honest design, for false lights to lead their protestant posterity astray, till, after a few winding courses, they return again, and dash themselves among the very rocks and quicksands of Popery.

Let an advocate in this point for the truth, and protestant churches, be heard:-"I would only beg to be informed, whether is it the doctrine of the protestant churches, in their confessions of faith, that we must interpret and understand the scriptures of God, as their meaning is fixed by the authority of the public compositions of men? If this be the case, the church of Rome may well justify all her principles, and condemn the reformation. Besides, I am not able to understand, nor have I sagacity enough to conjecture, with what truth and propriety any such confession of faith declares, That the infallible rule of interpretation of scripture is scripture itself; and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full meaning of any scripture, (which is not manifold, but one,) it must be searched and known, by other scriptures that speak more clearly.-Such, I confess, has been my education, that I have been trained up to believe, That it is high presumption in set of men, any to propose their own composition, or any of their kind, as the rule or standard whereby one must judge of the oracles of God. And indeed I always thought it our duty, not only to interpret the scripture by itself, but to judge and explain all human confessions whatsoever, and catechisms larger or shorter, by the infallible rule of God's word; especially, when all these churches maintain, that the purest churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error."

Now, search all the scriptures, and see if they will allow, search all the Protestant churches and their wellknown confessions, and see if they will confess, any other standard whatsoever of faith and manners, but the word of God alone-which (whether they or any of them be condemned in that which they allow, or not, is another question) they all with open mouth protest and proclaim loudly to the world, (and this is to be un

derstood of every single article of their confessions, as they shew you by alledging proofs for every single article from scripture only,) that the word of God is the only standard, or rule and not they themselves, or their confessions, which God hath given to direct men. Here observe the glaring and crying absurdity, not to speak of the folly and wickedness of those men, who, in spite of the word of God, in spite of their own confessions, oaths, and subscriptions, and in spite of common sense, most zealously maintain, that their human confessions are, and ought to be, the standards or rules to direct Christian churches: and yet withal would have you to believe, that they themselves embrace and acknowledge the same standard, or rule of faith and obedience, with those confessions!

Those confessions acknowledge and maintain the word of God to be the only standard or rule-And multitudes of those confessors died martyrs for the truth of such a good confession.-But they, of whom we speak, call those very confessions themselves the standard or rule!-Do such men believe the word of God and those confessions to be the same thing; so that what is said of the one may be said of the other, and that, if the word of God can be called the standard, so may these confessions?

If so, be aware of them; they are open blasphemers -and, moreover, have denied their own confessions, as well as the word of God.- -So that there is no truth in them-and they are worse than Turks, who, though they blaspheme Jesus, may be even believed, when they swear to you by the beard* of their father.

The confessors appealed from every created thing to the word of God alone, and thither, after their appeal, they went directly, without calling at any of men's confessions by the way.- -And what are all their written confessions, but so many avowed minutes, journals, or

* The Turks swear by the beard of their father, when they would give the most solemn assurance by oath.

memoirs, (so to speak,) of their honest procedure in the course of their appeal; searching, every one for himself, and the instruction of others, the heavenly registers of eternal truth; subscribing what they wrote, and joining altogether in a body, and crying, "We know nothing as of ourselves; we judge nothing as of ourselves: he that judgeth us is the Lord: we will allow ourselves to be judged of no man: let God be true, and every man a liar we appeal to Jesus." Go thou, and do thou likewise; and thou mayst boldly say, Thou hast the only rule or standard which God hath given. As for any other rule or standard, (if thou hast God's,) which men or devils would give, thou needest not to care-Neither can any church of Christ, and particularly any Protestant church upon earth, especially the churches of England and Scotland, condemn thee, without first condemning themselves: for they all say to the same effect, The word of God is the only rule which God hath given And so sayest thou,

And herein I join issue with the foremost, and declare my agreement with them in acknowledging, that not in any human confession or creed, though you call it the apostles' creed, which is as human and defective as any of them, but, exclusively of such things altogether, in the Bible, in the Bible allenarly and alone, is contained the religion which is pure and undefiled; the religion from above, the religion of Christians, which is of God

-and all other religions, standards, and rules about them, are even of their father the Devil-and to him they lead.

Wherefore, I do here also, praying that the reader may join me, publicly before God and the world disavon, renounce, and abjure, every confession, and every article thereof, under heaven this day, directly or indirectly denying, and not maintaining, the Lord's good confession, when he prayed to the Father, and said, Sanctify them through thy truth. THY WORD IS TRUTH.

PRETENDED NATURAL KNOWLEDGE OF GOD RUINS ALL.

Instead of attending to this sanctifying truth, to make it their confession, see what innumerable shoals from all quarters around you, even of those who would give themselves out for followers of the Lamb too, are coming with the short lines of their reason, natural notices, notions, and ideas, evident and innate, as they call their chimerical dreams and reveries about what they call God, and what, in their apprehensions, is becoming for him to do, and what is not!-These come to search and measure out to the world, as they please, the unsearchable and incomprehensible God, with his ways, which can only be discovered to us by his own light shining in the word, and enlightening the heart.

Are not those men, their methods and doings in this matter, like a company of hostile engineers, pretended friends, but real spies and traitors, taking their surveys and plans, measurements and dimensions, of some royal tower and fortification, with a design to betray and blow up the place?-With a design did I say? No; I retract-They are only dupes and cats-paws in the business-the design is not theirs so properly as that of the enemy of all truth, who makes use of their papers and maps for his own mischievous ends and purposess-But alas! are we the better for this? Eve did not eat till she was beguiled.-O then-why so bitter against those men -who are so wise, and good, and good-like, and such great scholars too, some of them, when they do not mean to deceive us, being only mistaken at the worst, and meaning us no harm in the world, more than they do to themselves?—In answer to all this, and volumes more of what has been said and written in the same strain, it is replied, that the persons of the men, as before-averred, are absolutely out of the question; and, for as many of them as are living, we do, and ought to pray, that they may be recovered out of the snare of the devil-But it mainly concerns all men living to tear off all such cloaks and palliations, as have been artfully thrown over false

doctrines-when the names and characters of great, or seemingly great, and good men, have in all ages of the world, or at this day, been held up for screens and vails, till, under their shadow and protection, the name and character of the GREAT and GOOD GOD has been even torn to pieces, and abominably blasphemed, among the nations. If we think matters are all every-where going well on, where there is no noise nor open outcry against, but rather all fair and smooth zeal, and good speech, about the blessed name and ways of God; while at the same time there remains deceit and falsehood under such plausible appearances-So much the worse for us, say I, if we think all is well, when nothing is so in reality, but only in semblance and shew-For in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird. Damnable lies and heresies, like contraband merchandise, are most successfully brought in privily.

The designs of men may be something to themselves; but the mere designs or intentions of men, (like those of the priests in administering the sacraments,) whether good or bad, are very little to us-it is the nature and spirit of the doings that we have to attend unto.-Verily a serpent will bite without enchantment, though it be a beautiful, plausible-like, and wise creature, and a child may lay hold upon it, and seize it for a play-thing-A viper is a viper still, however introduced into your bosom-And poison is poison still, though administered perhaps through mistake, if in confusion or in the dark, for a cordial in a faint, by the very darling of your heart -And though you and they both should never open your eyes, till you open them (which God forbid) in torment-the error will be not the less fatal, though, (like the rich man in the parable, who heard not Moses and the prophets,) you perceive it for the first time only by the flames of hell.-But why should you be deceived with the appearances of officious zeal, except you discern truth and safety therein? In worldly things you are wise. If your own little children, in their eagerness to warm you, when you were starving with cold, should,