Kiiiiiliipiniiapi i!lftil3iiliHa!l!li!liii!l!!ia!. .M«i!itehiia a'8.Sllfa^^j«.<5.> ^..■i'.'.JS . a >.. ...alS BINCIPLES -'•'■■''I-jL' ' ■ nil CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 1924 084 552 532 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924084552532 PRINCIPLES OF QUAKEEISM A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS Issued by the Representatives of the Religious Society of Friends for Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. REVISED AND STEREOTYPE EDITION. PHILADELPHIA: FOR SALE AT FRIENDS' BOOK STORE, No. 304 Arch Street. 1909. WM. H. PILE'S SONS 7 WALNUT STREET, PHPLH TABLE OF CONTENTS. PACE Pr"eface 7 Historical Sketch 9 The Inward Light 29 Redemption Through Christ 49 The Scriptures 61 The Ordinances 85 Worship and Ministry 103 Principles of Quaker Government 125 Friends' Views in Regard to War, etc 145 Friends' Views Concerning Oaths 163 Friends'ViewsConcerningDress, Language, ETC. 181 Church Government 201 PREFACE. It will be generally allowed that the twentieth century is marked by a much greater degree of tolerance than was the seventeenth century. A "new departure" is not now, as formerly, the occasion of bitter persecution, and the mode of presenting a conviction is less controversial than that which was frequently employed two centuries ago. It appears less necessary to repel false charges, be- cause false charges are less likely to be made. There may be — there often is — failure in understanding and in sym- pathy; but the right to be heard is now much more generally conceded, and the right to persecute for opinion more generally denied. At the time when the religious body known as the Society of Friends was first gathered, a polemical method was regarded as fitting and necessary. Hostile attacks in the way of publications called forth some vigorous defenses on the part of the Friends; though these proceeded chiefly from a love of the Truth, and evinced a concern for the welfare of all, — enemies as well as friends. Yet it was the sentiment of William Penn even then, that the time was coming, when "a few words spoken in love" would do more than "volumes of controversy." The literature of the Society of Friends is both rich and voluminous. It contains much that is argumenta- tive, and much that is historical and biographical. In- Vlll PREFACE. deed, the records of personal experience are often found an effective and informing method of presenting what has been apprehended as Truth. And the truth is not fluctu- ating, however different the degree of revelation from time to time. Its essence does not change, but its habili- ments do; consequently the raiment of language needs occasional adaptation and renewing, as the modes of thought and expression change. The pages of this book, we trust, are not written in a controversial spirit, but with a desire to present, in a brief and somewhat fresh manner, the chief principles of the Society of Friends, and to commend these Christian doctrines to the attention of thoughtful and inquiring minds. Yet we are not unmindful of the great truth once declared, that though Paul may plant and Apollos water, it is God that giveth the increase; also that all saving knowledge is from a true experience of the power of the Holy Spirit revealed in every heart. THE RISE OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. In order fully to understand the conditions under which the Society of Friends took its rise, it is necessary to trace briefly the gradual growth of the Reformation through the century or more preceding the time of George Fox. As the true spirituality of the early Church declined, rnany forms and ceremonies were introduced, so when in the fulness of time, it pleased our Heavenly Father to raise up and enlighten holy men to see how far the Church had departed from its original purity, one of their first duties was to draw men away from depen- dence on those outward rites, and to direct them instead to true heart-changing religion This was necessarily a pro- gressive work. There is a gradual increase of light from the earliest dawn to noon-day brightness, and we must not fail to appreciate those pioneers in the work of reforma- tion, who lived faithfully up to the light that was given them, thus preparing the way for those who came after, to whom a fuller degree of light was given. It is most interesting to observe that to whatever point in the Refor- mation we turn our attention, we find the germ of those principles that were afterwards more fully carried out by the founders of our Society. Opinions very similar to 10 THE RISE OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. ours on the subjects of the indwelling and guidance of the Holy Spirit, baptism and other ceremonies, war, oaths, and a ministry of human appointment and education, were held by individuals at various times, though not embraced by any regular body of professors. As early as 1375 we find Wickliflfe denouncing the dark- ness and corruption of the Church and endeavoring to show people a purer faith. He translated the Bible into the language of the common people, and although the bishops and priests did all they could to destroy his in- fluence, yet the good seed was sown, and he had not lived in vain. He was branded as a heretic, and after being twice tried he was banished to his little rectory of Lutter- worth, where he was allowed to die in peace. Forty years after his death, however, his body was taken up and burned, and his ashes were thrown into the little stream near by, which took them into the Avon, and from thence into the Severn and so on out to the sea, a result said to be typical of the dissemination of his doctrines over the world. When Leo X. heard in Rome that a German professor had nailed to the church door in Wittenberg, some propo- sitions denouncing the abuse of Indulgences, he laughed and said, "That Luther has a fine genius!" But it was soon found that the controversy thus started was more than a "quarrel of friars," as it was contemptuously called, and before long Luther was denouncing not only the abuses of the Papacy, but the Papacy itself. After his famous trial before the Diet of Worms in 1521, the THE RISE OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. II Elector of Saxony sheltered him for some time in the old castle of the Wartburg in the Thuringian Forest. From this retreat, by means of the newly-invented print- ing-press, he dispersed throughout Europe those vigorous pamphlets in which he scoflfed at Papal infallibility, the authority of the Roman Church, and denied the truth of many of its doctrines, and the efficacy of its worship. These doctrines found, at first, no place in England. The young king, Henry VIII., priding himself on his theological knowledge, wrote a book against Luther, for which the Pope gave him the title of "Defender of the Faith." But a few years later when Henry's stubborn will came in conflict with that of the Pope, by the exercise of arbitrary power, he thrust aside the papal authority in England and was himself made "Supreme Head of the Church," not from any desire to promote purer views of Christianity, but for his own aggrandizement. The move- ment did, however, give better access to sources of relig- ious knowledge, and roused the people from the super- stitious ignorance and apathy which it was the policy of Rome to keep undisturbed. For a time Henry allowed the Bible to be read to the people in English, although he still believed in most of the tenets of the Romish Church. During the short reign of the boy king, Edward VI., through the influence of Cranmer the Protestant Church was more fully established ; the Prayer-book and the Ar- ticles of faith were arranged almost as they are used in the Anglican Church of to-day. But when his sister 12 THE RISE OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. -Mary came to the throne, she at once did all that she could to restore her country to the care of the mother Church. One cannot but pity this unfortunate woman, who doubtless thought that she was doing God service in thus sending many martyrs to the stake for refusing to go back with her to the Romish faith. The effect was just the opposite of what was intended, for the perse- cuting spirit of those in power warmed many among the thoughtful and religious into more effective zeal, and caused an interest in the success of a reformation which would free the people from the priestly despotism of the Church of Rome. When Elizabeth came to the throne she found herself surrounded by perils both without and within her king- dom. She was a prudent woman and desirous not to offend either her Protestant or Catholic subjects. She re- stored, however, the Liturgy and order of worship as established by her brother Edward VI., and insisted that all should adhere to its forms. But many of her people were not satisfied. The Catholics were her enemies in re- ligion and politics, as they did not consider her the right- ful heir to the throne. The Protestants who had fled to the Continent during Mary's reign had there imbibed the views of Calvin, and were strongly opposed to the ceremonies and rites of the Church of England. The "Act of Uniform- ity" was the source of great mischief to the Church. Persecution does not convince people of their errors — THE RISE OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 1 3 it rather alienates their affections and strengthens their opposition to the views of their persecutors. The spirit of free inquiry and religious liberty had obtained too strong a hold on the minds of the people to be displaced. Many withdrew from the public wor- ship and learned to recognize and understand one another in relation to their dissent from the national religion, and were drawn into outward fellowship. Those who desired a purer form of worship were called in derision Puritans. They did not at first intend to withdraw from the English Church, but rather to purify it. Before very long, however, a portion of the Puritans, not believing in Church government by bishops, appointed as rulers experienced men whom they called presbyters, and from this they received the name of Presbyterians. Another party among them adopted the views of a popular preacher named Robert Brown, and were at first called Brownists; but because they insisted that every congregation had full power to choose its own pastor and exercise entire con- trol over its own affairs without any outside interference, they afterwards received the name of Independents. Although the doctrine of the necessity of arriving at the age of religious understanding before baptism was administered, and that it must be by immersion, had been held and often preached by some since the time of Wick- liffe, and many who held it under the name of Anabap- tists had suffered greatly, some even to death at the stake, it was not till near the beginning of the seventeenth 14 THE RISE OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. century that the Baptists formed a distinct religious body. Many among them appear to have attained to more clear and spiritual views of the Christian religion than most others of the time. They boldly asserted the right of all to full liberty of conscience; as Christ was the Head of the Church, He only could qualify any man to preach the Gospel, and they believed that school learning was unnecessary to fit a man for the ministry. They denied the right to ask pay for preaching, and some of them were opposed to war and to the taking of oaths, as being contrary to the spirit and precepts of the New Testament. In the course of years, however, certain of these truths were lost sight of by the Baptists. But the seventeenth century was a period of great unrest in England and elsewhere, and all society was stirred in regard to religion. "Poor women in the street talked about sin and salvation." Everywhere there were men who were trying to find a better way, aiming at purer lives, secretly longing for a deeper and more living faith. Many of the earlier Quaker preachers were men who had passed through various phases of belief before they fourvd rest and a new life in the Gospel of the universal Light. It is sad to find that the Puri- tans who had so manfully contended for liberty of con- science when their opponents controlled the government, soon forgot, when they were themselves in nower, the principles for which they had struggled, and exercised on THE RISE OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 1 5 ■ others the cruelty and oppression they had formerly condemned. Contending for religious liberty naturally made people more jealous of infringements of their civil rights, and We can understand the opposition thus brought about against the Stuart doctrine of the Divine Right of kings. The strong Tudor monarchs had been able to control the subservient Parliaments of their day, but times had changed when the weaker Stuarts came to the throne,, and their attempts to rule without the aid of Parliament finally brought about the Civil War, in the days of Charles I. History tells us that Charles was brought to the block and that the government fell into the hands of the Independents under Oliver Cromwell. Although he as Lord Protector professed to believe in freedom of wor- ship, Friends and others were subjected to cruel persecu- tions, both under him and after the Restoration under Charles II. and James II.; and it was not until the time of William and Mary, who came to the throne in 1688, that anything like real liberty of conscience was allowed. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, when, after the death of Elizabeth, James I. came to the throne, we find that the hopes of two classes of his subjects were doomed to disappointment. The Catholics thought he would favor them because his mother was a Romanist; the Presbyterians thought he would favor them because he was a Scotchman, and the Scots were largely Presby- terian; but although both James and his son Charles 1 6 THE RISE OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. were suspected of a leaning towards Catholicism, he es- poused the cause of the English Church. The Puritans presented their petition asking for reforms in Church gov- ernment, but nothing was accomplished in that line by the famous Hampton Court Conference, called by James soon after his accession, to discuss matters of religion. The clergy of the Established Church had become, and continued to be throughout the seventeenth century, very corrupt. Many of them neglected their congregations, seldom preached, and were often openly irhmoral. We can readily see that their example and that of the Court had a very demoralizing effect on society, especially among the lower orders. These things were, to the Puri- tans, very hard to bear; and when James published his Declaration, stating that it was his pleasure, that after Divine service his good people should not be discouraged from any lawful recreations, such as dancing, leaping, vaulting, setting up May-poles, etc., they felt that surely the floodrgates of iniquity were opened in the land. When, in the next reign, the Declaration was republished, many of the ministers refused to read it in the Churches as directed. The sports, as was natural, degenerated into noisy and tumultuous revels, with drunkenness, quarrel- ling, and sometimes even murder. When we remember this condition of affairs, we can the better understand the sharp reproofs which early Friends felt called upon to administer to those, in authority. Their way of speaking may often seem harsh to us, but we must remember that THE RISE OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 1 7 it was the manner of the age, and they were not different from others in that respect. It was in 1624, the year before the death of James I. and the accession of Charles I., that George Fox was bOrn at Fenny-Drayton, Leicestershire, of simple, middle-class parents. His father, "righteous Christer" as the neigh- bors called him, was a weaver by trade, and George writes of him that "he was an honest man, and there was a seed of God in him." His mother, Mary Lago, came "of the stock of the martyrs," and was a "woman accomplished above most of her degree in the place where she lived." The influence of home and Church were alike Puritan in- tendency, and it is not probable that George ever came much in contact with the extreme influence of the Angli- can Church. As a child he tells us he was taught how to walk to be kept pure, and his truthfulness of speech be- came a proverb among the neighbors. " If George says verily, there is no altering him." Seeing the seriousness of his youthful character, some of his relatives were de- sirous that he should be educated for the ministry, but that being given up, he was apprenticed to a shoemaker, who also dealt in wool. He may have worked sometimes at his master's trade, but it was chiefly in tending the sheep that his time was employed. Thus in the open air, alone with his -flocks, he had much time for meditation on the problems of life and religion, and sought earnestly after a better solution than his pastor could give him. When about nineteen years of age, being at a fair on l8 THE RISE OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. business, and meeting there two of his friends who were professors of religion, he was much grieved at their light- ness and frivolity, so he left them and went away. He did not go to bed that night, but walked to and fro and poured out the trouble of his heart to God. It was made clear to him that such religion as these men professed was only on the outside, but the religion that he wanted must go to the roots of his being, or it was no religion at all. He soon felt that he must leave all and go forth in quest of Divine Truth. "On the ninth day of Seventh Mo., 1643," he tells us, " 1 left my relations. and broke off all familiarity of fellow- ship with old or young," and travelled from place to place and from one famous minister to another, seeking but not finding, and sometimes almost in despair. Some ad- vised him to marry, and others to enlist in the army. One tried to cure him with physic, and another bade him to "take tobacco and sing psalms." None of these out- ward things reached his condition, but notwithstanding his severe trials and buffetings he had often what he called "openings," in which the Master Himself spoke to him as no man had been able to do. Once he saw that no one was really a Christian who had not experienced the new birth into the true life. A little later it was revealed to him that "to be bred at Oxford or Cam- bridge was not enough to qualify men to be ministers of Christ," at which he marvelled, as it was the common belief that this was needful. He preferred to sit alone THE RISE OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. I9 with his Bible rather than go to hear the clergyman preach. He was made to see that the so-called churches were not holy places, but that the true temple of God should be set up in the hearts of the people. He often walked about in lonely places at night, finding no rest, "though at times," he says, "I was brought into such heavenly joy, that 1 thought I had been in Abraham's bosom." After going to various ministers, not only of the Estab- lished Church but also among the different sects of Dis- senters, and not being able to find what he needed, he at length heard a voice saying to him, "There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition," and when he heard it his heart leaped for joy. Now he began to understand the truths of Scripture as he had never done before, and he realized that all his trials and prov- ings had been for his good, and to enable him properly to help and sympathize with others who were troubled as he had been: In 1647, he began to travel in the work of the ministry, and although he met with great opposition, he found many who seemed to be just waiting for his message, and were soon convinced of the truths he taught. As we have before said, there was a spirit of unrest among the people, and thousands were dissatisfied with things as they were, and were eagerly desiring to be taught the way of the Lord more perfectly. The work had been and was going on secretly in the hearts of men, and like 20 THE RISE OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. the seed in the earth was only waiting the quickening influence of sun and shower to put forth the blade, then .the ear and after that the full corn in the ear. And so in the accounts of meetings held by George Fox and others of the early Friends, we read of thousands coming to hear them and of many being convinced, and as it was in the days of the apostles, they were daily added to the true Church. These pioneer preachers met, as we have said, with great opposition from the clergy and others, and often had dis- putes with them, and it is wonderful how they were able to silence their opponents. Many of the early Friends were far below their opponents in social position and scholastic training, and notwithstanding the keen ability often shown by George Fox and others to seize an advan- tage of argument, their victories were not won by force of argument. They constantly appealed to the witness of God in the hearts of their hearers to bring convince- ment to them. But it was sometimes a power beyond words, that could be felt most forcibly by those coming under its influence. Robert Barclay, a ripe scholar, speaks of this secret power that he perceived in the assemblies of God's people which touched his heart, and he felt the evil weakening in him and the good rising up. And we find the same testimony given by many more. Thus we see that it was not by eloquence of preaching, though we cannot but believe that such men as Edward Burrough and Francis Howgill were truly eloquent, but THE RISE OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 21 by the influence erf the Holy Spirit that went with these "unlearned and ignorant men," that the results were so wonderful. The "new evangel" spread rapidly over the country, and these "Friends of Truth" as they called themselves, — Quakers as they afterwards came to be called by others, — met together often in private houses, and were soon very numerous in England. One of the first imprisonments of George Fox was in the autumn of 1650, when he with another Friend, was committed to Derby Jail for alleged blasphemy. Here he was kept for six months, at the end of which time the magistratesjvould have been glad to get rid of him. They gave him liberty to walk a mile, hoping he would escape. But they did not understand the man with whom they had to deal. Then they offered him the captaincy of a newly-raised company of soldiers, to fight against Charles I. After trying in vain to get him to accept their offer, they sent him again to prison, this time among rogues and felons, and kept him there another six months. The time was not lost, however, as he tells us he "was moved to write to the judges concerning their putting men to death for stealing even small matters," and also he called their attention to the fact that the prisoners learned much wickedness one of another, in talking over their bad deeds during their long imprisonments. During the earlier years of his ministry, the service of George Fox was in the middle and northern counties of England, and it was among the yeomen of the northern 22 THE RISE OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. dales that he found his most numerous converts. It was at Firbank Chapel in Westmoreland that Francis How- gill was convinced. Francis Howgill and John Audland, two Independent ministers, had been preaching there in the morning, and in the afternoon George Fox climbed to the top of Firbank Fell where the little nieeting-house stood, and here he spoke for about three hours to perhaps a thousand people. Francis Howgill, who like George himself had long sought in vain for the true way of life, was convinced of the Truth and soon became a powerful minister in the new society. George Fox says of him that "he was one of the Lord's worthies, who preached His everlasting word of life from about 1652 till 1668," when he died a martyr to his principles in Appleby Jail. Passing on through Westmoreland, George Fox came to Underbarrow, where Edward Burrough, another of "the Lord's worthies," was, under the preaching of Fox, brought to see the agreement of his words with the Scriptures, and soon gave up all to his Divine Master and joined with the despised Quakers. In 1652, George Fox for the first time came to Swarth- more .and met with Margaret Fell. Her home from that time forward was always a haven of rest to Friends, who often went there for a little respite in the midst of their strenuous labors, or after their imprisonments. Judge Fell, her husband, never openly joined the society, but he allowed Friends' to hold their meetings in the large hall, while he sat in his little private office with the door THE RISE OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 23 open. He was able to be of great use to them, in influ- encing the magistrates towards leniency. Swarthmore was also a centre of information for Friends. The travel- ling preachers corresponded much with one another, and particularly with Margaret Fell, who was indeed a nurs- ing mother in the church. We are told that the chief share in this remarkable movement was taken by about sixty men, of whom twenty- five had their homes among the Westmoreland Fells. In 1653-54 those who had been laboring in the north now turned their attention towards the south, and some of them came to London. Of these perhaps the most re- markable men were the two close friends, Edward Bur- rough and Francis Howgill, who labored in season and out of season, not only in London, but also in Bristol and other places in the south of England and in Ireland. Edward Burrough was a powerful preacher, though so young a man, as he died in Newgate prison at the age of twenty-eight, irf 1662. We are told that in the midst of noise and confusion at the "Bull and Mouth," a large hall which Friends used for meetings, where some were saying one thing and some another, if Edward Burrough would step upon a bench with his Bible in his hand, for he usually carried one, the whole multitude would become quiet, and after listening to what he had to say, would depart peaceably with seeming satisfaction. We have not space to tell of the many persecutions and imprisonments which Friends underwent under the 24 THE RISE OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. Commonwealth, and after the Restoration, under Charles II. and James II. At various times Friends visited those in power to intercede for their friends in prison, some- times with good results, though often without effect. Many died in the crowded and filthy jails, and in New England four-Friends were hanged on Boston Common. The Acts of Indulgence published by both Charles and James were not approved by many of the Dissenters, as it was thought the object was to favor the Catholics, and also because the Parliament and not the king had the right to publish such Acts. In Bunhill Fields Meeting- house in London there is a tablet with an inscription something like this: "In the adjoining graveyard rest the remains of Edward Burrough and seventy other Friends who died in the prisons of London." But that is a small part of those who laid down their lives for the Truth's sake. It is pleasant to know that gradually as perse- cution cooled, hundreds were released from prison and allowed to return once more to their families and friends. Although the larger portion of the early Friends were men and women from the humbler walks of life, there were a number, such as Isaac. Penington, Wm. Penn and Robert Barclay, of a different class, who were able by their greater influence with those in authority, to be very helpful to their brethren. William Penn was imprisoned several times, and when brought to trial he contended ably for his rights as an Englishman, while Robert Bar- clay set forth the principles of the Quakers in a masterly THE RISE OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 25 manner in his famous Apology. But they never attempted to take any place of especial authority above their brethren. In 1669, ten years after the death of Judge Fell, his widow, Margaret Fell, married George Fox, but we do not read that they were able to spend much time together, for very soon after their marriage Margaret was sent to prison and George went to America. In the year 1673 he was sent to prison at Worcester, for the last time, but his health never recovered from the effect of his various imprisonments. Although after this he was able to make two journeys to Holland, one of which extended into northern Germany, during the last years of his life he travelled but little away from London, where his duty seemed to lie rather than in his wife's comfortable home at Swarthmore. She felt that her work was in the North, — although she more than once made the long journey to London to see her husband, — the last about six months before his death. Here he died in 1690, having been able, three days before his death, to preach a powerful sermon in Gracechurch Street Meeting. In the first years of the Quaker movement there was no organization among the members. George Fox had no idea in the beginning, of founding a separate religious body; he simply proclaimed. his message and others again handed it on, hoping that in time the whole professing Christian world would accept the great central truth which they proclaimed, of the immediate presence of the Light of Christ in the soul. George Fox himself 26 THE RISE OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. says, — "When the Lord God and his son Jesus Christ sent me forth into the world to preach his everlasting Gospel and kingdom, I was glad that I was commanded to turn people to that inward light, spirit, and grace, by which all might know their salvation and their way to God ; even that Divine Spirit which would lead them into all truth, and which I infallibly knew would never deceive any." As their numbers increased and persecution speedily followed, it became needful to have an organization, the object of which at first was to help those in prison and provide for their families. From this small beginning was afterwards developed the regular and orderly arrangement of the discipline of the Society as we know it to-day. This subject will be fully treated in a subsequent essay. The early Friends tell us that they preached "primi- tive Christianity revived." Their central doctrine, a doc- trine which they felt had been lost sight of in the course of centuries, was that of tlie Universal and Saving Light of Christ in the hearts of all men. They had also full belief in the inspiration of Scripture, and in the Deity of Christ and the atonement made by Him for the sins of the whole world. The contemporaries of George Fox speak in the highest terms of him. His mental faculties were clear and vigor- ous, though he was deprived of the benefit of much education; his ministry was deep, searching and powerful; he had an extraordinary gift in opening the Scriptures, but THE RISE OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 27 above all he excelled in prayer. William Penn tells us, " He was so meek, contented, modest, easy, steady, tender, it was a pleasure to be in his company. He exercised no authority but" over evil, and that everywhere and in all, but with love, compassion, and long-sufTering." " He held his place in the Church of God with great meekness, and like his blessed Master, he was a servant to all." "In his behavior he was civil beyond all forms of breeding." Our Heavenly Father works in this world by means of human instruments, and as He raised up Luther in the sixteenth century, so when He saw that the time was ripe for a fuller revelation, we cannot but believe that He prepared and sent forth George Fox that he might ex- pound unto the seeking people of the seventeenth century the way of God more perfectly. Spurgeon in his lecture on George Fox says: "When I first read George Fox's life, I could think of nothing but Christ's Sermon on the Mount. It seemed to me. that George Fox had been reading that so often that he him- self was the incarnation of it, for his teaching is just a repetition of the Master's teaching there, just an expan- sion of the primary principles of Christianity." THE INWARD LIGHT. What This Light Is. That there is in the heart or mind of man a principle that acts as a check to evil and an impulse towards good, a reprover for wrong-doing and a comforter for well- doing, is a common conviction drawn from experience. Without it, no idea of universal moral responsibility is possible; but what this principle is — what is its origin, what is its character — has been a matter of much inquiry and of some speculation. It has sometimes been vaguely defined under the names of conscience, "the light of nature," etc.; terms which cannot satisfy a profound in- quiry, nor represent an infallible source of moral and spiritual truth. Here the Society of Friends hold posi- tive and well-defined ground; for, though they recognize the faculty of conscience as "the «eat of moral govern- ment" in the individual, they place the regulating prin- ciple of it in a superhuman power, which informs and illuminates the faculty. They thus make a distinction between an enlightened conscience and an unenlightened one, according as this superior and Divine power has had greater or less sway in the mind. It is true, conscience should be obeyed: that is, having honestly endeavored to know the truth, each one must do what he believes to 30 . THE INWARD LIGHT. be right, and must forsake or refuse what he believes to be wrong; but that which gives the true sense of what is right, and also gives ability to act according to that sense, is something distinct from our natural faculties and powers, though working with and upon them.* "I do confess," wrote Isaac Pening.ton, "I took it to be a natural thing, and overlooked and despised it, until the Lord opened my understanding, and showed me what it was, and how He wrought by it." Testimony of Ancient Philosophers. Frequent testimony to the Divine nature of this uni- versal principle of light and truth is found not only in the sacred Scriptures, but also in the writings of the philosophers of ancient times. Many of these asserted their faith in such manner as to illustrate the truth of the apostle's declaration that that which may be known of God is manifest in men, "for God hath showed it unto them." "The soul of man," said Socrates, "hath some- thing with, or partakes of, the Divine Nature;" and it is well known that Socrates himself owned the good Spirit as the "guide of his life," leading him to virtue and supplying him with "Divine knowledge." Cleanthes is accredited with saying that the knowledge of God is *We would not by this be understood as decrying intellectual gifts nor ignoring all those external agencies and influences which help in giving shape to the moral judgment. These will be referred to in another section of this chapter. THE INWARD LIGHT. 3 1 "imprinted upon the minds of men;" and that they are not to be governed by their own nature, but by the Divine nature, "sown through the whole race of man." "God is near thee and He is in thee," also wrote Seneca; "the good Spirit sits or resides within us, the observer of our good and evil actions.". Testimony of the Scriptures. But if so strong evidence of this universal gift can be found in what Wm. Penn called "Gentile-divinity," much more should we expect to find it in those records the dis- tinct purpose of which was the certifying of religious truth, and the commemoration of God's dealings with the world. Early in the Mosaic account we find it shown that the Spirit of God strove with (or in) men; that while some were disobedient to it, others gave place to its power; so that, as William Penn says, "Abel's heart excelled Cain's, Seth obtained the pre-eminence, and Enoch walked with God." At a later period, yet long before there was an outward law, the recorded experiences of Abraham, Jacob, Job, and other patriarchs give testi- mony to this directly-communicated Divine intelligence, whatever may have been the mode of its manifestation. Job is represented as speaking of some who "rebelled against the Light;" and Elihu addresses Job and his friends in this language: "There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understand- ing." 32 THE INWARD LIGHT. Again, Moses instructs his people that the command- ment which they were to obey was not far off, as in heaven or over the sea: "But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it." And so also believed the Psalmist when he wrote, — "The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes:" and again, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." The Psalms are replete with declarations concerning this inward light and law, usually bespeaking an experimental, personal knowledge. "Whither shall I go from thy spirit?" David- inquires ; "or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." Yet, as showing that this Light might be quenched and this Spirit turned away by disobedience, he exclaims with penitential earnestness, — "Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from, me." If anyone will but take the pains to look through the Old Testament Scriptures for the use of the words light and spirit in the sense in which we have been considering them, he may be surprised at the frequency with which they appear, as well as at the conclusiveness of the evi- dence thus produced. But though so much of this prin- ciple is found to have belonged to those older times, much more is the truth of it set forth in the New Testa- THE INWARD LIGHT. 33 merit, and shown to belong to these latter days, since the outward coming of Him who declared himself to be the Light of the world, and whose apostle testified, " In him was life, and the life was the light of men." Universal Necessity of the Light. In short, whatever the difference in measure or appear- ance of this Divine gift in man, from the very dawning of light to the full radiance of the Day-star; or from the gentlest and least discernible operation to the pentecostal power and outpouring, its character is the same, and its work to a great extent one in nature and in purpose. Also, whatever allowance be made for the supplemen- tary advantage which the Jews had in "the law and the prophets," and which Christians have now in the New Testament writings, there ever remains the necessity of some power inwardly manifested to make for righteous- ness in the heart. For it cannot be denied that there is in all men of every race a tendency, greater or less, to go wrong; that all are subject to temptation, and that every one finds in himself some evil to be overcome. This being the case, is it reasonable to suppose that there is at the same time no power with which to meet the temptation in the place of assaultP^none to overcome the evil where it exists? Far otherwise do we view the jus- tice of the Divine Being, and His gracious purpose to mankind. "And I am satisfied," again wrote Isaac Pen- ington, "that the Spirit of the Lord, by his immediate 34 THE INWARD LIGHT. light, is able to reach the darkest heart in the darkest part of the world, and to turn his mind to, and give him belief in, that which saves, and to save him thereby." Fundamental Principle of the Society of Friends. The sentence just quoted is consonant with many declarations of the early Friends, regarding what they esteemed as their "first principle,"— that of the inshining Light of Christ, universally dispensed to man. George Fox tells us in simple language that he was sent to turn people from darkness to the light, that they might re- ceive Christ Jesus; that he was to direct people to the Spirit, "by which they might be led into all truth, and up to Christ and God." He says also — "When the Lord God and his Son Jesus Christ sent me forth into the world to preach his everlasting Gospel and kingdom, I. was glad that I was commanded to turn people to that inward light, spirit and grace, by which all might know their salvation and their way to God." George Fox's message of hope and comfort quickly found an answer in thousands of honest, seeking hearts in that day, as it has done in many thousands since to whom it has come; and the principle of it is the same in all ages, — "Christ in you, the hope of glory." "The one corner-stone of belief upon which the Society of Friends is built," writes Caroline E. Stephen, "is the conviction that God does indeed communicate with each one of the spirits He has made, in a direct and living inbreathing of THE INWARD LIGHT. 35 some measure of the breath of His own life; that He never leaves Himself without a witness in the heart as well as in the surroundings of man; fand] that the measure of light, life, or grace thus given increases by obedience." Yet this great fundamental truth, it should be noted, was not put forth by the early Friends as a theory, or a mere dogma, but as a reality, the assurance of which had been found in a vital, unquestionable experience. Here we shall perhaps be met with the assertion that the Society of Friends does not stand alone in the doctrine of the immediate communication of the Divine Spirit with the human. True, it has no exclusive possession of this truth, and it claims none; but "undoubtedly," as Thomas Clarkson observes in his Portraiture of Quakerism, the Friends "have founded more upon it" than other Christian societies have done. They regarded this Divine communication as having an intimacy, a certainty, and a completeness beyond what is usually acknowledged; for not only is the heavenly gift an individual guide, com- forter and teacher, but (as we have seen) it is "an evan- gelical principle," being indeed nothing short of "the power of God unto salvation" to every one that obeys it: hence it is sufficient to effect this salvation, even where there is no acquaintance with the historical facts of Christianity. "According to this doctrine," said Robert Barclay, "the mercy of God is excellently well exhibited, in that none are necessarily shut out from salvation; and it ^6 THE INWARD LIGHT. exalts above all the grace of God, to which it attributes all good, even the least and smallest actions that are so; ascribing thereunto not only the first beginnings and motions of good, but also the whole conversion and sal- vation of the soul." It is thus seen that the inshining Light is one with redeeming Grace; and herein is justified a saying common among Friends, — "That which shows us our sin is that which will take it away." Netv Testament Teaching Examined. It may be proper at this point to examine the doctrine above stated with particular reference to the New Testa- ment teaching; for the Friends have ever maintained that no doctrine is to be accounted true if it contradicts the teachings of Jesus Christ, as recorded in the New Testa- ment. -—Now in that broad statement, "God so loved the world that He gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever be- lieveth on Him should not perish, but should have ever-, lasting life," it is to be noticed that the gift was to answer the design and concern of the Divine love, which was not simply to a sect, to one people only, but io the world. Inasmuch then as Jesus Christ tasted death for every man, and gave Himself for us all, there must be some method by which this great suffering and sacrifice may be availing to all. If without holiness no man shall see the Lord, and yet the Lord would have all men to be saved, then there must be some operation or experience THE INWARD LIGHT. 37 by which this essential holiness shall be attained. Since Christ came, as He said, to call sinners to repentance, and at the same time declared repentance indispensable to entering the kingdom of God, some way must of necessity be provided by which the requisite experience may be known. Now if any man be dead in trespasses and sins, what shall stir him up and bring him forth from this condition? How may he awake to righteousness, so as to sin not? If he be in darkness, who shall enlighten him and show him the truth? How plain and how comprehensive is the answer: "This is the true Light, that lighteth every man that cometh into the world." " I am the light of the world. He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, bu); shall have the light of life." And of this light had Zacharias prophesied when he spoke of "the tender mercy of our God, whereby the dayspring from on high shall visit us, to shine upon them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death; to guide our feet into the way of peace." The apostle Peter, too, speaks of the Day-star as arising in our hearts; and Paul, magnifying this gift under the name of grace, asserts that it "bringeth salvation, and hath appeared unto all men, teaching them," etc., in which text is found the whole ground of our position: namely, that there is in the human soul an enlightening principle, which is at once divine in its character and saving in its power. Again the apostle says, "For unto every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift 3^ THE INWARD LIGHT. of Christ." "Hath shined in our hearts," is also his language: and for what purpose? — "To give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ." When Paul and Barnabas, addressing the multitude at Andoch in Pisidia, had preached the Lord Jesus as a Saviour, they recalled and applied that prophecy of Isaiah where it is said — " I will also give thee for a light unto the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth." Very clearly does the same truth appear in the joyful exclamation of Simeon when he had seen the Lord's Christ: "Mine eyes have seen thy salva- tion, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel." Oneness of the Light with Christ the Saviour. Here, too, is represented the union, the essential one- ness, of the Light and the Saviour, Jesus Christ; and this evangelical truth was reverently acknowledged and plainly declared by the early Friends, one of whom wrote: "We as truly believe in that same Christ who laid down his body and took it up again, as in his Light within; and we have benefit to salvation by the one as well as the other, and of both, they being one." And thus writes William Penn : — "We believe in no other Lord Jesus Christ than He who appeared to the fathers of old, at sundry times and THE INWARD yCHT. 39 in divers manners, and in the fulness of time took flesh of the seed of Abraham and stock of David, became Immanuel, God manifest in the flesh, through which He conversed in the world, preached his everlasting Gospel, and by his Divine power gathered faithful witnesses ; and when his hour was come, was taken of cruel men, his body wickedly slain, which life He gave to proclaim, upon faith and repentance, a general ransom to the world; the third day He rose again, and afterward appeared among his disciples, in whose view He was received up into glory, but returned again, fulfilling those Scriptures, 'He that is with you shall be in you;' 'I will not leave you com- fortless, I will come to you again, and receive you unto myself.' And that He did come and abide as really in them, and doth now in his children by measure, as with- out measure in that body prepared to perform the will of God in." In close harmony with the foregoing are the following statements of Isaac Penington; "This Word within, with the life and light thereof, doth not make void any former appearance or ministration of God, but rather establishes them, by owning them in their proper place, use, and service. For he that truly owns this Word, light, life. Spirit, power, etc., in his own heart, must also own it in the hearts of others, in Moses, in the prophets, in John, and in its fulness in Christ in the flesh; and the virtue of all it did in Christ, and by Christ in the flesh, towards the salvation of mankind." 40 THE INWARD LIGHT. Faith the Same in All Ages. In the last quotation given, reference is made to the prophets and fathers of old, as being acquainted with this inward manifestation of Christ ; and we may here remem- ber that our Saviour Himself said — "Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad." This cer- tainly Abraham could not have seen but by revelation, nor rejoiced in but by a participation in the saving faith of the saints. Job also declares with confidence, — " 1 know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand in the latter day upon the earth;" and Isaiah, "The Lord is my strength and song; He also is become my salvation." In that remarkable chapter, the eleventh of Hebrews, faith is defined as "the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen;" and the apostle brings before us a "cloud of witnesses" from the days of old, who through this same faith "wrought righteousness, ob- tained promises," and "out of weakness were made strong." On this head Robert Barclay writes as follows: "These inward and immediate revelations continue to be the object of the saints' faith unto this day. If the faith of the ancients were not one and the same with ours, /. «., agreeing in substance therewith, and receiving the same definition, it had not been pertinent for the apostle to have illustrated the definition of our faith by the examples of that of the ancients, or to go about to move us by THE INWARD LIGHT. 41 the example of Abraham, if Abraham's faith were different in nature from ours. Nor doth any difference arise hence, because they beHeved in Christ with respect to his ap- pearance outwardly as future, and we as already appeared; for neither did they then so believe in Him to come as not to feel Him present with them, and witness Him near; seeing the apostle saith, 'They all drank of that spiritual rock which followed them, which rock was Christ;' nor do we so believe in his appearance past, as not also to feel and know Him present with us, and to feed upon Him; * * * so that the faith is one, terminating in one and the same thing." On the same subject William Penn has the following: — "As we think it no wrong to Christianity, so no discredit to our case, that it should be reported that we believe 'the Word nigh in the heart' (the Apostle Paul calls it the Word of faith and reconciliation) to have been preached by Moses; that Christ, the promised Seed, bruised the serpent's head, as well before as at and since his visible appearance; that Enoch, when he walked with God, walked in the Light, in which he felt the blood of Christ cleansing from all sin ; that the Spirit of God strove with men as well before Christ's coming as since; and that some were led by it before as well as since; and therefore children of God; and if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. Not that we deny a pre- eminence to Christ's visible coming, and the greater bene- fits that came into the world thereby; we should not be 42 THE INWARD LIGHT. thought SO to mean at any hand- :-''•. this, that some- thing of that Divine life, powef >-i5dcm and righteous- ness that then so super-exceilently appeared and broke forth, was revealed in all former ages, as mankind was in a capacity to receive it." The same doctrine has also in more recent time been expressed in this language: — "The Society of Friends believe that the inshining of the Light of Christ for the redemption of man from sin, is not limited to any station in life, to any nation, or to any age of the world ; but that the mercy of God in Christ Jesus reached to all, whether they have an historical knowledge of Christianity or not; and that it was the ground of salvation to those who lived in the period prior to the appearance of the Son of God in the flesh." Tke New Dispensation. But it may be asked: In what, then, is the present dispensation distinguished from any that preceded it? In what is its advantage, seeing that the Spirit was known before, and the saving benefits of Christ's sufferings and death "reached backward as well as forward?" We an- swer: In the increase of true light and knowledge in the earth, — the greater revelation of grace and truth — by and since the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh; in the won- derful manifestation of the Father, which his coming and his work on earth has blessed us with; in the effects of his holy example and his gracious teachings; in the great THE INWARD LIGHT. 43 freedom which the Gospel brings, as contrasted with the law of ordinances, the handwriting of which, it is said, He blotted out, "nailing it to his cross;" in the abolition therefore, of an outward priesthood, and a clear opening up of the true and living way unto the Father; and finally, in the assurance of the power of life and immortality, demonstrated by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Hence, it is plain that the present dispensation, though yet un- perfected, or but imperfectly realized at large, is truly called the Christian dispensation; and since it is declared that of the increase of Christ's government and peace there shall be no end, we have the assurance that this, which is most eminently the dispensation of the Spirit, is one that will never wax old nor vanish away; but that it shall grow in brightness and in extent, unto the fulfil- ment of that prophecy that the earth should be full of the knowledge of the Lord, "as the waters cover the sea." But glorious as this prospect is, the realization of it must be accomplished by the co-operation of each human soul with that measure of the Light, Grace and Spirit of Christ which is given it; by the nurture of the good seed of the kingdom, which is sown in all sorts of ground; by listening for and obeying the voice of the Good Shepherd, who calls His own sheep by name, and leads them out. To begin to follow this voice and to turn from every other, is to enter upon the path of the just; and "the path of the just is as a shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." 44 THE INWARD LIGHT. Divine Influence Operative in Many Fields. Perhaps some may inquire wiietiner it is possible always to be sensible of the Divine guidance, and whether this is to be expected in the common concerns of life, in what may be accounted the domain of reason. To the first of these questions it may be answered, that though the light does not always shine with clearness, yet faithful and honest hearts become more and more sensitive to the touches of Heavenly Love, so as to be made quick of understanding. One thing is sure: that the Divine Wit- ness, where it has not been quenched, is swift and true against that which is sinful; but if in the counsels of Wis- dom the light is, upon any occasion, withheld for a time from those who are looking for it, then "their strength is to stand still" until the way is made plain. Regarding the second question, it is pertinent to ob- serve that the Divine Light "works upon reasonable be- ings," and Robert Barclay says it does not contradict "right reason;" yet as the human mind is finite and falli- ble, and as grave issues sometimes hang upon seemingly small events, it follows that a superior guidance should be sought, and the Divine Will consulted, even in tem- poral affairs. The degree of certainty attending any impressions of "guidance from above," in either spiritual or secular matters, must obviously vary; but integrity of purpose — an honest desire to know the right, or to avoid the wrong — must be understood to exist, in most cases, THE INWARD LIGHT. 45 as the condition of obtaining such guidance, though we do not overlook those signal interpositions of mercy by which the Divine Will is sometimes manifested with convincing clearness and power. It is doubtless also the experience of many, that as they review the events of their lives, they find evidences of a Divine guidance, even where they did not recognize it at the time, and frequently in circumstances that were contrary to their tastes or their desires. Their feeling upon this discovery has been something like that of Jacob, when he awaked out of sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not." Possibly some person may conclude that if we give so large a province to the direct operation of the Spirit, we leave small room for the Scriptures, for Christian education, and for the ministry of the Gospel. — By no means. The superior standards of virtue and intelligence among people who have these external aids, are fully recognized: but these of themselves, however valuable, are not sufficient for all needs, nor for the redemption of the soul. The question, as Robert Barclay signifies, is not what is useful and helpful, but what is primary and essential; and that which we have been chiefly considering is the universal efficacy of the Spirit with reference to individual progress in the way of salvation. Yet there can be no doubt that" the measure of light, or the revelation of truth, given to some faithful souls, has been far beyond what immediately concerned them- 4^ THE INWARD LIGHT. selves or their own generation. This must be granted to account for the work of prophets, evangelists, apostles and teachers; but aside from this, it is not too much to believe that the Divine Hand has been at work in other fields, guiding the course of those that labored, though sometimes perhaps insensibly to themselves. The more this guidance comes to be recognized as possible, the more surely-directed and the more fruitful will all efforts be; and it is by no means an unheard-of experience for one who has yielded to the power of Grace, to find his facul- ties strengthened, and his understanding enlarged in other matters than those connected with his soul's welfare, or even with what, strictly considered, would be called re- ligious truth. Results of Full Obedience to the Light. It is not necessary, however, to conclude that this enlarged vision is essential, or that to any great degree it inevitably follows obedience; but it is surely one of the functions of the living Word to bring into harmonious relation and use all the faculties and activities of the soul, so tempering and adjusting them that the whole being becomes in some sense, as William Penn said, "Divinely naturalized." That which behooves everyone in particular, then, is to occupy the one, two, or five talents of light and grace entrusted to his care. As this improvement goes diligently forward, the work of sancti- fication and redemption is progressing, its final goal being THE INWARD I IGHT. 47 the conquest of the power of evil, so that the conscience may be i