An appeal from the twenty eight judges to the spirit of truth & true judgment in all faithful Friends, called Quakers, that meet at this Yearly Meeting at Burlington, the 7 month, 1692 Keith, George, 1639?-1716. 1692 Approx. 20 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2005-12 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A47123 Wing K141 ESTC R14383 12937477 ocm 12937477 95825 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A47123) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 95825) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 717:8) An appeal from the twenty eight judges to the spirit of truth & true judgment in all faithful Friends, called Quakers, that meet at this Yearly Meeting at Burlington, the 7 month, 1692 Keith, George, 1639?-1716. Hutcheson, George, 1615-1674. Society of Friends. Burlington Yearly Meeting. 8 p. W. Bradford, [Philadelphia : 1692] Caption title. Signed: George Keith, George Hutcheson [and others] Third edition. cf. Evans 599. Printed by William Bradford, for which he was imprisoned upon the charge of 'uttering and spreading a malicious and seditious paper'; and this was the beginning of the persecution which drove him from Philadelphia to New York.--cf. Sabin, v.1, p.236. Reproduction of original in Huntington Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. 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Society of Friends -- Pennsylvania -- Controversial literature. 2005-05 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2005-06 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2005-07 Jonathan Blaney Sampled and proofread 2005-07 Jonathan Blaney Text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion An 〈◊〉 from the Twenty Eight JUDGES TO THE Spirit of Truth & true Judgment In all Faithful Friends , called Quakers , that meet at this Yearly Meeting at Burlington , the 7 Month , 1692. WHereas twenty eight Persons , called Friends of the Ministry , have publish't a Paper of false Judgment against George Keith , and the rest of his Friends and Brethren , without any Hearing or Tryal , We , in behalf of the rest , do make this our Serious and Solemn Appeal to the Spirit of Truth & true Judgment in you all , that by the help & guidance of the same , ye may enquire and search into the matter , requesting & beseeching you to do Justice in these things , for the Vindication of the Truth , the honour of Christ , the Peace of your Consciences , & the Credit and Repute of our holy Profession , & making up the Breach that is among us , if possible , & ans●ering the expectation of our faithful Brethren in England , and other places of the World , who will be greatly concern'd with us , that Justice and true Judgment may take place impartially , and without respect of Persons . And Friends , Think it not strang● , that we Appeal to you universally , that by the Spirit of Truth ye may give true Judgment in these matters concerning Us and these Twenty Eight Persons , and others of the Ministry who are joyned with them therein ; for tho' upon a pretence of their being Ministers , they claim a Superiority over you the Lords Heritage & People , as if ye were not capable nor qualified to judge them , but that they have Authority to judge you , & on this pretended Authority ( too like the Roman-Hierarchy ) they have sent their Paper of Judgment against us to you , tho' they wer● Yearly Meeting ●or any true Representative of the Body 〈…〉 these three Provinces , but a Party or Faction of 〈…〉 against the Truth ( and us the defamed Witnesses of it ) many of whom we can prove guilty of great Ignorance and Error in Doctrine , as well as some of them are guilty of evil and scandalous Practice , repugnant to our holy Profession ; and some that have been too busie to comply with their usurped Authority over you , have re●d the said Judgment in divers Monthly . Quarterly and other Meetings , without the consent of the said Meetings , or so much as asking it : All which we Appeal to you , Whether it be not a manifest Usurpation over you , and seeking to bring you into Bondage ? And when we have at several Meetings , requested the Friends of the said Meetings , to enquire & examine the matter of Difference between these twenty eight men & us , some of the said 28 have still refused to suffer the thing to come to any further Examination or Judgment , pretending , None have Power to judge in th●se Matters but Friends of the Ministry , whereof these 28 are the far greatest part in these 3 Provinces , and most of the rest of the Preachers are joyned with them , to uphold and defend them in their Tyrannical Usurpation over your Consciences , as if ye were only to see with their Eyes , and hear with their Ears , and not with your own , and that ye were to take all things without all due Examination and Tryal , by an implicit Faith , Papist-like , from them . But if there remain that Nobility in you , and sence of your Christian-Liberty and Freedom , where-withall Christ hath made you Free , as we hope there doth , ye will not suffer your selves to be so imposed upon , nor to be thus Ass-rid by them , as to take things by a ba●e implicit Faith from them , but every one of you to see with your own spirituall Eyes , and hear with your Spiritual Ear● of Gods opening , and to bring these weighty things of Difference to the true Touch-stone , the Spirit of Truth and true Judgment in your selves , which ye have ; as well as t●ey , and which many of you are better taught by and acquainted with than they ; even as formerly it was , that many of the 〈◊〉 say beyond the Priests and Teachers , in the dayes of the ●●●hets and of Christ in the Flesh , and the Apo●les ; all of late , many Thousands of the People have seen beyond the Priest and Teachers , and have been made able by the Spirit of Truth to judge them for their great Ignorance and Error . And that ye may have the better Opportunity to examine these matters , and impartially and throughly to search into them , and judge of them , we have procured to be printed their three Papers of Judgment , viz. the first given forth by their Monethly Meeting at Philadelphia , the 26 of 3d Month 1692. wherein they clear Tho. Fitzwater , and condemn G. K. for saying , The Light is not sufficient without something else , which something else , Thomas Lloyd , as the Mouth of the said Monthly Meeting , acknowledged , They knew G. K. held to be the Man Christ Jesus , and what he did and suffered for us on Earth , and what he now doth for us in Heaven : The 2d Judgment is given forth by them called Friends of the Ministry , concerning W. Stockdale , signed by Sam. Jenings , as Clark of the said Meeting , the 4 of 4 Month , 1692. The 3d signed by 28 of them of the Ministry , against G. K. and his Friends , &c. Which said Judgments we desire you to compare with our Printed Answer , called , The Plea of the Innocent , &c and another Paper called . An Expostulation with Thomas Lloyd , Samuel Jenings , &c. and another by way of Epistle , in answer to their three false Judgments . And we earnestly request and desire of you , to procure of these 28 men , that we may have a publick Hearing with these men before you all , at a place and time mutually appointed by them and us , before the People he gone from the Yearly Meeting ; and that an orderly Method be agreed upon betwixt them and us , to prevent all Confusion , and especially that none but one speak at once , and that every one that speaketh , who is concerned , may have full Liberty , without Interruption , in order to which we are most willing that one or two Impartial and Judicious men may be c●●sesby both them and us , to preside , and 〈…〉 Power to command and enjoin Silence to any of them 〈…〉 they shall see occasion ; and whoever of them or us yieldeth not obedience to the said Command , shall ● and declared unworthy & uncapable of further speaking at ● said publick Conference . And also , we demand that Justice of these 28 men , that they will give us the said Publick Hearing and Tryal before you . And let these particular things be discoursed of , and come to a publick Hearing and Tryal at the said Meeting , and what other things they and we shall agree to , viz. 1. Whether George Keith hath been proved guilty by these 28 men ( his Accusers ) of Reviling , Vngodly Speeches and false Accusations ? Or whether he hath given Names to any of them ( as alledged in their Paper ) that they did not deserve , & did not belong to them ? And whether it be not false that they say , This Meeting having Tenderly and Orderly dealt with him ? 2. Whether they who have signed that Paper against him , are not guilty of giving him Names that did not belong to him , but may be justly accounted Names of Reviling , Vngodly Speeches and false Accusations ? And whether Samuell Jenings particularly is not greatly to be blamed for calling G. K. Worse than Prophane , and Apostate , seeing we know not wherein G. K. is in any one particular gone from Friends Doctrine or Practice , or what thing or things he is guilty of , so as to be worthy of having his Ministry denyed ? 3. Whether it cannot be proved , that that Faction ( which have sufficiently shown their Opposition and Prejudice against G. K. and have signed to that Paper against him ) are guilty of Cloaking more Damnable Heresies and Errors , than any Protestant Society in Christendom , while it can be proved against them , that they have not only cloaked W. Stockdale for above 18 Months , in saying , To preach Faith in Christ within , and in Christ without , it to preach Two Christs ; and Tho. Witzwater , in saying , The Light in sufficient without any thing else , and That he owned no man Christ Jesus as Mediator is Heaven , but the Grate of God within him , and saying in his Prayer , O God that dy●d in us , and laid down thy Life in us , &c. and saying , That he had not learned that Lesson , whether the God head was crucified on the Tree of the Cross or some-what that he took of the Virgin , &c. but they have cloaked divers other Persons in their vile and gross Errors , as can be sufficiently proved , & particularly Sam. Jenings , in saying , To do our own business , as men , we needed not a super-natural Power ; and Tho. Lloyd in arguing some hours , That we might be Christians good enough without the Faith of Christ as he dyed for our sins , and rose again without us ; and Arthur Cook & John Simcock in their charging G. K. for imposing Novelties upon them , when he affirmed , Christ was in Heaven in the same Body for being , in which he suffered ; and J. Simcock denyed that Christ rose in the same Body in which he suffered ; and Robert Young in saying , That he read not in all the Scriptures of Christ without , and Christ within , and that Christ was seperated from his Body in the Cloud ; and Rob. Owen & William Southbe , in denying any general Day of Judgment , and the Resurrection of the Dead , but only what every one witnessed within here : Whether these , with many more that can be proved , were not cause enough for G. K. to say , More Damnable Heresies & Errors were cloaked among the Quakers here , than in any Protestant Society in Christendom ? 4. Seeing their Paper , signed by the 28 mentioneth a main matter of Controversie betwixt G. K. and them , which ( they say ) they proffered to refer to one of his own Books , or to the Yearly Meeting here , or to the Yearly Meeting at London ; Let them show what that main Matter of Controversie is , and wherein his present Doctrine doth contradict any of his former Books , which he saith they can never prove . 5. Whether the Act of the Monthly Meeting at Philad●lphia ▪ the 26 of 3d Month , 1692. is according to Christian Doctrine , That the Light is sufficient without any thing else , thereby excluding the Man Christ Jesus without u● , and his Death & Sufferings , Resurrection , Ascention , Mediation & Intercession for us in Heaven , from having any part or share in our Salvation ; and thereby making him only a Titular , but no real Saviour , as one zealous for that side , lately called the Difference betwixt them and us concerning Christ . An empty Barrel , and another great Zealot said , He did not believe to be saved by that which dyed at Jerusalem ? 6. Whether it be necessary to our salvation , to believe , That Christ dyed for our sins without us , & rest again , and is gone into Heaven without us and there doth make Intercession for us ? And whether it doth not belong to sound Christian Doctrine to believe , That Christ will come without us in his glorified Body to judge the quick and the dead and that there shall be a general Day of Judgment , and that there is a Resurrection of the Dead to be , that the deceased Saints have not yet attained generally , but wait for it until Christs Coming ? And whether there is not to be a Resurrection of the Body , that is not the Resurrection or quickening of the Soul only , as some falsly imagine : Let them clear themselves in these things , they haviug given us just cause to suspect them Unbelievers therein . 7. Whether every true Christian is not taught & led to believe in the Power and Spirit of Christ , & his Eight and Life inwardly revealed , and by the help of the said measure to believe in him who hath the Fullness , even the Man Christ Jesus without us , glorified in Heaven ? And whether by True Faith in the Man Christ Jesus without us , as it is wrought by the measure of the Spirit and Light of Christ in us , we receive not a daily supply and increase of more Grace , Light & Life , and a further measure of the Spirit from the Man Christ Jesus ? And whether they who have not this Faith in the Man Christ Jesus without them , are worthy to bear the honourable Name of Christians ? 8. Whether it is not a great and necessary part of Christian Doctrine , necessary to be preached , in order to bring People to an inward knowledge & enjoyment of God and Christ , and the holy Spirit , to preach Faith in Christ without us even the Man Christ Jesus , as he dyed for our sins , and rose again , & is ascended into Heaven , and there maketh Intercession for us , as well as Faith in Christ in us . as he doth inwardly enlighten us ? And whether it can be said that the Man Christ Jesus is in us , otherwise than by a figurative Speech , of giving the Name of the whole to the measure or part , as when th● Sun is said to be in such a House , the fullness of the Sun's light is only in the Body of the Sun , and but a stream of , Light cometh from the Sun into the House ? 9. Whether the said 28 Persons had not done much better to have passed Judgment against som of their Brethren at Philadelphia ( some of themselves being guilty ) for countenancing & allowing some call'd Quakers , and owning them in so doing , to hire men to fight ( & giving them a Commission so to do , signed by 3 Justices of the Peace , one whereof being a Preacher among them ) as accordingly they did , and recover'd a Sloop , & took some Privateers by Force of Arms ? 10. Whether hiring men thus to fight , & also to provide the Indans with Powder & Lead to fight against other Indians , be not a manifest Transgression of our Principle against all use of the carnal Sword , & other carnal Weapons ? And whether these call'd Quakers , in their so doing , have not greatly weakened the Testimony of Friends in England , Barbadoes , &c. who have suffered much for the is refusing to contribute to uphold the Militia , or any Military force ? And whether is not their Practice here an evil President , if any change of Government happen in this place , to bring Sufferings on faithful Friends , that for Conscience sake refuse to contribute to the Militia ? And how can they justly refuse to do that under another's Government , which they have done , or allowed to be done under their own . But in these & other things we stand up Witnesses against them , with all faithful Friends every where . 11. Whether it be according to the Gospel , that Ministers should pass Sentence of Death on Malefactors , as some pretended Ministers here have done , preaching one day , Not to take an Eye for an Eye Mat. 5. 38 and another day to contradict it , by taking Life for Life ? 12. Whether there is any Example or President for it Scripture , or in all Christendom that Ministers should engross the Worldly Government , as they do here ? which hath proved of a very evil Tendency . Signed by us , in Behalf of many Friends , who are one with us herein . George Keith , Thomas Budd , Richard Dungworth , George Hutcheson , John Hart , Abraham Opdegraves . POST-SCRIPT . BY a Warrant signed by Sam. Richardson & Rob. Ewer , Justices , the Sheriff and Constable entered the Shop of Wiliam Bradford , & took away all the above written Papers , they could find , call'd , An Appeal , &c. and carried the said W. Bradford before the said justices , and also sent for 〈◊〉 M'Comb , who ( as they were informed ) had disposed of two of said papers , and they not giving an account where they had them , were both committed to Prison : also , they sent Robert Ewer , and the said Officer , to search the said W. Bradford's House again for more Papers , &c. but found none , yet took away a parcell of Letters , being his Utensels , which were worth about ten Pound . Now the said Papers being seized , and a great Rumor spread abroad of Sedition , Disturban●● , o● the Peace and , Subversion of the Government , &c. we have , though with some difficulty , procured the said Appeal to be Reprinted , that every one that defined might have the Opportunity to read & judge of the matter contained in the said Appeal , and also to signifie , that we did not nor do not intend any thing against the present Government , or Magistracy , but own them in Commission to be Magistrates , and account it our Duty to obey them , 〈◊〉 actively or passively , but knowing that it is contrary to the Quaker Principles to use the carnal Sword , & finding by experience , that it is impossible to uphold Magistracy without it , therefore we proposed it to be duely considered and discoursed of among all Friends at this Yearly Meeting at Burlington . A Copy of the Mittimus . VVHereas William Bradford Printer , and John M' Comb Taylor being brought before us , upon Information of Publishing , Uttering and Spreading a Malicious & Seditious Paper , entituled , An Appeal from the Twenty Eight Judges , to the Spirit of Truth , &c. Tending to the Disturbance of the Peace , & Subversion of the present Government ; and the said Persons being required to give Security to answer it at the next Court , but they refusing so to do , These are therefore by the King and Queen's Authority , and in our Proprietary's Name to require you to take into your Custody the Bodyes of William Bradford and John M' Comb , and them safely keep till they shall be dsicharg'd by due Course of Law ; whereof fail not , at your Peril , and for your so doing , this shall be your sufficient Warrant . Given under our Hands and Seals this 24th of August ▪ 1602. These to John White , Sheriff , of Philadelphia , or his Deputy . Arthur Cook , Samuell Jenings , Samuell Richardson , Humphery Murrey , Robert Ewer . THE END .