To all who are Advertised by G. Keith, of a Meeting intended to be held by him, at Turners-Hall, the 11th of the 11th Month, call'd January, 1699.
WHereas, G. K. hath Summon'd several of the People call'd Quakers, to the said Meeting, promising, There to lay open (what he calls) their great Fallacy and Sophistry: I thought it convenient, being one of the Summon'd, to give you the following brief Relation.
G. Keith, (as by his Words and Books hath appeared) did, for about Thirty Years, pretend to be in Society and Fellowship with the People call'd Quakers; during which time, he did repeatedly Vindicate, against our then Adversaries, those Doctrines to be Scriptural, Primitive and Christian, which are most surely believed by us, and have so been, ever since we were a People; and did pledge his Inward sense given him (as he said) by the Spirit of God, that we were in Religion, and an agreeable Practice, truly Christian.
[Page 2] But the Man becoming Exalted, grew Contentious and Unchristian in his Behaviour, by his continuance in which, he did, Anno 95. exclude himself from our Society and Fellowship: Since this, his encreasing Envy has led him into a Disturbance of Mind, which in its course, resembles the returns of a Delirious Affliction, for that he hath annually, since then, presum'd to erect a mock-Theatre, thereby abusing his Pretence to Permission by Civil Authority; on which, while he endeavours to make us the subjects of his own, and the Peoples, Laughter and Odium, he makes himself the Object of our Pity, and Impartial Mens Contempt.
He does indeed speak Loud of the Discovery of Gross and Vile Errors, and Antichristian Principles, which he sayes we hold, and which by Ocular Inspection, he says, he will present: But till his Eyes, like Eve's, were open'd by his Fall, he did not lay open either Vile Errors, or Antichristian Principles, held by us, neither from his own Ocular Inspection in our Books, nor from his pretended Inward Sense of our Preaching.
And with respect to this his peremptory Summons, and appointment of Matter, Time and Place; I say, That as we in common with all Protestant Dissenters, are intitul'd to the peaceable [Page 3] Profession of our Christian Principles, we might be deem'd Imprudent to call it in Question, by obeying the petulant Summons of this single Disturber; who, while he is noising it, That we are Repugnant to all true Protestants, shews not that himself is agreeable to any, in that he is not declar'd to be of any Society of Christians; nor hath he, since his Defection from us, yet published, that I know of, what Community it is, which he judges to be in Doctrine and Practice, the most Christian.
And tho' he by continuing this his distemper'd Frolick, seems not at all, or not sufficiently to have consider'd that Act of Parliament, the Intent of which in its Preamble is declared to be, to Ʋnite the King's Protestant Subjects in Interest and Affection: Yet we are too sensible of the benefit received thereby, to Trifle away That, for which we account our selves so thankfully engaged to our Superiours.
And to be absent from such Meetings we are yet the more strictly engaged, when we call to mind, the ill use which was made of the presence of some of our Friends but the last Year, at a Place and Time appointed by a few uneasie Clergy-men in Norfolk for the same purpose.
[Page 4] Yet if our Adversaries will say, We are Erroneous in Principle; tho' we meet them not, they are not therefore without means of publishing their Sentiments of us by the Press, as appears by their many Books: And I hope we shall not be without the like means to refute Calumny, and Satisfie the Impartial, which we have hitherto done; in several Answers, both to this Man, and other our Adversaries.