View Facsimile

    con-rowley

    58

    ______________________________________________________________________________

    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