small Summ which he receiv'd after the Fight at Preston That Josiah Coal was also a Soldier in service of the Common-Wealth and at Worcester Fight This was one of the Prime worthies of the Quakers a Preacher of Renown See his Blasphemous Letter to G. Fox in the Sn. p. 114. 115. Here the Treasons and Rebellion and Fighting of these Quaker-Leaders were Glory'd in instead of being Condemn'd by the rest of them in the year 1656. But since 1660 they have got a New Light they are now against all outward Fighting Treason and Rebellion Yet will not Censure any of their Ancient Traytors Fighters and Rebels for such were their Chief Apostles and led by the Infallible Light within But they wou'd have that Forgotten till a Day may come when as in 1656 they may again Plead these Glorious Merits of their Saints And in the mean time make a Mouth at us while they wou'd Pame them upon us as the only Lambs of Christ But ther is one of these Lambs that I have not yet Nam'd under this Head of Treason whom I must bring forth before G. W. to see what Character he will give us of him This Quaker in the year 1659 had a Dispute with one Thomas Smith in the Mayor's House at Cambridge soon after Sir George Booth had taken Armes for the King and was Suppress'd by the Rebels It is told in the Sn. Sect. xviii p. 228. How busy the Quakers were upon that occasion against the King's Interest and Boasted in it as their merit that they had given the first Intelligence to the Vsurpers against the Loyal Party and gave their Advice or Command and that In the Name of the Lord God! to cut off all the Cavaliers whom they had taken Prisoners They were Full of this their good service and very Vain of it And this Quaker whom I am speaking of taking his opponent Smith to be well Inclin'd towards the Royal Cause and having him in the Mayor's House he broke off from the Subject of Religion they were met about and Demanded of him whether he owned his Brethren the Priests who had so much stirred up the Rebellion against the present Government To which Insnaring Question the Quaker says Smith answer'd That he did not own them But that was said the Quaker because he saw they did not Prosper in their Designs But when they did Prosper as they did the year following then the Quakers were the only Royal and Loyal Party and said they had been so all along And accus'd these same Professors as they call'd the Presbyterians Independents c. that they had been the King's Enemies and therefore not fit to be Trusted by Him or to be suffer'd to Teach the People as shewn in the Sn. Sect. xviii Now G. W. tell us Plainly what do'st Thee think of this Quaker before mention'd we wou'd have thy opinion of him Was he then a Loyal Man when he call'd it Rebellion to assert the King's Cause against the Vsurpation that then obtain'd and upbraided others with being Concern'd in it If thou woud'st know his Name not to keep thee longer in suspence it is George Whitehead And this thee wilt find p. 25. of a little pretty Treasonable and very Blasphemous Book of his call'd Truth defending the Quakers c. Printed that same year 1659. said on the Title Page to be written from the Spirit of Truth in George Whitehead and George Fox the yonger I wou'd have thee Read it George It is as full of Heresies as a Dog is of Fleas Larded thick with Nonsense and Pride Prodigious And prithee George le ts have thy Censure of it the next time thou sets Pen to Paper if thou be'st not Tyr'd with that sport as well thou May'st considering thy Luck at it It is now 49 years since that precious Piece escapt thy Fist And if thee art not Grown Wiser as thou 'st Grown Older thou'lt verefie the Proverb no F l to an Old F l. It is told in the Sn. Sect. xviii How G. Fox and the Quakers stood out against the Restauration of King Charles II. to the very Last even in the Beginning of the year 1660. And yet Immediately upon the Kings Coming Home Run to him with Addresses of their Love c. I have one here to Add which came Lately in my way G. Bishop his Bitterness and Implacable Hatred to the King and his Cause is Particularly Insisted upon in the Sn. How he Preach'd and Commanded In the Name of the Lord That the Cavaliers who were then Prisoners shou'd be All put to Death This is in his Book of Warnings Printed in the Beginning of the year 1660 before the Restauration And now I find another Book of his warnings An. 1661. Directed to The King and Parliament to the Arch-Bishops and Bishops c. where p. 2. he Recommends the Innocent People the Quakers to their Protection as Those who suffer'd with you says he and by and under your Enemies who have Good will towards you c. And not Content with this Gross Dissimulation in Themselves he falls upon the poor Presbyterians for their Inconstancy and Turning about he upbraids them p. 18. with their being Vpwards and Downwards and Backwards and Forwards Now here and now there Reeling and Rouling Pinching here sometimes and Drawing as Contrary at another This needs no Application to the Quakers G. Fox his Aspiring to be Equal with God VII In the Sn. ther is set down a Tryal at the Assises and Depositions upon Oath that G. Fox and others of the Quakers did call themselves Equal with God c. To this says G. W. p. 25. That we ought not to take the Depositions of Adversaries against them This is Pleasant why if any of the Quakers had Depos'd this then they had been Apostats Judases c. as the Quakers have call'd their Late Seperatists and so Adversaries with a witness And all others are Adversaries of Course And if none of their words must be taken the Quakers may Blaspheme Rebel Murder Steal or what they Please For is not any one that wou'd Accuse them of any of these things an Adversary And an Adversaries word must not be taken But let alone Adversaries Has not G. Fox and others of the Quakers asserted the same in their Printed Books And are they not Quoted in the Sn. Sect. iii And has G. W. Answer'd to one of these Quotations No. Not to one of them yet he Pretends this Book of his to be an Answer to the Sn. And in the Contents he stiles the above Answer thus A False Charge against G. Fox c. Examin'd and Answer'd Yet this is all the Answer he has given to it In the same manner he passes off the Charge of their Assuming the Name of God and Christ to themselves and their Pretence to Perfection Equal Even to God c. He says to this p. 26. That it is False and Asserts the Contrary But Answers none of the Proofs See Sn.
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
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
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
and Faith that is in us to every sober Enquirer and indeed are glad of an opportunity to satisfie any such Person who may be in doubt of the soundness of our Faith in the saving Fundamentals of the Christian Religion we have with the full and Unanimous Consent of this our said Yearly or General Meeting given a plain positive and we hope Christian Answer to each of the said Queries which that they may give thee full and ample satisfaction of our soundness in the Christian Faith in the sincere desire of Us who in behalf and by appointment of the said Meeting do subscribe and remain They Loving Friends Rich. Dungworth John Hampton Thomas Martin Geo. Hutcheson John Hart Thomas Budd Here follows Dr. Lancaster's Queries with the above-named Meetings Answer to each Query To the Quakers assembled in their Yearly Meeting at London this Whitson Week 1695. GReat objections have been made against you in many Books which of late Years have been writ as well by those who have departed from your Communion as by others But because we would not willingly take an Account of you only from your Adversaries no nor yet the advantage which may be had from some of your own Apologists we have chosen this solemn Time of your most general Assembly that you have in the World where there comes of your Number out of all parts where any of your Profession live even as far as from the West Indies on purpose to attend this your Yearly Meeting at London We have chosen this most solemn and convenient time for you to vindicate and clear your selves and to give satisfaction to the World particularly to the Church of England as to these great and grievous objections which are made against you It is said of you that as Hymeneus and Philetus 2 Tim. 2.18 did construe the Resurrection spiritually saying It was perform'd inwardly within our Souls and so avoided the litteral and outward Resurrection of the Body which the Scripture calls Overthrowing the Faith so that you do construe the Resurrection in the same spiritual manner to be the rising again of Christ or the Light in our hearts and consequently that the Saints generally have attained the Resurrection already and that ther will be no Resurrection of these our Bodies after they lie down in the Dust And not only this but That you construe likewise those Scriptures which testify of our Lord Jesus Christ in this Allegorical manner to mean no more than what you call the Light within and That this Christ or Light is Born and Crucified Dyes is Buried Rises again Ascends and is Glorified within you That it sheds its Bloods within you and thereby quenches the Wrath of God in you as your Sacrifice or Propitiation And that Christ has now no other Blood or Body than what he has within his Saints or other than he had with his Father before the World began That the outward Blood of that Man Jesus that was shed at Jerusalem was not the Propitiation or any Satisfaction to the Justice of God for our sins but only the spiritual Blood shed inwardly within us And by these means when you are asked Whether you believe in Christ that Dyed for our sins Rose again and Ascended and that by his Blood we are saved c. You can readily answer Yea That you believe all this and yet mean it all in an inward Allegorical sense that is The Blood shed within you The Light or Christ suffering within you c. and thereby deceive others and your selves and keep your meaning hid and double that the Truth of what you hold may not be known which if in plain words told and asserted would grate all Christian Ears and shew you to be those miserable Hereticks before told who brought in damnable Doctrines denying the Lord who bought them Therefore that you may clear your selves from this great and grievous Charge you are desired to give a plain positive and direct Answer to these following Queries Your Reasons or Explanations are not required this not being intended for a Dispute but only your plain Yea or Nay to each of these Queries that your Doctrine and Faith may be known Query 1. Do you believe in a Christ without you now in Heaven The Christian Quaker answers Yea. Qu. 2. Hath he now in Heaven the same Body tho' changed in Qualities and Glorify'd which he assumed in the Womb of the blessed Virgin in which he Suffered Dyed was Buryed Rose again and Ascended outwardly Ch. Qu. answ Yea. Qu. 3. Will he return in that same Body outwardly or without men to judge the World in the last day Ch. Qu. answ Yea. Qu. 4. Will our dead Bodies arise the same Bodies though altered in Properties and Qualities which we now have and shall lay down in the Dust Or do you believe an outward and litteral Resurrection contrary to Hymeneus and Philerus Do you believe that the Saints generally have already attained the Resurrectien either before or since Christ came into the World Ch. Qu. To the former part of this Query we answer Yea To the latter Nay Qu. 5. Do you believe that Christ or the Eternal Word was so made Flesh as that he truly and really became Man as truly Man as he was God and not only as the Socinians say that he dwelt in or did inhabit the Person of that Man Jesus Christ as a Garment or a Vail as he dwells in or inspires other holy Persons though not in so high a Degree or as Angels assume Bodies like men wherein they appear without taking them into their own Nature or thereby becoming Men Ch. Qu. answ Yea. Qu. 6. Is Christ now at this day and for ever to come truly and really a Man in true and proper humane Nature without all other men Ch. Qu. To this we answer Yea under the Qualifications contained in the second Query viz. changed in Qualities and Glorify'd Qu. 7. And lastlv Was his outward Blood outwardly shed at Jerusalem the true Propitiation and Satisfaction for our sins Is this the true saving Faith Was not his outward Blood that Blood without sheding of which there could be no Attonement Heb. 9.22 Ch. Qu. Answer Yea not excluding the work of the Spirit of Christ in our hearts The above Queries were signed by Dr. Lancaster Chaplain to the Lord Bishop of London and delivered Fryday the 17th of May. 1695. into George Whitehead's own hands in their general Assembly in Grace-Church-street and there publickly read They were desired to return their Answer to Dr. Lancanster at Mr. Wiseman's House a Chyrurgion in Long-Acre But we hear of no Answer that they returned Wherefore the said Queries were presented to the Yearly Meeting of the Quakers in Philadelphia That Party which have Excommunicated Mr. Keith returned Answer as set down in the Preface But that Party which joyn with Mr. Keith presently returned the Answers above inserted after each Query THis is Verbatim what was Printed at Philadelphia
or Facilt Representation of the Greater Mystery of what He Suffers and Acts within us Wherein only the Atonement and Satisfaction for Sin is Perform'd And this they suppos'd to be done in these Monstrous Possessions of Quaking c. And therefore were greatly Desirous of them as thinking their state not secure till they had gone thro' one of these Fits at least As Mr. Skipp tells of himself while he was a Quaker p. 25. I thought it was my unhappiness says he that I was not and it was great Cause of trouble and unspeakable sorrow to me and that which caus'd me to complain bitterly time after time but they wou'd tell me that I must wait for it and they said that they cou'd Believe for me and they were Confident I shou'd be a very Glorious Piece c. Here their Spirit of Discerning fail'd them But that which makes the long Quotation I have taken out of Mr. Skipp the more Valuable is because G. Fox has wrote an Answer to it in his Great Mystery where p. 314. he after his usual fashion Epitomizes and Falsifies Mr. Skipp's words above Quoted thus It is Blasphemy to say we must fill up the sufferings of Christ. Ther are no such words in Mr. Skipp not so put together but he referrs to that Part above Quoted where Mr. Skipp calls it Blasphemy to say that they must suffer as Christ did and are sav'd by Their own sufferings and not by Christs In which G. F. opposes Mr. Skipp and says in Answer Thou hast not Drunk the Cup of the Wrath and Judgment of the Almighty and that you must Drink before you come to know the seed of God come from under all the Power of Wickedness in thee And Christ who bore the Sin of the whole world felt it and was under it and was offered and over it all and makes his Enemies his Foot-stool This is all his Answer And shews what he means by considering what it is which he opposes for without seeing the Books which he Pretends to Answer of which few are now Extant ther is no Understanding by him either what they said for he seldom Quotes them True or what himself says who cou'd write neither Sense nor English But here you see he Denies nothing of Mr. Skipp's Charge against the Quakers but rather Justify's and Defends it in other words that we must suffer as Christ did till the Seed of God come from under the Power of Wickedness which are almost Mr. Skipp's own words And Fox do's not Deny that they Place the Meritorious Cause of ther Justification in those Sufferings within themselves and not in the outward Sufferings of Christ And that when these Inward Sufferings in their Consciences are over and the Seed Purged then that ther is an End of Hell that these Sufferings of the Seed in them is the only Hell this Fox do's not Deny tho positively Charg'd upon them Which is a Plain Confessing The Least one can do is to Deny as G. W. here in this Answer of his But when we Pretend to Answer and dare not so much as Plead Not Guilty it is a full and total yielding to the Charge The truth is the Light within is All things to the Quakers its Shining as they think they are sure within them they call Heaven its being obscur'd that is Hell And they Believe no other Heaven or Hell or God or Christ but their Light within And when they are Possest with their Quaking Fits they call it the Fighting of their Light within against their Darkness within which G. W. wou'd turn off here upon Convulsion Fits For which I leave him to be Chastis'd by those Quakers who have wrote Apologies for their Quaking as being the Effects of a Divine Inspiration And those who were much troubl'd because that Extraordinary Quaking had now in a Great measure left them as if thereby they had Lost that Measure of the Spirit which their Fathers Possest or which Possest their Fathers To Comfort whom Pat. Levingston wrote a Book call'd Plain and down right Dealing wherein he told them that their first years were Purging years but that when Phisick had Purg'd sufficiently then the Patient was more Still and Quiet See the Sn. p. 295. yes George and after Convulsion-fits too when they are over But George few Desire fits of Convulsion or any Natural Disease and Long for them as the Quakers for their Possessions None Express Extasies of Joy in Natural Diseases as we have heard of this Quaker Sickness And all this cou'd not be Counterfited for None can Counterfit such violent Convulsions and Distortions as Exceed the Power of Nature In the Next Place Young Children among the Quakers were often feiz'd with these Quaking Fits and these cou'd not Counterfit And many Earnestly Desir'd them but cou'd not have them when they wou'd And since they are neither Natural nor Counterfit they must be a Praeter Natural either Divine or Diabolical Possession And which of the two it is ther are some Rules whereby to Guess which are Mention'd in the Sn. Sect. xxi which G. W. wou'd do well to Consider and not Shuffle them off as he do's in this Answer But he gives up the Cause by Assigning such Contradictory Reasons for in the same breath within the Compass of one Page he makes three supposes for these Quakings First The word and Power of God Second Convulsion-Fits Third Exorcism or the Casting out of some Evil Spirit If he had said the Entrance of the Evil Spirit and its taking of Possession he had come nearer the Mark But however Why do's he make so many Guesses at the Causes of this Quaking Did he not know whether it was Convulsion or Inspiration or Exorcism or was he Asham'd to tell Well but as to our Present purpose from whatever Cause these Quakings do Proceed it is allow'd on all hands that the Possession is very Strong and carries with it the most visible Effects of Madness And as the Old Proverb says Once Mad and Ever the worse so they who have been once Possess'd with these Quaking Fits seldom Ever after recover the state they were in before but have Raz'd Looks and something Frightful about them But it is not all the Quakers whom God has Deliver'd so far into the Power of the Devil And others have been Possess'd as well as the Quakers But this was more Peculiar to the Quakers than to any others of any sort of People otherwise they had not got the Name of Quakers from thence And at the time when the Devil was most Busie and these Quakings were most Violent and most Frequent about the year 1653 Quakerism was then but very young only three years old and the Quakers did not then bear Proportion of One to a Thousand speaking within Compass to the Rest of England so that we have had a Thousand of these sort of Mad-Men among the Quakers for One any where else And if we Reckon those Mad who
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-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-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.
another But however G. Whitehead and the other Quakers have sent to the Pit all the Church of England and all the Christian World who do Profess Faith in the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity And the Persons themselves not only the Word or Letters for these cannot be sent thither And shall those who not only Deny but Blaspheme Not only Blaspheme but send to the Pit of Hell O Horror to Repeat it the Persons of the Holy Trinity Shall these be Shrouded under an Indulgence which Expresly Spues out all such from Under its Protection who Oppose or Deny the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity Shall these be Included in this Toleration who will not Disown G. Whitehead for the Quotations above Cited but still think him a Teacher sent from God Let this Test be put upon the Quakers And see whether they will Part with G. Whitehead or the Toleration If they stick by George in this it is a Demonstration that they like this Doctrin he has Deliver'd But they have given us a Full and Authoritative Decision in this matter That they do still own and Adhere to not only these Doctrins before Quoted But All and Every Part of what has been Deliver'd by their Doctors ever since their Beginning In their Decretal Epistle from their yearly Meeting at London which is their Supreme and most General Councel for the year 1696. They do Re-Assert and Confirm All their Ancient Testimonies And that in All the Parts of it For say they Truth is one and Changes not And what it Convinced us of to be Evil in the Beginning it Reproves still This is to keep up their Infallibility And in this both Antidote and Appendix and in all their Late writings they strenuously Assert That they have not Changed at all at least in any Point of Doctrin And still stand by and Maintain All that they have Printed or Preach'd since they were Quakers And as if this had not been Enough they have Printed it in the Post-Man that none might be Ignorant of it I say not this That I wou'd have any Persecution as they call it Renewed against them I like not that Method for ther are Honest Well-Meaning Men among them and the Sincere tho' Deluded are most apt to put themselves into the way of Suffering which often Hardens seldom Converts them And they are worthy of a Gentler Method But the End for which I have mention'd this Act is first To do that Right to the Government as to Free them from the Scandal of Recognizing the Quakers as Protestants who Deny the Holy Trinity the Satisfaction of Christ and all outward both Sacraments and Priesthood therefore the Protestant Religion is not Answerable or Reproachable for Them Secondly I have Minded the Quakers of this That if neither Religion nor Good Manners can Restrain their Furie yet that out of Policie they wou'd learn a little more Decency towards the Clergy especially the Bishops who have it in their Hands to put the Penal Laws in Execution against them They not being Included within the Act of Toleration And since they Enjoy their Present Liberty meerly from the Grace at least the Good Nature of those whom of all Mankind they have Endeavour'd to Render most Abhorr'd I think it is but a Reasonable and very Favourable Composition That they shou'd Retract the Above Mention'd and other such like Base and most Scandalous Reflections which they have Cast upon the Church of England Her Priests and Bishops as well as All the Rest of Her Community For we say Leave is Light And that Favour is ill Bestow'd that is not worth Thanks at least Fair Vsage Now the Reparatation ought to be as Publick as the Injury Therfore the Easiest way I can Propose for the Quakers is That their Second-Days-Meeting which do sit every week in London shou'd Publish Under their Hands a Condemnation of the said Scandals and Abuses vented by Will. Penn G. Fox and others of their Writers against the Church of England Particularly These before Quoted and Suffer it to be Printed But most Especially what is above Quoted of most Hideous Blasphemy against the Holy and Tremendous Trinity of God But if they Remain Mute in this Matter as G. Whitehead says to the Ministers And Refuse to Right God and His Church from these Abuses cast upon Them which are in their own Nature Intolerable then may she justly say in Whitehead's words We do not intend to Ly under their Foul Calumnies Then Let The Cry Ascend Higher Then May they be further justly call'd in Question and Expos'd thereupon for their Neglect of Justice Then may the Bishops if they think fit send to their Second-Days-Meeting and Require such a Subscription and Submission from Them or otherwise That they shou'd Acknowledge the Doctrin of the Holy Trinity in the words of our Litany and Articles to Qualify themselves for the Benefit of the Act of Toleration At least to Disown what G. Fox G. Whitehead W. Penn and others of their Writers have said Blasphemously against it But if they will still Adhere to their Former Doctrin herein then have they totally Excluded themselves from the Act of Toleration And then if the Bishops do not let them know that it is in their Power to be Civil to them they will be Good-Natur'd indeed 2. But ther is nothing go's down so hardly with the Quakers as the Doctrin of Repentance because it Ruins their Pretence to Infallibility and Perfection And of all sort of Repentance they Hate that most which Requires them to make Restitution or Satisfaction for the Injuries that they have done Therefore they must stick to all the Calumnies and Outrage which they have vented against God and His Church and all others and to all their Beastly Nastiness and Loathsome stuff which Run out of their Clean Vessels They must by their Principles Return with the Dog to their own Vomit and the Sow to her Wallowing in the Mire This Notion of Perfection is such a sad Ingredient in the Principles of the Quakers as Eternity is in the Torments of Hell for it Confirms them in all their Sins and Hinders them from ever Returning G. Whitehead has Publish'd a little Book in December 1697 of which this is the Title A seasonable Account of the Christian Testimony and Heavenly Expressions of Tudor Brain upon his Death-Bed being a young man Aged about 17 years Published for Instruction and Caution to the Youth among Friends call'd Quakers where p. 2. you have this Passage At several times being Advis'd to Prepare for his latter End for if he Liv'd it wou'd be well and if he Died it wou'd be his Gain his Answer was He was not Conscious of any Action he had done that he shou'd be â—fraid of Appearing before God Almighty O Dreadful To see a Miserable Creature go to Death Harden'd against Repentance by this Pernicious Doctrine of the Quakers And to see this Recommended for the Instruction of other
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.
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
that He is there According to the Spirit by whom we Receive Light Grace and Truth and through whom we have Access unto God This is Orthodox and plainly Exprest Which shews that G. K. had too much Sense and Learning ever to be a Quaker tho' he thought himself one And therefore he cou'd not stay with them He was Deceiv'd by them and Catch'd by their Sheeps-Cloathing of outward Sanctity and Preciseness But he still had Battling with them about their Doctrines as you may see in his Narrative hereunto Annex'd And by their Double and seeming Fair Answers then and at other times he was Induc'd to Err on the Charitable side And not think them so Monstrously Heretical as upon a more serious Examination of their Books he has since found them I say not this as if I did not think that he has been even Seduc'd in his Judgment into several Errors by their Conversation it is hard to touch Pitch and not to be Defil'd for he has own'd it to the world And as a Testimony of the Sincerity of his Repentance has after the Example of St. Augustine and other Holy Men Publish'd a Book of his Retractations the more to his Honour And by that shewn the other Quakers the only way to Reconcile themselves with God and Man But while they Persist to Cover Palliate and Excuse their Notorious Heresies which yet cannot be Hid And that their Leaders to save their own little Credit wou'd Ruin so many Thousand poor Souls of their Ignorant Followers by Keeping them in that Ditch into which they have Led them while they go on in this Wicked Course they must be Expos'd more and more till they come to be an Abhorring to all Flesh And if they will Choose this rather than to become the Joy of God Angels and Men in their Conversion let them Remember that Life and Death has been set before them 6. The sixth Testimony is p. 17. out of G. Fox's Journal p. 358. which indeed seems Fair and is put in the words of Scripture and of our Creed that Christ was Conceived by the Holy Ghost and Born of the Virgin Mary c. And if nothing had been said otherwise by G. Fox or other of the Quakers no Exceptions had been taken whatever Secret Meaning they had had in their Minds But when they have Express'd their Meaning in other places and not Retracted it in these seeming Fair Confessions we must to make them Consistent with themselves understand their words as themselves have Explain'd them Now we do not Charge the Quakers that they Deny that Christ took Flesh and that in our Nature in the Womb of the Blessed Virgin it is own'd that they do hold all this in Prim. Heres Sect. 1. and Sn. Sect. x. But the Charge is this That the Quakers do hold that Christ took or Borrow'd Flesh of our Nature only as a Vail or Garment wherein to shrow'd His own Flesh of the Heavenly Nature for a time as Angels when they Assume Bodies to Appear in upon an Occasion But that He did not take our Flesh into His own Nature so as to become Part of His Person without which what is before quoted out of Will Penn's part of the Serious Apology p. 146. must be true viz. That tho' Christ Suffer'd that Body which He so took to be Crucify'd yet that the Person which Suffer'd was not Properly the Son of God As if you Crucify'd the Body which an Angel assum'd yet it were not Properly the Angel which wou'd be Crucify'd more than a Man wou'd be Crucify'd if you Crucify'd his Cloak And if Christ was no otherwise Crucify'd then was He not Crucify'd at all only in Appearance and False shew If that Person which Suffer'd was not Properly the Son of God then Whose Son was He Do ye Quakers believe as some Socinians That He was Begot by Joseph Therefore will they Please to tell us who they think was His Immediate Father They have Deny'd it to be God Else He wou'd be Properly the Son of God Luk. i. 35. And G. Fox in this Testimony sets down only General Terms that Christ took Flesh c. But he has not Descended to say any thing in Opposition to their Sense of it and therefore this is no Contrary Testimony to the Charge against the Quakers And Will. Penn in a Book very lately Publish'd the end of the year 1698. call'd A Defence of a Paper Entitul'd Gospel-Truth's against the Exceptions of The Bishop of Cork 's Testimony p. 31. Likes better of this Quaker Turn of the Text Joh. 1.14 which they Learn'd from the Socinians that it shou'd rather be said The Word Took Flesh than as we Translate it The Word was Made Flesh Tho' the Greek cannot Bear their Sense and is Literally Render'd by Us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Became or was Made not Took Flesh But we see the Reason why they wou'd have it Turn'd because it might the more Favour their vile Heresie That Christ did not Assume our Nature into His own Person so as to become Really a Man only That He Took an Human Body that is of the Man Jesus as a Cloak or Vail to shrow'd Himself in for a Time Which is the very Heresy of Cerinthus against which St. John wrote these Words For Cerinthus said That Christ did Descend upon Jesus at his Baptism Thus Dividing Christ from Jesus as say the Quakers That Jesus was not the Lamb Only the Lamb or Christ Dwelt in Jesus as He do's in Their Vessels G. Fox is before Quoted saying in his Several Papers for the spreading of Truth p. 55. That Christ according to the Flesh was Crucify'd in the Days of Adam And that in That Flesh of His was the Reconciliation Then it was not in the Flesh which He took 4000 years after of the Blessed Virgin You see how Necessary it is for these Men to Explain themselves And that Generals will not do Now if any Testimony can be brought Contrary to this their Lurking Distinction of a Flesh of the Heavenly and a Flesh of the Earthly Nature or that places the Merit of our Salvation upon the Sufferings of the Earthly Nature they will indeed be to the Purpose And nothing can be so that is short of that For Example 7. The seventh Testimony p. 18. is brought out of the Serious Apology just now Quoted which Denies our Lord Jesus who Suffer'd to be Properly the Son of God But let us hear them This Testimony is taken out of p. 149. but three pages after what is above Recited And it Confesses to One Lord Jesus Christ who took upon him Flesh to whose Holy Life Power Mediation and Blood we only ascribe our Sanctification Justification Redemption and Perfect Salvation Now see what Hold can be taken of these Men or what Trust is in their words Here I Appeal to the Reader whether this Quotation do's not seem to say That our Justification is ascrib'd to Christ
in Pennsilvania An. 1695. And by this the Reader may Judge whether it proceeded from Want of Capacity or Sincerity in George Whitehead and the Rest of the London Quakers That in their Printed Answer to these Queries they say They are Not Plain and Direct Queries therefore cannot Positively be Answer'd by our Single Yea or Nay to Each Query as Desir'd We therefore at present send this General Answer to the Queries Of which Sufficient has been said in the First Part Sect. v. p. 9. c. But here I wou'd observe That the Pennist Quakers in Pennsilvania durst not trust their own Light within to Answer these Queries And bound themselves to stand by the Answer of their London Friends Whereas those who with G. Keith had Return'd to the Truth of Christianity took no time to Consider nor Ty'd themselves Implicitly to the Determination of Any Whatsoever They said not that the Truth was farr off beyond the Seas in Old England And they must stay till some Good Body shou'd Fetch it to them with Safe Wind and Tyde and Deut. xxx 13. See before Second Part. p. 225. From all this we may take Notice of the Different Assurances which Proceed from a Rational Faith Founded upon the Rock of the H. Scriptures And that which is Built upon the Sand of our own Imagination which the Quakers call their Light Within A FAITHFUL RELATION Of the great Opposition made by some Preachers among the Quakers to three great fundamental Doctrins of the Christian Faith at Two several Meetings at London in the year 1678 appointed to hear the Charges made by them against me George Keith for my asserting the said Three Fundamental Doctrins in my Book call'd The way cast up Printed 1677. AND The Reasons of my Publishing the said Relation IN the Year 1678 at London there being great Whisperings and Complaints privately spread among the People called Quakers against Me on the Account of Certain Principles laid down by Me in a Book of Mine Printed in the Year 1677 called The way Cast up And I happening to be then at London and hearing of the said Complaints against me and my said Book I spoke to diverse of the Ministry of the People called Quakers that they would appoint a Meeting to hear the Complaints of those Persons that Objected against some things Contain'd in my Book charging them to be False and Erronious and also to hear my Defence and Vindication touching the things to be charged against me A Meeting was procured at a Friends house call'd John Osgood a Merchant in White-Hart Court in Grace-Church-street London in the winter Season which began about the Sixth hour at Night where a Considerable number of those called Friends of the Ministry were met together with divers other Persons of account among the Quakers among whom were William Penn George Whitehead Thomas Green William Mead William Gibson George Watt Francis More Thomas Hart James Claypowl John Bull And many other besides The persons that appeared against me at the said Meeting were chiefly Samuel Newtown a great Preacher then among them who not long after Broke and went to Virginia and still Preacheth there among the Quakers as I have been certainly inform'd by some that heard him and are ready to bear witness to it and William Shewen a Preacher and a great Writer among them who hath Printed divers Books highly approved by many of the People called Quakers Containing some abominable Principles whereof I have given some account in my Second and Third Narratives of the Proceedings at Turners-Hall This man was never Censured by Friends of the Ministry for his Antichristian Doctrin Contained in some of his Books but lived and dyed in Unity with them and had Solemn Commendations and Testimonies given him by some of the Ministry at his Funeral The first Meeting not having time sufficient to hear all that was to be said for and against appointed another Meeting at the house of James Claypool Merchant in Scotch Yard in London when some others were present and mostly all the foremention'd the Meeting began about the Sixth hour at night as did the former The particulars were Three especially wherewith these two above named Persons severally charged me and blamed my Doctrine and opposed against it to be Contradictory to the Ancient Friends Books whereof they brought a Considerable number which were laid on the Table but it happened that none of them were used but instead of them the Bible was called for and some places in it read and Discours'd upon The First Particular they blam'd in my said Book and charg'd to be false was that I had affirmed that Christ's Body that was Crucified on the Tree of the Cross and was Buried pag. 131. Rose again and Ascended into Heaven and was in Heaven Diverse spoke their mind to it one after another some against it and some for it and some very doubtfully which I was greatly astonished to find I Quoted that place of Scripture in defence of the Resurrection of Christ's Body Psal 16.10 compared with Act. 2.30 31 32. Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell nor suffer thy holy one to see Corruption Will. Mead said to me dost thou understand this of an outward Body that which was not to see Corruption was the Seed within I answered let the places be read and compared and it will be found that they are to be understood of Christ's Body that was laid in the outward Grave so these two places of Scripture were read and several gave their assent to it that by the Holy one that was not to see Corruption was to be understood Christ's Body that was laid in the Grave whereupon Thomas Green an ancient Preacher said Friends one of two things we must needs say either that Christ's Body remains in some hole or cave of the Earth or that it Rose and Ascended for it did not see Corruption and for my part I rather think it Rose and Ascended into Heaven as George Keith affirms than that it remains in any hole or cave of the Earth Diverse other places of Scripture I had to bring forth to prove the truth of the Resurrection of Christ's Body as his own words to the Jews Destroy this Temple meaning his Body and after three days I will raise it up and his appearing to his Disciples after his Resurrection having said as it is Luk. 24.39 Handle me and Feel me for a Spirit hath no Flesh and Bones as ye see me have After Thomas Green had spoke as is above related George Whitehead said that whereas many both Priests and Professors had questioned Friends much concerning Christ's Body what was become of it and where it was by occasion of Friends Preaching Christ within so frequently he confesses that Friends were at some stand to give a possitive answer but rather evaded the Question And though in former times Friends were shy to answer the Priests and Professors Questions about Christ's Body fearing they sought