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soe waighty a work.
3 To wyse scruples in mens minds whether a person soe called be
indeed their pastor & his administrations be the ordinances of god
4 To the deceiving of neighbour churches called to approve such pro-
ceedings at the ordination -
4 After the concealement of the letter from New Haven that spake
there mind fully, To transcribe also but a part of another letter, soe
much as may seem to serve their turn leaving out at least two parts of
three, to superscribe this, to subscribe it & set a seal upon it & date it en=
deavouring to Imitate the hand of another in subscribing his name, & thus
to produce as if it were the very same letter that was sent from New=
Haven to the church of Boston, calling it Mr Davenports dismission,
This cannot be any less then great unfaythfullness falshood if not for=
gery: If Doeg conceading part of the truth is charged with a deceitfull
tongue Psalm 52 4 If Annanias concealing part of the price & of the
truth is sayd to lye to God, how much more to conceal so much of the
truth in soe waighty a case & of soe great consequence. And therfore
we must bear wittness against this practise as contrary to the Scripture
to the light of nature, to the lawes of all civil govermt, even in all civil
Comerse wth men; & therfore much more in the things of God who is soe
jealous in matters of his worship, & before Jesus Christ who is the Amen
the true & faythfull wittness; it is alsoe distructive to the comunion of
churches by letters, for churches cannot understand the meaning one of
another when there is such corrupting of letters, & therfore is a
great & scandelous Sin
5 To pretend a dismission of Mr Davenport from a smal part of a letter
whenas the other part left out Doth argue the contrary wherin the
church of New=Haven giveth reasons why in conscience they could not
give the dismission desired, this is a practise condemned in the scripture
1 thess. 4 6. let noe man Defraud or goe beyond his brother in any
matter phill 4 8. finally brethren whatsoever things are true, what
soever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things
are pure, whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good re
port &c. 2 Cor Cor 7.2. Receive us, we have wronged noe man, we
have corrupted noe man, we have defrauded noe man 2 cor 13 8. we
can doe nothing against the truth but for the truth : Math. 7. 12 y rfore
all things whatsoever yee would that men should doe to you, doe yee even
soe to them : Had the Elder of the Church of New Haven dealt so wth
the letter sent from the church of Boston we suppose these Elders would
deeply have condemned him .
6 That all the three Elders of the church are joyntly guilty of these
evills & sins (Even Mr Davenport himself who doth most testify the fact
and himself as having noe hand in the writing) is Evident: The matter
of fact in concealing one letter wholy & frameing an abstract out of
the other & reading it to the church as the whole, this is confessed
of all three: As for Mr Davenport it concerned him most to se matters
carried clearly, because in conscienc he could not joyne to the church of
Boston