The followers of Ludovic Muggleton, a journeyman tailor, who, with his companion Reeves, set up for great prophets, in the time of Cromwell. They pretended to absolve or condemn whom they pleased, and gave out that they were the two last witnesses spoken of in the Revelation, who were to appear previous to the final destruction of the world. They affirmed that there was no devil at all without the body of man or woman; that the devil is man's spirit of unclean reason and cursed imagination; that the ministry in this world, whether prophetical or ministerial, is all a lie, and abomination to the Lord; with a variety of other vain and inconsistent tenets. Muggleton died in 1697, and on his gravestone is this inscription: -- "Whilst mausoleums and large inscriptions give The raven plume of oblivion hath long ago waved over this prophet's grave. |