witness true but if thon meanest that my words are lies then why is it that thou didst not witness any one of them so to be that so I might have seen my errors but herein is thy subtiltie seen Thou goest further uttering much words to us for what thou hast feigned in thy own imagination and then in thy 23. page thou askest Is there any in this City but they are ashamed to have a hand in such a filthy thing speaking of what thy imagination hath conceived which thou hast cast upon us to which I answer nay surely I judg there is not any but thy self and so receive these thy own words consider thy work in this thy confused thing wherein thou hast been forced so often to clear us both with thy own words and also with mine of those things thou hast so often accused us of and to the world declare thy selfe whereof all the world cannot prove us guilty of these deceits and open manifest inventions wrought by thee further then to testifie against thee and that spirit in thee and them by which thou wast helped in this thy workes of lyes and slanders which are one for the sorcerer the murtherer and the lyer is one spirit so thou who hast cast these things upon us which thy selfe doth testifie we denyed and for that cause judgment was given and a witnesse for truth hath appeared to the world let all men see by what spirit thou was led Was there ever such a thing done amongst the people of God had'st thou lived in the Apostles time wouldest not thou have slandered the truth the persons of the Saints with the act of Simon Magus though it was much better then this of thee who fell the truth for a lye wouldst not thou have charged the act of the incessious person upon the Apostles and that of Annanias and Sephira upon that spirit which appeared in them and that of Judas upon Christ and his Disciples which is the like case all these being thy own acts thou hast appeared in their spirit and then thou castest thy Work upon us and now had this been just dealeing to accuse the innocent or have you done here as you would be done unto nay wouldest thou have the false witnesses in this thy paper cast upon the innocent the abominations that is of thy selfe cast upon us this being the true case between thee and us whose persons thou hast slandered take it into consideration and let the light of Christ of which thou speakest be Judg in you whether you have kept the Royall Law Do as you would be done unto let him be witness between us and you whose spirit you have blasphemed this daie also let all the Judges of this Nation give their testimonie and all that understand Law between man and man if such a witness deserve not punishment suitable to his Slander who would dare to be a witness against others in things he never saw nor heard though I am far from desiring that any such thing should befall thee but that thou mayest come to see thy unjust dealing after the manner of men in that thou darest to act and witness such contradictions and confusions as is in this thy book and become a certain witness to that thou never saw nor heard and so speak thou knowest not what and yet notwithstanding thou hast thus discovered the vain deceit of thy own minde that thou shouldest for a cover thereof to darken the understandings of the simple dare to appear with such an appeal unto such persons of sound judgement and clear understanding in respect of those things whereof thou speakest as they are O man where art thou if not beside thy self Is thy understanding laid aside or art thou predominate in thy affections that thou mightest boast in vanitie was there ever such a thing done by any that feared God a moderate Heathen would have blushed thereat But now how art thou falne and how hath envie besotted thee in this thy work These things and much more of which I am ashamed to speak hast thou prepared a work for and they for thy work Did not Haman insult against Mordicai and so brought the evil upon himself which was designed for Mordicai and is it not so between thee and us hast thou not laid a snare before the truth to intrap us and then prepared a scourge but now thou hast brought that evil upon thy self which thou intendest for us and here is thy deceit made manifest Having thus discovered thy uncleanness and work of a lie thou goest on in thy 23. page with my words where I say that I had a clear understanding of what your Ministry held forth and a right knowledge of your belief and practise before I complied with you and then sayest thou here I adde another lie to cover the former and so I go about to clear you again to which I answer as I have cleared alreadie what I have spoken is true thy deceit being laid open thou mayest read them so to be have I all along in my book discovered the truth of things that those scandals which have passed abroad might be seen and witnessed against Nay couldst thou have done more thy self had the case been thy own and yet for all this goest thou about to reproach and revile me for that I have thus done and that by turning truth into lies and so make a scorn and derision of the work of the spirit and yet doest thou justifie thy deed as though thou wast thus guided by the spirit let all those of whom thou callest to witness between thee and me whose eyes are in their heads bear witness in truth without partialitie between us and then shall they not see thy follie yea also read thy self and thy own condemnation that so thou maist for the time to come learn more wisdome and not dare to appear in such a fair show as though in love to truth whenas thou makest thy self manifest to be a devourer of the truth In thy 26. page thou confessest thy self that I tell the occasion how I came to be lost in my understanding and so distracted and confused in mind and then thou goest on repeating my words which discovers the occasion to be another thing then your persons and yet the whole scope of thy book is intended to make people believe that I cast it upon your persons and again thou acknowledgest that what I have here discovered is for the clearing of truth and yet in thy confusion thou callest this subtiltie but if so then thou art subtiltie for that thou deniest not by these thy words but that it is for the clearing of truth was not deceit uppermost when thou appearest in this work and thy understanding covered with darkness yea surelie and so it was and here that judgment of which thou speakest is witnessed out of thy own mouth to be thy own for if it was the true spirituall Light which let me to see
THE SNARE BROKEN OR LIGHT discovering DARKNESSE Being an answer to a Book entituled FOOT yet in the SNARE Published by JAMES NAYLOR Wherein his treachery and back-sliding from the true Faith is brought to Light and his untrodden PATHS discovered With some of his divided Language and deceitful Lyes in short laid open and his Spirit proved to be the same which appeared in all the false Prophets who say the Lord saith when he spake not unto them plainly to be seen by the impartial eye in all those whose eyes are in their head least the Wolfe should devoure the Lamb under a shadow of love to the TRUTH By a lover of Truth and Peace called John Toldervy Isaiah 58.1.4 Shew my people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins Behold ye fast for strife and debate and to smite with the fist of wickeknesse ye shall not fast as ye do this day to make your voice to be heard on high James 2.1 My Brethren have not the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of Glory with respect of persons In vain is the Snare laid in the sight of any Bird. London Printed for N. Brooks and are to be sold at the Angel in Cornhil and at the three Bibles neer the West end of Pauls 1656. The Snare broken OR Light discovering Darknesse GOOD is the Word of the Lord who by his Spirit hath foretold of the Heathen raging and the people fancying and imagining to themselves vaine things thereby to subdue the true appearance and exaltation of the King of Righteousnesse in every age of his coming into the world who hath also foretold of such whose coming should appear as the Angels of Light being transformed in the outward shape or discovery of the Image of God and in this his appearance as a special end for the effecting of his bewitched design he intrudes into the comprehension of words even words that are sound and perfect words of Life and Power which came forth from the Spirit whose way is truth and whose end is life but being ignorant of that Spirit from whence they came they change them into fables and so are become blasphemers of that Immortal Seed by which they were brought to light As also for the maintaining of their corrupt practise being not possessors of the perfect truth they desire to make a fair show in the flesh and to that end they seek to give place to some Self-humility that they may be distinguished by men that therein they may glory as though in the sufferings of Christ but from that spirit and light in which there is no deceit but the perfection of truth let such learne reproof and suffer rebuke who boast of the Light to be their Guide and yet are found in the Pit of Waâ—ps watching to afflict the children of my people saith the Lord and are searching secretly for a stumbling stone to cast for a Rock of Offence in the streets of the Holy Jerusalem even for a shelter for the accursed seed not only in those who are brought into the way which guides to Salvation and that have received in their knowledg a measure of the infallible truth but also in such who have something of the simplicity arising to life in them by which they are guided in love to seek after the way of truth if that for Sions sake they might come to know where they might find the sufferings of the Crosse for the restoration of the Righteous Seed which maketh free the City of God But the Word of Scripture hath foretold that such Heresies and Schismes must be in the Church that the approved of the Lord might be made manifest and now it will plainly appear to those who are in any measure of the Light and Faith of Christ such a one hath been found in that blasphemous work the Answer of that Book set forth by me entituled The Foot out of the Snare for that from the root of bitterness and envy there is brought to light a bundle of unclean venomous things and filthy deceitful lies confusion and rashness in evil speaking against the truth yet notwithstanding are they all sought to be justified in the deepest subtilty of the Serpent by going about to intrap the simple mind with much using those words which were spoken from the simplicity in such a life for such an end that he which abides in a lye knoweth not Now unto such who for a perswasion have and do satisfie themselves in things which those that are by them judged to be before them in the faith doth believe and declare for truth unto such I say read and see your vanity for herein is the Deceiver greatly upheld you being not eye-witnesses to what you believe in your selves and though the Leaders and you people are both joyned in one to speak against imitation yet in your hearts are you both confederate in this whoredome and birth of fornication in that the one imagines and frames in his mind a certain belief that what is spoken from the other must be true rooted and grounded in him from a perswasion in himself that his Leader is in the enjoyment of the Covenants in the Redemption and purchased possession of the Blood of the Lamb a spiritual man moved and guided to speak in by and from the Spirit and the other which is the leader concludes in himself that such a belief in a weak Brother who is not yet come to that measure of Spirit or Resurrection of Life with himself is in the faith and power of truth but for this cause many are sick and weak and many sleep Who is there in whom there is any knowledg that will not condemn this Faith the Truth in this practise of taking things upon trust being sold for Usury The Spirit of God saith Follow us as we follow Christ but it doth not say Follow us because we believe or do so but herein thou who art in this practise art witnessed to be in the corrupt nature in self-worship where all the blind guides in the world are leading silly people who know not the perfect wayes of truth to say as they say and do as they do though the end of such a worship is death And for thee James Naylor thy madnesse and folly is made manifest in what thou hast done and thy vain deceit discovered yet not unto the Adulteresse eye but unto that light which is of God the witnesse of Truth against Deceit in all consciences and thy Troops of Lyes which are sheltered under thy great swelling words of vanity are here laid open before thee and turned back again to their own habitation even into thy own bosome and though thy envy had a respect to what scandal and reproach thou couldest cast upon me on purpose that thou mightest make me to appear odious yet do I not value thy deceit therein neither am I in the least dissatisfied as to my person yet sorrow and a lamentation there hath been because
of what evil thou hast brought upon thy self and that truth which thou professest and also the effects which that Spirit thou hast appeared in might accomplish upon such whom otherwise might have learned wisdome from that plain simple mind which appeared in me in what I have discovered Have I spoken in sobernesse and dealt moderately and have I therein smitten the truth How is it thou would'st have had me to a spoken Can Truth speak but its own Had I appeared a Transgressor of the Law like to thy self with a rebellious provoking spirit then mightest thou have justly reproved me but now for this thy uncleannesse it being a work of thy self know this that Judgment will rest upon thee for that I gave thee divers Causions yet hast thou rebelled against knowledg but now henceforwards learne from this thy weaknesse to cease from rashnesse and not to run before that light of which thou declarest to be thy perfection for thou art no more the Minister of Circumcision for the crucifying of the body and the abolishing of flesh I say no longer then thou abide in the Faith thy self but thou art become the Minister of Circumcision for the service of the outward Law of words But to examine and search thy work the Foundation and the end thereof Thou beginnest with a discourse to we Nine calling us the Heathen raging of which the Spirit of the Lord foretold and that we imagine vain things and so stop the appearance and exaltation of the King of Righteousnesse in this Age and that we are Gog and Magog who battel against the Lamb which Lamb thou sayest is in thee though here thou wilt be found a lyar and instead of a Lamb will appear a Wolfe Then thou callest us Subtilty Sorcerers and Witchcrafts who are of the devil and that we hate Innocency and so thou goest on calling us the Deceived and the bewitched of the Devil with lyes and lying wonders joyning together head and tail root and branch in that nature to trample upon the appearance of Christ and shut up the Kingdome against men and thou goest on calling me the Child of Perdition and after much more such kind of stuff which thou speakest of me thou callest me a Judas and those who put their hands to my book thou sayest they are the Chief Priests and so thou goest on calling us the Dragon and the Beast with the many Heads and Horns with Blasphemy on every Head and that my book is blasphemy and then thou sayest it doth now appear so to be whereas thou hast not witnessed from truth one word of blasphemy in the whole book All these and many more filthy corrupt and deceitfull lyes in respect of that work which is in hand as may be seen by the impartial eye in all those whose eyes are in their head if observing the following discourse being laid as a Foundation for thy bewitched end thou presentest them before three sorts of persons whom thou sayest are much concerned in what we Nine have hatched and brought forth calling it a filthy thing which blasphemous lye thou wast forewarned of before as I have said not only in my book but also justified to thy face when we spake together and for instance thou mayest well remember the first work thou wast guided in when after I was known to thee was in much subtilty to search what thou couldest get forth of me as touching this and also concerning other matters which respected the Ministers which being seen I refused thy spirit for which thou had'st not a word to speak but did rest silent Mayest thou not blush for shame for that thou shouldest dare to appear in slandering of so many persons after so grosse a manner as thou hast here done to the view of all the world O thou Corruption dost thou boast of the Law Through breaking the Law dishonorest thou God for the Name of God is now blasphemed among the Heathen through you for as I have said thy Circumcision profits not while as yet thou art found in the transgression and here is Core who came forth of Aegypt and yet gainsaid thinkest thou it will serve thy turn to say thy thoughts were so and now to say thou wilt do so no more nay it will not but thy reward shall abide shame and dishonor which thou hast brought upon thy selfe and that truth which thou professest Thou goest forwards in thy design and for a better incouragement of thy end towards those three sorts of persons c. and for a further discovery of thy malice towards the Ministers in thy haste thou hast reproved them for witnessing the truth which thou deniest not but thy deceit calleth it the Devils actings true that relation which declares of those effects which a deluded spirit wrought in and upon me under a pretence of light that speaks of the Devils actings and for that cause were they discovered because they were the Devils actings who is a Lyar from the beginning and abode not in the truth neither doth he abide in the truth and those works of the Devil were discovered for that end that the nature and the effects thereof might answer to the good of others yet darest thou say that those who are in the least measure of the light seeth this deed to be a secret smiting against the just but thou art denied and that light by which thou speakest for that by which they were brought to light was Life Having thus made a preparation by thy lying spirit in the using of those words of Scripture which were spoken in knowledge for a true end by those who writ them thinking thereby to darken the understanding thou goest forwards in thy sixth Page directing thy mind to us all giving us to know from thy besotted and self-will mind that we all are joyned to bear witnesse to confusions and lying wonders directing us that we turn to the light of Christ and take notice against whom we are joyned therein which light thou sayest hath appeared in thee and may be seen by us in this thy work of laying open lyes confusions and lying wonders and then thou goest on bearing witnesse against thy self saying that we never saw it or heard it and confirmest what thou so speakest with another lye saying that we also confessed what thou speakest to be true Now if thy saying here were true how is it that I could have written it or any of those Ministers appeared in it but this I shall bear with judging it to be a mistake and if thou had'st judged in righteousnesse and not according to a seeming appearance as thou couldest not otherwise be convinced in thy self concerning those words spoken by the Ministers which are less in a mistake then these here of thine then thou couldest not have been found in this work but with the light of which thou speakest thy corrupt judgment and filthy nature is here seen their words speak of a sad and remarkable providence to which they
thy reproof with a lye so far as it is known to me saying That we seek to defend our selves in that deceit which the Spirit of God in you have witnessed against and so hath made thy selfe manifest to be one of those who have abused the truth of which thou sayest It is thy Guide And whereas thou goest on saying That the devil had never such a design on foot for the incensing of people against you as my book I say thou art found herein witnessed to be the Liar from thy own words in that thou dost acknowledge in thy 23. and 27. pages and in other places of thy paper that I have oftentimes in my book cleared you from prejudice Again thou reprovest us that we are not ashamed in that we say the subject matter doth relate principally to you which thou sayest was acted amongst us who are joyned on in it against that Spirit of God in the Quakers by which it was denied in the persons of them both root and branch thereof as thou sayest is confessed and witnessed by us To which I say for the Ministers they are not concerned therein and for what I have so spoken I am not ashamed for it doth and may concerne them and also others besides them for hath God made knowne his judgments and shewed his power upon me for that I departed from the truth and gave heed unto lying vanities by which sorrow and miserie did befall me and the seed of the righteous became desolate and did this evill befall me while I was amongst you and have I now plainly as from the Lord discovered the nature thereof he having shewed unto me the cause and the end thereof and have I now shewed unto you and to the world the true cause and the end that so such who are of you unsetled in their minds or unfaithful in their work towards the Lord might thereby learn to feare and to be kept stayed in the love and faith which is professed which end thou makest of what I have writ unto them thy self nay did'st thou ever see any thing that might serve more for causion or reproof to such who are of your selves then this are you here accused then understand wherein and wherein you are accused I say see if you may not therein learn reproof but you are not only accused but you are excused where it is yours and where truth abides there it is seen and also thy deceit hath confessed the same as from what I have spoken in many places of my book though other things in the same deceit thou hast changed into lyes but that is for thy design So in thine own words I say let all now judge who have the spirit of truth if thou art not one of those misguided spirits who stand up in defence of deceit against the Spirit of Truth that thereby thou mightest cast a stumbling block in the plain way of the Lord that so his people might be stayed in the midst thereof and let your work judge you who have taken part with your deceit acted between your selves in despite to the Spirit of God Thou goest further saying that Judas and the Chief Priests might as truly charge what they did in combination together against Christ upon the eleven Disciples as we charge our act and combination upon the persons of you or the Spirit of God in you unto which I say a lye speaks for our act and combination it was not neither have I charged what is spoken upon you or the spirit of God in you but where any thing that I have writ doth gainsay the evil spirit that is in any of you that is yours and good is it that you have seen a visitation thereby Again thou sayest that in our Epistle we tell of expressing tendernesse towards our Brethren yea and I do so say tendernesse towards my Brethren who are misguided in their spirits subjected under Laws and Traditions c. which stands in the invention by which they are covered in deceit and through their weaknesse they are led forth denying themselves what is just and lawful in the sight of God and this they do through fear in flaverie to the Prince of deceit Thou goest on directing thy false mind in a confused manner to us all whereas thy scope by what I can understand reflects upon the Ministers and then in thy 9. page thou sayest as for the denying our selves liberty lawful or unlawful we are little guiltie of that crime sayest thou so then thy accusation is ceased for if we deny not lawful liberty then are we in the Redemption in which Faith our work shall abide but I plead not to justifie the flesh yet for my own part am I free or not free it is far short of thy knowledge But here thou manifestest thy confusion and contradictions for if any part of what the Law requireth be overcome by that which is without Law then is the requirings of Law denied or if any part of what is without Law be subdued by the requiring of the Law then is it that what is without Law is denied but if thou sayest in thy follie that we denie not the requiring of the Law as thy words must speak otherwise they must speak perfectly on the contrarie then I say thy whole book was spoke in and from a lie and there is nothing more but confusions so thou goest forwards in thy own by-way and then thou speakest of changeable fashions and foolish childish toys in our habits which thou sayest we are pleading for whereas there is no such matter in any one word contained in my whole book In thy 10. page thou demandest what libertie you are charged to denie I say that libertie denied by you of which I spake may plainly be seen by what I have alreadie spoken in my former You tell again of what I spake in that I would give an accompt of my separation from you which thou deniest but that lie thou here spokest on is already returned whence it came for I first did separate from you as I have said the manner of which is discovered in my former book Thou goest forwards doting in thy lie speaking to the Ministers saying that in their causion to the Reader they confesse that my errors from what was written in the Scripture and in my self was that by which I deeply suffered and sayest thou that before we have cast it on the persons of the Quakers whereas as before is witnessed there is no such thing but here thou art found with that deceit in thy own mouth which thou castest upon us In thy 14. page thou repeatest my words which speaks that I have been for divers years full of zeal after the things of God seeking after the knowledg of Christ and then for the answering of thy end thou skippest over divers lines leaving the scope and true meaning of what is related contained in those words I was perswaded and so thou bringest my words spoken
but of the devil and let such who are found in the practise of them see if the same spirit be not the ground of their practise yet do I not judge for judgement is committed to the Son whose light is in you all but for pride and excess I rest silent directing that moderation might be our guide and for a moderation in all those things I find not the spirit of God any where witness against But thou sayest I am a Judas for that I have betrayed thy Light and so I cannot see being over-shadowed with darkness Wel is it so am I a Judas then it is unto thee for that what I have betrayed is thy Light if then this thy Light be darkness my work is true yet however thy Light as touching what we have before spoken is darkness to mine and for that I have done and do my conscience beareth me witness in the sight of God which otherwise were I a Judas a burden would rest upon me but know this I have seene the end of things and have learned to cease from man and if for these things thou smitest at us because I call my work The Foot out of the Snare or a restoration of the Inhabitants of Zion into their place then is it that truth is ceased for it is not that Zion the Citie of the Lord was laine wast and the inhabitants thereof dispersed to the ends of the earth was not the Mountain of the house of the Lord laid low and the inhabitable parts of Jerusalem made desolate yea surelie and a great crie and lamentation there was for the desolation of her people but now the everlasting Father of love in time hath made known his power by which deliverance hath been wrought for his Name sake praises praises to his name for ever And as touching those things before spoken I have given in my witness alreadie they are no snare unto me yet do I not boast in them for that I know much temptation attends upon them therefore I direct to all as I have done before wait for a moderation for the righteous Judge is in his work and by your deeds you must be proved and not by words and your reward shall be accordinglie Thou goest forwards speaking of the restoration of that whereof I say was immutable and when thou hast so done thou sayest we condemn that spirit and way which caused the restitution and so thou goest on passing judgement upon us for what thou hast conceived with thy own feigned imaginations turn over and read once more what I have spoken and see if truth doth not speak plainlie its own meaning and for that thou sayest here are the two spirits we tell on which were contrarie to the other it is true here they are the effects of the one and the effects of the other but as touching that spirit which guided me in the denial of the spirit of meekness and so in the exalted spirit following my damned imaginations if thou canst see what plain words speak I have not cast them upon you but the waie by which I became possessed I have declared the end of which is a warning to others to speak in the spirit of truth deny me if thou canst and whereas thou sayest this thing being so speaking of my delusion I was by you denied I say as to my person thy words are not witnessed by what is before spoken but as touching the deluded spirit read my words in the close of my relation and thereby rest silent for truth hath spoken by which truth is set free In thy 19. page thou repeatest my words where I say that a short time after my compliance with that spirit which entred into me by the observation of your practise and then thou goest back to my second page and there in thy deceit thou borrowest a composed lie of thy own to witness against this truth before spoken but this lie is before laid open and for that I said the entrance of this unclean spirit was by the observation of your practise which practise you declare to be from the spirit it is true I say the entrance was so for the first entrance and work of deceit in me after I came amongst you was my taking up of divers your practises in the imitation the manner of which deceit I have in its place laid open but as touching those things thou hast related as the effects of this my saying I denie neither hast thou any ground or reason for what thou hast declared but herein thou shewest thy busie minde as one loving to pick quarrels and watching to lay a snare before the truth but now receive thy words as thy own O thou shameless man behold amongst men who would have judged like unto thee But to prove thy work of seeking to bring me into a confusion after thou hast discovered thy vain minde in thy own by-waie thou comest in thy 21. page to relate my words which speaks of my hastie forward minde and my own resolved Covenant by which in the fire of my zeal I was hastilie carried forth before the true Light c. which things are true and thy own confusion being laid open thou mayest read them so to be for this hastie forward mind and this resolved Covenant in this fire of zeal was that by which I was overcome and so took up things in the imitation by which was received in that deluded spirit of which I have spoken and so by degrees carried on as I have said for a warning to others that they also come not in the same excess and yet how is it thou canst appear in such a witness as to declare that what I have done is the work of the devil Thou goest on forwards with thy slanderous tongue in this thy false designe and then in the close of this page thou sayest I confess that when I came to the place where the Quakers were shewing the holes I made in my thumbs and telling of those Lying-Wonders which I had been acting many of the Quakers being there all of them judged me with one consent c. and then sayest thou in my 51. page I confess I was restored to a right understanding and my life became a clear light being guided in that obedience which was professed by those people And then sayest thou all this being my own confession yet I charge it upon a spirit which entred in me by the observation of your practise and so thou goest on with thy refuge of lies and then ask if ever such a heap of confusion and falshood was uttered and signed for truth c. but those things being cleared alreadie I shall let them pass onelie thou speakest here of lying-wonders which either discovers thy meaning that what I have related are lies otherwise they are the works of a lie wrought and witnessed in me by that deluded Spirit which led me forth in obedience to them now if thy meaning be thus then is thy
my darkness as I have said it was and that it would have guided me out of the works of the flesh self-thoughts and imaginations and if the cause why I turned from that Light was my natural forward minde and resolutions as it was and so lead forth in obedience to a covenant of my own before the true light by which the Light of the Sun was darkned and a shape formed in the likeness of the true light whereby deceit got power to do those filthie things and if I was restored again by the true Light as I was and so guided in the obedience which is professed by you if these things are true as they are then let all unto whom thou appealest wherein there is the least measure of honestie judg righteouslie between us and see if that the blasphemie lies and slanders and abominable confusions which thou cast upon us be not in truth thy own who all along in thy book hath gone about to defile and slander the true Light of the spirit of God under a pretence of clearing the truth but receive thy own words as they are thine canst thou behold thy confusion and not be ashamed Dost thou scoff at me for calling my work the Foot out of the Snare and declare against it calling it the Foot in the Snare Art not thou ashamed at thy envie against the innocent Is this that innocencie of which thou boastest on hast thou not cast a stone at us but is it not falne back upon thy self Is this thy Foot in the Snare then consider thy work and see thy end for for that thou hast ensnared thy self and so receive thy own canst thou say and unsay accuse and excuse and all in one thing and yet witnesse all for truth who would have fed upon mischief like thee dost thou believe that all are so blinde as some who are led by you to believe all for truth that thou speakest without examination Or dost thou think that wisdome and light is whollie excluded as thou sayest and true judgment whollie respected then mightest thou think with thy words that thy lies and deceits might have passed without reproof and thou cover thy self therewith as with a garment but the Lord is risen and rising and the light is come and the day springing from on high is visiting his people and all works of darknesse must come to judgment and for those despised people of vvhom thou speakest vvho have none to take their part in the earth I refuse to appear in enmitie against them but for that I see you Builders have led them forth into bondage and have spoiled vvhat is their libertie have I spoken my vvord shall stand in truth But for Herod and Pilate I denie and all vvho are in their vvorship and that I ovvne vvhich is one in Spirit and Povver vvhich is no lie but that Lamb of God and his light whereof thou speakest in whom there is no sin and for the liar it is thy self witnesse the light in thy own conscience and divers thy own words which from that light thou wast constrained to speak in the justifying of that truth which appeared in me and with that light art thou comprehended by which thy ground and thy end is seen with the depth of thy own deceit and though we are strangers in spirit and enmitie is gotten in between us yet that arm of the Lord is seen whereof thou speakest gathering his sheep which have been scattered upon the mountains this cloudie dark day who restores the lame strengthens the feeble and carries the lambs in his bosome because they are his own glorie be to his Name for ever and as for worship adding to or altering from what was in his Saints by the same light in my measure which was in them I denie and also for those Vinedressers who stand up in defence of themselves against the heir who is coming to call for fruit whose Vineyard brings forth pride vain-glory and respect of persons love of the world and conformitie thereto creature worships and one which is not of God I say as for all such I denie and their worship neither have I pleaded in the least for them but for those and their fruits which are out of time out of the spirit of this world and as for greatnesse of rage in me against such whose lives are thus hid with Christ in God it hath not appeared in me neither dare I to appear in such a work for that I know there is a seed whose Name is perfection whichis risen and rising to utter his voice to the ends of the earth that he might establish his own Name for a light to his people Israel This do I see and know and for that cause do I rest silent and these are those of whom it is true they have lost their Kindred the pleasure of the earth and the delights therein is brought to their end they have seen a cessation of time and they are laid much lower then the lowest of men and for this cause are they worthy who follow the Lamb wheresoever he goeth and in his life they shall live yet such there are of whom thou art not known though not altogether but for the Potters of the earth they shall be dashed in pieces therefore Oh ye Sons of men Why will ye not turn to the Rock from whence ye were hewn and to that pit out of which ye were digged that ye might draw from thence the fresh Springs of that Fountain which giveth to his people eternal life I am a Fountain set open for sin and for uncleannesse come unto me all ye who are wearie and heavie laden that ye might be watered with the dew of heaven and ye shall finde rest for your soules my yoak is easie and my burthen is light but for such who are gathering together in a confederacie against my Name when my wrath is waxed hot I will arise in my furie and recompence you according to your work Thou beginnest in thy 31. page with a word to me discovering what I said to divers friends that I did put forth what I have done to clear the truth professed by you from many scandals cast upon it through my means and then savest thou that truth by you professed is a witness against me for ever that I have not sought to clear it but I have sought my own and also that I have caused the truth to be blasphemed above all that ever was before me in this Generation since the time of his appearance who is the Light of the world and for that end I have gone to consult with the greatest enemies to that truth professed by you that are in the Nation Now as touching all what thou hast here spoken I utterlie denie for did I so speak to friends my words are true for that I have spoken in much plainness to that end witnessed and proved by all what I have before spoken And whereas thou sayest that truth
professed by you witnesses against me that I have not so done I say by that truth of which thou speakest I denie thy words and that from whence thy words came and this is a Standard from the Lord in defence against thee and the depth of thy back-sliding work also and now shall the people mourn because of thee who hath so much appeared in defence of the truth and yet art found thy self smothered in such filth as thou hast here appeared in a man of unclean lips and defiled tongue shall not all in whom there is the least measure of truth bear witness against thee Yea surelie they shall so if they appear for truth as I have said without partialitie And now is it that it is thy self who hath sought thy own and not the good of that whereof thou speakest but hath brought a ten-fold greater reproach upon that truth professed by thy self then can be witnessed I have and for that thou sayest I consulted with the greatest enemies of truth in the Nation I denie thee thou bodie of deceit how is it as I have said thou darest to speak what thou neither saw nor heard yet not so alone but also foretold and as I have said witnessed to thy face when privilie thou wentest about to enquire of one if the Anabaptist or any other had not a confederacie with me in what I have done Is this the work of simplicitie Nay surelie it is not I say I did not consult with any neither was there any addition or exchange of one word but what is my own all which I yet own and am fully satisfied in being witnessed therein by truth onlie for that I was perswaded to ingage those Ministers and so have brought them under the reach of thy Snare when in truth as to them were it not for that mistake they stood free in what they have there done and also for that I was overcome in such a great mistake and carried aside by vanitie in that deed of engaging them I say onlie for these things I have much been disquieted and it doth repent me that I have appeared therein but for the rest it was not mine but anothers whose work shall abide and for this to prevent thy former lying spirit I declare that not one of those Ministers or any other person who would have stored me up herein I say not one of them have the least knowledge of what I have here done neither shall it be known to any one of them until it be published to the sight of the world and now for that evil thou hast declared to come upon me fear possesseth me not but I bear with thy weakness therein yet for the reproach it is thy own and for that thou sayest I gainsayed and turned into fables and believed lies it is true great was my follie I did so yet in thy meaning thou art denied for they were not peremptorie acts on purpose to oppose the spirit of God but I was guided therein through mistake in much love towards God the manner of which mistake I have plainlie laid open and let all be warned thereby for truth changeth not and for the Priests making me their refuge there was no such thing for I was guided of my self to go unto them and being wel known to some of them they gave credit to my words as touching those things whereof their names were intended though they saw not my work which was one and the same as though they had seen it for the thing it selfe being onlie a Relation and no discoverie of judgment Did I make known in few words what I had declared in many words and were those few believed then was there as good faith in believing the truth of the one as the truth of the other but that thy contentious mind must be at work Thou goest forwards saying Was I brought to see my sin and yet I heard nothing of the Gospel I say I have not spoken that I heard nothing of the Gospel but if thou here meanest that I did not hear any thing of the Gospel then hast thou spoken thou knowest not what for I have heard and seen the Ministrie of the Gospel and the power thereof but for my believing of lies and gainsaying the truth I say by the Spirit of truth is that Spirit from whence thou hast so spoken denied and had I dealt with Abel my Brother like Cain or turned back into Aegypt like Câ—re then would their judgment have rested upon me but as I have before spoken fear possesseth me not my conscience beaâ—ing me witness in the sight of God but were it so I had dealt with Abel like as did Cain yet neverthelesse the day of my visitation had not been over neither had the Law power over me any longer then I had been a servant unto corruption for when Cain had killed his brother there was yet mercie if that he encreased not in his uncleanness as the spirit saith unto him If thou doest well thou shalt have thy reward if otherwise then sin lyeth at the doore Now where either of us are found in ungodlie deeds the Lord rebuke us but for thy railing Accusation and turning truth into lables and so making lies thy refuge thou art come up for proof before the Lord by whose spirit thy spirit it is which is savoured and tried unto whom thy voice is known and witnessed against as being the voice of a roaring Lyon and a ravenous Bear and not from the spirit of the Lord and now is it that thou art the man who hath ensnared thy self and brought a prejudice upon the truth for that thou hast consulted with the Beast and the false Prophet and so thou art become the devourer and here is Judas and the chief Priests and their false Witnesses and here are the lies and the confusions least simple mindes should be led with a lie through the some of the Frogs And now art thou made manifest in this thy work as one who is gone astray out of the plain way of the true shepherd and so art become a stranger to the flocks of his Companions wherefore learn hence to stay at home and receive teachings from that true shepherd that thou mayest know his voice and follow him who gives to his chosen eternal life who is the Light of the world and â—nlightneth everie one that cometh into the world whose judgment is true upon his enemies and whose condemnation abideth for ever Wherefore a Word to those three sorts of people of whom thou speakest who may be concerned in what I have done To the first sort Those who have received the Light of Christ whose eye is in their head who are come to any measure of the Annointing who are joyned in the Election to you I say is this deliverance from the bonds of iniquitie and from that Captivitie wherein you were carried aside from the peaceable union and enjoyment of the eternal love to you is this deliverance
give witnesse which words are the sum of all that their mind and meaning did signifie witnesse by the light in thy own conscience for thou knowest well they are strangers in their judgment to all those things discovered by me as yours as also divers of those discovered as mine but were they not those words A sad and remarkable may not have any respect to any particular contained in the book but that scope and matter which discovers those wiles and subtilties which from time to time I was insnared in by the evil spirit together with what providence attended me while under those temptations but yet to me there is a mistake which I seek not to justifie which thy malice against knowledge hath taken hold on So thou goest on in contradiction to thy former words repeating some of those words which the Ministers have put their hands unto which speaks that some of them have persued a part of my writings which thou deniest not but believest and then thou goest on reproving them for their tendernesse in so speaking and for bearing witnesse to what I had declared touching the nature of those workes which the evill spirit guided me in subjection unto and yet as I have said there is not one word in thy whole booke which beareth witness against what thou hast reproved them for but for the answering of thy end thou sayest I am one possessed with a deluded spirit then if so how is it that the light and Spirit of Christ hath here appeared in laying open thy deceit but thy words and their end are seen yet it is true time was that I was possessed with a deluded spirit even exeedingly possessed but now great is my peace yea great is my peace the Lord having wrought for his Name sake a deliverance for his chosen and hath made knowne his Election praises to his Name for ever Thou sayest further that we are found falsifying our owne words and so have insnared our selves in our own wickednesse and this we call The Foot out of the Snare Thus directing thy mind to us all whereas not one of them had the least knowledg of the Title or any particular contained in the Epistle untill it came forth to the sight of the world and so thou sayest our worke is begun with a lye and so carried on who in our title page speaking in a lye thy mind being to us all tell of the manner of my separation from the Quakers which as thou sayest is false speaking in these words that those we call Quakers did separate from me and denied me both in word and writing because of my following a bewitched spirit and would not be reclaimed by you who often reproved and judged me for it with one consent and then for a witnesse to what thou hast spoken thou goest to the latter part of my book to borrow a proof from my words to bear thee up but think not to justifie thy self with lies which thou canst not witnesse for from that time of my first compliance with you untill about a week before that time which the evil spirit guided me in that bewitched service of imitating the crucifying of Christ I say from that time until this time of which I speak there was not one word of reproof given unto me by any one of them but great tendernesse and love they bear towards me by which may clearly be seen that there was great hopes in them concerning me yea and there was great hopes of me for that they observed my zeal and faithfulnesse in that work I was called unto for which I received from them great incouragement but whether or no the nature of the greatest part of those temptations which are related in my book with many more was known unto them I cannot say and whereas thou sayest that any of you did separate from me or deny me in word or writing because I would not be reclaimed by them it is true they did deny me and so I have said in my book that they did deny me and that because I would not be reclaimed by them but as thy own words speak in contradiction to what thou sayest before I did deny them first yet not with a bewitched spirit and what I then did deny I deny still which deed in me is true and abides yea and will abide when thy vanity if I may so call it in those things which thou respectest as worship to God wherein is emptiness and nothingnesse when I say this thy vanity shall cease and this do I speak in a good conscience except thy knowledge is yet before mine in respect of those things of which thou mayest understand that I now speak of So thou goest on with a lye in respect of the Ministers saying that we told of what judgment I was learned in by the Ministery of those people meaning your selves and so we bear witnesse we know not to what for that thou sayest that both they speaking of the Minister and I am yet unlearned in the judgment and Ministery of those we call Quakers and yet in thy fifteenth page after thou hast repeated much of what I have spoken thou confessest that they were precious truths and also that I have discovered in my book of many more precious truths which neerly concernes the salvation of every soule and in thy 22. and 37. page thou deniest not but that I was restored again by the true light from that sad and lost condition which I was in and that afterwards I was guided in that obedience which was professed by the Quakers but this it may be thou wast perswaded to make use of ' for that it concerned thee for the answering of thy end in respect of what thou speakest in thy following discourse yet here thy end is seen thou art made manifest thy blindnesse and thy confusion is brought to light Darest thou say that light guided thee in this thy work silence for shame silence thy selfe untill thou canst speak in plainnesse with a true mind and a right understanding Thou goest on with thy lye saying that in our Epistle we say the subject matter of our discourse relates principally to the persons who go under the Name of Quakers whereas as I have before spoken not one of them had any knowledge of any one particular contained therein untill it came forth to the sight of the world Then thou goest forward repeating many words saying We confesse that many have abused the truth by seeking to defend themselves in that deceit which that Spirit which is of God in those we call Quakers have witnessed against I say that word we call as to me is a reproach So you go forwards with my words which speaks that the generaliâ—p of men are already beyond measure bitterly incensed against you for which tendernesse and simplicity of mind which respects an advantage to you thou repliest with a reproof saying Let our practise judge us as to the thing in hand confirming
given that your lives might shew forth the life and death of him by whom you were called to the praise and glorie of his grace and for which end he have given his Light that with it ye might see all what is darkness all what loveth and maketh a lie all what is falne from God that ye might comprehend the depth of Satan and all the secret bonds of iniquitie and here is the Rock Christ before whom all shall fall and this Rock this Light is your defence in whom abiding the false Prophet the Beast and the Deceiver is seen and rejected and not onlie in your selves but also in the persons of those in whom he doth appear wherefore stand fast in that libertie whereunto you are called that your obedience being wrought in that faith which giveth life ye might in the end obtain the Crown To the second sort Those who in their hearts are convinced of the way of truth but finding it straight to their carnall pleasures and profits not loving the truth more then the world but taking pleasure in unrighteousness and serving and loving the creature more then the Creator to you I say watch while as yet ye have time and please not your selves with vanitie and the work of lies that ye stumble not in the way which leadeth to life and so he swallowed up of corruption for if while you seek to be justified by Christ you are found in the transgression and so frustrate the Grace of God there remains no more sacrifice for sin wherefore call to mind your former condition when you were strangers to the true Faith and so kept in bondage under the Law and learn from him who is true to receive the love and grace made known that ye might walk worthie of that calling whereunto you are called and shew forth the praise of him who hath opened your eyes and give you to see that darkness by which in times past you were sold under sin wherefore in love receive admonition that so being redeemed out of the world ye might grow up in him who is the Fountain of eternal life and be brought to see the glory of the Fathers love This then is the message that we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light in him is no darknesse at all If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darknesse we lye and do not the truth John 1.5.6 To the third sort such who have a simplicity in them and a love to the truth and the way thereof and would walk in it did they know it but are yet kept in blindnesse and darknesse by their blind Guides who take advantage by these works of the devil lies and slanders to thicken the Vail and strengthen the bonds thereby to keep them from the light of life and the way of peace and so in the way of destruction for their corrupt ends I say for you who are in this case out of the knowledg of God his light and life which is salvation for you have I much been disquieted being sensible of your condition but as I have already endeavoured to remove that prejudice which may attend you by those false conclusions which have appeared in enmity to what I have done though I may not say directly in enmity to you And as I have discovered the truth of that cause and end for which I have appeared to the world which thing is not that thereby ye should be affrighted from the truth but when received that ye might give heed to abide in that by which you were convinced that so ye may not run into the same excesse so also that ye may not be overcome with that spirit of deceit and stablished in that corrupt mind in which you have been kept and guided out of the wayes of truth I say that ye may not be overcome by any work of mine to abide in this darknesse That God who is a Spirit is not divided but his Name is one and this God cannot be known by any wayes of worship or practise amongst men but by his Son who is that Spirit and Life by which the Election of God are redeemed out of all corruption out of all wayes and works of the flesh into a spiritual Union with that God who is the Father of Spirits and cannot be worshipped but by and in the Spirit and therefore is it spoken in Scripture concerning Christ That for this purpose was he made manifest to destroy the works of the devil John 3.8 Now where is this manifestation of Christ to be found for the destruction of the works of the flesh or of the devil but in faln man where the works of the unclean spirit are wrought and from whence they do proceed and for which cause was that promise given That the Seed of the Woman should break the head of the Serpent which Seed is Christ he was born under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law he was brought forth into the world and made a shew of them openly triumphing over them in it he suffered in his body the death of the Crosse and after that time appointed of his Father he was raised out of the grave cloathed with immortality and received up into glory and now he hath given gifts unto men he hath dispersed his seed he hath given of his spirit he hath made known his light in and unto all the children of men that by and with this his manifestation and discovery of himself his eternal love and grace I say that by and with this men might see and understand and receive power for the destruction of the body of corruption and for the service and worship of God in spirit in obedience to a living faith and now let men professe what they will and assemble themselves in what way and under what manner soever yet if they receive not their Ministery from this Spirit Christ Jesus revealed in all and follow him who is the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin that they may receive power from him to be redeemed out of sin I say if they receive not their testimony from this Spirit of Jesus to live therein they shall not neither can they ever come to see that eternal love that peace and union which is in God through Christ Jesus the portion of the faithful in him who is perfect Wherefore I say unto you all who take pleasure in your uncleanness and sport your selves with your secret abominations now in the day time and yet boast of your Redeemer I say unto you repent lest that day come upon you unawares in which there is no time or space for repentance and look unto him who is the light of Israel and is given for a light to the Gentiles that they might see and return unto him who is the Redeemer out of all sin who restoreth the breaches and buildeth up the walls of Jerusalem and giveth life unto his two Witnesses who have lain slain in the streets thereof that they might go forth and declare the everlasting Gospel of peace FINIS