Penn was no silent preacher either: who has been known to uncover his head and begin to preach the moment he had got within the Meeting-house, walking thus to his seat! He says, 'form is good but not formality,' yet the generations following him needed more, it seems, than either the example or the precept of this great and good man to induce them to continue, in faith and with cheerful boldness, their approaches to the throne of grace! Thus the habit of public devotion, nourished and preserved only by proper outward manifestations of the inward affections of the mind, was by degrees lost among us; and the most objectionable of all forms took its plan, the form of no expression at all!

In this state of things-neglecting the ministry of the word, and ascribing every act to a special moving of the Spirit, (contrary to the plain sense of Christ and his Apostles in their directions about prayer and teaching), we need not wonder that many considerable errors in doctrine should have crept in-that delusion should in very many cases have been manifest, and conduct needlessly singular. And we may, thankfully, under God, ascribe it chiefly to the discipline established by George Fox, that our practice as a sect was preserved as clean and as orderly as we find it by history, and the confession of many witnesses not of our way, to have been. That a ministry of a peculiar kind was continued in the Society, and that many were raised up' to exercise it— in some instances with much power and 'with good distinction in doctrine'—is admitted; but that the whole of the inspiration under which such have moved has been of the highest order, and from the same source with that of the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, is denied. It is manifest, from Scripture and experience both, that there is a mediate and secondary influence in this thing.

6

The effect of such a prophesying ministry, degenerating more and more from the character with which it was originally impressed has been, unhappily, the gradual change of a body of lively, zealous, self-denying, suffering quakers, into the peaceable, orderly, benevolent, indolent, Laodicean Society of Friends.'

to pull off my hat, and to stand a pretty while and let the people look at me: for some thousands of people were there. While I thus stood silent, this rude baptist began to find fault with my hair [which was worn longer than the fashion],-but I said nothing to him. Then he ran on into words, and at last ye wise men of Bristol,' said he 'I strange at you, that you will stand here, and hear a man speak and affirm that which he cannot make good.' Then the Lord opened my mouth, (for as yet I had not spoken a word), and I asked the people, whether they ever heard me speak, or ever saw me before.' Going on with his sermon, after sharply reproving the baptist, and preaching many hours'-he gives this account of the service. A glorious peaceable meeting we had; the word of life was divided among them' [what is this but the doctrine ?] and they were turned from darkness to light, and to Jesus their Saviour. The scriptures were largely opened to them, [very probably with the Bible in his hand], and the traditions, rudiments, ways and doctrines of men were laid open before the people; and they were turned to the light of Christ, that with it they might see them, and see him to lead them out of them, &c. We want the very same thing doing now, for traditional quakers, against their own unsound doctrine and practice.-ED.

The author apologizes for the neglect and depreciation among us of Holy Scripture, in respect of doctrine at large and of its due exhibition to the churches, in the following terms.

"In the same way, in their earnest concern to uphold that important part of divine truth which relates to the work of the Spirit in man, testifying that without his enlightening operation no man can truly receive the things of God, and bearing witness to his immediate teaching and guidance, they may sometimes have expressed themselves in a manner which is liable to exception.

"We have abundant evidence, not only that they fully acknowledged the divine authority of the holy scriptures, but also that the sacred writings were truly precious to them, and that it was their concern to receive the doctrines and obey the precepts contained in them. If then, at any time, they used expressions seemingly not consonant with that important relation in which the scriptures stand to us, as containing an authentic record of the doctrine of our Lord and his apostles, and being the appointed channel, in the providence of God, for handing down the knowledge of that doctrine through the successive ages of the church, it must be ascribed to their zeal to uphold the above-mentioned truth, and to contend against some prevalent errors which were opposed to it.”

This is not to admit, that Holy Scripture contains the whole revelation of the will of God to mankind;-nor, that all things found therein (the due agreement of the parts being had regard to and the superseding of some by others) are of divine authority, and ought as such to be observed :-nor that Scripture constitutes the Rule (sufficient of itself when applied) in all subjects of christian doctrine and practice. Moreover we have the present confession qualified in a subsequent passage, as follows:

"That belief in the immediate teaching and guidance of the Holy Spirit, to which our forefathers in religious profession bore witness, and which is still dear to many of us, is in no wise at variance with a full acknowledgment of the inestimable value of the holy scriptures. The sacred volume does indeed contain the record of the doctrine of Christ and his apostles, of those things which are most surely believed among us;' yet it is only by the immediate teaching of the Spirit of truth, that we can so receive and understand them as to be thereby made wise unto salvation. And while we know that this teaching is often imparted in immediate connexion with the perusal of the sacred volume, we also know that it is at other times vouchsafed apart from any outward exercise, when the mind, withdrawing from the contemplation of all that is external, is reverently engaged to wait upon him who is the eternal fountain of light and truth. At such seasons, the love of God is often felt to be shed abroad in the heart, and the truths of holy scripture brought before the mind, and opened to its instruction and comfort; so that the disciple of Christ is permitted to experience some measure of the fulfilment of his gracious Master's promise concerning the Comforter, "He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you.”

Such pretensions to a more spiritual view of the Christian religion, and to the teachings of the Spirit, can only be justified by the exhibition of a practice proportionally more consistent with THE RULE. On this head I can only say that, since we have attained to a greater degree of religious freedom, and of outward ease and prosperity, the fruits have not borne them out. We should now be found, I think, but on a level with an equal number of our fellow-professors who use the ordinary means of grace'—if indeed the scale be not already quite turned in their favour ;

When we

and the true spiritual-mindedness gone over to them. attempt thus to contrast a mere hearing of the word, and a mere utterence of prayer, and a mere searching of the Scriptures, with those spiritual attainments supposed to be consequent on silent waiting upon God in our religious meetings, it would be only justice and common sense, (to say nothing of charity), to conclude that such practices can hardly be in a church of Christ, and the members not be edified. They who do all this, in an honest mind, have surely as much right to expect. the help of the Holy Spirit in this exercise, as those who sit down to do nothing-neglecting the very helps, He himself has been pleased to provide and appoint for their use. And though it be true that knowledge without charity puffeth up'-much more (if we still suppose charity absent), the conceit of knowledge in such as have it not! A 'religion' which merely exercises the understanding and changes not the heart, seems to me not only to be 'vain' but a solecism-a moral impossibility. It must have some effect on the life and conduct, if it be Scriptural Christianity, diligently studied and understood. The sensual and wordly-minded, the indolent and idolators of their own selves are never likely to take the pains: though God has given us not only His written word, but also an Interpreter sent from Himself, if we will but stoop and ask his aid. Let us then pray that He will be pleased thus to take us to the school of Christ, and teach us that we knew not because we were looking towards the earth: whence' such knowledge was too high for us.' Let us also, and at any rate, cease to regard with feelings of spiritual pride, and an imagined superiority the patient and industrious public teacher of God's word-lest that we have be also taken from us!

I have treated the Ordinances elsewhere; and must refer to those passages of my work for matter in reply to this author on that subject. His book is a pretty clear and very temperate apology for much that is peculiar to us, as a sect;-but it does not present a just view of the doctrinal opinions and practices in worship of the early Friends'.-ED.

ART II. Decease of WILLIAM THE FOURTH. Accession of Her present Majesty, the Queen. Address of Friends to the Throne. Fifty-one Friends appear to have gone up on this occasion with the usual Address of condolence and congratulation; which I here annex as I find it in the public papers.

Patriot: London, Monday, July 24. The Queen held a Court on Friday afternoon, at St. James Palace, for the reception on the Throne of Addresses from the Church of Scotland, the Society of Friends, the general body of Dissenting Ministers, and the Dissenting Ministers of the Presbyterian denomination.-The deputation from the Society of Friends, commonly called Quakers, arrived at the Palace, and were uncovered, according to custom, by the Yeomen of the Guard.

The members of the deputation present were

William Doubleday, John Morland, Jacob Hagen, Joseph Coventry, Edward Harris, Abram Rawlinson Barclay, Samuel Gurney, Jacob Post, Samuel Cash, Samuel Sturge, Thomas Norton, jun., Robert Alsop, jun., William Manley, William Allen, John Hamilton, William Hargrave, George Holmes, John Thomas Barry, Richard Barrett, John Kitching, George Stacey, William Nash, Josiah Forster, John Hodgkin, Jacob Farrand, Joseph Marriage, Henry Knight, jun., Joseph Storrs, Jeremiah Jessop Candler, John Sanderson, Samuel Darton, Joseph Shewell, John Corbyn, Joseph Talwin Foster, Richard Fell, John Foster, Jonathan Barrett, Robert Howard, Thomas Norton, Joseph Neatby, Joseph Sterry, Robert Forster, John Harris, John Hodgkin, jun., John Catchpool, William Grimshaw, Edward Paull, Thomas Christy, Samuel Wheeler, Peter Bedford, Thomas Ashby, jun.

William Allen read the address, which was signed by the members of a meeting appointed to represent the Society in Great Britain and Ireland, at London, the 12th day of the seventh month, 1837.

The following was the address:

·

"To Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Dominions thereunto belonging.

May it please the Queen,

"We, thy dutiful and loyal subjects, members of the religious Society of Friends, commonly called Quakers, and representing that body in Great Britain and Ire land, are desirous to take the earliest opportunity of thus expressing our cordial and faithful attachment to our Queen.

"We sensibly feel the loss of our late and beloved Monarch, King William the Fourth. We look back upon his reign as a period of no common importance in the history of our country, marked, as it has been, by the extension of civil and religious liberty, by mercy and compassion to the guilty, and by the recognition of the rights of our enslaved fellow-subjects. We rejoice in these features of his Government, as evidences of the increasing sway of Christian principles in the legislation of our country.

"Under feelings of thankfulness to Almighty God, we offer to thee, our Queen, on thy accession to the Throne of these realms, our sincere congratulations on the prevalence of peace abroad and tranquility at home. May nothing be permitted to interrupt these blessings, and may the conviction more and more prevail that war is alike unchristian and impolitic.

"Convinced, as we are, that the religion of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Redeemer, is the only foundation for the true happiness of man and the prosperityof a people, and that it is the sacred bulwark to any Government, our prayer to God is, that it may be the stability of thy throne, and may influence all the deliberations of thy Council.

"Be pleased, O Queen, to accept our earnest and heartfelt desire that thou mayest seek for heavenly wisdom to enable thee to fulfil the arduous duties which, in the ordering of Divine Providence, thou art thus early called to perform. Mayest thou live in the fear of God, and may He incline thy heart to keep his laws, and richly endow thee with the graces of his Holy Spirit; and at length, when the days of thy delegated trust on earth are ended, mayest thou, through the mercy of God in Christ Jesus, enter into an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away.'

:

Her Majesty returned the following gracious answer to the Address :"I thank you for your condolence upon the death of his late Majesty, for the justice which you render to his character, and to the measures of his reign, and for your warm congratulations upon my accession to the throne.

"I join in your prayers for the prosperity of my reign; the best security for which is to be found in reverence for our holy religion, and in the observance of its duties."

ART. III.--Present state and prospects of the Society of Friends.

(Continued from p. 333.)

It will appear from the article on Schools which I have inserted in No. CXIX., that the Society has, invested in lands, tenements, and other property, for the purpose of giving a moral and religious EDUCATION, in common learning, to the children of our less wealthy members, and of others connected in some way with Friends, a Capital of at least seventy-eight thousand pounds: in addition to which it can command from its members through the Quarterly and Monthly Meetings, a yearly supply of money for this purpose by free contributions, to the amount of about two thousand five hundred pounds. And this, independent of the casual advantage of legacies and donations ; in which Friends have commonly been found liberal to all their Institutions.

A great part however of the monies bequeathed for charitable purposes, by our members, is invested in local and special trusts, of which no account comes to the Yearly Meeting; and of the very existence of which many of those intitled to partake are scarcely informed. Perhaps the time may come, when the Society itself shall be wise enough to inform itself on this subject; and thus anticipate the difficulties of inquiry in another way-the grounds of which I perceive begin already to be laid among us. It would have been a very interesting subject for my work, to have given in concluding it an analysis of these local and special charities: but I have no means of obtaining the necessary information from those who, if they could readily furnish can also withold

it.

What is called the NATIONAL STOCK of the Society consists in a subscription raised by Friends through their Monthly and Quarterly Meetings, for the general purposes of the Society. And out of this fund (of about two thousand a-year,) are paid the repairs, rates, and taxes incident to the Central premises near Bishopgate, the salaries of its resident servants, the cost of its Registry for places and servants, the issue of papers (such as the Yearly Epistle); and a remaining charge of about £75. per an. due to sundry annuitants, for money lent to build the large Meeting Houses.

From hence also are defrayed the expence of its Missions—if we may give that name to the foreign journies of the Ministers*-and of the travelling of Ministers on the continent of Europe, or in parts of Britain, not comprehended within the limits of any Quarterly Meeting liable to such charge. This may cost the Society £200, yearly. The Schools maintained for the children of those under our denomination in Ger

*Our Friend Daniel Wheeler has chosen to contribute to his own Mission the sum of 1007. yearly, which has been paid for four years, leaving on an average 3501. a-year for the Society to pay. The expenses of our Friend James Backhouse, and his companion have been about 3007, annually. These are our only Missionaries.