thus: "Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God, there is none else besides him; out of heaven he made thee hear his voice," &c. I told them that, from the words HE, and HIM, and HIS, it was certain God was but one single person, one single HE, or HIM, or HIS. I told them, that all the patriarchs from the beginning of the world, did always address themselves to God as one single being: "O thou Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth." And Abraham said to the king of Sodom, "I have lift up my hand unto the Lord, the Most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth," &c. They knew nothing of a Trinity, nor of God's being a plurality of persons; that monstrous doctrine was not then born, nor of two thousand years after, till the apostacy and popery began to put up its filthy head.

Then I told them, that all the prophets witnessed to the truth of the same pure uncorrupted Unitarian doctrine "of one God, and no other but he: have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us?" Then I told them the words of God to Abraham, "I am God Almighty, walk before me, and be thou perfect;" and by the prophet Isaiah, "To whom will ye liken me, or shall I be equal?" saith the Holy One, not the Holy Three. I told them that the words ME and ONE did utterly exclude any other person's being God but that ONE single ME; and that God himself often testifies the same truth, by saying, "Is there any God besides me?" And then tells us plainly, "There is no God, I know not any; I am the Lord, and there is none else; there is no God besides me." Isaiah xlv. 5.

Now, said I, let God be true, but every man a liar, that is, every man that contradicteth him; for he is the God of truth: he says, "I lift up my hand to heaven; I say, I live for ever.'

After I had pleaded many texts in the Old Testament, I began to enter the New, and told them, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the prophet like unto Moses, held forth the same doctrine that Moses had done; for when a certain ruler came to ask him which was the first and great commandment, or how he expounded it, he

told him the same words that Moses had said, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one Lord (not three), and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart," &c. And the scribe said, "Thou hast answered right, for there is but one God, and there is no other but he," &c. Then I mentioned the words of Christ, in John xvii. 3, as very remarkable and worthy of all their observation; "This is life eternal, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." And then I turned my face directly to the priests (my prosecutors, who all stood on the right side of the Judge); Now, said I, since the lips of the blessed Jesus, which always spoke the truth, say, his Father is the only true God; who is he, and who are they, that dare set up another in contradiction to my blessed Lord, who says his Father is "the only true God"?

And I stopped here to see if any of them would answer; but the power of God came over them, so that all their mouths were shut up, and not one of them spake a word. So that I turned about over my left shoulder, and warned the people in the fear of God, not to take their religious sentiments from men, but from God; not from the pope, but from Christ; not from prelates nor priests, but from the prophets and apostles.

And then I turned towards the Judge, and told him, that I was the more convinced of the truth of what I had said, from the words of my blessed Lord, who said, "Call no man Father here upon earth; for one is your Father, even God. And call no man Master; for one is your Master, even Christ." From hence, said I, I deduce this natural inference, that, in all things that are of a spiritual nature, we ought to take our religion from God and his prophets, from Christ and his apostles. It will be too long to mention all the texts and proofs that I made use of; I will only add one or two, as that of Paul, 1 Cor. viii. 4-6, where the apostle tells us, "There is no other God but one; for though there be that are called gods (as there be gods many, and lords many), both in heaven and earth; but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things:" so that I

told them here was a plain demonstration; for he says, there is but one God, and tells us who that one God is, that is, the Father. And, therefore, no other person could be God but the Father only; and what I had written in my book was the plain truth, and founded on God's own words, "Thou shalt have no other Gods but me.

In short, I could plainly perceive there was a general convincement through the court. The Judge and justices of the peace did not like the prosecution; but saw plainly, that "out of envy the priests had done it." I then began to set before them the odious nature of that hell-born principle of persecution, and that it was hatched in hell; that it never came from Jesus Christ; that he and his followers were often persecuted themselves, but they never persecuted any; that we had now a very flagrant instance of it in the Papists at Thorn; where they first took away their schools where our brethren the Protestants educated their children; then they took away the places of their religious worship; then they put them in prisons; then confiscated their estates; and, last of all, took away their lives.

Now we can cry out loud enough against this, and shew the inhumanity, cruelty and barbarity of it; but, say I, if we, who call ourselves Protestants, shall be found acting in the same spirit against others, the crime will be greater in us than in them; because we have attained to greater degrees of light than they.

However, I told them, that I had put my house in order, and made up my accounts with all men as near as I could; and that, as I owed no man here anything, so I would not pay a penny towards this prosecution. And that I was sure of it, that whatever fine they laid on me, or whatever hole or prison, said I, you thrust me into, I shall find God's living presence with me, as I feel it this day; and so ended my speech.

Upon this, a justice of the peace, one Robert Humpatch, got up, went to the Judge, laid his hand upon the Judge's shoulder, and said, "My Lord, I know this man to be an honest man; and what I say, I speak not

by hearsay, but experience; for I was his next-door neighbour three years." Also another justice spoke to the same effect. Then the Judge spoke to me: 66 Mr. Elwall, I perceive you have studied very deeply into this controversy; but have you ever consulted any of our reverend clergy and bishops of the church of England?" I answered, Yes, I have; and, among others, the Archbishop of Canterbury himself, with whom I have exchanged ten letters, viz. four I have had from him, and six he had from me. [At which words all the priests stared very earnestly.] Well, says the Judge, and was not the Archbishop able to give you some satisfaction in these points, Mr. Elwall? I said, No; but rather quite the reverse; for that in all the letters I sent to the Archbishop, I grounded my arguments upon the words of God and his prophets, Christ and his apostles; but in his answers to me, he referred me to acts of parliament, declarations of state, &c.: whereas I told the Bishop, in one of my letters, that I wondered a man of his natural and acquired abilities should be so weak as to turn me over to human authorities, in things of a divine nature for though in all things that are of a temporal nature, and concern the civil society, "I will be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake;" even from the king upon the throne, down to the meanest officer in the land; yet in things that are of a spiritual nature, and concern my faith, my worship of God, and future state, I would "call no man father upon earth," nor regard either popes or councils, prelates or priests of any denomination, nor convocations, nor assemblies of divines; but obey God and his prophets, Christ and his apostles: Upon which the Judge answered, "Well, if his Grace of Canterbury was not able to give you satisfaction, Mr. Elwall, I believe I shall not;" and so sat down and rested him; for I think he had stood up near an hour and a quarter.

Then he stood up again, and, turning to the priests, talked softly to them. I did not hear what he said, or what they said to him; but I guessed from what the Judge said next; for, says he, "Mr. Elwall, you cannot

but be sensible that what you have written, being contrary to the commonly-received doctrines of the church, it has given offence to some of your neighbours, and particularly to the clergy: are you willing to promise, before the face of the country here, that you will not write any more on this head?" I answered, God forbid that I should make thee such a promise; for when I wrote this book, I did it in the fear of God; and I did not write it to please the church of Rome, nor the church of England, nor the church of Scotland; but to please that God who gave me my breath; and therefore, if at any time I find myself drawn forth to write in defence of this sacred first commandment, or any other of the ten, I hope I shall do it in the same spirit of sincerity as I have this. And I perceived the Judge was not in any wise displeased at my honest, plain, bold answer; but rather his heart seemed to be knit in love to me; and he soon declared me acquitted: then the clerk of the arraigns, or assizes, stood up and said, "Mr. Elwall, you are acquitted; you may go out of court when you please."

So I went away through a very great crowd of people (for it was thought there was a thousand people at the trial), and having spoken long I was athirst, so went to a well and drank. Then I went out of town by a river-side, and looking about, and seeing no one near, I kneeled down on the bank of the river, and sent up my thank-offering to that good God who had delivered me out of their hands.

By the time that I returned to the town, the court was up and gone to dinner; a justice of peace and another person met me, and would have me to eat and drink with them, which I did; and afterwards, as I was walking along the street, some persons hove up a great sash-window, and invited me up to them; and when I entered the room I found ten or a dozen persons, most of them justices of the peace; and amongst them a priest, whom they called Doctor. One of the justices took me by the hand, and said, Mr. Elwall, I am heartily glad to see you, and I was glad to hear you bear your testimony so boldly as you did. Yea,