The Rector Rectified, Title page – Testimony

The Rector Rectified · Title page – Testimony

THE Rector Rectified and Corrected; OR, Infant-Baptiſm Unlawful: BEING A ſober ANSWER to a late Pamphlet, entituled, An argumentative and practical Diſcourſe of Infant-Baptiſm; Publiſhed by Mr. William Burkit, Rector of Mildin in Suffolk.

WHEREIN All his Arguments for Pedo-baptiſm, are refuted, and the neceſſity of Immerſion, i.e. Dipping, is evidenced; and the People falſly called Anabaptiſts, are cleared from thoſe unjuſt Reproaches and Calumnies caſt upon them.

TOGETHER With a REPLY to the Athenian Gazette, added to their 5th Volume about Infant-Baptiſm. With ſome Remarks upon Mr. John Flavel's laſt Book, in anſwer to Mr. Philip Cary.

By BENJAMIN KEACH.

Bernard, Serm. 66. in contica.

Irrident nos quia Baptizamus Infantes, quòd oramus

Pro mortuis, quòd Sanctorum ſuffragiae poſtulamus.

London, Printed and ſold by John Harris at the Harrow in the Poultry; and at the Author's Houſe near Horſly-down, Southwark, 1692.

John Tredwell's EPISTLE to Mr. William Burkit.

SIR,

I Am not a little concerned to ſee how I am neceſſitated to write this Epiſtle, in Vindication of my ſelf from thoſe Aſperſions you have caſt upon me, in your late Book, called, An argumentative and practical Diſcourſe of Infant-Baptiſm; though not ſo much for my own Reputation, as to clear up to the World Matter of Fact, and free the Truth of Chriſt, (I mean his deſpiſed Ordinance) from that Reproach and Contempt you have caſt upon it. I know I meet with no worſe uſage from you, than my Lord and Maſter, (and many of his faithful Servants) did meet withal from others. The truth is, all impartial Men cannot but wonder when they hear and conſider of your undue Behaviour towards me; Firſt, in your ſtrange and unreaſonable Proceeding when you came in that unexpected and unſeemly manne… into our Meeting-Place, at Lavingham. I wrote a friendly Letter to you, being grieved to here how you had caſt moſt odious Reflections in your Pulpit on the People falſly called Anabaptiſts. I thought, according to your Letter, you would have come in a Chriſtian manner to me in private, and not to have made ſuch an Uproar and Diſturbance in our Meeting-place, (which is entered according to the Law in that Caſe provided) and there to read your Notes, and take up an hour or two, and not ſuffer me to give you a ſober Reply. Sir, what reaſon have you thus to quarrel with your Diſſenting Brethren, and ſhew ſuch a Spirit of Prejudice againſt us, who have done you no wron… ▪ We are for Peace, but (it ſeems) you are for War. What …eaſon had you to write againſt us at this time, and to write with a Pen dipt in Gall, as if you envy'd our preſent Liberty, and deſign'd to expoſe us to the Hate and Contempt of the People, (to ſay no worſe) if you could: what elſe can any ſober Perſon make of your Epiſtle and Book in general? for thus you begin; Since the late general Liberty, the Anabaptiſts thinking themſelves thereby let looſe upon us, have diſperſt themſelves into ſeveral Counties, endeavouring to draw away our People from us, by perſwading them to renounce their firſt Dedication to God in Baptiſm, and to enter into their Communion after the way of Dipping, &c.

Sir, Our Deſign in our Preaching to Goſpel, we can appeal to God and all the World, is to endeavour to draw Men from their Sins and ungodly Lives, and to believe in Chriſt to the Salvation of their Souls. They who have attended upon my Miniſtry, can witneſs what the Scope and Deſign of my Preaching hath all along been. Can any ſay, that I ever preach'd up that Ordinance, which is our preſent Controverſy, till you preach'd it down, and caſt Reproach upon it, and on us for the Practice thereof? not that I am aſhamed to own that bleſſed Truth, or did not occaſionally mention it; but I had rather ſee one Sinner converted, than a hundred Perſons baptized who bring not forth Fruits meet for Repentance.

But you proceed in your Epiſtle and ſay. One of their Teaching-Diſciples (meaning my ſelf) having ſet up in our Neighbourhood for making Proſelytes, by Re-baptizing them i… a naſty Horſe-pond, into which the Filth of the adjacent Stable occaſionally flows, and out of which his deluded Converts come forth with ſo much Filthineſs upon them, that they rather reſembled Creatures ariſing out of the Bottomleſs-Pit, then Candidates of holy Baptiſm: and all this before a promiſcuous Multitude, in the Face of the Sun.

Sir, I wonder how you come to publiſh ſuch a notorious Untruth to the World: it ſeems to me you neither regard your own R…putation, nor keeping of a good Conſcience towards God: you ought to repent of this your great Raſhneſs, in aſſerting ſuch abominable Falſhoods. You will find what you have affirme… is contradicted by the Teſtimony of many ſober Perſons; nor indeed is there any ground for any body to believe wha… you ſay was true, ſince you ſay I did it in the ſight of ſuch a promiſcuous Multitude. Had it been ſuch a Pond as you ſay, do you ſuppoſe we would have baptized People in it, in the open ſight of ſuch a mixt Multitude? But, Sir, when did you ſee any to come out of the bottomleſs-Pit, that you know ſo well how they look?

You ſay our delud…d Proſelytes. Are thoſe deluded, whom God hath bleſſed the Preaching of the Goſpel, to the Converſion of their Souls, and to convince them of their Duty to obey Chriſt's holy Ordinance of Baptiſm, according to the Apoſtolical Inſtitution? Sir, remember you and I muſt come to Judgment: theſe are hard Words, which you will be convinced of ſooner or later. And are not thoſe hard Words (as well as notoriouſly falſe) you ſpeak, as if our baptizing of believing Men and Women hath a tendency towards the Sin of Adultery and Murder? the Lord give you Repentance if it be his will. What you ſpeak as to my Preaching for Bread, I will leave that to my Friend to anſwer for me.

I have got your whole Book anſwered: I ſent it to one whom I knew could better do it than my ſelf; not that I ſaw any thing in it, but that a Man of very mean Parts might have done it; but for ſome Reaſons, I thought it would be better for another to anſwer you at this time, than my ſelf. I hope you will read it, but I fear, not without Prejudice. As to my mentioning that Text in Iſai. 43.2. When thou paſſeſt through the Water, I will be with thee, &c. I only alluded to it, not thinking it intends Baptiſm, but that it is to be taken metaphorically; yet 'tis true in the caſe of our Obedience to Chriſt in Duty, as well as in caſe of Affliction. But I will leave you to him that will judg between us in Righteouſneſs.

I am unwilling to tell the World of thoſe ſhameful and obſ…ene Expreſſions uttered by you when you came into our Meeting-place; partly, becauſe of Modeſty, and partly becauſe I would not expoſe you. I ſhall forbear, being not willing to trouble my ſelf with you any more, nor with any who are of your Spirit; but if you write again, let it be in Love, and not in Wrath; not hard Words, but hard Arguments; and you will not offend your abuſed Friend and Servant, who wiſhes well to your Soul,

John Tredwel. Preſton-Place, April 30, 1692.

A Certificate under the Hands of ſeveral ſober and impartial Perſons.

WHereas Mr. Burkit of Mildin, in the County of Suffolk, hath (in his late Book, called, An argumentative and practical Diſcourſe of Infant-Baptiſm) very unjuſtly reproached the People called Anabaptiſts, and particularly Mr. John Tredwell (Preacher of God's Word,) declaring that he the ſaid Tredwell hath lately, at Kittle-Baſton, in the ſaid County of Suffolk, baptized ſeveral Perſons in a naſty Horſe-pond, into which the Filth of the adjacent Stable occaſionally flows, and that the People baptized in the ſaid Pond, came forth with much Mud and Filthineſs upon them, &c. We whoſe Names are hereunto ſubſcribed, do ſolemnly certify and declare to the whole World, that thoſe Reports and Aſſertions of the ſaid Mr. Burkit, are utt…rly and notoriouſly falſe: for we taking a ſtrict View of the ſaid Pond and Stable, find the Dung or Filth of the ſaid Stable, runs the quite contrary way from the Pond into the Road.

Moreover, we ſolemnly certify and declare, that the Perſons who were baptized in the ſaid Pond, came forth without the leaſt Speck or Spot of Dirt or Filth upon their Clothes, the Water being clean. In witneſs whereof, we have ſet our Hands this 3d Day of May, 1692.