THE QUAKERS QUAKING. OR, The most just and deserved punishment inflicted on the person of JAMES NAYLOR for his most horrid blasphemies. Together with the confession of his Associates, who were Timothy Wedlock. Thomas Symons. John Stranger. Hannah Stranger. Martha Symons. Dorcas Erbury. As also the reasons why the further punishment of the said James Naylor was suspended on Saturday, Decemb. 20. and deferred by order of Parliament until Saturday, Decemb. 27. He remains still a prisoner to Newgate, where many of his Associates do daily resort to him. To which is added, The several damnable Opinions of the said QUAKERS. ●ondon, Printed for W. Gilbertson at the Bible in Giltspurstreet, without Newgate. 1657. depiction of James Naylor in the pillory The manner of James naylor's standing in the Pillory in the Palace-yard at Westminster. The Quakers quaking. WE live now in the Evening of the World; and what our Saviour did prophesy should then come to pass, and did advise us to take heed of, is fulfiilled in our days: Take heed (saith our Saviour jesus Christ) in Luke 13. verse 5. lest any man deceive you, for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. And in Matth. 24. verse 20. our Saviour foretelling the strong delusions to come, doth advise us in these words: Therefore if any man shall say unto you, lo here is Christ, or there, believe it not, for there shall arise false Christ's, and false Prophets, and shall show signs and wonders, in so much that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect. The generation of Quakers, who had their original in the North, have been so fruitful in a short time, that they have infected a great part of the West, and thousands in this populous City stand affected to them, being deluded by their pretended simplicity and zeal. You shall find them masters of so confident a spirit, as if the Oracles of truth did proceed only out of their mouths, and they must be cast out to partake both of the shame and punishment of liars whoever shall endeavour to contradict them. The names of George Fox and James Naylor have been famous with many deluded people in this City, and they have made a mouth of many at the Mouth at Aldersgate At the last they began to quarrel among themselves, and did in their way endeavour to excommunicate one another from their Congregations. It is said that the latter of them, who both for his confession and his punishments shall be the subject of this discourse, hath been accounted to have been bewitched by the same creature, who having brought him to her will, did afterwards adore him; for it is manifest by the confession of Martha Symons before the Mayor and Aldermen of Bristol that she had struck the said James Naylor into a trance for three days together, which although the said James Naylor did deny, yet being informed that the confession of Martha Symons did extend so far he was possessed with an amazing silence that so much should be discovered of her strength and his weakness. But before I proceed to give you a Narrative of his blasphemies, and how he was and would be adored as a new jesus. I will in the first place give you a character of his person, which is, that he is of about four and thirty years of age, a man of a good complexion brown hair, which he wears of an indisterent length, but his beard was short; he is of a melancholy aspect, and he wears his hat hanging over his brows, his very plain; he wears a little band close to his collar, without any bandstrings, as doth the other great Quaker George Fox; he doth strive in his looks and posture to imitate the Picture of our Saviour, as it was sent up to Rome in the days of Tiberius Caesar; and therefore he strives to wear his hair as it were with a seam on the crown of his head, and so flowing down on each side of it. His parentage is of the meanest rank, his father being said to be a Sowgilder in Yorkshire, in which County he himself was born, at a place called Anderslow, and hath a Wife still living at Wakefield. In the time of the late wars he was a Soldier, and served under the command of the Lord Fairfax, and afterwards under the command of General Lambert in Scotland, where he was a Quartermaster, and falling sick he returned to his own Country, where he had not long continued but he was entered into the number of the Quakers, and coming to London grew acquainted with many women, with some of whom he was too familiar, and were instruments of his going down into the West, where what horrid blasphemies were broached by him in counterfeiting himself to be jesus the Saviour of mankind, the following Narration will advertise you. The coming of James Naylor into Bristol, and the antic manner of Martha Symons waving her handkerchief, and singing, Holy, holy, holy, before him: and of Hannah stranger singing in the same manner, and of Dorcas Erbury pulling off his stockings, and laying her own beneath his feet, hath already been discoursed by several Pens. I shall in this place give you the most material passages of all their examinations: and in the first place I will begin with James Naylor, who being demanded whether he was the only son of God, confessed that he was the son of God, but must acknowledge that he had many brethren. The Examination of James Naylor. Q. Have any called thee by the Name of Jesus? A. Not as the visible jesus, but as to jesus the Christ within me? Q. Darest thou to own the name of the King of Israel? A. Not as I am a creature, but if they give it Christ within me, I then do own it, and I have a Kingdom, but not of this world, my kingdom is of another world, of which thou wists not. Q. Art thou the Prophet of the most high? A. Thou hast said that I am a prophet. Q. Is not the written Word of God the guide? A. It declares of it, and what is not according to that is not true. Q. Wert thou ever called the Lamb of God? A. There might be some such thing in some Letter sent, but I am a Lamb, and have sought it long before I could witness it. Q. Art thou the everlasting Son of God? A. I do witness God in the flesh I am the Son of God, and the Son of God is but one. Q. Art thou the Prince of peace? A. The Prince of everlasting peace is begotten in me. Q. Art thou the everlasting Son of God? A. I am and the everlasting righteousness is wrought in me: if ye were acquainted with the Father, ye would also be acquainted with me. Q. Dost thou live without bread? A. As long as it shall please my heavenly Father, I have tasted of that bread of which he that eateth shall never die. Q. How long hast thou lived without corporal sustenance? A. Some fifteen of sixtéen days, feeding on nothing but the Word of God. Q. Was Dorcas Erbury dead two days in Exeter, and didst thou raise her from the dead? A I can do nothing of myself, the Scripture beareth witness to the power in me which is everlasting: It is the same power I have which w● read in Scripture. Q. Art thou the unspotted Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world? A. Were I not a Lamb, Wolves would not seek to devour me. Q. Art not thou guilty of horrid blasphemy by thy words? A. Who made me a judge over them? Q. Why camest thou in such an unusual posture riding into this City, with two women leading thy horse, and singing, holy holy, holy; and another before thee bore headed, and knee deep in the mud, at such a time that it raining most extremely thy companions received it at their necks, and vented it at their hose and breeches. A. It tended to my father's praise and glory, and I ought not to slight any thing which the Spirit of the Lord moves. Q. Dost thou think that the Spirit of the Lord moved them? A. Yes. Q. These books thou hast written, wilt thou affirm what is therein. A. Yea, with my dearest blood. The most material passages in the Examination of Martha Symons. Q. Dost thou own James Naylor to be the Prince of peace? A. He is a perfect man, and he that is a perfect man is the Prince of peace. Q. What made thee to leave thy husband to follow James Naylor? A. It is our life to praise the Lord. Q. Oughtest thou to worship him upon thy knees? A. I ought to do it. Q. And wherefore so? A. He is the Lord of righteousness, and the new man within him is the everlasting Son of righteousness, and James Naylor will be jesus when the new man is born in him? Q. By what name dost thou call him? A. Lord. Q And why Lord? A. Because he is prince of peace, and Lord of righteousness. Q. Why dost thou call him King of Israel? A. He is anointed. Q. Who anointed him? A. A Prophet. Q. Who was that Prophet? A. I will not tell thee. Q. Doth that spirit of Jesus which thou sayest is in him make a sufficient Jesus unto others? A. There is a séed born in him which I and every one ought to honour. Q. Is he King of Israel, as thy Husband saith? A. If he saith so, thy testimony is double. The most material passages in the Examination of Hannah Stranger. Q. DOst thou own james Naylor for the Prince of peace? A. Yea, he is so. Q. What dost thou call his name? A. It hath been said, I, and others have already told it. Q. Dost thou not know it to be blasphemy to give him such and such attributes? A. If I have offended the Law, etc. Q. Didst not thou send him that Letter wherein he is called the son of God? A. Yes, I do own that Letter. Being demanded why she called him jesus, she would return no answer at all. The Examination of Timothy Wedlock. Q. Dost thou own james Naylor to be the only son of God? A. I do own him to be the son of God. Q. Wherefore didst thou sing before him Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Israel? A. I do own the songs of Zion. Q. Wherefore didst thou go bare headed before him, when thou wilt not be uncovered before a Magistrate? A. What I did was as the Lord commanded me. Q. Wherefore didst thou kneel before him? A. The truth made me. The most material passages in the Examination of Dorcas Erbury the Relict of William Erbury, sometime a Minister, but now a Quaker. Q. Dost thou own him who road on the Horse to be the holy one of Israel? A. Yea, I do, and with my blood I will maintain it. Q Dost thou own him for the son of God? A. He is the only begotten son of God. Q. Wherefore didst thou pull off his stockings, and lay thy at his feet? A. He is worthy of it, for the is the holy one of Israel. Q. Knowest thou no other Jesus, the only begotten son of God? A. I know no other Saviour. Q. Dost thou believe in james Naylor? A. Yea, I do. Q. By what name dost thou call him? A. The son of God, but I am to serve him, and to call him Lord and Master. Q. Jesus was crucified, but this man is alive? A. He hath shaken off his carnal body. Q. What body hath he then? A. Say not the Scriptures, the natural body I will change, and it shall be spiritual. Q. But Christ raised those who are dead, so hath not he? A. He raised me. Q. In what manner? A. He laid his hand on my head when I had been dead two days, and said unto me Dorcas arise, and I arose and live as thou seest. Q. What witness hast thou for this? A. My mother who was present. Q. Jesus Christ doth sit at the right hand of the Father, when the world shall be judged by him? A. He whom thou callest Naylor, shall sit at the right hand of the Father, and shall judge the world with equity. The Substance of several Letters sent to the said James Naylor. HAnnah Stranger in her Letter to him calls him The everlasting Son of righteousness, and Prince of Peace. And in another place writing to the said Naylor, she hath these words, The Lord shall not suffer his holy one to see corruption, nor his soul to lie in Hell; but will cause the mountains to melt at his presence, and the little hills to bring him Peace. And in another Letter, she calls him the fairest of ten thousand, the only begotten Son of God; her heart panteth after him. Her Husband in his Letter to him, telleth him that his name, is no more to be called James but Jesus: and this he owned at his Examination. The Opinions of the Quakers are these. 1. They deny the Scriptures to be the Word of God. 2. They esteem their own speakings to be of as much Authority. 3. They hold it lawful to expound, or to interpret the Scriptures. 4. They say, He that preacheth by a Text of Scripture is a Conjurer. 5. They affirm that the holy letter is carnal. 6. That the Bible ought to be burned. 7. That Jesus Christ inhabiteth in the flesh of Man. 8. Some of them have said, that Christ never ascended into Heaven. 9 That to pray that their sins may be pardoned is needless. 10. That they believe not that there is another World. 11. Some of them deny the Resurrection. 12. They affirm they cannot sin, but are perfect. 13. They make no distinction of Persons. According to the Sentence passed upon him, the said james Naylor stood in the Pillory, was whipped on Thursday last being December 18. from the Palace-yard in Westminster to the Royal-Exchange: and the further prosecution of his Sentence had been put in Execution on Saturday December 20, but by an Order from the Parliament, the said Naylor pretending sickness, it is deferred until Saturday December twenty Seven, at which time he is to receive his just Reward, according to his desert. FINIS.