that or any other Scripture say the very Man Christ with that very Body is in us Either Burroughs s Answer is direct and honest or it is not If it be direct he must say that very Man Christ and that very Body of Christ is within us but that is such an evident Falshood that it is beyond the power of any man alive to defend it even of Whitehead himself whose chiefest Faculty lies that way to streighten the most crooked Doctrines and set them right and to shape the most ugly deformed Blasphemies so that they shall appear most Divine Truths How many Manhoods would there be if the Man Christ were in every Quaker As many as ever Transubstantiation made We heartily own his appearance in the Flesh and in the Spirit his personal appearance in the fulness of time and his spiritual appearance in every true Believer but this is not the Man Christ and his Body being in them which the Question was of If the Answer of Burroughs be indirect and nothing to the purpose the Question being of that very Man and his very Body if his Answer we say was not direct but shifting and shuffling to another point as Whitehead intimates when he says p. 7. he means he is only spiritually in Believers tho we agree the Truth we cannot allow the Honesty of such an answer nor can George Whitehead justify this dodging in him it rendring him more like a Jugler than a Disputant When you ask for your Mony again out of the Juglers Hand be opens it and shews you nothing but a Counter The Question was ask'd Is that very Man with that very Body within you His Answer is as Whitehead tells us he is in us spiritually which no body question'd viz. by his Graces and Influences We may see how loth Whitehead is that Burroughs should be counted a Blasphemer Well! for once we are content he should pass for a Jugler CHAP. II. Of the SOUL THE Brief Discovery hath four Quotations out of Fox to prove his Blasphemy touching this P. 5 6. he says The Soul is brought up into Great Mysâ—ery p. 91. God whereby they come to be one Soul He tells us farther 'T is of God's Being and that it is not Blasphemy to say the Soul is a part of ibid. p. 100. God He also saith The Soul is without beginning and Infinite in it self and in Saul's Errand Fox saith He that hath the same Spirit that raised up P. 8. Jesus Christ is equal with God One would think these are Blasphemies plain enough and too hard for an Apology unless by one that can make a Panegyrick upon Vice and could represent Whoredom and Drunkenness so as to appear the greatest Instances of Chastity and Temperance Why here 's the Man George Whitehead can do the feat All these horrid Blasphemies with a little hocus pocus of his Sophistry are changed into true Quaker Orthodoxy Cressey 15 Revel of Divine Love c. 49. 112. He begins with the first Citation where Fox says the Soul is one Soul with God Here Fox has but lickt up the Froth from the mouth of Mother Juliana in one of her Enthusiastick raving Fits She tells us We are substantially united unto God our Soul is oned to God between God and the Soul there Ch. 5. 12. 46. 105. is right ought God is its Maker to whom it is oned But Whitehead cries out amain Where 's the Blasphemy in this He cunningly repeats a part of the Ch. 56. p. 144. Instance which was an aggregate one consisting of many parts and then crows and triumphs Where where is it Like him that hides the Body out of sight and shews only a Finger or a Thumb and then cries out Where is the Man Tho we believe this single Allegation out of Fox if it were alone would appear blasphemous enough We have carefully read the Scriptures to the number of ten brought as Witnesses who yet say not the least that the Soul is one Soul with God only 1 Cor. 6. 17. says The man that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit Now what an inference is this because a man who is a Body of Flesh and Blood is one Spirit with God which is not possibly to be understood but he is one with him spiritually therefore the Soul must be one Soul with God We are one with God morally by Faith and Love and other Graces of the Spirit or federally one by Compact and Covenant as the Wife and Husband but one Soul speaks a substantial Union with God God and the Soul may be one as explain'd before nay in the same manner one Spirit because God is a Spirit but God and the Soul cannot any ways be one Soul because God is not a Soul at all Every good Man is one with God but not one Man and every good Soul is one with God but not one Soul because God is neither a Man nor a Soul Thus we have considered this place by it self and discovered its Blasphemy let us now consider it with the rest of its Company and you may see he means not a moral but a substantial Union He says the Soul is a part of God Then a part of God might sin and repent and be pardoned or if not be damned besides A part of God we think was never heard of but in Fox's Philosophy He would have done well to have taught it to the Scholars of Cambridg See a Trumpet founded by Dâ—n Leeds p. 17. Numb 26. where the same is asserted by Geo. Fox in his Epistle to Geo. Wâ— Divin of Christ and Oxford in his Learned Battledoor among other his profound Aphorisms He says again 't is without beginning 't is Infinite in it self and nothing that is so but is the same with God But George has something to say for him Fox says the Soul is a part of God Whitehead saith a part of God appears to be by some Adversaries obtruded upon them 't is not Fox's Assertion he only questions them in their own improper Terms p. 8. For shame blush if thou canst and own the Blasphemy Read the words over again and thou wilt find there is not so much as a semblance of truth in such an answer The Priest says 't is horrid Blasphemy to say the Soul is a part of God Fox positively denies not questions 't is not horrid Blasphemy to say the Soul is a part of God P. 8. l. 7. Whitehead vindicates Fox where he says the Soul is of God's Being Of God's Being says he relates to the Breath of God that came out from God and not to the Soul no no 't is only the Breath of God that came out of God that is of God's Being Read but impartially the Citation p. 273. Gr. Myst 'T is not horrid Blasphemy to say the Soul is a part of God for it i. e. the Soul came out of him not the Breath of Life and is of him And again p.
the fifth Chapter where we discern what gave occasion to this Exhortation he Heb. 5. there distinguishing Christians into two Classes Babes and strong Men i. e. perfect and imperfect both of which he describes at large And from thence v. 12 13 14. this learned Person asserts That the utmost height to which the Scripture exhorts Dr. Lucas Rel. Per. 2d edit 3. pt of Enq. p. 5 6. us is nothing more than a steady habit of Holiness That place of St. John purifyeth himself even as he is pure speaks not their attaining to Perfection equal with Christ's but their taking him for their Pattern daily to regulate themselves by and the Term even as signifies an Analogy i. e. a Proportion 1 Jo. 3. 3. Sutableness and Agreeableness not an Equality Another place he cites to prove this Perfection of Purity but that speaks of the whole Church Eph. 4. 12 13. which the Apostles and other Ministers were constituted to render exact and orderly fitted in every part in which there should be no Chasm no Luxation but every thing duly placed with great Coherence and Agreement and this Church he compares to a Body and Christ to the Soul that animates it and as the Soul when the Organs of the Body are by degrees strengthened puts forth its Powers till the Body comes to an Age of Consistency so is the Church actuated by the Spirit of Christ till it comes to a consistent State and at last the Holy Jesus presents it to his Father without spot or wrinkle but 't is not so whilst in this Life And after all this Is it not Blasphemy to say That 't is the Doctrine of Devils to preach that men shall have Siâ— and be in a Warfare as long as they be on Earth since they are not absolutely perfect and therefore win have Sin inherent in them at their best state and adhering to their best Works See this Doctrine of Perfection discoursed of by Dr. Lucas in his Religious Perfection or the third part of the Enquiry after Happiness with reference to the Chap. 2. Quakers Tho that good Man is so candid that he will hardly believe the Quakers P. 22 23 c. 2 d Ed. designed any thing more by their asserting Perfection in this Life than the arriving to a steady well-settled habit of Wisdom and Goodness which he may be convinced of by what we have already quoted and aâ—oâ— peruâ—ing See also Geo. Keith ' s 4 th Narrative P. 10. to 22. concerning their sinless Perfection Geo. Fox's Great Myst in the several pages here refer'd unto page 4. line 19. p. 7. ult 12. med 24. l. 15. 27. l. 11. p. 30. med usque ad fin p. 37 38 39 40 41. ult p. 51. med p. 124. ult 125. per â—ot 133. ult p. 137. med 156. ult 157. init 159. ult 160. init p. 231 232 243 251 252 253. ult p. 257 258 277 279 280 282 286 288 293 307. ult 318. ult 320. med And also by consulting a Piece called Ishmael and his Mother caffâ— out p. 3. in Quarto where George Whitehead's and three other Quakers Answer to their Adversary was in these words But thou and thy Generation hates this and says that there is no Perfection to be attained here O thou blind Guide did Christ ever command any thing that might not be accomplished or did he speak of being perfect not till after death here thou dost deny the very End for which Christ came who came to take away Sin and in him is no Sin Mat. 1. 21. 1 John 3. 3 4 5 6. 1 John 5. 18 c. So also pag. 12. Thou sayen say these four Quakers to their Adversary the Priest the most eminent Believer sins in many things O thou Blasphemer and Slanderer of the Just reply then when wilt thou cease from thy Lies and Blasphemy where dost or canst thou prove such a Scripture as the most eminent Believer sins in any things when the Scripture saith He that believeth is born of God and he that is born of God sinneth not for whosoever sinneth hath not seen him neither known him and he that commieteth Sin is of the Devil and there 's thy condition and he is thy Father who is the Father of all Liers as thou art 1 John 3. 3 4 5 6 7 8. But more plainly and directly from that Account Will. Baldwinson gives in a Letter of his dated Jan. 14. 1653. and attested by three others where he declares that before a company where James Naylor and Richard Farnsworth were setting out this Doctrine of Prefection he demanded of them in these words Friends do you hold that a Man may attain to that height of Perfection in this Life to be as perfect as pure as holy and as just as God himself And he asserts that they jointly reply'd Yea and they were so For which look The Defence of the Snake in the Grass Part the First pag. 88. But that the best of Men were liable to commit Sin the Man after God's own Psal 91. Heart David found it so and confessed it and the Church of God complained that their Righteousness was as filthy Rags not that their Righteousness was Sin but that Sin cleaved to and blemished their best Performances as clean Water running through a Channel not perfectly clean contracts some Soil Neither do we say that this Pollution makes the Work cease to be good or puts the doer into a state of Damnation because God for Christ's sake forgives the Imperfection and reputeth the Duty good for the sake of that part which his own Spirit wrought And are we not in a state of Warfare whilst on Earth when the Apostle saith Gal. 5. 17. That the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh and these are contrary the one to the other and therefore there will be a War betwixt Rom. 7. 20 21. them so that ye cannot do the things that ye would And I delight in the Law of God after the Inward Man But I see another Law in my Members warring against the Law of my Mind And-to what end did holy Paul so nicely describe the whole Armature of a Christian if it were to hang up for a show only as rusty pieces are wont to do in a time of Peace No he directs to put them on telling us our Warfare is not so much with evil Men as with evil Spirits We wrestle not against Flesh and Blood but against Principalities against Powers against the Rulers of the darkness of this World against spiritual Wickedness in high Places Eph. 6. 12 13. Wherefore take unto you the whole Armour of God c. God himself published this War first in Paradise declaring that our Lives should be a continual Warfare Gen. 3. 15. with the Devil I will put Enmity between thee and the Woman and between thy Seed and her Seed it shall bruise thy Head and thou
to such Men by using the same Arguments to their hopes and fears as before But there are a sort of People who pretend to be Children of Light Sons of God that are yet Bastards and not Sons many a Wolf that lurks under a Sheep-skin so that the appearance can give us no certain Rule to judg by and we can look no further nor can we certainly know whether he be a Sheep or a Wolf Devil or Saint without a Revelation the Apostles themselves could not discern a Judas tho our Saviour could nor the Quakers a wanton Atkinson till a great Belly reveal'd it to them Yet we can minister to their Cases too we can press upon them a sincere and universal Holiness we can shew them the danger of Hypocrisy Thus we can minister unto all tho we know not certainly much less infallibly every Man's Case till it be revealed to us We desire to know of G. Whitehead if a Person should come to him with a troubled mind how he could discern by the help of his Infallibility where it pained or pinched him unless he opened his Condition and told him the cause of his Grief and yet if he were sullen and would not he might minister Advice and Counsel to him In none of these Cases can we reach further than a certainty far from a Quaker Infallibility and in every Case where we have not so much as a certainty still we may and ought to minister The Third Proposition We own That a Minister that is fallible is in the Spirit a Minister of Christ tho he cannot discern another Man's State and Condition so as to give an infallible Character of him The Apostles were Ministers of Christ and yet could give no such infallible judgment of the state of one amongst themselves and therefore cry Master Is it I and intreat their Master who alone could do it to discover the Traitor Neither can the most infallible Quaker of them all infallibly tell whether G. Whitehead himself he a right-bred Eagle Quaker tho now listed into the number of their Apostles One would imagine by his late coined Creeds he were about to Keithize and warp from his antient Testimony which God Almighty grant and is the worst harm we wish him neither would it be any dishonour to him to become an Holy Apostate which the Apostle exhorts every Christian to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let him depart from iniquity The fourth is ushered in with a consequently and therefore now if ever we shall have a Consequence yea verily such an one which as naturally flows from our Principles as the Tyber from the Thames 't is this Because the holiest Man alive does not infallibly know a Man's spiritual State he must not only be fallible but uncertain in his Ministry If we be fallible we must be uncertain a Consequence evidently false and foolish for a Man may be certain by his sense and knowledg not from the Infallibility of the Faculties but from a rational Evidence that in the present Case he is not deceived Whitehead in this agrees with his Brother Penn who in his Answer to Faldo saith He that doth not infallibly Pag. 36. know knows nothing certainly They would fain make Certainty and Infallibility the same thing which are vastly different Certainty is an Affection that belongs properly to an Act of the Understanding Infallibility to the Power and Faculty it self and there is still such an Imperfection in the Power and Faculty of our Understanding that it might possibly have been deceived even in those things wherein we are certain it hath not actually been deceived and our Certainty that we are not deceived doth not arise from the Infallibility of the Power or Faculty but from hence that we have all the Reason in the World to believe that in the present Case our Faculties have not deceived us G. Whitehead at the Close of this Principle makes it consequent that we are not only rendered hereby fallible and uncertain but blind and ignorant of the state and condition of others How far ignorant of Mens States we have shewn before but by his leave not quite blind He says he ascribes this Infallibility originally and principally to the Spirit P. 12. l. 18. of Truth one would have thought it might have been wholly which as it is it self infallible so is the teaching of it saith he Yes verily the Spirit 's teaching is very infallible but is he sure that every Man alive â—ay that any Man alive does infallibly follow the Spirit 's Teachings is it impossible it should be otherwise It must be therefore a wonderful Opening in G. Whitehead to tell us That so far as we are led by the Spirit we are assured by it and led into sound Judgment Certainty and full Assurance c. Whenas the difficulty lies here to prove that fallible Creatures do at any time infallibly follow the Spirit 's Instructions neither can we take it for Gospel what Prophet Parnel says That whoever P. 23. l. 12. are guided by the true Light cannot walk contrary to it no more than he that is guided by the Light of the Sun cannot stumble nor stagger tho he shuts his Eyes or be drunk unless he means they that follow the guidance of the true Light cannot but follow it while they follow it an Identical Proposition which Fools assert and no wise Man can deny Again he adds If there be no discerning of Spirits no infallible Character P. 12. ult to be given of Men then Christ's Sheep may follow Strangers Dogs Wolves Alas poor Sheep that cannot discern the Shepherd from his Dog If they will consider the Sheep may know a Shepherd if he be rightly called and minister to the Sheep according to the Instructions of the chief Shepherd of the Sheep They may be true Shepherds in relation to their Flocks tho in relation to God they may be Wolves and so reckoned at the last Day but the Sheep sure may hear such a ones Voice and follow such a Conduct tho the men be wicked and ungodly whilst their Doctrin is true 'T was our Saviour's direction to the Multitude and to his Disciples also concerning the Scribes and Pharisees who were the wickedest of men Whatsoever they bid you observe Mat. 23. 3. that observe and do but do not ye after their Works There was once a Wolf in Sheeps clothing as they will acknowledg amongst themselves whom they thought to be very instrumental in bringing many out of our Darkness into their Light while he taught men to follow the Light as the only Rule and stoutly declaim'd against an imaginary God and a carnal Christ beyond the Stars Oh how they flock unto him by shoals Poor Lambs how they suck at the Breasts of this Wolf as at their own natural Dam. For all their inward sense and instinct they run bleating after him for spiritual Food and Refreshment being deceived by the Sheepskin Covering that he wore His
Wenching and Fornicating which were the Wolf in him were not discovered till some time after Leeds in his Trumpet sounded p. 64. tells us of a counterfeit Quaker who tho a silly Woman could put a cheat upon their pretended Spirit of discerning how she travel'd from Meeting to Meeting through several Countries and held forth most powerfully and was entertained by Friends as a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to their great refreshment and admiration and never discerned to be no Quaker till discovered by others So that now they admit none to travel upon Truth 's account without Certificates Whitehead in his Quaker plainness tells us they have a record in peoples Consciences but now they must have a record in their Pockets too or their Friends will not receive them upon a Conscience-Record Who doubts but Judas was wicked enough yet the people might hear him and follow him whilst in his Doctrine he followed the Instructions of his Master Nay there is no doubt he might convert some by his Ministry and they receive Nourishment from this Wolf as Romulus and Renues from another seeing the efficacy of the Ministry depends not so much on the worth of the Minister as upon God's Grace Far be it from us to plead for the profane and scandalous we could heartily wish there were no more of such Wolves in the Church than there are of the other sort in the Kingdom because tho God may cooperate with the Ministry of such if their Doctrine be according to Truth and Godliness yet he does not so usually do it unless their Preaching be accompanied and enforced with the visible Doctrine of a holy Life Remember Judas was one of the Twelve sent out by Christ to gather a Church and it were an impeachment of the Divine Wisdom to say he made choice of an 2 Cor. 2. 17. Instrument which was no ways fit for the work As for the two Scriptures 1 Thess 1. 5. which he produces when he tells us what he brought them for whether to prove Infallibility or Transubstantiation we will return an answer P. 7. But there is another Quotation out of G. Fox given him by the Brief Discovery which George Whitehead is pleased to take no notice of and it is P. 96. this He says to the Priest Thou not being infallible thou art not in the Gr. Myâ—â— Spirit and â—o art not a Minister of Christ and art not able to judg of Powers that is not infallible nor Magistrates nor Kingdoms nor Churches So then it seems Powers Magistrates Kingdoms and Churches are to be judged at this infallible Bar. 'T is to be feared 't was this Judgment of such a Light within that câ—ndemned and cut off the Head of one great Magistrate in our own Country for nothing can stand before its High Court of Justice all Power P. 13. in Heaven and Earth as W. Smith in his Primer saith being given to it Let the Magistrates look to this perhaps ere long they may find it as necessary for their preservation to cause People to renounce the Authority of a Pope within as of a Pope without Whereas Edward Burroughs was charged in the Brief Discovery as saying Hereticks are infallibly known and discerned by the P. 7. Spirit of God in the true Church of Christ and by every Member of the same George Whitehead endeavours to justify him by desiring the contrary may be P. 13. inverted upon us and then saith he it must be thus That Hereticks are not infallibl known and discerned by the Spirit of God in the true Church of Christ nor by the Members thereof But George wilt thou never play fair with us always dropping the Card out of thy hand that may spoil thy Game Shouldst not thou have said by every Member thereof No that were too invidious and it would have been hard to have brought off Brother Burroughs handsomly for making too large a stretch if he had said every Member therefore he cunningly shuffles in an Indefinite for an Universal The Members of the Church which cannot imply every individual Member as Burroughs said but may mean some few of them as the Church-Representative in their yearly Juncto But does not Burroughs expresly say Hereticks are known infallibly by the true Church of Christ and every Member thereof And is this a fair Conversion of such a Proposition to say The Members thereof Whitehead hath some Scriptures which he hopes may help him at a dead lift to prove this Infallibility of discerning amongst the Quakers but 't will easily appear they have not the least disposition to testify to this Infallibility nay that 't is impossible to wring such a sensless Blasphemy from them for can any imagine the Scriptures of God should go about to set up another God which they would do should they assert another infallible Yet give us leave out of pure Love to them to rescue them from such barbarous violence that they may only give their voluntary and unconstrained Testimony in this matter We will begin with the last being a reserve he places the greatest Confidence in Enoch prophesied of this Behold the Lord cometh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he Jude v. 14. 15. would have it rendred in ten thousands of his Saints and denote only Christ's coming in the Spirit into his Saints and then it must be only a Christ in them must execute Judgment upon the Ungodly and convince them c. and so Christ will have as many Courts of Judicatory as there are Saints in which he shall judg and condemn Sinners But all this while tho Christ in executing Judgment be every where infallible in judging or discerning how proves this the Saint is so in whom he is But perhaps he means every Saint must be infallible in his Judgment having such an infallible Director and Mover within him But the Lameness of this consequence is shewn before it will be still with us as with our Watches tho the Spring be never so strong and good yet by reason of some Cracks and Bruises it got by the fall there may be some Errors and Stops in the motion even of this Masterpiece of the Creation which was at first so fearfully and wonderfully made by God But after all 't is plain the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 must be rendred as in our Translation with and it was never otherwise interpreted by any Christian Writer than of the coming of Christ to Judgment with his Saints to this day till it fell into Quaker hands We have a parallel Deut. 33. 2. place He came with thousands of his Saints So The Lord my God shall Zach. 14. 5. come and all the Saints with thee At the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ with 1 Thess 3. 13. all his Saints Which he explains by being caught up together in the Clouds to Chap. 4. 17. meet the Lord in the Air. Mind but the Context and it will necessarily â—â—ad to
this Interpretation St. Jude tells us of a sort of Libertines risen up amongst v. 4. them whom he would not have to Batter themselves that they should escape the just severity of a righteous God if they continued such therefore he minds them that tho God most wonderfully saved the Children of Israel his peculiar People from their Egyptian Bondage yet he destroyed them for their Infidelity and also tells them how severely he dealt with the mutinous Angels that he v. 6. clapt them up in everlasting Chains of Darkness to be reserved to the Judgmeet of the last day From them he descends to Sodom and Gomorrha whose Wickedness provoked God to involve them in a dreadful Ruin and yet the outward Fire which burnt down their Cities was but an Emblem of those eternal Flames which were to be indured by them afterwards Having thus described the Fate of these great Sinners he presently inveighs against their Filthiness and Impurities telling them that to such is reserved the blackness of Darkness for ever and that Enoch the seventh from Adam foretold the Judgment which should befal such men in these words Behold the Lord cometh to execute Judgment even this Judgment which St. Jude had spoken of before Chains of Darkness the vengeance of eternal Fire and Blackness of Darkness for ever He cometh with ten thousands of his Saints Sure not Christ in his Saints for Christ even then was come in many of his Saints and that Vengeance was not executed upon those Sinners and as yet they felt not the least scorching of those Flames But Christ shall come with them to execute this Judgment at the last Day Eccl. 8. 5. The second Scripture is Eccles 5. 8. it should be Eccl. 8. 5. A wise man's Heart discerneth both Time and Judgment What a Text is this to prove the Infallibility Char. Essay p. 6. of discerning who are Saints and who are Devils He might e'en as well have proved from hence every wise man to be a judicial Astrologer able to give certain Judgment of Times and Seasons Rain or Wind Famine or Pestilence 1 Cor. 2. 15. Next 1 Cor. 2. 15. is called in as a witness which says thus He that is spiritual judgeth all things yet he himself is judged of none Here again wants the word infallibly neither doth the Apostle say the spiritual man judgeth all Men but Things We cannot but allow the spiritual man judges all things by the assistance of the Spirit but then this all must be restrained to what went before all things that are revealed to him in the Gospel All things there revealed that are necessary to Salvation the spiritual man the Spirit assisting him may certainly discern by the Gospel of Christ which is the Christian's Rule good or evil true or false which can never be done by the Rule or Standard of Fleshly Wisdom Further the Text says he cannot be judged by any viz. fleshly-minded men Being taught by the Spirit of God he is not to stand before the Tribunal of carnal Reason neither is he to stand or fall by such a Sentence as 1 Cor. 4. 3. ' T is a small thing for me to be judged by you or 1 Cor. 4. 3. of Man's Judgment And indeed what need he regard what such men talk of him and his Religion no more than he should heed what the blind man's judgment is about Colours or Beauty All this while where is the Infallibility of every Member of the Church in discerning who are Saints and who are Devils But above all his Ignorance or much worse is to be wonder'd at to think he 1 Cor. 6. 1-6 could suborn 1 Cor. 6. 1 c. as a witness to such an Infallibility of discerning when the Text speaks plainly of civil Disserences between Believers and is it not the Apostle's main design to take them off from seeking redress of wrongs at the Heathen Tribunals where the application would be scandalous and the Judgment partial but rather to refer the matter to some Christian Friends If there be a wise man to be found amongst you let him judg but must every Umpire or Arbitrator needs be infallible in their Judgments Does this suppose that the Christians of those days could penetrate into the very Hearts and secretest Actions of the Litigants and upon the first sight of them could discover who it was that did the wrong and who that suffer'd it without any further search into the business by examining Evidences only by the immediate Revelation of the Spirit of God If Quakers could do this we would readily subscribe to that Doom which Fox pronounces against all Rulers Judges Justices Lawyers c. and give our consent for the cutting down such a fruitless News out of the North p. 20. Tree and set up Quakers in the room of them who can discern which are the Just and Righteous which the wrong Doers and the wrong Sufferers without the tedious and expensive trouble of sending for Witnesses from York to Westminster without such dilatory Forms of Allegata Probata or feeing the Lawyers with Guineas to plead our Cause if they do but look them in the Face they can tell you from the Spirit of the Lord who it was that stole the Horse or rob'd the Glover's Till c. Next poor Job must be wronged by him even as much as by his censorious Friends He is a Witness as George Whitehead saith to this Blasphemy but let us not take his word since we find he has abused as great Saints as him What then says holy Job Cannot my tastâ— discern perverse things And we dare Job 6. 30. refer it to any that hath any taste at all whether he can discern Infallibility here God hath given us sensible Faculties to enable us to discern sweet and bitter hurtful or healthful things to these Bodies of ours as also rational Faculties to discern what is good or evil true or false for the welfare of our Souls therefore he has given us Infallibility of discerning who are Saints who are Devils Truly Reader both you and we had need of Patience as the Apostle speaks to be continually vexed with such Impertinencies as these Just thus deals he 1 Cor. 14. 29. with St. Paul Let the Prophets speak and let others judg 'T is well our Bibles have escaped the Censure of the second days meeting we should have had Infallibility trump'd upon us in every one of these Texts as from the mouth of the Lord by those bold Inquisitors who sit every week to correct and amend every Message from the Lord before it is licensed to go forth into the World We doubt not but this dead and killing Letter this Serpents Meat the Scriptures must have undergone the same sate e're now but only thanks be to God it was printed long before Quakery was born Heb. 5. 14. is another Heb. 5. 14. of their convincing Proofs Those that are strong have
viz. That God does not accept any where there is any failing who does not fulfil the Law and answer every demand of Justice which Experience as well as God's Word assure us none is able to do so little do these foregoing words contribute towards the rendring those Orthodox which the Brief Discovery charges upon him and if these People in particular should pretend above other Men to be without failings 't would but make them the more ridiculous which in this matter they are already even to Contempt He says we oppose the Urim and Thummim Light and Perfection but do we oppose the Urim and Thummim whilst we assert it to be only in the Breast-plate of our great High-Priest but not upon the Breast of every or any Saint on Earth CHAP. V. Of Immediate REVELATION THE Brief Discovery charges Whitehead and Fox jun. with saying That P. 8. which is spoken from the Spirit of Truth in any is of as great Authority as the Scriptures and Chapters are and greater This undervaluing the Scriptures with respect to their own Writings is not a careless stumble of their Pen but deliberate and design'd for wherever they treat of Scripture 't is in the same Strain not varying from the Analogy of this Faith If ever you will own the Prophets Apostles or Christ himself you will own our Writings given forth by the same Spirit You may as well condemn the Scriptures to the Fire as our Queries and in this Answ to the Westmorel Petit. p. 30. place Whitehead gives the preheminence to their Writings says They are of as great Authority and greater Here he complains again of Injustice because we left out some explanatory words as he calls them in the same period the words are these which rather darken than enlighten the matter as Christ's words were of greater Authority when he spoke than the Pharisees reading the Letter never sure was there so cross so perverse an Answer was the comparison made between the Pharisees reading the Letter and the Quakers Speakings or between the Scriptures and their Speakings The Question ask'd was Whether they esteemed their Speakings of as great Authority as any Chapter in the Bible And the Answer was direct enough They are as great and greater too But when they prefer their Writings to the Scriptures he does not as he tells us mean the Scriptures but the Pharisees reading them If the Pharisees were such A B C-Darians that they knew not how to read a Chapter in the Bible as it ought to be yet the Bible is of the same Authority still read by a Pharisee or an Apostle tho perhaps not of the same Efficacy and the Scriptures whensoever spoken or by whomsoever tho they have not the Spirit who speak them yet whatever Whitehead says in the close of that Paragraph the Scriptures by whomsoever spoken we must obey and not as he says deny In the next Paragraph he bids us note That the Comparison is placed upon the Spirit of Truth speaking in Man in the first place and through and by the Ministers thereof in the next place A wonderful opening and amounts to thus much The Comparison is placed upon the Spirit of Truth speaking in Man in the first place and in and through Man in the second place He concludes we suppose from hence as he should have said the Spirit speaking in and through them as in and through the Apostles hath not lost its Authority and Power since it gave forth the Scriptures therefore their Writings must be of the same Authority with the Scriptures This were true if the Spirit spake in us or them as through a Trunk as the Devil did through the Images when he uttered his Oracles but he speaks in us or them whilst he assists us in our Speakings and Writings so that 't is not the Spirit but we that speak and write by the assistance of Christ's Spirit which assistance is given us according to what degree our Lord pleases as Whitehead acknowledges to us in P. 17. Pâ—r. 2. such a degree as overcomes not the Infirmities of our Nature so as that we should not be liable to some Mistakes but to the Apostles in such a degree as left them liable to none in their speaking or delivering the Scriptures to the World and the Miracles that they wrought were an abundant Evidence to all Men thereof And to shew that which he says in the next viz. That the Spirit of Truth immediately ministring in Man is of greater Authority or Power than the Chapters are without the Spirit is very vain or worse for which are those Chapters in our Bible that are without the Spirit or its Authority since every Chapter sure they will acknowledg is as much the Dictates of the Spirit as their Teachings are And it must be an Atheistical Consideration of the Scriptures to look upon them as Whitehead does here without the Spirit P. 17. l. 3 4 5. As for his Profession that they acknowledg the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be of Divine Authority and prefer them above all other Writings c. 't is Protestatio contra factum he only professing he does not do a thing even whilst he is doing of it Whereas he says the Spirit of God speaking in the Soul is of greater Efficacy Power and Authority than the Scripture without it is a captious Assertion for Efficacy Power and Authority are not the same thing and therefore as joined together we can neither affirm nor deny for of greater Efficacy and Power it may be but not of greater Authority unless they will say the Spirit is of greater Authority than the Spirit it being the same Spirit we are sure that wrote the Scriptures which they pretend speaks in them All this while he hath not offered to prove their Speakings to be of greater Authority than the Scriptures tho he said it very absurdly and blasphemously For can there be any Authority greater than that which is Divine and this Divine Authority Whitehead here saith they the Quakers sincerely acknowledg the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to have We think now 't would be but just to forbear charging the Priests with ignorance as he frequently does since 't is a spice of that which makes his Discoverer so confused here Letter of the 3 d day 3 d month 98. See Keith's 3 d Nâ—â— p. 66. Such Expressions as those above thou thoughtest fit to excuse to G. Keith in a Letter to him for there thou confessedst thou hast been too short and dubious in some Words or Exprestions as not fully explained in thy former Writings which may easily be helped by some ingenuous or charitable Explication or Emendation First by the way Here is thy Infallibility left to its shifts tho Thomas Danson and his Brethren were once no Ministers of Christ for disclaiming of it and Fâ—x tells us Whoever speaks a word and not from the Mouth of the Lord
Illumination without any special enlightning much more without immediate Revelation from Heaven But this is their general Sentiment and Opinion Geo. Fox says the same with Whitehead not only here but in his Journal p. 22. and Pen in his Answer to Faldo p. 58 64. Now for the honour of the Scriptures that they may not ly under the Popish Imputation of so great obscurity we shall prove that they who are not in the same Power Understanding Knowledg and immediate Revelation from Heaven that the Apostles were in may yet understand the sense of the Scriptures in things necessary to Salvation The Scriptures are plain in themselves a Lamp unto our Feet and a Light unto our Paths Psal 119. 105. and their Words manifest their Sense to us as other Writings do if we have but the use of rational Faculties and the common Illumination of the Spirit of God And it were contrary to the Goodness and Justice of God to enact Laws and make our Obedience to them necessary to Salvation and yet propound them so darkly and obscurely that none should be able to understand them unless they enjoyed the same Power Understanding Knowledg and immediate Revelation from Heaven with the Apostles which to be sure the greatest part of those they wrote unto viz. the Romans Corinthians Galatians Ephesians and others never did Besides the Scripture obliges all to whom they are delivered to believe and obey and therefore to understand both the Promises and Precepts thereof tho they have not attained to the same Understanding Knowledg and immediate Revelation from Heaven which the Apostles had nay wicked men who are far from any such Knowledg and Revelation c. are yet bound if they have the Scriptures to understand them since they sin if they do not Mat. 22. 19. Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures says Christ to the Sadduces and the consequence is evident because God never obliges to an Impossibility Besides they will not sure deny but we may understand the Scriptures of St. Whitehead St. Pen St. Fox and St. Burroughs without the same degree of the Spirit the Apostles were acted by and why not of St. Peter and St. Paul who sure were able to speak as clearly and intelligibly as the former We understand well enough what the Friends mean when they say Infant Sprinkling is from the Devil and the Pope when they say the Priests are Devils Dogs Beasts Hirelings and many more such Characters drawn to the life by those Artists in Railing See Fox Hubberthorne Truth 's Defence and many more And if we cannot understand your Scriptures why are we invited to read them who are carnal destitute of the Spirit of the Spirit we hope they were wrote by Again Did not Julian Celsus and Lucian understand the sense and meaning of the Scriptures and many Articles of our Faith contained therein Did they not scoff and jeer at them not sure at Ink and Paper dead Letters but the sense they imported They knew the meaning of those words well enough A Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and laugh'd at them as an impossible Fiction They well understood the sense of that Scripture 1 Cor. 15. 42 43 44. even better than William Pen who has allegorized away the literal meaning to a spiritual Resurrection and therefore scoffed at it as a Romantick Dream And Celsus who as Origen tells us boasted that he knew all the Christian Doctrines derided both the Holy Virgin asking if God were in love with her Beauty and the descent of the Holy Ghost in the shape of a Dove the Voice from Heaven the coming of the Wise men c. as may be seen l. 1. p. 30 31. Orig. contr Cels These sure were not in the same Power Understanding Knowledg and immediate Revelation from Heaven that the Apostles were in and yet by a very common Illumination could discern the sense and meaning of many Scriptures But we may instance in one more and he a great Quaker too that certainly was not in such Power and Understanding c. the Apostes were in and yet understands the Scriptures well enough to his cost the Deviâ— we mean for he believes them and trembles The Scriptures he brings p. 18. parag 5. prove nothing but what we have owned before Mat. 11. 27. No man knoweth the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son will reveal him and hath not the Son revealed him to every one of us by the Scriptures To the same purpose is that place 1 Cor. 2. 9. And the things of God knows no man but the Spirit of God By the common Illumination of the Spirit he is enabled to understand the sense of that Revelation and by a more special one to understand it savingly i. e. to believe and obey it and all this without the same Power Knowledg Understanding and immediate Revelation from Heaven that the Apostles were in And we are taught of God and by the Spirit John 6. 45. Isa 54. 13. Jer. 31. 33. when we are taugh by the Scriptures they being the means used for our instruction which is all that is observed in the Margin of the old Bible in Q. Elizabeth's days by hearing of his Word and inward moving of his Spirit the Spirit cooperating with those means And the following Note upon Jer. 31. 33. has only reference to that more plentiful effusion of the Spirit in the days of the Gospel than was afforded under the legal Ministration which tho no body ever denied or yet by granting shall need to render less useful and necessary the preaching of God's Ministers or the reading of the Scriptures The Priest had said Thou dost not speak in that degree of the Holy Ghost as the Prophets and Apostles did that spoke forth Scriptures To which George Fox answers p. 213. Gr. Mystery Thou canst not know Scriptures but by the same degree of the Spirit the Prophets and Apostles had But p. 19. l. 14. Whitehead seems to boggle at this expression saying Now the Scripture i. e. the whole Scripture cannot be truly known 't is like he means all the dark Visions Mysteries and Revelations which no private Christian is concerned to understand but by a high degree of the Spirit if not the same but presently comes to confession that the true knowledg of the Scripture must be obtained by a degree of the same Spirit Instead of the same degree of the Spirit it is now a degree only of the same Spirit which all know to be vastly different and yet thus the words should have bin wrote at first for they were so intended says this excellent Vindicator had not Fox's Infallibility nodded whilst he was writing and so mistakingly wrote the same degree of the Spirit for a degree of the same Spirit And now for a close of this Head 't is a thing much to be lamented and ought by all sober Christians to be seriously laid to heart that such persons as both the Foxes Parnello Eccles and
a great many more of the Gang who can scarce speak or write good sense should dare to challenge Inspiration and immediate Revelation from Heaven equal with the Apostles themselves a thing not to be claimed without the greatest certainty in our selves and the highest evidence given to Mankind since the Glory of God the Authority of the Scriptures the State and Welfare of human Societies as well as the Interest of the Christian Religion and the Souls of so many thousands easily intangled by such pretences are deeply concerned therein May we not Sleidan ' s Comment 5th and 10th Books Ross ' s Appendix to his View of all Religions Casaubon of Enthusiasm Spencer ' s Vulgar Prophecies Rutherford ' s Surve of the Spiritual Antichrist Short History of the Anabaptists in Germany be convinced from the accounts given us by many learned and impartial Writers mentioned in the Margin that evil Designs inward Heats melancholy Fancies Satan's Suggestions nay the want of good Arguments have frequently taken sanctuary under this sacred Cover It were easy to make good this by Instances some from Hereticks in the primitive times others from the Enthusiasts amongst the Romanists and very many from the Sectaries of late days both at home and abroad as the persons cited and others have largely done The Anabaptists flew high with this Claim and it was Rutherford p. 6 7 8. their Blind to carry on every design Their Founder Nich. Storke boasted of Dreams and Visions rejecting the Scripture as being a carnal and literal Rule saying God spake to him by an Angel and revealed to him his Will in Dreams promising him the place of the Angel Gabriel and the Empire of the World See the Short History of the Anabaptists of High and Low Germany chap. 2. p. 6. His Follower Tho. Munster pretended the like Communications from God and would fain have gained Luther to his side but he wrote to the Senate of Mulhaysen a famous Town in Thuringia to beware of that Wolf John Becold a Taylor afterwards called John of Leyden carried on all his Designs by a pretence of immediate Revelation from Heaven and the great Mischiefs caused thereby are abundantly known above a hundred thousand being kill'd by occasion of these bloody Inspirations John Matthiz or Matthias the Baker of Harlem had Secrets reveal'd to him which God had not reveal'd to others he being Enoch the second High Priest of God and was in effect perpetual Dictator at Munster Yea Herman the Cobler profess'd himself a true Prophet Hist of the Anabapt chap. 3. p. 21. and the true Messiah These with Knipperdolling Tuscocurer the Goldsmith and many more of that Sect pretended Inspirations from Heaven for all they did and said and at all turns made known their Revelations to the People which betraved them to Ruin and Destruction which made Melancthon severely censure them saying These Fanatical Dotages are accursed And we in opposition to such who assert new Revelations are to be expected from Melanct. de numero sacrament God do declare that God out of his infinite Goodness having revealed his Will to us in the Gospel other Revelations are not to be expected And 't is evident Revelation has been pretended for very ill purposes among the Quakers themselves one of them replying to his Creditor 'T is revealed to See Christianity no Enthusiasm pag. 125 126. me that I owe thee nothing Thus Mary Gadbury pretended a Revelation to get some Cloth from Mrs. Woodward And there were two Quakers near Stukely in Yorkshire whose Consciences bidding them destroy Original Sin they apprehending their Mother was the Fountain thereof went and murder'd her Agreable to the Practices of some of the Anabaptists beyond Sea who being drunk with Enthusiasm the spiritual Lunacy of this Schismatical Age as a Dr. Hicks Short History of the Anabaptists p. 51. Learned Man calls it committed many such wild Freaks One of their Sect being in his prophetical mood call'd his Father Mother Brother and Sisters to him and commanding his Brother to kneel down cut off his Head with one Blow crying out The Will of God is done Thus John of Leyden led by his prophetical Spirit wrote several Conclusions which he commanded the Preachers to teach the People the sum of which was That men are not tied P. 24. to one Wife but may have as many as they please and he had fifteen for his share which when they refused he declared the Doctrine was revealed to him from Heaven and commanded the first Opposer thereof to be beheaded which was done presently These and the like Extravagancies made a Learned Man declare That Dr. Hicks ' s Spirit of Enthusiasm exorcis'd p. 37 38. it was a dangerous Principle to assert That immediate Revelation or Inspiration is not ceased but is a standing and perpetual Gift in the Church of Christ and that this Spirit is not like the Spirit in the Primitive times to be tried by the Scriptures and Reason but both of them are to be tried by it as Barclay in his Theses asserts And he very well observes further That amongst all the miraculous Gifts taken notice of in the New Testament there is no mention made of Heroical Impulse by which men were sometimes irresistably moved from the Spirit under the Jewish Oeconomy to execute Judgment P. 39. in an extraordinary manner upon the Enemies of God for God being the Political King and Legislator of the Jews did as other absolute Monarchs do in some special Exigencies send men with extraordinary supra-legal Commissions to do present execution upon great and dangerous Offenders without staying for the ordinary process by Law but our Saviour one end of whose coming was to put an end to the Jewish Oeconomy and who came not to destroy mens Lives but to save them gave no such Gifts unto Men There is to be no Fire from Heaven nor no Phineas's under the Christian Dispensation accordingly the first Apostolical Ages of Wonder were utterly ignorant of killing Impulse and Zeal And let us saith he P. 40. a little more particularly reflect upon that blasphemous Doctrine of the Quakers concerning a spiritual Ministry and spiritual Worship whereby they pretend that the Holy Ghost now comes down upon their Assemblies as it did in the Apostles time and moves them to preach and pray by inspiration without any regard to Condition or Sex Hence when they meet together they sit hanging their heads in a silent dumb manner till the Spirit as they pretend shall move some body it is indifferent be it Man or Woman to preach or pray Accordingly they call their Preaching Prophesying and precariously say that they have the Spirit of Adoption by which they call God Father and that the Spirit in the inspired Minister maketh intercession for them with unutterable Groans that they groan sufficiently we grant for sometimes in their Meetings they do nothing else but if their groaning or vocal Devotions be
Semblance and Appearance But further if you turn in you shall see greater Abominations than these Is it not says he ibid. a Spiritual Supernatural Virtue Power and Efficacy that cleanseth saveth and justifieth if it be how then can it proceed from the shedding of the Blood outwardly If it perished and be not in being Pag. 16. Where is the Blood is it in being or no or did it sink into the Ground and corrupt How then does it cleanse justify redeem and save Pag. 17. That Blood that saves is in being and not corruptible for we are not redeemed with corruptible things Thou mayst remember George The Lamb was slain Rev. 13. 8. from the Foundation of the World He was not actually crucified from the beginning but the virtue and merit of his Death might reach to the beginning of the World though not then in being and why not to the end of it too though not in being The Purchase may be enjoyed either before or after the Payment of the Price and if it be not in being we may enjoy the benefit of it by Faith He asks again p. 55. whether any thing be of Eternal Merit or Worth that is not everlasting and then scoffingly upbraids us as not being well agreed what Blood of Christ we should assign that Virtue and Efficacy to whether to that which was let out of his Side by the Soldier 's Spear after Death or that Blood that drop'd from him in his Agony and at last confidently resolves that the Blood of Christ that cleanses us c. is the Life of the Spirit and that this is the Blood of the Covenant Here we have the outward Blood of Christ thrown out of Doors by Whitehead as if it were but the Blood of an Ox or Sheep let out at the Shambles only because the Scripture speaks so much of the Blood of Christ and we must not affront its Testimony too much They tell us of an inward Blood of Christ a Blood never heard of before neither in Scripture nor any of the Writings of Christians from the Apostles times till Satan in these last Ages of the World opened a Vein in Fox's Crown and so furnished us with plenty of it Ah how willingly would you be rid of the outward Christ as well as the outward Blood of Christ as the Jews Joh. 9. 22. they would have thrust him out of their Synagogues long ere now but for fear of the People though in effect they have cast out Jesus of Nazareth as well as his Blood only drest up one as Michael dealt with Saul a counterfeit Phantasm as like him as they can which they call a Christ within Ah George thou wilt one day find it better to have remembred the Blood of Christ at our Communion with Raptures of Joy and Thankfulness than thus to have remembred it in your Light and Life with Scorn and Contumely No wonder you abandon and explode the Ordinance of the Lords Supper which was instituted as a Commemoration of the outward Blood of Christ which if it were as thou hast wickedly represented it would not be worth remembring God open thy Eyes and give thee Repentance for belching out such Blasphemies against that Blood and grant that thou mayst feel the Virtue of that which thou hast so much vilifyed and experience the merit of it in the pardon of thy so great Blasphemies What G. Whitehead says p. 27. ult touching their giving Liberty to all is so little to the purpose that nothing need to be returned to it the Charge in the Brief Discovery p. 13 14. quoted from the Spirit of the Hat standing firm against them Fox saying What! Liberty to the Presbyter No. To the Independent No. To the Baptist No. Liberty is in the Truth which if it has any sense must be this no Liberty to any but those that are in the Truth equivalent to that of the Papists as the Quotation takes notice who say What! Liberty to the Sectary No. To the Hereticks No. No Liberty out of the Church say they No Liberty out of the Power says Fox which amounts to the same as one Quaker wrote to another in their bemoaning Letter call'd the Spirit of the Hat which plainly refers to a Liberty from external Coercion and Force because it speaks of such a Liberty as they could give to or take away from Presbyters Independents and Baptists And therefore when George Whitehead says in answer hereunto there 's no true Liberty but in the Power and Spirit of the Lord and William Pen calling it a Spiritual Liberty is nothing to the purpose Spiritual Liberty being wrought within not given by Men without that which no mortal Man can give or take away neither do Presbyterians Independants or Baptists whatever Power the Quakers may come to fear their Spiritual Prisons Chains or Fetters but their material ones And whereas George Whitehead shifts to another corner telling us in canting words 't is a Liberty in truth and adds 't is for Unity Society and good Order against the Spirit of Strife Division and Separation What is this to Presbyterians Independants and Baptists who were the persons spoken of Were they ever taken into your Society or did they turn Quakers that you should be concern'd at their making any Division or Separation from you under pretence of Liberty of Conscience All this is to amuse the Reader and lose the true Case in hand which was to show that the Quakers had they as much Power would afford as little Liberty to Dissenters from them as any of the Persecuting Priests or Powers of the Earth as William Pen calls them yea even as the Papists themselves of which Instances enow might be given wou'd it not swell this piece too much which has already exceeded the Limits we design'd it Some are given by the worthy Author of the Snake in the Grass 3d Edit p. 63 64 c. But we leave this and proceed to another Head CHAP. XIâ— Of Government SEditious Principles against the State is the second thing we charg'd them with the bare Representation of which wou'd we had hop'd have prevail'd with any who design'd to clear this People of Blasphemy to own the Maâ—ignity of such Passages as those which the Brief Discovery quoted from their Authors but we find our selves deceived herein George Whitchead coming forth as a Champion prepared to vindicate and defend them making their Authors Prophets and their Sayings prophetical Passages touching Government but whoever shall consider the dire Effects those wild Prophesies of Munster Phifer John Matthias John of Leyden and the rest of that Gang had upon the Civil Government of those places they came unto will acknowledg there 's great reason to discourage such an extravagant Spirit whatsoever Pretences it makes to prophetick Inspiration For how did these Prophesies not only lead them into all Impurity as we have shown but incited the People to run upon their Magistrates and deprive them of all Authority and
Power and none have followed them more in those pretended Prophesies and Revelations than the Quakers and that their's were not so influential upon the English Nation as the others were upon Munster and other places is to be attributed to that Sobriety of Temper the greatest part were induced with and that Freedom from Arbitrary Opprassion the others were liable to as also to their Experience what a Condition for several years they had been brought unto by turbulent and unquiet Sects Our first Charge is That they are Enemies to Kingly Government and this the Passages we quoted from Burroughs George Fox and others did clearly evince nay not only their Aversion to Monarchy but to the Person of King Charles the 2 d. as a Review of them will make manifest Edward Burroughs speaks thus p. 244. The Lord is risen to overturn to overturn Kings and Princes Governments and Laws And he will change Times and Laws and Governments and there shall be no King ruling but Jesus nor no Government of Force but the Government of the Lamb nor no Law of Effect but the Law of God all that which is otherwise shall be ground to Powder And p. 507. he says further But as for this People i. e. the Quakers they are raised of the Lord and established by him even contrary to all Men and they have given their Power only to God and they cannot give their Power to any Mortal Men to stand or fall by any outward Authority and to that they cannot seek but to the Lord alone What saith George to all this truly he dares not recite it all but after he had gone a little way stops as if he had seen a Spectre The Lord is risen to overturn to overturn Kings Princes Governments and Laws and he will change Times and Laws and Governments c. and there he is at a full stand hoping his Reader wou'd never meet with more of it And those he says p. 28. were prophetical Passages wrote 1657 and yet spoken in the present tense the Lord is risen not will arise very true George Some of us can well remember to our Sorrow how the Lord in his Wrath did then rise and for the Punishment of our Sins did overturn by such wicked Instruments as the Quakers who gloried in their having a hand in that overturning-work Kings Princes Governments and Laws Edward Burroughs prophesies says George Whitehead but 't is of things past or present which he saw accomplish'd when he wrote them and there in wisely caution'd the Quakers would they have heeded it never to go beyond their Ken and had they done so without foolishly venturing upon things to come neither they nor their Prophesies had been exposed to so much Shame and Scorn as they have met with But suppose these Prophesies were of things to come such Generals coming to pass would no more establish Burroughs a Prophet than it would have done John Lilburn and others who foretold the downfal of their Enemies but if any Revolutions had happened for 20 years after in any parts of the known World they should have been brought in to have vouch'd him a Prophet of the Lord for George Whitehead wou'd have his Reader observe That these Prophesies were directed to all the World under the Title of a Standard listed up and an Ensign held forth unto all Nations a large Province indeed for him to pretend unto when he gave not the least sign to any of these Nations by which they should be convinced that he was commission'd as a Prophet from the Lord unto them whereas all Persons of old that pretended to be Prophets came attested with some sign or wonder as we have shewn before And yet p. 46. saith George Whitehead Edward Burroughs was a Man truly inspired with the Spirit of God and of Prophesy tho God never gave the World a convincing Proof thereof but what may not such Enthusiastick Persons vent to the People under the pretence of Prophesy if the Character of a Prophet may be allow'd them without giving any Evidence thereof if for such stuff as this Burroughs must be said to be inspired with the Spirit of Prophecy What shall we say to Anna Trapual who exceeded both the Quakers and most of the other Pretenders in exceâ—sive Fastings and in foretelling several things that came to pass afterwards She wou'd fast sometimes 9 11 14 Days She was told by the Spirit of the Soldiers See the Cry of a Stone p. 4 5 6 7 c. and p. 20 qaâ—ted in Christianity no Enthusiasm p. 96 100. coming to London she had a Vision of the Scots everthrow before Dunbar of the Fight with Holland of the dissolving the Long-Parliament and several Visions of Oliver's being Protector which she was troubled at and foretold Gidcen's i. e. his being laid aside yet after all she brands the Quakers as a delirous deluded People Let them tell him viz. Oliver of his Sins and tell him with Humility and Tears not as those deluded Spirits that go running about the Streets and say we have such Visions and Revelations who come out with their great Speeches of Vengeance Judgments and Plagues Oh but thine who come from thee thou givest them Humility Meekness Bowels Tears which was indeed most like to the true Prophets Jer. 9. 1. who were mightily affected with the Miseries they foresaw coming upon a People but how cheap and mean is Prophesy made by such as Fox Burroughs and others of their Order assuming it Let the Reader please to observe what trifling things they advance as Prophesies rather than lose the Honour of being accounted Prophets Upon the proclaiming King Charles 2 d. some Queries A Visitation of Love unto the King and the Royalists p. 4 5. were sent to the Quakers which this Edward Burroughs answered The first Query was Whether you or any of you that did pretend to Inspiration and Revelation did foresee or was it reveal'd to you that ever Charles Stuart should be proclaimed King to reign in England any more Now rather than be thought in the dark here see what he reckons up for Visions and Revelations from God This says he was not contrary to that which some of us have seen For thus much was said by George Fox in a Letter to Oliver Crâ—mwel What and if for and because of thy Wickedness in the sight of God he should raise up the Cavaleers and make them Instruments in his hands to accomplish his Wrath upon thee even like as he made thee once his Instrument to overthrow them Here saith Burroughs the thing was believed to be possible and it is now come to pass even as was seen and believed Spectatum admissi risum tenâ—atis Was ever such things call'd Visions and Revelations before Because the thing was possible for God to do tho' it was not done in Oliver's Days which the passage in that Letter seems to refer unto nor yet neither during his Son's Rule and Government God