Sixtly ye whole earth is ye Lords garden & hee hath giuen it to ye sons of Adam to bee tilled & improoued by ym why then should we stand starving here for places of habitacon (many men spending as much labour & cost to recouer or keepe soetymes an acre or two of lands, as would procure him many hundreths of acres, as good or better in another place) & in ye meane tyme suffer whole countreyes as profitable for ye use of man, to lye wast wthout any improouement.
Seaventhly, what can bee a better worke and more noble & worthy a Christian, then to helpe to raise & support a particular church while it is in it infancy, & to [join] or forces wth such a copany of faithfull people, as by a tymely assistaunce may grow stronger & prosper, & for want of it may be put to great hazzard if not wholly ruinated?
Eightly if any such as are knowne to bee godly & liue in wealth & prosperity here, shall forsake all this to joyne ymselves wth this church, & runne in hazard wth ym of hard & meane condicon, it will be an example of great vse both for ye remooving of Scandall & sinister & worldly respects, to giue more lyfe to ye faith of Gods people in their prayers for ye plantacon, & also to encourage others to joyne ye more willingly in it.
Objections:
Obj. 1. It will bee a great wrong to or owne church & countrey to take away the best people; & we still lay it more open to ye judgmts feared.
Aunsw. 1. The number will be nothing in respect of those yt are left. 2ly many yt liue to no vse here, more then for their owne priuate familyes may bee employed to a more como good in another place. 3ly such as are of good vse here may yett be so employed as ye church shall receiue no losse. and since Christs coming ye church is to be conceiued as universal wthout distinctio of countryes, so as hee yt doth good in any one place serves ye church in all places, in regard of ye vnitye. 4thly it is ye revealed will of God yt ye gospell should be preached to all nations, and though we know not whether ye Indians will receiue it or not, yet it is a good worke to observe Gods will in offering it to ym, for God shall haue glory by it though yy refuse it.
Object. 2. wee haue feared a judgemt a long tyme, but yet we are safe; therefore it were better to stay till it come, & either we may flie then, or if we be ouertaken in it wee may well bee content to suffer wth such a church as ours is.
Aunsw. It is likely yt this consideracon made ye churches beyond ye seas as ye Palatinate & Rochel &c to sit still at home, & not looke out for shelter while yy might haue found it. but ye wofull spectacle of their ruine may teach us more wisdome to avoid ye plague while it is foreseene, & not to tarry as yy did till it ouertooke ym. If they were now at their former liberty, wee may be sure yy would take other courses for their safety. And though most of ym had miscarried in their escape, yet it had not bene halfe so miserable to thmselves, or scandalous to religion, as this desperate backsliding and abjuring ye truth, wch many of ye auntient professours among ym, & ye whole posterity that remayne are plunged into.
Object. 3. wee haue here a fruitfull Land wth peace & plenty of all things.
Aunsw: wee are like to haue as good condicons there in tyme; but yet we must leaue all this abundance, if it bee not taken fro vs. When we are in or graues, it will bee all one whether we haue liued in plenty or in penury, whether we haue dyed in a bed of downe or lockes of straw. Onely this is ye advantage of ye meane condicon, yt it is a more freedoe to dye. And ye lesse cofort any haue in ye things of this world, ye more liberty yy haue to lay vp treasure in heauen.