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REFLECTIONS

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RISE AND PRINCIPLES]

OF THE

SOCIETY OF FRIENDS:

PiJOILE- CALLED QUAKERS,

BALTIMORE:
PRINTED BY WM. WOODDY,

1843.

REFLECTIONS in

RISE AND PRINCIPLES

OF THE

SOCIETY OF FRIENDS:

PEOPLE CALLED QUAKERS.
BALTIMORE:
PRINTED BY WM. WOODDY,
1843.

REFLECTIONS ON THE
RISE^AND PRINCIPLES
OF THE
SOCIETY OF FRIENDS.

The time is coming, it is to be hoped, when a more philoso
phical, as well as a more just and charitable view will be ta
ken, of the causes and consequences of the- different sects,
which from time to time, have sprung up in the Christian
Church. They are too often considered as heresies, that is,
divisions arising from a bad and perverse spirit, and not the
results aimed at by honest minds, earnestly and fearlessly seek
ing for truth. It is a much more charitable, and we believe a
truer view to take of them, to consider Iheiii, as the conse
quence of the comprehensive nature of truth, and the limited
capacities of the human intellect,, together with the almost
endless- relations of Christian duty, and the consequent failure
of any one man, or any class of men, to arrive atj or express
the fulness and perfection of the Christian character. Minds
arise from time to time, of deeper penetration and wider grasp
than is conferred upon the general mass of mankind; — these
discover, what has escaped the observation of their predeces
sors and coteraporaries, that the different parts of the Christian
system have not been proportionally developed- Some truths
having been made prominent, whUst others perhaps have been
altogether overlooked. Some parts of the Christian life have
been too much insisted oh, while others have been totally ne
glected. Or, corruptions in doctrine and abuses in practice,
have crept unawares into the Christian world, which, through
the force of habit, no one perceives, any more than those who,
accustomed from birth to treathe an infected atmosphere or
noxious vapours, by which they are surrounded, are sensible

of the condition of the air around them. . An honest and fear
less mind, which has discovered some doctrine exaggerated or
perverted, or some principle overlooked-some mmor duty
made too conspicurous, wliUe others more important are alto
gether neglected or despised, feels called upon to remonstrate,
—to testify a^inst error and abuse, and to endeavor to bring
about a better state of things, r- But he necessarily meets with
opposition, for he cannot at once bring all to see things in the
same light that he does. Yet if he be active and perseveigng,
and there be intrinsic value in his discovery, he naturally per
suades many to coincide with him in opinion. These asso
ciate together and attempt to carry out what they consider re
form. They make the doctrine, or the principle, or the prac
tice on wiiich they have set their minds and Ueairfs, prominent
in tlieir new association, they, get some new name, geiierally
given t|hem by their opponents in derision, and commence a
distinct and separate existence,; and sp a new sect Is born into
the world. They however, share in the same weaknesses
which they endeavor to correct in others, and commit, perhaps,
some of the same mistakes with those, whose faults they are
sincerely endeavoring to remedy. Instead of carefully dis
criminating between the good and the evil of the systerns they
are endeavoring to amend, they suffer the evil, by association, to
prejudice them against the good, arid therefore neglect to in
corporate the good into their new systerii ; and thus it comes
that reform is not always an improvement. Some things are
made better, but perhaps other things are rriade worse.
An impprtaut point however may have been secured— -Wriew
phasis of Christian trijlh may have been exhibited, and a new
apd fresh development of the Christian character anil life dis
played., Thus we perceive, that it takes various and even ap
parent conflicting elements to discover and develop all the
great truths of the Gospel, and to^hibit aU the graces and
perfections of the Christian. character. Thus the Christian
world are exploring, some in .one way and some in another^
the length and thebrea.dth, the height and depth of the vast and
glorious tre,asures which are brought to light by the Gospel
and bringing them to bear on the whole surface of human life'

and on every relation that is sustained by the liuman race, in
the present world,
The principles we have here laid down are, as it seems to
us, strikingly exemplified in the history of the Friends,' or peo
ple called Quakers. The existence of this sect has exerted
and still continues to exercise a more important influence we
believe, than is generally attributed to it, by superficial obser
vers. Its peculiarities are not mere oddities, adopted in ca
price, and persevered in from obstinacy. They are the repre
sentatives of great principles, deemed vital by those who found
ed the sect. They were solemn testimonies against what seemed
to those virtuous and sincere hearted individuals, great errors and
great abuses in the Christian church. The peculiarities of the
Quakers therefore, have an intrinsic respectability. They have
their basis, as few things human have, in principle. They
were a solemn protest against .the corruptions of the Christian
world, in the age in which they originated, and the honest ex
pression of deep convictions, produced by that Light which
shineth in every man, and of a clear perception of the wide
diflerence which existed between the principles and the prac
tices of the Christian world — between the religion of Christ,
as exhibited in his perfect life and example, aild the same reli
gion as exhibited in the principles an d habits of those who
bore his name.
George Fox, who appears to have been the principal instru
ment in founding the sect of Quakers, may have been an en
thusiast, and he has been accused of being a fanatic, but it was
for something — something real and important, and not vision
ary and fantastic. He was a seer. By the inshinings of that
"true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the
world," and by a faithful attention to its illuminations, he saw
something which the world, with all its wisdom and learning,
did not see. He arose like one of the ancient Prophets to tes
tify against the corruptions of the times. Had it not been so,
his testimony would hav^ drawn upon him no persecution, nor
could it have produced any impression. At the time when
he lived, the political and theological world was thrown
into utter confusion. The Reformation had unsettled the old
order of things, but had not fixed the new. Light had been

breaking in upon the minds of men, and had revealed lo theiii
the startling fact, that what they had long thought to lie true,
was in reality false. They perceived that institutions and ob
servances, which they were accustomed to regard as rational
&,nd salutary, were superstitious and debasing. It was natural
that independent and enthusiastic minds should follow the
openings of light thus unfolded in themselves, and pursue to
theii'full extent their own convictions of truth and duty. Such
a man was George Fox. His early j-ears were spent in the so-
Utary and contemplative life of a Shepherd; Like Moses and
David he learned to* commune with God amid the beauty,
and majesty, and silence of his works. His parents were
deeply religious people, and gave him such a training as to
make piety and integrity the basis of his character.
When he had arrived at man's estate, and begun to mingle
with'" mankind, it was natural, that with a mind so uncorrupted
and so sincere, he should have been astonished and shocked at
the world as he found it. The Christian religion which from
infancy, he had been taught to revere, he found was one thing
in the Bible, and totally another in the practice of its profess
ed disciples. In the Bible he saw it is plainly commanded
"Swear not at all.'' But among those who acknowledged this
commandment, the higli places and the low of society, re
sounded with swearing and profaneness. He judged, and he
judged correctly, that true religion could not exist with such
irreverence and total disregard of a possitive Divine injunction.
He became solemnly impressed with the conviction, that the
world needed a reform, in this respect, and he determined
to do all ill his power to bring it about.
He saw the world, as he supposed, under the plea of polite
ness, become grossly insincere, concealing malevolent feelings,
and cherishing evil passions under language of more than
Christian kindness. He believed it to be his duty to endeavor
to remedy this evil by reducing speech to the simplest and most
explicit terms. He read in the New Testament of the equali
ty of all souls in the Divine sight. There, he saw no ground
of respect from man to man, but moral dignity arid spiritual
attainment. But what did he see throughout the length and
breadth of England ? Universal servility to rank and titles, —

The possession of a heriditary eslate,or the heir of a name, confer
red on some court sycophant, or perhaps worse, on the offspring
of a courtezan, he saw treated with a distinction, denied to vener
able age, to intelligence, accomplishment and exemplary virtue.
There was, and there is, in that country, a fixedness of caste
and a subserviency of one artificial grade of society to another,
which to an unsophisticated mind must seem irrational, unnat
ural and irreligious. By sinking moral and religious distinctions
far below the slightest differences of birth or office, we seem
to contemn the Creator — the source and parent of virtue, and
exalt as more deserving of respect, and even reverence, objeots
wholly insignificant, and perhaps equally as unworthy as our
selves, George Fox was resolved that such palpable wrong
should receive no countenance or support from him; hence
the custom which he recommended of using the plain singular
pronoun, when addressing an individual, and of taking off the
hat to no man. He himself rigidly maintained this custom,
even before magistrates and the highest dignitaries of the state,
not from contumacy to civil government, but-to carry out a
principle, which he conscientiously believed was vital to mo
rality -and religion. But while^ thus asserting the rights and
dignity of liuman nature, he was before God, all humility and
submission. He saw it plainly written in the^Bible "Resist not evU, but
overcome evil with good." The Saviour is there proclaimed
'•The Prince of Peace.",, The Gospel was announced as
"Peace on earth and good will amongst men." But what did
he witness throughout christianised Europe? A perpetual se
ries of cruel and bloody wars, undertaken from selfish ambi
tion and carried on at an unspeakable sacrifice of human life
and happiness. The war spirit, out of which all these barbar
ous hostilities arose, he saw was kept alive, by vast military
establishments, 'themselves the festering elements of idleness
and vice, fastening onerous and oppressive, taxes upon the peo
ple, 'Worse than all, he saw these hostile armies, when as
sembled to shed each others blood, accompanied by the pro
fessed ministers of religion, who, arrayed on opposite sides,
with solemn prayer and ceremonies of religion, impiously in
voked the blessing of the same God, on the inhuman euter-

8
prise in which they had respectively embarked, of butchering
each other !
How could Christ, the exempUfication of mercy, love, and
goodness, be more openly and emphatically denied and dis
honored, than by such conduct as this oh the part of those who
professed to be his ministers?' How could his kingdom come
on earth, if disregarding his precepts, and contemning hife go
vernment, men armed themselves and fought against the very
spirit which constituted his reign, and were encouraged to do
so by his embassadors? As an unsophisticated disciple Of
Christ, bound in honesty and simplicity of heart to carry out -
his precepts, George Fox felt that he could not bear arms. His
enlightened understanding enabled him to perceive that the max
im "In peace prepare for war," was false and delusive — that
the encouragement of the military spirit, led to the very result,
which it professed to deprecate; men fought because they had
trained themselves to fight, and under tlie specious natries of
patriotism and bravery^ perpetrated the blackest cririies and
most barbarous cruelties. Gewge Fox was resolved, as much
as in him lay, to dry up this source of human depravity and
misery at the fountain head. This, he clearly perceiVed, could
only be accomplished by the very means which Christ himself
had prescribed, "Love your enemies, do good to them that
hate and persecute you," He saw that when this spirit be
came predominent in the soul, it would eradicate every germ of
enmity, and that war must cease, and in support of his testi
mony, he refused aliy participation in war measures, or even to
wield in mimic battle, or military trainings, the instruments of
carnage and blood. A fighting Christian was to hilii an' irre-
cbncilable solicism and a glaring contradiction.
And does not the world find that this great paradox "Resist
not evil," works much better in practice than the wis^e in their
own wisdom ever supposed that i|^ could?' Has it not' teen
found impossible to cure wrong by violence? Is it not better,
even as a matter of prudence, to suffer in silerice than to avenge
ourfeelVes? Are half our quarrels worth the tiraej the discorii-
fort and the trouble that it costs lo pursue them ? And is not
revenge, amongst the most unprofitable, as weU as the most
unsatisfactory, of all our pursuits ? Was the first Quaker then

unwise, because he determined to try the experiment of lite
rally carrying out the command of the Saviour "Resist not
evil ?" Or, are his successors to be blamed for endeavoring to
follow his example ?
The world had certainly got on very badly under the oppo
site system. Nothing can be conceived more calculated to
extinguish tbe religion of Christ, than the prevalence of wars.
The dove which descended at the birth of our holy faith, flies'
backfo heaven, when she sees the banners of war unfurled to
the winds. Devotion is startled from her communion with
God by the discordant sound of the drum, and the tumultu
ous confusion of military display. And how is this great
scourge of humanity — this cruel and relentless destroyer ever
to be stayed, except by the diffusion of that very spirit of
peace and good will, which reigned in the bosom of George
Fox? George Fox was opposed to a religion resting for its support
upon the civil authority, or indeed to any connexion of reU
gion with the civil government. And had he hot abundant
reason for that opposition, in what he daily saw passing before
his eyes, in the immense abuses to which this system, since
its introduction into England, had led ?
He beUeved that the church of Christ was not originially
founded upon,'the civil power nor dependant on it for its sup
port: nor w^re its ministers appointed or maintained by that
authority. He fully beUeved that Christ, the head of the
church, himself appointed' and anointed his ministers, and
that he quaUfied them for the service to which they were thus
called, without the aid or sanction of any human institutions.
The establishment or endowment of a church by temporal
authority, he considered not only to be a usurpation, but he
clearly perceived that it necessarily was attended with great
abuses, A ministry owing its patronagfe and appointment to
the state, and placed wholly beyond the influence and control
of the people, had always been fatal to the purity and vital
power of religion. George Fox saw that in England it had led
to the selection of ministers not from the pious, whose exam
ple or intellectual endowments might have been useful to the
flock, but from aimongst the sons, brothers, nephews and other
2 ' ¦

10
relatives or associates of those in authority, whether they were
qualified or not. This he plainly saw had been its effect in
his own country, and that the exercise of the sacred functions
of a Gospel minister was so delegated, notwithstanding the
most glaring incapacity, and sometimes tbe most scandalous
conduct. Office in the church, he saw, was not the reward of genius,
talent, industry or virtue; — it had become the refuge of the
younger scions of the nobility, or the unprovided of the
influential famUieS. Now nothing can be conceived more cal
culated to exert an unfavorable .influence upon the habits and
morality of society than this. Idleness, indifference, and pro
faneness in the'professed ministers of religion, cannot do other
wise than weaken all sentiments ofpiety in the people. And
moreover, he must have been further prejudiced against a legal
provision for the support of reUgion, by the enormous injus
tice to which it led in the distribution of the funds of the
church. The most valuable and laborious men, he saw, were
the worst paid. There was in the church a gradation of ho
nors and emoluments, but this was controlled by cupidity and
favoritism; and ' was regulated by an organised system, in
which real worth and piety had no consideration. The man
of powerful mind, of burning zeal and profound erudition, saw
himself outstripped by the self-indulgent man of the world,
who might happen to have a friend at court, or some influent
ial relative in public office.
The moral sense of an unsophisticated heart revolts against
such palpable wrong, and when it was seen that the Bishops
of a church, founded by the meek and lowly Nazarene, and a
few poor fishermen, were living in their palaces, assuming to
themselves the dignity and pomp of princes, doing little or
nothing for religion, too lazy even to say their own prayers,
and employing a chaplain to conduct their formal family de
votions, is it wonderful that our simple shepherd should have
despaired of reforming such stupendous abuses, and that he
thought it better to resort to a radical overthrow and revolu
tion ? Or can it astonish us that he should have believed the
clergy at that time were a hindrance rather than a help to re
ligion, and that nothing could be done for the cause of true
piety, without first returning to its simple original elements ?

11
Connected undoubtedly with this truly deplorable state of
things, was his preference for a free, uneducated ministry. —
He lived at a time when the influence of the school theology
of the middle ages, was strong in the church — a theology
which implicated the simple doctrines of Christ with all the
incomprehensible subtiUties of metaphysical philosophy. In
these, the mass of the people can never become interested,
nor is it desirable that they should. Even real learning has
its disadvantages. It too often_tends to make religious instruc
tion formal and cold, and to remove it from the sympathies of
the people — in other words, its appeals are to the head and
not to the heart. Hence it is that the instruments of the
greatest social changes, and of the most important reforma
tions, have sprung from the people themselves. The ma,sses
¦ .. never cai^ be literary men and women, nor can they appreci
ate an ' elaborate and finished style of composition. 'Buried
during the greater part of their time, in the cares and concerns
of life, they ask for something in the few hours they devote
to religious instruction, that shall be plain and striking, rather
than refined and polished. Preachers, therefore, who address
themselves directly to the moral sense and sympathies of the
people are followed by crowds, while the mere scholar who
derives his religion not from heart felt experience, but
from literary researches, often finds himself surrounded by
empty waUs.
Theology is a deep and abstruse study, but religion was in
tended by the Creator to be one of the simplest of things. —
Theology lies in books, accessible only to a few, and when
brought out from them, requires some inteUectual power — ¦
some habits of thought, to comprehend its multifarious and la
bored disquisitions; and after all,(it-«(ftB«3raiAer obscures than
elucidates the subject on which it treats. Religion, which is
independent of any system of theology, is founded on con
victions that are intuitive. It lies irabeded in the very elements
of our native, and consists in emotions which all have felt, —
in sentiments which all have cherished, in hopes that are
spontaneous in every soul, and in rules of living which con
science suggests at every turn. Religion is of celestial birth,
it is a vital principle in us, which need not be sought from far.

12
¦' It is not in heaven that thou shouldst say, who shall go up
for us to heaven and bring it unto us, that we should hear it
and do it. Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldst
say, who shall go over the sea for us and bring it unto us,
that we may hear it and do it; But the 'Word is very nigh
thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it."
This sentiment has been finely paraphrased by an enlightened
Poet in the following beautiful lines:
"Say not the law divine
Is bidden from thee, and far removed ;
That law within would shine,
If there its glorious light were sought and loved.
Soar not on high,
Nor ask, who thence shall bring it down to earth,
- That vaulted sky
Hath no such star, didst thou but know its worth.
Nor launch thy bark
In search thereof, upon a shoreless sea,
'Which has no ark.
No dove to bring this olive-branch to thee.
Then do not roam
In search of that which wandering cannot win,
At home ! at home !
That 'WORD is placed, thy mouth thy heart within.
O seek it there.
Turn to its teachings with devoted will,
¦Watch unto prayer,
And in the power of faith that law fulfil."
"Vital religion then, is to be sought from within us, much
more than to be taught from without. Learning and intellec
tual discipline, though requisite to teach theology, are not ne
cessary to awaken religion. Yet religion may be cultivated
and strengthened by reading the effusions of devoted, pious
minds, or by listening to an earnest and true expression of the
great and common truths and sentiments, which emanate from,
and constitute it.
In the secluded life which George Fox led, and with the
free, liberal principles that he espoused, it would not have

13
been surprising, had he failed to discover that religion, with
out some external lormaUties, might be in danger, of degene
rating into mere enthusiasm and extravagance, quite as cer
tainly perhaps, as that theology, when separated from religion,
becomes a cold and lifeless philosophy : but we find he soon
perceived, that it was indispensable to the preservation and
well-being of the religious community with whom he had now
become associated, that some regulations should be establish
ed for the orderly management of its concerns. By his in
fluence and exertions, the admirable code of Discipline was
established, which, to the present day, with some occasional
changes, rendered necessary by circumstances, has continued
to govern the municipal and social affairs of the society of
Friends. By this code, the order, particular business, and sub
ordination of the several Meetings are defined, and an upright
moral conduct is required of the members ; but it imposes no
Creed, nor does it in any manner impinge upon a free, un
trammelled liberty of conscience, George Fox declared that
his mission -was, to call people to the light — to the divine
manifestasion of life and truth within them, and then "leave
them to the Lord to be directed according to his wisdom.''
Modern times must confess themselves indebted to this emi
nently enlightened but unlettered man, for having without books,
or the learning of the schools,attained the nearest approach to the
correct definition of the true relation between reason and rev-
elation,-^that inspiration of the Almighty which giveth under
standing, and which in the unfoldings of its light, gave to the
Prophets the knowledge by which they were enabled to look
down the vista of futurity, that hadjaeen arrived at since the
apostolic age.
The very supposition of an external and miraculous revela
tion, supposes a previous and co-ordinate revelation in the soul
of man. No revelation could be made to the brutes, because
the inspiration of the Almighty hath not given them under
standing, nor could any outward revelation or demonstration
make us beUeve in a God, or have any idea of his existence of
if there were no other evidence of his being. We could not
comprehend the proposition "There is a God" had we not the
faculty of reason, which by the force of intuitive conviction

14
makes it impossible for us to see an effect without attri
buting it to a cause. -We could not believe that God is good,
did we not perceive by the workings of his overruUng provi
dence that he is constantly providing for, and promoting, the
happiness of his sensible creation.
But we see, such is his boundless mercy and goodness, that
he does not permit even the w^ilful perverseness of mankind,
to produce one unmitigated evil, but continues by his gra
cious, beneficent providence, to meliorate the effects of all
our aberrations, and "from evil stUl educes good." We
know then that God is good, and being sensible that no revel
ation can be from him that contradicts those impressions of
right and wrong, which he himself originally wrote in the
mind of man, — we here, after aU, have the infaUible standard
by which revelation itself is judged ; first to decide whether it
be a revelation; and in the second place what the revelation
teaches, and how it is to be interpreted.
George Fox was both philosophically and critically right,
when he made John, in the first chapter of his Gospel, call
the primitive and universal revelation, "The true light which
lighteth evei-y man that cometh into the world.'' This view
of things not only asserts the universality of revelation, but it
assures us of the very means by which fhe authority of reve
lation itself, can be sustained. If we affirm that human reason
is perverted, and conscience, that is, the sense of right and wrongs
corrupted, then aU ground of confidence in. any, t^ng, is de
stroyed. The authority of revelation, is undermiried, and we
are thrown upon a sea of dark and gloomy scepticism, without
a land-mark or compass. There are many systems in the
world, each claiming a divine origin. Now which shaU we
receive, and which shall we reject? The answer is, we must
most certainly receive that only, which presents sufficient
proof that it is of divine origin. But how are we to judge
what proof is sufficient ? We reply, by bringing it to the de
cision of that test of truth and falsehood— to that sense of right
and vsrrong, which God himself has, as an infalUble standard,
placed in the souls of all his rational creation — to that eternal
and unerring guide referred to by the Apostle John, when he
declared "Ye have no need that any man teach you, save as
THIS ANOINTING teaches you of all things, and is truth."

16
But if we decide that reason is perverted, and that this
standard, which God has gHven us for our government and di
rection, is not to be trusted,|then there is no certainty in any
thing, not even for Christiariy itself, any more than for Moha-
medanism or Paganism.
Such are the shocking and pernicious results, to which we
are inevitably led, by pursuing to its ultimate consequences,
the theology which had reigned in the church, from the days
of Augustine to those of George Fox. Tbe impotence of the
standard here insisted on, being once admited, a wide door is
opened for the introduction of any system which imagination
or metaphysical abstraction may offer; and we shall find our
selves compelled either to admit every thing that pretends to
be a revelation, or be obliged to refuse our assent to there be
ing any.
The doctrine we here assert carries with it the right of pri
vate judgment, and is the ground on which the Reformation
stood. The Light within being established as our director, in
conjunction with the Ught without, the Scriptures of truth,
then follow the great and important principles of religious lib
erty and toleration. No true Quaker, no consistent professor
with George Fox can either make a creed for another man, or
suffer another man to make a creed for him. Here then, was
a wonderful phenomenon exhibited to the world, a shepherd
penetrating deeper into the mind of Christ, and having a
clearer view of the religion he inculcated, than all the colleges
and councils of the age in which he lived.
About the year 1515, Luther commenced in Germany the
glorious work of the Reformation, endeavoring to estabUsh the
great and fundamental doctrine of the right of private judg
ment. Fifteen years afterwards however, he so far abandon
ed his own principles, as to contribute to the act of fastening
upon the church the Confession of Augsburgh, which has been
found quite as gaUing to the consciences of many oT his suc
cessors as the enactments of Popes and councUs had been to
his. About the same time, Henry the eighth, as far as Eng
land was concerned, deposed the Roman pontiff from the chair
of saint Peter, but it was only to mount into the same seat

16
himself. The church of England rejected the authority of
councUs, but retained the creed that had been framed by the
partizan and political council of Nice, and which, was fijrced
upon 'the Christian church by the sword of Constantine.
George Fox.JW^Whis-Bible and-5iis_ieathejaa.jj^m wiser
than they tUI. Without human co-operation of patronage,
alone and unsupported by any temporal influence or power, he
fearlessly came forward under a solemn conviction of a divine
mission, and being faithful to the light within, proclaimed in
the high ways of England, when there was yet scarcely any
one that would listen to him, the pure doctrines of the Chris
tian religion, and the true principles of civil and religious lib
erty, which, under the impulse then received from him, have
already exerted, and will continue for ages yet to come, to
exercise a powerful influence upon the institutions and habits
of the world.
Amongst the principles of Christianity which this apostolic
man attempted to carry out in a manner that for many ages
had been totally unknown, was that of a pure, silent, spiritual
worship.- Our Saviour said to the woman of Samaria, "The
hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall
worship the Father in spirit and in truth," But how was wor
ship performed in the time of George Fox? Over a large
part of the Christian world, almost every day in the year had
become a fast or a festival. The plain and simple system in
troduced by Christ, was so entirely obUterated, that scarcely
a resemblance of it remained, and the true spirit of his reli
gion had become lost and covered up in a pompous external
worship, and a splendid ceremoni-al, Christianity had, travell
ed back, in to more than Judaic or Pagan magnificence. The
simple lites instituted by Jesus had become materialised, and
were overgrown with superstition. Water baptism had be
come the seal of the remission of sin.— the instrument of re
generation, and the sure pledge of everlasting life. The Sup
per had become an awful and mysterious participation in the
real body and blood of Christ, conveying in an incomprehen
sible way, spiritual life to the soul. Viewed by that light
which shineth in every man, sUch monstrous doctrines pass
through the thin partition, which divides the sublime from the
ridiculous.

17
The penetrating eye of Fox having discerned the absurdity
' of these dogmas, and arrived at the legitimate conclusion that
these rites are not essential to salvation, he naturaUy passed on
to another, that they are not necessary at all, and had better
be dispen.sed with altogether.
'Eh*B-w44fe--such an originil and independent mind as that of
George Fox,,]j>B*'must have been forcibly struck with the wide
diflerence between a mere ceremonial, external system of re
ligion, and an inward, vital and spiritual worship. God looketh
alone at the heart. Yet if, any one, at that time, went into a
cathedral of England, what did he see ? The soul compelled
to approach God in the language of another, conceived with
sentiments, and under feelings not applicable to its condition !
This formal worship, decorated with all the outward pomp and
paraphernalia, with which it could, by human ostentation and
pride, be invested, he saw^ was only a systeni borrowed from
Paganism, and calculated to dazzle the segsgs and bewilder
the imagination. ,i \j < >..J ' >, «"',',•, •. -. ¦-...'
To George Fox, absolute silence seemed more appropriate to '
the worship of the Eternal and Incomprehensible God.. And
are there not times when all men agree with him in this senti
ment ? Did ever a man of devotional feelings enter an assem
bly of Quakers, sitting in profound silence, without being sen
sibly impressed with the awful solemnity of the soul waiting
upon God ? We venture to say, that for a while at least, before
impatience and worldly thoughts have crept in, there is greater
impressiveness in that scene, than in eloquent liturgies, or in deep
toned instruments and pealing anthems. In this state of sol
emn introversion, the soul seems prepared to listen to that
voice of God which is heard in its inmost recesses, and which
has been speaking in his works, from the heaven above us, and
the world around us, since the creation, while ages have roll
ed away, , The soul in this state of retirement, freed from the
embarrassment of sense, turns inward, to that light, which em
anating from the Eternal Source of all true wisdom and
knowledge, finds a revelation of God and of Truth, clear and
certain, which rests upon no external authority, and appeals to
no historical evidence. Then it is, that it waxes wise, by com
muning with itself, and receives in large measure, the influx of
the spifi%of the living God.

18
These are some of the important views and principles which
this extraordinary man endeavored to introduce into the world,
and to which he earnestly invoked the attention of the people,
in an age when the minds of men had long been enslaved by
gross superstition, ¦ and debased by ecclesiastical oppression,
and when the mild and beneficent system bequeathed to the
world by the Divine Author of the Christian religion, had
become so obscured, that scarcely a trace remained of its or
iginal features.
George Fox therefore must be regarded by the impartial his
torian, as one of the great Reformers of the Christian Church-
His was as sincere an effort as was ever made, to return to pure
Christianity, and to carry out its principles; and the candid inquir-
er will confess, that he attempted to reduce to practice more of
the distinguished precepts of Christ, than any other founder of a
sect. And notwithstanding his peculiarities and eccentricities,
he must be regarded as one of the instruments, which God, the
Source of all light, raises up from time to time to establish great
and important truths, and to revolutionise the opinions and
practices of the world. Without the knowledge of history,
he arrived at a truth which all history teaches, but a truth
¦ which those who knew history best, had failed to discover — the
disastrous consequences which always result to religion^
from the amalgamation of Church and State, or from religion
depending in any manner for its support upon the Civil Author
ity, Like the Ark of God, religion disclaims to be upheld by
human hands. The allegiance of the soul is due alone to Truth
and to God, and when it is brought to bend to human authority
or is drawn under human influence, it feels the embarrassment
which Christ predicted, when he said, "Ye cannot serve two
masters." An intimate association between the Church and the civil
authority, however it may strengthen the existing government,
and enable[it to fasten chains upon the people, has always been,
and must ever continue to be, corrupting to religion. The
ruin of the church may be dated from the pretended conversion
of Constantine, which led to her unhallowed connexion with
the government. From that moment, ambition and servility stole
into the hearts of her ministry, and she began to array herself
in the splendours of architecture, the pomp of cer^onials,

19
and the glittering finery of robes and vestments; but she was no
longer the pure Bride of Christ,
The world is not aware of the important good which it has
received from the bold and honest testimony, of one single
hearted and Courageous man, George Fox not only openly
and fearlessly denounced these glaring and idolatrous depar
tures from the simple forms and modes of worship that were
instituted by the Divine Master, and which had been observed
by his early and faithful disciples, but he bore a clear and un
compromising testimony against many other pernicious inno-^
vations ; especially against all vain display, and -ostentatious
parade, under whatever circumstances it might appear, as well
as against all pride, injustice, cruelty and oppression. Imbued
with the same spirit, his successors in carrying out his princi
ples, were the first to lift up the voice of remonstrance against
the atrocities of the African slave trade, now so justly the ab
horrence of all Christendom. It was a larger infusion of the
Spirit of Christ, which they had received, and to which the
founder of their sect had most earnestly called their attention,
that led the Quakers, while the nations of Europe were the ad
vocates of this trade, to protest against it, as the consummation
of all iniquity.
That they were then in advance of the world, is evident from
the factj that the world has but recently arrived at the convic
tions, to which the disciples of George Fox so long ago at
tained and loudly proclaimed ; and it is now nearly a century
since a slave could be found in bondage to any member of that
society, ^
The cause of temperance is claimed as the peculiar glory of
this age, it is trumpeted forth to the world as a new discovery.
Its supposed originators are exhibited in triumphal processions.
Its advocates are venerated as Apostles. By referring to any
Book of the Quaker Discipline it will be seen, that the holy
ground assumed by these modern advocates of temperance, has
been trodden lonff ago by the quiet, unostentantious successors
of George Fox. It will be there seen, that no member of this
Society is permitted to import, distU, or vend spirituous liquors,
and that amongst the twelve enquiries to which written an-
swers must annually be handed in, from all -the subordinate

20
Meetings, is the following, which has been periodically made
at the Yearly Meetings of the society, time out of mind, "Is
our testimony against distilled spirituous liquors maintained
agreeably -to our discipline ?"
Here too we see the spirit of the Leicestershire Reformer,
anticipating by many generations the onward progress of moral
reform in the Christian world. Many of his other testimo
nies, happily for mankind, are silently,, but gradually, making
their way in the public mind. The great principles of civil
and religious liberty, of which he was a uniform and zealous
advocate, through a long Ufe of labor and suffering, and which
his successors endeavored practically to carry out in the settle
ment of Pennsylvania, are beginning to be better understood,
and more justly appreciated by the worldjiand have received
an impulse, which it is hoped, wUl never be arrested, until lib
erty shall triumphantly wave her banners over an emancipated
world.

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