A Backslider Reproved, AND His Folly made manifest, and his Confusions and Contradictions Discovered.  
In a short Reply to a Book lately published by Robert Cobbet, called A Word to the Upright; who being turned from the Light, now makes it his work to war against it, and them that walk in it: But his Weapons are broken, and in his own snare is he taken.  
Written for the Truth's sake, by a Servant thereof, known by the Name Stephen Crisp.  Prov. 10.18. 
He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool.  Vers. 21. 
The lips of the Righteous feed many, but Fools die for want of wisdom.  Chap. 12.2. 
A good man obtaineth favour with the Lord, but a man of wicked devices will be condemn.  
Unto which is added, A brief Answer to a Pamphlet, styled, A brief Discovery of the Labourers in MYSTERY BABYLON.  
Printed in the year 1669.   

A Back-slider Reproved, and his Folly made manifest, and his Confusions and Contradictions discovered.  
IT is not a new nor strange thing, to see the old Enemy of the Light, viz. the Prince of Darkness, to be diligent in raising up as high Mountains and Towers as he can, to keep it from shining; and as he can bring forth no evil to man of himself, without some Instrument into which he gets an entrance; therefore he is diligent in persuading and tempting from the Light, even those that have seen the Appearance of it, and not become so subject to it as they should have been, whose foolish hearts he darkens, and fills their minds with vain imaginations, and then are they choice Instruments for his purpose, as bearing something more of his Image (who himself abode not in the Truth) than others. And such as these he always spurred on in a blind zeal against the Light, as that which was most destructive to his and their works of darkness. And among this sort of Instruments, here is one Robert Cobbet hath presented himself as an enemy to the Doctrine of the Light, though he is indeed but as one of the meanest and shattredest of that Camp, and hath attained to but a small measure of that subtlety which this Father and Prince of Darkness doth use to furnish his children withal, that are capable to receive it. But however, what he hath, or thinketh he hath, he hath adventured to present to public view; though indeed it is as a Rod for his own chastisement: and I heartily wish there be so much sense left in him, that he may feel the smart of it, and may amend and leave off his folly and blind zeal, and submit to that which comprehends him, his spirit and work; For I knew a time when he could not have believed that he should have been led to such a depth of Confusion in opposing the Light as now he is, though he was never faithful to it as he ought, but sought in his fallen corruptible wisdom to have comprehended it; but I desire he may yet see a death upon that which hath unto this day, kept his soul in death and darkness; and in order thereunto, and for the Truth's sake, I have written these few lines, briefly to show him and others his Confusions, Contradictions and Absurdities; or at least a few of those many which he hath uttered, and Printed in his Book, called, A Word to the Upright, etc. And therefore, Reader, take notice, that after his Book called, God's Truth attested, was made public, and something was written in Answer thereto, showing him how he contradicted himself and the Scriptures too, in a seeming Reply thereto, he published this, called, A Word to the Upright, which, he saith, is to establish them in these erring days, and to keep the young sprouts of the Nation from corruption in Opinion; which whether R. C. hath written a piece that is likely to prove an establishing of the upright from Error, or to prevent the young sprouts from corruption in principle or opinion, will more appear anon, to the considerate Reader, when he hath rightly weighed the Consequences of letting in all his Doctrines for truth, whether it will not render them more like to distracted men, than principled Christians.  
At my first sight of this Book, it rose in my heart to write something in Answer to it, and to take off the reproach which he hath endeavoured to cast upon the blessed Truth and Way of God which he hath turned his back upon; but when I came to make a diligent search into the matter, I found much of that labour spared, the most part of his Doctrines being answered and confuted by himself, in the same Book, so that it might have been called, Robert Cobbet answering and confuting Robert Cobbet, as will appear in this ensuing rehearsal of his Doctrines and Principles.  
And therefore now let the Upright, to whom he writes, consider what he propounds to them as an establishment against the errors of these erring days.  
And first as to the Light in the Conscience, he saith, pag. 22. In that the Light is a sparkling glimpse in the Soul, doth convince the Soul of what is done amiss, which being discerned by the Soul, serves for a Director of the Soul to Christ Jesus, where only lies its help. And in his 10th page saith, That the Soul hath knowledge from this Light to eschew evil, and do good; in the doing of either of which, stands his 〈◊〉 peace. And in his 22 page saith, That this Spirit or Light in man, is the candle of the Lord that searcheth the innermost parts of the belly. And in his 4 page faith, Did not this Light in thy Conscience condemn thee of all that ever thou didst before the day of God broke forth? And in his 3 page saith, That the end of Christ's coming was to beget unto Communion with the Father and himself, by giving them his life, which is man's Light, which (my Brethren) being our Salvation, we have it by him who is our Saviour Jesus Christ. And in his 11 page saith, The Light serves to condemn for unbelief, and to justify the Creature in his obedience of Faith, etc.  
So by this time we see what a large testimony R. C. hath born to the Light in the Conscience and to its original; to wit, the Life of Jesus, and to its power, efficacy, and influence; and also to the effects that follow both the obedient and disobedient; as woe and peace, condemnation and justification, and how it is the Souls director unto Christ, and that by which the Soul obtains the knowledge of what is good, and communion, etc.  
Now will or can any, that doth take in and receive this Doctrine from R.C. doubt or question his being a friend to the Light, and to the Quakers too, seeing he hath so strongly asserted their Principle, with so many illustrations? Well, suppose that now thou dost believe R.C. in these things, and be settled in thy mind that he hath written the truth, and so come to find a need of loving and obeying this Light in thy Conscience; which he further affirms in the 21 page thus, The Word that was God by which all things was made; in him was Life, and that Life was the Light of men, and he it is that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. I say, if thou dost come to be settled thus in these erring days (as he calls them) and dost come to have an esteem of the Light according as R.C. hath written; my Counsel is unto thee, that if R. C. or any else, shall deny this Doctrine again, and write or speak against it, that thou believe them not, but keep single to this truth and thou shalt find the good effects of it, beyond what he hath or can declare; yet thus far R. C. hath against his will witnessed to the truth. Now mark what follows as to this Doctrine, that R. C. may sufficiently appear to confute himself; He saith in the 22 page, The Light in the Conscience cannot lead the followers of its dictates further than its own centre, which is the centre of nature; and its power felt, but the power of the centre of nature; and that man's internal Light hath no more power to give Salvation than the Soul hath to save its self, as in the same page; and that the sinking down into it for a manifestation of the Salvation that came by grace in Christ, is a Doctrine that turns away the Creature from Christ the Redeemer to a property of nature, wherein can be no saving health, as in page 10. And again, in the same page he saith, The Light in the Conscience being a property in man, as man is a creature, its office in the Soul is not appointed to give Salvation. And in the 21 page he saith, Christ the Word that maketh all things, is not the Light; and although he be goodness itself, and sends forth his love (to wit) his life, which shed in the heart, is a Light which he calls his Spirit, which Light is not Christ though of his nature. And in the 5 page saith, That the spirit of man is of the principle of light, and is a spark of that nature, which having lost its life by the transgression of the man to God, is dead, etc.  
Now by this time where is the settlements for the young sprouts of the Nation? who must (if they will believe R. C.) believe that the Light in Conscience is to lead to Christ, and yet can lead no further than the centre of Nature; and that it is Salvation, and hath power to minister woe and peace, to justify or condemn; and now must believe it can do neither, it being but a property of Nature, and dead to God: and must believe that the Light of men, is the Life and Christ; and now must believe that though this Light is his Life, and is his Spirit, and of his Nature, yet it is not Herald Oh horrible blindness and sottishness! Is this the way to settle People, for such double-minded and double-tongued Hypocrites to take in hand to doctrinate them thus backward and forward, to believe and deny the same thing, and all in one hours' time?  
But one thing more I have to note, which R. C. goes about to settle us in, in these erring times, about what we should and ought to believe of Christ, and what he is that is the Saviour: in which mark; First he affirms in the 3d page, That Christ is everlasting as he is the Word; and in the 16 page saith, The Seed is Christ, to whom the Covenant was made by God, as written, My Covenant shall be with thee, and with thy seed, and he is Lord and Saviour: And in pag. 17. he quotes the saying of Christ, They have believed that I came down from thee. So here thou mayst see who R.C. acknowledgeth to be the Saviour, even the Seed of Promise, with which God's Covenant stands for ever, which Seed came down from God, etc. So this is good sound Doctrine according to Scripture; but that thou mayst be unsettled again from this: R. C. saith again in the 18 page, That the Saviour is in Nature and Creaturality like him; and that the Seed that broke the Serpent's head is not something that this R.C. is not, as he is nature and creature, but is the off spring of Adam, consisting as he doth: and saith in his 12 page, the body was Christ: and in his 6 page, Behold I show you a Mystery, you men in the clouds, Christ being the product of the Holy Ghost to a coagulated substance from the properties of Man in Mary. And in the 18 page saith, Being out of doubt that the Soul of Christ was of and from the properties of nature and creature, made by generation of the properties of Mary, is that Seed God promised to break the Serpent's head: and in the 19 page, Is it not the Body of Christ by which we are reconciled unto God? yes verily.  
So now let all People see if this man be like to settle any, and to keep the young sprouts from being deceived, who is thus confused himself; one while telling it is the Seed that is the Saviour, and the everlasting Word of God, and he which came down from God, etc. and then presently saying it is a thing produced, a thing form of the properties of man, a body that reconciles, a coagulated substance, a thing in nature like him himself, consisting as he doth both in kind and substance; and much suchlike, as may be seen more at large in his Book.  
Well, if R. C. had known Christ Jesus, and the Power of his Death and Resurrection, he had not written so confusedly; for than he had known the virtue of the Seed, and the service of Body and Soul too, and had known the offering to be made by the eternal Spirit, and then he would not have said that it was the body only that reconciled, or that the body only was Christ, seeing that the Body without the Spirit is dead, and that could not give life; but the Son of God that took the body, hath life in himself, and can give life to them that believe, and was, and is, and is to come; and he is in the Faithful, and they are in him and in his body, bone of it, and flesh of it; and the life which they live is by faith in him, and not by talk of him. But these things R.C. is a stranger to, and so imagines about him, and intrudes into things which he hath not seen, and is vainly puffed up in a fleshly mind, and fleshly knowledge which is for judgement; for this jumble and confusion is the only way to bring into Atheism indeed, if there were no better Asserters of the Doctrine of Christianity than he is. But let all sober People wait to feel a measure of that life and fullness that dwelled in that Body of Jesus, for which it was prepared, that so they may by the power of that Life be settled in the knowledge of the Saviour Jesus, and may daily wait for his Appearance to save; for he ever liveth and is ever needed, and none are safe but under the government of his Spirit. Now as to what substance he was of, R. C. saith in his 6th page, His substance was from the properties of man in Mary: but in the same page he saith again, That the body of our Lord was of an heavenly substance. And in his other Book saith, He is the Son from the substance of the Father; and was, he saith, of the nature of heaven. So then the properties of Man in Mary was heavenly substance, of the nature of heaven, or else R. C. is here unsettled, and in error and darkness himself; nay that which is more, R. C. himself must be of this heavenly substance, this nature of heaven; for he saith, Christ consisted as he doth. But lest ye should believe what he saith about the heavenly Nature, he saith, his soul was made by generation of the properties of Mary. R. C. wilt thou not blush at these things when thou reviews them?  
And then for the form of this substance, he saith page 8. That while he there stood, differed nothing from the form of a servant: but in the 6 page he saith, That as he was thus circumscribed, and thus consisted of Soul, Body and Spirit, he was that form of God.  
How now R.C. What, is the form of a servant, and the form of God all one? And is the form of God a circumscribed form? Hast not thou learned this of Lodow. Muggleton, that false witness and notorious blasphemer? (that saith God is but the bigness and compass of a man) whose steps thou art treading, and whose end will be thy end, except thou repent.  
And then again concerning the Blood that saves and does away sin; hear what R. C. in his 11 page saith, My Brethren, you are bought with a Price, not of blood of Bulls, and Goats, nor Heifers of a year old, but by the Blood of God. But in his 13 page he is of another opinion, and saith quite contrary; these are his words, viz. Which blood being the blood of his humanity, as he was creature, was that which did with God expiate for sin. So now which of these two Doctrines shall we believe, that we are saved by the blood of God, or blood of the Humanity? or shall we suppose them to be both one, and so God to be humane, and so the Doctrines indifferent?  
R. C. will do well to clear up these things, or own his condemnation upon his folly and presumption; for its unlike he should ever be reconciled to the People of God who is so at odds in himself in this manner. Alas Robert! Dost thou not yet see whither thou art gone by going from the Light, and now staggers and reels, and dost not know whither thou goest? Oh! that a day may be yet found for thee and thine, and that thou mayst come to bow down to that, which thou now kickest and spurnest against.  
And in page 21 thou sayst, If the Light in Conscience be Christ, then so many men as are in the world, so many Christ's. Why so, Robert, Hast not thou thyself answered this in confessing that one Christ hath with his Life served to lighten every man that cometh into the world, and what need is there then for every man to have a distinct Christ, seeing he is the Christ of God thou sayst that lightens them all. And thou sayest in this same page, That Christ, as he is the Word and Maker of all things, is not the Light in Conscience; but in the next line or two thou sayst, But the Word that was God, etc. in him was Life, and the Life is the Light of men, and he lightens every man. How dost thou mean by this? Dost thou not mean that he lightens them in their Consciences? Or where else?  
And as to the Soul of Man thou sayst in thy 4 page, That it is a spark of God's eternal Nature, coagulated into a Spiritual substance for a centre of his insensitive life; and as thus compacted is a creature of an eternal being, of an own self-subsisting consistency.  
Answ. R.C. hath here described a creature that subsists of its self contrary to the Scripture, that saith all things are upheld by the Word; and besides this eternal creature, as he calls it, this spark of God's eternal Nature, this coagulated substance (he saith) was to be a centre for God's insensitive life. What Robert! Had it not a centre before? But if this coagulated substance subsists of itself, than not by the life that centres in it; and if the Soul be a spark of God's nature, how comes it to be created? And if it be his nature, how comes it to be corrupted in the life time as thou sayest it is? and how can a spark of God's eternal nature let into its self the poison of the Serpent and so die? Where is its own self-subsistency now? Is this thy explaining the matter? Or, where is its being a centre for that insensitive Life of God? And further in thy 5th page thou sayst, This spark, this coagulated substance, this own self-subsistency dieth: and in another place speakest of its perishing; and yet talks of an eternal creature. But R. C. what life of time is that which corrupts the soul, and how came it to have its abode in an infectious life of time, seeing its an eternal creature as thou sayst? But what man's Soul, or the Soul of Jesus either is, thou knowest not; for if thou hadst, thou wouldst not have thus befooled thyself, to say man's Soul was a spark of God's eternal nature, and yet say the Soul of Christ was but of the properties of nature made by generation; nor yet have affirmed that to be the Seed of Promise which came by generation of, and from the properties of Mary: Is not that the Seed of Promise mentioned in Isa. 9.6. who is called, The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace? And what is Mary the Mother of God? This will please the Papists well; and is this the way to settle Christians, and preserve the young sprouts of the Nation from corruption? And where is thy Scripture to prove that Jesus, the Saviour, was created, as in thy 6 page thou sayst? But Oh! this darkness and confusion that thou mayst see it, and be ashamed of it.  
Again Robert Cobbet, in his 26 page, saith in plain words, That Christ and his Spirit are not one: and his Argument is, That Christ said, I go away, but I will send you a Comforter. Which Argument is sufficient to prove, that Christ, the Messias and Saviour, is one with the Spirit of Truth, and not distinct. If one should ask R. C. how many were mentioned in that text, where he saith, He that now is with you, shall be in you; would he answer that there was more than one He; if not, then here is no more (to wit) Christ and his Spirit which eternally are one.  
But that he may sufficiently manifest his folly, he tells us in the same 26 page, That the Father, the Word, and the Spirit, are all One, both in respect of consent in their Testimonies, and also in respect of their eternity of being; so which of these shall we believe? that Christ and his Spirit are One, or that they are not One? R. C. will do well to tell People which he will stand by.  
And for R. Cobbet's pleading or hoping, That the Powers will keep up a Charity to us, upon the account that thousands of us do (he hopes) believe his narrative of God; and his desire altering the matter for a corporal form into a nature for production of creatures, speaking forth the modal by his word, etc. page 26. Truly we need not R. C. to set forth an account of our Faith and Belief in these things, neither can we own it, or him; for if we should, we should soon be brought under the judgement both of God and Man. And for his pleading, That in the soundest Bodies, there sometimes breaketh forth a Boyl. Truly if he aims at us by this Body (as I think he doth) we do confess, that so far as ever he was of us, so far he is that Boil which we confess is now broken forth: but they that know him in particular, know how little he was of us, and how little while he professed himself to be of us; so his breaking-out and running like a boil or sore, the corrupt matter that was in him, is no great disparagement to the Body; for the body is sounder without him than with him: and whilst he was amongst us, he was often breaking out with his whimsies and imaginations, so that he became naucious unto us, but not in so gross a manner as now.  
And for R. C. saying, That some of us knew that he counted our language but a cant language. We know that from the first of his coming among us, he was far enough from our language or life either; but it is no great matter for him to call our Language a Cant, who replies to our words thus, viz. when we said, The Lord is one, and his Name one; he answers, Friends, do not caper, as in his 2d page. And he saith in his 31 page, That he is no Quaker; of which, all that ever saw or heard any thing of the Quakers Books or Doctrines, will bear him witness; for never did Quaker appear in such a heap of confusion as R. C. hath done; and yet that malicious saying of his in this 31 page, That to be a Quaker, is to deny his Lord and Master, God will judge him for; if by Lord and Master he means the Lord Jesus Christ, as I think he doth. But he that really and truly is his Lord, viz. the Prince of the air that rules in the hearts of such disobedient Children and Apostates as he is; He, I confess, he must deny more than ever yet he hath done, before he can become a Quaker, or have unity with them, who are scornfully so called.  
But why doth R. C. in his 30 page come with a kiss, Judas-like, and say, Brethren, I will ask you a question, etc. when as the matter he intends there to insinuate to his Reader is, That we deny that Christ that was born of the Virgin Mary, to be Christ: Is not this on purpose to betray us, and beguile his Reader? and that with a Lie; for we never yet denied him that was born of the Virgin Mary, and suffered under Pontius Pilato, to be the Lord and Saviour. But indeed we never did believe him to be produced by coagulation as R.C. doth; nor by generation of and from the properties of Man in Mary; for then some might have declared his generation, which the Scripture saith, Who can do? And besides, we believe him to be the Eternal Son of God. But if R. Cobbet's Doctrine be true, than he was not before Mary; but his ignorance of Christ is sufficiently manifested to all that have an eye opened.  
And as to his saying, That the Apostle saith, 1 Cor. 15.1, 2, 3. That the Sufferings of Christ is the Power of God and Gospel, by which we are saved: That's false, and a belying the Apostle and Scripture too: for all that reads the text may see, that the Apostle speaks of his Sufferings but as one part of many of that Gospel which he had preached; but it was the Resurrection of Christ he most of all pointed at, as the principal thing, they must come to feel the power of; as in vers. 12.  
Many more of R. Cobbet's Absurdities and Contradictions I might note down, as also those noted in the Answer to his first Book, which yet remains unanswered, nor so much as an attempt made thereof; he (it may be) despairs of ever reconciling them in the sight of rational men: But these, at present, may satisfy the ingenious Reader, what spirit it is in Robert Cobbet, that hath taken in hand to settle People in these erring days, and to preserve the young sprouts of the Nation from corruption. And so let Robert Cobbet mind (if he writes again) to keep more within the bounds of moderation, and not to let his envy against the Light, so captivate his reason, as to bereave him of the use of it, as it hath done; for truly is that Scripture fulfilled in him, He that walketh in darkness slumbleth, and knoweth not whither he goeth.  

Concerning the Light that lighteth every one that cometh into the world, what it is, and what it is not, as Robert Cobbet saith.  
Page 1. WHich Doctrine of the Light in Conscience, had it been kept in its office, as a Schoolmaster, to bring unto Christ, had been a Doctrine of good Morality. Page 22. BE not deceived, the Light in Conscience cannot lead the followers of its dictates further than its own centre, which is the centre of nature and its power felt, but the power of the centre of nature. Pag. 3. I deny not, but the ends of the coming of the Lord into the world, was to beget his Children into fellowship, by communion with his Father and Himself, by giving to them his Life, which is man's Light, which (my Brethren) being our Salvation, etc. P. 22. So hence I conclude that the spirit of man being his internal light, hath no more power to give Salvation to the soul, than the soul hath to save its self, P. 10. But a light of reason man hath, as man is a rational creature, from which, his light hath knowledge of good and bad; as also knowledge from his light to eschew evil, and to do good; in the doing either of which, stands his woe or peace. P. 10. Therefore the light in man, being but the light of man, as man is a rational creature, sinking into it for the manifestation of the Salvation that comes from Grace by Covenant from God, by Jesus Christ, is a Doctrine that turns away the creature from Christ the Redeemer to a property of Nature, wherein can be no saving health. Pag. 22. But in that the light is a sparkling glimpse in the soul, doth convince the soul of what is done amiss, which discerned by the soul, serves for a Director to the soul to Christ, where only lies its help; which Spirit, or Light in man, is the Candle of the Lord, which searcheth the innermost parts of the belly, and comes down with every man by generation from Adam. Pag. 10. The Light in Conscience being a property in man, as man is a creature; its office in the soul is not appointed to give Salvation.  P. 21. Christ, as he is the Word and Maker of all things, is not the Light in Conscience.  P. 21. The Word being goodness its self, sends forth his Love (to wit) his Life, which shed in the heart, is to it a light, and this he calls his Spirit, which light is not Christ, though of his nature. P. 11. The light serves but to condemn for unbelief, or to justify the creature in his obedience of faith. P. 5. The spirit of man, being of the principle of light, is a creatural spirit from the principle of light, as a spark of that nature, which having lost its life, by the transgression of the man, to God is dead P. 21. But the Word which was God, by which all things were made, in him was Life, and that Life was the Light of men, and he it is that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. P. 11. If the light in Conscience be Christ, then may Christ be darkness. P. 4. Did not this Light in thy Conscience condemn thee of all that ever thou didst, before the day of God broke forth?    

Concerning Christ, his Body, Soul and Blood, and what he is, and is not, as R. C. saith.  
Page 3. HE is the everlasting Word, but as he was the Man Christ, he was in time. Page 5. AND the Soul of Christ, that was of and from the soullike properties of man's nature, as Christ consists personally from his Mother Mary. P. 6. Which body of our Lord being of a heavenly substance, as it was circumscribed was the body of his personality that he gave for an Offering for the ransom of the World, which body being of the nature of heaven. Thus have I given you an account of Jesus his Body, Soul, and Spirit; who as he thus consisted, was that form of God, and express image of his Father's substance. P. 6. Behold I show you a Mystery ye men in the clouds; Christ being the Product of the Holy Ghost, to a coagulated substance from the property of man in Mary.  P. 8. Who while there stood, differed nothing from the form of a Servant.  P. 12. Which Body was Christ. P. 7. We have proved before the personality of Christ, and that he was the express Image of God in his Person. P. 17. He came of Abraham's lineage, of the loins of Mary, begotten by the Holy Ghost of his Mother Mary, for the Saviour. P. 16. The Seed is Christ, to whom the Covenant was made by God, as written, My Covenant shall be with thee, and with thy seed, etc. He is Lord and Saviour. P. 18. That the Seed which is the Saviour, is Christ in Person; for if he had not been Creature of Soul and Spirit as I am, as I am Nature it had not availed me: but the Seed that broke the Serpent's head, is not some strange thing that I am not, as I am creature, but of kind and substance as I am, he being made so from the nature of Mary, by which she became creature, as the Offspring of Adam, of Soul and Spirit consisting as do I P. 17. They have believed that I came down from thee. P. 18. Being out of doubt that the Soul of Christ was of and from the properties of nature and creature, made by generation of the properties of Mary, is that Seed that God promised to send to break the Serpent's head. P. 19 This Christ being born of Mary, proceeded from David and Abraham, according to the Line of the Covenant, Christ coming from Mary, and God forming himself in and with that Body Christ; for its Saviour to Man was the Power to Christ, by which Christ brought forth man's Salvation; but could he, or did he without the Body of Christ, reconcile? P. 19 Is it not the Body of Christ by which we are reconciled unto God? yes verily. P. 11. My Brethren, you are bought with a Price, not of blood of Bulls, and Goats, nor Heifers of a year old, but by the Blood of God. P. 13. Which Blood being the Blood of his Humanity, as he was Creature, was that that did with God expiate for sin.  
THE END.    

THE HARLOTS VEIL Rend, AND Her Impudence rebuked. In a short ANSWER to one Elizabeth Atkinson her Babylon's Brat against the People called Quakers.  
Friend Eliz. Atkinson,  
WE have taken some notice of thy abusive slanderous Pamphlet against the Quakers, whom thou hast confessed to have walked nine years amongst: And is this the fruit of thy nine years' Travel? A pack of Lies, Feignedness, and Deceit, which discovers more Impudence, than Modesty or Sobriety on thy part; as also apparent Nonsense and Contradictions to thyself, as will briefly appear in what follows; though blasphemously and impudently thou fatherest thy Work upon the constraint of the Love of God: But thou hast been led by a lying spirit to blaspheme against the Truth, nine years professed by thee; and yet thou art fain to make use of many words and phrases thou hast learned amongst the Quakers, though to a wicked end, and to thy own confusion. Thou now pretendest to declare against our Principles and Practice; but what thou sayest as to our Principles, reacheth very few of them; but the Light within chiefly, thou, in thy darkness, smitest against, though to the discovery of thine own folly and contradiction, as will appear.  
And as to practice, thou sayest, Those that for a time practised Honesty in their Callings, are now turned Deceivers; and those that formerly were content with their own Wives, are now turned Adulterers, lusting after other men's, etc.  
We answer, Both these Accusations are general, and do reflect upon all of us that have practised Honesty, who are now accused with Dishonesty and Adultery; wherein thou hast appeared both impudent and wicked, thus to bring forth a general charge to asperse a whole Body, whose Principle is against all such Abominations, and against all unrighteousness; and herein our Principle is justified, as that which led to practise Honesty, and to live in Chastity and Faithfulness to our own Relations; and now however any have apostatised from, or abused this Principle of Truth and Righteousness amongst us, their falling is not chargeable upon the Principle, for the Truth stands entire still, and the offenders must bear their own burdens. Our righteous Principle is not to be accused, either because Eliz. Atkinson or R. Cobbet, or others, have turned their backs of it, after so many years being amongst us: If any should revile the Quakers, because she is turned treacherously against them, in a light airy spirit, with a parcel of feigned expressions, this were unjust in them, as well as in her. It were a great wickedness for any to accuse the true Prophets or Apostles, because of the false Prophets and false Apostles that rose up against them, who turned from the Counsel of God and Truth. And it is as wicked in E. A. to accuse the people of God now, because probably she knows of some disorderly persons that walk not according to the Principle and Doctrine of Godliness which we have received; as it's probable she being false and perfidious herself, might have more knowledge of (or intimacy with) such disobedient and disorderly Spirits and Walkers than some of us have. But however, her accusation being general, it's most unjust and impudent. For first, We are not only principled against all wickedness, filthiness, and abominations, as that of Cheating, using Deceit and Adultery, with all other wickedness, which we Judge and Testify against, both in the spirit and practice, and such as are guilty, etc. But secondly, We also endeavour, as much as in us lieth, to clear the Truth and God's people of all such scandals, and of all such as give any occasion thereof; by bringing just Reproof and Judgement upon the Offenders, and endeavouring to suppress and cast out that loose, disobedient, and unclean mind and spirit, which either doth tempt or lead any into disorders or wickedness: So that indeed a modest woman or person would have been ashamed to publish such a general Charge of wickedness and impiety against us, as thousands that are not of us, know many of us to be both of better spirits and principles, than in the least to countenance or admit of such gross wickedness as Cheating or Adultery; under which she has included many innocent persons: for her words [Those that practised Honesty, and those that were contented with their own Wives, etc.] are general terms, and may be construed that all amongst us that were so, are now contrary, for here is no exception made. Who but an impudent person would thus grossly and slanderously have endeavoured to have defamed a people whom she confesses to have walked nine years amongst, wherein she has brought Reproach upon herself.  
And now (E. A.) what hast thou against our principles, more than that thou tellest us, That we preached a Light within that showed you good and evil, and that thou knew was in thee: (So herein thou knew the Truth was preached amongst us.) And that we said if you would mind that, it would lead you out of all evil: Thus (sayest thou) we set you to feed upon the Tree of Knowledge, which indeed was good, but not for food; but the subtle twining Serpent called it the Tree of Life, (thou sayest:) Thus by harkening unto them, wast thou deluded and blinded, to forsake thy first Love, etc.  
Thus like a silly ignorant Woman, perverted with prejudice, hast thou blasphemously accused the Light, as being but the Tree of Knowledge; and perverted the Truth, which directed thee to it, as being but the subtlety and delusion of the Serpent, and yet thou knows such a Light was in thee as showed thee Good and Evil; which Light, hadst thou lived and waited in it, would have kept thee out of evil and backsliding which thou art fallen into. It's showing the evil, was, that thou mightest forsake sin and evil, and not that thou mightest either feed upon it, or upon the knowledge of the evil, by partaking thereof. Did not the Light give the Saints a discerning between Good and Evil? And things that are reproved, are manifested by the Light; and the Light that did shine in their hearts gave them the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, 2 Cor. 4. and Christ said, Believe in the Light, that you may be the Children of the Light; and this was not the Serpent that thus directed, as blasphemously thy words import, against the Light and the Ministry of Truth amongst us, which directs to it. But we need not say much in answer to such silly ignorant sottish blasphemous stuff, as thou hast here uttered: for like a drunken person, thou hast reeled and staggered both ways, and hast sufficiently answered and confuted thyself in what follows in thy own words, on the behalf of the Light within.  
As in page 2. thou sayst in the beginning, God made the World by Christ the Word, and the bright shining of his Life was the Light of Men; and this Christ is indeed the true Light that enlightens every one that cometh into the World; and by this Light Man knew the Will of his Maker; but being disobedient thereunto, he fell into the wrath of God, etc.  
Here take notice, That the Life of Christ was the Light of Men, and this was not the forbidden Fruit: And secondly, That every one that comes into the World is enlightened by Christ: Thirdly, That Man's disobedience to the Light, was his Fall; and this disobedience the Serpent led into; therefore it is not the Serpent nor his delusion that directs people to the Light within, as blasphemously and contradictorily thou hast implied.  
Again, Thou confessest that Christ came to be a Sacrifice for sin for the whole World, if they will believe in him; and that these things by the Light within are showed to us: (By which thou hast justified the Quakers Doctrine, though to thy own confusion.) And in p. 3. thou adds, The Light within is but the manifestation of him that is the Saviour: A large confession! And must not people look to the manifestation of their Saviour, or that which shows them Christ to be a Sacrifice for sin?  
Again, Thou sayest we deny the Fountain, because we have had a little taste from the Stream; and tells of the Plant being refreshed by the beams of the Sun.  
So here again thou hast falsely charged us, but justified our Principle: for in thy setting thy Light as the Stream, and as the Sunbeams, thou hast contradicted thy former accusation against it: for they that follow the Stream, do not deny the Fountain which it leads to; neither is the virtue of the Sun denied, where its Beams or Rays are felt and acknowledged; for the Sun's virtue and influence is felt in the Beams.  
Again, P. 4. thou confessest the Light within, which shows good and evil, to be a glance from him who came to be Salvation: And also, that we may refresh our thirsty Souls in the Stream, but we must go unto the Fountain to be cleansed, in the City of God, etc.  
So then, if the Light within be this refreshing Stream, it is not the Tree of knowledge forbidden, neither are we forbidden to drink of the Stream, for it comes from the Fountain: and surely people may wash in the Stream. And why dost thou suppose the Stream not to be in the City? Whereas there is a River the Streams whereof make glad (or refresh) the City of God, Psal. 46.4. And surely seeing the Light gives the knowledge of our duty, & shows sin and evil, if the Light be obeyed, or truly improved, it will lead out of evil, and guide man in his duty to God, & so preserve him from the punishment: And by this Light we were first called, and are in it, and need not thy Exhortation, who art a treacherous Backslider from it.  
P. 5, 6, 7. And if harkening diligently to the Voice of Christ, be the the condition joined to the Covenant, and that the Law is manifest within, and we must wait upon him that has called us, with earnest prayers, etc. and that experience is to be had in the Mystery, and Life, and Salvation, not in the Scripture; and that the Creature is to retire itself in stillness, and not to take part with the Enemy, etc. as thou hast largely confessed; What must we wait in, harken in, receive Life and Salvation in, or experience the Mystery? And to what must we retire? And by what shall we know the Voice of Christ, and pray, if not in and by his Light within? For thou hast confessed that the spirit of the Wicked one worketh in the Children of Disobedience to do evil, so the Spirit of Christ doth work in the Believer to do well, [which is Truth, but against thyself.] As also those that have been faithful to their Captain, though never so little were committed to their trust, shall enter into the possession. And p. 8. thou tells us of some that were deceived by not keeping humble and low to follow the Lord; and how hard it will be for these to be renewed, except they harken to the Voice of the Lord behind them! and O that we may never forget to wait upon the Fountain of Wisdom, etc. Thou art one of those that art exalted, thou hast not kept in humility, thou hast not followed the Lord, thou hast grown wanton, and kicked against his Light within; thou hast not waited for his Counsel as thou oughtest, but haste lusted after evil, till leanness is entered into thy Soul, till gross darkness is come over thee, and confusion is thy snare; thou hast made lies and falsehood thy refuge, like an impudent, immodest, hardhearted Woman. Who did help thee to compose and word thy lying Pamphlet? We hear Ro. Co. commends it: Was he thy Patron? An angry dark conceited man, who glories in his folly, and yet thinks he is wise, though he is as full of nonsense and confusion as thou art; but his and thy clamorous lying Tongues God will cut off, and stop your Mouths. In p. 4. thou tellest us, That the Disciples whom Christ called Brethren, did not call themselves the Seed: This is thy blindness, for were not the Children of the Kingdom called the good Seed, and the Children of the Promise counted for the Seed? Were they not of one holy Seed and offspring; seeing he that sanctifieth, and they that are sanctified, are all of one? And were not they a Royal Seed, a holy Priesthood? And who were the Remnant of the Seed of the Woman, that kept the Commands of God? And it is remarkable, that though thou hast often belied us, yet in p. 1. hast confessed, That we, the people called Quakers, of a truth God hath called us out of the broad way of wickedness, and many Jewels were we adorned with: So then, we were a people called and adorned of the Lord, and not with the Jewels of the Egyptians, which falsely thou hast instanced in the Case. Besides, we are in the same Way, Truth and Principles, which God at first called us into; though such perfidious Backsliders and Apostates as thou thyself, and some others are, have abused the Truth, rejected his Call, and cast his Law behind your backs, to your own condemnation and destruction, if you do not return and repent.  
Here follows a Collection of some of thy Lies and Slanders in thy Book against the Chosen people of God called Quakers, which are rejected, and returned back upon thee.  
Lie 1. That they are Labourers in Mystery Babylon.  
2. That the subtle Serpent deceived them, and made them become proud Boasters.  
3. That they call the Tower of Babel, Mount Zion.  
4. That they are building it in their Imaginations.  
5. That he hath confounded their Language.  
6. That they call good evil, and evil good; saying, It was the Enemy, when it was the Lord.  
7. That they conclude themselves to be saved by their works.  
8. That they subtly persuade you to rest under a Covenant of works. (Which are gross slanders, for it's Christ who is our Saviour. It is God that works all our works in us; and good works, as the fruits of the Spirit and true Faith, God hath ordained.)  
9 That they are turned Deceivers and Adulterers.  
10. That they content themselves with the works of their own imaginations.  
11. That they trust in their own Righteousness, as the Pharisees, etc.  
12. That pride of imagined Knowledge hath puffed them up.  
13. That they being deceived, labour to deceive others.  
14. That they say they see, and desire to know no more. (A palpable slander against Quakers.)  
15. That thou knowest many of them to be grievous Hypocrites.  
16. That they slight the Scriptures.  
17. That they are full of all subtleties, far from the real Innocency.  
18. That they are strong Builders in Mystery Babylon.  
19 That they, to shelter themselves, many times bring Scripture in a confused manner, only to maintain imaginations.  
20. That when they are confuted by plain Scripture, they will put it off by Evasions.  
These, with several more Lies in thy Pamphlet, intended against the Quakers, we return back upon thee (E.A.) as one that haste impudently slandered God's people called Quakers. And though thou art back-slidden, and turned into lies and lightness, yet thou art fain to make use of many words and expressions thou hast learned amongst the Quakers, to make thy false Coin go the more currant. But the Lord hath made thee, and that Reviler Ro. Co. sufficiently manifest; and your wickedness will sink you down into the pit, if you do not return to the Light within, which you have abused, and repent. Thou tellest, If the Lord shall call thee out of this Tabernacle of Clay: That will be a sad day, if thou goest on in this wickedness and impudence: a sad end and terrible death will seize upon thee, if thou dost not repent in time. When thou art on thy Deathbed, remember thou wert warned in thy Life-time. Thy vain light mind and spirit, which hath brought forth Lies against the Innocent, will not be able to contend with the mighty God in that day wherein he will judge the Secrets of thee and all other Transgressor's and Revolters, according to the Gospel, and that Light within which thou hast so much slighted and opposed. Thou upbraidest some with a Common Belief of being saved by the Merits of Jesus Christ, as not having Faith, when we see not the Fruits of it brought forth, p. 5. But what fruits hast thou brought forth, and what are those Saints thou speakest of being Companions with, p. 6? What Saints can own thee in thy Lies and Slanders? Where are the Fruits of thy Faith, that hast thus reviled an innocent People in general; making some particular disobedient persons thy Cloak in what thou hast done? But this Covering will be too narrow for thee, and all such Backsliders, who hast been forced to confess to the Principle of Truth amongst us, after thou hast essayed to declare against it. Whereas thy chiefest colour is the back-sliding or transgression of some disobedient persons like thyself: And not any Truth or Reason that thou canst produce against our Principles.  
We are Witnesses to the Truth, against Deceit and Impudence, ANNE TRAVERS. ELIZ. COLEMAN.  
THE END.