A Copy of a Letter written by the Prophet Lodowicks Muggleton, to Mr. Edward Fewterrill of Chesterfield, bearing Date from London March 29. 1660.
Friend,
I Received your Letter, wherein I perceive you are a Man that hath been led through several Opinions, yet not suffered to joyn with any, but have been made to wait upon Jesus Christ the only God for Satisfaction; and now it hath been his great Love, which he hath loved you, to let you have a Sight of those infinite Truths, written by the Hands of his two Witnesses, and Lawrence Claxton; which Writing of ours, I perceive by your Letter, have given you more Satisfaction than any that ever you read before.
Only this I perceive, that you did and do still much approve of Jacob Bemon's Works; and for this Cause, because you were as I perceive by his Writings, exhorted to resign your Will unto God's Will, and to come unto that happy State, neither to Will or Desire any thing, but to abide in the Will of God, which is Jesus Christ, into which Estate the Lord did twice bring you in some Measure.
Also you say, That it is a hard thing to cast out that Devil that is in us, nor can it be done as we say or think, but by that Resignation and Faith in the true God.
Likewise you say, that you were a great Disputant against all Forms and formal Worship, till the Lord silenced you, and did let you see it was but a vain Thing to wrangle and jangle with the Devil more.
But I shall pass by part of your Letter, and I shall answer you to those things that are of most Concernment.
You say, that there was that Portion of Scripture brought into your Remembrance of his Promise, I will send the Spirit of Truth, which shall guide you into all Truth, and there have you had your rest reposed.
In the last Place I find, that you would have some Answer to some Doubts, concerning that Devil that doth appear to Witches, and suck of their Bodies, and what that is that doth appear to Conjurers, and the Authors of lying Wonders of John Robins; though you do believe there is no Devil but Man, you do believe also that the Soul of Man is mortal, and must needs die, and so cannot appear, though you thought otherwise in your Reason.
You say, Whether is there a Spirit in Man that surviveth and is allured by them, or do they stir up awaking the Power of the first fallen Angel through their devillish Faith, or is these Things from their vain Imaginations. If so, how? if not, what it is, is your Desire to know of me.
To which I shall give you some Answer both to the first of Part your Letter, and also to the latter Part of it.
First you say, that you have been made to wait upon Jesus Christ the only God; for Satisfaction thereof, I would have you to consider, how could you wait and be satisfied in the Belief of such a God which you never knew. For the Letter of the Scriptures did never declare to you, that Jesus Christ was the only God, neither did God commissionate no Prophet nor Apostle for to declare it, though their Declarations was as necessary to be believed in their Time and Place, as this Commission of the Spirit; which Commission of the Spirit hath deeper Mysteries held forth in it, than the other two Commissions had: For God never did give to any Prophets or Apostles, the Knowledge of his own Form or Nature before he became Flesh. If they did know it, they did not reveal it. But he hath given it to his two last Spiritual Witnesses and Prophets, John Reeve's and Lodowicke Muggleton, who were those chosen Witnesses of God, which should have more Understanding of the Mind of God in the Scriptures, than all Men in the World.
Which Knowledge of God's Mind in the Scriptures, doth consist of these six Heads.
First, Of the Form and Nature of God before he became Flesh.
Secondly, Of the Form and Nature of the Devil before he became Flesh.
Thirdly, Of the Place and Nature of Heaven.
Fourthly, Of the Place and Nature of Hell.
Fifthly, Of the Nature and Persons of Angels.
Sixthly, Of the Mortality of the Soul.
Upon the Knowledge of these six Principles, depends the eternal Happiness of many. And the Knowledge of the two Seeds, is those two Keys that doth open those two, namely, the strait and narrow Gate that leadeth unto Life, and the broad and wide Gate that leadeth to Destruction. And those two Keys are given unto us two aforesaid, which hath the Commission of the Spirit given unto us.
So that there is no coming unto the Knowledge of the true God, nor the right Devil, but where the Declaration of this Spiritual Commission doth open the Doors or Gates of Mens Hearts, and lets them see what Seed they are of, and so Men come to know the true God and the right Devil. And then a Man may truly say, that he can resign his Will to God's Will, as you say Jacob Bemon in his Writings doth declare.
Yet this I would have you to know that Jacob Bemon had no Personal God at all not to resign his Will unto, but his God was an Infinite, Incomprehensible, Formless Spirit, as all the World hath.
Neither had his Devil a Person nor Form; neither had his Angels he speaketh so much of any Body or Form at all, but they were all Spirits without Bodies, which in the Conclusion was no more but so many Letters, that is, three Letters, G, O, D, and so of the Devil and Angels.
And yet this Man would resign his Will into God's Will, and yet his God had no Form nor Nature at all; therefore they could be no Will in his God, whereby any Man should resign his Will into God's Will; whereas there can be no Will in God, except he hath both Form and Nature.
And this is that Will of God which you call Jesus Christ, into which Estate the Lord did twice bring you, which Estate of yours in that Faith of Jacob Bemon's, could not be a true Estate, because there was not the Knowledge of the true God; and where there is not the Knowledge of the true God, there cannot be the Knowledge of the right Devil; without the Knowledge of these two, there can be no true lasting Peace in Man.
And as for your being a great Disputant amongst all formal Worship, I do not question the thing, because I know that the Wisdom of Reason, which is the Devil, doth love to be uppermost in Disputes.
But how can you say, that the Lord did Silence you, and made you to see the Vanity of all Disputes; whereas you did not know any other God, but what is generally believed on in the World; that is, an Infinite, Incomprehensible Spirit, not minding whether God had any Nature or Form at all.
Therefore it could not be the true Lord that did silence you, but it was something that did arise out of your own Seed, which did shew you the Vanity of all Disputes.
In the next Place you say, that there was brought into your Remembrance that Portion of Scripture concerning his Promise, that he would send his Spirit of Truth, which should guide you into all Truth, and there have you had your rest reposed.
Answer, That this Place of Scripture did not belong unto you, nor to any Man in the World at this Day; for that Promise was given only unto his Disciples; which Disciples of his to whom those Words were spoken, were afterwards made Apostles of Christ; so that the Promise which Christ did promise to his Disciples before his Death, was that of the Blood which was given unto his Apostles, which was called the Spirit of Truth, because they should witness unto the Truth; that is, unto his Death and Resurrection and Ascension.
Therefore take Notice of this, that that Promise was fulfilled upon his Apostles after he was ascended up to Heaven, as you may read in the second of the Acts, and to every Man that doth read the Promises, which God did make to his Commissionated Apostles, it doth not belong to every Man that doth read them, but every Man is to mind that Commission which he is under.
Therefore for you to repose your Trust upon such Promises as was given to other Men in their Commissions, that Peace will not endure to the End, but will vanish like Smoke in the Fire.
In the next Place, I shall give you some Answers to those Doubts, which you spake of concerning that Devil which doth appear to Witches and Conjurers, and how those lying Wonders were acted by John Robins.
Answer, There is a twofold Witchcraft, the one is Natural, the other is Spiritual.
Now this natural Witchcraft is acted by such as are called Witches and Conjurers. Now as for those ignorant Women which are Witches, their Witchcraft lies in their wicked Nature, by giving themselves up to believe, that there is no God at all but Nature only, and so by that strong Faith that they have in Nature, they have Power over those whose Understandings are of a lower Capacity than themselves, and so People being ignorant and fearful of them, doth many times disturb and search their Blood with Extremity of Fear, which they have of one that is suspected for a Witch, and so by their own Fear and Imagination, they come to be bewitched. As a Man being overcharged with extream Grief, or being prevented by one that he loves, he goes Distracted or runneth Mad, which is no other but his being bewitched. And so it is with all those that are ignorant, and over charged with Fear: and as for those Children and Cattle that are bewitched, it is by some other Sorcery which they do use with Herbs and Plants, and some other things of Nature, they having some small Knowledge of that Sympathy, and Influence the Stars have over those Bodies and Herbs, and so mix their Faith and Experience together, pretending to do all Manner of Good, but intendeth nothing but Evil. So that there is no such thing as People do vainly imagine as for Spirits to suck Witches, but all the Devil that is, is their own dark Reason; and that Spirit that doth bewitch any Creature, it doth arise out of their own Imagination: And as for Conjurers and Magicians, their Reason is more enlightened than the others is, because they do go altogether by the Figure, which is an Art by which the Reason of Man hath produced Characters and Figures for the several Stars and Planets, and so they came to imagine the Influence of those Stars and Planets upon the Bodies of Men, and many times they do hit rightly, yet it is still but Witchcraft. For it is nothing else but the Imagination of Reason, that doth pry into the Secrets of Nature. And the first Witchcraft that ever was, it was produced by learning of Numbers and Figures; I say, it was first from the Egyptians Arts, and from thence came Conjuration, and the Knowledge of the Influence of the Stars and Planets and the Knowledge of Physick, which are no other in the Original but Witches, only this their Witchcraft is more tolerated by the Power of the Nations; but I am confident that there is more People in the World bewitched with them, than there is with the other Sort of Witches, that is, they are deceived both in Body, and in Mind, and Estate. For when a Man is deceived in his Expectations and Faith which he had in that Art, he may very well be said to be bewitched: But as for raising Spirits without Bodies, there is no Witch, no Conjurer, or Magician, nor the greatest Artist in the World can do; neither can any Spirit assume any Body but its own. So much for natural Witches.
And for those lying Signs and Wonders which John Robins did act, it was by a more Spiritual Witchcraft; his was not by the Knowledge of the Stars, though he had some Skill in that too, but the Power of his Witchcraft did lye in the assuming and taking upon him the Title of the Great God, as you may read in our Books: And so that his Reason being more exercised in the Scriptures upon Spiritual Matters, because the whole Body of the Scriptures doth consist of Spiritual and Heavenly Matter; and he having more Knowledge in the Mystery of the Scriptures at that time than all Men in the World, therefore he had many that did fall down and worship him; because his Knowledge in the Scriptures, did surpass other Men, and so produced Voices in himself, and could present lying Signs and Wonders, unto all those that were deceived by him, or that where afraid of him; yet he did not deal with Spirits that, had not Bodies; but all that Wisdom and Witchcraft that he did shewn it came or arose out of his own Spirit of Reason, which was inclosed in his own Body.
And there is the Influence of the same Spirit of Witchcraft doth now remain upon those People called Quakers, notwithstanding there seeming Holiness, for they have many Times such fleshly Fits falling upon them, which doth seem as if they had the Falling-Sickness, and be as Men dumb, and will not speak a Word for three or four Hours together, and upon a Sudden they will break forth into strong Language, as if the Spirit did immediately move them to speak. This I say, it is nothing else but an Influence of John Robins's Spiritual Witchcraft, which is produced out of their own Spirit within them, and not from any Spirit which hath no Body without them. And all this is, they have no Knowledge of the true God or the right Devil.
Therefore it is that the greatest Part of the World doth lie under Witchcraft, either a Natural Witchcraft or a Spiritual Witchcraft, there is a very few that is delivered from being under one or both of them; there is none delivered but those that are come to have Faith in this Spiritual Commission, which is now extant in the World; for Faith in it doth lead Men to the Knowledge of the true God and the right Devil, with all those deep Mysteries which doth depend on them, the Knowledge of which doth free a Man from all Witchcraft whatsoever.
Therefore I would advise you to read the Books of ours called the Divine-Looking-Glass, for that you may see there, that there can be no Spirits without a Body, neither can any Witch or Conjurer raise any Spirit without a Body: But these Conjurers may do through the Ignorance and Darkness of Man's Reason, and that Fear and Belief that is in the Ignorant, they may by their ignorant Power raise a Shadow of things, as if they were real Bodies, or Spirits in the Shape of Bodies; as the Egyptians did before Pharaoh King of Egypt, they did seem to raise Frogs and Grashoppers in the Sight of Pharaoh King of Egypt; but I say, they were not real Frogs and Grashoppers, but Shadows of such things, which as soon as ever the Witchcraft Power or Art was over, their Frogs and Grashoppers were gone also, else would the King and his People been as much troubled at those Frogs which the Magicians did bring upon their Land, as they were with those which Moses brought up, which went into their Houses. And now if Moses had not raised Bodies as well as Spirits, or if he had raised Spirits without Bodies, they would have been as little troubled at those things which Moses did, as they were at those Shadows or seeming things, which the Magicians of Egypt did. There is something more in your Letter you sent to me, but I have not time at present to answer; So resteth your Friend,
Lodowicke Muggleton.