George Whitehead's Fallacy Reproved, In his ANSWER to My Pilgrim's Progress, &c.
I Have seen thy Book, A Rambling Pilgrim, &c. said to be an Answer to two Books of mine, i. e. The Pilgrim's Progress, &c. A Modest Defence, &c. which is so far from being an Answer, that it doth not touch at the Tenth part of the Books; and that little you spoke to, have (to them who will compare the Books) rather confirms what I charge you withal, than otherwise. But that I may shew (for your Peoples sake,) how you wilfully mistake me, and the state of the Charge, and then mislead your People, &c.
I find the first part of your Book is chiefly to insinuate that I said the Sermon was Geo. Whitehead's, of his Forming, of his Preaching, and that in so many Words; and thereupon you call it Forgery. Now, [Page 6] George, this is all Fallacy: For thou, knowest, George, in thy Conscience, that I never intended to have it believed, that you at your Yearly, Meeting Preached that very Sermon, in so many Words; but that I did it to expose your Errors contain'd in your Books, out of which that Sermon was by me form'd; and in p. 108. and p. 222. of the Second Edition, it is expresly said, A Sermon for George Whitehead to hold Forth, &c And the Chapter before gives several Reasons why I proceeded in that unusual method: So that your way to have done your Cause good, and your People good, had been to have confuted me; first, Touching your Doctrine, which I alledged out of your Books. Secondly, That your Practice is otherwise than by me represented. This had been your way to have confuted my Arguments, and to have established your People. But for you thus to act against Light and Knowledge, is such a self-condemn'd Practice, that as for your own sake, as well as your People whom you mislead, I could he glad to see you leave it now in your Old Age. Take one instance.
A Rambling Pilgrim, &c. p. 5. Francis Bugg makes Geor. Whitehead thus speak, Friends, I am now come to the last thing propos'd to speak to on this Solemn Occasion; first, Respecting Confession of Sin; shewing your Exaltation above the Patriarchs, Prophets, [Page 7]Apostles, &c. as at large in p. 221. of this Book; so that I need not repeat it. Now what Answer, George, dost thou make to this? Dost thou say, 'tis your Friends Practice to make Confession of Sin to God in your Prayers? Not a word of it. Dost thou prove in any one page of those 5555555 I there mention, that you ever recommended the practice of making Confession of Sin to God, and begging his Pardon for Christ's sake? Not a word of it. Dost thou prove but of any of those Books, wrote by thy self, Fox, Burroughs, &c. that ever you recommended the Practice of the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles Creed, either to be read in your Families, or in your Religious Meettings practiced; or the reading the Scripture in your Meetings? Not a word of It. No, here is no denial or Matter of Fact but of your Books, nor the natural Consequences deduceable therefrom, or your practice agreeable to the same: And that it may appear so, take your Answer in your own words, viz. ‘Thus Fran. Bugg. represents me Preaching such stuff as I never preaeched in my Life, nor ever own'd any such flattery or deceit, as to exalt any Auditory above the Patriarchs, Prophets and Apostles, &c. or to disswade any from making Confession of Sin, or asking Pardon for Christ's sake, who have [Page 8]need of both, or who have not received forgiveness of their Sin.’
First, It's not what you did not disswade from, that we are examining; but what you perswade to: We want not Negatives, but Affirmatives; here you leave your Reader in the Dark: Can you prove that in all those Books and Pages recited, that you ever made Confession of Sin; that you ever asked Pardon for Christ's sake; that you in your Religious Meetings, or in your Families, practiced the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, the Apostles Creed; that you ever read the Holy Scriptures in your Meetings; or further, that you ever in all, or any one of your Books, recommended the practice thereof? If not, the Charge lyes still against you, and your Negative Answers rather confirm what is said than otherwise.
As to your Certificate, p. 28. about your Cottage; you that can forge Certificates, and set Mens Names to it, without their Privity, Knowledge or Consent, as you did that from Huntington, in your Book, Judgment fixed, as Anne Docwra, in her Letter to Mr. Crisp, March 25. 1684. says you did; what credit is to be given to it? And besides, those three Certifiers conclude thus, On credible Information, we verily Believe. Here then is but their belief on Information; and I am credibly informed of what I wrote; so the Reader is left to believe as he is perswaded. The like [Page 9]may be said of Will. Mead, touching his saying to William Harris, that Fox's Journal is a better Book than the Bible; this Will. Mead does not deny under his Hand; I have only Geor. Whitehead's word for it; and he that can forge Certificates is not to be believed.
Again, p. 38. ‘What Earnings didst thou (F. B.) make in the late Discourse before the Bishop of Norwich, and the four Members of Parliament, where l discovered thy repeated Falshoods, Forgery, Deceit and Wickedness in divers Matters? And how thou wert counfounded when Matters were closely urg'd against thee? &c.’
Now, George, thou knowest in thy own Conscience that this is a Lie spoken in Hypocrisie, on purpose to mislead thy Disciples; for thou didst not prove one false Quotation, Matter or Thing, against me: But I proved thee guilty of contempt of the Scriptures, in exalting your sayings above them, as of greater Authority; and for the truth of this, I submit my self, to those Five Persons present, one of them having often shewed his Approbation of my management of that Affair. These things, George, do not redound, to thy Credit, and I can truly say I am sorry for thee. George, we both grow Ancient, let us write for the good of others, not for Victory; for my part, I do upon the word of a Christian design it, [Page 10]and if I saw my self in an Error, I should willingly submit. Again,
P. 46. ‘Beside the false Printing and bad English (as Fr. B. has exposed my Book Ishmael) there is another defect after the words [The Lake is thy Portion, which is the Portion of Liars,] the words, [except thou speedily repent;] are omitted there, and in some other places.’
To which I Answer, let any body compare your Book, Ishmael and his Mother cast out, &c. in the Original Impression in Quarto, and the Reprint in my Modest Defence, &c. Part 2. and they shall find it, for English, Comma's, and Points, and Words, the same. For in the Quarto Impression, p. 3. l. 15. There is we for wo, as in Mod. Def. p. 7. l. 13. there is also we for wo; and so in all other places where it was bad English, and false Spelled, and false Pointed, so it is Reprinted: And as for the words [except thou speedily repent] being left out, I do positively say 'tis a most horrid Lie; there is not a word in the whole Book left out; so careful was I. And how then canst thou pretend to be a Consciencious Writer, when in the face of the Sun thou canst thus Prevaricate, Dissemble, and Lie, and that knowingly? What is become, George, of thy seriousness, sincerity and plainness thou so often boasts of? Again,
P. 34. ‘He (F. B.) assumes the boldness to promote in Print an Abstract of [Page 11]two Letters of two Clergymen I pray God open, the Eyes of our Governours, and cause them to take into Consideration this too much, and too deplorable, unlimited and unbounded Tolleration; especially as the Quakers both claim and use it, &c. as in Pil. Prog. p. 175. was not this, (says George) a piece of insolent confidence, to expose this in Print, and thus openly to oppose the Liberty Granted, and legally Confirmed by King and Parliament, and thus to render our Governours blind? &c.’
Now as I think this was a good Prayer, so do I think it no boldness to expose it in Print: For, George, it was not the Liberty Granted, and by Law Confirmed, which these Clergymen either called unlimited or unbounded, for the liberty granted is both limited and bounded, as from divers branches of the Laws appear; and particularly by the very Act of Tolleration; see p. 86, 88, 101, 189, 339. No, the unbounded Liberty which the Quakers take, claim and use, is what the Clergy is against, and which they Pray the Government would take into their Consideration; and I am sure it is a base, bold and insolent things, George, in you to expose in Print, that the Clergy would represent the King and Parliament blind: But I have not herein room to set forth your baseness in calling all Kings Spiritual Egyptians; all that own any King, since the days of Christ, Apostates; that Parliaments chosen by most Voices, are not [Page 12]like to Act for God, or the Good of his People; that Parliaments are the Beast that carry the Whore; Nay, in your Book, The West Answering to the North, &c. you justifie the Murther of King Charles I. saying, The cutting off his Head, was a remarkable Record of the Righteous Judgment of God; and for a true sight of these your Antimonarchical, as well as Antimagistratical Principles, see p. 157. to p. 175. hereafter. And George, you tell us in Print, that your Principles are now no other than they were in the beginning. And what they were in the beginning, I in this Book, the Pilg. Prog. &c. have set forth: And I think it is both bold and insolent Confidence in you to revive all these your horrid Principles destructive to Government and Humane Society, by telling us you are the same in Principles still; and I am afraid we may in this believe you.
In the next place I shall shew, even thee, George, what Liberty the Quakers both use and claim; which not only those two Clergymen, but many Ten Thousands, both of Laity and Clergy, are against.
First, Your sending into the Churches Challenges, as your Friends did at West-Dereham.
Secondly, Your going from House to House, like the Popish Priests, to seduce the People, inviting them to your Meetings, giving them Books which say the Quakers [Page 13]are the one only Church of Christ, and that out of your Church there is no Salvation.
Thirdly, That your Monthly, Quarterly, Six Week, Second Day, and Yearly Meetings, where you revive your old Treasonable Principles; which Meetings are expresly against the very Act of Tolleration, these, and the like, (as in the ensuing Discourse) are the Meetings and the Practices both used and claim'd by you: Namely, to hold Convocations, which the Established Church, without Licence from His Majesty, cannot legally do. These, and the like Practices of yours, all good Christians, and the Laws of the Land, are against; and I still pray God to give the Nation a sight and sence of it, before it be too late.
In Answer to your 48th Page, I query thus, Whether it be not as proper for me to Address His Majesty, on the behalf of the Church of England, and other sound Protestants, who hold the Fundamentals of the Christian Religion, as it is for G. Whitehead to Address himself, by Dedication, to the Clergy and Universities, personating a Schism which professes such Doctrine as tends to overthrow the Christian Faith? Come, George, Answer me this Question; how came you to be such a Man? You know I could shew Books of your Friends, Burrough, Fisher, Fox, and others, who tho' as great Imposters as any in the World ever knew, yet they have Dedicated and [Page 14]Addressed, and not only so, but Dictated to Kings, Lords and Commons. Come, G. what was your birth? Whence came your breeding? Were you not Rambling Pilgrims, who (like Gypsies) lay in Barns,See E. Burrough's Epist. to his works. lived upon Alms, with your Feet at other Mens Tables? What, must none Address now but you? Must none apply themselves to the Government but you? Surely, George, you are a Pegg too high.
Come, George, let us reason together, what power have you to summons all Ecclesiastical Courts and Officers, more than I have to summon you? What Power have you to Dialogue the Bishop, and the whole Church, more than I have to Dialogue you? What Authority have you to Arraign, Try, Judge and Condemn all the Clergy in a Kingdom, more than I have to Arraign you, and Try you by your Fruit? I tell you, George, I cannot see you mount the Stage, and thus Insult, Domineer and Exalt your selves, not only above the Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Saints and Martyrs, and all Christians, with respect to your so much boasted-of Sinless Perfection, but above all the King's Subjects, as if you, and you only, had right to Address, Dedicate and Present Papers to the Parliament; and that it were Treason to confront you: I tell you, as above noted, that you are a pegg too high.
But, George, before you had Addrest your selves, and Dedicated your Books to the King [Page 15]and Government, you ought to have condemn'd your Books mentioned p. 154, 157, 167. And before you had Dedicated this Book to the Clergy, you ought in prudence to have retracted your Books mentioned p 217, 249, 250. And as to G. K's. Book, it was approved by the Quakers; and you ought to have retracted the Doctrine of it, as G. K. has; and likewise W. Penn's and Alexander Skien's mentioned in p. 168, 170. But your Temporizing is both seen, and discovered to be seen by others: And now for your Dedication to the Clergy.
A Rambling Pilgrim, p. 3. An Epistle Dedicatory to those of the Clergy, and of the two Universities, whose kindness Fran. Bugg boasts of. 30th of the 4th Month, 1629. By George Whitehead.
Now George, to shew you what a kind Reception your Dedication met with from my Benefactors; I shall, though I have no order, present you with part of a Letter which one of them sent me; which take as follows, viz.
I Cannot but thank you for the service you have done, especially among the Common People, by your way of Writing; and for the plentiful materials you have furnish'd out, to imploy others, with respect both to the Principles and Practices of the Quakers; and your laborious Attendance at Parliament, as a Check to the Insolencies of the Quakers in their presenting their deceivable Papers in which they have been too much neglected; wherefore be not dishearten'd, but go on, and Charge, the Quakers Party through and through with their Blasphemies against the Blessed Trinity, their Doctrine of Infallibility and Sinless Perfection, their denying the Fundamental Articles of our most Holy Religion, viz. The Incarnation of Christ, the Resurrection of the Body, and the Day Of Judgment. For to talk of Lenitives, and Gentle [Page 16]Applications, is like the old way of sowing Pillows under their Arm holes; and you may as well give Opium in a Lethargy, as to fancy to cure some Men into their Senses by your mild and tender Remedies: And, therefore to deal plainly is the best way to work their Conversion, from the Infidelity of Quakerism, to the Faith of Christ Crucified; which God of his Mercy grant them, if it be his Will.
It was a notable Confession of St. Paul, when he drew up an Indictment, and Arraigned himself in the Murther of St. Stephen, for his standing by and consenting unto his Death, and holding the Garment of them that slew him. I wish the Quakers were Humble enough to follow his Example; whose malice I am afraid is greater, and the dignity of the injured Person higher; for they have Spirited away our Blessed Saviour, and have left us nothing but a Notional and Chimerical Christ; so that we may take up the Lamentation of Mary Magdalen, They have taken away the Lord, and we know not where they have laid him.
That was well noted in the Spirit of the Hat: For I am perswaded there cannot be an Instance made in any Society of Men of that bigness, that have gotten more Bastards, and more unnaturally dispos'd of them, that have drank deeper Draughts of stoln secret Intemperance, that have fed higher, and fared more deliciously every Day, than have some of these Perfectionists in their shining brazen disguises of Religion.
I am heartily sorry for the poor Quaker, I heard lately of, who hanged himselfviz. John Rust, a Preacher at Chate [...]ice in the [...]sle of Ely, who op [...]osed G. K. with G. K's Narrative in his Pocket; and the more for the exact parallel must make between him and Judas, both in his Life, and in his Death. I pray God give them Grace to lay it to Heart, and humbly to confess their Sins to God, and to beg pardon by the Merits of Christ, that God may give them Repentance unto Life.