ALL Pious and Learned Men of my Acquintance, cannot but know that I am as ready to Vindicate the Truth I find among any other sort of Men, as among the People called Quakers: And I wish Francis Bugg would be as ready to Detest the Wicked Errors of other Dissenters from the Church of England, as of any Person of that Denomination. I do not believe that any one of the Quakers, now living, do Adhere to so wicked a Con­ceit, [...]as that which GEORGE TROSSE of Exeter has Publish'd in his Book Entituled, 'The Lord's Day Vindicated, viz. that our Blessed LORD was not actually Jesus (i. e. a Saviour) before He had actually Suffer'd: which is as False as it is True, that He was the True Light, which Enlightneth every Man that cometh into the World: which Text the Quakers Interpret according to the Inter­pretation of that most Learned, and Pious Man, John Chrysostom, and other Learned Writers of the Primitive Church. This Princi­ple, that it is every Mans Duty to follow the True Light, manifest­ing himself in our Hearts and Minds, as our Chief and Principal TEACHER, does most certainly lead every Quaker, that is sincere in this Profession, nearer and nearer to a clear and explicit Know­ledge of All Truth; I cannot but have an high Value for these Words of a Quaker, being to me so clearly Expressive of such Truth, which is of the greatest Importance to the Souls of Men. 'The great reason of our so much Asserting Christs Inward Appear­ance, and Spiritual Manifestation, as a Mediator, Sanctifier, Justifier, and Saviour within, has been (as to assert the Truth [Page] [Page 1] [...] [Page 2] so) to counterpoise (if I may so speak) the contrary Doctrine, and Assertion of those, who deny him to be, with respect to these Offices, at all within, and shut Him wholly out; making the Work of Mediation, Sanctification, Justification and Salvation, to be only, and altogether outward, whereas we acknowledge to the ut­most, whatever Christ hath done, or doth without us, in order to our Salvation; yet cannot exclude the Inward Work. To which I shall add these sound Words of W. P. in his KEY, 'Though none are Justified that are not in measure Sanctified, yet all Man does, is Duty, and blots not out old Scores; that is Grace and Fa­vour purely, upon Repentance, through Christ the Sacrifice and Mediator: So that Men are not Justified because they are Sancti­fied, but For His sake that Sanctifies them, and works all their Works in them, and for them; to wit, Christ Jesus, who is made unto them, as he was to the Saints of Old, Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption; that he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord, 1 Cor. 1. 30, 31.

F. B. Chap. 2. has these Words: 'I went to their Meetings in the Afternoon, and gave great heed to what was Spoken, whose chief Subject was the Light within, and that Light to be Christ—I and others were catch't by these and the like Fallacious Argu­ments, not being well grounded in the Principles of the Christian Religion, nor understanding the Wiles of Satan.

This certainly is one of the subtilest Wiles, one of the strongest Snares of the Devil; a Conceit that CHRIST is not the LIGHT within every Man: For without a Virtual Belief (where there is no Formal or Explicit Belief) that CHRIST is the Fountain of Light to our Souls, 'tis impossible for any Man to Do any thing but what may justly be term'd a Work of Darkness.

Chap. 3. 'The Ten Commandments are not the Quakers Rule: No, no: not unless they be convinced by their Light within, of the Reasonableness of their Obedience.

Answ. They are not any Mans Rule; that is, no Man can use them, as a Rule, 'till he is convinced by the Light within, of the Reasonableness of his Obedience: But this Conviction is certa [...]nly wrought by the Light within, when ever any Man does not Rebel against it.

Chap. 5. 'The Journal, and our Friends Books t [...]ach both by Precept and Example, that the Light in every Man is the Higher Power, to whom All must submit and obey.

Answ. Certainly they ought so to Teach, since the Person of Jesus Christ, or Jesus Christ Himself is The Light in every Man. By cal­ling Him the Higher Power, they shew that nothing must be DONE, but in Obedience to Him, being King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. Therefore I Affirm that these Words of F. B. are very Foolish and Absurd. 'Let us then begin to remember how Zealous Kings and Parliaments have been, ever since the Reformation, against such as adher'd to a Power Superiour to the King, Lords and Commons, which our Protestant Divines have held to be the Higher Powers, and to which we are commanded by the Apostles to submit our selves. Now any People that adhere to a Forreign Power to be Supream in England, besides, and above that of Kings, Lords and Commons (who under God are the Higher Powers) are to be suspected to undermine the Government, whether they mean the POPE of ROME, or their QƲAKER LIGHT in their BODY Assembled in COƲNCIL.

Answ. Most certainly the Quakers mean no other Light, by the Light, they say, they are to follow, or take heed unto, when they are Assembled in Council, than The True Light, The Light of the World: And certainly 'tis plain Blasphemy to call Him a Forreign Power, or to compare Him with the Pope of Rome.

Chap. 19. ' All true as Gospel. This is a PROFANE Expressi­on. F. B. p. 110. in a Sermon he makes in the Person of George Whitehead, has these Words: 'To be plain with you, according to our Ancient Testimony, we own no other Trinity, nor God, than is within us; for the Light is God, the Light is the Son of Man, the Light is the Holy Ghost.

Answ. All this is true, that there is no other Trinity, &c. If it be true, that GOD IS LIGHT, and the WORD IS GOD, and that the WORD was made FLESH, and that the Father, the Son, and the HOLY GHOST are the One True and Eternal GOD, the One True and Eternal LIGHT. What Censure Francis Bugg deserves for his gross and horrid Ignorance in scorning this Testimony of the Quakers I leave to others to Determine.

P. 111. After F. B. had receited the form of sound Words, wherein the Quakers had made their Confession of Faith to the Parliament, he makes this Malicious Reflexion, Personating G. W. 'Now my Friends, tho' this Confession be as contrary to our Ancient Teshimony, as Light is to Dark­ness, as by our Books quoted you may see, yet we kept our meaning to our selves. Answ. By the Observations I have made upon the Life and Profession of the People called Quakers above Fourty Years, I am induc'd to believe that this their Confession of Faith contains nothing else, but what has ever been the SENCE of their Community. And therefore I shall again declare (as I have lately done in a Paper Entituled 'Reflections on a Pas­sage concerning the Light within, in a Book Entituled Primitive Heresie, &c.) 'That to me it is most Evident and Unquestionable, that these Peo­ple called Quakers, deserve more Favour than any other sort of DISSEN­TERS from all Persons throughout the World, who make their Solemn VOCAL Confession of the Christian Faith in that form of Words, which we call the NICENE CREED; what they mean by the Light within is nothing else, but what is implied in those most important Words, LIGHT OF LIGHT: That is to say, the True and Eternal GOD, the SON of the True and Eternal GOD.

Though I should have no cause to be offended with any Man, that should say of Me, I am a Man of Strife, and a Man of Contention to the whole Earth; yet GOD is my Witness, I am in perfect Charity with all Men, even with those that have done me the greatest Injuries. The Peculiar Af­fection I have for many of the People called Quakers. ariseth from a Be­lief that they concurr with mein a Sincere and Effectual Approbation of these excellent Words of a Person of that Denomination, in a Book of his, Entituled Some Fruits of Solitude.

Let us then try what Love will do: For if Men did once see we love them, we should soon find they would not harm us.

Did we believe a final Reckoning and Judgment; or did we think enough of what we do believe, we would allow more Love in Religion than we do; since Religion it self is nothing else but Love to God and Man.

Love is above all; and when it prevails in us all, we shall all be Lovely, and in Love with GOD, and with one another.

ΕΡΧΟΥ ΚΥΡΙΕ ΙΚΣΟΥ.