in the Church or amongst them that profess to be Members thereof WE do declare and testifie 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 c. And if any pretend to be of us and in Case of Controversie will not admit to be TRIED by the Church i. e. the Body nor SUBMIT to the JUDGMENT given by the Spirit of Truth in the Elders and Members of the same but kick against their Judgment as only the Judgment of Man WE testifie in the Name of the Lord That if any Judgment so given be risen against and denied by the Party condemned then 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 Moone Thomas Loe Thomas Greene John Whitehead Thomas Briggs James Parke Alexander Parker Rich. Farnsworth c. Having by this time shewed 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 shewed 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 c. 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 c. Quakerism a New Nick-name for old c. 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 Tythes 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 VVhat 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 VVe 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 Rose from the Dead the Third Day nor that he Ascended in the Sight of the Galileans into Heaven and there Sit 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 Judgment is pronounced within from the Mouth of our Light within against every idle VVord and all the Deeds of the Body within and Judgment 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 Judgment 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 Serpents 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 our selves the only Catholick Church and Elect People of God and that none are in the Truth but we our selves 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 testifie that the outward Person that suffered at Jerusalem was
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 alledge 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 shewing 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 poysonous Pills of Schism and Heresie many of us were deceived Again when I saw so much Plainness and seeming Sincerity in the Quakers and consider'd 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 intreat 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 Practice 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 Shew 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 our Selves out of our Thoughts out of our Willings and Runnings 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 Judgment and that Judgment 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 Jonas 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 leaped 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 Nick-name 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 c. 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 't is the same the Ministers of the Church of England press and exhort us to Oh! but this would not do our Teachers Business they must bring us off from the Scripture Commands as inferior to their Sayings and Speakings for the Book last quoted is said to be given forth from 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 Ballance 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 Nick-name c. p. 71. This surely is the Womb of all Iniquity in the World this opens the Flood-Gates to all Errour 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 Symon 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 behove their Followers to examine the Doctrine and Practice of their Teachers and to turn from them and flee as for their Lives CHAP. IV. Shews 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 c. and became stedfast and fixed in the Notion of Quakerism of which I gave only a Hint as I passed thro' 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 then a Governour and this Government must be either Inward or Outward The Inward we had tried and found defective for the Disciple pretended he was enlightned 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 then 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 perswaded or convinced is thy Duty c. 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 stiled Quakerism a New Nick name for Old Christianity where he then Judged it so far from Ranterism to act as they were perswaded 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 c. 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 perswaded 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 c. 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 obey'd 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 BAPTIZING c. DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME c. When you Pray say FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES AS WE FORGIVE c. Matth. 28.19,20 Luke 22.19,20
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 Breathings 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 VVorld was made by him and the VVorld 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. Mead's Judgment 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 VVord 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 Traytor to his Country for being charged to be in the Plot with the Lord Preston and others and was therefore forced to hide 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 Lacquey 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 spake the Heart of Quakerism in saving George Fox's Journal is better than the Bible First As you have heard 't is question'd by the Quakers VVhether Moses or Hermes was the first Pen-man of the Scripture indeed VVhether either or neither of them The Quakers Refuge fixed c. p. 17. But as for what G. Fox and Friends write 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 c. 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 inforce 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 easie 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 our selves 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 VVorks Obedience to a Christian Man c. 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 VVork p. 93. and that this Light is one in the Male and in the Female but to a proud heady high-minded 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 spake 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 VVomen 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 't is 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 VVife 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 publick Testimony against him she does well and shall have Praise of the same The Content Apostate c. p. 5. And for this Reason the Quakers do not put in or make the VVoman 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 't is agreeable to G. Fox's Journal and their Antient 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 Governours 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 Tythes 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 Antient Quaker living at Newberry in Berkshire was moved by his Light within to open his Shop-VVindows on the Lord's-Day as on Market Days and set out his Goods to Sale this the Journal justifies p. 200 to the
Spirit of Truth in George Whitehead and George Fox the Younger See Title Page And being questioned by a Minister p. 7. VVhether the Quakers Speaking was of as great Authority as any Chapter in the Bible George Whitehead reply'd saying That which is spoken from the Spirit of Truth in ANY is of as GREAT AUTHORITY as the Scritures 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 VVriting 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 reply'd 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 Nick-name c. 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 VVord 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 asking 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 shewed 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 hearkened 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 c. p. 29. I say by our Teachers thus slighting the Scriptures as Death Dust and Serpents 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 my self 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 VVound to the Jurisdiction of their Female Government yet it set not forth any one of these four Fundamental Points For as their Hypocrisie in pretending to be plain sincere simple and innocent was a means to attract and draw me after them so the like Hypocrisie 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 c. 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 Noon-day 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 thro' God's Assisting Grace were a means and a help to such as were to be Consecrated and set apart for the VVork 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 c. notwithstanding their pretence to Unity Uniformity and to be of one Mind referring oft to their Beginning when alas some will pay Tythes 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 shew But lest any should think me partial in stating the Case and in shewing the Consequences of our Silent Meetings or Schools
Many Tu Thou singular Vos You plural That now why the Teachers of the World Scholars and School-Masters 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 c. 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 shewed 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 Nonsence why may not I draw some natural Inferences from the Quakers Doctrine since my End is nothing else but to display their Errours 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 ballance 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 Errour nor to condemn one of their Books in which their vile and gross Errours 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 drove 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 Steeple-house for a Church Matthew Mark Luke and John for the Gospel ††This is their Ancient Testimony See News coming up c. and his Several Papers spread c. All harp on this string that Matthew Mark Luke and John are so far from being the Gospel that they are Dust and Serpents 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 thro' 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 Hereticks that ever rose 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 Mechanick to put forth a Book intituled A BATTLEDOOR for all Teachers Scholars and School-Masters to learn them the English of Tu and Vos with the Form and Figure of a Child's Penny Horn-book 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 't is 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 c. 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
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 shew 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 Prophaneness and against them we cried shewing unto all these People that they were not Lawful Ministers of Christ but Deceivers and Antichrists and we spared not Publickly * * Then why should you be spared and at all Seasons to utter forth the Judgments 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 c. And this Testimony lay upon me to bear which is in all Parts according to our Ancient Testimony Truth 's Defence c. 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 Three-fold 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 Bishops 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 dry'd up the Seat of that great Whore Who hath made all Nations drunk with her inticing Power And caused the whole Earth She hath Her Fornication Cup to take Whereby Nations have long time err'd on whom She long hath sate But now her Miseries are seen Her Witchcrafts are discover'd And She no more shall Men deceive for Day-Light is appear'd And the Bed woful I have seen of Torments great prepar'd Whereon She must be cast and Plagues must not be spared But Woe to Her the Cup of Wrath is fill'd 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 Smoak ascendeth Day and Night up to Heaven The Antichrists who hath put on and cover'd with Sheeps cloathing And long-rul'd King on Nations Inwardly Ravening Who hath devour'd 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. observ'd by Mr. Boothhouse I will hold my Peace no longer saith the Lord as concerning this Evil which they so prophanely 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 beautifie 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
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's Feet stood as above observ'd 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. c. p. 150. where he saith We have a Red Catalogue that shall stand recorded against our Presbyterian and Independant Persecutors that their Names and Natures too may stink to Posterity c. Read also the Books referr'd to viz. Judas and the Jews c. p. 41. A Rejoynder c. p. 410. The Anarchy of Ranters c. p. 42. A Ser. Apol. p. 150. The Picture of Quakerism c. 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 call'd 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 chiefly 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 suffer'd 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 lye 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 Natures 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 Howgill 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 compleat and full as in Pag. 84. herein no doubt but they will make them to exceed all the Sufferings of the Patriarchs 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 Patriarchs 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 Licensed 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 Lockt and Barr'd-up Private Conventicles Thus then it appears that this Plot is carrying on against King Lords and Commons against Judges Councellors 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 Martyr'd Ancestors who suffer'd 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 Judgment 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 Licensed Meeting-Houses to Preach Pray and Exercise their Talent 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 compell'd to go to any other Worship And they having both granted I think 't is 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 debarr'd of Object II. But then
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 c. 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 c. The Guide Mistaken p. 32. To this let me add the Testimony of one of our greatest Prophets his VVords 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 Fastings 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 Musick 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 ought 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 President 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 c. 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 intend 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 c. 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 Baptize 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 c. However since I have no Author nor never read of any but Lodowick Muggleton that justifie the Quakers Silent Meetings I will produce one Passage more i. e. That the Worship required by him from his Saints was an Inward Stilness 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 't is 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 c. p. 41 43. Ibid. Thus I have shewed 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 Apostolick Worship I say again that above this 1000 Years there hath not been a Man sent to Preach or Prophesy 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 killing Letter give the Power to become a Spiritual Minister of Christ's Ordinances to his Elect People I trow not c. Thus doth Lodowick profess the same Infallibility of Judgment 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 killing 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 Judgment to the Son and hath given him Authority to execute Judgment 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