been, if he had been so sensible of his transgression as one Edward Chilton, who though by profession a Quaker, yet when it came to a trial, either to take the oath of allegiance, or to be premunired, he wavered and fainted; yet not so, that he fell away totally: for he became so penitent for the evil he had committed, that he found himself constrained to give proof thereof by a letter he wrote to his friends, who remained prisoners, because for conscience-sake they could not swear; whereas he, to be released from imprisonment, had taken the oath that was demanded of him. But of what bitter relish this became to him, and what terror and horror he was seized with, the following letter will shew.

"My dear friends,

" I desire to lay before you this my condition in this my fall, that my fall may be no cause for you to stumble, but that you by it may be the more encouraged to stand; for I have yielded to the betrayer, and so betrayed the innocent seed in me, for I forsook the counsel of the Lord, and consulted with flesh and blood, and so I fell into the snare of the world, and yielded to the covenant; and so I rested satisfied in what I had done, for some certain hours; but when the Lord in his power looked back upon me, then I remembered what

I had done; then I remembered that I had denied truth, which once I had professed, though once I thought I should have stood when others fell. So the terrors of the Lord have taken hold on me, and I lie under the judgments of the Lord.

"And now I feel the truth of the words that were spoken by Christ, "That he that faileth in one tittle, is guilty of all;" and now I feel the truth of that, That it is better to forsake wife and children, and all that a man hath, even life itself, for Christ and the truth's sake, than to break one tittle of the law of God written in the heart. So I hope that, by mercy and judgment, the Lord will redeem me to himself again. The Lord may suffer some to fall, that the standing of them that stand faithful may seem to be the more glorious, and for them to take heed lest they fall.

"Now I know and feel, that it is better to part with any thing of this world, though it be as dear to one as the right hand, or the eye, than to break our peace with God.

"Pray for me ; for my bonds are greater than yours.

It is remarkable, that this Chilton in the conclusion of his letter saith, that his bonds were greater than those of his friends, who neither feared a premunire, nor loss of their liberty, when they must pay so dear for it, as the taking of an oath. For when any one truly abides in the fear of God, he dares not, against the convictions of his conscience transgress the divine commandments, and seek evasions to avoid the stress thereof: for certainly God will not be mocked. Could our Saviour have spoken in more plain and express terms than he did, when he said, "Swear not all?" And yet what cunning devices have been invented by those who boast of the name of Christians, to enervate the force of these express words. It is not a proper place here to refute their reasons; but yet I cannot think it unsuitable to shew briefly how dangerous it is to act against the express commandments of sacred writ, and against the conviction of one's conscience, thereby to avoid persecution : for not only the apostle James saith, "Whosoever shall offend in one point, he is guilty of all;" but our supreme lawgiver Christ himself saith, "Whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. And, whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels." And to encourage us to faithfulness he hath also said, "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Which words indeed are so emphatical, that it ought not to displease any that I repeat them, as they have been left on record by the evangelist Luke, viz. thus, "I say unto you, my friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: fear him, which after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you fear him." Can it be otherwise, but that such words must needs make a powerful impression on a real Christian? And the more when we consider, that nothing in the world can retrieve or restore a perishing soul, as may appear from these words of our blessed Lord, "What is a man profited, if he shall gain the. whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" A clear proof that the whole world, and all that is contained therein, is not able to save one soul, or to afford any thing that can redeem it. If I here thought it requisite, a godly zeal at present would make me say more on this subject; but not to expatiate too far beyond the limits of this historical fact, I shall not pursue this digression any farther, but return to my relation, from whence I thus stepped aside.

To take up again then the broken thread of my discourse, I once more come to Jeremy Ives, who, to avoid persecution, had taken the oath contrary to his understanding; and it was Thomas Rudyard, mentioned here before, who objected this to him: and he feeling himself pinched by it, endeavoured to break the stress thereof by saying, "That the reason why in a letter he had blamed a friend, was for his saying he had rather have given fifty pounds than have taken the oath of allegiance, and yet swore he took it freely and willingly." But who sees not what a poor shift this was?

Now to come to the dispute; I have already mentioned it was asserted, that the Quakers were no Christians; and to maintain this, Thomas Hicks said, "They that deny the Lord is Christare no Christians: but the Quakers deny the Lord is Christ," &c. To this W. Penn said, I deny the minor, viz. that the Quakers deny that the Lord is Christ." And T. Hicks returned, "They that deny Christ to be a distinct person without them, deny the Lord is Christ: but the Quakers deny Christ to be a distinct person without them: therefore," &c. W. Penn then desired that T. Hicks would explain what he meant by the term person.