It’d both begun and ended in a Brute.
If they were pleas’d with the foregoing Characters, this Fable thus moralized gave them much more satisfaction, and highly contented them; for the truth contained in it, was undeniable, and it was expressed with much ingenuity, and they told me that certainly he that composed these two things, the Character and Fable, was a person very ingenious, and able to convert any that were seduced in that Faction, unless they were very obstinate, as most of that Faction were: for having been Rebellious to their Prince, they made that saying true, That Rebellion is as the sin of Witchcraft, not to be repented of.
In this discourse of the several Factions in Religion we spent some time; and the Drugster being best acquainted with all of them, made a discourse of every one in particular from top to bottom: and when he came to speak of them, he told us that he supposed there would now in a short time be some end of these growing Factions; Because, said he, that Quakerism is the last that is risen up, and it is now above twelve years since it began to be famous; and though hitherto it encreases, yet they have not found any other novelty from that, as at first there was out of the first Religious faction: but there is none that is produced by the Quaker; so that it is hoped that will be the last of the Factions. I have heard of one small Faction that contradicts the Quakers, and that is one Muggeltons Sect, who together with one Reeve, does pretend to be the two last Witnesses that are to come upon earth. Reeve is some time since dead, but Muggleton surviving him, is a great enemy to the Quakers, and their chief Opponent; for they questioning his Call, he for that cause Damns them; and so absolute he is, that he says, after he hath damn’d them, they cannot be saved, not by Providence it self. He professes in one of his writings, being an Interpretation of the 11 Chapter of the Revelations, That he, and he alone can give a true Interpretation of the Scripture, and unfold the whole Counsel of God, concerning himself, the Devil, and all Mankind from the foundation of the world to all Eternity; and this was never revealed by any of the sons of men, untill now: Thus subscribing his Papers, By Lodowick Muggleton, one of the two last Commissionated Witnesses and Prophets of the only High, Immortal, Glorious God, Christ Jesus.
We told the Drugster that this Sect of Muggletons we had not heard of; and I being very desirous to be further acquainted with this opinion, asked him if he had read his Writings, Yes, said he, and there is as extraordinary matters and opinions handled and treated of therein, as any Sect that this last age hath produced: nay, and more absolute he would make himself then all others; but he more especially writes against the Quakers, in a manner condemning them all in general. I desiring to be more particularly informed of his writings, he granted my request, and proceeded as followeth:
This Book of his writing, said he, falling into the hands of one Edward Bourn a Quaker, is by him despised and cavilled at; for, he said that he had perused it till he was weary with looking into it, for it was one of the dirtiest and confusedst pieces of work that ever he saw: and many other particular cavils had he against it; which Muggleton hearing of, is so much offended, that he writes a Letter to him, dated in August 1662. and there he thus concludes: I write these Lines unto you Edward Bourn, knowing you to be of the seed of the Serpent, and appointed to eternal Damnation before you were born; though you know it not, I do know it, by your speaking evil of that Doctrine which is declared by us the Witnesses of the Spirit, by calling it deceit, confusion, and lies, with many more wicked speeches against the purest truth that ever was declared by Prophet or Apostle, because this is the Commission of the Spirit, and the last Witness of God on Earth.
Therefore, for these your hard sayings against the Doctrine of this Commission of the Spirit; In obedience unto my Commission, I pronounce you cursed and damned, both Soul and Body, from the presence of God, elect men and Angels, to Eternity; neither shall that light within you, nor any God deliver you from this curse, but according to my word it shall be upon you, because you shall know, that God hath given power unto Man to curse you to eternity, and that there is a Prophet of the Lord now in England.
This Letter being thus subscribed, was printed and sent to the said Edward Bourn. Also another to one Samuel Hooker and W. S. both Quakers, wherein amongst other things he thus writes:
First, I declare as I am a Prophet and Messenger of the true God, that the people called Quakers are not the children of the most high God, but for the generality of them, they are children of the Devil, and are the very Seed of the Devil, and were begotten by him; and I (as I am an Ambassador ordained of God by voyce of Words) can as truely say; that they are the Seed of the Serpent, and so the children of the Devil, as Christ did to the Jews, when he said, that they were Serpents, yea Devils, and the Devil was their father. So can I say by you Quakers, and many thousands more as well as you, that you were the children of the Devil, that were begotten by him, and not begotten by Adam, who never came through the loyns of Adam, though they came through the womb of Eve. For this I know, Cain was the first-born of the Devil, and Adam had no part in the begetting of him. And from this Cain came the Jews that Christ called Serpents and Devils.
Much more he writes against the Quakers, and is as absolute in his sentence of Damnation against these two, being almost in the same words as the former. His writings in general are filled with many strange Opinions, and he is now the greatest Enemy of the Quakers, telling them, that they are but some of the melancholy sort of Ranters, and by falling from Ranting to Quaking, are now worse then before; for before they were in the Wilderness, but are now returned back into Egypt, and so the further off from entring into the Land of Canaan: and in one place he is pretty pleasant with the Quakers, for saith he, The greatest things that ever I heard the Quakers do, is to find fault with a piece of Ribbon, Gold-button, or a Bandstring, and such like, and to possess themselves with a melancholly spirit of Witchcraft, and so fall into Witchcraft-fits, to lie humming and groaning, which doth fright the beholders; so instead of those merry-Devils which they had upon the Ranting-score, where all was good, lying with their Neighbours wife, deflowring Virgins, cozening and cheating, and destroying every one in their outward Estate which did entertain them, and now that Devil is cast out, now they are grown in as much extream on the other side; for now they are grown so precise and exact for Apparel and for words, no words must be placed out of joynt, so that no man can almost tell how to deal with them; and this melancholly Devil hath cast out the Ranting Devil, which makes them so proud and stiff-necked, thinking themselves that they are better then other people, when as they are worse; for they are possessed with the Spirit of Witchcraft, which makes them two-fold more the children of the Devil then they were before; which none can discover but this Commission of the Spirit; neither did I ever hear by any which heard the Quakers speak, that they did ever preach any sound Doctrine, but only exhort people to hearken to the light within them, which is a very low & easie thing for every ordinary understanding to comprehend; and this is the cause there is such a multitude of men and women fall into it, &c. And thus did he proceed, his whole writing being to pull them down, and set himself up.
Soon after the Printing of these Letters, I met with a Quaker, an acquaintance of mine, and asked of him whether he had seen these Letters of Muggletons, which went by the name of The Neck of the Quakers broken, or cut in sunder by the two-edg’d sword of the Spirit, which is put into my mouth. He reply’d, Yea he had. What thinkest thou, said I, of those of your perswasion in general, and more particularly of those persons whom he hath damn’d? I think him to be a deluded person, said he, for I have known him long, and also his fellow Prophet Reeve, who is since dead: and I remember this one passage, that one of our perswasion did calmly discourse with Reeve about many principal things of his Judgement and Opinion: and though they did not agree to every thing, yet Reeve said he believed he would be converted, for that he was confident he was of the seed of Faith, and not of that of the Devil; onely that his eyes were not yet opened, but in time they would. And thus they parted.