reason to curse the Magistrates from morning to night because that allowance was granted unto any to worship God in spirit and Truth who could not be subject to their traditional uniformity and thou tells the Army in thy Epistle that ruine is like to come upon all Religion and Piety if God prevent it not by you or some other way they may see what Religion thou art of and what God thou trusts in and what piety thou art for which may be rather called irreligious and impious the Government of Religion and piety lies upon the shoulders of him who is a wonderful Councellor and mighty to save and able to defend them that are subject unto him would thou have the Souldiers or any others intrude themselves into Christs Throne unto whom all power is committed both to make Religious and preserve pious them that do believe in him this were to derogate from the honour and power which belongs to Christ who is head of the Church who will not give his glory to another and let all take notice of this that whosoever hath sought to take the honour from him and glory from him he hath laid their honour is the dust and their glory is become as the moth-eaten garment as hitherto it hath been evident and thou tells them they know the Scripture is Gods written Word and a holy perfect rule of faith and practice and that it holds out that Christ is now in his humane glorified body in Heaven If thou hadst said the Scripture is the Words of God written thou hadst said something for the Word of God is one thing and the words is another though the words are a Testimony of the Word and the Word and the Spirit which is one which gave forth the words are the perfect rule and foundation of faith which was before the words and is greater then the words as we have often declared to thy dearest generation though they would not hear and where doth the Scripture hold forth a humane glorified body in Heaven thy deceit and ignorant mind holds out a humane glorified body we say according to the Scriptures that Christs body is spiritual and he is raised a spiritual body and is glorified in a spiritual body and in a Heavenly body which thou never knew neither art like while the nature lives in thee in which thou now stands And thou saith in thy Epistle that one day in seventh should be set apart for rational souls to mind the things of Eternity And which is that day that thou wilt set apart some of Babylons Merchants have cryed up one day and some have cryed up another day and some have called the seventh day the Sabbath and some have called the first day the Sabbath and whether was Sabbaths made for man or man for Sabbaths and whether was dayes made for man or man made for dayes all time is in the hand of the Lord and they that have Communion with him do mind the things of Eternity every day and so they come to know the day of the Lord in which rest is given to the soul and the creature hath rest though he labour in the Creation when that is done away in himself which hath opprest thou may go learn what this means In thy post-script as thou calls it thou saith if any shall take offence for thy seeking to civil or Military Power to support Religion thy defence is and thy belief is that thou ought to seek to the higher powers to support Religion and this is the Liberty of thy conscience and that this thou may do more acceptably then they who cross their own profest opinion as they have done of late years by motions Councels books and Papers which they have delivered for these many years for the pulling down the Ministry and steeple-houses and that their importuning the Magistrate to pull down Ministry and worship is a yielding of the cause I say thy belief is without the true foundation and so many properly be called unbelief and thou errs in thy judgement who seekes to civil or Military power to uphold Religion which as I said before belongs to him who is the higher and highest power Civil and Military Officers are not for making Religion or setting up Religion but are to keep the Peace and to stop the violent doer and to be a terror to evil works and workers and a praise to them that do well and that is their place to govern in righteousness but not to exercise Lordship over the conscience which power belongs onely to Christ and as for them who have delivered Books and Papers and words and writings to them who were in Authority to pull down the Ministry and Steeple-houses or publike Ministry and worship if thou intend the Quakers as I believe thou dost thy arrowes being shot onely at them we have delivered or caused to be delivered divers Books and Papers wherein we have shewed them the grievous suffering of the People of God by the heavy oppressions which they did suffer under because of the hirelings wages and upholding of Mass-houses things which hath been introduced since the Primitive times in the Apostacy which aforesaid things hath been guarded and upheld by Lawes made in the Beasts power now to make null those Lawes which were the ground of many oppressions and an offence to many tender Consciences this is not to pull down Religion and that Ministry which can be pul'd down by taking away of Tythes and forced maintenance is no Ministry of Christ but Ministers of Antichrist and to deny paying to Steeple-houses Clark wages burying for the dead and such other like invented things which many hath groaned under is not to pull down Religion for this I say to thee and that which I can say to all which no reasonable or equitable man will deny to be equitable or just take the hireling Ministry to thee and give him the fifth part of thy estate if thou wilt and erect thy Steeple-house like Babels Tower but trouble not us with none of these things and for declaring to the Magistrates that these things ought to be done away and the Law by which they stood which was made in transgression ought to be taken away this is not to pull down the Ministry nor true Religion but to overturn deceit and Innovation which hath obstructed and hindered pure Reformation which hath been talkt on for these are but the rotten raggs of the Whores Menstruous garment so thy defence is made void and ours standeth true that the Magistrate or Military power hath nothing to do to prescribe any form of Religion to bind all unto for this is an intruding into those things that belongs not to them Thou saith that thou dost freely and sincerely affirm that thou hast not knowingly wronged the Quakers in the least but doth engage thy self to makâ— good every thing thou charges against them that shall require it of thee That we shall see afterwards how thou wilt
thy shop is filled with books of curious Arts and made up in the Imaginations of men of corrupt minds many of which is good for nothing but for the fire which hath bewitched people from the simplicity of the Gospel and hath darkned peoples understandings and brought a mist and a cloud over peoples hearts so that the Son of Righteousness could not be seen to arise in the hearts of people and now thou with the rest of Babylons Merchants which have long traffickt with their sorceries art angry because thou hast had a share in her Merchandize and hath gotten gain by selling of such traffick which is as unsavoury salt good for nothing but to be troden under foot of men thou cryes like Demetrius for his shrines great is the goddess Diana and thou with others who have got a gain and trade by the aforesaid inchantments of the Harlot and her Merchants thou cryes The Church the Church the Ministry the Ministry and Religion the National Ministry which when the matter is enquired into what the Church is it is found to be no other then the Mother of Harlots who hath sitten upon the waters this many hundred years and the Ministry is no other but them that are in Balaams way and such whose hearts are exercised with covetous practices and such as the Prophets and Apostles declared against who sought for their gain from their Quarter and who taught those things they ought not for filthy lucre And for Religion it is nothing but a profession in words at best without the life or else some old traditions humane inventions and innovated customs which hath been brought in since the Apostacy but I say because of thy gainful craft thou art now busied as thou hath been diverse years not onely against the Quakers but against others who have separated from your hypocritical worships and deceitful formalities and for this end thou hast bended thy tongue to tell lyes and thy ear is open to mischief that thou might get any thing to accuse the truth withal and to set up and promote thy long trading with deceit what hath not the Hills and the Mountains Parliaments Protectors formerly gratified thee that thou art so covetous and greedy of persecution and blood-shed Though thy insatiable desire hath not yet been satisfied neither I believe ever shall yet thou shalt not go unpunished and when Judgement comes upon thee then may thou call to the Rocks and to the Hills to cover thee and hide thee from the wrath of the Lamb and from the presence of his holy Host but they shall not be able to save thee What hath not all the Beacons that thou hast fired given sufficient warning to all the Dragons host to all the Beasts Army and to all the Harlots Merchants and to all Babylons children that they might come out all to battel they have been fired these five years hast thou not gotten all thy host up together by thy Books which formerly thou calledst so to withstand the Lamb his followers that thou art come on again with a fresh on-set to see if thou canst stop the way of Truth that people might not receive it for that is thy end in writing this lying History as thou thy self hath confest alas poor man is this all thy strength that thou art able to make up and are these all the weapons of thy warfare a company of vain Arguments out of the Priests Books which have written as thou hast done against the Truth and old stories which thou hast received out of our adversaries writings which thou hast heaped up together to fill peoples minds which prejudice that they might not receive the Truth dost thou think this is like to prevail a company of broken bowes and shattered spears and lame Chariots whose wheels have been often taken off which we have over run and trampled down that few will have any trust to these or this is but to set bryars and thorns in battel against the Lord Thy Book thou calls Hell broken loose or a History of the Quakers published to preserve Christians against formality of Religion and Apostacy and to the intent that thy Book might not grow old nor stick upon thy hands as such other mouldy stuff hath done thou saith London Printed in the year 1660. and so hath Printed a lie in the Frontize-piece of thy Book thy Book by that time thou may hang up with old Almanacks or sell for waste Paper and if thou begin with a lie and scorn how dost thou think that this will be an Antidote as thou calls it against formality and Apostacy Is not a lyar an Apostate is not he that pleads for Popish Trumpery a formalist in Religion without the Power he that reads but thy Title page may see what thy Book is within if he go no further the Covenant of death is not yet broken in thee and the agreement with Hell is not yet disannulled and therefore all this smoak is come out of the pit in which thou delights to dwell And is this such a worthy piece in thy account that thou must needs shelter it under the wings of the Officers of the Army of England Scotland and Ireland art thou so great a friend to them and in thy Book tells them they were the in-let of Heresie and blasphemy who art but yet an Episcopal stem or at best a Presbyteral branch I believe many amongst them will favour thy spirit and know what uniformity and unity thou art for which may be more properly called deformity and enmity and so thy flattering Epistle when they see thy spirit will hardly merit thanks and so that wicked spirit which could not be satisfied in the time of the former Parliaments and Protectors still persists in the unfatiable desire to see if the Army will gratifie thee and turn persecutors but thou hast mist it far in crying a confederacy to the reverend Pastors or Priests of Scotland the Army knows right well or at least might do that the Priests of Scotland whom thou so reverencest have been alwayes hinderers and obstructors of the way of God and of his work these divers years instance two or three hundred of them before the fight at Dunbar who prophesied all like Zedekiah for the poor Scots against the English Army to go up and prosper and cursed them and Excommunicated them and gave them up to Satan and for distruction but such Prophets were made fools and their divinations was madness and God gave a sufficient testimony against them and their deceived followers wch I hope the English Army hath not yet forgotten and for the Scotch Priests and their Doctrine and practice 't is so grosly ignorant and abominably prophane as I believe many of the Army do right well know but such as are not satisfied I refer them to a Book called the Doctrines and Principles of the Priests of Scotland wherein may be seen their deceit and how some of them hath said they had
make good that which thou hast charged some with Hast thou not knowingly wronged us when thou hast brought all those which thou counts Hereticks all Europe over and some parts else and whatsoever they did or said must be imputed unto us I know thy envy in times past with the rest of the Priests was as much against them who were separate from your Assemblies as now against us and all these things that thou hast racked up in this book out of Histories of Germany of new England which I am not credulous to receive from thy mouth no more then I shall thy History as thou calls it of the Quakers for thou which wilt lye of them which are so near thee may report many untruths at a distance and these things the hireling Priests were wont to charge upon the Baptists and Independants but now we are become the object of all your reproach and your butt to shoot at but we are in that which the Devil cannot prevail against neither the gates of Hell In thy third Chap. thou saith Thou wilt Treat of the Predecessors of the Quakers and thou reckons up Simon Magus Menander Saturnus how he taught that Marriage and Generation was of Sathan and Arians who denied the Divinity of Christ and Pelagius a Monk who held that a man without the Grace of God was able to fulfil all the Commandements of God and of Balsidies that he taught that it was not Jesus but Simon of Cyrene that was crucified in his shape These are none of our Predecessours take them to thy self and whether hast thou not knowingly wronged us in these things and how wilt thou make every thing good which thou hast charged us withal These things forementioned and many more which I shall pass over as not to trouble the Reader with in which thou hast charged us falsly wherein thou art required to make good the charge or else cease thy clamerous tongue these that thou hast reckoned up you use to call them Arians Saturnians and Palagians but now thou hast made them all Quakers In thy 13th page thou manifests what spirit thou art of thou tells of the old Church-Government being taken away to wit the Common-prayer Book taken out of the Mass-book then began Sects to arise So that it seems thy chief Reformation and Religion is but the old Lithurgy which is little better then the Mass and the Ministers the old corrupt Bishops that the earth groaned with the burthen thereof whose Ordination Call is from the Pope their Original and from the Church of Rome your Mother from whence these State-hirelings which burthens the whole Creation sprang forth thou would have all confined unto this dark mist and compelled to worship according unto those popish Traditions held forth for publick worship in that time Further thou brings a heap of lyes out of Baxter a man at enmity against all goodness who hath written many lying Books against the living Truth for which the Lord God will call him and thee to account Thou sets down some of that which thou calls our Principles in the 16th page How that we deny all Officers in a Common-wealth and how we deny all Relation as Brother and Sister Magistrate Master Father Mother Son and Daughter Husband and Wife and that Husband and Wife should part asunder and that all things should be common All these things shall turn upon thy own head and now to the light in thy Conscience I speak which thou despisest whether thou hast not wilfully wronged us and I require of thee according to thy promise to make these things good but I believe thy proof is out of our Adversaries Books Baxters and the Priests of New-Castle which things have been answered and their lyes turned upon their own heads In the 17th page thou hast gathered some words and Sentences out of our Books many of them are so evident and manifest truth to all that are come to a good understanding that they need no vindication for they will vindicate themselves and have an evident witness in every ones Conscience that believes so far as thou hast truely transcribed them and many of those doctrines and practices which thou hast set down as errours the Scripture will bear witness too and the example of the Saints Evidence and the judicious will receive with gladness of heart and by it thy envious Spirit will be made manifest to all where thy lying story shall come In thy 30th page thy lips being accustomed to utter forth lyes and deceit thou proceeds and sayes That the Quakers say that a man is Justified by the merit of good works and inherent Righteousness and how that we hold the real Corporal presence of Christ in many places at once and overthrows the Articles of Christs humanity and further thou saist That Christ is Corporally in Heaven But for proof I expect none from thee for thou speaks as though thy tongue were thy own and I charge thee to instance where in all our writings we have said that a man is Justified by inherent Righteousness or where thou finds real Corporal presence or where it is written in the Scripture that Christ is Corporally in Heaven Yet the man Christ is at the right hand of God from whence he shall appear to thy Judgement and Condemnation except thou repent and Christ Gods Righteousness must be revealed within by which the Saints are Justified In the 31 page thou tells of the Actions and Manners of the Quakers and thou sayes They will not put off their hats before the highest Authority and how they stood covered and thoued and theed the Chair-man and Members of Parliament to the great dishonour of the Authority of England as ever was admitted This showes that the Authority of England hath in times past been out of the Authority of God and in the same Authority which we find mentioned in the Scripture before whom the Prophets Christ and the Apostles were brought before though many of the Magistrates then were out of the power of God yet they did not reprehend them for want of hats or caps or bowings or saying thee or thou and it seems the Committee and Members of Parliament did 〈◊〉 it no dishonour though thou doth who art a busie body but fools loves to be medling Then thou proceeds on and sayes They will not Petition men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the greatest Power witness all their Addresses to the Protectors and also tells How a Quaker in Hartfordshire swore against them that pulled down the house where the Quakers met It is not consistent with them that are in the truth and in the power of God to come with fained Petitions full of flattery and deceit which answereth not Gods witness but rather the wrong part which would be courted flattered which holds under the Just neither can they who are in the truth make such fained complemental Addresses as the hireling Teachers from all quarters of the Nation did to the late Protectors who
in thy own words what would not these men do if they had power to their will But the power of the Lord God preserves the innocent and is against all the workers of iniquity I shall not trouble the Reader with what Priest Ford and Fowler of Redding hath gathered up out of Priests books which they have vomitted forth against the way of truth nor what Tho. Underhill hath licked up and vomits out again which is but that which hath been vomitted up before so that it may be said of them all as the Prophet saith Their Tables is full of vomit and filthy spewing covers them all all which things hath been answered over and over but that swine loves to be wallowing in the mire and doggs loves to lick up their vomit and the envy of the wicked will not cease till he be cut off nor the evil eye for watching after mischief till it be put out And now Tho. Underhill and the rest of thy party who resist the Spirit if I would recriminate might not I more justly and truly bring many thousand bad examples acted by your party who are accounted Christians and charge them all upon you then all these things in thy lying story which thou hast brought against the Quakers If I should go from Parish to Parish as thou hast done from one end of the Land to another and also beyond the Seas and should I reckon up all the fornicatours and adulterers all the thieves and murtherers all the proud and covetous all the fighters brawlers railers drunkards cheaters and defrauders and should charge all these upon the Presbytery what a Volume I might make And were not this a just Retaliation would thou count it an equal thing or would it be accounted Just in the sight of sober men if I should charge the moderate and guiltless with these things before mentioned then Judge thy self for thy envy and foolishness and let thy mouth be stopped for ever for accusing those whom God Justifies In the 38 page In thy Observation on the whole History That one may talk much of God and Christ and of the things of Religion and all invain and how the coming in of unbelief shuts out Truth Faith and Pitty and the great danger the Nation is in by being overrun with hypocrisie and formality in Religion and how many hath the form of godliness but denies the power He whose eye is open may see the intent of thy History is to resist the power of truth and to strengthen deceit and this shall stand for thy own lot and for the Congregations and Assemblies thou art pleading for who at the best are but in the suburbs of Babylâ—â— who talk of God and Christ and of the Spirit and of Religon but all in vain for nothing is brought forth among you but formality deceit and hypocrisie and errour and unbelief and a form of godliness hath long covered the Nation and Truth Faith and Piety hath been rejected and the power of godliness but now hath the Lord appeared and hath rent the vail and manifested the deceitful workers and hypocrites and though thou be observant as to others foot-steps yet thou hast not viewed thy self neither pulled the beam out of thine own eye neither hath discovered thy envy nor the murderous spirit that rules in thy heart from whence all these muddy waters flows forth and all this fog and mists arises which darkens the air which whosoever receives in their understandings comes to be darkned but all that fear the Lord will see that out of thy corrupt heart all this mischief which thou hast long been treasuring up doth now come forth upon which the day of wrath will come both upon thee and it Thou saith The Quakers hath no reason in the world to boast of their sufferings as they do for they have suffered as evil-doers for being uncivil to Magistrates and disturbing Gods people in their Assemblies and for being busie-bodies and some other known wickednesses and all their charging Courts â—nd Justices with persecution falls flat to the ground We are no boasters but rejoice in our sufferings for Christs sake neither are we weary but are willing to bear and suffer till the Lord arise and plead our Cause and our sufferings are recorded and the Lord hath considered them though men would not and hath overturned many and rebuked many for our sakes and it is he that justifies us and who art thou that condemns us the Testimony of our innocency and the causeless suffering hath a witness in many thousands hearts who are not like thine as flint and what uncivility hath any to lay to our charge as against Magistracy whom have we wronged or what violence have we done to any except thou Judge that incivility because we do not complement bow and flatter and make feigned Addresses like thy generation and this your Highness and the other your Excellency and another my Illustrious Lord and the next week or next month call them Traytors Tyrants and Usurpers and as I told thee before that which was order among the Churches is accounted disturbance by thee which evidently manifests that you are in the Apostacy and out of the Christian Religion which was professed practised among the Primitive Christians and for any known wickedness among us I am out of all doubt if thou had any thing thou would preach it upon the house top known wickedness hath God redeemed us from which thou yet wallows in yet takes delight in And therefore all these known and wicked abominable falshoods and lies is come forth besides the abusing of our words and false representing what we have written as our Doctrines to the world and this thou hast done sometimes added to our words and sometimes detracted from them and sometimes adds thy own Collections and then presents them to publick view as our Errours and Blasphemies and as for Courts and Justices Magistrates and Rulers many of them hitherto hath ruled by the Dragons power and not by the Power of God and in that many hath incouraged the evil-doers and hath not listned to the cry of the oppressed therefore hath the Lord God overturned them and their day is past and our charges against their wickedness and persecution neither our Testimony neither our sufferings hath fallen to the ground but stands as a record against them And thou saith It is high time for all the redeemed ones and sanctifie ones and Children of Grace the Favourites of Heaven honest godly sincere Christians Children that will not lie to improve their intrust in God for this sinful devided Nation What dost thou own any to be redeemed and sanctified or to be Children of Grace or that doth not lie and yet cryes out of perfection as Blasphemie or that any should come to or live by that which is perfect if thou exclude the Quakers to be any of these they will not find many redeemed sanctified honest godly sincere Christians and all your
improvement and your intrust which you have in God and in Christ will but amount to a small dram you all of you hitherto as you have said have improved your intrust and hath sought God as you have said by your prayers and humiliations for the suppressing of that which you call heresie and yet you have had no answer neither hath he listned nor will he listen nor bow down his ear unto you because your hearts is full of abominations and as for relapsing into Popery you never came out of it witness the Priests Popish Ordination their Popish Attire your Popish Mass-houses your Cross and Bells your Popish Tithes Easter-reckonings and Mid-summer dues your Popish Colledges your Popish Crosses and your Popish Images in and about your Idols Temple and because of the holding up of these things the hearts of many of Gods people are made sad and because you would hold up your Religion by swords and clubs and persecute others who discent from you in this you are one with the Papists And is this all thy Reformation that thy godly Ministry can bring forth You have travelled in vain spent your strength for nought and because of these things the hand of God is against all in the Nation who hold them up and who is he that can alter the Councel of the Lord and God will not be reconciled to the Nation till these things be done away because of these things and many more grievous oppressions which hath been holden up therefore God hath broken them in the midst of their Councels and confounded them in the midst of their devices and will confound and overthrow all deceitful workers and unprofitable talkers such as thou art and one hill shall fall after another till there shall be a great plain that the ransomed of the Lord may walk over and worship the Lord together in spirit and love and truth in joy and gladness of heart even as when Israel kept the feast of Tabernacles And now I shall come to let the Reader see how thou hast falsified our words which thou hast added thy own imaginations to and then hath quoted our Books to make people believe they are our words when as they are thy own forged lies the which I shall return upon thee First Thou sayes George Fox In truth defended saith that Preaching the Word Praying and singing are no appointments of Christ when as he saith no such thing but the hireling Priests divination and feigned Prayers and other mens words in rhime and Meeter are the inventions of men and not the Ordinances of Christ Secondly Thou saith E. B. In truth defended saith The Priest taking Tythes in the time of the Law was evil and proved them to be false Prophets and deceivers When as he saith quite contrary that the Priests took Tythes under the Law according to the command of God but â—ow the Priesthood was changed and the Law was changed and them that Preach for hire and seek for their gain from their quarter or take Tythes are in the steps of false Prophets and deceivers and no Ministers of Christ Thirdly That its dangerous for the ignorant and unlearned to read the Scripture and the Ministers of it are the Ministers of death Now thou hast detracted from the words There it is said that it is dangerous for thee to take the Scripture to War against the Saints withal and to make a trade with it and give carnal Exposition and then sell them for money Fourthly Thou tells of one Master Kellet in Lancashire and his queries Whether did not Christ Institute his last Supper with bread and wine and R. H. saith The bread which Christ called his body is his Church which words thou hast mangled and perverted as thou hast done the most thou hath medled with there is no such man as Master Kellet the words are these in Truths Defence 103. Christ did not speak of bread and wine but he took bread and brake it and said This is my body and we witness the breaking of the bread which is his body and in this answer there is not one word of Church Fiftly E. B. In answer to Firmin his words thou hast perverted and would bring this as a contradiction of R. H. thou saith he allowes onely the wicked and ungodly to read the Scripture such as the Scribes and Pharisees and not the godly And not the godly is thy own adition he spoke concerning the Scribes and Pharisees who thought to have Eternal Life in the Scripture he saith this was spoken to the Pharisees and not to believers yet believers is not excluded from reading the Scripture for them it pertains to and they understand it but thou are like the Spider where the Bee gathers honey gathers that which is corrupt and in thy conclusion of thy story thou takes in hand to supplicate God and thou saith it is for the help of them that need it this thou might have spared till the old Prelates had come up again it may be some Synod of them will add to the Book of Common-Prayer thy late service and worship dost thou think the Lord will hear thy hypocrisie lies without returning his judgment on thy head Thou tells of some that sets light of Christ and his blood and Word thou art one of them that sets light of Christ and counts his blood as a vain thing as thy own words in thy Book shall testifie where the Reader may observe when we have testified of the true light wch lighteth every man that comes into the world who is the way to the Father thou hath set down our words for blasphemy and errour when divers of them are the words of Scripture and none of them but the Scripture will testifie unto against thee And as for the blood of Christ and the blood of the everlasting Covenant thou accounts a vain thing and an unholy thing even which cleanseth from sin and and bears witness against it and subdues it and makes them that receive it conquerers over sin but thou that cries out against perfection or freedom from sin and counts this errour and blasphemy â—hou denyes that which sanctifies and cleanseth from sin and counts it unholy and vain and so if the Lord should hear thee and grant that thou prayes for destruction would come upon thee and thou art one of the formal professors that had need to repent of thy deceit before thou can pray unto God either for thy self or others but enmity and wickedness lodges in thy heart against the Lord and the way of truth and thou hast resisted the Counsel of the Lord against thy self and therefore woes plagues thunders and storms is truely thy portion and nothing else must thou expect which undoubtedly will come upon thee except thou repent and it will be hard for thee to find a place of repentance for it is yet hid from thine eyes So I have answered thy lying History by which thou would inchant peoples minds