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
last Authority I shall Produce is of the Great Fox Himself in his Book call'd Several Papers given forth for the Spreading of Truth c. Printed 1671. There p. 54. is a Chapter which bears this Title Concerning Christ's Flesh which was Offered c. And this Flesh he makes not to be That which He took of the B. Virgin but That which he had from the Beginning and which he supposes was Crucify'd when Adam Fell And in That Crucifixion to Consist the Atonement and Satisfaction made for Sin And he takes that Text The Lamb slain from the Foundation of the world not as then Decreed and Purposed by God but Literally as then Actually Fulfill'd Thus he Begins that Chapter Christ the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the world when it began its Foundation then the Lamb was slain And Christ according to the Flesh Crucified the Lamb slain that Flesh of His which is a Mysterie when the first Adam's and Eve's Flesh was Defiled This he calls a Mystery And it is the true Mystery of Quakerism It is upon this account That the Quakers think all the Christian world to Lie in Darkness but Themselves That other Christians know of no other Flesh and Blood of Christ but that outward Flesh which He took in Time of the B. Virgin Hence it is common in their Discourse and in their Books to tell others That the Flesh of Christ is a Mysterie That they understand nothing of it As Solomon Eccles wrote That the Pope Sn. Sect. x. p. 138. the Episcopal the Presbyterian Independants and Baptists understand the Blood of Jesus Christ no more than a Brute Beast Therefore the Quaker's Confessing to the Blood of Christ in General Terms can be no Justification of them while they mean another Manhood Flesh Blood and Bones of Christ than any Christian ever Dreamt of But it Argues their Deep Deceit and Hypocricy to seem to Justifie themselves to the world by their General Confessions But Conceal their secret Meaning whereby they know that they Differ most Widely from those with whom they make this False Appearance of Agreeing Exactly Therefore their Answer to the Queres is no Answer while they Refuse to Renounce this Distinction that they have of Different Manhoods in Christ or otherwise to Explain themselves and tell us which of the Manhoods they mean The words of their Answer to the Queres upon this Head are these We sincerely believe in Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of the Living God both as he is true God and Perfect Man But what they mean by Man here they do not Declare Whether that Eternal or Heavenly Manhood before spoke of or the Outward and Terrestrial Manhood which he took of our Earth But Tho. Ellwood we thank him has told us and Discover'd the secret in his Answer to G. Keiths first Narrative p. 205. where he Recites a Quotation G. K. had brought out of G. Whiteheads Book The Malice of the Independent Agent p. 17. That Christ's Body now in Heaven is the same in substance He had on Earth which wou'd seem a Fair Confession to the Humanity of Christ But hold a little crys T. E. Did G. Whitehead ever call or own Christ's Body now in Heaven or while it was on Earth to be Terrestrial or of the Earth Here we see how to Understand their words and how to Interpret this their Answer to the Quaeres not of the outward or Terrestrial Manhood which Christ took of our Nature but of their Secret and Heavenly Manhood which they Madly Fancie He had from Eternity And thus G. Whitehead Explains himself in his Part of The Christian Quaker Printed An. 1674. p. 140. where he says That he was not at all against Jesus Christ being God and Man take Man says he as Christ is the Heavenly Spiritual and Glorify'd Man But he Confesses that he was against this viz. That Jesus Christ consisteth of Human Flesh and Bone Here he Distinguishes betwixt the Heavenly and the Human Manhood The first he Ascribes to Christ but Denies the Latter that Christ has any Human Manhood And the Reason he gives for it is Seeing Christ says he was from Everlasting which is the same we have heard before from Thom. Ellwood where he takes upon him to Explain Will. Penn's sense in this Matter viz. That Christ as Christ always had a Manhood And seeing He had it from Everlasting therefore it cou'd not be the Human but the Heavenly Manhood Flesh Blood and Bone What then was that Flesh and Blood which he took of the B. Virgin wherein He suffer'd and Rose again And of which he said Behold my Hands and my Feet Luk. xxiv 39. Handle me and see for a Spirit hath not Flesh and Bones as ye see Me have To this says G. W. ibid. p. 139. 140. yes Christ Had such Flesh and Bones but he did not Consist of them I distinguish between Consisting and Having Says he i. e. A man Hath anything that he Possesses or wears I Have a Cloak but I do not Consist of that Cloak that is It is no Part of my Nature and I may Put it on or Throw it off without any Change of my Nature And no otherwise do the Quakers reckon of the Body and Blood which Jesus our B. Lord took in Time in the Womb of the Virgin Not that He took it into His Person so as to Consist of it as a Man do's Consist of Both Natures of his Body and Soul But only that He Had it that is Made Vse of it and wore it for a Time as a Vail or Garment which He has now laid aside and subsists in Heaven only in that Heavenly and Eternal Manhood Flesh Blood and Bones which He had as Christ from Eternity And they make it a Contradiction to say That Christ do's Consist of any other Flesh and Bone that is of Human Flesh and Bone they think this to be a Contradiction to Christ's being the Eternal Word because they hold that He cou'd not be the Word or Christ without Consisting of Flesh Blood and Bone And therefore That if He had None but the Flesh c. of the Human Nature which was Created in Time it must follow That He was not the Word or Christ from Everlasting Thus says G. W. ibid. p. 139. Is there not a Plain Contradiction between Jesus Christ Consisting of Flesh and Bone Human Nature And that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Eternal word from Everlasting c. Therefore you see it is Necessary for us in order to Oblige these Quakers to Discover their Meaning that we Insist upon the word Human And that they will Answer whether they Allow Christ to have Now in Heaven any Human Body Or whether He do's Consist Now of that Body or did Consist of it while He was upon Earth But will the Word Human hold them Have they no Dodge nor Shift whereby to use even that word Plainly in a sense in which they know that
no body Understands it in this Case What if we spell it Humane for Human and take Humanity in the Moral and not Natural sense of the word as when we say that such an One is a Man of Great Humanity i. e. of Good Nature Gentleness Goodness c. And Christ or The Word having Great Goodness in His Nature consequently we will allow Him a Humane tho not a Human Nature I am Confident the Reader do's now think that I am Fooling with these Quakers and Mean this only as a Banter For that he must Conclude it Impossible for any Men to shew themselves such Knaves as well as Fools to Dodge at such a silly and Impudent rate with Mankind while they Pretend to the Greatest Plainess and Sincerity of any Men upon the Earth Therefore let him Read a Quaker Book Intitul'd A Testimony for the true Christ and His Light in the Conscience in Confutation of Robert Cobbit 's Testimony against the Truth c. Printed An. 1668. And said on the Title Page to be From some of them called Quakers But suppos'd to be Penn'd by G. Whitehead There p. 4. and 5. they say As he Rob. Cobbit speaks of Humane with Relation to Nature or Body it hath Relation to the Earth or Humus the Ground of which Man was made which the First Man is of not the second though He was Really Man too but Humane or Humanity in the other sence with Relation to Gentleness Mercifulness and the like this we know was and is in the Image of God in which Man was Made and His Gentleness Kindness Mercifulness c. is Manifested in Christ And the true and Real Humanity as Oppos'd to that Cruelty Envy and In-Humanity which is got up in Man since the Fall so that Humanity und the Unreasonableness of Beasts are two things Thus the Quakers Here they Deny Christ the Second Man to have been Made of Humus the Earth as the First Man was And yet say they He the second Man was Really Man too How was this It cou'd not be in the same sense as the First Man who was Made of Humus the Earth if Christ did not take our Nature or Humus upon Him No The Quakers do not mean it in that sense as if Christ had ever taken our Human Nature so as to Consist of it or let it be any Part of His Person And yet they say That He is Really Man too By which they Mean only That Eternal and Heavenly Manhood before Mentioned And so Banter the World with their Plain Confessions in Double Meanings Yet have they the Confidence to Cry Whore first And Boldly Challenge others with what Themselves are the most Notoriously Guilty of any that Live upon the face of the Earth Sam. Fisher one of the Chief Rabbies of the Quakers Sam. Fishers Works p. 177. Charges the Priests against whom he Disputes with Shameful shiftings from sense to sense miserable marchings from Meaning to Meaning so that we can hardly know where or How to find them nor what they mean But we says he mostly or ever keep to the True Honest Ordinary and Plain purport of the words as they lie open and Clear to every Ordinary and Common Capacity And G. Whitehead Intitul's one of his Books The Quaker's Plainess detecting Fallacie Whereas their Books are such Un-intelligible Jargon that one must serve a Prentiship before he can understand one word almost of what they wou'd be at Nay they Glory and often Boast that their Words as well as Names are Hidden from the World And this not only in their Books but I Appeal to all that Converse with them whether the same Mysteriousness be not in all their Conversation concerning Religion When you ask them the meaning of their Light within their Christ within their Life Read c. They Answer Commonly with a Grunt of Disdain or Pity as they wou'd have you take it And when they Vouchsafe to Speak it is to this Purpose These things are Hid from thee and from the World Read within there thou wilt find them But we know them and have Sweetness and Life in them c. Their Language is as much a Cant as the Gipsies And this has Preserv'd them so long Vn-discover'd in the World Yet they make up a Mouth and Pretend to Plainess beyond all others But you shall never get them to Answer Directly or to the Purpose To give a Plain Yea or Nay to any Question concerning their Heresies If they say I wrong them let this be the Test That they will either Own or Disown this their Notion of an Heavenly and Eternal Manhood of Christ And tell us in Plain Terms which of the Manhoods that which is Created or that which they say is Vn-created they mean when they Confess to the Manhood of Christ now in Heaven And till they do this which I Guess will not be in Hast let my Charge stand good against them Which I may Reasonably presume from all Judicious Readers But ther is no stop in the Art of Heresie This their Mad Notion of an Heavenly Body in God or Christ has brought them to Fancy that they themselves have the same Heavenly Body And thus they Understand our being Members of Christ not as being Members of His Church of which He is the Mystical Head But as Members of this His Heavenly Flesh Blood and Bones And therefore say that Their own Bodies shall never Dye G. Fox when one minded him that he wou'd Dye Will. Rogers his Christian Quaker IV. Part. p. 49. and turn to Dust and therefore that he ought to be Humble Answers in his Letter which is Printed Thou sayest when I am turned to Dust and Dead Is this thy Doctrin Are the Members of the Heavenly Body turned to Dust and Dead This Doctrin proceeds from Darkness and not from the Light of Christ. This is very Intelligible And Easie to the Meanest Capacity This is the Quakers Plainess It was not said that his Soul shou'd turn to Dust this was spoke of his Body And here he denies it of the Body Why Because it was a Member of the Heavenly Body of God And yet they do not doubt but their Bodies must Dye in the True Honest Ordinary and Plain purport of the Words to which they Mostly or Ever keep But this Mystery is Vn-Riddl'd in the Second Part. Sect. vii n. 2. where it is shewn That they hold their Bodies as well as Souls to be God It is told in the Preface how the Quaker Heresies were Borrow'd from the Ancienter Sectaries amongst us And this their Answer to the Seven Queres shews that they have Inherited their Plainess and Sincerity in Representing their own Principles to the World The Family of Love who Prevaricated in every Article of the Creed Printed a Confession of their Faith in the very words of the Creed An. 1656. But how they meant it Mr. Knewstub has shewn us which is Inserted in Heresiography p. 97.
Generation of Men call'd Quakers Printed 1654. subscrib'd by five of the then Ministers p. 83.84.85 where you will find more Instances as of Edmund Nuby's wife who went Naked through Kendal and after in Dec. 1653. came in the same manner into the Church at Kendal Another in the Same Posture about the beginning of January into Hutton Chappel at the time of Exercise as they word it Elizab Levens and Miles Newby Here they go by Couples Male and Female like the Beasts into the Ark went Naked up the streets at Kendal This was attested by Mr. Walker Minister at Kendal under his hand by his Letters baring Date 31. January 1653. Thom. Castel went as Naked as he was Born thro' the streets at Kendal the 10. January 1653. On Monday 28. Octob. 1653 one Thom. Holme of Kendal went as Naked thro' the Market-Place at Kirby Steven upon the Market Day and at his turning he said It is not I but God that goeth Naked And the week following another Great Ring-Leader of the Quakers one Taylour came to that Town And Denounced Woes against it for Rejecting that Prophet of The Lord whom He had sent to do signs and wonders in it All these Instances were in one Year within the Compass of 4 Months in and about Kendal when Quakerism was but 3 years old You may Imagin then how many more Examples might be Produc'd in other Places throu-out this and other Kingdoms and Nations where they have spread themselves in 48 years time now since they came into the World But if you say that these Testimonies are taken from Adversaries the 5 Ministers before Mentioned I Answer that in things of such Publick and Notorious Nature it cannot be suppos'd that they wou'd Print a Lye so soon that is Presently after as by the date of their Book such things were done when it wou'd have been in the Power of Every body in those Towns to Contradict and Expose them And if these Instances had been False it is not to be Imagin'd but that the Quakers in those times wou'd have Deny'd them But further we have both George Fox and James Naylor their Answer to this book of these 5 Ministers And they Both do allow these Instances to be True Boast of More of them And Defend and Justifie the thing as being Divine and From God G. Fox's Answer is in his Great Mystery p. 233. where as to these Persons going Naked he says This hath been a Figure of your Nakedness who are Egypt Spiritual and the Ethiopian Black And speaking of the Holy Prophets having been Signs to those in their Generations he adds such the Lord hath moved his Servants to give a True Sign amongst you and not a Lying who have their Cloathing of the Spirit which ye want which ye shall witness the Truth of the Lord God in the Sign if ever ye come into the True Cloathing of the Spirit of God By this no man can be sav'd who will not Allow and Receive these Beastly Im-Modesties of the Quakers as Divine and Heavenly Signs James Nayler in his Answer to this Book of the Five Ministers which he Intituls A Discovery of the Man of Sin Printed 1655. coming to that Point of their Going Naked he says p. 48. God hath made as many Signs among you as to go Naked in your Steeple-Houses in your Markets in your Streets as Many in the Northern Parts which is a Figure to you of all your Nakedness Here he owns many Instances of the like Nature in other Places I cou'd Produce more by name as of Daniel Smith Distiller of Malborrough in Wiltshire who about Twenty years ago went from Malborrough to Hull on purpose to shew himself stark Naked in the Church there which he did And I suppose the Friends have not forgot at least the Quaker that Marry'd her has not that Precious Servant Maid at Putney who came Quite naked into the Room where her Master had Company at Dinner and when some wou'd have cover'd her shame she thank'd them for their Love but wou'd not admit of that sort of Kindness But said that she was moved of the Lord to march quite round the Table in that same Posture which she did But why shou'd I heap up Instances of this their Beastliness seeing it is not Disputed but Justify'd And the Receiving such Obscene Bruts as Signs sent from Heaven made necessary to Salvation as you have heard from Fox But all sober Christians will rather look upon them as Signs of the Prodigious Delusions of the Devil to make Men believe even Women that Divesting themselves of all Natural Modesty And Exposing themselves Naked in Publick Naked Men and Women together as before is told and out-doing the very Impudence of the Stews is Consistent with that Shamefastness and Sobriety which is so strongly Inculcated in the Gospel of Christ But to think such Highly Englightned beyond the ordinary Measure and thereby to Commence Prophets and Prophetesses sent from God what is this but to have their Brains turn'd with this Enthusiastical-Madness and without straining the Matter to be Literally out of their Wits and Distracted What Greater Signs are shewn of it even in Bedlam And are not they as Mad who Defend and Justify these in their Madness Of which more hereafter 2. But as those who thus Expos'd themselves Stark-Naked In their Strange Singularities are to be Computed no otherwise than as Stark-Mad so these who in lesser Degrees act contrary to the Common Reason and Sense of Mankind are to be suppos'd Maddish for ther are Degrees of Madness Now if we see a man Abstract himself from all Human Conversation to be always alone to Grow surly and Morose silent and sullen when Accosted Exotick and Phantastical in his Dress shunning what any body else do's wear loving to Appear Singular in all his words and Gestures who will neither Speak Look nor Go like other men the Common observation of Mankind reckons of these as Growing towards Madness But if they say such a stress upon these as to think it a Sin to use the Common Language Habit or Salutations this is a Heightning of their Madness To make it as G. Fox do's a Sin for Women to have slit-Peaks on the Skirts of their Wastcoats Short Black Aprons or Vizard-Masks or for Men to wear Skimming-Dish Hats as he calls the little Hats or Vnnecessary Buttons on their Coats or Cloaks And to Pronounce all this stuff as from the Immediat Spirit of God! see Sn. p. 299. If this be not Madness I think Olivers Porter had hard measure to have his Preaching Confin'd to Bedlam when G. Fox was suffer'd to go Loose who said in his Journal p. 24. When the Lord sent me forth into the World He forbad me to put off my Hat to any and I was Requir'd to Thee and Thou all Men and Women they wou'd Down with all wordly Honour as long as they had no share in it Now in all the fore-mention'd
p. 301. Add to this another Instance given in the Further Discovery before Quoted wrote by Five Ministers p. 91. of a Quaker woman who came to Disturb one of their Congregations at Kellet in Lancashire she fell into a Trance her Belly puffed up her sides Extended her Back-bone thrust out her whole Body as a Bladder when it is in Blowing c. This is attested under the hand or Mr. Moore Minister at Kellâ—t But Instances are Endless See the General Account of it in a Book Printed at that time 1653. call'd A brief Relation of the Irreligion of the Northern Quakers Wrote by Francis Higgison p. 15. Those in their Assemblies that are taken with these Fits fall suddenly down as it were in a Swoon as tho' they were surpris'd with an Epilepsis or Apoplexy and ly Groveling on the Earth and strugling as it were for Life and sometimes more Quietly as tho' they were Departing While the Agony of their Fits is upon them their Lips Quiver their Flesh and Joints Tremble their Bellies swell as tho' Blown with Wind they Foam at the Mouth and sometimes Purge as if they had taken Phisick In this Fit they continue sometimes an Hour or two sometimes Longer before they come to themselves again And when it leaves them they Roar out Horribly with a Voice Greater than the Voice of a Man The Noise those say that have heard it is a very Horrid Fearfull Noise and Greater sometimes than any Bull can make The Speaker when any of them falls in this Fit will say to the rest that are sometimes Astonisht at this sight especially if they be Incipients let them alone trouble them not the Spirit is now strugling with the Flesh if the Spirit overcome they will Quickly come out of it again though it be sorrow now it will be Joy in the Morning c. And when they have said a few words to this Effect they go on with their Speaking Sometimes they carry those wretched Patients to Beds when they are near them and let them Ly on them till their Fit be over These Quakings they Maintain Saul's Errand p. 5. and in their Books and Papers call them the Marvelous works of the Lord Battels of Shaking and Trembling before the Presence of the Lord and call them that speak against them Ishmaelites that scoff at the works of the Lord They say also those that speak against this Quaking shew themselves to be Blasphemers and that it is Presumption and Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost to speak against it Thus that Account Take another two Years after this Wrote by Mr. Edmund Skipp then Minister of Bodenham in Hereford-shire but who as himself tells us had been before seduc'd by the fair Pretences of the Quakers and was one of them But by the Great Mercy of God having Discover'd their Gross Deceits he Return'd from them and then Gave notice of them to the World in a Book printed 1655. which he Intituled The Worlds wonder or The Quakers Blazing-Star c. there p. 22. he tells of these Mysterious Deceits of Anti-Christ Which I gather says he from those strange and unheard of Passions and Agonies those Great Burthens and Exercitations of Body in so much that they are sometimes in Trances and Soundings and if they are not brought into such a state of Deadness as it were yet they suffer most Extreme Tortures of Body that hath been Visible to me and several others many times nay so much Extremity that it maketh them Roar out for very Bitterness And I do clearly Judge that if the Lord did not Limit the Devil in their behalf as he did for Job saying Thou shalt not touch his Life it wou'd be Impossible for their Concaves to hold their Inwards in those Violent Motions for they are made under those Agonies to Tremble and Quake as though their Flesh must part from their Bones and Ligatures like unto Men in the strongest Fits of an Ague that ever you saw as tho' they had seen Belshazzar's Vision Dan. 10. that made his knees smite one against another In those strange Passions they are Exercised with so much Heat I know not of what sort that it maketh them cry out for Drink and maketh them Sweat like men in most violent Feavers Now they call these Agonies the Fiery-Trial and say it is the Power of the Holy Ghost burning up and Destroying their Corruptions and Purifying them like Gold that is tried seven times in the Fire And that which is very strange when they are thus in the midst of these Extreme Shakings Quakings Trials Roarings and Perplexities that one wou'd think ther cou'd be no more Torment upon the Damn'd Spirits than is upon them at the Present yet many times when they begin to come to their Speech for it falleth out often that they are not able to speak for a long time they will speak how much Joy and Pleasure they have mix'd with that Torment in such an Inseperable Manner as they themselves Express as Heat and Fire mix'd together that they cou'd wish to be in it for Ever and Ever This they call Drinking of the Cup or the Undergoing the Curse and wrath of God as Christ did for here they speak to my Understanding most Blasphemously and say they must be brought to suffer as Christ did and to Undergo as Great a sense of Wrath as He did when he Cried out My God My God why hast thou forsaken me In a word as far as ever I cou'd Understand their Apprehensions by their Expressions in this last particular I did Judge this to be their Delusion that they must suffer Eternal Burnings bearing the full weight of Divine Justice and wrath as fully as though ther never had been any Christ Crucifi'd or acceptation of His Sacrifice untill as they say ther shou'd be no more left in them but the Pure seed of God in its own Perfect Likeness And they say that Condition or state which is call'd in Scripture Hell or Everlasting Torment is but a Dispensation which shall End at such a time as that Burning and Torment of the Soul and Conscience shall have Refin'd it and brought it into its former Purity and Likeness of God Thus far I have transcrib'd out of this Author not only as to this of their Quaking but because he do's withal open to us the very Heart and Bottom of the Quaker Heresie viz. That the Meritorious Cause of our Justification is not the Sufferings of Christ in His Body upon the Cross but that the same sufferings must be wrought over again in us that we must Bear our own Sins in our own Bodies and must be Healed by our own Stripes which likewise they call the Sufferings of Christ or the Light within them And that what he suffers thus within every man is the only Meritorious Cause of his Justification and Reconciliation to God That what He suffer'd Outwardly upon the Cross is nothing to us but an Example a History
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
Jesus which was not a Fantastical but a Real Body Here is putting in things they are not Accused of that they may seem to vindicate themselves in something They are not Accused for saying that the Body of Jesus was a Fantastical or not a Real Body but that it was not Truly that is Hypostatically the Body of Christ only a Vail or Garment wherein He Dwelt And in that sense it was His Body as a Man's Cloak or Garment is his Garment and so it was that as G. W. says which Christ owned as his own Body being also adds he called the Body of Jesus i. e. in some other sense than it was the Body of Christ That is It was the True Proper and Natural Body of the Man Jesus But it was the Body of Christ only as He Dwelt in it in the Body of that man Jesus as G. W. thinks He do's in the Body of George Whitehead Otherwise it cou'd not be call'd the Body of Christ and also as G. W. here the Body of Jesus This must make Jesus and Christ to be Two Persons For Example if I shou'd say the Body of George which is also the Body of Whitehead this wou'd either be Non-sense or else it must Divide George from Whitehead and make the Body to belong to George in one sense and to Whitehead in another It is told before p. 17 18. How nicely G. W. do's Distinguish between Consisting and Having and tho' he Allow'd that Christ once Had a Body that is in His Possession as a man Hath an House or a Cloak yet G. W. positively Denies That Christ did Consist of Human Flesh and Blood And if so Then He was never Truly and Really a Man only such in Appearance and False-shew Which overthrows the whole Foundation of the Christian Faith And is an Abominable Heresie long since Condemn'd by the Catholick Church as I have elsewhere shewn And that the Quakers have Lick'd it up as they wou'd Pretend by Inspiration which if so was most Certainly from the Devil the Father of Lies But let us see more of them Richard Hubberthorn in his works Printed 1663. among several Queres which he puts against Christ's being a Creature or having any Created Nature in Him do's Demand p. 49. and 50. When was that Christ Created which you say must as a Creature Judge the World And if in Mary 's time who was Judge of the World till then Was not the Person of Christ Jesus before the World was And when had the Man Christ Jesus his Beginning if you can Declare it How is Christ the only begotten Son of God if He be a Creature or how can God beget a Creature And if the whole Person of Christ was not before the Earthly Adam how was the Creation made by Him Or how can He be of the Nature of fallen Adam and not Earthly and Defiled And is the Flesh of Christ Heavenly or Earthly Or is He Christ without His Flesh i. e. He had always an Heavenly Flesh and that He has still But never took Flesh of Adam's Nature for then they think He must have been Defil'd As if He cou'd not take the Nature without the Defilement which was but Accidental to it George Fox in his Great Mystery p. 99. sets down this Principle of the Professors as he calls them That Christ hath a Humane Reasonable Soul And he Disputes against it and Battels it as a Gross Error For says he Is not a Human Soul Earthly for you say that Christ had a Human Soul and is not Human Earthly And hath a Human Body and is not a Human Body an Earthly Body was not the first man of the Earth Earthly and had an Human Body the Second man the Lord from Heaven This is the Heavenly Body and Flesh which they suppose Christ had from Eternity But here and in many other Places they Deny Christ to have either Human Body or Soul or to be a Man otherwise than as they say He was Man before the Creation This being Urg'd against them by John Bunyan Minister of Bedford who in his Gospel-Truths Opened Sect. 18. takes pains to prove that the Christ who was Born of the Virgin was the true Saviour and then Infers p. 652 of his works in these words How are they then Deceived who own Christ no otherwise than as He was before the world began For in their owning of Him thus and no otherwise they do directly Deny Him to be come in the Flesh and are of that Anti-Christian Party which John Speaks of 1. Joh. iv 3. Edw. Burrough Answers this Book of Bunyan's and coming to this Passage p. 142. of his works he Repeats Bunyan's words thus How are they Deceived who own Christ no otherwise than as He was before the world began c. And instead of Clearing the Quakers from this Objection or Disowning it to be a Principle of the Quakers he stands by it and pretends to give Reasons for it as Christ the same Yesterday to Day and for Ever And that Christ was before Abraham c. And falls upon Bunyan for his Grievous Ignorance in not Apprehending this Quaker-Mystery as he words it thus To own Him Christ as He was before the world was for Salvation But that was not the Question Bunyan's words even as Repeated by Burrough are not against owning Christ as He was before the World was for that Bunyan and all Christians own but against owning Him so And No otherwise i. e. Not as having taken Flesh in time of the B. Virgin having Suffer'd and Dy'd for us for in that Respect and not only as He was before the World was Bunyan Contends that He was our Saviour And Burrough opposing him in this shews plainly what they mean viz. That Christ has now no other Flesh or Manhood than what He had before the World was and that He is not our Saviour upon account of that Flesh of Jesus which He Borrow'd as a Vail to shrowd Himself in for a time or for what that Body suffer'd but that He is our Saviour only as He was before the World was and as they say that He is Inwardly now in their Hearts in His Heavenly Flesh and Blood which he had from Eternity And the whole Merit and Atonement for Sin they place in the Inward Shedding of this Spiritual Blood in their Hearts which they call the Sufferings of Christ yes and of His Manhood too of His Body and His Flesh thus Bantering Mankind while they Mean nothing of this of that Visible Body in which He Appear'd in the Days of Pontius Pilat and which was Nail'd to the Cross but of the Invisible Body Flesh Blood and Bones of the Godhead The Arch-Enemy having Taught them this Damnable Heresie and thereby put the Grossest of Darkness for Light and Defrauded them of whole Christianity the Faith in the outward Jesus and what He did and suffer'd outwardly for Us tho' it be Inwardly Apprehended and Apply'd by Faith which is
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
Constant Theam to Rail at Fine Houses and Costly Furniture particularly against Coaches which they Despis'd as the Fox did the Grapes that were out of his Reach They made these the Infallible Marks of Pride and of The worlds People No man Denies but that Pride is a Sin And that Men may be Proud of these things But the Quakers made the Having of these things or Vsing of them to be Pride They Puplish'd a Book with this Magnificent Title The Trumpet of the Lord Blown c. An. 1655. which Begins thus Wo unto you that are called Lords Ladies Knights Gentlemen and Gentlewomen in respect to your Persons who are called of men Master and Sir and Mistriss and Madam And you must have your Wine and Ale and all your Dainty Dishes And you have your Fine Attire Silk Velvet and Purple Gold and Silver and you have your waiting-Men and waiting-Maids under you to waite upon you and your Coaches to Ride in and your High and Lofty Horses And here you are Lords over your fellow Creatures and they must Bow and Crouch to you And you will be called Masters upholding that which Christ in his Doctrin forbids who saith Be not ye called Masters The Lord abhors all your Profession Your Works are the Works of the Devil in your Dainty Dishes in your Lofty Horses in your Curious Buildings in your Earthly Honour which is all the fruits of the Devil You are too High and Fine and too Lofty to Enter in at the straight Gate c. Yet now None are more High and Fine grown than the Quakers None have more Dainty Dishes and Curious Buildings None wear Finer Silk and Velvet They have their Wine and Ale too Their Lofty Horses yea vâ—rily and their Coaches to boot They have their Waiting-Men and Waiting-Maids And are Master'd and Mistress'd by them without fear of that Command Be not ye call'd Masters For the Case is Alter'd quoth Plouden They had then poor Souls None of these Tentations G. Fox was known by the Name of The man with the Leathern Briches which he tells full oft in his Journal And his first Followers had few of them a Tatter to their Taile Tho' they came after to upbraid others by the Name of Thread-bare Tatterdemallions See Sn. p. 200. They were their own waiting-Men and waiting-Maids And Rode upon their own Hobby-Horses None of them had been in the In-side of a Coach That was an Exaltation far above their Thoughts As were Fine Houses and Furniture to those who Pigg'd in Barns or Stables and under Hedges Therefore they Rail'd at all these Fine things because they had None of them or ever Hop'd to have Silly Dirty Draggle-Tayls And Nasty Slovens But now grown Fine and Rampant Yet still Pretend to keep to their Ancient Testimonies To be the same Poor in Spirit and Self-Deny'd Lambs they were at the Beginning Tho' they Now stive to out-do their Neighbours both in Fine Houses and Furniture They have got Coaches too Ay marry But you must not call them Coaches for that Name they had vilify'd and given it for a Mark of the Beast But as one of them said when his Coach was objected to him as Contrary to their Ancient Testimonies he Reply'd That it was not a Coach only a Leathern-Convenience Like the Traveller who told that they had no Knives in France And being ask'd How they cut their Meat Said with a certain thing they call a Couteau I cou'd Enlarge upon Quotations out of the Ancient Testimonies of the Quaker Authors against Fine Houses Coaches c. But I am afraid of tyring the Patience of the Reader Therefore shall Content my self with one more for it is a Pleasant one 2. Ther was nothing they Inveg'd against more severely than the use of Periwigs G. Fox had a Mind to be a Nazarite like Samson and wore Long streight Hair like Rats-Tayls just as Muggleton did But Will. Penn coming in among the Nasty Herd cou'd not so easily forget his Genteel Education He first Began with Borders at last came to plain Wiggs And after his Example it is now become a General Fashion among the Quakers to wear Wiggs G. Whitehead himself is come into it Therefore I must Mind them of their Ancient Testimonies against it Of which I have Annex'd one in the Collection N. 7. Because it is short and very Extraordinary for the Learning Wit and Quaker vein of Poetry It will be an Entertainment for the Reader But I wou'd not Force it upon him therefore I have put it where he may Read it or Let it alone There the Quakers make the wearing of a Wig to be downright Sin and Confusion And bring several Texts of Scripture to Prove it They Compare those that wear them to Hermophradites and for Rime to Catamites Nay they make them Calvinists to shew their Wit and that you might not lose the Jest they put Calvus Bald upon the Margin So all that Shave their Heads are Calvinists This too was from the Mouth of The Lord They Abuse the Clergy for wearing Wiggs ay and of a Light Colour too That was Abomination Especially if the Hair was Crisped or Curled That they make a severe Aggravation They shou'd have put in Clean too For G. Fox his Heart-breakers were Long Slank and Greasie It has been observ'd of Great Enthusiasts that their Hair is Generally Slank without any Curl Which proceeds from a Moisture of Brain Inclines to Folly It was thus with Fox and Muggleton But the Quakers Wiggs now hinder us from the Observation And Will. Penn G. Whitehead c. wear not only Fair but Curl'd Wiggs For none other are Made They shou'd set up some Quaker Wigg-makers to make them Wiggs of Downright Plain Hair without the Prophane Curl of the Worlds People It wou'd best fit the Quakers Plainess and Down-rightness or Right-downess I Recommend to W. Penn G. Whitehead and the Rest of the Wigged Quaker Preachers these sweet Lines of their Poet Laureat out of his foresaid Declaration against Wiggs What wonder Women wear Gay Gold and Pearls When Men Religious wear Gold Locks of Girls Should Christian Guides affect a Whorish Guise c. Then they put the Question whether Wiggs ought to be Permitted in Case of Health when it may be Necessary to cut off ones Hair And it is Rul'd in the Negative That they must rather go Bald. This pretence for Pride say they is no better than what is for Drunkeness and Whoredom And they Propose the Example of Elisha who as they have found it out wore no Wigg when the Children call'd him Bald-Head And they do not beleve that Peter or Paul wore Wiggs For if they had then say they very Smartly The Women Christians might have Retorted upon them thus Was that the Cause Peter and Paul that you bad Vs leave off our Locks that you and such like might get them your Selves to make Periwiggs of Now may not the Innocent Lasses and Daughters of Sion
speaking of it says In which Chapter the Malice and Impertinency of that Discourse is somewhat shewn Here is a Somewhat again to save their Credit But they tell not What! for that they cou'd not Yet that Discourse is Answer'd and there is an End of it It is very Easie Answering Books at this Rate And shews the Quaker-Cause to be past a Defence only something they must say to Amuse their Implicit Followers and those who will not be at the pains to Read what they write and Compare it with what is wrote against them Will. Penn at the End of his Primitive Christianity spends Eight Sections to Enumerate their Exceptions against the Church of England And these being the Causes of their Seperation are Particularly but Briefly Reply'd to at the Close of Primitive Heresie p. 30 31. and 32. And one wou'd think this a very Material Point for the Quakers to Justifie their Seperation The Appendix concludes with a Reply to this Which I will set down Every word to save the Reader the Pains of going thither for it Thus then it follows He now Numbers up in Page 30 31 32. divers things wherein he wou'd fain have the Church and Vs agree they not being sufficient as he says for Seperation This Man is of a very Changeable Humor in his Title and for near all the Book we are sad Hereticks but now he wou'd have us Associates which if we will not be he gives us a Threatning Advertisement that he will Trump up more Heresies upon us Well in that let him do as God shall permit But of two things he may be assured that we shall have no Communion with his Lies nor he true Peace in Persisting in them Thus the Appendix ends And ther is not one Syllable more in Defence of all the Alledg'd Causes of their Seperation Yet this is call'd an Answer to Primitive Heresie And it comes in but by the By as an Appendix to G. Whitehead's Antidote So now that Book Prim. Heres is Answer'd too And if you shou'd urge any of the Answers there given to the Causes which the Quakers Pretend to Justifie their Seperation and Schism from the whole Catholick Church They wou'd say O that Book of Prim. Heres is Answer'd And so their Cause stands Good and Firm Thus Easily do they Impose upon Themselves and wou'd Deceive the World if they cou'd I might give many more Instances of this Kind indeed thro' All their Answers But I cannot stay Their Pretending thaâ— the Quotations brought out of their Books are not Full because more than what is Pertinent is not Quoted 6. I must come to another Egregious Trick which they use when Quotations are brought out of their Books so Express and Full that nothing can be Answer'd to them then they look and see if ther be nothing else spoke of in the Place Quoted besides that which is brought against them of which they can seldom miss in their own Writings which are all Confus'd and Huddl'd a hundred things together without Head or Tail And then if the Objector brings only that which is Proper to the Subject he is upon as he ought to do to avoid Confusion they Cry out that they are falsly Quoted Why because forsooth the whole is not Quoted tho' All be Quoted that is Pertinent to the Subject which is all that ought to be Quoted and more wou'd be a Fault Thus in Prim. Heres p. 10. where the Subject was the Quakers Contempt of Baptism a Quotation is brought out of Edw. Burrough's works p. 190 191. where he Reckons up several things as Damnable Heresies such as calling the Steeple-House a Church saying that Singing David's Experiences in Metre was singing to the Praise of God and other like Perilous things Among the Rest he Names Sprinkling of Infants as they Contemptuously call Baptism and not only Reckons this among the other Damnable Heresies but says that to say Sprinkling Infants with Water is Baptism into the Faith of Christ this is the Doctrin of the Devil And this is thus Quoted in Prim. Heres Now what says the Appendix to this Do's it Deny the Quotation or any word of it No. What then it says p. 33. That ther are several things left out That is true For they did not belong to the present Subject which was Baptism But is not all that is said of Baptism in that Quotation And is it not Nam'd there among the Damnable Heresies And is it not said of Baptism particularly i. e. the Sprinkling of Infants and calling it a Baptism into the Faith of Christ that This is the Doctrin of the Devil Yea. None of all this is Deny'd What objection then can be made that other things which were not the Subject in hand shou'd be left out And which wou'd have Confus'd the Subject more if they had been in You shall see Appendix says That as the words lie in the Charge they are not like E. B ' s. words Why are they not his very Words Yea. But they are not Like them It says further The Snake has here declar'd himself an Enemy to well-plac'd slops and given us to Vnderstand that he more Merits Advancement in Spain than in England Why what 's the Matter now Don't they Love Well-plac'd stops in Spain As sure as can be here was some Reflection meant about Popery It is a Delicat Simile if Bays knew how to Apply it He was very Bigg with it he cou'd not keep it till the time of its Birth but threatens us with it two Pages before he says in the former Chapter p. 31. I shall anon Prove him this Snake to be a Splitter of Sentences an Enemy to Colons and Semi-Colons This Appen brought in to shew his Learning and that he had lodg'd one night next Door to a Grammer School Yet he looks a little Abash'd 'T is a Hopeful Lad He says his Lesson delicatly Come don't Cry don't be Asham'd Give me a Blow and I will Beat 'em What do they Laugh Did they do it Did they vex him Come The Direction of a Quakers Letter to one John Church at the Sun in Friday-street near the Church yard let us hear how your Master at Wansworth do's Dictate to your Precious youth Sit down Write Boys For John Steeple-House Comma in Sixth-Day Street Semi-colon at the Sign of the Great Light Colon near the Grave-yard There is the Punctum the Full stop Admirationis Captus Capta Captum O the Learning of Colons and Semi-Colons O ye Splitters of Sentences But Come All Play will not do We must to School again How Towardly soever you have been at your Colons and Semi-Colons you were put too soon to your Latin or to soon Left it And as Men are often Fondest of what they are worst at you had not the wit to Conceal it You had a Mind to have some Learning in your Book that the Poor Quakers might hold up their Hands and Bless themselves for that
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
Eyes of those who are Sincere among Themselves I will undergo the Penance of Exposing them Appen p. 35. makes a Great Noise of wrong done the Quakers in Prim. Heres Sect. v. by the Charge of their Forbidding to Marry and Preaching up of Fornication As if this were Laid out as a General Charge upon the whole Body of the Quakers Tho' it is Expressly sai'd in the very Beginning of the Sect. p. 12. That they are not All Charg'd with it nor Any of them but only the New Quakers in America And this Appen do's confess too And do's not pretend to Clear them from it Where then was the Abuse in Placing of the Charge O says Appen it s being against the whole Body of the Quakers is Imply'd in the Title Page and abundantly Charg'd in the Contents For says he I cannot find one Marry'd or Single Quaker left out First for the Title-Page ther is not one Syllable of it or any thing like it And the Contents saying Their forbidding to Marry is no more than the Hand of a Clock to Point where you may find the Hour And the Page being Nam'd There you See who are or are not Charg'd O but says Appen The first Charge runs over England and all the Rest of the World where ther are Quakers the last is Limited only to America Can any man make Sense of this This Implys as if ther were Two Charges one for England and one for America But by the first Charge they only mean the Title and Contents which they say Run over England and all the World of the Quakers This is Non-sense as to the Contents for they never go but where the Book go's Indeed Title-Pages are stuck up or may be put into the Advertisements of News-Papers But ther is not the least Hint towards this Charge of Marriage in the Title-Page So that all this Cry of the Quakers is no Wooll Yet Appen calls this Looseness in the Author and at best an Equivocal Lye They must give some Ill-words or else they cannot Speak If it were worth the while to make Reprisals upon these Quakers and Re-criminate upon them I might go over as many Books I believe as they have wrote for I can say it of as many as I have seen and shew not only in their Contents but Title-Pages the most Fulsom Boasts of what you will find nothing in the Book I have in the First Part given several Instances of it as to the Contents of the Antidote and cou'd give many more both in that and this Appen but that it is obvious to every one who will be at the Pains to Compare their Contents with their Performance I will here give the Reader one Instance because it is a Pleasant one and Discovers some other of their Principles Ther is a Gentleman who was long of their Communion now one of their Seperatists and a member of Turners-Hall Mr. Thom. Crisp who tho' a Quaker and Zealous even to Suffering with them yet run not to all their Mad Extravagancies he allow'd himself to Pay Tythes as a Just Debt being Enacted by the Laws of the Land for which he with others such Moderate Quakers were severely Censur'd by them He committed another Great Offence against their Orders and Constitutions he was Marry'd in a Church and by a Minister of the Church of England which Rais'd their Indignation Exceedingly Therefore they Press'd him very hard to make a Publick Confession of this Grievous Crime and to sign an Instrument of Condemnation against himself for it Pursuant to their Disciplin But not being able to Prevail they underhand and without his Knowledge dealt with his Wife who being Terrify'd with their Threatnings all In the Name of the Lord God Almighty did sign such a Paper of Condemnation as they Requir'd But Mr. Crisp knew nothing of it for several years after till they themselves upon his further Contests with them Publish'd it in Print without the Consent and against the mind of Mrs. Crisp who was not willing her Husband shou'd know it lest he might be Displeas'd with her But neither the sacredness of the Seal of Confession nor the Hazard of making Difference 'twixt Husband and Wife was strong enough for their Resentment when they thought they cou'd Reach a Blow at one who had Oppos'd them or rather who wou'd not be Intirely and Implicitly subject to their Popedoms for no other Opposition had Mr. Crisp then given them but only as to their Disciplin in the Jurisdictions of their Womens Meetings and other Institutions set up by George Fox as Cardinal Primat contrary to their Original Principle of leaving every one to the Measure of the Light within Himself Under which Pretence they Drew many away from their obedience to the Church But wou'd not Indure that Loose Plea as W. Penn calls it when urg'd by some among themselves See Sn. Sect. vi N. x. paragr 12. p. 79 against that High Authority which their Leaders Assum'd over all under their Dominion This was all the Contest at that time betwixt the Seperate and other Quakers as appears in what was then wrote by John Story Wilkinson Rogers Crisp Bugg and others of the Seperats wherein ther is nothing of those Errors in Doctrin and Damnable Heresies which they have since Discover'd but were then Involv'd in as Deep as the Rest Yet for their Refusing to be subject to this Plenitude of the Quaker-Church-Authority they call'd them Judases Apostats Devils In-carnate c. tho' Agreeing with them in Doctrin and all the other Articles of the Quaker-Creed It was this made them Discover Mrs. Crisp her Paper of Condemnation against her self for being Marry'd by a Priest of the Church of England in Revenge upon Mr. Crisp who joyn'd with their Seperatists But they were Disapointed of their Malice in thinking to make him Un-Easie as to his Wife for he as a wise Man Consider'd their Importunity and Terrible Denunciations of no less than Damnation to all who wou'd not come under their Disciplin which might work upon a Woman that had given her self up to be Guided by them And as he ought he plac'd the Abuse upon them who had thus Impos'd upon the Credulity of a woman whom they had Deluded to Believe them Thus says he in the 5th Part of his Babels Builders p. 9. Printed An. 1682. It is like She as too many more have gave too much Credit to what some of G. Fox 's CHEATS said And She is not the first that hath been Deceived by you And perhaps some among you that have Prated others out of their Money might Prate her unto the writing and giving you that Paper you Pretend to This is thus Quoted by G. Whitehead in his Judgement Fixed p. 290. And how do's he Answer it Why thus O Thomas be Asham'd of thus Abusing thy Wife And in his Contents which is the thing I am Coming to he sets it down thus p. 162. His Thom. Crisp's Abuse of his
Wife This made several of the Quakers particularly Ann Docwra come to Mr. Crisp's house thinking ther had been a misunderstanding betwixt Mr. Crisp and his Wife to Endeavour a Reconciliation For a Man's Abuse of his Wife is a Comprehensive Charge And standing thus Generally in the Contents of a Book might Raise strange thoughts in the Reader as we see it did and Probably was the Design of the Writer For what other Design cou'd he have If ther was no Discontent as ther was none in this Case yet the Quakers did their Best to Raise one betwixt Man and Wife At least to Brand them to the world in the Contents of their Books tho' when you come to the Proof it is only putting the Abuse upon the Cheats the Quakers To be Cheated is an Infirmity but the Knavery is in the Cheaters However this is call'd Mr. Crisp's Abuse of his Wife We see by the way what sort of Regard they have to the Church of England when it is made so Heinous a Crime to Marry by any of her Priests Ought not She to make it as Penal for any to Marry by the Priests of the Quakers But that is not the Point now in hand We are upon the Charges Exhibited in Contents And how they are made Good in the Books Particularly the Charge against the New-Quakers in Prim. Heres Well but the whole Body of the Quakers are brought in upon this Point so far as that the Principle upon which these New-Quakers go is the avowed Principle of the Body of the Quakers viz. of taking the Resurrection in an Inward Sense to Mean only the Rising up of the Light in their Hearts and upon this Account they Deny the Literal Resurrection of the Body which has been sufficiently shewn They say that those who obey the Light have obtain'd the Resurrection already And in this Sense They call themselves The Children of the Resurrection in Opposition to The Children of this World by which Name the Wicked are Describ'd Now the New-Quakers finding it Written That the Children of this World do Marry But that The Children of the Resurrection neither Marry nor are Given in Marriage consequently they finding Marriage Inconsistant with the Resurrection-state and thinking by the Receiv'd Principle of the Quakers that they were come to the Resurrection-state it follow'd of Course That they must turn off their Wives But then finding likewise That these their Spiritual and Resurrection-Bodys Retain'd still a strange Hankering after the Old way of the Flesh And that Propagation was still to be kept up they cou'd Fall no where else but upon Fornication For The Children of this World MARRY And indeed this is a Natural Consequence of the Quaker-Notion of the Resurrection and were Enough to Cure them any Sober man wou'd think of this Mad and Heritical Extravagance But they still stick to it For Infallibility must never Repent or Amend Upon this occasion they are Ask'd in Prim. Heres p. 13. whether they are The Children of the Resurrection If they Answer Yea then by this Text in their Sense they must not Marry And if they say Nay then are they Reprobates by their own Construction And how do you think they get off from this Dilemma By putting any other Sense upon the Text or Denying this to be their Exposition of it or shewing That this was not the Consequence of their Exposition No. none of these ways None of these wou'd do How then Appen p. 36 and 37. trys for the first time what the Quakers can do at Wit and Raillery But it is so Heavily Dull as shews Them to be Children in the Literal Sense but neither of the Resurrection nor of This world for ther is neither Wit nor Wisdom in their Poor Repartees They say they will Turn the Tables and most Ingeniously upon this Author whom they call Charles And thus they Begin p. 37. Charles Art thou a Child of wrath He must Answer Yea or go against his own avowed Principles Must he so But what if he shou'd not than BAYS 's Suppose is spoyl'd But if he shou'd not then he must Go against his own Avowed Principles What Principles are these they Name none They leave us to Guess And I think I have found it out It is said in our Catechism That we are By Nature Born in Sin and the Children of Wrath. There it is And now they Twit us again with our Confessing our selves to be Sinners And Hugg themselves in their Perfection But Hark ye my Friends you have Read but Half For it is said That being by Nature Born in Sin and the Children of Wrath we are Hereby that is by coming as we ought to Christ's Holy Baptism made the Children of Grace So that by our own Principles we are Children of Grace and you are The Children of Wrath who Remain in your Natural Corruption and Flout at and Despise those Means of Grace which Christ has Commanded And therefore your Genteel Inference upon your Forcing Charles to say Yea whether he will or not That it is very Hard a Man shou'd send Himself thus to Hell must be sent Home again to be Answer'd at The Second-Days Meeting And Charles has Escap'd for Once But don't wonder says Appen till we see what the next Question will do Well we won't if we can Help it Now Charles look to thy self Let me ask again Charles art thou a Disobedient Son He will say NAY That is if he be not Cross And because we know he is a Sinner he may perhaps not Clear himself from all Breaches even of the Fifth Command But he shall not put those Tricks upon Us. He shall Answer Nay as you wou'd have him And now what is your Inference Be sure you hold him Fast Why then say you It is written Disobedience is as the Sin of Witchcraft therefore say all Good Men Disobedience is a wicked thing and consequently of the Devil Verily those Good Men are very Ingenious men who have found it out That Sin and witchcraft is a wicked thing And more than that That it is Consequently of the Devil Well what of all this Now Reader says Appen see Before he sent himself and now he wou'd Hale all the People thither Whither To the Devil That 's Hard indeed But Appen you have Forgot that you made him Answer Nay to this Question of Disobedience And then How do's this Affect him No matter for that It affects others For says Appen he calls those Disobedient who are truly Obedient and Loyal And so wou'd Hale All the People to the Devil Do's he then call All the People Disobedient Do's he Except None This is a Terrible Fellow we must look to him But now Appen suppose he shou'd call for Proof of this Have you your Witnessess Ready For you must not Expect the Rogue will Confess Otherwise may he call Thee and thy Friends who thus Accuse him as you have done to others upon Less occasion Lyars Impostors
Pretend to If God is known among them Only and that they are His Only witnesses then it plainly follows from what is said above that they think Themselves only have any Right to Govern They in Express words have Abdicated all the Kings upon the Earth as well as all Churches And so now says G. Fox is all Professors Great Mystery p. 99. and Teachers upon the Earth and Kings of the Earth Ravened inwardly from the Light standing against the Light and the Lamb and the Saints and are not to be Receiv'd into the Houses of the Saints neither to bid them God speed Now Paying of Reverence to them by taking off the Hat or Giving them their Civil Titles is an Implicit owning of them or Bidding them God speed Which is the Reason why the Quakers will not do it And the Reason is as Plain è Contra That if they had a King who obey'd the Light that is a Quaker-King they wou'd Bid him God speed c. They wou'd then Give him Hat and Knee and Titles Nay they have given it to some in Expectation When Will. Penn was walking towards the Stadt-House in Amsterdam and his Son by his side Attended with a Numerous Train of Quakers one of them said pointing to Will. Penn's Son what a fine Prince wou'd that make I can Name Vouchers for this if Deny'd Surely then they wou'd not Refuse him the Title of Prince if he were in Possession Wou'd they think the Title of Prince too much who take to Themselves all the Stiles of Christ as Fox Naylor c. have done calling Themselves and suffering others to call them the Branch the Star the Son of God the King of Saints King of Israel c And as such Receiving of Adoration from their People falling down upon their Knees or Prostrat before them see Sn. Sect. viii and Sat. Dis. Glean Sect. ii N. 4. p. 71. Wou'd G. Fox have thought any Honour too much for himself to Receive who when Jam. Naylor was brought upon his Knees before him offer'd his Hand for Naylor to Kiss But bethinking himself better he pull'd it in again and thrust out his Foot to Naylor that he might Kiss it As is told by a Quaker in his Hidden things brought to Light Printed 1678. p. 37. and 40. who tells in the same place that he himself saw a Woman at John Kilkam's House in Balby Fall down before G. Fox near an Hours time and that he did not at all Reprove her So Greatly cou'd he keep his Port And Act not only Regal but a Papal state Which the Quakers think to be Vsurped by all Others but Themselves And Intend to Recover it wholly from them as soon as they are Able For as all Kings upon the Earth are Adjudg'd by them to have quite Ravened away from the Light and consequently by their Principles have Forfeited their Right to their Crowns so the Quakers do not Despair of coming into Possession of all and every Post of Government from King down to Constable When they come in none must have a share George Fox in his News coming out of the North. p. 18. Directs a Challenge in these words To the Heads of this Nation And all the Dominions of the Earth And to all who are under the Dominion of the Earthly Powers Nations and Kingdoms every where in all the World To you all Kings Princes Dukes Rulers Judges Justices Third-Burrows or Town-Clerks Here he has them all together from Top to Bottom And now what has he to say to them Terrible News indeed he begins Tremble all before the Lord O ye Earthly Powers you have caused the Prophets to be Stoned you have caused them to be Imprisoned you have caused them to be Banished in this Great City Sodom and to suffer Beating and Scourging out of your Synagogues Dreadful is the Lord and Powerful who is coming in His Power to Execute true Judgment upon all you Judges and to change all your Laws ye Kings all you that have taken the Name of Justices which are not in Justice you must be Judged with the Just and all you underling Officers which have been as the Arms of this Great Tree All your Branches must be cut down And the Government shall be taken from you Pretended Rulers p. 20. Judges and Justices Lawyers and Constables p. 27. All this Tree must be Cut down and Jesus Christ will Rule Alone Hew down all the Powers of the Earth slay Baal Baalam must be slain all the Hirelings the Clergy must be turn'd out of the Kingdom The sword of the Lord is Drawn against you all You are Ruled by the Prince of the Air and in the Power of Darkness ye stand A Day of slaughter is coming upon you who have made war against the Lamb and against the Saints the Quakers for Destruction you are the Sword you cannot Escape And it shall be upon you ere Long Now Destruction is drawing nigh sorrow is coming p. 28. Sons and Daughters of the Quakers are going Abroad Joyfully in the Power and Strength of the Almighty Howl wo and Misery all ye Priests ye Blind Priests All Nations and Languages and Tongues and Kindreds and People Tremble before the Lord's Host and the Lord's Army p 37. these are the Quakers The Corrupt Judge must not stand up and the Corrupt Rulers must not Rule And thou Beast the Civil Government and False Prophet the Church must into the Fire p. 38. the False Prophet is the Counsellor to the Beast and the Beast maintains the False Prophets Both into the Pit into the Lake and Fire you must Both go The Lord hath spoken it But will they leave this to the Fire of the other World No no they have a God that Answereth by Fire even in this World which we are told in a Terrible Book of the Quakers call'd The Cry of Blood Super-scrib'd like Princes upon the Title-Page by Geor. Bishop Thomas Goldney Henry Roe Edw. Fyott and Dennis Hollister Famous in the Congregation all men of Renown and Chiefs among the Worthies of Fox There p. 61. They have Decreed against us in these words Ere long yea and the Day is at hand wherein your Baal must Plead for himself And even those that Guard him the Magistrates and his Prophets the Clergy poor Souls shast be Content to have their Tryal before the People which is the God that answereth by Fire and shall Deliver up the Prophets of Baal to be cut off by the People whom they have Deceived That is when the People turn Quakers then they will Answer by Fire c. And ther is no Doubt but they will be as Good as their word For are they not Infallible Then slay Balaam vex the Midianites Give the Priests Blood to Drink c. This is no Jesting Matter And tho' the business of their Hats if ther were no more in it were not worth a Button Let them stick on their Heads as upon Scarr-Crows
not Publish'd except to the Friends for their Book-Sellers Refuse to Sell them unless they know to whom they Refus'd it to some that I imploy'd A Discourse of the General Rule of Faith and Practice of which the whole Argument is ex professo to Prove That the Scriptures cannot be that Rule Wherein all the Popish Artillery is Muster'd up against the Holy Scriptures being the Rule It has Receiv'd a very Substantial Answer by G. Keith therefore I say no more of it here But to take Notice of the Deceit of the Quakers in their Quoting of Scripture For to what Purpose do they Quote them when they Own them not to be the Rule And Consequently will not be Determin'd by them This is only to Amuse and to bear a Face as if they Own'd the Scriptures And to use them ad hominem against those who do Acknowledge them Yet they have no Proof but what they Pretend from Scripture for their Foundation-Principle of The Light within which they make the only Rule being Christ and God They cannot say that the Light within do's tell them this of its Self For then it wou'd tell others so Seeing they make it Common to all Mankind And if it tells None so but the Quakers or if it do's not tell all Others so as well as the Quakers then how is it the General Rule to All Men as the Quakers wou'd have it Therefore they have Recourse for this to Joh. i. 9. That was the true Light which Lighteth every Man that Cometh into the World And to other Scriptures which they Wrest to their own Destruction And yet they will not Own the Scriptures for the Rule But when Pinch'd they Fly back again to their Light-within This is all they have for their Principle of the Hat and their Sulleness which they call Gravity But I wou'd have them Distinguish betwixt the Gravity of an Angel and a Devil Both are Grave But if an Angel Appear'd we must Suppose with his Gravety the Greatest Sweetness and Attraction that can be On the other hand if a Devil Appear'd he wou'd be Grave too but it wou'd be an Abhorrent and Frightfull Gravity like that of a Lyon when he was going to Devour or of a Mastiff Dog with Grin and Snarle Ther is nothing Exotick or Sour in the Gravity of Religion It is all Decent and Comely It is the Beauty of Holiness But in a Quaker-Meeting Especially their Silent Ones their Phiz and Meen Hats pull'd over Eyes their Habit their Grunts and Dogged Demureness the Deformity of Holiness is Drawn to the Life No Stranger but wou'd think himself at a Bedlam or a Funeral or as indeed it is among a Company of People Possess'd and Bewitch'd But if he saw them fall to their Convulsions and Quaking-Fits their Rolling and Roaring Fomeing Swelling and Yelling as at first was Common among them I dare say it wou'd never bring into his Mind the Extasies and Tremblings of the Holy Prophets thro' the Excess of the Revelations given unto them which the Quakers urge as their Precedent But rather that of Feinds in their Torments For the Devils believe too And Tremble as the Quakers do I have now gone over the Several Heads Mention'd in Prim. Heres And Consider'd the Defences which Appen has Produc'd for them This brings him to his Conclusion Wherein is Nothing but what has been Answer'd already Only their Vapouring How Bravely they have Acquit themselves Which I leave them to Enjoy And Hasten to the Last Section that I may have Done SECT VII The Asurdity and Blasphemy of the Quakers Notion of the Light Within They hold That ther is no Natural Light or Reason in Man But that All in him is Divine 1. I Now go on to Examin the Defence of Will. Pen against the Friendly Expostulation with him in Prim. Heres This begins in Appen p. 53. And it says p. 55. That the Author of Prim. Heres wou'd have Will Penn to suppose That nothing but the Divine Light cou'd Reprove of Evil. But Says Appen I have looked and find no such Supposition And therefore no further Notice need be taken of the Consequences he draws as depending on that Supposition This is Positive and Impudent to a Degree that cou'd befall none but a Quaker He says he has Look'd Therefore I beseech the Reader to Look too The Charge is in Prim. Heres p. 20. where the Pages of Will Penn's Primitive Christianity are Quoted viz. p. 29 30. and 31. And a short Account of them given to wit That the Scripture makes no Distinction between Natural and Spiritual Light That Will. Penn Provokes any to give so much as one Text to that Purpose That he makes it as Absur'd as to talk of a Natural and Spiritual Darkness within That he says That ther are not Two Lights from God in Man that Regard Religion Not that Reproves or Condemns a man for Sin These are the words in Prim. Heres I must ask the Reader 's Pardon for Trans-Scribing them And also for Setting down Will Penn's words more at Large to satisfie the Importunate and Guilty Clamour of this his Appen to Amuse those who have not Lookt into the Books Will. Penn first supposes what All Agree to That ther is a Light in Man which as he words it yields him the Knowledge of God And likewise Reproves or Discovers that which offends Him But whether this can be done by the Natural Light or only by the Divine Light in Man is the Question Or whether ther be any such Natural Light in Man that can do Both or Either of these Now take Will. Penn's own words in Answer to this p. 29. It is Granted says he that what we call Divine and some Mistakenly call Natural Light can do Both. Secondly If this Light be Natural Notwithstanding it doth Manifest our Duty and Reprove our Disobedience to God they wou'd do well to Assigne Vs some Certain Medium or Way whereby we may truly Discern and Distinguish between the Manifestations and Reproofs of the Natural Light within from those of the Divine Light within since they Allow the Manifestation of God and Reproof of Evil as well to the one as the other Let them give us but one Scripture that Distinguishes between a Natural and a Spiritual Light within They may with as much Reason talk of a Natural and Spiritual Darkness within All this is in p. 29. and 30. and p. 31. he pursues the same Argument Neither is there says he so much as one Scripture that affords Vs a Distinction between Light within and Light within or that there are really Two Lights from God in Man that regard Religion And p. 32. Therefore there are not Two Distinct Lights within but one and the same Manifesting Reproving and Teaching Light within And that this One and but One Light within is not any Natural Light he Particularly Explains and Distinguishes with Exactness that none can unless wilfully mistake him
no Medium And not only thus Negatively have they Asserted it But Positively and in the Affirmative They say that the Soul is Infinite even Infinitness it self and without Beginning Which nothing can be but God And if the Soul be God it must follow that ther is no Soul but God Which R. Farmer p. 27. above Quoted do's charge upon the Quakers That they say Ther is no Spirit but One and so Deny any Angel or Spirit Which page G. Fox do's Quote in his Answer Gr. Myst p. 173. but says nothing at all to this he cou'd not Deny this to be the Quaker Principle And the Consequence of this is That ther is nothing Natural in Man for if all in Man be God then ther is no Nature of Man but only the Nature of God This is the true Ground why the Quakers will not allow any Light that is in Man to be Natural no not that Light or Reason which is Common to All Men. Nor will be Content to say That this comes from God No. They will have it nothing Less than God Himself It was Granted to G. Fox That the Eternal word Enlightneth All men with the Common Light of Nature This G. F. Repeats and Opposes The Light says he which Every Man that cometh into the world is Enlightned withal is not Natural Gr. Myst p. 172. What is his Reason Because says he The Light was before any thing was Made and all things that was made was made by it which Lightneth every Man that cometh into the World By this Argument nothing at all can be Natural to Us because not only our Light but out Life and Every thing we have is from God And Consequently we nor any other Creature can have any Nature at all And then ther can he No Creature at all but All is God This was the Ranters Blasphemous Notion That God is Every thing And Every thing is God Thus they Understand that Text That God is All in All. i. e. That Every thing comes by Emanation from God or that Every thing is the Nature and Essence of God Extended and Vary'd which Returns again into its self as Rivers come from and Return into the Sea And so All things Return into the Nature of God whence they Came. And that ther is no Nature or Being but only that of God And this the Quakers have Lick'd up from the Ranters from whom they came And tho' they seem to oppose them yet from them they Learn'd And still Propagate this with others of their Vile Errors This is the very Language of the Quakers Is not this that cometh out from God which is in God's hand Gr. Must p. 100. Part of God and from God and to God again is not this of God's Being And doth not the Scripture say God is All and in All Is not the Soul without Beginning ib. p. 90. coming from God Returning into God again who hath it in His hand Which brings it up into God which came out from Him hath this a Beginning or Ending And is it not Infinite in it self and more than all the world Now Consider what a Condition they call'd Ministers are in ib. p. 29. They say that which is a Spiritual Substance is not Infinite in it self but a Creature That which came out from the Creator and is in the Hand of the Creator which brings it up and to the Creator again that is Infinite it self And thou says ib. p. 91. the Soul is a Spiritual thing and yet a Creature But the Bishop of their Souls Christ the Power of God brings the Soul up into God from whence it came whereby they come to be One Soul Thus G. Fox which he had learn'd from his Lear-Father as he was call'd John Hinks a Chief man among the Ranters Who allow'd no Distinction at all betwixt God and Creatures but said that All was God And after him the other Quakers proceed in the same strain Christoph Atkinson sets down this as a False Principle which he opposes viz. That God who is Creator Sword of the Lord. p. 3. is Eternally DISTINCT from all Creatures in His Being and Blessedness And Replies in these words The Being of God is not Distinct from them that are Begotten of Him for as the Father and the Son are one without Distinction so are they that are Begotten by Him And p. 5. he Denies that Christ or God is a Distinct Person from all Saints and Angels For says he Christ is but one in All and not Distinct And this says he in his Title-Page I was moved by the Lord God of Life to lay open as it was made Manifest in me from the Lord. And now we see the Reason why G. Fox did not oppose what R. Farmer charg'd upon the Quakers of their Denying and Created Angel or Spirit and holding no other Spirit but God This G. Fox cou'd not Deny to be the very Principle of the Quakers Nay he Contends and Disputes for it In his Gr. Myst p. 207. he sets this as an Error of the Professors that they say God hath a Christ Distinct from all other things whatsoever whether they be Spirits or Bodies And Answers God's Christ is not Distinct from His Saints nor His Bodies So that by this not only all Spirits but all Bodies are God's Bodies nay every Body as well as Spirit is God For so it must be if God is not Dictinct from them This is true Ranterism And is the Dreggs of that old Corrupt Heathen Philosophy which made God to be only Anima Mundi the Soul of the World and consequently every thing to be Part of God of His Essence and Being The Blasphemous Absurdity of which has been Expos'd by many of the Heathens themselves And is now lick'd up again by the most Gross of Heathens the Quakers Mr. Farmer in his Book before mention'd is Large p. 58. c. in shewing now the Quakers took up this from the Ranters That they Approv'd of the Ranters Principles But Blain'd them for not keeping up to them to the Light that was in them as they say of their own Quakers when they Listen to the Flesh and are taken Napping In a Book wrote by G. Fox and Jam. Naylor An. 1654. call'd A word from the Lord unto all the Faithless Generation of the World c. p. 13. they give this Testimony to the Ranters You had a Pure Convincement I witness which did Convince you and you started up to be as Gods And Gods they thought Themselves and were thought by the Quakers till their Vileness as of the Quakers now was so fully Discover'd that meer Shame Drove all People from them Their Great Edw. Burrough and Fr. Howgill wrote an Answer to some Quaeres put by one Reeve of which this is the Second viz. What the true Creator was in his own distinct Essence Nature and Glory from all Eternity in Time and to all Eternity And wherein Elect men and
and Operation and also in respect of Communion and Fellowship the Man Christ Jesus or word Incarnate is the only and proper middle and Mediator between God and us so that whereas God is immediately United with the Man Christ Jesus no other Men or Angels have or indeed are Capable to have an immediate Union with God their Union is only Mediate with God and so their Communion and Fellowship with him is but Mediate also by the means of Christ Jesus although inrespect of other means it is Immediate All this passage they mightily censured as Contradicting their own experience 't is true said they when we were Young and weak at our first Convincement and Beginning we had need of Christ but now we have no need of him we have access to God Immediately without Christ Thomas Hart reply'd to them Friends I am sorry you should think ye have not need of Christ now I cannot say so and I dare not say it I have as much need of him now as ever formerly I need Him not only to cleanse me from my Sins but to preserve me that I sin not let me tell you It may be before ye Die you may come to find your need of Christ These words of Thomas Hart were much noticed and approved by divers Present and after divers had spoke their minds about this whole matter particularly George Whitehead and William Penn who approved and Vindicated all these Three Particulars which my opposers have objected against and severely censured and all other lesser Matters to every tittle and word that was objected so that I had need to say little and indeed said not much because I found them as seemed to me well disposed and inclined to answer for me as they readily did Divers other Friends present stood up in the Meeting and declar'd their great Satisfaction with having heard those things so well cleared and opened to their understandings which they Confessed they had been formerly Mudled about and blessed God for that good opportunity they had to have things made so clear to them among whom were Francis More and James Claypool both Citizens of good account and of good reputation among Friends and Neighbours This is but a Summary and Abreviation of the matter which was much more largely discoursed and took up several hours time at each Meeting In the Conclusion the persons that had accused me were desir'd by the Meeting to desist from their Charge and say nothing against the Book and whereas some Friends that were dissatisfied at my Book had forbidden the Stationer in George-Yard to sell it because it was unsound Order was given by the Meeting that that the Stationer might be encouraged to Sell it that it might have its Service in City and Country as accordingly was done And now Reader wouldest thou not think that these men who had so exposed their Ignorance Unbelief and Antichristian principles directly opposest to the great Fundamentals of Christianity would have received some severe Censure from the Friends of the Ministry or at least that they would have put them to disown their vile errors before they could be owned as either sound Ministers or sound Friends But nothing of this was done and to the certain knowledge of divers as well as mine these men as well as others that had privately sided with them remained Resolute and Stiff in their former errors whereof the one to wit William Shewen sometime after gave a publick demomstration in the Face of the World having after all this printed a Book called by him A Treatise of Thoughts where he saith pag. 37. Not to Jesus the Son of Abraham David and Mary Saint or Angel but to God the Father all worship Honour and Glory is to be given through Jesus Christ c. Note Reader what he means by Jesus Christ c. is easie to apprehend not the Son of Abraham of David or Mary for him he hath excluded from being the object of Worship together with Saints and Angels as in his own words is manifest but this Jesus Christ c. is the Light within so here are two Christs with a witness by this Man's Doctrin one the Son of David to whom no Worship Honour and Glory is to be given another through whom God the Father is to be Worshiped and certainly he through whom we Worship God the Father must be the object of Worship together with the Father But how long did he allow Jesus Christ c. to be him thro' whom God the Father is to be Worshiped No longer than untill he hath restored all things into their primitive Order that is brought William Shewen and his Brethren to a Sinless state which many think they have attain'd already and then Christ in them is known to surrender up the Kingdom to the Father and God to become all in all As he plainly declares in his pag. 38. and on the Margin he adds This is the assending of Christ up where he was before he descended and before there was any Cause for his descension he that can understand saith he let him this passage of Wiliam Shewen is more fully Quoted out of his Book in my Third Narrative lately Printed Judge Reader what imaginary Heavens had this man got up into after he hath witnessed a Sinless state even in the mortal Body then Christ surrenders up the Kingdom to the Father in him and it is no more Christ in him but God all in all And what Christ spoke of his Ascension as Man into Heavens without us He wholly applyeth to Christ's putting off his Offices as Christ and ceasing any more to Officiate as Christ in them but as God the Father The mystery of this is Rank and wild Ranterism to wit that God and Christ within men are but two inward Ministrations and Operations Christ is the lower and the Father is the Higher and by passing from the Lower to the Higher as men pass from the lower story of a House to the higher they pass from Christ to God and leave Christ behind or below them and ascend up to God all in all and so need not Christ either within them or without them That this is the real and genuine Sense of William Shewen's words in that above mentioned Treatise any intelligent person that reads them more especially if he read those passages throughout from first to last a part whereof I have but quoted for brevity sake cannot but acknowledge Now because it is probable many of the people call'd Quakers will say that these things which I have above related as matter of Fact are not truly related and will be ready to oppose to the credit of my relation That G. Whitehead who confesseth there was such a Meeting where he was present denyeth that he remembereth that any such things were affirmed by them that found fault with me for some things contained in my Book But First his not remembering is but a Negative evidence against my possitive evidence
to John Draper by H. Norton p. 84. of Ms WHether Christ Jesus suffered not upon that Cross which he Preached when he was in the Body and said He that will be my Disciple must take take up his Cross Daily Luk. 9.23 Or what Cross he suffered on And how oft he hath suffer'd since the beginning See Second Part. p. 114. Ms p. 81. Wherein thou asketh me what do I understand by the Eternal Judgment Or whether ther shall be a time when God shall Judge all Men and make their works manifest and also give to every Man according to his Deeds Ans The Eternal Judge is upon his Throne and the time of his Judgment is come and the Hearts of all Men are made manifest before him And the wicked shall not Escape but shall Receive a Portion according to their Deeds Therefore say I arise ye Dead and come to Judgment for the Hour is Coming and now is when the Dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall Live Joh. 5.25 N. B. This shews in what sense they Vnderstand the Scriptures viz. That the Resurrection of the Dead and the Final Judgment is already Come as before Quoted which they bid us Mark That the End of the World was Come in the Apostles time which they Infer from 1 Cor. 10.11 Ms p. 57. in a Letter to Lieut. Scot. NEver hereafter suffer such words to proceed out of thy Mouth as to say that the Glorious God was in a Wall because thy Dark Wisdom finds it Written that He fills Heaven and Earth But this I say unto thee That that Heaven and that Earth which he fills thou knowest not neither can any Vulturous Eye see into it H. Norton N. B. The Quaker Means the Inward Heaven in the Heart which he says no Vulturous Eye can see into And they Acknowledge no other Heaven or Hell See First Part. p. 62. Snake p. 164. And Sat. Dis p. 55. For the Outward Heaven the Quaker Eyes can no more see into than those Eyes which they call Vulturous I will close my present Excerptions out of this Precious Ms with an Account which this Norton and one Will. Shaw gave of their Examination before John Bret Governor of Wexford in Ireland p. 86. of the Ms Governor Are you the Men Quakers Yea. Gov. Why did you Disturb the Minister yesterday Hum. Norton Examine the business to the bottom we were forc't out of our Meeting and brought to the Steeple-house And if there was any wrong done we had it Gov. By whom Hum. By a Lieutenant Gov. But not to disturb the Minister Humb. A Minister of Christ cannot be disturb'd neither is it contrary to the order of the Church of Christ for all to speak one by one Gov. But you have transgrest the Law in disturbing our Minister Hum. What 's your Law contrary to the Law of God Gov. Nay Hum. He is no Minister of Christ neither have we transgressed any Law of God Gov. Why is he not a Minister of Christ Hum. He was found in the Idols Temple having the chief seat in the assembly standing Praying in the Synagogue Gov. You all say so Hum. Send for him hither let us speak with him Gov. I have no command of him but I shall axamine the Lieutenant and if he have transgrest let him suffer Hum. Be not partial but let it be before us Gov. Take these men into your charge Gaoler Hum. Well mind the fear of God This was the effect of what was spoken so near as can be remembred Hum. Norton Will. Shaw The Recommendation of the above named Humphrey Norton by E. Bourrough and Francis Howgil when he went to Ireland and Answered and put the above Queries NOw dear Friends I rejoyce in the Lord that his care is towards you and his love abids for you who are unto him begotten and not of him forgotten in visiting you with his power to the refreshing of you in sending this my dear Brother and faithful companion in the Kingdom of Jesus call'd Humphry Norton who cometh to you in the name and fear of the Lord and not of his own will but according to the will of God as being moved thereunto by the spirit of the Father And unto you all I do him recommend as a faithful Labourer to be received by you in the name of him that sends him in tender pitty for you all and the blessing of the Lord upon his Faithfulness I doubt not But the flock will receive refreshment the weak will be strengthened the weary laden will be comforted and the body will be edified and for this cause hath the Lord chosen him into this service to manifest further unto you the power of the Gospel of God by his Ministry upon which the blessing of the Lord be for ever And with my dear Love in the Lord saluting you all that are faithful farewel in the Lord. London 10th of 3d. Month 56. to the Churches in Christ in Ireland by a lover of your Souls and a Labourer in the Gospel of Jesus Christ E. B. Receive Hum. Norton in the Lord whom the Lord hath moved to come unto you who is a brother and faithful in the Lords work and be subject unto him in the Lord all unto him for I much desired that he might come unto you and so the Lord hath orderd it And as you receive him you receive me Francis Howgill Some Few of the Many OMISSIONS and ALTERATIONS in the Re-printing of the Works of the Deceased QVAKERS tho' said to have been given forth by the SPIRIT of the ETERNAL GOD to Trim with every Turn of Government And Cover the Deceit of their Horrid Principles 1. EDWARD BVRROVGH the Second in Honour to the Great FOX among the Apostles of the Quakers Printed a Book An. 1656. to which he gave this Title A TRVMPET OF THE LORD Sounded out of Sion Which gives a Certain Sound in the Ears of All Nations And is a True Noise of a fearful Earth-Quake at hand which shall shake the whole Fabrick of the Earth and the Pillars of its standing shall Fall and never more be set up again Or Fearful Voices of Terrible Thunders uttered forth from the Throne And is an Alarum and Preperation for War against all Nations where Gog and Magog resideth And sheweth the Wounding Sword of the Mighty God from whose Blow the Kings nor the Captains nor the mighty Men cannot Fly to Escape Declared and Written by a Son of Thunder In an unknown Language which none can Vnderstand save the Redeemed of the Lord. By one whose Name is truly known by the Children of the same Birth but unknown to the World though it be called EDWARD BVRROVGH Ther is more than here set down in that Magnificient Title-Page But I would shew the Reader thus much to let him see the no ordinary Stile of the Quakers In this Book p. 9. Ther is a Chapter against the King and his Cause then under the