The venom and nastiness if the Quaker spirit.
HAVING thus damned all the world, it is not strange to see them treat all the rest of mankind with a respect proportionable: for what should damned folks do with respect?
There is nothing which discovers the inward disposition and temper of the mind more then our words and language to one another.
Kind and sweet expressions are natural to love and good nature; as furious, spiteful, envious, and other grating and violent passions do naturally vent themselves in the like wicked and hateful ebullitions of a distorted soul.
Hypocrisy covers these embers sometimes; but the least wind disperses those thin ashes, and kindles all into a flame. Thus the least provocation, nay, no other provocation than that of disputing against them, raises up a strange spirit of fury in them, such as possesses no other sort of mankind that ever I heard of: and I believe there is no one who has engaged against them that has escaped this sort of treatment.
And yet they are out of all patience at the least return of this sort to themselves; they love not to be approached, but with the greatest ceremony of deference and regard to their high character, far beyond that of all the kings upon the earth, of prophets or apostles, as I have shewn. G. Fox, in his Great Mystery, p. 237, thus corrects William Thomas, minister of Ubley, for reflecting, as he said, upon two sorts of them; The work of the ministers of the gospel, says he, is not to reflect upon persons ---- And so thou that art reflecting upon persons, doest shew a mark of thy self to be a false prophet ---- And this reflecting upon persons was never the way to beget to God.
And yet in the same breath, while he thus reproves William Thomas for reflecting upon others, he calls him a false prophet; which is as severe a reflection as could be put upon any who owned himself as a minister of the gospel. The Devil was in thee, says he to Christopher Wade, p. 250. You be in the diabolical, devilish, says he to some priests in the bishopric, p. 321; and, Thou talkest foolishly, he replies to Tim. Trevers, p. 326, and given up to the Devil's power. And in the foregoing section you see what reflections he makes upon all the priests and teachers in the world, calling them raveners from Christ, wolves, dogs, equivocating, deluding hypocrites, &c.
Take some more of their sweet words; such as these: 1 Conjurers, thieves, robbers, antichrists, witches, devils, scarlet-coloured beasts, blood hounds, gaping like the mouth of hell, raging like Sodomites, lizards, moles, tinkers, green headed trumpeters, wheelbarrows, gimcracks, whirlpools, whirligigs, mooncalfs, threadbare tad derdemallions, serpents, vipers, ministers of the {Page 202} Devil, ravening evening wolves and bears, devils, incarnate, devil-driven, dingy gods. &c.
Much of this is owing to the mean education of these scribes, which furnished them with such me chanic ribaldry and Bilingsgate; but the furies which breathe in their spirit can go along with it into breasts of more free and generous conversation: Mr. Penn's sense and breeding could not secure him from the tincture of this leaven, which transported him (for nothing else could do it) to treat his old friend Mr. Firmin at this coarse rate, calling him, (in his Winding-Sheet, printed 1672, p. 2,) that little great pragmatical Thomas Firmin, a mon ster, all tongue, and no ears I abhor his folly, lightness, and foul mouth. And he calls Mr. Hedworth, p. 1, a very night-bird, a wanderer, one that looks and creeps about like an angry vagrant momus; p. 3. burstened with folly and revenge; p. 4. stuffed with dull ignorance and cavils shallow head, envious heart, an idle shifter, bombast, a lie as black as hell. All this in one sheet of paper. In the conclusion of which, in one line, he calls Mr. Hedworth a busy body, cavilling, conceited, proud, wrathful, equi vocating, slandering, cowardly man. And in a pamphlet, entitled, The Spirit of Alexander the Cop persmith, &c. printed 1673, p. 1, 2, 14, 16, he calls William Mucklow, his opponent, although a Quaker, an old cankered apostate, a clamourer, a new Alexander, Phygellus, Hermogenus, Hymeneus, Philetus, a very mutineer in religion, a dark, envious, inveterate man the apostate ---- an adamantine Alexander, &c.
Such sort of railing and effeminate spite one {Page 203} would not have expected from a man of education and excellent natural parts; but it shews the strength of the poison, and how hard it is to touch pitch and not be defiled.
This wrathful spirit of the Quakers shews itself yet three times more deformed and ridiculous when it is vented naturally by the mechanic gang, who have no art to hide its genuine colours. Take one of their poetical elevations against some of their own separatists, which is recorded in T. C.’s Animad versions, (hereafter quoted,) p. 10.
Team, Rogers, Crisp, Pen2, Bullock, and Bugg,
Dark, devil-driven, dungy-gods, desperately lugg,
That are ty'd to the tail of the separate schism,
Popish libertine, heathen Judaism, atheism.
As you have seen the venom, fury, and nonsense of this Quaker spirit, I will give you, with leave, a taste of its cleanliness, that it may appear uniform, and all of a piece: this I borrow out of Satan Dis robed, in the Gleanings, sect. v. where you have these sweet compliments which they bestow upon J. Wiggans, an opponent of theirs; This hath caused thee to spue out on a piece of paper for the dogs to lick up ---- And they take so much of thy filthy spuing that it causeth them to vomit ---- Thou purges upwards and downwards &c. ---- Thou hast need of one to wipe thee Thou makest a pitiful stink. Through thy vomiting and purging, thou besmears every one that comes nigh thee ---- One may follow thee by the smell {Page 204} ---- Wilt not give over stinks all the country over vomiting? Thou ---- Like a man with a scalled head, and a horse with a galled back ---- Making people vomit and spue. These, and such like, were sent to J. Wiggans from the Quakers in letters open, and read by others before they came to him; and these he has printed: but there were se veral other letters sent to him, filled with such like vile and nasty stuff, but the letters were sealed; and these (though as bad as the rest) he would not pub lish, because they had not done it.
Such filth and nonsensical venom could never pro ceed from the spirit of purity or of wisdom; there needs no argument to discern betwixt perfume and stench; the opening of the box does it. And this shews the true picture of the Quaker spirit, exposes it to our touch; we feel, see, and abominate it, by the very conviction of our senses; as heaven and hell would discover themselves at first sight: no less distinguishable are purity and filthiness, blessing and cursing, meekness and fury.
His delight was in cursing, (says David, Psalm cix. 16,) and it shall happen unto him: he loved not blessing, therefore it shall be far from him. He clothed himself with cursing, like as with a zaiment. Rom. iii. 13, 14. The poison of asps is under their lips: their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.
But the Quaker fury can express itself otherwise than in words, which we come next to examine.
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