Glimpses of Christian History Presents Pastwords # ©2007

Leslie, Charles(1650-1722) Nonjuring divine. After studying law at Trinity College, Dublin, he was ordained in 1680 and presented in 1686 to the chancellorship of Connor. Refusal to take the oaths at the Revolution of 1688 deprived him of his benefice and in 1689 he withdrew to London. Here he continued an ardent Jacobite and, after the failure of the 1715 rebellion, he joined the pretender and accompanied him to Rome. His voluminous writings are learned and ranked as controversial publications in his day. The most celebrated was his attack on the Deist philosophy--A Short and Easy Method with the Deists, wherein the Certainty of the Christian Religion is demonstrated by Infallible Proof from Four Rules, which are incompatible to any Imposture that ever yet has been or that can possibly be. Leslie's other works included The Snake in the Grass (1696), against the Quakers; Gallienus Redivivus (1695), an important historical authority for the facts of the Glencoe massacre; and The Case Stated between the Church of Rome and the Church of England (1713), in which the strong anti-Roman sentiments which, despite his political allegiance, he retained his death found expression. --Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, pg. 816.

For Wyeth and Whitefield's reply click here

The Preface

uakerism is but one branch of Enthusiasm; tho the most spread and Infectious of any now known, in this Part of the World. Therefore let the frightful and stupendious Prospect of Quakerism, Guard others from other sorts of Enthusiasm, that seem more Plausible; but spring all from the same Stock; and draw after them the same Damnable Consequences. There seems to be a Contest, at present, 'twixt Atheism and Enthusiasm (both which. like a Deluge, are now let loose amongst us) which shall most wast and over-run Christianity. The one by open Enmity, the other by betraying and exposing to the utmost Contempt, the Authority of that Divine Revelation, while they pretend to have the same, or as Good themselves. These two, tho' seemingly opposite, do naturally run into and assist one another. For Enthusiasm, or a False pretence to Revelation, does naturally beget Atheism, when those pretences are detected: Then such having no other Foundation, lose all; and think all other Revelation to be as False and Deceitful as what they took to be such in themselves. And the Atheists take this Handle to Ridicule the True and Pretended Revelations all alike. But Enthusiasm is in this more dangerous than Atheism, that Atheism takes none but the Un-thinking and Debauch'd, while Enthusiasm steals away many Devout and Well-meaning Persons. The Devil has not, by any other means, advan'd his Kingdom more Fatally among Men, than when he thus transforms himself into an Angel of Light; and can pass his Delutions upon his unwary Followers, as the Immediate Dictates of the Holy Ghost. In order to which he is content to let them Enjoy and Please themselves with many Excellent and Divine Truths. He cou'd not otherwise Deceive. As he that wou'd pass some Bad Money, mixes it with a great deal of Good. And Poyson wou'd not be receiv'd, if it were not mingled with our Meat.

There has lately arriv'd upon our Shore, a most exalted Piece of Enthusiasm, which threatens great mischief to Christianity. It is Blasphemously Entitled, The Light of the World; Translated and Recommended, by some among ourselves, who ought to have had more sense and Value for the Religion of Christ. It is some of the Works of a strange sort of Enthusiast, Ms. Antonia Bourignon, Published by Mr. Christian de Cort, a Roman Catholic, Superior of the Oratory, and Pastor of St. John at Mechlin; and now turn'd into English, An. 1696. There are in it great Flights of Devotion and Abstraction from the World. But the Cloven-Foot does appear. 1. In Superlative and Blasphemous Drive. 2. In over-turning all outward Priesthood and Ordinances of the Gospel. 3. In the height of Uncharitableness and Damning of all the World. 4. In misrepresenting the Design and Import of our Saviour's Doctrine. 5. In Heretical Notions set up, contrary to the Gospel. 6. In her Contempt of the Holy Scriptures. 7. In other wild and Barbarous Notions.
I intend not a thorough Disquisition of all these and other Particulars, which are as Gross in her Pretended Revelations: That wou'd require a Treatise: And because I hope the World will be soon oblig'd by an Exact Confutation of them, by a better Hand. But for the present, I will give one Instance or two, upon each of the above particulars, that the Reader may not be wholly Post-pon'd; and to give him a relish of those Pestiferous Heresies which are Cloak'd under her Disguise of Light.

I. First, As to her Pride. In the Epistle to the English Reader, p. 28, her Bigotted Disciple, compares her, nay, Prefers her to the Blessed Virgin, That her own Sex may admire (says he) the Goodness of God, in Choosing a Virgin for his Mother; and a Virgin to be the Organ of his Light and Spirit, in this last Age of the World. Now, to be the Organ of His Light and Spirit, is more than to be the Organ or Mother of his Human Body. It is told, p. 19, That she had immediate Converse with God; that she asked Questions of Him, and receiv'd Answers from him, p. 17. That all she did was by Immediate Direction from God; and That God had bid in her the Treasures of His Divine Wisdom. And p. 21, 22, That she spoke and wrote without Premeditation, and without Change of Sentiments, for Forty Years. The Person who speaks here (says the Admonition, p. 33) is without Study, even without Reading, and which is more, without Meditation. And as the Quakers have Equall'd themselves, to the Holy Prophets and Apostles; and, in some things, Preferr'd themselves before them) as you will see hereafter, Sect. V. p. 27.) and Exalt themselves far beyond all the Holy Fathers of the Church (see Sect. XVI N. 2. p. 190. so did this Bourignon. Mons. de Cort, in his Preface, p. 41, says, She Explain'd the Scriptures so perfectly, that none of the Holy Fathers have ever so done, nor any body since the Creation of the World. This sets her above Christ Himself! And her Exposition of the Scripture to be better than His! I know the Master-pieces (says she, Part I. of her Book, p. 137.) of the Works of God, and the Accomplishment of the Holy Scriptures. And yet De Cort says, p. 41. of his Preface, that she had never Read nor Learn'd them of anybody. She says of herself, p. 131. God hath given me the Understanding of all the Holy Scripture, without having Read it She says, that she Understood it better than all the Ancient Fathers. It was enough (says she, p. 135.) that they understood what Men had need of then--Therefore God now Reveals the Secrets, which he wou'd then have to be kept hid (p. 136.). Thus he thought fit to reserve the Understanding of the Scriptures, till the necessary time, which is at present--The Prophets have indeed declar'd all that must come to pass, even to the end of the World; but neither they themselves, nor any others understood their Sayings. So that she understood the Prophets words better than themselves who wrote them; and tho she never Read them! But Great Wits have short Memories, for P. 13. of the Epistle to the English Reader, it is told that she was the Daughter of a Rich Man; and was taught to read in her Childhood, and did Read the Gospels. And p. 12. of her book she says, that we need only take the Gospel, and there observe in Particular, the Instructions which Jesus Christ and his Apostles have left us in Writing, and put them in Practice. Yet she Read none of it! No not She! But that is not so great a Wonder as what is told of her, p. 41. of Mons. de Corts Preface, That she knew the secret Thoughts of the Hearts of others. And (p. 45. how our Souls behaved themselves towards God, which is the Prerogative of God alone. See hereafter the same Claim set up by G.F. Sect. VI. p. 34. M. de Cort. p. 43. of his Preface frees her (like the Quakers) from all sin or Weakness. And even from Original Sin, as if (says she) Adam had never Sinn'd in her. And p. 46. and 47. ad fin. That she exceeded all Knowledge. And p. 7. of her book she says, That she had never taken any thing out of Books; and that she made no use of them. No, not of the Holy Scriptures. But that she had all by Immediate Revelation.

II. As to the second Point of her over-turning all outward Priesthood and Ordinances of the Gospel. See p. 54. of her Book, where she Condemns Those Outward Devotions which are now in use in Christendom--and what those call'd Church-men Teach, to Resort to Churches, to Frequent the Sacraments--and such Outward things. Her Disciples may make the same Excuse for Her which the Quakers do sometimes, that they are only so far against the Outward Institutions of Religion as they hinder the Inward and Spiritual Part. But this is only a Deceit of the Devil, to make us throw off the Outward Institutions of Christ's Appointment, as Hurtful or Useless things: Whereas to the Due Observance of them, the Promises of Spiritual Participations are annexed. And they were Ordained as Means and Channels, whereby the Spiritual Graces of the Spirit of God are Convey'd. And, if any receive hurt by them (as Judas by the Sop) it is from their want of Preparation, and of due regard to them. And therefore, instead of despising, or laying them aside, Christians shou'd be Exhorted to attend them more diligently; and to learn the great Benefit and Advantage of the, when duly Receiv'd, according to Christ's Institution; and the heavy Judgments which follow either the Abuse or Neglect of them, I Cor. XI. 29, 30.

Now tho Bourignon agrees, in this, Perfectly with the Quakers, to run down Priesthood and Sacraments, yet Her Translator, in his Epistle to the English Reader, p. 18. tells how she wrote against the Quakers upon these two Points particularly, Of the Respect due to Pastors, and the Sacraments. These Enthusiasts are all Contradiction to themselves; and Opposite one to another. The great design of the Devil is, and has always been, to beat down the Priesthood, and Outward Ordinances; knowing that Religion must needs fall with them: And men be left senceless and open, to steer without Compass, guided only by the various Winds of Enthusiasm. In this Cause He has Arm'd the Atheists and Deists to joyn with the more Plausible Enthusiasts, and Latitudinarians. These all cry out upon Priest-Craft. This is the Burden of their Song. And if they or any of them should prevail there is an End of Reveal'd Religion, that is, of Christianity.

IV. The fourth Point. In Mis-representing the Design and Import of the Gospel; which was to wean our Hearts from this world, and to set our affections on things above, to Cure our over-Caring and Caring after Riches; and to Root up all Covetousness out of our Hearts; but that we shou'd trust in God for our support, and not to Mammon: That tho we make use of Riches and the Goods of this World, yet that we shou'd not place our Treasure in them. But this Virgin so understands it, as if all sue of Riches were forbidden (she might as well say of Meat, Drink, Cloaths, and Houses) and makes Riches, without anymore, an Infallible sign of not being a Christian.

Thus p. 7. of her book, when she ask'd Where was the Land of the Christians? She concluded that that cou'd not be a Land of Christians, where she liv'd. Why? Because, says she, I see here Coffers full of Silver, Costly Furniture, and fine Houses, whereas Jesus Christ was Poor, and born in a Stable: How can we be Christians? I cannot believe this. And p. 56. We see (says she) the Prelates attended with Servants, Coaches, and Trains--if they had Faith to believe that God being Man, was Poor and Despised, they wou'd Blush for shame (as all other Christians) to make themselves thus to be Honoured. Their Faith being dead, they run blindly to Damnation. So that, according to this Doctrine, the Prelats, and all other Christians, who have Servants or Coaches, or make themselves to be Honoured, do all run blindly to Damnation! This was the Bottom upon which the Quakers first set up, to run down all Worldly Honour and Riches; to Thee and Thou; to call no Man Master, or Lord, and not to take off their Hats, or Bow to any. It is Dissolving all Government and Order; the Relations of King and People; Husband and Wife; Parents and Children; Masters and Servants; and far from the Import or meaning of the Gospel, which does Confirm and Establish all these Relations and Commands to give Honour to those to whom it is Due. But these Pharisaical Pretenders keep not to their own Rules. For tho the Quakers, at first left their houses and Families, to run about and Preach: and cry'd down Riches, when they had none; yet since that time, they have Grip'd Mammon as hard as any of their Neighbours; and now call Riches a Gift and Blessing from God. And thus their Cousin Bourignon tho' she made Riches a sure mark of Damnation in others, yet she had a Good Estate herself, and had the Grace to keep it. She built a sort of a Nunnery with some part of it: and the Jesuits cheated her of more, which raised her Spleen against them to her Dying-day. The rest she kept as long as she liv'd, and left it to a mad Disciple of hers, Monsieur Porter. If it be said, That sometimes she speaks in behalf of Riches, and not to part with them, that is true; For she is as full of Contradictions as the Quakers. Enthusiasm is seldom or never Consistent with itself, for it is seated in the Imagination.

V. And as she mistook the whole Design and Import of the gospel, so she miserably perverted its Doctrine; and that in the most material and fundamental Points. Falling in with the vile Socinian Heresies, and even outdoing them: She absolutely denys, and disputes against any Satisfaction made by the Sufferings and Death of Christ for the Sins of Men. She says positively, p. 139. That God had no need to become Man, to redeem us. And that He shou'd have taken Human Flesh, tho Adam had never sinned. For what end? Why (forsooth!) That He might Converse with us. God is not become Man (says she) to suffer, or to die, but to Converse with us, and Reign in us visibly and sensibly upon Earth. And she endeavours to prove this (p. 140. 141.) by too Doughy Arguments. First, that, if the Design'd End of His Incarnation had been suffering and Death, the Fathers of the Ancient Law wou'd not have had Ground to have so much Desir'd and Aspired after that happy day, that they might see with their Eyes God made Man, who shou'd deliver them from their Captivity. Cou'd they desire their deliverance at so dear a Price as the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ? They wou'd have had a pure self-love in regarding only their own Deliverance, and not the Glory of God; which cou'd not be met with in the Reproaches, Affronts, Pains, and Death of Jesus Christ; which are all things Repugnant to his Glory, who cou'd not be Honoured by being Hang'd between two Malefactors. Here are all the Cursed and truly Diabolical Suggestions against the Passion and Death of Christ: as if Inconsistent with the Justice and Glory of God. I stay not here to Confute them, as supposing them utterly abhorrent to every Christian Ear. And I wou'd not digress into another subject in this short Preface, which is design'd only to let the World see (those especially who are deluded by the Zealous Pretences of this Devil of a Saint, to an Extraordinary and Exalted sort of Devotion) what dreadful Heresies and Blasphemies are Couched under her Pharisaical shew of Piety. Far be it from thee, Lord (says she) with Peter, Mat. XVI. 22. this (of Sufferings and Death) shall not be unto thee. And we may thence justify Reply to her, as Christ to Peter, Get thee behind me Satan, thou art an offence unto me: For thou favourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of Men. Christ said (John XII. 23.) speaking of His Passion, The hour is come that the Son of Man shou'd be Glorify'd. But says Bourignon, all these things are Repugnant to his Glory. It is written (Luke XXIII. 46. That is Behoved Christ to suffer: and ver. 26. That He ought to have suffered these things. And Matth. XXVI. 39 and 54. That it was not Possible the Cup, of His Sufferings, shou'd pass from him. And, that thus it must be, in order to the Redemption of man. But Bourignon says, That there was no need of his becoming man to Redeem us. Much less of his Suffering. What Account then does she give of his Suffering? She says, that was only by Accident. And contrary to the Design of His becoming man. He became man (says she p. 140.) not that he might suffer or Die, which he wou'd needs do by Accident, for the Instruction of men and their Relief. And p. 142. That His coming in Reproach, is, as it were the accident of the said Designs, i.e. of His Incarnation. And that but for the so great Extremity of Evil, Christ wou'd not have come till the end of the World, to Judge and Condemn men; not to save them, or suffer for them. No, says she, he wou'd have come in the Glory of His Majesty, with all his Angels; not in Contempt and Sufferings: He wou'd have come to Reign, not to undergo an infamous Death. So that God's designs were hereby prevented! And Christ suffer'd otherwise than he intended! Merely by Accident! See what horrid and senseless Blasphemy is here! These Inspirations came from the Devil; or otherwise all the Scriptures are False. Christ says (John XII. 27.) For this Cause came I unto this Hour, i.e. of His suffering Death. and he is call'd, The Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World, Rev. XIII. 8. i.e. Decreed to be slain, yet Bourignon says, That it was not His Intention, only it fell out by Accident; and that the design'd end of His Incarnation, was not Suffering and Death. For which you have heard her first Reason. The second is, p. 141. That so many Holy Prophets, who have foretold the coming of Jesus in the Flesh, did not speak of His Coming to suffer. She has told us before that she had never read the Scriptures; and now she gives a substantial Proof of it: And that that Spirit which she said gave her the Perfect understanding of All the Scripture, without Reading of it, was no other than the Devil; who has hid from her all the whole Economy of the Redemption of man, by the Death and Sufferings of Christ. Which are particularly Prophesy'd of in the 53rd Chapt. of Isaiah; and many other places, even by All the Prophets Acts 3.18 God before had shewed by the Mouth of All his Prophets, that Christ should suffer. And Luke XXVI 44, 45, 46. He opened their Understanding that they might understand the Scriptures; and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to Suffer. And Mat. XXVI. 54. speaking of his Rescuing himself from his sufferings; But how then (says she) shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it Must be? Let this suffice to shew the Dark, Ignorant, and Deluded Enthusiasm of this Celebrated Maid; and to open the Eyes of her much Deceiv'd Admirers. Compare what I have Quoted from her, of her throwing off the Satisfaction of Christ; and the Merit of his outward death and sufferings with what I have shewn, in this Book, of the Quakers, who dispute in the like manner, against these; and place the Merit and Satisfaction in the Allegorical Sufferings, and Blood of their Light within, inwardly shed, etc.

VI. With them likewise she joins, in the Design of Leading men from the use of the Holy Scriptures, to trust to the inward Guidance of the same Spirit (as she and they say) which gave forth the Scriptures; and therefore, which needs not the help of the Scriptures. That they leave only for young beginners, who have not yet sufficiently Experienc'd the Leadings of the Spirit. She says, p. 132. I have read sometimes Transiently the New Testament, having obtain'd Permission of a certain Bishop, but as soon as I began to read, I perceiv'd in what I read, all my Sentiments explain'd, so that if I were to write the Sentiments which I carry within me, I shou'd compose a Book like that of the New Testament--And it seeming to me that it wou'd be useless to read what I did so sensibly possess, I left off to read. and p. 133. I know I cannot but speak the Truth; and also they who do not follow it, do resist it: This is like the Quakers Equalling their own Writings to the Holy Scriptures: and Condemning all such of Blasphemy, and Opposers of God, who resist what they Teach.

VII. But I will not Anticipate the more thorough Examination of Mrs. Bourignon, which I have given the Reader ground to expect; only I have, in some things, compar'd her, and her Followers with the Quakers, as Fellow-Enthusiasts: and the one stands not upon better ground than the other. Let me but name two or three things more. And I will but name them. You will see hereafter, p. 14. how G. Fox says, That Christ is not distinct from his Saints. That Christ is the Elect, etc. Agreeable is Mis. Bourignons Notion of the Church p. 45. Jesus Christ (says she) and his Church are the same thing. As Jesus Christ is no other but the Word of God, even so the Church is no other but the same Word. And p. 53. In short (says she) the Church is God Himself, who cannot Fail or Err. Upon this account she takes the Name of the Church to her self, and her Followers: And, as such, aspires to Infallibility, etc. as the Quakers, upon the same pretence, have done. And, like them she sets up for Prophecy too, and just as unluckily, to see them prove False. She tells Mons. de Cort. p. 144. You may indeed live till then, Sir, (i.e. Christ's coming in the Clouds, when all the World shall see him) but she adds cautiously, If God please. But she is more positive p. 17. Believe me, Sir (says she) there is nothing more true (i.e. than that the Judgment was near at hand) we actually live in the last Times; and the Judgment is so near, that before Three Years I believe you will see the effects of it. I will take leave of this Lady at Present, with shewing the Turks Paradise she expects in Heaven, p. 168. Literal Eating and Drinking in the Kingdom of Heaven. And p. 169. This Virgin wou'd have Human Propagation likewise there. Yes Sir (says she to Mos. de Cort, who ask'd her the Question) there will be Propagation Eternally, it will be produced more leisurely than in this World--That Kingdom being of Eternal duration, will give time and leisure to Propagate stayedly, etc.: Her Contempt of human Learning, and denying it even to Christ; Repetition of Baptism; and Anti-Christ's being already born of the Devil, and other Wild and Extravagant Notions, I leave to him, who will, for the undeceiving of those who are deluded by her Witch-Craft, take more pains in this matter; and likewise consider with her, her Mad Disciple Mons. Poiret, who speaking of her to two Gentlemen (of my acquaintance) said to them in these words, Tam certus fum illam Virginem, inspiratam esse quam deum existere. That he was as sure, that that Virgin was Inspir'd as that God had a Being. He writes against God's Fore-Knowledge; and says, that God knows not what sin is, tho' He forbids it. But I will now begin with him. The Man was actually Craz'd, and is still so Reputed in the Countrey where he lives; Yet some here are taken with his books, who can swallow any Poison, under the Disguise of Religion.

VIII. I have spent this Preface upon the Enthusiasm of Mrs. Bourignon, to give warning of the danger of it, and by comparing it with the Rise, and Growth of the Quakers, to Excite the Watch-men of our Religion not to neglect such small beginnings. G. Fox was much more Inconsiderable than Antonia Bourignon; and got none, at the beginning, to follow him, but from among the Poor and most Ignorant of the Herd; who have since swell'd to a Rich, a Numerous, and a Potent People, over-spreading these Three Nations; and stocking whole Plantations Abroad: and their Suckers have taken Root both in Holland and Germany.

On the other hand, some Men of Sense and Learning have already been carry'd away with the Delusions of Bourignon: De Cort, and Poiret have wrote in her Defence Abroad; and some at Home (whom I am not willing to name) have been at the Pains to Translate some of her Works into English; and they have already Deceiv'd not a few. therefore it is high time to look to it. The Quakers have grown by being Neglected and Despis'd. Let us Remember, that the Enemy sows his Tares while the Husband-men sleep. And we have seen Examples, where a Handbreadth of Error has soon darkened the whole Heaven. The Blood of Souls is Precious; and will be Required from the watchmen, if they blow not he Trumpet in time.

Enthusiasm has been the Root of the greatest Evils that have befallen the Church. From this arose the Popish Legends of their Saints; which have almost Overthrown the Belief of the Real Miracles of Christ and His Apostles. And from hence our several sorts of Dissenters took their Rise, till they were once Settl'd and Established: And then wore off from it by Degrees; because it wou'd unsettle Themselves. It is a perfect Opposition to all Rule or Government: And there can be no Order kept where it is admitted.

I wou'd not be misunderstood, as if by speaking against Enthusiasm I meant to destroy Devotion. or even the greatest Flights and Extasies of it: No, let these Rise as high as they can. The Higher the Better! while we keep within the Rule of Scripture; and are content to let all our Notions be Try'd and Judg'd by that. But if we Preferr our own Imaginations, or Equal them to the Holy Scriptures of God (as Fox and Bourignon did) and think them as much the Inspiration of God as what was Dictated, as such, to the Holy Prophets and Apostles, this is Enthusiasm: The Enthusiasm against which I contend. For I have sufficiently Distinguished and Guarded (in Sect. XXII.) the Divine from the Diabolical Enthusiasm. And tho' they appear sometimes so very like one another, tat even Sober and Learned Men do mistake the one for the other, and cannot discover Satan through his Disguise of Light; yet there are some Marks, which, if we look Diligently, will plainly enough shew whence such Inspirations come.

I. As First, Those which come from God, fill us with Humility, and discover to us our own Weakness and Unworthiness; And withal, a great Charity for others; being more apt to have a good Opinion of them, than of ourselves; as knowing our own Infirmities more than tho'e of others, as the Apostle speaks (Phil. 1.3.) In lowliness of Mind, let each Esteem other better than Themselves. Thus the Great Apostle was so far from Magnifying Himself, notwithstanding of his great Revelations, which were given to him, being Caught up to the third Heaven, and heard unspeakable Words; Yet would not Glory, but in his Infirmities, 2 Cor. XII. and in great Humility of Soul owns himself as the Chief of Sinners, I Tim. 1.15. But, on the other hand, Those Inspirations which come from the Devil, fill us with Spiritual Pride, thinking our own Attainments to be beyond those of other Men: And that we are nearer to God than they. We thank God, with the proud Pharisee, Luk. xvii. 11. that we are not as other Men are. Hence we Despise others, and are apt to Censure them even unto Hell. To which the Quakers and Bourignon have Damn's All but Themselves (See hereafter, Sect. XVI.) And, at the same time, Advance Themselves Equal to the Holy Prophets and Apostles; nay, to God Himself, See Section III. This is a sure Mark whereby to Discover the Inspirations of the devil; and so Distinguish them from those which come from the Holy Spirit of God. The Spirit of Pride can Act Humility the worst of any other Grace. Can put on Great shew of Devotion, and Possess the Imagination with even Rapturous Flights, and thence Fire the Heart with a mighty Zeal, if it were to Give all their Goods to Feed the Poor, and their very bodies to be Burned. But you will find no Charity there! no Humility! no Kind Thoughts, and Favourable Allowances to others! no Mean Opinion of Themselves! Charity believeth all things, that are Good, or can be well constru'd of another. Beareth all things, that others do, with a Condescension and Love insuperable, which overcometh Evil with Good. These are Vertues too Divine for the Devil to Imitate. Or when he does, it is with so Ill a Grace, so contrary to Him, that He cannot conceal such an Awkwardness, a Loathness, an un-natural Force upon Himself, as discovers itself to any Discerning Eye.

II. Another sure Mark of His Inspirations, is, when under the Sheeps-Cloathing of Devotion and Piety, any Heresie is Instill'd contrary to the Truth of the Gospel. Of which I have given some Instances in Bourignon, and more (but there are not more, or more Gross) in the Quakers.

III. A third Mark I give (and then I have done) which is that St. Paul Insists so much upon, to Cure the great Schism in the Church of Corinth; occasion'd by the Pride of some, upon whom (in that Plentiful Effusion of the Spirit, at the first Beginning of the Gospel) several Miraculous Gifts had been Bestowed, as of Languages Healing, etc. upon which they grew so Vain, as to Refuse Subjection to their Superiors in the Church; and to set up for Themselves, drawing many after them, into an open and flagrant Schism. Against these St. Paul argues with Admirable Eloquence and Force of Reason, in the xii. Chap. of his First Epistle to these Corinthians, where from a Parallel of the Unity of the Body, and Harmony of the Members he shewes, That the highest Spiritual Gifts, if they were made use of to cause a Schism in the Church, lose all their Vertue, and become Hurtfull and Pernicious to those who had them. And thence makes his Inference in the 13 Chap. That the greatest Gifts that could be imagin'd, tho To speak with the Tongue of Men and Angels, to understand all Mysteries, and all Knowledge, and Faith, even to remove Mountains; Nay, such a Zeal as to Give all our Goods to the Poor; and our Bodies to be Burned for our Religion: That all this wou'd signifie nothing to us, if we keep not in the Unity of the Body, which is the Church, if we have not that Concern for the Unity of the Body, (which the Apostle justly calls by the name of Charity, i.e. Love to the Body) as to be content with our Station as Members, tho' never so Eminent, as an Eve, or a Hand, without making a Schism in the Body, by withdrawing our due Subjection tot he Head, our Spiritual Governours, whoa re the Principles of Unity in the Body, next and Immediately under Christ, the only Supreme and Universal Bishop and Head of His Church. Whom every Bishop, in his own Church, does Immediately Represent. And therefore, as St. Ignatius oftentimes urges it, whoever does not keep outward Communion with his Bishop, the Visible Head, does thereby Forefeit his inward Communion with Christ, the now Invisible to us, and only Supreme Head. This Schism, which some of these Spiritually-gifted Men had made from their Respective Bishops, and which then began to spread in the Church, was the occasion of St. Ignatius (who was Contemporary with the Apostles) his Insisting so Largely, and so Earnestly in his Epistles to the several Churches, upon the Due and Necessary Obedience of All, as well the Presbyters and Deacons, as the Laity to their Respective Bishops, as to Christ Himself, whose Person they did Represent. The same is Insisted upon in the Epistles of St. Clement, to the same Corinthians, upon the same occasion of their Schism; as St. Paul wrote to them, wherein he shews them, at large, that all Proceeded from their Pride in their own Gifts: And how little Reason this was for them to make a Schism in the Church.

And now, Reader, stay and Admire! That if even Miraculous-Gifts, were not a sufficient Pretence, for any to advance himself above his Bishop, or withdraw from under his Government: Yet, in our Days, we have seen Men Rebel against them, and break the Unity of the Church, upon Pretence of being Gifted-Men, tho' Masters of no more Sense than their Neighbours, only from a Fiery Zeal, and Volubity of Cant! Whereas, were their Gifts even what they Pretend, and much greater, yet by the Sentence of St. Paul, St. Clement, whose Name is in the Book of Life, Phil. vi. 3. St. Ignatius, and all the Holy Fathers, this were no Excuse at all for them to withdraw their Obedience to their Lawful Bishops; much less to set up on Opposition to Them; and Tear the Body of the Church by Schism.

It is hereafter observ'd, That the Holy Prophets sent from god to Reprove the Wickedness of the Priests, as well as People of the Jews; yet set not up opposite Altars to the Altars of those Wicked Priests, nor Invaded their Office. So that were our Dissenters such Prophets as they call themselves, yet this wou'd give them no Authority to set up Opposite Altars to their Bishops.

Corruptions in the Church are better, Amended, by living in the Communion of the Church; and There, by Exhorting, Admonishing, and shewing Good Example, to Reclaim: Than by open Desertion, to set up Opposite Factions, which Heightens the Animosities, Embitters the Spirits, Renders them Deaf to one anothers Advices; and oft proceeds to Blood and Slaughter; which lays waste whole Kingdoms; and gives the Enemy the greatest Opportunity to sow his Tares in the Heat and Confusion of Schism and Rebellion: Which we sadly Experienc'd in the late Bloody Revolution of Forty One: Wherein (besides the Murther of the King, Destruction of many Noble Families; the Havock and Desolation of Three Flourishing Kingdoms) there Arose Thirty or Forty different and Opposite Sects and Heresies, more Abhorrent to the Presbyterians (who Begat them, and began that Rebellion) than Episcopacy itself, against which they first took Arms. These, like the Spawn of the Viper, Eat into the Bowels of their Mother, and destroyed Her, who have them Birth. So much did the Remedy prove worse to her than the Disease! I wish that They, that We, that All may take warning. That, instead of wild Enthusiasm, we may come to learn the Sobriety of Religion: In which let us Heighten our Zeal and Divine Enthusiasm, to Adhere strictly to the Reveal'd Rule of Scripture. To have a Flaming Charity for the Good of the Body, and the Unity of the Church. That our Enthusiasm may tend to Heal, and not to Divide. To Advance the Glory of God, and to Humble ourselves, in our own Conceits. That we may be willing Chearfully to submit ourselves to our Superiors both in Church and State. And not be so apt to Judge others, as to Censure ourselves. And then, tho'' we had different Opinions, yet we shou'd have no Schism. We should live together as Members of the Same Body, that tho'' one were more Honourable or Useful than another, yet there wou'd be no Strife, no Emulation, but which shou'd Exceed most in mutual Good Offices, and Care for the whole; such a Heaven we shou'd see, if we had so Schism: And we had had no Schism but for Enthusiasm: And there is no Enthusiasm, where there is not Pride: Which being Dress'd in the Garb and Guise of Humility, is Literally the Devil Transform'd into an Angel of Light, and then He is most a Devil, because he can most Deceive. This is The Snake in the Grass, which I have Endeavour'd to discover: Pray God Accept my Labours, and make them useful to my Brethren.