a thorough Examination of all their Errors only to give the Reader a short view of their Principal and most Monstrous Heresies and to provoke them if possible to a serious consideration of them At least I hope what has been said will be sufficient to keep others from going into their Snares till they have clearly and fully given satisfaction to what is here objected against them And let them either justifie what is plainly Quoted out of their Books or freely disown and condemn the Blasphemous Errors of G. Fox their first Apostle and others of their Party But if they will not do this latter for spoiling of their Infallibility Then let them stick to their Infallibility If they will do neither then we may truly judge them to be Self-condemn'd And in the next place That they have more concern for their own Honour than for the Honour of Christ or Truth of the Gospel who will refuse or scruple to condemn the most Monstrous Blasphemies but seek rather to Cover Palliate and Excuse them If they think that I have wrong'd them in this Character let their Vindication appear in a Clear Plain and Categorical Answer to what is said above Let that be the Criterion to judge of their Sincerity And so I leave them And now I have one word to say to those Quakers of the Separate Congregations These have thrown off the Pretence of Infallibility Yet they will be Quakers still They own Christ without and Redemption through his Blood Thus far they are return'd to the Orthodox Faith But they stick still to the Quaker Spirit in denying the Sacraments which Christ Ordained in his Church and in the Schism which G. F. the first Infallible Quaker made from the Church and that upon the account of their own Infallibility Now how can these who have thrown off that Blasphemous Pretence to Infallibility remain still in that Schism which is grounded only upon that Infallibility But farther a False Pretence to Infallibility is not only an Error but it is a high Blasphemy and can proceed from none but the Spirit of Delusion And therefore whatever comes from that Spirit is justly to be suspected Now it seems Incredibly strange that those who have Detected the Fundamental Forgery shou'd yet stick to that same Spirit in other things And those of no less consequence than the tearing Christ's Body in pieces and breaking the Communion of Saints by Schism and throwing off those outward Ordinances which are of Christ's own Immediate Institution and Commanded to be continu'd till his Coming again and Appointed by him as Means of Grace and therefore are the Grounds for our Hope of Glory But I thank God I have found in several of them a good Disposition towards receiving again the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper They have learnt to speak of them with Reverence and wish they had never been disused and are sensible that great hurt has thereby come to the Faith especially among the Quakers who for want of these outward and visible signs have lost the Substance and spirited away the Reality of Christ's Natural Body and his Body suffering for us together with those Holy Sacraments which he Instituted for the continual Commemoration thereof But there is a time for all things And these Beginnings will I hope grow into a Perfect Reconciliation of these misled People to the True Christianity and the True Church of England from which they have so unhappily and causelesly divided It is this year just Forty years since their first appearing in London London is the Center of all of them through the World Whither Deputies come every year from the West-Indies and all other their Colonies through the World Such Intelligence and Politick Institution is no where else to be found but among the Jews and the Jesuits And therefore I begin with them here in London that if it please God their Return may proceed by the same Steps and in the same Rode by which their Deceivers have led them And I pray God that they may now at last find Rest and arrive safely in Canaan after their Forty years wandering through the Wast and Howling Wilderness wherein were Fiery flying Serpents of Mortal Heresie and Error Feb. the 28th 1694 5. FINIS
the Quakers p. 97. Witness Immediate Revelation They are come to that the Apostles was in the Spirit of Christ the Spirit of God they Witness Immediate Revelation p. 153. But the rest of the World have never heard the Voice of God nor the Voice of Christ and have not the same Infallible Spirit as the Apostles had and no Immediate Revelation nor Inspiration as they had p. 221. Revelation is now witnessed in our Days as it was in the Apostles but not amongst you who have inwardly Ravened from the Spirit of God which have Apostatized from the Apostles And so you be in the Diabolical Devilish that expects not that now which was in the Days of the Apostles If ever you own the Prophets Christ New Rome Unmask'd p. 42. G. F's Answer to the Westmorland Petition p. 30. Truth 's Defence G. F. and R. H. p. 2 89 104 and the Apostles you will own our Writings which are given forth by the same Spirit and Power You may as well Condemn the Scriptures to the Fire as our Quaeries Our giving forth Papers and Printed Books it is from the Immediate Eternal Spirit of God You are now Answered from the Mouth of the Lord. Of their stiling their own Writings The Word of the Lord and denying it to the Holy Scriptures you will see farther Sect. 11. Concerning the Authority of the Holy Scriptures SECT X. Concerning the Quakers Infallibility THis Section may seem needless as being included in the former For who pretend to an Equality with God to the same Immediate Revelation with Christ the Prophets and Apostles had must needs be Infallible But I conceive it will be worth the Readers while to see how they Branch it and Descend to particular Marks and Instances of their Infallibility This Section therefore is like opening the Jugler's Box And you may expect to see Rareties I told you before how their Infallibility was Palm'd upon them by the Church of Rome Of which they were so greedy that they swallow'd it down by whole-sale and wou'd have none of those Cautions with which the Church of Rome us'd to Defend themselves or else forgot them in their Haste and in their Hony Month while they were New-fangl'd Thus while the Church of Rome plac'd their Infallibility only in their Church or at most in the Pope alone as the Head of it the Quakers set up for it All and every One of them There was an Infallibility for you The Church of Rome had cunning Hiding Places and if you attack'd the Infallibility of their Church they wou'd not tell you what they meant by their Church nor where to find their Infallibility some wou'd make you believe that it was in the Pope as Head of the Church and only Successor of Peter to whom the Promises Super hanc Petram and Tues Petrus were made But then some distinguished and said not in Peter alone nor always but only when he was in Cathedra and some said that was with his Conclave others said no but only with a General Council Again some plac'd the Infallibility in the Council above the Pope others in the Pope above the Council others in neither of them asunder but only in both together And lastly some will have it none of all these ways but say it is only to be look'd for in the Diffusive Body of the Church And then as to the Infallibility it self some tell us that it relates to Manners as well as Faith and to Practice as well as Theory Others will by no means admit of that but confine it wholly to matters of Faith And then it will be a long Dispute what shall be adjudg'd a Matter of Faith and what not but only as Relating to Faith These are long and intricate Mazes and it requires no little Skill to be able to follow them thro' all these various Subterfuges But the Simplicity of our Quakers has depriv'd them of every one of these Helps For as they place Infallibility in every single Quaker so they confine it not to matters of Faith but extend it to all Persons and Things To know all Mens Hearts and all Things in the World by their inward Light without being told by any I am sure by this time the Reader is impatient to come to the Proof to see if it be possible for Men to be possess'd with such an incredible degree of Enthusiasm And I am willing to begin that I may no longer lie under the suspicion of Imposing unjustly or at least of Aggravating any thing against them G. Fox says plainly Gr. Myst p. 89. That they can discern who are Saint who are Devils and who Apostates without speaking ever a word Ibid. p. 5. That they have the Word of God Christ which is Eternal and Infallible in their Hearts to judge Persons and Things Thou says he to his Opponent p. 96. not being Infallible thou art not in the Spirit and so art not a Minister and art not able to judge of Powers that is not Infallible nor Magistrates nor Kingdoms nor Churches Now which of the Quakers is it who have this Spirit to judge thus Infallibly of Persons and Things of Powers Magistrates Kingdoms and Churches And to discern Mens Hearts who are Saints and who Apostates and that without being told by any as G. F. expresses it without speaking ever a word This is told us in p. 7. of Edward Burrough's Epistle to the Reader of G. F's Great Mystery where he says that this Infallible Spirit was given To us says he every one of us in particular And this Light gave us to discern between Truth and Error between every false and right way and it Perfectly discover'd to us the true state of All Things Thou say'st says Fox to his Opponent p. 107. that the Holiest Man is not able to give an Infallible Character of another Man Hast thou not in this discover'd thy self to be no Minister of Christ or of the Spirit Who cannot give an Infallible Character of another Man how canst thou Minister to his Condition How canst thou see where he is How canst thou see them that be turned from the Darkness and that be in the Darkness and distinguish the one from the oother and an Holy Man from an Unholy Man that canst not give an Infallible Character of and Man's Estate And p. 94. Have ye given your selves a Name of the Church of Christ and is there not a Spirit of discerning among you Have ye not manifested here that ye are Harlotted from the Church of Christ the Apostles were of And how can ye Minister or Teach People if ye do not discern their states how they stand before God How can you commend your selves to every Man's Conscience in God's sight How can ye present the Souls of Men to God and see not their states how they are in his sight How come ye to have Fellowship in the Spirit How can you or any Minister to the state and condition that People be
our Salvation by our own Abilities So very Insufficient is the Light within us even tho' follow'd to the utmost by its own strength to carry us to Heaven And therefore the Quakers Preaching up the Sufficiency of the Light within as all of them but the Separatists do is not only highly Derogatory to the Satisfaction paid by Christ for our sins But it is Blasphemous in ascribing to our selves a Power sufficient to work out our own Salvation whereas no Wisdom less than Infinite cou'd have found out the Means nor Power less than Infinite cou'd have Effected our Salvation And tho' we are Commanded Phil. 2.12 to work out our own Salvation that is to perform the Conditions which are requir'd on our Part. That does not make the Light within the Efficient Cause of our Salvation or give it any Title to Infallibility more than ver 13. of the 4th Chap. in the same Epistle can Entitle us to Omnipotence because St. Paul says there I can do all things But if any cou'd pretend to Infallibility from the Countenance of some Texts in Scripture they will be found to have the best Title to whom the Quakers wou'd most unwillingly grant it For it is Written Prov. 16.10 A Divine Sentence is in the Lips of the King and his Mouth Transgresseth not in Judgment If either Pope or Quaker cou'd shew such a Text for either of their Infallibilities we shou'd never have done with them I fansie I hear George Whitehead answering of this Text thus That Kings Lips and their Mouths were only made Infallible by this But that they might Transgress in their Hearts and with their Hands and make Signs with Head Eyes or Feet for Unrighteous Judgments or Subscribe tho' not Dictate wicked Decrees If he think that this is making too bold with him I learn'd it from himself in his Sheet call'd A Charitable Essay Printed in Answer to Fr. Bugg's New Rome Unmask'd there p. 6. he Answers the before-mentioned Quotation out of G. Fox that they the Quakers cou'd discern who were Saints and who Apostates without speaking ever a word and he puts it off Ingeniously thus That they cou'd discern it by their Lofty Looks Wanton and Scornful Eyes Envious and Fallen Countenances And so without speaking ever a word What! Do you think that the Quaker Infallibility is limited to speaking only they can make an Infallible Judgment of Men's Hearts and tell who are Saints and who Devils by very Winks and Glances But if Envious and Fallen Countenances be such sure Marks of Devils I wou'd advise some Friends to go to the Dancing-School and learn a more Gentle and Graceful Mien For it wou'd be a sad thing to be made a Devil of for scrouling down ones Head or their Hat hanging over their Eyes Therefore George Hold up thy Face and look like a Man Come be Brisk and tell me by Yea and by Nay is not this very hard Fishing for Infallibility Thou and thy God-father Fox can know a Saint from a Devil without speaking but not without a little Mincing and Prinking if Thee but once see him Peep or Trip it through the Floor a turn or two Thou couldst spy the Cloven Foot presently Alas Poor George Is the Infallible Quaker dwindled down to a meer Gypsie or Paltry Fortune-Teller to nothing but a little Skill in Physiognomy Ah! George What a Blessed Spirit wouldest Thee have thought Satan if Thee hadst seen him when he was Transform'd into an Angel of Light Thou hast seen him George so Transform'd and hast so mistaken him But smaller Juglers than he can easily deceive these Infallible Physiognomists In the very Dawning of the Quaker Light when their Infallibility was spick and span new before those Miserable Flaws which have been since Discover'd in it in the year 1655. the very year after Quakerism came first to London there happen'd a Notorious Detection of George Whitehead's Infallibility by Signs and Faces as well as of George Fox's without speaking ever a word For so it fell out that a Precious Brother one Char. Atkinson being in Prison in Norwich for the New Faith in the Infallible Light prov'd Carnally Fallible in Darkness with a Dear Sister the Maid of Thomas Symons who was likewise one of the Infallible Now these put so good a Face upon the matter that neither by their Lofty Looks Wanton and Scornful Eyes Envious and Fallen Countenances were they discover'd Nay tho' there was some suspicion of it and as R. Hubberthorne tells some other Infallible Friends J. N. F. H. and E. B. in his Letter from Wramplingham Dated the 9th Day of the 5th Month 1655. while as Hubberthorne saith in the Wisdom of God we were searching it out and in his Will waiting for his Counsel Yet all this notwithstanding and that in his said Letter he desires that George Fox may be acquainted with it and names George Whitehead too by Name whose Letter to the foresaid J. N. F. H. and E. B. Dated the 9th of the 5th Month is added to the abovesaid Letter of Hubberthorne's in the Copy which I have seen I say notwithstanding of all this neither G. Fox G. VVhitehead nor any other of the Infallible Gang cou'd find it out till Christopher Atkinson Pricked as he said with the stings of his own Conscience did freely and of his own accord confess it and Sign'd a Paper of Condemnation of himself for this wicked Fact Dated in Norwich Gaol the 3d Day of the 5th Month 1655. and gave it as an Act of Penance and of the Sincerity of his Repentance to three Friends John Stubbs VVilliam Cotton and Tho. Symons But these not regarding the Sacredness of the Seal of Confession or being not acquainted with it and fearing that this wou'd be known and so reflect upon the in-errable Society and preferring their own Honour to the Honour of God and the Restoring of a Laps'd Brother did resolve to Reveal his Confession and then Renounce him which they did and pretended that it was by the special Direction of God by sending his Paper of Confession to the Magistrates tho' they thought them to be the Children and Rulers of Darkness which was under-written in these words The above-written being declar'd to me I am mov'd of the Lord to make it known to you that are the Rulers of this City that the Truth of God may be cleared and he to bear his own iniquity who hath done this wicked Deed which is hated of them that dwell in the Light This from me Tho. Symons But now how do you think they contriv'd to salve their Infallibility that cou'd not find out this of Christopher Atkinson till he told it himself Why most Cleverly As we have it in another Letter of the above R. Hubberthorne to E. B. F. H. Ger. Roberts and the rest from Gissing the 5th Day of the 5th Month 1655. wherein he ascribes this Confession of C. A's to a miraculous Force upon him from God and against his