Idolatry

In order to the proof of this Charge againſt them, 'tis neceſſary to notifie, That as Spiritual Idolatry is juſtly reputed the worſt ſort of Idolatry by learned Authors; that we may not want Inſtances if their Guilt if this worſt of that Crime, we need go no firther then p. 15, 16, 45. of their Old Fox's Pearl found in England, compares with p. 31, &c. of his Younger Fox's Works; where taking occasion to magnifie the Light within every Man coming into the World, according to William Pen's Notion in his Spirit of Truth, as he calls it, they, in the Name of it, cry, I the Light; you ſhall feel, it is not natural nor weak;1 for it ſhall break you to pieces; I the Light in you, will take all Peace from the Earth; yea, I'll bring you to your Wit's End; {Page 154} I'll burn your Heavens, and I'll burn your Earth; I'll burn within, and I'll burn without; until I have consumed you all, who will not own me, the Light within; to which all Power in Heaven and Earth is comitted; with more to this purpose. All which, how true ſoever, as understood with reſpect to Christ, the only true Light of Life, who appears to all Men at certain Seaſons, immediately by his Holy Spirit, in their Hearts and Souls, to call them to Repentance and Amendment of Life, whilſt the Day of their viſitation laſts; yet as applied to the Common Light within every Man coming into the World, according to our depraved Quaker Notion, is Idolatry in the highest Senſe,by exalting a Creature in the place of the Creator. Of the unhappy Effećts whereof, as they have been often forewarn'd by their Opponents to no purpoſe, 'tis the leſs wonder, that they should be found guilty of the ſame Crime in the common groſs Senſe, by their Idolatry towards one another, as will appear by what follows.

For not to tranſcribe the!r Friend Audland and Cole's most Idolatrous Letters to their magnified Apoſtle Fox; both which, as they are proved to be of their own Hand Writing by their Opponents, and as ſuch owned by the!r Friend William Pen, in his Postſcript to his Juſt Rebuke, compared with his Judas and the Jews comn-bin'd, to the eternal Confutation of thier late ſhuffling Questioners of the Truth of 'em; 'tis the leſs ſurprize to me, that he the ſaid William Pen ſhould be found guilty of the ſame Crime himſelf also, towards this his Reverend Fox, in the Idolatrous Encomiums he (in his Preface to the Journal of his Life) bestows on {Page 155} him; where, notwithſtanding thoſe ridiculous Impertinencies in his ſeveral Writings are compos'd of, together with the numerous Erros, Hereſies, and moſt groſs inconſiſtencies, amongſt other Misfortunes Spiritual and Temporal, he hath involv'd him the ſaid William Pen, and others of his bigoted Adherents in, by implicitly following his Fancies, he ſticks not to proclaim him, A choſen Veſſel; a blessed and glorious Inſtrument, who abundantly excelled in ſingular Qualification, and Services, which are worthy to be ſet firth as an Example to all ſſucceeding Times, for a just Memorial to that Worthy and Excellent Man; God's faithful S'rvant, and Apoſtle to this Generation: whoſe Words were as Texts to many fairer Declarations; in all which, he was witneſſed to be of God, being ſenſiboy felt to ſpeak that which he had received of Chriſt, and was his own Experience in thét which never errs nor fails; one whom they that know moſt, will ſee moſt reaſon to approach him with Reverence and Fear; a Man of an innocent Life; no Busie-Body, nor Self-Seeker, nir Touchy; but Inoffenſive, Meek, Modeſt, Eaſie, Steady, Tender, Loving, Compaſſionate, Long-ſuffering, Merciful, ready to forgive, unapt to take or give Offence, of an excellent Spirit and Savour, who, in all Things acquitted himsſelf like a Man; yea, a ſtrong Man, a heavenly minded Man, a Divine, a Naturaliſt, &c. ſo as it may be ſaid, though many Sons have done vertouſly in this our-Day, yet, dear George, thou excelleſt them all; with a many more florid Encomiums to the ſame pu"rpoſe; moſt of which, as my ſelf amongſt many others, know to be falſe and undeſerved of him, ſo they that can't diſcover a Strain of Idolatry in the {Page 156} the whole, muſt be more than Balaam, when he could not ſee the deſtroying Angel of the Lord juſt before him. 2

I thought to have given a many more Inſtances of their Idolatry out of their approved Writings here, towards this their Fixed Star, and moſt Reverend Fox who, as the y eſteemed more than a Man, they accounted it no leſs then Blaſphemy to attempt to detećt him; under pretence, That as he ſhould never turn to Duſt, his Name ſhould be had in everlaſting Remembrance, &c. But as they are generally notified in Sect. 8 of the Snake in the Graſs, and p. 41, 47, 240, 253, 265. of F.B.'s Pilgrims Progreſs, with p. 38, &c. of the 7th Part of Rogers's Chriſtian Quaker, and Quakers divided, p.1 &c. beyond their Ability to defend themſelves in their vain Attempts for that purpoſe; I shall only tell them,3

That if to call him; Dear and Precious; one in whom my Life is bound up, and Strength in thee ſtands, by whoſe Breathings I am nouriſhed, and by thy Preſence preſerv'd,&c. be to Idolize him.

Then their Preacher Audland having ſo called him in his Idolatrous Letter he ſent him; their Preacher Audland was guilty of Idolatry in ſo Idolizing him.4

If to call him, The Father of many Nations, whoſe Life reach'd through us his Children; one who reul'd and govern'd in Righteouſneſs, whoſe Kingdom was without end, &c. be to Idolize him.

Then their Teacher Cole having ſo call'd him in a Letter he ſent him, which they declare their Approbation of; their ſaid Teacher Cole, with his Quaker Fri'nds that abetted him, are with him alſo guilty of Idolatry in thus Idolizing him. 5.

{Page 157} If to flatter him, as One blessed with Honour; whoſe life reigns, and is ſpotleſs and innocent; and eternal Honour and bleſſex Renown ſhall remain; as one whoſe Preſence, and dropping if his tender Words in the Lord's Love, was his Soul's Nouriſhment, &c. be to Idolize him.

Then Blakeling the Quaker Preacher having ſo flattered him, in a Certificate he wrote concerning him; Blakeling the Quaker Preacher is guilty of Idolatry in ſo Idolizing him.6

If to affirm of him, That as it was ſaid of Chriſt, That he was in the World, and the World was made by him, and the World knew him not; ſo it may be ſaid of this true Prophet [i.e. Fox] whom John ſaid he was not;be to Idolize him.7

Then their depraved Quaker Preacher Eccles having ſo affirm'd of him in his Book they approve of; their depraved Preacher Eccles, with thoſe that approved his Book, are guilty of Idolatry in thus Idolizing him.8

It to preſume to bleſs him, in the Terms of Blessed be the Man that came out of the Noth, and bleſſed be the Womb that bare him, and the Paps that gave him ſuck; (under pretence of his being one at whoe Name the Heathen trembled, &c.) be to Idolize him.

Then this their wiſe Solomon Eccles having ſo bleſſed him, according to the effećt of his own Confeſſion, in a certain Letter of his, cited by William Pen in his Judas and the Jews combin'd, the ſaid Solomon Eccles, with thoſe that abetted him, are guilty of moſt Idolatry in thus Idolizing him. In purſuance wherof, 9

{Page 158} Laſtly, Not to enlarge on their many Idolatrous Proſtrations before, and undeſerved Adorations of this their Idol Fox, defended by the Leading Quakers, as done in Reverance to the Life of Chriſt in him, after he had become, in a manner, wholly a St'anger to it, by exalting the Light within fim from his Creation in the place of it, under the Denomination of the only true Light of Life. 10

If to exalt him as the Lord's Anointed, and great Apoſtle of Jeſus Chriſt, ordain'd of the Lord, to be in the Place amonſt the Children of Light, (as they call their own dark Souls) in this our Day, (as Moſes was amongſt the Children of Iſrael in his day) to ſet forth Methods and Forms of Church Government , eſtabliſhed Monthly and Quarterly Meetings of Men, and Womens distinct from the Men, &c. be to Idolize him in the place of the Light they confeſs they were at firſt turn'd to, as their only Guide in all Things.11

Then the depraved Quakers having ſo exalted him in the afore-mentioned Encomiums, &c. the depraved Quakers are guilty of Idolatry towards this their Reverend Fox in thus Idolizing him, as others of their Brotherhood have been alſo towards their much honoured Pen, who therein ſupported them;in purſuance whereof, as Pen and his depraved Collegues thus magnified their great {Page 159} Apostle Fox, ſo Fox in like manner illuſtriouſly exalt'd this their moſt famous Pen, in a Poemical Harangue juſt now before me, entitled,12

The Character of Mr. Pen, Esquire,
That matchleſs Man, whom Ages will admire;
Aſſuredly, there are but few ſuch Men
In all the World, as is this Mr. Pen;
For if his Heart and Tongue go both together,
We know not where to find out ſuch another.

With much more to this purpose.

By the laſt Lines of which, as it ſeems, they had not over-great Confidence in his Conſtancy to the Cauſe, not withstanding thoſe their florid Encomiums; ſo leaſt he ſhould thereby be set up above their most Reverend Fox, they (as his juſt Reward for his Officiouſneſs in exalting their Fox and his Light within, as & God) thought it their ſafeſt Ciurse to take him down in Time, by giving him to the -------Long Scrawl, for Writing without their Licenſe to King James the Second, had not ſome of his Voteries ſtept in and prevented them.

Though I have more proper Character bestow'd by the Spirit of Truth on him, through a truly inſpired Friend of ours, than our QuakerPoemical one; which, notwithſtanding he liked not half so well, as I found by the Fury it inflam'd him with, when I read it in his Audience the Day after its delivery; for whish Cauſe I deſign'd to bury it in Obliviion, according to his Solicitations, in hopes of his Repentance and Amendment without its publication; but ſince he is ſo far from any ſuch Thing, as that he hath more fully verified the Contents on't, by his diſingenuous Refuſal to make way for my Audience at our Yearly Meeting in Anno 1712. according to his Pretenſions; I {Page 160} think it my Duty to recite the ſame, as a perpetual Warning againſt ſuch an exalted Distrephes, as God hath declared, he will humble by his ſevere Viſitations; as he hath ſince done, by expoſing him to Nebuchadnezer's Fate, in ſole meaſure; out of which I have ground to believe, he will never know Redemption, till he in like manner be brought to acknowledge, That the moſt High (and not he, or his deprav'd Collegues Fox énd Whitehead, &c.) shall only Rule in the Spiritual, as well as the Temporal Kingdoms of Men, let them vainly hope what they will to the contrary. The ſaid Prophetick Warning being as follows, verbatim13

You, my Children, beware of the Fox, for he has more Craft then Honeſty; a Pollution he is known to be; but his Goodneſs all are Strngers to, except thoſe who will have him ſo; but you know, that nothing is made Good by being eſteemed ſo: Be ye aware of him, and know, he is an Enemy to my Appearance; for as a Pope hath he placed himſelf, and as ſuch he is ador'd by thoſ e ſimple Ones, whim by Craft he hath inténgled: Be ye aware of him, for he hath laid a Snare, and he doubts not to entrap ye therewith; ſee that ye go not within his reach; and wharſoever his Pretences may be, be you deaf thereto; and I further Charge you, thét you anſwer not his Civil Requests, except I command you.

Which Prophetic Declarétion being unwittingly delivered by a Person wholly ignorant of his then Ingagement with Esquire Lacy, and others of our truly inspired Friends, in way of Conference, in Lombard-Street, London; and immediztely ſent in Writing out of Holbirn by another that knew of it, for their Direction in their Behaviour towards him; wherein as it proved of great Service to the Persons cons-cerned, may be of uſe to ſhow others, That God who ſees Mens Hearts, when they endeavour moſt to co nceal them, is ſometimes juſtly pleaſed to debaſe ſuch lofty Pretenders, as Men are ignorantly led to Idolize, for want of a true Sense of their inward Corruptions; as he has done this our exalted Pen, and his famous Patron Fox, by ſtriking {Page 161} the çne with Lunacy in his Life, as he did the other with Death in his Preaching.

Wherefore, if thoſe Magiſtrates that puniſh not Idolaters, be ſo far from aćting according to the Light in the Conscience as that for their bearing the Sword in vain; that in the Conscience will take hold upon condemn and execute the Righteous Law of God upon them, according to the Quakers Sentiments.14

Then ſince no other Proteſtant Profeſſors are ſo groſly guilty of that Crime, as I have proved them, I hope they won't take it ill to be puniſhed according to the Rules of their own Light for it; as well as their next Crime of Villany, which is what I also undertake to prove them most groſly culpable of, as follows. In purſuance whereof

  1. Sure they meant themʃelves, ʃince none elʃe are ʃo ʃhattered, and broke to pieces, and conʃounded as they are, by their dependence on its Almightineʃs, as their only Preʃervr.  ↩︎

  2. Viz. Thomas Criſp, in his Babels Builders. Rogers's Quakers a divided People, 1ʃt Part, p. 8. Tyranny and Hypocriſy detećted, p. 19. Penyman's ʃeveral Traćts, and Account of the Life oʄ John Penyman. Snake in the Graʃs, p. 179. Compared with Pen's Invalidity of John Faldo's Reply, p. 354. Counterfeit Convert, p. 28. and Judas and Chief Prieſts, p. 10, &c. In purſuance of which Idolatrous Diſpoſure, as they eſteem'd themſelves obliged to diſpence with their Great Apoſtle's Non-conformity to the Formality of propoſing his Intentions oʄ Marriage before the Womens diſtinćt Meeting of Diſcipline, he and they impoſed Subjećtion on others to, ʃo they not only thought good to exempt his renowned Scribbles from their Second Days Meeting's Scrutiny they bring others under; as a Subjećtion below the Infalibility of his Holineʃs; but alſo thought it their Duty to excuſe him, in giving his Advice to his Benefaćtor M. Penington to ſecure a Part of her Eſtate from the Spoilers, when they came to ſeize for her Husband's Nonconformity, contrary to his Advice to others, to offer their All as their Duty indiſpenſible, is evidence of his Super-excellency above 'em, if their Friend William Rogers of Briſtol may be credited, in p. 33. of the 7th Part of his Chriſtian Quaker, &c. compared with others.  ↩︎

  3. See Chriſtopher Taylor's Epiſtle of Caution, with others cited p. 4 of Roger's Quakers divided, compared with their ſeversl Recommendatory Epiſtles, at the Front of his Selećt ones, and Doćtrinal Works. #Though I rather think, it ſhall ſooner Rot and Stink as the Dung for his Apoſtacy and Tyranny, as our true Friends Robert Rich and John Wilkinson, &c. have long ſince foretold him  ↩︎

  4. See the ſame as cited in p. 8 of Rogers's Quakers divided, compared with the whole, as transcribed at the Concluſion of the Snake.  ↩︎

  5. In their Judas and the Jews combin'd, p. 44, &c.  ↩︎

  6. See the ſame as cited p. 6 of Roger's Quakers divided, wit Part 5. p. 77. *of his Chriſtian diſtinguish'd, and G.W. Countrefeit Convert, p.* 22.  ↩︎

  7. Let them not blame me, as their manner is, for adding the Word Fox here, whom the Author means, ſince it is according to their great Pen's Precedent in p. 93. of his Counterfeit Christian.  ↩︎

  8. Quaker Challenge, p. 6.  ↩︎

  9. See p. 42. of their True Account, as cited p. 73. of the Account ofthe Life of John Penyman, with p. 19. of Tyranny and Hypocriſy; and p. 26. of the Quakers unmasked, with p. 73,74,75. of W.P.'s ſaid Judas and the Jewſ combin'd.  ↩︎

  10. Pen's Judas p. 104. Wilkinſon's Letter as cited Part 4. p. 43. of W. Rogers's Chriſtian Quakers diſtinguiſhed, compared with G.W.'s Innocency againſt Envy, p. 18, Righteous Judgment, &c. p. 109. Rich's Hidden Things, and Fox's ſeveral Letters at the End of their Account from the Committee of Parliament, concerning the Trial of James Naylor. About which, as they were ſtrangely confounded, when they went to Suſanna Blandford to evidence their Innocency, by her Advice to them, to rave no further in the Matter, in a Senſe of their Guilt in her Preſence, as her Daughter lately told me, ſo they can never expećt better Suceſs, till they repent of this their Idolatry.  ↩︎

  11. Ang. Flag. p. 37. Some of the Quakers Principles, p. 14,15. as cited p. 4. of Thomas Criſp's Babels Builders, compared with the recited Manuscripts, Par 2. p. 3. of W. Rogers's Quakers divided . Righteous Judgment; p. 109. and Rich's Hidden Things, &c.  ↩︎

  12. In purſuance whereof, as their Preacher Taylor in p. 3. of his Epiſtle of Caution,moſt Idoltrouſly cried out, That Dear and Eminent Servant of God' George Fox, who is ſtill made Inſtrumental in the Hand of the Lord, to bring forth bleſſed Things fromthd Oracles of the Divine Breath, to the Praiſe of HIS Name for ever; ſo others were ſo influenc'd through a Conceit of his peculiar Holineſs, as to declare, This George Fox was more than a Man, and ſhould never fall, If their true Friend William Rogers, in p. 15. of the 5th Part of his Chriſtian Quaker, may be credited.  ↩︎

  13. Viz. John Potter. See Mr. Dutton's Warning concerning him, the Subſtance whereof I ſent him in a private Letter, according to his own Deſire.  ↩︎

  14. p. 68. of Hubberthorn's Collećtion.  ↩︎

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)