Transcript for Episode 6: 

James Naylor - 1618 - 1660

Ann:Welcome to this podcast series coming courtesy of Silver Wattle Quaker Centre, located in central New South Wales on the edge of Werriwa or Lake George, the largest freshwater lake in Australia. We acknowledge and give thanks for First Nations groups’ care of Country. We commit to its ongoing care.

I’m Ann Zubrick, a member of the Silver Wattle Board.

In October 2023, Michael Corbett, a Queensland Quaker, attended a course at SW exploring the lives of remarkable men and women in the latter part of the 17th century who became early Quakers. He subsequently compiled these stories to share in nine podcast episodes.

We hope these stories inspire and inform you. You can explore more about Silver Wattle’s retreats and learning opportunities — both in-person and online — at silverwattle.org.au.

Here is Introducing Early Quakers: Episode 6 – James Naylor, 1623 - 1698, narrated by Michael Corbett.

Michael:‍ ‍

James Naylor (1618–1660)

James Naylor was born in the town of Ardsley in Yorkshire. He married Anne in 1639, and they settled in Wakefield, where they had three daughters. His parents were farmers, and apart from working on the farm, James was also a butcher.

James claimed that he was convinced whilst ploughing, he heard a voice saying, “Get thee out from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house.” After a brief hesitation, he left home on impulse to live the life of an itinerant preacher.

When the English Civil War broke out, he enlisted in the Parliamentary Army as a foot soldier. Later, he became a quartermaster in the cavalry, until 1650, when due to ill health he left the army. His generals described him as “a very useful person,” a man of a blameless life and conversation, and a member of an Independent church.

In 1651, James met George Fox and was among the group later known as the Valiant Sixty. He began preaching and developed a reputation as an eloquent preacher and charismatic leader of a movement that strictly repudiated hierarchy. James found the spiritual direction he had been seeking in Quakerism after that meeting.

He worked closely with George Fox for about three years, drew many converts, and was considered a skilled theological debater. Local people were encouraged to harass James, and after one beating and stoning, he was arrested and jailed in 1653 for a twenty-week jail term.

James would attend church services, accusing ministers of being hired priests and generally interrupting the church by demanding the abolition of tithes that supported them. At one point, around three dozen Lancashire ministers appealed to the Lancaster Quarter Sessions to lodge a complaint against James Naylor and George Fox. Judge Fell interceded on their behalf, and they were released.

James left Lancashire and went to London in 1655. He described his arrival as entering “this great and wicked city, where abomination is set.”

By this time, George Fox was an accomplished preacher, writer, and creative thinker. However, he also attracted some intense followers who virtually worshipped him as a being of a new age and were ready to do anything to demonstrate their commitment. Some of the most vocal were women, which led detractors— then and later—to influence his work. Either he had some mysterious hold over these women, or that they were attempting, through their influence, to turn his head.

In 1656, George Fox expressed concerns that both James’s ministry and that of his associate, Martha Simmonds, were becoming over-enthusiastic and erratic. George went into prison to speak with James on the 21st and 22nd of September and admonished him. Over the visit, James continued to reject George’s words, leading to a severe strain in their relationship.

In October 1656, James and his friends, including Martha, staged a demonstration that proved disastrous. They reenacted the Palm Sunday arrival of Christ into  Jerusalem, with James riding a horse while his followers threw garments before him as they entered Bristol.

Oliver Cromwell and members of the House of Commons were horrified that James had allowed himself to be hailed by devoted disciples as a new Messiah. James and some of his followers were arrested and examined before Parliament where it was found that they had referred to him using titles such as “Lord” and “Prince of Peace.”

On 16 December 1656, James was convicted of blasphemy in a highly publicised trial before Parliament. James narrowly escaped execution but was sentenced to be placed in the pillory, where he received 300 lashes of the whip, which tore the skin off his back. A red-hot iron was bored through his tongue, and he was branded with the letter B for “Blasphemer” on his forehead, and other public humiliations.

It was reported that after his torture, James embraced his torturer and said that he had behaved himself “handsomely and patiently.”

He was then forced to return to Bristol and compelled to repeat his ride in reverse, while facing the rear of his horse. He was subsequently imprisoned for two years of hard labour and committed to solitary confinement.

Although in poor health, he continued to write on spiritual topics and a number of his pamphlets were smuggled out of prison and published, in which he expressed regret for any harm the Quaker movement had suffered because of his actions.

The James Naylor case formed part of a broader attack against Quakers. Initially it was discussed under the Blasphemy Ordinance of 1646, and many of the speeches in the debates on James and the others centred on the biblical tradition of heresy, including the death penalty. And Friends were pressured to denounce the doctrine of the Inner Light because of its implications of equality with Christ.

George Fox was horrified by the Bristol event, recounting in his journal that James had “run out into imaginations,” unaccompanied by truth, and that it had raised “a great darkness in the nation.”

James left prison in 1659 a physically ruined man. He soon went to visit George, before whom he knelt and asked forgiveness, repenting of his earlier actions. Afterwards, he was formally—if still reluctantly—forgiven by Fox. Having been accepted again by George, James joined other Quakers critics of the regime of Cromwell and condemning the nation’s rulers.

In October 1660, James left London, where he had been preaching, and whilst traveling to rejoin his family in York, he was robbed and left near death in a field. Rescuers took him to the home of a Quaker doctor in Huntingdonshire, where a day and two hours later he died, on 21 October 1660, aged 42.

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Writings of James Naylor

In 1656, James wrote:

“The lower God doth bring me, and the nearer to himself, the more doth this love and tenderness spring and spread towards the poor simple and despised ones, who are poor in spirit, meek, and lowly, suffering lambs, and with those I choose to suffer and do suffer wherever they are found.”

In 1659, he wrote:

“Art thou in darkness? Mind it not. For if thou dost, it will fill thee more. But stand still and act not, and wait in patience till the light arises out of the darkness to lead thee. Art thou wounded in conscience? Fret not there, but abide in the light which leads to grace and truth, which teaches to deny and put off the weight, and removes the cause, and brings savings and health to light.”

Some of his last words, spoken in 1660, were:

“There is a spirit which I feel delights to do no evil, nor to revenge any wrong, but delights to endure all things in hope to enjoy its own in the end. Its hope is to outlive all wrath and contention, and to weary out all exaltation and cruelty, and whatever is of a nature contrary to itself. It sees the end of all temptations. As it bears no evil in itself, so it conceives none in thoughts to any other. If it be betrayed, it bears it, for its ground and spring is the mercies and forgiveness of God.”

Ann:

We hope these stories have sparked reflection and a deeper appreciation for the courage and spiritual depth of early Friends.

If you'd like to explore Quaker spiritual practices or join us for a retreat or course — either in person or online — visit silverwattle.org.au.

Acknowledgment

This podcast episode was created under a sense of Leading, and I wish to acknowledge the sources that informed its development. I acknowledge the works of David Johnson, and have used info from Wikipedia, Britain YM Handbook, The Valiant Sixty by Ernest Taylor, and The Peaceable Kingdom by Jan De Hartog. 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

James Naylor’s journey begins with a moment of deep spiritual conviction. What stood out to you about how he understood and responded to his calling?

Naylor was a gifted and compelling preacher within a movement committed to spiritual equality. What tensions do you notice between individual charisma and communal discernment in this story?

The episode describes followers who began to elevate Naylor in troubling ways. What signs might indicate that admiration or spiritual enthusiasm is becoming unhealthy?

George Fox attempted to counsel and admonish Naylor. What do you notice about how conflict and accountability unfolded between them? What makes it hard to hear correction from those we trust?

The reenactment of Palm Sunday in Bristol had dramatic consequences. How do we discern when a public spiritual action is faithful witness—and when it risks causing harm or confusion?

Naylor’s punishment was severe and public. What emotions or questions does this part of the story raise for you about religious dissent, state power, and conscience?

Later in his life, Naylor sought forgiveness and was received back into the Quaker community. What does this suggest about humility, accountability, and the possibility of restoration after failure?

The episode ends with Naylor’s words about a spirit that “delights to do no evil.” How do these words resonate with you in light of his life story?