BX 7795 .B2 B4 
 Bevan, Joseph Gurney, 1753- 
 1814. 
 
 A short account of the life 
 and writinas of Robert 
 

 Digitized by 
 
 the Internet Archive 
 
 
 
 
 in 2015 
 
 
 
 https://archive.org/details/shortaccountofliOObeva_0 
 
JAN 
 
 SHORT ACCOUNT 
 
 OF T_HE 
 
 LIFE AND WRITINGS 
 
 OF 
 
 ROBERT BARCLAY. 
 
 LONDON : 
 PRINTED AND SOLD BY 
 .PHlLLlPSjGEORGEYARD, LOMBARD STRE 
 
 l802t 
 
INTRODUCTION, 
 
 Though the memory of Robert Barclay 
 is not Kkely to periili, it seems desicable to add 
 one more memorial of him to those already 
 existing : chiefly for the purpose of bringing 
 his life and labours into a narrow point of 
 view ; and of furnishing many of his numerous 
 descendants, whose usual avocations do not 
 Jead them to the study of his writings and cha- 
 racter, with a portrait of their honourable prede- 
 cessor, that may excite their admiration, engage 
 their esteem, and induce their imitation. 
 
 Imitation, indeed, as it is not the source of 
 virtue, fo neither can it be virtue's support ; 
 yet the examples of pious men in preceding 
 ages are encouragements to the pious of the 
 present, and are a call upon such as have not 
 
 A 
 
yet arrived at equal degrees of spiritual attain- 
 ment, to examine the nature of the obstruction.' 
 Seeing, « The fame Lord over all is lich unto 
 all that call upon him," xve must, probably, 
 seek in ourselves for the cause of the difference 
 
 ivhich we observe; and should we be persuaded 
 to make proof of his riches, goodness, and 
 mercy, by calling upon him, in an humble 
 sense of our misery and want, — a want which 
 no other riches can supply — we shall find it no 
 disgrace to our character, to be found " fol- 
 '* lovvcrs of them who through faith and pa- 
 " tience inherit the promises." 
 
 The following account of Robert Barclay, 
 is comprised under two general heads. The first 
 contains a survey of his origin, education, pro- 
 gress in religion, and the chief events of his 
 life. The second mentions his writings, the 
 time and motives of their publication; and 
 gives a brief description of their contents. 
 
A 
 
 SHORT ACCOUNT, ^dfc. 
 
 PART 1. 
 
 Ilh origin — education — progress in reUgton^and 
 the chief events of his life* 
 
 Robert Barclay was born at Gordons- 
 toun* in the shire of Murray, the 23d of 
 i)ecember (then the tenth month) i648»' 
 William Penn has mentioned Edinburgh as 
 the place of his birth j but this, according to 
 the account preserved in his family, is erro- 
 neous, f His lineal ancestors are traced back, 
 by unquestionable documents, to Theobald de 
 
 • Memoirs of the life of Col. D. Barclay of Ury, and of his eldest 
 son R. Barclay of Ury, p. 31. 
 
 + Genealogical Account of the Barclay* of Ury, Ice* 
 
 A Z 
 
4 
 
 Berkeley, who lived in the reign of David I. 
 king of Scotland, This king came to the throne 
 in 1 1 24, and was consequently contemporary 
 with Henry I. of England, son of the Norman 
 conqueror, 
 
 Alexander de Berkeley, the fourth in succes- 
 sion from Theobald, having obtained by mar- 
 riage, in 1 35 1, the lands of Mathers, the 
 family afterwards became designated by the ap- 
 pellation of De Berkeley of Mathers; until his 
 great grandson, called also Alexander, changed 
 the name to the present mode of spelling, 
 Barclay. Such a change seems to imply but 
 Jittle acquaintance with books and records; 
 yet this Alexander was reputed to be a scholar; 
 and to him are ascribed some verses said to be 
 written by a. lahd of Mathers, as advice to his 
 son. The verses, whoever may have been the 
 author, are worth preserving, both for their 
 piety and good sense, and, supposing them to be 
 his, as a specimen of Scottish poetry in the 
 fifteenth century. 
 
5 
 
 Giff thou desire thy house lang stand. 
 And thy successors bruik thy land, 
 Abive all things, lief God in fear; 
 Intromit nought with' wrangous gear; 
 Nor conquess nothing wrangously ; 
 With tliy neighbour keep charity. 
 See that thou pass not thy estate ; 
 Obey duly thy magistrate ; 
 Oppress not, but support the puire ; 
 To help the common ^veiIl take cuire. 
 Use no deceit; mell not with treason ; 
 And to all men do right and reafon. 
 Both unto word and deed be true; 
 All kind of wickedness eschew. 
 Slay no man ; nor thereto consent; 
 Be nought cruel, but patient. 
 Allya ay in some guid place, 
 With noble, honeft, godly, race. 
 Hate huirdome, and all vices flee ; 
 Be humble; haunt guid companie, 
 Help thy friend, and do nae wranj, 
 And God shall make thy house stand hag. 
 
If this be really the production of the first 
 Barclay, it is probable that the spelling of some 
 of the words has been modernised. 
 
 The eighth in descent from Alexander 
 Barclay, was David Barclay ; who, being in 
 straitened circumstances through expensive 
 living, sold his paternal estate of Mathers, 
 after it had remained 300 years in the family, 
 and also a more ancient inheritance which had 
 been held 500 years. The designation of 
 Barclay of Mathers was consequently lost; and 
 in 1648, on the purchase of Ury by David, 
 son of the last Barclay of Mathers, and father 
 to Robert, the family assumed that of Barclay 
 of Ury, which the spirit of feudal times, still 
 surviving in Scotland, is disposed to retain. 
 
 This description of pedigree may seem im- 
 pertinent in religious biography. It must be 
 allowed that, unconnected with virtue in the 
 descendant, pedigree, when laid in the balance, 
 " is altogether lighter than vanity."* It serves, 
 
 •f salm Uii, g. 
 
7 
 
 among such as have not learned in the school 
 of Christ, to prompt, and to foster, human 
 pride. But when we see persons, distinguished 
 by birth and rank, deeming them of Httle value* 
 in comparison of the excellency of the know- 
 ** ledge of Christ Jesus the Lord we per- 
 ceive the sincerity and strength of their faith, 
 and the prevalence of that power which can 
 redeem from the love of earthly enjoyments. 
 
 Before entering on the life of Robert 
 Barclay, it may be proper to advert for a 
 short time to that of his father, David Barclay 
 of Ury, commonly called Colonel Barclay ; 
 "who was born at Kirktounhill, the seat of the 
 Barclays of Mathers, in 1610.* In his youth 
 he was a volunteer in the army under Gustavus 
 Adolphus king of Sweden, in which he rose to 
 the rank of major. On the breaking cut of 
 the civil wars, he returned home, and became 
 colonel of a regiment of horse on the side of 
 : the king; but on the success of Cromwell in 
 
 *Meo>:ir$ p. 14* 
 
8 
 
 Scotland he lost his military empIoyments> 
 Avhich he never after resumed. In 1647 he 
 married Katharine Gordon, daughter of Sir 
 Robert Gordon, of Gordonstoun, 
 
 Notwithftanding his attachment to the royal 
 cause, he was committed, after the restoration, 
 a prisoner to Edinburgh castle ; but was hberated, 
 without any thing being laid to his charge, or 
 any reason given for his commitment.* In this 
 prifon he met with John Swinton,f a perfon who 
 had been in the interest of Cromwell, and who 
 Avas confined on that account. Swinton had been 
 attainted of treason by the Scottish parliament 
 about nine years before, but had escaped into 
 England; whence, on the revival of the regal 
 government, he was sent a prisoner to Edin- 
 burgh. During his residence in England, he 
 had adopted the religious principles of the 
 society of Friends ; and, when in Edinburgh 
 
 ♦Biog.Brit. 
 
 In the Memoirs, p. 5 j, he is called «« The Laird pf Sainton. H« 
 
 *« had been one of ihc lordi of session." 
 
9 
 
 castle, he was more concerned to spread them, 
 than to defend his Hfe» This person is said to 
 have been the instrument of convincing David 
 Barclay of the truth of these principles : but,, 
 according to his son's account, he did not pro- 
 fess them openly till a few years after. David 
 Barclay underwent the indignities and imprison- 
 ments, which were often the lot of our early 
 friends; and he died in the year id86.* On 
 one occasion, having met with particular abuse 
 from the populace of Aberdeen, he remarked 
 that he felt more satisfaction, as well as honOur, 
 in being so insulted for his religious principles, 
 than he used to feel, when the magistrates to 
 gain his fiivour were accustomed to meet him at 
 a distance from the city? and conduct him to 
 public entertainments in the town-house ; ac- 
 companying him afterwards as many miles on 
 his way from them, 
 
 * Memoirs, 
 
10 
 
 The following account of the close of his life, 
 is taken from the testimony of his son,* 
 
 In his illness, which continued about a fort- 
 night, * he signified a quiet contented mind, 
 
 * freely resigned to the will of God. About 
 
 * two days before his death, feeling his weak- 
 
 * ness with the pain [from the gravel], in an 
 ' agony he said, / am going noiv ; and then, in- 
 ' stantly checking himself, added, But I shall 
 
 * go to the Lord, and be gathered to many of my 
 
 * brethren who are gone before me ; and to my 
 ' dear son,\ 
 
 * The nth of the 8th month, between two 
 
 * and three in the morning, he growing weaker, 
 
 * I drew nigh to him. He said, Is this my 
 
 * son P I said, yea, and spake a few words sig- 
 
 * nifying my travail that He that loved him 
 
 * might be near him to the end. He answered, 
 
 • Barclay** vrorks, fol. 907. 
 ■fThis was his youngest «i»n, David, who died at sea, about a year 
 ttefore. He was an amiable youth, of exemplary life and contei* 
 sation, aad was an acceptable preacher among Friends. 
 
II 
 
 '* T/je Lord is nigh, repeating it once again, say- 
 
 * ing, Tou are my witnesses, in the presence of 
 ' God, that the Lord is nigh. And a little after, 
 ^ he said, The perfeS discovery of the day spring 
 ^ from on high ! hoiv great a blessing it hath been 
 
 * to me, and to my family ! My wife desiring to 
 
 * know if he would have something to wet his 
 
 < mouth, he said it needed not. She said it 
 
 * would refresh him. He laid his hand upon 
 
 < his breast, saying, He had that inwardly that 
 
 * refreshed htm. And after a little while he 
 
 * added, divers times, these words, The truth 
 
 * is over all, 
 
 * An apothecary coming near, he took him 
 
 * by the hand, saying, Thou wilt bear me wU' 
 
 * ness, that in all this exercise I have not been 
 
 * curious to tamper, nor to pamper the flesh. He 
 
 * answered, Sir, I can bear witness that you 
 
 * have always minded the better, and more sub- 
 
 * stantlal part ; and rejoice to see the blessed end 
 
 * the Lord is bringing you to. He replied, Bear 
 
12 
 
 * a faithful and true iviittess ; yei U is the ttf of 
 
 * righteousness, (repeating these words twice 
 
 * over,) that ive bear testimony to, and not to 
 
 * an empty profession^ Then he called several 
 ' times,- Come, Lord ^esus, come, come. And 
 
 * again. My hope is in the Lord. Observing a 
 
 * countryman coming into the room, he thought 
 
 * it had been one of his tenants, who was a car,. 
 
 * penter; I telling him it was not he, but 
 
 * another, he said. See thou tell him to make n9 
 
 * tnanner of superfluity upon my cofjin. 
 
 * About three in the afternoon several friends 
 
 * came to see him. After some words werp^ 
 
 * spoken, and Patrick Livingstone had prayed, 
 
 * which ended in praises, he held up his hands. 
 *^and said, Amen ! Amen for ever ! And after 
 « they stood up looking at him, he said, How 
 
 * precious is the love of God among his children ; 
 
 * and their love one to another / Thereby shall all 
 ' men knoiv that ye are Christ^ s disciples, if you 
 
 * love one another, ffjw precious a thing it is t9 
 
15 
 
 f see htethren d^well together In lave ! My ts 
 
 * 'with you^ I have it among yea, 
 
 * About eight at night:, perceiving some to 
 
 * weep, he said, Diar frieads, all mind the ith- 
 
 * 'Oiord man* Heed not the out'wafd. There it 
 one that doth regards The Lord of Hosti it his 
 
 * name* After he heard the dock strike three 
 ■* in the morning, he said, Ko^ztt the tints cmei, 
 ^ And a little after he was heard to say. Praises, 
 ^ praisesy prcnses to the. Lard I Let nam thy ser* 
 
 * vast depart in peace » Inta thy hands,, 0 Father^ 
 
 * I commt my soidy spirit^ and body. Thy *a}'dft 
 
 * 0 Lord, he done in earthy as it Is in heaven, 
 
 * And so, a little after fire in the morning, the 
 
 * 12th day of the 8th month, i685, he fell 
 
 * asleep.' 
 
 He was interred in the burvina oround at 
 ITry, which he had allotted for his own family, 
 and for Friendi?. 
 
 Robert Barclay, the subject of this nar- 
 ■fative, receircd the riidiments of learnicg in his 
 
14 
 
 native cotintry, and after having gone through 
 the bed schools there, he was sent to the Scots* 
 College at Paris, of which his uncle Robert 
 (son of the last Barclay of Mathers) was the 
 rector. Here he made so great a proficiency 
 in his studies as to gain the notice and praise 
 of the masters of the college ; and he also be- 
 came so great a favourite with his uncle, as to 
 receive the offer of being made his heir, if he 
 would remain in France. But his father, fear- 
 ing that he might become tainted with the su- 
 perstitions of popery, and in compliance with 
 his mother's dying request, went to Paris in 
 order to bring him home, when he was not 
 much more than fixteen years of age. The 
 uncle still endeavoured to prevent his return; 
 and proposed to purchase for him, and present 
 to him immediately, an estate greater than his 
 paternal one. Robert replied, ' He is my 
 * father, and must be obeyed.' Thus he sacri- 
 ficed interest to filial duty : and the uncle, dis- 
 
15 
 
 obliged, kft his property to the college, and to 
 other religious houses in France. The return 
 of Robert Barclay to Scotland was in the 
 year 1 664.* 
 
 The following passage contains some account 
 of his religious experience in childhood and 
 youth. It is extracted, nearly in his own 
 words, from the introdu<ftion to his Treatise on 
 Universal Love : ' My first education, from 
 
 * my infancy, fell amongst the strictest sort of 
 
 * Calvinists ; those of our counti*y being gene- 
 
 * rally acknowledged to be the severest of 
 < that sect ; in the heat of zeal surpassing not 
 
 * only Geneva, from whence they derive 
 
 * their pedigree, but all other the Reformed 
 
 * churches abroad, so called. I had scarce got 
 
 * out of my childhood, when I was, by the 
 
 * permission of Divine Providence, cast among 
 
 * the company of Papists ; and my •cnder years 
 
 * and immature capacity not being able to with- 
 
 ♦ Memoir J, 31, &c. 
 
16 
 
 •Stand snd resist the insinuations that were 
 used to proselyte me to that way, I hecami 
 quickly defiled with the pollutions thereof; 
 and continued therein for a time, until it 
 pleased God through his rich love and mercy, 
 to deliver me out of those snares, and t6 
 give me a clear understanding of the evil of 
 that way. In both these sects I had abun- 
 dant occasion to receive impressions contrary 
 to this principle of love: seeing the straitness 
 of several of their doctrines, as well as their 
 practice of persecution, do abundantly declare 
 how opposite they are to universal love. The 
 time that intervened betwixt my forsaking the 
 church of Rome, and joining those with 
 whom I now stand engaged, I kept myself 
 free from joining with any sort of people, 
 though I took liberty to hear several ; and 
 my converse was most with those that inveigh 
 much against judging, and such kind of seve- 
 rity : which latitude may perhaps be esteemed 
 
ir 
 
 * the other extreme, opposite to the precise- 
 
 * ness of these other sects; whereby I also 
 
 * received an opportunity to know what usually 
 
 * is pretended on that side likewise. As for 
 
 * those I am now joined to. I justly esteem 
 them to be the true followers and servants of 
 
 •* Jesus Christ.' 
 
 It does not appear that R. Barclay was con- 
 vinced of the truth of Friends' principles, 
 fnerely by the means of preaching. In his 
 Apology, Prop. XI. o. 7. speaking of himself, 
 he says, * Who, not by strength of argument, 
 
 * or by a particular disquisition of each doc- 
 / trine, and convincement of my understanding 
 ,* thereby, came to receive and bear witness of 
 
 * the Truth ; but by being secretly reached by 
 
 * this Life. For when T came into the silent 
 
 * assemblies of God's people, I felt a secret 
 
 * power amongst them which touched my 
 
 * heart ; and as I gave way unto it, I found 
 
18 
 
 * the evil weakening in me, and the good raised 
 ' up ; and so I became thus knit and united 
 
 * unto them, hungering more and more after th^ 
 
 * increase cf this power and life, whereby I 
 
 * might find myself perfectly redeemed.* 
 
 In the month called February, 1669-70, 
 Robert Barclay married Christian Mollison, 
 daughter of Gilbert Mollison, a merchant in 
 Aberdeen ; and on his marriage settled at Ury, 
 xvith his father. Tlie issue of this marriage 
 was three sons and four daughters ; viz. Robert, 
 David, John, Patience, Katharine, Christian, 
 and Jane; all of whom survived him, asd wer& 
 living fifty years after his death. The edu- 
 cation of these children, on account of the 
 early death of their father, was of course 
 much under the care of his widow. 
 
 In the life of John Gratton, there is a pleas- 
 ing and instructive account of this excellent 
 mother^s solicitude, to imbue the tender minds 
 of her children, with pious and good principles. 
 
19 
 
 The passage is as follows : * I observed ( 1 694) 
 
 * that when her children were up in the naorn- 
 
 * ing, and dressed, she sat down with them, 
 
 * before breakfast ; and in a religious manner 
 
 * waited upon the Lord : which pious care, and 
 
 * motherly instruction of her children, when. 
 
 * young, doubtless had its desired effect upon 
 
 * them ; for, as they grew in years, they also 
 
 * grew in the knowledge of the blessed Truth ; 
 ' and since that time some of them have bs- 
 
 * come public preachers thereof.' 
 
 Believing it to be her duty to appear as a 
 preacher of righteousness, she was very soli- 
 citous that her example might, in all respects, 
 correspond with her station. The following 
 extracts from the testimony of the monthly 
 meeting of Ury, as they exhibit some striking 
 traits of the character of this amiable and pious 
 woman, will doubtless be acceptable to the 
 reader, 
 
 S2 
 
20 
 
 ( ^ She was religiously inclined from her 
 
 * youth ; and publicly embraced the testimony 
 
 * of Truth, in the love of it, in early years, 
 
 * viz. about the sixteenth year of her age, and 
 
 * that through many hardships and sufferings ; 
 
 * in which she walked all along suitably to 
 
 * what she professed. Her travail was great 
 
 * for the prosperity of the blessed Truth, and 
 
 * for all who professed it, that they might wlt- 
 
 * ness possession, which is far beyond profession* 
 
 * She laid herself out to assist, and give advice 
 
 * to sick people ; and supplied their necessities, 
 
 * especially the poor ; many of whom came ten, 
 
 * twenty, thirty, and some forty miles, and up- 
 "* wards, receiving great benefit ; for her success 
 ' was wonderful : and great is the lamentation 
 
 * made for her removal, among the poor and sick. 
 ' She was a well accomplished woman every way, 
 
 * and of singular virtues, which she improved, 
 < to the praise of the Lord. When we call to 
 
51 
 
 * mmrf the solidit}', the soundness, the serious- 
 
 * ness that attended her ; the care and concern 
 
 * she was under, that no slackness, or uncon- 
 
 * cernedness might be in the church, but that 
 •• dihgence might be used to make our calling 
 
 * and election sure ; the great and daily con- 
 
 * cern, which was attended with a good effect, 
 
 * for the preservation of her children, and grand- 
 *- children, of whom she commoni}'- had eight 
 
 * or ten in the family with her ; and how ex- 
 *■ emplarily she walked before them ; we cannot 
 
 * avoid lamenting the loss of her. 
 
 * She was taken ill the i 2th of the 3d month, 
 '1722; and from that time until her removal 
 
 * she continued weakly. Comfortable to us is 
 *• the remem.brance of the many precious seasons 
 
 * we then had in her company, and under her 
 
 * ministry ; her concern for the Truth and 
 
 * Church's prosperity continuing with her to 
 
 * the last, her earnest travail being then,, as it 
 
22 
 
 * had been all her life long, to be a faithful 
 
 * labourer for her God ; who had been with, 
 
 * her, and blessed her with his presence, from 
 
 * her youth upwards ; and who remarkably at- 
 
 * tended her to the drawing of her last breath ; 
 
 * which was in great peace, joy, and quietness^ 
 
 * upon the 14th of the 12th month, 1723,10 
 
 * the 76th year of her age,* 
 
 Robert Barclay, after his marriage, lived 
 about sixteen years with his father ; in which 
 time most of the tracts were written, that have 
 gained him so much reputation as a religious 
 writer. His time however was not all passed 
 in endeavouring to serve the cause of religion 
 with his pen. He both a6led and suffered for 
 it. The earliest transaction recorded of him, 
 is one which, probably, would not have been 
 expected from a person of the turn of mind 
 which Robert Barclay appears, from his 
 writings, to have possessed ; namely, the passing 
 through the streets of Aberdeen clothed in 
 
23 
 
 ^ckcloth.* This action is branded, by the 
 writer of his Hfe in the General Biography now 
 publishing, with the name of enthusiasm ; and 
 is even stigmatized with marks of contempt, by 
 his eulogist in the Biographia Britannica : by 
 each of them, however, his sincerity is allowed. 
 After he had thus become * a spectacle to 
 
 * men,'-)- he wrote a short address on the sub- 
 ject to the inhabitants of Aberdeen. The 
 following extract from it exhibits the motive 
 and design of his exposure ; and shows that he 
 did not engage in it, without previously open- 
 ing his intention to some of his rehglous asso- 
 ciates. ' Therefore was I commanded of the 
 
 * Lord to pass through your streets covered 
 
 * with sackcloth and ashes, calling you to repent- 
 
 * ance, that ye might yet be more awakened, 
 
 * and alarmed to take notice of the Lord's 
 
 * voice unto you ; and not to despise these 
 
 * things which belong to your peace, whilst 
 
 * This was in the year 1672, ^ Barclay's WorVs, IC5, 
 
24 
 
 * your day lasteth, lest hereafter they be hid 
 
 * Irom your eyes. And the command of the 
 
 * Lord concerning this thing came unto me 
 
 * that very morning as I awakened, and the 
 
 * burden thereof was very great ; yea, seemed 
 
 * almost insupportable unto me (for such ^ 
 
 * thing, until that very moment, had never 
 
 * entered me before, not in the most remote 
 
 * consideration). And some whom J called, 
 
 * to declare to them this thing, can bear wit- 
 
 * ness how great was the agony of my spirit ; 
 
 * how I besought the Lord with tears that this 
 
 * cup might pass away from me ; yea, how the 
 ' pillars of my tabernacle were shakes, and how 
 
 * exceedingly my bones trembled, until I freely 
 
 * gave up unto the Lord's will. And this was 
 
 * the end and tendency of my testimony, to call 
 
 * you to repentance, by this signal and singular 
 
 * step ; which I, as to my own will and incli- 
 
 * nation, was as unwilling to be found in, as the 
 
 * v/orst and the wickedest of you can be averse 
 
23- 
 
 from receiving, or laying it to heart. Let all 
 and every one of you, in whom there is yet 
 alive the least regard to God, or his fear, 
 consider and weigh this matter in the presence 
 of God, and by the spirit of Jesus Christ in 
 your hearts, which makes all things manifest. 
 Search and examine, every one in his own 
 soul, how far this warning and voice of the 
 Lord is applicable unto them ; and how great 
 need they have to be truly humbled in their 
 spirits ; returning unto the Lord in their 
 invvard pans, with such true and unfeigned 
 repentance, as answers to the outv^^ard clothing 
 of sackcloth, and being covered with ashes' — 
 Consider, where are ye who are called Christ- 
 ians ; among whom it is become a wonder, a 
 stone of stumbling', or matter of mockery, or 
 a ground of reproach, for one, in the name of 
 the Lord, to invite you to repentance, in 
 sackcloth and ashes ? Would not the heathen 
 condemn you in this thing; and will.^not 
 
26 
 
 * Nineveh stand up in judgment against you } 
 
 * How is it that ye that are called Christians 
 ' can willingly give room to every idle mounte- 
 
 * bank, and can suffer your minds to be drawn 
 ' out to behold these sinful divertisements, 
 ' which indeed divert the mind from the serious 
 
 * sense of God's fear ? The people can be 
 
 * gathered there, and neither the magistrates 
 
 * complain of tumult, nor yet preachers and 
 
 * professors cry out against it as delusion or 
 
 * madness. O my friends, consider ; can there 
 
 * be any more strongly deluded, than for 
 ' people daily to acknowledge and confess they 
 
 * are sinners and sinning, in words ; and to 
 
 * startle at that which did so lively represent 
 
 * unto them what they own to be their own 
 
 * state and condition ? 1 shall add that 
 
 * which upon this occasion, I declared unto 
 
 * you, I was for a sign from the Lord unto 
 
 * you ; I desire ye may not be among those 
 
 * that wonder and perish, but rather repent and 
 
27 
 
 * be saved. And this is my testimony unto 
 
 * you whether you will hear or forbear. I have 
 
 * peace with my God in what I have done, 
 
 * and am satisfied that his requirings I have 
 
 * answered in this thing.' 
 
 Though Robert Barclay kept some ac- 
 count of the transactions of his life ; yet, the 
 manuscript book containing that account having 
 been lost, it is only from the incidental mention 
 of them in the writings of others, that many 
 things respeding him can be collected and ar- 
 ranged. 
 
 Andrew JafFray intimates, that Robert 
 Barclay sometimes availed himfelf of the op- 
 portunity, which the national congregations 
 afforded, of promulgating the doctrines of the 
 society. His firfl visit to London was probably 
 in 1674, as we find from a passage in the jour- 
 ral of John Gratton, who in that year, toge- 
 ther with Robert Barclay, Patrick Living- 
 Stone, and William Hague, paid a visit to the 
 
23- 
 
 iiotonovis Lodowick Muggleton.* The next' 
 year, i^jS^f conjointly with George Keith, 
 he was engaged in a public dispute with some 
 of the students in the university of Aberdeen,. 
 Though this dispute did not terminate to the 
 satisfaction of the disputants on either side, yet 
 it was attended, as is Said, with this efFecty 
 that it proved the means of convincing four 
 ether students, who were part of the auditory,, 
 of the truth of the principles maintained by 
 Robert Barclay. In 1676+ he travelled 
 again to London on a religious visit to his 
 friends ; and made a similar visit in Holland 
 and Germany. In this journey he commenced 
 an acquaintance with Elizabeth, princess-pala^ 
 tine of the Rhine ; with whom, as appears from 
 a letter she wrote to him on his return, he had 
 a conference on religious subjects. After he 
 had completed this visit, he returned to Lon- 
 don, where he received intelligence of the im- 
 
 * Gratton's Life, pag? 68, Edit. 1795. 
 •» Barclay's Works, p. 569. i Memoirs, p. 35. 
 
29 
 
 •pnsonment of his father, with some other 
 friends, at Aberdeen, On this occasion, he 
 presented into the hands of the king, Charles 
 II. the following petition. 
 
 * The state of the case of the people called 
 
 * Quakers in Scotland, presented unto the 
 
 * king's consideration. 
 
 * The Council of Scotland having about three 
 
 * months ago, emitted a declaration to rein- 
 ■* force former Acts of Parliament against Con- 
 ' venticles, and recommended the execution of 
 
 * them, because of the abuse several persons had 
 
 * made of the king's indulgence, as the said 
 -* declaration intimates ; some inferior magis- 
 
 trates have taken occasion thereby to imprison 
 
 * many of them ; and some deputies of the 
 ^ county have stretched the laws against con- 
 
 venticles to the utmost pitch of severity, by 
 
 * heavy fines and tedious imprisonments, al- 
 / though their practices and principles never 
 
 * gave ground for such procedure. 
 
30 
 
 * It is therefore, on behalf of the said suffer* 
 
 * ing people, with all sincere respect, desired, 
 
 * that it would please the king favourably to 
 
 * recommend their case to the Council of Scot-. 
 < land ; that a diiference of character may be 
 
 * put upon them who have ever lived and 
 
 * behaved themselves peaceably under the pre- . 
 
 * sent government, from such that are said to 
 ■ • have abused the indulgence ; with some pre- 
 
 * sent relief to those harmless sufferers, to pre- 
 ' vent their utter ruin ; which in all probability 
 
 * will attend so many of them that live by their 
 
 * labour and trade. 
 
 (Signed) ' R. Barclay.' 
 
 By the king's direction the following laconic 
 order was quickly underwritten to the remon- 
 strance of Barclay, viz. 
 
 * His majesty is graciously pleased to refer 
 ' this paper to the right honourable the lords of 
 
 * his majesty's privy council of Scotland. 
 
 (Signed) * LAUDliRDALE,' 
 
 Whitehall, August 7th, 
 1676. 
 
31 
 
 In this year, 1676, Barclay's Apology 
 was first published. He was then in the 28th 
 year of his age. To say much of his writings, 
 in this place, would be a deviation from the 
 plan proposed ; but it may not be improper to 
 observe, that it is to the credit of Charles II. 
 that he took no offence at the Christian freedom, 
 which Robert Barclay had used in his fa- 
 mous inscription of that work to him. On the 
 contrary, it is not improbable that it made way 
 for the favourable reception of the remonstrance 
 in question. 
 
 We have very little account of the particular 
 object of Robert Barclay's visit to the con- 
 tinent which has been just mentioned. It may, 
 however, be conjectured, that the publication of 
 the Apology, which was printed at Amsterdam, 
 was a part of it. Probably this book was pre- 
 sented to the king, on R. Barclay's return 
 from the continent. 
 
 It does not appear that the king's interference 
 procured the release of David Barclay and tho 
 
32 
 
 Dther prisoners.* Soon after Robert's rctura 
 home, he was himself imprisoned : but he was 
 so far indulged as to be put into a better, or 
 more properly, a less disgusting, prison thaA 
 the rest.f 
 
 His commitment was on the 7th of the 9th 
 month (November), 1676 ; and in the follow- 
 ing month the news of his confinement reached 
 his friend the princess-palatine, probably with 
 some circumstances of exaggeration, as appears 
 from the following letter to her brother, the 
 prince Rupert. 
 
 Hcrford, December 19th, 1676, 
 
 * Dear Brother, 
 * I wrote to you some months ago, by 
 
 * Robert Barclay, who passed this way, and 
 
 * hearing I WuS your sister, desired to speak 
 
 * with me, I knew him to be a Qu^aker by 
 
 * Bcsse's Collection of the SufTcrings of the people called Quakers* 
 Vol, 2, Article Scotland. 
 
 ■f The Tolbooth at Aberdeen seems to have bceri dividei into the 
 upper and /aa^rr prisons. The »pper WM the worsct 
 
33 
 
 his hat, and took occasion to inform myself 
 
 * of all their opinions : and finding they were 
 
 * [accustomed*], to submit to magistrates lA 
 
 * real things, omitting the ceremonial, I wished 
 
 * in my heart, the king might have many such 
 
 * subjects. And since, I have heard, that, 
 
 * notwithstanding his majesty's most gracious 
 
 * letters in his behalf to the Council of Scot- 
 
 * land, he has been clapped up in prison with 
 *-the rest of his friends, and they threaten to 
 
 * hang them, at least those they call preachers 
 *. amon^ them, unless they subscribe their own 
 
 * banishment ; and this upon a law made 
 « 'against other sects that appeared armed for 
 
 * the maintenance of their heresy ; which goe? 
 directly against the principles of those which 
 
 * are ready to suffer all that can be inflicted, 
 •* and still love and pray for their enemies. 
 
 * Therefore, dear brother, if you can do any 
 ' thing to prevent their destruction, I doubt not 
 
 ♦ This wor*} seems wanting to make sense. 
 C 
 
34 
 
 * but you win do an action acceptable to God 
 
 * Almighty, and conducive to the service of 
 
 * your royal master : for the Presbyterians are 
 
 * their violent enemies, to whom they are an 
 
 * eye-sore, as being witnesses against all their 
 
 * violent ways. I care not, though his majesty 
 
 * see my letter. It is written out of no less an 
 
 * humble affection for him, than most sensible 
 
 * compassion of the innocent sufferers. You 
 
 * will act herein according to your own dis- 
 
 * cretion, and I beseech you still consider mc as 
 
 < Yours, 
 
 * Elizabeth.* 
 
 Whilst Robert Barclay lay In the Tol- 
 booth at Aberdeen, his father was again * com- 
 mitted to prison, and lodged in the lower gaol, 
 
 ♦ It is not clear how David Barclay was released from his former 
 imprisonment. Several of his fellow-prisoners were set at liberty 
 t>a ui3traint« having been ^lade to answer the sums, in which they 
 bad heen fined. Yet it appears, from Bcste, Vol. 2. p. ^18, that 
 David Barclay was at home when the distress was levied, vk. tc» 
 ♦tOrking oxen, two cows, a ball, and a quantity of corn. 
 
S3 
 
 He was committed the 6th of the ist month 
 {March) 1677, about four months after his 
 son^s imprisonment; and on the 17th, they 
 were both removed, with three others, to a 
 place out of the town, called the Chapel. In 
 this Chapel the live prisoners were confined in a 
 small room, which allowed them little more 
 space than was necessary to hold their beds. 
 It had a large door which was not opened ex- 
 cept when the keeper brought them food ; and 
 when it was shut, the prisoners had not sufficient 
 light to s^ve them at their meals. It was usual 
 when the door was opened, for a servant to 
 come and sweep out the room; and because, 
 to make way for him the prisoners occasionally 
 stepped a few paces out of the door, induced 
 also by the desire of breathing for a few minutes 
 a purer air, the magistrate of Aberdeen repri- 
 manded their keeper for allowing so much in- 
 dulgence. The same magistrate also chid the 
 person who kept the key of their cell, for pro- 
 
35 
 
 posing to let them have a small place under 
 their room, for the purpose of stowing fuel ; 
 and rejected with indignation a proposal to 
 make another window to their darksome place 
 of confinement. Such was then the treatment 
 of a man who had lately been well received at 
 courts ; who had then published a work, which 
 ivill long render his name eminent in -the reli- 
 gious world ; and, it may not be uninstructive 
 to add, many of whose numerous descendants 
 are now surrounded with most of the accom- 
 modations that opulence can bestow, and with 
 much more than the simplicity of the Christian 
 life requires. 
 
 On the 3d of the 2d month (April,) an 
 order of the commissioners of the Scottish 
 •council was made for removing David from the 
 ■Chapel, for coniining him at his rountry house, 
 and prohibiting him to hold meetings, or to go 
 -to them. He was therefore released, but he 
 informed the bearers of the conditions, that he 
 accepted his liberty, but that, as to the restric* 
 
57 
 
 iion, he should act as he saw proper. Robert 
 was ordered to be removed from the Tolbooth 
 of Aberdeen (v/here it seems he was still con- 
 sidered as a prisoner, though he was really at 
 the Chapel) to the Tolbooth of BamfF; to 
 which place were also ordered ssveral other 
 prisoners. The sheriff gave him his liberty,, 
 on condition of his being forth coming, when he 
 should appoint a time to convey him to Bamfi» 
 The king's- recommendation to the council 
 at Edinburgh, had been referred by that body 
 to certain commissioners appointed for put- 
 ting into execution some acts of the Scottish 
 parliament,, against what was termed * keeping 
 
 • of conventicles, and withdrav/ers from di- 
 
 * vine worship under which acts the friends 
 at Aberdeen had been persecuted ; and by some 
 of these commissioners the decree had been 
 made, by which David was liberated, and 
 Robert ordered to be removed to Bamff. 
 Previously, however, to this decree, the pri- 
 
38 
 
 toners in general had preferred a petition td 
 the council itself, requesting relief, and stating 
 their sufferings ; which seem to have been even 
 more grievous than those which Robert 
 Barclay and his four companions had endured 
 in the Chapel. The council listened to the rc- 
 qtiest ; appointed a day in the 3d month (May) 
 for receiving from the commissioners informa- 
 tion respecting the condition and circumstancej 
 of the prisoners ; and ordered that, in the mean 
 time, they should be provided with better ac- 
 commodations. Tliis order of council caused 
 much dispute between the magistrates of Aber- 
 deen and the under-sheriff : the former insist- 
 ing that the sheriff should take to Bamff such 
 prisoners as had been ordered thither by the 
 decree of the commissioners ; and the latter re- 
 fusing to convey them, and pressing tbe magis- 
 trates to accommodate them better, in conse- 
 <ju€nce of the council's order, which bore a 
 date subsequent to the commissioners* decree. 
 The contention grew violent, and each party 
 
39 
 
 entered formal protests at law against the ne- 
 glect of the other. Robert Barclay also 
 and the other prisoners who had been ordered 
 to be taken to Bamff, being, as has been said, 
 at large, on their parole, and seeing that neither 
 of the contending parties would take charge of 
 them, went before a notary and protested, * that 
 
 * themselves were freemen, and should pass 
 
 * away about their lav/fol occasions.' Thus 
 did Robert Barclay regain his liberty, the 
 9th of the 2d month (April) 1677, after an 
 imprisonment of about five months.* 
 
 It may be acceptable to some readers to 
 peruse the following letter wTitten by Robert 
 Barclay not many days before his release* 
 This letter, with the petition before mentioned, 
 probably contributed to his liberation, 
 
 • To James Sharp, Archbishop of St» 
 
 * Andrews (so called.)f 
 
 ♦ My being personally unknown to thee, hath- 
 
 • JBes'e, 
 
 ■i Bessc. Also Memoirs, p. 37, 
 
40 
 
 hindered me to give way to that pressure of 
 mind, whereby I have felt myself oftentimes 
 moved to write to thee, because I was lotli 
 to trouble thee : but since there is an address 
 intended to be presented to the council, at 
 the first sitting, in behalf of me and my 
 
 * friends, I could no longer forbear upon this 
 
 * occasion, to signify unto thee what hath beea 
 
 * upon my mind for some time towards thee. 
 ■*■ The address itself will inform thee, how we 
 
 * have been upwards of a year imprisoned, and 
 
 * the goods of many poor people miserably 
 
 * spoiled ; of which thou art said to be the 
 
 * chief and principal author ; and that the 
 
 * attempting to persecute us, as well as the pro- 
 
 * secution of it, doth proceed from thy influence, 
 
 * as being done either at thy express desire, or 
 
 * by some others, in hopes thereby to gratify 
 
 * thee. How far thou art truly guilty thereof, 
 « thine own conscience can best tell. Surely 
 
 * such practices (if thou hast, either directly or 
 
 * indirectly, had a hand in them) will peither 
 
41 
 
 * commend thee to God nor good men. X 
 
 * presume thou lookest upon it as thy chief 
 
 * honour, to be reputed a Christian bishop, de- 
 
 * riving thy authority from Christ and hi* 
 
 * apostles : but they never gave warrant for any 
 
 * such doings, being preachers and practisers of 
 
 * patience and suffering, but never of perse- 
 
 * cuting, or causing ta rob any of their goods 
 
 * or liberties, for their conscience sake. And 
 
 * long after, even several centuries, the primi* 
 
 * tive bishops abhorred and detested such pro* 
 
 * ceedings. Hence the excellent and zealous 
 
 * Athanasius, that " k is the devil's work, and 
 
 not God's., to force men's conscietices affirmr 
 Ing, ** that the blasphemous Arians (who were 
 *• the first bearing the name of Christians, that 
 
 used that practice) have learned so to do, not 
 •* of God, hut the devil and his angels," Conside- 
 
 * rable are the testimonies, Tertullian, Haesius, 
 
 * Hilarius, Jerom, and others, have given to 
 
 * the same truth ; so that Ambroslus declares, 
 
 * that going into France, " he refused all con^ 
 
42 
 
 muntcafion tulth such I'tshops^ that had ati^ 
 fello'wshtp tuiih those that sought to destroy^ 
 even such as were departed from the faith.** 
 
 * I confess the bloody bishops of Rtome gave 
 
 * large precedents of such actions ; but I sup- 
 *pose thou art not ambitious to be ranked 
 *• among them, or to be an imitator of them in- 
 *■ that respect. How far thou art justifiable, iii 
 
 * thy concurring with, or advising the perse- 
 ^ cution of the Presbyterian dissenters, it is not 
 
 * my business to- determine ; but I am confident 
 *thou art willing it should be judged, that thy 
 *-50 doing against them, is not merely for their 
 ♦■conscience, but because their principles do 
 
 * naturally, or necessarily, imply an innovation^ 
 
 * in the state, and thy personal ruin : believing 
 « not only military resistance just, to protect 
 
 * themselves agairjst authority, but also an oflTen- 
 
 * sive endeavour to turn out their superiors, and" 
 
 * establish themselves in their overthrow, both. 
 
 * lawful and laudable, as their practice hath 
 f sufficiently demonstrated. But shouldst thou. 
 
45 
 
 * fee found a positive persecutor of such against 
 
 * whom nothing of that kind, neither from. 
 ' principle nor practices can be alledged, but 
 
 * only the simple exercise of their consciences, 
 *^ would not that give plentiful occasion for 
 
 * such as desire to represent thy other actions 
 
 * with the worst aspect, to show, whatever 
 
 * thou pretendest of the state's security,, yet 
 
 * thou art a persecutor of pure conscience 
 
 * since thou showest thyself such against those,, 
 < against whom, the former reasons do not 
 
 * hold ? And surely it would seem that the 
 
 * more our peaceable principles take place 
 
 * among other dissenters, thy interest will be 
 
 * more secure : v/hich is a consideration not 
 
 * unworthy of thy notice, as deserving thy 
 
 * favourable aspect towards us. Perhaps the 
 
 * violence of several of the preachers, as some 
 
 * magistrates here, from whom our sufferings 
 
 * originally do flow, may at first view seem 
 
 * acceptable to thee, as faithful friends as well 
 
 * to the public as to thy interest ; and no 
 
44 
 
 * doubt they judge with themselves, that thzy 
 ' ingratiate themselves with thee, in so doing : 
 
 * y^t didst thou know them as well as some of 
 
 * us do, thou mightst think it no great ab- 
 
 * surdity to conclude, as well from their prac- 
 
 * tices as principles, that they would be no less 
 
 * ready to give thee this same treatment, had 
 
 * they but opportunity of doing it ; and rejoice 
 
 * more in it, as a great service both to God 
 
 * and the kirk of Scotland : however that is 
 
 * now out of their reach, they make what use 
 
 * of the law they can, both to execute their 
 
 * malice on us, and flatter thee, at this juncture. 
 
 * In short, we have more than reason to be- 
 
 * lieve, that if thou oppose thyself to this 
 
 * our address, it will not be granted ; and if 
 ' thou show thyself moderate and flexible, it 
 
 * will not be denied ; as no mean persons have 
 
 * hinted unto us : so as the one will be an evi- 
 
 * dence of thy moderation, the other will be a 
 
 * teftimony of thy inclinations to persecute. I 
 
 * wish then, for thy sake as v/ell as ours, that 
 
45 
 
 •this occurrence rather commend thee thai! 
 discommend thee : and thou mayst assure 
 thyself, that the utmost rigour that can be 
 used to us shall never be able to make us de- 
 part from that living precious truth, that God 
 in his mercy hath revealed unto us, and by us 
 is embraced ; nor yet fright us from the pub- 
 lic profession of it, yea, though we should be 
 pursued to death itself ; which, by the grace 
 of God, we hope chearfully to undergo for 
 the same ; and we doubt not, but God would 
 out t)f our ashes, raise witnesses who should 
 •outlive all the violence and cruelty of man. 
 And albeit thou thyself shouldst be most 
 inexorable and violent towards us, thou mayst 
 assure thyself, not to receive any evil from us 
 therefore ; who, by the grace of God, have 
 learned to suffer patiently ; and with our 
 Lord and Master Jesus Christ, to pray for 
 and love our enemies : yet as thy so doing to 
 an innocent and inoffensive people, would be 
 an irreparable loss to thy reputation j so t9 
 
46 
 
 ^ the God of truth, whom we serve with oa!» 
 
 * spirits, in the gospel of his Son, and to whont 
 ■* vengeance belongs, we leave it, who will cer*. 
 ' tainly in his own time and way, revenge our 
 
 < quarrel; whose dreadful judgments should be 
 
 * more terrible to thee, and much more justly 
 
 * to be feared, than the vlole^it assaults or secret 
 
 < assassinations of thy other antagonists. That 
 
 * thou mayst prevent both the one and the, 
 
 * other, by a Christian moderation, suitable t9 
 
 * the office thou layst claim to, is the desire of, 
 
 * Thy sours well wisher, 
 
 « R. Barclay.* 
 
 Tromthc Chapel Prison of 
 Aberdeen, the 26th of the 
 yim month, i<577« 
 
 It may be observed that Robert BarclaV* 
 in this letter speaks of the imprisonment as 
 having been of a year's duration ; which cannot 
 be true, of the term of his own confinement. 
 He must therefore refer to his fellow-prisoners, 
 who had been generally taken up in the first 
 
47 
 
 inonth of tlie preceding year. With regard to 
 the arclibishop, it is propable that he relented, 
 though the author of some short memoirs of 
 David and Robert Barclay, (printed at 
 Aberdeen in 1740) is not of this opinlonj nor 
 does the character of Sharp much support it,* 
 The short Kved protestant episcopacy of Scot- 
 land, may prevent some readers from recoJlec^ 
 ting that, at this time, the ecclesiastical govern- 
 ment of the church of that country was vested 
 in bishops, and that the city called St. Andrews 
 was the metropolitan see. It appears by 
 Barclay's letter that Archbishop Sharp had 
 been rigorous towards the prefbyterians, who 
 formed the bulk of the community in Scotland, 
 His conduct however met with a severe return, 
 for he was murdered in a barbarous manner as 
 he vv'as crossing a moor, on his return from a 
 sitting of the council. f 
 
 * Sec Burnet'f History of his ovn\ time*, annO 167S. 
 ♦ Sec Burnet's History, anno 1670, Edit, 8vo. 1724, Vol. ii, p. 15?, 
 
48 
 
 ^ob£rt Barclay had not long recovered 
 his liberty before he again travelled southward, 
 for we find him at London in the 3d month 
 (May), at which time he had, by appointment, 
 and at his own request, a conference with 
 William Rogers, of Bristol,* who had joined 
 some separatists in Westmoreland in opposition 
 to the discipline of the Society. Barclay's 
 dinarchy of the Ranters had been written, in 
 great measure, for the support of discipline. 
 It was therefore natural that such a "book and 
 its author should attract the censure of Rogers. 
 They met, however, in the presence of many 
 friends; and, what Is not very common in such 
 debates, the conference was conducted with 
 calmnefs and moderation ; and was follov/ed by 
 the acknowledgment of Rogers, that he had 
 misapprehended a part of Barclay's book. 
 Rogers however still continued his contro- 
 versy with friends; and even wrote again ii| 
 
 ' Oough'a Hietory of the Pfople called Qwikcr";, Vol. iii. j6» 
 
4$ 
 
 opposition to Robert Barclav^s book;* s© 
 that probably, not to his yielding temper, but 
 •to the moderation and calmness of Barclay's 
 vay of treating him, may be attributed his 
 concessions on this occasion. 
 
 The year in which Robert Barclay 
 was released from prison, he accompanied 
 William Penn in a part of the religious visit to 
 Holland and Germany, of which there is an 
 account published by Penn. They embarked 
 the 26th of the 5th month (July) 1677-]- 
 company with George Fox and some other 
 friends, Robert Barclay was with them 
 at Rotterdam and Amsterdam, At the latter 
 place was held a general meeting of the friends 
 of the United provinces, in which many matters 
 were settled and agreed on, relating to the 
 discipline of the Society of Friends, and adapt- 
 
 * Cough's Hi«. iii, 16, 17. Gough says, erroneously, (p. 1.;) 
 tliat the Anarchy of the RonUrt was wriuci» on account of the 
 dissension! in Westmoreland. Sec Barclay's Works, fol. p. 238. 
 ■i Pcnn's Works, a vol, fol. Life of the Author prcfixc4. 
 D 
 
50 
 
 ed to their condition in those cOTintries. After 
 a short stay at Amsterdam, they proceeded to 
 Herwerden, the residence of EHzabeth the 
 princess palatine. The principal object of their 
 journey thither was to visit this princess, and 
 Anna Maria de Homes, countess of Homes, 
 v/ho was her intimate acquaintance, who re- 
 sided much in her house, and was, as well as 
 herself, a woman seeking after the best things, 
 and a favourer of such (says Penn) as separate 
 themselves from the world, for the sake of 
 righteousness. 
 
 They were received by the princess and her 
 friend, the day after their arrival, about seven in 
 the morning. Their visit appears to have been 
 a religious meeting, which lasted till eleven, 
 and in which all the friends were engaged in 
 testimony.* The princess invited them to dine 
 
 * By this phrase is t3 be understood that each of the visitors 
 thought himself required to preach in the meeting. Such declara* 
 tions are called testimonies because they bear witness, Or testify to 
 that which the speaker feels in himself. See on this subject Bardsy's 
 Apology, Proposition lo. ^. 7-. ^. 14. 15, 33. 
 
SI 
 
 W ith her, which they declined ; but as they 
 desired another meeting, she appointed two 
 o'clock in the afternoon. Such were the early 
 hours then observed. At this meeting several 
 were present besides the princess and countess. 
 It continued till near seven in the evening. 
 William Penn thus speaks of it : * The eternal 
 
 * Word showed itself a hammer this day : yea 
 
 < sharper than a two-edged sword, dividing asun- 
 
 < der between the soul and the spirit, between 
 
 * the joints and the marrow.*— Well) let my 
 ' right hand forget its cunning, and my tongue 
 
 * cleave to the roof of my mouth, when I shall 
 
 * forget the loving-kindness of the Lord, and 
 
 * the sure mercies of our God, to us his travel- 
 
 * ling servants that day.* 
 
 The following day, they paid two visits at this 
 little court ; and the day after, which was the 
 first day of the week, they held there a meet- 
 ing appointed at two o'clock by the direction 
 of the princess j at which were present others 
 
 D 2 
 
52 
 
 besides those of her household. Among other 
 things, Penn says of this meeting, ' The quick- 
 
 • ening power and life of Jesus wrought, and 
 
 • reached them ; and virtue from Him in whom 
 dwelleth the Godhead bodily, went forth* 
 
 After this meeting, which held till late in the 
 evening, the visiters took their leave ; but not 
 before they Iiad been witnesses of the tender 
 disposition of mind of the princess ; who, 
 attempting to set forth her sense of the power 
 and presence of God prevalent among them, 
 could not proceed, but turned herself to the 
 window, and said ; * My heart is full, I cannot 
 
 • speak to you.* The next day Robert 
 Barclay left the company, and returned to 
 Amsterdam. It appears that his return home 
 was by way of London. On the road he 
 wrote a letter to the princess ; which, as it 
 gives some account of his immediate circle of 
 friends at Aberdeen, and contains other matters 
 worthy of remark, is here inserted. 
 
53 
 
 * Theobalds, near Londop, 
 i£th of the 7th mo. 1677. 
 
 ' Dear Friend, 
 * By thy letter of the last of the month past, 
 
 * I understood that the friends were with thee, 
 
 * and was refreshed by the account they gave 
 
 * me of thy kind and Christian entertainment 
 
 * of them (they having overtaken me in Hol- 
 ' land). God will not be wanting to reward thy 
 
 * love, as well as to increase the same. Finding 
 ' no ready passage straight to Scotland, I came 
 •-over here ; and albeit I had no great expecta- 
 
 * tion of success, I resolved once more to try 
 ' thy cousin the duke of York.f So I told 
 
 * him, that I understood from Sco*'and, not- 
 
 * withstanding Lauderdale was there, and had 
 
 * promised, ere he went, to do something, yet 
 
 * our friends' foes were rather increased ; and 
 that now there was only one thing to be done, 
 
 * which I desired of him ; and that was, to write 
 effectually to the duke of Lauderdale, in that 
 
 * style 'wherein Lauderdale might understand 
 
 * Memoir?, p. 44. + Afterwards James- 2d. 
 
54 
 
 ■* that he was ferlous in the budnefs, and did' 
 
 * really intend the thing he did write concern- 
 
 * ing should take effect : which I knew he 
 
 * might do, and 1 supposed the other might 
 
 * answer ; which if he would do, I must acknow- 
 
 * ledge as a great kindness. But if he did write, 
 
 * and not in that manner, so that the other 
 
 * might not suppose him to be serious, I would 
 
 * rather he would excuse himself the trouble ; 
 
 * desiring withal to excuse my plain manner of 
 ' dealing, as being different from court way of 
 
 * soliciting : all which he seemed to take m 
 
 * good part, and said he would so write, as I 
 
 * desired, for my father and me, but not for the 
 
 * general.* So he hath given me a letter ; 
 < whether it may prove effectual or not, I can- 
 
 Meaning the persecuted friends of Aberdeen in general. 
 James 2d has been accused of pretending to be the champion of 
 liberty of confcience, for the sake of opening away for the establish-- 
 oicnt of the Catholic party. This limitation of his good offices la- 
 the Barclays only, and his refusal to interest himself for the relief of 
 the sufferers in general, does, indeed, favour the opinion that he 
 H'is a tiiiic scivcr, and r.ot a rcal friciKl to liberty of confciencc* 
 
* not determine, but of this thou mayst hear 
 
 * hereafter. - I am now entered into my jour- 
 
 * ney, and intend to pass by the way of Ragley. 
 
 * What thou writest of the counsellor of the 
 
 * elector, and the other preachers, is very ac- 
 
 * ceptable to me to hear ; whose joy it is, to 
 
 * understand that the eyes of any are opened to 
 
 * see the truch as it is in this day revealed ; as 
 
 * it should be much more, to hear that any 
 ' came into that universal obedience which 
 
 the life and power thereof lead to i which 
 
 * life and power, as they are felt in the inward 
 
 * part, are more than all the words that can be 
 *■ spoken ; of which I know thou hast, at some. 
 
 * times, not been insensible ; and therefore my 
 
 * soul's desire for thee is, that thou mayst more 
 *■ and more come out of all that which cumbers,. 
 
 * to feel this virtue of truth to operate in, and 
 
 * redeem thy soul from all the difficulties that 
 
 * do or may attend thee. This, in the nature 
 
 * of it, it is powerful to do, albeit thy tempta- 
 
 * tions were both greater and more numerous 
 
56 
 
 than they are ; if received by thee in the love 
 of it, and with a heart fully resigned to obey it, 
 in all its requirings ; without consulting with 
 flesh and blood, or turning by the plain and 
 simple leadings thereof by wise and fleshly rea- 
 sonings, which will never admit of the govern- 
 ment and rule of the cross of Christ ; as thou 
 well knowest and wilt not refuse to acknow- 
 ledge, and therefore art the more concerned 
 to watch against it in thy own particular, as 
 I hope in measure thou dost, and my heart's 
 desire is. 
 
 * Tliou mayst make mention of my dear and 
 tender love to x\nna, whose servant, as also 
 the French woman, I forget not. To Anna 
 I thought to have written apart, but must 
 now leave it until another opportunity. If 
 thou seest meet to salute that counsellor of 
 the elector in my name, thou mayst do it. I 
 shall add no more at present, but that I am, 
 * Thy real and unfeigned friend, 
 
 * Robert Barclay.' 
 
57 
 
 In forming this compilation, no occurrence 
 has been found recorded of Robert Barclay, 
 from the date of the foregoing letter till the 9th 
 month (Nov.) 1679, when again taken,* 
 
 with several other friends, from the meeting at 
 Aberdeen, and committed to prison. This con- 
 finement was not only of short duration, as they 
 were released in about three hours, but it 
 proved the last on this account ; for from that 
 period the religious meetings of Friends at 
 Aberdeen, were held without any molestation 
 from the magistrate. The well known interest 
 which Robert Barclay possessed at court, 
 might in part restrain them from further per- 
 secution ; and the constancy of the sufferers 
 could scarcely fail of producing an effect favour- 
 able to the end for which they suffered ; the 
 liberty of assembling to worship God, in the 
 way they believed to be most acceptable to him. 
 
 In this year, i679,f Robert Barclay 
 obtained a charter from Charles 2d. under the 
 
 * Be?je, ♦ Memoir!, p. 
 
58 
 
 great seal, erecting his lands of Ury into a 
 Free Barony, with civil and criminal jurisdic- 
 tion, to him and his heirs,* This charter was 
 afterwards ratified by an act of parliament ; 
 the preamble of which, states it to be * for 
 *- the many services done by Colonel David 
 
 * Barclay, and his son, the said Robert 
 
 * Barclay, to the king and his most royal 
 
 * progenitors in times past.' The barony, how- 
 ever, with all similar jurisdictions, was extin- 
 guished, on the alteration made in, the system, 
 of th.e government of Scotland. f 
 
 In the year i 67.9,"|: he again visited Holland ; 
 but of this visit no particulars have been made 
 
 * It seems remarkable that R. Barclay shouM wish to encumber 
 himself with the administration of either criminal'or civ il justice, 
 at a time when many of its laws and forms were inconsistent with 
 the profession he was making. His motives probably were, the cx- 
 ipertation of possessing some personal privilege, and the hope of 
 preventing, in some instances, the rcfcicncc of causes to the dcci» 
 iSou of lcs» upright judges. 
 
 + By Act 20, Geo. i. cap. 43. 
 I Memoirs, p, ^3- 
 
59 
 
 public. Some business carried him the next 
 year to Edinburgh ; and, on this occasion, he 
 received a friendly letter from the Duke of 
 York, and two others from the Earl of Perth. 
 These letters mark the writers' respect and re- 
 gard for Robert Barclay : but as they do 
 not explain his employment, at the time they 
 were written, it is not necessary to present 
 them to the reader. An extract of one of them 
 from the Earl of Perth, may, however, be 
 worth attention. It is as follows. — I am 
 < glad to hear from you ; and should be much 
 
 * more so to do you any service, I hope you 
 
 * believe better things of me, than that 1 would 
 
 * be much disappointed with the instability e£ 
 
 * human condition. I do not look upon any 
 ' thing here as so fixed as to be worthy of too 
 
 * much concern, or capable to bear v/eight. I 
 « will resolve to be what God pleases, a plowman 
 ' or a courtier, or what else may be most for 
 
 * his honour.' 
 
60 
 
 In 1682,* Robert Barclay was again i» 
 London. He was then appointed governor of 
 East Jersey in North America, by the proprie- 
 tors of that province, of whom his friend the 
 Earl of Perth, was one. He was also him- 
 self made a proprietor ; and had allotted to him 
 5000 acres of land above his proprietary share,f 
 that he might grant them to others at his plea- 
 sure. These were inducements held out for 
 his accepting the government, Charles zdl <; 
 confirmed the grant of the government;, and- 
 the royal commission states that ' such are hig 
 ' known fidelity and capacity, that he has the 
 
 * government during life ;, but that no other 
 
 * governor after him shall have it longer than 
 
 * for three years.' He had also authority to 
 appoint a deputy-governor, with a salary of 
 four hundred pounds per annum, a sum equal 
 
 * Memoirs, 51. 
 
 f The words of the « Memoirs' are • To induce him to acceft 
 
 * thereof, they gifted him a propriety, with five thousand acres 
 ' mifre, for him to bcito.v as he should think fit.' p ,51. 
 
to a thousand pounds, or more, according to 
 the value of money at the present time. It 
 does not appear that any salary was annexed to 
 the station which he himself filled, so that pa- 
 tronage, rather than riches, appears to have 
 been the immediate effect of the grant. In con- 
 sequence of his newly acquired power, he ap- 
 pointed Gawen Laurie, a merchant of London, 
 deputy-governor ;* but he never visited the 
 province himself. His brother John,f the 
 colonel's second son, settled in East Jersey ; 
 and the third son, Robert's youngest brother, 
 a youth of great hopes, died on the voyage, in 
 which he had embarked with a similar intention. 
 This was the son, whom David Barclay, on his 
 death-bed, spoke of with particular affection.^ 
 The reader will recollect that David Barclay 
 had been induced by John Swinton, a fellow 
 
 * The same G. Laurie, to whom, jointly with William Venn and 
 Nicolas Lucas, West Jersey had been assigned for the benefit of 
 the creJitois of Bylinge, the proprietor. Morse's American Geo- 
 graphy. 
 
 + Memoirs, 53. | See page 10, 
 
62 
 
 prisoner in the castle of Edinburgh, to examin. 
 the rehgious principles of Friends.* This Johr 
 Swinton had been attainted by the parliamen' 
 of Scotland, prior to the overthrow of the rega: 
 government ; and, on its re-establishment, com- 
 mitted to prison in consequence of that attain - 
 der.t Jr^i the mean time he had adopted the, 
 profession of Friends ; and when at length he 
 was brought to trial, and called on to show 
 cause why he should not receive sentence ac- 
 cording to his attainder, he waved some strong 
 and valid pleas in point of law, which he might 
 have made ; and replied, that at the time his 
 crimes were imputed to him * he was in the 
 gall of bitterness, and bond of iniquity but 
 
 * that, God having since called him to the 
 
 * light, he saw and acknowledged his past 
 
 * errors ; and did not refuse to pay the forfeit 
 
 * of them, even though (in the opinion of his 
 
 * judges) this should extend to his life/ He 
 
 * page 
 
 •} Biog. Brit. Barclay. 
 
63 
 
 was liowever recommended to the king's mercy^ 
 and his Hfe was preserved ; but it is probable 
 that his estates, which were forfeited at the 
 Restoration, were not restored to him ; since 
 we find Robert Barclay, soon after his re- 
 turn from London in 1682, • assisting Swinton 
 with his interest and purse at Edinburgh : thus 
 answering practically and freely the apostolic 
 expostulation (i Cor. ix. 11.), by permitting 
 Swinton to reap carnal things, who had sown 
 spiritual things to his family. 
 
 The remainder of the life of Robert 
 Barclay is not marked with many instances 
 of public action. Much of it appears to have 
 been passed in tranquility, and in the bosom of 
 his family ; yet he occasionally made some 
 journeys to promote his private concerns, to 
 serve his relations and neighbours, or to main- 
 tain the cause of his brethren in religious pro- 
 fession. On his return from a journey to the 
 
 • Memoirs, 51. 
 
64 
 
 neighbourhood of London, where he had been 
 settling his son at the boarding school, then 
 kept by George Keith, at Theobalds in Hert- 
 fordshire, his life appears to have been in 
 some danger from the attack of a highway- 
 man.* His wife had observed him in the 
 morning to be more pensive than usual, and he 
 told her that he believed some uncommon trial 
 •would that day befal the company ; which 
 consisted of himself, his wife, her brother, and 
 Aarent Sonmans, a Dutchman, formerly a 
 merchant in Holland, but then resident in 
 Scotland. When the robber presented his 
 -pistol, Robert Barclay calmly asked him 
 * how he came to be so rude,' and took him by 
 the arm ; on which the robber let the pistol 
 drop, and offered him no further violence : 
 but his brother-in-law was rifled ; and Sonmans 
 received a mortal wound in the thigh, though 
 it was thought, rather accidentally than by 
 
 * Memoir?, ii» 
 
6$ 
 
 defign. He died at Stilton a few days after- 
 wards. 
 
 Robert Barclay about this time* appears 
 "to have been attentive to the welfare of East 
 Jersey, by shipping provisions, and engaging 
 indented sen^ants, at Aberdeen. In the year 
 1685, he was again in London; where he 
 employed himself in many acts of friendship, 
 both to his brethren in religious profession, and 
 to others. He had frequent access to the king 
 XJames 2d.)f who showed him marks of great 
 friendship ; as he had done before his accession. 
 Whatever might have been the principles of 
 James, Barclay, probably influenced by the 
 personal kmdness he received from him, seems 
 to have thought him sin<;ere in his professions ; 
 and to have conceived a real regard for the 
 misguided and imprudent monarch. 
 
 In r686J he was much solicited by George 
 Fox and some other friends, who knew his 
 
 * Memoirs, p. 5c, + P« 53' 1 P 54« 
 
 £ 
 
66 
 
 interest at court, to come again to London, 
 and employ himself on behalf of the society. 
 Though the juncture in which their application 
 was made, was not a time of persecution, (for 
 that had ceased on the accession of James 2d,) 
 yet the legal incapacity of our friends in conse- 
 quence of their refusing to swear ; and the 
 ruinous processes, which were generally insti- 
 tuted against them for tithes, even of small 
 amount ; together with the little security which 
 they, felt, whilst the penal laws were only sus- 
 pended by a power which they knew to be in- 
 competent ; all these considerations naturally 
 induced them to desire that their ease might 
 rest on a surer basis. That they really looked 
 to parliament for a radical redress of their 
 wrongs, appears by the following clause of the 
 address from the Yearly Meeting in 168,7^ 
 ** We hope the good effects thereof (the king's 
 ' declaration of indulgence) may produce such 
 
 ^^C»ugh, Vol. iii. p. 194. 
 
■* a concurrence from the parliament as will 
 * secure it to our posterity.** As Barclay, in 
 compliance with the request of Fox and his 
 friends, left home in the Second month (April) 
 that year, there is little doubt that he was pre- 
 sent at the Yearly Meeting, which was sitting 
 the 19th of the Third month, as appears by 
 the date of the address. 
 
 The applications of the friends in London 
 to Robert Barclay, had been made many 
 months before he concluded to come to that 
 city, and soon after the accession of the king. 
 It may not be improper to insert, on this oc- 
 casion, part of the letter from George Fox, 
 with a postscript written by two other friends, 
 as testimonials of their love, and of the sense 
 which his friends had of his usefulness, and 
 alacrity in serving the cause he had espoused. 
 
 * This addrfsj is particularly TDentionedi because aspurioBi vv% 
 %» James 2d. bas been attributed to the Quakers, 
 £ 2 
 
68 
 
 ♦ 'Idmonton, 19th of the 5lh month, i655,. 
 
 * The occasion of my writing to thee at this 
 time is, that Friends were very sensible of the 
 great service thou hadst concerning the Truth, 
 with the king and all the court ; and that thou 
 hadst their ear more than any friend, when 
 here, and freedom and liberty on Friends' and 
 Truth *s behalf. And now, dear Robert, 
 we understanding that the occasion of thy 
 sudden return concerning the condition thy 
 wife was in, being now over by her being de- 
 livered, I desire thee, and it is the desire of 
 several other friends, that, whilst the door is 
 open and the way so plain, thou wouldst be 
 pleased to come to London with speed, or -as 
 soon as may be. There is a great service in 
 thy coming, upon several accounts, more than 
 I shall mention at this time ; and so I hope 
 the Lord will incline thy heart to weigh and 
 consider thy service in it. 
 
 Memoirs p. j4* 
 
69 
 
 London, 22d of tfac ^th menth, 1686. 
 
 * Dear Robert, ^ 
 ' The within desire of George Fox is also 
 
 * the desire of us, and we think of all the 
 
 * friends here : we tlierefore hope thou wilt do 
 ^ the needful therein. 
 
 *• We are thy real friends, 
 
 * John Osgood, 
 
 * Francis Camfield/ 
 
 Let not any reader be so fastidious as to con- 
 temn the simple stile of George Fox. Though 
 unlettered, he possessed a sound judgment and 
 a quick apprehension. But had he been, and 
 were many more of the advocates for the in- 
 ward light of Christ, and far a self denying 
 life, deficient in acute ness of understanding, 
 this would not detract from their virtue, noi^ 
 from the purity and excellence of religion. If 
 ihe oif-ces of religion are often filled by persons 
 Dot distinguished by superior mental acquisi^ 
 
70 
 
 tfODS,* one cause of it may be, the too frequcnr 
 refusal of talents and learning to bend in sub- 
 jection to the humbling power of the cross. 
 It seems- difficult to quit this subject without 
 expressing an ardent wish, that, amidst the 
 career of prosperity, and the captivating charms 
 of indulgence, some reader may be found, who 
 maybe willing here to pause ; to consider, with: 
 Barclay, < that the height of all happiness 
 ' is placed in the true knowledge of God ;'f 
 ifid to inquire seriously of the Divine witness 
 in the heart, * Am I really concerned to ob- 
 ' tain, and to preserve this knowledge ; or, is 
 
 * it the whole, or the chief, business of my life, 
 
 * to pursue things of a temporal nature I* 
 
 During this time of Robert Barclay's 
 abode in the metropolis, he presented to the 
 king an address of acknowledgment from the 
 general meeting of Friends at Aberdeen. He 
 
 • Sec a remarkable Case, in Apol. Prop, lo, ^ 19, towards the e»i. 
 Se« alio § 93, for Barclay's own experience. 
 
 •f Apol. Prop, u 
 
71 
 
 also visited the seven bishops, then confined in 
 the Tower for having refused to distribute, in 
 their respective dioceses, the king's declaration 
 for hberty of conscience; and for having repre- 
 sented to the king the grounds of their objec- 
 tion to the measure. The popular opinion was 
 in favour of the bishops :* yet the former seve- 
 rities of some of that order against dissenters, 
 particularly against Friends, occasioned some 
 reflections on them; which, coming to the 
 knowledge of the imprisoned bishops, they de- 
 clared that the fakers had belied theviy by rf- 
 porting that they had been the death of some. 
 Robert Barclay being informed of this de- 
 claration, went to the Tower ; and gave the 
 bi/hops a well substantiated account of some 
 persons having been detained in prison till 
 death, by order of bishops, though they had 
 been apprized of the danger by physicians who • 
 
 ' GoJgh, V©1. iii. p. iqS, 
 
7^ 
 
 were not Qu^akers.* He, however, observed 
 to the bishops, that it was by no means the in». 
 tention of Friends to publish such events, and 
 thereby give the king, and their other adversa^ 
 lies, any advantage against them. 
 
 Robert Barclay was in London for the 
 last time in the memorable year i688.f He 
 visited James 2d,; and being with him near & 
 window, the king looked out, and observed, 
 that * the v/ind was then fair for the prince of 
 
 * Orange to come over.' Robert Barclay 
 replied * it was hard that no expedient 
 
 * could be found to satisfy the people.' The 
 king declared * he would do any thing becom- 
 
 * ing a gentleman, except parting with liberty 
 
 * of conscience, which he never would whilst 
 
 * he hved.* At this time Barclay took a 
 
 * This was a period of intolerance which ha» given place to a more 
 (fiilightcned and Chiistian temper. It is but justice to say, that tfie 
 clergy in general possess a liberality of sentiment, veiy different 
 Irroaj the spirit of that day. 
 
75 
 
 final leave of the king, for whose troubles he 
 was much concerned; and with whom he had 
 been several times engaged in serious discourse, 
 oi> the posture of affairs at that time. 
 
 After he returned from London, he spent 
 the remainder of his life, being about two year?, 
 chiefly at home ; where he enjoyed the esteem 
 and regard of his neighbours, and the comforts 
 cf domestic society. In the year 1690, he 
 acconipanied James Dickinson, a minister from. 
 Cumberland, in a religious visit to some parts 
 of the north of Scotland'; and soon after his 
 return from this visit, he was seized with a 
 violent fever, which, in a short time, put a 
 period to his life, James Dickinson was with 
 him at the time; of his illness. It was a solemn 
 season; and their spirits were deeply affected 
 with a sense of the Divine goodness. Robert 
 Barclay, though much oppressed by the dis- 
 order, was in a truly resigned, peaceful, and" 
 Christian frame of mind. He expressed his. 
 love to. all f^udifiU Friends in England,, asd 
 
74 
 
 to air the faithful every where ; particularly to 
 friends in Cumberland where James Dickinson 
 resided, and to George Fox, for whom he 
 bad a special regard; and concluded with these 
 comfortable expressions : * God is good still : 
 
 * and though I am under a great weight of 
 ' sickness and weakness, yet my peace flows* 
 
 * This I know, that whatever exercises^ may be 
 
 * permitted to come upon me, they shall tend 
 
 * to God's glory, and my salvation : and in 
 < that I rest.'* — He died the 3d of the 8th 
 month, (October,) in the year 1690, and ia 
 the 42 d year of his age. His body was at- 
 tended to the grave at Ury, by many of the most 
 respectable persons in the neighbourhood. 
 
 Before the conclusion of this part of the 
 account respecting Robert Barclay, it will 
 probably be agreeable to the reader, to survey 
 the qualities and virtues of tliis respectable man, 
 drawn together and placed in a single point of 
 riew. From the testimonies of George FoXje. 
 
 * piety Promoted. Cough, 3d vol. p. 247» 
 
T5- 
 
 William Penn, Patrick Livingstone, afid 
 Andrew Jaffray, men who knew him well ; 
 and from his life and writings; the following 
 character of Robert Barclay is faithfully 
 delineated. 
 
 He was distinguished by strong mental 
 powers, particularly by great penetration, and a 
 sound and accurate judgment. His talents 
 were much improved by a regular and classical 
 education. It does not, however, appear that 
 his superior qualifications produced that elation 
 of mind, which is too often their attendant : 
 he was meek, humble, and ready to allow others 
 the merit they possessed. All his passions 
 were under the most excellent government. 
 Two of his intimate friends, in their character 
 of him, declare, that they never knew him to 
 be angry. He had the happiness of early per- 
 ceiving the infinite superiority of religion, to 
 every other attainment ; and Divine grace en- 
 abled him to dedicate his life, and all that he 
 possessed, to promote the cause of piety and 
 
76 
 
 virtue. For the welfare of his friends, he was 
 sincerely and warmly concerned : and he tra- 
 velled, and wrote much, as well as suffered 
 cheerfully, in support of the society and the 
 principles to which he had conscientiously 
 attached himself. But this was not a blind: 
 and bigoted attachment. His zeal was tem- 
 pered with charity ; and he loved and respected 
 goodness wherever he found it. His uncor- 
 nipted integrity and liberality of sentiment, his 
 great abilities and the suavity of his disposition^ 
 gave him much interest with persons of rank 
 and influence ; and he employed it in a manner 
 that marked the benevolence of his heart. He 
 loved peace ; and v/as often instrumental in 
 settling disputes, and in producing reconcilia- 
 tion betv/een contend!ing parties. 
 
 In the support and pursuit of what he be- 
 lieved to be right, he possessed great firmness 
 of mind ; which v/as early evinced in the pious. 
 and dutiful sentiment he expressed to his uncle,- 
 \/ko tempted him with great offers to reciaia-ia 
 
7? 
 
 Trance, against th^ desire of his father: « He 
 • is my father, (said he,) and he must be obeyed.' 
 AH the virtues harmonize, and are connected 
 with one another : this firm and resolute spirit 
 in the prosecution of duty, was united with 
 great sympathy and compassion towards persons 
 in affliction and distress. They were consoled 
 "by his tenderness, assisted by his advice, and 
 occasionally relieved by his bounty. His spiri- 
 tual discernment and religious experience, di- 
 rected by that Divine influence which he valued 
 above all things, eminently qualified him to in- 
 struct the ignorant, to reprove the irreligious, 
 to strengthen the feeble minded, and to animate 
 the advanced Christian to still greater degrees 
 of virtue and holiness. 
 
 In private life, he was equally amiable. His 
 conversation was cheerful, guarded, and instruc- 
 tive. He was a dutiful son, an affectionate 
 and faithful hufband, a tender and careful 
 father, a kind and considerate master. — With- 
 out exaggeration, it may be said, that piety and 
 
78 
 
 iiftttc were recommended by his example ; and 
 that, though the period of his life was short, he 
 had, by the aid of JDivine grace, most wisely 
 and happily improved it. He lived long enough 
 to manifest, in an eminent degree, the temper 
 and conduct of a Christian, and the virtues and 
 i^ualifications of a true minister of the n^^^el. 
 
PART II. 
 
 His tvrtttngs-^ihe time and motives of their puhll' 
 gation-^and a brief description of their contents* 
 
 Robert Barclay's first appearance as an au- 
 thor, was about the 2 2d year of his age. The 
 work bears the following title ; * Truth cleared 
 
 * of calumnies : wherein a book entitled A 
 ** dialogue between a Quaker and a stable 
 *• Christian" (printed at Aberdeen, and, upon 
 
 * good ground, judged to be writ by William 
 ' Mitchell, a preacher near it) is examined, and 
 ' the disingenuity of the author in his represent- 
 
 * ing the Quakers is discovered ; their case 
 
 * truly stated, cleared, demonstrated, and the 
 
 * objections of their opposers answered, accord- 
 
 * ing to truth, scripture, and right reason.' The 
 title page bespeaks the intention of the wofk ; 
 and it may be only necessary to add, that the 
 
80 
 
 (dialogue to wliich it is an airswer, seems to hacve 
 been the result of a controversy that had long 
 been maintained between the friends in Aber- 
 deen, and some of the clergy; the latter having 
 endeavoured "^to represent them as holding doc- 
 trines injurious to religion. The reader may 
 find in Barclay's ' Truth cleared of Calum- 
 ■* nies,' some of those leading points of tht 
 doctrine of Friends, handled in a concise 
 manner, which are more diffusely treated ia 
 some of his subsequent works. To this book wa^ 
 added, in the same year, a postscript, entitled 
 
 * Some things of weighty concernment, pro* 
 
 * posed in meekness and love, by way of que- 
 
 * ries to the serious consideration of the inha- 
 '* bitants of Aberdeen ; which may also be of 
 
 * use to such as are of the same mind with 
 
 * them elsewhere in this nation.' The ques- 
 tions are twenty in number. Some of them 
 pointedly relate to the controversy on foot \ 
 otliers are of a more general nature ; and aU 
 
81 
 
 are worth the perusal of such as engage in reli- 
 gious disputes. 
 
 Wm. Mitchell, the supposed author of the 
 anonymous ' Dialogue,* having thought fit to 
 reply to our author's * Truth cleared from 
 
 * Calumnies,' gave him occasion to publish in 
 1672* his piece called ' William Mitchell 
 
 * Unmasked : or the staggering instability of 
 ' the pretended stable Christian discovered ; 
 
 * his omissions observed, and v/eakness unveiled, 
 
 * in his late faint and feeble animadversions, by 
 
 * way of reply to a book entitled Truth 
 ** cleared of Calumnies;" wherein the integrity 
 
 * of the Quakers' doctrine is the second time 
 
 * justified and cleared from the reiterated cla- 
 
 * morous, but causeless calumnies of this cavIU 
 
 * ling catechist.' From such a title, a closer 
 conflict might be expected; and this we find 
 was the case. William Penn in his preface to 
 Barclay's works, speaking of this book, observes 
 
 • At the age of 24, 
 F 
 
82 
 
 that * the dispute rises high, and the contest : 
 ' seems sharp and close ; but to every impartial 
 
 * reader the advantage evidently runs on our 
 *' author's side, who appears rather zealous than 
 
 * heated, and sharper on his enemy's matter 
 
 * than person: for he rather pities his enemy, 
 
 * than triumphs over his weakness and envy. 
 
 * Here, as in an exact draught, the reader 
 
 * has an account of the fabulous principles 
 
 * given under our names, and those that we 
 ' really profess ; and the pleasure even men 
 
 * pretending to religion take to render a poor 
 
 * self-denying people that which they are not ; 
 
 * as if they feared wt should be in the right, or 
 
 * hold principles nearer to what they themselves 
 
 * profess to believe, than is convenient for their 
 
 * interest with the people to allow ; lest that, 
 
 * together with the sobriety their [<?«r j worst 
 
 * enemies allow to be so conspicuous among 
 
 * them [z/J"], should give them [wj] too great 
 
 * a credit with their hearers.' — The editor of 
 the Biographia Britannica characterizing this 
 
85 
 
 |jertormance of Barclay, says, ' In this 
 
 * work our author discovers an amazing variety 
 
 * of learning ; which shows how good a use he 
 ' made of his time at Paris, and how thorough 
 ' a master he was of the scriptures, the fathers, 
 
 * and ecclesiastical history ; and with how much 
 
 * skill and judgment he applied them.* 
 
 In these two books, namely * Truth cleared 
 ' of Calumnies,* and * William Mitchell Un- 
 ' masked,' will be found the buddings of much 
 
 * of that sound argument, which afterwards 
 gre^v to so vigorous a degree of strength in 
 Barclay's famous Apology. 
 
 Our author's next publication was a half 
 sheet, entitled ' A seasonable warning and 
 
 * serious exhortation to, and expostulation 
 
 * with, the inhabitants of Aberdeen, concerning 
 « this present dispensation, and day of God's 
 
 * living visitation towards them.* From this 
 paper I have given an extract at page 22, re- 
 lative to the author's message io sackcloth. 
 
 F t 
 
84 
 
 Some queries respecting that matter having 
 been dispersed in Aberdeen, an answer tq 
 them was also published, which appears a:s a 
 postscript to the < Seasonable Warning,' in the 
 collection of Barclay's works. From this 
 postscript, it is evident that Robert Barclay 
 had the unity and concurrence of his friends on 
 the occasion of his mortifying errand; and that 
 he was accompanied by some of them. 
 
 Now, quitting for a while the field of con- 
 troversy, our author compiled and pubhshed 
 his Catechism and Confession of Faith ; a work 
 which has gone through several editions in 
 English, and one in Latin. The first edition 
 is that of 1673. The society of friends had 
 been represented as vilifying and denying the 
 scriptures ; * to disprove which,' says Barclay 
 addressing himself to the reader * this cate- 
 
 * chism and confession of faith are compiled and 
 
 * brought to thy view'—* In answer to the 
 
 * questions, there is not one word, that I knowr 
 
 * of, placed, but the express words of scripture.* 
 
85 
 
 Accordingly the work is called * A Catechism 
 
 * and Confession of Faith, approved of and 
 
 * agreed unto by the general assembly of the 
 
 * patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, Christ 
 
 * himself chief speaker in and among them : 
 
 * which containeth a tiue and faithful account 
 
 * of the principles and doctrines which are most 
 
 * surely believed by the churches of Christ in 
 
 * Great Britain and Ireland, who are reproach- 
 
 * fully called by the name of Quakers ; yet are 
 
 * found in the one faith with the primitive 
 
 * church and saints : as is most clearly demon- 
 ' strated by some plain scripture testimonies, 
 
 * (without consequences or commentaries,) 
 
 * which are here collected and inserted by way 
 
 * of answer to a few weighty, yet easy and 
 
 * familiar questions, fitted as v/ell for the wisest 
 
 * and largest, as for the weakest and lowest, 
 
 * capacities. To which are added an expostu- 
 
 * lation with, and appeal to, all other pro- 
 
 * fessors.' As the days in which we live are 
 marked by bold attempts to vilify the scrip- 
 
85 
 
 tures ; and as even under our profession there 
 have been persons, who have endeavoured to 
 bring them into discredit, thinking to succeed 
 the more easily with a people who believe 
 in the superior excellence of the Spirit ; it Is 
 peculiarly interesting to behold in what light 
 Robert Barclay, the able asserter of that 
 superior excellence, viewed the scriptures. It 
 is further interesting, because some persons 
 have imagined that Robert Barclay himself 
 countenanced opinions not favourable to the 
 Divine authority of the scriptures. His works 
 nevertheless teem with references to scripture 
 authority. He never shrinks from the test of 
 scripture, on disputed points ; and in the pre- 
 sent work he declares that it is his design to 
 let the simple words of scripture, uncommented 
 on, be the advocates of the cause which he 
 espouses. 
 
 After the publication of the Catechism, It 
 appears that the next production of our 
 author's pen, was, his ' Theses Theologicae,' 
 
87 
 
 T)f which further mention will be made. In 
 the year 1675 he published at Rotterdam a 
 piece in Latin against Nicolas Arnold, pro- 
 fessor in the university of Franequer, in Fries- 
 land, one of the United Provinces, who had 
 controverted his Theses. This piece is entitled, 
 
 * Christianae quaedam animadversiones in NicolaY 
 ^ Arnoldi (qui S. S. theologice Doctor et 
 < ProfFes. se prasdicat) exercitationem theologi- 
 
 * cam de Quakerismo, ejasque brevls refutatio.'* 
 
 It is addressed as follows, * Omnibus totius 
 
 * Belgii, et presertim Academia^ Franequs- 
 
 * ranae, doctoribus, professorlbus, et studiosis, 
 
 * RoBERTUs Barclaius Divini Spiritus illu- 
 
 * minationem uberiorem ad Intelligentiam veri- 
 
 * tatis, animumque ad earn amplectandam 
 
 * proclivem exoptat.f 
 
 * Some Christian remarks on the Theological Exfrcitaticn on 
 Ouakerism of Nicolas Arnold, (who styles hin.tclf iloctor and prC' 
 fessor of divinity) and a short refutation of it. 
 
 f To all the doctors, professors, and students, in the Netherlnnd", 
 more efpecially to those of the university of Franeq-ier, Robert 
 Barclay wishcth a fuller illiimination of the Divine Spirit, for the 
 sndcrstanding of the Truth, and a mind disposed to en. brace \t. 
 
88 
 
 The same year he gave to the public, * A 
 
 * true and faithful account of the most material 
 
 * passages of a dispute betwixt some students 
 ' of divinity (so called) of the university of 
 
 * Aberdeen, and the people called Quakers.* 
 The issue of this dispute has been already 
 mentioned (p. 28), The disputing students 
 .had also published an account of it, in a piece 
 - entitled ' Quakerism canvassed v^hich occa- 
 sioned a reply from Barclay and his friends, 
 under the title of * Quakerism confirmed* in 
 two parts, both dated 1676. To the latter 
 are subjoined three certificates, from four 
 persons present at the dispute, who, it also 
 appears, were the same that were convinced by 
 means of the impressions then made on their 
 minds. The character, therefore, of these 
 latter pubHcations of Barclay may be 
 learned from the students* certificates ; which 
 are as follows. 
 
 * We the underscribers, late students of phi- 
 
 * losophy in the university of Aberdeen, being 
 
89 
 
 ^ present at the dispute, do faithfaHy declare, 
 
 * that the students have grossly belied the 
 
 * Quakers in their account, making them to 
 
 * speak that which they spake not ; and also 
 
 * forging arguments and answers not mentioned 
 •* upon the place. And though we had no in- 
 
 * tention at that time to own the people called 
 -* Quakers, yet we dare not but declare that 
 
 * their answer and behaviour had no small in- 
 
 * fluence upon us, to make us in love with their 
 
 * way, and to search after it more diligently : 
 « as also the students* arguments and lightness 
 
 * did not a little tend to make us disgust them 
 
 * and their principles. And albeit that inward 
 ' peace and satisfaction of mind, which we 
 
 * enjoy in the truth we now profess with that 
 
 * despised and injured people, doth make us 
 
 * bless the day in which it pleased God to 
 
 * bring us among them ; yet we are not a little 
 
 * confirmed in the belief of this reproached 
 
 * testimoay and witnesses, that we find the 
 
 * strongest arguments their adversaries have 
 
^0 
 
 * against them are lies and calumnies. And 
 ' this we testify for the Truth, whom the Trutli 
 
 * hath taught not to lie. 
 
 * Robert Sandilands. 
 
 * James Alexander,' 
 
 * And I also declare, who (being a student 
 
 * at that time in the Old Town College) was 
 
 * present at the dispute, and heard the same 
 ' with attention, that the students have grossly 
 ' belied the Quakers in many things in their 
 
 * account. And although that since it hath 
 ' pleased God to join me unto that people, yet 
 
 * at that time I had no mind to be of their 
 
 * way. However when I saw their account I 
 
 * did approve it as ingenuous, as now I 
 
 * also do, and disapprove the students as fake 
 
 * in many things. 
 
 * Alexander Seaton,* 
 
 * And I likewise (being a student in the 
 
 * New Town College) at that time was pre^ 
 
91 
 
 * sent at the dispute, and do declare that the 
 
 * students* folly and lightness had no small 
 
 * influence upon me to search more narrowly 
 
 * into the way of that people ; which it pleased 
 
 * the Lord to bless unto rae, so that the eyes 
 
 * of my understanding came to be opened, and 
 
 * I came fully to be convinced of the truth of 
 
 * their principles and way ; to which now by 
 
 * the mercy of the Lord T am joined ; and do 
 
 * find by comparing the two accounts together, 
 ' that the students have wTonged the people 
 
 * caL'ed Quakers in divers things, as the 
 
 * students' self contradictions do sufficiently 
 ' show. 
 
 < Alexander Patersok.* 
 
 This appears to have been a busy time with 
 Robert Barclay ; for in the same year were 
 published his ' Anarchy of the Ranters,' and 
 his * Apology.' The latter was as yet only 
 submitted to the learned world, being printed 
 in Latin at Amsterdam. Let us therefore 
 
isuspend our review of it, and advert to the 
 other book, the title of v/hich at large is * The 
 
 * Anarchy of the Ranters, and other libertines, 
 
 * the Hierarchy of the Romanists, and other 
 ' pretended churches, equally refused and re- 
 
 * futed ; in a two-fold apology for the church 
 < and people of God called in derision Quakers. 
 ' Wherein they are vindicated from those that 
 
 * accuse them of confusion and disorder on 
 
 * the one hand, and from such as calumniate 
 
 * them with tyranny and imposition on the 
 
 * other ; showing that as the true and pure 
 
 * principles of the gospel are restored by their 
 
 * testimony ; so is also the ancient apostolic 
 
 * order of the church of Christ re-established 
 
 * among them, and settled upon its right basis 
 
 * and foundation.' The scope of this work 
 may be discovered by its title ; but it is use- 
 ful to know that Friends, at that time, were 
 calumniated by their adversaries as a people 
 who, under colour of private internal direction, 
 were laying waste good order j whilst by some 
 
. dissatisfied persons among themselves, they 
 were accused of violating the rights of private 
 judgment, and restraining the operations of the 
 spirit in individuals, by the discipline which 
 had been set up among them. The author 
 tlierefore endeavours to reconcile die province 
 of the body with the priFileges of individuals ;. 
 and he does it in a masterly manner. The 
 work has passed through several impressions ; 
 and as its title v/hen abridged to the few words. 
 The Anarchy of the Ranters," conveys little 
 or no information of its contents, the Yearly 
 Meeting lately ordered an additional title to be 
 prefixed, namely, * A Treatise on Christian 
 * Discipline.* It is a work worthy of general 
 perusal ; and particularly claims the attention 
 of all persons, who think it is their duty to be 
 active, la supporting and executing the dis- 
 clpUne of the church. In the collection of 
 Barclay's works there is an explanatory post- 
 script (written in prison in 1679,) occasioned 
 by the opposiuon of Rogers, already mentioned 
 
94 
 
 f pp. 48, 49), which exhibits our author in an 
 amiable view.* 
 
 The Theses Theologicse have been already 
 mentioned. They have been printed in Latin, 
 French, German, Dutch, and English. One 
 of the EngHsh editions bears the title of « The 
 
 * principles of true Christianity and sound 
 
 * divinity asserted.* They are addressed as 
 follows. ' To the clergy of what sort soever, 
 
 * unto whose hands these may come ; but more 
 
 * particularly to the doctors, professors, and 
 
 * students of divinity, in the universities and 
 
 * schools of Great Britain, whether prelatical, 
 
 * presbyterian, or any other, Robert 
 
 * Barclay, a servant of the Lord God, 
 
 * and one of those who in derision are called 
 
 * Quakers, wisheth unfeigned repentance to 
 
 * the acknowledgment of the truth.' These 
 theses or propositions are fifteen in number. 
 
 * It appears from a paper subjoined that the Anarchy of the 
 Ranters had been approved by the Morning Meeting at London ', 
 ■which meeting had then been established about three years. 
 
$5 
 
 The following are the subjects of them. 
 
 X . Concerning the true foundation of know- 
 ledge. 
 
 2 Immediate Revelation* 
 
 3. the Scriptures. 
 
 4 Condition of Man in the fall. 
 
 5. & 6 the Universal Redemption 
 
 by Christ, and also the saving 
 and spiritual light, wherewith 
 every man is enlightened. 
 
 7. Justification. 
 
 8 Perfection. 
 
 ^ Perseverance, and the possi- 
 bility of falling from Grace. 
 
 10 the Ministry. 
 
 H Worship. 
 
 12 Baptism, 
 
 13 the Communion or partici- 
 pation of the body and blood 
 of Christ. 
 
 14 ithe power of die civil magi- 
 
 strate. 
 
98 
 
 in matters purely religious 
 and appertaining to the con- 
 science. 
 
 15. Concerning Salutations and Recreations, 
 Sec, 
 
 On these subjects, the author proposes his 
 sentiments, and explains them in conformity 
 with the principles of Friends. 
 
 The propositions, being sent forward into the 
 v/orld, were well received beyond the author's 
 expectation; and proved the means of removing 
 some false and monstrous opinions which had 
 been imbibed against the society. Actuated 
 therefore by the like design of propagating the 
 truth, and believing himself equally influenced 
 by the Divine " Spirit, he judged it proper to 
 explain his propositions somewhat more largely, 
 and to defend them with arguments ; and this 
 produced his celebrated Apolog5\ 
 
 It is entitled ' An Apology for the true 
 
 * Christian divinity, as the same is held forth, 
 
 * and preached, by the people called in sconi 
 
 * Quakers ; being a full explanation and vindi- 
 
97 
 
 * cation of their principles and doctrines, by 
 
 * many arguments deduced from Scripture and 
 ' right reason, and the testimonies of famous 
 
 * authors, both ancient and modern : with a 
 
 * full answer to the strongest objections usually 
 
 * made against them. Presented to the king.' 
 In this work the fifteen propositions (except 
 the 5th and 6th, which are examined together) 
 are separately examined and proved. The 
 author's general method is to state clearly the 
 position which he is about to prove ; afterwards 
 to adduce one or more scripture texts, which 
 either plainly affirm the truth of what he has 
 laid down, or from which it may be naturally, 
 fairly, and clearly deduced by an argument ; 
 ^hich he generally puts in the form of a syllo- 
 gism.* He afterwards adds the testimonies of 
 other authors of approved reputation in support 
 
 • For example. Sin is imputed to none where there is ao law. 
 But, To infants there is no law. 
 Therefore, Sin is not Imputed to them. Prop. 4. 5 4* 
 G 
 
98 
 
 of .the doctrine which he is proving ; and Ustly 
 states the objections to it that have been made, 
 or that might be made ; "which he likewise 
 answers by syllogistical arguments drawn from 
 Scripture, or from self-evident truths, acknow- 
 ledged by all. 
 
 The Theses contain the author'3 general 
 opinions under each head, or division of the 
 Apology : but in order to show, in this place, 
 what those ppinions are, it may not be amiss tor 
 exhibit an outline of what the reader may ex- 
 pect to find treated in a finished and masterly 
 itianner in this instructive, celebrated, and it; 
 may even be said, entertaining work. lo truth, 
 the road of religion is not without Uowers j an(| 
 it should be remembered, that the thorns which 
 are found in it, have sprung from our own cor- 
 ruptions, or from the vices of others. Whea 
 the course of religion is unobstructed, or when 
 the obstructions are overcome, her ways are still 
 ways of pleasantness, and all her paths peace. 
 It is occupation which forms much of the plea- 
 
&9 
 
 sard of the mind; when men resolve not to 
 occupy themselves with trifles, and with such 
 pursuits as neither make them wiser nor better, 
 they may find genuine entertainment in the per- 
 formance of their duty ; and in the perusal of 
 books written on subjects which pertain to life 
 and salvation. Here the mind is not only 
 occupied and entertained, but also invigorated. 
 
 On the subject of the First Proposition, our 
 author asserts that the trus fanyidation of know- 
 ledge consists in being acc^uainted with God ; 
 aft assertion which, as he supposes it will gene- 
 rally be granted, he does not stop long to explain. 
 Immediate revelation is held up in the Second 
 ^Proposition : imd Barclay not only shows 
 the necessity of it, for obtaining that true know- 
 ledge which is mentioned in the First; but 
 proves that the doctrine was held by the early 
 teachers of Christianity; and that the revela- 
 tion for which he pleads, is only to be obtained 
 in and by Christ, through the Spirit. This 
 
 G 2 
 
100 
 
 part of the Apology also contains (} 5.) 
 ]B^OBjER.T Barclay's faith as to the eternal 
 divinity of Christ. 
 
 The Apologist begins the Third Proposi- 
 tion, treating of the Scriptures, with declaring 
 them to be the most excellent writings in the 
 vyorld ; to which not only no other writings are 
 to be preferred, but even in divers respects are 
 Dot comparable. Nevertheless he asserts that 
 it is the Spirit that must apply them for our 
 beneiit, and must still be the primaiy rule of 
 Christians. He then guards against the com- 
 mon objection, that hereby the Scriptures are 
 rendered useless ; and shows that as they have 
 proceeded from the revelation of the Divine 
 Spirit in the writers, they can never be contra- 
 dicted by the revelation of the same Spirit in 
 the mind of any. He is willing that all doc- 
 trines and practices should be tried by them ; 
 and that whatever any persons, pretending to 
 the Spirit, do contrary to the Scriptures, should 
 be taken for delusion. 
 
lOI 
 
 In the Fourth Proposition are unfolded the. 
 views of Robert Barclay respecting the. 
 State of man in the fall. He denies the impu- 
 tation of sin to infants, on account of Adam's 
 
 I transgression, until they join with the seed of 
 evil in themselves by their own actual trans- 
 gression ; yet he maintains that all men arc 
 prone to sin, and cannot derive, from their 
 fallen progenitor, any power to overcome it. 
 
 i A seed of sin he confesses to be transmitted to 
 all men from Adam ; but he prefers to call it 
 
 I by the scriptural terms of Death, the Old man, 
 
 t the old Adam, rather than by the Calvinistic 
 term of Original Sin ; which notion he tliinks 
 has given rise to that of imputing sin to infants. 
 In the two following Propositions, the Fifth- 
 
 ' and Sixth, which are considered jointly, our 
 author shows the means of man's restoration 
 from the fall ; and ably asserts Universal re- 
 demption by Christ, and the saving and spiritual 
 light ivhere'tuith every man is enlightened. He 
 begins with some short, yet sharp, strictures ou 
 
102 
 
 tiie doctrine of Absolute reprolaiion^ which he 
 successfully opposes ; and proves the uniyersality 
 of Christ's death, and the consequent possibility 
 of sakation to all. The auth<)r lays it doMm. 
 that God, who, of his iniinite love, sent his 
 Son intOi the world, who tastied death every 
 man, hath given to every man a time of visit- 
 ation, during wliich he may partake of the fruits 
 of Christ's death. Secondly, That, to thi^ end 
 God hath, given to every man a measure of the 
 light of his own Son — a measure of grace — a 
 measure of the Spirit. Thirdly, That God, ia 
 and by this Hght, invites, calls, exhorts, and 
 strives, with every man, in order to save him. ; 
 which light received, and not resisted^ works 
 the salvation of all ; but that it maybe resisted, 
 and then it becomes man's condemnation. 
 Having thus shown that man co-operates in the 
 work of his salvation, he guards against dero- 
 gating from the atonement and sacrifice of 
 Christ ; asserts belief in all that is recorded of 
 him in Scripture ; and that reraissioa of sins is 
 
103 
 
 «nly by yirtne of that most satisfactory sacrifice. 
 The subjects of these propositions are treated 
 dilfusely; and it is therefore difficult to do 
 them justice in a sketch of this nature. 
 
 Justification forms the matter of the Se- 
 venth Proposition, in which word Robert 
 Barclay always includes the idea of being 
 made just ; the immediate cause of which is 
 the re^dcd'ton of jfesus Christ in ih; souly 
 changing and renewing the mind ; and he 
 cautions all against supposing themselves justi- 
 fied by virtue of Christ's death, while they re- 
 main unsanctified in heart, and polluted with 
 sin. 
 
 The doctrine of the Eighth Proposition has 
 been much opposed. It asserts the possibility 
 of Perfection in this life : which perfection is 
 defined to consist in a freedom from actual 
 sinning and from transgressing the law of God. 
 It is a state which admits of a g^o^yth ; and - 
 from which there is a possibility of falling. 
 The doctrine of those who plead for the im- 
 
104 
 
 possibility of perfection, and for the continuance^ 
 in sin^ during life, is opposed at length ; and 
 the perfection for which our author pleads is 
 placed in the full bringing forth of that pure 
 and holy birth, the light of Christ in the soul. 
 
 The Ninth Proposition respects Perseverance^ 
 and the possibility of falling from grace. On 
 these subjects the author's judgment may ia 
 great measure, be inferred from what precedes. 
 Accordingly lie is short in this part of thf 
 Apology ; and his sense is, that the truth lies 
 betwixt these two extremes, viz. the doctrine 
 of such as affirm that the least degree of true and 
 saving grace cannot he fallen from; and that of 
 those who deny atiy such stahility attainable^ as 
 that there can be no total and final apostacy from 
 It. 
 
 In the Tenth Proposition, we meet with a 
 subject on which the Society of Friends have 
 appeared to differ more from other professors 
 of Christianity, than on most other points, 
 namely Gospel- Ministry, After explaining his 
 
105 
 
 sense of what constitutes the Church, which 
 he defines to be the Society of such as God' 
 has called out of the worldly spirit, to walk ir»' 
 his light and life, he shows what is the call of 
 a true minister, asserting it to be the iwdjard 
 porver and virtue of the Spirit of God ; and 
 rejects the notion of succession from the 
 apostles. Having established the call, he lays 
 down the qualification of a minister, of which 
 he asserts human learning to forni no necessary 
 part ; but places all in the poiver, Vifcy and 
 *oirhte of the Holy Spirit. Lastly, he maintains 
 that the true ministers should not, cannot, 
 teach for hire ; and he opposes the practice of 
 a forced maintenance ; concluding with a lively 
 comparison between the ministry for which he 
 pleads, and that for which the opposers of our 
 society plead. This is a \try interesting part 
 of the Apology, and teems with able argu- 
 ments drawn both from the letter and the 
 spirit of the gospel. 
 
106 
 
 IVorsltp is spoken of in the Eleventh Pro- 
 position. True worship is referred to an in* 
 ward feeling of reverence and devotion, to the 
 exclusion of all ceremonies which may be set 
 about in the will of man. The author never- 
 theless takes care to assert the necessity of 
 meeting at stated time?, for worship ; but that, 
 when assembled, the great duty of all is to re- 
 tire from their own imaginations, to wait to 
 feel the Lord'^s presence, and to know indeed 
 a gathering into his name ; where, saith he, the 
 §ecret virtue of life is felt to refresh the soul ; 
 from which the acceptable worship is known, 
 which edifies the church, and is well pleasing to 
 God. The serious reader will probably find a 
 secret influence engaging his mind to assent, 
 whilst he peruses this part of the work ; which 
 certainly claims the attention of all who call 
 themselves Friends. 
 
 : The Twelfth and Thirteenth Propositions 
 arc employed on, what are termed the two 
 sacraments, Baptism and the Supper, Baptism 
 
107 
 
 With \»attr is dccLired not to be the occ 
 true baptism of Christ ; which is prorcd to be 
 inward and spiritual, according to the text, 
 •* He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost 
 *' and with fire and the objections of sneh as 
 held water baptism to be of perpetoal obligation, 
 are answered. The body and blood of 
 Christ, of which beUevers partake, are asserted 
 to be spifitteal and not carnal ; and to be really 
 enjoyed as often as the soul retires ime the 
 light of the Lord, and feels and partakes of that 
 heavenly life> by which the inward man is 
 nojfished. The arguments of those who con- 
 tead for the ceremooious use of bread and 
 w:ne» are considered and refuted. 
 
 The Founeenth Proposition is, concerning 
 the Fo'UKT the dvil magistrate in maiters 
 purely relljiauT, and pertaming ta the con^ 
 ::'ur.cf. I: may be well coaceiyed that Bar- 
 clay here firmly asserts the uniawfainess of 
 any attena^t to force the conscience. At the 
 same tinae he gives no countenance :o persons 
 
108 
 
 who, under pretence of conscience, would pre- 
 judice their neighbours. 
 
 The Fifteenth and last Proposition has for its 
 title, Concerning Salutations and Recreations^ 
 though it also embraces some other objects.' 
 In it the author shows the unlawfulness, to 
 Christians, of using flattering titles and compli- 
 ments — ^of kneehng, prostrating, or bowing the 
 body, or uncovering the head to any man — 
 of superfluities in apparel for ornament and 
 vanity— of sports, games, comedies, vain re- 
 creations, &:c. — of swearing at all — and of 
 resisting evil and fighting. On this occasion 
 also, the objections of such as plead for those 
 things are ably answered ; particularly in thtf 
 case of oaths. 
 
 The Apology was presented, as the title ex- 
 presses, to the king ; to whom an address is 
 prefixed, which, for its manly style, religious 
 boldness, and yet decent respect, has been 
 much admired. The inscription is * Unto 
 
109 
 
 '^Charles 2d. king of Great Britain, and 
 *- the dominions thereunto belonging. 
 
 * Robert Barclay, a servant of Jesus 
 
 * Christ, called of God to the dispensation 
 
 * of the gospel, now again revealed, and after 
 
 * a long and dark night of apostacy, com- 
 
 * manded to be preached to all nations, 
 
 * wisheth health and salvation.' 
 
 - The address is long but not tedious. It does 
 pot assume, in any part, the appearance of a 
 flattering dedication ; and the author seems to 
 have been particularly studious to guard against 
 its being thought such. In one place he says, 
 
 * As it is inconsistent with the truth I bear, so 
 
 * it is far from me, to use this epistle as an en- 
 
 * gine to flatter thee, (the usual design of such 
 / works;) and therefore I can neither dedicate 
 ' it to thee, nor crave thy patronage, as if 
 
 * thereby I might have more confidence to pre- 
 
 * sent it to the world, or be more hopeful of 
 
 * its success. To God alone I owe what I 
 ' have, and that more immediately in matters 
 
110 
 
 * spiritual ; and therefore to Him alone, 
 
 * and to the service of his Truth > I dedicate 
 
 * whatever work he brings forth in me ; to 
 
 * whom only the praise and hoaour appertain t 
 
 * whose Truth needs not the patronage of 
 
 * worldly princes, his arm and power being that 
 
 * alone by which it is propagated, established, 
 ' and confirmed.* 
 
 The concluding paragraphs are remarkably 
 simple, strong, and beautiful. * There is>* says 
 our author, * no king in the world, who can so 
 
 * experimentally testify of God's providence 
 
 * and goodness ; neither is there any who rules 
 
 * so many free people, so many true Christians : 
 
 * which thing renders thy government more 
 
 * honourable, and thyself more considerable, 
 
 * than the accession of many rations filled 
 
 * with slavish and superstitious souls, 
 
 ^ Thou hast tasted of prosperity and adver- 
 
 * sity. Thou knowest what it is to be banished 
 
 * thy native country ; to be overruled, as well 
 
 * as to rule, and sit upon the throne : and, 
 
Ill 
 
 * being oppressed, thou hast reason to know 
 
 < how hateful the oppressor is both to God 
 
 * and man. If, after all these warnings and 
 
 < advertisements, thou dost not turn to the 
 
 * Lord with all thy heart ; but forget Him 
 
 < who remembered thee in thy distress, and 
 
 * give up thyself to follow lust and vanity ; 
 
 * surely, great will be thy condemnation. 
 
 * Against which snare, as well as the temp- 
 
 * tation of those, that may, or do, feed thee 
 ' and prompt thee to evil, the most excellent 
 
 * and prevalent remedy will be, to apply thyself 
 
 * to that light of Christ which shineth in thy 
 ' conscience, which neither can nor will flattet- 
 ' thee, nor suffer thee to be at ease in thy sins ; 
 
 * but doth, and will, deal plainly and faithfully 
 
 * with thee ; as those, that are followers there- 
 
 * of, have also done. 
 
 < God Almighty, who hath so signally 
 
 * hitherto visited thee with his love, so touch 
 ' and reach thy heart ere the day of thy visita- 
 
 * tion be expired, that thou mayst effectuaHy 
 
112 
 
 * turn to him, so as to improve thy place and 
 
 * station for his name. So wisheth, so prayeth, 
 ' thy faithful friend, and subject. 
 
 * Robert Barclay.' 
 
 From Ury, the place of my pilgrimage, 
 
 in my native country of Scotland, 
 
 the 25th of the month called 
 . November, in the year 1675. 
 
 For some years previous to the publication 
 of the Apology, Friends and their adversaries 
 had been engaged in controversy ; and our 
 author, from his retirement, had viewed the 
 contest, and observed the misrepresentations 
 of fact on which some of their adversaries* 
 censures rested ; as well as weighed the strength 
 of the objections, which they brought against 
 what they did not misrepresent. He therefore 
 came forth more fully prepared to enter the 
 lists himself. That he did so in a most able 
 manner, the generally good reception of his 
 book, when first published, and its uniform 
 and continued reputation, down to the present 
 
113 
 
 day, sufficiently demonstrate ; and the import- 
 ant light in which it was viewed by those 
 who were averse from the doctrines which 
 it establishes, namely the stipendiary teachers, 
 is evident from the number of them who en- 
 deavoured to controvert it,* 
 
 The next piece, in order of time,f published 
 by Robert Barclay, is entitled, * Universal 
 
 * Love considered, and established upon its 
 ' right foundation : being a serious inquiry how 
 
 * far charity may, and ought to be extended 
 ' towards persons of different judgments in 
 
 * matters of religion ; and whose principles 
 
 * among the several sects of Christians do most 
 « naturally lead to that due moderation rc- 
 
 * quired : writ in the spirit of love and meek- 
 
 * As Brown, • Quakerism the path'.s-ay to Paganism ;' Bajerus, proi. 
 ©r divinity at Jena ; Holthusius, a preacher at Francfort ; R^ifer, a 
 pastor at Hamburg ; Keith, « The Quakers' Standard Examined 
 Bennett, « Confutation of Quakerism,' &c. 
 
 f It is to be observed, that John Whiting's Catalogue of Friends* 
 Book:-, pp. 5,6,7, is follo-s'ed ; not the series in 'Truth Triumphant.' 
 H 
 
114 
 
 * ness, for the removing of stumbling blocks 
 
 * out of the way of the simple, by a lover of 
 
 * the souls of all men.* The author first gites 
 an account of his own experience on the sub- 
 ject ; and then endeavours to state and demon- 
 strate the nature of Christian love and charity ; 
 their consistency with true zeal; and the 
 distinction of the latter from false, persecuting, 
 zeal. He then states his subject anew, as it 
 respects the diiferent divisions of Christians ; 
 showing that their conformity or want of con- 
 formity to universal love, is to be drawn from 
 the nature of their principles, and not from 
 the practice of particular persons among them. 
 Thus much being premised, he examines the 
 principles of several denominations, and finds 
 them defective;, and inconsistent with the prin- 
 ciple of universal love ; as Papists, Protestants 
 in general, and Socinians, Lastly, he lays 
 down some principles of Christianity which per- 
 fectly agree with true universal lo^-e. The 
 reader may easily suj^pose that these arc the 
 
Its 
 
 principles held by Friends ; and he \rill find 
 the piece to be an able recommendation of thosfe 
 principles, and an exposition of them in an 
 amiable light. An edition of this work was 
 |)rinled so late as 1 800 : but the first T^'as in 
 11-677, y^^^ which it was written, while 
 its benevolent author was himself suffering from 
 the want of universal love, being a prisoner at 
 Aberdeen, 
 
 The books v/hich were written in reply to 
 the Apology, have already been noticed. One 
 of these, namely, * Quakerism the pathv^-at^ 
 -* to Paganism,' had been printed before the 
 publication of the first English edition of the 
 Apology; and was the means of prompting 
 Robert Barclay to hasten that edition to 
 the press,. that the public might hare the wholr 
 controversy before them. He afterward* 
 thought proper to give his adversary's book a 
 more particular answer ; which was published 
 in the year 1679, under the title of * R. B'$. 
 H 2 
 
ne 
 
 ^ Apology for the true Christiart 'divinity vindi- 
 '* cated from John Brown's examination and 
 
 * pretended confutation thereof, in his book 
 
 * called Quakerism the pathway to Paganism: 
 •* in which vindication, John Brown's many 
 
 gross perversions and abuses are discoveretl, 
 
 * and his furious and violent railings and re- 
 ^ vilings, soberly rebuked.' It is common in 
 controverfy for authors to charge their oppq- 
 /nents with railing ; and the reader may think 
 -that our author, in his title page, has adopted 
 the practice. He, however, makes good his 
 charge, in his introduction ; in which he says, 
 
 * Men use to be sober and moderate that write 
 f controversies, in the beginning at leaft, andi 
 
 * not seek to prepossess the reader with preju- 
 ^ dice against their adversaries, until by the 
 
 * strength of their reason they have proved them 
 
 * to deserve it ; but this man is so full fraughted 
 
 * with maHce, and so in love with railing, that 
 ^ he cannot forbear in the first page, where we 
 
 * have him calling us " Locusts, of whose 
 
117 
 
 itimistry the devil makes use, only mascuUn^ 
 ** in malice against Christ — breathing forth. 
 ** nothing but that putrid poison, that innata 
 ** serpentine venom," &c.* This is a specif 
 men of the spirit with which our early Friends 
 had to contend.. Though it must be confessed 
 that some of them (whether from, the provo- 
 cation they received, or from sharp language 
 being the temper of the times) were not entirely 
 free, from it themselves, yet the reader of 
 Barclay's writings will scarcely think that he 
 has fallen into that error. In the book in' 
 question, our author follows his adversary- 
 through the following divisions of the subject. 
 I. The true ground of knowledge. 2, Inwards 
 and immediate revelation. 3. The Scriptures. 
 4. Man's natural state, and original sin. 5. Re» 
 
 * The perusal of this excited a curiosity to look at Brown's epistle 
 to the reader ; in which, the first words that took the attentiora, were 
 ' Runagad Quaker,' and these were found to be the conclusion of iha 
 following string of epithets, « This God-daring, Christ-blaspheming, 
 
 ♦ Spirit-dcspiting generation, of the prodigicutly profane and afto^ 
 
 • gaatscct of Runagad Ouikers.' i 
 
probation, an^ universal redemption. &. Pbs- 
 sibility of uiiiversal salvation ; universal grace ^ 
 necessity of the light to salvation ; the salvation 
 of heatliens. 7-. Justification* 8. Perfection. 
 9. Perseverance, ro. Ministry, wherein- of Wo»- 
 mens^ preaching', n. Silent worship, &g. i 2w 
 Baptism. i'3. The Lord's^ Supper. 14. Li- 
 feepty. of conscience. 15, Wars and' oatlis. 
 2;6i Ctvil' honour, &g.* This book^ which is 
 about the size of the Apology, has ne^er been 
 f^printed otherwise than in the two editions of 
 Truth Triumphant 5 and* the book of Brown 
 having long since fallen into general oblivion^ 
 t?he ^ Vindication^ is little read ; yet it contains 
 that part of controversy which is the most use- 
 Ril part, the answering of objections ; and 
 t'herefore may still' be read v^th advantage. 
 William Penn esteemed it highly ; and says 
 he ranks the Apology and this book ia the 
 front of Barclay's polemical writings. Of 
 
 - ; ^ TJhcsc numbers do not cprrespond with those of R. B's. Scctionij 
 tccausc there, § » is an intioductory -one. 
 
113 
 
 Qf such wriiings this was the last published by 
 oar author j and it was not rcplkd Co by his 
 ategYy adversary. 
 
 There yet remain two tracts of Robert 
 Barciay to be notked, the iirst of whkh he 
 ^Is * An epistk of love and friendly advice 
 
 * to the ambassadors of the several princes of 
 
 * Europe, met at Nimeguen, to consult the 
 
 * peace of Christendom, so far as they are con- 
 
 * cerncd ; wherein the true cause of the present 
 
 * War is discovered, and means for a firm and 
 
 * settled pe:^ce is proposed, by R. Barclay, a 
 ' lover and travailer for the peace of Christen- 
 
 * dom.' This is a most instructive piece. Its 
 object is to show the ground of war, and that 
 means for promoting peace, while these grounds 
 remain, are likely to be unstable and ineffectual; 
 at the same time pointing the way by which a 
 ksting peace may prevail. It has the following 
 postscript. * This came upon me from the 
 
 * Lord, to write unto you, at Ury in my native 
 
 * country of Scotland, the 2d of the month 
 
120 
 
 ' called November, 1677.' Though it is long 
 for a letter, and probably was not read by all 
 the statesmen to whom it was addressed, it is 
 short for a treatise. The tract, however, is 
 full and clear ; and it is hoped that this brief 
 recommendation may induce the reader to give 
 it a serious perusal. The letter was originally- 
 written in Latin ; and afterwards translated' 
 and published for the satisfaction of such as- 
 could not read the original. To the translation^ 
 printed 1679, the following historical memoir 
 is subjoined. * Copies of the foresaid epistle, ia 
 
 * Latin, were, upon the 23d and 24th days of 
 
 * the month called February, 1678, delivered 
 
 * at Nimeguen, to the ambassadors of the em- 
 
 * peror, of the kings of Great Britain, Spain, 
 
 * and France, Sweden, and Denmark, of the 
 
 * prince elector Palatine, as also of the states 
 
 * general, and of the dukes of Lorrain, Holstain, 
 ' Lunenburg, Osnaburg, Hanover, and the 
 
 * pope's nuncio ; to wit one to each ambas- 
 
 * sador, and one to each of their principals 
 
* together vnth so many copies of the book, of 
 
 * which the author makes mention in the letter^ 
 
 * the title whereof is " Roberti Barclaii, theo- 
 logis verse Chriftianse, Apologia ; Carolo 
 secundo, Magnas Britanniae, &c. regi, 
 
 " oblata."* This \vas the Latin title of the 
 Apology, which was enlarged, as we have 
 seen, in the EngHsh edition. 
 
 Robert Barclay's last printed work was 
 the translation of a long Latin letter, which 
 he had some years before v/ritten to a person 
 of quality in Holland, on the following occa- 
 sion. The person in question was Adrian 
 Pacts. Robert Barclay, having had some 
 conversation with him respecting the principles 
 of Friends, was requested by Paets to recon- 
 sider the strength of the arguments which he 
 had adduced against Barclay's doctrine.- 
 This Barclay accordingly did; and Ending; 
 them weaker the more he examined them, he 
 
 • Robert Barclay's Apology for true Christian Divinity, prestnl- 
 cd to Charles 2d, kir.£ of Great Britain,, gcc. 
 
122 
 
 wrote from his prison at Aberdeen, the letter 
 to Pacts. Some years afterwards he met with 
 Pacts again, in London,* ^vho, after sdmc 
 ^rth^r conversation, confessed * that be had 
 
 • been mistaken in bia notion of the Quakers ; 
 ^foar he found they could make a reasonable 
 •■.plea for the foundation of their religion.* 
 IShortly after, our author translated and pul>- 
 Kshcd his letter in English, giving it this title ; 
 
 * The possibility and necessity of the inward 
 
 * and immediate revelation of the Spirit of God,. 
 
 • towards the foundation and ground of ta^ue 
 *Jaith, proved: in a ktter writ in Latin to a 
 
 • persoa of quality in Holland; and now also 
 
 ♦ put into English, by R. B.* This letter is 
 wholly argumentative ; and it has been con- 
 sidered by those who have read it with atten- 
 tion, as one of the author's most accurate 
 pieces. It has much of a metaphysical cast> 
 
 ♦ Pacts was then a Commissioner for the Dutch East India Coi»- 
 pa:\y. When Barclay saw him before, he had just rcturacd freni »n 
 €j.ihassy to Spain, from the States Generals 
 
123 
 
 and is rather calculated for the learned and the 
 mce discerner, than for the ignorant and simple; 
 an<} was probablyr on that account, tlie more 
 acceptabk to the person to whom it was adi- 
 drcssedy and the more, impressive. 
 
 The works of RoaEar Barclay- were 
 collected after his decease,, and , published in 
 1692, in a folia volunie^ entitled * Truth Tri- 
 ' amphant, through the Spiritual warfare, Chris- 
 < tian labours, and writings, of that able and 
 • faithful servant of Jesus Christ, Robert 
 
 Barclay.* It is still occasionally to be 
 Biet with. An edition in three volumes octavo, 
 came out in 1 7 1 8 ; but this is now \tery scarce. 
 Should, however, the first and third volume be 
 procured, an Apology completes the set. The 
 English Apology itself has been printed eight 
 times* in London. Accordingly the London 
 edition of 17 So is called the eighth. But 
 there has been also a Dublin edition, and one 
 
 ♦ Unless the first edition may be excepted, on account oS tb* 
 place wbcrs it was printed act tidng meationcd. 
 
124 
 
 in large quarto by Baskerville at Birminghami 
 There is a Dutch translation, of which 
 there are two editions ; one in Danifh ; one 
 in German, of which there are three editions y 
 one in Spanish, and two in French. The 
 French one of 1 702 is said to be so ill done 
 as to mislead. That of 1797 may be depended 
 on ; but in any difficult case the Latin is the 
 best means of deciding.* Of the Latin, a second 
 edition was published in octavo, 1729, said to 
 be * priore emendatior.' 
 
 Of the Catechism there is one Latin edition- 
 Still extant. The last English edition in 1787^ 
 is the 1 2th. Of the Anarchy of the Ranters, 
 
 * In the First Edition pa. 161, the 4th pa. 243, the 6th pa. C43» 
 there is a remarkable error under Prop. 8. Perfection, § 2. 4thly» 
 viz. Who have not attained to everlasting life, instead of, Who have 
 attained, &c. — Latin, Qui adepti sunt. The same error is in Truth 
 Triumphant, folio, pa. 388, in the German, of 1740, and in the 
 French Edition of 1702, p. 276. The passage is right in the 5thi 
 ;th, and 8th, Lond. and in Baskerville's, also in the German of 1684 
 and 1776, the Dutch of 1757, the French of 1797, and in the Spanish. 
 An opportunity of examining the 2d and 3d, or the 8vo Edition 
 »f Truth Triumphant, has not occurred. . . 
 
125 
 
 and Universal Love, it has been already men- 
 tioned that there are editions extant. 
 
 That it would be gratifying to the v/riter of 
 the foregoing account of the works of Robert 
 Barclay, to know it had been the means of 
 increasing the number of their readers, is of 
 small importance ; but if, by reading them, or 
 a part of them, any persons should be induced 
 to adopt and put in practice the truths which 
 Barclay recommends, the result to themselves 
 may be both important and happy. 
 
 The mind, especially when not much ac- 
 customed to dwell on religious considerations, 
 is not always disposed to advert to serious 
 subjects. Sometimes, however, and particu- 
 larly in youth, there are seasons when anxiety 
 respecting the concerns of a future life will 
 prevail ; and disturb the joy, which the pursuit, 
 and the acquirement, of the pleasant things 
 of time are wont to afford. 
 
126 
 
 ' ' 'Happy Is It, that these interruptions are ex* 
 perienced : for they bring into view greater 
 and more permanent pleasures. On such occa- 
 sions, religion comes for the purpofe of bring- 
 ing balxn to the foul, and' of alleviating ' its 
 "burthens ; not to increase its oppressions. 
 
 The restraints of a religious life are indeed 
 sometimes irksome ; though principally, at the 
 cna-ance, and less so as we proceed ; but in pro- 
 portion as the mind is "svilling to suffer a sense 
 of its weaknesses and wants to remain upon it, 
 without seeking relief from dissipation, (taking 
 that word in its least offensive meaning,) it 
 •will the less feel those restraints to be irksome, 
 because it will know them to be the harbingers 
 cf more perfect freedom. 
 
 In this state of mind a review of the expe- 
 Tience of those who liave more largely tasted 
 toth of the bitterness and the sweetness of a 
 jreligious life, who have borne the cross, and 
 felt the consolation, of Christianity, will, at 
 -times, be a delightful recreation. Among tlie 
 
127 
 
 number of -these cheering and instructive exam- 
 pies, may be considered that of tJie man, whose 
 religious labours have been exhibited in this 
 volume. Though Robert Barclay deals 
 more in argument, than in narrative, yet his 
 writings contain much encouragement to sin- 
 cere hearted persons, travelling through tlie 
 temptations of time, to the rewards of eternity. 
 
 These writings also deserve particular com- 
 mendation on this account, that they bear 
 strong and ample testimony to Christ, — tlie sure 
 refuge of the weary soul. The most feeble 
 persevering Christian may be animated with 
 die hope of reaching that sure refuge, when 
 he reflects, that his Lord hath declared to the 
 least, as well as to the greatest servant in his 
 «* family, ** Him that cometh to me, I will 
 
 in no wise cast out.'* 
 
 FINJS. 
 
 W. PWJlips, f rintc:. 
 
4 7781 
 
DATE DUE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CAYLORO 
 
 
 
 rniNTCO IN U.S.A.