A brief relation of the irreligion of the northern Quakers wherein their horrid principles and practices, doctrines and manners ... are plainly exposed to the view of every intelligent reader : together with a (brief reply) to some part of a very scurilous and lying pamphlet called.

Of their Quaking Fits, and the manner of them

NOW for their Quakings, one of the most immediate nota∣ble Fruits, and Accidents of their speakings, though their speakings be a very Chaos of words and errours, yet very often while they are speaking, so strange is the effect of them in their unblest Followers, that many of them, sometimes men, but more frequently Women and Children fall into quaking fits. The man∣ner of which is this; Those in their Assemblies that are taken with these fits, fall suddenly down, as it were in a Swoon, as though they were surprized with an Epilepsis, or Apoplexy, and lye groveling on the Earth, and strugling as it were for life, and some∣times more quietly as though they were departing; while the A∣gony of the fit is upon them their lips quiver, their flesh and joynts tremble, their bellies swell as though blown up with wind, they foam at the mouth, and sometimes purge as if they had taken Physick: In this fit they continue sometimes an houre or two, sometimes longer before they come to themselves again, and when it leaves them they roare out horribly with a voice greater then the voice of a man; The noise, those say, that have heard it is a very horrid fearfull noise, and greater sometimes then any Bull can make.

The Speaker, when any of them falls in this Fit, will say to the rest (that are sometimes astonisht at this Sight, especially if they be Incipients, let them alone, trouble them not, the Spirit is now strugling with flesh, if the Spirit overcome they will quickly come out of it again, though it be sorrow now it will be joy in the Morning, &c. And when they have said a few words to this ef∣fect, they go on with their speaking.

Sometimes' they carry those wretched Patients to Beds, when

they are neer them, and let them lye on them till their Fit be over. These Quakings they maintaine, Sauls Errant Page 5 and in their Books and Papers call them the marvellous works of the Lord; Battles of shaking and trembling before the presence of the Lord, and call them that speak against them Ishmaelites, that scoff at the Works of the Lord, and endeavour to prove them to be from God, horribly abusing the holy Scriptures to this purpose. The chiefe places they quote for this purpose, are, Ezra 9. 4. & 10. 13. Isaiah 66. 2 Ier. 5. 22. & 23. 9. Hos. 13 1. Hab. 3. 16. Act. 9, 6. 2. Cor. 17. 15. Eph. 6. 5 Phil. 2. 12. Heb. 12. 21. &c.

They say also, those that speak against this Quaking, shew them∣selves to be Blasphemers, and that it is presumption and blasphe∣my against the holy Ghost to speak against it. From their frequent falling into these Fits and defending of them, this people have de∣served the name of Quakers. A Title of distinction, not Dignity, now usually given to them.

Some are of Opinion that these quaking Fits are meer feignnigs, but others look upon them as reall passions.

I hope my Reader will not be displeased, if I freely deliver my own Opinion. In plain English, then I do heartily believe these Quakings to be Diabolical Raptures immediately proceeding from the power of Satan; if not from his Corporall Possession, or Ob∣session of the Parties so passive.

For 1. divers Godly learned Christians, Ministers, Physitians, and such as are able to judge, do so conceive of them.

2. It is an utter impossibility for any man, especially women, that never knew what belonged to Stage-playing, and young Children to feign such swounings, tremblings, palsie-motions, swelling, foaming, purging, such great and horrid screechings, and roarings; yea common Modesty would restrain any man, or woman that are themselves, from such uncleanly Excretions as do often accompany these sordid Trances. Surely it must needs bee some black Art that works so turbulently on mens Spirits or bo∣dies, and conjures them into such Surprizes.

3. The holy Scripture predicts, 2 Thes. 2. 9. that the coming of Antichrist, the man of sin, &c. shall be after the working of Sa∣tan, with all Power, and Signes, and lying Wonders, and withall deceivablenes of Unrighteousness in them that perish; and that God shall send his Followers strong Delusions to believe lyes, &c. Ergo

the coming of Antichrist and Hereticall Speakers may be such al∣so.

4. Their Quakings are very like the Fits of that Child mentioned, Mark. 9. 17, 18. 20. 26.

Master (saith the Father of the Child to Christ) I have brought unto thee my Son which hath a dumb Spirit, and wheresoever he taketh him he teareth him, and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away, and strait-way the Spirit tare him, and he fel on the ground, and wallowed foaming, and the Spirit cryed and rent him sore and came out of him, and he was as one dead. This is as punctuall a Description of a Quakers Fit, as if it had been in∣tended for a portrature of it; and for that particular in it which concernes pining away, all the Country in these parts knowes how pittifully many of the Quakers look by reason of those Fits, and immoderate fastings, and some distemper it may be of brain besides, and what pale ill countenances they have now in comparison of what they had before they joyned themselves to this Sect: This is not generally true of them, but so true of some of them, that they may be discovered by their very faces.

5. The Devill delights to possesse and abuse the bodies of men and women that are in his power, when, and as far as God permits; but this people who have forsaken the truth and true Worship of God, his Ordinances, Commandements, and are selfe-excommu∣nicate, may more then probably be lookt upon as delivered up to Satan by God himselfe, as may appeare by this whole Relation.

Ergo the Divell Will delight to possesse and abuse their bodies.

6. It is no new thing for false Prophets to fall into Satanicall Trances; such were Mathewes, Becold, and others the Prophets of Munster, which lay sometimes two or three daies in their Ec∣stacies (though some think they were Forgeries) and therefore we need not wonder at these Raptures, as if some strang thing had happened amongst us that was never heard of before; especially seeing this people both Leaders and Learners (if it be proper to call them so that will away with no teaching) are as like that Phrantick Rabble that once Reigned in Munster, as any one thing can be like another.

7. Women or Children, or those that have fasted long, such as are most subject to Fascination, do most frequently fall into these Surprizals.

8. These Ecstasies are seales of Doctrines of Divels, therefore from the Divell. Mr. Perkins in his discourse of Witchcraft, Chap. 3. Sect. 4. makes this difference betwixt Divine and Diabolicall Trances; Divine Ecstasies tend alwayes (saith he) to the con∣firming of the truth of the Gospell and the furtherance of true Reli∣gion and Piety, such was Peters, Act. 10. 11. which served to as∣sure him of his calling to preach the Gospell to the Gentiles, and to inform his Judgment in this Truth, that there was no acceptation of Persons with God, and that to them of the new Testament, all things were clean and nothing polluted. But the scope of them that are from Satan is principally the suppressing and hinderance of Re∣ligion, the drawing of the weak into Errours, the ratifying and con∣firming of those that are fallen thereinto, and the generall uphold∣ing of practises of ungodlinesse.

9. Mr. Perkins ibid. makes this another difference between Divine and Satanicall Trances. In Divine Trances (saith he) the Servants of God have all their Senses, yea, and all the powers of Soule and Body remaining sound and perfect, onely for a time the Actions and Operations are suspended and cease to do their duty. But in Ecstasies that be from Satan, his Instruments are all cast into Frenzies and Madnesse, so as Reason in them is darkened, and Un∣derstanding obscured, Memory weakened, the Brain distempered; so kind is Satan to his Friends that he will leave his tokens behind him where ever he comes in this sort. That some of these people have fallen out right and furiously mad, and dyed in that madnesse: That others of them have been and are strangely distracted, and that the Countenance' of many of them bewraies the troubles and distem∣per of their heads, is too well known in these parts to be denyed. This Brain-sicknesse though I know it is principally to be imputed to the just Judgment of God upon them who have turned away their Eares from the Truth, and greedily drunk down many intoxi∣cating Opinions; yet I think it very probable, that in some of them it is the Fruit of these Ecstatick Fits, whereby Satan hath disturbed and debilitated their Intellectuals.

10. George Fox the Ring-leader of this Sect, hath been and is ve∣hemently suspected to be a Sorcerer.

The presumptions of his wickednesse in this kind are not weak. Some persons of good quality that came out of Notinghamshire to Kendall, told them of Note in that Town what Pranks this Fox had

played, and what disturbance he had caused in that County before he came into these more Northern parts, and with all he credibly reported to them a very strange story, of the Devills discovering this Fox to be one of his Vassalls and Agents, while he was there in a certainr house, together with many of his Disciples speaking to them. This Accident he said, caused many of his followers to de∣sert both him and his wicked way, and principally procured this Foxes Apprehension and imprisonment in Nottingham Castle, till he runne away, and his Keeper with him.

It hath been his custome in these parts, to fix his Eyes earnestly on such strangers as came into his company a good while together as though he wold look them through. If any one please to look on him sted fastly again, it is his manner impudently to out-stare them. His followers say he can out-look any man, and that he doth it to know what is in them, but if there be such a thing as Fascination by an evill Eye. I should rather suspect him guilty of that, then of any abillity to discern the complexions of mens soules in their Faces.

When such as have conceived any likeing of their way come to their meetings, or any young men or women or others are by their proselyted friends who desire to make them as bad as themselves, brought to heare him speak or discourse with him, it is another of his Customes to talk and hold them a while by the hand, and it is confidently reported that many he hath thus handled, though some of them before their comeing to him did exceedingly disaffect both him and his Impieties even to hatred, and though they stayed but a while with him and heard nothing from him that might either morally perswade or rationally convince them of the evill of their former way, or if any greater Excellency in his new way, yet so strangely have they been wrought upon, and altered that they been all on the suddaine earnest, feirce, impetuous in both for it, and him, and do now much more violently affect his wicked Reli∣gion then ever before they did distaste it. Such heady▪ fiery, diver∣ters of many Men and Women to their way makes sober Christi∣ans, think that though there be nothing that is divine, either in it or the Propagators of it, yet there is much Diabolicall attraction and Art in both.

Many have profest, that having left their society after dislike of their wayes, they have been for a while so distempered both in minde and body that their bodyes have been all wett with sweat in

their Bedds, and they could not get a winck of sleep.

These and such like accidents especially that faculty which most of their Speakers have to cause their hearers fall into such Diaboli∣call Ecstasies above described, hath induced many understanding Christians to believe that these blasphemous hereticall Impostors are accompanied with the power and workings of Satan.