196⟩he must be oftener silent, and a greater Separatist, than now he is. I confess I would have them to use some little Charity, who have need of much; And till they have better washed off the accusation of a leprosy, I would not have them too loud in the defamation of him that hath a boil. I justify not the Accusers clamour, but still rebuke them: but I as little justify the ingenuity of such, as have skill to aggravate a weakness, and not to avoid a crime.

26. And he that writeth this professeth for himself, that when the people cry out [We cannot in Conscience hear an ignorant man, a silly empty sayer of a Sermon, nor a Ministry that openly justifieth Perjury, or renounceth a necessary reformation, &c.] if he had not a far larger charity to stop such persons mouths with, and to hide or excuse greater faults, than such as some now aggravate, ⟨p. 196⟩he must be oftener silent, and a greater Separatist, than now he is. I confess I would have them to use some little Charity, who have need of much; And til they have better washt off the accusation of a leprosie, I would not have them too loud in the defamation of him that hath a boile. I justifie not the Accusers clamour, but still rebuke them: but I as little justifie the ingenuity of such, as have skill to aggravate a weakness, and not to avoid a crime.

27. And he further sincerely professeth, that (being almost a constant hearer of their Ministers,)¹ if of many and many that he hath heard and been under in certain years or months past, he could have had the happiness to have lived under one that were but near as judicious, and able to manage holy things, for matter, method and expression, as many of those ploughmen and poor shopkeepers be, that are now called, Our Nonconformable followers, he should have greatly rejoiced in the peoples felicity and his own. And for the homely stile so much complained of I never heard one Presbyterian use such homely words and similes as good Bishop Latimer in his Sermons useth.