Fore-fathers have lived under and we our selves been liable and subject to by reason of the Government standing in a single Person successively and we being forced to live under the Authority of such Men as had no right from God thereunto as I have said And now our Eyes are opened to see better things and we are in good Expectations that the Lord will Suddenly so appear as to free us from future Oppressions in this respect c. And these things we are waiting for to be brought to pass in their Season and the Hand of the Lord will accomplish it if not by you then even contrary to you Therefore take this my Council even as you hope to prosper for this I know from the Lord upon the rejecting or receiving hereof dependeth your Standing or your Fall your Renown or perpetual Reproach even your Blessing or your Curse and the time is at hand that many shall confess the Lord gave good Counsel to you by his Servant E. Burr Obs That in his Judgment it was through Ignorance that the People subjected themselves to Hereditary Governours or such as had no right to the Place of Rule or to the Government standing in a Single Person successively and he reckons it a piece of Slavery the Nation hath long been under that our Kings have attained to the Throne Hereditarily and yet G. F. c. of late tells the King and Parliament that their Hearts and Hands could seal to the Substance both of the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy And G. F. saith If he could take any Oath at all upon any occasion he should take the Oath of Allegiance which Oath binds to the King and his Heirs and Successors Now if this be not Contradiction and Temporizing what is See moreover G. F's Paper taken out of the same Book that the Abstract against Kingly Government was taken p. 42. To all such as feed the Priests till they turn against them THE Black Presbyterians and Priests and Cavaliers which are stirring you being out of the Power which first had Dominion over them what now are Priests Cavaliers Presbyterians saying Curse you Meroz that will not come to fight against the Mighty meaning the Parliament and all the honest People in the Nation to destroy them And what are they now bawling against you as they have against the Quakers Will nothing satisfie the Priests and the rest but Blood Have they not been the stirrers up for War and Blood always What now are they so fat fed that they curse them that will not come to fight against the Parliament Have you fed them so fat that they kick against you like wild Horses that they snort that there is such a snorting among them against their Feeders Have you sed them like wild Bulls and Heifers that now they run against you with their Horns Surely the Fodderers of these have not well looked about them have not these been called Ministers of the Gospel But now how comes it that they preach up War These are bad Cattle Horses Heifers and Bulls that kick against their Fodderers And run with their Horns against their Fodderers I must tell you the Sun is set upon all the Priests in this Nation and such as be like minded and that is the Word of the Lord God to this present Age and many more G. F. Hear now Is Penington an Eminent Writer among them and one of good repute to the Parliament the Army and all the well-affected in the Nation who have been faithful to the Good Old Cause 1659. p. 1. THat there hath been a Backsliding and turning aside from the Good Old Cause even by the Army who formerly were Glorious Instruments in the Hand of God hath been lately confessed The Name of God hath been Blasphemed in the whole Earth and that Holy Spirit and Power which many Hearts can witness was the Beginner and Carryer on of this Work made a Scoff and Derision to the Enemies of Truth in these Nations and in the Nations round about who watched to see the Issue and Result of these things The Controversie was very great and eminent and drew many Eyes upon it the Lord was appealed to on both sides to decide it and many know that by his Presence and Power in the Army the Stale was turned even when they were very very low and cryed out for Prayers and made large Promises in the Days of their Distress yea the Lord did not desert the Army but heard their Prayers and the Prayers of his People for them carrying on the Deliverance until he had given a perfect Victory into their Hands c. Obs That by the Lord's Presence and Power in the Army the Controversie was decided and the Army made Glorious Instruments for the Good Old Cause was not then the Armies Cause once Just in the Quakers Opinion and their fighting lawful and approved of God Miles Halhead and T. S. two Eminent Men of their Ministry follow with their most plain Testimony Wounds of an Enemy c. 1656. p. 23. VVHen the Presbyterians saw the Army who were made the Sword of the Lord against Papists and Bishops would not submit to the Covenant they drew the Sword against them and not prevailing in a first War many of them joyned with the Papists and Bishops and the Common Enemy meaning the King And now an Oath of Abjuration is tendred to them to Swear who have been most faithful to the Common-wealth and its Army and have born the Brunt and Heat of the Day in the late Wars with the peril of their Lives in the Field and the loss of their Estates against the Popish Prelatical and Presbyterian Party Hath this Generation witnessed the Word of the Lord to be true above many Generations before whose Eyes and by whose Hands the Righteous God hath executed his Dreadful Judgments on the Enemies of his Elect hath he despised the Image of the King and Princes and Nobles and the great Ones and poured forth their Blood as Water on the Earth and made them a fearful desolation in the Cause of his People and of Justice and of Equity In the Iniquities that they have committed and in the Sins wherewithal they have Sinned hath He cut them off and made them the dreadful Examples of his Vengeance p. 75 76. Obs The Contents of this is plain to every capacity Take also George Roffs Testimony another of their Ministry TO thee Oliver Cromwel thus saith the Lord I had chosen thee among the thousands of the Nations to execute my Wrath upon my Enemies and gave them to thy Sword with which I fought for the Zeal of my own Name and gave thee the Enemies of my own Seed to be a Curse and a Reproach for ever and made thee an Instrument against them and many have I cut down by my Sword in thy Hand that my Wrath might be executed on them to the utmost See Righteousness c. p. 11. Obs Here the Lord is represented
Rome and it be a top of Rome then there let your Standard stand and look at the Power of the Lord God and never heed Gold nor Silver for the Power of the Lord will give you enough c. See To the Council of Officers pag. 2 3 5 6 7 8. G. F. Obs He saith it was the Power of the Lord God that first carried them on and had they been Faithful they should have required Innocent Blood of Spain and knock'd at Rome Gates and trampled Tyrants under and demanded the Pope himself and this they should have done as an Army in the Spirit and Power of God which they had lost setting up a Standard at Rome commanding the Turk and crying up Christ the only King then all that feared the Lord Quakers as well as others would have said These are the Men that are gone out for the Cause of God and his Truth Then he complains That many valiant Captains Souldiers and Officers have been put out of the Army because of their Faithfulness to the Lord that is for being Quakers as he intimates Then he crys out saying Thousands of us went in the Front of you This was a time of Sincerity when it would have been a dirty nasty thing to have talked of a House of Lords He counsels them not to stop till they have set up their Standard at Rome and never heed Gold nor Silver for the Power of the Lord will give you enough so E. Burrough says to the Army God will give their the Papists falslly consecrated Vessels and Treasures a Spoil and Prey to you if you be faithful Compare this with what they say in the other Column NOW I shall come to cite some Passages out of E. B's Books he was one of their Chief Preachers and in very great Esteem amongst them his Works they took care to reprint in Folio but withal to expunge some Passages and alter others which discovered too much of his Oliverian and their Fighting Spirit This Man is charged by Ieremiah Ives to have justified the late War against the King and is defended by Geo. Whitehead another of their chief Preachers saying Serious Search p. 35 36. Thou art pleased to tell the World twice or thrice over that we justifie the late Wars against the King And why so Because E. B. in severely warning the late Powers of their Downfal did by way of Reproof tell Oliver what God had done for him even in the same Letter to him wherein he plainly also telleth him of the Great Oppressions which the People of God suffered under him c. See saith he E. B's Works from pag. 551. to pag. 583. how plainly and faithfully he did warn Oliver and those Men then in Power of their Overthrow To be sure E. Burrough was no Temporizer Now we are to see whether E. Burrough doth not Justifie the late War against the King Counsel and Advice Printed 1659. In his Letters to Oliver Protector May 1657. he hath these Passages Pag. 4. THE Lord gave thee the Necks of Princes to tread upon and their Dominions to inherit and thou wast set a Ruler in much Dominion and hast savour in his Sight and in the sight of many People who wished well unto thee for a Blessing Many Victories honourable and remarkable was given unto thee over them who had exalted themselves against God and ruled in Tyranny over his People whom the Lord pittied and thou an Instrument in his Band wast ordained by him to lead forth a People whom he Blessed with thee against a cruel People and Generation of Oppressors who exercised Tyranny over the Lord's Heritage till they were taken away and cast out and are a Reproach unto the Lord and his People unto this day and even so shall all be that follow their Example and are Oppressors and Tyrants over the Seed of God as they were Note These Lines in Black Letter are all left out in his Works p. 552. In another Letter to him he writes thus dated September 1657. Pag. 16 17. Friend IT is upon me and also I am pressed in Spirit thereunto to give unto thee even unto the Oliver Protector the perfect measure of thy Dominions c. Many Enemies thou hast which watch over thee for Evil and not for Good who would rejoyce in thy overthrow And first there is a People scattered through all these Nations who are full of Wrath and ravening Envy towards thee Even of those known by the Name of Malignants Party in whose Hearts to this day there is continual hatred and evil surmising lodgeth against thee and all thy Off-spring and I believe that dayly advantage they seek against thee by subtle Conspiracies and secret Plottings of Maliciousness in their Evil Hearts seeking by all means if it be possible how to be avenged and not slipping any advantage how to revenge themselves and the Cause of their King I know the Lord hath Cursed them and their Endeavours to this day and thou hast had Dominion and Power given thee of God to bruise them and to break them to pieces and what thou hast done unto their King should not be reckoned against thée by the Lord if now thou wert Faithful to what he requires of thee c. Note And promote their Cause is put in instead of The Cause of their King p. 559. And the word blasted is put in instead of Cursed And all the Words in Black Letter are left out in his Works p. 560. Obs How he calls the Protector and his Party a People whom the Lord blessed against a cruel People and Generation of Oppressors that is those called the Malignant Party that were for the King he saith also The Lord hath cursed them and their Endeavours to this day and that if the Protector would own them the Quakers they would own him in the Face of all his Enemies p. 21. the chief of which were then the King 's Party How should they do that without fighting And in a Letter of his to the Protector and Council 12th Month 57. he saith p. 23. WHat Hath the abundance of this Worlds Glory and its Treasure quite overcome and stoln away your Hearts wholly from all sense and seeling of the unjust Sufferings of your Brethren meaning the Quakers who have in times past as faithfully as your selves served the Nation with their Lives and Estates to the purchasing of this Peace and Freedom out of the hands of Tyrants Tyrants is left out and the word Opposers put in its stead E. B's works p. 563. In another Letter to the Protector which was given to him the 6th Month 1658. about a Month before his Death he writes thus p. 33. ARise and stand up for the Lord and he will give thee strength and Victory and will make thy Horn as Iron and thy Hoof as Brass to push down and tread under the High Places of Idolatry in all the Apostatiz'd Churches both Papists and others And as concerning thy War and Armies
Posterity a Reproach as he hath done many before you even for that cause was the Generation of the Stewarts cast out Note All these Words in Black Letter are left out in his Works p. 569. Obs That he saith for exalting themselves in Pride c. was the Generation of the Stewarts cast out and their Palaces bestowed on the Protector and his Family And pray G. W. c. was not White-Hall one of those Palaces Now let us hear what Francis Howgil saith in Justification of the late War See his Advice to the Army Committee of Safety c. 1659. p. 3 4 5 6 7. THE Long-Parliament against the late King which in Man's account could be looked upon to be no other than Rebellion yet God gave a signal Testimony to the one while they stood in the Power of God and against the other The antient Courtiers having found so much Ease and Profit by the late King turned all Cavaliers and cryed up the Prerogative of the King above Law and Equity c. Setting that aside wholly which all Good Government was intended for as the Safety of the People and fréedom from Oppression Tyranny and Vsurpation and that none might be embondaged in the Worship of God but when he to wit the late King and his Assistants sought to inthral all and Imbondage all both in Civil and Ecclesiastical things as they were called the Long-Parliament and People that aided them at that time counted it no Treason to oppose him seeing the End was not answered he should have satisfyed and God decided the Controversie in overthrowing the one and establishing the other for a season yet many are so blind to this day that they judge the Nation cannot be established in Freedom without a King as though such a Name were essential only to Freedom and without it could not be obtained but the Iudicious will see this Ignorance c. So now many are so doting on the Name of a Parliament as though it were Essential c. and cry up the Privileges of Parliament as the former did Prerogative and would fight about a Name and lose the Thing intended though they be the Representatives of the People to do good to the People and not hurt they are accounted as good Servants to God but if they would set up a particular Interest to the Imbondaging of the whole and then cry up their Privileges to do what they list Then it is no Rebellion in Gods Account neither in the account of Iust Men to call them away when they do not perform the Thing intended And as for the Long-Parliament by whom God did Good Things and Great Things in the overthrowing that Power which was deviated from the aforesaid End to wit the late King What they did they had the Approbation of God and Good Men yet they went not through with the Work purposed and intended Note All these Lines in Black Letter are left out in F. H's Works When a Company of greedy hireling Priests came from Leicester-shire to sound their Trumpet in the House and to tell you they had not ingaged with the rest of their Brethren in Cheshire and Lancashire with George Bâ—oth they were immediately called in and thanks returned as though they had done some great Service for the Nation that they joyned not in the Rebellion but them who were your real Friends called Quakers who gave you and the Army intelligence about the late Insurrection in Cheshire who were spoiled by the said Rebels of their Goods c could never receive any satisfaction or incouragement from you c. Note All the foregoing Lines in Black Letter are left out in F. H's Works Obs He saith God gave a signal Testimony for the Parliament against the late King That it is no Rebellion to call them who were in Power away when they do not perform the Thing they are intrusted for That God did good and great things by the Long-Parliament in overthrowing the late King wherein they had the Approbation of God and good Men that they who joyned with Sir George Booth joyned in Rebellion that at the same time the Quakers were the Parliaments real Friends and gave them and the Army Intelligence See also E. Burrough to the new Committee of Safety 1659. to the same purpose concerning Deposing Governors E. B's Works p. 593. AND though some of you present Rulers be looked upon as great Traytors and Tyrants in your dealing towards them i. e. the Parliament but alas this is nothing for the Lord doth not account as Men and if you were faithful to what the Lord requires of you in your Proceedings what you have done unto them i. e. in turning them out should not be reckoned on account against you neither by God nor Good Men. Likewise see the Declaration of their Faith touching Governours E. B's Works p. 442. Printed 1672. WE believe that all Governors and Rulers ought to be accountable to the People and to the next succeeding Rulers for all their Actions which may be enquired into upon occasion and that the chiefest of the Rulers be subject under the Law and punishable by it if they be Transgressors as well as the poorest of the People Note This Article of their Faith they also printed in the year 71. in their Book called The Principles of Truth p. 51. But as I was not so I am not willing any Observation should be made thereon and that for their sakes Now hear E. B's Advice to the Parliament of the Common-wealth of England c. against Heriditary Government 6th October 1659. But after K. C. 2. was restored then they left all this Paper out in the Reprint of his Works AND while thus it hath been in our Nation that our Kings have attained to the Throne of Government Hereditarily and by the Succession of Birth and thus it hath continued for many Ages and our Nation hath been under the Bonds of Slavery in this respect even because Men Govern'd that ought not and while Men for Earthly Honour in Birth an Breeding have claimed to be Princes over us successively and to be chosen our Rulers according to Custom and because of this the Free-born People have deeply suffered the cruel Oppressions of proud and ambitious self-seeking Men who have long Ruled for themselves and not for the Lord and have come into place of Authority otherwise than by Appointment and right Calling from the Lord And thus the Government of our Nation hath been out of Course while great Darkness hath remained upon the Hearts of the People which hath so blinded them that they have not known their own Bondage nor yet how to be redeemed into perfect Liberty while they have subjected themselves through Ignorance to be ruled by such Men as had no right from God to that Place of Rule and Government But now the Lord God our Deliverer hath begun to appear for the Freedom of the Nations and hath shewed us the Captivity and Bondage that our
Ionathan Clapham a most precise Stickler for a Reformation But when the Independents were possessed of the Authority 't was then the Beheaded King was by this Guide both Preached and Printed as a Toe of the Image the little Stone cut out of the Mountain without hands was to smite and therefore says The Fall of the ten Kingdoms was begun the Lord is risen out of his Habitation gainsay not for who seeth not the Alteration is of the Lord. In another place says he There can be no clearer Evidence that God is about this work of breaking own this great Image and smiting the very Feet and Toes thereof than this present Victory over the Scottish Forces at Dunbar which we are now to render Thanksgiving to God for the Cause of this War being whether this Image shall be upheld or the Feet and the Toes broken In short O ye honoured Worthies whom the Lord hath raised up to effect these great Changes carry on the Lord's Work that your People may not have cause to say we have changed our Tyrants not our Tyranny 'T was also then in a Dedicatory Epistle to O. Cromwel allowed by him of England Scotland Ireland c. Protector to whom amongst other extraordinary Complements I cannot let pass these Expressions where he invites him as God's Delegate in Honour to Jesus Christ and out of the love to the Churches of Christ for whose welfare you have this Power committed to you concluding thus The Lord of Heaven and Earth bless your Highness with the continuance of his Gracious presence with you that as you have done valiantly in the High Places of the Field that is fought against the King and Bishops so you Govern as righteously and happily in the Gates of the City Oh gross Dissimulation Now 't is he turns Eugagement Man and is imployed by the several Churches in Norfolk to Richard Cromwel on the Death of Oliver as their Representative about the Petition or Address made by the Priests in general which term the Father Moses and the Son the Joshua that should Conduct them to the Holy-Land After the King came in This Guide changes Oliver Richard or Parliment for Charles once a TOE of the Image that the little Stone was to smite of England Scotland Ireland c. The Beheaded King once the first broken Toe of the Image now he Commemorates with an Anniversary Sermon c. What temporizing is this Oh what unheard of Hypocrisie is here But Reader What is thy Opinion of the Matter Can Oliver be Moses Richard be Joshua and Charles Defender of the Faith all together p 53. Reader Will this Fig-leaf-Garment cover the Shame of this Guide's Nackedness from thy Discerning and Censure I hope not c. Obs If the Episcopal Party had done this would not the Quakers have call'd it a breach of the Act of Indemnity and disingenuous But for themselves to do it who had as much need of an Act of Pardon as others What was it Again in their Answer to John Faldo Quakerism a new Nick-name p. 109. And why poor Nonconformists after all their Preacht up Batels spoils Plunders Sacriledges Derimations c. Again p 119. These are true Gospel Ministers whose Gospel is Peace on Earth and good will towards Men and not Garments rolled in the Blood of Kings and Princes and Rulers and People no worldly Armies Battels Victories Trophies Spoils Sequestrations Decimations and the like Blood-thirsty and Tyrannical Projects in which John Faldo and his poor Nonconforming Ministers have had their Hands almost over Head and Ears till they had well nigh lost their Ears and their Heads too Obs Was not this to expose and render obnoxious to the Government and that in a time when the Nonconformist Ministers were under Persecution Should any have exposed the Quakers at such a season What would they not have said couching the treacherousness and baseness of it And it seems this Mr. Faldo whom they thus villifie was too young to be concerned 〈◊〉 those Projects But what might he now say of some Quakers in relation to the present Government See also their Book entituled A Just Rebuke to xxi Divines p. 25. HOw did the Presbyterians excite the Parliament in these very Terms Eliah opposed Idolatry and Oppression so do ye down with Baal's Priests which is as much as to say Away with your Arch-Bishops and Bishops the whole Ministry and Worship of the Church of England Again The Mouths of your Adversaries are opened against you that so many Delinquents that is to say Royalists are in Prison and yet but very few of them brought to their Tryal did he mean to release them And saith another of your Eminent Brethren before the Commons Aug 28. 1644. Ye cannot Preach nor Pray them down immediately well that which the Word cannot do the Sword shall Obs Again Is not here exposing and rendring of Persons as obnoxious to the then Government as they could This following is a Copy of a Letter I writ to G. W. 22. February 1678. being above a Year after the fore-going was sent them G. Whitehead I have lately seen your Book entitled The Way cast up c. and therein these following Passages viz. ANd how many Garments were rolled in Blood by Instigation of the Presbyterian Teachers the whole Nation was a Witness so that many thousands were made Widows and Fatherless by that War they stirred up the People unto c. p 23. Obs Was not this that War in which the Quakers said the Army were Glorious Instruments in the Hand of God and that God by his Spirit and Power was not only the Beginner but the Carryer on of that work and that it was his presence and power in the Army that gave them perfect Victory And abundance more to the same purpose Observe the other Column P. 52. Some of the Presbyterian Nonconformist Preachers are fled beyond Sea others lurk in Corners here and there and keep private Conventicles where many times they preach Sedition against their Lawful Prince by instigation of whom that Insurrection hapned in 1666. Obs Could any thing more be said by the Common Informers or by the most inveterate Enemies of separate Meetings than these Men here say and publish against the Presbyterians Is not this a high degree of Malice against them and Flattery of their Persecutors P. 53. And some of them have Printen Books in defence of the Lawfulness of making War against the Supreme Magistrate c. Obs And have not the Quakers Printed Books to the same purpose particularly F. H. and E. B. To the Committees of Safety See the other Column p. 12 13 P. 54. And in very Truth the Presbyterian Church will never be able to purge her self of the Iniquity of killing many thousands in the three Nations by the occasion of a most bloody War raised up through the Instigation of the Presbyterian Teachers Obs If the Presbyterians be thus guilty of sheding of the Blood that was shed
Barack Jepthah Samson David Samuel and the Prophets who by Faith subdued Kingdoms and turned to flight the Armies of the Aliens did not Fight G.W. has found out all these ways of an Army's Conquering without Fighting Sir I know you are an impartial Man can you think seriously not that any Man to whom the Quakers wrote or any Man that should read what they wrote would understand them in any such sense without Fighting for I take it for manifest no Man did but whether they that wrote or even the Quakers themselves till now they are press'd with these passages ever thought of such Senses And if not where is the Quakers plainness whereof they so nauscously boast P. 24. G. W. says It cannot consist with our Christian Principle so much as to avenge our selves Who are more ready to avenge themselves in Word and Print than Quakers How have they railed and reviled their Opposers Witness those Names G. W. calls Will. Rogers F. Bugg Tho. Crisp and others in the Preface to his Book Judgment fixed viz. Apostate-Informers Treacherous Hypocrites False Brethren and Deceitful Workers Betraying Indas's Devils Incarnate who having tost their first love to Truth and gone out from us are become degenerate without Natural Affections Dogs that are without Wolves and raging waves of the Sea that foam out their own shame And a multitude of other such like Names do they call those that oppose and cannot conform to their outward Prescriptions and Impositions besides their frequent violence with their own Hands * See the complaint of one of their own People touching this matter It hath been their lot to be haled with violence out of the Assemblies Did I think to see the same violence offered in our Assemblies Nay but with Sorrow mine Eyes have seen pulling down haling out and thrusting forth of our Meetings and they went to the utmost as far as their Power and doubtless they wanted not Will but Power to punish And although they exercise the Oppressions before-mentioned and much more as may be seen in the said Book yet by their deceitful flatterits they make People believe That they are harmless innocent and peaceable People suffering and bearing wrong but not doing any And if any Person write or speak their Grief they will represent them under such terms as may render them odious and the more effectually to weaken their Testimonies they will fix upon them scurrilous and contemptible Appellations as Scotch-Men Welch men Tinker Taylor c. Some of them utterly untrue and to prevent an Inquisition into the matter they would make People believe that they are envious malicious and discomposed Spirits bad dirty factions and ranting Spirits who are gone from Truth and are out of Truth Such is the Portion of those that appear in the least against their imperious tyrannical and lascivious Actions And whatever Man detected the Fallacies and destructive Cheats of imperious disdainful Men but was thus reproached Must it be Justice in them to complain of their Oppressions and Envy and Malice c. in us to complain of ours Their years are but few yet verily they have been exceeding expert to learn of the Papists Subtilties Spirit of the Hat p. 29 36 37. and what is a great part of this Book of G W. c. but avenging themselves of J. P. They might have said all they had to say in their own vindication without those manifold reproaches and even Curses which they belch out against him such as that in p. 30 God will smite thee thou malicious Hypocrite Our Innocency shall rise up in Judgment against thee Read to the end of that Paragraph Of this nature is G. W. glorying that Jer. Ives not long after his malicious Works against us Quakers was soon cut off by Death p. 33. I must desire you Sir to read p. 34 35 36 37. of their Vindication of that Declaration to which Mr. P 's Name was amongst the rest subscribed and then judge what disingenuity and deceit there was in him to insert the substance of that Declaration without telling that his own Name was to it since his Name was not to those after Declarations which are inconsistent with this 2. Whether it is possible to give a more Equivocating Answer to any charge than G. W. c. has given of this They say God might command Thousands and Ten Thousands of His Saints at this Day to Fight in His own Cause †This passage and the like the Quakers left out in the reprint of E. B 's works knowing it seems they would expose them in their clear sense but being brought to light they then study to put an equivocal sense on them But it must not be taken for granted says G. W. that therefore he would do it But that which GOD may do and which we cannot yet believe that He will make use of us in that way and therefore for the present we are given up to bear and suffer c We must needs conclude that this is one of those things that GOD hath made no DECREE to the contrary but that He may Will it to be done even by us in the future though He hath not done it at present And all that G. W. c. has Criticiz'd upon the Equivocalness of the term YET does but bewray his and their Equivocation for though YET may be taken for Nevertheless when they say but YET His Kingdom is not of this World notwithstanding it cannot be so taken when they say neither can we YET believe c. but it must be taken to denote the time to this present adhuc as yet in exception to the time to come especially when it is farther explained by the clause for the present which is necessarily opposed to the time to come and imports clearly that Fighting may be commanded as in the Future as now bearing and suffering is commanded I am very confident that G. W. c. cannot produce any one instance out of any Man's Writings that understood well the English Tongue of the use of the term Yet in such a Phrase and Construction in any other sense than of Time But if all unconcern'd Readers must and will understand it in this sense then G. W's Answer is full of gross Equivocation These are the People that exalt themselves above all other Professors whatsoever that they reckon all them to be of the World out of the Truth and themselves the Only People of GOD and that they are in the Truth and none but they Christ's Lambs and the like And for distinguishing themselves from others they took up some Observances or Ceremonies which did it effectually such as saying Thou not You to a single Person calling no Man Master but John or Thomas c. not I thank you but I receive thy love not carrying the Feet but the Head foremost of their Dead and the like They condemn utterly the courtesie of putting off the Hat to any In short they affected
THE Quakers Unmask'd Their Double-dealing and False-heartedness Discovered BY Collections taken out of their own Writings which were Communicated to G. Fox G. Whitehead and others of their Preachers and Leaders WHEREIN May be seen some of their Contradictions Confusions and Temporizing With some Observations thereupon by another Hand ALSO One of the Forms of their Oaths used amongst themselves with their Definition of an Oath Likewise a Letter and Paper formerly sent to the abovesaid G. F. Whereunto are annexed some Remarks c. Also what an Oath is In a Letter to E. S. Esq LICENSED June 19. 1691 The Leaders the Leaders of this People have caused them to Err because they received not the Truth in the Love of it Therefore are they given up to Strong Delusions to believe and to tell Lies The Day is come and now is that the Hidden Things of Esau 's Nature are to be and must be brought to Light O thou Sword of the LORD How long will it be e'er thou be quiet Put up thy self into thy Scabbard rest and be still How can it be quiet seeing the LORD hath given it a Charge LONDON Printed for J. Gwillim over against the Great James in Bishops-gate-street and R. Baldwin in Warwick-lane 1691. The Author of the following Collections to the READER IT can hardly be credited by any the care and fear I have had concerning the said Collections lest they should have become publick in the last two Reigns which I would not they should for the Treasures of this World This is a faithful and true saying whether it can be believed or no. But now Liberty of Conscience being established by Law I gave Ten of 'em i. e. The Quakers Vnmask'd to be shown or sold to any sober Person unto which some of the Leaders of that People have lately put forth an Answer and finding they are so far from acknowledging any thing to be amiss in their said Writings that they endeavour either to cover excuse or justifie them which hath necessitated me to cause them to be reprinted in Quarto that whoever have seen their Answer may if they please compare it with this And notwithstanding I sent them the said Book privately in writing in the year 77. hoping thereby to have prevented their farther exposing others yet about a year after I met with a Book of theirs intitled The Way cast up c. and therein several passages against the Presbyterians accusing them of Rebellions Seditions and Fighting Principles p. 23 52 53 54. And in the year 81. they put forth another Book calling it Peaceable Advice to the Presbyterians c. and therein p. 1. accused them again with the same Principles which being Printed at such a juncture when the Popish Plot was endeavoured to be stifled and turned upon the Protestants caused a great grief not only to my self but to many others some of whom writ to the Quaker's Bookseller desiring they might be stopt considering the season c. But they not prevailing in their Request I bought many of 'em and went to several of their Meetings where I spake these Words viz. I met with one of your Books against the Presbyterians and as a Witness against that Hypocritical Deceitful Daubing Temporizing Spirit that writ it and the Publishers of it I am made to tear it in pieces before you Which having done they threatned to have me called in Question for it c. I say considering these things and that what I had writ to them in private did not hinder them from this continued exclaiming against others about these matters It was thought meet to have 66 of The Quakers Vnmask'd privately printed in Folio which were chiefly intended to be given to some of the said People so that it is plain my purpose and intention therein was only to prevent if possible their doing any more such things for the future but not in the least to expose them to the then Governours who I feared would have been but too severe and too much exasperated against them for it And though I have been made thus to advise and caution them from their running into these and many other Evils which they have run themselves into Yet alas they have slighted scorned and rejected every thing I proposed that might any way have conduced to their present Happiness and everlasting Good which being my chiefest end aim and endeavour whether they will yet hear or forbear I am clear and have that Reward with and in me which no Man non Men can give or take from me J. P. This following was writ by the Person that caused the 66 Books aforesaid in Folio to be printed The Publisher to the truly Christian Reader THE following Tract Providentially coming to my Hand and being desired to Read and Consider it I spent some Hours therein to my no small Consternation upon a double account First That the Land of my Nativity was not long ere this an Aceldama being so generally Apostatized from the Truth and become a second Sodom Secondly To consider That the Principal and Forwardest LEADERS of the People who while Faithful were begirt with the Power and Strength of the Almighty GOD of Jacob and brought to their PISGAH-SIGHT should turn again to their Onions and Garlick throwing by the ROYAL LAW of LIBERTY and Re-espouse Egyptian Bondage What shall we say to these things Oh that the Souls of all that are yet Faithful and have according to their measure been given up to the Guidance of the Spirit would Cry mightily unto the GOD of their Salvation That every one concern'd in the following HURRICANE which they have been formerly warned off in Love and Meekness about four years and half since may remember from whence they are Fallen repent and do their First Works which is the principal End of the Printing hereof that so the Still Voice may be Restored in all our Habitations That all Weapons of War may be turned into Plow-shares and Pruning-hooks and every One confess The LORD is GOD who only must and will be Exalted Amen amen saith the Soul of thy Friend J. G. Note Where any Words are added that were not in the Manuscript or in that Printed they are put in Italick between these Marks excepting 5 short Sentences in Black Letter p. 3 4 5 which were left out for brevity but are now put in only to shew they do not in the least vary the sense as the Quakers alleadge in their Answer no more than any other passage they have mentioned therein does To the Reader The three following Letters were writ to Mr. J. O. The first was Printed the other not First Letter to Mr. J. O. sent with the following Book then not printed I Having been ill and weak in Body near upon a Month it put me upon a deep search and examination concerning the Cause thereof and finding my self clear in HIS sight who justifies in secret I matter not who condemns And now being a little raised
up and restored for a season from the Grave I have further considered what my Work and Service is in my Generation and do find a necessity laid upon me to be Instrumental for the discovering unmasking and manifesting your Preachers and Leaders who have long exercised Tyranny and Cruelty over the Souls of the Righteous and who by their Threats and Flatteries have caused many innocent Men and Women to bend and bow under them contrary to their own Consciences for which they must certainly give an account and so must you that are the Upholders of them The Book herewith sent I desire may be shew'd to the Persons to whom it is directed it will concern you to consult and consider how the Truth which you have so long talked of in Words may be Cleared and the Hypocrite and Deceiver made to bear his own Burden of which if I may be assured my End in sending it will be fully answered and it will be a sufficient Recompense for all the Care and Pains I have taken therein and shall endeavour to prevent and stop its farther Publication But if in the Pride of your Hearts you shall kick and spurn against it reject and despise my Counsel herein given you then know that your Iniquities will be upon your own Heads when I shall be clear in my Conscience concerning you I am a Lover of TRUTH and RIGHTEOUSNESS In whomsoever But an utter Enemy to Deceit and Wickedness In whomsoever I got one to Copy out the Book fair over but am not so well to see it carefully Examined therefore if you find any mistake in the Quotations let me know it in two or three Weeks time and it shall be rectisied before it go farther 10. Oct. 1677. J. P. Second Letter to Mr. O. 'T IS now near 6 Weeks since I sent you the Quakers Vnmask'd c. which I desired might be imparted to G.F. G.W. c. from whom or some of you I expected an Answer but not hearing from any of you concerning it I take it for granted you are satisfied I have not wronged you in the Quotations and therefore it may be returned by this Bearer 20. Nov. 77. J. P. But instead of returning the said Book as I desired he sent me part of a Letter writ to him by G. W. which occasioned me to write this following Answer Third Letter to Mr. O. I Perceive by a Letter directed to you there is an Answer to the Book I sent you but it seems I must not see it before it is Printed as you have mine neither may I see the Falshood which in divers particulars as to matter of Fact they say I am guilty of that if any such 〈◊〉 be it might be amended but they act herein more like Politicians than either Miniters of Christ or just Men and deal by me in this much as you did with J. Whitehouse against whom your Meeting drew up a Charge yet would not give him a Copy thereof but when it came to be your own Case that some of your Friends were accused for Miscariages then you could say It was below the Justice of all Nations not to give a Copy of the Charge Thus you can say and unsay do and not do as suits best not with Truth but with your own Self-ends and Interests If Truth and Plain-heartedness were with you why should not I see your Answer before publication as well as you see my Book But Guilt and Deceit makes shy Call a Council of your wisest Men to consult what you had best to do in this matter in which your chiefest Preachers are greatly guilty of abominable Wickedness in the sight of GOD and just Men And if a necessity be upon me as now it is to publish mine if you will not doe the thing that is right to prevent it to bring out yours then say the wise are taken in their own Craftiness which is now fulfilled I cannot but wonder at their saying that 't is a violation of the Act of Indemnity what I have done in this business when they as well as my self know that all things of that Nature are thereby pardoned as to Men But their transgression is of a deeper dye than the breach of Man's Law only for they have pretended to be Ministers and Messengers of the most High GOD and what they writ was by His Authority when really and truly it was but the Imaginations and Inventions of their own deceived Hearts to manifest which and to undeceive the Minds of the Simple who are beguiled as my self once was by their specious and high Pretences I have taken the pains to write out some of their Messages which do apparently shew they are but pretenders only and have made use of the Name of the LORD to cover and carry on their own designs and when it suits not with their Interests then would they have such Messages hid and not brought to light Are these the Embassadors of the most High who for any worldly ends or carnal considerations would have His Commands and Requirings stifled which they said they gave forth in His Name Surely their Hypocrisie and Deceit appears and will yet appear more and more Behold you great Goliahs your strength is in an Arm of Flesh but mine is only in the Living GOD before whom all your deceitful Covers are manifest which will stand you in little stead in the Day of Distress that is coming upon you for He will certainly plead with you for all your Abominations You are full of designs to keep up your Esteem amonst the People but the LORD by whose Power I am raised up against you will bring you low and utter disgrace will come upon you because you have not sought His Glory so much as your own and if thou continues and joyns with them in their Sins thou must not expect to escape their Judgments It is certainly so that I have been your truest Friend though accounted your Enemy and have in all Faithfulness discharged my Conscience towards you and what I am to do farther in this matter it concerns me diligently to wait upon HIM who gives Wisdom to the Simple to confound the Wisdom of the Wise and I am assured that Simplicity and Innocency will stand when all the cunning Contrivances of Men shall fall I am The Friend in Truth without Flattery J. P. Dec. 19. 77. I desire G. F. G. Whitehead may see this or any you see meet The PREFACE WHen I have considered how the Quakers i.e. G.F. G. Whitehead and the rest of that Temporizing Imperious Lording Party have Writ and Printed against the Presbyterians Independents and others for being Engaged in the late Wars and what opprobrious villifying and reproachful Terms they have given them for the same it hath exceedingly amazed and astonished me that they who were so Great Justifiers and Encouragers not only of what had been done in the late Wars but also did incite and encourage those that were therein engaged not