the same time the Quakers put out a Pamphlet wherein they recounted what every Minister of the Publick Church throughout England had done against every one of their Society how they had handled them with the Name and Sirname of every one of them at what time George Monk General of all the Armies of Britain put an end to this Evil by a Proclamation that none should injure the Quakers provided they demeaned themselves dutifully towards the Common-wealth I have given an Account of the Afflictions and Persecutions of these Men in England and have produced various Instances of every kind concerning their Troubles and now these Quakers shew themselves in Scotland behaving themselves here as in all other places where they came being often-times very vexatious and troublesom in the Publick Meetings and Conversations of Men in the Markets in the Churches and that either before or after or while they were at their Solemn Prayers and Preaching neither did they only confound Speakers and Hearers and made them dissatisfied with their Meeting together or exercise of their Religion but as often as they were taken and did not beg Pardon for the fault committed they were handled in the same manner as they had been in England many of them being Imprisoned some whipped and others banished This was a thing very singular and strange in this Country and among this Nation there was a Law made at Glascow in the General Assembly that no Quaker should be cherished and relieved by any Member of the Reformed Church and that no Person should have any Commerce with them or make use of their Labour and Employ them under the Penalty of being Excommunicated and by this means these wretched People were forced to seek for other though uncertain Abodes or else to perish through extream want Notwithstanding which Law which the Quakers cryed was by no means made with a Christian Temper but was a barbarous Rite and the Effects of Cruelty when their Affairs seemed to have been brought to the utmost danger they did so struggle with these Difficulties that they even increased in Number day by day Neither must we pass over in silence that those two Men John Swinton and David Barclay did at this time go off to the Quakers who because both of them were very Famous and Renowned first among all the Scots and afterwards among the Quakers I cannot pass it over but must here insist a little upon it John Swinton was of a good Family and at first well deserving of the Common-wealth having his Name from the Place whereof he was Lord when King Charles the Second fled from England and was received and crowned by the Scots this Swinton was a Member of the General Assembly then as also of the Parliament and then it was that the said King Solemnly swore he would preserve the Church of Scotland as then established inviolable but when the King afterward changed his Faith and endeavoured to promote the Function and Rule of Bishops and that now both Nations were at deadly and Intestine Wars one with another and that the Members in Parliament took into Deliberation what they should do with the King Swinton said it was his Opinion that they should reject the King's Interest and be at Peace and Amity with the English by which Speech when Swinton found that he had much exasperated the Minds of all of them and being afraid of the Danger withdraws from the Parliament and with all Expedition flies to his Estate in the Country which was not far from the Frontiers of England and cunningly contrives it that he had fallen into the hands of the English Soldiers these carry him to London when the English had overcome the Scots the English Parliament appoint this Man that was so Faithful to their Church and Country together with others to Govern the Affairs of Scotland But while Swinton tarryed at London he contracted Acquaintance and Familiarity with the Quakers and afterward became of their Society When the King was restored and come over Swinton who was then at London though he was not ignorant how angry the King was with him yet he staid there trusting to a good Conscience that he had discharged his Duty to the Publick without any private Enmity against the King There the King Commands him to be seized and carryed into Scotland to the end that he might be put to Death when he was brought before the Parliament and being allowed the freedom to defend himself he did so Plead his own Case and by his Eloquence allay the Anger and Fury of all the Members that they did acquit him from his Capital Crime and only confined him Prisoner to the Castle of Edenburgh where he continued for some Years David Barclay was a Gentleman of Scotland and descended from the Ancient and Illustrious Family of the Barclays of which these Men have not only reported of themselves but it has also been asserted by others that they have not only proceeded from so Noble Great and Ancient a Stock but also that they were a-kin to the Royal Family this same Gentleman using his Nobleness not for a Veil to Sloath and Idleness but as fewel and an incitative to Industry and Vertue after he had from his Childhood given himself up to the Exercise of the Liberal Arts and Sciences and finding that in the doubtful Affairs of his Country he could not find room for his Studies he betook himself to the German Wars and was first a Captain in the Swedish Army and in some time came to be a Colonel but after that the English had enforced their Government in Scotland he returns to his own Country and he is together with Swinton and other Nobles appointed for the Governance of it and is sent for to London that he might be present at the making and establishing of the League between both Kingdoms but in process of time when King Charles was restored he is committed Prisoner to the Castle of Edenburgh to his old Friend Swinton and not long after gave himself over in Company with Swinton to the Sect of the Quakers this David Barclay was the Father of Robert Barclay who if not the only yet was the most memorable of the Latin Writers amongst all the Quakers In Ireland Howgil and Burroughs the fore-runners of this Sect were sent back from Cork into England by the Command of Henry Cromwel who then governed that Kingdom by the Title of Lord-Deputy and when after they were gone Ames took upon him to propagate Quakerism in that City he was also thrown into Prison from whence being afterwards set at Liberty and seeing he could not forbear but must speak openly in the Church against the Preacher he was again clap'd up in the same place from which place when he wrote a Letter to Colonel Henry Ingoldsby who was Governour of that same City and under whom he was a Soldier and endeavoured to make his Defence and procure his Liberty he was indeed brought before him
those who conceal and are asham'd to own their poverty of the Orphans widdows old people the afflicted and miserable and the sick unto whom they are to afford what is necessary for their sustenance and relief for which end the Quakers say they make Contributions of Money putting it into chests and distributing it as they have occasion These Men are also to allot every one their particular offices and functions which they are severally and distinctly to perform Stephen Crisp wrote a monitory Epistle to all Churches concerning these offices which is very well worth any Man's reading All the Quakers when ask'd about these matters do mightily extoll and magnify the diligence liberality and bounty of their Associates one to another However these Elders and the Ministers do frequently convâ—â—n among themselves for deliberating about the affairs of their Sect and the necessities of their Church which Conventions are somewhat like to what the English and Dutch call Presbyteries and Synods and the French Consistories There were of them in Holland who because no Society could be laudable and permanent without Government and Laws propos'd to have an Ecclesiastical senate constituted in every Church consisting of the ancient Elderly Men and such as were married excluding Batchellours who should have the Government lodg'd in their hands and order every thing according to certain Rules and Laws laid down by them But others oppos'd it pretending that it would introduce a new Hierarchy and interrupt their Community and restrain and suppress the gifts of the Spirit They have likewise Meetings like to those we call Classes and provincial and national Synods or Councils These conventions are Celebrated oftner or Seldomer as the number and variety of their Churches is but so as to Allot each Sex Men and Women their distinct and particular Meetings Wherefore if the Churches be more numerous or large the Seniors or Elders with the Ministers meet frequently chiefly on the first days of the weeks and also on other days at which time after having Communicated their thoughts one to another they confer and consult together what is to be every Man's task what part of the charge he is to undertake and what is incumbent upon him to do Other Meetings are appointed every fourth week in which they deliberate of the affairs common to the Church Others every three months in which they consider of their provincial affairs and such as are remitted to them by appeal In these they inspect into and Recognize all Books that are Printed after they have been perus'd and approv'd by the Censors appointed for that purpose The Acts of these assemblies are put into Registers of which some are very curiously and Elegantly done They have Anniversary Synods in every considerable Kingdom to whom belongs the care and administration of all the affairs of that Kingdom In England they have a fix'd Anniversary Synod on the 3d. day of Pentecost according to the English calculation which they pitch'd upon not out of any superstition for they are as averse and estranged from Religious observation of days as any people in the World but that the time might be determin'd and every one have sufficient information of the same This Synod continues sitting for three or four days only unless some extraordinary business be tabled before them which requires much debate and is hard to be decided as it happen'd in the year ninety four in the case of Keith when it fate whole twelve days together Delegates also come to this Synod from the Churches in all other Countries or places where the Quakers obtain any footing but these must be such as are in the Ministry At their first Meeting together liberty is given for all manner of people to come in and be present which time is spent in Preaching Praying and Thanksgiving After which the Delegates retire all into one room They have no president to their Meeting which place they say is supplied by the Holy Ghost but they have a Clerk who marks down every thing that is mov'd before the Assembly It would be tedious and needless here to insert any further account of their Councils for there be stories enough flying about of them only I shall here remark what are the subjects mostly treated of by them when thus solemnly conveen'd They take into consideration all that may pertain to the general good of all the Churches They lay before the whole assembly the State of every particular Church especially if there be any thing memorable or worthy their consideration They make a Catalogue of the sufferers for Religion describing what their sufferings were or for what causes they were inflicted They examine all singular or rare events and accidents They decide all Controversies and Differences They enquire into the Lives and Conversations of their Ministers and check those who perform their tasks negligently or remissly or who through officiousness and impertinency affect to be Ministers of the word forsaking the offices that become them better and are more indispensably requir'd at their hands than this which they usurp to themselves without invitation or call running up and down as invested with this pretended function and turning it to their private lucre and gain They admonish and exhort one another to be careful and diligent in the tasks alloted them and to conform themselves to the dignity and gravity of their respective offices They settle a standard for these things which relate to Domestick cares of Christians in their Families especially to the education of Children endeavouring and exhorting by all means to be aware of these two destructive Evils which are more Consequential than all others viz. Indulging their Children too great liberty and decking and adorning their bodies too gaudily lest by so doing they occasion sin and contract infamy to themselves They take care also for the redemption of Captives and relief of the poor such of them as are known to be well and virtuously dispos'd and consult of many other things for giving mutual assistance to one another When the Synod is dismiss'd all their Acts and Decisions are enregistred by the publick Authority of the Synod which are afterwards copy'd from the Records and Printed in order to be sent to all the Synods of their Associates throughout the World or to any particular Country Associated with them of which Prints I have several Examples by me As not a few before in England so the Quakers did always invey against the Liturgy which was laid aside in Cromwell's a directory being substituted in its place and again restor'd in K. Charles's Reign as stuffed with the fopperies of Popish Darkness superstitious and ill placed Lessons and Prayers Ornaments Dresses bodily Actions and Gestures and many rites of observing holy days These the Quakers did vigorously oppose preferring the simple Exercises in their Meetings When they meet after a long silence and quiet Recollecting of their thoughts they make it their whole care and business earnestly to wait for the
him and joyned to the Quakers upon which being forsaken he followed after them and became of the same Profession with them And now both in Cumberland Northumberland and the Bishoprick of Durham a great many of all Ranks and Degrees embraced this New Religion So that having thus over-run all the North of England it began to spread it self towards Scotland But as the multitudes of their Followers increased the Envy and Malice of their Adversaries was spurred up the more against them For they were not only laugh'd at and derided every where but many Reproaches and Calumnies were also thrown upon them and many Wicked and Impious Principles and Practices imputed to them In some places Orders were given to the Constables and Officers to detain Fox or any other Quaker in firm Custody whenever they could meet with them or else to hinder them access into their Precincts Accordingly Naylor and Howgil of Appleby are taken and put in Prison As also Fox is apprehended and imprisoned at Carlisle in Cumberland whom they looked upon as an Heretical Blasphemous Arch-Impostor and Deceiver the Head and Ring-leader of this deceitful Crew And it was confidently reported that the Judges were consulting among themselves whether they should put this Man to Death for his incessant Frauds and Enormities But it happened quite otherwise for Fox was absolved and dismissed without any other Affront or note of Ignominy save that they severely check'd and reprov'd him William Caton and John Stubs were whipp'd at Maidston in Kent In Lancashire their Meetings were opposed with great violence At length because the Doctrine and Sect of the Quakers was not yet known in the other Parts of England especially in London the chief Seat and Compend of the whole Kingdom where they knew nothing of this New Religion save what they heard by the wandring Reports that were murmured about Those who were the principal Administrators and Managers of that Church thought fit to select some of their Number that excelled for dexterity of Speaking and Teaching who should go into these other Parts of the Kingdom and perform the Office of Converting and Convincing the People These were the Evangelists and Apostles of the New Church who were sent out in the Year Fifty Four Accordingly they directed their course first into Wales first North-Wales then South-Wales and the adjacent Countries and at length to London the Capital City though far distant from the places of their first Pilgrimage from whence as from the Head they might diffuse their Doctrines through all the Members and infect the whole Body of the Kingdom with their Religious Tincture Howgil and Burrough were at that time Men of great Authority and Esteem among them These were the two chief Ministers appointed to Preach their Doctrines in Wales and at London though Burrough went afterwards to London alone being invited so to do by a strong itch and desire he had to be there When they came together to Wales and had begun to sow the Seeds of their Doctrine they found some who received them readily Among those who embraced their Religion in that Country and even among the first were several Justices of Peace particularly one Peter Price a Famous Preacher among them from that time to this very day Moreover there happened a very wonderful Conversion of one John Vp-John a Member of an Independant Congregation who was sent by his Pastor Morgan Lloyd into the North to inform himself both by seeing and hearing what sort of a Man Fox was who was then in those Countries what for People the Quakers might be and what were the Doctrines they Taught and to bring him certain word of the same for he had heard many things of them which he doubted to be false He performs the Journey and returns possessed with their Principles and shortly thereafter undertakes the Office of a Preacher among them opposing himself vehemently to his Ancient Pastor and Doctor and to all the Congregation reproving and accusing them and their Religion exhorting all to follow him and perswaded many to separate from them Some few Years after he travelled through all Wales Preaching and teaching every where he came to in Towns in the Fields in the Publick Roads and Streets Market-places Inns c. exhorting Men to Repent sometimes he had Fox for a Companion and Witness of his Actions And though he was sometimes cast into Prison yet when released again he set about his old Trade as vigorously as ever Howgil stays in that Country for some considerable time but in the mean time that he is Preaching there and the other Evangelists busie at the same work at their respective Posts in the several places of the Kingdom Burrough goes for London where few of his Sect had gone before him that being the place he loved and longed mightily to see The time of his abode there though he went sometimes to other places and returned again yet he mostly confin'd himself to the City till at length in the Year Sixty Two when block'd up in Prison and having patiently and constantly grappled with many Tormenting Evils that surrounded him and with a Grievous and Mortal Disease he yielded up the Ghost While he was in London he bended all his Thoughts and Cares how to be most Serviceable to that Interest and so to discharge his Office that he might not disappoint the Hopes and Expectations which his Associates had conceived of his Success And because he could not always meet with fit and opportune Places and Occasions of Preaching he sometimes promiscuously improved every occasion whether seasonable or not to that effect thinking no time or place unseasonable or improper for promoting the Salvation of Mankind of which I subjoyn one Example All that are acquainted with the City of London cannot but know that vulgar and frequent Custom among the meaner Tradesmen Shooe-makers Taylors c. their Apprentices and Journeymen of getting together into some by-place where they struggle and wrestle with one another till either by pulling them down or tripping them up they throw them Burrough accidentally passes by the place where a whole Band of them were at this Exercise He draws near looks on and waits to see what the issue of the Spectacle would be At length a lusty Young Fellow and dextrous Wrestler appears in the Field who throws them all round first one then another and at length a third yet even then he unwearied challenges any fourth to encounter him The whole Company stands amazed at the boldness and dexterity of the Fellow none of them daring to enter the Field save Burrough who steps into the Ring and moves towards the Triumphant Victor who was insulting over all the rest He thinking Burrough meant also to try his Skill in Wrestling makes ready to receive him But Burrough looking austerely and gravely upon him in some few severe words checks his Fury and Fortitude so that both his Courage and Strength were overcome and vanquished Then turning himself to
them to take good heed what Religion they profess also to send hither and thither to invite all that feared God to come into the Inn and hear him speak or dispute about religious Matters In which Course he gave the People Occasion of putting Tricks upon him and was several times so serv'd as the following Examples can Testifie which I should have taken for Fabulous and thought unworthy to be here inserted were they not confirm'd not only by the Relations of People that were present but by his own Mouth to his Followers and handed down to Posterity by his own Writings as memorable and true At Farnham after having preach'd somewhere in that Town he retires to an Inn desiring the Master of the Inn if he knew of any pious good People to give them Advertisement to come to him in the Inn Accordingly many came some Men of Honesty and Religion others more subtile and cunning than good or religious They all heard him preach and express himself with a great multitude of Words After he had ended most of them go away and some few stay desiring the Master of the Inn to cause a Fire to be made in the very same Room where he had preach'd for it was now cold Weather and to bring them something to drink In fine they sate there drinking all the rest of the day notwithstanding all the Entreaties and Solicitations Fox us'd to perswade them to be gone and demean themselves as good and sober Men and at length went away without paying their Reckoning which they left upon Fox who had invited them thither The Tapster came and call'd for the Reckoning from Fox who declin'd such an unjust thing using many Reasons to the contrary The Man who minded his Money most pressed him the more to pay it At length Fox seeing that he could not perswade him to desist paid the whole Sum writing a Letter to the Magistrates full of Wrath and Indignation warning them to take notice what manner of Citizens they had and to take some Measures for reclaiming them from the like Insolencies The next day he lights at an Inn in Lemnan which he found full of Stage-players Musicians and Quack-doctors After he and his Companions had put up their Horses and refresh'd themselves they agreed upon some Problems among themselves of the Natures of Diseases and the use of Medicine and towards the Evening presented the same to that Company in order to be consider'd upon and answer'd while they lodged in the House They rejected their Proposal flouting at them for Mad-men but Fox and his Companions took this ill and caused the Theses to be stuck upon the Mercat-Cross to be subjected to publick View after they were gone At London Fox was not so forward as elsewhere for he did not disturb the Publick Churches nor raise any Tumult or Crowd in any place but behaved himself more cautiously than he used or desired to do Before his coming thither many of great Note had been converted by the Ministry and Influence of Burrough And these frequently assembled together with Fox who had many Discourses among them and to the People but after all his utmost Efforts he gain'd but very few new Proselites which was much contrary to his Expectation having fill'd himself with great hopes of the Success of this Journey However he contents himself to stay a while longer in this City where he could see and hear so many things and be inform'd of every thing done in the whole Kingdom as also see and observe what opinions Men entertain'd concerning the Progress and State of his Religion all over the World At length having view'd enough of that City and satisfied himself he makes for the Country There was about this time a great Multitude of People in Wales who being of an unsettled and fluctuating Temper and fond of every thing New or Singular abandon'd their former Religion and professed Quakerism which Conversion was chiefly wrought by Howgil Vp-John Wilkinson and others Thither did Fox direct his Course though quite ignorant of the Welsh Language At first when he came and happened to preach separately from his brethren his Labour was all or most part in vain since so many of his Auditors either understood not his Dialect or were quite ignorant of his Language for his Mother-Tongue was the only Language he knew But afterwards when he took into his Society some of the Natives of that Country all the Progress he could make was that he preached sometimes among those of his own Perswasion and those of his Associates that understood English explained it in Welsh to the rest So that these his Interpreters were more Instrumental in propagating this Interest than he among whom the chiefest was Vp-John who had for a long time resided in this Country applying himself diligently to the Conversion of those People of whom he perswaded not a few to be Quakers These Interpreters were Fox's Predecessors in this Country who being back'd by him run up and down in the Country the Cities the Streets the High-Roads c. inviting and exhorting all Men to repent and these their clamorous Harangues had so much effect upon these People that no Country in England was so fertile of New Converts to Quakerism as Wales And thus did the Sect Doctrine and Religion of the Quakers in so short a time spread over all England to the year one thousand six hundred and fifty eight in which Year these Men proceeded to that height of boldness that they appointed a General Assembly out of the whole Realm to be held in the House of John Cross being a Place that was large and capacious for that purpose in the County of Bedford thereby as it were shewing and upbraiding their Enemies to what increase both of Number and Strength they were now arrived and seeing that they had not before despaired of the Progress and Improvement of their Affairs that they were also now full of hopes to bring them to perfection and altogether assured thereof There did the Messengers of each particular Congregation meet being accompanied with a great number of others who came not to speak but to see only Here were such Matters transacted as referred to their spiritual Laws and tended to the upholding of their Communities and the Council was celebrated for three whole Days I have said a little before how Howgil and Burroughs were the first that brought the Opinions of the Quakers into Ireland and particularly to Waterford This was done in the Year fifty five In the very same Year were these Men followed towards the carrying on the same Work by one Man whose Name was Lancelot Wardal and three Women Rebecca Ward Elizabeth Fletcher and Elizabeth Marshal But those for a long time made so little Progress in their Affairs that the Religion of the Quakers was universally unknown there that the very Name it self came not or at leastwise nothing but the Name within the Verge of their Knowledge The foresaid
Divines and not the Quakers alone speak as often as Latin words fail them his Humanity and the Presence or Existence of him as of the Seed and Light and his Manifestation and Operation in Men hitherto either unknown or but very obscurely delivered Barclay betook himself to Write a long time after Keith and at last came out a large Treatise of his written in Latin Entituled Apologia Theologiae vere Christianae Presented to King Charles II. A Book highly praised by those Men and very common among all that are curious of the Writings of those Men of which Book I shall elsewhere more particularly speak so that as the Doctrine and Religion of the Quakers owes its Original and Increase to England so it does its Perfection and Completion to Scotland And now even in this Kingdom of Scotland these Quakers especially Keith had many Contests with the Presbyterians there concerning the causes of their Separation and Secession from those Churches with which they had till this time firmly united and concerning their new Articles of Faith which they were said to have obtruded upon those Old Professors and that by Conferences Disputations and Writings which gave occasion to Keith to write those Books wherein by examining seriously all that was objected against them and often ruminating upon and digesting all that he had before published or spoke he brought forth his Meditations in that Method and Form before spoken of These Men did in the mean time grow here also by degrees more moderate and leave off their rude and audacious ways that had gained them much Hatred and many Evils and so by degrees being accustomed to the sight of their Adversaries they began to live more safely and also to increase in number Their Affairs went on in Ireland but slowly where they who presided as it were over the rest took their advantage in promoting their Doctrine and Religion from the Institutions and Manners of their Friends in England and Scotland And so from this time forward was the Sect of the Quakers brought into form and their Doctrine and Faith consummated to which this may be further added Seeing that a Publick Confession of Faith made by all is a great Bond for the uniting of their Souls together and an apt Symbol of Communion and Fellowship Keith did at a certain time propose this unto them That it would be a most useful thing if such a Book were composed in the Name of all the People called Quakers by worthy and choice Men with clear Words and Sentences which might be an Abridgment and Publick Confession of all their Doctrine and Faith and that the same were Subscribed by all even each one in his particular Church who for the future should be received into the Society of the Quakers and joyn themselves unto them But their Friends were not pleased with this Advice by reason that they thought it to be a thing on the one side that carried in it too much Authority between Equals and on the other side an Obligation of Servitude in a free Affair and that they should be very cautious lest they should be brought under any Inconveniency in that kind for the avoiding of which they had all hitherto gathered together and lived in the greatest Union as they had done in the greatest Freedom imaginable But to return to the beginning of the Reign of King Charles the Second and Record the Facts of these Men and what befel unto them Their Study and Endeavours did indeed appear to comply with the Government of this King as did those of other Sects and Dissenters from the Publick Worship if not from their Judgment yet better by their yielding and giving way and that because of the disposition of the King to be Easie and Indulgent Besides this King himself with all his Followers seemed to have sufferd for so long a time so many and such great Injuries and Calamities and so must be mindful of the Lot and uncertain state of Man that he would at length grant Rest to these Men from the many Troubles which they had been exposed to To this may be added that the King at that time when they were debating in Parliament concerning the Restauration of him he himself being then at Breda in the Court of the Prince of Orange his Nephew by his Sister writes very lovingly and tenderly of his own accord to that Supream Council as also to the City of London That he would give to and preserve the Liberty of Tender Consciences and Opinions in Religion provided it were without endangering the Publick Peace Which thing was again repeated by the King after he was Solemnly established in his Throne Wherefore the Quakers upon the King's Restauration conceived great hopes concerning their Affairs At last when in the beginning of the King's Reign some of the Quakers full of good will towards the King and of a good Opinion of his kindness towards them went to the King and implored his Favour Protection and Help against the Injuries and Cruelty of their Enemies The King grants them all they desired and it 's not to be doubted but that he did it of his own accord for he suffered them at first to live and act according to their own Way and Mode as also to Meet to perform their Religious Worship and so also did he sometime Promise that for the future he would not only not obstruct but also promote their Liberty therefore these Men from the very beginning of the change of the Government did most Industriously proceed in their Affairs and Exercises for the Common Good neither did they do it unknown to their Adversaries but openly and in their sight as it were not by the tacit but express consent and also Command of the King But it will not be long ere all this matter shall fall out much otherwise than this and the Event deceive all the Hope and Opinion of these Men. Yea indeed it so happened as if this Letter the Name Power of the King did not avail for the Liberty and Ease but Ruine of these Men that even from the first Decree of the Parliament concerning the King's Restauration in all that Interval till the King did apply himself to the Administration of the Government they who were the Quakers Adversaries amongst other Pretences which they made use of for to repress and ensnare these Men they turned the Edict Name and Dignity of the King to their Molestation and Destruction Therefore as often as they met together to Celebrate their Worship they were apprehended and carryed away as disturbers of the Peace and though they had not the least Weapon that might give any Offence they were treated as if they had been armed Men and like Enemies and Cut-Throats and stirred up one another and other Peaceable Subjects to Rebellion and to offer Violence to the Common-wealth This I will say to those who do not so well know what the Oath of Fidelity among the English means which they
the Town saw it clearly represented to him in flames not when dreaming but when awake and a voice from Heaven warn'd him to go to London and make publick what he saw He presently takes his Horse and rides thither and when he came at the Town he discovers his head throws away his hat and having girded up his Breeches â—he looses all his other Cloaths and pulls down his stockings Having put up his Horse he runs to a Meeting or Convention of his own Sect in the same habit two days before these things had happen'd which he was about to foretell He enters among them with a great commotion of Spirit and an austere sadned Countenance and tells publickly in the Meeting that it was predicted and made known to him by the Spirit that in two days time London should be all in flames and that all the Citizens lull'd up in their secure beds in profound sleep being awak'd at this terrible accident and fill'd with Consternation and terror should run naked from their beds and houses to save their lives and not know what to attempt for quenching of the fire All the people wondred to hear him taking him for some prating fool and ridiculing him and his prophetical Omen But he persisted in his asseveration till at length when they were expecting no such accident and accounting him a mad-man who went about to frighten people with his Dreams the lamentable event gave sufficient testimony to the truth of the Oracle And when the whole Town was now all in a fire he being either too much puffed up with the inspiration of this accident which was but too too certain or being mov'd in his Spirit a-fresh was so confident and presumptuous of his own Power and Interest that he would pretend to stop and let bounds to that fire he had predicted running up up and down among the people crying That he would repress the flames and set Limits to them beyond which they could not reach Then he goes to the Houses all beset with fire and fixes himself among them and would have stood till the fire had consumed him too The people when all their Exhortations and Counsels were in vain to move him to retire from the Danger took him by the middle out of that place removing him to some safer station Afterwards he was sensible of his Fool-hardiness and Errour and acknowledged the same The Quakers add That this same man foretold some such thing of the Town of Hereford which he had seen in his sleep but in vain for the Event did not fall out as he had predicted But this did not at all lessen the Quakers Respect to the Veracity of this Oracle for they said such kind of Variation of Prophecies is oft times to be found among the Holy Prophets made mention of in the Scriptures This Double Calamity of the City of London which not only afflicted that City but injected a Fear and Terror into the minds of all men every where in that Kingdom so that they were more solicitous about their own Condition and the danger they were in than busie to afflict and oppress others did not a little allay the Ardour and Fury of their Minds against the Quakers at least for some time While these things happen'd in England the Quakers were not altogether free from persecution in Scotland and Ireland though it was not so hot in the former as in the latter for in Scotland there was but a small number of Quakers in the Kingdom so that they could not meet and assemble so frequently and besides the Laws Enacted against them were not so many to be violated and they themselves did not give their Adversaries so great occasion of resisting and opposing them Wherefore if any of them were taken who persisted boldly and obstinately in congregating together or enterpriz'd any forbidden Thing they were kept in Prison for a long time to terrifie and frighten the rest from doing the like They were more numerous in Ireland and that not in One County or Two but throughout the whole Kingdom where they imitated the English Quakers in withdrawing from neglecting and dispising the Publick Ordinances of the Church celebrating Conventions and Assemblies among themselves for managing their Religious Interest putting themselves out of the way when call'd to pay Tithes or contribute to the Reparation of Churches or to give Oath upon any occasion Some of them would publickly do prophane Work on the Festival Holy-Days some run into the Churches and Disturb the Sermons and Prayers with their idle and bold Harangues others stand in the Streets and Market-Places exhorting People to Repentance disparaging all their Actions and extolling their own filling the Air with foolish and impertinent Discourses For which Reasons they were no less persecuted in this Kingdom than in England severe Penalties and Fines being indicted against them all which if they refused to pay as they all did they were cast into Prison and so hardly Treated that some of 'em dy'd of Sickness and Diseases contracted in Prison In some places the people oppos'd their keeping Conventicles together Dragging them out of their Houses Pursuing them in the Fields apprehending and imprisoning them and if they were assembled they broke into the Houses by Force smiting and beating them and stripping their very Cloaths from off their cacks All this was done unto them in some placâ—s by the Mob and Refuse of the People and Vagabond Soldiers next a-kin to Robbers who were cloath'd with no other Authority but that of their Hands and Swords Which was also conniv'd at by their Commanders and Masters who not only suffer'd these Outrages to be committed but sometimes they themselves did things inconsistent with the Dignity and Gravity of their Station For if at any time the Quakers spoke more boldly to them in Publick Places or when irritated gave them Tart Answers they would presently set upon them all in a Body for Revenge admits of no Delay branding them with the ignominious Titles of a cursed impious Crew Nay Kaining and beating them soundly And even among the Ministers of the Churches there were some who not contenting themselves to have Excommunicated them from their Society deliver'd them up to the Judges to be further prosecuted and punished The only Moderation and Meekness us'd towards them was by the Parliament I have already told in the beginning of this book what advantage and improvement redouned to the Doctrine and Religion of the Quakers by the Diligence and activity of George Keith and Robert Barcley who were more than ordinarily Instrumental in advancing the Interest of that Society And now because the scope and design of this Treatise is to give a view of what are the Opinions these men maintain and so Religiously observe and by what Authors and after what manner they were first invented and Published for the Defence of which they have undergone so many Miseries and Dangers I shall here shew how that the Chief Cardinal Doctrines
but by vinegar they have for that use are refresh'd and restor'd This gave rise to that pleasant story which as every rumor taken from an ill resented Action of some one of 'em overspreads the Minds and Discourses of all that the Quakers at their Meeting have a bottle of liquor which whoever drinks of is immediately made Quaker As these with many other unquiet Men did most bitterly Tax some Protestant practices as preparing Licensing ordaining and maintaining of Ministers so of late they 've begun to jangle among themselves and more and more draw one another to their contrary Injunctions On these they now more eagerly insist They were and as yet are greatly offended that those who aim at a sacred function shou'd be form'd and imbellish'd with those previous studies whereby they gradually arrive at that province And thus they reproach Parents and Friends who devote Children to the Ministry from their tender years as if they were design'd for some Trade Traffick or civil business that they may exercise themselves in the Employment for a Livelihood so that the office Religion Faith and Piety are made matter of and not preferr'd to their gain that Children shou'd be thus educated for offices of this Nature and delivered to the tutelage of teachers however they be inclin'd or whatever Spirit they be led by tho they do nothing but commanded and constrain'd while as in other occupations we consider what a Child's Genius prompts him to and our designs and purposes are hitherto referr'd That Boys are so posted to Schools and Colleges without time to consider and search their Inclinations that they may direct their Course according to the stream of their Temper and after entrance are so inveigled with study and desire to attain what they 've been forestall'd with advantagious thoughts of that being unconcern'd for the inlightning and converting grace of the Spirit when they arrive at some pitch of that sort of Life they 're so tenacious that nothing can occur to pull 'em from their purpose especially when the change wou'd be late and Age comes on so that they can scarce begin another profitable project Besides the rude and unpollish'd younsters whose minds are impressible as wax and of so soft a temper that they may be easily drawn out into any shape whose prelections they 've once fix'd their Attendance on those with an inconsiderate rashness they must ape and imitate in all the thoughts and Actions of their Ministry and Life And yet many run also headlong into Gaming Idling Rioting and Wantoning So at length they betake themselves to their Ministerial Declamations and many wholly stretch all the Nerves of their skill to talk only with a volubility of Tongue to the hearers and some Courts complaisance of voice and gesture placing there the Power of Doctrine and stress of Eloquence When at this rate from prating Puppets they become perfect Orators and are reck'ned worthy after a Specimen to be prefer'd to the care of the Lord's Vineyard the Laurel's propos'd to him that knows best to scatter words so as to feed the Ears and Eyes with the grateful delight of Debonnair and Oratry Men taken with their chanting like a Shepherd's pipe chuse 'em for their pastors while yet say they nothing that 's spiritual or savoury drops from their Lips into the minds of the hearers and they receive little but words sitting to hear the reading of a few dry sentences as stones on stones and dead on the dead which they then stand upon This they say of Students affectations in the Schools They acknowledge the understanding of Languages especially of Hebrew Greek and Latin formerly was and still is very useful to understand and expound the Scripture yet they take 'em not therefore to be necessary to the Ministry which they wou'd have to be managed by the Spirit alone nor so profitable that one unacquainted with them must be stil'd Idiot Illiterate and of no autority But Philosophy as it 's generally taught in the Schools and School Divinity from hence arising they not only think useless but also pernicious and a plague Destructive of sound Doctrine brought in by the Devil as the Idol of Lyers and a hindrance to the knowledge of God and Godliness They despise the distinguishing Titles of Ecclesiastick Dignities as Masters Licentiates Doctors Professors c. Saying they only tend to make him that 's invested with the honour taken notice of with greater respect and so to swell him to a further Caprice and affect a Lording it o'er his former fellows They blame Protestants for restraining Preachers by Divers Constitutions to a certain Number and prescribing Laws of yearly revenues imposing or suffering themselves to be impos'd on and not endeavouring that through Churches at least greater more preachers and teachers may be appointed to teach and admonish all publickly and privately and execute other Offices of the Ministry or be sent to labour in Foreign Nations that these that are strangers to God and Godliness may be carefully imbru'd with the knowledge of both that the Borders of the Kingdom of Christ may be extended and inlarged to the utmost ends of the Earth Lastly they charge the Protestant Churches for maintaining their Pastors too profusely with Salaries They deny not the provision of Food and Raiment for such and other necessaries for a convenient life nay they own it to be suitable to the Command of God It appears then they differ from the present Anabaptists both the open-hearted and more simple and crafty and more reserv'd who tho liberal of their labours under Colour of Munificence draws the unwary into their Ginns that they may gull 'em of a daily sustenance at their pleasure They wou'd neither have the study nor office of the Ministry so to confine the Actions of ones Life as to inforce the neglect of all other business whereby he may furnish himself with a competency They won'd neither have sixt Stipends given nor pactions to intevrene twixt pastor and people lest the latter be forc'd to give superfluously and sumptuously to cherish the luxury and idleness of the former They decry driving Ministers to their duty for gain as illeberal Mercenary Sordid and Conductitious that they may only work for wealth which when got inclines 'em to do little or nothing yea gives rise to Avarice Lust Idleness Wantonness Riotousness perpetual Contention Ambitious Domineering and very grievous Iniquities Whose houses seem's dect with an almost Royal Magnificence who call themselves Preachers of Christ for Christ's sake when they become so pompous neglecting their Office despising their inferiors oppressing with Tyranny their people they shew how Antichrist of old got first entrance and then footing in the Church These the Quakers oppose by a bare mentioning the manner of their Ministry which they constantly observe and reason for thus Since all in the Church as Members of the Body have their proper gifts they may also have proper operations and functions for the good
of her Glory turn'd aside to this By-Way and having run through part of her life in that very House on which she had with those prodigious Endowments of Mind bestow'd so much Cost she was forsaken of all those that gap'd after her Estate and all her Family and left all alone but only not forsaken of God or abandoned to Desperation and so in her mournful Seat she breath'd out her Soul when she had first recommended it to God in Christ Of this excellent Maid to add this by the by What was mortal and perishing was repos'd not in the Sepulchral Monument or Tomb belonging to the Family of the Waltars erected in the Church as it might have been but without in the Church-yard or Ground lying about it in the common Earth amongst the rest of her Brothers and Sisters according to her own desire leaving that Monument out of Modesty that Familiarizer and Governess of all other Virtues of which this Lady in her life-time was always the perfect Pattern But since what the Doctrine of these People was what their Religion and how their way of Living what their Intention and what their aims and enterprises about the Church and other Men were may be fully known by their Writings which several Men among them yea and some Women too have published concerning themselues and many of our Learned Men of them I shall not now stay to Recapitulate But because all this Relation tends to this end to shew what Agreement there was between the Quakers of whom alone in this Work we treat and these Labadists I call them so because I know no better name to call them by in Doctrine and what Institution to one and the same purpose and lastly what intentions they had to joyn in Friendships and contract Acquaintances I will shortly and in few words relate it As to their Doctrine although these Men at first introduced little or nothing which was different from our Faith yet in process of time they brought in divers Innovations about the use of the Holy Scriptures and the guidance and operations of the Holy Spirit and Prayers and the remaining parts of Worship and the Sacraments and Discipline of the Church so that they came nearer to the Opinions of the Quakers in these things than to our Doctrine Now it appears that these Men no less than the Quakers reprehended and found fault with many things in our Churches and those of all Protestants that they were all so corrupt and deprav'd that no effect no fruit of the Spirit of God appeared amongst them nor no Worship of God but only a carnal and external One no mutual attention no conjunction of Minds no love no will no endeavours for the good one of another or the common good that was to be seen Lastly That no one's Life and Manners answered what they all profess'd or the Example and Precepts of Christ And as this was the complaint and quarrel of the Quakers so in like manner was it of these People too that with these vices above others were infected those that were the Prelates and Preachers of the Word and Stewards of the Mysteries of God Lastly these People thought thus that they were the Men from whom the beginning and first Examples of the Restitution of the Church was to be expected who also were wholly intent upon the famous work of this Reformation Just as the Quakers thought that this was chiefly reserv'd for them and that they were in a special manner obliged to go on with this Work of Reformation So great was the Fame of this Society that there was scarce any place in these Countries where there was not a great talk talk about these Teachers and Workers so that in Foreign Countries there was scarce any where unless it were among such People who have no regard to what is done abroad who had not heard something of them Therefore when these Reports were gone over into England and Scotland at first indeed there were some of these Men who being averse from the State of the Church as under the Bishops contained themselves within their own Churches which were more remote from external rites and splendor and a worldly and delicate polite as they call it and elegant Life and Conversation who also undertook the Ministerial Function At last also the Quakers who as soon as ever they heard of this sort of Men and their plain Religion and way of Life that they followed they began to think in good earnest of this Society of People and to be better acquainted with them and to consider ways and means amongst themselves how they should come to enter into Consultation with them I know that there was one of those Ministers of the Gospel so averse from the Episcopal way and addicted to Presbyterial Churches who not only himself writes to this Society but also communicates his thoughts upon this subject to an eminent Quaker which Man when after that time he foresaw many things from the face of the Kingdom which tho not altogether true indeed yet seeming very probable and likely to come to pass at that time he was not such a fearer of Episcopacy but that one might read in his Countenance and since he was a Man that one time or another it would come to pass as afterwards it happen'd that he was made a Bishop The first of the Quakers that came from Scotland to the Labadists to Amsterdam was George Keith a Man both very skillful in and much us'd to Controversie and Disputes After him comes out of England R. Barclay a Man likewise of great Experience and well seen in the Defence of his Religion These Men one after another treat about this matter with Labadee and the rest of them on whom the Government of the Society lay But when the Quakers opened their Mind briefly and in a common Style but they on the other hand us'd such deep and far fetch'd Speeches and those so round about the bush and turning and winding and so much Eloquence or endless Talkativeness that the Quakers knew not what these Men would say or how to know or find out and discern their Opinions Institutions and Intentions or where to have them which also had often happen'd to our People enquiring of these Men about these things and now began to suspect that they were not such a pure sort of People and were either bordering upon some Errors or privately entertain'd and bred some monstrous Opinion And when the Quakers tried again at another time to see further if by any means they could bring things to a Consent and Agreement and a conjunction together that they might act in common Concert the Labadists not only drew back but also resented it ill and were so angry that they thought it would be to no purpose to try any farther Conclusions with them And either upon the occasion of these Meetings together or from the designs of some of their Adversaries to reproach them it came to pass