Sect. x. p. 132. and Sect. xiv p. 175 176. Let me add here one Proof more I have before Quoted a Book wrote by Five Ministers call'd A further Discovery c. There p. 23 24. is a Letter of Will. Baldwinson Dated 14. January 1653. and attested by Three others where Will. Baldwinson Declares that he before a Company where James Nayler and Richard Farnsworth were setting out this Doctrin of Perfection Demanded of them in these words Friends do you hold that a man may attain to that Height of Perfection in this Life to be as Perfect as Pure as Holy and as Just as God Himself And he asserts that They Joyntly Reply'd Yea and they were so After p. 62. of that Book these Five Ministers say of the Quakers But what dare not these men do who Dare lift up themselves in their Blasphemous Pride to be as Pure as God G. Fox Answers this Book in his Great Mystery and p. 232. Repeating these last words thus But how Dare these men lift up themselves in their Blasphemous Pride to say they are pure as God He do's not at all Deny the Charge but Justifies and Defends it from being Blasphemy and says Doth not Christ say Be ye Perfect as your Heavenly Father is Perfect and As he is so are we in this present World c. These are the Texts they Commonly Abuse to this Blasphemous Purpose John Harwood a Quaker but who had fallen out with G. Fox wrote a Letter to The Friends against him An. 1663. which is Intitul'd To all People that Profess the Eternal Truth c. where p. 3. he says G. Fox hath call'd Himself The Son of God and also said I am the Seed which he might as well have said I am Christ for we know that the Seed is Christ c. To this G. Fox Printed an Answer the same year 1663 with this Title The Spirit of Envy Lying and Persecution made Manifest Where p. 2. He Answers the above Charge thus And first thou saydst G. F. calls himself The Son of God c. And this thou calls a Crime This is all he says to it Confessing the Charge but Retorting upon Joh. Harwood for his Ignorance being a Quaker to think it a Crime in G. Fox to call Himself The Son of God and Christ and The Seed Here now G. W. has a Plain Answer and out of the Mouth of one whom he will not call an Adversary And we need no more witnesses against G. Fox when we have it from his own Mouth Their Asserting the Sufficiency of their Light within to Salvation without Christ And Assuming the Name of Christ to Themselves VIII He comes p. 27. to a material Point indeed where it is objected against the Quakers That they hold the Light within Every Man that comes into the world sufficient to Salvation of it self without Something else that is without the outward Christ to suffer and Dye outwardly for Us. Which makes Christ's coming into the World of no Necessity at all to our Salvation And Faith in Him to be but a sort of an Accomplishment or Civility towards Him but no way Necessary And puts the Heathen upon as good a Foundation as the Christian Nay I must say upon a Better for if Faith in Christ be by the Gospel made Necessary to Salvation and the Light within the Heathen be sufficient without this Then is this not only Vnnecessary but it puts us farther off from Heaven by making more things Necessary to our getting thither than what is Requir'd from the Heathen Then might Cornelius have answered the Angel that commanded him to send for Peter who shou'd tell him words by which he and his House shou'd be saved Act. xi 14. that he had a Light within which was Sufficient without any thing else And that he had Duly follow'd this Light for he had the Testimony of a Devout man Act. x. 2. and one that feared God with all his House But this shews that ther was Something else Necessary without which he and his House were not to be Saved This was the Ground of the Quarrel which the Quakers took against G. Keith because he Preach'd among them the Necessity of Faith in the outward Jesus which they call'd Preaching of Two Christs i. e. one more besides their Light within which they call The Christ G. W. says in answer to this p. 28. That they were not offended at G. K's Preaching Christ or his suffering and Dying without Vs truly consider'd Truly Consider'd what do's he mean by this It is Impossible to catch these Quakers speaking one word Plain without a Mental Reservation By Truly Consider'd he means That the Quakers do allow the History of Christ of His Death and Sufferings i. e. That ther was such a man and that he Did and Suffered such things and that the Light or Christ was in the man Jesus whence he was called Christ as others who have the same Light may for the same Reason be called by the same Name of Christ which as they say belongs to Every Member as well as to the Head Is not the Substance the Life the Anointing called Christ wherever it is found Doth not the Name belong to the whole Body and Every Member in the Body as well as to the Head says Isaac Penington in a Book which he calls A Question to the Professors of Christianity Printed 1667. p. 27. And in the same place says That the Apostle gives them the Members the Name Christ together with Him that is together with Jesus who was called Christ and he Quotes for this 1 Cor. xii 12. in which Text ther is nothing like what he would be at But it shews the Quakers Notion which he go's on to fortifie thus The Body says he is the same with the Head one and the same in Nature and doth not the Nature belong to the Nature in the whole i. e. Because Christ has taken Our Nature therefore J. P. wou'd give us His Nature which wou'd be to make Us God As he words it p. 7. We are as well of His Flesh and Blood as He was of ours By Christ's Flesh of which we Partake he means the Heavenly Flesh which the Quakers say Christ had from Eternity and that it is in them that is Christ's Divine Nature of which J. P. makes us to Partake as well as He of our Human Nature which yet they say He took not Really for J. P. do's not allow Jesus to be the Lamb of God but that the Lamb i. e. the Light Dwelt in Him as in a Vessel in like manner as in us By Feeling says he ibid. and knowing the Lamb in our Vessels we know also what was the Lamb in His Vessel So that by this Jesus was not the Lamb or Christ but only the Vessel in which the Lamb or Christ did for a time Reside Which he further Explains p. 33. in these words Now the Scriptures Do Expresly Distinguish between
them over night next day when I sent for them not one of them was to be had When he is Dead that too must pass the Index Expurgatorius with the Rest of his Works If Quakerism be not out of Fashion before that time which I Hope he may Live to see If they wou'd Call in or Commit to the Flames all their Old Editions I shou'd be very well Pleas'd to Rake no More into them But let them and their Heresies Die together And let the Present Quakers slide Gently from their Errors without the Shame of Recanting For it is their Conversion not Victory over them that we seek But when these Old Quaker Books are still kept as Sacred Relicts by the Generality of the Ignorant and Besotted Quakers And their Now Governing and Subtile Teachers in all the Apologies they have of Late Published still Pretend to stand by and Confirm All the Testimonies and Writings of their Ancient Friends and that In all the Parts of them And that they are thus Enjoin'd by the Yearly Epistle of their General Council as supposing them all Infallible and Dictated by the Immediate Inspiration of the Holy Ghost as they Horridly Pretend yet are not Afraid to Alter Correct and Amend them It becomes Necessary and our Duty to Search out and Expose them That being the Most Likely Means to Open those Eyes which are not Seal'd up to their own Destruction And now let others think That if the Figure of Quakerism be so Abhorrent even as Represented to Us in their Re-Printed and Corrected Books How ten times more Deform'd and Frightful it wou'd Appear if taken off their first Rude Draught if their Original Books were Expos'd to Publick view if the Publick wou'd take some Method to have them Collected and Reserv'd in some safe Place till ther shou'd be no Longer Use for them but what they first Deserv'd the Animadversion of the Hang-Man and a Faggot In the mean time Let the more sober among the Quakers Reflect how the Words of their Prophets give a Certain sound as Boasted in the Title-Page of BVRROVGH's Trumpet before Quoted when they are Chopt and Chang'd as we have seen and made Speak the Language of Every Turn tho' in Direct Opposition to one Another And if their Words are the Immediate Dictates of the Holy-Ghost as they Blasphemously Pretend then must the Curse of Adding to or Diminishing from the Word of God Light upon those who have Added or Substracted or Alter'd any thing in Any of these Quaker-Writings Which Curse they May Read in the Book of Rev. xxii 18 19. To have their Part taken away out of the Book of Life and out of the Holy City and from the things which are written in this Book And to have the Plagues which are written in this Book added unto them This they must take to Themselves or else Confess as the Truth is That the Words of these Quaker-Prophets were not Wrote from the Spirit of God And if so then because they do Pretend to be so Written they must be Acknowleg'd to have been Wrote by the Spirit of Blasphemy that is the Devil And that this is the Spirit which has Possess'd these QVAKERS To Sir Thomas Lane Lord Mayor of London HAving been Lately Summoned before Thee by Dr. Linford and Marmaduke Hopkins who are more Diligent to seek thy Warrant to take Our Goods than to seek us thereby shewing That it 's Ours more than We they desire and Love Which to us shews That they have no more Right to esteem themselves Ministers of Christ than as such to take Tyths or Plead for them For Christ said to his Ministers freely ye have received freely Give He did not Advise nor Teach That if any would not Give they should take from them whether they would or nay Therefore Consider whether such who take by force abide in or transgress the Doctrine of Christ If they Transgress as certainly they Do who abide not in his Doctrine Then his Apostle declares their Condition 2. John 9. And we Intreat thee Mayor seriously consider how he either bids God speed to such or assists them in such a Work For Thou and All must receive a Reward from the hand of the Righteous God According to your Works We have also herewith sent a small Collection out of the Book of Martyrs Fol. 669.670 To shew that the Priests have no Right to Tythes and that it was anciently so Testified by other Consciencious men besides us and made an Article against them as well as it is against us Read and consider the following Collection is the Request of us who are Sincere Well wishers to the Mayor and All men and truely desire that We nor any Other may Do that here that we cannot Answer hereafter in the Great Day of Account John Feild Will. Bingley The Collection IN the New Law neither Christ nor any of his Apostles took Tythes of the People nor Commanded the People to pay Tythes neither to Priests nor Deacons But in the 1000 year of Our Lord 211. One Pope Gregory the 10th Ordained Tythes First to be Given to Priests Again Paul saith He was not Chargeable unto them but with his hands got his Own Living It were Good Councel That all Priests took Good heed to the Heavenly Learning of Paul not Charging the People for their Bodily Livelyhood And Paul saith since the Priesthood is Changed its necessary a Change also be made of the Law so that Priests Live without Tythes For the Priests that Challenge Tythes say in effect That Christ is not become Man nor that he Suffered Death for man's Love Again the Taking of Tythes and of such other Duties that Priests Challenge now wrongfully neither Christ nor his Apostles Challenged nor took such Duties Therefore these taking of Priests now are to be called and holden The Sclanderous Covetousness and because of the Covetousness of Priests and Pride it stirreth God to take Vengeance both upon Lords and Commons which Suffer Priests Charitably This is Verbatim according to the Original Letter which I have in my Possession The Collection added out of Fox's Martyrs is not as here set down But gather'd out of several places of the Answers of one Will. Thorp an Ignorant Zealous Man but no Martyr in the Reign of Hen. 4. I wou'd not Mend any of the words to make sense of them as In the 1000 year of our Lord 211. but give them just as Quoted by the Quakers Who took what was for their Purpose 1. To make Tythes to be Anti-Christian as being a Denyal of Christ's having Come in the Flesh 2 That the Clergy are not to be supported Nor so much as God Speed be given to them 3 That the Vengeance of God is upon both Lords and Commons who suffer Priests Charitably The Arguments of the Quakers against Tythes I have Promised to Consider in a Treatise by it self But I have Printed this Letter of theirs to shew what Moderation they now at
Human Nature of an Human Soul and Human Body And likewise Truly and Properly the Son of God Contrary to Will. Penn. And that He is not such in Any Other Person Whatsoever Not in the Person of Will. Penn G. Whitehead or Any of the Quakers Reader forgive me for using so many Words Less Particular and Positive will not do with these Men. It is for their sakes that I do it That I may by any Means if Possible Open their Eyes to Discover their Horrible Delusions They have by this Means of Allegorizing the Incarnation and Birth of our Blessed Saviour from the Letter to their Imagined Conception Birth Passion Death and Resurrection of the Light within taken away all Certainty whereby we may know Whether ever ther was Such a Man in the World as Jesus Christ or that He ever did any Miracle or had any Attestation from Heaven for His Ministry That Most Express of the Glorious Appearance of a Light from Heaven Descending Leasurly and Hovering upon the Head of Jesus at His Baptism after the Manner that a Dove Lights upon the Ground the Quakers have Deny'd that is turn'd it to an Allegorie Doest thou believe says G. Whitehead to his Opponent in his Truth Defending the Quakers p. 42. That it was visible to the Carnal Eye as a Created Dove is or its Lightning I believe he Meant Lighting upon Him as a Dove was in respect of its Nature and Comliness By this they Mean That Innocency and Simplicity like that of a Dove was all that did Light upon Jesus or which Exprest His Nature and Comliness at that Time And then indeed they might well Ask Was it visible to the Carnal Eye But by this they have Quite Overthrown the Validity of that Miraculous Attestation given to Christ And so they have done to all the Rest That as I said they have not left One Single Proof that Ever ther was such a Man in the World For that can not be known but by Outward Acts and Attestations And if they can be thus Turn'd ther is an End of all Proof from them But they wou'd have no other Proof for Christ or His Mission than ther is for their Own Since they vouch Themselves to be Christ and God! Indeed as many Gods as ther are Quakers For if as they say the Seed in them can Grow up to be God That God do's BEGET Himself in them Then I do not see how they can avoid the Consequence of a Multiplication of Gods Of God's having a Beginning and being Created For if He be Begotten in Time Every Day in Every New Quaker He must be Created and so is both the Creature and the Creator If He be Capable of Encrease of Growing up from a Seed to a Child c. He must likewise be Subject to Dissolution He must be Lyable to Infirmities and Passions as We are And this the Quakers do not Deny Nay they Argue Expresly for it They take in a Literal Sense those Expressions in Scripture Where God is said to Repent to be Weary to Suffer c. several of which G. Whitehead Quotes in his Divinity of Christ p. 56. as Isai 63 10. Amos. 2.13 Hos. 11.8 9. Psal 95. Gen. 6.6 Psal 78.40 Isai 1. and chap. 43.24 These he brings as an Answer to the Argument of Thomas Vincent against whom he Disputed That Christ as God Cou'd not make Satisfaction for our Sins because as God He cou'd not Suffer The Contrary of which G. W. here Endeavours to Prove and brings these Texts to shew That God can Suffer These are the Natural and Necessary Consequences of this Mad Foundation of the Quaker Faith in Setting up their Light Within for Christ and God I am Weary in Pursuing their Blasphemies But it is Necessary in Order to Un-Deceive the Simple and Deluded among them Who know not these Depths of Satan into which they have been Led Especially Considering the Tenacious Obstinacy of their Leaders Who tho' they know these things Yet for Popularity or other Ends will not Suffer their Implicit Followers to Repent But Buoy them up with all the Artifice and Cunning they are Able to Believe That all is Well And to adhere firmly to All that they haue Taught them from the Begining And that IN ALL THE PARTS OF IT Some Texts Rescu'd from the False Glosses of the Quakers to favour the Universality of what they call The Light within 3. Let me for a Conclusion Rescue some Texts of Scripture which the Quakers have wrested to their own Destruction And upon which they build their wild Notion of the Light-Within That being undeceiv'd in this they may by the Blessing of God see their Error and Return Their Chief Text which they have Constantly in their Mouths is Rom. x. 8. The word is Nigh thee even in thy Mouth and in thy Heart that is the word of Faith which we Preach This word of Faith they take to be the Light which is in Every man of the World and not to Refer to the outward Christ or to the Faith in Him His outward Sufferings and Death but to the Faith in their Light within which Every man has even those who never heard of Jesus of Nazareth But the very next words ver 9. shew the Apostle's Meaning to be quite otherwise and to Refer wholy to Faith in the outward Christ This is the word of Faith which we Preach says he That if thou shalt Confess with thy Mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt Believe in thine Heart that God hath Raised Him from the Dead thou shalt be saved Now that by Faith the Apostle did not mean that Light which is Common to All men is plain from 2 Thess iii. 2. For all men have not Faith Says he You see here That in the very next verse following Rom. x. 8. which is the Quakers Text the Apostle do's Limit it Expressly not to the Light within but to Faith in the outward Jesus So in Deut. xxx 11 12 13 14. Whence the Apostle Quoted it the very next Verse immediately Before viz. Ver. 10. do's Limit these words in Moses to the outward Book of the Law and not to their Light within For thus says he If thou wilt hearken unto the Voice of the Lord thy God to keep His Commandments and His Statutes which are Written in this Book of the Law For this Commandment which I Command thee this Day is not far off It is not in Heaven or Beyond the Sea c. And Chap. xvii 18 19 20. The King is Commanded to Write him a Copy of this Law in a Book out of that before the Priests the Levits And to Read therein all the Days of his Life That he might thereby Learn to Fear the Lord his God to keep all the words of this Law and these Statutes to do them Was he to write a Copy of the Light within in a Book out of the Levits Book And by Keeping the words of this Law was no More
no body Understands it in this Case What if we spell it Humane for Human and take Humanity in the Moral and not Natural sense of the word as when we say that such an One is a Man of Great Humanity i. e. of Good Nature Gentleness Goodness c. And Christ or The Word having Great Goodness in His Nature consequently we will allow Him a Humane tho not a Human Nature I am Confident the Reader do's now think that I am Fooling with these Quakers and Mean this only as a Banter For that he must Conclude it Impossible for any Men to shew themselves such Knaves as well as Fools to Dodge at such a silly and Impudent rate with Mankind while they Pretend to the Greatest Plainess and Sincerity of any Men upon the Earth Therefore let him Read a Quaker Book Intitul'd A Testimony for the true Christ and His Light in the Conscience in Confutation of Robert Cobbit 's Testimony against the Truth c. Printed An. 1668. And said on the Title Page to be From some of them called Quakers But suppos'd to be Penn'd by G. Whitehead There p. 4. and 5. they say As he Rob. Cobbit speaks of Humane with Relation to Nature or Body it hath Relation to the Earth or Humus the Ground of which Man was made which the First Man is of not the second though He was Really Man too but Humane or Humanity in the other sence with Relation to Gentleness Mercifulness and the like this we know was and is in the Image of God in which Man was Made and His Gentleness Kindness Mercifulness c. is Manifested in Christ And the true and Real Humanity as Oppos'd to that Cruelty Envy and In-Humanity which is got up in Man since the Fall so that Humanity und the Unreasonableness of Beasts are two things Thus the Quakers Here they Deny Christ the Second Man to have been Made of Humus the Earth as the First Man was And yet say they He the second Man was Really Man too How was this It cou'd not be in the same sense as the First Man who was Made of Humus the Earth if Christ did not take our Nature or Humus upon Him No The Quakers do not mean it in that sense as if Christ had ever taken our Human Nature so as to Consist of it or let it be any Part of His Person And yet they say That He is Really Man too By which they Mean only That Eternal and Heavenly Manhood before Mentioned And so Banter the World with their Plain Confessions in Double Meanings Yet have they the Confidence to Cry Whore first And Boldly Challenge others with what Themselves are the most Notoriously Guilty of any that Live upon the face of the Earth Sam. Fisher one of the Chief Rabbies of the Quakers Sam. Fishers Works p. 177. Charges the Priests against whom he Disputes with Shameful shiftings from sense to sense miserable marchings from Meaning to Meaning so that we can hardly know where or How to find them nor what they mean But we says he mostly or ever keep to the True Honest Ordinary and Plain purport of the words as they lie open and Clear to every Ordinary and Common Capacity And G. Whitehead Intitul's one of his Books The Quaker's Plainess detecting Fallacie Whereas their Books are such Un-intelligible Jargon that one must serve a Prentiship before he can understand one word almost of what they wou'd be at Nay they Glory and often Boast that their Words as well as Names are Hidden from the World And this not only in their Books but I Appeal to all that Converse with them whether the same Mysteriousness be not in all their Conversation concerning Religion When you ask them the meaning of their Light within their Christ within their Life Read c. They Answer Commonly with a Grunt of Disdain or Pity as they wou'd have you take it And when they Vouchsafe to Speak it is to this Purpose These things are Hid from thee and from the World Read within there thou wilt find them But we know them and have Sweetness and Life in them c. Their Language is as much a Cant as the Gipsies And this has Preserv'd them so long Vn-discover'd in the World Yet they make up a Mouth and Pretend to Plainess beyond all others But you shall never get them to Answer Directly or to the Purpose To give a Plain Yea or Nay to any Question concerning their Heresies If they say I wrong them let this be the Test That they will either Own or Disown this their Notion of an Heavenly and Eternal Manhood of Christ And tell us in Plain Terms which of the Manhoods that which is Created or that which they say is Vn-created they mean when they Confess to the Manhood of Christ now in Heaven And till they do this which I Guess will not be in Hast let my Charge stand good against them Which I may Reasonably presume from all Judicious Readers But ther is no stop in the Art of Heresie This their Mad Notion of an Heavenly Body in God or Christ has brought them to Fancy that they themselves have the same Heavenly Body And thus they Understand our being Members of Christ not as being Members of His Church of which He is the Mystical Head But as Members of this His Heavenly Flesh Blood and Bones And therefore say that Their own Bodies shall never Dye G. Fox when one minded him that he wou'd Dye Will. Rogers his Christian Quaker IV. Part. p. 49. and turn to Dust and therefore that he ought to be Humble Answers in his Letter which is Printed Thou sayest when I am turned to Dust and Dead Is this thy Doctrin Are the Members of the Heavenly Body turned to Dust and Dead This Doctrin proceeds from Darkness and not from the Light of Christ. This is very Intelligible And Easie to the Meanest Capacity This is the Quakers Plainess It was not said that his Soul shou'd turn to Dust this was spoke of his Body And here he denies it of the Body Why Because it was a Member of the Heavenly Body of God And yet they do not doubt but their Bodies must Dye in the True Honest Ordinary and Plain purport of the Words to which they Mostly or Ever keep But this Mystery is Vn-Riddl'd in the Second Part. Sect. vii n. 2. where it is shewn That they hold their Bodies as well as Souls to be God It is told in the Preface how the Quaker Heresies were Borrow'd from the Ancienter Sectaries amongst us And this their Answer to the Seven Queres shews that they have Inherited their Plainess and Sincerity in Representing their own Principles to the World The Family of Love who Prevaricated in every Article of the Creed Printed a Confession of their Faith in the very words of the Creed An. 1656. But how they meant it Mr. Knewstub has shewn us which is Inserted in Heresiography p. 97.
Instances the Quakers have made themselves as Mad as any ever were in the World And have been so esteem'd at Rome and other Places where they had never been before as they were at first when they Rose up amongst us only the Common use of it now has abated of the Strangeness but nothing of the Irrationality and Madness not to speak of the Breach of Justice or Religion for Honour is as much Due to our Superiors as either Fear or Tribute and Equally Commanded Rom. xiii 7. and to Deny it is Immorality and a Sin besides the Singularity and Proud-Humility which Entitles it to a High Degree of Madness And in this the whole Body of the Quakers is Involv'd In making Themselves free from Sin and Equal with God 3. But thirdly wou'd not that man be Counted Mad who shou'd Fancie himself Exempted from the Common Condition of other Mortals to be as Bright and Glorious and Impassible as an Angel And is it not as much to think our selves as Pure and Impeccable as they even while we feel our own Frailty and Imperfections in Dayly and Frequent Instances Yet still to Cry that we are Pure and without Sin Nay Perfect even as God! And Equal to Him and One with Him in very Nature and Substance and a Part of Him Can any Madness be Imagin'd beyond or Equal to this And G. W. p. 88. gives his Consent to secure such Persons in Bedlam if we can find any such among them that we can plainly Prove to hold the Same Now whether this be not Plainly Prov'd in the Sn. Sect. ii iii. and iv I leave to the Reader And G. W. do's neither Deny nor Answer one of the Quotations there Produc'd But stoutly Denies the whole Charge without so much as Attempting to Invalidat any one Particle of the Evidence Which I think I may Modestly say is very like the Answer of a Mad-Man In Assuming to be Prophets 4. But I will put the Case lower than that of Aspiring to be Equal with God Suppose then that a Poor Country Lad shou'd come to London and hapning upon a Rich Widdow shou'd presently fancie himself to be some Duke or Great Prince and as such shou'd Issue forth his Proclamations Commissions c. wou'd not G. W. give me leave to think this fellow a little Craz'd But suppose he shou'd set up for a Prophet sent Immediately from God as Elijah was And as such shou'd take upon him to Dictate to Kings and Emperors and Command them In the Name of the Lord to Give forth Prophesies and affix to them Thus saith the Lord c. And suppose he Cou'd shew no Credentials at all for this High Commission only bid Men take his own word for it wou'd not this make him much more Extravagantly and Blasphemously Mad Now how many Mad-Men of this sort have we had among the Quakers Even Fox their Original and all the way down as many as have Wrote or almost that have Preach'd or Spoke amongst them This is a Talent without which whosoever speaks is a Conjurer as Fox has Determin'd in his Westmorland Petition p. 5. in his Saul's Errand p. 7. and elswhere as shewn in the Sn. Ther is one particular Instance put in the Front of the Preface p. xi of the First Edit of the Sn. it is p. 281. of the Third Edit where a Prophetical Curse is set down of Confusion against George Keith And it is not a Hasty Rash Curse in Passion or so as is usual among the Profane Cursers and Swearers of the World But it is a Deliberat Grave Curse in Cold Blood set down in Writing and sent to George Keith it bears Date the 17th of the 4th Month. 1695. And is subscrib'd George Whitehead And begins in these words Thus Saith the Lord. And it is written not in the Name of G. Whitehead as any Thought or Prognostick of his own but every word in the Person of God as speaking to G. Keith Because thou hast poured Contempt upon My Servants I will assuredly bring Confusion upon thee c. Now for this George Whitehead thus to assume the Stile of the most Extraordinary Prophets of God and to Fancie himself one of them I think will be Judg'd a Greater Degree of Madness than if he had Fancy'd himself to be a Duke or a Prince for a Prophet Immediatly sent from God is certainly Cloath'd with a far Greater Honour than any that can be Bestow'd by the most Splendid of Worldly Titles Therefore this is no ordinary mistake or such as cou'd befall any Man in his Wits Nay farther to shew the Excess of G. Whitehead's Madness Suppose he shou'd think that this Prophetical Curse of his against G. Keith to be not only Equal to any Prophesie Recorded in Scripture but of Greater Authority than any Chapter in the Bible wou'd any body in this case Excuse him from the very Height of Madness And for this see his Truth defending the Quakers An. 1659. p. 7. where this Question was Demanded of him Do you Esteem your Speakings to be of as Great Authority as any Chapters in the Bible And he sets down his own Answer in these words That which is Spoken from the Spirit of Truth in any is of as Great Authority as the Scriptures and Chapters are and GREATER This he Repeats again in the same words in his Serious Appology An. 1671. p. 49. And Quotes his former Book to shew that this was not spoke by Chance but was a standing Principle among them Now then if G. W. will say That the Curse which he sent to G. Keith was Spoken by the Spirit of Truth he owns by his own words that it is not only of As Great Authority as the Scriptures and Chapters are but of GREATER And then I think we need no further Proof of his being Stark-Mad But on the other hand if he will to save himself from this Imputation Acknowledge that that Curse was not Spoken by the Spirit of Truth then must he own himself Guilty of a most Notorious Blasphemy to Dictate thus in the Person of God and make God to speak his Lies and the Delusions of his Besotted Brain And if this be not put upon the score of Madness then ought G. Whitehead to suffer the Punnishment of a Blasphemer Therefore he shou'd Return his Thanks to those who are so Merciful as to Prove him only Non Compos as of Felo de se to save his Chattels and his Carcass too But this is not only as to this Curse against G. K. that is but one Instance among many nor only as to G. W. but it Reaches to All that the Quakers have Deliver'd In the Name of the Lord not only against Particular Persons but the whole Church of England the King the Bishops and Priests and the Lawyers too they are Particularly mark'd out for Destruction if ever the Quakers do Prevail they are the Midianites whom we must Vex that is Destroy see
Body of Christ is within them as well as His Spirit Indeed they are here in a monstrous Confusion for by this Body they mean the Spirit and by a Spiritual Body they mean nothing but Spirit However this serves them to Dodge and Decieve others It was to meet with them in this that the First and the Sixth Quaeres of those given to their Yearly Meeting 1695. were fram'd viz. Do you believe in a Christ without you Now in Heaven And Quaer 6. Is Christ now at this Day and for Ever to come Truly and Really a Man in true and Proper Human Nature without all other Men But in their Pretended Answer to these Quaeres they wave Answering Directly and leave out the words without us and without all other Men and the word Human upon which the Chief stress was laid because they do believe that this Notional Body of Christ is within them as well as His Spirit Therefore they wou'd not Answer to this And tho' this was again Prest upon them in the Conclusion of the Sn. and they were told of all this Dodging and this was put upon them as a Criterion to Clear themselves and therefore they were Desir'd to begin their Answer to the Sn. with a Plain and Direct Ans Yea or Nay to these Two short Queres Yet no Provocation can bring them to it They will not yet Answer to it for it Discovers the Heart of their Cause It wou'd totally overthrow their Ancient Testimonies wherein they Deny That Christ hath now a Body of Flesh and Bones Circumscript or Limited in that Heaven which is Above and out of Every Man on Earth These are the words of John Whitehead in his Quakers Refuge Printed 1673. p. 40. And p. 41. he says that they are in the Error who wou'd Limit it to a Particular Place and out of every Man on Earth for says he The Spirit and Body of Christ is not Divided but wheresoever the Spirit and Life of Christ is it is in the Body of Christ. This shews plainly what they mean That the Body of Christ is not Now a Body Circumscript or Limited to any Place and consequently it is no Body at all for that is Inseperable from a Body but that it is wheresoever His Spirit is and that it is within them and not without all other Men. Thus Edward Burough being Demanded in these Positive Terms Is that very man with that very Body within you Yea or Nay And this he do's not at all Deny but Answers in the Affirmative p. 149. of his works The very Christ of God is within us You must take the meaning of these men by Considering that to which they Answer and which they oppose for in a Limited sense Christ by His Holy Spirit and Influences is within us and Christ is The very Christ so that ther is a sense in which that Expression tho' offensive in the wording of it may be admitted But then when we consider that which they Oppose or to which they Answer the meaning appears Plain for why wou'd they Oppose what they thought Orthodox And this is the method by which we must understand G. Fox's Great Mystery which is a Pretended Answer to 108 Books and Disputes against the Quakers For G. Fox's own words are â—eldom either Sense or English and he Miserably Mis-Quotes and Mistakes their words whom he writes against sometimes it appears to be on Purpose and sometimes out of Pure want of Vnderstanding Half Knave and Half Fool But by Reading those Books which he opposes you may Discover what he wou'd be at Instances of this out of Number can be given Which if any think it worth the while are Ready to be Produc'd But to the Subject we are upon The first Book he Answers in his Great Mystery is of one of the then Ministers Mr. Sam. Eaton call'd The Quakers Confuted Printed A. D. 1654. where p. 12. Mr. Eaton makes as full a Confession as can be to the Inward Presense and Operation of Christ by His Spirit in the Hearts of Believers And therein says he they have Him But they have not Christ in Flesh or the Flesh of Christ dwelling in them for that was taken up into Heaven and will there be Contain'd till the Restitution of All things This G. Fox opposes in his Great Mystery p. 3. And Quotes thus much of his words with the Page But the Saints have not Christ in the Flesh p. 12. And opposes this as Contrary to Christ and the Apostles Doctrin who said they were of His Flesh and of his Bone and they that have His Flesh have it in them This shews in what sense he Understood these Scriptures and what his Notion was of the Flesh of Christ viz. That it was now at this time in all Believers and so not any Literal Flesh but some Imagination or other that they have of Spiritual Flesh which they think that God Himself has and Christ or the Light had from all Eternity so nothing of outward Human Flesh or Nature Tho' if you take the word Human as it may be Deriv'd from Homo a Man thus they will allow that Christ has a True Human Body and Ever had from Eternity that is a True and Real Manhood In this sense it is said before p. 11. l. 8. that they allow the Body which they say Christ had from Eternity to be an Human Body For ther is no other word in Latin whereby to Express the Nature of Man but Humanitas whence we use the word Humanity to mean the same as Manhood But if you Derive the word Human from Humus the Ground or Earth of which Man was Made in this sense the Quakers Deny that Christ had an Human Body from Eternity or indeed while He was upon the Earth For which I Refer you back to p. 19 20. where you will find this Artfully Distinguish'd by the Quakers But we will now go on to see the further Salvos that the Present Antidote affords in this Case Their Denyal that Christ had any Human or Created richer Soul or Body while upon Earth 2. G. W. Skips to p. 38. And takes up this Argument again where he Pretends to Answer the objection of the Quakers making the Body of Jesus only a Vaile or Garment wherein Christ or the word Dwelt but that He took not that Body into His own Person so as to be Hypostatycally United to it And to this he says p. 38. We are to seek herein as not knowing where the Quakers say these things Yet Answers not or Names one of the many Proofs which are brought for this See Sn. Sect. x. This wou'd be very Provoking but that I am us'd to it for it is his Constant Method Yet in the Excuse he makes for it he Confesses enough to shew that the Quakers are Guilty herein For says he Tho' His Flesh is call'd the Vail yet it was that he own'd as His own Body being also call'd the Body of
Jesus which was not a Fantastical but a Real Body Here is putting in things they are not Accused of that they may seem to vindicate themselves in something They are not Accused for saying that the Body of Jesus was a Fantastical or not a Real Body but that it was not Truly that is Hypostatically the Body of Christ only a Vail or Garment wherein He Dwelt And in that sense it was His Body as a Man's Cloak or Garment is his Garment and so it was that as G. W. says which Christ owned as his own Body being also adds he called the Body of Jesus i. e. in some other sense than it was the Body of Christ That is It was the True Proper and Natural Body of the Man Jesus But it was the Body of Christ only as He Dwelt in it in the Body of that man Jesus as G. W. thinks He do's in the Body of George Whitehead Otherwise it cou'd not be call'd the Body of Christ and also as G. W. here the Body of Jesus This must make Jesus and Christ to be Two Persons For Example if I shou'd say the Body of George which is also the Body of Whitehead this wou'd either be Non-sense or else it must Divide George from Whitehead and make the Body to belong to George in one sense and to Whitehead in another It is told before p. 17 18. How nicely G. W. do's Distinguish between Consisting and Having and tho' he Allow'd that Christ once Had a Body that is in His Possession as a man Hath an House or a Cloak yet G. W. positively Denies That Christ did Consist of Human Flesh and Blood And if so Then He was never Truly and Really a Man only such in Appearance and False-shew Which overthrows the whole Foundation of the Christian Faith And is an Abominable Heresie long since Condemn'd by the Catholick Church as I have elsewhere shewn And that the Quakers have Lick'd it up as they wou'd Pretend by Inspiration which if so was most Certainly from the Devil the Father of Lies But let us see more of them Richard Hubberthorn in his works Printed 1663. among several Queres which he puts against Christ's being a Creature or having any Created Nature in Him do's Demand p. 49. and 50. When was that Christ Created which you say must as a Creature Judge the World And if in Mary 's time who was Judge of the World till then Was not the Person of Christ Jesus before the World was And when had the Man Christ Jesus his Beginning if you can Declare it How is Christ the only begotten Son of God if He be a Creature or how can God beget a Creature And if the whole Person of Christ was not before the Earthly Adam how was the Creation made by Him Or how can He be of the Nature of fallen Adam and not Earthly and Defiled And is the Flesh of Christ Heavenly or Earthly Or is He Christ without His Flesh i. e. He had always an Heavenly Flesh and that He has still But never took Flesh of Adam's Nature for then they think He must have been Defil'd As if He cou'd not take the Nature without the Defilement which was but Accidental to it George Fox in his Great Mystery p. 99. sets down this Principle of the Professors as he calls them That Christ hath a Humane Reasonable Soul And he Disputes against it and Battels it as a Gross Error For says he Is not a Human Soul Earthly for you say that Christ had a Human Soul and is not Human Earthly And hath a Human Body and is not a Human Body an Earthly Body was not the first man of the Earth Earthly and had an Human Body the Second man the Lord from Heaven This is the Heavenly Body and Flesh which they suppose Christ had from Eternity But here and in many other Places they Deny Christ to have either Human Body or Soul or to be a Man otherwise than as they say He was Man before the Creation This being Urg'd against them by John Bunyan Minister of Bedford who in his Gospel-Truths Opened Sect. 18. takes pains to prove that the Christ who was Born of the Virgin was the true Saviour and then Infers p. 652 of his works in these words How are they then Deceived who own Christ no otherwise than as He was before the world began For in their owning of Him thus and no otherwise they do directly Deny Him to be come in the Flesh and are of that Anti-Christian Party which John Speaks of 1. Joh. iv 3. Edw. Burrough Answers this Book of Bunyan's and coming to this Passage p. 142. of his works he Repeats Bunyan's words thus How are they Deceived who own Christ no otherwise than as He was before the world began c. And instead of Clearing the Quakers from this Objection or Disowning it to be a Principle of the Quakers he stands by it and pretends to give Reasons for it as Christ the same Yesterday to Day and for Ever And that Christ was before Abraham c. And falls upon Bunyan for his Grievous Ignorance in not Apprehending this Quaker-Mystery as he words it thus To own Him Christ as He was before the world was for Salvation But that was not the Question Bunyan's words even as Repeated by Burrough are not against owning Christ as He was before the World was for that Bunyan and all Christians own but against owning Him so And No otherwise i. e. Not as having taken Flesh in time of the B. Virgin having Suffer'd and Dy'd for us for in that Respect and not only as He was before the World was Bunyan Contends that He was our Saviour And Burrough opposing him in this shews plainly what they mean viz. That Christ has now no other Flesh or Manhood than what He had before the World was and that He is not our Saviour upon account of that Flesh of Jesus which He Borrow'd as a Vail to shrowd Himself in for a time or for what that Body suffer'd but that He is our Saviour only as He was before the World was and as they say that He is Inwardly now in their Hearts in His Heavenly Flesh and Blood which he had from Eternity And the whole Merit and Atonement for Sin they place in the Inward Shedding of this Spiritual Blood in their Hearts which they call the Sufferings of Christ yes and of His Manhood too of His Body and His Flesh thus Bantering Mankind while they Mean nothing of this of that Visible Body in which He Appear'd in the Days of Pontius Pilat and which was Nail'd to the Cross but of the Invisible Body Flesh Blood and Bones of the Godhead The Arch-Enemy having Taught them this Damnable Heresie and thereby put the Grossest of Darkness for Light and Defrauded them of whole Christianity the Faith in the outward Jesus and what He did and suffer'd outwardly for Us tho' it be Inwardly Apprehended and Apply'd by Faith which is
the Dark for want of the true Light yet shining which now shineth forth they have been suppos'd to be but Christ himself his Light and Spirit which shew Good and Evil in the Heart which are the only Guide Law and Rule And this is Infallible and there is the only sure and safe walking even in the Light in Christ in the Spirit and not in the Letter which is Fallible by false Interpretation and Translation Here are all our Translations and the Originals too both Hebrew and Greek that are Extant of the Holy Scriptures Damn'd at one Blow That is to say All the Bibles now in the world They are no longer a Rule or Law to us But all is Resolv'd into our own Light within without Limit or Controul of Scripture or any other Law or Rule whatsoever And this is the New-Light which the Quakers have brought into the world viz. Before the Quakers came that is In the Dark as Fisher words it for want of the true Light yet shining the Scriptures were Suppos'd to be the Rule That was Dark indeed But now that the True Light which the Quakers have brought Shineth forth the Scriptures are Discarded from being the Rule and the Light within i. e. what any man Fancies so to be is the only Rule Guide Law c. From this Ancient Quaker his Son Will. Penn has Lick'd the Spittle and thus Copies after him and Improves upon him I cannot but Observe says W. Penn after what a suspected Rate the SCRIPTVRES have been first Collected Are we sure that the Judgement of those who Collected them was sufficient to Determin what was Right Rejoinder to John Faldo An 1673. p. 38. and what not What Assurance have our Anti-Revelation Adversaries of their Doctors Choice How shall we be Assur'd that in above three hundred years so many Copies as were doubtless taken shou'd be Pure and Vn-Corrupted From hence we may Observe the Uncertainty of J. Faldo 's Word of God See with what Contempt he calls the Holy Scriptures John Faldo's Word of God! And makes them an Vn-Certainty And calls those who Adhere to them Anti-Revelation Adversaries Not that these Adversaries Oppos'd all Revelation for the Holy Scriptures are a Revelation But they are an Extraordinary Revelation far Exceeding the Discoveries which are made by that Light or Reason which is Common to all Mankind and which the Deists and Quakers do Improperly call Revelation And who will not own this as the only Certain and Infallible Rule of Faith and Practice are those whom Will. Penn calls Anti-Revelation Adversaries He says ibid. That we can never by Authorities prove the Scriptures to be given forth by Inspiration nor that they are truly Collected That is That ther is no outward Evidence for them but only what our Light within tells Us of them And then they wou'd be Vn-Certain indeed How many Men's Light within tells them nothing of the Holy Scriptures of Moses or of Christ of the Law or the Gospel As for what Outward and Human Evidence ther is for these I Referr the Quakers to the Short Method with the Deists wherein they are Equally Concern'd But here see the Reason why they not only Equal but Preferr their own Writings and Speakings to the Holy Scriptures viz. Because we have the Original of their Writings and as they say but Corrupted Copies of the Scriptures And that They have The same Degree of the Spirit the Prophets and Apostles had Gr. Myst p. 213. therefore that what they say Now is of Greater Authority than the Scriptures wrote so Long ago Of which before G W's Sincerity and Ingenuity in some Objections with which he Concludes the First Part of his Book Wherein the Summ of the Quaker Doctrin is laid Open. viz. That they Deny the Humanity of Christ Ard the Divinity of Jesus XVII We are now come to the End of the first Part of G. W's Answer which concludes p. 48. with a Notable smart Repartee upon the Author of the Sn. for calling the Title of a Book Holy What was the Title of the Book Gross Error and Hypocrisie Detected And what do's G. W. make of this He calls it Blasphemy But how Blasphemy George Is not the Detection of Gross Error and Hypocrisie a very Good work And is it Blasphemy to call a Good work an Holy work Good and Holy George are very near of Kin. And thou did'st strain very hard against the Author when thou found'st out this for Blasphemy But it falls out further Unluckily in this Matter for the Author never thought of any such Epithet as Holy to give to the Title of that Book or any Epithet at all but just to Name the Book It was a mere Error of the Press And it was put into the Errata to Dele that word Holy And the page and line are nam'd in the Errata p. 351. l. 9. but the Direction of Dele Holy was left out And ther is no other Error in that line which has but Six words in it so that a little Skill and as much Sincerity wou'd easily have found it out At least wou'd have stopt such Ingenious Remarks upon it It was corrected with a Pen in several of the Printed Books And in the Second Edit p. 350. the word Holy is left out But however this being the only Error which G. W. has found in the Sn. and shewing himself so Fond of it it is a Pity to Deprive him of the Pleasure of it And now being Flusht with this First Victory he Hews down G. Keith for company because in that Book of his Gross Error and Hypocrisie Detected about the Title of which we have Quarrel'd he brings Answers to the Seven Queres Presented to the Yearly Meeting of the Quakers 1695. and Sophistically Answer'd by the Committee of Seven thereto appointed of which G. W. was one out of the Quaker-Books since they wou'd not Answer Directly themselves But G. W. is very smart upon him and observes with Great Acuteness that those Books being wrote before the Queres were not Intended as Direct Answers to those Queres for says he They cou'd be no Proper nor Direct Answers to those Queries nor so Intended nor by us Adapted to any such Queries therefore the Greater Abuse in him to Collect and Place them for Answers thereto This was a Great Abuse indeed To make you Answer more Directly than you had a Mind to Your former Books spoke Plainly your Gross Heresies against the True Humanity of Christ c. and you had no mind this shou'd be known therefore you Contriv'd your Answers to bear a Double-Face that you might have Room to Escape And G. Keith most Vnkindly considering old Acquaintance wou'd stop your Passage and shew out of your Printed Books the Plain Truth of the Matter and Detect your Gross both Errors and Hypocrisie And all he has left you to say for your selves is That those Books were not Intended as an Answer to these Queries But was
their Discourses tho' they were otherwise valuable most Nauseous to all men of Sense or Breeding For which Reason I have Insisted so long upon it in this to Cure them if Possible of what is so just a Prejudice against them that we may get them to be a little Sociable and Tame to Converse like other men tho' we Differ from them without Flying in our Faces But if they still continue to Bite they must be Muzl'd If they say that they never Snarle but where they are Provok'd It is Impossible to Begin with them without Provoking of them for if you oppose any of their Errors then they Rave and Rage like Furies Ther is no Provocation like it And the Truth of it is the Author of the Sn. did Begin with Them And has got his Reward for thrusting his Hand into this Nest of Hornets But will they be more Moderate where they Begin with others Invite and Provoke them to the Dispute No. It is all one They are as Fierce upon the Attack as in their Defence Ther was one John Wigan an Annabaptist Preacher who was Prisoner with George Fox and others of them in the Castle at Lancaster in the Year 1664. And without his ever opening his Mouth to one of them only Passing thro' a Common Room where they were they Attack'd him and the first words were Leave off thy Deceiving the People Thou art a Deceiver To which he return'd no more Provoking an Answer than to Ask wherein he was a Deceiver and how they cou'd Prove him to be such Then they Challeng'd him to a Dispute To which he not being over Forward They Drew up a Paper of 24 Queres against him which they Fixt upon the Hall Door This Forc'd him to Undertake a Publick Dispute with them in the Hall of the Castle of which has given a Particular Account in a Book Intituled Anti-Christ's strongest Hold overturned Printed 1665. But this Debate not sufficing them they fix'd up many other Papers upon the Door and Gave him a Paper wherein as he tells p. 52. They Challenge All the Sons of Adam to Discourse with them of this their Fundamental Principle viz. The Light within Which was the subject of their Debate with Wigan who held That Christ doth not Lighten Every man that cometh into the world with a saving Light p. 10. This was all the Provocation he Gave them Besides Proving it so Effectually that they were not Able to Answer him But when their Arguments were spent they fell to their old Artillery of the most Bitter and Beastly Rayling and Pronouncing Curses against Him In the Name of the Lord. To All which he Return'd Answers truly Christian and which shew'd that he Deserv'd that Character which Jos Wyeth gave to the Author of the Sn. That he was a man of Temper Yet all this notwithstanding see how they Treated him not only in the Heat of Dispute when their Passions who have none but in Absolute sway might be put upon the Frett But in Cold Blood by Letters under their Hands Some of which he has Added to his Book by way of Appendix from p. 56. Thomas Curwen who was the Man first spoke to him and call'd him a Deceiver going thro' the Hall in the Castle at Lancaster and Challeng'd him to the Dispute writes thus to him John Wigane Oh the Plagues of God will be thy Portion and be Poured out upon thy Head Thou filthy Deamer who Vomits up thy own shame Thy Book will be thy overthrow For it 's no more to me than Chaff and Dirt under my Feet This was a Full Confutation However it do's not Deny the Matters of Fact and Truth of Wigan's Relation of this Conference and therefore we may Depend upon this Book of Wigan's for so far True as it Concerns the Quakers that they are not thereby Mis-Represented But what they found fault with Curwin tells him in another Paper which he sent him Thy ill-bred Behaviour says he to Wigan thy ill-bred saucy Tongue un-nurtured and un-bred And besides thy saucy Language Thy Hypocrisie and saucy Tongue and unmannerlines and ill-breeding To see Quakers set up for Breeding And Reprove Sauciness But Wigan Provok'd them to Instance any the least Ill-Breading or Sauciness which he had shou'd towards them and they cou'd not for he carry'd it all along the Dispute with great Moderation But it is all one for that when the Quaker-Blood is up it minds neither Right nor Wrong Friend nor Foe True nor False G. Fox and Margaret Fell whom he afterwards Marry'd were Both Present at this Dispute Chief Managers and most Obstreperous as Wigan words it in his Narrative p. 12. where he Describes George Fox Entring the Hall after the Dispute was Begun and strutting like the Colosus at Rhodes he clapt one foot upon a Seat and the other upon the Table about which the Rest were standing And with his Vnwieldy Bulk look'd as Big as Both the Giants in Yield-Hall It was Present Death to any Man that he Fell upon And it shew'd the Courage of Litle Wigan who Durst Dispute betwixt his Legs But George was this Breeding Did this look like Good Manners No Matter If it was not Civil it was very GREAT In this Posture Fox propos'd some Scriptures in support of his Light which when Wigan had Answer'd without one word of Reflection or Abuse upon the Quakers only giving a Fair and Calm Exposition of those Scriptures which the Quakers had Strained in Favour of their Notion of the Light within Margaret Fell seeing her Huge sweaty Lover Reduc'd to his Principles first Open'd in his Rescue and Cry'd out to Wigan having now the Giant at his Mercy Thou art a Miserable Creature This was seconded by James Brown says Wigan p. 20. with great Fierceness saying Thou art an Enemy of God Thomas Davenport put in his Thrust and said Thou hast Deny'd Christ to Day Richard Cubban wou'd not be behind he said Thou hast Deny'd the Lord that bought thee and wou'd undertake to Prove that Wigan was one of those False Prophets mention'd 2 Pet. 2.1 This was struck home like Brutus But they had not Leasure in that Fray to his hear Proofs and so the Knight escap'd for that time But afterwards the Fox Giant having Recover'd Breath and Courage yet but Faint Attack'd Wigan in these words Thou art not a Rational Man This was much below his ordinary Mettle He was out of Breath But he was Seconded to Purpose by a young Hardy Champion John Berley who Hewed him thus The Eternal Judgments of God will fall upon thee and Burn the up as Chaff Thou art worse than a Drunkard At which the Knight Fled but did not Escape so For James Park Pursu'd him to his Chamber and there gave him the Parting Blow with great Vehemency says Wigan p. 21. in these words Thou art a Lyar and a Deceiver and the Curse of God will be upon thee in thy Bed-Chamber and Closet and wherever thou
same they were from the Beginning and not Chang'd at all Do's it then seem Tolerable to our Clergy and Magistrates to Ly under the odious Names of Beast False-Prophet Dogs Witches Anti-Christs Devils Incarnate c Did the Quakers for their Vindication Indict Bugg at the Sessions in London and object to him their own Dayly Practice of Printing without License Did they Complain against him to the Secretary of State and upon a False Information That his Papers were Seditious and against the Government Procur'd them to be Seiz'd taken from the Book-sellers and Deliver'd into the Hands of the Quakers Did they Imprison William Bradford a Printer in Pensilvania seize his Letters or Types and Forc'd him out of the Dominions of the Quakers for Printing G. Keith's Defences against Them and Prosecuted likewise the Publishers and G. Keith himself for his Life Improving his Disputes against Them into a Design against the Government Are they so Watchful so Industrious so Impatient lest any Indignity shou'd be Past upon Them And must all orders of Men among us Ecclesiastical Civil and Military Bear their most Bitter Reproches without any Sign of Repentance And Court them and do them Favours for it or suffer them to Usurp Favors that were never Intended them It is Plain the Act of Toleration do's Except those who Deny in their Preaching or writing the Doctrin of the Blessed Trinity as it is Declar'd in the Articles of Religion That is in our 39 Articles These are the words of the Act. And it is as Plain that the Quakers have all along done it G. Fox says in his Great Mystery p. 246. The Scriptures do not tell the People of a Trinity nor Three Persons but the common-prayer-mass-Common-Prayer-Mass-Book speaks of Three Persons brought in by the Father the Pope Here it is Plain that the Quakers do not Acknowledge that Trinity which is own'd in the Common-Prayer And the common-prayer-Common-Prayer-Book being every word an Act of Parliament it is Plain what Trinity is Intended in the Act of Toleration And the Opposers of That Trinity are the Persons Excepted out of the Act. To which the Quakers have no Pretence Unless they will Disown G. Fox herein They must likewise Disown Will. Penn who wrote a Book in the year 1668. to which he Gave this Title The Sandy Foundation shaken Or Those so Generally Believed and Applanded Doctrins of one God Subsisting in three Distinct and Separate Persons of the Impossibility of God's Pardoning Sinners without a Plenary Satisfaction Of the Justification of Impure Persons by an Imputative Righteousness are Refuted And p. 12. The Title of that Section is The Trinity of Distinct and seperate Persons in the Vnity of Essence Refuted from Scripture I know for a Pinch they will own the word Trinity as the Sabellians and Socinians meaning three Manifestations or Operations but not Three Persons But that is not the Trinity Intended in the Act. But the Trinity which is Profess'd in the Creed of St. Athanasius and more Briefly in our Litany viz. The Holy Blessed and Glorious Trinity Three Persons and one God This is that Trinity Intended in the Act of Toleration And which whoever opposes are Excluded from Claiming any Benefit by that Act. And this is that Trinity which the Quakers have and still do Oppose And therefore they are altogether Excluded from any Benefit of that Act. But their Opposing is not so Intolerable as the Manner of it Their Cursing and Damning Horresco Referens The Holy and ever Blessed Trinity into the very Pit of Hell And making it nothing but Conjuration Ther is a Book wrote by George Whitehead and three other Quakers viz. Christopher Atkinson James Lancaster and Thomas Symons of whose Character see Sn. Sect. vi n. v. p. 43. c. Intituled Ishmael and his Mother cast out c. Against Mr. Townsend a Minister in Norwich Where p. 10. they tell him And here is the three Persons thou Dreams of which thou wouldst Divide out of One like a Conjurer And ibid. He Mr. Townsend is shut up with the three Persons in perpetual Darkness for the Lake and the Pit This is thus Quoted by Christoph Wade in his Quakery slain p. 9. To which G. Fox Replies in his Gr. Myst p. 246. who Denies not the Quotation but Re-Blasphemes against the H. Trinity in the words above-quoted and more which you will find in the same place Christoph Wade wrote an Answer to this Gr. Myst which bears this Title To all those called Quakers c. To which G. Whitehead Replies in his Truth defending the Quakers An. 1659. And denies not the above Quotations out of his own Book Ishmael c. But as the Quakers use when Pinch'd he slips it over and takes no notice of it Not that he was Converted from his Heresie for in several other Places of the same Book he continues to Blaspheme at his old Rate against the H. Trinity as in p. 40. 41. c. But finding that the Matter was not thus Forgot being Re-Objected against them about the year 1690 in An Epistle to the Friends c. at their next General Meeting in London Subscrib'd N. N. Ther was Publish'd an Answer to this and two other Books wrote against the Quakers by Some of Them Intituled The Christianity of the People commonly call'd Quakers Vindicated c. Printed An. 1690. There p. 28. coming to this Objection they go a New way to work and lay the Fault Partly upon the Printer And Looks on the words as wrong writ or wrong Printed Wrong Writ and wrong Printed are two things But they Jumble them here that the Reader might mistake and overlook the Author and so think it only an Error of the Press But what was this Error Why they say That instead of And the three Persons it shou'd have rather been About the three Persons which makes it non-sense but not less Blasphemy But however was this taken Notice of by the Quakers in all that time from the writing of that Answer to Townsend which the Quakers say in this last book ibid. was about the year 1654. till this Book of theirs An. 1690 that is for the space of 44 years No. That is not Alledg'd But they say ibid. that G. W. Corrected it long since where he has met with that Answer How do's this Appear O you must take his own word for it for is not He Infallible But was not so Fatal a Slip of Infallibility fit to be Corrected in Print to Remove that most Hideous and Blasphemous Scandal which cou'd not be done otherwise For to what end was G. W's Correcting it with a Pen upon a Book that came in his way if he did it How shou'd this Un-deceive the World Who had never heard of it if he had not now told them And it is at their Pleasure how far they will Believe him This is like another Error of the Press which they let slip 28 years together See Sat. Dis. Sect. ii N. iii. p.
28. And their Appealing from their Printed Books to the Original Copies See hereafter N. 7. of this same Section And how came it that none but G. W. Corrected this Monstrous Blasphemy Were not the Rest of the Quakers likewise Concern'd Well if this will not do they have another Excuse They say ibid. That G. W. positively Disowns the words and Affirms they are None of his and that he writ not that Part of the Answer to Townsend And G. W. was sorry his Name was to that Paper without Distinction between what he writ and what he did not write in it wherein those words are which gave the Occasion Let this Advertisement Clear G. W. and Others and suffice every Charitable Reader as we hope it will And G. W. sets his Approbation upon the Margin in these words To this I subscribe George Whitehead And now George thinks he is Lick'd Clean No Spark of Dirt can Stick upon him But how is it that G. W. let his Name stand to this Book for 44 years without Vindicating of himself or cou'd not his Infallibility of Discerning Discover this Blasphemy all that time Especially considering that Christoph Wade wrote against this Book and objects this very Blasphemy And that both George Fox and George Whitehead wrote severally Answers to Wade And yet Neither of them found any Fault with the Writing or Printing of these Words But if this shou'd Clear G. W. how will the Others get off upon whom G. W. lays the Blame The Quakers say Let this Advertisement clear G. W. and Others And upon the Title Page of their Book it is said to be Sincerely Tendered in behalf of the aforesaid People and their Ancient Friends Now these Ancient Friends whose Names are Affix'd to that Precious Book Ishmael along with G. W.'s are here fairly Left in the Lurch Disown'd and Abandon'd with all this Dreadful Blasphemy upon their Heads And yet they will not Disown them No. They Pretend to vindicate their Ancient Friends still and that they have not Chang'd from the Beginning As they tell not only in their Books but in the Printed News-Papers that All the World may take Notice of it They are still Infallible Every one of them in Particular See Sn. p. 34.284 And they are Conjurers who speak and not from the Mouth of The Lord. Now how came G. W. to write a Book jointly with Conjurers And to set his Name to it along with theirs And that without Distinction between what he writ and what he did not write in it For which he says now that he is Sorry But they who Jointly Sign a Book or a Bond are Answerable Jointly and Severally Such a Poor Excuse as this cou'd not be taken from any Man of Common Animadvertence For who wou'd set his Name with others as Joint Authors of a Book if he had not weighed as well what the others had wrote as what Himself wrote Yet this is all the Defence that the Quaker Infallibility can make for it self that is That it did not Mind but let things Slip at Peradventure But then to Inscribe their Heedless Indigested Stuff as the Word of the Lord which these Quakers do This is Intolerable And the Blasphemy not to be Endur'd For this they give such another Excuse in the same place of The Christianity of the Quakers p. 28. putting it again upon the Printer They say that instead of Which is the Word of the Lord it shou'd have been From the Word How sensless is this for that which is From the Word of the Lord is not that The Word of the Lord But say they We shall not stand by the said Title as 't is worded without such Amendment Yet Charitably think it was worded Contrary to the Intent and Meaning of the Author This is Pretty But how then came the Quakers even the Great Fox himself to say of their vile Scribles as they almost do every where This is the Word of God See Instances particularly of G. Fox in the Sn. p. 89 90. Can we suppose that this was Contrary to the Intent and Meaning of the Author How then shall we know what was their Meaning They may Alter all their Books and every word in them Truly this wou'd be their Best way They will never be Right or their Books passable till this be done And if we cou'd take them at their Word they are in a fair way towards it For here they say That they will not stand by the said Blurrs in their Books as 't is worded without such Amendment Among other of their Infallible Errata I have spy'd two Letters in this same Page which I suppose must go into the Basket next time the Dust-Man comes about They are two Letters which are grown very offensive to the Quakers of late viz. G. K. But they say here We know no reason to Disown our Friends G. K. or R. B. for we have a True Tender and Christian esteem of Both. These were George Keith and Robert Barclay And p. 26. say they We have cause to Assure our selves that both G. Keith and R. B. wou'd Abominate this False-Brother's Attempt to make Divisions between them and their Ancient Brethren Yet now G. Keith is the Great Incendiary and Accuser of the Brethren An Apostat and as such Excommunicated by the Sanhedrin of the Quarkers But what Cause they had to Assure themselves of this G. K. will fall foul upon their Infallible Spirit of Discerning which they Insist upon Now as strongly as ever See hereafter Sect. v. And say that none can be a Minister of Christ who cannot Discern what Spirit is in any Man whether a Good or an Evil Spirit at the first sight without Speaking ever a word See Sn. p. 33. c. of which a Pleasant Instance is hereafter given of G. Fox in Sect. v. But to Return we have seen the Silly Excuses which the Quakers have made for that Most Horrible and Cursed Blasphemy before Quoted which they have Belched out against the H. Trinity of Damning the three Persons into Hell But they have another Put off which tho' they have not Adventur'd upon in Print that I know of yet some of them make use of in Private Conversation which is That it is only the word Persons which they Doom to the Lake and to the Pit with those who use that Vnscriptural word with Relation to God or Christ But then they must send Will. Penn thither too who in his Sandy Foundation p. 15. speaking of the Son of God the True Light which Lightneth every man c. says Who in Person Testify'd c. Tho' G. Whitehead in his Quakers Plainess p. 24. says That is not our Phrase that I know of or Remember And That the Title Person is too Low and Vn-scriptural to give to the Christ of God Now then let him Remember now let him Know That his Friend Will. Penn has us'd it And let them Reckon for thus Contradicting and Thwarting one
Quakers As a Christian Testimony and Heavenly Expression And to shew what Solid Instruction he had Learn'd among the Quakers it is told of him p. 5. and 6. That seeing some little Lyons of China upon the Chimney-piece he said Take away those Images for they are to be Trodden under foot And seeing another Piece of China which had several Hands he said Take away that Piece that is Covered for it hath Eyes and seeth not and Ears and Heareth not Then he took offence at a Pair of Guilded Tea-Pots And said you may take away the other things that are Guilded and wash it off And after they were taken away says the Relation He was at ease This is told to shew the Aversion of the Quakers to Idols and how Tender this Young-Man was upon that Head And this was Printed for the Instruction of those that come after To shew how Exactly this Precious Youth kept up to the Doctrin of their Great Master Fox who in his Iconoclastes makes it Heathenism and Idolatry to have the Likeness of any Creature Painted upon a Sign see Sn. Sect. xxi p. 299. And I suppose it is the same upon a Chimney-Piece See with what Froth and Chaff these Poor Quakers are Fed And Glory in at their Death And yet do not Believe themselves For if they did they wou'd not have the Likeness of Creatures Lyons Bulls c. Painted upon their Signs as is Common with them now in London Yea and China Birds Beasts and Men upon their Chimney-Pieces Guilt Tea-Pots too and moreover do Sell them for Gain and all the Rest that offended this Tender Youth upon his Death-Bed But not his Sins for Alas he had none he was one of the Perfect ones And his Example is set out to Encourage the Rest of the Quakers to follow it Now if you shou'd tell any Quaker who had the Likeness of some Creature Painted upon his Sign that he was an Idolater He wou'd take it very Ill and tell thee Thou art a Lyar a Satan c. If you shou'd Ask him again whether G. Fox was Acted by the Infallible Spirit when he call'd this Idolatry He wou'd Answer That G. Fox was above thy Shallow and Dark Mind That He was sent from God And Endowed with Power from on High And Taught the way of the Lord in Truth That thou wert one of those who made a Man an offender for a word He wou'd bid thee Read within And Hearken to The small still voice And such Banter nothing to the Purpose And then think that he had sufficiently Answer'd thee This is the Method they take to Reconcile Contradictions And no other will you get from them This brings me to another Topick they use in Answering Objections made against them 3. Bringing of Contrary Testimonies which is To bring Contrary Testimonies to those Objected without offering to solve those that are Objected not minding or Hoping the Reader wou'd not that this only Proves them Guilty of Contradictions which is one of the Great Objections made against them And indeed of this their Writings are so Fertile that hardly a Page can escape you wherein you will not find some of them For they are all Confusion and Contradictions This is the Method thro' all this Appendix which we are considering They bring Contrary Testimonies or so seeming to those which are Objected and think but they cannot so think that this has done the work and Clear'd their Cause 1. Thus Sect. vi In answer to their Contempt of Magistracy and Government their Manifold Treasons and Rebellions they bring Testimonys from p. 41. to p. 45. of their Acknowlegement to the Government And I cou'd have fill'd ten Pages more with the same for they made Submissions and Acknowledgments to all the Vsurpations and Governments that ever happen'd in their time as Each had the Fortune to get Vppermost And then they Beslav'd that which was Down which they had Worship'd before Of this Many Instances are given in the Sn. Sect. xviii To which not one word of Answer either in the Antidote or this Appendix But ther is an Answer which they have under their Thumb to some of the Passages there Produc'd which I must not Conceal tho' it shou'd fore-stall their Market because it will afford some Diversion to the Reader These Passages are in the Sect. above Quoted of the Sn. p. 222 223. out of a Book wrote by G. Fox which carries this Title Several Papers given forth by George Fox c. The Book I never saw yet will answer for the Quotations which notwithstanding I take not upon trust of any ones Memory or my own And can give them further Quotations out of that Particular Book which G. Fox Mark'd with his own Pen or Aule which he cou'd handle much better for I have seen of his Hand or Foot writing tho' not in that Book and it look'd rather like the Ingravings of a Sciver or the Scratches of an Aule than the Draughts of a Pen. Besides his Delicate Spelling of which I can Present the Reader with a Sampler out of that same Book Which shews how much he was oblig'd either to his Amanuensis or the Corrector of the Press that we had one Line right Spelt in all his Works tho' his Dictating has hardly afforded Us one Paragraph either of Sense or English The Book I Quote is in the Possession of the Friends where neither I nor any I can Employ can have Access I mention this as a Tryal for their Spirit of Discerning and will venture their Reproof for the Mis-Spelling but of a Word The above-Mention'd Quotations out of that Book are Bitter Invectives against the King Char. 2. to obstruct his Restoration and against All Kings and Kingly-Government It was Printed in the beginning of the year 1660 when things were coming on fast towards the Restauration But soon after when the King was Establish'd then it was time pursuant to their old wont to turn about and Tack with the wind Then G. Fox wrote Marginal-Notes upon one of these Books the same that I have mention'd to Reconcile those Treasons and Rebellions which were in it according to his Skill that is after the Manner of this Antidote and Appendix by giving a Contrary Testimony without Retracting the other In p. 5. ther are these words That the Christians were not to do any thing in the Name of an Earthly King And again The setting up of these Kings and Emperors and Protectors and giving them the Names of Excellency and Majesty amongst the Christians hath been since the Days of the Apostles amongst the Apostats in the Apostacy from the true Wisdom and Life Here he writes upon the Margin I give it you in his own spelling This was in the Days of Olefer Cromell who wou'd be King G. F. And the like upon the Margin of p. 8. where more of his Treasons were express'd This was the time when the was so besy of making Olefer Cromell King
G. F. And the like is upon the Margin of several other Pages Now if this was not Intended for the Press it was to give the Friends Ground to say that they had seen this Exposition of his and to make use of it as they saw occasion But if it was meant as is most likely to be made Publick the Friends upon second thoughts found it cou'd not be done without Re-Printing of the Book which wou'd do them more Mischief than such a silly Excuse cou'd Heal. Therefore they took the safer Course which was by all the means they cou'd to stifle the said Book And I believe they thought they had Effected it For having by some Art Recover'd the Book aforesaid out of the hands of one of themselves whom they suspected into whose Possession it had fallen they have Condemn'd it to Perpetual Imprisonment unless Rescu'd by such Discoveries as these And if they put it not into the New Edition Design'd of G. Fox's Works they see they will be Detected nay more if they Leave out or Alter any of his Marginal Annotations they shall be told of it let them secure that Book where they are as well as they can Of which a New Edition cou'd be given if it were worth the while without their Help But now that I have mention'd G. Fox's Apologie wrote upon the Margin of this Book of his for the Treasons therein Contain'd it is fit that I shou'd shew the Falshood and Apparent Hypocrisie of this his Excuse viz. That what he wrote against Kings and Kingly Government was only meant against his Olefer when he Design'd to take upon him the Stile of King In Answer to which consider 1. That his words are against All Kings and Emperors among Christians since the Days of the Apostles and against All Kingly Government whether in Olefer or any body else 2. He speaks p. 15. against Fighting for the Kings of the Earth Now ther was no Fighting or any Appearance of it at that time when it was Under Consideration whether G. Fox's Olefer shou'd Assume the Name of a King And he was then None of the Kings of the Earth But â—â—wards the Restoration of King Charles â—â—â—â—er was Expectation of Fighting And G. Bishop and this G. Fox and others of the Quakers did violently Persuade to Fighting against his Restoration and that In the Name of the Lord as abundantly shewn in the Sn. Sect. xviii It is true they were against Fighting For Kings but they were as much for Fighting Against them 3. This Book of G. Fox's was Printed in the beginning of the year 1660. And Olefer had been Dead two years before And I suppose G. Fox was not afraid that they wou'd take him out of his Grave to make a King of him But if it be said that tho' this Book was not Printed till the year 1660 yet it might have been wrote before in the year 1658 when Olefer Dy'd then it wou'd be ask'd To what Purpose it was Printed two years after the occasion for which it was wrote And which cou'd never come again if the Design had been only against Olefer 4. But to put the Matter out of Dispute in the Book it self p. 6. G. F. speaks of Olefer as then Dead these are his words So when the Kings that Deny'd the Pope took the Tenth of Tenths the Popes wages that was Head of the Church and when the Kings Dy'd the Protector took Tenth of Tenths and He was the Head c. He Was now He was Dead G. F. falls upon Him as upon all others when they were Gon. But let the world now Judge let all the Quakers who Pretend to one Drachm of sincerity Confess at last what an Egregious Lyar and Hypocrite this G. Fox was to give it under his hand that this Book of his was wrote against Oliver And we may hence see what stress is to be laid upon their Contrary Testimonies and how they are to be taken as Vindications of all the vile Heresies Madness Treasons c. which they have Acted wrote Preach'd and Printed And All of them both Parts of the Contradictions Dictated as spoken Immediately from the Mouth of the Lord Almighty II. Thus to give a few more Instances if one shou'd Object the Implacable Rage and Nastiness of the Quaker-Spirit and Produce what has been herein before Mention'd what is Quoted in the Sn. Sect. xvii and much more of the same Sort that can be Produc'd they cou'd Answer All by Contrary Testimonies of which they have many where the Quakers do Abhor and Detest such manner of Proceeding as Abominable and Anti-Christian and set up Themselves for all the Meekness and Christian Patience in the World Thus in this Appen p. 43. Sam. Fisher is Produc'd saying That the Quakers are not for Reviling nor Threatning nor Cursing but Committing our Cause saith he in Quietness to Him that Judgeth Righteously And G. Fox in his Gr. Mystery p. 237. says That the work of the Ministers of the Gospel is not to Reflect upon Persons And so thou says he to a Minister he Disputed against that art Reflecting upon Persons do'st shew a Mark of thy self to be a False-Prophet and Reflecting upon Persons was never the way to Beget to God And Will. Penn says in his Address to Protestants p. 246. Second Edit They that are Angrie for God Passionate for Christ that call names for Religion may tell us they are Christians if they will but no body wou'd know them to be such by their Fruits To be sure they are no Christians of Christ's making He gave this Title to another Book he wrote viz. Reason against Railing in Answer to Thom. Hicks Whom he Accuses for Railing against the Quakers And thence Proves him not to be a Christian For says he p. 169. He that Rails Reviles calls Names c. is no True Christian But such is Thom. Hicks Therefore no True Christian And now what wou'd you have more Do's it not Plainly follow from hence That neither Will. Penn nor any of the Quakers did ever Raile Revile or call Names For then by Will Penn's sentence here Twice Repeated they are no True Christians To be sure they are no Christians of Christ 's making But a little before this p. 163. W. Penn sets down an Objection of T. Hicks's That the Great Quaker Ed. Burrough had Bestow'd upon Philip Bennet a Priest who oppos'd him by way of Answer these Names following Thou art a wicked Creature Blackness of Darkness is Reserved for thee Thou art a Serpent And the Curse of God is Eternally upon thee Thou Beast to whom the Plagues of God are Due Now these look very like Ill Names and Railing to be sure they are Reviling What says Will. Penn to this He says That this was the Fittest Return cou'd be made to the Questions which P. Bennet put to Ed. Burrough Why were they Rude or Reflecting Questions No. for W. P. confesses p. 164. 165. that they were Civil no
will Generally find in Fox's Gr. Mystery But we know what they Hold by what they Oppose Of a Kin with this is their never failing Allegories by the Force of which they can Wrest any Text in Scripture From or To what Meaning they Fancy Much has been said as to this Point in their turning the Humanity of Christ His Birth Passion Resurrection and Ascension the Resurrection of our Bodies and Future Judgment with the Sacraments of Baptism and The Lord's Supper and other outward Ordinances into an Inward and Allegorical Sense to the Total overthrow of the Whole Christian Faith I find some Pleasant Instances of this Kind in William Haworth his Quaker Converted to Christianity An. 1674. p. 7. 8. of his Prefatory Epistle to John Crook Where the Quakers turn this Text He brought his Son out of Egypt thus out of the Egyptian Darkness of our Hearts And this The only Begotten Son thus Begotten in Vs And speaking of those who were Beheaded for the Testimony of Jesus they Explain it thus That to part with Carnal Wisdom and Reasonings that is Beheading And thus we must Allow what they so much Boast in viz. That they have Beheaded their Carnal Wisdom and Reasoning And it is a very full Proof of it which Mr. Haworth tells us ibid. p. 3. I told says he Christopher Taylor a Quaker who Disputed with him What Will. Penn said to a Friend of mine viz. That G. Fox was as Good a Prophet as Isaiah And Taylor did not Deny it but did Affirm it likewise Nay the Quakers must think so Mr. Penn must think so if He or They believe the Half of what He and They have written of George Fox particularly in the Preface to his Journal Their Reason Mr. Penn his Wisdom and Reasoning was Beheaded Murder'd Drawn and Quarter'd when he cou'd believe thus of so Consummated a Brute as this Fox And which is more strange he must by the same Rule think thus of Himself See in the First Part. p. 32 33. the Quaker-Interpretation of Gal. iii. 13. Cursed is Every one that Hangeth on a Tree i. e. on the Tree of Knowlege that is what Knowlege is got by the outward Carnal means of Hearing Reading Catechising c. Tho' they cou'd bring Contrary Testimonies to this of Their own Hearing Reading Catechizing c. But here is that Carnal thing of Knowlege Wisdom Reason their Mortal Foe Hang'd and Crucify'd as before they had Beheaded it Here is Their Plain Easie Natural way of Interpreting the Scripture But why shou'd it be Natural For the Natural Man knoweth not the things of God! And the Letter Killeth Therefore they will take Nothing according to the Letter But they Mistake the Letter or the Spelling sometimes As one that I have seen who lately being Press'd with Christ being so often call'd The Son of Man in the Gospel And that their Light within cou'd in no Sense according to their Notion of it be call'd the Son of Man seeing they believe it to be God and Christ from Everlasting The Quaker Answered very Gravely Ah Friend ther is much in those words Mind mind them then Pointing upwards to the Sun said The Sun of Man that is The Light of Man or the Light in Man And so the Matter was solv'd Another of their Preachers Holding forth in a Publick Meeting I can Produce witnesses obviating that Text 1 Thess iv 17. We shall be Caught up in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air did thus Learnedly Expound We must meet the Lord in the Heir that is in the Light which is Christ who is the Heir of All things Another speaking of the Resurrection of the Body And having heard some say That we shall then have Angelical Bodies Thence Prov'd that the same Body which Dies do's not Rise again Because our Bodies now are not made of Angelico As it is said they will be then being Angelical Bodies This is like what is told in Sat. Dis. p. 42 43. of Another of their Preachers mistaking that Text Joh. xiv 2. In my Father's House are many Mansions where instead of Mansions he cry'd Manchets And thence Improv'd what a Good House God kept There was Plenty of Bread many Manchets And Another Applying that Text Matth. xi 30. My yoke is Easie and my Burden is Light to the Light within I cou'd Multiply upon such Fooleries of the Quaker-Infallibility But you must Excuse such Blunders in their Learned Clerks for many of them Learn by the Ear and not by the Eye They cannot Read And so know not the Difference of words which sound alike as Son and Sun Air and Heir c. This is one of the Reasons that they Play with Us at Cross-Purposes and is one of their Glorious Methods in Answering what is Wrote against them Not to take an Answer Upon which I will Insist here no Longer But go to the Next 5. Another Method they have in Answering is never to take an Answer But to Insist upon the same thing over and over again without taking any Notice of the Answers that are Made to them of which some Instances are given above And then on the other hand if they Publish any thing which they call an Answer to such a Book if any thing in that Book tho' not touch'd at all in the Answer shou'd after be objected they Cry that is Answer'd already Confuted overthrown c. Thus in this Appendix p. 10. the Quakers say no more to all those several Charges which are laid against them in the Sn. And to save Repetition Referr'd to in Primitive Heresie but That these Charges are near All of them already Answered by George Whitehead in the Antidote This was spoke a little Guiltily Near All of them That confesses ther were Some not Answer'd If you mean a Fair and Full Answer then the truth is not one of them is Answer'd But ther are a Great Many and not Near All that are not so much as once Mention'd or the least Notice taken of them in that Antidote and these of the Greatest Consequence yet this must serve for an Answer to them All And to afford this Appendix to say in the same place That His Abuses and Falsities are therein lay'd at his Door Yet is ther not one Abuse or one Falsity in the Sn. made appear in either the Antidote or this Appendix Thus that Author's Discourse concerning Baptism is serv'd At the end of the Antidote ther are not two Leaves spent upon it with this Title Some Notice taken of the said Author's Discourse for Water Baptism And it is Some Notice indeed it is Nam'd and Rayl'd at that is all Not one of his Arguments Consider'd or Objections Answer'd Yet this passes among the Quakers as a Full Confutation And when I have urg'd something out of this Book to some of them they have said O that is Answer'd tho' not one word of it in this Some Notice of Whitehead's And this Appendix p. 34.
sight amongst them But what shift did you make Did you make any Latin of your own No. Hold there That belong'd to the Form above you What then Did you Translate any thing into Latin No nor that neither This is sad Teazing But you took pains to Copy out a Latin Quotation out of Bishop Jewel's Apology Was it any thing to the Purpose of your Dispute It will not be Foreign to the Present Case says Appen what was that Case it was that Idolatry do's not Vn-Church which he opposes Is ther any thing of it in the Quotations he brings out of Bishop Jewel No not a scrap It was only shewing the Charges of the Church of Rome against the Protestants What use do the Quakers make of this why they say that as the Protestants were wrongfully Charged so are they Do they offer to Prove this or shew how their Cases were alike No not a word only say Appen p. 4. Hence we may have at least this Consolation that we are not therefore Villanously Criminal because Villanously Charged They might have gather'd the same Consolation from the Tryal and Barbarous Regicide of King Charles I. wherein they Glory'd Sn. p. 220 221. But no matter for their Consolations they can take them off a Broom-stick We are now upon their Learning wherein they Begin to Boast One of the Quotations they make is p. 2 3. of Appen they wou'd set it in the Front And tho' they had nothing to do but to Transscribe out of Bishop Jewel's Book yet to shew how well they understood it there are these Blunders in it Bishop Jewell Appen Deo ipsi bellum facere Deo ipse bellum facere Laxare fraena ad omne genus licentiae Laxare fraenae ad omni genus Nos ab Ecclesia Catholica defecisse Nos ab Ecclesiae Catholicae defecisse Bishop Jewell Appen Ceremonias melioribus temporibus approbatas Caeremonias melioribus temporis approbatus For Oecumenici Ocumenici and such like we will forgive them these are Hard things But p. 8. of Appen ther is another Quotation in like manner Ignoramus'd Bishop Jewell Appen Cum proximis istis Viginti annis Cum proximis isti Viginti Cumque res ipsa pro se loquatur Cum res ipso Etiam postremo in Regum jam Aulas Palatia pervenerint In Regnum jam Aulas Principes qui a sede Romana defecerunt Principes quia a sede Besides Impelente for Impellente in Crementa for Incrementa leaving out words as for haec ipsa satis illis magna Indicia esse possunt to say only satis magna esse possunt And such like small matters This is all the Latin in the Appen except two words p. 7. wherein they had as ill Luck they had heard of Piae fraudes and going to the Dictionary to be sure they found Piè and Guessing that ther was some Mystery in that Dash over the è and to shew their Exactness and Nicety in Criticising they put down in Italick Letters Piè fraudes And in the same line Impiè fraudes But Hang this Human Learning All our Fore-Fathers the Poor Silly and God help 'em Ignorant Quakers made it a Mark of the Beast because they had none of it Sour Plumbs And we to their Disgrace must now run a Hanckering after it set up our Schools yea and hope for a College in time to Learn that vain Philosophy we Reform Backward like a man in a Cock-boat Towing back a Ship under Sail This Wicked World even Draws us after it and we Learn its Fashions instead of bringing Them to Ours They have not yet Learned the Pure Language of Theeing and Thouing unless to Laugh at it We are come to their Colons and Semi-Colons and they Laugh at us too We shew our Parts in Latin and they Ridicule us We wou'd be at their Fine Hard Modish words too as Appen p. 1. Opining and Epoch Nay even where we make Nonsense of them to bring them in as p. 6. I will tell him he is Dogmatically False That 's my Man 'T was Bravely said Now Fillip and Scipp as many Lengths of thy self as a Flea This Monster 's Excellent Company But I must Leave him So much for Fooling Ther 's no avoiding of it in their Conversation Next their Learning upon Colons Semi-Colons and well plac'd stops to get Rid of a Troublesome Quotation and Rescue a Hero at a Dead-lift as Pallas came in shape of Rust they I Deny your Quotation if ever you Stop at all And say why did you not go on Yes that is Transcribe a whole Book if you Quote one word out of it Thus in Prim. Heres p. 10. G. W. is Quoted for his late moderation towards the Sacraments in his Antidote p. 114. where he says That they do not Censure or Condemn those who are Conscientiously Tender in the observation thereof for Practising that which they believe is their Duty either in Breaking of Bread or Water Baptism To this says Appen p. 34. That G. W.'s words are Imperfectly Quoted and neither Fully nor Truly given Not Fully Why Appen Sets down there half a Page more of what follows these words which is a Running out upon their Notions of the Inward and Spiritual Baptism And what is this to the business That Author had a mind to shew only what Allowances the Quakers Now make on their behalf who Conscientiously Partake of the Outward or Water-Baptism And his Quotation was Full as to that But why was not this Quotation Truly given Because not Fully for the Reason above Thus that Quotation is laid aside And not without Great Vaunting of their having Discover'd the Certain knowledge of thy Baseness say they to the Author from thy Maiming of this Place But they had Reason to be Concern'd at this Quotation since they had not Sincerity enough to own the Truth For their Great business at Present is to Persuade the world That they have never Alter'd or Chang'd their Principles since they were first a People Because they set up first upon the Infallible Guidance of the Holy Spirit and that Every thing they spoke was the Immediate Dictate of the Holy Ghost and they stand upon the same to this Day Now Changing and Contradicting will not Fadge with this Therefore this Appen Labours mainly to Prove that they never have Chang'd as p. 6. Our Principles are now no other than what they were when we were first a People for Truth Changes not And p. 53. I have before shewed that our Principles are now no other than what they were when first a People And Preface p. 3. What we now Profess is no other than what we did c. This has been Dis-prov'd in a great Many Instances But let us try one more in this Quotation with which they are so Angry and then you will see the Reason of their Displeasure Is this Moderation which G. W. has now at last put on towards the Holy Sacraments no other than what
they Profess'd from the Beginning How then came they to Excomunicate any for Receiving of Baptism as for Instance John Cox And call'd it a Drawing back to the Weak and Beggarly Elements Come Friends speak out in Plainess and tell Us wou'd you own any for a True Quaker who shou'd Receive Baptism and frequent the Holy Sacrament of The Lord's Supper wou'd you neither Censure not Condemn them if they made a Conscience of it as their Duty Wou'd you have Greater Tenderness towards these than for William Wilkins whose Excommunication is put in the Collection at the End of this for Marrying one that was not a Quaker and for Marrying by a Priest Was this a greater offence than the Receiving of the outward Baptism But in good Earnest did you never Censure or Condemn Baptism Is this new Moderation of G. W.'s no other than what you always did Profess In the Quotation before brought of Edw. Burrough's it is Rank'd amongst the Damnable Heresies even to the Denying the Lord who bought Vs And it is call'd The Doctrin of the Devil And p. 644. of his Works he says That it is not Lawful for the Saints of God to Join themselves to your Ordinances Yet now G. W. will let them go and neither Censure nor Condemn them He has forgot a Book of his own to which he gave this Title The Authority of the true Ministry in Baptizing with the Spirit And the Idolatry of such men as are Doting about shadows and Carnal Ordinances and their Ignorance of the Spirits Baptism of which water-Baptism was but a Figure Discover'd And herein is shewed that Water-Baptism is neither of Necessity to Salvation nor yet is now Practised either by Authority from Heaven or by any New-Testament Law that is in force upon Believers seeing the Substance and the End of things Abolished is come and Enjoyed wherein the Types Shadows and Figures are Ended Yet George now will neither Censure nor Condemn them if they be Conscientiously Tender in the Observation of these Abolished Types and Shadows tho' he calls it Idolatry nay and Doting Idolatry yet these men never Vary'd they always said the same since they were first a People that they say now Appen p. 5. slighting all the Authorities brought for Baptism in Prim. Her within the first 150 years after Christ they care for no Antiquity or Fathers says Indeed if he can absolutly Determin the Question by the Scriptures the work is done And yet in the Discourse of Baptism the Arguments are all Limited only to the Holy Scriptures and for any thing the Quakers have said to the contrary the Question is there Absolutely Determin'd They Referr to a Book of one Dell against Baptism This is their Great Assylum Yet he was not a Quaker he was one of the Professors whom they call Children of Darkness and Damn them All to the Pit of Hell And a Cambridge Schollar too another Mark of Reprobation with them and yet they fly to this Man to Help their Light against the Divine Institutions of our Blessed Saviour And they have Printed and Re-Printed this Book as oft as they have been Attack'd upon this Point of Baptism And out it has come since the Discourse of Baptism was Publish'd This made me Curious to look into it And there I found not one Objection but what is fully Answer'd in that Discourse Tho' I am satisfy'd that Author had never seen it before that Discourse was Printed Yet still they Referr to that Book which is only a Put-off because they have nothing to say and shews them to be Self-Condemn'd Their Appealing from their own Printed Books to the Original Copies 7. They have yet another Contrivance which is the Prettiest of all to avoid the Quotations brought out of their Books When none of the former ways will do then they say They have not the Book as if they cou'd not come at their own Books or otherwise they Appeal from the Print tho' themselves have Publish'd it to the Original Copy which if Extant none can have but Themselves Yet they do not Produce the Copy or tell how it is worded there or that it is otherwise than in the Print Thus p. 9. of the Prim. Heres ther is a Bloody Quotation out of a Book of G. Fox's call'd News out of the North. p. 14. where he makes it as unlawful to Return to Baptism as to Circumcision and calls the Lord's Supper The Table of Devils and Cup of Devils which is in the Generation of Serpents c. and p. 39. where he Denies the Books of Matthew Mark Luke and John to be the Gospel and calls them Carnal c. To this says Appen p. 32. I cannot Examin it not having the Book by me but I much Question the Truth of the Quotation And this is all that is said to it Now I can assure the Reader that this Quotation was taken out of the Book it self and not from any second hand And will he believe that this Book which is Common enough for I have seen more than one of them cou'd not be Procur'd among the whole Quaker Sanhedrin or that if this Quotation were much Question'd the Quakers are so Good Natur'd or so very Remiss as not to be at the Pains to look into that Book if they thought to Catch that Author at one False Quotation which they have not yet been able to do or whether every sober Person will not rather Judge that the Quakers do herein Plead Guilty I leave it to their consideration But hear another Pleasant Instance G. W. being Press'd with a very untoward Quotation in Sat. Dis. Glean Sect. iv p. 82. out of the Works of Edw. Burrough p. 273. where he Blasphemously makes the Sufferings of the Quakers not only Greater but more Vnjust than the Sufferings of our Blessed Lord Himself He comes to give an account of this in his Antidote p. 254. and he says after the old Fashion that E. B. is Cited Vnfairly and Partially in this Point But he tells not wherein These are only words of Course in all their Answers Nay himself finds no Fault with the Quotation that ther is a word Added or Diminished or Alter'd But says he Whether it was so Verbally stated by E. B. himself or by some mistake since I shall not undertake to Determin unless I see his Original Copy This Justifies the Quotation out of his Printed Book And if ther was any Mistake it was not in him who Quoted it So that G. W. if he Reguarded Instice ought to make Satisfaction for saying that this was Vnfairly or Partially Cited But in the next place this was Printed by E. B. in the year 1657. And Re-Printed in his Works An. 1672. And these Works were Collected and Published by an Junto of the Chief of the Quakers whereof George Whitehead was one and his Epistle particularly among others Praesix'd in High Commendations of the Author and the Works Yet now he wou'd turn it
upon the Author of the Sn. to Justify these Works and to produce the Original Copy But may not that Author more Reasonably Ask him how this Passage of E. B's came to be Twice Printed without any Correction And why it was never taken notice of as any Mistake these Forty years that it has been Printed till just now Suppose that Author had been taken Napping at any False Quotation or Charge upon the Quakers and shou'd put it off from the Printed Sn. and bid the Friends Produce the Original Copy and accuse them of Quoting him Vnfairly and Partially because they Quoted out of his Printed Book I desire to know from the Quakers particularly from G. W. Come George I 'll take thy word for once but not to make a Custom of it tell it now in good sober sadness woud'st thou have so Excused him woud'st not thou have made an Hideous Out-Cry and Clapt thy Wings for Victory But mark me George I do not mean only a bare Error of the Press or what cou'd possibly be so constru'd but a whole Passage such as this of E. B's and not only saying such a thing but going about to Prove it as he there do's That the Sufferings of the Quakers were more Vn-just than the Sufferings of Christ Why Because says he What was done to Christ was Chiefly done by a Law and in great part by the Due Execution of a Law c. But that it was not so with the Quakers which he there Indeavours to shew most Horridly Blaspheming As to his Arguments I Referr to Sat. Dis. p. 82. But as to our present business G. W. is brought at last to say in the same page p. 254. We will not stand by the Comparison Well This is something This is the first Confession that ever we got from the Quakers They will not stand by the Comparison of their Sufferings and Christ's But what then will they do as to E. B. who made the Comparison Will they say that he was in an Error No. Barr that For he gave forth all he Wrote as the Immediate Word of The Lord God And all his Editors G. W. c. have Attested this for him And he stood the Highest among the Quakers next to the Great Fox himself Who has Determin'd as before Quoted That whoever speaks and not from the Mouth of the Lord is a False Prophet and a Conjurer And if E. B. was a Conjurer then G. W. may come in and All of them And then let the Quakers see how they have been Led Let them Now see Here G. W. says it in the Name of the Rest We will not stand by E. B's Comparison for indeed it is Blasphemous to the Highest Degree And thereby you are given to understand That you are not hereafter to Trust any Quaker Books that are Printed even tho' Publish'd and Recommended by the Greatest amongst you For such are E. B's Works And if now after they have been put so many years into your hands as the Words of The Lord Part of them is Disown'd how can you be secure of other Parts of them or any Part of them at all How are you secure of G. Fox's Writings or of any others of your Prophets Have you seen all their Original Copies You must either Disown G. W. in this Affront he has put upon E. B. or Down comes All whole Quakerism at one Blow Ther is but one Book amongst you that I can hear Except G. Fox's Marginal Notes of Oleser c. before mention'd which will Escape by this Rule if that will It is Humphry Norton's for I have seen a very Ancient Manuscript of it which for ought I know may be the Original It was Printed at London for so I sind it Quoted in a Book of Roger Williams's call'd The Great Fox duggâ— out of his Burrows p. 45. And this Precious Passage cited out of him where he is after the Quaker-fashion Ridiculing the Second Coming of Christ in these words Is not Christ God and is not God a Spirit You look for a Christ without you From what Coast or Country shall He come What Country-Man is He you stand Gazing up to the Clouds after a Man but we stand by you in White chiding of you Thus as he is there Quoted How it is in the Print I know not for I have not seen it but in the Ms. it is p. 71. thus Whence must this Christ come you wait for And in what Generation And of what Family And out of what Country And of whom must He be Born That they may no longer be Deceiv'd by you who have kept them Gazing after a False Christ Well may it be call'd Gazing but leave it and mind those in White Apparel which Reproves you for it Act. 1.10 11. by which they mean their own White Lights within I suppose R. Williams might take it short These are among several other Queres of the like Nature which Humphrey put to the Professors Ther is Abundance of such Blasphemous Hideous stuff in that Book which shews Demonstratively what the Genuine Doctrine of the Quakers is concerning the Resurrection Ascension and Second Coming of our Lord Jesus turning it only to the Rising Ascension and Coming of the Light within them The outward Christ H. Norton here calls a False-Christ He was a Great Apostle of the Quakers sent into Ireland thence to the West-Indies And most Highly Recommended by Edw. Burrough and Francis Howgil two Principal Pillars to be Receiv'd by the Friends as a True Messenger of the Lord. But because this Book is but in Few hands and those of the Friends who will not now let it be seen I have in the Collection added a Trans-script out of the Ms. of some Passages in it worth the Readers Notice which Abundantly Confirm the Charges given against the Quakers and I thought this more Proper than to Thrust them in here out of their Place where we are Considering of the Quakers Manner of Defending themselves against these and other such like objections 8. The Last of their Cleanly and Clever Method Their falsifâ—ing the Sense of what is Objected against them For which by W. Penn's Rule they are Excluded from being Christians of Answering which I shall Mention at Present is Their Ignorant or most Commonly Wilful Mistaking of what is objected against them and so Answering Quite out of Purpose That by starting of new Game they may Divert the Pursuer from the Cent of an Absurdity or Heresie in Distress This they think a venial Politique in Themselves But this Mote becomes a Beam in their Brothers Eye And when they Charge it against others then they can see Clearly into the Heinousness and Utmost Deformity of this Sin Then they Improve it into a Total Loss of the Character or Name of being a Christian. This is one of the Heads upon which W. Penn wou'd Prove Thom. Hicks his opponent not to be a Christian in his Reason against Railing p. 158.
thus He that gives that for a Man's Answer to any Question that is not his Answer to that Question is a Forger But that T. Hicks hath done Therefore a Forger and Consequently no true Christian He alledges That T. Hicks did not Give Faithfully the Answers of a Quaker in Dispute with an Ana-Baptist But all the Proof that W. P. brings for his Negative who was not Present is p. 160. We Charge it all with Forgery in the Name of God the Lord of Heaven and Earth And this being Proof In-Contestable he thence Concludes T. Hicks without Help to be a Forger who cou'd only support his Affirmative by Human Testimony But now Reader behold the whole Herd of the Quakers I know not if one can be Excepted of all that have wrote Answers to their Opponents turn'd all out of the Pale of Christianity by this Infallible Rule of W. Penn's See in Sat. Dis. almost in Every Quotation which is there Canvass'd how Grossy the Quakers have Mistaken at least the Answers of their Opponents Charging them with what they never said nay Quite Contrary to their own Words But of this sort ther never was such another as George Fox In his Gr. Mystery he Replies upon above 100 Opponents of whose Books I have seen a good many And I cannot say that he has Quoted one Aright Not only for Splitting of Sentences with which Appen keeps such a Racket where the Sense is not Hurt but taking Scraps out of several Chapters upon Different Subjects that sometimes you must Read over almost the whole Book he Answers to find the Words which he Quotes And then so Mangl'd so Distorted not one Sentence Intire that the Author's sense can not be Gather'd from what he Quotes of him Insomuch that without seeing those Books which he Answers it is Impossible to know what they Truly said Besides such Ridiculous Blunders as cou'd not befall a Child that knew how to Spell and Put together I before mention'd his Reading External for Eternal a small mistake if that had been all But to Ground a Charge upon this and to Accuse Mr. Baxter of Ignorance and False Doctrin for setting up the Notion of an External Light in God when Mr. Baxter's word is Plainly Eternal This and many more such like Instances of which that Book is full not only Ruins their Sensless Boasts of Infallible Guidance of the Spirit But by Will Penn's Rule Excludes them from being Christians But if the Mistake of a Word may be Excus'd upon the In-advertence of Infallibility Ther are many more Instances which shew either want of Sense or Wilful Perversion Thus one Jonathan Clapham who wrote against the Quakers says Christ having Vndertaken the work of Man's Redemption the Father hath Deliver'd up the whole Creation to Him And therefore must Magistracy belong to Him as Mediator Now cou'd any Man in his Right mind Understand this as if Clapham had meant that the Magistrate and not Christ was the Mediator Yet thus G. Fox mistakes him Gr. Mystery p. 95. And Repeats his words thus He saith the Magistrate in this External Politick Kingdom is a Mediator And not only Fox but one of the Chief of his Worthys R. Hubberthorn follows him in the same Perversion the Second p. 28. of his Works for ther are Double Pageings Reprinted An. 1663. he says thus The Honour which God will not Give to Another than Christ hath he J. Clapham Given to Another from Christ And so Denyed the work of the Son of God as Mediator And p. 44. Instancing in Sixteen Particulars of Clapham's Vn-sound Doctrin as he calls it this is the First That he says That the Magistrate is an Officer of Jesus Christ as Mediator And upon the whole they Establish this as a standing Article of their Faith that To say the Magistrate is an Officer of Jesus Christ as Mediator is Blasphemy And say they to Clapham What Priest besides thee Dare own any to be Join'd with Christ as Mediator Now not only Dear George Fox who Excelleth them all but this Hubberthorn and their Works are Highly Commended and Recommended by Will. Penn. By whose Rule of Mistaking or Mis-Representing the Answers of other Men All of them must out of Christendom together Especially George Fox who Stumbles so often that he hardly Goes one Right Step I cou'd fill a Volume with his Mistakes of this kind but for the Present will Press your Patience with two or three Christopher Wade in his Quakery Slain p. 13. says As the Devil of old Spake some Truths to usher in his Manifold Deceits even so he over-powers you Quakers to Deny the Scriptures God's Inspired writings Manifested by his holy Apostles And as he thereby Limits the Supreme Holy one so he over-rules you to acknowlege but one Dispensation of God's mind unto the Sons of Men. viz. The Light within To this George Fox Answers in his Gr. Mystery p. 247. And Repeats C. Wade's words thus He saith says G. F. God limits the Supream Holy one by the Inspired Writings of the Apostles And then he Pays C. W. for saying that The Holy one is Limited by the words of the Apostles But it is obvious to any one of Common Sense that C. W. Meant that it was the Devil in the Quakers who Limited the Holy one by Denying the Dispensation of the Holy Scriptures and allowing but of that only Dispensation of the Light within But to take off all Excuse C. W. wrote an Answer to G. F. which he Directs To all those call'd Quakers An. 1659. Where he Instances in Twelve Lies and Forgeries which G. F. had thus put upon him Among which this is the Sixth p. 5. where he clears what he had said by shewing the thred of the whole Discourse and that it was the Devil and not God who he said did Limit the Holy one To this G. Whitehead Replies in his Truth defending the Quakers Printed the same year 1659. p. 61. And do's he either Confess G. Fox's Perverting the words of C. Wade or Justify it No. Neither For Justify it he cou'd not the Case was so Plain And it is below a Quaker ever to Confess for that supposes he cou'd Err How then do's G. W. Answer Why he falls upon C. W. for saying that the Devil cou'd Limit the Supreme Holy One But first here is the Cause given against G. Fox that he had Perverted the words of C. W. And next as to G. Whitehead's Mettl'd observation how the Devil cou'd Limit the Holy one let him Read Psal Lxxviii 41. Yea they turned back and Tempted God And Limited the Holy one of Israel Where Limiting is express'd as a Tempting But says G. Whitehead in the place above Quoted This is as much as to say the Devil is stronger than God as this Deceiver hath Affirmed Now here is another Manifest Perversion of the Meaning as G. Fox's was of the Words of G. Wade For did C. W. Affirm That the Devil was Stronger than God
because the Devil is said to Limit Him Then the Israelits were Stronger than God for David says that they did Limit Him But as C. W. said no such thing do's G. W. think that C. W. Believ'd the Devil to be Stronger than God No. he cou'd not think so for who ever thought so And then he said this against his own Conscience Without doubt he did And for this calls C. W. a Deceiver Now here are some small Mistakes First of G. Fox's in taking God for the Devil That was All Next of G. Whitehead's in saying that C. Wade did Affirm That the Devil was Stronger than God Now Recollect Will. Penn's Rule before Mentioned That he that gives that for a Man's Answer that is not his Answer is a Forger and so no true Christian The Application is Easie and Unavoidable That neither Fox nor Whitehead are Christians because they are Notorious Forgers and Give that for a Man's Answer which is not his Answer Nay more The very Objections which are put against them they Retort as being the Principles of the Objectors Thus five Ministers wrote a Book against the Quakers call'd The Perfect Pharisee An. 1654. And another in Defence of it the same year Intituled A further Discovery of that Generation of Men call'd Quakers in Reply to an Answer the Quakers had put out to the Former In both these they Charge the Quakers with Seventeen Gross Positions of which this is the Third That the Soul is a Part of the Divine Essence Thus plainly put down p. 5. of the Further Discovery Num. 3. of the Quaker Positions which are there first Rang'd in order And then particularly Disprov'd under their several Heads And coming to this Head p. 31. they call this Position as truly it is Blasphemy G. Fox Answers to this in his Gr. Myst p. 227. and sets down this as the first of the Ministers Principles That the Soul is a Part of the Divine Essence And thence Inferrs p. 229. That in calling this Blasphemy they had given Judgment against themselves And so you five says he have Judged your selves to be Blasphemers who said the Soul was Part of the Divine Essence and yet 't is Blasphemy to say so This is Giving that for a man's Answer which is not with a witness And if Will. Penn can any Longer Defend G. Fox even Dear George who Excelleth All the Quakers to be a Christian by his own Rule he will Exceed himself and Out-do all that he has Ever yet Done At least I hope he will Alter his Opinion if he spoke it sincerely That George Fox was as Good a Proas Asaiah which has been Mention'd before But not only Putting words upon a Man which he did not say nay Quite Contrary to what he says but Leaving out the Material part of a Man's Answer and giving that for his Answer is Belying of a Man and comes under Will Penn's Rule Let me give one Instance of this among many that I cou'd Produce Matthew Caffyn in his Damnable Heresies of the Quakers Discover'd p. 29. gives his Charge thus The Quaker saith that Christ is already Come the second time And George Fox Affirmed in Plain words before many Witnesses that he knew him come within him and he looked for Him to come NO OTHERWISE And James Parnal affirmeth That by Preaching of a Christ in Heaven the Devil gets his work done on Earth as appears in his Book call'd Satan's Design discover'd p. 19. 25. This Fox Answers in his Gr. Myst p. 141. And first he leaves his Brother Parnel to shift for himself He Denies not the Quotation But says nothing to it Then as to what is Charg'd upon Himself he Quotes the Page in Caffyn but Repeats his words thus And George Fox said that he knew Christ come in him p. 29. Then he Crys that Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates As if Caffyn had Deny'd the Inward Presence of Christ by the Influence of His H. Spirit in the Hearts of Believers which no Christian ever did Deny But they Deny the Person of Christ His Flesh Blood and Bones in Men as the Quakers Blaspheme And Caffyn found no Fault with Fox's saying that He knew Christ come within him On the Contrary he Justifies the Indwelling of Christ by His Spirit But he laid the stress upon G. Fox's saying That he Looked upon Christ to come NO OTHERWISE whith was put in Capital Letters to shew that the stress lay upon that as being a Denyal of Christ's Second Coming to the Final Judgment Of all which G. Fox took no Notice at all but gives his words short as above Quoted Whereby it appears which I have often observ'd before That without looking into the Books which this Fox Answers ther is no knowing of their Meaning or what they object by his False and often Absurd Chopping and Changing of their Words Caffyn ibid. p. 35. Charges thus The Quaker saith that the offering of Christ's Body to be Broken and His Blood shed Avails not so as thro' Faith therein to set free from Sin But Blood in a Mystery and a Body in a Mystery which we know not what it is saith Lawson in his Book p. 18. which was Typified by the Fleshly Body of Christ and His Blood And says Caffyn p. 36. Wherefore he saith Boldly but Blasphemously That the Lord Jesus whom we Profess is Accursed professing a Spirit within him to be the only Christ To this G. Fox Answers Gr. Myst p. 142. And Repeats the Charge only thus They say they own Christ that suffered meaning the Spirit within Page 36. Here he Quotes the Page in Caffyn's Book whereby we cannot mistake to what it is that he Answers And instead of Denying he Justifies in his Squinting way this Hideous Blasphemy by laying the whole upon the Light within But Denies nothing of the other part of the same sentence of calling that Jesus whom we Profess Accursed c. Blessed God Defend Us The Pen is like to Drop out of my Hand while I am forc'd to set down this Greatest Outrage that Ever the Devil durst Presume to Belch out against our Blessed Lord and Saviour thro' these the most Wretched of all his Instruments the Quaker Tongues which are set on Fire of Hell I cannot stay longer upon this Subject Ther is Infection in the very Air. Let us Return to their Moderate Sins of Lying and Mis-representing the Answers of their Adversaries and Rid Christianity of them at the Back-Door which Will. Penn has Pointed But not open the Mouth of the Gulph at once of Blasphemies not fit to be Heard upon Earth lest the Stench shou'd carry Plagues with it thro' the World Christoph Wade in his Quakery Slain p. 7 8. tells of a Quaker Wizard one James Milner who Pretended that he must Suffer as Christ did to save the Souls of two Women Dorothy Barwick and the Wife of Brian Fell of Ulverston and in a Juggling Inchanting Manner with a Knife and a
They needed to be told of what was in Man And sometimes God did tell them some things 2 Kin vi 12. by Particular Revelation as to Elisha what the King of Syria was doing in his Bed-Chamber To Peter the Deceit of Ananias and Sapphira Act. v. c. But they had no General Knowledge of Mens Hearts which these Blasphemous Quakers do Pretend to And they put this as a Test to Mr. Stephens whether he knew G. Fox's Heart And from his not knowing it concluded him to be a False Minister And they make this to be a General Rule so that none can be True Ministers of Christ who have not this Gift By which All the Present Quakers are Vn-Minister'd at least the Chief of them whom I have heard say That they do not Pretend to this Gift Yet will they not Disown this Blasphemous and Sensless FOX But still count him as having been a True Minister of Christ And that All he Wrote was from the Mouth of the Lord. Which if True ther is not One True Minister of Christ among the Quakers at this Day Even by their own Confession Yet all this notwithstanding They are Perfect and Sinless They have not Chang'd but are the same they were from the Beginning They still Maintain the Doctrin and Holy Testimony of their Ancient Friends And that In All the Parts of it For Truth is One and Changes not Thus it is worded in the Yearly Epistle for the year 1696. Given forth by their General Assembly at London They have no Sins at all to Answer for Poor Innocent Lambs No. Not They But did Christopher Atkinson while carrying on his Intrigue with Thom. Symmons's Maid or Thom. Thurston while Debauching the Deputy-Governor's Wife and Father'd his Adultery upon the Immediat Command of the H. Ghost O Dreadful or George Archer Or any others of the Long c. of the Quaker Harmless-ones while they were Wallowing in such Beastly Sins did they during that Time and before they Repented Continue in the Office of their Ministry Yea Verily They Preach'd and Pray'd for all this like Dragons And did they in all that time Confess their Sins in Publique I mean not their Private sins for that they were not oblig'd to do in Publick before they were Publickly known to make Reparation for the Scandal But did they Confess themselves to be Sinners in the General Or Begg God to Pardon their Sins or have Mercy upon them Or own that they had in the Least Transgressed Any of His Laws since they were Quakers No! Thank you for that What! Sinnersâ— and Quakers That wou'd never do That wou'd have Contradicted the Testimony of all their Ancient Friends and the Foundation of Sinless-Quakerism As it has Quite overthrown all their Pretence to the Spirit of Discerning and Knowing the Hearts of Men And consequently by G. Fox's Doctrin Render'd them all False Ministers and Conjurers How Dreadfully Astonishing is this To see these most Wretched and Desperate of Sinners even while Reeking in the Foulest Sins to set up the Pretence of Perfection And Scorn to Own any Sin or ask Mercy from God for it Which as before has been Observ'd was never yet Heard at any Quaker-Meeting See more upon this subject in the First Part Sect. xiii which begins at p. 149. There p. 155 156. You will find a Noble Stroke of a Quaker Prophet and Fidler who said of St. John That if John had said he had been a Sinner he had Ly'd This was to shew that St. John did not Include himself when he said 1 Joh. 1.8 9 10. If we say that we have not Sinned we make Him God a Lyar and His word is not in us But the Quaker here Returns the Lye upon the Apostle He must Return it too upon the Prophet who said While I was Confessing MY Sin and the Sin of my People Dan. ix 20. Here Daniel said My Sin Did he not then Confess Himself to be a Sinner Yet was he One of those Three whom God Nam'd as the most Perfect of all the Earth Ezek. xiv 14. But the Quakers think Themselves more Perfect than all these NOAH's Sin of Drunkenness is Recorded Gen. ix 21. DANIEL here Owns His Sin And JOB says I Abhor my self and Repent in Dust and Ashes Chapt. xlii 6. Wou'd he Repent for his Good Deeds Or Abhor himself for them But Will. Shewen another Quaker Prophet in his Treatise concerning Thoughts and Imaginations Printed An. 1685. P. 25. tells us that a QVAKER is Meeker than MOSES Stronger than SAMPSON Wiser than SOLOMON and more Patient than JOB Nay Harmless and Innocent as CHRIST But either St. John was in Good Earnest a Lyar as Solomon Eccles that was the Fidling Prophets Name Civily calls him Or otherwise if he said Truth then the Quakers make GOD to be a Lyar and His Word is not in Them They are Past all the ordinary Means of Grace who have Excluded the very first step of Asking and consequently of Expecting any Mercy from God For if they Expected it they wou'd Ask it And they Ask it not because they think they have no Need of it And this is Consequential to their notion of the Light within which this Appen instead of Excusing do's Re-maintain in Reducing all Religion to Believing In their Light which they make the Solid Christianity If by the Light here they meant the outward Jesus of Nazareth who was Born at Bechlehem and Faith in Him ther wou'd be no Dispute betwixt them and us But when by the Light they mean not any outward Person but something within themselves as elsewhere fully shewn whence they call it the Light within And tell us of Faith In That and that this Alone without any thing else is Sufficient for Salvation which they make Common to all Heathens to Everyman that cometh into the world then I say They are no Christians But are Gross Idolaters who Whorship something within Themselves or some special Presence of God which they suppose to be There For it is no less Idolatry to worship God In my Self than In any Other In the Sun Moon or any Creature for ther is a Presence of God In them All. And this is the Excuse and Pretence of all Idolatry For the Idolatries of the Quakers see Sn. Sect. viii and Sat. Dis Glean Sect. ii n. 4. p. 71. Let me here add one Instance more which will Explain the Rest It is in William Haworth his Book Intitul'd The Quaker Converted to Christianity An. 1674. p. 4. of the Prefatory Epistle where he tells That he saw Jam. Naylor Suffer for his Horrid Blasphemy in taking Divine worship to Himself and setting Himself up for the Messiah And tho' Some of the Trimming and Time-serving of the Quakers made a Shew of Disowning this Naylor after he was as he justly Deserv'd Whip't Pillory'd Bored thro' the Tongue and Branded on the Forehead for his Hideous Blasphemies Yet they did not Disown his Blasphemies for they
And they Bow after the same Fashion Who wou'd speak Three words to Purchace their Ungainly Conges as Stiff and Grave as an Elephant's or to see them thrust out a Limb for a Salute as if they were going to make a Pass at you But ther is a Mystery at the Bottom of Iniquity and Rebellion All that was Couch'd under the Parallel that is made to them of Judas and his Gaulonites And we may the Rather Believe this because the Quakers in this Appen do in plain Terms Justifie Judas for having Repeated his Principle as given in Prim. Heres out of Josephus That he and his Followers wou'd Expose themselves to all Torments rather than call any Mortal Man Lord or Master Appen Answers p. 49. Now Believe me Friends I cannot See the Heresie of this Doctrin Here then the Charge is Confess'd And the Parallel Acknowleg'd to be Just betwixt Judas and the Quakers who own That they Maintain the same Principle with Him And who can Doubt but that it is to the same End They Quarrel Prim. Heres for bringing the Testimony of Josephus as they wou'd make the Reader believe instead of one of the Primitive Fathers which Appen p. 48. calls Canonizing this Jew Whereas Josephus is only Quoted to shew the Principles and Sect of Judas Galilaeus not for the Condemning of them That is shewn from the Apostles And what Canonizing is hear of Josephus Can the Reader bear with this Trifling But these men will Complain nay Boast if they are not Answer'd But whether is this so much a Canonizing of Josephus as Appen do's of Judas who Justifies his wicked Heresie And Consequently must Rank his Sufferings for it upon the score of Martyrdom as of the Quakers for the same Cause And is Every Primitive Father that is Quoted therefore Canoniz'd But what Patience can hold out to see these Quakers make objections for want of Primitive Fathers And to Quote them too as Gibson before and others Do they lay any stress upon the Primitive Fathers or Pretend to Follow Them O yes by all means They wou'd fain be in Good Company And they call Quakerism now of Late Primitive Christianity in which Book ther is not one Syllable of what the Primitive Fathers held not one Quotation from one of them nor any of them so much as Nam'd How then do's their Christianity appear to be Primitive No matter for that Primitive is a Good word especially to stand upon a Title-Page which 100 Read for one that Reads the Book This shews They wou'd be Primitive or have the Reputation of it And so they have As Primitive as Judas whose Doctrine they Espouse and the Apostles Oppos'd But if they are so much for Primitive what say they to those Quotations which are brought in Prim. Heres out of the most Ancient and Vn-doubted of the Fathers And which Confront their Tenets very Expresly For them They care not two pence for as many more of them Appen p. 10. 11. calls them Stale Tracts of Vncertain Persons Do's he shew how they are Vncertain No not he Let them look to that or have the Quakers any Better Editions or other Works of those Fathers than those which are come to our Hands No no no They have None of them they Hate and Abhor them they were a Company of Bishops and Doctors But ne'r a one among them like George Fox or Edw. Burrough or G. Whitehead or Little Appen No not one of them Therefore says Appen p. 10. We shall not need to be at all Afrighted if we do find our selves to Differ from what is to be found under the specious Names of Ignatius Polycarp c. tho' Living within 150 years after Christ nor under the Great Names of them call'd Fathers in the Succeeding Ages And p. 5. It will not Avail tho' he bring many Clouds of such Witnesses And notwithstanding he calls this a Cavil we learn'd from Elder Dissenters we are not Afraid to stand by it and therefore Pay little Reverence to those nor any thing not Purely Apostolical But Ignatius and Polycarp liv'd in the Apostles Days and were Disciples to the Apostles What is that to Us Quakers It is no matter what they were or where they were We will have None of them So set your heart at Rest We have Better at Home We never Lik'd G. Keith since he was so Insolent to Compare the Books of our Friends to them call'd the Greek and Latin Fathers as supposing Friends Books to have been written by no Better Guidance See Sat. Dis Sect. iv n. v. p. 47. nor Clearer Light than theirs who Lived and wrote in those Dark times For which Thom. Ellwood has Pay'd him to Purpose And it is no wonder that he has left Us. For when any once get Fathers and Councils and Antiquity and such stuff into their Heads they can never Endure Us afterwards Therefore we Hate all Schools and Colleges and Learning and Human Reason for all these things make against Us. And now that we are Setting up Schools c. of our own I 'm afraid we shall not be Long-Liv'd That by the bye Therefore Appen wisely throws off all your Fathers and Primitives which serve us only for Title-Pages But says p. 5. Indeed if he can Absolutely Determin the Question by the Scriptures the work is done Yet in the Last Case against Judas and the Quakers the Proof was brought from Scripture and from nothing else And yet the work is not done For then you call'd for the Fathers then he has not Perform'd his Promise of Giving us Quotations out of the Fathers but puts Josephus upon us and Canonizes him for a Father But will the Scriptures do Then indeed the work wou'd soon be done Will you let the Scriptures be the Rule we will Ask no more Appen Denies it as shewn before Yet they will stand to what the Scripture Commands Provided the same thing be Requir'd by Their Own Spirit Anew See Sn. Sect. vii p. 92 93. that is if they Like it They cannot Deny but that the Scripture Requires Honour to be Pay'd to Magistrates Or that Taking off the Hat is not a Paying of Honour as Prov'd above And therefore Except the Reason I have Given which they will not Give I cannot Conjecture the shadow of a Reason for their Refusing it They say as Howgil before That God has not Commanded it Not Particularly as to the Hat Neither has He Commanded to take off our Hats at Prayer Why then did they Contend so zealously for that They Render themselves Self-Condemn'd They will as Judas call no man Lord or Master Why then do they call any Man Father for both are Forbidden in the same Place Matth. xxiii 9. And in whatever Sense they take the one they may take the other But their Practice shews their meaning They do call their Quaker Masters by the Name of Masters And they do now use the word Lord Speaking of or to Noble-Men but
no Medium And not only thus Negatively have they Asserted it But Positively and in the Affirmative They say that the Soul is Infinite even Infinitness it self and without Beginning Which nothing can be but God And if the Soul be God it must follow that ther is no Soul but God Which R. Farmer p. 27. above Quoted do's charge upon the Quakers That they say Ther is no Spirit but One and so Deny any Angel or Spirit Which page G. Fox do's Quote in his Answer Gr. Myst p. 173. but says nothing at all to this he cou'd not Deny this to be the Quaker Principle And the Consequence of this is That ther is nothing Natural in Man for if all in Man be God then ther is no Nature of Man but only the Nature of God This is the true Ground why the Quakers will not allow any Light that is in Man to be Natural no not that Light or Reason which is Common to All Men. Nor will be Content to say That this comes from God No. They will have it nothing Less than God Himself It was Granted to G. Fox That the Eternal word Enlightneth All men with the Common Light of Nature This G. F. Repeats and Opposes The Light says he which Every Man that cometh into the world is Enlightned withal is not Natural Gr. Myst p. 172. What is his Reason Because says he The Light was before any thing was Made and all things that was made was made by it which Lightneth every Man that cometh into the World By this Argument nothing at all can be Natural to Us because not only our Light but out Life and Every thing we have is from God And Consequently we nor any other Creature can have any Nature at all And then ther can he No Creature at all but All is God This was the Ranters Blasphemous Notion That God is Every thing And Every thing is God Thus they Understand that Text That God is All in All. i. e. That Every thing comes by Emanation from God or that Every thing is the Nature and Essence of God Extended and Vary'd which Returns again into its self as Rivers come from and Return into the Sea And so All things Return into the Nature of God whence they Came. And that ther is no Nature or Being but only that of God And this the Quakers have Lick'd up from the Ranters from whom they came And tho' they seem to oppose them yet from them they Learn'd And still Propagate this with others of their Vile Errors This is the very Language of the Quakers Is not this that cometh out from God which is in God's hand Gr. Must p. 100. Part of God and from God and to God again is not this of God's Being And doth not the Scripture say God is All and in All Is not the Soul without Beginning ib. p. 90. coming from God Returning into God again who hath it in His hand Which brings it up into God which came out from Him hath this a Beginning or Ending And is it not Infinite in it self and more than all the world Now Consider what a Condition they call'd Ministers are in ib. p. 29. They say that which is a Spiritual Substance is not Infinite in it self but a Creature That which came out from the Creator and is in the Hand of the Creator which brings it up and to the Creator again that is Infinite it self And thou says ib. p. 91. the Soul is a Spiritual thing and yet a Creature But the Bishop of their Souls Christ the Power of God brings the Soul up into God from whence it came whereby they come to be One Soul Thus G. Fox which he had learn'd from his Lear-Father as he was call'd John Hinks a Chief man among the Ranters Who allow'd no Distinction at all betwixt God and Creatures but said that All was God And after him the other Quakers proceed in the same strain Christoph Atkinson sets down this as a False Principle which he opposes viz. That God who is Creator Sword of the Lord. p. 3. is Eternally DISTINCT from all Creatures in His Being and Blessedness And Replies in these words The Being of God is not Distinct from them that are Begotten of Him for as the Father and the Son are one without Distinction so are they that are Begotten by Him And p. 5. he Denies that Christ or God is a Distinct Person from all Saints and Angels For says he Christ is but one in All and not Distinct And this says he in his Title-Page I was moved by the Lord God of Life to lay open as it was made Manifest in me from the Lord. And now we see the Reason why G. Fox did not oppose what R. Farmer charg'd upon the Quakers of their Denying and Created Angel or Spirit and holding no other Spirit but God This G. Fox cou'd not Deny to be the very Principle of the Quakers Nay he Contends and Disputes for it In his Gr. Myst p. 207. he sets this as an Error of the Professors that they say God hath a Christ Distinct from all other things whatsoever whether they be Spirits or Bodies And Answers God's Christ is not Distinct from His Saints nor His Bodies So that by this not only all Spirits but all Bodies are God's Bodies nay every Body as well as Spirit is God For so it must be if God is not Dictinct from them This is true Ranterism And is the Dreggs of that old Corrupt Heathen Philosophy which made God to be only Anima Mundi the Soul of the World and consequently every thing to be Part of God of His Essence and Being The Blasphemous Absurdity of which has been Expos'd by many of the Heathens themselves And is now lick'd up again by the most Gross of Heathens the Quakers Mr. Farmer in his Book before mention'd is Large p. 58. c. in shewing now the Quakers took up this from the Ranters That they Approv'd of the Ranters Principles But Blain'd them for not keeping up to them to the Light that was in them as they say of their own Quakers when they Listen to the Flesh and are taken Napping In a Book wrote by G. Fox and Jam. Naylor An. 1654. call'd A word from the Lord unto all the Faithless Generation of the World c. p. 13. they give this Testimony to the Ranters You had a Pure Convincement I witness which did Convince you and you started up to be as Gods And Gods they thought Themselves and were thought by the Quakers till their Vileness as of the Quakers now was so fully Discover'd that meer Shame Drove all People from them Their Great Edw. Burrough and Fr. Howgill wrote an Answer to some Quaeres put by one Reeve of which this is the Second viz. What the true Creator was in his own distinct Essence Nature and Glory from all Eternity in Time and to all Eternity And wherein Elect men and
Meant than to Keep to his Light within Cou'd that have told him all that was Commanded in the Law of Moses How came all the Heathen then not to Know it for they had the Light within As little cou'd it of it Self without the Help of outward Revelation have Discover'd a Messiah the Son of God to be Incarnat and offer'd up a Sacrifice for the Sins of the World This Faith as the Apostle truly Says All men have not None Ever had it by Means only of their Light within But either by Express Revelation such as was Given of it to Adam to Abraham and the Prophets or by the outward Means of Hearing as the Apostle says in that same Chap. of the x. Rom. ver 17. Describing how that same Faith commeth of which he spoke ver 8. And he says That it cometh by Hearing viz. The outward Preaching of it For as he says ver 14. How shall they Believe in Him of whom they have not Heard And how shall they Hear without a Preacher So Mad and Void of all Common Sense as well as most Impious and Heretical Is that Quaker Exposition of Deut. xxx 14. And Rom. x. 8. Whereby they wou'd Exclude the outward Christ from being the Object of the Christian Faith And Blasphemously Translate it to Themselves that is to their own Light Within And by this make the Christian Faith Common to all Mankind even to those who never Heard of the outward Christ Which is To make Him His Blessed Death and Passion Vseless and Vn-necessary to the World Another Text they urge mightily for the Vniversality of their Light within is Joh. 1.9 That was the true Light which Lighteth Every man that cometh into the World This they Understand of Faith the True Saving Faith and so suppose that Every Man must have it But the Apostle from the beginning of this Chap. was speaking of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Divine Word by whom All things were Made And therefore not only what Light but what Life Every man or any Creature has is from Him Act xvii 25.28 Seeing He giveth to All Life and Breath and All things For in Him we Live and Move and have our Being Now that Light which He giveth to All Men is not the Light of Faith which All Men have not But the Natural Light of our Vnderstanding which is Common to All Men. And is a Ray Communicated from the Supreme 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Reason The Quakers to Avoid this set about that Mad Task of Proving that All men have not Reason as before is shewn And yet wou'd give All men Faith of which no man is Capable without supposing him to have the use of his Reason Otherwise a Tree or a Stone might Believe as well as a Man I will Name but one Text more upon which they Chime Exceedingly that is 1 Joh. 2.20 27. But ye have an Vnction from the Holy one and ye know All things And ye need not that any man Teach you but as the Same Anointing Teacheth you of All things This they Interpret of the Light within which is Common to All Men. But then by this it wou'd follow That All Men do know All things Quite contrary to what the Apostle there Supposes who speaks of those who Knew not the Truth And Applys this of the Anointing only to those who Knew the Truth Ver. 21. I have not written unto you because ye know not the Truth but because ye Know it c. Therefore this of the Anointing was spoken only To and Of the True Believers and not of Infidels or Generally of All Men as is Plain to any who Read that Chapter These are the Chief Texts they Insist upon for the Vniversality of Faith which they call The Light within And they All prove Directly against them Ther are others so Forc'd and Strain'd as need not Confutation As 2 Pet. 1.19 We have also a more sure word of Prophesy c. which they apply to their Light within Whereas it was plainly spoken of the Holy Scriptures as the next Verse do's Expressly Determin it Knowing this first that no Prophesy of SCRIPTVRE is of any Private Interpretation I wish the Quakers wou'd Reflect Seriously upon this It wou'd correct the Exorbitancy of their Private Interpretations by what they call their Light within Different from the Sense of the whole Catholick Church in All Ages And let them see and Consider that ther was Great Reason for that Caution given in this same Epistle Ch. iii. 16. That the Vnlearned and Vnstable do wrest the Scriptures to their own Destruction The Quakers pretend sometimes to be Determin'd by Scripture and to admit of no Interpretation which is not in Express words of Scripture See a Book of theirs call'd The Divinity of Christ Wrote by G. Whitehead and G. Fox where in the Epistle they speak thus Where do the Scriptures speak of three Persons in the Godhead in these Express words Let us see where it is written Come do not shuffle for we are Resolv'd the Scriptures shall Buffet you about And where doth the Scripture speak of a Human Nature of Christ in Heaven And where doth the Scripture say the Soul is Part of Man's Nature Give us plain Scripture without Adding or Diminishing Come let us see Chapter and Verse c. Now the Quakers cannot Refuse the same Measure which they have Meated to others Therefore let us see Chapter and Verse where The Light within is spoke of In these Express words wher is ther any thing of Faith in the Light within of Believing In The Light within as this Appen do's often speak Where is it said that Christ was not the Lamb but that the Lamb was in Christ where is ther a word of the Manhood of God of Christ's Heavenly Flesh Blood and Bones of His Flesh that was Crucify'd when Adam Fell Where is His Body call'd a Garment or a Vessel where shall we find the Distinction of Christ Without and Within of an Outward and an Inward Christ of the Shedding of His Blood within Vs of the Blood and Bones of our Light within where is it said that the Person who Suffer'd upon the Cross was not Properly the Son of God He is oft call'd The Son of God what Text says that He was not Properly so In these Express words Come Produce Chapter and Verse Where are the Holy Scriptures call'd Beastly ware Serpents meat Death and Dust Where is the Text for Theeing and Thouing and for not taking off your Hats For your Silent-Meetings For the Ceasing of Baptism and The Lord's Supper For Womens Preaching and Womens Meetings which you call the Good Ordinance of Jesus Christ what Text do's Abolish Tythes in these Express words or Declare all going to War to be unlawful To keep Holy-Days or Marry by a Priest Where is it said that the Quakers are Infallible That their Preachings are of as Great Authority as the Scriptures and GREATER And
by their subtilty to ensnare them yet now George Keith has given a plain answer to their Question he tells them Christ's Body is Ascended into Heaven and is in Heaven Note this fallacy G. W. knew well enough that what I had asserted about Christ's Body his Ascension into Heaven did contradict both his and his Brethren's Doctrine He doth Contradict what Friends had formerly said but is possitive and plain in his answer to the Professors question So my opposers ceased any more to object against me upon that Head The Second Particular they charged against me was that in my Book I had said the Friends did pray to Christ Jesus and did Worship and Pray unto the Mediator betwixt God and Man the Man Christ Jesus the Anointed King Priest and Prophet of his People who also is God over all blessed for ever pag. 123. of The way cast up And whereas I had set down some words of prayers that I had said I had heard some use in our own Meetings and I had used as Jesus son of David had mercy on us pag. 121. O thou blessed Lord Jesus that wert Crucified and Dyed for our sins and shed thy Precious Blood for us be gracious unto us c. the which prayer containeth a whole page in Print wherein also the forgiveness of our sins is prayed for a thing many say they never heard in a Quaker's Meeting to this these two men observed that it was a sort of Popery but with this difference that the Papists prayed both to the Mother and the Son George Keith though he prayed not to the Mother yet he prayed to the Son Some present said it was a part of Common Prayer to say Son of David have mercy on us but these two before mention'd Persons my chief opposers put me hard to it to give some Instance where ever I heard any ancient Friend of the Ministry that was an English man pray to Christ Jesus It is possible said they thou hast heard some Scotch Friends pray so whom thou hast taught so and were thy Proselites I confess I was at a stand to name any one English man that ever I heard so pray though in Scotland I would have named one But William Penn prevented me and said Friends I am an English man and a Freind of the Ministry I have oft prayed to Christ Jesus to my great comfort and have been answered And not long ago being under some great weight upon my Spirit and like to have been swallowed up by a power of Darkness I uttered these words its true I was in private Lord Jesus who was Crucified for me have mercy on me and immediately I was eased and comforted They objected that William Penn was but a young Minister Let George Keith give an instance what ancient English Friend of the Ministry he ever heard pray to Christ Jesus As I could remember none so nor did any in all the Meeting give an Instance But said George Whitehead it is not what William Penn or George Keith saith let the Scripture decide it whereupon he call'd for the Bible and reads in 1 Cor. 1.2 Vnto the Church of God which is at Corinth to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus call'd to be Saints with all that in every place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ both theirs and ours What say ye to this Friends ye see that Paul did-approve the Corinthians that called upon the name of the Lord Jesus Note Reader one would think that if G. Whitehead had made it his practise to pray to Christ Jesus being an ancient Minister and using to pray frequently in the publick Meetings of the people call'd Quakers he would have named himself to have been one who had prayed to Christ Jesus or some that had oft heard him ther present might have given him for an instance but no instance was brought of any English ancient Friend of the Ministry who had ever been heard so to pray and had it been a frequent practise among them to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ it could not be supposed to be possible that these two men my opposers could have objected it against me as a novelty or such a singular practise as that no English ancient Friend could be produced as a witness for that practise their answe to George Whitehead's Question was Paul was dark and ignorant in that thing as George Keith is for our parts we know better George Whitehead reply'd hold Friends say not so Ye know we have been accused by divers that we esteem our selves equal to the Apostles which for my part I never did how will this be received by Professors if they shou'd hear that we did set up our selves above them and above Paul one of the chiefest of them after he had so plentifully received the Holy Ghost and had planted so many Churches Pray let us not exalt our selves above Paul it is very well if we be where he was But they still continued blaming my assertion in my Book for saying that Christ was to be prayed unto and especially they blam'd the manner of praying to him by the name Son of David objecting against one of the prooffs in my Book how Bartimeus pray'd to Christ in these words Son of David have mercy on me Poor blind Bartimeus said they had George Keith no better Arguments for him than blind Bartimeus he was as blind in his Soul as he was in his Body Thomas Hart replyed to them Friends say not so ye are under a great mistake to think he was blind in his Soul he was greatly enlightned in his Soul and had a great Faith and Christ answered him and said thy Faith hath saved thee which proveth he was not blind in his Soul when he so prayed They still remaining dissatisfied and greatly blaming that manner of expression Son of David as improper William Penn said Friends we know that Christ after his Ascension call'd himself the root and off-spring of David Now why may it not be supposed that a Friend may be moved in prayer to say O thou root and off-spring of David have mercy on us Some also brought that place in Acts. 7.59 how Stephen being fill'd with the Holy Ghost at his death call'd saying Lord Jesus receive my spirit so after several words of discourse made by other Friends present mostly approving my assertion they passed to their Third particular charg'd against in my Book the passage in my Book that they blam'd is in pag. 123. Compared with pag. 136. where I had said pag. 123. He is that mighty one upon whom the Father hath laid help for that although the Father himself loveth us and is most willing and ready to help us in all our Necessities yet we can no otherwise receive his help but as it comes to us by the Conveyance of the Man Christ Jesus our alone Mediator And pag. 136. I had said But still as in respect of Union Manifestation
and Operation and also in respect of Communion and Fellowship the Man Christ Jesus or word Incarnate is the only and proper middle and Mediator between God and us so that whereas God is immediately United with the Man Christ Jesus no other Men or Angels have or indeed are Capable to have an immediate Union with God their Union is only Mediate with God and so their Communion and Fellowship with him is but Mediate also by the means of Christ Jesus although inrespect of other means it is Immediate All this passage they mightily censured as Contradicting their own experience 't is true said they when we were Young and weak at our first Convincement and Beginning we had need of Christ but now we have no need of him we have access to God Immediately without Christ Thomas Hart reply'd to them Friends I am sorry you should think ye have not need of Christ now I cannot say so and I dare not say it I have as much need of him now as ever formerly I need Him not only to cleanse me from my Sins but to preserve me that I sin not let me tell you It may be before ye Die you may come to find your need of Christ These words of Thomas Hart were much noticed and approved by divers Present and after divers had spoke their minds about this whole matter particularly George Whitehead and William Penn who approved and Vindicated all these Three Particulars which my opposers have objected against and severely censured and all other lesser Matters to every tittle and word that was objected so that I had need to say little and indeed said not much because I found them as seemed to me well disposed and inclined to answer for me as they readily did Divers other Friends present stood up in the Meeting and declar'd their great Satisfaction with having heard those things so well cleared and opened to their understandings which they Confessed they had been formerly Mudled about and blessed God for that good opportunity they had to have things made so clear to them among whom were Francis More and James Claypool both Citizens of good account and of good reputation among Friends and Neighbours This is but a Summary and Abreviation of the matter which was much more largely discoursed and took up several hours time at each Meeting In the Conclusion the persons that had accused me were desir'd by the Meeting to desist from their Charge and say nothing against the Book and whereas some Friends that were dissatisfied at my Book had forbidden the Stationer in George-Yard to sell it because it was unsound Order was given by the Meeting that that the Stationer might be encouraged to Sell it that it might have its Service in City and Country as accordingly was done And now Reader wouldest thou not think that these men who had so exposed their Ignorance Unbelief and Antichristian principles directly opposest to the great Fundamentals of Christianity would have received some severe Censure from the Friends of the Ministry or at least that they would have put them to disown their vile errors before they could be owned as either sound Ministers or sound Friends But nothing of this was done and to the certain knowledge of divers as well as mine these men as well as others that had privately sided with them remained Resolute and Stiff in their former errors whereof the one to wit William Shewen sometime after gave a publick demomstration in the Face of the World having after all this printed a Book called by him A Treatise of Thoughts where he saith pag. 37. Not to Jesus the Son of Abraham David and Mary Saint or Angel but to God the Father all worship Honour and Glory is to be given through Jesus Christ c. Note Reader what he means by Jesus Christ c. is easie to apprehend not the Son of Abraham of David or Mary for him he hath excluded from being the object of Worship together with Saints and Angels as in his own words is manifest but this Jesus Christ c. is the Light within so here are two Christs with a witness by this Man's Doctrin one the Son of David to whom no Worship Honour and Glory is to be given another through whom God the Father is to be Worshiped and certainly he through whom we Worship God the Father must be the object of Worship together with the Father But how long did he allow Jesus Christ c. to be him thro' whom God the Father is to be Worshiped No longer than untill he hath restored all things into their primitive Order that is brought William Shewen and his Brethren to a Sinless state which many think they have attain'd already and then Christ in them is known to surrender up the Kingdom to the Father and God to become all in all As he plainly declares in his pag. 38. and on the Margin he adds This is the assending of Christ up where he was before he descended and before there was any Cause for his descension he that can understand saith he let him this passage of Wiliam Shewen is more fully Quoted out of his Book in my Third Narrative lately Printed Judge Reader what imaginary Heavens had this man got up into after he hath witnessed a Sinless state even in the mortal Body then Christ surrenders up the Kingdom to the Father in him and it is no more Christ in him but God all in all And what Christ spoke of his Ascension as Man into Heavens without us He wholly applyeth to Christ's putting off his Offices as Christ and ceasing any more to Officiate as Christ in them but as God the Father The mystery of this is Rank and wild Ranterism to wit that God and Christ within men are but two inward Ministrations and Operations Christ is the lower and the Father is the Higher and by passing from the Lower to the Higher as men pass from the lower story of a House to the higher they pass from Christ to God and leave Christ behind or below them and ascend up to God all in all and so need not Christ either within them or without them That this is the real and genuine Sense of William Shewen's words in that above mentioned Treatise any intelligent person that reads them more especially if he read those passages throughout from first to last a part whereof I have but quoted for brevity sake cannot but acknowledge Now because it is probable many of the people call'd Quakers will say that these things which I have above related as matter of Fact are not truly related and will be ready to oppose to the credit of my relation That G. Whitehead who confesseth there was such a Meeting where he was present denyeth that he remembereth that any such things were affirmed by them that found fault with me for some things contained in my Book But First his not remembering is but a Negative evidence against my possitive evidence
desir'd them to begin with the Scriptures and prove the Contradiction of my Doctrine first to the holy Scriptures and then it was time to Consider these men's Books Samuel Jennings in a publick Meeting at Philadelphia on a first day said it was not necessary to prove me guilty of Heresie whereof they had accus'd me from the Scriptures but from Friends Books for said he the Question betwixt G. K. and them is not who is the best Christian but who is the best Quaker And though I still desir'd them to bring their Scripture proofs yet they for most part waved that and continued clamouring that my Doctrine contradicted Will. Pen. Geo. Whitehead and other Friends which I did not know all that time that it did for though the places they quoted out of their Books seemed much to favour my Adversaries yet I was not willing to think so but labour'd to retain my Charitable perswasion of them putting the most Charitable Constructions upon their Words as was possible so farr as I had read the passages in their Books that seemed to interfere with me At last I came to a firm Resolution in my mind to Come for England having first writ to George Whitehead and other Friends of the Ministry about our differences desiring to know their sense they seemed to blame me for the separation but in great part to approve of my Principles but the words in their Epistles were so dubious like the Heathen Oracles that as to the main difference of Principles betwixt my Adversaries and me in Pensilvania it was rather increas'd by their Epistles then allayd my Adversaries Construing them one way and I and my Friends another way After I arrived in England and came to London And had some private Conferrences with George Whitehead and William Penn about these very Principles of the sufficiency of the Light within to Salvation without any thing else by the something else that I did plead for declaring that I meant the man Christ Jesus and his most holy and perfect Obedience unto death for our Sins and his Intercession for us in Heaven I began easily to perceive that they greatly differed from me in those great things yet they did seek to hide themselves as much as they well could mainly and almost only blaming me for the Separation and making a breach in Pensilvania and the neighbouring Provinces among Friends But by degrees the difference in Principles betwixt them and me began plainly to appear before they Excommunicated me at their yearly Meeting in the Year 1695. For at a large Meeting of Friends of the Ministry where were many Country Friends about two days before the yearly meeting in 1694. William Penn accused me for seeking to bring in a new method of Preaching Christ and Faith in him differing from that of Friends and that new method was to preach the Man Christ without us and his Death and Sufferings in order to bring people to know the Divine Principle within them and the work of Regeneration And at the said Meeting G. W. blamed me for affirming that all the Light and Grace that any men had in any age of the World was the effect of Christ's Obedience unto death for us and argued against it thus Men had Light and Grace before Christ came in the Flesh to perform that obedience can the Effect be before the Cause this plainly enough let me see into G. Whitehead's Principles he had the same strength of Argument but that 's none at all against any mens having Remission of Sin by Christ's death before he came in the Flesh why can the effect be before the Cause I told him a Moral effect can be before its cause and oft times is and gave an Example how a man by a Contract or Covenant buyeth a House or Field and posesseth it before the Money is paid the Condition of the Covenant being that the Money is not to be paid until such a time so by Virtue of the Covenant of Grace which respected Christ to Come and the satisfaction he was to make to divine justice by his Death and Sufferings for mens sins past as well as to come all the faithful had remission of sin and inward Light and Grace as well before he came as since And some Months after this at a publick Meeting of the Quakers at Ratcliff by London William Penn did publickly oppose my testimony and charged me to be an Apostate and that I endevoured to pluck up the testimony of truth by the roots And at the same time He told the Auditory that Friends saw no great need to preach the Faith of Christ's Death and Sufferings for all England had that Faith and all Christendom had it but it did not profit them * Reader by this Argument it should not be Preached at all With many Abusive words all which he father'd upon a transport of the glorious power of God at the next yearly Meeting when I Complain'd upon his so abusing me Yet they have after all this sought to hide the differences in Doctrine betwixt them and me from publick notice so that in their sentence of Excommunication they blame not my Doctrine nor Morals in any particular thing but cast out some general charges against me for being turbulent c. and seperating my self from the Church of Christ But their unchristian dealings with me as well as Antichristian Principles have sufficiently proved them not to be a Church of Christ though still I have that charity to diverse among them that they belong to Christ and his Church but not as respecting that visible Society that has less the face of a Church than any Society of Protestants any where in the world A third Reason is that this publication of the foregoing Relation will be a true Evidence and Witness for me that as to the great fundamentals of the Christian Faith I am not changed from what I was Twenty years ago when own'd among them and for many years after acknowledg'd by them that I was in the Unity And that therefore it is manifest to be a Calumny and false Accusation rais'd by some Malicious Persons among the Quakers against me that I am Apostatised from my former Principles of Christianity and have embraced new notions or Priests and Professors Principles as they are pleased 〈…〉 that formerly I had relinquished and from a tentation that I had let prevail over me to seek and affect preheminence over my Brethren and not finding my desire and end answered in that I sought occasion to differ from them and purposely chang'd my Principles that I might have a ground of Strife and Contention with them all which the Righteous Judge of the whole Earth and the searcher of hearts knoweth to be false and injurious charges I have sufficiently in my late Printed Books proved that I am the same in all Principles of Truth that I was formerly and wherein I am changed in some lesser matters of Perswasion it is to
And Prophesy'd of the Mighty things which GOD had to do with them In order to which the QVAKERS gave them their Directions from THE LORD how to Manage But their SPIRIT of DISCERNING Fail'd them here as it us'd to serve them For within seven Days after the Date of this their Address to that Parliament they were Turn'd out by Lambert Which they little suspecting but thinking that they were to hold the Reins of Government for a longer time gave their Wise Instructions in the above Quoted Councel and Advice to Employ the QVAKERS in their Affairs And then all would do well without Doubt Tho' by the Advice they Gave the Quakers were of all Men the least Fit to be Employ'd They Hit Themselves Exactly in the Description they gave of other Men For they Advis'd not to Employ WILLFVL and HEADY Men not VN-CONSTANT and CHANGEABLE Men nor TRAYTORS that have Turn'd for self Advantage and will CHANGE with the TIMES to any way of Government c. But especially they Guarded against the Return of Hereditary Monarchy as before Quoted Yet as soon as that Return'd in the Restauration of the Royal Family which was within 7 Months after this was wrote then the Quakers were for the King and Monarchy And without any Blush Vpbraided and Accused the other Dissenters to the King as Changeable Men who Turn'd to Every Power and every Government as it Turn'd And therefore not fit to be Trusted See their Two Declarations in Sn. p. 224. and p. 227. And from this time they Began to Chop and Change Curtail and Alter their Former Books in the Re-printing of them And this not only in leaving out whole Chapters and some Intire Treatises as those before Instanc'd which were so Rank as could not possibly be Screw'd to mean any thing short of Bare-fac'd TREASON and REBELLION But they took care likewise of Words and Expressions that might give Offence for Example 3. In The Trumpet of Burrough's before Quoted p. 7. he Accuses the Officers and Souldiers for Exercising the like Tyranny as the King had done The same Oppression says he and Kingly Power of Cruelty stands in Dominion under another Appearance But in his Works Re-printed p. 99. the word Kingly is left out 4. In a Letter to Oliver with whom he Rejoyceth and Congratulats for the Many Victories Honourable and Remarkable which says he to OLIVER were given thee over them who had Exalted themselves above God And Ruled in Tyranny over his People whom the Lord pitied and thou an Instrument in his Hand was ordain'd by him to lead forth a People whom he Blessed with thee against a Cruel People and Generation of Oppressors who Exercised Tyranny over the Lord's Heritage till they were taken away and cast out and is a Reproach unto the Lord and his People unto this day and even so shall all be that follows their Example and are Oppressors and Tyrants over the seed of God as they were And this thou knowest c. This Letter is in p. 552. of Burrough's Works Re-printed But all within the Crotchets in Roman Letters is left out which I have Copy'd out of the First Edition of what he Intitules Good Councel and Advice Rejected Printed An. 1659. p. 4. And it bears this Direction For the hands of the Protector This Book consists of Letters from Burrough to Oliver and Richard Protectors And on the Title-Page he says Put to Publick View by one that wished well to them in their Day But this is likewise left out in the Re-print Ther are several other such like Passages of this Book left out in the Re-printing of it among the Rest of Burrough's Works As 5. In p. 17. Where Instigating Oliver against his Enemies Scatter'd through all these Nations who is full of Wrath and Ravening Envy towards thee Even of those known by the Name of MALIGNANTS party in whose hearts to this day ther is continual Hatred and evil surmising lodgeth against thee and all thy offspring And not slipping any Advantage how to Revenge themselves and the Cause of their King The above words within the Crotchet viz. Those known by the Name of MALIGNANTS Party are left out in p. 559. of Burrough's Works And the last words in this Quotation viz. The Cause of their King are Changed thus To Promote their Cause 6. In the same Page he says thus to Oliver of the King and the Malignants I know the Lord hath Cursed them and their Endeavours to this day and thou hast had Dominion and Power given thee of God to Bruise them and Break them to Pieces And what thou hast done unto their KING should not be Reckoned against thee by the Lord if now thou wert faithful to what he Requireth of thee for because of the Wickedness of that Generation which was Grown to the full did the Lord Raise thee up c. These words within the Crotchets are left out in his Works p. 560. Whereby neither King nor Malignants being Nam'd the Quakers may have a Latitude to Pretend when Challeng'd That they did not mean Them but some other Wicked People Especially they wou'd not Desire to have it known That they Pronounced Absolution from the Lord to Oliver for his Murther of the King 7. In p. 38. He writes To the Protector 's Kindred his Wife and Children and says God gave you the Palace of Princes And threw out the High and Mighty before you because of their Wickedness which was Great in the sight of the Lord Even for that Cause was the Generations of the STEWARTS cast out And if you walk in the same steps c. These words within the Crotchets are left out in p. 569. of Burrough's Works Tho' in the same above cited p. 38. he says Remember that you are now Warned from the Lord God by whom I am moved to Write this unto you in Dear and Tender Love to you all What Spirit then was it which moved the after Quakers thus to Diminish and Curtail these Words which Burrough said he was Moved of the Lord to Write 8. The following words in p. 64. are left out in p. 580. of his Works viz. And as concerning the Armies abroad let Faithful and Just Men that will not seek themselves be put in trust for the Army is of Great Consequence to thee to stand or Fall by them as to Mans account And the War against Spain be faithful to God in it and let Trusty Men have Authority The Lord may Accomplish something by it to his Honour and to Thine if thou be Meek and Humble and Walk with the Lord. And to say no more about it ther is something in it known to the Lord and he may bring it to pass in his Season The after Quakers left out this Prophetical Admonition for it was Given to Richard in the Beginning of his short Protectorship the 18. of the 8. Month. 1658. And they had Reason to be Asham'd of those Auspicious Hopes which their Light within
had made them Conceive of his very silly Reign Especially considering that according to their wont they gave forth the above Quoted words to Richard P. in the Name of The Lord for Immediately after those these words follow And thus Friend according as it lay upon me from the Lord I have Written this unto thee in Dear and Pure Love God is Witness And yet they have Hypocritically Nibb'd This out of the aforesaid Letter to Hide their Shame And God is Witness of that too 9. Ther are several other Instances of the like Practise in other Parts of this same Book as in p. 23. where the Quakers Boast to the Protector and his Council of their own Merits thus Who have in times past as faithfully as your selves serv'd their Nation with their Lives and Estates to the Purchasing of this Peace and Freedom out of the Hands of TYRANTS But in the Re-print p. 563. of E. B's Works instead of the word Tyrants they put the word Oppressors that it might not look so Directly upon the Kings Cha. I. and II. but be Turn'd to any other as they saw Cause Tho' it cou'd not properly be Apply'd to any other For the Government was in Their Hands and therefore cou'd not be Purchas'd out of Other Hands And therefore They the Kings were the Tyrants here meant at least Principally and Chiefly They having the Chief Part in the Government and it was against them that Oliver and the Quakers took Arms. 10. Again p. 35. they say to Oliver in the like strain as that before Quoted to his Son Richard And as concerning thy War and Armies abroad in Spain something ther is in it known to the Lord seek not thine own Honour in it but be faithful and leave the Issue of all things to the Lord Make no Covenant with Idolators but Tread down their Idol Gods that they have set up and Hew down their Mountains in which their Confidence stands and Plow up their Ground that the seed may be sowen after thee it 's Honour enough to be the Lord's Plow-Man All this is left out in the Re-print p. 568. of E. B's Works They had conceiv'd mighty Hopes of that Army in Spain Which they Hollood thus to Shed Blood without Mercy see Sn. p. 239. what is there Quoted out of this same Book Councel and Advice That they might Sow their Seed in the Ruin and Destruction of whole Nations This they then Greedily Gaped for and Expected They were sure Something ther was in it known to the Lord. But the Lord knew that ther was Nothing in it For Oliver Dy'd about a Month after they had Wrote this Letter to him which bears Date in the 6. Month. 1658. And was then Deliver'd to him at Hampton Court as is told at the end of this Letter p. 36. But their Confidence did not Dye with him One Disappointment is a small matter with a Quaker Prophet Two Months after they renew'd the same to his Hero Son Richard as before Quoted And then they were as sure To say no more about it That ther was something in it But he fail'd them too And now they have Dasht out Both these Prophesies for Spite or Shame Yet they are not Asham'd However will say no more about it 11. In this same Edw. Burrough his Message to the present Rulers of England An. 1659. p. 6. these words viz. He God overthrow the oppressing Power of Kings Lords and Bishops both in Church and Civil State And brought some Tyrants and Oppressors to Just Execution for their Wickedness are left out in the Re-print of E. B's Works p. 591. Yet this Message E. B. said he had from the Lord God whose Ambassador he stiles himself and says p. 1. In his Name and Authority I am come unto you And as such Affixes an Imprimatur to his Book in these words I order this to be Printed and given to their Particular Hands with Speed E. B. 12. In what he calls A Just and Lawful Tryal of the Teachers and Professed Ministers of England The Re-print instead of England put of this Age and so in several other places in this Book And p. 8. where they Reproach other Mens Preaching to be At the best but what the Saints of the Lord said before them And this is no more then stealing of the Prophets words They seeing how this must Expose them and make them Stealers too if they said any thing of what the Saints said before them in the Re-print they Add to these words thus And this is no more AS DONE BY THEM then Stealing c. i. e. It is Stealing in Others but not in the Quakers 13. Ibid. p. 9. E. B. says of the Ministers of England or of this Age as they now turn it Most of them are Lovers of Wine c. But his new Editors knowing the Wicked Falshood of this Charge and how it must Expose their Boundless Malice have taken away the word Most and put in the Re-print only SOME of them are Lovers of Wine c. So that if they can fix this but upon One or Two they may come off with the word SOME The like Trick is us'd in several other Places of this Book And thus they take upon them to Alter and Mend E. B's Message which he said he had from The Lord God! It is not worth while to make Reprisals upon the numerous Train of Wet-Quakers That is not the business now 14. But if they take from the full Extent of his Message in one Place they Add to it in another Speaking of those who Profess themselves to be Orthodox Divines he says p. 16. They seek to Allure all People to follow them in their way of Wickedness But the new Editors of his Works thinking this not to be Angry enough instead of their way of Wickedness put it their Idol Worship 15. Ibid. p. 22. Says E. B. I have accounted and I find the Sum of their the Ministers Maintenance yearly in this Nation being Reckoned in a whole Sum is about or above Fifteen hundred Thousand pounds a Year This was wrote in the year 1657. And the Quakers being sensible how Grossly their Prophet had over-shot himself to make the Mistake more Easie in the Re-print they leave out the words I have Accounted and I find which being so Possitive an Assertion wou'd Render this Horrible Prophet a most Impudent Blasphemer to Father what he knew to be a Lye upon the Inspiration of the Holy Ghost And to Deliver it as a Message from the Lord God! But E. B. goes on to Prove it ibid. If any doubt of this Account says he and shall think this not to be like to be true upon an even Reckoning it may be Proved and made Appear considering how many Parishes ther is in England and Reckon what belongs to every Priest's Parish But this very Reckoning will Prove him to be a Blasphemous Lyar for what was Allotted to every Parish Priest as he calls
Journal of G. Fox I will add one more here In a Book of his and other Quakers call'd The West answering to the North. Printed An. 1657. p. 16. ther is a Long Letter to Chief Justice Glynn which begins thus Friend we are Free-Men of England Free-born our Rights and Liberties in and with our Countries with the Laws the Defence of them have we in the Late Wars Vindicated in the Field with our Blood Which in the Journal is Alter'd thus Friend We are Free-Men of England Free-born Our Rights and Liberties are according to Law and ought to be Defended by it Leaving out that Ugly Passage The Defence of them have we in the Late Wars Vindicated in the Field with our Blood For this they have now a Mind shou'd be Forgotten Both as to their Pretended Principle against Fighting And also their Siding with the then Vsurpations against the King Whereas they say in p. 14. of their Declaration just now Mentioned We have been Silent and not Medling with this Party or the other but by way of Reproof of evil in All and Informing all to the Good And it cannot be Charged upon us that we have sided with One or other But in the 9th Instance before Mentioned they made their Braggs That they had served with their Lives and Estates as Faithfully as the Protector Oliver himself and his Council to the Purchasing that Peace and Freedom An. 1657. out of the Hands of TYRANTS i. e. of K. Char. I. and II. Of their Siding and Medling to Purpose against the King with all the Vsurpations in their time see sufficient Testimonies in Sn. § xviii And which in their new Switch they do not Deny nor Justify themselves any otherwise than by Endeavouring to cast as Black Aspersions upon the King himself Char. II. And of their Silence you may Judge by that Paper which they have stifl'd of Ed. Burrough's which I have Printed in the 1st of the 15 Instances besides many others that can be Produc'd wherein they Damn the King and Caviliers to the Pit of Hell See Sn. p. 216. and p. 228. of their Giving Intelligence against Sir George Booth and other Royalists who Rose for the King And Commanding in the Name of the Lord to put such of them to Death as they had taken Prisoners And to stand out to the Uttermost against the King and think of No Reconciliation with him 2. In the year 1659. One of the Quakers Great Apostles Richard Hubberthorn wrote an Answer to A Declaration of the Ana-Baptists in London wherein they Owned it as their Principle That they were Willing to Live peaceably Vnder whatever Government is or shall be Established in the Nation This the Quakers then did violently Oppose as a Poor Time-serving and Pernicious Principle tho' of Late they Pretend That it is their own Principle and that they do Now Govern themselves by it And Promise so to do But then they fell upon the Ana-Baptists and said This is far below that Spirit which was once in some of you in that Profession for you told of having the Laws regulated according to the Scriptures And of having Judges as at the first and Councellors as at the beginning And then not to submit to what Government soever but that which is according to Equity and Justice And what do you bear Arms and Fight for if not for a Government according to Truth and that Righteousness may Establish the Nation Some have Judged this to be the very Design and End of the War and Controversy against many that were called Governors and Magistrates and were by some called the Ordinance of God and the Higher Power And if now you Resolve to live Peaceably and submit to whatever Government shall be Established then your Fighting is at an End And if Charles Stuart shall come in and Establish Popery and Govern by Tyranny you have begged Pardon by Promising to live Peaceably under it as the Ordinance of God c. But this smelling so Rank in the Re-Printing of Hubberthorn's Works An. 1663. they leave out the words Charles Stuart And instead of that they put it thus And if any Shall Come in and Establish Popery c. That Principle for the Breach of which they Charge the Ana-Baptists was not Peculiar to the Ana-Baptists nor any thing wherein they Differ'd from the Quakers for it is mostly in the Quakers own words But it was the Joint Principle of all these several sorts of Rebels and is and ever will be the Pretence of all Rebels to Reforme and Change for the Better And to this that Principle of Submitting to whatever Government is Established is most Adverse And for which the Quakers did at that time Upbraid this Pretence of the Ana-Baptists As sincere perhaps in the Ana-Baptists then as it is in the Quakers now For the Quakers Principle of Obedience to the Higher Powers And what they mean by the Higher Power I Refer backward to 2. P. p. 172 173. c. 3. Humphrey Smith a Notable Quaker Printed a Book An. 1658. Intitul'd The True and Everlasting Rule from God Published from the Spirit of Truth Where p. 48. he says Where are Queen Mary 's Judges and Bloody Persecutors Where are King Charles 's Nobles and his Vn-Merciful Tyrants who sought to Drive down all by their Devilish Power who were as High in Tyranny as any of you Where are your Cardinals Jesuits and Monks Where are your Bishops Arch-Bishops Deans and Deacons your Abbots Nunnerys and Bishopricks Altars Crosses Surplices and Common-Prayer-Books your Rails about your Tables Organs Quiresters and Singing-Boys Even as your Eyes have seen the Overturning of all these so shall the Off-Spring and Residue follow after and the Priests Howle c. But in the Re-Printing of this Man's Works after the Restoration All that concerning King Charles his Nobles Tyranny c. And all concering the Church of England then Established of Bishops Deans Common-Prayer Surplices Organs c. are left quite out Tho' said to be Publish'd from the Spirit of Truth But the Spirit of Convenience and Worldly Politicks has Prevail'd I have given but one Instance a piece in the Re-Printed Works of Fox Hubberthorn and Smith because I wou'd keep within Limits this having swell'd so much already And if I shou'd go thro' all it wou'd take up more Paper than all that I have Written But we wou'd Desire them more Particularly to Produce two Tracts they have taken care to stifle one is a Piece of Parnell's call'd Satan's Designs mention'd 2 P. p. 106. The other of Lawson's mention'd ibid. p. 108. And now the Reason appears Plain Why the Quakers are so Diligent in keeping up the First Editions of their Friends Books That none might be seen but as they have New-Drest and Vaumpt them Their Book-sellers have Refus'd to Sell them or so much as Shew them to several that I have Employ'd Particularly W. Penn's Sandy Foundation And where one I sent had found Six of