He said, "For not coming to church." "Why," said I, "ye left us above twenty years ago, when we were but young lads and lasses, to the Presbyterians, Independents, and Baptists, many of whom made spoil of our goods, and persecuted us because we would not follow them. We, being but young, knew little then of your principles. If ye had intended to keep your principles alive, that we might have known them, ye should either not have fled from us as ye did, or ye should have sent us your epistles, collects, homilies, and evening songs; for Paul wrote epistles to the saints, though he was in prison. But they and we might have turned Turks or Jews for any collects, homilies, or epistles we had from you all this while. And now thou hast excommunicated us, both young and old, and so have others of you done; that is, ye have put us out of your church before ye have got us into it, and before ye have brought us to know your principles. Is not this madness in you, to put us out before we were brought in? Indeed, if ye had brought us into your church, and when we had been in, if we had done some bad thing, that had been something like a ground for excommunication or putting out again. But," said I, "What dost thou call the Church?" "Why," said he, "that which you call the steeple-house." Then I asked him whether Christ shed His blood for the steeple-house, and purchased and sanctified the steeple-house with His blood. And seeing the Church is Christ's bride and wife, and that He is the Head of the Church, dost thou think the steeple-house is Christ's wife and bride, and that He is the head of that old house, or of His people?" "No," said he, "Christ is the head of His people, and they are the Church." "But," said I, "You have given the title Church to an old house, which belongs to the people; and you have taught them to believe so." I asked him also why he persecuted Friends for not paying tithes; whether God ever commanded the Gentiles to pay tithes; whether Christ had not ended tithes when He ended the Levitical priesthood that took tithes; whether Christ, when He sent His disciples to preach, had not commanded them to preach freely as He had given them freely; and whether all the ministers of Christ are not bound to observe this command of Christ. He said he would not dispute that. Neither did I find he was willing to stay on that subject; for he presently turned to another matter, and said, "You marry, but I know not how." I replied, "It may be so; but why dost thou not come and see?"