Not long after he wrote a smart letter from the prison, to two of his society, (who having been imprisoned with him for the same cause, had taken the oath, thereby to obtain their liberty,) wherein he reproved them for their falling away, and signified that thus they had increased the burden of their faithful brethren, from the bearing of which they had withdrawn themselves. But what a changeable creature is man, if he doth not continue watchful, and keep close to the divine grace, continually laying hold thereon! For scarce five days passed, but this inconstant Jeremy grew weary of imprisonment, and took the oath also to get out of prison. Neither did he stop here; for it is plain that he was now departed from his profession. To temporize therefore, and to find out excuses for what he had done, he put forth a book in print, wherein he asserted the lawfulness of swearing. It was asked of him, whether he was that same Jeremy Ives, that once had been of such a tender conscience, that he durst not take an oath, and had afterwards publicly defended swearing as lawful? And he did not deny the fact, for it was notoriously known: but he went about to disguise the matter, and said, ‘I am that Jeremy who took the oath of allegiance, and wrote a book to prove that some oaths were lawful, though not all.’ Neither did he deny the fore-mentioned letter, for it was extant, and written as followeth:
‘Brother Pitman and Brother Shewel,
‘I am at this time surprised with a holy passion; and though Jonah could not say concerning the gourd, that he did well to be angry; yet, if my experience in the word of the Lord doth not deceive, I can truly say, I do well to be angry with you; whom I have had a godly jealously of all along, viz. That you would be as easily persuaded to part with, as unwilling to suffer for, your spiritual liberties. Oh my brethren! Where is your first love? How unlike the Christians in former times are you? Whose zeal was so hot for God, that their eyes prevented the morning, that thereby they might prevent the rage of the adversary, who, as it is now, commanded them no more to worship in the name of the Lord.—I always did conclude, that those that would—quit the cause of righteousness—would quit the ways of holiness, as yesterday’s sad experience hath taught, to the perpetual joy of your adversaries, and the saddening the hearts, and adding afflictions to the bonds of the prisoners of the Lord. I do therefore conjure you, as you will answer the great God another day, to consider, that now is the time for you to look to your ministry, and to the flock over which the Lord hath made you overseers, that you may be able through grace to say, ‘You are clear from the blood of all men;’ and observe, that God is now come to prove you, to see whether you will keep his commandments or not. Remember when that apostate’s case was debated, you had no zeal nor indignation against him, but you smothered all with this, ‘If it were in a matter of faith and worship that he had fallen from, you would have been as one man against it.’ Well, behold the Lord is come home to you; the matter now is purely for worshipping God; now God is proving you to see whether you will obey him or no: and did not yesterday’s work witness, that you were willing to prefer the fear of a man, that must die, before the fear of the great God; and the fear of them that can kill the body, before the fear of the Lord, that can cast body and soul into hell? I have no more to say but this, that your cowardly temporizing and complying with the precepts of men, makes me jealous, that your fear towards the Lord is taught by the precepts of men. I would not be too censorious, but my grounds are great; and my bonds are my crown; but your cowardly spirit is my great cross. You little think what a scandal it is amongst us to hear it affirmed that one of you should say, you had rather have given fifty pounds than have sworn, and yet swear that you swear willingly. Oh! for the Lord’s sake, do somewhat that may roll away this reproach; which that you may, is the prayers of your brother, who could be contented to write himself,
Your companion in tribulation,
JER. IVES.’
Jan. 14, 1660.
‘Brother Ward, my fellow-prisoner, desires to present his love to you, and so do some others.’
Thus zealously Jer. Ives wrote to his fellow-teachers, who for human fear, and to avoid sufferings, had, against their profession, and the conviction of their consciences, taken the oath. But who could have imagined on sight of such letter, that he himself within so short a space of time, should have done that which he reproved so severely in others. Certainly in this case the saying of the prophet Jeremiah seems to be very applicable, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? Let therefore him who standeth, be cautious lest he fall.” Happy had this man been, if he had been so sensible of his transgressions as one Edward Chilton, who though by profession a Quaker, yet when it came to a trial, either to take the oath of allegiance, or to be premunired, he wavered and fainted; yet not so, that he fell away totally: for he became so penitent for the evil he had committed, that he found himself constrained to give proof thereof by a letter he wrote to his friends, who remained prisoners, because for conscience-sake they could not swear; whereas he, to be released from imprisonment, had taken the oath that was demanded of him. But of what a bitter relish this became to him, and what terror and horror he was seized with, the following letter will show:
‘My dear Friends,
‘I desire to lay before you this my condition in this my fall, that my fall may be no cause for you to stumble, but that you by it may be the more encouraged to stand; for I have yielded to the betrayer, and so betrayed the innocent seed in me; for I forsook the counsel of the Lord, and consulted with flesh and blood, and so I fell into the snare of the world, and yielded to the covenant; and so I rested satisfied in what I had done, for some certain hours; but when the Lord in his power looked back upon me, then I remembered what I had done; then I remembered that I had denied truth, which once I had professed, though once I thought I should have stood when others fell. So the terrors of the Lord have taken hold on me, and I lie under the judgments of the Lord.
‘And now I feel the truth of the words that were spoken by Christ, ‘that he that faileth in one tittle, is guilty of all;’ and now I feel the truth of that, ‘that it is better to forsake wife and children, and all that a man hath, even life itself, for Christ and the truth’s sake, than to break one tittle of the law of God written in the heart.’ So I hope that, by mercy and judgment, the Lord will redeem me to himself again. The Lord may suffer some to fall, that the standing of them that stand faithful may seem to be the more glorious, and for them to take heed lest they fall.