A narrative of the proceedings of George Keith at Coopers-Hall in the city of Bristol, the 14th day of August 1700, in detecting the errors of Benjamin Cool, and his brethren the Quakers at Bristol which were read before a great auditory of ministers and other citizens and inhabitants : and divers other memorable passages between him and the Quakers at Bristol, particularly a dialogue at Coopers-Hall between a Quaker cobler and G. Keith, and another dialogue between some Quakers and G. Keith at B. Cool's house in Bristol : together with some of the chiefest Quotations out of the books of B. Cool and W. Penn, read at the same place, the same day / by George Keith. Keith, George, 1639?-1716. 1700 Approx. 42 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 16 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2005-12 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). 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A47160) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 42409) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1288:3) A narrative of the proceedings of George Keith at Coopers-Hall in the city of Bristol, the 14th day of August 1700, in detecting the errors of Benjamin Cool, and his brethren the Quakers at Bristol which were read before a great auditory of ministers and other citizens and inhabitants : and divers other memorable passages between him and the Quakers at Bristol, particularly a dialogue at Coopers-Hall between a Quaker cobler and G. Keith, and another dialogue between some Quakers and G. Keith at B. Cool's house in Bristol : together with some of the chiefest Quotations out of the books of B. Cool and W. Penn, read at the same place, the same day / by George Keith. Keith, George, 1639?-1716. 31 p. Printed for J. Gwillim, London : 1700. Reproduction of original in the Bodleian Library. 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Society of Friends -- Controversial literature. 2005-05 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2005-06 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2005-07 Jonathan Blaney Sampled and proofread 2005-07 Jonathan Blaney Text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A NARRATIVE Of the PROCEEDINGS of George Keith , AT COOPERS-HALL IN THE City of BRISTOL , The 14th Day of August , 1700. In Detecting the ERRORS of Benjamin Cool , And his Brethren , the QUAKERS at BRISTOL : Which were Read before a great Auditory of Ministers , and other Citizens and Inhabitants . And divers other Memorable Passages between Him , and the QUAKERS at Bristol . Particularly a DIALOGUE , at Coopers-Hall , between a Quaker Cobler , and G. Keith . And another Dialogue between some Quakers and G. Keith , at B. Cool's House in Bristol . TOGETHER WITH Some of the Chiefest Quotations , out of the Books of B. Cool and W. Penn , Read at the same Place , the said Day . By GEORGE KEITH . London Printed for J. Gwillim , in Bishopsgate-Street , 1700. A NARRATIVE OF George Keith's Proceedings at Coopers-Hall , BRISTOL . AT a Proposed Conference at Coopers-Hall in Bristol , the 14th day of August , 1700. betwixt some Quakers , and George Keith ; divers Ministers and many Citizens , and Inhabitants of the City of Bristol being present , then and there , did declare that they heard George Keith fairly and fully by clear Evidence , to their full Satisfaction , prove out of the Books of W. Penn , and B. Cool , the following Positions . First , That all Mankind had but one General Rule of Faith and Practice , and that that Rule was not the Scripture , but the Light in every Man ; which sometimes they say is Christ , sometimes a Common Illumination . And the Arguments of W. Penn , which G. Keith did Read out of W. Penn's Book , called , A Discourse of the General Rule of Faith and Practice , did plainly appear to the Auditory , to be Levelled against their Authority , Perfection , and Certainty , as to all the peculiar Doctrines of the Christian Faith and Religion , and particularly as to the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity , against the Arians , &c. and the Doctrine of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper against the Popish Transubstantiation . Secondly , That that Outward Person [ that suffered at Jerusalem ] was not properly the Son of God. Thirdly , That Faith in the History of Christs outward Manifestation , has been a Deadly Poyson , these later Ages have been infected with . And notwithstanding the Endeavours used by B. Cool [ the Quakers chief Speaker now at Bristol ] in his Book , called , Sophistry Detected , to clear W. Penn and render him sound , as touching the three Points above-mentioned ; the said B. Cool denying them to have been truly charged on W. Penn by G. Keith , and calling his so charging them palpable Untruths , yet by the Quotations read by G. Keith out of B. Cools said Book , called , Sophistry Derected ; the Auditory above-mentioned , did then and there , declare that B. Cool's Defences of W. Penn , touching these three Points , were insufficient and invalid ; and that what B. Cool had called Palpable Untruths , G. Keith had proved out of B. Cool's said Book to be Palpable Truths , and that they were all three owned and justified by B. Cool . As also that the Plain Tendency of the Book of W. Penn , called , A Discourse of the general Rule of Faith and Practice ; and of the Book of Ben. Cool , called , Sophistry Detected : [ Being a pretended answer , to a Printed half Sheet by George Keith , called , A Synopsis of W. Penn's Deism , ] by the several Quotations Read by G. Keith , and presented by him to the View of any , who were willing to inspect into them , ( which some of the Ministers did ) appear'd to the said Auditory , to be , to Overthrow the Christian Faith , and to Introduce Deism and Heathenism , in it's stead . As also , G. Keith did make it clearly appear , by the Quotations he Read out of B. Cool's said Book , that the Reflections B. Cool had cast on G. Keith , were Unjust , Uncharitable , and Unchristian . Some of the Chief Quotations , and Passages , Collected out of B. Cool's Sophistry Detected , and W. Penn's Christian Quaker ; and Read at Coopers-Hall , the 14th of August , 1700. On the First Head. PAge 2. The Creating Word that was with God , and was God , in whom was the Life , and that Life , the Light of Men , must be the general Rule of Mens Knowledge , of Faith and Obedience . Page 4. The Spirit is the Primary Rule , even for Believing the Scriptures themselves . Page 4. If the Illumination of the Holy Spirit , is the Primary Rule to those that have the Holy Scriptures , it is much more the Rule for them that have them not ; but the first is True , therefore the last . Page 4. There is but one General Rule to both . Page 7. That one Universal Rule being Christ , it is impossible for Men to exalt him too much , who is God over all Blessed For-ever . Page 9. But that the common and ordinary Discoveries of the Light within , Universally given to all Mankind , ( as all Mankind adheres to , and obeys the same ) is that Universal , or General Rule of Faith and Life , we shall I hope never Deny . On the Second Head. Page 4. Pref. He Grants W. Penn says , in a close Controversie with an Adversary , That the Outward Person was not Properly the Son of God. In the Book , Page 11. He quotes W. Penn , saying , But that the Outward Person [ that Suffered at Jerusalem ] was properly the Son of God , we utterly Deny . Page 12. He says , this Passage is so far from being Erroneous , rightly understood , that nothing can be Truer . Nevertheless , since many People understand not the Terms of Proper , and Improper ; and are apt to Judge of things according to their Carnal Conceptions ; for that Reason , I should have been glad the Expression had never been used . On the Third Head. Page 14. And he that Obeys this Light , is a Child of Light , a Child of God , a true Christian . Page 28. If the Doctrine of the Light Within , be the Universal Rule of Faith and Life to all Mankind , it would bring all Men to be of one Religion ; undoubtedly ( says he ) it is so . Page 32. He quotes W. Penn , saying , ( in his Address to Protestants , second Edition , p. 119. ) Let us but Soberly consider what Christ is ( saith he ) we shall the better know whether Moral Men are to be reckon'd Christi-ans . What is Christ , but Meekness , Justice , and Mercy , Patience , Charity , and Vertue in Perfection ? Page 32. This Doctrine of making Jesus the Light of the World , viz. [ The Light Within ] the Rule of Faith and Practice , would reconcile , not only Papists and Protestants , Arians and Homousians , Socinians and Trinitarians , but even Jews and Christians ; this he grants is W. Penn's Assertion , and says B. Cool , And truly I am very apt to think so too . Page 15. The distinction betwixt Moral and Christian , and the making Holy Life Legal , and Faith in the History of Christs outward Manifestation , has been a deadly Poyson , these later Ages have been infected with : which undoubtedly is a great Truth , truly distinguished saith B. Cool : Oh this Passage he quotes out of W. Penn , some Quotation out of W. Penn's Christian Quaker , against the Authority , Perfection and Certainty of the Holy Scriptures . In Page 213. W. Penn Argues against the Scriptures being the Rule , from their not being plain to the Spiritual Man , nor proper nor Intelligible . Christ . Quaker , Page 243 , the second Edition ; Is there any Place tells us , without Interpretations , whether the Socinian or Trinitarian be in the Right , in their differing Apprehensions of the Three that that bear Record ? &c. Also , the Homousian and Arian , about Christ's Divinity , or the Papists or Protestants , about Transubstantion ? If then , things are left Undefin'd and Undetermined : I mean , Literally and Expresly in the Scripture , &c. Christ . Quaker , Page 246. Most Perswasions are agreed about the Absolute Necessaries in Religion , from that Light and Witness God has placed in Mans Conscience , viz. That God is , that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him , that the way of God is away of Purity , Patience , Meekness , &c. without which no Man can see the Lord : Nay , they accord in some considerable matters superadded , as some of them speak , to wit , that God was manifested extraordinarily in the Flesh , that he gave his Life for the World , that such as believe and obey his Grace in their Hearts receive Remission of Sins , and Life Everlasting . Note , He makes this last , none of the Absolute Necessaries , but superadded ; furely W. Penn did Nap when he Writ this . Christ . Quaker , Page 227. By a Rule , I apprehend some Instrument , by and through which , this great and universal Rule , [ meaning the Spirit ] may convey its Directions ; such a subordinate Secondary and Declaratory Rule , we never said several parts of Scripture were not . Christ . Quaker , Page 215 , 216. If the Scriptures are the Rule , they must be so in the Original , or Copies ; if in the Original , that is not Extant , and so there would be no Rule in being ; for the last of it that was Extant , was the Evangelist John's History at Ephesus , not seen almost this thousand years . If the Copies must be the Rule , it were to be Wished we knew which were the nighest to the Original , there being above thirteen in Number ; this is undetermined , and for ought we see , Indeterminable . And that which further confirms what I say , is the Variety of Readings which we find among those Copies , amounting to several thousands ; and if the Copies cannot , how can the Translations be the Rule , so various ( if not differing ) from the true Sence of the Copies in many things , and one from another ? Page 218. Furthermore , If the Scriptures were the Rule of Faith and Life , &c. then , because they cannot be the Rule in the Translations , supposing the Ancient Copies were exact , it cannot be the Rule to force the greatest part of Mankind ; indeed to none b●● Learned Men , which neither answers the Promise relating to Gospel Times , which is Universal , nor the necessity of all Mankind for a Rule of Faith and Life . Note , I desire the Readers to Peruse my late Book , Printed at London 1700 , By John Gwillim , called , Bristol Quakerism Expos'd , in Answer to B. Cool's Book , called , Sophistry Detected ; as also , my Book , called , The Deism of W. Penn and his Brethren , Printed at London , by B. Aylmer , at the Sign of the Three Pigeons in Cornhill ; where he will find W. Penn's and B. Cool's , Sophistical Arguments against the Holy Scriptures being the Rule of Faith and Life to us Christians , sufficiently Answered ; and their Distinction , of the Light Within , being the Primary Rule , and the Scriptures being the Secondary Rule , clearly Refuted . Also let them Read my fourth Narrative , and the late Printed Sheet , called , A Serious Call to the Quakers , &c. Another Printed Sheet , shewing the Contemptible Names that the Quakers chief Teachers have given the Scriptures . Note , Reader , That I give this Paper , the Title , At a Propos'd Conference , &c. because , it was really not only design'd , but propos'd by me to B. Cool , the Quakers chief Speaker , now at Bristol , and others of his Brethren , concern'd with him in his said Book , called , Sophistry Detected , both by Word and Writ . But if some Quakers were Present , yet none of them appeared to say any thing in Vindicarion of B. Cool , or his Brethren ; only after the Quotations were Read , one Quaker ( who said he was a Cobler ) ask'd G. Keith some Questions , to the effect following : Qua. George , I have a Question to ask thee . G. Keith . Say , what is it ? Qua. Doth God require of me , or any Man , an Impossibility ? G. Keith . No. Qua. What Rule hath God given me , that I may be Perfect , as God is Perfect ? G. Keith . Do ye mean by Perfect as God is Perfect , to be equal to God in Perfection , or only to be like him ? Qua. I understand not that Distinction ; but I ask , What Rule hath God given me , that I may be Perfect , as God is Perfect ? G. Keith . As Perfect , signifies to be like unto God , the Rule which God hath given you and all Christians , is , the Holy Scripture ; but ye , and all of us , need the inward help of the Holy Spirit , to Enable us to Understand , Believe , and Obey the Holy Scripture ? Qua. But I cannot Read the Scripture ? G. Keith . But ye can hear them Read , and Expounded by Preaching ; and Faith comes by Hearing , as well as by Reading ? Qua. If I Obey the Grace of God in my Heart , that tells me , I should not Sin ; is not that sufficient to me , for my Salvation , seeing I cannot Read the Scripture ? G. Keith . I have told you already , tho' ye cannot Read the Scripture , ye may hear them Read to you . But by this it appears , ye think the Scripture is not your Rule , but something within you ; but that ye think your Rule within you , whether is it Christ , or the common Illumination , given to all Mankind ? In this B. Cool Varieth , and sometimes makes it to be Christ , sometimes the common Illumination given to all Mankind ; but if it be the one , it cannot be the other ; which of the two is it , say ye ? Qua. I understand not the Distinction ? G. Keith . The Distinction is easie to be Understood , Christ is distinguish'd from his Illumination , as the Agent or Workman , is from his Action or Working ; what is your Trade ? Qua. I am a Cobler ? G. Keith . Do ye understand the Distinction , between a Cobler and Cobling ? Qua. I do . G. Keith . Hath the Light within you Taught you , without Scripture , that if ye sincerely Repent of your Sins , God will forgive you your Sins for Christ's Sake , who Dyed for you ? Qua. I am not come so far yet ; I do not say that I am Perfect . G. Keith . Tho' ye are not Perfect , yet ye ought to have such a Belief , that if ye sincerely Repent of your Sins , God will forgive you your Sins , for Christ's Sake , who Dyed for you ; hath the Light within you , without Scripture , Taught you this Belief ? Qua. I have told you , I cannot Read the Scripture ? G. Keith . And I have as oft told you , ye can hear them Read. Do ye believe that Christ Dyed for you ? Qua. Yea ! G. Keith . By what Rule do you Believe this ? Or hath the Light within you , without Scripture , Taught you this ? Qua. Is not Christ within , the hope of Glory ? G. Keith . Hath Christ within you , or if ye should say God Almighty , hath he Taught you this Belief without Scripture , that Christ Dyed for you ? But no other Answer could I have from him , but over and over ; he still said ; he cou'd not Read the Scripture ; whereby it did Plainly enough appear to the Auditory , that he thought the Light within him Taught him all that was needful to his Salvation , without Scripture ; as the very Nature and Manner of his Queries and Objections , did plainly make Manifest . I thought it necessary to set down this whole Passage , which to the best of my Remembrance , is truly and fairly done , as to the substance of it , whereof I doubt not , but many have a true Remembrance , and if need be , will attest to the Truth of it ; as well as to the Truth of the other Passages above Deliver'd . The reason of my setting it down , is to Silence and put to Shame the Lyes that some Quakers here have spread , whereof I have been Inform'd by divers , that a Quaker , that was a poor Cobler , was too hard for me , at Coopers-Hall ; and tho' I answer'd his first question , yet that I could not answer his next , and other following questions . And the like False and Lying Stories some Quakers have rais'd , upon what pass'd betwixt B. Cool and me , and Charles Hartford and me , and some other Quakers , at B. Cool's House in Bristol , the first Week of August 1700. when I went to desire him to give me a Meeting , either to make good his charges against me , or own his Error , he having abused me in his Book called Sophistry Detected . I took along with me Mr. Bedford , Minister of the Temple , Mr. Noble , and Mr. Wear , to be Witness of what past , suspecting ( as the Quakers manner oft is ) that they wou'd unfairly Represent it ; and so I find some of them have done , and writ to their Correspondents at London ( of which I have had an Account in two several Letters from London ) that B. Cool was so Powerful in his Discourse with me at his House , that I was not able to speak in my own Defence : and that I call'd on Mr. Bedford to speak for me , but he refus'd ; and he left me alone in the Street , and I fat down in the Street as a Man forsaken , to my own confusion ; and that I had no favour among any at Bristol . I think fit therefore to set down what passed betwixt the Quakers and me , at B. Cool's House , which to the best of my Remembrance is in Substance ( passing some Circumstantials too tedious to relate ) as followeth . G. Keith . I am come to desire you , B. Cool , and your Friends , to give me a Meeting in order to prove me guilty of those things ye have charged me with , in your Book called Sophistry Detected ; or own your Error . B. Cool . Thou art not worthy that I should speak to thee ; thou art an Apostate , and knowest in thy Conscience thou hast be-lied us , and that we hold no such things as thou chargest us with : But I will speak to that Man ; Pointing at Mr. Bedford . G. Keith . If I have done so , or if I am such , as ye represent me , ye have now a fair opportunity to prove it against me , I am Conscious of no such thing ; ye begin very Hotly , that I am not worthy ye should speak to me . B. Cool I am Warmly concern'd . G. Keith . Ye have given me such a Character in your Book , that if I deserved it , I ought not to live in the Nation ; therefore ye ought to prove your charge against me : Beside , in your last Printed Paper ye name me very disdainfully , and call me a Creature . B. Cool . Are you not a Creature ? G. Keith . Yes , and so are ye , and all Men ; but it is easie to understand when it is spoken in disdain . B Cool . Why may I not call ye a Creature , as well as ye call me a Beast ? G. Keith . Where have I call'd you Beast ? [ To this he said nothing , I still pressing for a Meeting . ] B. Cool said , George , I will fight thee with thy own Weapon that thou hast chosen . G. Keith . What is that ? B. Cool . The Pen. G. Keith . But I have not confin'd my self to one Weapon , I have two Weapons , both Pen and Tongue . B. Cool . The Pen is the Best Weapon ; for if we should dispute it by the Tongue , few will hear us ; but what we do with the Pen , will go through the Nation . G. Keith . As the Pen in some cases has the Advantage , so in this case it has not , for you may write twenty Books against me , and I as many against you ; and yet the thing may remain to many doubtful ; ye blaming my Quotations out of your Books , and I blaming yours out of my Books ; this cannot be decided , to the Satisfaction of many , who have not the Books I quote ; but a meeting Face to Face , and exposing the Quotations to view , out of your own Books , would end the matter . B. Cool . You have Logick and University Learning , which I have not , therefore I will not dispute with you by the Tongue ; but in Writing I will Answer you by Arguments from Scripture and plain Reason . [ Note , Why should a Man who thinks he has the Spirit , refuse to dispute with a Man that has Logick ? The Apostles refused not to dispute with the Heathen Philosophers : This was not the Quakers way in former years , who commonly called the Greatest Scholars in England to dispute with them ; this is a Great Change in them , as in other things they are greatly changed . ] G. Keith . The matter of Dispute betwixt you and me , is chiefly about matter of Fact , as whether I have wronged your Books by false Quotations ; this can be shown without any Logick . And I still pressing B. Cool to give me a Meeting , either Publick , or before some Persons chosen on both sides ; and B. Cool refusing , saying , He would speak to Mr. Bedford , tho' not to me . I desired Mr. Bedford twice or thrice , to speak to B. Cool , to perswade him to give me a Meeting ; but that I either wanted or desired Mr. Bedford's help to dispute with B Cool , both Mr. Bedford , and my other two Witnesses , Mr. Noble , and Mr. Wear , have cleared me ; and , if need be , will give it under their Hands . After some time , Charles Harford Senior said to me , George I have a Question or two to ask thee ? G. Keith . What is your Name ? C. Harford . My Name is Charles Harford ? G. Keith . I have heard a good report of you , let me hear your Questions ( tho' I came not here to Dispute , but to procure your Consent , in order to Dispute . ) C. Harford Was thou not once a Presbyterian ? G. Keith . Yes ! C. Harford . And was thou not then in an Error ? G Keith . I was in an Error in some less matters , but had no such Errors as was Fundamental , so as to hinder my being a Christian C. Harford . And was you not afterwards a Quaker ? G. Keith . Yes ! C. Harford . And was thou not then in an Error ? G. Keith . Yes . But I thank God I never held the worst of the Quakers Errors . C. Harford . And art thou not now of the Church of England ? G. Keith . Yes ! C. Harford . And art thou not now in an Error , G. Keith . I know no Error that I am in ; if I err in any thing , I do it not knowingly ; the best of Men may be in an Error , in some small matter , that will not hinder their Salvation , tho' they Dye in it . In my changes from Presbyterian to Quaker , and from Quaker to the Church of England , I reckon I was still a Christian , holding all along the Fundamentals of Christianity ; and being preserv'd from my Childhood , from all Scandalous things , by the Grace of God , tho' I acknowledge , I was but a Weak Christian , and so I think my self still , a Weak Christian . C. Harford . I will prove from thy own Words , that thou art in Error still . G. Keith . Prove it then ! C. Harford . Dost thou not joyn with the Church of England , in her Prayers , that thou dost Err and Stray like a Lost Sheep ? G. Keith . I know no such Words of Prayer , that the Church of England useth . At this he and his Brethren Stranged ; whereupon I took the Common Prayer out of my Pocket , and Read the Passage to them : We have Erred and Strayed from thy Ways , like Lost Sheep ? You see it is in the time past , and not in the present ; We have Erred , and we do Err , are differing . Said some of the Quakers , Read on George , and thou will find it , in the present : So I Read on , till I came to the Words , And there is no help for us . What say'st thou to this , George ? G. Keith . There is a Place in Jeremiah , that will help us to Understand this . It is not in Man that Walketh to direct his Steps , Jerem. 10. 23. What say ye to this ? Is not the Light in Man , to Direct his Steps ? And do ye not say , the Spirit is in you , given you of God , to direct your Steps ? So I say , As there is no Light or Spirit in Man , as of himself to direct his Steps , but what true Light or Spirit he hath that directs him , is not of himself , but of God ; so what True Health is in us , is not of our selves , but of God ; as we cannot direct our selves without God , so we cannot Heal our selves . The Quakers generally blaming this Interpretation ; B. Cool said , George is in the Right of it , I own his Sence to be true . Some alledging , that it was not the Sence of the Church of England ; I bid them ask Mr. Bedford , whether it was not her Sence , and his , as a Member and Minister of the Church of England ; who said it was . I further told them , they did not fairly by me , to Upbraid me with my Changes , and Apostacie , unless they would prove , that in any of my Changes , I have departed from any Fundamental of the Christian Faith ; which I never did , in any of my Changes . Nor have my Changes been greater , than many of the Quakers , and some of you have had more Changes than I ever had , and have gone through all the several Professions among Protestants , as Episcopal , Presbyterian , Independant , Anabaptist , and Quaker ; and why should I be more Upbraided with my Changes , than Richard Claridge with his ; who first was a Benefic'd Man in the Church of England , than an Anabaptist , and now a Quaker ; some of them said , But I changed for Money ; which I Positively denyed , and withal , told them , that I had less Money now , than when I was a Quaker ; some of them said , I had it in reverse , or to that purpose . Which False and Groundless Insinuations , I did not think worth while to Answer : And it is very great Impudence in them , to object either against me , or others in the Church of England , for having a Living ; supposing I had , as at present I have none : Seeing they know well enough , that many of the Quakers Preachers are grown Rich by their Preaching ; and the ready way to get Money , is to turn Preacher among the Quakers ; Witness B. Cool , who from a Poor Lad that wrought at the Loom , ( as some of his Brethren has told him , as I am informed ) is become worth many hundreds ; and the Itinerant Preachers among the Quakers , who mostly have not of their own to bear their Charges , are largely supplyed out of the Common Fund : And G. Fox , the Quakers great Apostle , who mightily Pleaded that Ministers should work with their Hands , yet after he turned the Quakers Apostle , he wholly left off his Trade of Shooe-making , and never either made or mended a Shooe , after that time , and Dyed Considerably Rich Note , Reader , Whereas in the end of my discourse with them , I had told them my Error , when I was a Quaker . First , In denying Baptism and the Supper . Secondly , in mis-applying divers places of Scripture to prove some true things . Thirdly , in my being over-charitable to the Quakers , and uncharitable to all other Protestant Societies , judging the Quakers the only visible Church of Christ . ( All which three Errors I have Retracted , in my Book of Retractations , Printed three years ago ) And having compared them in my Ignorance , to the highest round of the Ladder , and the Church of England to the Lowest , the Presbyterians , Independents , and Anabaptists , in the middle , making several removes from Popery , which I counted as dreg and Earth ; from this I am informed , that they have raised a report , that I said to them , The Church of Rome was the Foundation of the Church of England , and all other Protestant Churches , which I declare to be a horrid Slander , as I can prove by sufficient Witnesses . G. Keith . Note also , That after C. Harford had blamed me for Confessing my Sins with the Church of England , and Praying for forgiveness of Sins ; I asked him , and his Brethren , if they had no Sins to Confess and ask forgiveness of God ? None of them would give me a positive Answer , but said , they held me not for their Father Confessor , which is their ordinary evasion ; but by their blaming my joining with the Church of England , to confess my Sins , and ask forgiveness of Sin from God ; it is evident , they hold they have no Sins to Confess , or pray for the Forgiveness of . And it is greatly worth Noticing , that they are not heard in their Prayers in their Meetings , to confess their Sins , or to Pray , Forgive us our Sins ; tho' some of late , have been heard to say , ( as I my self have heard some at London say in their Meeting ) Pardon them that have Sinned against thee : As supposing some in the Meeting needed Pardon of Sin ; but the Preachers were such perfect Men , that they needed no such Confession nor Prayer ; tho' Nehemiah , and Daniel , who were better Men than any Quaker , did both Neh. 9. Dan. 9. Some other Memorable Passages , Concerning the Quakers and G. Keith , at Bristol . 1. MR. Bedford Minister at the Temple , at the beginning of the designed Conference , did clear himself of an Aspersion cast upon him by a Quaker , called John Dyer ; that the said John Dyer did affirm , that he heard Mr. Bedford say in the House of Charles Harford Junior , that George Keith had been Uncharitable , and Unfair to the Quakers . This John Dyer said to G. Keith , in the Hearing of Cornelius Sergeant , and Mr. Wear , at the House of Cornelius Sergeant , who are ready to attest the Truth of it . This Mr. Bedford denyed altogether that he said ; but his Words were , That whereas some Quakers at the House of Charles Harford Junior , were Blaming G. Keith , to Mr. Bedford , for giving false Quotations out of their Books , and for putting false Glosses on True Quotations : Mr. Bedford answer'd , If ye will make this appear to me , out of your Books , that G. Keith has so done , I will say , He hath been Unfair and Uncharitable towards you : Which being said , meerly on Supposition , he said John Dyer , turn'd to a Positive Assertion ; But , said Mr. Bedford , I am not Convinc'd in the least , that G. Keith hath wronged them in any Quotations . 2. Tho' G. Keith hath again , and again , since his coming to Bristol , desired the Quakers at Bristol , particularly B. Cool , to give him a Meeting before Impartial Witnesses , or some chosen on each side ; wherein they might bring forth their Proofs against him , having given false Quotations out of their Books , or putting false Glosses on their true Quotations , as they have charg'd him to have done ; both in their Printed Book , called , Sophistry Detected , and by Word of Mouth frequently , yet they refus'd altogether to give him such a Meeting 3. On the 13th of this Instant , the Quakers gave in an Address to the Mayor of Bristol ; Signed by Charles Jones Junior , and divers others of chief Note of the Quakers in Bristol , giving their Reason , why they refused to meet with G. Keith , in order to procure an order from the Mayor , to hinder the design'd Conference at Coopers-Hall abovemention'd ; pretending that they were against a Tumultuous Meeting . The Mayor , out of his good Inclination , propos'd to them his Desire , that Benjamin Cool should meet with G. Keith at the Mayors House . Twelve being chosen on each side , fairly to hear matters Debated betwixt them , and he should Treat them civilly at his House ; and if they would grant his desire , he should hinder the Meeting at Coopers-Hall ; and told them , he would wait for their Answer till next Morning ; but no Answer coming , he did Consult with the Aldermen , about the Quakers Address , who did agree , that the Conference at Coopers-Hall was not to be hindred , their Reason not being found sufficient for so doing . 4. The Quakers thus refusing to Meet with G. Keith , not only at his Request , but at the Request of the Mayor ; which was so reasonable , that if G. Keith has wrong'd them by false Quotations , or putting false Glosses on their Words , they had a fair opportunity to show it to his Face ; and they ought so to do , or otherwise , Cease to Cry out against him ; gives just and great occasion , to the People generally of this City of Bristol , to Judge , that their Charges on G. Keith are without just Ground , and that the Quakers are Conscious in themselves , their Books are Unsound , and that they cannot stand by their former Principles , delivered them by their chief Teachers , but must needs Retract them , which all good Christians desire them to do . 5. G. Keith at the beginning of the Meeting at Coopers-Hall , declared Solemnly that he did not expose the Quakers Errors , from any Prejudice , or Malice , as the Quakers suggested against him , but could not prove ; but from Real and True Love both to the Truth of the Christian Religion , and the Souls of Men , which were in danger to be Lost , by holding such Pernicious Doctrines . 6. Whereas a Quaker brought in several Printed Pamphlets against G. Keith , without any Name to them , and gave among the People ; G. Keith at Coopers-Hall , shewed how Unfairly the Quakers dealt with him , in using these Books against him ; containing passages in his former Books , Writ by him when a Quaker , which had been both generally and particularly Retracted by him ; and yet that none of those Quotations , did contain any matters contrary to any one Article of the Apostles Creed , or Fundamentals of Christianity , which he was ready to prove the Quakers Books did , never by them to this day Retracted . 7. It having been Reported at London , that B. Cool had so Worsted G. Keith at B. Cool's own House , in a Dispute betwixt them , that G. Keith had nothing to to say in his own Defence , but called to Mr. Bedford to assist him , and that Mr. Bedford refused to do it , and at their going away from the House , Mr. Bedford left him , and G. Keith sat down in the Street Confounded , and Astonished , and had not the Favour of any in the City of Bristol . Mr. Bedford hath declared , that it is all utterly false what is reported of G. Keith's being worsted in dispute by B. Cool , or that he called for his Assistance , but only that G. Keith twice or thrice desired Mr. Bedford to speak to B. Cool and the Quakers there present , to give him a Meeting , seeing B. Cool refus'd to speak to him , calling him Apostate , and charging him very uncharitably , and Passionately that he had Acted against his Conscience ; and telling him that G. Keith was not worthy that he , viz B. Cool , should speak to him ; all which G. Keith did bear very patiently ; of which G. Keith has three Witnesses , namely , Mr. Bedford , Mr. Noble , and Mr. Wear ; and Mr. Bedford did not leave Mr. Keith , as he declares , out of any Dissatisfaction , but had occasion , that necessarily called him to another place than whither G. Keith was going . But that G. Keith sat down in the Street , or was astonished , or disquieted , are all gross Falshoood ; as is that other Story , that G. Keith had not any in the City of Bristol to favour him , or think well of him ; the contrary whereof hath sufficiently appear'd , by the general respect the People of this City have shew'd to him , by the frequent Confluence of great Multitudes to hear him Preach ; who has Preached seven times in this City , during these three Weeks , and who have generally spoken well of him , and especially by the Favour that the Mayor , and others of chief Note in the City have show'd him ; not only by their hearing him Preach , in several Churches , but by kindly Entertaining him in their Houses , and expressing their Thanks to him for his good Doctrine and Instructions , and their hopes of his being made Instrumental to do good among them . FINIS .