Light and Silence

A
New-England Fire-brand Quenched,
OR,
An Answer to a Lying, Slanderous Book Printed at Boston in the Year 1676. by one Roger Williams of Providence in New England; which he Dedicateth to the KING, with Desires, That (if the most-High please) Old and New-England may flourish, when the Pope and Mahomet, Rome and Constantinople are in their Ashes, &c.

R.W. And in his Title-Page he begins thus: George Fox digged out of his Burrowes; Or an Offer of a Skirmish upon (R.W.'s) 14 Proposals made this last Summer 1672, unto G. F. present on Rode-Island; and that (G. F. slily departing) the Disputation went on aforesaid. And in his Narration of the Conference or Dispute he again asserts, that he challenged G. F. by writing, and all his Friends then met at Rode-Island; and that then G. F. withdrew. And farther in his second Page says, he sent his Paper of Proposals unto G. F. at Newport. And in the 4 and 5 pages he says, he sent his Paper to Capt. Cranston, Deputy Governour of Rode-Island. And further scornfully says; The old Fox thought it best to run for it, and leave the work to his Journey-men and Chaplains, &c. And in the 22 and 23 Pages he further says, Within some few days, after the Deputy Governour had delivered his Paper to them, the strange Quakers, (as was agreed with G. Fox) &c.

Answ. How dare R. W. to Dedicate such palpable Lies to the King? For this R. W. never spoke to G. F. nor did G. F. receive any Letter from this R.w. and yet he impudently says (p. 23) As was agreed with G. F. Nor did G. F. receive any of these 14 Proposals from him, though he says, These 14 Proposals were made last Summer unto G. F. and that he digged him out of his Burroughs; Which Proposals G .F. not only never received, but never saw, not so much as knew of them; though R. W. scornfully says, G. F. slily departed; and that G. F. hath pluckt his Horns, as S. T. did, &c. But in this doth R. W.'s wickedness farther appear, in that J. T. might have received Letters from him; but G. F. never received any from him, nor knew.

R. W. further says, He sent his Proposals to G. F. to Newport; and yet pag. 4 says, He sent them to the Deputy Governor Cranston. [But G. F. never so much as received or saw any such Proposals from the Deputy Governour, or knew of any such thing, when he went off the Island.] And yet R. W. says (page 5) That G. F. knew, he was furnisht with Artillery out of G. F.'s own writings, and that he knew the Consequence that would follow; and therefore the old Fox thought, it was best to run for it, and leave his Journey-Men, &c.

Au. This also is untrue, for G. F. knew nothing of his Accusations, or pretended proof, which R. W. vainly calls his Artillery; nor that he ever read, much less objected, anything against G. F.'s Book. Oh! how darest thou Roger Williams, publish such false lyes to the World, when thou knowest in thy Conscience, that G. F. had never any Writing, or Letter, or Proposals from thee; neither did he ever exchange a word with thee. The Lord God of Heaven knowes it, and the Deputy Governour knowes, that I received none of thy Writings or Papers or Proposals by him. Behold all sober people the foundation of this mans Attempt, the beginning of his work; and since the foundation of thy Book is a notorious lye, the building upon such a foundation of lyes is not like to be otherwise: which lyes thou hast made thy refuge; as throughout thy Book may be evidently seen. For except a man had sold himself to work falsehood, and make lyes; he could not have done more wickedly, and have uttered falser charges that though hast done. But the Lord God which knows them, and sees thy evil design in them, will sweep them away with the besom of Destruction, and clear his people from thy manifest false tongue. And I doubt not but the Deputy Gouvernour will testifie for me, that I am clear of this charge; and that I never saw, nor knew that which R. W. writ, and sent to him.

But which is strange, though G. F. was several weeks at Rode-Island, and at Providence (where it seems, this old Priest R. W. dwells) and in all that time he never spoke to G. F. nor writ to him of any such thing: but sends its like, these his Papers to the Deputy Gouvernour; what was in them (as I said) I knew not, they being delivered to him, after I was gone of the Island, as he writes himself.

For his dating of his Letter, what was that to G. F.? for J. T. tells R. W. of his misdating of his Letter, as R. W. confesses himself in his 11 p. wherein he writes to J. T. Your second Letter I received misdated as well as mine. But by this all may see the wickedness, that is in the Bottle of this R. W. by what does flow out of it in his Book, to wit, a malitious spirit against G. F. who was never concerned him by word or writing, much less did G. F. ever do him wrong. And yet he says, G. F. well knew, what Artillery he was furnisht with out of his own bald writings, (as he scoffingly calls them) &c. when never a word of this is true: though he presumes to present it to the King for Truth concerning G. F.

R. W. Again he says (p. 4, 5) that it was concluded and agreed in a Juncto at Newport, that his Letter should not be delivered to the Deputy Governour, until G. F. was gone.

Ans. This also is an abominable falsehood, the Lord know it, a groundless untrue imagination of his own; for there was no such Agreement or Consultation. Is this man fit to write of Religion, that lyes? a vain man! What is he, and his designs, that they should require Consultations and Junctos? so let the honest Reader Judge, from whence R. W. had all these lyes, if not from his Father the Devil, who is out of Truth: but with the Truth is both his Father and he Judged. And this is R. W. Landskip (as he calls it) of the Battle fought betwixt him and the Quakers. But G. F. never spoke with him, nor received any Challenge from him: and yet this man can boast, & saith G. F. slily withdrew and fled) Which untruth is more then slily suggested; for it is impudently asserted by R. W.) But it's well known by many in that Countrey, that G. F. was long enough upon Rode-Island; that if R. W. had any mind to have written to him, or spoken to him, he might easily have had an opportunity. But it was R. W. that was slily in his burroughs then, and kept in his Horns, who had nothing to say to G. F. to his face, whilst he was upon the Colony and Province of Rode-Island.

And it seems but reasonable, that he should have written to G. F. as well as to the Deputy Governour, if he had a mind, that G. F. should have seen it: but the Lord, who is over all, knows and sees his creeping and lying Spirit, and from whence it doth proceed. And though he may deceive some with these his lyes, and very vain boasts, as that G. F. knew what he had against him, what Artillery he had gotten, and what Consequences would rowl down the Mountains upon him: (these are R. W. his own expressions) yet G. F. stands in his innocency in the power of God over it all; nor can such Trash deceive any, that are of a sober and temperate Spirit, and make Conscience of what they believe. But this lying Spirit would be seen to defend the Protestant Religion; but it is his own Religion (if he has any) that is out of Truth, that he would defend: And this is like the persecuting Spirit of the professors of New-England, as will be further manifested in time. (1-4)