HAVING seen a Letter sign'd by you, da­ted July 20. 1721, wherein you signify, that it is reported amongst you where you dwell, [Page 2]that I am gone off to the People called Quake [...] and that I have renounced or called in Question [...] former Principles: In which Letter you also [...] ­sire a particular Information of the Premises, s [...] the Satisfaction of your self and others. And th [...] I may be faithful and just to my own Cons [...] ­ence, and it may be profitable now or hereafter [...] some Persons under the same Difficulties, th [...] may inform you that some time past I was of [...] contemplating on the Subjects following: viz.

That unless I really and experimentally d [...] ­covered the powerful Efficacy and Virtue [...] the Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Je [...] Christ applyed to, and operative in my Hea [...] so as that from a feeling and sensible Knowled [...] I could set to the Seal of my Faith and A­mation, that God in his Word is true, it wo [...] be a sort of uncertain or traditional Faith [...] satisfy my self with the bare literal Report [...] it, tho' really true. And also, that unless [...] could be assured of enjoying an inward and s [...] ­pitual Union and Fellowship both with t [...] Father and [...] the Communica [...] ­on of the Ho [...] [...] declares [...] had. And also, that [...] my Soul be as really baptized [...] Christ by t [...] Holy Spirit, as my Bo [...] was baptized in t [...] Element of Water, according to Rom. 6. 3, Gal. 3. 27. Col. 2. 12, 13. the outward Fig [...] would be insignificant. And also, that all [...] ­ceptable Worship and Service must be perfor [...] [Page 3] [...] with a divine Faith and by the Power of [...]sus Christ. These and such like Thoughts [...]ing much upon my Mind, Satan the grand [...]emy taking an Advantage, tempted my unwary [...]ind to call in question some of the Principles [...] external Obedience contained in the Gospel [...] Jesus Christ; as, Whether they were origi­ [...]ly intended to continue longer than to in­ [...]duce a more spiritual Understanding and [...]ligion, and then to terminate, like the Fi­ [...]res in the former Dispensation; and, Whe­ [...]r they had any powerful Influence upon the [...]ul to make it spiritual, with other such im­ [...]oper Questions; by which Means I was easi­ [...] perswaded to undervalue them: And also [...]om the Observation of so many carnal or for­ [...]l Professors who believe and practice them, questioned whether their practicing of them [...]s not a great Reason of their Carnality; and [...]erefore, Whether the way to become more [...]iritual, was not to reject them. Satan having [...]us far by Degrees prevailed upon my Un­ [...]rstanding, I must ingeniously [...]fess, that my [...]igious Affection was [...] inclined after [...]ose who [...] a Pretence of a strict Regard [...]or the inward [...]wer, but despise and destroy, [...] much as in them lyes, the outward and real­ [...]y necessary Form of Godliness and Religion, [...]somuch that I seem'd to be like a drunken [...]an, [...]aggering sometimes this Way, and some­ [...]mes that, being incapable for any length o [...] [Page 4]Time to fix any solid Resolution either Way [...] But as Solomon informs us, that notwithstandin [...] all his Extravagancies and Vanities; yet h [...] Wisdom remained with him, so I can truly i [...] form you, that through the wonderful and un­deserved Grace of God, my former Faith i [...] other Respects still remained with me, with this most notable Exception, That during those Troubles the Doctrine of Personal Perfection came crowding into my Thoughts, & soon begat a Reso­lution in me to attain to an Estate of absolute Per­sonal Perfection, my weaken'd and shatter'd Un­derstanding being too easily prevail'd upon t [...] ­believe it practicable, and that I could not be saved or justifyed without it. Whereupon [...] bent my Mind very intently and with diligent Watchfulness & Circumspection, to attain to that Estate. But notwithstanding all which, upon a cu­rious and strict Search and Examination, I found my self to be so far from being a God, that I was still a poor, frail and imperfect Man. Then I began to look about, to see if I could find any such Thing as a perfect Man, and more especially amongst those who most pretend to that Doctrine, and could find no Person to make the Subject of my Enq [...] that I could with a due Regard to the Rule of Charity, se­riously exempt from the just Imputation of humane Weakness, Frailty, and visible Imper­fections: At which I was much startled, and [...]egan to question thus: If this be the absolute [Page 5]Terms of Justification, I must draw this Con­clusion, (with the Man to whom Christ ren­der'd the Salvation of the rich as impossible) Who then can be saved? Then I saw my self led blindfold in the dark and pathless Wilderness of Confusion, at the End of which I could see nothing but Confusion and Destruction; until [...]t length it pleased God to open my Eyes, and [...]ring me to a renewed Sight of my former Un­derstanding and Faith again; viz. That in order to our Justification in the Sight of a pure & per­fect God, by his pure, just and perfect Law we must be absolutely pure & perfect, as the Apostle says, without Spot or Wrinkle, or any such Thing; that is to say, in Jesus Christ, by his imputing, reckoning, or accounting his perfect and spot­less Righteousness, which he wrought out in his own Person, to be and belong to the faith­ful People of God; not for any Righteousness done by them, but of his pure Grace and Fa­vour, and to be received and laid hold of by the Hand of a divine, purifying, and fruitful Faith of Credence, Reliance, and absolute Depen­dance.

And thus it pleased God to bring me out of this dark, and really dangerous Error, of ven­turing my Justification and Salvation on the groundless Dependance upon a perfect Righte­ousness, to be wrought out in me, contrary to the Doctrine and Promises of God in Christ, [Page 6]and to set my feet once more in that safe and sure Way of Justification through the Righte­ousness of God, by Faith in Jesus Christ. But as to my unstable and undetermined Thoughts and Scruples concerning some of the necessary Parts of external Duty aforementioned, it still at Times remained with me, until it pleased God to excite me to ask my self this Question, That inasmuch as I could not but own that those ex­ternal Performances of Baptism, the Lord's Sup­per, &c. were appointed and commanded by Je­sus Christ in his last Will and Testament, how could I expect to be justifyed by him, when he shall come to judge the World, by the Rule of his own Gospel, if I persisted and continued thus to slight, undervalue, & contemn as unnecessary and unprofitable, several particular Commands re­quired in that Gospel. By this Means I was happily and timely cast before the final Tryal, and my Conscience fill'd with guilt and Con­demnation, as a just Punishment for my unad­vised Rashness. Then my Understanding came to me rectifyed again to see that those out­ward Figures were commanded by the infinite­ly wise Jesus, in order partly to try our Obe­dience to his divine Authority, and partly to correspond and co-operate with the holy Scriptures, instrumentally to direct and guide our Faith and Understanding; the one doctri­nally, and the other figuratively, to compre­hend, propagate, and maintain that pure Sancti­fication, [Page 7]obedient and spiritual Life, to be [...] ­tained by Jesus Christ. So that through the wonderful and undeserved Grace of God I am [...]e-established and confirmed upon a solid and tryed Understanding in, and Affection for, both the blessed Instrument the sacred Scriptures, and also those external Figures which the Ho­ly Ghost, by their divine Voice, requires us to perform in an humble, dutiful, just and reaso­nable Obedience and Submission to our dear Saviour Jesus Christ, our Law-giver, our King, and our Judge; and am experimentally taught to understand that if Satan cannot prevail with the Professors of Religion to lead them into one Extream, that is, to settle down upon a carnal Dependance on the Performance of the formal & external Parts of Religion, so but that he finds their Minds will be examining into, and contemplating upon the mysterious & spiritual Parts of it, then he often strives to lead them into an Extream on the contrary Hand, by sug­gesting low, mean, diminutive Thoughts in them concerning the outward and formal Parts of the Gospel Religion, under the delusive and specious Pretence of magnifying the spiritual Parts of it, and thereby, if he can possibly pre­vail upon us, make us to be justly guilty of di­viding and separating that which Jesus Christ would have inseparably joined together; I mean, the inward Power, and outward Form of God­ [...]iness. So that upon a serious Experience of [Page 8] [...] Contrivances of Satan to rul [...] and destroy me, together, with my own Weakness [...]nd Inability to withstand him on the one [...]nd, and the wonderful and plain Discovery of the grace and power of God to deliver me out of his devouring Hands on the other Hand, I am brought to an humble and serious Purpose [...]d Resolution for the future Part of my Life, [...]at as the Providence of God shall call o [...] ­ [...]equite [...]e, and his alsufficient grace shall from [...]e to time enable me, to be so much the [...]ore ready, industrious and faithful in improv­ [...]g my Talents for the building up and propa­ [...]ating of the glorious Religion, contained in the blessed gospel of my beloved Jesus, both [...]respect of the internal and external parts of [...]. Having thus given you an Account of the [...]ef Particulars of my late Troubles, how I came to be introduced into them, and how I came to be delivered out of them, I subscribe my self,