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 FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY 
 
 HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE 
 
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A 
 
 NARRATIVE AND EXPOSITION 
 
 OF THE LATE PHOCEEDINGS OP 
 
 NEW.ENGLAND YEARLY MEETING, 
 
 WITH SOME OF ITS 
 
 SUBORDINATE MEETINGS & THEIR COMMITTEES, 
 
 IN RELATION TO 
 
 THE DOCTRINAL CONTROVERSY 
 
 NOW EXISTING IN THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS : , 
 
 PREFACED BY A CONCISE VIEW OP THE CHUKCH, SHOWING THE 
 OCCASION OP ITS APOSTACT, f- 
 
 BOTH UNDER THE FORMER AND PRESENT DISPENSATIONS. 
 WITH AN APPENDIX. 
 
 EDITED PKOM KECOKDS KEPT, FROM TIME TO TIME, OF THOSE 
 
 PROCEEDINGS, AND INTERSPERSED WITH OCCASIONAL 
 
 REMARKS AND OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Addressed to tlie Members of the said Yearly Meeting. 
 BY JOHN WILBUR. 
 
 " For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteous- 
 ness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment 
 delivered unto them."— 2 Pkteb ii. 21. 
 
 " Men talk as if we ought to sp,eak leniently of the faults of a man who de- 
 lights us by his genius or his talents. This precisely is the man whose faults 
 we should be prompt to mark, because he is the man whose faults are the 
 most seducing to the world." — Dtmond, 186-7. 
 
 NEW-YORK; 
 
 PIERCY & REED, PRINTERS, IX SPRUCE STREET 
 1845. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Inasmuch as our first parents, as Individuals, were 
 subject, through the wiles of the enemy, to a depar- 
 ture from the purity of the condition in which they 
 were created, so it will be admitted by all true be- 
 lievers, who have been conversant with sacred and 
 profane history, that throughoiit every generation of 
 their descendants, men have, been liable, through the 
 same beguiling influence, to fall from a better to a 
 worse condition. 
 
 Hence it follows, that as all religious associations are 
 made up of individuals, that all such bodies of men 
 are exposed to the same danger of a declension ; and 
 for this reason it undoubtedly was, that the Lord God 
 of Israel, through his servants Moses and Joshua, 
 labored abundantly with his chosen people in exhort- 
 ing them to a continuance of fidelity and obedience, in 
 the keeping of his covenant with them, and commands 
 to them — warning them against a lapsed condition, and 
 assuring them of his judgments and indignation that 
 must surely follow a departure from his commands. 
 
 And thus we see that their future safety and preser- 
 vation, consisted not in his having once chosen them 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 from amongst all the families of the earth with whom 
 to place his name, but in their continuing to keep a 
 single eye to the pattern which he had showed them in 
 the mount. 
 
 He had done wonders for them in delivering them 
 from bondage, — he had brought them out with a high 
 hand and an out-stretched arm, and had established his 
 covenant with them as his peculiar church and people, 
 and therefore required faithfulness at their hands, 
 answerable to the favours which he had bestowed upon 
 them. 
 
 He had required them to love him, and to do jus- 
 tice, righteousness and judgment in all things, through- 
 out their generations — to abstain from idolatry, and 
 from all the evils against which he had warned them : 
 he had prohibited them from mixing with the surround- 
 ing nations in their ways and manners of devotion — to 
 come out from among them, and to be separate from 
 them. 
 
 Notwithstanding some of those nations believed in 
 the same God in whom they believed, and held and 
 practised some rites in common with them, and coin- 
 cided with certain things which he had commanded 
 them, such as their altars, their sacrifices, and their 
 priest's services in offering upon them — ^rites which had 
 beenhanded down from the first ages of time; figurative 
 and prophetic of that most acceptable sacrifice of the 
 Saviour of men, for the blotting out of the sins of all 
 men, on condition of true repentance towards God, and 
 faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 Yet, as the practices of those nations were in many 
 essential points diverse and not according to the cove- 
 nant which he had made with his Israel, and tended to 
 
idolatry and the serving of other gods ; his people 
 were therefore strictly forbidden to mingle with them ; 
 not because there were no sincere people among those 
 nations, but because their ways were not in accordance 
 with the pattern shown to Israel in the mount. 
 
 We find by following the history of this once favored 
 and chosen people, and beholding, as we do, their 
 gross departure from God's covenant, abundant evi- 
 dence to show the necessity there was of warning them 
 in the outset against an apostacy, and no less of his mercy 
 in continuing from age to age to send his prophets and 
 messengers unto them, to testify against the forsaking 
 of his law, lest his statutes should be altogether disre- 
 garded and trodden down by them. 
 
 But, alas ! how many sufferings, reproaches and 
 persecutions these his messengers had to endure, from 
 the hands of those who had departed from the Lord's- 
 testimonies, because of their faithfulness to him. On 
 the other hand, how many of those called prophets 
 were induced by bribery, were lured by the love, and 
 driven by the fear of man, to prophecy smooth things 
 — ^to flatter those in power, and to cry peace, peace ! 
 when there was no peace. How many and unsparing 
 were the gifts and honors bestowed upon men by 
 those in power, for the strengthening of their own 
 hands in iniquity, and for working devices against the 
 Lord and his faithful servants ! 
 
 But blessed be the Lord, a faithful remnant there 
 was, (among the many hundreds that were called pro- 
 phets,) who feared the Lord, that could neither be 
 bought nor driven to forego the word of the Lord, 
 nor to baulk his testimonies to please men. But an 
 apostacy had so prevailed over the rulers of Israel in 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 that day, that many of the prophets were persecuted 
 and slain for their constancy and faithfulness to their 
 Lord and Master. The rulers of the people had he- 
 come so lost to all that was good, that they took light 
 for darkness, and darkness for light, and so persecuted . 
 the Lord's true messengers. 
 
 But a reformation — a better day and a better cove- 
 nant was seen to be coming, and was foretold by those 
 persecuted messengers. And however long the dark- 
 ness of that apostacy prevailed — however long the com- 
 ing of a better day was protracted, it was not deferred 
 until human nature had ceased to be human nature in 
 the fall — a condition from which the Gospel power is 
 only able ever to redeem ; but this redemption is 
 effected only upon the condition oi faith and, obedience, 
 BO essential under the former dispensation, and without 
 which fallen nature has been the same in every age, is 
 abundantly evinced by the grievous lapse which has 
 befallen the church under both covenants. 
 
 Thus we see, however better the day, that without 
 the obedience of faith, fallen nature, or the natural 
 man, is the same, and no better under this than under 
 the former dispensation. And those who are favored 
 with the New Testament, and do not live in conformi- 
 ty with its precepts, and come to experience the power 
 of that religion which it inculcates, are even more 
 reprehensible than those under the former covenant ; 
 of whom many, with less outward advantage, came to 
 witness in an eminent degree, that which was then, as 
 now, the power of God unto salvation. 
 
 By the events which have transpired, it would seem 
 that the same liability of departing from the law of the 
 Lord which existed in the Jewish Church, exists in the 
 
PREFACE. 7 
 
 Christian Church, and that individuals, as well as bodies 
 of Christians, are as liable to degenerate through dis- 
 obedience and unfaithfulness to the commands of 
 Christ, as were those under the former covenant ; in- 
 asmuch as the temptations of the old enemy are as 
 artfully directed against the Chrstian as against the 
 Jewish Church, and only detected by abiding in Him 
 who is the Light of the world, and the Lamb slain 
 from the foundation of the world. 
 
 The lapse of the Lord's people, under the former 
 covenant, is strikingly observable in the lamentation 
 over them : "Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, 
 wholly a right seed : how then art thou turned into 
 the . degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me ? " — 
 Jer. ii. 21. 
 
 But to mark the consummation of the declension 
 and final apostacy of the Jewish Church, we must refer 
 to the time when Jesus Christ came into the world, 
 and call to mind the great enmity and bitterness which 
 the whole sanhedrim and rulers of that body betrayed ; 
 their madness against Him and His doctrines, His 
 ministry and mighty works. 
 
 They denied Him and his mission, although Moses , 
 in whom they trusted, had spoken so plainly of him, — 
 they made and spread abroad among the people, all 
 manner of false reports and wicked accusations against 
 him ; and made a decree that any one who confessed 
 him to be the Christ should be put out of the syna- 
 gogue ; and their iniluence and the fear of them, — 
 the bribery, the friendship and other means to which 
 they resorted, succeeded to an astonishing degree in 
 bringing the Saviour of men into great disrepute 
 among the people ; and even made the Jewish nation 
 
8 PREFACE. 
 
 generally believe him to be a deceiver, a dangerous 
 person, and a disturber of the peace, and that there- 
 fore he ought to be put to death. 
 
 Finally, they bribed Judas Iscariot to betray him 
 into their hands ; and in that great concourse which 
 was assembled at his trial before Pilate, (where only 
 two of his disciples dared to come,) there was not so 
 much as one who raised his voice against his being put 
 to death. 
 
 By these high professors he was put to death — under 
 great pretensions, and professions of religion, and a 
 zeal for the support of the law and covenant which 
 God had ordained to them as a people ; making great 
 boasts of their ancestors, and of being the children of 
 Abraham, whilst they were doing the works of their 
 father, the devil, and were his children. 
 
 We are assured that eleven out of the twelve of his 
 Aposdes, and many others who stood faithful to His 
 Gospel, suffered the like from their cruel hands. 
 
 With these wicked rulers, the chief Priests, the 
 Scribes, the Pharisees, and the learned Rabbis, termin- 
 ated the Jewish dispensation. 
 
 When the spirit of this world rules in the hearts of 
 the children of disobedience, whatever they profess as 
 to religion, or whether they make no profession at all ; 
 whether priests or levites, scribes or pharisees, or 
 mere men of the world, it matters not, if destitute of 
 the spirit and love of God, they persecute the Saviour 
 of men, and his disciples the children of light : for 
 there is an enmity existing between the spirit of the 
 world and the spirit of God — the flesh warreth against 
 the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh — consequent- 
 
PRBFACB. 9 
 
 ly the children of this world war against the children 
 
 of God. 
 
 It was, by that spirit of this world and of darknesa 
 which rebels against the light, that Christ and his fol- 
 lowers were persecuted and put to death, by the Jews 
 first, and also by the Gentiles : for 'his religion truly 
 was, to the high professing Jews, a stumbling block, 
 and to the wisdom of the Greeks foolishness ; because 
 the darkness which was in them, could not compre- 
 hend it. 
 
 But after the Jewish nation was dispersed, the 
 Christian church continued to grow and increase 
 greatly, although her sons were persecuted and slain 
 in large numbers by the heathen nations : and death 
 — to them welcome death — was almost continually in- 
 flicted by the hand of man, and became to them the 
 happy passport to an entrance into the fruition of light, 
 and the realms of eternal glory with Him, for whose 
 cause they had dared to die. 
 
 Thus the tribulations of those who were loyal to 
 their Lord, whose mission to this lower world was 
 made perfect through sufferings, were sanctified and 
 productive of a crown of life ; whilst those who were 
 not faithful unto death, through the fear of man or love 
 of the world, were cast off forever and denied the tree 
 of life. 
 
 What a glorious pattern, therefore, were the early 
 Christians in suffering for the name of Him who had 
 given the example before them ; and to which example 
 has been added these precepts — that it is enough for 
 the servant to be as his Master, and the disciple as his 
 Lord. Fear not them that kill the body, and have no 
 more that they can do ; but I will forewarn you whom 
 
10 PREFACE. 
 
 ye ought to fear, &c. ; for to those who know God, 
 
 and the Will of God, his fear surpasses the fear of man. 
 
 What shame and blushing, therefore, ought modem 
 professors to take to themselves, flinching as they do, 
 when their sufferings, whether by the hand of false 
 brethren, or from the world, are so entirely incompara- 
 ble with the sufferings of Christ and his early followers. 
 
 But in process of time the Head of the Church was 
 pleased to say it is enough, and saw meet to prove his 
 people by the reverse of personal suffering ; then per- 
 secution ceased, and ease and luxury succeeded ; a 
 soil in which the life and power of religion was less 
 prolific : and a tmst and reliance on the Divine support 
 was gradually less apparent, the love and friendshvp of 
 the world began to take root in too many of the influ- 
 ential members of the Church ; a plant which could 
 not so well flourish under persecutiim. 
 
 Subsequently, for want of sufiicient self-denial and 
 true humility, the love of power increased in some of 
 the honorable, and in time a junction with the earthly 
 power ensued, and a disposition for greatness, and to 
 give and receive honor one from another, began to 
 prevail, and that honor which cometh from God and 
 belongeth unto God, was less regarded and less in- 
 culcated, and at length profanely transferred to men. 
 
 And the title of Reverend, Right Reverend, Holy 
 Father, and Most Holy Father, was ascribed to men 
 — was called for and most sacrilegiously given and 
 received by men ! by vain and sinful men ! to the 
 pampering of the pride and haughtiness of man : thus 
 shamefully robbing God of that reverence and honor 
 only due to His Great and Holy Name. This consti- 
 tutes idolatry in its legitimate form. 
 
PREFACE. 11 
 
 The sin of avarice, and love of rule, and of absolute 
 power, took deep root in the hearts of those seekers 
 after divine honors. And as their authority increased 
 and became established, great and most oppressive -re- 
 quisitions were made upon men's consciences and 
 estates ; and the Christian discipline by which the 
 church in its purer days had been conscientiously and 
 faithfully governed, was now disregarded and made to 
 give place to the will and pleasure of Popes, Bishops, 
 and Synods. 
 
 These men, or this body of men, thus assuming 
 divine honors, did, in their collective capacity, claim to 
 be the Church, or body of Christ — the Holy Mother 
 Church, and with great boldness asserted their ovm 
 infallibility, and that the Church could not err — that 
 her decrees and determinations were imperious and 
 paramount to all former doctrines or discipline, or even 
 to the Holy Scriptures themselves ; and punished all 
 gainsayers of their doctrines and practices, with ex- 
 communication, or imprisonment, or with death. 
 
 It is abundantly evident, that the deeper the church 
 became involved in eiTor, the more boldly she pro- 
 claimed her authority and infallibility. It is no less 
 evident that an apostacy of the church has always led 
 to persecution ; and that sufferings under persecution, 
 faithfully and patiently endured, have tended to a re- 
 formation. 
 
 The Christian exercise of the true church's labor 
 and care towards those who have lost their way, is 
 Discipline. But the annoyance of honest men and 
 women for well doing, is Persecution. The former 
 was ordained of him who is supremely good — the latter 
 ia an abomination in the sight of Grod. Again, the 
 
13 PREFACE. 
 
 former is exercised in the love of God, but the latter 
 in the hatred of the wicked One. 
 
 The advancement of any people, in moral or religi- 
 ous righteousness, is truly more cheering and hopeful 
 to an honest mind, and vastly more well pleasing in 
 the sight of God, than a retrograde course, and that 
 without any reference to the point already arrived at. 
 
 But that body which descended from the primitive 
 Christian church, and became degenerated, has never 
 been wholly reformed, although divers notable at- 
 tempts were made for that purpose, at different times 
 between the third and sixteenth centuries, notwith- 
 standing a solitary remnant of sincere believers came 
 out and stood in a situation of detachment from it, 
 during that period. But the regal power of the 
 Romish church was exceedingly great — combining 
 with, and encompassing the authorities of many earthly 
 kingdoms and empires ; and before whom, with a Pope 
 at their head, a Huss and .a Jerome, with a great 
 number of others, fell victims to their ferocity. 
 
 Will any protestant say, that these martyrs were not 
 raised up of God as witnesses against the ecclesiasti- 
 cal corruptions, because of their failure of success 1 
 Will any such presume to make that failure chargeable 
 upon a want, on their part, of integrity or purity of 
 intentions, or yet upon the want of a Divine commis- 
 sion, to testify against the atrocities of the church 1 
 For is it not a true saying, that the blood of the Mar- 
 tyrs is the seed of the church 1 And can there be a 
 doubt, that the death of those unflinching and un- 
 daunted men, gave energy and resolve to those who 
 followed after ? So that their lives and sufferings are 
 not lost, but cherished in the sympathies of all honest 
 protestants : and does not their patient indurance of 
 
PREFACE. 13 
 
 the most cruel persecations, tend to encourage every 
 tender heart to greater faithfulness in suffering ? 
 
 But the enquiry arises, what could induce these 
 rulers to inflict the punishment of death upon the 
 Martyrs ? Not the spirit of the meek and lowly Jesus, 
 whose kingdom was not to be supported by carnal 
 weapons, but whose religion is love ; and who came 
 not to destroy men's lives but to save them. 
 
 Was it not their insatiable avarice and voracious love 
 of power, grounded in malice, which led to many 
 crafty inventions for their own aggrandizement, and 
 the grasping of wealth, and carnal indulgences, that 
 led them on to those atrocious deeds 1 For their 
 craft they saw was in great danger, if men of such 
 principles, and such Christian eminence as the mar- 
 tyrs were, should be suffered to go at large, and to 
 promulgate their doctrines. 
 
 In time, through the good providence of Almighty 
 power, more men were raised up and made instru- 
 mental in bringing about a partial, though notable 
 reformation ; to the breaking down in some degree, 
 the power of the Roman Hierarchy. And although this 
 beam of gospel light, did not at once fully dispel the 
 whole cloud of papal darkness, yet it did discover to 
 the reformers, some of the greater evils. 
 
 Whether the minds of men in that day were not 
 prepared to endure the full radiance of the gospel light, 
 as it shone upon the primitive believers ; or whether 
 the papal yoke was too strong to be entirely broken 
 off by the hands of these witnesses, I will not pretend 
 to determine : suffice it to say, that God saw mete that 
 such advancement should then be made. And be it 
 remembered, that even this was at the expense of 
 
14 PREFACE. 
 
 msmy lives of his faithful martyrs ; though not to the 
 foil accomplishment of a perfect reformation. 
 
 And, however, they broke the ground by faithfully 
 renouncing some of the grosser errors of the popish 
 church, yet they retained and unhappily brought out 
 with them the spirit of war, retaliation and persecu- 
 tion, which never existed in the primitive Christian 
 Church, together vyith a deal of formality and useless 
 ceremonials, which had been imbibed and accumulated 
 during the dark ages of the church's apostate condi- 
 tion. 
 
 And in some instances, in the escaping of one great 
 error, the reformers invariably fell into another in an 
 opposite direction. They were right in denying the 
 merits and works of Romish observances, of likenesses, 
 and imagery, of holy relics, the mass, indulgences^ 
 &c., &c. But at the same time entirely overlooked 
 the spiritual work of God to be wrought in man, and 
 through the gift of the Holy Ghost by man, in the obe- 
 dience of faith, to the regenerating of the heart : they 
 erred in placing their trust in faith alone without regfard 
 to that work wrought by the power and spirit of 
 Christ tin the heart, to the regeneration of the soul, 
 whereby He subdues and crucifies the old man with 
 his deeds ; — in a dependence upon a faith which stands 
 alone, and which is not the gift of God ; and, there- 
 fore, not a living faith that worketh by love ; but a 
 faith that is well pleasing to the unregenerate man. 
 If barely believing in Christ, and that his death and 
 sufferings alone, would save men, who would refuse so 
 much as to believe, and to ascribe much honor to 
 Christ for justifying and saving them through his own 
 sufferings without them, and without the painful en- 
 
PREFACE. 15 
 
 durance of the baptism of fire and Holy Ghost in 
 themselves. 
 
 Under these and other like circumstances it was, 
 that the protestant believers, although they had faith- 
 fully witnessed against many of the Romish supersti- 
 tions, fell into a state of ease, relaxation, and the 
 indulgences of a carnal mind ; still trusting in man, 
 and in the advancement which they had made, and so 
 rested far short of fiilly attaining to the life and power 
 of true Christianity which bad been lost in the apos- 
 tacy. Then the Lord was graciously pleased to stir 
 up and to visit many minds, with the day spring from 
 on high, for the blessed purpose, not only for salva- 
 tion to those individuals, but for a further reformation, 
 and final consummation, and establishment of true 
 vital Christianity among men. 
 
 And by means of this visitation, many became un- 
 easy and dissatisfied, withthe lifeless formalities which 
 yet remained in the Church, and longed in their minds 
 to find the living and sustaining substance, of which 
 the customary rituals and outward performances then 
 practiced, were but a figure ; and of which they took 
 place, not to the satisfying or removal of the sins of 
 the flesh. 
 
 Among these seeking and awakening souls, was 
 George Fox. He, through deep meditation ; waiting 
 upon and dwelling with God in spirit, was made a 
 chosen instrument in unfolding the religion of Jesus 
 Christ, moie perfectly agreeable to the New Testa- 
 ment ; and was endued with a remarkable gift of dis- 
 cernment of the condition of men, and in the mystery 
 of true godliness ; that it stood not in form but in 
 power. And with great meekness and Christian cdur- 
 
16 PREFACE. 
 
 age, was enabled to combat the sins of the age in 
 which he lived : and more clearly to instruct and to 
 direct those seeking souls to the teaching of Christ in 
 the inner man, by his light and good spirit : and to 
 bring them off from trusting in man, and from those, 
 who like the Papists, were still making a trade of the 
 Gospel, a thing unkuewn in the primitive days of the 
 Church. 
 
 To this faith and ministry, and to the covenant of 
 the pure Gospel of peace, many were gathered. 
 These separated themselves from the spirit and friend- 
 ship of the world, (so prevalent among the professors 
 of that day,) for the purpose of restoring primitive 
 Christianity in the life and power of it, to the purging 
 of the consciences of men, through the inward opera- 
 tions and purgations of the Holy Ghost, to the doing 
 away, (at least among themselves,) of war, retaliation, 
 and oppression, as well as a hireling ministry : all of 
 which had been introduced into the Church under its 
 degenerated condition. 
 
 This doctrine, which inculcates the belief in Christ's 
 teaching his people himself; and the faith that every 
 true believer has access to God through him ; as also 
 the testimony against war and a hireling ministry, 
 spread alarm among the clergy of that day. 
 
 Hence, as the number of the Quakers increased, 
 the clergy began to have fearful apprehensions as to 
 the safety of their callings, or the continued enjoy- 
 ment of their salaries ; and consequently, resorted to 
 the exercise of their influence, (which was then great 
 in England,) for the purpose of disafiecting the minds 
 of the people against this, to them, new doctrine, of 
 free grace, and a free ministry ; and soon succeeded in 
 raising a storm of persecution against these unresist- 
 
PREFACE. 17 
 
 ing Christians. And they, the priests, successfully in- 
 voked the civil powers to their assistance ; so that the 
 spoiling of goods, imprisonment, and even death itself 
 was often inflicted upon this unoffending people ; when 
 nothing could be laid to their charge, but obedience to 
 the law of their God, in honestly promulgating the 
 doctrines of Christ and his Apostles as exemplified in 
 the New Testament, and thereby to carry out the 
 reformation which the first reformers had begun. 
 
 Here then was seen, protestants inflicting persecu- 
 tion upon their fellow protestants; (similar to that 
 which those of the Roman Church inflicted upon one 
 another ;) and only for the reason that the latter were 
 consummating the good work that the former, or their 
 predecessors, bad begun. And the evidence to prove 
 that the first reformation was not complete, will be 
 found in the consideration that the former had not 
 arrived fully to the ground of primitive Christianity, in 
 that they yet retained the spirit of domination, war, 
 and a hireling ministry, creating jealousy and hatred 
 against the greatei' excellency — against the free teach- 
 ing of the Gospel. And no greater evidence need be 
 called for, to establish this point, than to show that they 
 persecuted their fellow professors for well doing- 
 
 And God's permission of the deep sufferings of the 
 many messengers whom he had sent to bear witness 
 for him, is no evidence against the validity of their 
 mission or calling. Their sufferings were as seed 
 sown, and the fruit to be gathered in God's providence 
 in after generations — by those who are accounted 
 worthy also to suffer for the name of Him who died 
 for them ; whilst those who have lifted up their cruel 
 hands against the Lord's humble messengers, are 
 equally reprehensible, whether those messengers were 
 
18 PREFACE. 
 
 prophets or apostles, or early Christians, or modern 
 reformers, however unsuccessful any of them may ap- 
 pear to have been, in obviously leforming the church 
 from a lapsed condition, or of having effected a refor- 
 mation. Here allusion is made to such instances as 
 those of Huss and Jerome. 
 
 It appears by the tlestimony of Jesus Christ our 
 Lord, that the persecutors of that day vyeie chargeable 
 vrith the blood of the prophets that were slain, from 
 righteous Abel to the days of Zacharias, who perished 
 between the altar and the temple ; and whether more 
 or less reprehensible, modern persecutors are, under 
 the light of the gospel day, and themselves professing 
 to be Christians, the reader will judge. 
 
 Suffering for righteousness' sake, is diffusive of the 
 spirit of righteousness, not only for the time being, but 
 to after generations. And this diffusion of the Spirit 
 tends to gatJier to the cause espoused by the sufferers. — 
 " A sword shall pass through thine own soul, that the 
 hearts of many may be revealed" — "If I be lifted 
 up I will draw all men unto me." His gatherhig 
 spirit should extend to all men, through the power of 
 his death. 
 
 But among the sufferers for righteousness' sake, 
 Jesus Christ stands above all and over all — His suffer- 
 ings were propitiatory, and a sacrifice for the sins of 
 others, as well as procurative in the ordering of God's 
 power and wisdom, of an immediate and universal 
 pouring ftirth of his good spirit ; whilst the sufferings 
 of prophets and apostles, and all the faithful martyrs, 
 though not propitiatory, nor immediately influential, 
 are mediately influential, through our outward know- 
 ledge of their great and unflinching faithfulness to 
 Christ the Head over all. 
 
PEEPACJE. 19 
 
 Human nature itself would never be a Christian 
 martyr ; and human reason alone could never compre- 
 hend vyhy God should yield his faithful sei'vants to the 
 power of wicked men, because it sees not as He sees 
 — he cannot see how success can grow out of a de- 
 feat. And even the disciples of our Lord themselves, 
 whilst his body lay in the grave, felt as though his 
 mission was defeated. But after his resurrection, and 
 after he had taught them of the necessity and purpose 
 of his sufferings, and had breathed the Holy Ghost 
 upon them, then their understandings were opened, 
 and they were made not only to see the power of his 
 sufferings for the establishment of his cause, but were 
 made willing to suffer themselves, for his sake and for 
 their own sake, as well as for the honour of that cause 
 and those testimonies which he had published and or- 
 dained, and to follow his example of non-resistance. 
 
 But the successors of Hubs and Jerome, for want of 
 more of the understanding here alluded to, seemed to 
 apprehend a defeat in their death ; and to retrieve their 
 cause unhappily resorted to unchristian means, as did 
 also the Waldenses, eventually, in support of them- 
 selves and their good cause, and the result plainly 
 shows, that the cause of God cannot be promoted, nor 
 his work made to prosper, by resorting to an arm of 
 flesh, instead of trusting in His power. 
 
 One thing is very observable, that the peaceable, 
 unresisting, and patient endurance of persecution, by 
 our early fiiends, as dictated by the precepts and spirit 
 of Christ, has hitherto been apparently instrumental 
 in terminating to a great extent, persecution among 
 protestants ; an influence, which we have reason to 
 believe, has also reached the Roman Catholics. 
 
 And persecution is a thing so heinous, and so irre- 
 
20 PREFACE. 
 
 concileable with the law of Christ, that we may well 
 say it was never inflicted by one true Christian upon 
 another, or upon any other person. Discipline, the 
 church of Christ has always had — not for wounding 
 but for curing — not for the annoyance nor restraining 
 of him who reprobates the evil, but for reproof to him 
 who doeth evil. 
 
 But seeing the liability of men and Christians to a 
 declension and departure from the immediate govern- 
 ment of truth, as individuals and as a body, induced 
 George Fox and his fellow helpers to institute and es- 
 tablish a written disclipine, both for the Church and 
 for the members, as a guide to the ordering of Church 
 government, and for the deciding of aU questions that 
 might after arise in the society. 
 
 They were aware that the same liability existed in 
 the primitive church; and that a sad departure from 
 the meekness and true Christian spirit of right govern- 
 ment, did by degrees actually take place with their 
 successors, and saw the great benefit that a just and 
 wholesome system of discipline set up and established 
 during the purer condition of the church, under the 
 authority of truth, wovM Jiave been to those who fol- 
 lowed after, if adhered to by all. 
 
 Under these considerations, it undoubtedly was, that 
 the discerning minds of our first Friends saw the im- 
 portance of a written system of Christian discipline, 
 set up and established under the dictates of truth, and 
 by the consent and authority of the whole church col- 
 lectively, for the future government of the yearly 
 meeting, and its subordinate branches, and for the re- 
 proof and reclaiming of disorderly walkers, as well as 
 for the praise of them that do well. 
 
 Coincident with a written discipline, a written con- 
 
PREFACE. 21 
 
 fession of fhith was also adopted in the society, as ex- 
 emplified in the writings of the first fiiends, and agreed 
 to by the whole society. And these doctrines were 
 fully recognized by the discipline, and summarily in- 
 corporated in it. And whosoever therefore deviated 
 either in faith or practice, became subjects of dealing 
 by the true intent of that discipline, be their outward 
 standing or condition in the church what it may. 
 
 Hopeful, and in a good degree successful had the 
 administration of this discipline been, when in the 
 hands of faithful men and women, acting under the 
 authority and benign influence of the spirit by which 
 it was dictated, in guarding against innovation, and hon- 
 estly laboring for the safety of the society. And the 
 only ground of fear which may be entertained, of a 
 final lapse or departure from that discipline, is a defec- 
 tion of principle — in the ruling members of the body. 
 
 But notwithstanding the many advantages with 
 which the society is favored, the reasoning is undeni- 
 able, that if unhappily the " leaders of the people" 
 should become apostate in principle and practice, as 
 did the successors of the Primitive church, that excel- 
 lent system of doctrine and discipline handed down 
 by George Fox and his cotemporaries, would not 
 govern their proceedings ; but would be disregarded 
 or shaped into a mere automaton, and turned in an 
 unhallowed manner to almost any direction, or made 
 to serve almost any purpose that such men might 
 choose, and finally be changed into an instrument of 
 persecution ! 
 
 Notwithstanding the great and helping hand of such 
 a system of discipline ; is not the deepest concern- 
 ment to the church under our name, involved in the 
 rectitude of the rulers ? And in the inquiry whether 
 
22 PREFACE. 
 
 this people are more secure and less liable to an apos- 
 tacy than was the primitive church. Is it not ob'vious 
 that when the heads of the tribes begin to cry peace, 
 peace, and to preach up the safety and infallibility of 
 the church and of themselves, that the greater danger 
 awaits it, as in the middle ages Yes ; and then it is 
 that the wakeful and faithful sentinel sees the greater 
 cause of alarm and the most imminent danger. 
 
 And how many deeply exercised and afHicted la- 
 borers could be named, from the days of George Fox 
 down to the present time, who have watched over this 
 people as they have watched over their own souls : 
 and how often have they trembled vnth fesir for the 
 church's safety, when they were made to see in the 
 visions of light, that an enemy had entered the camp : 
 and how faithful to give the watchword of alarm, and 
 to cry aloud for the awakening of the armor bearers, 
 lest, while men slept in security, the city should be 
 broken up. 
 
 And whether there is danger of a departure from 
 doctrine or discipline, or of the leaders of the people, 
 lording of it over the heritage, and causing- the people 
 to err, at the present time, the watchful and sincere 
 reader of the follovying history of measures and pro- 
 ceedings, will be prepared to judge. 
 
 The following narrative has been taken from records 
 made at the time when the events took place, and is 
 offered to the members of the Society of Friends in 
 New England, and, if practicable, to the awakening 
 of all to a sense of our condition, and to the necessity 
 of a soundness of faith, and a scrupulous regard to our 
 discipline. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Byway of introduction, it appears proper to add the 
 following, taken from the author's documents, or 
 records of things which transpired in England, or came 
 to his observation during his visit to that country, in 
 the early part whereof his mind was brought into deep 
 exercise by the unexpected discovery of a spirit at 
 work, in the minds of some of the influential members 
 of our society ; which appeared to him to be at vari- 
 ance with the established and well known doctrines 
 and testimonies of friends : and as he advanced in his 
 religious engagements, more and more of this spirit 
 was brought to view, in a manner which led him to 
 suspect that the society was, at least in some danger, 
 either of a retrograde lapse, as a body into a similar 
 state of things from whence it came out ; or otherwise 
 of a rent or division ; if its members generally could 
 not be awakened to the perils which he thought await- 
 ed them, or induced more decidedly to rally to the 
 standard which G-eorge Fox- and his fellow helpers set 
 up against the spirit and friendship of the world : as 
 well as against the ceremonials and false doctrines 
 
24 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 which then remained among the protestant professors 
 of Christianity. 
 
 Finding this departure so formidable, on account of 
 the talent and station of many of those concerned in 
 it, his mind was brought into great distress, and mourn- 
 ing over the flock of God, once so loyal to the precepts 
 of Christ, the Mediator of the New Covenant. But 
 now alas ! in this very land where this standard' was 
 first set up, (after the apostacy,) a departure from first 
 principles was seen among some of the leading mem- 
 bers J the consideration of which was very afflicting at 
 times during his sojourn In that land. 
 
 He saw, or thought he saw, the great subtilty of the 
 enemy, (in taking advantage of the Hicksite heresy, 
 which led off on the one side from the true doctrine,) 
 working on the minds of those who were the most 
 prepared to forsake the original ground of vitality : so 
 that whilst they were guarding against a fatal lapse on 
 the one hand, he might the more easily and unsuspect- 
 edly plunge them into another as destructive on the 
 other hand, — both insiduous and defective in relation 
 to the true faith in the ofiices and attributes of the 
 Saviour of men. 
 
 It was under these circumstances and apprehensions, 
 that the author wrote a series of letters whilst in that 
 country, to his friend G, C, which were by him pub- 
 lished, for the purpose of apprising, at least, some of 
 his friends, of this exercise and concern, and with a 
 desire that both of these extremes and departures 
 might be avoided. 
 
 These letters drew upon their author, as well as 
 their publisher, the great displeasure of those in Eng- 
 land, who were disposed to confound Hicksism with 
 primitive Quakerism, They came out on the eve of 
 
INTRODUCTION. 25 
 
 the publication of their avowed sentiments to that 
 effect ; which they soon after published in a work 
 called the " Beacon," and which also contained many 
 ether sentiments, which stand directly at variance vv^ith 
 the fundamental doctrines of friends. Many of the 
 abettors of these opinions soon after separated them- 
 selves from the society, and set up meetings of their 
 own ; and much better would it have been for the 
 society, if all at that time, who held opinions discord- 
 ant with those of R. Barclay, had withdrawn from 
 friends, and openly avowed their real sentiments on 
 the Christian leligion ; if indeed they were beyond 
 the reach of being reclaimed. 
 
 Subsequently, when the author returned to America, 
 a number were not wanting in New England, who 
 instead of strengthening his hands in that important 
 concern, as they ought to have done, hesitated not to 
 condemn his letters and the publication of them, and 
 thereby much too nearly committed themselves to the 
 views which those letters were intended to counteract, 
 affirming, " that the state of things in England was 
 not such as called for the writing of those letters," 
 They professed to know more of the state of things in 
 that country, than one who had mingled largely vyith 
 the society there, and had held conversation with most 
 or all of their principal characters. 
 
 But tlie coming out of the " Beacon" soon after, 
 and the author of it being strongly supported, as he 
 was, by divers leading and influential characters, put 
 the question out of all dispute with sound friends, that 
 those letters were needful on the occasion and publish- 
 ed at the right time, — that it was highly important that 
 something of the kind should have been laid before the 
 society at that time. 
 
26 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The author of these letters does not pretend to say, 
 by any means, that they were the best thing that could 
 have been done on the occasion ; but he does say, that 
 seeing the sentiment was getting abroad in England 
 that primitive Quakerism was nearly allied to, if not 
 the same thing as Hicksisra, that something of the kind 
 was very needful to set forth and define the vast differ- 
 ence between them, as well as to controvert another 
 idea put forth there, viz. "that the leading characters 
 now in England, were equal, if not superior to G. Fox, 
 W. Penn, E.. Barclay, and their cotemporaries ; and 
 that if the early Friends had not come out until the 
 present day, Q,ijakerism would have been a very dif- 
 ferent thing!" 
 
 Whosoever attentively reads that publication called 
 the " Beacon" will find its grand object was to con" 
 found primitive Quakerism with Hicksism ; and then 
 by reading the letters above mentioned, it will be 
 plainly seen that one of the leading objects of them 
 was, to show the distinction, and to set forth the utter 
 disparity between the sound Christian doctrines of 
 our first friends, and the doctrines of Elias Hicks.* 
 
 When that pernicious book called the " Beacon," so 
 subversive of Quakerism, as well as of vital Chris- 
 tianity, reached this country, the writer of this, under 
 
 * In attempting to prove that Hicksism is in accordance with 
 primitive Quakerism, the Beaconites and Hickates ai'e in this one 
 thing well agreed, and equally dislike and condemn those letters. 
 By a reference to Joseph J. Gm-ney's Brief Remarks upon Scripture 
 Passages, it will be found that his views evidently approximate to 
 theirs upon the same subject. 
 
 In that book, in his attempt to refiite our early Friend's doctrine, 
 he boldly charges their views of Scripture passages with " error and 
 heresy" — ^with aiding that tremendous process of heresy in America- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 27 
 
 the same concern, used his best endeavours to prevail 
 on the meeting for sufferings for New England to 
 testify against its sentiments, but his labours in this 
 respect were unsuccessful. 
 
 It is believed to be due to the editor of the following 
 narrative, to state that he did unwaveringly, on all 
 suitable occasions, express his dissatisfaction with the 
 sentiments of Elisha Bates, when he last attended 
 New England Yearly Meeting as a minister, and after- 
 wards until his apostacy was fully developed, whilst 
 some of the prominent members of our Yearly Meet- 
 ing spoke highly in commendation of him. 
 
 But the denial of the writings of our early Friends, 
 by Joseph John Giirney,* is no less palpable than 
 either E. Bates or Isaac Crewdson's ; which is easily 
 proved by a reference to the writings of the former, 
 hereinafter brought to view. And it is as easily proved 
 that the prominent members aforesaid did, and have 
 continued to support 'and defend the said J. J. G., 
 
 ' Oarfrequeut and almost only recurrence, by way of objection, to 
 the doctrines of J. J. Gumey in hie exposition, is not on account of 
 any thing of a personal nature, uor yet because there have been no 
 other objectionable sentiments written by any who are now mem- 
 bers of the Society ; but because Ms are of the greatest notoriety, 
 and very extensively spread in America, as well as in Great Britain 
 and Ireland. 
 
 The writings of Edward Ash, of Bristol, (England,) are probably 
 as defective as those of J. J. G., but not of so much celebrity, nor 
 yet spread much, if at all, in America ; and therefore unknown to 
 the American reader ; as also are others of less note. 
 
 Wain says, " But every man who makes a public declaration of 
 his opinions, wilii the avowed design of converting others, subjects 
 them to public discussion, and has no right to complain, if those who, 
 believe them to be unsound, endeavour to counteract their effects." 
 
28 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 although he rejects and openly controverts some of 
 the essential doctrines of Robert Barclay, and others 
 of the early approved writers ! 
 
 The doctrines of J. J. G-. contained in his " brief 
 remarks on impartiality in the interpretation of Scrip- 
 ture, are of the same cast with the " Beacon," and so 
 nearly agreeing in substance, that a wise man could 
 scarcely distinguish the purport of the one from the 
 other. This book has been fully endorsed before the 
 public, by the Beaconites. And we are most credibly 
 informed, that they declare their sentiments, such a^ 
 are at variance with those of Friends, were suggested 
 to them by the writings of J. J. Gumey. 
 
 Each of these writers have published doctrines es- 
 sentially at variance with those of the religious society 
 of Friends, which being carried out and adopted, must 
 unavoidably undermine Quakerism, and it is self evi- 
 dent, that whosoever openly defends or advocates either 
 of these men, commits himself to, and identifies himself 
 with the doctrines of the nian whom he thus defends 
 against the Society ; and the more especially„so, if that 
 defence be made upon the occasion of others opposing 
 such doctrines. This course has been unhappily pur- 
 sued, and to a fearful extent, by those prominent mem- 
 bers of New England Yearly Meeting, to whom allu- 
 sion has been already, and will be more frequently 
 hereafter made. 
 
 The intelligent reader will readily recognize in such 
 committal, the groundwork of the present controversy, 
 as will fully appear in the subsequent part of this 
 work. 
 
 It is apprehended that a loss, in a greater or less 
 degree, of the Virtue, Life, and Power, of pure Chris- 
 tianity, has prepared the minds of too many in the 
 
tNTRODUCTION. 29 
 
 Society of Friends, to imbibe sentiments which are at 
 variance with true self-denial, and a full conformity to 
 the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and, consequently, 
 with his doctrines, as held and laid down by .the early 
 writers in our Society. That a great tendency out- 
 ward, and to outward views and outward things, has, 
 of late, been apparent in this once greatly favored 
 Society, is very obvious. 
 
 Consequently the sentiments of some writers, who 
 have not known the living savour'of the Divine life 
 to predominate in their own hearts, (or otherwise have 
 lost its unction,) have sorrowfully spread and taken 
 root in many minds. 
 
 And the authors of such sentiments appear to have 
 obtained great place with many of our members, and 
 to have much influence over them. 
 
 Moreover the great schism and fearful departure 
 from the Christian covenant on the one hand, in the 
 Society farther west, has furnished the enemy with 
 vast and powerful machinery, to delude, deceive, and 
 draw off, from the same covenant on the other hand, 
 insomuch that many of those who were not caught in 
 the snare of that apostacy, called Hicksism, have been 
 of late in great jeopardy, by the influence and insidi- 
 ous sentiments of persons of genius, high standing, 
 and great learning in the schools of men, tending to 
 draw away from the same gospel covenant in an op- 
 posite direction. 
 
 These having lost, or never found that hidden trea- 
 sure of this covenant, as revealed by the Divine Power 
 in the inner man of the heart, have taken offence at 
 the law and the restraints of a meek' and lowly Saviour, 
 arid so far imbibed the' spirit of this world and of the 
 age, as to despise the foolishness of the Cross, which 
 
30 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 is the power of God and the wisdom of God, and not 
 of man, nor of the flesh, but of God. 
 
 Instead of submitting, therefore, to die with Christ, 
 and to abide the painful struggle of yielding up the 
 will and wisdom of the flesh, these have moulded and 
 fashioned to themselves a substitute, by professionally 
 extolling and claiming the faith of Christ's incarnate 
 sufierings and propitiatory sacrifice upon the Cross 
 without the gates of Jerusalem, as the whole covenant 
 of salvation, and by Him thus accomplished without 
 them ; and, consequently, it is feared are carnally be- 
 lieving and trusting in this alone fi>r justification, with- 
 out its essential concomitant, the true obedience of 
 faith, and the work of sanctification wrought in the 
 heart. 
 
 These views, and many other of the like tendency, 
 having been avowed and published by Joseph John 
 Gurney, a member and professed minister of the So- 
 ciety of Friends in Norwich, Old England, and spread 
 far and wide among Friends, have been the cause of 
 great uneasiness and much dissatisfaction in the minds 
 of faithful Friends ; and the more, because many are 
 found among us who are disposed to advocate and de- 
 fend the author of them, without, and in the lefusal of 
 an examination of his published sentiments, or a com- 
 parison of them with our' acknowledged and well 
 known doctrines. 
 
 The fact that the author of these views is a man of 
 great influence, and [having many supporters of a 
 similar description, does indeed give cause for much 
 alarm among the living members of this Society, well 
 knowing, as they do, by the history of things that are 
 past, as well as by those which have transpired in their 
 own time, that the existence of these troubles, in the 
 
INTKODUCTION. 31 
 
 church of Christ, as occasioned by an apnstacy from 
 sound doctrines, have always had their beginning in a 
 little obvious divei'ging, or departure from some essen- 
 tial points of doctrine. 
 
 As two direct lines which begin to diverge from 
 each other, (though barely apparent at first,) if they 
 continue, will, in time, come to be at a great distance 
 asunder. 
 
 So these have seen, that when men of a strong and 
 independent temperament begin to depart from the 
 fundamental testimotiies and doctrines of a religious 
 society, they go wider and wider therefrom, until a 
 great departure from the true meridian is effected, or, 
 to spesik more plainly, until they adopt sentiments en- 
 tirely foreign to those from which they at first, (but 
 perceivably,) departed. 
 
 Some of these concerned Friends, who have re- 
 mained at their posts, have watched over the "land- 
 marks" of Israel's inheritance, as they have watched 
 over their own souls, and can but tremble for the safety 
 of the Ark of his testimonies, when, with their eyes, 
 they behold the demolishing of those stakes, of which 
 the good Shepherd of the fold ordained that " not one 
 of them should be removed." 
 
 And, notwithstanding what they have fearfully be- 
 held, of that which they apprehended was an attempt 
 to obliterate and to cancel those distinguishing signals 
 of our profession and its defence, they have marvelled 
 to hear so many 6f the watchmen cry peace ! pieace ! 
 when the citadel itself is beset by a troop of strong 
 men. They believe that so great a loss cannot other- 
 wise be sustained, either by us or by the world at 
 large, as would be sustained by the breaking down of 
 our distinguishing doctrines and testimonies. And, 
 
32 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 consequently, they see the great necessity of keeping 
 a single eye to their safety, and a scrupulous watchful- 
 ness against " every appearance of evil," that may in 
 the least forebode an apostacy of principle, inasmuch 
 as such did happen, to a sorrowful extent, to the 
 primitive church — the best of bodies — and that too by 
 small beginnings. 
 
 Furthermore, these concerned friends have felt not 
 a little responsibility resting upon themselves, and 
 upon the church at Idrge, by reason of the committal 
 to its charge and keeping of the most exalted, efficient, 
 and dignified principles vouchsafed to the hand of man 
 in these modem times, or in any age of the world, 
 because they are the same as committed to the primi- 
 tive church, in all that relates to Christian redemption 
 and salvation. And they have also felt something of 
 the weight of that appeal which was made of God to 
 his Servant, the Prophet Ezekiel, chap. iii. 28 ; also 
 xxxiii. 8, 9. " If thou do not warn my people from 
 their ways, they shall die in their iniquity, but their 
 blood will I require at thy hands," Sec. 
 
 Moreover, the late attempts at innovation, by those 
 above alluded to, speak loudly as a warning to us of 
 the jeopardy which awaits us as a people j for our 
 unfaithfulness and disloyalty to the blessed Truth is 
 such, that Satan appears to have availed himself of 
 the advantage of our relaxation, and seems resolved 
 to divide and scatter us from the true faith ; still we 
 hear the cry of peace ! still we hear the language of 
 safety reiterated among us ! still we see a prevalent 
 disposition to trust in man, and to make flesh our arm ! 
 
NARRATIVE AND EXPOSITION. 
 
 The above-named J. J. Gurney, on a visit to 
 America, came to New England, in the 6th month, 
 1838, and found the ground already prepared in 
 many minds to receive and defend him, notwith- 
 standing the defection of his doctrines. 
 
 These persons whose minds had been thus pre- 
 pared, had evidently been for some years seeking 
 for the control and dominion over New England 
 Yearly Meeting, and over all its concerns, in which 
 they had been successful. 
 
 And being men of influence, and disposed to avail 
 themselves of all means within their reach, (which 
 were not in any wise very limited,) whereby to 
 clothe themselves with rule and with power — have 
 drawn many to them, or after them, by their prof- 
 fered friendship — by proniotion in appointments — 
 by the honor of man, and by temporal favors, be- 
 stowed in many ways. By these means they have 
 encompassed (however unsuspected their object by 
 many) a great proportion of those who were active 
 members, as well as others, and have promoted and 
 made active, many who were not so before. 
 
 And those who have not fallen into these new 
 views, have not been desirous of office or control in 
 2* 
 
34 NAHKATIVE AND 
 
 the church, and consequently have not put them- 
 selves or one another forward much for appoint- 
 ments. And, more especially of late, perceiving a 
 disposition in those of the new ground to exclude 
 them, have mostly refrained from action. And at 
 the last annual assembly, these were entirely exclu- 
 ded from taking a part in its concerns, by the sup- 
 porters of unsound men and their doctrines, deciding 
 io reject from any service the names of all such as 
 had expressed themselves opposed to the previous 
 proceedings of the Yearly Meeting — ^thus declaring 
 such out of unity — a measure which had already 
 been adopted and acted upon by Rhode Island 
 Quarterly Meeting. 
 
 Those who had thus assumed the control in the 
 Yearly Meeting, formed from their own number, 
 standing committees therein, as also committees of 
 Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting, and clothed them- 
 selves with authority to visit and control subordi- 
 nate meetings, and consequently to control the reli- 
 gious rights of all their members : and these commit- 
 tees have not been backward in exercising this author- 
 ity. And further, the Yearly Meeting, through their 
 influence, has of late made its committee's advice 
 and decisions conclusive and final ; so that appeals- 
 from their advice, either by individuals or subordi- 
 nate meetings, to the Yearly Meeting, is unavailing, 
 however contrary to discipline their advice or de- 
 cisions may have been. 
 
 In the 11th month of 1839, John Wilbur felt him- 
 self bound under a religious concern, to visit most 
 of the Quarterly Meetings in the Yearly Meeting, 
 and was cordially liberated by his own Monthly 
 Meeting for that service : and after having visited 
 one Quarter and some of its subordinate meet- 
 ings, was cited by one of these committees, to ap- 
 pear before a deputation from their body. But their 
 letter not arrivuig seasonably for him to meet them 
 at the time and place assigned, he called on the 
 
EXPOSITION. 35 
 
 writer of that letter as he passed on in pursuance 
 of his journey — his having made a stand against the 
 new doctrines by writing to some ministers and 
 elders, as well as by conversation, was alleged by 
 the writer of the letter as a disqualification for 
 travelling in the ministry; but J. W. was enabled 
 to convince him that he ought to be left at liberty to 
 pursue his journey — and he did so. 
 
 When the said J. J. Gurney first arrived in New- 
 England, there was a report in circulation that he 
 had made satisfaction to his friends at home on ac- 
 count of his exceptionable writings ; but J. W. 
 being aware, through direct communications from 
 England, that the report was unfounded, (a matter 
 of great importance for the Society to know) took 
 an opportunity with J. J. Gurney, and informed 
 him of the apprehensions of many friends in regard 
 to his sentiments, as set forth in his books, and so 
 extensively abroad in the Society : and suggested 
 to him the desirableness of his satisfying friends in 
 relation to such of his doctrines as were not in 
 conformity with our acknowledged principles, and 
 thereby open his own way among us. 
 
 But instead of giving any encouragement of do- 
 ing so, he entered into a prompt defence and justifi- 
 cation of all his writings, without exception. 
 
 In consequence, therefore, of the result of J. W.'s 
 visit to the author, he believed it to be his religious 
 duty to caution friends, on suitable occasions, 
 against receiving or imbibing the unsound doctrines 
 alluded to; and at the same time making direct 
 reference to some of the most exceptionable among 
 them. 
 
 On John Wilbur's return from his eastern visit, 
 he pi'oduced certificates from all the Quarterly and 
 Monthly Meetings which he attended, expressive 
 of their satisfaction with his services among them. 
 And soon after his return from this journey, he ob- 
 
36 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 tained the concurrence of his Monthly Meeting, and 
 attended the Yearly Meeting in Philadelphia. 
 
 But his travelling as a minister, on account of 
 his objection to those doctrines, was displeasing to 
 those vpho were supporting and defending the au- 
 thor of them. 
 
 It being apparently too much of a circum- 
 stance frequently to call together the Committee 
 of th& Yearly Meeting of Ministers and Elders : 
 and further, as the Committee of the Yearly 
 Meeting at large was not authorized to recognize 
 ministerial service, a way was devised to get a 
 committee appointed in the Select Quarterly Meet- 
 ing ; and if practicable, to be vested with authority 
 to take hold of him, and to stop his speaking against 
 the doctrines of J. J. Gurney; or travelling as a 
 minister. 
 
 To effect this, deficient accounts were brought 
 up in relation to unity, from two subordinate meet- 
 ings, where themselves predominated, professedly 
 for the purpose, and under the pretention of be- 
 stowing labor in the cases referred to in those ac- 
 counts, a committee was appointed, ostensibly for 
 the restoration of unity and harmony.* Howbeit, if 
 their own confessionis sufficient evidence, we are war- 
 ranted in saying, that they never attempted any la- 
 bor of the kind, whatever, within the limits of those 
 two meetings from which the defective accounts 
 came up ; although more than four years have 
 since elapsed, and the committee have been dismiss- 
 ed from their appointment. 
 
 John Wilbur was called upon to meet this com- 
 mittee the next morning after its appointment ; and 
 they artfully attempted to make him a subject of 
 dealing, and to decoy him to place himself within 
 the purview of their appointment, by asking him 
 
 * The accounts which went up at this time from South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting, to which J. W. belonged, were unexceptionable 
 u to umty. 
 
EXPOSITION. 37 
 
 the question, " whether he beUeved any of the 
 members of our Select Meeting were unsound?" 
 expecting, as was supposed, an affirmative answer ; 
 and if so, then here, as they might think, would be 
 a case of disunity fairly within their reach. Buf 
 their object was seen, and the question not answer- 
 ed, although all the committee, save one, joined in 
 pressing him to answer it. Being defeated in this, 
 they severely reprimanded him for having been to 
 Philadelphia, accusing him of having known that 
 they were unwilling he should travel in the minis- 
 try. But this charge, of knowing it, he was able 
 to meet, by adducing what some of them had said 
 to him and others, during his eastern journey. One 
 of the committee had said, in a letter to his daugh- 
 ter, that " they had no desire to stop his travelling 
 in the ministry," and another, who met with him on 
 the journey, said " he was glad to meet with him 
 there" 
 
 But they brought many other complaints and ac- 
 cusations against him, of which the principal was, 
 that "he had written and spoken against J. J. 
 Gurney, and had spread long lists of extracts from 
 his doctrines." [For an account of these charges 
 and his defence see his letter to this committee, and 
 the vindication of it, further on.] 
 
 He now informed them that he had not spoken 
 to the disadvantage of J. J. G., otherwise than by 
 a recital and disavowal of some parts of his doc- 
 trines: and in order to show them that those parts 
 of his writings to which he had made exceptions 
 were unsound, and consequently that the course 
 which he had taken was correct and agreeable to 
 disciphne, he proposed reading to them the extracts 
 which he had taken ; and which they had charged 
 him with spreading. 
 
 But they were unwilling to hear him read these 
 extracts, and conceded there might possibly be 
 some things in the manner of his expressions that 
 
38 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 would be deemed exceptionable. But J. W. in- 
 sisted on reading these extracts, in order that the 
 committee might know how unsound his doctrines 
 were, (believing that his defence rested upon 
 their demerits,) but the committee appeared ex- 
 ceedingly unwilling to allow the reading of them, 
 and the dilemma in which they were now placed, 
 apparently drew fromi D. B., one of their number,- 
 the expression, " I acknowledge that some of J. J. 
 Gurney's writings are very unsound." But for 
 this imprudence, D. B. was immediately jogged by 
 J. M., one of his colleagues who sat near him, and 
 who dissented from his concession, by saying, " / 
 should not have said so." 
 
 Finally they utterly refused to hear his defence 
 or the reading of the extracts from Gurney's doc- 
 trines, and gave him very little opportunity of any 
 oral vindication of himself in relation to the charges 
 brought against him, by reason of their own claims 
 upon the time ; freely and in close succession be- 
 stowing upon him their censures, and demanding 
 from him immediate concessions, accompanied with 
 the advice " to stay at home and to be quiet." And 
 so this interview ended. 
 
 Thus being denied a full, a fair personal hearing 
 which truth and justice always allows, even to the 
 greatest offenders, John Wilbur, resorted to pen, 
 ink and paper ; and through this medium addressed 
 T. A., the first named of the committee, with whom 
 he had heretofore stood in the relation of great in- 
 timacy ; which address is furthsr on. 
 
 To this letter, both himself and his colleages de- 
 clined altogether to make any reply, or to attempt 
 a refutation in writing ; yet they did not fail to re- 
 sort to personal declamation and high sounding 
 words in an interview which they called for in the 
 early part of the Yearly Meeting at New- 
 port, 1840, with an evident design to alarm him ; 
 and to induce him to condemn, not only the course 
 
EXPOSITION. 39 
 
 which he had taken, but also the letter which he 
 had written to them. And because he hesitated, 
 conscientiously doing so, cast upon him many re- 
 proaches, and the epithet of stubbornness, and a 
 disposition to resist has friends and the good order 
 of society. They also now denied the intimation 
 in the letter, that one of their number had said that 
 some of J. J. Crurney's doctrines were very unsound. 
 And D. B. himself denied ever saying any such 
 thing. And they further declared that no one would 
 know by reading the letter, any thing about what 
 transpired at their meeting at Greenwich. 
 
 At a second interview, during the same Yearly 
 Meeting, they read to him a paper, which, as they 
 said, was from a friend who felt much concern for 
 him ; but at the same time withheld from him the 
 name of the writer, as well as the document itself; 
 
 Proceedings which he thought reflected no great 
 onor upon the writer or the presenters thereof. 
 But its contents were not such as to give any unea- 
 siness to him whom it was evidently designed to 
 annoy. 
 
 During these interviews, in which the committee 
 evinced much excitement, J. W. was favored to 
 endure their reproaches and revilings without re- 
 viling again ; and to make no concession or com- 
 promise of principle. 
 
 In justice to one of the committee, Andrew 
 Nichols, (since deceased) a fellow member with J. 
 W., of the same Monthly Meeting, it ought to be 
 said, that he was a minister of sound principles ; 
 and that he was named incidentally on the commit- 
 tee. He was, whilst living, of singular service to 
 J. W., and to the good cause which he was con- 
 cerned to support. He saw the letter in question, 
 read and approved its contents ; and of its being 
 forwarded to the committee, previously thereto. 
 
 The fourth meeting of the committee, with some 
 additions to their number, was held at Portsmouth, 
 
40 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 R. I., and J. W. was cited again to meet with them, 
 to which he acceded. 
 
 The committee now attempted reading extracts 
 from his letter to them, against which they were in- 
 tending to join issue ; but he objected to their read- 
 ing extracts from his letter without first reading the 
 whole letter, and the more, because a number of the 
 committee now present had never become acquaint- 
 ed with its contents, except by hearsay ; and be- 
 cause also, T. A., one of their number, had told him 
 that he had placed upon it, with pen and ink, the 
 inscription oi falsehood. J. Wilbur's arguments for 
 either reading the whole letter, or else for not 
 reading the extracts from it, though strongly op- 
 posed by some, finally prevailed. 
 
 After the letter was read, some attempts were 
 made, (though feeble) to read extracts from it, in 
 order for refutation, but in this course they pro- 
 ceeded not far ; inasmuch as J. W. now called for 
 their objections in writing, both to the course which 
 he had taken in the first place, and to the letter it- 
 self, distinctly and severally giving their reasons 
 for such objections. 
 
 This seemed to throw the committee into con- 
 siderable disorder ; after which their proceedings 
 were irregular and desultory. At one time they 
 would declaim against his making a defence against 
 his friends ; and at another time they would accuse 
 him of having taken false premises in his letter : 
 and again D. B. came forward in a denial of saying 
 at Greenwich, " that some of J. J. G.'s writings 
 were very unsound," (Why need he, for the saying 
 was very true,) and attempted to change the ground, 
 by now adopting this version of it, to wit, "For ar- 
 gument sake I will admit that some of J. J. G.'s writ- 
 ings are very unsound." And J. M., the one who jog- 
 ged him at Greenwich, and remarked, " / should 
 not have said so," now responded to the truth of D. 
 B.'s present version of it, and said, I remember 
 
EXPOSITION. 41 
 
 these were D.'s expressions. Why then, asked J. 
 W., did thou jog D. at Greenwich and say, "7 
 should not have said so ?" But before this query, 
 to which J. M. made no reply, several of the com- 
 mittee had endorsed his present statement of it. 
 
 Finally, as Andrew Nichols had said nothing to 
 this disputed point, they called on him to testily in 
 regard to it : and though a diffident man, he did 
 say to David, the words which thou hast now pre- 
 fixed, were not prefixed at Greenwich, thy words 
 then were, " I acknowledge that some of the doc- 
 trines of J. J. Gurney are very unsound." And so 
 ended this part of the discussion. 
 
 After having been together near four hours, they 
 began to talk of what course should be taken, inas- 
 much as the object of their meeting had not been 
 attained. Two of the committee proposed to bum 
 the papers and drop the subject altogether; but 
 others hesitated. J. Wilbur had complained of the 
 injustice and severity of their charges thrown out 
 against him — of the aspersion of falsehood endors- 
 ed upon his letter, saying, that he had never, in 
 speaking of them, or of J. J. Gurney, made use of 
 such language. In answer to which T. A. said, 
 " I don't think that John Wilbur meant to say any 
 thing in that letter which was untrue." J. W., 
 after resuming his request to be furnished with their 
 complaint in writing, withdrew in order to remove 
 all embarrassment from their deliberations. 
 
 From this time J. W. heard nothing of the in- 
 tentions of the committee until the holding of the 
 select Quarterly Meeting at Sommerset, in the 
 11th month following, wherein his sufferings were_ 
 by no means inconsiderable in consequence of their 
 bringing the c^ise to view before that meeting ; but 
 silence was believed to be his lot and ground of 
 safety. After meeting, he was called upon to meet 
 them that afternoon at 3 o'clock ; but not feeling 
 ready in his own mind therefor ; and having other 
 
42 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 good reasons therefor, he declined an interview on 
 that day, but informed them that he vpould wait on 
 them the next day, or at any future time, as they 
 would best like. Accordingly he was notified the 
 next day, after Quarterly Meeting, to meet them on 
 the following morning at the Boarding School at 
 Providence, to which he agreed, and met them 
 there accordingly on 6th day, morning, the 6th of 
 11th month, to wit, six men and two women. And 
 a,fter a short pause R. G. rose and said, that pass- 
 ing over J. W.'s speaking of a friend travelling in 
 the ministry to his disadvantage, they would pro- 
 ceed to read such passages from his letter as were 
 not satisfactory to the committee, and so proceeded 
 to read them. To which objections J. W. now felt 
 at liberty to make some remarks and to reply some- 
 what in course ; but withal again claiming the 
 right of being put in possession of their objections 
 on paper. 
 
 With a view of sustaining their charge of false- 
 hood against his letter they had taken the ground at 
 a former interview, that their censure of him was not 
 for objecting to Jos. J. Gumey's doctrines, but for 
 speaking against J. J. Gurney himself. But, never- 
 thdess, their first and prominent charge against him 
 at the first interview, was that he had " spread long 
 lists of extracts from Jos. J. Gumey's doctrines." 
 It is true, that when at that interview, J. W. attempt- 
 ed to justify his having done so, by showing the im- 
 soundness of those doctrines, they feigned to make 
 shift, in order to avoid the exposm-e of them even 
 among themselves, to let go the complaint, which 
 they had thus emphatically preferred against him, — 
 &nd attempting to discriminate between the man and 
 his doctrines, to make their charge against him for 
 objections to the man only. Which latter charge 
 they never could, nor can they ever substantiate, 
 and consequently by this wily contrivance to shift 
 their hold, their whole fabric falls to the ground. 
 
EXPOSITION. 43 
 
 Now, at this meeting at Providence, in order to 
 bring them back to their first oharge, and the only 
 one as is believed which they can make lie against 
 him ; he enquired of R. G., who in opening the case 
 at this time, spoke " of passing over what J. W. 
 had said against a friend travelling in the minis- 
 try," as above ; J. W. enquired of them whether 
 they were now disposed to relinquish their first 
 charge against him of " spreading long lists of ex- 
 tracts from that friend's doctrines,"- to which 
 several of them responded. No, oh no. And al- 
 though J. W., at Newport, did not feel himself at 
 liberty, even to clear himself from many of their 
 accusations ; yet now such restraint was removed, 
 and his mind was free, and opened in clearness, 
 and strength was given to speak in defence of the 
 good cause, and to exculpate himself from blame 
 in so far as he had been endeavoring to guard it 
 against innovation. 
 
 And it was not long the committee pursued read- 
 ing extracts, because of their objections being so 
 fully answered, choosing rather to object to the let- 
 ter in a more summary way ; and alleged that J. 
 W. had, by that letter, " implied that the commit- 
 tee were unsound as to their religious sentiments." 
 To this he replied, " that no body of people, or in- 
 dividuals, had any occasion to fear that a charge 
 of unsoundness could be made to lie against them, 
 if they had not accused or identified themselves 
 therein by things which they had said or done — 
 that if this committee would come forward and now 
 disavow and condemn the unsound doctrines of J. 
 J. Gurney, as himself had done, there was no one 
 who would attempt to implicate them therewith : 
 and " he earnestly and affectionately entreated them 
 to do so for the clearing of themselves from all im- 
 putation." 
 
 This proposition and entreaty brought much 
 solemnity over the company, and silence prevailed 
 
44 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 until he found it right to speak further, and to tell 
 them, that they had found much fault with him in 
 relation to expressions in the letter, and that him- 
 self had susceptible feelings as well as they, and if 
 they would give him leave, he would remind them 
 of a few expressions and movements of their ovni 
 which had been afflictive to him, and then paused 
 for liberty to proceed. After standing for some 
 time, he subjoined, if friends are unwilling to be 
 thus reminded, I will take my seat ; but soon rose 
 again, and revived the saying that silence gives con- 
 sent, and then proceeded to tell them that because 
 he conscientiously hesitated to condemn his letter at 
 Newport, that they " charged him with stubbornness ; 
 and also, divers times, said " that no one could tell 
 by his letter any thing about what transpired at the 
 first interview," [making the whole document a 
 fabrication.] And further, at Portsmouth, had 
 " pronounced the premises therein taken to be false, 
 and the conclusions therefore to be false and un- 
 sound," and had inscribed this upon the letter. 
 And in the select Quarterly Meeting but a day or 
 two previous, had opened the subject in a manner 
 altogether uncalled for and unnecessary, unless it 
 was needful to reproach him in that open manner. 
 Silence again reigned, until he again proceeded, the 
 committee also required of him to hear them read 
 to him an anonymous letter, reflecting unfairly upon 
 his proceedings, and which letter or paper was 
 witlmeld from his possession. An act which he 
 thought the most extraordinary that he had ever 
 known to be practiced by those called friends. 
 
 Not the least reply was made to this exposure of 
 their injustice. 
 
 It was now very observable that the committee 
 (for the present) were somewhat softened and 
 moderated ; and consented that J. W. should be 
 furnished with their objections to his letter on pa- 
 per, or with a copy of his letter with their objec- 
 
EXPOSITION. 45 
 
 tions designated in the margin. And agreed that 
 T. A., who was not present, should, if he was wil- 
 hng, furnish him with them in the one form or the 
 other. But still before we parted, they so far re- 
 covered their former feelings, that they, or indi- 
 viduals of them, were disposed to annoy him with 
 questions, if not to entrap him, in an unprovoked 
 manner, a process, in such a case, as dishonorable 
 as it is unchristian. But the result was, that the 
 answer to every question they asked, as well as to 
 every accusation they made, tended to their own 
 disappointment. 
 
 On the 28th of 12th month following, came R. 
 G. andT. A. of the Select Quarterly Meeting Com- 
 mittee to South Kingston Monthly Meeting, and at 
 the close thereof, called together the ministers and 
 elders ; and when convened, R. G. stated to them, 
 that a misunderstanding existed between the Quar- 
 terly Meeting's Committee and John Wilbur, a mem- 
 ber of this meeting, on account of a letter which he 
 wrote to them, and which letter was very dissatis- 
 factory, and apprehended that the members of this 
 select meeting had been misinformed, and therefore 
 had not a correct knowledge of the case. That 
 they of the committee had now called the members 
 together in order to give them a right understand- 
 ing of it. To this T. A. subjoined, that the letter 
 alluded to, contained things that were untrue, and 
 again repeated it, contained things that were not 
 true. And then proposed reading extracts from 
 the said letter, for the information of the meeting. 
 But J. W. proposed the reading of the whole letter, 
 because divers of the members had never seen it, 
 and because there was a chain of connection 
 throughout, showing a relation of one part with 
 EHiother. And, however, the reading of the whole 
 letter was strongly opposed by these two commit- 
 tee men, yet the proposition for reading the whole 
 prevailed, and the letter was deliberately read. 
 
46 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 And now the committee, instead of offering their 
 extracts, and instead of going about to prove their 
 assertions of falsehood, which they had said it con- 
 tained, proposed, and as they said, in order to put 
 an end to the controversy, to destroy the letter, with 
 the copy retained' by the writer. And at the same 
 time stoutly affirmed, and repeated it again and 
 again, that the letter was altogether inapplicable to 
 what they said to him at Greenwich, that he, the 
 writer, had made his own premises and drawn his 
 own conclusions, &c. Wherefore J. W. desired 
 them to put a finger on one of his seven references 
 to their charges at ,; Greenwich, and to refute it. 
 This he pressed them earnestly several times to 
 do. But instead of doing it they boldly affirmed 
 that they never made any charge against him there, 
 that they only made some friendly enquiries of 
 him, and thus evaded an examination of the pre- 
 mises so distinctly grounded upon their own 
 charge. They had, in this meeting, made both a 
 formal and formidable complaint of something 
 which he had said or done, and he now earnestly 
 called upon them to show what it was, that thereby 
 it might be seen what it was not, alleging that in 
 the civil department, a man was never so much as 
 brought to trial for defaming others, without pro- 
 pounding the words charged upon him, and much 
 less subjected, without proving them. 
 
 But they now declined altogether an examination 
 of those items in the letter which refers to their 
 charges against him, which charges were the whole 
 occasion and ground work of the letter. 
 
 And again, inasmuch as they had inscribed upon 
 the letter this condemnatory sentence, viz : that 
 " the premises therein taken were false, and conse- 
 quently that the conclusions were false and un- 
 sound," which inscription had been read in this meet- 
 ing ; and they had also declared at the same time, 
 without reserve, that " the letter contained things 
 
KXPOSITION. 47 
 
 ■which were not true ;" he now called upon them to 
 make good those high charges. 
 
 So that, finally, alter being thus closely pressed 
 to do the thing which they at first professed to have 
 come for, they referred to the passage relating to 
 their " endeavors to put down those who honestly 
 withstand J. J. Gurney's sentiments," and said, 
 " those expressions which they understood to have 
 been applied to the committee, were untrue." 
 
 J. W. now reminded them of what one of them, 
 (R. G.) said to him whilst at Greenwich, viz : — 
 " Thou knew that the Yearly^eeting's Committee 
 were not willing that thou shdlp travel in the minis- 
 try, and therefore thou ought not to have gone to 
 Philadelphia," and subjoined, " and my advice to 
 thee is to stay at home and be quiet." To which ad- 
 vice every one of the committee then present, ex- 
 cept A. N., responded. Knowing that these were 
 their own words, they appeared to feel the weight 
 of their defeat. 
 
 It was observed by one of the members of South 
 Kingston Select Meeting, and seen by every one 
 present, that the truth of the passage referred to 
 was sustained. To this observation they of the 
 committee made no reply. And then again J. W. 
 asked them for other objections, if any they had, 
 tending to prove their charge, but without effect — 
 they wholly declined challenging any other item 
 in the whole letter, though once and again called 
 on to do so. 
 
 Hence the writer of it is fully justified in assuming 
 the ground that the letter contains no tangible evi- 
 dence which goes to sustain their high charges. 
 
 And inasmuch as the committee had pressingly 
 proposed the burning of the letter, and had given the 
 assurance that such measure would put an end to 
 the whole controversy, one or two members of the 
 meeting, seeing the utter failure of the committee, 
 and, as it may be, feeling a little for them, and great- 
 
48 NARRATION AND 
 
 ly desiring the restoration of peace among us, pro- 
 posed to John Wilbur that he consent to the con- 
 suming of the papers that related to this unhappy 
 controversy ; being also unduly credulous as to the 
 assurance given, that this measure would accom- 
 plish its termination, — ^not seeing the consequences 
 that would most likely follow it ; for should this 
 letter become extinct, and therefore could no longer 
 bear witness for itself, false charges might be 
 brought against it, in which case the writer would 
 be left in a very unpleasant predicament, on ac- 
 count of the difficulty of proving a negative without 
 a record. More^yK, another good reason why 
 the letter ought not to be burnt is,, because the 
 charge oi falsehood was written and remained upon 
 it, and because the writer of it was now charged in 
 a meeting of ministers and elders, with writing 
 things therein that are untrue. Consequently, for 
 him to consent to the destruction of the papers, un- 
 til those slanderous charges are removed and re- 
 tracted, it might, and not very unfairly, be constru- 
 ed as an acknowledgment on the part of the writer 
 that those accusations of falsehood were correct. 
 Hence he saw it much safer to preserve a correct 
 copy of the letter, and resolved to do so. 
 
 The great efforts and unhallowed means resorted 
 to heretofore by the committee, to calumniate J. 
 W., and to prevent his having an opportunity to 
 vindicate his cause, induced him to suspect their 
 integrity in a professed desire and assurance of a 
 settlement through the destruction of this letter. 
 
 And this suspicion has been since abundantly 
 confirmed by the acknowledgment of other mem- 
 bers of the Select Yearly Meeting's Committee. — 
 The one who first cited J. W. before them, having 
 said in a letter to a friend, " The burning of that 
 letter would, I conceive, have done little if any 
 thing at all, towards settling the difficulty." 
 
 On parting, he called on T. A. to take from that 
 
EXPOSITION. 49 
 
 letter his charge of falsehood, which he had placed 
 upon it, inasmuch as the writer had now been able 
 to substantiate the truth of every line of it: to 
 which T. A. answered, as being disposed to alter 
 it, if that would produce a settlement. [If that would 
 procure its destruction?] 
 
 But the writer was soon after informed by a 
 message from A. N. that the said T. A. said to him, 
 that himself placed that endorsement on J. W.'s 
 letter, therefore he had a right to take it otf ; and 
 he would take it off ; to which message J. W. made 
 this reply, that time would daflteoine, whether that 
 promise were fulfilled or i^otl^HB' 
 
 At the close ofthis interviewy J . W. asked T. A. 
 for the extracts which they at first proposed to 
 read in that meeting, but he declined giving them, 
 but handed him a copy of the letter with some pen- 
 cil marks in the margin. 
 
 At our -Select Quarterly Meeting at Providence, 
 2nd month, 3d, 1841, the committee presented a 
 report setting forth, as near as can be remembered, 
 (for J. W. has been denied a copy) that " a mem- 
 ber of this meeting having spread reports to the 
 injury of the order of society, was labored with on 
 that account by your committee, whereupon the 
 said member wrote a letter to them containing 
 things that wpre unjust" &c. 
 
 This report produced considerable expression, 
 mingled with censure and exhortation, pointedly to 
 the individual, with professions of sympathy for 
 and travail with the committee. And it was con- 
 cluded that the subject should remain with the same 
 committee. It was perceived by J. W., that the 
 committee at large, was resolved to disregard and 
 overlook the proceedings of those two of their 
 number at South Kingston, he rose, on behalf of 
 the person alluded to in that report: requested that 
 the meeting would either take up the subject itself 
 and allow that individual a fair opportunity of 
 3 
 
50 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 making his innocency appear, or otherwise instnict 
 their committee to do so ; stating that some of their 
 number had convened the select meeting, of which 
 he was a member, and there openly in the meeting 
 brought complaints against him of a more aggrava- 
 ted nature than those stated in this report, but 
 which complaints they were nof able to sustain, 
 and which failure he believed was obvious to every 
 member of that meeting, that he had been suing 
 for six months past for distinct objections to the 
 course which he had taken ; and as he thought ob- 
 tained a promisQ^J^ months before to furnish him 
 with those objeol^^f But that promise had not yet 
 been redeemed ; and referred to the trial of W. 
 Penn and W. Mead, in London, to whom a full and 
 fair hearing was promised, but which promise was 
 not fulfilled. And the court seemed disposed to 
 condemn them upon the reports abroad and the pre- 
 judice against them. By which reference J. W. 
 suggested whether the reports abroad tending to 
 produce unfavorable feelings towards the person al- 
 luded to in the report, had not influenced the mind's 
 of some of his friends against him. 
 
 The committee now seemed to be brought to a 
 stand what to say to this statement, but one or two 
 of them did say that much opportunity had been al- 
 lowed him; and referred to the time of one sitting, 
 which they said continued for five hours in discus- 
 sion of the case. But he reminded them, and in- 
 formed the meeting, that his sohcitation, through 
 that meeting were the same as now, to give him a 
 plain statement, on paper, of their ground of unea- 
 siness, and thus the subject was left. But before 
 leaving Providence, J. W. asked T. A. (the one who 
 furnished him with the copy of the letter,) whether 
 those pencil marks on the margin were intended to 
 designate their objections ? and to which he replied 
 that " he did not know." 
 
' EXPOSITION. 51 
 
 John Wilbur received from one of the same com- 
 mittee a previous notice to meet them at Greenwich 
 on the 4th of 5th month, 1841, the day before the 
 Select Quarterly Meeting there. He went accord- 
 ingly, and met with nine friends of the before-men- 
 tioned committee, and six of the standing committee 
 of the Yearly Meeting. And after a time of silence 
 one of the former said, that inasmuch as J. W. had 
 expressed^ a desire for an opportunity to make his 
 defence, the committee had now met to give him 
 that opportunity. 
 
 He now waited some time^|^heir complaint to 
 be brought forward ; but noil^Big presented, he 
 mentioned that he had been wafETng in expectation, 
 that a complaint, if any they had against him, 
 would be presented : and that nothing to that effect 
 had been given him — ^that although there were pen- 
 cil marks on the copy of his letter handed him by 
 T. A., yet T. A. said he did not know whether those 
 pencil marks covered the committee's objections or 
 not ; and that therefore he was not prepared to re- 
 spond to their complaint, having received no other 
 designation in writing of their uneasiness. But J. 
 M. said that " John Wilbur, having received that 
 marked copy from the hands of the committee, he 
 might have known that it contained their objections." 
 But as one of their own number had spoken doubtful- 
 ly ia relation to it, J. W. was not now prepared to 
 meet those objections specifically. But the commit- 
 tee decided on going into the consideration of the 
 case at this time. Whereupon he requested that 
 they would allow him the rightful privilege of one of 
 two things, viz : that .they would either give him 
 their objections in writing, and time to canvass them; 
 or that they would constitute an individual of their 
 number as their organ to speak on their behalf, inti- 
 mating that for one individual to be laid under the 
 necessity of replying to the objections and . allega- 
 tions of so many, might tend to an unreasonable em- 
 
62 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 barrassment — these requests were both denied. The 
 Quarterly Meeting's committee plead that he had 
 been furnished as above, and that their objections 
 were marked upon that copy, and that he might 
 have known that it defined their objections, &c. 
 
 It was now proposed, as he thinks, by the Yearly 
 Meeting committee, that the letter should be read, 
 and that the Quarterly Meeting's committee should 
 discuss the objectionable passages as the reading 
 went on. To this proposal J. W . objected, for the 
 reason that the Yearly Meeting's committee, (who 
 were presumed n^to have seen it,) could not in 
 that way so we^^Biprehend it as a whole. And 
 so the whole let^^was read without any interrup- 
 tion. And quite a solemnity prevailed throughout, 
 and for some time after : inasmuch that it did al- 
 most seem doubtful whether the Quarterly Meet- 
 ing's committee would make any objections, nor did 
 they do so until the Yearly Meeting's committee 
 encouraged them to bring them forward, saying 
 that it contained the insinuation that the Quarterly 
 Meeting's committee were unsound, &c. Finally 
 they attempted, but in so feeble a manner, and so 
 indefinite, that the Yearly Meeting's committee 
 proffered their help, (though brought here profess- 
 edly to judge in a case of uneasiness between the 
 Quarterly Meeting's committee and J. W.,) in point- 
 ing out a paragraph or two which they said by a 
 reasonable construction, appeared to them to bear 
 upon the doctrinal views of the Quarterly Meeting's 
 committee. 
 
 But to this J. W. said, as he had -heretofore said, 
 that it was not his intention to charge the committee 
 with unsoimdness ; and if it would give the com- 
 mittee any satisfaction he was still prepared so to 
 say, [by way of explanation] and as they had asked 
 the question, he would say, that he was as willing to 
 say it in writing as verbally, as it could not then be 
 misconstrued. 
 
BXPOSITION. 53 
 
 These committees held three meetings at this time 
 at Greenwich. And it was at the first that they 
 gave occasion to J. W. to mention the substance of 
 the interview of two of the Quarterly Meeting com- 
 mittee with the ministers and elders at South Kings- 
 ton, and he was astonished to hear them disclaim 
 having any remembrance of what he related ; and in 
 the sequel they denied it ! although proveable by 
 every member of that meeting. 
 
 During this sitting W. J. accused J. W. of setting 
 himself up against the Yearly Meetings of London 
 and New England ; and said that J. J. Gurney's cer- 
 tificate from London pronounced|y;m to he sound in 
 doctrine, and that his returning certificate from New 
 England Yearly Meeting also said that he was 
 sound in doctrine ; but on being disputed as to the 
 latter, said it was to that amount. And as to the 
 former, viz : whether his certificate of liberation 
 
 ?ronounced him sound in doctrine, the clerk of the 
 '^early Meeting, now present, was asked to inform 
 the committee of the correctness of that assertion, 
 who said he did not remember ! But thei-e was one 
 present, who did know that assertion to be without 
 foundation ; and W. J. was informed of his error in 
 both cases. 
 
 D. B. now said, (though uncalled for) " that he had 
 never read any thing in J. J. Gurney's writings, 
 which he considered unsound," (probably to redeem 
 what he had at first said against them.) And at the 
 close of the sitting, whilst many members were yet 
 present, A. S., jr., said that he believed that J. J. 
 Gurney's doctrines, when compared one with 
 another, would very nearly, if not entirely, comport 
 with the doctrines of our early friends. To which 
 - W. J. and one or two more responded, and no ob- 
 jection to either of these affirmations was express- 
 ed by any one of the committees then present.* 
 
 * Here then, we find those committees voluntarily identifying 
 themselves in the doctrines of J. J. Gurney . And J. W. thiiiks. 
 
54 NAERATIVB AND 
 
 After the close of this sitting, A. S., jr., put into 
 the hands of J. W. a sheet of paper, folded in form 
 of a letter, but not sealed, and offered it for his con- 
 sideration. J. W. enquired who the author was, but 
 did not obtain the name. He then enquired if the 
 document was to be his property ? The answer 
 was. No, I expect to have it returned to me in the 
 morning ; and by this time A. S. was retiring, and 
 so J. W. just put the paper into his outer pocket, and 
 returned it to the same person next day without un- 
 folding it, or of seeing one word of its contents, and 
 with it this information, that he had made up his 
 mind to read no roere anonymous letters, and es- 
 pecially if not to be his property, and therefore had 
 not unfolded it ; and desired to be excused. And 
 then referred to such an one read to him at Newport 
 by the committee, and further said, if any one has 
 not enough of religious concern to venture his name, 
 he may as well withhold his writing ; and moreover 
 said to A. S., that he was willing to receive a letter 
 from his hands at any time, and would pay due at- 
 tention to it. 
 
 On 4th day, morning, J. W. met again with 
 the committee, and in a recurrence to the great 
 question of doctrines, as treated of the preceding 
 evening, he told them that his fears had not diminish- 
 ed by reason of what passed yesterday ; that one of 
 the Quarterly Meeting Committee had said that he 
 had never read any thing in J. J. Gurney's writings 
 which he thought unsound. And that one of the 
 Yearly Meeting's Committees had also said, that he 
 believed, if we were to compare one thing with 
 another, that we should find J. J. Gurney's doctrines 
 to be nearly, if not entirely conformable to the doc- 
 trines of our early friends ; and that one or two more 
 
 no possible constraction can be placed, and made to hold upon any 
 part of the letter in question, implicating them, or as implying that 
 they had implicated themselres in any sentiments more unsound 
 than those oi J. J. G, 
 
EXPOSITION. 55 
 
 responded to that sentiment. But no reply to these 
 remarks is recollected to have been made. Subse- 
 quently, and after some conversation not recollected, 
 R. G. spoke at considerable length, in commendation 
 of J, J. Gurney, bestowing high encomiums and much 
 praise upon him and his services in this country. 
 Soon after, they asked J. W. if he were willing to 
 commit to writing his expressions, that he had no in- 
 tention of charging the committee with unsound- 
 ness ? to which he answered in the affirmative, in- 
 asmuch as he had quite a choice that such explana- 
 tion, if made at all, should be in writing ; and pro- 
 posed, if A. S. had a pencil, that he should sketch it 
 out, [meaning then while we were sitting.] But, 
 contrary to his expectation, the committee proposed 
 to rise, and did so. After the sitting of the select 
 Quarterly Meeting, he was requested to meet the 
 committee again next morning at 9 o'clock. 
 
 On 5th day, morning, when assembled, A. S. 
 read a paper, not only embracing the explanation 
 agreed to, but a condemnation of expressions con- 
 tained in his letter, and so shaped as J. W. thought 
 that they could apply it to any part of the letter they 
 might choose, and thereby, if they pleased, make him 
 to retract the whole letter, and the whole ground 
 which he had taken against the doctrines of J. J. 
 Gurney, as well as his objection to the proceedings 
 of the Quarterly Meeting's Committee ; hence, of 
 course, he refused to sign it, but asked them to what 
 expressions in the letter they alluded ? A. S., the 
 writer of the paper, first referred to J. W.'s saying 
 that D. B. " acknowledged that some of J. J. Gur- 
 ney's writings were very unsound," when D. B. 
 arose and denied making such expressions. But J. 
 W. now related the conversation that led to it, and 
 mentioned J. M.'s expressions of dissatisfaction with 
 it at the time, when he, J. M. repeated, to wit, " / 
 should not have said so," and then called on Andrew - 
 Nichols (who had not arrived until this morning) to 
 state his understanding of what D. B. said at the time 
 
58 NAKKATIVE AND 
 
 alluded to. And he, although backward about tes- 
 tifying, gave it verbatim as the letter stated ; and 
 immediately that subject was dropped. 
 
 A. S. then referred to the passage in the letter 
 which says, " When you say that I have spoken 
 against the doctrines of J. J. G., &c.," and said, " that 
 the committee alleged that J. W. had attributed ex- 
 pressions to them which they had not made use of," 
 a matter in which it seems that the Quarterly Meet- 
 ing Committee and J. W. are at issue. 
 
 He now plainly stated to them, that at the first 
 interview, (and previously to his proposing to read 
 extracts,) they did, and with some severity, " cen- 
 sure him for spreading extracts from the doctrines 
 of J. J. Gumey," but that on his producing those 
 extracts, and proposing to read them, for their infor- 
 mation, as to the extent of their unsoundness, there- 
 by to evince the propriety of his showing those 
 extracts ; then it was that they came round and 
 said that the unsoundness of the doctrines of J. J. 
 G. had nothing to do with (J. W.'s) defence. 
 
 But even now, (continued he) suppose we were 
 to waive this impassable ground, and mark the re- 
 straints which the select Quarterly Meeting Com- 
 mittee essayed to lay upon him at that time, and 
 enquire for what cause ? Let the answer be in 
 their own language for his having spoken against 
 J. J. Gurney. 
 
 This was effectually, and to every intent and pur- 
 pose, making him, so far as such could make him, 
 an offender, for speaking against the doctrines of J. 
 J. Gurney, and not otherwise, because it was his 
 doctrinal characteristics onltf that were implied in 
 these animadversions. 
 
 And if the committee can separate the doctrines 
 from the man, so he, as well, can separate the man 
 from his doctrines. 
 
 In the next place, A. S. spoke at some length in 
 denunciation of the course which J. W. had taken, 
 and much in the same -strain as did the Quarterly 
 
EXPOSITION. 57 
 
 Meeting's Committee, in the first place at Green- 
 wicli, affirming it to have been a breach of order, 
 &c. The speaker appeared to understand how to 
 foreclose a reply, by immediately proposing an ad- 
 journment on taking his seat, viz : to meet again 
 on first day evening, at the time of the Yearly 
 Meeting at Newport, which was agreed to. 
 
 At Newport, 1st day evening, the 13th of 6th 
 month, 1841, the committee again met; J. W. 
 being present, let them know that he had responded 
 to, or rather vindicated the passages marked on 
 their copy of his letter to the Quarterly Meeting's 
 Committee — and now desired to be furnished with 
 their objections in writing in relation to the stand 
 which he had made against the writings of J. J. G. 
 
 They now denied having said at their last meet- 
 ing, that the marked passages included the commit- 
 tee's objections, and J. M., the very man who then 
 said that " J. W. might have known that the mark- 
 ed passages, coming from the committee, did in- 
 clude their objections to the letter," now said, that 
 it was himself, unauthorized by the committee,'who 
 marked those passages, and that they did not in- 
 clude all the committee's objections to that letter, 
 and to the last assertion, to wit, that they did not in- 
 clude all their objections, several others responded. 
 
 Then, after reminding them of the promise in the 
 11th month, to furnish him with their objections, 
 and of their assumption in the 6th month, that they 
 had done so, as related to the letter, he called upon 
 the committee, most seriously to furnish him with a 
 plain account of their dissatisfaction with him on 
 paper, in a manner which could no more be chang- 
 ed, averring that the allegations and complaints 
 against him had been several times changed ! But 
 they said he knew enough already of their dissatis- 
 faction, and utterly refused to give him a written 
 recital of their uneasiness. 
 
 Howbeit, he told them, that such was not only his 
 3* 
 
58 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 right, but altogether reasonable, [they had onee 
 promised to give him their objections on paper, and 
 essayed to do it ; and afterwards did not know as 
 they had, and subsequently assured him that they 
 had, and now again they assure him that they have 
 not!!] 
 
 Wherefore he now told them that if they persist- 
 ed in a refusal, there would be no use in his meet- 
 ing them any more. 
 
 Much, however, was said by this commit- 
 tee,* (which now amounted to about thirty per- 
 sons together, at this time,) and endeavors were 
 not wanting to place him in a fearful and alarm- 
 ing position. And they ultimately resorted in 
 turn to persuasion, exhortation and denunciation, 
 in order to obtain concessions from him. And 
 at one time, repeatedly said, that it was but a 
 little they would require of him to say. And at 
 another time, proclaimed him to be in a dangerous 
 position ; and again they told him, that he was in a 
 dark, hard state of mind ! And after laboring in 
 this way for some time, they concluded that a small- 
 er number would be better, to labor in a more pri- 
 vate way, and so appointed about half a dozen out 
 of the number for the purpose, and adjourned till 3rd 
 day, evening. This sub-committee requested him 
 to meet them next morning at 7 o'clock, which he 
 did. But during the recess, and on much delibera- 
 tion, he became more and more confirmed in the 
 belief, that he could not safely, in any manner what- 
 ever, retract the course which he had taken. In 
 which conclusion he had the unity as well as the 
 sympathy of his friends. 
 
 When this sub-committee met, he told them that 
 he had but very little to say, that his mind had been 
 
 * The Select Qaarterly Meeting's Committee had now, as they 
 said, resigned their authority to the Yearly Meeting's Committee, 
 of which they were all members save two, and by this manoeuvre 
 Andrew Nichols was excluded. 
 
EXPOSITION. 59 
 
 deliberately made up, that he could make no con- 
 cessions, and therefore was disposed to withdraw ; 
 that the committee could take such course as they 
 thought proper. But they seemed very unwilling 
 he should go out, and proposed that he read his de- 
 fence to such objections as he had already received 
 from the committee, but he said there would be no 
 use in answering to a part of an indictment, before 
 it was finished, or the whole brought into court, 
 which they could not gainsay, but seemed inclined 
 to administer more exhortation, and to show him 
 the danger of his condition ; and so he staid until 
 he supposed all had done. They were quite impor^ 
 tunate, however, that he would meet the full com- 
 mittee the next evening, but he gave them no en- 
 couragement of doing so, and did not meet them. 
 
 At the close of the Yearly Meeting he was in- 
 vited into the committee room, where he met with 
 three or four of the committee, and where the ques- 
 tion, whether he would take the advice of his 
 friends, was urged by one of them, which was only 
 answered by asking him, whether he was prepared 
 to give advice? Intimating that it would be time 
 enough for them to ascertain that fact when their 
 advice was given. 
 
 Some allusion, he thinks, was made by them 
 at this time, to the passage in his letter whifih 
 stated that one of them had demurred to the doc- 
 trines of J. J. Gurney, affirming, that although he 
 had proved it by one witness, that they, the commit- 
 tee, could disprove it by half a dozen witnesses. 
 And to which J. W. replied, that a negative cannot 
 be proved, not even by any number of witnesses, 
 when by one credible individual the thing had been 
 proved by an affirmative. But one of them, S. 
 T., jr., said that he was a greater lawyer than J. 
 W., and that a negative can be proved, but did not 
 tell how. [Howbeit, in this case, the negative 
 could only be proved by an affirmative witness, 
 
60 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 testifying that D. B., instead of being with the com- 
 mittee at the time, was at some other place.} 
 
 These few now importuned most earnestly that 
 J. W. would make at least some little concession, 
 and asked him if he would not say this, viz : "If I 
 have done wrong, I am sorry for it." To which 
 he replied, this is by no means a proper way [for a 
 transgressor] to make satisfaction. They finally 
 asked him if he would not meet the whole commit- 
 tee next morning, and pressed him to do so, but he 
 did not promise, telling them he should take the ad- 
 vice of his friends. 
 
 Sixth day morning, agreeable to the counsel of 
 his friends, he again met the Yearly Meeting's 
 Committee, and was there again pressed to make 
 them satisfaction by acknowledgment, and R. G. 
 undertook to give a history of the ease, but stated 
 it in the most aggravated point of view, omitting 
 the circumstances militating against the committee, 
 and in favor of J. W. However, as the latter had 
 before concluded to make no defence before the 
 committee, until they had allowed him the just right 
 of having a plain account, in writing, of all their 
 charges against him ; he told them, that however 
 unjust and aggravated that statement was, he should 
 make no formal defence. Subsequently, his letter 
 ^jjAgjCommittee was read, and when accomplished, 
 ref^noe was made by them to the denial therein 
 contained, of the right or authority of that commit- 
 tee to reprehend him in the form and manner they 
 had done. He now called for a copy of the minute 
 of the appointment of the Select Quarterly Meet- 
 ing's Committee, but it was not produced ; and then 
 stated that he had applied to the clerk of the meet- 
 ing which appointed them, for a copy of that minute, 
 but he refused to give it. And so they were plead- 
 ing for assumed powers while they refused to pro- 
 duce evidepce of having such powers. He then re- 
 lated the purport of the minute of their appointment. 
 
EXPOSITION. 61 
 
 substantially as it was, which "they had no right to 
 gainsay, as the only evidence was in their hands, 
 and that a matter of record, which only could be 
 admitted to prove their authority. 
 
 He stated to them a supposed case where defec- 
 tive accounts should be sent from one of the Quar- 
 ters to the Yearly Meeting, and a committee ap- 
 pointed on that account, and asked whether such 
 committee would have a right, under that appoint- 
 ment, to go all over the Yearly Meeting in the exer- 
 cise of the authority thus conferred upon it. To 
 this they made no reply, and it was deemed by J. 
 W. as conclusive against them. 
 
 They now professed, and that, as he thought, most 
 dishonorably, to have in their possession, other com- 
 plaints against him, of which they had not yet told 
 him. He then desired, that if they had other charges 
 against him, they would be so good as to bring 
 them forward, as well as those of which they pro- 
 fessed that he had sufficient knowledge, so that he 
 might have a plain list of the whole. To which 
 one of them replied, that they had many others ! 
 [He supposed that they made this pretension to 
 having more charges in store, for the purpose of 
 alarming him, and to induce him to yield to their 
 demands.] But no encouragement was given of 
 letting him know what they were, nor yet of mak- 
 ing tangible on paper any thing of the kind what- 
 ever. In answer to their frequent demands for 
 concessions, he replied, now near the close, that 
 there were many friends, and probably in all 
 parts of the society, who were nearly united in 
 making a stand against the unsound doctrines 
 spread abroad among us, and that with them, and 
 in the same cause, he had taken a pretty prominent 
 part ; therefore, if he should now condemn his hav- 
 ing withstood those doctrines, he would inflict a 
 wound upon the good cause, and upon the feelings of 
 his friends, as well as upon his own conscience. To 
 
62 NAERATIVE AND 
 
 this one replied, that those alluded to in other parts 
 of the society, were as Ukely to be mistaken as was 
 John Wilbur. To which he saw fit to make no re- 
 ply. This remark, however, was an assent that the 
 question should rest upon the ground of doctrines. 
 
 This committee, as it appears, were desirous that 
 he should say something that they could call a con- 
 demnation of errors which he had committed, and then 
 to liberate him by their pardon, and in that way to 
 cast a stigma upon him, and on the cause which he 
 had supported ; and which would go to strengthen 
 the doctrines which he had reprobated. This he 
 could no more agree to, than G. Fox and others 
 could agree to be released from prison, under the 
 sentence of a premunire, by ai. pardon from the king, 
 the acceptance of which would have implied a con- 
 fession of guilt. George Fox therefore declared, 
 that he would rather have lain in jail all his days, 
 than to act in any way dishonorable to the truth, 
 or as implying transgression on his part. 
 
 Considerable more passed in the course of these 
 discussions, that was not essential to the merits of 
 the controversy, and is therefore omitted. 
 
 At our Select Quarterly Meeting in the 11th 
 month following, and in the forepart thereof, divers 
 pointed declarations were thrown out, evidently 
 aimed at J. W., which passed without remark ; but 
 near the close of the business part of that meeting, 
 one of its committee fell to censuring South Kings- 
 ton select meeting, for sending up to that meeting, 
 as representative, one who was under the care of 
 a committee of that meeting. And now, although 
 J. W. had let pass, ^without remark, those pointed 
 declarations which were aimed at him, (he hayfcftg 
 a right to do so) yet when the proceedings of tliat 
 meeting from which he was there as a representa- 
 tive, were condemned, he felt it his duty to come 
 forward in vindica,tion of its rights ; and he inform- 
 ed the meeting that the friends of South Kingston 
 
EXPOSITION. • 63 
 
 meeting believed that this Meeting's Committee, not 
 being appointed for that purpose, had interfered 
 with, and had invaded the rights which the Yearly 
 Meeting had confided to it, and to all others within 
 its limits, of that description, and that in a manner 
 unauthorized by Discipline, and that this interfer- 
 ence was therefore gratuitous. And further said, 
 that superior meetings and their committees were 
 bound to move through the regular and defined 
 channels of the same discipline which was to govern 
 those of an inferior order as well as individuals. 
 To which no one responded, for the meeting im- 
 mediately rose. 
 
 One of the pointed communications above alluded 
 to, was delivered by T. A., in which he referred to 
 the passage, "When thou bring thy gift to the altar, 
 and there find that thy brother hath ought against 
 thee, leave there thy gift and go and first be recon- 
 ciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy 
 gift." This was evidently said with a design to 
 make it appear that J. W. had no right to be exer- 
 cised in the ministry until he had become reconcil- 
 ed to the committee. A suggestion which came, as 
 it was thought, with no very good grace, from one 
 of a committee, who had strenuously defended J. J. 
 Gurney and his ministry, a man whose mission and 
 ministerial service, in a proposed and extensive 
 visit abroad, was objected to by a number nearly 
 equal to those who united with it, in his ovpfi select 
 Yearly Meeting, and he desired to forbear going on 
 the proposed service, until he were reconciled to 
 his friends by a suspension of his lecturing, and a 
 correction of his writings : an objection founded 
 upon the palpable unsoundness of his views, and 
 consequently it was of immense importance that 
 those views should be retracted previous to his libe- 
 ration for such a mission, and upon which the pas- 
 sage before us has a most direct and strong bear- 
 ing. 
 
64 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 And evidence is not wanting to prove, that the 
 ■want of reconciUation between J. W. and the com- 
 mittee originated in the fact, that he, (like those 
 who objected in J. J. Gurney's own Yearly Meet- 
 ing,) was not satisfied with his travelling as a minis- 
 ter, until he retracted his offensive doctrines. 
 
 Under existing circumstances, if sound ministers 
 were bound to conform to the wishes of the defend- 
 ers of J. J. Gurney, by suspending their gospel ser- 
 vices, it results in a concession of truth to error. Has 
 therefore a conformity to their desires and injunc- 
 tions, in the nature of things, any greater claim upon 
 the true messengers than had the command to 
 Amos the Prophet by Zedekiah, or to Peter and 
 John by the Chief Priests and Pharisees ; or to our 
 early Friends by their opposers ; hovvever clothed 
 all of these were with constituted authority ? 
 
 When order, law or discipline, however good in 
 their primitive institution, whilst in the hands of 
 good men, are perverted and turned into instru- 
 ments of oppression, and made to suppress the gift 
 of God, in bearing testimony to the truth ; the con- 
 sideration laecomes of serious and deep import. 
 ^ Was it wrong ^r Amos to disregard the authori- 
 ty of the king's court ? Was it wrong for Peter and 
 John to forego the constituted authority of the Jew- 
 ish church, when by that authority they were for- 
 bidden to preach Christ ? Was it wrong for our 
 early friends to disobey the injunction of the eccle- 
 siastical and civil authorities of their day, in 
 preaching the true gospel of Christ ? No, — because 
 the authorities under which they acted, were per- 
 verted and made the engine of an unhallowed pur- 
 pose — were exercised for the purpose of restraining 
 religious duty. 
 
 In the cases alluded to, the very intention of re- 
 straining the right, was to make way for the estab- 
 lishment and perpetuation of the wrong ! 
 
EXPOSITION. 65 
 
 But the intentions of God, in moving his servants 
 to preach the truth, was the reverse of theirs, — was 
 for the purpose of exposing and eradicating the 
 wrong,' and estabhshing the right. It was so, as we 
 have seen, both under the Jewish and Christian 
 dispensations, — that the reformers under the latter, 
 whether earher or later, though marked as offend- 
 ers, could not hold their peace — though forbidden 
 by those in authority, could not flinch from their 
 religious duty, from testifying against the evil, or . 
 for the advancement of that which was good. 
 
 Under the best of church government that has 
 ever been instituted, when it is abused, and a party 
 of unsound leaders have grasped the reins of that 
 government, and in violation of its discipline, at- 
 tempt to silence the honest supporters of it, as well 
 as its doctrines, shall these, or ought these to hold 
 their peace when their faithful labors, under the 
 guidance of best Wisdom, are the means appointed 
 for sustaining her doctrines, discipline and testimo- 
 nies ? But it is no marvel that a party, designing an 
 innovation upon the doctrines of a religious society, 
 should be disposed to silence and to put down all 
 who make a stand against them. 
 
 Another of the committee, (J. M.,) made an effort 
 in that meeting to put J. W. in the place of the old 
 prophet who deceived and misled the prophet of the 
 Lord — he that was sent to declare against Jero- 
 boam's idolatry and his altar at Bethel. 
 
 But J. M. found some difficulty in making his 
 parable to bear on any one point of that scripture 
 account. Whereas, if J. J. G. and his apostacy 
 from the doctrines and testimonies of our Israel, 
 were compared to Jeroboam and his departure, 
 and those who feel themselves bound to testify 
 against him and his views with the prophet of the 
 Lord, the parable would bear on most, if not oa 
 every point. 
 
66 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 And again, if those who have resorted to so 
 many unhallowed efforts to turn the conscientious 
 aside from truth's direction, were compared to the 
 old man, who professed to be a prophet, and who 
 probably had been a true prophet, the comparison 
 would apply in a most striking manner in almost 
 every point. Jeroboam had in many respects de- 
 parted from the doctrines and testimonies of the 
 Lord's people, and so has J. J. G. A servant of 
 the Lord testified against Jeroboam and his altar, 
 and so J. W. and many others have testified against 
 J. J. G. and his altar. 
 
 The Lord commanded his servant formally not 
 to turn aside from his direction to eat or drink in 
 that place, — that is, not with Jeroboam, nor with 
 his priests nor prophets. And so the Lord has in- 
 structed these in the same sense not to turn aside 
 from his purpose by a compromise, likened to eat- 
 ing or drinking with the prophets of J. J. Gurney. 
 And it is very likely, that if J. W. had been pre- 
 vailed upon to turn aside from the course prescribed, 
 that the devourer would have had power over him. 
 And there is much reason to fear, that many are in 
 danger of losing the precious life, by being prevail- 
 ed upon to abandon the word of the Lord, and to 
 believe that J. J. G., and thdse who advocate him, 
 are the prophets of the Lord, and to listen to their 
 testimony. 
 
 On the 13th of 1st month, 1842, two of the com- 
 mittee, as noticed in the complaint, did come to the 
 house of J. W., under the profession, as repeatedly 
 avowed by one of them, that they came upon their 
 own individual concern, but it afterwards appeared 
 by information from another of the committee, that 
 they came by direction and as a deputation from the 
 committee. Their object and labor apparently was, 
 to obtain from him a condemnation of the course he 
 had taken as before pressed by the committee. 
 
EXPOSITION. 67 
 
 But it is due to them to say, that they did allow 
 him pretty fully to vindicate his cause -^ which was 
 done in a manner that they were not prepared to 
 gainsay ; but one of them, though unable to point 
 out error in his proceedings, said, " that as the com- 
 mittee called for something fromhim, his confidence 
 was such in the committee, it was his opinion that 
 something was due from J. W. to them." 
 
 During the interview, J. W. asked them if they 
 believed J. J. Gurney to be a soimd Friend ? and 
 was answered, by one of them, unhesitatingly, in the 
 affirmative. 
 
 In the 4th month, 1842, fifteen in number of the 
 Yearly Meeting's Committee attended South Kings- 
 ton Monthly Meeting, and brought a voluminous 
 complaint against him, without any previous notice, 
 and literally made good their assertions eight or ten 
 months before, viz: that they had many things 
 against him, of which they had not yet told him. 
 So they did indeed, couch divers charges in this 
 complaint which they had never before brought 
 against him as such. 
 
 This attempt by force of numbers, as it appeared, 
 to compel the Monthly Meeting to take immediate 
 measures, contrary to the usual course of business, 
 by overseers, and through a preparative meeting, 
 produced a want of confidence, both in the Monthly 
 Meeting and in the preparative meeting and over- 
 seers: and raised the question in many minds. 
 What can be the merits of a complaint which they 
 dare not venture with the overseers and preparative 
 meeting, nor even with the Monthly Meeting, with- 
 out so great a number to enforce it ? Not that the 
 Monthly Meeting was unwilling to recognize it, 
 through the usual channel prescribed by discipline 
 and the order of society. Nor was J. W. unwilling 
 that this case should be submitted to South Kings- 
 ton Monthly Meeting for decision in a regular 
 manner according to discipline. 
 
68 NAERATIVE AND 
 
 The following account of proceedings relative to 
 the case is compiled from minutes thereof kept by 
 members of South Kingston Monthly Meeting. 
 
 In the 4th month, 1842, a large number of the Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee, attended South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting, and brought a complaint in 
 writing against John Wilbur, a member of that 
 meeting ; which is as follows : 
 
 " To South Kingston Monthly Meeting of Friends : 
 
 We, the Committee appointed by the Yearly Aleet- 
 ing to extend a general care on its behalf, for the 
 maintenance of our Christian principles and testimo- 
 nies, and the preservation of love and unity among our 
 members ; and in the ability that may be afforded us 
 to assist and advise such meetings and members, 
 as circumstancos may require, and way open for, 
 under the direction of best "Wisdom ; having had our 
 minds introduced into deep concern and exercise on 
 account of the course pursued for some time past, by 
 John Wilbur, a member of South Kingston Monthly 
 Meeting, in the station of a minister ; believe the time 
 has now come, for us to state some of the particulars, 
 wherein he has departed from the good order of our 
 religious society, in the disregard of our Christian dis- 
 cipline. 
 
 He has circulated an anonymous pamphlet, which 
 impeaches the character of our Society, and in which, 
 some of its important doctrines, as exemplified in the 
 religious engagements of some of its faithful ministers, 
 are reproachfully held up to view ; and puiports to 
 contain the proceedings of London Yearly Meeting of 
 Ministers and Elders, with the sentiments of divers 
 Friends therein named, when the subject of liberating 
 a minister to visit this country was before that meeting. 
 The object of which together with sundry letters which 
 he has circulated, appears to be to induce the belief 
 that the concern did not receive the unity of the meet- 
 ing, and that the clerk did not act in conformity with 
 
EXPOSITION. 69 
 
 the true sense and judgment of the meeting in signing 
 the certificate, thus endeavoring to invalidate both the 
 proceedings and conclusion of a meeting, in unity vyith 
 this Yearly Meeting, and wrhose certificate on behalf 
 of the same friend viras received and united with, as 
 entered on our records. And while the friend was in 
 this country, and engaged in the discharge of his 
 apprehended religious duty, with full certificates of 
 unity from the Monthly and Quarterly Meetings of 
 which he is a member, and the Yearly Meeting of 
 Ministers and Elders of London, and which were duly 
 presented, received, and accredited, in all the Yearly 
 Meetings in this country except one, which he did not 
 attend. And thus was he at liberty for religious ser- 
 vice within their limits in the full and acknowledged 
 character of an approved and authenticated minister 
 of the society of Friends ; — John Wilbur, for the want, 
 as we believe, of an humble abiding in the truth, has 
 circulated divers letters, one or more of which appear 
 to have been written in England, and others origina- 
 ting with himself, addressed to different Friends in 
 this country, which were intended to show that the 
 minister thus liberated to religious service was not in 
 unity with his friends at home, contrary to the long 
 established order of our religious society, and designed 
 to close his way in the minds of Friends. And we 
 also believe, that for the want of maintaining his in- 
 tegrity in that dependence upon the Holy Spirit, which 
 would have preserved him in unity with Friends, he 
 has indulged in a spirit of detraction, in speaking and 
 writing, by which the religious character of divers 
 Friends in our own and other Yearly Meetings has 
 been much misrepresented. 
 
 Many friends were introduced into deep concern on 
 his account, and several of them treated with him in 
 tenderness and love in relation to it, but without pro- 
 ducing any apparent change in his mind, and there 
 having been a committee appointed by Rhode Island 
 Quarterly Meeting of Ministers and Elders, in the fifth 
 month, 1840, of which body he was a member, on ac- 
 
70 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 count of existing deficiencies as manifest from the 
 answers to the queries, and under a concern for the 
 cause of truth ; and they having been made acquainted 
 with John Wilbui's course as last above stated, and he 
 having made divers assertions tending to induce dissat- 
 isfaction among Friends, and with the proceedings of 
 our Yearly Meeting in various particulars, and calcu- 
 lated to produce division therein, and also to disturb 
 the unity of different Yearly Meetings, and to alienate 
 the feelings of their members from each other, sought 
 an opportunity with him, in which they endeavored to 
 show him the effects of his proceedings both upon him- 
 self and others ; but he so far from receiving these 
 labors of love in the spirit in which they were admin- 
 istered, soon after wrote a letter to one of the com- 
 mittee, in which he made unjust insinuations, and pre- 
 ferred charges against them which they deny in point 
 of fact. 
 
 They, nevertheless, continued their care and labor, 
 but his mind appearing closed against their advice in 
 the 5lh month, 1841 ; we, at their request, believed 
 it to be our duty to extend care in his case ; and it is 
 with deep regret and sorrow we have observed the 
 effect his course of conduct has produced, in lessening 
 that regard for the wholesome restraints of the disci- 
 pline, and for the labor of faithful Friends, for the 
 preservation of that good, order, love, and unity, 
 which are essential to the peace and welfare of the 
 body. 
 
 We have had repeated opportunities with him in 
 which we have labored to convince him of his errors, 
 but this desirable object not having been accomplish- 
 ed, and after waiting several months to afford him op- 
 portunity to make satisfaction for his deviation, and 
 two of the committee having unavailingly visited him 
 on this account at his own house, and there not appear- 
 ing that change in his mind, which is necessary to his 
 being restored to the unity of Friends, we now believe 
 it incumbent upon us in discharge of the service corP" 
 fided to us by the Yearly Meeting, to recommend his 
 
EXPOSITION. 71 
 
 case to the immediate notice and care of South Kings- 
 ton Monthly Meeting. 
 
 Providence, ith Mo. 23, 1842. 
 (Signed,) 
 
 Rowland Greene, Allen Wing, 
 
 John Osborne, Perez Peck, 
 
 Caleb Nichols, David Buffum, 
 
 Daniel Taber, John Meader, 
 
 Edward Wing, William Jenkins, 
 
 Thomas Anthony, Mary Wing, 
 
 Elizabeth Meader, Olive Wing, 
 
 Mary B. Allen. 
 
 After the reading of the Gomplaint, the Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee proposed that the meeting 
 should take action upon it, by appointing a commit- 
 tee on the case at that time. 
 
 The Friend complained of, and others, took the 
 ground that the complaint should come to the 
 Monthly Meeting through the overseers and Pre- 
 parative Meeting — agreeably to our uniform prac- 
 tice, — but the committee said, their authority from 
 the Yearly Meeting was such as to obviate the ne- 
 cessity of such preUminary proceedings — and when, 
 it was proposed that the case should be referred for 
 a month on the ground that the Monthly Meeting 
 was hardly in a situation to act in so important a 
 matter on account of the small number present,* 
 the Yearly Meeting's Committee insisted upon im- 
 mediate proceedings — saying an addition could be 
 made at a future time to the committee now ap- 
 pointed, if the meeting desired it ; and threatMied, 
 if the Monthly Meeting did not^ comply with their 
 advice, to carry a complaint against it to the Quar- 
 terly Meeting. 
 
 * The meeting was at this time held at the most remote place 
 from the greater number of Friends — and the day was wet, and 
 consequently a smaller number than usual were present. 
 
72 NAEKATIVE AND 
 
 After an expression by the meeting, in which the 
 greater number objected to the proposed inimediate 
 action ; the clerk proposed to refer the decision of 
 the question to the Yearly Meeting's Committee, 
 who had been urging it upon the meeting. 
 
 They recommended the clerk to decide ; wfiich 
 he then did in favor of their views. 
 
 The members of South Kingston Monthly 
 Meeting generally knew very little of the merits of 
 this case before it was brought to them by the 
 Yearly Meeting's Committee ; but the unusual so- 
 licitude and determination manifested by that com- 
 mittee in regard to it, and their apparent control 
 over the clerk, induced many to believe that if a 
 fair and impartial investigation of the case was had, 
 it was important to have an independent and im- 
 partial clerk appointed, and accordingly, at the 
 Monthly Meeting in the 5th month, the time for 
 which the clerk was appointed having expired, a 
 new clerk was chosen, having the unity of more 
 than three-fourths of those who expressed them- 
 selves ; and those who opposed the appointment 
 did it on the ground of postponing the action of the 
 meeting, and not from any expressed objection to 
 ''the person appointed. The former clerk having 
 left the table, the one newly appointed was request- 
 ed to take his seat, but before doing so, he proposed 
 for the former clerk to make a minute of the ap- 
 pointment, but the former clerk said it was not cus- 
 tomary. The new clerk then went to the table, 
 and the business of the meeting proceeded ; the 
 former clerk and those who had advocated the 
 postponement of the appointment of the clerk, par- 
 ticipated therein. At this time one of the commit- 
 tee in the case of J. Wilbui* proposed that an addi- 
 tion be made to that committee, the case being, as 
 he said, a very iniportant one, and the meeting, 
 when they were appointed, small. An addition of 
 five Friends was then made to the committee. 
 
EXPOSITION. 73 
 
 At the Monthly Meeting in the 6th month, several 
 of the Yearly Meeting's Committee attended, and 
 proposed that the new clerk should resign, and that 
 the meeting should re-appoint the former one ; giv- 
 ing it as their opinion that this course would tend to 
 restore unity and harmony in the meeting, which 
 they professed to be the object of their visit. The 
 committee said, their reason for this advice was, 
 that they had heard that the appointment of the 
 clerk was made in a disorderly manner, and that it 
 was planned out of meeting ; b ut they were unable 
 to sustain these charges when called upon to do so. 
 A large part of the meeting expressed their satisfac- 
 tion with the appointment of the new clerk — making 
 it evident"that the change proposed would not tend 
 to unite the meeting; and the subject was passed 
 from without making the change. 
 
 A committee being appointed at this time to 
 transfer the books and papers of the Monthly Meet- 
 ing from the former to the present clerk, the Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee stated* that they had advised 
 the former clerk to retain them ; and gave as a 
 reason, that they had cause to apprehend that a 
 separation was contemplated by South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting. This was disclaimed by the 
 Monthly Meeting, and no evidence of it was ad- 
 duced by the committee. 
 
 In the 7th month the committee in the case of 
 John Wilbur met for the investigation of that case, 
 and six of the Yearly Meeting's Committee attended. 
 Before the examination of the case was commenc- 
 ed, J. W. desired to have one or two of his friends 
 to sit with him and assist him ; and after some dis- 
 cussion, in which the Yearly Meeting's Committee 
 made objection to his having this privilege — the re- 
 spective parties withdrew, submitting the matter to 
 the Monthly Meeting's Committee, who unanimous- 
 ly decided to allow J. "W. the assistance of two of 
 his friends. Upon their return, th&Yearly Meeting's 
 4 
 
74 NAEEATIVE AND 
 
 Committee still objected, and again retired a short 
 time for consultation among themselves. On again 
 coming in, they took decided ground that the decis- 
 ion of the Monthly Meeting's Committee must be 
 reversed or they should not proceed with the open- 
 ing of the case, but should leave. The Monthly 
 Meeting's Committee, on being again appealed to, 
 declined to take from J. W. the privilege they had 
 granted, without he shoulii consent thereto. J. W. 
 subsequently did consent to proceed without the 
 help of his friends, as from the determination of the 
 Yearly Meeting's Committee, no other way appear- 
 ed to go forward with the case, with said commit- 
 tee present, which was to him desirable. During 
 the discussion of this question of allowing him as- 
 sistance, which occupied the whole of the first day, 
 the Yearly Meeting's Committee claimed that it 
 was their province, after representing the case on 
 their part, to join the Monthly Meeting's Committee 
 in judging the same ; a position which the Monthly 
 Meeting's Committee were not ready to allow. The 
 Yearly Meeting's Committee also during the same 
 discussion, denied that they were complainants in 
 this case — and when, the next morning, they were 
 asked by J. W. whether they still persisted in this 
 denial, notwithstanding their names were attached 
 to the complaint ; they made no reply. In the early 
 part of the trial, the Yearly Meeting's Committee 
 introduced the pamphlet alluded to in the complaint, 
 and which, J. W. was therein charged with circulat- 
 ing. He requested the pamphlet might be read, but 
 this the Yearly Meeting's Committee opposed, pro- 
 posing to read only certain extracts which they had 
 selected from it ; and said if it was read at length, 
 they should leave ; they opposed it strongly, saying 
 it would make them accessory to the further circu- 
 lation of an improper book, and responsible for it, 
 if read before the Monthly Meeting's Committee, but 
 subsequently said they were willing the committee 
 
EXPOSITION. 75 
 
 should have the pamphlet for examination ! The 
 Monthly Meeting's Committee, however, decided to 
 have it read, and it was read accordingly. The evi- 
 dence of the Yearly Meeting's Committee in support 
 of charges in the complaint being gone through with, 
 J. W. proposed in his defence to go into the exami- 
 nation of certain fundamental doctrines of the So- 
 ciety as held by the early Friends, and also of cer- 
 tain other doctrines promulgated by Joseph John 
 Gurney, as those of the Society, because it was on 
 account of his objection to the latter, that he was 
 complained of This was objected to by the Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee. 
 
 In support of his right to do so, J. W. refered to 
 the Discipline, p. 74, which is as follows : 
 
 " The importance of steadfastly maintaining our 
 ancient principles, respecting the doctrines of the Gos- 
 pel, coming renewedly under our consideration, wo 
 earnestly recommend and enjoin upon Quarterly" and 
 Monthly Meetings, and upon all faithful Friends, to be 
 watchful over our members, as it regards the profes- 
 sion of their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, both as to 
 his outward coming in the flesh, wherein he tasted 
 death for every man, and was the propitiatory sacrifice 
 for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins 
 of the whole world, suffering the just for the unjust, 
 that we might be brought unto God through Him ; — 
 and to his spiritual appearance in the heart, for, " unto 
 them that look ibr him, shall he appear the second 
 time, without sin, unto salvation." And if in any 
 instance there should be manifested any deviation from 
 our Christian principles in these respects, that they 
 proceed to labor with such in the spirit of meekness 
 and wisdom, endeavoring to bring them to a sense 
 of their departure from our acknowledged princi- 
 ples, that if possible they may be restored to sound- 
 ness of faith. And if there should be any who should 
 persist in their errors, notwithstanding such labor in 
 brotherly love, that our testimony be maintained by 
 testifying against such." 
 
70 NAKRATIVE AND 
 
 The Yearly Meeting's Committee took the 
 ground that the Monthly Meeting's Committee had 
 no right to set themselves up as judges of doctrine, 
 and that only two bodies are in any case authorized 
 to judge of doctrines, to wit, the Yearly Meeting 
 and the Meeting for Sufferings ; that if they enter- 
 ed into doctrines they would assume authority to de- 
 cide that the great body of the Yearly Meeting are 
 unsound, taking into view the great unanimity of it, 
 in granting Joseph John Gurney a returning certifi- 
 cate. 
 
 The Yearly Meeting's Committee asked a decision 
 of this question, and after taking time for delibera- 
 tion the committee of the Monthly Meeting gave 
 the following written decision : 
 
 " Inasmuch as the complaint against John Wilbur, 
 charges him with circulating an anonymous pamphlet, 
 in which some of the important doctrines of our religious 
 society are reproachfully held up to view ; and inas- 
 much as the merits of that matter have been fully gone 
 into, on the part of the Yeaily Meeting's Committee : 
 and further, as it appears to us, that the merits of this 
 essentially depends upon the doctrines which have 
 been called in question by John Wilbur ; we have 
 concluded to allow him to proceed with his defence, 
 introducing such evidence and documents on these 
 subjects, as shall appear essentially to relate to the 
 same." 
 
 And, subsequently, the committee gave the fol- 
 lowing reasons for their decisions, namely : 
 
 " That they came to this conclusion on the ground 
 that John Wilbur had been charged with circulating 
 information, both in writing and print, calculated and 
 intended to close the way of a Friend, from England, 
 travelling among us as an approved and accredited 
 minister, — as well as certain other offences against the 
 discipline and order of society ; — and he pleads in de- 
 
EXPOSITION. 77 
 
 jfence, that what he has done has been in the faithful 
 discharge of his apprehended religious duty, in guard 
 ing the Society against the introduction of unsound 
 and pernicious doctrines, subversive of Quakerism, 
 which doctrines he maintained were held and promul- 
 gated by the individual alluded to. Now, since our 
 Christian discipline enjoins upon all faithful friends to 
 be watchful against such doctrines, and to testify 
 against them j it appears to us, that no less could be 
 done, than to allow the person so charged, to show, if 
 he can, that he has been acting in conformity with 
 the Discipline in such cases. 
 
 In answer to the assumption of the Yearly Meeting's 
 Committee, that we have no right to judge of doctrines ; 
 and that the only bodies authorized to do so, are the 
 Yearly Meeting, and the Meeting for Sufferings ; we 
 would observe, that Monthly Meetings and Commit- 
 tees appointed by them, are required to judge of doc- 
 trines in many cases ; as on receiving members, whether 
 they embrace our principles, and sometimes in disown- 
 ing members for an abandonment of them. And it 
 will be seen that the discipline above alluded to, would 
 involve an absurdity if this was not the case, for therein 
 all faithful friends are enjoined to be watchful against 
 the manifestation of unsound doctrines among our 
 members. 
 
 We acknowledge, that the Yearly Meeting has very 
 properly constituted its Meeting for Sufferings, the 
 body to judge of the soundness of doctrines proposed 
 to be published as those of the Society ; and whose 
 especial duty it is to guard against every inroad of 
 error among us ; — but this does not, and cannot debar 
 subordinate meetings and their members, from the right 
 and duty of judging for themselves in so vital a matter 
 as the doctrines they embrace ; and bearing their tes- 
 timony against manifest unsoundness, in whomsoever it 
 may appear. And, so far as our meetings and mem- 
 bers are guided by the Spirit of Truth, which leads 
 into all truth, so far there will be an unity of sentiment 
 among them, and all, as we believe, in full accordance 
 with those doctrines and principles so clearly and fully 
 
78 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 testified of, in the early days of the Society by George 
 Fox, and the; primitive Friends." 
 
 The Yearly Meeting's Committee being informed 
 of the decision of the committee of the Monthly 
 Meeting on this question, immediately withdrew, 
 taking with them all the papers and documents 
 which they had introduced to sustain their charges. 
 The Monthly Meeting's Committee continued their 
 sittings to the conclusion of the investigation. 
 
 At the monthly meeting in the seventh month a 
 number of the Yearly Meeting's Committee attend- 
 ed. The committee appointed to transfer thebooks 
 and papers, reported that they were unabled to ob- 
 tain them; the former clerk refusing to give them 
 up ; alleging as a reason, that the Yearly Meeting's 
 Committee advised him to retain them. It was pro- 
 posed to take him under dealing for the ofience, and 
 the meeting took the case into ccmsideration, deny- 
 ing the right of the committee to interfere with the 
 records. The Yearly Meeting's Committee object- 
 ed to his being taken tinder dealing, but expressed 
 their satisfaction with the continuance of the same 
 committee for the same purpose as before, and were 
 willing, if Friends thought best, that one or two 
 names be added ! 
 
 (A member of Greenwich Monthly Meeting hav- 
 ing a few words to say, not referring to the merits 
 of the case, one of the Yearly Meeting's Committee 
 denied his right to speak, because he was not a 
 member of South Kingston Monthly Meeting, 
 thus interfering with that religious freedom of ex- 
 pression which has always characterized Friends ; 
 and this, notwithstanding a member of another 
 Monthly Meeting who accompanied them, spoke 
 freely and without any interruption, in condemna- 
 tion of South Kingston Monthly Meeting.) 
 
 The committee again said, that from what they 
 had seen and heard, they were induced to believe 
 
EXPOSITION. 79 
 
 that a separation was contemplated on the part of 
 South Kingston Monthly Meeting, in which event 
 they said it was very important that the Society should 
 have its records, and gave this as a reason for ad- 
 vising the former clerk to retain them. Regret 
 was expressed by the meeting that the committee 
 should again allude to that subject, and they were 
 reminded of the great inconsistency and improprie- 
 ty of such a course ; professing to be laboring to 
 restore unity and at the same time talking about a 
 separation. 
 
 The committee in the case of John Wilbur, stated 
 that they were not prepared to report at present. 
 One of the Yearly Meeting's Committee made in- 
 quiry whether no part of the committee were rea- 
 dy ; upon which one of the committee stated, that 
 two or them had a report in readiness. 
 
 The Yearly Meeting's Committee advocated the 
 reading of this report of two out of a committee of 
 nine, but the meeting decided against it. 
 
 The seven members of the committee who did 
 not sign this report had never had an opportunity 
 to see it, this introduction of it to the meeting being 
 their first knowledge of it. 
 
 Near the close of this meeting, that member of 
 the Committee who said two of them had a report 
 in readiness, proposed that those in unity with the 
 Yearly Meeting, and the Yearly Meeting's Commit- 
 tee and their doings, be requested to stop in the 
 house a short time, at the close of the meeting." 
 With this, the former clerk united, and wished the 
 same request made to the women. The Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee, encouraged and approbated 
 this proposal, but the meeting generally objected to 
 it, on the ground tha.t it appeared to be a schenie for 
 a separation, which it was hoped would not receive 
 any encouragement, and objected to this test oi 
 unity with them, as an improper one, fully express- 
 ing unity with the doctrines of the Society, as held 
 
80 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 by the early Friends, choosing rather to commit 
 themselves to principles than to men. The Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee made no charge of unsound- 
 ness against any ; but one of them said that a man 
 might be entirely sound in doctrine, and yet be very 
 far from being in unity with the Yearly Meeting. 
 The judgment of the meeting vFa« fully acquiesced 
 in, by him who made the proposition, upon a sug- 
 gestion of a member of the Yearly Meeting's Com- 
 mittee, and the subject was passed from. 
 
 This was the condition of things relative to South 
 Kingston Monthly Meeting at the time of the Quar- 
 terly Meeting in the eighth month, when the Yearly 
 j\Ieetings's Committee reported it in a state of disuni- 
 ty, disorder and insubordination; and a Quarterly 
 Meeting's Committee was appointed to unite with 
 them in visiting that Monthly Meeting, while the 
 case of John Wilbur, about which the Yearly Meet- 
 ing's Committee had manifested such extreme anxi- 
 ty, was still in the hands of the committee of the 
 Monthly Meeting, who had not yet reported. 
 
 At the Monthly Meeting in the eighth months 
 several of the Yearly Meeting's Committee, and all 
 the committee of the men's Quarterly Meeting at- 
 tended, and claimed that the Quarterly Meeting's 
 Committee were iueorporated with the meeting, 
 having a right to act as members, and to advise and 
 assist the Monthly Meeting, and that the meetmg 
 was bound to act according to their advice, even to 
 the abrogation of its recorded acts for months past. 
 
 The Monthly Meeting did not allow this claim ; it 
 expressed its willingness to hear and consider what- 
 ever advice the committee might offer, and give it 
 all proper weight, but oJaimed the right to exercise 
 its own final judgment as to adopting it ; acknow- 
 ledging itself responsible to the Quarterly and Year- 
 ly Meetings in the, manner and form prescribod by 
 the Discipune, for any breach of the discipline and 
 order of Society^ 
 
EXPOSITION. 81 
 
 Seven of the committee in the case of J. W. made 
 the following report. 
 
 " To South Kingston Monthly Meeting of Friends, 
 to he held at Hopkinton, the 22d of Sth Mo., 1842. 
 
 The committee appointed by South Kingston Month- 
 ly Meeting, to treat with John Wilbur, on account of 
 the complaint brought against him by the Yearly Meet- 
 ing's Committee, have attended to that service ; having 
 given notice to the parties of the time and place of 
 our meeting John Wilbur, and several of the Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee attended, and were heard upon 
 the several matteis contained in said complaint. 
 
 Upon a full and delibera.te investigation of the case, 
 our judgment is that the charges against John Wilbur, 
 have not been sustained ; but that his defence is suffi- 
 cient to exonerate him from the same : — it appearing 
 from the evidence brought before us, that the complaint 
 originated on account of John Wilbur's labors under 
 an apprehension of his religious duty, and in conform- 
 ity with our Christian discipline, against the introduc- 
 tion into our Society of defective principles and doc- 
 trines, and for the preservation of those ancient testi- 
 monies of Truth, committed to us as a people. We, 
 therefore rebommend that the complaint against him 
 he dismissed. 
 
 Hopkinton, 8th Mo., 1843. 
 
 Othniel Foster, 
 William Nichols, 
 John Foster, 
 Isaac Collins, 
 Joshua Gardner, Jr. 
 Samuel Sheffield, 
 Charles Perry." 
 
 Two of the committee made a counter report. 
 The consideration of the first was then entered upon 
 by the meeting, and the Quarterly Meeting's Com- 
 mittee advised against its adoption. 
 
 One of the Yearly Meeting's Committee called for 
 4* 
 
82 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 an explanation of the causes which led that commit- 
 tee to leave, before the investigation of the case of J. 
 W. vi^as concluded. The clerk of the Monthly- 
 Meeting's Committee then read an extract from the 
 committee's minutes, giving their reasons for allow- 
 ing him to go into an investigation of doctrines in his 
 defence. These reasons were not attempted to he 
 controverted or answered. The meeting gave a very 
 full expression in favor of receiving the report of the 
 committee, four-fifths of the number of those who 
 spoke in relation to it, supporting it, and at its final 
 adoption only one member of the Monthly Meeting 
 spoke decidedly against it. The meeting deliberat- 
 ed long upon the subject, hearing all the committees 
 had to say, and when all discussions had ceased, 
 and the meeting had remained some time in silence, 
 the clerk made a minute accepting the report, and it 
 was sent to the women's meeting for their conside- 
 ration. The Quarterly Meeting's Committeeunited 
 with the Yearly Meeting's Committee in advising 
 the former clerk to retain the records of the Monthly 
 Meeting. 
 
 Before the report was returned by the women, 
 an attempt was made by two of the Yearly Meet- 
 ing's Committee, sitting at the head of the meeting, 
 to break it up, but it was not successful, and the re- 
 port ivas united with by the women's meeting. 
 
 At the Monthly Meeting in the ninth month a 
 committee was appointed to labor with T. C. C, 
 the former clerk, on account of his withholding from 
 the Monthly Meeting its records, and the committee 
 had an opportunity with him on that account ; after 
 the opportunity was ended, he informed one of the 
 committee that he had delivered our records over to 
 the Quarterly Meeting's Committee, who had given 
 him a receipt for them, and taken them away out of 
 theiimits of our Monthly Meeting! -Thus, by this 
 bold depredation upon our property, effectually de- 
 
EXPOSITION. 83 
 
 priving our members of the right secured to them by 
 the Discipline, of having access to our records. 
 
 At the Monthly Meeting in the 10th month, four 
 of the Quarterly Meeting's Committee attended 
 and presented the following written advice to the 
 Monthly Meeting. 
 
 " The committee appointed by the Quarterly Meet- 
 ing to visit South Kingston Monthly Meeting, and for 
 other services, as will appear by the minute of the ^ 
 Quarterly Meeting hei-ewith presented, now believe it 
 right to state to South Kingston Monthly Meeting, that 
 having taken into our deliberate consideration, the pro- 
 ceedings of that meeting in the 8th month last ; and 
 other previous proceedings connected with it ; which 
 have had the effect to produce the present unhappy 
 . differences existing in that meeting, and the state of 
 insubordination in which it now is, — have come to the 
 conclusion that the placing of Samuel Sheffield, at the 
 table, to act as Clerk in tiie 5th month last, in the irreg- 
 ular and disorderly manner in which it was effected, 
 and by which procedure the feelings and views of many 
 of the members were wholly disregarded ; and being 
 satisfied that he took his seat at the table, and made 
 the minute appointing himself out of the usual and 
 long established order of said meeting in appointing 
 their Clerk. We did therefore unite with the advice 
 previously given to Timothy C. Collins, by the Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee, that he'should continue for the 
 present to retain the Records of that Meeting. 
 
 And as this committee were also fully united in the 
 advice given in the 8th month last to South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting, not to accept the report presented by 
 that portion of the committee, five of whom were added 
 (contrary to the general usage of our Society,) to the 
 committee appointed in the 4th month, to have charge 
 •of the case ; after Samuel Sheffield took his seat at the 
 table in the 5th month ; and as we have cause to ap- 
 prehend from the manner in which they were selected. 
 and from their relationship to the individual under 
 
84 NAEEATITE AND 
 
 care, it was with a view to prevent an inapartial exer- 
 cise of our Christian discipline. 
 
 We, therefore, now on behalf of the Quarterly Meet- 
 ing, advise South Kingston Monthly Meeting at this 
 time, to remove Samuel Sheffield from acting as Clerk, 
 and to re-appoint Timothy C. Collins to the service, to 
 dismiss the case of Timpthy C.Collins from their 
 records, and discharge the committee appointed last 
 month to visit him as an offender, for retaining the 
 records of said meeting, as advised to do by this com- 
 mittee, and likewise that the decision in the 8th month 
 last, as entered on their minutes in relation to John 
 Wilbur, against the judgment of concerned fiieiids of 
 that meeting and against the united advice of this com- 
 mittee, be now set aside and be made void and of no 
 effect. 
 
 Signed by the committee appointed by Rhode Island 
 Quarterly Meeting to visit South Kingston Monthly 
 Meeting and advise it on its behalf. 
 
 Asa Sherman, 
 !Beriah Collins, 
 Joseph Metcalf, 
 Arnold Congdon. 
 
 Members of the Committee present. 
 
 Hophinton, IQth Mo., 24th, 1842. 
 
 The advice having been twice read, and embrac- 
 ing matters of great moment, and wholly unprece- 
 dented, involving not only the rights of individuals, 
 but of meetings, it was proposed to refer it another 
 month -for consideration. This document being 
 dated at Hopkinton, the same day, those present 
 were asked if the whole of the committee were con- 
 sulted in those advices ; they answered in the nega- 
 tive. On enquiry of the committee, whether they 
 intended to ask the meeting to act upon it without 
 time for deliberation, one of them replied he thought 
 it reasonable that the meeting should have time to 
 consider of it. But afterwards the committee, and 
 a few members of the Monthly Meeting, advocated 
 
EXPOSITION. 85 
 
 the immediate compliance of the meeting. The 
 subject was, however, referred for further conside- 
 ration to the nexth month. 
 
 At the Quarterly Meeting held at Somerset, 3rd 
 of 1 1th month, 1842, the committee appointed at last 
 Quarterly Meeting, to visit South Kingston and 
 Swanzey Monthly Meetings, reported that they had 
 visited Swanzey Monthly Meeting, and extended 
 such advice as appeared necessary ; that they had 
 also visited South Kingston Monthly Meeting in the 
 eighth month, and given their advice in relation to 
 the business of that meeting, which was disregarded, 
 they continuing to manifest a spirit of insubordina- 
 tion, &c., having appointed a committee to deal with 
 their former clerk, for conjplying with the advice of 
 the Quarterly and Yearly Meeting's Committees in 
 retaining the records of that meeting ; that they had 
 also again visited them in the tenth month and given 
 them advice ia writing, (here reciting their advice to 
 the Monthly Meeting) which advice was not accept- 
 ed by the meeting, but they referred the considera- 
 tion of it another month. 
 
 In conclusion, they gave it as their united judg- 
 ment, (as near as recollected) that South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting was not in a suitable state to tran- 
 sact business as a Monthly Meeting in conformity 
 with our Christian Discipline, and to the further- 
 ance of the best interests of Society, and therefore 
 recommended that that Monthly Meeting be dis- 
 solved, and the members of it joined to Greenwich 
 Monthly Meeting. 
 
 The reading of the Discipline under the head of 
 Quarterly .Meetings was called for by a member of 
 South Kingston Monthly Meeting, and urged by 
 many Friends, and for a considerable time refus- 
 ed, during which time several united with the re- 
 port. 
 
 At length, after much importunity the Discipline 
 was read, and it having been shown that the adop- 
 
86 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 tion of the report would be a direct violation of it, 
 some of the Yearly Meeting's Committee said a 
 wrong construction was put upon the Discipline, but 
 did not attempt to point out in what particulars. 
 
 Many Friends spoke against the adoption of the 
 report, insomuch that the meeting appeared nearly 
 equally divided; but a disposition being plainly 
 manifested to adopt the report, some of the niembers 
 of South Kingston Monthly Meeting strongly re- 
 monstrated against the summary dissolution of that 
 meeting and joining it to another, as a violation of 
 the plain provisions of the Discipline, and asked for 
 an opportunity to be heard before a committee, or in 
 some other mode, before the Quarterly Meeting 
 should proceed to this extremity. This was denied.^ 
 It was then stated on the part of South Kings- 
 ton Monthly Meeting, that if no othei" opportunity 
 was to be afforded they should now be obliged to 
 make a statement of the proceedings of the Yearly 
 and Quarterly Meeting's Committees in that Month- 
 ly Meeting, for the information of the Quarterly 
 Meeting before it should act in so important a case. 
 Such opportunity being denied, one of the represen- 
 tatives from South Kingston Monthly Meeting, rose 
 to read such statements ; when he was peremptorily 
 directed by the clerk to "take his seat and put up 
 his paper," but he continued to stand, and amidst 
 great interruption, to plead for the privilege and the 
 right to be heard. The clerk, however, who was 
 himself an active member of the Yearly Meeting's 
 Committee, read the minute dissolving the Monthly 
 Meeting.* 
 
 By the provisions of the minute. South Kingston 
 
 * It ma^ be here remarked, that in this meeting the principal and 
 almost entire actors and managers in this case against the Monthly 
 Meeting, were members of the Yearly and Quarterly Meeting's 
 Committee, who have been so often alluded to, in the preceding 
 pages. 
 
EXPOSITION. 87 
 
 Monthly Meeting is dissolved, and the members 
 thereof annexed to Greenwich Monthly Meeting. 
 It provides that the books be delivered to some per- 
 son to be appointed by Greenwich Monthly Meet- 
 ing to receive them, and that all unfinished business 
 be closed by that Monthly Meeting. It declares 
 null and void the appointment of the addition to the 
 committee, in the fifth month, in the case of John 
 Wilbur, and the adoption of the report in his case ; 
 also all that has been done in the case of Timothy 
 C. Collins. It continues the same committee, with 
 instructions to visit South Kingston Monthly Meet- 
 ing, next to be held at Hopkinton, and there to read 
 to that meeting this minute of the Quarterly Meeting, 
 and advise those assembled quietly to separate, and 
 hereafter to consider themselves members of Green- 
 wich Monthly Meeting, and under its care ; and the 
 committee is authorized and directed to extend its 
 care over all the Monthly Meetings in the Quarter. 
 
 When the clerk had concluded reading the 
 minute, the said representative, who had remained 
 standing, stated that he felt it to be due, both to 
 South Kingston Monthly Meeting, and to the Quar- 
 terly Meeting, to read the statement, although the 
 dissolution had been consummated, and he proceed- 
 ed to read. 
 
 At first his voice was nearly drowned by the 
 noise and confusion in the house, much of which 
 proceeded from members of the Yearly and Quar- 
 terly Meeting's Committees. The clerk attempted 
 to proceed with the business, sending the minute 
 into the woman's meeting, &c. The noise, how- 
 ever, soon nearly subsided, and most of the reading 
 was pretty well heard. When the paper was about 
 half read, the person reading was requested to stop 
 in order to have a passage read from the Discipline, 
 but this he declined, and continued the reading until 
 it was finished. 
 
 After he had concluded, the clerk read from the 
 
88 NAHKATIVE AND 
 
 Discipline, page 154, which advises against the 
 reading of any papers, except such as are from im- 
 mediate correspondents, without their first being 
 examined by a committee. The Friend who had 
 read the paper said he had no intention to violate 
 the Discipline, but he considered the reading of the 
 statement justifiable under the extraordinary cir- 
 cumstances of the case.* 
 
 About ten days after the Quarterly Meeting the 
 representative who read the statement in that meet- 
 ing, was informed by a young man, a member of 
 South Kingston Monthly Meeting, that he niet at 
 Friend's School, Providence, one of the Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee alluded to in the following 
 passage from the statement, viz : 
 
 '' Before the report was returned by the women, an 
 attempt was made by two of the Yearly Meeting's 
 Committee, sitting at the head of the meeting, to break 
 it up, but it was not successful, and the report was re- 
 turned united with by the women's meeting." 
 
 * The reading of this paper was thought to be justifiable for seve- 
 ral reasons. First, it was the only opportunity left for a hearing; 
 secondly, a Monthly Meeting is required by the Discipline, page 
 43, when the Quarterly meeting is dissatisfied with any of its pro- 
 ceedings, to render a satisfactory account to the Quarterly Meeting. 
 Now, the Monthly Meeting being debarred from rendering such an 
 account^ it must be done by individuals, if done at all, and was done 
 by one of the representatives. The whole proceedings of the Quar- 
 terly Meeting were most irreguleir and disorderly, depriving the 
 Monthly Meeting at once of all its rights, and even of its existence. 
 A member of the Yearly Meeting's Committee had been allowed 
 to commeiit on the proceeding of the Monthly Meeting with great 
 severity, misrepresenting and condemning the Monthly Meeting as 
 a whole, and personally reproaching and reviling a member of it in 
 particular. It was felt to be right, under these circumstances, to 
 make a plain statement of facts before the meeting separated. The 
 written statement was read only because it was more strictly ac- 
 curate, and more concise, than could have been made verbally ; and 
 the character of it was distmctly stated before it was read. The 
 statement read was substantially the same now published, begin- 
 ning with the 4th month and ending with the 10th month, 1843. 
 
EXPOSITION. 89 
 
 This member of the Yearly Meeting's Committee 
 took him, the young man, aside, and told him that 
 this part of the statement was false, that they had 
 no thought of such. a thing, and requested him to 
 correct this mis-statement. On receivings this infor- 
 mation the representative aforesaid wrote this mem- 
 ber of the Yearly Meeting's Committee, asking him 
 for some explanation, as the attempt alluded to pass- 
 ed under his own eye, and was, besides, susceptible 
 of full proof by others. The propriety of calling 
 upon the person who had made the statement, to 
 correct it if it was claimed to be erroneous, was 
 brought to view in this letter, the writer holding 
 himself fully responsible for it. No reply was made 
 to the letter. 
 
 At the conclusion of the Monthly Meeting at 
 Greenwich, 2d of 1st month, 1843, the representa- 
 tive aforesaid, taking two or three Friends with him, 
 sought an interview with both members of the 
 Yearly Meeting's Committee, implicated in the 
 charge. The matter being opened they both denied 
 having done any such thing, or having had any idea 
 of it. A certificate was then read of their denial, 
 from the young man who first gave information of 
 it, which was acknowledged to be essentially cor- 
 rect. This was followed by certificates from five 
 individuals, (two have since been added) who testi- 
 fied that they saw the two friends in question sit- 
 ting at the head of the meeting, at Hopkinton, in the 
 eighth month, shake hands m. the common form of 
 breaking up a meeting among Friends, while the 
 report of the committee in the case of John Wilbur 
 was under consideration in the women's meet- 
 ing ; but just as this was done, and before there 
 was time for any others to follow, the women re- 
 turned the report, and the meeting remained some 
 time longer together. In addition to this was the 
 testimony of several Friends, that both before and 
 after the act of shaking hands, they saw movements 
 
90 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 on the part of the two Friends in question which 
 left no doubts on their minds, that they intended 
 prematurely to break up the meeting. After this 
 testimony was read they continued to deny the 
 act, although one of them seemed to wish to soften 
 things somewhat ; said he could recollect nothing 
 about it, but if they did shake hands, it must be they 
 thought meeting was.through ; but the one who first 
 made the denial said it could not be so, they could 
 not have forgotten if they had done it. Being ask- 
 ed, after all the testimony which had been adduced, 
 to retract his charge of falsehood, he said " he had 
 nothing to retract," and thus the matter was left. 
 The certificates alluded to are as follows : 
 
 CERTIFICATE OP ABEL C. MONROE. 
 
 " This may certify that I was at Friend's Boarding 
 School, in Providence, on the 4th of 11th month last, 
 on my return from the Quarterly Meeting, held at 
 Somerset, the previous day ; and there met with Thos. 
 Anthony, who asked me if I lived at my grandmother's 
 now; — I replied in the affirmative, and he then asked 
 to speak with me, and we stepped to the door, (in the 
 porch.) Thomas then said, that the statement made in 
 the paper read in Quarterly Meeting, in relation to the 
 attempt to break up the Monthly Meeting, at Hopkin- 
 ton, was false ; — that he and Rowland Greene had no 
 thought of such a thing. He said he wished me to 
 correct this mis-statement ; that he thought it no more 
 than right that it should be corrected. 
 
 (Signed,) A. C. Monroe. 
 
 1st Mo., 1, 1843. 
 
 HoPKiNTON, 12tm Mo. 25th, 1842. 
 " "We hereby certify, that at the Monthly Meeting 
 of Friends, held at Hopkinton, on the 23d of 8th month 
 last, while the report of the committee in the case of 
 John Wilbur, was in the hands of the women's meet- 
 ing, we saw Rowland Greene and Thomas Anthony, 
 then sitting at the head of the meeting, shake hands 
 
EXPOSITION. 91 
 
 after the manner of Friends when breaking up a meet- 
 ing ; but just at that moment, before there was time 
 for others to follow, the women returned the report, 
 and the meeting remained some time longer together. 
 (Signed,) 
 
 Isaiah Rat, 
 Ethan Foster, 
 Charles Peruy, 
 William Foster, 
 John Peckham, 
 John W, Collins." 
 
 " I hereby certify, that at South Kingston Monthly 
 Meeting, held at Hopkinton, on the 22d of 8th month, 
 1842 ; that whilst the report of the committee was in 
 the women's meeting, I saw Rowland Greene and 
 Thomas Anthony shake hands, in the common form of 
 breaking up a meeting among Friends, 
 
 (Signed,) Peleg Kenton." 
 
 12th Mo, 28th, 1842. 
 
 % 
 
 "Westerly, 12th Month 30, 1842. 
 " I hereby certify that in addition to the act of sha- 
 king hands as described in the foregoing certificates, I 
 saw movements on the part of Rowland Greene and 
 Thomas Anthony, in the gieeting alluded to, both be- 
 fore and after that act, and before the business was 
 concluded, or the minutes read, such as left no doubt 
 on my mind of their design to break up the meeting." 
 (signed,) Ethan Foster. 
 
 Westerly, 12th Month 30, 1842. 
 " I hereby certify that I saw a movement on the 
 part of Rowland Greene and Thomas Anthony in the 
 Monthly Meeting at Hopkinton, in the 8ih month last, 
 after the report in the case of John Wilbur was re- 
 turned by the women, such as satisfied me they intend- 
 ed to break up the meeting. And fearing from these 
 repeated attempts, that the raeeting might be prema- 
 turely dismissed, I spoke of our practice to read the 
 minutes before the meeting separated, and hoped that 
 
92 NARKATIVE AND 
 
 we should conform to that usage ; which was after- 
 ws one." 
 
 (Signed,) Charles Perry. 
 
 Westerly, 12th Month 30th, 1842. 
 "We hereby certify that at the Monthly Meeting of 
 Friends, held at Hopkinton on 22d of 8th month last, 
 we saw movements made by Rowland Greene and 
 Thomas Anthony, about the time the report in the case 
 of John "Wilbur was returned from the women's meet- 
 ing, and before the business of the meeting was con- 
 cluded, or the minutes of it read, which left no doubt 
 on our minds that they attempted and intended them 
 to break up the meeting." 
 
 (Signed,) John Foster, 
 
 Thomas Perry, 
 Isaac Collins. 
 
 " I hereby certify that at the Monthly Meeting at 
 Hopkinton, in the eighth month last, I safc^n the seat 
 directly before Rowland Greene and 'Mbwias Anthony, 
 and that I heard Thomas ask the clerk if the business 
 was not through ; to which the clerk replied there 
 would be business from the women ; and I then dis- 
 tinctly heard Rowland say, ' We shall have nothing 
 more from the women,' anflj;uming my head, I saw 
 motions on their part whiq|i appeared like shaking 
 hands;- — at this juncture 4;Be .dcJor opened, and the 
 women returned theirre^ortuliited with by their meet- 
 ing." (Signed,) Thomas Foster. 
 
 Isi Month. 2nd, 1843. 
 
 At the Monthly Meeting held at Hopkinton on 
 the 21st of 11th month, 1842, several of the Quar- 
 terly Meeting's Committee attended, and read the 
 minute of the Quarterly Meeting, dissolving South 
 Kingston Monthly Meeting, both in the men's and 
 women's meetings, and advised the members in the 
 language of that minute, " quietly to separate, and 
 consider themselves members of Greenwich Month- 
 
KXPOSITIOl*. 08 
 
 ly Meetingj-and under its care ;" whereupon they 
 "Withdrew, and eleven members of each meeting 
 with them. Before they left, application was made 
 to them on behalf of South Kingston Monthly 
 Meeting, for a copy of the minute of the. Quarterly 
 Meeting, but they declined giving one. 
 
 The Monthly Meeting continued together, and 
 concluded to appeal to the next Yearly Meeting, 
 against the decision of the Quarterly Meeting ; and 
 then, notwithstanding the injustice and irregularity 
 of the requirement, it was concluded to suspend the 
 Monthly Meeting, until the Yearly Meeting shall 
 have acted on the appeal. The following is a copy 
 of the minute of appeal : 
 
 " The document presented to our last Monthly 
 Meeting, by the Quarterly Meeting's Committee, and 
 then referred, coming now under consideration, and no- 
 tice being now received through that committee and 
 our representatives, that our Quarterly Meeting has 
 saQjQ^oned the edvice therein contained, and has also 
 proceeded at once to dissolve this meeting, and join 
 the members of it to Greenwich Monthly Meeting, as 
 well as to annul a portion of the business heretofore 
 done, and reeorded by this jneeting ; we have come to 
 the conclusion to appeal to* our next Yearly Meeting 
 against the advice of the Quarterly Meeting's Commit- 
 tee, and the judgment of the Quarterly Meeting in 
 confirming it, as not being in accordance with the prop- 
 er maintenance of the discipline and our ancient 
 Christian testimonies. We also appeal against the 
 decision of bur said Quarterly Meeting, dissolving this 
 meeting and the Select Meeting, and their junction 
 with those of Greenwich, as imcalled for by any pro- 
 ceeding of ours, and in its manner premature, and in 
 plain violation of our discipline. 
 
 " And we also appeal against such other decrees of 
 the Quarterly Meeting as go to annul or affect the 
 rights, or property, or duties of this meeting, as granted 
 to it, or conferred upon it, and required of it, by the 
 
94 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 Yearly Meeting, as set forth in our rules of discipline ; 
 and Othniel Foster, John Wilbur, John Foster of 
 Charlestown, Charles Perry, Isaac Collins, John Fos- 
 ter of HopMnton, Ethan Foster, Samuel Sheffield and 
 Elisha Kenyon, are appointed to represent this meeting 
 and to act on its behalf, in prosecuting this appeal be- 
 fore the Yearly Meeting, or such committee as it shall 
 appoint to hear the same, and our clerk is directed to 
 furnish Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting, Greenwich 
 Monthly Meeting, and the committee of this meeting, 
 named above, with copies of this minute ; having the 
 unity of the women's meeting herein." 
 
 Exti-acted from the minutes of South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting, held at Hopkinton, Slst'of 11th 
 month, 1842. 
 
 (Signed,) Samuei, Sheffield, ClerJc^. 
 
 " And we the undersigned do: also for ourselves, and 
 on behalf and in the name of South Kingston Month- 
 ly Meeting, of otherwise called the late Monthly 
 Meeting of South Kingston, and on behalf of the mem- 
 bers thereof, appeal to. our next Yearly Meeting, 
 against the judgment of Rhode Island Quarterly Meet- 
 ing, held at Somerset, 3d of 1 1th month, 1842, in rela- 
 tion to the dissolution of said South Kingston Monthly 
 Meeting, and reference is hereby made to the foregoing 
 document, signed by Samuel Sheffield, clerk of said 
 Monthly Meeting, for the manner and foi-m of this our 
 appeal, to be presented to our next Quarterly Meeting, 
 and to our next Yearly Meeting ; and the same Friends 
 as named above, are appointed by the signers of this 
 paper, to represent them in the prosecution of this ap- 
 peal." 
 
 (This appeal was signed by eighty-two members of 
 the Monthly Meeting.) 
 
 Two of the Committee of South Kingston Month- 
 ly Meeting on the appeal, attended Greenwich 
 Monthly Meeting, held at Cranston, in the 11th 
 month, and laid a copy of the appeal on the clerk's 
 table. The meeting did not seem disposed to re- 
 
EXPOSITION. 95 
 
 ceive it ; the clerk attempted to return it to the 
 person who had placed it upon the table, but he de- 
 clining to take it back, the clerk finally kept it. The 
 minute of the Quarterly Meeting, by which South 
 Kingston Monthly Meeting is dissolved and joined 
 to Greenwich, was read and acceded to on the part 
 of Greenwich Monthly Meeting. 
 
 At Greenwich Monthly Meeting, held at East 
 Greenwich, 2d_of 1st month, 1843, two members of 
 the Yearly Meeting's Committee, and one of the 
 Quarterly Meeting's Committee, besides those be- 
 longing to Greenwich Monthly Meeting, attended. 
 
 A committee being about to be appointed to bring 
 in names for new overseers, &c., including those 
 for the preparative meetings heretofore constituting 
 South Kingston Monthly Meeting ; it was proposed 
 and concluded that the clerk should not take the 
 name of any person on the committee, that he 
 should conscientiously believe not to be in unity with 
 the Yearly and Quarterly Meetings and their com- 
 mittees. 
 
 One of the Yearly Meeting's Committee request- 
 ed that the minute of the Quarterly Meeting be 
 again read, which was done. He then said it would 
 be seen by this minute that the appointment of a 
 part of the committee, and the report of the com- 
 mittee in the case of John Wilbur, were annulled, 
 and that it now became the duty of the committee 
 originally appointed, to report to this meeting. 
 
 One of^the two of that committee who made the 
 counter report in the eighth month, enquired if it 
 would not be proper for them to have another in- 
 terview with John Wilbur, and this was concluded 
 on. Objection was made to this proceeding, on the 
 ground that South Kingston Monthly Meeting had 
 appealed from the decision of the Quarterly Meet- 
 ing ; that the action against that meeting was solely 
 in consequence of its decision in the case of John 
 Wilbur ; — ^that case was specified and fully brought 
 
96 NAEaATlVB ANn 
 
 to view, in the Quarterly Meeting's Committee's 
 advice and the-Quarterly Meeting's miiiute, and the 
 appeal ought to stay all proceedings in the case, 
 until the Yearly Meeting should decide it. This 
 just and reasonable gi-6und was not allowed, but a 
 member of the Yearly Meeting's Committee, who 
 had from the first been very active in the case, said 
 that the appeal and this case were distinct matters. 
 Another member of the same committee urged, that 
 if that Monthly Meeting intended to be subordinate 
 to superior meetings, it must, as the Quarterly 
 Meeting had directed, close the unfinished business 
 of South Kingston Monthly Meeting, and this case 
 was particularly mentioned and brought before 
 them by the Quarterly Meeting's minute. It had 
 annulled the proceedings of South Kingston Month- 
 ly Meeting in the case. 
 
 It was rephed, that South Kingston Monthly 
 Meeting had appealed against all this, and that it 
 would only be proper for the Monthly Meeting to 
 carry out the direction of the Quarterly Meeting, 
 after the Yearly Meeting had decided that the 
 Quarterly Meeting had done right, — when a member 
 of the Quarterly Meeting's Committee said, as to 
 this matter of appeal, there were some doubt whether 
 there was any such meeting as South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting, when the appeal was made ! thus 
 striking at the right of appeal. This ground, how- 
 ever, was not maintained, and afterwards a member 
 of the Yearly Meeting's Committee said he did not 
 suppose this Friend meant to call in question the 
 right of appeal. He said no ! 
 
 A minute was made directing the committee in 
 the case of J. W., to report at a future meeting. 
 
 At Greenwich Monthly Meeting, held at Coven- 
 try, 30th of 1st month, 1843, three members of the 
 Yearly Meeting's Committee attended, besides 
 those belonging to that meeting. The case of John 
 Wilbur was taken up, and one of the committee ap- 
 
EXPOSITION. 97 
 
 Sointed in the fourth month by South Kingston, 
 lonthly Meeting, stated that two of them had met, 
 having given notice of the meeting to the others, 
 and also to John Wilbur, that the latter might be 
 present,* if he saw fit, and make an acknowledg- 
 ment — but he refused to attend. These two mem- 
 bers of the committee made the following report, to 
 wit: 
 
 " We, of the committee appointed in the 4th montli 
 last, in the case of John Wilbur report : that we have 
 attended to the duties assigned us, by meeting John. 
 Wilbur and the Yearly Meeting's Committee, and 
 hearing the evidence in the case, and which was in our 
 judgment sufficient to substantiate all the charges pre- 
 ferred against him, and which charges, having relation 
 altogether to his departure from discipline and good 
 order, it was evident to us his defence ought to be pre- 
 dicated on that ground alone. And whereas the other 
 part of the Monthly Meeting's Committee, were wil- 
 ling to allow him to make his defence, by leaving this 
 only legitimate ground, and go into a justification of 
 his conduct by allusions to doctrines, and which in our 
 view was entirely foreign to the subject matter under 
 consideration. We, therefore, felt ourselves bound to 
 dissent from such a course. And it is our united sense 
 and judgment that he is not in a situation and state of 
 mind, to be continued a member of our religious socie- 
 ty, which we submit to the Monthly Meeting. 
 
 William S. Perry, 
 Hezekiah Babcock. 
 
 South Kingston, 1th Mo. 22d, 1842." 
 
 This report was in the same words as that pre- 
 sented by the same persons, to South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting in the eighth month, except that 
 
 * This was incorrect ; he was not asked to be present, but merely 
 notified, by letter, of the time of their meeting, and informed that 
 he might send in an acknowledgment, if so disposed. 
 6 
 
98 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 in the latter the word " all" occurred before the 
 words "the charges." 
 
 The meeting being now about to act upon the re- 
 port; some of the Yearly Meeting's Committee 
 uniting therewith, it was stated that the complaint 
 against J. W. had never been read in that Monthly 
 Meeting — and upon enquiry it was found that the 
 complaint was not now present in the meeting. 
 
 The clerk sent a messenger for it, and the meet- 
 ing suspended further proceedings in the case, until 
 his return. 
 
 When the complaint was brought in, it was read, 
 and the report of the committee was then united with 
 by most or all the members of the Yearly and Quar- 
 terly Meeting's Committees present, and two others. 
 
 Objection was made to the report by several 
 Friends, but the clerk, an active member of the 
 Yearly Meeting's Committee, made a minute adopt- 
 ing"it, and John Wilbur was thus disowned. 
 
 At Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting held at Pro- 
 vidence, in the 2d rnonth, 1843, one of the Commit- 
 tee of South Kingston Monthly Meeting on their 
 appeal, laid a copy of the appeal on the clerk's ta- 
 ble, in the early part of the meeting, and after a 
 time the clerk stated that there was a paper on the 
 table purporting to be an appeal from South Kings- 
 ton Monthly Meeting, and asked for the direction of 
 the meetingj as to what disposition should be made 
 of it. It was proposed to appoint some Friends to 
 take it and examine it, and report whether it should 
 be read. The reading of the discipline relating to 
 such appeals was called for, but the committee was 
 first appointed, and after they had taken the appeal 
 out for examination, considerable profession was 
 made of willingness to have the discipline read, and 
 it was then done. Shortly after, the committee re- 
 turned the appeal, and recommended that it be 
 i*ead ; which being done, the clerk said Friends 
 WOi^d observe, that there was the name of a Friend 
 
EXPOSITION. 99 
 
 on the Committee of the Monthly Meeting on the 
 appeal, who had been pleiced under dealing by the 
 action of the Quarterly Meeting. He said the 
 meeting would decide whether they would allow 
 that name to stand there, in case the appeal should 
 go on their minutes. 
 
 After considerable discussion, in which the in- 
 justice and incompatibility with the discipline, of the 
 act of the Quarterly Meeting was shown, — the 
 clerk made a minute stating in substance, that al- 
 though the appeal contained the name of a Friend, 
 placed under dealing by the action of the Quarterly 
 Meeting, we have concluded to enter it upon our 
 minutes, and send it up to our next Yearly Meeting. 
 
 One of the Yearly Meeting's Committee corrected 
 the clerk as to the latter clause, saying that the 
 conclusion of the meeting was, to refer the consid- 
 eration of it until next quarter, whereupon he made 
 that alteration. The same member of that com- 
 mittee proposed that the word " individual" should 
 be substituted for " Friend," and the clerk at once 
 made the change. 
 
 While the appeal was in the -hands of the com- 
 mittee, a member of South Kingston Monthly 
 Meeting, (one of the committee on the appeal,) sta- 
 ted that at the time that Monthly Meeting was dis- 
 solved, a request was made of the Quarterly Meet- 
 ing's Committee, then present, for a copy of the 
 minute authorizing the dissolution, but it was re- 
 fused ; that since then application has been made 
 to the clerk of the Quarterly Meeting for a copy, 
 who also refused it, on the ground that he was not 
 authorized to give it, without the authority of that 
 meeting. He now requested of the meeting, on 
 behalf of the committee on the appeal, a copy of 
 that minute. 
 
 A member of the Yearly Meeting's Committee 
 said that the meeting had not come to any conclu- 
 sion, as to the disposition of the appeal ; he thought 
 
100 NAEBATIVE AND 
 
 it proper to wait until that was decided on, and 
 then the subject might be taken up. The Friend 
 who made the request, expressed his satisfaction 
 with that course. Afterwards, when- the appeal 
 had been referred to the next quarter, the clerk 
 being about to proceed to other business, a^iplication 
 was renewed on behalf of South Kingston Monthly- 
 Meeting, for a copy of the Quarterly Meeting's 
 minute, but it was refused, a member of the Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee saying, that he thought it im- 
 proper to give a copy! that it would be sufficient 
 for them to furnish the Yearly Meeting with a 
 copy ! and this being sustained by other members 
 of the same committee, the meeting proceeded with 
 other business ; thus denying South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting a copy of the document by which 
 it had been dissolved, containing matters of the 
 greatest importance relative to their case. 
 
 [It is worthy of remark that all who took ground 
 in this meeting, against furnishing South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting with a copy of this document, 
 were members of the Yearly or Quarterly Meet- 
 ing's Committees, most of them the same men who 
 had been so active in the case of John Wilbur from 
 the beginning.] 
 
 At the Quarterly Meeting held at Greenwich in 
 the 5th month, 1843, the account from Greenwich 
 Monthly Meeting informed, that John Wilbur hav- 
 ing given them notice of his intention to appeal 
 from their judgment disowning him, they had ap- 
 pointed a committee to represent the case before a 
 Committee of the Quarterly Meeting. It was stated 
 on behalf of John Wilbur, that he did not intend to 
 prosecute his appeal at that time. 
 
 Representatives were appointed to attend the 
 Yearly Meeting, one of whom asked to be excused, 
 which being done, another was named in his place, 
 but being obnoxious to those in authority, his name 
 
EXPOSITIOIf. 101 
 
 wus rejected, upon the pretence that there were al- 
 ready enough appointed. 
 
 The minute of the last meeting, relating to the 
 appeal of South Kingston Monthly Meeting was 
 read. A member of the Yearly Meeting's Com- 
 mittee spoke of the great strait he was in, on ac- 
 count of the name of an individual, standing as one 
 of the committee on the appeal, who had been 
 placed under dealing by the action of the Quarterly 
 Meeting ; and said he did not see how the appeal 
 could be carried forward in its present shape. 
 Another member of the Yearly Meeting's Commit- 
 tee expressed himself in a similar manner. 
 
 A Friend remarked if this was the case, Green- 
 wich Monthly Meeting might have disowned all 
 the members of the appeal committee, and thus 
 have defeated it altogether. Another Friend said 
 he thought the minute of the Quarterly Meeting 
 carried its own condemnation on the face of it, 
 stating as it did that an individual was placed un- 
 der dealing by the Quarterly Meeting ; he knew 
 no discipline to warrant such a thing. 
 
 The clerk said he was ready to propose that this 
 appeal should be again referred ! A Friend from 
 South Kingston said the appeal was made to the 
 next Yearly Meeting, and to refer it again would 
 defeat the appeal. 
 
 It was now concluded to appoint a committee to 
 represent the case at the Yearly Meeting, — pre- 
 mising that none should be appointed, who did not 
 unite with the proceedings in laying the Monthly 
 Meeting down. 
 
 The following persons were appointed, viz : 
 
 Perez Peck, Allen Wing, Beriah Collins, Joseph 
 Metcalf, Nicholas Congdon, Arnold Congdon, Wil- 
 liam S. Perry and William A. Robinson. By the 
 minute of their appointment, the clerk is directed to 
 fiirnish them, with all needful extracts from the 
 minutes. 
 
103 NABBA^TIYi: AND 
 
 The committee on the appeal of South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting, made application in writing for 
 access to the records of the Quarterly Meeting, 
 with a view to the timely preparation of the case ; 
 referring to the discipUne, " that our records shall 
 be open to any of our meetings, particular members, 
 and to such others as the respective Monthly Meet- 
 ings may think necessary, for the ascertaining of 
 marriages, births, or other rights." page 43. 
 
 This request, after considerable discussion, was 
 refused ; and much severity of expression was in- 
 dulged in towards the applicants ; after which a 
 member of South Kingston Monthly Meeting rose, 
 and very calmly commenced speaking, — ^when a 
 large number of persons in the body of the meeting 
 rose and hurried out of the houses those at the head 
 of the meeting shook hands, and it broke up in the 
 greatest confusion and disorder. 
 
 The voice of the person speaking was entirely 
 drowned by the noise, and perceiving the meeting 
 really breaking up, he desisted. 
 
 At New England Yearly Meeting, held on Rhode 
 Island, 6th month, 1843. 
 
 It appeared from the account of Rhode Island 
 Quarterly Meeting, that a portion of Greenwich 
 Monthly Meeting, late members of South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting had appealed from their judgment 
 dissolving said Monthly Meeting and annexing the 
 same to .Greenwich, and that they had appointed 
 Perez Peck and others to represent the Quarterly 
 Meeting before a Committee of the Yearly Meeting 
 to be appointed to hear the appeal. 
 
 When this case came up, the clerk read the dis- 
 cipline relating to such appeal, and remarked that 
 it had been customary in cases of appeal to appoint 
 a committee of two Friends from each Quarterly 
 Meeting, but proposed in this case the appointment 
 of three from each Quarter, which was united 
 with. 
 
EXPOSITION. 103 
 
 On behalf of South Kingston Monthly Meeting a 
 desire was expressed to have the case tried in open 
 Yearly Meeting, for the full information of the 
 members generally before acting thereon, and re- 
 ferring to the practice of London Yearly Meeting, 
 in important cases — where doctrines are involved. 
 This was objected to on the ground that we must 
 be governed by our own discipline ; and that the 
 usual mode of trying appeal cases should be adher- 
 ed to. 
 
 The clerk said that in cases of defamation, the 
 discipline gave the person complained of the right to 
 object to those named for a committee, provided 
 such objection does not extend to the major part 
 thereof, — ^but there was no discipline which would 
 apply to cases of this kind. He said, however, that 
 the usage of Society had been to allow appellants 
 this privilege in other cases, so far as he knew. He 
 proposed to read from the discipline of another 
 Yearly Meeting ; but objection being made on the 
 ground that the Yearly Meeting had already deci- 
 ded that we must be governed by our own disci- 
 pline, he did not read Jt. 
 
 A Friend said if he was correctly informed, there 
 was a large Committee of the Yearly Meeting 
 which had been active in this case, having repeat- 
 edly attended South Kingston Monthly Meeting, 
 and advised in relation to the proceedings which 
 had taken place in regard to that meeting — and if 
 so, he thought it improper to appoint members of 
 that committee, on this appeal. The clerk replied 
 it might not be proper to appoint those of that 
 committee who had attended South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting and been active in the case. Ob- 
 jection was made on behalf of South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting to the appointment of any portion 
 of the Yearly Meeting's Committee, and allow- 
 ing them to nominate for this committee. 
 
104 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 The clerk proceeded to take names, and having 
 obtained the requisite number, enquiry was made 
 ■whether any of tiie Yearly Meeting's Committee was 
 included among them. The clerk repUed there was 
 one; that one asked to be excused, which being 
 done, another friend was appointed in his place. It 
 was also stated that several members of the com- 
 mittee had been named by members df the Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee, and objection was made to 
 these. 
 
 A member of the Yearly Meeting's Committee 
 said, if these friends were objected to, it would not 
 probably stop there ; that objection would be made 
 on the other side, &c. The committee was allow- 
 ed to stand without further alteration. 
 
 A friend from Sandwich Quarterly Meeting said, 
 it appeared evident to him from the Discipline, 
 as read by the clerk, that the Quarterly Meeting 
 had departed from it, in annexing South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting to another, while at the same time 
 the Monthly Meeting has appealed against the dis- 
 solution. If he understood it right, the Discipline 
 only allows such annexation in case the Monthly 
 Meeting refuses to appeal. 
 
 He requested the clerk again to read that para- 
 graph giving this right of annexation. The assist- 
 ant clerk then read the succeeding paragraph. The 
 friend said this was not the one, but the preceding 
 one he wished read. 
 
 The whole passage was then read ; when done, 
 the friend said it was very clear that the Discipline 
 had not been kept to, for the Monthly Meeting not 
 only had not refused to appeal, but the Quarterly 
 Meeting had given us information that it had actual- 
 ly appealed. 
 
 The clerk was requested to read the " appeal," a 
 copy of which was in his hands, and several friends 
 expressed a wish to have it read, when one of the 
 Yearly Meeting's Committee said, that by our Dis- 
 
EXPOSITION. 105 
 
 cipline, no paper could be read in our meetings not 
 coming from an immediate correspondent, unless 
 first examined by a committee. To this it was re- 
 plied, that the Discipline made these appellants im- 
 mediate correspondents by giving the right of ap- 
 peal; and that the Yearly Meeting ought to know the 
 grounds on which the appeal is made. 
 
 After considerable discussion it was decided not 
 to read the Appeal, but the copy was by the clerk 
 handed to the committee just appointed. 
 
 From the minutes of the meeting for Sufferings, it 
 appeared that a committee was appointed in the 11th 
 month, 1842, to prepare a statement of the condition 
 of things among us, particularly in Rhode Island 
 Quarterly Meeting, which was not generally well 
 understood. This committee reported from time to 
 time their progress, and a few weeks before the 
 Yearly Meeting they reported that they had pre- 
 pared such a statement, but thought it best to defer 
 the presentation of it for the present, but that they 
 had in the prosecution of this labor, been introduced 
 into a concern to prepare an essay upon the doc- 
 trines and testimonies of the Society, which they 
 produced, and it being read, it was referred to a 
 committee then specially appointed, to take it into 
 their consideration, and make such amendments as 
 they may deem proper, and report. The document 
 was subsequently adopted by the meeting for Suf- 
 ferings, read in Yearly Meeting and directed to be 
 printed.* 
 
 Returning minutes were presented and adopted 
 by the meeting for two ministers and their com-, 
 panions, who were in attendance from New York 
 Yearly Meeting. None were prepared for three 
 
 * The statement respecting Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting, 
 &c., said to have been prepared as above, has never appeared. 
 The committee was appointed on the subject about the time South 
 Kingston Monthly Meeting was dissolved. 
 5* 
 
108 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 ministers and their companions from Philadelphia 
 Yearly Meeting, nor for a minister and his com- 
 panion from Ohio Yearly meeting, all of whom, ex- 
 cept one of the companions, were present with the 
 usual credentials which had been recognized in the 
 usual manner by the Yearly Meeting. 
 
 At the last sitting of the Yearly Meeting the com- 
 mittee on the appeal presented two reports ; the 
 first, that the judgment of Rhode Island Quarterly 
 Meeting ought to be confirmed, which was sign- 
 ed as follows : 
 
 John Page, William Faer, 
 
 Isaac R. Giffoed, Nathan G. Chase, 
 
 Stephen Jones, Nathan Pope, 
 
 MosEs Faenum, James N. Fry, 
 
 Stephen Jones, Jr., Paul Taber, 
 
 Elijah Pope, Tobias Header, 
 David Douglass. 
 
 The other, that the judgment of the Quarterly 
 Meeting ought to be reversed, because some of its 
 proceedings were in violation of the Discipline. This 
 latter report was signed as follows : 
 
 Jonathan Nichols, John Milton Earle, 
 Prince Gardener, Jonathan S. Millett, 
 James Tucker, William Hill. 
 
 Two members of the committee, viz: Joseph 
 Bracket and Samuel Foster did not sign either re- 
 port. 
 
 J. M. Earle, of the committee, said he wished to 
 explain his views, and he thought that when indi- 
 viduals or meetings are subjected to disciplinary 
 proceedings, they were entitled to have the Disci- 
 pline strictly adhered to ; and in this case, while he 
 united in the conclusion to which the Quarterly 
 Meeting came, he thought some of its proceedings 
 were not in accordance vrith the Discipline. Moses 
 
EXPOSITION. 107 
 
 Famum said he thought, himself, that the Discipline 
 had not been so strictly adhered to by the Quarter- 
 ly Meeting as would have been desirable, but con- 
 sidering that they acted under the advice of a large 
 committee, with authority from the Yearly Meet- 
 ing, he thought it would do to confirm their judg- 
 ment. 
 
 The report of the majority was adopted, and aftei* 
 the clerk had commenced making the minute, one 
 of the committee of South Kingston Monthly Meet- 
 ing on the appeal rose and began to speak by say- 
 ing, that as this subject was now disposed of and 
 anything he should say could not go to affect the 
 result, — here he was interrupted by the assistant 
 clerk, who said the subject was still open for further 
 expression ; and the friend sat down. , 
 
 Subsequent to this, both before and after the nu- 
 nute was read, many spoke in close succession, ex- 
 horting to submission and acquiesence in the conclu- 
 sions of the body, and one remarked that he thought 
 he could discover the working of a restless and op- 
 posing spirit, and expressed his desire that such 
 might be stayed and bound down, &c. J. M. of 
 the Yearly Meeting's Committee said he felt desir- 
 ous that the meeting should be brought to a close 
 as soon as might be, and not unnecessarily detain 
 Friends. About this time the same member of the 
 appeal committee who had before essayed to speak, 
 rose and said that the longer he sat in this meeting 
 the more he became confirmed in the belief that he 
 should not leave it with peace of mind without ad- 
 verting to the extraodinary powers claimed by the 
 Yearly Meeting's Committee, who had repeatedly 
 visited South Kingston Monthly Meeting— this duty 
 seemed the more imperative, as that committee had 
 been again re-appointed ; they had claimed when 
 with us, that they were clothed with all the authori- 
 ty and power of the Yearly Meeting, that their ad- 
 vice was disdfline ; equally binding with any other ; 
 
108 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 and this claim has again been set up by the Quar- 
 terly Meeting's Committee, during the investigation 
 of this case ; and besides, one of the committee on 
 the investigation has just admitted that he thought 
 the Discipline had not been kept to, but considering 
 the jBoioersofthis committee (who were advisatory, 
 to all these proceedings) he thought the judgment of 
 the Quarterly Meeting might safely be confirmed. 
 He apprehended that the members of this meeting 
 were not generally aware that so much was claim- 
 ed by this committee. It appeared to him extraordi- 
 nary and alarming. He wished friends to consider 
 the consequences to which, if admitted by the Year- 
 ly Meeting, it will inevitably lead. It appeared to 
 him to strike at that fundamental doctrine of Friends, 
 a belief in the influence of Truth upon the mind, and 
 its paramount authority in transacting the business 
 of Society, and the importance of being governed 
 herein by its monitions ; for, how can we yield to 
 its pointings should they conflict with advice by 
 which we are bound, and which we cannot do other- 
 wise than accept ; or in other words, when under 
 the influence of a counter and irresistible decree of 
 a Yearly Meeting's Committee. It also destroys 
 the benefit of an appeal, for if a member be disov^jn- 
 ed by a Monthly Meeting acting under such advice, 
 and appeals, he stands no chance for obtaining re- 
 dress, for he appeals to the very body by whose au- 
 thority he was disowned in the first instance. These 
 considerations he said had rested with increased 
 weight upon his mind during the present sitting. 
 
 Moses Farnum said he had hoped the committee 
 would not now be censured, having acted accord- 
 ing to the best of their judgment. 
 
 The friend who had last spoken, replied he had 
 not questioned the motives of the friend, and had 
 not intended to, but that he had been led to fear from 
 what he had seen, as well as what that friend had 
 said, that there was danger of a regard for the Dis- 
 
EXPOSITION. 109 
 
 cipline becoming lessened if not lost. Several others 
 now spoke in succession, expressing sympathy with 
 those who felt themselves aggrieved, exhorting them 
 to quietness and acquiesence, saying they felt much 
 for them, &c. &c. When these had ceased,, the 
 meeting concluded. 
 
 At Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting in the 8th 
 month, 1843, a committee of nine was appointed in 
 the case of John Wilbur's appeal, and an attempt 
 was made to appoint members of the Yearly Meet- 
 ing's Committee. This was opposed, on the groi^nd 
 that they had already prejudged the case, and some 
 of them, several titaes over ; it was relinquished. 
 But a proposition that none should be appointed 
 who were not in unity with "the body," was adopt- 
 ed and acted upon. The name of a friend who had 
 taken no active part in the case, was refused, mere- 
 ly because he was known to disapprove of some of 
 the proceedings of the Quarterly Meeting. 
 
 ,0n asking for J. W. the privilege of objecting to 
 a part of the committee, if he should desire it, agree- 
 able to discipline, in cases of detraction, and a usage 
 in air cases ; one of the Yearly Meeting's Committee 
 took the ground, that the complaint against J. W. 
 was not for detraction ; that if the word detraction 
 was in the complaint, it was incidental, and as to 
 usage, it was of no consequence — the meeting could 
 do as it pleased ! ! It was decided that J. W. could 
 not be allowed to object to any of the committee, 
 unless the committee of Greenwich Monthly Meet- 
 ing were allowed to object to an equal number, for 
 which no provision is made in the New England 
 Discipline. In the discussion of this question, as 
 many opposed this decision as favored it ; and of 
 the latter the Yearly and Quarterly Meeting's Com- 
 mittees were the principal actors. 
 
 John Wilbur being called in, and plead for his 
 right of objection, both on ground of Discipline and 
 usage, but without effect, and finally said, if this 
 
110 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 was the conclusion of the meeting, he should not at- 
 tempt to exercise the right of objection, as it would 
 be of no value. 
 
 The committee appointed at this time, proposed 
 to meet at Sommerset in tlje 11th month, at which 
 time J. W. attended, when the committee informed 
 him they had ascertained that one of their number 
 was named by a member of Greenwich Monthly 
 Meeting, which was not proper, and they could not 
 consent to proceed on that account. J. Wilbur told 
 them he came there [near fifty miles] prepared to 
 proceed, and was anxious to do so, and that he 
 would waive all objections on account of the irregu- 
 larity named, but they pressed the objection and ad- 
 journed to meet at Providence in the 2nd month, 
 1844. 
 
 At the Quarterly Meeting in the 11th month, 
 1843, it was stated that a member of the committee 
 on the appeal of J. W. had been improperly named 
 by a member of Greenwich Monthly Meeting, and 
 the clerk suggested that the same friend should be 
 named by one of his own Monthly Meeting, which 
 was done, and the committee stood as it did before. 
 This committee met at Providence previous to the 
 Quarterly Meeting held there in the second month 
 and gave J. W. a hearing.* 
 
 At that Quarterly Meeting six of the committee 
 reported in favor of confirming the judgment of 
 Greenwich Monthly Meeting, two signed a contra- 
 ry report, and one was not present. Both reports 
 were read. One of the Yearly Meeting's Commit- 
 tee was the first to unite with the report of the ma- , 
 jority ; he was followed by two others, who were 
 not only of the same committee, but also of Green- 
 
 * John Wilbur's defence before this committee, being substaa- 
 tially the same as before that appointed by the Yearly Meeting ; it 
 .is omitted here and will be fonnd in its proper place. 
 
EXPOSITION. Ill 
 
 wich Monthly Meeting ! Both very active in that 
 meeting in favor of J. W.'s disownment ! Being also 
 of the number of those who visited South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting so constantly, and who were be- 
 fore the committee of that meeting as prosecutors in 
 the same case. 
 
 On being reminded of the impropriety of this 
 proceeding, another of the Yearly Meeting's Com- 
 mittee, immediately united, and these four were all 
 signers of the complaint against J. Wilbur. Others 
 of the Yearly and Quarterly Meeting's Committee 
 followed, and not more than three or four are be- 
 lieved to have united with the majority report who 
 were not of these committees. Some united with 
 the other report, but the first was decided by the 
 clerk to be adopted, and he made a minute to that 
 effect. 
 
 It was enquired whether John Wilbur would be 
 allowed to come in and hear the conclusion ; this 
 enquiry being answered in the alErmative, he was 
 called in and the clerk read the report and the 
 minute adopting it. 
 
 J. W. informed the meeting that he considered 
 their decision not a rightful one, and that he wished 
 to appeal to the Yearly Meeting against the judg- 
 ment of this meeting. He then left the house. The 
 appointment of a committee to represent the Quar- 
 ter was referred to the next meeting. 
 
 This case being thus disposed of, the case of T. 
 P. N. was taken up, and a committee of three from 
 each Monthly Meeting, except his own, (Rhode 
 Island) was appointed to hear the parties.* 
 
 *Thecaseof T. P. N., by appeal from Ehode Island Monthly 
 Meeting, clearly originated in his decided and faithful opposition 
 to the unsound doctrines sought to be introduced among us, al- 
 though ostensibly based upon a frivolous and unfounded charge of 
 improper behaviour under the ministry of public friends. He is 
 an exemplary and consistent friend, and united with the Socdety 
 about seven or eight years ago. 
 
112 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 The names of three friends who were nominated 
 on this committee, were rejected on the ground that 
 they were not in unity with the doings rof the Yearly 
 and Quarterly Meetings. 
 
 The enquiry was made, whether the privilege of 
 coming in and objecting to any of the committee 
 would be accorded to the appellant, if he chose to 
 avail himself of it. After some discussion on this 
 question, in which the clerk said he was willing he 
 should come in and hear the names read, but not 
 that he should have the privilege of objection. T. 
 P. N. was called in, and the minute including the 
 names of the committee was read, after which he 
 enquired, whether he was to understand that he had 
 the right of objection to any of the committee, said 
 he did not intend to ask for any unusual privilege, 
 but only for such as he was entitled to by the disci- 
 pline and usage of the society. This led to some 
 further discussion, and the citing of former cases in 
 favor of allowing the right of objection, as well as 
 the decision of the clerk of the Yearly Meeting last 
 year, that it had in all cases, so far as he knew, been 
 the usage to allow objections. But both the usage 
 and the decision were positively denied by some of 
 the Yearly Meeting's Committee. 
 ^ The clerk said there was no 'discipline for it, and 
 J. M., one of the Yearly Meeting's Committee said, 
 he thought it would be best [or safest] to adhere 
 hereafter to the strict letter of the discipline, and to 
 begin now. The right of objection was not allowed, 
 and T. P. N. retired. 
 
 After he left, E. F., a friend of the late South 
 Kingston Monthly Meeting rose, and in an impres- 
 sive manner spoke in substance as follows : 
 
 " In view of the judgment of the meeting in the 
 two appeal cases which have been before it, — or 
 rather of the record made by the clerk as such, and 
 in view, and in review of what has transpired in 
 this Quarterly and Yearly Meeting, relating to the 
 
/ / 
 
 EXPOSITION. 118 
 
 affairs of Society for the past two years, I believe it 
 will be right for me to say something by way of 
 declaration of my innocency, and the innocency of 
 those friends with whom it has been my privilege to 
 act, touching the affairs of Society ; reluctant as I 
 feel, thus to allude to acts of my own, either sepa- 
 rately or in connection with my friends, but this at 
 present seems to be all that is left for us ; and I feel 
 the obligation to perform this duty to be the more 
 imperious in consequence of what has been so often 
 said of us. — I will not say abroad, behind our backs, 
 in the many unfounded reports that had gone out 
 against us from one end of the land to the other, 
 and from this side the Atlantic to the other, but it is 
 well known to most within the hearing of my voice, 
 that we had been repeatedly spoken of in our meet- 
 ings for discipline as being insubordinate, as being 
 disorderly, as being disturbers of the peace of the 
 church, as having no interest in Society, and de- 
 serving none of its privileges, as caring for nothing 
 but to pull down and destroy. These are some of 
 the epithets which have been applied to us un- 
 sparingly by those who occupy the high seats. I 
 have often thought we were treated either as though 
 we had no feelings or as though our feelings, and 
 our rights too, might be trampled upon with impu- 
 nity ; but permit me to tell you, friends, that we have 
 feelings as well as you, and how often those feelings 
 have been wounded, how often our hearts have bled 
 when those severe and unkind accusations have 
 been made against us, is known only to Him who 
 sees the secrets of every heart. And let no one 
 think that we have taken the ground we have from 
 a love of controversy, or for the gratification of our 
 own wills and inchnations ; neither have we taken 
 it inconsiderately or rashly, for I can truly say, 
 (and what I now say I am aware that I say not only 
 in the presence of the friends assembled, but in the 
 presence of Him before whom I expect to render 
 
114 NARKATIVE AND 
 
 my final account of all these things at a Tribunal 
 higher than those of earth, and heyond the bounds of 
 time — a tribunal towards which we are all rapidly 
 hastening, and before which every one of us must 
 soon appear.) Isay then, that a consideration of 
 these things has occupied the attention of my mind 
 in deep sohcitude and anxious thought beyond all 
 other subjects combined, and that not only when 
 assembled for the purpose of transacting the affairs 
 of Society, but when my hands have been engaged 
 in my lawful and daily avocations, and oft when my 
 head has been resting on my pillow in the silence of 
 the night, have I meditated on these things, and re- 
 viewed in the most serious manner the course which 
 I have pursued, nor have I ever been able to see 
 that I could pursue any other ; not that I have never 
 «rred in word or act, for this I am aware that I may 
 have done, but if so, I have the satisfaction of know- 
 ing that it was not wilful error ; and that the Searcher 
 of all hearts knows the sincerity of mine when I 
 say, that I have desired that I might do nothing to 
 injure the cause of truth. And I feel further to say, 
 that had I assented either directly or indirectly to 
 the course pursued by the Yearly Meeting's Com- 
 mittee, for efiecting their favorite purpose in South 
 Kingston Monthly Meeting, I did believe, and I do 
 believe, that I should have been verily guilty, and 
 that my peace would have departed from me, but 
 now I rejoice to say, that in these respects it remains 
 with me. Ah, friends, for peace of mind — peace of 
 mind the reward of conscious innocence and faith- 
 fulness. — This in the language of a pious writer is 
 the pearl of great price which rich men cannot buy, 
 which learning is oft times too proud to gather up, 
 but which the poor and despised of all, sometimes 
 seek and obtain y yea, and it is with me to add, and 
 which the oppr^sor in the might of his power, what- 
 ever else he may do, cannot prevent their receiving, 
 
sxpoaiTioN. 115 
 
 and when received, cannot take it from them. 
 Thanks be to the Father of Mercies that it is so."-' < 
 
 Soon after, this friend sat down the meeting closed. 
 
 At the time of the Quarterly Meeting at Green- 
 wich, in the fifth month, 1844 — E. F. was visited by 
 the overseers of Greenwich Monthly Meeting, and 
 taken under dealing, on account of these remarks — 
 and was afterwards disowned therefor. 
 
 In the treatment of the Committee of Greenwich 
 Monthly Meeting with him, they strongly contend- 
 ed that he had accused those who occupy the high 
 seats with spreading unfounded reports against 
 himself and his friends from one end of the land to 
 the other, &c. And when he gave them the sub- 
 stance of what he did say in writing, as now pub- 
 lished,* they still maintained that it would bear that 
 construction ! With what justice and for what pur- 
 pose the reader may be left to judge. 
 
 That those alluded to had accused him and those 
 acting with him as stated, with being insubordinate, 
 disorderly, disturbers of the peace, &c. — they did 
 not pretend to gainsay — for it could be easily cor- 
 roborated by many witnesses. 
 
 At the Quarterly Meeting in the 5th month, 1844, 
 the committee in the case of T. P. N. reported in 
 confirmation of the judgment of the Monthly Meet- 
 ing, which being adopted, he informed the Quarterly 
 Meeting that he should appeal to the Yearly Meet- 
 ing, and a committee was appointed to represent 
 the Quarter therein. 
 
 * The foregoing remarks in the Quarterly Meeting were commit- 
 ted to writing immediately after the meeting, by the Friend who 
 made them, from an apprehension, that a wrong version of what 
 was said might be given and insisted on ; as had been previously 
 done in some other cases, which apprehension the sequel justified. 
 They were submitted to the examination of other Friends who were 
 present, and are believed to be substantially correct, and nearly in 
 the words spoken. 
 
116 NAEEATIVE AND 
 
 At New England Yearly Meeting, held on Rhode 
 Island, 6th month, 1844, the account fi-om Rhode 
 Island Quarterly Meeting brought to view the ap- 
 peals of John Wilbur and T. P. N. against the con- 
 clusion of that meeting in confirming the judgment 
 of Greenwich and Rhode Island Monthly Meetings 
 in disowning them. A committee of twentyrone 
 was appointed, to which hoth these cases were re- 
 ferred. In the appointment of this committee, the 
 meeting decided that members of the Standing 
 Committee of the Yearly Meeting, who had hereto- 
 fore been engaged in the case of J. W. — and those 
 Friends who constituted the" committee appointed 
 last year, on the appeal of South Kingston Monthly 
 Meeting, (the two cases being nearly similar) should 
 be excluded. It was further proposed that those 
 who had openly expressed themselves opposed to the 
 proceedings of the Yearly Meeting should also be ex- 
 cluded. 
 
 To this proposition it was objected, that it would 
 be making an improper distinction, inasmuch as in 
 a case of so much importance and interest, it was 
 probable that most of the members had expressed 
 themselves either for or against — and if those of one 
 class were to be excluded, those of the other should 
 be also ; and further, it was feared that this course 
 might tend to trammel the committee. The meeting, 
 however, decided in favor of the proposition, and 
 when a name was offered, supposed to be of the 
 class alluded to therein, it was rejected. 
 
 The right was asked for the appellants to be pre- 
 sent and object to a portion of the committee, should 
 they desire it, in cfonformity with the discipline and 
 usages of the society. This gave rise to consider- 
 able discussion, and views of an opposite character 
 were expressed. The clerk said that in our disci- 
 pline, under the head of Appeals, nothing is said of 
 this right, but under the head of Defamation and 
 Detraction, the right is allowed, provided it do not 
 
EXPOSITION. 117 
 
 extend to the major part of the committee. He said 
 if we should turn from our own discipline to those 
 of other Yearly Meetings, we should find different 
 provisions in regard to the right of objection. 
 
 To this it was replied, that the decision of the 
 Yearly Meeting last year, in the case of the appeal 
 of South Kingston Monthly Meeting, was undoubt- 
 edly correct, that we must he governed by our own 
 discipline, and further that the clerk stated last year 
 , that in cases of Defamation and Detraction the right 
 of objection is allowed by liie discipline, and that 
 it had been the usage in all other cases ; and that one 
 of the principal charges against J. W. is detraction. 
 
 The meeting finally decided that the appellants 
 might state their objections, if they desired, and the 
 meeting would take them into consideration, and 
 decide on their validity. This was objected to on 
 the ground that it would render the right of no 
 value, and that there was neither discipline nor 
 usage for it. 
 
 The appellants were separately called into the 
 meeting, and the privilege of objecting proffered to 
 them under this restriction. It was declined by 
 both. J. W. requested to be allowed some one to 
 assist him before the committee, as from his age and 
 infirmity it would be a hard task for him to per- 
 form the necessary labor. Many expressed them- 
 selves in favor of granting this request, but the 
 meeting decided against it. 
 
 The committee having completed the investiga- 
 tion of these cases, reported in favor of confirming 
 the judgment of the Quarterly Meeting in both ; 
 one of their number declining to sign the report in 
 the case of J. W. 
 
 The reports were adopted by the meeting. 
 
 John Wilbur, desiring to be present to hear the 
 report of the committee in his case, and conclusion 
 of the meeting, was called in, and they were read 
 in his hearing. After sitting a short time in silence, 
 
118 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 he rose, and remarked in substance, that however 
 unjust he believed the decision to be, yet he should 
 entertain no hardness against any concerned in the 
 proceedings against him : that it was his desire that 
 none of our members should depart from the an- 
 cient principles or testimonies of the society, nor 
 suffer any innovation upon them ; these had been 
 dear to him from his youth up, and were still dear 
 to him : — he then withdrew. 
 
 The subject of more clearly defining and explain- 
 ing the discipline, in regard to the rights of individ- 
 uals and meetings, — the proper subordination of in- 
 ferior meetings, — the mode of proceeding in the 
 execution of the discipline, &c., was taken into 
 consideration by the meeting, and resulted in refer- 
 ring the subject to the Meeting for Sufferings, with 
 instructions for them to make such explanations, 
 alterations, and additions, as shall meet the concern 
 of the Yearly Meeting, and report next year. 
 
 Returning minutes for the ministers from other 
 Yearly Meetings, were prepared and adopted for 
 those in attendance, with the exception of one min- 
 ister from Ohio Yearly Meeting, — for whom none 
 was prepared. 
 
 (The certificate of this beloved and faithful gos- 
 pel minister, embraced a prospect of further reli- 
 gious service within our limits ; — but he was visited 
 by a deputation from the Yearly Meeting's Com- 
 mittee, who informed him he could not travel here, 
 unless he would unite with their proceedings, and 
 refrain from associating with those known to be 
 dissatisfied therewith ; and advised him to return 
 without accomplishing his prospect !) 
 
EXPOSITION. 119 
 
 MONTHLY MEETINGS APPEAL. 
 
 Some account of the Proceedings of the Committee 
 of the Yearly Meeting on the Appeal. 
 
 The Committee of the New England Yearly- 
 Meeting on the Appeal of South Kingston Monthly- 
 Meeting, met at Ne-wport, 3d day, 13th of 6tn 
 month, 1843, and appointed John Milton Earle their 
 clerk — and notified the parties that they would 
 meet 4th day morning to hear the case. 
 
 Fourth day morning, committee met — and the 
 parties were present. Perez Peck, of the Quarterly 
 Meeting's Committee, said there was a person pre- 
 sent who was not a member of society, and that 
 they should object to any such sitting. Some one 
 said there appeared to be several members from 
 South Kingston there, who were not of the commit- 
 tee, and thought they ought not to be allowed to be 
 present. Perez Peck continued to object to John 
 Wilbur upon the ground that he was not a member 
 of society. The clerk said he thought it would be 
 proper first to decide whether any except members 
 of the committees should be present. He said he 
 had been enquired of, whether any besides the par- 
 ties immediately interested could be present — 
 whether the strangers now attending the Yearly 
 Meeting could be admitted. He had been unable 
 to give a decided answer to these enquiries — but 
 his own opinion was, that it would not be proper. 
 Several of the Committee from South Kingston re- 
 marked that they were not aware that any not of the 
 committee contemplated attending — and thought as 
 there was objection to it, they would be willing to 
 withdraw ; and they did so accordingly. 
 
 The propriety of J. Wilbur's sitting was now 
 further discussed — South Kingston Friends taking 
 the ground that this was not a question proper to 
 
120 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 be raised here — that J. W. came before this com- 
 mitte with as good credentials as any of the others, 
 and they had no right to go back of these to look 
 for objections. It is claimed that the Quarterly 
 Meeting had placed J. W. under dealing, at the 
 same time they dissolved South Kingston Monthly 
 Meeting, — that Greenwich Monthly Meeting have 
 since disowned him, and that this disqualifies him 
 from appearing here onbehalf of the Monthly Meet- 
 ing, as an appellant — upon the same principle all 
 the other members of the committee on the appeal 
 might have been disowned, and thus the right of ap- 
 peal, secured by discipline, would be defeated alto- 
 gether — besides, this appeal is against the action of 
 the Quarterly Meeting annulling our records, and 
 thus placing one of our members under dealing who 
 had been acquitted by his own Monthly Meeting, 
 and for which proceeding no discipline could be 
 produced — that J. Wilbur's interest in this question 
 was perhaps greater than that of any one besides — 
 that all the proceedings in his case were involved in 
 this of the Monthly Meeting, and surely he could 
 not be debarred from appearing here as an appel- 
 lant. The Quarterly Meeting's Committee took the 
 ground that the decision of the Quarterly Meeting 
 must be binding until it was reversed by the Year- 
 ly Meeting. Having heard the parties on this 
 question — the committee requested them to with- 
 draw while they came to a conclusion thereon. Af- 
 ter being by themselves for upwards of an hour, 
 the committee called the parties in, and the clerk 
 stated that they decided at present to allow all to 
 sit who appeared by the record to be of the com- 
 mittee. But if the Quarterly Meeting's Committee 
 were still dissatisfied, and wished to raise the ques- 
 tion again, they could have the privilege of intro- 
 ducing further proof from the records, of this 
 Friend's disqualification. The appeal was now 
 read, and the appellants were then asked to pro- 
 
EXPOSITION. 121 
 
 ceed — when a member of the committee, on behalf 
 of the Monthly Meeting, commented upon the great 
 importance of the case, and the necessity of being 
 governed by the discipline in its decision. He had 
 understood the Yearly Meeting to have very fully 
 instructed the committee to that effect. He then 
 stated the order in which we proposed to proceed, 
 beginning with a history of the proceedings which 
 had taken place in South Kingston Monthly Meet- 
 ing, including the conduct of the Yearly Meeting's 
 Committee, &c. This was objected to by the 
 Quarterly Meeting's Committee, and the clerk said 
 he did not see what relation these matters had to 
 the case 4 if it could be proved that the Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee had done wrong, it would not 
 show that the proceedings of the Quarterly Meeting 
 had been in violation of the discipline; it seemed to 
 him proper that the investigation should be confined 
 to the evidence of the violation of the discipline, as 
 claimed in the appeal. It was replied, that the 
 Monthly Meeting appealed against the dissolution 
 as not warranted by any of its proceedings, as well 
 as against the manner of it. That the Monthly 
 Meeting was charged with disorder, insubordina- 
 tion and want of unity, and these were claimed to 
 justify the dissolution. They therefore claimed the 
 right to show what the Monthly Meeting had done, 
 as well as the proceedings of the Yearly Meeting's 
 Committee therein, upon whose complaint the Quar- 
 terly Meeting had taken the matter up — and be- 
 sides that, such a statement of facts as we proposed 
 to make, in the order of time as they transpired, was 
 best calculated to give the committee a correct 
 idea of the ease, and they would be much better 
 prepared to comprehend and appreciate, whatever 
 might be afterwards said in relation to it. 
 
 It was a mere statement of facts, what was said 
 and done, without comment — and if any thing there- 
 in was elaimed to be incorrect by the Quarterly 
 6 
 
122 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 Meeting's Committee, we wished them to note it 
 down as the reading progressed, and for which 
 time would be allowed — and at the close we would 
 take up all such contested points, and canvass them, 
 and if necessary introduce proof thereon. That 
 they should remark fully upon the violation of the 
 discipUne, in the course of the investigation, but they 
 deemed it important that the committee should first 
 have a history of previous proceedings in the 
 Monthly Meeting, and Rhode Island Quarterly 
 Meeting, which had led to it. The clerk of the 
 committee said he thought this course naight be 
 
 S roper, in order to show that the dissolution of the 
 lonthly Meeting was not warranted (in the lan- 
 guage of the appeal) by any proceedings of theirs. 
 
 The Quarterly Meeting's Committee said if this 
 was allowed, they should not be willing any state- 
 ment should be made of what took place previous to 
 the appointment of the committee by the Quarterly 
 Meeting in the 8th month to attend South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting, for they only represented the 
 Quarterly Meeting, and that meeting had nothing to 
 do with the case previous to that time. It was re- 
 plied that the Quarterly Meeting's Committee, in 
 their written advice to South Kingston Monthly 
 Meeting, had condemned its proceedings as far 
 back as the 5th month, and the Quarterly Meeting 
 itself had unde^-taken to annul and make void those 
 proceedings-^and besides, the Quarterly Meeting 
 had taken the case up upon the report and complaint 
 of the Yearly Meeting's Committee, and therefore 
 the right was claimed to investigate the doings of 
 that committee. Pere?; Peck, on behalf of the Quar- 
 terly Meeting's Committee, said if this was to be al- 
 lowed, they should claim the privilege of having J. 
 Osborne, the clerk of the Yearly Meeting's Commits 
 tee, present, to correct any misstatements made re- 
 specting them. He had full minutes of their pro- 
 ceedings, and theywished to show what the opinion 
 
EXPOSITION. 123 
 
 of the Yearly Meeting's Committee was, respect- 
 ing that Monthly Meeting. A member of the Month- 
 ly Meeting's Committee said he trusted the opinions 
 of the Yearly Meeting's Committee would not be 
 received as evidence before this committee ; if any 
 facts were brought forward, they would no doubt 
 be allowed their weight, but with the opinions of 
 the Yearly Meeting's Committee we had nothing to 
 do. Some one of the Committee of South Kingston 
 said there were at least two members of the Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee, on this Committee of the 
 Quarterly Meeting, (Perez Peck and Allen Wing,) 
 who were among those who had visited South 
 Kingston Monthly Meeting, and they could no doubt 
 see that no injustice was done to that committee. 
 These members of the Yearly Meeting's Committee 
 said they did not appear there in the capacity of a 
 Yearly Meeting's Committee — they were there only 
 to represent the Quarterly Meeting. The Commit- 
 tee of South Kingston Monthly Meeting declared , 
 their willingness to have -J. Osborne present, if it 
 was wished ; expressing their desire to have the 
 fullest investigation. This being decided on, the 
 committee adjourned to meet in the afternoon. 4th 
 day, P. M., committee again met, John Osborne be- 
 ing present, when the Quarterly Meeting's Commit- 
 tee produced the records of South Kingston Month- 
 ly Meeting, and extracts from the minutes of the 
 Quarterly Meeting, and also of Greenwich Monthly 
 Meeting, to show that J. W. had.been complained 
 of by the Yearly Meeting's Committee, and that al- 
 though acquitted by South Kingston Monthly Meet- 
 ing, the Quarterly Meeting had annulled the pro- 
 ceedings by which it was done, and laid down that 
 Monthly Meeting, and that Greenwich Monthly 
 Meeting had since disowned him, upon the original 
 complaint, and the report of two of the committee 
 appointed in the 4th month, which only was recog- 
 nized as valid — that the other members of the com- 
 
124 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 mittee declined to meet with them, and that John 
 Wilbur, though requested to meet them, had. not 
 done so, &c. At the close of the reading of these 
 documents, J. W. said he felt called upon to notice 
 a misstatement contained in the minutes of Green- 
 wich Monthly Meeting : — it was there stated that 
 he - had been requested to meet with those two 
 members of the committee who had reported against 
 him. This was not so, they did not ask him to meet 
 them, he had the letter now which they wrote him, 
 which would show the contrary. The whole of 
 this sitting was occupied in the discussion of the 
 question of J. W.'s sitting, but nothing new either of 
 fact or argument was elicited. At the close of the 
 sitting, the committee were for a short time by 
 themselves in consultation, and then adjourned to 
 meet again in the. evening. On coming together 
 again the clerk of the committee informed the ap- 
 pellants that they might proceed with the case, and 
 being about to do so, Perez Peck interrupted them, 
 saying they had not yet had a decision on the ques- 
 tion discussed at the previous sitting. The clerk 
 replied that they had concluded to allow J. W. to 
 sit, if he chose to do so. Perez Peck said, that be- 
 ing the case, he must request an adjournment until 
 next morning, in order to consult other members of 
 the Quarterly Meeting — as he was sure they would 
 not be satisfied to proceed under this decision. The 
 clerk said that he hoped this question would not 
 have been further urged by the Quarterly Meet- 
 ing's Committee, as it seemed to him to be unimpor- 
 tant. The presence of this Friend could do no 
 harm — and as to precedent, (about which much had 
 been said by the Quarterly Meeting's Committee,) 
 it was not probable a like case would soon if ever 
 occur — and no minutes of the trial would be kept. 
 Stephen Jones, jr., one of the committee on the ap- 
 peal, said, " that he was sorry that the Quarterly 
 Meeting's Committee should continue to press this 
 
EXPOSITION. 125 
 
 matter in the manner they did, and thug consume 
 the time, "which ought to be occupied in investiga- 
 ting the merits of the case, — he had hoped all would 
 acquiesce in the decision of the committee, and we 
 might proceed at once to the merits of the case, — if 
 time was thus to be taken up, in settling preliminary 
 and unimportant questions, there would not be time 
 to go through with the investigation without detain- 
 ing the Yearly Meeting. Several of the Quarterly 
 Meeting's Committee had said that individually 
 they cared little about this question, but only ob- 
 jected on account oi precedent. He said he did not 
 apprehend much from this, as it was hardly proba- 
 ble another case like this would happen in the life- 
 time of any of us, and as no record of this matter 
 would be kept, he did not think future generations 
 would be much troubled by our decision of this 
 question." One of the Monthly Meeting's Commit- 
 tee said that they were very desirous to proceed 
 with the case — ^that much time would be necessary 
 to a full hearing of it. One whole day had now 
 been consumed with this question, and they feared 
 others would arise which would defeat our having 
 a fair hearing — that the Committees of the Quarter- 
 terly and Yearly Meetings, had often urged upon 
 us the duty of subordination to superior bodies, and 
 by their own rule they were now bound to acquiesce, 
 especially as it was not a very important question. 
 If, however, we could be assured that we should 
 have an opportunity for a full and patient hearing, 
 we had no disposition to oppose any indulgence to 
 the Quarterly Meeting's Committee which the com- 
 mittee on the appeal were disposed to grant. W. 
 A. Robinson said he understood the clerk to say the 
 decision of the committee was, J. W. might sit, " if 
 he chose to" — he wished he would state, whether, 
 the decision was that he had a right to sit, or that 
 he might do so as a matter of indulgence. The 
 clerk made no reply to the question. Arnold Cong- 
 
126 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 don said he hoped the committee would adjourn, it' 
 was much more important that this case should he 
 decided right, than the time when ; it would be better 
 even to allow it to go to another Yearly Meeting, than 
 any thing wrong should he done. One of the Month- 
 ly Meeting Committee, said that would be a very 
 great wrong-^— it would be, injustice to the Monthly 
 Meeting, and subject them to Very great inconve- 
 nience, and it was hardly to be expected that this 
 committee of twenty men would all meet here again 
 next year. W. A. Robinson said he did not wish 
 to press his question, but as he thought an answer 
 to it might settle this difficulty, he would like to have 
 the clerk say whether the committee intended to 
 decide that J. W. had a right to sit, or was allowed 
 to as an indulgence granted him. The clerk replied 
 that he did not know" as he had any other answer 
 to give, than what he had already given as the de- 
 cision of the committee. Tobias Header, one of the 
 committee, said he considered it merely as an in- 
 dulgence, and so said one or two more. Another 
 of the committee said he did not consider there had 
 been any decision come to, the last time they had 
 taken it up-^others made explanations of their 
 views, &c. One of the Monthly Meeting's Com- 
 mittee said we could have no other means of ascer- 
 taining what was the decision of the committee than 
 what was given ty its clerk as such. The clerk had 
 stated what vyas the decision of the committee. We 
 of course considered him the organ of the commit- 
 tee. The clerk said he did not intend to have done 
 more than he had in giving the decision of the com- 
 mittee, he thought that sufficient — but as the views 
 of different members of the committee had been so 
 much expressed, he now felt it proper to state that 
 the committee appeared to come to the conclusion 
 they did with various views, — perhaps no three or 
 four of them would agree as to the reasons for it; 
 
EXPOSITION. 127 
 
 but the decision he had stated was agreed upon, 
 and he believed he had given it correctly. 
 
 Several of the committee said, as the Quarterly 
 Meeting's Committee wished an adjournment, they 
 thought it best to adjourn. Stephen Jones, senior, 
 asked whether John Wilbur would not, for the sake 
 of accommodation, be willing to waive his right, and 
 withdraw ; he had ^aid in the morning that he did 
 not regard his presence of much importance to the 
 management of the case. The clerk said if the 
 committee adjourned now, they would be obliged 
 to sit while the Yearly Meeting was sitting, or else 
 the Yearly Meeting must be detained. He was 
 now satisfied that this case was of such importance 
 as to justify them in making all other engagements 
 subordinate to it. He should be sorry to lose any 
 of the sittings of the Yearly Meeting, and he had 
 hoped he should not be obliged to — but he was in 
 favor of taking time to hear this case. Several of 
 the committee united in this view, and it was agreed 
 to meet to-morrow, 5th day morning, at half-past 
 10 o'clock. — (There being a select meeting at an 
 earlier hour, and some of the committee members. 
 The committee also concluded to ask leave of the 
 Yearly Meeting to sit during the sittings of the 
 meeting — several of the members of the committee 
 being representatives.) 
 
 5th day morning, again met — John Wilbur not 
 present, having concluded to attend the public 
 meeting. The clerk requested the appellants to 
 proceed with the case. And they commenced read- 
 ing a statement of facts, embracing the substance of 
 what was said and done in South Kingston Month- 
 ly Meeting, and Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting, 
 having relation to this case, from the 4th month to 
 the 11th inclusive, 1842, and also some portion of 
 the minutes of the committee in the case of J. Wil- 
 bur ; all given in the order of time as they occurred. 
 At this sitting the reading was proceeded with as 
 
128 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 far as the Monthly Meeting in the 8th month. When 
 that part was read relative to the attempt of R. G. 
 and T. A., prematurely to break up the meeting at 
 Hopkinton in the 8th month, Perez Peck said he 
 wanted it to be imderstood that those Friends did 
 not acknowledge that. The Monthly Meeting's 
 Committee replied, they were willing to admit they 
 did not, but that matter would be gone into at the 
 proper time — that they had full proof of it. The 
 committee adjourned to meet at 2 o'clock, P. M. 
 
 The reading was resumed and concluded at this 
 sitting, after which the appellants laid down twelve 
 principal positions which they intended to establish, 
 and upon which they should rest their case. These 
 were reduced to writing, and at the request of the 
 clerk afterwards placed in his hands. The commit- 
 tee then adjourned to meet again at the rising of the 
 P. M. sitting of the Yearly Meeting. 
 
 6 o'clock, P. M., again met. The appellants said 
 they were now through with their statements of 
 facts, and supposed the regular order of proceeding 
 would be for the Quarterly Meeting's Committee to 
 go forward with their part of the case, and when 
 they were through, for the Monthly Meeting's Com- 
 mittee to make their closing plea. Perez Peck ob- 
 jected, saying that courts of law made use of these 
 terms, of opening and closing, &c., he hoped they 
 would not be introduced here. They should want 
 the privilege of replying to the Monthly Meeting's 
 Committee. The clerk said that he supposed the 
 next thing in order would be for the Quarterly 
 Meeting's Committee to say how far they were 
 wilhng to admit the statement of facts as given by 
 the appellants to be true. 
 
 The Quarterly Meeting's Committee raised no 
 specific objections to the statement of facts, but J. 
 Metcalf said he supposed there were several things 
 they ^should not exactly admit — he thought some 
 things were represented in a different light from 
 
EXPOSITION. 129 
 
 what they should be — that a coloring was given 
 them calculated to produce wrong impressions. 
 The Quarterly Meeting's Committee now com- 
 menced by calling upon John Osborne to read his 
 minutes of the proceedings of South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting, and of the Yearly Meeting's 
 Committee, relating thereto. These minutes con- 
 tained few specific accusations, and none against 
 the meeting, as such, other than it did not accede 
 to the advice of the Yearly and Quarterly Meet- 
 ing's Committees. A few expressions of individual 
 members were brought forward as evidence of the 
 bad condition of the meeting, and many assertions 
 unsupported by any proof, of the turbulence and 
 confusion of the meetings in the transaction of the 
 business, laboring to lower the character and stand- 
 ing of the members, representing them as destitute 
 of religious weight of character, &c. But said that 
 amid these scenes of turbulence and excitement, the 
 committee could but notice with satisfaction the 
 quiet conduct and orderly deportment of that por- 
 tion of the members who disapproved of the proceed- 
 ings of the meeting, affording evidence that the true 
 seed there was by no means extinct, though under op- 
 pression ! 
 
 During the reading, some of the Monthly Meet- 
 ing's Committee took notes of such passages as they 
 thought would require notice, which at a subse- 
 quent sitting were commented on at some length. 
 The committee adjourned to meet again at 8 o'clock 
 in the evening. On coming together, Arnold Cong- 
 don commenced by commenting on the authority 
 and powers of the Yearly Meeting's Committee. He 
 said every conclusion of the Yearly Meeting is dis- 
 cipline, just as much so as if it was printed in the 
 book. To illustrate his meaning he referred to the 
 document on doctrines read the day before, where 
 it is said that those wanting religious weight of cha- 
 racter, ought not to direct in meetings for discipline. 
 6* 
 
130 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 He said that was now discipline, and as binding as 
 any former discipline, — that the Yearly' Meeting's 
 Committee being appointed directly by the Yearly 
 Meeting, any advice coming from them had all the 
 authority of discipline. He then undertook to ex- 
 plain the discipline relative to laying down a Month- 
 ly Meeting. In reading this paragraph he strongly 
 emphasised the words ought to submit, saying that 
 present submission was the duty of the Monthly 
 Meeting — ^they should conform to the judgment of 
 the Quarterly Meeting, and then appeaL He then 
 read the succeeding paragraph, saying, it gave the 
 Quarterly Meeting the right either to dissolve the 
 Monthly Meeting or to bring the matter before the 
 Yearly Meeting, — and the Quarterly Meeting had 
 concluded to dissolve the Monthly Meeting. He 
 said that the next paragraph was involved in some 
 obscurity, but he thought the Yearly Meeting's 
 Committee would understand it as they did. It pro- 
 vides for the joining of the members to another 
 Monthly Meeting, and requires the Quarterly Meet- 
 ing to take care that no inconvenience thereby en- 
 sue to them concerning any branch of our discipline. 
 He said they had complied with this requirement, 
 by annexing the members to another Monthly 
 Meeting. They then proposed to read from the 
 discipline of Indiana and Baltimore Yearly Meet- 
 ings. This was objected to by the Monthly Meet- 
 ing's Committee, on the ground that the Yearly 
 Meeting had decided that the case must be tried by 
 the discipline of this Yearly Meeting, and the 
 Yearly Meeting's Committee decided against the 
 reading. J. Metcalf said that what they wanted to 
 read would show that the discipline of those Yearly 
 Meetings gave superior meetings the right to annul 
 records. They next proposed to read from Foster's 
 Reports. This was objected to on the same ground 
 as the former, and decided against by the commit- 
 tee. A. Congdon then said, that what they proposed 
 
EXPOSITION. 131 
 
 to yead was the testimony of Samuel Bettle, Thom^ 
 as Evans and Samuel Parsons, as to the general 
 usage of the society. Perez Peck said that he had 
 previously objected to the statement in regard to 
 the attempt to break up the Monthly Meeting at 
 Hopkinton, as not being admitted by those Friends, 
 and if insisted on he should introduce evidence 
 shovsring from what it originated. He said that one 
 of those Friends took hold of the other's arm, and 
 spoka to him on another subject, and this was un- 
 doubtedly what was seen ; he did not think we 
 meant to make a false statenient. Two of the 
 Monthly Meeting's Committee sard that was not 
 what they saw. They distinctly saw them shake 
 hands, and were prepared to prove it by six credi- 
 ble witnesses. P. Peck said he hoped wo would, 
 waive this matter — the persons implicated were not 
 present to defend themselves, &c. Several of the 
 Yearly Meeting's Committee also expressed a de- 
 sire that we would waive it. J. M. Earle said he 
 did not see that it had much bearing on the case if 
 we did prove it. 
 
 One of the Monthly Meeting's Committee said 
 that having introduced it, if we should leave it so, it 
 might be construed into an abandonment of the 
 ground we had taken, and thus operate against us. 
 If left so, he wanted an admission from the commit- 
 tee, that we vacated no ground we had taken, and 
 that the omission to read the proof should not be, 
 allowed to militate against us. It was stated by 
 another of the committee that they were prepared 
 to produce written testimony, proving most conclu- 
 sively the fact as here charged ; — they were wil- 
 ling, however, to leave the subject here, if there 
 was objection to going further into it, but it must be 
 distinctly understood that we have full proof of the 
 facts stated, and are ready to produce it. Moses 
 Farnum said he had no doubt but the committee of 
 the Monthly Meeting had the testimony they said 
 they had. 
 
132 NAREATIVE AND 
 
 With this statement and admission the subject 
 was left. The committee soon after adjourned. 
 
 Cth day, morning, committee again met. The 
 Quarterly Meetmg's Committee proceeded. Perez 
 Peck commented upon the Discipline relative to dis- 
 solving Monthly Meetings, — said the first paragraph 
 was not at all applicable to the case — that ojilj re- 
 lated to a case of difference in a Monthly Meeting ; 
 this was a difference between the Yearly Meeting's 
 Committee and a Monthly Meeting. In other re- 
 spects he talked about it much as Arnold Congdon did. 
 
 When the conmiittee of South Kingston Month- 
 ly Meeting were commenting upon the advice to 
 several of the members of South Kingston Select 
 Preparative Meeting, not to attend that meeting, 
 Beriah Collins said, by way of explanation,' that as 
 John Wilbur had been restored against the advice 
 of the Yearly and Quarterly Meeting's Committees, 
 they had advised him not to attend the select Meet- 
 ing. One of the Monthly Meeting's Committee en- 
 quired of Beriah, whether they advised any others 
 in the same manner, and if so, how many ? Beriah 
 replied with apparent reluctance, that they did so 
 advise all who supported John Wilbur. 
 
 One of the Monthly Meeting's Committee now 
 proceeded to comment on the power claimed for the 
 Yearly Meeting's Committee, and to trace the con- 
 sequences to which, if conceded by the Yearly 
 Meeting, it must lead. He showed it would concen- 
 trate all power in the hands of such committee, and 
 that as their authority is thus made paramount to 
 every thing else, all pretensions of a co-ordinate 
 branch of the Society to move in the transaction of 
 business under the guidance of the Head of the 
 Church must be vain and futile, that the right of 
 appeal would afford no protection to the appellant 
 against injustice or abuse of power, for an individual 
 appealing from the judgment of a Monthly ..Meeting 
 acting under the control of such a .committee. 
 
EXPOSITION. 133 
 
 would appeal to same body, at whose bidding he 
 was disowned in the first instance. If it be ar- 
 gued that such a committee, composed of minis- 
 ters, and elders, &c., would do no wrong, he 
 thought it would savor rather too strongly of the 
 Papal doctrine of the infallibility of the church, 
 with further remarks in illustration of these posi- 
 tions. He then proceeded to review such portion 
 of John Osborne's minutes as had been noted du- 
 ring the reading. Among other things he Said 
 he was surprised that J. Osborne should labor as 
 he had done in those minutes, to give the impression 
 to this committee, that three-fourths of the members 
 of South Kingston Monthly Meeting are devoid of 
 rehgious or even moral weight of character. But 
 what evidence had he adduced to sustain his posi- 
 tion? Surely nothing better than assertion. He 
 maintained that general charges and broad asser- 
 tions, unsupported by proof, ought to weigh nothing, 
 and he trusted would weigh nothing with this com- 
 mittee. That no charge had been brought against 
 the Monthly Meeting save that it had refused to take 
 the advice of the Yearly and Quarterly Meeting's 
 Committees, (which had been answered) and very 
 few specific charges against individual members, 
 and those related only to improper expressions said 
 to have been uttered by them in Monthly Meeting. 
 He said a meeting could not justly be held respon- 
 sible for the unguarded expressions of one or two of 
 its members, that aside from a few expressions of 
 two members of the South Kingston Monthly Meet- 
 ing, he believed the remarks of those who sustained 
 the course pursued by the Monthly Meeting were as 
 free from excitement and no more objectionable 
 than those of the Yearly Meeting's Committee. 
 John Osborne in order to strengthen his position 
 had highly extolled the small number in that Month- 
 ly Meetmg who sustained the Yearly Meeting's 
 Committee, representing them as the seed,&c. He 
 
134 NAREATIVE AND 
 
 said he could name from those who sustained the 
 Monthly Meeting a larger number than the whole 
 of these who would not only outweigh them in point 
 of character, moral or religious, but whose charac- 
 ters had not been and he trusted could not be im- 
 peached, some of whom are now present, — does 
 their deportment here bespeak for them the charac- 
 ter which has been given them ? He left the com- 
 mittee to decide this question. As to the minority 
 who had been so highly eulogized, he was not dis- 
 posed to do them the least injustice, but thought 
 they would by no means bear the exalted character 
 which had been awarded to them, for he believed it 
 must be admitted by all who were acquainted in 
 that Monthly Meeting, that some of them at least did 
 not stand remarkably high for religious weight of 
 character. J. Osborne had spoken of the great im- 
 probability of the clerk long remaining a member, 
 giving it as a reason for advising the former clerk to 
 retain the records ; he was greatly surprised at the 
 expression. What he had seen in Samuel Sheffield to 
 lead him to such a conclusion, he knew not, his charac- 
 ter as a man and as a Friend was above reproach, 
 he was a Friend in principle, and had acknowledged 
 it in the presence of the Yearly Meeting's Commit- 
 tee, and he was a consistent friend in practice, he 
 was then present sustaining, by his deportment, (as 
 he trusted) the character he had given him. Why 
 then the Yearly Meeting's Committee should come 
 to the conclusion that he would not long remain a 
 member, he could not conceive, unless they designed 
 to disown him, in the exercise of the high authority 
 they had assumed. 
 
 Another of the appellants followed with some ad- 
 ditional remarks and strictures upon John Osborne's 
 minutes. He remarked, in the first place, that in 
 his view, the minutes of John Osborne were not cal- 
 culated to give a correct impression of the state of 
 things in South Kingston Monthly Meeting. A 
 
EXPOSITION. 135 
 
 stranger, he said, having no other means of informa- 
 tion, would certainly get a very erroneous idea from 
 them. These minutes vpere of a very general and 
 indefinite character, specifying but little, whereas our 
 statement gave an account of what was said and 
 done, and iurnished, he thought, a much clearer and 
 more correct idea of the actual state of things. We 
 had taken down what could be recollected, and were 
 of course most likely to recollect expressions of an 
 improper character when they occurred, that we 
 were not disposed to say there had been none such — 
 it would have been strange indeed if there had not 
 been, considering all we had been obliged to pass 
 through, but' nothing of this kind had at all affected 
 any of the decision's of the meeting. In our state- 
 ment we had made no comment and expressed no 
 opinions, while J. O.'s minutes are very mucj;i an 
 expression of the opinions of the Yearly Meeting's 
 Committee. These minutes also gave a statement 
 from T. C. Collins, of his opinion of the condition of 
 the Monthly Meeting at the time the clerk was 
 changed, and this is adopted by the Yeai-Iy Meet- 
 ing's Committee. By this authority they say the 
 clerk was not removed by the sound and weighty 
 part of the meeting. He tells them that when he 
 left the table, he declared it as his judgment, it was 
 not the sense of the meeting that Samuel Sh^fEeld 
 should act as clerk. This he said was very improba- 
 ble, it was not recollected by any of the Monthly 
 Meeting's Committee, and he thought the fact of his 
 leaving the table, was a sufficient refutation of it. If 
 this was his judgment, then it was his duty to remain 
 at the table ; why did he leave it? Besides, it had 
 been acknowledged here by one of the Quarterly 
 Meeting's Committee, that T. C. Collins' excitement 
 and confusion of mind was such that he scarcely 
 knew what he did say at that time. J. M. Earle 
 said, you have the fact of his leaving, which seems 
 to me to be sufficient. 
 
136 NARBATIVE AND 
 
 The appellant continued : — ^the Yearly Meeting's 
 Committee say of the Monthly Meeting's Commit- 
 tee, in the case of J. W., that all their decisions 
 were approved by him. If by this they mean to 
 say there was any understanding between them and 
 John Wilbur about these decisions, we deny that it 
 was so, for the committee in every instance came 
 to its decisions without the presence or interference 
 of any other person. If J. W. was satisfied with 
 what we believed to be right, it was not our fault. 
 These decisions are recorded, and will show for 
 themselves whether they were uni'easonable. The 
 Yearly Meeting's Committee justify their refusal to 
 allow J. W. to have any one with him, before the 
 Monthly Meeting's Committee, by instancing the 
 former example of a larger body of the same Com- 
 mittee, who to the number of about thirty had an 
 interview with him, and did not then allow any to 
 be present, not even his wife. This was but an il- 
 lustration of the great injustice which had been prac- 
 ticed towards him. This committee can judge of 
 the character of such an act. -j The Discipline of the 
 Society provides that an accused person may have 
 the privilege of taking one or two with him, and 
 this right was then plead for by J. W., but denied. 
 
 One of the Quarterly Meeting's Committee here 
 said, that case did not come under this provision of 
 the Discipline ; no disciplinary proceedings had 
 then been had against J. W. It was rephed, that 
 in addition to the injustice of such denial, this only 
 proves that the authority cited by the Yearly Meet- 
 ing's Committee to justify them now, does not all 
 apply, — for J. W. was before the committee of 
 South Kingston Monthly Meeting, under disciplina- 
 ry proceedings. It was also said that John Osborne 
 in his minutes had given a version of the Monthly 
 Meeting's Committee's decision, as to the matter 
 which might be introduced by J. W. in his defence, 
 which was very erroneous ; that decision was given 
 
EXPOSITION. 137 
 
 in writing and will show for itself. John Osborne 
 was called upon again to read that portion of his 
 minutes relating to this decision. He then read from 
 his minutes, by which it appeared that the decision 
 was to allow J. W. to introduce any matter having, 
 in his opinion, any bearing on the case. 
 
 The decision, as recorded, was read, which al- 
 lowed John Wilbur " to introduce such evidence 
 and documents on these subjects (doctrines) as 
 shall appear essentially to relate to his defence." 
 It was remarked this was very short of allowing 
 him to introduce any matter he chose to ; this was 
 but one instance of the incorrectness of those minutes ; 
 in this case there can be no mistake, as the decision 
 of the committee was at the time given in writing. 
 
 It was stated in John Osborne's minutes, that at 
 the time of the investigation of the case of J. W. at 
 Hopkinton, one of the Monthly Meeting's Commit- 
 tee rose, and pointing to the door, said to the Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee, " there is the door, you can 
 go out or stay, as you please." An explanation 
 was made by one of the Monthly Meeting's Com- 
 mittee, of the circumstances under which something 
 hke this was said, by one of the committee. At the 
 time referred to, the Yearly Meeting's Committee 
 had for the third time threatened to leave the investi- 
 gation, unless the course pointed out by them was 
 pursued. In the first instance, after submitting to 
 the Monthly Meeting's Committee, whether J. W. 
 should have assistance, and it was decided without 
 a dissenting voice, that he might, they said, unless 
 this decision was reversed they should leave. Al- 
 though the committee could not do this, yet J. W. 
 consented to proceed without assistance ; after- 
 wards, upon the introduction of a pamphlet he was 
 charged with circulating, they again threatened to 
 leave if it was all read, instead of the extracts they 
 produced ; yet it was read, and they did not leave. 
 Afterwards J. W. proposed to enter upon his de- 
 
138 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 fence by introducing the matter of Doctrines, and 
 they again threatened to leave if this v^as allowed. 
 At this time it was that one of the committee used 
 the expression alluded to. Several of the other 
 members of the committee checked him, and ex- 
 pressed regret that he should have so spoken ; and 
 such an unguarded expression being condemned by 
 the committee at the time, they cannot be held re- 
 sponsible for it. 
 
 In John Osborne's minutes mention is made of 
 scenes of turbulence and confusion, clamor, &c. A 
 member of the Monthly Meeting's Committee said 
 he had never, at any time, witnessed so great a de- 
 gree of excitement and violent feelings on the part 
 of any members of the Monthly Meeting, as was 
 exhibited by one of the Yearly Meeting's Commit- 
 tee on the occasion above referred to. 
 
 The reading of the argument on the appeal, was 
 then commenced by the Monthly Meeting's Com- 
 mittee, in the early part of which was introduced an 
 extract from R. Barclay, containing general re- 
 marks on the administration of the Discipline, and 
 going to show that the basis of good and right gov- 
 ernment, is an adherence to the genuine doctrines 
 of the Society. 
 
 When the extract was about half read, Arnold 
 Congdon said he thought the reading of this extract 
 ought not to be allowed, as they had not been per- 
 mitted to quote authorities beyond our own Disci- 
 pline. It was replied, that this was not authority 
 on which the Monthly Meeting relied to sustain 
 their case, but general remarks on the administra- 
 tion of the Discipline, thrown in as an introduction 
 to their appeal ; but if the Yearly Meeting's Com- 
 mittee thought it improper, they would not read the 
 residue. One or two others of the Monthly Meet- 
 ing's Committee said they were willing to dispense 
 with the remainder if it was thought best. The 
 clerk said he had anticipated this objection, but 
 
EXPOSITION. 139 
 
 thought himself there was a distinction between re- 
 ferring to authorities to substantiate particular posi- 
 tions, and general remarks hke these ; he thought, 
 as the reading had continued thus far, it had better 
 be concluded. Two or three others expressed 
 themselves to the same effect. The reading then 
 proceeded without further interruption, and con- 
 cluded about 12 o'clock. 
 
 Some remarks and explanations of minor impor- 
 tance having been made, both parties here rested 
 the case, and the committee adjourned to meet 
 again at 2 o'clock, P. M., at which hour they met, 
 and continued together until 7 o'clock, when, not 
 being ready to report, and the Yearly Meeting hav- 
 ing adjourned to meet at 8 o'clock seventh day, 
 morning, the committee also adjourned to an earlier 
 hour. 
 
 At the gathering of the Yearly Meeting, 7th day 
 morning, the committee being through, attended 
 and presented two reports, one signed by thirteen 
 of their number, in favor of confirming ; the other 
 signed by six of them, in favor of reversing the 
 judgment of the Quarterly Meeting. 
 
 Two of the committee did not sign either report. 
 That signed by the thirteen was adopted by the 
 Yearly Meeting. 
 
 APPEAL OF SOUTH KINGSTON MONTHLY MEETING. 
 
 The following positions, which the Monthly Meet- 
 ing's Committee proposed to established, were re- 
 duced to writing at the request of the clerk of the 
 committee on the Appeal, after the investigation 
 commenced, and placed in his hands. 
 
 It is proper here to state in addition to the follow- 
 ing argument in defence of the Monthly Meeting, 
 there was read a statement embracing a particular 
 account of what was said and done in the various 
 meetings and Committees in relation to the case, 
 
140 - NAKEATIVE AND 
 
 and that whatever is not brought to view in the ar- 
 gument, was fully shown by the facts contained in 
 that statenient. 
 
 (For the document of Appeal, signed by the 
 clerk, and also by individual members, see preced- 
 ing Narrative, page 93.) 
 
 The appellants intend to estabUsh the following 
 positions : 
 
 First, that in the manner of bringing and urging 
 the complaint against John- Wilbur by the Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee, in the 4th month, 1842, they 
 disregarded the proper business and labor of over- 
 seers and Preparative Meetings, as well as the plain 
 order of proceedings laid down in our Discipline 
 
 •(founded upon the precepts of the Saviour) in re- 
 gard to detraction, a prominent feature in that com- 
 plaint, and very improperly threatened if the Month- 
 ly Meeting did not comply with their requirement 
 for immediate proceedings, to complain of it to the 
 Quarterly Meeting. 
 
 _ Second, that they interfered with the rights of the 
 Monthly Meeting in the election of its officers, by 
 attempting to remove its rightful clerk from the 
 table, and to place another person there in. his 
 room. 
 
 Third, that both the Yearly and Quarterly Meet- 
 ing's Committees have interfered with our right of 
 property, having withheld and even taken away 
 from us our records before the Monthly Meeting 
 was dissolved, or in any form compatible with the 
 Discipline, deprived of any of its rightiul authority. 
 Fourth, that they, the Yearly Meeting's Commit- 
 
 • tee, charged South Kingston Monthly Meeting with 
 an intention to eflFect a separation in Society, with- 
 out evidence and against the fact. 
 
 —-Fifth, that they themselves gave their counte- 
 nance and encouragement to the proposition of a 
 disaffected member for a division in our Monthly 
 Meeting. 
 
EXPOSITION. 141 
 
 — -Sixth, that two of the Yearly Meeting's Commit- 
 tee attempted to break up our Monthly Meeting in 
 the 8th month,-while the report in John Wilbur's 
 case was yet in the women's meeting, and other 
 business remained upon the table ; that this was 
 afterwards denied by them, but fully proved to be 
 true. ■— V"'' 
 
 Seventh, that the Yearly Meeting's Committee 
 attempted to dictate to a committee of the Monthly 
 Meeting, the course of its proceedings in the inves- 
 tigation of a case submitted to it by the Monthly 
 Meeting, a case too, in which themselves were par- 
 ties, and failing in this attempt they precipitately 
 left, while the trial was still in progress, taking with 
 them all the papers and documents which they had- 
 introduced to sustain their charges. 
 
 Eighth, that the Quarterly Meeting's Committee 
 assumed the right to cancel our proceedings and re- 
 cords at pleasure, and to sit in judgment upon a 
 case which the Yearly Meeting's Committee had 
 brought to South Kingston Monthly Meeting for its 
 decision, and which properly appertained to it alone 
 in that stage of the proceedings. And they further 
 ventured to attempt a division in our select meeting 
 by advising one half of its members not to attend 
 that meeting. 
 
 Nuith, that the advice of the Quarterly Meeting's 
 Committee to the South Kingston Monthly Meet- 
 ing in the 10th month, 1842, is absurd and improper, 
 incompatible with the Discipline and the rights of 
 the Monthly Meeting and individuals. 
 
 Tenth, that the dissolution of the South Kings- 
 ton Monthly Meeting is against the Discipline, and 
 in violation of its plainest provisions, in the follow- 
 ing particulars, viz : — 
 
 [ 1st. We have not received the judgment of the 
 
 Quarterly Meeting in writing. 
 
 2d. We have not been allowed the right of ap- 
 peal against such judgment. 
 
142 NARRATIVE AND 
 
 3d. We have not been allowed the right of ap- 
 peal against the dissolution, according to the due 
 order of proceeding laid down in the Disciphne, be- 
 fore the annexation of our members to another 
 Monthly Meeting. 
 
 4th. In that there is no Discipline to warrant the 
 annulling of our records. 
 
 Eleventh, That the Quarterly Meeting has de- 
 liberately denied us all access to their records, in 
 violation of our rights, secured by Discipline, thus 
 as far as possible denying us information important 
 tons in conducting this appeal. — Even the minutes 
 of the Quarterly Meeting, decreeing the dissolution 
 of our Monthly Meeting, has been withheld from us. 
 
 Twelfth, that the proceedings against our Month- 
 ly Meeting throughout, were not on the ground al- 
 legedj or for the reasons assigned, but the measures 
 taken were for the purpose of disowning John Wil- 
 bur, and always directed to that object. 
 
 Argument on the Appeal to the Yearly Meeting, 
 sixth month, 1843, {by the Committee thereon ap- 
 pointed by South Kingston Monthly Meeting.) 
 
 If order and Discipline were needful in the days 
 of George Fox and his coteniporaries, for the due 
 administration of justice, and a correct management 
 of the affairs of Truth, by rules and regulations, in- 
 stituted, established and recorded, even in those 
 purer days of the Society, when the Divine will, 
 guidance and presence, were so remarkably known 
 and witnessed among them, how much more essen- 
 tial in this our day, under an obvious declension 
 from the Life and Power and Wisdom with which 
 they were endued, that the order and discipline 
 which they introduced, not merely for their own 
 times, but for the succeeding times, should be sus- 
 tained and scrupulously regarded, seeing the liabili- 
 ty of a departure which might take place under a 
 
EXPOSITION. 143 
 
 lapsed condition of the church in after times ; the 
 same as did occur and fall upon the Christian Church 
 in her early days ; to be as a hedge about her, lest 
 the same might again befall her with whom the 
 Lord was mindful to place his name to the latest 
 generations. 
 
 And inasmuch as the leaders of his people caus- 
 ed them to err in the primitive church, by lording 
 it over the heritage of God, making their own wills 
 and the authority with which they had vested 
 themselves, the supreme law of the church, George 
 Fox, from whose penetrating eye, things past, pre- 
 sent or to come, relative to the church, could scarce- 
 ly be concealed, who in order to avoid the like again, 
 labored with great assiduity and zeal, and as we 
 may well believe, under the dictates of best Wis- 
 dom, to guard and fortify the church as much as 
 might be, against the like as well as other depar- 
 tures or infringements upon her Rights, her Doc- 
 trines or her Discipline ; so that whosoever, whether 
 among the leaders, or among the people at large, 
 should unhappily be left to disregard, abuse or vio- 
 late that system of order, whether in the spirit or in 
 the letter of it, there should be plain and tangible 
 rules agreed upon by all, directing the course to be 
 taken, both in matters of the greater and smaller 
 consequences. 
 
 And Robert Barclay was not only a beholder of 
 that admirable order of Discipline and church gov- 
 ernment, suggested by George Fox, but a fellow- 
 helper in its furtherance and ultimate establishment. 
 In his treatise upon the subject he points out the 
 ground of union, and prescribes a remedy for such 
 defects as may occur in the body. The following 
 is extracted from the first volume of his works, be- 
 ginning on page 513. 
 
 After speaking of the papists and others placing 
 conscience in things that are absolutely wrong, goes 
 on, " now say we, being gathered together into the 
 
144 NAREATIVfi AND 
 
 belief of certain principles and doctrines without 
 any eonstr?.int or wordly respect, but by the mere 
 force of truth upon our understanding, and its power 
 and influence upon our hearts ; these principles and 
 doctrines, and the practices necessarily depending 
 upon them are, as it were, the terms that have 
 drawn us together, and the bond by which we be- 
 came centered into one body and fellowship, and 
 distinguished from others. Now, if any one or more 
 so engaged with us should arise to teach any other 
 doctrine, or doctrines, contrary to these which are 
 the grounds of our being one, who can deny but 
 the body hath power in such a case to declare, this 
 is not according to the truth we profess ; and there- 
 fore we pronounce such and such doctrines to be 
 wrong, with which we cannot have unity ; nor yet 
 any more spiritual fellowship with those that hold 
 them : and so such cut themselves off from being 
 members by dissolving the very bond by which 
 they were linked to the body. Now, this cannot 
 be accounted tyranny and oppression no more than 
 in a civil society, if one of the society shall contra- 
 dict one or more of the fundamental articles upon 
 which the society was contracted, it cannot be reck- 
 oned a breach or iniquity in the whole society to 
 declare, that such contradictors have done wrong, 
 and forfeited their right in that society ; in case, by 
 the original constitution, the nature of the contra- 
 diction implies such a forfeiture as usually it is, and 
 will no doubt hold in religious matters. As if a body 
 be gathered into one fellowship by the belief of 
 certain principles, he that comes to believe other- 
 wise naturally scattereth himself; for that the 
 -cause that gathered him is taken away, and so 
 those that abide constant in declaring the thing to 
 be so as it is, and in looking upon him and witness- 
 ing of liim to others (if need be) to be such, as he 
 has made himself, do him no injury. I shall make 
 the supposition in the general, and let every people 
 
EXPOSITION. 145 
 
 make the application to themselves, abstracting from 
 us, and then let conscience and reason in every im- 
 partial reader declare, whether or not it doth not 
 hold ? Suppose a people really gathered unto the 
 belief of the true and certain principles of the gos- 
 pel, if any of these people shall arise and contradict 
 any of these fundamental truths, whether has not 
 such as stand, good right to cast such an one out 
 from among-them, and to pronounce positively this 
 is contrary to the truth we profess and own, and 
 therefore ought to be resisted and not received, nor 
 yet he that asserts it as one of us? And is not this 
 obligatory upon all the members, seeing all are con- 
 cerned in the like care as to themselves to hold the 
 right and shut out the wrong ? I cannot tell if any 
 man of reason can well deny this, however, I shall 
 prove it next by the testimony of the Scriptures." 
 [Here he extracts Gal. 1:8. 1 Tim. 1 : 19, 20. 
 2 John 10.] And says, " These Scriptures ai'e so 
 plain and clear in .themselves as to this purpose, 
 that they need no great exposition to the unbiassed 
 and unprejudiced reader, for seeing it is so, that in 
 the true church there may men arise and speak per- 
 verse things contrary to the doctrine and gospel al- 
 ready received ; what is to be the place of those 
 that hold the pure and ancient truth? Must they 
 look upon these perverse men still as their brethren ? 
 Must they cherish them as fellow-members, or must 
 they judge, condemn and deny them 1 We must 
 not think the apostle wanted charity, who will have 
 them accursed ; and that gave Hymanseus and 
 Alexander over to satan after that they had de- 
 parted from the true faith, that they might learn not 
 to blaspheme. In short, if we must (as our oppo- 
 sers herein acknowledge) keep those that are come 
 to own the truth by the same means that they were 
 gathered and brought into it ; we must not cease to 
 be plain with them and tell them when they ai-e 
 wrong ; and by sound doctrine, both exhort and 
 7 
 
146 MONTHLY meeting's 
 
 convince gainsayers. If. the apostles- of Christ of 
 old, and the preachers of the everlasting gospel in 
 this day had told all people, however wrong they 
 found them in their faith and principles, our charity 
 and love is such we dare not'judge you, nor separate 
 from you ; hut let us all live in love together, and 
 everyone enjoy Ms own opinion, and all will he weU, 
 how should the nations have been ? Or what way 
 now can they be brought to truth and righteousness 1 
 Would not the devil love this doctrine well, by 
 which darkness and ignorance, error and confusion, 
 might still continue in the earth, unreproved and un- 
 condemned." Again, p. 554 : " That this infallible 
 judgment is only and unalterably annexed and seat- 
 ed in the power of God, not to any particular per- 
 son or persons, meeting or assembly, by virtue of 
 any settled ordination, bffice,-place or station, that 
 such may have, or have had in the church ; no man, 
 men or meeting* standing or being invested with 
 any authority in the church of Christ upon other 
 terms than so long as he or they abide in the living 
 sense and unity of the life in their own particu- 
 lars," &c. 
 
 And the ministration of these rules of Disciphne 
 which those who have gone before us laid down, 
 under the guidance and superintendency of His 
 spirit, who is the head of the church, is indeed one 
 of the greatest outward blessings that has been 
 vouchsafed to her, all along from the early days 
 of the Society of Friends to the present time. But 
 however good and wholesome this discipline is to the 
 body, yet if it should unhappily be wrested or per- 
 verted from its original intention, by unskilful or 
 unhallowed hands, it will scatter instead of gather- 
 ing, it will wound instead of healing, it will destroy 
 instead of restoring to life." 
 
 The appeal which is now offered for the conside- 
 ration and determination of the Yearly Meeting 
 from South Kingston Monthly Meeting, probably 
 
APPEAL. 147 
 
 involves the deepest interest, and most important 
 and serious consideration of any case that ha? ever 
 ocGu^ed in the Society in New England ; vsrithout 
 a precedent and without an example ; we trust, there- 
 fore that the Yearly Meeting or its committee, will 
 give it such patient and careful attention, as will 
 be commensurate with its importance. And we 
 think it pi-oper to state in the first place, that we are 
 not aware that South Kingston Monthly Meeting 
 has violated our discipline during the course of its 
 late proceedings, complained of by the committees, 
 although as has heretofore happened in many meet- 
 ings for discipline, in the discussion of subjects of 
 an exciteable cast, undesirable expressions have es- 
 caped some of those who have taken part therein ; 
 so with us, in the late very important transactions, 
 the manner of speaking has in a few instances been 
 undesirable, and which we regret, not effecting, 
 however, any decision. But we now inform the 
 committee on this appeal, that we feel ourselves ag- 
 grieved, and our rights, (delegated to us by the 
 Yearly Meeting,) as also the Discipline, to have 
 been violated, as we shall make appear in the fol- 
 lowing statement : First, by the Yearly Meeting's 
 Committee ; second, by the Quarterly Meeting's 
 Committee, and third, by the Quarterly Meeting,., 
 itself. 
 
 1st. By the Yearly Meeting's Committee the 
 rights of South Kingston Monthly Meeting and the 
 order of our Disciphne were violated by their com-t 
 pelling said Monthly Meeting to act immediately 
 upon their complaint against one of its members, 
 without suffering it to go first to the overseers, and 
 to come up to the Monthly Meeting through the 
 Preparative Meeting, agreeable to all the order of 
 disciplinary proceedings; and at the same time 
 threatened the Monthly Meeting, that if it did refer 
 it to the overseers, ajad thus avoid immediate action 
 upon it, by the appointment of a committee at that 
 
148 MONTHLY meeting's 
 
 time, that they would complain of South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting to the Quarterly Meeting ; averr- 
 ing that as they were appointed by the Yearly 
 Meeting, they were clothed with the authority of 
 the Yearly Meeting, and therefore had a right to 
 make this requirement of the Monthly Meeting, the 
 order of the society to the contrary notwithstanding, 
 a power which we conceive thfe Yearly Meeting it- 
 self has no right to exercise against its own order, 
 and especially when the rights of meetings or in- 
 dividuals are affected by it. Neither South Kings- 
 ton Monthly Meeting nor any of its members felt 
 a disposition to avoid a due examination of the case, 
 thinking it quite time that the reproaches which the 
 committee had. been, in a manner, publicly heap- 
 ing upon one of our members, should be wiped 
 away, if without cause, and if with just cause, an 
 early investigation was certainly needful — and the 
 Monthly Meeting were desirous of no more delay 
 than was requisite for regular proceedings, agree- 
 able to Discipline and usages of the Society. 
 
 2nd. The Yearly Meeting's Committee, soon af- 
 ter our last Yearly Meeting, attended South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting, and then and there made an ef- 
 fort to remove our clerk from the table for the pur- 
 pose of placing another person there, a measure 
 which they proposed under the profession of restor- 
 ing unity ; but they were told that the present clerk 
 was chosen but the month before, by the expression 
 of three-fourths of the meeting. And the commit- 
 tee was also reminded, , that it would seem to be a 
 very singular way of restoring unity, (if wanting,) 
 thus to remove a clerk who was appointed by three- 
 fourths of the meeting ; to displease three-fourths 
 of a meeting for the sake of pleasing one-fourth, 
 upon the plea of restoring unity, would be contra- 
 ry to the plainest dictates of reason. Moreover, 
 for a committee of a superior meeting to attempt 
 the removal of a good clerk from the table of a 
 
APPEAL. 149 
 
 subordinate meeting, in order to bring in one of their 
 own choice, would be a precedent, if yielded to, 
 tending to consequences diSstructive to the safety of 
 society. This proposition being closely pressed by 
 the committee, was considered by the Monthly 
 Meeting too great a depredation upon their rights, 
 to be acceded to, seeing that no good cause could 
 be assigned for it. — — 
 
 3rd. And a still greater depredation, upon both 
 the rights and property of South Kingston Monthly 
 Meeting was the frank acknowledgment of the com- 
 mittee in that Monthly Meeting, that they had ad- 
 ■vised the former clerk to withhold the books and 
 papers from it. And whilst speaking of this proper- 
 ty, we will mention, that a committee, subsequent- 
 ly appointed by the Quarterly Meeting, not only 
 gave the same advice to our former clerk, but ac- 
 tually came themselves, and without our leave, took 
 away our books and papers out of our limits, from a 
 constituted and legally authorised body and branch 
 of New England Yearly Meeting. And their plea 
 for this outrage was, that they were afraid of a sepa- 
 ration, but the sequel will show whether they and 
 their adherents, or we, were readiest for, or most 
 rightfully chargeable with an intention of a separa- 
 tion, whereby the fallacy of such a plea will appear, 
 unless indeed, they then intended themselves to bring 
 it about. But suppose a man should conclude to 
 dissolve fellowship with a society, or a community, 
 does that conclusion vest that society, or that com- 
 munity, with authority to seize on his property, and 
 to take it from him without his knowledge or liber- 
 ty? ! ! Can a man be found that will answer this 
 question in the affirmative ? And can a man be 
 found, who will say that any man, or body of men, 
 without incurring both guilt and dishonor, can come 
 into our enclosure and take away, without liberty, 
 books that we had purchased with our money, and 
 therein recorded our marriages and the births of 
 
150 JdONTHLY HSXTINg's 
 
 our children, and by subh evidence established the 
 certainty of those marriages, and consequently the 
 legitimacy of our children ? No ! nor have we any 
 conception hovp any maUj or body of men> scrupu- 
 lous of regarding even moral integrity, can sanction 
 such a procedure. '" , ~ 
 
 At the same time they lifijustly charged South 
 Kingston Monthly Meeting with doing its business 
 out of doors, which was not ttue, and theirefore could 
 not be proved. 
 
 4thi At the close of the business in South Kings- 
 ton Monthly Meeting in the 7th month last, W. S. 
 P., ofle of the members, devoted to the Yearly Meet- 
 ing's Committee, proposed that those who were in 
 unity with the Yearly Meeting and its committee, 
 and the proceedings of that cottimittee, should re- 
 main in the house, with which proposition T. C. G., 
 another member in like circumstances, expressed 
 unity, and proposed that the women should be in- 
 formed of it. With which proposition the Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee united, but a friend objected 
 to the proposition as looking like a plan for separa- 
 tion-^he was opposed to any scheme for a separa- 
 tion, and hoped the proposition would be rejected, 
 and several other friends spoke to the same effect, 
 approving of the stand that had been made against 
 this extraordinary proposition, &c. ; and it was said, 
 if we are about to commit ourselires, let it be to prin- 
 ciples, and not to men. And another friend said, he 
 was surprised at this attempt to draw lines of divi- 
 sion among us by the introduction of this extraordi- 
 nary test ; he considered it a very improper test, 
 and one which he thought ought neVer to be appli- 
 ed, — he could not conceal his surprise that the Year- 
 ly Meeting's Committee, professing to come to re- 
 store unity and harmony, should give this scheme 
 the countenance they had done — he viewed the 
 proposition as very objectionable, and hoped it 
 would not receive any encouragement from the 
 
APPEAL. 151 
 
 meeting. We were ready to say, that we had full 
 unity with the well known principles of friends, and 
 no more ought to be required. T. A., one of the 
 committee, said that a man might be entirely sound 
 in doctrine and yet be very far from being in unity 
 with the Yearly Meeting. — — 
 
 And more fully to show, that both the Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee and some of our members who 
 adhered to them, intended to bring about a separa- 
 tion, We need but notice, in addition to the above, 
 that when it was desired that the women's meeting 
 might be notified of the proposition, some one said, 
 that the women had risen. R. G., one of the Year- 
 ly Meeting's Committee, replied, " they can easily 
 be collected again." The same Friend had previ- 
 ously commended the proposition, because he said 
 W. S. P. made it in so weighty a manner. And 
 furthermore, during the discussion, when the propo- 
 sition was repeatedly spoken of as a scheme for a 
 separation, the committee did not disclaim it as such, 
 nor make any attempt to clear themselves from 
 such an intention. And moreover, T. C. C. after- 
 wards acknowledged, that his expectation was that 
 the proposition would result in a separation. And 
 W. S. P., who introduced the proposition, on being 
 asked if he anticipated that a separation would 
 thereby be effected, replied, " What use in remain- 
 ing together when so much disunity exists ?" 
 
 Here it seems necessary again to refer to their 
 reason, the month, before, for advising our former 
 clerk to refuse our books and papers, to wit, the ap- 
 prehension of a separation. When this reason was 
 rendered, the idea was entertained, that they sus- 
 pected the three-fourths, who thought best for Sam- 
 uel Sheffield to be clerk, would separate themselves 
 from the one-fourth, who favored T, C. C. for that 
 service ; groundless was that apprehension, as in 
 the sequel is abundantly pi-oved. Little did we then 
 think that their determination was such to choose 
 
162 MONTHLY meeting's 
 
 a clerk to South Kingston Monthly Meeting, as to 
 resort to such-a measure as this ; to divide asunder 
 a Monthly Meeting, and to take its property, and 
 give it to such as they should succeed in drawing 
 from it, although it might be but a fourth part. 
 Than which, if greater disorder was ever practiced 
 by a Committee of a Yearly Meeting, appointed to 
 promote unity, or if greater abuse was everinflicted 
 upon a Monthly Meeting and its rights, we must say 
 that we have never been made acquainted with it. 
 
 And our astonishment was greatly increased to 
 see, that even after they had had some days to re- 
 flect upon it, they should make complaint to the 
 Quarterly Meeting the following week, charging 
 South Kingston Monthly Meeting with disorder, a 
 want of unity, and insubordination ! ! As to disor- 
 der, the committee we are now addressing will be 
 able, from the foregoing, to judge to whom the 
 charge belongs. And as to unity, they will see who 
 it was that attempted a breach, so unlikely ever to 
 be healed, if that attempt had been successful. And 
 our insubordination consisted in our standing for our 
 rights which the discipline had dictated and guaran- 
 teed to us as a Monthly Meeting, in choosing our 
 officers. When the Yearly Meeting's Committee 
 complained of South Kingston Monthly Meeting for 
 disorder, insubordination, &c., no judgment, or de- 
 cision of the case, which they brought, had been 
 come to, it being yet in the hands of the committee 
 unreported to the Monthly Meeting. 
 
 6th. Divers overt acts of the Yearly Meeting's 
 Committee, manifest in their attempts to coerce 
 John Wilbur and the Committee of our Monthly 
 Meeting, when their case was on trial, to an unrea- 
 sonable conformity to their wishes, are proper in 
 this place to be noticed. They threatened to leave 
 on several occasions : 1st. If tihe Monthly Meeting's 
 Committee suffered J . W. to have any friend to as- 
 sist him ; 2d. If they admitted his request, to have 
 
APPEAL. 153 
 
 read the anonymous parhphlet, which they accused 
 him with spreading; 3d. They threatened to leave 
 if they allowed him the right of alluding to the doc- 
 trines of the society in his defence before the com- 
 mittee* Arid when the .committee decided that he 
 should be so heard, they did leave ; which was after 
 theyh^ stated the case, and plead on their part, 
 taking with'-vthem their own complaint, and papers, 
 including several which were essential for his exam- 
 ination, in making his defence : and were reprehen- 
 sible, as we think, (such of them as had offered 
 themselves as witnesses in the case under investi- 
 gation,) in refusing to answer questions that were 
 propounded to them, such as in the judgment of the 
 committee were proper in the case. 
 
 In remarking upon the argument of the Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee, that a recurrence to the doc- 
 trines of Friends was irrelevant to the case, it is 
 proper for us to state, that in their complaint they 
 had charged one of our members with circulating a 
 pamphlet which went to reproach our doctrines and 
 tended to clpse, up the way of a nrinister in this 
 country with a certificate, and with writing and cir- 
 culating letters which had the same tendency, *6ow 
 produced by themselves, which letters contained 
 his remarks upon, and extracts from the printed 
 doctrines of J. J. Gurney, the Friend alluded to. -■ 
 And John Wilbur made it appear that the Erst in- 
 timation ofthe committee's uneasiness with him, was 
 his writing letters to his friends ; and that those let- 
 ters, as now brought and' made to appear by the 
 Yearly Meeting's Committee themselves, had little 
 or no allusion to that author'spersonal character, but 
 rested upon his doctrines. And J. W. did then ^nd 
 there ask for an opportunity 'of showing that the 
 doctrines thus alludgd to, were the root and ground 
 of this difficulty ; and .were sp palpably at variance 
 with the fund^ental alid well known doctrines of 
 
 the- society, as tck wai'rant, and even to require, in 
 7* 
 
154 MONTHLY UEETING'a 
 
 conformity with our discipliiie, his applying^, in the 
 first place to the author, and subsequently, as that 
 labor proved iriefiectual, to inform divers ministers 
 and elders of his exercise relative to those objec- 
 tionable doctrines. And J. W. did call on the com- 
 mittee to prove that any proceedings of his, aside 
 from his recurrence to, and exposure of, the doc- 
 trines of J. J. Gurney, had any tendency to close 
 up his weLj, whilst travelling in this country vpith a 
 certificate, — as charge4 in the complaint, but 
 without success. And it is too obvious to admit of 
 dispute, that the Yearly Meeting's Committee did 
 come forward in a defence and support of J. J. G., 
 as clearly proved by their own document of com- 
 plaint against J. W., attested by their own signa- 
 tures, — hence they have thereby, as clearly identi- 
 fied themselves with his doctritfes as did the defend- 
 ers of Elias Hicks identify themselves with his doc- 
 trines ; and perhaps with about as much justice, 
 claim to hold to our original principles ; unless they 
 will yet redeem the time, and acquit themselves by 
 a formal and designate condemnation of such of his 
 sentiments -as are at variance with the doctrines of 
 Friends. Hence we can but see their unfairness, 
 not to say equivocation, in refusing to hear the case 
 argued in a doctrinal point of view. 
 
 The Quarterly Meeting having appointed a com- 
 mittee in the 8th month last, to join the Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee, and to render advice and as- 
 sistance, &c., they attended our ensuing Monthly 
 Meeting, when the report of our committee in the 
 well known case was to be acted upon, and there 
 claimed the right of being incorporated and embo- 
 died, and declared that they were incorporated and 
 embodied with the Monthly Meeting, in judging 
 upon such matters as should come before it ; and 
 even went further, and claimed the right' and pre- 
 rogative to dictate to the Monthly Meeting all its 
 proceedings, and even to abolish its recorded acts 
 
APPEAL. 153 
 
 for months past. But South Kingston Monthly- 
 Meeting saw things differently, under an apprehen- 
 sion that our disciphne makes Monthly Meetings the 
 sole judges of all complaints against their own mem- 
 bers, until appealed from to a superior meeting, and 
 did not admit the assumption of the Committee of 
 the Quarterly Meeting, as being thus incorporated 
 and clothed with such powers, knowing of no dis- 
 cipline, good reason, or former usage that would 
 justify or sustain such an assumption ; and least of 
 all, to abolish records of former proceedings. Fur- 
 thermore, this Committee of the Quarterly Meeting 
 for discipline assumed the right and authority of 
 dictation to the meeting of ministers and elders, and 
 exercised that right and authority, so far as to at- 
 tempt to divide asunder the select preparative meet- 
 ing of South Kingston, by gravely and earnestly 
 advising one half of its members not to attend it. 
 
 That such committees are and can be commission- 
 ed to advise and explain, will be agreed, but cannot 
 be clothed with judiciary powers, in a subordinate 
 meeting, because such, if attempted, would be an 
 infraction upon the plain and practical provisions of 
 our discipline, in the travel of cases from the lower 
 to the higher tribunal, wisely ordained for the avoid- 
 ing of all abuse or imposition, not only by us in our 
 excellent order of church government, but also of 
 the highest importance in the civil department of 
 proceedings amongst men. 
 
 Therefore, when such a committee has advised 
 and explained, there its mission terminates. If such 
 an interference be proposed for adoption, in points 
 purely judicial, or in the determination of alleged of- 
 fences, we would say, better far to constitute one 
 body the sole tribunal of all offences. And in con- 
 cluding this paragraph, we would notice an assump- 
 tion of the Yearly Meeting's Committee, viz., that 
 the Quarterly Meeting had disqualified from acting, 
 one of the committee appointed by South Kingston 
 
150 MONTHLY meeting's 
 
 Monthly Meeting on its appeal, by placing him un- 
 der dealing ! But we would ask, whence does the 
 Quarterly Meeting derive its authoiiity for placing 
 any member of Society under dealing ? If it can 
 place-one member of that committee, appointed to 
 prosecute an appeal against its own acts, under 
 dealing, and thereby disqualify him from attending 
 to the duties of his appointment, then, forsooth, it 
 can place every member of that committee under 
 dealing, and thus, of their, own power, foreclose an 
 investigation of their own proceedings ! 
 
 At South Kingston Monthly Meeting, held at 
 Hopkinton, 10th month, 1842, a few of the Quar- 
 terly Meeting's Committee attended, and presented 
 a document of advice, purporting to have been 
 drawn up at Hopkinton that morning, signed by 
 four out of a committee of fifteen, and will Be found 
 at page .' 
 
 And the' committee seemed disjlgsed to call on 
 the Monthly Meeting for immediate action on their 
 advice. But inasmuch as they informed the meet- 
 ing that all the committcj^ had not seen it, as was 
 indicated by the time and^lace of its execution, 
 and inasmuch, too, as it contaSrmd things altogether 
 new and unexampled, and of a sfeskjus and doubtful 
 nature, involving in its consideratiojaand decision, 
 as might be, the very existence oRihe Monthly 
 Meeting, it was therefore concluded to Dfe\referred, 
 and the committee were informed that the noting 
 felt itself unequal, at once to decide upon que^ti<}ns 
 of such magnitude without further consideratioiljs 
 and that it would therefore be referred for one 
 month. 
 
 This committee however reported to the Quarterly 
 Meeting, (which occurred on the week following,) 
 recommending a dissolution of South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting, and the annexation of its mem- 
 bers to Greenwich Monthly Meeting. 
 
APPEAL. 157 
 
 Review of a document presented to South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting by Rhode Island Quarterly 
 Meeting's Committee, dated 10th month 24:th, 
 1842, containing objections to the proceedings of 
 said Monthly Meeting, when held in the 5th and 
 8th months preceding, with their advice and re- 
 quirements that said Monthly Meeting should dis- 
 annul and reverse divers of their transactions and 
 conclusions therein.* 
 
 First, — They say, "that the placing of Samuel 
 Sheffield at the table to -act as clerk, was irregular 
 and disorderly, and by which the feelings and 
 views of many of its members were wholly disre- 
 garded." Replied to as follows : The number of 
 those Friends whose feelings and views they say 
 were wholly disregarded, was very small, at most 
 not a fourth part of those who spoke to the case. 
 And would it most harmonize with the committee's 
 views, in relation to regularity and order, for the 
 feelings and views of three-fourths of a meeting (and 
 that number containing the most weighty Friends,) 
 to be wholly disregarded, in order that those of 
 one-fourth should be sustained ? 
 
 If this committee had been present, they must 
 have seen that if there was any thing " irregular or 
 disorderly" in that transaction, it was chargeable 
 upon T. C. C, and those few who' supported him, 
 by their long resistance to the voice and general 
 sense of the meeting. 
 
 It had been the practice for some time in our 
 men's meeting, at the time for the appointment of 
 clerks and other officers, for the representatives of 
 the preparative meetings, to meet prfeviously and 
 propose names to the Monthly Meeting. On' this 
 
 • For thB document here renewed see page 83. 
 
158 MONTHLY meeting's 
 
 occasion, the representatives met and were not able 
 to agree on names for clerks, which was reported 
 to the meeting, — viz., that they were equally divi- 
 ded. Now, no one will pretend to say that the bare 
 nomination of an officer, by the representatives of 
 inferior meetings, is conclusive on. the superior 
 meeting, even if there was no discrepancy of opin- 
 ion among them. The nomination of an officer is 
 one thing, and his appointment and installation is 
 another thing, and ought to be so, because many 
 other members oi such meeting may have better 
 knowledge of some disqualifying trait in a man's 
 character and conduct than any of those represen- 
 tatives. But the actual transaction was this,— the 
 time for which the former clerk was appointed had 
 expired ; the usual time for making the appointment 
 had come, and the Monthly Meeting must have a clerk, 
 either by the continuance of the former, or by the ap- 
 pointment of a new one ; and the representatives had 
 not reconciled their views in relation to it ; where- 
 upon the meeting, not giving the preference to 
 either of those talked of in the representatives' 
 meeting, agreed upon a third person, and him it ap- 
 pointed for its clerk, and that without any expressed 
 objection to the individual by any one present. And 
 this practice of naming as well as of appointing a 
 clerk immediately by the meeting has been the an- 
 cient usage and practice of South Kingston Month- 
 ly Meeting from its first organization until within a 
 few years ;' and the same practice has prevailed in 
 the preparative meetings, and in our women's meet- 
 ing up to this time. Nor can there be found any 
 conclusion on our records cancelling that practice, 
 or establishing any other to the forfeiture of the 
 right vested in our Monthly Meeting, of naming its 
 own officers. 
 
 Secondr-^The committee further state, "that 
 they are satisfied that Samuel Sheffield took his 
 seat at the table, and made the minute appointing 
 himself, out of the usual and long established order 
 
APPEAL. 159 
 
 of said meeting in the appointment of its clerk." To 
 wiiich we remark as follows : That T. C. C. having 
 served this meetiiig as clerk for many years, has, 
 as we believe, in every case of his re-appointment, 
 that is every year, (to use the committee's own 
 words,) " made the mmute appointing himself." 
 And the same has been the case under similar cir- 
 cumstances, in relation both to Quarterly and Year- 
 ly Meeting's clerks, if not in all business meetings 
 in New England. But that it is usual, where a 
 new selection is made, for the former clerk to make 
 the minute of the appointment of the new one, we 
 shall not pretend to gainsay ; but do subscribe 
 freely to the propriety of such a usage ; — but we 
 would ask, who was in fault that it was not so done 
 on the occasion in question 1 T. C. C. was request- 
 ed to make the minute of Samuel Sheffield's ap- 
 pointment, but refused doing so, and left the table 
 saying, " that it was not customary." 
 
 Who then will say that it was improper or in- 
 decorous for the new clerk to go to the table and 
 make the minute of his own appointment, when the 
 table was vacated, and the meeting requested him to 
 do so? And if any indecorum was manifested on 
 the occasion, was it not on the part of T. C. C, by 
 remaining long at the table and advocating his own 
 claims, after the question had been fully decided by 
 the meeting; as well as by the manner of his leav- 
 ing the table ? 
 
 Third, — They object to the addition made at this 
 time to the committee appointed the month before, 
 pronouncing it " contrary to the general usage of 
 our Society." 
 
 To prove that such has been the frequent usage 
 of the Society, we need but refer to the recollection 
 of every intelligent member of it. But we might 
 refer to our own rebords for proof of such practice, 
 if indeed this committee had not taken them from 
 us ! and all access to them since been deiiied us I 
 
160 MONTHLY MKETINg's 
 
 We would call the attention of Friends particularly 
 to theTisage of both our Quarterly Meeting, and our 
 Select Quarterly Meeting, within the last two or 
 three years, in relation to additions to committees. 
 
 But if any thing were needed to show the utter 
 inconsistency of this charge, we have- it in the fact, 
 that at the time when the first four were appointed, 
 in the 4th month, the Yearly Meeting's Committee, 
 (while urging the immediate appointment of a com- 
 mittee on the case,) themselves suggested to South 
 Kingston Monthly Meeting that they could make 
 an addition at their next meeting, if desirable, on 
 account of the smallness of the meeting at that 
 time ! ! And they afterwards, in the 7th month, 
 consented to an addition to another committee in 
 our meeting ! 
 
 Besides, the Yearly Meeting's Committee ac- 
 knowledged the whole of the committee of the 
 Monthly Meeting, by , proceeding with their case 
 against John Wilbtir t^ore them, — rand refusing to 
 proceed with.any one "present hut the committee and 
 John Wilbur; thaf^atening toleaf^^fe if the committee 
 "was not ' select.' When it. was so, they prodi^tfed 
 their documents, and proceeded with the j'case, 
 without objecting to any of the committee, upon 
 any ground whatever. 
 
 Fourth. — They say that they "have cause to ap- 
 prehend from the manner in which the committee 
 was selected, and from their relationship to the in- 
 dividual under care, it was with a view to prevent 
 an impartial exercise of our Christian discipline." 
 
 This high charge and accusation of design in 
 South Kingston Monthly Meetuig to prevent an 
 impartial exercise of our Discipline, is well known, 
 as we trust, by all who took a part in that nomina- 
 tion, to be equally unfounded and unjust ! 
 
 But inasmuch as we have no discipline which 
 excludes or exempts relations from such service in 
 the church, it has with us always been considered 
 
APPEAL. 161 
 
 to be discretionary with Monthly Meetings to ap- 
 point such as are thought most suitable for the ser- 
 vice, as "Was done in the present case. It is true 
 that several of the committee are distantly related 
 to John Wilbur, but not one of them stands within 
 the line prescribed by our Disciphne, as being a re- 
 lationship unsuitable for the marriage connexion. 
 Besides, two of those appointed without objection in 
 the fourth month, when the Yearly Meeting's Com- 
 mittee were present — -were relations of John 
 Wilbur. 
 
 It is remarkable that the Quarterly Meeting's Com- 
 mittee, at this late period, should have come for- 
 ward with objection to the addition, as well as the 
 relationship of the Monthly Meeting's Committee, 
 where no objection on this ground, or indeed any 
 other, was made at the time of its appointment, nor 
 afterwards, by the Yearly Meeting' s^Committee be- 
 fore the trial, or while it was in progress, but they 
 brought forward all their charges and went through 
 with their evidence, and it was only after the report 
 was made, and found to be in favor of John Wilbur 
 that this singular objection was urged. 
 
 And but for the unjust act of our former clerk, 
 endorsed by this Quarterly Meeting's Committee in 
 withholding from us our Records, we should have 
 been able to make it appear thereby, that in cases 
 of dealing, much nearer relatives to the party have 
 qiten |)een appointed to treat with him, a usage 
 , ivhi(?h we not only claim as having been long prac- 
 ticed in this meeting, but also in others. 
 
 But it seems proper under this head to state, in- 
 asmuch as the Quarterly Meeting's Committee have 
 charged us with deviation frojn our former prac- 
 tice, that in addition to their advising and endorsing 
 our former clerk's breach of trust, they had at the 
 time gone so far themselves, as to have sent, a few 
 days previous to making this grave charge, and 
 taken away our books of records, papers, &c., and 
 
163 MONTHLY MSBTINo'a 
 
 conveyed them to some place not within our bor- 
 ders, and unknown to us ! and then, after this tres- 
 pass upon our rights of property, they cha.llenge 
 our late practice as not being in accordance with 
 our former, whilst they themselves are thus surrep- 
 titiously withholding from us the only legal evi- 
 dence whereby our former practice can be proved, 
 and by which most easily done, but for this their 
 conduct, so foreign from the Christian rule and pre- 
 cept. 
 
 And we may further say, that one of this very 
 committee appointed by Rhode Island Quarterly 
 Meeting, to advise and assist in the disposition of 
 the case of John Wilbur, is more nearly allied to 
 him by blood than either of those in his own Month- 
 ly Meeting's Committee ; and shall we, for that rea- 
 son, charge the Quarterly Meeting as they have 
 South Kingston Monthly Meeting, " that they have 
 acted with a view to prevent an impartial exercise 
 of our Christian discipline ?" If they have cause for 
 such charge, therefore, on the ground of relation- 
 ship, we more. 
 
 The circumstance that the Quarterly Meeting's 
 Committee did not attend our Monthly Meeting in 
 the 5th month, and consequently their knowledge of 
 its proceedings was only through the reports abroad, 
 and those reports, as it would seem, by their effects 
 on the minds of the committee, must have been of 
 a very deceptive and partial character, and hence 
 forming premises insiifficienf and unsafe whereon 
 to predicate a complaint, and to form a judgment 
 without hearing both sides of the case, in matters of 
 so serious a nature as contained in their document, 
 now under consideration. And it is a circumstance 
 greatly to be regretted and lamented, that a com- 
 mittee from a Quarterly Meeting of Friends, entrust- 
 ed with affairs of great moment to the peace and 
 well being ofSociety,should have been so credulous 
 and unguarded, as well as so adventurous as thus 
 
APPEAL. 163 
 
 to have condeihhed a Monthly Meeting upon vague 
 report, and without a hearing ! and upon such 
 ground to attempt to break up its doings for near 
 half a year back, is a matter of no small surprise to 
 us. Hence we are persuaded that all impartial 
 friends must see that the advice of the Quarterly 
 Meeting's Committee, in relatioii to the transactions 
 in the 5th month, if accepted and dravsm into pre- 
 cedent, would tend to break up and lay waste the 
 order of Society, and lead to an overthrow of the 
 rights which Our Yearly Meeting has conferred 
 upon our suboi'dinate branches, as set forth in our 
 Discipline. 
 
 Moreover, any attempt by a Quarterly Meeting, 
 or by a deputation from it to interfere with the dis- 
 ciplinary proceedings of a Monthly Meeting, acting 
 with and under the provisions of our Discipline ; or 
 to arirest it in its usual pi-ogress, we must say would 
 be an abuse of the superior authority of a Quarter- 
 ly Meeting, which like that of a Monthly Meeting, 
 has but a derived authority, aiid both from the same 
 source, to wit, from the Yearly Meeting. And the 
 subordinstte is as equally eiititled to its rights as the 
 superior, and, moreover, ought to stand' as inde- 
 pendent in its judgment in the concerns properly 
 belonging to it, as the superior, being the only body 
 authorized by the Yearly Meeting to deal with and 
 disown oflFenders. But the Quarterly Meeting (if 
 applied to and not otherwise) has the right to re- 
 verse the judgment oif a Monthly Meeting, but not 
 to coerce a Monthly Meeting, nor to arrest its pro- 
 ceedings, nor to i-ev6rse them until the case be 
 brought through the prescribed channel. And the 
 Quarterly Meeting is subject to a similar reversal of 
 its judgment by the Yearly Meeting, (when proper- 
 ly applied to and not otherwise.) 
 
 And who would expect the Yearly Meeting, hav- 
 ing been informed that a case of judicature was 
 pending befote a Quarterly Meeting, and likely to 
 
164 
 
 MONTHLY MBETINQS 
 
 result either in the confirming or the revoking of the 
 disownment of an individual by a Monthly Meet- 
 ing, we say, who would expect the Yearly Meeting 
 to interfere with the case until it be brought to that 
 body in the manner which itself has ordained and 
 prescribed ? Surely no one. Nor has the Yearly 
 Meeting, in the nature of things, any right, either re- 
 ligious or moral, to act contrary to its own laws 
 and regulations ; and, especially where it affects the 
 rights of either individuals or of Monthly or Quar- 
 terly Meetings. No more has a Quarterly Meet- 
 ing any right at all to infringe upon those rights of 
 a Monthly Meeting, which the Yearly Meeting has 
 given it and guaranteed to it. But the Monthly 
 Meeting is to be left to act conscientiously and free- 
 ly, so long as it remains sound in our doctrine, and 
 faithful to our Discipline ; and that without the co- 
 ercive interference of any other body. But if a 
 Monthly Meeting become apostate in principle, it is 
 then consequently unfit to exercise the concerns of 
 a Monthly Meeting, and if it act contrary to the 
 doctrines and Discipline and constitution of a Month- 
 ly Meeting, then the course to be taken with it is 
 obviousj being plainly pointed out by the Disci- 
 pline. 
 
 And by the tenor of our Discipline in providing 
 for appeals from the judgment of all subordicate 
 meetings, it would appear that the Yearly Meeting 
 supposed it altogether possible, that each of those 
 bodies might be or become disqualified in relation 
 to either principle or judgment. And, however 
 capacitated and honestly disposed any Monthly 
 Meeting may be, with a deeire to act sincerely and 
 correctly, agreeably to the mind of truth, and in 
 conformity with the Discipline, yet without the 
 rights and independency which it gives us, our meet- 
 ings for the ordering of the affairs of truth, will at 
 best be but merely nugatory, and the authority 
 which they are designed by our excellent system of 
 
APPEAL. 165 
 
 Church government, to extend over the members 
 thereof, will be lost, and any pretensions to such 
 authority will be in vain. 
 
 The proceedings which have been resorted to, in 
 order to coerce South Kingston Monthly Meeting 
 to a conformity with the views of others in author- 
 ity, brings to mind the trial of William Penn and 
 William Mead, before the Court of Oyer and Ter- 
 miner, in London ; the judges whereof derived their 
 authority from the highest source in the kingdom. 
 These judges by the exercise of their power, or 
 rather the abuse of it, attempted repeatedly to 
 coerce the jury to a conformity to their own wills. 
 -But William Penn clearly set forth that the jurors 
 in their department, ought to be as independent as 
 those in any other department, though never so 
 high, under the great charter of England, and were 
 to act according to the testimony adduced and their 
 own consciences. And who will venture to say 
 that the jury alluded to, went beyond their right of 
 authority in giving in their opinion, though contrary 
 to the advices and menaces of the higher power, 
 or in their disobedience to its commands ? If a 
 jury must do just as the court shall say, then what 
 use in juries ? And who will say that any of the 
 requirements of men, (let them assume whatever 
 authority they may,) directed to a Monthly Meet- 
 ing, or to an individual, if that requirement is un- 
 authorized by our Disciphne and usages, and con- 
 trary to a sense of duty, on the part of those to 
 whom it is offered, we ask who will say that a diso- 
 bedience to it is reprehensible, or an offence against 
 society 1 
 
 And now in relation to the concluding portion of 
 the document of the Quarterly Meeting's Committee 
 imder review,— embracing their requirements of 
 us : — We believe that no candid and impartial man 
 need do more than read it, to be convinced of the 
 
166 MONTHLY meeting's 
 
 magnitude and danger of the authority there claim- 
 ed, and attempted to be exercised. 
 
 The requirement of the immediate removal of 
 the clerk, duly appointed by the meeting, and recog- 
 nized as our rightful clerk by the Committees of 
 both the Yearly and Quarterly Meetings, and by 
 the Quarterly Meeting itself; — and, the selection and 
 naming hy them, of a successor, without allowing 
 -the Monthly Meeting any voice in the matter, strikes 
 us as a most extraordinary and dangerous assump- 
 tion of power. And no less surprising is their 
 advice to annul and make void our records. 
 
 To discharge an individual from ufjder dealing 
 who had committed a high offence against his 
 Monthly Meeting, by withholding from it its right- 
 ful property, — it is true with the advice and consent 
 of this Quarterly Meeting's Committee ; — but no 
 less an offence and breach of trust for that ; — and 
 one which the Monthly Meeting was not at liberty 
 to pass over, while it was in the exercise of its just 
 rights, and authority granted and secured to it, and 
 enjoined upon it, by the Yearly Meeting for the gov- 
 ernment of its members. 
 
 In addition to this is the direction " that the deci- 
 sion in the 8th month last, as entered on our minutes 
 in relation to John Wilbur, be set aside and be made 
 void and of no effect." 
 
 The disownment of this Friend, Ajre would have 
 the committee bear in mind, was the great object 
 sought to be attained by all these extraordinary 
 movements, — the great end, which all the means pqt 
 in requisition from the beginning were aimed at. 
 
 It was because South Kingston Monthly Meet- 
 ing could not be brought to condemn and disown 
 a member, whose offence consisted in \as faithful 
 testimony against those things which were calciila- 
 ted to lay waste and desolate, the only true bond of 
 Christian union among us ; namely, an agreement. 
 
APPEAL 167 
 
 and unity in those doctrines and testimonies, reviv- 
 ed and promulgated by our worthy predecessoi:s, 
 and still held dear, by all true Friends; — we say it 
 was because South Kingston Monthly Meeting could 
 not be induced by all the influences which had been 
 brought to bear upon it, to disown this Friend 
 against its own judgment, that that Monthly Meet- 
 ing was dissolved, and done too as we verily believe, 
 not by the Quarterly Meeting, really and truly as 
 such, but by a few leading men therein, the very 
 same who had in an unauthorized and improper 
 manner, taken up J. W, in the first instance, and all 
 along pursued their object with a zeal worthy of a 
 better cause. 
 
 In the introduction of this case to our Monthly 
 Meeting, it was called upon by the Yearly Meeting's 
 Committee, as the legitimate body, to give its judg- 
 ment upon an alleged ofience of one of its mem- 
 bers. Whereupon a large committee was appointed 
 by South Kingston Monthly Meeting in the order 
 of society, and much time was allowed by them for 
 deliberation previously to the interview with the 
 parties ; and when met, a patient investigation of 
 the case was had, and the evidences and allegations 
 in relation to it were heard, occupying the space of 
 four days ; and the committee reported at the time 
 alluded to, that the complaint in their judgment, was 
 not sustained ; with which report the meeting being 
 satisfied, it consequently adopted it, a very large 
 proportion of the meeting uniting therein. And, 
 inasmuch as these proceedings were not precipitate, 
 but very deliberate, and in the order of our Disci- 
 pline, we see no reason nor right we have to reverse 
 that decision, affecting as it would the rights of an 
 individdal, whose case had been once decided by 
 the proper tribunal and he acquitted. (And seeing 
 that the committee who brought the complaint, had 
 previously made so light of the alleged offence as 
 to assure ima that they were disposed to require but a 
 
168 MONTHLY meeting's 
 
 very little concession from him) we think it truly 
 remarkable that such unprecedented advice should 
 have been given ; and that such great efforts should 
 bejnade for the expulsion of a member whose 
 offence appears only to have been found in the exer- 
 cise of a concern to sustain our doctrines, testimo- 
 nies, and Discipline. 
 
 (The record giving an account of divers inter- 
 views which the Yearly Meeting's and select Quar- 
 terly Meeting's Committees had with John Wilbur, 
 evinces his importunities with them for a plain 
 statement in writing, of the ground of their uneasi- 
 ness with him, in order and preparatory to a deli- 
 berate vindication of the course he had taken : — 
 and this record at the same time shows their refusal, 
 as well as the shifts and evasions to which they 
 resorted, to prevent him from having an opportunity 
 for a fair and full hearing before them ; a refusal 
 which they continued, until they brought a com- 
 plaint against him to his own Monthly Meeting.) 
 And subsequently, in carrying out the same deter- 
 mination not to hear his defence, when the case was 
 investigated by -the committee of South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting, the Yearly Meeting's Committee, 
 after their own efforts adducing evidence, and after 
 pleading for the sustainment of their charges, refus- 
 ed and would not, and did not stay to hear J. Wilbur's 
 defence, and consequently did not know, and do not 
 know what it was. And these remarks are adduced, 
 not so much in this place to show their ostensible 
 abandonment of the case, by withdrawing them- 
 selves, and taking the complaint and all the papers 
 with them, as they are to show that they never had, 
 nor ever would allow themselves an official hearing 
 of J. Wilbur's vindication of his proceedings and 
 of the course which he had taken. 
 
 Hence, we see how absurd and arbitrary were 
 the proceedings of this Committee of the Yearly 
 Meeting, in their attempts to coerce South Kingston 
 
APPKAL, 1G9 
 
 Monthly Meeting in the 8th month last, to refuse 
 the acceptance of the report of its own committee, 
 who had patiently heard and examined the eviden- 
 ces brought on both sides. 
 
 Again, it becomes us to say, that the Quarterly 
 Meeting's Committee (who also attempted at the 
 time alluded to, to press South Kingston Monthly 
 Meeting to a rejection of the report aforesaid,) were 
 so entirely uninformed of the merits of the case, as 
 never to have heard J. Wilbur's vindication and 
 defence from the charges preferred against him ! 
 
 Therefore, they, the Quarterly Meeting's Com- 
 mittee, are justly chargeable with attempting to 
 compel "South Kingston Monthly Meeting to a mea- 
 sure in the' decision of a case, which themselves, 
 had not the legitimate means of understanding ! ! 
 Furthermore the same Committee of Rhode Island 
 Quarterly Meeting, labored under the same disqual- 
 ification and want of the requisite understanding of 
 the case, when they so gravely advised South King- 
 ston Monthly Meeting, at a subsequent sitting, at 
 once to cancel and annul their decision therein ! 
 
 These proceedings of the Quarterly Meeting's 
 Committee must, as we conceive, be considered, 
 by all judicious men, regardful of the welfare of 
 society, to be in no small degree, rash and adven- 
 turous ; and if sustained, of dangerous consequence, 
 as. well in relation to the establishment of so hurt- 
 ful a precedent," as the direct and serious effects of 
 a, violation and disregard of the rights of a Month- 
 ly Meeting and of individuals, directly tending and 
 leading as an example to the trifling with Friend's 
 records, and rendering them pi-ecarious and void 
 at the pleasure of superior bodies. And should the 
 authority claimed in the document before us, be 
 ■sustained and established by the Yearly Meeting, it 
 will be seen that not only the right of membership, 
 but our property and the line of inheritance, will 
 be jeoparded and inade to lie at the will of such, as 
 
170 MONTHLY meeting's 
 
 may in the lapse of things clothe themselves with 
 siich authority as is assumed by this Committee ! 
 
 Upon a review of the proceedings of the Quarter- 
 ly Meeting in dissolving our Monthly Meeting, we 
 submit to the committee the following remarks.* 
 
 And although modesty and civility i combined, 
 with the deference usually paid to persons of 
 standing and influence, would suggest a forbear- 
 ance of expression, yet those leading essentials, 
 . Truth and Justice, hold a superior claim that can- 
 not be denied, in the judicial department especially, 
 when the character and rights of individuals are in 
 question, when the rights and existence of delegat- 
 ed bodies, instituted by the highest authority and 
 for indispensable purposes, are in great jeopardy. 
 Then it is that even charity itself cannot exclude 
 the rights and demands of these arbiters, the um- 
 pire of Truth and Justice. We therefore feel bound 
 to say, 
 
 1st. That the principal actors in this Quarterly 
 Meeting, against South Kingston Monthly Meeting 
 are recognized among the members of the commit- 
 tee which first complained of that Monthly Meeting 
 to the Quarterly Meeting; thus assuming the seat 
 of judgment on the decision of a complaint first 
 brought by themselves. 
 
 2d. That those friends and such others as were 
 determined to dissolve South Kingston Monthly 
 Meeting, were exceedingly unwilling, and long and 
 strenuously opposed and resisted the reading of the 
 Discipline and Law of the Society, (in such cases 
 provided) in the hearing of the Quarterly Meeting, 
 as ordained by the Yearly Meeting as a Rule of de- 
 cision in such cases as was then before the meeting. 
 
 3d. That when, after a long struggle, the propo- 
 
 * For the proceedings of the Quarterly Meeting, here remarked 
 upon, EQe preceding Narrative, page 85. 
 
APPEAL. 171 
 
 sal for reading the Discipline, did prevail, no one of 
 these persons attempted in any way whatever to 
 reconcile this proposed measure to that Discipline 
 by an exposition of its several items, nor to show 
 the -adaptation of their proceedings to it ; but only 
 claimed its authority in the gross, for which omis- 
 sion the reasons must be obvious. ' 
 
 4th. That the representatives and members of 
 South Kingston Monthly Meeting, and many others 
 on their behalf, earnestly solicited an appeal to the 
 Discipline on the subject then in discussion, and 
 were willing to rest their whole case upon its pre- 
 mises. 
 
 5th. That one of the representatives from South 
 Kingston Monthly Meeting, did in this Quarterly 
 Meeting challenge the authority and explain that 
 Discipline, and exemplified the bearing of its seve- 
 ral items, showing the gradation and deliberation 
 therein clearly premised in the management of such 
 cases ; and that such usage had not been regarded 
 in the travel of this case. 
 
 6th. That these complainants were not only dis- 
 posed themselves to decide this case against the 
 Monthly Meeting without a hearing, but most cruel- 
 ly striving to deprive and debar its members from 
 being heard in any way, even as suppliants pleading 
 for their rights, and peremptorily forbidding their 
 representative giving an account even of some of 
 the most prominent facts and circumstances that 
 had transpired in the Monthly Meeting. 
 
 Now let it be enquired, 
 
 1st. Who were they that plead for their case to 
 be first investigated, and then judged by the Law 
 of the Society T 
 
 2d. Who were they that strenuously resisted the 
 light, by refusing to hear the case in any way, and 
 chose to judge it without Law or Rule of Disci- 
 pline 1. 
 
 3d. What penalty would the law of the land in- 
 
172 MONTHLY meeting's APPEAL. 
 
 flict upon that tribunal, -which should have judged 
 and condemned a man for a crime, and shall have 
 executed that judgment upon him, without allowing 
 him any hearing upon his indictment ? 
 
 As directed, several of the Quarterly Meeting's 
 Committee attended South Kingston Monthly Meet- 
 ing in the 1 1 th month, and after the meeting was 
 opened as usual, they declared the object of their 
 mission, and then read the doings of the Quarterly 
 Meeting, comprehending its decree as heretofore 
 noticed, and then called on the members quietly to 
 separate. But friends of this Monthly Meeting hav- 
 ing from the first acted sincerely in pursuing what 
 they believed to be the mind of Truth and the order 
 of Society ; and clearly seeing, as they thought, 
 that the Quarterly Meeting had violated the plain 
 provisions which were made for Monthly Meetings 
 in such cases, concluded to appeal to the Yearly 
 Meeting for a redress of their grievances, and in- 
 formed the committee that they were minded to re- 
 main together a sufficient length of time to make 
 suitable arrangements for that purpose. And as it 
 was the doings of the Quarterly Meeting which 
 they had just read to us, that we only had to appeal 
 from, they were requested to furnish us with a copy 
 thereof, but they refused to do so ! 
 
 Nevertheless, an appeal was drawn up in a sum- 
 mary way, and we, the undersigned, were appoint- 
 ed to represent South Kingston Monthly Meeting, 
 and to act on its behalf in the prosecution of it. And 
 subsequently we applied to the clerk of Rhode 
 Island Quarterly Meeting for a copy of the minutes 
 dissolving our Monthly Meeting, but were refused 
 by a reference to the Quarterly Meeting itself; 
 therefore, verbal application was made to the Quar- 
 tei'ly Meeting in the second month last, for the ne- 
 cessary copies, but which copies that meeting re- 
 fused to grant. 
 
 Again, as an access to the records was very es- 
 
DISCIPLINE. 173 
 
 sential to us in preparing our case, and such was 
 also our right by Discipline, and in order that no in- 
 formality should be alleged as an excuse, the commit- 
 tee at large made a written application to both the 
 Quarterly Meeting and the Select Quarterly Meeting, 
 for the liberty of access to the records of both meet- 
 ings, but were refused by both ! — Were refused such 
 rights as the law of the land has guaranteed even to 
 criminals, and which is never refused them, and 
 such too, as our Yearly Meeting has guaranteed to 
 all its members. And whilst we are referring to 
 usages, we feel it our duty further to inform the 
 committee that on divers occasions in meetings for 
 business, when a recurrence to discipline, in things 
 relating to this case, has been asked for, the reading 
 has been waived and declined. 
 
 DISCIPLINE, 
 
 Authorising the dissolution of Monthly Meetings, ^c. 
 (From Book of Discipline, pages 118-119.) 
 
 " When a Quarterly Meeting hath come to a judg- 
 ment respecting any difference, relative to any 
 Monthly Meeting belonging to them, and notified 
 the same in writing to such Monthly Meeting, the 
 said Monthly Meeting ought to submit to the judg- 
 nient of the Quarterly Meeting ; but if such Monthly 
 Meeting shall not be satisfied therewith, then the 
 Monthly Meeting may appeal'to the Yearly Meet- 
 ing, against the judgment and determination of the 
 Quarterly Meeting. 
 
 " And if a Monthly Meeting shall refuse to take 
 the advice and submit to the judgment of the Quar- 
 terly Meeting, and notwithstanding will not appeal 
 against the determination of the said meeting to the 
 Yearly Meeting ; in such case the Quarterly Meet- 
 ing shall be at liberty either to dissolve such Month- 
 ly Meeting, or bring the affair before the next or 
 succeeding Yearly Meetingr 
 
174 DISCIPLINE CONSIDERED. 
 
 " And in case a Quarterly Meeting shall dissolve 
 a Monthly Meeting, the dissolved Monthly Meeting 
 or any part thereof, in the name of the said meeting, 
 shall be at liberty to appeal to the next or succeed- 
 ing Yearly Meeting, against such dissolution ; but 
 if the dissolved Monthly Meeting, or a part thereof 
 in its behalf, shall not appeal to the Yearly Meeting, 
 the Quarterly Meeting shall join the members of the 
 said late Monthly Meeting, to such other Monthly 
 Meeting as they may think most convenient ; and 
 until such time,* shall take care that no inconveni- 
 ence doth thereby ensue to the members of such 
 dissolved meeting, respecting any branch of our 
 Discipline. 
 
 " And if any of the Monthly Meeting, to which 
 the Quarterly Meeting shall join the v?hole or a part 
 of the late Monthly Meeting, do think themselves 
 aggrieved, they shall be at liberty to appeal against 
 the Quarterly Meeting to the Yearly Meeting, and 
 until such appeal is heard and determined, the 
 friends added by the Quarterly Meeting to them, 
 shall be deemed their members. 1743. 
 
 DISCIPLINE ON THIS CASE CONSIDERED. 
 
 When a Quarterly Meeting hath come to a judg- 
 ment respecting any difference relative to any Month- 
 ly Meeting belonging to them— 
 
 Novf, vfhether this difference relates to a misun- 
 derstanding among the members of a Monthly 
 Meeting, or whether it relate to a dispute with ano- 
 ther Monthly Meeting, in relation to the settlement 
 of those who are needy ; or whether it relate to 
 rights of membership, or whatever — this discipline 
 
 * This portion of Discipline was transcribed from that of Lon- 
 don Yearly Meeting, and adopted here. In the original the words 
 'until such junction" were used instead of " until such time." 
 
DISCIPLtNE CONSIDERED. 175 
 
 does not define, neithei- does it matter what it is, if 
 the Quarterly Meeting has come to a judgment : 
 it is the Quarterly Meeting that must first come to 
 a judgment : and whether that judgment is ground- 
 ed upon the report of a committee, made in open 
 session, or whether the parties had been fully heard 
 in the Quarterly Meeting itself, it matters not, pro- 
 vided the Quarterly Meeting itself " had come to 
 a judgment ;" which point arrived at, the rule goes 
 on and says — and notified the same in writing to 
 such Monthly Meeting. 
 
 Question.^Who is to notify the Monthly Meet- 
 ing in writing ? 
 
 Answer. — The Quarterly Meeting. 
 Question. — But where and how is that writing to 
 be agreed upon and executed ? ' 
 
 Answer. — In the Quarterly Meeting, and signed 
 by the clerk : and any paper whatever, which i« 
 not there openly agreed upon, and so signed, cannot 
 be accredited any where as the judgment of the 
 Quarterly Meeting : a position . which no person 
 will gainsay. 
 
 Well, when such writing arrives, the rule says or 
 continues to say. The, said Monthly Meeting ought 
 to submit to the judgment of the Quarterly Meeting. 
 Her-e the order, or relative standing of the two 
 bodies is alluded to ; — the tc^uarterly Meeting the 
 superior, and the Monthly Meeting the inferior. 
 But what follows shows that the judgment of the 
 Quarterly Meeting is not imperious and final upon 
 the Monthly Meeting, for it further says. But if such 
 Monthly Meeting shall not he satisfied therewith, 
 then the Monthly Meeting may appeal to the Yearly 
 Meeting, against the judgment and determination of 
 the Quarterly Meeting. 
 
 Here we find no requisition laid upon the Month- 
 ly Meeting to decide immediately upon that dvc- 
 ment, (or at the same sitting.) whether it will abide 
 the decision or not ; consequently, this discipline, 
 
176 DISCIPLINE CONSIDERED. 
 
 good reason, and Christian usage, all agree in allow- 
 ing time for due deliberation, inasrpuch as questions 
 of great importance may demand and require it. 
 
 And when, on due consideration, such Monthly- 
 Meeting feels itself dissatisfied, then it has the right, 
 by the above, to appeal to a body of higher authori- 
 ty than the Quarterly Meeting — to the ultimate um- 
 pire of the Yearly Meeting. 
 
 Now, in the above recited provision, as compre- 
 hended in the first paragraph, we see that there is 
 not the least mention made of laying down the 
 Monthly Meeting. 
 
 But the next paragraph, in an extension of the 
 subject, provides as follows : 
 
 Ani if a Monthly Meeting shall refuse to take the ad- 
 vice, and submit to the judgment of the Quarterly Meet- 
 ing, and notieithstanding ivill not appeal against the de- 
 termination of the said meeting to the Yearly Meeting ; 
 in such case the Quarterly Meeting shall he at liberty either 
 to dissolve suck MontUy Meeting, or to bring the affair be- 
 fore the next or succeeding Yearly Meeting.* 
 
 Here in this second paragraph it is provided and 
 decided beyond all disputation, that a Quarterly 
 Meeting shall have no authority to lay down a 
 Monthly Meeting, until the Quarterly Meeting's 
 advice is resisted by a two-fold refusal — first, if 
 the Monthly Meeting refuse to accept of the Quar- 
 terly Meeting's advice, or to abide its judgment ; 
 and secondly, if it refuse to appeal therefrom, then 
 the Quarterly Meeting may lay it down, or consult 
 the Yearly Meeting in the case : evidently making 
 it a serious matter to take from a Monthly Meeting 
 its charter, as evinced by this whole paragraph, 
 and more especially by the last sentence of it. And 
 no mention is yet made, nor liberty given for the 
 annexation of the members to another Monthly 
 
 * In which see how much tiine is allowed. 
 
DISCIPLINE CONSIDERED. 177 
 
 Meeting, nor subsequently until the members thereof 
 have time more fully to consider the case, and have 
 opportunity the second time for appealing now 
 against the dissolution of the Monthly Meeting, as 
 set forth in the first part of the third paragraph, 
 which is as follows : 
 
 And in case a Quarterly Meeting shall dissolve a Month- 
 ly Meeting, the dissolved Monthly Meeting, or any part 
 thereof, in the name of said Monthly Meeting, shall he at 
 liberty to appeal to the next or succeeding Yearly Meeting 
 against such dissolution.* 
 
 And here no construction is wanting to make it 
 plainly appear that this second provision and liber- 
 ty for appealing, is against the dissolution, not 
 against the annexation ; . for no annexation is as yet 
 provided for, unless such second opportunity of ap- 
 
 [)ealing is refused or neglected, as set forth in the 
 atter part of this third paragraph, to wit. 
 
 But if the dissolved Monthly Meeting, or part thereof, 
 in its behalf, shall not appeal to the Y^early Meeting, tJie 
 Quarterly Meeting shall join the members of said late 
 Monthly Meeting to such other Monthly Meeting as they 
 may think most convenient ; and until such time, (the time 
 of annexation) sltall take care that no inconvenience doth 
 thereby ensue to the members qfsvx:h dissolved Monthly 
 Meeting respecting any branch of our discipline. 
 
 Here, again, in this last part of the 3d paragraph 
 is further and incontrovertible evidence, that the 
 enactors of this law of Society, designed that the 
 annexation should be subsequent, and to follow, and 
 only to follow, the refusal or neglect of appealing 
 against the act of the Quarterly Meeting in dissolv- 
 ing the Monthly Meeting.. 
 
 And the latter clause, " until such time, shall 
 take care," &c., if it has any meaning at all, it 
 means that there will have been a space of time 
 between the dissolution of the Monthly Meeting 
 
 ' Here again, see how much time is allowed 
 8* 
 
178 DISCIPLINE CONSIDERKD. 
 
 and the annexation of its members to another, as 
 indeed does the whole section on this subject, clear- 
 ly demonstrate by the gradations therein premised, 
 that it was the design of the framers of that disci- 
 pline,* that in so serious a matter as the' dismem- 
 bering of a Monthly Meeting, (like that of dismem- 
 -berhig the human body,) that great deliberation, 
 caution, and care should be observed, lest a rash 
 procedure should be cause of sorrow. Finally, we 
 see that in considering this discipline that there are 
 prominent and governing features which stand forth 
 in full view, to wit : 
 
 First, — The Quarterly Meeting must be informed 
 that a difference exists in a Monthly Meeting, and 
 secondly, the Quarterly Meeting must in some way 
 become ascertained of the true merits of that differ- 
 ence, and by means of that knowledge come to a 
 judgment in relation to it ; and when the Quarterly 
 Meeting has thus come to a judgment, then the 
 course to be pursued is to send that decision, (rela- 
 tive to the proper disposition and settlement of the 
 case,) in writing, signed by the clerk, and directed 
 to that Monthly Meeting. And if that Monthly 
 Meeting is not satisfied therewith, it has the right 
 allowed it, after mature consideration, to appeal 
 from that judgment of the Quarterly Meeting, in re- 
 lation to the existing difficulty, to the Yearly Meet- 
 ing. But when the Quarterly Meeting has had time 
 to ascertain, and has ascertained, which cannot, of 
 course, be less than three months after the issuing of 
 its judgment; and peradventure it may be six 
 months, (the time which discipline provides for the 
 limit of appeals) before the Quarterly Meeting can 
 be informed. And if such Monthly Meeting de- 
 cline the acceptance of the Quarterly Meeting's 
 judgment, and also decline appealing, then the 
 
 * First agreed on in Iiondon Yearly Meeting, in earlier times. 
 
DISCIPLINE CONSIDERED. 179 
 
 Quarterly Meeting is authorized, after due consid- 
 eration, either to dissolve the Monthly Meeting or 
 to apply to the Yearly Meeting for advice. But 
 if it decide to dissolve it, then, of course, that de- 
 cision goes to the Monthly Meeting, in writing, 
 again as before, signed by the clerk ; and then 
 again the prescribed time for appeals is to be allow- 
 ed for the Monthly Meeting to come to a conclu- 
 sion whether it will abide that decision, and to get 
 the result of their deliberations to the Quarterly 
 Meeting : and if not to appeal, then it is, and not 
 till then, that the Quarterly Meeting is authorized 
 by our discipline to annex its members to another 
 Monthly Meeting. And then also it is, when a 
 Monthly Meeting has twice i-efused the decision of 
 the Quarterly Meeting, and twice declined to ap- 
 peal, and not until then, if the Monthly Meeting re- 
 main dissatisfied, that our discipline ordains that 
 the members of that Monthly Meeting shall become 
 members of such other Monthly Meeting, as the 
 Quarterly Meeting may direct, and from which af- 
 terward there is no appeal, on the part of the dis- 
 solved Monthly Meeting. 
 
 And here we would call the attention of the 
 committee to another very important consideration, 
 viz., that the Monthly Meeting was not laid down 
 on account of any disorderly proceedings therein as 
 was professed to be the case ; but that these extra- 
 ordinary and high handed measures of the Quarter- 
 ly Meeting leading to and resulting in its formal dis- 
 solution were evidently elicited by the Quarterly 
 Meeting's Committee, for the reason that said 
 Monthly Meeting, as was feared, would find no 
 cause of disownment against one of its members 
 whom they, the Yearly Meeting's Committee, wish- 
 ed, and were apparently determined should be 
 disowned : a desire and determination evinced by 
 the precipitation and recklessness with which they 
 hurried forward towards the consummation of this 
 
180 WHY THE M. MEETING WAS DISSOLVED. 
 
 darling purpose, prostrating every obstacle -which 
 interposed ; even the discipline itself: and still fur- 
 ther evinced by the reports oi extermination which 
 went abroad, viz., that if South Kingston Monthly 
 Meeting refused to disown that member, it must be 
 put down, and it would be put down ; and this re- 
 ported, and apparent determination of the Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee was openly and widely spread, 
 even beyond the limits of New England Yearly 
 Meeting. 
 
 That they would proceed to this extremity of 
 destroying a Monthly Meeting, not the least among 
 the tribes, nor yet the least in weight of character 
 or concern for the right management of the affairs 
 of a Monthly Meeting. And all this for the sake of 
 exterminating from'the Society one individual ! for 
 the sake of driving from the church an approved 
 minister of the Society, whose guide ^n the pro- 
 ceedings complained of, were the impressions of 
 apprehended religious duty, and the requirement of 
 our discipline. And when, too, this committee, in 
 a collective capacity, had given him the assurance 
 that " they would be satisfied with a very little 
 concession," and during their urgent entreaties for 
 this kind of satisfaction, no mention was made of 
 sincerity. And subsequently the committee sent to 
 him a deputation of four of their number, proposing 
 that he should say, " If I have done wrong, I am 
 sorry for it," and thus voluntarily reducing their 
 uneasiness and claim for concession to a " very lit- 
 tle thing" — nay, to what we consider nothing at 
 all : and to which form he might safely have sub- 
 scribed, but for the version which he suspected they 
 would give it, and send abroad. And no complaint 
 was made to South Kingston Monthly Meeting of 
 any thing as having transpired since those inter- 
 views with the Yearly Meeting's Committe, above 
 alluded to. And the aid of the Quarterly Meeting 
 was evidently invoked for the purpose of efibcling 
 
RECAPITULATION. 181 
 
 the object of the Yearly Meeting's Committee, to 
 ■wit : the disownment of this Friend ; which object 
 could not be consummated without the instrumen- 
 tahty of the Quarterly Meeting, in either compel- 
 ling the Monthly Meeting to a nullification of its 
 records, or a reversal of its proceedings in re^trd 
 to that individual ; or on failure of that, to dissolve 
 the Monthly Meeting ; and to place that member 
 within the reach of their power, in another Month- 
 ly Meeting, which might be expected to be more 
 obedient to their mandate. And when there placed, 
 the object of his disownment, so desirable to 
 them, was effected, by the personal presence, 
 dictation and control of at least seven of that com- 
 mittee, who were the complainants against the indi- 
 vidual, and against the Monthly Meeting, and one 
 of the Quarterly Meeting's Committee : and barely 
 two members of that Monthly Meeting, who were 
 not included in those appointments, that agreed to 
 J. Wilbur's disownment : and of these two, one was 
 a son and the other a brother of the two most ac- 
 tive members of the Yearly Meeting's Committee, 
 who brought the complaint against our member. 
 And the great unreasonableness of the- Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee is further apparent in thus 
 acting, and thus judging and thus carrying over the 
 heads of the great body of that Monthly Meeting, 
 the denial of an honest Friend, upon the report of a 
 small fraction of a committee consisting of only two 
 out of nine. 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 In order for a summary and more concise view 
 of the cardinal and most essential features in this 
 important case, we have again brought them to 
 view as follows : — 
 
 1st. We have shown that the Yearly Meeting's 
 Committee, by threatenings and other means, coerc- 
 
182 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 ed South Kingston Monthly Meeting into measures 
 prematutely, and aside from the usages of our 
 DiscipHne. 
 
 2d. That the same committee interfered with the 
 loc^l and private concerns of South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting, and attempted to interrupt the 
 free action of that meeting in the appointment of 
 its oflScers. 
 
 3d. We have shown that the same committee 
 attempted, by menaces to coerce the committee of 
 South Kingston Monthly Meeting to a compliance 
 with th&ir own unreasonable requirements ; and 
 that they refused to testify as witnesses, in which 
 capacity they had offered themselves : and finally, 
 left in the middle of the examination in a disorderly 
 manner. 
 
 4th. Again we have shown, that instead of labor- 
 ing to promote unity and harmony agreeably to 
 their instructions, the Yearly Meeting's Committee 
 did actually give their strength and support to two 
 or three restless persons, who attempted at once to 
 produce a schism in our Monthly Meeting. 
 
 5th. We have shown that this same committee, 
 not long after this palpable disorder of their own, 
 complained of South Kingston Monthly Meeting to 
 the Quarterly Meeting for disorder 1 
 
 6th. We have shown the disorderly proceedings 
 of the Yearly Meeting's Committee, in attempting 
 to break up our Monthly Meeting, whilst the report 
 in that well known case was in the women's meeting 
 for adjudication, and other business unfinished. 
 
 7th. We have shown that the Committee of 
 Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting, on their first 
 attendance, assumed the -authority of cancelling our 
 records at pleasure, and of setting in judgment upon 
 a case which the Yearly Meeting's Committee had 
 submitted to South Kingston Monthly Meeting to 
 decide ; and we have also shown that this commit- 
 tee assumed the authority and right of dictation, 
 
RECAPITULATION. 188 
 
 (beyond the bounds of their appointment or of the 
 Quarterly Meeting's authority,) to South Kingston 
 Meeting of ministers and elders, by an exercise 
 of such assumption, so far as to attempt a division 
 or separation of that meeting, by gravely and ear- 
 nestly advising one-half of its members , " Not to 
 attend that meeting." 
 
 8th. We have shown that both the Yearly and 
 Quarterly Meeting's Committee have v^ronged us, 
 in advising our former Clerk to vpithhold from us 
 our property contained in our books and papers ; 
 and the latter still more flagrantly in coming them- 
 selves and taking them awpy out of our limits. 
 
 9th. We have shown by their own document that 
 the same Quarterly Meeting's Committee proffered 
 to us their advise, requiring the nullification of divers 
 portions of our records for nearly half a year then 
 passed over — to release an offender from dealing, 
 incured by the withholding from us our property, — 
 and that they also declined to allow us reasonable 
 time for our consideration of these advices, as their 
 report to the Quarterly Meeting a few days after 
 clearly showeth. 
 
 10th. We have shown, that not only their Com- 
 mittee as above, but the Quarterly Meeting itself, 
 has condemned and deprived us of our rights, pre- 
 maturely and unjustly, as well as contrary to our 
 discipline ; and without the opportunity of a hear- 
 ing and circumstantial representation of our case. 
 We have also shown its long resistance to the read- 
 ing of our discipline in relation to laying down 
 Monthly Meetings : and when read, declining any 
 exposition of it, or to compare their proceedings 
 with it. But we have shown you as above, the 
 plain and clear exposition of that discipline, (easily 
 understood by the most ordinary reader,) and how 
 palpably discordant therewith the Quarterly Meet- 
 ing's proceedings have been. 
 
 11th. We have shown the invalidity of the objec- 
 
184 RECAPITUX.ATION. 
 
 tions to our proceedings, and the absurdity of the 
 advice contained in the written document, presented 
 to us by the Committee of that Quarterly Meeting 
 in the 10th month. 
 
 12th. We have shown that the Monthly Meeting 
 was not laid down as was pretended on account of 
 disorder, &c., but because it did not, and could not 
 be induced to disown one of its members, whose 
 only offence, on a careful and deliberate investiga- 
 tion of the case, appeared to consist in his having 
 faithfully, and in compliance with the requirements 
 of discipline, borne testimony against the promul- 
 
 fation of unsound and defective doctrines in the 
 ociety. And, that after the Monthly Meeting was 
 thus illegally dissolved, and just enough of its re- 
 corded proceedings nulhfied, to place this, our 
 friend, again within their power in another Monthly 
 Meeting, he was there disowned by those very men 
 who fii-st brought the complaint against him, and 
 that on the report of but two out of nine of a com- 
 mittee who had investigated the case. 
 
 13 th, And furthermore, we have shown that the 
 Yearly Meeting's Committee complained of South 
 Kingston Monthly Meeting, upon a charge of in- 
 subordination, when as yet, it had not decided, nor 
 fiven judgment upon the complaint which they had 
 rought ; it being yet in the hands of the commit- 
 tee imreported. And that the Quarterly Meeting's 
 Committee appointed upon this representation, 
 reported in favor of the summary dissolution of the 
 Monthly Meeting, and its annexation to another, 
 while as yet, it had not been allowed time to con- 
 sider and investigate, but had referred only one 
 month for consideration, their written advice. And 
 that the Quarterly Meeting did adopt their report, 
 and at once consummated the dissolution and annex- 
 ation therein recommended. 
 
 Hence we say, and in saying, are not afraid of 
 
EECAPITULATION. 185 
 
 being contradicted, that the course of proceedings 
 "which have been taken, and pursued by the Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee, and by the Quarterly Meet- 
 ing s Committee, and by the Quarterly Meeting 
 itself, have not been in conformity with our disci- 
 pline, but plainly an infraction upon it, and upon its 
 order and usages ; and we do therefore ask, and 
 expect redress at the hands and by the decision of 
 that body, -which made and ordained that discipline, 
 and enjoined its observance upon all its subordinate 
 branches ; and in conformity to which, as its own 
 rule of action, the Yearly Meeting can only be the 
 umpire for the termination of all controversies in 
 the Society. And we apprehend there can be no 
 sensible, candid mind, possessed of the knowledge 
 of this case, and of the usages of our discipline, 
 but must admit that there are in the foregoing, iimu- 
 merated diverse measures resorted to by the com- 
 mittees, and by the Quarterly Meeting, any one of 
 which would be sufficient to reverse the proceed- 
 ings of these bodies in this unhappy case ; and we 
 are therefore assured, that the Yearly Meeting can- 
 not confirm the judgment of Rhode Island Quarter- 
 ly Meeting against South Kingston Monthly Meet- 
 ing, and yet maintain its reputation as the righteous 
 supporter and faithful upholder of the truth, and its 
 own rules and regulations. 
 
 Othniel Foster, 
 
 John Wilbur, 
 
 John I^oster, 
 
 Charles Peeet, 
 
 Isaac Collins, 
 
 John Foster, of Hopkinton, 
 
 Ethan Foster, 
 
 Samuel Sheffield, 
 
 Elisha Kenyon. 
 Newport, 6th Mo. I3th, 1843. -' 
 
186 APPEAL. 
 
 JOHN WILBUR'S APPEAL, 
 
 Against the proceedings of Greenwich Monthly 
 Meeting, in their assumption of disowning him ; as 
 also against the proceedings of Rhode Island Quar- 
 terly Meeting, in confirming the doings of Green- 
 wich Monthly Meeting, in which the complaint is re- 
 ferred to and answered ; the erroneous proceedings 
 of said Monthly Meeting refuted, and his own course 
 vindicated. Substantially the same before the Year- 
 ly Meeting's Committee as before that of the Quar- 
 terly Meeting. 
 
 His first exception against any disciplinary pro- 
 ceedings over, or dealing -with any of the members 
 of South Kingston Monthly Meeting by Greenwich 
 Monthly Meeting, rests in their want of jurisdiction 
 over those members, for the reason that Rhode 
 Island Quarterly Meeting did not proceed in manner 
 and form prescribed by Discipline, in essaying to 
 lay down said Monthly Meeting, that there was no 
 cause for laying down said Monthly Meeting ; but 
 if such had been the case, their manner of proceed- 
 ings was arbitrary and palpably at variance with 
 and in direct violation of the Discipline, made and 
 provided for laying down Monthly Meetings when 
 the case required it, as will most plainly appear 
 by a recurrence to the Appeal of South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting to the Yearly Meeting. 
 
 But Greenwich Monthly Meeting professed, by 
 the rules of subordination, to be under an obliga- 
 tion, (or more truly the Yearly Meeting's Commit- 
 tee professed it for them,) to disown the appellant ; 
 alleging that the Quarterly Meeting put him under 
 dealing, and required of them the consummation 
 thereof s. 
 
 ButGreenwi^ Monthly Meeting was officially 
 informed that South Kingston Monthly Meeting, 
 
APPEAL. 187 
 
 and its members on its behalf, had appealed to the 
 Yearly Meeting against the proceedings of Rhode 
 Island Quarterly Meeting in the assumption of lay- 
 ing it down, and of annexing its members to that 
 of Greenwich, whereon is grounded his 
 
 2d Exception. — That appeals from lower to 
 higher courts or tribunals in all cases, are a bar to 
 all executive proceedings thereafter, until that ap- 
 peal is decided by the superior authority. A sus- 
 pension of action which is scrupulously observed, 
 and was never violated, (so far as he knows,) in 
 any civil or religious proceedings heretofore. 
 
 And the possibility, or even the probability that 
 the judgment of the superior body may coincide 
 with that of the inferior, is no license at all for exe- 
 cutive proceedings, until the final issue, inasmuch as 
 such overt proceedings may lead to great injustice, 
 both in relation to civil and religious rights, and 
 would also be an impeachment upon the wise and 
 necessary provisions for a careful review of cases, 
 for the safety of the community. And furthermore, 
 such irrational and rash proceedings bespeak dis- 
 loyalty, or a want of deference to the supreme body, 
 (the Yearly Meeting,) on the one hand, and on the 
 other, a disregard of the rights of individuals, if not 
 a betrayal of some personal grudge, rather than a 
 desire to do by him as they would that others should 
 do by them in such cases. 
 
 Hence we see not only the justice but the obliga- 
 tion of all judiciary bodies, carefully and conscien- 
 tiously to observe thoselawsprovided for appeals, 
 in order for fuller hearing, and staying their hands 
 from all further proceedings after an appeal is made 
 to a higher tribunal, agreeable to the wholesome 
 provisions made by constituted authority. 
 
 If a jaw can be disregarded in one instance with 
 impunity, it can be disregarded ii^rflny number of 
 instances that might occur. And'n all such pro- 
 
188 APPEAL. 
 
 ceedings the merits of cases have nothing to do with 
 -the course to be taken. 
 
 3rd Exception.^After a case of an alleged of- 
 fence has been duly tried, and decided in one Month- 
 ly Meeting, and the accused acquitted, can that 
 same case afterwards be tried and decided in 
 another Monthly Meeting, agreeable to any disci- 
 pline to be found in our books ? Or, can a prece- 
 dent of such case, or such usage be produced as 
 having ever transpired in the Yearly Meeting since 
 its first establishment ? The appellant thinks not. 
 
 4th Exception. — That a Monthly Meeting cannot 
 at once judge of a case, which has not been ex- 
 amined by itself or by persons of its own appoint- 
 ment. 
 
 And seeing that the investigation and opinion of 
 deputed persons, is the lowest evidence upon which 
 a Monthly^ Meeting can safely decide a case of per- 
 sonal rights, how can it safely decide upon the opi- 
 nion of those whom it never deputed, and especial- 
 ly upon the judgment of only two of a committee of 
 nine, appointed, not by itself, but by another Month- 
 ly Meeting. 
 
 5th Exception. — The complaint was never read 
 in Greenwich Monthly Meeting until a few minutes 
 before that meeting was called upon to disown the 
 appellant. And what a claim to divining must a 
 meeting make, to determine, under such circum- 
 stances, that the report of two out of a committe of 
 nine was Hght, and the seven more intelligent 
 members were wrong, seeing that not one then 
 present had ever heard the vindication and defence 
 of the accused individual, except those two. 
 
 Therefore the appellant thinks such measures 
 contrary to all usage and discipUne in the Society 
 of Friends, and for that reason considers the pro- 
 ceedings of Qj^eenwich Monthly Meeting to have 
 been, in his case, disorderly, precipitant and arbi- 
 trary, if indeed it was in the abstract an act of 
 
Al'PEAI.. 189 
 
 Greenwich Monthly Meeting, a thing very douhtful 
 if not unsupportable, even if no appeal, as above, 
 had been pending ; and because the question of dis- 
 ownment was carried by the voice of seven of the 
 complainants, there collected to all appearance for 
 the purpose, with one of the Quarterly Meeting's 
 Committee, and only two others, common members 
 of the Monthly Meeting, who favored the motion, 
 the one a brother and the other a son of two 
 of the complainants ; in whom could but be seen 
 the greatest anxiety that this work should be ac- 
 complished, [and by whose bidding, and by whose 
 assistance, sitting in judgment, it was effected.] 
 
 Hence the Yearly Meeting's Committee, who 
 brought this complaint against the appellant with 
 two of their near relatives and one other, who 
 had claimed to be embodied with the members 
 of South Kingston Monthly Meeting, and had there 
 acted on the case, were exclusively the body which 
 disowned him from the Society, though in the name 
 of Greenwich Monthly Meeting, and on their book 
 the assumption was recorded by the willing hand of 
 one of the complainants above referred to ; as also 
 was recorded the report of the two of South Kings- 
 ton Committee, and all with the appearance of 
 solemnity, as though it had beMi the act of Green- 
 wich Monthly Meeting, although divers of its mem- 
 bers objected thereto. And which report, thus re- 
 corded on the book, contained an assertion^ " that 
 John Wilbur refused to meet with the committee 
 on the occasion when desired." But the true state 
 of the case was, they never requested him to meet 
 with them, nor did he ever refuse to do so. 
 
 6th Exception. — In justification- of these precipi- 
 tant proceedings, the Monthly Meeting at Green- 
 wich, or some of its members, professed to be bound 
 by the direction of the Quarterly Meeting to take 
 up all unfinished business which they found with 
 the records of South Kingston Monthly Meeting. 
 
190 APPEAL. 
 
 One of the items was a complaint against a member 
 for marrying'out of the Society. Another was an 
 account of a widow woman for a debt due her for 
 keeping the poor, just presented, and which remain- 
 ed unpaid. And although Greenwich Monthly 
 Meeting was twice applied to for payment, they 
 utterly refused to acknowledge the claim or to make 
 payment ! The former was not taken up until after 
 the appeal was decided, and the latter never was 
 paid by them, they taking the ground, she might as 
 well apply to another Monthly Meeting as to them, 
 so that Friends in tlie neighborhood felt themselves, 
 by the obligations of humanity, bound to remune- 
 rate the widow woman. 
 
 So it seems that Greenwich Monthly Meeting felt 
 so independent of the Quarterly Meeting's directions 
 as to take up only such things as they inclined to 
 do, or rather such things as the Yearly Meeting's 
 Committee inclined they should do, and to defer and 
 refuse such as they inclined to defer and refuse ; 
 howbeit, the business which they did take up had 
 been finished by South Kingston Monthly Meeting 
 in a most delibera.te manner. 
 
 Consideration of the complaint of the Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee, to South Kingston Monthly 
 Meeting against John Wilbur : brought to view by 
 quotations and replies. 
 
 They say, " John Wilbur has departed from the 
 good order of our society, in the disrequard of our 
 Christian Discipline." 
 
 This general and leading charge does, and if it 
 had been correct, might properly have stood fore- 
 most in a complaint to be tried and decided by the 
 rules and provisions of the discipline of New Eng- 
 land Yearly Meeting, of which the complainants in 
 this case are members, and to which discipline they 
 also are amenable as well as he, as are all others in 
 
APPEAL. 191 
 
 whatever capacity they stand ; whether individual 
 or official ; whether Quarterly or Monthly Meet- 
 ings ; or whether committees or other officers ap- 
 pointed by Quarterly or Monthly Meetings, are all 
 equally bound to adhere unequivocally to the usage 
 and authority of this discipline ;: — yes, even the 
 Yearly Meeting itself is bound by considerations 
 and consequences still more sacred, involving re- 
 sponsibilities of a much higher order than those 
 which rest upon single individuals, in the keeping 
 inviolate its own laws and testimonies, and itself 
 faithfully exemplifying, as well as ordering justice 
 and judgment to others ; for if the Yearly Meeting 
 violate its own laws, and continue to do so, the con- 
 sequence must be a state of anarchy and confusion, 
 unless there be more virtue in the members than in 
 the body. 
 
 Nor can the Yearly Meeting itself invest with 
 any authority whatever any special body, commit- 
 tee, or deputation, with power to act or to proceed 
 in any manner at all, (as has been vainly assumed 
 by the Yearly Meeting's Committee,) touching the 
 rights and privileges, or duties of those subordinate 
 meetings, or members, in any way or manner not 
 strictly in conformity with that discipline, or the 
 rights thereby guaranteed to them, or the duties 
 thereby enjoined upon them. And when the supe- 
 rior meeting, or its deputation attempt more, it will 
 directly lend to destroy the compact. 
 
 For in direct proportion to the superiority of 
 order in which the different bodies stand, in that 
 same proportion will a violation of the usages of the 
 discipline tend to mar, if not to destroy, the ground 
 work, union, and authority of such religious com- 
 pact. 
 
 Hence, we see the responsibility which the com- 
 plainants, to wit, the Yearly Meeting's Committee, 
 were under, to make the discipline and its usages, 
 their guide and rule of action, that they mete out such 
 
193 APPEAL, 
 
 measure to others as they are disposed to exact of 
 them. Otherwise, even if the supposed offender 
 were guilty of a breach of disciphne, those who 
 attempted to deal with him, would labor but in vain ; 
 because he would be likely to say unto them, first 
 pull the beam out of thine own eye, &c. 
 
 By the sequel is brought to view an enquiry, 
 whether this and other committees and meetings, 
 touching the management of this case, and its 
 inseparable dependencies, have been careful to 
 adhere to our discipline as the conscientious admin- 
 istrators of it ? 
 
 And seeing the committee assume for their first 
 premises, "Our Christian Discipline," and have 
 promptly appealed to it, in condemnation of the 
 appellant, peradventure it may not be amiss for him, 
 in the outset to introduce and bring to view, some 
 of their acts and proceedings in this very case, and 
 to compare them with that excellent system of 
 Church Government. 
 
 1st. — Did the Yearly Meeting's Committee pur- 
 sue the course pointed out and required by dis- 
 cipline on pages 33 to 37, previously to entering a 
 complaint of detraction against him 1 
 
 2nd. — Did they act in conformity with our rules 
 and Christian justice, in withholding from him a 
 knowledge of the whole complaint, as they ought to 
 have done, agreeable to Christ's directions, before 
 telling it to the church? 
 
 Srd. — Did they not compel South Kingston 
 Monthly Meeting to an immediate process of deal- 
 ing, contrary to the order of our disciphne, and the 
 rights of individuals, in having a hearing by over- 
 seers, and the goncurrent voice and help of a pre- 
 parative meeting, previous to bringing the com- 
 plaint to a Monthly Meeting ? 
 
 4th. — ^Did not that committee attempt to cramp 
 and coerce the Monthly Meeting, by threatening to 
 complain of it to the Quarter, if it did not immedi- 
 
APPEAL. 193 
 
 ately, and without further time for consideration, 
 proceed to dealing ? 
 
 5th. — Did they not assume to themselves the right 
 and authority of thus ordei'ing such proceedings, 
 the Discipline to the contrary notwithstanding ? 
 
 6th. — Did they not afterwards attempt to inter- 
 fei'e with the rights of South Kingston Monthly 
 Meeting in the appointment of its officers ? 
 
 7th. — Did they not join with two disaffected 
 members in attempting to bring about a separation 
 in that meeting 1 
 
 8th. — ^Did they not attempt the breaking up of 
 South Kingston Monthly Meeting, for the purpose 
 of perverting judgment 1 
 
 9th. — Did they not advise a member of South 
 Kingston Monthly Meeting to withhold from it its 
 property ? 
 
 10th. — ^And are not the Qarterly Meeting's Com- 
 mittee chargeable with the same offence in a still 
 more aggravated form, by coming themselves and 
 taking our records, and removing them out of our 
 limits, to a place unknown to us ? 
 
 11th. — Did not the two committees in conjunction 
 strive to coerce South Kingston Monthly Meeting 
 to disown one of its members contrary to the re- 
 port of its committee of seven Friends, and contra- 
 ry to its ownjudgment ? 
 
 12th. — Did not the Quarterly Meeting's Committee 
 require South Kingston Monthly Meeting, immedi- 
 ately to remove a suitable clerk from the table, and 
 to place there one of their own choice 1 
 
 13th. — And to cancel and undo some of its pro- 
 ceedings for near half a year past ? 
 
 14th. — And did they not require of that meeting im- 
 mediately to annul and make void an act thereof 
 recorded two months previous ? — a measure that 
 would seriously affect the rights of an individual?' 
 
 15th. — Did they not, because the Monthly Meeting 
 was jiot prepared to adopt a measure so strange 
 9 
 
194 APPEAL. 
 
 and unprecedented, without a day's consideration, 
 report to the Quarterly Meeting the next week their 
 advice to dissolve said Monthly Meeting ? 
 
 16th. Did not the Quarterly Meeting adopt that re- 
 port and lay down that ^Monthly Meeting, and an- 
 nex its members to another, and that without a 
 hearing, and to the great abuse of the discipline, as 
 well as of the Monthly Meeting thus laid down ? 
 
 17. — Did not the Committee of the Yearly Meet- 
 ing on the appeal of South Kingston Monthly 
 Meeting against that judgment, acknowledge, in 
 open Yearly Meeting, wJien they brought in their 
 report, that the proceedings of the Quarterly Meeting 
 were not conformable to our discipline ? Neverthe- 
 less, did not that committee report it as their judg- 
 ment that the doings of Rhode Island Quarterly 
 Meeting ought to be confirmed ; and rendered as a 
 reason for it that the Yearly Meeting's Committee, 
 by whose advise South Kingston Monthly Meeting 
 was laid down, ought to be sustained? Hence this 
 appeal was not decided by rules of discipline, but 
 by rules of subordination. And the Yearly Meet- 
 ing, by Jhe acceptance of that report, and upon the 
 ground premised by the committee, have adopted a 
 precedent or rule, that the authority of the Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee shall be paramount to the 
 discipline, and to the authority of all subordinate 
 meetings. So that no appeal in future can go con- 
 trary to the will of that committee. Nor has the 
 Society any reason, as we conceive, to expect them 
 to go back, and hereafter to concede any of their 
 powers. 
 
 Which of these acts enquired after, if so, was not 
 contrary to the spirit and letter of all Chi-istian dis- 
 cipline ? 
 
 First item in the complaint, (viz :) " He has 
 circulated an anonyfnous pamphlet which im- 
 peaches the character of our Society, and in which 
 some of its important doctrines, as exemplified in the 
 
APPEAL. 195 
 
 religious engagements of some of its faithful minis- 
 ters are reproachfully held up to view," ^c. 
 
 Reply. The pamphlet alluded to, by the request 
 of M. and B. Purinton, who "were at the appellant's 
 house, was sent by them to J, M, a minister at Pro- 
 vidence, with the injunction not to spread it, as 
 proved by the committee's own witness. 
 
 And the person to whom it was sent, never made 
 any comments upon it, good or bad, in relation to 
 its exposure or merits — it came directly home. 
 
 If such be the circulating of that pamphlet, then 
 the appellant circulated it ; and then the committee 
 are chargeable with circulating it, by handing it 
 from one to another. But their motives for doing 
 so may possibly have been as pure as his — theirs 
 might have been for the purpose of obtaining their 
 friends views upon it, and no harm came of it nei- 
 ther, as he knows of, although it is evident they put 
 it into many more hands than he did, — hence we 
 see an entire failure in this charge, as they could 
 prove no more than his sending of it to one of their 
 own number.* 
 
 The appellant does freely acknowledge that some 
 portions of the pamphlet alluded to, are of an im- 
 proper character, as will more fully appear from 
 the following note, placed by him upon one of its 
 pages in writing, before letting it go out of his 
 hands. 
 
 " The paragraph thus concluded, appears to have 
 been supposed by the writer to be a conclusive ar- 
 gument against immediate revelation in the present 
 day, to wit : that persons professing to have the 
 mind of the good Spirit, should entertain contradic- 
 tory views in relation to a proposition. But we 
 
 * This pamphlet consisted principally of an account of the pro- 
 ceedings of the Yearly Meeting and the Select Yearly Meeting of 
 London, in the year 1837 — giving a detailed account of the latter in 
 its liberation of J, J. Goruey to visit America. 
 
196 APPEAL. 
 
 should have supposed that, reason, his governing 
 rule, would have dictated his conclusion, that if one 
 was right the other must be wrong, as both could 
 not be right nor both wrong ; as in case of the pro- 
 phets who were consulted in the question whether 
 the two kings should go to battle against the Assy- 
 rians. Ahab's Prophets told him that he should 
 prevail ; but Micaiah, the Prophet of the Lord, spoke 
 in direct contradiction ; and the result of the expe- 
 dition proved who was the true Prophet. Not 
 that both were wrong ; nor will it be plead that the 
 mere pretensions of the false prophets in that day, 
 should destroy our faith in the true, nor in the reve- 
 lation of the counsel of God to his faithful ministers 
 and servants in any day. See account of London 
 Yearly Meeting, 1837, pages 76—77." 
 
 And I would ask if the Yearly Meeting's Com- 
 mittee placed upon that book any written marks of 
 their disapprobation of any passage in it before hand- 
 ing it from one to another ? The appellant conceives 
 it unnecessary to follow any further, the commit- 
 tee's complaint as to this pamphlet, or upon its 
 bearing upon the character of any Friend, inasmuch 
 as he has not circulated it, and acknowledges parts 
 of it to be unsound, and certified it therein. 
 Second item in the complaint, viz : 
 
 " The object of which, together with sundry letters which 
 he has circulated, appears to be to induce the belief that 
 the concern {the liberation of a minister from England to 
 visit this country,) did not receive the unity qftJie meeting; 
 and that the clerk did not act in corformity leitJi the true 
 sense and judgment of the meeting in signing the certi- 
 ficate." 
 
 The letters alluded to, when brought forward, 
 speak for themselves, and no one has ventured to 
 call in question the truth of any account of that 
 meeting, that has been produced : but both the 
 pamphlet and letters from correspondents, certify 
 U3 that the concern did receive the full approbation 
 
APPEAL. 197 
 
 of a part of the meeting ; and: probably the clerk 
 was correct when he said he thought that the 
 greater number of those who had spoken were in 
 favor of granting the certificate ; which J. W. does 
 not recollect to have seen disputed in any letter. 
 Nor has he ever to his recollection represented the 
 case diiferently. But he has seen it expressed in a 
 letter " that the parties were believed to be nearly 
 balanced." 
 
 And whether the reason? rendered by some of 
 those who objected, for the view which they took 
 of it, to wit : the defective character of his doctrines 
 was a sufficient reason for the knowledge of that 
 dissension reaching America, the appellant will 
 leave for those who are concerned for the safety of 
 the Society to judge. But he knows it to be the 
 opinion of these that the denial of so many of our 
 fundamental doctrines by that Friend, is not only 
 sufficient cause for the Society at large to know that 
 many faithful Friends in that meeting did remon- 
 strate against his going abroad, and rendered good 
 reasons for it, and did not concede their views from 
 first to last. 
 
 And the appellant still deems J. J. Gurney's de- 
 nial of our early standard writers, to be a sufficient 
 reason for whatever himself has said or done, tend- 
 ing as is alleged in this complaint, to close up the 
 way of the individual alluded to : and all relating, 
 originally and principally, if not exclusively, to his 
 defections in doctrine. 
 
 The appellant claims, and has the right to make 
 apparent what the ground of his objections to J. J. 
 G. really is, and the reasons for the course he has 
 taken, and to prove by a reference to his writings, 
 that he had good cause for such a course. And this 
 committee being bound by our discipline, by our 
 doctrines and our testimonies, cannot deny him the 
 good right of making his defence of that course, by 
 showing that he had sufficient reason for it ; and 
 
198 APPEAL. 
 
 •whether those reasons rest upon the personal char- 
 acter of the man or upon his doctrines, the result 
 will determine. 
 
 When Elias Hicks applied for certificates to 
 travel in the latter part of his time, had those 
 Friends who felt dissatisfied with him and his reli- 
 gious opinions a right to object to his liberation on 
 that account ; and had Friends where he went a 
 right to know of that objection, and the ground 
 of it? 
 
 And had they a right to inform one another of 
 the unsoundness of his doctrines by-way of caution 
 against the imbibing of them ? If we have no such 
 right now, our case is precarious and alarming. 
 Was E. H.'s certificate a protection or foreclosure 
 against all inquiries or information in relation to the 
 state of his views, which were the same after as 
 they were before his liberation? And were not his 
 letter to Phoebe Willis and his printed sermons a 
 sufficient warrantee for an exposure of his views 
 when abroad, though written and printed previous 
 to his liberation ? 
 
 Now, if it be the case that the corresponding 
 framework of the Society, throughout all the Yearly 
 Meetings and their dependencies is so delicate and 
 fragile ; or if it be the case with any one of them, 
 that its travelling ministers cannot be called upon to 
 give account of their unsound books which they 
 had written before their liberation, or for unsound 
 doctrines which they held, and continue to hold, 
 without an interruption of good faith and a good 
 understanding ; then our situation is unpropitious 
 and forlorn indeed, and our continuance on the 
 primitive foundation precarious and uncertain ; and 
 especially now, seeing a disposition prevails among 
 us to uphold and defend those persons who do not 
 hesitate to deny the soundness of Robert Barclay 
 and other standard writers in defence of our funda- 
 mental doctrines. 
 
APPEAL. 199 
 
 Similar charges to those last noticed are reitera- 
 ted through this protracted paragraph, avouching 
 the credibility of the person and the authority of 
 his credentials and accusing the appellant with 
 want of abidance in the truth, &e. But does the 
 credence given to the certificates in question, by 
 New England and most other Yearly Meetings in 
 America, as in the complaint set forth, any more 
 prove the doctrines of the bearer to be sound, than 
 did the credence given to the certificates of Hannah 
 Barnard in the Yearly Meetings of London and 
 Dublin, and their subordinate meetings, prove her to 
 have been sound in doctrine ? 
 
 And were not those who were so adventurous in 
 London under those circumstances, as to call in 
 question the standing of Hannah Barnard, probably 
 as chargeable with a want of abiding in the truth as 
 he who questions the soundness of J. J. G., if the 
 accrediting of certificates is to be esteemed as a test ? 
 And are not " all faithful Friends" so earnestly call- 
 ed upon and enjoined by our discipline, (see Book 
 of Discipline, page 74,) to bear testimony against 
 those who entertain unsound doctrines, (if obedient 
 to that injunction,) just as chargeable with a want of 
 abidance in the truth, because they have done so, 
 as is the appellant for the same thing 1 It is evident 
 by the discipline alluded to, that if any one, no mat- 
 ter who, advances unsound doctrines, it is only to 
 be niade to appear, to entitle him who conscien- 
 tiously testifies against them, to justification ; and 
 not only by the discipline but by its author, the 
 truth itself: for the truth always stands opposed 
 and always bears witness against false doctrines, 
 as abundantly appears in the holy Scriptures. 
 
 The great object of guarding the Society of 
 Friends against false doctrines stands over and 
 above all other considerations relative to the com- 
 pact, because false doctrines make way for and 
 have always been succeeded by bad conduct and 
 
200 APPEAL. 
 
 pernicious consequences ; whilst a sound faith holds 
 together all the members in one, and guards them 
 against deviations from Christian rectitude, -i 
 
 And it is a fact that cannot be disproved ; nor, 
 can any one rightfully gainsay it, that the late in- 
 troduction of unsound views into the Society have 
 been the occasion of the doctrinal dissensions now 
 existing in almost all parts of it. 
 
 The Discipline referred to speaks of " the impor- 
 tance of steadfastly maintaining our ancient princi- 
 ples respecting the doctrines of the gospel, and ear- 
 ■nestly recommends and enjoins upon Quarterly and 
 Monthly Meetings, and upon all faithful friends, 
 to be watchful over our members as regards the 
 profession of their faith, &c., and if in any instance 
 there should be manifest any deviation from our 
 Christian priciples, in these respects, that they pro- 
 ceed to lafor, &c." [But according to the reason- 
 ing of the Yearly Meeting's Committee, and some 
 others, this discipline is in full force upon all, except 
 ministers travelling with certificates, and them it 
 does not reach, having a license embodied in their 
 credentials, which no Discipline can reach, however 
 impartial in its operations, or binding upon all in its 
 conclusions. Nay, if they have good credentials 
 from abroad, they may record their denial of Fox, 
 Penn and Barclay, and spread it over the whole so- 
 ciety, and yet neither Quarterly or Monthly Meet- 
 ing, nor any faithful friend can take cognizance of 
 the case ! Old fashioned Quakers had never before 
 known snch economy as this, that there are some 
 who have an exclusive right to hold and publish such 
 sentiments as they choose, and that without reme- 
 dy!] 
 
 The respondents are called upon to prove that 
 the appellant has said or written any thing which 
 was not applicable to the one great object of dis- 
 suading the society from imbibing those dividing 
 and degenerating sentiments. 
 
APPEAL. 201 
 
 And he is not disappointed that the respondents 
 do suppose it to be for their interest, and should 
 therefore strive to avoid, if possible, any allusion to 
 doctrines, because primarily the alleged offence of 
 the appellant rested upon the stand which he made 
 against those doctrines ; hence the obtaining of his 
 rights hinges upon the exposition of them, and there- 
 fore it would be great injustice to him and to the 
 cause, to debar him from canvassing those doctrines, 
 inasmuch as the Yearly Meeting's Committee in 
 their complaint have taken up the case of J. J. 
 Gurney, and have defended him, and in which, if 
 his doctrines be fundamentally right, then th*e com- 
 mittee have certainly done right in upholding and 
 defending him, and John Wilbur has certainly done 
 wrong, and ought to condemn his course. But 
 on the contrary, if on a careful investigation of those 
 doctrines, and a comparison of them with those of 
 R. Barclay, they are found to be fundamentally 
 wrow^, then of course the committee are wrong in 
 taking up his, J. J. Gurney's cause, and in defending 
 him against those who are honestly concerned for 
 the honor of Truth ; and the readiest way, if not 
 the only way, to convince these concerned friends 
 that they are mistaken, is to go into a deliberate 
 examination of the doctrines in question. 
 
 If the Yearly Meeting's Committee do believe, 
 as they say, that J. J. G. is a sound friend, with 
 their ability to explain and define sound doctrines, 
 and the object of reconciliation upon sound princi- 
 ples being so exceedingly desirable, why object, 
 why not at once accomplish a thing so highly im- 
 portant ? 
 
 And if the Yearly Meeting's Committee will show 
 him, and prove to him that those doctrines are sepa- 
 rately and collectively in accordance with our 
 standard writers, then, and under that proviso, the 
 appellant will acknowledge the course which he 
 has taken to be wrong and reprehensible, and will 
 
 9 
 
202 APPEAL. 
 
 pursue his appeal no further, because the whole 
 course of his proceedings in this case was under an 
 apprehension of their unsoundness. 
 
 But on the contrary, if it is clearly proveable that 
 the writings of J. J. G., on some of the fundamen- 
 tal points of our principles, are unsound, and such 
 as our discipline enjoins on all faithful friends to tes- 
 tify against, then it will and must be agreed, that 
 his concern in testifying against them is justifiable. - 
 
 Now, therefore, let the meeting for Sufferings, or 
 the Yearly Meeting's Committee, officially decide 
 the question, as they have heretofore been desired 
 to do, whether these specified doctrines are in con- 
 formity.with the doctrines of Fox, Barclay, Penn 
 and Penington, and if they do officially and candid- 
 ly decide that they are, then I will prosecute my 
 appeal no further. But if they find themselves un- 
 der the necessity to decide, that some of his doc- 
 trines are fundamentally at variance with the doc- 
 trines of Friends, and as in duty bound by the Disci- 
 pline, report them so, as a caution to Friends against 
 imbibing them, then they will have done the same 
 that the appellant has done, and will feel honestly 
 bound and disposed, as he trusts, to advise the res- 
 toration of his right, of membership in the Society. 
 
 So this committee, appointed by the Yearly Meet- 
 ing.now sitting to decide upon this appeal,if they find, 
 by a full and impartial examination that these doc- 
 trines are radically defective, then the course which 
 the appellant has taken (in all sincerity,) with an eye 
 to the safety of our principles and testimonies, will 
 be justified in conformity with our Discipline, which 
 is decidedly and scrupulously to be the rule and 
 guide of all committees entrusted with the society's 
 concerns. They are to judge with a righteous judg- 
 ment, as I trust they are aware, and to be tender of 
 the rights and religious concerns of individuals, as 
 well as to guard the society against any infraction 
 upon its disciphne or testimonies. 
 
APPEAL. 203 
 
 But the Yearly Meeting's Committee themselves, 
 in their complaint, as it has been seen, refer to doc- 
 trines, to what they justly call some of the important 
 doctrines of the Society, charging ihe appellant with 
 having reproached those doctrines, and some who 
 hold them, and were fully allowed before the commit- 
 tee of South Kingston Mo. Meeting to do what they 
 could to substantiate that charge, a privilege which 
 the appellant now in turn asks for, for they were not 
 only allowed to exhibit their evidence, but to plead 
 in support of their complaint in i-elation to doctrines.* 
 
 Third item. — -f " That for the want of maintain- 
 ing his integrity in that dependence upon the Holy 
 Spirit, which would have preserved him in unity with 
 Friends, he has indulged in a spirit of detraction. 
 
 * Here the respondents strongly remonstrated against allowing the 
 appellant to represent his ease upon doctrinal premises, and con- 
 siderable tune was taken up in debating upon the question of 
 Bight befo^'e the Yearly Meeting's Committee on the appeal. The 
 committee did not finally decide it as a question of righls, but of 
 expediency, to let the appellant proceed on doctrines, without in- 
 terruption, as a saving of time. 
 
 The Yearly Meeting's Committee not only referred to doctriuea 
 in their complaint, bat did, on all the occasions of the investigation 
 before committees, adduce as evidence against him, a letter pre- 
 viously written to J. M., one of their number, which was ground- 
 ed almost exclusively on doctrines. The producing of this letter 
 was truly satisfactory to the appellant, as thereby the complainants 
 brought to view, in part at least, the doctrinal ground desired. But 
 the advantage which they at first appeared to expect to derive from 
 it was this: — The receiver of it appeared to have kept it pretty 
 close, and the writer being desirous that another friend shonld be 
 put in possession of similar information, sent him a copy ol it as 
 " a copy of a letter from one friend to another in his posses- 
 sion," and inasmuch as the writer did not inform the second recipi- 
 ent that himself was its author, it was inferred by the committee 
 that he had iateuded the receiver should think that others had such 
 views as well as himself, but the reader may judge whether this 
 manner was pursued by the writer of that letter, to avoid the ap- 
 pearance of self-estimation, or to encompass the judgment of 
 another. Be that decision as it may, the letter he believes has 
 been in the right place and there put by the right hands. 
 
 t No small thing to make so many and such heavy charges against 
 a friend unjustly. 
 
204 APPEAL. 
 
 in speaking and writing, hy which the religious 
 character of divers friends in our own and other 
 Yearly Meetings, has been much misrepresented. 
 
 Some strangers, (and one of them a minister) 
 travelling with certificates, fell in at the house of 
 John Wilbur, and introduced much conversation on 
 doctrines as well as on men and their religious opi- 
 nions, making remarks, and in a manner calculated 
 to draw conversation from J. W., and as it after- 
 wards appeared, with an intention to do so, and to 
 make use of it to his disadvantage. They also en- 
 quired, as he remembers, as to the soundness of 
 some Friends here; and as one or two of those en- 
 quired after, were known to have changed their 
 views, and strongly to have sustained Joseph John 
 Gumey, these questions were answered conforma- 
 bly to those circumstances, and allusion was made 
 to the influence which large gratuitous donations 
 had produced, as it appeared, on some who had re- 
 ceived those gratuities. Before these Friends left 
 New England, John Wilbur found that their sym- 
 pathies were with Elisha Bates, lamenting as they 
 did, the step which he had taken, viz : being bap- 
 tized with water, inasmuch as it led to his being 
 separated from Friends, and at the same time strong- 
 ly advocated his opinion of the resurrection of the 
 body. And one of them finally betrayed his own 
 agreement with the Beaconites in their opinion of 
 the paramount authority and standing of the Holy 
 Scriptures. 
 
 Those men, it seems, in a most dishonorable and 
 unchristian manner, carried what they had gather- 
 ed (though one of them says, they were almost com- 
 pelled to do it) to members of the Quarterly and 
 Yearly Meeting's Committees, (in full tale if not 
 more than measure,) and that without letting- J. 
 W. know of their intentions, or of suggesting to 
 him the least dissatisfaction with any thing he had 
 said to them ; so unlike the ambassadors of Him who 
 
APPEAL. 205 
 
 said, " If thy brother trespass against thee, go and 
 tell him his fault between thee and him alone," &c. 
 And ;f there had been cause for complaint would 
 they not have done it ? 
 
 Now, inasmuch as this last mentioned course, as 
 directed by the Saviour, was not taken either by the 
 strangers, or by the members of the committees, nor 
 yet the course pursued, so clearly and fully enjoin- 
 ed and required by our discipline to be pursued, be- 
 fore a complaint can be brought to a Monthly Meet- 
 ing for detraction or defamation, and inasrhuch, too, 
 as the words spoken were true, (unless J. J. Gur- 
 ney's doctrines are sound Quaker doctrines) no 
 such complaint can be sustained by our rulers. 
 
 And how consistent with good practical experi- 
 ence is the course pointed out by the Saviour and 
 by the framers of our Discipline. A mode by which, 
 it is probable, most of such conversations might be 
 amicably understood to the removal of all unplea- 
 sant feelings. And if the right course in this case 
 had been taken at first, if any uneasiness was really 
 felt, J. W. has no doubt that such feelings might 
 have been removed, if others had no more disposi- 
 tion for controversy than himself, or to propagate 
 unsound principles. 
 
 When the complaint was first acted upon in 
 Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting, and the right of 
 objecting to a portion of the committee was claim- 
 ed on behalf of the appellant, the complainants did 
 disclaim all charge of detraction in their complaint 
 against him, and declared that if the word detrac- 
 tion was therein contained, it was incidental. 
 
 However it may be with this last declaration, 
 they might well relinquish this charge. 1st. Be- 
 cause neither themselves nor the witnesses they re- 
 lied upon had proceeded in the matter according to 
 the Christian rule of our Discipline, and 2d. Because 
 it was unfounded ; they were unable to disprove 
 
206 APPEAL. 
 
 the words spoken^ for the reason that they were 
 true. ,/ 
 
 The apparent object of this disclaimer of the 
 charge of detraction, was to give a pretext for de- 
 nying the appellant his right of objection to any 
 part of the committee.* 
 
 Fourth item. — " That he has made divers asser- 
 tions tending to induce dissatisfaction among Friends, 
 and with the proceedings of our Yearly Meeting in 
 various particulars, and calculated to produce divi- 
 sion therein, and aUo to disturb the unity of different 
 Yearly Meetings, and to alienate the feelings of 
 their members from each other. 
 
 In answer to this it is only necessary now to say, 
 that the appellant has no knowledge of giving any 
 just cause for such charges, and that he recollects 
 no attempt on the part of the complainants, to prove 
 them to the committees on the case, appointed by 
 the meetings belowf . 
 
 It may be asked, whether the well grounded un- 
 easiness which the appellant felt with the publish- 
 ed and unretracted doctrinal sentiments of " the 
 Friend" to whom the committee have so frequently 
 alluded in their complaint against him, (and upon 
 which indeed it seems to be principally founded) was 
 more likely to " induce dissatisfaction with the pro- 
 ceedings of this Yearly Meeting, to produce division 
 therein" or "to disturb the unity of different Year- 
 ly Meetings, and to alienate the feelings of their 
 members from each other, than was the conduct of 
 
 * On the trial before the committee of the Yearly Meeting, the 
 appeUant took the ground tliat the complainants had relinquished 
 their charge of detraction, as above, and the respondents did not at- 
 tempt to gainsay it.' 
 
 t This was stated to the committee of the Yearly Meeting on the 
 Appeal to remmd the respondents that they now had an opportuni- 
 ty to prove those charges, if able to do so, but they made no reply. 
 
APPEAL. 207 
 
 the members of this same committee who preferred 
 these charges ; in assuming the control of the Year- 
 ly Meeting, and so overruling its proceedings as to 
 send back without certificates in the year 1843, 
 three ministers in attendance from Philadelphia 
 Yearly Meeting, and one from Ohio, as well as their 
 companions respectively, all of whom were in the 
 station of elders except one ; and with the like ex- 
 ceptions all were as duly furnished with the neces- 
 sary credentials, which were also as " duly present- 
 ed, received and accredited" as those of " the Friend" 
 first mentioned, thus setting them at liberty for reli- 
 gious service therein, " in the full and acknowledged 
 character of approved and authenticated ministers" 
 and elders " of the Society of Friends V And 
 whether the conduct of the same committee, subse- 
 quently, has not been eminently calculated to pro- 
 duce the very result which they have unjustly 
 charged upon John Wilbur? In the year 1844, a 
 deputation from the same or of the Select Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee, mostly composed of the same 
 individuals, called on another minister in attendance 
 from Ohio Yearly Meeting, also with as full certifi- 
 caftes from his Monthly and Quarterly Meeting, 
 which had been as duly received and accredited, 
 and which embraced a prospect of religious service 
 within our limits, beyond the mere attendance of 
 the Yearly Meeting, and informed him that he could 
 not travel here unless he would unite with their 
 proceeding and comply with their advice to refrain 
 from associating with those who were known to be 
 dissatisfied with the unsound doctrines of Joseph 
 John Gurney, [" the Friend" to whom allusion is 
 made in their complaint against J. W.] ^He too, 
 was turned back without being allowed to perform 
 the visit he had in prospect, and without the usual 
 returning credentials ! But these ministers and 
 their companions wei-e known to have maintained 
 their integrity and allegiance to the original prin- 
 
208 APPEAL. 
 
 ciples, order and Discipline of the Society of Friends, 
 and to be opposed to the change attempted therein, 
 and to the disorder and misrule which followed 
 that attempt, on the part of the adherents of Joseph 
 John Gurney, the members of this committee and 
 many others. 
 
 Fifth and last item in the complaint. — That he 
 wrote a letter to one of the committee, in which he 
 made unjust insinuations, and preferred charges 
 against them, which they deny in point of fact. 
 
 The letter here alluded to, written to the Select 
 Quarterly Meeting's Committee, is as follows, being 
 now prefaced by a few introductory remarks. 
 
 When sentiments are spread in the Society by any 
 of its members, which strike at the root of its fun- 
 damental doctrines, and properly coming under the 
 character of "pernicious books," how important 
 that all into whose hands these works may be likely 
 to come, should be told of the dangerous tendency 
 of the views therein contained. And what minister 
 or elder, overseer or parent, concerned for the safe- 
 ty of the flock, can feel himself, {as one that is to 
 give account,) acquitted from the blood of the inno- 
 cent, without faithfully detecting the evil which he 
 is given to see, and warning them against receiving 
 the misleading sentiments as well as against read- 
 ing the books which contain them. 
 
 It was under impressions hke these that the writer 
 of the following letter consulted, by way of corres- 
 pondence, divers ministers and elders on the sub- 
 ject, and endeavored to discourage others from ad- 
 hering to doctrines of this description, now spread 
 abroad among us. 
 
 This testimony, he believed it to be his religious 
 duty to bear, and in doing which his peace, as he 
 apprehended, was concerned, " as one that is set 
 for a defence of the gospel," however unworthy, 
 and did on many occasions, though not so faithfully 
 as the truth dictated, point out to his friends some 
 
LETTER TO T. A. 209 
 
 of the errors to be found in certain books purport- 
 ing to be Friend's doctrine, but tending to lead them 
 astray, and to warn them against the adoption of 
 such opinions, a course which it seems, gave offence 
 to some of the Friends of the author of those books. 
 
 And of a committee appointed in Rhode Island 
 Select Quarterly Meeting in the 5th month, 1840, 
 most of the number proved themselves to be of this 
 description. And, however, the committee was ap- 
 pointed professedly for the purpose of restoring 
 unity in one or two select meetings, whose account 
 expressed a want of it.- Yet this committee, going 
 entirely in another direction from the business of 
 their appointment, as well as beyond any authority 
 with which our discipline clothes them, they arrest- 
 ed the writer, relative to his proceedings touching 
 those unsound doctrines, entered into judgment and 
 attempted to lay the restraint of their advice upon 
 him, to wit : " To stay at home and to be quiet," 
 and that without allowing him to exhibit evidence 
 to show that he had good cause for the course he 
 had taken ! 
 
 This unauthorised injunction of the committee, 
 and their refusal to hear evidence which he offered, 
 sufficient to exculpate him from all blame, gave oc- 
 casion to him to address to them the following let- 
 ter, a few weeks afterwards, directed to the first 
 named on that committee : — 
 
 LETTER. 
 
 HopKiNTON, the 30th of 5th mo., 1840. 
 To my dear friend T. A, : 
 
 After tlius allowing time for solid deliberation on 
 the subject of discussion with friends at thy daugh- 
 ter's, it seems right for me to address a few lines to 
 thee in relation thereto, inasmuch as I had not full 
 opportunity in the end to speak for myself, by rea- 
 
210 LITTEE TO T. A. 
 
 son of the claims of others on the time, as well as 
 the want of time ; thou wilt, I apprehend, allow me 
 the opportunity of reviewing it in this way, and to 
 remark further upon the charges brought against 
 me, and as I trust, will hear me patiently, seeing 
 that vastly more is involved in the 'consideration of 
 the question than merely the exculpation or con- 
 demnation of an individual, without allowing him 
 the right, both civil and religious, of a defence, not 
 only of himself, but of the testimonies and usages 
 of the society, such as truth and justice call for. 
 
 Thou art well aware that even in the civil de- 
 partment the laws of the land allow the accused a 
 defence of himself in all the bearings of his case, 
 and not only so, they premise if need be, that he 
 should be provided with counsel, lest unhappily the 
 innocent should be adjudged guilty. And in the re- 
 ligious department thou wilt agree that a still higher 
 and purer order of justice and righteousness is con- 
 templated, for beyond all controversy, such is the 
 true character of Christianity, and its superiority 
 over every other system of moral or civil order in- 
 stituted by the children of men. 
 
 But when we become acquainted with the his- 
 tory of ecclesiastical transactions since the Chris- 
 tian era, we are bound to acknowledge that the 
 civil has never been more abused than the religious, 
 under the dominion of power. 
 
 But to come directly to the question, and the 
 capacity in which friends acted, I deem it right for 
 me to remark, that I might suppose they acted as 
 individuals under an apprehension of the necessity 
 of the case, and not as a committee of the Select 
 Quarterly Meeting, for the appointment of the 
 committee was grounded, and only grounded, (if I 
 understand it,) upon deficiencies represented in the 
 answers to the queries from the subordinate meet- 
 ings, and consequently, friends could not as a com- 
 mittee of that meeting, extend care to any meeting. 
 
LETTER TO T. A. 211 
 
 or to a member of it, which gave no account of 
 deficiencies in relation to things queried after ; and 
 no tangible inference can be drawn from that of 
 South Kingston, (however it may be in others,) that 
 there does any want of harmony or unity exist in 
 that meeting; and which I esteem as a favor, for 
 which we are bound to be thankful. But 1 am 
 entirely prepared to say, that I ever hope to be 
 willing to receive advice either from committees or 
 individuals, acting conformably to the mind of truth, 
 and the order established in our society. 
 
 But are friends now prepared to evacuate the 
 ground which has been taken, viz., that a certificate 
 for a man to travel as a minister is a full defence to 
 him, against all comers in relation to whatever may 
 have transpired previous to the issuing of that cer- 
 tificate ? Or will they say that the deputed right 
 of one body shall be regarded, and that of another 
 may be disregarded and contemned ? And does it 
 rest with committees or others not delegated for 
 that special purpose, by the Yearly Meeting itself, 
 to arrest the established right and order which that 
 body has conferred upon its subordinate branches ? 
 Or shall these things yet rest upon their ancient 
 f')'indation and usage, that when a minister, though 
 liberated by an authorized body, is found defective 
 either m. faith or conduct, and for which satisfaction 
 has not been made, that he shall be liable to be 
 called to an account, by those whose constituted 
 duty it is, under whatsoever circumstance he may 
 have placed himself, or others may have placed 
 him? 
 
 By this rule, my dear friend, I am entirely wil- 
 ling to be tried and judged, but not upon mere hear- 
 say, or vague allegations and reports — not- for the 
 alleged faults or imprudence of others ; nor yet with- 
 out a hearing upon the great point and premises of 
 the case, to wit : the stand which I have taken 
 against the erroneous doctrmes which are spread 
 
212 LETTER TO T. A. 
 
 abroad among us by their, author, both before and 
 since his liberation for our land. And whatever I 
 have said or done in the case, relates unequivocally 
 to those doctrines ; and consequently, the merits or 
 demerits of that course rests upon the soundness or 
 unsoundness of those doctrines, as will be shown 
 further on : and I hesitate not to say, that the present 
 dissension in the society at large, is the legitimate 
 fruits of the circulation, and the Author's continued 
 adherence to the doctrines alluded to. And my 
 concern has been (as I told Friends when together,) 
 that those sentiments might be clearly developed 
 and faithfully reprobated, so that the fearful conse- 
 quences of such dissension might be obviated. 
 
 But if these baneful doctrines, or their unrelenting 
 Author, which is the same thing, are continued to 
 be advocated and defended, we have reason to fear 
 that serious difficulties will ensue ; because there is 
 no doubt there are some, and perhaps not a few in 
 this Yearly Meeting, who cannot be brought to the 
 adoption of such sentiments, come what may come. 
 And inasmuch, as great wrong has been inflicted 
 upon the truth, and its principles, who, thinkest thou, 
 my dear friend, will find the most peace of mind in 
 the result of things 1 Will it be those, who out of a 
 good conscience have withstood those innovations, 
 (though perhaps not always in the most perfect line 
 of Divine wisdom,) or those who have defended 
 such views by strenuously advocating and warmly 
 defending, and thereby giving strength to their 
 Author ; and by endeavoring to put down those 
 who have honestly withstood his sentiments 1 
 
 How any can defend an unsound man, at the 
 expense and rejection of those who are sound, and 
 yet be actmg upon sound pi-inciples, is a problem 
 which I very much desire to see demonstrated, if 
 demonstrated it can be. 
 
 I will now remark upon the charges brought 
 against me, and however so trivial as some of them 
 
—v- 
 
 LETTER TO r. A. 213 
 
 are, and so unreasonable as others appear to me, 
 yet as they have been deemed by mmisters and 
 elders to be worth naming, they will be recognized by 
 way of a defence and apology, for the course I have 
 taken. 
 
 1 St. That I have frequently in conversation and 
 in writing, reprobated some of the statements of J. 
 J. Gurney, and even on some occasions when abroad 
 in the ministry. To this charge, so worded, I con- 
 fess guilty, if guilt is attached thereto, and in re- 
 marking upon it,I will firstask thee Thomas, whether 
 thou will admit that a professed minister abroad, 
 could be chargeable with doctrines so dangerous as 
 to warrant such procedure ? 
 
 2d. Whether the doctrines of Hannah Bernard 
 and Elias Hicks, were so exceptionable as to war- 
 rant a watchword to the churches under similar 
 circumstances ? 
 
 3d. Whether Moses and the Prophets were war- 
 ranted, in so full and so public a manner, as they 
 often did, in testifying against the abuses of the 
 doctrines and commandments of the former cove- 
 nant? "■ 
 
 4th. Whether the apostle Paul and George Fox 
 did right in publicly withstanding and marking 
 those, who caused divisions by introducing doctrines 
 contrary to the doctrines of Christ ? 
 
 The Apostle, it seems, in his public epistle, en- 
 treated his brethren, without distinction of age or 
 standing, and without exception to any circumstance 
 to mark those which cause divisions and offences, 
 contrary to the doctrines which they have learned, 
 and to avoid them. Rom. 16: 17. And so we shall 
 find' if we examine the Holy Scriptures, that both 
 prophets and apostles were prompt and vigilant, in 
 detecting and exposing, as well as in exterminating 
 every thing which stood at variance with the Lord's 
 doctrines and testimonies, whether seen in kings, 
 , princ5es, or prophets, (however reprehensible such 
 
214 LETTEE TO T. A. 
 
 detection was deemed by those in power,) a pro- 
 cedure led to by the inspiration and commands of 
 God. For it was seen then as it in some degree is 
 seen now, that human nature is so prepense to ease, 
 and to overlook the needful restraints of true reli- 
 gion, that a guard against the inlet of evil was con- 
 tinually needful. -^- 
 
 But one of our Friends said, that he acknowledged 
 the doctrines in question were very unsound, but 
 afterwards said he thought we ought to give a pass 
 to their Author. But truly he could not have meant 
 to have been understood to say, that the Yearly Meet- 
 ing ought to give him a certificate of unity, for in so 
 saying, he would exhibit an opinion different from 
 that of the Apostle, when he was speaking of those 
 who brought in doctrines contrary to the doctrines 
 of Christ ; for, said he, " He that biddeth him God 
 speed, is a partaker of his deeds." 
 
 2d charge. That I knew the Yearly Meeting's 
 Committee were unwilling that I should travel in 
 the ministry, therefore, I ought not to have gone to 
 Philadelphia. To which 1 need to say no more 
 \v than to refer to Jhy expression to a friend-^to Thos. 
 Rowland's own hand-writing, and to J. M.'s to me 
 at Dover Quarterly Meeting, all amounting to this, 
 that the committee had no desire to stop my going 
 on the proposed visit ; besides which, I had never 
 heard from them — how then could R. say so? 
 
 3d charge. That they understood that Ihad favor- 
 ed the idea of a division of the Yearly Meeting, 
 and which was so fully answered at thy daughter's, 
 viz.: That no one among us, to my knowledge, had 
 labored more to keep Friends in New England to the 
 one faith, even to that alone which would keep us 
 together, and prevent our being scattered ; [show- 
 ing] that a disagreement in principle is the root of 
 schism. 
 
 4th charge. That I have companied with some 
 young men, who have made a stand against the 
 
LKTTER TO T. A. 215 
 
 unsound sentiments of J. J. Gurney, and to which 
 I confess judgment ; and that I have also companied 
 with some who are not young, but have the same 
 opinions of the same man. But I would say, that I 
 believe these with whom I have companied, and 
 who have taken the same ground would not suffer 
 in point of character in a comparison with others. 
 
 5th charge. That I suffered T. B. G. to go with 
 me, as companion, to Philadelphia. That he went 
 in company with me, as did divers other Friends, I 
 acknowledge, but that he went with me as a com- 
 panion, in the way that this phrase is understood by 
 Friends, is altogether unfounded ; nor did he pass 
 for such at any place where we were ; nor G. F. 
 R. neither, though he lodged with me every night 
 at Philadelphia, and is also a sound Friend : nor am 
 I ashamed to be in company with either of them, 
 although neither of them may be without his faults 
 — nor yel myself — did not think of its being any 
 disgrace to be seen with them. 
 
 6th charge. " That I suffered letters and extracts 
 from John Barclay and Ann Jones, to pass through 
 my hands to others." In answer to this, I would ask, 
 whether it would be more harm to quote English 
 authority against very unsound doctrines, or to quote 
 English authority in defence of very unsound doc- 
 trines ? And I would ask again, whether there has 
 not been a great deal done throughout our settle- 
 ments in America, in spreading English and other 
 letters in commendation of this very unsound man 1 
 I say unsound man,ioY he yet adheres to his unsound 
 doctrines. Again, whether thy colleagues are so 
 much dissatisfied, and do find as much fault with 
 letters which go to give currency to the Author of 
 these very sound doctrines, as they do with letters 
 which go to expose and detect them ? 
 
 7th charge. " That I said to N. M., that J. J. Gur- 
 ney, would not dare to come to New England." 
 Now we know the difficulty always attending that 
 
216 LETTEK TO T. A. 
 
 of proving a negative : — ^but I will say, that I was 
 at M.'s, and probably said something in relation to 
 the man ; but in how many and what kind of words, 
 I cannot now recollect ; however, as I know that I 
 never had the least expectation of our escaping a 
 visit from him, it looks so altogether unlikely that I 
 used that form of words, that I feel safe in demur- 
 ring to the charge, however little or nothing could 
 be made of it, if I had so spoken, more than that I 
 was mistaken. 
 
 Now if we take all these accusations into view, 
 my dear Thomas, which of the things complained 
 of, would not be effected in point of right or wrong, 
 either by the soundness or unsoundness of the doc- 
 trines of J. J. Gurney ? When you say that I have 
 spoken against his doctrines — that I have written 
 against his doctrines — that I have suffered to pass 
 through my hands, letters which go to discourage 
 the imbibing of his doctrines, and to warn of the 
 consequences of doing so — that I have companied 
 with others who protest against his doctrines, you 
 say truly, and yet wonderful it is to hear you fur- 
 ther say, that his unsoundness of doctrine has nothing 
 to do with my defence for doing so ! ! ! And as 
 wonderful that pertinent evidence offered in defence 
 of the rectitude of the course taken, sufficient to 
 exculpate from blame, thy correspondent should be 
 refused ! ! ! I say sufficient, because the refusal of 
 hearing that evidence, probo factum, gives to me 
 the right of this assumption. 
 
 But you seem inclined to resort to the abstract 
 doctrine, that a certificate from a corresponding 
 body or Yearly Meeting, ought to defend him 
 against all charges for wrongs done previous to the 
 date of that document. For a full refutation of 
 which position I refer to my letter to John Header. 
 
 But inasmuch as some continue to advance, an 
 abstract proposition, you will admit an abstract 
 solution. 
 
LETTER TO T. A. 217 
 
 In the civil department we are an independent 
 nation, yet are on good corresponding and commer- 
 cial terms with Great Britain : and let us suppose 
 that one of their trading vessels, had heretofore, by 
 means of an inclination thereto, and a strong armory, 
 made many captures, and had committed many 
 wrongs upon the rights and property of the Amer- 
 ican- people. 
 
 However, in process of time, the same vessel, 
 having escaped retribution, obtains regular papers 
 for a general trading voyage to our land. And 
 now I would enquire, whether it would be any 
 breach of good faith towards Great Britain, civilly 
 to ask the commander of this vessel to make repar- 
 ation for the wrongs which he had done us ? Or 
 whether it would be reprehensible in any of our 
 citizens, to speak of the wrongs which that vessel 
 had committed upon us, when those wrongs were 
 clearly proveable by the register of the vessel, and 
 had been fearlessly published by the commander 
 throughout all the trading companies in the coun- 
 try 1 Or whether it be a breach of faith for our 
 government to refuse to give her returning papers, 
 and a protection upon the high seas, until she would 
 make reparation for the wrongs which she had done 
 us ? And inasmuch as worldly property and civil 
 rights bear no proportion to religious principles and 
 Christian rights, the civil department could not pos- 
 sibly sustain an equal loss by means of the strong- 
 est ship upon the' high seas, as would be incurred 
 by our society in the striking out of even but two 
 or three of the fundamental and distinguishing arti- 
 cles from our confession of faith, as apparently 
 aimed at by the person alluded to. But let us stop 
 a moment, and enquii-e whether there have not been 
 some depredations committed during the present 
 visit. 
 
 First, he justifies his former wrongs which revives 
 10 
 
218 LETTER TO T. A. 
 
 and restores them to the present tense, and refuses 
 to make the least concession of them. 
 
 2nd. And further, has himself been spreading 
 defective books since his arrival in America. I 
 saw one which he presented to a friend, with a note 
 desiring his acceptance of it, dated Philadelphia, 
 8th month, 1837, and signed with his own hand — a 
 book recommending a. form of prayer, and that of 
 public discoursing upon Christianity, distinct from 
 the ministry. And this is said not to be a solitary 
 instance. And besides his spreading unsound books 
 since his arrival, many defective ideas of doctrine 
 have escaped him in the Gallery ; the which if col- 
 lected with the like industry, as has been obvious in 
 some other instances, the catalogue would be very 
 considerable. 
 
 Now, my dear friend, pause for a moment, and 
 see ; one man can write, and preach, and spread, 
 very unsound doctrines, and still receive the warm 
 support, or defence of both ministers and elders 
 among us ; whilst another, who is afflicted because 
 of the jeopardy which awaits our society, by means 
 of the spreading of these unsound sentiments, and- 
 ventm-es to bear witness against them, is consigned 
 to reproach ! However, this case is not entirely 
 new ; there have been honest friends heretofore, 
 - and undoubtedly, better than thy correspondent, 
 greatly reproached and defamed for withstanding 
 unsound doctrines, and even disowned ; and to what 
 extremity this may come, the Lord only knows. 
 But there is one thing which I desire, and another 
 which I lament. Tlie former is, that I may be 
 reconciled to whatever sufferings may be permitted 
 to fall to my lot, in the discharge of duty, and my- 
 self made to profit by it. The latter is, that I am 
 not more worthy to suffer for the truth, and for its 
 doctrines, and testimonies. But I might well say, 
 that a releasement from labor, if the enjoyment of 
 
LETTER TO T. A. 219 
 
 peace and quietness were bestowed, must be es- 
 teemed a great favor. 
 
 To be released from the labors and dangers of 
 the field, and yet be permitted to divide the spoil, is 
 a privilege of God's own conferring. That pre- 
 cious peace and quietness, which is the reward of 
 honest labor in the field, is nevertheless the fruit of 
 his abundant grace : how much more then, that 
 which fills the heart with peace and joy in its pri- 
 vate exercise and retirement in the house of prayer, 
 and under ^ts own vine and fig-tree, must be of 
 unutterable love. 
 
 And, however, he who serveth at the altar, re- 
 ceives his portion of the gift, yet if God be pleased 
 to release, from the service for a time, as he often 
 did our first friends ; and though it were by means 
 of the secular power ; yet it undoubtedly contribut- 
 ed to their furtherance, and greater depth in the 
 power of the cross of Christ — his name be praised ! ' 
 And my confidence in thee is such, that it will not 
 be periling the pearl to acknowledge to the un- 
 bounded grace of a good and merciful God, through 
 Christ Jesus, in vouchsafing to his weak' and un- 
 worthy messenger in his late journies, a greater 
 fullness of strength and understanding in speaking 
 of the things of his own kingdom, and power, and 
 glory, than he ever saw mete to bestow before : 
 and my enjoyment subsequent to many of these 
 seasons was inexpressible. And the praise and the 
 glory was and is, as I trust, wholly rendered unto 
 him, for I clearly saw that it was entirely of him 
 and to him, it was rendered, in language both utter- 
 able and unutterable. And it has been, and remains 
 to be, to me an evidence, not to be despised, that 
 my good God has owned and does own my sincer- 
 ity in bearing a faithful testimony against " every 
 appearance of evil," and innovation, upon our 
 inestimable testimonies, both in the times of our 
 
220 LETTER TO T. A. 
 
 former,* and our present troubles and dangers, 
 And that it is his will that I should do so,, does 
 not rest [wholly] upon his unmerited favors abroad, 
 (as evidence) but peace and quietness, have suc- 
 ceeded to the fulfillment of apprehended duty in 
 that respect at home. 
 
 Nor was I ever more clearly instructed, than in 
 these late journies, in relation to the opening and 
 shutting of the fresh springs of the Gospel ministry. 
 In one large public Quarterly Meeting, and in 
 several other large meetings, the minis.try was to 
 me " as a spring shut up and a fountain sealed," 
 and for which I could assign no other reason, than 
 that the good master would have it so. But in the 
 same Quarterly Meeting for business, which was 
 held the next day, a very unusual flow of the Gos- 
 pel life and power (for me) was witnessed in both 
 the men's and women's meeting. 
 
 The two or three exceptionable doctrines of J. J. 
 Gurney, alluded to above, mjght be selected from 
 the many, under the following heads : ^ 
 
 1st. That the Gospel of Christ, is not in itself the 
 power of God unto salvation, w- ,( ^ ,/ ^ 
 
 2nd. That men are justified by faith without re- 
 gard to obedience, rjj t-' <,'A'" 
 
 3rd. That was the true light which lighteth every 
 man that cometh into the world, he construes to 
 mean no more than Christ incarnate, " the enlight- 
 ener." Let all imbibe these three items of doctrine 
 and Quakerism would be no more. 
 
 Having a little room yet left upon this sheet, I 
 will occupy it with a few extracts from a piece in 
 my possession on Church order, as foUoweth : 
 
 " It would appear to be at variance with the very 
 nature of things, as well as the right order of Church 
 government, and the spirit of Christian discipline, 
 
 " Hicksite troubles. 
 
LETTER TO T. A. 221 
 
 to suppose that a person can place himself, or that 
 others can place him under such circumstances, as 
 that he cannot be reprehended for a breach of faith 
 in the promulgation of sentiments, perversive of the 
 estabUshed and fundamental doctrines of a religious 
 society to which he belongs. 
 
 " If a way has been found in which a person can 
 bjB securely sheltered and protected, under an obvi- 
 ous and public violation of the doctrines of his own 
 Society, (without concessions) then, indeed, it would 
 seem that innovation upon its principles may be 
 considered inevitable, and without a remedy. 
 
 " And if a religious body has no alternative, but 
 to unite with and to give currency to the religious 
 and official standing of such person,,_then would it 
 be in vain to hope for the preservation of the purest 
 system of Christianity, or the best confessions of 
 faith. 
 
 " But the truth itself, it is presumed, has never 
 placed a man in such a condition that his misgivings, 
 whether doctrinal or practical, could not be rightly 
 recognized and reprobated, so long as they remain 
 unretracted. 
 
 " Hence, it cannot be supposed that any body, 
 acting in conformity to the truth, should be under- 
 stood intentionally to approve, or give currency to 
 doctrines which are at variance with the truth ; nor 
 that any rightly qualified person can be reprehensi- 
 ble for detecting wrongs which have been inflicted 
 upon the truth, and its principles, and doctrines, as 
 exemplified in the Holy Scriptures from the begin- 
 ning to the end ; nor do we find in those sacred 
 records, that the names of those who had commit- 
 ted depredations upon the truth, are spared. 
 
 " By the exercise and dictates of truth's princi- 
 ples, it was that good order and wholesome regula- 
 tions were originally instituted and established in 
 the society of Friends, for the protection and secur- 
 ity of its doctrines, as well as for the support of its 
 
222 DEFENCE OF LETTEE. 
 
 moral economy : hence it is not to be believed, that 
 a wise and discreet exercise of that order, can ever 
 lead to the strengthening or upholding of error, or 
 the justification of wrongs committed against the 
 author of that order, to wit : the principle of Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 " Therefore any proceedings under a profession 
 of sustaining that order, if their tendency is to 
 strengthen the wrongs done to that principle which 
 brought all good order into existence ; then such 
 proceedings, so far from being the right support of 
 good order, are but the abuse of order, and can be 
 accounted of no better than an attempt to support 
 order at the expense of Principle, the parent of 
 order. 
 
 " I am thy Friend, &c." 
 
 A short time previous to an interview with the 
 committee, (to vvhom the foregoing letter was ad- 
 dressed,) in the 8th month, 1840, the receiver of it 
 took him aside and repeated or read to him the fol- 
 lowing sentences, which he said he had endorsed on 
 that letter ; but before that interview terminated, 
 the same Friend acknowledged that he did not think 
 John Wilbur meant to write anything in that letter 
 which was not true. 
 
 The endorsement, he believes was this, " I feel it 
 incumbent upon me to say, that the premises taken 
 in this letter are false, and therefore the conclusions 
 are false and unsound." T. A. 
 
 - DEFENCE OF LETTEE. 
 
 The following extracts from passages in the fore- 
 going letter have been referred to by the complain- 
 ants, as objectionable ; and are the same designated 
 by their pencil marks thereon, and testified by them- 
 selves to be untrue : referred to in the complaint as 
 " being not true in point of fact, and as containing 
 unjust insinuations." 
 
EXTRACTS. 223 
 
 But on the several trials of the case before com- 
 mittees, they have not proved those assertions other- 
 wise than by themselves — by a reiteration of the 
 same assertions : and when the following defence 
 of those passages has been read to the committees, 
 the respondents have never replied thereto. 
 
 EXTKACTa. 
 
 1st. " But if these baneful doctrines, or their un- 
 relenting author, (which is the same thing) are con- 
 tinued to be advocated and defended, we have rea- 
 son to fear that serious difficulties will arise." 
 
 2d. " And by endeavoring to put down those who 
 honestly withstand his sentiments." 
 
 3d. " I will now remark upon the charges brought 
 against me ; and however so trivial as some of them 
 are, and so unreasonable as others appear to me ; 
 yet as they have been deemed by ministers and 
 elders to be worth naming, they will be recognized 
 here by way of defence and apology for the course 
 I have taken : first, that I had frequently in conver- 
 sation and in writing reprobated some of the doc- 
 trines of J. J. Gurney, and even on some occasions 
 have spoken against them when abroad in the min- 
 istry." 
 
 4th. " But one of our Friends said, he acknow- 
 ledged that the doctrines in question were very un- 
 sound ; but afterwards said he thought we ought to 
 give a pass to their author." 
 
 5th. " That they understood that I had favored 
 the idea of a separation." 
 
 6th. " That I had companied with some young 
 men, who have made a stand against the unsound 
 doctrines of J. J. Gurney." 
 
 7th. " When you say that I have spoken against 
 his doctrines — that I have written against his doc- 
 trines — that I have suffered to pass through my 
 
224 EXTRACTS. 
 
 hands, letters which go to discourage the imbibing^ 
 of his doctrines, and to warn of the consequences* 
 of doing so — that I have companied with others 
 who protest against his doctrines — you say truly, 
 and yet wonderful it is to hear you further say, that 
 his unsoundness of doctrines has nothing to do with 
 my defence ! !"./;- 
 
 8th. " One man can write, and preach, and spread 
 very unsound doctrines, and still receive the warm 
 support or defence of both ministers and elders 
 among us, whilst another who is afflicted because of 
 the jeopardy which awaits our society, by means of 
 the spreading of those unsound sentiments, and 
 ventures to bear witness against them, is consigned 
 to reproach." 
 
 These extracts are considered as follows ; 
 
 1. Baneful doctrines. They are thought to be 
 so, because directly at variance with Quakerism ; 
 and divers of them contradictory to our fundamen- 
 tal principles. And being written by a member of 
 our Society, held in high estimation by many ; are 
 therefore liable to lead away our members unawares 
 from the true faith. And if our faith leads to life 
 and salvation, that which goes to destroy it, must 
 be of a baneful tendency. 
 
 Unrelenting Author. To support the justness of 
 this expression, we have no real necessity of doing 
 more than to refer to his own, yet unretracted ex- 
 pressions on the third page of his " Brief Remarks," 
 to wit : " That a few conventional misinterpreta- 
 tions have arisen, [among Friends,] and that he has 
 a conviction that the sooner such errors are rectifi- 
 ed the better ; that he believes these mistakes are 
 often found to spread their influence to a great 
 extent; and that they are stepping-stones by which 
 many persons may be, in no small degree, assisted 
 in an actual descent into Heresy." These errors, 
 
BXTKACTS. 225 
 
 e describes, as being conventional or stipulated 
 terpretations ; not merely as a slip of the pen or 
 tongue of individuals ; and that they remained un- 
 corrected errors at the time of this publication, viz., 
 1836. And he clears none of our writers from this 
 impeachment of error, either ancient or modern : 
 but further on, seems to cast the like imputations 
 upon Barclay, Penn, and Penington, as he there 
 plainly declares that all these authors have their 
 defects as well as their excellencies ; and that he 
 should not describe Quakerism as the system so 
 elaborately wrought out by a Barclay, or as the 
 doctrines and maxims of a Penn, or as the deep and 
 refined views of a Penington ; charging their Qua- 
 kerism with being defective, and not of an approved 
 description ; and by his mode of expression, denies 
 their Quakerism to be in accordance with the New 
 Testament. 
 
 He thus implicates our early writers as being ac- 
 cessory to heresy, and in a former passage makes 
 them chargeable with Hicksism : and thus not only 
 betrays unjust but unrelenting feelings towards 
 those dignified servants of Christ. To say nothing 
 of his vanity, in supposing he understands Quaker- 
 ism better than the founders of it, I would observe 
 that his use of the word " conventional" makes the 
 whole Society accountable as having stipulated the 
 errors alluded to. 
 
 Which is the same thing. To advocate a noted 
 public doctrinal character, whose views are well 
 known, whether he be a Christian or an infidel, is, 
 in the common understanding of things, ta advocate 
 and defend his opinions. He that advocated and 
 defended the early Friends, identified himself in 
 their opinions, and he that advocated and defended 
 Hannah Barnard and Elias Hicks, did, in the eyes 
 of mankind, identify himself in their opinions : 
 which opinions, very few if any of their advocates, 
 at the time, escaped. 
 
 10* 
 
226 EXTRACTS. 
 
 But the expressions, " Advocated and defended,'^ 
 were not intended to apply to one set of men more 
 than another, but only to those who do advocate 
 and defeiid J. J. G. and his doctrines, or any other 
 unsound writer. 
 
 2. And hy endeavoring to put down, ^c. This 
 sentence alluded to the injunction laid by the com- 
 mittee upon the writer of the letter, viz., to stay 
 at home and to be quiet, which injunction was re- 
 sponded to by every member of the committee 
 present except Andrew Nichols ; and if the meaning 
 was not designed to tally with the expressions, he 
 is willing the committee should explain and inter- 
 pret their own words. 
 
 3. Trivial and unreasonable. The multiplicity 
 of the charges evince q, disposition in the committee 
 to pick up and to bring forward all that could be 
 made to look like a fault, (by a good deal of shaping) 
 against him. But it will be allowed, that if it be so, 
 that J. J. G. is sound in the Quaker's faith, then 
 truly there would have been some Importance in 
 one or two charges which they preferred against 
 him at our first interviews, (and this is not denied 
 in the letter,) whilst the rest would have been of 
 little importance, if not very trifling. 
 
 But inasmuch as such premises were wanting, 
 the most considerable of those charges were alto- 
 gether uncalled for if not groundless, and the rest 
 either trivial or unreasonable. And seeing the 
 writer of that letter did therein spare them, by 
 omitting some of the most minute charges which 
 they brought against him in that company of minis- 
 ters and, elders, he thinks they might have been 
 satisfied on that score. 
 
 But now, on account of those objections, he seems 
 obliged to bring forward a specimen. One of those 
 trivial charges which he omitted (through deference 
 to their standing,) to introduce in his Ie*tter to thera. 
 
EXTRACTS, 227 
 
 was this, they accused him of sleeping with a young 
 man in New York on his way to Philadelphia, to 
 which he confessed guilty, if guilt be attached to 
 such a deed, but it was by the desire of the woman 
 Friend, of high respectability, who owned the bed, 
 and for the reason that she could not then so con- 
 veniently furnish another ; and never having refused 
 in case of necessity, and the young Friend being as 
 worthy of my company as I was of his, we did in 
 truth, i)oth lodge in the same bed at the same time ! 
 
 And truly he did think this was making a great 
 deal out of a little, for so grave a company. Another 
 charge was, (and unreasonable because it was not 
 true,) that he had written to a Friend at Scipio, 
 conveying (as they said) along list of extracts from 
 Gurney's doctrines, and seemed greatly disposed to 
 make a crime of both — the writing to that Friend 
 and the sending of extracts. But he had never 
 written to that Fiiend any thing at all, however 
 fair his standing was ; still they insisted that he had, 
 and disputed him in a manner not very polite nor 
 very civil : and altogether, he thought the charge, 
 being untrue, was unreasonable. 
 
 That he had frequently, in conversation and in 
 writing, reprobated some of the doctrines of J. J. 
 Gurney, and even on some occasions when abroad 
 in the ministry. 
 
 They say that this statement is incorrect, because 
 their complaint against him was for speaking and 
 writing against J. J. G., but not for speaking and 
 writing against his doctrines. A distinction, (as 
 nice as it is,) which J. W. admits was attempted, 
 after he proposed to prove the good cause which 
 he had, for the course he had taken, by reading ex- 
 tracts from his doctrines, hut not before. They had 
 previously accused him of " spreading long lists of 
 extracts" from his writings through the medium of 
 letters to divers Friends, &c., which letters he wil- 
 lingly refers to, to decide the question in controver- 
 
228 EXTRACTS. 
 
 sy, whether it was the person or his doctrine that 
 was spoken of to others. 
 
 These letters, (see Appendix,) being matter of 
 record, are the evidence which the nature of the 
 case calls for, to prove the truth of the things com- 
 plained of, whether it is for speaking against the 
 man or his doctrines. 
 
 The letters themselves were emphatically charg- 
 ed upon him as subjects of complaint, and happily 
 they are in being and will decide the question. 
 
 That the writer did ever speak to the disadvan- 
 tage of J. J. G., distinct from his doctrines, and 
 distinct from the right to dissent from them, yet re- 
 mains to be proved. So that, if the committee will 
 relinquish their complaint against the Hberty he has 
 taken in dissenting from some of those doctrines, 
 and the right of doing so, then they liberate him 
 from their complaint of every thing relative to J. 
 J. G., which took place previous to their interview 
 with him at Greenwich. And so he feels willing 
 they should be at liberty to insist on the distinction, 
 or not, as they think bestj inasmuch as his language 
 now under consideration, correctly defines and ap- 
 plies to facts which previously transpired ; that is to 
 say, the doctrine, (though not distinct from the 
 man,) yet not of the man distinct from the doc- 
 trines. 
 
 4th. — Very unsound. At the first interview with 
 the Quarterly Meeting's Committee, at Greenwich, 
 when they had accused J. W. of speaking and 
 writing against J. J. G., or more truly against his 
 doctrines, he proposed reading some extracts from 
 his works, to show that his views were unsound, 
 and that himself therefore had good reason 'for 
 speaking and writing. To this reading of extracts 
 they objected, and said, there may possibly be some 
 expressions in his writings which might be deemed 
 objectionable ; and in reply to which he said, " but 
 I want to show you how unsound his doctrines are," 
 
EXTRACTS. 
 
 229 
 
 when D. B— m replied, (apparently to obviate the 
 reading,) "I acknowledge that some of his doc- 
 trines are very unsound." J. M., (then sitting be- 
 tween J. W. and. D. B — m,) gave the latter a jog, 
 and in another low tone of voice said, " / should 
 not have said so." - These expressions of D. B — m 
 being recognized in this letter, written a few days 
 afterwards, were denied by him at our next meet- 
 ing at Newport, and several others of the committee 
 endorsed that denial. Here follows G. C. Kenyon's 
 testimony : 
 
 "East Greenwich, 10th month 9th, 1842. 
 " I hereby certify that I was in company with T. 
 A., a few days after the interview of the Select Quar- 
 terly Meeting's Committee with John Wilbur, at this 
 place, in the 5th month, 1840, and he said to me that 
 D. B. did acknowledge, during that interview, that 
 some of the writings, or doctrines of Joseph John Gur- 
 ney were unsound. 
 
 George C. Kenyon." 
 
 Now, at Newport, D. B. said, J. W. is an old 
 man and very forgetful, inasmuch as I did not say 
 any such thing. And at a meeting at Portsmouth, 
 shortly afterwards, the subject so rested on D.'s 
 mind that he revived it himself, and explained him- 
 self to have spoken at Greenwich on this wise, viz : 
 " For argument's sake, I will admit that some of the 
 doctrines of J. J. G. are very unsound." And to 
 this version of it J. M. responded and said, " that 
 he recollected that this was the way in which D. 
 expressed himself." Why thenjs said J. W., did 
 thou jog D. at the time and say, " I should not have 
 said so ?" To which enquiry J. M. made no an- 
 swer ! Andrew Nichols was then called upon to 
 inform what D. B. did. say at Greenwich ; and tes- 
 tified unreservedly that D.'s expressions at Green- 
 wich were the same as inserted in the letter, — that 
 the clause, "for argument's sake," which D. had 
 
230 EXTEACTS. 
 
 now prefixed to it, were not prefixed to it in the 
 first place. The subject was then left. 
 
 In the fifth month following, at Greenwich, the 
 Yearly Meeting's Committee brought against J. W. 
 on behalf of the Quarterly Meeting's Committee an 
 objection to the same expression in the letter, as 
 being untrue, but no mention was then made of the 
 prelude, " for argument's sake." And now again 
 the ; same Friend, Aiidrew Nichols, so well known 
 for trtith and veracity, and who had testified so 
 clearly to the Quarterly Meeting's Committee, was 
 desired to state to the Yearly Meeting's Committee 
 what words he heard D. B. express a year ago be- 
 fore the Quarterly Meeting's Committee, touching 
 the point in question 1 He then stated, in the same 
 clear and unequivocal manner as before, that D.'s 
 woi-ds were these, to wit: " I acknowledge that 
 some of the doctrines of J. J. G. are very unsound." 
 This objection was then immediately abandoned. 
 But subsequently, after some years had elapsed, 
 three of the Quarterly Meeting's Committee, (if he 
 rightly remember the number) have been so adven- 
 turous, and so regardless of a scrupulous care, as 
 relates to moral, not to say rehgious integrity or ve- 
 racity, as to come forward and positively to say, 
 that J. W.'s assertion of the words " very unsound" 
 was untrue !* By which avowal they alsoj, condemn 
 Geo. C. Kenyon and Andrew Nichols' aifirmative 
 testimonies. Ha,d those three negative witnesses 
 stated, as all careful, conscientious persons ought to 
 do, if so, that they did not recollect or notice such 
 expressions at the time, they would have done 
 
 * D. B. was invited to state the conversation before the Commit- 
 tee of Appeal at Yearly Meeting. But appeared to have lost hm, 
 recollection almost entirely about it,— 5aid he had kept no record ol 
 it at any time — rather thought he might say, in the first place at 
 Greenwich, that it was probable some would say that J. J. Gumey 's 
 doctrines were very unsound— coiiid not remember of saying any 
 thing about the subject at Newport or Portsmouth. 
 
EXTRACTS. 231 
 
 more honor to themselves and to their cause, and 
 would have obtained more credence from others. 
 
 5th. — That they understood he had said, there 
 would he a separation in the Society. Such was 
 one of the many accusations brought against him at 
 the first interview, and words to that import, amidst 
 his fears of the consequences of the sentiments 
 abroad among us, have undoubtedly escaped him, 
 but upon no other consideration than the apprehen- 
 sion of a palpable departure from our doctrmes or 
 discipline. 
 
 Schisms have heretofore been occasioned by the 
 promulgation of unsound sentiments, and by the 
 support which has been given to the authors of those 
 sentiments. And if the like should occur again, the 
 responsibility must rest, as it ever has done, upon 
 the heads of those who have denied the faith of our 
 fathers, and upon the heads of those who have sup- 
 ported and defended such, to the abuse of the disci- 
 pline and good order of the Society. 
 
 Within the ranks of this very committee, who have 
 been seeking to make the intimation of a separation, 
 a crime in John Wilbur, there is to be found, at 
 least one, who has, on several occasions, and in re- 
 ligious meetings too, spoken in strong terms of] a 
 sifting time and separation to be looked for in this 
 Society, and this since the Hicksite schism. 
 
 Those whose living concern is, for sustaining our 
 primitive doctrines and testimonies, could have no 
 greater joy than to see the whole number disposed 
 to refuse and reject all other doctrines and opinions, 
 with t|B|iioWers of them ; and unreservedly to hold 
 fast those which* can only stand in the one spirit ; 
 and th^ein to abide ; and then there would be no 
 rents or divisions among us ; and in this oneness 
 would be their rejoicing. 
 
 But on the other hand, as painful as the consid- 
 eration is, those who are disposed to lean towards a 
 relaxation from first principles ; and to walk with 
 
232 EXTRACTS. 
 
 and to support those who are inclined to let down 
 primitive Quakerism, and to make the way more 
 easy to flesh and blood ; these would fain have the 
 whole body go with them, — would encompass all 
 without exception — are not willing there should be 
 any testimony bearers left to witness against them, 
 or to awaken any trouble or guilt in their con- 
 sciences. 
 
 6th. — That he has companied with some young 
 men who have made a stand against the unsound 
 views of J. J. Gurney. The writer of the letter 
 understands that the dissatisfaction of the commit- 
 tee in relation to this passage, consists in the manner 
 of designating the persons alluded to, but not in the 
 identity of them. It is true that his manner of de- 
 signation was different from theirs, yet plainly dis- 
 tinctive of those alluded to. They call them, if his 
 memory serves, as he siipposes they have called 
 him, " opposers of good order," or, " the order of 
 Society," whilst he alludes to them as those who 
 have made a stand against the doctrines of J. J. 
 Gurney — that they have made such stand no one 
 will deny, and that the making of that stand has 
 drawn down this reproach upon them is equally 
 true. Nor can the author of the letter, on that ac- 
 count, be readily made to call them disorganizers ; 
 for our rules require such a stand. 
 
 7th. — When you say that I have spoken against 
 his doctrines, ^c. This passage recapitulates the 
 principal heads of the charges noticed in the letter, 
 and recognizes the substance of the writer's pro- 
 ceedings most complained of by the committee in 
 language applicable to the state of the ca^ The 
 description of the letters referred to, from John 
 Barclay and Ann Jones, being in his own lai%uage, 
 as they were not described by the committee, as he 
 recollects ; and for the correctness of that descrip- 
 tion the letters themselves are appealed to, and if 
 desired will be produced. 
 
EXTRACTS. 233 
 
 And here he would ask, what it was for, that the 
 committee in the first place arrested and reprehend- 
 ed the writer of that letter, and essayed to lay a 
 prohibition upon him ? Was it for speaking against 
 J. J. G., distinct from his doctrines ? No — certainly 
 it was not ; for they had never any evidence of his 
 doing so, nor claimed any ; for when impressively 
 importuned to advance evidence of such expres- 
 sion, if known to them, they have not at any time 
 made such attempt. But nevertheless, when they 
 say in an unqualified manner, that he has spoken 
 and written against J. J. G., he does not charge 
 them with being incorrect, because then he under- 
 stands the manner of expression to refer to J. J, 
 Gurney's whole public character, including the 
 person with his sentiments. But if his sentiments 
 are not included, then their complaint is without 
 foundation, and the writer's impeachment at an end. 
 
 Hence it did seem wonderful to him that the 
 committee could say that the .unsoundness of J. J. 
 Gurney's doctrines had nothing to do with J. W.'s 
 defence, and should refuse the introduction of them, 
 as offered for showing his duty, in the course he 
 had taken. 
 
 But the complaint of the committee against him 
 was, for saying something — for saying what? 
 Something either in favor of or against a Friend. 
 There has been much said by most Friends concern- 
 ing him. But to ascertain whether for or against, 
 the words spoken must be adduced, and no judg- 
 ment in a court of judicature for defamation, with- 
 out the identical words, either proved by the plain- 
 tiff or acknowledged by the defendant, can be ren- 
 dered. 
 
 But when the defendant acknowledges the words 
 charged upon him, and oflTers sufficient evidence to 
 prove that he had good cause for saying the things 
 complained of, and that they were known by a great 
 number of credible men to be true, and that the di- 
 
234 EXTRACTS. 
 
 vulging of them was needful for the safety of the 
 community. Then, if the court refuse to hear that 
 evidence, and proceed to render judgment against 
 him, should we not suppose that refusal to be un- 
 just, and the judgment rendered, cruel and arbi- 
 trary, and subject to a reversal. 
 
 8. One man can write, and spread and preach 
 very unsound doctrines, ^c. This passage was 
 marked as objectionable, and so testified against; 
 but whether the expression of unsound doctrine, al- 
 luded to, or whether the expression of warm sup- 
 port and defence by ministers and elders in our So- 
 ciety, or both, is the cause of uneasiness, the writer 
 did not understand. That the person alluded to 
 has promulgated doctrines very much at variance 
 with Quakerism is easily proved, and was offered 
 to be proved to the committee, but they had not 
 ears to hear it. And that he has been warmly sup- 
 ported and defended by ministers and elders in 
 many places in our Society, is too well known to 
 require a proof.* That the writer of the letter un- 
 der consideration (and as he thinks, because he has 
 borne witness against those doctrines) has been made 
 a subject of censure and reproach, is undeniable. 
 
 And in conclusion, and by way of explanation of 
 one point in question, the writer will say, that in the 
 composition of his letter to the committee, he had 
 no intention oi charging them with unsound doctrine, 
 nor yet to have recognized their having committed 
 themselves in any religious sentiments more excep- 
 tionable than those of Joseph John Gurney, and to 
 which it appears, by the foregoing record of the 
 proceedings of the Quarterly and Yearly Meeting's 
 Committees, who met at Greenwich 5th month, 4, 
 
 » K. G. did, before the committee at Greenwich, on the 4th day 
 morning, 5th month 5, 1841, warmly support and defend the charac- 
 ter of J. J. Gurney, and unsparingly placed high enconiums upon 
 him. 
 
REASONS, ETC. 235 
 
 1841, that they were ready to respond, and did re- 
 spond to the doctrines in question at that time. 
 
 REASONS 
 
 Why J. W. wrote the letter to T. A. as one of 
 the Quarterly Meeting's Committee, and why it 
 ought not to be destroyed as desired. 
 
 1st. He wrote it because the committee gave him 
 occasion for it by bringing charges against him for 
 things which were not reprehensible, and because 
 they refused to hear good and essential reasons in 
 defence and vindication thereof, a resort to pen and 
 paper was necessary to show his reasons for the 
 course he had taken, and to clear himself from un- 
 just imputations which they had cast upon him. 
 
 2d. Because they reprehended him for making a 
 stand against J. J. Gurney, or more truly against 
 his doctrines, and which doctrines being perversive 
 of Quakerism, his loyalty to the cause demanded a 
 defence of that cause in exposing those doctrines, as 
 well as for the defence of our principles. And, 
 moreover, the very circumstance of a committee 
 from a Quarterly Meeting of ministers and elders 
 so coming out in defence of a man of such doctrine 
 as to arrest a friend in so formidable a manner for 
 exposing such doctrines, did, in the apprehension of 
 the writer of the letter in question, call for a suita- 
 ble examination of the subject for the Committee's 
 consideration. 
 
 3d. Because, as he conceives, the committee had 
 no authority, by virtue of their appointment, or 
 by virtue of the Discipline, order and usage of the 
 Society to arrest him, and to pursue such measures 
 with him as they did at Greenwich 5th month, 1840, 
 gratuitous and uncalled foT. Hence, for one in the 
 station of a minister, bound by his calling to the 
 Law and to the Testimony, silently to submit to 
 such attempts to deprive him, or the Monthly Meet- 
 ing to which he belonged, of those rights which that 
 
236 REASONS, ETC. 
 
 order and discipline, as well as the truth itself, has 
 confided and secured to him as a member and minis- 
 ter in the Society of Friends, and to his Monthly- 
 Meeting, as authorized judges of such concern. I 
 say, a silent submission to such gratuitous interfe- 
 rence, could be deemed no less than a virtual sur- 
 render and abandonment of the rights of the Disci- 
 pline and usages which the Yearly Meeting itself 
 has ordained and confirmed as a standard of pro- 
 ceeding throughout all its subordinate branches. 
 Of which rights and usages no Friend, or body of 
 Friends, whose authority is inferior to the Yearly 
 Meeting, can deprive them otherwise than by chan- 
 nels prescribed by the Yearly Meeting. 
 
 4th. Therefore he ought not to consent to the 
 destruction of it (or the copy in his hands) in con- 
 formity to the wishes of the Committee, because 
 such a step would be deemed not only a concession 
 of the course which he had taken, but also a con- 
 cession of the doctrines which he had thereby been 
 defending. And because he would then be impli- 
 cated, if not reported abroad, as having thus con- 
 ceded the doctrines of ancient Friends, and to 
 have admitted the doctrines of J. J. Gurney. 
 
 5th. That he had no occasion in this way to 
 abandon this letter, because the sentiments therein 
 contained are correct and tenable. 
 
 6th. It ought not to be destroyed by the writer 
 because the committee have reported abroad that 
 the premises therein taken are " false and unsound," 
 and therefore if destroyed by his consent, it would 
 follow that whenever the writer should be called 
 upon by his friends, either at home or abroad, to 
 give an account of himself in relation to it, the pre- 
 dicament in which he would then be placed would 
 be exceedingly unfavorable, inasmuch as he would 
 thereby, in a very exemplary manner, condemn his 
 own attempt to uphold the usage, order and doc- 
 trines of Friends. 
 
REASONS, ETC. 237 
 
 7th. Because the committee, or a member of it, 
 has endorsed the charge of falsehood upon it, there- 
 fore to consent to its destruction at any rate, but 
 more especially until that endorsement is removed, 
 would be deemed, (and not very unreasonably) ac- 
 ceding'to the infamy thereon unjustly placed. And 
 inasmuch too, as that charge was reiterated and at- 
 tempted to be enforced by the committee in South 
 Kingston Meeting of ministers and elders, although 
 they utterly failed in the attempt. 
 
 8th. Because no one of the committee has at- 
 tempted to refute it by fair and honorable argu- 
 ments in the same way, with ink and paper, most 
 easily done, if it be as exceptionable as they affirm 
 it to be, agreeable to the maxim, viz : " The more 
 exceptionable the argument, the more easy and 
 tenable its refutation." 
 
 9th. Because, if the letter should become extinct, 
 and therefore could not be appealed to, then those 
 who have a disposition to condemn it, can place 
 their own censures and constructions upon it with 
 impunity, and without fear of detection, because the 
 negative of their assumption could not be proved 
 by oral testimony, nor by any other means, without 
 the letter itself Hence it was not without cause that 
 the committee was so anxious for this letter to be 
 destroyed. 
 
 The committee to whom this letter was written, 
 were, as heretofore stated, ostensibly appointed on 
 another account, to wit : the want of unity apparent 
 from the answers to the queries from -Rhode Island 
 and Providence Monthly Meetings, and as from the 
 committee's own confession, they have never attend- 
 ed to those reported deficiencies ; it is altogether 
 presumable that those answers were so made out 
 at that time, and sent up for the especial purpose of 
 obtaining the appointment of a committee for ar- 
 raigning John Wilbur ; and this is confirmed by the 
 
238 TRUTH ITS OWN DEFENCE. 
 
 fact, that they did arraign him, and did nothing else 
 but to deal with him ! 
 
 If those solemnities of ministers and elders, set 
 apart, shall have been perverted by a feigned repre- 
 sentation, in order to bring about an unsusp'ected 
 process for the annoyance of an innocent brother, it 
 speaks both the language of lamentation over the 
 leaders of our Israel, and of vyarning to the people : 
 Flee to thy tent, O Jacob ! and to thy Tabernacle, 
 O Israel J 
 
 TRUTH, 
 
 Its own defence under all circumstances. 
 
 The argument advanced, that a minister travel- 
 ling with a certificate, however unsound, ought not 
 to be detected in that unsoundness, because such a 
 measure would hurt his service, and be a breach of 
 the order of Society, has already been thrice fairly 
 refuted. 
 
 If there is or ever was any discipline, or conclu- 
 sion of the Society in any part of the world, pro- 
 hibiting the detection and exposure of doctrines 
 published at large, and fundamentally unsound, the 
 writer of these remarks makes this confession, that 
 he has never seen or heard of it. 
 
 If one man is more dangerous than another, on 
 account of the sentiments which he holds, it is he 
 which has the greater intercourse in society and 
 with the world at large. 
 
 Although a man may be never so unsound, if a 
 solitary character and stationary in the world, or 
 known only within a limited circle, the amount of 
 evil proceeding from his opinions, is comparatively 
 small. 
 
 But if a man is a public character, is a man of 
 influence, is a man of personal endowments and 
 attractive manners, both in the public and private 
 circles, is travelling in the character of an authorized 
 
TEUTH— ITS OWN DEFENCE. 239 
 
 minister, and mingling with the Society generally, 
 what great and power iul advantages for the diffusion 
 of his opinions are in his possession. How easily 
 is his whole character impressed upon the multi- 
 tude ! And how full the esteem and credence which 
 he easily obtains, insomuch, that notwithstanding 
 he holds doctrines fundamentally unsound, great 
 will be the difficulty of convincing his personal ad- 
 mirers of his heterodoxy in principle, and so it will 
 prove too generally, that those who are attracted 
 and drawn to his person, are prepared by degrees 
 to receive his doctrines. 
 
 How needful, therefore, if a man of such influ- 
 ence and notoriety in the society, is known to he un- 
 sound, if it is known by his own unretracted decla- 
 rations, that his sentiments are perversive of Quaker- 
 ism ; I say, how needful that those who are called 
 and appointed to watch over the flock, " as they 
 that are to give account," should warn that flock of 
 the dangers which they themselves have seen.. 
 
 But it has been advanced by some of the members 
 of the meeting for Sufferings, that no one has a right 
 to gainsay the doctrines of such person, however 
 unsound, until that body* has decided them to be at 
 variance with the doctrines of Friends, a rule and 
 assumption which it is believed was never before 
 suggested or claimed by members of a meeting for 
 Sufferings in any part of the world, to the exclusion 
 of other concerned Friends, unless it was so by 
 those who finally seceded from our principles under 
 the apostacy of Elias Hicks. 
 
 The overpowering strength of the defective mem- 
 
 ! * Subsequently, some of the doctrines pnbUs)ied by J. J. G. 
 were laid before the meeting for Sufferings, and that bocJy desired 
 In examine them, and decide upon their orthodoxy, but that body 
 declined such examination, and members of it rendered, as a rea- 
 son for thus decUning, that they were not authorised to determine 
 upon any doctrines already printed. 
 
240 TCETH — ITS OWN DEFENCE. 
 
 bers in the meeting for Sufferings in New York, at 
 that time, is well known, and for which reason no 
 strictures upon the unsound doctrines, then making 
 their way in the Society, could be carried through 
 that body. But will any one among us now say, 
 that no individual therefore had a right to gainsay 
 the doctrine of Elias Hicks ? 
 
 And were Isaac Stephenson and Samuel Wood, 
 while travelling with certificates in New England, 
 chargeable with a breach of order for exposing the 
 doctrines of Elias Hicks, because the latter was at 
 the same time travelling with a certificate to the 
 westward ? The same question might also well be 
 asked with relation to George Withy a;nd Thomas 
 Shilletoe, and others, about the same time, for expos- 
 ing the same doctrines, under the same circum- 
 stances. • 
 
 These arguments are not here advanced by way 
 of charging any one ■ with Hicksism, or any other 
 unsound doctrines, but to evince that such a rule 
 would be extremely absurd if ever adopted by the 
 Society, and also contrary to the Apostle's injunc- 
 tion to all the members of the church at Rome, with- 
 out distinction, " to mark them which cause divi- 
 sion and (Jffences contrary to the doctrines which 
 they had learned, and to avoid them." 
 
 Hence, is not the question well decided, that at 
 the very least, any well concerned, sincere mem- 
 ber of the Society, has a right to call in question 
 such doctrines, advanced by any one, provided 
 those doctrines are tangibly unsound, let the circum- 
 stances attending the holder of those doctrines, be 
 what they may. I repeat it again, let those circum- 
 stances be what they may, because the safety of 
 the whole Society is of immensely greater conse- 
 quence than the standing or reputation of an indi- 
 vidual. And as it has been shown, as above, the 
 greater danger for travelling ministers, to be un- 
 sound, than lor others, the more necessity therefore 
 
TRUTH ITS OWN DEFENCE. 241 
 
 arises for their detection, if such be the case with 
 them. 
 
 It has been said that to gainsay the doctrines of 
 a travelling minister will hurt his service — hurt his 
 service? But it may be asked, whether any one 
 who is fundamentally unsound in Christian doc- 
 trines, can have any requirement from above to 
 perform any religious service in our Society ? 
 
 And one more question I would ask, whether any 
 member of our Society, (no matter who) can be 
 dealt with in the order of our Discipline for dissent- 
 ing from and protesting against doctrines which are 
 onered to his acceptance, if he can fairly and clear- 
 ly prove those doctrines to be at variance with the 
 fundamental doctrines of the Society ? 
 
 Heretofore we have heard of members of our So- 
 ciety being labored with for advocating ■ unsound 
 doctrines, but never till recently, for reprobating 
 - them ! Whence then this change' ? 
 
 Shall those then who publicly do wrong to our 
 principles, and .demur to our early writers, be eu- 
 logized and commended, whilst those who consci- 
 entiously detect and withstand those wrongs, are 
 reproached and condenined ? 
 
 What a strange paradoxy and inverted state of 
 things has now transpired and become popular. 
 Can our condition now be Uke those complained of 
 by the prophet, who called evil good aiid good ©vil, 
 that piit darkness for light and light for darkness 1 
 
 Do we not know that a fair examination of the prin- 
 ciples of an author reflects upon him only in propor- 
 tion to the amount of good or evil inculcated thereby ? 
 
 Does he who offers to our acceptance sentiments 
 which are at variance with those heretofore ac- 
 knowledged by us, at the same time refuse to ua 
 the right of dissenting therefrom ? 
 
 Whether he be so understood or not, this we know, 
 that the Giver of all our rights has not withheld 
 this from any of his rational creatures. 
 11 
 
242 DISCIPTilNE EXAMINED. 
 
 DISCIPLINE EXAMINED, 
 
 And other things relative to the controversy con- 
 sidered. 
 
 It is contemplated by our principles and Disci- 
 pline, that our ministers should be so careful to wait 
 for the Divine anointing, as that their ministry 
 should be sound and savory. 
 
 But if otherwise, and their services should unhap- 
 pily become burthensome and without life ; or, if 
 they should evince, either by their preaching, con- 
 versation or otherwise, that themselves were not 
 sound, either in the gift or in the true faith ; or if 
 their life and conversation should not comport with 
 their profession, then, in either of these cases, if at 
 home, they are to be labored with by the elders of 
 the church in a Christian spirit, and if a reformation 
 cannot be effected, to be advised to suspend their 
 public ministry. 
 
 And moreover, if such things are discovered in 
 them when abroad, and continued after due caution, 
 it is considered requisite (if the writer of this under- 
 stands the order and usage of the Society) that the 
 select members do, for the safety of the church, .ad- 
 vise such to return home. 
 
 But when none of these defects appear, and a 
 minister gives good satisfaction in relation to the 
 requisite qualifications, both at home and abroad ; 
 and on returning from service abroad, brings satis- 
 factory testimonials from those whom he has visited, 
 then let it be asked, what Friend or body of Friends 
 are authorised to interfere with his RIGHTS, 
 or with the RIGHTS of the Monthly Meeting 
 where he belongs ? 
 
 But there is another article of advice in our book 
 of Discipline, and of sterling import too, which 
 should not be overlooked or mistaken, and that is, 
 that ministers be tender of one another, and be care- 
 
DISCIPLINE CONSIDERED. 143 
 
 ful not to hurt one another's services, whether at 
 home or abroad. But this Discipline evidently con- 
 templates and refers to those that are sound in word 
 and doctrine, by which Discipline great counsel and 
 caution are extended, that ministers should be kept 
 so, for if otherwise than sound, it would plainly ap- 
 pear that such an one could not be a laborer in the 
 field of service, provided the foregoing Discipline 
 had been administered according to its intent and 
 meaning. 
 
 Hence it is "clear, that the latter paragraph of 
 Discipline has no such meaning as that a minister 
 should not be allowed to recognize and expose the 
 sentiments of one claiming to be a minister — senti- 
 ments which he had seen to be fundamentally un- 
 sound and dangerous to the body. And for this 
 reason, because the latter can have no legitimate 
 service in the church to be hurt thereby. 
 
 If the latter paragraph were necessarily to be so 
 construed, as that one minister had no right to de- 
 tect and expose the unsound doctrines of another 
 minister, so reputed, lest his character or calling 
 should be hurt thereby ; then it would seem that the 
 framers of our Discipline had entrapped themselves, 
 and thereby jeopardized the safety of the Society 
 by means of an oversight in relation to a correspon- 
 dency of its parts, so as that it might be laid hold 
 of by defective individuals or their Friends, in 
 screening them from the due judgment of truth. 
 
 A construction which I deem utterly at variance 
 with the meaning of our rules for the preservation 
 of harmonious labor among ministers, as for the 
 protection of the whole Society against unsound and 
 dangerous doctrines, which construction, as well as 
 any mistake in the forming of our Discipline, the 
 writer is altogether unwilling to allow, because he 
 is well assured that the consistency of its provisions 
 are plain and tangible, and clearly to be understood, 
 that those who are not one with us in doctrine, are 
 
244 mSCIPIilNE CONSIDERED. 
 
 not contemplated thereby to be countenanced as 
 preachers, or to be abroad as ministers, and there- 
 fore our Discipline cannot have provided for the 
 protection of them. 
 
 But there is still another paragraph of Discipline 
 of paramount importance in this case, and which 
 settles the question to every intent and purpose, 
 and places it beyond all disputation, that all faithful 
 Friends, [whether ministers, elders or others,] are 
 not only allowed to relieve their minds, when they 
 paiafully perceive our principles to be invaded, but 
 are enjoined and required to be watchful over our 
 members who deviate from our Christian principles, 
 and to labor with them, let them be whom they may, 
 not excepting ministers and elders under any cir- 
 curnstances whatever, any more than common mem- 
 bers, and that for good reason too, because if they 
 should deviate, the more of course the harm that 
 must come of it. 
 
 A short time before the separation of the Hicks- 
 ites from Friends, a meeting at Purchase, or there- 
 abouts, was said to have been attended by Elias 
 Hicks, Daniel Wood, and Rowland Greene. And 
 immediately thereafter, we were told, that the two 
 latter gave ready information abroad, that Elias 
 Hicks preached very unsound doctrine at that meet- 
 ing. 
 
 Wherefore, let it be asked, whether or not they 
 were chargeable with a breach of Friend's Disci- 
 pline, as hurting the service or character of Elias 
 Hicks ? 
 
 To this question, I apprehend, it will be readily 
 answered, that they were not. Why ? Because 
 the doctrine of Elias Hicks was believed to be un- 
 sound and dangerous doctrine, and that it was 
 therefore the duty of those friends, (though minis- 
 ters, and out at the same time on religious service,) 
 to testify faithfully, both against him and his doc- 
 trine. 
 
DISCIPLINE CONSIDERED. 245 
 
 But suppose some of the Friends of E. H., under 
 the professed authority of a Quarterly Meeting of 
 ministers and elders, come forward eind call on 
 Daniel Wood and Rowland Greene, to give account 
 of their proceedings in that matter. Whereupon 
 they, the said D. W. and R. G., as an apology, ad- 
 vance the above as their plea, to wit: "that the 
 doctrines which E. H. preached were very un- 
 sound," and propose to state to the committee Elias 
 Hick's very words, to show that they had good and 
 sufficient cause for the course they had taken. 
 
 Nay, say the committee, we have nothing at all 
 to do with the doctrines of E. Hicks, but our busi- 
 ness and our concern is for the support of the or- 
 der and DiscipUne of the Society. You had no 
 right to open your lips against Elias Hicks. He 
 stands as an approved minister, and carries as good 
 a- certificate as you do ! 
 
 Such was the plea of E. Hicks and his friends on 
 all occasions, to avoid an exposure and examina- 
 tion of his doctrines, and such is the plea of J. J. G. 
 and his friends, to avoid the exposure and investiga- 
 tion of his doctrines. 
 
 But the Friends of J. J. G. say, that his doctrines 
 are not so bad as those of E. H., and therefore the 
 cases are not parallel. But how do we know which 
 of the two systems are the most exceptionable, un- 
 til the merits of them are examined ? 
 
 Do they choose to determine cases without an 
 investigation and without evidence ? 
 
 If there are any who think that J. J. Gurney's 
 case is good, why need they fear an examination 
 to see whether it be better than that of E. Hicks, 
 and how much ?* 
 
 * In the adoption of a principle of action in such cases, the ques- 
 tion rests, not upon the excess of unsoundness, in the one case or 
 in the other, but upon the existence of it, in relation to essential 
 points. 
 
246 HICKS AND GUENEY CONTRASTED. 
 
 The parallel of these cases is, their doctrines are 
 both fundamentally unsound and erroneous, and 
 the principle on which both of these persons have 
 acted, is precisely the same, and that is, manifesting 
 a determination to avoid a comparison of them with 
 the doctrines of Friends, a course which all who 
 have attempted an innovation upon our religious 
 principles have pursued, that is to say, all who have 
 proposed to themselves to carry the Society with 
 them. 
 
 Here then is a sure test of motives, — all those 
 writers whose intentions are honestly to set forth 
 and to promote the true Christian doctrines as held 
 by Friends, have ever been, in all readiness, to com- 
 pare their own views with the standard writings of 
 our Society. But on the contrary, those whose in- 
 tentions are to modify or change the doctrines of 
 Friends, have always without exception, studiously 
 avoided a contrast of their own sentiments with 
 those of the Society. 
 
 On whichever hand, therefore, the intentions of 
 such have been " to remove the land marks," their 
 aim and manner of doing it have run parallel to each 
 other, have been obviously the same, to remove 
 them unseen and unsuspected by the members at 
 large, whilst he who doeth truth cometh to the light 
 that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are 
 wrought in God. 
 
 Elias Hicks and Joseph John Gurney have both 
 professed and declared their own views to be in uni- 
 son with the primitive doctrine of Friends in regard 
 to the Saviour of men, if not in all points. But 
 the former, however, appears to be wanting in 
 his fidelity as to Christ's personal coming and attri- 
 butes ; and the latter in his fidelity as to his spiritual 
 coming and dwelling in the heart of man. The lat- 
 ter has the fullest faith in his personal coming and 
 atoning sacrifice for the remission of sins ; the 
 former as full in his spiritual coming for the reno- 
 
OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 247 
 
 ration of the inner man, and a saving of him from 
 a continuance in sin. 
 
 But both of these appear to bo great debtors to 
 the correct part of each other's doctrine; each ap- 
 parently holds to half, and each apparently rejects 
 half of the Christian covenant, and therefore hold- 
 ing nothing in common with each other in relation to 
 redemption by Christ. But still, each (professedly) 
 holding to half the covenant in common with 
 Friends. 
 
 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 
 
 There are those who have been, and continue to 
 be, very liberal in their censures upon those who 
 have conscientiously proclaimed a fast from im- 
 bibing certain defective doctrines abroad in the So- 
 ciety, finding fault with eVery course they have 
 taken in the faithful discharge of what they believe 
 to be their religious duty. At one time averring, 
 that however great any evil might appear, their 
 manner of exposing it is altogether improper. And 
 at another time, charge the whole present difficulty 
 in the Society, not upon the evil and the authors of 
 it, but upon those who expose the evil, and upon the 
 manner of doing it. 
 
 And the advocates of J. J. G. further state, that if 
 those who reprobate his doctrines had forborne to 
 do so, the present dissension would not have exist- 
 ed, and things among us would have remained 
 quiet. Be it so. And so they might say, if the 
 prophets in former times had held their peace, and 
 quietly suffered Israel to depart from the doctrine of 
 the Lord's covenant with them, then the dissensions 
 between the faithful and the unfaithful might have 
 been avoided, and a quiet agreement in the lapse of 
 principle enjoyed, at least until the judgments of the 
 Lord were poured out upon them. 
 
 And so, if those called Protestants had stifled 
 their convictions, and kept still, then the persecu- 
 
248 OBJECTIONS ANSWEKED. 
 
 tions and burning of martyrs would not have trans- 
 pired. 
 
 Again, if George Fox and his friends had been 
 disobedient to Divine manifestations and requir- 
 ings, in preaching again the inward power, life and 
 light of primitive Christianity, in contravention with 
 priestcraft, then all the outward persecutions, im- 
 prisonments and martyrdoms which they suffered 
 might have been avoided ! 
 
 And lastly, if those who maintained sound doc- 
 trines against Elias Hicks and his followers, had 
 chosen that kind of peace and unity so loudly called 
 for by the latter, in preference to the true princi- 
 ples and doctrines of Truth, then the cruel dissen- 
 sions aiid sore troubles which ensued might have 
 been avoided. 
 
 Who then, in consideration of all these religious 
 dissensions, shall we make chargeable with the 
 appalling results which followed ? 
 
 Shall we charge the calamities of early times 
 upon the prophets who could not hold their peace 
 when the testimonies of that covenant were pro- 
 faned ? Or, shall we charge all the blood of all the 
 martyrs upon a Wickliffe and a Huss, a Luther and 
 a Calvin, because they withstood the Romish super- 
 stitions and atrocities? Or shall we charge it where 
 it belongs, upon the pope and his insidious hierarchy? 
 Or shall we charge the great dissensions and cruel 
 persecutions which fell out in the days of our first 
 Friends upon George Fox and his cotemporaries, 
 because the doctrines which they preached and 
 their opposition to a hireling ministry led to those 
 dissensions ? 
 
 Again, shall we charge upon those who reprobat- 
 ed and withstood the doctrines of Elias Hicks with 
 the great confusion which took place at Mount Plea- 
 sant and at New York, when that fearful schism 
 was consummated at those places, seeing that if 
 those doctrines of E. H. had not been controverted, 
 those events would not have transpired. 
 
OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 249 
 
 No more than they, therefore, are those who re- 
 probate false doctrines in the same way and manner 
 in this day, chargeable with the consequences which 
 follow ; but those by whom the offence cometh — 
 the author and the abettors of him and his doctrines, 
 they are they on whom the vast responsibihty rests ! 
 And more especially in those places where such have 
 the ascendency, should they be disposed to close up 
 every avenue through which the society at large 
 may obtain correct information of the soundness or 
 unsoundness of such doctrines as are offered to their 
 acceptance. 
 
 But there are among us, those who suggest, if 
 rightly understood, that it is not so much the want 
 of occasion, more or less, for reprobating the doc- 
 trines of J. J. G., nor of the right of doing so, that 
 they object ; but that it is the manner in which some 
 have spoken against J. J. G. or his doctrines, that 
 they disapprove. 
 
 To which the writer replies, that seeing the doc- 
 trines alluded to are easily proved to be fundamen- 
 tally unsound, and tangibly perversive of Quaker- 
 ism, he feels fully warranted in claiming the authori- 
 ty and example of those who have heretofore, in the 
 very same manner, spoken and testified against doc- 
 trines which were also unsound and perversive of 
 Quakerism, as well as against the authors and hold- 
 ers of those doctrines. He is now referring to the 
 authority of William Almy, Rowland Greene, Abel 
 Collins, Thomas Howland, William Jenkins, and a 
 great number of other Friends, at the time of the 
 Hicksite controversy. 
 
 These friends appeared to be conscientiously 
 concerned to guard the members of our Society 
 against imbibing the defective doctrines, which 
 were then spreading both in New England and to 
 the westward. And two of the number mentioned, 
 travelled westward in the ministry at that time, and 
 were often known, in the same manner, to warn 
 11* 
 
50 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 
 
 Friends against imbibing the unsound doctrines then 
 spreading in the society, whilst they were out on 
 religious service. 
 
 The manner of the Friends appealed to above, 
 was to speak and testify against the unsound doc- 
 trines then advocated ; and their example and man- 
 ner has been followed by some concerned Friends 
 of the present day, to guard the society against 
 defective views that are offered to their acceptance. 
 
 Again, there are some who refer to the authority 
 of numbers as a reason for their choice of ground 
 in the present controversy ; and others to the credi- 
 bility of the character and standing of those to 
 whom they had been accustomed to look as leading 
 Friends. 
 
 Reasons like these, undoubtedly, have a powerful 
 effect upon the mind of man — upon his affections 
 and passions. But the wise and conscientious be- 
 liever, so soon as he finds that either numbers or 
 character, are placed in competition ^lih principles, 
 however great the number, or conspicuous the 
 character, he is awakened to a greater necessity of 
 a firm resolution and decision in favor of the truth 
 and sound principles, regardless of the consequen- 
 ces which may follow. 
 
 Had it not been for such honest resolution and 
 decision of character, firmly adhered to by the first 
 few protestant reformers, what would have become 
 of the reformation from popery ? It would never 
 have been. And but for such derision in George 
 Fox, and a few other congenial spirits against 
 protestant Babylon, Quakerism had probably never 
 existed. 
 
 But these few solitary individuals in the midst of 
 a great nation, and in the midst of nations, bound 
 in the covenant of a glorious hope ; were enabled 
 to maintain the truth against the opposition and 
 resistance of all the domination of earthly power, 
 against the many — the solitary few against the 
 
OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 251 
 
 mighty, the noble, the honorable, because He who 
 must be obeyed, rather than all men, had command- 
 ed them, and was with them in the work whereunto 
 he had called them. 
 
 Again, if numbers or names are to govern prin- 
 ciple, roust we not then, by the same rule, abandon 
 Quakerism altogether, although it hath, under that 
 name, existed for near two centuries, and led thou- 
 sands to glory triumphant, because the whole 
 society is but a little handful compared with the 
 whole body of Christian professors ? Inasmuch, 
 too, as among others we know there are many 
 mighty, many noble, and many great men, whose 
 intimacy and friendship has become so exceedingly 
 enticing to some among the Quakers. 
 
 Finally, because the great body of those under 
 our name, (including many eminent men,) upon 
 Long Island, and divers other places in New York, 
 and elsewhere, adhered to an unsound man and his 
 sentiments. Ought those few who remained, to 
 have goiie with them, because their number was 
 small?* 
 
 * During the pendency of the editor's case beibre the society, 
 aauch pains have been taken to defame his character, sending abroad, 
 over the Yearly Meeting, as well as elsewhere, a great variety of 
 unfounded reports, in order no doubt, to enlist if possible, the whole 
 society against him, so that his excommunication might be the more 
 easily affected. 
 
 And since that has been accomplished, some of the same and 
 other unfounded stories are most industriously circulated ; as it ap- 
 pears for the purpose of obtaining a full assent or justification in the 
 minds of Friends, of the cruel measures thus consummated upon an 
 afflicted brother. 
 
 But through the kindness of his Friends, he has had the opportu- 
 nity of refuting many of these reports, — all that have reached him ; 
 and so far as be knows, to the satisfaction of aU those who have been 
 so good as to give him the opportunity of doing so. He has always 
 encouraged enquiries and investigations into those reports, and still 
 does encourage them, although, like the Apostle, he would rather 
 glory in his infirmities than to take praise to himself, or to attempt 
 to hide them from the Searcher of Hearts, or from his beloved 
 Ffiends, whose reproofe, wheij given as directed by the Saviour, ho 
 
252 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 
 
 The Yearly and Quarterly Meeting's Committees 
 have said and reported, that their treatment towards 
 J. W. has been in kindness and great tenderness ; 
 and these reports have been widely spread by 
 themselves and others, not only in New England, 
 but otherwhere, as many of his readers will bear 
 Tvitness. 
 
 But if the reader has given attention to the fore- 
 going narrative of the proceedings of these Com- 
 mittees, and marked the unreasonable privations, 
 and unkind usages to which they have subjected J. 
 W., he must have been prepared before coming to 
 this article to reprobate, in no unhesitating manner, 
 these most unhallowed pretentions to kindness and 
 tenderness. 
 
 They refused to allow him the company and as- 
 sistance of any of his near Friends, when under the 
 painful endurance of their reprimands, and even - 
 that of his wife ; and such refiisal as this was per- 
 sisted in to the last, although the right was often 
 requested, and by means of disability was often 
 needfiil. 
 
 The reader will have seen, that they refused him 
 altogether, his right of access to the records, so 
 needful to the preparation of his case in vindication 
 of his proceedings, and to prove the wrongs that 
 were inflicted upon him. 
 
 The reader will also have seen, that they sought 
 an advantage over him, by demanding answers to 
 irrelevant questions— that they shifted their ground 
 divers times, in order to prevent Eind interrupt the 
 course of his defence, — that they proffered him 
 anonymous papers in order to annoy him, — that 
 
 would desire to profit by. And his fei-vent prayer is, that when 
 God sees iniquity in him, that He would do it away — that He would 
 ever awaken and (juicken his conscience to a ready perception of 
 all that offends Him, and to cause that judgment should have its 
 perfect work. 
 
EECOEDS. 258 
 
 they accused him of falsehood, touching the premi- 
 ses of his letter to them, and virtually pronounced 
 those premises to be a fabrication, and thus charg- 
 ing him with that which they could never prove, 
 otherwise than by a reiteration of the same charges ; 
 and charges too, which were not maintainable, — 
 tha,t they accused him in large companies with 
 stubbornness, and of being possessed of a dark and 
 hard heart. 
 
 In short, their treatment of him on all occasions, 
 so far from tenderness, has been but the confirma- 
 tion of a determination to prostrate his standing, — 
 some of which movements have been noticed in 
 this work. 
 
 EECORDS. 
 
 The appellant had several times applied to the 
 clerk of the Quarterly Meeting of ministers and 
 elders for a copy of the minute, by which their 
 committee was appointed and authorized for service, 
 in the restoration of unity and harmony, but he 
 refused to give it, without direction from the meet- 
 ing. The Select Quarterly Meeting was therefore 
 applied to for liberty to their clerk to furnish a copy 
 as aforesaid ; but it refused to give such liberty. 
 
 When the investigation of his case before the 
 committee of his own Monthly Meeting approach- 
 ed, one of that committee requested the Yearly 
 Meeting's Committee, some of whom were expected 
 to be in attendance, to bring with them a copy of 
 the minute as above, and also from the clerk's files. 
 South Kingston Select Meeting's account of its 
 state, as presented to the Quarter in the 5th month, 
 1840. When the committee met, a paper was 
 brought, purporting to be a copy of said minute ; 
 but the account from South Kingston was not pro- 
 duced. 
 
 The appellant, having been present when the 
 
254 RECORDS. 
 
 minute was made, and being at that time apprehen- 
 sive of the intentions of the movers of this measure, 
 took especial notice of the wording of the minute, 
 and had also heard it read once or twice afterwards, 
 by the committee, in the early part of its proceed- 
 ings ; and could not, therefore, now believe that the 
 paper now produced, was a true copy of the origi- 
 nal minute ; but still thought it most prudent, not to 
 disclose his apprehensions at this time, not knowing 
 but the discrepancy might possibly occur inciden- 
 tally. But the account not being brought, the ap- 
 pellant proposed sending a messenger to the clerk's 
 office for it, unless the Yearly Meeting's Committee 
 would admit its clearness in relation to unity, and 
 which they acceded to, rather than to have the 
 account presented. 
 
 He now concluded to do the best he could with 
 things as they were, intending if another occasion 
 should offer for it, to call for the book itself, and to 
 be sure to have the account present. 
 
 Accordingly, when his appeal was pending before 
 the Quarterly Meeting's Comroittee, and the time of 
 meeting not far distant, the appellant applied- in 
 writing to the respondents, (one of whom was the 
 keeper of the papers, and was the clerk of the 
 Select Quarterly Meeting,) to produce before the 
 Quarterly Meeting's Committee on the appeal, the 
 books of records which contained the minutes of 
 Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting of Ministers and 
 Elders, held in the 5th month, 1840, and also the 
 accounts from South Kingston Select Meeting 
 which was presented at that meeting : being in their 
 possession, and essential in the trial of the case. 
 
 In due time, while the appeal was in progress, 
 before the Quarterly Meeting's Committee, the 
 respondents were asked to lay on the table the book 
 and papers called for by the appellant, — after some 
 hesitation they said, they were not present ; but 
 offered such an extract as before. The appellant 
 
EECOEDS. 255 
 
 now complained of the injustice in withholding from 
 him his right of an evidence so essential in his case. 
 The respondents replied by saying, " Does John 
 Wilbur think that we will bring evidence here, to des- 
 . troy our own case V And subsequently repeated 
 the same again ! 
 
 The appellant now enquired, whether a public 
 officer could withhold books or papers pertaining to 
 his office, in a case on trial, though their presence 
 might subject himself to a decision not to his own 
 advantage ? 
 
 But most of the committee apparently, like Gal- 
 lio, cared for none of these things ; nor did they so 
 much as say to the clerk of the Select Quarterly 
 Meeting, that the appellant had a right to call for 
 that book — and that he, the clerk, had laid himself 
 liable for refusing to produce it. 
 
 Being of this temperament, the Quarterly Meet' 
 ing's Committee of course decided the case against 
 the appellant. But he was now more fully confirm-, 
 ed than before, that the discrepancy was not merely 
 incidental ; but the record had either undergone 
 some mutilation or was garbled in copying ! 
 
 Therefore, previous to the Yearly Meeting where 
 his appeal was to be finally decided, the appellant 
 called at the house of the clerk of the Select Quar- 
 terly Meeting, who was also one of the respondents 
 from the Quarterly to the Yearly Meeting, and 
 found him at leisure ; and there plead with him for 
 justice, and the right which is due to all men, and 
 which the discipline gives and provides for all who ap- 
 peal to its decision, but found his mind closed against 
 all entreaty for justice. The appellant now desired 
 him to turn to the minute in question, and to let him 
 just see it ; but he would not. He then asked him, 
 if he would not carry the book and South Kings- 
 ton account to the Yearly Meeting, but he would 
 give DO encouragement of doing so. The appellant 
 then told him, that if he persisted in a refusal to do 
 
256 RECORDS. 
 
 SO, he should have a right to say that his copy was 
 not a true copy of the original minute, and they 
 might expect him to challenge it as spurious, before 
 the committee of the Yearly Meeting ; and that he 
 might expect him further to prove it by the ques- 
 tion which they put at Providence, to wit : " Does 
 John Wilbur think that we will bring evidence to 
 destroy our own case ? ! !" An interrogative and 
 declarative of their own, clearly and fully proving 
 that the book contains evidence against them, which 
 the extract they brought did not. 
 
 When Yearly Meeting came they did persist in 
 the same course, and carried not the book and doc- 
 ument as requested ; but with a hope, as it appeared, 
 to work on the credulity of the committee on the 
 case, they produced what they called a copy by the 
 clerk, and a duplicate, said to be taken from the 
 records by another of the respondents, and so far as 
 the appellant knows, might be a copy of a mutilated 
 record as it now stands, but not of it, in its original 
 form, which, if brought forward must unavoidably, as 
 they said at Providence, destroy their own case. Or 
 did they not rather mean that the exposure of some 
 marks of an officious hand upon the face of that 
 minute with the document from South Kingston 
 brought to view, would destroy (what they called) 
 their own case ? And better he thinks to call it their 
 own case, rather than truth's cause. 
 
 But the appellant did refuse to acknowledge these 
 pretended copies ; they not being the evidence 
 which the nature of this case, and state of things 
 now called for, but a mere evasion of duty, and 
 violation of good faith. Was it ever known before, 
 that any people under our name had become so lost 
 to a sense of justice, and the honor of the cause of 
 truth, and had so conducted towards an individual 
 member, as to refuse that their deeds should be 
 brought to the light ? Or, that refused to disclose 
 
SUBORDINATION TO THE BODY. 257 
 
 to his proper judges, their usage toward him ? 
 The appellant believes not. 
 
 He now made objection to these papers, purport- 
 ing to be copies of record, and protested against 
 them, as spurious documents ; and consequently, 
 showing that the committee of the Select Quarterly 
 Meeting, who had been the instigators and chief 
 actors in this unjust course of persecution, had en- 
 tirely neglected and departed from the recorded 
 business of their appointment : and without cause, 
 and without any discipline to warrant it, made an 
 unprovoked attack upon him, whilst in the proper 
 exercise of his duty in the support of our discipline, 
 and therefore had no cause at all to complain of his 
 vindication in his letter, or of his reprobating un- 
 sound doctrines of their author.* 
 
 SUBOKDINATION TO THE BODY. 
 
 In all compacts or associations, individuals stand 
 by mutual agreement in subordination to bodies, so 
 long as those bodies sustain and protect the interest 
 and rights of those individuals, agreeable to the 
 rules or laws of that compact. If such general 
 compact consist of branches composed of divers in- 
 dividuals, those branches, in like manner, stand in 
 the condition of subordination to the general com- 
 pact or association. 
 
 Such association being formed and mutually en- 
 tered into, or voluntarily acknowledged by every 
 individual member of it, for the benefit of each, be- 
 
 * Some months previous to the publication of this statement, the 
 editor wrote to one of the Yearly Meeting's iStanding Committee, 
 (who was also one of the last respondents, and the keeper of their 
 papers in this case,) requesting the loan of them for a short time in 
 order for the completion of a fair record of the whole transaction ; 
 but could not obtain them. Hence, some of their objections could 
 not be so directly met and answered ; and this narrative is therefore 
 somewhat less complete than it would otherwise have been. 
 
258 SUBORDINATION TO THE BODY. 
 
 ing wholly made up of individuals, and bound by its 
 constitution and laws as premised, for the benefit 
 and interests of its members, as well as to protect 
 their H^Afs — the responsibility, therefore, is mutual. 
 
 This responsibility rests upon the whole, in pro- 
 portion to the authority or number, whether of the 
 supreme body or its branches ; or whether of indi- 
 viduals. If the supreme body consist of a thousand 
 individuals, its breach of trust, or breach of the 
 conditions of its order, (if such transpire,) is in the 
 same proportion greater than that of a single indi- 
 vidual. 
 
 If a branch of that body consist of an hundred in- 
 dividuals, and acts by the power of that number, its 
 breach of order is in the same ratio greater than 
 that of an individual. Hence, the perverting or vio- 
 lating of the rules of such association, tending to the 
 overthrow of such body, is dangerous in direct pro- 
 portion to the powers and number of the body 
 which abuses the rules of its original and mutual 
 stipulations. 
 
 Thus the danger attending a serious disease of 
 the head or the chest, is vastly greater than that 
 which affects a single member of the human body. 
 But if the association be wholly of a religious char- 
 acter, the considerations involved are of a higher 
 order and of greater consequence, — ^if purely Chris- 
 tian, Christ presides, and his law is the governing 
 rule of that compact ; as it is of every member of 
 it, if he be a follower of Christ. 
 
 If such body be purely Christian, and so remain, 
 no one can be required to resign or forego his obli- 
 gations to Christ ; nor can a follower of Christ vio- 
 late his law, and the obligation due to him, at the 
 bidding of man ; — nor yet can a body, so being and 
 so remaining, require one of its members to dis- 
 regard or violate his allegiance to Christ. 
 
 But, touching the question of certainty in ascer- 
 taining the mind of Truth, and its pointings (wheth- 
 
SUBORDINATION TO THE BODY. 259 
 
 er we allude to the church or its members) in case 
 of a loss of the true anointing the early and spirit- 
 ually endued members of the Society of Friends, 
 plainly recorded their views of the Christian doc- 
 trines, and also instituted a discipline and church 
 government for the establishment of doctrine as 
 well as practice in the future government of the 
 church. Such discipline and such doctrines, ordain- 
 ed of the Truth, have been acknowledged as a test 
 of faith and conduct by the Society for nearly two 
 centuries. 
 
 Whatever body of men, therefore, whether supe- 
 rior or subordinate, claiming ecclesiastical authority, 
 or to be a Yearly, or Quarterly Meeting, of such 
 Society ; if they violate and disregard the rules, 
 regulations and doctrines of that-Society, in any im- 
 portant points, and persist in it, are not to be con- 
 sidered nor accredited as the body of Christ, nor 
 can they belong to the Society of Friends ; but are 
 a spurious body, and therefore not entitled to any 
 authority under the doctrines and discipline of the 
 ancient Society of Friends. 
 
 Bodies professing Christianity are as much bound 
 to act conscientiously and in the fear of the Lord as 
 individuals ; and if all the individuals composing 
 such bodies so act, then there will be no misrule nor 
 oppression exercised by that body ; nor occasion for 
 giving or receiving a plaudit for the quieting of one 
 anothers' consciences, nor of laying plans for turn- 
 ing away backward the judgment of truth. 
 
 But it has been made to appear by the foregoing 
 narration of facts which have transpired, that both 
 the superior and inferior bodies, under the name of 
 Friends, have disregarded and trodden down the 
 good order and discipline of the Society; and 
 through the ruling members (in whose acts these 
 bodies have united,) have also supported the author 
 or authors of unsound doctrines : and under these 
 flagrant abuses it is, that they reiterate the cry of 
 
260 SUBORDINATION TO THE BODY. 
 
 subordination to the body — subordination to the 
 body ! ! And no sin is more spoken of by them in 
 our hearing, as being of so deep a dye, as insubor- 
 dination to the body — as insubordination to their 
 own wills and decisions ! 
 
 But if their construction of the word, as to its 
 meaning, is correct, they themselves are chargeable 
 with insubordination, both to the Doctrines and Dis- 
 cipline of the Society of Friends, and they are now 
 called upon to clear themselves from this charge ; 
 and if they can do it, all the upright will be made 
 glad. To do this, however, they must condemn 
 and revoke their proceedings en masse, against 
 South Kingston Monthly Meeting and its members, 
 as well as in other cases ; and they must also con- 
 demn their support and defence of an unsound 
 writer. But this we know, that they who call them- 
 selves apostles and are not, and they who call 
 themselves Jews and are not, (however great their 
 number, and high their profession,) are not the body 
 of Christ, but are what He, who was dead and is 
 alive, declares them to be, as recorded in the Reve- 
 lations. See chapter 2nd. No more are those who 
 say they are Quakers and are not — those who make 
 the profession, but have denied the faith by their 
 works, — we say, no more are these the body ol 
 Christ ; nor have they any more right to bind men's 
 consciences than had that body which called itself 
 the Church or the Body of Christ in the middle 
 ages : touching which we have shown that the 
 more corrupt the body, the louder the cry and the 
 more rigorous the measures to enforce subordina- 
 tion or obedience to the desires and will of the 
 body. 
 
 This cry of insubordination to the body, is by no 
 means new. It was raised against those undaunted 
 worthies who dissented from the false doctrines and 
 corrupt practices of the Romish Church, and who 
 faithfully testified against them ; and for which they 
 
SUBORDINATION TO THK BODY. 261 
 
 endured every species of persecution, not excepting 
 death itself. 
 
 Again, for the sanae crime the early Friends were 
 arraigned, and persecuted, and put to death. And 
 at the time of the Hicksite controversy, subordina- 
 tion to the body was loudly proclaimed and insisted 
 on, and several valuable Friends were placed under 
 dealing, and finally disowned from the Society for 
 this alleged high crime. And now again the cry 
 of insubordination is raised against those who dis- 
 sent from and testify against the unsound doctrines 
 spread abroad among us ; and these are in turn 
 subjected to the penalty of dealing and disown- 
 ment. 
 
 Now, let us deliberate upon this claim of uncon- 
 ditional subordination, so strongly insisted on by 
 the Yearly Meeting's Committee ; and on their be- 
 half by others amongst us; and reflect on the con- 
 sequences to which it must inevitably lead, if admit- 
 ted and acted on in the Society of Friends ; never 
 heard of in a sound and healthy state of the Church : 
 but if her condition become otherwise, no marvel 
 then that claims should be made by her rulers, for 
 the prostration of the rights of subordinate meet- 
 ings and individuals. 
 
 In coincidence with such claims, we have been 
 told by prominent men, (employed in carrying out 
 this doctrine of absolute subordination to the body,) 
 that it is our duty to yield our opinions to the body on 
 all occasions ; even {five know ourselves to be right, 
 and the whole body to be wrong ! ! 
 
 And then, to quiet our consciences, they tell us, 
 that if we will only submit to all their dictation, no 
 blame will attach to us ; but that the responsibility 
 will rest upon the body 1 And truly there appears 
 to be no shrinking, on their part, from taking such 
 responsibility. 
 
 This doctrine, if continued to be adhered to and 
 finished, will undoubtedly bring us directly back 
 
262 CONCLUSION. 
 
 again to the ground maintained by the Papal 
 Hierarchy, in the middle ages ; whose rulers un- 
 doubtedly supposed that their high standing and 
 authority in the body, and ecclesiastical distinc- 
 tion, would be a warrantee for whatever they 
 might list, and give credence to their unrighteous 
 proceedings. 
 
 But can it be believed, in this boasted age, that 
 justice and judgment, truth and righteousness, will 
 waive their claim to the abuse of ecclesiastical au- 
 thority among men I Or even to a standing com- 
 mittee, or to any deputation whatever, from a Year- 
 ly Meeting of the Soeiety under our name ? 
 
 Nay, verily, — the higher the standing of any body 
 of men, the more reprehensible their misrule and the 
 more displeasing in the sight of God. 
 
 CONCLUSION : 
 
 Containing an affectionate invitation to all the 
 honest-hearted under our name, to hold fast the pro- 
 fession of the Christian faith, as recognized and 
 most surely believed by all our faithful pi-edecessors 
 in the truth, as it is in Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
 In this concluding address, I will not intrude upon 
 the reader's time with a specific recapitulation of 
 the foregoing proceedings, brought to view in vindi- 
 cation of the course taken in the support and de- 
 fence of our Christian principles and discipline ; the 
 importance of which I hope he will be enabled duly 
 to appreciate. But in this invitation, the object of 
 my desire and concern is, to persuade and exhort 
 all (and it is in the feelings of much brotherly love 
 and with a lively hope) to be entreated to come 
 forward more and more in a practical consumma- 
 tion of the obedience of that faith which leads to 
 the saving knowledge of God, through the revela- 
 tion of Him who died for our sins and rose again 
 for our reconciliation unto God ; and who also was 
 
CONCLUSION. 263 
 
 and is and yet to be, the Lord from Heaven, a 
 quickening Spirit. 
 
 And first, permit me to say to you, my dear 
 friends, that however very dear to me the rights and 
 privileges of the mihtant church, in a condition 
 owned of God ; yet, (if otherwise,) how much dearer 
 ought to be, (and not to me only, but into every one 
 of her children,) the love of God and the owning of 
 his approving presence, which are the fruits of the 
 one living faith in the Son of God, and in the funda- 
 mental and inahenable doctrines of the Gospel of 
 Christ, with the testimonies and discipline of the 
 true church ; a faithful conformity whereunto 
 through obedience, being indispensable as a test of 
 membership in that body, of which Christ is the 
 Head ; and therefore of the greatest consequence to 
 every one who would desire to be a member of the 
 true church. 
 
 And we, of the present generation, are entrusted 
 with the keeping of this faith, and those testimonies, 
 through our day, and are bound by the strongest 
 obligations, (inasmuch as our way has been made 
 more easy, by the delivery into our hands of these 
 testimonies, pure and entire, by our predecessors,) 
 to act our part faithfully, through the Lord's assist- 
 ance, and tender mercies ; not only in the scrupu- 
 lously upholding of them ourselves, through our day 
 and time, as a righteous standard and testimony to 
 all men ; but to deliver and hand them down to the 
 succeeding generation, undiminished and without 
 abatement ; so that those who follow after may re- 
 joice and gather strength by means of our unflinch- 
 ing uprightness and willingness to endure all things 
 for the sake of Him who gave them to the church ; 
 and to bear the cross and to despise the shame, in 
 the faithful endurance of self-denial in this, a day of 
 lightly esteeming and treading down of the holy 
 testimony of the cross of Christ, which is the power 
 of God and wisdom of God ; and remains to be a 
 
264 CONCLUSION. 
 
 mystery which has been hid for ages from the wise 
 and prudent, — from all the carnal professors of every 
 age, — ^but revealed to the humble, and the lowly, 
 and self-denying followers of the Lamb, of every 
 generation. 
 
 And the importance, that we as a people, who 
 have advanced in the faith of vital Christianity be- 
 yond others of the protestant reformation, should 
 hold fast to the testimonies that we were at the first 
 entrusted with, (and without the -fear of man,) is 
 strikingly apparent ; lest we through a culpable re- 
 laxation should give countenance and strength to 
 the apostacy of such other denominations as are 
 retrograding into a sorrowful declension from their 
 own first principles, and thereby should bring con- 
 demnation upon ourselves on their account. 
 
 How sorrowful will it be, my dear Friends, if 
 we, either willingly or heedlessly fall irrecoverably 
 into the degenerating current of the day, and with 
 the multitude go back again to the house from 
 whence our forefathers came out, (through the cost 
 of great tribulations,) and which return must be to 
 the utter loss of our own souls, and to the great re- 
 proach of the holy profession handed down to us by 
 our worthy predecessors in the truth, and would be 
 crucifying to ourselves the Son of God afresh, and 
 putting him to an open shame. 
 
 As reasons for the goodly exercise of care, in 
 watching over ourselves and guarding the church 
 against the smaller as well as greater inlets of a 
 departure from sound doctrine and correct prac- 
 tices, we may onee more recur to the view of things 
 which have transpired heretofore, as alluded to in 
 the preface of this narrative, both in ancient and 
 modern times, in which was noticed the sad declen- 
 sion of the church, under both dispensations, in rela- 
 tion to the Lord's statutes and doctrines delivered 
 to her, showing that the former, though established 
 of the Almighty himself, did not only become the 
 
CONCLUSION. 265 
 
 degenerate plant of a strange vine unto Him, but 
 finally persecuted and Wickedly put , his messen- 
 gers to death, and finally slew the Son and sent of 
 God, before the measure of her iniquity was full. 
 And that the latter, even under the gospel and name 
 of Him who came not to destroy men's lives but to 
 save them, persecuted the messengers whom he 
 had sent to warn them of their iniquities, and put 
 them to death without mercy. 
 
 And the question was asked, and may again well 
 be asked, whether the church now is better, and 
 more secure against the danger of an apostate con- 
 dition, than the primitive Christian church was? 
 Will it not be acknowledged that the same entice- 
 ments are now in the hands' of the enemy as hereto- 
 fore ; and the same proneness to evil in men now 
 as then, to wit, the love of pleasure^the love of the 
 - world — the love of power and other degenerating 
 propensities ; and are not these as deadly now to 
 true religion as they ever were in any age of the 
 world ? 
 
 But we know it is so. Then, Othen! let every 
 one gird up the loins of his mind, and watch — 
 watch and pray lest we enter into temptation, and 
 fall by the subtle delusions of the wicked one. Oh, 
 Friends ! let us dwell in the light of the Lord, that 
 so we may see the snares of the enemy and avoid 
 them — let us draw near and dwell in Him who is 
 light, and in whom there is no darkness at all : and 
 as we come to see in him, the councils of wisdom, 
 and are made to understand his will, let us obey, 
 whether it be in acting or in forbearing to act — 
 whether it be in the small or in the great sacrifices, 
 remembering that believing and obeying in the one, 
 is the same in the sight of God, as the believing and 
 obeying in the other. Then despise not the day of 
 small things, but keep the convenant of obedience 
 in the little as in the much, for the reward is as cer- 
 tain ia the one as in the other, even peace and joy in 
 12 
 
266 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 the Holy Ghost,— for it is as we are faithful in the 
 Uttle, that we shall be made rulers over more, and be 
 prepared to do more and more ; and so shall our 
 strength be increased from less to more, and as our 
 eye is kept single to the light of the Lord in our own 
 souls, waiting upon Him, and keeping the word of 
 his patience in that covenant, which is as sure by 
 night as by day — as sure in the night of trial and 
 temptation, as in the day of deliverance and re- 
 joicing. Hence faith and patience in the disciple's 
 experience, are a treasure of great price, and con- 
 tribute, even more largely to his growth in the 
 saving knowledge of God, than in his more joyous 
 seasons of feasting upon the good things of his 
 Master's table. 
 
 Zion can only be redeemed through judgment, 
 and her converts by' righteousness ; — by being 
 plunged into the river of judgment : this must be 
 known in the experience of every member of the 
 true church.- ' He must witness the sanctifying bap- 
 tism and power of the Holy Ghost ; and immutable 
 justice towards all men, must be the obvious char- 
 acteristic of his life and conversation, showing mer- 
 cy to others as he would desire God would show 
 mercy to him. And in so walking in the fear of the 
 Lord, it is only that we evince by our fruits, that 
 we love Him above all, and our neighbor as our- 
 selves. 
 
 By the inward operation of the judgment and 
 power of God, it is, that the members are instructed 
 and prepared for service in the church — to be way- 
 marks and ensamples to all men. 
 
 And among the many and important services as- 
 signed to the members respectively, there are none 
 peradventure of greater usefulness, or of a higher 
 order, than that of the gospel ministry — a service, 
 than which, none has been more grossly abused — 
 than which, no one has been more sacrilegiously 
 counterfeited. If true and apostolic, not received 
 
CONCLUSION. 267 
 
 of man nor by man, but by the revelation of Jesus 
 Christ — as such, it is a great blessing to the church 
 — if false, and learned only of man and by man, and 
 should prevail in the body under our name, it will 
 prove an unfailing means of a degeneracy and 
 estrangement from God, and a lapse into dead for- 
 mality ; and will greatly tend to draw away /rom 
 God unto men. 
 
 So far as we know, the Society of Friends is the 
 only people, among all the Christian denominations, 
 since the primitive age^, who profess to preach the 
 gospel only as the Spirit giveth utterance — who 
 wait for the promise of the Father on all occasions 
 as Christ taught his disciples, to wit :^who believe 
 it requisite to tarry until they be endued vnth power 
 from on high, before they attempt to preach in 
 God's great and holy name. 
 
 Hence the testimony of Friends, touching this 
 high and holy calling, is at this day the most primi- 
 tive, noble and dignified testimony in the world, 
 being the only one which recognizes a sensible, di- 
 rect intercourse iand communication between the 
 heavens and the earth ; or in other words, from 
 God to the children of men. 
 
 Inasmuch, then, as the Society of Friends are the 
 only people who hold fast to the faith, that Christi- 
 anity itself has not diminished, nor fallen off, nor its 
 gifts and graces been withdrawn from the true 
 church, since the day when the Lord told his disci- 
 ples, that the Spirit which should succeed his per- 
 sonal presence with them, should instruct them in 
 all things, and bring all things to their remembrance ; 
 or since the day when he promised that he would 
 abide with them for ever, even unto the end of the 
 world ; — how desirable and indispensable for us, in 
 the fulfillment of ancient prophecy, " they shall all 
 know me," &c., and for the unspeakable benefit of 
 the church, as well as of the world at large, that we 
 hold fast the profession of this faith without waver- 
 
268 CONCLUSION. 
 
 ing — ^this faith of the continued dispensation of the 
 gift of the Holy Ghost unto them who wait for him 
 in sincerity and humility, and believe in his power. 
 
 But this gift of God's grace and Holy Spirit, is by 
 no means exclusively given to gospel ministers, but 
 flows from the Vine, which is the fountain of life, 
 to .every living branch; — from Christ to every 
 member of his body. And all the true members, 
 whatever their respective calhngs are,, as their 
 hearts are open to receive, are by the anointing of 
 his Spirit taught and instructed to fulfil their duties 
 and callings conformable to the will of God, and are 
 blessed with immediate access to him, through the 
 mediation of Christ, and without the intervention of 
 any man. 
 
 And itis as impossible for the church of Christ to re- 
 main such, and to be a living body, without the savor 
 and circulation of the Spirit and life of Christ, as for 
 a tree to remain green and fruitful without the cii-- 
 culation of sap and nourishmeHt from the root and 
 from the body ; or as for a man to exist in the vigor 
 of life, without the circulation from the heart, of 
 that blood which is the life of man. 
 
 But to return to the exercise of the gospel minis- 
 try. I feel concerned to exhort all, who are called 
 to that solemn service, faithfully and patiently to 
 wait, and to rely on Him alone who is the Great 
 Minister of the sanctuary and true tabernacle which 
 God hath pitched and not man, both for the opening 
 and the shutting, — for strength, — for mouth and 
 wisdom — tongue and utterance. And, above all 
 things, having no confidence in themselves, or in 
 the endowment of man's wisdom ; but tarry, I en- 
 treat you, (as you would desire your own further- 
 ance, and that of your brethren,) tarry at Jerusalem 
 until ye be endued with power from on high ; for 
 under the dominion of this power, (it only is) as it is 
 waited for in the simplicity and integrity of the 
 soul, that the work will prosper and brmg peace 
 
CONCLUSION. • 269 
 
 and joy to those who are thus exercised in it : and 
 will redound to the glory of God and the consola- 
 tion of his people, whether the measure of the gift 
 be less or more. Never, O never ! let the desire 
 for words, either in yourselves or in others, beguile 
 you into an unsanctified offering — beguile you into 
 a spurious ministry, or the offering of strange fire. 
 Oh ! how lamentable the condition of those where a 
 lifeless ministry prevails ! How deadening to an 
 assembly of Quaker worshippers, for if it come not 
 from God, though it may please the ear, or lead to 
 head knowledge, it is no better than a sounding 
 brass and a tinkling cymbal ! How much better in 
 the sight of God, and for the church, is silent wor- 
 ship, than the annoyance of a spurious ministry ! 
 
 The skill and artifice of man, in framing a beau- 
 tiful discourse, if it be but in man's wisdom and 
 learning, contributes no more to the honor of God, 
 or the salvation of souls, than would man's sagacity 
 in forming a beautiful image of things above or 
 things below : he can, of himself, no more breathe 
 the breath of life into the one than into the other. 
 And without a portion of the Divine life, which is 
 the gift of God and testimony of Jesus, preaching is 
 no more saving, than any other mere image of good 
 things. 
 
 Hence the necessity that Christ's ministers, seeing 
 they are but men, should abide with the Lord Jesus 
 in the inner court of the heart, and "with him in his 
 tribulations, that so they may know of his doctrines," 
 and how to preach them, — that they may be in- 
 structed in the counsel of his will, for it is here, in the 
 heart, that " whatsoever is to be known of him is 
 made manifest," — pertaining to his own glorious 
 kingdom and the salvation of souls ; which is at 
 times made known to the messengers of his cove- 
 nant, for their own qualification to minister,, and for 
 the watering and refreshing of " those who serve 
 him," as well as for the reproof and instruction of 
 
270 . CONCLUSION. 
 
 " those who serve him not," to his own holy and 
 blessed acceptance. 
 
 And it is only by patiently enduring the baptism 
 of Christ and of his judgments, to the subjugation of 
 the will of the flesh in themselves, that they can be 
 good stewards of the manifold grace of God, and 
 iuUy prepared to divide the word aright among his 
 people, and clearly to discern between the precious 
 and the vile, under whatever covering such states 
 may exist, or under whatever appearance or pro- 
 fessions men may make; these true messengers of 
 Christ, will not be misled, by what men have been, 
 or by what they now profess to be. 
 
 Wherefore, my dear fellow-pilgrims in this high 
 calling of God, grudge not, I beseech you, the con- 
 flict, or the reproaches, of drinking deeply of the 
 Saviour's bitter cup, nor the endurance of his fiery 
 baptisms, (for his own received him not, but slew 
 him, and denied him,) seeing that so great salvation 
 is the result of suflering, and awaits the faithful and 
 unflinching labors of those who are prepared by the 
 ordeal of his power; and who have labored and 
 have not fainted, and who have borne the burden 
 through the heat of the day. And remember who 
 it was, and from whence they came, whom John 
 saw round aboutthe throne of God, who had washed 
 their robes and had made them white in the blood 
 of the Lamb. 
 
 And oh ! that all under our name of all classes, 
 who name the name of Jesus, may never name Him 
 unworthily or deceitfully, but, by departing from 
 all iniquity, might honor him, having his tear al- 
 ways before their eyes, walking in all humility and 
 lowliness before him, that so their example may do 
 honor to the high and holy name of the Great Au- 
 thor of our salvation, and to the exalted profession 
 we are making among men. 
 
 And how, above all things, is the Christian's ex- 
 perience in that power of God which overcomes 
 
CONCLUSION. 271 
 
 the world, enlarged, by frequently and continually 
 seeking and feeling after him with the whole heart, 
 undivided and unreserved. Oh ! fellow-probationer, 
 forget not thy morning oblation, before thy head is 
 raised from thy pillow, but approach the altar of 
 his sacrifices in thine own heart, for thou mayest 
 there witness in the silence of celestial excellence, 
 the flame of his love and holy presence to kindle 
 upon thy offering : and then wben thou goest by the 
 way. He will also go along with thee, and when 
 thou liest down he will keep thee, and as thy de- 
 sires are unto him, he will bless thy evening sacri- 
 fices : and again, when thy slumbers are broken, in 
 the silent watches of the night, then let not thy 
 thoughts go astray upon things that perish, but 
 keep and gather them inward, and stay them upon 
 Him whose presence fills the universe ; and he will 
 become to thee the chiefest among ten thousand. 
 But when he delayeth to come unto thee, then fast- 
 ing and mourning will be thy lot ; and " great 
 searching of heart," and fearful enquiry, why he has 
 forsaken thee, and whether thou hast not sinned 
 against him, and gone backward, and left thy first 
 love ! Oh ! this is the way by which all the holy 
 men of old, and our worthy predecessors gained 
 the experience of the knowledge and way of the 
 Lord ; and if thou would gain a heavenly treasure 
 like theirs, and follow their footsteps, to a blessed 
 establishment in the unchangeable truth, then be 
 faithful and relax not from a daily exercise in seek- 
 ing Him, and staying thy mind upon him ; girding 
 up thy loins and watching for the morning, possess- 
 ing thy soul in the patience of God ; confessing to 
 him thy sins and short comings, and asking for- 
 giveness through Him who is the Mediator of God's 
 covenant for reconciliation with thee : and behold 
 he will, when it please him, and in the right time, 
 shorten and dispel the hour and power of darkness 
 and distress, and cause the true light again to shine 
 
272 CONCLUSION. 
 
 into thy soul and round about thee, and -will again 
 arise himself with power and great glory, as from 
 the gloom of the sepulchre, and will cause thy soul 
 to rise with him, with joy unspeakable and full of 
 praise. 
 
 Thus described is some of the true Christian's 
 experience, and the practical ground of his coming 
 to the saving knowledge of God, through the reve- 
 lation of Jesus Christ, and by the means of keeping 
 a single eye to the light, and watching unto prayer 
 without ceasing, whereby the mind is stayed and 
 kept alive unto God, and preserved in the hour of 
 temptation, and from being seduced and led away 
 " by every wind of doctrine," as mere superficial 
 professors are. 
 
 Hence, when this blessed experience is attained 
 and abode in by a follower of Christ, his mind will 
 not be beguiled with false doctrines or misled by 
 designing men, though such doctrines be preached 
 in the eloquence of the wisest, or even by an angel 
 from heaven, because the witness is in himself, and 
 this witness for God will evermore, as do the holy 
 Scriptures, contradict and deny all false and delu- 
 sive doctrine, because the disciple dwells with him 
 who is hght, and in whom there is no darkness at 
 all. And therefore thus abiding in the light, no 
 man can deceive him, nor yet the wicked one, 
 hough he might assume the appearance of an angel 
 of light. 
 
 But when men begin to hate the light, and to de- 
 part from it, because their deeds are become evil, 
 then their vision is darkened, and they can scarcely 
 distinguish between an ignus fatus, or the coun- 
 terfeit radiance of the fallen angel, from the clear 
 shining of the light of the Lord, and are therefore 
 exposed to the imposition of false doctrines proffer- 
 ed to them in the wisdom of the serpent, by his de- 
 ceitful working, and by his transformations are un- 
 distinguished by those " whose vision is not clear." 
 
CONCLUSION. 273 
 
 How lamentable the condition of those, viewing 
 things as they do, with a clouded imagination, or 
 through an inverted medium, and therefore are led 
 to call light darkness, and darkness light ; good, evil ; 
 and evil, good ; just like the same sort of people in 
 the prophet's time. Here we see the great powers 
 of transformation in the hands of the wicked one. 
 And never better pleased was he, as would appear, 
 nor his kingdom better served in any age, than by 
 his success in allui-ing and beguiling the servants 
 of the Lord, to become and to be his servants ; and 
 the more eminent in their former station the more 
 so in the latter, as fully demonstrated by events 
 which have transpired. 
 
 And how deplorable the state of those who are 
 transformed from the image of God to a condition 
 of unrighteousness — from the love of God to the 
 love of the world — from the fear of God to the fear 
 of man, and the desire of pleasing God exchanged 
 for a greater desire of pleasing men. 
 
 A condition in which man is ashamed acceptably 
 to acknowledge the Redeemer before a man who 
 shall die, and the son of man who shall perish. 
 
 Of those who regard men more than they regard 
 Him, he will be ashamed before his Father and the 
 holy angels, and will not therefore be a mediator 
 between them and their God, whom they have des- 
 pised, and have more lightly esteemed Him than 
 they have esteemed men. 
 
 With such there must be a fearful looking for of 
 judgment, and the righteous indignation of God's 
 displeasure, because they have more lightly esteem- 
 ed the favor of, and fear of God, than the persons 
 and friendship of men, which is idolatry and great 
 offence in His sight. 
 
 Our Lord and Saviour describes the contrast be- 
 tween the fear of man and the fear of God in a very 
 striking manner, and gives forth His command to 
 fear God rather than man, in despite of the utmost 
 12* 
 
274 CONCLUSION. 
 
 that man can do : " Fear not them that kill the body, 
 and after that have no more that they can do ; but 
 I will forewarn you, whom ye ought to fear — fear 
 Him who after he hath killed, hath power to cast 
 into hell," and emphatically adds, " Yea, I say unto 
 you, fear Him." And this command stands unabat- 
 ed, and is as obligatory on us as on his followers in 
 that day. 
 
 Although men now have not power, by the laws 
 of the land, to kill the body, or to take men's lives 
 on account of their fidelity to God, yet there are 
 those who have power and disposition to persecute, 
 and to take from us that which had been almost as 
 dear as life itself to us — our places, our rights, and 
 our privileges in the outward visible church. A 
 process plainly distinguishable from the law of 
 Christ, as will appear by a recurrence to the pat- 
 tern of church government, as well as the doctrines 
 received and acknowledged aforetime by the whole 
 body, under the acknowledged guidance of the 
 spirit of Christ. 
 
 Therefore, when those who teach us doctrines, 
 and hold the rein of church government over us, 
 shall have unhappily departed from that pattern, 
 then fear them not, nor reverence them, for they 
 will begin to deny the Master's coming, and to 
 beat the men servants and the maid servants, and 
 to lord it over the heritage of God. 
 
 Now, here is the difference, those who are or- 
 dained of the Holy Ghost to teach and to rule in his 
 church, are both to be regarded and honored, so 
 long as they rule in righteousness. But when their 
 garments become defiled with enmity or the love 
 of power, or the love of filthy lucre, or their eye be- 
 come evil, then their hearts are become dark, and 
 their hands full of oppression, and their arm but an 
 arm of flesh. And he that continueth to transfer to 
 them the honor which only belongeth unto God, or 
 to trust in them, is accuKsed of the Lord, though 
 
CONCLUSION. 275 
 
 they may shine as stars of great magnitude over 
 the tabernacles of Esau ; they are no longer to be 
 called by the name of Jacob, nor surnamed by the 
 name of Israel, so long as they disregard Israel's 
 statutes and testimonies. 
 
 Hence we see the necessity of wisdom from 
 above, and a clear discernment of the states and con- 
 ditions of men, aside from prepossession, favor or 
 friendship; aside from relationship and all former 
 estimations, outward circumstances or outward ap- 
 pearances ; and aside too from the estimation of 
 others. When the condition of men is seen in the 
 light, and their views, practices and motives are not 
 answerable to the pattern as above, then let the 
 ioyal disciple of him in whom there is no shadow of 
 turning, and who 'is to give account, and bear a 
 faithful testimony against such in all meekness and 
 lowliness, move in the fear of the Lord, and trust in 
 his providence and power, and then he has nothing 
 to fear from men, nor from a host of the mighty, for 
 as he so continue and abide in the 'everlasting 
 patience in the secret place of the Almighty, whose 
 refuge will be round about him, and his banner 
 over him ; and for all the sufferings, revilings and 
 evil reports which he shall have to endure, the re- 
 ward from his blessed Master's hand will be an hun- 
 dred fold in this present world, and that which is 
 to come, everlasting life. 
 
 And the writer is induced to believe, through the 
 opening of truth, that a remnant will be spared from 
 the " flood of mighty waters overflowing," whilst 
 " the beauty which is on the head of the fat valley 
 shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit be- 
 fore the summer, which when he that looketh upon it, 
 seeth ; while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up." 
 ■" In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown 
 of glory, and for a diadem of beauty unto the resi- 
 due of His people, and for a spirit of judgment to 
 him that sittefh in judgment, and for strength to 
 
276 CONCLUSION. 
 
 them that turn the battle to the gate, and many 
 shall run to and fro, and the knowledge of the Lord 
 shall be increased, and judgment shall run down as 
 waters, and righteousness as a river — the wilder- 
 ness shall become as Eden, and the desert as the gar- 
 den of the Lord. Aliens shall be thy ploughmen, 
 and strangers shall stand and feed the flock, and 
 nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee be- 
 cause of the Lord thy God." 
 
 It has been seen by divers of the- Lord's messen- 
 gers in our Israel, both earlier and later, that a great 
 declension and sifting time would take place among 
 us, and that a remarkable reformation and better 
 day would succeed. 
 
 The former we have alrdkdy seen sorrowfully to 
 have been progressing, in a departure from truth's 
 testimonies and doctrines, by the insidious work- 
 ing of the enemy, drawing away from the true faith, 
 both on the light hand and on the left. And is believ- 
 ed that the day is near, (if tha Lord's purposes are 
 not frustrated through fear or unfaithfulness in these 
 who have been spared and called to begin the work,) 
 when the foregoing declarations of the prophets will 
 be verified and fulfilled in the succession of faithful 
 messengers and standard bearers, and of a better 
 day ; and of the advancement and upholding of 
 truth's dignified testimonies to the honor of God's 
 great, and^glorious, and holy name. 
 
 JOHN WILBUR. 
 
 Hopkinton, R. L, 1st month 16th, 1845. 
 
APPENDIX, 
 
 CONTAINING A 
 
 COMPARISON OF SOME OF THE DOCTRINAL VIEWS 
 
 J. J. GURNEY, 
 
 WITH THOSE OF SEVERAL STANDARD WRITERS AMONG 
 
 THE EARLY FRIENDS, AND SEVERAL TESTIMONIES 
 
 AND LETTERS RELATIVE 
 
 DOCTRINES AND CONDITION 
 
 SOOIETT OF FRIENDS. 
 
 " I am satisfied that there is a spirit at work, which wonld lay waste 
 the ancient profession and doctrines of oar religious Society, and draw 
 Friends away from the spirituality of that ^vhich they have once 
 known, and many are catched with it." — (JonaiJian Evans' Memo- 
 rials of deceased, Frimds. Published lBi2. page71.) 
 
 " I let him know that I did not consider it unfriendly, or contrary to 
 Discipline, to make a statement of the doctrines he published, as I con- 
 sidered it as a species of public property. — (Joseph WhitaU's Conversa- 
 tion with Elias Hicks. See Foster's Reports, p. 215.) 
 
APPENDIX, <fec. 
 
 OP THE TRUE SOURCE OF ALL DIVINE KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 J. J. Gurney (Portable Evidences, p. 31) : "Now 
 the information which tlie Bible gives, respecting the 
 Supreme Being, whether considered as a harmonious 
 whole, or viewed in its principal details, is to be found 
 originally in the Bible alone." 
 
 (id. p. 35.) " It is the Bible, and the Bible oraZy, which 
 declares a standard of morals, universally applicable to 
 our need, and liable to no change." 
 
 (p. 101.) " Now it is in the Scriptures only that the 
 attributes of our Heavpnly Father Bxe fully made hnown, 
 to us." 
 
 (Address to the Mechanics of Manchester, p. 6.) 
 " This delightful science [Geology] has done much to 
 confirm the Scripture record, and to complete that 
 natural proof of a Supreme intelligent Being, on which 
 all religion hinges." 
 
 Contrast the above with 
 
 Robert Barclay (Apol. Prop. II. p. 17) : " Seeing no 
 man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom 
 the Son revealeth Him ; and seeing the revelation of 
 the Son is in and by the Spirit ; therefore the testimony 
 of the Spirit is that alone by which the true knowledge 
 of God hath been, is, and can be only revealed." 
 
 (p. 20.) " For the better understanding, then, of this 
 proposition, we do distinguish betwixt the certain 
 
280 AFFENDIZ. 
 
 knowledge of Qod, and the uncertain ; betwixt the 
 spiritvul knowledge and the literal; the saving heart 
 knowledge, and the soaring head knowledge. The 
 last, we confess, may be divers ways obtained ; but 
 the first, by no other way than the inward immediate 
 manifestation and revelation of God's Spirit, shining in 
 and upon the heart, enlightening and opening the un- 
 derstanding. None have any true ground to believe 
 they have attained it, who have it not by this revela- 
 tion of God's Spirit." 
 
 (p. 26.) " I would, however, not be understood, as if 
 hereby I excluded those other means of knowledge 
 from .any use or service to man ; it is far from me so 
 to judge, as, concerning the Scriptures, in the next 
 proposition will more plainly appear. The question is 
 not, what may be profitable or helpful, but what is ab- 
 solutely necessary. Many things may contribute to 
 further a work, which yet are not the main thing that 
 makes the work go on. The sum, then, of what is 
 said, amounts to this : that where the true inward 
 knowledge of God is, through the revelation of his 
 Spirit, there is all ; neither is there an absolute neces- 
 sity of any other. But where the best, highest, and 
 most profound knowledge is, without this, there is 
 nothing, as to the obtaining the great end of salvation." 
 
 'William Perm, (Rise and Progress, p. 27) : " I have 
 already touched upon their fundamental principle, 
 which is as the comer stone of their fabric ; and indeed, 
 to speak eminently and properly, their characteristic, 
 or m^ain distinguishing point or principle, viz : the light 
 
 I of Christ within, as God's gift for man's salvation. 
 
 ' This, I say, is as the root of the goodly tree of doc- 
 trines that grew and branched out from it, which I 
 shall now mention," &c. &c. 
 
 George Fox (Journal, Leeds edit. Vol. I. p. 92) : '■ My 
 desires sifter the Lord grew stronger, and zeal in the 
 pure knowledge of God, and of Christ alone, without 
 the help of any man, book or writing. For though I 
 read the Scriptures that spoke of Christ and of God ; 
 
APPENDIX. 281 
 
 yet Iknew him not, hut hy revelation, as He who hath the 
 key did open, and as the Father of Life drew me to his 
 Son by his Spirit." 
 
 William Penn (Pref. to Prim. Christ. Revived) : "By 
 this short ensuing treatise, thou wilt perceive the sub- 
 ject of it, viz : the light of Christ in man, as the mani- 
 festation of God's love for man's happiness ; now, for- 
 asmuch as this is the peculiar testimony and character- 
 istic of the people called Quakers ; their great funda- 
 mental in religion; that by which they have been dis- 
 tinguished from other professors of Christianity in their 
 time, and to which they refer all people about faith, 
 worship, and practice, both in their ministry and 
 writings ; that as the fingers shoot out of the hand, and 
 the branches from the body of the tree, so true religion, 
 in all the parts and articles of it, springs from this di- 
 vine jprindple in man." 
 
 FAITH. 
 
 J. J. Gurney (Essays, p. 345. 6 Amer. edit.) : " Were 
 I the most solitary of hermits, or cast, like the ship- 
 wrecked mariner, on an uninhabited island, I could not 
 live at all, did I not, in a multitude of instances, exer- 
 cise the principle of faith. I must be led about by 
 probabilities. 
 
 " But it is in social and civil life, more particularly, 
 that the principle oi faith is called into action, and every 
 one who has reflected on the subject, must be well 
 aware, that were it not for the willing admission of 
 those things which are not philosophically certain, but 
 only in various degrees probable, and more especially 
 for a due reliance on testimony, the whole frame work 
 of society wouldbe disorganized and subverted. Faith 
 is an indispensable link in that mighty chain of divine 
 wisdom and providence, which binds together man to 
 man, family to family, and nation to nation : and with- 
 out it, there could be no order or union in the intel- 
 lectual part of God's visible creation. Such being the 
 
282 APPENDIX. 
 
 State of the case, there can he nothing opposed to true 
 reason and . philosophy in the perfectly corresponding 
 fact, that under the moral and spiritual government of 
 God, and in order to that religious life which is alone 
 productive of eternal happiness, men are required to 
 bring the same principle into action, and to regulate 
 their dispositions and conduct not merely by their 
 knowledge of that which is certain, but more especially 
 and more extensively by their belief of that which is 
 probable." 
 
 (p. 353.) "Faith draws near unto that God whom 
 reason has discovered," &c. — " but as long as these noble 
 faoulties of the human, mind are kept," &c. 
 
 (p. 357.) " It is a reliance of the soul, on the incarnate 
 Son, who conducts the great scheme appointed for our 
 salvation." 
 
 (p. 359.) " Although this trust in God may, through 
 grace, be exercised by persons who possess no other in- 
 formation on divine subjects, than that which they 
 derive from natural religion, yet the declarations of 
 Scripture respecting faith, have been, in all ages, ad- 
 dressed to that part of mankind, who have enjoyed the 
 light of an outward revelation." 
 
 (p. 360.) " This faith is the means through which we 
 receive the Holy Spirit, by whom we are regenerated 
 and sanctified.-f- Lastly, a saving faith in Jesus is not 
 merely intellectual, it springs from the heart, works by 
 love, gradually accepts the Saviour in all his offices, and 
 gently constrains the Christian to take up his daily cross 
 and follow Christ." 
 
 (Address to Mechanics of Manchester, p. 7) : " But 
 you ask me on what moral and religious knowledge 
 is founded ? I answer, an that which is the basis of every 
 other branch qfknowUdge — belief." 
 
 Contrast the above with 
 
 Robert Barclay (Apol. Prop. II. pp. 33 & 34, Ameri- 
 can edit.) : " The fourth thing affirmed is, that these 
 revelations [the immediate revelation of Christ by the 
 Holy Spirit] were the objects of the saints' faith of old. 
 
APPENDIX, 283 
 
 This will easily appear by the definition of faith, and 
 considering what its object is ; for which we shall not 
 dive into the curious and various notions of the school- 
 men, but stay on the plain and positive words of the 
 apostle Paul, who (Heb. xi.) describes it two ways : 
 ' Faith (saith he) is the substance of things hoped for, 
 the evidence of things not seen ;' which, as the apostle 
 illustrateth it in the same chapter by many examples, is 
 no other but b: firm and certain belief of the mind, 
 whereby it resteth, and in a sense possesseth the sub- 
 stance of some things hoped for, through its confidence 
 in the promise of Grod ; and thus the soul hath a most 
 firm evidence, by its faith, of things not yet seen or come 
 to pass. The object of this faith is the promise, word, 
 ov testimony of God, speaking in the mind. Hence it 
 hath been generally affirmed, that the object of faith is 
 Dens loquens, &c., that is, God speaking, &c., which is 
 also manifest from all those examples deduced by the 
 apostle throughout that whole chapter, whose faith was 
 founded neither upon any outward testimony, nor upon 
 the voice or writing of man, but upon the revelation of 
 Grod's will manifest unto them and in them." 
 
 (p. 37.) " Moreover, if the faith of the ancients were 
 not one and the same with ours, i. e. agreeing in sub- 
 stance therewith, and receiving the same definition, it 
 had been impertinent for the apostle (Heb. xi.) 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 
 example of Abraham, if Abraham's faith were different 
 in nature from ours. Nor doth any difference arise 
 hence, because they believed in Christ with respect to 
 his appearance 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 wit- 
 ness 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 concerning his 
 appearance past, as not also to feel and know him pre- 
 sent with us, and to feed upon him, ' except Christ (saith 
 the apostle) be in you, ye are reprobates ;' so that both 
 our faith is one, terminating in one and the same 
 thing"- 
 
284 APPENDIX. 
 
 William Pcnn, (Prim. Christ. Rev. Chap. XI.) : " Yet 
 we are very ready to declare to the whole world, that 
 we cannot think men and women can be saved by their 
 belief of the one [Christ's coming in the flesh] without 
 the sense and experience of the other [His inward and 
 spiritual appearance]." 
 
 George Fox (Journal, Leeds edit. Vol. II. p. 217) : 
 " They whose faith doth not stand in the pow^ of God, 
 cannot exalt his kingdom that stands in power ; there- , 
 fore every one's faith must stand in the power of G-od. 
 All that are in the true faith, that stands in the power of 
 God, will judge them as carnal, and judge down that 
 carnal part in them that cries up Paul or ApoUos ; that 
 their faith may stand in the povver of Grod, and that they 
 may exalt Christ, the author of it. For every one's eye 
 ought to be to Jesus ; and every just man and woman 
 may live by their faith, which Jesus Christ is the author 
 and finisher of. By this faith every man and woman 
 may see God, who is invisible ; this faith gives the vic- 
 tory, and by it he hath access to God. So every one's 
 faith and hope standing in the power of God, all therein 
 have unity, victory, and access to God's throne of 
 grace ; in which faith they please God. By this faith 
 they are saved, by this faith they obtain the good re- 
 port, and subdue all the mountains that have been be- 
 twixt them and God." 
 
 Isaac Penington (Works, Vol. I. p. 272): "What 
 then is that faith which is the gift of God 1 It is that 
 ; power of believing which springs out of the seed of eter- 
 nal life ; and leaves the heart, not with notions of know- 
 ledge, but with the power of life. The other faith is 
 drawn out of man's nature, by considerations which 
 affect the natural part, and is kept alive by natural exer- 
 cises of reading, hearing, praying, studying, meditating 
 in that part ; but this springs out of a seed of life given, 
 and grows up in the life of that seed, and feeds on 
 nothing but the flesh and blood of Christ ; in which is 
 the living virtue, and immortal nourishment of that 
 which is immortal. This faith, at its first entrance, 
 
APPENDIX. 285 
 
 strikes that part dead in which the other faith did grow, 
 and by its growth perfects that death, and raiseth up a 
 hfe which is of another nature than ever entered into 
 the heart of man to conceive." 
 
 (p. 274.) " The true faith (the faith of the gospel, the 
 faith of the elect, the faith which saves the sinner from 
 sin, and makes him more than a conqueror over sin 
 and the powers of darkness) is a belief in the nature of 
 God; which belief giveth entrance into, fixeth in, and 
 causeth an abiding in that nature. Unbelief entereth 
 into death, and fixeth in the death ; faith giveth entrance 
 into, and fixeth in the life. Faith is an ingrafting into 
 the vine, a partaking of the nature' of the vine, a suck- 
 ing of the juice of life from the vine ; which nothing is 
 able to do but the faith, but the belief in the nature. 
 So then faith is not a believing the history of the Scrip- 
 tures, or a believing that Christ died for sinners in 
 general, or for me in particular; for all this may be 
 done by the unbelieving nature (like the Jew) ; but a 
 uniting to the nature of God in Christ, which the unbe- 
 liever starts from in the midst of his believing of these. 
 Yet I do not deny that all these things are to be be- 
 lieved, ani ar&-believed with the true faith ; but this I 
 affirm, that they also may be believed without the true 
 faith ; and that such a belief of these doth not determine 
 a man to be a believer in the sight of God, but only the 
 union vnth the nature of that life from whence all these 
 sprang, and in which alone they have their true value." 
 
 Jos. Phipps (Original and Present State of Man, 
 p. 152) : " Gospel faith in man believes the truth of all 
 that is revealed by the Spirit, both in the heart, and in 
 the sacred writings ; because it feels it, savors it, and 
 is one with it. It not only assents to the scriptural 
 accounts of the incarnation, and whole process of 
 Christ in Judea ; but it also receives his internal appear- 
 ance, consents to his operation, and concurs with it. 
 That faith which stands wholly upon hearsay, tradi- 
 tion, reading, or imagination, is but a distant kind of 
 ineffectual credence, which permits the soul to remain 
 in the bondage of corruption. The wicked may go 
 
286 APPENDIX. 
 
 tJiis length towards gospel faith ; but the true faith lays 
 hold of, and cleaves to the Spirit of Truth, in its inward 
 manifestations ; wherein it stands, and whereby it 
 grows, till the heart is purified, the world overcome, 
 and salvation obtained. This faith is as a flame of pure 
 love in the heart to God. It presseth towards him, 
 panteth after him, resigns to him, confides and lives in 
 him. The mystery of it is held in a pure conscience, 
 and in the effective power of the everlasting gospel, &c. 
 &c. It is the faith by which the members of Christ 
 truly live, and abide as such. It is their invincible 
 shield ; and the knowledge of Christ in them is the proof 
 of their possessing" it. Abundance is said of the nature, 
 power, and effects of this all-conqueiing faith ; but I 
 hope this will be sufficient to show, though, in its com- 
 plete sense, it includes a belief of all that is said of Christ, 
 and by Christ, in Holy Writ, it goes deeper, and ariseth 
 not in man merely from the man, but takes its birth 
 and receives its increase from the operation of the Holy 
 Spirit in him ; which works by it to the sanctification of 
 the heart, and the production of every Christian virtue." 
 
 UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 
 
 J. J. Gurney (Essays, American edit. p. 366) : " The 
 multitude of the Gentiles, who gave themselves up to 
 idolatrous and other vicious practices, were condemned 
 for this very reason, that they sinned against the light 
 of nature — and both practised and promoted iniquity, 
 although they knew the judgment of God, that they 
 which commit such things are worthy of death." — [In 
 a note at the bottom of the page ] "I beg it may be 
 understood, that by the light of nature, I mean, simply, 
 the light which God has communicated to iJie souls of men, 
 independently of an outwardly revealed religion." 
 
 (p. 392.) " God has written his moral law on the 
 hearts of all men, or in other words, has interwoven a 
 sense of it with their very nature." 
 
 (Portable Evidences, p. 23.) "Yet it must be allowed 
 that it is chiefly through revelation that we are thus led 
 to reason from creation and providence, and that merely 
 
APPENDIX. 287 
 
 natural religion, even, with the additional light of tradition, 
 has left the heathen world in all ages, in a state oigreat 
 fZarA'MfiM respecting the Supreme Being." 
 
 (p. 164.) " Their case is not to be confounded with 
 that of the uninstructed heathen, who have never heard 
 the truth. To these [viz. instructed persons] the gos- 
 pel has been preached," [plainly implying that it has 
 not to the others.] 
 
 Contrast the above witli 
 
 George Fox (Journal, Vol. I. p. 112) : " I saw that 
 Christ died for all men, and was a propitiation for all; 
 and enlightened all men and women with his divine and 
 saving light, and that none could be a true believer, but 
 who believed in it. I saw that the grace of God, which 
 brings salvation, had appeared to all men, and that the 
 manifestation of the Spirit of God was given to every 
 man to profit withal." 
 
 (p. 224.) " I declared to them, that every one that 
 cometh into the worId,wa.B enlightened by Christ the life ; 
 by which light they might see their sins, and Christ, who 
 was come to save them from their sins, and died for 
 them." 
 
 (p. 420.) " Now I was speaking of the heavenly, 
 divine light of Christ, with which he enlightens every 
 one that cometh into the world, to give them the know- 
 ledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus 
 their Saviour." 
 
 Robert Barclay (Apol. Prop. V. & VI.) : " And this 
 light enlighteneth the hearts of all for a time, in order 
 to salvation ; and this is it which reproves the sin of all 
 individuals, and would work out the salvation of all, if 
 not resisted. Nor is it less universal than the seed of 
 sin, being the purchase of his death, who tasted death 
 for every man, &c. For as hence it well follows that 
 some of the old philosophers might have been saved, 
 so also may some, who by Providence are cast into 
 those remote parts of the world where the knowledge 
 of the history is wanting, be made partakers of the 
 
288 APPENDIX. 
 
 I divine mystery, if they receive and resist not that grace, 
 1 a manifestation w hereof is given to every man to profit 
 vifithal. This most certain doctrine being then received, 
 that there is an evangelical and saving light and grace in 
 all, the universality of the love and mercy of God to- 
 wards mankind, both in the death of his beloved Son, 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the manifestation of the 
 Light in the heart, is established and confirmed, against 
 all the objections of such as deny it. Therefore, Christ 
 hath tasted death for every man; not only for all kinds 
 of men, as some vainly talk, but for every man of all 
 kinds ; the benefit of vsrhose offering is notonly extended 
 to such who have the distinct outward knowledge of 
 His death and sufferings as the same is declared in the 
 Scriptures, but even unto those who are necessarily ex- 
 cluded from the benefit of this knowledge by some 
 inevitable accident; which knowle(^e we willingly 
 confess to be very profitable and comfortable, but not 
 absolutely needful unto such from whom God himself 
 hath withheld it ; yet they may be made partakers of 
 the mystery of His death, though ignorant of the his- 
 tory, if they suffer his seed and light, enlightening their 
 hearts, to take place, in which, light, communion loith the 
 Father and the Son is enjoyed," &c. 
 
 THE " GOSPEL." 
 
 J. J. Gttrney (Essay on Love to God, p. 5) : " In ef- 
 fecting this blessed change, &c. the Holy Spirit makes 
 use of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, as his grand, 
 appointed instrument. That Gospel un-itten in the Holy 
 Scriptures, and preached by the Lord's messengers, is 
 a spiritual weapon of heavenly mould; and when 
 wielded by a divine hand, it penetrates the heart, and 
 becomes ' the power of God unto salvation.' " 
 
 Contrast with 
 
 Robert Barclay (Apol. Prop. V. & VI. p. 168.): 
 " Thirdly, this saving spiritual light is the Gospel, which 
 the apostle saith expressly is preached in every creature 
 
APPENDIX. 289 
 
 under heaven ; even that very Gospel vyhereof Paul was 
 made a minister, Col. i. 23. Fov the Gospel is not a 
 mere declaration of good things, being the power of God 
 unto salvation to all those that believe, Rom. i. 16. Though 
 the outv/ard declaration of the Gospel be taken some- 
 times for the Gospel, yet it is but figuratively, and by a 
 metonymy. For, to speak properly, the Gospel is this 
 inward povsrer and life which preacheth glad tidings in 
 the hearts of all men, oflFering salvation unto them, and 
 seeking to redeem them from their iniquities, and there- 
 fore it is said to be preached in every creature under 
 heaven : whereas there are many thousands of men 
 and women to whom the outward Gospel was never 
 preached." 
 
 George Fox (Journal, Vol. I. p. 251) : " Waiting in 
 the light, you will receive the power of God, which is 
 the Gospel of peace ; that you may be shod with it, 
 and know that in one another, which raiseth up the seed 
 of God," &c. 
 
 (p. 401.) " For though ye have the four books, yet 
 the Gospel is hid to you ; who are strangling at the work 
 of God, and do not believe that Christ hath enlightened 
 every one that cometh into the world." 
 
 (Vol. IT. p. 25.) " In their reasoning, they said, ' the 
 gospel was the four books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and 
 John,' and they called it natural. I told them, ' the 
 Gospel was the power of God, which was preached be- 
 fore Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, or any of them 
 were printed or written ; and it was preached to every 
 creature, (of which a great part might never see, nor 
 hear of those four books) so that every creature was to 
 obey the power of God ; for Christ, the spiritual man,' 
 would judge the world according to the Gospel, that 
 is, according to his invisible power.' " 
 
 OF THE SCRIPTURES AND THE HOLY SPIRIT. 
 
 J. J. Gurney (Esgay on Love to God, p. 5) : " In ef- 
 fecting this blessed cnange in the affections of fallen 
 maji, the Holy Spirit makes use of the Gospel of our 
 13 
 
290 APPENDIX. 
 
 Lord Jesus Christ as Ms grand a'ppoinled instrument. 
 1 That Gospel, vn-itten in the Holy Scri-ptures, and preached 
 ' by the Lord's messengers," &c. 
 
 (p. 39.) " The love of Christ is indeed an animating 
 subject, full of joy and sublimity ; and to dwell on its 
 principal features, under the guidance of Scripture, must 
 be regarded as one of our happiest privileges." 
 
 (Strictures on Truth Vindicated, p. 24) : " The com- 
 parison which some of the early Friends were accus- 
 tomed to institute between the Spirit as the primary 
 rule, and the Scriptures as the secondary one, was not 
 intended, as I conceive, to apply to the question of 
 authority, but only to that of order, and dignity." 
 
 (Essay on Love to God, p. 25.) " What a blessing, 
 that his holiness is established beyond the possibility of 
 a doubt, by that intuitive rule of fight, which in charac- 
 ters more or less legible, he has condescended to write, 
 by his Spirit, on the hearts of all men ! It is in the 
 Holy Scriptures, however, that the theology of nature 
 is cleared and confirmed." / " Let us, then, under the 
 guidance of prophets and apostles, learn to contemplate 
 I" God as our Father," &c. 
 
 (Essays, Amer. edit. p. 383.) "In the fulfilment of 
 the written prophecy, in the wisdom of the written doc- 
 trine, in the purity of Xhe'ivritten law, — in the harmony 
 of the contents of the Bible amidst almost endless va- 
 riety, — and in its efficacy, as the principal means em- 
 ployed by Divine Providence for the illumination, con- 
 version, and spiritual edification of man, the enquirer 
 cannot fail to perceive unquestionable indications of the 
 divine origin of Holy Writ.'^/),"<Therefore, the person 
 who searches for that which is revealed may safely direct 
 his unhesitating attention to that which is written." 
 
 (Portable Evidences, p. 3. edit. 1832.) "But the 
 moral and spiritual force of the Sacred Volume is that 
 which chiefly serves to fasten its contents on the mind 
 of every honest inquirer .whether more or less educated, 
 and to produce a settled conviction of its divine ori- 
 
 I (P- ^O " ■'■'■ ['^^ Bible] is a text book for moral and 
 ? religious teaching, which knows no rival, and to the use 
 ■ and application of which there appears no limit." — 
 
APPENDIX. 291 
 
 " Whatsoever, in the preaching or writings of modern 
 Christians, has any tendency to convert, purify, and save 
 the souls of men, never fails to be found in its original 
 form, in the Bible." 
 
 (p. 31 .) " Nowthe information wrhich the Bible gives, 
 respecting the Supreme Being, whether considered as 
 a harmonious whole, or viewed in its principal details, 
 is to be found originally in the Bible alone." 
 
 (p. 33.) " The moral law, as revealed in Scripture, par- 
 takes of the character of its author, &c. It applies to 
 aZ/ circumstances, comprehends o?Z conditions, regulates 
 all motives, directs and controls all overt acts." 
 
 (p. 69.) " In the Bible all is simple, powerful, and 
 practicable. While enough is hidden to humble us un- 
 der a sense of our own, ignorance, enough is revealed to 
 direct our faith, axiSyegulate our conduct." 
 
 (p. 91.) " They [the Scriptures] unfold the law of 
 Grod in all its strength and spirituality in all the glorious 
 variety of its details'' 
 
 (p. 101.) " Now it is in the Scriptures only that the 
 attributes of our Heavenly Father are fully made known 
 to us. And therefore it is only through the religion of 
 the Bible, that we can obtain an adequate notion of sin." 
 
 (p. 105.) " The Bible, which alone fully reveals the 
 nature and character of sin, expressly declares," &c. 
 
 (p. 170.) " When we open the volume of Scripture, 
 and propose that interpretation of its contents — espe- 
 cially of its more mysterious parts — which is demanded 
 by the plain laws of criticism — laws which good sense 
 has established, and which are familiar to every scho- 
 lar — we again appeal to enlightened reason," &c. &c. 
 
 (Portable Evidences, p. 100.) " But it is only through 
 the medium of revealed religion [meaning, obviously 
 from the context, the Bible] that we obtain a proper 
 conception of the nature of sin, or are enabled to form 
 aright estimate of the moral condition of mankind." 
 
 (Address to Manchester Mechanics, p. 6.) " Moral 
 and religious knowledge ! And where is this to be ob- 
 tained ] Certainly we may furnish our minds with 
 some considerable portions of it by reading the book of 
 nature and providence ; but there is another book which 
 must be regarded as its depository — a book in which ail 
 
292 APPENDIX. 
 
 ihings, moral and spiritual, belonging to the welfare of 
 man, zre fully unfolded." — " I believe it is also true 
 that the law of God is written, in characters mwe or less 
 legible, on the hearts of all men. But for s,full account 
 of his glorious attributes — for the knowledge of religion 
 in all its beauty, and strength, and completeness, — we 
 must have recourse to the Bible^ — we must meditate on 
 the written word. There the whole moral law is deline- 
 ated with a pencil of heavenly light," &c. &c. 
 
 (Sketch of Wilberforce, p. 25.) " Dr. Doddridge's 
 Rise and Progress, and Wilberforce 's own Book on 
 Christianity — whatsoever there is of a converting na- 
 ture in these and such other works, is originally ex- 
 pressed only in the Bible." 
 
 Contrast the above with 
 
 Rohert Barclay (Apol. Prop. III.) : " Nevertheless, 
 because they fthe Holy Scriptures] are only a declara- 
 tion of the Fountain, and not the fountain itself, there- 
 fore they ai-e not to be esteemed the principal ground of 
 all truth and knowledge, nor yet the adequate primary 
 rule of faith and manners. Yet because they give a 
 true and faithful testimony of the first foundation, they 
 are and maybe esteemed a secondary rule, subordinate 
 to the spirit, from which they have all their excellency 
 and certainty — ^for as by the inward testimony of the 
 Spirit we do alone truly know them, so they testify, 
 that the Spirit is that Guide by which the saints are led 
 into all truth ; therefore, according to the Scriptures, the 
 Spirit ia the first and principal leader." 
 
 (p. 74.) " The principal rule of Christians under the 
 Gospel is not an outward letter, nor law outwardly 
 written and delivered, but an inward spiritual law, en- 
 graven in the heart, the taw of the Spirit of Life, the 
 word that is nigh in the heart and in the mouth." " That 
 which is given to Christians for a rule and guide, must 
 needs be so full, that it may clearly and distinctly guide 
 and order them in all ihings and occurrences that may 
 fall out. But in that there are numberless things, with 
 regard to their circumstances, which particular Chiis- 
 tians may be concerned in, for which there can be no 
 
APPENDIX. 293 
 
 particular rule had in the Scriptures ; therefore the 
 Scriptures cannot be a rule to them" — " What Scrip- 
 ture-rule shall inform me, whether it be my duty to 
 preach in this or that place, in France or England, Hol- 
 land or Germany?' &c. "The general rules of the 
 Scriptures, viz. to be diligent in my duty, &c. can give 
 me no light in this thing." 
 
 " Through and by the clearness which that Spirit 
 gives us it is, that we are only best rid of those difficul- 
 ties that occur to us concerning the Scriptures." '' The 
 real and undoubted experience whereof, I myself have 
 been a witness of," &c. 
 
 " If it be then asked me, whether I think hereby to 
 render the Sciiptures altogether uncertain, or useless — 
 I answer, not at all. The proposition itself declares how 
 much I esteem them; and provided that to the Spirit 
 from which they came, be but granted that place which 
 the Scriptures themselves give it, I do freely concede to 
 the Scriptures the second place, even whatsoever they 
 say of themselves. It is to be observed, that it is only 
 the spiritual man that can make aright use of them — 
 as for the others, the apostle Peter plainly declares, 
 that the unstable and unlearned wrest them to their 
 own destruction : these were they that were unlearned 
 in the divine and heavenly learning of the Spirit, not in 
 human and school literature" 
 
 (Quakerism Confirmed, Barclay's Works, Vol. III. 
 p. 106.) " Now as to the second branch of their argu- 
 ment, that the Scriptures are a sufficient objective reve- 
 lation of all things necessary to salvation ; this we alto- 
 gether deny, as is said. For although the Scriptures are 
 a full-enough declaration of all doctrines and principles, 
 both essential and integral of Christian religion ; yet our 
 souls need a more near and immediate discovery of God 
 than the Scripture, which is but a report of him, that he 
 may feed and nourish us by his divine manifestations." 
 
 (Apol. Prop. II. p. 66.) " As the description of the 
 light of the sun, or of curious colors, to a blind man, who, 
 though of the largest capacity, cannot so well under- 
 stand it by the most acute and lively description, as a 
 child can by seeing them ; so neither can the natural 
 man, of the largest capacity, by the best words, even 
 
294 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Scripture words, so well understand the mysteries of 
 God's kingdom, as the least and weakest child who 
 tasteth them, by having them revealed inwardly and 
 objectively by the Spirit." 
 
 George Fox (Journal, vol. I., p. 187.) : " I directed 
 them to the Divine light of Christ and his spirit in their 
 hearts, which would let them see all the evil thoughts, 
 words, and actions, ihsX they had thought, spoken, and 
 acted; by which Zig-Ai they might see their sin, and 
 also their Saviour Christ Jesus, to save them from their 
 sins. This I told them was the first step to peace, even 
 to stand still in the light that showed them their sins and 
 transgressions; by which they might come to see how 
 they were in the fall of old Adam, in darkness and 
 death, strangers to the convenant of promise, and with- 
 out God in the world'pand by the same light they might 
 see Christ, that died for them, to be their Redeemer 
 and Saviour, and their way to God." — — 
 
 Page 429, [nearly in the same terms.] 
 
 1. Fenington (Works, vol. I., p. 20.) : " In my heart 
 and soul I honor the Scriptures, and long to read them 
 throughout with the pure eye, an'd in the pure light of 
 the living spirit of God : but the Lord preserve me 
 from reading one line of them in my own will, or in- 
 terpreting any part of them according to my own under- 
 standing, but only as I am guided, led, and enlightened 
 by him, in the will and understanding which comes 
 from him. And here all Scripture, every writing of 
 God's spirit, which is from the breath of his life, is 
 profitable to build up and perfect the man of God." 
 
 (Works, vol. I., p. 277.) : " That eye that can read 
 the Scriptures with the light of its own understanding ; 
 that can consider and debate, and take up senses and 
 meanings of it, without the immediate life and power ; 
 that is the eye that may gather what it can from the 
 letter, but shall never see into the life, nor taste of the 
 true knowledge ; for Christ, who alone opens and gives 
 the knowledge, hides the pearl from that eye." 
 
APPENDIX. 295 
 
 JUSTIFICATION. 
 
 J. J. Gwney (Essays, American edition, p. 357.) : 
 *' From these Dremises it follows, that in the order of 
 the grace oi GoA, justification precedes sanctification, and 
 that the faith in Jesus Christ, by which the ungodly are 
 justified, has respect, in a very pre-eminent manner, to 
 the atonement which he has made for the sins of the 
 world," 
 
 (p. 35S.) "While however \he justification of the sin- 
 ner, through faith in a crucified Redeemer, precedes the 
 work of sanctification,- its close and Inseparable con- 
 nexion with that work is evinced by the fact, that in the 
 economy of God's spiritual government this very faith 
 is the constituted means, through which we obtain the 
 gift of the Holy Spirit." 
 
 Contrast the above with — 
 
 Richard Claridge (Works, as quoted. Friends, vol. 
 XI., p. 231.) : " If we attend to the order of the apos- 
 tle's testimony (I Cor. vi : 2,) we must be washed and 
 sanctified, before we can be justified. And if we come 
 to witness the eflScacious work of the spirit of Christ, in 
 our cleansing and sanctification, we shall know our- 
 selves to be in a state of justification and not till then. 
 For though Christ be a propitiation for the sins of the 
 whole vwDrld, yet no man can comfortably apply him as 
 such to his own soul, but as he first experiences the 
 sanctifying work of the spirit." 
 
 " The Antinomian insisted much upon the priority of 
 justification to sanctification, alleging that men are first 
 justified, and then sanctified. R. Claridge rephed, that 
 complete justification denoted a being made inwardly 
 just, by putting an end to sin, finishing transgression, 
 and bringing in Christ's everlasting righteousness ; and 
 this being the work of the spirit in sanctification, sanc- 
 tificationmust of necessity precede our justification." 
 
 R. Barclay {Apo\. Prop. VII., p. 196.): "As many 
 as resist not this light, but receive the same, it becomes 
 
296 APPENDIX. 
 
 in them an holy, pure and spiritual birth, bringing forth 
 holiness, righteousness, purity, and all those other bless- 
 ed fruits which are acceptable to God : by, which holy 
 birth, to wit: Jesus Christ formed within ns, and work- 
 ing his work in us, as we are sanctiiied, so are we 
 justified in the sight of God," &c. 
 
 (p. 217.) " Therefore, as none are said to be sancti- 
 fied that are really unholy, while they are such ; so 
 neither can any be truly said to be justified, while they 
 actually remain unjust," &c. 
 
 (p. 223.) "Having thus sufiiciently proved, that by 
 justification is to be understood a really being made 
 righteous, I do boldly afiirm, and that not only from a 
 notional knowledge, but from a real, inward, experi- 
 mental feeling of the thing, that the immediate, near- 
 est, or formal cause (if we must in condescension to 
 some use this word) of a man's justification in the sight 
 of God, is, the revelation of Jesus Christ in the soul, 
 {changing, altering and renewing the mind, by whom 
 even the author of this inward work) thus formed and 
 revealed, we are truly justified and accepted in the 
 sight of God," &G. 
 
 (p. 225.) " That it is by this revelation of Jesus 
 Christ, and the new creation in us, that we are justi- 
 fied, doth evidently appear from that excellent saying 
 of the apostle," &c. " According to his mercy he hath 
 saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renew- 
 ing of the Holy Ghost," &c. " Now, that whereby 
 we are saved, that we are also no doubt justified by; 
 which words are in this respect synonymous. Here 
 the apostle clearly ascribes the immediate cause of jus- 
 tification to this inward work of regeneration, which is 
 Jesus Christ revealed in the soul, as being that which 
 formally states us in a capacity of being reconciled with 
 God," &c. 
 
 William Penn (Primitive Christianity Revived. — 
 Works, Vol. v., p. 310.) : " "We cannot believe that 
 Christ's death and sufferings so satisfy God, or justify 
 men, as that they are <AereSy accepted of God : they 
 are, indeed, thereby put into a state capahle of being 
 accepted of God, and, through the obedience of faith, 
 and sanctification of the spirit, are in a state of accept- 
 
APPENDIX. 297 
 
 atice ; for we can never think a man justified before 
 God, while self-condemned," &c. 
 
 (p. 311.) " In short, justification consists of two 
 parts, or hath a two-fold consideration, viz : justifica- 
 tion from the guilt of. sin and justification from 
 Xhe power and pollution of sin, and in this sense jus- 
 tification gives a man a full and clesw acceptance be- 
 fore God ; for want of this latter part it is, that 
 so many souls, religiously inclined, are often under 
 doubts, scruples, and despondencies, notwithstanding 
 all that their teachers tell them of the extent and effi- 
 cacy of the first part of justification. And it is too 
 f general an unhapplness among the professors of Chris- 
 tianity, that they are too apt to cloak their own ac- 
 tive and passive disobedience with the active and pas- 
 sive ohedience of Christ : — The first part of justification 
 we do reverently and humbly acknowledge, is only 
 for the sake of the death and sufferings of Christ : 
 nothing we can do, though by the operation of the 
 Holy Spirit, being able to cancel old debts, or wipe out 
 old scores; it is the power and efficacy of that propi- 
 tiatory offering, upon faith and repentance, that justi- 
 fies us from the sins that are past ; and it is the power 
 of Christ's spirit in our hearts, that purifies and makes 
 us acceptable before God. For till the heart of man 
 is purged from sin, God will never accept of it. He 
 reproves, rebukes, and condemns those that entertain 
 sin there, and therefore such cannot be said to be in a 
 justified state; condemnation and justification being 
 contraries ; so that they that hold themselves in a jus- 
 tified state by the active and passive obedience of 
 Christ, while they are not actively and passively obe- 
 dient to the spirit of Christ Jesus, are under a strong 
 and dangerous delusion." 
 
 1. Peningion (Works, Vol. I., p. 96.) : " Mark then, 
 the justification or redemption is not by believing of a 
 thing done without man (though that also is to be be- 
 lieved) but by receiving Him into the heart." 
 13* 
 
298 APPENDIX. 
 
 IMPUTATIVE RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 J. J. Gurney (Portable Evidences, p. 58 ) : " Yet 
 surely it is because of bis [Christ's] infinite worth and 
 dignity in tbe glorious Godhead, that Christ becomes 
 ' our righteousness,' and that his righteousness, imput- 
 ed to believers, procures for them the reward of a 
 happy immortality." 
 f (p. 138.) " In himself indeed as a transgressor from 
 his birth, he [man] is vi/e a.nd polluted, hut by the blood 
 of Jesus sprinkled on his heart, his conscience is purg- 
 ed from every dead work ; and having obtained an 
 interest in the Saviour of men, he wears a robe of 
 righteousness in which there is no spot." 
 
 (Essays, p. 390.) " Our only claim on the heavenly 
 inheritance therefore consists in this ; that God is pleas- 
 ed to impute to those who believe, the perfect right- 
 eousness of our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 Contrast the above with — • 
 
 Robert Barclay (Truth Cleared, Sec, Works, Vol. I , 
 p. 177.): " Thy last argument from 2 Cor. v: 21, is 
 most absurd and impious, for accordingly it would fol- 
 low, that as Christ was made sin for us, or suffered for 
 our sins, who himself had no sin, no not in the least, 
 so we may be made righteous before God, though we 
 have no righteousness, no holiness, no faith, no repen- 
 tance, no mortification, no good thing wrought in us. 
 And doth not this strengthen the wicked, ungodly and 
 profane in their presumption, to have title to Christ's 
 righteousness V We find the apostle makes a far 
 better inference from Christ, his dying for us, 2 Cor. 
 vi : 15. ' He died for all, that they who live, might 
 not any longer live to themselves, but to God ;' yea, 
 and every where he holdeth forth inward holiness and 
 righteousness, as that without which no man can lay 
 claim to Christ.'-^ ' If any man be in Christ, he is 
 a new creature ;' but he doth not say, God reputes him 
 a new creature, though he be not really renewed." 
 
APPENDIX. 299 
 
 I. Penington (Works, Vol. I , p. 97.) : " He whom 
 God maketh righteous, was ungodly hefffre He made 
 him^ righteous. There was nothing but unrighteous- 
 ness could be imputed to him in transgression, before 
 He gave him His Son, and maAe him righteous in his 
 Son ; for nothing is righteous with God but Christ, tmd 
 man only as he is taken into his righteousness : which 
 is done not by a believing from the bare letter, but by 
 a receiving of faith in the life." 
 
 (p. 97.) " Faith is the gift of God, and this gift jus- 
 tifies ; this is that which God imputeth for righteous- 
 ness The faith is in the blood, and the blood in the 
 Son ; and in the true receiving of the Son, both the faith 
 and the blood are known and felt. These are true 
 words, though hard to the fleshly ear." 
 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 J. J. Gurney (on the Sabbath, p. X.) : " In applying 
 j to the Christian's day of rest and worship, the name of 
 ! Sabbath, I consider that I am fully justified both by 
 ;' the simple meaning of the word, &c." 
 
 (p. 1.) The moral and therefore permanent nature of 
 that divine institution," &c. &c. 
 
 (p. 85.) " And the day on which Jesus rose from 
 the dead, had been AaZfowetZ by the Lord himself," &c. 
 &c. 
 
 (p. 85.) " The Lord of the Sabbath was again honor- 
 ing the day which He had chosen for himself" 
 
 (p. 102.) "On this hallowed day we are bound by 
 a sacred obligation," &c. &c. 
 
 (p. 1 04.) " The whole man ought then to be present- 
 ed, a living sacrifice unto God." 
 \ (p. 107.) " Although these assemblies [in the middle 
 i of the week] are the means of much edification, they are 
 \ seldom found to serve the purpose of social worship 
 ^ and communion, in their full extent." 
 
 (Contribution to a Lady's Album, Norwich, 1827, p. 
 5) : " No person of serious reflection would, I pre- 
 sume, object to those outward institutions — such as the 
 iSahbath day., appointed hours and places of meeting, 
 
300 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 &c. &c., which are essential, in the order of Providence, 
 to the congregational worship of the Deity," &c. &c. 
 
 Contrast the above with — 
 
 Robert Barclay (Apol. Prop. XL, p. 340) : " We 
 may not therefore think with the papists, that these 
 days are holy, and lead people into a superstitious ob- 
 servation of them; being persuaded that all days are 
 alike holy in the sight of God." " We not seeing any 
 ground in Scripture for it, cannot be so superstitious as to 
 believe, that either the Jewish Sabbath now continues, 
 or that the firsfday of the week is the antitype thereof, 
 or the true Christian Sabbath ; which with Calvin we 
 believe to have a more spiritual sense, and therefore 
 we know»?o moral obligation by the fourth command- 
 ment, or elsewhere, to keep the first day of the week 
 more than any other, or any holiness inherent in it. 
 But first, forasmuch as it is necessary that thei-e be some 
 time set apart for the saints to meet together to wait 
 upon G-od; and that secondly, it is fit that at some 
 times they be freed from their other outward affairs ; 
 and that thirdly, reason and equity doth allow that ser- 
 vants and beasts have some time allowed them to be 
 eased from their continued labor ; and that fourthly, 
 it appears that the apostles and primitive Cliristians 
 did use the Jirst day of the week for these purposes ; 
 we find ourselves sufficiently moved for these causes to 
 do so also, without superstitiously straining the Scrip- 
 tures for another reason, which, that it is not to be 
 there found, many Protestants, ' yea, Calvin himself, 
 upon the fourth command, hath abundantly evinced. 
 And though we therefor meet, and abstain from work- 
 ing upon this day, yet doth that not hinder us from hav- 
 ing meetings also for worship at other times." 
 
 (Truth Cleared, &c.. Works, p. 204, Vol. I.) : "And 
 the Lord's people have frequent times, more than once 
 a week, wherein, laying aside their outward affairs for 
 a season, they may and do meet together to wait upon 
 the Lord, and be quickened, refreshed, and instructed 
 by Him, and worship Him in his spirit, and may be 
 useful unto one another in exhortation, or admonition. 
 
APPENDIX. 301 
 
 or any other way, as the Lord shall furnish." " And 
 it were said, if the Lord had only allowed but one day 
 of seven unto this effect." " And our souls do oft bless 
 the Lord, in allowing us many times of refreshment 
 and strengthening, to the establishing and confirming 
 us in his love and life, and disburdening our minds of 
 earthly things much more frequently than in one day 
 of seven," &c. &c. 
 
 George Fox (Journal, Vol. II., p. 1S8) : " For we 
 were redeemed out of days by Christ Jesus, and 
 brought into the day which hath sprung from on high, 
 and are come into him who is Lord of the Jewish Sab- 
 bath, and the substance of the Jews' signs." — See also 
 Discipline of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting on this sub- 
 ject. 
 
 J. J. Gurney, (Observations, p. 291, 7th edit.) : " No 
 one can, with any show of reason, deny that our Lord's 
 precept respecting our entering into the closet — shut- 
 ting the door — and praying to our Father, who seeth in 
 secret, is to be understood literally ; and therefore such 
 a practice, as far as circumstances allow, is universally 
 incumbent upon Christians. If we would grow in 
 grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 it must be our frequent practice — especially at the 
 commencement and end of each day — to retire into 
 solitude, and there seek for ability to pour out our 
 prayers to the Lord, with a diligent and fervent spirit. 
 Nor ought we to forget, that we maybe assisted in the 
 performance of this Christian duty, by kneeling down 
 in a deliberate and solemn manner, &c. (p. 292.) " To 
 the occasional use of the prayer which our Lord con- 
 descended to recite, I cannot conceive that any reflect- 
 ing Christian can for a moment object : and I believe 
 that our children ought to be accustomed to it from early 
 life." 
 
 (On Love to God, p, 77.) " With respect to our 
 children, more particularly, it is surely our duty, by 
 watchful instruction, and sometimes by uniting with 
 them in their private religious exercises, to train, tJiem 
 
302 APPENDIX. 
 
 in the habit of daily prayer — -just as we see the parent 
 bird, by frequent example and experiment, teaching 
 and inducing her young ones to use the wings which 
 God has given them." 
 
 Contrast the above with 
 
 Robert Barclay, (Apol. Prop. XI. p. 364.) " We find 
 that Jesus Christ, the author of the Christian religion, 
 prescribes no set form of worship to his children. 
 Note. If any object here, that tlie Lord's prayer is a 
 prescribed form of prayer, and therefore of worship given 
 by Christ to his children, I answer, first, this cannot be 
 objected by any sort of Christians that I know, because 
 there are none who use not other prayers, or that limit 
 their worship to this. Secondly, this was commanded 
 to the disciples, while yet weak, before they had re- 
 ceived the dispensation of the Gospel ; not that they 
 should only use it in praying, but that He might show 
 them by one example, how that their prayers ought to 
 be short, and not like the long prayers of the Pharisees. 
 And that this was the use of it, appears by all their 
 prayers, which divers saints afterwards made use of, 
 whereof the Scripture makes mention ; for none made 
 use of this, neither repeated it, but used other words, ac- 
 cording as the thing required, and as the spirit gave 
 utterance. Thirdly, that this ought to be so understood, 
 appears from Rom. viii. 26, where the Apostle saith, 
 ' We know not what we should pray for as we ought, 
 but the spirit itself maketh intercession for us,' &c. 
 But if this prayer had been such a prescribed form of 
 prayer to the church, that had not been true, neither 
 had they been ignorant what to pray, nor should they 
 have needed the help of the spirit to teach them." (p. 
 393.) " Our adversaries, whose religion is all for the 
 most part outside, and such whose acts are the mere 
 product of man's natural will and abilities, as they can 
 preach, so can they pray when they please, and there- 
 fore have their set particular prayers. I meddle not 
 with the controversies among themselves concerning 
 this, some of them being for set prayers as a liturgy, 
 others for such as are conceived extempore: it suffices 
 
APPENDIX, 303 
 
 me that all of them agree in this, — that the motions 
 and influence of the spirit of God are not necessary to 
 be previous thereunto; and therefore, they have set 
 times in their public worsliip, as before and after preach- 
 ing, and in their private devotion, as morning and eve- 
 ning^ and before and after meat, and other such occa- 
 sions, at which they precisely set about the performing 
 of their prayers, by speaking words to God, whether 
 they feel any motion or influence of the spirit or not ; 
 so that some of the chiefest have confessed that they 
 have thus prayed without the motions or assistance of 
 the spirit, acknowledging that they sinned in so doing ; 
 yet they said they looked upon it as tlieir duty so to do, 
 though to pray without the spirit be sin. We freely 
 confess that^rayer is both very profitable, and a neces- 
 sary duty commanded, and fit to be practised frequent- 
 ly by all Christians ; but as we can do nothing without 
 Christ, so neither can we pray without the concuiTence 
 and assistance of his Spirit. But that the state of the 
 controversy may be the better understood, let it be 
 considered, first, that prayer is two-fold, inward w\&. 
 outward. Inward prayer is that secret turning of the 
 mind towards God, whereby, being secretly touched 
 and awakened by the light of Christ in the conscience, 
 and so bowed down under the sense of its iniquities, 
 unworthiness, and misery, it looks up to God, and join- 
 ing with the secret shinings of the seed of God, it 
 breathes toward Him, and is constantly breathing forth 
 some secret desires and aspirations towards Him. It 
 is in this sense that we are so frequently in Scripture 
 commanded to pray continually, which cannot be under- 
 stood of outward prayer, because it were impossible 
 that men should be always upon their knees, express- 
 ing words of prayer ; and this would hinder them from 
 the exercise of those duties no less positively command- 
 ed. Outward prayer is, when as the spirit, being thus 
 in the exercise of inward retirement, and feeling the 
 breathing of the spirit of God to arise powerfully in 
 the soul, receives strength and liberty by a superadded 
 motion and influence to bring forth either audible sighs, 
 groans, or words, and that either in public assem- 
 blies, or in private^ or at meat, &c. As then inward 
 
304 APPENDIX. 
 
 prayer is necessary at all limes, so, so long as the day 
 of every man's visitation lasteth, he never vyants some 
 influence, less or more, for the practice of it ; because 
 he no soonerretires in his mind, and considers himself in 
 God's presence, but he finds himself in the practice of 
 it. The outward exercise of prayer, as needing a 
 greater a.-aAsuperadded m^nence and motion of the Spirit, 
 as it cannot be continually practised, so neither can it 
 be so readily, so as to be effectually performed, until 
 his mind be some time acquainted with the inward," 
 &c. (p. 397.) " If any man know not how to pray, 
 neither can do it without the help of the Spirit, then it 
 is to no purpose ioT Yam, but shogexhevunprojitahle, to 
 pray without it." 'it-A-jV" v; '\ ''• :j. <^ 
 
 I. Peningim (Works, Vol I. p? 21 ) : " Mark, all 
 prayer and supplication must be in the Spirit ; Yea, it 
 must be always in the Spirit, which speaks in the heart 
 to G-od, and makes the intercession, or it is no prayer. 
 If a man speak ever so much from his own spirit, 
 with ever so much earnestness and affection, yet it is 
 no prayer, no true prayer, but only so far as the Spirit 
 moves to it, and so far as the Spirit leads and guides in 
 it." 
 
 ON WORSHIP. 
 
 J. J. Gurney (On the Sabbath, p. 105) : " In frequent- 
 ing the solemn assemblies of the Lord's people, we 
 ought to cultivate a joyful and thankful Spirit ; to 
 train our minds to a vivid perception of the beauty of 
 holiness ; and to delight ourselves in the worship of 
 God. Let us ever remember that on these occasions 
 we meet Jor the purpose oi commemorating the glories 
 of creation, the wisdom' and goodness of providence, 
 . and the wonders of redeeming love." 
 
 (Sketch of Wilberforce, Norwich, p. 7. 1838.) " In 
 the autumn of 1816, I well remember going over from 
 the place of my own residence'in the neighborhood of 
 Norwich, partly for the purpose of seeing so great a 
 man, and partly for that of persuading him to join our 
 party, at the time of the approaching anniversaries of 
 the Norfolk Bible and Church Missionary Societies." 
 
APPENDIX. 305 
 
 Contrast the above with — 
 
 Robert Barclay (Apol. Prop. XI. p. 351 , &c.) : " We 
 judge it the duty of all to be diligent in the assembling 
 of themselvea together — and when assembled, the 
 great work of one and all ought to be to wait upon God; 
 and returning out of their own thovghts and invaginations, 
 to feel the Lord's presence, and know a gathering into 
 Ms name indeed, where he is in the midst, according to 
 his promise. And as every one is thus gathered, and 
 so met together inwardly in their spirits, as well as out- 
 wardly in their persons, there the secret power and 
 virtue of life is known to refresh the soul, and the pure 
 motions and breathings of God's Spirit are felt to arise ; 
 from which, as words of declaration, prayers or praises 
 arise, the acceptable worship is known, which edifies 
 the church, and is well pleasing to God. And no man 
 here limits the Spirit of God ; but every one puts that 
 forth which the Lord puts into their hearts : and it is 
 uttered forth, not in matis will and wisdom, but in the 
 evidence and demonstration of the Spirit, and of power. 
 Yea, though there be not a word spoken, yet is the 
 true spiritual worship performed, and the body of 
 Christ edified ; yea, it may, and hath often fallen out 
 among us, that divers meetings have passed without 
 one word ; and yet our souls have been greatly edified 
 and refreshed, and our hearts wonderfully overcome 
 with the secret sense of God's power and spirit." 
 
 William Penn (Primitive Christianity Revived, chap. 
 X.) : " As the Lord wrought effectually, by his divine 
 grace, in the hearts of this people,so he thereby brought 
 them to a divine worship and ministry : Christ's words 
 they came to experience, viz., that God was a Spirit, 
 and that he would therefore be worshipped in the 
 spirit, and in the truth, and that such worshippers the 
 Father would seek to worship him % For, bowing to 
 the convictions of the Spirit in themselves, in their daily 
 course of living, by which they were brought to eschew 
 that which was made manifest to them to be evil, and 
 to do that which was good, they, in their assembling 
 together, sat down and waited for the preparation of 
 
306 APPENDIX. 
 
 his Holy Spirit, both to let them see their own states 
 and conditions before the Lord, and to worship Him 
 acceptably; and as they were sensible of wants, or 
 shortness, or infirmities, so in the secret of their own 
 hearts, prayer would spring to God, through Jesus 
 Christ, to help, assist and supply : but they did not 
 dare to ' awaken their beloved before his time,' or ap- 
 proach the throne of the King of Glory, till he held 
 out his sceptre ; or take, thought what they should 
 say, or after tlidr own, or other men's studied words and 
 forms ; for this were to offer strange fire, &c." So that 
 it is this people's principle, that fire must come from 
 heaven, life and power from God, to enable the soul to 
 pour out itself acceptably before him. And when a 
 coal from His holy altar touches our lips, then can we 
 pray iand praise Him as we ought to do." 
 
 I. Penington (Works Vol. II. p. 249.) : " What is the 
 worship, or what are the sacrifices, which the true 
 worshippers offer up to God in this holy place 1 — 
 Answer. — the gifts of His Spirit. These they offer 
 up, and nothing else. The breathings which- the 
 Father gives into the heart of the child, they are 
 breathed back unto Him in the same spirit of life ; in 
 the living sense, in the quickening power. Nothing 
 of man's wisdom, nothing of man's invention, nothing 
 according to man's will, nothing that would please the 
 flesh, or seem glorious in its eye, is oflered up there ; 
 but the exhortations, or directions, or reproofs, that 
 spring up in God's light, in God's wisdom, they are 
 given forth in the leadings, and by the guidance of His 
 Spirit, and they reach to the hearts of those to whom 
 He pleased to direct them. And this is the ground of 
 such meetings, and breakings, and convictions of soul, 
 (and such like inward operations) as are frequently 
 found in such assemblies. For the living God is there, 
 and the dread of His power overspreads the hearts of 
 such as are gathered into and assembled in His name ; 
 and the life springs in the earthen vessels, and the 
 Saviour is precious to all that have their spiritual 
 senses." 
 
APPENDIX. 307 
 
 RESURRECTION. 
 
 J. J. Gurnet/ (Essays, p. 134) : " With respect to the 
 impenitent wicked, their lot during the separate state, is 
 described as one of pain or punishment, &c." 
 
 (p. 141.) " He [man] has within him a never dying 
 spirit ; and even that part of Mm which is destined to 
 moulder in the grave, shall in the end be foimd the 
 seed, of a spiritual body, and shall be clothed with incor- 
 ruption and immortality." 
 
 (Portable Evidences, p. 151.) " As it relates to the 
 faithful followers of Christ, the resurrection of the body 
 clearly forms a part of the scheme of redemption. It 
 is represented in Scripture as the last step to the full- 
 ness of their happiness, &c. 
 
 Contrast this with 
 
 George Fox (Doctrinal Works, p. 466) : " Is not this 
 your condition, that make such a work about the body 
 of Christ, and with what bodies people shall be raised 
 up; and the Apostle saith to such: " Thou fool; that 
 which thou sowest is not quickened except it die; and 
 that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that 
 shall be." So he tells here plainly it is not the same, 
 and calls thee a fool that questionest. If thou sowest 
 wheat or other com, let the husbandmen answer thee in 
 this." 
 
 (p. 467.) " And the apostle further safth, ' Behold I 
 show you a mystery ; we shall not all sleep, but we 
 shall be changed.' Mark — be changed. So not the 
 same : which the husbandman will teach thee." 
 
 (p. 946.) " And Christ saith, 'Verily I say unto you, 
 except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it 
 abideth alone ; but if it die, it bringeth forth much 
 fruit.' So, what the husbandman soweth, whether 
 wheat or other seed, he soweth — mark — ^he soweth 
 not that body that shall be ; but God giveth it a body 
 as it pleasethHim, and to every seed its own body," &c. 
 
 Wm. Penn (Testimony to the Truth of God, Works, 
 Vol. 3, p. 533) : " Because from the authority of Holy 
 Scripture, as well as right reason, we deny the resur- 
 
308 APPENDIX. 
 
 ;Tecrion of the same gross and corruptible body, and are 
 neither over inquisitive nor critical about what bodies 
 we shall have at the resurrection, leaving it to the 
 Lord, to give us such bodies as he pleases, (and with 
 that we are well pleased and satisfied, and wish all 
 others were so too;) from hence we are made not only 
 deniersof the resurrection of any body at all, however 
 spiritual or glorified, but eternal rewards too." 
 
 (Defence of Gospel Truths, Works, Vol. 3, p. 549) : 
 " Here it is we are cautious, and tread softly, remem- 
 bering what the apostle says to the curious and inqui- 
 sitive upon this head. ' But some man will say, how 
 are the dead raised up, and with what bodies do they 
 come ? 
 
 Thou fool, thou sowest not that body which shall 
 be, but bare gi'ain. But God giveth it a body as it 
 bath pleased him, and to every seed its own body.' 
 Here is the ground of our caution, which the bishop is 
 pleased to call suppression, and others, denying of the re- 
 surrection. (We have indeed been negative to the gross 
 conceit of people concerning the rising of this carnal 
 body we carry about with us, which better agrees with 
 the Koran of Mahomet, than the gospel of Christ : but 
 that there is a resurrection of the just and unjust 
 to rewards and punishment, we have ever believed." 
 Bodies we shall have, iut not the same, says the apostle, 
 and so believes the Quaker." 
 
 THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 J. J. Gurney (Essay on Love to God, p. 40) : " Be- 
 hold the glorious partner of the Father's throne, freely 
 opening his bosom to the vials of His wrath, groaning 
 and bleeding on th^ cross," &c. 
 
 (p. 45.) " Let us call to mind, that in that hour of 
 unutterable desertion, the righteous vengeance of God, 
 against a guilty world, was poured forth upon the inno- 
 cent substitute." 
 
 [How does this agree with the text, " God so 
 loved the world, that he gave His only begotten 
 Son,"&c.?— Ed.] 
 
APPENDIX. 309 
 
 ON THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT. 
 
 J. J. Gumey (Essays, pp. 108, 109.) : " The very 
 pointed allusions made by our Saviour to the person- 
 ality of the Holy Spirit are in exact accordance with 
 the mode of expression virhich w^as often adopted, in 
 relation to the same subject, by his inspired disciples. 
 From various passages in the Book of Acts, and the 
 Epistles, we can scarcely do otherwise than deduce 
 the inference, that these servants of tha Lord regarded 
 the Holy Spirit as one possessing ^erw;ia? powers, and 
 requiring a, personal allegiance." 
 
 (Ibid. p. 110.) "Such is the scriptural evidence of 
 which we are in possession, that the Father is God, 
 that the Son is God, that the Holy Spirit is God. Hav- 
 ing considered this evidence, we may now proceed to 
 take a view of some additional passages in the New 
 Testament, in which the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
 Ghost, whose deity is thus distinctively and separately 
 indicated, are presented to our attention as the united 
 sources of the Christian's help and consolation, the 
 united objects of the Christian's belief and obedience. 
 This description is indeed applicable to the passages 
 already cited from the Gospel of John, in relation to 
 the personality of the Holy Ghost," &c. 
 
 (Essays, pp. 112, 113.) "In order to obtain a just 
 and comprehensive view of the whole subject, (as far 
 as it is revealed to us) it is necessary also to advert to 
 the order of that relation in which they are ever repre- 
 sented as standing one towards another. The Father 
 is the first ; the Son is the second ; the Holy Spirit is 
 the third. The Son is subordinate to the Father, be- 
 cause he is of the Father — the only begotten Son of 
 God. The Holy Spirit is subordinate to the Father 
 and the Son, because he is the Father's and the Son's; 
 see Matt. iii. 16, and Rom. viii. 9. The Father sends 
 the Son. The Father and the Son send the Holy 
 Spirit, John xr. 26." 
 
 (Ibid. p. 113.) "The Holy Spirit is the operative 
 power, through whom the Father and the Son carry on 
 the work of mercy, and exercise their dominion of thq 
 
310 APPENDIX. 
 
 souls of men. It is He who enlightens,' converts, 
 renews, consoles, and purifies the heirs of salvation. 
 The Father is, in the deepest and most comprehensive 
 sense of the expressions, the Creator-^the Son, the 
 Redeemer — the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier. The Fa- 
 ther originates, the Son mediates, the Holy Sprit con- 
 summates." 
 
 (Essays, p. 393.) : " On a careful perusal of the 
 whole of that Sacred Volume, he [an honest inquirer 
 after truth] is led to take a view, first, of the natural 
 and moral attributes of the Supreme Being ; secondly, 
 of the persoTiality and unity, in Him, of the Father, 
 the Son, and the Spirit," &c. 
 
 (Portable Evidences, p. 74. Boston edit. 1833.) 
 " When our Saviour was about to quit this lower world, 
 he commanded his disciples to go and teach all nations, 
 baptizing them into the name of the ' Father, and of 
 the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;' from which expres- 
 sions we learn that these servants of God were to bap- 
 tize their converts into that faith, of whicFthe Father, 
 the Son, and the Spirit, are the inseparable objects. 
 Now since it cannot for a moment be imagined that a 
 mere attribute or influence could be presented to us, 
 as a joint object of our faith with the Father and the 
 Son, this passage must he regarded as containing a dear 
 evidence (^ the personality of the Spirit." 
 
 Compare the foregoing with 
 
 George Fox : " And it is the Spirit that beareth wit- 
 ness, because the Spirit is truth ; for there are three 
 that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and 
 the Holy Ghost, and these three are One ; and there 
 are three which bear record in earth, &c. 1 John v. 
 6, 7. And now let none be offended, because we do 
 not call them by those unscriptural names of Trinity, 
 and Three Persons, which are not Scripture words." — 
 See Evans' Exposition, pp. 2, 3. 
 
 Barclay (ibid. p. 5.) : " Again, according to his 
 [Brown's] custom, though I condemn the Socinians, he 
 will be insinuating that I agree with him : to whose 
 
APPENDIX. 311 
 
 notions of the Spirit, albeit I assent not, yet I desire to 
 knuw of him, in what Scripture he finds these words 
 that the Spirit is a distinct person of the Trinity." 
 
 William Verm (ibid. p. 7.) : "But they are very ten- 
 der of quitting scripture terms and phrases for school- 
 men's, such as distinct and separate persons and sub- 
 sistences, &c. are ; from whence people are apt to en- 
 tertain gross ideas of the Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost." 
 
 I. Penington (ibid. p. 10.) : " That there are ' three 
 that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and 
 the Holy Spirit ;' that these three are distinct, as iJiree 
 several heings or Persons; this they read not; but in 
 the same place, they read ' they are one.' " 
 
 Francis Howgill (ibid. p. 12.) : " First, concerning 
 the Trinity, thou sayest, they confess the Father, Son, 
 and Holy &host, and yet they deny the Trinity, and 
 those to be three distinct persons ; for confutation of 
 this, thou bringest Heb. i. 3 — He is the express image 
 of his Father's person." 
 
 " Thy Trinity is an old Popish term, and we love to 
 keep to sound words ; but by Trinity, I suppose thou 
 meanest three, and thy own words shall confute thee. 
 Thou confessest we say, there is Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost, and yet but one God, or one eternal 
 being or substance, in which they all subsist ; but thy 
 word distinct is thy own, and not the Spirit's ; yet to 
 distinguish betwixt Faither, Son, and Spirit, we deny 
 not : and as for Heb. i. 3, it is in another translation 
 rendered, the express image of his substance ; for 
 Person is too gross a word to express an Eternal and 
 Divine Being in ; and if thou dost hold three distinct 
 substances, thou errest in thy judgment, for that were 
 to make three Gods.'.' 
 
 William Chandler, Alexander Pyott, Jos. Hodges, and 
 others (ibid. p. 17.) : " We believe that great rnystery, 
 that they are three that bear record in heaven, the Fa- 
 
312 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 ther, Son, and Holy Ghost, and-that these three are one 
 being and substance." 
 
 R. Claridge (ibid. 2. 21.) : "Therefore in this, and 
 all other articles of faith arid doctrines of religion, in 
 common to be believed, in order to eternal salvation, 
 let not the opinions, explications, or conceptions of men 
 .wrhich are often dubious, various, or erroneous, be 
 esteemed a rule or standard, but let every one rely on 
 the divine testimony of the Holy Scriptures, which 
 declare that God is one, and that there is none other 
 besides Him; and that the One God is Father, Son, 
 and Holy Spirit ; or, as it is expressed, 1 John v. 7— 
 ' The Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost.' 
 
 " And as we distinguish between a Scripture Trinity, 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, which we unfeignedly 
 believe ; and that humanly devised Trinity of three dis- 
 tinct, and separate persons, which we receive not, because 
 the Holy Scriptures make no mention of it." 
 
 Thus spoke our ancient Friends ; and that the So- 
 ciety still continues to hold this doctrine may be infer- 
 reH from the following extract, taken from Foster's Re- 
 ports, Volume I. p. 292 : 
 
 Cross- Examination of Thomas Evans. 
 
 Question. " If you hold that there is no contrariety 
 of will in them, do you hold that they are, in any man- 
 ner, distinct?" 
 
 Answer. " We have always denied that the Deity 
 consisted of distinct and separate persons : and while 
 we have believed that there were three, have as uni- 
 formly maintained that those three are One." 
 
 Counsel. " The question is not fully answered." 
 
 Witness. " If the Counsel will explain his meaning 
 of the term distinct, as used in the question, I will en- 
 deavor to answer it further." 
 
 Counsel. " The question is. Do you hold that they 
 are in any manner distinct ?" 
 
 Witness. " I have already stated that the Society of 
 Friends do not believe that there are distinct and sepa- 
 
APPENDIX. 313 
 
 rate persons in ike Godhead; and have answered him in 
 Scripture terms as regards what the Society do be- 
 lieve," &C. 
 
 MOEAL SENSE, ETC. 
 
 J- J. Gumey (Essays, p. 365.) " It will, I presume, 
 be without diiBculty allowed, that these observations 
 are in a general, yet very important sense, applicable 
 to all men, whether they are partakers in the benefit of 
 an outward revelation, or are left to that which is 
 usually described as the light of nature. If we admit 
 that mankind, without an outward revelation, are 
 nevertheless sinners, we must also admit that mankind, 
 without such a revelation, are nevertheless in posses- 
 sion of the -law of God ; for we are expressly told by 
 one apostle, that 'where no law is, there is no trans- 
 gression;' (Rom. iv. 15.) and by another, that sin is the 
 transgression of the law; (1 John iii. 4.) declarations 
 which obviously correspond with the dictates of sound 
 reason. 
 
 " The law to which I now allude, and which is uni- 
 versally bestowed upon men, is ^sX moral sense of right 
 and wrong, by which the natural conscience is directed 
 and illuminated, . and which, unless perverted by pre- 
 judice, or seared by the fatal operation of vice, it never 
 fails to bear witness."* 
 
 J. J. Gumey (Strictures on " Truth Vindicated," p. 
 25.) : " To denominate our Lord Jesus Christ a Rule, 
 as does this author in the last mentioned extract, in- 
 volves the danger of a very fatal heresy ; it obviously 
 tends to divest him of his personality, and to convert 
 him into a principle. 
 
 " In the mean time, the author of the Truth Vindi- 
 cated, does not hesitate to insinuate that without any 
 instruction whatsoever in Christianity, every creature 
 
 * "For tny own part, I beg it may be understood, that ' by the 
 light of nature,' I mean, simply, the light which God has communi- 
 cated to the souls of men independendy of on outwardly revealed 
 religion."— Note, at p. 365 and 366. 
 14 
 
314 APPENDIX. 
 
 under heaven may have the saving knowledge of the 
 ' gospel of life and salvation through Jesus Christ.' " 
 
 (Essays, p. 361.) " Prone to iniquity, and transgres- 
 sors from the womb, vie are alienated from God, who is 
 the source of all happiness ; and, in the world to come, 
 eternal separation from him, and, therefore, eternal 
 misery is the consequence of our evil doings." 
 
 (Portable Evidences, p. 165.) "In himself indeed, as 
 a transgressor Jrom Ms hirth, he is vile and polluted, but 
 by the blood of Jesus sprinked on his heart, his con- 
 science is purged from every dead work ; and having 
 obtained an interest in the Saviour of men, he wears a 
 robe of righteousness in which'there is no spot." 
 
 Rohert Barclay (Apol. Prop. V. & VI. p.,177.) : "And 
 certainly hence it is, even because this light seed and 
 grace that appears in the heart of man is so little re- 
 garded, and so much overlooked, that so few know 
 Christ brought forth in them." 
 
 (p. 178.) " Some will have it to be reason ; some, a 
 natural conscience ; some, certain reliques of God's image 
 that remained in Adam.->( So that Christ, as He met 
 I with opposition from all kinds of professors in his out- 
 ward appearance, doth now also in the inward." 
 
 (ibid. p. 182.) "It [the saving grace] testifies that it 
 is no natural principle oi light, but saith plainly, it 
 brings salvation." 
 
 (ibid. Prop. XI. p. 382.) '' For we must cease to do 
 evil, ere we learn tp do well ; and this meddling in 
 things spiritual hy man's own natural understanding, is 
 one of the greatest and most- dangerous evils that man is 
 incident to ; being that which occasioned our first pa- 
 rents' fall, to wit, a forwardness to desire to know 
 things, and a meddling with them, both without and 
 contrary to the Lord's command." 
 
 (ibid. Prop. IV. p. 95.) " Nevertheless, this seed is 
 not imputed to infants, until by transgression they 
 actually join themselves therewith ; for they are by na- 
 ture the children of wrath, who walk according to the 
 power of the prince of the air, the spirit that now 
 worketh in the children of disobedience, having their 
 
APPENDIX. 315 
 
 conversation in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the de- 
 sires of the flesh and the mind." 
 
 (ibid. p. 104.) " Than which testimonies there is 
 nothing more positive ; since to infants there is no law^, 
 seeing as such they are utterly incapable of it ; the lav7 
 cannot reach any but such as have in some measure 
 less or more the exercise of their understanding, which 
 infants have not." 
 
 Phipps (Original and Present State of Man, p. 32.) : 
 " All the personal instructions and writings of the pro- 
 phets, apostles, and their cotemporaries, taken in their 
 full extent, have never been any thing near so univei- 
 sal amongst mankind as this grace and power of God; 
 for it always hath been, and is present to every indi- 
 vidual in all nations and throughout all generations." 
 
 THE ANOINTING— CHRIST IN MAN. 
 
 .7". J. Gurney (Brief Remaiks, p. 8.) : " For the same 
 reason we cannot but object to the doctrine that 
 Christ is the Anointing. Truly he is the Anointed of 
 the Father, and the Anointer of his own per)ple ; but 
 who on that account would think of identifying him 
 with the Anointing? that is, with the enlightening, 
 qualifying influence of the Holy Spirit 1 
 
 " This peculiar notion is also occasionally applied 
 amongst us, to a highly important passage in the Epis- 
 tle of Paul to the Colossians, where he speaks of the 
 ' mystery which hath been hid from ages and genera- 
 tions, but now is made manifest unto the saints,' to 
 whom he adds, God would make known what is the 
 riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, 
 which is ' Christ in you the hope of glory,' Col. i. 26. 
 The words ' Christ in you,' are often recited by mis- 
 take, as ' Christ within ;' and these expressions are 
 sometimes used amongst us as a synonyme for the light 
 of the Spirit of Christ in the heart — a view which some 
 have imagined to be supported by the apostle's treating 
 the whole subject as a 'mystery,' Hence it necessa- 
 rily follows, that the light of the Spirit of Christ in the 
 
316 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 heart, is the same as Christ himself, and is represented 
 as the hope of glory. The plain fact, however, appears 
 to be, that the mystery of which the apostle is speaking, 
 is that of the incarnation of the Son of God, a sub- 
 ject which had indeed been typically shadowed forth to 
 the Jews, but had been totally concealed from the 
 Gentiles ; kept secret since the world began, but 
 was now made known to the saints, (1 Tim. iii. 16.) 
 and without controversy great is the mystery of godli- 
 ness. God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the 
 Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, be- 
 lieved on in the world, received up into glory. No 
 sooner did the Gentiles, by a living faith, accept the 
 Saviour, who was thus preached unto them ; no sooner 
 did they receive him into their hearts, that he might 
 rule there by his Spirit, than Christ was in them the 
 hope of glory, Eph. iii. 17, ' that Christ may dwell in 
 your hearts by faith ;' and 2 Cor. xiii. 5, ' Know ye not 
 your ownselves,how that Jesus Christ is in you, except 
 ye be reprobates ?' So also John vi. 56, ' He that 
 eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me 
 and I in him;' John _xvii. 26, ' That the love where- 
 with thou hast loved me, may be in them and I in 
 them.' 
 
 " The true view of this subject, and in particular of 
 the passage now cited from Colossians, is briefly but 
 happily stated in the General Epistle from our last 
 Yearly Meeting : ' As the Holy Spirit influences our 
 hearts, and enlightens our understandings, we are 
 brought to a lively apprehension of the character and 
 offices of the Messiah, and Christ received by faith into 
 the soul, and, ruling there by his Spirit, becomes our 
 sure and only hope of glory.' Here then is a full testi- 
 mony to vital, practical, inward religion, but no mysti- 
 cism. These mistakes, especially John i. 9, and Col. 
 i. 26 — 28, have often been made by persons who cor- 
 dially accept the Lord Jesus Christ in all his gracious 
 offices, both as God and man. 
 
 " Thus the errors themselves have naturally enough 
 been suffered to pass with but little notice. But with 
 some who have seceded from us in America, they have 
 evidently been the means of aiding that tremendous pro- 
 
APPENDIX. 317 
 
 cess in heresy, by which the Eternal "Word, or Son of 
 God, is gradually converted into a mere influence, and 
 finally becomes nothing at all but a seed sown in the 
 hearts of all men." 
 
 Contrast the above with 
 
 Barclay {Apology, p. 52.) : " The apostle proposeth 
 this anointing in them, as a more certain touch-stone 
 for them to discern and try seducers by, even than his 
 own writings." 
 
 (pp. 138,139.) "But we understand a spiritual, hea- 
 venly, and invisible principle, in which God, as Father^ 
 Son, and Spirit dwells ; a measure of which divine and 
 glorious life is in all men as a seed, which of its own na- 
 ture dravvs, invites, and inclines to God ; and this, some 
 call vehiculum Dei, or the spiritual body of Christ, the 
 jlesh and blood of Christ, which came down from heaven, 
 of which all the saints do feed, and are thereby nour- 
 ished unto eternal life. 
 
 '' And as this seed is received in the heart, and suf- 
 fered to bring forth its natural and proper effect, Christ 
 comes to be formed and raised, of which the Scripture 
 makes so much mention, calling it the new man, Christ 
 within, the hope of glory. This is that Christ within, 
 which we are heard so much to speak and declare of, 
 eveiy where preaching him up, and exhorting people to 
 believe in the light, and* obey it, that they may come to 
 know Christ in them, to deliver them from all sin. 
 
 "But by this, as we do not at all intend to equal our- 
 selves to that holy man, the liord Jesus Christ, who was 
 bom of the Virgin Mary, in whom all the fullness of 
 the Godhead dwelt bodily, so neither do we destroy the 
 reality of his present existence, as some have falsely ca- 
 lumniated us. For though we affirm that, Christ dwells 
 in us, yet not immediately, but mediately, as he is in 
 that seed, which is in us ; whereas he, to wit, the Eter- 
 nal Word, which was with God, and was God, dwelt 
 immediately in that holy man. 
 
 " We understand not this seed, light, or grace, to be an 
 accident, as most men ignorantly do, but a real spiritual 
 substance, which the soul of man is capable to feel and 
 
318 APPENDIX. 
 
 apprehend, from which that real, spiritual, inward birth 
 in believers arises, called the new creature, the new man 
 in the heart. This seems strange to carnal-minded men, 
 because they are not acquainted with it: but we know 
 it, and are sensible of it, by a true and certain expe"- 
 rience. 
 
 (pp. 142, 143, 144.) "We have said before, how that 
 a divine, spiritual, and, supernatural light is in all men ; 
 how thatthat divine, supernatural light or seed, is vehicu- 
 lum Dei ; how that God and Christ dwelleth in it, and 
 is never separated from it; also how that as it is received 
 and closed within the heart, Christ comes to be formed 
 and brought forth ; but we are far from ever having 
 said, that Christ is thus formed in all men, or in the 
 wicked ; for that is a great attainment, w^hich the apos- 
 tle travailed that it might be brought forth in the Gala- 
 tians. 
 
 " But in regard Christ is in all men as in a seed, yea, 
 and that he never is nor can be separate from that holy, 
 pure seed and light which is in all mm ; therefore may 
 it be said, in a larger sense, that he is in all, &c. 
 
 " And forasmuch as Christ is called that light that 
 enliglitens every man, the light of the world^^ereiore the 
 light is taken for Christ, who truly is the fountain of 
 light, and hath his habitation in it forever. 
 
 " Thus the light of Christ is sometimes called 
 Christ, i. e. that in which Christ is, and from which he 
 is never separated." 
 
 THE SEED. 
 
 J. J. Gurney (Brief Remarks, p, 10.) : " That this 
 1 parable (of the mustard seed) was intended to set forth 
 the small beginnings of Christianity in the woild, and 
 its subsequent extension and victory, can scarcely be 
 doubted by any sober commentator ; and we may 
 freely allow that it also bears an allusion to the growth 
 in gi'ace of the individual believer in Jesus ; — but that 
 the mustard seed is here equivalent to Christ himself 
 in his inward appearance to the soul, is surely a notion, 
 without the smallest foundation either in reason or 
 Scripture. The seed which the sower went forth to 
 
APPENDIX. 319 
 
 SOW, in another parable, as explained by our Lord as 
 signifying the word of divine truth as it is 'preached and 
 heard. It cannot therefore signify Christ, who in his 
 character of a prophet, or preacher, is represented as 
 the sower ; and equally obvious is it, that it cannot be 
 identical (as some persons iippear to imagine) with the 
 light of the Spirit of Christ in the hearts of all men. 
 
 " The influence of the Holy Spirit, through which 
 the believer is born again, may probably be represented 
 by the term ' seed.' In 1 Peter i. 2, 3, ' Being born 
 again, not of corruptible seed, but of incoiTuptible, by 
 the word of God which liveth and abideth forever ;' 
 and xhis, grace abiding in the heart of the believer, ap- 
 pears to be spoken of under the same term in 1 John 
 iii. 9 : ' Whomsoever is born of God doth not commit 
 sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, 
 because he is born of God.' " 
 
 Contrast with 
 
 George Fox (Sewell's History, Vol. II. p. 490. Phil- 
 adelphia edit.) : " All is well, the seed of God reigns 
 over all, and over death itself." " And though," con- 
 tinued he, " I am weak in body, yet the power of God 
 is over all, and the Lord reigns over all disorderly 
 spirits." " He used often, even in his preaching, when 
 he spoke of Christ, to call Him the Seed; therefore, 
 those that were with him very well knew what he 
 meant when he spoke of the 'Seed.' 
 
 "Again, about four or five hours before his death, 
 being asked how he did, he answered, 'Do not heed, 
 the power of the Lord is above all sickness and death ; 
 the Seed reigns, blessed be the Lord !' " 
 
 OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OP .CHRIST. 
 
 J. J. Gurney (Brief Remarks, p. 13.) : After com- 
 menting at large on John vi. he says — "Hence it fol- 
 lows, that the bread which Christ gives us to eat is his 
 flesh, which he offered upon the cross for the sins of the 
 whole world. As eating the bread of Ufe is identical 
 with believing in Christ, the incarnate Son of God, so 
 
320 APPENDIX. 
 
 eating his flesh is identical with such a belief in him as 
 is especially directed to his atoning sacrifice. 
 
 " Our Lord's meaning becomes yet more indisputa- 
 ble, when he pursues his use of this expressive figure, 
 and adds to the eating of his flesh, the drinking of his 
 blood : ' Verily,,! say unto you. Except ye eat the flesh 
 of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life 
 in you. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my 
 blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him,' ver. 53 — 56. 
 That the flesh and blood of Chrift are here spoken of 
 in relation to his incarnation and atoning sacrifice, is 
 made abundantly clear by the comparison of all the 
 other passages in the New Testament, and especially 
 in the writings of this apostle, in which mention is made 
 of that flesh or of that blood. 
 
 These passages are numerous; and on a careful ex- 
 amination of them, it will be found that the fiesh 
 always means his human body — that body which was 
 born, died, and rose again — and that his blood always 
 means his very blood, which was his natural life, and 
 which was naturally shed on the cross for the remis- 
 sion of sin." 
 
 Contrast with 
 
 'Barclay (Apology, p. 446:) : '' The hody then of 
 Christ, which believers partake of, is spiritual, and not 
 carnal ; and his blood, which they drink of, is pure and 
 heavenly, and not human or elementary, as Augustine also 
 aflirms of the body of Christ, which is eaten, in his 
 Tractat. Psalm 98. Except a man eat my flesh, he hath 
 not in him life eternal : and he saith, The words w7iich I 
 speak unto you are Spirit and life ; understand spiritually 
 what Ihave spoken. 
 
 Ye shall not eat of this body which ye see, .and drink 
 this blood which they shall spill, which crucify me — I 
 am the living bread, who have descended from heaven. 
 He calls himself the bread, who descended from hea- 
 ven, exhorting that we might believe in him, &c. 
 
 If it be asked then, What that body, what iJiat flesh 
 and blood is \ 
 
 I answer; \x,\& \}a&X heavenly seed, that divine, spirit- 
 
APPENDIX.. 321 
 
 %uil, celestial substance, of which we spake before in 
 the Jifth and sixth propositions. This is that spiritual 
 body of Christ, whereby and through which he commu- 
 nicateth life to men, and salvation to as many as believe 
 in him, and receive Mm ; and whereby also man comes 
 to have fellowship and communion with God." 
 
 GURNEY-ISMS, ETC. 
 
 J. J. Gurney (Portable Evidences, pp. 109, 110.) : 
 " Furnished as we are by the Author of our being with 
 a moral principle, it is impossible for us to conceive that 
 God will reward and punish mankind in a future world, 
 by any other than the moral rule. We should be utter- 
 ly at a loss to account for the contrary, which would be 
 directly opposed to that sense of right and wrong, 
 which He has so graciously interwoven with our very 
 nature.'' 
 
 (Ibid. p. 123.) " All men have sinned against the law 
 of God, as it is written on their hearts ; and those on 
 whom the Scriptures are bestowed, have sinned against 
 the same law as it is more largely unfolded in the 
 sacred volume." 
 
 (Ibid. pp. 121, 122.) : " Now where but in the Sacred 
 writings, shall we look for a full account of the holi- 
 ness and comprehensiveness of the law of God 1 
 Where, but in them, shall we learn the lesson of its 
 variety and completeness ; of its spiritual and search- 
 ing nature ; of its divine control, not only over our 
 words and actions, but over our thoughts, motives, and 
 dispositions V 
 
 (Note at bottom of page 20, of Strictures on " Truth 
 Vindicated.") " Had R. Barclay lived to witness the 
 result of the labors of many eminent biblical critics, 
 during the last 150 years, he would have entertained a 
 higher view than he appears to have done, of the sub- 
 stantial correctness of the text of the Old and New 
 Testaments." 
 
 (Portable Evidence, p. 1 09.) " Now I conceive that 
 
 in the agreement between the law written on the heart, 
 
 and the law written in the book, and in the extension of 
 
 the latter beyond the natural limits of the forrOer, we 
 
 14* 
 
323 APPENDIX. 
 
 have two cogent and distinct evidences, that the Scrip- 
 tures are the book of God." 
 
 (Misinterpretations of Scripture as published in the 
 Inquirer, Vol. I. No. 7, p. 195.) " The idea was at one 
 time rather prevalent among the members of our So- 
 ciety, that when the Apostle used the term, ' a more 
 sure word of prophecy,' he was alluding not to any 
 word written, but to that Divine illuminating influence 
 by which the prophets were.inspired, and which guides 
 the Christian believer ' into all truth.' Such a view of 
 the passage is, indeed, hut seldom insisted upon at the 
 present day; but as it is sometimes advanced, I think 
 it Tight to acknowledge my ovm sentiment, that it is at 
 variance with the simplicity which we ought always to 
 maintain in the perusal and interpretation of the Sacred 
 writings. That the ' very sure word of prophecy' was 
 that which had been uttered and written, is evident 
 from the immediate context, in which the Apostle dis- 
 tinguishes the word from the day star in the heart, and 
 at the same time identifies it (as I conceive) with pro- 
 phecy of the Scripture." 
 
 (Ibid. p. 198.) '' The misinterpretation which I wish 
 to notice is, that of several writerswho appear to sup- 
 pose that because Christ is called the light, (i. e. the 
 enlightener>) he is therefore to be identified with the 
 influence which he bestows ; in short, that the light of 
 the Spirit of G-od in the heart of man is itself actually 
 Christ. The obvious tendency of this mistake is, to 
 deprive the Saviour of his personal attributes, and to 
 reduce Him to the rank of a principle." 
 
 (Ibid. p. 194.) " It is unquestionably our duty to ex- 
 ercise diligence and care, in order to obtain a right 
 understanding of the sacred volume ; for this, like 
 eveiy other book, must be interpreted in accordance loith 
 the known principles of language, and not without refer- 
 ence to innumerable facts and circumstances which throw 
 light on its meaning P 
 
 Contrast these sentiments with 
 
 Peningfon (Works, Part I. p. 8.) : "But poor man 
 having lost the life, what should he do 1 he can do no 
 
APPENDIX. 323 
 
 Other, but cry up the letter, and make as good shift 
 with it as he can, though his soul the meanwhile is 
 starved, and lies in famine and death for want of the 
 bread of life, and a wrong thing is fed." 
 
 Geo. Fox (Journal, Vol. 1. p. 32.) : " He [the Priest] 
 took for his text these words of Peter, 'We have also 
 a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well 
 that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark 
 place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your 
 hearts.' He told the people this was the Scriptures, by 
 which they were to try all doctrines, religions, and 
 opinions. Now the Lord's power was so mighty upon 
 me, and so strong in me, that I could not hold ; but 
 was made to cry out, ' Oh ! no ; it is not the Scriptures;' 
 and told them it was the Holy Spirit, by which the holy 
 men of God gave forth the Scriptures, whereby opin- 
 ions, religions, and judgments were to be tried ; for it 
 led into all truth, and so gave the knowledge of all 
 truth. The Jews had the Scriptures, yet resisted the 
 Holy Ghost, and rejected Christ, the bright morning 
 star. They persecuted him and his Apostles, and took 
 upon them to try their doctrines by the Scriptures, but 
 erred in judgment, and did not try them right ; because 
 they tried without the Holy Ghost." 
 
 Barclay (Apology, p. 147.) : " So we confess also, 
 that conscience is an excellent thing, where it is rightly 
 informed and enlightened : wherefore some of us have 
 fitly compared it to the lantern, and the light of Christ 
 to a candle ; a lantern is useful, when a clear candle 
 bums and shines in it ; but otherwise is of no use. To 
 the light of Christ then in the conscience, and not to 
 man's natural conscience, it is that we continually com- 
 mend men ; that, not this is it that we preach up, and 
 direct people to, as a most certain guide into life eter- 
 nal. Lastly, this light, seed, &c., appears to be no 
 power or natural faculty of man's mind ; because aman 
 that is in his health can, when he pleases, stir up, move, 
 and exercise the faculties of his soul ; he is absolute 
 master of them ; and except there be some natural 
 cause or impediment in the way, he can use them at 
 
324 APPENDIX. 
 
 his pleasure ; but this light and seed of God in man, he 
 cannot move and stir up when he pleaseth ; but it 
 moves, blows, and strives with man, as the Lord seeth 
 meet." 
 
 Geo. Fox (Journal, Vol. I. p. 111.) : "I was sent to 
 turn people from darkness to the light, that they might 
 receive Christ Jesus ; for to as many as should receive 
 him in his light, I saw he would give power to become 
 the sons of God ; which I had obtained by receiving 
 Christ I was to direct people to the Spirit, that gave 
 forth the Scriptures, fay which they might be led up to 
 all truth, and up to Christ and God, as those had been 
 who gave them forth. I was to turn them to the grace 
 of God, and to the truth in the heart, which came by 
 Jesus ; that by this grace they might be taught, which 
 would bring them salvation, that their hearts might be 
 established by it, their words might be seasoned, and all 
 might come to know their salvation nigh. I saw that 
 Christ died for all men, was a propitiation for all, and 
 enlightened all men and women with his divine and 
 saving light ; and that none could be true believers, but 
 those that believed therein. I saw that the grace of 
 God, which brings salvation, bad appeared to all men, 
 and that the manifestation of the Spirit of God was 
 
 y given to every man, to profit withal.--f.Tbese things I 
 did not see by the help of man, nor by the letter ; though 
 they are written in the letter ; but I saw them in the 
 
 ' light of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by his immediate 
 
 • spirit and power, as did the holy men of God by whom 
 1 the Holy Scriptures were loritten." 
 
 (Ibid. p. 212.) " Another time, this priest came to a 
 
 • meeting, and fell to jangling. First, he said, ' The 
 ' Scriptures were the word of God.' I told him, they 
 
 were the words of God, but not Christ, the word ; and 
 bid him prove by Scripture what he said." 
 
 J. J. Gwrney (Brief Remarks, p. 15.) : " And as it is 
 appointed unto men once to die ; but after this the 
 judgment : so Christ was once offered to bear the sins 
 of many ; and unto them who look for him shall he 
 appear the second time without sin unto salvation. 
 
APPENDIX. 325 
 
 Heb. ix : 27, 28. It is generally allowed and I think it 
 is very obvious that the second appearing of Christ, 
 here mentioned is nothing rnore nor less than his future 
 coming in glory, to judge the quick and dead." 
 
 D'scipline of New England, (Yearly Meeting, p. 74.) : 
 " And to his spiritual appearance in the heart, for ' unto 
 them that look for Him shall He appear the second 
 time, without sin, unto salvation." 
 
 J. J. Gurney. " Were I required to define Quaker- 
 ism, I would not describe it as the system so elaborately 
 wrought out by a Barclay, or as the doctrine and max- 
 ims of a Penn, or as the deep and refined views of a 
 Penington ; for all these authors have their defects as 
 well as their excellencies ; I should call it the religion 
 of the New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ, without dimunitiori, without addition, and with- 
 out compromise." 
 
 See concluding paragraph of his misinterpretation 
 of Scripture. 
 
 J. Penington says, " Now mark, see if this be not a 
 clear thing. He that giveth any other meaning of any 
 Scripture, than what is the true, proper meaning there- 
 of, he both addeth and diminisheth ; he takes away the 
 true sense, he addeth a sense that is not true. The 
 Spirit of the Lord is the true expositor of Scripture, 
 he never addeth nor diminisheth : but man (being 
 without the Spirit) dotb but guess, doth but imagine, 
 doth but study or invent a meaning, and so he is ever 
 adding or diminishing." 
 
 Note. — The Publisher of this Narrative, is indebted 
 to a much esteemed Friend for most of the foregoing 
 extracts. 
 
LETTERS, &c. 
 
 In the following letters a very few verbal altera- 
 tions and transpositions have been made, not only 
 for a grammatical improvement, but to make a few 
 sentences more explicit to the understanding of the 
 reader. Yet these are substantially literal copies of 
 the original letters, and on a comparison will be 
 found, entirely, to coincide with the sense of the 
 original : 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 To . 
 
 My Dear Friends : — Notwithstanding the lively 
 contmuation of that interest which I have truly for 
 a long time felt for you and your prosperity in 
 things of an eternal moment ; and altliough I have 
 been aware of some discrepancy of views for most 
 of the year past between you and myself, and a 
 great grief has it been to me, because considerations 
 of great importance are involved therein : yet I have 
 never until very recently, felt even a liberty to ad- 
 dress you on the subject. But now the way for 
 such service seems to open pi'etty clearly ; so much 
 so that you have of late been almost continually 
 present to the view of my mind, with interesting 
 and living desires for your as for my own preserva- 
 
328 LETTERS, ETC. 
 
 tion in the truth. And however little is the qualifi- 
 cation of which I am possessed for such an attempt, 
 yet as I am now convinced that a conformity to 
 this attraction to duty, if attended to in simplicity 
 and meekness, will bring peace, I no longer with- 
 hold. 
 
 I need not tell you how clearly the Apostle Paul 
 made a unity of faith and doctrine the test of fellow- 
 ship, nor of how beautifully he describes the agree- 
 ment and fitness of the members of the body one 
 with another so that it might be one perfect har- 
 monious whole. Nor how the Gospel, or standard 
 of Truth's doctriaes are to be the believer's only 
 rallying point, to the exclusion of all other doctrines, 
 although such other may be promulgated by the. 
 greatest of men, or even by an angel from heaven; 
 as in Galatians 1 — 8, "But though we, or an angel 
 from heaven, preach any other Gospel unto you than 
 that which we have [already] preached unto you, 
 let him be accursed." 
 
 And so decided and earnest in this avowal, was 
 the Apostle, that he confirms it by a reiteration of 
 the same in the very next verse ; and then adds, 
 " for do I now persuade men, or God ? or do I seek 
 to please men ? for if I yet pleased men, I should not 
 be the servant of Christ." 
 
 Can any work or device of men, however imita- 
 tive or skillful in the display of goodness and wis- 
 dom, ever make amends for a defection in faith and 
 doctrine, orreconcile unto Christ? See Mat. 7 — 22. 
 " Many will say to me in that day, Lord ! Lord ! 
 have we not prophecied in thy name 1 and in thy 
 name have cast out devils ; and in thy name done 
 many wonderful works 1" Nor does he go about 
 to deny their having done those works : no, but he 
 says, " then will I profess unto them, I never knew 
 -you !" 
 
 The one thing needful was wanting, the know- 
 ledge of Christ ; a knowledge which gathers and 
 
LETTERS, ETC. 329 
 
 unites his whole household into one, in heart and 
 mind, doing and behaving as one man doeth and be- 
 heveth. 
 
 But to come more directly to the subject of this 
 letter, I will confess unto you, that I still feel much 
 uneasiness in relation to many of the doctrinal 
 views of J. J. Gurney, the Friend who is here from 
 England in the capacity of a minister ; and of 
 which uneasiness I informed him at the time of our 
 last Yearly Meeting. And so far from attempting 
 an explanation, for mine and others' satisfaction, he 
 entered promptly into a summary defence and jus- 
 tification of the same ; and attempted sheltering 
 himself under his certificate from London, and plead 
 that we have no right to call in question any thing 
 which he had written previous to that time, a point 
 in which we found ourselves [at issue ;'' unless, in- 
 deed, he had condemned his defective writings 
 which are among us, here as well as there, before 
 the certificate was granted ; for his wrongs to the 
 Society were here as well as there, and cannot be 
 amended without a condemnation made as public as 
 the writings themselves. ■^ C' > a- ' 
 
 I could not dispute his idea, that Friends in Lon- 
 don had sanctioned his doctrines by granting him a 
 certificate of unity. But that other Yearly Meet- 
 ings which are not subordinate but independent 
 bodies, should be bound by such an inadvertent 
 cover of defective doctrines by them, is an assump- 
 tion altogether in my apprehension absurd. 
 
 The great question with us is, whether he has 
 ever condemned and made satisfaction to Friends 
 for those doctrines, agreeable to the usages of our 
 Christian Discipline, or whether they yet remain to 
 be his own. This question was fully decided by 
 himself during the interview which I had with him. 
 He said that his " writings contained no doctrines 
 but such as were sound and conformable to Quaker- 
 ism P' Hence we are bound by his own veracity to 
 believe that every- thing to be found in his books is 
 
330 LETTERS, ETC. 
 
 yet a true transcript of his own sentiments. But 
 have we a right thus plainly to handle the character 
 and doctrines of a travelling minister well recom- 
 mended — a man so pleasing and interesting as well 
 as religious ? No ! imless he has put himself in 
 competition with the Society ; — with our principles 
 and t estimonies. /^ J. ■ f 
 
 If he have volunteered, and made public his name 
 and sentiments, they are ours, [pubhc property,] 
 and there is no delicacy or impropriety in thus in- 
 forming one another, and of developing to one ano- 
 ther, the character of them, and the danger which 
 thereby awaits the Society and its distinguishing 
 doctrines. 
 
 .if such right were taken from us, then the safety, 
 if not the existence of this Society must soon be at 
 an end ! 
 
 No individual has a right to claim the sparing of 
 his character, at the expense of the whole Society 
 and its doctrines, or to the dishonor or displeasure 
 of Him who dispensed these'doctrines to this peo- 
 ple. For indeed, my dear friends, I account it no 
 small thing lor an individual to arraign the whole 
 company of our early and deeply experienced 
 Friends in matters of faith and doctrine, and thus to 
 reprobate their principles. But you will probably 
 be surprised at such allusions as these, unless you 
 have read his works ; — if you have, attentively, I 
 know your knowledge of our principles, and that 
 your intelligence is such, that you will perceive 
 there is no breach of charity in these remarks, be- 
 ing equally concerned with myself, as I trust you 
 are, that the pure Christian doctrines of our early 
 Friends may be kept and remaininviolate and with- 
 out abatement. 
 
 We know that every one of those noted individu- 
 als who have in our time attempted an innovation 
 upon our principles, claimed for themselves, and 
 their friends claimed for them, the application and 
 
LETTERS, ETC. 331 
 
 protection of our excellent discipline, relative to love 
 and unity, and detraction ; and no great honor to 
 them either, to lay their unhallowed hands upon 
 those Christian provisions, and to apply them to an 
 unhallowed purpose, to lay a suspicion of their de- 
 ■ signs and to obviate detection. Some of them also 
 when abroad with certificates, and friends expressed 
 dissatisfaction with their doctrines, claimed the pro- 
 tection of their credentials, and appealed to the au- 
 thority of their friends at home ! 
 [._ But whether you have been conversant with the 
 writings alluded to or not, I will extract a few out 
 of the many exceptionable passages, and present 
 for your view and consideration; and if there 
 should be any doubts in your minds relative to any 
 one of them, you will please compare them with 
 Fox, Barclay and Penn : for however he may deny 
 the testimonies of these, I am assured that you will 
 not. [Here followed the extracts. The reader is 
 . referred to those contained in the following letter, 
 which are substantially the same. 
 
 The copy of the preceding letter in my hands is 
 without date, but is believed to have been written 
 in the 4th month of 1839, and signed by 
 
 JOHN WILBUR. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 HoPKiNTON, 10th of 11th mo., 1838. 
 
 My Dear Friend, : 
 
 Within these few days a little inclination has 
 sprung, up in my mind, to suggest a few considera- 
 tions to thee, relative to the important question 
 which transpired during our Yearly Meeting ; and 
 
332 LETTERS, ETC. 
 
 as much time has elapsed for dehberation thereon, I 
 feel that I can address thee with the more freedom. 
 And if I understand the question it was this : — 
 " WTiethei' a Certificate granted to a travelling 
 minister, from a body of Friends to which we are not 
 subordinate, is an entire foreclosure of a recogni- 
 zance of doctrines fundamentally incorrect, and 
 known to exist in the sentiments of the bearer of such 
 credentials ? Or, in other words, whether it be requi- 
 site, that whatever one Yearly Meeting adopts, all 
 others are bound to receive and approve ? A rule 
 or principle, my dear friend, if this question is de- 
 termined in the affirmative, which will amount to 
 the assumption, that if one of those independent 
 bodies should unhappily become apostate in princi- 
 ple, (a calamity which has been known to befal the 
 best of bodies,) then are all of those bodies una- 
 voidably rendered obnoxious to the same apostacy.* 
 Hence, if an alliance, or correspondence, one with 
 another unavoidably subjects Yearly Meetings to 
 such consequences, were it not better that such alli- 
 ance should not exist ? But inasmuch as I esteem 
 the proposition incorrect, I would not suspend an 
 intercourse between Yearly Meetings ; but that 
 each should know its own standing and abide on 
 the sure foundation, by a constant recurrence to 
 the pattern of first principles, independent of each 
 other's fidelity or misgivings ; — and then a mutual 
 intercourse under the Divine superintendency, will 
 tend to the strengthening and edifying of oiie ano- 
 ther not to the perversion, but to the confirmation of 
 sound principles as they are in Christ Jesus our Ho- 
 
 * If such certiBcate protects the bearer, forecloses all enquiry, 
 and adopts his doctrine at home, (as by himself claimed,) then his 
 returning certificates, if such be granted from all the Yearly Meet- 
 ings, by the same rule must protect him from all impeachment, and 
 establish his doctrines throughout the whole Society ! 
 
LETTERS, ETC 333 
 
 ly Head. And there is another case besides that 
 of apostacy from original Quakerism, possible to oc- 
 cur, which might serve as an obstruction to the 
 service. of a minister from abroad with a good cer- 
 tificate, namely — should he be found chargeable 
 with mal-conduct which transpired previous to his 
 liberation, but unknown to the body which liberated 
 him, and afterwards coming to the knowledge of 
 Friends where he goes. These supposed cases are 
 adduced upon general principles, simply to show 
 that incidents may occur, in which full credence 
 might be necessarily withholden from a minister 
 producing a full certificate. Furthermore, a third 
 case may occur and be plainly tangible, independ- 
 ent of the authority which liberated a minister, 
 namely, when he is found to be fundamentally de- 
 fective in principle at any time during his visit 
 abroad ; and in which case neither the credibility 
 of the meeting recommending, or its certificate, can 
 be rightfully brought forward in defence of the 
 person or his principles ; whether known or un- 
 known to the liberating body, belongs not to the 
 enquiry, but whether he actually hold such princi- 
 ples. 
 
 Nevertheless, such person ought to be aware that 
 his claiming the sanction of his own Yearly Meet- 
 ing, reflects no honor upon that body. The truth 
 itself is to be the test and standard of such decision ; 
 and his doctrine must be compared with the doc- 
 trines of Christianity as found recorded in the Holy 
 Scriptures, and with which those of our Society, 
 from the first are believed to be in full accordance : 
 and whosoever departs from that belief departs 
 from Quakerism, however good he may suppose his 
 claim to Christianity. And if the fact of his defection 
 is clearly known and understood, whether through 
 the medium of his own written and recorded decla- 
 rations, or by his oral testimonies delivered in pub- 
 lic or private, his liability, and the course to be 
 
334 LETTERS, ETC. 
 
 taken by his friends, and the conclusions to be 
 drawn are the same — undeniably the same. 
 
 But the Society of Friends in this country has 
 always placed a stronger guard upon the Press, 
 than upon the Gallery ; because recorded and pub- 
 lished defections are generally productive of the 
 greater evil, for the reason that such are the more 
 tangible, and reduced to a more permanent form 
 than those put forth orally. A conclusion evinced 
 by the order of Society in prohibiting an author 
 from printing his doctrinal views without an official 
 approval first obtained ; — a restraint not laid upon 
 oral testimony. 
 
 And now, my beloved Friend, I will come more 
 directly to the very important case in question^, but 
 before proceeding to identify and enumerate some 
 of the impediments which are deemed to lie in the 
 way of the conspicuous stranger now in our land, I 
 will speak a word or two of the rights of every 
 member of the compact, if not his duty to guard 
 against all unrighteousness — to ask for an explana- 
 tion of any avowals or doctrines which he does not 
 comprehend, or understand to be in accordance 
 with Christianity, (by whomsoever, or in what 
 manner soever advanced) and to expect reasonable 
 satisfaction to be made ; and on a refusal thereof, to 
 bear his testimony honestly against it, for the clear- 
 ing of his own mind, and that he may not be a par- 
 taker with such, of their deeds. 
 
 And if I mistake not, it will be made plainly to 
 appear that the person alluded to, has volunteered 
 in the profession of doctrines, obviously at variance 
 with the acknowledged and estabhshed tenets of the 
 Society ; and thereby placed himself at issue with 
 every sound member of the body in matters of faith 
 and practice ; and until he retract the same, has 
 never a right to complain of a prompt defence of 
 our principles, though it could only be done at the 
 expense of his religious character ; and better so 
 
LETTERS, ETC. 335 
 
 than omitted at the expense of the whole body, and 
 of the testimonies of truth, agreeably to the Scrip- 
 ture, that it is better for one member to suffer, than 
 that the whole body should suffer. 
 
 If it were so that a member of our Society, un- 
 der any circumstances whatever in which he might 
 be placed, being unsound, cannot be approached, 
 or impeached, or asked to explain, and to make 
 satisfaction for things which give uneasiness, then 
 the Society must be in great jeopardy ! If any man 
 among us has an exclusive privilege of writing and 
 preaching such doctrines as he listeth, and the least 
 of the flock not allowed to be satisfied, then it would 
 seem, that the safety of the Society, if not of its ex- 
 istence, as a Quaker fraternity, is in a perilous con- 
 dition. Are we not informed by the published 
 account, that on© of the notable witnesses on the 
 trial with the Hicksites in New Jersey, was asked 
 the question, whether any Friend was considered to 
 have a right to call on a minister travelling with a 
 certificate, for an explanation of his avowals, or to 
 call them in question ? To which I think the answer 
 was, that any member, or even a child, mas always 
 considered to have such a right. But Judge Ewing 
 suggested the idea that the writings of Elias Hicks 
 were better evidence against him than oral decla- 
 ration. 
 
 I will now adduce a few articles from his (Joseph 
 John Gurney's) own doctrines and confessions of 
 faith ; and if called for, the works, and pages, and 
 discourses will be produced and pointed out. They 
 are as followeth : 
 
 1st. That there is no correct divinity but that 
 which is borrowed from the Bible. 
 
 2d. That the spirit is a person. 
 
 3d. That he believes in the resurrection of the 
 body. 
 
 4th. That it is only by the Scriptures that we 
 obtain a proper conception of the nature of sin. 
 
336 LETTERS, ETO. 
 
 5th. Justification by faith, and that faith inde- 
 pendent of the Spirit, which regenerates the heart : 
 and of obedience. 
 
 6th. He believes in delivering public discourses 
 [or lectures] on Christianity, distinct from preaching, 
 
 7th. He believes in a form for prayer. 
 
 And in his last book called " Brief Remarks on 
 an impartial interpretation of Scripture ;" he inter- 
 prets the following highly important passages of 
 Scripture in a manner contradictory and perversive 
 of Robert Barclay's interpretation of the same pas- 
 sages, briefly noticed as follows : 
 
 1st. The Bible, the 'more sure word of pro- 
 phecy.' 
 
 2d. He believes. ' the Gospel of Christ [not] to be 
 the Power of God unto salvation to every one 
 which believeth,' but only an outward declaration, 
 or record of that which is the Power of God. 
 
 3d. ' That was the true light which lighteth every 
 man that cometh into the world.' From the tenor 
 of his comments on this passage, his opinion ap- 
 pears to be, that Christ himself is not the Light 
 which lighteth the heart, or inner man, but out- 
 wardly the ' enlightener.' He controverts the be- 
 lief that He is himself the true Light which shines 
 in man, and affirms that ' the obvious tendency of 
 such an opinion, would be to deprive the Saviour of 
 bis personal attributes, and to reduce him to the 
 rank of a principle,' a consequence often attempted, 
 substantially, to be pressed upon our first Friends 
 by their enemies, and as often refuted. Such ob- 
 jections to this our distinguished and evangelical 
 doctrine, seems an attempted limitation, and attack 
 upon Christ's character without knowledge ; and 
 upon this blessed and essential manifestation and 
 office of our Lord Jesus Christ. And whilst he 
 professes to be guarding his personal attributes, his 
 reasoning goes to deprive him of an attribute divine, 
 and us of its indispensable benefit, even that of the 
 
LETTERS, ETC. 337 
 
 immediate revelation of light and knowledge, where- 
 by all his attributes, together with his Holy Will, 
 are the better understood. The material sun, 
 (made by the skill of attributes,) by pouring forth , 
 his animating beam upon the bosom of this world 
 ever since its creation, has never yet deprived itself 
 of its own image, or, essential properties, or that 
 portion of light and heat so essential to vegetation, 
 sent forth from him the fountain of it ; nor reduced 
 itself ' to the rank of a principle.' And shall we 
 say less of Him who made it such ? 
 
 4th. He thinks that the seed, the parable of the 
 mustard- seed, and the seed of the sower, relate only 
 to the outward increase of the church, or of Christ's 
 outward descent, and thus disagrees with Barclay, 
 namely — that the seed alludes to a measure of light, 
 grace, spirit or seed of the kingdom, word of 
 God, &c. 
 
 5th. He argues that the Name of Father, Son and 
 Spirit, do not allude to the Power. 
 
 6th. He believes that the partaking of the Lord's 
 Supper is not a 'Communion of the Holy Ghost,' 
 nor yet ' a participation of the Divine nature 
 through faith,' as set forth by Friends in England,* 
 but a participation of his material Body and Blood 
 by faith. 
 
 7th. Is an attempt to divide Christ from his own 
 Light, revelation, spirit and power, namely, that it 
 is only Christ personally on which the Church is 
 built. 
 
 8th. Is a continued hostility to the spiritual ap- 
 pearing and kingdom of Christ, with and in the 
 hearts of his people, and says that ' His second ap- 
 pearance without sin unto salvation, to them who 
 look for Him,' as declared by the Apostle, * is no- 
 
 * About half a century ago. 
 15 
 
338 LETTERS, ETC. 
 
 thing more nor less than his future coming in glory 
 to judge the quick and dead.' 
 
 These eight interpretations and their introductory 
 and accompanying remarks constitute the whole 
 tract, the object and purport whereof, cannot be 
 easily misunderstood; admired and applauded by 
 the Beaconites, and to all who receive and adopt 
 these sentiments, they will have a direct tendency 
 to lead them from the inner to the outer court of the 
 Lord's house — from the spirit, life and power of 
 that religion which is immediately revealed by Je- 
 sus Christ, in the soul and mind of man, to a more 
 outward and literal religion, consisting of head, 
 knowledge and notions, conceived in the wisdom of 
 man, and understood by a carnal construction of the 
 sacred volume — which is here exhibited through a 
 briUiant display of learning, to the outdoing of all 
 the former translators of the Holy Scriptures ; and 
 attaining to the great skill of exalting the Hebrew, 
 Greek and Latin, over the head of Him who is not 
 only Christ crucified, the wisdom of God and power 
 of God, but is the light of the world, and whose life 
 is the light of men ; but to be looked for inwardly in 
 the heart, and not (as he would seem [inclined] to 
 have us think) outwardly and above it, by the un- 
 derstanding only. 
 
 The review of the above-named tract brings- to 
 mind some remarks of a late American writer, 
 when in England, in relation to a class of men who 
 as he says, " are endeavoring to revive many of the 
 errors of Popery into the English Church, or to 
 carry it back again to the state of things before the 
 Reformation." He says, " I hardly need tell you 
 that these views sprung up at Oxford, [the great 
 seat of learning.] 
 
 " I was told," he continues, " that the originators 
 of these views had been very covertly and cautious- 
 ly bringing them out for a long time, and no one 
 suspected the point to which they were aiming, till 
 
LETTERS, ETC. 339 
 
 the whole thing stood revealed ; and thus mafiy 
 had been entrapped unawares. The charms of 
 poetry had been thrown around the doctrine, the at- 
 tractions of learning, the plausibility of arguments, 
 and the powers of gifted genius had been employed 
 to give them currency. The abettors of them were 
 men of distinguished scholarship — of great urbanity 
 and blameless lives. Their influence at Oxford had 
 been astonishingly great," &c. 
 
 Now, my dear friend, if such be a true picture 
 of the means put in operation for the purpose of car- 
 rying back again the Episcopal Society to the faith 
 of Popery, how much application or touching of the 
 pencil will that picture require, to make it a fair de- 
 lineation of the means now apparently in operation 
 for the purpose of translating Quakerism back again 
 to the Episcopal religion ? 
 
 Our author, in his introduction to the tract afore- 
 said, strongly implicates the Society of Friends and 
 its writers, with mistakes and errors, and says, " I 
 am convinced that the sooner such errors are recti- 
 fied, the better for the growth and prosperity of our 
 little section of the Christian Church, small as they 
 [these errors] may be regarded in their origin, con- 
 sisting perhaps in an inaccurate view of a single 
 word or sentence" [of Scripture.] 
 
 " These mistakes," he continues " are often found 
 to spread their influence to a great extent, &c." 
 By these remarks it is but rational to suppose that 
 he was referring to those passages of Scripture 
 which he subsequently comments upon in the same 
 tract, and thereby plainly reprobates the faith and 
 understanding of our standard writers upon the 
 same passages. 
 
 Again, he seems not afraid boldly to charge 
 
 'Friends' views of Scripture passages, with heresy, 
 
 with " being the means of aiding that tremendous 
 
 lapse of heresy in America." Than which perhaps 
 
 a keener and more unjust reproach and sarcasm has 
 
340 LETTERS, ETC. 
 
 seldom been cast upon the faith of Friends by their 
 bitterest enemies. 
 
 Now in solid consideration of the foregoing quo- 
 tations, it would appear that until their Author come 
 candidly forward and condemn his anti-quaker 
 views and charges of error and heresy upon the So- 
 ciety, that his offering himself to us as a preacher 
 of our principles, woi3d seem as absurd and contra- 
 dictory of order, as any two positions of practices 
 can well be. 
 
 A want of conformity to the faith adopted by a 
 religious body, has always been foiind the very 
 root of disorder, and has been palpably productive 
 of it in a great variety of instances. Witness the 
 commotions in Ohio and New York Yearly Meet- 
 ings, and let me ask which party was chargeable 
 with the disorder 1 — those who first propagated un- 
 sound principles, or those who withstood them? 
 And I will ask again, had all a right to withstand 
 them? If the ministers and_ elders failed to with- 
 stand those errors [as in many instances they did] 
 had the common members and young people a right 
 to withstand them ? 
 
 The answer to these last questions, must undoubt- 
 edly turn upon the point of another, namely : — 
 Whether the principles propagated by Elias Hicks 
 were substantially at variance with the doctrines 
 of the Society ? And so it must be-determined 
 after all that can be said in the present case ; — If J. 
 J. Gumey's doctrines are substantially at variance 
 with the doctrine of Friends, then every member 
 of the body has a right, — ^nay, it is the duty of all, 
 whether young or old, to make a stand against them 
 for the body's sake. But if his written sentiments 
 are coincident with those always held by Friends, 
 why is it that he does not openly and candidly ex- 
 plain them, and thereby put all our doublings to 
 rest ? His evasions and refusals to do so give in- 
 creased uneasiness, and render his views and inteu» 
 
LETTERS, ETC. 341 
 
 tions the more distrustful in the minds of many, and 
 must continue to do so until he comply with so just 
 a course and the good order which truth requires, — 
 " first be reconciled to thy brother and then come 
 and offer thy gift." 
 
 It is well known that Elias Hicks and his abet- 
 tors, called loudly for order, and denied every body 
 the right of questioning the protective authority of 
 his credentials when abroad ; pleading for unity, 
 charity and harmony with great zeal, in order to 
 suppress inquiry. The same order, love and unity 
 was again called for with much earnestness by 
 Elisha Bates and the Beaconites, whilst the great 
 breach of candor and contradiction was in them- 
 selves, professing as they did to be sound friends, 
 whilst their grand object was to undermine Quaker- 
 ism — feigning to support that which they were pull- 
 ing down; — calling for order to protect disorder ! 
 
 In an interview with the subject of these strictures, 
 I informed him that the minds of many friends, were 
 possessed of fears in relation to the soundness of his 
 writings, and that myself was one of that number ; 
 and that he had no occasion to marvel if expression 
 were sometimes given to those fears : but if the oc- 
 casion of these fears could be removed out of the 
 way, that all such fears and expressions would cease. 
 He now clearly understood me to be calling upon 
 him for a recantation, and immediately entered into 
 a prompt defence and justification of the said writ- 
 ings — supposed there might be some expressions 
 which Friends did not understand, but that there 
 was nothing in his doctrines at variance with 
 Quakerism ! — but complained of the unfairness of 
 Friends, as he deemed it, for sending his last book 
 over here to hurt his service, yet seemed not at all 
 disposed to concede a single sentiment which it con- 
 tained. He plead that it was not published, but 
 only printed for private distribution to the minis- 
 ters and elders. But I asked him if he did not present 
 
342 LETTERS, ETC. 
 
 it to the Morning Meeting in order for publication ? 
 To which he replied that he read it to the Morning 
 Meeting, and they separated it from another work 
 presented at the same time ; but laid no prohibition 
 upon his printing it upon his own responsibility ? 
 
 Now, can we suppose that he would prepare it 
 for the press, and finally carry it over the heads of 
 that body, and print it for the ministers and elders, 
 unless it was a correct transcript of his own senti- 
 ments. Nor does he make any pretension that I 
 have ever heard, that the views are not his own. 
 In the last paragraph of this book he says, 
 
 " Were I required to define Quakerism, I would 
 not describe it as the system so elaborately wrought 
 out by a Barclay, or as the doctrine and maxims of 
 a Penn, or as the deep and refined views of a Pen- 
 nington ; for all these authors have their defects as 
 well as their excellencies ; — I should call it the reli- 
 gion of the New Testament, &c." 
 
 From which proposition these several conclu- 
 sions do naturally result, 1st. If Jos. J. Gurney's 
 Quakerism is at variance from Barclay, Penn and 
 Pennington, it must be of a spurious kind, and not 
 entitled to the name ; for there is no other legiti- 
 mate Quakerism, but that adopted and defined by 
 them and their coinciding cotemporaries ; and the 
 name belongs only to a people of their peculiar prin- 
 ciples.* 2d. The charge of defection here laid 
 upon Barclay, Penn and Pennington, leaves his 
 readers entirely at liberty to place them on a level, 
 or even below a Wickliffe, a Baxter, or a Bunyan, in 
 point of Christian faith ; for it may be truly said, 
 that these last had their excellencies a« well as their 
 defects. 3. This proposition is so shaped that it 
 
 * And for any, as we have heretofore thought, to claim credence 
 under this name withoat a conformity to its whole creed, is making 
 rather free with that which belongefli not to them. 
 
LETTERS, .ETC. 343 
 
 plainly denies to the doctrine of Barclay, Penn and 
 Pennington an accordance with the doctrines of the 
 New Testament. 
 
 Finally, if his printed works, (as above shown, 
 defended and justified by himself) are to be admit- 
 ted as a test of his faith, there can hardly be a doubt 
 in the mind of any candid reader, of his readiness of 
 mind lor the Society of Friends to make an obvious 
 change (in some, at least) of their fundamental doc- 
 trines, from those originally acknowledged. And 
 probably, as he suggests, so he thinks, that the 
 sooner such change is made, (or as he calls it a cor- 
 rection of error) the better for the growth of our 
 little section of the Christian Church ! But my 
 dear friend, I trust there are a few yet among us, 
 who are so entirely satisfied that Quakerism is in 
 unison with primitive Christianity, (and I can but 
 hope that thyself and wife are of this number) that 
 they will, regardless of consequences, cleave to it 
 without abatement and without a compromise — 
 will faithfully watch, guard and testify against all 
 innovations, and every doctrine which stands at 
 variance with the faith of the true Gospel of life and 
 peace as held by our worthy predecessors, let those 
 opposing doctrines be advanced and advocated by 
 whom they may, and under whatever circumstan- 
 ces they may be advanced : — and unto how much 
 suffering of reproach soever the adherence of these, 
 to first principles may expose them, it is to be hoped 
 that a remnant at least will be found loyal to those 
 principles. 
 
 The apprehension that thou might not be in pos- 
 session of some of the information above adduced, 
 led me the more to consider the propriety of fulfil- 
 ling an attraction to duty in thus freely unfolding a 
 view, (however imperfectly) of the present aspect 
 of things, believing !hat such as thyself and wife 
 ought not to be kept uninformed of those things 
 
344 LETTERS, ETC. 
 
 which have so direct a bearing upon the safety of 
 our Society. 
 
 And as we can hardly act in a manner purely 
 defensive against him who acts in a manner offensive 
 without a personal allusion to such an one who has 
 taken the field before us, thou wilt expect no further 
 apology on that score, it being no more than the 
 upholding of Truth's testimonies requires ; — and in 
 that conclusion I rest, and am thy sincere friend, 
 hoping that if thou find any thing exceptionable 
 herein contained, that thou wilt freely remark upon 
 it, through the same medium of pen and paper. 
 
 JOHN WILBUR. 
 
 THOMAS SHILLITOE'S 
 
 Testimony against the writings of Joseph John Guv' 
 ney, delivered by him three days before his de- 
 cease, taken down from his lips by -. 
 
 " Thomas Shillitoe said, this testimony rested on 
 his mind, and he must have it committed to paper, 
 as he found his peace consisted in so doing, (ad- 
 dressing — ■ — .) Thou wilt want a great 
 
 deal of time and patience to hear what I have got 
 to say, and it must be faithfully delivered, for I am 
 afraid at a futui-e day it will devolve heavy upon 
 thy shoulders. It is extraordinary tKat thou 
 shouldst have come in at this juncture, for I have 
 been wanting my son-in-law to come hi and put 
 down what I am now better satisfied should be re- 
 ceived by thee from my mouth : And I therefore 
 declare, unequivocally against the generality of the 
 writings of Joseph John Gurney, as being non- 
 Quaker principles, not sound Quaker principles, but 
 Episcopalian ones ; and they have done great mis- 
 chief in our Society, and the Society will go gradu- 
 
LETTHES, ETC. 345 
 
 ally down if it yields to the further circulation of 
 that part of his works which they have in their 
 power to suppress ; this is my firm belief I have 
 labored under the weight of it for the last twelve 
 months, beyond what human nature is able to sup- 
 port, and the committee of the Morning Meeting 
 which passed that last work, (Gurney's Peculiari- 
 ties, with a new title) must be willing to come for- 
 ward to be sufficiently humble to acknowledge their 
 error. And the meeting for Sufferings must also 
 be willing to remove its authority in allowing it to 
 be given away to those not of our Society. I de- 
 clare the author is an Episcopalian, not a Quaker. 
 I apprehend Joseph John Gurney is no Quaker in 
 principle. Episcopalian views were imbibed from 
 his education and still remain with him. I love the 
 man for the work's sake, so far as it goes, but he 
 has never been emptied from vessel to vessel, and 
 from sieve to sieve, nor known the baptism of the 
 Holy Ghost, and of fire to cleanse the floor of his 
 heart from his Episcopalian notions. He has spread 
 a linsey woolsey garment over our members ; but 
 in a future day it will be stripped off, it will be too 
 short for them, as they will be without Jesus Christ 
 the Lord. This is my dying testimony, and I must 
 sign it. If 1 had been faithful I should have express- 
 ed it in the last Yearly Meeting of ministers and 
 elders, (1836,) but I hope I shall be foi-given. Oh 
 Lord, accept me with the best I have. 
 
 I have letters from America which confirm me 
 in the truths of every part of what I now state. I 
 believe there is not an individual member of our 
 Society in England, Scotland and Ireland, more wil- 
 ling to do good than Joseph John Gurney, but wil- 
 lingness is no qualification. This is my dying tes- 
 timony to Quaker views, especially as to the minis- 
 try ; what was anti-christ in George Fox's days is 
 anii-christ now. The clergy of this country, to 
 a man, every one of them, are anti-Christ so long 
 15* 
 
346 LETTERS, ETC. 
 
 as they wear the gowns and receive the pay, and 
 continue building up the people in the relicts of 
 popery, which the church of England left behind : 
 it will not do to speak of a man doing a great deal 
 for a little pay, and call him a minister of Christ. It 
 is a grievous thing that any minister in our Society 
 should so speak. They are anti-Christ still, since 
 they lead the people from Christ, and yet I love 
 some of them for the work's sake, so far as they go. 
 
 The writer was a neighbor of Thomas Shillitoe, 
 and came in unexpected : he does not entertain the 
 views Thomas Shillitoe did. Thomas Shillitoe's 
 daughter and grand-daughter were present at the 
 time the above was delivered." 
 
 A few copies have been circulated here (Eng- 
 land,) the Friend was so remarkable in his day for 
 honest simplicity, and his dying testimony so strik- 
 ing and correct ; I have transcribed it for thy peru- 
 sal, though to thee unknown^ the narrative also is 
 very scarce. 'Truth needs to fear no exposure. 
 Error can't too soon be detected, the day calls for 
 unflinching integrity. 
 
 To the members of the Yearly Meeting of Ministers 
 and Elders, \_England.'\ 
 Dear Friends : — In the feelings, as I apprehend, 
 of the pure love of the truth, itseems with me to ex- 
 press my fervent desire that those things which 
 tend to promote our peace, and things whereby we 
 may edify one another may prevail in our minds. 
 Some of you know that I manifested my concern 
 on account of the Morning Meeting. This concern 
 still remaining on my mind, I believe it right to 
 communicate something further on the subject. It 
 feels trying to me to have thus to plead with my 
 friends respecting the Morning Meeting ; but I be- 
 lieve I must say it has been a great trouble, both to 
 
LETTERS, ETC. 347 
 
 me and to many other Friends who love the truth, 
 that the members of that meeting should have pass- 
 ed such things as they have done in J. J. Gurney's 
 writings, both in his works entitled Religious Pecu- 
 liarities, &c., but more particularly in the revised 
 edition with additions. In these publications there 
 is that which I consider very contrary to the prin- 
 ciples and doctrines which we, as a people, make 
 profession of, and which we fully believe to be con- 
 sistent with the Scriptures of truth. Also in his 
 Essays on Christianity, which I suppose did not 
 pass the Morning Meeting, there is much that is 
 objectionable. In this publication, there is held forth 
 that which Friends^ and many others have declared 
 against as unsafe, dangerous and unauthorized by 
 the Scriptures. I mean the speaking of the Father 
 as a person, of the Son as a person, and of the Holy 
 Spirit as a person. There are several extracts 
 from Friend's writings in the first chapter of Thos. 
 Evans' Exposition of the Faith of Friends, showing 
 the inconsistency and unscriptural mode of sospeak- 
 ing. Richard Clarridge has also written a tract, 
 giving, not only his own views upon it, but the views 
 of many Friends and learned authors of different re- 
 ligious denominations, such for instance as bishop 
 Burnet, Calvin, Luther, Jeremy Taylor, Archbishop 
 Tillotson and Usher, with many others whose sen- 
 timents are well worthy of our attention. 
 
 The injury J. J. Gurney's writings have done, are 
 likely still to do, to our Society, and to the cause of 
 truth, seems to me to be very great, and I cannot 
 but conclude that the affectionate part and the 
 wisdom of man must have prevailed in the mind- 
 of the members, or they would not have suffers 
 ed what they did to pass, and as respects the 
 Essays, did not that work require the attention 
 of the meeting for Sufferings, to whom is entrust- 
 ed a general care of whatever may arise dur- 
 ing the interval of the Yearly Meeting affecting 
 
348 LETTERS, ETC. 
 
 our religious Society, and requiring its immediate 
 attention. And should a work like this, so opposed 
 to what the Society has always maintained, be per- 
 mitted to be printed and published, and spread ex- 
 tensively as this has been, by any members, more 
 especially by one in the station of a minister, with- 
 out that meeting's declaring against it : seeing more- 
 over that works coming from such an one, may, by 
 those not acquainted with our principles, be thought 
 consistent with them, whilst they are quite the re- 
 verse. It is my fervent desire, that Friends who 
 have in any way been improperly influenced, may 
 be favored to submit to the renewed baptism of the 
 Holy Spirit, that so the Divine anointing which 
 alone gives clearness of vision may be afforded 
 them, and truth without mixture, supported and 
 propagated. 
 
 For much mixture, and consequently much weak- 
 ness, has got in, and has for some years prevailed 
 
 among us. Otherwise, ., ., and ^ would 
 
 not have been allowed to travel together — to hold 
 such meetings, and to propagate such sentiments 
 among the young people, as' they have done, to the 
 occasioning of a great burden and deep concern in 
 the minds of the living members, where such meet- 
 ings have been held. Neither would the Yearly 
 Meeting of Ministers and Elders have given certifi- 
 cates of approval to E. Bates' preaching, which act 
 was also a grievous burden to many well concerned 
 Friends. 
 
 These things have rested much on my mind, par- 
 ticularly during my present illness, and it must be 
 very evident that J. J. Gurney's interpretations of 
 the Scripture are so contrary to those of the Socie- 
 ty from its first commencement, that if his interpre- 
 tations are to prevail, then the Society must change 
 its ground, and become an inconsistent mixture of 
 Quakerism and Episcopalianism. This I beheve 
 the great Head of the Church will never permit ; 
 
LETTERS, ETC. 349 
 
 but those who are unfaithful and turn aside, and 
 prove themselves altogether unworthy to support the 
 standard and testimonies of truth, will be rejected 
 and scattered, whilst others Will be brought in, and 
 prepared, and qualified to unite in maintaining pure_ 
 primitive Christianity, and in showing forth the 
 Lord's praise among the nation. 
 
 These things deeply impressed and afflicted the 
 minds of our dear Friends, Thomas Shillitoe and 
 John Barclay, who are in mercy gathered to their 
 everlasting rest. And now, in thus relieving my 
 mind, I have a hope I shall, through the unmerited 
 mercy of God in Christ Jesus, be favored to die in 
 peace, to enter one of those mansions which our 
 blessed Lord declared he went before to prepare for 
 his followers, for those who not only beheve in his 
 outward appearance, but in fulfilling of his promise, 
 that he would come again, and that he who was 
 with them, should be in them, without which second 
 appearance and faithful following of Him in spirit, 
 and submitting to his purifying power, how can we 
 be prepared for acceptance with him. 
 
 In looking over the foregoing address, you, my 
 friends, are afresh brought Very near to me, with 
 feelings of fervent desire, that we may not be of 
 the number of the wise and prudent, from whom 
 our Lord said the things whereof he spake were 
 hid, but rather that we may be of the babes, unto 
 whom they are revealed, having our dependence on 
 our Almighty Father for guidance, preservation and 
 support, in the way to the kingdom of eternal rest 
 and peace. 
 
 I remain your sincere friend, 
 
 GEORGE JONES. 
 
 Stockport, 9th of 5th month, 1839. 
 
350 LETTERS, ETC. 
 
 RALPH WARDLAW'S 
 Opinion of Joseph John Gurney. 
 
 Ralph Wardlawf a Presbyterian priest of Scot- 
 land, cplled D. D. in letters which he has published, 
 addressed to the Society of Friends, on some of 
 their distinguishing principles, says : " I have given 
 in copious extracts the views of J. J. Gurney, on the 
 doctrine of justification. They are clear, simple, 
 Scriptural — but are they Quakerism ? Let none be 
 startled by the question ; it is not a hasty, inconsid- 
 erate one. I shall show you there is room for it. 
 There are large portions of the writings of this 
 highly intelligent and devoted Friend, in which we 
 entirely lose sight of the pecuHarities of Quaker 
 sentiments, and Quaker phraseology. He seems to 
 lay aside his garb, or rather to divest the system of 
 the costume in which before, it had invariably ap- 
 peared. But for the occurrence of here and there 
 a word, or phrase, which to those familiar with the 
 language of the body, conveys more than others 
 might at all think of, we go through entire sections 
 with unmingled pleasure ; losing the Friend in the 
 Christian — almost forgetting even the inward light. 
 I presume I speak according to truth, when I repre- 
 sent them as the first Quaker writings, at least of any 
 eminence professing this character. He stands per 
 se and (if I am not greatly mistaken) with no incon- 
 siderable proportion of the more rigid Friends, who 
 belong to the old school, and hold by the ancient 
 Fathers of Quakerism, he has on this very account 
 been losing caste." Page 195. 
 
 " The terms in which Mr. Gurney invariably 
 speaks of the Holy Scriptures, and which it is my 
 delight to see him using, are such as to convert those 
 employed by him respecting the independent influ- 
 
LETTERS, ETC. 351 
 
 ence and guidance of. the Holy Spirit, into little 
 more than words without meaning." Page 351. 
 
 " My judgment and iny feelings being in thorough 
 accordance with those of Mr. Gurney, in all that he 
 says of the paramount authority qf the word of God 
 as contained in the volume of Eevelation, I cannot 
 see how he can be in harmony with himself, till he 
 has thrown aside the remnant of.Quaker doctrine to 
 which he still tenaciously clings. I mean this imme- 
 diate revelation, under the modified designation by 
 which he has chosen to qualify and recommend it. I 
 cannot but fancy to myself the surprise and indig- 
 nation with which some of the old Fathers of Qua- 
 kerism would be stirred, by the attempts to explain 
 away to so great an extent their most favorite dog- 
 mas, and to fritter down the meaning of their phra- 
 seology ; till there is hardly left a shred of distinc- 
 tion between them and the Christian world at large." 
 Page 358. 
 
 " It would be unseemly presumption in me to dis- 
 pute the accuracy of Mr. Gurney's statement 
 respecting the views entertained by his own body : 
 but really it is impossible to read the writings of 
 the older Quakers — the Fathers of the family, with- 
 out being sensible that there is a' prodigious soften- 
 ing down on the part of this writer of their opinions 
 and language." Page 365. 
 
 " Mr. Gurney conceives that every true Quaker 
 is prepared cordially to acknowledge that the Holy 
 Scriptures, and they alone, are a divinely authorized 
 record of all the doctrines which we are required 
 to believe, and of all the moral principles that are 
 to regulate our actions, not to mention the lumi- 
 nous declaration which they contain of our relative 
 and particular duties. 
 
 " And indeed on this, and various other points, it 
 cannot fail to strike the most superficial reader, what 
 a perfect discordance there is between the writings 
 of Mr. Gurney and those of the early Friends. I 
 
352 LETTERS, ETC. 
 
 am very far from wishing Mr. Gurney to take a 
 single step out of Quakerism, in points wiiere Qua- 
 kerism is true. In other points, however, he has 
 already taken several, and those, too, even larger 
 strides than any that now remain for him to take. 
 May the Divine Spirit be graciously pleased, by 
 means of that complete revelation, which he has 
 given to lead not him only but you, my friends, and 
 myself, and every fellow-Christian and fellow-man 
 around us into all truth" Page 367.