mm Mi m& A^"^. ^^A,..r ^^AaA/ tfWW$fttt kljfkAAn, ;A^^nf?|^^A^^w: A r> A A ' >*S ^ '"^ '"V ma& ^e©^ i OosaaBopg CONGRESS, >%.a* STATES ^^Q^QSQ^^^ ^^^ ^Q^e g : M^mS$^^ v^m&w «a;a,a, ^^^RftsM™ ftrfW mmmM M&fst&^h&tl ^.'."(V« - - waaAa .•ft'&ra&A www - ■ fa&sCft a&rvv kmr •aaAaA^I' a:^ ^w^' tftoftAf^ ?2?^^C^ ^?*ftft^w ^Ma* Wlv:-AiA^ .AAAAA. / EARLY FRIENDS MODERN PROFESSORS. EARLY FRIENDS MODERN PROFESSORS. REPLY TO " STRICTURES," BY JOSEPH JOHN GURNEY. ^ ar wasW*S -^ / AUTHOR OF "THE TRUTH VINDICATED,' 1 LONDON : EDMUND FRY AND SON, BISHOPSGATE STREET : AND. EDMUND FRY, JUN., PLYMOUTH. 1836, *< London : Printed by J. Masters, 1, Long Lane, Aldersgate Street PREFACE. It was my intention, for the purpose of more fully exhibiting the contrast between the sentiments of our early Friends and those of the author of the " Strictures/' to have made a more precise and methodical arrangement of the quotations, but time will not admit. My plan was to have selected different passagesfrom the "Strictures/' and have separately headed them with the words, Modern Professor, and in the opposite line to have placed the words, Our Early Friends, followed by the appropriate quotations ; having however abandoned this plan, I must leave their application to the judgment of the reader. I had also intended to have marked in italics several of the Yearly Meeting's advices, contained in the Appendix to the " Strictures," for the purpose of showing how distinctly, in most of them, the paramount authority of the Spirit is VI marked; and how entirely dependent the Scrip- tures are represented to be for efficiency upon the enlightening influence thereof; but from the cause just mentioned^ I must leave this also with a general^ though earnest request that attention may be directed thereto. The author of the " Strictures" has told us that he has " less difficulty" in making remarks upon my work, (i because" he " does not know even the name of the author." What "difficulties" names may throw in his way, I am not competent to say. Whether the name simply, without reference to any thing else, creates the difficulty ; or whether the difficulties vary with the name; as associated with rank; station; prejudice; or partial ity, I do not know ; but I must confess that this considera- tion has had no weight with me. "Our author's" name has presented no u difficulties" to my mind; unless it has been that of fear that error with a name; might; in the eyes of some weak ones, appear more fascinating than truth without a name. I hope that the quotations in this pamphlet will be the means of inducing the reader to go to the works themselves; replete as they are with instruc- tive and interesting matter. It is the constant endea- vour of the BeaconiteS; in their unprofitable and prosy Vll essays, to bring these writings into disrepute, and charge those who value and recommend them with placing them upon " the same shelf with Holy Writ." And yetsome of these essayists recommend other works for the Society's perusal, the authors of many of which are not in unity either with Friends or their principles. I was noticing the other day in one of these dull treatises, two works I think, re- commended to our notice upon the ground that they would be peculiarly servicable to Friends at the present time. Richard Ball also refers to several works, in his " Test of Truth," whilst he deprecates a reference to the works of our early Friends, and wofully misrepresents their opinions. A mass of confusion about " mysticism," assists to the disfigurement of his work, the mate- rials of which are furnished from the writings of Mosheim, a German scribe, who in his Ecclesi- astical History, has been guilty of geat injustice towards the Society of Friends, stating, amongst other falsehoods, that they have preachers with a small fixed salary attached to their office , in which he is followed by his late translator, Archibald Maclaine, a Scotch " hireling and deceiver." Isaac Crewdson also, has republished a work of Richard Baxter's, a man, who, says Francis How- Vlll gill, " wrote many lying books against the truth." So that the Society would be turned upside down by these men, if they are suffered to proceed with- out interruption. Recommend the early Friends' productions, and they lift up their hands, and cry aloud, "horrible ! horrible ! to direct to the writings of fallible men, instead of the word of God." But read their injurious aspersions upon the cha- racters of those holy men and their principles, — read those works that they in their wisdom are so condescending as to recommend, then you are "an evangelical Friend, and a Bible Christian." I should like to have bestowed a little more time upon this reply, but it should now be out. I must claim therefore some indulgence for the errors that may appear in the composition. EARLY FRIENDS MODERN PROFESSORS. INTRODUCTION. I should not have considered it necessary to have taken any public notice of the Pamphlet to the contents of which I am about to reply, had it not come forth to the world with a name, the authority of which may be cal- culated to supply its deficiencies in truth and argument, and pass off the unfounded assertions, contradictions^ unwarrantable inferences, and unjust conclusions, which it contains, for the truth of that everlasting Gospel, the spirituality of which, it has a most decided tendency to depreciate. Nor shall the name, rank, or station, of the Author of M Strictures on certain parts of an Anonymous Pam- phlet, entitled 'the Truth Vindicated' '' deter me from characterising those " Strictures" by those christian terms of censure and disapprobation, which their anti- scriptural nature demands for them, nor screen the Author himself from that just reproof which is his due, who, as a professed Minister of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, declares that it " involves the danger of a fatal heresy, to denominate our Lord Jesus Christ A Ruler I feel it incumbent upon me, to impress with earnest- ness and solemnity upon the minds of all my readers the vast importance of the subject under debate. It is not whether Holy Scriptures are Scriptures of truth ; for such they are reverently, fully, and unreservedly ac- knowledged to be. It is not whether such Holy Scrip- tures exceed in purity, truth, and every point of com- parative excellence, " all the writings in the world besides;" but it is whether these writings, thus incom- parably excellent, are to take precedence as a guide and rule for our faith and practice, or as an immediate object of affection in our hearts, before " Christ the way, the truth, and the life ;" the spiritual Rock of which all the Fathers drank, long — long before the greater part of the Scriptures were written. This, my dear friends, is the principle that is sought to be controverted — this is the ever blessed principle, which those " who say they are Jews but are not," those who say they are Quakers but are not, seek to subvert and to destroy. Some avow it openly, some advance it covertly, but the aim of them all is against the same object. Although their modes of attack are various, their cause is the same; although their weapons are diverse, they are all obtained from the same Ar- moury ; but, like the arrow of aged Priam, they will fall infinitely short of the mark ; they will come to the ground without a stroke, for they have attempted to pierce that, " which will resist all the fiery darts of the wicked one, 1 ' and how should they succeed ? they have attempted to shake that which is immoveable, how should they not be defeated ? How often has this battle been fought ! How often has darkness sent forth its powers, even transformed as the angels of light ? but praises to God, it has been over- come " by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, who loved not their lives unto the death." And against the many deceptive appearances of this unwearied enemy, the advice of dear George Fox contained in an Epistle "writ with his own hand," and opened and read in the Yearly Meeting, after his death, appears to me at this time, especially worthy of our attention. ' ' As for this spirit of rebellion and opposition," he writes, " that hath risen formerly and lately, it is out of the kingdom of God and heavenly Jerusalem ; and is for judgment and condemnation, with all its books, words, and works. Therefore Friends are to live and walk in the power and Spirit of God that is over it, and in the seed that will bruise and break it to pieces. In which seed you have joy and peace with God, and power and authority to judge it ; and your unity is in the power and Spirit of God, that doth judge it, all God's witnesses in his tabernacle go out against it, and always have and will/' In the Advertisement to the " Strictures," the Author tells us that his " sole object in making them has been to uphold the divine authority of the Holy Scrip- ture ; and to prove that the author of ' the Truth Vindicated/ who comes forward under the profession of being an Advocate for our religious society, advances sentiments extremely dangerous in themselves, and utterly opposed to those which Friends have always felt it to be their duty and privilege to uphold.'' To this I may reply, far be it from me to denounce so good an "object" as that of upholding the divine authority of the Holy Scriptures ; this however, was not my "-sole object," in writing " the Truth Vindicated/' I must confess my chief object was to uphold the " paramount authority of that Source from whence the Holy Scrip- tures emanated, from which source alone they derive their Authority, and by whose unerring and infallible testimony their contents can alone be justly apprecia- ted, rightly understood, or indubitably attested. With- out this witness, I can have no satisfactory assurance to my understanding of the facts recorded, and the truths and doctrines which are declared, not even from such respectable vouchers as Joseph John Gurney, or those " ministers of various Christian communities" who trade out of them, and upon whose behalf his " feelings as a man, and his principles as a Christian," have expe- rienced so great a shock. As for my coming forward duty and privilege to uphold," Let Friends bear in mind the circumstances under which " the Truth Vindicated" was written, and the occasion which produced it. A minister of high repute and long standing in the Society had published a work, <( the main drift of which," says the Meeting for Suffer- ings of Indiana Yearly Meeting, appears to be an attempt to draw the Society away from the precious testimonies it has borne to the spirituality of the gospel dispensation ; and to lead its members into the use of those external forms and ceremonies, in relation to acts of worship, out of which our forefathers were led by the immediate direction of the Holy Spirit, in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ ; and through deep religious exercise, and much outward suffering were gathered into a distinct and religious Society. Well, this work, remember, was approved and circulated by men of high station and influence in the Society, and applauded al- most without exception by all the hireling ministries, and their presses throughout the country. Backed by this support, many who had cherished similar sentiments in secret, now no longer concealed them, but made as it were a simultaneous rush to effect their purpose by a coup de main. The war cry was raised — the different b2 6 Reviews and Magazines teemed with the blackest false- hoods against the principles of the Society ; and the old spirit of Cain seemed afresh revived, ready to shed innocent blood. But thanks be to God, this spirit, so far as the christian church is concerned, has lost much of its power, and can now do little more than rave. A small Pamphlet now appeared, containing extracts from these reviews, which falling in my way, I purchased and read, and to which I believed it was my duty to reply, the result of which was " the Truth Vindicated." I was staying at a place where I was completely sepa- rated from the Society, neither did I communicate my intentions to any but my wife, nor did I know from any source but this Pamphlet, of the existing controversy in the Society ; but what is a fact not a little singu- lar, is this, that after I had written perhaps the first two or three chapters, I thought I would send it to Joseph John Gurney, thinking from his repute in the Society, that he was a sound Friend, and requesting his perusal of the manuscript, in order that it might be as perfect and cogent, as it appeared to me the state of things required. I did not however feel easy under this intention, and I now rejoice that it was aban- doned. Finding then those "precious testimonies of our fore- fathers thus violently assailed, " both from within and without, I may truly say, that I was " jealous over you my dear friends, with a godly jealousy," and feared, lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtil ty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Knowing that God had committed at least one talent to my charge, and believ- ing it to be my duty to repel the accusations and false charges of our adversaries, I fearlessly, though anony- mously, testified against them, and right glad I am, that I have done so. Your Delilahs had laid you asleep, my friends, and were sporting with your helplessness ; but, remember, that He who first gave us strength, can again renew it. He that is mighty can yet give power to drown the shouts of the Philistines in the ruins of their temple. " All friends every where, that are alive to God through Jesus Christ, and are living members of Christ the Holy Head ; be still, and stand still in the Lord's camp of holiness and righteousness, and therein see the salvation of God, and your eternal life, rest, and peace." Far be it from me to encourage that rashness, which in its own strength would put forth its hand to save M the tottering ark," but it is matter of no little astonish- ment, that a professed minister of the gospel should ft studiously avoid all allusion to the controversy that gave rise to " the Truth Vindicated," which was written expressly to assert and maintain the supreme, uncondi- tional, unrestricted, and universal authority of that Holy Spirit which can alone ordain one, in opposition to those who irreverently deny his paramount authority ; it does seem extraordinary, that Joseph John Gurney, who writes about " substantial testimonies," should have suffered the specious, indirect, and serpentine attacks which are levelled in •' the Beacon" against some of the most valuable and solid testimonies that have been committed to our charge,- — should have suffered its half revealed sarcasms upon spiritual worship — its hints and nods at mysticism and quietism, nay its open repudiation of the universal saving light of Christ, to be " circulated among the families of a Christian Society, " without publishing one single " stricture" thereon, " by way of christian warning ;" ' ' knowing that it has obtained a very considerable circulation," how is it, Joseph John, thou hast not thought it right to extract several pas- sages from this work also ? Thou say est, thou hast " less difficulty' ' in making remarks upon mine, because thou dost " not know even the name of the Author. 1 ' But perhaps this difficulty presented itself in its full force, and restrained thy " Strictures" in the case of the Bea- con, as the name of Isaac Crewdson, a minister perhaps in good esteem with thee, has given it its price current among hirelings and professors." This is, perhaps, susceptible of as plain an answer as " our Author's taunting inquiries," elsewhere. A person ignorant of the nature of the present con- troversy, would be led to infer from thy " Advertise- ment," that I had actually been writing against " the divine authority of the Holy Scriptures/' As much is assumed in the avowed " sole object" of thy " Stric- tures ;" but have I throughout my book mentioned or alluded to any production, that is now extant in the world, as equal in point of degree to the books of what are usually called the Old and New Testament ? As to the identity of the source, I shall speak with thee farther on. Neither my design, nor the prosecution of that design in the work itself, detracts from their divine authority ; but on the contrary tends to establish it. For without the testimony of the Spirit, who or what am I to believe ? If, however " I know of a truth" that in the light of Christ all things that are necessary for me to know, will be there revealed, as I walk in obedience to its manifestations— if Christ promised the Holy Spirit to his disciples to lead them into all truth; if those things that Christ spoke of are hidden from the wise and prudent, and are revealed unto babes ; if the vail is still over the hearts of the descendants of that people who crucified our Lord ; if, after several thousand years' possession, of some of the Scriptures at least ; if, in constantly reading them, and blindly venerating the mere book itself, they nevertheless know them not; what, I ask, but the power of God's Holy Spirit, can give them the stamp of divine authority, reveal them to my understanding, and seal their testimony to my soul ? If this witness however to their truth be wanting, if we need man to teach us, if the labours of many " eminent biblical critics" are requisite to give us higher views "of the substantial correctness of the text," it then rests upon man's authority, and not God's, and the poor Jews may, with good reason, keep to the canon and interpretations of their Rabbies — the Roman Catholics to that of their Popes and Cardinals — the Protestants to that of their bishops and multitudes of curiously titled priests ; and the Society of Friends may sell their glo- rious birthright as did Esau — and betake themselves to pottage. The Author of the " Strictures" has annexed to his Pamphlet, Appendices, two of which consist of quota- tions made from the writings of friends in their indivi- dual, as also in their collective capacity, in confirmation of their opinion " respecting the divine origin and authority of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament." Why, in all the deistical passages, as he 10 is pleased to call them, quoted into his Pamphlet, he can by no means point out a denial of their divine origin and authority ; nay, this is the very thing contended for, this source, this authority, this testimony is upheld plainly, strenuously, and unconditionally, and the autho- rity and testimony of canon-makers, " ultimate appeal' * makers, and " eminent biblical critics/' put just where they ought to be ; although Joseph John, with offensive pedantry, presumes that his bare assertions of " false" and "audacious," are sufficient to secure the assent of his readers, without the irksome task of burthening their understandings with facts and proofs. I unite, cordially unite, with all the quotations that he has made from Friends' writings, and I will offer to his observation some more, in which also I unite. Joseph John has given us but a side view of Quakerism ; he has given us the profile, and would fain make us believe that it has no full face. Its profile, however, is given to us disfigured, after the shadow of an image, that recent times have fashioned, whilst Friends of the elder sort, as Fox, Penn, and Barclay, who are one hundred and fifty years " below the truth" of " biblical critics, " must be daubed over with " the untempered mortar" of the day, and " mysticism, quietism, and fanaticism," " under the garb of high spirituality," be stamped upon their foreheads, in conformity with the wishes of hireling priests and idol shepherds. But see throughout the whole of these quotations from advices and declarations, how they " gave" (in the words of one of them) " a preference to the Holy Spirit, as all true spiritual christians do ;" very excellent advices and declarations, and doubtless very appropriate all of 11 them to the state and condition of the body to which they were applied. They doubtless afford us good evi- dence of the promptness of those meetings to afford to the body that assistance which their condition required ; and my prayer to God is, that ability may be mercifully vouchsafed at the approaching annual assembly, to "strengthen the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees," that are amongst us ; and whilst a due love and esteem for Holy Scriptures may be encouraged, Christ Jesus may be " exalted over all, Godblessed for ever." I repeat, that one would suppose by these copious quotations, illustrative of the Society's esteem for Holy Scriptures, that I had been writing against the truths of revelation, and attempting to subvert them by evil men's authority. Does Joseph John suppose, that any of these advices were issued under circumstances which bear the least resemblance to the circumstances under which he has quoted from them. Look at the powerful array both from within and from without, against the an- cient testimonies of the Society; consider as a Teople how faithless and rebellious we have been — -how dry, barren, and unfruitful we are — how the testimony of the Pro- phet might be sounded forth amongst us, "Earth, Earth, EARTH, hear the word of the Lord." Con- sider of these things, if ye are not too proud and high- minded ; but whether ye will hear, or whether ye will forbear," ye shall be told of these things. " Let every one's faith," said George Fox, " stand in the power of God, which Jesus Christ is the Author of- that all mav know their crown of life. For all outward things with- out the substance, the life, the power, are as the husk without the kernel," (they are no "lively oracles") and 12 do not nourish the immortal soul, nor the new born babe ; but that which it is nourished by, is the milk of the word, whereby it groweth in the heavenly life, strength, and wisdom. The Gospel is not of man, nor by man, but it is the power of God, and answers the truth in all." The Author of the " Strictures'' has now raised the question, whether the doctrines contained in M The Truth Vindicated," are those that were held and pub- lished by the Early Friends. He has plainly stated, that the extracts he has made from it are utterly opposed to those which Friends have always felt it to be their duty and privilege to uphold;" and yet he has made but one single quotation, throughout the whole of his Pamphlet that bears upon the point ; and that one, is in reference to a qualified expression (" dead letter") but which will avail nothing to his purpose, as we shall see further on. All his other quotations refer simply to the Divine source from whence Holy Scriptures emanated, and the consequent superiority of their character, over all other writings besides, from which another consequence as necessarily flows, viz. that they constitute " the only fit outward judge of controversies among Christians; 1 ' none of which things are disputed in M The Truth Vindica- ted," but, notwithstanding his assertions, are all therein acknowledged; and the testimony of Holy Scripture admitted, and applied, upon the very strength of that acknowledgment, viz, their divine origin, "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God."* None of these quota- tions therefore will avail him a single straw, in proof of his erroneous assertion. * All Holy Scripture is understood here. 13 I shall bring in the course of the following pages, a body of plain and incontrovertible evidence which can- not fail of convincing the most obstinate and prejudiced, that I have not advanced a sentiment in "The Truth Vindicated," which can in common propriety and fair- ness be said to be opposed in any degree, much less "utterly opposed" to those views and sentiments which were held, at least by the Early Friends. That " Characteristic of the people called Quakers, their faith and testimony to the world, viz. the light of Christ within," (Penn's Christian Quaker, Chap 1.) is brought down by the author of the " Strictures," to a very feeble sort of illumination, and acknowledged en passant, as if its eternal, universal, and saving properties, had never been made subject of dispute. The acknowledgment he does make to its power, appears to be more the re- sult of the victory which education and custom have obtained over his understanding, than the conviction which truth has made upon his heart. "The labours of eminent biblical critics," seem to have thrusted out sound and genuine Quakerism.. The Author's aim, and without the excuse which ignorance may sometimes claim, does indeed appear to have been, to exalt the Scriptures to the very highest pinnacle, in obedience to the authority of Priests and Scribes ; and at the same time, by a sort of qualified admission to the superiority of the Spirit, to save his credit as a Quaker. But I hope there is sufficient discernment in the Society to see through the disguise. I do hope there yet remains sufficient strength in the Body, to uphold our testi- monies in their primitive truth and fulness. Oh ! it is indeed incumbent upon us to keep low, to keep down c 14 self — to become as little children, and seek for living help and judgment, from Christ our Saviour. Before I proceed to a detailed examination of the " Strictures," I think it right to say a few words in respect to myself. As the Author of the Strictures has been informed, that I am not a Member of the Society, I think it right to inform my readers, that I was born a Member, educated a Member, and have never yet had a testimony of disownment issued against me. Joseph John may weigh this information, which is the truth, with the information that has given him " some satis- faction," and perhaps, he will not even then be able to tell which scale kicks the beam. But although, says he, no testimony of disownment may have been issued against him, he still perhaps is not a Member of our Society, for he may, like John Wilkinson, have sent in his resignation : well, if it be so, which I still leave to conjecture ; if I have resigned my membership, I have not resigned my principles ; far better, in my choice, than the state of those, who, reversing the terms, re- sign the principles, and retain the membership. I also think it right to say, that I do not as a gene- ral mode, approve of anonymous controversy ; but, I do believe those speciel reasons, which have induced me to adopt it, are a full and valid justification. " Fear of man" is not amongst them, and should the time arrive, in which it would be my duty to stand forth in my own name and person, I trust I should be obedient to the call, and in full reliance upon Him, whose strength is almighty, and whose promise is eternally sure, I doubt not but I should be sustained through all the trials that might await me, and if " faithful unto death, receive a crown of life. 1 " 15 Among the works from which I shall make quota- tions, will be those of Francis Howgill and Samuel Fisher, — works which have been published by and with the consent of the Morning Meeting, and to which Works themselves, several important testimonies of in- dividuals are annexed, expressive of unqualified unity, in the sentiments which they contain. Of Samuel Fisher, George Fox in his journal writes, (3d Ed. folio, page 139,) " Samuel Fisher received the truth in the love of it, became a faithful minister, preached Christ freely, and laboured much, being moved of the Lord to go and declare the word of life at Dunkirk, in Holland, and in divers parts of Italy, as Leghorn and Rome itself; yet the Lord preserved him and his companion John Stubbs out of their inquisitions/' Thus much as to the man ; now read his testimony to the work itself, from which I shall make quotations in the following pages. In an Epistle to the Presbyte- rians and Independants, written by George Fox, and John Stubbs, and prefixed to a Pamphlet, written by George Whitehead, entitled, "The Divinity of Christ," &c. is this passage, ie I wonder for all this idle time you have had, that you could not answer Samuel Fisher's Book amongst you, for it stands upon your heads ; he hath answered all your principles and more than you have questioned!" In George Whitehead's answer to " Thomas Danson's Synopsis of Quakerism," he speaks of Samuel Fisher's Work in the following terms ; and George Whitehead, mind, is by the Author of the " Strictures" said to be " one of the most eminent of our early Friends," And thus at length the Spirit or Light that gave forth the Scriptures, must be preferred as the most universal 1G Guide and Rule ; as indeed it is to all them who follow, obey, and believe in it ; and this Light the blind, corrupt imaginary Teachers (whose knowledge and profession is but natural and traditional) cannot corrupt, as they have done the Scripture by their false glosses, meanings and private interpretations, contrary to the end and intent of the Spirit of God which gave them forth, and which leads into all Truth and Righteousness : for a farther answer to T. D., touching this matter, I do refer the reader to S. Fisher's Book titled Rusticus ad Academicos."* Well, for a farther answer (not to T. D. but) to J. J. G., I intend to adopt G. Whitehead's advice, and refer to " Rusticus ad Academicos ;" Again, George Whitehead, (page 27,) " Concerning this particular, that faithful servant of the Lord S. Fisher, hath very fully answered T. D., and his brethren." — " See S. Fisher's Rusticus ad Academicos,* where the point is fully explained, which you Presbyterians and Independents are never able to answer. ," Again, George Whitehead, (page 21) " Here T. D. hath but brought over his old arguments long since answered and confuted by that servant of the Lord S. Fisher, as may be seen at large in his Book Rusticus ad Academicos, which T. D., J. O. and their Brethren could never answer: 1 ' nor J. J. G., I. C. and their Brethren either. In proof then, that the principles exhibited in " The Truth Vindicated," are the principles of sound and genuine Quakerism, I shall make quotations from the writings of Fox, Penn, Barclay, Whitehead, Howgill, * Ellis Hookes, who gives a strong testimony of approbation to the «' Rusticus," was I believe the first Clerk to the first Yearly Meeting of the Society. 17 Bayley, Penington, Claridge, and Fisher, to "whose Rus- ticus ad Academicos, George Whitehead, f* one of the most eminent of our early Friends, " expressly refers his readers, for " a farther answer," upon the very point in debate. And moreover the quotations, which I in- tend to make, shall be straight and direct to the point. I will screw the Author of the •« Strictures" up to the mark, and compel him either to retract his assertion, that the sentiments advanced in " The Truth Vindica- ted, are utterly opposed to those which Friends have always felt it be their duty and privilege to uphold/* or else, that his Quakerism is not the Quakerism of the above-named worthies, and first Ministers of the So- ciety. Many other Authors might be quoted, but I have not their works. The above are quite sufficient. They shall " stand like a w T all of brass/' as the Friend said at Liverpool, and the shots which the Author of the '■ Strictures" has discharged at their testimonies, through the sides of " The Truth Vindicated," shall reverberate with redoubled force upon his own Pam- phlet, and shatter it to pieces. Nor shall his attempt to amalgamate these principles with those of Hicksism succeed. They are no more Hicksism than they are Gurneyism ; but they are sound, substantial, original, scripture, and Christian Quakerism. I will not suffer the authority of this Friend's Name to pass off his bare assertions, as unquestionable truths. "By Joseph John Gurney," may perhaps cause some weak persons to open their bodily eyes wider, and shut their intellectual and spiritual ones closer, but not from the example that I shall show them ; unless I do the latter, to turn away from beholding his errors. c 2 18 and the former in astonishment, that one, who has for many years occupied the station of a Minister, should betray such a culpable ignorance of the original prin- ciples of the Society, or such a strange perversion of them as his Pamphlet evinces. I shall not, as I have said before, answer his *' Stric- tures," so much by my own arguments as by quota- tions from the works of the early Friends ; and for two reasons, first, because I shall thereby more clearly iden- tify the principles of "The Truth Vindicated' , with theirs ; and also, because whatever arguments I, or any writer may now advance, they cannot surpass in truth, strength, and clearness, the host of insurmount- able demonstrations, with which the early Friends were enabled to meet the crafty and stubborn opponents of their day. I am not surprised at the deserters and oppo- nents of our time, attempting to throw into obloquy those sterling and christian writings. In so doing, they " are wiser in their generation than the children of light." They w T ell know, how they harmonize with Holy Scriptures, and that they elucidate, with convin- cing clearness, those important essential doctrines of the Christian faith, which it is the vain endeavour of our opponents, not to obscure only, but to extirpate. 19 THE -STRICTURES" EXAMINED. Passing by the Author's expressions of " much sorrow/' "some satisfaction," and the extraordinary stretch of Christian charity, which can even wish well to an anonymous Author, — passing by these important " Strictures," with just observing, that Joseph John can be ironical himself at times, as well as others ; I come to his first charge against The Truth Vindicated, which is made in general terms, and according to his own confession unsupported by a single extract. " The first point which naturally attracts the at- tention of the reader of ' The Truth Vindicated,' is the Anti- Christian spirit and temper in which many passages of it are written, and the unseemly and vio- lent language which the Author employs in reference to the Ministers and Members of various Christian com- munities. I forbear from making extracts in support of this remark, being well assured that no sober and religious person, who has cast his eye over the book, can fail to have observed a variety of expressions, under this head, which must have greatly shocked both his feelings as a man, and his principles as a Christian." Now, I can inform Joseph Gurney, that I have re- ceived letters expressive of the most cordial unity with " The Truth Vindicated/' from individuals, whose names, and well-known characters, insure for them the denominations of " sober and religious," with as much propriety as they can be assumed for himself and his 20 associates in thought and deed. He makes a charge' and yet " forbears from making extracts in support of it." This however, procures for him all the honour to which a subtle disputant is entitled, although it dis- qualifies him from discharging the duties of even a com- mon juryman. It manifests the " wisdom of the ser- pent," though devoid of the harmlessness of the dove. No, no, sapient determination, he will not descend to particulars, well knowing, that each separate denuncia- tion against the hirelings, contained in "The Truth Vindicated," can summon the testimony of Scriptural authority, and the example of the best of Christians in all ages for its truth. He, therefore wraps them all up in one general bundle of condemnation, and marks on the exterior— " unseemly and violent," — "Ministers of various Christian communities," called by the " Jnti- Christian" name of hirelings, and the like — " not to be opened,'' — "not a single extract made therefrom, lest our feelings should be shocked as men, and our princi- ples as Christians." Well, we will make a few quota- tions from some of the writings of our early Friends, upon the subject of these t€ Ministers of various Christian communities," and run the hazard of shocking the peculiarly sensitive feelings of the Author of the " Strictures." George Fox's Journal, Third Edition, Page 376. — " In the time of the law, those that did not bring their tithes into the store-house robbed God ; then there was not meat in their house ; therefore the Lord commanded, ' To bring them into his house, that there might be meat in the store-house, which was to feed the fatherless, stranger, and widow.' But these pi^iests who are counterfeits, who take people's tithes now by a 21 law, are from the beast; and if they will not pay them, they prison them, or make them pay treble. These rob the poor, rob the fatherless, and the stranger and widow are not tilled : so their cry is gone up to heaven against these. Many are made almost beggars by these oppressing priests, their cattle and corn being taken away from them, and they cast into prison. Others are sued at law by the priests, and have treble damage taken from them; yet such priests are cried up to be ministers of the gospel. Though when the unchangeable Priest was come; the priesthood that was changeable was denied, as we now deny these." Page 24. — " But the black earthly spirit of the priest wounded my life : and when I heard the bell toll to call people together to the steeple-house, it struck at my life; for it was like a market-bell to gather the people that the priest might set forth his ware to sale. Oh ! the vast sums of money that are got by the trade they make of selling the scriptures, and by their preaching, from the highest bishop to the lowest priest! What one trade else in the world is comparable to it ? notwith- standing the scriptures were given forth freely, Christ com- manded his ministers to preach freely, and the Prophets and Apostles denounced judgment against all covetous hirelings and diviners for money. But in this free spirit of the Lord Jesus, was I sent forth to declare the word of life and reconcilia- tion freely, that all might come to Christ, who freely gives, and renews up into the image of God, which man and woman were in before they fell, that they might sit down in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Page 123. — " The priests cried, Come, to argument, to argu- ment ! I said, I denied all their voices, for they were the voices of ( hirelings and strangers.' They cried, Prove it, prove it ! I directed them to the tenth of John, where they might see what Christ said of such ; he declared, ' He was the true Shepherd, that laid down his life for his sheep, and his sheep heard his voice and followed him ; but the hireling would fly when the wolf came, because he was an hireling : I 22 offered to prove that they were such hirelings. Then the priests plucked me off from bass again, and themselves fell all upon basses under the steeple-house wall. Then I felt the mighty power of God arise over all, and told them, if they would give audience, and hear me quietly, I would show them by the Scriptures why I denied those eight priests or teachers that stood before me, and all the hireling teachers of the world whatsoever, and I would give them Scriptures for what I said. Whereupon both priests and people consented. Then I showed them out of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah, Malachi and other Prophets, that they were in the steps of such as God sent his true Prophets to cry against ; for, said I, You are such as the Prophet Jeremiah cried against, chap. 5th, when he said 1 The Prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means ;' which he called an horrible filthy thing. You are such as used their tongues, and said, Thus saith the Lord, when the Lord never spoke to them. Such as followed their own spirits and saw nothing ; but spoke a divination of their own brain : and by their lies and their lightness caused the people to err, Jer. 14. You are such as they were that sought their gain from their quarter ; that were as greedy dumb dogs, that could never have enough, whom the Lord sent his Prophet Isaiah to cry against, Isaiah 54. You are such as they were who taught for handfuls of barley and pieces of bread, who sewed pillows under people's arm-holes, that they might lie soft in their sins, Ezek. 13. You are such as they that taught for the fleece and the wool, and made a prey of the people, Ezek. 34. But the Lord is gathering his sheep from your mouths, and from your barren mountain, and is bringing them to Christ, the one Shepherd, whom he hath set over his flocks ; as by his Prophet Ezekiel, he then declared he would do. You are such as those that divined for money, and preached for hire; and if a man did not put into their mouths they pre- pared war against him; as the Prophet Micah complained, chap. 3. Thus I went through the Prophets too largely to be here repeated. Then coming to the New Testament, I showed 23 from thence, that they were like the Chief Priests, Scribes, and Pharisees, whom Christ cried woe against, Math. 23. And that they were such false Apostles as the true Apostles cried against, such as taught for filthy lucre; such antichrists and deceivers as they cried against, that minded earthly things, and served not the Lord Jesus Christ, but their own bellies: for they that served Christ gave freely and preached freely, as he commanded them. But they that will not preach without hire, tithes or outward means, serve their own bellies, and not Christ; and through the good words of the Scriptures, and feigned words of their own, they made merchandize of the people then, as (said I) ye do now. When I had largely quoted the Scrip- tures, and showed them wherein they were like the Pharisees, loving to be called of men masters, to go in long robes, to stand praying in the synagogues, to have the uppermost rooms at feasts and the like; and when I had thrown them out in the sight of the people amongst the false prophets, deceivers, Scribes, and Pharisees, and showed at large how such as they were judged and condemned by the true Prophets, Christ and the Apostles, I directed them to the light of Jesus, who enlight- ens every man that cometh into the world ; that by it they might see whether these things were not true as had been spoken." Page 421. — "I was under great sufferings at this time, beyond what I have words to declare. For I was brought into the deep, and saw all the religions of the world, and people that lived in them, and the priests that held them up ; who were as a company of men-eaters, eating up the people like bread, and gnawing the flesh from off their bones. But as for true religion aud worship, and ministers of God, alack ! I saw there was none amongst those of the world that pretended to it. For they that pretended to be the church, were but a company of men-eaters, men of cruel visages, of long teeth ; who though they had cried against the men-eaters in America, I saw they were in the same nature. And as the great professing Jews did ' eat up God's people like bread,' the false prophets and priests then preached pe.i.e to the people so long as they put into their 24 mouths andjfed them ; but if they fed them not they prepared war against them ; i they ate their flesh off their bones, and chopped them for their cauldron ;' so these that profess themelves Christians now (both priests and professors) and are not in the same power and spirit that Christ and the holy Pro- phets and Apostles were in, are in the same nature that the old professing Jews were in, and are man-eaters as well as they. These stirred up persecution, and set the wicked informers on work ; so that a friend could hardly speak a few words in a private family, before they sat down to eat, but some were ready to inform against them." Rusticus ad Academicos, Page 225. — u Whence it comes to pass, for the most part, that as there's like prince like priest, so like priest like people in these Northern Islands, where after some certain time of standing and studying in the University, these hasty hirelings run abroad before the word of command be given them from the mouth of the Lord, and settle themselves up and down till the country swarms with them, like so many locusts, successively supplying the waste places of such as either die in parishes, or depart from one to another, where there is a bigger boon, ne detur vacuum ^ that there be no place void or empty at any hand, which is not more an abhorring to nature in general, in rerum naturd, in the fabrick of the Universe, than 'tis to these natural minds, in hujusmodi rerum naturd, in the fabrick of their University affairs. " And sometimes so do they hasten on their own heads, to be prophets and pastors for their own ends and livings' sake, upon which account, being thereby capable of some parsonage or ecclesiastical emolument, much more than for service' sake to the Gospel, many younger brothers and poor men's sons are sent there to be educated, that before their haughty heads are half hatched into any solid understanding of either themselves or the Truth of God, or their hearts so much as warmed into any way of wisdom from above, they run like a company of Green-gulls with shells on their heads, and sow themselves under the earth, 25 (for heaven they see not) in such seats and soils as best like them, and plant themselves (for plants of the heavenly Father's planting they are not,) in parishes, palaces, and other places, as chaplains and curates, and then divide, and divine out that Divinity they have stored their heads, and common-place books withall by stealth of study, out of the common stock of spirit stinting stuff, which like a spiking that is never drawn drier than 'twas at first, remaining the same still at the well-head, for the furnishing of all new comers, behaving themselves so honor- ably, or rather onorably in their respective bounds or circuits among the people of these nations of England, Scotland, and Ireland also, whether they sell by wholesale, even by whole tons at once, that more like the Pope in his Peterdom, than like Peter, who commanded the contrary, they lord it over their flocks, so as to live upon them whether they will or not, and often without their leave, if they can be licensed elsewhere set up their shop of books and go out and keep market in their parish once a week, and sell one or two of their thoughts upon some text of Scripture by a glass full at a time, at the rate of about twenty shillings a piece, and which is most tyrannical, force people too to buy their commodity, be it good or bad, truth or error, right or wrong, honest or counterfeit; and which is worse yet, without allowing any the liberty to try it in the public market-place or old mass-house where they hold it forth ; whereas all other tradesmen and shop-keepers, excepting these mystical merchants, give all their customers leave to try their wares and merchandize, and leave them to their own choice whether they will buy it or no : and which is worse yet, when they have sold their sermons to them, or read, or said them over to them out of their notes, they take them away along with them and leave them not to the people, who are to pay for them per force, when the time comes, and, which is the prime piece of delusiveness, perhaps sell the self-same sermons for as much more at another place, at a funeral or some such like occasion, whereas if any shoemaker should take his shoes, or bookseller the sermons, which he hath sold, and sell them to D 26 another, I know what these men, who call the Quakers fanati cat knaves, as well as others, would quickly be ready to ac- count of them. "And whereas a man may buy a school Bible for five shillings, they sell some one verse of it, a little set out, and flourished, and amplified with no other trimming, but their own fallible vain thoughts upon it, for twenty shillings, which Bible might serve a whole town to read in ; one chapter of which is worth twenty of their uncertain sermons ; or if men be minded to have sermons, these nations are now so full of them, that for groats a piece one may buy twenty printed sermons of men, whom they count more eminent than themselves, which may serve to hear and read at home no less than twenty weeks together, one of which sermons has more truth in it than either priests or people upon their principles of non-perfection of Holiness, and purging from sin in this life are like to practice as long as they live ; and till they practice what they know- already, it's but labour lost, pains taken, time spent, and money expended in vain to preach and hear in order to their knowing more, since whatsoever is known and remains undone, does but add to their condemnation. Page 561. — "It is true (as thou sayest,) kykvovro tbevco-irp o(pi]rat iv 7(0 \aw, There were false Prophets that spake in the name of the Lord when he sent them not; and may be now, and have been, and are witness not only the many thousands of those Locusts, that stand now separated into three swarms, as was foreseen and foretold in the vision of the three unclean spirits, like Frogs, that have gone out to the deluding of princes and people, even the great city, woman, or whore, that hath reigned over the earth, and sat on the many waters, peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues, with whom both Kings and inhabiters of the earth (being drunk and intoxicated with the wine of her wisdom,) have committed fornication, and run a whoring from the wisdom of God, divided and dividing the people, that profess the name of Christ, (without his Nature,) respectively into three parts. Rev. xiii. 16, 19. Rev. ii, 27 20, 21. 22, 23. Rev. xvii. 1. 2, 15, 18, (viz.) 1. The Pope and his carnal crew of Cardinals, Mon-Seigneurs, Priests, Jesuits, Monks, Friars, and all other sorts of his spiritual men and women, which are enough to weary one to read, much more to reckon them all up in writing. 2. Arch-Prelates, Prelates, Deans ; un- der which name Y. O. was lately the only man in England, till removed, that stoGd so denominated, whose Popish traditional title was Dean of Christ Church in Oxford, an officer that Christ never instituted in any Church that he constituted ; Deans and Chapters, and all that hang on that hierarchy, in the fell of whose spiritual courts tythes went down too, as to way of recovery of them by any law, from any that are not free to pay them, if our wise statesmen, -who sat at the stern, once had been willing in their time, to see what they saw, before their sun was setting. 3. Presbyters, Parsons, Vicars, Curates, and all manner of spiritual persons, and their officials, clerk:, sextons, &e. depending still together with some that were once Independents as none of Christ's, but national messengers fer national stipends : Which said three swarms of locusts, who love the dark smoke they came out of more than the h which dispels it, have covered over the whole European earth (and more too) in all corners of it, and have, what they could, withheld the wind of God's Spirit from blowing upon the :. that themselves might eat up the good things thereof and none of Christ's spiritual ones appear to hinder them, Rev. wi .19, 3." R. Barclay's Works, Page 437. — " They become hereby so glued to the love of money, that there is none like them in malice, rage, and cruelty : if they be denied their hire, thev rage like drunken men, fret, fume, and as it were go mad. A man may sooner satisfy the severest creditor, than them ; the general voice of tire poor doth confirm this. For indeed, they are far more exact in taking up the tithes of sheep, geese, swine, and eggs, Sec. and look more narrowly to it, than to the mem- bers of their flock: they will miss the least mite; and the 28 poorest widow carmnot escape their avaricious hands. Twenty lies they will hear unreproved ; and as many oaths a man may swear in their hearing without offending them : and greater evils than all this, they can overlook. But if thou owest them ought, and refuse to pay it, then nothing but war will they thunder against thee, and they will stigmatize thee with the horrible title of sacrilege, and send thee to hell without mercy, as if thou hadst committed the sin against the Holy Ghost. Of all people we can best bear witness to this : for God having shewn us this corrupt and Anti-Christian Ministry, and called us out from it, and gathered us into his own power and life to be a separate people, so that we dare not join with, nor hear them ; O ! what malice, envy, and fury hath this raised in their hearts against us! that though we get none of their wares, neither will buy them, as knowing them to be nought ; yet will they force us to give them money ; and because we cannot for conscience sake do it, our sufferings have upon that ac- count been unutterable. Yea, to give an account of their cruelty and several sorts of inhumanity used against us, would make no small history. These avaricious hirelings have come to that degree of malice and rage, that several poor labouring men have been carried hundreds of miles from their own dwell- ings and shut up in prison, some two, some three, yea, some seven years together, for the value of one pound sterling, and less. I know myself a poor widow, that for the tithes of her geese, which amounted not to five shillings, was about four years kept in prison thirty miles from her house. Yea, they by violence for this cause have plundered of men's goods the hundred-fold ; and prejudiced much more : yea hundreds have hereby spilt their innocent blood, by dying in the filthy noisome holes and prisons. And some of the priests have been so en- raged, that goods thus ravished could not satisfy them ; but they must also satisfy their fury by beating, knocking, and wound- ing with their hands innocent men and women, for refusing (for conscience sake) to put into their mouths. " The only way, then, soundly to reform and remove all these 29 abuses, and take away the ground and occasion of them is to take away all stinted and forced maintenance and stipend : and seeing, those revenues w r ere anciently given by the people, that they return again into the public Treasure ; and thereby the people may be greatly benefitted by them, for that may supply for these public Taxations and Impositions, that are put upon them, and many ease themselves of them. And whoever call or appoint teachers to themselves, let them accordingly entertain them : and for such as are called and moved to the ministry of the Spirit of God, those that receive them and taste of the good of their ministry, will no doubt pro vide things needful for them ; and there will be no need of a law to force a hire for them : for he that sends them, will take care of them : and they also having Jvod and raiment will therewith be content." Now I defy the author of the " Strictures" to pro- duce a single passage from * The Truth Vindicated," in which the preachers for pay and diviners for money, are denounced in stronger terms, than they are in the above quotations. Robbers of the poor, the fatherless, the widow, and the orphan, oppressors, deceivers, greedy dumb dogs, men-eaters, scripture sellers, hire- lings, hypocrites. And not only are they thus desig- nated by the early Friends, but the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others, as well as our blessed Lord and the Apostles, characterized such men by such terms. Show us one passage, Joseph John, in " The Truth Vindicated," which surpasses in the strength and the severity of its reproof, this condensation of holy censure, that is now placed before thine eyes. Canst thou cast thine eyes over these quotations, without having thy feelings and principles greatly shocked as a man and as a christian ? Does that same n2 30 extensive charity which can reach even to an anony- mous author, and " wish him well, anonymous as he is," induce thee to think the same language which was used in the unpolished centuries that are past, to have been highly appropriate and just, but in these times of taste and sentiment, to be " unseemly and violent?" Ah! the peculiar times in which they lived — the oppression and greediness of the Priests, doubtless called down upon them those severe censures, and justly entitled them to those odious appellations. But where are the Priests now, who " teach for handfuls of barley, and pieces of bread," and who " for the fleece and the wool, make a prey of the people ?" Where are the " greedy dumb dogs" now who seek for gain from their quarter, and never have enough ? Where are the Priests now, who if the people put not into their mouths, nor feed them, prepare war against them, eat their flesh off their bones, and chop them for their caldrons ? Where are the Priests now who love to be called of men masters, to go in long robes, to have the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the like ? Where are the Priests now, who take people's tithes by a law, and if they will not pay them, "prison them, or make them pay treble?" Where are the Priests now who rob the poor, the fatherless and the widow," of their " cattle and their corn," and " are cried up to be ministers of the gospel ?" Where now is the " market bell to gather the people that the Priest may set forth his ware to sale ?" Where now are the Priests who make vast sums of money by selling the Scripture ? Where now are the Priests, who can challenge competition in point of gain with the world beside ? Where now are " all 31 the hireling teachers of the world whatsoever," that George Fox denied, when he felt the mighty power of God arise over all ? Ah ! where are they now ? Can Priest Newton tell us, who has lately published, what he calls " A Remonstrance to the Society of Friends/' and who in a late number of the Eclectic Review, pathetically invites our author of the " Strictures' ' to no longer hesitate in bearing "his testimony to his real brethren ?" Well ; can the author of the " Strictures" inform us, where " all these hireling teachers of the world whatsoever," are now to be found? Have the " labours of many eminent biblical critics," during the last hundred and fifty years," driven them to the dreary outskirts of the world, and does there no longer " go up a cry to heaven against them ?" Take a map of the world, and put thy finger upon the country where these oppressors and hirelings do not more or less follow their unhallowed vocation. Who are they, who have so lately shed human blood in Ireland, rob- bed the widow and the fatherless, cast into prison, and left their houses desolate ? Who are they who have thus ;i prepared war against those who will not put into their mouths and feed them ?" Are they oppressors and hirelings ? Or are they the ministers of Christ f Who are they in England, who " keep market in their parish once a week, and sell one or two of their thoughts upon some text of scripture by a glass full at a time, at the rate of about twenty shillings a piece ?" Are they hirelings ? Or are they ministers of Christ ? Who are they in England that sell the furniture, " corn and cattle," of those that will not " feed their bellies, and clothe their backs ? Who are they that thus dis- 32 train upon thy goods and chattels, if thou art faithful to our christian testimony against paying tithes, Priests' demands, and those called church-rates ? And, lastly, who are they, who unable to enlist the constables' staff, or the soldier's sword on their behalf, nevertheless take their wares to the best market that they can, and impose upon the ignorance and credulity of their customers ? Are they hirelings ? Or are they ministers of Christ ? Is that man, be he who he may, a minister of the gospel, that gains a livelihood in that trade, or profession, (as they term it themselves,) the mystery of which consists in a periodical publication of written or extemporaneous commentaries upon the writings of holy men, which were given forth of old, as they were moved by the Holy Ghost ? Is such a man I ask, a free minister of the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ, or is he not a minister of his own will and understand- ing, — a hireling, and a deceiver P And if he is a hire- ling and a deceiver, is he'to be spoken of as what he is, or as what he is not ? These are plain questions, Joseph John Gurne}^, and are susceptible of as plain an answer, and I think a little plainer, than thou hast given to " our author's taunting inquiries respecting the parts of scripture which he would select for our test." Well, I have cleared this point. I stand upon the fact, that I have not used a single term of condemnation in "The Truth Vindicated," in relation to " all the hireling teachers of the world whatsoever," that is expressive of ignominy and condemnation more strong than may be found in the quotations I have made from the works of our "Early Friends," and if the author of the 33 " Strictures," with this plain and undeniable body of evidence before his eyes, shall still pertinaciously insist that in this particular and first charge, I have advanced " sentiments utterly opposed to those which Friends have always felt it their duty and privilege to uphold." I will immediately refer him to the 13th page of his Pamphlet, where he will find written, that " every one who has, with any care, examined the subject, must be aware that these propositions are as false as they are audacious." The author of the "Strictures," before taking his leave of this first charge, gives us the following apos- trophe, " It would be well if all persons, who bear the name of Christians, would impartially try both their opinions, and their religious experience, by the fruit which they are producing. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance." Very true Joseph John, but it does not make us love hirelings as such, nor " cry, peace, peace, where there is no peace." It does not prevent us from bearing " our honest testi- mony" to " the truth as it is in Jesus," and against those who seek to subvert it. It does not impose upon us the necessity of calling hirelings and deceivers, ministers of the Gospel, nor shock our feelings and principles, to designate them in " the form of sound words/' after the example of holy men of old. Thy preceding " Stricture," connected with this quotation from the apostle, enumerating the " fruit of the Spirit," looks very much like the " poison mingled up with wholesome food," that thou alludest to, which " we well know has caused the death of manv an 34 unsuspecting person. '' I will introduce to thy notice an appropriate quotation, from the writings of one of our early Friends. Advices, &c. from the Writings or Stephen Crisp. — " And all beware of that affected tenderness that cries out, be tender to all, and pray for all, and mind the good in all, and love all, and judge none, but leave judgment to God. I say heed not the plausible words of that spirit, which, being guilty, to save its own head from a stroke, would bereave you of your judgment which God hath given you ; and is indeed truly his judgment, and is to be administered in his wisdom and power, for the cleansing and keeping clean his sanctuary ; for such as have no judgment in their goings, are they that know not the true way of peace, but make them crooked paths. He that goeth in them shall not know peace. " But some may say, was not Christ meek and lowly ? and ought not all to be like unto him ? It is true, my friends ; but there is a difference between the seed's suffering and its reign- mg, and there are times for them both ; and when it doth please God to permit the hour and power of darkness in the open persecutors, to exalt itself against his seed and people, by persecutions or such like ; they are led by his Spirit to appear in meekness and quietness, as sheep before the shearer. But what is this to suffering bad and perverse spirits, that appear under the pretence of truth, and yet are out of the truth and enemies to its prosperity ', striving to exalt and set up another thins; instead of the truth ? Such as these the Lord doth not require you to use only patience and meekness towards, but if that will not reclaim them, they must know the judgment of the truth, and you in it must stand over them : for in this case, the day of the exaltation of Christ is come, and God is crown- ing truth with dominion over every false spirit and corrupt practice. u And therefore, dear friends, eye the Lord in his goings forth, and as you feel his life in you to witness against any evil or 35 corrupt tiling or practice, use plainness and Keep Sincerity, and turn not judgment backward ; for that which is unwilling to be judged, and cries out judge none, leave all to God, &c. the same will take upon it both to judge and rule, but not in the wisdom of God. And those that cry out so much for tender- ness and against truth's judgment, the same are in most danger to be drawn out from the paternal suffering in the Spirit of Christ Jesus, when they ought to appear in the most meek- ness ; and appear rough and wrathful in the striving and fighting nature and are most apt to be tempted into a spirit of revenge, as hath been seen by sad experience, for they that lose the experience of that by which all should keep dominion over deceit, they lose that strength by which they should be enabled to suffer all things for the sake of Christ Jesus." I will give one more quotation from a paper written by another of our early Friends, Francis HowgiiL in reply to one of the charges of a Samuel Smith, and as the charge is in substance very similar to what the anchor of the " Strictures," has made against that writer of " The Truth Vindicated," I think its intro- duction here may be of peculiar service, and if any of the clerical Friends of the author of the M Stric- tures," have by their bland and persuasive influence, induced him to stretch out a sort of authoritative arm, between their profession, and the testimony of the truth, he cannot do better than recommend the whole of the paper from which the following extract is made, to their careful and serious perusal. " In the fourth and fifth particular thou sayest ice are ' charged to be malicious against the most eminent ministers of the land.' They whom thou callest eminent ministers, have charged us with many false things, and have written .})• false things against us, for -which thou and they, 36 in the dreadful day of the Lord shall give an account : envy, bitterness, and malice is put away from us, and we envy no man, but speak the truth in soberness, and yet to say, a liar, is a liar, or a deceiver, a deceiver, or an hypocrite, an hypocrite, when they are so, is neither railing nor malice. Christ, in whom no guile was found, said, they were a generation of vipers, and were of their Father the Devil, who were in envy, and went about to kill him. And the Apostle was not envious when he said, ' O full of all subtilty, thou child of the Devil,' to one who was doing the work of the Devil ; and many such workers ice find, and many venomous spirits who shoot out poisoned arrows, even bitter words, and these we must reprove sharply." I now come to the next " Stricture," which runs thus. " The doctrine that a measure of the light of the Spirit of Christ is bestowed upon mankind univer- sally (a doctrine which I reverently accept) is here described as the very foundation of our hopes. Such a statement is liable to great objection. It is opposed to that fundamental principle of the gospel — the free forgiveness of sin through faith in the blood of Jesus ; and it tends to excite a prejudice against the precious influences of the Holy Spirit, by presenting them to us in a perverted and unscriptural form. Elias Hicks, of North America, was accustomed to express himself in precisely the same way." And then follow, two quotations from Elias Hicks. Now, what if Elias Hicks " was accustomed to express himself in precisely the same way ! Does the author of the " Strictures" suppose that Elias Hicks never spoke truth in his life ? I tell him that his unworthy 37 attempt to identify the principles contained in " The Truth Vindicated," with Hicksism and Deism, shall not succeed. I tell thee, Joseph Gurney, thou shalt neither be able to conceal the genuine doctrines of Quakerism; (so called) by so artful a stratagem, nor yet fasten the stigma upon the work which thou art not able to controvert by truth, scripture, or reason, and therefore attemptest to bring it into disrepute, like the spies into the land of Canaan, by means of an evil and untrue report. But as Paul shook the viper from off his hand, when his lot was cast among barbarians, so will I, by Divine permission, shake off the foul slander, that the author of the " Strictures" has endeavoured to fasten upon " an anonymous pamphlet entitled The Truth Vindicated/' And what, I repeat, if " Elias Hicks, of North America, was accustomed to express himself in precisely the same way V Joseph Gurney himself is in the right sometimes, and he is quoted in " The Truth Vindicated" upon that account ; but does the fact of my coincidence with him upon some points, necessarily identify my work with his errors ? Not in the least. I most solemnly declare that I never read a publication of Elias Hicks's, so that at all events I have learned nought of him. The only acquaintance that I have had with his opinions, has been through the quotations that have been made from his books in the present controversy. And there would be as much charity, and as much justice, in my identifying all the princi- ples of the author of the " Strictures" with those of Muggleton, Irving, or the Ranters, because they, as well as himself, have occasionally repeated the Lord's prayer. E 38 But in the first place, the author of the " Strictures" has altered the terms as they appear in the quotation. He says, " The doctrine that a measure of the light of the Spirit of Christ is bestowed on mankind universally, a doctrine which I reverently accept, is here described as the very foundation of our hopes," Now, there is not such an arrangement of words in the quotation that he has made, as " a measure of the light of the Spirit of Christ." The words measure, Spirit, Christ, do not even appear in the quotation at all ; how can they then form constituent parts in any sentence of it ? They do not ; the sentence is of his own formation, and the inferences he draws from it, be they right or wrong, belong not to me. Upon reference to the quotation from the Truth Vindi- cated, it will be clearly seen that " the foundation of our hopes" is thus stated, viz., That " the word of God, ac- cording to the Scriptures, is that light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world " and that this was a fundamental principle and doctrine of our early Friends, I will amply prove. But to take the author of the " Strictures'' even upon his own terms of the question, I would ask him, what is it that gives " faith in the blood of Jesus ?" Is not Christ the Light, said to be the f ' Author, as well as Finisher of our faith ?" If then faith has an Author, which it most assuredly has, if its Author be Christ, the Light himself, how can it be anti- scriptural, or " opposed to that fundamental principle of the gospel," to say that he who is the foundation of our faith is also the foundation of our hopes ? since, if we have not a measure of his light, we cannot have even a measure of faith, or any hope but a false one. 39 A man may have the light without the faith or hope, but he cannot have the faith or hope without the light. Unless this fundamental principle, then, be received, N that the word of God, according to the Scriptures, is that light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world," how can I be u persuaded in my own mind,' : that the " free mercy of God in Him (Christ,) is a sure ground for my hopes ?" It is only in that light, that I can have the knowledge of " God's mercy in Christ;" it is only in that light, that my hopes can be fixed on his mercy. The light is essential both to the knowledge and the hope, and to the consummation of that hope. '*■ If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin/' 1 John i. 6, 7. I should not be so particular in subjecting Joseph Gurney's expressions upon this head, to so close a scrutiny, did he not pass by this important and funda- mental doctrine of the gospel, (the universality of the light of Christ,) with only a parenthetical acquiescence to its truth. That the free mercy of God in Jesus Christ, is that special grace of the Almighty upon which a Christian's hopes may and do rest, is in a sense true; but not in the sense which the author of the " Strictures" contends for, viz., to the exclusion of the light, for without the light we could have no true hope in that mercy. In short, the author of the " Strictures," to the contradiction of himself, asserts. in other words, the same thing. " I trust," says he. "that every sound Quaker is fully prepared to confess 40 that our Lord Jesus Christ himself, in all His gracious offices, is the only foundation on which the church is built/ ' Therefore not his mercy alone. Now, the light includes them all : " God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." " Christ is equal with God." Christ therefore is light.' 1 " Other foundation can no man lay, than that is laid, even Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus is light. Light therefore is the only foundation. " Christ in you," says the Apostle, " the hope of glory." And all that is not built hereon, is short of the true rest and foundation. I say with the author of the " Strictures," that " Our Lord Jesus Christ himself, in all his gracious offices, is the only foundation on which the church is built," and this is what is stated to be the foundation, in the passage which this individual has unfairly wrested, even so far, as to discard the very terms in which it is conveyed, and substitute some of his own, to form a ground for what he calls " Strictures," to be based upon ; that is, he first of all quotes my words correctly ; he quotes what I have declared to be " the foundation of our hopes," and then says that something else, "the Doctrine," and not "the Word of God," is described as the very foundation of our hopes. A man must certainly be inflated with no ordinary share of assurance, thus wantonly to set the very eyes in our heads at defiance, or surely he would have suffered my own words either to have justified or condemned me. I must however remind the author of the V Strictures " that to be built upon Christ, includes " all his graci- ous offices," and if Joseph John Gurney believes that He, "in all his gracious offices, is the only foundation 41 on which the church is built, how is it that with the same stroke of his pen he separates one of these " offices" from the rest, and says that the free mercy of God in Him, is the sole ground of the Christian's hopes ? Does not the author of the " Strictures' ' know, (he surely must,) that the Church is constituted of Chris- tians, and that therefore, what is the Church's founda- tion collectively, is also the Christian's individually ; and that if the Church collectively, has for its " only foundation" the Lord Jesus Christ in all his gracious offices, then each member individually also ; and rests not upon the " free mercy of God in Him" alone? But as if conscious of his weakness here, and purposely to dis- guise this gross contradiction from others, the autho r of the " Strictures" changes his terms when speaking of "the Church" and "the Christian" respectively, employing the words " the only foundation" in refer- ence to the Church, and " the sole ground," in reference to the Christian. The Christian has an enemy to contend with, that nothing but the power of Omnipotence can overcome ; ay, and this enemy has desired to have some " that he might sift them like wheat." u The Christian's hopes" rest therefore in the power, as well as in the mercy of Him, who can " destroy him that has the power of death, that is, the devil." Heb. ii. 14. The Christian believes in a glorious resurrection, and that if faithful unto death, he shall obtain his " part in it," and be admitted to a participation of the joys of eternal life. "The Christian's hopes" rest therefore upon the faithfulness as well as the mercy of Him, who "is not e 2 42 slack concerning his promise." 2 Peter iii. 9. There- fore " the sole ground of the Christian's hopes," is neither the faithfulness, omnipotence, nor mercy of God, abstractedly and separately considered, for writes the Apostle, " Christ in you the hope of glory/' Now let us see what our early Friends say upon the light, the foundation of our hopes* and perhaps we shall find that they, as well as " Elias Hicks of North Ame- rica, were accustomed to express themselves in pre- cisely the same way," and are from this cause as justly chargeable with Hicksism as the author of " The Truth Vindicated." Concerning Hope. Isaac Penington. — " The ground of the hope is God's love, God's truth, God's faithfulness, God's grace, his seed, his Christ felt within ; being of him, united to him, in him, he in me ; here is the ground of my assurance of the everlasting glory and inheritance, which is sure to the seed, and to all that are of and in the seed. So knowing Christ within me, feeling Christ within me, living in him and he in me, I have an anchor sure and steadfast within the veil, which no storms, no tempests, no trials, no temptations, present or to come, have power over me. And then there is the hope, or hoping itself ; that is, the staying of the mind upon the Lord, the leaning upon the Lord, the retiring beyond all thoughts, or reasonings, or \o6k\x\gs out , to the inward life; tofeel somewhat spring from it for the soul to hope or trust in beyond all out- ward appearance." The Rise and Progress of the People called Quakers, by William Penn, Fourth Edition, Vol. 3, Page 468.— "This we know, but we cannot make another to know it, unless he will take the same way to know it that we took. The world talks of God, but what do they do ? They pray for power, but 43 reject the principle in which it is. If you would know God, and worship and serve God as you should do, you must come to the means he has ordained and given for that purpose. Some seek it in books, some in learned men ; but what they look for is in themselves, though not of themselves, but they overlook it. " Wherefore, O friends, turn in, turn in, I beseech you : where is the poison, there is the antidote. There you want Christ, and there you must find him ; blessed be God, there you may find him." Preface to Primitive Christianity Revived, &c. by William Penn, Page 471. — "By this short ensuing treatise, thou wilt perceive the subject of it, viz. i the Light of Christ in man, as the manifestation of God's love for men's happiness.' Now, forasmuch as this is the peculiar testimony and charac- teristic of the people called Quakers; their great fundamental in religion ; that by which they have been distinguished 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 Divine principle in man" Primitive Christianity Revived, by William Penn, Page 473. — " That which the people called Quakers lay down as a main fundamental in religion, is this, ' that God, through Christ, hath placed a principle in every man to inform him of his duty, and to enable him to do it ; that those that live up to this principle, are the people of God ; and those that live in disobedience to it are not God's people, whatever name they may bear, or profession they may make of religion. This is their ancient, first and standing testimony : with this they began, and this they bore, and do bear, to the world. " There are divers ways of speaking they have been led to use, by which they declare and express w-hat this principle is, about which I think fit to precaution the reader; viz. they call it " the 44 light of Christ within man/ 7 or, light within, (John i. 9.) which is their ancient, and most general and familiar phrase, also the manifestation (Rom. i. 19.) or appearance (Tit. iii. 4. Acts xvii. 28. 2 Pet. iv. 13.) of Christ; the witness of God, (Rom. viii. 6. 1 John v. 6, 12) the seed of God ; the seed of the kingdom, (1 Pet. i. 23. 1 John iii. 9.) wisdom, (Matt. xiii. 19,23.)theword(Prov.i. 20— 23. and viii. 1— 4.Deut.xxx. 12. Rom. x. 6 — 8. Psalm cxix. 10.) in the heart ; the grace (Tit. ii. 11, 12.) that appears to all men; the spirit (1 Cor. xii. 7.) given to every man to profit with ; the truth (Psalm li. 6. Isa. xxvi. 2. John xiv. 6.) in the inward parts; the spiritual leaven, (Matt. xiii. 33.) that leavens the whole lump of man: which are many of them figurative expressions, but all of them such as the Holy Ghost hath used, and which will be used in this treatise, as they are most frequently in the writings and ministry of this people. But that this variety of manner and expres- sion may not occasion any misapprehension or confusion in the understanding of the reader, I would have him know, that they always mean by these terms, or denominations, not another, but the same principle, before mentioned ; which as I said, though it be in man, is not of man, but of God, and therefore divine : and one in itself, though diversely expressed by the holy men, according to the various manifestations and operations thereof. It is to this principle of light, life and grace, that this people refer all." Page 475. — " To sum up what they say upon the nature and virtue of it, the light, as contents of that which follows, they declare that this principle is, First, divine, Secondly, universal, Thirdly, efficacious, in what it gives man, "First, the knowledge of God, and of himself; and therein, a sight of his duty, and disobedience to it. " Secondly, it begets a true sense and sorrow for sin in those that seriously regard the convictions of it. Thirdly, it enables them to forsake sin, and sanctifies from it. "Fourthly, it applies God's mercies in Christ, for the forgive- 45 ness of sins that are past, unto justification, upon such sincere repentance and obedience. " Fifthly, it gives to the faithful, perseverance unto a perfect man, and the assurance of blessedness, world without end. " To the truth of all which, they call in a threefold evidence : First, the Scriptures, which give an ample witness, especially those of the New and better Testament. Secondly, the reason- ableness of it in itself. And lastly, a general experience, in great measure ; but particularly their oxen, made credible by the good fruits they have brought forth, and the [answer God has given to their ministry ; which to impartial observers, have commended the principle, and gives me occasion to abstract their history in divers particulars for a conclusion to this little treatise." A Testimony to "The True Light," by that Faithful, Patiext, and Long-Sufferixg Servant of Christ, Wil- liam Bexxet, Page 6. — "The light is the author of the true and living faith which giveth victory over the world, and is a shield unto the soul to fend off the fiery darts of the devil, and worketh by love, to the purifying of the heart. The light is the author of the true hope, which is an anchor to the soul, sure and steadfast, and is held in a pure conscience, void of offence towards God and man." Page 7. — " The light is like unto the touchstone that tries silver from tin, it trieth and discovereth the good from the bad; it trieth motions, thoughts, words, works and spirits. The light is a stone which God hath laid in Sion, elect and precious ; and those that believe in it shall not be ashamed; and unto those that believe he is very precious; but unto them that believe not, he is as a stone of stumbling, and a rock of o fence, at whom the seeming-wise master-builders have and do stum- ble ; and He whom the wise professors of this age, and great rabbies, and learned orators, set at nought, the same is become the head and chief corner-stone in God's house; by the virtue of which stone, they that believe in Him are quickened, and made living stones meet to be joined unto him — the Light." 46 Page 8. — " The light is the beginning and the end, the foun- dation and top stone, the root and offspring of David, and the bright and morning star, whose blessed day Abraham saw, and was glad : He dwelt among the seven golden candlesticks ; and was with the church in the wilderness, in the days of old." Spiritual Verities Revealed, by Samuel Fisher, Page 845. — " Whereas therefore ye query, what God really is in himself ? As God saith of himself, I am that I am ; so say I, Deus est id quod est ; God is what he is : and if ye, who by your asking of us, profess yourselves to be yet ignorant of him, and so to worship (if yet ye worship him at all) an unknown God, as the wise Athenians did, would know him in any measure, as he is really in himself ; my counsel to you is, to stand still in his own counsel, namely, his light in your con- sciences, that in that you may be led forth into his life and likeness, even unto the image of his Son, the light of the world, the righteous, pure, meek, innocent, gentle, loving, peaceable, inoffensive, merciful, compassionate, tender, patient Lamb of God, that takes away the sin of it, who is the express image of the Father ; in that light that manifests him, and all things (for whatever is manifest, is manifested by the light,) wait for the appearing in his own spirit and power to restore his own image in your hearts ; that as he appeareth, ye may appear with him in his glory, which is fulness of grace and truth, being transformed into his image from glory to glory, by the operation of his Holy Spirit; that as he appeareth, ye may be like him, and so see him as he is ; then shall ye know the Lord, if ye thus follow on to know him, whose goings forth are prepared as the morning to meet those that meet him in his light, by which he shineth into our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of his own glory, in the face of Jesus Christ. " Finally, in answer to the latter part of this your first query, I say that light which God now is (whom no such eye as you look after him with, who ask counsel of man only concerning him, and not of himself alone; either hath seen, or can see;) that same light he ever was, and in that light in which he now is and dwells, (which is unapproachable by every evil doer, who hates the light, which is come unto him to save him, neither comes unto it, lest by it his deeds should be reproved, and which he who doth truth comes to, that his deeds may be made manifest to be wrought in God) in that God was, and did dwell from everlasting : and as the outward sun is not seen through any other natural light save that which shines from itself m the outward world : so God neither is, nor can be seen by means of any other spiritual light, save that which shines from himself into the inner world of men's hearts. And in that light in which God doth now manifest himself, in the same did he manifest himself before time was, and before there was any creature extant to take cognizance of him by such a manifesta- tion, even before the foundation of the heaven and earth was . George Whitehead, Divinity of Christ, an Answer to Thomas Danson, &c. Page 69. — "And thislight of Christ within (however they miscall it) is that which gives knowledge of God's love in Christ, and of the virtue and efficacy of his sufferings and so of his blood, and to eat of his flesh which is given for the life of the world, wherein we partake of him, as the one offering, at the altar of God in his sanctuary, which the carnal professors, both among Jews and pretended Christians, were and are ignorant of and in this light are we come to know and receive Christ and reconciliation through his death, and also the glory of God through him, in whom we have received the atonement, peace and union, with the Father in the Son, which all you that either slight, oppose or deny this light within, and say it's but natural, are ignorant of." Divine Inspiration, &c. George Whitehead, Page 6. — " That God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, do, by immediate illumina- tion of our minds, and without external teaching by Scriptures or by men, show us, or reveal to us, what we ought to do ; and 48 that the children of God are taught of God, and need not any other teacher ; this he excepts against, as quite different from God's method and way, wherein he hath opposed plain scripture testimony. They shall all be taught of God ; they shall not teach every man his neighbour, &c. But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you ; and ye need not that any man teach you ; but as the same anointing teach- eth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie ; and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. " We do therefore assert the sufficiency of this divine illumi- nation or heavenly unction, as being of itself able to show and reveal to us what we ought to believe and do in all tilings ; for that it was sufficient both to make true prophets and preachers, and to enable the holy men of God to give forth what they spake, as they were moved by the Holy Ghost ; and without the inspiration of the Almighty, men cannot truly understand the Scriptures ; yet we do not confine the Holy One only to inward teaching, or an immediate way ; though the sufficiency thereof to them that are turned to it, we do assert." Naked Truth, &c. by Isaac Penington, Preface, Page 10. — "Therefore that man that would not be deceived, and lose his soul for ever, let him take heed how he begins, how he stands, and how he proceeds in his religion. The Jews stood in the revelation of God's Spirit and power outwardly ; and the state of the Christians, the new-covenant state, stands in the revela- tion of God's Spirit and power inwardly : for none can beget a new-birth to God inwardly, but his own Spirit and power working inwardly in the heart. " Now that this may be wrought out in thee, wait for the appearing and working of that power, which by its appearing and working doth effect it daily more and more in those that unite to it, and give up to its operations. Oh ! wait to feel the power begetting somewhat of its own nature in thee, leavening thee into its nature by the pure heavenly leaven 49 wherewith God waits to leaven thy heart ! Thus feel thy beginning from the true rooty from the holy principle, from the seed of the kingdom ; and then wait to feel that grow up in thee, and to grow up therefrom, that as the beginning is pure, so the growth may be pure also." Concerning the Illuminating Spirit and Sanctifying Spirit. — " The Spirit which illuminateth, and the Spirit which sanctijieth, is one and the same Spirit, and the illumination of the Spirit is in order unto sanctification. The same light which discovereth the darkyiess, also chaseth away the darkness, as it is received and subjected to, and purifieth the mind : for the light hath not only a property of enlightening, but also of cleansing and sanctifying. And the reason why men are not changed, justified, and sanctified, in and by the light, is because they love it not, and bring not their hearts and deeds to it / and so it is their reprover and condemner, and not their justi- fier and sanctifier. But the same Spirit, Light, and Life which enlighteneth, also sanctifieth, and there is not another. " Page 13. — " Oh ! the sweetness of light within, truth within ; Oh ! the precious leadings and drawings thereof, which when once felt, upon a fresh and tender remembrance thereof, cannot but be longed after again !" Concerning the Sun, or Fountain of Spiritual Light, Isaac Penington, Page 14. — " Who esteems and honours the Scriptures aright ? He that believes their testimony, comes to Christ, and makes his Spirit, light and life all ; or he that sets the Scriptures in the stead of that Word of life which they come from, testify of, and point men to, as the fountain and foundation of life and salvation to all mankind V Concerning the Inward Light of God's Spirit, Isaac Penington, Page 16.—" Q. What is that which the mind is to be turned to, to enlighten it, to work the darkness and cor- ruption out of it ? " A. It is no less than the light of God's Spirit; nothing else 50 can do it. The day-spring must arise from on high in the heart, or there will be night for ever there. All notions or apprehensions concerning the light will not do it; it. is the shining of the light alone inwardly which is able to expel the darkness there. And if the darkness was within, which they were to be turned from, surely the light must shine within, to discover the darkness, and to that light must they be turned. And in this light the Holy Spirit is received, and dwells there; but out of the light, and the limits thereof, in every heart, dwells the unclean and dark spirit, and hath power and rule thereof; for nothing but the light and strength of God's Spirit is able to break his kingdom and dominion inwardly in the hearth A Warning from the Spirit of Truth, &c. William Bayley, Page 283. — "Therefore take my advice in God's counsel, and come now to the fear of the Lord and wait in his light which makes all things manifest ; for this is the beginning of wisdom's faith, which leads unto the perfect (day), in which the most holy, unchangeable, everlasting God is worshipped ; and out of this there is no true knowledge of him or his worship, or acceptance with him, or any assurance, stabi- lity or satisfaction, which will endure for ever ; and this is the word of the Lord unto you all." Page 356. — "Therefore take heed, that thou bow not, or give thine heart, mind and affections unto any thing, visible or invisible, but to the Lord thy God alone, whose name is but one, and changeth not, even the light, which makes manifest all things, and divides the darkness from it, and hath no fellowship with the unfruitful works and workers therein." Immediate Revelation, R. Barclay, Page 627. — " We say, that the same seed and life is in us, which was in Him ; and is in him in the fulness, as water is in the spring ; and in us as the stream : and this seed and spiritual nature, which is both in him and us, doth belong to him, as he is the second Adam, or 51 Man Christ. Therefore this seed being in us, the Man Christ is in us ; not according to his whole manhood, but according unto that, which is proper unto it : and yet without all division. As the natural life is in all the members, but more principally in the head and heart without any division ; so this spiritual life and nature is both in Christ our head, and in us, by which he dwelleth in us, as the spirit of man doth in the body ; and we eat and partake of his flesh." Some of the Mysteries of God's Kingdom declared, Francis Howgil, Page 125. — "So that none but they that are born of the light, and are begotten by Him who is light, can have the Spirit of Christ, who is light, to bear witness unto them, neither the assurance of the Father's love ; for only they that are born of the Spirit, and walk after the Spirit, are justified by the Spirit of the Lord." The Universal and Saving Light of Christ, R. Bar- clay, Page 363. — "Seeing then, it is by this inward gift, grace and light, that both those that have the gospel preached unto them, come to have Jesus brought forth in them, and to have the saving and sanctified use of all outward helps and advan- tages; and also, by this same light, that all may come to be saved ; and that God calls, invites and strives with all in a day, and saveth many, to whom he hath not seen meet to convey this outward knowledge : Therefore we having the experience of the hmcard and powerful work of this light in our hearts, even Jesus revealed in us, cannot cease to proclaim the day of the Lord } that it is arisen in it, crying out with the woman of Samaria? Come and see One, that hath told me all that ever I have done : Is not this the Christ ? that others may come, and feel the same in themselves, and may know, that that little small thing, that reproves them in their hearts, however they have despised it, and neglected it, is nothing less, than the gospel preached in them* Christ the wisdom and power of God, being in and by that seed seeking to save their souls.' 7 52 Page 346. — " It (the light) is sufficient and saving. That whiei; is given, that all men through it may believe, must needs be saving and sufficient : That by walking in which, fellowship with the saints, and the blood of Christ, which cleanseth from all sin? is possessed, must be sufficient. But such is the light, 1 John i. 7. Therefore, &c. "Moreover; that which we are commanded to believe in, that we may become the children of the light, must be a super- natural, sufficient and saving principle; " But we are commanded to believe in this light : Therefore, &c. The proposition cannot be denied. The assumption is Chrisfs own words, John xii. 36. While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye maybe the children of the light." Page 361. — "So we see, how it is the inward work, and not the outward history and scripture, that gives the true knowledge; and by this inward light many of the heathen philosophers were sensible of the loss received by Adam, though they knew not the outward history. Hence Plato asserted, that mans soul was fallen into a dark cave, where it only conversed with shadows. Pythagoras saith, man wandereth in this world as a stranger, banished from the presence of God. Which expres- sions, and many more that might be gathered out of their writings, shew they were not without a sense of this loss. Also, they had a knowledge and discovery of Jesus Christ inwardly, as a remedy in them to deliver them from that evil seed, and the evil inclinations of their own hearts, though not under that particular denomination" George Fox's Journal, Page 117. — "So in that wait to receive power, and the Lord God Almighty preserve you in it ; whereby you may come to feel the light, that comprehends time and the world. Here the power of the Lord is received, which subdues all the contrary, and puts off the garments that will stain and pollute. "With this light you come to reach the light in every man, which Christ enlightens every man that cometh into the world 53 withal ; and here the things of Christ come to be known, and the voice of Christ heard. Therefore keep in the light, the covenant of peace ; and walk in the covenant of life. " ' If you can change my covenant/ saith the Lord, < which keeps the day in its season, and the night in its season, (mark, my covenant, the light) if you can change this, then may you change the covenant of God with his seed/ So all Friends that are turned to the light which cometh from him by whom the world was made, who was before it was made, Christ Jesus, the Saviour of our souls, abide in the light, and you will see your salvation to be walls and bulwarks against that which the light discovers to be contrary to it. " Waiting in the light you will receive the power of God, which is the gospel of peace, that you may be shod with it. " Know that in one another which raiseth up the seed of God, sets it over the world and the earth, and crucifies the affections and lusts : then the truth comes to reign, which is the guide" Page 135. — " Christ is come a light into the world, and doth enlighten every one that cometh into the world, that all through him might believe. He that feeleth the light, that Christ hath enlightened him withal, he feeleth Christ in his mind, and the cross of Christ, which is the power of God ; he shall not need to have a cross of wood or stone to put him in mind of Christ or of his cross, which is the power of God manifest in the inward parts. 17 Page 21. — "When the Lord God and his Son Jesus Christ sent me forth into the world to preach his everlasting gospel and kingdom, I was glad that I was commanded to turn people to that inward Light, Spirit, and Grace, by which all might know their salvation and their way to God ; even that Divine Spirit which would lead them into all truth, and which I infallibly knew would never deceive any. " But with and by this divine power and Spirit of God, and the light of Jesus, I was to bring people off from all their own ways, f 2 54 to Christ the new and living way ; from their churches, which men had made and gathered, to the church in God," &c. TO ALL THAT WOULD KNOW THE Way TO THE KINGDOM, by George Fox, Page 16. — " For the Jirst step to peace is to standstill in the light, (which discovers things contrary to it) for power and strength to stand against that nature which the light discovers. Here grace grows, here is God alone glorified and exalted, and the unknown truth, unknown to the world, made manifest; which draws up to God that which lies in prison, and refresheth it in time, out of time, through time." Page 188. — "Remember you are warned in your life time, for this light is your way to salvation, if you walk in it, and this light is your condemner, if you reject and hate it. You can never come to Christy the Second Priest, until you come to the light which the Second Priest hath enlightened you withal." Page 208. — " After a little time Edward Pyot and I went to Whitehall; and when we came before him, O. Cromwell, Dr. Owen, vice Chancellor of Oxford, was with him. We were moved to speak to Oliver Cromwell concerning the sufferings of Friends, and laid them before him ; and directed him to the light of Christ, who had enlightened every man that cometh into the world. He said it was a natural light ; but we shewed him the contrary ; and manifested that it was a divine and spiritual, proceeding from Christ the spiritual and heavenly man ; and that which was called the life in Christ the word, was called the light in us. The power of the Lord God arose in me, and I was moved in it to bid him lay down his crown at the feet of Jesus. Several times I spoke to him to the same effect. I was stand- ing by the table, and he came and sat upon the table's side by me, saying, he would be as high as I was : and so continued speaking against the light of Christ Jesus; and went his way in a light manner. But the Lord's power came over him, so that when he came to his wife and other company, he said, I never parted so from them before i for he was judged in himself." 5.5 Page 219. — " And Friends, though ye may have been convinced and have tasted of the power, and felt the light, yet afterwards ye may feel a winter storm, tempest and hail, frost and cold, and temptation in the wilderness. Be patient and still in the power and in the light that doth convince you, to keep your minds to God ; in that be quiet, that ye may come to the summer, that your flight be not in the winter." u So in the light standing still, ye will see your salvation, ye will see the Lord's strength, ye will feel the small rain, ye will feel the fresh springs, your minds being kept low in the power and light, ye will feel God revealing his secrets, inspiring your minds, and his gifts coming in unto you ; through which your hearts will be filled with God's love, and praises to him that lives for evermore : for in his light and power his blessing is received, so in that, the eternal power of the Lord Jesus Christ preserve and keep you ! Live every one in the power of God, that ye may all come to be heirs of that, and know that to be your pos- session, even the kingdom that hath no end, and the endless life which the seed is heir of. Feel that set over all which hath the promise and blessing of Godyb/* ever." Page 220. — " It is not circumstances we contend about, but the way of Christ and his light, which are but one; though the world hath imagined many ways, and all out of the light, which by the light are condemned. He who preached this light, said, t He that knoweth God, heareth us ; he that is not of God. heareth us not; hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the -spirit of error.' It is the same now with them that know the truth ; though the whole world lies in wickedness." " All dispensations and differences that are not one in the light we deny ; and by the light, that was before separation, do we see them to be self-separations in the sensual, having not the spirit. Their fruits and end are weighed in the even balance, and found to be in the dark, the Lo here and Lo there thou tellest of; and the presence of Christ is not with them, though the blind see it not ; who see not with the pure eye, which is single, but with the many eyes, which lead into the many ways. Nor are any the 56 people of God, but who are baptized into this -principle of light • which all the faithful servants of the Lord were ever guided by in all ages, since the apostacy and before. For the apostacy was and is from the light ; and all that oppose the light are apostates, who contest against the truth, are enemies to it, and are not actuated by the Spirit, but have another way than the light. All such are in the world, its words, fashions, and cus- toms, though of several forms, as to their worship ; yet all under the god of this world, opposing the light and appearance of Christ, which should lead out from under his power, of what form soever they are ; yet are they all joined against the light. All these are of the world ; and fighting against them who are not of the world, but are gathered and gathering out of the world : so it ever was against the people of God, under what name soever. They only are saints by calling, who are called into the light ; and sons of Sion, which vary not from the light, to which the Spirit is promised, which is not tied to any forms out of the light; wherein all inherit, who are co-heirs with Christ ; which many talk of, who inherit the earthly, instead of the heavenly." Page 242. — "The next day, being market day, we were to cross a great water ; and not far from the place where we were to take boat, many of the market people drew to us ; amongst whom we had good service for the Lord, declaring the word of life and everlasting truth unto them, and proclaiming the day of the Lord amongst them, which was coming upon all wickedness ; and directing them to the light of Christ, which he the heavenly man had enlightened them withal ; by which they might see all their sins, and all their false ways, religions, worships and teach- ers : and by the same light might see Christ Jesus, who was come to save them, and lead them to God." Page 245. — " All friends of the Lord every where, whose minds are turned in towards the Lord, take heed to the light within you, which is the light of Christ ; which, as you love it, will call your minds inward, that are abroad in the creatures : so your minds may be renewed by it, and turned to God in this 51 which is pure, to worship the living God, the Lord of hosts, o\ ei all the creatures." "The same light that calls in your minds out of the world (that are abroad), the same turns them to God, the Father of lights. Here in the pure mind is the pure God waited upon for wisdom from above ; the pure God is seen night and day, and the eternal peace, of which there is no end, enjoyed. People may have openings, and yet their minds go into the lusts of the flesh ; but there the affections are not mortified. Therefore hearken to that, take heed to that, which calls your minds out of the affections and lusts of the world to have them renewed. The same will turn your minds to God ; the same light will set your affections above; and bring you to wait for the pure wisdom of God from on high, that it may be justified in you. Wait all in that, which cklls in your minds and turns them to God; here is the true cross. That mind shall feed upon nothing that is earthly, but to keep in the pure light up to God, to feed upon the living good which comes from the living God. The Lord God Almighty be with you all, dear babes, and keep you all in his strength and power to his glory, over all the world, ye whose minds are called out of it, and turned to God, to worship the Creator and serve him, and not the creature. The light of God which calls the mind out of the creatures, and turns it to himself, brings into a being of endless joy and peace. Here is always a seeing God present, which is not known to the world, whose hearts are in the creatures, whose knowledge is in the flesh, whose minds are not renewed . Therefore all Friends, the seed of God, mind and dwell in, to reign over the unjust, and the power of the Lord dwell in you, to keep you clear in your understandings, that the seed of God may reign in you all ; the seed of God, which is but one in all, is Christ in the male and in the female, which the promise is to. Wait upon the Lord for the just to reign over the unjust, for the seed of God to reign over the seed of the serpent, and be the head ; and that all that is mortal may die : for out of that will rise presumption. So fare ye well, and God Almighty bless, guide, and keep you in his wisdom," 58 Page 277. — "The same light which lets you see sin and transgression, will let yon see the covenant of God, which blots out your sin and transgression, which gives victory and dominion over it, and brings into covenant with God. For looking down at sin, corruption, and distraction, ye are swallowed up in it; but looking at the light, which discovers them, ye will see over them. That will give victory, and ye will find grace and strength ; there is the first step to peace. That will bring salvation ; by it ye may see to the beginning, and the ' glory that was with the Father before the world began ;' and come to know the seed of God, which is the heir of the promise of God, and of the world which hath no end, and which bruises the head of the serpent, who stops people from coming to God ; that ye may feel the power of an endless life, the power of God which is immortal, which brings the immortal soul up to the immortal God, in whom it doth rejoice." Page 274.—" To the light of Jesus Christ in all your consciences I speak, which cannot lie, nor err, nor bear false witness ; but doth bear witness for God, and cries for equity, justice and righteousness to be executed." Well, here is testimony I think sufficient to the " only foundation," Christ, the light, " on which the church is built,' ' and also, to " the sole ground of the christian's hopes." And if the author of the " Strictures" will " compare George Fox's memorable words," in his epistle to the governor of Barbadoes, he will find that they all correspond ; and if upon this point, " the only foundation of our hopes," he still insists that those sentiments " are utterly opposed to those which Friends have always felt it to be their duty and privi- lege to uphold," I must again refer him to the 13th page of his " Strictures," where he will find it written "that every one, who has with any care examined the subject, must be aware that these," &c. 59 We now proceed to other " Strictures." Joseph Gurney makes extracts from pages 57, 75, 208 of "The Truth Vindicated," in which passages he says, the " Holy Scriptures are here described as the letter that killeth," — as " a mere dead letter," and " a mere written, or printed book." But are these terms, I ask, applied to them in an unqualified or unrestricted sense ? Not at all. And here again, the author of the " Strictures" affords us a lamentable illustration of that uncandid, blind, and uncharitable spirit, which an overweening confidence in our own abilities, (poor worms as we are) is ever apt to engender. I have spoken of the scriptures in the sense of " a dead letter,'' &c. as abstracted from the Holy Spirit, which alone can give them life, and I earnestly request the impartial attention of every one desirous of reading with their own eyes and judging with their own rightly -disposed understandings, to refer to the passages themselves and see if it is not so. I repeat, the scrip- tures are there spoken of in the sense of "a dead letter," &c. under this expi^ess restriction, for their various uses, their divine authority, &c are abundantly testified to in many parts of "The Truth Vindicated," when opened to the understanding, or applied to the heart, by Him, without whose quickening influence, even man himself cannot become " a living soul." M Our author" might with as much propriety call the dead bodies of the Prophets and Apostles themselves, '* spirit and life,'' as he does the mere words which they wrote, without any reference to the life-giving presence of the Almighty. He talks farther on about Popery, (I ask his excuse, I see by reference it is 60 Roman Catholics) however, " the Papists never paid much greater adoration to the bones, and other personal relics of departed saints, than do the generality of protestants to the translations of copies of the words that they have spoken or written, and yet, alas ! they come not unto Christ, that they might have life." Has the author of the " Strictures" ever heard of two sorts of faith, a dead faith and a living faith ? Can that faith be any other than a dead faith, which is not begotten by the Author of the faith " which overcomes the world?" And by a parity of reason, can Joseph John tell us how the words of a hundred different languages, (for such is the Bible now) can be any other than dead letters de facto, unless renewed with life, by Him who out of the stones, as well as letters, if he sees meet, can raise up children unto Abraham ? It is in this restricted sense then, I again repeat, that the scriptures are called " a dead letter," &c. and in no other ; yet thus earnestly contending for the sole and undivided supremacy of the Holy Spirit, the author of "The Truth Vindicated," " anonymous as he is," is to be charged with deism, and speaking in disrespectful terms of the Holy Scriptures. This author of the ". Strictures," who is either blind and cannot see the sense in which those things are both implied and expressed, or who is perverse and will not, appears to be on such remarkably good terms with his own judg- ment, that he pays no regard whatever to this point ; but, as if calculating that every one else will do equal homage to the same idol, condescends to scarcely any other refutation than his own overwhelming ipse dixit ; " 1" conceive it to be a very dangerous mistake," 61 writes he, '' to speak of the Holy Scriptures as the " letter which killeth.' " Ergo, it must be a dangerous mistake. And as to " confounding an individual's own sug- gestions with Holy Scriptures/ ' in the extract alluded to by the " Stricture" writer, I would fain know what other than a man's own suggestions, or the suggestions of Satan, can he minister from, if he ministers not from ' the Spirit which giveth life P 1 The question there put to I. C, remains as good for J. J. G. r or any one else, and according as truth shall respond, so will the source from whence the ministry springs, be most certainly discovered. But it is not true that the Holy Scriptures "are described" in the passage quoted by "our author," as the " letter which killeth." The words Holy Scriptures, or any other terms equivalent to them, do not even ajjpear in it. It is quite bad enough for him to pervert the meaning of my own expressions, but to assert that the terms of his constructions are my actual descriptions, when they are not so, is one of those sort of " Strictures" which if denominated by its right name, would probably " shock" the " Stricture" maker's "feelings as a man and his principles as a christian." I would have " our author" reflect how- ever that a man may be " a minister of the letter which killeth," without necessarily confining his ministry to the letter of holy scripture. He might as a dead letter minister, treat us with commentaries on the Koran, or recite us sermons from the Jewish Talmud. Before I proceed to make selections from the writings of our early Friends, upon the several important points that present themselves at this stage of the discussion, G 62 I shall make a few explanatory observations, in re- ference to the quotations made from their writings, by the author of the " Strictures." In the first place it is worthy of observation, how scanty are the extracts from these voluminous writings. The few detached sentences which are held up as embodying their opinions has very much the appearanc that " our author" was conscious he had undertaken " to prove" what was not the fact, viz., that " the author of ' The Truth Vindicated' advances sentiments utterly opposed to those which Friends have always felt it to be their duty and privilege to uphold." It must be remembered that although George Fox, and the rest of his friends, were always willing to acknowledge holy scriptures to be the words of God, yet that acknowledgment was understood to be in a qualified sense, as was also the term " dead letter," &c. and this the author of the " Strictures," must or ought to know, and knowing it, should not have so far transgressed the laws of fair argument, as to apply them in support of his views, in an altogether unquali- fied sense. With regard also to the canon of Scripture, they were not " accustomed to apply the words of our Lord at the conclusion of the Apocalypse," as expressive of their belief, that from the first word of Genesis, to the last w r ords of that passage, was included all Scrip- ture that had been written by inspiration of God : bu} they believed, and they sufficiently evince their belief, that these anathemas referred to those who should add to or detract from " the whole system of truth," as therein revealed ; and not from or to the mere declara- 63 tion or Scripture of that truth. If this be not its mean- ing, you have no right to translate Scriptures out of the languages in which they were written, for in so doing you take all those words away, and put other words in their stead, But then, say you, the truth is the same ; which is at once yielding us the point we contend for. It must also be understood that in the acknowledg- ment made by our early Friends, that " the Holy Scriptures are the only fit outward judge of controversy," still the "paramount authority of the Spirit," at all times and under all circumstances, was not excluded ; and when speaking of the Scriptures as a judge, &c. it was but as an outward one, subordinate to the inward. And, since from the Spirit they (the Scriptures) derive all their efficacy ; since "it is the originating power from which the Scriptures themselves proceeded/' they could do no otherwise than cheerfully " admit as a positive, certain maxim, that whatsoever any do pretending to the Spirit, which is contrary to the Scriptures, be accounted and reckoned a delusion of the devil. " For it is very obvious, that what has the devil for its source, and that which has the Holy Spirit for its source, can bear no similitude to each other. Joseph John Gurney's quotations therefore, warily as they are introduced, do not, as will be seen by the above remarks, even touch the principle, in support of which they are brought forward, viz., " That in every case of doubt or contro- versy, in relation to matters either of doctrine, or moral principle, the decision of Scripture is ultimate, and that there lies no appeal from it to any higher authority whatsoever." The author of the " Strictures'' has to be sure a 64 most felicitous knack of overcoming a difficulty, at least, in his own estimation : we have had proofs of this some few pages back, for he will take your own words out of your own sentences, and substitute others in their places, rather than not come off victorious ; it is therefore not very suprising to find him writing thus — " The comparison which some of the early Friends were accustomed to institute between the Spirit as the primary rule, and the Scripture as the secondary one, was not intended, as / conceive, to apply to the question of authority, but only to that of order and dignity." Exquisite distinction ! Important dis- covery ! How appropriately " our author" might in this place have given us a line from Pope, as he has, in his title page given us one from Bacon, " Order is heaven's first law/' &c. — Pope. But to be serious, whether the author of the " Stric- tures" is so or not ; was it not, I ask, the paramount authority of the Spirit that was asserted by the early Friends ? Most undoubtedly it was. Then of what w T orth are the conceptions of Joseph John Gurney, in the face of a most undeniable fact ? Why no more than the dried ink of the paper upon which they were brought forth. It was only a sort of make-believe superiority contended for by our early Friends : according to this conceit— sl nominal, but not an actual superiority. But does not " our author" know, that degrees of order and dignity are indications of corresponding degrees of authority ? Does he not know that the order and dignity of the judge, bespeak a higher degree of authority than the order and dignity of his amanuensis ? 65 A man occupying the responsible station of a pro- fessed Gospel minister, should certainly conduct himself as a controversialist with at least common fairness ; but whether this writer's imprudent zeal has blinded his judgment, or whether his judgment is of that nature as not very exactly to regard truth, I do not pre- tend to decide ; but to one of these two causes must the following, among other erroneous statements most surely be ascribed. In the extract which he makes from the 64th page of " The Truth Vindicated," we find the sentence concludes thus — M and hence we find that those principles of moral action which are most clearly revealed in the hearts of all, and distinctly testified of in the Scriptures, are nevertheless, obscured or subdued, misunderstood, or entirely neglected, by bringing down their authority to be tested by a standard which our own carnal desires or interests have erected." Upon which the " Stricture' ' writer, (to use his own words,) makes the " shameless declaration," that "the Scriptures are here represented as a standard erected by men's carnal desires and interests," Really, the terms "false, and audacious," are choice expressions from this man's mouth. — I say the Scriptures are not "here represented as a standard erected by men's carnal desires and interests," but they are represented as distinctly testifying to " those principles of moral action, which (by the light) are most clearly revealed in the hearts of all." Was this writer sitting in his chair, or standing upon his head, when this " Stricture" issued forth from his censorium ! Can the Stricture writer dare deny, that men's carnal desires and interests have given, and do give an interpretation g2 66 to the Scriptures, and that this interpretation is set up as a standard by which even the "principles of moral action/' are but too frequently tested ? But whether this be admitted or not, yet that interpretation of the Scriptures, and not the Scriptures themselves, as opened by the Holy Spirit, is the standard here represented, or alluded to. Turn back, Joseph Gurney, to the 6th page of thy " Strictures," and re-peruse thy own re- marks about an " evil eye." With respect to the canon of Scripture, although I shall make ample quotations from our early Friends' writings on this head, I may observe that the " honest author" of the " Strictures," as Philo calls him, neither attempts to invalidate the arguments which are urged in " The Truth Vindicated" on this head, nor does he prove the correctness of his own assertions. His charges of falsehood and audacity would have been a little more seemly, had he made but a feeble effort to substantiate them. I must explain to " our author," that the Holy Scrip- tures are not described in " The Truth Vindicated" as an " Eden of men's own planting," — but that this and similar expressions, bear reference to " the formation of the canon, and ultimate rule, &c." and not to the origin of the Scriptures themselves. But to drop the Hgure and to speak literally ; we are told in the second chapter and ninth verse of the book of Genesis, that " The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden ;" andin the ninth chapter, and twentieth verse of the same book we are told that '* Noah began tobe a husbandman, and that he planted a vineyard." Now, Joseph John, who was the maker of the trees, that were planted in this 67 Eden, and in this vineyard ? " The Lord God" doubt- less. Yes, but though he made the trees, yet it was only man who plan ted one garden, and He who planted the other. And so, though Holy Scripture was given forth " by holy men. as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" yet it is man, who has formed some of them into a canon, — it is man, who has made an "Eden of them, after the device of his own heart/' and who ex- cludes all from " the true knowledge of God, of his holy law, and of the gospel of life and salvation," that the Almighty has seen meet, in his inscrutable wisdom, to place without its privileged pales. Why did not Joseph John Gurney give us plain answers to the plain questions, which are put in the extracts he has made from "The Truth Vindicated ?" Why did he not tell us e< where and when did the com- mission issue forth from the li King of kings and Lord of lords," that any man or body of men, should appoint a standard, and a test out of such writings as they should approve ; that these should take the judgment seat, and that the Holy Spirit, before his influences are to be heeded, must be brought up to the bar and judged by the judge, that they have appointed ?" Where was it, Joseph John Gurney, and when was it that this com- mission issued forth: has it been since the ''eminent Biblical critics of the last one hundred and fifty years have given us the result of their labours, or was it before these extraordinary personages made their appearance ? The Author of the " Strictures" says that the Divine origin of that series of books which compose the Old Testament, as distinguished from any other books of the Hebrews — is established by many evidences, and by 68 the express authority of our Lord Jesus Christ and his Apostles. That of the several books of the New Testament, as distinguished from all other existing Christian writings, is matter of no mere priestly de- cision, but of sober, substantial, and rational proof." This is a piece of mere vapid declamation, and empty assertion. We know that they are " distinguished from all other existing Christian writings, " but that is an evasion of the point. The question is, were they rightly distinguished, by those who first selected them from all other Christian writings, and who came to the decision, that they, and they alone of all other Christian writings, should be the sole rule of faith and practice, and that from that time, henceforth, and for ever, the Holy Spirit would no more inspire his devoted and faithful servants, to give forth by writing his mind and will concerning the church, to their edification, consolation and hope ? If Joseph John Gurney cannot demonstrate to us, that "they who first drew this boundary line, and thus specifically denned the exact quantum of writing that should be pre-eminently distinguished by the appellation of the word or words of God, and that to this precise canon (as they term it,) all future reve- lations of God, howsoever immediate to the soul, should be brought as to an " ultimate test" before it was possible that their authority could be acknowledged — unless, I say, Joseph John Gurney can most clearly demonstrate, that these canon makers had authority from God himself to make this selection, ordain this test, and subject even the influences of the Holy Spirit thereto, then what is it all, but " the wisdom of man/' upon which this canon is founded, instead of " the power of God ?" 69 Such is the difference between the Author of the " Strictures" and myself, that he appears to conceive Christianity falls to the ground, "if any other books written by holy men, might have been fixed upon for the purpose with just the same propriety." Whereas,! feel persuaded, that Christianity can neither fall nor stand. by either the negative or affirmative of this proposition, " Heaven and earth shall pass away," said Christ, " but my words shall ?zo£pass away." So that whatever " our author's " faith may rest upon, whether on " the ]abours of eminent biblical critics," or on a certain portion of " copies or translations of copies of the writings of holy men," yet I know that Chrsitianity rests upon neither, and that if by some un-foreseen event, all these things should be swept from the world to morrow, it could not make what has been done not to have been done, Christ would nevertheless have died for our sins, have risen for our justi- fication, and would yet " be sitting at the right hand of God where he ever liveth to make intercession for us," and so long as we walked in that light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world, would "the blood of Jesus Christ cleanse us from all sin," " Christianity, the religion of the Bible/' is to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and thy neighbour as thyself; "upon these hang all the law and Prophets," and to suppose that this could not be done; to conceive, that the " grace of God which bringeth salvation, and which hath appeared to all men," would not be sufficient to enable us to accom- plish these duties, " if any other books written by holy men might have been fixed upon for the purpose," (of a test and standard..) "with just the same propriety," as TO that those form the canon, is a scepticism of no diminu- tive kind, inasmuch as it leads to positive Atheism. " Our author" a little farther back stated " the sole ground of the Christian's hopes" to be " the free mercy of God in him " (Christ). Now " the sole ground, " appears to be the canon or letter of Scripture ; this is now made the sine qua non ; for without it " I conceive," (and if I conceive, who shall dispute ?) " Christianity, the religion of the Bible, falls to the ground." 4 ' Christians of every denomination" (writes our author) "have hitherto united, not only in saying, but in firmly believing, that all the writings of the Old and New Testament are Holy Scripture.' ' I give this assertion a positive denial, if the terms of Old and New Testament are employed to designate in an exclusive 3ense those writings only that usually go under that appellation. Our early Friends made a distinction, if modern professors do not, which I shall presently prove. All that is recorded in the Scriptures of truth is not equally holy, although all may have been "written for our instraction/' &c. There areo many genealogical tables, and matters of daily occurrence, such as Paul's request to have his cloak brought to him from Troas, &c, which certainly do not in their own nature demand the same high and expressive title affixed to them, as do those express commands of duty, or clear narrations of impor^ tant facts, which the Holy Spirit of God more immediately moved his servants to commit to writing. For although all holy men are regulated in all they do, by the dic- tates of the Spirit, and have an eye therein to God's glory, yet it does not necessarily follow that every action which in itself bears reference only to the in- 71 different things of time should be denominated after the same manner, as should those which bear reference to the things of eternity. As for " the hackneyd objection about transcription, translation, &c. as affecting the practical authority and usefulness of the Holy Scriptures," li anonymous as he is," the author of the " The Truth Vindicated " dares to insinuate, and even to assert," in express contradiction to the assertion of Joseph John Gurney, that it ought to " have place among the professors of Christianity." And the place that it ought to have is this, viz. that out of that " light which maketh all things manifest," and by which only the deep things of God are revealed, all is uncertainty and confusion; that without this " Key of Knowledge," to open the Scriptures, we shall either be slow of heart to believe all that the Prophets have spoken ; or else, if believing, it will be a faith founded upon the decision of our own judgments, or " the labours of those eminent biblical critics," whose arguments pos- sess the greatest sway over our minds. For " our author's" assertion to have possessed any weight, he should have proved that the objection w r as untrue, not that it was hackneyed, But the objection about transcription, &c. is not more " hackneyed" than the " precious evidence," which Joseph Gurney speaks of, and which was generally resorted to by the opponents of our early friends. (See Baxter, Vincent, Owen, and others.) Why it is impossible that the original manuscripts of even the books that we possess, could have been inspected at any one time by any of the canon-making councils that ever assembled in foro ecclesiastico. How then does " our author" know, after the various channels through 72 which these books have passed, "that they have been handed down from age to age, without any material in- jury " that all the various readings which have arisen from this copying and recopying, have failed to deprive us of a single doctrinal sentiment, of a single moral principle, or of a single historical record ? We find in the fourth chapter, thirty-first verse of first Kings that Solomon " spake three thousand proverbs ; and his songs were a thousand andy^e." And even if we admit that the book of Proverbs, of which Solomon is the reputed author, were all written by him, still there is above two thousand wanting to make the number complete. But what are lost, according to Joseph Gurney's mode of reasoning, could be of no more use than waste paper, for not " a single doctrinal sentiment nor a single moral principle " have we been deprived of. They must have been a peculiar kind of proverbs. Amongst many other references made in the Scriptures that we do possess, to books of Scripture that we do not possess, we find the following in the second Chronicles, ninth chapter, twenty-ninth verse. " Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the Prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer, against Jeroboam the son of Nebat." Now I must really run the risk of a reiteration of the charges of falsehood and audacity, by expressing my belief, that those above cited books contained several" histori- cal records/' for the Scriptures that we have, expressly declare that they did. Thankful therefore as we may and ought to feel for the preservation of so much as we possess, it is not 73 " evidence" to prove we have lost nothing, because we have not lost all ! There is really so much to which I see it right to object in these " Strictures/ 1 such a little " wholesome food/' and so much " poison," that considering the ample quotations which I think proper to introduce, I shall be obliged to pass by what I should otherwise notice. But I cannot refrain, ere I proceed to my next list of quotations, to make a few more observations upon some of these " Strictures;" one of which runs thus, " The fact is however, first, that the Bible, like all other books, must be interpreted according to the common and intelligible rules of language * secondly, that although its contents are often wrested from their true meaning, that meaning, on all points essential to salvation, is as clear as the noon- day ; and thirdly, that on these points the great body of the professing church of Christ is substantially agreed.' ' The author in some part of his " Strictures," talks about a form of infide- lity, which " dares to assume the name of Quakerism." Whatever form of infidelity may assume this name, certain I am, that the sentiments conveyed in the above " Stricture, " are a most daring assumption of that name. If it is " the fact, first, that the Bible like all other books must be interpreted according to the common and intelligible rules of language," one would suppose that there were not " many things in the epistles of Paul which were hard to be understood : " if they " must be interpreted like all other books," what need of the Holy Spirit, which (in the " Advices -issued by the Society of Friends, 1720, " and quoted in Appendix 2 of the " Strictures,") is declared to be the source u from H 74 whence they came, and by which they are truly opened?" So then after all it appears this " ultimate rule/ 9 this ade- quate and only written test, must have rules for its interpretation, but not the rule of our Lord Jesus Christ, mind, for this " involves the danger of a very fatal heresy/' but the common and intelligible rules of language. 1 ' I will just submit a passage to Joseph John Gurney's consideration, and ask him ivhat are the " rules of language," by which it is to be interpreted. " And he (Jesus) took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, this is my body which is given for you : this do in remembrance of me." — Luke xxii. 19. Does Joseph John Gurney mean to say, that " the common and intelligible rules of language," by which he would interpret it, would be the same " common and intelligible rules," by which the Roman Catholic would interpret it, or by which the Lutheran or Calvinist would interpret it ? And if the same " common and intelligible rules," are resorted to by all, how is it their interpretations do not agree? How is it that the Jews do not avail themselves of these " common and intelligible rules of language ?f And, what sort of rules are those by which they interpret the prophecies, of their own Prophets in reference to the com- ing of the Messiah, as not being yet fulfilled ? Oh ! they are " wrested from their true meaning," I suppose " our author" would reply ; they " must be interpreted by the common and intelligible rules of language," which Jem- ploy, and then their interpretations would most undoubt- edly be the same ! In short all should put the same inter- pretation upon them as I do, and then there would be no differences! Although "the common and intelligible 75 rules of language," must be the interpreter of the Bible, still in referenced the various interpretations thatare putupon it, we must denominate the amount andnatureof those differences by the uncommon and unintelligible rales. And although there are arguments " adduced against Protestants by Roman Catholics/' although the latter declare it to be essential for the soul to go into purga- tory before it goes into heaven, while the Protestants declare it is no such thing — although the Catholics say that the Pope is the head of the church, and some of the Protestants that it is the King — although the Catholics declare that their Clergy have the power to give absolution from sin, and the Protestants declare they have not — although the latter, with the exception of Friends, plead for the continuance of sin, for the whole term of life — although their ministers are ordained ac- cording to the laws of human appointment, and are "hire- Imgs and deceivers," according to the principles of Friends ; although through the means of these " hirelings and deceivers, "the fires of persecution have lighted many a martyr to his grave, and blood now stains the earth for their cause ; yet we must resort here to the uncom- mon and unintelligible " rules of language," and make the " shameless declaration," that " on all points essen- tial to salvation, the great body of the professing church of Christ is substantially agreed." So that it is as " clear as the noon- day," that if they " substantially" agree in their differences , they "substantially" differ in their agreement. "That the genuine principles of the Society of Friends lead into no such awful confusion, will (I hope) be readily acknowledged by those who are best acquainted with their tenets and history," 76 " That the Bible, like all other books , must be inter - preted according to the common and intelligible rules of language !" Does the author of the " Strictures" think that rottenness has penetrated to the heart's core of the Society ? Does he think that all are willing to bow the knee to Baal — that there are none who are ready to answer the call to go up to Ramoth- Gilead to battle? Does he think that " thick darkness' ' so far overspreads the Society, that he can palm off this assertion upon their benighted minds, as a doctrine of Christianity and genuine Quakerism ? If he so thinks, I am animated with the hope, that he will be most egregiously disappointed. The author of the " Strictures 7 ' is as unjust in the inferences he draws from "certain parts" of "The Truth Vindicated," as he is weak and erroneous in the arguments with which he assails it. His strength is only in his name, and were it not for this, the " Stric- tures," I verily believe would never have been noticed by me. He first insinuates, and then declares, that I have treated "the contents of the Holy Scriptures, in the character of past and obsolete revelations. Really he has need to be oft reminded to peruse his own re- marks about an "evil eye." Now, obsolete, we know,, means out of use, and to say that I have thus treated "the contents of the Holy Scriptures," when I have most expressly testified to their usefulness, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, in several parts of " The Truth Vindicated," and in no one sentence throughout applied either obsolete or any other similar term to their contents, is really employing the weight and reputation of a name for a very unworthy purpose. That I have 77 treated them as past revelations is true, but that I have treated them as obsolete revelations is false, and if I were even to add that choice word of " our author's," " audacious," it would not be malapropos, although in an anonymous author, our " Stricture" writer might deem it " unseemly and violent language." And in their simple character of Scripture, is it not true that they are " records of revelations made in ages past." And of the dealings of God with men some of whom have been dead, some hundreds, and most even thousands of years ago ?" But how from this fact " it plainly follows, that, practi- cally speaking, they are to us "passes and obsolete," Joseph Gurney does not condescend to inform us. He says so and that is all. What " plainly follows," how- ever from these facts is, that if there is such a thing as immediate revelation now, then that which is only mediate, which is only ■ " a declaration of those things which were surely believed," — Luke i. 1. ; that which " like all other books," as the " Stricture" writer says, " must be interpreted according to the common and intelligible rules of language," and which is interpreted by a vast variety of rules, cannot either de esse or de facto, be so high a rule, or so sure a testimony as that which brings its own evidence in itself, which needs neither " the labours of eminent biblical critics" to elucidate, nor "the common and intelligible rules of language" to interpret it, but which " is nigh thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart, that thou may est do it." Even prophane history, as it is called, has its use on several accounts, and the events which it records have a certain prospective bearing upon the actions and sentiments of mankind, so that even this description H 2 78 of history, cannot with propriety be said to be "passe and obsolete to us," much less then can it be so said of Sacred history. This writer's inference therefore, is ridiculous in the extreme, yes, so palpably errone- ous, that even a child of tolerable capacity with a little assistance must perceive its error. The author of the " Strictures/' on the strength of his assumption, asks us ' ' above all, what becomes of our dependence on the efficacy of those by-gone facts, the incarnation, atoning sacrifice, and glorious resur- rection and ascension of the eternal Son of God ? Here surely," he continues, " is a point of supreme importance. There can, I think, be no question that this author's peculiar method of treating the contents of the Holy Scriptures, in the character of past and obsolete revelations, discards from our notice, and even from our creed, that mighty plan of redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ on which hang all the hopes and all the virtues of the Christian believer." In the first place, I must again observe that I have not '* treated the contents of the Holy Scriptures, in the character of obsolete revelations ; but to deny that those revelations are past, which are only declared of in the Scriptures of truth, would blend all time into the present ; and we might just as well contend for the actual bodily existence of all the holy men, who were the subjects of those revelations, as to say the narra- tives of these are the revelations themselves, in the same power and authority , as they were to those who have left them upon record. If Joseph John Gurney will believe himself, that is, if he will be consistent in the nature of his belief, one would think that he must 79 believe so too ; for has he not told us, " that the Bible, like all other books, must be interpreted according to the common and intelligible rules of language ? " Now revela- tion requires no interpretation, for it is interpretation itself, or a making known to us that which we did not know before. That an account of some of the revelations, which God made to holy men of old, has come down to us through books or Scripture is true, and he to whom those truths are sealed by the revelation of the same Holy Spirit "in the secret of the soul," has a sweet and more " precious evidence" of their truth, than he who turns self-interpreter, and would unfold the heavenly mysteries therein declared of, by the same methods of human invention that he would apply to " all other books." Thus, according to these principles, '* our dependence on the efficacy of those by-gone facts, the incarnation, atoning sacrifice, and glorious resurrection and ascension of the eternal Son of God," is made to rest in the first place upon the mere external knowledge of those facts, as interpreted " by the common and intelligible rules of language ;" for though " the enlightening influence of the Holy Ghost/' is admitted in this system, as being "absolutely indispensible to a saving apprehension (an odd term) of the truths con- tained in the sacred volume," yet this only comes second in order. I am willing however to think, that thou wert unobservant of the entire consequences of thy own statements, which, if not a culpable ignorance, must draw upon our compassion, rather than our severity. As there were believers before Christ was offered up " without the gates of Jerusalem;" as there were those who could say from blessed experience, " I oU know that my Redeemer liveth," so from the like bles- sed experience have the hopes and virtues of the Chris- tian believer been encouraged and sustained, since that offering was accomplished ; and though the Holy- Scriptures are undoubtedly the medium by which the history of those facts are, by the inscrutable will and wisdom of the Almighty, conveyed to us, yet what avails the mere literal knowledge of that history, to man's salvation, since " unless a man be born again, he can in no wise enter into the kingdom of God." It was not by Scripture that Simon Peter knew Christ as his Saviour, nor was it even by Christ's visible and external presence in the flesh. " But whom," said Christ to his disciples, " say ye that I am ? And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." Matt. xvi. 16, 17. The author of the " Strictures" makes the following observations upon an extract from page 133, of "The Truth Vindicated." " Since the author of ' The Truth Vindicated' is utterly incapable of accounting for any other rule than the Spirit of Christ in the heart r the good old Christian doctrine that the Holy Scriptures are a divinely authorised rule of faith and practice, must of course be regarded as passing the limits of his conception.' ' Now, I must request the impartial attention of the reader to the quotations from the Holy Scriptures, in this part of " The Truth Vindicated," preceding the remark that no " other rule could be accounted 81 for, " and he will find that this expression bears reference solely to the words of the Apostle, who had been ad- vising the churches, to " mind the same rule," by- obedience to which they had already attained to a cer- tain spiritual state, and which secured the blessings of peace and mercy ; so that as far as the Apostle's express advice and benediction is therein concerned, I must repeat "my utter incapacity to account for any other rule by which we are to be led, and by which we are to walk, than the blessed Spirit of Christ. '' It remains therefore for our " Stricture" writer to shew how the Apostle meant two rules, when he was speak- ing only of one and the " same'' For " good and old," as the " Christian doctrine" may be " that the Holy Scriptures are a divinely authorised rule of faith and practice," it is neither so good nor so old as the rule the Apostle was speaking of ; and little did he think, most likely, that the rule he was then recommending, would in future ages be denominated a "heresy," by those who called themselves Christian ministers ; and that what he was then writing, with some other writ- ing that was yet to come, both of his own and other Apostles, as they were moved thereto, should be bound up together with certain other writings of holy men, and either to the total exclusion of the rule which he recommended, or the reservation of it to what some future '* Stricture" writer should deem " three important points," be appointed " the judge and test," and that "from it" there should be "no appeal" " to any higher authority ivhatsoever." The Sciptures are acknowledged to be a rule in " the Truth Vindicated," but a rule (mind) completely sub- 82 ordinate to the Spirit. And if any passage is so con- structed as to show an apparent doubt upon such admission, its application is confined, to distinguish the nature of the one rule from that of the other, for whilst there is Scriptural authority for the one, there is no Scriptural authority for the other, as to the precise word rule itself. A rule therefore the Scriptures are acknowledged to be, yet as " one of the most eminent of the early Friends, Richard Claridge," said, " as great a value as I have for them, neither I nor any one else ought to set them in competition with, or give them the preference to, the Spirit of truth, by which they were given forth, and from which they do receive all their authority , worth and usefulness." Therefore the Spirit by pre-eminence y is called " the rule," and the Scriptures " a rule," and even in the quotation which our " Stricture' ' writer has selected from the above- mentioned Richard Claridge, on this very point, the Holy Scriptures are only alluded to as an " outward rule and standard," and that not of "faith and practice," but of doctrine and practice ; neither is the superlative term affixed to them, in a single extract that Joseph John Gurney has made, either in his Strictures, or his Appendices, from individual writing, or public advices, but only in their character of an " outward rule." As for their being a " rule of faith," Joseph Gurney says is "the good old Christian Doctrine," he should have given us "good old Christian" authority for it, and given us chapter and verse out of the " adequate and only written test." That test tells us, that "Fait h is the gift of God." And if the Scriptures be also a gift (which I acknowledge) wilt thou tell me, Joseph Gurney, which is the greater gift of the two. If faith, then, according to thy " peculiar method of treating the con- tents of the Holy Scriptures," the lesser is a rule for the greater. But if thou shouldest say, the Holy Scriptures are the greater, how was it that the Apostle Paul did not think of informing us, " and now abideth faith," Holy Scripture, " hope, charity," these four, "but the greatest of these is" Holy Scripture and "charity." But what Scripture was it that was a rule for Abel's faith, and the faith of the long list of worthies, referred to in the Eleventh Chapter of the Hebrews, for " these," writes the Apostle, " all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and con- fessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on earth" And again, will our writer of " Strictures" inform us, since " the limits of his comprehension," appear to have no termination but such as his own "conception," tra- dition, and the " eminent biblical critics" of the last one hundred and fifty years have assigned, will this man of " Strictures " I ask, inform us how it is, that if there be but " one Lord, one faith, and one baptism," there should have been one rule, or no rule for " the faith once delivered to the saints," and that there should be another rule for our faith ? Let our " Stricture " writer, I repeat, give us Chapter and verse for this "good old Christian doctrine ?" As for the " higher view " that Robert Barclay would have' entertained of the " substantial correctness of the text of the Old and New Testaments had he lived to witness the result of the labours of many eminent biblical critics, during the last one hundred and fifty years," it is as weak an observation, as could 84 well be put upon paper. As if the farther we are re~ moved by time and circumstances from the external means of establishing its " substantial correctness," the nearer we arrive to truth and certainty. What a prodigious advancement herein the eminent critics of the next one hundred and fifty-years to come, will insure ; and as for those in the succeeding one hundred and fifty, if Joseph John should live to witness the result of their labours, how insignificant in comparison would the labours of these poor critics appear ', to whom is attributed no very mean influence after all, even no less than that of giving Robert Barclay a higher view of the " substan- tial correctness of the text of the Old and New Testa- ments," than was vouchsafed to him by the Holy Spirit, from whose testimony, and not that of " biblical critics," his belief in them was established. " Yes I do believe in them," writes he in his Apology Vindicated, Sec. 5, " because the testimony of the Spirit in my heart obligeth me so to do." " For that I confess myself," says he also in his epistle to the reader prefixed to his Apology, " to be not only no imitator and admirer of the School- men, but an opposer and despiser of them as such, by whose labour I judge the Christian Religion to be so far from being bettered that it is rather destroyed." What a very shrewd man must our author of the " Strictures " be, to know that the labours of the same class of men during the last one hundred and fifty years, would have made this departed servant of Christ, a learner in that school which then he opposed and despised. Robert Barclay wanted none of thy ' ' eminent biblical critics," to make his expressions on a par with truth. ''For what I have written" says he, " I have heard with the 85 ears of my soul, and seen with my inward eyes, and my hands have handled of the Word of Life, and what hath been inwardly manifested to me of the things of God, that do I declare.' 1 Thy " eminent critics/ ' their labours, and all their heaps of stuff, which would amount by even a moderate calculation to more than a thousand times thrice told of the bulk of the Bible itself, is not w T orth the millionth part of a particle of dust as to " the truth as it is in Jesus/' without the witness of the Holy Spirit. "No man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him/' There wants no "labours of eminent biblical critics " here, and if this revelation be wanting, whether critics or no critics, their labours will be all in vain. The author of the " Strictures "says, "when we speak of the Holy Scriptures in that character, of an ' ' ulti- mate appeal" which this writer not only denies, but treats as a subject of scorn and irony, we must be un- derstood as expressly reserving three important points ; first, that a measure of the Light of the Holy Spirit in- dependently of any outward revelation, shines in the consciences of all men, and shews them the distinctions between right and wrong ; secondly, that the peculiar calls and services of individual Christians cannot be set- tled by a reference to Scripture, but are matters of pro- vidential arrangement and direct divine guidance ; thirdly, that in order to a saving apprehension of the truths contained in the sacred volume, the enlightening influence of the Holy Ghost is absolutely indispensable." Well, here are " three important points," expressly reserved, in which the Holy Scriptures are acknow- i 86 ledged to be not an ultimate appeal. But why no more than three points reserved ! Why three, why not four — why not all! Is Joseph John Gurney empowered, thus to divide the authority and judgeship between the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures, so that the jurisdiction of the former extends only to " three important points" of his own dictatorial reservation, and that with these exceptions " the decision of the Scripture is ultimate ?" But does the light of the Holy Spirit do no more than "shew the distinctions between right and wrong?" Does He not enable us to reject the one and to choose the other ? Will He not lead us into " all truth" if we obey him ? and " as many as are led by the Spirit of God/' are they not sons of God? Rom. viii. 14. Are we not washed, are we not justified, are we not sancti- fied by the Spirit of our God? 1 Cor. vi. 11. But supposing, if the light of the Holy Spirit is confined, (which if thy own " ultimate appeal" is to be believed in preference to thyself, it cannot be) to the simple office of shewing men "the distinctions between right and wrong, what more can the Scriptures do ? Is not this the precise thing for which an "ultimate appeal" is required, viz. to sheiv the distinctions between right and wrong ? There is nothing in reference to thought, word, or deed, but must be either one or the other, and if " the Holy Spirit, independently of any outward revela- tion, shews the distinction, there can be nothing re- specting which its decision is not ultimate and infallibly certain ; how then does it unquestionably follow, that in every ^case of doubt or controversy, in relation to matters either of doctrine or moral principle, the de- cision of Scripture is ultimate ? as for " the peculiar 87 tails and services of individual Christians," they are included in " our author's" first important point. For those " calls and services," must be either right or wrong, and consequently the "distinction" and path of duty shewn. But it is not only to ' ' the peculiar calls and ser- vices of individual Christians," that the Almighty is graciously pleased to extend his providential care and guidance. His is an eye that never slumbers, an arm that is never idle; though he " speaketh once, yea, twice, and man perceiveth it not," yet is he not a God afar off ; for not even a sparrow can fall to the ground without his permission and care. I cannot but deeply lament, that a dependence upon mere externals should have so far blinded the understanding of an acknow- ledged minister of the Society, as to promulgate for Christian doctrine, that " the peculiar calls and services of individual Christians, are matters of providential arrangement and direct Divine guidance," as though it was not essential upon all occasions. " Whether ye eat or drink, or ivhatsoever ye do," said the Apostle, " do all to the glory of God." And if we " are not able to think even a good thought of ourselves," how requisite is his guidance and direction amidst those temptations which assail us, in the midst of our daily and hourly duties and concerns. The author of the " Strictures" really speaks of the Scripture, as if it was some living and active being, and all men were agreed upon the meaning of its decree. Whereas " the decision," as it is called, of this "ultimate appeal," is no more after all (apart from the Spirit's testimony) than Joseph Gurney's, or Bishop Home's, or Pope Leo's, or who knows who's decision 88 upon it — and though the decision may be, and is, a^ different as no and yes, yet we are told that " there is no appeal from it to any higher authority whatsoever ; for the simplest and most powerful of all reasons, — ■ namely, " that the authority of the declarations which God has made, is the authority of God himself." But simple and powerful as this reason may appear, I say that it is no reason to prove that " there lies no appeal from it (Scripture,) to any higher authority whatsoever," unless our " Stricture'' writer had first proved that God has made no " declarations' ' but by Scripture. He manifests his will by signs sometimes as well as by writings, Yea, " The heavens declare" (and are therefore declarations,) " the glory of God and the firmament sheweth his handy work. Day unto day utter eth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world/' And therefore, this " simple and most powerful of all reasons," is as good for one sort of "declaration" as another. In fact there are those termed deists, amongst w T hose writings the author of the Strictures has had the hardihood and " evil eye" to class " The Truth Vindicated," who make "the declarations of God" in the visible creation their "ultimate appeal;" and they have at least this advantage, that the declarations of one are universal and the other are not so. They are declarations alw T ays before our eyes, and such as leave the heathen, as well as us, " without excuse." But even these without the testimony of the Spirit, are not understood, for a beast may look upon them with his 89 natural eyes, the same as he can upon the Holy Scrip* tures ; and with no other eye does a man look upon them, unless the Holy Spirit of God enlightens his understanding. In reply to my "taunting enquiries respecting the parts of Scripture which we would select for our test," our author professes to give a very "plain an- swer,' * in doing which he unwarily proves the truth of what I have just said, viz. that after all, the "decision" of this " ultimate appeal,' 5 is no more than Joseph Gurney's, Bishop Home's, or Pope Leo's decision upon it. For he admits, that not the canon as it stands is the test, but that portion of it which they have "no difficulty in selecting." So that without the least re- ference to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, they make a selection of what the test is to be composed of, they nominate their own judge, dictate the charge he is to give, which " must be interpreted like all other books/* and then very pompously tell us, " there lies no appeal from it to any higher authority whatsoever," that is, from the authority of their " decision." This seems to be the highest rule after all, that Joseph Gurney is willing to acknowledge, for " to de- nominate our Lord Jesus Christ a Rule ;" says he, rt 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." It did not however so strike the Apostle Paul; He says, "For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircum- cision, but a new creature ; and as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God." " Gal. vi. 15, 16. i 2 90 And did not the same Apostle tell the Ephesians, " But ye have not so learned Christ," if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus!" Eph. iv. 20, 21. So that it appears, that the Apostle Paul thought it involved the danger of no fatal heresy, to denominate Him as a rule, that could be " learned," and that without any tendency " to di- vest him of his personality, and to convert him into a principle/' What does our keen discoverer of fatal heresies think of such expressions as these " I am the bread oi life." — "Jam the vine," — " / am the door" — " / am the way." — " As ye have received Christ, so walk in him" Joseph John does not say that these expressions tend " to divest Christ of his personality, and to convert him into a principle." And yet he must have a more than microscopic power of vision, that can discern the difference between a way to walk in, and a rule to be ruled by . But Joseph John is not inclined to admit that " the government shall be (wholly) upon his shoulder," he would limit it to " three impor- tant points." "Our author' ' next states that I M insinuate, that without any instruction whatsoever in Christianity, every creature under heaven may have the saving knowledge of the gospel of life and salvation through Jesus Christ." But my insinuation on this head applies solely to the instruction of man, which I deny to be necessary to that end, unless specially required by Him (i who teaches as never man taught." The Apostle declares expressly that -' the gospel is preached in every creature," and if that " preaching" is not " instruction" and such instruc- tion too, that to as many as receive it, it is " the power 91 of God unto salvation/' Joseph Gurney should have demonstrated it to have been otherwise, or else not thus have obliquely condemned the conclusion that naturally flows from the express ivords of Scripture. I dispute not the literal meaning of the word gospel, but I do dispute the limitation of that word to mere writings, however excellent those writings may be. Neither do I dispute that " the glad tidings, through which our Lord Jesus Christ brought life and immor- tality to light, were those of everlasting salvation through the incarnation and sacrifice of the Son of God.' 5 But it is not for worms, like us, " to limit the Holy One," and say, that the literal knowledge of that incarnation and sacrifice, is necessary to salvation, and that " the untutored aboriginal native of Patagonia or New Hol- land/' who has never heard the name of Jesus, (literally speaking) cannot have a knowledge that is saving ; for, whatever degree of knowledge may accompany the " glad tidings" that is preached in him, it is sufficient for me to know, confirmed as it is by Scripture, that glad tidings is preached in him, accompanied with a sufficient degree of knowledge, so as to leave him with- out excuse, if he neglects it. u Our author" next proceeds to say, that " one of the most delusive and dangerous ideas thrown out in many of the passages already quoted, is that the writings which are now, or may hereafter be composed, under a measure of the influence of the Spirit, are just as much Holy Scripture, as the books of the Old and New Tes- tament ; or rather as such parts of those books as this author may be pleased to allow to have been given by inspiration." 92 This is a specious and slanderous misrepresentation of my expressions. So far from setting up any private judgment, either of my own, or any other man's, the whole scope and intent of my writing has been to des- troy it, and recommend in its place, the counsel and direction of a higher power. Joseph John need not be jealous on my account, either for his own private judg- ment, or that of his ' ' eminent biblical critics of the last 150 years." I shall run no race of rivalry with them, in order to dethrone the standard of their own choice, for I trust I value my own unassisted judgment as little worth as I do their' s, and I assure him that is very little indeed. But if there is any writing now, or if there may be any hereafter " composed under a measure of the influence of the Spirit " what sort of Scripture will it be if not Holy. Is not all holy, how- ever small the measure, which proceeds from the Holy Spirit ? Are not his influences holy, and is not the effect of that influence, the same in kind as the influence itself? Can the degrees of more and less change its properties, so that a larger measure is holy, but a smaller measure not so ? Is not light as much light in reference to its essential nature, in one single ray, as in ten thousand ? — were not the early churches exhorted to holiness, and were not the disciples also commanded to " be perfect, even as your father in heaven is perfect,' ' yet to Christ alone " was given the Spirit without mea- sure." The Apostles and Evangelists, remarkably en- dowed as they were with heavenly gifts, and with power from on high, wrote only under " a measure of the influence of the Spirit ;" for although on one remark- able occasion, they "were all filled with the Holy 93 Ghost/' yet in Christ alone was the fulness of grace and truth. As to " our author's" pitiful attempt at wit in this part of his c< Strictures/ it is as pointless, as his insin- uations are unjust, and his arguments false and incon- clusive. " The Scripture," writes he, " which was given by inspiration, may, I presume, be some part of the Christian's Bible ; that which is so given, can be nothing else than the works of certain modern writers, such as Robert Barclay, William Penn, Samuel Fisher, &c, those other writings ' which have proceeded from the same source/ That which will be given, must be the additions to Holy Writ, which we ma}' expect from the hands of our children, or our grand children." Now what Joseph Gurney may expect from his children and grand children, I cannot tell, but if these " Strictures" afford us any clue in the matter, I should say that he could not reasonably expect very great things at their hands. But I would ask " our author," as he talks about audacity, as well as meekness, which of the two terms is appropriate here ; whether it is a meek and humble, or an audacious spirit, which presumes to pry so far into the councils of the Almighty, as to treat with ridicule the probability or even pos- sibility of the Holy Spirit ever again inspiring his anointed ones to declare his will by Holy Scripture 3 as well as by Holy preachings ? Has Joseph Gurney the authority of the Holy Spirit, or the letter of Scripture, for this doctrine ? If neither, which I am persuaded he has not, who is it that is here " pleased to allow what has been given by inspiration/' to be Holy Scripture, but will " allow" no more ! It is not becom- 94 ing, at least in one who professes a belief in " imme- diate divine influence/' to treat so lightly the very thing itself. That many of the works of our early Friends, (and may be some of our later ones) were written under the immediate influence of the Holy Spirit, / hesitate not to declare. I believe those worthies were specially pre- pared for the work they had to perform, and that the evidence of divine commission abundantly accompanied their labours. Their writings present to us a high and holy example for our imitation, in the innocency of their lives, the godliness of their zeal, and the strength and purity of their faith. They present to us memorable and noble examples of fortitude under suffering, of patience in affliction, of hope, and joy, and victory in the midst of death. They abound with heavenly expe- riences, deep spiritual truths, sound lessons of morality, and animating incentives to trample the world under our feet, to despise alike its smiles and its frowns ; to reject our own ways, and wills, and works, and in the simplicity of little children to seek to have all brought into obedience to Christ, that He may reign, whose is " the kingdom, the power, and the glory, world without end." 95 CONTINUATION. As for " the authority of the Apostle Paul, aud that of Robert Barclay," being very much on a level, in my estimation, simply because one name immediately fol- lows the other in the same sentence, is but a very lame inference. Suppose that in the passage which has produced this important " Stricture," I erase the words "or any one else/' and supply their places, by those of, Joseph John Gurney ; which I most assuredly can do without viewing the authority of the latter name as "very much on a level," with either of the two pre - ceeding ones. The passage would then read, " and let me here inform the latter in answer to a query of his in a preceding page, that the authority of Robert Barclay, or Paul, or Joseph John Gurney, or ' even an angel from Heaven,' according to the principles of the So- ciety, could not subvert the truth of the everlasting gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. As the passage thus stands, and I have no objection to it, does it appear " sufficiently obvious" to " our author," that the authority of the Apostle Paul, and that of Robert Barclay, and of Joseph John Gurney, are " very much on a level in the view of this author !" I'll be bound he does not think so. But why? Why, because he must have seen, that throughout my writings, I have acknowledged the testimony of the Apostle to be next in authority to the immediate testimony of the Holy Spirit himself, and have paid a deference to that authority, beyond that of any 96 man, howsoever highly gifted, that has written since his time : that with respect to Robert Barclay, he was one of those eminent worthies, who were raised up by- God, to preach the same everlasting gospel that was preached by the Apostle, and although so large a mea- sure of the Spirit was not bestowed upon him, neverthe- less "the declarations," which God made through him, or through any of his anointed servants, must be equal in authority, if not in importance, "for the simplest and most powerful of all reasons ; namely that the authority of the declarations which God has made, is the authority of God himself :" that with respect to Joseph John Gurney, the estimation in which I hold his authority has been made equally apparent throughout this reply ; and although it must be acknowledged I have paid it but little deference, based as it is upon " eminent bib- lical critics," yet there is little fear from my placing his name consecutively with those of the Apostle Paul and Robert Barclay, that hewill be so far deluded, as to think it ' ' sufficiently obvious," that I view the authority of all three, "very much on a level." " But what is that Christ," queries the author of the k< Strictures," " on which they are both represented here as resting ? Not the Son of God manifested in the flesh, and therefore ' the offspring of Adam/ f born of blood,' and ' made of flesh and blood like ourselves,* (see Hebrew ii, 14 — 17,) but an inward principle born of God in the heart." How can he so represent ? How can he in the very face of the quotation, (if I may use the expression, say that I have represented the Apostle) Paul and Robert Barclay, ' c as resting upon an inward principle born of God in the heart" 1 There is not such a i combination of words throughout the whole of the work. Read — look at the passage again, permit me to have the advantage of ray own expressions, and then whatever construction the assurance of this writer may put upon them, I shall be able easily to remove ; the eye with which this passage has been read, cannot be mistaken, an eye spoken of by (i our author,"* in the sixth page of his " Strictures." — For whilst in one sentence he declares that the Apostle Paul and Robert Barclay " are represented as resting on an inward prin- ciple born of God in the heart," he merely puts it as a supposititious " meaning/' in his very next sentence, and manifesting his untruth farther, w T ith his own hand he reduces the very "meaning" he has himself given, to appearance — that is, he first of all declares that a thing is represented in a way that it is not represented, he next only supposes it to mean so, then that it only appears so, and then deciding upon what this appearance is. he interrogates, " shall we venture to give any countenance to such awful mischief?" What" artful mischief ?" Why, the awful mischief, that "our author's" distorted perception has conjured up ; an apparition that himself has raised with which to terrify w T eak minds ; a shadow T produced by the dark body of misrepresentation passing between truth and his readers. The passage from " The Truth Vindicated," which has been thus mangled by the rough hands of "our author/' may be thus denned, viz. in the first place it informs us that "according to the principles of the society," no authority can " subvert the truth of the everlasting Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus K 98 Christ." In the next place it points to the distinction between His authority who had " the Spirit without measure" and their authority, who did but " know in part, and prophesy in part," It also shows in accord- ance with Scripture, that the latter were but instruments, whilst the power is "the incorruptible word of God;" and it then states in the following words upon what foundation the authority of these instruments rests, 4 ' but the authority of Paul, as well as that of Barclay, and every other man past, present or to come, must rest upon ' Christ Jesus the rock of ages/ for other founda- tion can no man lay." This then, " Christ Jesus, the rock of ages," is what / have " represented" the autho- rity of Paul and Barclay " as resting on," and not upon "an inward principle born of God in the heart" It is a bare- faced misrepresentation, a perversion altogether unjustifiable of my w r ords; and the fas- tidious nicety of "our author," as to the language he would appropriate to " hirelings and deceivers," shall not protect his " Strictures" from those designations which the truth will warrant. It is not denied in "The Truth Vindicated," that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh ; but unless he is come in Spirit also, we can only have a traditional belief that he is come in the flesh, a belief resting on " eminent bibli- cal critics," and reserving his spiritual jurisdiction to " three important points." As for " genuine Hicksism," I have nothing to do with it. I have advocated no " sup- posed' 7 impressions made on my own mind by the Holy Spirit. I have not denied my Saviour in any one of "his gracious offices," either as appertains to his flesh, or Holy Spirit, in any portion of ' • The Truth Vindi- 99 cated ;" and if to deny any of these constitutes a distin- guished feature of Hicksism, I repudiate the charge with disgust and abhorrence, and declare it to be utterly untrue. / have not said that " the Lamb of God, is no otherwise slain than by man's refusing it," &c. ; and to infer by comparison, that / have, is false by insinua- tion, and covers the author of it with disgrace, and the cause he professes to advocate with suspicion. " Our author/' perhaps may complain, and cry out, %t what unseemly and violent language !" but I tell him, No, it is Christian plainness, calling sweet things sweet, and bitter things bitter. I praise not the charity of that man, who bestows an indirect eulogium upon the Christian meekness of his own spirit, and can yet charge another by implication with " hatred, variance, emulation, wrath, strife, and an evil eye," simply because he has desig- nated the opponents and vilitiers of truth, by those names which are assigned to them in Scripture, and which Scripture, except upon "three important points," our author confesses to be his " ultimate rule." It is clear how T ever that this important point forms another exception. It is no wrath, no envy, no strife to desig- nate actions by their right names, and men by their true characters ; for though the heart may glow with the warm and expansive beams of Christian love towards our fellow- creatures, and though a strong sense of the weakness of mere human nature ought constantly to remind us of the duty of mutual forbearance towards each other, and our necessary dependence upon Al- mighty aid for support, yet we are far from being called upon to shake hands with iniquity, and cover our mouths when those who profit and live by deception. 100 " the hirelings and deceivers, " lift up their voices with one accord against the truth. I shall not enter either upon a refutation or defence of the quotation from Elias Hicks, introduced by way of comparison by Joseph John Gurney. 1 think it may be safely left with the exhortation given forth in the Revelation. " He that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." What I find fault with is, that this sentence should be quoted by way of comparison with another sentence upon a totally different subject, in which neither similar words nor sentiments are expressed or implied, and that " our author" should go out of his way to give usa" Stric- ture" upon '■' Elias Hicks's words," instead of confining his "Strictures," in accordance with his title page, to "certain parts of an anonymous pamphlet, entitled ' The Truth Vindicated.' " But the writer's object has been to identify, if possible, my sentiments with those of Elias Hicks, in order to bring " The Truth Vindi- cated" into disrepute. Like a subtle and sophisticated disputant, he has sought to obtain a victory, by enlisting the prejudices of his readers into his service, instead of appealing with the simplicity of truth to their hearts and understanding as becomes a manly and Christian advocate of the gospel. Whatever form of infidelity " dares to assume the name of Quakerism," no form has laid claim to it in the pages of " The Truth Vindi- cated," and this inferential charge against that work is thrown back upon the specious and wily founder of it, with all the consequences attached to its falsehood and injustice, with a sincere hope that he may be brought to a timely repentance, and unfeigned acknowledgment 101 of his error. For it must be manifest to those who have directed their unbiassed attention to this charge, that the artful comparison which the author of the '• Strictures" has instituted, is, for all his elegant meta- phor of " a mystic web" and "fertile seeds," no other itself than " A thread of candour with a web of wiles." It now only remains for me, before I bring forward the remaining quotations from our early Friends' writ- ings, to say a few words in reference to a quotation made in the "Strictures," from a work entitled " Anti- christ Unmasked," by George Whitehead. The quo- tation appears in the 10th page of the "Strictures,*" and is as follows, " We know none among us that call the Holy Scriptures a dead or carnal letter, nor do we own the words." Whether this is a fall and fair quotation, I do not know, never having that I remember seen the work. Unless therefore, I knew something of the succeeding and preceding parts of the discourse, I am not able to tell from this single sentence, whether these words are used in the same sense as they are in the passage in " The Truth Vindicated," for the refutation of which by contrast they are quoted. I have not designated the Scriptures in their character of Holy, as being a dead or carnal letter, but my expressions are that " the Bible of itself,'' that is, abstracted from the power of the Holy Spirit, " is a mere dead letter ;" and how they can be holy, without the accompanying presence of His Spirit, which alone can make them so, would be as difficult a task for Joseph John Gurney to prove, a? k2 102 that the ground whereon Moses pulled off his shoes was holy ground, before the immediate presence of the Almighty made it so. If Joseph John could discover the very spot upon which Moses then stood, he surely would not think it more holy, although more memorable, than the rest of the ground about him. To the " man of God," the Scriptures are not a dead letter, because he makes use of them in the living power and authority of Him from whose inspiration in the hearts of holy men, they have proceeded. And that this is the light in which those words were not owned by George Whitehead, and others, will be proved beyond a doubt by the extracts I shall give from the only two small works of his I have in my possession; and farther from the fact, that in one of these works, he expressly refers for a full exposition of his own sentiments in reference to the Scriptures, to Samuel Fisher's Rusticus, in which the terms " dead letter" are repeatedly employed in the sense in which they appear in " The Truth Vindicated ;" and the Rusticus itself, as may be seen by a reference to it, owes its origin in part, to a dispute between Friends and some hirelings, in which the principles of the Society were maintained and de- fended by Samuel Fisher, Robert Barclay, and George Whitehead himself. " Our author's" bow is too weak to propel this choice arrow to the mark. It will be seen to fall to the ground long, long before it reaches it. " So also George Fox," Francis Howgill, William Penn, Robert Barclay, and Samuel Fisher, do t(< own the words" in the sense in which they are used in ' ' The Truth Vindicated." I now proceed with my quotations to demonstrate 103 beyond the possibility of doubt, and beyond the reach of even a high professor's cavils, that I have not ad- vanced sentiments " utterly opposed to those which Friends have ahvays felt it to be their duty and privi- lege to uphold." George Fox and John Stubbs's Epistle to the Presbyterians and Independents, 1696. — " Doth not Scripture signify writing ? For all your high scholarships, you may go to the English schoolmaster, and it will tell you what it signifies ; what is all the writing in people's hearts ? Is paper and ink in people's hearts 1 . Come, do not cheat people, but confess truth ; you affirm Scripture to be the rule, but are found contrary to the rule. But what, is all the Scripture the rule — from Genesis to the Revelations, to walk by and practise ? or, what part of Scripture is the rule ? Are Herod's words, Pharaoh's words, Nebuchadnezzar's words, Judas' words, the Jews' words, Job's friends' words, the Devil's words, the offerings and the sacrifices, &c. ? Come, what part of Scriptureis your rule? Distinguish. For you say the Scripture is your rule. Is it all a rule for practice? Must we obey every tittle of it? for we own the Scripture more than you do, which holy men of God gave forth — Christ Jesus, and the Apostles, and Pro- phets ; and they made a distinction, but you make none> Do not go with your malice and envious minds, to possess the peo- ple, and say, that we disesteem the Scriptures, for we esteem Scripture more than you do, that have kept people under your teaching that they might pay you, and so make a trade of them." An Answer to some Cries among Ignorant People. William Bayley's Warning, Page 638. — " And as for the Scriptures, we own them in their place, as Christ Jesus said of them, and as the servants of God in ages past acknowledged and testified, to be a true declaration ; and leave it to the witness of God in you all, to consider and judge, whether they are all the 104 word or words of God, yea or nay, as by what followeth. First, In the Bible or Scriptures, are many words relating to divers matters, which we do not question the truth of the relation thereof. There are the words of God; and of Adam and Eve in the fall ; and of the Serpent that beguiled them : I hope you will not say, these are all the word or words of God ; but very- much to be distinguished, by them that have a right under- standing, as contradictory P " And there are the words of Cain (to God), who slew his bro- ther about sacrifice. " And the words of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of Moses, and the Prophets, Noah, Daniel, and Job — holy men. And there are also the words of Esau, the profane person, and the Egyptians, and Sodomites ; and of them that caused Daniel to be cast into the lions' den, for praying to his God. " And the words of David, Mordecai, and Esther; and of the Philistines that fought against Israel ; and of proud wicked Hainan, who sought the Jews' destruction, because Mordecai would not do him reverence. And the words of Ahab and Jezebel, that murdered Naboth for his vineyard ; and the words of Elisha to him whom he called his enemy, though a holy man. And there are the words of Saul, (who sought David to slay him) and of the witch he went to; and of the Priest's son, Pashur, chief governor, &c, who smote Jeremiah. Are all these the words of God? " And there are the words of the Devil concerning Job, who would have destroyed him, but confessed, God had made a hedge about him. And a relation of the reign of good kings, and also of many bad ones ; and of the false prophets and hire- lings, that sought for their gain from their quarter, and spoke lies to the people, whom God never sent, and so did not profit them at all who heard and believed them. " Secondly, and in the Scriptures are recorded the words and sayings, works and sufferings of Christ Jesus, (the true Prophet, of whom Moses wrote,) and the words of the Devil who tempted him, and of Judas that betrayed him, and of the Priests that 105 gave large money to the soldiers to tell lies, bow his disciples had stole him away, while they were asleep, &c. Sec. " Are all these the words of God ? much less the (Word) that was in the beginning, that liveth and abideth for ever. And in the Scriptures may be read the words of the persecutors, who strictly charged the Apostles to leave preaching in the name of Jesus, (the true Light and power of God) but Paul and Silas sung in the prison ; and they could not but speak that which they had seen and heard of Christ Jesus; and could not flee, like the hirelings, that leave the sheep when the wolf comes among them, for a icork of necessity w^as required of them, to turn the people from darkness to the light, from Satan's power to the power of God; and they had the word of reconciliation, and this word was in the beginning, by whom all things were made, before the Scriptures were ; of which the Scriptures tes- tify, and they are a true declaration, and this is our belief concerning them. " And so we make a true distinction between the report, and the thing or things reported of, as Isaiah did, who said, who hath believed our report ; and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ? " So, come to the light of Christ Jesus, which shines in your dark hearts; in which you may see yourselves, and your igno- rance, and vain thoughts, and hard speeches; and learn to put a difference between the precious and the vile in your own particulars, and then you will divide aright, between good men and wicked men, and their words and actions, as between light and darkness." Rusticus ad Academicos, Page 570. — " And as to the second classes of texts cited by thee J. O. in proof of the Scrip- ture being the only standing rule, in which texts all additions whatsoever to the written Word of God are expressly rejected. I answer, what though God doth reprove, condemn, threaten to plague and curse such as add to his Word, bring any other gospel than what Paul preached, make void his commands 106 by their traditions, enjoin men to seek not to such as peep and mutter, but to the Lord himself; and Paul would not have the Corinthians think of him and Apollos above what he writes of himself and him, as men only by whom as means they believed, which is the sum of the seven Scriptures by thee produced to that purpose ? What proof at all is there in all this such a way ? It is true enough there must be no adding to the Word, Gospel, Commandment, Testimony of God ; or alterings,or vary- ings, or detractings therefrom in a tittle; but is any of this intended of the outward writing, letter or Scripture which are not that Word, Gospel, Commandment, but only declare this and other things concerning it ? Is the Scripture that only set, firm, standing rule, that may neither be augmented nor dimin- ished on pain of plagues and cursing, as ye say it is ? Then tell me, first, how much Scripture or writing hath been added to the five books of Moses, since Deut. iv. 2, xii. 32, was written, wherein it is said, ye shall not add to the Word I com- mand you, neither shall ye dimmish from it ? And since that of Prov. xxx. 6, was written, where it is said, Add thou not unto his Word, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar? And since Isa. viii. 20, where it is said, To the law, and testi- mony ? and since that, Gal. i. 8, where it is said, Let him be accursed that brings another Gospel than we have preached, though we or an angel from heaven ? " 2. W T hether were the Prophets and Apostles, that have added so many books since those prohibitions, justly reprovea- ble and accursed as liars ? " 3. If ye say nay, they were not liars, nor to be reproved nor accursed, then tell me as to the measure, and bounds, and close of your canon, which ye suppose to be revelation, why he that by the same Spirit moving shall in writing reveal the same truths now, is accursed, reproved, plagued, for adding to the Word and Gospel upon the account of Johns sayings, Rev. xxii. 18 : "If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book, v any more than John himself, who added his Scripture and Revelation 107 after Paul's epistle to the Galatians, or Paul, who added his Scripture after Isaiah's ; or Isaiah, and the other Prophets, who added theirs after Solomon's, or Solomon, that added his writ- ings after Moses his inhibition in Deuteronomy ? " 4. Believe it, that the Scripture is not that thing, nor stand- ing rule, to which no more must be added, and from which no neiv Scripture may be diminished, on pain of cursing and pla- gues ; but the word, doctrine, gospel, commandment, sun, truth told in it, to which cursed be he that adds another, or any new word, gospel, doctrine, &c. or detracts a tittle from that: and so John says, If any add to these things, and take away from the words of this book, God shall add plagues, and take away his part out of the book of life, and from the things written in this book ; meaning that particular writing he then had in hand ; not if any man shall write any more Scripture with so high a pretence as by the Revelation from the Spirit, or loose, or shut out any of the Scriptures that are already written by inspiration, from the canon ; for if he had meant so, then as brisk as ye are to breathe out threatenings and plagues, and curses to such as pre- tend to write anything by inspiration, revelation, or motion from the Holy Spirit since the days of the completing and closing of your canon (as you call it) which you count from John's writing his Revelation, though ye are far from adding any inspired Scripture to the Bible, but only such Scripture as is the fruit, figment, and imagination of your own hearts, which thou confessest to be the foundation of all other men that are not Apostles — not daring to pretend to the infallible gui- dance of the infallible Spirit in your ministry, yet you'll not escape the taking your names out of the book of life, and from the good things written in the Revelation, for your fault of taking away, detracting and diminishing from the Scriptures; for ye exclude from your canon very much of that inspired Scripture that was written, some of which is extant at this day too, as hath been shewed before.'' Page 476. — " Whereas indeed the letter is but the instrument 108 of the Light and Spirit, whereby the Light and Spirit do supremely and authoritatively, whatever they do by it at all, and can do without it even what sometimes they do with it, since it is in being and where it hath a being; for the Light tries, searches, shews, reveals, judges ; determines as well without the letter as with it, and did dive into the heart, where the letter never was, and direct there before the external literal directory was at all ; and yet use at its pleasure, the letter as its instrument and as a knife to kill, which knife yet as an instrument cannot quicken,but the letter doth not enter into the heart at all, and whatever it doth is in subserviency to the Light which is its author, whose instrument it is to use, but not the Light its instrument at all." Page 455. — " Besides, if the Spirit be the principle only, that men begin to believe and obey from, and not the rule accord- ing to which they go on in believing and obeying, then it seems with thee, Faith is to be begun, aud begotten, and born, by the Spirit, but kept, preserved, and nourished up to perfection by the letter, which is a doctrine of deep dotage and deceit ; for it is the Spirit of Christ, and the Light, that is both the Creator and Preserver, the Author and Finisher of the Faith, insomuch that I may truly, and do here justly cry out against you blind bewitching broachers, and your blind bewitched believers of it, as Paul on the Galatians ; I marvel that ye should be so sot- tishly departed and degenerated from the simplicity of the primitive gospel, so plainly declared in the very letter itself, which asserts the Light, Spirit, and Word within, to be both the Principle and the Rule. O ye foolish Prophets and foolish people, who hath bewitched you, that ye should be so reprobate as to the knowledge of the truth ? Are ye so foolish as to fancy that when men have once begun in the Spirit, they must be preserved in their faith, and regulated and made per- fect by their fleshly attendances to the letter ? that the uni- versities and ministers merely of it and not of the Spirit, are so lost about, and wrangling about, that to this day they are not agreed about the integrity of its text ? they that ministered the 109 Spirit among men at first, and were even by the very letter they wrote, ministers by whom men believed in the Light ; did they call them so much to the heeding or hearing of the letter them- selves wrote as to the hearing of the word of faith they preached and testified to both in their writings, and by word of mouth ? even that which before they wrote to them at all, was nigh in their heart, and in their mouth that they might do it? tell me, ye that desire to be under the teachings of the letter only, not the Light, do you not hear the letter telling of another rule besides itself, which itself doth only point to ? doth not the letter teach you the Spirit and Light is both the principle, and princi- pal means also, of discovery of right and wrong, as is shewed above ? doth the letter part the business of our obedience between itself and the Spirit? or say any where that the Spirit is the principle, but the letter itself the rule of our obedience? that the Spirit creates, and the letter preserves faith? saith it not that the Spirit is both ?." Page 459. — "And say I, that which is to-day transcribed, translated, interpreted so, and in such a sense by some, may through mis-transcription, mis-translation, mis-interpretation, be wrested as a nose of wax to-morrow by others into a clear con- trary sense, by transposition of Hebrew letters, which in shape and sound are alike, either in way of mistake among the most careful scribes in the world, or at the mere will and pleasure of critics who, ad libitum, may turn the text into twenty senses one after another, as seems good to them. It being so then with the letter that is so variable and flexible, and, contrary wise, the Light being fixed, firm, stable, without variation, as it is eternally and unchangeably the same, even yesterday, to-day, and for ever, as Christ is from whom it comes, one and the same in all, the foundation and witness of God, which stands sure and keeps its place in the consciences of men, let them go whither they will, testifying the same truth, as God's witness in all men, that it doth in any man, both de jure and de facto also, never con- senting to any evil, but condemning it all, in all men more or less." L no Page 484. — " The first of J. O's twelve texts, (ten of which never mean the Scripture at all,) viz. page 19, where I have shewn that the law of God, which is therefore said to be, a resti- tuens animam, restoring and converting the soul, is the Light the letter speaks of, and not the letter itself, which any but a blind man may see ; for what letter was written when David wrote this ? very little more than the books of Moses, which J. O. himself, and all men confess to be but the Old Testament, which is but the letter that killeth ; for if that out- ward letter of the Apostles and Evangelists were the New Testa- ment, as they call it, yet none of that was in being till above a thousand years after David, and the Old Testament that was in his days is now abolished ; neither it, nor the letter, nor outward statutes and judgments of it being given to any but Jacob or Israel after the flesh, as a type of the New Testament, or Covenant that is now made good to Israel after the Spirit/' Page 469. — " Again it is true, and not to be denied, but Apollos, an eloquent Jew, was from his being well versed therein before he came to ow T n the Light, mightyly in the Scriplure, and learned in the letter, so as mightily to confound the Gospel- gainsaying Jews thereby, when once he came to obey it himself, though yet there was a tradesman and his wife further grounded in the Gospel, and learned in the Light, than himself, who was beyond them in the letter, of whom he was not ashamed to stoop to be instructed in the way of God more perfectly; but how little this proves the Scripture to be the only standing rule, for which end J. O. cites it. He that is not blind may plainly see, that he who was so well skilled in the Scripture (had that been the only rule) could have instructed Aquila and Priscilla about the letter with which, suo illos jugulans gladio he slew the letter learned Jews, as it were with their own sword, yet was not so clear in his understanding of the tnith, way, gospel, Spirit, word, and Light of God (which is indeed the only standing unalterable RuLE/or ever, as it ever was) but that he had need to be regulated and rectified therein by such as in mere scriptural knoicledge were as inferior, as they were superior to him in spiritual understanding" Ill Page 338. — " We know the truth, and faith, and doctrine and word of God, which is bat one and the same in its nature, essence, being, and substance, whether written or not written of, whether clothed or not clothed in this or that outward acciden- tal form, whether displaying itself through the veil of the letter, or shewing itself more immediately in its naked native lustre, is to a tittle the same now that it ever was in sub- stance, though all the shadowy discoveries of it wax old and vanish, and as a vesture are folded up and changed, and pass away as a scroll that's rolled up, and grows out of date, when all letters and literal appearances of it shall be mouldered away. The word was before the letter was, and is, neither more nor less, what it was now the letter is, and will be no less than it was of old, or what it now is, as to its preservation in every point, when the letter shall be no more. "So what are all thy propositions about God's promise and providence, and love and care of his Church and word, to prove the entire preservation of every jot and tittle of an out- ward text, or an old uncertain transcript of what was by the holy men of God some thousands of years since written ? be- tween which Word and the writing, or Light and the letter, which leads only to it, there is no more proportion than is be- tween the lantern and the light, the glass window and the sun that shines through it ; or than there is between the ark and the Testament or Covenant, that for a while was kept in it. Dost not thou count the letter the ark, page 236 — Saying the Jews have now the letter, as sometimes they had the ark among the Philistines to their further ruin ? Yea, such propor- tion, say I, as the ark, that kept it, bore to the letter of the Old Testament that was laid up in it, the same doth the Old Testa- ment itself, the whole Tbi) ypctfifxa, or bare letter, or shadowy dis- pensation bear unto the Light, Word of God, or New Testa- ment, which is not a literal but a spiritual administration. V Page 241. — u Yea consider the naked literal aspect of the Holy Scriptures, not in its highest, not in its primitive, best, and purest, as at first given forth, but in its mere derivative, in its 112 lowest, meanest, and most altered and adulterated capacity, wherein it stands at this day, wrested and torn, and like a nose of wax twisted and twined into more than twice, if not ten or twenty times twenty several shapes, by men's untrue and tattered transcripts, and translations, (for, O that vast variety of lections, besides the infinity of senses, through men's misunderstandings, corrupt copyings, correctings of and commentings on it, &c, that the world is now loaded with, and led out into !) yet as mere a graven image as that is with ink and pen on paper, or skin of parchment (for 'tis so, though I reject their jeers, as improper and impious, by whom is it scoffed at, as Chartacea, Membrana, &c. for 'tis not so) and as dead a letter as it is (bear with me in that expression, J. O. till I come to show where thou so call est it as well as Papists and Quakers, whom thou quarrellest with for so calling it) and as very a nose of wax and Lesbian rule, and no certain stable standard as it is, for I know not why what they wickedly (be- cause tauntingly,) we may not honestly (since truly, seriously? and soberly) so call, which may so easily, so endlessly be al- tered by the wills of men, as thyself J. O. she west us in the 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 pages of thy preface, the Scripture may, and made to stand which way any critick pleases) and as no autho- rity to us at all, as they (in their baseness and hatred of it, which I condemn,) do say it is of, as 'tis my continual exer- cise in works to do it, so do I here in plain words exalt the Scripture, which they so debase, and state it over all that their trash and aforesaid trumpery, even on the very top of all their long train of traditions, and over the archest title of triple crown : the proudest pinnacle of Peter's (now un-Peter-like,) painted temple, the highest point of that pompous, pious piteous pillar and ground of truth, the choicest chapter of Holy Church, and infallibly erring infallible chair." Page 637. — "This is that law and living word, and true testimony, even the light and word of God in the heart, a tes- timony that is said to be bound up from the outward Israel, which many have the outward Bible bound among them ; a 113 law that is said to be sealed up among Christ's disciples from the sight of the benighted seers, which such as seek to, seek to the Lord himself; and such as forsake, go from the fountain of the living water, to broken cisterns ; and such as leave for an outward letter, leave the living for the dead, and seek for the living Lord among the dead : These are the wells of salvation , out of which souls should draw the living water, which the Philistines in envy to the seed of Abraham will strive alway to stop, till the Lord make room for them to flow out to the full. These are that word, law, and testimony, and not the most original copies of the letter, as ye do emptily imagine, which whoso deprives of the Hebrew punctuation, by proving the novelty thereof, do, with Abimelech's servants, no less than stop the wells or fountains from whence ye should draw all your soul's refreshment." Page 561 . — " Neither deceive thyself so far, J . O . as to imagine it unwonted, wonderful, impossible matter that ever in these days men and women too, should, as of old they were, be moved,, and inspired, both to speak and write by the Holy Spirit." Page 691. — "To say nothing of how little true knowledge of God is in these nations that R. Baxter grants have the Gospel, meaning in an outward ministry, for else I know no nation that hath not some of that Light which is God's Gospel in them, any more than Paul did, who said, the Gospel is preached m every creature under heaven, Col. i. 2, 3. and Rom. x. Have they not all heard ? (i. e. the Gospel) yes verily, &c. The rea- son why all nations have so little as they all have, is, because they come not to the Light which is come unto them," Page 352. — "What people be those that looked on every tittle and letter in the Bible as their inheritance, which for the whole world they would not part with one tittle of? For my part, I look upon them as never the wiser for that, if they were as many millions of millions, as thou sayest there are millions of them : for my part, I love the Bible as much as I do any book in the world, and upon a true and just account, and in a right way honour it as much, as any man does, and as for the holy l2 114 truth that is declared in it, I have bought and paid so dear for that, no less than all that I had in the world, of what sort so- ever, lust, pleasure, honour, riches or righteousness of mine is gone for the sake of it, and to have all that ever I lost for it, I would not sell it again ; yet all the tittles and letters, accents and iota and points that are in all the Hebrew Bibles and Greek Testaments I have, and I have more than one of each sort, any one shall have of me for five pounds, and less money (and the books to boot) and that is less than the whole world ; and yet I shall hope to enjoy not a tittle the less of the word of truth that is therein told, if I sincerely attend to the Light the letter calls to, though I should never even look into an outward copy of the original text more while I liver Page 427. — "And lastly, thou sayest the penmen of the Scriptures were so tied up to the very individual words received by them, and put into them by the Holy Spirit, and were to deliver and write as all, so nothing but that, to every tittle that was so brought unto them, not altering nor adding of their own in their wisdom and understanding : it should seem then, according to your own principles, that God gave out by them what was sufficient to guide men (if outward writing or Scrip- ture was by him intended to be their rule) and if they them- selves might not amplify, nor add, nor enlarge, nor comment upon the word of God, manifested by them in the Scripture ? by the exercising of their rational faculties, but were to rest in so much as was revealed to them by the Spirit, and to others in writing by them : what need then is there of those infinite and endless odd additions that the doctors and divines have made from generation to generation to the Scripture, of their own voluminous inventions, interpretations, and as divided, as devised divinations, extravagant expositions, incomprehensible commen- taries, confused contradictions, canting one to another, and to the world to the confounding of it, with many more bumbles of their senses, meanings, opinions, thoughts, about the Bible, than it can contain, amounting in bulk perhaps to a thousand times more than the Bible comes to? And who gave you 115 text-men such a liberty and authority to take the text and talk on it in your wisdom, will, words, and understandings opening, amplifying, paraphrasing, prating out the plain truth as it there lies, so unprofitable to people in your own phrases, to your own outward profit, at your pleasure ? Did He that bounded and limited, and hedged in the writers, saying (according to thy sense) hitherto, thus far, shall ye manifest my mind in writing and no farther, lend you such a boundless latitude to prate out your own opinions, and turn you loose and unmuzzled in pratum vestrum ubi non est sepes ? Was not the mind of God in that Scripture given out by God himself full enough, and plain enough, at least in matters necessary to salvation, for the meanest capacity to understand when it is read to them, in the words wherein it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and the holy- penmen to write it out, without such a bottomless deal of ad- ding, amplifying and expounding, as your eccentric, academical, exorcists make about it ? When Paul wrote to Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and the churches, and John to the lady and Gaius, and Luke his story of what Christ and the Apostles said and did, were there need, much more absolute necessity, of a priest to be sent for in all haste to open what they meant to such as they sent their letters to in a tongue that they well understood ? And now the Scripture is translated into our own mother tongue in England, such as can read, may read and understand it ; and such as cannot read, may have it read to them at their own houses, there being one at least in every house almost, that can read now, even very children, if old people cannot; which being read, is tenfold more plain in such places as pertain necessarily to salvation, to every honest understanding, and plain- minded man that is willing to do the will of God there written of, than costly comments and manifold hampered handlings and more perplexitive unfoldings of it that are made by our school- men and university theological professors i so that what more need than of old, when the letter came newly forth, for a priest to be placed in eveiy parish for pay to darken the counsel of God in the Scriptures, by his words without knowledge, under 116 a pretence of opening it ; or if it were an opening, as it rather is a shutting of the kingdom of heaven against men (as our scribes, pharisees and hypocrites, like them of old, manage that matter, and use their keys of knowledge in another kind of manner than honest Peter ;) what need of hundreds a-year to be paid in parishes for the opening of one or two texts or verses in a week ? or rather the talking of some one text for a month, or a quarter of a year together, against the Light and Spirit from whence it was written ? If those that wrote it, might not meddle to say a little more, as J. O. says, in their wisdom, though they were as spiritually fluent and learned as national ministers are spiritually ignorant ; it would be more useful than now it is, through your miserable mangonizations of it, by your sneers on open places, if your wisdom would leave it as it is without making out your misty meanings on it, to poor men for so much money." Page 282. — " But now as to the epistle of Laodicea instanced in, T. D. was so hard of belief, and difficult to be persuaded that there was any such at all, that if one of Sandwich had not stood up and said he had the book wherein we asserted it to be printed, we should hardly have gained so much credit among the Clergy then present, (such pro and con they made about it, as to have been believed,) that there was such a thing in being ; so ignorant are they of some present parts of that Scripture they call their rule ; yet at last 'twas yielded such an one was extant." Page 283. — "Notwithstanding T. D/s advance in three motions against the truth of Paul's writing to Laodicea, yet they help him not; but for all his two strides and a jump, yet he leaps too short to reach the matter of truth he would repel by it, for quid ve?*bis opus est quum facta loquuntur ? there need no more words in proof on't ; the epistle of Paul to Laodicea is extant, and speaks out itself and its author whose it is, as well by the style and majesty of it, as by the superscription, being both translated and printed in English, as it was found, though not in your Testaments, yet in the oldest Bible that was printed at Worms : and also in a certain ancient manuscript of the New 117 Testament text, which I have seen since andean produce, written in Old English three hundred and forty years since, or above, before the art of printing came up here ; by which its evident that it was owned as canonical in the Church of England in those days, and was (however it came to be since left out,) bound up among its fellows. And howbeit, it be styled in our English translations of Col. iv 16, the epistle from Laodicea, besides the genuine sense of the Greek, which, as is shewed above, will much rather bear it to, than from Laodicea ; yet let it be read from, that nothing lessens the likelihood of its being Paul's ; for though he wrote it to Laodicea, yet if the Colossians would read it (as Paul bids them do,) as that the Laodiceans likewise should read what he wrote to the Colossians, they must read it in a copy from Laodicea whither it was sent, or else not at all, as the Laodiceans if they read that he wrote to the Colos- sians must have it first from Coloss, or at least a copy of it; for as for the Scriptures of the New Testament, quoth, J. O. who helps us in this, though he hinder himself another way by it. As to his canon's constitution out of the first of the original copies, "page 166, it doth not appear that the Avroypacpa of the several writers of it were ever gathered into one volume, there being now no one church to keep them for the rest," Col. iv. 16. Mark how he quotes the very place too we are upon, as if he owned Paul's to Laodicea, which if he do, he wounds himself to death in his arch-assertion, that not a tittle or iota of the inspired Scripture, as given out at first, is lost, but remaining every apex of it in the copies we now enjoy, since here's a whole epistle of Paul's lacking, as well as his first to Corinth and Ephesus, in which were many tittles and iotas. " George Fox's Journal, Page 7.— " The knowledge of thee in the Spirit is life ; but that knowledge which is fleshly works death. While there is this knowledge in the flesh, deceit and self will conform to any thing, and will say, yes, yes, to that it doth not know. The knowledge which the world hath, of what the prophets and apostles spake, is a fleshly knowledge ; and 118 the apostates from the life, in which the Prophets and Apostles were, have got their words, the Holy Scriptures, in a form, but not in the life nor Spirit that gave them forth, so they all lie in confusion ; and are making provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof, but not to fulfil the law and command of Christ in his power and Spirit : for that, they say, they cannot do ; but to fulfil the lusts of the flesh, that they can do with delight. " My desires after the Lord grew stronger, and zeal in the pure knowledge of God and of Christ without the help of any man, book, or writing. For though I read the Scriptures that spake of Christ and of God, yet I knew him not but by revela- tion, as he who hath the key did open, and as the Father of life drew me to his Son by his Spirit. Then the Lord gently led me along, and let me see his love, which was endless and eternal, surpassing all the knowledge that men have in a natural state, or can get by history or books.' 7 Page 10. — " Several things did I then see as the Lord opened them to me ; for he shewed me that which can live in his holy refining fire, and that can live to God under his law. He made me sensible how the law and the prophets were until John ; and how the least in the everlasting kingdom of God is greater than John. The pure and perfect law of God is over the flesh, to keep it and its works, which are not perfect, under, by the perfect law : and the law of God which is perfect, answers the perfect principle of God in every one. None knows the giver ofthislawbut the Spirit of God ; neither can any truly read it, or hear its voice, but by the Spirit of God. He that can receive it let him. John who was one of the greatest prophets that ever was born of a woman , bore witness to the light which Christ, the great heavenly pro- phet, hath enlightened every man that cometh into the world withal, that they might believe in it, become the children of light, and so have the light of life, and not come into condemnation. For the true belief stands in the light that condemns all evil ; and the devil, who is the prince of darkness and would draw out of the light into condemnation. They that walk in this light, come to the mountain of the house of God, established above 119 all mountains, and to God's teaching, who will teach them his ways. These things were opened to me in the light." Page 11. — " Therefore none can be ministers of Christ Jesus but in the eternal Spirit, which was before the Scriptures were given forth ; for if they have not his Spirit, they are none of his." Page 21 . — " I saw that the grace of God, which brings salva- tion, had appeared to all men, and that the manifestation of the Spirit of God was given to every man, to profit withal. These 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 the immediate Spirit and power, as did the holy men of God by whom the Holy Scriptures were written. Yet I had no slight esteem of Holy Scriptures, they were very precious to me ; for I was in that spirit by which they were given forth ; and what the Lord opened in me, I afterwards found was agreeable to them. I could speak much of these things, and many volumes might be written ; but all would be too short to set forth the infinite love wisdom, and power of God, in preparing, fitting, and furnishing me for the service he had appointed me to ; letting me see the depth of Satan on the one hand, and opening to me, on the other hand, the divine mysteries of his own everlasting king- dom." "That which I was moved to declare, was this; that the Holy Scriptures were given forth by the Spirit of God, and all people must first come to the Spirit of God in themselves, by which they might know God and Christ, of whom the Prophets and Apostles learned ; and by the same Spirit know the Holy Scriptures ; for as the Spirit of God was in them that gave forth the Scriptures, so the same Spirit must be in all them that come to understand the Scriptures. By which Spirit they might have fellowship with the Father, with the Son, with the Scriptures, and with one another; and without this Spirit they can know neither God, Christ, nor the Scriptures, nor have a right fellowship one with another. I had no sooner spoken these words, but about half a dozen priests, that stood behind me, burst into a passion. 120 One of them, whose name was Jackus, amongst other things that he spake against the truth, said, that the Spirit and the letter were inseparable. I replied, then every one that hath the letter, hath the Spirit; they might buy the Spirit with the letter of the Scriptures." Page 264. — " From thence we came to Durham, where was a man come from London to set up a college to make ministers of Christ, as they said. I went with some others to reason with the man, and to let him see, that to teach men Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and the seven arts, which were all but the teachings of the natural man, was not the way to make them ministers of Christ. For the languages began at Babel ; and to the Greeks, that spoke Greek as their mother-tongue, the preaching of the cross of Christ was foolishness ; and to the Jews, that spoke Hebrew as their mother-tongue, Christ was a stumbling-block. The Romans who had the Latin, persecuted the Christians ; and Pilate, one of the Roman governors, set Hebrew, Greek, and Latin over Christ, when he crucified him. So he might see the many languages began at Babel, and they set them over Christ, the Word, when they crucified him. John the divine, who preached the word which was in the beginning, said, " that the beast and the whore have power over tongues and languages, and they are as waters." Thus, I told him, he might see the whore and the beast have power over the tongues, and the many languages which are in mystery — Babylon ; for they began at Babel, and the persecutors of Christ Jesus set them over him, when he was crucified by them ; but he is risen over them all, who was before them all. Now (said I to this man) dost thou think to make ministers of Christ, by these natural confused languages which sprung from Babel, are admired in Babylon, and set over Christ, the Life, by a persecutor ? Oh no V Page 346. — "From thence we returned to Redruth, and the next day to Truro, where we had a meeting. Next morning, some of the chief of the town desired to speak with me, amongst whom was colonel Rouse. I went and had a great deal of dis- course with them concerning the things of God . In their reasoning 121 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 before Matthew Mark, Luke or John were 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. When they heard this, they could not gainsay : for the truth came over them. I directed them to their teacher, the grace of God, and shewed them the sufficiency of it, which would teach them how to live, and what to deny ; and being obeyed would bring them salvation. To that grace I recommend them." Page 471. — " At one time came three nonconformist priests and two lawyers to discourse with me ; and one of the priests undertook to prove, that the Scriptures are the only rule of life. After I had defeated his proof, I had a fit opportunity to open to them the right and proper use, service and excellency of the Scriptures ; and also to shew, that the Spirit of God, which was given to every one to profit withal, the grace of God which bringeth salvation, and which hath appeared to all men, and teacheth them that obey it, to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world ; that this, I say, is the most fit, proper, and universal rule which God hath given to all mankind to rule, direct, govern, and order their lives by." Page 627. — " Christ said to the Jews, 6 Search the Scrip- tures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life ; and they are they which testify of me : and ye will not come to me that ye might have life.' Christ's sheep, that hear his voice, know and follow him; he gives unto them eternal life, and they shall not perish, neither shall any pluck them out of his hand. They shall not pluck Christ's sheep, to whom he hath given eternal life, out of his eternal hand. Christ said to Martha, ' I am the resurrection and the life ; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, (mark, though he were dead) yet shall he live ; and M 122 whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believes! thou this ? Martha said, Yea, Lord/ John xi. 25, 26. This is the true substantial belief, which they that believe shall not perish, but have everlasting life. John saith, ' This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son/ 1 John v. 2. ' The life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us/ 1 John i. 2. So these were the believers that had eternal life in the Son of God, and shewed it unto others. c He that hath the Son hath life/ saith John, ' and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.' " A few hours before George Fox died he sent for some par- ticular friends, to whom he expressed his mind and desire for the spreading Friends' books, and truth thereby in the world.— George Fox's Journal. Divinity of Christ : An Answer to Thomas Danson's Synopsis of Quakerism, &c. George Whitehead, Page 45. — "And now touching the Scriptures being a declaration of the Word of God, but not the word, nor the only rule of faith and life; which T. D. sets down as an error, wherein he hath no less than accused the Scriptures themselves with being in error. For, first, we in calling them a true declaration, we call them what they call themselves, Luke i. as also that they are writings given forth by the holy men of God; and that which they call the Word, we do also : the Word was in the beginning with God, John i. and his name is called the Word of God, yet both the doctrinal part, and historical part of the Scripture, contained in the books of the Old and New Testa- ments, we own, and never slighted nor denied ; yet if we should look upon them as the only rule of faith and life, this would exclude the rule and guidance of the Spirit (for the only rule must be infallible, certain, incorruptible, obvious, &c.) which leads into all truth, as either not sufficient so to guide, or not to be owned as the rule of faith and obedience to God, &c. and this would be contrary to the testimonies of the holy men of God concerning it, who followed, and directed others to it, 123 and to walk in this Spirit ; and therein they knew their several attainments and measures, and herein was the rule of the new creature, who worshipped not in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the spirit. Rom. vii. 6. 2 Cor. x. 13, 14, 15. Phil. iii. 15,16. Gal. vi. 15,16." Francis Howgill, Page 309. — " Gross darkness is thy dwelling place, and out of thick darkness all this pitiful con- fusion cometh; the doctrine of life was communicated accord- ing to the will and mind of God, sometime by dream, sometime by vision, sometime by revelation to the patriarchs and be- lievers from Abel till Moses ; and by faith they were followers of Christ, and doubtless, they did communicate in their genera- tion those things that were manifested unto them by the Spirit, which was the then rule and guide to the feet of the upright in the way of peace before any Scripture was written ; and if the | Scripture be not necessary absolutely, thou hast said as much as we say: therefore we speak of a rule and a way which is abso- lutely necessary, without which no man can know the Father, or the Son, nor the way of peace, but by the Spirit of truth, which gave forth the words of truth, which may manifest and doth manifest itself as it will, when, where, and how it will; for it is unlimited, and it will not be limited by its own words, as to sound, but may speak words which it never spoke before ; as for instance, Paul by the Spirit said, the second Adam, the Lord from heaven, is a quickening Spirit, which none of the Scrip- tures before written speak in these very words ; and if the Spirit be not Spirit without the letter, then where the letter is wanting, the Spirit is wanting, and consequently, them that have the Scripture have the Spirit, which were no less than ignorance and darkness to say ; and what rule are they under, who have not the Spirit or no measure of it ? There is but the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error, and they that are not ruled by the Spirit of truth, they are ruled by the spirit of error, though they may have the words, to fight with and quarrel about without the life; but last of all, thou hast in plain words set the dead 124 letter before the living Spirit, and sayest, that the Spirit is no Spirit except it speak by the Scripture." Page 419. — " Largely I might speak of the hidden mystery as to demonstrate what the Gospel of Christ was and is, but in what I have already said, they that are any thing spiritual- minded will judge, that the Law and the Prophets, Matthew. Mark, Luke, and John, and the Epistles, were not the everlast- ing Gospel, but it was a thing beyond and above, and before any of these writings were, although they all in their several ages, bore testimony of it (viz.) the power of God, which condemns sin in the flesh, and mortifies the deeds thereof, and gives victory over it, and taketh up all that believe in it into one life, power and virtue, into pure peace, and heavenly con- tentment, and perfect satisfaction : so you who are calling the letter the Gospel, or the New Testament writing the Gos- pel, I would ask you a question also : when was there a time since the first hundred years after Christ, or in that time till now, that these words and writings have not been spoken and preached? bought and sold as a Gospel, not only in the church of Rome, but also among them that are separated from her, even until now : this hath been preached to nations, kingdoms, tongues, and people ; and if the writings be the everlasting Gospel, then how doth John say, or why did he so say, that the ever- lasting Gospel should go forth again, and be preached again after the apostacy, or to bring out of the apostacy ? But it clearly implies the word had been preached, and published ; and the temporary writings which were given forth at divers times had been preached up for Gospel these many hundred years, which many have received by tradition ; but the power of God, and the gift of God, by which and from which the ministers of Christ in all ages ministered, hath been wanting,, if not altogether lost, for the most part, among them that are called Christians ; then what is the quarrel betwixt you and the Romanists ? It is but in translation at the most, and while words, and translations, and versions, have been contended about, the everlasting Gospel hath been hid. 77 125 Page 409. — " Now mark this, they (the Apostles) preached not up the letter of the law, not that which was written in tables of stone : for the first priesthood that was ended, and the ministry of that, and the veil was over their hearts while Moses was read, and their ability stood not in the literal know- ledge, or in that which was written; but they were able ministers of the New Testament of the Spirit, and so all that did believe, both Jews and Gentiles, who received the word of faith, which icas nigh in the mouth and in the heart, Rom. x. 8, they grew up in the knowledge of God, and of his Holy Spirit, and great gifts grew amongst them, as of prophecy, of speaking with tongues, of interpretation, and there was diversity of gifts, and diversity of operations, yet all by the same Spirit, which the Apostles were made ministers of, and which they that did believe and receive, received gifts from it, and knew the operation of it, which wrought in them mightily to the throwing down the strong holds, 2 Cor. x. 4, and the princi- palities and powers of darkness, and to the translating and changing of them from darkiiess to light, and from Satan's power to the power of God, even into the kingdom of his dear Son, Col. i. 13." Page 528. — " I say many are of that mind, that things may be believed to be true, according to the manifestation of God's Spirit, though the Scriptures in express words doth not declare the same ; yet you bring in fabulous stories, which you call unwritten verity, that are to be believed, though never so repugnant unto the Scripture, and to the truth contained in it. This we cannot receive, neither believe ; and this will never be attributed by the Lord to unbelief, although you say so." Page 395. — "And know you this, that they that worship the Lord aright, worship him in spirit and in truth, and they who come to witness the new covenant, come to know the law of the Spirit of God, and the life revealed in their hearts, by which the sons of God are led into all truth, and they need not go back to the tables of stone, nor to literal precepts for a rule ; for their rule is within (to wit) the Spirit of God, which the M 2 126 Father hath promised to pour forth upon his sons and daughters, by the mouth of his prophets, and that they need not say, know the Lord, for all shall be taught of him, from the least to the greatest, who are come to the everlasting covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, which purifies the heart, and sprinkleth the consciences, which speaks better things to all them that receive it, than the blood of Abel." Page 396. — " Until at last the eyes of many were opened by the Lord, who saw that eternal life was not to be found in any external, visible thing, and do know that all they who are exercising themselves after those things in the exactest and strictest manner cannot be made perfect as pertaining to the conscience ; and all these great talkers of the fame of Christ, and of his glory and power, miracles and works, and of his death, obedience and sufferings ; the bare report and sound of these things doth no good at all, to him who feels sin hath full power and dominion in his heart ; so that the life of Christ must be felt within, enjoyed and professed ivithin, and revealed in the light, or else he cannot stand justified in the sight of God, nor clear when he judgeth, neither can he find rest nor peace for his soul. So I am one who have found mercy and favour at the hand of the Lord, among many thousands, to be a witness of that life which was with the Father before the world began, which is now manifested in the hearts of thousands, of his people, destroying the works of the devil, and bringing in everlasting righteousness." Page 636. — "I cannot detract from the Scriptures, neither undervalue them, or disesteem them as uncertain, or of no use, or of little use ; but whatever themselves declare themselves to be, that I own them to be, to wit, the words of God, the words of Christ, the words of the holy Prophets and Patriarchs, and Apostles, who were endued with the Holy Ghost, and speak forth the Scriptures as they were moved thereby, in several ages, and several things, and unto several states and conditions, as they were led thereto by the Holy Spirit, and they are a certain declaration of things that were done and believed, and 127 practised by the Jews under the first covenant, and by the Apostles and primitive Christians in the new covenant, and contain many precious and holy precepts and commands, doctrines, examples, exhortations, admonitions, reproofs, and instructions, and are as lively examples and holy patterns for all the saints in light to follow, by which we are given to understand what faith,, what hope, what patience, what love, what mercy, what long-suffering, what consolation, what virtue, and what inheritance the saints in light were made partakers of, through faith in Christ Jesus : likewise what doctrines were held forth, and what practice they used in the primitive times, when they walked in the order of the gospel, and had fellowship with God the Father and the Son, and one with another in the light of the gospel, which is the power of God, through which they witnessed salvation and remission of sins, and published it unto others that they might believe' 7 Page 652. — "I say, and I am riot alone, that Christ is the way to the Father, and the way to the kingdom, and the rule and means by which his church is governed, and he is the Law- giver and the Judge, and all judgment is committed to the Son, and it is he alone that propounds truth sufficiently : and they that are in him, are new creatures ; and that which is the new creature, rule, guide, and judge, is the rule, guide and judge of the church of God, and Christ is the author of faith, and it is nothing that avails any thing with God, but the new creature; and as many as walk according to this rule, peace is to them, Gal. iii. 16." Page 214. — " We who are come out of the apostacy, know what was before, and see what shall be after ; the everlasting gospel of the Son of God shall be preached again to them that dwell on the earth, the same was preached to Abraham, before either old or new testament was written ; the latter all sects since the apostacy call the Gospel, and so greatly manifest their igno- rance, for that were to make two Gospels, to call the Scriptures the Gospel, or that which is written, and they who so err in their judgments are yet among the smoke of the pit, and are yet 128 under antichrist's reign, and are ignorant of Him who is the saving health of the nations. " Page 234. — " The fourth particular which thou callestour tenet, is, that we deny the Scripture to be the word of God ; and thou hast brought many Scriptures to prove that they are, but they are as impertinent to the thing, as thy former about the steeple-house, or mass-house. Thou hast brought many Scrip- tures, Jer. xxxvii. 8, how they are called the words of the Lord ; who ever denied that ; but the Word spoke the words, and the Word is greater, 2 Tim. iii. 16: 'All Scripture is given by divine inspiration.' I deny that; some was spoken by the devil, and some by wicked men, and I hope thou wilt not call that divine inspiration. Vvhen perhaps thou wilt conclude, I deny the words of Paul to Timothy. I deny the word is, it is an addition of the translator, which word alters and varies in the true sense of that Scripture ; but all Scripture given by inspi- ration of God, is profitable for doctrine, &c. But knowest thou no distinction between Inspiration and Tradition ? you have it by Tradition, the Saints by Inspiration. It is a dead letter in itself, and as it is spoken from your mouths, who speak of it by Tradition ; but from them that were Inspired, the living Spirit uttered forth living words. But what is all this to prove the Scripture or writings to be the word of God V 9 . Page 269. — " The Scriptures are writings, which may be seen and read with a natural eye or ear, but that which the Scripture declares of, cannot be seen with a natural eye, neither heard with a natural ear. Knowest thou no difference betwixt a Creator and a creature ? Is not that which createth gearter than that which is created ? And was it not the Eternal Power that gave the words a being, or thou hadst never had them ? And were it not ignorance for any man to say that the creature were the Creator ? Judge in thyself, for thee to call that which is brought forth, by the name of that which brought it forth, is great ignorance ; and is it any derogation unto the creature to call it by ts own name ? But it is derogation to the Creator to call the creature by the Creator s name ; so for thee to call the writings 129 the power of God, or the gospel, or word, is to attribute that to the declaration which properly belongs to the thing declared of, which is far greater in magnitude, in glory and excellency, in power and virtue; insomuch that the apostle said, when he had spoken largely of the power of God, and of his unsearchable riches, he cried, O the height and the breadth and the length and the depth thereof was unspeakable, or could not be spoken, which was unsearchable, and past finding out ! The declaration or the Scripture may be enjoyed, and not the power of God, which is the gospel of Christ" Page 305. — •" Yet the Scripture is not so excluded by us as thou judgest, though we say the Spirit may lead and direct with it, or without it, yet not contrary to it ; for the Spirit doth, will, and may, take up what thing it pleaseth to manifest itself and its mind unto the creature ; and who art thou, and what art thou, anything but an Egyptian, that wouldst limit it and tie it to paper and ink, to words and syllables, sounded and written in divers tongues, languages, and characters?" Page 316. — " Thou sayest, the gospel is a constitution or effect, tempered of the grace of God, and of the blood of Christ. " Answer. The gospel thou knowest not, but buildest with thy untempered mortar, and unseasonable words; and what is the gospel an effect of ? it is not only an effect of an operation, but it is that which operates, and is the power of God, which will confound all this mud, and all these muddy traditions, which you mix with the Scriptures and call them gospel. " Page 260. — " This man talks like a heathen politician rather than a minister of Christ, who tells of an excellent plot of redemp- tion, for He who is the Redeemer, was with the Father, and was his light before the world began, which in due time was made manifest, by what means the Father pleased, who is that unli- mited Spirit, which cannot nor will not be confined to this or that thing ; for Moses was a believer, and a follower of Christ, and Christ was revealed to him, that through faith he saw him that is invisible, Heb. xi. 27. And then there was no Scripture, and the shepherds and the wise men of the east were directed by the 130 star ; and the star which they saw in the east went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was, and when they saw the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy, Mat. ii. 2, 9, 10. And here is no mention made of Scrip- ture ; so to confine the Lord to this or that way, to this or that form, to this or that appearance, as I. W. would do, is to limit the Holy One of Israel ; and the Scripture saith, as the living Father hath life in himself, so the Son hath also life in himself, to give to whomsoever he will, and the Scripture saith further ; none know God, nor the things of God, save by the Spirit of God ; so that this is a true saying, and worthy of acceptation, that eternal life can be found no where, hut where it is, and eternal life is in the Son of God ; and thou and the rest qf you professors^ who look for eternal life in the letter, you are seeking the living among the dead ; for the Scripture saith, he that hath the Son hath life, but not he that hath the Scripture hath life, for there are many which have the Scripture, the writings, or written words, and have not the Son, neiiher eternal life; for the Pha- risees had the words and the Scriptures, and never heard the voice of God at any time, neither had they the Word of God abiding in their hearts, and yet they had the Scripture and writings of Moses and the Prophets in their minds ; so that it is manifest, they had neither found God, Christ nor eternal life, notwithstanding they had Moses and the Prophets. " And yet I say untQ thee, we are not vilifying the Scriptures, as thou falsely judgest ; for if the Spirit of truth, through which God and the deep things of God are discovered, if it please to manifest eternal life, or anything that pertains thereunto, through the words which have been spoken btfore by itself, and it brings in those words again, and opens them in any believer's heart, and gives him to understand them, and the things of God through any of the words of the Scripture, this is not excluded; but to limit life or the Spirit to this or that, or the other thing, true believers dare not do ; for God, who is eternal life, manifested his mind to the creature, how, when, where, and by what he will; who art thou that wouldst limit him? and thou that 131 knowest Christ no other way than by the words without, thee knowest him not at all, no more than the Pharisees, who had the words, and yet were ignorant of the life. 71 Page 274. — " And at last, when thou hast vilified and mocked Christ and his light, thou criest with the Jews, Away with this deluding light, and criest ,To the law, and to the testi- mony, and so in the drunken spirit reeleth and staggers, and knowest not what thou sayest. Didst thou not say a little before, that the law was light, and that which accuseth for sin, and convicteth of sin, and excuseth and bringeth peace to the obe- dient ? Is not this Jesus' testimony, or the testimony of Jesus ? And thou criest, Away, away with this as delusion ; and this is all the tune thou playest on thy bad stringed instrument : the letter is the word, and Scripture is the rule, the Scripture is the Gospel, and Scriptures the testimony, and Scripture is the trial of the Spirit, and thou hast tried Christ the true light that enlightens every man, and with thy false judgment hast con- demned him." William Penn, Page 302. — " So that then we ought, and do, by absolute force of truth, conclude, First, that the seed, which is Christ, was in all ages; with Abraham, with the Israelites, with the Prophets ; therefore he was as well before he came in that prepared body, as then and since. Secondly, yet it is confessed that he was not so clearly revealed, perfectly brought forth, and generally known before his coming, as then and since, but more darkly figured out by types and shadowy services ; which, though they cleansed not, saved not, redeemed not, yet did they shew forth a more hidden and spiritual substance, that was able to cleanse, save and redeem, and actually did, all that received it, and were truly subject to it, and that both from sin and death." Page 306. — "Though we believe the eternal power, life and light, which inhabited that Holy Person who was born at Bethlehem, was and is chiefly and eminently the Saviour, (for there is no Saviour besides me, saith God) yet we reverently confess the holy manhood was instrumental ly a Saviour, as 132 prepared and chosen for the work that Christ, the Word of God, had then to do in it; which was actually to the salvation of some then, and intentionally of the whole world then and in ages to come, suitable to that Scripture, ■ Lo, in the volume of the book it is written, I come to do thy will, O God ; a body hast thou prepared me,' Secondly, That as there was a necessity that "One should die for the people," so whoever then or since believed in him, had and have a seal, or confirma- tion, of the remission of their sins in his blood ; and that blood, alluding to the custom of the Jewish sacrifices, shall be an utter blotting out of former iniquities, carrying them as into a land of forge tfuln ess. This great assurance of remission from the wrath due upon the score of former offences, do all receive in the ratifying blood of Christ, who, repenting of their sins, believe and obey the holy light with which he hath lighted them. For Paul's being turned from darkness to the light in his heart, was one and the same with his believing in the Son of God, 1 revealed in his heart/ " Vol. 2, Page 4. — " But besides their not being a general, I have several reasons to offer, why they cannot be the rule of faith and life, &c. If now the rule, then ever the rule ; but they were not ever the rule; and therefore they cannot now be the rule. That they were not ever the rule, is granted: but that they are not therefore now the rule, may be by some denied ; which I shall prove thus. If the faith of God's people in all ages be of one nature, then the rule but of one nature : but clear it is, Hebrew xi. the faith has been but of one nature. In short, if the holy ancients had faith before they had or wrote Scripture, they had a rule before they had or wrote Scripture ; for where faith is, there is a rule for that faith. And if the faith be of one nature, the rule is of one nature also. And since the faith is inward, spiritual, begotten of the immortal Word, in which is life, and that life the light of men, and that this word of life and light was the rule ; then no book, writing, or engra- ving on visible and perishable matter, can be the rule now. " Again ; such as the faith is, such must the rule be ; but the faith is, as before, inward and spiritual, which no mere book can 133 be. Secondly. If the Scriptures were the general rule, they must always have been a perfect rule, ever since they were a rule : but this is impossible, since they were many hundred years in writing, and are now imperfect also as to number ; how then are they the perfect rule ? " That they were not the perfect rule before they were written, must be granted : and that they were many hundred years in writing must also be allowed ; and that they are imperfect now as to number, I prove : " First. 6 Enoch's Prophecy/ is mentioned by Jude, but not extant in the Bible. ' The book of the Wars of the Lord/ Numb. xxi. 14. 'The Book of Jasher,' Josh. x. 13. 2 Sam. i, 18. < The Book of Nathan/ 2 Chron, ix. 15. 'The Book of Shemaiah/ 2nd Chron. xii. 15. ' The Book of Jehu. r ' The Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Laodiceans/ Colos. iv. 16. and several others mentioned in the Scriptures, not now extant. And lastly, Luke says that many took in hand to relate from eye-witnesses the things most surely believed, &c. " Secondly. Now it is taken for granted, that John wrote many years after Luke : some think Luke wrote before Mark, however, Matthew and Mark were not many, and to this day we see no more than those four in our Bibles ; and therefore many such writings are lost : and if lost, then the Scriptures, as aforesaid, are not perfect ; and if imperfect, how can they be the rule of faith, since the rule of faith must be perfect. " Thirdly. My third reason is this; the Scriptures, however useful to edification and comfort, seem not in their own nature and frame to have been compiled and delivered as the general rule and entire body of faith, but rather written upon particular occasions and emergencies. The doctrines are scattered through- out die Scriptures; insomuch that those societies, who have given forth verbal confessions of their faith, have been necessitated to toss them to and fro, to search here and search there, to lay down this or the other principle ; and then as like the original text as their apprehensions can render it : whereas, were it as plain and distinct as the nature of a rule requires, they needed N 134 only to have given their subscription for a confession. Besides, here they are proper, there metaphysical : in one place literally, in another mystically to be accepted : most times points are to be proved by comparing and weighing places coherent ; where to allude aptly, and not wrong the sense, is difficult, and re- quires a clear and certain discerning, notwithstanding the cla- mours upon us about infallibility. Now from all this, with abundance more that might be said, plain is it that the Scrip- tures are not plain but to the spiritual man : thus Peter said of Paul's writings that, ' in many things they were hard to be understood/ therefore not such a rule, which ought to be plain ; proper, and intelligible. " Fifth. Again, the Scripture cannot be the rule of faith, be- cause it cannot give faith; for faith is the < gift of God, which overcomes the world :' Eph. ii. 6. 1 John v. 4. neither of prac- tice, because it cannot distinguish of itself, in all cases, what ought to be practised, and what not : since it contains as well what ought not to be practised, as what ought. This was the case of Christ's disciples, who had no particular rule in the Old Testament writings for the abolishing of some part of the Old Testament religion: on the contrary, they might have pleaded for the perpetuity of it, because Christ said unto them, ' Do as they say that sit in Moses's chair/ more reasonably than many who make that a plea now-a-days for their invented worships. What then guided them in their declaring void and relinquish- ing those things ? For instance, God gave circumcision ' as a sign for ever/ Gen. xvii. 7. And Paul tells the Galatians, 6 that if they be circumcised, ^Christ should profit them nothing/ Gal. v. 1, 2. was not this the Spirit of truth, that leads into all truth, that the Apostles made the judge and rule of their doctrine and practice ? So said James, and the assembly of the Apostles, when they told the believers, it ' seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us/ &c. Acts. xv. 28. " Sixth. How shall I be assured that these Scriptures came from God ? I am bound to try all things : if all things, then them among the rest. I would fain know what I must 135 try them with. With the Scriptures ? Then the Scriptures must be the rule of my examination and faith concerning themselves, which is improper. If with the Spirit that gave them forth, which searcheth the deep things of God (a measure of which is given to me to profit withal, then is it most congruous to call the Spirit by way of excellency, and not the Scriptures, the rule. " Seventh. If the Scriptures are the rule, they must be so in the original, or copies : if in the original, that is not extant, and so there would be no rule in being ; for the last of it that was extant, was the Evangelist John's history at Ephesus, not seen almost these thousand years. If the copies must be the rule, it were to be wished we knew which were the nighest to the original, there being above thirty in number. This is undetermined, and for ought we see, undeterminable. And that which farther con- firms what I say is, the variety of readings which we find amongst those copies, amounting to several thousands. And if the copies cannot, how can the translations be the rule, so vari- ous (if not differing) from the true sense of the copies in many things, and one from another? Besides I would fain know of those of our present age, who thus contend for the Scriptures being the general rule, &c. in opposition to the Spirit, upon what foot they received them into this place and authority : is it by tradition or revelation ? I mean, the internal testimony of the Spirit ; or the external award and determination of men ? If the former, they must unavoidably come over to us ; for then the Spirit will and must be both rule and judge: if the latter, I ask how are they assured that they are not miserably abused by carelessness or design ; since we see, that using the utmost diligence, both translation, transcription, and printing, are subject to numerous mistakes, and those sometimes very material, against which the Scripture of itself can make no fence ? Now sure it is, that some of the Scriptures taken in by one council for canonical, were rejected by another as apocryphal; and that which was left out by the former as apocryphal was taken in by the latter for canonical. Now visible it is, that they contradicted each other, and as true that they both erred, respecting the present belief: 136 for your canon and catalogue vary from theirs, and let me say, without offence, from any catalogue you can produce. Behold the labyrinth of uncertainties you run yourselves, by which the Holy Scriptures are truly discerned, relished, and distinguished from the inventions and abuses of men ! " Or tell me if the most considerable part of Scripture, be any more than the declared knowledge and experience of such as were come to a more improved state in the teachings of that light and Spirit; which is therefore given forth, that others loitering behind might be stirred up, and the more prevailed with to follow them, as they had followed the Lord in the light of his Spirit ? Certainly it can never be that Scripture should impeach the light of insufficiency, when that very Scripture is but the mind and teachings of the divine light in others, declared or recorded. Does the declaration jar with, or make weak, that from whence it came ? Or because of God's condescension for a time to external mediums, shall they turn the light and Spirit out of the office of rule and judge ? Or is it to lay down instituted religion, as some ignorantly talk, to press after that which was before, and ends those temporary things ? The law outward, as a rule, was but as Moses, till the Son came. ' The servant abideth not in the house for ever.' The written law held its place but till the inward arose in more glory and bright- ness ; or rather till people became more capable of being turned to it and living with, and in it. ' In those days ' saiththe Lord ? 1 1 will write my law in their hearts, &c/ Isa. lxv. 18. They who say otherwise of Scripture, do pervert and abuse it ; there is nothing more clearly laid down in it from beginning to end, than the rule and reign of the Spirit, 6 My kingdom/ said Christ ( is not of this world/ John xviii. 36. Again, the king- dom of God is within. 6 1 will write my law in their hearts, and place my fear in their inward parts. All thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and in rightousness shall they be established. I will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh/ Joel ii. 28. 6 The grace of God that brings salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching, &e.' Titus ii. 11, 12. 137 " But this leads me to my eighth reason why the Scriptures cannot be the rule under the new covenant, &c. for admitting the law written by Moses were the rule (a rule, I grant it was,) to the Jew outward ; yet Christ the spiritual leader of a spirit- ual Israel, writeth his spiritual law in the heart ; as Moses the outward Israel's leader wrote the law upon tables of stone. This was God's promise, and that the privilege and blessing of the new covenant, that as the outward Jew had an outward law for a directory, the inward Jew should have an inward law for his directory : and as the outward Jew had an outward priest, at whose mouth he ought to seek the law ; so the Jew inward, and circumcision in spirit, has an inward and spiritual high -priest, whose lips preserve knowledge; at whose mouth he is to receive the law of life. And this is his rule, even he who is the ruler of his people Israel, who reigneth in righteousness, and of whose heavenly government there shall be no end. The king, ruler, judge, law-giver, high priest, law, rule, temple, are all spiritual ; so the Scriptures inform us ; c My kingdom,' said Christ, ' is not of this world.' Again, ( the kingdom of God is within. I will write my law in their hearts, and place my fear in their inward parts. They shall be all taught of me; and in right- eousness shall they be established. The tabernacle of God is with man; he will dwell with them. I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh. The grace of God hath appeared unto all men, teaching, &c. A measure of the Spirit is given to all men to profit withal. The inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding. Whatsover may be known of God is manifest within. Walk in the Spirit. If ye walk in the light, &c. Come let us walk in the light of the Lord. And there needed neither sun nor moon to shine ; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb was the light thereof. As many as walk accord- ing to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God, &c/ What rule ? Not that of the old legal crea- tion, which then passed away ; but the rule of the /easy?/ Kriuig, or new creation as it may be rendered, and as Drusius also doth interpret it ; which is the way of life Isaiah spoke of; c an n2 138 highway shall be there, and it shall be called the way of holi- ness ; the unclean shall not pass over it, and way-faring men, though fools, shall not err therein : there shall be no lion there, nor ravenous beast to go thereon, but the redeemed shall walk there :' which way, teacher, guide, rule, light, spirit, and holy unction, that directs and keeps in steady paths of truth, is Christ Jesus our Lord. " Doth our manifesting their faith concerning the Scriptures to be grounded upon their own imaginations, or human traditions, make void the Scriptures, or render them uncertain ? By no means ; for we would have them received upon the Spirit's tes- timony and evidence which gave them forth. And although we cannot allow them to be the rule of faith and life, under the dispensation of the Gospel, which is power and life itself, yet are they to be reverently read, believed and fulfilled under the Gospel. For notwithstanding the law written upon stone was not Paul's rule, after the Son of God was revealed in him ; yet the Son of God taught Paul to fulfil the righteouness declared by that law. If it be to deny and reject, yea to vilify the Scrip- ture, because we cannot allow it to be a rule, &c. Paul then may be said to deny, reject, and vilify the written law, at what time the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus became his rule. There is a great difference between asserting that the Spirit is the rule, and casting away and vilifying of Scripture. u A rule, and the rule, are two things. By the rule of faith and practice, I understand the living, spiritual, immediate, omnipresent, discovering, ordering, Spirit of God: and by a rule, I apprehend some instrument, by and through which this great and universal rule may convey its directions. Such a subordinate, secondary, and declaratory rule, we never said several parts of Scripture were not : yet we confess the reason of our obedience is not merely because they are there written (for that were legal) but because they are the eternal precepts of the Spirit in men's consciences there repeated and declared. It is the testimony of the Spirit, which is the true rule for believing and understanding of the Scripture; therefore not the Scripture, 139 the Spirit of truth, must be the rule for our believing and un derstanding them. Page 16. — " Now that which was their rule can guide us into the same experiences ; nor are they to be rightly known before experienced : ' If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine/ saith Christ. I read the history of such things ; this saves not : neither can the history be the rule leading into the mystery. That belongs only to the Spirit, that searcheth out the deep things of God. Consequently the Spirit, and not the Scripture, is the rule for so believing and living. " Objection. But if God had not revealed those things that are in Scripture, by it to us, how could they have been known by us? "Answer. They were known by the light and Spirit of Christ before they were written ; for from being written they are called Scripture. " Therefore it is said, that the Prophets searched diligently : what, and what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ, that was in them, did signify, when it testified beforehand of the suffer- ings of Christ.' 1 Peter i. 11. Nor are they ever the more revealed to the blind and dark mind because they are written . The mysteries of regeneration are as puzzling to natural wit and earthly wisdom, as before. Therefore well said Epiphanius, only to the children of the Holy Ghost, all the holy Scriptures are plain and easy. Men's going to hammer out principles without this infallible guide and rule, hath been the cause of that great confusion that is over mankind about religion to this very day. Light does not reveal every circumstance of history to each individual that hath already an account thereof, that therefore it could not, is unreasonable. Were the history of the transactions of Christ and his followers wanting (as, before Moses, was that of Adam and his posterity,) and that the Lord saw it needful to acquaint mankind therewith, no doubt but the light and Spirit which revealed the account of the creation, above two thousand years after to Moses, and foretold several hundred years many of those transactions of Christ by the Pro- 140 phets, would also have supplied that want : but inasmuch as an account is extant, and therefore not needed, that objection is vain. " Again, it does not follow, because every man has a mea- sure of light to inform and rule him, that therefore he must needs know all which that light knows, or is able to reveal to him. I return that argument thus upon our adversaries : they say, ' they have the Spirit of God :' then they know all that the Spirit of God knows, or can reveal to them. If the latter be ab- surd, then the former. Again, say they, ' the light within did not reveal Christ to the Gentiles, and that Christ should be born of a virgin/ &c. therefore insufficient. I return upon them thus : The Spirit of God, given to the children of Israel, Neh. ix. 20. did not acquaint them that Christ should be born of a virgin, nor much more of his life and bodily transactions; therefore the Spirit of God was insufficient. The like may be concluded against the Spirit in the Prophets : for it is manifest from 1 Pet. i. 10, 11. that the Spirit had not revealed to all the Prophets the time of Christ's appearance and sufferings. Was the Spirit therefore an insufficient rule to them ? but that which falls heaviest upon our opposers, is this. That the Scriptures, by their own argument, are a most imperfect ac- count themselves of what was done, not relating the hundredth part of things ; therefore as insufficient in not relating what is behind, as they would weakly render the light or Spirit in not revealing to every individual those things which are already past. Nay, they may as well infer insufficiency to the Spirit, or the light within, in that it does not shew all that shall be to the end of the world, which in their proper seasons there will be a necessity to know, as to reflect insufficiency upon it, &c. because it did not foretel things that are now past unto for- mer ages, or needlessly reveal them over again to us in this age. Neither is history, nor can it be, the rule of that faith and life we speak of, which are so absolutely necessary to salvation, which is the faith that God, and not history, gives; and that works not by history, but by love, and overcomes the world ; 141 by which millions of historical believers are overcome, and wallow in the spirit and practice of. And the rule must be answerable to the nature and workings of the faith : the same in point of practice, which is duty done. Now history, though it inform me of others' actions, yet it does not follow that it is the rule of duty to me, since it may relate to actions not imi- table, as in the case of Adam and Eve in several respects, and Christ's being born of a virgin, dying for the sins of the world, &c. wherefore this cannot be the rule of duty. The like may be said of the Jewish story, that was the particular concern and transaction of that people." Page 22. — " How can Scripture be the judge of controversy, since the question most times arises about the meaning of Scrip- ture? Is there any place tells us, without interpretation, whether the Socinian or Trinitarian be in the right, in their differing apprehensions of the ' three that bear record,' &c. also the Homonssian and Arian, about Christ's divinity ; or the Papists or Protestants about tran substantiation ? If then things are left undefined and undetermined, I mean literally and expressly, in the Scripture, and that the question arises about the sense of words, doth the Scripture determine which of those interpre- ters hits the mark ? As this is not reasonable to think, so must it be acknowledged, that if interpretation decide the matter in controversy, then not the Scripture, but the interpreter must be the judge. Now this interpreter must either interpret by his own mere wisdom or spirit, called by the Apostle, 1 Cor. ii. 11. ' The spirit of a man,' who, by weighing the text, consulting the intent of the writer, comparing places together, gives the judgment which the Scripture does not give of itself; or from the Spirit of God, ' which gives understanding,' as Job. xxxii. 8. and as the same Apostle saith, in the same place, ' searcheth the deep things of God/ If the first, then a fallible ; if the last, then an infallible judge. I would fain know, whether it was the Scripture, or the Holy Ghost, that presided among the Apostles when they were come together, Acts xv. when they gaid, l It seemeth good to the Holy Ghost and to us,' &c, If 142 the Holy Ghost then, give us a plain Scripture to prove we are to have another judge now : if that cannot be done, then we must have the same, and consequently an infallible judge, viz, the Spirit of truth, which leads Christians into all truth, and is given of God, by Christ, for that very end." The Christian Quaker and His Testimony Stated and Vindicated. William Penn, Vol. I. Page 300. — " I have two short arguments farther to prove what I believe and assert as to the spirituality of the true seed, and a clearer overthrow it is to the opinion of our adversaries concerning the true Christ. First, every thing begets its like : what is simply natural pro- duces not a spiritual being : material things bring not forth things that are immaterial. Now, because the nature, or image, begotten in the hearts of true believers is spiritual, it will follow, that the seed, which so begets and brings forth that birth, must be the same in nature with that which is begotten; therefore spiritual : then Christ's body, or what he had from the virgin, strictly considered as such, was not the seed. a Secondly, It is clear from hence : the serpent is a spirit. Now nothing bruises the head of the serpent in man, but some- thing that is also internal and spiritual, as the serpent is, But if the body of Christ were only the seed, then would he not bruise the serpent's head in all, because the body of Christ is not so much as in any one (though too many have weakly con- cluded it upon us, from a perversion or mistake of our doctrine of Christ in man, by his light and Spirit); and consequently the seed of the promise is an holy and spiritual principle of Light, life, and power, which being received into the heart, bruiseth the serpent's head. And because the seed, (which in this sense cannot be that body) is Christ — as testify the Scrip- tures, the seed is one, and that seed Christ, and Christ God over all, blessed for ever — we do conclude that Christ was, and is the divine Word of Light and life, that was in the beginning with God, and was and is God over all, blessed for ever. " And that this may yet more evidently appear, let it but be seriously weighed, that antecedent to that visible appearance. 143 the seed bruised, in good measure, the serpent's head, in the holy men and women of all generations ; otherwise they had not been holy, but serpentine and wicked. And if the seed was before, and that seed be Christ, (because there is but one Christ, as well as but one seed) it doth clearly follow that Christ was Christ before that outward appearance ; and conse- quently it could but be a more excellent and free manifestation of his truth, righteousness, salvation, wisdom, power, glory and dominion ; as indeed it was." Page 305. — u This it was which gave the manhood the understanding it had, and fitted it for so great an embassy ; by whose power alone it fasted, prayed, preached, cast out devils, wrought miracles, lived that most unblemished life, patiently suffered death, was raised for an holy confirmation, maugre all the military opposition of the Jews : and this divine power it was which accompanied the ministry of his followers, rendering it efficacious to conviction and conversion : so that the invisible, spiritual and divine life, principle or nature, was the root and fountain of all which is sometimes ascribed in Scripture to the body, by that common figure, or way of speaking amongst men, the thing containing, which was the body, for the thing contained, which was the eternal power, wisdom, life, &c. Not that we should rob irreverently the holy body of whatsoever ac- knowledgment is justly due, nor yet separate that which God hath joined : though I confess, with holy fear, I dare not attribute that to an external prepared being, which is the natural proper, and only work of the Divine Light and life to operate and effect. But certainly, if some men in Scripture are entitled saviours, because, of the contribution of their trials, travails and labours towards the salvation of mankind, of much more right is that honour ascribed to him 'who had the Spirit without measure :' for I do freely acknowledge the holy manhood to have been, in some sense, a co-worker and partner with the Divine Life in those trials, weights, sufferings, and travails for mankind. Yet, as it was the Divine Power that gave them weight in that great work, so was it the divine life in him which 144 made that holy manhood what it was; and therefore ought we, chiefly, to appropriate the salvation to Christ as the Word God, and to the holy manhood but secondly and instrumentally; I mean, as it was a chosen instrument or vessel, in and by which God declared the blessed glad tidings of love, and his message of reconciliation to the world ; in which he gave the most heavenly example of purity, and through whose whole life, doctrine, and death, did shine forth the clearest evidences of truth, goodness, mercy, patience, deep travail for the world self-denial, holiness, and triumphant martyrdom/' l > Meditations and Experiences, by William Shewen. — a For I testify, that this law of the Spirit of life within, was man's rule, whereby he walked innocently and uprightly, before transgression entered, and before outward characters were in- vented, or before any outward law was written, or engraved on tables of stone. To this again are many called, and many are coming, and come ; and for ever blessed are those that walk therein, and are ruled thereby. The true knowledge of Jesus Christ is very precious ; to know him as he was before Abra- ham was, and to know the knowledge of him after the flesh pass away. This rests upon my spirit to testify, that none can enjoy true blessedness and spiritual consolation to their souls, farther than they have a testimony in themselves, that they walk in the precious everlasting Light that now shineth. To this Light our minds were at first turned, in which God dwells, and in which the worship in spirit and truth is learned and performed in this age, as in ages past. The way is and hath been throughout all generations, one, and it is a plain pathway ; the wayfaring man, though a fool, cannot err in it. Friends are witnesses, and many could seal it with their lives, that there is no other way nor means appointed of God to come to sit down in the kingdom of heaven, or to attain everlasting salva- tion, but by believing in the power of God, in the Light of Christ within, to which our minds have been directed. All the teaching of men and books in the world, are but dross and 145 dung in comparison of this Divine Teacher, the Light, Spirit, and grace of God within. This was man's teacher and guide before books were written; before any outward law was writ- ten ; and this I testify, in the Word of the Lord, that teachings of all men, books, and writings, which tend to divert the mind of mankind from this Divine Teacher within, are vain and unprofitable, and proceed from that wisdom which is earthly, sensual, and devilish ; and all that lend an ear unto it, are capti- vated in the mystery of iniquity : ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth which makes free, so long as they abide under such teachers. If this be not witnes- sed and enjoyed, all profession is vain, all knowledge is vain, all religion and talk of Christianity is vain, and of no worth ; for it is he that believes that Christ is come in the flesh, -and that demonstrates the livingness of his faith by the works thereof, that is of God, and God dwelletb in him, and he in God. This is more than a bare profession, or verbal confession, according to the testimony of John the divine, in his first epistle, chapter iv." Coxcernixg the Scriptures. R. Barclay. Page 29o — u For as we freely acknowledge, that their authority doth not depend upon the approbation or canons of any church or assem- bly; so neither can we subject them to the fallen, corrupt, and defiled reason of man : and therein as we do freely agree with the protes'.ants against the error of the Romanists, so on the other hand we cannot go the length of such protestants, as make then- authority to depend upon any virtue or power, that is in the writings themselves ; but we desire to ascribe ail to that Spirit from which they proceeded. Page 297. — " By all which it appeareth, how necessary ii is, to seek the certainty of the Scriptures from the Spirit ; ant no where else, the infinite j anglings and endless contests of those that seek their authority elsewhere, do witness to the truth hereof. "For the ancients themselves, even of the first centuries were not agreed among themselves concerning them; while some o 146 of them rejected books which we approve, and others of them approved those which some of us reject. It is not unknown to such as are in the least acquainted with antiquity, what great contests are concerning the second Epistle of Peter, that of James, the second and third of John, and the Revelation, which many, even very ancient, deny to have been written by the beloved disciple and brother of James, but by auother of that name. What should then become of Christians, if they had not received that Spirit, and those spiritual senses by which they know how to discern the true from the false ? It is the privilege of Christs' sheep indeed, that they hear his voice, and refuse that of a stranger : which privilege being taken away, we are left a prey to all manner of wolves. c< Though then we do acknowledge the Scriptures to be a very heavenly and divine writing, the use of them to be very com- fortable and necessary to the Church of Christ, and that we also admire and give praise to the Lord for his wonderful providence in preserving these writings so pure and uncorrupted, as we have them, through so long a night of apostacy, to be a testimony for his truth against the wickedness and abominations even of those, whom he made instrumental in preserving them ; so that they have kept them to be a witness against themselves, yet we may not call them the principal fountain of all truth and know- ledge, nor yet the first adequate rule of faith and manners ; because the principal fountain of truth must be the truth itself, (i. e.) that whose certainty and authority depends not upon ano- ther. When we doubt of the streams of any river or flood, we recur to the fountain itself, and having found it, there we rest; we can go no further, because there it springs out of the bowels of the earth, which are inscrutable; even so the writings and sayings of all men we must bring to the Word of God, I mean, the eternal Word; and if they agree thereto, we stand there, for this Word always proceedeth, and doth eternally proceed from God, in and by which the unsearchable wisdom of God and unsearchable counsel and will conceived in the heart of God is revealed unto us. That then the Scripture is not the 147 principal ground of faith and knowledge, as it appears, by what is above spoken; so it is provided in the latter part of the pro- position, which being reduced to an argument, runs thus : that, the certainty and authority whereof depends upon another, and which is received as truth because of its proceeding from ano- ther ; is not to be accounted the principal ground and origin of all truth and knowledge; but the Scripture's authority and cer- tainty depends upon the Spirit, by which they were dictated ; and the reason, w T hy they were received as truth is, because they proceeded from the Spirit, therefore they are not the principal ground of truth. " But besides these, w 7 hich are before mentioned, herein doth the Law and the Gospel differ : In that the Law being outwardly written, brings under condemnation, but hath not life in it to save ; whereas the Gospel, as it declares and makes manifest the evil, so it being an inward powerful thing, also gives power to obey, and delivers from the evil, hence it is called EvavyiXwv, which is glad tidings. The law or letter, which is without us, kills ; but the Gospel, which is the inward spiritual law, gives life, for it consists not so much in words, as in virtue. Where- fore such as come to know it, and be acquainted with it, come to feel greater power over their iniquities, than all outward laws, or rules can give them. Hence the apostle concludes, Rom. vi, 14. ' Sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace : this grace then, that is inward, and not an outward law, is to be the rule of Christians.' From what is above said, I argue thus : the principal rule of Christians under the Gospel is not an outward letter, nor law outwardly written and delivered, but an inward spiritual law engraven in the heart, the law of the Spirit of life, the Word, that is nigh in the heart and in the mouth; but the letter of the Scripture is outward, of itself a dead thing, a meer declaration of good things, but not the things themselves." Truth Cleared of Calumnies, by Robert Barclay, Page 16. — " And as to thy question, what way shall the delu- sion be tried, if you neglect the word of God, and look only 148 within ? Answer, As for the Word of God, nor yet the Scriptures* testimony, we neglect not ; but what way, thinkestthou, shall the delusion be tried, if you neglect the Spirit within, and look only upon the letter, and words without you ? If the delusion be strong in the heart, will it not twine and wrest the Scriptures without to cause the Scriptures to seem for it ? And suppose a man be deluded with a Spirit of delusion, what can help him, but God, whose Spirit searcheth all the deepest things of Satan, and can and doth discover them to those, who love to be undeceived, and are faithful to God, in what they certainly know. And though the same deluding Spirit, who deceived first may deceive over again, that makes nothing against the sufficiency of the Spirit to discover the delusion; but if a man be deceived either first, or again, he is to blame himself for his defect, in not being duly watchful and faithful, in what is dis- covered to him of God truly and certainly. Consider the tendency of thy argument, which strikes not only at the certainty of the Saints' faith now from the Spirit within, and the assurance of knowledge therefrom, but also strikes at the very certainty and assurance of all the faith and knowledge the holy Prophets and men of God had from the Spirit within, when the Scripture was not : We are in no greater hazard to be deceived now than they were then. You that set up the Scripture, as your only rule, the many sects of you, what jangling and contesting is among you, while one pleads for his sense, and another for his ! Which all proceeds from their wandering from the Spirit, that gave forth the Scriptures. And as to satisfying of others, we refer and recommend them to the same Spirit in them, to receive their satisfaction from that, which only can and will satisfy them who wait for it in singleness. " Thou sayest, they are said to be a killing letter, and this shews, that they are not dead. Answer, A poor argument indeed ! cannot dead things kill, if men feed upon them ? If thou feedest upon sand, gravel stones, shells, will not these things kill thee, though they be dead ? And if thou feedest upon the letter without thee, and not upon the life, thou canst 149 not live ; yea, if one that lived, did depart from feeding upon the life, to feed upon the letter, it would kill him. And as for that Scripture cited by thee, it makes very much against thee, to wit, Isaiah lix, 21. For it is one thing, for God to put words into men's mouths, and quite another for men to gather these words from that without and put them into their own mouths ; nor doth it say, that the words God shall put into their mouths, shall be no other words more or less, but the express Scripture words/' Richard Claridge on the Holy Scriptures, from Bes- ses Defence, — u Now though we believe, the immediate Inspiration which we have is from the same Holy Spirit that inspired the Prophets and Apostles, and through them gave forth the Holy Scriptures ; yet we do not say it is the same Inspiration for degree which they had, but that it is the same for kind'" " Whereas the immediate inspiration we'plead for, makes all outward means the more useful ; being that alone which ena- bles men to discover true doctrine from false, and counterfeit pretenders from truly inspired ministers. " The Apostle proposeth this anointing in them, as a more certain touchstone for them to discern and try seducers by, even than his own writings ; for having in the former verse said, that he had written some things to them, concerning such as seduced them, he begins the next verse, l but the anointing, &c, and ye need not that any man teach you, &c.' which infers,, that having said to them what can be said, he refers them for all to the inward anointing (which teaches all things) as the most firm constant and certain bulwark against all seducers. a And lastly, ' that it is a lasting and continuing thing ; the anointing which abideth, if it had not been to abide in them, it could not have taught them all things, neither guided them against all hazard/" 2o 150 George Whitehead on Divine Inspiration. — " See here how he hath shut out all Divine Light, Spirit, and God's immediate teaching, both from being in us, and from being any certain rule (though we do not oppose what the Spirit teacheth, to Christ's doctrine ; for the Spirit teacheth the same immedi- ately, yet what is it but to promote Atheism, to exclude God, and Christ, and Spirit, and Light within, as no certain rule, and to exalt the Scriptures above them all, and to give the Scriptures that high epithet they no where give themselves, as adequate rule of inward motions and inclinations ? — whereas the inward light of Christ, which makes manifest all things that are reproved, is therefore the most suitable rule to try inward motions ; for unto this light he that doeth truth cometh, that his deeds may be manifest that they are wrought in God ; and it is the same light that reproveth the evil deeds of those that hate it, see John iii. 19, 20, 21. As to his saying that the doctrine contained in the Scripture is the rule of faith and practice ; he should rather have said, a rule subordinate to the great rale of faith and practice; to wit — that divine light which was the true Prophets' and Apostles' rule, in giving forth the Scripture ; and is now the true believers' rule in truly believing, understanding, and obeying the wholesome doctrine contained in them ; which none truly own, but they who believe in the light, and follow and walk in trig Spirit, which the doctrine of Christ and his Apostles directs men to. Again, it manifestly tends to Atheism to con- clude that no divine or saving illumination is immediately conveyed to man's soul by his Maker, but only by such mediums as the Scriptures, or man's teaching ; for then — what is man, and in what capacity is his soul, before he either know the Scriptures or have man's teaching? Or, if there be nothing of a divine nature., life, or light in men immediately from God, who have not those outward means, how are their souls immortal, and capable of future rewards ? And what better than a beast doth it render man (as to a future condition) to suppose he hath no divine life and illumination from this maker ; but only that all must be infused into him instrumentally, through his natural 151 organs or sense ? And how should he receive a Gospel minis- try, or advantage by it, if he have no Gospel light in him, before conveyed to his soul immediately by his maker himself V* Naked Truth : By Isaac Pexingtox,— -" Quest. Whether the Scriptures can be understood aright, without the light of God's Holy Spirit shining inwardly in the heart, and giving the true understanding of them ? " Answer. No ; not possibly. For as the outward eye cannot possibly see without the shining of some outward light, no more can the inward eye see without the shining of the inward light. God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness, causeth the light of his Spirit to shine in the hearts of people accord- ing to his holy pleasure, and thereby they come to see. No man is, or ever was, or ever can be, converted to God from the inward law of sin and death, but by the inward law of life and righteousness written in the heart ; and I am sure that law- is perfect, the new covenant is perfect, and the law thereof per- fect; the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus perfect, which converts the mind to Christ the righteousness of God, and sets it free from the law of sin and death. And David was a spirit- ual man, and knew the inward covenant, and the inward creat- ing of the heart anew, and God's holy and free Spirit, and the law and testimony thereof. I will grant a great deal to the letter and ministration outward, but I must attribute more to the inward ; or else God's light, and the holy experience which he hath given me, will condemn me. And as the Jew out- ward had the law r , and testimony, and statutes outward; so I am sure the true Jew, the Jew inward, hath the law, and testi- mony, and statutes inward, written in his heart by the finger of God's Spirit; yea, and the same Spirit put within him, to cause him to keep this law, and the holy testimony, statutes, and judgments of the Lord ; and the spiritual Jacob, and Israel of God, in this the day of their redemption, and salvation from on high, do follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes, and walk in the light of the Lord. 152 " Quest. Whether all things necessary to salvation be con- tained in the Scriptures ? "Answer. The Scriptures give testimony concerning the one thing necessary to salvation ; but the thing itself, Christ himself , the seed itself, is not contained in the Scriptures, but revealed in the shinings of the true light, and so received or rejected in- wardly in the heart: ' Behold, I stand at the door and knock. 7 Blessed are they that hear his voice, and believe him knocking, and open to him, and receive him, who gives eternal life and power to become sons of God to as many as receive him, and believe in, and give up to, the inward revealings of his redeem- ing arm and power therein. c To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ? ' To them in whom and to whom this arm is revealed, Christ is revealed ; and they in whom and to whom Christ is revealed, know the one thing necessary, even him who is life eternal, in whom all other necessary things are wrapped up, and by whom they are conveyed to the soul, according to its need, by him who is faithful in all his house, and takes care of every sheep which the Father committeth to him." CONCLUSION. Well, time hastens on apace, and I must hasten towards a conclusion. We have now had ample proof of what the sentiments of more than " one of the most eminent of our Early Friends," really icere upon several important points. I might have transcribed many whole pieces, which press something close upon the point ; but here is amply sufficient for the purpose. Here is nothing left for construction, cavil or misre- presentation. Here are " hirelings and deceivers," and their works of darkness exposed in the forcible language of truth, in a simplicity of style, and a power of expression, though I trust not with a severity, far exceeding the severity of the chastisement which the same generation and their works, have received in " The Truth Vindicated." We have seen the light which lighteth every man, &c. to be the fundamental principle and "foundation" upon which the society was originally based, and that it was held in a sense to be •' the only means under heaven appointed of God, 5 ' &e. We have seen the Scriptures so far as their own essential power is concerned, " described as the letter which kil- leth/' We have here abundant evidence of the sentiments of our early Friends, ''respecting the formatiou of the canon of Scripture," and many of those "shameless declarations, 5 ' so offensive to the extreme sensibility of our " Stricture" maker's nerves. We have no mean 154 specimen of "the hackneyed objection about trans- cription, translation," &c. and " precisely the argument which has so often been adduced against Protestants by Roman Catholics/' may here be seen in its pristine vi- gour. The rule of faith— the judge of controversy— £fo? ultimate appeal — the "taunting inquiries respecting the parts of Scripture which we would select for our test" —the denomination which " involves the danger of a very fatal heresy" — the Gospel — the identity of that source from which all Holy Scripture proceeds — the (< spiritual and inward Scripture," are all here treated of in the words of our early Friends themselves. They stand forth an undeniable refutation of the " Stricture" maker's assertion that " the author of * The Truth Vindicated/ who comes forward under the profession of being an advocate for our religious society, advances sentiments extremely dangerous in themselves, and utterly opposed to those which Friends have always felt it to be their duty and privilege to uphold." I have asked our fathers and they have shewn us ; our elders, and they have told us ; yes, the written testimonies of those champions and sufferers for the truth have been ap- pealed to, and Fox, Barclay, Penn, Fisher, and others, who " though dead yet speak," have been heard through those precious records to declare with one unanimous voice, The Fact is otherwise. It should not be lost sight of, that my object in writing " The Truth Vindicated/' was to defend the ancient testimonies of the society, against the attacks of bitter opponents, as also to stimulate the society itself to a steady and faithful adherence to them. Had the author of the a Strictures " been a true Friend, the ob- 155 ject which originated in a sense of duty would have been dear to him, and he would not have sought occasion to put constructions not only at variance with the object in view, but also with many express declarations contained in the work itself. Although an acknowledged minister of the same society as were those honest and unflinch- ing declaimers against "the mystery of iniquity," whose sentiments are so fully transcribed on these pages, yet does he denounce the merited castigation they have received, as the result of an " anti- christian spirit and temper, and characterizes the language in which the reprehension is conveyed, as " unseemly and violent." And this is the man, who professing a sort of horror at the statement of incontrovertible truths ; who betraying a sensitiveness leading one to suppose that he would almost faint at the odour of a rose, can nevertheless conceal the rough thistle, in a bouquet of smooth expressions, and thrust it full into one's face- — wrath, strife, an evil eye — a corrupt and wicked heart — a poisoner — a shameless declaimer — & false and audacious propounder — a hypocrite — a denier of Christ come in the flesh — an infidel — a deist, is a specimen of the seemly and gentle language, which expressly or inferen- tially he has employed in reference to the author of " The Truth Vindicated.'' As for deism, the charge is about as rational and true as that of manslaughter. This addition might have added to its falsity, though I much doubt that it would have improved upon its absurdity ; for how the former charge could be made, without the author's supposing that with the generality of his readers almost any thing he wrote would be believed, I cannot well imagine ; 156 but though this may "pass the limits of my concep- tion," it possibly comes within the range of " our author's." The brief and fair summing up of the doctrines in these passages of " The Truth Vindicated/' can be safely left to the impartiality of all who have read thus far. Nothing farther I feel persuaded is needed from me, to expose the unfairness of this writer, and to show that this summing up is no more than a train of misrepresentations, condensed into conclusions which constitute an appropriate sequel to the ingenuous prelude I have now nearly done with the " Strictures," and in taking my leave of them, I feel at liberty to say, that whether this reply shall prove satisfactory to the author or not, it is not my intention to extend the controversy between us, beyond these pages. The " Strictures" themselves have been rendered compara- tively harmless, if not totally destroyed, page by page, and almost line b}^ line as we have proceeded, the effect therefore designed by this reply, has been so far obtained. I have used a weapon (irony) which on subjects of a religious nature, is best to dispense with when others can be employed with equal advantage ; and which requires at all times a skilful hand to wield it aright, but more especially on occasions like the present. Whether it has been so wielded it is not for me to judge ; but the " Strictures" themselves, pre- sented so much of that opinionated opposition, which is grounded on the mere strength of name and station, and yet withal so cunningly concealed s that I almost felt myself constrained to use it. But whilst I have 157 expressed my sentiments with freedom, and refuted with an earnestness of manner the errors and false charges contained in the *'■ Strictures," I have sought to have my mind covered with Christian love ; in the living sense of which I can most unreservedly forgive my defamer, and sincerely wish him well. Far be it from me to wound the tender-hearted, or to lay a stone of stumbling in the pathway of the humble traveller towards Zion. Far be it from me to break " the bruised reed,' 1 or to hurt that which is good in any. This, I feel satisfied I have no done, It is with " powers and principalities/' with spiritual pride, that I have made war, and these alone will feel the blow T s. Imper- fect, unworthy, weak, and of myself " a worm and no man," I trust I am made reverently sensible of the necessity of continued watchfulness, and an unshaken reliance upon Him who made Joseph " a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well ; whose branches run over the wall." And I doubt if there are many, who have more cause to be thankful for that internal evidence to the divine authority of Holy Scriptures than myself, an evidence productive of results, which all the " literal critics " in the world could never yet produce. Great darkness, great formality, great deadness, has prevailed among us as a body, and great disunion in sentiment most obviously exists. With such discordant materials how should a body be fitly compacted to- gether ? The thing is impossible, unless the great Head of the church shall be graciously pleased to build us up. To Him let our prayers be directed, who is the great " healer of breaches, and restorer of paths to 15S dwell mJ T With hearts humbled and broken under a deep and painful sense of our unfaithfulness and back- slidings as a people, let us go in the name of Jesus to the throne of grace, and, casting down all our crowns at his feet, let us supplicate of his mercy forgiveness,, and that he would grant us " counsellers as at the first, and judges as at the beginning/ ' It will not be my lot to be with you during the approaching Yearly Meeting; but "though absent in body, I shall be present in spirit." May your Meetings be blessed and crowned with the living presence of the Almighty, may his Spirit rest upon you, direct and enlighten you. May true judgment guide your deli- berations, and the love of God warm your hearts with brotherly kindness one to another. May that be judged down, which opposes itself to truth, and all things be ordered in wisdom and moderation ; then shall ye assuredly know your ' ' bow to abide in strength, and your arms to be made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. " PINIS. London : Printed by J. Masters, 1, Long Lane, Aldersgrate Street. JUST PUBLISHED, Price 6s. on royal 12mo. paper, with engraved Portrait. THE LIFE OF THOMAS EDDY, OF NEW YORK : COMPRISING AN EXTENSIVE CORRESPONDENCE WITH MANY OF gf)£ most Distinguish Philosophers antJ PJnlmttippopists OF THIS AND OTHER COUNTRIES. BY SAMUEL L. KNAPP. AN OBITUARY NOTICE OF THOMAS EDDY. From the National Gazette, Philadelphia. " An obituary notice of Thomas Eddy of New York, was copied into our sheet yesterday, from the New York papers. It bears a just testimony, which we were glad to repeat, and to which we would add an humble tribute on our own part, arising from personal acquaintance, and a deep impression of the excellence of his character. Unaffected, inexhaustible goodness ; sound sense : extensive information on the practical interests and objects of society; anxious, indefatigable benevolence — were the leading- traits which gained for him an extraordinary share of fond esteem and confidence, wherever he was known. He belonged to the religious denomination of Friends, (of that party called " Ortho- dox," as distinguished from the followers of Hicks,) and in the mo- dest simplicity of his tone and habits, and the directness, equa- nimity, and tolerance of his spirit, as well as by the absolute usefulness of his pursuits and studies, he seemed to realize the pic- ture wmich William Penn himself sketched, as that of a genuine disciple, and a true Christian, in his interpretation of Christianity. "There are few, we believe, of the splendid internal improve- ments of the foundations of social charity, or the plans for the amelioration of public morals and education, that have signalized, during the present century, the judgment, benevolence, and enter- prise of New York, with which the name of Thomas Eddy is not connected, with more or less original and acknowledged merit. He was among the first projectors and promoters of the Grand Canal; he took a principal part m the establishment and administration of hospitals, penitentiaries, high schools, and houses of refuge ; he entered into all their details with equal zeal and intelligence ; he read, he wrote, he travelled, almost without intermission, for pur- poses of common good or special humanity : — he united the bias and "exertions of a Howard and a Benezet, to those propensities and inquiries which immediately advance the trade, agriculture, and general comfort and beauty of a State. This is a rare combi- nation of tastes and endeavours, and in him it was not in the least ostentatious or officious, but wore a natural, easy, unobtrusive air, suitable to his whole mien and style, and never failed to prove efficient, when it had scope and encouragement. So beneficent a being is now enjoying a rest happier than that of any of his rac,e who worshipped at shrines of false glory, and wearied their powers in seeking or achieving the triumphs of ambition, vanity, or avarice. We have seen men of stout hearts, but kindred dis- positions, moved to tears, in first contemplating Thomas Eddy after a certain period of separation. We never approached him without experiencing a moral refreshment, analogous to the phy- sical sensation produced by a pure, elastic, balmy atmosphere. The same delightful influence is always shed, in a measure, by veteran, unequivocal, active virtue ; but theartlessnessand serenity attending the source in this instance, the plain dress, the homely visage, the kindly eye, the chastened tone, and unsophisticated reason, caused it to be felt by more minds with superior force. It is merely justice to add, that the individuals and circles with whom this philanthropist communed and acted in New York, appreciated and honoured his peculiar worth, and will long praise and cherish his genial memory. All were alive to that spontaneous and invariable emanation of goodness which we have just noticed — all must be aware of its rarity, and regret its loss in any one example." LONDON: EDMUND FRY AND SON, BISHOPSGATE STREET ; AND EDMUND FRY, JI7N., PLYMOUTH. fr/IVi/ >>WW "SftrtW ,^p ArV A* ^NA*W WaW mswmm ^.^MA -^^r^%^?^?w^ ^JiU^n/W % a AAaAA^M - - ^ r ^ f os ^ '-' - * >■ WW.! Sae£^«r fift &*m®Ml Jt*ffi$&fr f . "aS ^A'KtriM >AnAA \'A"A ''&. '^ A &.4 * i > a A A A ft' •„• .■ j tpp^i ^a^&SAfV^fo; Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 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