-pounded of Villany and Witchcraft, to the Spirit of God? I could bring many Inftances to the fame Purpofe, but I will only add one, fo remarkable, as will fufficiently prove that the Faculty of Extempore Prayer may be fo far from being the Gift of God, that it may be the Gift of Hell; and that fuch who are almoft under an irreverfible Sentence of Damnation, may have it even in Perfection,

The STORY is thus :

T St. Ives in Huntingdon-fbire, not many

A Years ago, there was a Woman

whose Name I do not very well remember, tho' many in that Place very well do; fhe was one of thofe, who for Diftinction were call'd Puritans, a great Follower of the Pref byterian Doctrine, a conftant Frequenter of godly Meetings and religious Exercises; this Woman came to be fo eminent, especially in the Gift of Prayer, that fhe was generally admired, and look'd upon as a Saint of the firft Magnitude: The Noife of her Fame, and the Boafts of her Party, brought many Minifters in the adjacent Countries of Cambridge and Huntingdon to hear her Pray; which fhe did in that ravishing Manner, that they never parted from her without an Excefs of Admiration and Aftonishment: After fome

time,

time, for what reafon I am not able to determine, this holy Sifter went over into NewEngland, as about the fame time many others did for Liberty of Confcience; for a while fhe was there in the greatest Efteem and Height of Reputation, but the Devil ow'd her a Shame, and the became at last fufpected, and accused for a Witch, was brought to a Tryal, confefs'd her Guilt, and that her Contract with the Devil was, that in Lieu of of her Soul, which she made over to him, he fhould affift her with the Gift of Extempore Prayer ; after which Confeffion, Sentence paft upon her, and fhe was accordingly executed as a moft abominable Sorcerefs.

N° 14.

No 14.

MONDAY May 6. 1717.

Thefe are Murmurers, Complainers, walking after their own Lufts, and their Mouth Speaketh great fwelling Words, having Mens Perfons in Admiration because of Advantage. Thefe be they who feparate themfelves, fenfual, having not the Spirit; Epift. of Jude, ver. 16, 19.

Am furprised at the Effront'ry of the Diffenting Teachers, that they offer to draw up again their scatter'd Army of Quirk and Cavil, and make Head against Decency and Difcipline, when they have been so often entirely routed, and beaten out of the Field. The old Warriors against Conformity carried on the Caufe as far as Spleen and Sophifm

cou'd

cou'd push it; they drew out their Arguments in Battalia, mufter'd up their Scruples, and ranged their Grievances in the best Dress and Colours they could propofe; yet when their Objections came to be answered at the Conferences at Hampton-Court, and the Savoy, they were forced to quit their Fairy-Ground, and difappear like Sprites before the Day: The Abettors of our Liturgy bore down all Oppofition; and Truth and Learning fhone out with that Force and Vigour, that their Enemies had nothing to retreat to but their everlafting Subterfuge of Sullennefs and Obftinacy. There was not a Perfon that undertook the Defence of the Eftablifh'd Church, but like the Heroes of Old Homer, fingly, wou'd have put an Hoft of their Opponents to the Flight. If then thofe Gigantick Sticklers for Schifm and Faction were fo fhamefully baffled, I wonder how these Modern Pigmies have the Affurance to enter the Lift. What! are their Opticks grown clearer ? Have their private Academies difpenfed to them larger Funds of Knowledge? They are improv'd, 'tis true, but 'tis in Petulance and Singularity; and they have a double Portion of their Fathers Frowardnefs and Faction. 2.

THE firft Knot of Scruple-mongers breathed a more liberal Air of Literature than the prefent; they had all the Advantages in

com

common with the Sons of the Prophets; and if they funk under all thofe Helps and Improvements, what can thefe Sons of Ignorance and Confufion expect ?

THEY tell us, that our Rubrick is polluted, and that our Surplice and Ceremonies are abominable: Are the Cloak or Directory better? Can they plead for theirs the Antiquity and Practice of the Primitive Church, as we can for our Form of Prayer? Can they fhew any fufficient Ground, why the Cloak fhou'd have the Preference of the Surplice? For tho' St. Paul ufed one, can they prove it was his conftant Habit when he prayed, or preached, or effential to his performing the Duties of Religion? If the Matter was really fo, he fcarce wou'd have been fo careless as to have left his Wrapper behind him at Troas.

1

THEIR Darling Calvin, that great Mafter of Mif-rule, and Patron of their Order, has branded them with a perpetual Mark of Infamy. He tells the Lord Cromwel, in one of his Letters, that the Disciplinarians are Men of Whimfie and Enthusiasm, and wou'd quickly confound all Order and publick Settlement; that they ought to feel the Weight of a fevere Correction, and have the Sword drawn upon them. What cou'd the greatest Perfecuting Jacobite High-Flyer have faid worfe! This is a Moderation he thought due

to