A DEFENCE OF A BOOK INTITULED The Snake in the Grass IN REPLY To Several ANSWERS put out to it by George Whithead Ioseph Wyeth c. London Printed by M. Bonnet for C. Brome at the Gun W. Keblewhite at the Swan in St. Paul's Church-Yard And Geo. Strahan at the Golden-Ball over against the Royal-Exchange in Cornhil 1700. CONTENTS OF THE First Part. The Preface Vindicated in an Advertisement SECT I. GEorge Whitehead's Pleasantry upon the Author of The Snake Page 1. II. His Meek and Lamb-like Treatment of him Page 2. III. His Cry of Persecution against him Page 3. IV. His Address to his Work Page 8. V. His Shuffle about their Answer to the Seven Quaeres given to their Yearly-Meeting An. 1695. Wherein a short Scheme of the QVAKERS Principles and the MONSTROVS Foundation of their Faith Page 9. VI. His Sober Caution consider'd as to those Quakers who were Possest with the Devil Wherein the Wonderful Story of John Gilpin Page 25. The Excuses which G. W. makes for this 1. That this ought not to Reflect upon the Generality of the Quakers or their Principles ibid. 2. That Satan in a Mad or Possest-Man is not Transform'd into an Angel of Light ibid. 3. That such Persons are fitter Objects of Pity than Raillery Wherein of the Quaker-Euthusiasm Page 26. 4. That not more Quakers than others have run Mad. Wherein their Excuse for Gilpin c. is Considered Page 30. Proofs of the Quakers being Mad. 1. In those who went Naked Page 42. 2. In their strange Singularities Page 48. 3. In thinking Themselves to be Free from Sin and Equal to God Page 50. 4. In Assuming to be Prophets ibid. 5. In their Prater-Natural Quaking c. Page 54. 6. In their Silent-Meetings Page 68. 7. In the New-Quakers of America Page 69. 8. In their Vindicating of Mad-Men Page 70. The Abuses and Mistakes which G. W. Alleges in The Snake As to I. The Necessity of Preaching Page 72. II. The Comparison of Fox and Muggleton With G. W's Malicious Innuendo as to the Act of Toleration Page 73. III. Their Order against Carrying Guns in their Ships Page 74. IV. Their Principles Dangerous to Government Page 75. V. Their Opposition of Tythes Page 77. VI. Their Treasons and Rebellion in Abetting Oliver and the Rump Page 83. VII George Fox his Assuming to be Equal with God Page 87. VIII Their Asserting the Sufficiency of their Light within to Salvation without Christ And Assuming the Name of Christ to Themselves Page 90. IX Their turning the Death and Sufferings of Christ into an Allegorie and a Type Page 105. X. 1. Their Spiritual Body of Christ which they suppose He had from Eternity And their Denial of His Now Human Body in Heaven Page 116. 2. Their Denyal that Christ had any Human or Created either Soul or Body while He was upon Earth Page 120. 3. Their BLASPHEMOVS Contempt of Christ Page 131. XI Their Contempt of the H. Scriptures Page 144. XII Their Conforming and Transforming to every Turn Page 146. XIII Their making no Confession of Sin or Praying for Pardon Page 149. XIV Three Matters of Fact relating to the QVAKERS Contempt of the H. Scriptures Which G. W. Denies after his Fashion Page 160. XV. G. W's Defence of Ed. Burrough for his Contempt of H. Scripture Page 166. XVI G. W's Defence of himself for the same Wherein is shewn That the Quakers are Direct Deists and the Worst sort of them Page 169. XVII 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-Doctrine is laid open viz. That they Deny the Humanity of Christ and the Divinity of Jesus Page 179. CONTENTS OF THE Second Part. SECT I. COncerning the Author Page 1. II. The QVAKERS Method in Answering of Books 1. Railing Personal Reflections and Nastiness Page 4. 2. Insolence and Threatnings against any who Oppose them Page 32. 3. Bringing of Contrary-Testimonies Page 51. 4. Double Meanings and Cross Purposes Page 78. 5. Not to take an Answer Page 82. 6. Pretending that the Quotations brought out of their Books are not True because more than is Pertinent is not Quoted Page 85. 7. Appealing from their own Printed Books to the Original Copies Page 94. 8. Falsifying the Meaning of Others For which by Will. Penn 's Rule they are Excluded from being Christians Page 100. III. The Quakers Clear'd from Contradiction in those Seeming Contrary Testimonies which are Produc'd in this Appendix to Defend them from the Heresies Charg'd upon them 1. As to Christ come in the Flesh Page 112. 2. As to the Reality of His Death and Sufferings Page 123. 3. As to the Resurrection and Future Judgment Page 124. 4. Their Testimonies Allow'd to be Contrary upon the Point of Government and Fighting And why Wherein a Deep Secret of their Government is laid open Page 127. IV. Their Wity Answer and Repartees upon the Point of their Denying Marriage and Preaching up of Fornication Page 134. V. Their Re-Asserting of their own Infallibility and Sinless Perfection Wherein of their Idolatry Page 148. VI. Their Defence of not taking off their Hats or giving Civil Titles consider'd Page 162. And of the Pure Language as they call it of Thee and Thou Page 185. Both of which are shewn not to be mere Clownishness or want of Manners But that it Proceeds from a Design they have Form'd to Subvert all Government that is not in their Own Hands For that they think none but Themselves have any Right to Govern VII The Absurdity and Blasphemy of the Quaker Notion of The Light within shewn from Will. Penn 's Defence of it and others viz. 1. That ther is no Natural Light or Reason in Man But that all in him is Divine Page 194. 2. That by this they are not only Equal to God in some sense but that they are very God Himself And that every Creature is God Even the Devil Page 206. 3. Some Texts of H. Scripture Rescu'd from the False Glosses which the Quakers put upon them to favour the Universality of what they call The Light within Page 224. THE COLLECTION Numb I. THE Quaeres given to the Yearly-Meetings of the Quakers at London the 17th of May. 1695. With an Answer given to the same Quaeres by the General Meeting of the Reformed Quakers at Philadelphia in Pensilvania the 18th of Sept. 1695. Page 1. II. George Keith 's Relation of Two Remarkable Meetings of the Quaker Preachers at London An. 1678. Concerning Three Great Fundamental Doctrins of the Christian Faith Page 16. III. Some Passages taken out of a Ms of Humphry Norton 's which is Mention'd in The Second Part. p. 99. 100. Page 39. IV. Some of the Omissions and Alterations that the Quakers have made in the Re-Printing of the Works of their Deceased Prophets Page 52. V. A Letter of John Feild and Will Bingley to Sir Thom. Lane Lord Mayor of London An. 1695. Page 78. VI. A
Christ and the Garment which He wore between Him that Came and the Body in which He came between the Substance which was Vailed and the Vaile which Vailed it Lo I come a Body hast thou Prepared Me. There is Plainly He and the Body in which He came Ther was the outward Vessel and the Inward Life This we certainly know and can never call the Bodily Garment Christ but that which Appeared and Dwelt in the Body So that by this Jesus was not the Christ only the Prepared Body Garment or Vaile in which Christ Dwelt The same Argument is Prosecuted by Will. Penn in his Part of the Serious Apology p. 146. and in the like words with Is Penington to shew the Unanimous Consent of the Quakers in this the Heart of their Christianity These are his words He that laid down his Life and suffer'd his Body to be Crucify'd by the Jews without the Gates of Jerusalem is Christ the only Son of the most High God But that the outward Person which suffer'd was Properly the Son of God we utterly Deny A Body hast thou Prepared me said the Son then the Son was not the Body tho' the Body was the Son's i. e. The Body was the Son's as a man's Garment or Vaile is his who owns and wears it as the Body of Will. Penn is the Son's who he supposes Dwells in it But the Son was not the Body that is Jesus in whose Body Christ Dwelt was not the Son not Properly the Son of God but in a Large sense as other men are call'd the Sons of God And Christ Suffer'd His Garment or Vaile the Body of Jesus to be Crucifi'd But that the outward Person which suffer'd was Properly the Son of God the Quakers do Vtterly Deny And as that Person which Suffer'd was not Properly the Son of God it follows as certainly that the Son of God was not Properly that Person or was not Properly a Man This was the Meaning of Will. Penn in his Sandy Foundation p. 20. calling Christ a Finit Impotent Creature He did not mean the Eternal word Or that this Word was Properly a Man in our Nature for then tho' the Manhood was a Creature and Finit yet the Man or Person was not so As a Man's Body is Corruptible yet the Person Consisting of Body and Soul is not so Tho' the Properties of Each Nature whereof a Person do's Consist may be Attributed to the Person as a Man is said to Dye to Eat Drink Sleep c. tho' these are Proper only to the Body And likewise he is said to Think to Reason to be Immortal tho' these are Proper only to his Soul Thus God is said to Dye to shed His Blood c. tho' this be Proper only to the Manhood which the Word assum'd into His own Person And Man is said to be God Infinit Almighty c. tho' this be Proper only to the Divine Nature of Christ who is likewise Truly and Properly a Man And none who had a True Notion of this cou'd ever have brought himself to call Christ a Finit Impotent Creature Such a Blasphemous Contempt of our B. Lord and God cou'd never have Dropt from the Pen of a Christian But upon Will Penn's Scheme that the Word was not Properly a Man it must follow that the Person who Suffer'd was not Properly the Son of God And Consequently that the Person who Suffer'd which is the Christians Christ was but a Finit Impotent Creature and not Truly and Properly the Christ J. Pennington asserts that the Name of Christ did not belong to the Person of Jesus which he calls only the Vessel or Vaile as in his Quest to Professors p. 25. but only to the Light or Christ which Dwelt in Jesus as in the Quakers So that the Name Christ says he is not given to the Vessel but to the Nature to the Heavenly Treasure to that which is of him In the Vessel And he Contends That it was not the Flesh and Blood of the Vaile which was the Sacrifice that Cleanses i. e. not the Flesh and Blood of Jesus but The Flesh and Blood within the Vaile i. e. the Spiritual Flesh and Blood of their Light within Not the Flesh and Blood says he of the outward Earthly Nature but the Flesh and Blood of the Inward Spiritual Nature Not the Flesh and Blood which Christ took of the first Adam's Nature but the Flesh and Blood of the Second Adam's Nature And What is the Laver of Regeneration says he p. 24. wherewith the Soul is washed Is it the water which ran out of the side of the Natural Body when it was Pierced with a Spear or the Water which floweth from the Spirit And Can outward Blood Cleanse the Conscience c. Now G. W. is not against telling the History of the Life and Death of Jesus that is as he puts the Caveat Truly Consider'd i. e. so as not to lay the stress of our Salvation upon Faith in those outward Sufferings or to make that Necessary to us That Prerogative they Reserve only for the Sufferings Blood-shedding c. of Their Christ the Light within That only is sufficient without any thing else And when you come to this say they in a Book Intituled The Doctrin of Perfection vindicated Printed 1663. p. 19. you will cease Remembring His Death at Jerusalem and will come to see how He hath been Crucify'd In you c. His outward Death is to be Forgotten for the stress do's not Ly upon that And as Mr. Penn says in his Quakerism a new nick-name c. p. 12. Since they believe that appearance of Christ in the Flesh at Jerusalem they need not Preach what is not to be again See Satan Dis-Rob'd p. 11. Ther is an End of any more Preaching or Faith in that Nay it do's Hurt as taking men off from Trusting wholey and soley in the Light within as sufficient without it Which is the very Heart and Soul of the Quaker-Faith And therefore they think the Heathen in a Better Condition than those Christians who lay so much stress upon the outward Christ His Death and Sufferings for that the Heathen have not that Encombrance to Divert them from Trusting wholly to their Light within and to nothing else And they think the Faith in the outward Christ so very Destructive that G. Fox Denounces them to be Reprobates and Possest with the Devil who Expect to be sav'd by Faith in the outward Jesus and as wholly Ignorant of the Inward Presence of Christ in the Heart For thus he Replies upon Christopher Wade who had in a Book he wrote call'd Quakery Slain asserted the Necessity of Faith in the outward Christ but withall he is Full and Large upon as Great Necessity of the Inward Presence and Operation of the Spirit of Christ in our Hearts In his Inspections Influences and Operations and by His Spirit Dwelling even in the Hearts and Societies of His People as he words it
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
Constant Theam to Rail at Fine Houses and Costly Furniture particularly against Coaches which they Despis'd as the Fox did the Grapes that were out of his Reach They made these the Infallible Marks of Pride and of The worlds People No man Denies but that Pride is a Sin And that Men may be Proud of these things But the Quakers made the Having of these things or Vsing of them to be Pride They Puplish'd a Book with this Magnificent Title The Trumpet of the Lord Blown c. An. 1655. which Begins thus Wo unto you that are called Lords Ladies Knights Gentlemen and Gentlewomen in respect to your Persons who are called of men Master and Sir and Mistriss and Madam And you must have your Wine and Ale and all your Dainty Dishes And you have your Fine Attire Silk Velvet and Purple Gold and Silver and you have your waiting-Men and waiting-Maids under you to waite upon you and your Coaches to Ride in and your High and Lofty Horses And here you are Lords over your fellow Creatures and they must Bow and Crouch to you And you will be called Masters upholding that which Christ in his Doctrin forbids who saith Be not ye called Masters The Lord abhors all your Profession Your Works are the Works of the Devil in your Dainty Dishes in your Lofty Horses in your Curious Buildings in your Earthly Honour which is all the fruits of the Devil You are too High and Fine and too Lofty to Enter in at the straight Gate c. Yet now None are more High and Fine grown than the Quakers None have more Dainty Dishes and Curious Buildings None wear Finer Silk and Velvet They have their Wine and Ale too Their Lofty Horses yea vâ—rily and their Coaches to boot They have their Waiting-Men and Waiting-Maids And are Master'd and Mistress'd by them without fear of that Command Be not ye call'd Masters For the Case is Alter'd quoth Plouden They had then poor Souls None of these Tentations G. Fox was known by the Name of The man with the Leathern Briches which he tells full oft in his Journal And his first Followers had few of them a Tatter to their Taile Tho' they came after to upbraid others by the Name of Thread-bare Tatterdemallions See Sn. p. 200. They were their own waiting-Men and waiting-Maids And Rode upon their own Hobby-Horses None of them had been in the In-side of a Coach That was an Exaltation far above their Thoughts As were Fine Houses and Furniture to those who Pigg'd in Barns or Stables and under Hedges Therefore they Rail'd at all these Fine things because they had None of them or ever Hop'd to have Silly Dirty Draggle-Tayls And Nasty Slovens But now grown Fine and Rampant Yet still Pretend to keep to their Ancient Testimonies To be the same Poor in Spirit and Self-Deny'd Lambs they were at the Beginning Tho' they Now stive to out-do their Neighbours both in Fine Houses and Furniture They have got Coaches too Ay marry But you must not call them Coaches for that Name they had vilify'd and given it for a Mark of the Beast But as one of them said when his Coach was objected to him as Contrary to their Ancient Testimonies he Reply'd That it was not a Coach only a Leathern-Convenience Like the Traveller who told that they had no Knives in France And being ask'd How they cut their Meat Said with a certain thing they call a Couteau I cou'd Enlarge upon Quotations out of the Ancient Testimonies of the Quaker Authors against Fine Houses Coaches c. But I am afraid of tyring the Patience of the Reader Therefore shall Content my self with one more for it is a Pleasant one 2. Ther was nothing they Inveg'd against more severely than the use of Periwigs G. Fox had a Mind to be a Nazarite like Samson and wore Long streight Hair like Rats-Tayls just as Muggleton did But Will. Penn coming in among the Nasty Herd cou'd not so easily forget his Genteel Education He first Began with Borders at last came to plain Wiggs And after his Example it is now become a General Fashion among the Quakers to wear Wiggs G. Whitehead himself is come into it Therefore I must Mind them of their Ancient Testimonies against it Of which I have Annex'd one in the Collection N. 7. Because it is short and very Extraordinary for the Learning Wit and Quaker vein of Poetry It will be an Entertainment for the Reader But I wou'd not Force it upon him therefore I have put it where he may Read it or Let it alone There the Quakers make the wearing of a Wig to be downright Sin and Confusion And bring several Texts of Scripture to Prove it They Compare those that wear them to Hermophradites and for Rime to Catamites Nay they make them Calvinists to shew their Wit and that you might not lose the Jest they put Calvus Bald upon the Margin So all that Shave their Heads are Calvinists This too was from the Mouth of The Lord They Abuse the Clergy for wearing Wiggs ay and of a Light Colour too That was Abomination Especially if the Hair was Crisped or Curled That they make a severe Aggravation They shou'd have put in Clean too For G. Fox his Heart-breakers were Long Slank and Greasie It has been observ'd of Great Enthusiasts that their Hair is Generally Slank without any Curl Which proceeds from a Moisture of Brain Inclines to Folly It was thus with Fox and Muggleton But the Quakers Wiggs now hinder us from the Observation And Will. Penn G. Whitehead c. wear not only Fair but Curl'd Wiggs For none other are Made They shou'd set up some Quaker Wigg-makers to make them Wiggs of Downright Plain Hair without the Prophane Curl of the Worlds People It wou'd best fit the Quakers Plainess and Down-rightness or Right-downess I Recommend to W. Penn G. Whitehead and the Rest of the Wigged Quaker Preachers these sweet Lines of their Poet Laureat out of his foresaid Declaration against Wiggs What wonder Women wear Gay Gold and Pearls When Men Religious wear Gold Locks of Girls Should Christian Guides affect a Whorish Guise c. Then they put the Question whether Wiggs ought to be Permitted in Case of Health when it may be Necessary to cut off ones Hair And it is Rul'd in the Negative That they must rather go Bald. This pretence for Pride say they is no better than what is for Drunkeness and Whoredom And they Propose the Example of Elisha who as they have found it out wore no Wigg when the Children call'd him Bald-Head And they do not beleve that Peter or Paul wore Wiggs For if they had then say they very Smartly The Women Christians might have Retorted upon them thus Was that the Cause Peter and Paul that you bad Vs leave off our Locks that you and such like might get them your Selves to make Periwiggs of Now may not the Innocent Lasses and Daughters of Sion
the Quakers Sinless Perfection For they make Every Sin to be a Denying of the Lord that bought them And consequently to be not only Heresie but Apostacy and Renouncing of Christianity Whereby they have by their own Confession Vn-Christian'd All of Themselves in whom we can find the least Sin or Flaw And that has been done to Purpose in many other Instances besides this of the Hat But besides the Heresie and Great Mischief of this It is Gross Hypocrisie in you Quakers for at the same time that you will not shew that Respect to other men as to take off your Hats because Forsooth you wou'd not be the Servants of Men we Believe you you Exact that same Respect from your own Servants and make them take off their Hats to You. Nay not only your Menial Servants but your Apprentices as seen every Day in London Now do you think these to be more Servants to you and to owe you more Duty than you owe to the King or any Human Governor Yes You do think so and as Judas of Galilee and his Galileans that you ought not to be Subject to any King or Government but your own Jesus in whose Right you think that you have the Heirship of the whole Earth and Just Power to Fight for it too as you have set forth in your Printed Declaration which you have been so often told of but will Give no Answer to it This is the Secret of your Stiffness in not taking off your Hats to any Governors who are Children of the World as you call all but your selves that is the Children of Darkness as Appen do's Explain it and yet Requiring the same Respect to be Paid to your Selves by your own Servants I say not That all the Simpletons among you Understand this Ther are many that Follow your Leaders as some did Absalom in the Simplicity of their Hearts not knowing any thing It is not fit that the Great Secret of your Empire which you Hope for one Day shou'd be Expos'd to Every Body But may be you do not think that the taking off a Hat is any Token of Honour only a Foolish Fancy some People have got and you wou'd not Comply with the Folly of the World But you wou'd not Deny any True Respect to Governors No this will not do You Refuse it because it is a Token of Respect and for no other Reason As Francis Howgil a Quaker Pillar said to Mr. Burton a Magistrate before whom he was brought who told him he did not value his taking off his Hat to him but ther was a Respect due to Magistracy Howgil Reply'd That God had not Commanded him to take off his Hat and that he did not owe him that Respect nor wou'd he give it him Whereupon one that stood by took off his Hat and laid it upon the Table by him But Howgil took it up again and put it on Another took it off again and laid it on the Fire but within his Reach Yet Howgil wou'd not stoop to take it off the Fire for if it had been Burn'd ther had been Persecution and this Hat wou'd have been put into the Register of the Sufferings of Friends with the Childrens Clouts and Hundreds of Pins c. which are there carefully Inserted But Howgil had not that Pleasure for some body took his Hat off the Fire before any Harm came to it and gave it him which on he clapt again and wou'd not be Controul'd This and other Passages you will find in the Irreligion of the Northern Quakers Printed 1653. p. 67.68 But Instances of this kind are so Frequent that we need not make Quotations But to shew further how much they think the taking off of the Hat to be a Token of Respect ther was a Civil-War among them and several Books wrote upon it of taking off the Hat at Prayer Upon occasion of which Will. Penn wrote his Judas and the Jews against another Quaker Book call'd The Spirit of the Hat They may say that this is an Honour Pay'd to God True But still it shews what they think of taking off the Hat that it is a Token of Respect And this is the Reason why they will not Give it to any of the Worlds Magistrates But says Appen we Expected some Ancient Father to Condemn us pursuant to the Title of Prim. Heres And ther are none Nam'd in p. 17. But you were told p. 14. of the Repeated Exbortations in the Epistles especially of St. Paul of Obedience and Respect to Magistrates And that the Occasion of this was the Principle of the Gaulonits followers of Judas who like You threw off the Obedience and Respect due to their Magistrates who were not of their Religion And what needed this be Repeated over again in the next Leaf while he was treating upon the same Subject That is the manner of the Quaker Writers who Like so well what they do Themselves that they are never weary of Licking their Bears but never into Good shape But how did the Title of Prim. Heres Oblige the Author to bring any more of the Primitive Fathers in this Point besides the Apostles were not they Fathers of the Church and Primitive too And what the Title Engages is to shew that these Quaker-Heresics were Broach'd Condemn'd in the Days of the Apostles the first 150 years after Christ These are the words of the Title And is not this Answer'd by shewing the Authority of the Apostles in the Case But we see what it is to have to do with Angry Men who are Resolv'd not to be Satisfy'd and to find Exceptions whether they can or not It were Easie to Multiply Quotations out of the Fathers upon this Head But that wou'd be only to Over-Prove and Tire the Reader Especially considering what an Ample Testimony Appen has Produc'd p. 44. out of one of the Quaker-Worthys Will. Gibson in these words And those Rulers Governors or Magistrates who are a Terror to Evil Doers and a Praise to them that do well are worthy of Honour yea of Double Honour and all such are duly Honour'd by us with the Honour which belongs to them and we Really and with Pleasure Honour and Obey all such not only for fear of wrath but for Good Conscience-sake as the Apostles and Frimitive Fathers did Here are the Primitive Fathers Quoted and own'd by the Friends in this Case But Falsly and to very Ill Purpose For the Import of this Testimony of Gibson's is to Limit our Duty and Honour only to Good Governors But so did not the Apostles and Primitive Fathers for they both Pay'd and Preach'd Obedience and Honour to Wicked and Persecuting Governors Now we know whom the Quakers think Good Governors They shew it themselves they have Given us here a Test Those to whom they will take off their Hats and Pay them but that Single instead of their Double Honour these are they whom they Reckon Good Governors And all those to whom they
they will not add the word My to it or Say My Lord that is None but a Quaker must be Lord or Master to a Quaker They must not be Servants to Men that is to the Men of the World They who Expect as the Jews to be Lords of the whole World And the Quakers do Apply to Themselves all those Promises made to the Jews which they Understand of a Temporal Monarchy They make the Jews a Type of the Quakers Sam. Fisher in his Several Messages which he said he had By Commission from God p. 30. carries on the Parallel twixt the Jews and the Quakers and Endeavours to shew how the Promises to the Jews were Fulfill'd in the Quakers and speaking in the Person of God Says My People that were a Type of Them i.e. of the Quakers That is the Jews who where once God's People were in that a Type of the Quakers who think Themselves now to be the Only People of God and Heirs to all those Promises that were made to the Jews In the Testimonies to Francis Howgil affix'd before his works as is the Custom of the Quakers Thomas Langham and Thom. Carelton give theirs in Verse the Quakers are Special Good at Poetry and there Apply the Prophesies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel to Themselves thus say they of Fr. Howgil He was no Academian as he said But in our Northern Region he was Bred. Whereby this Observation may accrew That Jeremiah Prophesied true Because he said out of the North shou'd come A Nation that shall Ruin Babylon And this my Friend of whom I speak was one Among many Worthies more that shot at Babylon Which out of the North arose c. G. Fox and the Original Quakers came out of the North of England Omne Malum ab Aquilone thence they were very fond of the North and apply'd to Themselves all the Prophesies where the North was Nam'd or not Nam'd for they made the Branch and the Star of Righteousness arise out of the North of England that is G. Fox whom they made the Christ For Jesus of Nazareth did not come out of the North of England But Fox their Messiah did I say this because some of them wou'd now pretend as if this had not been spoke of Fox but of Christ G. Fox wrote a Book An. 1656. for the Conversion of the Jews to Quakerism to which he gave this Title A Visitation to the Jews from Them whom the Lord hath visited from on High Among whom He hath Perform'd His Promise made with Abraham Isaac and Jacob and to his Seed which Moses Saw and the Prophets gave Testimony of to which Seed the Apostles Witnessed Which Seed We are Here is a Full Recognition to Themselves and Their Vniversal Heirship If They are that Seed to which Abraham Moses the Prophets and Apostles did Witness they are no other than Christ For He was that Seed Gal. iii. 16. However in the Lowest Sense can be put upon it they think Themselves the Heirs of all the Promises made to the Jews Among which that of Vniversal Monarchy was certainly one And Fulfill'd in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth But the Quakers turn it to their Christ the Light within In whose Right they think That they have a Full and In-defeasable Title to it And then indeed All the King 's of the World ought to come with Cap in Hand to the Quakers And State belongs to Them of which they have already taken Possession in Refusing to Pay Homage to any Powers upon the Earth so much as to move a Hat to the Best of them or Treat them with Less Familiarity or other Ceremony than Plain Thee and Thou Of which we come next to speak and of the like Fig-Leaf Excuses they give for this as for that of the Hat Thereby to keep their Designs Undiscover'd Concerning the Pure Language of Thee and Thou Appen brings in by Head and Shoulders the business of their Singularity in Theeing and Thouing for ther was nothing spoken of it in Prim. Heres But this is a Great Point with the Quakers and cost them both Money and Pains in setting out a Large Folio upon this Subject call'd The Battle-dore under the Name of G. Fox which go's thro several Languages of which G. F. knew not one Letter tho he Impudently puts his Name not only to the Book but to the several Pages where the Hebrew Greek c. is Set down only to shew the use of the Singular Number to a Single Person which no body ever yet did Deny Yet the Quakers gave Large money one Jew had 60 pounds for this Learned Collection not worth one Half-Penny And that All might not be Lost Appen will have it Canvass'd here And Demands with Insulting p. 49. That any Apostle or Primitive Father shou'd be given to Condemn the use of the singular Number to a single Person I never heard of any that did Condemn it or to Authorize the use of the Plural in the same Case It was not a Case worth any of their Notice to Enter into little poor Grammar niceties Every Nation is Master of their own Language And England now has by Custom made the word You both of a Singular and Plural Signification And what has any man to say to this If you speak of the Propriety or Impropriety of this as to Criticising at which the Quakers are Able hands let them shew their Learning and Compare all the Languages in the World I wish they were no worse Employ'd But to make a Case of Conscience of this and set up this as their Discriminating Mark upon a Religious Account Exceeds Bedlam What Scripture what Authority have they for this Except G. Fox's Blasphemous Journal where he says p. 24. When the Lord sent me forth into the World He forbade me to put off my Hat to any and I was Required to Thee and Thou all Men and Women It was the same Lord that sent forth Judas upon the same Errand of Levelling to Destroy all Distinctions of Men and so bring the World into Confusion And lest our Outward Carriage shou'd not be sufficient here is Rudeness to Superiors brought into the Tongue as well as Hands Feet or Head That we shou'd call them by no Better Names than they call us And so verify the Old Proverb Familiarity breeds Contempt But if G. Fox had this by Special Command from God what needed he go to Grammar for it Or did God give Extraordinary Revelations to the world for no other End but to save Priscian's Head from being Broke in English Blasphemous Wretch These are like the Silly Senseless Excuses they have about the Hat But the Bottom of it is nothing but Pride and Contempt of Superiors because they think none Superior to Themselves If they Suppose that Genders and Cases Singular and Plural are such matters of Conscience why not the Eight Parts of Speech Syntaxis Prosody and Orthography too Colons Semi-Colons c. Right Spelling and
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
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