WE live now in the Evening of the World; and what our Sa­vior did prophesie should then come to passe, and did advise us to take héed of, is fulfiilled in our dayes: Take heed (saith our Saviour Iesus Christ) in Luke 13. verse 5. lest any man deceive you, for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. And in Matth. 24. verse 20. our Saviour foretel­ling the strong delusions to come, doth ad­vise us in these words: Therefore if any man shall say unto you, loe here is Christ, or there, believe it not, for there shall arise false Christs, and false Prophets, and shall shew signs and wonders, in so much that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect.

The generation of Quakers, who had their originall in the North, have béen so fruitfull in a short time, that they have in­fected a great part of the West, and thou­sands [Page 2]in this populous City stand affected to them, being deluded by their pretended simplicity and zeale. You shall finde them masters of so confident a spirit, as if the Oracles of truth did procéed onely out of their mouthes, and they must be cast out to partake both of the shame and punish­ment of liars whoever shall endeavour to contradict them.

The names of George Fox and James Naylor have béen famous with many de­luded people in this City, and they have made a mouth of many at the Mouth at Al­dersgate At the last they began to quarrel among themselves, and did in their way endeavour to excommunicate one another from their Congregations. It is said that the latter of them, who both for his con­fession and his punishments shall be the subject of this discourse, hath béen accoun­ted to have béen bewitched by the same creature, who having brought him to her will, did afterwards adore him; for it is manifest by the confession of Martha Sy­mons before the Mayor and Aldermen of Bristol that she had struck the said James Naylor into a trance for thrée daies toge­ther, which although the said James Naylor did deny, yet being informed that the con­fession [Page 3]of Martha Symons did extend so far he was possessed with an amazing silence that so much should be discovered of her strength and his weakness.

But before I proceed to give you a Narrative of his blasphemies, and how he was and would be adored as a new Iesus. I will in the first place give you a chara­cter of his person, which is, that he is of about four and thirty years of age, a man of a good complexion brown hair, which he wears of an indisterent length, but his beard was short; he is of a melancho­ly aspect, and he wears his hat hanging over his brows, his cloathes very plain; he wears a little band close to his coller, without any band-strings, as doth the other great Quaker George Fox; he doth strive in his looks and posture to imitate the Picture of our Saviour, as it was sent up to Rome in the dayes of Tiberius Caesar; and therefore he strives to wear his hair as it were with a seam on the crown of his head, and so flowing down on each side of it. His parentage is of the meanest ranke, his father being said to be a Sowgilder in Yorkshire, in which County he himself was born, at a place called An­derslow, and hath a Wife still living at [Page 4] Wakefield. In the time of the late wars he was a Souldier, and served under the command of the Lord Fairfax, and after­wards under the command of Generall Lambert in Scotland, where he was a Quarter-master, and falling sick he retur­ned to his own Countrey, where he had not long continued but he was entred into the number of the Quakers, and coming to Lon­don grew acquainted with many women, with some of whom he was too familiar, and were instruments of his going down into the West, where what horrid blasphe­mies were broached by him in counterfeit­ing himself to be Iesus the Saviour of mankind, the following Narration will advertise you. The comming of James Naylor into Bristol, and the antick manner of Martha Symons waving her handker­chief, and singing, Holy, holy, holy, before him: and of Hannah stranger singing in the same manner, and of Dorcas Erbury pulling off his stockings, and laying her own cloathes beneath his féet, hath alrea­dy béen discoursed by several Pens. I shall in this place give you the most mate­rial passages of all their examinations: and in the first place I will begin with [Page 5] James Naylor, who being demanded whe­ther he was the onely son of God, confessed that he was the son of God, but must ac­knowledge that he had many brethren.

HAnnah Stranger in her Letter to him calls him The everlasting Son of righ­teousness, and Prince of Peace.

And in another place writing to the said Naylor, she hath these words, The Lord shall not suffer his holy one to see corruption, nor his soul to lie in Hell; but will cause the mountains to melt at his presence, and the little hills to bring him Peace.

And in another Letter, she calls him the fairest of ten thousand, the onely begotten Son of God; her heart panteth after him. Her Husband in his Letter to him, telleth [Page 13]him that his name, is no more to be called James but Jesus: and this he owned at his Examination.

• 1. They deny the Scriptures to be the Word of God.
• 2. They esteem their own speakings to be of as much Authority.
• 3. They hold it lawful to expound, or to interpret the Scriptures.
• 4. They say, He that preacheth by a Text of Scripture is a Conjurer.
• 5. They affirm that the holy letter is carnal.
• 6. That the Bible ought to be burned.
• 7. That Jesus Christ inhabiteth in the flesh of Man.
• 8. Some of them have said, that Christ never ascended into Heaven.
• 9. That to pray that their sins may be pardoned is needless.
• 10. That they believe not that there is a­nother World.
• [Page 14] 11. Some of them deny the Resurrection.
• 12. They affirm they cannot sin, but are perfect.
• 13. They make no distinction of Persons.

According to the Sentence passed upon him, the said Iames Naylor stood in the Pillory, was whipped on Thursday last being December 18. from the Palace-yard in Westminster to the Royal-Ex­change: and the further prosecution of his Sentence had been put in Execution on Saturday December 20, but by an Or­der from the Parliament, the said Naylor pretending sickness, it is deferred until Saturday December twenty Seven, at which time he is to receive his just Re­ward, according to his desert.