Quakerism Anatomiz'd by a Charge against the Quakers with a Challenge to Richard Ashby one of their Teachers to come forth in their VINDICATION The wicked flee when no man pursueth but the Righteous are as bold as a Lion AS I was going to Norwich April 1694. staying a little at Wymondham I met with a Paper writ by R. Ashby wherein he reflects on my Book Quakerism Withering and Christianity Reviving c. saying what I write is false And seems greatly concerned That People should like my Book and glad to see the Quakers Errours discovered And thereupon I wrote him a Letter Dated April the 30th 1694. to meet me the Wednesday following to agree upon Terms to have a Meeting to Dispute the Points in Controversie But he not Answering the same I sent him another Letter Dated May the 3d 1694. a Copy whereof is as followeth viz. To R. Ashby of Thuxton These FRiend I have met with your late cautionary Epistle and Warning wherein you thus write viz. To the Inhabitants of Wymondham that have met with Francis Bugg's Book Entituled Quakerism Withering c. And I am informed that some of you the Inhabitants of Wymondham are much pleased and elevated c. Now this may certifie you that all this stir that F. B. makes is but a meer Boast For I was at London at the same time when F. B. should according to his word have met G. W. at Ben. Antrobus his House but did not And let this be a Warning and Caution to you for time to come that you lay not hands suddenly c. I say having seen this your Epistle and Warning suggesting that I should have met G. W. at B. A.'s House according to my Word and did not though he and others waited long for me c. which is false for I never gave G. W. my Word or Promise to meet him there or any where else to Dispute the Points in Controversie unless that he would first engage under his Hand to retract what I proved him guilty of and the Quakers Erroneous in See Quakerism Withering c. P. 2 5 6 7 8. and according to the Terms proposed therein I still ingage to meet him or any Quaker in England And were he not conscious to himself that both himself in particular and the Quakers in general of Fox's Party were guilty of what I charge them with no doubt but he would subscribe such an Instrument since 't is consonant to their own printed Proposition in the Epistle to Edw. Burrough's Works that Son of Thunder true Prophet and faithful Servant of God as G. W. and others have styled him in Print But since you have undertaken to Defend the Quakers and seem troubled that their Errours are laid open and that the People are pleased with my Books which have been instrumental therein And not only so but slily insinuate That what I write is false I do thereupon renew my Charge against the Principles and Doctrine of the Quakers and do Challenge you R. Ashby to meet me at the Publick School-house in Wymondham on Monday the 4th of June 1694 at Ten of the Clock in the Forenoon where I promise if God permit to meet you and before the People offer to prove the following Charge out of your Approved Books against all your Allegations to the contrary And if after the said Dispute you shall exhibit a Charge against me in Writing under your Hand giving me the like time to prepare for my Defence I do promise if God permit to meet you at the same place that so the Inhabitants of Wymondham may be more and more convinced of the grand Errors of the Quakers whose Doctrine and Principles tend to undermine and overthrow the Christian Religion The said Charge which I offer to prove is as followeth viz. I. That the Quakers deny Jesus of Nazareth who was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary to be Christ and the Efficient Cause of Man's Salvation II. That their Books are Blasphemous and their Practices Idolatrous III. That they deny the Scriptures by speaking contemptuously of them calling them Dust Death and Serpent's meat c. IV. That they despise the Ordinances of Jesus Christ as Baptism and the Lord's Supper V. That they undervalue the Death and Sufferings of Christ VI. That they exalt their own Sufferings above the Sufferings of Christ and their own Pamphlets above the Prophets and Apostles as in Quakerism Withering c. P. 3 4. Writ and Subscribed per me Francis Bugg Now least R. Ashby should decline to meet me but like his Brother Whitehead evade and shuffle as I do hereby give publick notice of my Challenge so I think it necessary to acquaint the World with their fallacious way of Writing insomuch that 't is hard to know a Quaker by what he writes For their Books are of two sorts of two Stamps and carry two Faces and both contrary to each other and yet the Quakers mean all one thing viz. One sort of Books and Epistles to their own Disciples to confirm them in Quakerism wrote by the Perfect Quaker The other sort of Books to the World's People as they cant it with some seeming Truths in them nay were they but sincere might pass wrote by the Counterfeit Quaker whose chief Art is to decoy and proselyte the World but still he means the same asserted by the Perfect Quaker As for instance When Is Penington denies Christ and calls him that was born of the Virgin A Veil a Garment a Vessel affirming they can never call him Christ yet G. Whitehead the Counterfeit Quaker in his Book styl'd The Counterfeit Convert c. P. 72. vindicates him saying And though I have evinced Is Penington's meaning on his Words reflected on about the Body or Flesh of Christ it follows not that I make his Expressions mine seeing I note them as his for says G. Whitehead I may see cause otherwise to word the matter and yet our Intentions be the same c. Thus you see he is ashamed to own Is P.'s Words as his yet hath shewed you his meaning if you will believe him And he justifies his not owning his Words for that he had noted them to be his nay tells you he may see cause otherwise to word the matter and yet their Intentions the same Who then I marvel can know a Quaker if they can thus equivocate Is not this Jesuitism with a witness Or Arius risen again under a new Form and Figure to deceive the World with a two-fold meaning And yet behold G. W.'s Partiality who in their Vindication charge me with John Ansloe's Query to Sam. Cater as mine though sufficiently noted by me to be his and not mine which I have refuted beyond his glossing in Quakerism Withering P. 65. Well but let us have a few Examples of these two fac'd Quakers the Perfect Quaker and the Counterfeit Quaker who however they differ in wording their matter and expressing themselves yea insomuch as that the one is
the Lord who is coming in his Power to execute true Judgment upon all you Judges and to change all your Laws ye Kings Sing all ye Saints and rejoice clap your hands and be glad for the Lord Jehovah reigns and the Law shall be taken from the pretended Rulers Judges Justices Lawyers and Constables All this Tree must be cut down and Jesus Christ that is in us will reign alone The Q. Vind. p. 4. And that Magistrates or Civil Government is God's Ordinance for the punishment of Evil-doers and praise of them that do well OBSERVATION Reader here is a little hint of their Antimagistratical Principles and when you compare their Practice of Non-submission to the Laws of the Land which require payment of Tythes which they say whoever do bear about them the Mark of Antichrist and which require payment to the Church-Rates or Lays which they throw off as a Yoke of Bondage and their observing the Publick Fast when one is at Plow another at Cart others in their Shops with their Windows open in Publick Testimony against both the Command of the Magistrate and Formality of the Fast only they tell you as in their Vindication P. 3. For the Intent Substance and End of a True Fast This we are frequently mindful of c. But how Why they think of it when at their Employment and at their Meetings on contrary days I say when these and a hundred things of like nature are considered together with G. W. the Counterfeit Quaker's seeing cause as he says otherwise to word the matter and yet intend the same thing This is a plain Discovery that they account Magistracy a cumbersom Tree that must be cut down with all its knotty Branches as Rulers Iudges Iustices Lawâ—â—rs and Constables and this shews them as good Friends to the State as to the Church only for the present they see cause otherwise to word the matter though like Arius they still mean and intend the same thing However they as yet neither sing nor clap their Hands the Tree is still standing neither do they clap their Hands for Joy for if they should then might all true Protestants wring their hands mourn and lament they would soon see all things turned upside down For Instance Down with the Scriptures and up with their Pamphlets down with the Ministers and Dispencers of the Gospel as Witches Devils Robbers Antichrists Gormandizing Priests c. and up with their Impostors Deceivers and Seducing Teachers down with Baptism and the Lord's Supper Instituted by Christ and practised by his Apostles and Martyrs and all true Christian Churches and up with their Womens Meetings ordained by G. F. down with the Lord's Prayer the Ten Commandments the Apostles Creed and all that bear the Face of true Christianity and up with their Silent Meetings those Nurseries of Ignorance or Silent Universities A woful day for Christendom would this be which God of his mercy prevent The Perfect Quaker The Counterfeit Quaker Fox's Mist p. 77. And as for any being moved of the Lord to take away your i. e. the Priests Hour glass from you by the Eternal Power it is owned c. See the Paper against J. P. Aug. 10. 1670. And we also testifie that if any person whatsoever shall act or speak any thing that is evil under pretence of a motion from the Spirit of God we utterly deny that motion to be of God OBSERVATION Oh ye People of Wymondham behold and consider of the pernicious Principles and dangerous Doctrine of the Perfect Quaker 1. Charging all such as preach Christ without and bid People believe in him as he is in Heaven above to be False Ministers and as such call them Witches Devils Thieves Robbers Wolves Antichrists Hell-hounds seeking after their Prey like the mouth of Hell Gormandizing Priests the Bane of Soul and Body of the Universe 2. That they deny Jesus of Nazareth who was born of the Virgin to be Christ 3. How they run down Magistracy as a Cumbersom Tree and the result was as by their Doctrine appears that under colour of a motion from the Lord they might lay waste meum and tuum and with these and many other horrible Principles they prest into the World in the Year 1650. as afterwards and God assisting and giving me length of days I may further make appear But when this Defective Coin would not pass for True Metal then the Counterfeit Quaker he gets up and appears in the Person of G. W. and some few others and they tell you they may see cause otherwise to word the matter but yet mean or intend the same thing All which considered I dare appeal to the Inhabitants of Wymondham yea to all Christendom Whether any Credit ought to be given to their new-moulded new-coined and counterfeit Confessions until they have first condemned by Publick Censure their old Heretical Principles which tend to overthrow the Christian Faith And whereas G. W. in his Count. Conv. Epist says I do hereby sincerely declare that 't is not for Controversie sake that I am so much engaged therein nor am I the beginner of these Controversies being wholly Defensive c. Although I am not minded to Reply to his Book at present for as much as I find that he hath taken notice but of part of mine Entituled Quakerism Withering c. and what he has does rather confirm what I have said than otherwise yet I am willing to let Richard Ashby my present Antagonist know that his Brother Whitehead is false in this also which at the Dispute I shall make appear For he writ against Episcopalians Presbyterians Independents and Baptists before ever they wrote against him and ever since has been such a contentious Scribler that he has wrote Ten Books against others to One Book against him of any one Man's Writing And in Nine Months time he wrote Three Books against me to one of mine against the Quakers and two of them without any fresh occasion given him With what Face then can this impudent Juggler appear then in Print to render himself such a Scandal to his own Fraternity I would have said Christianity but he does not deserve to come so near it though he and his Brethren the Counterfeit Quakers have so ordered the matter as that by their black Art of railing on the Publick Ministry Contempt of Scripture despising the Ordinances of Jesus Christ and the like Antichristian Principles they have made such Rents and Divisions in Church and State as will take much time to repair Though I do verily believe Quakerism hath such a Sandy Foundation that it cannot stand long but in due time will fall die and wither away And G. W.'s Practice in writing to Mr. Smithies Mr. Archer and others to stop me is a sign to me that he begins to fear it As for my Dedications I never yet met with any Reproof but my Books have met with kind Acceptation I do not expect that any Man should so concern himself
as to justifie every particular Passage that 's most properly my own business and 't was my Perswasion that what I wrote was true which made me submit the same to my Lord Bishop and I still abide by it But for G. W. thus to wait upon seek to and beg the Favour of the Clergy to stop me is a sign that he fears their Building is tottering and that his Cause is at a low Ebb. What! Seek to the Contemptible Clergy Such as you account Beasts Dogs Wolves Devils Thieves Robbers Conjurers Blood-hounds Gormandizing Priests the Bane of Nations bred up at Oxford and Cambridge a Nursery for Baal's Priests crying Woe and Misery to the Parliament who uphold them And what Do you now seek to these despised and contemptible Creatures in your Eyes to stop me Do you think them so tame and so gentle as to assist you who have been undermining them and their Religion this forty or fifty Years Oh! mistake not your selves but be humble and retract your Errors and that is your way to find Mercy with God and Forbearance with Men And this at present I am willing to present to my present Opposer R. Ashby assuring him That as I never refused to meet his Brother Whitehead when I promised nor to dispute the Points in Controversie on condition that he would have ingaged to retract what I proved on him and his Abetters false and erroneous so I do now assure R. Ashby if GOD permit me Life and Health not to refuse to meet him at the time and place appointed Fra. Bugg May 8. 1694. POSTSCRIPT G. W. SInce I sent up the foregoing to the Press on the second reading your Epistle to your Count. Conv. c. I perceive how uneasie you are and how smooth you appear as in your Letters to Mr. Smithies and Mr. Archer and by the tenure thereof methinks I hear you say Good Gentlemen be so kind to us the distressed and perplexed Quakers us to stop F. Bugg from writing against our Errors for if you cannot perswade him we know of none that can he does so strip us naked lay us bare and so effectually unmask us and take off our Vizard that we cannot walk in Masquerade or two Faces in one Hood but we are seen and discovered And this we nor our Elder Sister i. e. Rome could never abide Indeed we cannot deny but we Dedicated our Books to K. Charles II. and his Council and to all Rulers in the Christian World which we never saw nor spoke to much less acquainted them therewith nay sometimes to our Dear Friend O. Cromwel calling him Dear Friend Noble Oliver c. see our Books Rusticus c. E. B.'s Work c. 702 846. and the Quaker Vnmaskt wherein we not only call'd and compar'd the Publick Ministers to Serpents Vipers grinning Dogs c. but boldly told the King and Parliament what they might do and what they might not do how far their Power reached and the utmost Confines of it and that if they went contrary to our Infallible Directions all their Proceedings were false and unjust c. and we find that Fr. Bugg is discovering all our Intreigues anad filling the same Cup to us by a just retalliation Insomuch as that the Pit which we have been digging for others this forty Years by our supplanting and undermining the Christian Religion and Protestant Interest rendring both Bishops and Clergy Magistrates and People so ridiculous and contemptible as not to understand tu and vos or what a Genitive Case is as by our Battledoor and Primer is manifest pretended to be put forth by our Elder Brother and great Apostle G. Fox who was but a poor Journeyman Shoemaker we are now justly fallen into and now we see cause otherwise to word our matter and not to behave our selves so sawelly as we have done when we call'd the National Ministry Thieves Robbers Witches Devils greedy Dogs Blood-hounds Baal's Priests Gormandizing Priests c. and the Parliament that upheld them the Beast which carries the Whore yet notwithstanding all that those Books being then wrote by and from the Eternal Spirit we cannot retract them and tho' we otherwise word the matter now yet we Intend the same are of the same Judgment yet we must needs beg your Assistance to stop F. B. for he does so strip us and whip us he does so unmask unvail and discover us that all People in a little time will see us and loath us and cast us out of their Esteem as our elder Sister is and 't was by the like Treatment she met with from her Apostate Adversaries Martin Luther and others Come G.W. have not I rightly interpreted the Purport of your Letters to Mr. Archer and Mr. Smithies and your fawning and flattering Deportment to the Bp. oâ— Gloucester if not tell me in your next for I desire none to stop you for the more you write the more your Hypocrisie and Deceit is manifest and your Errours discovered c. Well G. W. let me in â—ew Words answer the Purport of your two large Letters aforesaid viz. It is well known to some of you how loath I have been to expose you how I have gone alone to your Meetings and told you that if any Four Six or Ten of the ablest of your Teachers would come forth and give me a Meeting according to your printed Proposals Epist to E. Burrough's Works viz. To justifie what in any tolerable sence might be warranted by the plain Text of Scripture and what could not be so justified which was written in your Books you might censure and condemn Upon this for the sake of many amongst you that are as I once was mislead I should never have exposed you tho' all the Clergy in England had requested it at my hand But as they never put me upon writing against you so I can assure you they are far enough from stopping me therefore you must get other Advocates than such who have given me Thanks for my Labour and Service done to the Christian Religion and Protestant Profession Neither did Col. Goldwel ever reprove me but always approved of the Substance of what I wrote and approved of my delivering the Sheet to the Parliament which was kindly accepted by the Members and do believe it was useful to them who were not so well acquainted with your juggling Tricks and deceitful Painting and Glosses as I was who am your Friend tho' I tell you the Truth Francis Bugg May 10. 1694. FINIS