The following address was issued by a Meeting of Friends, from various parts of the Country, holding the doctrines and sentiments it contains, at the close of the late Yearly Meeting, and has been extensively circulated: I shall have occasion to refer to it in another place. ED.

To Evangelical Friends, and to all those who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.

DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS IN CHRIST,

The comfort we have derived from Christian communion with each other, during the course of the time we have been in London, has led us affectionately to remember and to sympathise with those of our dear Friends who are scattered about in places, lonely as regards the blessed privilege of Christian fellowship. [a] Being greatly encouraged by the agreement which we find to exist amongst us on those fundamental doctrines which the Gospel recognises as the unity of faith, [b] and also respecting the origin and tendency of those views

a. Acts ii. 1, 2. 1 Cor. i. 9. 2 Cor. vi. 14. Eph. iii. 9; v. 11. Phil. i. 5. ii. 1; iii. 10. 1 John i. 3-7. Eph. ii. 19; iii. 6.

b. John xvii. 17. Phil. i. 27. ̄ Col. ii. 2. Eph. ii. 19—21. Heb. iii. 6. 1 Pet. ii. 4-9.

in the writings of the early Friends, from which we are constrained to dissent; we think there is good ground to hope that, being thus united, the Great Head of the Church may have a work for us to do, in the various localities where he has been pleased to place us.

Believing as we do, that Holy Scripture is the revelation of the will of God to man, and able to make wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, we reverently accept it as the appointed means to that all-important end. We accept this, His word, as the rule of faith and practice; so that as it contains all things, the knowledge of which is necessary to salvation, whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an article of faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. God having been pleased in his infinite wisdom thus to reveal to man his will for this end; and knowing that Holy Scripture must therefore be competent to the end for which the Holy Spirit saith it was given, we believe that it ought to be publicly recognised, as the appointed means of making known to us all that appertains to life and godliness. [c] And as, according to Scripture, those things which the apostles wrote were the commandments of the Lord, and that they were by Him led "into all truth," [d] we affirm our belief that any professed subsequent revelation must of necessity be a delusion. [e] We believe, further, that the difficulties, misapprehensions, and controversies which arise, are not from any difficulties inherent in God's word, [f] but from the darkness which sin has brought over the human understanding; and that, in so far as they separate Christians, they tend to frustrate the prayer of our Lord "that they all may be ONE;" [g] and we rest in the blessed assurance, that "the way-faring man,"

c. The word of God.-2 Tim. iii. 16. Ps. cxix. 105. John vi. 63. 1 Thess. i. 8-10; ii. 13. Exod. xx. 1. Ps. lxxviii. 1. Isa. li. 15, 16. Ezek. iii. 4. Ps. xix. 7-11. Deut. iv. 10; xviii. 18, 19. Ps. cxxxviii. 2. Luke viii. 11, 21; xi. 28. Hosea vi. 5. Jer. xxiii, 28, 29. Isa. xi. 4. John xii. 48. Heb. iv. 12. Rev. i. 16. Exod. iii. 15. Acts vii. 38. Rom. iii. 2. Heb. v. 12. 1 Pet. iv. 11. Rom. i. 1, 2. Rev. xii. 10, 11. Luke xvi. 31. John x. 35. Isa. lv. 10, 11. Luke xvi. 17; xxi. 33; xxiv. 27. Heb. iii. 7; ix. 8. Prov. xiii. 13. Ps. cxix. 155. Prov. xxviii. 9.

d. Apostolic authority.-John xvi. 12-15; xx. 31. 1 John i. 1-4; iv. 6. Eph. ii. 20. 1 Cor. xiv. 37; xi. 1, 2, 23. Phil. iii. 17; iv. 9. 2 Thess. ii. 15 2 John x. Jude 3 17. Rev. i, 2, 3, 19; ii. 11.

e. Professed subsequent revelation.—We speak not here of revelation in that sense in which it is used in some places in Holy Scripture-namely, as the taking away from the heart of that veil with which it had been enveloped by sin. Matt. vii. 15. Acts xx. 29-31. 2 Cor. xi. 13—16. Gal, i. 7-12. 2 Pet. ii. 1, 2. 1 Tim. iv. 1. 1 Pet. i. 24, 25. 1 John ii. 24—26 ; iv. 1—6, 2 John 7— 11. Matt. xxiv. 4, 5, 23, 24. 2 Thess. ii. 9-11. Rev. xix. 20. 1 Cor. xiv. 37. f. No inherent difficulties in God's word.- Prov. viii. 8, 9. Ps. xii. 6; xix. 8. Rom. xv. 4. 2 Tim. iii. 16. Ps. xviii. 30; cxix. 129, 130. 1 Cor. ii. 14. x. 26, 27. Rom, viii. 5-8. 1 Cor. ii. 12. James i. 5, 17. Eccl. xii. 10, 11. g. Union of believers.-John xvii. Acts iv. 32. Rom. xii. 5-16; xv. 5, 6. 1 Cor. i. 10: ii. 16; iii. 3, 4. 2 Cor. xiii. 11. Eph. iv. 3-5. Phil. ii. 1-3. 1 Pet. iii. 8.

John

that is, he who is in the way, though as to worldly wisdom a fool, shall not err therein, being taught by the Spirit.

The sentiments of Evangelical Friends having been painfully misrepresented on the blessed doctrine of the Holy Spirit, [h] we consider it due to ourselves, to you, and to the Christian church generally, emphatically to declare our firm and unreserved belief in this doctrine, in all its scriptural extent and fulness. Whilst renouncing the notion of an universal, saving inward light, as utterly destitute of a scriptural foundation, we believe that it is by the operation of the Holy Spirit that man is "convinced of sin," and enabled to believe in and lay hold on a Saviour; that regeneration is the communication of vitality to the soul, which before was dead in trespasses and sins. The first effects of this life are repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ; and by faith the believer receives the Holy Spirit of promise, whereby alone he can maintain a walk of faith, and whereby only can all services, whether in the Church or those of a private character, be performed to the glory of God.

The gift of the Spirit appears to be consequent upon believing; " In whom [Christ] ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation; in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory," Eph. i. 13. Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father," Gal. iv. 6.

We accept the great foundation doctrine of faith and justification through faith alone, as understood by the great body of Evangelical Protestants. [2] When the people inquired of our blessed Lord, "What shall we do that we might work the works of God?” he gave this ever memorable answer: "This is the work of God, that ye believe

h. Quickening of the Spirit. John iii. 3—8; vi. 63. 1 Cor. vi. 11; xii. 3. Eph. ii. 1. James i. 18. 1 Pet. i. 23.

Repentance.-Acts ii. 38: v. 31; xvii. 30; xx. 21. Rom. ii. 4. 2 Cor. vii. 10 1 Thess. i. 9. 2 Tim. ii. 25. 1 Pet. ii. 25.

Faith.-Mark i. 15; xvi. 16. John i. 12; iii. 18, 36; v. 24; vi. 40, 47 ; xx.

29-31.

Indwelling of the Spirit.--John xiv. 23. Rom. viii. 9. 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17; vi 19. Eph. ii. 20-22. 2 Tim. i. 13, 14. 1 John iv. 13.

i. Justification by Faith.-Redemption by the blood of Christ.-Lev. xvii. 11. Matt. xxvi. 28. Gal. i. 3, 4. Ps. xxxii. 1–5. Rom. iv. 7, 8. Isa. xliii. 25 ; liii. 5-11. Jerem. xxxi. 31-34. Heb. x. 17, 18. Jerem. xxxiii. 8. Zech, xiii 1. Rom. iii. 25. 2 Cor. v. 19-21. Eph. i. 7, 8. Col. i. 14. Tit. ii. 13. 14. Heb. ii. 17; viii. 12; ix. 13-28. 1 Pet. ii. 24; iii. 18. 1 John i. 9; iv. 10. Rev. i. 5. Ps. lxxxv. 10, Isa. xxvii. 4, 5. Rom. v. 1-11. Eph. i. 6. 2. Cor. v. 18, 19. 1 Tim. iii. 16. Eph. ii. 13-19. Col. i. 20-22. Heb. ii. 17. 1 Pet. ii. 24, 25; iii. 18. Ezek. xxxvi. 25-33. Acts xiii. 39. 21-28; iv. 3-6, 11-25; v. 1-19; x. 3-14; viii. 3, 4. 2 Gal. ii. 16. Eph. v. 25-27. Phil. iii. 4-9. John iii. 14-17,36; xx. 31. Eph. ii. 4-7. Rom. xiv. 17; xv. 13. Isa. lv.

12. 1 John i. 4; v. 13. Gal. v. 22. 1 Pet. i. 8.

Tit. iii. 4-7.

Rom. i. 17; iii. Cor. v. 19-21. Heb. xiii. 12.

on him whom he hath sent." Again, he said, "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." "The Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe," Gal. iii. 22. As under the Mosaic dispensation it was declared that "it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul," Lev. xvii. 11; so, under the new covenant, it is "the blood of Jesus Christ his Son that cleanseth us from all sin,” 1 John i. 7. God having in his infinite mercy set forth [Christ] to be a propitiation,* through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus:" "For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the Eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God ?” Heb. ix. 13, 14. "And you hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, [having made peace through the blood of his cross,] to present you holy and unblameable, and irreprovable in his sight," Coless. i. 20, 22. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;" for "it was not written for [Abraham's] sake alone, that [righteousness] was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification,” Rom. iv. 23,-25. Such as thus trust in Christ have both joy and peace in believing; and most essential is it for us to observe, that this faith which purifieth the heart is the only ground of holiness of life; [j] for such are his workmanship created anew in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." And we are firmly persuaded that the love of God, kindled in the soul by this amazing grace, is the living principle from which alone a willing obedience springs. [k]

Under a painful sense of the incalculable loss many of us have sustained from perverted views on the subject of prayer, [1] we venture

*Gr."the mercy seat." See Lev. xvi. 14-17. Ex. xxv. 22.

j. Holiness of Life.-Acts xv. 9.

Rom. vi. Matt. i. 21. Rom. viii. 2-29. Phil. i. 11. Col. i. 6. 1 Thess. ii. 13. 2 Pet. ii. 20; iii. 14. 1 John iii. 6-9us.-1 John iv. 19. Cant. i. 4. Jerem.

1 John iii.3. Eph. i. 1—5; iv. 20-24. Tit. ii. 14. 1 Pet. i. 14-23; ii. 6-10. k. We love him because he first loved xxxi. 3. 1 John iv. 10, 11; v.1-5.

Ps. v. 2,3;

1. Prayer.-1 Chron. xvi. 11. 2 Chron. vii. 14. 1 Sam. xii. 23. ix. 12; xxxiii. 5,6; xxxiv. 4—6, 10—15; l. 15; lv. 16, 17; lvii. 1, 2; lxv. 2: lxvi. 18, 19; lxxvii. 1; lxxxvi. 3-6, 7; xcv. 6; cii. 17; cxvi. 1, 2; cxix. 145, 147; cxx. 1; cxlii. 1,3, cxlv. 2—18, 19; Prov. xv. 8; Isa. xlv. 11—19; lv. 6;

most earnestly to entreat you to enter upon a scriptural examination of this duty and blessed privilege. Some of us have done this, and have derived unspeakable consolation from practically embracing that which the Spirit teaches by the word on this important point. This duty is represented in Scripture under a great variety of figurative terms: thus David says-" I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry ;" and the prophet Micah, "Therefore will I look unto the Lord: I will wait for the God of my salvation : my God will hear me" for "the Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth," Psalm cxlv. 18 Thus Job says-" If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication unto the Almighty ;" and Daniel," I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplication, with fastings," &c.; and as a continually recurring lesson of humble dependence, God has declared in his word, that He will be sought unto even for those things which he has pledged his own faithfulness to confer upon his people ;-thus speaking by his prophet Ezekiel, xxxvi. 36, 37, "I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it. Thus saith the Lord God; I will YET for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them :" therefore," Return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously; so we will render the calves ["fruit," Heb. xiii. 15] of our lips," Hosea xiv. 1,2.

There are those who in this, as in other instances, have put the guard on the wrong side; and by surrounding the Throne of Grace with a Sinai-like awfulness, have we fear ministered but too fatally to the indifference, indolence, pride, and unbelief of man's naturally hard heart; and contrary to the general tenour and in opposition to the express language of Holy Scripture, have inculcated the idea that none should pray without a perceptible supernatural motion thereto. The word teacheth otherwise. Our Lord, on being entreated by his disciples to teach them to pray, instructed them by that remarkable narrative recorded in Luke xi. 5, in which he enforces the duty by the strongest encouragement, and implies the qualification to be a sense of want :"If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him!" After this plain, positive, and unequivocal

Zeph. ii. 3.

19; xxi. 22; xxi. 36; xxii.

Lam. iii. 41. Dan. vi. 10, 11; ix. 3-19. Jonah ii. 7; iii. 10. Zech. viii. 21, 22; xii. 10. Matt. v. 44; vi. 6; vii. 7—11; xviii. xxvi. 39,-44. Mark xi. 24, 25. Luke x. 2; xi. 1—13; xviii. 1-8; 40-46. John iv. 10: xiv. 13, 14; xv. 7—16; xvi. 24—26, 27; Acts i. 14; ii. 41, 42; vi. 4; vii. 59, 60; ix. 11, 40; xii. 5, 12; xvi. 16, 25, 26; xx. 36; xxi. 5. Rom. i. 9; viii. 26; xii. 12; xv. 30. 1 Cor. i. 2. 2 Cor. xii. 7—9; Eph. i. 15, 16; iii. 14—19; vi. 18. Phil. i. 3-5; iv. 6, 7. Col. iv. 2,3. 1 Thess. iii. 9, 10; v. 17. 2 Thess i. 11, 12; iii. 1, 2, 5. 1 Tim. ii. 8; v. 5. 2 Tim. i. 3. Philem. 22. Heb. v. 7; x. 19-22; xiii. 18, 19. Jamesi.5-7; iv. 3. 1 Pet. i. 17; iv. 7. 1 John iii. 22; v. 14, 15. Jude 20.