The History of the Rise, Increase, and Progress of the Christian People Called Quakers: Intermixed with Several Remarkable Occurrencs.Sewel, William
History
The History of the Rise, Increase, and Progress of the Christian People Called Quakers: Intermixed with Several Remarkable Occurrencs.
Sewel, William
Society of Friends -- History -- Early works to 1800
Another time this priest came to another meeting, and fell to jangling;
saying first, that the Scriptures were the word of God. To which G.
Fox said, that they were the words of God, but not Christ, who is the
Word. And when he urged the priests for proof of what he had said, the
priest, being at a loss, was not long before he went away. Some time
after coming again into a meeting, and hearing that G. Fox directed the
people to Christ Jesus, the priest taking out his bible, said, it was
the word of God. Then G. Fox told him, it was the words of God; but not
God, the Word. The priest however persisted in what he had said; and
offered to prove before all the people, the Scriptures to be the word
of God. But this quarrel tending to vain logomachies, or contest about
words, ended in confusion; and many of the priest’s followers came to
see the vanity of his assertions.
1653.
The year being now come to an end, and a war kindled between England
and Holland, King Charles II. then in exile, asked the Dutch to be
received in their navy as a volunteer, without any command: but this
was courteously refused by the States-General. Oliver Cromwell, in
the meanwhile, strove for the supreme authority in England, the more
because he perceived how some of the parliament, jealous of his
increasing greatness, endeavoured to cross him in his design. This made
him labour to get the parliament dissolved: but they not going on so
quickly as he would have them, to put a period to their sitting, he
resolved arbitrarily to make an end of them. And entering the house in
the month called April, 1653, after having rudely inveighed against
them, that they had made a bad use of their authority, and that without
their dissolution the realm would not be safe, &c. he at length cried
out, ‘You are no parliament:’ and then ordering some musqueteers to
enter, he made the members depart the house, and ordered the doors to
be shut; thus putting an end to this assembly, that had been sitting
nigh thirteen years.
But what is remarkable, G. Fox not long before being come to
Swarthmore, and hearing judge Fell and justice Benson discoursing
together concerning the parliament, he told them, ‘That before that day
two weeks the parliament should be broken up, and the speaker plucked
out of his chair.’ And thus it really happened: for at the breaking
up of the parliament the speaker being unwilling to come out of his
chair, said that he would not come down unless he were forced: which
made general Harrison say to him, Sir, I will lend you my hand; and
thereupon taking him by the hand, the speaker came down. This agreed
with what G. Fox had predicted. And a fortnight after justice Benson
told judge Fell, that now he saw George was a true prophet; since
Oliver had by that time dissolved the parliament.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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