portrait of Francis Bugg THE EFFIGIS OF FRANCIS BUGG OF MILDENHALL THE 60th YEAR OF HIS AGE 1700 I magnify mine Office, If by any means I may provoke to Emulation them which are my Flesh, and might save some of them. Rom. XI: 13: 14: F. H. Van. Hove. Sculp: THE Pilgrim's Progress, FROM Quakerism to Christianity: CONTAINING, A farther Discovery of the Dangerous Growth of Quakerism, not only in Points of Doctrine, but also in their Politics; respecting their Government within the Government, and opposite to it; together with their Fund or Common Bank to support the same: With a Remedy proposed for this Malady; and, The Cure of Quakerism. To which is added an APPENDIX, DISCOVERING A most Damnable PLOT, contrived and carrying on by NEW- ROME, by an United Confederacy, against the Reformed Religion and Professors thereof; as will appear from the Design of their Silent Meetings, their Monthly, Quarterly, Second-Day, Six-Week, and Yearly Meeting; all which are particularly herein Treated on. The Second Edition, Corrected and Enlarged. By a Servant of the Church, Fr. Bugg. By thee have I run through a troop, by my God have I leapt over a wall, 2 Sam. XXI. 30. LONDON: Printed by R. Janeway, Jun. for the Author; and sold by J. Robinson, at the Golden Lion in St. Paul's Churchyard; and Ch. Brome, at the Gun in Ludgate-Street. 1700. To the Right Worshipful, the Vice-Chancellors, and Heads of the Colleges of both Universities, and to all other, the Reverend Clergy therein, of what Title soever, the Ensuing Discourse is Humbly Dedicated, etc. Honoured and Reverend Gentlemen, HAVING herein collected my Experience, both of the Doctrine and Discipline of the Schism of Quakerism, showing the Tendency thereof, from Matter of Fact, I thought it but my Reasonable Service to offer the same to your Judicious Perusal, and Christian Consideration; that so, according to the Apprehension you shall have, touching the Premises, you may put your helping Hand, not only to a farther Confutation of the Quaker-Arguments, (which yet is needful enough) but also for the regaining of such as (who through the Cunning Slights and Plausible Pretensions of these Seducers) are misled, and carried away; and thereby not only vindicate the Christian Religion, but defend the Church of England from the most horrible Scandals, cast upon both, by the Quakers. I need not acquaint you with the great Labour, and unwearied Pains, our Protestant Divines have taken to Regain such, who have been seduced to Adhere to the Romish Religion, and the vast number of Volumes, writ on that Account, and not without Good and Great Success, as we see this Day, Thanks be to God: But behold! Here is a NEW ROME arising, which Builds on the same Bottom, i. e. INFALLIBILITY, &c, and whose Principles were first Hammered at that Forge, and Coined at that Mint, and are carrying on by the same Craft and unsuspected Policy; and as Dangerous to the Reformed Religion, which our Martyred Ancestors suffered in the Flames for, as Rome Her Elder Sister. (And this you should see, had they but Power; an Instance of which is their Proceed in Pensilvania.) But notwithstanding all this, how few are concerned hereat? How few lay it to Heart? This is Cause of Lamentation and Astonishment; and yet, when I consider how long I myself was deceived by them, I do the less marvel; especially, considering what Equivocations and Reserve they make in their Arguments, whether Verbal, or in Writing; how Industrious they are to hid themselves, and their Tenets, expressing themselves in Dubious Terms, that want Explication; pretending to Seriousness, Sincerity, Plainness, etc. when none so Insincere, so Deceitful, and False in the World, as in a Thousand Things I could mention; whereby it is manifest, that they are the false Prophets which Christ foretold of, Matth. 24.24. And therefore, if what I can contribute towards the Discovery of this Painted, as well as Disguised Harlot, may be useful to the Church of God, and the Ministers thereof, in bringing forth my known Experience, I shall be glad, and rejoice therein. I cannot but know, that herein you will meet with many Deficiences, for want of Parts and Learning, requisite to such a Work: But since your Generosity is so mixed with Christian Charity, as to accept the Will for the Deed, as in my former Essays, I have at this time presumed to present this Rough Draught to your Perusal, and as my Mite, to cast it into your Treasury; hoping, that until the Quakers can justly charge me with a False Quotation, (which, as they never yet could do, so I hope they never shall) this may pass under your Patronage, as a Defence against the Quakers Invectives; and it may be, when I cannot speak for myself; especially, when there is not a Man of you, but are Sharers with me in the same Reproaches for the Gospel's sake. Thus, Reverend Sirs, begging your Pardon for this my Presumption, I Humbly Subscribe myself, Your most Humble, And Devoted Servant, Francis Bugg, Sen. Milden-Hall, Aug. 10. 1698. AN ADDRESS TO Private Gentlemen and Tradesmen. Ingenious Reader, AS I told you in my First Impression, I tell you now, that the Wicked plotteth against the Righteous † Ps. 37.12. , as David well observeth: This shows the Church's Calamity, and 'tis as certain, that the Lord laughs at these Plotters, v. 13. this is the Church's Remedy. Now whilst God Laughs at the Plots of the Wicked, his People have no cause to Mourn; especially when he would have us to Rejoice with him, saying, The Righteous shall see, and fear, and laugh at him * Ps. 52.6. . But do you think that we of the Laity ought to see this Plot carrying on by a United Confederacy against the Church, and say nothing, nor be at all concerned? I think not: For David said, They have consulted together with one consent, they are confederate against thee † Ps. 83.5. . Do you think, that because God hath promised in his Word, that Kings shall be as Nursing-fathers' to his Church * Isa. 49.23. , or because he has commanded his Servants that wait at the Altar, to Cry aloud, to give us Notice of these Seducers; that therefore we are wholly excused, and unconcerned? I tell you nay; therefore up, let us be doing. For Christ's Mystical Body, which is his Church, consists of many Members, but all the Members have not the same Office; yet the Eye cannot say to the Foot, I have no need of thee; so that there is some Use and Service for us all; (provided we keep our Places,) in the Church Militant; if we be living Members, and sensible of the Church's Calamity. And if so, as so it is, I beg leave to remind you of what I conceive to be every private Christian's Duty; which is, to use all Christian and Lawful Means to discover this Plot, and to manifest the Contrivers thereof. We see now, as well as in the Days of Christ, how zealous the Leaders of the Quakers are, they compass Sea and Land to make Proselytes: They appear as the Magicians did in the time of Moses, with the very likeness of things good in themselves, but all is but counterfeit, a bare likeness; appear fair, like painted Sepulchers and whited Walls, but the inside of their Doctrine is all Rottenness. How do they send up and down, to invite to their Meetings? How do they disperse their Books, East, West, North and South, see p. 144. as well as beyond Sea? How do they present them to the Parliament, the Judges, the Justices, even to all Ranks and Degrees of Men? And shall we sit still, and declare to the World, we have no Zeal for our Holy Religion, which our Martyred Ancestors suffered in the Flames for? Wherefore let us put on Courage, and excite one another's Zeal, lest God in Judgement remove the Candlestick, and plant his Gospel amongst a People more deserving: And therefore let us put Books into the Hands of our Magistrates, to inform their Understandings in these Matters; that they may be capable to be Eye-Witnesses of this dismal Tragedy now upon the Stage: And into the Hands of our Christian Neighbours, who at present may be unthinking, and not see the Danger they are in; and also cautioned to beware of the Deceivers of our Times; who come in Sheeps-clothing, but inwardly they are Ravening Wolves: And into the Hands of the Well-disposed amongst the Quakers, for the regaining of them: And this will be a Means to discover and lay waste the Design and Confederacy now on Foot. And for your Comfort this I can tell you, that many are now coming off Quakerism, embracing Christianity, and let us meet them, and with all Sweetness invite them Home. There are about Six or Eight of their Writers and Teachers come off, and Hundreds that were caught by their Snare; some of them that have been Quakers these Forty Years, are now in Print against them: And since I have been in London, I have had many of them come to Visit me, with Thanks in their Mouths, to Me and Others, who have dealt plainly with them; bidding me keep on my Pace, and not to spare Proud Babel: And from others I have had Letters of the same Import: And in Hopes it will be good News to many of you, I will recite a Passage or two out of W. Mather's his Book, Printed within this Month; he lives in Bedfordshire, and hath been a Quaker these Forty Years, and an Old Acquaintance of mine 38 Years since, viz. An Answer to the Switches, etc. by W. Mather, p. 1, 8. It is (says W. Mather) impossible that the Pens now in Controversy against us Quakers should be put a Stop to, before there is an Order given forth, (from the Second-Days Meeting) for the Reformation of our Preachers; and also a Book of Retractations of the Errors of our Friends printed Books.— A Man that does but tell you, G. Whitehead, etc. of your Mistakes, that they might be amended, had need have the Armour of Grace in his Heart, as little David had, when he encountered great Goliath; yea, as bold as David 's Worthies were, who ventured their Lives to fetch Water from the Philistines Camp; to be sure you will Scoff at him at a high rate, Wound or Kill him; as you account that Crisp, Bugg, Keith, etc. are Dead to the Life of Truth, for opposing your Errors; Wounded them (its true) you have, for which God will Judge you: For every one of them at first only desired that you might bring your Deeds to the Light, to be Tried by the Scriptures: But instead of Answering their Christian Desires for your Good, you fall upon them, and wound them, and make them grieve. Pag. 9 Consider this, you fierce Despisers of all those who desire your Reformation in Doctrine and Practice. You know where this Cursed Thing is, that causeth all this Disturbance; you still hid it, but out it must come, and be beaten to Powder. Wherefore I beseech you to consider, First, what Damage hath befallen our Church by the False Doctrine couched under the fair Pretences of the Quakers; next, their Industry of spreading them, as in p. 1.44. but moreover, how they give away that Fallacious Book, Anguis Flagellatus, etc. not only to Members of Parliament, Judges, Justices, Lawyers, and indeed Men of all Ranks; but as I have been told, send beyond Sea 500 together. And forasmuch as there are many Excellent Books wrote by that Reverend Author of the Book entitled, The Snake in the Grass, etc. that, and his Defence of it; his Book, Satan Disrobed, etc. and that about Water Baptism; and also by that Learned Author Geo. Keith, and divers others, which discover the Horrible Fraud and Pernicious Principles of the Quakers: I say, let us not let a Parliament-Man, a Judge, Justice, or any others, where we see a Service for the Church, be without a Book to inform their Judgements, and rectify the Mistakes of others. Let us consider the many Books wrote by our Pious Divines in Defence of our Holy Religion, against the Attempts of the Church of Rome; and also the great Benefit thereof, and good Effects they have had, both to Preserve our Members in Communion with us, and to Regain many that were wavering, and some that were strayed away. And as a further exciting our Zeal, let us be often Meditating on the Precepts of Divine Writ, and Pray God to Illuminate our Understandings, and thereby make us able to Read them to our Comfort. I cannot but remember with what restless Zeal myself and others used to Advance Quakerism in the beginning, and how we sent our Books the Nation over, by Packhorses, and otherwise: I myself have given away Twenty Shillings worth at a Meeting; and shall we be now less Zealous in Dispersing Books to detect their Errors, than they have been to broach them, and are now to defend them? God forbidden. Oh let it not be said so of such as love God, and are Orthodox in the Faith; that love the Scriptures, and have a true value for the Sacred Ordinances instituted by our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Thus have I imparted my Mind, and I hope without Offence, who am, Your Humble Servant, Fr. Bugg. Milden-Hall in Suffolk, March 1699/700. THE CONTENTS. OF the Author's Early Education Pag. 1 Of his turning Quaker 5 The Occasion and Means thereof 6 Of the Quaker's Silent Meetings 8 Fox and Muggleton compared 18 Of Muggleton's Doctrine 19 Quakers Laws to be obeyed 25 Scripture-Commands vacated 27 Christ disowned 28 The Quakers Synod 29 The Quakers Creed 33 Scripture-Authority overturned 39 G. Fox the Second Moses 42 G. Fox's Self-Exaltations 45 The Quakers Adoration of G. Fox 47 Fox's Journal preferred to the Bible 48 Distrust all they say; and Why? 53 Ann Docwra's Letter 54 Christ's Blood undervalved 55 Every Quaker a Virgin Mary 57 Fox's Miracles refuted 61 His Visions Diabolical 62 Who the Quakers own Poor 63 The Quakers Malicious Attempts 65 Tho. Plumstead's Running away 66 G. W.'s pretended Call, fallacious 67 Their Teachers mean Abstract 69 They Vindicate the Socinians 71 Quaker-Teachers about Hospitality 73 They come like Mice and Flies ibid. Hypocrisy their Mysterium Maximum 76 The Quakers Yearly-Meeting 79 G. Keith like Luther at Worms 82 Ellwood about Tithes 84 Acts of Parliament virtually Repealed 86 Letters to appoint Meetings 91 The Qua. against Liberty of Conscience 97 Their Treasonable Practice 101 Their Teacher's Self-Preservation 103 Their Usurpation of Government 104 Their Excommunication of Fr. Bugg 106 Their Excommunication of J. Barnard 110 John Ainsloes Condemnation 113 Their Black Book 114 Their Power to Bind and Lose 115 About their Fund or Bank 118 W. Rogers' Scourge 120 Ann Docwra against their Fund 121 Tom Telltruth, Ellwood 125 Their Pretence to Write freely 126 Compared by Ann Docwra to Jesuits 129 Ann Docwra's Verses on Fox 133 Their Six-Week-Meetings Craft 136 W. Mather's Discovery 137 A Petition of 7000 against Tithes 140 Their way to spread Books 143 A Minister's Zealous Letter 147 The Quakers Horrible Deceivers 150 Their Grand Cheat discovered 155 Against Kingly Government 157 They Justify the Murder of K. Charles I. 163 Still against all King's 167 Their Fling at Dissenters 168 Their Popish Design therein 171 Their Inveighing against the Clergy 173 A Hunting of the Fox 174 Letters of the Clergy 175 Of their not Praying for K. W. 178 And their Praying for the late K. J. II. 179 Observation thereupon 182 Their Stopping Joan Whitrow's Book 183 A Proclamation against Penn 185 Observations thereupon 187 The Act of Association 189 The Quakers Refusal to join 192 Their Grand Deceit therein 194 At large handled, to 205 Luther's Example very good 211 Fox's Ambition about Learning 213 His Battledoor for our Clergy 215 His Liturgy for Churches 217 A Sermon for G. Whitehead 222 A System of their dark Divinity 224 Read with Patience to 248 A Cage of Unclean Birds 249 Their Rage against the Clergy 250 Their Idolatry set forth 253 The Cage full of Birds 254 G. Fox taken out, and examined 256 How the other Birds Adore him 260 For their Bright and Morning Star 262 Six of their Unclean Birds 265 Their Features and Feathers displayed 284 Names given me by these Birds 286 My Lord of Norwich his Certificate 292 A Psalm of Praise 295 Mr. Meriton's Letter 299 A Proposition very Necessary 302 A Certificate Signed by four Persons 305 A Word of Encouragement 307 The Parable of the Gulf unfolded 308 Six Queries, proposed 1678, 302 Bold Whitehead boldly Answered 313 A Pensilvanian Trumpet 316 Christ's Holy Example 320 An Appendix 323 G. Whitehead's Proposition answered 324 And that by a threefold Method 325 Another grand Fallacy of G. W.'s discerned 326 D. Leeds' Trumpet sounded 327 W. Penn's Challenge answered 329 Two Quaker-Traytors rebuked ibid. A Damnable Plot discovered 332 The Quakers Suffering, above all 333 A Simile of Humility 335 A Cure proposed for Quakerism 336 A Word of Encouragement 343 Fr. Bugg's Challenge continued 345 G. Whitehead not Triumphant 347 G. W.'s Grand Fallacy 348 THE PREFACE. Christian Reader, SINCE December 1689, the Quakers have put forth many Books relating to the West-Dereham Conference, and have as industriously spread them; under these Titles, viz. I. An Apology for the People called Quakers, and an Appeal to the Inhabitants of Norfolk and Suffolk, etc. II. A Letter to the Clergy of the Diocese of Suffolk and Norfolk, etc. III. A Defence of the People called Quakers; being a Reply to the Priests in Norfolk, etc. iv An Apostate Conscience Exposed, etc. V A Defence of the Apology for the People called Quakers, etc. VI Truth and Innocency Vindicated, etc. And besides these, they have Printed a Book, Entitled, Anguis Flagellatus, etc. the first Six I have answered, which Answers may be had at Mr. Janeway's a Book-Binder, next Door to Child's Coffeehouse, in St. Paul's Churchyard, London; and the last I shall now take some Notice of; not that I shall enter far into the Province of that Reverend Author of the Book Entitled, and that excellently well too, The Snake in the Grass; or, Satan transformed into an Angel of Light: Discovering the deep and unsuspected Subtlety, which is couched under the pretended Simplicity of the Leaders of the Quakers, etc. And I hope it may be called an Answer, according to the Pretences of the Quakers. For, says W. Penn, in his Serious Apology, etc. pag. 79. My designed Method is not the Common Road of Printing my Adversary's Words at large, on all Occasions, etc. no more is mine, especially at this time; tho' wherein I do take their Words, I shall recite them so full, as to carry the Force of their Argument; and if so, it will not only exceed their Practice, but hold pace with their Pretence: For Josiah Coale, another of the Quakers▪ Prophets, in his Book, The Whore Vnvailed, etc. printed 1665, (and afterwards reprinted by the Approbation of their Second-Day-Meeting) who in Answer to a Book of A. S. a Roman Catholic, Entitled, The Reconciler of Religions, etc. in his Preface thus saith; Although A. S. in his Reconciler of Religions seem to challenge an Answer to all Particulars, according to the Number of his Chapters, yet I do not look upon this Challenge to be obligatory, because there is an easier way to do the Work as effectually: For when the Foundation of a Building is razed, the whole will fall, even as effectually, as if a Man should begin at the top of a Building, and pull it down Stone by Stone, etc. And in order to which, I shall make some brief Remarks, which may serve not only as a Forerunner to a more complete Answer, which I understand is preparing; but may (together with what follows in the ensuing Discourse) pass for a tolerable Answer, at least raze the Foundation of their Anguis Flagellatus, etc. and that in these following Particulars. I. Touching the Title. Reader, you have as above seen the Title, The Snake in the Grass, or, Satan transformed into an Angel of Light, etc. This Title was well given to that Book, which made such a plain Discovery of the Quakers Juggles, etc. who as St. Paul said, Eph. 4.14. lie in wait to deceive by their cunning Slights, and deep Craft; as the Quakers, above all People, show by their double Meanings: For in one Book they'll pretend to own the Scriptures to be of Divine Authority, and the best Book in the World; yet in their other sort of Books, they say, it is Death, Dust, Serpent's Meat, Beastly Ware, a Rotten Foundation, etc. In one sort of their Books they pretend to own a Scripture-Trinity, whilst in their other sort of Books, they condemn the Three Persons to the Lake and the Pit; * Ishmael and his Mother cast out, p. 10. by G. Whitehead, etc. as I elsewhere from their Books have proved: And this Twofaced Practice gave occasion for that Title. Yet now have they given their Book under Consideration the Title of Anguis Flagellatus, or, A Switches for the Snake; and by this 'Slight, and piece of Cunning, think to avoid the Dint of his Arguments, and turn it upon himself; tho' indeed they have thereby Lashed themselves. Besides, they have perverted his Meaning; for they knew well enough, that Obscure Quakerism was the Snake which that Reverend Author designed to discover: And they ought in Point of Justice, either to have acquitted themselves thereof by way of Argument, or else to have condemned one sort of their Books, which rendered them guilty of his Charge. For when they wrote a Book against Mr. Pennyman, Mr. Mucklow, and the Anabaptists, they Entitled it, Judas and the Jews. Now Judas could not in strictness be attributed to the first; no, not Figuratively, because they did not so much as betray the Truths of the Gospel to the Enemies thereof: Nor could they with any colour charge the latter to be Jew's, who own and profess Jesus of Nazareth to be their Saviour: Whereas they might rationally have returned those Names, Judas and the Jews, to the Quakers; for they agree with them in Fundamentals * See W. Penn's Serious Apol. p. 146. Joh. 14.28. 19.27. : The Quakers they deny the Person that suffered at Jerusalem to be the Son of God: And the Jews said they had a Law, and by it they put him to Death, because he said he was the Son of God. Thus much briefly for the Title: But Secondly, II. About Splitting Sentences. Now as to Splitting Sentences, mangling, curtailing, and dropping what is not for their Turn, let us see whether the Quakers are not guilty of what they so fearfully complain of, as a Fault in the Author of The Snake in the Grass, etc. almost quite through their Anguis, etc. For this, see their Standard of the Lord lifted up, etc. by Chr. Atkinson and Edw. Burroughs, where E. B. in his Epistle said thus; I was moved to go see him, [John Gilpen] and his Will was at Liberty, above the Judgement; tho' the Judgement was upon the Head of the Beast in him, and a true Power working, which I did own; but his will not being kept in Subjection, etc. Now the words, which I did own, the Quakers drop, as not for their Turn: For it would have showed, that this E. Burroughs, the Quakers Prophet, and Son of Thunder, did own this Gilpin in his Blasphemies and Possessions of the Devil * See the Snake, etc. Edit. 3. p. 288. and Anguis Flagellat. p. 446. . And a second Instance of their Curtailing is, the Author of the Snake in the Grass hath charged the Quakers with an Idolatrous Letter of Josiah Coale's too G. Fox, as in p. 261. herein, and there you will see that the Quakers have dropped these words, And thy Kingdom is established in Peace, and the Increase thereof is without end † See the Snake, etc. Edit. 3. p. 115. and Anguis, etc. p. 180. . I say, these words were so manifestly blasphemously Idolatrous, that the Quakers were forced to drop them, altho' the other part shows sufficiently the Quakers Idolatry. But, thirdly, and that I may show my Reader that this is no new thing, to find them curtailing, mincing and mangling Sentences, how much soever they complain of others, I shall recite one Passage more to show it, their old Craft, and cunning Slight, by which they lie in wait to Deceive; and that from an old profound Practitioner in that Black Art, namely, Geo. Whitehead, who in one of his Books, The Contentious Apostate Recharged, etc. pag. 5, 6, 7. citing one Line here, one Line there, and sometimes five Words out of the middle of a Line: As for Example, out of my Book, Battering Rams against New-Rome, thus, p. 12. l. 10. in some 50 l. per Annum, not touching the Matter either before or after: A notable nonsuch way to confute an Adversary, and to dispatch Answers. Again, Your only way is, when Cash grows low, to issue out; and then he gives a good Leap out of this Line, (having taken the middle of it) into the middle of the next Line, and then takes out of it a Letter and two Words, viz. A General Epistle; and from thence he skips to the last three Words in the next Line, i. e. Your own Service; and now he hops to the next Line, and takes one single Word, i. e. for, and leaves the next Word as, and then catches up the next Word Money; and then gives a good stride into another Line, and gets a good quantity of Words, i. e. 'Tis a good Encouragement to your Preachers and Parasites; which being put together, as we use to join Syllables when I was a Boy and went to School, it runs thus; Your way is, when your Cash grows low, to issue out a General Epistle for your own Service, for Money; 'tis a great Encouragement to your Preachers and Parasites. Now, Reader, dost thou not think Whitehead was sorely put to it to Answer that Book of mine? But grant that; yet who would think that these Men should find fault with others for splitting Sentences, for mincing and mangling into Bits and Scraps? I say, who would imagine that these foul Perverters, these horrible Jugglers, should have the Impudence to complain of others? And which is still worse, without Cause? For of this I am sure, there is not a Man that Quotes fairer, nor with more Caution than that Author has all along done. For tho' neither he, nor Mr. Crisp, nor Mr. Keith, nor myself, do often quote from one another; and all to avoid their causeless Cavils; yet I am confident not Men can be more careful than we all are. I will not deny, but we all three lend that Author Books, as we do one to another; and as I within a Month lent a Friend of his, and for his Use, Forty of the Quakers old Books, Printed in 1653, 1654., 1655, and 1656, most of which he never saw before; yet if we did Quote from one another, I hope it would be of as good Authority, as for them to Quote one another's Books, which yet they frequently do * An Instance you have in their Ang. Flagellat. p. 155. and divers other places. , and that ofttimes falsely too, by splitting Sentences, and dropping what is not for their Turn; as in the first and second Instances, and an hundred more could I enlarge thereon. But this is but a Preface, and therefore I must be brief; yet I shall raze their Foundation, which is Hypocrisy. But to proceed. III. Their Sinless Perfection and Infallibility. I am now come to their principal Pillar upon which their Building chief stands. For a Question being put to them in these Words, Whether a Man can Sin, while he follows this Light * Snake, Edit. 3. p. 10. ? The Quakers Answer is in these Words; It may be safely answered, No † See their Anguis, p. 44. . Now this Answer is according to their Ancient Testimony. For I have in this Treatise, p. 40. showed, they own themselves Infallible; and from pag. 222, to 248. that they pretend they do not Sin, and upon that Pretence do not ask Forgiveness of Sin. But then from p. 248, to p. 284, I have showed, that even John Moon, one of their Preachers and Judges, mentioned p. 31. compared with p. 270. did Sin: Nay G. Smith, for whose walking in, and following his Light, G. Whitehead and S. Cater Avouch, yet he Sinned, as in p. 274, to p. 282. Insomuch, that I have thereby razed their Foundation, and their whole Building gins to totter, and will assuredly fall to the ground. iv Their Negatives to Popery. The Author of the Snake in the Grass, etc. having charged the Quakers, in these Words, * See the Snake, etc. Edit. 3. p. 189. That of all the Dissenters now in England, the Quakers have come nearest the Church of Rome; they only have taken up the Popish Pretence of Infallibility; unless they will bring in Lodowick Muggleton * See their Anguis, etc. p. 286. , etc. To which the Quakers reply in these Words: Neither any of the Dissenters, nor the Church of England, do hold more Negatives in Doctrine to Rome, than do the Quakers: For we (say the Quakers) do not only hold all the Negatives which any of them do hold, but also more, etc. Now by way of Addition to the Arguments of the Reverend Author of the Snake, etc. and in Confutation of the Quakers Defence, I shall offer these Instances following, to prove that the Quakers come nearest in Doctrine to the Romish Church; and that they do not hold a Negative Doctrine to the Romish Church, in these Ten following Instances, viz. 1. In the Doctrine of Infallibility. 2. No Salvation out of their Church. 3. The Quakers pretence to Miracles. 4. About the sole Judge of Controversies. 5. In their Contempt of the Ministers. 6. In their Contempt of the Holy Scriptures. 7. About their Unwritten Traditions. 8. Touching Idolatry. 9 The Pope of Rome, and Pope Fox. 10. About the Quakers Church being the one only Church of Christ. Reader, this being the last of the Four Pillars upon which the whole Fabric of Quakerism stands, [tho' there are some other Crutches, which stand as Shores to prop it up] I shall be the longer upon it, in order to raze the very Foundation of Quakerism; showing the Oneness of the Doctrine of New- Room with her Elder Sister. For when A. S. a Roman Catholic, wrote his Book, The Reconciler of Religions, etc. J. Coal, an Eminent Quaker-Teacher, wrote a Reply to it, Entitled, The Whore Vnvailed, etc. by which, as with a Key, we may unlock their Mystery, and see how near Quakerism is to Popery. And, I. In the Doctrine of Infallibility. The Whore unvailed, etc. p. 4. says Jos. Coale, A. S. his first Argument to prove the Church of Rome to be the True Church, are as followeth, viz. Visible, Infallible, Inerrible, in which is the Power of Miracles, out of which none can be Saved, etc. Now to begin with the first and principal Pillar of both Romish and Quaker Church, namely, Infallibility, Jos. Coal in his Whore Vnvailed, etc. p. 12. thus, The Infallibility of the True Church, of which Christ as the Head, I do not go about to deny; but that the Church of Rome is Infallible, that I do deny. This then is a plain Confession, that they both agree in the Doctrine of Infallibility, only they differ which of the twain is this True Church, in which this Infallibility is * See p. 40. in this Book. . II. None are Saved out of the True Church. A. S. having laid it down as a Positive Doctrine, That none can be Saved out of the True Church, which Church (says he) is the Roman Church: To which Jos. Coal in his Whore, etc. pag. 18. thus replies, That thing I do not at all deny * And that is the true Reason why they will neither Marry nor Bury with us, nor join with us in giving Thanks to God for Food, etc. ; but that none can be saved out of the Roman Church, that I do deny; for the Church of Rome is not the true Church, but the Whore, etc. Herein it is also confessed, that they both agree in this Point of Doctrine; so that the Quaker-Church doth not hold herein a Negative Doctrine to that of Rome, which both the Church of England and the Protestant Dissenters do. III. Of Miracles in the True Church. A. S. having affirmed, p. 4. That in the True Church there is Power of working Miracles; to which J. Coale replies, in the Whore, etc. p. 16. saving, And as concerning Miracles in the True Church, I do confess and bear Witness, that there are Miracles wrought in her daily, etc. Here then is a Third Point wherein the Quaker-Church doth not hold a Negative Doctrine to the Church of Rome, which both the Church of England Protestant Dissenters do; both agreeing, that the Papists Legend and Fox's Journal are Fabulous, and mere sham's. iv The Judge of all Controversies. A. S. in Chap. 4. affirms, The Church is Judge in Matters of Faith; to which J. Coale replies, in the Whore, etc. p. 28. saying, That the Judgement of the true Church, of which Christ (i e. the Light within them) is Head, I do not deny * See p. 30. Which shows the Harmony between the Popish and Quaker Church. ; for the Judgement thereof must of necessity be true, and aught to be submitted to. But the Church of Rome not being the true Church, she is not Judge of Controversies in Matters of Faith. This then is the Fourth Point in which the Quakers do not hold a Negative Doctrine to the Romish Church; the Difference only is, which of them twain is the True Church, which of right aught to be Judge in all Matters of Controversy; and the one gives as good Reason as the other. V Contempt of Ministers. A. S. in Chap. 14. calls our Protestant Ministers, Intruders, Thiefs, Robbers, Hypocrites, Ravenous Wolves, Murderers, Sons of Belial, False Prophets, and Priests of Baal, etc. Now to show that the Quakers do not hold a Negative Doctrine herein, read p. 173, 174, 248, to 251. VI Contempt of the Holy Scriptures. A. S. in Chap. 14. calls our Bible, A Brazenfaced Book, an unjust, corrupt and perverse Bible. Now that the Quakers do not hold a Negative Doctrine to the Romish Church herein, is plain; First, because they call the Scriptures Death, Dust, Serpent's Meat, Beastly Ware, a Rotten Foundation, and the like contemptuous Names, which are frequently quoted in the ensuing Discourse, and others of my Books; but also in that they Reprinted this fourteenth Chapter of A. S.'s, without any Rebuke for their Contempt of the Scriptures, as above noted; and in plain Words tell us in p. 40. saying, I find the rest of his (i. e. A. S.'s) Book, to consist of divers Arguments, in which he controverts with Sectaries, and their Bibles, and their Ministers, whose Cause (as aforesaid, p. 28.) I am not engaged in; therefore it does not concern me, (i. e. J. Coale) to answer his Charges against them, but shall leave them to answer for themselves, etc. Thus does the Harmony of the Quakers and Papists agree; and for Confirmation, read pag. 222, to pag. 248. herein. VII. About Unwritten Traditions. That the Papists value their Unwritten Tradition above the Scriptures, has been sufficiently proved by our English Divines; that the Quakers value their own Epistles above the Holy Scriptures, is as plainly proved in p. 34, and 142, to 149. And this is the Seventh Point, in which the Quakers do not hold a Negative Doctrine to the Romish Church; which both the Clergy of England Protestant Dissenters do. VIII. Touching Idolatry. If any doubt whether the Romish Church be guilty of Idolatry, let them read Dr. Stillingfleet, late Bishop of Worcester, his Book, Entitled, A Discourse concerning the Idolatry of the Church of Rome, etc. and many other Books wrote by our English Divines, and they may meet with Satisfaction. And that the Quakers do not hold a Negative Doctrine to the Church of Rome in this Point, read p. 42, to p. 48. p. 206, to p. 266. IX. Pope of Rome, and Pope Fox. I have read what the Papists say in defence of their Popes * In the Defence of the Apol. of the Church of England. , viz. Papa Lux venit in Mundum, The Pope is that Light that is come into the World.— Our Lord God the Pope.— In the Pope is all manner of Power.— A Divine Power is in the Pope.— A certain Divine Power in the Pope, beyond the Natural State of Men. Mr. Harding said of the Pope, Thou art the chief of Bishops, thou art the Heir of the Apostles; for Primacy thou art Abel, for Government Noah, for Patriarchship Abraham, for Holy Order Melchisedek, for Dignity Aaron, for Authority Moses, for Judgement Samuel, for Power Peter, and for thy Anointing Christ, etc. Now to show that the Quakers do not hold a Negative Doctrine to the Papists in this Point, read p. 42, to p. 48. p. 253, to p. 267. And by way of Corroboration, let me add this; I am (said Fox) the Light of the World, him by whom the World was made, and doth enlighten every one that cometh into the World * The Teachers of the World unvailed, etc. p. 27. . See also his Book, News coming up out of the North, etc. p. 15, 41. which is very large on this Head. X. The Quakers the One Only Church. A. S. having said the Roman Church is the One Only Church of Christ; Josiah Coale denies it, saying, The Quakers are the One Only Church of Christ; and so do not hold a Negative Doctrine to the Romish Church: And this I shall prove by the same number of Instances, by which I have showed that they are One with the Romish Church in the Affirmative. And, 1. The Whore unvailed, etc. p. 40. But for all that has been said, (says J. Coale) some may say, the Grand Question propounded by A. S. in his second Chapter is not yet answered, viz. Which is the True Church? I answer, (says Josiah) that is the True Church (and no other) whose Fruit makes manifest, that they are governed by the Invisible Head Christ, (i. e. their Light within,) but the People called Quakers are such; Therefore the Quakers are the true Church * Pray read p. 266, to p. 284. and by their Fruit you shall know them. . 2. P. 41. ibid. The People called Quakers continue in the Doctrine of Christ, saying, Be ye perfect, etc.— And the People called Quakers do Preach the Doctrine of Perfection, as Thousands can bear Witness; Therefore they are the True Church, etc. But, Reader, for the Disproof of what they boastingly say, read as in the Margin; and see what manner of Perfection they are found in. 3. Again, p. 43. ibid. * This Josiah Coal was a most Eminent Quaker, yet a grand Idolater. See p. 261. therefore I put him into the Cage among his Fellows. Which being considered, it appears, that Perfection, or Freedom from Sin, is attainable, (in this Life) which by the Quakers is Preached: Therefore the Quakers are the True Church. 4. Again, p. 44. ibid. The Ministers of Christ were ordained not of Man, nor by Man, nor of the Letter, but of the Spirit; and so are the Ministers of the Quakers: Therefore the Quakers are the True Church. 5. P. ibid. The true Church in the Primitive Times was taught by the Grace of God, that denying Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts, they should live soberly, etc. And the Quakers being taught by the same Grace, do deny Ungodliness † See the Cage of Birds, p. 249, to 284. for a Proof of what they boast of. : Therefore the Quakers are the True Church. 6. P. 41. ibid. Christ commanded, saying, Whatsoever ye would that Men should do unto you, even so do ye unto them; which Command the Quakers observe, as Thousands can bear them Witness: Therefore they are the True Church. For Proof of the contrary, see the last Instances of this Preface, touching their Breaking and Cheating. 7. The Apostate-Incendiary, etc. p. 3. It was for your sake and the Truth, (says George Whitehead) that I was pressed in Spirit, in a Godly Zeal, thus to appear against this deceitful Worker, (i. e. William Mucklow) and treacherous Spirit, which at length hath showed itself against the Truth, and Church of Christ, and Elect People of God called Quakers. 8. The Anarchy of the Ranters, etc. That as the true and pure Principles of the Gospel are Restored (by the Quakers) Testimony, so the Ancient Apostolical Order in the Church of Christ is Re-established amongst them, and Settled upon its Right Basis and Foundation * For more of R. Barkley, see p. 40. all which show, they do not hold in this a Negative Doctrine to Rome. . 9 The Quakers Challenge, etc. p. 3. The Quakers are in the Truth, and none but They; consequently the Quakers are the only True Church; for this is the Testimony of one of their deceased Prophets, Sol. Eccles, That the Quakers are in the Truth, and none but they † See pag. 261. where this Bird Sol. Eccles lies in the Cage for his Idolatry. . 10. See Burroughs' Works, p. 64, 318. who writing to the Quakers, thus said; The Tabernacle of God is with you, and his Dwelling-Place amongst you, and only amongst you is God known; all that ever own God and Salvation, shall own us * See pag. 261. where this Burroughs is the second Bird in the Cage for his gross Idolatry. . Having by this time shown Ten Instances, that the Quakers do not hold a Negative Doctrine to the Romish Church, in the most Fundamental Errors in that Church; and yet agree with her in as many Instances, that she is the Only Church, out of which there is no Salvation, as they say, I should have proceeded to as many Instances of their Pretence to Spiritual Discerning; but I shall mention but two, viz. George Fox, in his Great Mystery, etc. p. 89. viz. The Quakers can discern who are Saints, who are Devils, and who are Apostates, without speaking ever a Word. Another Place like unto it, is in Judas and the Jews, etc. p. 58. thus; None need to give us Discerning or Judgement, Christ hath furnished us already, and doth on all Occasions. But that I may do the Quakers Justice, let me give one Instance where I may show, that the Quakers differ in Doctrine from the Romish Church, and if I mistake not, from all other Christian Churches: And indeed, that is one main Reason why I thus Unmask New- Rome: For as A. S. the Roman Catholic said, so say I; as in his Reconciler of Religions, etc. p. 2. The true Church (Militant) is composed of Good and Bad, of Wheat and Tares, etc. To this Josiah Coal, in his Whore Vnvailed, etc. p. 10. replies like himself, i. e. like a right Quaker, saying, Which thing I do abominate to acknowledge,— And it is Blasphemy; the true Church is not composed of Wheat and Tares, of Good and Bad, but of Good only * See pag. 254, to pag. 284. whether their Church be all Wheat. . Another of their Teachers, in his Book, A Rod to drive out the Wild Boars, etc. says, There is no Hypocrite in the true Church; they that say there are Hypocrites in the true Church, do err from the Spirit of Truth, etc. Read the Fourteenth Chapter herein, and see whether the Quakers have not Erred; or whether that Grain looks like Wheat, nay, not so good as Tares, but mere Darnel. And as to their Fling at me about my Compounding, as in their Anguis Flagellatus, etc. p. 432. I shall say little of it in this place, but refer to Chap. 15. herein, pag. 295, to pag. 307. only thus much I may add, That there was but about a Third Part of my Creditors that Compounded at 10 s. in the Pound, the rest I have and must Pay the Whole: Nay some of those that did Compound I have since Paid the Whole. And this Offer I now make, That if the Quakers will Engage that those of their Profession shall Pay me, what they Broke in my Debt, or that Died in my Debt, and have not paid me, I then will promise to pay every Man to a Groat; and if so, the Quakers have no great cause to boast. And yet I can in good Conscience say, that great part of my difficulties have been by and through the great injustice and implacable malice of my Adversaries the Quakers; who have yet no reason, since my labour have been for their good, though against their Wills; and for which they have, by all their endeavours, sought my Ruin: And their resolutions herein have been very strong, and prosecuted with great vigour. For as on the one hand they have used all possible means to render me unworthy of the Clergies notice; a hint whereof you have in p. 299. so on the other hand, some of them have suggested (by private insinuations) to my Creditors, that they need not to comply, for that the Clergy would assist me; nay, one Quaker nearly Related to me by Marriage, and for whom I have done divers good offices; it may be, more than any Man living, no nearer related than I was; yet he reported to a Kinsman of his, in order to blast my Reputation, (when I had most need of his good word and assistance) that I designed to Sell my Estate, and leave my Wife and Children; which thing I call Heaven and Earth to witness, I never designed, nor did it ever enter into my heart. And much more to this purpose could I relate, which I shall not, but desire to pass by all their Unkindness and Ingratitude in the Day of my Adversity; being truly thankful to God in the first place, and to his Servants in the next, who have enabled me to continue to this Day, not only to live free from want, but to maintain my Family with all things necessary, even beyond what I could have expected; for in all Humane probability, had not God raised me up Friends, I had been miserable enough, by reason my Adversaries rage was so extensive; who thirsted after nothing more than my utter Ruin, as I could show, were it needful, in many cases. And thanks be to God, through my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in whose Cause I have been engaged (though a weak and unworthy Instrument) and for whose Sake nothing has been to dear too part withal, he has raised me Friends, and made me able to say, as one of old did, That I have been able to run through a Troop, and to leap over a Wall, which I once thought would have been too high for me; so that I will not fear what Man can do unto me; for God will scatter mine Enemies, and confound mine Adversaries, and raise me Friends in despite of the Rage of Satan and all his Instruments. But since in their late Prints and Appeals, the Quakers do so magnify their own honesty, I shall, as I have in the Cage of Unclean Birds, p. 249. to p. 286. once more add to the number a third sort, not at present thinking it needful to add the fruits of others that lie snuge in the Cage, and which as yet have not seen it needful to show their Feathers, since the hint already given have had some effect, and I hope may have more, towards their Humiliation and Amendment: But that they may see (if yet they do not see) that they are left like other Men, and overtaken with the same Infirmities, I shall set forth not only Ten of their Teachers, of great Note, but likewise Ten of their Hearers, (for I love to proceed by number and weight) not that I shall this time put John Kilborn, and some others, into the Cage to their fellow Birds; but, as I said, in regard they so often brag of their honesty in meum and tuum, I shall therefore briefly observe to them, and for their Humiliation, if by any means they may be wrought upon to be Humbled, a few of their miscarriages on that Account, that their vain pretence to a Sinless Perfection may be retracted, and at last come to make Confession of their Sins, and Repent thereof, and Amend their ways. 1. The first I shall name of this sort is Gerald Roberts, who was the greatest Entertainer of G. Fox in that Day; a great Preacher, and one who kept the Public Stock; into whose custody was put a Rich Orphan, worth 4000 l. namely, Abijah Trot; who, by the consent of G. Fox and Alex. Parker, got her Married to his Son against the Executors consent, i. e. R. Cannam, and Fran. Camfield; against which clandestine proceeding of Fox, Parker and Roberts, I have much to say, which at present I forbear: But he broke. 2. Tho Roberts, his Son, who Married this Fortune, also broke and run away, and left his Family like a Wilderness. 3. Sam. Newton, a great Preacher, and Merchant, having got into considerable Debts, and cheated many, fled beyond Sea, and paid his Creditors nothing; yet still continued a Preacher at Virginia and Maryland. 4. Will. Gosnel, another Preacher, broke and fled beyond Sea, and cheated many. 5. Benjamin Antrobus, another of their Infallible Preachers, about Twenty Years together, He broke; against whom a Statute of Bankrupt was awarded, imprisoned in Ludgate, paid 5 s. in the Pound; but whether his Journeyman, Joseph Wyeth, got what he lost, I will not determine; however he is now set up, and serves to be the Cat's Foot for the Quakers. 6. Likewise Rebecca Traverse, another of their She-preachers, and an Entertainer, as well as a great Adorer of G. Fox, yet the Fox was too many for her, he grew Rich, and she a Poor Zealot, and could not pay her Debts. 7. Tho. Burr, another of their Infallible Guides and Chief Speakers, broke and cheated many. 8. Edw. Billing, another of their great Writers and Infallible Doctors, broke and cheated many. 9 George Archer, another of their great Preachers, cast into Prison for Debt; who was guilty of several Crimes also. 10. I shall end their Teachers with Christopher Tailor, of whose cheating some are still alive; Joseph Clark is by himself, and must go into the Cage for a Sodomite. Now as to their Hearers, 1. Brasy, a Goldsmith, broke for many Thousands, against whom a Statute was awarded. 2. As also against James Boswell, by whom a Brother-in-law of mine lost 100 l. and a Kinsman of mine, with his share in the Charge of the Statute, 500 l. 3. One French. 4. Northcott, the Quakers great Bookseller. 5. One Olive. 6. Robert Goodwin. 7. Henry Stone, who never yet paid his Composition Money at 5 s. in the Pound. 8. Tho. Plumstead. 9 Cade of Norwich. 10. And Edw. Firth, of Mildenhall, a great stickler for Quakerism, who in his Life-time cheated many by borrowing Money, and buying Goods, and died not worth any thing; so that many of his Creditors, and that for great Sums too, had not a Penny of their Debts. These were all Followers of their Darkness within, which they call Light. And the Question being put, can any Sin, that follow this Light? It may (says J. Wyeth) be safely Answered, No; by which they seem to say, that these and the like practices are not Sinful: If they shall answer me, no, these are Sins, I then ask, why they do not then ask forgiveness for their Sins. George Whitehead's Fallacy Reproved, In his ANSWER to My Pilgrim's Progress, etc. GEORGE, I Have seen thy Book, A Rambling Pilgrim, etc. said to be an Answer to two Books of mine, i. e. The Pilgrim's Progress, etc. A Modest Defence, etc. which is so far from being an Answer, that it doth not touch at the Tenth part of the Books; and that little you spoke to, have (to them who will compare the Books) rather confirms what I charge you withal, than otherwise. But that I may show (for your People's sake,) how you wilfully mistake me, and the state of the Charge, and then misled your People, etc. I find the first part of your Book is chief to insinuate that I said the Sermon was Geo. Whitehead's, of his Forming, of his Preaching, and that in so many Words; and thereupon you call it Forgery. Now, George, this is all Fallacy: For thou knowest, George, in thy Conscience, that I never intended to have it believed, that you at your Yearly Meeting Preached that very Sermon, in so many Words; but that I did it to expose your Errors contained in your Books, out of which that Sermon was by me formed; and in p. 108. and p. 222. of the Second Edition, it is expressly said, A Sermon for George Whitehead to hold Forth, etc. And the Chapter before gives several Reasons why I proceeded in that unusual method: So that your way to have done your Cause good, and your People good, had been to have confuted me; first, Touching your Doctrine, which I alleged out of your Books. Secondly, That your Practice is otherwise than by me represented. This had been your way to have confuted my Arguments, and to have established your People. But for you thus to act against Light and Knowledge, is such a self-condemned Practice, that as for your own sake, as well as your People whom you misled, I could be glad to see you leave it now in your Old Age. Take one instance. A Rambling Pilgrim, etc. p. 5. Francis Bugg makes Geor Whitehead thus speak, Friends, I am now come to the last thing proposed to speak to on this Solemn Occasion; first, Respecting Confession of Sin; showing your Exaltation above the Patriarches, Prophets, Apostles, etc. as at large in p. 221. of this Book; so that I need not repeat it. Now what Answer, George, dost thou make to this? Dost thou say, 'tis your Friend's Practice to make Confession of Sin to God in your Prayers? Not a word of it. Dost thou prove in any one page of those 5555555 I there mention, that you ever recommended the practice of making Confession of Sin to God, and begging his Pardon for Christ's sake? Not a word of it. Dost thou prove out of any of those Books, wrote by thyself, Fox, Burroughs, etc. that ever you recommended the Practice of the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles Creed, either to be read in your Families, or in your Religious Meetings practised; or the reading the Scripture in your Meetings? Not a word of it. No, here is no denial of Matter of Fact out of your Books, nor the natural Consequences deduceable therefrom, or your practice agreeable to the same: And that it may appear so, take your Answer in your own words, viz. Thus Fran. Bugg. represents me Preaching such stuff as I never preached in my Life, nor ever owned any such flattery or deceit, as to exalt any Auditory above the Patriarches, Prophets and Apostles, etc. or to dissuade any from making Confession of Sin, or ask Pardon for Christ's sake, who have need of both, or who have not received forgiveness of their Sin. First, It's not what you did not dissuade from, that we are examining; but what you persuade to: We want not Negatives, but Affirmatives; here you leave your Reader in the Dark: Can you prove that in all those Books and Pages recited, that you ever made Confession of Sin; that you ever asked Pardon for Christ's sake; that you in your Religious Meetings, or in your Families, practised the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, the Apostles Creed; that you ever read the Holy Scriptures in your Meetings; or further, that you ever in all, or any one of your Books, recommended the practice thereof? If not, the Charge lies still against you, and your Negative Answers rather confirm what is said than otherwise. As to your Certificate, p. 28. about your Cottage; you that can forge Certificates, and set men's Names to it, without their Privity, Knowledge or Consent, as you did that from Huntingdon, in your Book, Judgement fixed, as Anne Docwra, in her Letter to Mr. Crisp, March 25. 1684. says you did; what credit is to be given to it? And besides, those three Certifiers conclude thus, On credible Information, we verily Believe. Here then is but their belief on Information; and I am credibly informed of what I wrote; so the Reader is left to believe as he is persuaded. The like may be said of Will. Mead, touching his saying to William Harris, that Fox's Journal is a better Book than the Bible; this Will. Mead does not deny under his Hand; I have only Geor. Whitehead's word for it; and he that can forge Certificates is not to be believed. Again, p. 38. What Earnings didst thou (F. B.) make in the late Discourse before the Bishop of Norwich, and the four Members of Parliament, where I discovered thy repeated Falsehoods, Forgery, Deceit and Wickedness in divers Matters? And how thou wert counfounded when Matters were closely urged against thee? etc. Now, George, thou knowest in thy own Conscience that this is a Lie spoken in Hypocrisy, on purpose to misled thy Disciples; for thou didst not prove one false Quotation, Matter or Thing, against me: But I proved thee guilty of contempt of the Scriptures, in exalting your say above them, as of greater Authority; and for the truth of this, I submit myself to those Five Persons present, one of them having often showed his Approbation of my management of that Affair. These things, George, do not redound to thy Credit, and I can truly say I am sorry for thee. George, we both grow Ancient, let us write for the good of others, not for Victory; for my part, I do upon the word of a Christian design it, and if I saw myself in an Error, I should willingly submit. Again, P. 46. Beside the false Printing and bad English (as Fr. B. has exposed my Book Ishmael) there is another defect after the words [The Lake is thy Portion, which is the Portion of Liars,] the words, [except thou speedily repent;] are omitted there, and in some other places. To which I Answer, let any body compare your Book, Ishmael and his Mother cast out, etc. in the Original Impression in Quarto, and the Reprint in my Modest defence, etc. Part 2. and they shall find it, for English, Commas, and Points, and Words, the same. For in the Quarto Impression, p. 3. l. 15. there is we for woe, as in Mod. Def. p. 7. l. 13. there is also we for woe; and so in all other places where it was bad English, and false Spelled, and false Pointed, so it is Reprinted: And as for the words [except thou speedily repent] being left out, I do positively say 'tis a most horrid Lie; there is not a word in the whole Book left out; so careful was I. And how then canst thou pretend to be a Conscientious Writer, when in the face of the Sun thou canst thus Prevaricate, Dissemble, and Lie, and that knowingly? What is become, George, of thy seriousness, sincerity and plainness thou so often boasts of? Again, P. 34. He (F. B.) assumes the boldness to promote in Print an Abstract of two Letters of two Clergymen; I pray God open the Eyes of our Governors, and cause them to take into Consideration this too much, and too deplorable, unlimited and unbounded Toleration; especially as the Quakers both claim and use it, etc. as in Pil. Prog. p. 175. was not this, (says George) a piece of insolent confidence, to expose this in Print, and thus openly to oppose the Liberty Granted, and legally Confirmed by King and Parliament, and thus to render our Governors blinds? etc. Now as I think this was a good Prayer, so do I think it no boldness to expose it in Print: For, George, it was not the Liberty Granted, and by Law Confirmed, which these Clergymen either called unlimited or unbounded, for the liberty granted is both limited and bounded, as from divers branches of the Laws appear; and particularly by the very Act of Toleration; see p. 86, 88, 101, 189, 339. No, the unbounded Liberty which the Quakers take, claim and use, is what the Clergy is against, and which they Pray the Government would take into their Consideration; and I am sure it is a base, bold and insolent thing, George, in you to expose in Print, that the Clergy would represent the King and Parliament blind: But I have not herein room to set forth your baseness in calling all King's Spiritual Egyptians; all that own any King, since the days of Christ, Apostates; that Parliaments chosen by most Voices, are not like to Act for God, or the Good of his People; that Parliaments are the Beast that carry the Whore; Nay, in your Book, The West Answering to the North, etc. you justify the Murder of King Charles I. saying, The cutting off his Head, was a remarkable Record of the Righteous Judgement of God; and for a true sight of these your Antimonarchical, as well as Antimagistratical Principles, see p. 157. to p. 175. hereafter. And, George, you tell us in Print, that your Principles are now no other than they were in the beginning. And what they were in the beginning, I in this Book, the Pilg. Prog. etc. have set forth: And I think it is both bold and insolent Confidence in you to revive all these your horrid Principles destructive to Government and Humane Society, by telling us you are the same in Principles still; and I am afraid we may in this believe you. In the next place I shall show, even thee, George, what Liberty the Quakers both use and claim; which not only those two Clergymen, but many Ten Thousands, both of Laity and Clergy, are against. First, Your sending into the Church's Challenges, as your Friends did at West-Dereham. Secondly, Your going from House to House, like the Popish Priests, to seduce the People, inviting them to your Meetings, giving them Books which say the Quakers are the one only Church of Christ, and that out of your Church there is no Salvation. Thirdly, That your Monthly, Quarterly, Six Week, Second Day, and Yearly Meetings, where you revive your old Treasonable Principles; which Meetings are expressly against the very Act of Toleration, these, and the like, (as in the ensuing Discourse) are the Meetings and the Practices both used and claimed by you: Namely, to hold Convocations, which the Established Church, without Licence from His Majesty, cannot legally do. These, and the like Practices of yours, all good Christians, and the Laws of the Land, are against; and I still pray God to give the Nation a sight and sense of it, before it be too late. In Answer to your 48th Page, I query thus, Whether it be not as proper for me to Address His Majesty, on the behalf of the Church of England, and other sound Protestants, who hold the Fundamentals of the Christian Religion, as it is for G. Whitehead to Address himself, by Dedication, to the Clergy and Universities, personating a Schism which professes such Doctrine as tends to overthrow the Christian Faith? Come, George, Answer me this Question; how came you to be such a Man? You know I could show Books of your Friends, Burrough, Fisher, Fox, and others, who tho' as great Impostors as any in the World ever knew, yet they have Dedicated and Addressed, and not only so, but Dictated to Kings, Lords and Commons. Come, G. what was your birth? Whence came your breeding? Were you not Rambling Pilgrims, who (like Gypsies) lay in Barns, lived upon Alms, with your Feet at other men's Tables? See E. Burrough's Epist. to his works. What, must none Address now but you? Must none apply themselves to the Government but you? Surely, George, you are a Pegg too high. Come, George, let us reason together, what power have you to summons all Ecclesiastical Courts and Officers, more than I have to summon you? What Power have you to Dialogue the Bishops, and the whole Church, more than I have to Dialogue you? What Authority have you to Arraign, Try, Judge and Condemn all the Clergy in a Kingdom, more than I have to Arraign you, and Try you by your Fruit? I tell you, George, I cannot see you mount the Stage, and thus Insult, Domineer and Exalt yourselves, not only above the Patriarches, Prophets, Apostles, Saints and Martyrs, and all Christians, with respect to your so much boasted-of Sinless Perfection, but above all the King's Subjects, as if you, and you only, had right to Address, Dedicate and Present Papers to the Parliament; and that it were Treason to confront you: I tell you, as above noted, that you are a pegg too high. But, George, before you had Addressed yourselves, and Dedicated your Books to the King and Government, you ought to have condemned your Books mentioned p. 154, 157, 167. And before you had Dedicated this Book to the Clergy, you ought in prudence to have retracted your Books mentioned p. 217, 249, 250. And as to G. K's. Book, it was approved by the Quakers; and you ought to have retracted the Doctrine of it, as G. K. has; and likewise W. Penn's and Alexander Skien's mentioned in p. 168, 170. But your Temporising is both seen, and discovered to be seen by others: And now for your Dedication to the Clergy. A Rambling Pilgrim, p. 3. An Epistle Dedicatory to those of the Clergy, and of the two Universities, whose kindness Fran. Bugg boasts of. 30 th' of the 4 th' Month, 1629. By George Whitehead. Now George, to show you what a kind Reception your Dedication met with from my Benefactors; I shall, though I have no order, present you with part of a Letter which one of them sent me; which take as follows, viz. March 11. 1699. Mr. Bugg, I Cannot but thank you for the service you have done, especially among the Common People, by your way of Writing; and for the plentiful materials you have furnished out, to employ others, with respect both to the Principles and Practices of the Quakers; and your laborious Attendance at Parliament, as a Check to the Insolences of the Quakers in their presenting their deceivable Papers, in which they have been too much neglected; wherefore be not disheartened, but go on, and Charge the Quakers Party through and through with their Blasphemies against the Blessed Trinity, their Doctrine of Infallibility and Sinless Perfection, their denying the Fundamental Articles of our most Holy Religion, viz. The Incarnation of Christ, the Resurrection of the Body, and the Day of Judgement. For to talk of Lenitives, and Gentle Applications, is like the old way of sowing Pillows under their Armholes; and you may as well give Opium in a Lethargy, as to fancy to cure some Men into their Senses by your mild and tender Remedies: And therefore to deal plainly is the best way to work their Conversion, from the Infidelity of Quakerism, to the Faith of Christ Crucified; which God of his Mercy grant them, if it be his Will. It was a notable Confession of St. Paul, when he drew up an Indictment, and Arraigned himself in the Murder of St. Stephen, for his standing by and consenting unto his Death, and holding the Garment of them that slew him. I wish the Quakers were Humble enough to follow his Example; whose malice I am afraid is greater, and the dignity of the injured Person higher; for they have Spirited away our Blessed Saviour, and have left us nothing but a Notional and Chimerical Christ; so that we may take up the Lamentation of Mary Magdalen, They have taken away the Lord, and we know not where they have laid him. That was well noted in the Spirit of the Hat: For I am persuaded there cannot be an Instance made in any Society of Men of that bigness, that have gotten more Bastards, and more unnaturally disposed of them, that have drank deeper Draughts of stolen secret Intemperance, that have fed higher, and fared more deliciously every Day, than have some of these Perfectionists in their shining brazen disguises of Religion. I am hearty sorry for the poor Quaker, I heard lately of, who hanged himself * viz. Will. Rust, a Preacher at Chaterice in the Isle of Ely, who opposed G. K. with G. K's Narrative in his Pocket; and the more for the exact parallel I must make between him and Judas, both in his Life, and in his Death. I pray God give them Grace to lay it to Heart, and humbly to confess their Sins to God, and to beg pardon by the Merits of Christ, that God may give them Repentance unto Life. SIR, Your most Faithful Friend to Serve you, etc. It may be some may say, why did you not Print his Name to it? To which I Answer, suppose I had a Friend in my Parlour, and knew that if I did open the Door, that the Dogs would come in and worry him, can any think that if I loved my Friend, I would not secure him from their Rage; yea, and with Just Lot, rather venture myself out among the Sodomites, than suffer my Friend to be torn in pieces? And besides that, I have Muzzled some, and put others of them in a Cage, so that they can only Grin, Bark, and show their Teeth. POSTSCRIPT To the Sincere amongst the Quakers, whether they be Thousands, Hundreds, Fifties, or peradventure but Ten, who are of the true Berean Race. FRIENDS. BEsides the forenoted Six Books of the Quakers, I have herein Examined and Refuted Four more at least in their principal parts. VII. Their Anguis Flagellatus; or, A Switches for the Snake. VIII. A Rambling Pilgrim, etc. by George Whitehead. IX. A Just Censure of F. B 's Address to the Parliament, etc. X. A Sober Reply, etc. in Answer to F. B 's Modest Defence. To all which you will find in the foregoing and following, such an Examination and Confutation, as will give you some light into the Controversy on foot, if you be Impartial in your search, and will do yourselves the justice to read both sides, as you ought to do before you can be capable to pass a Judgement; and this to do is highly requisite, since not only your Eternal Happiness depends upon a true and lively Faith in God, and his Son Jesus Christ, but even your Temporal Blessings also. I remember well St. Paul's Doctrine, 1 Tim. 3.13. who said, Evil Men and Seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived; and thereupon, like a Careful Watchman over the Church of God, over which the Holy Ghost had made him an Overseer, he then, and by his Doctrine now, cautions all Believers in the True God, and his Son Jesus Christ, That we be henceforth no more Children tossed to and fro with every wind of Doctrine, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. And writing to his Son Titus, Chap. 1. Ver. 12, 13. he there does most Excellently describe the Cretians from a Testimony of one of their own Prophets or Teachers, who, like your Teachers, were always Liars and Dissemblers; and therefore he exhorted Titus to reprove them sharply; and indeed it is the only way to work a Cure: And this is according to the Doctrine of Tho. Ellwood, one of your own Prophets or Teachers, saying, The only way to recover the deceived, is to discover the Deceivers. This Witness is true, as St. Paul said of the Cretian Poet; and thereupon I have for many Years laboured to discover your Teachers; and if you will but search diligently, read and judge impartially, you may see for yourselves, whether these things be so or no. It's true, I have exposed some of the Immoralities of a few of your Teachers, but it is for a good End, namely, that by your seeing them, and considering their high Pretences to Infallibility, and a Sinless Perfection, you may be admonished to a Confession of your Sins to God, and beging Pardon for Jesus Christ's Sake, that God may keep and bless and preserve you to his Heavenly Kingdom, to Reign with Christ for Ever and Ever. You may further observe, that G. W. in his Rambling. Pilgrim, etc. has not denied one Quotation, yet by a Cunning of his, would represent me a Forger; but that will soon vanish, when you consider that in all Dialogues the like liberty is taken * See S. Eccles Dialogue, Fox's and Smith's. : And I can Appeal to God the Searcher of all Hearts, that my Chief End why I so exposed them, was (after long forbearing) to let them see themselves, and learn not to insult over others: And as it has had a good Effect upon some, so I hope it will upon others: And so I conclude with my hearty Prayer to God, that of his Infinite Goodness he would vouchsafe a Blessing upon my Labours, to the Benefit of you and your Posterity, whose Information I have taken great Pains in, that you might not continue in Ignorance, and be led by your Blind Guides into the Ditch of Error and Heresy. I rest your Faithful Friend and Humble Monitor, Fra. Bugg. March 25. 1700. A Just Rebuke to the Quakers Insolent Behaviour, in their Two Books, i. e. A Just Censure, etc. the other, A Sober Reply, etc. both presented to some Members of Parliament. Also a Dialogue between a Civilian and a Quaker. Christian Reader, THE first of these Books is Entitled, A Just Censure of Francis Bugg 's Address to the Parliament: This shows their Impudence, or want of good Manners at least; had they Confuted my Arguments, or Convicted me of one False Quotation, thereby to Misrepresent them, they, in Justice to themselves, might have Confuted what was False, either in Fact or Argument: But, not being able so to do, for them, in a Magisterial way, to Censure my Speech to the Parliament, and Address to my Superiors, for which I have (as an Englishman) as good Right as they, and every way equally Privileged with them, this was in them both Bold and Presumptuous, as well as want of Wisdom, not to stay their Censure until the Parliament had passed theirs, whose Right it was, if they had seen Cause, and to whom I ought to have submitted, as in Duty bound; but no Symptoms of that did appear, but Pride (as it is written) goeth before Destruction, and a Haughty Mind before a Fall. And as it is impossible for a Blackamoor to change his Skin, or a Leopard his Spots, so is it impossible for the Quakers to cease their Insulting and Domineering Method; as if they may present their Books and Papers Fifty Years together, and none may Confront them. They begin with the Man; he has angered them, by discovering their Errors and Blasphemies; they go on with Personal Reflections against him, which affects not the Cause, and which he has long since repeatedly Answered in Print; but still the Man, the Man, he is an Ill Man, say they; what! Worse than the Quaker Teachers? No sure; for if he were, believe me, he were an Ill Man indeed; for I think there is not worse than some of them are, and have been, even in Newgate, notwithstanding their high pretence to a Sinless Perfection, and Infallibility of Judgement; many of whom have been highly guilty of Cheating, Cozening, Lying and Defrauding, of Drunkenness, Whoredom, Felony, and Treason, Condemned both by the Law of God and Man; and some of them Hanged for their Just Merit; some Instances you will find in the Preface to the Pilgrim's Progress, etc. p. 266, to p. 284. p. 329. ibid. And as I find no Name to the Books, so I find no denial of Matter of Fact to Mod. Def. Nihil dicit is Confessing of Judgement, and I shall wait patiently to see the Execution, and thereupon I shall say the less in Answer to it, since as it plainly appears, that the Quakers does not deny Matter of Fact, because in truth they could not; so will their Silence be taken for a tacit Confession of the Charge. But say they, p. 40. For as we cannot quit any Point of our own [Books] so we abhor every one of them as given by him, [Fran. Bugg]. The English of which is, They cannot quit any one Error, any one Blasphemy, etc. in their own Books, tho' they abhor them in my Books; that is, of my Reciting, of my Transcribing, of my Reprinting; Oh! this they abhor with great detestation: And why? Because I seldom do it without using some Arguments to discover their Hypocrisies; this, yea, this enrages them; for this they are angry: And therefore I would desire the Quakers to Reprint G. Whitehead's Book, Ishmael and his Mother cast out, etc. where in p. 10. is this passage, viz. And here thy Antiquity, and thy Reasons, and the Three Persons which thou Dreams of, which thou [i. e. Mr. Townsend the Minister] would divide out of one like a Conjurer, are ALL denied, and thou SHUT UP with THEM in PERPETUAL DARKNESS for the LAKE and the PIT, etc. This indeed is their Ancient Principles, and they cannot quit them, or retract them in their own Books, but tell us their Principles are now no other than they were then, only they can word the Matter otherwise: I grant they hate, abhor and detest these things of my reciting, etc. But as they lie snug in their own Books, they read them in their own Meetings; they are sweet Morsels of Quaker Consolation; read A Modest Defence, etc. Part II. p. 22. for more of this, where I have Reprinted their whole Book Ishmael, etc. to avoid their Cavils of Curtailing and Splitting Sentences, as well as to show Quakerism in its Native Complexion. In their Sober Reply, etc. p. 11, 14, 15. in Answer to the Norfolk and Suffolk Petition, etc. they say, To the first we say, It is strange you should fear the Christian Religion should be polluted by the Quakers, who, of all that go under the Protestant Name, are generally acknowledged to be furthest removed from, and most averse to Popish Superstition— so we always offer our Doctrines and Principles to be examined by the Scriptures. To the second we say,— They desire they may Enjoy their wished-for Happiness of a peaceful Life; we envy it them not; but God forbidden they should swim into it through a Sea of Innocent Blood, etc. 1. In Answer to the first, That the Quakers are furthest removed from Popish Superstition than any that go under the Name Protestant, this I deny in their Name, and have made it appear from their Doctrine in their Books, as in the Preface to my Pilgrim's Progress, 2d Edit. etc. and that from these following Instances, in which they do not hold Negative Doctrines from the Romish Church; they only differ which of them twain is the true Church, to which these Qualifications are duly attributed, etc. I. That the Quakers are the One Only Church of Christ. II. They agree in the Doctrine of Infallibility. III. And that none can be Saved out of the True Church. iv They both agree in the Doctrine of Miracles. V Also about the Judge of all Controversies in Matters of Faith. VI They agree in their Contempt of the Protestant Ministers. VII. They agree in their Contempt of the Holy Scriptures. VIII. They agree in the Authority of their Unwritten Traditions. IX. Also in the Pope of Rome, and Pope Fox. X. They agree in their Idolatry to each Pope. 2. That they always desired their Doctrine and Principles might be examined by the Scriptures; this is false in Fact, when they did in the Face of the World deny it to the Norfolk Clergy at West-Dereham, to George Keith at Turners-Hall, being thereunto Invited Four Years one after another; to myself at Milden-Hall. See New Rome Unmasked, etc. p. 1, to p. 9 as also at several other times, notwithstanding their false and bold denial. A Just Censure, etc. p. 7. 3. They desire they may Enjoy their wished-for Happiness of a Peaceful Life. We envy it them not, (say the Quakers) but God forbidden they should swim into it through a Sea of Innocent Blood. If it be to swim through a Sea of Blood, only to desire that the Quakers Errors and Blasphemous Principles, (which contemn the Scriptures, deny that Jesus of Nazareth who suffered on the Cross to be the Son of God, and damn to the Pit of Hell the Ever-blessed Trinity) should lie Censured and Condemned, and their Books, that so teach, Burnt by the Common Hangman, than indeed they are guilty: But if this be not Persecution, but agreeable to the Law of the Land, the Votes of Parliament, His Majesty's Royal Will and Pleasure declared in his Proclamation, than they are not guilty of Persecution, nor of running through a Sea of Innocent Blood in the Defence of Christianity, as the Quakers would impose upon their Readers, to avoid the dint of an Examination, notwithstanding their pretence. A Reply, etc. p. 11. We are ready to undertake the Proof of every Doctrine we hold by and from the Scriptures. I have read in St. Jude's Epistle, that as in ver. 3. he exhorts us to contend earnestly for the Faith which was once delivered to the Saints, so, ver. 9 That Michael the Archangel when contending with the Devil, he disputed about the Body of Moses, durst not bring against him a Railing Accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. And now I am Disputing with the Quakers, his chiefest Emissaries, and immediate Servants, I hope I shall not bring a Railing Accusation: But as it is Natural for a Worm when trodden upon to turn again, and for an Englishman to set the Saddle on the right Horse, so I hope I shall as long as Life last, especially when St. Judas has so rightly described the Men, as ver. 8. saying, Likewise also these filthy Dreamers defile the Flesh, despise Dominions, and speak evil of Dignities, as I have showed in my Modest Defence, etc. Part I. p. 10, 13, 14, 15. But say they, A Just Censure, etc. p. 1, 2. The Man— he and his Abetters are ill Men. P. 11. It were greatly to be wished, that these Zealots would turn their Spleen against Sin— what fair Quarter all sorts of Enormities meet with from some of them. But that none allow fairer Quarter to Vice and Immorality than the Quakers, and Leaders of the Quaker Church, is plain. See Pilgrim's Progress, etc. p. 244, to p. 284. And one Reason I take to be is their own Gild, which would make their Reproofs sound like the Kettle calling the Pot Black-A—; and therefore 'tis the Inconsideration of their Hearers that supports the Credit of such Vicious Hypocrites, who are upheld by their Character rather than their Virtue, and are become much less loved than feared; for I demand an Instance of any one Book wrote against their Vicious Teachers and Hearers, provided they keep Fox's Commandments about the Hat, Thee, Thou, not Marrying or Burying with us, and the like unwritten Traditions; but I can give you an Account of Hundreds of Books wrote against such as descent from them, and conform themselves to the Church of England, calling them Apostates, Betraying Judasses', Malicious Informers, Renegadoes, Beasts, Dogs, Wolves, Children of the Devil, Enemies of all Righteousness, Devils Incarnate, and a Hundred other Names. And they call the Public Ministry, for endeavouring their Conversion, Witches, Devils, Thiefs, Robbers, Antichrists, the Bane of Soul and Body, threatening them with all direful Vengeance; and this, if rightly considered, is not the least part of their Insolent Behaviour to the Government. Now whether your Just Censure, etc. was in Answer to my former Sheet, with a Scheme of your Yearly Meeting; or to my Modest Reply, etc. or both, since 'tis said to be a Just Censure of my Address to the Parliament, and I presented none under that Title, I will not determine, since it seems to the first, tho' given in since my last; yet I cannot but admire at your Impudence in your Reply, etc. in Answer to my Modest Defence, where you say, p. 7. But sure we are, and always ready to make it appear, that neither are our Books Blasphemous, nor our Principles Pernicious. Again, p. 11. We are ready to undertake the Proof of every Doctrine we hold by and from the Scriptures; this is False in Fact, and a Notorious Lie in the Face of the Government. First, In that you knew I had presented to the Parliament the Reprint of an entire Book of yours, styled, Ishmael, etc. which is both pernicious to the Fundamentals of Christianity, and horridly Blasphemous. Secondly, In refusing to prove any one Doctrine you held at West Dereham. Thirdly, In refusing to meet Geo. Keith upon any of his Invitations. Again, p. 10. We sincerely own all that is written in the Scriptures concerning Christ, respecting his Conception, Birth, Life, Miracles, Doctrines, Death, Burial, Resurrection, Ascension, Mediation, and Future Coming to Judgement, when in reality you own not one of those Articles rightly, nor as all Orthodox Christians own them, as G. Keith's 4th Narrative, has from your Books made evidently to appear. Again, p. 6. ibid. That we assume Rules of Discipline in Church Matters, they are for ourselves only, Powers in Matters of Religion, for and among ourselves only. Nor (say they) do we see how those Acts could be truly called Acts of Toleration to Dissenters, if they did not tolerate each sort of Dissenters, to assume Rules of Discipline, Power in Matters of Religion, and Forms of Church Government for and amongst themselves, etc. Again, p. 11. And if it relate to Religious Performances, as it seems to do by the next words, i. e. having their Monthly, Quarterly, and Yearly Meetings, etc. From whence it is plain, that these Monthly, Quarterly, and Yearly Meetings, then when it suit their turn they own to be Religious Meetings, and as such tolerated by the Act of Toleration; and without allowing them, the Act could not be called An Act of Toleration: Yet to show that Liars had need to have good Memories, they, in Contradiction to themselves, when pinched from another Quarter for keeping their Doors Locked, Barred, or Guarded, to prevent Inspection, they in their Just Censure, etc. p. 26. confess, saying, These Meetings are not intended for Worship; what then? What? For Government, and to assume Rules of Discipline, and Forms of Church Government, which is more than the Established Church can legally do without His Majesty's Licence, and therefore worse and more dangerous, their Doors being kept Locked or Guarded; and expressly against the very Act of Toleration, in which is this Clause, viz. Provided always, and be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Assembly of Persons, Dissenting from the Church of England, shall be had in any place for Religious Worship, [and such only the Act tolerates] with Doares Locked, Barred, or Bolted, during any time of such meeting together, all and every such Person or Persons, that shall come to, and be at, such Meeting, shall not receive any Benefit from this Law, but be liable to all the Pains and Penalties of all the aforesaid Laws recited in this Act, for such their Meeting, notwithstanding his taking the Oaths, and his making and subscribing the Declaration. And likewise, as the Learned in the Law say, Such Meetings with Doors Locked, etc. to assume Rules of Discipline, and Forms of Church Government, are expressly against the Rights of Parliaments, the King's Prerogative, and Liberty of the Subject, and these Statutes following, viz. 28 H. 8. c. 19, 21. 27 H. 8. c. 15. 37 H. 8. c. 17. 3 Ed. 6. c. 10, 11. 1 Eliz. c. 12. 5 Eliz. c. 1. 1 Ed. 6. c. 2. 8 Eliz. c. 1. 1 K. W. & Q. M. Magna Charta c. 29. Pet. Right. and that such as so meet, run themselves into a Praemunire: But the Quakers being a united Confederacy, a Body Politic Incorporated, and having a Fund or Common Bank to support and propagate their Principles, they are too powerful for any single Person; and thereupon the Government is prayed to take it into their Consideration: And that these Meetings are not within the Act of Toleration, but obnoxious to the Laws, and of a dangerous Consequence, I have more fully shown in my Pilgrim's Progress from Quakerism to Christianity, etc. 2d Edit. in Octavo, wherein I have more largely set forth their Monthly, Quarterly, Second-day, Six-week and Yearly Meetings, showing they are not only for Government, as themselves now confess, but a Government Imperium in Imperio. But one thing I cannot but observe in these Meek, Harmless Quakers, viz. in their representing the Justices, Grand Juries, and Burgesses of Norfolk and Suffolk, as a Bloody-minded sort of Tyrants, and that to the Right Honourable and Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons Assembled in Parliament, than no wonder they treat me at that disdainful rate they do, and the Reverend Clergy for my sake; but as hitherto, Thanks be to God, the Protestant Magistrates, and the Episcopal Clergy, have been a Bulwark against Popery, so I trust they will against the prevalency of Quakerism, and the danger of them, which seems to threaten both them and the Nation. A just Censure, etc. p. 12. And consider, (say they) whether it was decent in the Aldermen and Burgesses of Bury, etc. thus to Impeach the Wisdom and Conduct of the Government. P. 13. That all those high Charges in the Petition exhibited against us, are grounded but upon their own groundless Jealousies; they (how mannerly (say they) let others judge) offer the Parliament Hobson 's Choice,— cut our Throats, or knock out our Brains. And would they have the Honourable the House of Commons undertake this Inhuman piece of Butchery, to defile their Hands in the Innocent Blood of so many Thousands of harmless People, to Enact such a Barbarous Tragedy only to remove the groundless Fears of a few Jealous-headed Aldermen, Justices, [Grand Juries, etc.] of Bury, etc. P. 15. God forbidden they should swim into it [i. e. a peaceful Life, and the Enjoyment of their Religion] through a Sea of Innocent Blood, etc. But why is all this? Why? 'Tis only that they prayed the House of Commons to take these things into their Consideration; and that the Principles and Practices of the Quakers might be Examined, and their Errors Censured and Suppressed, [whether by obliging them to Retract their Errors, or if not, to order their Books to be Burnt by the Common Hangman, or any other Method] as to their great Wisdom shall appear to deserve, etc. and for this Noble Act, this Generous and Christian Undertaking, with that Modesty which highly became them, to be thus Censured by the Quakers, to Impeach the Wisdom of the Parliament, to excite them to a Barbarous Tragedy, to cut their Throats, that they may swim through a Sea of Blood, is not only a False, Pernicious, and Scandalous Representation of the Petitioners, and their Right of Petitioning; but it is Imperious in the Superlative degree, and will give them further ground to believe, that when the Government have leisure to examine them, and that they are willing to wait, it will let the Quakers see they have nothing to do with Queen Elizabeth's Motto; Much suspected by me, Nothing proved can be. and that they'll be forced to sing another Song, and to change their Motto; viz. Many things are fairly moved, And also as fully proved, by me, Fra. Bugg. Now follows a short Discourse by way of Dialogue, between Jacob the Wet Quaker, and a Civilian, for diversion-sake, after a piece of hard Drudgery; viz. Civilian. Oh! Friend Jacob, how dost thou do? Come, let us have a Bottle of Red, and half an Hours Chat. Quaker. With all my Heart; pray what's the News? Civ. News? I know but little; I meddle not with State Affairs: But to be free with you, I was astonished at your Deportment the other Day at the Commons Lobby towards Fra. Bugg, when he gave away his Book to the Members of Parliament, and how Imperiously you Menaced him, whose grey Hairs might have commanded your better Respect, and perhaps may be as good a Man as yourself, if your Debts were paid; bidding him put off his Hat to the Members, which with great respect he did, and needed not your Doctrine, which had been fit for yourself to have observed, and the morose Clowns your. Brethren, who neither respect your Superiors, nor regard your Betters: Besides, you cannot but know how many of your Teachers are, and have been, guilty of gross Immoralities, as Gerard Roberts, and his Son Thomas, together with Newton, Gosnell, Billing, Antrobus, Archer, Burr, Travers, Murford, Taylor, Clark, etc. besides your Hearers, as, Bracy, Boswell, Plumstead, Northcott, French, Stone, Firth, Olive, Goodwin, Cadey, etc. besides what he has put in the Cage of Unclean Birds, in his Pilgrim's Progress, 2d Edit. p. 294. Qua. Hold, Friend, thee seem'st to be in a Passion; thou saw as soon as I perceived how the Members took his Books, and the People showed their dislike, I came away. Civ. I am not angry; but since in your Reply to his Modest Defence, etc. p. 8. you seem to allow the liberty of Printing, why are you so angry with him, since you have not power, as in Pensilvania, where you both Fined, Imprisoned, and took away the Printer's Tools for so much as Printing an Appeal, since he does no more than you practice, and seem now to allow? Qua. Be not mistaken, we are an Innocent People, and vindicate Truth and Innocency. Civ. Again, p. 7. ibid. you say, You are ready to make it appear that your Books are not Blasphemous. Again, p. 11. We are ready to undertake the proof of every Doctrine we hold by and from the Scriptures. Qua. We are ready, and dare undertake it. Civ. To the first I answer, 'tis impossible; for in his Book to the Parliament he has Reprinted one of your Books, in which is horrible Blasphemy, writ by G. Whitehead, etc. to the second, I say Fra. Bugg has Challenged your Teachers Fifty times, and G. Keith as many; yet you are not ready to vindicate either your Doctrine, or the Books which contain them, and since that, Whitehead seldom appeared at Parliament. Qua. I grant that Book has put a sad damp on our Friends; but you must know, that giving us G. Whitehead's Method in his Truth and Innocency, etc. viz. of leaving out words, and adding words to, and transposing words, we dare meet them. As for instance, in the last Recital adding two words, Never and Any, and putting out Every, and it should run thus, We are Never ready to undertake the proof of any Doctrine we hold. Civ. This is brave Work indeed; any thing may do at this rate; pray what say you to p. 11. ibid. where you grant, that were it not for the Act of Toleration, your Monthly, Quarterly, and Yearly Meetings were illegal; but yet they relating to Religion, are allowed by the Act, whilst in another Book, where being charged with the Doors of their Meeting being Locked, Barred, or bolted, A Just Censure, etc. p. 26. there you say these Meetings are not designed for Worship; and 'tis plain none besides Religious Meetings are tolerated by the Act; what say you to this? Qua. I perceive thou dost not know us, nor our way, which is to carry two Faces under one Religious Hood; you must not measure us by our words, but by our meaning, and that of our own giving too; and if thee wilt but be a Friend to us, I will give thee as good a Hamper of Wine as ever thee didst tip over Tongue. Civ. This is all downright Hypocrisy, for at this rate no Man can tell either your Faith or Principles: And as to your Present I will not accept thereof; for a Gift may pervert, and my Religion to me is more than all; nor am I so mean spirited to betray my Conscience for all the Wine in thy Cellar. But, Friend, there is another thing in which I would be satisfied, namely, your answering Books, wherein you falsify the Text, drop Words, split Sentences, and mar the Sense of your Opponant's Argument; I will give you but one Instance in a Sheet presented to the Parliament by Fra. Bugg, with a Scheme of your Yearly Meeting, etc. Col. 2. Reason 6. In one sort of their Books they pretend to Love, Own, and Honour the King, yea, to Pray for all Men, for Kings, and all that are in Authority; but in their contrary sort of Books they tell you, That all Kings and Emperors sprung up in the Night since the Days of the Apostles, among the Antichrists; that they own no King, but Jesus; nor no Government, but the Government of the Lamb; that they are Traitors against Christ that desire an Earthly King: Do you read (say the Quakers) that there were any Kings since the Days of the Apostles, but among the Apostate Christians? That Kings are the Spiritual Egyptians— Oh what a Sincerity was once in the Nation! What a dirty nasty thing it would have been to have heard talk of a House of Lords among them?— A Parliament chosen by most Voices are not like to act for God, and the good of his People.— It was thorough Ignorance that the People subjected themselves to Hereditary Government, or to the Government standing in a single Person successively; — and our Nation have been under Bondage on this Account. Now all that the Quakers in their Just Censure, etc. p. 18. recite, is as followeth, viz. In one sort of our Books we seem to Own, Love, and Honour the King, yea, to Pray for all Men, for Kings, and all that are in Authority; but in the other sort of our Books we tell People, that Kings and Emperors sprung up in the Night, and among Apostate Christians; and that we are against the English Government, etc. Now how short and defective they are herein, is obvious by comparing each. Qua. Friend's Intentions are good, they mean well, and can now word their Matter otherwise, and yet mean the same thing; for our Principles are now no other than they were in the beginning: And by Reason thereof, and that we cannot quit our Infallibility, some that went from us, throw in their Bombs amongst us, which doth fearfully annoy us, and have split our Mainmast of Infallibility, and broken the Helm of our Sinless Perfection. Civ. Now, Friend Jacob, it grows late, I cannot stay, I shall only sum up a few Observations from the Premises, and then take my leave of you. 1. As to F. B. whether he has New , or not, what he had left when his Horse, and Pocket-money for his Expedition, was discounted, make nothing to the purpose; he has given as great a proof that he has not been Mercenary, in writing 16 or 18 Years together against you without Money, as any Quaker can give. 2. Your Leaders are very Saucy to meddle with the Bishop's Certificate, as in any thing you have attempted: Suppose he had been mistaken in the Man, he did not say he gave it forth from the Eternal Infallible Spirit of God; he only said he had known him some Years, this you do not disprove; That he appeared to him to be an Honest, Sober, Industrious Man, this might be for aught you either say or know; and if he had been mistaken, he does not pretend to know the Heart, nor to discern who are Saints, who are Devils, and who are Apostates, as the Quakers do; and if he had been mistaken, it had been no more than some of your Teachers have been: That he had taken much Pains to Undeceive and Convert the Quakers, by publishing useful Books, and not without Success, this he might safely say, for it was true in Fact; for at that time Mr. Rands, his Wife, and others that had left the Quakers, declared to some, that his Book, The Painted Harlot Stripped and Whipped, etc. was instrumental therein; and since that, many others are come off who have acknowledged as much. And that by the Hardness of Times, Charge of Printing, he was reduced, etc. this was true in Fact; wherefore (says he) I apprehend him a Real Object of Charity, and that he does truly deserve the Bounty of well-disposed Persons, unto whom I recommend him; what hurt is in all this? And what had your Friends to do with it? May you hold a Yearly Meeting with Doors Locked, issue out your Epistles for Money to relieve your Friends, as you say; and may not a Bishop of the Established Church recommend one of their Members to well-disposed Persons of the same Communion, without your Censure? Can you not be content to Censure the Acts of Corporations, Grand Juries, and Justices, but must your Boldness extend to the Exposing and Censuring the Bishops; I think you are a Peg too high. 3. Whereas they pretend to undertake the proof of every Doctrine they hold, this appears to be a Lie told in Hypocrisy: Let them Confute the Six Articles above exhibited, and Defend themselves from the Ten Instances wherein they are Charged to be one in Doctrine with the Romish Church: Let them Answer F. B's Seventy Queries, or else it will be taken pro Confesso, and that they are never able to clear themselves from being guilty of Idolatry, Blasphemy, Contempt of God's Word, and an Hundred other gross and vile Errors. 4. In Oliver's time then the Clergy put in Books into the Parliaments Hands, and it was your Business to Answer, and but reasonable you should defend yourselves; and that the Government should hear both sides; this Privilege none denied you: But now you put Books into their Hands not only in Session's time, but send them the Nation round to their Houses in the interval of Parliaments, and F. Bugg Answers them, and presents them in Session's time; this now you cannot bear, this anger's you, and you fall upon the Man; the Man is an Ill Man, the Man is Contentious, the Man is Quarrelsome, the Man is an Apostate, a Renegado; this I tell you is very Bold and Imperious in your Teachers, that such as forsake your Heresy, and conform to the Established Religion, are by you Censured Apostates and Renegadoes; this highly reflects upon the Government, and by implication Charges the King and Parliaments Religion to be Heathen: For it was always accounted that such as forsook the Heathen Worship, and embraced the Christian Faith, were Converts; and that such as forsook the Christian Religion, and embraced Heathen Idolatry, (as some did formerly as well as now) were Apostates and Renegadoes; now by your Quakers Doctrine, the Church of England is Heathen, and you Christian; how then have you the Face to appear to such as humble Suitors, and with such Books too, as tell them, by implication at least, that they are a Heathen Parliament, and that such as forsake the Quakers, and go to Church with the Parliament, are Apostates, Renegadoes? etc. 5. In their Just Censure, p. 40. they tell us, We are satisfied that it is no other Attestation than he has Collected out of our old Adversaries Books, etc. this F. B. denies, he took not a word of it out of their Adversaries Books. 6. Nor does he believe they are able to produce a Letter of the Late Lord Archbishop's, to clear W. Penn from the general belief that he is a I— t; but if they could, 'tis not one Negative Evidence will do it, since some of the very same Order has confirmed that Opinion. 7. If your Teachers be ready, as they boast, to prove every Doctrine they hold, let them appoint Time and Place, and G. Keith and F. Bugg will not only meet them, but prove the recited Charge upon them; if not, I will be one that shall desire they may be set in the Pillory for Examples, on Condition the Quakers will be obliged, if they do, that they'll retract their Errors; this to be sure is no Persecution, tho' the only thing they fear; and all in support of their great Idol Infallibility, and Sinless Perfection. 8. But if they refuse this, it will appear that your Teachers, Friend Jacob, are great Prevaricators, impudent Liars, horrible Deceivers, great Impostors, wicked Blasphemers, and gross Idolaters, Subverters of Laws, Religion, and that their Principles improved, are destructive to all Mankind. 9 And therefore, Friend Jacob, there is not only Bombs sent into your Camp, but there is a whole Broadside given, which will shake your Strong Hold: That is to say, by two Books, the one by Fra. Bugg, Entitled, The Pilgrim's Progress, etc. which shows, that your Monthly, Quarterly, Second-day, and Six-week Meetings are nor for Worship, as you now confess, but for Government, and that that Government is contrary to all the Laws above recited; the other by Geo. Keith, Entitled, The Fourth Narrative of Proceed at Turners-Hall, showing that your Principles are destructive to Christianity, and tend to overthrow the Christian Religion. 10. And I am glad to see you thus pursued, and for your own good too, in hopes that our Government will find a time to Examine these things, and prevent your walking in Masquerade, as well as your deep Design to supplant Christianity. 11. And I am willing further to observe, that as the Proceed of Francis Bugg has been a Check upon you, so has he been useful in keeping on foot the Petition till a Convenient Season; as also in Answering your Books, by which you Banter the Grand Juries, the Corporations, and the Justices of Peace, which will be no small Motive to the Prosecution now in hand. 12. Not that I believe or desire Persecution will ensue; no. I am not for punishing the Swearers and Damners of the Age with Cutting their Throats, or a Sea of Blood; but that as God permits them to Live, so the Nation suffers them, tho' not tolerated by an Act of Indulgence; no more 'tis hoped will you in your Blasphemous Errors and Pernicious Principles, unless you do hearty and sincerely retract them, and thereby make some Atonement for the great Scandal you have been to the Reformed Religion; and so Adieu. ERRATA. PReface, p. 1. line 4. for 1689, read 1698. p. 9 l. 18. f. as, r. is. p. 37. l. 13. f. have to, r. to, have. Page 28. line 2. Smith's Works, and Penington's Question. p. 35. l. 15. f. 1560. r. 1650. p. 52. l. 14. f. Country, r. Sergeant. p. 61. l. 24. f. writ, r. wrought. p. 78. l. 15. f. Reason, r. Harlot. p. 128. l. 4. r. till you have. p. 172. l. 27. f. why, r. what. p. 250. l. 14. f. Reason, r. Religion. l. 17. r. Boiling Vengeance. p. 227. f. every, r. ever. p. 303. l. 3. f. is, r. in. p. 305. l. 6. r. which to. p. 154. l. 8. r. the Lord. THE Pilgrim's Progress, FROM QUAKERISM TO Christianity, etc. CHAP. I. Giving an Account of my Education in the Profession of the Christian Faith; and how I came to Apostatise from it, and fall in with the Schism of Quakerism. I Was Born at Milden-Hall, in the County of Suffolk, on the 10th Day of March, Anno 1640. and Baptised into the Church of Christ, the 14th of the same Month; promising then by my Sureties, to Fight manfully under Christ's Banner. My Father's Name was Robert Bugg, second Son of Francis Bugg, (and Margaret his Wife,) who was Chief Constable many Years; my Mother's Name was Joan, the Fourth and Youngest Daughter of Thomas Holman, and Mary his Wife, (who was Baptised the 16th Day of March, 1619.) living at Lakenheath-Hall▪ My Parents were of a good Yeomen-Family, and lived in good Repute, and brought me up in the Profession of the Church of England; and when I came to Years, capable of Instruction, they Taught me the Lords Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the Apostles Creed; and very severe they were, in Teaching me the Rudiments of the Christian Religion. I remember my Mother, who was a very good and pious Woman, and religiously inclined, would not suffer me to Sleep, when I went to Bed, I had said my Prayers, and sometimes, part of my Catechism: And on the Lord's Day, she made me to frequent the Church, and at Home on that Day, as well as most other Days, to read some Portion of the Holy Scriptures: They brought me up to School Learning, until I attained to the Age of about Fifteen Years, whereby I was capable to Write, and Read English very well; as also to cast Account, few Lads went beyond me: As also the Grammar, wherein I was well instructed in the Rules thereof, insomuch, that I began to make a Piece of Latin; but my Father living in a great Farm at Undley-Hall, in the Parish of Lakenheath, of 200 l. a Year; besides a Fen-Farm in his Hands, of 100 l. per. Ann. more; he had, in the Summertime, great Occasion for my Assistance, and thereby was prevented, of attaining to that Degree they once designed: And afterwards being an Apprentice, and so fell into Business, that I soon lost a great part of that Learning, I once had attained. I must also confess, I was in my Youth inclined to Company, especially to Dancing and Music; yet I had in my early Years a Love to Religion, and delighted much in Reading the Holy Scriptures, sometimes Eight or Ten Chapters together, I also loved much to hear good Preachers. I very well remember, that sometimes I went to Milden-Hall, (where we formerly lived,) on the Lord's Day, on purpose to hear Mr. Watson, who was accounted a famous Preacher, being Four Miles from my Dwelling. Thus much briefly touching my early Education. Observations on the First Chapter. REader, I am the more particular in these Remarks, for that the Quakers, [how much soever I was in esteem, whilst with them] since I left them, have traduced me, and laid all the Reproaches on me which Malice can invent, (a) Non patitur Ludum fama, Fides, Oculus, i. e. A Man's Good Name, his Faith, his Eye will not be dallied with, said Luther in his Comment. upon Gal. p. 51. as shall be showed hereafter; as well as to show, how excellent a thing it is, for Parents to bring up their Children in the Nurture and Fear of the Lord, to instruct them in the Principles of Christianity; teach them the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, the Apostles Creed, and the Church Catechism: These Things, together with Reading and Hearing the Scriptures Expounded, being instiled into them, in their young Years, they will scarcely forget it when they are Old: But, if they should, yet at one time or other, the Remembrance of them may so far be brought to mind, that they may thereby be brought to a Sense of their Condition. And I speak what I know by Experience; for the first Sermon I heard, which was Preached by Mr. Smithies, of Cripplegate, London, after I was about 25 Years amongst the Quakers, and the very hearing of the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, the Apostles Creed, and Confession of Sin, did so strike me, and bring things to my Memory, that it shaked all my Self-Confidence, and brought me to the Consideration of Times past. CHAP. II. An Account of my Apostasy; and how I came to be carried away by the Quakers Dissimulation. ABout the Year of our Lord 1657, Thomas Symonds, of Norwich, came to Lakenheath, and appointed Meetings; and many Quakers came from Thetford, and other Places: And, tho' I went to Church on the Forenoon, yet I had itching Ears to hear the Quakers; and my Mother being dead, and much of my Restraint thereby taken off, I went to their Meetings in the Afternoon, and gave great heed to what was spoken; whose chief Subject was, The Light within every Man, and this Light to be Christ: And their great Argument was from Christ's telling the Woman of Samaria her Thoughts, saying, Come, see a Man which told me all things that ever I did; is not this the Christ? etc. John 4.29. Therefore, said the Quakers, this Light within must needs be the Man Christ, and no other Man Christ, do they now own to this Day, if they would speak their Thoughts: However, their Writings prove it; and till they condemn them, all they allege to the contrary is nothing worth. Well, however, I and others were catched by these and the like fallacious Arguments, not being well grounded in the Principles of the Christian Religion, nor understanding the Wiles of Satan; and by their smooth and fair Carriage, by their suffering patiently the Affronts they then met with. And I cannot but still remember, how our Minister warned us of the Doctrine of the Quakers, and told us, they were Deceivers and Antichrists; even those Deceivers which Christ foretold us should arise, showing Signs and Wonders; insomuch, that if it were possible, they should deceive the very Elect, Matth. 24.24. (b) Which I now also believe. But by this their pretended Patience in Suffering, by their so much insisting on the Dictates of our Consciences, which prompts to Good, and checks for some Evils; with other fair Words, and seeming, nay, real Truths, with which they covered over their poisonous Pills of Schism and Heresy, many of us were deceived. Again, when I saw so much Plainness and seeming Sincerity in the Quakers, and considered, how our Minister lived, it was another Motive to induce me to go after the Quakers; for our Minister lived with my Father, I do think some Years; my Father was the chief Man that got him into the Place: But, both then, and afterwards, he was such, not so exemplary as he ought to have been, and I not being capable to judge of the Doctrinal Part, I was carried away in my Affections; being more apt to be led by Example than Precept, which is not always safe: However, I do believe it was the offensive Practice of our Minister, which I beheld in divers Particulars, which was one Cause of my Stumbling, whereby I fell unhappily into that Schism. Not that I now judge the Occasion by him given, was or is warrantable for a Separation from an Established Church. Observations on the Second Chapter. NOW therefore, I entreat all concerned in the Ministerial Office, as Pastors, That they beware they give no ill Example to their Flock, contrary to what becomes their Sacred Function; but, when they Preach well, let them Practise so, as believing what they say, so will their People believe them to be in earnest. But, if they Preach never so Orthodoxly, and tho' their Sermons be never so much Learned, yet if they do not live in some tolerable sort answerably, their People will Question, Whether they believe what they teach; and, as a Consequence thereof, will take that Liberty in Living, which is not becoming Christians: Or else, if Seducers come, will be apt to separate themselves, in Hopes to get under a purer Ministry; which, when they come afterwards to examine, they may find it to be only in Show. Notwithstanding such is the Prevalency of Example. CHAP. III. Gives an Account of the Quakers Silent Meetings, and the Tendency of them: In which, I shall speak sometimes in the Person of a Quaker, respecting the time I was one. HAving by this time fallen in with the Quakers; in a few Years, I became very zealous that way, and to Silent Meetings I went; and sometimes we had a few Words spoken, sometimes none; sometime an Epistle of George Whitehead's, George Fox's, Sam. Cater's, or some others, read in our Meetings, and sometimes none: But the chief of what we did hear, either from our inspired Infallible Teachers, or from our Friends Epistles, in those private Silent Meetings, was, To exhort us to wait in the Light, out of ourselves, out of our Thoughts, out of our Willings and Run, in that which is invisible; and then we should receive the hidden Manna, yea, Manna from Heaven, which the World knew not of; and that we should feel Christ to come the second time to Judgement; and that Judgement was to begin at the House of God, which House was our Bodies: And from hence divers of us fell oft into a Trembling and Shaking. I have seen about five or six together in a Meeting, shake like a Leaf in Winter, namely, Matthew Beesly, Ionas Skrook, William Eyson, and others; yea, they have shaken the Forms they sat on; and this, not once, nor twice, but frequently. I do very well remember, that John Kilborn the Elder, did one Sunday in our Meeting, fold his Arms, and stood upright, and by and by leapt and jumped about 18 Inches at a time, until he jumped round the Room. I know, that some are alive still, that know these things are true. But, let it be noted, not a Chapter in the Bible was ever read amongst us, but all exhorted to adhere to the Light within, to obey the Light within, and to follow the Teachings thereof, as a Guide sufficient to lead us to Salvation; yea, above Scripture, above Fathers, above Councils, and above Churches: Fran. Howgill's Works, p. 602, to 627. This I now confess was a Paradox; not Orthodox, but absolutely Heterodox: For let the Scripture command Subjects to be obedient to Magistrates, Children to obey their Parents, Wives to reverence their Husbands, and live in Subjection to them, Servants to obey their Masters, Christians to obey their Pastors, all this signified little; the Light within (our Teachers taught us,) was Christ, and Christ the Power of God, the higher Power, to which every Soul was to be subject; yea, all Power in Heaven and in Earth was committed to the Light, Perverting John 5.23,24. Acts 17, to 31. See Josiah Coal's Works, p. 93. And that no Command in Scripture was any further binding, than as we were convinced of the Lawfulness thereof, by the Light within us. Ed. Burrough's Works, p. 47. So, that all our Obedience to God, and his Commands, were bottomed and founded on our Conviction, by the Light within, that being the only Rule, Judge and Guide, both superior to the Scriptures, Fathers and Councils. Quakerism a New Nickname for Old Christianity, by W. Penn, p. 71. For, said they to us, That what is spoken from the Spirit of Truth in any, is of as great Authority as the Scriptures and Chapters are, and greater, Truth defending the Quakers, etc. p. 7. By which, it is self-evident, That these Silent Meetings were designed to wean us off from so much as the Remembrance of all External Religion, and also, to prepare us to receive the false Notions of Quakerism; for, had they indeed exhorted us, to have regard to our Light within, and the Dictates of our Consciences, which prompts to Good, and checks for many Evils; in Obedience to the Commands of Holy Scripture, this would have been safe, for I believe we ought so to do, and 'tis the same the Ministers of the Church of England press and exhort us to. Oh! but this would not do our Teacher's Business; they must bring us off from the Scripture Commands, as inferior to their Say and Speaking; for the Book last quoted, is said to be given forth from the Spirit of Truth, in George Whitehead, and George Fox the Younger, See Title Page. And being questioned by a Minister, p. 7. Whether the Quakers Speaking was of as great Authority as any Chapter in the Bible? George Whitehead replied, saying, That which is spoken from the Spirit of Truth in ANY, is of as GREAT AUTHORITY as the Scriptures and Chapters are, and GREATER. So that the plain Consequence of this Doctrine, is, That the Authority of this little Pamphlet of Whitehead's and Fox's Writing, is of Greater Authority than the Bible; and not only that, but all their other Pamphlets which they give forth (as they pretend,) from the Spirit of Truth, or Light within. The said Minister proposed another Question to Whitehead, viz. Is the Moral Law, or Ten Commandments, a Rule to the Christian's Life, or is it not? p. 18. To this G. Whitehead replied, saying, Thou might as well ask, If the Moral Law be a Rule to Christ, for the Christian's Life and Rule is Christ; meaning, their Light within: From whence it's plain, that the Ten Commandments are not the Quakers Rule: No, no, not unless they be convinced by their Light within, of the Reasonableness of their Obedience, as Mr. Penn teaches, and Edward Burroughs, their great Prophet, Quakerism a New Nickname, etc. p. 71. Burrough's Works, p. 47. And by these, and the like Arguments, our Teachers brought us off, from believing the Scriptures to be the Word of God: And as such, to have Authority over us, and Binding to us, whether convinced, or not convinced; by these Means, they brought us from the Practice of repeating the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the Apostles Creed, in our Families: By these cunning Slights, they by degrees brought us off the Ordinances of Christ, as Baptism and the Lord's Supper, ask Forgiveness of Sin, and the like Christian Duties, in which many of us had been Educated, and which the Scriptures command and exhort to. And by reason of this, and the like Doctrine, together with not reading the Holy Scriptures in our Meetings, but their Epistles only, as in my former Books I have at large showed; we came to forget, and not regard, nor have Faith in the Crucified Jesus, who died for our Sins, and rose again for our Justification; and that in these Fundamental Points following; namely, 1. That Faith in Christ, as he outwardly suffered at Jerusalem, was necessary to our Salvation, provided we harkened diligently to our Light within. 2. That Justification and Sanctification, is by the Blood of Christ outwardly shed. 3. That there shall be a Resurrection of the Body that dieth. 4. That Christ shall come without us in his Glorified Body, to Judge the Quick and the Dead, at the last Day; even the same Jesus, that was Born of the Virgin, Died, Rose, Ascended, and now Sits at the Right Hand of God in Heaven, making Intercession for us: News out of the North, p. 14. As also that there was little need of Preaching the Literal Knowledge of Christ's Death, Miracles, Resurrection and Ascension, because they are generally believed by all sorts professing Christianity: See Isaac Pennington's Book, The Flesh and Blood of Christ, etc. p. 29. I say, by our Teachers thus slighting the Scriptures, as Death, Dust, and Serpent's Food, of which I have largely treated elsewhere; and by their other Doctrine scattered up and down their Books, they brought us off from the Belief and Expectation of these Things, as George Keith by his Third Narrative, has clearly made to appear; and as a Pregnant Instance thereof, with respect to myself, see my First Book I printed, De Chris. Lib. Part 2. which, altho' it treat of the best part of Quakerism, and gave a mortal Wound to the Jurisdiction of their Female Government, yet it set not forth any one of these four Fundamental Points: For, as their Hypocrisy in pretending to be plain, sincere, simple and innocent, was a means to attract and draw me after them; so, the like Hypocrisy in pretending to gather to the Light, leave People to their Light, as a sufficient Rule, Judge and Guide, (c) Yet acting quite contrary, as anon will appear. etc. was one Reason why I left them. I do not look upon it so eminently my Business, to set forth the admirable Advantage and Use of the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, the Apostles Creed, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper; no, every Bookseller's Shop is furnished with plenty of such Books, which are writ by Men of great Learning and Skill; which, should I write after them, it would be next to light a Candle at Noonday, when the Sun shines in its Brightness. Tho', if I lived in a Country where such Arguments were not, I thank God, I could, through the Study of the Scriptures (and the Knowledge I have of the Doctrinal part of Christianity thereby,) speak somewhat to the Point, and which might be useful too: No, I take it to be my Business and Office, amongst others, to unmask and discover the Errors and Pernicious Principles of the Quakers; and therefore refer to Bishop Andrews upon the Commandments, Bishop Pearson upon the Creed, Dr. Cumber upon the Lord's Prayer, and indeed, what else the Church teach. And to make it yet more evident, if more can be, that the very Design of these Silent Meetings was to bring us off, and wean us from the Articles of the Christian Faith, and the Principles of the Christian Religion; and thereby, to mould us, and square us, as fit Tools for their Turn, to supplant and overthrow it. And this I know, that the more we obeyed the Doctrine of our new Teachers, the more we grew dead to all Instituted Religion. For, as Universities, and other Schools of Learning, as well amongst the Jews as Christians, had a tendency to prepare Men, and through God's Assisting Grace, were a means, and a help to such as were to be Consecrated, and set apart for the Work of the Ministry; so I do affirm, and that from an Experimental Knowledge, That these Silent Universities tends only to empty the Mind of all true and solid Notions of the Christian Religion, and only to prepare them for the wild Notions of Quakerism, which hath such a sandy Foundation, that to this Day they have not been able to produce their Articles of that Faith they pretend to; but are, as Mr. Baxter said Penitential Confession, p. 63. i. e. The Quakers are amongst us a disgraced broken Sect, etc. notwithstanding their pretence to Unity, Uniformity, and to be of one Mind, referring oft to their Beginning; when, alas! some will pay Tithes, some not; some shut up their Shops on Fast-Days, some not; some for Thee and Thou still, but most of them not, but are like other People; some wet Quakers, some not; some for this, some for that; and some for neither this nor that; as in a Hundred Things I could show. But, lest any should think me partial in stating the Case, and in showing the Consequences of our Silent Meetings, or Schools of Ignorance, I shall now proceed farther to prove my Reasons, and that from plain Matter of Fact; that so it may appear, as well from our printed Books, as from our known Practice, what a strange Effect these Silent Meetings had upon us; and, how we thereby became not only levened into a Temper, to throw off all Instituted Religion, but to a degree higher, even to throw Contempt both upon the Scriptures, Ordinances and Ministers, and all things Sacred, crying down all Forms and Constitutions, how ancient and profitable soever they were, and all under a Pretence of a higher Dispensation, even the Light within, etc. For saith W. Penn, We [Quakers] being withdrawn from every Form and Constitution, to wait [in Silence] for Life from God, and not from beggarly Elements, and therefore made a Prey to all Parties; against whom every Hand have been lifted up, and forsaken by all Civil Power, etc. The Guide Mistaken, p. 32. To this, let me add the Testimony of one of our greatest Prophets; his Words are these; (i. e.) I dare not daub (saith Solomon) with untempered Mortar; for where they (i. e. Professors of Christianity) are, I was, viz. in Performances, in Ordinances, in Family-Duties, in Hearing, in Reading, in Prayers and Fast, in my own Will; and all this is Will-worship. But when that one thing (the Light) came, which was needful, I then began (waiting in Silence) to learn to be a Fool; insomuch, that I durst not give God thanks for the Victuals that were set before me. A Music Lecture, p. 25. Thus it is plain, that our Teachers led us into this Silent way of pretended Worship, which never was known before since the World began. Indeed, Consideration and Meditation are good, and aught often to be the Exercise of Christians; but then they have an Object to Meditate upon; either the Works of Creation and Providence, which affords much Comfort, and Cause to praise God our great Creator; or else, on our Lord Jesus Christ his Death, and Sufferings, and perfect Obedience, and the like. But, I say, to go on purpose to a Meeting, and there sit starving in the Cold three or four Hours together, speaking never a Word, nor as near as we can, think a Thought of our own; this is such a new and non such way of Worship, as neither Prophets, Christ's Apostles, nor any Christian Church to this Day, ever gave Countenance to, or Precedent for; I grant, That John Reeve and Lodowick Muggleton, who came forth with George Fox, and their Books bear the like Face, viz. Tho' all visible Worship is now become of no value in the Eyes of the Lord, yet it may be truly said, that Christ is with his Apostles always to the end of the World, in all those that Worship him in Spirit and Truth; I mean, those Sober Silent Saints, whose Language and Practice speaketh forth the Spirit and Power of the Scriptures in them; these Silent Saints I speak of, from an unerring Spirit,— from an infallible Light, which I have received from the Divine Majesty, etc. Joyful News from Heaven, p. 61, 72. Reader, I have by me Lodowick Muggleton's Journal, or Works, bound up in one Volume, containing eleven distinct Books in Quarto, and above One Thousand Pages; and so like to George Fox's, that I intent they shall stand together in the Library of Christ's Church College in Oxford, with the Works of Burroughs, Bayly, Smith, and others; that so any who are concerned with the Quakers Errors, may be furnished, etc. Thus, Reader, you see, that Muggleton and Fox stand on the same Bottom; Fox was unerring, so was Muggleton; Fox was for an Infallible Light, so was Muggleton; Fox was for Silent Saints, so was Muggleton, only Muggleton keeps close to his Principles; for as he denies all Ordinances, so he does not Preach, Pray, nor Baptise, nor Administer the Sacrament: But the Quakers, as in the Instance of Solomon Eccles above-quoted, pretend to be against all Ordinances, and yet own Preaching and Praying, and deny Baptism and the Supper, etc. However, since I have no Author, nor never read of any but Lodowick Muggleton, that justify the Quakers Silent Meetings, I will produce one Passage more, i. e. That the Worship required by him from his Saints, was an Inward Stillness, by which their Souls were made willing to hearken to the Voice or Motion of bis most Holy Spirit, speaking in them.— Thus from an unerring Light, I have remonstrated to the Elect, what is the very true God, and his Spiritual Worship accepted of him; 'tis not Outward Praying, Preaching, Fasting or Thanksgiving, to be seen of Men; but it is an Inward, Spiritual, Silent Praying and Praising, Fasting and Feasting, upon the Glorious Things of Eternity, which is only seen by Divine Eyes, etc. p. 41, 43. Ibid. Thus I have showed, that Lodowick Muggleton was a better Quaker of the two than Solomon Eccles: But that it may appear, that as the Quakers have testified against the Christians for owning the Authority of the Bible, so let them see they have a Partner, namely Muggleton, who says, p. 49. Ibid. Again, in the next place, I shall demonstrate the Vanity of the Ministry of the Baptists; I need not tell you the Foundation upon which they build their Worship, because it is founded on the Letter (d) The Quakers Language to a Tee. of the Scripture, and their own lying Reason, which is the Devil in them: All true Christians are now under the Ministry of the Holy Spirit, and therefore are no more bound in Conscience to Apostolic Worship; I say again, that above this 1000 Years there hath not been a Man sent to Preach or Prophecy, p. 50. How then canst thou possibly become a Minister of Divine Ordinances, by Authority from another Man's Words or Writings, unless without their Letter, thou wert immediately moved to speak by the Holy Spirit, as they were? Moreover, tho' the Scriptures in themselves are true, yet there is nothing but Death in them to a Carnal Spirit: The Letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth Life; and can a dead and kill Letter give the Power, to become a Spiritual Minister of Christ's Ordinances to his Elect People? I trow not, etc. Thus doth Lodowick profess the same Infallibility of Judgement, the same way of Silent Meetings, the same Perfection and unerring Light to Guide, moved thereby immediately. Again, they join, like Samson's Foxes, against the Scripture, a dead Letter, a kill Letter, a carnal Letter. I think I have said enough at this time, of the Harmony betwixt Lodowick Muggleton, and the Quaker Teachers, tho' I could bring many of the like Instances. Some Inferences from the Third Chapter. IS it so, that whereas it is written, John 5.23,27. For the Father judgeth no Man, but hath committed all Judgement to the Son, and hath given him Authority to execute Judgement also, because he is the Son of Man: Confirmed by the Apostle, Acts 17.31. Because he hath appointed a Day, in which he will judge the World in Righteousness, by that Man whom he hath Ordained, whereof he hath given Assurance unto all Men, in that he hath raised him from the Dead? I say, Is it so? And have the Quakers perverted these Texts in St. John, and put on a new Translation, saying, All Power in Heaven and Earth is committed to their Light? Quoting John 5.23. Josiah Coal's Works, p. 93. This is a bold Attempt; this is most Horrible, if not Blasphemy, thus to subvert the Gospel, to serve their Corrupt Ends. How wary then had People need be of receiving the Quaker's Doctrine? Is it so, that People being thus caught in a Snare, and brought over to their Silent Meetings, and thereby weaned and drawn off from the Principles and Practices of the Christian Churches in all Ages, as Baptism, the Lord's Supper, the Lord's Prayer, Ten Commandments, the Apostles Creed, Confession of Sin, and reading the Scriptures in their Meetings, in the Worship of God? Oh! what Care ought to be taken, that these People should be shunned, and these false Worshippers be rejected, as a contagious Disease? Is it so, that the Quakers hold, that what is spoken from the Spirit of Truth in any, is of greater Authority than the Holy Scriptures, which was ever since the Days of Christ and his Apostles, brought as a Proof, to cast the Balance in all Controversies? And do they indeed hold as their Books teach, That that is no Command of God to me, what he commanded to another; and that no Command in the Scripture is any further obliging upon any Man, than as he finds a Conviction upon his Conscience, as W. Penn and their Prophet Burroughs teach? Burrough's Works, p. 47. Quakerism a new Nickname, etc. p. 71. This surely is the Womb of all Iniquity in the World; this opens the Floodgates to all Error, Atheism, Deism, Socinianism, Arianism and what not. This therefore ought to precaution all People, to beware how they receive the dangerous Pill of Quakerism, how excellently soever it is covered with some plausible Pretensions and fair Arguments. Is it so, that the Quakers have not, nor ever had, since the Days of Simon Magus, none like them amongst the Christian Churches, who denied the Ordinances of Baptism, Supper, and Confession of Sin, but John Reeve, and Lodowick Muggleton? How then does it behoove their Followers, to examine the Doctrine and Practice of their Teachers, and to turn from them, and flee as for their Lives? CHAP. IU. Shows that this Anarchy did not last long, but a Government was set up: Sometimes a Single Person, as Pope over us; and sometimes the Light in the Body of Friends, claimed a Power over the Light in the Particular. FOR after we became dead to the Rudiments of the World, as we accounted those Christian Duties, commanded by Christ and his Apostles, and practised by Christian Churches downwards, as Baptism, Supper, Confession of Sin, etc. and became steadfast and fixed in the Notion of Quakerism; of which I gave only a Hint as I passed through my Pilgrimage in that Particular; then our Teachers began to bethink themselves of the Necessity of a Government in our Church, as well as our Neighbours; and if a Government, than a Governor; and this Government must be either Inward, or Outward: The Inward we had tried, and found defective; for the Disciple pretended he was enlightened, as well as the Apostle; and he thought he had as much Right to follow his Guide, i. e. his Light within, as to follow and obey the Light in his Teacher, or the Light in any Man. Upon this, the Teachers met in Council at London, in the Month of May, 1666, to settle this so necessary, as well as difficult Point; and many Arguments passed between the Clergy and Laity, viz. between the Teachers and the Deputies. At last it was decided, That the Body should govern, and the Light in the particular should submit to the Light in the Body. But still this Body being without a Head, seemed like a Monster; so that there was a Necessity to find a Head to clap upon this Body. Well, this Head must either be visible, or invisible; the latter it could not be, for then the least Hearer would plead his Light, his Guide, his Judge, his Leader, as the Teachers told them in the beginning, when they decoyed them over to them. So than it was resolved, it must be George Fox; he being the first, must become our Great Apostle; who, together with the Body, was to Govern from East to West, and from North to South. Since which time, it was in vain for any single Person to plead the Sufficiency of his Light, or the Authority of it, for to the Light in the Body was all Power in Heaven and Earth committed. Jos. Coal's Works, p. 93. And to support this Glorious Cause, Will. Penn wrote a Book, wherein he affirmed, That it is a Dangerous Principle, and Pernicious to True Religion; and which is worse, it is the Root of Ranterism, to assert, That nothing is a Duly incumbent upon thee, but what thou art persuaded, [or convinced] is thy Duty, etc. A Brief Examination and State, p. 3. This was Printed in 1681, and and written by the same W. Penn, who in the Year 1673. wrote his Book, styled, Quakerism a New Nick name for Old Christianity; where he then Judged it so far from Ranterism, to act as they were persuaded, that, Page 71. he saith, No Command in the SCRIPTURE is any farther OBLIGING upon ANY Man, than as he finds a CONVICTION upon his Conscience; otherwise, Men (said Mr. Penn) should be engaged without, if not against Conviction; a thing unreasonable in a Man, etc. Thus then it's plain, That with respect to the Commands of God recorded in the Holy Scriptures, Men are to be at Liberty; they are to obey, if they be convinced or persuaded it's their Duty so to do; if not, they may, by Mr. Penn's Doctrine, be at Liberty. And so saith E. Burroughs; for, (says he) That is no Command from God to me, what he commands to another; neither did any of the Saints, that we read of in Scripture, act by the Command which was to another, not having the Command to themselves, etc. Burrough's Works, p. 47. And if we read on in the same Page, we may find, that these Commands of God, thus rejected by the Quakers, unless they have them anew, as the inspired Apostles and Prophets had, were Baptism, and other Ordinances. And now let me return, to see what things Will. Penn would have done and obeyed, Conviction, or no Conviction; and this will give us some Light into their Mystery of Iniquity; thus to reject the Commands of God, recorded in Scriptures, and teach, that none need to obey them, unless convinced of the Usefulness of them, as they have done these 40 Years. GO TEACH ALL NATIONS, BAPTISING, etc. DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME, etc. When you Pray, say, FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES, AS WE FORGIVE, etc. Matth. 28.19,20. Luke. 22.19,20. Chap. 11.4. See also, The Picture of Quakerism, drawn to the Life, Part 1. Page 60, to 70. Well, I say, let us hear what the Commands of the Quakers are, That whoever amongst them pleads for their Liberty, whether to obey, or not to obey, are Ranters, Rebels, and what not. See his Brief Examination, etc. Page 11. And this I affirm, from the Understanding I have received of God, not only that the Enemy is at work to scatter the Minds of Friends by that lose Plea; What hast thou to do with me? Leave me to my Freedom, and to the Grace of God in myself, and the like. But this Proposition and Expression, as now understood and alleged, is a Deviation from, and a Perversion of the Ancient Principle of Truth. For this is the plain Consequence of this Plea: If any one shall say, I see no Evil in paying Tithes to Hireling Priests, in that they are not claimed by Divine Right, but by the Civil Laws of the Land. I see no Evil (saith another) in marrying by the Priest, for he is but a Witness. I see no Evil (saith a third) in declining a Public Testimony in Suffering-Times, for I have Christ 's and Paul 's Example. I see no Evil (saith a fourth) in respecting the Persons of Men; for whatever others do, I intent a sincere Notice, that I take of those I know. I see no Evil (faith a fifth) in keeping my Shop shut, upon the World's holidays, [Fast-Days,] for I would not willingly give Offence to my Neighbours, etc. Reader, I have been the larger on this Quotation, because it may evidently appear, beyond all their Glozing, that like the Pharisees, their Forefathers, they make void the Commands of God, by exalting their own Traditions above them, saying, None are any further obliged to obey the Commands of God in the Holy Scripture, than they are convinced or persuaded by their Light to obey; but their own Commands, such as not paying Tithes, not marrying with a Priest, not putting off the Hat, not shutting up their Shop-Windows on holidays, and Fast-Days, this is highly Criminal; to plead their Liberty in these Things, is Ranterism and Rebellion. To confirm this, George Whitehead said, in Answer to a Minister's Question, i. e. Is the Moral Law, or Ten Commandments, a Rule to the Christian's Life, or is it not? Truth defending the Quakers, etc. p. 18. I answer, (says G. W.) thou might as well ask, If the Moral Law be a Rule to Christ? For the Christian's Life and Rule is Christ, etc. meaning the Light within: Quest. to Professors, etc. p. 27. And this is much like Is. Pennington, who said, That the Name JESUS and CHRIST belong to every Member, as WELL as to the Head; and if so, Whitehead is in the right on't; they might as well indeed, carry the Ten Commandments to Christ, as to the Quakers: For, on their own Hypothesis, there is as much Reason for the Quakers Love to be equal with Christ, if not above him. See p. 10. What is attributed to that Body, [meaning the Son of Mary] we acknowledge, and give to that Body in its Place, according as the Scripture attributeth it, which is THROUHG and BECAUSE of THAT which dwelled and acted IN IT; but that which sanctified and kept the Body pure, (e) Mark kept Christ's Body pure. and made all acceptable in him, was the Life, Holiness, and Righteousness of the Spirit; and the same THING which kept his Vessel pure, it is the same THING that cleanseth us; the Value which the Natural Flesh and Blood [of Christ] had, was from THAT, in its coming from THAT, in its acting in THAT, in its suffering through THAT, p. 33. Now the Scriptures doth expressly distinguish between CHRIST and the GARMENT which he wore; between HIM that came, and the BODY in which he came; between the SUBSTANCE which was VEILED, and the VEIL which VEILED it; there is plainly HE, and the BODY in which HE came; there was the OUTWARD VESSEL, and the INWARD LIFE; This we certainly know, and can never call the BODILY GARMENT CHRIST, (f) Viz. They can never call the Son of Mary Christ. but THAT which appeared and dwelled IN the BODY. Now if ye indeed know the CHRIST of God, tell us plainly what THAT is which appeared in the Body, whether THAT was not the Christ before IT took up the Body, after IT took up the Body, and for ever? I am the larger on this Head, to show, first, George Whitehead's Pride, in saying, That the Commandments of God might as well be carried to Christ as the Quakers; next, that the Christ which the Quakers own only, is the Light or Spirit which was in Christ, and is in them; lastly, that they can never call him that was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Christ, but a Veil or Garment, an Outward Vessel, and the like: Compare the last Quotation to G. W.'s Sermon. And for more of this Tendency, I refer to George Whitehead's Sermon hereafter expressed, etc. Having by this time showed, That the Quakers have rejected the Government and Guidance of the Light in the Particular to be sufficient, but that the Light in the Particular must veil to the Light in the Body, or Church; I am now come to set forth their Authority for it, which was the Sentence and Judgement of their Synod, held at London, May 1666. The Sentence of their London Synod 1666. Contracted. First, We having a true discerning of the Working of that Spirit, which under a Profession of Truth, leads into a Division from, or Exaltation above the BODY of Friends, who never Revolted from their Principles, from the constant Practice of good ancient Friends, who are sound in the Faith once delivered to US (h) 'Tis well they tacitly confess, it is not the Faith once delivered to the Saints. . We do unanimously declare and testify, That neither that Spirit, nor those that are joined to it, aught to have any Dominion, Office, or Rule, in the Church of God. Secondly, We do declare and testify, That the Spirit, and those who are joined to it, who stand not in Unity with the Ministry and Body of Friends, have not any true Spiritual Right, nor Gospel Authority, to be Judges in the Church, and of the Ministry, so as to condemn them or their Ministry; neither ought their Judgement any more to be regarded by Friends, than the Judgement of any other Opposers which are without; for of Right, the Elders and Members of the Church, aught to judge Matters and Things which differ, and their Judgement which is given, to stand good and valid amongst Friends. And we do further declare and testify, That it is abominable Pride which goeth before Destruction, which so puffs up the Mind of any PARTICULAR, that he will not admit of any Judgement to take place against him: FOR HE THAT IS NOT JUSTIFIED BY THE WITNESS OF GOD IN FRIENDS, IS CONDEMNED BY IT IN HIMSELF. New- Rome exactly. Thirdly, If any Difference arise in the Church, or amongst them that profess to be Members thereof, WE do declare and testify, That the Church, with the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ, HAVE POWER, WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF SUCH WHO DISSENT FROM THEIR DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE, TO HEAR AND DETERMINE THE SAME. All Property is now lost, unless there be Conformity and Submission, like the Star-Chamber, and High Court of Justice, etc. And if any pretend to be of us, and in Case of Controversy, will not admit to be TRIED by the Church (i. e. the Body) nor SUBMIT to the JUDGEMENT given by the Spirit of Truth in the Elders and Members of the same, but kick against their Judgement, as only the Judgement of Man, WE testify in the Name of the Lord, That if any Judgement so given be risen against, and denied by the Party condemned, than He or She ought to be rejected, as having erred from the Truth; and persisting therein presumptuously, are joined in ONE, with Heathens and Infidels. George Whitehead Josiah Coale Stephen Crisp John Moon Thomas Lo Thomas Greene John Whitehead Thomas Briggs James Park Alexander Parker Rich. Farnsworth, etc. Having by this time showed, First, How our Teachers, in order to bring us over to them, and to decoy us, told us, the Light within was a sufficient Guide, Teacher and Leader, even sufficient to lead to Salvation; yea, above Scriptures, above Fathers, above Councils, and above Churches; I have in the last Instance shown the Fallacy of their so early and smooth Pretences; and that from the beginning they have been a false, perfidious, and treacherous Tribe of Deceivers, as ever the World produced. Well, now they appear plainly to be a Body, and I having found who is the Head of this Body, namely, George Fox, it will not be amiss to recite the Quakers Creed, and his Commandments; which, whatever Quaker do not submit to, convinced or not convinced of the Reasonableness of their Obedience, it's now plainly seen what will befall them. I need not Comment upon the recited Canon, Creed, Fox's Commandments, nor their Zeal to maintain them as their Ancient Principles, altho' God's Commandments by Moses, the Apostles Creed, and all the Scripture, the Quakers slight and reject, as not to be read in their Meetings, not to be taught their Children; nay, so proud is G. Whitehead, that he tells you, as above, The Jews might as well have carried them to Christ in the Days of his Flesh, Viz. the Ten Commandments for him to learn, observe, and obey them, as for the Christians to carry them to the Quakers to learn, observe, and obey them: Truth defending the Quakers, etc. p. 18. For saith he, What is spoken by the Spirit of Truth in any, is of as great Authority as the Bible and Chapters are, and greater: Burroughs Works, p. 47. This is the Tenure and Purport of his Doctrine; and I do affirm, it's right Quakerism: For Edw. Burroughs said, That was no Command from God to me, what he Commands to another: And W. Penn confirms the whole, saying, No Command in Scriptures is any further obliging upon ANY Man, than as he finds a Conviction upon his Conscience, otherwise Men should be engaged without, if not against Conviction; a thing unreasonable in Man, etc. Quakerism a New Nickname for old, etc. p. 71. But for their poor infatuated Disciples to plead, whether to conform or not, whether to obey or not, the Commands of G. Fox, i. e. not paying Tithes, not to be Married with a Priest, not to put off the Hat, not to open their Shops on Feasts or Fast-Days; I say, to plead to be left to their Freedom herein, and the Grace of God in their Hearts; Oh! no: Says W. Penn, This is a dangerous Principle, this is a pernicious Plea, this is perfect Ranterism. What! to have Liberty, whether to obey the Commands of the Body given out by the Head thereof? This is wicked indeed, as by their Yearly Epistle above-recited is plain: However, I shall recite both the Quakers Creed, and the Commands of G. Fox, Viz. 1. The Quakers Creed. WE believe that the Light within us is the True and Eternal God, which Created all things, and that by me the Light all things are upheld; and that there is not another besides me that can save; and thereupon we believe we are endued with the Almighty Power of God; and thereby have wrought Miracles; and conclude, we are equal to God; and that our Speaking is of greater Authority than the Bible. We believe our Light within is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Man Christ Jesus to whom all Power in Heaven and Earth is committed, tho' we cannot believe that this our Light within, to whom we direct our Disciples to expect Salvation, by was ever crucified, by Nailing to a Cross; nor that he Died, or was Buried; nor that he was Buffered, Spitted upon, Smote with the Palms of the Hands of the Jews; for he never was seen with Carnal Eyes; nor that he Risen from the Dead the Third Day; nor that he Ascended (in the Sight of the Galileans) into Heaven, and there Sat at the Right Hand of God; but that all Apostate Christians that so teach, are false Ministers; nor do we believe that our Light within shall come at the last Day, to judge both Quick and Dead: For the Light within us is the Judge; and the Book is opened within; the Sentence of Death and Judgement is pronounced within; from the Mouth of our Light within against every idle Word, and all the Deeds of the Body within; and Judgement is executed within, and the flaming Sword within, which proceedeth out of the Mouth of the Lamb, i. e. our Light within, which will cast thee into Hell within, where is weeping and wailing within, sealed down under the Wrath of God's Eternal Judgement within. We believe the Light within us is the Holy Ghost; and that these three are one, and not distinguishable, and that such as talk of three Persons in the Godhead, like Conjurers, are to be shut up (with their three Persons they dream of, which they would divide out of one) in perpetual Darkness, in the Lake and the Pit: That the Scripture which the Apostate Christians build their Faith upon for this their Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, is a rotten Foundation; yea, Dust, Death, and Serpent's Meat; and therefore their Ministers that tell their People the Scriptures are the Word of God, are Deceivers: For the Father, Son, and Spirit, the World, and their Teachers, call three Persons; but they speak they know not what, therefore believe them not. We believe ourselves the only Catholic Church, and Elect People of God, and that none are in the Truth but we ourselves. We never did in any of our printed Books, or printed Prayers from 1560 to 1690, make any Confession of Sin, nor ask Pardon of God for Jesus Christ's sake, who was Born of the Virgin; and why? We testify that the outward Person that suffered at Jerusalem was not the Son of God, only a Veil, a Garment, or a Vessel, in which the Son did inhabit, which now inhabit in us Believers, and for which Reason the Names JESUS and CHRIST belong to us, as well as to him that suffered. For saith George Fox, our great Apostle and High Priest of our Profession, the Jews had a Law, that if any one said he was the Son of God, he was to die, and so the Law in the Will doth persecute THE SON OF GOD NOW; where HE is MADE MANIFEST, as the NORTH PART of this Nation doth witness, who hath fulfilled that Law in Persecuting and Imprisoning THE SON OF GOD, where HE is MADE MANIFEST; i e. within us; those who quaked at the Word of the Lord, was ever hated and scorned, and in such THE SON OF MAN is manifest. We believe an Inward Resurrection with the Light within, but deny the Resurrection of the Body laid in the Grave. Books of the Quakers, which prove these to be their Tenets, and a Hundred times as much, are these; Geo. Fox Jun.'s, Works, Edw. Burrough's Works; Saul's Errand; G. Fox's Journal; Truth defending the Quakers, etc. A Lamentation by one of England's Prophets, etc. Judgement fixed, etc. Jos. Coal's Works; The Quakers Refuge, etc. W. Smith's primer, etc. A Discovery of Man's Return, by W. D. Ishmael and his Mother cast out, by G. Whitehead, and three other chief Speakers; A Brief Discovery of a threefold Estate of Antichrist, etc. News coming up out of the North; Ste. crisps Primer, printed 1682. The Apostate Incendiary; W. Penn's serious Apology; The Quakers Challenge; A Question to Professors, by Is. Pennington; A Lamentation, by one of England's Prophets, etc. printed at York, 1653. A Dispute at Chesterfeild, 1655. See the Fifth Chapter following; upon which I conclude thus. If as they writ, they do indeed believe, Then I affirm, this their very Creed. If not, who can, with Safety, them believe, Who Writ and Print, the Simple to deceive? 2. The Commandments of G. Fox, the Quakers second Moses, somewhat Abbreviated, and taken out of several of his Books. I. Thou shalt not pay Tithes to the covetous Priests, nor to the Antichristian Improprietors. II. Thou shalt not Marry by, or with a Priest. III. Thou shalt not put off thy Hat in Respect to thy Superiors. iv Thou shalt not shut up thy Shop on the World's holidays, Fast-Days, etc. at the Command of the Worldly Magistrates. V Thou shalt not pay towards the Repair of Parish Churches. VI Thou shalt not pay towards the Trained Bands, nor carry Guns in thy Ship. VII. Thou shalt not wear Lace, nor Ribbons, nor Skimming-dish Hats, nor short Aprons, nor Slits on your Wastecoats, nor long Scarves like flying Colours, nor unnecessary Buttons. VIII. You shall have a Woman's Meeting distinct from the Men, once a Month at at the County-Town, about Ten a Clock, to get a little Stock. IX. Thou shalt call the Days of the Week First, Second, Third and Fourth Day, etc. and the Months First, Second, and Third Month, etc. X. I charge you all in the Presence of the Lord God, That you judge not one another, i. e. those that be in the Unity of the Ministry, and Elders in the Church, lest you fall into the Condemnation of the Monthly, Quarterly, Six Weeks, Second Day, or Yearly Meeting. Amen. G. Fox 's Trial at Lancaster Assizes, p. 21. The thundering Voice answered, I have glorified thee, and will glorify thee again; and I was so filled full of Glory, that my Head and Ears was filled full of it, that when the Trumpets sounded, and the Judges came up again, they all appeared as dead Men under me. I think it now necessary to insert two Passages out of two of the Quakers most learned Teachers Books; the one, to deter their Hearers from adhering to the Commands of Moses; the other, to confirm them in the Belief of G. Fox's, viz. Whether the first Penman of the Scriptures was Moses or Hermes? Or, Whether both these, or not one? Or, Whether there are not many Words contained in the Scriptures, which were not spoken by Inspiration of the Holy Spirit? Whether some Words were not spoken by the Grand Imposture; some by wicked Men, some by wise Men, ill applied; some by good Men, ill expressed; some by false Prophets, and yet true; some by true Prophets, and yet false? The Quakers Refuge fixed, etc. p. 17. This being suggested by Robert Ruckhill, an Eminent and Learned Man; I cannot blame his Hearers, who believe that he wrote by the Eternal Spirit; nor that they lay aside the Commands of God by Moses, and receive the Commands of G. Fox; at least not so much as I blame their Teachers. For if I did question whether Moses or Hermes were the first Penman of the Holy Scriptures; or whether both of them had a Hand in it, or neither of both was concerned in the writing thereof; if I questioned the Truth of what the true Prophets of the Lord said, and believed, that what the false Prophet said, were true; if I thought, that what good Men said was ill expressed, and so insignificant, as hereby is suggested, truly I should give as little heed to them as the Quakers do, and be ready with George Fox himself, to call them Death, Dust, and Serpent's Meat. See News coming up out of the North, p. 14. But I thank God I have been better taught, even from my Childhood: For, tho' by the Dissimulation of these Seducers, I was carried away into great Errors, yet the Love of the Scriptures ever remained with me. The next Passage shall be from their Learned Barclay: It is no ways inconsistent with this sound and unerring Principle, to affirm, That the Judgement of a certain Person or Persons, in certain Cases, is INFALLIBLE; or for a certain Person, or Persons, to give a positive Judgement, and pronounce it as Obligatory upon others, because the Foundations and Ground thereof IS; NOT because they are infallible, but because in these things, and at that time, they were led by the Infallible Spirit. The Anarchy of the Ranters, etc. p. 67. For more of this Quaker-Popery, see The Picture of Quakerism drawn to the Life, etc. p. 8, to 16. By which 'tis plain, that as Ruckhill in the forecited Passage, render the Scriptures Uncertain, Fallible, and of no Authority, so does Barclay render Quakerism Infallible, Certain, and their Commands and Injunctions Obligatory upon others: And why forsooth? Why, because at such times as the Quakers thus Pronounce, thus Writ, thus give out their Mandates, Commandments and Precepts, they (says Barclay) are led thereunto by the Infallible Spirit. Some Inferences from the Fourth Chapter. IS it so then, that the Tendency of the Quakers Doctrine is to undervalue the Holy Scriptures, to rob them of their Divine Authority, and thereby to exalt their own Horn? Let this then be a Caution to their Hearers, to examine the Quotations, which I bring to prove my Assertions; and if they find it so, (as that they may; for I have ever been willing, and still am, to produce Book and Page, to prove Matter of Fact,) then let them carry the said Books to their Teachers, to condemn and censure, as Heretical, and tending to overturn the Christian Religion; and if not, let them, if they be wise, turn their Backs upon them, forsake their Errors, and embrace the Christian Faith; so shall the end of all my Labour and Pains be Answered; but if they (after all the Pains myself and others have taken) will still shut their Eyes, and stop their Ears, my Reward will be with me, and they shall bear their own Burden in the Day of the Lord. CHAP. V. Giveth many Reasons, both Negative and Affirmative, That George Fox took himself to be a Second Moses; and that the Heads of the Quakers attributed to him Divine Honour, as Head of their Church, and Lawgiver to it. TO come to a right Understanding of this, I shall first insert an Objection raised by W. Rogers, The Christian Quaker distinguished, etc. Part I. p. 9 [and by him taken out of a Manuscript, with Names to it,] next George Fox's Answer; and then proceed to other particular Reasons and Demonstrations. Object. 'Tis true, Friends in the beginning were turned to the Light in their own Consciences, as their Guide; but when it pleased the Lord, to gather so great a Number into the Knowledge and Belief of the Truth, than the Heavenly Motion came upon George Fox, as the Lord's Anointed and Chosen, having the Care of the Churches, as being the great Apostle of Christ Jesus; and as one, whom the Lord had ordained to be in that place, amongst the Children of Light in this our Day, as Moses was amongst the Children of Israel in his Day, to set forth Methods and Forms of Church-Government, and to establish Monthly and Quarterly Meetings of Men, and Women distinct from the Men; and these Meetings since are called the Church, whose Counsel, Advice and Judgement, is to be submitted unto by every one, who profess himself a Member of Christ's Church; and that we ought to believe as the Church believes, as G. Whitehead teacheth, viz. I affirm, That the true Church is in the true Faith that is in God, and we must believe thus as the true Church believes, or else it were but both a Folly and Hypocrisy to profess ourselves Members thereof. G. Whitehead 's Book, the Apostate Incendiary, etc. p. 16. This Objection W. Rogers made from the Strength of divers Arguments he found in the Manuscript, from the Words and Write of divers Persons, whose Names he did forbear to mention; but for the clearing up this Point, Whether G. Fox looked upon himself the Second Moses, the great Prophet and Apostle, see his Answer to W. Rogers. The Christian Quaker distinguished from the Apostate and Innovator, in Five Parts. See Part 4. p. 83. George Fox's ANSWER. William Rogers, thou sayest, There is a Spirit risen at this Day, that gives many occasion to be jealous, that I am looked upon by some, as that Prophet which Moses testified of, that God would raise up, Deut. 18.15. but who they are thou hast not mentioned. And thou sayest, Christ is that Prophet that is to be heard, etc. and he is the only Lawgiver, and no Outward Man (m) So W. Rogers said; now mark his long-sided Answer. . Then is not this Prophet to be in Man, to give forth his Law, which comes after Moses? But I cannot deny that Prophet which Moses spoke of, to be raised up; for I know, that it is he that is opposed, and his Law too, by many Talkers of him; and the Light of his Glorious Gospel, and the Order of it; and what I am, I am by the Grace and Love of God; and will not deny (n) Deny, no; there was no Body desired that: But if he had not owned himself to be that Prophet, he ought to have been plain, and denied himself to be that Prophet, as John did; I am not the Christ, said John, Joh. 1.20. the Prophet which came after Moses, nor the Election, before the World began, tho' all turn into the Jealousies in which they were before they were convinced; for I believe few of them that does oppose, knows this Prophet that comes after Moses, tho' they may speak of him in Words; of which Prophet I am not ashamed. Reader, The Text and Context being duly considered, I mean W. Roger's Objection, touching the common Jealousies which was amongst us at that Day, besides the Letters in the said Manuscript, etc. I say, that duly considered on the one Hand, and G. Fox's Answer on the other Hand, which was so far from denying himself to be that Prophet which Moses prophesied of, Deut. 18.15. and St. Stephen testified of, Acts 7.37. and St. Peter, Acts 3.23. and St. John the Evangelist, John. 1.45. These, and many others, gave witness to the fulfilling of the Prophecy of Moses, in sending the promised Messiah; I say, G. Fox's Answer was so far from denying himself to be that Prophet which Moses prophesied of, that it confirmed us in that Day; and since much more, that he did not deny, but rather owned the Charge. But to strengthen my Argument, I shall give some small Hints, (and but name them, having been heretofore more large,) first, What he said of himself; next, What his Followers said of him. First, Written from the Mouth of the Lord, from one who is naked, and stands naked before the Lord, clothed with Righteousness, whose NAME is NOT known in the World, risen up out of the North; News coming up, p. 1. which was Prophesied of (o) This is News indeed; what Prophet prophesied of Fox's Rising in the North? . Secondly, My Name is covered from the World, and the World knows not ME, nor MY NAME; Several Petitions Answered, p. 30. Thirdly, HE that HATH the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the Dead, is EQUAL with God; Saul's Errand to Damascus, p. 8. Fourthly, All Languages are to me no more than Dust, who was before Languages were; The Battledoor, etc. Introd. Fifthly, And the Thundering Voice Answered, I have Glorified thee, and will Glorify thee again; and I was filled so full of Glory, that my Head and Ears were filled full of it, etc. G. Fox's Trial at Lancaster, p. 21. Reader, Here was Fullness of Glory, if his Head and Ears was so filled, etc. However, 'tis plain it alludes to John 12.18, 16.14. and 17.1. For nothing would please him, but to be equal, if not above Christ, as One Hundred Instances might be given. Next, I may just name some few of those High Titles and Divine Attributes, which his Disciples and Followers (Men of greatest Note amongst them,) gave him, which are only due to Christ, who was the Prophet Moses Prophesied of, and not the subtle Fox, the doting Quakers so much admire and idolise. First, George Fox, the Father of many Nations; whose Being and Habitation is in the Power of the Highest, in which thou Rules and Governs in Righteousness, and thy Kingdom is Established in Peace, and the Increase thereof is without end. Judas and the Jews, p. 44. Secondly, Dear and Precious one, in whom my Life is bound up, and my Strength in thee stand; by thy Breathe I am nourished, by thee my Strength is renewed; I cannot Reign but in thy Presence and Power; Glory unto thee Holy One (p) Holy George. for ever. John Audland's Letter to George Fox. Thirdly, George Fox (said John Blaikling) is blessed with Honour above many Brethren, and Thousands will stand by him in a Heavenly Record; that his Life Reigns, and is Spotless; whose Eternal Honour and Blessed Renown shall remain; yea, his Presence; and the Dropping of his tender Words in the Lord's Love, was my Soul's Nourishment. The Christian disting. Part 5. p. 77. Fourthly, George Fox, a Prophet indeed; it was said of Christ, that he was in the World, and the World was made by him, and the World knew him not. SO it may be said of this Prophet G. Fox. The Quak. Challenge, p. 6. Fifthly, To confirm all this, William Mead now living, when he gave William Harris one of George Fox's Journals, he said to him, Here W. Harris, I will give thee one of Geo. Fox's Journals, it is a very good Book, yea, better than the Bible. Object. 1. But some may say, this is only W. hobb's Judgement; surely, the Quakers do not hold, that either their Books, or Fox's Journal, is better, or of greater Authority, than the Bible; for the Fathers and Councils all submitted to the Test of Holy Scripture, as the Word of God. Answ. To this I answer, That W. Mead is a knowing Man, I will not say a wise Man, unless in that one Action of his, whereby he vigorously opposed W. Penn, and endeavoured to exclude him out of their Ministry, when he was proclaimed a Traitor to his Country, for being charged to be in the Plot with the Lord Preston, and others, and was therefore forced to hid many Years; [and for which, his Preface to Fox's Journal was not admitted to be bound up with the Journal, but waited upon it like a poor Lackey with its Blue Livery;] I say, this Action of his excepted, I will not say he was a wise Man; yet, as I said, he is a knowing Man, and spoke the Heart of Quakerism, in saving, George Fox's Journal is better than the Bible. First, As you have heard, 'tis questioned by the Quakers, Whether Moses or Hermes was the first Penman of the Scripture; indeed, Whether either or neither of them. The Quakers Refuge fixed, etc. p. 17. But as for what G. Fox and Friends writ, it is from and by the Motion of God's Eternal Spirit, and avouched so to be by a General Council of the Yearly Meeting (q) Held at London May 1695. : And what any of our Friends speak from the Spirit of Truth, is of greater Authority than the Bible and Chapters are. Truth defending the Quakers, etc. p. 7. Now who can blame W. Mead on the Quakers Principles? Is not a Certainty better than an Uncertainty? Secondly, The Scriptures lay many Obligations upon us; it teacheth us the Observation of the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles Creed, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper, which the Journal does not at all teach, nor enforce the Belief of; only to listen, adhere, and hearken to the Light within, and to obey its Dictates: Therefore, as the Journal is most certain, so it is most easy, and therefore the best Book, and of most Authority, and on the Quakers Hypothesis, confirm all those Particulars above quoted. Thirdly, The Scripture teacheth to obey Magistrates as the higher Power, and that we should submit ourselves to every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's sake, Matth. 22.21. Titus 3.1. Rom. 13.1,2,3. 1 Pet. 2.13,14,17. See also Tindal's Works, Obedience to a Christian Man, etc. p. 111. But the Journal, p. 40, to 400. (and our Friends Books) teach both by Precept and Example, That the Light in every Man is the higher Power, to whom all must submit and obey; for to it, all Power in Heaven and Earth is committed, Jos. Coale's Work, p. 93. and that this Light is one, in the Male, and in the Female; but to a proud, heady, highminded Man, there is no Honour due, tho' he be in a place to Rule, Smith's Primer, p. 43. And if so, who can say, that W. Mead spoke unadvisedly, in saying, The Journal of Fox is better than the Scriptures of the Prophets and Apostles? I think him a right Quaker, a knowing Man, and one that loves a Certainty better than an Uncertainty. Fourthly, The Scriptures teach, That Women should obey their Husbands; yea, that they Reverence them, and live in Subjection to them as their Head, Gen. 3.16. Numb. 30, to the end. 1 Cor. 11.8. 1 Pet. 3.1. Tit. 2.5. Colos. 3.18. Ephes. 5.22. quoting Sarah as an Example. But the Journal teaches, That the Light is the higher Power, that it is one in the Male, and in the Female, and 'tis the Light in each that is to be obeyed; for to that, all Power in Heaven and Earth is committed, Smith's Primer, p. 13. The Journal, p. 50, to 450. and that there is to be no respect of Persons; and if the Wife conceive her Husband to be gone from the Light, and the Guidance of it, and she be moved to rebel against her Husband, betray his Secrets to his Adversaries, yea, to give public Testimony against him, she does well, and shall have Praise of the same, The Content. Apostate, etc. p. 5. And for this Reason, the Quakers do not put in, or make the Woman promise by their Marriage Certificate, to obey their Husbands; which, as it is contrary to the Tenure of the whole Book of God, both the Old and New Testament, so 'tis agreeable to G. Fox's Journal, and their Ancient Testimony. See their Marriage Certificate. Fifthly, In a word, the Scriptures teach, That Children should obey their Parents, and honour their Father and Mother; that Servants should obey their Masters; that Subjects should submit to their Governors, and obey Magistrates; that Christians should obey their Pastors, who are over them in the Lord, who watch for their Souls, as those that must give an Account. But the Journal, p. 20, to 320. teaches the contrary, both by Precept upon Precept, as also by the Practice of their great Apostle G. Fox; who not only broke the Laws, in disturbing the Ministers in their Churches, but taught so to do; not only refused to pay Tithes, but taught so to do; not only slighted the Magistrates Command, (who oftentimes commanded a strict Fast to be kept,) but taught his Followers so to do: Nay, lately one Thomas Mash, an Ancient Quaker, living at Newberry in Berkshire, was moved by his Light within, to open his Shop-windows on the Lord's-Day, as on Market Days, and set out his Goods to Sale; this the Journal justifies, p. 200, to the end; this Whitehead justifies, Truth defending the Quakers, p. 18. Fox's Great Mystery, etc. p. 77. Nay, Theft by Fox is likewise justified, who said, And as for any being moved of the Lord, [meaning their Light within] to take away your Hourglass from you, BY THE ETERNAL POWER IT IS OWNED, etc. Nay, their idolised Apostle not only disregarded the Magistrates and their Laws, but declared in plain and significant Words, That he neither heeded nor valued a Cartload of their Warrants, etc. Journal, p. 278. Object. 2. But some Men will say, How then shall we reconcile the Doctrine of W. Mead and G. Whitehead? Mr. Mead saith, That G. Fox's Journal is a better Book than the Bible; and G. Whitehead saith, We prefer the Holy Scriptures above all other Books extant in the World. The Country Convert, etc. p. 26. To which I answer, Very well; for p. 72. G. Whitehead thus saith, viz. I MAY SEE CAUSE OTHERWISE TO WORD THE MATTER, AND YET OUR INTENTIONS BE THE SAME, etc. p. 72. ibid. Very well; now to make it appear, that G. Whitehead means one and the same thing that William Mead meaned, read his little Book, i. e. That which is spoken from the Spirit of Truth in ANY, is of as great AUTHORITY as the SCRIPTURES and CHAPTERS are, and GREATER. Truth defending the Quakers, etc. p. 7. And on the Title Page thus, viz. WRITTEN FROM THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH, in G. Whitehead, and G. Fox the Younger. Now, if this little Pamphlet in Octavo of 70 Pages, be of greater Authority than the Scriptures and Chapters are, how much more G. Fox's Journal in Folio of near 700 Pages? For that which is best is of most Authority, generally-speaking; and that which is of most Authority, is the best. Thus then is the Journal of Fox's better, in the Quakers Esteem, than the Bible; and thus does Whitehead mean, even as Mr. Mead spoke. Object. 3. But some will say, How then shall we know a Quaker, if not by the Import of his Words? I Answer, 'tis impossible to know them rightly, as it ever was for the Protestants to know the Jesuits; and therefore you ought to do as the Protestants did, TO DISTRUST EVERY THING THEY SAY: See the Book Entitled, The Missionary's Arts, p. 32. printed 1688. For as the Quakers stand on the same Bottom, and are found in the same Steps, with the same Equivocations, Reserves and Double-meanings, and the same Pretences to Miracles, Visions, Revelations, Perfection and Infallibility; they ought to have the same Answer, viz. To distrust them in all they say, until they Retract, Sentence, and Condemn one sort of their Books; and this is highly reasonable on their part, if they would be taken to be at all serious, sincere and honest: For many of their Hearers, of the honest sort, begin to think G. Whitehead little better than a Jesuit already, he hath been so false in Fact; such a Glosser and Defender of every Error the Quakers hold. (r) Anne Docwra of Cambridge her Letter, dated 26th 12th Mon. 1682. I have a Letter by me, which my Cousin Anne Docwra, Widow of Cambridge, sent me, dated 26th of 12th Month, 1682. viz. G. Whitehead have sent one of his Books for me to read, and there is the old Money Story in it, with I know not what besides: I was asked by an honest Friend, if he was not a Jesuit? I answered, nay, it is not solid enough for them to own, especially when they writ to a solid People, there is pretty much airy conceited Stuff in it. ANNE DOCWRA. Thus it appears, how long the honest sort of Quakers have take G. W. to be little better than a Jesuit; and my Cousin Docwra was of the same Mind too, else she would not have given me her honest Friend's Judgement; only indeed, she is thus far of my Mind, That Book was not solid enough; the Jesuits are more cunning than G. Whitehead then was, but he is come on finely since; for of late he is grown so expert, as he can Vindicate or Excuse any Blasphemy, Idolatry, Contempt of the Scriptures, Contempt of the Magistrates, Contempt of the Ministry, Contempt on the Person and Sufferings of Christ; yea, and Undervalue his Precious Blood too: And how contrary soever their Say are to each other, yet they mean all one thing, referring to their Beginning. I have in my former Books showed, how their Books are of two sorts, their Meetings of two sorts, their Doctrine of two sorts, carrying two Faces in all they do or say; and yet Whitehead can tell you, they mean all one thing. One Example more I may give, and so shall conclude this Chapter. I find a Recital of a Letter, writ by Solomon Eccles to Robert Porter, in a Book of William Burnet's, entitled, The Capital Principles of the Quakers, p. 41. printed 1668. viz. Robert Porter, take heed of Belying the Innocent; for I hear thou hast reported to a Friend of mine, that I should say, That the Blood of Christ is no more than the Blood of another Man; I never spoke it, but do very highly esteem of the Blood of Christ to be more Excellent, Living, Holy, and Precious, than is able to be uttered by the Tongues of Men and Angels; I MEAN, the Blood which was offered up in (s) Perversion; it's offered up, through the Eternal Spirit, Heb. 9.14. the Eternal Spirit, Heb. 9.41. But the Blood that was forced out of him by the Soldiers after he was dead, who before that, bowed his Head to the Father, and gave up the Ghost; but thou sayest, that was the Blood of the New Covenant, which was shed after he was dead, which I DO DENY. Yet I did say, That was NO more THAN the BLOOD of another SAINT: These are my Words which thou art wresting to thy own Destruction. I did [also] say, That the Baptists, Independants, Presbyterians and Pope, are all of one Ground; and none of you understand the Blood of Jesus Christ no more than a brute Beast: Therefore repent, for God will soon overthrow your Faith, and your Imputative Righteousness too, for the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness which he did at Jerusalem, and without the Gates, the Pope, the Episcopal, the Presbyterian, Independants and Baptists, shall far all alike, and shall sit down in Sorrow, short of the Eternal Rest: But the true Imputative Righteousness of Christ we own, but it is hid from you all, till the Lord open an Eye WITHIN YOU, etc. Now comes G. Whitehead with his usual Paint, to cover, palliate, and excuse his Brother Eccles, saying, Now whereas Sol. Eccles, in p. 41. is accused of little less than Blasphemy, about a Letter chief, of a Passage concerning the Blood, in these Words, viz. The Blood that was forced out of him by the Soldiers after he was dead, who before that bowed his Head to the Father, and gave up the Ghost; I did say, THAT WAS NO MORE THAN THE BLOOD OF ANOTHER SAINT. Now to these Words, NO MORE THAN THE BLOOD OF ANOTHER SAINT, his INTENT (s) George, Jesuit-like, is excellent at directing the Intention. WASPE, as to Papists, and you whose Minds are Carnal, who oppose the Light within, and ALSO, SIMPLY as to the ESSENCE of the BLOOD, etc. See his Book, i. e. the Light and Life of Christ within, etc. Printed 1668. Thus much by way of G. Whitehead's Interpretation of Solomon's Words and Meaning, which I take to be a fair Confession of the Charge of Blasphemy, exhibited by Mr. Burnet: But to confirm the Reader, that the Quakers are defective in the Faith of the Christians in general, I will show another Passage of the same Kind; thereby showing the Quakers Harmony about the Body of Christ, from another of their eminent Authors, viz. So, now this Christ was before the World began, and was a Seed † i e. A Principle within. before any Name was given to it, who in Process of time was Born of a Virgin; but none knows him born, or ever shall, but of a Virgin; (he that hath Ears, let him hear,) be thou [Man] but the Virgin, the Power of the most High shall overshadow thee; and that HOLY THING which shall be Born of Thee, shall be called the Son of God? and saith Christ, a [Body] hast [thou] prepared for [me;] mark the Distinction [thou] [me] and [a Body,] this me that spoke in the Body, was the Christ. They [his Disciples] loved his Person for the sake of the Frame and Quality of the Spirit that dwelled in Him; or else, what was his Person to them, more than another Person? But for that that dwelled in him, they loved him; let none mistake, I do not slight it, nor the Person of any of his Brethren or Children, as they are prepared to do the Will of their Father, (t) As the Blood of Christ, so the Body of Christ hath by their Doctrine no Preference above the Body and Blood of another Saint. etc. W. Bayly's Works, p. 291. And hereupon, they do not only deny Christ, even the Lord that bought them, as in my Book, Quakerism Withering, and Christianity Reviving, etc. I have showed beyond all their Glozing; but also, how they thereby take occasion to magnify THEMSELVES, their OWN Blood, their OWN Sufferings, as I shall yet briefly show: For saith Isaac Pennington, The Name Jesus and Christ belong to the whole Body, and every Member in the Body, as well as to the Head, A Question to Professors, etc. p. 20, 27. Again, saith Josiah Coale, His (Edward Burroughs) Blood will be upon you as the Blood of a Thousand Men, Jos. Coale's Epistle to E. Burroughs' Works, etc. Again, saith Thomas Speed, Do not rashly draw your Swords against those harmless ones, [i. e. Quakers] whom your bloody Teacher's cloth and represent to you in the ugly Garb of Blasphemers; remember, that the Son of God, who suffered at Jerusalem, was not Crucified by the strict Religious, as an innocent or just Man, but as a Blasphemer; be not [therefore] prevailed with to release Barrabas, (v) For the Name Jesus belonged to the Believing Quakers, as well as to Christ the Head; and so the whole Paralle holds good. and give over Jesus to be Crucified, to gratify the Murderous Appetite either of the Priests or the Multitude, considering that tho' you may with Pilate, wash your Hands, (and to those Eyes that are dazzled with Fury against innocent Jesus;) [i. e. the Quakers] appear clear from his Blood; yet, before the pure Eyes of the Lord, will the condemning Stain thereof be found upon YOU so fresh, THAT YOU WILL BY NO MEANS BE THENCE CLEANSED, BUT BY THE SAME BLOOD WHICH YOU SO CRUELLY SHED. See The Guilty covered Clergyman, etc. p. 16, 17. Again, see Burroughs' Works, p. 273. The Suffering of the People of God [called Quakers,] in this Age, is a GREATER Suffering, and MORE unjust than in the Days of CHRIST, or of the APOSTLES, or in ANY time SINCE; what was done to CHRIST and the APOSTLES, was CHIEF done by a LAW, and in a GREAT Part by the DUE EXECUTION of a Law, etc. Now to close up this Head, let us hear what Father Penn says; for none of them all express themselves more full to the Point in Hand, viz. See The Christian Quaker, and his Divine Testimony, etc. p. 107. To conclude, We, tho' this general Victory was obtained, and Holy Privileges therewith, and that the Holy Body was not instrumentally without a Share thereof; yet, that the efficient and chiefest Cause was, the Light and Life, (x) Within. p. 102. so that the Invisible Life was the Root and Fountain of all, which is sometimes ascribed in the Scriptures to the Body, by that common Figure or Way of speaking amongst Men, the thing containing, which is the Body, for the thing contained, which is the Life, p. 209. Nevertheless, not to the Body, but to that Holy Light and Life therein, (y) As in the Quaker's Body. etc. is chief ascribed the Salvation; and to the Body however excellent, but instrumentally, p. 97, 98. The Serpent is a Spirit; now nothing can bruise the Head of the Serpent, but something that is Spiritual; but if that BODY of CHRIST were the SEED, (z) Mark here, Christ the promised Seed, Gen. 3.14. the Son of David, of Mary, is plainly denied to be the Christ of God. then could he not Bruise the Serpent's Head in all, because the BODY of CHRIST is not so much as in any one; † Yes, by Faith. Read Acts 4.10,12. Luke 2.11. and consequently, the Seed of the Promise is an Holy Principle of Light and Life, that being received into the HEART, bruiseth the Serpent's Head; AND BECAUSE THE SEED WHICH CANNOT BE THAT BODY, IS CHRIST; as testify the Scripture: The Seed is one, and that Seed is Christ. They are false Ministers that Preach Christ without, and bid People believe in him, as he is in Heaven above: Smith's Primer, p. 8. But they that are Christ's Ministers, Preach Christ within. Your imagined God beyond the Stars; and your Carnal Christ is utterly denied; that this Christ is God and Man in one Person, is a Lie, etc. The Sword of the Lord drawn, p. 5. Reader, I have taken in enough, to show the Marrow of the Quaker's Divinity, and the Harmony of their Ancient Testimonies: And they tell you, in a late Print, That God is the same, Truth is the same, his People the same, their Principles are the same, etc. The People called Quakers cleared, etc. p. 7. And in another, Our Principles are now no other than what they were, when we were first a People. Primitive Christianity, etc. p. 53. Printed 1698. So that there needs no Comment; only for further Satisfaction, I refer to my former Books, New Rome Unmasked, and her Foundation Shaken, etc. New Rome Arraigned, and out of her own Mouth Condemned, etc. Quakerism Withering, and Christianity Reviving, etc. The Snake in the Grass, etc. Satan Disrobed, etc. Primitive Heresy, etc. and George Keith's Three Narratives, and Mr. Crisp's Animadversions, etc. to avoid Repetition: Yet, lest those Books may not come into some Hands which this may, I thought it needful to give these brief Hints, for Information. Object. 4. But still some may urge, What! Hath W. Mead no other Reason for his saying, Fox's Journal was better than the Bible? Answ. I do not grant, that he hath any good Reason, that's far from me, neither do I know of any better; I know of some other, which with him may go far, which in brief are, First, George Fox's Miracles, which he writ in his own Name, like those of Simon Magus, Acts 8.9,10. cap. 19.13. and certain Vagabond Jews, Exorcists; but these lying Wonders came too late; some 20, some 30 Years after they were said to be done; no Body knows where, nor when, nor who were cured, nor no Witness to attest the Truth thereof. Read Fox's Journal, p. 167, 170, 171, 103, 27, 28, 407, 258, 70, 370, 371, 373, 503. 2dly, Because Fox pretended, that God sent a Trooper to him whilst Prisoner in the House of Correction, as he sent Saul to Annanias, Journal, p. 45. 3dly, Because he (Fox) pretended he had Visions, as had Ezekiel, p. 69. 4thly, For that Fox pretended, that the Keeper of the House of Correction came Trembling to him, as the Gaoler did to Paul and Silas, p. 37. 5thly, That he saw the Heaven's open, as St. Stephen did, p. 47. 6thly, That he spoke like an Angel in Beverly Church, the wonderful Things of God, p. 55. 7thly, That he was a Prophet like Isaiah, spoke the Word, and it came to pass, p. 67, 78. 8thly, That he saw a Pool of Blood, and and a Channel of Blood, in the Town of Lichfield, p. 53. when there was not a drop of Blood, much less a Channel or a Pool of Blood, etc. However, by these and the like lying Wonders, † As more large in the Picture of Quakerism, Part 2d. the Quakers, like the deluded Samaritans of old, are made to believe with W. Mead, That the Journal of Fox is a better Book than the Bible; and, that George Fox, as well as Simon Magus, was some great Man, even the Power of God; (see Journal, Third Index, under the Letter M.) and thereupon gave him Divine Attributes, due only to Christ, which Whitehead their Drudge, to help them at a dead lift, was forced to bring in his Innuendoes, to set forth the Intents of Coal, Eccles, etc. Innocency against Envy, etc. p. 18. CHAP. VI Shows George Whitehead, etc. their Hypocrisy. Answereth an Objection, Do not the Quakers maintain their own Poor? Their Uncharity thereby discovered. Reader, I Am now upon a fresh, yet a necessary Subject; for as the Quaker-Teachers have cried down all Protestant Ministers, as Covetous, Lovers of filthy Lucre, and thereby raised their own Fame, as the Prophets of the Lord, called forth from their own Country, and from their Father's Houses; from both Riches, Honours and Preferments, to come with their Lives in their Hands, for the Good of Souls; this Noise I must confess went a great way with me in my young Years, and I know it doth with many: And therefore I think it needful to discover their Deceit in this particular, as well as to show how far they maintain their own Poor; and, what they mean by those Words, THEIR OWN POOR; for as their Hypocrisy is Misterium Maximum, so it requires some Time and Skill to unfold it; in order to which, I shall thus proceed: Object. 1. But say some, G. Whitehead printed F. Bugg a conceited Fool, one that cannot write true English, Judgement Fixed, etc. p. 233, 243. and also of little Credit: Likewise, that the Author of The Snake in the Grass is a Necessitous, Malicious, Expulsed Priest, one who writes for his Bread, a Villain, a Venomous, Obnoxious, Skulking Vermin, etc. with abundance more of the like nature; A Sober Expostulation, etc. p. 2. Primitive Christianity continued, etc. and G. W. 's Letter to G. Keith, May 3. 1698. Answ. First, As to myself, tho' I had not that Learning, which I am satisfied my Parents once designed, yet I thank God and my Parents, for affording me both a Competency of Learning and Judgement to deal with the Quakers, who are not over-learned; no, not G. W. when he came first amongst us; witness his Book, Jacob found in a Desert Land, etc. printed 1656. which I am sure is so foreign from true School-Learning, that there is not in the whole Book one Page good Grammar-English, as well as some part mere Nonsense: Yet I will not call him Fool, nor yet nothing of a Scholar; for perhaps he might be then entered in his Accidence: And I will also grant, that since that, (having leisure enough, and lived with his Feet under other Men's Tables, whilst I was occupied in Trade and Worldly Business,) he has acquired a greater degree of Learning; yet not so much neither, as always to write true English, as in his Letter to Mr. Archer is manifest; so that he might have passed by my want of Learning, etc. 2dly, As to his Reflection on my Credit, when I came first amongst the Quakers, I had sufficient to live upon, and to maintain myself in the rank I was brought up in; yea, to give, and not receive: At 16 Years old I had by my Grandfather an Annuity given me of 6 l. per Annum, until I was 21 Years old, and then Thirty Pounds per Annum, besides what my Father gave me; and tho' I have met with many Losses, and that in divers Kind's, yet I thank God, who hath hitherto enabled me to maintain my Post, and to defend my Faith and Christian Reputation against the Malicious Attempts of G. Whitehead, and his Confederates; besides, G. Whitehead might have forborn, since most of my Losses have been by the Quakers, having had Eight or Nine break in my Debt, some paying nothing, some paying 5 s. in the Pound, some 2 s. 6 d. in the Pound. (a) Viz. Enoch Barwick about Two Years since, for 18 l. I had but 45 s. I will mention one more, namely, Tho. Plumstead, [Brother to Francis Plumstead, at the Cross-Saws in the Minories, London,] and still an Eminent Quaker, living in Ireland, but no Conscience he makes of paying me; and that it may appear true, I will recite the Note I have still under his Hand, viz. May 12. 1676. Reckoned with Francis Bugg of Milden-Hall, and all Accounts being then cleared, there rests due to Francis Bugg Sixteen Pounds; Four Pounds whereof is to be paid to him Six Months after the Date hereof, and the Twelve pounds' remainder not exceeding Four Years. Witness my Hand the Day abovesaid, Tho. Plumstead. However, he never had the Honesty nor Conscience to pay one Penny of it, which is now, Interest and Principle, between 30 and 40 l. and greater Sums than this, and of as Eminent Quakers, I can mention, if need be: But I understand the World so well, as not to make these things the Subject of my Discourse; nor did I ever mention any such thing in Print, only G. W. gives now Occasion for it. 3dly, As to the Author of the Snake in the Grass, etc. I am sensible G. W. does as much abuse him, (and indeed, what Opponent ever had G. W. that he did not abuse?) However, he has been, and still is, a Gentleman, a Man of great Learning and Piety, and clothed with Zeal as with a Garment, for the Christian Religion, and well accomplished every way to display the Errors of the Quakers; and is preparing an Answer to G. Whitehead, wherein he (I believe) will trace him step by step, in all his crooked and by paths. But G. Whitehead, I have not done with you yet; you tell us, in the History of your Call to the Ministry, saying, The Lord hath called me from my Native Country, and from my Father's House, and from outward Riches, and the Honour of the World, etc. Jacob found in a Desert Land, etc. p. 8. I do well remember, that when I came first amongst you, this was a great part of your Cant; as if you had been some Lords Sons, yea, Men of Breeding, Riches and Honour, and left all for the sake of Souls; when alas! upon a strict Enquiry, (of which I have not been wanting,) I find you in this, as well as in almost every thing else, horrible Deceivers; for you left your poor Country for a Richer, and like Yorkshire Ostlers, are observed seldom or never to return thither again. You came from Penury to Plenty, from Labour and Toil to Ease and Pleasure; you came from your Father's poor Cottage, which I have been told by them that saw it, that it is not worth 50 s. to Houses worth 500 l. (a good Exchange, believe me;) and you were so far from being possessed with outward Riches, that you came a poor Boy on Foot, and lived upon Alms amongst us, sometimes a Month here, Six Weeks there, more or less, as you could find Entertainment; the mean time, improving that little Learning you had, as well as to instruct the Children in the Family. But George, thou left thy Honour too, how came that to pass? What Worldly Honour wert thou endued with? Was it to carry a Letter to a great Person sometimes for a piece of Victuals? Very well, I think that is as much as ever [during thy Dwelling in thy own Country,] thou didst arrive to; and for this, in time, thou hadst the Honour to send thy Servant, and ride thyself on Horseback, with a London Linen-draper riding before thee; Benjamin Antrobus. and John Kent, worth some Thousands, (for aught I know,) riding behind thee, carrying thy Portmantle, and thyself, George, in the middle, like some Peer. Thus, George, instead of leaving thy Riches, thy Honour, etc. thou left thy Penury and Contempt; and by Deceit, like thy Brother Sam. Cater, who pretended he suffered 20 l. when he suffered not a Groat, but by that Pretence got 10 l. clear into Pocket: Picture of Quakerism drawn, etc. p. 106, to 111. at large. But HARK, George, I find you so deceitful, that I fear thou hast laid a Foundation, in this thy Jacob found in a Desert Land, (and with Design too,) to have thy Friends after thy Decease, when they collect thy Works, to magnify thy Call to thy Ministry, out of thy Father's Country, for the sake of Souls; when alas! it was for filthy Lucre-sake, in leaving thy outward Riches; when alas! it was to get Riches and Honour. Object. 2. But may some say, What, will the Quakers give such notorious Accounts of their Call to their Ministry? And are they generally of such a mean Abstract, and yet so advanced? Where is the Self-Denial they so often boast of? And why do they debase the Clergy, as a Tribe of Covetous Worldly Teachers? Since, if others be like Whitehead, none exceed the Quaker Teachers in Worldly-mindedness. Answ. First, Well; to Answer this Objection, take G. W. for one Instance. 2 2dly, Sam. Cater, who was a poor Journeyman Carpenter, and when he led James Naylor's Horse into Bristol, crying, Hosannah to the Son of David, and put in Prison, he was well acquainted with Vermin, Rags and Penury; however, 'tis believed he is worth now, besides Portioning out his Children, some Hundreds. 3 3dly, John Kilborn, another Journeyman Carpenter, as poor as either Whitehead or Cater, when they first set up for Speakers, now a Wealthy Man. 4 thly, William Bingley, a poor Tailor, wrought for 4 d. or 6 d. a Day in the North, with Tho. Denison, or others, now a Rich Man. 4 thly, Samuel Wallingfeild, a Glazier formerly, but since a vast Rich Draper in London. 6 thly, Tho. Green, a Mason, or Bricklayer, now a Man worth many Thousands. 7 thly, George Fox, a poor Journeyman Shoemaker, died worth Abundance, and lived in as much Plenty as most Knights in England. 8 thly, Stephen Crisp, formerly a poor Weaver, but died very Rich. I have known most of these Eight Persons near 30 Years, some longer; and setting the Glazier and Mason aside, which possibly might make up jointly 100 l. if need were; but the other Six, I do verily believe, was not all worth 100 l. unless they had sold their Axes, Saws, Thimble and Needles, Beds, Stools, Shuttle and Awl: But such is the Art of their Preaching, how much soever they decry Gifts and Rewards in others; that put what Geo. Fox and Steph. Crisp died worth, to what the other Six living [for aught I know,] together, and by the most modest Account that I can get, together with my own Estimation, their Estates thus got by Preaching, is not so little as Twenty Thousand Pounds, but some think nearer Thirty Thousand Pounds. Now than I dare engage to produce 500 Clergymen, whose Fathers were Men of Estates, who brought them up at Schools and Colleges with great Expense and Charge; and that since they came into the World, have been frugal Men, and lived as many Years in their Office of Preaching, and yet have not advanced their Fortunes to this degree: And yet to behold how their Books are filled with reproachful Language, as well as their Sermons, against the Clergy, as a Tribe of Mercenary Hirelings, Lovers of filthy Lucre, Followers of Balaam for Reward; seeking their Gain from their Quarters, Greedy Dogs, Babylon's Merchants, Covetous Devils, Thiefs, Robbers: A Brief Discovery of a threefold State, etc. p. 5, 7, 8, 9, 10. Yea, says W. Penn, And whilst the Idle Gormondizing Priests of England, run away with above 150000 l. a Year, under Pretence of being God's Ministers; and that no sort of People have been so universally through Ages, the very Bane of Soul and Body to the Universe, as that abominable Tribe; for whom the Theatre of God's most dreadful Vengeance is reserved, to act their Eternal Tragedy upon, etc. The Guide mistaken, p. 18. And in the same Page he tells us, that the false Christians (meaning the Church-People) are more intolerable than Heathens, Turks, and Jews; saying, The equal Conversation of those Infidels should make both Priest and People blush. (b) And why not Quakers too? But Mr. Clapham the Minister, against whom W. Penn writ that Book, says, It's a foolish thing to flatter the Papists, Socinians and Quakers, with the Hopes of Salvation, p. 31, 32, ib. Upon which, Mr. Penn in his wont career, first condemns the Clergy, then vindicates the Soeinians; his Words are these, If [Pap. Socin. Quak.] be defective, they own it to the Idle, Lying, Covetous, Ignorant, and Murdering Spirit and Practice of the Priests, whose Interest it has ever been to enslave and obscure the People's Understanding;— it's not my Business to Apologise for Papists: As for the Socinian, I know him to have Wit and Learning enough;— his Exemplary Life, and Grave Deportment, I must acknowledge to be very singular; and if his Cause receive no greater Foil than this Person's bare Reproaches, the discreet World will sooner acquiesce in the stronger Arguments of Socinus, and his acquaint Adherents, (c) W. P. Vindicate the Socinians. . Object. But may some object, If the Quaker Teachers be such thirfty Men, are they also charitable Men? We have heard, the Quakers maintain their own Poor. Answ. I do not know many of their Teachers now, having been so long from them; but such of them as I do now know, and formerly have known, they were a sort of mercenary poor Men at their first Rise, (some few excepted) but very uncharitable in their Language; the World never produced the like since Noah's Flood; and I know not, nor never did, that the Ministers of that People were ever given to Hospitality; but what they got, commonly they held fast, and beside, ungrateful to their Benefactors. I remember, I met one of them in London, (d) John Kilborn. sometime since, and he was so Proud, being now grown Rich, that he would not speak to me, altho' I have entertained him and his Horse, yea, and Companion too, at my House divers times, sometimes a Week together; yea, when he has been thin and threadbare, I have taken him into my Shop, and at my own Charge have clothed him: I will not say what I have done to others, both in Money and Clothing; but thus much I will say, that 'tis the chargeablest Ministry this Day in England to some Particulars: For, as Mr. Croese well observes, they range all the Nation round, and come like Mice uncalled for, and like Flies unsent for; and both for their Horses, Themselves, and their Companions, fall upon their Provision, Oats, Hay, etc. insomuch that I can say, the Ministry of the Quakers has cost me as much in Three months' time, nay, much more, than the Public Ministry have cost me this Fifteen Years. But as to their Hospitality and Charity, I never met with any of it: I remember, about Twenty Years since, my Wife had a mind to see London, and I went with her to visit Tho. Green, who as well as many others of them, made my House his Home when in our Country, yet he never invited me and my Wife to a Meal; Brothers and Sisters. nay, his own Kindred that have come to Visit him out of Northamptonshire, have scarce eat and drank at his House; but which is still worse, for I can now spare none, where a Discovery may be made of this false Ministry and deluding Teachers; I say worse, for his own Brother William Green, who once was a chief Speaker amongst them; but, poor Man! he was a wet Quaker, and they put him by Preaching; the Man married, grew Poor, and notwithstanding his Brother Thomas Green was vastly Rich, 'Tis now judged he is worth 8000 l. and Application made to him time after time, yet he held a deaf Ear so long, until his Wife was forced to go to St. Gregory's Parish for Relief for him, or else he might have starved, (e) I have been told, that he'll not allow his Horse Litter, but lets him lie on the bare Flint-Stones. for all his own Brother is worth many Thousands. I shall give but one Instance more of this kind, and then tell you who are their own Poor, and who they think themselves obliged to maintain, etc. The Instance is, touching S. Cater, whose Father was a poor Man, went about to sell Wings three for Two Pence, from Door to Door; but as you have heard, he by being a Preaching Quaker is grown Rich: Well, he has a Kinsman that lives at our Town, and taketh Collection, a Sweep-Chimney; this poor Man, sometimes in the Summertime, will go to Littleport, (f) Where S. Cater dwells. i. e. about Eight or Ten Miles, to visit his Rich Cousin, his Father's Brother's Son; but when he comes there, I have heard him say, that they will not so much as let him come in; I will not say, but sometimes he may have gotten something, but very little; no, they have very little Charity to God's Poor, but their own Poor, and such as they so esteem; and thereupon look upon themselves obliged to maintain such as Merit their Charity, by Obeying their Doctrine, in Transgressing the known Laws of the Land, viz. such as are Sued and Imprisoned for Tithes, such as met in Defiance of the Statute, made 22 of K. C. II. S. Cater's Instance for one. Yea, if such could but make the Feoffees to the Fund at London, believe they did suffer, whether true or false, such were supplied: But if any one of their People happen to wear a 4 d. Lace on their Pinner, or pull off their Hat to a Magistrate, or break and violate the Quakers Laws, such are turned to the Parish: I know but one poor Quaker in our Town; Milden-Hall. it may be she is not so starched a Quaker as the rest; it may be she may say You instead of Thee and Thou, or some such small Defect: Well, tho' she be a poor Widow, with several small Children, and very Necessitous, yet she must starve, if our Parish did not sometimes relieve her; and for this Seven Years, I believe, she hath lived in a little House of mine, and the Town pays me her Rent: No, they only take notice of their own Poor, viz. such as are made poor through their Obedience to the Quakers unlawful Laws, or Laws against the Laws of the Realm. I do not question but I have made the Friends angry; yet if they take the Boldness to stigmatize the Bishops, Magistrates and Clergy, and to reproach them with what is not true, why may not I tell them of their Faults? G. Whitehead wrote lately to G. Keith, i. e. G. W.'s Letter to G. Keith, May, 98. I could further expose thee to thy Terror and Shame, (g) They'll tell you, they cannot seek Revenge. than ever I have done; for I have been very sparing towards thee, in comparison of thy many Abuses, Scorns and Injuries against me, etc. But, Canes timidi vehementius latrant. An Account of the Children of Light, etc. p. 16. I shall conclude this Head in the Words of W. Penn to the Clergy; and I shall only turn the Scales, and apply it to the Quakers Teachers, and hope it may be useful to their Hearers, as well as show Geo. Whitehead thereby, how Injurious, Scornful, and Abusive, the Quakers have been to the Clergy, who never yet exposed them to Terror; but I thank God, England is not Pensilvania, where the Quakers, tho' they cannot Fine, Whip, Imprison, and Fight as Quakers, yet they tell you they can as Magistrates. The Words are these, The Guide mistaken, etc. p. 43. viz. Tho' manifold are the Stratagems of Satan, that old Serpent, by which he does surprise the Immortal Souls of Men, with most deplorable Woes, yet there is none that proves so generally effectual as HYPOCRISY; it's his Misterium Maximum, a Study and Employment fit for none below the Form of his Arch-Angels; such make his archest Emissaries, and most subtle Meanders, sublime Devils, masqued with a Vizard of Sincerity, palliating themselves from what they really are, by seeming what as really they are not; outsidewashed Platters, Wolves in Sheep's Clothing, inside rotten, but outside whited Sepulchers; in short, the muddy Sensualist (h) T. G. and others knew Crisp to be a great Sensualist, if not an Atheist. refined to a counterfeit Fidelity; and Imitation of the Form of Godliness, the more unquestionable to Deceive; and securely to insinuate candid Apprehensions of his Purpose, who is the most impudent Despiser of his God, Destroyer of Souls, Contemner of Laws, Perverter of Truth, and Treacherous to the end; against whom the Sharpest Woes are denounced, and Punishments reserved to Eternity. Now how the Quakers (i) W. P. apply it to the Clergy. have rendered themselves obnoxious to the Corrector of a Hypocrite, has been my Business in this Chapter, and will be in the ensuing Discourse, farther to manifest, etc. And thus have I, by answering these three Objections, shown the Quaker Teachers their Specialis regula triplex, by which they are governed, viz. Pride, Hypocrisy and Covetousness, in which they all agree, in Case, Gender, and Number. I do grant, I have the Consent of some worthy Gentlemen in this my Undertaking; I also grant, I have met with Discouragement from some others of equal Worth and Merit, who are not so Apprehensive of the Danger of their Errors, both respecting the Church and State; but no Man hath been privy to, or viewed what I have wrote; and so I take it wholly upon myself, as what I think myself called to. And if G. Whitehead, or his Associates, should threaten me with Terror, as they do G. Keith, for his Christian Testimony against their Vile Errors, I first let them know, they cannot bring me much lower than they have already done; next, that I am as willing to suffer Three Years and Four months' Imprisonment under their Rage and Fury, if God and the Government permit them to execute their Fury so far, as ever I was to suffer the like Term when amongst them, in Ely and Wisbech Goal; and whatever I thought then, and what Satisfaction I then had in my Sufferings, I have reason to believe, I have far more solid Reason for the Cause I am now upon; and therefore I shall not spare this painted Reason, but lay her bare to the View of her Lovers, let her Fret and Fume, Rail and Rage never so much; for as she have dealt by others, (k) Viz. the Magistrates, Ministers, and People. by false Accusations without Mercy, so shall I, by a true and faithful Testimony from Matter of Fact, deal by her, without all Pity or Compassion: For why should Jezebel be suffered to Seduce the Nation undiscovered? Why should she Dialogue the Bishops, Contemn the Magistrates, Revile the Ministers of the Gospel, at their own ungodly Rate, without Contradiction? No, let Gog and Magog join together, yet shall there be War proclaimed against them for ever, as long as the Sun and Moon endures. CHAP. VII. Shows the manner of the Quakers Yearly Meeting, or General Council; with the Use of it, and the Consequences thereof. Reader, BY way of Introduction observe, that as I begin my Entrance into the Quakers Church-Government, with the manner of their ANNIVERSARY SYNOD, so I shall complete the Discovery thereof in a distinct Chapter by itself, touching their Yearly Meetings. For, as all Proceed in our Courts of Judicature, in our Assizes, General Quarter-Sessions, Monthly Meetings of the Justices of Peace, Commissioned by his Majesty, are Authorized, and derive their Power from Acts of Parliament; so all the Proceed of Monthly, Quarterly, Six Weeks, and Second-day Meetings of the Quakers Government, (which is a Government within the Government, and which is still worse, against the Government) derive their Power and Authority from their Yearly Meeting, where their Acts are made, their Orders are framed, and their Methods agreed upon, in a Parliamentary Way. And these in their Order, I shall briefly go through, beginning with their YEARLY MEETING, showing their way and manner, and that part of their Business, which I still remember when I was a Member thereof, and what else occur to my Memory, as well as by the best Information I can get; and ending with their YEARLY MEETING, showing their Doctrine, by which they influence the Deputies sent from all Parts of England and Wales, to agree in Council, to maintain their Ancient Testimony, etc. As to the manner of their House, and Meeting therein. First, They are Men chosen and deputed by all the Quarterly Meetings of the Quakers in England and Wales, and sent up to London, to sit in Council every Penticost, or Whitsun-Week, Annually, as the Representatives of the Body of the People called Quakers; to which, there is resort from Scotland, Ireland, Holland, Pensilvania, East and West-Jersey, Maryland, Long-Island, Road-Island, Virginia, Carolina, Friezland, Antego, Mevis, Dantzick, Germany, Holstein, and all other Places wherever they have got footing; London being the Quakers Metropolis, as Rome is in Italy, where they hold their general Rendezvous from all Parts of the World, (l) A notable way of Intelligence, and how to espy the Weakness of every Country, as well as their own Strength. to Negotiate their Affairs, Settle their Orders, Confirm as well as Make Decrees, Erect Canons, Repeal, not verbally, yet virtually, so far as their Power reaches, all Acts of Parliament which suit not with their Light within, which is the Higher Power, to which, together with the Body, (m) See the Fifth Chap. the London Edict, 1666. absolute Obedience is required, and Submission expected, nay, decreed; for to the Light (say they) all Power in Heaven and Earth is committed, and from whose Sentence there lies no Appeal. Jos. Coale's Works, p. 93. Smith's Primer, p. 13. Secondly, As to their Convocation-House, it is situate, and being in White-Heart-Court in Grace-Church-Street, London, where there is a very large Room four square, with a very large Table, which is covered in Convocation time with a curious Green Carpet; about which may fit Forty or Fifty of the Principal Men; their Precedent being their Light within, which is to speak through some or other infallibly, and so to be taken, etc. and round about there are Seats set one above another, like the House of Commons, where may convene about Six Hundred; and their Speaker being below, they can all hear him, and he them, with Ease and Delight. Thirdly, When this is done, (the Doors being well secured, i. e. either locked and barred, or else Two or Three lusty Fellows to keep Guard) than the Clerk opens his Bags, and takes out his Books, opens the black Roll, and calls over all the Quarterly Meetings in England and Wales, and the Names of the Deputies; and is as careful to see that none be wanting, as Jehu was, who said, Call unto me all the Prophets of Baal, let none be wanting, 2 Kings 10.19. This done, they proceed to examine, first, the State of their own Affairs, next, that of the Nation, which any way affects them. First, As to their own Church Affairs; it is to see that none Preach contrary to their Ancient Testimony; if they do, they Excommunicate them, and Expel them out of their Unity, as in the Case of Geo. Keith; which, in regard it is made so Public by several printed Books, particularly his Three Narratives, I think I am the less concerned to be particular on that Head; as First, To show how they Summoned him to appear before them Day after Day, I think 10 or 12 Days together, where G. Keith as readily appeared, as Luther did at Worms; (n) And there was as much need for him; for New-Rome is as fatal, and as dangerous to the Protestant Interest, as her Elder Sister. and when they could not make him truckle, but that he manfully stood his Post, they then cast him out as a Troubler of their Israel, and called him Apostate, one separated from the Holy Fellowship of the Church of Christ, and one not fit to Preach and Pray in their Meetings, in that unreconciled Estate, until by a Public and Hearty Acknowledgement of his Offence, and Condemnation of himself therefore, he return to Mother-Church, etc. as by the Words of his Excommunication, bearing Date May 17. 1695. may more fully appear. Thus then is their Boldness manifest, First, In presuming to Summons the King's Subjects to appear before them; and then to Interrogate them, Sentence and Condemn them; yea, and that too, for holding no other Articles of the Christian Faith, than what every Orthodox Church holds. Secondly, That he is an Apostate, whilst no matter of evil Fact, or false Doctrine, they could lay to his Charge; I say, this is bold in Fact. I will not deny, but that Dissenters have sometimes admonished scandalous Walkers; and if they have persisted therein, to the Scandal of their Church-Society, rejected them, etc. But I deny that any, whether Presbyterians, Independants, or Baptists, ever yet took upon them to call a General Council, and then, and there assume an Authority to call before them the King's Subjects, examine, try and judge them Apostates, for differing from them in Matter of Faith and Doctrine, especially when G. Keith held no other Articles of the Christian Faith, than all sound Protestants hold. This then is a Figure of their Church-Government, respecting the Doctrinal Part thereof. Next, As to their Interfering with the Government, and their calling in question Acts of Parliament, and absolving their Hearers from their Obedience to them; if this can be made appear, I think 'tis worth noticing, the dangerous Consequences thereof are so Many, and so Pernicious. And, THEREFORE observe, what W. Rogers wrote, in Answer to an Objection, Whether it were lawful or not to pay Tithes, if the Supreme Powers command it? etc. The Christian Quaker distinguished from the Apostate, in five Parts. Part 2. pag. 43. Printed 1680. Ans. We are so far from condemning all those who freely pay them, (and not by Constraint) that we look upon it the Duty of all professing Christianity, to contribute towards the outward Maintenance of such whom they usually hear, and account to be the true Ministers of Christ, in case they have need; and if the Charity of any should be such, as to bestow upon them one Fifth Part, instead of a Tenth, far be it from us to condemn it, etc. This Book did so startle the Foxonian Quakers, that Tho. Ellwood, one of their best Tools, wrote an Answer to it; and fearfully complains of this extensive Charity of W. Rogers, and the Dissenting Quakers, called Storians for Distinction, etc. saying, In this Answer (saith Ellwood) you discover an Error of Judgement, otherwise you would not be so far from Condemning all those who pay Tithes freely as you say you are: FOR TRUTH ALLOWS NO PAYMENT OF TITHES AT ALICE, UNDER THE NEW COVENANT, BUT CONDEMNS IT: And so would you also, if your Hearts were right in Truth: THEY who PAY TITHES do THEREIN uphold a legal Ceremony abrogated by Christ, and THEREBY DENY CHRIST to be come in the Flesh, which IS a MARK of ANTICHRIST, 1 John 4.3. (o) This Proof of Tho. Ellwood's out of 1 John 4.3. is like many of their Proofs; for there is not a word of Tithes, or that it is a mark of Antichrist to pay Tithes. However, whether you condemn or approve it, the faithful Followers of the Lamb see and discern this Spirit, the Nature of it, and the End it tends to, which is downright RANTERISM. An Antidote against the Infection of W. Rogers' Book, p. 78. Again, p. 139. poor T. Ellwood makes a sad Complaint, of some that had been convinced Ten, nay, some Twenty Years, and yet can pay Tithes without any Acknowledgement of Evil therein: (p) See what a sad thing it is to break one of Fox's Commandments. Is it not savoury Language, (says Ellwood) for such to say, I must stay until I be convinced? Can such as see not such manifest Evil, (q) Possibly the poor Men had not seen G. Fox's Commandments, or at least not well conned them. be said to be faithful? etc. Well, these Differences grew high, and very difficult to decide, but in time the Matter came up to the Terms of W. Rogers' Objection, viz. the SUPREME POWER, continued the Payment of Tithes, in that very Act of Parliament, by which the Quakers claim their Toleration; and therefore 'tis worth the while, to see how the Quakers take this very Act of Parliament, and bring it to their Light, which is (say they) the Higher Power; all Power in Heaven and Earth being committed to it; Smith's Primer, p. 13. Jos. Coal's Works, p. 93. and how they null, make void, and repeal that Part of it relating to Tithes, Repairs of Churches, etc. viz. so far as it concern the Quakers. Anno Regni Gulielmi & Mariae Regis & Reginae, Angliae, Scotiae, Franciae & Hiberniae, primo May 24. 1698. this Act passed the Royal Assent. Nᵒ 308. Provided always that nothing herein contained, shall be construed to exempt any of the Persons aforesaid, from paying of Tithes, or other Parochial Duties, or any other Duties to the Church or Minister, nor from any Prosecution in any Ecclesiastical Court, or elsewhere, for the same. Well, after much struggling between the Foxonian Quakers that hold it Antichristian to pay Tithes, tho' voluntarily paid; yea, a complete Denial of Christ to be come in the Flesh, quoting 1 John 4.3. yea, downright Ranterism on the one Hand; and the Storian Quakers, who held it lawful to pay, if the Supreme Power gave it them; nay, not only the Tenth Part, but even the Fifth Part, if the Party thinks his Minister want it: I say, great Struggle, and Writings, and Dispute, were on both Parts, about this so nice a Point, and so necessary to be decided: Wherefore at a Yearly Meeting held at London, June 1693. and by the Authority of the same, it was thus, amongst other things, Enacted: And therefore, that all due and godly Care be taken against the grand Oppression and Antichristian Yoke of Tithes, that our Christian Testimony born, (r) Soft Words, and hard Names mixed. and greatly suffered for, be faithfully maintained against them in all Respects, and against Steeple-House-rates:— That Friends at all their Monthly and Quarterly Meetings, be reminded to call for the Record of the Sufferings of Friends, to see that they be duly gathered, truly entered and kept, and accordingly sent up (to London) as hath been often advised, both of what Tithes, etc. are pretended to be due, and for how long a time, and the time when taken, and by, and for whom, and what Goods are taken, and the Value thereof, as well those not exceeding, as those exceeding the Sums or Quantities demanded, (it being a Suffering for both for Truth-sake;) they being in these Particulars found defective and imperfect in divers Counties, which is an Obstruction to the general Record of Friend's Suffering: And THEREFORE, the Monthly and Quarterly Meetings are advised to take more Care for the future, that all Friends Safferings for Truth-sake, may be brought up (to London) as FULL and COMPLETE in ALL Respects as POSSIBLE may be. Thus, Reader, you see, That this Act of Parliament being brought to the Quakers Light, the Higher Power, it is condemned as a GRAND Oppression, and an ANTICHRISTIAN YOKE of Bondage, suitable to the Doctrine of Fox, Journal, p. 400, to 478 R. Pie, The Ancient Test. p. 2. T. Ellwood and Barclay, The Anarchy of the Ranters, etc. p. 42. Ellwood 's Antidote, p. 78, 139. But still there is another Clause in the said Act of Parliament above-recited, which they take as little Notice of as that of Tithes, viz. Provided always, and be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Assembly of Persons, dissenting from the Church of England, shall be had in any Place for Religious Worship, with the Doors locked, barred, or bolted, during any time of such Meeting together; all and every such Person or Persons that shall come to, and be at such Meeting, shall not receive any Benefit from this Law, but be liable to all the Pains and Penalties of all the aforesaid Laws recited in this Act, for such their Meeting, notwithstanding his taking the Oaths, and his making and subscribing the Declaration aforesaid. Another Instance I may recite, to show the Presumption of the Quakers, in their Yearly Convocations, viz. In the xxii of K. Charles II. there was an Act of Parliament made, Entitled, An Act to prevent and suppress Seditious Conventicles: In which it was said, Be it Enacted, etc. That if any Person of the Age of Sixteen Years, and upward, being a Subject of this Realm, at any time after the Tenth Day of May next, shall be present at any Assembly, Conventicle, or Meeting, under Colour and Pretence of any Exercise of Religion, in other manner than according to the Liturgy and Practice of the Church of England, etc. at which there shall be Five Persons or more Assembled together, over and besides those of the same Family, etc. shall suffer those and those respective Fines, etc. Now tho' it be well known, that the Exercise of the Quakers Religion is not only otherwise than according to the Liturgy, but directly contrary to it, yet all must be Persecution that limit them: As first, the Liturgy teach the Practice of the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, and Apostles Creed, which the Quakers have not the least Shadow of, either in their Meetings, or in their Families; the Church Liturgy teach the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Prayer, together with Confession of Sin, which the Quakers reject as Idolatrous and Superstitious. See the Picture of Quakerism, p. 94, to 100 Well, no sooner did this Act take place, and some did forbear meeting in this Riotous manner, but their Preachers came through the Nation, and gave out their Epistles or Mandates, commanding, rather than exhorting the People, to meet in great Numbers, in spite of Law and Lawmakers; I received many Letters to that Purpose, one whereof I may recite, to show, how presumptuous they were, in Summoning the King's Subjects to meet and transgress this Law, which allowed a moderate Toleration, considering how Retrograde their Religion runs to all Instituted Religion. For there might Four meet, besides those of the same Family; and 'tis probable, that many Families have 12 or 15 in a Family. Here then might have been Satisfaction, to such as only mean to meet for their more private Edifying, either by Reading or Expounding some Portion of the Holy Scriptures, and which is practised by the users of the Church Liturgy; but alas! this was too mean, too low and contemptible, for these proud Boasters to submit to. The Letter is as followeth, viz. This for Joshua Bangs. † Poor Joshua felt the weight of their Entertainment, as well as Ben. Antrobus, and many others. Dear Friend, BY this thou may'st know, that God willing, Jonathan Johnson and I do intent to be at Milden-Hall Meeting the next First-Day, and shall be glad Friends GENERALLY may know thereof, that we may have a good LARGE MEETING; I mean, Friends that are afar off in the Country. R. S. The like I had from John Hubbard, and others, to appoint Meetings for Geo. Whitehead, and others, tho' often therein precautioned not to mention the Names of the Speakers; no, they must go like di●guiz'd Ahabs, and the poor silly Sheep must suffer for them, and their own Transgressions too; insomuch, as that in the Loss of 13500 l. by Fines and Distresses, our Teachers never lost 50 l. where they were Strangers, and they had more Wit than to Preach at home where they were known. Well, but as these Letters, as well as their common Practice, was bottomed upon an Edict made at a Yearly Meeting, which both repealed this Law, respecting the Quakers, who adhered to them as the Higher Power, alienated their Obedience from the Magistrates, and the Laws of the Land: Which Edict is as followeth, viz. Concerning our open Testimony by Public Meetings, in Times of Sufferings. That as it hath been our Care and Practice from the Beginning, that an Open Testimony for the Lord should be born; and a Public Standard † High boasting Words; but the Snake lay in the bottom, i. e. Disobedience to Authority, their Light being the Higher Power. for Truth and Righteousness upheld in the Power and Spirit of God, by our open and known Meetings against the Spirit of Persecution, that in all Ages hath sought to lay waste God's Heritage; and that only through Faithfulness, Constancy and Patience, Victory hath been, and is obtained: SO IT IS OUR ADVICE and JUDGEMENT, That all Friends gathered in the Name of Jesus, * Meaning their Light, in opposition to the Doctrine and Practice of the Apostles, and all Christian Churches, as well as against the Commands of Jesus of Nazareth: Go, teach all Nations Baptising, etc. Do this in Remembrance of me, etc. When you Pray, say, Our Father, etc. Forgive us our Sins, for, etc. Read Luke 11.14. Matth. 28.19,20. Luke 22.19. John 1.8. Psal. 38.18. 50.15. 51.1,2,3. Isa. 64.6. Lam. 3.20. Job 7.20. Prov. 20.9. Eccles. 7.20. Nehem. 1.6. 1 Tim. 1.15. Dan. 9.4,5,20,23. See Pict. of Quak. p. 63, to 70. keep up those Public Testimonies in their Respective Places, and not DECLINE, FORSAKE or REMOVE their Public Assemblies, because of Times of Sufferings, as WORLDLY, FEARFUL, and POLITIC Professors have done, because of Informers, and the like Persecutors: For such Practices are not consistent with the Nobility of the Truth, and therefore not to be owned in the Churches of Christ. Subscribed by, G. Whitehead, W. Penn, Tho. Salthouse, Al. Parker, Jo. Burnyeat, St. Crisp. London, the 23d. of the Third Month, 1675. Thus have I given two Instances, as particular Demonstrations, That as their Books teach, so their Practice confirm it: That their Light is the Higher Power, to which they require Obedience, contrary to the Practice of God's Saints and Servants in all Ages, where nothing that is sinful (and so against the written Word of God) is commanded. Read Mat. 22.21. 1 Pet. 2.13,14,17. Rom. 13.1,2,3. Tit. 3.1. See Tindal's Works. i e. The Obedience of a Christian Man, &c, p. 111. and compare these Holy Say with their Practice, unless where Idolatry or Things sinful are commanded, and then 'tis better to obey God than Man; but this the Quakers could never produce: But as they thus slighted and trampled upon the Government, so did their great Apostle glory in it, saying, He did not heed a Cart load of Warrants. Journal, p. 278. And now I shall briefly run through several of their other Methods and Ways at their Yearly Meeting, reserving their Doctrinal Part, which support and influence them, to a distinct Chapter by itself. First, They oft refer to their last Yearly Epistle, that the Contents of it be seriously reminded in all Monthly and Quarterly Meetings, but not a Word of Scripture referred to therein, as their Rule of Faith and Practice. 2dly, Against that grand Oppression and Antichristian Yoke of Tithes; yea, Antichristian in the Lawmaker, in the Payer, and in the Receiver. 3dly, Against the paying of Churchwardens Rates, by which we have much Trouble in the Country, otherwise things might be easy; but from this Fountain spring their Antimagistratical Practices. 4thly, That all their Sufferings may be brought up to London, in order for a Martyrology, both full and complete, that nothing may be wanting, to reproach the Magistrates, and extol their own Sufferings, which they are not already ashamed to say, are Greater and more Unjust than in the Days of Christ's Apostles, the Ten Persecutions, and all the Massacres, for the Name of Christ; see Burrough's Works, p. 273. tho' many of them are mere sham's, as in the Case of Sam. Cater, who pretended, and got it Recorded, that he suffered 20 l. for Preaching at Phakenham in Norfolk, altho' he never did for that Meeting suffer a Groat; yet for that Pretence had 10 l. sent him out of their London Exchequer or Fund: And yet this is not the whole of this grand Cheat; but Nine Years after he printed a Book, entitled, The Lamentable Cry of Oppression, etc. p. 14, 44. wherein he had the Impudence still to complain of Sir Christopher Colthorp's Injustice and Persecution, concealing his having his Goods again, and 10 l. to boot: And by this their Chronicles, they so much boast of, † Yet no Chronicle appears: What, are they ashamed of their Sham-Sufferings? may be measured. 5thly, Against their People using Guns in their Ships; which in 1693. When this Advice was given, His Majesty had need of such as would Fight, etc. But tho' the Quakers in Pensilvania can Fight as Magistrates, yet they cannot Fight as Quakers; and 'tis not time yet to throw off their Coats of Quakerism, and put on the Robes of Magistracy. 6thly, To receive Applications, Epistles, and Embassies, from the Foreign Parts beyond the Seas, mentioned in the former Part of this Chapter, and grant them Orders, Edicts and Laws, for the governing themselves in Subjection to their Light, the Higher Power, especially when met in a Body, as the Epistle, Anno 1660. before recited show. 7thly, To refer the Sufferings of their own Poor, i. e. such as by breaking the Laws, lying in Goal for Nonpayment of Tithes, etc. For otherwise, tho' their own Brothers, they may starve e'er they'll take any charitable notice of them; Nay, Fathers, as in the Case of T. Ellwood, who suffered his Father to go from Door to Door, as John Rauce's Relation is. or of a Woman that wears a Lace of a Groat on her Head, or a Man that puts off his Hat; no, many of these are God's Poor, but the Quakers Poor are of another sort; and they having merited the Quakers Kindness, by obeying their Laws: These are plentifully rewarded; so that what they call their Unity, is rather a Confederacy, which ought to be noticed. 8thly, They take care, that all their Erroneous Books may be dispersed by all their Monthly and Quarterly Meetings, for the spreading of Truth, but not a word of dispersing the Bible; however, it may serve for a Motive to our Clergy, for to take Care to Disperse such Books as discover the Quakers Errors and Hypocrisies; the Neglect of it has been very hurtful. 9thly, They every Year order a Committee to be chosen, to view the Accounts, and to examine the State of their Cash, i. e. the Quakers Exchequer, which some say now run over: They likewise nominate their Feoffees for the time being, who by the Order of their Superiors, give out sometimes 5 l. sometimes 10 l. sometimes 20 l. at a time to their Preachers; and such as have been ruined for Non payment of Tithes, and the like; the Feostees for Anno 1693. were W. Crouch, J. Staploe, W. Macket, W. Chandler, W. Beech, and Nath. Marks. 10thly, They give their Deputies fresh Orders, to bring (or send) up the Sum-Total of each County's Collection, for the Relief of their Suffering-Friends, viz. such as have suffered against Tithes, etc. that such as Preach up G. Fox's Commandments, Orders and Precepts, may not lose their Reward. 11 thly, George Fox had a Saying in their Yearly Meeting worth noting; Pensilvania had Experience of it; and when they get Power, England may also; viz. I do not like (said Fox) the Words LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE, for there is no Liberty out of the Power: What! Liberty to the Episcopals; no. What! Liberty to the Presbyter; no. What! Liberty to the Independent; no. What! Liberty to the Baptist; no. No Liberty out of the Truth. Spirit of the Hat, p. 12. And for further Evidence, that they are against Liberty of Conscience, R. Hubberthorn and Ed. Burroughs, Men of Note amongst them, in an Answer to the Baptist's Declaration, wherein they did declare themselves against an Universal Toleration of all Miscarriages, whether in things Civil or Religious; nor are we for tolerating Popery, nor such as speak contemptuously of our Lord Jesus Christ, nor any that deny the Holy Scriptures to be the Word of God; and yet we are not against tolerating Episcopacy, Presbytery, or any stinted Form, etc. Now hear these two Eminent Doctors of the Quakers Answer. What Confusion is here! you will not tolerate Popery, nor any that worship a false God, nor that speak Contemptuously and Reproachfully of our Lord Jesus Christ, nor that deny the Holy Scriptures to be the Word of God; and yet you are not against tolerating Episcopacy, Presbytery, or any other stinted Form: Why will you not tolerate Popery as well as Episcopacy? And why will you tolerate the Book of Common-Prayer amongst the Episcopals, and not the Mass Book amongst the Papists, seeing the Mass was the Substance out of which the Common-Prayer was extracted? Here is nothing but Partiality, to tolerate one thing, and not another of the same kind. etc. R. Hubberthorn 's Works, p. 228. Edw. Burrough 's Works, p. 615. Thus then does it appear, what Friends the Quakers are to Liberty of Conscience, and how kind they were to Episcopacy in 1659. and they are the same still; they tell you they are not changed; and you may believe them, since they have given such a plain Demonstration thereof in Pensilvania, where they have both Fined, Whipped, or Imprisoned George Keith and others, for holding the same Faith, and Preaching the same Faith that the Episcopalians hold and teach. 12thly and lastly, And what I have heard with my Ears, That George Fox hath exhorted this Meeting, that when they return to their respective Habitations, that such in each County, as had most Interest, and thereby the most Influence on the Members of the House of Commons, should resort to them, and work upon them, etc. And when at the House, they still, by all the Interest they have, make fresh Suits, they have their Emissaries wait continually, to see what comes out; they are quick at their Answers; and a Fund or Common Bank to maintain all; none like them but the Jesuits. And I do say, that the whole twelve Instances I have named, are not more Political than this one; for ten to one if some Quaker be not himself, or some of his Kindred, some way related, either to the Members of Parliament to serve for that County or Burrough, or to some of his Friends; or ten to one if some Quakers do not deal with him, or some near him, or is Tenant to him, or some of his Friends; if then some one, or any of these, or all concur, than there is Application made to him time after time; and most English Gentlemen are apt to be kind, and they not knowing the Craft and Subtilty, besides the Design of this People, are apt to tell them, Well, if I can do you any Good, consistent with a National Good, I shall not be against it: And if they meet one that is resolute, and from a Knowledge of their Erroneous Principles, and how that they are Enemies, and implacable ones too, to all Instituted Religion; then they will fawn upon him, and flatter him, (as they did Coll. Goldwell,) and desire him to stand Neuter, etc. but thanks be to God, the Parliament and whole Nation begin to see them, and grow every Day more sensible of the Tendency of their Pernicious Principles. Some Inferences from the Seventh Chapter. IS it so, that the Quakers hold their Anniversary Synods, and General Councils, thus Publicly in the View of the Nation, without the King's Letters of Licence, or Inspection, or Patent, which is more than the Bishops of the Established Church have Power to do? How then does it concern the Legislative Power, to take notice of it, that in time they may prevent the Danger of it? Is it so, that their Light is the Higher Power, to which every Soul is to be subject, and all Laws veil? Rom. 13.1,2,3. 1 Pet. 2.13. Tit. 3.1. Let us then begin to remember, how zealous our Kings and Parliaments have been, ever since the Reformation, against such as adhered to a Power superior to the King, Lords and Commons, which our Protestant Divines have held to be the Higher Powers, and which we are commanded, (by the Apostles) to submit ourselves. Now any People that adhere to a Foreign Power to be Supreme in England, besides and above that of KING, LORDS, and COMMONS, (who, under God, are the Higher Powers,) are to be suspected to undermine the Government, whether they mean the POPE of ROME, or the QUAKER LIGHT in their BODY Assembled in COUNCIL, (the latter being the most dangerous, because not so obvious;) and thereupon aught to be prevented from holding such Councils, with Doors locked, barred, or by a Guard of Men secured, that none can go in to observe their Transactions: Again, is it so, that the Quakers are against Liberty of Conscience, and that they would as freely tolerate Popery as Episcopacy? † Yea, see their Ancient Testimony in R. Hubberthorn's Works, p. 229. Anno 1659. etc. What Reason is there then for the Quakers to expect, much less to presume, to take the Liberty, (under an Episcopal Government) to hold these Convocations without Licence, which no other Dissenters either ask, desire, or pretend to; nay, what the Bishops themselves, of themselves, without the King's Licence, can do? Yet to the Quakers own Confutation, see their Book, The West answering to the North, etc. p. 80. viz. Any Party of Men, under a Government, to make Laws, not being lawfully Authorized so to do, for the binding of others, and thereunto to require Obedience, is a setting up of themselves above the Law, and treading it under their Feet, and rendering them whom they so bind, Slaves and Vassals; and so is TREASON, etc. Thus then is it apparent, that what is in others Treason, they themselves practice in the Face of the Government. For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be made known, and come abroad, Luke 8.17. CHAP. VIII. Shows the Executive Part of the Quakers Laws and Government, in their Monthly and Quarterly Meetings. I Join the Use and Service of their Monthly and Quarterly Meetings together, for Brevity-sake; as also, because they are much the same in all Respects, only the Monthly is inferior to the Quarterly; because in one County there may be three or four Monthly Meetings, much like Justice's Monthly Meetings, where the Party offending need not be Concluded, but entering his Recognizance to appear at the Quarter-Sessions, he may have a more full Hearing; so it is with the Quakers, he may Appeal from the Monthly to the Quarterly Meeting: This I know very well, not barely because I was Clerk in these Meetings many Years, but also during my Controversy with Sam. Cater, I Summoned him first to the Monthly Meeting; and when I found no Justice, I Appealed from that to the Quarterly, and indeed from the Quarterly to the Yearly; and so twice or thrice round, as I remember: For it was the greatest Trial that ever was amongst them, in regard it struck at the Ministry, viz. WHETHER THEY OUGHT NOT TO TELL THEIR NAMES AND HABITATIONS, AND THEREBY SET THE MSELVES IN A LIKE SUFFERING CAPACITY WITH THE HEARERS, † At large in my Book, The Painted Harlot both Stripped and Whipped, etc. And the Postscript, styled, Reason against Railing, etc. etc. since they advised us to be valiant, and give up all? etc. But to the Matter: When we came together, which is commonly 9 or 10 a Clock, than we sat awhile together Silent, unless we have a Teacher with us, and then it may be we may have a short Exhortation to keep to our Ancient Testimony; * i e. George Fox's Commandments, and some other things, which in the next Chapter you'll hear of. so than the Doors being secured, they proceed after this manner: The Clerk calling over the Meeting, I mean the particular Meetings of every Town, which possibly may be Forty Towns, more or less, viz. Clerk. Come Friends, How is it as to your Town of Littleport? A. and B. [For there is to be two appear from every Town,] Things are pretty well with us, only D. E. is married with a Priest. Meeting. Ay, How came that to pass? Did you not perceive his Relapse from the Truth, and the Order of it, till he made such a Revolt as to become an Apostate? A. B. Truly we found he declined; and some Friends in our Town spoke to him, and warned him of the Danger of it, but all would not do. Meeting. Well, let some Body be ordered to go to him, and admonish him; if he Repent, and acknowledge his Fault, and confess to Truth, † i e. To them; for if he confess his Fault to them, they Absolve him, and all's well again. . Clerk. How is it at your Town of Milden-Hall? A. B. Things are pretty well with us; but Francis Bugg still continues his Writing against Friends: And he being examined by Samuel Fulbig, whether he owns W. Rogers' wicked Book? (Which admits of Liberty of Conscience to pay Tithes, or not; to marry with a Public Minister, or not;) and he owns it: And therefore we must take Care about him, for he does much hurt to Truth, and lays Stumbling-Blocks in the way of others. Meeting. Course; we know not well what Course to take with him; he will neither lead * Into blind Conformity. nor drive † Into an Implicit Faith. : Indeed we have suffered him too long Clerk in this Meeting; but he may thank R. S. J. A. E. L. and some of you his Friends, or else he had been excluded long since, for his very owning W. Roger's Book, which admits of a voluntary Payment of Tithes; which, as our dear Brother Ellwood saith, is a Mark of Antichrist, a Denial of Christ come in the Flesh, yea, downright Ranterism, Antidote, p. 78. 139. But notwithstanding, through such Arguments as W. Roger's use, we have by woeful Experience seen, that some have been convinced Ten, some Twenty Years, and yet can pay Tithes without any Acknowledgement of Evil therein, Christ. Quaker disting. Part 2. p. 42. And altho' we grant, saith our Brother Ellwood, in his Antidote, p. 109. That our great Apostle G. Fox did say, in his Several Papers, given forth for spreading Truth: Friends, to you all this is the Word of the Lord; † See, Fox's Papers are the Word of the Lord, whilst they say, 'tis Blasphemy to call the Letter, i. e. Scripture, the Word. Take heed of judging one another; judge not one another, I command you, in the Presence of the Lord; See his Book, entitled, The Way to the Kingdom of God, pag. 4. and judge not one another behind one another's Backs, * Yet they passed Sentence on me behind my Back, I not being there that Day, i. e. 4th of June, 1682. I command you in the Presence of the Lord; this is the Word of the Lord unto you: Neither lay open one another's Nakedness and Weakness behind one another's Backs, for thou that dost, art one of Ham 's Family, which is under the Curse, etc. This indeed (continues our Beloved rother) is a Warning to Friends, not to judge one another: † No, let their Immoralities be gross, do but keep in the Unity of the Corrupt Body. But it is not a Warning to Friends, not to judge those that oppose Friends, being gone out of the Unity of Friends themselves, and endeavouring to draw others out also, and to divide and rend the Church; so that you have missed your Aim, and lost your Blow, etc. Thus, Friends, you have the Judgement of the Church; and Francis Bugg has not only owned that Pernicious Book, but has written two Books against Friends, as Pernicious as that of W. Rogers, Entitled, De Christiana Libertate, etc. and The Painted Harlot both Stripped and Whipped, etc. Nay, not only so, but hath wrote divers Letters, Remonstrances and Queries, to particular Friends, to the Second-day Meetings. And therefore 'tis time to take some Course with him, etc. Meeting. Content; therefore let us draw up a Paper against him, and when we have viewed it, let us Record it, etc. This was done, a Copy whereof is as followeth, viz. At a Quarterly Meeting in Hadenham, 7th Day of the 4th Month, 1682. Whereas this Day there was inferred † Notable Scholars, INFERRED. into our Meeting, several Papers subscribed by Francis Bugg, wherein he hath Unrighteously and Ungodlily reflected upon Ancient Friends, and greatly abused Faithful Ministers of the Gospel * They can call other Ministers, Witches, Devils, Thiefs, Robbers, Antichrists, Jesuits, Bloodhounds, Sodomites, and what not? But none must touch the Hem of their Garment. O Proud Hypocrites! ; and also amongst the said Papers, was one subscribed by twelve Persons, directed to the Second-Day Meeting in London, wherein Friends are misrepresented, and greatly abused; which said Paper, we believe the said Francis Bugg promoted. Now we being greatly grieved in our Spirits, and truly sensible of his herein going from Truth, do testify, We have no Unity with him, nor can have, whilst he is thus Acted. OBSERVE, First, I was judged and condemned behind my Back, without a Hearing: Secondly, The Papers subscribed by Twelve Persons, they only supposed to be of my promoting. Now if John Lilborn's Judges had been thus implicit in their Faith, at his Trial at Guild Hall, in October 1649. he must have been Hanged for writing The Naked Truth in Oliver Cromwell's time, etc. The next Instance I shall recite, and which I think is to the Purpose, is, to show the Quakers implacable Malice, against not only W. Rogers, but his Book too; and no Passage in his whole Book came under the like sad Sentence, as that of his admitting a Voluntary Payment of Tithes, if the Supreme Powers bestowed it on a National Ministry, etc. His Words are, We are so far from condemning all those who freely pay them, [i. e. Tithes,] and not by Constraint, that we look upon it to be the Duty of all professing Christianity, to contribute towards the outward Maintenance of such, whom they usually hear, and account to be true Ministers of Christ, in case they have need: And if the Charity of any should be such, as to bestow upon them one Fifth Part, instead of a Tenth, far be it from us to condemn it, etc. The Christian Quaker distinguished, etc. Part 2. p. 43. But this was such a horrible Tenet, and so much of Liberty of Conscience in it, that as you have heard, First, It was an Error of Judgement. 2dly, It came from an unsound Mind. 3dly, That Truth, [i. e. the Quakers Light,] allows no Payment of Tithes at all, under the New Covenant. 4thly, They who do pay Tithes, tho' Voluntarily, do therein uphold a legal Ceremony abrogated by Christ. 5thly, And thereby deny Christ to be come in the Flesh, quoting 1 John 4.3. which speaks not one Syllable of Tithes. 6thly, That it is downright Ranterism, etc. Ellwood's Antidote, p. 78. 139. Well, but W. Rogers was so modest, as not to put this Book into the Bookseller's Hands to Sell, lest thereby he might widen the Difference, which both he, and myself, at that time, thought might have been composed, † For I did not then understand their Fundamental Errors; but Thanks be to God, that as their fair and smooth Pretences proved a Snare to catch me, so their gross Dissimulations proved a Means to see them. that he put it into the Hands of John Barnard, a Merchant, (being one of the separate Quakers) for him to dispose of, and to disperse as he in Wisdom should see meet; and some Hundreds of them he did disperse. Well, he was Summoned time after time, to the Monthly Meeting in Devonshire-House, London, to Answer for his Fault; and, I think, he as often appeared: But being of too Masculine a Temper to submit to their Arbitrary Authority, and Usurped Dominion, he still continued selling and disposing of this so sad and so lamentable a Book; of which you have heard the greatest Crime, namely, for admitting a Voluntary Payment of Tithes, etc. And to say true so it was; for there is nothing upon Earth that the Quakers thirst more after, than the utter Ruin of the Priesthood, and the Abolishing the Maintenance thereof: This is the Vein that runs fluently through all their Books and Sermons; nay, rather than the Priests should have it, and that it might be a Means to starve them, they are willing to pay Tithes to Secular Use: For (saith G. Whitehead) if the King and Great Council of the Nation were pleased † The Case of the Quakers concerning Oaths defended, etc. p. 50. per G. Whitehead. to repeal those Old Laws, enforcing the Payment of Tithes, and to convert them into some necessary civil Use, as for the Poor, [Oh Judas!] or some National Service and Benefit, Oh smooth George! Here is the Face of a Lamb, but the rough Paw of a Bear, and the Claws of a Leopard. it would appear, whether we should not pay our Parts; and whether the Royal Exchequer would not be conveniently supplied without the Tenths from the Priests, etc. Thus they could pay Tithes into the Exchequer, to maintain a War, which they equally Disclaim: Oh but do what you will with the Tithes, so the Priests do but starve, and their Ministry fall, and their Religion overturned; then hay BOYS UP GO WE: But (blessed be God) the Fear of that is past. Well, but let us hear what became of this honest John Barnard: Why, in short, he was Excommunicated ipso facto. A Copy of it here followeth Verbatim. From the Monthly Meeting at Devonshire-House, the Fourth of the Eleventh Month, 1681. Whereas there hath been some unruly Spirits gone out from Truth, and the Unity of the blessed Power of God, which hath gathered us to be a People, Writing, Printing, and Publishing Things Hurtful and Prejudicial to Truth, by corrupting of People's Minds, tending also to draw them into Disesteem of many of the Lord's Servants, † A Preservative for their Teachers decaying Reputation. whose Faithfulness hath manifestly appeared amongst us, with whom our Unity stands, to our mutual Satisfaction and Refreshment. Upon Consideration of these Things, we find ourselves conscientiously concerned, * Oh! Deep Hypocrisy. to take notice of something of this Kind, befallen John Barnard, Merchant, formerly a Member of this Meeting; who having dispersed into several Parts of this Nation divers of those Pernicious Books, wrote by William Rogers, called, The Christian Quaker distinguished from the Apostate and Innovator, in Five Parts, etc. which hath manifestly been proved in many material Passages, Erroneous and False, both in the Historical and Doctrinal Part of it, was privately and publicly reproved for that unrighteous Action, by several Friends at divers times, according to Gospel-Order, as they found it on their Spirits from the Lord, † Never was God's Name more profaned by a People professing Religion. as also admonished against it; yet after all the Labour and Travel Friends have had on his Behalf, being desirous, if possible, to reclaim him out of the Enemy's Snare, into which he is fallen; he hath from time to time resisted their Advice and Counsel; so that now, we being wholly clear, having used our utmost Endeavours in the good Will of God, to reclaim him, as aforesaid, do not only testify against that Spirit which hath led him into that disorderly Practice, but also against him, whilst joined thereunto; * Both the Man and his Spirit condemned. nor can we have Spiritual Communion or Fellowship with him, until unfeignedly he shall return unto the Truth, by Condemnation of that Work and Spirit, which in the Love of God we exhort him to, and desire, that for him a Place of Repentance may be found. Reader, What Person living, who is a Stranger to the Quakers deep-dyed Hypocrisy, but that would think this John Barnard had committed some more than ordinary Immorality; nay, some almost unpardonable Crime? Here is such Endeavours said to be used, such Gospel-Order exercised, such Stiff-neckedness on his Part wilfully persisted in; but behold, all Centre in a most profound Piece of Hypocrisy, as I shall show, and that from divers Reasons: And, FIRST, In that Benjamin Clark their Bookseller, a great Quaker in their Unity † I should have said Confederacy. , sold at the same time Playbooks, Popish-Books, Gypsie-Books, yea, Baudy-Books, such as I never saw before; and yet never Reproved, never Admonished, according to Gospel-Order; never Sentenced and Condemned, neither he nor his Spirit: By which it may appear, how zealous they are for preserving their own good Name and Esteem amongst their Proselytes, and their own Law and Commandments, from being brought into Disrepute; and yet all these their Proceed they father upon the Lord, who hates Iniquity, and whose Laws condemn such wicked Books, as their own beloved Brother sold and vended every Day. Thus do they, Pharisee-like, make void the Law of God by their Traditions. For as soon as this Excommunication came to my Hand, I (as a Country Man) went to the said Ben. Clark's, and asked for some pretty Playbooks for Children, and he produced me a Parcel of all sorts, ut supra! of which I bought Eighteen Pennyworth, and noticed it in my next Book, Entitled, De Chr. Lib. Part 2. p. 207, which they never did deny, nor did they ever sentence him as above. SECONDLY, In all the Records of Condemnation, that ever I made, or ever saw made, during the 16 or 18 Years I was their Clerk, I never knew of, or saw any Record of Condemnation against any Quaker, for the Breach of any Scripture Commands; but either for writing against their Teachers, * As myself. or for paying Tithes, or for dispersing and selling such Books, as allowed of the Payment of Tithes, † As W. Rogers. or for not Marrying according to their Orders, or for the Breach of some one or more of G. Fox's Commandments. An Instance of the last followeth. Hadenham Quarterly-Meeting, the Fourth of the Seventh Month, 1678. We at this Quarterly Meeting having the Business of John Ainslo's taking his Wife, contrary to the Order of Friends, brought BEFORE US; and Friends having several times spoke to him about it, and he not giving Friends Satisfaction, WE do testify, That WE have no UNION with him in this his so doing, etc. THIRDLY, I never knew any Book wrote against any of their Teachers in the Unity, tho' guilty of notorious Immoralities; † As in the opening of the Cage, I shall show. no, here was no Conscientious Concern manifested, no Gospel Order exercised, no Public Condemnation sent out against them, but against myself, George Keith, Tho. Crisp, and others, for discovering their Errors: Here they pretend a great Case of Conscience; and having showed who they account Scandalous Walkers, and who they frequently Record out of the Unity, and who they writ their Books against, I shall conclude this Chapter with one of their Yearly Canons; and if any desire to see more of them, I refer to my former Books, De Chris. Lib. etc. Part 2. p. 40, to 52. the Fifth and Seventh Chapter of this Treatise. London, the 27th of the 3d Month, 1675. Concerning Recording the Church's Testimony, and the Party's Condemnation. That the Church's † The Light and the Body joined. Testimony and Judgement against Disorderly and Scandalous Walkers, also the Repentance and Condemnation of the Party's Restored, be Recorded in a distinct Book, in the respective Monthly and Quarterly Meeting, for the clearing Truth's Friends, and our Holy Profession, to be produced and published for that End and Purpose, so far only as in God's pure Heavenly Wisdom they shall be needful: And 'tis our Advice in the Love of God, That after any Friend's Repentance and Restoration, he abiding faithful in the Truth, that condemns the Evil, none among you so remember his Transgression, as to cast it at him, or upbraid him with it; for that is not according to the Mercy of God. Thus, Reader, you see, First, Who are the Scandalous Walkers they Record out of their Unity. 2dly, You see here is an Order from the Yearly Meeting, to get a Book distinct for that Use. 3dly, You see also, that here is a Door open, that if any repent of Writing against them, of Paying Tithes, of Marrying contrary to their Infallible Order, they may be restored to their former Dignity; for they have Power to bind, and to lose, † Yea, whom they please. See Judas and the Jews, p. 85. Jos. Coale's Works, p. 243. to condemn, and to acquit; and that it may evidently appear so, I shall recite one of their final Sentences, passed upon one of their Adversaries Irrevocably, viz. In the Name of that God, that spanneth the Heavens with a Span, and measureth the Waters in the Hollow of his Hand, I bind thee here on Earth, and thou art surely bound in Heaven, and in the Chain under Darkness, to the Judgement of the Great Day thou shalt be reserved. Was there ever the like Insolency. Josiah Coale. Some Inferences from the Eighth Chapter. IS it so then, that these Monthly and Quarterly Meetings, who derive their Power and Authority from the Yearly Meetings, assume to themselves this great Boldness, to Arraign, Sentence, and Condemn Persons, for disregarding their illegal Laws, and for the Breach of their Unscriptural Commands † No, nor one Scripture Proof was ever produced, to strengthen their Laws, or condemn Actions. ? What need is there then to suppress these Meetings, that thus alienate His Majesty's Subjects from their Obedience to their lawful Sovereign, and his Laws, and to limit this Arbitrary Government thus exercised in these new Spiritual Courts, whilst it may be; lest the time come, wherein they may capitulate with the Supreme Magistrate, and tell him with a Carnal Weapon in their Hand, that the Light is the Higher Power, and all Powers and Dominions ought to cast their Crowns down at its Feet in the Saints? However, I have given warning, by pointing at the Danger, and hope to prescribe a Remedy; and let not THE POOR MAN'S COUNSEL be rejected, lest the time come, wherein it may be said, Eccles. 19.14,15. It is too late, for the Gibeonites hath deceived us with their Wiles. Pray read the Ninth Chapter of Joshua at your leisure, Joshua the 9 th'. read and ponder, I beseech all wise Men. and think it not a strange thing to be deceived by the Quakers fair Shows, and innocent Pretences, when you see that good Joshua, the Servant of the Lord, and Successor of Moses, he, and his Wise Men and Counsellors, were all deceived; the best of Men mean well, and thinking others do so too, are ofttimes the soon deceived. A Word to the Wise (as the Proverb is) should be sufficient. CHAP. IX. Sheweth the Quakers Fund, Exchequer, or Common Bank; and the Use and ill Consequences of it. I Have considered, that as Blood is to the Veins, which by a frequent Circulation through the Body of Man, both refresh the Heart, and support the Head; and that, as the Sinews to the Joints both unite the Members, and strengthen the Body, so doth the Quakers Exchequer strengthen and support them in the carrying on their whole Design: For as Money is said to be the Sinews of War, so it may be called the Nerves of Heresy; for Money answers all things. And to show it to be so, with respect to the Quakers, I shall briefly show, first, Their Way and Manner of raising their Bank; next, Their Way of Distribution: In both which it cannot be expected that I should be exact in their very Words, having forgot great part of their Cant; nor the Particulars to whom they dispose of their Money; that's a Secret kept under Lock and Key: It sufficeth then, that I give some sure Marks of both, and which, I hope, I shall so infallibly do, as never an Infallible Quaker shall be able to deny. FIRST THAN, I remember, when I was Quaker, we now and then had an Epistle sent to our Quarterly Meetings in the Country, from the Second-Day Meeting in London, for a General Collection for the Service of Truth: This Epistle thus sent, I have copied out, and have read it in our Meeting at Milden-Hall; I have both given to it, and took what our Meeting contributed, and have carried it to the Quarterly Meeting, where I have taken all the Collections gathered quite through the Isle of Ely, if not the County of Cambridge, † Which I do think, I also had to return to London. to return to London for the Public Use: All this I know, and, if need were, would depose it. I do not say, but the Yearly Meeting, as in Chap. 7. sometimes do the like; as also examine the Accounts, constitute and appoint Feoffees, and the like; and to which, the Second-Day Meeting is accountable: But, during the Intervals of their Yearly Convocation, the Second-Day Meeting hath both Power to receive and to dispose, as I shall show hereafter. Now whereas for many Years together, the Quaker Teachers bantered all other Ministers for taking Money for their Subsistence; the National, for the Tithes, and other Deuce; the Dissenters, for taking the voluntary Gift of their Hearers; whilst the Quakers pretended to Teach freely, yea, to Write freely, and to do the Lord's Business freely; when alas! this was all a Cheat, as in the Story of Bell and the Dragon: For they had not only their Charges for themselves and Horses free, , Hats, Linen and Woollen ofttimes free, but now and then a good Watch free also; besides, out of the Bank they had their frequent Salaries and Stipends, 10, † Witness S. Cater and John Songhurst, of whom I have a pretty Story. When W. Mead was Purser, i. e. Songhurst pretending want of Money, G. Fox sent him to W. M. W. Mead deposited 12 l. and entered it in his Book. This did not please Songhurst; he goes to G. Fox, and acquaints him with it. Fox told him, that was W. hobb's way. Well, Songhurst did not like to stand on Record a Taker of Money, who had so many Years pretended to Preach freely; away goes he to W. M. with his Money in his Sack's Mouth; W. Mead takes it, and enters it on the contrary Page, Received of Songhurst 12 l. This made it worse; for, now he had not the Money, yet still stands Recorded, etc. 20, and 30 l. at a time; yea, I have been told, That T. G. had once 100 l. at a time; and J. Park 20 l. per An. Yet, when told of this Hypocrisy, they have answered, They did not Preach for Money, tho' their Teachers did take Money: And might not all other Ministers say so too, That Money was not the end for which they Preached, but the Good of Souls; only what they had, was to maintain them in that Station to which they were called and set apart? But W. Rogers wrote a Scourge for Geo. Whitehead, Anno 1685. where he hath these Words. See a few Words out of W. Roger's Second Scourge. For Geo. Whitehead an Apostate Quaker, in a Poem, Printed 1685. But, blessed be God, Rome's Sister hath a Wound, And 'tis not Whitehead's Craft can heal it sound; The Church, her Practice, which he oft defends, Is most like Rome's, so far as Power attends: And yet when She Rome's Sister is but called, She winces like touched Horses that are galled. Confusion Her attends, next follows WOE, For thus She whirls, but God knows where She'll go: When Fox had framed i'th' Church a Government, Preachers approved by Man Beyond-Seas went; Who, when they wanted Moneys to proceed, The Church Her Cash then did supply their Need: And therefore when her Cash was emptied, SHE Craved Money for to serve the MINISTRY. At length her Papers, like to Briefs, did cry For MONEY, MONEY for the MINISTRY † This Scourge smarted, and made poor Ellwood confess all, as you'll hear anon. : And when that Practice was disliked by some, She frowned like one, whose Downfals near to come; Else, why must each one with his Key appear Where Cash is kept, to show what Money's there? This Church will fall, Her Load will be Her Guile, If you, O Flock! keep Purse-strings fast awhile; And Woes may long attend such prating Preachers, As for Preferment turn deceitful Teachers. Some wonder (Whitehead) keeps so long in Favour, Since Fox is more despised through Whitehead's Labour; Fox is termed Head, yet Whitehead steered the Course, Till both were scorned, and they grew worse and worse. Thus, Reader, I have given you W. Roger's Sense, first, That Rome's Sister got a Wound, yea, almost a deadly Wound; that the Quakers Church are the most like Rome; and this is true in Fact: Next, Their Preachers take Money for Preaching, and for Preferment turn deceitful Teachers; a certain Truth. Next, That they have a Fund, which is most dangerous: Next, That their Papers and Epistles for Money did fly amongst us like so many Briefs, craving Money, Money for the Ministry; Money, Money to assist us in our Confederacy, or we are not able to supplant Christianity. I will next give you a Recital of a Letter sent me, written about John Clemence, etc. bearing Date 26th of the Eleventh Month, 1684. from Anne Docwra, An ancient Quaker, who then testified against the Quakers Fund or Bank, as well as their Preachers meddling with Marriages like the Jesuits, viz. Dear Friends, etc. I understand, that there is a new Controversy lately risen, about the Money thou once told me was gathered amongst Friends, for the Relief of J. C.— Friends here * At Cambridge. are much concerned about it, knowing right well, that all honest Friends in that Day, gave it freely, expecting nothing again; some are dead; I suppose they did not make the Common Bankers their Executors; the Donor's Will must be fulfilled in all things, and not the Common Pursemongers, † But Fox, Whitehead, etc. never liked those Friends. at this Day; that being contrary to true Religion, to take Thought for to Morrow. I have been examined by the Law Professors, Whether we had a Common Purse or Bank? I answered, we had None † A great Lie, and with a Design to Deceive, next to Perjury. . This gave so much Satisfaction, that Friends in this Town * Cambridge. have been quiet Ever since † Thus have the well-meaning Magistrates been all along deceived by the Quakers Lies; for all may see, she knew as well of their Common Bank, their Common Purse, their Dagon, as I did; only to blind the Magistrates, and get Liberty, she thus deceived ' 'em. . The Magistrates look upon Common Bankers to be as bad as those that board up Arms and Ammunition; and not [said She,] without Reason; for Money answers all things. If Friends would put away this Dagon, and take Money only for their present Necessities, things would soon be better with them; God will not bless those that break his Commands, with Hoarding up Common Banks, and Quarrelling with those that will not bring in Money fast enough to them: I have observed, it hath been frequent with some, to reckon those that brought in most Money into their Common Bank, to be the best Christians, * A sign she cannot plead Ignorance of their Fund, if she had so long made that Observation; and therefore her Lie looks the more designed; Quaker-like, who stick at nothing that may advance the New Catholic Cause. etc. Anne Docwra. Thus, Reader, I have showed by a Recital of Mrs. Docwra's Letter, what Sense she had of their Common Fund, i. e. that it was as bad as Hoarding up Arms and Ammunition; and she is so far in the right on't. You see also, what Testimonies hath been given out, both Public and Private, against these private Pursemongers, and their raising Common Banks, as that which is so pernicious to the Civil Government, that it is as bad as Arms and Ammunition; for Money asnwers all things: For, having this private Fund, they can pay their Ministers, and enable them to range the World over, pretending to Teach freely, to forsake their Father's Country, Riches and Honours, (as you have heard) and all to come and spend themselves, their Strength and Years, for the Good of Souls; and all this freely, without Money, and without Price: And you see, your Teachers, they must have their Tithes, their Gleabe-Lands, their Easter-reckoning, and their Midsummer-Dues; by which you may see, they are Followers of Balaam, the Son of Bozer, who loved the Wages of Unrighteousness: Now by our Fruit, and the Fruit of the World's Teachers, you may try us, and prove us. Thus poor Hearts, the very same People that give to these Collections, † I mean innocent middle sort, who are not admitted into the Knowledge of these things. know nothing of their Teachers taking Money; nay, many of them will dispute strenuously against you, on their Teacher's Behalf, That they take no Money, that they Teach freely, as above told. And thus are these silly Sheep carried away with the Wiles of their Teachers, and follow them as the Israelites did Rebellious Absalon, in the Simplicity of their Hearts, 2 Sam. 15.11. But, Reader, this Scourge did so torment this well-favoured Harlot, it did so sting and nettle her, that poor Whitehead's dull Pen was not able to bear up: Then came in Tho. Ellwood; and tho' he wrote as much to the Point as his Craft could invent, yet W. Rogers' Strokes entered so deep, and made such a Wound, as that he, i. e. Ellwood, was forced, poor Man, (full ill against his Will) to confess their Ministers did take Money, and their Clerks were paid out of their Fund; which they had not only for Forty Years pretended to the contrary, but by Ten Thousand Sermons solemnly declared, that they neither take Silver, Gold nor Apparel, but freely they had received, and freely delivered to the People. O the horrible Deceit of this People! However, let it suffice, that W. Rogers have whipped them into a better Temper, who now confess the Fact, and plead the Apostles. But I deny, that ever the Apostles Practise pretended to take neither Silver, Gold nor Apparel; and yet, contrary to his Pretention, took all he could lay his Hands on: No; this is the Practice only of the Quakers; no Man questioning the lawfulness of the Ministers Maintenance, save the Quakers only, who yet take with both Hands; their Fruit hath made them manifest. Well, let's hear T. Ellwood, viz. Regero Mastix, p. 18. But that Christ's Ministers should be supplied With Necessaries, by the Church his Bride, Is such a known and certain Truth, as none Perhaps hath e'er opposed, but thou alone: That 'tis the Church's Duty to supply The needful Wants of all her Ministry; And Truth it is, too plain to be denied, Christ's Church should for Christ's Ministers provide. What carps thou at then, William? Would thy Muse Plead, that St. Paul did not this Privilege use † No, Thomas, 'tis Quakers Plea, tho' for self-ends they now plead it. ? That what was lacking to him privately, The Macedonian Brethren did supply. Thus it appears, the Apostle did partake Of that Provision which the Church did make; Pretend thou canst not, that the Stock is given To such as have no need thereof; but even Thy Flirt at Richardson * Their Clerk, who had 50 l. per An. as much contrary to their Pretences, as for their Teachers to take Money; but now both confessed. for taking Pay; For what? As Clerk, he writes; does much bewray Thy Folly and Injustice. Is't not fit, Who works for others, should be paid for it, And that by them who him to Work desire? The Labourer is worthy of his Hire † 'Tis confessed you have Hirelings in your Herd. . Observe, Reader, the Charge is confessed: First, That they have a Stock, by which they supply the Wants of their Teachers, i. e. pay them; yea, and well too: Witness their Increase of Wealth. 2dly, That their Clerks take Money for writing, and that they are Hirelings; this I and others knew well enough, but Whitehead had so denied the same, that there was Thousands of Quakers would not believe a word of it: But now W. Rogers' Scourge hath so lashed this painted Harlot, that she by her dear Son Ellwood, hath confessed it, and spoke more Truth in this matter, than Whitehead, and Twenty more of their Apostate Scribes have been ever made to do; and I am willing to do him Right herein; for according to the Proverb, I am willing to give the Devil his due. I need not quote Book and Page, to prove their Preachers Pretences to Preach freely, without Money, etc. their Books are full of Proof, and their Sermons from Dan to Beersheba: But I have said, they pretended to write freely; and this I ought to prove; which I shall do from their Great Apostle and Second Moses, namely, G. Fox; see their Book, styled, Concerning Marriages, etc. p. 4, 5, 6. printed 1659. G. Fox, viz. If any Friends go together in the Power of the Lord, or find a Necessity thereunto, that after the thing hath been made known between themselves, before any thing be concluded, it be declared to Friends, who are able * Viz. Their Teachers, which practice came afterwards to be abhorred. to see and feel into it; and if they see the thing in the Light and Power to stand, it may be declared to Friends in the Meeting, as they are moved; or, as they are moved, they may declare it in the mid-time of the Market, on the Market-day, in the next Market-Town, as they are moved, or they may not, as their Freedom is: Then, after a convenient time, and the thing be seen and felt, and had Unity with, than an Assembly of about 12 Friends met together, they may speak their Testimony as they are moved, how the Lord hath joined them together in Marriage; and then a Certificate by Friends then present, may be given, of the Day, Month and Year, that it may be Recorded; and as they are moved, they may declare it to the Magistrate, and they will, † G. Fox was Infallible, Sense or Nonsense, tot quot & omnes. or they may not; And that nothing may be Recorded for Money in these things, but freely, a free People, and in Love serve one another; and that is it, that you should feel the Thing in the Power, etc. George Fox. Now let me subjoin a Second Testimony of George Fox's, against taking of Money, etc. Friends, you are to do the Nations Business freely, and that is the way to get into the Hearts of People, etc. Several Papers given forth per G. Fox, An. 1659. I remember there is in one of the Quakers Declarations a Reserve left for Fight afterwards: We Yet, (say they) cannot believe he will make use of the Sword by us, but for the Present, we are given to Bear and Suffer, etc. So had G. Fox said, that as Yet let nothing be Recorded for Money, but for the Present, i. e. till you a fair Opportunity, do things freely, etc. then there had been a fair Plea † As there is now for Whipping, Fining, Imprisoning, and Fight, etc. then As Yet, might by George Whitehead, have been rendered Adhuc, and not Tamen; for 'tis manifest, that their early pretence to Teach, Preach, writ Certificates, etc. freely, was but to get into the Affections of the People, until a more fair Opportunity; and then Experientia docet, they can take 50 l. per Annum for writing Certificates, etc. 30 l. for writing Five or Six Sheets called a primer, to teach Children; 10 l. at a time for Preaching, etc. See New Rome Unmasked, etc. p. 58, to 63. where I have enlarged hereon from the Quakers Books. But G. W. by his Book, styled, The Contentious Apostate, etc. p. 22. he seems to deny G. Fox's Order for Marriage, where it's said, nothing is to be Recorded for Money, etc. as above cited: But G. W. I have it, and you may soon see it in the Library of Christ's Church College in Oxford, where that and many others of your Books, which you would be glad were extinct, will remain for Ages to see, and be able thereby to detect your Fallacies. And now follows part of the recited Declaration, viz. We have chosen the Son of God to be our King, and he hath chosen us to be his People; and he might command Thousands, and Ten Thousands of his Servants at this Day, to Fight in his Cause; he might lead them forth, and bring them in, and give them Victory over all their Enemies, and turn his Hand upon their Persecutors; but yet his Kingdom is not of this World, neither is his Warfare of Carnal Weapons, neither hath he chosen us for that end, neither can we Yet believe * No, stay a little longer. that he will make use of us in that way, tho' it be his only Right to Rule in Nations, and our Heirship to Possess the utmost Parts of the Earth; but for the Present † Ay, be patiented a little longer. we are given to bear and suffer all things for his Names-sake, etc. To the present distracted Nation of England, etc. Printed 1659. p. 8. But, Reader, if you look back to Fox's Order for Marriage, you may observe, that he points to have the Matter laid before their Ministers; and thereupon I shall show you a brief Testimony of one of their Female Preachers, a Woman of Note amongst them, in a Letter I have by me; part of that against their Hoarding up Money, which is as bad as Hoarding up of Arms and Ammunition, viz. — * Anne Docwra's Letter, dated Feb. 26. 1684. I have heard something concerning this Controversy now on foot, which I perceive arises from a Personal Quarrel, about a Maid that was choosing a Husband for herself; and also 'tis expected she should give up her Concern in that Business to some of our Preachers, which was never practised until of late † Not since Popery, till Quakerism came in its Room. , amongst any that professed true Religion; it is that which hath made the Jesuits to be Abhorred amongst some of the wisest and honestest of the Papists themselves; so that they would not let them come within their Houses. If the Maid be a wise Woman, and of Age to dispose of herself, she will not let any of our Preachers meddle with her Concerns * Why, G. Fox advised to it, look back. of choosing a Husband for her; they should only meddle with their own Business, and let honest Friends make their Choice themselves, etc. Anne Docwra. Reader, The main thing I recite part of this Letter, is, to show the Sense some still amongst them have of their own Teacher's Jesuitical Practice, either in making or breaking of Matches, according as they are pleased or displeased: I could write a Book by itself, only to show the Baseness of their Teacher's Practice, not only in making Matches, but in making Mischief in Families, in setting Men and their Wives at Variance. And more particularly, G. W. my old Antagonist, as may be seen in the Book quoted, viz. The Conten. Apostate, p. 5. The Apost. Incend. p. 8. Judgement fixed, etc. p. 289. both relating to myself, W. Muclow, Tho. Crisp, etc. setting aside John Feild, and others of his Stamp, that I believe the very boldest of the Jesuits never exceeded them. But having in my Book, New Rome Unmasked, etc. p. 57, to 64. shown the evil Tendency of this their Doctrine and Practice, I refer to that; but since that G. W. in his Sober Expostulation, p. 108. is driving on the same Trade: Of which possibly more hereafter. But come Thomas, the chiefest Business in this Chapter is to prove, That the Quakers have a Common Purse; that they have a Common Fund or Bank; that your Teachers are supplied thereout; that you Clerks (as Hirelings) are paid their Yearly Salaries and Stipends, etc. This and more you have confessed, which Hundreds of your Teachers have denied, and sometimes gained the of Magistrates, and their own Quiet thereby. Witness Anne Docwra, who telling the Magistrates they had none, they were quiet after, etc. But I would not have the World so mistaken of thee neither, as to call thee TOM TELLTRUTH; no, this I presume was done in a Passion, even whilst the Smart and Anguish of W. Rogers' Scourge was upon thee; for I dare to say, TOM TELLTRUTH would be a nickname for any Quaker-Teacher; and when I view thy Poem, p. 26, to 29. I hope thou may'st find in this Book an Answer to it, where thou callest upon W. Rogers to name the Men, I have done it, if that will please thee; where thou pretendest to forbear John Story, (yet like Joab, smite at his Name, which when living, was precious to many, and now dead, is not forgotten;) I am well satisfied, that he was a Man of a tender Spirit, and had more Christianity and Charity than all the Mercenary Sixty-six Judges. I remember, that at the Bull and Mouth Meeting, Anno 1677. W. Penn came past Eight or Ten Persons, sitting on the same Bench with me, to ask me to set my Hand to their Epistle of Condemnation. But glad am I, that I was made sensible of their evil Intent; for, Thomas, there was thyself, John Moon, Ezekiel Wolley, Sam. Cater, and many of you concerned in that Paper, as wicked a Generation of Men, as void of Charity, or any thing that is truly Christian, as the Newgate-Birds. And what a sad thing is it, that such dissembling Hypocrites, and wicked Impostors, should claim to themselves the Name of the one only true Church of Christ? And so I shall adjourn this Head, until I come to the Chapter where the Cage is, where I shall make good my Charge, and name Particulars, as thou hast desired; only as a Word of Use and Application, I shall recite a few Verses, wrote by Anne Docwra, Anno 1684. which, as I printed at the end of W. Rogers' Scourge, the Original Manuscript is still by me, except a Word or two, which in the Correcting the Press for her I might alter to make her Verses run smooth, viz. After so many strange Mishaps, In Pursuit of John Story, with all thy Traps, I pity most thy † G. Fox. last Relapse. Thy Weakness shows thy Day is done, The Night overspreads thy Setting Sun. Cabalistick Art is out of Date, Thy Mysterious Allegories came too late; To say the Truth, it is thy Fate. None can avoid what God decrees, thou'rt like a Drone amongst the Bees. Thy Strength declines, thy Power decay, And thou liest hid this Trying Day; To save thyself is no new way. Remember now the time that's past, And how thou'st lost thy Crown at last. Thou didst escape thy Enemy's Pains, With States-men's Arts, and Preachers Gains, But Dalilah's Wiles has cracked thy Brains. A Female Power surprised thy Strength, Thy Honour's laid i'th' Dust at length. Such Women as did Associate, To help to Govern thy new State, Whose Ambient Acts time will relate. These Women they did claim a Right, To wash the Ethiopian white. To keep things sweet and clean, say they: But foul things came so in their way, They worked in vain both Night and Day. Profession wipes off no such Blots, The Leopard does not change his Spots. To compass Sea and Land thou went, To Proselyte thy Will was bend, So raised Storms of Discontent. Thus God does blast what Man devise, To infatuate the Worldly-wise. This Stubble thou hast built upon, Is for the Fire; the time comes on To try the Work that thou hast done. The secret Hand of Providence Protecteth only Innocence. These Verses she wrote concerning G. Fox; and tho' she (being but a Woman) is turned to her old Vomit, i. e. Foxonian Quakers, yet I hope, when W. Rogers, John Raunce, and others, who had a Hand in W. Rogers' Poem, do see, and behold the base Abuse of Tho. Ellwood, etc. in his Rogero Mastix, etc. will see Cause to keep at an equal distance from such a deceitful Tribe, who were as cruel to that meek Man, John Story, as Doeg the Edomite was to the Priests of the Lord, of whom David said, Psal. 140.2,3. Which imagine Mischiefs in their Heart; continually are they gathered together for War; they have sharpened their Tongues like a Serpent; Adders Poison is under their Lips. CHAP. X. Treateth of the Quakers Six-Week Meeting in London, and the Pernicious Consequences thereof. First, THIS Six-Week Meeting of theirs is chief to consult about, and defend their own Members throughout the Kingdom of England, and Dominion of Wales, from the Penalties of certain Laws, which they foreknow that they shall Transgress, or that hereafter they may Transgress, through their being faithful to the Laws and Commands of G. Fox, and the Government of the Quaker-Church. Secondly, This Meeting of theirs is one of their most Ancient Meetings for Government, and is made up of chosen Men amongst them, expert in the Laws and Customs of the Nation, well skilled in the Courts of London and Westminster, and other His Majesty's Courts of Record, and such as understand the way and manner of Soliciting the Parliament; and to support them in all these things, they have the Common Bank to assist them; which, as I have observed, is like Blood to their Veins, and Sinews to their Bones. Thirdly, That I may not seem to impose my single Judgement, that there is such a Meeting; that the Quakers thereto belonging, are thus Exercised, as well as Authorized, see their Anniversary Epistle. This Meeting being acquainted, that Endeavours have been used for Relief of Friends, in relation to Oaths, pursuant to the last Yearly Meeting's Advice in that Case; and being sensible of the great Care of the [Six Week] Meeting for Sufferings, still leave it to the said Meeting for Sufferings, to continue their Care and Endeavours in that Case, etc. And also it is agreed, That each Quarterly-Meeting take Care to advise the Correspondents for the Counties; and any others concerned, to write only to your Correspondents in London, about their Sufferings, and not to other Persons, lest their Suffering-Case be delayed, etc. The Epistle to the Monthly and Quarterly Meetings of Friends in England and Wales, p. 3. Printed 1693. From whence it is plain, First, That they are a Meeting constituted to take Care of the Quakers Sufferings: And 2dly, That this Meeting hold Correspondency with all the Monthly and Quarterly Meetings of the Quakers in England and Wales. 3dly, That the Soliciting the Parliament on the Quakers Behalf is their Business. 4thly, And that they have a Fund for the Service of their Truth, is undeniable from Matter of Fact in the last Chapter, as well as from the recited Epistle, which say, Friends appointed to view Accounts, report, That they find they are truly stated, and rightly kept, etc. Epist. Ib. p. 3. Fourthly, And therefore to point at the Quakers Practical Part herein, it is thus: If a Country Quaker be Sued at the Exchequer, or other Courts, for the Nonpayment of Tithes, or for any other Act of Obedience to the Quakers Commandments, laid down by their Second Moses, if he can but obtain a Certificate from the Quarterly Meeting to which he belong; he than sends up the said Certificate, with his Suffering Case, to the Correspondents belonging to that Quarterly Meeting, and his Business is effectually taken Care of to all Intents and Purposes; and this Six-Week Meeting so manage the Matter, as either to baffle the Plaintiff, be he Priest or Impropriator; [as I still remember— Smith, Brother to Robert Smith of Whitle-seacoats, did Counsellor Holeman of Chaterice in the Isle of Ely, i. e. the Impropriator] or else to preserve their Friends, (they having a Salve for ever Sore) as that he shall be a better Man when he ends his Contest than when he began. To which let me add a second Instance out of W. mather's his Manuscript sent to be printed, viz. They (says W. M.) have condemned many Quakers, as of Antichrist, that do pay Tithes as others do: And Joseph Clark, a Preacher, professed to me, That God moved him to refuse to deliver his Tithes to the Priest; the Priest Sued him, he answered the Priest by Advice of John Feild, who had promised the said Joseph to secure his Goods from the Priest; which he (John Field) failing to do, Joseph the Day before the Asize at Bedford got a Person to agree with the Priest for him; and since that hath said to me, that he could now pay his Tithes as well as other Taxes, etc. For by the Management of this Confederacy, by such undue Methods, to prevent the Execution of the Law, as it carries off the Transgressor with flying Colours, so it tends to encourage every Litigious Quaker to stand it out with his Lawful Minister, and bid him do his worst, etc. So also has it been of very evil Consequence to the Ministers, who many of them have great Charges to maintain, and small Live; and great part of that wrongfully detained, by means of the said Confederacy: I say, this has been, and in other Cases will be, very Pernicious to the Public Peace, and Possession of Liberty and Property, if it be not prevented. Fifthly, The like may be said touching the Statute of 22 of C. II. For if in the Execution of that Act of Parliament, [or any other] the Justices or Constables made a wrong Step, if any Quaker got a Certificate from their Quarterly Meeting, signifying his Faithfulness to their Church Canon, in that Case made and provided, viz. That he neither have FORSAKEN, DECLINED, or REMOVED his Meeting, like the Worldly, Fearful, and Politic Professors, he shall either have his Cause so managed, as to ride Triumphant, or with Sam. Cater, be plentifully Rewarded; who pretending he suffered 20 l. for Preaching at Phakenham, in Norfolk, had 10 l. sent him out of the Common Bank, or London Fund, by John Peacock, late of St. Ives, Woollen-Draper: Tho' after all, when Cater's Business came to be examined, he did not suffer a Groat: Yet such is the Freeness of this London Fountain, that Sam did but pretend he suffered 20 l. and he had 10 l. sent him, as an Encouragement to go on. Sixthly, Those Quakers which solicit the Parliament are Members of this Meetings, who derive their Authority and Licence so to do from the Yearly Meeting, as above observed; who when the Clergymen are at home, minding their Cure, thinking themselves safe in their Callings, being by Law established, then are the Quakers working like Moles under Ground; and soliciting sometimes against Tithes, sometimes against Colleges; yea, against the very Bells, as I shall show from their Ancient Testimony, to which they oft refer, and exhort others to keep up to it in all its Parts; I say, that I may show a Branch of their Ancient Testimony, I shall recite part of the Quakers Petition against the Clergy, and their Maintenance, subscribed by above 7000 Persons, and delivered to the Parliament of England the 20th of July, 1659. entitled, Several Papers sent to the Parliament, etc. Printed 1695. and all their Petitions since to this Day, have some Tincture of the Leaven of this Petition, viz. We whose Hands are here underwritten, do testify and declare against the Oppression of Tithes: The false Christians have set up a Law and Commandment to take Tithes; and so the Commands of Men must be disannulled that take Tithes, and not to be obeyed by them that live in the Covenant of God † Mark, their Ancient Testimony. : And the unjust Power that held them up, and Priests, and Impropriators, and the Law, and Command, and the Author of it, not to be of God, nor of Christ.— We warn you, which to you is the Word of the Lord God, That all forced Maintenance of the Priests be taken away; for while such a thing is set up, it will spoil many idle Men, that will not thresh, nor plant, nor dig, nor make Vineyards, plough nor sow, etc. P. 58. WE WOULD HAVE YOU TO READ THESE THINGS, AND DO JUSTLY AS IT SPEAKS † The Priests to Thresh, Dig, etc. and the Quakers to Ride on good Horses, this would please wondrous well. † ☞ . Let the Impropriators who bought or rend their Tithes of the Colleges, turn them up to the Colleges again, and let the Colleges be taken away that make Ministers. P. 59 And you may sell all the Glebe-Lands, Kings-Rents, and his Houses, and the Bells, to pay the Impropriators; who have bought the Tithes of Kings, let their Rents and Parks be sold to pay them again: And they that have bought them of Colleges, let the Glebe-Lands be sold to pay them. P. 63. If you do not take off Oppression, how should the Lord stand by you, or the People of the Lord either? If you query, how you should do with Impropriators? Answ. Sell all the Glebe-Lands, and the Bells, except one in a Town, or two in a City, to give Notice of a Fire: And all the late King's Parks, and his Rents, that had Tenths, and sold the Tithes; so let them, i. e. the King's Parks and Rents be sold, and the Colleges sold, and all the Tithes that belong to them thrown down. P. 65. You who are the Parliament of this Nation, you should have thrown down Tithes, which Abundance of the sober People of the Nation hath petitioned you † What Impudence is this! Pretend to petition and beg, yet teach the Parliament, and tell them what they should do. to have taken them away; which you voting them up, hath voted yourselves out of the sober People's Affection of the Nation, among the Brutes; you should have sold all the Glebe-Lands, and sold all the Bells, saving one in a Town; and Colleges, and their Lands, and given them all to the Poor of the Nation. P. 68 And the Priests cry to you Magistrates for Tithes, the Pope's Alms, and lie begging with their Petitions at your Doors: * It was highly necessary then, as well as ●…s now, fo● some to oppose Quakeri●…. And we would have you maintain these begging Priests some other way, than by the Pope's Alms. P. 69. AND EXCEPT YOU TAKE COUNSEL OF THE JUST, YOU SHALL NOT SIT † ☞ . Reader, I have recited enough of the Quakers Petition against the Clergy, to show the Nature of their Ancient Testimony, and pointed with a Finger ☞ to two Say, which, with the rest, are full of Impudence: And when against the Clergy, I think I may take their Word; their whole Carriage and Deportment, both by Word and Writing, do confirm it: But when for themselves they have any Favour to obtain, DISTRUST THEM IN ALL THEY SAY, for they TWO stick at no Promise; as in the Case of their Indulgence; witness their Acknowledging the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given forth by Divine Inspiration. That it is the Rules of Faith and Practice, etc. whilst they believe not one Word of what they themselves say; and as a Demonstration thereof, I shall recite one of their Epistles, sent to the Monthly and Quarterly Meetings, showing their Care of their own Books: Nay, them very Books which teach, that the Scriptures are Death, Dust, Beastly Ware, Serpent's Food, etc. Therefore, From the Meeting of Sufferings in London. † Renewed Advice to the Monthly and Quarterly Meetings in England and Wales, for preserving and spreading Friend's Books for Tr●th's Service, Printed 16●9. Dear Friends, With our dear Love in the Truth unto you all, these are to let you understand, that our Friends have at several YEARLY MEETINGS, had under their serious Consideration, how all those Books that are printed for the Service of Truth, and in the Unity of Friends, might MOST EFFECTUALLY be SPREAD for a general Service to Truth; and at the last YEARLY MEETING it was left unto this Meeting, who accordingly have taken Care and Pains therein, and settled as followeth. That those that print Friends Books, shall the first Opportunity after printed, within one Month at most, send to one of the Correspondents in the Counties, viz. For your County, two Books of a sort for each Monthly Meeting in your County, if under Six Pence, and but one of a sort, if above Six Pence per Book, for these Reasons. 1st, For Friends to have general Notice what Book is printed. 2dly, That they may send for what other Quantities they see a Service for. And, 3dly, That the Printer may be encouraged in Printing for Friends. 4thly, For a Quaker Library. That one Book at least of a sort that shall be printed, may be kept in each Monthly and Quarterly Meetings, for the Service of Truth and Friends, as there shall be occasion, for the future: And as 'twas agreed at the last YEARLY MEETING, 1692. in the Printed Epistle. 5thly, It is agreed, that for Encouragement, the Printer will allow 2 d. in the Shilling for all such Books. 6thly, It's agreed, that some here shall be appointed, that two or three Weeks before each Quarter Day, to examine the Printer, to see that they send no Books but what are approved by Friends, and no more than two of a sort, as aforesaid, except the Friends in the Country shall write for more, which it's hoped they will not fail in † I have heard that they begin to fail, and send but slowly. , as they see a Service for them. 7thly, It's agreed or advised, that the Printer's Accounts be fully cleared once a Year at least, by those Friends the Country shall send up to the Yearly Meeting. 8thly. It's agreed, that the Name of the Printer, employed by Friends, should be sent with Directions how to write to him. And Dear Friends and Brethren, It's Tenderly, and in Brotherly Love, advised and recommended unto you, that ye be careful and diligent in the Spreading of All such Books that are printed for the Service of Truth and are either written in Defence of it, or Christian Doctrine, or Holy Profession, or by way of Epistle, Warning, Caution, Exhortation, or Prophesy; Not a Word of the Bible. that so we may not be any way, or in any wise, Remiss or Negligent in promoting that Holy and Eternal Truth it hath pleased Almighty God to bless us with the Knowledge of, and hath raised us up to stand Witnesses for in our Age and Generation; nor nothing may be wanting on our parts, to promote it, and the spreading of it. Signed on the Behalf of the Meeting for Sufferings in London, 18. 6. Mo. 1693. By Benj. Bealing. Postscript. And this Agreement and Account herein sent, we think it needful you should record it in your Quarterly Book; and sometimes read it for Remembrance, and general Notice. Observations from hence. Reader, From what hath been said, you may observe, First, That there is such a Meeting as I have set forth; both from their Yearly, and the recited Six-Week Meeting, in case the Quakers deny it. Secondly, That their Business principally is to take Care of the Sufferings of their own Friends, and that how plentifully they reward such as are faithful to their Church-Canons; as in the Instance of Sam. Cater, who for pretending to suffer 20 l. tho' he suffered not a Groat, yet had 10 l. sent him, as a Reward for meeting boldly, contrary to the Law in that Case made and provided. Thirdly, That they have a Fund, or Common Bank, and that the Accounts are examined by a Committee chosen out of the Yearly Meeting for that Purpose. Fourthly, That such as suffer for Nonpayment of Tithes, are to send to the Quarterly Meetings Correspondents, left their Sufferings be delayed. Fifthly, You may also perceive, what a Confederacy is held by the Quakers, and how they are enabled by their Exchequer, to hold Suit with both Priest and Impropriator † As in the Instance of Mr. Holeman, who was a Justice of the Peace, a Counsellor at Law, yet tired. . Sixthly, You also may see, how the Quakers solicit the Parliament for Favours; as also, how they Petition against the Clergy, the Churches, the Colleges, and Bells too: Yea, this is according to their Ancient Testimony, and they are not changed, they tell you so, as I have herein before observed. Seventhly, And as a Pregnant Instance of the dangerous Consequence of this their Six-Week Meeting, and their common Stock or Fund, observe that of Joseph Clark, one of their Preachers before noticed; who, tho' he pretended he was moved of God, (their usual Pretence for their Villainies) yet when J. Field and their Fund failed him, he presently pays his Tithes, professing also, that he then could pay them as well as other Taxes; which is a clear Demonstration, that such as stand it out, and will rather spend 20 l. then pay 13 s. is, because they are supported by this Illegal Fund, etc. And, Lastly, You may by this recited Epistle, observe the Confederacy of their Yearly-Meeting, and Six-Week Meeting, to spread their venomous Books, to infect both Youth and Aged, Male and Female, Old and Young, and all under the fine Notion of the Service of Truth, [meaning Quakerism:] For, if they meant the Truth of the Christian Doctrine, they would at one time or other read a Chapter in their Meetings; at one time or other recommend to their Monthly and Quarterly Meetings, the reading of some Portion of the Holy Scriptures: But not a Word of this in their Epistles, not a Chapter read in their Meetings for Forty Years together; but their own Epistles, their own Prophecies, their own printed Exhortations: These they not only read in their private Meetings in their Families, but they must Record (you see) this recited Epistle in their Quarterly-Book, and sometimes read it: Oh! 'tis a precious Epistle. And now, Christian Reader, I cannot but think myself unable to give a full and complete Caution, against the spreading of the Gangrene of Quakerism; and therefore give me leave in the Words of Mr. Ralph Farmer, a Minister formerly of Bristol, to rehearse part of his Exhortation in his Book, i. e. The Mist. of Ungodliness, etc. viz. Now beloved, if thou be'st a Christian, what sayest thou? Is not here a Mystery of Ungodliness to the Purpose? Where was it hatched, thinkest thou? Can any less than all the Devils in Hell, keep a Conventicle, to Contrive and Plot this Black and Hellish Treason against the Majesty of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Scriptures? Oh! ye Christian Magistrates, who rule for Christ, and to whom you shall one Day give an Account of your Government, how you have ruled for him, and how tender you have been of his Honour, what is become of your Zeal for Christ, and his Glory? Good Sirs! if these wretched Souls have such Liberty of Conscience, to think thus contemptuously of our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Gospel, let them not (upon Pretence of Liberty of Conscience) be so audaciously Blasphemous, to write and speak thus: And, O ye Servants of the Lord, my Fathers and Brethren in the Ministry of our Dear and Ever-blessed Jesus, you that are the Pastors of the Lord's Flock, and the Watchmen for the Sheep of his Pasture, lift up your Voices, and spare not; cry aloud to all your Congregations, and forewarn them, that they be not a Prey to Satan's Devices; let the Wolves know, that you are not Dumb Dogs, and cannot bark; and Idol Shepherds, that can neither hear, nor see, nor understand any thing; and that at a time of Need can say nothing; certainly, certainly, such as these may ill look for their Gain; from their Quarters they deserve it not; who, so they may be fed, care not (nor care to discover) what devouring Beast comes to destroy the Flock of Christ: But you, my dear Brethren, who are set over the Lord's Folds, and who watch for their Souls, as those that must give an Account, and that have a Desire to do it with Joy, and for the Profit of your People; read and practise what St. Paul gives in charge to the Pastors of the Church at Ephesus, Acts 20.28,29,30,31. and let me give it thee here in his own Words, what he gave forth to his Son Timothy: I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the Quick and the Dead, at his Appearing and Kingdom, preach the Word, be instant in Season, out of Season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all Long suffering and Doctrine; for the time will come [and it is now] when they shall not endure sound Doctrine, but after their own Lusts shall they heap to themselves Teachers, having itching Ears; and they shall turn away their Ears from the Truth, and shall be turned unto Fables; but watch thou in all things; endure Afflictions; do the Work of an Evangelist, (or Gospel Preacher; make full Proof of thy Ministry, etc. CHAP. XI. Shows the Quakers Second-Day Meetings, and Hypocrisy thereof; with its ill Consequences, in order to Deceive. Reader, I Am now come to their Second-Day Meeting, even to that Meeting where Satan dwells, and where he employs his Archest Emissaries; I shall not wrong them, as believing I must one Day give an Account for my Actions, before the Man Christ Jesus, who shall Judge both the Quick and Dead at the Great Day, where (I hope) I shall not be afraid to meet G. Whitehead with this Testimony in my Hand; so on the other Hand, I shall not spare them, hid nor cover them, who have by their Wiles, by their Books of two sorts, deceived the Nations, deceived many of the Magistrates, many of the Clergy, nay, myself; for I could not have wrote thus Fifteen Years ago † No, if I had not seen their deceitful Practices, and measured them by the Scriptures, I could not have known them rightly. : I took them then, at least some Years before, to be Prophets, at least sincere, and to meet there for the approving of what was Right, Sound and Orthodox, and for condemning the contrary: But behold I have found the contrary, and that by sad Experience; yea, I have found that their whole Business is to deceive, and carry on a Design; yea, a Confederacy, under the fine Notion of Unity and Concord: I have laboured many Years under great Difficulties, I have spent my Estate, I have spent my Strength, I grow into Years, I have a Conscience to Discharge, I think I cannot do it, unless I complete that Discovery which I have began: Tho' I find it prejudicial to my Health, and other Business, I find myself conscientiously concerned in this weighty Affair: I do know, that the Reverend Author of the Book, entitled, The Snake in the Grass, * To whose Works I refer the Reader. etc. have done exceeding well; he hath done beyond what I am able to do; 'tis a Learned Piece, and becomes a Learned Reader: But I am directing the greatest part of what I say to the more unlearned; † i e. The common People, who are not so well School-learned. ; to such (whether Quakers or others) as sometimes must spell as they read, and read over and over, before they can understand; this makes me sometimes write over and over the same thing, to inculcate (if possible) the Matter I am upon into their Heads, that at last they may understand, as well as to lay a Foundation for abler Pens. This than I thought fit to premise by way of Introduction, etc. This Meeting of the Quakers is held every Second Day of the Week (which we call Monday) throughout the Year in London; the Members of it are the Teachers of the Quakers, residing in and about London; where of G. Fox * For he seldom lived with his Wife, but kept at London. (in his Life-time) was the Principal, and G. Whitehead now, as I am given to understand. The Meeting formerly was kept in Ellis Hook's Chamber in Lombardstreet, now I presume in Grace-Church-Street. This Meeting doth much resemble His Majesty's Privy-Council: For the King, by and with the Advice of His Privy Council, can do many things; he can by Proclamation put the Laws in Execution; I think, he can proclaim War, and make Peace: So can this Meeting; they can quicken the coming in of Money, granted by the Yearly Meeting; they can issue out their Proclamation for a War against the Ministers of any Society; they can alter and change any Message, stop any Prophecy, stifle any Revelation, silence the Voice uttered by the Spirit of the Lord, through their most eminent Prophets, in what respect they please, and make it speak louder, and more shrill, where they think there is most Service, or may be more conducive to their Design; they are like the Helm to the Ship, which turn it which way the Pilate please; they are the Wheel within the Wheel, which move all the whole Work, yet so invisibly, as few shall know how, and fewer know who; for they are Persons uncertain and accidental, and cannot be chargeable (by Name) for any Error, tho' guilty of every Error in their Books, so far as Consent, Approbation and Recommendation can make them: For all Books Printed and Reprinted, pass through the fiery Trial of their Infallible Examination; they Govern, they Rule, they Steer the Vessel, but all Invisibly; they pay their Ministers, but their own People (many of them) that give to their Collections and Contributions, do not know it; nor, if you tell them of it, will they believe it: For none can tell, who pays, nor who receives, but now and then by chance, what some or other, as Ellwood blabbed it out at unawares: But their Principal Work is, to Approve and Licence their Books, Printed for the Service of the Truth, as they phrase it: But the last being their most principal Verb, I shall the more infist upon it, to show their most horrible Deceit and Hypocrisy: And I bless God, and am thankful to his Servants, who have enabled me not only to Print, but to Reprint this Book, to which they neither have returned an Answer, nor can they. But to proceed, suppose one of their People pretend he is moved of the Lord, by his Eternal Spirit, to write a Message or Warning to the Inhabitants of Bristol, with this Title; This is the Word of the Lord to thee, O Bristol! Well, this Book is sent up to their Second-Day Meeting, and there they take it into Consideration; then they will Alter and Change Words and Sentences; put in, and leave out, what they conceive suit best with the Times; and yet let it go as The Word of the Lord. Thus do they sit in the Judgment-Seat, and like the Old Prophet, deceive; not only the Nations, but the poor young Prophet, that thought he had wrote from the Infallible Motion; when alas! 'tis now so altered, so added to, and diminished from what it was, that it's merely Calculated to the Design of the Cabal, and yet shall go with the same Title, i. e. This is the Word of the Lord to thee, O Bristol! Of this most horrible Deceit I could give a Hundred Instances, and find Matter enough for to write a Book by itself, but I must consult Brevity, lest my Pen outrun my Penny; and therefore shall single out one Instance, which I hope will give some Satisfaction; it shall be out of a Book, wrote by Edward Burrough, entitled, A Trumpet of the Lord sounded out of Zion, sounding forth the Controversy of the Lord of Hosts, etc. Printed in Quarto, 1656. But before I go to the chief Matter intended, I shall recite the pretended Commission of this bold Prophet, and then it will appear, whether the Second-Day Meeting did well, in altering his Prophecy, by adding to, and taking from the same; for either they did believe him to be a Prophet, that the Word of the did come to him as expressly as to Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the rest of the Prophets, or they did not; if they did, how then dare they add, and diminish, and leave out, in the Reprint of his Works, what had gone for the Word of the Lord, from 1656 to 1672? If they did not believe him to be a Prophet divinely inspired, but an Impostor, why did they suffer the said Book to go as The Word of the Lord, from 1656 to 1672? So take it which way they will, and it will appear, that G. Whitehead, (whose Epistle of Recommendation is prefixed, and Printed to Edw. Burrough's Works) and others of this Second-Day Meeting, are most horrible Cheats, and grand Deceivers: And therefore, now to the Commission which Edw. Burroughs received; which, to G. W. and others, that believed it, was both Authentic and Substantial, viz. By Order and Authority given unto me by the Spirit of the Living God, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, the 31st. Day of the Tenth Month, 1655. about the 4th. Hour in the Morning, when my Meditations was of my God, upon my Bed, in Kilkenny City, in the Nation of Ireland; at that time The Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Writ my Controversy with all the Inhabitants of the Earth, unto all sorts of People; as I will show thee by this same Authority and Commission declared: This I send unto you the Tribes of the Earth, and this upon your Heads shall stand for ever, to be witnessed by the Light of Christ Jesus ●n all your Consciences, in the dreadful Day of Vengeance, which upon you, O Inhabitants of the Earth! is coming. Prepare, prepare to meet the Lord. O Nations, Tongues and People! unto you all hereby a Warning is come; and a Visitation from the Presence of the Living God, which you are straight required to put in Practice, as at the terrible Day of dreadful Vengeance you will answer the contrary. Given under my Hand, and Sealed by the Spirit of the Eternal God, who lives for ever, through a Servant of the Lord, Edw. Burrough. Thus, Reader, you see the Commission which Edw. Burrough received; (whether counterfeit or not, is not my present Business) which was forthwith Printed in Quarto, and sent up and down the Nation, as The Word of the Lord, and as such received by Thousands of us, and to be sure, approved of by the Second-Day Meeting; yet when the Times changed, and the Second-Day Meeting came to Reprint the several Prophecies and Revelations of this remarkable Prophet Ed. Burrough, amongst the rest you will find this Book, you styled, The Trumpet of the Lord sounded, etc. Reprinted in the Works of Ed. Burrough, p. 97. And, First, To thou Oliver Cromwell, and his Council. 2dly, To all Judges and Lawyers, and their Train. 3dly, To all Astrologers, Magicians, etc. 4thly, To all Generals, Colonels, Commanders, etc. To all these four sorts, the Reprint has it with some little Variation; indeed enough to spoil the Predictions; which, had they been true, ought not to have been added to, or taken from. And the Second-Day Meeting in 1672. pretended to believe them to be true, by their Title in the Index, viz. A Trumpet of the Lord sounded forth of Zion, which containeth a Testimony from the Word of the Lord. But behold, and be astonished at the Deceit of these Jugglers, i. e. the Second-Day Metres; for the Fifth Prophecy directed thus, To all you who are, and have been always Enemies to the very Appearance of Righteousness, who are called Delinquents and Cavaliers; I say, this whole Fifth Prophecy is left out in the Reprint, tho' as positively Avowed to be the Word of the Lord as the other, as certainly Sealed by the Spirit of the Eternal God as the other, and every way Authorized by as ample a Commission from the Spirit of the Living God, yea, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, as the other; and yet all left out in the Reprint. And to make it appear so beyond all their Glozing, I shall recite it Verbatim, as it follows the preceding Title and Direction. To the Delinquents and Cavaliers. Page 9 in the Quarto Impression, printed 1656. Thus saith the Lord, my Controversy is against you, even my Hand in Judgement is upon you already; and you are become cursed in all your Hatching and Endeavours, and from time to time my Hand hath been against you in Battle; and you have been, and are given up to be a Prey to your Enemies; for the Purpose and Intents of your Hearts have been known always to be against the Form of Truth, and much more against my powerful Truth itself: And because you attempted to take my Throne, (Conscience) therefore I risen in my Fury against you, and will have War with all your Followers herein for ever, who shall attempt to take my Throne, (Conscience;) and though my Hand hath been evidently against you, yet to this Day you remain in Rebellion in your Minds, in hatching Murder and Cruelty in your wicked Hearts: Note, All this to the Delinquents is left out in the Reprint, 1672. And tho' your Kings and Princes have been cut off in Wrath, and your cruel desperate Inventions, and Plots of Wickedness (conceived in your cursed Womb) have been broken, and you cut short in your Desires, yet you repent not, nor will not see, how you are given up to be a Curse, and a Desolation, and a Prey, in Houses and Lands, and Persons, to them whom I raised against you, and gave Power over you, yet you are hardened, and your Cruelty in Persecution against my Servants cannot be measured; where you have any Power, you smite with the Fist of Wickedness, and count it your Glory to despise my Name: In the Valleys of vain Hopes do you feed, and on the Mountains of foolish Expectations; and conceive in your Cruel Womb of Tyranny, the Overthrow of the Nations; but in the bringing forth yourselves are overthrown: And it is not for well-doing that you suffer, but my Hand is against you, and my Judgements are upon you; and, except you Repent † Then some Hopes left: Why then should not this have been continued for their Good? , shall continue upon Earth with you, and follow you, and pursue you to the Lake of Destruction, where there is no Repentance; and you, and your Kings, and Lordly Power, (by which you have thought to exercise Lordship over my Heritage) shall be enslaved by the Devil, in the Pit of Darkness, in everlasting Bondage, where he [the Devil] shall Reign your King and Lord for evermore, etc. Note, That all this whole Chapter concerning K. C. II. and his Friends, and Royal Family, is left out in the Reprint of his Works, Anno 1672. From whence it is evident, That tho' this Prophecy was said to be as true as any Chapter in the Bible; yea, that the Word of the Lord came to Burrough the 31st. of December, 1655, at the Fourth Hour in the Morning, and Sealed by the Spirit of the Eternal God; yet this Second-Day Meeting hath, or claim to have a Power superior, and by Virtue thereof, can silence the Prophet, stifle his Prophecy, cancel his Revelation, and null and make void his Commission; for, as I said, they either believed his Commission to be Real, or Counterfeit; It must be Real or Counterfeit. if Real, as so they always pretended, then is it not great Wickedness that it should be thus smothered up, and stifled, and left out of his Works, since tho' the Delinquents and Cavaliers were very wicked, yet upon Repentance there seems to be some Hopes, which now this Prophecy cannot be instrumental in, since the Second-Day Meeting hath buried it in Oblivion, in that they did not Reprint it with the rest of the same Book, in his Works in Folio, Printed 1672? If Counterfeit, What wicked Wretches were these Members of the Second-Day Meeting in 1656. to Print it in Quarto as the Word of the Lord, and Sealed by the Spirit of the Eternal God, and thereupon, and as such, sent it up and down to us, to deceive us, by recommending a Counterfeit Commission for a Real? Thus let them take it which way they will, and it is wicked in the Superlative Degree. But this is not all; it showed their Cowardice and Temporising; for this was wrote in O. Cromwell's time, designed, I perceive, to curry Favour with him, and to show that himself, and his Brethren the Quakers, were Enemies to Monarchy: But when it was Reprinted, it was done in K. Charles the Second time, and then they wheeled about, and complained of O. Cromwell, and flattered the King, Cavaliers, and Court-Party; and then this Prophecy, Sealed never so strong, Revealed never so clear, the very Day, Month and Year specified, nay, the very Hour in the Morning, yet (as I have said) it not suiting with the Design on foot, namely, To root out Christianity, and introduce Quakerism, it must be suspended, stifled and buried. Thus than it appears, how wickedly deceitful are these Second-Day Metres, who can thus prevaricate and dissemble with God and Man; of which, I could give many Instances, but rather refer to The Snake in the Grass, etc. which doth most amply set forth their turning with the Times, and their facing about with every Wind that might seem to blow a prosperous Gale for the Advance of Quakerism, etc. But to conclude, or rather confirm this Head, and to show what Temporizers these Quakers have been, as well as knowingly Wicked, these Second-Day Metres ever (from first to last) were, let me add one Citation more, as it lies dispersed in a Book of Ed. Burrough's, Printed in Quarto 1659. containing several Letters written, and said to be delivered to O. Cromwell, Anno 1657. and some Letters said to be delivered to R. Cromwell, Anno 1658. than Protector: But I distrust all they say † So cannot believe they did deliver them as Printed, since after Printed can thus alter them. ; for having compared this Quarto Book, I find many places which mentions the King, or the Kingly Government, left out in his Works in Folio; which Words so left out you will find them in Capital Letters; which, as it shows their Temporising, so it discovers their Wickedness to stifle Prophecies, if they believed them such to be; if not, still as wicked to let this Burrow in his Works still go for a Prophet, and by Whitehead, Coale, howgil and Fox, etc. recommended as such; I do say, it is such a Depth of Hypocrisy, that I want Words to set it forth sufficiently. P. 15. And these things are not right in the Sight of the Lord, that such who have been for many Years faithful in the Service, and in their Trust, and hazarded Life and Liberty for Conscience-sake, which they cannot now possess, because of thee, [Dear Oliver,] but are cast out for the Exercise of their pure Conscience; consider of it, for this makes the Nation more unhappy, and less blessed, when such who delight in true Justice and Judgement, are cast out of their Places * Oh! how the Quakers did flatter O. Cromwell, to get into Offices, yea, Justices forsooth. , and so deprived of giving their Judgement amongst Men; and absolutely this will make thy Army less prosperous, when such who fear the Lord, against whom thou canst not justly charge no Evil, are cast out, and despised, and this in time thou may'st see to thy Sorrow; and as thy Friend, I lay this before thee, and do in Plainness tell thee, If thou thus utterly deny the People of God in the Day of thy Prosperity, and thou thus wholly cast them out of thy Service, they cannot stand by thee, nor own thee in the Day of thy Trouble † Oliver did not much value his new Saints, i. e. Quakers. ; P. 16. When as such who feareth the Lord, are cast out of Judicatories in thy Government, and out of Defence in thy Armies: What! Is this the end of that long Travel in Wars, and of so many Promises of Liberty of Conscience, that just Men should thus be dealt withal, as one without Bowels of Compassion, unto such who have truly served with thee in a faithful Service for the Commonwealth, who many of them now are grievous Sufferers under thee? P. 17. Many Enemies thou hast, which watch over thee, (O. C.) for Evil, and not for Good:— First, There is a People scattered through all these Nations, who is full of Wrath towards thee, EVEN OF THOSE KNOWN BY NAME MALIGNANTS * Oh! how careful the Quakers were of their dear Friend O. C. , in whose Hearts, to this Day, there is continual Hatred against thee, and all thy Offspring;— Daily Advantage they seek against thee, by secret Plottings of Maliciousness in their EVIL Hearts, seeking by all Means, if it be possible, how to be avenged, and to revenge themselves, and THE CAUSE OF THEIR KING, with no better Purpose, than to destroy thee;— Such is the Cruelty and Desperateness of some of them, their own Lives are not dear unto them, to take away thine; I have felt the Strength of their Rage against thee, which carries them above Sense or Fear, to undergo any Danger, that they may see their desired End of thee; their Malice towards thee is so seated in their wrathful Hearts, that it cannot easily be quenched: 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 break them in Pieces; AND WHAT THOU HAST DONE TO THEIR KING SHOULD NOT BE RECKONED AGAINST THEE BY THE LORD, † Murder acquitted, if O. C. would but stand by the Quakers. IF NOW THOU ART FAITHFUL TO WHAT HE REQUIRES OF THEE. P. 20. Tho' we the People of God doth not envy thy Person nor Government,— yet, Friend, the Want of our Prayers to God for thee is worse to thee than the secret Plotting of all wicked Men: And how can we mention thee in our Prayers to God for thee, except it be to be delivered from thee? Good Counsel and Advice rejected, Printed in Quarto 1656. Reprinted in Folio 1672. To this agrees that Saying of G. Fox to Mr. Camelfeild, a Minister, in his Book, i. e. Truth's Defence, etc. p. 15. No Prayers can we send to thee, but for thy Destruction, thou Man of Sin, and Enemy of Christ, etc. No, neither to Oliver their Governor, nor to the Priests; no, they cannot pray for their Enemies, unless they do Kindness for them, i. e. make them Justices or Commanders; no, no Penny, (or what's Equivolent) no Pater Noster from the Quakers. See the Margin † Is that the Reason they'll not pray for King William III? . P. 21. And this I have written to thee, out of perfect Love in the Fear of God:— And if thou couldst own them, (i. e. Quakers) they would own thee in the Face of all thy Enemies. P. 35. To Richard. AS CONCERNING THY WAR, AND ARMIES ABROAD IN SPAIN, SOMETHING THERE IS IN * Something; yea, who knows not that, this is like a Gypsie-Prophesie. IT KNOWN TO THE LORD:— MAKE NO COVENANT WITH IDOLATERS, BUT TREAD DOWN THEIR IDOL GOD'S, WHICH THEY HAVE SET UP, AND HUE DOWN THEIR MOUNTAINS, IN WHICH THEIR CONFIDENCE STAND, AND BLOW UP THEIR GROUND, THAT THE SEED MAY BE SOWN AFTER THEE; IT'S HONOUR ENOUGH TO BE THE LORD'S PLOUGHMAN. P. 44. And if thou walk with the Lord, and preserve his People, (i. e. Quakers) that fear him, then shalt thou prosper, and thy Name shall be greater than was thy Father's, and the numberless Number of this now distressed People will be unto thee a Strength, and stand by thee in thy Day of Trouble, and defend thee and thy Just Government † Then R. Cromwell's Government was Just in the Quakers Account. , and their Hearts shall cleave unto thee, and thou shalt prosper for their sakes, and none of thy Enemies shall have Power over thee. P. 53. And as for thy Father, the late Protector, great things did the Lord do for him, in raising him up, and casting out his Enemies before him, and giving him Victory, Renown and Power * O brave Oliver! the Quakers Champion. through Nations; and we know the Lord shown Favour to him, and gave him Strength, Wisdom and Valour, and a right Spirit; and he was called of God into that great Work, to subdue the grievous Tyrannies, once ruling over tender Consciences, and to break down the great Oppressions which had caused the Just to Groan; and the Lord was with him in Victory, and preserved him from great Dangers. Observations on the recited Quotation. Reader, please to observe, First, That the Words in Capital Letters were Printed in the Quarto Book, 1659. and left out in the Reprint in Folio, 1672. which shows their Temporising; and like Butterflies, how they hid themselves, whilst the Danger of the Storms are past. 2dly, Their Wickedness in leaving out such Prophecies, if real; if counterfeit, then as bad to suffer them to go abroad so long, to deceive others. 3dly, How they pleaded their being in the Army, and their Faithfulness to their Trust therein, as meritorious of their Continuance in the Army for the Defence of the Nation, as well as their Desire of being in Offices in the Administration of Justice † Oh! they'd gladly be Justices of the Peace. . But hold! Oliver, as he did not believe their Prophecies, so he would not trust them in either Military or Civil Affairs. 4thly, You may see how they did cling to O. Cromwell, and next to Richard, justifying their Usurpation. 5thly, How they acquitted O. Cromwell in that horrible Murder of K. Charles I. saying, That if he would but stand by, cherish and support Quakerism, WHAT HE DID TO THE LATE KING SHOULD NOT BE LAID TO HIS CHARGE BY THE LORD. 6thly, And that if he would not do so, they could not pray for him, and that should be worse to him than all the Plottings of the Wicked: And I take this to be the Reason why they refuse to pray for K. William III. for I have gone into several of their Meetings, and I have enquired of others that have done the like; I have likewise read divers of their Prayers in Print, as Stephen crisps, and others, yet I could never hear, see, nor learn, that they ever prayed for K. William III. not, no more than for the Priests, or than for Oliver: But for this Omission Whitehead hath a Salvo ready, The Content. Apost. etc. p. 27. viz. But where are all required by Christ or his Apostles, to pray for them (i. e. Kings, and all that are in Authority) by Name, or charged as Offenders for not naming of Persons in our Prayers? May we not pray acceptably † And may you not? Who knows but you may mean another than the Rightful and Lawful King, , unless we tell God the Names of those we pray for? etc. But, Reader, let me trace this Snake in the Grass, and hunt this Fox to his Burrow; and do not think it hard dealing: I know there can be nothing said of them that grates, but they presently cry out of Persecution, of Malice, while they take the Liberty to expose all sorts of People, how innocent soever, as at large I have set forth in the Picture of Quakerism, etc. Part 2. p. 44, to 175. and shall show one Instance more, before I enter upon my Chase. Viz. G. Fox's Judgement of Kingly Government, taken out of a Paper of his, written to the Presbyterians, etc. a little before the Restoration. To all you that desire an Earthly King in England,— who profess yourselves to be Christians, whether Presbyterians, or others,— Do not the Priests, Presbyterians, and many of the Rulers, cry for an Earthly King?— And is not this the same Nature the Jews were in? And do they not in this Crucify Jesus?— And are not all these Elders Christians, that will dote so much of an Earthly King, Traitors against Christ?— Now Elders, if you say, Peter said, Honour the King,— this doth not hold forth, that Peter bid them set up an Earthly King over them; neither do you read,— that there were any Earthly Kings since the Days of the Apostles, but among the Apostate Christians, etc. See Quakerism Unmasked, etc. p. 1. for much more of this. But no sooner did the King come in Anno 1660. but within a Month, G. Fox and others put forth a Declaration, saying, p. 4. We do therefore declare, to take off all Jealousies, Fears and Suspicions of our Truth and Fidelity to the King, and these present Governors, That our Intentions and Endeavours are, and shall be good, true, honest and peaceable towards them, and that we do love, own, and honour the King, and the present Governors, etc. Yea, let their Words be never so contrary, they are not to be measured by their Words. It would require a Volume to set forth their Temporising, and horrid Practices in this kind; but I shall only give a Taste, referring to The Snake in the Grass, etc. But 'tis Comical to see this their early Turning with the Times: First, None more vigorous against Monarchy; and yet none did sooner, nor yet more flatter, fawn, and creep to the same Government, than did the Quakers: But that which is most provoking, and for which I chief mention this, that upon every Occasion, to ingratiate themselves into the Favour of the Government, they frequently charged the same Presbyterians, etc. with their being against the Government, of fight Principles, yea, a People who would promote their Religion by the Power of the Sword. See W. Penn's Just Rebuke to 21 Divines, etc. printed 1674. p. 25. viz. How did the Presbyterians excite the Parliament in these very Terms: Elijah opposed Idolatry and Oppression, so do ye; down with Baal's Priests, which is (saith Penn) as much as to say, Away with your Arch-Bishops and Bishops, the whole Ministry, and Worship of the Church of England. Come, smooth George, I have seen another of your Books, Entitled, The Way cast up, etc. p. 52, 53. where you say, p. 52. Some of the Presbyterian Nonconformists 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 happened in 1666. Again, p. 53. And some of them have printed Books in Defence of the Lawfulness of making War against the Supreme Magistrates, etc. Again, p. 23. And how many Garments were rolled in Blood, by the 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. P. 54. And in very Truth, the Presbyterian Church will never be able to purge herself of the Iniquity of killing many Thousands in the Three Nations, by the Occasion of a most bloody War, raised up thro' the Instigation of the Presbyterian Teachers, etc. And thus they continued bloody Enemies to the Presbyterians, notwithstanding George Fox did so condemn them as Traitors, Antichrists, and Crucifiers of Jesus, for endeavouring the Restoration of King Charles II. and that no People then on Earth did more stir up, instigate, and encourage a bloody War against the King and Church of England, than the Quakers did: Witness their Trumpet sounded, etc. See their Trumpet sounded, etc. in the Eleventh Chapter. But notwithstanding all this, and a Hundred times as much, which might be showed out of their Books, yet they continued vilifying the Presbyterians, saying; Knowing that ye look on it as a Duty, to fight by Military Weapons, in Defence of your Principle; yea, to promote Your Cause by the Power of the Sword, in which you are Confirmed by some of Your Preachers, who are Always labouring to persuade you to this, as one Evidence of your Zeal for God, and not to spare to hazard your Lives, Liberties and Estates, in such a Glorious Cause, as you call it.— It were worth your serious Consideration, That if these (Presbyterian) Preachers continue to Stir you Up to Rise in Arms † No, nor nothing of it, but to stifle the Popish Plot, and throw it upon the Protestants. , they have not much of Self-Interest in their Eye, they being now secluded from their Places, and that Power and Authority they and their Brethren had taken from them; Whether therefore they seek not to Embroil the Nations in New Wars, rather than still to be thus deprived? etc. A plain and peaceable Advice to those called Presbyterians in Scotland, etc. Printed Anno 1681. p. 1, 7. Thus than it appears, that the Quakers to curry Favour with O. Cromwell, they complained fearfully of the Presbyterians as Traitors, for joining with the Church of England, in the Happy Restoration of King Charles II. So now from 1660 to 1681, they all use the Craft and Policy imaginable, to bring the Odium of that Reign upon the Presbyterians, and thereby to make way for the Papists, and to stifle all their wicked Plots and Conspiracies: And that it is not my single Judgement, I shall publish a Letter sent me. SIR, It being notoriously known, That since the Discovery of the Popish Plot in England, many Courses and Endeavours hath been used by the Papists and their Abettors, to stifle and hinder the Discovery and Punishment thereof. And particularly, by pretending a Presbyterian Plot against the King and his Government in England; and in order thereto, it is evident what Falsities, Scandals and Invectives against the Protestants in general, under the Name of Presbyterians, have Weekly been Published in those Libels, Entitled, Heraclitus, the Observator, and others. And whereas there hath been lately Printed for Benjamin Clark in George-Yard, Lombardstreet, London * The Quakers Bookseller. , this present Year 1681. a certain Book, Entitled, Advice to the Presbyterians in Scotland, which appears to have been written Two Years since; which Book doth very much reflect upon some Principles of the Scotch Presbyterians; whether rightly suggested or not, is not the Intent of this Paper to examine; but Twenty Years Experience of the Presbyterians in England, have proved their Practices in England, far different from the mentioned Reflections: Therefore sundry well-meaning Protestants, of different Persuasions from the Presbyterians, for several Reasons, have thought the Publication of the said Book in England * Of Alex. Skene, a Quaker-Teacher. , at this juncture of Time, to be injurious to the Protestant Interest in general: And some of the said Protestants being informed, that Mr. Pennyman did intent to make a public Protestation against the said Book this Day upon the Exchange, did think it their Duty to dissuade Mr. Pennyman from the doing thereof, as being probable to be the Occasion of the greater Publication of the said Book, unto which he hath consented: And the same Persons do likewise desire and require you, as much as in you lies, to hinder thereof, lest by your Neglect you strengthen the Hands of the Enemies of the Protestants, and Protestant Religion in general † Copy of this was sent to the Quakers. . 28. July, 1681. Thus then doth it undeniably appear, how enviously Malicious, and of what a Persecuting Spirit the Quakers are; yet, poor Hearts, this in them is all Innocency, Meekness, and the Lamb's Spirit; but in others, so much as to tell them of it, it's Persecution. Pray why was it in G. Fox and others, to call the Clergy Witches, Devils, Blasphemers, false Prophets, Jesuits, Conjurers, Antichrists, and what not, that might render them odious to the People? Smith's Works, p. 175. A Brief Discovery of a Threefold Estate, etc. p. 7, 8. Burrough's Works, p. 30. This is no Persecution in the Quakers; no, they are innocent Souls, and as far from Persecution, as the Meat of an Oyster is from the Shell, when living in the Sea; for they for the present are given up to suffer. Come, G. Whitehead, what think you of your Brother Smith, who calls the Bishop's Monsters, the Church of England a corrupted Womb, and by him ripped up? What do you think of his saying the Common-Prayer-Book receives its Strength from the Pope's † Good God was ever the like Impudence known? Loins, and that the Pope gives Life to it? Oh that ye could but see yourselves, and repent of your Wickedness! For if the Government should believe you, that the Clergy are false Prophets, what remains but Death, and that according to the Law of God? But I challenge the Quakers to produce one single Clergyman that have prophesied of a thing to come to pass, and it did not; as Sol. Eccles, a Quaker-Prophet, did, who prophesied, That John Story should die within a Year, who lived Four Years after, as I elsewhere have showed. Again, If the Government believed the Quakers, whose Books affirm, that the Clergy are Witches and Devils, they ought not to suffer them to live, but presently say, ☞ There goes a Witch, knock him on the Head, Exod. 22.18. Again, ☞ There goes a Blasphemer, stone him to Death, Leu. 24.16. Again, ☞ There goes a false Prophet, let him die, Deut. 18.20. Yea, (saith W. Penn) Whilst the Idle Gormandizing Priests of England run away with above 150000 l. a Year, under Pretence of being God's Ministers,— and that no sort of People have been so Universally, through Ages, the very Bane of Soul and Body, to the Universe, as that Abominable Tribe; for whom the Theatre of God's most dreadful Vengeance is reserved, to act their Eternal Tragedy upon † Observe the Quakers Goliath of Gath, W. P. , etc. The Guide Mistaken, etc. p. 18. Thus, Reader, I have given thee a Relish of the Quakers Meekness, and Lamblike Nature; and therefore give me leave to hunt this Fox; did I say, give me leave? Nay, I am resolved, that if thou wilt not give me leave, I shall take it: What! shall these Rabsheka's be perpetually Railing and Domineering over the Gospel-Ministers without Control? Shall these uncircumcised Philistines appear in Triumph Forty Years together, and their Goliath vaunting himself, boasting of his Parts, Learning, and Interest at— as the other did of his Strength? and Stature, whose Staff of his Spear was like a Weaver's Beam; and who glorying therein, defied the Armies of Israel, 1 Sam. 17. as the Quakers do the Church of England, her Bishops and Clergy? And as a fresh Motive to this my Chase, I saw Two Letters from Two worthy Clergymen to their Acquaintance in the City, which complained of the Quakers Insolency. An Abstract thereof is as followeth, viz. I supply the Cure of— I have with the Blessing of God upon my Pains, preserved the People in our Communion (except some few) till now. But at this time, through the extraordinary Devices, Craft and Subtlety of the Quakers, that Parish, and two or three more thereabouts, are in great Danger of falling from the Church to Quakerism; several of their New Converts go about to Houses, importuning Men and Women to go to hear their Speakers: They are so troublesome in this Nature, as that I am persuaded some have turned, and others must turn for a quiet Life. I have observed them to be much more hot and eager in making Proselytes since the Peace, than ever they were in the time of the War. They challenge us to meet them, and Dispute with them; but if we should accept their Challenge without our Bishop's Leave, I do not know how he would resent it; besides, I am not hasty, lest the best Cause in the World should suffer through my Weakness:— And the Advantage they would bring to their Cause hereby, is, to have it universally believed, that their Religion is so good, and so much favoured by the Government, as that it neither can, nor dare be opposed by us.— I believe the Intent of the King and Parliament, in granting them an Indulgence, was not that they should disturb the Professors of the Established Religion by Law; but rather, that these Legal Professors should not be capable of disturbing or molesting them: I pray God open the Eyes of our Governors, and cause them to take into Consideration this too much, and too deplorable, unlimited and unbounded Toleration, (especially as the Quakers both claim and use it;) which, notwithstanding all the Care, and indefatigable Labour and Pains of the Watchmen of Israel, will certainly (if not timely prevented,) be the Overthrow of our Church, and Christianity itself, etc. And to my own Knowledge, they boast of having the Royal Ear, and such Friends at Court as give them great Boldness, especially in Country Towns and Villages, where they ride Lord and Master, and begin to think themselves interested in the Comprehension discoursed of: But if so, without first a general Retractation of the Errors by them broached, and of their scandalous Defamations of our Kings, our Parliaments, Bishops, Clergy, and Protestants in general, it will be no other than breeding a Viper in the Bowels of the Christian Churches, which God of his Mercy divert. Thus begging my Reader's Pardon for this long Digression, I shall now take Leave to renew my Chase in Hunting the Fox; not so much to single out a single Person, (for that (God knows) of every Society there has been some Particulars under mistaken Notions, pursuing wrong Designs;) as to show, that the Governing Party of the Quakers, who sit at their Helm, have been utterly against this present Government: For, as I told them Publicly, in my Printed Letter to the Quakers, Printed 1690. p. 2. i. e. This Government and the Protestant Interest are so linked together, that those which are not true to the one, cannot be true to the other, whatever they may pretend, etc. I say not so much to single out of their Herd one particular Person, as to show, that the Quakers in general, (who think themselves thus highly honoured, as the Merit of their Innocency) have all along been averse to the Government, that so when they (like the Peacock) behold their dark Parts, they may let fall their Plumes, and be humbled, and brought to a Confession, both of their Sins of Omission and Commission against God and Man: For, I having observed the Discourse of the Quakers touching the late Happy Revolution, found how their Pulse beat; and in the general, perceived a great Lukewarmness in them to the present Government: I also went sometimes to their Meetings, as I did to other Dissenters, to observe whether they all prayed for Their Majesties; and to do the Dissenters Right, both Presbyterians, Independants and Baptists, prayed hearty for Their Majesties, King William and Queen Mary; but not a Word of such a Prayer amongst the Quakers: By which I soon perceived, that their People's Averseness to the Government proceeded from the Doctrine and Example of their Teachers; upon which I Printed against this their Omission, in a Letter to the Quakers, 1690. p. 2. saying, Why do you not Pray for, and Address yourselves to King William and Queen Mary, as publicly and as hearty as you did to and for the late King James II. viz. as a brave King? God and Cesar (said Penn) are both of a Mind; pray God bless the King and his Royal Family. These, and many more, were published through the Nations, (and from your Yearly Meetings too;) but no Salutation, no Message, no Prayer for, nor Address to King William and Queen Mary, as if you were struck mute at the Loss of your brave Popish King. I do not charge this as an Evil in itself, whilst our King; but to show the Quakers Zeal to that, and Coldness to his present Majesty, whom God preserve. What can you say for yourselves? Are you like those, 1 Sam. 10.27. viz. The Children of Beliel, who said, How shall this Man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no Presents, (no Prayers, no Addresses;) but the King held his Peace? O ye unworthy and ungrateful Persons! Hath not King William granted you the Liberty of your Consciences? What! Have you nothing to say for King William? Nay, you are so far from that, that you have acted quite contrary; for when King William appointed a Fast for the Prosperity of his Arms, than you not only Preached against the Fast, but also to weaken the Hearts and Hands of his Friends, you vehemently cried down all Wars and Fight * Mark this, with the Juncture of Time and Occasion. , and the like. Is you Zeal for the Protestant Cause quite gone, or is it gone to Rome? etc. This Letter, I grant, put them into a Fume and Fret; but they soon found a Salvo, viz. Where (said G. Whitehead) are all required by Christ, or his Apostles, to pray for them, (i. e. Kings, and all that are in Authority) by Name, etc. The Content. Apostate, etc. p. 17. as before observed. But I soon Printed a Reply to G. Whitehead's Evasive Answer, entitled, New Rome Unmasked, p. 26, to 30. where I gave Instances of their Prayers and Addresses to the late King James II. as in the following Addresses is manifest, but not one Anniversary Address to King William III. to August 1699. viz. The Humble Address of the People called Quakers, to K. James II. June 1687. We cannot but with grateful Hearts, both admire and acknowledge the Providence of God, that made the King's retiring into our Native Country [i. e. Scotland, in 1679.] give a Happy Turn to his Affairs, to the defeating and disappointing the Designs of his Enemies: We do justly conceive Oar selves obliged by a special Tie, to praise God for his Goodness, in carrying the King through and over all his Troubles; since by the same Providence, and at the same time, by which the Lord began in that more observable manner, to evidence his Care of him, he made him the happy Instrument to deliver us from our Troubles; so that the Prosperity of his Affairs, and our peaceable Fruition of the Exercise of our Consciences, bears the same Date, etc. The Humble Address of the People called Quakers to K. James II. from our Yearly Meeting, 1688. We the King's loving and peaceable Subjects, from divers Parts of his Dominions, being met together in this City, to inspect the Affairs of our Christian Society † Which by Interpretation is Infect. , Throughout the World, think it our Duty humbly to represent, etc.— Now since it hath pleased thee, O King! to renew to all thy Subjects, by thy last Declaration, thy Gracious Assurance, to pursue the Establishment of this Christian Liberty, etc. We think ourselves deeply engaged, to renew Our Assurances of Fidelity and Affection:— And as we firmly believe, that God will never desert this just and righteous Cause of Liberty, Nor the King in maintaining of it; so we hope, etc. Thus, Reader, you see here is nothing wanting but bended Knees; here is in All Humility, in All Fidelity, with All Affection; yea, All, All, All, all Prayers for him, for a long Life, for a prosperous Reign; Laud and Praise in the highest, for His Deliverance, for the defeating his Enemies, [i. e. Protestants;] besides, by a modest Computation, Ten Thousand Books spread up and down the Nation, in favour of his Government. See my Sober Expostulation with the Hearers of the Quakers, etc. p. 13. But, since King William came to the Crown, No Salutation, No Message, No Prayers for, No Address to him from their Yearly Meeting † Unless this in 1698. now the War is ended, and no Hopes left them. , No in all Humility, No in all Fidelity, No with all Affection, No Public Prayers for his long Life, for his prosperous Reign, No Laud and Praise that his Enemies are defeated. Here is all No, No, No; nor one Book wrote in Favour of the Government, during this Reign. But that my Reader may rightly understand which side of the Hedge the Quakers have to this Day hid themselves, I will recite one Query to them anew, as in that Book of mine I did, New Rome Unmasked, etc. p. 31. as I took it out of a Jacobite Catechism, p, 5. For as I would not write one Sheet which hath not a Tendency to show either their Errors, Hypocrisy, Covetousness, or Treachery to the Nation, so shall I take in all that concur thereto, tho' it be Twenty Sheets. The Query is; Query. What made the Quakers no more concerned for the Loss of those brave Patriots of our Country, Essex, Russel, (Sidney, Cornish, Bateman? etc.) I could never get an Answer to this Query. This was such an untoward, knotty Question, that all the Quakers were not able to answer it, that ever I understood: No, no, instead of being sorry, G. Whitehead, Fran. Camfeild, Gilbert Layty, and Alex. Parker, delivered an Address to King Charles II. at Windsor, about the time of the Execution of my Lord Russel, This was the first Address they ever made to Authority. crying out extremely against all Hellish Plots, and all Traitorous Conspiracies, and that they had nothing but Love and to him, and his Brother the Duke of York. But to return to the Observation I have made on the Quakers Public Prayers for, and their Yearly Meetings Address to the late King James II. and their contrary Practice to King William III * No; for what they do at their Yearly Meeting is is done by the Body. . I have something more to offer, as an Aggravation of their Ingratitude, for they made an Order for the calling in the Widow Whitrow's Books, (she being formerly of their Society, and by her plain Dress some take her to be so still;) which was in Favour of this Government. Now G. Whitehead, what Scripture had you for that? Or, by what Authority did you presume to give out this Order? Now I shall transcribe the Widow Whitrow's Paper, concerning the Quakers Order for calling in her Books; which is as followeth, viz. December 1689. The Widow Whitrow ordered Andrew Sowle to Print a Book for her, entitled, The Widow Whitrow's Humble Address to King William III. And in December 1690. ordered him to Print another Book, entitled, For Queen Mary, the Humble Salutation and Faithful Greeting of the Widow Whitrow † The very Titles of these Books were sufficient for the Ruling Quakers to Censure the Books. , etc. Both which were well accepted; and which Andr. Sowle * Sowle was the Quakers Printer and Bookseller. sent into the Country to his Friends the Quakers, and many of the said People did buy them, and liked them well † This perplexed the Foxonian Quakers. , and sent for more: But the chief Quakers in London, at their Monthly Meeting at Devonshire-House, the 7 th' of January following, made an Order to have all those Books called in, and appointed John Ethridge and William Ingram to go to the Printer, and acquaint him with the said Order, which accordingly they did: Too true, Sons of the Foxonian Quaker-Church. At which the Printers seemed troubled, saying, They thought Friends would not have been against them. (i. e. such Books) seeing they were mostly writ against the Pride and Wickedness of the Times: And asked, What it was they had against the Books? They answered, They * Meaning their Monthly Meeting. had little against them, Only that they were writ in Favour of This Government, and reflected upon the former † i e. Their brave King James II. ; and that Friends had Resolved not to Meddle with the Government, etc. It is to be observed, That the first Book, called, The Address, etc. was Printed above a Year before, and sold by their Booksellers, and not any Stop put to them, till some † Viz. The Lord Preston, W. P. etc. were endeavouring the Overthrow of this Government; so that it is easily to be understood what the Meaning was of such an Order, at such a Time and Season, etc. This Account is still ready to be attested, if denied; and which I signified something of formerly, but now I thought fit to recite it at large. See New Rome Arraigned, etc. p. 30. Well, this Order was made, where G. Fox, and the Chief Governing Quakers in London, were present, in January; but in February following came out a Proclamation against one of their chief Men; who upon the News of it, and as a tacit Confession of great Gild, run up a Cock-loft, at least a Chamber Four Story high, to hid himself. Let now the Quakers remember their Book, where they say, Some of the Presbyterian Nonconforming-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, etc. as I before observed; and let Mr. Penn remember, and be humbled, and thankful for the Favours he has received, and the Forgiveness he has met with: And let him look upon his Preface, viz. To the Christian Quaker, and his Divine Test. The PRIESTS, like FOXES, seeing their KENNEL.— TUMULTUOUS, BLOODTHIRSTY, COVENANT-BREAKING, GOVERNMENT-DESTROYING ANABAPTISTS,— keep their old Haunt, of creeping into GARRETS, Cheese-lofts, Coal-boles, and suchlike Mice-Walls * Now W. Penn himself was forced to hid, and upon a far worse Occasion than those he mentions; as may be seen by Their Majesty's Proclamation. , etc. By the King and Queen a Proclamation, for Discovering and Apprehending William Pen, and James Grahme. MARRY R. Whereas Their Majesties have received Information, That William Pen, Esq; and James Grahme, Esq; with other Ill-affected Persons, have Designed and Endeavoured to Depose Their Majesties, and Subvert the Government of this Kingdom, by Procuring an Invasion of the same by the French, and other Treasonable Practices, and have to that End held Correspondence, and Conspired with divers Enemies and Traitors, and particularly with Sir Richard Grahme, Baronet, (Viscount Preston, in the Kingdom of Scotland,) and John Ashton, Gent. lately Attainted of High-Treason; For which Cause several Warrants for High-Treason have been issued out against them, but they have withdrawn themselves from their usual Places of Abode, and are fled from Justice: Their Majesties therefore have thought fit, by and with the Advice of their Privy Council, to Issue this Their Royal Proclamation; And Their Majesties do hereby Command and Require all their Loving Subjects to Discover, Take and Apprehend the said William Penn and James Grahme, wherever they may be found, and to carry them before the next Justice of the Peace, or Chief Magistrate, who is hereby Required to Commit them to the next Goal, there to remain until they be thence Delivered by due Course of Law; And Their Majesties do hereby Require the said Justice or other Magistrate, immediately to give Notice thereof to Them, or Their Privy Council, And Their Majesties do hereby Publish and Declare to all Persons that shall Conceal the Persons , or any of them, or be Aiding or Assisting in the Concealing of them, or Furthering their Escape, that they shall be proceeded against for such their Offence with the utmost Severity, according to Law. Given at Our Court at White-Hall the Fifth Day of February, 1690/1. in the Second Year of Our Reign. Whereupon (as I was credibly informed) one Mr. Pennyman on the 22d. of that instant - February, 1690/1. in Abhorrence of this Traitorous Conspiracy, uttered these Words in their Meeting in White-Hart-Court in Grace-Church-Street, London, Viz. He that is a Traitor, or he that in the least goeth about to betray this his Native Country, he is a Traitor to the Living God; and he that is a Traitor to his Maker, is not, nor cannot be a Disciple of Jesus, that Holy and Just One; and he that is guilty of such cursed hellish Practices, must bear his Judgement, whoever he be. But as an Aggravation of this their Crime, they did not only make that Order for the suppressing the said Address to the King, which was writ (I believe) in Love and to him, etc. but suffered their Printer, Andrew Sowle, a Quaker, to print several Odious and Scandalous Books and Papers of Mr. Stafford's against the Government: and tho' they were friendly and privately acquainted with it, with Desire that those Scandalous Books, etc. might not be dispersed, yet they could not be prevailed withal to have them stopped. However, to do the Quakers all just Right, we must acknowledge some of them (and indeed but some, and that of their Hearers too) were for the Government; who, to give them their due, drew up a Paper against W. Penn, for being concerned in that horrible Plot with the Lord Preston, etc. For they having seen his Letters (that he had writ on that Occasion) in Aaron Smith's Custody, and were assured that they were of his own Handwriting: This Paper was signed by W. Mead, and a few more, who would have had it made Public; but the contrary Party being powerful, prevented it: Only when W. Penn (after his Skulking some Years) appeared, (by our merciful King's Favour) and preached as formerly in the Quakers Meetings; then W. Mead and some others took him to task, telling him, That tho' the King had passed by his Offence, yet they knowing him Guilty, (as by the said Letters under his own Hand was manifest,) they ought to have Satisfaction, as they were a Religious Society, before he preached in their Assemblies: But he having the Teachers on his side, and the Generality of the Hearers, he went on nolens volens; and if there had not been a Peace, 'tis to be still feared, that W. Penn and his Confederates (for some of 'em held it out to the very last, asserting it for a Truth, that there would be no Peace, unless, etc.) would have pursued their Design, which might have proved fatal to this Nation. But still to show, that the Quakers have rather merited the Displeasure of the Government, than the Favour and Countenance thereof, and of which they so often boast, viz. of their being Recognized Protestants, of their being Freeborn Englishmen, and thereby of their Rights and Privileges as such, I shall recite an Abstract of another Act of Parliament, and show their Non-submission and Aversion thereunto; entitled, Anno Septimo & Octavo Gulielmi III Regis. An Act for the better Security of His Majesty's Royal Person and Government. Nᵒ 551, 552. Whereas the Welfare and Safety of this Kingdom, and the Reformed Religion, do, next under God, entirely depend upon the Preservation of Your Majesty's Royal Person and Government; which, by the merciful Providence of God, of late, have been delivered from the Bloody and Barbarous Attempts of Traitors, and other Your Majesty's Enemies; who, there is just Reason to believe, have been in great Measure Encouraged to Undertake and Prosecute such their wicked Designs; partly by Your Majesty's Great and Undeserved Clemency * W. Penn, is not this true? towards them; and partly, by the want of a sufficient Provision in the Law, for the securing Offices, and Places of Trust, to such as are well-affected to Your Majesty's Government, and for the Repressing and Punishing such as are known to be Disaffected to the same. Be it Enacted, etc. No. 554. Whereas there has been a Horrid and Detestable Conspiracy, form and carried on by Papists, and other Wicked and Traitorous Persons, for Assassinating His Majesty's Royal Person, in order to encourage an Invasion from France, to Subvert our Religion, Laws, and Liberty; We whose Names are hereunto Subscribed, do hearty, sincerely, and solemnly profess, testify, and declare, That His present Majesty King William, is Rightful and Lawful † This was a bitter Pill to the Quakers Second-Day Meeting. King of these Realms: And we do mutually promise and engage, to stand by, and assist each other, to the utmost of our Power, in the Support and Defence of His Majesty's most Sacred Person and Government, against the late King James, and all his Adherents * Oh! this grated on our new Saints. : And in case His Majesty come to any violent or untimely Death, (which God forbidden,) We do further, freely, and unanimously oblige ourselves, to Unite, Associate, and Stand by each other, in revenging the same upon his Enemies, and their Adherents, and in Supporting and Defending the Succession of the Crown, etc. This Act of Parliament put the Quakers to a great Consternation; and what to do they could not tell, they having at the same time spent much Money, Time and Pains, in procuring an Act of Parliament, that their Affirmation should be taken, instead of an Oath; and it had gone through the House of Commons, and was under Consideration of the House of Lords: For, think they, if we do nothing, our Act will not pass. Well, at their Second-Day Meeting, Mar. 23d. 1695/6. their Teachers Assembled together; and no doubt, great Consultings there were, and particularly about those Words, Lawful and Rightful King * For the French King had not yet owned him King Of Great Britain. ; also, whether they should join ●ith the Protestants, in their Uniting, and Associating to stand by each other in revenging his Blood, in case he had come to a violent or untimely Death, etc. Well, these two Points were largely debated, and possibly might hold many Hours: However, it passed in the Negative; but yet, lest their Bill (for their Affirmation to be taken in Lieu of an Oath) should not pass, they agreed thus far, namely, to get a Paper printed; not mentioning what Meeting it was framed at, not Signed with any of their Names to it, nor the Name of King William once mentioned; and if this Paper [think they] will but pass, it will not do us much Hurt, in case our Old Friend come again; for none of our Names are to the Paper, nor at what Meeting it was contrived; nay, nor so much as the Name of what King we mean; and in regard we have obtained the Repute of an innocent well-meaning People, it may do well enough: So away they went trudging to the House of Lords, and presented divers of them. A Copy thereof is as followeth, viz. The Ancient Testimony and Principle of the People called Quakers renewed, with Respect to the King and Government, and touching the present Association. We the said People do solemnly and sincerely declare, That it hath been our Judgement and Principle, from the first Day We were called to profess the Light of Christ Jesus manifested in our Consciences, unto this Day, That the setting Up and putting Down Kings and Governments, is God's peculiar Prerogative, for Causes best known to himself; and that it is not our Work or Business to have any Hand or Contrivance therein, nor to be Busy bodies in Matters above our Station, much less to Plot and Contrive the Ruin or Overturn of any of them, but to Pray for the King, and for the Safety of our Nation, and Good of all Men, that we may live a Peaceable and Quiet Life in all Godliness and Honesty, under the Government which God is pleased to set over us: And according to this Our Ancient and Innocent Principle, we often have given forth our Testimony, and now do, against all Plotting Conspiracies, and Contriving Insurrections, against the King or the Government, and against all Treacherous, Barbarous, and Murderous Designs whatsoever, as Works of the Devil and Darkness: And we sincerely bless God, and are hearty thankful to the King and Government, for the Liberty and Privileges we enjoy under them by Law, esteeming it our Duty to be True and Faithful to them. And whereas we the said People are required to Sign the said Association. We sincerely declare, That our refusing so to do is not out of any Disaffection to the King or Government, nor in Opposition to his being declared Rightful and Lawful King of these Realms; but purely, because we cannot for Conscience-sake Fight, Kill or Revenge, either for ourselves, or any Man else. And We believe that the timely Discovery and Prevention of the late Barbarous Design, and Mischievous Plot against the King and Government; and the sad Effects it might have had, is an Eminent Mercy from Almighty God; for which, we and the whole Nation have great Cause to be humbly thankful to him, and to pray for the Continuance of his Mercies to Them and Us. From a Meeting of the said People in London, the 23d. of the First Month, called March, 1695/6. Thus endeth their March Ancient Testimony, 1696. Thus, Reader, I have given you a Copy verbatim of the Quakers Paper, presented to the House of Peers; and I being then in London, wrote a Reply thereunto, March 27. 1696. and presented it to the Lord's House, who immediately rejected the Quakers Paper, notwithstanding all its fine and innocent Words, telling the Quakers they must be plain, and tell them what King they mean: Secondly, Whether they believed he was both Rightful and Lawful King: Thirdly, That they must Sign their Paper. Now these three things grated sorely on their tender Consciences; for they went home sadly angry with Francis Bugg, for being instrumental in the Discovery of their deep Hypocrisy; for had that Paper passed that no Body Signed, no King's Name to it; if the late King had returned, they had been Fish whole still, and as Loyal Subjects as ever they were before. Thus, Reader, to prevent their Cavil, that I take but a Piece of their Sentences, and wrong the Sense, I have recited their whole Testimony Verbatim: But before I proceed to give you their April Ancient Testimony, let me give the Reason, at least one probable Reason, why it was rejected, and would not pass the House of Lords, so as to effect their Design; as also, what Communication I guess they had about it, etc. For I being at London the 24th. of the same Month, I went to the House of Lords, where I had one of the recited Testimonies given me, I went to my Lodging, and perceiving their Prevailing, through their Pretences of seeming Sincerity and Innocency, etc. I wrote a Paper by way of Reply, and the 27th of March I gave away about an Hundred to the Lords, who accepted of them; and presently one of the Peers came out, and called Geo. Whitehead, and told him, That their Paper would not do; for they had not so much as mentioned what King they meant, nor yet declared him Rightful and Lawful King of these Realms, nor yet Signed their Paper: And therefore they must go home, and get another more Authentic, or their Bill for their Affirmation to pass in lieu of an Oath would be rejected. Well, away they went very sorrowful, and I conceive might have amongst themselves a Discourse of this Nature, viz. G. Whitehead, Friends, our Paper is rejected, for yonder was our old Antagonist, Francis Bugg, and he has delivered to the Peers a Paper, suggesting, that we Prevaricate; he has also delivered about an Hundred of his Books to the Lords, entitled, The Quakers set in their True Light, etc. and therefore we must get another Ancient Testimony, more full to the Matter, lest we lose the Advantage of our Bill; but let us stay awhile, for if we go presently, who knows but that Apostate may reply to our next Paper; for he is so Eagle-eyed, that if he espy any thing that's defective, he may be instrumental in throwing out our Bill: You cannot but remember, that we were fair for the same Bill to pass in Anno 1693. but he then Printed a Sheet, and delivered it to the House of Commons, and in Three Hours time our Bill was thrown out of the House. Indeed we Printed a Sheet, styled, The Quakers Vindication, etc. but he having printed a Thousand of those Sheets, and gave to the House about 500, and sent to all the Coffeehouses from Westminster to Bishopsgate about 400 more, he prevailed against us: Nay, this is not all, but presently wrote a Book, entitled, Quakerism Withering, and Christianity Reviving, etc. and delivered about Two or Three Hundred of them to the House of Commons: We saw ourselves so baffled, that we thought it not meet to revive our Bill that Sessions of Parliament; and therefore let's be wise, let us stay until we think he is out of Town; for he has been here Two or Three Weeks already; and what with his Charge in Printing the Papers he gave to the Lords, and the Charge of giving in so many of The Quakers set, etc. together with his Charges of staying, one way or other, it will cost him not so little as 6 or 7 l. and he having no Public Fund to go to, it will make him weary, etc. I say, after this, they got another Paper, and presented to the House of Lords; a Copy thereof is as followeth. The Ancient Testimony and Principle of the People called Quakers renewed, with Respect to the King and Government, presented to King William III. We the said People do solemnly and sincerely declare, That it hath been our Judgement and Principle, from the first Day we were called to profess the Light of Christ Jesus, manifested in our Consciences unto this Day, That the setting Up and putting Down Kings and Governments, is God's peculiar Prerogative; and that it is not our Work or Business to have any Hand, or Contrivance therein, nor to be Busiebodies above our Station, much less to Plot or Contrive the Ruin or Overturn of any of them, but to Pray for the King, and Safety of the Nation, and Good of all Men * No; hold, not for the Priests nor Governors, unless they please you. , that we may live a Peaceable and Quiet Life, in all Godliness and Honesty, under the Government which God is pleased to set over Us: And according to Our Ancient and Innocent Principle, We often have given forth Our Testimony, and now freely and sincerely do the same, against all Plotting Conspiracies, and Contriving Insurrections, and against all Treacherous, Barbarous, and Murderous Designs whatsoever, against the King or the Government, as being Works of the Devil and Darkness. And We believe, that the timely Discovery and Prevention of the late Barbarous Design, and Mischievous Plot against King William * A forced put. First time. and the Government, and the sad Effects it might have had, is an eminent Mercy from Almighty God; for which, We, and the whole Nation, have great Cause to be humbly thankful to Him, and to pray for the Continuance of His Mercies to Them and Us: And We sincerely bless God, and are hearty thankful to King William † O brave! This is the second time. and the Government, for the Liberty and Privileges We enjoy under them by Law. And further, We are really satisfied, that God by His Special Providence did bring in, and set up King William * This is News indeed! Third time. over these Realms, and do own Him Rightful and Lawful King † But George, why did you not say so freely, without Whip or Spur? ; and are obliged in good Conscience to be True and Faithful to Him and the Government, as becomes Obedient Followers of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. At a Meeting of the said People in London, the Third of April, 1696. Signed by many of Us, on Behalf of ourselves, and the rest of our Friends, and presented to the King, Apr. 8. 1696. Thus endeth their April Ancient Testimony. Reader, before I come to make Observations upon these two, March and April Ancient Testimonies of the Quakers; there is one thing very remarkable, and worth your noticing in the whole Conduct of Quakerism; and that in two Respects; the first is passed, the second's still to come, and aught to be guarded against; and which makes me so long on this Head, and so plain with them in this Matter; and briefly thus: That altho' no one People in England did so flatter Oliver Cromwell, Richard his Son, the Rump, and all the several Changes of Government during the Usurpation, as the Quakers did, nor more oppose the Restauration of K. Charles II. Nay, not only so, but justifying Oliver in his Murdering K. Charles I. and in carrying on the War with all Vigour against the Cavaliers and Delinquents. But when the Times turned, Oh! how they laid all the Blame of both the War and Usurpation upon the Presbyterians, Independants and Baptists; as if they themselves had all along been as Innocent as Newborn Babes. This puts me in mind of a pleasant piece of News we had run through our whole Camp when I was a Quaker, viz. Anno 1674. W. Penn put forth a Book, styled, A Just Rebuke to Twenty-one Divines, etc. P. 25. Was it not a great Reason of the Wars that divided so many Families, shed so much Blood, and exhausted so great a Treasure? Did it not lay Episcopacy in the Dust, and excite the Parliament in these very Terms? Elijah opposed Idolatry and Oppression, so do ye; down with Baal's Altars, down with Baal's Priests; do not, I beseech you, consent unto a Toleration of Baal's Worship in this Kingdom, which is as much as to say, [said Penn] away with Arch-Bishops, Bishops, and 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 (said W. Penn) Royalists, are in Prison, and yet but few of them brought to Trial: (Did he mean, said W. Penn, to release them?) With much more of this nature, etc. Now tho' I do think that divers of these 21 Divines were as clear of what is suggested as myself, if not all of them; yet because they appeared in Print against the Errors of the Quakers, they, to ingratiate themselves into the Favour of the then Government, exposed these Men as Enemies to the Delinquents, i. e. Royalists. Well, the News we soon had amongst us was, that the King and the Duke of York read this Book with great Delight and Pleasure; and no doubt, but took the Quakers to be not only their Informers, but a Parcel of Innocent Souls * See what Friends the Quakers were to the Delinquents, etc. : For it was soon observed, That the Dissenters Meetings was broken up, and the Quakers Meetings connived at: A cunning Project. 2dly, The second thing observable from hence, is, that in a little time (for I see the Quakers begin to wheel about) no Man shall dare to appear in Print against them, but they will fall to their old Trade of Domineerring and Insulting over them, as Enemies to the Government, whilst none more eminently against the present Government than themselves: For as then no People were more vigorous in Print against the Restauration of K. Charles II. than the Quakers, yet how did they complain of the Presbyterians, Independants and Baptists, as divers Instances are herein given, and more might be? Yet such is their cunning and sly way of Insinuation against others, thereby to ingratiate themselves, and to vilify and expose others, that it's hard to believe, and harder to detect them therein: For in one of their late Books, writing against the Reverend Author of The Snake in the Grass, etc. They call his Labours, Prim. Chris. continued, etc. Pref. and p. 1, 11. The Black Attempts of a Necessitous, Malicious Priest, an Expulsed Clergyman, makes a Trade for Bread, in part, to repair his Losses which he charges the present Establishment to have brought upon him * A direct Lie; I never heard him speak one Word of that Tendency; tho' as some others having taken a former Oath, cannot satisfy his Conscience. , to divert his Cares and Fears, and to supply his Wants. Again, G. Whitehead, in his Letter to G. Keith, let's forth his Fury against the said Author in these Words † Observe the Malice of this mercenary Whitehead. : Especially, when the Injurious Circumstances of that Venomous and Obnoxious, Creeping, Skulking Vermin, comes further to be exposed, etc. whilst no People have both creeped up and down, skulked here and there and fled from Justice, more than the Quakers: Witness their great Goliath for an Instance: Nor no one People in England held out to the very last against the present Government more than the Quakers. But their deep Hypocrisy is both seen, felt, heard, and understood far and near; and therefore, as a further Demonstration of their wheeling about, and late temporising with their twofold Testimony; one presented in the Month of March, the other (when that was rejected) presented in the Month of April, as at large above-recited, I shall now examine. The Ancient Testimony and Principle of the People called Quakers renewed, with Respect to the King and Government. Answ. First, This I deny to be your Ancient Testimony; but this which followeth is your Ancient Testimony, viz. First, Dreadful * News coming up out of the North, etc. p. 18, 19, 20. Printed 1655. is the Lord, and Powerful, who is coming in his Power to execute true Judgement upon all you Judges, and to change all your Laws; ye Kings, all you Rulers must down, and all you Underling Officers, which has been as the Arms of this great Tree, which the Fowls hath lodged under all your Branches, must be cut down; so you must be cut down with the same Power that cut down the King † Meaning an Usurper's Sword. , who Reigned over the Nation, whose Family was a Nursery for Papists and Bishops: Woe, woe is coming upon you all; the same Teachers are standing that was in the time of the King, and the time of the Bishops, such as take Tithes; you must both be tormented together, Beast and false Prophet * Both Government and Church. . The Lord God will pour out his Plagues upon you, the Lord of Hosts hath spoken it; and except you Repent † i e. Of taking Tithes. , ye shall all likewise perish, and be consumed, as the King was, and perish with the same Power: Sing all ye Saints, and rejoice, clap your Hands, and be glad, for the Lord Jehovah will Reign, and the Government shall be taken from you, pretended Rulers, Judges and Justices, Lawyers and Constables; all this Tree must be cut down, and Jesus Christ [in us] will Rule alone. Sound the Trumpet, sound a Alarm, call up to the Battle, gather together for the Destruction, draw the Sword, hue down all fruitless Trees * This was since they professed the Light. which cumber the Ground, hue down all the Powers of the Earth, cleanse the Land from all Filthiness, purge forth the Dross, the Filth and Corruption, slay Baal; Balaam must be slain, all the Hirelings must be turned out of the Kingdom, etc. This is their Ancient Testimony. Counsel and Advice, etc. p. 26, 27. Oh Oliver! hadst thou been Faithful, and thundered down Deceit, the Hollanders had been thy Subjects and Tributers, and Germany had given up to have done thy Will, and the Spaniard had quivered like a dry Leaf,— the King of France should have bowed under thee his Neck, the Pope should have withered as in Winter, the Turk in all his Fatness should have smoked; thou shouldst not have stood trifling about small things; Sober Men, and True Hearts, took part with thee * i e. Quakers. . Oh! take heed, and do not slight such, lest thou weaken thyself, and not disown such as the Lord hath owned; thy Dread is not all gone, nor thy Amazement: Arise, and come out; for hadst thou been Faithful † viz. Turned all the Priests out of the Kingdom. , thou shouldst have crumbled Nations to Dust, for that had been thy Place: Now is the Day of Trial, p. 26, 27. thou shouldst have invited all the Christians upon Earth, in all Nations, to thee, that are against Popery, to come in, and join with thee * This is their Ancient Testimony. against Popery; for thou hast had Authority; stand to it, lose it not, nor abuse it; nor let any other take thy Crown, and do not stand cumbering thyself about Dirty Priests.— And thou hast had Power over Nations, for Nations gins to be on Heaps: and invite all them that profess against the Pope in all Nations, to join with thee against him; and do not lose thy Dominion nor Authority, nor the Wisdom of God, but with that thou may'st order all; and let thy Soldiers go forth with a free-willing Heart, that thou may'st rock Nations as a Cradle † This is their Ancient Testimony. ; and keep thou in the Fear of the Lord, and all thy Soldiers, and them that are under thee. This is a Charge to thee in the Presence of the Lord God. I am a Lover of thy Soul, and Eternal Good, an Establisher of Righteousness, G. FOX. * The Righteousness of G●d, etc. p. 11. To thee, O Oliver Cromwell! thus saith the Lord, I had chosen thee among the Thousands in 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. G. Roffe. These I affirm were your Ancient Testimonies in Print, which deserves to be burnt on Tower-Hill. Secondly, I must acknowledge it is according to your Old Testimony, with Respect to your Hypocrisy, viz. in pretending to pay your Acknowledgement to the King for his Kindness, and yet never mention by Name what King you meant, when two Kings laid Claim to the Crown; and for which your Paper was justly rejected, as a Fruit of your Hypocrisy; of which your Second-Day Meeting is full. Thirdly, It was according to your Ancient Deceit, in not owning King William to be your Rightful and Lawful King; and yet to tell the House of Lords; that your refusing to Sign the Association, was not in Opposition to his being declared Rightful and Lawful King of these Realms; which piece of Hypocrisy the Lords soon perceived, and sent you packing with your Paper. Fourthly, It was also according to your Ancient Testimony, in wheeling about, and worshipping the Rising-Sun, to bring in your April Testimony, with the King's Name three times over, and to own him your Rightful and Lawful King, and YET to leave your Promise of Signing the Association. Fifthly, It was according to your Old Testimony of Deceit and Hypocrisy, to pretend in your said April Testimony, That you owned King William III. to be Rightful and Lawful King; and yet in your March Testimony, to pretend your Conscience would not allow you Liberty to Sign the Association, according to the Act of Parliament in that Case made and provided, as above-recited, in regard you could not avenge yourselves: But being told by my Paper, (which I presented to the Lord's House, which was in Reply to yours,) That you told R. Cromwell, You would be a Strength to him and stand by him in the Day of his Trouble, and Defend him, and his just Government, etc. Then in your next Paper, to wit, your April Ancient Testimony, you left out your refusing to Sign the Association, as well as the Cause why you could not Sign it * O deep Deceit! 'Tis well for you that the Lords did not perceive this. ; namely, because you pretended you cannot take Revenge: For alas! in that my said Paper I had showed the Lords, That you had prosecuted a Man for killing a Quaker, gave 50 l. for the Discovery of him, got him, and procured him to be hanged in Chains, and yet could not avenge the Blood of your Prince † T●ey can revenge the Blood of a priva●… 〈◊〉, but 〈◊〉 re●…ge the B●…d of their Prince. Hopeful Subjects! They deserve Protection apace. . O tender Consciences! Thus you make Conscience your Stalking Horse in all your Villainies besides, your Indicting myself and others, are Demonstrations that you can seek Revenge for Personal Wrongs and Injuries; and 〈◊〉 you cannot for Conscience-sake stand by and defend King William as you promised you would Richard Cromwell, in his JUST GOVERNMENT, etc. Some Inferences from the Eleventh Chapter. IS it so then, that this Second Days Meetings is as the Helm to the Ship, the Wheel within the Wheel, which set all going, and that they can leave out of their Reprints such Prophecies as suit not with the Times? This shows them arrant Impostors. Is it so, that neither Second-Days Meetings, nor Yearly Meetings, have ever yet given out one Public Address to King William III. nor one Congratulatory Paper, to acknowledge Him their Right and Lawful * For their Ancient Testimony, April 3. 1696. and their late Paper presented to the King, Feb. 7. 1697. were both drawn up of a Friday. King, and that they refused to Sign the Association with the rest of His Majesty's Subjects? What reason then have they, either grounded upon Reason or Merit, to expect such singular Favours from the Government, as they would seem to insinuate they have? And why boast they so much upon their Right of Privileges, when they'll comply with nothing, but what suits with their Interest and Design? And where they are called to any Public Test, either for their Fidelity to the Government, or to stand by and defend the King, they then at every turn plead their Conscience in Excuse from their Duty? What! Hath not Body any Conscience but they? Is it so, that their Ancient Testimony is so utterly against Monarchy, against Parliaments and Magistrates, as to say, We stand Witnesses against Parliaments, Councils, Judges, Justice's, who make or execute Laws in their Wills over the Consciences of Men, or punish for Conscience-sake; and to such Laws, Customs, Courts, or Arbitrary Usurped Dominion, we cannot yield Obedience;— that the Parliament is the Beast, and the Church of England the Whore of Babylon; that no King is to Rule but Jesus? etc. See Burrough's Works, p. 203, 501, 524. I have instanced three several Acts they'll not obey. And thereupon they'll obey no Act of Parliament which cross their Design. What reason is there for their so boasting at every turn of their being Recognized as Protestants, when their Principles are not only repugnant to all Christians, but their Practice to all Protestants the World over; and till they repent thereof, and retract their Errors, they are a Scandal to Christianity, and a Reproach to the Name of Protestant? I have by me the Address of the Honourable House of Commons, made in February, 1697. and His Majesty's Gracious Answer thereto; I have also His Majesty's Gracious Proclamation, which consists chief of Two Parts; the one against Vice, Immorality and Profaneness; the other Part, against Writing, Printing, or Publishing Pernicious Books and Pamphlets, containing impious Doctrines against the Holy Trinity, and other Fundamental Articles of the Christian Faith, etc. I have also by me a Copy of the Quakers Paper presented to His Majesty, dated the 7th. of February, 1697. wherein they own him King, as the Jewish Captives did Belshazzar, Dan. 5.21. and thereby themselves Captives; wherein they take some notice of the first Particular, but not a Word of the latter: But this Chapter is extended beyond what at first I intended, so shall not at present note the Quakers Hypocrisy in this Point, nor show how far many of their Books (and which I take to be the Reason of their Silence) are within the meaning of His Majesty's Royal Proclamation, which are not only express against the Blessed Trinity, but other Fundamentals of the Christian Religion. I pray God bless the King, and preserve his Royal Person, and inspire Him with Holy Zeal to go on with His Royal Resolution; and let all true Protestants and good Christians say Amen. CHAP. XII. By way of Introduction to the Thirteenth Chapter, wherein I shall show several Reasons why I so proceed. REader, let none marvel why I proceed thus with these Men; for they say of themselves, Burrough's Works, p. 507. They are Raised of the Lord, and Established by HIM, even contrary to all Men; and they have given their Power only to God, and they cannot give their Power to any Mortal Man, to stand or fall by any outward Authority, and to that they cannot SEEK * A grand Lie: Who seeks more? , etc. Now as they confess they were raised up, contrary to all Men; so have their Practice, Manners and Deportment, been contrary to all Men; and therefore shall they be dealt with contrary to all Men. Bishop Jewel, and other Reformers, wrote smartly against the Papists, and for the People's sake displayed their Errors, unmasked their Leaders, and discovered their Pious Frauds; yet protested they were in Charity, and desired nothing more, than that they would have harkened to them, and forsake their Errors: And I do solemnly say, I know of no one thing which this World affords would please me better, than to see this People condemn what is Erroneous amongst them, and persevere in the Truth, and the Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, true God, and perfect Man: But whilst they'll excuse, justify, commend, and recommend such vile Errors, as no Protestant Society can endure, I shall proceed; and if I be blamed, better Men than I am, (as Luther for one) was; who, when John Eccius, Jacob Hochstrat, wrote to him, he quickly replied, saying, By how much the more they rage, so much the more I go on; I leave former things, that they may bark at them, and go on to further things, that they may have some things more to bawl at. The Hist. of the Reform. etc. p. 34. Also consider the Prophet Elijah, a Man both Sober, Serious, and Religious; yet when he beheld the Idolatry of the Priests of Baal, which did not much exceed the Quakers, if at all, he could not but mock at them, and have them in a Holy Derision, in order to the more complete Discovery of them to the View of the Spectators: For it is written, And it came to pass at Noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud, for he is a God; either he is Talking, or he is Pursuing, or he is in a Journey, or peradventure he Sleepeth, and must be awaked, etc. 1 King. 18.27. Besides all this, here is more to be said; for as the Quakers were raised contrary to all Men, as they confess themselves, so have they dealt by others, as never any besides themselves ever did: And therefore give me leave to fill the same Cup to them again, which they so plentifully have filled to others; yea, good Measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over: Luke 6.38. For G. Fox, their great Apostle, and Highpriest of their Profession, who was but a Journeyman Shoemaker, having heard some Body say. That Tutor was Latin for Thou, the Second Person of the Singular Number; and Vos was Latin for Ye, the Second Person of the Plural Number; nothing would serve his Ambitious Brain, but he must make for the two English Universities, the Magistrates, Judges, Gentry, and Clergy of the Land, a BATTLEDOOR, to teach them the same, and that in Thirty Languages, of which he was not Master of one: And the present Quakers, in order to magnify their Great Apostle Fox, have printed him the Author of the said BATTLEDOOR, (See the Third Index of Fox 's Journal) which is as great a Cheat put upon the present Quakers, as Fox put upon us in the Beginning, who made us believe he had 24 Languages given him by Divine Inspiration in one Night, as myself and others (still living) did believe; for in the Introduction he said, All Languages are to me no more than Dust, who was before Languages were, and am come before Languages were, and am redeemed out of Languages into the Power, etc. For tho' Fox was not the Author, yet his Name is set to it nine or ten times, in order to confirm the Cheat; for John Stubbs and Benjamin Furley had the chief Hand in it. See the Gen. Hist. of the Quakers, etc. p. 165. But in those early Days the Government of the Fund, or Common Bank, was wholly at the Dispose of Fox, who, like Simon Magus, having a Desire to be esteemed some Great Man in Learning, he hired some Jews to his Assistance, as I have been credibly informed by those which heard the Jews say the same; yea, and since have printed it in these Words; Envy and Folly detected, by way of Reply to Robert Bridgman, etc. p. 8. We, for our own parts, went to the Jews, and spoke with the Jew that received Eighty Pounds in Milled Money † O th' is Dagon of the Quakers! as Anne Docwra calls it: What will not Money do? , paid by Gerrard Roberts, besides the Dozen Bottles of Wine, given by M. F. (Widow to Judge Fell, who afterwards Married Fox) as he did affirm, for doing the chief part of the BATTLEDOOR: And what a Cheat was this to the Ignorant, to make them believe, as if it had been revealed to G. Fox, etc. And when R. Bridgman, to cover Fox, said, He (George Fox) had some Knowledge in Hebrew; my Author goes on, p. 20. viz. Some Body paid enough for his Understanding in the Hebrew: Witness his 80 l. and Dozen Bottles of Wine, etc. Oh monstrous! Oh horrible Cheat! Now followeth the Form and Figure of a Penny Hornbook for Children to learn their A, B, C, as placed in that Book, entitled, A BATTLEDOOR for Teachers and Professors, to learn Singular and Plural, etc. as set at the beginning of most of the Languages in that Book, with a like Inscription, Signed on the Handle of the Hornbook, as in this, Geo. Fox, which could have no other Tendency, but to discover his great Presumption, to pretend to be Learned in Thirty Languages, who was ignorant of his Mother-Tongue; neither did this Artifice only discover his Presumption, in pretending to be what he was not, i. e. a Learned Person; but it shown also his Pride and Contempt thereby designed, and Domineering over both Gentry and Clergy, as if they understood not the English of Tu and Vos, set in the said BATTLEDOOR, and with this Inscription. depiction of a battledore or horn-book A BATTLEDOOR FOR Teachers and Professors, TO Learn Singular and Plural; Thou to One, You to Many; Tu Thou, singular; Vos You, plural. That now, why the Teachers of the World, Scholars and Schoolmasters, teach People and Children, which will not have People nor Children to speak Thou to One, and You to Many, is not Sense, nor good Latin, nor good English, nor good Hebrew: To you that stumble at the Word Thou, to a particular, because we do not say You, this is sent, etc. GEO. FOX. The next thing I have to present the World with, is an Abstract of an Epistle of G. Fox's, sent to be read in Churches: London, Printed for Matth. Simmons, 1657. Thus did the Pride, Arrogance, and Presumption of this People appear; which, as they confess, showed, that they were raised contrary to all Men: As their Practice in a Hundred Things was contrary to all Men, so am I made willing to deal with them, as I would by no other Men: And since they have ordered a Liturgy for the Churches giving forth an Epistle for them to read, why may not I form a few Words out of their own Books, and so far as I can, make G. Whitehead to hold them forth? And since the Quakers would make the Churches read their Nonsense, why may not I draw some natural Inferences from the Quakers Doctrine, since my End is nothing else but to display their Errors, and make them appear in their Native Complexion, which by their Teachers are more masked and obscured? If any say, That by drawing a Scheme of their Meeting, and forming a Sermon for them to preach, is to do such a thing as no Man ever did: Let them remember again, That no Man ever yet had the Impudence to write a BATTLE-DOOR for the Learned Gentry and Clergy of a Protestant and Learned Nation, as England is; nor to form a Liturgy to be read in Churches, and especially, by a poor Journeyman Shoemaker, and an almost illiterate Man, that could neither write Sense, nor true English, and this may probably balance the Wonder, especially considering, that it is more than 20 Years since I wrote first against them; and from first to last could never prevail with them to retract one Error, nor to condemn one of their Books, in which their vile and gross Errors are taught. An Abstract of their said Epistle to be read in Churches, is as followeth, viz. To all the People who meet in Steeple-Houses in England, and elsewhere. — So all you that have the Letter in England,— therefore to you all this is sent a Message from the Lord Jesus Christ in England, or elsewhere, into all the Steeple-houses, to be read; for God is a Spirit; and they that Worship Him, must Worship Him in Spirit, and in Truth; and such were driven out of the Synagogues, drove out of the Idol's Temple, and drove together; and so an Epistle was written to them; and God is the same; He is a Spirit, and His Spirit is drawing from all Steeple-houses:— And these are them that witness, Oxford and Cambridge, the two Mothers of Divinity, which now the Lord's Hand is against, and His Sword is drawn against;— they are in their Witchcraft and Whoredom;— this is the Cage of unclean Birds, the professed Ministers:— And therefore all People that are here, Christ is not in the Letter, nor the Life is not in the Letter, nor the Word is not in the Letter; this mediate Stuff hath Reigned long in the Cage * Fox's Journal, p. 227. of unclean Birds, this Babylon:— And the Serpent and Dragon which hath deceived the Nation,— you get the Letter for the Light, a Steeplehouse for a Church, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, for the Gospel † This is their Ancient Testimony. See News coming up, etc. and his Several Papers spread, etc. All harp on this string, that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, are so far from being the Gospel, that they are Dust and Serpent's Food. : The mighty Day of the Lord is coming, and is to be cried in all the Steeple-Houses in England, to be read, and cried;— and it is that which you call your Church, the High Places of Idolatry; it takes away your Life, to cry against your Church, to take away your High Place of Idolatry there;— and this is to go abroad in all Steeple-houses in the Nation, and their High Places, and through the World, that they may come to God from them. G. FOX. Now, Reader, I will challenge a Parallel to the Impudence of the Quakers. Amongst all the Heretics that ever risen up since the Days of Christ, in England, Scotland, Ireland, Holland, or any Protestant Nation under the whole Heavens, to find me a Man unlearned, a poor Mechanic, to put forth a Book, entitled, A BATTLEDOOR for all Teachers, Scholars and Schoolmasters, to learn them the English of Tu and Vos, with the Form and Figure of a Child's Penny Hornbook, thereby to render them Ridiculous and Contemptible in the Eyes of the People, and with such horrid Cheats attending all the Circumstances, i. e. to pretend to Divine Inspiration, That he (Fox) was before all Languages, and consequently before the Building of Babel, where the Languages were divided; and that he was, whilst living, come to the end of Languages, which remain now he is dead and gone. No, no, G. Fox was not the Author; it was John Stubbs and Ben. Furley did the Learned Part, yet set their Hands only to the Title Page; but G. Fox's Hand is set to the Latin BATTLEDOOR, the Italian BATTLEDOOR, the Greek BATTLEDOOR, the Hebrew BATTLE-DOOR, the Chaldee BATTLEDOOR; the Syriack BATTLEDOOR; (besides, in Three or Four Places more) and yet wholly ignorant in all those Languages, which the Jews * For what Ben. Furley and John Stubbs could not do. for Money out of the Common-Bank did for him. O horrid! O monstrous! Next, I make the like Challenge to parallel the Quakers Impudence; not only to go into Churches to disturb the Ministers, according to their Ancient Testimony, and which they cannot deny, since 'tis Recorded plentifully in their Second Moses, their great Exemplar's Journal; but I mean, to send an Epistle to be read in the Churches, calling them at their Will and Pleasure, Steeple-Houses, High Places of Idolatry, where the Christians exercise their Witchcraft and Whoredom; yea, a Cage of unclean Birds, Serpents and Dragons, that take the Letter, i. e: the Scripture for the Light, and Matthew, Mark, Luke and John for the Gospel. Oh horrible! What Impudence is this! What Luciferian Pride is here, for a Dissenter, nay, worse, for an Inpostor thus to impose his Imposture upon a Christian Nation! Which being compared with what else in other Books I have observed out of the Quakers Writings, as that the Bishops and Clergy are Witches, Devils, Conjurers, Sodomites, Bloodhounds, Antichrists, the Sir. Symons of the Age, Jesuits, etc. yea, Monsters, and what not; and then let G. Whitehead tell me first, What he thinks of the Quakers Meekness and Humility; and next, Whether this Epistle, BATTLEDOOR, and great part of their Writings, be not Seditious, in the nature of them; and such intolerable Scandals, as had they not had more Patience than the Quakers, notwithstanding the loud Noise they make of Patience, Humility and Meekness, etc. they would never have lain under such Public Scandals: And therefore when in the next Chapter I come to touch their tender Part, as Erasmus once said to a Monk, I shall see how patiented they'll be, when they are paid in their own Coin; nay, I hope far better, at least to a better Purpose. CHAP. XIII. The Quakers Convocation: George Whitehead's Sermon, explaining their Ancient Testimony. Reader, THink not the following Sermon a Romance, or Fiction; for the Design of it is good, and intended for their Conviction: Read the Books in the Margin, and you'll find it fully proved to be the Sum and Marrow of their Ancient Testimony; which, by their Contempt of the Scriptures, shows their Antichristian Principles, and how their Doctrine carries all Iniquity in the Womb of it, and opens the Floodgates to all Atheism, Deism, Socinianism, Arianism, and all other vile Errors: And therefore in hopes that this following Illustration of their Principles, may be of use to their Hearers, I proceed in this unusual Method. But with my Lord Bishop of Lincoln, in his Advice to his Clergy, Second Edit. p. 25. I will say, ' Not that this can be expected from the Leaders of that Party; they have Ends to serve in the Conduct of that deluded People, that will engage them, notwithstanding Confutation and Conviction too. depiction of the Quaker's synod [fragment] QUAKE●… SYNOD A SERMON for George Whitehead to hold forth at their Convocation, or Yearly Meeting. Friends, I Beg your Attention to what shall be spoken this Day, upon this Solemn Occasion, being met to inspect the Affairs of our Society throughout the World: The chief Subject upon which I shall treat is our Ancient Testimony, as you will find it written in our Gospel, viz. God is the same, Truth is the same, his People the same, and their Principles the same: For our Principles are now no other than what they were when we were first a People; The Quakers cleared, etc. p. 7. so we cannot but recommend unto you the holding up the Holy Testimony of Truth, which had made us to be a People,— Prim. Christ. continued, p. 6. and that in all the Parts of it; for Truth is one, and changes not, amp; c. Their Yearly Epistle, Printed 1696. Beloved, in the opening the Words of my Text I am to tell you, First, That as God is the same, so are his People the same, and according to our Ancient Testimony, as unchangeable. Secondly, That our Principles are now no other than they were in the Beginning, in all the parts of our Ancient Testimony, whether relating to Monarchy, Magistracy, the National Ministry, and all Points of Doctrine, News coming up, p. 18, 19, 20. Thus having opened the Words of my Text, I shall now let you know the Doctrinal Parts I intent to discourse of, and then proceed: FIRST, The Scriptures, which the Christians profess to be their Rule; showing their great Mistake therein, and the Uncertainty thereof. SECONDLY, The Authority, Certainty, and Infallibility of our Friend's Books and Say, and both Affirmatively. THIRDLY and Lastly, I shall apply the same by way of Use, and for your Consolation, Negatively; and these in their Order. First then, As to the Christian's Mistake about the Scriptures, look into the Epistle General of our Great Apostle Geo. Fox, viz. And therefore all People that are here, Christ is not in the Letter, nor the Life is not in the Letter, nor the Word is not in the Letter: This mediate Stuff has reigned long in the Cage of unclean Birds; you get the Letter for the Light, a Steeplehouse for the Church, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, for the Gospel, etc. To all the People who meet in Steeple-Houses, etc. p. 4, 5. Printed 1657. Thus, Beloved, you see what great Mistakes are happened to this People of England, who by following the Doctrine of their blind Guides, have taken Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, for the Gospel; that is, Glad-Tidings: No, no, 'tis Beastly Ware, yea, Dust and Serpent's Meat; and this I can prove by Two Books, wrote by our Apostle Geo. Fox, the one styled, News coming up, etc. p. 14. the other, Several Papers given forth for the spreading of Truth, etc. p. 3, 4, 44, 45, 46, viz. So Dust is the Serpent's Meat; their Original is but Dust, which is Death; so these Serpents feed upon Dust; and their Gospel is Dust, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, which is the Letter, etc. Thus, Friends, have I shown you the great Ignorance of the World's Teachers, who first take Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, for the Gospel; and now see what they have got for their Rule: Who would think they should hear such a Teacher, as hold a Bible in his Hand, and tell People it's the Word of God, and bid them hear it, and obey the Doctrine of it at their Peril; for it's the Law (say they) by which you shall be judged another Day: When, alas! my dearly Beloved, as I have more than once in Print affirmed, saying, That which is spoken from the Spirit of Truth in any (meaning ourselves) is of as great Authority as the Scriptures, or Chapters are and greater, etc. And I still affirm the same, and do tell you, that it is according to our Ancient Testimony; and you know, we cannot change, nor alter, being as unchangeable as our Light within. See G. W. Truth defending the Quakers, etc. p. 7. Printed 1657. A Ser. Apology, p. 49. Moreover, the Scriptures are so uncertain, that 'tis questionable who was the first Penman thereof, whether Moses or Hermes, yea, either or neither: How then can any Man depend upon them, as a Rule to walk by? Thus you see how the Christians are mistaken; for have not I myself told you, as well as my dear Brother Christopher Atkinson, That Friends do not call Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the Gospel and New Testament, as the Ignorant Priests do? David 's Enemies discovered, etc. p. 7. And is it not written in the Gospel of my said Brother Christ. Atkinson, That for any to say that Christ is God and Man in one Person, is a Lie? The Sword of the Lord drawn, etc. p. 5. What Ground then hath any Body to hold a Trinity of Persons? Nay, my Brother Penn and I have jointly said in our Apology, Dedicated to the King's Lieutenant-General of Ireland, That we deny the Terms of three distinct Persons in the Godhead, whereby we do positively deny the Creeds, called the Apostles, Athanasian and Nicene Creed. A Ser. Apol. p. 20. If any Object, Why we refuse to acknowledge them in Words, not altogether of, tho' agreeing with the Scriptures, seeing we ourselves use many Words not Scriptural; as those of calling the Scriptures Death, Dust, Beastly Ware, Serpent's Meat, etc. those of our calling the Clergy Monsters, Bloodbounds, Grinning Dogs, Sodomites, Witches, Devils, etc. those of calling Christ A Garment, A Vessel? The Sandy Foundation shaken, p. 5, to 65. I Answer, The reason why we call them so, and Translate the Words of Christ, John 5.22,27. from the Son of Man, to the Light within us * The Quakers Reason for denying the Blessed Trinity. , Is, because we believe there is no other Son of Man than the Light within us, which was in the Jews, Gentiles, etc. before his Incarnation, according to my Gospel, and the Gospel of my Brother Jeffrey Bullock, where we say, Therefore the Man Christ Jesus was before He came in the Body, or Flesh. Judgement fixed, etc. p. 316, 356. For to be plain with you, according to our Ancient Testimony, we own no other Trinity, nor God, than is within us; for the Light is God, the Light is the Son of Man, the Light is the Holy Ghost; and we having obtained the Repute to be a well-meaning People; and tell the Priests, in Answer to their Demand, Do you own the Trinity? Do you own the Sacraments? etc. We tell them, we deny their Unscriptural Terms: Where is the Words Trinity and Sacrament in the Scriptures? Tho' we are not such Fools, but we know the Word Trinity came from the Latin Word Trinitas, and Sacrament from Sacra or Sacramentum, a Holy Institution or Sacrament; yet to hid ourselves from the Dint of their Arguments, we tell them, They are not Scripture Terms: Nay, even this Sessions of Parliament, when the House of Commons were preparing a Bill against such as denied the Trinity, we soon perceived what might follow, and we gave in a Paper, entitled, Some Considerations upon the Bill, for the more effectual Suppressing of Blasphemy and Profaneness, Humbly offered; saying, Whereas the Bill enacts, That if any Person or Persons, etc. shall deny any of the Persons in the Holy Trinity to be God, and make it punishable by the same Bill, were it not more safe and plain, to put it in Scripture Terms, as instead of, Deny any one of the Persons to be God, to insert, If any one shall deny any of the Three that bear Record in Heaven, the Father, the Word, or the Holy Ghost to be God, 1 Joh. 5.7. Now if we can keep the Parliament to these Words, we shall hid ourselves, and retain our Ancient Testimony unshaken. Again, If any of you should yet Object, that notwithstanding we (according to our Ancient Testimony) call the Scriptures Death, Dust, Beastly Ware, Serpent's Meat, etc. News coming up out of the North, etc. p. 14. A Brief Discovery of a threefold State, etc. p. 9 and say, That whoever Preach out of them are Conjurers, etc. Saul's Errand to Damascus, etc. p. 7. Yet notwithstanding all this, we profess, to prefer the Holy Scriptures above all other Books extant in the World. The Counterfeit Convert, etc. p. 26, 27. To this I Answer, That you must observe the Context, as well as the Text, and then you shall see we do not interfere; for in the same Book, p. 72. viz. I may see Cause otherwise to word the Matter, and yet our Intentions be the same. Besides, Beloved, I would have none mistake me; for tho' I am the Man that did say, we prefer the Scriptures above all other Books extant in the World, which in one Sense is true, yet not in another; The Count Conu. etc. p. 26. First, I hope you do not understand it of its Intrinsic Value, of its Real Authority, so as to be a Rule of Faith and Practice; and that the Commands therein are Obligatory upon Us; if you do, you are greatly mistaken, and that for these Reasons following: And, First, That which is spoken from the Spirit of Truth in any, is of as great Authority as the Scriptures or Chapters are, and greater, Truth defending the Quakers, etc. p. 7. Secondly, That is no Command from God to me, what he commands to another: Neither did any of the Saints which we read of in Scriptures, act by the Command which was to another, not having the Command to themselves, etc. Burrough's Works, p. 47. Thirdly, No Command in the Scriptures is any further obliging upon any Man, than as he finds a Conviction upon his Conscience; otherwise Men should be engaged without, if not against Conviction; a thing unreasonable in a Man. Quakerism a New Nickname, etc. p. 71. Fourthly, To this triple triple Cord, which I think is not easily broken, let me add our constant Practice ever since we have been a People, and it will not only confirm these Proofs, but show our Sincerity to our Ancient Testimony; I say, as a Proof that we do not prefer the Scriptures above our own Books; let it suffice, That this Forty-eight Years, never an Apostate that ever went from us can prove, nay, not once say, if they'll do us justice * George, what you say is true; I am a Witness to thy Sincerity herein. , that ever we read any one Chapter in the Bible, or any one Epistle of the Apostles in our Meetings, whilst it hath been our frequent Practice to read our own Epistles: And surely, if we deemed the Scriptures best, most certain, and more edifying for us, respecting our Ancient Testimony, you may depend on't, that we would read the Scriptures in our Meetings; nay, we challenge all our Adversaries to show us one Book of our Friends in the Unity, that ever so much as recommended the reading any one Chapter, or any one Epistle of the Apostles in our Meetings. Thus much in Answer to one part of the Objection, with respect to the Truth, Certainty, Value and Worth of the Scriptures: But still I say they are occasionally good, and in one Sense I do prefer the Scriptures above our own Books, and then you may lay your Lives on't above all Books in the World; for sometimes the Scriptures, as the Case may stand, are like the Philosopher's Stone; what they touch, they turn into Gold: And in that Sense our Confession to the Parliament, with the Consequences, are a Demonstration, viz. I believe with my Heart, and confess with my Mouth, the Sacred † Sacred, an unscriptural Word; yet it now will down with these new Saints to serve a turn, etc. Scriptures to be Divine, left us by Men inspired of God, as an exact Rule of our Faith and Behaviour; and I profess to believe in One Only God, who is the Father, and in Jesus Christ his Eternal Son, very God, and very Man, and in the Holy Spirit, one and the same God with the Father and Son, Blessed for evermore. The Gen. Hist. of the Quakers, p. 112. Now, my Friends, tho' this Confession be as contrary to our Ancient Testimony, as Light is contrary to Darkness, as by our Books quoted you may see, yet we kept our Meaning to ourselves; we meant at the same time, The Scriptures to be Dust, Death, and Serpent's Meat. News coming up, etc. p. 14. That to say Christ is God and Man in one Person, is a Lie: The Sword of the Lord drawn, etc. p. 5. But, as I said, We may (sometimes) see cause, (yea, and great cause too) otherwise to word the Matter; (yea, contrary to our Ancient Testimony) and yet mean the same thing, etc. The Counterfeit Convert, etc. p. 72. that is to say, mean not a word we say: And now to the Consequence, and for which we prefer the Bible. For, Friends, we no sooner Signed this Confession, but we had our Liberty; and we no sooner had our Liberty, but all our London Preachers spread themselves like Locusts all over England and Wales * Like Mice uncalled for, and like Flies unsent for, and fall upon their Provision. ; some went East, some West, yea, North and South; and being generally Tradesmen, We not only got our Quarters free, our Horses free, and well maintained in our Travels; a Silver Watch here, a Beaver there, a piece of Hair-Camblet, and sometimes other Gifts: Moreover, by our Liberty obtained, by the recited Confession, we got into great Trades; and by spreading ourselves in the Country, into great Acquaintance, and thereby received Orders (of the best of the Country Tradesmen) for Parcels, whilst the Protestant Tradesmen in London † Londoners, look about you, for none like the Quakers but Jews and Jesuits; as time will farther show, , who had not this Advantage, stood still, and in their Shops had little to do, whilst we filled our Coffers. Witness Tho. Greene for one Instance, whose Wife would scarce suffer him at home, she being willing (according to the Proverb) to make Hay whilst the Sun shines; insomuch that in a little time he raised his small Beginning to many Thousands. Since I printed this Tho. Greene is dead, and died worth, as is said, Six or Eight Thousand Pounds, who was a poor Mason when he set up for a Preaching Quaker. All which show, that the Scriptures are accidentally good, etc. And this leads me to the second Proposition; namely, The Authority of our Friends Books and Say, etc. First, I shall show you, that as 'tis Blasphemy to call the Scriptures the Word of God, To all that would know the Way to the Kingdom, etc. p. 4. Mene Tekel, etc. p. 22. so I shall show you, that our Scriptures (for as I told you in my Serious Apol. p. 48. Writings signify Scripture) are the Word of God, and this you will find written in the Epistle of our Second Moses, in these Words, Friends, to you all, this is the Word of the Lord, take heed of judging one another; this is the Word of the Lord unto you: I charge you in the Presence of the Lord God, to send this (Epistle) among all Friends and Brethren, every where to be read in all Meetings, to you all, This is the Word of God. Several Papers given forth, for spreading Truth, etc. p. 60, 61, 62. Again, that I may corroborate and strengthen your Faith in the Exercise of our Ancient Testimony * G. W. keeps to his Text. : Read in the Gospel of our Great Apostle and High Priest of our Profession, Geo. Fox, where you'll find these Words, viz. You may (said G. F. to the Priests) as well condemn the Scriptures to the Fire as our Writings; for our giving forth Papers and Printed Books, it is from the IMMEDIATE ETERNAL SPIRIT of God; Truth's Defence, etc. p. 2, 102. upon which, our Dear Brother Thomas Ellwood saith, That none can squirt any Filth on the Epistles of Friends, but it will tend to be spatter the Apostles: An Antidote against, etc. p. 1, 44, 57, 125. And in Confidence thereof, our Brother Robert Barclay hath these Words, That as the true Principles of the Gospel, by their (i. e. Quakers) Testimony are restored; so is also the ANCIENT Apostolic Order of the Church of Christ reestablished amongst them, (i. e. Quakers) and settled upon its right Basis and Foundation;— that as through our Faithful Testimony in the Hand of the Lord, that Antichristian and Apostatised Generation, the National Ministry, hath received a deadly Blow, by our discovering and witnessing against their Forced Maintenance and Tithes; so that their Kingdom, in the Hearts of Thousands, begin to Totter, and lose its Strength, and shall assuredly Fall to the Ground: So on the other Hand we do weaken the Strength of their Kingdom, who judge for Reward. The Nation shall come to be disburdened of that deceitful Tribe of Lawyers, as well as Priests * Let all Lawyers, Tradesmen, Clergy, and Magistrates, guard against the Prevalency of Quakerism, for they are all highly concerned. . I never knew any that left us prove steady to those to whom they go. I find other Professors make but small Boasts of any Proselytes they get out from us; I hear little of their proving Champions, for the Principles of others against us. The Anarchy, etc. p. 1, 16, 42. Thus, Friends, you see, that upon Confidence of the Truth of our elder Brother, Geo. Fox's Ancient Testimony, viz. That it was Blasphemy to call the Scriptures the Word of God, (and yet laudable to call his Papers, sent up and down to be read in Meetings, The Word of God, the Word of the Lord God;) I say, you see how stoutly our Brother Ellwood avouched, that none could squirt any Filth on the Epistles of Friends, but it must inevitably fall upon the Epistles of St. Paul; and he was in the right on't † G. W. is no Changeling, he keeps to his Text. , and likewise R. Barclay, in confidence of the Truth of G Fox's Testimony, viz. That to call the Scriptures The Word of God was no less than Blasphemy, whilst his own Writings sent up and down to spread Truth, and in order to it, to be read in Meetings, was The Word of the Lord; and as such to be read, and as such to be received: You may see, I say, how he built his Hopes of our Restoration, and the Downfall both of the Clergy and Lawyers, insomuch, that he did not once think any should ever go from us, to prove Champions for the Principles of others against us: And therefore I exhort you this Day to stand Faithful to your Ancient Testimony, which is, to throw down the Scriptures, and exalt our own Books; and so will the Work of your Light prosper in your Hands. Besides, for your Encouragement, (and that you may see my Sincerity and Seriousness, which is the sign of my writing in every of my Epistles) look into one of my Gospels, and you shall find these Words: That which is spoken from the Spirit of Truth in any, is of as great Authority as the Scriptures and Chapters are, and greater, etc. Truth defending the Quakers, etc. p. 7. Wherhfore, ye dear Lambs, be ye encouraged, and go on boldly; and if any Apostate write against us, besure you warn all our Friends in the Country not to read a Page thereof, but to tell them all are Lies, all is Malice, etc. and they are bound to believe you * True; for never were a People held more Captive, but the Blind lead the Blind. , according to my Doctrine, in these Words: It was for your sakes, and the Truth's, that I was pressed in Spirit, thus to appear against this deceitful Worker, William Mucklow, which hath shown his Enmity against the Truth, and Us the Church of Christ, and Elect People of God, called Quakers. And p. 16. I affirm, That the true Church (as above described) is in the true Faith, that is in God: And we must believe thus, as the true Church believes; or else it were but both a Folly and Hypocrisy, to profess ourselves Members thereof, etc. The Apost. Incendiary, etc. p. 3, 16. So that, my tender Lambs, you see, first, That we are the true Church of Christ; next, That you are to believe as the Church believes; and there lies G. Fox's Journal on the Table, which you have in all Quarterly Meetings, and aught to have it in all Schools † They have got it in some Schools already, where their Youth read a Portion of it every Day, etc. , yea, in private Families; for as our Brother Mead hath well expressed himself, it is the best Book in the World, for our keeping up our Ancient Testimony, yea, better than the Bible, said he. And now to conclude this Head, look into the Book of Canons * Look into the Book of Church-Canons, made Anno 1675. , which lies before you on the Table, and turn to those Church Canons, which were made Anno 1675, at a Yearly Meeting, or a Convocation; where (in order to corroborate all that hath been said on this Head,) it is thus written: It is the Sense, Advice, Admonition and Judgement, in the Fear of God, and the Authority of his Power and Spirit to Friends and Brethren, in their several Meetings, That no such slight and contemptible Names and Expressions, as calling Men's and Woman's Meetings, Courts, Sessions or Synods; that they are Popish Impositions, useless and burdensome; that Faithful Friend's Papers which We TESTIFY, have been given forth by the Spirit and Power of God, are Men's Edicts or Canons; or Embracing them, Bowing to Men, Elders in the Service of the Church, Popes, and Bishops, with such scornful Say, be permitted among them; but let God's Power be set upon the top of that Unsavoury Spirit that uses them. Subscribed by us, W. Penn, Steph. Crisp, Tho. Salthouse, Jo. Bunyeat, G. Whitehead, Alex. Parker, etc. Thirdly and Lastly, Let me apply what has been said. Friends, I am now come to the last thing proposed to speak to on this solemn Occasion, and it shall be by way of Use and Application, for your Comfort and Consolation, and that by way of Inference, drawn from the foregoing Two Heads: And, First, Respecting Confession of Sin; showing your Exaltation above the Patriarches, Prophets, Apostles, Primitive Christians, Saints and Martyrs, and all the Christian Churches, to this Day. Secondly, Respecting the Observation of the Ten Commandments; which are not binding to you, unless you receive them anew, as the Inspired Prophets and Apostles did. Edward Burrough's Works, p. 47. Quakerism a New Nickname, etc. p. 71. Thirdly, Respecting the Ordinances of Baptism, and the Lord's Supper. And, First, You being the true Ancient Apostolic Church of Christ, and as Quakers elected thereto; and that the Quakers are in the Truth, and none but they, as our Brother Sol. Eccles from the Spirit of Truth hath written; See the Quakers Challenge, etc. p. 3. hath no need to make any Confession of Sin in our Prayers to God, as our Practice for near Fifty Years do confirm; nay, nor all the Apostates that ever went from us; nor all the Priests, our Adversaries, cannot prove from any one of our Books, wrote by my self, G. Fox, Ed. Burrough, Fr. howgil, Father Penn, Sam. Fisher, W. Smith, W. Baily, Richard Hubberthorn, and others of our Friends in the Unity, that ever we made Confession of Sins to God, and asked Pardon for Christ's sake; nor that ever we recommended such a Practice to our Disciples, notwithstanding our Books wrote by our Friend's , contain more than 5555555 Pages, in Folio, Quarto, and Octavo. Now, Friends, What cause have we to Rejoice, and to Magnify our Light within, which hath led us to such a State of sinless Perfection? And therefore I exhort you to keep up our Ancient Testimony, in all its Parts; of which this is not the least: For let me tell you, that Jacob, that worthy and godly Patriarch, he was so sensible of his sinful Imperfections, that when he prayed to God, he acknowledged himself unworthy of the least of God's Mercies, Gen. 32.10. And Isaiah the Prophet said, But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our Righteousness are as filthy Rags, and we all do fade as a Leaf, and our Iniquities like the Wind, have taken us away, Isa. 64.6. And Jeremiah the Prophet cried under a sense of his Sins, We have Transgressed and Rebelled, Lam. 3.41. Yea, Job, that Man of God, said, I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou Preserver of Men? Job 7.20. Yea, David, a Man after God's own Heart, said, For I will declare mine Iniquity; I will be sorry for my Sin:— Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy Loving Kindness; according unto the Multitude of thy tender Mercies, blot out my Transgressions; wash me thoroughly from mine Iniquity, and cleanse me from my Sin; for I acknowledge my Transgressions, and my Sin is ever before me; against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this Evil in thy sight; that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest; behold I was shapen in Iniquity, and in Sin did my Mother conceive me, etc. Psal. 38.18. and 51.1,2,3,4,5. Again, Solomon said, For there is not a just Man upon Earth, that doth Good, AND SINNETH NOT, Eccles. 7.20. Prov. 20.9. adding by way of Interrogation, Who can say, I have made my Heart clean, I am pure from my Sin * Besides the Quakers and the Gnostics. ? Yea, that good Man Nehemiah Fasted, Prayed, and Wept before the Lord God of Israel, saying, O Lord God of Heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth Covenant and Mercy for them that love him, and observe his Commandments * Not G. Fox's Commandments. : Let thine Ear now be attentive, and thine Eyes open, that thou mayest hear the Prayer of thy Servant, which I pray before thee now, Day and Night, for the Children of Israel, thy Servants; and confess the Sins of the Children of Israel which we have sinned against thee; I and my Father's House have sinned: Nehem. 1.5,6,11. Yea, Daniel, that Beloved of the Lord, he said, And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my Confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the Covenant and Mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his Commandments: WE have sinned, and committed Iniquity, and have done Wickedly, and have Rebelled, even by Departing from thy Precepts, and from thy Judgements; and whilst I was Speaking, and Praying, and Confessing my Sins, and the Sins of my People Israel, and presenting my Supplication before the Lord my God, etc. Dan. 9.4,5,20. Yea, John the Evangelist said, If we say, that we have no Sin, we deceive ourselves, and the Truth is not in us, 1 John 1.8. Moreover, St. Paul himself cried out of a Body of Sin, saying, For the Good that I would do, I do not, but the Evil which I would not, that I do: I find then a Law, that when I would do Good, Evil is present with me: O wretched Man that I am, who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death? This is a faithful Saying, and worthy of all Acceptation, That Christ Jesus came into the World, to save Sinners, of whom I am Chief, Rom. 7.19,21,24. 1 Tim. 1.15. All which Practice is according to Christ's Command and Precept, Matth. 6. Luk. 11. who said, Whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my Name, he will give it you, John 6.23. And when our Brethren, the Donatists and Pelagians, who professed a sinless Perfection, as we do, told the Ancient Christians, that a constant Practice of Confession, implied a constant Course of Sinning: St. Augustine replied to them, saying, Confess always, for thou hast Matter always to confess. Augustine in p. 99 Tho. Bilney confessed, that he was a miserable Sinner; And (said he) therefore with all my Power I teach, that all Men should first acknowledge their Sins. Fox's Acts and Mon. Ps. 467, 468. Dr. Robert Barnes said, The whole Church prayeth, Lord forgive us our Sins: Wherefore she hath Spots and Wrinkles; but by acknowledging them, (through the Merits of Christ) her Wrinkles be scratched out. See his Works, p. 254. Martin Luther saith, But thou wilt say, the Church is Holy; the Fathers are Holy; it is true, notwithstanding albeit the Church is Holy, yet is she compelled to pray, Forgive us our Trespasses: So, tho' the Fathers are Holy, yet are they saved through the Forgiveness of Sins. See Luther's Commentary upon Gal. p. 36. Next hear what Humble Bradford said to his London Friends: John Bradford, an Unworthy Servant of the Lord, be merciful to our Sins, for they are great.— Let us hearty bewail our Sins; repent us of our former Evil Life, etc. Fox's Acts and Mon. p. 1167. Thus, my Well-beloved Friends and Brethren, I have showed you many Instances, both of the Patriarches, Prophets, Apostles, Primitive Christians, and Martyrs, who have all along confessed their Sins to God, and begged Pardon for Jesus Christ's sake; and go you but to the Windows or Doors of the Churches, and other Christian Assemblies, (but besure you go no further) and you may still hear them, i. e. Episcopal, Presbyterians, Independants, and Baptists, crying out of a Body of Sin, saying, They have erred and strayed from the Ways of God, (from Seven to Seventy, as our Brother, Father Penn, has well observed) we have done Despite to the Spirit of Grace, we have broke thy Commandments, we have added to the Gild of Original Sin, by our many and repeated Actual Sins; and therefore we prostrate ourselves, and humbly beg thy Pardon, for the alone sake of thy dear Son, and our blessed Redeemer, Jesus Christ, our only Advocate and Mediator; to whom, with thee, and thy blessed Spirit, be all Honour, Glory and Dominion for ever, Amen. Truth exalted in a Short, but Sure Testimony, etc. p. 9 Now, Friends, what a happy thing is this, that you need not trouble yourselves with any Confession of Sins, since you are not like other Men, nor like these Publicans? And therefore I exhort you to keep to your Ancient Testimony in all the Parts of it, make no Confession of Sins, nor besure you do not recommend the Practice of it, by Word or Writing, but keep to our Ancient Practice; nor is there any need for our Hearers to follow those Christian Precepts, viz. And whatsoever you do in Word or Deed, do all in the NAME of the LORD JESUS; giving Thanks to God the Father BY HIM; whether therefore ye EAT or DRINK, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the Glory of God, Col. 3.17. 1 Cor. 10.31. Matth. 15.36. First, Because the Name Jesus belongs to every Believer, (I should say Quaker) as well as to him that suffered at Jerusalem, according to our Ancient Testimony. A Question to Professors, etc. p. 20, 27, 33. Secondly, Because you know that we ourselves, to be seen of Men, do make a kind of a Prayer to our Light within, when we are at their Tables, when Company is present; but if alone, either at Home or Abroad, we seldom give Thanks for our Food, and seldomer with our Eyes towards Heaven, as Christ did, as Stephen did, or as the Martyrs did: No, you know we are of another, yea, of a different Faith and Practice from all the Ancient Patriarches, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, and Holy Confessors, and all Christian Churches to this Day, being exalted above them; for we sit in Heavenly Places, singing the Songs of Zion, in the Beauty of Holiness, without Sin, or any Imperfection, which all the Recited were chargeable with, as employed by their Confessions, and their relying upon the Merits of another, to wit, The Man Christ Jesus, as believing they shall one Day appear before his Tribunal, and be judged by the Law of God, recorded in their Scriptures; but for our parts, we differ from them in all Respects, having our whole God within us, as safely as the Papists have their Crucifixes in their Pockets. And thus much to show you the great Happiness and Excellency of our Dispensation, so no need of Confession, according to our Ancient Testimony. The Second Inference, i. e. The Ten Commandments. And, Friends, whereas the Christians propose to us (sometimes) the Use of the Ten Commandments; whether we own them as a Rule to a Christian Life, look into one of my Gospels, and you will find it thus written: Thou may'st as well ask if the Moral Law (or Ten Commandments) be a Rule for Christ, etc. Truth defending the Quakers, etc. p. 18. Again, Ed. Burrough, one of our Prophets, said, That is no Command from God to me, what he commands to another; neither did any of the Saints, which we read of in Scripture, act by the Command which was to another, not having the Command to themselves: I challenge to find an Example for it; they obeyed every one their own Command. Burrough 's Works, p. 47. And in Defence of this Position, hear what Father Penn says, i. e. No Command in the Scripture is any further obliging upon any Man, than as he finds a Conviction upon his Conscience, otherwise Men should be engaged without, if not against Conviction; a thing unreasonable in a Man. Quakerism a new Nickname, etc. p. 71. And now that none of you may think that these Doctrines of ours point to, or aim only at extraordinary Commands, as Moses going to Pharaoh, with some other Temporary Commands, my very Doctrine show it to be the Ten Commandments. First, By telling the Priest they might as well carry the Ten Commandments to Christ; the Consequence of which is, that Christ had as much need to learn them as we have. Secondly, in that we never Recommended the Ten Commandments to our Hearers, that they should teach them to their Children, and so from Age to Age, one Generation after another, as the Churches do, and ever did, both Jewish and Christian. Thirdly, Because we never read them in our Meetings, nor in any one of our Books Recommend them to be so read: This therefore may confirm you in our Ancient Testimony, which have been to lay them by, as a dead Letter, Dust, Death, Serpent's Food, and Beastly Ware, etc. and I exhort you to be Bold and Valiant, to maintain our Ancient Testimonies; and this leads me to the third and last Inference, namely, Touching Baptism, and the Lord's Supper. Dear Friends, I am now come to give you the Arguments of the Christians for Baptism, and the Supper, which is founded upon the Letter, which our Apostle, G. Fox, said was Dust, and Death, viz. Their Sacrament is Carnal; their Communion is Carnal; a little Bread and Wine; so Dust is the Serpent's Meat. Their Original is but Dust, which is but the Letter, which is Death; and their Gospel is Dust; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, which is the Letter. Again, p. 35. A Word to all you Deceivers, who deceive the People; and Blasphemers, who utter forth your Blasphemy and Hypocrisy; That tell the People of a Sacrament, and tell that it is the Ordinance of God: Blush, blush, and tremble before the Lord God Almighty, for dreadful is he that will pour forth his Vengeance upon you:— You who live in the Witchery, and bewitch the People, etc. News coming up out of the North, etc. p. 14, 35. Dear Lambs, I first told you, that the Authority the Christians make use of, for these Two Ordinances, is bottomed upon the Letter. I have now shown you a greater Authority for the disannulling them; namely, what is said by the Spirit of Truth through our Second Moses: And to prove it, read the Gospel wrote by me, 1659. viz. * Truth defending the Quakers, etc. p. 7. That which is spoken from the Spirit of Truth in any (then to be sure in Geo. Fox) is of as Great Authority as the Scriptures or Chapters are, and Greater. Thus, Friends, I first told you what Authority the Christians pleaded for these two Institutions, of Baptism, and the Supper; namely, the Scriptures: I have likewise told you by what Authority we have laid them aside; but lest all of you should not remember the Words the Christians quote, not being much used to Scripture, they are these. Go ye therefore, and teach all Nations, Baptising them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: And lo I am with you always, even to the end of the World, Matth. 28.19,20. Again, And he (Christ) took Bread, and gave Thanks, and broke it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my Body, which is given for you: THIS DO IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME. Likewise also the Cup after Supper, saying, This Cup is the New-Testament in my Blood, which is shed for you, Luke 22.19,20. Again, Matthew hath it: And as they were eating, Jesus took Bread, and blessed it, and broke it; and gave to the Disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is my Body: And he took the Cup, and gave Thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it, for this is my Blood of the New-Testament, which is shed for many for the Remission of Sins, Matth. 26.26,27,28. Again, Paul hath it: For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you: That the Lord Jesus, the same Night in which he was betrayed, took Bread: And when he had given Thanks, he broke it, and said, Take, eat, this is my Body, which is broken for you; THIS DO IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME. After the same manner also, he took the Cup; when he had supped, saying, This Cup is the New-Testament in my Blood: THIS DO YE, as oft as ye drink it, IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME, 1 Cor. 11.23,24,25. Beloved, I cannot but allow, that if the Letter, viz. the Scriptures, were of greater Authority than our Say, or that the Words of Matthew, Luke and Paul, were of greater Authority than our Say, I should be of the Christians side; for nothing in the World is plainer said, nor more positively commanded: But, Friends, in the beginning we were convinced by G. Fox, that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were Death, Dust, and Serpent's Meat; that the Scriptures were Beastly Ware; that all that preached out of them were Conjurers; that the Letter of the Scripture is Carnal, Death, and Killeth; that such as once told the People of a Sacrament were Witches. News coming up, etc. p. 14, 35. Printed 1655. A brief Discovery of a Threefold State, etc. p. 9 Printed 1653. Saul 's Errand to Damascus, etc. p. 7. Printed 1654. And that therefore they ought not only to blush, but tremble; that such as preached Christ without, and bid People believe in him, as he is in Heaven above, were false Ministers, Witches, Devils, etc. Smith's Primer, p. 8. That it was Blasphemy to call the Scriptures the Word of God. Fox's Great Mystery, p. 240. Printed 1659. That Circumcision is as much of Force as Water Baptism, and the Paschal-Lamb as Bread and Wine, for says my dear Brother W. Penn, the Continuance (of those Two Ordinances as the Lord's Supper and Baptism) would have been a Judaizing of the Evangelical Worship; and to assert their Continuance, would be as much as in us lies, to pluck up the Gospel by the Roots: Hence (says our dear Brother) that Appellation Ordinances of Christ, I do renounce as Unscriptural and Unevangelical, and can testify from the same Spirit, by which Paul Renounced Circumcision, that they (to wit, Water-Baptism and the Supper) are to be rejected as not now required, etc. W. Penn's Reason against Railing, etc. p. 108, 109. And therefore I warn you all to take heed of Apostatising from our Ancient Testimony, as you have it in my Text; for what we were convinced of by our Light in the beginning, to be Evil, to be Death, Dust, Serpent's Meat, 'tis so still; to be Beastly Ware, and Conjuration, 'tis so still; and therefore keep up to your Ancient Testimony, my dear Lambs, in all the Parts of it; Ha', ha', ha'; hme, hme, hme; silent. After a little Silence, Will. Bingley, etc. Friends, Friends, I am filled, I am filled as with new Wine; I am ready to burst at the joyful News I have heard to Day, respecting our Ancient Testimony: And oh! magnified be our Light within, which hath thus exalted us above the Prophets, above the Apostles, above the Martyrs, and above all Christians, as our dear Brother G. W. hath most excellently made it out: First, In opening his Text, and also in the two Branches proceeding from it, but more especially in the Use and Application, where he hath confirmed me, in not making Confession of Sin, nor regarding the Ten Commandments, nor those two Ordinances of Baptism and Supper, all which is ratified and confirmed by G. Fox's Journal, laying there on the Table: But yet I have a short Testimony to bring in, touching the Priests, which I think our Friend G. W. left out unawares, for I take it to be as necessary an Ancient Testimony, to be kept up, as any other, only a little more Privately and Prudently; for they are as great Enemies to our Design of Supplanting Christianity, as any the World afford: But however, though we are the same we were, and are not changed, yet besure you do not admit, that we are the first Challengers, or that we begin with the Priests: But to show you in private that we were always the Beginners of all Controversies, and what Cause we had for it, I therefore bring in my Testimony; and my Proof for the Antiquity of my Testimony shall be out of Edw. Burrough's Epistle to G. F.'s Great Mystery, Printed 1658. viz. And the Word of the Lord we sounded, and did not spare, and caused the Deaf to hear, and the Blind to see, and the Dread of the Lord went before us, and behind us, and Terror took hold on our Enemies. And first of all, our Mouths were Opened * Then the Quakers began. , and our Spirits Filled with Indignation against the Priests and Teachers † True every Word. , and with them, and against them, we first began to War, as being the Causers of the People to err, and the Blind Leaders, that carried the Blind into the Ditch; and against them, as the Fountain of all Wickedness, abounding in the Nations, and as being the Issue of Profaneness; and against them we cried, showing unto all these People, that they were not Lawful Ministers of Christ, but Deceivers and Antichrists; and we spared not Publicly * Then why should you be spared? , and at all Seasons, to utter forth the Judgements of the Lord against them, and their Ways, and their Churches, and Worships, and Practices; and this was our first Work † So it was my first Work to thresh down the Quaker Deceivers. we entered upon, to Thresh down the Deceivers, and lay them open, that all People may see their Shame, and come and turn from them; neither can we pray for the Priests, but for their Destruction, etc. And this Testimony lay upon me to bear, which is in all Parts according to our Ancient Testimony. Truth's Defence, etc. by G. Fox and Rich. Hubberthorn, p. 15. Printed 1653. For, my Dear Friends and Brethren, read our great Apostle G. Fox's Primer, W. Smith's Primer, in which there is not a Verse of Scripture quoted, by which you may be sure it is agreeable to our Ancient Testimony. Again, read Saul's Errand to Damascus; and, A Estate of Antichrist; The Quakers Challenge: And from all these Books you may gather, that by the false Ministry, we mean such as Preach out of the Scripture, such as Preach a Christ without, and bid People believe on him, as he is in Heaven above: And you'll see first by Reprinting Edw. Burrough's Epistle, 1672. and by W. Smith's Works, which render the Bishop's Monsters, and the Clergy Witches, Devils, Sorcerers, Jesuits, Blasphemers, Bloodhounds, Antichrists, Sodomites, and an Hundred such Names. This, Beloved, is according to our Ancient Testimony, only let us word the Matter so now, as to make them believe we mean not the present Clergy, but those in former Days. Benjamin Bealing, Clerk. Let us sing an Hymn of Praise, and Self-Exaltation, and to the Confusion of our Adversaries; as you will find it written in the Epistle General of that Son of Thunder, Edw. Burrough, prefixed to our Apostle George Fox's Great Mystery, Printed 1658. The Waters have I seen dried up, the Seat of that great Whore, Who hath made all Nations drunk with her enticing Power; And caused the whole Earth, She hath, Her Fornication Cup to take, Whereby Nations have long time erred, on whom She long hath sat: But now her Miseries are seen, Her Witchcrafts are discovered, And She no more shall Men deceive, for Daylight is appeared; And the Bed woeful I have seen, of Torments great prepared, Whereon She must be cast, and Plagues must not be spared: But Woe to Her, the Cup of Wrath is filled, Her to receive, And as to others she hath done, the same She shall now have; And Drink She must of that full Cup, of God's fierce Indignation, And then shall all Her Lovers mourn, and make great Lamentation: For Fire in Her is kindled, which must Her all consume; Behold Her Smoke ascendeth Day and Night up to Heaven: The Antichrists, who hath put on, and covered with Sheep's clothing, And long-ruled King, on Nations Inwardly Ravening; Who hath devoured God's Heritage, and had a Kingdom great; I have seen Him made War against, and Truth give Him Defeat. Behold the Whore, Her Flesh is burnt, Her Beauty doth now fall; She that is all Harlots great Mother, whose Daughters are Whores all. The Close of the Meeting, by George Whitehead. Friends, I have still one Word of Exhortation, as you will find it in the Prophecy of our deceased Brother, Samuel Fisher, touching Magistracy and Government; which being according to our Ancient Testimony, I could not well omit, viz. * Sam. Fisher's Works, p. 19, 20. observed by Mr. Boothhouse. I will hold my Peace no longer, saith the Lord, as concerning this Evil, which they so profanely commit, and do daily against my Chosen; but will utterly subvert and overturn them, and bring the Kingdoms and Dominions, and the Greatness of the Kingdom, under the whole Heaven, into the Hands of the Holy Ones † Meaning the Quakers. of the most High, and give unto my Son, and his Saints, to reign over all the Earth: And take ALL the RULE, and AUTHORITY, and POWER, that shall stand up against my Son in his Saints; and put it down among all the rest, as one of his greatest Enemies, under his Feet, saith the Lord. For tho' the World take no Delight in them, yet I take Pleasure in my People, saith the Lord: And I will beautify my Meek Ones * Meek Quakers. with Salvation, and I will put my high Praise into their Mouths, and a Two-edged Sword into their Hands † Mark, this is your Ancient Testimony as well as Prophecy, writ 1656. ; and they shall execute Vengeance upon the Heathen, and Punishments upon the People, and shall bind their Kings in Chains, and Nobles in Fetters of Iron, and execute upon them the Judgement that is written in my Eternal Decree, and Unchangeable Council, saith the Lord. This Honour have all my Saints; this is the Heritage of my Servants, saith the Lord: And their Righteousness, and their Reign, their Salvation and Redemption, and all their Dignity, is of me only; and of me only, and not of themselves, shall they acknowledgee it to be, Saith the Lord God Almighty, who is now doing all this his Holy Will and good Pleasure; and who is he that shall ever Disannul it? Given forth under my Hand, as the Lord himself gave it into my Heart to see, and into my Mouth to speak, and unto my Hand, thus at large, to write it, the 25th. of the 7th. Month, 1656. Samuel Fisher. Pray is not this a Fifth-Monarchy Sermon? No, it's a Quaker Sermon, but it's all one Doctrine, and may become one Practice, p. 102. Ibid. i e. The Quakers are the truest Catholic Church in the World, etc. If so, than your Saints are intended for this Holy War. Friends, I am the longer in this Sermon, because my Text requires it; namely, To show you our Ancient Testimony in all the Parts of it: And if any of the World's People at any time should understand this Discourse, for 'tis much if it do not come abroad, then tell them we mean all within, we are an Inward People: And whether we mention War and Fight, Swords and Spears, Ox or Ass, Kill, Cut off, Destroy, take Vengeance of the Heathen, Subvert and Overturn Nations, Kingdoms, etc. all this we mean within, and this have, and this peradventure will satisfy them. And now, Friends, I shall instance but one Proof more, to evince what our Ancient Testimony was, and is in all its Parts, and then I shall with Prayer conclude; and it is in an Epistle, entitled, This is only to go amongst Friends † Writ by Fr. howgil, (whose Daughter was in Bridewell, London,) and Edw. Burrough in Dublin, Printed Anno 1656. . Which Epistle contains great part of our Ancient Testimony; for it answers to George Fox's Title Page, News coming up, etc. and it answers to Josiah Coale's Letter, where he saith, Dear G. Fox, who art the Father of many Nations; whose Life hath reached through us thy Children; whose Being and Habitation is in the Power of the Highest, in which thou [George] Rulest and Governs in Righteousness: And Thy Kingdom is Established in Peace, and the Increase thereof is Without End * Josiah Coale's Letter from Barbadoes, recorded in the Book of Outlandish Letters, and by W. Penn vindicated in Judas and the Jews, etc. p. 44. . It answers also our Brother Solomon Eccles, who said, It might be said of G. Fox, as it was of Christ, that he was in the World, and the World was made by him, and yet the World knew him not. The Quakers Challenge, etc. p. 6. For if he was a King, and had a Kingdom, and such a Kingdom, as of the Increase thereof, there was never to be an end; than you may conclude, Friends, that he was the Branch, the Star, the Son of Righteousness, spoken of in Scripture; but mark, This (Epistle) is only to go amongst Friends * Indeed it was fit to go amongst none but Quakers and Fifth Monarchy-Men, so very well entitled. , viz. And O thou North of England! who art counted as Desolate and Barren, and reckoned the least of the Nation; yet out of thee did the Branch * Viz. Geo. Fox, which was prophesied of, and now is fulfilled, etc. his News out of the North, Title Page, Printed 1655. spring, and the Star arise, which gives Light unto all the Regions round about, in Thee (i. e. the North) the Son of Righteousness appeared with Wounding, and with Healing; and out of Thee the Terrors of the Lord proceeded, which makes the Earth to tremble, and be removed; out of Thee † i e. Out of the North, came Geo. Fox, James Naylor, R. Hubberthorn, Geo. Whitehead, Edw. Burrough, etc. Kings, Priests, and Prophets, did come forth in the Name and Power of the most High, which uttered their Voices as Thunders, and laid their Swords on the Necks of their Enemies, and never returned empty from the Slaughter † i e. When they were in Oliver's Army. .— Lift up your Voice; blow the Trumpet; sound an Alarm out of the Holy Mountain; proclaim the Acceptable Year, and the Day of Vengeance of our God; gird on your Sword upon your Loins, put on the Tried Armour, and follow him for ever, who rides on the white Horse, and is clothed with the same, and makes War in Righteousness. Ride on, ride on, my beloved Brethren, and Fellow-Soldiers; make all plain before you; thresh on with the new Threshing Instrument, which hath Teeth; beat the Mountains to Dust, and let the Breath of the Lord scatter it; make the the Heathen † i e. All the Christians. tremble, and the Uncircumcised fall by the Sword; the Lord of Hosts is with us, and goes before us; spare none, neither Ox nor Ass, neither Old nor Young * No, where the Quakers have Power, expect no Quarter. , Kill, Cut off, Destroy, your Sword in the Blood of Amaleck †{inverted †}† The Quaker's own Writings are their best Construing Books, and will best Interpret their Meaning who this Amaleck is, viz. Geo. Bishop in his Warnings of the Lord, p. 19 Printed 1660. i e. he cries out to the Officers of the Army, Remember Amaleck (says he) the Soul-Murdering, and Conscience-Binding Clergyman; blot out the Remembrance of Amaleck from under Heaven. News out of the North, etc. p. 27. Proclaim thus; Slay Baal; Baalam must be slain, and all the Hirelings must be turned out of the Kingdom, p. 18. , and all the Egyptians and Philistines, and all the Uncircumcised, and hue Agag to pieces *⁎* Dreadful is the Lord, who is coming to change all your Laws, ye Kings, p. 20. The Government shall be taken from you Rulers; this Tree (of Government) must be cut down, and Jesus Christ (in us) will Rule alone. , break the Rocks in pieces, cut down the Cedars, and strong Oaks, make the Devil's subject, cast out the Unclean Spirits, raise the Dead, shut up in Prison, bring out of Prison, cast in your Nets, launch into the Deep, divide the Fish, bind the Tares in Bundles, cast them into the Fire,— put on your Armour, and gird on your Sword, and lay hold on the Spear, and march into the Field, and prepare yourselves to Battle; for the Nations doth defy our God, and saith in their Hearts, who is the God of the Quakers * A proper Question; f●r few (if any) know. ? That we should fear him, and obey his Voice. Arise, arise, and sound forth the Everlasting Word of War and Judgement in the Ears of all the Nations, sound an Alarm, and make their Ears to tingle; our Enemies are whole Nations, and Multitudes in number; a Rebellious People, that will not come under Our Law † Meaning Geo. Fox's Ten Commandments. ; which ariseth up against us, and will not have our King to Reign * See Sam. Fisher's Prophecy. , but tramples his Honour under Foot, and despise his Law, and his Statutes, and accounteth his Subjects as Slaves and Bondmen; stand upon your Feet, and appear in your Terror, as an Army with Banners; and let the Nations know your Power, and the Stroke of your Hands; cut down on the Right Hand, and slay on the Left; and let not your Eye pity, nor your Hand spare, but wound the Lofty, and tread down the Honourable of the Earth; and give unto the great Whore double, and give her no Rest Day nor Night; but as she hath done, so let it be done unto her, and give her double into her Bosom: * The first Reformers did so; and I am giving the little young Whore a double Cup. As she hath loved Blood, so give her Blood; and dash her Children against the Stones; and let none of the Heathen Nations, nor their Gods, escape out of your Hands, nor their Images, nor Idols; but lay waste Fenced Cities † Hark! Are not these Fifth Monarchy-men? , and tread down the High Walls; for we have proclaimed open War; your Captains are Mighty Men, and your Leaders are well skilled to handle the Sword * This cannot be meant within. What, Leaders and Captains within! ; and they are Riding on before you— against the Beast, and the false Prophet; and Cursed be every one, that riseth not up to the Help of the Lord against the Mighty: The Beast is Mighty † i e. The King and Parliament , and the false Prophet is Great * i e. The Clergy. , and they keep the Nation under their Power: But, O thou Beast, and thou false Prophet! You shall be Tormented together; thou Beast, upon which the false Prophet sits * You'd fain Ride too; but I hope she'll throw you off, unless you Retract these Bloody Books, and Horrid Principles. , whom thou upholds by a Law, and defends by thy unrighteous Power;— and into the Pit and Lake shall you be turned, to have your Resting Place: And thou false Prophet, which hath deceived the Natitions, the Decree of our God is sealed against thee † No marvel than they cannot pray for them, unless for their Destruction, as Fox said. See Truth's Defence, etc. p. 15. , thy Smoke shall ascend for ever and ever; and of thy Sin there is No Forgiveness; nor of thy Torment No Remission; over you do we, and shall for ever, rejoice and sing; and over your God, and your King; the Dragon, that Old Serpent, cursed be he and his Memorial for ever. Written in Ireland, 1655. by Edw. Burrough, and Fr. howgil * Note, This was to go only amongst the Friends. ; and Printed in Quarto, with this Title, This is only to go amongst Friends. Thus, Friends, have I shown you our Ancient Testimony in all the Parts of it. First, Touching the World's People's Mistake in the Scriptures, for a Rule to Walk by. Secondly, Of the Certainty of our own Papers and Epistles, which are the Word of God, and a certain Rule to Walk by. Thirdly, And in the Application I have showed, how our Light hath exalted you above the Patriarches, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, and Holy Confessors, and all Christian Churches to this Day. Fourthly, Our dear Brother William Bingly, hath well remembered our Ancient Testimony, against the Hireling Priests; for with them, and against them, we began to War, and that with Indignation too. Fifthly, He hath also showed you who we account false Ministers, and what they are, and the very Names by which they are described, both in Oliver's time, and since. Sixthly, Ben. Bealing hath found out a very suitable Hymn of Praise, even a melodious Song of Triumph; setting forth our Exaltation, and the Downfall of the Christian Churches, under the Notion of the false Church, the Mother of Harlots, Mystery of Babylon; in which my Heart was, and still is refreshed, as with new Wine. Seventhly, I have also closed my Discourse with the Prophecy of Sam. Fisher, which you need not doubt but will come to pass; it may be sooner than you are ware of * If the Six-Week Meeting mind their Business every Session of Parliament. ; for he gave it forth as it came to him from the Lord, and no otherwise, the 25th Day of the Seventh Month, which the World's People call September, Anno 1656. so that it cannot, it cannot miss; only for the present, we must be content to stay, and patiently bear for the present; for as yet, we cannot think we shall be made to handle the Sword; but when the time does come, I have showed you the Testimony of two of our Prophets, and early Champions, what we shall Do, how we shall Kill, Cut off, and Destroy, and our Swords in the Blood of Amaleck * Viz. The Priests and Rulers, as in the large Marginal Note. , and lay waste Fenced Cities, and tread down the Honourable of the Earth, and spare neither Old nor Young, Ox nor Ass, Male nor Female, that will not come under our Law, and Worship our God. And now I shall conclude with a Prayer, and that also, without any Confession of Sin, for all my Sins were pardoned in Oliver's time. For the Prince of this World was cast out of me, 1652. and Hell was conquered, and Death and the Grave overcome, and the Kingdom that cannot be removed was given ME; and this the Lord did do for ME, from his Foreknowledge of ME; and the Lord then brought ME into Zion, which I then did Witness. See his Book, Truth defending the Quakers, p. 8. Moreover I was then moved to witness against the Priests and Hirelings, Diviners and Deceivers, and to judge the Whore, with her Enchantments; and to torment the Beast * i e. The Governors. , and plague the false Prophet, whose Judgement torment, and Misery was then begun, and will never have end, which I Witness, whom God hath set to root out, and pull down. Jacob found in a Desert Land, etc. p. 7, 8. And thus much shall suffice at this time, to show you our Ancient Testimony in many Particulars, which you are exhorted to Maintain, Defend, and to Vindicate; and not at any time to Retract any one Syllable of it, for the Government of our Church, even Men and Woman's Meettings were Ordained * The Quakers Ordinances, as in Sol. Eccles Prophecy. by Christ within, Geo. Fox, as at large in my Book, Judgement fixed, etc. p. 317, 318. is made clearly out; and out of which Book, p. 354. I shall use this short Form of Prayer, because the Day is far spent, viz. Let us Pray. O God, I make my Appeal and Supplication against this Jealous, Dividing, and Rending Spirit, that hath appeared in Strife and open Contention against thy Servants: Thou knowest the Integrity of my Soul * Compare G. W.'s Ser. Apol. p. 4, 5. with the Epistle, and Page 19, 317, 357. of his Judgement fixed, etc. and it will show this Prayer not only Pharisaical, but deep Hypocrisy; especially, adding p. 72. of his Coun●. Conu. etc. where he tells you, He can see Cause otherwise to word the Matter, and yet mean the same thing, etc. ; Thou hast endued me with a Christian Spirit, with Faith, Patience and Rejoicing under all my Sufferings; yet thou hast endued me also with the Spirit of Righteous Judgement, Understanding and Zeal; and hast raised me up † As he did Pharaoh. , in Defence of thy Gospel: So I recommend all to thee, to manifest the end of all, and to plead and justify my Cause; it being thy own Cause. Amen, Amen, saith my Soul. Geo. Whitehead. CHAP. XIV. The Cage of Birds opened; the Idolatrous Practices, Blasphemous Principles, and Vicious Enormities of the Quakers laid open; which may be compared with Pope Leo X. Reader, BY the foregoing Chapter, you have a View of the high Value the Quakers set upon themselves, and their Ancient Testimony, and how they Debase all Christian Churches, as the Whore, the false Church, the Mother of Harlots, even all: First, All that Sprinkle Children, and tell People it is Baptism, and thereby an Ordinance of Christ. G. Fox's Primer, p. 48. Secondly, All that Preach Christ without, as he is in Heaven at God's Right Hand. Smith's Primer, etc. p. 8. Thirdly, All that do Study the Scriptures, and Preach out of them. Saul's Errand, etc. p. 7. Fourthly, All that will not Fast with the Quakers, who are in the Truth, (saith Solomon Eccles,) and that none are in the Truth but they. The Quakers Challenge, etc. p. 3, 6. Fifthly, All that pay or receive Tithes. An Antidote, etc. p. 78. Sixthly, All that take Matthew, Mark, Luke and John for the Gospel, viz. Glad Tidings, and the Scriptures for their Rule. G. Fox's Epistle, to be read in Steeple-Houses, etc. p. 2, 3, 4, 5. Nay, W. Penn and Whitehead adds, That a Mountebank is an honest Man to a Parson; that such Wickedness (as Debauchery, Drunkenness and Whoredom,) more suiteth the Spirits of his (i. e. Priests) own Fraternity; the Priests, both Episcopal and Presbyterian, whose known Drunkenness and Whoredoms, etc. would fill Volumes to describe. Hear W. Penn again, p. 165. Had James nailer's Words been Ten Thousand times more significant, earnest and sharp, against that cursed bitter Stock of Hirelings, they had been but enough, and I would then say not enough; but that the Reverence I bear to the Holy Spirit would oblige me to acquiesce in whatever he should utter, through any Prophet or Servant of the Lord * This Jam. Naylor, W. Penn's Prophet, is the Person that was Hosannaed into Bristol; and Sam. Cater, now a Preacher amongst them, then leading his Horse. ; and we have nothing for them but Woes and Plagues, who have made drunk the Nations, and laid them to Sleep on the Downey Beds of soft sin-pleasing Principles, whilst they have cut their Purses, and picked their Pockets; Tophet's prepared for them to act their Eternal Tragedy upon, whose Scenes will be renewed, direful anguishing Woes of an Eternal Irreconcilable Justice, etc. Ser. Apol. Dedicated to the King's Lieutenant in Ireland, etc. p. 2, 22, 127, 156. Again, saith the same W. Penn, in his Book, The Guide Mistaken, etc. p. 18. And whilst the Idle, Gormandizing Priests of England, run away with above Fifteen Hundred Thousand Pounds a Year, under Pretence of being God's Ministers; and that no sort of People have been so universally, through Ages, the very Bane of Soul and Body to the Universe, as that abominable Tribe; for whom the Theatre of God's most Dreadful Vengeance wait to act their Eternal Tragedy upon. Well, let us hear W. Penn once more what he saith of the Teachers of the Presbyterians, Independants, Baptists, etc. Quakerism a New Nickname, etc. p. 165. viz. An Ill-bred, and Pedantic Crew; the Bane of Reason, and Pest of the World; the old Incendiaries to Mischief, and the best to be spared of Mankind; against whom the Boiling of an irritated God is ready to be poured out, to the Destruction of such, if they repent not, etc. Quakerism a New Nickname, etc. p. 165. Reader, You see here is nothing but Hell and Damnation for the Ministers of all Christian Societies: Pray let us hear their Opinion of the Church of England in general, and that may give their Sense of all other Churches, since I see they make little (if any) Difference of their Teachers, viz. And as for the Purity of the Church of England, it's out of our Sight; we can see a great deal of Impurity, Corruption, and Soul-sickness in it: Indeed, they say enough of themselves, to cause all wholesome, sound, understanding People, to shun them, and their Church and Worship, as Men eat a Contagious Disease or Infection, etc. The Innocency and Conscientiousness of the Quakers, etc. p. 7. Printed 1664. To which let me add but one Passage more, (tho' I might One Hundred) of Mr. Penn's, who can express himself as well, and as much according to the Quakers Ancient Testimony, as any Man amongst thern: And briefly thus, viz. Come tell me, ye of the Church of England, whence came your Forms of Prayer and Church-Government? Are they not the Offspring of that Idolatrous Popish Generation * By this, who would have thought Mr. Penn had been so near of Kin to them, as his latter Writings set forth. See A Brief Hist. of Quakerism, etc. p. 44, to 58, 103, to 120. , which is abominable to the God of Heaven? Are you not at, Have mercy upon us, miserable Sinners? There is no Health in us from Seven to Seventy. Truth Exalted, etc. p. 9 Reader, W. Penn tells his Reader, in his Ser. Apol. etc. p. 79. That his designed Method in his Answer, is not the common Road of Printing his Adversaries Words at large, on all Occasions; so I tell thee, yet in many Cases I recite the whole: However, by this time, you have not only an Account of the high Value the Quakers set upon themselves, as in the former Chapter, but of their debasing the Protestant Ministers and Churches, as a pack of Drunkards, Whoremongers, with an Et-caetera, worse than Mountebanks; a cursed bitter Stock of Hirelings, a Pedantic Crew, the best to be spared of Mankind; against whom the Boiling Vengeance of God is reserved, etc. and who deserve nothing but Plagues and Woes, Hell and Damnation; yea, Pickpockets, Cutpurses, etc. that the People ought to shun as a Pest-house, with too much of that Nature to be here inserted; especially, adding what in The Picture of Quakerism, etc. is set forthron this Head: And does it not amount to a just Provocation to any Child, to see such foul Aspersions, and horrible Slanders, cast upon his Mother, from whose Breasts of Consolation he hath received great Consolation and Comfort, both to vindicate her, and to set forth what manner of Men they are, that thus scandalise his Mother-Church, not only privately in their Chimney Corners, but in their Meetings; yea, in Print, in all Cities, Towns and Villages? etc. G. Whitehead said, That God laid a Necessity upon him to write his Book, Judgement fixed, etc. where he called me and others Apostate Informers, Treacherous Hypocrites, False Brethren, Deceitful Workers, Betraying. Judas 's, Devils Incarnate, Dogs, Wolves, Raging Waves, etc. And his God laying such a Necessity upon him thus to Write and Rail, in Vindication of Quakerism, he adds, And in the discharging: my Duty, I neither consult Events, nor fear Effects. Now in Answer, I cannot pretend to such an immediate Motion as the Quakers do; but I do really think myself in point of Duty and Conscience, to bear these Testimonies against the foul Aspersions of these railing Rabsheka's, and have both consulted and considered the Events that may ensue, and hope well of the Effects that may follow, even the Confutation of their Teachers, and Conviction of their Hearers; and I hope the Conversion of the Sincere amongst them. And now to the Men, and what manner of Men they are, that thus undermine the Christian Religion, Ministry and Worship. And thus much by way of Introduction to the Cage of Unclean Birds. POSTSCRIPT. Note, Reader, That George Fox (the first Bird in the Cage) did cause John Fretwell, Christ. Gilhorn, Ja. Nayler, and others, to go down upon their Knees before him, publicly before Friends, (which is Idolatry) and then and there, upon their Knees, to make their Confession, and own Judgement upon what he charged them with, before he would own them, or receive them into the Unity amongst Friends, etc. To all People professing the Eternal Truth, etc. p. 6. per John Harwood, one of G. W. 's Fellow-Preachers. Babylon is fallen, is fallen, and is become the Habitation of Devils, and the Hold of every foul Spirit, and a Cage of every Unclean and Hateful Bird. For her Sins have reached unto Heaven, and God bathe remembered her Iniquity, Rev. 18.2,5. Reward Her even as She hath Rewarded you, and double unto Her double, according to Her Works: In the Cup which She hath filled, fill to Her double. Rejoice over Her, thou Heaven, and ye Holy Apostles and Prophets; for God hath avenged you on Her, Ver. 6, 20. diagrammatic list of Quakers A Cage of Birds. GEORGE FOX. John Harwood, George Smith, Edw. Burrough, Samuel Fisher, Stephen Crisp, Will. Warwick, Jos. Helling, Samuel Cater, Thomas Leacock, Allelujah Fisher, Solomon Eccles, John Audland, Jofiah Coale, T. Thurston, George Whitehead. Thomas el— Rich. Hubberthorn, William Gosnell, Thomas Biddle, William Gibson, John Whitehead, Sam. Newton Christ. Atkinson, Daniel Wills, Immanuel D— Jo. Swinton, Sen. Tho. Rudiard. John Blaikling, John Tie—, Ezekiel Wooley, John Moon, Francis howgil, Isaac Pennington. Reader, I am now about opening the Cage, and shall take out Twelve of the Birds, and open their Wings, and spread their Feathers, to the Intent thou mayst view them, and note their Features, and observe their Natures and Dispositions; and George Fox the Cage-Keeper shall be over and above, with some little Observations upon him; and the rather, because G. Whitehead has denied, That the Quakers call him their Branch, their Star, their Son of Righteousness, etc. in his Sober Expost. etc. p. 55, 58. I remember, that about the Year 1662. Geo. Fox came into the Isle of Ely, and at his Meetings great part of his Discourse was about the Cage of Unclean Birds, saying, The Church of England, (as in his Epistle to be read in Churches) and the Professors, were a Cage of Unclean Birds; and the Note he made them sing was thus, Come ye Episcopals, How do you sing in the Cage? Answ. No Perfection here, no Perfection here. Well, come you Presbyterians, Independants, and Baptists, what say you? How do you sing? Let us hear your Note. Answ. No Perfection here, no Perfection here. Then said George, Come out of the Cage, in a very comical Manner. Thus did he deride the Professors of Christianity, exalting themselves; a Figure of which, you have in Geo. Whitehead's Sermon in the Thirteenth Chapter: And now you shall hear how his Birds chirrup, and what Note they sing to his Lute. But to understand this rightly, I think it necessary to give you a brief Description of Geo. Fox; that so, when you hear Six of the Birds of one sort sing to his Tune, and dance after his Pipe, you may the better understand whether they do not call him their Branch, etc. First, He (G. Fox) a great Liar, like Mahomet; a great Seducer, like Simon Magus, a vain Boaster, like Ignatius Loyold, saying, That neither he nor his Name was known in the World; Several Petitions Answered, etc. p. 60. when there was not Ten Men in the whole Nation more universally known. Secondly, In that he taught, That he that hath the same Spirit that raised up Jesus Christ, is equal with God; that he was before Languages were, and that he was come to the end of Languages. Saul's Errand, etc. p. 8. His Battledoor, the Introduction, etc. Thirdly, In that he taught, That he was come to such a Fullness of Glory, as that his Head and Ears was filled full of Glory; yea, that a Thundering Voice answered him, saying, I have glorified thee, and will glorify thee again; alluding to John 12.28,29. The Examination and Trial of G. Fox at Lancaster Assize, etc. p. 21. Fourthly, In that he said, David's Sepulchre was with the Quakers, and that they had seen it. Truth's Defence, etc. p. 56. An abominable Lie, like that of Mahomet's Journey up to Heaven upon an Ass. Fifthly, In saying, That if every People own the Prophets and Apostles Writings, they will own the Writings of the Quakers; and that they may as well condemn the Scriptures to the Fire, as their Papers and Queries, etc. Several Petitions Answered, etc. p. 38. Truth's Defence, p. 2, 104. Sixthly, In that he taught, That he wrought Miracles, Fox 's Journal, the Third Index; and yet never wrought a Miracle, in the Name of Jesus of Nazareth, all his Days; (only some Lying Wonders, forged out of his Luciferian Brain, without any Attestation, like Simon Magus.) Seventhly, In that he taught, That the Breach of the Eighth Commandment, Thou shalt not steal, was no Sin, if moved thereto by the Spirit of the Lord. G. Fox 's Great Mystery, etc. p. 77. In this, Fox, if not a Ranter, yet joined with them; and so are all that own his Doctrine. Eighthly, In that he taught, That to call the Scriptures the Word of God was Blasphemy; whilst that he, yea, even he, called his own Writings the Word of God; and frequently, the Word of the lord Way to the Kingdom, etc. p. 4. Several Papers given out for spreading Truth, etc. Ninthly, In teaching, That if Christ that's Crucified be not within, and that Christ that's Risen be not within, I say, that ye are Reprobates.— Now, I say, that if there be any other Christ than he that's Crucified within, he is a false Christ; and he that hath not this Christ that was Risen and Crucified within, is a Reprobate. Tho' Devils and Reprobates make a Talk of him without, God's Christ is not Distinct from his Saints, nor his Body, (the Church;) for he is within them, not Distinct from their Spirits: And thou sayest, thou art saved by Christ without thee, and so hath recorded thyself a Reprobate; and they that profess Christ without them, and another Christ within them, here is two Christ's. G. Fox 's Great Mystery, etc. p. 206, 207, 250, 254. And to confirm this false Doctrine, see Edw. Burrough's Answer to a Question, and William Smith's to his Child; which are as followeth. Query, Is that very Man (said the Minister to Burrough,) with that very Body, within you? Yea, or Nay. Burrough Answers, The very Christ of God is within us; we dare not deny him. Burtongh 's Works, p. 149. Query, How may I know when Christ is truly Preached? W. Smith's Answer. They that are false (Ministers) Preach Christ without, and bid People believe in him, as he is in Heaven above: But they that are Christ's Ministers Preach Christ within, etc. Smith 's Primer, etc. p. 8. Now, Reader, if this Doctrine be sound and Orthodox, than were all the Apostles, Martyrs, and all Christian Ministers, false Teachers and Deceivers; but if this Doctrine be Heterodox, than the Quakers only are the false Teachers, Deceivers, and Antichrists. W. Penn also is one with Fox, Burrough and Smith. See his Christian Quaker, and Diu. Test. p. 97, 98. and his Sandy Foundation, p. 21. Tenthly, G. Fox speaking of his own Rise out of the North, gives his Book this Title; News coming up out of the North, sounding towards the South; written (by Fox) from the Mouth of the Lord, from one who is Naked, and stands Naked before the Lord, clothed with Righteousness, whose Name is not known in the World, risen out of the North, which was prophesied of † Query, by what Prophet? , and now fulfilled. Thus much briefly touching this Blasphemous Bird; which being the Master of the Assembly, and first Founder of this Sect, he shall not be of the Number of the Twelve intended, viz. Six of each sort, which now shall follow in their Order, the first Six being of the same Feather, witnessing to their Forerunner, and great Apostle; who tho' he once said he had a Celestial Body * Before two credible Witnesses, one being still alive. ; that he had Power to bind and lose whom he pleased, yet his Body proved an Earthly one, and is dead and gone; and for some Years, whilst living amongst them, was like a Statue, or an insensible Image, which could scarce see or understand, being grown Corpulent, and in bulk of two or three Men; and so dosed away his time with strong Liquors and Brandy, who left these Words for W. Rogers, John Raunce, Anne Docwra, and others, who had opposed his Tyranny and Usurpation, viz. And as for this Spirit of Rebellion and Opposition that hath risen formerly and lately, it is out of the Kingdom of God, and Heavenly Jerusalem, and is for Judgement and Condemnation; with all its Books, Words and Works. † This was Printed in their Yearly Epistle, 1691. and Reprinted in Fox's Journal, 1694. p. 616. Now observe how this Fox is adored, Burrough, the First Bird of the Blasphemous Six. See their Book, This is only to go amongst Friends, p. 19 viz. Oh thou North of England, who art counted as Desolate and Barren, and reckoned the least of the Nations; yet out of thee did the Branch (Fox) spring, and the Star (Fox) arise, which gives Light unto all the Regions round about; in thee the Son of Righteousness (Fox) appeared; out of thee Kings, Priests, and Prophets, did come forth in the Name and Power of the most High, (meaning Hubberthorn, Howgil, Burrough, Farnsworth, Nayler, Atkinson, Whitehead, etc.) which uttered their Voices as Thunders, etc. Thus has Burrough echoed back, and confirmed Fox his Imposture, saying Amen to his Blasphemy, alluding to Micah 5.2. to Matth. 2.5,6. as more largely handled in my Book, New Rome Unmasked, etc. p. 79, to 88 and New Rome Arraigned, etc. p. 5, 6, 7. And I marvel at Whitehead's Impudence to deny it, In his Sober Exp. p. 57, 58. but to make it clear, and past his Exception, if possible, let's take out more Birds; but he that will deny Burrough's Book to have this Title, This is only to go amongst Friends, which is the only, and all the Title; and which Book I have by me; what will not such a Fellow deny? Jos. Coale, the Second Bird. Dear Geo. Fox, who art the Father of many Nations; whose Life hath reached through us thy Children, even to the Isles afar off, to the begetting many again to a lively Hope; for which Generations to come shall call thee Blessed, whose Being and Habitation is in the Power of the Highest, in which thou (Geo. Fox) Rulest and Governs in Righteousness: And Thy Kingdom is Established in Peace; and the Increase thereof is without End. Read Numb 24.17,19. Zech. 3.8. cap. 6. v. 12. Malachi 4.2. Luke 1.32,33. Isai. 9.6,7. Thus than it is plain, That both Burrow and Coale called G. Fox, comparatively, the Branch, the Son of Righteousness; yea, Christ. Sol. Eccles, the Third Bird. Several Petitions Answered, etc. p. 60. Stand up Muggleton, thou Sorcerer, whose Mouth is full of Cursing, Lies and Blasphemy; who calls thy last Book a Looking-Glass for Geo. Fox, whose NAME thou art not worthy to take into thy Mouth; who is a Prophet indeed, and hath been faithful in the Lord's Business from the beginning: It was said of Christ, that he was in the World, and the World was made by him, and the World knew him not, John 1.10. So it may be said of this true Prophet, (Geo. Fox) whom John said he was not; Several Petitions Answered, etc. p. 60. but thou wilt feel this Prophet one Day as heavy as a Millstone upon thee; and altho' the World knows him not * See the first Instance of the Ten, about Fox. , yet he is known, etc. The Quak. Chal. p. 6. Thus do they all agree, that Fox is their Star, their Branch, etc. For if he be Christ, as Eccles saith; if he had a Kingdom established, of whose Increase there never was to be an end, as Coale said; then he was Christ; and so the Branch, the Star, etc. as Burrough said, and indeed as they all mean, else they would condemn these Blasphemous Books; but instead thereof, this Letter of Coale's is vindicated in their Book, Judas and the Jews, p. 44. in all its Parts. A small Treatise, wrote in Alisbury Prison the 3d. Month, 1661. by J. Whitehead, Jo. Whitehead, the Fourth Bird. where he saith, In the Year 1648. God, who had Compassion on his People, did cause a Branch to spring forth of the Root of David, which was filled with Virtues, for the Covenant of Life and Peace was in him: Jo. Whitehead, the Fourth Bird. 'Tis well Calculated; for about 1648. Fox first risen in the North, only did not spread forth his Branches till about 1650. And he (Fox) spread, and shot forth many Branches, which did partake of the Fatness of the Root, and the Weary came to Rest under his (Fox 's) Branches; and in him (Fox) was also the Word of Reconciliation, which turned the Hearts of the Fathers to the Children, and the Disobedient to the Wisdom of the Just. And in the Year 1652. I (John Whitehead) being a Branch of this Tree, (Fox) the Life of its Root caused me to Blossom, and bring forth Fruit for the Spirit, as a Key opened his (Fox 's) Treasure, and shown me (for he was before Languages were) that which was from the beginning. Read p. 4, 5. of the same Treatise. Thus then has this J. Whitehead put all out of Doubt, and quite confuted G. Whitehead, and overthrown all his Arguments, by confessing Matter of Fact. If I have made Whitehead oppose Whitehead, 'tis no more than in other Cases I have done; for the Quakers having no Bottom, no Solid Foundation, but all speaking as their Light move them, it's easy to see how they interfere and jar; only G. W. has this Faculty, he can otherwife word his Matter, and yet mean the same: A right Jesuit, a Doctrine first coined in their Mint, and only serve to their Ends; whose Work has been to sow Divisions, make Rents, and beget Schisms, etc. The next Bird shall be John Audland, in a Letter of his to G. Fox from the West of England; an Abstract thereof is as follows, viz. John Audland, the Fifth Bird. Dear and Precious one, in whom my Life is bound up, and my Strength in thee stands; by thy Breathe I am nourished; by thee my Strength is renewed; Blessed art thou for evermore, and Blessed are all that enjoy thee: Life and Strength comes from thee, Holy one;— daily do I find thy Presence with me, which doth exceedingly preserve me, for I cannot reign but in thy Presence (Fox) and Power: Pray for me, that I may stand in thy Dread (Fox) for evermore— I am thine, (Fox) Begotten and Nourished by thee; and in thy Power (Fox) am I preserved; Glory unto thee (Fox) Holy One for ever. Reader, These are the Birds in the Cage; tell me, are they not all of a Feather? Do they not all agree in the main, That G. Fox was the Quakers Branch and Star; yea, their All in All; the Bottom, and Corner, and Top-Stone of their Building? Pray spare me the Pains of a large Comment; I think there is no need; he that runs may read, and he that reads may understand the Foundation of Quakerism; no marvel then if it whither, no marvel: if it fall like a Millstone into the Bottom of the Sea, never more to rise. But let me add another Bird, since I have Plenty, etc. Jo. Blaikling, the Sixth Bird. Here followeth the Testimony and Certificate of John Blaikling, to the clearing of the Aspersions that William Rogers, etc. cast upon G. Fox,— that's blessed with Honour above many Brethren; and that Thousands will stand by him in a Heavenly Record unto the Integrity of his Soul to Truth, that still lives with him: That his Life Reigns, and is Spotless, Innocent, and still retains his Integrity, whose Eternal Honour and Blessed Renown shall remain; yea, his Presence, and the dropping of his Tender Words in the Lord's Love was my Soul's Nourishment, etc. The Christ. Quaker disting. etc. 5th Part, p. 77. Come George Whitehead, give me thy Hand ☞ ☜, I'll take thee out of the Cage, and do thee this Honour, not to be a Partner with the last Six Blasphemous Birds, but as a Witness for them, that we may hear what thou canst say on their Behalf: But I'll put thee in again, and keep thee there, lest thou fliest up and down the Nation, and do more Mischief. Oh George! thou art a plump Bird, thou'rt grown fat I find; well, what canst thou say? I affirm, that G. Fox does deny the same (i. e. these Divine Attributes) in reference to himself, as a particular Man or Person, whose Days and Years are limited; only the Truth of the Immortal Seed Christ in him, he stands to maintain against all Opposers and Apostates: Judgement fixed, etc. p. 19 And as to his (Francis Bugg 's) Charge of Idolatry, if not Blasphemous Names and Titles given to Geo. Fox in certain Letters— how proves he (Francis Bugg) that they gave and intended those Titles to the Person of Geo. Fox, and not to the Life of Christ in him? Innocency against Envy, etc. p. 18. How, George! I'll tell thee how, because Josiah Coale said, Dear G. Fox, etc. by this I know they intended G. Fox; for if they had intended those Titles to the Life of Christ in him, they would have directed their Letters suitably; saying, Dear Life of Christ in G. Fox, etc. This I hope will satisfy thee, if Reason could take place; if not, I despair of giving thee or thy Friend's Satisfaction. But George, for thy Comfort, if thou wilt mean as thou sayest, according to the Import of thy Words; and on that Foot retract and condemn these thy Fallacious Covers and Excuses, and thy own apparent Errors; and the Errors in thy Friends Books, which thou hast most impudently glossed over; with thy Hypocritical Paint, I will take thee out of the Cage; if not, there lie for ever, singing, Here is Perfection, here is Perfection, etc. Thus much shall serve in answer to G. W.'s Book, entitled, A Sober Expostulation, etc. p. 54, 55, 56. as well as to show what manner of Birds are in the Cage of this sort, namely, Blasphemers and Idolaters; and next, let me take out Six of the other sort, namely, of their Vicious Teachers, against whom G. Whitehead would not write a Book for the World. No, seriously, I believe him, his Sincerity is so true to their Ancient Testimony; besides, if he should, there being so few of them clear, that here would be Hell broke lose; for if they should write one against another, all would come out, and then they'd appear a dark sort of Quakers indeed. Christopher Atkinson, the Seventh Bird, but the first of the last Six beforementioned; who was since hanged for Felony. And Christ. Atkinson was G. Whitehead's Fellow-Traveller, Fellow-Sufferer, Fellow-Writer, and Fellow-Preacher: But so it was, that he got Ursula, the Maid-Servant of Tho. Symonds, with Child, when he was a Sufferer for their Ancient Testimony in Norwich-Goal; but this was not all, for he broke Prison, stole Goods, and run away; I have his Confession in Print, Signed by John Stubbs, William Cotton, and Thomas Symonds: And it's worth noticing, to see what Grief Atkinson was in, because it dishonoured the Cause of Quakerism, in that it could not be kept private from the Knowledge of the World's People: But not a Word of Confession of Sin to God, nor ask his Pardon for Christ's sake. But to the second, Stephen Crisp, the Eighth Bird. Stephen Crisp, in his Circuit, going to Norwich, by Mendlesham in Suffolk, Robert Duncon advised him to carry it wisely at Norwich; for (said he) my Kinsman, Sam. Duncon, is a Man of a Timorous (or Brittle) Disposition. Well, away goes St. Crisp to Norwich, sets up his Horse at the Place allotted for their Teacher's Horses, and then goes to Samuel Duncon's House; but Samuel not being at home, Stephen takes up Samuel's Wife into the Chamber: Anon Samuel comes home, where is my Wife? (says he to the Maid) She's gone up the Chamber, (said she) with Stephen Crisp. Well, Samuel walks up and down the House; he rubs his Elbows, scratches his Head, and very melancholy he was; so between Nine and Ten of the Clock (as I was told by some Quakers that knew it) down came Stephen and Sam's Wife: And this bred great Discontent between Sam. and his Wife * She was a very handsome Woman, and 'twas thought too yielding. , but Stephen wanted no Boldness to carry it off. Many such Stories we had of him, knowing he was Light and Airy, and a great Lover of strong Wines, and Waters of 8 s. a Pint, and many of us looked upon him little better than a Ranter, if not an Atheist: W. C. can enlarge on this Subject no doubt. If any question the Truth of this, let them go to Joseph Carver, Tho. Budderyw, if living, and other Ancient Quakers in Norwich, and they can tell you more of this. As also of Tho. Murford, another of G. Fox's Preachers, who used to lay Plasters to some Parts of Samuel's Wife, which ofttimes did Incommode her Husband. This is so well known at Norwich, that none but G. W. will have the Face to deny it: But if he do, I will set W. I. and W. Mires to talk with him about that and some other things. Tho. Leacock, the Ninth Bird. Tho. Leacock lived at enemy in Norfolk, two Miles distance from Wisbech, is the Bird I am now taking out of the Cage; his Forepart is like a Rook, but his Claws like a Kite, or some Bird of Prey: He was one of Geo. Whitehead's great Assistants, both in Preaching and Disputing, and whom George mentions as such in his Serious Apology, p. 3. This Leacock was a notorious Drunkard, only (like some others of their Teachers, as well as Hearers, of the Epicurean sort) a private one: But to be short, so it fell out, that upon a time, being at a Neighbour's House, where Drink was free; he was so drunken, that going out to make Water, he staggered, and fell backward into a Cistern, made to catch Rain-Water; that had they not from within heard him fall like a Millstone, he had been drowned in that little Sea; but from that he was by strong Hands saved, yet he broke his Bladder, and was forced to wear a Dish in his Breeches, to catch his Water, to his dying Day: And his Wife still continued the same Trade (if not dead within these two Years) who will sit and drink Brandy till she is so drunken, that she will p— ss as she sits. Let her then be hereby cautioned to take warning by the Misfortune of her Sister Quaker-woman in London, who about a Year and a half ago, being drunken with Brandy, and alone, the Fire by Accident, if not in Judgement, took hold of her , and (as I am credibly informed) was burnt alive in her drunken Fit: But let it be noted, that the said Leacock was a Man extreme zealous against Ribbons and Laces; in a word, for every Commandment of G. Fox, And moreover, as a Work of Supererogation, he was excellent to convey away a Female Sister, if things fell out cross, that so Truth might not be dishonoured by the World's People knowing of it. I remember well, that about the Year 1662. there was a noted Quaker got his Maid with Child, and Tho. Leacock took her into Norfolk, and acted so wisely in it, that I do think it never was heard of by the World's People, and for which he has had many a hot buttered Loaf: I will not say what else; Money answers all things. John Moon, the Tenth Bird. John Moon is the Tenth in number: He was an excellent Orator, a great travelling Preacher, and of great Fame amongst the Quakers; of which I need not say much in this place; if the Reader be pleased to turn back to the Fourth Chapter, he shall see him amongst the Worthies one of the Eleven Elders to govern the Church, one half of them Cage-Birds; pray observe from thence what Judges and Elders the Quakers Body is, to which the poor Hearers must submit; 'tis well worthy thy notice. However, after many Years Preaching, and suffering Imprisonment for G. Fox's Cause in England, he went into Pensilvania, and was a great Preacher there, and a Justice of Peace forsooth under the Honourable W. Penn: But he could not leave his Vicious Habit, for he first got his Maid with Child, and so pursued that Course of Life until he died of the foul Disease: I would have the Quakers look into G. Whitehead's Sermon, and compare it with the Cage of their unclean Birds, all Writers and Preachers, and I hope it will humble them, tho' my Verses did not, which yet were intelligible to them; for I was loath to expose them, because I do believe, that amongst the Hearers there are many honest-minded People; but I verily believe, that according to the number of the Quaker-Teachers, compared with the Multitude of the Clergy, and other Protestant Teachers: I say, where there is one of the last mentioned chargeable with Vicious Immoralities, there is a Hundred of the Quaker-Teachers, yet how impudently have W. Penn and the rest of that Gang bespattered the Clergy, Ut supra: And particularly W. Penn, viz. But to excuse this Brazen Impudence and Hypocrisy— his Hackney Mercenary Spirit— He (Jonathan Clapham) boldly calls Christ his Redeemer, not observing how unsuitable his Life and Doctrine is with the Redeemed of the World: For whosoever is Redeemed by Christ, is perfectly so, in as much as all his Works are perfect: But as this Guide (Mr. Clapham 's) Conversation manifests the contrary, by his Very Great Miscarriages * A base Suggestion. I am told by many worthy and good Men, that Mr. Clapham was a Pious Man, and a good Liver. — Nor is there any thing so much stumble Infidels, and brings a Reproach upon the Christian Religion, as Priests and People Writing, Talking, and Fight hard for Christ, as Redeemer, whilst every Eye finds them as Polluted, and deeply Engaged in Dishonest and Immoral Practices, as those against whom they contend, etc. See his Book, The Guide mistaken, etc. p. 28, 29, 53, 55. Indeed I do not think the Quaker Teachers great Miscarriages are so visible to every Eye, as the Failings and Imperfections of Mr. Clapham's, &c. were. But let the Quakers first pluck out the Beam out of their own Eye, and then they shall see the more clearly how to remove the Mote out of another's Eye: But to proceed to discover this Beam, let me take out another Bird; namely, Tho. Thurston, the Eleventh Bird. Thomas Thurston is the Eleventh Bird, was an eminent Preacher up of G. Fox's Orders, Laws and Commandments, and a great Favourite of Fox's, who lived in America; who in his Travels to spread their Truth, pretended to the Deputy-Governor's Wife, that he (Tho. Thurston) had a Motion from the Spirit to get her with Child † Come, W. Venn, was not this a great Miscarriage? Was it not visible to the Eye of the Deputy-Governour? , she believing him, submits to a Trial of Skill, and it proved so infallibly, the Woman's Husband being then in Old-England, where he stayed about a Year or more; but at length he came home, and finding things bad, he examined his Wife strictly how it came to pass: She confessed, that such a Friend (Tho. Thurston) told her, that he had a Motion from God to get her with Child, and she was overcome by him. Well, (said her Husband) if you will do one thing, I will forgive you; which is, To go to the Quakers-Meeting, and declare openly how you were deluded by this Preaching Quaker. She did so, and he forgave her, and as I am credibly informed, many of the Quakers thought his Motion was true, he was so eminent an Orator, and he still kept on some time a Preacher: And why might not G. Fox allow of the Breach of this Seventh Commandment, given forth by Moses, as well as he did of the Breach of the Eighth Commandment, viz. And as for any being moved of the Lord to take away your Hourglass from you, by the Eternal Power it is owned, etc. G. Fox's Great Mystery, etc. p. 77. Such Influence had Fox's Doctrine, as you may see in these two Cases, and a Hundred more I could mention; but enough of this Bird. Come, George, what thinkest thou of thy Brother Preacher, Tho. Thurston? He Preached amongst the Infidels; and if he had been a Christian Minister, I do agree it might have stumbled them; but being a Quaker, and led thereto by the Spirit, it did confirm Quakerism. George, I could be more particular, I could tell you of several pretty Stories, and W. Ingram and Walter Myres should evidence it. I could tell you of a Cannon-street Story, but you know that and many others; I could tell you of a She-Preacher, who went from her Husband, Geo. Knight, so long holding forth, that her Husband got a By-Child or two, and at last married another Wife: But since that your She-Preachers kept more at home. I could tell you a Story of your Meeting, to cleanse the Camp, about John Swinton, and others, and of Rebecca Travers her Testimony, which would make you look more like the Synagogue of Satan, than the Church of the Firstborn, as you boast; but I delight not in it, were it not to humble you: So that I shall only mention one Bird more at present, he being a Favourite of yours, and your Brother Cater, who notwithstanding his gross Immoralities, yet you both wrote in Favour of him in these Words; viz. George Smith, a poor well-meaning Man, that hath been convinced about 13 or 14 Years, and ever since he came amongst us, hath walked uprightly according to his Measure, and hath been of a blameless Conversation amongst Men from his Youth up, etc. Judgement fixed, etc. p. 207. The Lib. of an Apost. Consc. etc. p. 18, 19 Come, G. Whitehead, this is high Commendation; but he was a Man for your turn, one strict for G. Fox's Commandments, and was not ungrateful to you for your high Praise and Commendation: For as one good Deed requires another, as the Proverb is, so he, Geo. Smith, saith in The Lib. of an Apost. etc. p. 29. I have Cause to believe better things of them all, (i. e. the Quakers;) and for Sam. Cater, whom thou (Fran. Bugg) so much abusest, I know his Conversation hath been such amongst us, as becomes a Man that fears God, that it is not thy Lies that can hurt him; for he hath a Witness in our Consciences * Thus they witness one for another, excuse and justify each other. , for his faithful Service, and upright Conversation amongst us. Come, George, here is hiding, here is excusing, nay, justifying each other in your Abominations, like the two wicked Elders in the Story of Susanna, saying, Tush, God sees us not, nor the World's People do not know it: And G. Smith standing Suit with the Minister of Littleport, about Tithes, As in the Year 1697. he did. he is faithful to G. Fox's Commandments, and is a true Son of our Church, a well-meaning Man, one that hath lived uprightly ever since he came amongst us, even from his Youth up. Oh George! your Hypocrisy must come out; and therefore, and for that Reason only, I shall take out of the CAGE this your well-meaning, upright Bird, namely, George Smith: But first let me acquaint the Reader, that since I came to London this August 1699. I have seen a Letter from a Quaker in Huntingtonshire to his Friend in London; giving a Narrative of Sam. Cater's Vicious Behaviour to several Women in Huntingtonshire, (A. W. for one) in Cambridge, and in Suffolk, about which Richard Jobson called him in Question, and at a Meeting at St. Ives, at Tobias Hardmeat's House; and in the Presence of him, his Wife, John Everard, and some few others, where R. Jobson charged poor Sam. very home; but he as stoutly denied it at first, being (as his Sister Anne Docwra said) a confident Liar: But A. W. the Woman with whom he had to do being present, Sam. at last confessed the Fact, and was sorry he had dishonoured the Truth, i. e. Quakerism. But to the Matter, which is a Narrative of the Proceed of this well-meaning Man, G. Smith, who both G. Whitehead and Sam. Cater commend as an upright Man, a well-meaning Man, and that from his Youth up. As for Sam. Cater, I shall let his Narrative alone at present, only to show the Affinity of the Birds, and how they'll commend each other to the Skies, whilst they condemn all beside themselves. Reader, These are their Infallible Doctors; these are their Sinless (alias Senseless) Saints, and the Perfectionests of our Age; viz. George Smith, the Twelfth Bird. George Smith of Littleport, having a Wife of his own, being a Bailiff for a Gentleman of the same Town, (whose Wife was a handsome young Woman) G. Smith in time grew very kind to his Wife; the Gentleman falling sick, gave his Wife warning of G. Smith: But he dying, there was room for him to accomplish his Design; and so it came to pass, that he got her with Child: And the time of her Delivery drawing near, George takes his Horse, and carries the Widow forth, designing such a Journey, as that her Child should not be heard to cry in Littleport, nor Tales thereof be told to the World's People. Well, away they road together lovingly, as if they had been acquainted; but e'er they got two Miles, the good Woman had a Fit of the Belly-ache; and riding past a loan House, called Woodhouse, standing between Littleport and Ely, G. Smith knocks at the Door, the 10th or 12th Day of September, 1684. upon which came out the good Man, i. e. William Pooley, (still living:) What would you have, Neighbour Smith? (says Pooley) I desire to come in, (said George) my Friend behind me is not well. Upon which, out comes the good Woman of the House, saying, We are preparing our Cheese for Sturbech-Fair: Oh! (said George) Pray Neighbour Pooley let us come in, I will give you any Content. Upon which the Man took down the Woman, who asked, saying, Have you not a private Room? Yes, said the good Woman of the House, a Parlour; none like it, thought the Sick Woman. So in they went, the Sick Woman, Goody Pooley, and her Maid, and in half an Hour's time was born to G. Smith a Son; George praying Secrecy * Pray mind the Quaker's Method; keep things private, and all is well. , and he would pay them well. So away goes G. Smith home to his old Wife, and all things were hush and still as Heart could wish, and about a Week or Ten Days after home goes the Woman as sound as a Roach; and at the Month's end, when the Babe had gotten a little Strength, G. Smith comes again to Goodman Pooley and his Wife, and begs hearty for their Assistance, and no doubt, with this Nod, ☞ as their usual way is, I pray for Truth's sake be private, lest it get Air, for the Apostate Christians will make a mock at it. Well, G. Smith agrees to give them Five Pound to carry it 20 Miles, namely, to Great Saxum, within two Miles of Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk: Content, said they; so away they went by Ely, Soham, and so to Deasnidge-Lodge, where they stayed one Night or two, whilst G. Smith went before to provide a Nurse, which he soon did at Saxum aforesaid: For Money answers all things. Well, the place being prepared, and notice of it, away goes Pooley and his Wife with the Child, and delivered it to the Wife of John Chapman of Saxum aforesaid, as the Act and Deed of G. Smith. But as soon as Pooley and his Wife had eat and drank, tho' wet and weary, G. Smith packed them away, lest the old and new Nurse should have a little Tittle Tattle together: But Goodman Chapman being not yet come from Bury with the Writings, which were made in the Name of one Mr. Turner of Wretham in Norfolk * Forgery; for I went to both the Wrethams, and there is not a Man lives there of that Name. , as Father of the Child, who was called by G. Smith, Robert Turner; but said the new Nurse, Is the Child Baptised? Ay, ay, says George, all is done, all is done. So G. Smith himself stayed; and having dispatched away Pooley and his Wife, he bought Nuts, and cracked, and at last came Goodman Chapman with the said Writings; which, upon his paying 40 l * Tho' he fell short about 10 s. which he promised to send, but did not. . were sealed, and away goes George jogging home as merry as a Cricket. This is G. Whithead's well-meaning Man, etc. Indeed, the said G. Smith's Boy is with honest People; I saw him; he will be 16 Years old next September, Anno 1700. and as like his Father, NOT Turner, BUT Smith, as you shall see a Lad; and is now called Robert Smith, and has been for some Years, since they understood things. And Secondly, Since all now is settled, and well, and private, that the World's People do not know of it, (for that with them, in all the like Cases, is the Principal Verb,) George and his Widow grew kind again, following the same Conversation as formerly, at last she Conceives, and grew big * G. Smith's Second Child by the same Woman. : However, the Woman would not venture out again, but relied on her Neighbour's Fidelity: The time of her Travel comes on away goes George in all haste for Eleanor Hall, Wife of S. Hall, and another faithful Friend; and the time being come, to work they went, and in a little time she was delivered of a Daughter: And when the Child attained to the Age of about half an Hour, being a little dressed up, G. Smith the Father, and Eleanor Hall the Midwife, carried the Child at the Age aforesaid to a loan House, standing in the Field, called the Brick-Kill-House, a frequent Harbour for Beggars, since out of use; and in goes the Woman Eleanor with this Infant, under the faithful Promise of George to gratify her for all her Trouble, Care and Pains, and to send her and his Child Sustenance: Ay, ay, that he would; having already sent out G. Washington to provide a Nurse for it; and for whose return the poor Woman, Eleanor Hall, with the Child, waited in that Den two Days and Nights; in which place she was sorely affrighted; for in the Dead of the Night something came and smote her on the Shoulder, that she was lame of it many Weeks, (as she told me herself:) Moreover, she told me she would not do the like again for 100 l. Well, at last G. Washington came, and with him his Housekeeper * This Washington married Anne his Housekeeper soon after, but is now dead; and Tho. Cook of Littleport, has married her; and she is ready to Depose it, if need be. , and G. Smith gave him a Bag of Money, viz. 5 l. for his own Care and Pains, and 40 l. to perform the Contract, which the said Washington had a few Days before made with Goodman Owers of Barrow, within about five Miles of Bury, aforesaid. Well, this Female Child was born to G. Smith by the Widow aforesaid, the 28th or 29th of July, 1688. being Wednesday; and by Monday this Washington and his Housekeeper, (whom he afterwards married) carried this Child to the Sign of the Harrow in Fordham, and then away goes Washington to Barrow with his 40 l. to Goodman Owers, (leaving the said Child and Housekeeper to nurse it:) The next Day came Goodman Owers and his Wife with Washington, and then there was nothing but Merriment, Brother and Sister at every Word † Viz. Between G. Washington, Goodman Owers and his Wife, to blind the People of the House, etc. . This Child was put out by the Order, and with the Money of G. Smith, in the Name of one Mr. Scott, a Linen-draper in London * Lying and Forgery meet in this Upright and Well-meaning Quaker; as Geo. Whitehead and Sam. Cater wrote of him. , for 40 l. but I forget something which is remarkable; of this 40 l. there wanted 15 s. which Washington promised to send, as also to find it Linen for a Year or more; all which is forgot, as Goodwife Owers averrs; and she is a Woman of good Repute, and the Child lives well, and looks well; this Child was put to Goodman Owers under the Name of Mary Scott, but they have Baptised the Child, and called it Marry Smith; Goodman Owers is dead, but his Widow is alive, and lives at Risby, within three Miles of Bury, and six Miles of Barton-Mills, and two small Miles distance from Great-Saxum, where the Boy lives; and this Boy and Girl often visits each other: And if their Father had but that Grace to take Care of them, it might mitigate his Crime; I am sure it would have abated the Edge of my Pen, for he is my Kinsman: And were it not to discover the Quakers Ways, I should not have been so large, and sent him a Letter to that Purpose. A Copy of it followeth * For I was advised by a Gentleman in Risby to take some Care about it, etc. . Cousin George, I was requested by a Gentleman in our Country to use some Means, that your By-childrens, which are put out to Nurse in our Country, may have something settled upon them for their future Maintenance; and pursuant thereunto, I do desire it of you, in regard it is but reasonable and just that you should do it: Wherefore I make Application to you in this private Way, as most suitable, and it may make some. Amends for your Crime, and extenuate the Heinousness of your Offence; for it seems to me a most horrible Crime, besides the Sin; and as an Aggravation thereof, to beget Children, and send them into the World as Vagrants, they being from under the Verge of the Law, and can be Heirs of nothing but the Shame of their Parents; which altho' they cannot help it, yet must they wear the Badge and Livery thereof as long as they live. If you answer my Expectation in this Matter, as I have hitherto been sparing of you, so I shall make no Complaint to any Justice of the Peace; if not, you may depend on it; if God give me length of Days, I shall do what I legally can, to have something settled on them: And therefore let me have your Answer. I am your Friend and Kinsman, Fran. Bugg, Sen. Aug. 30. 1697. But no Answer have I received since. Come, George Whitehead, What think you of these Things? Where is your Seriousness? Where is your Sincerity? You told me that your God laid a Necessity upon you to write against me and others, wherein you called me Apostate Informer, Devil Incarnate, Beast, Dog, Wolf, etc. Epistle to Judgement fixed. But the you soothe up, as well-meaning and upright Lambs, and never writ a Book against them, yet three Books against me in Nine months' time: And, George, than you were Rampant; you neither studied Events, nor feared Effects; you were resolved to go on, come what will come; you were resolved to Unchristian all that opposed you, and separated from you; you were resolved to ruin them, if possible, both in Name, Reputation and Estate; I have felt the weight of your Hand, and the Strength of your Indignation, and implacable Malice; but blessed be the God, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that amongst his manifold Mercies to me, that he hath vouchsafed to give me Time and Ability to return your sharp Arrows back into your own Bosoms; and I let them fly freely, I am not sparing; for as Jeremiah said, The Lord hath opened his Armoury, and hath brought forth the Weapons of his Indignation, Jer. 50.24. And, George, they will light on the Skirts of this Painted Harlot, and all thy Jesuitical Craft cannot throw it off; for your Cause is drooping. I have given you the Key of the Cage, look into it, and you may see the Abominations of the Earth, even the Mystery of Iniquity. Well, George, after it came into my Heart to write this Book, I said, Shall I spare them any longer? Concluding, No: But give this Harlot a double Cup, and make her drink the very Dregs of it: And having laid fast hold of the two main Pillars, upon which your Building stands, viz. INFALLIBILITY and PERFECTION, I did with all my Might shake, Judges 26.29. and behold it gins to tumble: For, George, the time is come, that one shall chase a Thousand, and two shall put Ten Thousand to flight, Deut. 32.30. And art thou so blind, George, that thou canst not see it? Dost thou not see thyself and thy Brethren ready to fall upon your own Spears, for very Anguish and Vexation of Spirit? Art thou so ignorant, George, that thou canst not perceive thyself, calling to the Hills to hid thee, and the Mountains to cover and excuse thee? Sober Expostulation, First and Second Chapter. But, George, thou hast no more Answer than Baal's Priests had, 2 Kings 18.26. tho' you call from Morning to Evening, and thump your Breasts, and leap and jump from one end of your Wooden Pulpits to the other, stamping like the Friars, yet there is no Answer, there is none to Pity you, none to Mourn for you; no Advocate to Plead, for the stopping the Pens that are employed against Quakerism; no, Babylon is falling, is falling, and great will be the Fall thereof, even like a Millstone into the Sea; so falls Quakerism, never more to rise again. Amen. Amen. Alleluja. CHAP. XV. Sheweth the Enmity of the Quakers against me, for my Testimony against their Errors; and the Providence of God supporting me under my Sufferings. IT is not unknown to many of the Quakers still alive, with what Zeal and Care, with what Sufferings, by Fines and Imprisonments, with what Pains and Charge I was in divers Kind's exercised whilst I was a Quaker, and that for the carrying on the Cause of Quakerism; nothing seemed dear to me to part withal, or to spend, for the Advancement thereof: But when I came to see them walk contrary to what they pretended, and that their seeming Sincerity was real Hypocrisy, I then began to look into things, that there might be a Reformation; and the first thing that gave me occasion was, see Innocency vindicated, etc. p. 8. That of forcing Apprentices to stand bareheaded in their Houses and Shops, and yet at the same time pretended they could not put off their Hats in respect to Persons. This looked so bad, i. e. to receive, nay, exact Respect from our Inferiors, and not to give it to our Superiors, that I wrote a Letter to the Yearly Meeting, in May 1675. as a Testimony against it, which gave great Offence. The next which gave Offence to me and others, was our Teachers, who would exhort us to be bold, to give up all, telling us, The Fleece would grow again; who themselves at the same time would give up nothing, nay, not set themselves in a like suffering Capacity with the Hearers, insomuch, as that in the Loss of 13550 l. our Teachers never lost 50 l. but the Hearers suffered for them, as also for themselves. See Painted Harlot, etc. p. 5. And this I saw, and spoke against some Months before it fell to my turn to be Fined for our Preachers: But at last I was sinned 15 l. for Sam. Cater, for that he did not declare his Name and Habitation, and thereby put himself in a like Suffering Capacity with us the Hearers, as I shown at large; see Reason against Railing, etc. p. 73, to 80. and how I prosecuted the Restitution of the said Fine of 15 l. and had it again, tho' with great Loss, by Charges, Interest, etc. The third thing which gave me Offence, was G. Fox's setting up a Female Government, by Women's Meeting Monthly, etc. This I opposed vigorously; and to be short, I do think I gave (by my Book) that Image a deadly Blow: De Chris. Lib. etc. Part 2d. But by this time, G. Whitehead, Sam. Cater, R. S. and others, wrote several Books against me, wherein they called me, A Child of the Devil, Enemy of all Righteousness, an Apostate, a Betraying Judas, a Treacherous Hypocrite, a Dog, a Wolf, a Beast, an Informer, 18 or 20 times in one Book, entitled, Judgement fixed, etc. The Lib. of an Apost. Cons. etc. Righteous Judgement placed, etc. with abundance more such Stuff. Well, upon this I applied myself to our Milden-Hall Meeting, for a Certificate against these scandalous Detractions, (which they not only Printed, but sent up and down into all Counties where I dealt, particularly into Leicestershire, in order to ruin my Reputation * Which then was a most hateful Name amongst Tradesmen. .) Well, Twenty-seven Members of this Meeting gave me a Certificate, many of them still alive; and both then and still the chief Men of the Meeting. See New Rome Unmasked, etc. Epist. to the Bereans, and Introd. See The Picture of Quakerism, etc. 2d. Part, p. 146. These Books they still sent into every County, which did me much hurt in my Trade. And this Certificate, with the several Books I wrote, so mauled them, that Sam. Cater, and his Assistants, gave over: But G. Whitehead he still goes on, he wrote sometimes three Books in less than a Year against me, calling me, Self-condemned Apostate, Sergeant Convert, a Scandal to Christianity, a Fool, and Novice, etc. And when this would not effect their manifest Design, than they sent Letters about against me, and raised all manner of Lies and Stories; and by Post, sent me not only Books wrote against Francis Spira, but Letters also. A Relish of which is as followeth, viz. Francis Bugg, such as is thy Name, such thy Nature, the darkest of the creeping Things in the whole Earth; they love the Night, feeding upon Filth and Dung; Night is thy Habitation; the Earth has received thee; Night and Darkness is come upon thee: Thy Father is shut out of Heaven, and thou also; that makes ye Howl and Roar. Woe hastens, and the Eternal Night is come, and coming upon thee. Woe, and Alas! poor Night-Bugg, etc. 3d. 1st. Month, 1690. This Letter sent me, without any Name to it, I sent a Copy of it the next Post to Geo. Whitehead, to know if he was the Author of it, but he sent me word he was not, nor did he know who was; whether he said true or false therein I cannot tell. But the 14th of the same Month I received another * Not of the same Handwriting, but the same Man, which was Ste. Crisp; for I know his Hand, and have showed it to others that do. from the same Man, tho' of a different Hand; but the last I know to be Stephen crisps. And thus he wrote. Francis, I am not Geo. Whitehead: Alas for Thee, and Hogg, and Pennyman, the Arrows from Heaven shall stick fast in your Consciences, when thou hast found me, O Galilean! And thou may hear more from me, etc. Then in Verse thus: Indeed, to Vaunt, and proudly Bragg, Doth not become a feeble Night-Bugg. I Prophesy the Hour is near, O Bugg! unclean, With wicked Julian shalt cry, thou hast found me, O Galilean! As vile an Apostate as ever was wicked Julian; A wicked Pharisee, no Penitent Publican, etc. Reader, here is enough to show the Quakers Spirit; and besides, my Knowledge of its being Stephen crisps, by his Handwriting, it's to be observed, that (as above) he said, I might hear further from him; for about three Months after came out another Book, entitled, Innocency against Envy, Signed by G. W. and St. Crisp; besides his usual Expression, I Prophesy, etc. by which, if Whitehead did not know of his first, yet he knew of his second Letter; and the Matter being the same in Substance, I am satisfied it was his. I am likewise to let you know, that notwithstanding they pretended to the Parliament, that they cannot seek Revenge for themselves, and thereupon could not Sign the Association, yet they Indicted me for Printing Unlicensed, (whilst its their own frequent Practice) in the Old-Baily, London, which put me to great Charge; insomuch as one way or other, by my attending this Controversy, by Writing and Printing; first, by opposing their Errors; next, by vindicating myself from their repeated Abuses, both Publicly and Privately, both as a Man and Christian, I did come by great Loss in my outward Estate; and when Men perceived it, they came so fast upon me, as that I could not bear up. See The Picture of Quakerism, p. 79. I do not in all Cases justify myself, in the too much neglecting my Business, to attend the Motion of the Quakers, who are a compacted Corporation, and myself a single Person, there was too much odds: But I met with such Provocations, which would fill a Volume to relate; and thereupon I came to see my Fall by the Hand of Saul; for the Sons of Zerviah were too hard for me: For I had maintained the Contest without the Help of the Clergy from 1675, to the Year 1697. and in all that time, I never received of any one, or more of them, Ten Shillings, nor Ten Nights Lodgings: And whereas they now call me Mercenary, because I have accepted of the Clergy's Kindness, which has been very Bountiful; let any Quaker of them all show me that he have waged War at his own Charge and Cost, so long, and at so much Expense, Cost, Labour, Pains, Charge and Trouble, and I will not from henceforth call him Mercenary; but their Tongue is no Slander; and now I shall show somewhat of the wonderful Providence of God, in my Preservation to this Day. For when I found how the Case stood with me, I waited Two or Three Months under some Heaviness and Concern, hearing from all Quarters how the Quakers gloried over me; notwithstanding they were the chief Cause of my Misfortune, not only with respect to the Controversy, but by Six or Eight of them breaking in my Debt: Upon which I went to visit Mr. Erasmus Warren, a neighbouring Minister, and told him my Condition; and he spoke comfortably to me, and bade me not be discouraged, for God was All-sufficient, and that the Earth was the Lord's, and the Fullness thereof, or to this purpose; and told me, that if I would write a Letter of Request to my Lord Bishop of Norwich, he and some others would sign it. I did so, and it was signed by himself, Mr. Archer, Mr. Davis, etc. So I went to Norwich, and did, with no little Heaviness, presume to go with it to my Lord Bishop, of whom I did rather expect some little chiding, (being sensible of my own Fault) than to be so kindly received: But when I came to him, he examined me about my Condition, and pressed me to be honest, and to pay as far as I was able. For (said he) our Religion teacheth us to do Right and Justly by all Men; and when you have done, rest upon God's Providence; it is not your Case alone; Times have been hard, and Disappointments many: And then asked me what I would have him do for me; I told him, that if his Lordship would please to give me a Certificate of his Thoughts of me; Iw as minded to make Application to my Lords, the Bishops of the Church of England, the two Universities, and to some particular Clergymen. All which I no sooner asked than he granted me; and it pleased God so to open the Hearts of my Lords, the Bishops, and Reveread Clergy, that I found Help in time of Need; and when it was in my Heart to write this Book, I asked one of my Lords, the Bishops, Leave, to give some Public Acknowledgement of their Kindness; but he answered me, No, go thy ways home, and be thankful, we desire no such thing: But reading the Scriptures, and finding in St. Mark's Gospel, Chap. 1. 44, 55. that when Christ healed the Leper, he charged him, saying, See thou say nothing to any Man, etc. But he (the Leper, being cured) went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the Matter; and I never read that Christ blamed the Man for his Gratitude; and I trust, no more will his Ministers and Servants, for this my Presumption: For how can I receive such unexpected and unmerited Favours, and not blaze it abroad? I, that for about Twenty Years Persecuted the Church, and drew Disciples after me † I know of no one Man drew more. , into the Schism of Quakerism, and yet upon my Return met with no upbraiding, but rather, like the returning Prodigal, am met half way, and loaden with Kindnesses. Surely this is of the Lord's doing, (and it is marvellous in my Eye) to whom be the Praise of all his Mercies and Providences, now, and for ever. Amen. A Copy of my Lord Bishop of Norwich's Certificate is as followeth. THese are to certify, That I have known Francis Bugg some Years, and that he has appeared to me a Sober, Honest, and Industrious Man, and to have taken much Pains to Undeceive and Convert the Quakers, by Publishing useful Books, and that not without Success; but by the Hardness of Times, several Losses, and the Charge of Printing the Books he writ, he is reduced to great Difficulties: Wherefore I apprehend him a real Object of Charity; and that he does truly deserve the Bounty of well disposed Persons, unto whom I recommend him. John Norwich. Oct. 22. 1697. And having obtained this Favour, together with his Bounty, which was very considerable, I took my Leave of him with many Thanks for his Kindness and Liberality. First, That I might take care not only to do what was just to others, but to take care of my Family also; for he that does not is worse than an Infidel. Secondly, That I might not lie under the Contempts and Insulting of the Quakers; who, as they have for many Years sought my Ruin * As they do all that oppose their Errors and Immoralities. , by all Ways and Methods they could devise, both in Person, Name, and Estate, so they have been observed like the Philistines, Judges 16.24,25. to glory in my Misfortunes, as thinking they had accomplished their Ends: But notwithstanding all their Rejoicing, I had a secret Hope, that my Strength would be renewed, and that God would enable me to lay hold of their two main Pillars, Ver. 29. (i. e. Perfection and Infallibility) and putting thereto all my Might, I should yet be able to shake their Building, as at this Day, Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath so wrought my Deliverance, as to bring things thus far to pass. Thirdly, That thereby I might be enabled to grapple with the Quaker's Goliath, that Uncircumcised Philistine, Geo. Whitehead by Name; who, together with his Brethren, have defied the Armies of Israel, even all the Professors of the Christian Faith, under every Denomination: And not only so, but Excuse, Justify, Vindicate, and Defend all the Idolatrous Practices, Blasphemous Principles, and Damnable Errors, Said, Wrote, and Printed, Broached, and Spread by the Quaker Teachers, enough to Infect the Nations, if God had not put it into the Hearts of some Instruments to discover the same; and thanks be to God, who from the beginning of my Discovery of their Errors, hath given me Strength, Ability and Courage to go on, and not to turn to the Right Hand, nor to the Left, in my Pursuit after Sheba, the Son of Bichri, that Man of Beliel, 2 Sam. 20.21,22. (i. e. Geo. Whitehead) until I have hemmed him in on every side, altho' I have been hard beset, and gone through many Difficulties and straits * Which few know but myself. , and have been forced to climb up the Hill upon my Hands and Feet, like Jonathan, 1 Sam. 14.13. yet as he slew Twenty upon the spot, so have I discomfited Twelve of their principal Men, and mauled Doeg the Edomite, alias Jos. Wyeth; [see my Sober Expostulation with the Hearers of the Quakers against the Mercenary Teachers, etc. p. 1. to the 15.] that Pupil of W. Penn's, who, as I am informed, was equally unbelieving with Mr. Penn touching the late happy Peace, without a Restau— such Hopes had they of extirpating the Protestant Interest, etc. for the time is come, that One shall chase a Thousand, and Two shall put Ten Thousand of them to flight; and thus doth God bring to pass his Acts, his strange Acts, by weak Instruments; to whom over all be the Glory, together with the Son, and Blessed Spirit, Three Persons, and One God, now, henceforth, and for evermore. Amen. And therefore in the Words of David I will praise the Lord, saying, O Lord, with my whole Heart I will show forth all thy marvellous Works: I will be glad, and rejoice in thee. I will sing Praise to thy Name, O thou most High, for thou hast maintained my Right, and my Cause; thou sittest on the Throne, judging Right. The Lord also will be a Refuge for the Oppressed, a Refuge in Times of Trouble; and they that know thy Name will put their Trust in thee? for thou, Lord, baste not forsaken them that seek thee. Sing Praises to the Lord which dwelleth in Zion; declare among the People his Do. The Heathen † i e. The Quakers, who denieth Jesus of Nazareth. are sunk down in the Pit that they made: in the Net which they hide, is their own Foot taken, etc. Psal. 9.1,2,3,9,11. But to proceed, having the recited Certificate of my Lord Bishop of Norwich, I presented it to several of my Lords, the Bishops, both the Universities, as well as to divers Particulars of the Clergy of the Church of England; and I humbly thank them, they were very kind to me, notwithstanding all the Endeavours of the Quakers, to represent me unworthy of their Notice; particularly at Cambridge, where they carried to the Colleges Books against me, which I had answered and refuted Ten or Fifteen Years since; insomuch that some of the Heads of the Colleges took special Notice of the Quakers Malice, and thereupon I do believe were the more kind. Thus doth God bring Good out of Evil; nay, should I relate all the particular Methods the Quakers used in all Places where I came, to prevent me of their Kindness, and the Abounding of the Favours I received, it would seem almost incredible, I being but a single Person, and known but to a few; the Quakers numerous, and (like the Followers of Corah, Dathan, and Abiram, Numb. 16.2.) Men of Fame in some Cases. But so it was they did not prevail; but God in his Providence made way for my Deliverance, beyond my Expectation, and in him do I trust, who taketh Care of the Sparrows, Matth. 10.29,30,31. and this puts me in Mind of the Widow, recorded in the Holy Scriptures, 2 Kings 4. whose Husband died, and left her in Debt, and not Effects to answer, insomuch that the Creditor was come to take away her two Sons. This poor Woman was no doubt in Distress enough; but yet she neither exclaimed of her Husband, nor yet murmured at the Dispensation of Providence which befell; neither did she sit still, and use no Means: But hearing that Elisha the Prophet was come to Town, she resolves to make Application to him; he could but deny her; she knew the worst, and hoped the best; and therefore in Faith, and full Assurance of the Mercy of God to them that trust in him; and not doubting but the Inspired Prophet knew her Inside, even the Sincerity of her Heart; and that notwithstanding this Calamity, she could appeal to him, that her Husband was an honest Man, a Man that feared God, and served him in Uprightness; and thereupon she puts on Courage, and goes to him, saying, Thy Servant, my Husband, is dead, and thou knowest that thy Servant did fear the Lord, and the Creditor is come to take unto him my two Sons to be Bondsmen. This was sorrowful News (no doubt) to the Prophet, to hear that one of the Sons of the Prophets, that professed Faith in the God of Israel should so fail, as not to be able to pay his Debts. Well, the Prophet quickly understood the Widow, and as quickly replied, saying, What shall I do for thee? tell me: What hast thou in the House? Here is two notable Questions, and so quickly proposed, that he did not give the Widow leave to answer to the first, but added, What hast thou in the House? As if he should have said, Why should I ask this humble Petitioner, what she would have me to do? 'Tis plain, she would willingly be enabled to pay her Debts, rescue her two Sons, and have something to live on; she than replied, saying, Thine Handmaid hath nothing at home, save a Pitcher of Oil. Upon which the Prophet (as God would have it) wrought a Miracle, saying, Go borrow the Vessels of all thy Neighbours, even empty Vessels; borrow not a few; and when thou art come into thy House, shut the Door upon thee, and upon thy Sons, and pour out into all these Vessels, and set aside that which is full. She did so, and was thereby enabled to pay her Debts, redeem her Sons, and had left wherewithal to live upon. O the wonderful Works of God who thus instructs his to depend upon his Providence; for the Scriptures are written for our Learning; and truly, when I consider my own Case, I think it falls not much short of this Miracle; I am sure I have met with a wonderful Providence in my Deliverance, considering I had no such inspired Prophet to appeal to, nor such an Evidence to vouch on my part: I had nothing but Reason and Demonstration to offer, having prayed to God to incline the Hearts of his Servants to a Charitable Consideration of Things past, present, and to come: Nay, my Case seemed worse than the Widows; for I do not read that she had any Enemies to Interpose, but I had many. The Quakers no sooner understood that the Clergy took my Case into their Pious Consideration, but they sent their Emissaries with Books after me, both to the Colleges, and particular Persons; wherein I was represented an Enemy of all Righteousness, a Child of the Devil; yea, a Devil Incarnate, a Wolf, a Dog, a Beast, etc. Judgement fixed, etc. by G. W. And when this would not prevail against me, they then made Personal Complaints, that I was a Counterfeit Convert * As G. W. had Printed me to be. See his Book, A Counterfeit Convert, a Scandal to Christianity, etc. ; and to make this out, they told some of the Reverend Clergy in Norfolk, that tho' Francis Bugg pretended to be a Member of the Church of England, yet he never received the Communion with you. See what a Convert you have; what Reason is there then for you to assist and support him so as you do? Upon which this Minister writes to Mr. Archer our Minister, to know the Truth of it; he sends him an Answer by Letter, assuring him, that in Anno 1688. I received the Sacrament, and (if at home) ever since at the usual times. But when this would not do, they'd try another Project; for John Hubbard, of Stoake † An eminent Quaker in Norfolk; and one of the twelve mentioned in my Sober Expostulation, p. 1. Printed 1698. , told Mr. Meriton, Minister of Oxborow, near him, that I was drunk the last time was in London, in March 1698. who sent me a Letter thereof, which providentially came into my Son's Hand in my Absence: An Abstract of it is as followeth. SIR, I gave your Book the other Day to John Hubbard, who received it with a Scornful Smile; I discoursed with him upon the Subject of it, which he heard with much Impatience, yet at last he promised to read it; he could not forbear Invectives against the Author of it; the usual Courtship of that sort of People to every one that would convince them of their Errors, 'tis the Sibboleth of the Party; indeed they may very well challenge to themselves the sole Privilege of exercising the black Art of Railing, because they are the only Men that I know of, that can rail by Inspiration: One Mouthful of Dirt I remember he squirted upon you, i. e. He said you were drunk the last time you were in London. Sir, I doubt not in the least your Innocency, but they must Calumniate still, or how shall they prove themselves right-bred Children of the Accuser of the Brethren: God Almighty assist and strengthen you to break the Brood of that Viperous Generation, that hath so poisoned our Nation; that at last you may triumph over that old Serpent, that hath commenced so Bloody a War against them that keep the Testimony of Jesus; you must expect he will be filled with great Wrath; that he will both Hiss, and Sting, and pour out Water as a Flood after you, his time being short, etc. Hen. Meriton. April 11. 1698. Upon my receiving this Letter I went to Stoake, and asked John Hubbard what Ground he had to raise this false Accusation; (I told him that I did not remember that I spent a Groat at a time all the time I was in London † Which was more than a Month. : He told me he heard so: Pray tell me your Author; at last he told me T. Belch * A Quaker in London. , at the Ship in Cheapside, Linen-draper. When I came to London, I got Mr. Law rinse of St. Gregory's Parish, to go with me to him, to whom I said, Sir, do you know me? No, said Tho. Belch: I told him that my Name was Francis Bugg, and that I understood he had raised a Report of me, viz. That I was drunk in London March last: I heard so, said Belch, if that be thy Name: Who is your Author? said I: He is not in Town, said he: I replied, What is his Name? and insisted on it a good while, but could not prevail with him to tell me. To the Truth of this Mr. Laurence subscribed his Name, John Laurence. Reader, When I saw myself thus attacked from all Quarters, by Books, by Letters, by Reports; sometimes, that I was a Drunkard, as you have heard; sometimes, that I was distracted, and so discomposed, as not able to rest Night nor Day, occasioned by writing against the Quakers; sometimes, that I left my Wife and Son in their Society, to introduce me again into their Community, and Twenty Lies more, I went to the Quakers-Meeting in Milden-Hall, on Sunday the First of May 1687. as the most probable Raiser's of these, or some of these Stories, and spoke to them after this manner. Friends, This is the 15th. Year since I came to this Meeting for a Certificate on my Behalf again the Suggestions of S. Cater and Geo. Whitehead, etc. which were, That I was an Informer; which at that time was a hateful Name to a Tradesman, and very Prejudicial to my Reputation, as well as divers other False and Scandalous Detractions in their Books. And this Meeting (at least the Major part of it, Twenty-seven in number) gave me ONE * As in The Picture of Quakerism, Part 2. p. 146. with great Courage and Freedom, which at that time was very useful; and I now come to you for a Testification against myself, and ask no Favour at your Hands, touching several Reports raised on me, Ut supra; and upon your signing it with your Names, I promise to print it; and what I cannot justly deny, I will fairly confess. But several answered me, (and not opposed by the rest, or any of them) That they never heard any such Report, nor knew any cause why there should be such Reports. But for the farther clearing the Matter, and removing Stumbling-Blocks out of the way, I shall recite the Substance of several Certificates, which I took FROM my Son, (who, tho' one of them, yet I hope he is sincere; for I have heard him say, and that before some Quakers, Come, what is Wrong is Wrong, whether it be in Geo. Fox, or my Father, and I will no more stand by what is wrong is the one, than I will in the other.) FROM Philip Craniss, who was my Servant near 20 Years * He came to me in 1676. and has not been from me Three Years. , and as familiarly concerned in all my Concerns in Trade, both Buying and Selling; having taken in and delivered out many Thousand pounds' worth of Goods, and is still living, and of known Reputation. FROM William Belsham, who was my Servant 15 or 16 Years, and is a Quaker, and one that handed my Certificate abovementioned in 1683. a Man of known Reputation. FROM Matthew Belsham, his Brother, both living well, each having some Estate of their own: He was my Servant about 16 Years, tho' none of them at this time; who, if I were such a Person as some would represent me to be, some, if not all of these, must know something of it. Nay, I do believe I could have had a Hundred of my Neighbours to avouch the same, so far as my Actions have come under their Cognizance: But these being Persons of Credit, and that have had Experience of my manner of Life, may (I think) balance those Reports, whose Authors cannot be found out: And indeed, were it not for the sake of my Testimony, which the Quakers would wound through my Sides, I should not have said so much on this Subject, but rather have taken David's Patience for my Example; who, when Shimei cursed and reproached him in the Day of his Affliction, yet he bore all patiently, 2 Sam. 16.6,7,8. And tho' its true, I am now made to Unmask this Painted Harlot, (which will still more enrage her) thereby endeavouring, if possible, that she may see herself, and repent in Dust and Ashes, and be humbled before the Lord; that so she may be Converted and Healed; at least, that hereby others may be cautioned not to embrace her Pernicious Errors, yet in all this 20 Years time † Tho' about Four Years thereof I was in their Community, labouring for a Reformation, not then understanding their grossest Errors. of my Controversing with the Heads of this Sect, I never rendered Railing for Railing, (nor do I now) neither have I taken Advantage at their Miscarriages, (a small Sample whereof I have now set forth in the former Chapter) as my Books do manifest, but have handled those Errors which they taught in their Books, which indeed open the Floodgates to all their Viciousness, [see a Paper from Pensilvania, entitled, A Brief Admonition to the Elders and Ministers of the People called Quakers.] and with which they are so tainted, as put all Christian Societies together, (their Number considered) there is not so much Viciousness in any one Society. Tho' if Christ had one amongst twelve, it cannot but be supposed there is in every Society too many that do not, in Life and Conversation, answer their Holy Profession; neither do I bring these Testimonies to excuse myself from my own Infirmities; I am not without Sinful Imperfections I do acknowledge. Here follows the Contents of the several Certificates abovementioned, Viz. First, That he (Fr. Bugg) neither is, nor never was distracted or discomposed, since any of us can remember him, or that ever we heard of. Secondly, That in all his Time he has been moderate, both in his Meat, Drink, and Apparel; and never by any of us known to be Drunk, as is reported, nor yet inclined to Drinking in Excess. Thirdly, That he ever was a good Provider for his Family, a Lover of his Wife, an Indulgent Father to his Children; forcing none (farther than Persuasion) to a Comformity to his way of Worship. Fourthly, That we believe he never left his Wife and Son amongst the Quakers, to introduce him to them again; this is a Malicious Report, to render him a Hypocrite, which his whole Life and Conversation has declared the contrary, to his Cost. Fifthly, The Press being open, and both Parties having equal Privileges, we look upon it utterly wrong to make use of such Indirect Methods: And some of us are sorry we have no better way to confute his Arguments. Sixthly, That we are ready to enlarge on any of these Heads to any Man's Face that shall question the Truth hereof. Subscribed by William Belsham, Matthew Belsham, Philip Cranniss, Fran. Bugg, Junior. Reader, As I could not pass by such Public Mercies and Benefits as I have received, without some Public Acknowledgement, without great Ingratitude both to God and Man, so would I not be too particular, lest thereby I do offend; yet with St. Paul I can say, That as Sufferings and hard Usage formy Testimony-sake abound, so do not only Inward Consolation, but Outward Benefits abound also, 2 Cor. 1.5. and as a Proof thereof, I shall add but one Instance more, which is, That since I came to London, an Ancient Friend of mine, to whom I did owe a certain Debt upon Bond, who considering the hard Usages I have received from the Quakers, (in which he himself has had a deep share) and finding me still conscientiously concerned, without my ask, or once thinking of, or expecting, brought me the Bond, and forgave me the Debt resting due to him upon it, without any Covenant or Promise on my part. Thus hath God opened the Hearts of his Servants, and moved them to Compassion; Blessed be his Holy Name for ever, and Humble Thanks to all, unto whom I have been obliged. CHAP. XVI. A Word of Encouragement to all who are Sincere amongst the Hearers of the People, called Quakers, who begin to be weary of the Yoke of Quakerism, and are willing to embrace the Christian Faith. FRIENDS, HAving given you a Brief Account of my Travel in this Pilgrimage, and shown you the many Turn and Wind which I have gone through, and the many Quicksands and Quagmires that I have passed without sinking, tho' ofttimes in great Danger; what by Enemies within, and Enemies without, as also in some Places pointed to Israel's Rock, the Man Christ Jesus, I am now come to remove one Stumbling-block, which Solomon Eccles has laid in your way, namely, That there is as great a Gulf fixed between you and the Christians, as there was between Dives and Abraham, insomuch, that if you would come from them, i. e. Quakers, you cannot; his Words are these, Viz. I testify in the Spirit of Truth * Viz. By Authority greater than the Scripture. Truth defending the Quakers, etc. p. 7. by G. W. , that there is as great a Gulf between the Baptists (and consequently other Christians) that are NOT in Christ; (that is, NOT in the Quakers Light) and those (Quakers) that are in the Truth, as there was between Abraham and Dives. See his Music Lecture, etc. p. 23. Again, as an Explanation of this Doctrine, he saith, Come Protestants, Presbyterians, Independants and Baptists, the Quakers deny you all:— The Quakers are in the Truth, and none but they, etc. The Quakers Challenge, etc. p. 2, 3. And from this, and the like Doctrine, spring that Aversion in you, that it is impossible to prevail with many of you, either to hear a Sermon, preached by the Public Ministers, or to read their Sermons: So that when the Quakers once catch any in their Cobweb, it is very hard and difficult to get you out, unless here and there one, that is resolved to observe the Apostle's Advice, who said, Prove all things, holdfast that which is good, 1 Thess. 5.21. And I am not doubtful, but that as there has been a Remnant that has taken this Advice, and has forsaken the Quakers Errors, so will there many more follow their Example: For this Doctrine of theirs, which alludes to Christ's Parable, is falsely applied; for that Parable relates to the Final Estate of the Blessed, and the Damned, after this Life, as you may read at large, Luke 16. And as for the Quakers denying all the Professors of Christianity, affirming themselves to be in the Truth Only, or the Only Church of Christ, as in my former Writings, viz. The Picture of Quakerism, etc. Part first. I have made to appear from their Books, this is all Pride, yea, Spiritual Pride, and Self-Conceit, and ought not to be any Hindrance to you in your Examination and Trial of yourselves; but rather, as a Spur to your Zeal, lest you should be in the Wrong: And if you come once sincerely so to do, I no way doubt but you will soon forsake Quakerism. I well remember, that when I first heard it Rumoured, that G. Fox was looked upon as a second Moses, to give forth Laws and Orders for us to walk by, and Methods and Forms of Church-Government, I presently wrote Six Queries touching Church-Government, in the Year 1678 * 22 Years since. . which went in Manuscript far and near, as Printed in my Book, entitled, De Chris. Lib. Part 2. Page 72, 80. the Tenor of which was. Query 1. Whether Jesus Christ be Head of the Church, or George Fox? Query 2. If you say Christ; then whether he be not Lawgiver to his Church? Query 3. If you say, that Christ is both Head and Lawgiver to his Church; then whether we ought not to Fellow and Obey the Commands and Precepts of Christ, which are laid down in the Scripture by the four Evangelists, and his Apostles, rather than the Commands and Precepts of G. Fox? Query 4. If you say, that the Commands and Precepts of Christ ought rather to be obeyed, than those of Geo. Fox; then I further Query, whether Christ, or any of his Apostles, ever commanded the Observation of women's Meetings, apart and distinct from the Men? Query 5. If you say, that neither Christ nor his Apostles commanded nor left any Example or Precedent for women's Distinct Meetings, to be set up Monthly, any way to intermeddle with the Government of the Church; then I further Query, where have George Fox or you your Power and Authority, to Institute and Ordain such a way of Government? And in whose Name do you compel to a Conformity, and thus to impose your Ceremonies? etc. Query 6. Whether were not the Bereans accounted noble, in that they searched the Scriptures, to see whether what St. Paul taught did accord therewith? And will it not become us to do the like, to see whether what George Fox imposes on us, accord with the Scripture? If not, whether we are obliged to observe his Dictates and Prescriptions, Yea or Nay? etc. To which Queries I never received any Answer. And thus it pleased God of his Infinite Mercy, to give me Courage and Boldness 22 Years since, (for it was some Years before † Yea, it was May 17. 1675. See Innocency Vindicated, etc. p. 8. , that I wrote to their Yearly Meeting, about their forcing their Apprentices to stand bareheaded before them, whilst they refuse that Respect to their Superiors) to appear against what I saw to be wrong in them, even whilst amongst them; equally (according to my Understanding) to what I have done since; and methinks I desire no more in the Quakers than to be sincere, and that for their own Good too: I mean, to put on Courage, and say, What do you tell me of G. Fox, or G. Whitehead, or any other Man? I will stand by no Man, nor no Principle, nor no People † Such a Man I have not found amongst their Teachers. Tho. Upshot came nearest; but when I came to ask him, whether he would justify their Books? He flew off, saying, No, he would not meddle. , farther than they are right; at least, in my Apprehension, no farther than they agree with the Holy Scriptures: No, I am not yet Ear-bored to this nor the other Man, Form or Society, for Self-Ends, for Advantage in Trade, for a Name among Men; no, I am for Truth and Righteousness, so far as I know it. I thank God thus it was with me, when I was as Famous amongst them, as since they have endeavoured to render me Infamous; and I desire no more of the Quakers than this, let their Errors be never so great, and their Understanding never so clouded, if they be Sincere, and willing to be informed, I could hearty embrace them, and for which I have great Reason; for I was as erroneous in many things as the most of them: But when I find that G. Whitehead teach them, first, That the Quakers are the true Church; next, That they are to believe as this true Church believes; [See his Apost. Incend. etc. p. 3, 16.] and that the People love to have it so, i. e. like Teacher, like People, the Blind to lead the Blind, till both fall into the Ditch of Error and Heresy together; this is sad. But says Geo. Whitehead, No such Matter; I challenge Francis Bugg, and his Teachers, Abettors, and Congratulators, to produce those Books of the Quakers, with the Pages and Words, wherein we deny the same Jesus that was Born of the Virgin Mary, otherwise Retract and Condemn this Calumnious Aspersion. A Sober Expostulation with some of the Clergy, etc. p. 46. This bold Challenge has been often Answered in The Snake in the Grass, 3d. Edit. p. 129, to 145. Satan Disrobed, etc. p. 8, 9, 13, 14. Glean, p. 2. and so fully, as I cannot pretend to; yet since this Error of the Quakers denying Christ seems to be the Mother of all their other Errors, I shall for this Challenge sake, that so his Disciples may see his Impudence, herein also prove, that they (i. e. Quakers) do deny the same Jesus that was Born of that Virgin Mary: And if I do so, I think he is obliged to Retract his Errors, and Condemn the Quakers Books, which so teach, by the same Rule of Arguing, viz. That both I and my Abettors ought to condemn the Calumny cast on the Quakers, by such a Charge, if not true. And now to the Matter: When Jesus came into the Coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his Disciples, saying, whom do Men say that I THE SON OF MAN am? Matth. 16.13. Simon Peter answered and said, THOU art CHRIST, the SON of the LIVING GOD, Verse 16. Again, And WE believe, and ARE SURE, that thou art THAT CHRIST, the SON of the LIVING GOD, John 6.69. That the outward Person that suffered was properly the Son of God, we utterly deny. A Body hast thou prepared me, said the Son. Then the Son was not the Body, tho' the Body was the Son's. A Serious Apol. etc. by Will. Penn, p. 146. Here you have the Question proposed by Christ himself, Whom do Men say that I the SON OF MAN AM? You also hear St. Peter's Answer, which is as plain, and as home to the Purpose as can be; and now you shall hear Christ's Approbation and Confirmation thereof: But you see the Quakers Answer is point-blank contrary; yea, Will. Penn does utterly deny, That Person who suffered at Jerusalem to be the SON OF GOD. Mark, Reader, Christ's Reply to St. Peter's Answer to his most Gracious Question, viz. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona, for Flesh and Blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in Heaven, Matth. 16.17. and 17.5. I think I need say no more, especially since this Point is so largely handled, and so fully proved upon the Quakers by that Reverend Author, in the Books above-quoted: Only thus much I may add, That if St. Peter be Orthodox in this Point, then are the Quakers Heterodox; and that herein their utter Testimony is levelled, and strikes at the very Foundation of Christianity; and as a Reply to G. W. I do offer De Novo, to prove the same; and I do now affirm, That the Quakers by their Books do deny the same Jesus that was Born of the Virgin Mary; The Same Jesus, to whom the Voice came from the excellent Glory, saying, This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him: The Same Jesus that St. Paul preached, Acts 17. The Same Jesus that St. Peter testified, saying, Let the House of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that Same Jesus whom ye have Crucified, both Lord and Christ. And this I offer to prove to G. Whitehead Vive Voce, at any convenient time, on Condition he will under his Hand covenant to condemn the Quakers Books, which so Teach, when proved upon him, as by his own Argumentation (in the Challenge above-recited) he is in Equity obliged too: And if I do not prove it, I will burn my Books, that so charge the Quakers; and let this be the Touchstone, to try us both; in the mean time, any Quaker that thinks I am in the Wrong, let them look first on W. Penn's Book, by me heretofore quoted, as well as this before me; and the Scriptures following, viz. Luke 1.26,31,32,33,35, 2.10,11,12,13. Matth. 16.13,16,17,20,27. cap. 17.5,9,12,13,26,29. cap. 26,27,38,50,67. cap. 28.6. Mark 9.7. John 5.22,27. cap. 6.69. Acts 1.10,11. cap. 5.30,31. cap. 2.36. Heb. 5.9. cap. 12.2. Rom. 8.34. 1 Cor. 15.15. Acts 7.35,36. cap. 10.38, to 44. cap. 17.3,31. cap. 18.5. John 20.31. which I have taken Pains to collect, and he will then certainly find, that I have on my Side the Testimony of the Glorious Angels, Holy Apostles, Blessed Martyrs; yea, the whole Tenor of the Scriptures, and beside all this, a Cloud of Witnesses, viz. the Concurrent Testimony of the Ancient Fathers, and all the present Christian Churches to this Day, and that G. Whitehead will have none of his Side, but W. Penn, and a few of his Brethren, and the Writings of Isaac Pennington, W. Bayly, W. Smith, Edw. Burrough, Geo. Fox, Ja. Nayler, Christ. Atkinson, etc. But I knowing, that so soon as your Teachers once espy your looking towards Christianity, they will not only hinder you from reading such Books, that are or shall be wrote against Quakerism, but refuse you the Sight of such Books of theirs as we quote; for so long as they can keep you in Ignorance, so long they may keep you Quakers, I shall therefore give you the same Quotations out of some of their Books, which I shall in this Book let you know where to have the most of them, viz. William Penn's Serious Apology, etc. p. 146. W. Smith's Catechism, etc. p. 57 W. Smith's Primer, etc. p. 8. W. Shewen's Treatise of Thoughts, etc. p. 35. Jos. Coale's Works, etc. p. 93. News coming up, etc. p. 33. The Teachers of the World Unveiled, etc. p. 35. The Sword of the Lord drawn, etc. p. 5. Edw. Burrough's Works, p. 149, 273. Geo. Fox's Great Mystery, p. 206, 207, 210, 211, 250, 254. The Quakers Challenge, p. 6. Saul's Errand to Damascus, p. 7, 8. Some Principles of the Elect People of God, called Quakers, p. 126. A Question to Professors, etc. by Isaac Pennington, p. 25, 27, 33. The Capital Principles of the People called Quakers; Sol. Eccles' Testimony, p. 24, 25, 41. Will. Penn's Part in The Christian Quaker, etc. p. 97, 98, W. Penn's Sandy Foundation, etc. p. 10, to 30. I shall now add something out of a Book, entitled, News of a Trumpet sounding in the Wilderness, etc. Wrote by Dan. Leeds, who has been a Quaker about 22 Years. which is come lately out of Pensilvania, Printed 1697. and for the Usefulness of it I could be glad that it was reprinted, with this Title, A Trumpet sounding from Pensilvania, giving an Alarm to the Magistrates and People of England to beware of Quakerism: That so, not only the Justices of the Peace, but even our Honourable Patriots, might have one put into their Hands: But all things in their Season; Quakerism had a time to advance, and it must have a time to fall: But as no Heresy since the Days of Christ ever risen so fast, prevailed so much, nor carried on with so much Craft, and curious Paint, so none ever fell so fast (as I am persuaded this of Quakerism will do) insomuch, as that in a few Years it will be a Shame for any Man of Sense to appear in the Streets, who owns the Principles and Practice of the Quakers, according to their Ancient Testimony. And now a Hint out of the Pensilvanian Book aforesaid, entitled, News of a Trumpet sounding, etc. p. 21. viz. Tho' they (i. e. Quakers) clash between their Old and New Testimonies, yet we see (says D. Leeds) that they have in their late Books dropped here and there some Christian Expressions, more than formerly: And what may we think they intent thereby? Why, Geo. Whitehead in his Counterfeit Convert, p. 72. says, I may see Cause otherwise to word the Matter, and yet our Intentions be the same. Now is it not admirable that a Man of Geo. Whitehead 's Pretences * To Seriousness, to Sincerity, to Reality, to Fidelity, to Constancy, to Infallibility, to Perfection, to Plainness, etc. Ib. 42. , should be grown so bold in Crafty and Deceivable Glosses, to deceive his Readers? Is this like the Ancient Simplicity of the Quakers, to say, I may see Cause otherwise to word the Matter, and yet intent the same? Pray who knows then when such a Man is sincere, or bow to believe him in what he says; that thus hides his Meanings, says one thing, and means another? etc. And now I cannot but expect (says Daniel, p. 42.) that there will be great Devising, Pulling and Drawing, (Painting and Glozing) rather than make Confession of their Errors, Confusion, and Contradictions herein Manifested and Charged, (as also in other Books, by Geo. Keith, Tho. Crisp, Fr. Bugg, and others) because they have so much accused their Opponents for the same things, (themselves are now justly charged with) surely some curious Wire-drawing, Mincing, Mangling, otherwise Wording and Equivocating † G. W. You must now call your Brother Ellwood, and your whole Society of Jesuitical Scribes, for the Alarm is sounded in your Pope's Borders. , we must expect; but they having caught themselves in this Net, the more they flutter, the more they'll fetter, ensnare, and entangle themselves; for they cannot thus dance in a Net, but some Body will see them: For they are now as easily seen through (God be thanked) as they pretend to see through others; yea, this will certainly be the Consequence, till they use the only Christian Means to get out of this Net, which is by Humbly Confessing and Condemning their Errors in their Books, as Geo. Keith has done, etc. To all which I cannot but join, and wish for their own sakes it may be so; adding, that if ever it so come to pass, than I shall see a great Truth in what Tho. Ellwood wrote in his Epistle to Friends, p. 72. viz. The way to recover the Deceived, is to discover and lay open the Deceivers. In the mean time, taking it to be a sound Truth, I have adventured to put his Doctrine in Practice, and so I conclude this Passage out of that Useful and Compendious Book from Pensilvania; which had that People received my Advice in my Postscript to my Book, entitled, De Christianae Libertate, etc. Printed 1682. p. 214. viz. To frequent the Holy Scriptures, and read them diligently, etc. this might have been prevented. And now, to conclude my Advice, lest any should prevent you taking the Advice I gave the Pensilvanians, 18 Years ago, as above I shall, according to my further Experience in this Pilgrimage, tell you, that it was the Practice both of the Church of the Jews, and the Christians, (which for Substance are one) to read and expound the Scriptures in their Assemblies, (which the Quakers call Conjuration) from Morning to Midday, and to give the Meaning thereof to the People, out of the Law of God, given forth by Moses, 1 Chron. 34.18,19,35. Nehem. 8.1,2. Ezra 1.10,11. and Christ himself went into their Synagogue, as his Custom was, where he stood up for to read: And when the Book of Isaiah the Prophet was given to him, he found (which argues he sought for) a proper place of Scripture; and when he had read, he then, in a friendly manner, gave the Minister his Book again, and did not fall upon him, and call him Conjurer, Beast, Dog, Witch, Devil, Bloodhound, &c † As the Quakers does our Ministers. , but preached out of what he read, and expounded it to the People; insomuch, that the Eyes of all the Assembly were fastened on him when they heard his Gracious Say, Luke 14.14,16,17,18,19,20,21. and at another time, suitable to his own Example, he bade the Jews search the Scriptures, for they are them which testify of me, John 5.39. And after he was risen from the Dead, how did he appear to his Disciples, and reasoned out of the Scriptures? Beginning at Moses, and all the Prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself, saying unto them, These are the Words which I spoke unto you, whilst I was with you; that all things must be fulfilled which are written in the Law, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me, John 24.27,44. Thus did he confirm the Scriptures by his Holy Example, both before and after his Crucifixion; he did not question whether Moses or Hermes were the first Penman thereof; or whether either or neither, as the Quakers do, in order to invalidate it, and to overthrow the Divine Authority of it; [The Quakers Refuge fixed, etc. p. 17.] no, no, he confirmed them, saying, The Scripture cannot be broken, John 10.35. Think not (said he) that I am come to destroy the Law, or the Prophets: No, no, it is (said he) easier for Heaven and Earth to pass, than for one tittle of the Law to fail, till all be fulfilled, Matth. 5.17,18. Joh. 16.7. And St. Paul said, The Law is our Schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, Gal. 3.24. And it was his manner to go into the Jews Synagogue, to Reason with them out of the Scriptures; opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have Suffered and Risen from the Dead; proving out of the Scriptures, that the same Jesus which he Preached (who was Prophesied of, and in due time was Born of the Virgin Mary) was the Christ. Read Acts 17. Micah 5.2. Psal. 2.2.22.18. Isa. 61.1.9,7. Deut. 18.15. Jer. 23.5. Exod. 12.46. Numb. 9.12.21.9. Read New Rome Arraigned, etc. pag. 55, to 58. etc. Here we may see, that neither the Ministers of the Church of the Jews, nor Christ, nor his Apostles, called the Scriptures Death, Dust, Beastly Wares, the Husk, Carnal, Serpent's Food, etc. as the Profane Quakers Blasphemously do; as appears from the Books of their Prophets, of greatest Note, Fox, Whitehead, etc. See the Quakers Plainness, etc. p. And if you will look into the Apology of Justin Martyr, and the Writings of the Fathers; as St. Cyprian, St. Augustin, Origen, Chrysostom, Isidorus, Tertullian, etc. and into the Practice of our present Church of England, you will find the same: But for your further Instruction in these Matters, I rather refer you to our Reverend Bishops and Clergy, who can better inform you. Thus having kept nothing back from you, which I think may make a Discovery of the Quakers Faith, Doctrine, and Practice, to be contrary to the Faith, Doctrine and Practice of the Jewish, as well as the Christian Church, to that of the Apostles, Primitive Christians, Saints and Martyrs, in all Ages, I shall conclude this Chapter, begging of God to bless my Labours, to those Ends by me designed, which are best known to him, and my own Conscience; which, whether you believe it or not, is, That you may thereby be helped to understand your Errors; that thereby you may be prevailed upon to beg God's Assistance to help you out of them, and receive the Benefit of it. Amen. Fran. Bugg. July 30. 1698. To write no more, I long since did intent, But now, I hope, that Work is near an end: For abler Men do daily now come in, To finish what I think I did begin * Respecting some particular Discoveries, not but there were earlier Pens at work against Quakerism. . AN APPENDIX: DISCOVERING A most Damnable PLOT, by a United Confederacy, carried on by the chief Emissaries of New-Rome, against the Christian Religion, and Christian Reputation of the Professors thereof; with a Remedy against it, both Easy and Safe. READER, HAving gone through many things, (tho' briefly) I do now say, that it was not of my seeking, nor my Choice; I could have been glad to have seen the Quakers to have Retracted their Gross Errors, and thereby remove the Cause; but they have slighted all due Methods that are consistent with a Reformation Observe what Proposals I and others have made in our Books. : For when G. Whitehead gave forth a Sheet, Entitled, The Quakers Vindication, etc. saying, Col. 2. P. 3, 4. I G. W. freely offer, and am willing to make it plainly appear before ANY Six, Ten, or Twelve Competent Witnesses, who are moderate Men, of common Sense and Reason, That Francis Bugg has grossly wronged the Quakers, both in Charge, Citation, and Observation, etc. I than did meet him, and we agreed upon the Preliminaries upon which we were to debate; but when I came to name Persons, he flew off. Now, by the Contents of his Offer, I had my Liberty to choose any; yea, all the Men, provided they were moderate Men, of common Sense and Reason. But, to avoid his Charge of Partiality, I admitted, that he should have his equal Choice of one part of the Men: And that he might see I would take no Advantage at his Word any, whereby I was left free where to make my Choice, as well as who, I offered to choose out of the Ministers of the Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Independants, or Baptists I mention this here, because 'tis Rumoured in Town, that he offered to meet me with the Baptists; a horrible Lie. ; but none would down with him but Quakers: Nay, to choose our Men out of any, or of all those Four Christian Societies; which had he been sincere, he could not have denied, since it was his own voluntary Offer: Nay, when he refused to close on this Bottom, as if he feared he could not choose Six moderate Men of common Sense in all those Societies, I then offered him to choose each of us Three Members of the Honourable House of Commons, and to them we would leave our Matter in contest Viz. Whether I had wronged them in Charge, Quotation, or Citation, etc. Febr. 1693. : But this he refused also; and there being some Gentlemen present, they advised me to send him a Letter to that end, and they would subscribe it, which I did; their Names are as followeth, viz. Samuel Grove, Samuel Plaice, Henry Symons, John Fenn, and also Danil Hassel. But this Offer G. W. also rejected, which the Gentlemen , as well as to myself, (and indeed to all that have since understood it) was, and is a Sign of great Gild and Insincerity in him, which indeed is manifest in most of his Answers to several Opposers. Well, I was not yet willing to give over this Meeting, but I offered him to lay aside these Men, and the Advantages I had thereby, and to have a Public Meeting with him, provided he would first engage, under his Hand, to retract and condemn what I proved Erroneous, Blasphemous, and Idolatrous, in the Quakers Books; but this he also refused: As at large in my Book, Quakerism Withering, etc. pag. 5, 6, 7, 8. Which to me is a sufficient Evidence, that he is Self-condemned, and Conscious to himself, of the Quakers Manifest and Apparent Errors, which he is not able to Vindicate, as in an hundred Instances I might mention, but I will only name one in this place; viz. W. Rogers having wrote, That the Quakers looked upon George Fox to be in that Place amongst the Children of Light in this our Day, as Moses was amongst the Children of Israel in his Day, to set forth the Methods of Church-Government, etc. The Christian Quaker Distin. Part 1. p. 9 Part 4. p. 3. To this Geo. Whitehead replied, saying, And for Geo. Fox, to be in this our Day in that VERY Place amongst the Children of Light, as Moses was amongst the Children of Israel in his Day, this Comparison we own not, etc. Now there was no Body said, that he was in the VERY Place, upon the VERY Spot of Ground, on which Moses stood at Mount Sinai: No, but that George Fox was, with respect to his Power and Authority, to give forth Laws, Statutes and Ordinances, in the same Place; that is, endued with the like Authority: And in this Sense, G. W. did not deny, but only that he might quibble it off, as his manner has been, and thereby blind the People, for which he has a sore Cup to drink. Read Burrough's Works, pag. 515. and G. W.'s Serious Search, pag. 51, 52, 53. and Third Part of the Quakers Quibbles, p. 33, to 44. 85, to 95. and Dan. Leed's Voice of a Trumpet, pag. 4, to 40. He that deceives willingly, and of set purpose, as I am certain has been his Custom, What shall we say to such a one, but must leave him to God, the Righteous Judge. G. Fox, Jun. speaking in the Person of the Quakers Light, viz. You have in your Imaginations put me afar off, and will not own me the Light and Life in you:— I the Light will overturn Kingdoms, Nations, and gathered Churches, which will not own me the Light in them: I will make you know, that I the Light which lighteth every Man that comes into the World, am the true Eternal God, etc. This Whitehead vindicates: The Light and Life of Christ within, etc. p. 11. Yea, if we may consider what Titles G. Fox puts upon himself, as Dan. Leeds says, News of a Trumpet sounded, etc. pag. 109, 110. Professing Equality with God. A brief Relation, etc. p. 2, 3. Gr. Mist. pag. 67. 127. Saul's Errand, pag. 6, 7, 8. News coming up, etc. p. 1. Quakers Challenge, etc. p. 6. And G. Whitehead and W. Penn's Vindication of those Divine Attributes, given to G. Fox, in their Books, A Serious Search, p. 58. Judas and the Jews, etc. p. 44. Judgement fixed, etc. p. 19, 20. Innocency against Envy, etc. p. 18. The Accuser of our Brethren, etc. pag. 40, 41. together with Fox's being set up a Worker of Miracles too: I say, (says D. L.) should the Jews give equal Credit to the things contained in their Books, with the History of St. Luke, how shall they know who is the Messiah, G. Fox. or JESUS of Nazareth; especially, since W. Penn denies that outward Person to be the Son of God, which suffered at Jerusalem, who was called JESUS of Nazareth? See his Ser. Apol. etc. pag. 146. Good Christian Reader, (says D. Leeds, yea, and Fr. Bugg) consider the Event and Effects of these things; be (we entreat you) otherwise minded, than G. Whitehead is, who says, he neither consults Events, nor fears Effects in what he writes. See his Judgement Fixed, etc. Introd. Thus then does it appear, not only by what is here quoted, but by what is taken from the Quakers Books, in this, and other of my Books; in D. Leed's Books, in G. Keith's Books, in Th. Crisp's Books, and others; that Quakerism is a Plot against Christianity, and strikes at its Root and Branch. I cannot but foresee, that my old Friends will be half angry with me, for mentioning W. Penn's Plotting to Subvert the Government: But this I can tell them honestly, that since the Danger of that is over, and His Majesty has, out of his Gracious Favour, pardoned them, I should not speak a Word of it, did I not see, that he and his Brethren are in a most Damnable Plot against the Christian Religion, of which I gave Notice in The Pict. of Quak. p. 72, to 102. But since that Alarm did not sound loud enough, I have already, and shall yet sound a little louder, so that all Ears may tingle, and Hearts may lament, when they see the Honour of our Christian Religion defamed, and the Holy Profession thereof invaded by these Impostors. But why should they be angry? W. Penn has given me a Challenge to it, saying, This open Challenge I make, That if amongst the many Plots that have been spoken of, and several have been hanged for, that there has been one known Quaker found amongst them: I confess, that the Magistrate is excusable in his Discreet Jealousy over Us, etc. But then if one Instance of a Quaker-Traytor is sufficient to justify the Discreet Jealousy of the Magistrates over the Quakers, as William Penn truly says; then to make up a Pair, I may give a second Instance; namely, John Yates, a Quaker, who lived at Hull, a Master of a Ship, who for carrying Lead into France in the time of the late War, had his Estate seized; but himself fled from his Dwelling, and was forced to hid, as his Partner did, or else in all probability he might have been Hanged; for tho' they cannot Fight, (as they say) yet they can carry Lead to make Bullets for the French to kill the English with. All which shows, that the Magistrates Discreet Jealousy over the Quakers, is excusable by W. Penn's Allowance, and truly I am of that Opinion too; and not only in that Case, but in their most Horrible Plot against Christianity, which tends directly to subvert the Faith in the Crucified Jesus, and therewith the Foundation of Christianity; and I pray God to give the Magistracy a due Sense hereof, and then to inspire them with an Holy Zeal, to find out a Remedy. For I do say, that to me it does plainly appear, (and to as many as of late have been conversant in their Writings, and who have observed the Tendency of them, together with the whole Frame and Model of their Church-Government) that Quakerism is a most Formidable Plot, and a United Confederacy, both against the Christian Religion, the Professors thereof; together with the Holy Scriptures, and Ordinances of Baptism and Supper, instituted by Christ Jesus; also his Death and Sufferings; and that in order to exalt their own Laws and Ordinances, set up amongst them by their second Moses, whom they said was raised up to be amongst them in the same place that Moses was amongst the Israelites, tho' not in the very same Place, respecting Mount Sinai, where Moses' Feet stood, as above observed. But that I may not impose upon my Reader, I will yet give some other, or more Instances, than I have given Tho' I think I have given sufficient Reasons already. . Read W. Penn's Apol. etc. p. 150. where he saith, We have a Red Catalogue, that shall stand recorded against our Presbyterian and Independent Persecutors, that their Names and Natures too may stink to Posterity, etc. Read also the Books referred to, viz. Judas and the Jews, etc. p. 41. A rejoinder, etc. p. 410. The Anarchy of Ranters, etc. p. 42. A Ser. Apol. p. 150. The Picture of Quakerism, etc. pag. 102, 103. has them at large. Reader, This is the fourth Warning we have had from the Quakers themselves of this Plot, which they are laying, and which they are preparing for future Ages against the Christian Name and Reputation of the English Magistrate. And that the Quakers Plot is against the value of the Death of Christ; the Exemplary Suffering of the Apostles, and Martyrs, read Burrough's Works, p. 273. where they say, That the Sufferings of the People of God (called Quakers) in this Age, is a greater Suffering, and more Unjust, than in the Days of Christ, or his Apostles, or in any time since Here you see, that the Ten Persecutions, the Bloody Massacres, and Queen Mary's Reign, are all less than the Sufferings of the Quakers in seven Years time. Oh Monstrous! Oh Horrible! . What was done to Christ and the Apostles, was chief done by a Law, and in great part by the due Execution of a Law: And hereby it appears, the Suffering to be more Unjust, because what the Persecutors of old time did to the People of God, they did by a Law, and by the due Execution of a Law. Now, Reader, consider what these new Prophets say; and if thou art a Christian, I do solemnly appeal to thee, whether this Doctrine of the Quakers, hath not a Tendency to cause the Names of the Martyrs to stink, in regard it implies they were Criminals, and suffered under the Emperors by a Law, and the due Execution of their Law; for it could not be a just or due Execution, unless the Law were Just. Do they not hereby, what in them lies, acquit the hard-hearted Jews, the Barbarous Emperors, and Bloody Papists, of their Bloody Cruelties, and Implicitly Charge both Christ, and his Apostles, and Martyrs, with the Breach of some Just Laws; for which, their Penalties (say they) were duly Executed? And if so, is not this a Damnable Plot? Not to name other Blasphemies, which lie Couched under this Doctrine; as also, the Quakers Pride and Arrogance, thus to exalt their Sufferings, from 1650, to 1657. to be greater than the Sufferings of Christ, his Apostles, and Martyrs: And this Plot is still carrying on with Vigour, not only against the Presbyterians, Independants, and Baptists, to make their Names and Nature's stink in the Nostrils of future Generations, when the surviving Quakers bring out their Books of Sufferings, alias Martyrdom. But behold this Book of theirs, with the said great Sufferings, greater than that of Christ, and all his Martyrs, since was reprinted Anno 1672. and Witnessed to by the Approbation of Geo. Fox, Geo. Whitehead, Josiah Coale, Francis howgil, and their Hireling Ellis Hooks For what one writ, the other avouch; they speak all one Thing, are of one Mind. ; so that when they have gathered up all their Sufferings in the Reign of K. Ch. II. K. J. II. and K. William III (for they are still collecting all their Sufferings complete and full, as in Pag. 84. herein) no doubt but they will make them to exceed all the Sufferings of the Patriarches, and Prophets, from the Blood of Righteous Abel, to the Days of Christ, and from thence to the end of the Chapter, ad infinitum. O rare! This will be according to their Ancient Testimony in G. Whitehead's Sermon; insomuch, that this Hellish and Damnable Plot is against the Patriarches, Prophets, Christ, and his Apostles, Saints, and Martyrs, in all Ages and Generations. And this is the main Business of their whole Body, in their Convocations, both in their Monthly, Quarterly, Six Week, Second Day, and Yearly Meetings; which ought to be taken Care of, at least Inspected, tho' they have their Liberty of Meeting in those Houses, Licenced to Preach and Pray; for at those Meetings there are so many Spectators, that they cannot do that Hurt and Damage to the Christian Religion, they do in these Private, Locked, and Barr'd-up Private Conventicles. Thus than it appears, that this Plot is carrying on against King, Lords, and Commons; against Judges, Councillors, and Lawyers, against the Reverend Bishops, Clergy, and all Protestant Ministers; against Sheriffs, Constables, and Headboroughs; and indeed against the whole Race of Mankind, that profess Faith in Jesus Christ: And therefore how doth it concern all Christians, that have any Love to, and Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, that have any Respect to our Martyred Ancestors, who suffered in the Flames for our Holy Religion, to take Care of the Growth of Quakerism, as they will answer the Neglect of it at the Great and Notable Day of the Lord. Objection I. By this time some may be ready to object, saying, Francis, Does not thy Zeal exceed thy Judgement? What, wouldst thou have Fire come down from Heaven, and consume them, as Elias did? 2 Kings 1.10. Luke 9.54. Wouldst thou have the Government fall upon them, and destroy them? Answer. No, by no means I would not be understood so; for this I solemnly declare, in the Fear of God, as I hope for Mercy at the Great Day of Account, when both they and I shall appear before his Great Tribunal, I do desire neither; I would not have a Hair of their Head hurt: Besides, if I did desire the Growth of Quakerism, that is the ready way to increase them; for they glory in nothing more, than to be thought great Sufferers: No; let them have Liberty in their Licenced Meeting-Houses, to Preach, Pray, and Exercise their Talon, equal with others, if the Government think fit: And as this is all that other Dissenters desire or expect, so if they had not a further Design, this would content them, being that which answers the Substance of all their Petitions and Addresses to the Parliament, from one Reign to another, together with not being compelled to go to any other Worship: And they having both granted, I think 'tis all that is necessary to answer the Ends of all their frequent and endless Solicitations: And nothing of this do I desire them to be debarred of. Object. II. But then some may say, What other Way is there to put a Stop to the Growth of Quakerism, if they have this Liberty? Such an Expedient would be requisite, if such an one were to be found. Answ. I have once offered my Thoughts in this Case, and shall now enlarge thereon: For as I then said, so I still believe, that the main Requisite to work a Cure, is to know the Disease, which, when found out, an ordinary Practitioner may prescribe a Remedy, sooner than an able Physician, who knows not the Disease. Besides this, I have heard, that when a Bill for the well-Tanning of Leather was brought into the House of Parliament, one of the Honourable House of Lords being willing to inform himself into the Nature of that Affair, he applied himself to a Cobbler, discourses with him about this, that, and the other Default in Leather, and what Ways might be found to remedy the Abuses thereof, for the Public Good. The Cobbler tells his Honour what he knew, by many Years Experience, and told his Lordship how it might with Ease be remedied; insomuch, that when the said Bill came under Debate in the House, his Lordship was so well skilled, not only in the Means to be used, but in the Terms of Art, that his Lordship spoke like some experienced Tanner, who by his Discourse gave Light to the whole House. Now whether this was so or no, I will not determine, but 'tis not improbable, since the wisest of Men may sometimes improve by such weak Helps, as in other Cases 'tis frequent; such a Virtue is Humility: And thereupon, in answer to the Objection, I shall say thus much. I. Let G. Whitehead, and some others of the Quakers chief Leaders, and Fr. Bugg, etc. be summoned by Authority to appear: And whereas G. Whitehead, etc. has given in a Sheet to the Parliament, Anno 1693. suggesting, that Fran. Bugg, etc. has wronged the Quakers in Charge, Citation, and Observation; and if G. W. can make it appear so, (for our Law judges no Man before it hears him) let Fran. Bugg, etc. be made an Example. Again, on the other Hand, if it appear that Fran. Bugg, etc. has not wronged the Quakers, nor falsely charged them, either in Book or Page; and that those Points of Doctrine objected against the Quakers by F. B. etc. be found to strike at the Foundation of the Christian Religion, and to subvert the Faith, then let the Quakers be obliged to renounce them, and condemn those Books which so teach: This, yea this, would strike Quakerism to the Heart This is the thing feared by G. W. etc. when they cry out, Fran. Bugg would stir up Persecution. , and give it a Mortal Wound, and preserve the Quakers too; and the Books being condemned to be burnt, as it would remove the Scandal brought upon the Christian Religion, so would it be a Means to rescue their Wives and Children from the Jaws of Quakerism, that Fatal Mischief to Mankind, and preserve others from falling into it. For now many of them think their Teachers write and speak from the Eternal Spirit; whose so speaking is of greater Authority than the Bible: Truth defending the Quakers, etc. pag. 7. And that 'tis as lawful to burn the Bible, as their Books, Papers, and Queries: Truth's Defence, etc. p. 2.104. Then would those, who are now Tinctured with the Leaven of Quakerism, vomit it up, and forsake their Errors. This I take to be one proper Remedy, and possibly might effect the Cure: If not, II. If the Quakers would Apologise, That now they Believe otherwise than they did formerly; then, as a Proof of their Sincerity and Conversion, let them (having first condemned their Books as aforesaid) set out certain Articles of their Faith, in Plain, Clear, and Positive Words, agreeable to Scripture, (since of late they have so much pretended to be Orthodox therein) and at the Close of them condemn all their other Books, which teach the contrary, particularly by Name. III. The next thing requisite, (to make a firm and lasting Cure to them, their Heirs, and Successors) is, to admit each Congregation of Quakers to have their Teacher, (or two, if one will not do:) And likewise, that these Teachers may attend only their own Flock, and not to range all the World over; at most, not above Five or Ten Miles, to Hold-forth; lest this Putrified Sore break out again, and the last end be worse than their beginning: And as this, thus granted, is, what other Professors, Dissenters from the Church of England, are content with, so will it answer all the just Ends of that Liberty of Conscience, so much by them solicited for, and so graciously already granted by the Government. iv Let them not be permitted to hold Yearly Convocations with Doors Locked, Barred, or Guarded by Men, on Purpose to prevent Inspection, in order to make Laws against the Laws of the Land; and with respect to their Subjects, to repeal such Laws as suit not their Design; which shows, that they are a Government within the Government: Whose Laws thus made, they keep private, even from many of their own People. For as this Practice no Dissenters (Quakers only excepted) do desire, (and indeed without His Majesty's Licence, more than the Bishops of the Established Church can Legally do) so would it be a Means to work a perfect Cure of this (so much to be lamented) Gangrene of Quakerism. V last, That they may not be permitted to Teach School Publicly; for thereby they corrupt the Youth, and lay a Foundation for the next Age, for the Seeds of Quakerism to spring, and put forth again; for they teach G. Fox's Journal, which contains such Doctrine as tends to undermine the Christian Religion. Object. III. G. W. in his late Book, Truth and Innocency, etc. p. 41. objects, Our Adversaries would make as if we promoted Regnum in Regno, not only independent, but opposite to the Civil Government, which none of our Meetings are; being to promote real Practice of Piety, Christianity, and true Religion among us, as a People, and to prevent the contrary.— We know of no such Supreme Assemblies among us, as gives Laws, and makes Orders for the Government of our People, suppressing Books, etc. Answ. This is all fallacious; he knows they do, and I can prove it: And not only make Laws for their People, but make Laws or Orders contrary to the Laws of the Land. And as for his Pretence, that at these Meetings they do not promote Regnum in Regno, since their Meetings are, to promote real Piety, etc. 1. When the Bishops and Clergy meet, do they not promote the real Practice of Piety, as much as the Quakers pretend to? Yet if they should meet, as do the Quakers, without Licence from His Majesty, it would (as Lawyers say) be against these Statutes, 28 Hen. 8. c. 19, 21. 27 Hen. 8. c. 15. 3 Ed. 6. c. 10, 11. 1 Eliz. c. 12. Magna Charta, c. 29. Pet. of R. 5 Eliz. c. 1. 1 Ed. 6. c. 2. 37 Hen. 8. c. 17. 8 Eliz. c. 1. 1 K. W. & Q. M. N. 307. And such Meetings, let the Pretence be never so seemingly good, are interpreted to be Regnum in Regno; viz. not only independent, but opposite to the Civil Government; and should the Bishops and Clergy so meet, with never so real a Purpose to promote real Piety and Christianity, (of which the Quakers is but a Counterfeit) they thereby would (as the Learned in the Law say) run themselves into a Praemunire. Neither do, or are any People in England so bold, so to Meet, in Contempt of the Laws of the Land, expressly against the King's Prerogative, the Rights of Parliaments, and the Liberty and Property of the Subject, the Quakers only excepted, whose Principles are Extrajudicial and Antimagistratical, and of how dangerous a Consequence, Time will best demonstrate; for hitherto they have not been able to do Hurt, as to the Government. But see one of their own Books before they got to this Height, in Oliver Cromwell's Days, entitled, The West answering to the North, etc. by G. Fox and others of them, p. 80. viz. Any Party of Men under a Government, to make Laws, not being Authorized so to do, for the Binding of others, and thereunto require Obedience, is the setting up of themselves above the Law, and treading it under their Feet; and rendering of them, whom they so Bind, their Slaves and Vassals, and so is TREASON. Object. iv As for what is Collected, (which they call a Fund) is not for Stipends for our Teachers; we have no Mercenary Teachers, nor among us Attendants on both Houses of Parliament, etc. Answ. This is all false in Fact: 1. I do affirm, and offer to prove it, That their Teachers have Stipends, and great Sums of Money out of the Money collected; if I do not, (let but my Superiors give me the Opportunity) I will engage to forfeit my Life; yea, as clearly as Daniel proved to the King the Fraud of Bell's Priests: And also will show the private Entrance or Passage, which the Quakers Mercenary Teachers go in and out to this Fund, or Bank, or Common Stock, or Collection, (let it have a Name of the Quakers own giving, if that will please them) without strewing Ashes: If I do not do this, let me suffer; if I do, and that I also show, that the Charges Attending the Parliament come out thereof, then let this Fund, Stock, or Bank, together with their Yearly Meeting, and all other their Monthly, Quarterly, Six-Week and Second-Day's Meetings, which are not designed for Worship, but for Government, be suppressed; and let them be content with their Meetings on Sundays for Public Worship, with their Doors open, as other Dissenters have. Now if they be but as Confident as Bell's Priests were, let them try the Experiment; I am ready to engage them, when the Government shall call me to it; and by no other Methods than is usual ofttimes with the Members of the House of Commons to use, when they would find out a hidden Secret, which they fear tends to subvert the Government. Object. V G. Whitehead, in Excuse of the Quakers, recording their Sufferings, as only to have have recourse to, and not designed to render the Government odious to Posterity. Answ. I answer; this is such a fallacious Evasion, that it serves only to show their Hypocrisy. Read but The Picture of Quakerism drawn to the Life, etc. p. 102, to 106. and The Pilgrim's Progress, etc. first Edition, p. 167. where five Quotations are at large taken out of their Prints, written by W. Penn, R. Barkley, and others of Note amongst the Quakers; and they afford a Demonstration, and Proof sufficient; and which they never yet gainsaid, by Answer thereunto. Object. VI G. W. pag. 69. of his Truth and Innocency Vindicated, etc. says, Let their Books and ours be compared, to clear our Innocency from their Adversaries gross Calumnies, Perversions, Misrepresentations, etc. Answ. Content, with all their Hearts. But tho' I am no Prophet, nor the Son of a Prophet, yet I dare venture to say, that Geo. will not be so willing to put their Cause upon this Issue, as the Priests of Bell and the Dragon were to put their Fraud to the Test: No, theirs was a sufficient Example to their Followers in Deceit and Falsehood: And I marvel G. W. should have the Face to propose a Thing which they have these Fifteen Years to my knowledge always refused; and when any one proposes it, they fly off, and cry out Persecution, Persecution: For he knew both many of his own Books, as well as Fox's, Burrough's, and their Chieftains, are well fraught with Errors, Blasphemy, Seditious, and Bloody Treasonable Principles: And that they stood in as much need of an Act of Oblivion, as any People upon English Ground; and with which all their Crimes, might for all me have been buried, had they not revived them, and told us over and over, That their Principles are now no other than what they were in the Beginning. Thus having answered these Objections, I shall add no more on this Head, only refer to my former Book, entitled, The Picture of Quakerism, Part 2. pag. 121, to 128. for more of this Nature; which probably may be of good Use, if the Poor Man's Counsel be taken, Eccles. 9.14,15,16. Read the Ninth Chapter of Joshua at your leisure. And now to conclude, with a Word of Encouragement to such who are concerned in the Discovery of Quakerism: Do you not remember the Day, (I am sure I do) how the Quaker-Teachers went into Churches, and disturbed the Established Ministers? But now none must disturb them, if they do, the Officer is called for, and the Offender prosecuted: Witness Geo. Keith did but desire to go into the Quakers Meeting at Bristol this present August, and they refused his going in, tho' he promised not to disturb them; but threatened him with executing the Law against him; as in his printed Relation appears more at large: This is a certain Sign of what they would do in other Cases, had they Power. I say, do you not remember how they challenged the Public Ministers to dispute, to answer their Queries, etc. It would make a Volume to handle this Matter throughly. But behold! here is a Change with them; you may challenge them long enough, but cannot get them out of their Holes; they see and know they are discovered; this makes them Timorous, and as the Scriptures say, Fearfulness surprise the Hypocrites. They see this, that, and the other Book come out against them, which they cannot answer, nor are they able to defend themselves; and now they call out for a Cessation of Arms, and are for an Amicable Conversation; yea, for Peace and Quietness; and 'tis Seditious to challenge them, and remind them of their Errors; this is against Magna Charta, say they. Geo. Keith hath three times called them out, and challenged them, but they dare not appear, but like self-condemned Apostates, lie mute; whereby it's manifest, their Innocency so much boasted of, is not Triumphant, as G. W. says in his Book, Innocency Triumphant, etc. And therefore the way to deal with these cunning Sophisters, G. W. etc. is still to pursue them with Challenges, to call them into the Field; and thereupon I will pitch my Standard here, on Behalf of the Christian Religion, and Protestant Profession, against Quakerism, Head and Tail, and once more challenge G. Whitehead to appear on his own Proposition to the Parliament, viz. For each of us to choose four or six moderate Men of common Sense and Reason, out of the Professors I call it his, because he did voluntarily offer to meet me before any Six, Ten, or Twelve moderate Men, etc. of the Christian Faith, and let us dispute it out fairly, and above-board: And thereupon I shall renew my Challenge, and let it stand here as a Monument of the Quakers Cowardice, and Self-Condemnation, if they'd rather lie under this heavy Charge following, than to come out and make their Defence, viz. First, That they deny Jesus of Nazareth, who was Born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who suffered without the Gates of Jerusalem, to be Christ, the Son of the Living God. Secondly, That they deny the Scriptures, by their speaking contemptuously of them; calling them Carnal, Death, Dust, Beastly Ware, Serpent's Meat, etc. and that Preaching out of them, is Conjuration. Thirdly, That they exalt their own Say and Writings above the Scriptures, as being of greater Authority, and more Certainty; not only in Words, but in Practice. Fourthly, That they undervalved the Death and Sufferings of Christ Jesus, by granting, they were inflicted by, or for the Transgression of a Law, and executed in a great Measure (at least) by the due Execution of a Law. Fifthly, That they exalt their own Sufferings, as greater, and more unjust, than the Sufferings of Christ, his Apostles, and Martyrs; yea, even than all the Persecutions, from the Days of Christ, to the Year of their Rise, namely, 1650. Sixthly, And that (for these and the like Reasons) the Quakers Books (which thus teach) are Blasphemous; and their Practices (in their Adorations) are Idolatrous. This is my Charge, which I have often laid down, and which I now renew, and offer to make good upon them, if he will choose his Men, and meet me according to his own voluntary Offer, and my Acceptation thereof; or otherwise, because I will give him his Choice of two Methods, viz. or on Condition At Oxford I offered Sylas Norton to prove the same Charge against the Quakers, and their Doctrine. that he, George Whitehead, will engage under his Hand to Retract their Errors, if proved upon them, out of the Quakers Books, wrote by their approved Authors, and condemn the Books which teach this Horrible Doctrine, promising myself also to Engage under my Hand, to Retract what he shall prove Erroneous in my Books, or False in Fact, relating to my Charging the Quakers, thereby making them public Satisfaction; and to Burn my Books, if found Guilty, as a Testimony of my Injustice A Sign of my not being Conscious of Gild herein. : And to this I subscribe my my Name, Aug. 3. 1698. Francis Bugg. This then is my Flag of Defiance, which I hold out to G. Whitehead, etc. this is my Standard, which I have pitched ON Behalf of my Saviour JESUS CHRIST, which the Quakers have Contemned, Disowned, and Denied to be the SON of GOD; ON the Behalf of the Scriptures, which the Quakers say are Dust, Death, Beastly Ware, Serpent's Meat, etc. ON the Behalf of the Holy Ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, which Christ Instituted; ON the Behalf of the Church of ENGLAND, both Magistrates and Ministers, which the Quakers have most wickedly Traduced and Abused, as Intolerable to bear, and Seditious in its own Nature. Let them come forth out of their Dens and Holes, and acquit themselves like Men, if they think I wrong them, or else be content to lie under my Charge, as self-condemned Persons; and let them also know, that my Book, New Rome Arraigned, etc. stands unshaken, and that George Whitehead is not Triumphant, but forced by the Gild of his Conscience, to submit to the Charge above exhibited, which is Ignoble and Base, on his Part, and will lower his Topsail, to his great Abasement, Shame, and Confusion of Face, in the Eyes of all sorts of Intelligent Persons. Thus having stated the Contest between G. W. and me, and advised my Friends and Fellow-Labourers, not so much to Answer the Quakers Books, as to Charge and Recharge them again and again, till they at last, (being confounded with Shame, Horror and Confusion,) be forced to come out: But I shall show Whitehead's Fallacy in his way of answering Books, only by one Instance; for I having in my Book, New Rome Arraigned, etc. pag. 47. by way of Retaliation upon the Quakers, who call the Public Ministers, Antichrists, and Deceivers, and the World's Teachers, given Fifteen Instances, why the Quakers are the World's Teachers and Deceivers; the second of which was this: The Quakers, who teach, that the Name JESUS and CHRIST belongs to the whole Body, and every Member in the Body, as well, and as amply, as to Christ the Head; are of the World, and Deceivers: New Rome Arraigned, etc. pag. 47. Now this was no Quotation, but a Charge, which rests for me to prove. I grant the Word amply is by me added by way of Illustration; but the Words as well, that G. W. neither mentions, nor disowns. Isaac Pennington's Words are, Doth not the Name (Jesus and Christ) belong to the whole Body, and every Member in the Body, as well as to the Head?— So that the Name is not given to the Vessel, but to the Nature in the Vessel. A Question to Professors, by Isaac Pennington, etc. p. 27. P. 33. The Scripture does expressly distinguish between Christ, and the Garment which he wore; between Him that came, and the Body in which he came; between the Substance which was vailed, and the Veil which vailed it. Lo I come; a Body hast thou prepared me; there is plainly He, and the Body in which He came; there was the Outward Vessel, and the Inward Life; this we certainly know, (says Isaac) and can never call the Bodily Garment, Christ, etc. And whoever read the Scriptures, may clearly see that the Quakers are False Teachers, in that they first teach, that the Name JESUS and CHRIST belongs to every Believer, as well as to CHRIST the Head; since they can first call him, as you have heard, A Garment, a Vessel, a Veil, a Body; but in express Words they say, they cannot call Him Christ; but whoever read the Scriptures by me quoted, in the Sixteenth Chapter, I hope they will be convinced. And St. John says, Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. Then came Jesus forth, wearing a Crown of Thorns: Then the Soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, they took his Garments; but one of the Soldiers with a Spear pierced his Side: She turned herself back, and saw Jesus; Jesus saith unto her, touch me not, for I am not yet ascended: Thomas said, except I shall see in his Hands the Print of the Nails, and put my Finger into the Print of the Nails, and thrust my Hand into his Side, I will not believe. Then saith he (Jesus) to Thomas, reach hither thy Finger, and behold my Hands; and reach hither thy Hand, and thrust it into my Side, and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered unto him, my Lord, and my God. And many other Signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his Disciples, which are not written in this Book; but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, you might have Life through His Name, John. 1.5,23,34. 20.14,17,25,27,28,30,31. Thus than it is evident, That the same Jesus that was Born of the Virgin Mary, the same Jesus which Suffered at Jerusalem, is the Christ which the Apostles preached, and which all true Christians believe in; yet as evident, That the Quakers do not own him, nor believe in him: For, as above noted, Isaac Pennington says, there was the Outward Body, which they can never call Christ; Isaac Pennington's Question to Professors, etc. p. 27, 33. G. W.'s Judgement fixed, etc. p. 336. W. Penn, he says, But that the Outward Person which suffered was properly the Son of God, We utterly deny; W. Penn 's Ser. Apol. etc. p. 146. Well, but let us hear this George Whitehead, who thus replied, saying, I deny that the Quakers teach, that the Name Jesus and Christ belongs to every Member in the Body, as amply as to the Head: Where proves he (Fran. Bugg) as amply? Says Geo. Whitehead. W. Baily's Works, p. 229, 230, 307. The Sword of the Lord drawn, etc. pag. 5. Mark, Reader, here is a Tacit Confession of the Words as well, tho' he carps at my Word amply, which I put in for Illustration sake; it not being a Quotation, but a Charge, which I still offer to make good, if he will meet me on his own Proposition; for I take the Word amply to mean no more, but as Plainly, as Evidently, as Apparently; and the Quakers say, that the Name Jesus and Christ belongs to every Believer, as well as to the Head. This Whitehead denies not, this he disowns not, only carps at the Word amply. And therefore my Advice to all my Fellow-Labourers is, to take this my Method, give New-Rome Charge after Charge, as Geo. Keith has done; see his Three Narratives; as Daniel Leeds is a doing A Trumpet sounded out of the Wilderness, etc. p. 141. ; who has been a Quaker about 20 Years; and let this be the Test between Christianity and Quakerism; If the Quakers be Innocent and Sincere, (tho' mistaken through Error) they'll come out; if Insincere, and Self-conscious of their Hypocrisy, they'll not appear, but Rave and Rail like Rabshekah, at a distance; by this Test shall the Plot be discovered, and the Conspirators be made manifest: And I am not without Hopes, but that what I have said, in Conjunction with my Fellow-Travailers, will be a Means to preserve some from running Headlong (as the Swine did) into the deep Lake of Quakerism, and and to convert others that are misled, as well as be useful to the Church of God in general. Which God of his Mercy grant, for Jesus Christ his sake. Amen. Fran. Bugg. August 25. 1699. FINIS. A COLLECTION OF Some Passages (Touching those called QUAKERS) Which were Writ (with much more of the same tendency) by several that were, or still are, amongst that People. WHEREBY The Reader may plainly see and perceive what Spirit it is that Acts their Preachers and Leaders; and how they have been foretold and faithfully warned of the Day of Perplexity, Reproach, and Ignominy, that is come and coming upon them. O thou Sword of the Lord, how long will it be e'er thou be quiet? Put up thyself into thy Scabbard, rest, and be still. How can it be quiet, seeing the Lord hath given it a Charge? I cannot hold my Peace, because thou hast heard, O my Soul, the Sound of the Trumpet, the Alarm of War. Reader, THese Passages in this Page of Ann Docwra and Robert Sandiland's Writing, I have added since I had a Proof from the Printer of those Collections following. He (i. e. S. Cater, a great Preacher) has written more than is true concerning me,— he is very Bold, and the most Confident Liar that ever I met with; I laid the Record against J. Ainsloe before him,— also G. W's False Certificate about the (said) Record In his Book, Judgement Fixed, etc. ; it is an abuseful Forgery; for some of those whose Names are to the Certificate, absolutely disowns it, and say, they set their Hands to none; it is very sad (said she) that Men should be so Bold in their Wickedness A. D's Letter to Mr. Crisp, March 25. 1684. . I know it is common (says she) with some of them in their Books of Controversy, to put the Names of such Persons as they account their Vassals, both to Certificates and Books, sometimes without the Consent of the Parties whose Names are Inserted, and sometimes with their Consent, through slavish Fear of having their Trades obstructed, and thereby Ruined See A. D's Printed Broadside, i. e. The New Projecting Formalist Characterised, etc. . Which Impious Practice of theirs is confirmed in their shameful Forgery in R. S' Book Righteous Judgement, etc. , as at large in a Letter of his to me, printed in my Modest Defence, etc. p. 20. may be seen: And as to splitting Sentences, mincing and mangling, and thereby marring the Sense of their Opponents, no People so False, so Perfidious, and so Deceitful, that I know of. F. B. A COLLECTION OF Some Passages (Touching those called QUAKERS) etc. I Have long seen (saith R. R.) the Abomination that maketh Desolate, standing amongst the Quakers: Wherefore hear the Word of the Lord, ye Rulers of Sodom, and People of Gomorrah, 'tis this Spirit that hath encompassed your Jerusalem about, as with Armies, by which we know the Destruction thereof draweth nigh. Finally, 'tis that Spirit of Wickedness in the form of Righteousness, that hath already torn your Crown from off your Head, and discovered your Secret Parts; so that the Scab of Contention and Strife is seen, that will never leave nor cease to Divide you, till the Name of Quaker become an Hiss and a Scorn amongst the Nations. This Witness is true. And you that, for the vast number of your Tribes, have seemed to magnify yourselves in your increase of Children; Woe be to you that now give Suck, (and take so much pains to add to your Sect) for behold in one Day, loss of Children and Widowhood shall come upon you. This Witness is true. Of this I am most certain, that a Bitter, Lying, and Persecuting, Proud Spirit inhabits your Tents; which Babylonish Garment hath long been seen to lie hid amongst that Tribe, called the Ministry, the Teachers and Leaders of the Quakers; even such Spiritual Wickedness, which if practised amongst Presbyterians, Independents, or others, (whom ye disown, and can see nothing in them that is good) they would abhor themselves therein; which you, as with a Whore's Forehead, boldly maintain and defend. You are, in truth, those that justify yourselves before Men, but God knoweth your Hearts; and the Day is at Hand, even at your very Door, which will Discover, Reveal, and Preach as upon the Housetops, many and great Abominations which yet lie hid amongst you, that so you may be judged according to your Deeds. This Witness is true, as St. Paul said, Tit. 1.12,13. I am constrained (contrary to my Nature) to plead like a Man of Contention against this Proud, Pharisaical and Perverse Generation; this Leviathan and Crooked Serpent, in whose Nostrils (unless a Hook be put) would swallow not only the Rivers, but also the very Sea into himself, viz. Receive all (tho' never so unclean in Heart and Spirit, if outwardly they will but own him, receive his Mark Of Thee, and Thou, and the Hat. and walk in outward Observation and Show conformable to them; who while they profess themselves free from Sin, and being the only Children of GOD, are notwithstanding found bitter Persecutors of the Truth, and Enemies to the Unction the Anointed One, in whomsoever he doth appear; thereby rendering themselves guilty of all the Innocent Blood which hath been spilt, from the Blood of Righteous Abel, even to this Day: All which Blood cryeth aloud for Vengeance upon the well-favoured Harlot (Mystery Babylon) who in the Golden Cups, and goodly Show of an outward Profession, hath inwardly (with a bitter, ravening and devouring Spirit) made herself Drunk with the Blood of the Saints and Martyrs of Jesus. This Witness is true. I have observed, that those that forsake Father and Mother, (the Sect that nourished and brought them forth) to follow the Lord fully and Holy (as did Caleb, Joshua, and Jesus, etc.) not minding their own Reputations, or Fame, not loving their Lives to the Death; such, I say, have been accounted, as in all Ages, so by this Hypocritical, Proud, Self-righteous Generation, as the worst of Men; calling them Ranters, Atheists, Blasphemers, Devils, any thing, even all manner of Evil, so they may wound the Truth, and slay the Innocent Defenders thereof; whose harmless Souls I see lying under the Altar of Truth, sorely oppressed for their Testimony thereunto; and crying out, How long, Lord God, Holy and True, (will it be) thou dost Judge and Revenge our Blood? For whose Elect sake, the God of my Salvation will suddenly arise, and behold Enmity, Lies, and Falsehood, etc. (even all that Spirit of Wickedness) will surely fly, hid itself, and sink again into the bottomless Pit from whence it came. They care not whom they slander, or what Lies they tell, so they may Advance, Strengthen, and increase their Party and Sect. By all which it evidently appears, that the Spirit of Deceit and Falsehood is crept in, and doth inhabit amongst this People. You are now like that Evil Spirit cast out, running to and fro, walking in the dry places of your Elders Traditions, those you call good Old Friends; seeking rest, but never shall find any, so long as Balack and Balaam, that bitter Spirit, leads to Curse whom God will surely Bless, and bring over you; for ye must fall, and (with Haman, Saul, and Herod) be ensnared and taken even in the same Pit of cruel Deceit, which you have digged for your Innocent Brethren; and herein (for some time) will the Faith and Patience of the Saints be exercised. Thus am I clear from the Blood of all Men, in that I have not ceased, both by Words and Writing, to forewarn of the coming of this Antichrist among the Quakers, who for more than Ten Years last passed, have been that poor Ass, speaking as with Man's Voice, reproving and withstanding the Madness of this Lying, Wrathful, Bitter, Persecuting Spirit, knowing right well when it entered, and You thereby came to reject the Lord, that he should not Reign over You by his Spirit of Light and Love; but rather chose to yourselves a King for to Judge and Rule You, who was not the Unction nor the Anointed of the Lord; nor yet the Olive, Fig, nor Vine, that could heal, rejoice, or bind you up; but the Bramble, and King of the bottomless Pit, that shall so Rend, Tear and Devour you, till not one Stone shall be left upon another, which thing tell G. F. that Fox, your King. By what is written, you may see how this high and Luciferian People the Quakers, who for their Show and Numbers have been as the Stars of Heaven, and who for their Pride and Enmity are to be cast down, whose fall is the Riches of the World. So that the first in Profession, are now become the last in Possession of the Kingdom, which standeth, not in Words, nor yet in Outward Appearances, but in Humility, and Love unfeigned, yea, in Righteousness, Peace, and Joy, etc. The foregoing Passages are taken out of Robert Riche's Letters which were Printed 1669, and Reprinted 1676 1676/7 7: He was a Merchant, and was one of the Eminentest and Ancientest Quaker that Lived in London. I know (says R. R.) G. F. is raised up of God for this very end, to Try, Refine, and Purify many, as Pharaoh was; and tho' many fall in the Trial under his Power, yet many will be delivered into the Glorious Liberty of the Sons of God. I likewise see, that daily more and more will fall off from that Body, and that some that separate from them, will with Daniel stand in their Lot, and follow the Lord in the Spirit of the Lamb more fully than they have done. These two last Paragraphs was Printed in 1680. P. 19 II. HOW low and humble were they (i. e. Quakers) in their Spirits (in the beginning)? How few were they in Words? Their Yea, was Yea, and their Nay, Nay. Ah! let me take up a Lamentation! How are the Mighty fallen? How have the Stars ceased to give their Light? How are the Poor distressed, and the Young Ones bruised, by the high Mountains and lofty Cedars, whose Habitations were once in Heaven, but now upon the high Places of the Earth, to impose upon the Conscience, and to establish an Arbitrary Power by a Law: These are the Armed Beasts, and the many Antichrists, which break the Unity in Spirit, and the Bond of Peace. P. 10. The Foxonian-Unity is to yield Subjection to the Order of the Body (so called) though no manifestation within. And this Unity they glory in, by this is their Kingdom upheld, from this they are able to boast, Who is able to make War with us? Who can stand before us? Do not all fall that are risen up against us? Are not these the highswelling words of Proud Babel, whose towering Thoughts must be abased? Whose practice hath been to crush the tender Ones in their Bodies, Souls and Spirits. This Language hath mine Ears heard, this Practice hath mine Eyes seen, to the grief and wounding of my Soul. P. 11, 12, etc. This Witness is true. This Spirit of Antichrist in G. Fox, etc. would wrest from me what I am not willing to part withal, to wit, my Conscience, under no less Penalty than Excommunication, etc. P. 16. This Witness is true. These ill Ministers (i. e. G. Fox, etc.) conjoin together to subvert our Laws and Liberties given by the Great Je●ovah— And assuredly, though they are lifted up as it were into Heaven, in their Proud Imaginations, the Righteous God will Blast all their Exalted Expectations, and they shall Die and Perish in the General Dissolution, because they have not regarded the Fatherless, nor pitied the poor in Spirit, nor compassionated the tender Conscience which feared to Sin against the Lord, but Crushed, Spoilt, and Oppressed (without Bowels of Mercy) those that had little strength to help themselves; invaded their Rights, violated their Liberties, and endeavoured to take the Meat from the Children, and give it unto Dogs. P. 26. This Witness is true. And although they daily exercise the Oppressions , yet by their deceitful Flatteries they make People believe that they are a Harmless, Innocent, and Peaceable People, suffering and bearing wrong, but not doing any: Or if any Persons write or speak their Grief, that the Public take notice of, 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 Scotchmen, Welshmen, Tinker, Taylor, etc. some of them utterly untrue; and to prevent an Inquisition into the Truth of the matter, they would make People believe that they are Envious, Malicious, and Discomposed Spirits, Bad, Dirty, Factious, and Ranting Spirits, who are gone from Truth, and are out of Truth. This Witness is true. 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 and Disdainful Men, but was thus reproached? Must it be Justice in them to complain of their Oppressions, and Envy, and Malice, etc. in us to complain of ours? Their Years are but few, yet verily they have been exceeding expert in learning of the Papists Subtleties, P. 36, 37. This Witness is true. It appears plainly unto the Just and Righteous Man, that G. Fox, and the rest of his Counsel, have endeavoured to subvert the Royal Law of Liberty, and to introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government over the Consciences of the Flock of God. These are the Ravening Wolves which Pray upon the little Ones in a Lordly Spirit. This is that envenomed Spirit which hath tainted their Judgements, poisoned their Hearts, and blinded their Eyes. P. 38. And I affirm the Lord did not raise them up to bring us off from the Barren Mountains, to feed upon them who are now become a Desert; nor from under our Oppressors, to turn Oppressors themselves. Let them remember the Army, it is their Figure ☞ ; And if the Lord's Anger waxed hot against them for their unfaithfulness, what will be the Portion of these who have so deeply Apostatised from clearer Manifestations. P. 41. Dear Friend, It hath pleased the Lord to raise thee up, to bear a Testimony against an Adulterous, Tyrannical, and an Hypocritical Generation. P. 44. W. Mucklowe, (an Eminent and Ingenious Quaker) in a large Letter (with abundance more to the same effect) Printed 1673. Entitled, The Spirit of the Hat, etc. and is Reprinted this Year 1700. Titled, A Bemoaning Letter, etc. III. THE Day is come, that as they have laid open the Deceit, Wickedness and Hypocrisy of other Professors that went before them, so must their Deceit, Wickedness and Hypocrisy be also laid open; for the Lord whom I serve is no respecter of Persons. This Witness is true. Printed 1671. in a Letter to G. F. by J. P. iv YOur Day into Darkness is turned, the Sun is gone down over you: You have had a large Day and Power given you to have done the Will of God, but you have abused the Power, and slighted your Day, and have refused to do the Lord's Work, and have sought yourselves, and not the Lord; Therefore in Justice and Righteousness is the Day wherein you might have wrought for God taken from you, and the thick Dark Night of Confusion is come upon you, wherein you are groping, and stumbling, and cannot Work: The Decree is gone out and sealed against you, and it cannot be recalled; you are not the Men (as ye stand) in whom God will appear to work deliverance for his People; (and yet deliverance shall come) but as for you, ye have rejected the Counsel of the Lord, and grieved his Spirit; and he hath long born you; yea, you are departed from the Lord, and his presence is departed from you: Indeed he hath Hewed with you, (and if you had been faithful to the end, he would have honoured and prospered you, and have been your sufficient reward) ye were his Axe, but ye have boasted yourselves against him; therefore as you have Hewed and Broken others, even so must you be Hewed and Broken. This was Printed 1673. and Reprinted 1677 1677/8 8, 1692, and 1696. directed for the Preachers and Leaders of the People called Quakers. By J. P. V WHat will you do? You Scribes, Pharisees, Hypocrites; you that have been long making clean the outside of the Cup and Platter, but inwardly are as Ravening Wolves; your Fruits will make you manifest: You Hypocrites, your Name will be a stink among the Heathen, for the Lord will find you out, whose Glory he will not give to any other, nor his Honour to any of your Graven Images; my Soul loathes all your false Covers, I cannot but declare against all your false Ways. M. D. an Ancient Quaker, and is Printed in a Letter to G. F. 1682. VI I Being engaged as well as some others to manifest and lay open deceitful Workers and Hypocrites, I am farther to appear to manifest thee to be one of the greatest Hypocrites and Deceivers in this Nation; and until thou own thy Condemnation, and leave off Deceiving the People, assuredly the Sword that's now drawn is not to be, nor must not be sheathed, till thou, and such Deceivers as thou art, be brought down. This Witness is true. In a large Letter to G. F. by J. P. 1674/5. and Printed 1682, 1691, and 1696. VII. THe Day is come, and now is, that the hidden things of Esau's Nature are to be, and must be brought to Light. See Quakers Unmasked, etc. Title Page, writ to G. Fox, G. Whitehead, etc. 1677. and Printed 1682, and 1691. VIII. AND let G. Fox, and those that uphold him, remember that it was Jeroboam the Son of Nebat that caused Israel to Sin; and as his Name was Branded to Posterity, so shall theirs be. This Witness is true. Printed 1678. in the Book, A Sensible Cry, etc. p. 6. A. M. IX. 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 among 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. Quakers unmasked, etc. Preface By J. P. Printed 1682, and 1691. X. A Day of Trouble, Anguish, and Disappointment, is come and coming upon You, which you can neither escape, nor prevent: You must reap the fruit of your own do; for as you have sowed the Wind, you must expect to reap the Whirlwind, wherein is nothing but Confusion, Darkness, Blackness and Tempest: And this is the Portion of all the Builders of Babel, or Babylonish Builders. And tho' you may think that you have built the highest and fairest Structure of any, yet know, and that for a truth, that not one Stone thereof shall be left upon another; and all your Buildings, your Inventions, your Imaginations, and Conceiving about your Forms, your Proud Self-conceited Modes, your Impositions, your Prescriptions, Laws, and Comely Orders (as you in your fallen Wisdom call them) must all be thrown down, laid waste, and become as a Byword or Proverb of Reproach to the very Heathen, and not only to them, but also to those whom you have defamed and stigmatised with the blackest of Names; and for no other cause, but only for their Faithfulness in Discharging a good Conscience towards their God, towards You, and towards all Men. These are faithful and true Say, if thou canst receive them thou mayest. Printed 1680, in a Letter to G. F. by J. P. a Person well known, and of an unspotted Reputation. Behold that which you have Built must be Broken down, and that which you have Planted must be Plucked up. This Witness is true. It may be they will present their Supplications before the Lord, and will turn every one from his Evil Way: For great is the Anger and the Fury that the Lord hath pronounced against this People. THE END. Advertisement. IF any Person be desirous to have this Book and my former Books, Bound, either them in Quarto, or them in Octavo, or Single, Stitched; they may be furnished with all (except them of those Impressions wholly Sold off) at Mr. Janeway's a Bookbinder in St. Paul's Churchyard, next Door to Child's Coffee-house, London. And, Likewise, if any Abler Men (for of such there is very great need) be disposed farther to unmask the Leaders of this Heresy; this is to give notice, that in the Library of Christ-Church College in Oxford, there is, by a Worthy Gentleman, a Divine of the Church of England, Bought of me, and Given by him for the Service of the Church, of Quakers Books, wrote by the most Approved Authors of that Sect, which I think are thus Chained up, (from doing any more hurt), First, G. Fox's Journal, next to it Muggleton's Journal or Works, (containing more than 1000 Pages Quarto); and I think the best Quaker of the two; next to that G. Fox's Great Mystery, etc. Fol. with near Twenty more of his Books; next the Works of Edw. Burroughs, Francis howgil, Will. Smith, Sam. Fisher; all in great Folio's; next the Works of Jos. Coale, Steph. Smith, R. Hubberthorn, Will. Bayly, Is. Pennington, G. Fox, Junior, in Quarto; next divers Books wrote by James Naylor, Will. Penn, Christ. Atkinson, G. Whitehead, Sol. Eccles, Tho. Lawson, Christ. Taylor, R. Farnsworth, Geo. Bishop, and divers others; in all near the Number of Four Hundred, bearing distinct Titles, which may furnish any Person sufficiently with Matter of Fact. A Catalogue of Books Wrote by Fran. Bugg. 1 DE Christiana Libertate, etc. in 8vo. Bound. 2 The Painted Harlot stripped and whipped, etc. 4 to. 3 Reason against Railing, etc. 4 to. 4 Innocency Vindicated, etc. 4 to. never Answered. 5 The Quakers Detected, and their Errors Confuted, etc. 4 to. 6 A Letter to the Quakers, showing their frequent Addresses to, and Prayers for the late K. J. II. and not to King William III. 7 Battering Rams against New Rome, etc. 4 to. 8 One Blow more at New Rome, etc. 4 to. 9 New Rome Unmasked, and her Foundation Shaken, etc. 4 to. 10 New Rome Arraigned, and out of her own Mouth Condemned, etc. 4 to. 11 A Sheet Presented to the Parliament, 1693. in Answer to the Quakers Allegations, etc. 12 Quakerism Withering, and Christianity Reviving, etc. 8vo. 13 Quakerism Anatomised, etc. 4 to. never Answered. 14 A Second Summons to the City Abel (by way of Metaphor) to deliver up Sheba the Son of Bichri, namely, Geo. Whitehead, 2 Sam. 21. 15 The Quakers Yearly Meeting Impeached on the behalf of the Commons of England, etc. 16 The Quakers set in their true Light, etc. Presented to the House of Lords, 1696. never Answered. 17 A Brief Reply to the Quakers Ancient Testimony, presented to the House of Lords, 1696. never Answered. 18 A Brief History of the Rise, Growth, and Progress of Quakerism, 8vo. never Answered. 19 The Picture of Quakerism drawn to the Life, 8vo. never Answered. 20 A Sober Expostulation with their Hearers touching the Mercenary Teachers, never Answered. 21 The Pilgrim's Progress from Quakerism to Christianity, etc. Printed in 4 to. and Reprinted in 8vo. 22 Seventy Queries to several Quakers, etc. never Answered. 23 A Broad Sheet with a Scheme of the Quakers Synod, presented to the Parl. 1699. 24 Jezebel Withstood, and her Daughter Anne Docwra publicly Reproved, never Answered. 25 Quakerism Exposed to public Censure, etc. 8vo. 26 The Christian Ministry of the Church of England Vindicated, etc. 8vo. never Ans. 27 A Modest Defence, etc. presented to the Parliament. 28 The Quakers Anguis Flagellatus Examined and Refuted. 29 A Brief Reply to G. Whitehead's Book, Styled, A Rambling Pilgrim, etc. in Answer to my Pilgrim's Progress from Quakerism to Christianity, presented to the Parliament 1700. 30 A Just Rebuke to the Quakers Insolent Behaviour in their Two Books, i. e. A Just Censure, etc. the other, A Sober Reply, etc. presented to the Parl. 1700. Besides Three Books I Wrote part of. 31 W. Rogers his Seventh Part of the Christian Quaker distinguished, etc. about 1682. 32 A Looking-glass for the Quakers, in Two Columns. 33 A Postscript to the Norfolk Clergies Book, i. e. A Brief Discovery of some of the Quakers Blasphemous and Seditious Principles, etc. FINIS.