“They helped every one his neighbor; so the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith.”—_Isaiah._ “And the great man he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.”—_Micah._ CHAPTER IV. One has said that an angel would feel as much honored in receiving a commission to sweep the streets as though called to a service higher in the world’s estimation. We confess to something like a street-cleaning duty in removing the scandals which have settled about the name of John Rogers. Since the enemies of Rogers have mainly taken their artillery from Pratt’s work, the falsity of which has in part been shown, we now proceed to give it further notice and refutation. Base coin is sometimes passed around and received as genuine; put to the test, its worth vanishes. Written in a malignant spirit, with no regard to truth whatever, the untrustworthiness of Pratt’s book can scarcely be overstated. We will continue to quote from this book, and John Rogers, 2d’s “Reply” to the same. It remains (says Pratt) that I speak of the third step in Quakerism taken by John Rogers, who received his first notions of spirituality from Banks and Case, a couple of lewd men[11] of that sort called Singing Quakers. These men, as they danced through this Colony, lit on John Rogers and made a Quaker of him; but neither they nor the Spirit could teach him to sing. However, he remained their disciple for a while, and then, being wiser than his teachers, made a transition to the church of the Seventh Day Baptists. But, the same spirit not deserting him, but setting in with the disposition of his own spirit to a vehement affectation of precedency, he resolved to reach it, though it should happen to lead to singularity; whereupon, after a few revelations, he resolved upon Quakerism again, though under a modification somewhat new. I call it Quakerism, not but that he differed from them in many things, yet holding with them in the main, being guided by the same spirit, acknowledging their spirit and they his, he must needs be called a Quaker. ----- Footnote 11: We have been unable to find any historical account of Banks and Case; but that any of the Quakers were “lewd men,” is so incredible as to need more proof than the mere assertion of Peter Pratt. ----- Reply of John Rogers, Jr.:— Every article of this whole paragraph (so far as it relates to John Rogers) is notoriously false; for the proof of which I have taken these following testimonies from two of his ancient neighbors, which though they have always been enemies to his principles, yet have been very free in giving their testimonies to the truth, signifying their abhorrence of such an abuse done to a dead man.